by EA Hooper
Strength Level Up: 58>59
Quinn hit the mimic with her experimental spell, knocking it back into the pit and sending chunks of wood through the air. Vincent noticed the broken shards of wood glowed on the inside, almost as if it wasn’t wood, but a material made to look the same. He sat up, gripping his chest wound.
The broken mimic whimpered before collapsing into dust.
Xan healed Vincent while Quinn retrieved Jim’s items from the pit. Once she returned, their group hurried back to the hill to rest for a few minutes.
“We need a perimeter,” Vincent told them. “Let’s map out the nearest pits without entering them. Figure out what kind of enemies come from where and how many we’ll typically fight at once. We should know everything we can about this immediate area by the end of the year. Then, maybe, we’ll spread out.”
“The hard part is trying not to lose our items,” Quinn noted. “If someone dies in an underground passage, we probably won’t get their stuff back.”
“In time, we’ll find better gear,” Xan said. “I’ve always heard Dead-Worlds have good loot.”
“We won’t do much looting until we level up more and know the full extent of this world’s challenges,” Vincent replied. “What we’ve seen so far is only the welcoming party. Just imagine what the dungeons are like… and the dungeon bosses.”
“Wait till you see the World Boss,” Xan said, staring in the distance.
“Yeah, there’s no telling how horrifying that thing is,” Vincent replied.
“No, I mean, there it is,” Xan said.
Vincent turned to the horizon. He watched a thin, towering shape as it shambled across the landscape. A few seconds passed of him wondering why a crag was moving. That’s no crag—that’s the World Boss. He used Scan, which he’d upgraded with Farsight years ago.
Rethin the Walker (World Boss) – Monster Class: A | Ageless | Sex: Male | Respawn Time: One In-Game Year | Personality: Restless
“You don’t think it’ll come after us, do you?” Xan asked.
“Most World Bosses won’t bother you if you don’t bother them,” Vincent noted. He paused to think of the few World Bosses they’d seen on their journey that hadn’t followed that norm. “Okay, so most don’t. But his personality is restless. Not vicious, bloodthirsty, or anything scary like that.”
Xan motioned for her HUD to snap a screenshot of the monster in the distance. “My dad might faint when he sees this. He’s spammed me for weeks begging me to go to Firepeak.” She faced the other way, put an arm around Quinn, and then took a selfie of the three with Rethin in the background. “I’m making that my new HUD background.”
Vincent smiled and shook his head. “When you two joined me, did you ever think we’d end up in a place like this, grinding for years to stop a psychopathic moderator?”
“I expected big challenges,” Quinn replied. “Towering monsters. Angels. Enemy players, even. Decades of traveling, leveling, and looting. But I don’t think I expected it to get this serious. Back then, it still felt like a game. It still does when I close my eyes and imagine home—imagine Ritchie and Gabriel. But then a year goes by in seconds, and I realize how lost I’ve become in this world—this game. It’s like a repeating cycle of forgetting and remembering which world feels real. I don’t even know if I care what Lucas is doing or if I’m using this as another distraction. Another challenge.”
“What about reaching the top?” Xan asked her. “There might be a way out if we make it to the skybox.”
“Maybe,” Quinn said. “Or maybe that’s a rumor people spread to feel better. Kind of like the people I meet that say their loved ones will pull their headset off any second now. I’ve gotten to where I try not to think about it as much. Thirty-five years have gone by so quickly. The next three centuries might do the same if we stay busy fighting monsters. Defeating Lucas is just a good goal for the next few decades.”
“It’ll help people too,” Xan said. “If we’re all stuck here together, we should all help one another. I don’t want the people of the World-Tree living under his rule for hundreds of years. If that goal keeps us busy for decades, then that’s only a bonus to me.”
Vincent nodded. “That’s a noble goal, Xan. Maybe you’re the one that should carry my title.”
“I’m happy with mine,” she replied. “What about you, Vince? You jumped into action with this plan. You must really want to help people, right? Or is it only a way to distract yourself?”
“A little of both,” Vincent admitted. “It was almost a subconscious decision at the time. Probably Monika’s influence. She always told me when making decisions to go with the one that makes life more exciting. What’s more exciting in this game than trying to save everyone from a crazed moderator?”
Quinn chuckled. “Every time you mention Monika, I can’t help but wish I could’ve met her. I bet she would’ve kicked butt at this game.”
“Yeah, she would’ve loved this,” Vincent replied. “The World-Tree. The monsters. All the people we’ve met. She even would’ve jumped at the chance to face this Dead-World. And she would’ve hated Lucas and what he’s doing.”
Vincent eyed two draugr climbing from a pit.
“Guess we should get back to the grind,” Vincent told his friends. “We’ve got a long, long journey ahead of us.”
I’m sure Monika would’ve loved it that way.
Year 72
Chapter 26
Player: Noble Vincent
Location: Eramar (World) | The Deep (Region)
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Mage
Vitality: Lv 165
Spirit*: Lv 174
Resolve: Lv 153
Perception*: Lv 180
Agility: Lv 163
Strength: Lv 162
Vincent drove his hardened-verasteel pickaxe into the rocks again and again. He’d lost count of how long he’d been in the tunnels of the Dead-World. It could’ve been days—or even weeks. The light of the skybox couldn’t reach him down there, but with the Darkeye upgrade to Scan, he could make out the shapes of every little rock in the passage.
He’d carved hundreds of tunnels over the years, although sometimes he’d discover an old passage that had been refilled by world magic. Those were the ones he’d keep an eye out for, because the stronger the world magic, the more likely he’d find the ore he’d been collecting.
His axe brought down a wall of stone, and his eyes caught the gleam of world magic poking through cracks in the soil below. He struck several more times until his pickaxe hit something solid. The old man smiled and continued to work and toil until he uncovered the chunk of glowing rock.
World Ore – A special ore left over from the formation of a world.
Vincent added the ore to his inventory and turned to leave, however he spotted shapes shambling through the passage.
They must’ve sensed the exposed world magic. His sharp eyes studied the two larger outlines. Two draugrs. Swordsmen, it looks like. He glanced at the twisted, smaller shapes. Mummers. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since I’m near one of their nests.
Vincent and his friends had been on Eramar for ten years before seeing their first mummer, a revenant that had yet to shed its skin. He’d been fascinated with the biology of Eramar’s primary species once he learned the revenants and the skin flyers split off from the same creature. He’d studied them and discovered that the strongest revenants would grow into draurgrs. The skin flyers, on the other hand, followed a much stranger and rarer mutational pattern.
Vincent saw another shape squirming behind the draugrs and mummers. From that distance, he couldn’t make it out, but it almost looked too big for the tunnel. He Scanned it, guessing it to be the evolved form of the skin flyers.
Skin Worm – Monster Class: B | Age: 523 | Sex: None | Personality: Mindless
Vincent eyed the split in the passage between him and the skin worm, however one of the draugrs stood in the way. He dashed toward the enemies, equipping a hardene
d-verasteel blade. The draugr turned to him, but Vincent shot two Void Guns, blowing chunks from its brain stem. Two of the mummers lunged at him, but he slashed through them as he hurried into the passage.
The Ranger sped off too fast for the monsters to pursue. At his level, Eramar’s higher gravity barely bothered him. He zoomed through the tunnels and cut down any monster in his way. However, he heard the echoing call of the skin worm chasing after him.
It’s caught my smell, which means it’ll chase me wherever I go. I need to lure it to an open area to fight.
Vincent followed the familiar tunnels until he reached an open cavern. He chugged an ether and waited for the skin worm to catch him. When the monstrous worm finally twisted and squeezed itself into the cavern, Vincent opened his palm and cast Mana Cannon. The powerful blast tore away a large chunk of the worm, and the creature cried and squirmed.
The Ranger gulped down a mega-ether, and then hit the skin worm with another Mana Cannon. He tried to sever the worm in the middle, knowing it would only die if enough of its body separated.
The worm opened its toothy flaps and sprayed a corrosive vapor in all directions as it thrashed around in pain. The spray burned through rocks and left holes in the ground, but the player avoided it with lightning-fast reflexes.
I hate to waste another mega-ether. I have mana left over, though, so a regular ether might be enough.
Vincent dodged skin tendrils from the massive worm as it slammed its body around trying to hit him. He cut through one tendril that almost got him, but the corrosive liquid inside blackened the edge of his blade.
Great, I lost a hardened-verasteel blade too. This thing probably only has three or four swings left in it.
He drank an ether as he dodged more tendrils, and then fired another Mana Cannon, splitting the worm in half. The two mountains of skin squirmed and released waves of corrosive spray before collapsing and turning to dust.
Vincent leapt away from the trails of vapor before drinking several ethers.
>Vincent: I got the last chunk of ore I needed. Killed a skin worm too.
>Jim: Nice. Quinn and I are going south to raid Bailer’s Paradise again. When we get back, let’s try to take Rethin one more time. If we can’t do it, we should leave either way. Our allies have already set up a caravan at Rytil, and they’re ready to jump their forces there any day now. If we don’t aid them before the Justiciars make another move, they might bail and try to go farther up the World-Tree.
>Vincent: We told them we weren’t leaving until we’re absolutely ready. Beating Rethin will prove that.
>Quinn: They can’t wait forever, Vince. The Justiciars have already taken Bellfree and Rootwater. It’s only a matter of time before they attack Firepeak.
>Alexandria: I agree with Vince. We shouldn’t leave until we know we’re ready. We’ve been here thirty-seven years, and we still haven’t defeated the World Boss. If we can’t do that much, then we can’t be sure we can best Lucas and his army.
>Vincent: We almost had Rethin last time, and we’ve all leveled up a few times since then.
>Jim: Yeah, but our leveling has slowed down considerably the last few years. We’ve hit our limit on this world. According to our intel, the average Justiciar’s levels are between sixty and eighty. With our superior levels, equipment, and abilities, we should have the advantage. Especially with my guild and the citizens of Firepeak willing to back us.
>Quinn: That’s a big if, though. They want to see how strong we are first.
>Vincent: Well, once they have their Rangers Scan us in person, they’ll know we’re the real deal.
Vincent opened his HUD to his team page. He opened the extended tab for the Party List, so he could look at their levels and notable abilities.
Player: Noble Vincent
-Your Notable Abilities-
Scan (Ranger Only | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Minuscule | Allows the user to learn more about a target. | Upgrades – Farsight: Scan smaller targets from farther away. | Darkeye: Allows the user to see and Scan shapes in the dark. | Catalogue: Saves all Scanned information into a list in your HUD. | Quickeye: Scan multiple targets at once.
Void Gun (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Medium | Releases a bolt of negative energy from the user’s fingertips. | Upgrade – Weighted Shell: This attack expands upon hitting something, dealing a larger area of damage.
Gravity Shield (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Minuscule to Low+ | Replaces the user’s Mana Shield. | Generates an invisible forcefield around the user that’s made from negative energy. This forcefield slows and dampens incoming attacks, reducing the amount of damage taken. However, it saps the user’s mana reserve every time it slows an attack. This amount varies depending on the strength of the attack. | Upgrades – Nullify (200): Attacks below the rating won’t touch the user. | Lesser Elemental Nullify: Weak elemental abilities won’t touch the user.
Zero Field (Mage Only) – Mana Usage: Varies | Generates a zero-frequency field that can move objects. Larger or more powerful targets (such as spells or players) require significantly more mana to affect.
Cinder (Mage Only) – Mana Usage: Low+ | Releases a wave of hot embers from the user’s palm.
Black Cinder (Mage Only) – Mana Usage: High | Releases a wave of void embers from the user’s palm.
Player: Crow-Foot Jim
Class: Rogue
Subclass: Ranger
Real Age: 70
Highest World: Eramar
Vitality: Lv 155
Spirit: Lv 159
Resolve: Lv 145
Perception*: Lv 167
Agility*: Lv 175
Strength: Lv 156
-Notable Abilities-
Void Crow – Mana Usage: Medium+ | Releases a burst of negative energy in the shape of a crow. The user can spend a minuscule amount of mana to guide its movement.
Mana Magnum (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Medium | Magic Rating: 200 | Releases a strong mana bolt from the user’s fingertips. | Upgrades – Steady Aim: This ability no longer has kickback. | Sniper Dot: When the user holds this spell at the tip of their finger, a magic dot will show them where the attack will hit. | Weighted Shell: This attack expands upon hitting something, dealing a larger area of damage.
Mana Volley – Mana Usage: Medium | Magic Rating: 50-150 | Releases a volley of marble-sized mana balls from your hand. The attack loses strength over distance.
Gravity Shield (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Minuscule to Low+ | Replaces the user’s Mana Shield. | Generates an invisible forcefield around the user that’s made from negative energy. This forcefield slows and dampens incoming attacks, reducing the amount of damage taken. However, it saps the user’s mana reserve every time it slows an attack. This amount varies depending on the strength of the attack. | Upgrades – Nullify (150): Attacks below the rating won’t touch the user. | Lesser Elemental Nullify: Weak elemental abilities won’t touch the user.
Vanish (Rogue Only | Upgraded) - Mana Usage: Low | The user teleports up to 5 meters away. They cannot move through walls or doors. | Upgrades – Doppelganger: For a very low mana cost, the user may leave a doppelganger in their original location. The user may control the doppelganger’s movements, but it disappears after ten seconds unless the user spends additional mana. The doppelganger also disappears upon taking any damage. | Long-vanish: The user can increase Vanish’s range to 10 meters for an additional very low mana cost. | Air-vanish: The user can activate Vanish while airborn. They may also choose to reappear in the air, on higher ground, or on lower ground so long as it’s within range.
Phaseshift (Rogue Only | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Low+ | A spatial distortion causes the user to become intangible for one second. | Upgrade – Dimension Walking: The user can remain intangible, but each additional second costs a low amount of mana.
Gravity Bounce (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Low | A gravitational distortion below the user’s feet allows them to jump three times as high. | Upgrade – Gravity Web: If this ability is used in the air, it
creates a near-invisible web of twisted gravity that the user can cling to. The web disappears after the user jumps off of it.
Player: Quinn the Breaker
Class: Fighter
Subclass: Rogue
Real Age: 42
Highest World: Eramar
Vitality: Lv 168
Spirit: Lv 154
Resolve: Lv 153
Perception: Lv 155
Agility*: Lv 178
Strength*: Lv 183
-Notable Abilities-
Breaker (Fighter Only | Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Low | Charging a weapon or limb with this ability increases the chance that it will break an enemy’s shield, weapon, or armor. | Upgrades – Bonebreaker: Increases the chance of breaking bones. | Organcrusher: Increases the chance of damaging internal organs. | Stonebreaker: Increases the chance of damaging strong materials other than weapons and armor.
Gravity Fist (Fighter Only) – Mana Usage: Medium+ | For one attack, the user’s fist becomes charged in Breaker magic powered by negative energy.
Gravity Wave (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Medium | The user releases a gravitational shock wave from their palm. | Upgrades – Shieldshatter: Increases the chance of knocking out magical protection. | Armorshatter: Increases the chance of breaking weapons and armor. | Bonebreaker: Increases the chance of breaking bones. | Stonebreaker: Increases the chance of damaging strong materials other than weapons and armor.
Gravity Shield (Upgraded) – Mana Usage: Minuscule to Low+ | Replaces the user’s Mana Shield. | Generates an invisible forcefield around the user that’s made from negative energy. This forcefield slows and dampens incoming attacks, reducing the amount of damage taken. However, it saps the user’s mana reserve every time it slows an attack. This amount varies depending on the strength of the attack. | Upgrades – Nullify (150): Attacks below the rating won’t touch the user. | Lesser Elemental Nullify: Weak elemental abilities won’t touch the user.
Vanish (Rogue Only | Upgraded) - Mana Usage: Low | The user teleports up to 5 meters away. They cannot move through walls or doors. | Upgrades – Doppelganger: For a very low mana cost, the user may leave a doppelganger in their original location. The user may control the doppelganger’s movements, but it disappears after ten seconds unless the user spends additional mana. The doppelganger also disappears upon taking any damage. | Long-vanish: The user can increase Vanish’s range to 10 meters for an additional very low mana cost.
