Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “Yes?” my mother’s voice sounded weird coming through the speakers in the glass room.

  “Hi, I’m Jamie. Dr. Pinntay and Dr. Drottar’s assistant. Do you remember them?”

  “I ahhh… I think so.”

  “Great.” Jamie smiled and then raised her hands a bit. I noticed that she was holding some clothes. “Can you put these on please?”

  “Why am I naked?” my mother asked.

  “Your avatar doesn’t have any clothes. Please put this on, you must be cold.”

  “Avatar? What is that?” my mother asked as she grabbed the clothes from the blonde woman.

  “For the game.”

  “I don’t play games. That is my son.”

  “So you remember that Leo plays video games?”

  “Yes, of course. He is really good at them. Might become a professional soon.”

  “This is good,” Dr. Drottar said as my mother began to put on her clothes.

  I was looking for an excuse not to look at my mother’s naked body, so I turned toward the attractive brown-haired doctor.

  “She’s remembering events from before she started to really show symptoms of the disease. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but this is really good for a first session. We haven’t really even started the therapy yet, but she’s adapting to the game world.”

  “But how? She just logged in. I don’t understand. I’ve had to remind her about my career a bunch of times, and it has never stuck.” I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing. Despite the strange tone of her voice coming from the speakers, my mom sounded strong and connected to the words that she was speaking.

  “Ohlavar Quest, along with the VRIU, brings a heightened input to the senses. There are the technical specifications on the treatment document, but in layman’s terms: we are training the muscle of the brain with sensory loading. The organ is building new neuroplasticity to deal with the rich inputs,” Dr. Pinntay spoke from her seat on my right.

  “I can understand training a muscle. Is the game doing that to my brain also? Or do I have to go through the treatment to get a brain workout?” I asked with a smile, and the three women laughed.

  “You are getting some neuroplasticity improvements, but our therapy is meant to really focus on the treatment of Alzheimer’s. So don’t expect to have a superhuman memory from playing Ohlavar Quest,” Dr. Pinntay joked.

  “Have you ever seen a tree like this?” Jamie asked my mother in game.

  “No. It is lovely. The colors are so vibrant.” I saw a hand reach out from the bottom of the screen and touch the bark of one of the purple leaved tree.

  “Can you think of anyone else that would like to touch this tree?”

  “James, and Leo. Where are they?”

  “They are back in the treatment center. You can see them later today. How many leaves do you think there are on each of these branches?” Jamie asked.

  “Too many to count, they are so beautiful though.” The screen rocked upward with the lean of my mother’s head. The display we looked at was a high-quality screen, but it didn’t seem to be able to capture the vivid color and detail of actually being in Ohlavar Quest.

  I watched Jamie lead my mother through a few more memory exercises. To someone not involved with Alzheimer’s, the conversation might have seemed kind of weird, but I was familiar with some of the techniques, and the small session convinced me that my mother had performed well.

  “We are going to logout of the game now, Mary. Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes, I really did. Can we come here again? It is so bright and colorful.”

  “Sure, in another week or so. We want to take it easy at first. Lie down on the grass here and close your eyes. I will count to twenty and then you will be logged out,” Jamie said to my mother.

  “That’s it for the day,” Zarra said. “Now you need to get some rest.” The beautiful dark-haired woman poked me in the shoulder and gifted me with a smile.

  “Can I speak with her now?” I asked as the glass turned dark around us.

  “Tomorrow, or later today would be better. Sometimes patients are disoriented when they get out of the VRIU, and we want to get them bathed and back in comfortable clothes,” Dr. Pinntay said.

  “How about breakfast with her tomorrow morning before you log in?” Zarra asked.

  “Yes, that will be great,” I said as the glass turned transparent again. I hadn’t noticed Daisy re-enter the room, but I saw her leading my robed mother out from behind the privacy alcove.

  “Let me walk you back to your room.” Zarra stood from her chair, and I followed her movement.

  “It was great meeting you, Mr. Lennox,” Dr. Pinntay said as she rose from her own chair and shook my hand.

  “Agreed. We are going to take good care of your parents, Champ,” Dr. Drottar said as she took her turn shaking my hand. “I hate to make promises, but this first session went great.”

  “That is good to hear.” Relief flooded my body, and I suddenly did feel exhausted. I’d been somewhat doubting my decision to take my parents out of their old home, and I’d been a bit nervous about subjecting them to experimental treatment, but this session went great, and both of the doctors had seemed pleased with my mother’s session.

  We waited until Daisy had taken my mother into her suite, and then I exited through the opposite door of the VRIU room with Zarra. We walked in silence for a few moments, but then the woman slid her arm through mine, and I looked at her.

  “I’m really glad you are here.” Her smile was beyond beautiful, and her close proximity made my heart hammer in my chest. Dang. She made me feel like I was a lovestruck high school kid.

  “Me too. The game is really amazing, and it looks like the first session went well. I feel like kind of an asshole for being so mean to you when we first met at Tony’s Place.”

  “No worries. I knew it was going to be hard to recruit you, but I also knew it would be worth the trouble.” Her strange violet eyes stared into mine, and I almost forgot how to walk for a few steps.

  “I’m going to try and get the first relic tomorrow. My plan is to—”

  “Leo, take a break.” She laughed. “You need to get some rest. Promise me you’ll sleep when you get into your room?”

  “Yeah. I’m really excited about where I am though; I want to tell you about—”

  “I know you do, but I don’t want it to seem like I am helping you. How about you tell me tonight at dinner, if you are awake by then. If not, we can try dinner tomorrow.”

  “Sounds great. I’d love that actually.” I did want to jump back into Ohlavar Quest, but I also wanted to spend more time with Zarra.

  “Great. It is a date then,” she said with her usual smirk.

  “I actually had another question for you about the game. It isn’t related to my quest, it is more about the use of abilities.”

  “Oh?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve got four now, well five counting the one that lets me log out. I’ve noticed that none of the abilities have a verbal or motion command. I just kind of think about using them and they work.”

  “So you want to know how the VRIU is reading your mind?” Zarra’s laugh sounded like a wind chime during a warm summer day.

  “Well, yeah.” I laughed with her.

  “The headpiece you wear actually does interface with the back of your skull. We’ve got some sensors there, combined with the ocular sensors on the visor, and the sensors in the VRIU juice. It isn’t quite reading your mind, but it is doing an excellent job of figuring out what you want as soon as you think it. People tend to telegraph what they are going to do, so the system picks up on it.”

  “Ahh. That is crazy.”

  “We just want to make it as real as possible. I just wished you were as addicted to me as you were to my game.” The mocha skinned woman winked at me. “It’s all you ever want to talk about.”

  “Just doing my job, ma’am,” I said as I gave her a mock salute. The movemen
t made her laugh again, and we reached the door of my suite.

  “If you are interested in learning more about how the VRIU lets you use abilities in the game, you can look in your digi-tab. You have full access to the company intranet. You’ll find the VRIU white papers in there. I believe section eight has all the technical specs of how the system works.”

  “Great, sounds like something I’d like to read before bedtime.”

  “Ha. It will put you right to sleep. I guarantee it,” Zarra said with a giggle.

  “Sooo. Ahhh. Dinner tonight then?” I asked as I looked between her and the door to my suite. I kind of felt like asking her to come in with me, but another part of me was enjoying this dance we had going on. It was obvious that we both liked each other; we had said as much, but there was this unspoken agreement that we were working together now, and I felt as if she wasn’t in a hurry to move our relationship forward.

  But I didn’t feel very tired at the moment, and Zarra looked absolutely delicious.

  “Only if you are awake, and you feel like it. You might just sleep until morning though. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt my feelings if you do. I’ll just expect for you to make it up to me later.”

  “I think I like the sound of making it up to you later.”

  “Oh, my,” she said as her long eyelashes fluttered.

  “I could make it up to you right now. Perhaps pay it forward a bit?”

  “Ahhh.” Her eyes looked down my face, settled on my lips for a few seconds, and then rose up again to my eyes. “That might be… fun, but I’d wonder if that would put me in your debt.”

  “I haven’t taken a shower yet. You could help me wash my back.”

  “Ohh, you might be surprised to know how skilled at back washing I am.” The woman bit her lower lip, and her eyes seemed to glow. “I have a meeting in—”

  “Hey, Leo!” Chip’s voice rang out from behind me. Zarra and I both flinched with surprise, and we turned to greet the ex-SEAL.

  “Hey buddy,” I said as I shook the man’s hand. There was a piece of paper inside of his grip, and I managed to hold onto it without Zarra noticing.

  “I haven’t seen you in a few days. You been playing?”

  “Yeah. Had a great session, and I just saw my mother’s first treatment.”

  “Great!” my friend looked at Zarra, and then back at me. “Ohh. Am I interrupting something? My apologies, Ms. Zerne.”

  “Oh no, I was just bidding Leo a good night,” she said as she gave Chip a charming smile.

  “Last I checked it was morning,” the ex-SEAL said as he looked at his left wrist. He had one of those classic metal dial faced watches military guys seemed to all wear.

  “I’ve been playing all night,” I said with a shrug.

  “Ahh. Well, let’s get a workout in. How about later tonight?”Chip asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I said as I looked to Zarra. “I have plans for dinner, and might be busy after that.”

  “Leo really needs to rest. He had a long session,” Zarra explained to Chip.

  “Gottcha. Alright Leo. Maybe I’ll see you in the gym then, after you take a hot shower or something. My shift starts at eight if you want to try tomorrow morning.”

  “Got it. Thanks bud. I am starting to feel a bit tired,” I said to Zarra as I put my hand to my mouth. It was somewhat the truth, but I would have been more than happy to invite her in for an hour or two.

  But now I had to look at this note.

  “Dinner then?” she asked.

  “You got it. I’ll call you when I wake up. Bye guys,” I nodded to both of them and then walked into my room. As soon as the door closed I went to the bathroom and turned on the shower as Chip had hinted at. Then I yanked off my uniform and made like I was sitting on the toilet. I didn’t think that they had cameras in my bathroom, or even in my room, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious, so I glanced at the note as I held it between my legs.

  There is weirdness here. The employees never really talk to each other, or take breaks. A bunch of them just live here. Feels like a cult. They have cameras almost everywhere, including rooms, but I haven’t seen one for your room. I have a high security clearance, but I’m only allowed in your wing. Could be me just being paranoid; plenty of megacorps keep a tight leash on their employees, but I think something else is going on. Let’s find an excuse to work out and I can tell you more.

  I folded the note into some toilet paper and then threw it in the bowl before flushing. I wasn’t surprised by the security stuff Chip hinted at in his note, but the man had been the one to assure me that the stuff he saw here wasn’t that big of a deal. Perhaps there were other small details that he wasn’t telling me.

  I also didn’t know what it mattered. I’d already signed on the dotted line. I’d already begun playing the game, and the treatments had already started for my mom. Tomorrow my dad would begin, and I wanted to believe that it would go just as good as hers seemed to have gone today. I liked the people I had met so far at Arnacript, especially Zarra, so I didn’t know how interested I was in Chip’s feedback about employee treatment.

  Then I remembered the cryptic note that had been given to me by one of the patients. Don’t trust the purple eyes. I didn’t want to believe that there was anything diabolical going on with Zarra’s company, no, my company, but I didn’t want to be part of something that was exploiting people.

  I jumped in the shower and quickly washed off the small amount of dried VRIU juice that had caked on my skin. Ugh. I just wanted to play this game, finish my mission, and have my parents back. I really didn’t want to be poking my nose into how Zarra treated her employees. I guessed that they all carried a little bit of fear toward her, but she was the boss, and that shit happened in every company. A lot of these software game startups had a rather overzealous corporate culture, and I wondered if Chip was just not used to seeing that kind of behavior.

  I got out of the shower, and brushed my teeth as I walked into the other room. My large screen digi-pad was sitting on a table, and I fingered through the intranet options until I found the VRIU white papers. I read a bit of it while I finished brushing my teeth, and then I slid into my bed while I tried to read the rest. The text was really dense with technical terms, and I found myself nodding off after only a few minutes.

  Then I drifted off to sleep thinking about my next move in Ohlavar Quest.

  Chapter 20

  There was a sound of laughter outside my room at Artus’ house. The noise was a bit unexpected, and I looked around the small room my fenia friend had given me with a few seconds of confusion.

  “Then he rushed up the stairs valiantly! You should have seen him, dear friends.” I recognized the voice, and groaned as I stood from the cot in the tiny room.

  How had Cornalic found Artus’ home?

  “I bet he looked soooo handsome…” I heard Allurie sigh from outside of the door.

  “Oh, my dear lady, he did. He shrugged off the skeleton queen’s evil magic as if it was nothing, and then plunged his sword into her evil body. She gave a shriek like the sound of a forest of trees falling, and then she became a pile of bones.”

  I opened the door to the room and walked out into the dining area of Artus’ home. There was the scent of cooking breakfast foods, and I saw Urllia working in the kitchen. Cornalic, Gratia, Artus, and Allurie were sitting at the small table between my room and the kitchen. The four of them looked up from their conversation as soon as I entered.

  “Leo! I missed you!” Allurie was instantly in my arms, and half hugging, half climbing on me like a monkey.

  “Dearest friend, it is quite good to see you again,” the half-orc said as he stepped around the table to greet me. His shoulders were really broad, and the two of us took up most of the space in the corner when we stood near each other.

  “Uhhh. Yeah. Why are you here?” I tried to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

  “I brought you your share of the gold from the gems and dining pieces that we
sold.” Cornalic gestured to a small chest that was on the table.

  “Oh… Uhh… That was kind of you,” I said as I looked at my other smiling friends.

  “It was no hassle at all, dearest of my friends. Your cut was 4,500 and a few bits of change after my 200 addition. It is all in bags in the chest if you would like to count it.”

  “Wow! That was more than expected,” I said as I looked at the chest.

  “I found an affluent buyer. One of the noble houses. Not Baron Yinnia though,” the half-orc winked at me. “One of the man’s political rivals in the city. So, negotiations went well.”

  “Leo, that is a great deal of money. Grrr.” Artus looked at me and the chest on the table.

  “I also brought breakfast foods! I didn’t know if you or your friends had eaten yet, and the lovely Urllia offered to cook them up for us!”

  “Thank you, Cornalic!” the panther looking female fenia said from her spot in the kitchen. “Leo, you have such polite friends.”

  “Greatness attracts greatness, or that’s what my grandpappy always said.” Cornalic pulled lightly on my arm and gestured for me to sit down next to him at the small table. “Come join us, dear friend.”

  “I thought you were an orphan?” I asked as I let him pull me to the table.

  “Oh I was, dearest Leo, but it sometimes hurts my heart to talk about my past.”

  “So how do you have a grandfather?”

  “Grandpappy,” he corrected.

  “Grandpappy. How do you have one?”

  “It is a general term I use when speaking of a great and wise elder. Artus here is much too young, but perhaps in a few hundred years he would be a grandpappy.”

  “You are too kind, Cornalic,” Artus chuckled.

  “And he’s got some good muscles on him!” Gratia said as she poked the half-orc’s arms with a finger. “I’m not much acquainted with your kind, Cornalic, but ya seem like good stock, even though I don’t see an axe anywhere on this big body of yours.”

  “Ahh, my dear, I’m not much for axes. They are beautiful weapons, to be sure, but while I may look muscular, I prefer the study of books, art, and music over that of weapon play. This is why I am such good friends with Leo. His combat prowess is unequaled.”