Viridian Gate Online- Absolution

by N H Paxton

  “Well, follow strange thing, find stranger thing. Is like temple rooftop, but made of stone.” Now that I thought about it, hadn’t Val’Darn said something about the seeding grounds of the corrupted treants looking quite similar to this location? A stone and ashen wasteland in the vast recesses of a swamp?

  I looked at my quest journal, and the marker for it was basically on top of my location. I took a step farther toward the towering stone object, hoping to find some clue as to what lay within.

  “Were expecting different?” A terrifyingly familiar voice full of hatred came from behind me, and I spun on my heels.

  “This place is empty. Hollow. Full of darkness.” Viktor, or rather his avatar, Ezral, stood mere meters away from me, a dagger lazily dangling in one hand. He had changed his gear since last we fought, trading out his mottled leathers for boiled, slick ones that were coated in black. He looked every bit an assassin.

  “Eh, Viktor, was not expecting to meet you here.” I was truly not expecting him to be here, in the middle of nowhere, at night.

  But I suppose that was when the least expected occurred. I needed to be prepared for him, and I didn’t know if he would use poisons when he attacked me or if he would attack me here. I used an alchemical enchantment to reduce my chance of being poisoned.

  The fingers of my right hand twisted of their own accord, my mind running through the incantation, willing my muscles to follow. I knew it had worked when I felt my skin stiffen and saw a green icon appear in the corner of my vision.

  <<<>>>

  Buff Added

  Alchemist’s Prayer: As an Alchemist, one tends to come across many things that may, or may not, cause direct harm to the body. It never hurts to be cautious.

  Effect 1: Improves resistance to poison, acidic, necrotic, and burning damage by 15%; duration, 3 minutes.

  Effect 2: Increases resistance to being poisoned by 50%; duration, 3 minutes.

  <<<>>>

  I willed the notification away as soon as it appeared, knowing what the ability did, having used it a dozen times in the last days while mixing hazardous chemicals. If only this kind of magic was available on Earth, maybe Ina—no, I didn’t have time to think about that.

  “Viktor is unexpected blade in darkness. Like this place, da?” Ezral moved his off-hand lightning fast, and another dagger appeared.

  It was dripping with a violent green liquid. Poison indeed.

  “How much money is still owed? You do not have mountains already? What is desired?” I had to keep him talking.

  Viktor liked to talk about himself and his sure victories. It was one thing I had learned about the elusive man while still on Earth.

  I had a plan, but needed a weapon. I carefully inserted my left hand into the satchel that hung on my hip, trying to be stealthy. I was fishing for a grenade of some kind, any kind. Something that would be a surprise. My fingers alighted on the sensation of cold glass. I wrapped my hand around it carefully. He wouldn’t expect a grenade, not here.

  “Is not point, guvno.” He brandished a blade at me, the point glistening in the moonlight that blared through the clearing like a hyper-fluorescent bulb.

  “What is point, then?” I carefully pulled my hand from the satchel, trying not to rustle the leathers.

  Viktor—Ezral, rather—was irritated, and he likely wouldn’t notice, but safety first.

  “Point is to die. You screwed mob over on Earth, ignored repayments. You broke contract, killed favorite hitman.” He shook his head, tsking while doing so.

  “Was not on purpose. Cannot blame Vlad for staying alive.” I shrugged, my hands firmly held behind my back.

  I was trying to maintain a cool demeanor. I didn’t know if I was succeeding, but Ezral was definitely becoming more irate by the moment.

  “No, should have been broken. Should have died. Owed blood money, Vlad. Now, will pay.” Ezral narrowed his eyes with the statement.

  Bruno had mentioned that my payments weren’t cleared on Earth when he had come to collect. I know I had paid them in full. Something wasn’t adding up. I didn’t have time to think about it, though, because Ezral rushed toward me in the blink of an eye.

  I tried to sidestep or turn or something awkward that caused my feet to tangle like a child attempting ballet for the first time. I promptly careened over onto the stone, my arms not moving fast enough to catch me. I landed hard, and Ezral was immediately above me, his daggers flashing wildly as I watched small portions of my Health bar vanish into the night.

  The cuts hurt, but the insults he was slinging in Russian did not. I attempted to defend myself by holding up an arm, which the daggers promptly bit into. I yelled, the agony blaring in my head as the blades ripped free and plunged down again. I got a shower of debuffs as they landed in my shoulder.

  <<<>>>

  Debuffs Added

  Lacerations: You have sustained deep lacerations and are bleeding profusely, losing 4 HP/sec; duration, 2 minutes.

  Joint Dislocation: Your shoulder has been yanked from its socket and is no longer fully functional, causing severe pain and discomfort. You cannot use your left arm to attack or cast mage spells; duration, 2 minutes.

  Stalker’s Poison: You have been poisoned by the Shadow Stalker’s Venom, a rare and terribly toxic chemical reagent. At 15 second intervals, you will be stricken with a random ailment from the following list: Paralysis, Concussed, Punctured Lung, Fractured Arm, Fractured Leg, Bleeding, Blind. The ailment lasts until the next one activates; duration, 5 minutes.

  <<<>>>

  The last item was the most concerning, but the next instant I had another notification.

  <<<>>>

  Debuff Resisted

  Stalker’s Poison: Your Prayer of the Alchemist has allowed you to resist the debilitating effects of the Stalker’s Poison debuff.

  <<<>>>

  Small miracles, again. I was still without my ability to use my left hand, but that didn’t matter since I had already dropped the grenade I was holding there. I was currently lying on it, arching my back so as not to fracture the incredibly fragile glass sphere.

  This was extremely difficult, since I was supporting both my own weight and Ezral’s, as well as weathering his continuous attacks. Many times, I felt the stiffness of the glass orb through my robe on my back and had to redouble my efforts not to crush it.

  “Die, die, die!” Ezral’s blades were chipping off fractions of my HP with every single attack, and I could do nothing but sit and watch it happen. The fact that I was receiving considerably less damage than I expected was a blessing. I assumed it was a result of the film I had applied to my robe.

  “Stop, please. Is bad place to die!” I kicked him in the gut, dislodging him from his perch above my body.

  He stumbled back, holding himself as he huffed.

  “Filthy b’lyad.” He charged again, but I had managed to regain my feet, as well as the grenade.

  As he rushed at me, I took a step inside his attack radius, the sphere in my fist, and punched him firmly in the chest. The sound of shattering glass sounded like it lasted for an eternity. The red-hot pain of explosive materials pushing against my palm lit up my brain with agony.

  “What is—” Ezral’s sentence was cut short as a bloom of light emerged between us.

  An explosion ripped through the darkness of night, lighting up everything around us with a blinding flash.

  I was thrown off my feet, hurled into the tree line. My body was on fire, the air in my lungs was on fire, and Ezral was flying through the air in the opposite direction, also on fire.

  I landed with a thud, rolling a meter or two before coming to a complete stop in a horrendous puddle of stinking fluid. Thankfully, that stinking fluid put the fire out, but I was still in pain.

  A series of debuffs, this list longer than the last by far, buffeted my vision as I blinked against the blinding flames that were still dancing where the grenade had detonated.

  <<<>>>

  Debuffs Added


  Concussed: You have sustained a severe head injury! Confusion and disorientation. Duration, 1 minute.

  Deafened: Your eardrums have been ruptured by an incredibly loud blast! Hearing reduced by 94%. Duration, 3 minutes.

  Fractured Leg: You cannot use your right leg! Movement Rate reduced by 65%. Duration, 2 minutes.

  Fractured Arm: You cannot use your left arm and cannot cast mage spells requiring hand gestures. Duration, 2 minutes.

  Partially Blinded: Vision reduced by 28%. Duration, 1 minute.

  Blunt Trauma: You have sustained severe Blunt Trauma damage! Stamina regeneration reduced by 30%. Duration, 2 minutes.

  Punctured Lung: You have suffered a punctured lung! Stamina regeneration reduced by 45%. Duration, 5 minutes.

  <<<>>>

  Damage Resisted: Explosive (50%)

  Damage Resisted: Fire (25%)

  Damage Resisted: Piercing (15%)

  Your [Impervious Robe of the Royal Alchemist (Augmented)] absorbed a portion of the damage from the blast, reducing the damage you sustained.

  <<<>>>

  I coughed hard as I struggled to come to my feet. The effort required was incredible, as everything I had suffered from the explosion was fighting to keep me on the ground. I was extremely thankful for the augmentation I had placed on my robe. It had been the thing that saved my life.

  “Vlad ultimate attack,” I wheezed. A sharp cough caught in my chest, nearly taking me to my knees.

  “Self-destruct.” The word came out as a whisper as I trudged toward the flames, hoping beyond all hope that the explosion had killed Ezral.

  Given the things he had been through on Earth, the trauma and terrors and evil that made him the boss of the Russian Mafia, I knew the chances were slim.

  Every single step was agony, so I popped a Health regen potion from my belt and chugged the swill. I bit back vomit as I tossed the glass bottle over my shoulder. Gods that stuff was awful, like American Kool-Aid with too much sugar. My wounds closed as I made my way to Ezral’s burning body.

  Ezral had landed not far from where the explosion had taken place. Based on the way his neck was bent and his other limbs were folded, he had been slammed against the stone dome. He was very clearly dead.

  “Da svidanya.” I made a quick symbol of the cross on my chest before kicking him in the side.

  As soon as I had done that, his body began to disappear, dissolving into little particles of light. Good, let the bastard spend eight precious hours in respawn.

  I sat on the ground next to the newly created crater in the stone, looking around. The sun was starting to rise, and the Ebenguard would soon come looking for me. I pulled some jerky and a cigarette from my pack and lingered, staring to the east.

  The sky was beginning to take on a rainbow hue, following the appropriate shades of the color spectrum. I had forgotten the natural beauty of something so simple after coming to Eldgard with all of its shiny and unusual things.

  “Mornin’. Heard an explosion, everything okay?” Eberand’s voice caught me off guard and caused me to jump a bit. I dropped my cigarette in the muck next to me. I wasn’t going to try to smoke that, not with the muck all over it.

  “Yes, morning. Is here. Now shut face and look at sky,” I said, slightly irritated.

  Eberand plopped down next to me, his metal armor clanking as he landed. He stared up at the sky for a while before speaking.

  “You know, they say the darkness is the worst just before dawn.” Eberand sighed heavily as he looked at the rising sun.

  I chuffed, then thought about the statement. Ezral had promised to kill me, yet I had killed him. It was likely he would come for me again, but now he would fear me. Maybe there was a lesson to be learned there.

  “Is probably true. Also, you owe Vlad cigarette.”

  Diving in Dungeon

  THE EBENGUARD HAD BEEN reassembled. They asked about the crater, the scorch marks all over the stone, and the dungeon we were clearly standing on, but with no entrance to be seen.

  “Yep, just like that one dude said.” Garret walked the complete circumference of the circle, randomly stopping to kneel down.

  When he did kneel, he would rub his fingers along the ground, then roll ash between them.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Ken stood next to me, leaning on me as though I were a personal body post.

  “Do not know. Why must you lean? Vlad is not doorway.” I pushed Ken off of my shoulder. He did a quick little twist, then stopped. He pouted at me.

  “Do not give pouty look, like displeased puppy. Is not becoming of mighty Rogue.” I gave him a smirk, to which he gave a quick salute.

  “Yeah, nothing here.” Garret came back to where Ken and I were standing, his gloves extremely dusty from picking up the ash.

  “It shows on the map that we’re at The Dearth. It’s got to be here. And that quest marker is right here too.” Eberand waved his hands around as he pushed himself to a standing position. He had been leaning against the stone spire at the center of the circle.

  “Dungeon is sunk into ground, yes?” I recalled the lore from the book, making sure I could remember what it said.

  “So, what do you propose we do about that? Do we dig?” Garret looked around as I walked away from the group. I knew which side of the spire Eberand had been leaning against, and I thought I knew which side Ezral’s body had hit, so that only left two sides to check.

  “Perhaps there’s a trick to the entrance? Like we have to chant some kind of...” Eberand’s voice trailed off. “Where’d Vlad go?” The words echoed in the hollow space I had stepped through.

  I was in the top of the spire; one of the walls was an illusion. In front of me, there lay a spiral staircase made of ancient metal that led downwards into the darkness. Whoever had created this place didn’t want the entrance to be easily discovered.

  I leaned out of the northern side of the spire and shouted.

  “Found door!” The looks I got when they saw me hanging out of the spire wall were comedic.

  “How did you know it would be a hidden entrance?” Ken looked at me with narrowed eyes.

  He was our Rogue; he should know all about secrets and hidden entrances.

  “Was good guess. Suspected entrance would be hidden. Not wanting to be found. Did not suspect illusion.” I waved a hand toward the staircase that lay in front of me.

  “Nice, let’s get rolling.” Garret took a step forward, then stopped. Ken’s hand had shot out and caught his shoulder.

  “Nope, not if you’re going to bumble into that wire trap there.” Ken leaned down and took a quick look at the thin, nearly invisible string that ran along the ground.

  It was centimeters from the floor and blended nearly perfectly with the metal.

  “Well then.” Garret heaved a sigh of relief, and Eberand gave him an angry look.

  “Shouldn’t take a second.” Ken followed the wire to the edge of the wall, then stood and followed it up the wall.

  It stopped at a small escapement that looked like a normal piece of metal. He pulled a dagger from his belt and slipped the edge underneath a small opening.

  “Just don’t kill us all, yeah?” Eberand took a step back. I did the same.

  I was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic with all of the people in the small space.

  “Nope, low-level trap. Simple.” Ken’s tongue hung out of the side of his mouth as he worked.

  There was an audible click, then the sound of metal bouncing on metal. The wire went slack and fell to the floor. Ken brought his hands down and handed me a small dart.

  “What is?” I took the dart carefully.

  I focused on it, and the information for it pulled up right away.

  <<<>>>

  Daylight’s Venom Dart

  This powerful trap dart contains a noxious venom called “Daylight,” which causes complete blindness and considerable damage. Only works on “Dark” or “Evil” aligned creatures.

  Effect 1: Deals 130 Light da
mage to target Dark or Evil aligned creature.

  Effect 2: Causes Total Blindness to target Dark or Evil aligned creature. Duration, 2 minutes.

  <<<>>>

  I hadn’t seen any trap darts before. I knew I could make them thanks to my Engineering class, but I hadn’t seen any. And this venom was something completely new to me. Good thing we didn’t have any Dark aligned players in our group. That could be severely disadvantageous.

  “So, I’ll keep an eye out. Like as not there are more. This one wouldn’t have done much damage to any of us. It looks like it’s more to keep other creatures at bay.” Ken slid the small dagger back into his belt, then started down the staircase.

  “Oh, good. Other creatures.” Eberand followed Ken, then Garret headed down.

  I was last to take the long, descending staircase into the lightless abyss.

  The staircase was several hundred meters long, much longer than a normal staircase would have been in a church or temple of any kind. I wondered if there were some kind of dungeon magic at work.

  The long journey down was traveled in silence, and we finally arrived at the landing. Ken hopped off the last step, an unusual expression of joy on his face. He seemed unusually happy to be down here. I assume his Night Eye ability was working in his favor, because he looked around without concern. I stared hard at the stark darkness, wishing things were brighter.

  “Here, I’ve got a few extra.” Garret put a small glass vial into my hand.

  It was a tall, narrow vial with no bulb on the bottom. It felt empty, but swirling it in my fingers gave the sensation it was in fact full. I shrugged, uncorked the vial, then tossed the liquid down my throat.

  It was acrid and tangy, and I didn’t care for it. It tasted like someone had laced a blueberry pie with ethyl alcohol. I coughed a little bit, then spat on the floor to clear my mouth. I followed that with a quick headshake that was involuntary.

  I opened my eyes, and the world exploded in a wash of blues. Everything was tinged blue and gray. Had I just overdosed on Viagra?

  <<<>>>

  Buff Added