After that, I figured it might not be a bad idea to work on my heaviest hitting skills, ‘Final Judgment’ and ‘Holy Meteor’. In hindsight, I might have been better off going with a simpler skill. The puzzles for these were stupidly difficult and solving one didn’t guarantee I would level the skill up.
I did ‘Final Judgment’ first, just one level took two puzzles and ate almost thirty minutes from the clock. I only got one more puzzle solved after that. So, one hour for one level . . . not ideal.
Final Judgment
Level: 3
Experience: 25.00%
Skill Effect: Deliver the Final Judgment of Issara upon an enemy of the World Tree dealing -2-HP damage per point of MP and SP used plus weapon damage. Ignores armor, cannot be blocked or dodged.
Skill Stamina Cost: All Spell Mana Cost: All
At least with ‘Holy Meteor’, the first puzzle I solved gave me a level. Then two more puzzles and I gained a second level. I didn’t even get through the fourth puzzle before time ran out. Still, two levels had doubled the damage output.
Holy Meteor
Level: 3
Experience: 0.00%
Skill Effect: Falling from the heavens, you pierce the World with your divine might multiplying your damage by an order of magnitude based on height dealing an additional -2-HP damage per point of MP and SP used per 15-feet. Ignores armor, cannot be blocked or dodged. Damage in excess of targets remaining health will explode, spreading any remaining damage equally to all targets within 100-feet.
Skill Stamina Cost: All Spell Mana Cost: All
As expensive as these spells were, I really hoped I wouldn’t need to use them tomorrow. I suppose I could have spent more time working on other spells and skills that had more combat utility and a much lower cost, but I liked having the trump cards for just in case.
I told Rose what I worked on and how much I had gained. She teased me about not being able to solve more than 3 puzzles for each of the bigger skills.
“I was thinking we could go out and kill something unique,” Rose said.
I checked my game clock, it was already approaching 5:00, we didn’t have much daylight left. “I don’t think we have enough time,” I said, making Rose frown.
“Sorry, Jack, I wanted to do something earlier, but my sister insisted,” Rose explained unnecessarily.
“It’s okay, really,” I said. “I wanted to also, but you haven’t really done anything with your sister in a while either.”
Rose frowned. It was true she spent every day with her sister while they were fighting and winning the war. But they hadn’t really done the sisterly thing at all. “I suppose you might be right,” Rose said, trying not to smile.
“Could you repeat that?” I said, teasing her. It was a rare thing when she said I was right. Given the good mood she was in, I wasn’t going to hold back from gloating . . . at least, a little gloating.
“Anyway,” Rose said, changing the subject. She was unwilling to repeat herself. “If not going out and killing some monster that might kill us, what do you want to do instead?”
“Date night?” I asked. I had done enough work for the day. Spending the evening before battle with my girlfriend sounded like a really good idea.
“I suppose,” said Rose, smiling for me despite trying to sound like she was doing me a favor.
I hoped I was right to go have fun with Rose. Tomorrow was going to be difficult and hard to endure.
Chapter 32
I was nervous as I went down to breakfast. I know it was just a game . . . pretty sure it was just a game despite what the Goddess Issara had said before, but I was still worried about the outcome of the battles ahead. I was also exhausted, not just from date night with Rose.
“Morning Bye-bye,” Mardi said loudly as I entered the kitchen, she was downright jovial this morning.
It made me feel guilty about what was about to happen.
“Are you just going to stand there,” Gras asked from behind me, his accent was thick and a little slurred.
I looked behind me, Gras stood there, stretching his arms over his head and yawning.
I quickly moved out of the way. Why did I have to see Mardi and Gras this morning? Knowing what was going to happen today if everything went perfectly. And yet, neither of them looked the slightest bit concerned.
“Bye-bye, you do not need to be so nervous,” Mardi said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Everything is going to go fine today.”
I hoped that was true. I put on a brave face and joined them at the table to wait for breakfast.
Rose stumbled into the dining room eventually, we were out late the night before. We went back to the ‘Falling Down Dwarf’ and spent hours dancing together. All the Dwarves there were in high spirits, even knowing that many of them will probably die today, they still lived to the fullest. I envied them. I wasn’t sure if I could do that. “Morning,” she grumbled to everyone, taking her usual seat next to me, quickly claiming my hand in her own.
Breakfast was odd . . . not the food, but the mix of behaviors. Olaf and Micaela were kind of quiet, attacking the preparation and eating of their food with a precision I hadn’t witnessed before, or maybe never noticed before.
Heath joined us half asleep, barely sparing me a glance. I didn’t understand how he could be so calm about everything.
Baby might have been more nervous than I was. I saw her come down the stairs once in a purple dress then zip back up again. I caught sight of her a little later with a red dress and then finally with a green dress.
“So, guys, uh . . . there is something I need to talk to you about,” Baby started nervously, she was standing on the cushion of her chair and fidgeting. “My uh . . . my fiancé is coming . . . today.”
“Teddy actually agreed?” Rose said, much more awake after the announcement.
Baby glared at her sister. “Stop calling him that, and yes, he agreed to come help . . . or watch . . . or something,” she stated. Taking a few breaths, she looked back at the rest of us. “Anyway, my fiancé is kind of famous. You will all recognize him when he arrives, I am just asking that you all try not to overreact when you meet him . . . please? He’s not going to fight or anything, his level is way too high.”
“Who is he?” Heath asked bluntly.
“No telling,” Rose said quickly, smiling mischievously. “Don’t tell them. I want to see the looks on their faces when they see him.”
Baby smiled a little then giggled. “You’re mean, Sis . . . but I think this time I’ll allow it.”
“No fair,” Micaela protested, pouting.
“Will he pet me?” Vision asked, appearing next to Baby’s chair.
“I’m sure he will,” Baby said, giving the spirit wolf a little scratch behind the ears.
“Okay, then he can come,” Vision said seriously, despite leaning into Baby’s ministrations to the fur behind his ears.
“I’m glad you approve,” said Baby, laughing.
Conversation settled as everyone relaxed a little. Then Mardi spoke.
“Okay, time to armor up,” Mardi said, her face turning serious. She marched up the stairs a moment later.
I wanted to call after her that she didn’t need to do this, but my voice failed me.
“We all should,” Rose said, following behind Mardi.
It didn’t take long to finish getting ready, I had my armor in my bag, so it was just a matter of slotting all of it.
“You seem tense, Bye-bye, everything alright?” Micaela asked.
“Yeah, just . . . you know, nervous. There is a lot that can go wrong today,” I said. As far as I was aware, today was just the main gate and the ramparts which also included the area between the main gate and the inner gate. I couldn’t worry about anything else until that was resolved. “Just the main gate and ramparts,” I repeated for myself. I knew that we might go further than that if time allowed and nothing went wrong, but if there was any way to delay today from happening . . . I sighed again.
&
nbsp; “Let’s go,” Olaf said, seeing Mardi and Rose finally coming down the stairs, both in full armor though Mardi’s looked considerably more ornate and probably equally more expensive. In all the time I had known Mardi, I didn’t even know what her class was.
Outside of Mardi’s gate, the city was a ghost town. Even the Guards that were usually stationed outside of her gate were gone. The doors were all closed, and the window boarded up, not a hint of light from any gap or hole could be seen. It felt . . . dead.
“The citizens have been evacuated to a bunker deep in the mountain,” Mardi said, explaining why everything was so empty. She must have noticed me looking around the way I was. “Just in case something goes wrong, my people will live on.”
I nodded in understanding. I hadn’t been privy to any of the plans for the city. I was barely informed of the plans for the assault. I think if I hadn’t been friends with Olaf, I wouldn’t have known anything about those plans either.
As we neared the inner gates, I heard a commotion from the players and even some of the Dwarven soldiers.
“Does he always need to make a spectacle of things?” Rose asked, groaning.
Baby laughed nervously. “He’s probably acting the part so he can post it later.”
“That might be worse,” Rose said.
Up ahead of us, I could now see the cause of the commotion. It was a bear. I call it that but calling it just a bear might have been an insult to it. This thing was not just a bear. It stood nearly half as tall as the gate from paw to shoulder, easily twice my height, maybe more. Its fur was blue of all things and it had a large wooden platform on its back, held there by what looked like leather straps. The nameplate might have been the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen, it read
As more of the bear . . . mega-bear? Whatever. Anyway, as more of it entered the city, I saw there was a much smaller bear holding on to one of the railings on the platform. This bear was about the same size as Baby. He was covered in brown fur that made it look more like a teddy bear. If not for the mismatched leather armor I imagine he would have a cuteness factor that women would go crazy over. The more important part of his appearance was his nameplate,
Suddenly, things made sense. When Baby had said her fiancé was a famous gamer, I had never even considered the possibility. But now, seeing him here.
“Titan Beast is your fiancé?” I asked, looking at the blushing form of Baby.
“Surprise,” Baby said weakly.
Rose just laughed.
“The . . . Titan Beast . . . is your . . . fiancé?” I said again, my mind still not quite believing what I was seeing.
Rose laughed harder.
“Can we meet him?” Micaela asked, snapping out of it first and beating me to the question.
“Of course you can,” Baby said with a tinkling laugh. “I did invite him here to meet my friends. Just . . . you know . . . act normal.”
Yeah, there was zero chance of Micaela acting normally. I’m not even sure I would be able to act normally. In this day and age, sports were mostly in the digital world and lost a lot of their appeal with the lost realism of the real world. Even movies weren’t able to entertain the way VR could. As a result, the stars of today were the gamers. The guys and girls that climbed to the very top of the pyramid of the most popular games. There were still a few famous actors and actresses, but they were only famous for acting parts in VR games, usually as an NPC or special event character. I mean, why pay to watch an actor or actress play the role of a superhero when you could be that superhero in VR. I imagine a superhero game of some kind would be next on Seed Inc’s agenda, and with as realistic as the NPC’s were, that might be a game worth trying . . . maybe.
Anyway, there were plenty of actors and actresses that tried to create a storyline or drama within a VR game, but they were largely unsuccessful. Usually, because a player killer would grief them to the point where they couldn’t film without dying . . . repeatedly. And again, why watch a drama when you can live as part of the VR game.
“Are you guys coming or not?” Baby asked, flying ahead.
Micaela was hot on her heels while Olaf followed along a little more sedately.
“I really hope he is on our side,” Mardi said, following a moment later.
“Relax, Mardi, he’s Baby’s fiancé . . . her husband to be,” I said, calming Mardi.
“Will there be anything left of Anvilton if he fights?” Gras asked, running to try to catch up to Baby to ask for more information.
I waited patiently for Rose. She needed to wipe tears away from laughing so hard. “Oh, that was fantastic. I needed a good laugh,” Rose said, taking my hand in hers and pulling me forward.
Gras’s comment about fighting worried me a little. I know Baby said he wasn’t here to fight but what if I got up there and saw a huge number of Judgments against him. I would be forced to act or risk losing my class.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked when I didn’t budge.
“What if . . . what if he has Judgments against him?” I asked.
Rose’s eyes widened then she broke out into laughter again.
“Hey, it’s not funny. What if I’m required to kill him?” I asked, not appreciating her laughter this time.
“Oh, but it is,” Rose said through her laughter. “I convinced Baby to force him to come only for his levels to be dropped back to 1. I can see the headlines now, ‘Highest to Lowest’ or ‘The Fall of a Titan’.”
I wasn’t laughing. If it was necessary to do that, I would suddenly become public enemy number one. Gamers everywhere would hate me, and player killers would come hunting me for the chance to say, ‘I killed the guy that killed Titan Beast’. I would be better off quitting the game and never looking back.
“Come on silly, if you are forced to kill him then you are forced to kill him. Unfortunately, the Boy Scout teddy bear is known for his hatred of all things PvP. So, it’s a miracle Baby convinced him to come in the first place. Also, he’s here to watch, not participate,” Rose said, reassuring me at least a little bit.
I decided to trust Rose and moved ahead with her.
Baby and Olaf were standing off to the side, waiting for the crowd of players asking for autographs to move on. I couldn’t help but notice Micaela was among the throng of players asking for autographs. I assumed Mardi and Gras had already gone into the barracks to speak with General Hammersmith.
Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary to kill Baby’s fiancé. Even through the mass of bodies blocking most of him from view, I could see the small bear was lacking a red aura that usually identified other players as criminals.
I listened as several players asked if he was going to be fighting today or if he was single, I heard one woman ask if she could have his baby. I had a feeling, that one wouldn’t be getting many heals today from Baby.
Micaela returned, hopping with excitement as she held out a piece of paper with the letters T.B. written with a pawprint in black ink next to it. She was waving it about excitedly before stuffing it in her bag.
“Better now?” Olaf asked.
“All good,” Micaela said, looking a little flush from the excitement.
Eventually, the players moved into the barracks after the Master Sergeant barked that it was time for the briefing.
“I’ll get the details,” said Olaf. “Go ahead and meet him. I’ll let you know what’s what.”
“Thanks, Olaf,” I said, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.
Olaf followed the other players into the barracks to listen to the briefing. I trusted him to let us know where to go.
Now that he was free, Titan began approaching us. “Hey Babs,” Titan said, grinning at our friend, his fiancé.
Titan Beast was a star in the gaming community. He emerged about five years ago when he embarrassed the previous hottest player in the latest iteration of ‘Fervent Fantasy Online’. It was a worl
d boss fight, the previous top guy, Dante Extremis was a legend, highest damage dealer the game had ever seen. The man’s damage output was usually 10-20% higher than the next highest player. Titan Beast came out of nowhere, dealt almost twice the damage as Dante. Overnight, it was Dante-who. Meanwhile, Titan Beast quickly became a household name. That he also produced top quality videos and strategy guides for players only helped create an image. And now, he was here.
Baby shot forward, wrapping Titan in a hug. “You came!”
“Of course, I came, who knows what hell your sister would unleash on me if I didn’t,” Titan replied, laughing.
Baby broke the hug and glared.
“Has anyone told you that glaring is really ineffective when you look like a child?” Titan asked.
“Thank you!” I shouted. “Finally, someone else gets it.”
Titan leaned to the side to see past Baby. He took a moment to study me before focusing back on Baby. “He okay?”
“Yeah, Bye-bye’s cool, though he might have healing problems later,” Baby replied, redirecting the ineffective glare at me.
I smiled and waved.
“Anyway, it’s really good to see you,” Titan said, turning Baby back to look at him.
It was strange to look at the pair. Titan was like a walking teddy bear while Baby looked like . . . well, a child that just might have a teddy bear.
“I’m glad you came,” said Baby, hugging him again.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t do this sooner,” Titan replied.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re here,” said Baby. “Now, I want to introduce you to my friends.”
“And you’re sure they’re safe? I’m not going to get any new stalkers, am I?” Titan asked.
Baby looked nervously at Micaela, but it seemed the Minotaur was back in control of herself.
“Titan, this is Micaela Crushhammer, her husband Olaf went to the event briefing. I’ll introduce you to him later. Anyway, Micaela is an awesome Shaman . . . most of the time,” Baby said, laughing at Micaela acting scandalized by the comment.
The Mountain Valley War Page 56
