Crystal Shards Online Omnibus 1

by Rick Scott

  “Doesn’t ring a bell, but I’m not so good with names, anyway. So, you want the scrolls or not?”

  I look to Rembrandt and shrug. “Pay you back when we get home?”

  The cyberpunker laughs. “You can pay me back when we get to a tech world.”

  Blacktop’s eyes light up. “You’re going to a tech world? Across the wilds?”

  “You know where one is?” Rembrandt asks.

  “I know the general direction. If you do, I could offer you a heck of a lot more if you bring me back something nice. Like a flamethrower.”

  What the heck? This guy has to be some kind of nutcase.

  “If you like that high-tech stuff so much,” Gilly says, “then why don’t you just live over there?”

  Blacktop laughs. “You must have had an easy time getting here through the wilds. Most people never even make it out, much less cross them to get to different zones. But if you’re going to risk it, I’ll give you a shopping list.”

  “And what could you offer?” Rembrandt asks.

  He looks at me again. “You look like you could use this, my friend.”

  He gets off his stool and retrieves another wooden case. When he opens it, I see a set of Level 85 Ninja weapons nestled inside.

  Blacktop wishes to trade with you.

  Blacktop offers you:

  A Poison Kunai +5: +30 DEX +30 AGL +50 Poison Damage

  A Lightning Kunai +5: +30 DEX +30 AGL +50 Lightning Damage

  Blacktop cancels the trade. “Bring me back a flamethrower, and these babies are yours.”

  Those kunai are seriously sweet. I can’t use them yet, but they would be a massive upgrade to my Level 75 Dark Steel versions. Something strikes me as odd about them, though. The combination of poison and lightning, perhaps. Then I remember the drops I got from the Goblin Champion. As I drag them from my inventory they materialize in my hands in a puff of nano-dust, just like Rembrandt’s machine gun. In a way, it’s almost like how items appear in the Shards, though I do notice that when they materialize, one of my nano-fragments gets converted to nano-bits and goes down by 3000. I check the rest of my stash.

  You have:

  Nano-Bits: 7000/10000

  Nano-Fragments: 7/1000

  Nano-Shards: 0/100

  Nano-Crystals: 0/10

  Nano-Cubes: 0/1

  I guess even materializing stuff from your inventory costs nano.

  “Any interest in these?” I ask, showing him the plate armor and flaming bullwhip.

  Blacktop frowns as he looks them over. “I won’t trade you these for that, but you want something else?”

  “How about some local currency?” Rembrandt says. “We could use some of that.”

  “Now, you’re talking,” Backtop says. “I’ll give you five gold pieces for the lot.”

  “Gold?” Then I recall the currency mentioned in the town building screen. I can’t remember what a gold piece was worth, but I think it was a lot. “How about ten?”

  He frowns. “Seven, max.”

  “Deal.”

  You have learned a new skill: Barter.

  Barter

  Your chances to positively influence a negotiation increase with this skill.

  I hand over the armor and the whip for the coins, and Rembrandt trades the gun for the box of scrolls, which he then gives to Gilly. We exchange pleasantries, and then Blacktop leads us back toward the entryway.

  “Do me a favor,” he says. “Kick some leaves and stuff over the top of the door before you go. Save me a trip out and around the back to do it.”

  “No problem,” I say as we shake hands. An idea then pops into my head. Perhaps there are other things Blacktop might be able to offer us.

  “Hey, one more thing,” I say. “You’ve been here a long time, right?”

  Blacktop pauses and looks up at me. “Yeah.”

  “You ever hear mention of the location of Citadel?”

  “You mean the city?”

  “Yes, where we’re from.”

  He laughs. “Never thought about it, to be honest. Don’t know why you’d want to go looking for it, but if you did, I imagine it’s underground.”

  “Yeah, we know that much, mate,” Rembrandt says with a grin. “Any idea where?”

  “If you want to know about anything that’s buried, then head to the Dwarven kingdom of Iron Forge. It’s down under the Ice Peak Mountains.”

  A new waymark lights up on my map as he says this. The mountains look to be at least a hundred miles from where we are now, toward the northeast.

  “The dwarves have a charter of royal cartographers there,” he says. “If it’s buried, they’re likely to have come across it and mapped it. They’re a reclusive bunch, though, so getting them to open up might be a challenge”

  “Thanks,” Gilly says. “That’s a big help!”

  “How ’bout a Builder?” I ask. “Ever seen one of them?”

  Blacktop remains quiet for a moment. “A dead one. I think.”

  “What?”

  “In the wild,” he says. “The last time I spawned, I think I came across one when I was making my way here.”

  “What did it look like?” Gilly asks.

  “Like the skeleton of a giant snake,” he says. “Except made out of metal. Gave me the creeps. And there were sentries and Omegas crawling all over it. Harvesting it’s nano, I guess.”

  “Omegas?” I ask.

  “You didn’t come across any?” Blacktop says.

  “No, we got lucky, mate,” Rembrandt says. “Just like you said.”

  “What’s an Omega?” Gilly asks, looking between them.

  “Something you pray you never meet out there,” Blacktop says. “Giant bio-weapons. Level 200.”

  My skin grows cold at the thought. We could have run into something like that.

  “That’s why I’ll give you those blades if you manage to get to a tech world and back,” Blacktop says. “But I want that flamethrower.”

  I laugh. “I’ll put it on my list.”

  Something else keeps nagging at the back of my mind, though. Something about those kunai. “Where did you get them, by the way? The katanas.”

  “Funny you should ask,” he says. “A tall drink of water breezed through here last night with them. Elven girl. Traded them for a chunk of gold and a little something extra.” He grins. “Best company I’ve had in a while. No offense to you guys.”

  My heart beats a little faster as I ask the next question. “What was her name?”

  Blacktop’s eyes go glossy as he smiles, perhaps staring at a mental image that only he can see.

  “Aiko,” he says, still smiling. “Her name was Aiko.”

  Chapter 8: Dungeon Dive

  Every bone in my body is itching for me to run back to the village and tell Val Helena that Aiko is here. But after a moment of thought, I decide it’s going to have to wait. Taking an hour to run back there would only waste time. She’ll know by the day’s end. We’ll be heading back to the village soon enough. Still, as we make our way through the forest toward the mine, I wonder what made Aiko decide to take the leap back to the surface, and also where she’s headed. I asked Blacktop before we left, but he didn’t know, only that she left while it was still dark. And that meant she’d probably already put a fair bit of distance between us and wherever she was now.

  From Val Helena’s story, there was likely only one place she could be heading—the Vale of Sorrows. The same place we were going once we hit max level. We need to hurry up and level as soon as possible.

  “That looks like the mine entrance up ahead,” Rembrandt says, coming to a halt.

  We’re still in the forest, but it’s hillier now. The mine entrance is an opening the size of a garage door at the base of one such hill, shored up with weather-worn timbers. It’s early afternoon and after the long hike, I’m feeling pretty hungry.

  “How about a quick rest before we head in there?” I suggest.

  We make a quick camp and break
out some leftover fruit and nuts from breakfast with a bit of cheese. It’s simple food, but ironically, it’s probably better eating than what I’ve had in the real world.

  “Man, what I wouldn’t give for a cheeseburger,” Gilly groans.

  I laugh at the timing and irony of her statement. This stuff probably wasn’t better to her.

  “I’ll treat you to one in the tech world,” Rembrandt says, downing a fistful of nuts. “Decent burger joints there.”

  We share a chuckle, but Blacktop’s mention of those Omega things has me feeling ill at ease about crossing that wild zone. Cheeseburgers or not.

  When we finish eating, I bring up my character sheet and check my gear.

  Name: Reece

  Class: Ninja

  Level: 76

  Strength: 6+25

  Dexterity: 80+5

  Agility: 80+5

  Intelligence: 4

  Mind: 6

  Vitality: 16 +20

  HP: 922/922

  Stamina: 257/257

  TP: 154/154

  I have an attribute point to spend and almost place it into Agility before I stop myself. This is the real world. Death is real here, too. If I screw up a dodge, then having a safety net is a necessity now. And I only have nine levels of points left to spend. I better make them count. I drop the point into Vitality and get another 20 HP.

  Gilly has the box of scrolls open and is sorting through them.

  “Any good ones?” I ask.

  “Nothing I can use right away, but yup!”

  Gilly shows me three scrolls.

  Holy Fire

  Call celestial fire down upon your enemies.

  Heal III

  Restores a significant amount of HP to the target based on your MND stat.

  Great Heal II

  Restore a moderate amount of HP to your party based on your MND stat.

  “So, how we doing this?” I ask, turning to Rembrandt. “I’ve never really partied with a gun wielder before. Anything I should be mindful of?”

  Rembrandt shrugs. “Just go with the flow, mate. You engage ’em, I’ll kill ’em. And Gilly can hang back with me.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s do it!”

  We head into the mine and I encounter our first problem right away. “It’s kind of dark in here.”

  “Really?” Gilly says. “Looks okay to me.”

  “What about you, Rem?” I ask.

  “I got my shades, mate,” he says. “I can see crystal clear.”

  “Must be because I’m a half-elf,” Gilly says. “Think we get a kind of night vision.”

  “Well, this is just great,” I say. “How am I supposed to see?”

  “Don’t you have a light spell or something, Gilly?” Rembrandt asks.

  She shrugs. “Never needed one in Nasgar. Nowhere was ever truly dark like here. Maybe this will help.”

  Gilly casts Minor Favor of the Goddess.

  Our stat bars get a buff, and I begin to glow faintly. I can see a bit better, but not by much. “You sure you don’t have another scroll in that box that can help?”

  “Do your glowy-blades thing?” she says.

  I cast Shadow Tendrils, and they do indeed add more light, but it’s more like a black light, making everything look phosphorescent and creepy.

  “There you go!” Gilly says with a smile.

  This is going to be interesting.

  I take the lead and head down the steep slope of the mine entrance. My skin prickles as tension seizes my chest. What would normally be a romp in a low-level dungeon to get XP has become suddenly terrifying to me. It’s like a horror game, where I can’t see what’s coming at me in the darkness.

  And I hate horror games.

  I’m in the lead, though, so I can’t punk out now.

  I focus on using my other senses, urging my awareness ability to activate. I then get an idea. If I can barely see them, then maybe we need to give ourselves the same advantage.

  “Guys, group up a second,” I say, and then cast Shadow Wall.

  With a flash of nano-dust, we turn transparent, like glass.

  “Good thinking, Reece!” Gilly says in the party chat. “But can you still see?”

  Thankfully, I can. My body is still giving off light, even though it’s invisible. I guess because it’s not truly invisible, but more some kind of camouflage when in the real world. I guess I can still be “seen” somewhat, like an eerie light in motion. Still, it’s better than nothing.

  I feel more confident as I scout ahead. Signs of the goblin infestation begin to show up, mainly in the form of smell. It stinks like a dog kennel in here. A kennel that hasn’t been cleaned in months. I spot the first group of goblins and focus on one of them to check their strength.

  Goblin Guard

  Level: 25

  Not very strong or bright, but can be troublesome in large numbers.

  No stronger than the ones that attacked the village. There are four of them, and they appear to be fighting over something, snarling in their strange, guttural language. I get closer and cast Shadow Mist to cover them with a purple haze. All four are immediately slowed, poisoned, and paralyzed. I Backstab one of them, and he expires instantly.

  You defeated the Goblin Guard!

  You gain 3000 experience points.

  Rembrandt takes out two of them in a hail of bullets, while I kill the last with a full round of triple attacks.

  You defeated the Goblin Guard!

  You gain 3000 experience points.

  You defeated the Goblin Guard!

  You gain 3000 experience points.

  You defeated the Goblin Guard!

  You gain 3000 experience points.

  Gilly gains a Level!

  “Yay!” Gilly shouts. “That was easy!”

  “Too right,” Rembrandt says with a laugh. “Come on. Hurry it up, Reece. Let’s clear this pit and get the lady some levels.”

  I loot the four corpses for nano and get a fragment from each. “Okay!”

  I progress with far more confidence through the mines, even in the semi-darkness. We encounter group after group of goblins and dispatch them easily. I aggro them first, Rem mops them up, and Gilly tops up Rembrandt’s Stamina in between. We explore each and every tunnel, every side turn a switchback, going lower and lower into the depths. The XP for me is only so-so, but for Gilly, it’s pretty decent, even without the Kill Chains due to the mobs being too low level compared to Rembrandt and I.

  “Do you still get XP, Rem?” I ask after the eighth group of goblins and Gilly’s fifth level.

  “Yeah, I’m getting some,” he says. “After 85, you earn bonus attributes, but they cost a ton of XP. Easier to max out with other classes first.”

  “How many classes do you have?” Gilly asks as she tops Rembrandt up with a Second Wind.

  “Two. But this is my main. My other is a Negotiator.”

  “What’s that do?” I ask as we head down a tunnel leading toward what looks like an open chamber ahead.

  “It’s like a merchant sort of. But you can hire NPCs with it. Strike contracts, and then sit back and let your minions do the dirty work for you. Didn’t suit my play style any. Perhaps when I retire and want to turn into a Kingpin, I’ll take it back up again.”

  I laugh at that.

  “How many times have you been here, anyway, Rem?” Gilly asks.

  “This will be my third jump.”

  “Were you with my brother for the first two?” I ask.

  “Yeah, he showed me the ropes. An amazing player, your brother.”

  I chortle. “You honestly wouldn’t think that it if you knew him in real life.”

  “I do,” Rembrandt says. “We meet on the regular. The thing with Max is, he never sees this as playing a game. It’s a means to an end for him. He’d rather we do it the old-fashioned way.”

  I stop at that, and we all come to a halt. “What do you mean?”

  “Something he came across once out he
re,” Rembrandt says. “A legend that told of a mass army from the Shards that nearly overthrew an entire realm. Thousands of Shard Warriors, not just one or two who defeated a world boss.”

  Gilly’s eyes go wide. “They used to send thousands of people?”

  Rembrandt shrugs. “According to the legend. But that was centuries ago, apparently.”

  “Holy cow,” I say. “I couldn’t even imagine.”

  “The board says it’s impossible these days. Too much nano to generate that many bodies.” He then turns to Gilly. “Your father’s strategy is quality over quantity. That’s why they send us. Only players good enough to defeat a world boss are deemed worthy of the nano.”

  Gilly pales a little at the mention of her dad.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to touch on a sore point.” He looks to me. “Your brother thinks the opposite. He believes every man, woman, and child should be out here fighting.”

  What the heck? “Is he nuts? It’s super dangerous out here.”

  “Strength in numbers.” Rembrandt shrugs. “It’s a moot point, anyway. Can’t be achieved with the nano we got left. Still, it’s his dream nonetheless.”

  “He really thinks we’d need that many people to bring nano back to Citadel?” Gilly asks.

  “Not for saving Citadel, Gilly. Maxis wants to free us from there. He wants to destroy the safe zones and take them back for humanity.”

  “Destroy them?” I say.

  “It’s still a system of control, ain’t it? And we’re not the ones in charge. Maxis plays the game because those are the rules. But truly, he’d rather humans be able to make their own rules.”

  “I thought we did make them,” Gilly says. “Didn’t humans make the game?”

  “Initially, but we didn’t make all of this.” He gestures non-specifically to our surroundings. “The Builders did. And who knows if we could even survive out here without our nano-bodies.”

  My stomach feels a bit uneasy about all this. “So, you agree with him, then?”