Zectas Volume VI: The Delusive Realm of Mictlan

by John Nest

  Then, a notification window popped up.

  + You’ve detected the presence of your Symbiote and your Beggar Shade.

  After reading the window, Smoke landed on a grassy knoll.

  Thereafter, a dark ember sprite orbited from above. Igniz was the first one to arrive.

  “Hey, Buddy,” he said to Igniz as his symbiote giddily flew circles around him. “Really sorry about not seeing you there for a while.”

  Igniz responded by shaking his head, Smoke understood it that his symbiote did not mind his absence.

  Shortly, a little gray mouse scampered after Igniz on the ground.

  “Oh, and it looks Daga has grown up a bit,” said Smoke offering his hand to his little gray mouse. “Especially around the waist,” he added with a chuckle.

  “I beg your pardon!” yelled Daga. “Who are you calling fat?”

  “Whoa!” exclaimed Smoke, surprised. “When did you learn how to talk?”

  “I’ve learned a few more things other than that,” replied Daga.

  Suddenly, the little gray mouse transformed into a gray-haired, thirteen-year-old girl.

  Smoke found her face to be eerily similar to Donny if his brother was a girl with gray hair of course.

  “How did you do that?” asked Smoke. “And why are you a girl? I thought you were a boy? I even named you after my Uncle.”

  “Heck if I know why you think the way you do,” haughtily answered Daga. “Did you forget that Ouragan’s Shades were also girls?”

  “Yeah,” said Smoke, his face contorted. “Now, that you mention it they were.”

  Daga shook her head, disappointed. “Anyway, I gained the ability when I reached level 60,” she explained. “And I learned how to talk when I was only at level 40.”

  “Really?” said Smoke, pleased. “And what’s your level now?”

  “Hmmp! It’s 75,” replied Daga. “But of course, it’s only because of big brother Igniz, who was Power Leveling me that I got this far.”

  The silent Igniz nodded proudly and turned his purple flames into a shade of warm gray as if to say he was pleased with Daga’s recognition.

  “Wow! I’m so proud of you, Two,” said Smoke. He then patted Igniz’s head, but Daga quickly backed away from him.

  ‘I wonder if I can use my new ability now as well,’ thought Smoke, slightly envious of Daga’s rapid growth.

  “Status Window,” said Smoke.

  Character: Smoke

  Level: 125

  Job: Beggar Evocati

  Race: DarkElf

  Alignment: Neutral Evil – 100

  Money: 200,000,000 zecs

  Fame: 1,182

  Titles: (+ to all stats)

  Condortl Savior (+2)

  5th Swordsman to Knight Champ (+1)

  King of Maneators (+4)

  Pet: None

  Life: 320,500 HP

  Mana: 490,600 MP

  DEX: 605(+27)

  STR: 145(+47)

  AGI: 60 (+637)

  VIT: 10 (+144)

  INT: 300(+237)

  Wisdom: 130 (+37)

  Leadership: 280 (+7)

  Charisma: 42 (+7)

  Luck: 999

  Atk Speed:25(+71)

  Move Speed:67(+15)

  Defense:3,913(1/2 )

  Unused Stats: 0

  Weapons:

  Power Chainsaw Bow: 135-148(1/2)

  Attack: 7,888-8,548 (1/2)

  Salamander’s Tongue: 350-360(1/2)

  Attack: 19,850-21,350 (1/2)

  Elemental Resistance:

  Elemental Affinity:

  Fire: 92%

  Dark: 60%

  Poison: 48%

  Wind: 35%

  Water: 25%

  Earth: 60%

  Lightning: 22%

  Fire: 91%

  Earth: 83%

  Lightning: 50%

  Poison: 53%

  Wind: 25%

  Equipment Effects: (1/2)

  *Hooded Cape of Cologus

  +20% Earth Affinity

  +20% Wind Affinity

  +20 Strength

  +20 Dexterity*Gauntlets of Orcinol

  +20 Strength

  +30 Agility*Heart of ReenTe

  +30 Vitality*Sable Wizard’s Surcoat

  +510 Defense

  +10% All Resistance

  +15% Bonus Exp* Scorching Serval Shoes

  +30 Movement Speed

  +20 Intelligence

  * Wise Ring of the Dire Fox

  +30 Intelligence

  +30 Wisdom

  * Horse Ring of Domination

  +50 Intelligence

  +30% Earth Affinity

  * Berserker’s Ring of Flames

  +50 Intelligence

  +30% Fire Affinity

  * Electromagnetic Golem Offering

  +50 Intelligence

  +30% Lightning Affinity

  * Paradox Pyro Mask

  + 10 Intelligence

  + 10 Vitality

  * Florissant: Journeyman Emblem

  +20,000 HP

  +50,000 MP

  +20 Intelligence

  *Beggar Belt [2 stones]

  Skill Effects:

  * Agility of the Horned Rabbit (Agility + 600)

  * Cooking (Vitality + 67)

  * Acquired Intelligence from Reading

  +20 Intelligence

  * Dual Wield (Attack Speed + 75)

  * Knife Mastery (Knife Damage + 66%)

  * Bow Mastery (Bow Damage + 92%)

  ‘Damn it! Still short on MP,’ he realized, dejected.

  “Is something wrong, Smoke?” asked Daga.

  Before Smoke could answer, Igniz rapidly flew around the young girl and covered her in flames.

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” said Daga, quickly kneeling on the grass. “Master Smoke, I meant Master Smoke!”

  “Huh? What’s going on?” asked Smoke, oblivious to the situation why Igniz was mad.

  “It was big brother Igniz’s way of reminding me to be respectful to you,” explained Daga.

  Igniz nodded and with a stern eye glared at Daga.

  “Nah, you don’t have to call me that,” said Smoke.

  “See, even he admits that he doesn’t deserve my respect,” said Daga to Igniz.

  At once, Igniz turned back into a fiery ball of flame.

  “Igniz, stop!” said Smoke. He quickly checked his Intimacy level with Daga and was surprised to see that it was only at the Acquaintance level.

  “Daga, have I done something to offend you?” asked Smoke.

  “Ha! How can you even ask me something like that?” replied Daga.

  “Sorry, but I really don’t know what I did here,” said Smoke.

  Igniz shook his tiny purple head at Daga.

  “You want me to stop? But he’s asking me what he did wrong,” Daga said to Igniz.

  “Wait, you can understand Igniz?” asked Smoke, surprised.

  “Of course! Can’t you?” said Daga.

  Smoke could only shake his head in response.

  “What in the… Fine! I’ll just tell you what’s wrong with me,” said Daga. “For starters, you left saying that you’ll be back after eight hours, but in reality, you went missing for god knows how long!”

  Smoke gulped and nodded his head, admitting to his crime.

  “Then, you gave us a mission to gather information and to increase our levels without giving us any food rations!” shouted Daga. “What kind of Master does that?” She paused, clenching both her fists tightly. “And when you greet me for the first time, what did you do? You called me fat! Tell me, do you think you deserve my respect?”

  Smoke shook his head, speechless.

  “Honestly, I wouldn’t have returned if it weren’t for big brother Igniz,” added Daga.

  Igniz was about to attack Daga once more, but Smoke stopped him.

  “Don’t,” Smoke said to his symbiote. “She’s right. I did neglect you, and I’m sorry for that. But there was really something important
back where I came from that came up.”

  “Hmmp! Came up with that excuse, did you?” said Daga. “How original.”

  “Be that as it may, I can’t promise you that it won’t happen again,” said Smoke. “But I will promise you this, no matter how long I’m gone, I’ll always come back.”

  “Yeah, right!” replied Daga.

  “As a symbol of my promise, why don’t we have a little feast,” said Smoke, getting out a few stacks of sand cheetah meat.

  “Meat!” exclaimed Daga, quickly grabbing a hold of one. She then turned to Igniz and said. “Big brother could you please.”

  At once, Igniz cooked her sand cheetah meat to medium rare.

  Without waiting for anything else, Daga took a big chunk out of the meat and began devouring it.

  + Intimacy with Daga has risen to ‘Friend’

  Smoke smiled as he read the notification window. He remembered how he gained Darius’ Intimacy through food as well.

  “Igniz, why don’t we cook the rest of them too,” said Smoke and created a barbecue pit using his Earth Manipulation.

  “Hey, Master Smoke,” said Daga in between chewing her food. “I forgot to give you this,” she said and handed him a small piece of paper.

  Smoke scrutinized the paper and found minuscule illegible handwriting on it. Thankfully, a notification window popped up after receiving the piece of paper.

  Daga’s Findings:

  [[The Farming Village of Oro]]

  [[Merchant’s Road between the Kingdoms of Vitzytl and Thanotl]]

  [[A lake called Wanda]]

  [[Abandoned Wizard Tower of Baam]]

  [01][02][03][04]…[48]

  “Wow! There’s sure a lot of stuff here,” said Smoke, scanning through the window.

  “Avhe vein thew meni flayshes,” said Daga, undiscernable with her mouth full. “Sorry,” she said after she gulped down her meat. “I’ve been to many places to gather information. You should thank big brother Igniz for that too. He’s the one who’s been telling me to do it,” she said and resumed devouring the sand cheetah meat.

  As he was flipping through the pages of Daga’s findings, Smoke stopped when he spotted a curious entry entitled MaduHai Village.

  “Wait, is this MaduHai Village an Ork Village?” Smoke asked Daga.

  “Uh-huh,” she mumbled in response, not stopping herself from munching on the steak. “Vut I dibn’t git tho inther der.”

  “That’s okay,” said Smoke. “Because that’s where we’re heading after this.”

  While waiting for Daga to finish their meal, Smoke decided to call his Flame Master – the 13th Magietrois Florissant, Eleve. He wanted to ask how things were in the Vitzytl Kingdom.

  “Hi, Eleve, sorry it’s been a while,” began Smoke. “How are you?”

  “Faux, I mean Smoke!” answered Eleve. “Thank Tlaltezin you’re finally here. Listen, King Kajou sent Duke Chrysopelea to the Thanotl Kingdom. You should go find him there.”

  “What for? I thought he couldn’t trust me anymore?” asked Smoke.

  “The King decided that he wants to make an alliance with them in order for us to wipe out the Orks for good,” replied Eleve. “And Ouragan and I convinced him that Duke Chrysopelea can’t do it alone. So, he decided to lift your ban from the kingdom and reinstate you as one of its Generals.” She paused and mumbled. “Although, five hundred Sonstwelters did join with the Duke on the quest, but still. I would be more at ease if you were there.”

  “Alright, give me the coordinates,” said Smoke.

  “I thought you already knew where Tacitl City was?” asked Eleve.

  “Oh, I didn’t know it was going to be there,” replied Smoke. “Please tell Chrys that I’ll be there shortly. I just have to take a minor detour.”

  “What? You can’t go there now?” said Eleve. “Fine. I’ll tell him you’ll arrive tomorrow, okay? You can be there by then, right?”

  “Of course! I think I can make that,” said Smoke.

  “That’s a good boy,” replied Eleve and ended the call.

  CLICK—

  “Looks like I’ll have to disguise myself as Faux again,” he said to Igniz and Daga. “And I wanted to improve on my Knight abilities too,” he said and let out a sigh.

  “Daga, can you hurry up a bit?” said Smoke. “I’d like to see that Ork Village soon.”

  “Sheesh! Can’t you see I’m still eating?” answered Daga, gulping down more meat.

  * * * * * *

  After gliding for two hours and three snack breaks in between, thanks to Daga’s stomach, Smoke finally reached the outskirts of the MaduHai Ork Village. The swampiest region of the Sawtorn continent itself. He hid himself and his companions behind some white oak trees, covered with green moss and algae. Due to the stagnant waters, he could hear hundreds of mosquitoes buzzing everywhere.

  “Igniz, let’s synergized,” he said. He then let out a low flame to repel the bloodthirsty mosquitoes off him and used his Telefax Vision to investigate the Ork village further.

  Swamps were generally known for being unproductive land that could not easily be utilized for any activities, other than perhaps hunting and trapping.

  However, the village was situated on a large island with parts of the swamp drained to become reclaimed land. It had a simple wooden fence surrounding the front. Huts were made out of monster hide crudely stitched up together.

  At its center, stood the largest hut which towered a full two floors above the rest. It had wooden beams protruding out, forming a spiked crown around it.

  With a quick glance, Smoke counted only a few male Orks standing guard. Yet, the strangest thing he noticed was the number of Orklings running and playing inside the village.

  “Daga, why didn’t you try entering this place again?” Smoke asked the little gray mouse on his shoulder.

  “It’s because of those,” squeaked Daga, pointing at the swamp jaguars patrolling from within the wooden fence. These two-meter beasts had green fur, black spots, and golden eyes.

  “Oh, this is my first time seeing them,” said Smoke, surprised.

  Then, an elderly female MaduHai Ork in long brown robes walked out from the tallest hut. She slowly walked farther away from it with her walking cane in hand.

  As she did so, all of the Orklings who saw her ran up to greet her. They kissed her hand and lowered their heads before her. In response, she patted them on the head, as if she was giving them some sort of blessing.

  She was shortly followed by six female Orks, all dressed in similar long hooded brown robes.

  “She must be their leader or something,” said Smoke out loud.

  To which Daga scratched him lightly on the neck. “I overheard that she’s their High Priestess,” she squeaked. “But that’s all I got, I was chased by the swamp jaguars after that.”

  “High Priestess, huh?” said Smoke. “Why don’t I go and introduce myself?”

  “What? Are you insane!” exclaimed Daga. “They’re Orks! They’ll kill you as soon as they see you! Besides, aren’t we here to investigate their connection with the UrukHai and the OlegHai Orks?”

  “We are, that’s why I’m doing this,” passively replied Smoke. “I need to know if Wertlosvati has already been here.”

  Smoke grabbed the little gray mouse and placed her gently on one of the tree branches and said. “Wait here.”

  “I knew this guy wasn’t right in the head,” Daga said out loud. “He’s way beyond reckless.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m in my synergized form,” said Smoke to the unconvinced Daga. “And I’ve already met with a MaduHai Ork once,” he paused as he recalled the time he met the Coatl City librarian. “She was a bit strict but she didn’t hurt me or anything.”

  “Hate to point out the obvious, but that Ork librarian and the ones over there are completely different,” argued Daga.

  “That’s true,” said Smoke. “In any case, don’t come after me. No matter what happens to me down there.”

  After
Daga promised to stay hidden in the white oak trees, Smoke began unequipping any threatening weapons. He then took a couple of driftwoods and tied them together with a rope, creating a raft.

  Using a long dead wood for a pole, Smoke pushed through the swamp and headed for the MaduHai Village entrance alone and unarmed.

  The moment his raft made contact with the muddy shore, wooden spears were pointed at him. Four Ork Guards rushed Smoke.

  ‘Maybe this was a bit impulsive,’ he thought as he stared at the sharp spears. ‘They look a lot smaller than the UrukHais,’ he observed as he compared them to be only as tall as a regular OrkElf.

  “Kinsamir kanir? Nagunirasir kari dirir?” asked one of the Guards in Orkish, which roughly translated to who are you and what are you doing here.

  “Akon namilang Ilad,” replied Smoke in the Ork’s mother tongue. “Ishka Magic Swordsman et Vraktis,” he said, explaining that he was a Magic Swordsman in training and was looking for a place to rest.

  Slowly, the Orks pulled back their spears but still kept them trained at Smoke. They were taken aback at his ability to speak their native tongue.

  “Nganur kavow kair kaig Orkish?” asked the Guard.

  Using his rough Orkish, Smoke went on to explain that he met a MaduHai Ork once and that he acquired a book on the Orkish language and taught himself of their beautiful dialect. He stretched the truth a bit, but he was hoping that it was enough for him to build enough Intimacy with this Guard and allow him entry to the village.

  Sadly, the Guard was unmoved and refused him.

  “Dilir kar gustor magir vhutangi?” said Smoke, asking the Guard if he would like to trade some items. He then began taking out swords and other low-level items he collected but have not yet disposed of.

  The Guards stopped and watched the wares Smoke was getting out.

  “Muragir migo fuluvi?” angrily asked the Ork. “Igitir kanir imangi vakitar?”

  Smoke did not need to know Orkish to realize that they were not pleased with the items he presented.