Respawn: The Last Crossing (Respawn LitRPG series Book 6)

by Arthur Stone

  “No, I get it,” Cheater said, “you’ve explained better than others could. I should’ve asked earlier.”

  “Better than others, huh? Well, you can always ask me whatever you need,” Beetle said, content. Having cleared the stalks from a small area, he set down to his pushups.

  * * *

  Two and a half hours later, Cheater was hating reeds. He was wading through thickets of them.

  In March’s description of the route, he had detailed all of the things to avoid along the way. Except that he had said nothing of the vegetation. The sadist even considered it a useful part of the trip.

  Cheater could partially agree, but it took considerable gritting of his teeth to do so. The path continued along the shallow swamp shore he had landed next to. It ran along the edge of a reservoir with an intricate, fractal shoreline, covering many square miles to the south alone. The cluster reset with all, or nearly all of its dams, and therefore most of the water remained in the reservoir. But not all, and there was no inflow. Thus the water level had receded partly, exposing strips of mud, overgrown with reeds in some places.

  Through these places, they had to wade. The vegetation rose to six feet in places, and sometimes even taller. The stems were thick and strong and only moved aside or snapped when considerable effort was applied. Each step sapped as much strength as a dozen in ordinary terrain. Their legs, meanwhile, were often knee-deep in silt. However, people walking in the reeds were difficult to see from anywhere else. Some sensor abilities, of course, could have detected them. The rustling tops of the disturbed reeds, though? They could be observed from any elevated point. Crackling noises echoed through the silent, windless night.

  Yet March had told them not to worry about this. Despite Beetle’s doubts, Cheater was starting to realize how right their boss was.

  Not only were March’s plans a help—the reservoir was teeming with all kinds of small, noisy animals. Ducks, swans, muskrats, otters and other inhabitants were either nocturnal or had been roused by the approaching people. They all made noise, splashing loudly and rustling through the reeds themselves. Against such a sonorous background, an observer might not notice any of the players’ activities.

  Especially if they were not paying close attention.

  The local infecteds were apparently all dumb, unable to analyze sound sources well. Creatures like the Trinity could figure out that the reeds were not moving aside at the behest of an angry, purposeful swan. All others would have learned long ago that it was useless to chase such a bird in its native habitat. It made no sense to them to chase the noise.

  Since March was so certain they would calmly pass through here, Cheater was becoming more sure of the assumption he had begun to make immediately after learning of the Trinity.

  Somehow, he knew that there were no ghouls here. Along this edge of the water specifically. How had he known? It was an interesting question—and one he could not answer.

  He simply knew things he had no right knowing.

  Perhaps March knew nearly everything there was to know about the Trinity. Even things that Beetle and other players from the east did not. The tankman was still dumbfounded by the calm. Inhabitants of the region believed that lasting two hours on the First Steppe was impossible.

  Cheater had already spent ten times that duration here.

  Without seeing a single ghoul.

  What exactly March was up to, though, was unknown. He had little doubt in the boss’s control of the situation.

  This calmed him, allowing him to accept the discomforts of the trip.

  As he was considering these thoughts, a series of splashes sounded ahead. They followed an incomprehensible pattern he had not heard before. It was unlike any swan or duck. More like a fish flopping along in shallow water. But one the size of a man-eating shark.

  How would such a big fish get here?

  Obviously it wasn’t a shark, nor even a fish. It looked at first glance like a massive wild boar.

  Soon his eyes began to notice details that the short reeds could not mask. It was angular and asymmetrical, like a raffler partway through its physical transformation. Its head was losing all proportions, its jaw swollen. And its canines were absurdly oversized.

  Cheater was not the greatest expert on animals, but this was obvious enough.

  Animals could become infecteds, too, not just digi people. Only predators and omnivores seemed to be susceptible. The ghouls which resulted were among the most dangerous. It was easier for the beast to survive the early stages, since it had adaptations designed to let it kill without tools and weapons.

  This animal was far from ordinary. Its serene wandering through this flooded area said much. Likely it was roaming here out of habit and had not yet learned to fear stronger infecteds.

  The boar stationed itself in a wide clearing nearly free of reeds. It faced the trio of players. It must have heard them long ago, yet it had not been certain that people were making the sounds rather than the common residents of the wetlands. So it had been waiting to get a look.

  Or, perhaps, it had other intentions. No one could tell what was going through the mind of a beast.

  The boar saw the players. It readied to charge and growled a noise unlike the sound made by ordinary infecteds. Animals’ vocal cords were different.

  Still calling other ghouls, it rushed at its quarry.

  Beetle reacted instantly. His machinegun was up and firing. Cheater’s Darkvision revealed bullets ripping flesh and blood from the beast’s muzzle. The boar was not even irritated by this. Its skull had hardened enough that something stronger was needed.

  “Cease fire!” Cheater commanded and stepped towards the monster.

  The seven-hundred-pound beast charged through the marshy shallows, but its speed was only moderate. Getting hit by it, though, would knock a human down and drive him into the silt, his body skewered by the huge double tusks.

  Cheater did not go far to meet it. He was not enough of a fool to wander through an area where he might become ensnared in deep mud. Here in the shallow water, his Reaction and Speed may not be sufficient to save him, if he had no sufficient freedom to maneuver.

  He proceeded to one of the few islets of tall reeds. Then, he pressed down on the stems, pushing them into the water. This provided him a relatively stable support.

  He crouched down partially, then jumped and turned in the air. The creature’s snout charged through the place he had been, missing him by inches. He cut down with Choppa, allowing the force of the blow to be augmented by the creature’s speed.

  There was no need to activate Crushing Blow, which would then require several hours to recharge. The beast’s armor was not particularly strong, and the boar’s weight, blade speed, and the weapon’s inherent properties and modifications would be sufficient. Despite Maple’s fears, his body performed without fault. There was no sense using up a trump card to kill this insignificant monster.

  For Cheater it was insignificant, anyway. And for Choppa. For Maple and Beetle, it was perilous.

  His sword was very capable on its own, but with its modifications added in, it could take nearly anything. Maybe not an Unnamed One. Maybe. The blade pierced the beast’s lumpy skin and sliced its spine with a hideous series of cracks. Its legs gave way, and it wheezed and collapsed in the water, creating a small wave.

  Forcing his legs out of the silt, Cheater jumped back to the defeated boar and dealt another blow.

  It was done. The System gave him his victory message.

  After slowly rinsing the sword in the muddy water, Cheater returned it to its scabbard and turned towards his approaching companions. Beetle was applauding silently. “Yes, I see you have significant problems with your fencing technique.”

  Cheater grunted. “I think I’m starting to understand what you’re saying. Guess I was wrong.”

  * * *

  Note: You have left the Phantom Forest region! Note: You are in the West Coast region! You have set automatic region binding in your s
ettings. The automatic binding has not activated, as your binding has not yet cooled down. Your current bound region remains the Phantom Forest.

  Note: You can change your region binding for yourself and even for your companions using your special abilities. Congratulations to you and your party members! You have succeeded despite many obstacles. Bonuses: +3500 distributable base stat progress points, +4000 distributable auxiliary stat progress points, +2 points to all meters, +2 primary inventory cells, +24 grams primary carry weight, +350 grams personal cache weight, +80 grams personal cache special cell weight (you can carry unlimited non-bound objects, with the except of trophies obtained from monsters, in this cell). You can activate one bonus property for any of your abilities (your choice).

  Note: You have returned to your start region by natural means, without being randomly resurrected there after reaching your respawn limit. Your return speed ranks among the fastest 100 returners. Bonus +6 to all meters, +0.05x Speed modifier.

  Note: This is your third border crossing between regions. Congratulations! You receive +400 distributable base stat progress points, +500 distributable bonus stat progress points, +10 distributable meter points, and +0.01x to any stat modifier.

  The lengthy message popped up unexpectedly. The three had continued walking along the reeds. The border was not visible—the thickets on either side were exactly the same.

  As was the water and the silt.

  “That’s it!” Beetle rejoiced.

  Cheater turned with a smile to Maple. “I told you we could do it. Time to forget those freaks!”

  The girl paused, and then mumbled, “I’ll try.”

  Note: You have left the boundaries of the current arena. You cannot cross borders and retain the grays’ challenge. The feral tribe of the Shgrazqu people no longer see you as an enemy of honor. Their honorable relationship with you has terminated, and the Challenge Token has been recalled.

  Really?

  Cheater felt his pocket. It was gone.

  The weightless ball could not be lost, but it was no more. The System had taken it. Without warning, and without delay.

  He would make do without it, but he was saddened. There would be no repeating the trick with the Elite Nold. All of the other many uses for the Challenge Token that he had thought up were no longer available.

  But now was a time for rejoicing. He was back.

  He was home.

  Time to open a chat with Kitty...

  Chapter 32

  Life Nine. Antiquities

  They reached the point March had indicated just before dawn. The shallow water ended there, and the road was perfectly visible from a distance, without even needing night vision. Even half a mile away, they could tell that the place was unusual but hardly dangerous. The infecteds didn’t like such places.

  March had selected a stable for their reunion. Not an ordinary stable.

  Usually, stables were overgrown land with no traces of civilization. Untrimmed forests, fields, hills, and mountains. Sometimes, they were entirely aquatic clusters. Some said that there were majestic glaciers in the far north that never reset.

  Stables with remnants of human civilization were less common. But where they existed, they had almost always been stripped long ago. Destroyed settlements, gardens run wild, roads pocked and overgrown, and so on.

  This stable was unlike any that Cheater, Beetle, or Maple had ever seen. Nor had they heard of anything like it. It was probably another unique phenomenon of the borderlands.

  The place looked like an open-air museum that had been badly neglected. Archaeologists had uncovered ancient ruins here and collected artifacts, and then others had cleaned up the area and started a tourist industry. All continents with ruins of significant age had such businesses. Ancient times offered the best attractions, but the Middle Ages were also sufficient.

  This was from the latter. It was something like a temple complex, situated on an island. Part of it had been utterly destroyed, with scattered blocks of stone hinting at what had once stood in the spot. Majestic columns rose into the air, and in some places they supported the pitiful remnants of arches. Walls were mostly cracked or even collapsed, but some had survived. Despite its wretched condition, this was clearly human architecture, not something created by the grays. He was unable to pin the location or the century. It was probably Asian, perhaps Indian.

  Tourists were unlikely to show up. The occasional extreme player wandered this way. None had spent the slightest effort on restoration. Most of the complex offered all kinds of ways to break your legs or entangle yourself in impassable, thorny bushes. A pool which had once collected rainwater had now turned into green swamp, underneath swarms of midges. The birds had dirtied the ancient statues into unrecognizable states.

  And so on.

  But all three of them were ready to settle in anywhere. They were so hungry that they would willingly chew the reeds if need be.

  So they selected a reasonably defensible position with a good view and set out to manage their basic needs.

  Cheater tired of his attempts to get through to Kitty and instead began to pester March to try and find out what he was up to—or at least, what they should expect to be doing in the near future. The boss, instead of sharing information, advised them to celebrate the momentous border crossing with a few beers and rest up for new achievements.

  Cheater realized then that the whole party had now crossed the border. The three of them had been last to the crossing.

  Why then was March stuck somewhere on the other side of the reservoir? What was he up to?

  Cheater decided to try getting the truth out of Clown. That just earned him a reply that, no, he did not understand what was about to happen—but he suspected it would be quite interesting. He also complained that he had, the day before, been appointed pack mule. He spent all day moving some kind of bags, one after another, and they all weighed like a ton. And then, there were these smelly barrels that needed to be rolled around.. This was an unpleasant activity even for a player as strong as him.

  The information told Cheater little. Instead, it confused him even more.

  What was in the heavy bags? There was no way to know.

  Perhaps March was right. He should just have a snack and try to relax—and banish the disturbing thoughts from his mind. All of them had agreed to perform a mass region binding. Each member of the party’s logs flashed momentarily in the window. Upon receiving System messages to that effect, the players quickly accepted them.

  Most importantly, a similar log for Kitty popped up.

  She was paying attention. Something about these borderlands interfered with the chat function—too many black and gray clusters—but she was active. Until he moved away from these bad clusters, communication would not be happening.

  He wanted to drop everything and charge east, into normal areas, where correspondence from hundreds of miles away was possible. Yet he had to restrain himself.

  He was used to waiting. Just a little more now.

  * * *

  Resting did not work out. Cheater had not even had time to doze off when his body jerked and his eyes opened wide.

  His vision caught the echo of something. A bright, intermittent flash to the southwest—followed by massive ripples across the water. The surface of the reservoir now resembled some unnaturally rough glass. Not all of it—just the portion between them and the flash.

  This strange area was not static. It was expanding. Something invisible was moving, from the southwest, leaving a strange pattern on the water.

  It was happening so quickly that Cheater had no time to react, no time even to think.

  No reaction would have helped. What was happening was incomprehensible. Even recent events with the Devils’ fortress had not taught him to react to blasts immediately.

  The invisible force reached the island and turned out to be a shock wave. Their eardrums throbbed. The ancient columns trembled, and several heavy blocks were dislodged from one of the walls. Pebble
s and clouds of dust were scattered in many directions. Surprised birds took to the air with heart-rending cries and rushes of wing wind.

  Then, everything went quiet. The water returned to its normal state, and the stones in the ruins stopped falling; only the excited behavior of the birds served as an echo of what had happened.

  Cheater swore. He had recently observed something similar.