World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  His eyes went upward to the worlds overhead. During his stay in Cryasal, he had tried to learn about the paths and worlds players followed to reach Panthos. The biggest issue with traveling the upper worlds was that the normal Jump Gates were replaced with Puzzle Gates that changed their destination every few days, in addition to costing five times as many Jump Crystals as normal. Even when you stood on one of those gates, you couldn’t be sure where it would take you, and some paths led to dead ends.

  I’ll have to make my own path, Vincent realized, funneling stacks of gild into his Builder’s Tome until he had several million BP. He placed a Long-Shot Jump Gate and stepped onto it. However, he paused to activate a Checkpoint Crystal, which he then tossed into the nearby lake.

  If something happens to me, I’d rather spawn here immediately than two weeks later at the daiglass shard. I don’t want to risk the angels finding it while I’m dead and taking it back to Rosaria. I have plenty of Checkpoint Crystals to waste anyhow.

  Vincent took a stack of Jump Crystals from the shard and kept them suspended with Zero Field. With so many crystals in hand, he had dozens of jump options, but he picked the farthest dot he could spot: an ash-colored world that he recognized. He’d spotted that planet while living on the Challenge World, and he guessed it was about halfway between Cryasal and Panthos.

  With any luck, I might make it to Edgelight in only a few hours.

  The Ranger smiled, then set off for the second-longest jump he’d ever taken in the game.

  Chapter 13

  Vincent looked down at the whitish landscape of the world as he approached it, and he noticed red valleys and canyons in a few regions. Even before he reached low orbit, he spotted towering skeletons that roamed the planet. Most were even bigger than Rethin, the World Boss his team had struggled to beat long ago on Eramar.

  Before his feet touched the Jump Gate, Vincent stopped himself in midair with Zero Field. He didn’t see any need to journey on foot or fight the behemoth skeletons. Instead, Vincent flew high above the land, taking the daiglass shard with him. With all the ethers he’d taken from Rosebriar’s treasury, he could maintain flight almost indefinitely.

  One of the towering skeletons spotted Vincent, and the monster opened its mouth to cast Vaporize. With his speed and reflexes, the flying man easily dove away from the attack after its two-second charging time finished. However, the spell drew the attention of other skeletons on the horizon.

  Vincent zigzagged across the sky to avoid dozens of Vaporizes. Before any spell could graze him, he swapped his gear for enchanted clothes he’d stolen from Rosebriar’s treasury. Whenever the items took too much damage, Vincent changed to another set. He had lost a dozen outfits by the time he had circled to the eastern hemisphere and found a blood-red valley to dive into for cover.

  Vincent double checked the world above to make sure he could see Panthos.

  This looks like a good enough spot for a Jump Gate, he thought. However, the real problem is whether I can make it past those angels. I have enough Checkpoint Crystals for repeated attempts, but I know they’ll take the daiglass shard if I die. Plus, if they get wise to what I’m doing, they might come to this world and find where I’m respawning. It might be best to hide the shard just in case. I could always come back for it later if I really need it.

  Rather than burry the shard like last time, Vincent launched it far away with Zero Field. He watched it fly off into the distance, likely falling near a crater he’d spotted while heading for that valley. There were a couple of giant skeletons there, but he didn’t imagine they’d notice or care.

  Vincent placed a Long-Shot Jump Gate in the middle of the valley, then he activated a Checkpoint Crystal and stabbed it into the rockface. His heartbeat quickened as he walked onto the gate and gathered Jump Crystals into his hands. Before activating them, he swapped back to his soulbound equipment and refilled Silpher’s Coat and his mana reserve. His muscles felt tense, but he tried to slow his breathing and gather his focus.

  Okay, I just have to fly past the angels. With Warro’s Necklace and my Density Shield, they’ll have a hard time killing me. They’ll probably throw up defenses, but I can tear through them with Greater Voidfire. I can do this. It might take me a few dozen respawns, but I can do it.

  Vincent activated the Jump Crystals and focused his attention on Panthos. The gravity field lifted him into the air, and he watched the gate charge with power. When it finally activated, it sent him hurtling into the sky and through space toward a world that looked much like Cryasal at a glance. The only thing that really stood out to him was the crystalline walls of Edgelight that he could spot on the horizon.

  As Vincent traveled toward the planet, an idea came to him, and he used Zero Field to shove himself off course. He found it difficult to break from the predetermined path, but after a second of trying, he suddenly lost most of his speed and began to freefall toward a mountain range. Vincent drank an ultra-ether and launched himself at Edgelight.

  Maybe if I’m fast enough, the angels won’t have time to react.

  The crystalline walls of Edgelight grew taller over the horizon as Vincent rocketed toward the city. For a few seconds, he studied the towering defenses and surrounding land, but there didn’t appear to be a single angel in sight. He didn’t spot an entrance on that side of the wall, and the closer he got, the more clearly he could see the dome of nearly invisible world magic covering Edgelight. Vincent had no doubt he could tear through the dome if he needed, so he stayed high in case the angels were hiding on the ground.

  As he ascended, he could see past the crescent-shaped city wall to the glasslike buildings behind them. They seemed to drop like steps toward the large Jump Gate at the heart of Edgelight. Even as he approached, Vincent saw the gate activate, sending a few specks toward a world above.

  Then, a hundred flickering lights flashed before him, and the angels appeared.

  Vincent slowed to a stop, watching as dense walls of world magic appeared one after another over the city until it disappeared behind absolute mountain of whiteness. He raised his hands, about to cast Greater Voidfire, when eight angels flew toward him. Their white attacks bombarded his body, blowing away pieces of Silpher’s Coat even as he pulled mana from it.

  Vincent cast two Voidfires and Power Launched them at the first two angels, incinerating them instantly. He equipped Endless Edge in one hand and Green Flash in the other, then blocked strikes from the next four in rapid succession. Each angel carried their own mithril weapons, ranging from swords to spears to axes. They took turns diving at the Ranger as he circled higher to find a gap in their barriers. He defended against their attacks as best he could, but angels closer to the city sniped at him with white beams that left shallow cuts across his body.

  An angel with a mithril greatsword moved into his path and sliced through his chest. Vincent decapitated the enemy, but the angel caught her own head by her white hair, then continued to swing her weapon around with the other arm. The Ranger dodged her wild attacks and shoved her away with Zero Field.

  Vincent continued flying higher, and Edgelight shrank below him. He started taking ultra-ethers from his inventory and pouring the potions directly into his mouth with Zero Field. With the constant flood of mana, he gathered up multiple floating Voidfires as another dozen angels chased after him. He sent two attacks into the crowd, but the enemies moved too fast, so he Power Launched the next few. The supersonic attacks took out several angels, but Vincent had left himself open while regaining his mana.

  The white-haired foes didn’t wait for him to drink his potions, and several tore into his body with world magic attacks. Over a dozen explosions went off at once, blinding Vincent for several seconds. The impact weakened his focus on Zero Field, sending him falling toward the city. The angel army moved above Edgelight, creating a protective dome to stop Vincent from reaching it, while the closest angels continued to attack him.

  Vincent stopped himself in midair several times, trying to gulp
down ultra-elixirs, only to be blasted again by several enemies at once. A group of angels took aim together, firing beams of white light that merged before they burned a hole through his skull.

  Warro’s Necklace kept the Ranger alive as he tumbled through the air, but it didn’t seem the angels realized that until one caught him by the throat. The angel smiled, then grabbed the necklace. Before she could pull the necklace from him, Vincent incinerated her with Voidfire.

  With the last of his strength and desperation, Vincent dove past dozens of angels for the dome of world magic they had reinforced many times over. The pressure of the dome became so immense as he approached that it almost felt like it would snap his body, but he continued onward.

  Vincent tried to gather mana for another Voidfire, but then scores of white lances skewered his body and held him in place. When he glanced at the angels, he saw that they had formed groups to combine their power and make lances of magic that could pierce his Density Shield. Vincent snarled as he shattered two of the lances with Voidfire, but the angels reformed them and stabbed him again.

  One of the taller angels flew before Vincent and smiled at him. The white-haired man raised a hand to the Ranger, and pale light twinkled in the angel’s palm.

  “Wait,” the voice of Monika called.

  Rosaria descended near them. She cast a light over Vincent, healing his most serious injuries, although he was still pinned in place by the lances.

  “You’re not taking me back,” Vincent spat.

  “I’m not here for you,” Rosaria replied. “I only want the daiglass shard.”

  “I won’t spawn there. I have a Checkpoint Crystal hidden on a different world.”

  Rosaria sighed, shaking her head in frustration. “This isn’t about you. My job was to retrieve the crystal. It violates the World-Tree’s natural order. That’s why I took it from your friends in the first place. Now, I need to return it where it belongs. Just give me the shard, and you’ll be free to go.”

  With the mask over most of Rosaria’s face, Vincent found it difficult to judge if she was being deceitful or not. Her mouth had formed into a flat line, as opposed to her normal inhuman smile, but her voice sounded sincere as far as he could tell.

  “Fine, I’ll make this easy for you,” Rosaria said when Vincent didn’t answer. She raised her hand, and the white lances shattered, dropping the Ranger. Rosaria caught him mid-fall, healed the rest of his injuries, and then carried him to the brilliant walls of the city. “Touch it.”

  Vincent paused a moment, somewhat confused until he Scanned the wall. “It’s daiglass?” he questioned, reaching out to set his spawn point.

  “The entire city is one massive daiglass tower,” Rosaria explained, dropping him to the dirt. “Now tell me where to find the shard?”

  Since he’d already set his new respawn location, Vincent knew he didn’t need to worry about the daiglass shard any longer. “It’s on that ash-colored world,” Vincent replied. “I didn’t bother to Scan for its name, but I got here with a Long-Shot Jump Gate, so it’s about halfway between here and Cryasal. I launched the shard over the horizon there. Toward a big crater, I think.”

  The angel nodded. “I know the world. It shouldn’t take me too long to find it.” Rosaria started to float away but then stopped. “You know it’s not over between us. I’m not letting you reach the top.”

  “Oh, come on, why not?” Vincent asked, trying to sound friendly.

  “I wasn’t turned into an angel because of you,” Rosaria replied. “I was chosen because of your wife’s skills on that other world. My job was always to stop your people from reaching the top. It worked out well that I had a connection with you. The Voice thought that might make things easy—that I could stop you in a peaceful way. However, since that’s failed, I have to resort to my original plan. I’ll crush your people with absolute cruelty, over and over again, so you’ll lose the will to keep climbing.”

  Rosaria flashed an inhuman smile at Vincent, then she rocketed away, leaving a supersonic shockwave behind her.

  Vincent saw the other angels eyeing him, so he hurried for the nearby passageway that led into the city. There didn’t appear to be any gates, but he passed through a multitude of forcefields along the way. When he turned to see if the angels were following him, he noticed world magic blocking them from entering the city.

  It’s like how Pidge was trapped on Ornrak. The angels must have parameters they have to follow. I’m sure ARKUS wants them to keep us scared and hiding in the city, but if they chased us inside it’d make us more desperate. If people feel safe here, they’re less likely to leave. However, that leaves the question of whether or not they can enter the city in human form. For all I know, any NPC in the city could be an angel hiding their true form—like Reddy, who could enter the city in his cat form.

  The tunnel ended, bringing Vincent into a mid-sized city of towering, daiglass structures. Hundreds of NPCs filled the nearby streets, and he stayed alert as he hurried downtown. The farther he traveled, the shorter the buildings became until he started seeing normal-sized structures made of stone. The daiglass formed a kind of ring city, but Vincent guessed the NPCs, or maybe the players, had added the stone buildings over time.

  The inner section of Edgelight had daiglass plateaus that dropped like huge steps toward the large Jump Gate at the very center of the city. Most of the plateaus had stone buildings placed on them, although one really caught his eye. Based on the design, and the heat coming from exhaust runes at the top, he guessed the building contained a massive forge.

  Vincent stepped inside, finding players working at their own anvils, but he saw the back end of the chamber led to the largest forge he’d ever seen. All the people in the room stopped and stared with surprise as he walked past them.

  He followed the steps to a huge forge where a team worked together, and his eyes fell on the girl in charge. She didn’t notice him at first and continued to give commands and redirect the incredible power of the runes lining the chamber. The metal before her liquified, and Vincent noticed they had a series of hydraulic presses that could inscribe certain enchantments.

  What surprised Vincent the most were the rune ovens at the lowest level of the chamber. Before the war against Isaac, Juniper had been working on similar designs to create folded-basteel weapons. Her earliest tests had failed, but it appeared she’d made incredible progress in the last century.

  All the workers stopped and watched Vincent step onto the work floor. When Juniper noticed everyone looking the same way, she paused her work and glanced up at the steps.

  “Vince!” the teenaged girl said, leaping across the room. She hugged him for a few seconds, then pulled away and shook him by the shoulders. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “I was kind of stuck somewhere,” he replied. “It might be easier to get everyone together before I explain everything—you know, instead of retelling this story a hundred times.”

  “That might be a problem,” Juniper said. “Everyone has gone off on their own. Except for Jim—he’s been waiting at the headquarters for you.”

  “Would you mind leading me there?” Vincent asked.

  Juniper shook her head. “Sorry, but I have a ton of work to do. You wouldn’t believe how crazy things have been the last few decades. Just catch me up on your adventures over chat.”

  The girl held out her hand, and Vincent added her to his friend list.

  “Before you head off, do you need any equipment?” Juniper asked. “I can get you hardened-basteel swords, but they take a few weeks to produce. We have folded-basteel that’s around the strength of mithril, but anything tougher than that takes forever to finish. I tried to make a sword with the theoretical maximum folds—which would put it at a rating of nine hundred—but that blade’s been churning for the last thirty years to no avail. I might need to upgrade the forge a few more times to compress it that much.”

  “I’m good on equipment for now,” Vincent replied. “I’ll take that
sword whenever it’s ready, though.”

  “I might have it finished before the update ends,” Juniper said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah… about the update,” Vincent said. “We might be stuck here longer than everyone thinks—unless I can reach the top. That’s why I wanted to get everyone together to explain.”

  Juniper stared around the work floor. “This sounds important. Maybe my guys can handle things without me for a few hours. I’ll put out a local guild alert for people to meet us at the headquarters.”

  The girl shouted a few commands at her workers, then led Vincent out of the building to a building complex that created a semi-circle halfway around the Jump Gate.

  “So, this is the Cricket’s new headquarters, huh?” Vincent asked.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” she answered. “There are some training chambers like the Kill Room, but bigger. The northern section has meeting halls that different divisions use. Keith has an apothecary factory in the basement that churns out potions like crazy. A bunch of other developers work with him nowadays. We have an armory on the east end that I try to keep stocked, but sometimes that’s hard with how much gear our people lose on the highest worlds.”

  “Those worlds must be tough,” Vincent said, looking up at the sky to find there were only a few dozen planets above Panthos. He hadn’t gotten a good look at those worlds yet, but at that angle, he noticed there were six covered in green fog. “Are those instances?”

  “Yeah, the Elder Gods roam those worlds,” Juniper explained. “We haven’t killed any yet. If we could bring our whole army there, it might be different, but each group that goes to one of those worlds get placed in their own instance. Even our best twelve-person team has failed to bring down the god that I would consider the weakest.”

  Vincent grinned as his eyes locked on the nearest fogged-over world.

  “Oh god, you can’t wait, can you?” Juniper said, shaking her head. “Trust me, even you won’t stand a chance, even if you’re—wait, how strong are you now?” Juniper froze in her tracks as she stared above his head at his player profile. Her jaw hung open for a few seconds, and then her bewildered gaze went down to Vincent’s smirking face. “But—how? There’s no way you should be that strong!”