At last, he finished. My wounds closed on their own, sealing the dark liquid within, painting the shape clearly on my chest, like a raised full-body tattoo or a ritual scarification.
Vow Completed: Endure
Reward: +100 Faith Points, new rune
Additional Effect: You have been bound by Nihilator.
You have gained knowledge of a new rune: ‘Og’ (Rune of Binding)
You have absorbed a high concentration of dark energy.
+3 Dark Mana Skill (new skill level: 30)
I was reading the new messages with great interest, so Vic’s statement distracted me. What do you mean by ‘bound?’ I didn’t feel any different, aside from the burning, residual pain in my chest.
It doesn’t really matter, Vic. I’ve got what we come for. And then some. The contribution to my Dark Mana skill alone was astounding. The skill was now at the maximum potential for my Mental attribute, theoretically allowing me to use Dominate and Freeze on creatures ten levels higher than myself. Reaching my upper limit cap meant I’d have to level up to increase the skill level further.
Suddenly released from the magical hold, I fell forward from my kneeling position. I stayed down and bowed to Nihilator. “Thank you, Master.”
Grunting and turning his back to me, Nihilator resumed his original position.
I walked out of his chamber and made my way back up the tunnel.
Vic left my shoulder and walked beside me. “That was stupid, Boss; you don’t know what power he has over you now.”
I shrugged. “I will, soon enough. I just need to experiment with the new rune a little bit first.”
“But –”
“Hey, what’s that?”
We’d reached the lava flow, and I caught a glimpse of a reddish glint coming from a shallow alcove. It was located above where the lava stream drained into a hole in the wall.
Vic followed my finger and squinted. “Seems like there’s something there. But can’t really see what from this angle.” He resumed walking up the tunnel.
“Hold on, I want to check it out.”
“How would you do that? In case you haven’t noticed, there’s this river of molten, boiling rock below it.”
“Like this.” I concentrated and activated Shadow Teleport, instantly reappearing on the edge of the shallow alcove. I almost lost my footing but managed to grab hold of the wall in time.
Vic snickered. “Yep, that’s a pretty cool spell, Boss.”
Inside the alcove was a deep horizontal shaft about the width of a goblin’s head. The shaft was radiating heat and it was filled with magmashrooms.
Jackpot!
I collected as many of the rare items as I could, stuffing 37 of them into my inventory. As far as I knew, these rare magma-infused mushrooms could be used in a variety of crafts, even as ingredients in exquisite food. If nothing else, they were high-value items for trading.
Feeling better at the unexpected find, I teleported back down and we resumed our walk.
I was thinking of how to best use the magmashrooms when Vic interrupted with, “Ding! You have an incoming message.”
“Eh?”
New Era Online [Internal messaging service]:
From: SuperWolf#23
Subject: We need to talk!
Oren,
Send me your current coordinates.
We need to talk.
ASAP.
Tal
I frowned.
Tal … Tal … But he was … a traveler. We are … were once … close friends? But he is not truly of NEO; he is nothing but a distraction now.
“Aren’t you gonna answer back?” Vic asked expectantly.
I shook my head. “There is no reason to.” I gave a mental flick, closing the message.
“Boss, wait a minute, we need to talk.”
I stopped walking and stared at him. ”Now what? You’re going to scold me for ignoring that message?”
“Tal is your friend, Boss. Your best pal, actually.”
“No.” I shook my head. “That would be Tika, Zuban, and even you. The travelers come from another world. They don’t care about us. I can’t maintain personal contact with one.”
“Don’t you remember your life before NEO? Think, Oren. How did you become a goblin?”
A flash of memory came to me … being laughed at, humiliated, and kicked around. I felt my temper boil over, and I clenched my fist. “It’s their fault – those damned travelers! Vatras might be the worst of the lot, but we can’t trust any of them. We’re nothing but fodder in their eyes!”
“Is that so?” Vic asked. “Then what about the twins?”
I calmed myself. “That’s different. They are partly of NEO, I can feel that. They just need to take a single small step to become one with this world fully, like me. Still, I don’t plan to lower my guard around them.”
Vic shook his head sadly. “You’re losing it, Boss. You are a player. Your name is Oren, and this world was made by your people. This world was made to be a game.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s not like you to say things like that. What are you up to, Vic?”
He smiled mischievously. “Well, I took the liberty of sending Tal your coordinates, and I just had to find a way to keep you standing long enough in one place.”
My rage flared. “You what?”
A familiar black sphere popped up around me, engulfing my body.
Vic’s voice came to me from far away.
5 – Reality Check
For the second time, I found myself inside the accursed black dome. But this time, instead of a plain bare space with only a conference table, I was standing inside … a garden park? Whatever this place was, it was full of flowers blooming in every color.
I will not be played with like this! I fumed.
Facing the barrier, I reached with my mind and pushed at the wall of my prison, determined to break out of the imprisoning dome.
Nothing happened.
I pushed harder, closing my eyes and willing the black wall to yield to my command. Still nothing. In fact, I couldn’t even sense the barrier with my mind. Despite being composed of a black substance, it was not made of darkness or shadows. It was beyond my reach.
A male human, but almost the size of an Ogre, materialized out of thin air in front of me. A barbarian.
He’s a traveler! I realized in alarm and started casting.
He spoke in a rumbling voice, “Hey, bro–”
Without pause, I loosed the drilling arrows I’d conjured and followed up with my bone dagger. All three hit their mark, but although the man flinched at the attack, he showed no sign of being hurt.
He scowled at me. “Come on, man, I have admin privileges; you know you can’t affect my character in here.”
“Let me out,” I snarled, baring my teeth.
“Can’t do that, bro.” He shook his head slowly. “Not until we have a good long talk.”
“Let me out!” I roared.
“Damn,” he muttered to himself, “it’s worse than I thought.”
Reaching for the surrounding darkness, I cast Shadow Web over him. He ignored the tendrils of darkness extending out to ensnare him, and they faded away as soon as they touched him. I tried to teleport out of the bubble but only ended up smashing against the black barrier.
“It’s no use, man. You can’t leave unless I let you, and I won’t do that until we’ve talked.”
I will not be dismissed so casually by a wretched traveler! I started throwing every bit of offensive magic I had at him: Drilling Arrow, Shadow Hound, more webs … I even tried dominating his mind. I drew more and more mana, losing myself in the expression of power and rage, an endless barrage born of fear and a
nger.
My foe sat on the ground among the flowers, unruffled through it all. “You might as well sit down and talk,” he said after my onslaught was exhausted, leaving me spent and drained of mana.
Still shaking with the intensity of my emotions, I forced myself to calm down but remained standing. “Very well. Talk.”
“Last night I got a call from your caretakers. Your brainwave pattern became erratic for almost an hour. When the pattern stabilized, it appeared significantly different than before.” He looked at me searchingly. “They said it was probably caused by stress and that there’s no physical danger, but they couldn’t explain the new patterns. That worried me, especially since I haven’t heard from you for nearly two days, which is about two weeks from your perspective.”
He studied me, his expression full of compassion. “We located the logs of that hour. It coincided with a ‘player stuck’ ticket coming from the same location.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I know you were tortured. Badly.”
I chose not to reply.
Tal shook his head. “We don’t know how it happened, but the experience changed your psyche. It’s as if your brain rearranged itself to cope with the situation. I can see some of how the change is manifesting now. You don’t even remember me, do you?”
I stared at him, uncomprehending. What was he talking about? Brainwave patterns? I was tortured, yes, but I found a way to turn it to my advantage and get rid of my enemies in one stroke! This blabbering barbarian-traveler can’t be more powerful than Barska was; I will find a way to overpower him.
Analyze.
TheRagon, Level 232 Human
Active profile: SuperWolf#23
Role: Game Admin ${role:1}
UserId: uid#4591
Email: [email protected]
What is that gibberish? The barbarian’s level was evident, but I was clueless as to the strange words and the hauntingly familiar symbols. “This is a ruse. A damned traveler’s magic,” I declared uncertainly. “You were sent to destroy my clan!”
Tal shook his head. “No, man – think! We’ve known each other for years, we’re friends!”
I didn’t want to hear that, yet his words had a ring of truth to them. But it can’t be! Travelers were the enemy. We were nothing but fodder to them.
“Don’t you remember our past, Oren?” Tal continued. “We copied from each other during our final exam in economics, and we both failed. We used to go out to bars trying to hook up with girls, though we usually just ended up walking back home drunk and singing. Remember?”
I held my head with both hands. Images imparted by his words swirled around my mind, confusing me. “No, that wasn’t me … that was … someone else.”
“And then NEO came out, and you became an almost instant celebrity,” he went on without missing a beat. “You were so damn proud of yourself, Oren. You established your own guild, the Manapulators. Do you remember that?”
More images spun in my head. The guild … my old clan, a clan of humans …
“Four days ago, you were betrayed by Vatras, your guild’s second-in-command. He turned you into a goblin and threw you out. Think, Oren!”
The images stopped spinning, and a single one remained. The smarmy smile of that accursed Vatras as he gleefully threw me out into the street. “Vatras will pay,” I hissed.
“For what?” Tal encouraged.
“For betraying me!”
“How did he betray you?” he pressed.
“He threw me out of my old clan! Then he killed me!”
“So Vatras is another goblin?”
“No! He’s a tra–” I stopped mid-sentence. How could a traveler throw me out of my own clan? Vatras was not part-monster like the twins; he was one of the despicable, undying travelers.
Suddenly, my brain felt like it was shifting inside my skull. I groaned and sank to the ground, clutching at my head, trying to force it to stop.
It was as if pieces of a jigsaw puzzle I’d always had in my mind – but had been looking at in the wrong order – assembled themselves into a picture. The final piece fell into place, and the entire picture lay clearly before me. I knew who I was.
I closed my eyes. Traveler … Player … goblin. World … .Game … NEO.
I was trapped inside a world that had nearly absolute control over me. A world in which I could be tortured and be put through harrowing trials. A game where collections of code called VI had human-like intelligence and were enslaved to operate its NPC population.
NEO was a prison. And I was no longer a player, I was just another inmate.
I opened my eyes. “Tal?”
“I’m here, buddy.”
“Tal, I think I got myself into a bit more trouble.”
He laughed. “That’s the understatement of the year. Good to have you back, bro. You had me worried there for a moment.”
“I have to get out of here, Tal. I … I don’t know how long I can last. Without …” I looked at my green goblin body hands and swallowed hard. I knew I was a human player, but still, my goblin body felt more natural to me than the one I remembered having before. My instincts still told me this person was a threat, but I was able to suppress them for now. “I think I might be losing it.”
Tal nodded soberly. “You’ve been through a rough patch, but every indication shows you’ve become stronger. And not only in terms of levels; your immersion in the game deepened. Your thoughts shape the world around you. As long as you keep that firmly in mind, there’s no obstacle you won’t be able to overcome.”
I looked at him in amazement. “How can you be so sure?”
“Remember our last visit, when we talked about CCP?”
“The Cerebral Connection Percentage?”
“Exactly. Since your ordeal, your CCP has skyrocketed and is now at 99 percent. That means your mind achieved a near perfect synchronization with the FIVR capsule.”
Tal had once disclosed to me that the only person to have ever achieved a 100 percent CCP was David not-the-one Tenenbaum. His was a famous case of a person getting stuck in FIVR, a situation unheard of until then, though the circumstances of the case were unique. David was a savant who suffered from extreme autism. His integration with the game was so deep that his mind took roots inside the virtual world and refused to leave. According to Tal, David could make things happen inside NEO that were unheard of before. The notion of me being one percent short of his situation was … alarming.
As if reading my mind, Tal said, “Your integration is so high, you can accomplish things other players only dream of.”
Despite having recognized Tal as my oldest friend, my gut still told me this person could not be trusted, that it was all a ruse of some kind. I clenched my fists and did my best to ignore that feeling. Though the comparison to David still bothered me, what Tal was hinting at intrigued me. “Like what?” I tried hard to keep the suspicion from my voice.
He shrugged. “I’m not really sure; you had about 45 percent CCP before the incident and you could easily control spells and mana. Now that your CCP has more than doubled, who knows what that could mean?”
I nodded slowly. It could explain several things, like my ability to ‘read’ information directly from NEO without needing the system messages, or my innate understanding of Runecrafting, not to mention being able to dominate minds. Tal was right. The possibilities were staggering.
“I see the gears turning, are you figuring it out?”
I nodded and forced my fingers to unclench.
“You’re on the right track, bro. You’re boss tier 2 now, on your way for the next rank up. Your clan should be large enough to support the upgrade in a few more days, my time.” He grinned. “At this rate, you’ll probably be crowned the emperor of all goblins by this time next week.”
I smiled weakly. “I’m working on it.”
Then I remembered my clan’s current predicament and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Tal asked.
“A search party found my clan. T
hey were sent out by Vatras. He’s no doubt already mobilizing the entire guild against me. We have almost no chance of surviving an attack by them.” I couldn’t help thinking, And you just happened to appear right after their initial attack.
Tal’s face clouded. “That’s bad, but in a very short time, you’ve accumulated some pretty impressive forces. And you’re already what, level 17?”
“Twenty, but that’s nothing. Vatras can field dozens of level 200 players or more against me. There’s no way we could stop such a force.”
Tal’s concerned expression relaxed and he began to smile.
“What’s so funny?” His casual disregard for my plight caused my goblin instinct to kick in. I eyed the traveler skeptically.
“Bro, I think you’ve been playing this little green … well, little green-and-black monster for too long. There’s no way Vatras is going to be able to muster that kind of force against you.”
I stared at him.
Tal rolled his eyes. “Come on, man, use your head. Getting high-level troops to march for days just to handle one tiny goblin clan? He’ll be the laughingstock of the guild. There is no way professional gamers would lose days of grinding and leveling to hunt lowbie monsters for zero experience. People might actually leave the guild if he tries to force them to do it. At most, he might gather a few dozen low-level players to come against you. Probably no more than level 30. You can handle that.”
My mood immediately improved, the conflicted turmoil in my gut subsiding.
All players, without exception, considered killing goblins only as a way to level up low-level characters. No one took goblins seriously. Tal was right!
He noticed my change of mood. “Being randomly cast into a goblin might prove to be your saving grace in the end. Things would be different if you’d played, say … a giant or a saurian.”
He was right again. But then an alarming thought occurred to me. “He might still come in person, or one of his cronies, or several of them. They’re all over level 200. We can’t hope to stop even one of them.”
Tal pondered my words. “Maybe …” he finally said. “But still, I think it’s a small chance, Vatras can’t leave the guild for long; he might lose his position if he stayed away for an extended amount of time. But even if a few high-level players come, you know there are ways to handle them. Use a powerful artifact, a scroll, or summoning magic. Something! You’re resourceful enough to handle one or two high-level players.”
Life Reset_EvP_Environment vs. Player Page 7
