by EA Hooper
A dozen more Justiciars returned from the upper levels of the room. They looked at him and then glanced around, confused. “Sir?” one asked. “Were there other enemies?”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Yes! What took you lot so long? Hurry after them. There’re four players—Crow-Foot Jim and three of his friends. Find them! No matter where they go, you must capture all four.”
Lucas watched his Justiciars hurry toward the entranceway. I can’t let them know my Mod Gun didn’t work. If the people of the World-Tree find out my power isn’t absolute, they’ll never bend to my will. I’m supposed to be a god—not someone you shoot and walk away from unharmed. That cheater, whoever he is, will be punished for his crime. You don’t cross a god without paying hell for it.
Chapter 22
Player: Noble Vincent
Location: Valahym (World) | Midrun (City) | Town Center (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 friends ran through the streets of Midrun and away from the tower. He touched his chest where Lucas’s Mod Gun had struck him.
That pressure, he realized. I know that pressure. That was world magic. Of course! Everything in this game is built around ARKUS’s physics system. That includes moderator powers. Their powers use world magic, and my Gravity Shield uses negative energy. It’s the antithesis of world magic. So, when his Mod Gun hit me, my Gravity Shield canceled it out.
>Quinn: They’re about to catch us. Let’s turn and take them down at the same time.
Vincent glanced back to see five Justiciars on their trail. He chugged an ether, and then turned and fired Void Gun. The attack shot through the skull of one man, blowing his brains across the ground.
Xan released Light-Drain Butterflies that swarmed the remaining four. However, the Justiciars fired back with mana blasts, and one shot knocked out her Mana Shield.
Quinn charged her experimental attack and dove toward the enemies. One of their Mana Magnums sliced open her arm, but she kept going and hit him in the chest. The gravitational wave broke his Mana Shield, caved in his sternum, and launched him across the street.
The shockwave knocked back the three other Justiciars, but Quinn stumbled, too, clutching her arm. “Ah! I think that broke my wrist.”
Jim released his void attack next. He tried to curve it around to hit all three men, and it decapitated the first man, sliced the jugular of the second, but missed the third before sparking and flying back at its owner. Jim dove away, but his spell sliced his Mana Shield and his arm. He shouted in pain and fell to the ground.
Xan shot the last man with Mana Gun, knocking out his shield. Her Light-Drain Butterflies returned to her, replenishing her mana, and she fired Mana Magnum through his helm, killing him.
“Let’s keep going!” Vincent shouted, helping Jim to his feet. “I’ve heard mods have a respawn ability. We can’t risk him banning you three.”
“What happened back there?” Jim asked as he stood. “Your Gravity Shield lit up with black and white. About gave me a seizure.”
Their team chugged potions, and then continued through the streets.
“I think mod powers use world magic,” Vincent explained. “So, my Gravity Shield negated his ban.”
“What are we going to do?” Xan asked. “We can’t let him take over this city. And what about Zhang? We have to save him.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Vincent said. “Maybe if I was stronger—maybe if you two had better evolved void powers. We could capture the mod and throw him in an anti-spell cell. But we’d have to be much stronger.”
Vincent looked up at the sky and the worlds above. His eyes narrowed on the Dead-World called Eramar that had fascinated him when he first arrived at Midrun.
Maybe there is a way to get stronger a lot quicker. He glanced at the nearby Daiglass Tower. When I Scanned Lucas’s Mod Shield, it said it had a nine hundred ninety-nine rating—the same as daiglass. Yet my Void Gun still cut it. Maybe, just maybe, I can exploit that.
Vincent ran to the crooked tower. He aimed a finger at the end of the hook drooping from the tower. A block bolt shot from his finger and hit the end of the hook, cracking it. A piece of daiglass the size of a football fell to the ground.
His teammates gaped at him.
“What are you doing?” Quinn asked.
Vincent approached the daiglass and Scanned it.
Daiglass 0167.3076.0775.0729 – Material Rating: 999 | Spawn set: No | Items stored: 1052
“I need to get stronger,” Vincent said. “Strong enough to face the mod. If I go to that Dead-World and use this to spawn, I can power-level for years. Decades, even.”
He touched the daiglass piece and set his spawn point. However, he found he couldn’t put it in his inventory, so he carried it in his hands.
“Decades?” Xan questioned.
“It’ll be hell,” Jim told him. “You know that, right? You’ll die over and over again.”
“I don’t care,” Vincent said. “I’m not letting that childish mod take over the World-Tree. I don’t expect any of you to go with me—”
Xan touched the daiglass shard. “I’m going.”
Everyone stared at the young woman.
“I don’t have void powers, but I want to help,” she said. “The least I can do is be your medic. I won’t let you do this alone, Vince. After all we’ve been through together, I’m not leaving your side. Even if that means taking twenty or thirty years to get strong enough to defeat Lucas.”
Quinn touched the daiglass. “I’m in too. If what Zhang says is true, then we need to get a lot stronger if we’re to have any chance against the angels. Might as well grind out the levels now.”
Jim sighed and touched the shard. “Vince, you’re my oldest friend. I’m not letting you go through hell without me there—even if I have to die a hundred times. Besides, if Quinn and I develop our void powers, too, then that mod and his Justiciars won’t stand a chance against our team.”
“Then let’s hurry,” Vincent said, rushing away from the Daiglass Tower. His team followed close behind him. “We’ll disappear before they even know where we’re going. It’ll take a couple months to reach the Dead-World, and I doubt they’ll think to search for us there.” Vincent remembered passing an immobilized person on their way to the council tower, and a thought crossed his mind. “There’s something I need to check on our way out.”
They hurried to the banned man with the raised arms.
“Let’s see if this works,” Vincent said, casting Zero Field around the man. He felt the pressure of the world magic pushing against him, and his mana ran low. Vincent drank an ether, and then tried again, pushing even harder.
White and black light flashed around the man, and then he fell to the ground and gasped for air. He looked up at Vincent with wide eyes. “Are—are you a mod?”
“No,” Vincent replied. “But don’t tell anyone about this. In fact, you’d better leave the city before Lucas finds out you’re unbanned.”
“Thank you!” the man shouted, shaking Vincent’s hand. “Thank you so much.” He turned and ran down the street.
“That worked!” Xan said excitedly. “Your void spells really do cancel out his mod powers. If our team gets strong enough, we should be able to capture him. Jim and Quinn won’t be able to use Zero Field since they’re not Mages, but they can get Gravity Shields.”
“We’ll work out the details later,” Quinn said, hurrying their team toward the wall. “Let’s get off this world first.”
They rushed through the gaping hole in Midrun’s wall and continued across the wastes. When they reached the Jump Gate, the four players gathered their Jump Crystals. Vincent eyed the blue specks that they could reach from that gate. One near the horizon would put them on the same branch
as Eramar, but they still needed to cross a long expanse to reach it.
It’ll take eight Jump Crystals a piece to reach that world. That’s most of our remaining crystals. Meaning, this is a one-way trip—at least until we farm more crystals. Considering I’ve only ever found them in dungeons or by converting Crystal Hearts, it could take years to get enough to return.
“It’ll be a long trip just to reach Eramar,” Vincent noted. “Once we’re there, returning won’t be easy. Are you three certain you want to join me? It’s okay to change your mind.”
“Let’s do this!” Quinn shouted, activating her Jump Crystals.
“We’re seeing this to the end,” Xan said, following Quinn.
Jim smiled at his old friend. “I hope there’s booze on Eramar.” He activated his crystals and flew toward the sky.
Vincent glanced at Midrun. We’ll be back to stop this. One day. He activated his Jump Crystals, and the gravitational field pulled him into space. Vincent flew toward the target world, the farthest one they could reach that was connected to the same branch as the Dead-World.
He Scanned several Nature-Worlds, and even thought he spotted the City-World in the distance where Firepeak waited. It’ll be a long, long time before we make it there.
As he floated toward the large, green Nature-World, his eyes made out the shapes of massive, spiraling trees. He noticed two trees on different parts of the world that stood so tall they reached halfway to space. He focused on the world and Scanned it.
Ornrak – Classification: Nature-World | Size: Large | Fact #1: 90% of the land area is covered in a massive forest. | Fact #2: Most common enemy species are owlers. | Fact #3: Of all the middle-tier worlds with functional Jump Gates, Ornrak is one of the least visited.
One of the least visited, huh? Considering this is the easiest way to reach the Dead-World, then that means almost no players travel to Eramar. We should be able to farm that world for a couple of decades without getting found. Although, it might be smart to collect items here first to prepare ourselves. This is our first middle-tier Nature-World, after all.
>Vincent: I know we’re hurrying to the Dead-World, but we should at least hit up a dungeon or two on this world. Get ourselves some better gear before we take on Eramar.
>Quinn: I was thinking the same thing, Vince. Xan, did you hear anything about this place while you were waiting for us to respawn?
>Alexandria: Not really. I didn’t expect us to go this way. This might be the place that the innkeeper called ‘that blasted owl world’. He says he died there a few times before the update, and then never left Valahym after that.
>Jim: Scan showed me the most common enemies are owlers. Are they tough?
>Alexandria: The innkeeper liked to talk to me about worlds he’d seen, and he mentioned the owl world was the worst one he’d been to. It’s the reason he stopped trying to climb the World-Tree. He said if it was that bad at this level, then the higher worlds must be nightmarish.
>Quinn: See, this will be good practice for the Dead-World. Maybe we can even hunt down the World Boss—assuming it’s not as annoying as Rayazar.
Vincent slowed as he descended toward the world and almost didn’t see the Jump Gate between the thicket of trees. He smashed through overgrown branches on his way down, then landed beside his teammates.
“So, which way are we heading?” Quinn asked. “Maybe we should go north to the world stem and drop off the daiglass somewhere safe. That way, we have a spawn point away from the Jump Gate in case Justiciars scout the nearby worlds.”
Vincent equipped his compass and guided them north. They walked through the dark underbelly of the forest floor, where they only had brief glimpses of skybox light. Whenever the forest became too dark, they used lighting runes to guide the way. After three hours of travel, they’d spotted dozens of deer, rabbits, and mice, but had yet to see an enemy.
“Seems awfully peaceful,” Quinn said, breaking the silence of their jog. Her eyes watched the branches of massive trees hanging overhead. “You Rangers Scan anything interesting?”
“I haven’t,” Jim said. “I’ve been checking every little shape I see in the dark, but they’re always animals. Like that thing over there. I bet it’s only another deer.” He looked at something to his right, and then shouted and ducked out of the way of a verasteel spear.
The party came to a halt, Vincent eyeing the monster that had thrown the spear. The man-sized owl in light armor drew verasteel throwing knives with his clawed hands.
Owler Hunter – Monster Class: C+ | Age: 55 | Sex: Male | Number of Offspring: 3 | Personality: Risk-taker
The owler unleashed a sharp hoot that sent out a shockwave at the players. Vincent felt his muscles seize for a moment as the wave hit him. The owler hurled both his daggers at Jim, but the Rogue Vanished away. Before the players could ready themselves to fight, the owler spread its wings and disappeared into the canopy.
Jim shook his fist. “Nice try, you owl jerk!” He grabbed the spear and throwing daggers. “At least I have verasteel now.” He equipped the spear, testing the weight in his hands. “Pretty nice. Hey, Quinn, why don’t you ever use that hardened-verasteel sword you got from the Fighter Class Quest? Its 300-rating would’ve been overpowered until the middle-tier.”
“I prefer hand to hand combat,” she said. “Although, I do use it from time to time.”
“I’ve seen her equip it maybe ten times in twenty years,” Xan replied.
“Too bad it’s soulbound, or I’d ask to borrow it,” Jim said. “It’s going to waste.”
“Eh, get your own hardened-verasteel,” Quinn huffed.
The sound of rustling branches caught Vincent’s attention. He turned as another owler flew down toward him. It hit him with a stunning hoot, and then ripped the daiglass from his hands. The owler shot past him, across the path, and then flew upward into the trees.
The entire party gaped at Vincent.
“Did you just lose our spawn point?” Quinn asked.
“It stunned me!” Vincent defended. “Why didn’t any of you stop it?”
Quinn slapped her forehead and groaned. “We didn’t even make it past a single world without losing our portable spawn point. I can’t freaking believe this.”
“I’ll kill myself and get it back,” Vincent said.
“No, wait,” Xan said. “I do remember the innkeeper saying something about the owlers stealing items and taking them to dungeons. Maybe if we find the nearest dungeon, it’ll be stashed with the boss’s treasure. Worst-case scenario, we die and respawn beside it.”
Vincent looked at his compass. “The owler ran northeast before flying out of sight. If I remember correctly, one of those skyscraper-looking trees was in the northeast quarter of the world. Assuming there are three to ten dungeons on this world—which has been the norm so far—then that’s probably the closest one.”
“Let’s pick up our speed,” Quinn said, jogging in that direction.
The other three players hurried after Quinn, and Vincent kept watch on his compass. He used a mapping rune to keep track of their overall direction, making sure they never steered too far off course in the dark woods. They ran for about thirty minutes before Vincent eyed movement in the treetops. “We have company,” he warned his team.
The party stopped and equipped their weapons. Four owlers dropped from the surrounding trees, but Vincent used Void Gun to kill one without hesitation. The other three owlers charged their party, verasteel weapons in hand. Jim blocked a sword strike with his new spear. He tried to shoot the owler with Mana Volley, but it Vanished and reappeared to his right, then cut through his Mana Shield and severed a few links in his oiron chainmail.
Quinn sidestepped dagger thrusts from one owler. She charged her fists with Breaker and hit it once in the head, but a Mana Shield withstood the blow. She hit it again in the chest, and this time her Breaker shattered the shield. However, the owler stabbed its dagger into her shoulder. Quinn’s Impact Shield slowed it so only the tip
cut into her, but before she could counterattack, the owler leapt away.
Xan blocked several quick sword strikes from the third remaining owler. It moved a lot faster than her, but her decades of sword practice kept her from taking damage. She stepped around its attacks and blocked several near-hits. When she saw an opening, she fired Mana Gun at its chest, but a Mana Shield stopped the attack without wavering.
Vincent dove at the owler that Xan faced. He slashed through its Mana Shield, though it was able to block his second swing. Xan fired a second Mana Gun through its neck, and it toppled back, choking on blood. The monster clenched its fist and released a long, oscillating gurgle as magic rippled across its body.
What’s it doing? Vincent wondered, Scanning it.
Self-Destruct – Mana Usage: Low | Magic Rating: Varies | The user vibrates their mana reserve with a destabilizing frequency until all the remaining mana in their body is released at once.
The injured owler dove toward them as its bloody gurgle reached a higher pitch, but Vincent tackled Xan away a split-second before the monster exploded in a flash of red mana. Vincent’s Gravity Shield mitigated most of the harm, but snaking streams of mana ate holes through his armor. He felt it burning his back, so he unequipped that armor and switched to his True Huntsman’s Cloak. He looked at his other two allies as Quinn snapped an owler’s neck.
Jim and his owler had fought each other to the point where both their armor had taken moderate damage, but neither had managed a killing blow. Their weapons clashed, and then they both dove back and tried to drink an ether. Jim finished his first and fired Mana Magnum. His attack tore through a damaged plate in the owler’s armor, leaving a gaping hole in its chest.
“Hoo’tah,” the owler gasped, crumbling into dust.
