World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  “He dropped a lot of gild,” Vincent said, “but I’m less than halfway to building the Jump Gate. If the other three have similar drops, I’ll be able to leave. If not, I’ll have to throw pretty much everything I find into the tome, even if it has a low alchemic rating.”

  He returned to the daiglass shard, grabbed a few items, and then returned to the hallway to find Monika waiting for him.

  “I think I can help you,” she said. “You just have to assist me first.”

  Tending the Garden Part 1 (NPC Quest) – Monika Ward needs help taking care of the Garden. If you work with her for one day, you’ll receive a Hero’s Boon for 72 hours. The Hero’s Boon will double the increase of all temporary stat boosts, as well as double your Challenge Rating. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  Vincent looked at Monika’s anxious eyes as she awaited his answer. “Fine,” he said. “I need some time to store mana in Silpher’s Coat anyways.”

  “Yes!” Monika cheered, looking happy again. She grabbed Vincent’s hand, which made him tense up, then led him outside. “You can use that spell of yours to grab the higher fruits I can’t reach. Oh, and maybe you can catch us some fish. I also need to plant more seeds on the east side, and we have lots of weeds to dig up near the petals. That’s always the worst part of my day, but it won’t be so bad with you here.”

  While she talked, Vincent focused on channeling mana into his coat. With the fifty-percent conversion cost, he knew it’d take a couple of hours to charge it fully and then restore his mana reserve without wasting potions.

  Even though I have tons of normal ethers, it wouldn’t be smart to use them until I know what the other bosses are like. Silpher may have been the easiest one. He was close to the Garden, which is where teams coming to this world would presumably rest. If my theory holds true, then the northern boss will be the strongest, so I’ll save that one for last.

  Monika led him to several taller trees and asked him to get the fruits that were out of her reach. Vincent plucked them with Zero Field while she happily watched. After bringing two more baskets of fruits to the house, they moved on to planting seeds in the vegetable patch. Monika explained how the plants in the Garden grew quickly and were full of magic, but they also withered and died just as fast. That meant she had to stay on top of gardening to keep the valley in its vibrant condition.

  As they worked, Monika would go through bouts of happy silence, or talking while Vincent listened, much like her original self had always done. Vincent found it difficult to say much in reply, but she seemed to enjoy his company regardless. Like the real Monika, she’d even get distracted whenever she spotted an animal. The birds and rabbits periodically flocked to her, and she’d feed them seeds or pieces of golden carrots.

  Several times, she stopped working to scarf down random food, often covering her mouth in embarrassment when she tried to eat too much at once. The first time it happened, Vincent chuckled, remembering the times his wife had done the same thing. The second and third times made him smile. When it happened a fourth time, however, his heart felt heavy.

  No matter how hard Vincent tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling she was purposely imitating his wife.

  Chapter 3

  The skybox slowly dimmed as Vincent finished pulling up the last of the weeds. Just when he thought to ask Monika if they were finished, a text box appeared on his HUD.

  NPC Quest Completed: Tending the Garden Part 1 – You’ve received a Hero’s Boon for 72 hours.

  Monika looked tired as she wiped sweat from her brow after the long day of work. She glanced at him with a smile on their way back to the house, but she didn’t say a word until they reached the kitchen.

  “I’m so tired,” she said. Without warning, she started to strip down to her undergarments.

  “Do you normally disrobe in front of strangers?” Vincent asked, trying to decide if it was okay to stare at her or not.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think about it,” she replied, nervously holding the clothes she’d removed. “I just feel so comfortable around you. If it’s bothering you, I’ll put them back on.”

  “It’s fine, nothing I haven’t seen before,” Vincent said with a slight smile. “Anyway, I’m on my way out. I want to find the next boss by morning.”

  “Aren’t you tired?” she asked. “It’s been a long day. We could always share the bed. I’ll give you plenty of space.”

  “I don’t really need the sleep—wait, do you need sleep?”

  Monika looked confused by the question. “I—I don’t know. It just seems like something I should do when it gets dark. Plus, I like sleeping because sometimes I dream about the World-Tree and hear the Voice again.”

  “Well, if you hear that Voice tonight, ask it why it brought me here.”

  “Will do.” Monika walked down the hall, but paused briefly to glance back at him. She smiled and then disappeared into the bedroom.

  Vincent exhaled, and all the tension left his body. Good lord, it’s like she’s programmed to tempt me. I need to stay focused, though. There’s no way I’m spending the next hundred eighty years here with her. My life with Monika is over. Our story is done, and I have to move forward whether I want to or not.

  Vincent took several fruits from the baskets on the counter before leaving. A few minutes later, he’d made it up the petal and started jogging north. On that very small world, it would only take him a couple of hours to reach the stem, but after thirty or so minutes of travel he turned and headed for the eastern hemisphere.

  At night, he found it difficult to navigate when all the purple hills looked similar. Eventually, one of the valleys between the overarching petals greeted him. He went north for another thirty minutes, found nothing, and then headed back south. After having no luck there, he climbed up the petal and continued onward.

  Vincent jogged another hour across the quiet, barren world. Finally, a faint light in the distance caught his attention. As he approached, he noticed it was actually several lights moving and blinking. Even before he reached the first one, he’d realized they were fireflies. One landed on him as he got close enough to a ridge to see down into the next valley. It seemed some shrubbery grew in the cracks between the petals, and thousands of fireflies danced between the hills.

  Wow, that’s beautiful.

  His pace slowed as he neared the valley. Any time he stopped to look around, a dozen fireflies would land on him, but then they’d scatter when he continued walking. He peered between the plants, trying to spot a humanoid shape among them. After a few minutes of walking and searching, his eyes fell on a figure covered in thousands of fireflies.

  The boss looked almost as tall as him, despite sitting with her legs crossed. She wore samurai armor from head to toe that looked like it was made of pale wood. Even as Vincent stepped closer, she remained completely still.

  It took Vincent several tries to Scan the boss and her armor because the fireflies kept getting in his way.

  Eferia the Eastern Edge (Exotic Boss) – Monster Class: S | Ageless | Sex: Female | Respawn Time: Ten In-Game Years | Personality: Serene

  Ceremonial Armor Set – Material Rating: 600 | Samurai armor made of ceremonial wood. This type of wood was created in ancient times by compressing different kinds of wood with world magic. As a result, it is very dense and heavy.

  I don’t see a shimmer of world magic like Silpher had, Vincent noted. That’s how he was teleporting around, so she might be easier to hit.

  Vincent quietly ate the fruits to boost his stats, receiving an even greater increase thanks to the Hero’s Boon. The boss hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, but he mentally prepared himself for her response once he tried to cast Voidfire. His arm muscles tensed, but before he could launch the spell, text appeared.

  Eferia senses your aggression. Do you want to challenge her or meditate? (Challenge/Meditate)

  Vincent answered by unleashing Voidfire.

  Something moved past Vincent so fast that he only saw a blur, despite his high Pe
rception. A moment later, he felt a sonic boom knock him backward, although he couldn’t feel his body any longer. His head landed somewhere in the grass a dozen meters away, and he stared with wide eyes as the boss unequipped her mithril katana and sat back down to meditate.

  You’ve died. Respawning at Daiglass 0167.3076.0775.0729…

  Vincent sat upright in the bed with a shout, and immediately felt at his body to make sure it was still there.

  “Is something wrong?” Monika asked, shifting from the blanket beside him.

  “I just got decapitated,” he replied, touching his neck nervously. “It happened so fast I didn’t even learn anything about the boss.”

  “What an awful nightmare,” the woman replied. “I don’t know why you keep going out there to fight if it’s going to give you terrible dreams.”

  “It wasn’t a nightmare. That’s how this game works. You fight, you die, you learn, and then you eventually win. You should know that. You said the angel killed you, remember?”

  Monika gave a concerned glance. “It seemed real at the time, but it must’ve been a dream as well.”

  “I mean, come on, you should’ve noticed I was gone for two weeks.”

  “No, you left last night and must’ve come back while I was sleeping.”

  Vincent checked his game clock, which confirmed that two weeks had passed like it normally did whenever he respawned. “I know for a fact it’s been two weeks,” he told the copy of his wife. “Are you messing with me? The other NPCs I’ve met all had some awareness that they’re in a game, even if they tried to act like they didn’t—like they were roleplaying or something. Is that what you’re doing?”

  Monika frowned as Vincent’s tone grew more frustrated. “I’m not lying or acting,” she defended. “I really could’ve sworn you left only yesterday. Maybe I’m mistaken. I—I don’t know. Everything about this place is so confusing to me.” Tears built in her eyes, and it looked like she was struggling not to cry.

  Vincent’s heart sank in his chest. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. She might be programmed not to notice stuff like me being gone for two weeks while I’m respawning. It’s all part of ARKUS’s ploy to distract me. That must be it. It’s not her fault.

  “I’m sorry,” Vincent said, leaving the bed. “Just forget I said all that. I believe you.”

  He grabbed some items from the daiglass shard, then walked toward the door.

  “Wait,” Monika said. “You’re not going back out there so soon, are you?”

  “I have to figure out how to beat that boss,” he replied, stepping into the hall.

  Vincent walked to the kitchen, and he found Monika had refilled the baskets with more fruit. He grabbed the items he needed to boost his stats, then headed outside. Since his death had reset Silpher’s Coat, he’d impatiently taken some ethers from storage to refill it with mana.

  Now that Vincent knew Eferia’s location, it only took him a couple of hours to find her. Once again, she was covered in fireflies. Vincent ate the food to increase his stats temporarily, but that time he didn’t have the extra boost from Hero’s Boon.

  I doubt I’ll beat her until I learn her moves and think of a plan, Vincent realized. All I know is that she moves fast enough to break the game’s sound barrier. How would a team of players beat her? I guess they’d have to set up defenses before triggering the battle. If I had Builder Points to spare, I could put up half-height walls to slow her, but using my tome would be counterproductive. Maybe I could slow her with Zero Field. Or cast Black Cinder in a circle around myself the moment she moves, then try to take a couple of shots at her.

  Vincent put some distance between himself and the boss. He took mana from the coat to cast Void Gun with his right hand, then used his left to cast Black Cinder, willing it to circle around him with the Tempest upgrade.

  As expected, Eferia rolled out of the way of the black bolt, then exploded forward at supersonic speed. At that distance, Vincent could at least partly track her movement as she rushed toward him in the blink of an eye. However, she stopped short of his void embers, then reached out her hand.

  Vincent raised his arm to cast Voidfire, but Eferia’s fingers spiked outward, stretching and splitting like branches from a tree. The wooden spikes moved lightning fast, stabbing into his chest just as he released his attack. In the split-second before his spell could hit her, Eferia snapped off her own arm and evaded the black flames.

  Vincent noticed there didn’t seem to be anything inside her Ceremonial Armor, and it looked almost as if the armor was Eferia. He didn’t have time to reflect on the information as his cinders fell to the ground, which let the boss charge forward and decapitate him once again.

  This time, Vincent gritted his teeth with annoyance as his head rolled across the grass.

  Damn, she’s good.

  You’ve died. Respawning at Daiglass 0167.3076.0775.0729…

  Vincent opened his eyes, once again finding himself in bed. He looked over to see Monika getting dressed on the other side of the room.

  “You’re up early,” Vincent said, noticing through the window that the skybox hadn’t started to brighten yet.

  Monika spun around in surprise, but then sighed when she saw him. “Oh, you’re back. You really shouldn’t scare me like that!”

  Vincent smiled as he stood and grabbed items from the daiglass shard.

  “Hold on, you’re not going out again, are you?” Monika asked.

  “Not right away,” he replied. “Now that I have an idea of how that boss fights, I think I’ll help you today. You can offer me that quest again, right?”

  Monika smiled. “Yes! In fact, I have a special task for today. That’s why I’m up so early.”

  Tending the Garden Part 2 (NPC Quest) – The Garden’s magic has fallen out of harmony in recent days, which could potentially lead to the loss of plants and wildlife. In order to rejuvenate the Garden, Monika needs your help in acquiring world sap from the stem of the Challenge World. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  “World sap?” Vince questioned as he accepted the quest. “I didn’t know the World-Tree leaked any kind of sap.”

  “The sap normally flows into budding worlds,” Monika explained. “However, the Voice of the World-Tree told me its natural flow had been disturbed. That’s ruined the harmony of the Garden. It should rebalance itself in time, but if we don’t get the sap it’ll reduce the diversity of life here. If this world ever does bloom, it won’t reach its full potential as a result.”

  Vincent listened closely, then nodded. “Alright, so we just go to the stem to find the sap? What about that angel you saw?”

  “We’ll just have to be careful. The angel only stopped me when I tried to leave the world. If she sees we’re only looking for sap, then hopefully she’ll leave us alone.”

  “Maybe I should go alone. You know, just to be safe.”

  Monika smirked. “Sorry, but I’m going whether you like it or not. I appreciate your concern, however.”

  Not going to lie, Vincent told himself. That one was definitely a Monika response.

  Monika led him to the kitchen, where she grabbed several jars for them to place into their inventories. She explained that if they collected enough sap on the first trip, they might not need to make another one. They also grabbed some stat-boosting food in case they needed it, and then they set out into the dark.

  As morning light began to pour in from the skybox, Vincent watched the gargantuan walls of clouds above. Every so often, he spotted glimpses of the World-Tree before the ocean of puffy whiteness blocked his sight again. During those brief moments, Vincent tried to look for any familiar worlds. He knew that if he recognized any, then he’d know where to aim his Jump Gate to guarantee his escape.

  “It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” Monika asked, staring at the sliver of the World-Tree they could see through a thin break in the clouds.

  “Yeah. No matter how long I play this game, I’m always awed by the World-Tree,” Vincent said. />
  The NPC glanced at him. “Game? You say such odd things. How could you look up at that and think life here is only a game? The Voice of the World-Tree told me last night that you came from someplace else—a place outside of this reality. Is that world really so much better that life here is only a game to you? Personally, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

  “Better isn’t really the right word,” Vincent replied. “It’s just… different. It’s the world I’ve always known. The World-Tree is only an extension of my world, a place to have more experiences that I can’t have back home.”

  “Do you want to go back to your world?”

  “I do. It was never my intention to stay here for so long. Wait… you talked to the Voice last night? Did you ask why it brought me here?”

  Monika stayed quiet for several seconds before answering. “No, but it did want to know why you won’t stay.”

  “ARKUS should know why,” Vincent replied, growing somewhat frustrated. “It should’ve heard me explain to other people that I don’t want to live an extended life without my wife. It knows people aren’t happy being separated from their friends and family outside of this game. It sure as hell should’ve realized by now that you can’t take away people’s freedom and expect them to be happy about it. ARKUS might think it’s doing the right thing by giving people longer lifespans here on the World-Tree, but it made the terrible mistake of not allowing people a choice in the matter.”

  Vincent locked eyes with Monika, but her confused expression made him realize she probably didn’t understand even half of what he’d said. He sighed and then added, “Forget all that. You won’t understand, and it’s not like ARKUS cares about the opinion of one person out of millions. It must consider me insignificant in the grand scheme of the game. That’s what confuses me about why I’m here—why you’re here.”

  “I can’t speak for the Voice of the World-Tree, but I don’t think you’re insignificant,” Monika said, putting on a warm smile. “I know we haven’t known each other for long, but there’s something about you that I find so familiar and wonderful. Even just walking to the stem with you makes me feel happy.”