World-Tree Online

by EA Hooper

  I still don’t think I can fight Gazal head to head. His paused and looked at his hands. However, if I could hit him with negative energy while he’s resting, I might be able to get a cheap kill. It’ll be a lot harder to fight World Bosses on higher worlds. Most experienced players recommend unlocking a subclass before leaving the beginner worlds. This might be my best chance, assuming I don’t kill myself with my own attack.

  He generated a small amount of mana in his hands and pressed it down until he formed a tiny speck of negative energy. After several years of practice, he’d found it easy to make a speck—however, growing the dot took time and concentration. He fed the speck more mana and watched it swell between his palms. Black sparks flew off it, but he willed it to stabilize before adding more mana.

  Gazal raised his head toward Vincent.

  The Ranger froze with fear and stopped pouring mana into the black marble. “Crap.” He barely had time to speak before the World Boss’s horns flashed with light. Vincent leapt away from the tree he’d been hiding behind just before an explosion ripped off layers of bark.

  Vincent jumped to his feet, still holding the negative energy. He dashed around the clearing toward the hills, and explosions sounded behind him. Every few feet, the World Boss blasted the ground where he’d been standing.

  The man’s brow dripped with sweat, and his breathing became panicked. He rushed up the hillside, hoping to get a vantage point on the World Boss. Vincent desperately dumped his mana into the small sphere of negative energy. It sparked wildly, but with fifteen years of practice, he kept it contained almost instinctively.

  Gazal dashed across the pond, almost floating above the water. The monster closed half the distance between himself and Vincent in less than a second and aimed his horns at the human on the hillside.

  Vincent readied himself to release the negative energy, but in his panic, his view stayed on Gazal. He almost forgot he was holding the black sphere until he noticed something odd. Vincent paused and glanced at the sphere.

  It’s like there’s nothing there, but I can feel there’s nothing there. No frequency or matter or anything. Something clicked in his head. Of course—it’s a lack of frequency! That’s what I’m feeling.

  The dirt incline below Vincent exploded, and he tumbled down the hillside. He landed on grass at the bottom of the incline and looked up at the World Boss looming over him. The boss’s horns glowed with light, but Vincent aimed and released his attack first.

  The black bolt cut through Gazal’s shield, his forehead, and then traveled out the back of his skull. Gazal collapsed to the ground in front of Vincent, and the World Boss’s body crumbled into glowing dust. Vincent gaped at the dust. His body trembled with fear for several seconds, but then that old, familiar feeling of victory boiled in his veins.

  “I did it!” he screamed. “I killed a World Boss!”

  Class Quest Completed: The Greatest Game

  True Huntsman’s Cloak Acquired

  Please choose your subclass: Warden | Mage | Cleric | Rogue | Fighter

  “Mage,” Vincent answered. He’d put a lot of thought into that decision over the years, and he believed raising his Spirit faster would be useful, considering he preferred to avoid close-range fights whenever possible.

  Ability Acquired: Elemental Conversion

  That’ll come in handy, but I’m not sure what element I’ll lean toward. They all have different frequencies that I’d need to learn.

  Spell Created (???) – Mana Usage: Medium | Releases a bolt of negative energy from the user’s fingertips.

  What would you like to name this spell?

  Vincent’s eyes widened at the prompt. His heart thundered in his chest, partially from the fight, but also because a decade and a half of work had finally been rewarded.

  It worked? It worked! I did it. I really made a spell with negative energy. It took me fifteen years, but now I’ll be able to use it whenever I please, without the hassle of charging it up or trying to stabilize it. Maybe it won’t zigzag, either.

  “Void Gun,” Vincent replied, climbing to his feet. He’d thought of the name for the theoretical ability years ago, but he’d told no one.

  A smile crossed his face as the new spell appeared on his list of abilities. He chugged his last ether, pointed at a tree, and cast Void Gun. A bolt of negative energy flew from his fingers and through the tree, leaving a hole the width of two fingers.

  Vincent raised his fists into the air and screamed, “Yes!”

  His eyes went to the glowing crystals left by Gazal. He grabbed the items, and then looked over them and the True Huntsman’s Cloak he’d acquired from completing his Class Quest.

  True Huntsman’s Cloak (Soulbound) – Material Rating: 100 | A comfortable cloak made of enchanted orofabric. | Camouflage – This item blends itself and its wearer into their surroundings.

  Gazal’s Horn (x2) – A beautiful, crystalline horn taken from Gazal the Forest Lord. You can feel old magic flowing through it.

  High-Quality Antelope Meat (150 pounds)

  High-Quality Antelope Skin (10 pounds)

  Emerald-Colored Fur (1.5 pounds)

  Crystal Heart – A crystalline and still-beating heart taken from a majestic or divine being. You can feel tremendous magical energy with each pulse.

  Nice. I can have this heart converted into Jump Crystals, and I’ll use the two horns to make upgraded swords before I venture off Teramor.

  Vincent smiled to himself. Off Teramor—I’m really doing this, aren’t I? After fifteen years, I’ll finally see the World-Tree for what it really is. I’ve been making up excuses not to leave because I’m nervous, but I’ve met my own wildest prerequisites. I have Void Gun working. I’ll have Jump Crystals ready. I already finished my Class Quest. Oh, I almost forgot to try out this cloak.

  Vincent equipped his True Huntsman’s Cloak. When he pulled up the hood, he almost disappeared into the hillside. It won’t make me invisible, but it’ll help me get past monsters if I’m in a bad situation.

  He took off the cloak and tossed it to the ground. After three seconds, it reappeared in his inventory. My first soulbound item. Even if I die, it’ll return to me. It can’t be permanently destroyed or taken from me. The rating is pretty good for my level too. Strong as oiron. Although it’s thin, so an oiron blade can penetrate it with a direct hit. Should do well against branzium weapons, at least.

  He climbed to the top of the hill that overlooked the clearing. From atop, he thought he could spot the faraway lights of Knightrest. Should only take me an hour if I run. Between this cloak and my Sound-Dampening boots, I shouldn’t have to worry about monsters chasing after me.

  Vincent dashed down the hill and ran in the direction of Knightrest. He only stayed at about seventy-percent of his full speed because he’d long ago discovered the game would barely drain his stamina unless he went any faster.

  After several minutes of hurrying through the forest, he passed several wandering monsters. Two orcs heard his steps, but didn’t spot him. One night-lurker, a long-limbed creature that prowled in trees, spotted him, but couldn’t catch him. He circled around a goblin camp, and they didn’t even notice him.

  He started to feel safer and sent Jim a chat invite.

  >Vincent: 100%

  >Jim: What? Your negative energy thing? No way, dude.

  >Vincent: Yes way.

  >Jim: Dude. Dude! How? After all these years, I was starting to think it’d never work.

  >Vincent: I don’t know for sure. It might be because I was fighting a strong monster. Or maybe because I started to feel the gap in frequencies between my fingers.

  >Jim: You kill the monster?

  >Vincent: Yup. One-shot it.

  >Jim: Nice! Was it an orc or something?

  >Vincent: Gazal.

  >Jim: What? You’re joking, right?

  Vincent laughed.

  >Vincent: I’ll show you my True Huntsman’s Cloak to prove it.

  >Jim: I believe you, Vince.
You just blew my mind, is all. I still haven’t completed my Class Quest. Woah, hold on. Does this mean you’re leaving Teramor?

  >Vincent: Yeah, once I get some money together and maybe find a party or caravan. You coming with me, Jim?

  Jim went quiet for several seconds.

  >Jim: You know I can’t, buddy. I have too much going on in Teramor. Besides, I don’t want to die a hundred times trying to reach the mid-tier worlds. Last time I left Knightrest, I lost my arm to an orc and had to blow my own brains out with Mana Gun.

  >Vincent: That’s why I carry Lotus Capsules.

  >Jim: Man, detonating myself doesn’t sound much better. It might only hurt for a fraction of a second, but it’s still mentally scarring. I’m sure you’ve seen some of the City Watch people that have gotten torn apart by goblins over the years. Some of them never bounced back.

  >Vincent: Come on, Jim. At least go with me to the mid-tier worlds. Then you can head back before things get too rough. Once I’m gone, you might not see me again for centuries.

  >Jim: I know, I know. If I could set the pain reduction to even half, I’d join you in a heartbeat. It’s just too real, man.

  >Vincent: Isn’t that why you told me to play this game—because it felt so real? Don’t you have that call to adventure like you did when we were young, Jim?

  >Jim: Vince, I’m sorry. Leaving is just too dangerous. I’m willing to bet you’ll feel the same once you get onto those other worlds and see how tough it gets. When you come back to Knightrest, I’ll buy you all the drinks you want for the next three hundred years.

  >Vincent: When I leave Teramor, I’m not coming back. I already had a contract prepared with the City Watch to leave my house as a cat sanctuary for all those strays that come and go. Every few decades, they’ll send someone by for maintenance on the rune systems I built that gather water and generate food pellets for the cats.

  >Jim: Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen your crazy-cat-guy laboratory. So, you’ll abandon all those stray cats and me too, huh?

  >Vincent: I’m not abandoning you, Jim. We’ll still talk all the time on private chat.

  >Jim: Well, you owe me one more week of binge drinking before you head out—just in case we don’t see each other for three-hundred-something years.

  >Vincent: Alright, fair enough. Let me make a couple of stops first. I’ll feed some of Gazal’s meat into the pellet system for the stray cats. It’ll keep replicating the food for hundreds of years as long as the City Watch keeps up maintenance.

  >Jim: I’ll make sure they do.

  >Vincent: I also need to take Gazal’s horns to a blacksmith. I’ll get two swords crafted to take with me. I got a Crystal Heart from Gazal that I’ll see if Roderick can convert into Jump Crystals. That might be enough to get me across a few worlds. Then I’ll stop by the market to sell the rest of Gazal’s parts. I need every gild I can get for this journey.

  >Jim: I’ll pitch in a couple thousand for your trip.

  >Vincent: You don’t have to do that. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to make more gild along the way.

  >Jim: Yeah, but caravans have gotten expensive since the update started. Not as many people are traveling between worlds.

  >Vincent: To be honest, I’d prefer a good old-fashioned party. Me and two to four others that balance out one another.

  >Jim: Try the arena. Anyone crazy enough to still fight there is probably brave enough to venture to higher worlds. Except for the ones so desperate for gild that they’ll put themselves in danger and gamble money on it.

  >Vincent: You know what, Jim? You just gave me a pretty good idea.

  Chapter 7

  Player: Lucas the Just

  Location: Sarfin (World) | Snowcrag (City) | Jailer’s Point (District)

  Class: Sheriff (Moderator)

  Vitality*: Lv 88

  Spirit*: Lv 98

  Resolve*: Lv 95

  Perception*: Lv 91

  Agility*: Lv 90

  Strength*: Lv 90

  Lucas’s men carried the immobilized figure and placed him into a chamber with rune-lined walls. The chamber was one of many similar cells in a long corridor. Most the rooms had been filled with bored-looking people that wasted their time reading books or watching holograms of arena battles or plays. In recent years, Snowcrag’s acting guild had even developed entire shows using advanced holographic runes to cut and paste scenes together. However, without real technology, episodes of certain shows could take months to make.

  Once the figure had been moved into the chamber, Lucas hit the man with another Mod Gun to unfreeze him. The man collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath. His body shook with anger, but his eyes showed fear. “You can’t choke someone like that!”

  Lucas’s companions laughed, but the Sheriff shrugged. “Sorry, pal. You broke the laws here in Snowcrag. I’m only doing my job.”

  “How long will I be in here?” the man asked.

  “Not my decision,” Lucas replied. “You’ll see a judge in the next few weeks that will sentence you.”

  “A few weeks just to get sentenced? That’s not right, man. Come on, this is only a game. Who cares if I robbed a few people out in the tundra.”

  Lucas ignored the man and walked down the hall. His companions followed him to the stairwell, then climbed up past several floors of prison cells. Lucas reached the rooftop of the building complex and stared at the circular city. Other jailing complexes stretched as far as he could see.

  “This is what I like about you Eastern Europeans,” Lucas said to his companions. He spoke in English, but the game’s auto-translator made it to where they heard him in their own language. “You take the law seriously. If we’re all to be trapped here for centuries, it only makes sense to establish a strong sense of order. I only wish every city cooperated with me like you guys. For every city that welcomes me and my help, it seems there’s at least five that think immobilizing people is too harsh a punishment—even if it’s just for a few hours to relocate them.”

  One companion, a man using the moniker Silver Erik, smiled at Lucas. “Those other cities are weak-willed.” The tall, gray-haired man pulled his coat tighter around himself as the cold winds of Sarfin beat down on them. “They still treat this like a game. They haven’t considered that, eventually, they’ll come to see this as the world they’ve known for most of their existence. When that time arrives, their true nature will reveal itself, and they’ll be begging for the strong to tell them what to do.”

  “If they’re smart, anyways,” Lucas huffed. “The problem is, I can only use one World Teleport a day—I can’t be everywhere at once. Luckily, I have a few groups like you on several worlds that keep me updated and assist me. But I need a lot more people than I have now. If we want to keep order on the World-Tree for the long term.”

  “Start a guild,” Erik replied. “You have that Monster Pause power, right? You can convince people to join by offering to Monster Pause World Bosses so people can farm for good items without risking harm to themselves. Plus, your guildsmen could level up faster if you aid them against stronger enemies. In a decade or so, you could have the largest guild on the World-Tree.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking about something like that. However, running a guild can get expensive. Even if I help my guildsmen raid dungeons and get easy kills on World Bosses, the cost and difficulty of managing a multi-world guild is outrageous.”

  Erik shrugged. “You know my brother is part of the council that runs this city, right? You’ve proven yourself a strong ally of Snowcrag. If you give the council high positions and authority in your guild, we could use Snowcrag’s resources to aid you.”

  “So, they’d be buying positions of power in my multi-world guild?”

  “Don’t think of it like them buying power. It’s more like you’d be making good friends that can make your job easier. You care about order, don’t you? And I know you want the worlds to respect you, Lucas. With the Council of Snowcrag behind you, the people of the Wor
ld-Tree will come to see you as a leader.”

  So, I’ll have less responsibility and more respect. And all I have to do is share my influence with this council. That’s not a bad deal. The only problem is it might make me look a little corrupt. Not that I care if I’m corrupt, but other people will think worse of me. Especially Harper.

  Several women drinking on the opposite rooftop waved at Lucas. “Lucas!” a brown-haired woman shouted. “You going to party with us again soon, Mr. Moderator?”

  Lucas grinned. Oh, forget Harper. She’ll realize what she’s missing one of these days. Since I’m the only mod now, I’ve gotten a lot more attention from women. I don’t know why I still worry about what Harper thinks. Is it just cause we’re childhood friends? Because we’ve been working together for decades in this game? Why do I care so much?

  “So,” Erik said, smiling at the women. “Maybe we should quit working for the night. I wouldn’t mind grabbing drinks with your lady friends over there. They’ve been following us around all day, after all.”

  You’ve received a private chat invitation from Knight Harper. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  Lucas sighed. “Give me a minute,” he told his companions. “I have a chat invite from Harper. It might be important.” He turned away from his companions and the women before accepting the chat invite.

  >Harper: Lucas, we need to talk.

  >Lucas: I’m kind of busy with mod work on Sarfin. Super important stuff.

  >Harper: This is more important.

  >Lucas: Than bringing criminals to justice?

  >Harper: I need you to World Teleport to Layavar right now.

  >Lucas: I can’t do that right now, Harper. Just tell me what you want. You guys catch some thugs you can’t defeat? Need me to Mod Gun them?

  >Harper: No, it’s about Leaf-Blade Valery. I don’t know if you remember her, but she was a mod like us.

  Lucas’s heart pounded in his chest. I’ll just lie and say I only vaguely remember. Just in case she knows something.