The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

by Brent Roth

  My brain didn't work as well as it used to and one of the lingering effects of my Post-Concussion Syndrome was mental fatigue, along with issues concerning cognitive functions of a higher order, apathy, personality change, tinnitus, and irritability to name a few. Normal things for most people, just on a whole different level… and now, I was tired. I was extremely tired, actually.

  I felt exhausted.

  "That was really intense though," said Ethan after he calmed down a bit.

  "It was, and all I could do was watch," chimed in Alan. "Was positive, once I was out of mana, that we were going to wipe and have to restart the whole thing."

  "Sigurd pretty much willed us through it," said Ethan as he gave me a pat on the shoulder. "You're pretty fucking good, you know that?"

  "Huh?" I asked, a bit confused at the moment.

  "You tanked all the goblins on the side, the guards included, killed them by yourself, and then picked up the chief and managed to tank without taking any damage for a good fifteen seconds," he explained, long-windedly.

  That was it… fifteen seconds.

  It felt like an eternity, a duel to the death that lasted at least a minute. Sure, I was aware that time was slow, it's always like that when your adrenaline is rushing. A hundred-mile per hour fastball isn't that fast when you're focused. But, only fifteen seconds… that seemed wrong.

  "Is that so," I said nonchalantly.

  I was having a hard time getting excited now, and actually wanted to log off.

  The guys went on, talking amongst themselves for a bit as I tuned out and closed my eyes. I felt sick from overexerting and taxing myself mentally. It had happened so many times before that I recognized it the second it hit, but it had been awhile since my last episode. With the game, I never expected to have this issue.

  Soon, the chatting became incessant and the flood of voices was only making my headache worse. I switched their voices off and had it auto-transcribe into text, but that too became too much. A stream of text flooded my chat box and quickly formed into a large wall of text that was simply too long.

  I didn't want to read it.

  They were excitedly discussing the events of the fight, filling in Barik, who had missed the end of it as he was running back. Ethan described a flurry of movements between the goblin chief and me, something they couldn't quite follow in the middle of it all going down. All Ethan did was spam his fireball over and over, even as I fell to the ground and was split like a watermelon.

  Then after I died, two more fireballs hit and the chief collapsed on the spot.

  If I had lived another four seconds, I could have witnessed the end.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to retrace my view of the fight, but in my mind everything happened relatively slowly. I saw the attacks wind up before they were released, saw them coming and their trajectories. There was time for me to react, to move or attempt to counter, even if my body couldn't quite move as fast as I wanted.

  It wasn't a flurry of movements by any sense.

  Ah, it clicked.

  Somehow, it slipped my mind with all of the celebrating.

  "Have you guys had adrenaline rushes in-game?" I asked, butting into their conversation somewhat randomly. "Heightened senses and all, the whole shebang?"

  "No, can that even happen?" Ethan questioned immediately.

  "I 'ave had some," answered Barik right after. "I hear it depends on the connection yer mind is able to make with the game."

  "Is that how it is?" I stated while thinking over what had happened. "That whole fight, was a huge adrenaline rush, everything was in slow motion for me, but it taxed me heavily afterwards. I'm pretty fatigued right now."

  "Whoa," said Ethan somewhat comically, doing his best Keanu impression.

  I couldn't even laugh.

  Was I even playing a game anymore?

  Everything was so realistic, from the supposedly limited Artificial Intelligences that governed the Non-Player Characters like Selene and Katherine, to how real it felt to be here. When they said this was a Virtual Reality… I never thought it would be so realistic that I would find myself questioning my own reality on a daily basis.

  Hell, I was even suffering from an in-game headache and had a simulated adrenaline rush. This was beginning to be a bit too real, even for me.

  "Yeah," I said bluntly. "I'm thinking, I'm going to log out guys, I'm tired."

  "Hey wait a minute," Barik yelped out. "Ye ain't goin' anywhere buddy."

  "Yeah!" yelled Ethan as he practically skipped over to the back of the room, where a dirty chest had been sitting out of sight. "We've got treasure to deal with first lads."

  Right, there was loot.

  Oh, this was the fifth boss… that meant potentially excellent loot.

  "Hah," I laughed out loud as I realized my mistake.

  "So what's in it," asked Barik impatiently as Ethan fiddled with the chest's lock.

  All of us had crowded around the small chest as we impatiently waited for it to open. Biding our time by nervously shuffling back and forth, we were excited and anxious to see what would be offered. We were the first to clear the dungeon, so there was a possibility we would have something rare inside.

  Maybe, that is.

  It could be entirely random, too.

  We didn't know, and we didn't want to wait any longer to find out.

  "Gods, ye take far too long," Barik finally spouted out as he pushed Ethan aside. "It's just a damn little lock, what takes ye so long."

  "Oi I got it, step off," countered Ethan as he finally popped open the chest while pushing Barik back. "You lot are too impatient, chest isn't going anywhere."

  At this point no one really cared about what was being said as we all eyed the contents of the chest. As the lid to the chest fell backwards and the insides started to glimmer and shine in the darkness of the dungeon, my imagination ran wild at what there could be.

  Was there gold?

  Maybe there were jewels, gemstones, or magic crystals?

  Perhaps a rare item, like an enchanted dagger or a scroll that taught a rare skill… the possibilities were endless. I wanted to know, Barik wanted to know, Alan wanted to know, so too, did the frost mage.

  "What," Ethan said dejectedly.

  "That's it, huh?" stated Barik with a slight sigh.

  The four of them backed off as if the chest was empty, much to my confusion.

  "Step aside if you're done," I said, trying to budge them so I could see what had caused the sudden depression to spread like a pathogen. Brushing past them, I looked down into the chest that had a number of silver coins and hundreds of copper coins.

  That was it?

  Couldn't be… a chest of gold or in this case, copper and silver was nice but, there had to be more. I wasn't sold, that couldn't be it. They wouldn't have hyped us up with a chest after this incredibly difficult boss only to provide us with some coinage.

  That was almost blasphemous.

  I wanted to cuss at the developer, if this was the case.

  "Nah, there's gotta be something else down underneath," I said as I started to sift through the coins and felt around the chest. Parting the coins and running my hands through them, I finally made contact with something that wasn't a coin. Grabbing the circular object, it felt a lot like a ring.

  "There's a ring," I said with some shock.

  Pulling it out and inspecting it, I was actually kind of surprised.

  The [Silver Ring of the Outcast Goblin Chief] was an enchanted ring that offered plus five-percent or plus ten, which ever was lesser, to your Endurance and Vitality stat. A scaling item, that would grow with you as the game progressed, up to at least plus ten Endurance and Vitality. That really wasn't too shabby.

  No, it was quite strong.

  Especially this early in the game, when the other rings that had dropped were only plus-three to an attribute, this one was at least plus-five for me and wouldn't cap out until it hit ten. If I wore four of those, I might not have stamina issues i
n combat anymore… hell, I could probably run forever.

  That didn’t even count the bonus to health as well.

  It wasn't that bad at all.

  An item that could last you quite a while, disguised as a minor double attribute ring.

  Hah, it was perfect for a tank.

  "Catch," I called out to Barik as I tossed him the ring. "You'll want a few of those."

  "Eh," he replied before actually looking.

  Then his eyes seemed to widen as he looked over the details, glancing at me once then back at the ring. I knew what he was thinking, he wanted it. He only hesitated because we were both tanks and could use it equally.

  "Roll ye for it?" he asked, somewhat expectedly.

  "Hah, nah," I replied with a smirk. "You keep it, it will benefit you more right now."

  "Ye sure?" he asked again, not wanting to take my kindness for granted.

  "Yeah man, you're the main tank, 'grats," I replied with a nod.

  The others looked on, a bit confused as to what had just transpired. I didn't even bother to include them in the discussion but, that was only natural. Items went to who could use them at this point, then it was split by value after. Everyone would get their equal cut eventually, and we had been running together for almost a week.

  Plus, they were all from the same guild.

  To deny their tank a tanking item, would be pretty stupid.

  I was content with my decision.

  "Right," he said with a nod of his own. "Thanks."

  The others looked at me but I ignored them as I combed through the rest of the items on the floor. Barik ended up filling them in on the ring and its properties and they didn't have any complaints. It was expected, anyways.

  As I started to gather the random swords, spears, shields, bows, axes, and jewelry, I finally came across the one unique item in the entire dungeon.

  The halberd that belonged to the [Goblin Chief], the one that easily cut-up three people, was lying on the ground next to the corpse of the comparatively large goblin waiting for someone to grab it. It was a two-handed weapon, an axe, and a spear, all in one. The [Chief] had used a variety of skills from both the Axe and Spear proficiencies, such as [Heavy Swing], [Heavy Thrust], [Lunge], and [Quick Thrust], and the last one that caught Barik, [Jab 'n Hook], was one that belonged to the Halberd tree specifically.

  That meant, you could utilize three different proficiencies with one weapon.

  In itself, that was a bit broken.

  Triple the amount of abilities compared to someone using a regular spear… well, there were drawbacks. The weapon was heavier, larger, and definitely more cumbersome. There was also the appearance factor, and it didn't really look as cool.

  Yeah, aesthetics were important in an MMORPG.

  Well, I was white with red blood stains and somewhat fluffy on top of hardened leather, but I didn't care much for appearance. Everything was practical, and cheap. Fur kept me warm in the harsh winters, the leather offered some minimal protection for the time being, and it at least all fit within the realm of a winter warrior.

  Yeah, my fur coat was pretty badass though.

  I liked that one, quite a bit.

  "You taking that halberd?" asked Alan as he walked over and stood next to me.

  "Oh, hadn't thought about it," I replied honestly. "Was just thinking of its usefulness, wasn't really thinking about actually taking it and using it."

  "You lost your two-handed axe last time, didn't you?"

  "Ah, it's been repaired," I answered with a shrug. "My one-handed axe fits better with the shield combo anyhow, so there was little reason to bring along the other axe."

  "Take it," said Barik, having crept up behind me.

  "We can split the other stuff mate," offered Ethan in addition. "Might as well take what you can use, I know I'm not coming back to this shit hole again."

  Hah, yeah.

  He had a point there.

  "I don't see any of us returning here really," I laughed out half-heartedly. "Alright, I'll take that and we already split most of the loot earlier so, I'm headed off now."

  "Right, have a good one," said Barik, with slight smirk.

  Giving them a partial wave, I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the exit, parting with only a simple phrase, "night guys." By the time I reached the exit, I had fiddled with my bag and set all of my items inside, the only thing left was the halberd that was in my right hand. It was considerably heavier than my other two-handed axe, but that was understandable. Really, it was expected to be heavier, so that was normal.

  What caught me off guard was that it was enchanted… and not only that.

  It wasn't a simple regular weapon.

  "Wait this…" I mumbled to myself, stopping right before the portal exit.

  In my hands, was a named weapon.

  That [Goblin Chief] dropped a [Defiled Halberd of Reaving].

  The properties and stats were nearly identical to a normal axe and spear in damage, as most weapons were considerably close in damage range, but the durability was exceptional. A [Rare Grade] item of [Good Quality], with a special effect added on… it was something else, really. Both named portions of the Halberd seemed to have its own effect, with "Defiled" incurring a penalty to one's Vitality, to the order of minus eight-percent. On the other hand, "Reaving" gave a bonus of plus twenty-percent to [Execute] success, which was already quite high on its own.

  So, I would lose roughly eight-percent of my total health when using the weapon, in order to almost effectively guarantee an [Execute] on a disoriented, weakened foe that couldn't defend itself. Eh, I didn't know if that was worth it.

  I didn't get to use [Execute] very often.

  Well, that didn't really matter.

  It was rare, and of good quality… that meant a few things.

  The durability was excellent compared to the trash I had been using prior, no longer would I have to worry about this weapon shattering mid-combat or the blade warping and bending from a hard hit. The blade's sharpness was almost assured as well, meaning I could stab and cut a few people without any worry of it becoming dull.

  Convenience and peace of mind, was what it was.

  That's what this weapon offered me.

  Comfort in knowing that the weapon was reliable.

  Yeah, I was keeping this guy.

  It was already versatile, and fit my playstyle… now, all that was needed was some better armor to go with it, and I would be one of the most decked out players in the game, for a short while. Things were looking up, and I hadn't even turned in the fifth quest chain.

  Wow, I almost forgot about the quest chains.

  But, that would have to wait for another day, as my head was still aching considerably. I needed to rest… to close my eyes for a bit, relax, and sleep. The quests could wait until tomorrow, they were already registered as complete, anyways.

  We were the first to conquer this dungeon, and the timestamp proved it.

  That was special, yeah.

  I was kind of happy.

  Chapter 52: Settling Affairs

  (Monday, June 28th Game Day / Monday, March 1st Real Day)

  Standing in front of the quest giver that was a little off to the side of the town's center, dozens of players were gathered around me, mostly minding their own business as they attempted to turn in and receive new quests. We all had the same objective really, and most of us were waiting our turns as those ahead of us filed out one by one.

  Behind the little wooden table and underneath a makeshift sunshade, there were two elves, NPCs of course, that managed the quest chains for the players. There were three people in front of me, but the line moved relatively quickly.

  Without much to do, the majority of the players socialized with those that were nearby, mainly anyone fool enough to listen or friendly enough to pretend to care. Chatter filled my ears as guys and girls alike talked up their experiences and bragged about their exploits inside the dungeon, all eager to prove themselves amongst the a
nonymity of the crowd. It seemed laughable to me, but maybe I was just being cocky.

  They were all strangers, looking to make new friends.

  I didn't know of any of them, nor did I care to.

  None of them knew of me, either… so, maybe, I was being a bit pompous.

  As my turn finally arrived, I handed the piece of parchment that was magically inscribed over to the female elf. Somehow, the paper automatically updated as you completed your quests. I suppose it was necessary to have something to put in your hand, to add to the realism, rather than an invisible quest log system that existed solely in one's menus.

  "Thank you," said the quest NPC after taking the parchment from me.

  In an instant she started to immediately read through the piece of paper with the type of seriousness expected of a practiced professional. It only took her a couple of seconds before she looked up at me, then back down at the paper, clearly confused as to what she was supposed to do.

  It was an interesting touch.

  "Um, one second please," she uttered out, with a puzzled expression on her face.

  The two elves chatted amongst themselves with hushed whispers just out of earshot as they eyed the paper a few times, and eyed me once or twice. The quest NPCs changed depending on the hour of the day, so I figured these two had yet to see the fifth completion stamp. Barik and the others most likely turned it in the night before, with a different set of NPCs working the booth.

  "I'm sorry for the wait," she finally said after some discussion with her fellow worker. "Please accept our sincerest gratitude for your completion of the Call to Arms, and we hope that you find the reward more than sufficient. Thank you, adventurer, for your services to the region."

  As the last word left her lips, she bowed in conjunction with the other quest giver as multiple system prompts flooded my visual field. Accepting them without bothering to read through them, I was hit with multiple beams of golden light that appeared to descend from the heavens as the warmth of the radiance soothed my soul.

  Relief washing over me, I couldn't help but enjoy the feeling.

  "What's going on? Did someone just spawn?" someone in the crowd asked.