Oblivion's Crown

by M. H. Johnson

  Insight gained!

  But time was a double-edged sword that cut in both directions.

  It would take time for the lich to burst through, even if Val did nothing to reinforce the ward with his will. And that was time his enemy would be focused on one thing above all others.

  Seeking to destroy Val at any cost.

  Val smiled and, even as Jiu and Eric gazed with widened eyes and dawning horror, Val released his hold on the spell.

  The lich’s ghostly visage lit up with unholy glee as Val clenched his fists with barely contained rage, sinking to one knee. “Your weak mind quails before my mastery, worm! Savor these last seconds of your life, maggot! Soon you shall savor suffering for eternity as my undead slave!"

  “Jager!” Jiu screamed as Val groaned, the ward collapsing all around them.

  41

  A backlash of magic washed over them.

  Screams and howls from all directions.

  The murderous lich was suddenly before them, roaring for their souls with hideous fanged maw opened wide.

  Eric cried out, swept off his feet as death came for them all.

  And then Val flashed a cold smile, spitting out words saved and savored for that final moment between oblivion… and revenge.

  “Repudio Attero!” Val roared so loudly Jiu and Eric both screamed, the crack of stone echoing through the air.

  He felt the magic roaring out of him and he welcomed the cost, for all that he had barely begun to recover before burning so much of it just maintaining a doomed spell.

  You have embraced your wrath! You have boosted your spell! Boosted Greater Abjuration cast for 187.5 Mana! Ancient Lich suffers split-focus penalties to resist oblivion!

  Ancient Lich has been destroyed!

  Val’s smile promised oblivion as the lich’s deathly eyes opened wide, only then realizing how it had been outfoxed. Led into a maze of its own madness, so focused on pushing forward and tearing through the suddenly vulnerable barrier in its hunger for human flesh, the lich had sensed too late the killing strike launched from behind.

  The ancient undead wizard’s final thoughts were of endless fury for the pitiful sheep that had torn out its throat with the fangs of a wolf.

  “Run!” Val roared, his Synergized Ward cast in a desperate heartbeat as the lich’s dying smile made it clear that Val wasn’t the only one with a trick up his sleeve. He used his near inhuman strength to all but throw his stunned companions out of the room before everything was washed in a brightness so intense, it seared like the sun.

  Perfectly contained in the room they had just leaped free of, Val hissed curses as he gazed down at his scorched left foot, the sickly sweet smell of fried pork in the air as he bit back an awful scream.

  Jiu, Eric, and Bill, huddled beside him in the rough stone tunnel beyond the chamber now blazing like a sun, were gazing at Val with stunned disbelief.

  “Fuck it all, did you just save us again, man?”

  Val winced as he gazed up at Bill. “It’s going to be a few seconds before I can walk, but this room is going to blow. Help me stand up!”

  Bill didn’t hesitate to assist, though he stumbled back when Val caught them all off guard, summoning his lowrider out of storage.

  “Alright, this is going to be a tight fit. Eric, next to me. Bill, grab Jiu and hop on board. No one suddenly collapsing in death spasms because of magic depletion? Good. Alright, we’re fucking out of here!" Val said, roaring up the tunnels as fast as his Rank 5 Adept Blade Riding skill could take them, his companions too stunned to say a word, holding on for dear life.

  Val allowed himself a grim smile as the brilliant sparkling obsidian-green light of the central cavern rooftop washed over them as they arrived at the tunnel entrance ledge, dozens of feet above the cavern floor below. Val was relieved to see that despite the smoke and slowly burning webbing, the central anchor points were still secure.

  “Alright, fantastic. Everyone breathing okay? I know it's a bit smoky. Okay, now we just got to find the safest way past the hot spots to get down.”

  Jiu hissed. “Four of us are on this bike! Are you serious, Jager?”

  Val laughed. “Relax. We got all the time in the world—”

  Finnesse skillcheck made! Blade Riding skillcheck made!

  Before the ground shook as a shockwave roared over them from the tunnel they had just left, Val gunning his bike for dear life and racing across the webbing, desperate eyes searching for anchor points near the cavern floor as they raced at speeds that sent Jiu screaming.

  “Two o’clock, Jager! Go the fuck left!”

  Perception check made!

  Val immediately dipped as he took a hard left, just barely staying on the thick strand as Bill’s words washed over him, racing down the massive silken cable as rubble and flame burst from the tunnel they had left just seconds ago, the entire web beginning to shake.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck! The web’s going to come down!” Eric screamed.

  “He knows that!” Jiu snapped. “Don’t you think he knows that? Don’t you dare let us die, Jager, or I will be so fucking pissed at you!”

  “You idiots can shout parachute, you know!” Val said. “I didn’t go to all that trouble saving your asses just to have you die on me now!”

  “What the fuck? Did you just say what I think you said?” shouted Eric.

  Val winced as what he had just said sunk in, too deep in the zone to think of a counter as he deftly rode the shift in inclination as the cord came to an end, though it was a bit of a jolt as they hit the ground at an angle steeper than Val would have liked, the hover-blade almost kissing the ground before springing back to its normal hover height. Jiu screamed and almost stumbled off before Bill’s quick reflexes and Val’s balance got them stable once more.

  “Ten o’clock, Jager!” Bill shouted. “That’s the entrance we came in on. And fuck, fuck it all! Look, there’s our crew! They waited! I can’t believe they waited!”

  Val couldn’t help grinning, sensing no foes stupid enough to wait around a massive collapsing web of fiery death and a cavern that was shaking far too violently for his tastes. And seeing the excited faces of his teammates gazing with heartfelt relief at their return sent his spirits soaring.

  Solo hunter he might be, but it felt damn good to be part of a team again.

  Eric, Jiu, and to a lesser extent Bill, immediately began recounting their madcap adventure to the rest of their party. And the intent gaze and shy kiss Crystal gave him as the entire gang celebrated their survival just reminded Val of how young he looked, how careful he needed to be.

  “And that’s when all four of us hopped on Jager’s bike, can you believe he has that thing? Then we dashed for the main tunnel, just seconds before it all came roaring and crashing down in ash and flame, like a freekin’ Indy Jones movie!” a breathless Jiu said minutes later, eyes twinkling with secrets kept as she gazed into Val’s eyes with an impish smile, squeezing Eric’s hand as she wrapped his arms around her.

  “Oh my god, that is so epic!” Crystal enthused, turning to Mick, his gaze alight with fierce approval.

  “Damn right it is. Heroic shit like this is why I agreed to fight under your banner, Jager. You do a man proud.”

  Val smiled, heart racing, wondering just how much his companions had already figured out. This was one group it did not pay to underestimate. “I’m just glad to be there for the team.”

  Snipe and Reed were both giving Jiu and Eric the strangest looks. “Are you shitting me? He actually brought you two back from the dead?”

  Eric paled, swallowed, animated chatter immediately cut off.

  Jiu trembled, lowering her gaze.

  “Yeah, actually he did,” Bill said, hard gaze pinning the twin brothers down. “I was there, man. You all know I’ve done paramedic runs with my gramps. They were both deep-sixed. Looked like those ravers who had OD’d on that Super-E shit that was flowing like candy last year...”

  “Shit, you were there? I heard that was a fuckin
g bad scene, man,” Reed whispered.

  Bill nodded. “Gramps said he was proud as hell that I held it together so well that night, helping with the gurneys, having everyone’s back. The night I fucking became a man, he said, with half the EMTs puking their guts out behind their ambulances. And I still have fucking nightmares. Shit. I might not have the grades for med school, but I know death when I see it. What Val did?” He shook his head, eyes filled with awe, even as he fronted with a cynical smile. “There are no words, guys. No fucking words.”

  Reed and Snipe exchanged a silent glance before turning to Val, measuring him with their icy gazes. “You could have let them go. Anyone else? Sure as shit would have let them go,” Reed said.

  Snipe nodded. “Chasing those damn spiders up their own fucking web. Talk about balls, man! On a low-rider that sure as shit shouldn’t be working in depths crackling with this much juice, but there you are.”

  Reed smirked. “Playing that hero shit to the hilt. Because even if you could have yelled ‘P’ at any time...”

  Eric’s eyes abruptly widened.

  “You never did.” Snipe loomed closer, jutting out a powerful hand. “So give me your fuckin’ coin. Because if we’re all doomed to get caught up in some damned war on this strange-ass planet...”

  “It might as well be fighting under the only bastard that gives a shit about us,” Reed said.

  Val smiled and nodded, clasping both their hands with firm grips, trading small fortunes for pacts forged, and he would tie no strings of obligation upon them. In fact, though his glare froze Eric before the boy could say what he clearly wanted to say, Val was happy for them all to do whatever they would, now that his true objective had been secured.

  For they were now all sworn to him, and none could challenge his claim.

  Because after all he’d been through, fighting by their side, the thought of having to kill them later sickened him to no end.

  Preserving their lives was more than worth the ridiculous amount of coin, 35 million dollars’ worth, that had traded hands.

  42

  “I can’t believe we took out some ancient elder lich and we didn’t get a thing for it! He didn’t even offer us a quest, or anything. He just wanted to use us as spider food and meat puppets!”

  Val smirked at Eric’s sigh. For all that they knew it was as real as day, they still tended to treat it like a game. Val couldn't knock it as a coping strategy, especially after half their party had barely escaped becoming spider food, less than an hour ago.

  Val turned for a quick moment, smiling to see Eric and Jiu protected in the center of the group, wands at the ready. They had quietly debated whether or not it was time just to call it quits, grateful to even be alive and up five million apiece, never mind that they hadn’t even made it to the dwarven ruins with even a single artifact they could use as proof sufficient to claim their promised bonuses.

  In the end they had decided to push forward, Val careful to maintain the appearance of amicable neutrality, happy with whatever they decided, refusing to push at all. But everyone was more aware of their peril than ever, realizing how much they truly had to lose. At least the Elementium coins as well as the items they had already imprinted at the save point would stay on them, even if they all did parachute out simultaneously, which they all quietly took an oath to do, if things ever got too hot and they were in genuine peril of dying. And the pure Elementium coins, it seemed, they could even take back to Earth.

  Unless someone was critically injured and needed a healer and guard to stay so they had a shot at life in the real world, the moment one ported out they all would, so none were left vulnerable and behind. Since their save point was literally only a handful of hours away at a walking pace, the cost of survival was only a brisk hike.

  Val smiled, turning his gaze to admire the sparkling Elementium high above as they crossed the massive cavern. An absolute fortune in priceless ore, Val thought it might surpass even the hoard he had claimed the first time he had come to in this world. Of course, the trade-off was an incredible influx of magic that so frustratingly prevented the use of his Psi-blade and explosives. Yet the fecundity of this massive crystal cavern was undeniable.

  “My god, I’ll bet that’s Elementium, isn’t it?" Jiu said. "If we were something like a miner class, do you think we could successfully mine this ore?”

  Mick gave a thoughtful shake of his head. “Way I understand it, those crystals are actually very tough to break off, unless you’re using the Jordian equivalent of heavy machinery, which would never survive down here. Just manual picks and such, and if it’s not Elementium alloy itself, or made of another super-hard alloy like tungsten carbide… you’re completely screwed. And even when you manage to pound some ore free, just processing it costs a small fortune.”

  Reed gave a small chuckle. “Cat’s right. Snipe and I fucked around with the so-called miner’s path, once upon a time. No class for it, really, but we’re both Rank 2 in Mining, and know just where to strike to give us a 20% efficiency bonus. And do you know what? If I work my ass off for four hours every day, the coin I’ll get for selling the few Elementium crystals I can manage to pry free each week will net me about 200 grand.”

  His eyes pinned Eric’s own. “Over the course of a fucking year.”

  Crystal chuckled. “Sounds almost like an honest job. And one you sweat for.”

  “I know, right?” Snipe smirked. “My girl at the time actually thought I should settle down in the real world, buy that house she wanted, and mine in game like I was working a goddamn 9-5, like every other corporate drone working form home.”

  Reed laughed. “That girl kept touting the fact you were making three times the average salary, and it was safe work, and she never had to worry about you flat-lining in the game, like her cousin did.”

  Snipe snorted. “Felt like I was dying, three weeks in. I didn’t even care about the Intense Conditioning perk it earned me, I was so fucking sick of that mining that I logged off the last day, left Lucy’s apartment, and never looked back.”

  Reed nodded. “And you never moved out of mine.”

  “What can I say? Your condo's big as fuck. It saves on rent, and our girls are freaks, all into the blindfolds and bondage, not even wanting to know who they’re freakin.’”

  “They’re the best,” Reed chuckled. “Truth is, I can’t tell em apart either.”

  A smirking Eric raised a bemused brow. “Wait, they’re twins, like you guys? You don’t have like a...”

  “Twindar? Hell no, boy,” Reed scoffed. “They switch dresses and looks and voices and shit like they were made for it.”

  Snipe coughed, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “Yeah, there’s something we sort of have to discuss.”

  The entire group stopped as Reed glared at his brother. “I told you it’s a moot fuckin’ point!” He glared at his bemused party members. “And now’s not the time, bro.”

  Val raised a curious eyebrow.

  Jiu smirked. “One of you Romeos knocked up one of your Juliets, didn’t you? And now you have no way of telling who’s the dad.”

  Reed gazed at Jiu with a poleaxed expression. “How the fuck did you do that?”

  Jiu’s bemused smirk turned quizzical. “You know what? I’m not even sure. It just sort of clicked because why else would you… and anyway, I got this big ‘insight gained’ message in my head. Kinda creepy, actually.”

  Val blinked, doing his best not to stumble, feeling a sudden twisting in his gut. “Um, Jiu?” he asked as they came to the far end of the cavern, a confident Mick, blessed with a perfect internal map skill, happily leading the way.

  Jiu snapped her head around, pinning Val with her beautiful dark brown eyes, now showing the faintest hints of blue. “What’s up, hero?”

  “When did you first receive that notification?”

  She flashed a bemused smile. “Um… like five minutes ago. Why?”

  Val frowned “Do you hear a dry, snarky voice echoing inside your head? R
ecalling the entire message in an eyeblink, but it feels like you heard the whole thing aloud?”

  Jiu blinked, then paled. “Fuck. I just got another ‘insight gained,’ message.”

  Insight gained! Perhaps there is now more to Jiu than meets the eye! Immutable fundaments of the natural order cannot be broken, but they can be bent! Jiu was gone. But you became Jiu! Giving her life out of nothingness, as every sire has since time began. And now there’s a little piece of you inside Jiu too!

  Finesse role failed! You look silly, stumbling on your rear!

  But Val had no words, gazing at an equally awe-struck Jiu, both of them helped to their feet by their suddenly concerned party members.

  “Jiu! Jiu? Baby, what’s wrong?” Eric’s anxious gaze was only abated by Jiu’s forced smile.

  “I think things just got really fucking weird.” She tilted her head, gazing solemnly at a suddenly hotly blushing Val. “Did you know this would happen?”

  Val swallowed. “Honestly, Jiu, I had no idea what would happen. I just knew I needed to do something.”

  “And I’ll always be grateful that you did.” A thoughtful pause as they entered the tunnel, Val sensing no trouble ahead with Magesight or Psi-Sense, Mick nodding when Val gave him a quick shake of his head. “What’s your real name?” Jiu asked.

  Val had to fight not to stumble again. “Why do you ask?”

  He could all but sense her blush. “I sort of almost feel like, well, you’re one of us now.”

  Val couldn’t help smiling. “Thank you, Jiu. That means a lot, actually. Tell you what. Once we complete this quest? I’d be happy to share my name, and perhaps some other top secret info as well. Sound cool?”

  “Cool,” she said.

  Reed snorted. “Top secret info my ass. The only thing top secret around here is your bull—”

  Val abruptly raised his hand. “Something ahead!” he hissed.

  Immediately the party grew still.

  Val took in the leveling off of the gentle slope, the tunnel actually narrowing until they had to go single file, the grinding of treads and the clank of metal appendages on stone clearly audible.