Viridian Gate Online- Absolution

by N H Paxton

  “No kidding, dude.” Eberand helped him stand, bringing him quickly to his feet.

  Garret’s face was abnormally close to Eberand’s. A quick look passed between them, then they both looked away.

  “Jesus, dude, keep your distance.” Garret shook his hand free of Eberand’s and stepped away, a slight red creeping into his cheeks.

  “Shit, my bad, dude. I forget how strong I am in the game.” Eberand looked away.

  “Am to be looking for dungeon heart.” I sighed as I turned about. Zeno was sitting on the floor, his face stained with blood.

  “Is that it?” He nodded to a large object sitting on a pedestal.

  The black sphere pulsed gently as the walls around the dungeon shifted. It called to me, a strange voice picking at the back of my head.

  Release me, the voice said over and over. It was gentle in tone, but forceful in urgency.

  “You gonna stare at it for another few hours or take the stupid thing?” Garret stepped up next to me and crossed his arms over his chest, a scowl on his face.

  “Right, should be taking to complete quest.” I reached a hand out to the sphere and received a prompt.

  <<<>>>

  This is a [Corrupted Dungeon Heart – Specialized]

  What do you wish to do with it?

  Convert? Retrieve?

  <<<>>>

  “Huh,” I said as I looked at my options.

  There were prompts for both, so I took a moment to look them over.

  <<<>>>

  Converting a Dungeon Heart

  Upon converting a Dungeon Heart, the Dungeon will become aligned to the faction that the Traveler is a member of. If the Traveler is not a member of a faction at the time of conversion, the Dungeon Heart will return to Wilde-Type and have no owner aside from Cernunnos.

  Do you wish to convert the Dungeon Heart?

  Yes/No?

  <<<>>>

  Well, that was interesting. I had not considered that to even be an option.

  The other option made plenty of sense, but there was a caveat.

  <<<>>>

  Retrieving a Dungeon Heart

  Upon retrieval, the dungeon will be killed. It will cease to spawn monsters and will become a ruin. The Traveler who retrieves the Dungeon Heart will be granted the Dungeon Heart, a powerful consumable crafting item with extremely valuable results. However, there are consequences to this decision, as every dungeon is a child of Cernunnos, and Cernunnos does not give up his children easily.

  Do you wish to retrieve the Dungeon Heart?

  Yes/No?

  <<<>>>

  This was the first I had heard of Cernunnos.

  I breathed in deeply as I looked over my options. In order to complete the quest for the Guild Banner, I needed to take the Dungeon Heart. But if I did, I would kill the dungeon. And that would piss off a deity of some kind here in Eldgard.

  I stared off into space, lost in thought. There was a collective sigh from behind me. Apparently, I was taking too long to decide.

  “Dude, can we please just get the hell out of here? I need a drink,” Ken said, irritated.

  “Shut up. Let the man think. I bet it’s a tough choice.” Zeno sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed.

  “My bad.” Ken put his hands up defensively.

  “Children, please.” Eberand raised his voice.

  “Is tough choice.” I hung my head as I considered the situation.

  <<<>>>

  You have chosen to Retrieve the Dungeon Heart.

  This is a decision that cannot be unmade. Once a Dungeon Heart has been collected, it will remain dead until Cernunnos sees fit to rebirth the dungeon.

  Are you sure you wish to proceed?

  Yes/No?

  <<<>>>

  I selected yes and gently removed the black sphere from the pedestal. There was a low rumbling as the walls ceased to move, and the light in the room snapped off.

  “Was not kidding when said would kill dungeon.” I put the sphere in my bag and looked at the rest of my party.

  There was just enough light for me to see their terrified faces.

  I turned around and was standing face-to-face with a featureless wooden mask attached to a feminine figure made entirely from shifting vines. The vines twisted and moved amongst themselves as she tilted her head.

  “So, you’re the one who killed my child.” There was an edge of violence to her voice.

  “Ah, did not—” I stuttered as I tried to back away from the creature.

  “You didn’t what? Expect me to arrive so swiftly?” She tilted her head to the other side, the vines shifting as she did so.

  “Needed item for quest...” I trailed off as I tried to look away, but a vine conformed to my chin and ripped my head back to look at the creature.

  “Oh, did you now?” She looked me over, then looked at my comrades, who were frozen in time.

  “Yes, for making guild.” I was starting to lose my fear of this creature, this god.

  “I see, and why shouldn’t I kill you where you stand and take the Heart back?” A small, viney appendage spiraled into the air in front of me, narrowing to a wickedly sharp point.

  The vine lowered to my eye and came terrifyingly close. I managed to keep my head and not freak out, though I desperately wanted to.

  “Does not matter to Vlad.” I shrugged, not believing my words.

  “Well then,” she said, a laugh escaping from behind her mask.

  The vine lowered, snaking its way back into the constantly writhing mass that made up her body.

  “I like you.” She turned, her body shifting in pleasant ways as she walked.

  “Not going to kill Vlad?” I raised an eyebrow. There was something odd about this god.

  “No, but only for two reasons.” A noise like the twisting of rope brought my attention to her face, which rotated back to me.

  “One, I know your fate, little Dawn Elf. There is something intense prepared for you, and I don’t screw with that.” She held out a hand with two fingers, then lowered one of them.

  “Two,” she said, her other finger lowering, “you’re marked by that... thing.” She shook her head, the mask shifting back and forth.

  “What thing?” I wondered if she was referring to the creature that I had seen while fighting the Dark Collector.

  “Yes, that thing.” She moved her mask-face closer to mine, the wood almost touching my nose. “Yes, I read your thoughts. I don’t make it a habit.”

  “And what is thing?” Now I was in data collection mode. I needed to know more.

  “I cannot speak of it. It’s not something...” She looked away at the ceiling, her viney hands shifting and squirming.

  “Not something?” I wasn’t sure if it legitimately wasn’t a thing, or if she had just forgotten to finish the sentence.

  “Not important. Listen, I’m giving you a pass on this Dungeon Heart. You cleared its corruption. I hate corruption. But don’t steal from me or kill my children again. Your status won’t keep you from my wrath next time.” The sound of twisting ropes surrounded me as the vines exploded, the wooden mask falling to the ground and decaying into dead leaves.

  “What is—oh, it’s gone.” Ken rubbed his temples like he had a headache. “I swear I saw something.”

  “Yeah, that was weird. Anyone else have a headache all of a sudden?” Garret was holding his forehead, leaning over a bit.

  “Need to leave, anyone does have scroll to teleport?” I shook my head, concern causing me to grind my teeth.

  “Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.” Zeno slipped a scroll from his inventory, stood up quickly, then snapped the wax seal from the roll of paper.

  Evidence of Choice

  THE SCROLL SIZZLED and vanished, a portal snapping into place in front of him. Beyond the shifting colors of the border of the portal, I could make out the twisting spires of Darkshard Keep and Yunnam proper.

  Stepping through the portal was like experiencing the inside of a
washing machine on the spin cycle. My stomach roiled and threatened to expel everything I had eaten for three days when I stepped through it.

  I managed to keep my footing, though I desperately wanted to fall over. The remainder of the party stepped through without an issue, the portal snapping closed behind us with a sizzle and a pop.

  “Ah, smell that swamp stank.” Ken had a large smile on his face as he stepped past us all.

  “Drinks, food, bed.” Garret clapped me on the shoulder as he strode past me, the usual grimace he wore plastered back on his face.

  “Need to finish quests, craft Guild Banner, make guild, so many things to do.” I hung my head, thinking about all of the things I needed to finish before heading to bed myself.

  “Yeah, I’m heading to the bar. Eberand, you coming?” Zeno had already taken a few steps away when he asked.

  “Nah, I’m going to go chill for a bit. You have fun.” Eberand nodded to Zeno and me as he walked away, leaving me alone in the early evening light.

  “Well, work to be done then.” I scratched at a spot on my forehead as I trudged to the workshop.

  A chunk of spider jerky found its way into my hand as I mindlessly wandered to the workshop. The taste of the meat was exquisite, despite being dried spider.

  “Hey, Vlad.” The voice startled me from my stupor, and I realized I had arrived at the workshop.

  Shindla looked me over as she stood with her hand on her hip.

  “Rough day, boss?” She shook her head as she waved me through the doorway and into the scorching heat of the workshop proper.

  “Rough is good word, yes,” I said as I stumbled to my workbench. Gods, my body was exhausted.

  “No worries, we’re all about done here.” We both looked around the room.

  More than half of the workstations were empty, the messes cleaned up and the books and notes neatly organized. I had no idea what would happen when I made this location the base of operations for the guild, if it even worked that way, but I imagined it would not stay this clean for long.

  “Day is done, then?” I checked the clock in the corner of my interface, and it ticked up to 20:44.

  “Oh yeah, I was just about to head home myself. Do you need me to stay?” She offered a gentle smile, her words sincere and encouraging.

  “No, is fine. Need to be doing, though.” I turned to my workbench and removed the Dungeon Heart from my inventory.

  “Wow.” Her voice rose in pitch, and her eyes widened when I placed the black sphere on the tabletop.

  “Dungeon core, will use to make Guild Banner.” I noticed a pair of flashing green icons in the corner of my vision.

  I focused on them and was lambasted with notifications.

  <<<>>>

  Quest Alert! Purge the Unclean

  You have succeeded in cleansing the corruption that was threatening Rai Nam and the Storme Marshes. The Council of Six at Rai Nam appreciates your efforts and has delivered your reward.

  Reward: 5,000 XP, Reputation Increase (Nullified), 45 gold

  <<<>>>

  I had completely forgotten that we had accepted that quest. The boost to my XP was appreciated, and the money as well. The loss of the reputation was something I would have to deal with as a Keeper, but the rewards of the class were well worth it. I had a second notification as well, which pleased me greatly.

  <<<>>>

  Quest Alert! The Absolute Heart of Darkness

  You have retrieved the Heart of Darkness from the clutches of a Corrupted Emissary. In doing so, you have the incredibly rare crafting material necessary to create a Crafter’s Guild.

  Reward: Blueprint—Crafter’s Guild Banner, 5,000 XP

  <<<>>>

  The time restriction had been lifted, finally. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the sound of paper fluttering caught my attention. I looked at the workstation in front of me and a large piece of paper had appeared beneath the Dungeon Heart.

  “That wasn’t there a minute ago, right?” Shindla’s eyes grew wider still as she pointed at the paper held firmly to the table by the sphere.

  “Video game mechanics never cease to amaze,” I said as I gently rolled the Dungeon Heart off of the blueprint so I could see the crafting components necessary to make the Guild Banner.

  <<<>>>

  Blueprint: Customized Crafting Guild Standard

  This blueprint allows an engineer to create a Custom Guild Standard.

  Through the construction of a Guild Standard, a custom guild can be developed. Using the power of Alchemy, Engineering, Ancient Magic, prohibitive quantities of blood, and enormous amounts of Spirit, a Dungeon Heart may be fused with a Leather Banner to create a power source for a guild.

  This blueprint may be augmented by an Alchemic Weaponeer or Alchemic Engineer.

  Requirements: Engineering, Alchemy

  Ingredients: Dungeon Heart of Simple or Higher Level, Leather Banner, Blood, Spirit, Pedagogical Theorem of Transliteration (Master)

  <<<>>>

  The crafting process would use tremendous amounts of Spirit. The only materials necessary were the Dungeon Heart and blood.

  The hand gestures required to generate the alchemic and magical forces strong enough to fuse the two and bind them into a single entity were complex. Creating a standard out of them would simply require a piece of leather stretched across a wooden frame.

  A new notification obscured my vision as I finished reading the blueprint.

  <<<>>>

  Quest Alert! Guiding a Guild, Crafting for the Craft.

  You have been blessed with the chance to craft a Guild Banner, and not just any Guild Banner, but one of the most versatile in the entirety of Eldgard: a Crafter’s Guild, capable of housing any member of any crafting or gathering trade. Finish the banner to found the guild and begin commanding the power which belongs to you.

  Quest Class: Rare

  Quest Difficulty: Simplistic

  Success: Complete the Guild Banner, place it above the entrance to a building, and open the Guild Interface

  Failure: Reject this quest (The Dungeon Heart will be destroyed)

  Reward: Guild Founding

  Accept: Yes/No?

  <<<>>>

  I selected Yes.

  So many things had happened in just a few short days, and I was not going to let those things go to waste.

  “Why is it blank?” Shindla furrowed her brows as she looked at the blueprint. Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

  “Is blank?” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, as the paper was clearly marked.

  “Yeah, it’s definitely blank.” She shook her head and smiled.

  “What is funny?” I stared hard at her as she started to chuckle.

  “Nothing, nothing. Just get to work, I’ll clear the place out. Goodnight, Vlad.” She gave me a nod as she turned, her hands joined behind her back as she headed toward the door.

  “Is good, silence will be important.” I rubbed at my forehead with my thumb and forefinger, creasing my brow in thought.

  “You, Apprentice,” I shouted at one of the young Alchemists who was milling about.

  “M-me?” He looked confused and pointed to his chest.

  “Yes, come.” I waved him over.

  “Uh, y-yes, Master Vlad?” The man cowered before me. Whether it was in reverence, fear, or a combination of both I could not tell.

  “Need leather, stretched across wooden frame. We have, da?” I held my hands out to the size I needed, about a quarter meter on each side, square in shape.

  “I think so, sir. Let me check the crafting stores. Sir.” He hesitated to turn around, then spun in place so fast he almost fell.

  “Easy to be going, is not race.” I put a hand out to try to settle him, but he just looked more nervous.

  “Okay, thank you. Sir.” He bowed slightly, then turned and headed toward the front door of the workshop.

  “Now to be fusing the blood.” I drew a short dagger from a sheath, the blade glinti
ng in the dim light of the workshop.

  “Not going to be enough, my friend.” A slight breeze blew across my face as I looked up.

  Alvinoth sat across from me, his elbow planted on the countertop, his head resting in his open palm.

  “Show up like ghost, from nowhere.” I shook my head at him as I tried to stop a smile from crossing my face.

  “It’s what we do.” He returned the smile, then sat up straight. “So, you’re going to need a lot of blood for this to work. And magic, ass-tons of magic.”

  “Blueprint was not specific in amounts, just enormous.” I waved a hand over the paper that was stretched out on the table.

  “Yeah, I remember writing—I mean, I remember seeing this at one point.” He raised an eyebrow briefly and gave a short, knowing nod.

  He tapped a finger on the Dungeon Heart, the sound resembling someone tapping on a glass orb. He slowly tilted his head one way, then the other.

  “Doing this often, making face but not speaking.” I scratched at the stubble growing on my chin, impatient to hear his thesis on the situation.

  “Yeah, I don’t know where we’re going to get the blood.” Alvinoth snapped his fingers in the air and a small box appeared before him.

  “Is good trick,” I said as I examined the box.

  It was a storage crate, like one from Earth. It was wooden, built from a series of slats, and had a hinged lid with a gleaming golden lock on it. Alvinoth wriggled his fingers at the lock, and it popped open, the hinge creaking loudly as the lid lifted.

  Inside the crate were vials upon vials of a ghastly looking red liquid. Blood of some kind.

  “Okay, I lied.” He said as he pulled several flasks from the box, each containing easily a liter of blood.

  “How many will need!?” I panicked as he continued to pull vials from the box, eight in total.

  “An entire body’s worth and then some. It’s a Dungeon Heart, buddy. The power held inside this one, even though it’s relatively young, is unfathomable for most people.” After the final vial had been removed, the box snapped shut, spun around on the table, then disappeared in a pop.

  Alvinoth began to unstopper the vials, setting them in a circle around the Dungeon Heart. Alvinoth looked at me, then stopped, turning his head.