Veil Online - Book 3: An Epic LitRPG Adventure

by John Cressman

  “Does this mean we will be running from Damian for years?” Mika asked. Diana turned back as well, waiting for the answer.

  Jace looked between the two girls. He wanted to give them a good answer, but he didn’t have one. So, he lied. “I’m sure support will resolve it before then.”

  Diana smirked. “Dear one, you are a terrible liar.”

  They lapsed back into silence as the Sea Tyrant maneuvered up to the dock and then tossed over mooring lines.

  “Looks like we’re here,” Jace observed. “Anyone for shore leave?”

  ***

  It took another fifteen minutes before the gangplank was lowered and the captain allowed them to leave the ship. Jace and the girls were the first in line but it looked like the other passengers were ready for some time on solid ground as well, including his staff from the manor. He hadn’t seen much of them on the cruise, although Fimipp Wisesworn did occasionally check in on him to see if there was anything he needed.

  “4pm,” Captain Yehmee bellowed. “We sail with the tide. If you aren’t aboard, you’ll be left behind. Savvy?”

  Jace and the rest of the passengers either nodded or made sounds of acknowledgement and the captain let them proceed. Before Jace or the girls could even step onto the gangplank, Luna darted between them, down the ramp and onto the docks.

  Luna reached the bottom and stopped. Now on the dock, the orange tabby used her special ability to grow to the size of a tiger. Her sudden transformation caught a few dock workers by surprise, but they quickly resumed their work. Now huge, his familiar turned and sat down, wrapping her tail around her. She looked up at them as if to say, “I’m waiting.”

  “Someone’s happy to be on land,” Diana commented and the three of them followed the cat’s example and walked down the gangplank.

  “Yes,” Jace said. “I think she likes that growth ability a little too much.”

  Jace had told his familiar not to use her ability on the ship, due to the confined quarters and limited space. She’d whined until he relented and allowed her to grow large up on the deck. Unfortunately, it was only for a few minutes a day, when there were no other passengers on deck. Now, it seemed she was making up for lost time.

  Once on the dock, they walked over to where Luna was waiting for them and discussed their plans. After the constant motion of the ship on the ocean, walking on stable land felt odd and Jace almost felt like the world was still moving.

  “First, we need to find the graveyard and rebind,” he told the girls. “If Whitecliff was destroyed, we’ll each have random spawn points if we die. After that, I’m going to go check on a raven messenger.”

  “And then I’m going to find a bath to soak in,” Diana said, stretching her arms above her head. The motion drew attention to her already large breasts and Jace smirked as he saw several dock workers stop what they were doing to admire his companion.

  Mika looked at Jace. “I will go with you.”

  “Okay,” Jace nodded. “Let’s agree to meet back here at noon and we’ll find some place to get some real food.”

  “Oh yes, please,” Diana agreed.

  “Waffles?” Mika asked hopefully.

  “At this point, anything is better than salted fish,” Diana complained.

  “True,” Jace agreed. “But, first let’s go to the bind point.”

  He asked one of the dock workers where the cemetery was, and the man muttered something under his breath before pointing in what Jace thought was west. After thanking the man, the four of them went the direction he’d pointed.

  While smaller than Whitecliff, Lasthaven was still a decent-sized city. Jace kept a wary eye out for anyone paying them too much attention. Damian could already have players or NPCs looking out for them. They couldn’t afford an ambush until they changed their rebind spot.

  They passed all manner of shops and Jace noticed that many of them were specifically for adventurers. He wasn’t sure exactly where Lasthaven was, other than north of Whitecliff, but it must be on the frontier. That meant, the monsters in the area were probably higher level.

  They walked for twenty minutes before they came to the city gate. The guards gave them only a cursory look as they walked out of the gate. The trio were dressed in their armor again and their weapons were plainly visible, but Jace knew the guards were used to players coming in and out of the city. Just part of their programming.

  He’d noticed that, like in Whitecliff, NPCs didn’t seem to notice or pay any attention to the oversized cat walking with them and the only reactions he received were from other players. It must be some sort of AI routine that caused the NPCs to simply accept familiars.

  In a way, Jace was glad since it might have otherwise drawn unwanted attention from the NPCs. As it was, he realized that if Damian knew Luna could grow large, it might be an easy way to keep track of them.

  After all, that ability was something unique she had gained when he’d used some ritual blood on her. He didn’t know of any other familiars who could grow large. He’d need to think about it and, if necessary, convince Luna not to use the ability in public. Most likely it would mean lots of chicken and fish bribes.

  Once outside the city, they spotted the cemetery on a hill to the south and immediately headed for it. When they reached the cemetery, they each changed their bind point. Now, if they died, they’d respawn here in Lasthaven.

  “We’re all bound here now. We’ll see each other at the docks at noon,” Jace told them. He turned to Luna. “Can you go with Diana? Watch over her and relay any messages.”

  The cat’s only reply was to grace him with a bored expression.

  “Do that,” he offered. “And we’ll get you something special for lunch.”

  “Chicken?” Luna said, looking hopefully. Normally she asked for fish so perhaps even that cat was growing tired of the salted fish they served on the ship.

  “Whatever you want,” Jace told her.

  Luna considered their deal for only a moment before getting to her feet and rubbing up against Diana. “Chicken.”

  “I guess we know what she wants.” Diana smiled, stroking the cat’s soft fur.

  Because Mika and Diana had been monsters like Jace, they had the ability to speak with monsters as well. This included familiars like Luna. Since Jace and Luna could communicate telepathically over long distances, she made a great walkie-talkie. But he was sure Luna would be offended if he called her a walkie-talkie.

  The four of them walked back to the city gate before parting ways. Just inside the city gates, he put a hand on Diana’s shoulder. “Be careful. Use Luna to send us any messages.”

  “Yes, yes, dear one,” Diana reassured him. “I've written some spy novels, you know. I know how to lie low. Come on kitty, I’ll buy you a chicken to eat while I soak in the tub.”

  Jace smiled as he watched her go and then turned to Mika. “Let’s go see if we can find the raven messenger. Maybe he’ll have some news about Whitecliff too.”

  “Sounds good!” she responded and reached over, took his hand in hers. “Let’s go!”

  Chapter 2

  It took them only a few minutes to find the raven messenger. Jace had stopped a guard to ask about it and, because of game logic, the guard had immediately recognized him as a Baronet and had been only too eager to direct them. Apparently, rank had its privileges. Did that mean Whitecliff still stood? Or did his title as Baronet last as long as Ardor lasted?

  The building was located on the north side of town, near the docks. Other than the large raven sign in front of the building, it was recognizable by the aviary on top of the building and the squawking of the ravens it contained. And the smell. At full sensory levels, there was a very pungent odor around the entire area and even Mika wrinkled her nose.

  Jace had only used the raven messengers a few times, most to communicate with potential raid leaders and setup times to meet them. Occasionally, he’d seen the messages delivered, but it wasn’t often.

  One of the reasons the
y weren’t used as often was the cost. If he remembered correctly, a raven message cost 5,000 gold. Even for a high level character, that wasn’t cheap. When questioned on the forums, WorldCog has explained that players are playing for a magical service and that the price was fair.

  Despite a small outcry, the company had left the price as is, claiming that it was a luxury service and that players could always communicate in person for free. Just one more way for them to make money. As if they needed another way.

  Entering the building, their senses were assaulted by a much stronger version of the odor outside. Jace quickly saw why. In the back of the small building was a spiral staircase that led directly up to the aviary. The staircase and floor below it were caked in bird droppings of varying ages.

  The rest of the room was a cluttered mess of bookshelves, papers and a large wooden desk. Behind the desk was a gnome, sitting in a chair that was obviously meant for a human. As he got a better look, he could see that the gnome was sitting atop of several stacked books so that he could better work on the overly large desk.

  “Gleergaklis Quirkpipe at your service. How may I help you, milord?” the gnome asked as he looked up. The gnome had bright orange and blue hair that burst from his head as if he had recently stuck his finger in a light socket. Interestingly, his clothes seemed to match the hair, with Gleergaklis wearing a bright blue shirt under an equally bright orange jacket, trimmed in lime.

  The entire image of the gnome seemed like an assault on his visual senses but that was the way some gnomes dressed. And while NPC gnomes were sometimes flamboyant in their clothing choices, some players took it to an entirely new level.

  “We’d like to send a raven message,” Jace told the little gnome.

  “You’ve come to the right place then, milord!” Gleergaklis replied cheerfully. Again, Jace had been recognized as a Baronet. It was a bit anachronistic, but like the name change, all NPCs simply “knew” Jace had a new name and “knew” that he was a Baronet.

  While the old Jace would have found that very convenient, right now he only considered how that might work in Damian’s favor. His old friend was undoubtedly looking for him at this very moment and Jace saw these little conveniences as ways that he might use to track them.

  For a minute, he almost changed his mind about sending the message. But, they would be leaving Lasthaven in a few hours and Damian should be working right now, so he wouldn’t have time to act on the information until after they’d left.

  “Milord?” the gnome asked, giving Jace a curious look. “You wanted to send a message?”

  “Yes.” Jace smiled. “I do.”

  Gleergaklis smiled cheerfully and pulled a long strip of parchment from a nearby stack and, after smoothing it out, looked up at Jace expectantly. “Your name?”

  Jace he had no choice but to give his actual character name, since the raven messenger worked off of those names. “Jynx Knightly.”

  “From Jynx Knightly,” the gnome wrote down his name on the slip of parchment. “And what would you like your message to say?”

  Jace already knew exactly what he wanted to say. “Charlena, found Help Desk. Damian discovered us. He doesn’t know the last thing you told me before you left. Keep it that way. He might go after what you told me about. There is money in the bank that you can get out with your signet ring. Change your last name to something else. He is tracking us. If you can, meet us in Nynymmost. Same thing we told the others about Whitecliff.”

  The gnome scribbled furiously with his quill until Jace was finished and then picked up the paper. He seemed to read it to himself and then nodded. He looked up at Jace and repeated the message back. “Is that correct?”

  Jace nodded. “Yes.”

  Setting down the parchment with his message, the gnome brought out a ledger and jotted some information down before looking up at Jace. “That will be 5,000 gold please.”

  Sighing, Jace pulled a small bag of gold from his inventory and handed it to the gnome. They were burning through money at a fast rate and he feared that if they were forced to do another name change, they’d really be in trouble.

  “Thank you, milord.” He smiled, and the money disappeared one of the desk drawers. When it was gone, the little gnome hopped down from his chair and scrambled up the spiral staircase. He disappeared up into the aviary for several minutes before coming back down with a large raven clutched between his hands.

  “Milord,” the gnome said apologetically. “If you would be so kind as to hold the raven while I attach the note. Normally, there are two of us, but my co-worker was drafted into the militia after troops were sent down to combat the dragon.”

  That reminded Jace that he had intended to ask the gnome about the situation in Whitecliff. Gingerly taking the raven, he looked down at Gleergaklis. “What news of Whitecliff? Did the dragon destroy it?”

  The brightly dressed gnome looked up with a huge grin. “You haven’t heard, milord?”

  Jace gave the gnome a questioning look as he shook his head. “Heard what?”

  Gleergaklis took a step closer to Jace, his tiny body seeming to vibrate with excitement. When he spoke, his voice was a mixture of awe and elation. “Tholtar himself appeared and cast the dragon down. He might have killed it but the dragon fled. Whitecliff still stands!”

  “Tholtar?” Jace repeated incredulously. Tholtar was one of the gods of VEIL. They rarely made appearances, though Jace knew of at least two instances where avatars of the evil gods had appeared as raid bosses.

  He remembered that Tholtar was the patron god of Whitecliff, but to have his avatar directly intervene to save Whitecliff was something Jace would have never expected. He wondered if his message to support had caused the developers to intervene directly. Or, maybe there really was an in-game reason for the god to appear.

  Either way, it meant Whitecliff was safe, as was his manor. In fact, if Damian wasn’t looking for them, Jace might suggest that they return back right now. But considering their situation, he thought it was safer if they kept on the move.

  “Who is Tholtar?” Mika asked next to him.

  The gnome looked aghast but had the decency and good judgement to not say anything to the wife of a Baronet.

  “Tholtar is the god of truth, duty and honor,” Jace told her.

  “And promises,” Gleergaklis supplied and then realizing he had interrupted a Baronet, quickly looked chastised. “Um, sorry milord.”

  “He’s the patron god of Whitecliff and especially the royal guard,” Jace continued, ignoring the gnome’s interruption. “Normally, he doesn’t intervene in mortal affairs. In this instance, he did.”

  “He is a god. But he didn’t kill the dragon?” Mika asked in confusion.

  “The gods don’t appear in their natural form,” he explained. “They form avatars, or vessels for their power. Because the avatars exist in the physical world, they can have certain physical limitations. In this case, my guess is the two were fairly evenly matched.”

  The gnome looked shocked but kept his mouth shut this time. Jace knew that the NPCs didn’t understand game mechanics and while Jace was stating things from a game mechanics perspective, in the mind of the non-player characters, the gods were all powerful.

  “I’ll explain more later.” Jace smiled and gave a subtle, but meaningful glance at gnome.

  “Okay.” Mika gave him a wink.

  “Was there anything else you needed from me to send the message?” Jace asked Gleergaklis.

  The gnome seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts he’d been having and hurried back around to the desk. He retrieved the strip of parchment and rolled it up much smaller than Jace would have expected. Then he came back around and attached the paper to a small metal band on the raven’s leg.

  “The band is enchanted,” Gleergaklis explained. “When the raven finds his target, the message will disappear, and the raven will speak it to the recipient. Once the message is delivered, the bird will fly to you and tell you it was delivered, before
returning home to me.”

  “If you come this way,” the gnome said and ushered Jace towards an open window near the stairs. “Simply speak the name of the recipient and let the bird fly out this window.”

  Still cupping the bird in his hands, Jace brought it to his mouth and whispered her name, “Charlena Burton.” Then, he opened his hands while pushing the bird towards the window.

  The raven went a few feet before its wings unfurled and it flew off to the south. Jace watched it go until it was out of his field of view and then stepped back from the window.

  “Do you wish to send any other messages?” the gnome asked.

  “No, thank you,” Jace told him and moved to the door.

  “Always a pleasure, milord” the gnome called after him.

  Opening the door to the small office, Jace was about to step through when he felt a massive pain in his chest. He looked down just in time to see a crossbow bolt embedded in his chest, before his body collapsed and he was in spirit form.

  Fayanna Bane uses Surprise Attack on YOU for 471 damage.

  You have died.

  Do you wish to respawn at your last spawn point? (Yes or No)

  As had happened in Whtiecliff, Jace had been assassinated. He looked around for the assassin but couldn’t see much as people on the street ran screaming. Then he saw a female fox-kin appear as she slid a dagger into Mika’s back.

  His companion stiffened and then her body dropped to the floor as well. Even though he knew Mika was in spirit form too, they wouldn’t be able to see each other. He watched morbidly as the fox-kin bent down, sliced off Jace’s ear, and then disappeared.

  There was no question about it. He had been assassinated by someone in the assassin’s guild and that had cut the ear off his body to prove the assassination had been succesful. Along with the ear, the person who hired her would know where the kill took place. And that person was undoubtedly Damian.

  They had no time to waste, they needed to get out of town as soon as possible. Choosing Yes to respawn, he felt a momentary disorientation before his awareness reappeared into a new body in the Lasthaven graveyard.