World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  “You’re back so soon?” the leader of the mercenaries asked.

  Vincent grabbed the Sphinx’s Third Eye from his inventory and offered it to the man. When the mercenary held up the eye to look at it, his group crowded close and stared in awe.

  NPC Quest Completed: The Silent Sphinx

  Crownkeep Respect Rating: 548

  “You’re one hell of a hero,” the mercenary said, handing over a bag of gild to Vincent.

  “Nah, I’m just over-leveled for the area,” he said with a grin.

  The mercenary only replied with a confused expression, but Vincent walked away and went to the market. He spent the five thousand gild reward on potions that he put in daiglass storage. By the time he returned to the castle, his mana reserve had refilled, although Silpher’s Coat was still empty.

  Vincent stopped before the gates and waited to see what the guards would say. The men whispered amongst each other, and he heard the words ‘necromancer’ and ‘sphinx’ just before the guards parted for him to pass. All the men bowed their heads in respect as he walked through, and he strode into a garden that led to large doors.

  Two men opened them, and Vincent stepped into a lavishly decorated hallway that led to a great hall. Inside the chamber, fancily dressed men and women drank wine and chatted, almost like they were having a very boring party. The tall throne appeared empty at the moment, and the Ranger glanced around the room, trying to find the king.

  “You look lost,” a young man, maybe sixteen at most, told Vincent.

  “I’m trying to find the king,” Vincent replied. “I’m a powerful hero in need of quests.”

  “Are you, now?” the young man said, showing a sly smile. He clapped his hands loudly, sending a ripple of magic throughout the room that made everyone fall silent and stare. “Oh, Holy Magister! Come out, would you?”

  A man in blue robes appeared in the middle of the room. His hood cast a magical darkness over his face, although his long beard continued halfway down his chest. Heavy magic filled the air as he approached Vincent and the young man.

  “Yes, my king?” the robed figure asked the young man.

  “Another one of them heroes dropped in for a visit,” the young man said. “Why don’t you knock him around a bit to see how strong he is?”

  “Sir, my power is far beyond all but the greatest heroes,” the robed man said. “Would it not be cruel to set me against a glory-seeking fool? Surely, he’s only here to chase quests and profit—that’s all they ever desire.”

  Vincent cast Zero Field on the Holy Magister and slammed him into the ceiling. The man shouted in surprise just before he went crashing back to the floor. He tried to cast some kind of spell, but Vincent threw him up and down a few more times.

  The young King Rosebriar stared at Vincent with wide eyes, but then he laughed at the misery of his Holy Magister.

  “You truly are a powerful hero!” Rosebriar said, clapping in delight. The other NPCs in the room clapped and cheered along with him, aside from the Magister, who laid groaning on the floor. “It’s been a long time since someone overpowered the Holy Magister that thoroughly.”

  “Let me guess,” Vincent said. “The last one was a woman who punched the crap out of him? Oh, or a younger woman who drained his strength with phantom blades?”

  “That’s right, the phantom blades!” the king replied. “I remember her well. A friend of yours, I presume?”

  “Yeah, she’s one of the old companions I’m trying to find,” Vincent explained. “I heard you have special quests that give Wayback and Checkpoint Crystals as rewards. With those, I might get to Edgelight.”

  “I didn’t think your friend would make it that far—at least until I never saw her again,” Rosebriar replied. “Unfortunately, I have no quests to give you.”

  “Why’s that?” Vincent asked.

  King Rosebriar pondered the question for a moment before answering. “It’s difficult to explain. A few months ago, I had a strange dream. I was staring at the entire World-Tree when a heaviness fell over me, and I heard a voice say that I should no longer hand out quests. Now, I’m not the kind of man to give in to ominous dreams or their demands, but I’ve discovered that I’m simply unable to grant new quests. If I try to speak and offer one, the words become tangled in my mouth, and my tongue numbs itself in an instant. It’s very odd. I’ll show you.”

  The king tried to continue talking, but all that came out was an inane mumbling.

  Rosebriar tapped his chest and coughed. “You see, hero? I literally can’t give you a quest. It’s beyond my power. At first I thought I was cursed, but then I remembered the old stories about the Voice of the World-Tree.”

  “So I wasted the last few months trying to earn the right to see you?” Vincent questioned, his shoulders slumping in despair. “Guess I’ll just have to do this the hard way.”

  “No, no, I might still be of some help to you,” Rosebriar said, smirking. “As I said, I’m not one to bend my will to silly dreams. This might sound strange to you, but I have memories of what feels like a past life—the experience of the very first King Rosebriar. I remember walking through these halls when they were newly built. I recall opening the Grand Treasury, seeing my past and present inheritance. That first Rosebriar—the first me—sealed the treasury at the behest of the Elder Gods. Although I can summon forth quest-related items from the treasury, no one can enter that place. It was sealed deep underground—directly below my throne.”

  “Is there a secret passage to it or something?” Vincent asked.

  “No, but you seem to be a very powerful wizard,” the king replied. “Perhaps you can blast your way to the treasury? If I give you permission, it won’t hurt your reputation. I know you heroes need your reputation to stay connected to the Daiglass Tower.”

  “You’ll really give a stranger access to your treasury?” Vincent questioned.

  “I’ll let you take what you desire, but only within reason. I just need you to break the old magic down there that limits how I use the treasury. It’s always been a thorn in my side, preventing me from using my wealth how I please. You see, everything else within the castle’s domain is under my control. Even the people.”

  The king snapped his fingers, and all the people in the room froze in place. He twirled his hand, and suddenly the NPCs began to spin in place like ballerinas. Even the Holy Magister stood with a grunt and began to dance.

  “Obviously I can’t control you heroes, but I can teleport you off my property in an instant if you break any of my rules,” the king told Vincent. “However, the treasury is beyond my full control, and I don’t like that. What sort of king bends to the will of some silly dream?”

  Rosebriar waved his hand at Vincent, trying to say something, but only slobber came from his mouth.

  “See?” the king said in frustration. “I can’t even offer you this challenge as a quest. You’ll just have to think of it as a favor.”

  “Can we at least shake on it?” Vincent asked, holding out his hand.

  Rosebriar reached forward, but then his arm fell limp to his side. “I suppose not,” the king grumbled. “Please, just do me this favor and I’ll treat you in kind.”

  Vincent nodded, and the king clapped his hands, causing the throne to teleport across the room. The Ranger approached the seat’s original location and equipped his Builder’s Tome. He used all his points, tunneling as far down as he could in one attempt. When the passage didn’t reveal the treasury, he equipped King Kame and pointed it into the pit.

  “Hey, Rosebriar,” Vincent said. “Before I shoot, I want to make sure it’s okay if a little bit of your treasury gets destroyed by a spell.”

  “That’s fine,” the young kind replied. “My treasury is beyond your imagination. It won’t hurt me to lose a shelf or two of item crystals.”

  Vincent pulled the trigger, then waited two seconds until Vaporize launched out from the hand cannon. The powerful wave of mana tunneled into the earth, but he still didn’t
see a chamber down there. He fired one more time, then glanced down to see a blue glow at the bottom.

  “I think I reached it,” Vincent said.

  “Well, take us both down,” the king commanded, excitedly rubbing his hands together.

  Vincent cast Zero Field on them, and they descended into the tunnel. At the bottom, they discovered a vast chamber with hundreds of shelves, almost like a great library with item crystals instead of books. There were so many crystals in the chamber that together they cast a subtle blue glow across most of the room. Vincent even spotted giant piles of gild in the dark corners that stood even taller than the shelves.

  There must be tens of thousands of crystals down here, Vincent realized. He continued to gape at the treasury, but then a powerful force brought him to his knees. Vincent pressed his palms against the floor, desperately trying to raise himself off the ground.

  “Fantastic!” King Rosebriar said, spinning around and staring at his treasury. “It’s just like I remember from my dreams! I don’t even know how my past self acquired such a vast fortune.”

  “What the hell is happening?” Vincent asked, struggling to hold himself upright.

  “Oh, you’re still on your knees?” Rosebriar bemused, crouching to stare at him. “You really are very powerful, aren’t you? Unfortunately, your strength means nothing in my domain.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Vincent asked. “Don’t you need me to break the old magic?”

  “Once you brought me down here, the seal dissolved,” Rosebriar replied. “I don’t really need you anymore, but I thought I’d take a second to gloat. Once I banish you, you won’t be able to set foot in my castle again.”

  Vincent gritted his teeth, still struggling not to hit the floor. “This seems like such a pointless betrayal. All you had to do was give me a few crystals, and I would’ve been on my way. Now you’ve given me a reason to kick your butt.”

  The king chuckled. “You won’t do that, or you’ll lose your connection to the Daiglass Tower. Although I guess the Voice would be happy with that. You see, I lied about my dream. I’m still free to give quests. I mean, you realize how easy it is to fake that earlier stuff, right?” The king mumbled incoherently, then reached out a hand and let it fall limp. “By the Elder Gods, it’s like you heroes have never heard of acting.”

  Vincent started to slip farther to the ground, but he caught himself on his forearms. Below him, the floor started to crack under the immense pressure weighing against him.

  “The Voice told me not to help you,” Rosebriar said. “If I didn’t give you quests, then it said I’d be allowed access to my treasury. To be honest, I didn’t know the treasury was down here until it showed me visions of my previous life. If I had refused it, the Voice would’ve taken those memories away again.”

  The king waved his hand, and Vincent felt all the pressure shift in direction, throwing him across the treasury. When he reached the end of the chamber, he collided against the wall, leaving a body-sized indentation behind. The king reappeared beside him and smiled.

  “Oh my, that didn’t break your body?” Rosebriar asked. “What are you made out of, exactly?”

  Several item crystals floated off the shelves, then transformed into basteel swords and axes. All the weapons flew at Vincent, cutting his clothes, but leaving only small scratches on his body.

  The king’s eyes glowed with excitement. “By the Elder Gods, you’re harder than basteel!”

  “Would you banish me already?” Vincent asked. “You won—I get that. I can’t touch you without hurting my reputation. Just send me on my way already, and you can go back to your boring party.”

  The young king’s face twisted into a pout. “Hmm, I’ve been growing bored with that socialite life. That party’s been going on for—oh, I don’t know—a hundred years or so. Unfortunately, I can’t leave this castle. I don’t get to have fun out on the World-Tree like you heroes.”

  Rosebriar waved his hand, slamming Vincent into the ground with enough force to shake the entire treasury.

  “This is a lot more fun!” the king said. “Normally I’m not allowed to hurt you heroes. I have rules to follow—rules I didn’t even know were there until the Voice spoke to me. I’ve been living my life on a loop for so very long. As soon as you leave, the Voice might force me back into that loop. You’re the only exception it gave me, so I have to make good use of it.”

  Rosebriar threw back his hand, sending Vincent through several shelves.

  “This is so exciting!” the king said, chuckling. “I see why you heroes spend your years fighting monsters and chasing quests. That’s why you come to our world, isn’t it? So you’re no longer bound by the rules of your own?”

  Vincent tried to cast Voidfire, but he couldn’t feel his magic reserve.

  “I’ve already disabled your magic,” the king said. “You have to understand that you’re playing by my rules. No magic unless I say so. No dying unless I say so. No leaving until I get bored with you.”

  Rosebriar shoved a hand forward, and Vincent slammed into a pile of gild. Coins flew across the treasury, but then the Ranger was pulled back to the king. Rosebriar grabbed him by the throat and choked Vincent with a powerful grip. A smile crept across the young man’s face as Vincent struggled to move his limbs, which felt pinned by an invisible pressure.

  After a few seconds, Rosebriar’s smile changed into a frown. “Something’s missing,” he noted. “Throwing you around is fun, but I’m lacking some component. What draws you heroes to battle time and time again?”

  The king lessened his grip, and Vincent found that he could breathe and speak.

  “The challenge,” Vincent muttered between breaths. “That’s what you’re missing. Tossing me around will only be fun for so long. At some point, you need to test your limits. That’s what we heroes are always chasing.”

  “A challenge, eh?” Rosebriar pondered. “What exactly would that entail?”

  “Give me back my magic,” Vincent replied. “Fight me head to head.”

  The young king stared him down for a few seconds, then tossed Vincent backward a few meters to let him land on his feet. “Fine, but I’m setting some other rules. We’ll both regenerate from our injuries, and your magic will restore faster than normal. That way, you can challenge me again and again, endlessly until—”

  Vincent Scanned the king, but before reading the text, he cast Voidfire. The king disappeared in the black flames with only enough time to utter, “Shi—”

  Crownkeep Respect Rating: -452

  Your spawn point has been changed from Crownkeep to Daiglass 0167.3076.0775.0729.

  With the king dead, Vincent checked the Scanned information, finding that King Rosebriar had a one-hour-long spawn time.

  I ought to grab as many items as I can before he respawns.

  Vincent used Zero Field to pull piles of gild and item crystals toward himself. He completely filled his inventory, then levitated dozens more items to bring with him. As he floated back into the great hall, the Holy Magister raised his hands to attack, but Vincent shot him in the head with Void Gun.

  Crownkeep Respect Rating: -652

  The crowd of NPCs screamed, but they all continued to dance and spin just as the king had commanded. Guards rushed forward to stop Vincent, but he equipped Endless Edge and decapitated them with quick strikes.

  Vincent flew back to the Daiglass Tower, cutting down a dozen more soldiers along the way, then placed all the items in storage. He returned to the treasury to grab more items, then repeated the cycle over and over again. It took him about half an hour to grab everything from the treasury, and his Respect Rating continued to drop as he stole from the castle.

  Once the treasury was completely barren, Vincent drank several ethers and flew out of the city. He expected to lose another point of respect after flying over the city walls, but it looked like he’d reached the lowest possible rating.

  Crownkeep Respect Rating: -1,000

  Vincent hur
ried to the location where he’d placed the daiglass shard when he first arrived. He had avoided that area on the off chance the angels were watching him, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous as he dug into the ground with a shovel he’d grabbed from storage. Relief fell over him as he struck the nearly indestructible daiglass. He cast Zero Field over it and floated it close enough to open his storage. The scrolling wheel on his HUD had shrunk to a sliver, with Rosebriar’s treasury taking up countless slots. He saw thousands of basteel weapons and armor sets, but he searched for the items most important to him for the next stretch of his journey.

  Jump Crystal (x10,329)

  Checkpoint Crystal (x3,051)

  Wayback Crystal (x9,667)

  1-Piece Gild Coin (x4,225,825)

  5-Piece Gild Coin (x401,001)

  10-Piece Gild Coin (x199,517)

  50-Piece Gild Bar (x58,250)

  100-Piece Gild Bar (x22,188)

  Ether (x999,858)

  Mega-Ether (29,772)

  Ultra-Ether (3,521)

  Elixir (533,229)

  Mega-Elixir (34,237)

  Ultra-Elixir (4,001)

  Seeing his newfound wealth made Vincent a little dizzy, but his excitement grew when he scrolled to the florae samples that had been stored in the treasury. He took thousands of plants, ranging from common to exotic, out of storage and fed them right into his Florist’s Tome.

  Florist Points: 425,188

  He flipped to the page in the back that listed the Candy Apple, then converted all of his points to make forty-two of them. He then ate the apples over an hour while planning out his next course of action. As he ate the last apple, he checked his profile to see his gains.

  Player: Old Man Vincent

  Class: Ranger

  Subclass: Mage

  Vitality: Lv 550

  Spirit*: Lv 622

  Resolve: Lv 557

  Perception*: Lv 615

  Agility: Lv 552

  Strength: Lv 546

  Vincent stared in disbelief.

  I went up about twenty levels in all my stats in only an hour. My god, I never thought I’d get this strong, let alone so quickly. If I find my friends, I might really be strong enough to beat this game.