Diana was quiet for a long while. “I don’t know. It seems like quite a risk.”
Jace shrugged. “I won’t lie to you. It is a risk. And even if you do become human, you’ll have to make your way in the game, starting from scratch. You will literally have nothing. But you can go out and adventure, earn things and make a life for yourself until they fix the bug.”
“I… I don’t know how,” she admitted.
“It’s not that hard,” Charlena told her once Jace translated. “I’m a new player and it’s not that hard. You just have to watch out for creeps. But that’s no different than real life.”
“That’s the truth,” Diana agreed. “Romance novels were my way of living vicariously. I had more than my share of creeps.” The spider golem many eyes rotated. “You two make a cute couple though.”
Jace blushed as he translated it and was surprised to see that Charlena did too.
“Oh,” laughed Diana. “You two must be young. So adorable.”
Diana was silent again for a long moment that stretched into an awkward silence. Just when Jace was about to say something she spoke up. “Okay, I’ll do it. But how am I supposed to die. Do I… kill myself?”
“You could do that,” Jace said. “Or we can kill you.”
“If you kill me, you get the...uh… experience?” asked Diana. “And that makes you more powerful?”
Jace nodded, as did Charlena when Jace had translated. “Yes.”
“If this does actually work, then I think you should get the experience as the only reward I can give you,” she said merrily. Then her tone became more sober. “It will… hurt… won’t it?”
“Just until you die,” Jace offered. “Then you’ll be in your new human body.”
“Alone and naked,” she retorted sardonically.
Charlena listened to the translation and walked up to the spider golem. She put her hand on it’s head. “You won’t be alone. We’re going to the capital,” she turned to Jace expectantly.
“The capital is called Whitecliff, it’s the capital of Aldor, the human kingdom,” he supplied.
“Right, we’re going to Whitecliff. If you can make your way there, you can meet up with us,” Charlena offered. “Then you won’t be alone. If you get there, we’ll try to meet you at the first pub inside the main gate. We’ll go there every evening for dinner once we arrive.”
“You’re kind to an old lady,” the spider golem said. “Whitecliff. Aldor. First pub. Got it. If it is possible, I will meet you there.”
Diana paused again, her spider face an unreadable mask. “Okay, I’m ready.” The spider golem turned it’s back to them. In a sad voice, Jace heard her say. “Come, sir, your passado.”
Jace wasn’t sure what she meant, but Charlena both did sneak attacks on her back side. Unfortunately, their first attacks weren’t powerful enough to kill her outright and he cringed as Diana cried out. “Death, death; oh, amiable, lovely death! Come, grin on me, and I will think thou smilest.”
They struck a second time and finally a third time before the spider golem collapsed onto the ground, a broken ruin.
Crystalburrow Control Drone dies.
You gain 80 experience.
Seeing the experience, Jace guessed Diana must have been some sort of mini-boss. As they looked down at Diana’s body, the whirring from the other golems slowly came to a stop and they were plunged into silence. Not only that, the itching sensation immediately disappeared.
Jace heard a sob and turned to see tears streaming down Charlena’s face. He stepped closer and put an arm around her shoulder and she buried her face in his arm.
“That was so terrible!” she cried into his arm.
“I know,” he said softly. “I know. But hopefully she’ll… Charlena look!”
Jace had seen the body of the spider starting to change, much like Duglas’ body. Charlena raised her head and watched with rapt fascination. Before their eyes, the spider golem twisted and twitched as it transformed into the body of an attractive raven haired woman.
“Does that mean it worked?” Charlena asked, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand.
“I think so!” Jace told her. “That’s what happened to me. My body morphed from kobold into human and then I was able to respawn.”
Charlena jumped into his arms and gave him a huge hug. “Thank you for helping her.”
Jace smiled and patted her on the back. “Of course. I certainly don’t wish that sort of hell on anyone.”
She broke the embrace and stepped back. “You’re a good man, Jace Burton.”
Jace looked around conspiratorially. “Shh.. Don’t let it out. I don’t want to ruin my reputation.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” she said, jabbing him playfully with an elbow. “You have quite the reputation as a hell-raising, vagabond junior programmer!”
They shared a laugh. Curious, Jace walked over to the opening where Diana had emerged from. Looking down, he saw some sort of special recharging station that had obviously been made for the spider golem. He also saw a large chest next to it.
“Yes!” he cried out and Charlena came over to look down as well. “Loot!”
“You men,” he heard Charlena say next to him, “and your fascination with big chests!”
Chapter 26
They had climbed down into Diana’s chamber and looted the chest. It contained a compound long bow, called Earthshadow, as well as a rapier, called Netherlight. The bow went to Charlena, while the foil went to Jace.
“Wow,” Charlena said as she tried out the bow. “This is really nice!”
Jace agreed but was looking at his own weapon with a degree of respect. It was nowhere near the daggers he’d had as Mordred, but it was nice for a low level character like him. He viewed the statistics in his HUD.
Netherlight
Type: Rapier
Damage: 8 + 1 (Dark)
Wt: 3 lb
Description: Found in the ancient underground city of Crystalburrow, this rapier is imbued with the dark energy of Dubh.
Charlena’s long bow was almost identical to his rapier and she was itching to use it.
Earthshadow
Type: Longbow
Damage: 8 + 1 (Dark)
Wt: 5 lb
Description: Found in the ancient underground city of Crystalburrow, this compound longbow is imbued with the dark energy of Dubh.
After checking around the room for any other loot, they climbed back up and headed back to the entrance.
“So, all this,” Charlena gestured to the city. “Just for that one little room full of golems? Was that all there was to it?”
Jace shrugged. “It’s possible. But who we’ll never know. The moment Diana was inserted into the Control Drone, things changed. She was bound by the monster’s parameters and started doing her own things. The overall game AI adapts and generates quests accordingly. If she hadn’t been put here, who knows what this area would be like.”
“That’s wild! So, players who’ve died with this bug could be wreaking havoc with the game?” she asked.
“Possibly,” Jace smiled. “You hear about strange things happening in the game from time to time but usually they’re chalked up to exaggeration or a player who just wants to get attention. Who knows, maybe they’ve been bugged players.”
“Ghosts in the machine?” Charlena raised an eyebrow.
“Ghosts in the machine.” Jace smiled. “Literally.”
“But they’ll be able to fix you, right?” she asked, her tone grown serious.
Jace pretended to be offended. “What? You don’t like this version of me?”
“It’s not that.” She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s just that you had a character you built up over years and all your money. You should have that!”
“Thanks.” Jace smiled.
They walked the rest of the way back to the steps in silence. Waiting at the bottom of the steps, was Luna.
His cat was lying on the first step with her paws
tucked under her body and her tail wrapped around her. She appeared to be sleeping but opened a single eye as they drew closer.
“Food?” she meowed hopefully.
“Yes,” Jace assured the orange tabby. “We’ll go back to the village and get some food.”
“What is she saying?” Charlena asked.
“She wants food,” he replied. “She always wants food.”
Charlena giggled. “Just like a real cat.”
They made their way back out of Crystalburrow and back to the Sinking Springs. Along the way, they stopped at two of the outlying farms where they had quests to turn in. It had been the quest that involved Duglas and turning it in was bittersweet. He hoped Duglas was human and doing well.
Once they reached the village itself, they went to the apothecary until Absalom answered. The squat mayor looked at them in surprise when he opened the door.
“You’re… you’re back,” stuttered the mayor and then looked crestfallen. “Did you decide not to help us after all?”
“Quite the opposite,” Charlena retorted. Jace saw that she had taken up a very heroic pose and worked to suppress a grin. Who was he to knock someone who wanted to roleplay a bit. “We took care of that pesky problem you were having.”
“Wha-?! You… you took care of the skeletons?” the mayor stammered in surprise.
“We did, good sir, mayor,” she replied, her chin held high. She was really hamming it up.
The mayor seemed pleased but skeptical. “It’s.. uh… not that I don’t trust you. I mean, you both seem very heroic.” Jace noticed the mayor's eyes darted over his mismatched armor when he said it. “But uh… I need to, well you know… verify that you did, indeed… ah… well… solve our undead problem.”
Charlena’s heroic facade faltered slightly and she looked to Jace questioningly.
Jace checked the time of day. It was midafternoon judging by the sun. That meant they still had several hours before sunset. “I assume you want to make sure no undead show up tonight before paying us?”
The mayor’s chubby head bobbed up and down vigorously. “It’s not that I don’t trust two fine adventurers such as yourselves. But I have … a… uh… responsibility, yes… a responsibility to the village to verify that the job was done. I’m sure you understand.”
“Can we collect the reward tomorrow morning, assuming no undead show up tonight?” Jace asked him.
“I have classes tomorrow,” Charlena leaned in and whispered quietly. “I can log in after classes.”
“Oh yes,” said the mayor. “If the undead do not come tonight, you may collect your reward tomorrow.”
“That is acceptable, good mayor,” Charlena said, once again resuming her heroic stance.
The mayor nodded and then bolted back into his shop and shut the door. Once the door was shut, Jace let loose the laugh he’d been holding in.
“What?” asked Charlena, giving him an indignant look. “I was in the role. I’m a heroic elf warrior.” She gave him her heroic stance, but he could see the smile creeping on her face.
Jace stopped laughing and nodded. “So you are.”
The smile finally broke through and she relaxed her posture. “Well, I figured… when in Rome.”
“Indeed,” he said. “No reason not to play the part.”
“Exactly,” she smiled for a moment. Then her expression went serious. “Sorry Jace, but I need to log out and do some homework for school.”
Jace was disappointed, but he knew she had a real life, back in the real world. This was still just a game for her. He forced a smile. “No problem. I’ll see you back here tomorrow?”
“Yes. I have classes and then homework. But after that, I’ll log back in and we can collect our quest reward!”
“Sounds good,” he told her. “See you tomorrow.”
“Before I go,” she started hesitantly. “Do you… do you want me to try to tell WorldCog about your predicament? Try to get help?”
“No!” Jace snapped, louder than he had intended and was her hurt expression. He took a breath. “No, please. I don’t want you to contact WorldCog at all. They don’t know about you and I want to keep it that way.”
She looked at him questioningly and he raised his hand to forestall any argument. “I want to get to the capital and contact support directly. If they do nothing or, worse, if they try to take me offline. You’re my ace in the hole. I might need you to go directly to the government gaming commission.”
“I’m your ace in the hole, am I?” she smiled but it became wicked. “Is that some sort of sexual innuendo?”
“I...ah…” he stammered. He certainly hadn’t intended it that way. “I mean…I...”
“It’s okay,” she elbowed him playfully. “I’m just kidding. I’ll be your ace in the hole then. But if you change your mind and need me to contact WorldCog, I will.”
“Thanks,” he let out a relieved breath. She was his only friend now. He didn’t want to screw things up. “I really appreciate it.”
“Of course! See you Jace,” she smiled and then he watched as she faded away.
Once again Jace was alone in the game world. He didn’t remember it bothering him before he died. He used to relish the solo missions and quests he would go on. But playing with Charlena, he found he enjoyed questing with her.
“Food?” meowed Luna, and he looked down to see she was staring hopefully up at him.
“Okay,” he told her. “I did promise you food. Let’s go to the tavern.”
Jace went back to the tavern and ordered their usual, fish and chips. He also used the last of his gold to buy himself an ale. After the ordeal with Diana, he felt like he needed it. As always, Luna attacked her fish with gusto and had it finished before he was done with his ale.
They finished their food and then Jace talked to several of the patrons about where Sinking Springs was in relation to the rest of the kingdom.
Unfortunately, the news was not good. The village was in the far west. It would be months of travel to reach the capital by foot. Frustrated, Jace thanked the patrons and left the tavern.
Jace checked with everyone he could find about quests but everyone was preoccupied with the undead attack tonight. It seemed like he would not be getting any new quests tomorrow. Thinking of other things he could do, Jace remembered the fishing pole he’d bought. Maybe it was time to work on a new skill.
Hiking back to the lake where he had collected the stones for Odo, Jace brought out his fishing pole. He dug up some worms and began to hone his Fishing skill. Luna, who had been watching intently as he found worms - and even ate one whole - became bored with fishing and found a sunny spot and curled up to take a nap. Smiling at his sleeping cat, Jace leaned back against a tree and began to fish.
When dark finally fell, Jace had only raised his Fishing skill to rank 5. He found it was much slower going that some of the other skills he’d worked on. And in all that time, he’d only managed to catch four fish. And he had to admit, they were pitiful. It would take two of the fish to make a meal. Still, since he had no more gold, he really had no choice. Beggars couldn’t be choosers since he’d have to provide for himself until he could make more money.
Jace looked over at the three fish hanging from the tree and realized he'd need to cook them. He cast a glance down at Luna, who lay near the tree with a half-eaten fish in front of her. The sneaky little cat had climbed up the tree and managed to pull one of the fish down. At least, she could eat raw fish. It wasn’t even an option for players. They had to cook it or prepare it - both of which took the Cooking skill.
Since he was a mage now, he hadn’t bothered buying flint and steel to start a fire and he hadn’t had enough money for the gnomish fire sticks - the expensive VEIL equivalent of matches. He just stacked up firewood and cast Flame Bolt at it. As Jace hoped, the spell immediately ignited the firewood and he smiled. In the past, as Mordred, he’d always had to carry around gnomish fire sticks to start a fire. It was nice to not have to rely on them. Es
pecially since he couldn’t afford them at the moment.
Once the fire was going, the next problem that presented itself was how to cook the fish without any pots or pans. He thought about it for some time before finally coming up with an idea. First, he gutted all three of the fish. Using a long, straight stick that he used as a skewer, he impaled one of the fish. He used two forked sticks on either side of the campfire and placed the skewer across the fire. He rotated the fish every few minutes, receiving several rank ups in the Cooking skill. After a half hour of turning the fish, he finally received a message.
You have lost an item: raw fish. Cooking failure.
You have lost an item: raw fish. Cooking success.
You have lost an item: raw fish. Cooking failure.
You have gained an item: Cooked fish fillet.
Your Cooking skill has increased by 1.
Jace looked down as two of the fillets turned to burnt husks. He sighed. It looked like he would go hungry tonight. On the bright side, he’d gained some valuable skill ranks in Fishing and Cooking. The more ranks he got, the easier it would be. He hoped.
He took his cooked fish fillet and bit into it. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t nearly as good as the fish and chips he had eaten at the tavern, but it wasn’t half bad. Since there wasn’t much to it, Jace finished the fish fairly quickly. Surprisingly, it seemed to satisfy him.
Luna had come to lie near the fire and was curled up and he leaned back against his tree and enjoyed the warmth. It brought back memories of going camping with his dad when he was younger. His father had liked the outdoors and had taken Jace and his sister hiking and camping several times a year. They’d been fun times.
A howl broke Jace from the pleasant memories and he sat up quickly. He’d definitely heard a howl in the night over to his right. Another howl sounded in the darkness, this one to his left. He cursed himself as he realized the light and the smell of cooking fish probably attracted some wolves or coyotes.
Luna was up as well, moving behind his legs. She looked up at him and meowed a single word: “Wolfers!”
Veil Online - Book 1 (a LitRPG MMORPG Adventure Series) Page 17
