World-Tree Online

by EA Hooper

  “You’re lying. You’ve been lying to me for years, haven’t you?”

  Lucas felt his heart sinking. Why does she keep looking at me like that? I hate it. I hate that horrible look. She’s trying to make me feel bad despite all the good I’ve done—most of it to impress her. Thirty-five years since the update, and she still doesn’t feel the same about me as I do her. Even despite all my accomplishments. She showed more attention to that stupid Jim-guy than she’s shown me in years. It’s like she’s trying to break my heart. She wants me to feel miserable.

  Lucas grabbed Harper’s hand. She tried to pull away, but he held it tight.

  “Harper,” he said. “I lied to protect you, is all. Everything I’ve done has been for you. You know that, right? I wanted to impress you so badly. After all these years, I still care about what you think. So, it pains me to see you look at me like that. Just stop it, Harper. Stop looking at me like that.”

  Harper ripped her hand away, and her eyes filled with disgust. “You’ve done all this for yourself. All so you can have more power and attention. I’ve tried leading you down the right path, and you just get angry at me for it.”

  Lucas felt fury rising inside himself. “Then why’d you stay by my side for all these years? Because you thought you could control me?”

  “Because you’re my friend, and I kept thinking there’s good in you. But you keep proving me wrong.”

  “Good? I’m the only good in this game. I’m bringing order and safety to the people of these worlds. They’ll all love me for it one day. I only thought you would too. After all these years, I don’t know why I never told you that I love you, Harper. It’s why I’ve kept you around. It’s why I’ve given you so many chances to seek my attention.”

  Harper stared at the ground, trying to hold back tears. Her fists trembled, and then she raised her hate-filled eyes back to Lucas. “I don’t want your attention. I don’t even want to be around you anymore. You disgust me, Lucas.”

  Lucas raised his finger and shot Harper with Mod Gun.

  The moderator lowered his head, and his muscles tightened. His body shook with anger, but tears dotted his eyes. Lucas screamed at the ground, unable to bring himself to look at Harper. He caught his breath, remembering the other people in the room. “Everyone, leave. Now.”

  Erik bowed, and then led the remaining Justiciars through a side door.

  Lucas grabbed the nearest chair and hurled it across the chamber. He raised his hand and fired mana blasts through the seats and tables and counters. He punched a pillar, cracking the stone. The furious moderator tore the chamber apart, but never directed his anger at the immobilized woman. With the rest of the chamber destroyed, he stomped toward her.

  The moderator struggled to look at Harper’s eyes. When he finally did, he found they still carried the same expression of disgust. “Don’t look at me like that!” he screamed.

  Lucas equipped his sword and slashed through her shield. He struck again, knowing the attack wouldn’t affect her while she was banned. After a third strike, Lucas grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the nearest wall. “I could unban you and drive this sword through you. Do you realize how easy it would be for me to kill you again and again?”

  An animalistic scream left his throat, and he hurled Harper across the chamber. “You could’ve been the queen of the World-Tree, you stupid woman. All you had to do was love me. Why won’t you love me? After everything I’ve done to impress you. All the power I’ve obtained. All those people out there fear and respect me. Erik practically worships me. There’re women across dozens of worlds that adore me.”

  Lucas stomped toward her, knocking rubble and broken tables out of his way. Tears touched his cheeks as he towered over her. “We were supposed to be king and queen of this universe. You were supposed to be mine.” Lucas repeatedly punched the ground beside Harper’s face. “Why. Won’t. You. Love. Me?”

  His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, and Lucas turned away from Harper’s disgusted look. His head lowered, and he collapsed to his knees and cried. After several minutes, the moderator wiped the snot from his nose.

  “If you won’t love me, I have no reason to care what you think anymore. You think you’re disgusted with me now? I have no reason to hold back my potential any longer. I’ll simply take what I want—make any laws I please, and enforce them however I like. That lowlife you smiled at? Consider him banned. The city of Midrun? I’ll take it by any means. I’ll use the most blood-thirsty soldiers and ban anyone that stands in my way.”

  >Lucas: Erik, do you know those powerful prisoners Harper and I brought you a few years ago? Killer Sam and Jackal-Heart Ryan?

  >Erik: Yes, sir. I remember. You caught them after our spies saw they’d been rejected from Midrun. They tried to plead with you and even offered to join your Justiciars.

  >Lucas: I only turned them down because Harper didn’t like it. I have no reason to listen to her anymore. In what chambers were they located?

  >Erik: Uh, somewhere in the J Section. Between two and three hundred.

  >Lucas: Thanks. Come get Harper. Find her a nice prison cell, and I’ll unban her later.

  >Erik: Yes, sir.

  Lucas stepped away from Harper, leaving her in a pile of rubble. He tried to wipe away his tears as he left the tower. Outside, the waves and kisses of admiring women caught his attention.

  See, I don’t need Harper. I don’t need Harper. I don’t need her.

  He tried to smile as he marched toward Jailer’s Point. Justiciars led him to the J Section, and they searched until they found the anti-spell chambers with Killer Sam and Jackal-Heart Ryan. Lucas opened a panel, so he and Sam could see one another face to face.

  “Having fun in there?” Lucas asked.

  “Not really,” Sam grumbled. “I keep trying to think of new ways to kill myself, but the runes revive me every time.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t work, trust me. I have a prisoner I’ve held for thirty-five years, and she’s killed herself hundreds of times. Eventually, she just gave up. Last time I checked on her, she was kind of despondent. Maybe I should throw a friend in there with her.”

  “Who, me?” Sam asked. “I already told your dumb blonde friend that I didn’t rape those girls. Those other two idiots on our team did it, and you banned them thirty-five years ago. So, don’t get any ideas of using me to punish someone in a sick way like that.”

  “No, I didn’t mean you. I meant that dumb blonde friend of mine. She and Valery can talk on and on about how much I disgust them. I don’t even care. I’m looking for new friends, you see?”

  Sam’s grizzled face twisted into an awkward smile. “I could use a new friend after being locked up in this place. Best thing about me—I don’t hold grudges.”

  “Oh, so no grudges at all? Not even against the city that wouldn’t take you in when I was searching for you?”

  “Midrun? Yeah, I guess I still dislike those arrogant bureaucrats. They think they’re better than everyone else.”

  Lucas smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  Chapter 19

  Player: Noble Vincent

  Location: Valahym (World) | Midrun (City) | Quarter Well (District)

  Class: Ranger

  Subclass: Mage

  Vitality: Lv 58

  Spirit*: Lv 68

  Resolve: Lv 61

  Perception*: Lv 73

  Agility: Lv 62

  Strength: Lv 58

  Vincent and his teammates spent several hours exploring the city, including the towering wall where Wardens lived and worked. A strong bureaucratic order ruled the city, with various managers reporting to higher bosses that kept the council informed. There were guards that watched the friends at most times, and messengers that moved throughout the city. By the time the trio reached a new place, the people there already knew they were coming.

  >Vincent: News spreads fast, so we need to be on our best behavior.

  >Alexandria: I think he mea
ns you, Quinn.

  >Quinn: Don’t worry, I’ll play nice.

  >Vincent: Isn’t that what you said at Raidock?

  >Quinn: Well, people there like to talk big. Too bad they couldn’t back up that talk, though. Couldn’t find a single worthy challenger in that whole dang city.

  >Alexandria: Don’t worry, Quinn. I’m sure we’ll find people to beat you up in Firepeak.

  >Jim: Woah, you’re not going to Firepeak already, are you?

  >Vincent: No, Jim. We’ll probably stay here for two or three years. Maybe check out dungeons on nearby worlds. Get a feel for the lower end of the mid-tier before we focus on progression. Grind out some levels and gear.

  >Jim: Hang on, the secretary sent me a private message. I think she has the hots for me.

  Vincent shook his head, and the teammates headed toward the small marketplace. They spent a while checking out items and runes that were for sale. Despite the small size, the market had a lot of uncommon items.

  I’ve never seen runes like these. It’s interesting how different cities developed their own kinds of runes. Anti-spell runes from Eastern European cities, which even block communication. Nature-shaping and machinery-based runes from Asian cities. Monster-manipulation and alchemic runes from African cities.

  He stopped at a mapmaker shop and bought maps of the five dungeons on Valahym. The mapmaker explained the dungeons had once been full of monsters of all kinds and lots of loot, but nowadays only a few types of monsters remained. The mapmaker noted the half-empty dungeons didn’t have the same loot they once had, and that most players didn’t consider the time and risk to be worth the payout.

  “We should still check out those dungeons,” Quinn said. “That might be the most interesting thing to do on Valahym.”

  “I don’t know,” Xan said. “It sounds like they’re empty. You really want to wander around for hours for barely any loot?”

  “No, I want to wander around for hours to find starving, powerful monsters.”

  Xan sighed. “I should’ve figured.”

  >Jim: Uh—so, I just had a very frightening and bizarre meeting.

  >Vincent: With who?

  >Jim: You know that mod that runs the Justiciars?

  >Vincent: Yeah, Justice Luke or something like that.

  >Jim: No, no, no. Don’t call him Luke. He calls himself Lucas the Just. Apparently, calling him Luke—or kid—makes him go psycho. He made all kinds of demands, and then threatened to ban me.

  >Quinn: Did you kick his butt out of your building?

  >Jim: What? No! I’m not messing with that guy. He’s a lunatic that can freeze people. I heard you can’t even breathe while you’re banned. You can’t fight him.

  >Alexandria: So what did you say to his demands?

  >Jim: I tried to argue with him until he went wacko on me. He’s planning to tax us for using Jump Gates, and we have to tell his Justiciars who we’re escorting and why. The Justiciars have been annoying the last few years, especially with how powerful they are across the cities, but now they’re turning into full-on authoritarians. Lucas and his second-in-command World Teleported away, but his Justiciars refuse to leave my building. They say they’ll be overseeing my actions while I’m in Lillypost.

  >Vincent: Jim, I know you don’t want to join our adventures, but maybe you should follow us into the middle-tier. That mod only has low-tier World Teleport, right?

  >Jim: Dude, I’m way ahead of you. I’m literally walking to the Jump Gate right now. I’ll pay their stupid fee and lie and say I’m jumping to my teammates on Courtal. It would look like I was flying in that direction, so they won’t know where I’m actually going.

  >Alexandria: You’re leaving your guildsmen behind?

  >Jim: Every time I jump to a new city, I set up someone to take over the guild building on that world. Keanu will oversee Lillypost for me. They don’t really need me besides setting up stuff, and I have Quest Contracts to deal with most the guild’s resources. Midrun would be a good command center anyway because they have strong connections between people of various worlds. Then again, I heard its boring there. Maybe I’ll settle down in Firepeak and keep a representative in Midrun to do all the hard work for me.

  >Vincent: Alright, we’ll meet you at the Jump Gate.

  Vincent, Quinn, and Xan hurried to the wall. They found the entrance location, but the guards required information on why they were leaving and how long they’d be gone.

  Okay, two or three years here might be a little much if they’re this uptight. Since Jim is coming, we should plan a trip to Firepeak as soon as possible.

  They soon arrived at the Jump Gate, and Vincent gathered eight Jump Crystals and held them in the air. He aimed them at the distant world, where his crystals revealed a blinking blue light. Once the crystals locked with Jim’s, he could feel the gravitational energy fluctuate.

  >Vincent: Hold on, Jim. This’ll be a long flight. Kind of jealous, actually. You’ll get to see a lot of worlds.

  >Jim: Nah, I’m closing my eyes.

  >Quinn: Come on, casual.

  >Jim: Don’t start with that again. We’ll see how snarky you are in person.

  >Alexandria: She’s actually even worse in person. Plus, she punches people in the arm a lot. Hope you upgraded your Mana Shield with Threshold.

  Vincent watched the Jump Crystals burn out and vanish from his hands one by one. After several minutes, he saw Jim flying downward as the last crystal turned to dust.

  Jim landed on the plateau and raised his hands. “Quinn! Xan! High-fives all around!” He high-fived them, and then patted Vincent on the shoulder. “Long time no see, Old Vince.”

  “Aren’t you the same age?” Xan questioned.

  “Yeah, but Vince still acts like an old guy,” Jim replied. “I would’ve thought thirty-five years in a young body would have changed you, but I forgot how much of a grandpa you acted like even in our twenties. Guess you’ve always been an old fart in a young body.”

  “Yeah, but he’s our favorite old fart,” Quinn said, punching Vincent in the shoulder. “You’re a close second, though, Jim.”

  “So, anywhere to drink around here?” Jim asked.

  Vincent shook his head. “Bad news, buddy. I didn’t see any bars or places that serve alcohol in Midrun. Seems like a dry city.”

  “Don’t joke like that, man.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Quinn said. “I kept my eye out for bars. Most the cities I’ve been to have at least one with a huge basement made for brawling.”

  “There’s one place you might get some booze,” Xan said. Everyone turned to find her looking over the dungeon maps Vincent had purchased. “One of those dungeons is called Old Razortwig’s Distillery. Goblins and orcs often carry liquor, so I’m sure that place is full of booze.”

  “Sounds like my kind of dungeon,” Jim said. “Is it far?”

  Xan checked the map. “It’s north a few miles. Looks like you have to follow a winding canyon to it.”

  “Well, let’s check it out,” Quinn said, jogging north.

  “You know, this is the first time in twenty years we have the World Knights on an adventure together,” Jim noted as their party followed Quinn. “Remember Sharky’s Cavern? Man, that was ages ago. I’m sure I missed out on lots of great dungeon raids with you three.”

  “You should’ve seen the Scarlet Maze,” Xan said. “We spent twelve hours traveling and fighting across intersecting hallways until Vince realized the floors and walls were made of special warping runes. Turns out we’d been going in circles the entire time, but we couldn’t tell because the runes prevented us from mapping it.”

  “What about Rorak’s Pit?” Quinn said. “I still think that’s the most difficult dungeon we’ve ever faced.”

  Xan shivered. “Let’s hope this distillery isn’t as bad as that place. However, I don’t think anything could be worse than those croco-drakes.”

  “Well, this is a mid-tier dungeon,” Vincent warned. “We should expect it t
o be more challenging than the worlds we’ve seen so far.”

  Jim shrugged. “Yeah, but this world is half barren. Chances are, the only real threat there is the dungeon boss.”

  “We’ll see,” Vincent replied.

  They followed the map toward the fractured wastelands beyond Midrun’s sight. They tried to navigate the narrow, branching canyons. However, even with a map, they kept backtracking and second-guessing themselves. They kept a constant eye out for monsters, but after several hours, still hadn’t seen a single enemy.

  “This is even worse than I first thought,” Jim said, staring down splintered passages too small for anyone but Xan to fit through. “I can usually tell when I’m near a dungeon because I’ll keep finding more monsters. But there’s nothing here—barely even plant life. Why’s there even a city on this world?”

  “NPCs built Midrun way before the drought,” Vincent explained.

  “I remember seeing gameplay footage of Valahym before the game’s release,” Quinn noted. “This world looked completely different then. The drought started a couple months before release. There’s no telling if ARKSU planned it, or if it was just something that happened randomly with this world’s environment.”

  Xan stared at the map and frowned. “Okay, we’ve gone through this passage three times now. The way to the distillery must be in one of these nearby tunnels. The map just doesn’t distinguish between the smaller passages.”

  “If goblins or orcs use it, then it has to be large enough for us to pass through,” Vincent said. “It’s probably not here if only you can fit, Xan.”

  “Are you sure?” Xan questioned. “Do you know for a fact this dungeon is run by goblins or orcs?”

  “Are there any other monster species that drink?” Vincent asked.

  Everyone looked at Jim.

  “Mers make wine,” the Rogue replied. “Good stuff too. Worgen brew lager. Kobolds mostly smoke, but some of them make vodka. I heard devils on the middle-tier worlds distill fantastic whiskey, but I don’t think they spawn on any City-Worlds. Giants are also on middle-tier Nature-Worlds, and they drop small barrels of mead when they die.”