《Viridian Gate Online: Vindication (The Alchemic Weaponeer - Book 1) by N.H. Paxton》


 ONE: Times of Crisis…

    Timeline - 4 days before Astraea, 09:45


    ¡°Ina, it has been too long.¡± I sat with my legs crossed at the grave of my beloved. The grass, what little remained of my small backyard, was overgrown and dying. There had once been flower beds under the windows of our home, they were a riot of colors, all shapes and sizes. Flowers I could never keep, but Ina was different. Plants thrived under her eyes, they flourished under her care. Sadly, those were also dead. I had a friend who worked in the Stone Masonry carve Ina¡¯s headstone, made of a dark black marble. It was truly gorgeous. He had done a fine job, it looked like her, even down to the way her auburn hair flowed in the wind. He had captured every detail I could remember, everything she was in the picture I had given him to recreate. It was a simple scene, we were at a festival in the Saint Petersburg Plaza, she was looking at the statue of Catherine the Great, the wind blew, her hair bellowed in the wind, and the picture was perfect. She was my own personal Catherine.


    ¡°I regret that we cannot be together any longer.¡± I choked back a tear, no, I did not have time to cry. There was much work to be done yet. Time for crying would come later. I stood from the grass and laid a small bundle of flowers at the grave. She wasn¡¯t buried here, of course. She was buried in the National Cemetery, for her work to advance the science of Chemistry in Russia. It was the one thing that Mother Russia had given her. The flowers were purchased from one of the small flower stalls nearby, one of the last bundles they had. I was late leaving work again, and it was shameful for me. Bah, regrets are a powerful thing. I needed to get my mind off of her. It had been six months since she passed away, and the pain was still too fresh. Perhaps having her memorial in the backyard was not such a smart thing after all, but I wanted to keep her close, and the grave yard where they buried her was too far away for frequent visits.


    I went back inside, and shook my head at all I saw. The house was a mess, I hated cleaning. Ina was always so good at keeping after that. I would make a mess, she would clean it up. We had an understanding. We also had grumbling. But we made it work. I took a sip from the coffee I had made earlier, and forgotten about.


    ¡°Shit, tastes like week old engine oil. And not even high test.¡± I tossed the coffee cup into the sink harder than I intended. It shattered on impact, little chips flying in every direction.


    ¡°Ina, your coffee was always perfect.¡± I looked down and clenched my fists, caked with years of work, grime and oil. ¡°This was not what was in my head. It is not what I intended.¡± The smell of multi-part oil and degreaser invaded my nostrils, and I was taken back to another time.


    Ina had just started working for the National Laboratory¡¯s Saint Petersburg branch shortly after attaining her doctorate in Chemistry. She started as a basic research assistant, working on a new type of oil that would last a near limitless time. She quickly advanced through the ranks, working harder and faster than anyone else, until she had taken a position as a Head Chemist in the Chemical Manipulation Department. Ina had always told me that working in the Chemical Plant would kill her; I had thought she was talking about it being the end of her career path, though I often said her genius would last forever. She once clarified that it would be due to the vials that were left open absent-mindedly, or the frequent spills due to careless laboratory technicians. I had not expected her to be so right.


    The cancer took her within a year¡¯s time. I watched my beloved Ina devolve from a gorgeous, intelligent woman into a bed-ridden husk of what she once was. There was nothing I could do. All of my knowledge and expertise, my absolute genius, was useless. Russia had withheld treatment towards the end, as a result of some perceived debt to society. After all, Socialized Medicine paid for Ina¡¯s expensive chemo treatments - well, some of them. The medicine was too expensive for the insurance to pay for, and about halfway through, the medication was not covered at all. There were some situations where we had to seek alternative funding, and Ina no longer could work to cover the costs. Wasn¡¯t the cost of having Ina for just a little longer in my life worth absolutely anything I could pay? Mother Russia, in her ¡°Infinite Wisdom,¡± had taken Ina from me. One day, I knew I would get back at her. Perhaps not in this lifetime, and perhaps not The Motherland herself, but I would fight back.


    At the end, she held my hand, gave me the best smile she could afford, and told me she would see me in paradise. When Ina was pronounced dead, it wasn¡¯t an hour before Osmark technologies , a virtual world where people would be able to find a new place to exist after the Astraea asteroid struck. It¡¯s not as though we could have put her into the game before she died, the system wasn¡¯t around yet, and the framework wasn¡¯t stable. As luck would have it, or fate, or whatever you want to call the fickle bitch, Almez-Antev, the weapons developers I worked for, had connections and ins with Osmark Technologies. I pulled a few strings, made a few promises that I knew I would never be able to keep, and suddenly Ina and I were admitted to the program.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    I regretted making those promises, especially since I was expected to contribute to any future war effort within VGO, on behalf of the big wigs. It felt like a waste, all of the work I had done to renovate the basement to admit a pair of VGO capsules, and I had spent days and weeks working on it. I ran electrical, I adjusted network propensities, and I improved the layout. I even did some off the books excavation to expand our room. I looked at the watch on my wrist, the hands moving with flawless precision. One of my own designs, a small twinge of pride hit my heart, but bounced off the cold exterior. I still had a few hours before I needed to meet the deadline for my transition into VGO, and there was still that project for Almaz-Antev that needed finalizing. Namely the nuclear automata that would usher in the new age of people on Earth; tasked with cleaning, demolishing and rebuilding after the impact.


    At one time, Almaz-Antev was the premier weapons manufacturing company for all of Russia. They had colluded with other nations, of course. There was nothing to be done for that. My weapons killed a lot of people, and there are regrets I will never be able to put aside. But now is not the time for regrets. Now is the time for action. ¡°There is still time,¡± I said absentmindedly. ¡°I will fix some of the mistakes I¡¯ve made. First though, I must wash this mountain of dishes.¡± I set about to working on the broken coffee cup, gently placing the pieces in the waste bin. The noise from the city street outside my small house filtered through the cracked window, stuck open from the years of Saint Petersburg winters. I had promised Ina I would fix it, but always there was another important thing to be done. It got pushed back further and further, until there was no time left to fix the small things. ¡°Ina, I am so sorry. I will fix the things that I can soon.¡± I pushed the anger and the pain back into its space and finished the dishes.


    The six months since Ina had passed had been very challenging, and there was more than one time where I had completely fallen apart. I had lost considerable weight, simply from forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep. I threw myself into my work, and Almaz-Antev was happy to see the improved work ethic. While Ina was sick, I was almost fired. That would have endangered everything Ina and I had worked so hard for. It would have voided our passes into VGO. Now hers was gone, and so was she. ¡°No, I cannot fall back to this, the anger, the sadness. Always, it comes back to her being gone. I cannot focus on that now, there is so much to do before the morning.¡± I needed to work, I needed to get my mind off her.


    Timeline - 4 days before Astraea, 16:52


    In the evening, I retired to my basement workspace. I neglected to eat dinner, and as a result, found myself getting easily irritated. ¡°Two more screws here,¡± I said. Talking to myself while working helped me to focus. It allowed me to make sure I didn¡¯t miss any steps while making things. And this project was important. The radiation shielding needed to be perfect, both from inside and outside. ¡°Will check the Geiger counter later, I don¡¯t have time for this shit.¡± I set the machine core to the side, and changed my focus to another portion of the machinery: the converter. ¡°This will need sturdier wiring. Perhaps dioxymethylene coating will suffice? No, too caustic. That definitely will eat through cables in a few decades. Something stronger, a polycarbon wrap?¡± I leaned against the table, both palms flat against it. ¡°Ina would know what was best. She was the best chemical engineer in all of Russia.¡± I slapped my hands down hard, harder than I had thought, rattling the pieces all over the table. The machine core bounced off the table and smacked against the ground. The sound of crunching metal greeted my ears with a toothy smile. ¡°God Dammit! Everything is going wrong!¡± I picked it up from the floor and cradled the broken core in my hands. ¡°Well, it clearly isn¡¯t strong enough yet.¡± I chuckled as I stared at the cracked and broken core. ¡°Back to the drawing board.¡± I shrugged as I tossed the prototype core into a pile of other garbage.


    Several hours later, I ended up with a much improved core. It had significant resistance, and I was working on the last bolts. They needed to be sealed with a specific corrosion-resistant material, which I also had manufactured with Ina¡¯s help. ¡°Only last bolts, now. Then I can scan and send the schematics to Almaz-Antev, easy as cake. Is that how that goes? No, no, that is not the adage. English is ignorant.¡± I rolled my eyes as I picked up my wrench, hefting it in my hand. The weight felt good, it felt real. It kept my mind focused as I worked. Halfway through fastening the last bolt, which required a considerable amount of force, my hand slipped off the spanner, and raked my palm across the now-stripped bolt head. ¡°Ahhh!¡± I shouted in agony as blood poured from my hand, my tool falling to the floor. ¡°You stupid piece of shit!¡± I picked up the machine core and hurled it as hard as possible against one of the block walls in the basement. It smacked against the wall and fell to the floor. The clang of heavy metal resounded around the small room. ¡°God dammit all!¡±. I stepped over to the medkit I kept in the basement and wrapped up my hand. ¡°Another setback.¡± I headed over to the core on the ground, and picked it up. I turned it about in my hands and noticed that everything was still intact. ¡°Huh, is much stronger. Eh, bolt is not in perfect position, but Almaz-Antev will not care, I am thinking. Project complete.¡±


    I spent a few moments scanning the project blueprint into my computer, using my 3D scanner, and emailed it off to Almaz-Antev. Within seconds, I received a confirmation email. Along with a short commision at the end. ¡°Godspeed, Vlad Nardoir.¡± That was it, then. Well, that and to see the grave of my lost beloved one last time.

 TWO: Breaking Bone and Shattering Bond

    I headed back up to the house and found a guest in my kitchen. The man stood a head and shoulders above me, with a slightly bulging belly that strained against the buttons of his well-tailored black suit. The rest of him was nearly all muscle. I recognized him immediately as my old childhood friend, Bruno. He was standing in the kitchen, looking through some of the cupboards, making himself at home. ¡°Well, this is unexpected, to say the least.¡± I raised my hands to show no hostility towards him. I had not expected to see a member of the Russian Mafia in my home.


    ¡°Vlad, it is good to see you have not fled.¡± Bruno was imposing, as he always was. Today, though, he was even more so, easily outweighing me by a solid fifty kilos. ¡°It would not do Almaz-Antev, or my fine employers, any good if you were to disappear before your debts were paid.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Bruno.¡± I backed myself up a little bit, and found myself against a wall. ¡°I do not know of what debt you speak. I have paid off what I owed.¡± I wrinkled my forehead, trying to think of what I still owed, but nothing came to mind.


    ¡°You see, Vlad, Viktor is looking for the blood price you owe. We spent a lot of money getting medication for your Ina, and now we are owed a debt. The Motherland is more forgiving than we are.¡± Bruno sat heavily into a chair at the kitchen table. He shrugged his shoulders as though it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°But you see, there is not much time left, and Viktor, he does not like to wait. He said something about you moving to some kind of different world, the same place he is going. Vermillion Glands, or something?¡± Bruno pulled a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket, slipping them onto his fists. My heart was pounding like it would leap out of my chest and scamper across the floor. I looked around for any kind of exit from this situation. I remembered the VGO pod in the basement. I remembered the smell of Ina¡¯s hair. I remembered that I wasn¡¯t going to die, not today.


    ¡°Bruno, let us talk, I will make coffee, we can share Vodka, yes?¡± It was a ploy to get him to relax, I was hopeful it would work out.


    ¡°Ah, so hospitable. You know Vlad,¡± Bruno laid a heavy arm on the table, the wood groaned under the weight. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the chair shifting, expecting him to get up, but he didn¡¯t. ¡°I don¡¯t remember you ever making coffee. That was always Ina¡¯s thing.¡± He plastered a hard smirk on his face, I knew he was being an ass.


    ¡°She was always better at it,¡± I said, hiding my anger at his comment. ¡°But I can make it just fine. Might taste like mud, or engine oil, but it works.¡± I set about making said coffee, I also pulled a bottle of my finest Vodka from the shelf. I wasn¡¯t going to need it where I was going, or if I was going to die tonight.


    ¡°How long have we known each other?¡± Bruno sighed as he slipped the brass knuckles off his hand and set them on the table. He was letting his guard down, good. Sometimes Bruno asked stupid questions, sometimes he just forgot. He had received a nasty blow to the head shortly after he started working for that Mobster, Viktor, as a bouncer at a Mafia-run club. It was 43 years ago that our parents had given birth in the same hospital, and until he joined Viktor¡¯s crew, we were close friends. Sometimes I liked to think we still were. He was present for Ina¡¯s funeral, he was there for me when we found out she was sick. He was actually the one who reached out to me when the chemo wasn¡¯t covered any longer. He was still a good man inside somewhere, but he was better at following orders than he was at keeping his friends and jobs straight.


    ¡°You know well enough,¡± I said as I lit the gas burner on the stove and set the coffee percolator on the flame. I needed to make a plan, and I had one in the works. I just didn¡¯t want to have to follow through with it. I used an unnecessarily large amount of room to get everything ready, making sure I could reach my goal. I needed to reach the knife block.


    ¡°It seems like yesterday we were going to University together. You were promising and intellectual. I was a mass of raw muscle.¡± He poked at the flab that had started to show over his gut. ¡°Some things have changed, others have not.¡± He raised an eyebrow at the equipment I had strewn about the kitchen and dining room. Nearly all of it was my own design, some of it was from various jobs I had handled throughout the years. ¡°You know, I was almost hired by Almaz-Antev as well. Well,¡± he laughed as he looked away. ¡°I guess I technically still work for them. Hired muscle through their connections.¡± He tilted his head to the side and a loud pop issued from the bones and muscles in his neck. I nearly knocked the coffee kettle over from being startled. I also almost knocked the knife I had acquired from the cabinet onto the floor, which would have given away my intentions. I didn¡¯t want to have to use it, but it was a likely conclusion that I would have to. I turned around and carefully slid the knife into the back of my pants, blousing my shirt a bit to cover the handle.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to fight, Bruno. Take whatever you want, I have money saved, you can take that too.¡± The coffee was done, I poured a pair of cups, and spiked them both with Vodka. Heavily. I was going to need all the courage I could muster for this next act.


    ¡°No, see, Viktor was clear. I bring you back broken, or I don¡¯t come back at all. He is beyond wanting money now. You made him mad, he thinks you stiffed him on the bill.¡± Bruno took his cup with a small smile and took a large drink. ¡°Ah, that is good. And the Vodka was a good touch. You were always heavy-handed.¡± He set the cup down and looked at me with remorse. ¡°I am sorry, old friend, but this is where friendship ends, and work begins.¡± He stood and replaced his brass knuckles, smacking his fists together as he wound up to take a swing. I reached around behind my back to grab the knife. The blade felt clumsy in my hands. I hated bladed weapons. He stopped for a moment, then a sly smile rolled over his features. ¡°You were not going to go down easy, always the hard way my friend.¡± He took a heavy swing from the side, and I scrambled out of the way. His fist slammed into the countertop where I was standing just a second before. Cups rattled and bounced, my freshly washed dishes shook in the drying rack. The blow was so strong that it knocked Ina¡¯s favorite coffee mug off of the spindle it hung on. It shattered on the floor. The sound of it breaking hurt, like years of memories shattering against cold, uncaring stone.  I knew I couldn¡¯t get hit by the force of Bruno¡¯s swing, I simply wouldn¡¯t survive.


    ¡°Damnit, Bruno, you¡¯re better than this.¡± I was already shaking from fear and anxiety, I didn¡¯t need to fight for my life. This was a problem. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you, we can still leave this place as friends. I will give you everything I have.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°You, hurt me? You¡¯re a brain, Vlad, and I¡¯m a muscle. There will be only one person with pain tonight.¡± He took another swing, and I backpedaled into the large grandfather clock against the wall. It rang as the chimes within bounced around. I dug my blade into the wood behind the clock and pushed with all I was worth. The massive clock creaked and groaned as it fell towards Bruno. He put his shoulder into it, and shrugged it off. The man was a beast, for all that age. The cacaphony of the metal inside the clock¡¯s body was painful to hear as the wood splintered and smashed against the floorboards.


    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, Bruno. Stop this and we can be friends again. I¡¯ll forget it all.¡± I didn¡¯t want to end up beaten and battered. I lunged forward and swiped at him with my knife. It left me terribly open, and he punished me for it. I received a quick jab to the ribs for my effort, knocking the air completely out of me. I doubled over on the floor in pain, the knife slipping out of my hands as I wrapped myself in my arms. I gasped for air as Bruno stepped forward, rolling his hands together, cracking his knuckles.


    ¡°Only one punch, Vlad?¡± Bruno sighed heavily as he loomed over my breathless body. Wracking coughs had started to pull air back into my lungs. ¡°You used to be so much more resilient. This is what working with tools and technology all your life gets you.¡± He went to stomp on my head, but I rolled out of the way just in time. His foot hit the ground heavily enough to rattle the dishware and the coffee cup he left on the table. I scampered up to my hands and knees, grabbed the knife, and was almost clear of him until I felt the collar on my shirt stiffen.


    ¡°Hurk,¡± I spouted as I was pulled backwards. He had the grip of a rabid bear. I struggled against the clothing restraining me, but it was no use. Before I knew it, he had lifted me into the air with a bear hug. My lungs were beginning to burn as he crushed my torso between his massive arms. ¡°Bruno¡­¡± I coughed and choked as I squirmed, my vision starting to darken. Right before my sight left me completely, I had a moment of clarity. The knife was still in my hand! I swung for all I was worth with it, trying desperately to get a cut, a knick, anything that would cause him to release me. After what felt like an eternity, the blade found purchase. It sunk deep into his right thigh, and I was rewarded with him dropping me. The bellow he let out was enough to nearly deafen me. Everything was going to hurt in the morning, for sure. I collapsed to the floor as my body was basically dead weight. I sucked in hard lungfuls of air, doing everything I could to make my body respond to simple commands. Look around, get up, move, get away from him. Nothing was working.


    ¡°You put a knife in my leg, you dirty shit!¡± Bruno continued to howl as he sunk to the floor. I was hoping the blade would simply get him to release me so I could get away, but it seemed as though I had hit a nerve. As I watched the blood spurt from his leg, I realized I had hit something much more important. I had driven the knife into his femoral artery. He was going to bleed out without medical attention. My brain went through a million potential outcomes, but only one mattered. I stretched out and reached for the towels that hung from the handle on the stove. I grabbed both of them, and managed to crawl over to where Bruno was gasping. His skin tone was already changing to ashen grey mixed with blue. He was losing blood fast. I wrapped the towels around his upper thigh, above the wound, and tied them tight. Then I ripped a large piece of my shirt off, removed the knife from his leg, and stuffed the clothing into the wound. It was immediately soaked in blood, a bad sign. I hadn¡¯t meant for the blade to bite so deep, I hadn¡¯t meant for him to be bleeding out! My tourniquet wasn¡¯t working as well as I had hoped, probably because my dexterity and strength were still reduced from nearly being crushed to death. His eyes started to glaze over as he stared at me. ¡°Vlad, Vlad, please¡­¡± His words were gentle and full of fear, and for just a moment I saw that child I had grown up with. My heart shattered.


    ¡°Bruno, I am so sorry.¡± I hadn¡¯t meant for him to die, I had intended to talk him down, to find a common ground. Maybe even to part as friends. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen,¡± I said to him, holding his hand which I had gripped without thinking. His hand was so much larger than mine, but his grasp was gentle.


    ¡°I...I know I didn¡¯t do right. By either of you.¡± His words were slipping now. They were coming slower, his gasps were shallow. ¡°I am sorry, friend.¡± The last words from the one person I had known my entire life were an apology, as he died. I sat there with him for some time before I was able to come to grips with what had happened. I had killed a man, I had killed my best friend.


    Timeline - 3 days before Astraea, 00:21


    I buried Bruno in the backyard under the dark of the night. I had cleaned up the floor of the dining room as best as I could, but I was still covered in blood. I hadn¡¯t thought to take the time to clean myself up. I didn¡¯t care, I was exhausted and needed rest. I looked at my watch, which was spattered with dried, flaking blood. I was almost out of time, I needed 72 hours inside VGO to be able to fully transition, and that time was almost up. I kneeled at the shared grave site of my most beloved wife, and my best friend. The shovel fell from my grasp and I sobbed deeply. I could no longer hold it back, and I didn¡¯t even try to stop it. There was literally nothing left for me here. I had killed the only person I still cared about, I should have let Bruno take me back to Viktor. I was broken, I was shattered like a glass that was carelessly tossed away. Everything I had in this life was gone. The emotional trauma was almost too much, I would have rather been tortured by the Mafia. At least that pain would subside, either in my death, or when it was over. This pain, though? I expected it to last forever.


    Timeline - 3 days before Astraea, 05:19


    I don¡¯t remember how long I laid there, but I remember waking to the rising sun on my skin, the cold of Russia¡¯s morning greeting me with its teeth. I remember panicking, because now I had almost no time left. It would be a near thing, for sure. I brushed myself off, and rushed inside. My pain from the fight last night was screaming at me, everything was agony. My body was nearly in spasms from the effort.


    The dew from the morning had made the blood on my hands and clothes fresh again. I left smears on the walls as I stumbled from room to room, heading to the basement. I placed my bloodied palm onto the biometric reader that unlocked the steel blast door I had installed. It beeped and slid open. I trudged in and fell to my knees before I reached the capsule. I dragged myself up the face of it, leaving a trail of blood on the pristine chrome. I punched in a series of numbers on the locking mechanism. There was a whoosh of air as the capsule unsealed. I heard the blast door behind me slam shut, and the three-step locking mechanism kick in. Everything was moving at a feverish pace as I pushed the door to the pod up, so I could get into it. I grabbed the assist handrail and pulled with everything I had. My muscles complained, my lungs burned and ached, and my head felt like it was on fire. I finally worked my way into the pod and watched the pod door close slowly, pressurizing.


    ¡°Goodbye, Ina. I will see you in the next life.¡± It was all I could say before the pod sealed, and the processes within the capsule initiated.


    The pitch black surrounded me like a blanket, consuming the last glimpse I had of the light of my workshop, until a ¡°loading¡­¡± notice came on-screen. I was being logged into Viridian Gate Online.


    An intense realization swept over me, I was starting a new life. It had nearly cost me everything. No, it had cost me everything. But I was still alive, and that was something worth fighting for.


    My last memory of Earth was pain in my chest, not from the fight the night before, but from never seeing my home, my wife, my friend, my house, ever again.

 THREE: Leaving Well Enough Alone…

    The pain in my body was gone, immediately after my senses were taken away to another place. I was hearing birds chirp, there were no longer the city noises of Saint Petersburg I was so used to. Instead, before my very eyes, shifting from hazy to firm and sharp, was a floating image of myself. Well, not exactly myself. My avatar, to be more precise. I was no longer wearing the apron and jeans covered in blood, but was instead wearing a basic linen tunic, with a matching pair of incredibly itchy pants. Somehow or other, I could feel everything. Was it due to the neural mapping, or some other amazing advent in technology? I would figure that out later. I knew VGO was an intense and all-encompassing VRMMO, but I didn¡¯t expect it to feel like the real world. It was pretty clear that this was going to be a very real experience, if the wet seeping through the thin cloth shoes I was wearing was any indication. I didn¡¯t have any experience playing video games back on Earth, but I imagined that this would be the absolute height of them. Being directly inserted into a game world, where literally anything is possible. I felt fear, and excitement in even waves.


    I noticed a couple options floating about in my vision, but the one that caught my eye most was ¡°Race.¡± I focused on it, and down popped a series of options. Almost like clockwork, the dropdown menu expanded and hovered, shifting as I turned my head, hanging about like a sticky-note. Each race sounded really entertaining and exceptionally well thought out, like the dark-skinned Dokkalafar, or Murk Elves that lived in the Storme Marshes. The Svartalfar, Dwarf-like hardy people with a penchant for development. I lingered on the Dwarves for a moment, considering the potential of it all, giving myself a leg up on the development of the world of Viridian Gate Online may not be a bad idea. After a moment, though, I decided I needed a change, and it needed to be big, so I continued to look.


    The Accipiter, winged people of the deserts, with their dextrous ways and their feathery skin. The Risi, massive, muscle-bound brutes with green tinged skin and severe underbites, with protruding fangs. I lingered on Wode, the most human looking of the races, and detailed as the most versatile. They were described as the most numerous of the races in Eldgard, the world in which VGO took place. I considered to myself the option of being a Wode. It would allow me to become almost everything I was on Earth. I closed my eyes, the world going black if only for a moment, before deciding to do something different. I had already spent 43 years of my life as a human, and it wasn¡¯t exactly everything I had ever wanted. My life was punctuated throughout with the human gods: communism, greed, and hatred. The Man took everything that I produced, and returned a mere tenth. It dug its claws into my life, and never let go. Then, when I needed it most, it turned its back on me and my wife, and let her die. No, hell no. I wouldn¡¯t do that again. There was an Imperial alternative to the Wode, which boasted the same stats, but didn¡¯t appeal to me in any way.


    One of the races mentioned something about having a relatively free lifestyle. I scrolled through the races again, and my eyes lingered on Hvitalfar, the Dawn Elves. They were of the Shining Plains. The race was appealing, having a natural affinity for magic of all kinds, with a bonus to their starting Spirit of 5%. There was a certain kinship I felt with the ideals of the Dawn Elves, although nobody in Russia, or anywhere else, knew I loved plants and animals. I wanted to keep it that way. And if I was going to play a Fantasy game, why not be a powerful sorcerer? After all, if I had the opportunity to directly change my life, that sounded like a great way to go. I chose them as my race, and adjusted a couple of features. I made myself roughly the same height, weight, and age as on earth. I gave myself hair, which I wasn¡¯t blessed with at the end of my Earth life. I made it a glorious sheet of fine silver, running to the middle of my back. It was incredible. Finally, I came to my name. This caused me great pause, considering my name in the real world had weight. But that was the past, that was the old Vlad. This would be a new start, a new beginning, where I would start with nothing. Absolutely nothing.


    A few names kicked around in my head for a while, and I used the random name generator once or twice, getting shockingly difficult to pronounce names. That may have been my Russian Heritage slipping in, but I couldn¡¯t think of how I would get around living as ¡°Artlerinart.¡± I would be a better version of myself here, in this world, than I was on Earth. Ultimately, I decided to just be Vlad, unapologetic and unwavering. I wouldn¡¯t stand for injustice, I would refuse to stand aside as people were taken advantage of. That was the old Vlad. Ina had told me once, years ago, that I needed to be ¡°More of a warrior for Justice.¡± Well, here was my chance. I had laid down long enough, letting people be stepped on in the name of ¡°progress,¡± or ¡°the government.¡± I finalized my name, and all of the dropdown menus disappeared. I stood in the absolute darkness for a moment, turning my head, looking for any kinds of clues as to what would happen. I was just about to say something about a log-in bug when everything exploded around me. I was suddenly engulfed in the music of the renaissance, blazing through the air. The Lute and Lyre were intensely played, the music feverish. The score was overwhelming, it set the stage for something huge. I stood expectant as the words began, thunderous to my ears.


    ¡°The year is 1095 A.I.C. - Anno Imperium Conditae,¡± the voice began, crisp over the music. ¡°Dark Power and the stirrings of war ride upon the winds of Eldgard, the provincial outpost of the Great Viridian Empire.¡± I was standing at the precipice of a huge mountain range, and below me was an enormous forest. There were fires burning everywhere, the sounds of war rang through the air. I watched what could only be described as ballistae bolts, enormous and burning, explode against what I assumed were magic shields, half-orbs of glowing light covering eternally-extending lines of soldiers. Truly this world was fantastical.


    ¡°Imperial Legions, allied with the forces of light, march from the East, bringing the natives of Eldgard to their knees through flame, magic and steel.¡± I was whipped into the air against my will, suddenly watching a small village change shape as the announcer continued. ¡°Bringing progress. Building roads. Cities. A kingdom.¡± The village went through numerous iterations before finally becoming a massive fortress, surrounded by a sprawling city, uncountable droves of people scurried about their lives within the walls. I was carried further yet into the air, now I had a bird¡¯s eye view of the continent of Eldgard. ¡°Civilizing the dark-natured Wodes, the swap-dwelling Dokkalfar, and the Accipiter of the far-western deserts, enlightening them in the ways of the ever-victorious empire.¡± There were hundreds of tactical lines drawn as they spread forth from the initial army, the locations outlined on the map changing color from a neutral grey to the deep azure of the Viridian Empire. The sounds of battle, clanging metal, marching feet, rippling banners, carried to my ears as the lines moved.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°But the natives of Eldgard are not so quick to give up the old ways - to heel for foreign masters. Though the rebellion is yet small, they fight on. Hour by hour, day by day ¡­¡± I watched as semi-translucent images of the various races at work, making equipment, forging armor, healing wounded, doing battle, expanded and shrank in my peripherals against the encroaching blue. Some lines halted, dead-ending in an ¡°X,¡± where the war front had stalled. Others were beaten back, a few of the blue areas changing back to grey.


    ¡°However, in the far flung North, another threat looms.¡± The announcer¡¯s voice was tinged with darkness. I had never been so engrossed, or intrigued, by a video-game intro in my life. This was extremely intense, and must have taken an enormous amount of resources to make it work out. With an instantaneous sensation of moving, the world around me shifted, and I was standing in the snow of an unknowably high mountain. The cold was so intense, I almost thought I was back home in January.


    ¡°The reclusive, mountain-dwelling Svartalfar have unwittingly burrowed into the prison of a dusty and long forgotten god. A truly heinous being of absolute darkness, eager to return to the land of mortals once more. The breach is a small thing, but large enough for Serth-Rog, Daemon Prince of Morsheim, to call acolytes to his cause...Imperial. Rebel. Light. Dark. Living. Dead. Which side will you choose?¡± I was thrown from the ledge of the mountain as a dark power exploded from the top, a gathering inky-black mist coalescing into the shape of a great winged beast with soul-seeking green eyes. I continued to flip through the air, my body careening to the South. As I flailed through the air, feeling incredibly sick, I caught the eyes staring at me. I could have sworn they were smiling, watching as I flew like a leaf in the wind. My head struck something rough, solid, likely stone of some kind. My body flopped about as I rolled to a stop. Everything was pain, suddenly and swiftly like a torrent of agony. My mind refused to cooperate for a solid moment, but when I came to, the strong scent of grass and mountain air filled my lungs.


    ¡°This game,¡± I said, as I coughed chunks of dirt and grass from my mouth. ¡°This game is going to be death of Vlad, I think.¡± I stood slowly, gathering my wits. The sun was beginning to reach the sky¡¯s peak. ¡°Is almost noon.¡± I had to stop myself from talking to myself, eventually. Everything sounded broken. Was the game forcing me to speak English? ¡°Derr¡¯mo.¡± I tested. Nope, I could still swear in Russian. Maybe it was a language-filter feature? Being forced to speak English without thinking was an inconvenience at best, but it didn¡¯t matter. I was standing on a mountain hill, the forest stretching out before me, the same one I had seen in the opening video. It was different, there had been considerable changes. Age, maybe, or perhaps trees were removed and destroyed? It didn¡¯t matter, it was the same forest. I thought.


    I took in my surroundings, but not for too long, because there was a punguent smell in the air. Acrid, almost¡­


    ¡°Something is burning.¡± I looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of the fire. I noticed a small clearing with a couple simple fires. There were dozens of figures running around like crazy, all in a, mostly, single direction. It was a village, it was on fire, and I was not going to stand idly by this time. But how would I get down there? As though my question was answered for me, I noticed a very steep trail heading down the edge of the cliff. It was a treacherous climb, and it would take a considerable effort, but I was hoping my new body would be able to handle it. I turned about for a moment and saw a single figure, clear as day, with long wavy auburn hair, raising a sword and waving to a group of villagers. Her features were so radically familiar, I felt a stab of pain in my heart.


    ¡°Ina!¡± I shouted, half mad in my sudden craze to reach her, to see her one last time, to feel her in my arms. I started the long, treacherous climb down the slope, but lost my footing at the half-way mark. I rolled down the rest of the way, watching the world spin completely out of control. One moment, I was watching the sun rapidly soar towards the horizon, and the next I was eating a solid chunk of stone. It took everything in me not to scream the entire way down, as I bounced and struck rocks and small trees. At one point, I slammed into a large pine tree. I felt the bones in my chest crunch and collapse as I careened to the side. A number of red notifications flew up in my face, but I was moving too fast to pay attention to them. I finally reached the bottom of the mountain, skidding to a stop in the grass, my chest burning, by arms and legs throbbing in agony. I was covered in injuries, there were a few small notifiers in the top of my vision that were blinking frantically, the ones I hadn¡¯t been able to read on my way down the mountain.. My right arm was completely limp, and my God did everything hurt!


    <<<<>>>>


    Debuffs Added


    Fractured Arm: You cannot use your right arm and cannot cast mage spells that require hand gestures; duration: 2 minutes.


    Cracked Ribs: Your breathing is impaired and your cracked ribs are causing you pain; Stamina Regeneration reduced by 20%; duration: 2 minutes.


    Concussed: You have sustained a severe head injury! Confusion and disorientation; duration: 1 minute.


    <<<<>>>>


    There was a red flashing bar in the corner of my vision, evidently my Health Points. They were at less than 10%, that was an incredibly long fall. ¡°Remind me to yell at the Development team when I find one of them, b¡¯lyad.¡± I stood, slowly, agonizing pain in all of my joints. I leaned backwards and popped my back. ¡°Vlad needs break already, only been here ten minute and already fell from sky. Idiot developers make realism hurt like being hit by truck on highway. Not even small truck.¡±

 FOUR: In Blaze of Glory…

    I was ripped from the inside of my head by the scream of a woman. I looked across the clearing and saw the woman from before, as she took a flaming arrow to the shoulder. Her body spun from the force of the blow as she went down to the ground. ¡°Ina!¡± I shouted as loud as my new lungs would allow as I charged across the open space. I needed a plan, I would get killed with this much HP if I ran into this fight unprepared. As I crossed the space, I noticed a bucket knocked towards me. I picked it up and hooked it around my arm, like a makeshift shield. It wouldn¡¯t do much, but it would be enough for the short dash. I made it to the woman in seconds, grabbed her, and, against her protest, dragged her out of the way of the encroaching people. They were dressed in leathers and hides, ragged and worn. A tag popped up above one of their heads: [Bandit]. Of course, it¡¯s always bandits.


    ¡°You idiot, what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± The woman struggled against my arms, but her one arm was limp from the shoulder down. ¡°They¡¯re going to kill everyone if we don¡¯t do something.¡± Her argument was laden with anger, her words laced with the venom of a person trying to protect everything they¡¯ve ever known, I could feel it in my soul.


    ¡°We will fight, but we need tactical advantage. Out in open is good way to get killed.¡± I sounded like an idiot in my broken English. My thick Russian accent didn¡¯t help either. I managed to get her behind one of the stilted houses that comprised the village. She sat up, and pulled a vial of red fluid from her belt. She chugged it, grimacing as she did so. I watched in amazement as her arm healed of its own accord, the wound sealing, the ligaments resetting. She flexed her hand a few times and gave a grim smile.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, here.¡± She handed me one as well. I regarded it with some caution before taking it from her hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s a healing potion, you dolt. Drink it, or you won¡¯t take a single blow without dying.¡± She stood and pulled a short blade from her outer thigh. It was longer than a dagger, but shorter than a sword. It was somewhere in between, but my limited knowledge of swords and their kind was not helping me here. I drank the health potion with a bit of hesitancy. To my great surprise, it was overtly flavorful. The sweet cherry-berry flavor filled my throat. I wasn¡¯t in love with the taste, but it was palatable. I could feel my muscles strengthening, I watched as the bruises and injuries under my now-tattered tunic healed themselves in seconds. I felt popping and pain as my ribs and arm reset themselves as the potion went to work.


    ¡°This stuff is incredible, thank you.¡± I offered her the glass vial back, but she just shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s great, now let¡¯s do something about these bandits, aye?¡± She looked me up and down quickly, appraisingly. ¡°You¡¯re not much, but you¡¯ll do. Any experience in combat? We haven¡¯t much time.¡± It was almost as though she was prophesying as the building we were hiding behind was peppered with arrows. ¡°Okay, strike that, we have no time.¡± She took off without me, shouting loudly about me doing something, but what I didn¡¯t catch.


    ¡°Oh hell.¡± I was without options, until I spied a woodsman¡¯s axe sitting unattended on a log nearby. ¡°Or maybe not.¡± It was about 20 feet out, in completely unprotected space, but a plan was forming in my mind. I rushed out and grabbed it, yelling at the bandits for their attention. I shouted a great stream of Russian obscenities, severely insulted one of their mothers, and then rushed back behind the building. Hopefully this axe would be enough. I could hear the warrior woman fighting, metal clashed against metal, the screams of men under a blade. She was doing a fine job, I just needed to draw the enemy closer.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°What are you doing!?¡± The woman yelled at me as she ran past. I had hacked away two of the supports from under a hut, and was about to remove a third as I narrowly avoided an arrow by ducking as the axe went into the ground. Gods but it was heavy.


    ¡°I have plan, draw asshole bandits to this side in 1 minute. Have you anything to light fire?¡± I hefted the axe again, and ripped the stilt apart, after another couple of blows. The woman tossed me a flint and steel, tied together with a crude rope. ¡°This will do,¡± I sighed as I went to work setting the hut ablaze. It caught without much effort, and the flames launched up the side of the building. I heard shouting as some bandits came around the side of the structure. ¡°Too fast!¡± I left the axe and took off around the building, opposite of the way they were coming. I had hoped to remove another support, but the three would have to do.


    ¡°Okay,¡± the woman ran up to me, panting. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Push!¡± I placed my shoulder solidly against the hut and started forcing it over. The woman added her strength, and the building shifted. ¡°Harder!¡± The strain was starting to run down into my spine, I knew this would hurt in the morning. We pushed for what felt like a week, but then it finally gave. The building came crashing down on top of the small contingency of bandits with an ear-shattering kr-crash. Some of the rubble blew away as the hut collapsed in on itself, striking a few of the bandits that had survived the building itself. A few of them went down, but there was one big bruiser of a Bandit that survived. He was clearly leading this force, a tag sprung up above his head that read [Bandit Lieutenant].


    ¡°Okay, that went well,¡± the warrior shouted as she pulled her blade free from the ground a couple feet away. ¡°Now to deal with this ass-hat.¡± I stood there, breathing heavily. This woman, she was a fighter through and through. Wait a moment, I thought to myself, what is an ass-hat?


    ¡°You fight just as fiercely as Conrad had said you would, but you¡¯re all alone now.¡±  The bandit lifted his sword and pointed at me, as I leaned heavily against my knees and heaved in deep breaths. ¡°He¡¯s not in fighting shape, nor is he capable.¡±


    ¡°Conrad won¡¯t be getting a report from you this time.¡± She lunged with her sword, striking the bandit¡¯s blade. A shower of sparks flew in every direction as they danced a very deadly dance. They exchanged blows for only a short while, before the woman had the upper hand. She used a sudden shift in stance to her advantage, and drove her blade deep into the bandit¡¯s neck. ¡°Give my regards to your brother.¡± Her last words as she put her boot into the bandit¡¯s chest, pushing him off of her blade, hung in the air. She stood there for a long moment, breathing heavily, then she turned to me. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, fetch some water for these fires!¡± I realized I had just been wasting time and hurried to do just that.


    It had only taken a few minutes for the entire village, with its thatch roof huts, and largely woven grass buildings, to burn to the ground. There was not a lot left to account for. The villagers who had previously run off at Ina¡¯s direction were milling about not far off in the distance. Their faces were gaunt, hollow; I had seen that before in the faces of trauma survivors. Ina was poking around at the remains of a large building that was nothing more than a pile of ashes. I dropped onto the ground with a huff, just wanting to rest.

 FIVE: Remembering to Forget

    ¡°So, entire village is razed?¡± I sat on the dry dirt which was a makeshift path within the village.


    ¡°Seems so. I really tried to make sure it stayed standing. I¡¯ve defended this place for years now.¡± The woman sat down on the ground next to me. She pulled a pipe from the bag on her hip, followed by a small, fragrant pouch. I knew tobacco when I smelled it. Gods, I could use a cigarette. My eyes followed the pipe and pouch in her hands as she slowly tamped a wad into place. ¡°Oh, would you like some?¡± I clearly wasn¡¯t subtle, but I hadn¡¯t had a cigarette in what felt like days. I could almost feel my hands shaking. It probably was partially from coming down off the battle too.


    ¡°I, uh.¡± I stumbled on my words. I hadn¡¯t meant to be so obvious.


    ¡°You uh?¡± A thin smile grew on her lips as she lit the pipe with a small match-like object and took a deep drag. The cherry red glow in the bowl sent me back to my life on Earth, when I used to smoke a pipe like the one she held now. It was a dark wood, obviously hand-carved, but surprisingly ornamental. There was a series of leaves carved down the sides, as though it were still part of a tree, while the bowl was carved to look like a cone from a pine tree. The craftsmanship on it was stunning, almost ethereal. I had a hard time looking away.


    ¡°Yes, well, ahem.¡± I cleared my throat as I turned my face. A slight warmth had broken out across my cheeks. ¡°Have you enough to share?¡± Wow, that was smooth Vlad.


    ¡°Yes, here.¡± She handed me the pipe, gently. As I reached for it, my hand brushed hers. It startled me, her skin was so warm and soft. It didn¡¯t feel like the hands of a seasoned fighter. Awkwardness aside, the tobacco was a wonderful experience. I took a hard pull on the pipe, letting the smoke suffuse my lungs. I could taste the wood, the smoke, the tobacco, the slight hint of pine. I released the smoke gently from my nose, watching it curl as though it were completely real. Osmark¡¯s company did a great job on realism. I would need to find cigarettes soon, though. And Vodka.


    ¡°I am Vlad,¡± I said proudly after the first delicious breath of smoke had left me. ¡°I know very little about goings on.¡± The warrior smiled at me, a little chuckle rolling from her lips.


    ¡°And I am Ina.¡± My breath caught, and I nearly choked on my own saliva. ¡°As I said, I¡¯ve been protecting this village for years. A shame now, though.¡±


    ¡°Ina? You said your name is Ina?¡± I was even more confused as to what had happened. Had I died, and been reborn? No, that was 72-hours after first login.


    ¡°It is, I heard you shout it from the hill when you were ungracefully falling down it. I just assumed you knew who I was. But obviously, you wouldn¡¯t have been sent by any of the Warden¡¯s guilds.  You clearly aren¡¯t very high level.¡± She rolled her eyes as she stood up, brushing the dirt and clay from her butt.


    ¡°No, am not. Vlad is fairly new here.¡± I tamped the bowl on the ground to empty the spent tobacco and stood as well.


    ¡°Well, Vlad, let¡¯s see about getting you some gear, and maybe a few levels. Oh, and we need to get these people to safety, got ourselves a whole village to move. We¡¯ve got maybe 6 hours before the sun sets, and the Tanglewood forest East of here has all manner of baddies. There¡¯s a small town south of here, called Cressfal, it¡¯s a few hours walk for the able-bodied. But with this many people, especially the elderly and the wounded, it¡¯ll take about all the daylight we have left.¡±


    As she finished speaking, a prompt filled my vision. It was so sudden, it caused me to jump a little.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Alert: Save the Villagers!


    You have successfully completed a secret quest, which required you to save the villagers of Val¡¯Fore. Though the village has been reduced to ashes and splinters, the people are still alive, and have you to thank! As a result, you have received 2,000 EXP, and your reputation with the villagers of Val¡¯Fore has increased to Friendly.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Alert: Relocation


    Ina has offered you a quest to help her relocate the villagers of Val¡¯Fore to another safe location, namely the village of Cressfal, a reasonable walk to the South.


    Quest Class: Common, Personal


    Quest Difficulty: Easy


    Success: The villages of Val¡¯Fore safely arrive at Cressfal


    Failure: The villagers are wiped out, or you do not reach the town by nightfall.


    Reward: 1,000 EXP; unknown material rewards; increased reputation with the villagers of Val¡¯Fore


    Accept: Yes/No?


    <<<<>>>>


    I wasn¡¯t going to let Ina down. And these villagers trusted me now to take care of them. It was a burden, for sure, but it needed to be done.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said out loud, without thinking. Ina looked at me with a cocked head, confusion present on her face.


    ¡°Oh, got yourself a quest? Good for you, that should help speed things along. I¡¯ll go see about wrangling the villagers swiftly, we¡¯ve got to be going soon. See what you can salvage from some of the houses, and meet back here in 10.¡± With that, Ina strode away, leaving me to my thoughts. I saw there was a flashing plus symbol in the corner of my vision, along with a couple other flashing notifiers. I focused on the plus symbol and was struck with another new notification.


    <<<<>>>>


    X3 Level Up!


    You have 15 stat points to distribute!


    You have 3 Proficiency points to distribute!


    <<<<>>>>


    I had forgotten this entire world was still a video game. I took a moment to think about my character sheet, and it flew up in front of me. I had some points to distribute, which was good. The bad news was, I didn¡¯t know what I really wanted to put those points into. I decided to direct my points towards becoming a wizard. They needed Spirit and Intelligence, right? It made sense to me. I dumped 5 points into Intelligence, and 5 into Spirit. I wasn¡¯t sure how much I was going to use any other stats, but I decided a few more HP and some Dexterity couldn¡¯t hurt. I put 3 points into Vitality, and 2 into Dexterity, then looked at my new skill notification, which seemed to just be beckoning my attention.


    <<<<>>>>


    You¡¯ve learned a new skill!


    Skill: Large Bladed Weapons


    Large bladed weapons, such as battle axes, halberds, bardiches and greatswords, are large and unwieldy, but can cause devastation on the battlefield. Large bladed weapons not only deal slashing damage, but also have a small portion of their damage augmented as crushing damage due to their great weight. Several weapons within this class double as large blunt weapons if they have a blunt side.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: Increases large bladed weapon damage by 5% + 0.5% of base damage as crushing damage


    <<<<>>>>


    Well, I wasn¡¯t planning on using that skill anytime soon. The short amount of time I spent with that stupid woodsman¡¯s axe proved that. ¡°Stupid useless skills mucking up Vlad¡¯s skill list. What is this, big swords? Is stupid, not even useful.¡± I was rather irritated that it even existed, much worse that it had the audacity to show up in my skills. I saw Ina coming back to me with the group of villagers. I had wasted all of that time. ¡°Derr¡¯mo.¡±


    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Ina¡¯s voice was painful to hear. It was almost identical to my lost love¡¯s.


    ¡°No, lost time doing, eh, things.¡± I gestured to the world around me as a whole. It was a lame attempt to avoid the backlash I was expecting.


    ¡°Nothing for it then,¡± she said, almost apologetic. She walked up to me slowly and handed me a sheathed dagger. The leather was well made, almost meticulously tooled. ¡°You can use this for now, for defense. And here, I found a couple pieces of salvagable armor from the bandits.¡± She handed me a pair of thick woolen trousers, a large hide coat with a cloak attached that still smelled like the animal it was taken from, and some sturdy-looking leather boots.


    ¡°You are certain I can have?¡± I looked over the items, like they might reach out and bite me. She shook her hands in frustration.


    ¡°Get dressed, and try to catch up. We¡¯re burning daylight.¡± She shook her head and walked on, throwing her hand up in the air and whistling. ¡°Come on guys, let¡¯s get walking!¡±


    ¡°Okay, I will do.¡± I started putting my armor together, when I noticed something about them I hadn¡¯t thought to look at before. There were details on the gear pieces that I could focus on, like numbers and information, that leapt out in my face. Statistics, if I remember hearing my coworkers talking about them correctly. That was not something I had expected. I knew there would be details about items, I just didn¡¯t know how to call them up. Finding out this way was annoying, but I went through each piece as I put it on.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <<<<>>>>


    Hide Gambeson


    Armor Type: Light; Simple Hide


    Class: Common


    Base Defense: 8


    Primary Effects:


    +1 to Constitution


    1% Resistance to Slashing Damage


    Water Resistant


    <<<<>>>>


    Heavy Woolen Trousers


    Armor Type: Light; Woven Cloth


    Class: Common


    Base Defense: 6


    <<<<>>>>


    Sturdy Leather Pathfinder¡¯s Boots


    Armor Type: Medium; Tanned Leather


    Class: Uncommon


    Base Defense: 6


    Primary Effects:


    +5% Movement Speed in Rough Terrain


    +5% Reduction in Stamina Use While Running


    <<<<>>>>


    I shifted my shoulders after putting the armor on. It felt natural, like it was made to fit me. But it was also hot. I almost immediately started sweating after putting it on.


    ¡°Nothing for it,¡± I spouted. I looked down at the dagger in my hands as well, and pulled up the stats for it. It was high quality, for sure.


    <<<<>>>>


    Long-Bladed Dagger of Memory


    Weapon Type: Dagger


    Class: Rare, Light


    Base Damage: 9


    Some memories are better left unshared. Some things are better left forgotten. And there are some things that are simply better left.


    <<<<>>>>


    What was with that flavor-text, though? That felt personalized, almost directed, at me. I hooked it to my belt, and felt confident in my abilities now. I also had 3 new skill unlocks I needed to look at.


    My skills were increasing slowly, but I was appreciative of the new ones.


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill: Light Armor


    Though Light Armor doesn¡¯t offer the same defensive benefits as Medium or Heavy Armor, it is far less bulky and heavy, granting the wearer decent protection while simultaneously offering significantly increased speed, dexterity, and maneuverability. Light Armor is perfect for classes that rely on speed and distance, such as ranged warriors or spellcasters.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: 7% increased base armor rating while wearing Light Armor


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill: Medium Armor


    Though Medium Armor doesn¡¯t offer the same defensive benefits of heavy plate, it is far less bulky and heavy, granting the wearer decent protection while simultaneously offering a greater range of speed, dexterity, and maneuverability. Perfect for classes that rely on speed and brutal surprise, but also aren¡¯t afraid to fight close in -- at least for short periods of time.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: 5% increased base armor rating while wearing Medium Armor.


    <<<<<>>>>>


    Skill: Bladed Weapons


    Bladed weapons, such as claymores, swords, daggers, and cutlasses, can cause massive damage to foes. Bladed weapons are especially effective against animals and lightly armored opponents. This skill is always in effect and costs no Stamina to use.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: Increases Bladed Weapon damage by 5%


    <<<<>>>>


    Pleased with my progress, I turned to see the line of villagers, led by Ina, nearly out of sight. I ran to catch up with them, and found my stamina was falling as I ran. When it was down to nearly half, I slowed to a jog. I caught up to Ina fairly quickly, and moved to walk at her same pace.


    ¡°Got yourself geared?¡± Ina¡¯s voice was chipper, but also slightly annoyed.


    ¡°Yes, but now is time to march.¡± I was trying to be stolid, single-minded, focused. It wasn¡¯t working.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t talk about things.¡± Ina was right, of course. So we talked for a while on our way to Cressfal.


    ¡°So, how did you come to be adult?¡± I asked the question with a bit of confusion, since I knew what I wanted to say, but this idiotic forced English was messing with my vocabulary.


    ¡°That¡¯s kind of a funny thing to ask. You mean where did I grow up?¡± Her rebuttal was patient, but slightly flustered. Funny, Ina on Earth had much the same way with words.


    ¡°Yes, that exactly.¡± I shrugged my shoulders as though I was just clueless.


    ¡°Well, I was orphaned when my parents were killed in a raid on their Warden¡¯s Chapter. A group of bandits had amassed enough wealth to hire a small contingency of Sellswords, so the story goes. They wiped the entire chapter out, leaving none alive; except for me, of course.¡± She gave a pained smile as she continued. ¡°I was hidden in an underground passage that had collapsed years before. The rugs in the main hall covered the entrance well enough to hide the trapdoor.¡± Now her words were coming a bit more slowly, there was a deep seated hurt behind those words, and I was reluctant to dig any further.


    ¡°That is, how do you say?¡± I struggled for a moment as the filter forced me into English. ¡°Terrible is word I want to use, but is not fitting here, I think. Disfortunate? Is that word?¡± Ina laughed at me struggling with my words. It was good to hear her laughing after such a deeply painful story. I moved the conversation along, but I wanted to know more about this woman and her history, I had to know more.


    ¡°It was terrible, but not everything that starts out terrible has to end that way. Life isn¡¯t an endless cycle of tragedy, you know?¡± She smiled at me as she spoke, the sadness starting to fade from her features.


    ¡°Is long story then? Tragedy always finds Vlad, but you have hope. Where did go after?¡±


    ¡°I was found by a traveling healer who was making her rounds. I had been subsisting on what was left in the larder, it had been about 2 weeks. It was a difficult way to live.¡± She punched one of her fists into the opposite palm.


    ¡°But now, you know, I spent a long time living within Val¡¯Fore. They raised me, for the most part, to be who I am today. The family passed long ago, unfortunately. I was 14 at the time, and the rest of the village took me in to take care of me after that. It was a hard transition, I had lost 2 families in such a short time that I didn¡¯t know what the world had expected of me.¡± The face she gave showed me that she wasn¡¯t feeling as confident in her words as she tried to make them.


    ¡°I do not know what words to use.¡± I tilted my head to the side as I gave a sad smile.


    ¡°Words aren¡¯t necessary, but thank you. Just knowing that you are listening is enough.¡± Her eyes sparkled behind the sadness, it shook my heart.


    ¡°What is plan now?¡± I looked at the horizon to the south as we walked, hoping that we would have more time together.


    ¡°I had always wanted to be a Battle Warden, like my parents. So, I took up the sword, and trained as hard as I could from childhood. And, do you want to know a secret?¡± There was a mischievous smile stuck to her face like glue.


    ¡°Secrets? Yes, I will hear.¡± I gave her a wry smile myself, I so loved secrets.


    ¡°I have a quest to become a Battle Warden, but it¡¯s in Rowanheath. I had never wanted to leave Val¡¯Fore, at least not longer than a day or two, but now it seems like it¡¯s fate.¡±


    ¡°That is big deal!¡± I hadn¡¯t been so excited for someone else¡¯s advancements in years, at least not someone aside from Ina.


    ¡°Right? We can definitely go take care of that one day. But for now, we should focus on getting these people where they belong.¡± She threw a thumb back towards the crowd following us, who were having conversations of their own. A lot of it was grumbling.


    ¡°You have many things in life, but has not been charmed. Is hard to know what to say.¡±


    ¡°My life is what it is, Vlad. But what about you? You haven¡¯t said anything about your life, and I want to know what you did before I met you.¡± She looked surprisingly interested in what I had to say, which was a shock.


    ¡°I worked for large weapons company, making big eh, weapons.¡± I hated using the same word twice in a single sentence, but I didn¡¯t want to get in over my head in this world.


    ¡°So, you made swords, crossbows and ballistae?¡± She looked confused.


    ¡°Oh, no, other weapons. Like, eh, things that explode? Like crossbow, but it shoots solid object instead of bolt. It makes big crater in ground.¡± I made a bunch of noises to go along with it, including Boosh, Kaboom, and Thoom. These sounds also accompanied hand motions.


    ¡°And you made these things?¡± She raised an eyebrow questioningly.


    ¡°Yes, Vlad made terrible things in past. But am trying to make up for mistakes in life. Many people die because of Vlad¡¯s bombs.¡± I pulled my mouth to the side in a frown.


    ¡°It sounds like wherever you came from was a terrible place.¡± She shook her head as we walked, her brow furrowed in thought.


    ¡°Truly, it was.¡± I shook my head as I walked along, thinking about things and how to broach the subject.


    ¡°You called me Ina before I introduced myself - how did you know me?¡± There it was, there was the concerning statement. I knew this would come up sooner than later, and I wasn¡¯t hoping to discuss it.


    ¡°I was once married.¡± I looked down before I continued, clenching my fists. I could feel the fingernails digging into my skin. ¡°Her name was Ina, she looked¡­¡± I looked at the woman walking next to me, I took in the view of her hair, her face. It was everything I remembered. I saw the anticipatory half-smile I had grown to love over so many years, and I was struck with how much I had taken it for granted. I found my strength and continued. ¡°She looked exactly same as you. She died from disease that ate away her body from inside.¡± That had the exact reaction I had expected. Her smile narrowed to a thin-lipped frustration.


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± I couldn¡¯t be certain, but I was pretty sure that it was a discussion killer. She thought I was making it up, after all we had just shared. Of course, Earth Ina was very much the same way, always skeptical of things she didn¡¯t trust.


    ¡°You do not believe.¡± I rolled my eyes, having dealt with this a million times before.


    ¡°No, I just find it hard to believe, that there would be a person here who matches your wife from another world, let alone someone who died.¡± She said it with such conviction, I almost didn¡¯t believe it myself.


    ¡°Is true, I swear it.¡± I almost gave too much anger in my statement, I had nearly fallen back into the bickering that Earth Ina and I had developed over years.


    ¡°Okay, say I believe you, how do I look like her?¡± There was less fire in her voice, more confusion, and a little bit of fear.


    ¡°Your hair, is same. Your voice is same. Your emotions, they are same. The feelings I get when talking to you, they are same. It is, eh, scary.¡± Her face changed from confusion and anger to a little bit of concern. I saw her fighting with being upset and being comforting, it roiled over her face like a storm.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t imagine how difficult that is.¡± Her voice was laced with compassion, it was almost painful to hear it again.


    ¡°Is very hard, but has been six months.¡± I popped the knuckles in my hands by clenching my fists tightly, then released them.


    ¡°There is no right time for grieving, Vlad. Everyone grieves in their own time.¡±


    The conversation was cut short as one of the people shouted from behind us. One of the elderly had fallen and Ina stopped her forced march.


    ¡°What happened?¡± She stepped through the group with the authority of a leader.


    ¡°He fell, tripped I think. His leg looks bad.¡± One of the younger men was supporting an elderly gentleman with his shoulder. His leg looked at an odd angle, probably broken.


    ¡°Jonsha, Vetra, you two support him. If I remember correctly, we¡¯re nearly to Cressfal. They have a healer and a place for him to rest. Almost there now!¡± At her word, another young man stepped out of the line of people and picked up the old man on the other side. Ina came back to where I was standing, whistled a few notes, and started walking again. The crowd followed, without words. It was stunning to watch.


    ¡°You lead like champion. Maybe even hero?¡± I smiled through the words, Ina just looked at me with a wrinkled brow.


    ¡°These people are my family, and family understands when it¡¯s time to listen, and when it¡¯s time to bicker.¡± She nodded a few times to the air in front of us, obviously thinking through something.


    ¡°Is good word.¡± I nodded as well. We continued the rest of the journey without words, there was not a lot to say. The air didn¡¯t feel pregnant with conversation any longer, which was good.


    It was about another hour of walking before we were within eyesight of Cressfal, and we didn¡¯t even lose a single villager. Our pace had slowed considerably, since the one villager had fallen, but we still made good time. That was very important, since the sun was setting, and we were starting to hear the howls of wolves from the forest beyond the plains.

 SIX: Best Laid Plans

    We arrived at the village outskirts, met by a small contingent of men of varying descent, carrying bows and axes. Hunters, I assumed, based on their leathers and frocks.


    ¡°This here is Cressfal, and that¡¯s a lot of people. What do you want?¡± One of the men stepped forward, he had a gleaming sword strapped to his back, running opposite of the recurve bow like the other hunters.


    ¡°We have traveled far South from the village of Val¡¯Fore, which is no longer standing. We seek shelter, and potentially food, for the night. Perhaps longer, if your people permit it.¡± Ina spoke well before I had a chance to even trip over my own words. She stepped forward and smacked her chest with her right hand closed in a fist.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot to ask for, especially when we don¡¯t know you. Have you...anything to trade? Perhaps money? Valuables?¡± Some of the hunters started wringing their hands together.


    ¡°Grandson, why are you pestering these people?¡± An old man smacked a large wooden cane against the back of the largest hunter¡¯s head, causing him to jerk.


    ¡°Ow! Grandfather, these people se-¡± He was cut off quite abruptly.


    ¡°I heard what they requested, and it is becoming night. You will not harass them any longer.¡± The hunters started to disperse with sighs and groans. ¡°Forgive my grandson, he is strong at heart, but has a young man¡¯s mind. Come, come, we have room in the Inn, even if we must clear the tables and chairs. We have food, as well, and will be happy to share. It is a shame about Val¡¯Fore, I did so love that village.¡± The old man shook his head as he turned about, heading into Cressfal. He held up a hand and waved us to follow.


    ¡°That went well,¡± I said to Ina, who turned and gave me a small smile.


    ¡°Well, I could use some rest. Shall we?¡± Ina turned towards the villagers and waved them on. Several people trudged forward, but a few of the children rushed past her and ran into the village proper.


    ¡°The children, will they be okay?¡± I was suddenly concerned about them, despite never having children in my own life.


    ¡°Children will be children, Vlad. Let them go, let them run. It has been a long day. They will know where they need to be when it is time.¡± And with that, the conversation was over. She turned her back and headed into the torchlight of Cressfal along with the villagers. I hung my head low, and took stock of the situation. On earth, children would never have been allowed to roam on their own. They would have been kidnapped, or worse. I am truly living in another world. I was shaken out of my thoughts by a very close wolf howl. I decided it was time to get into the safety of the village torches myself.


    I found Ina and several of the townsfolk eating bowls of soup with hunks of bread at the inn. It wasn¡¯t a large inn, sitting just off the main walkway, but it was big enough. It had several rooms in the back half with crude doors. Ina and I were given a shared room, while the elders of Val¡¯Fore, and a few of the older population among them were given rooms as well. The rest slept on the wooden floor of the inn common room, where the hunters of the town had been ¡°directed¡± to move the tables and chairs to the sides.


    ¡°Does not feel right,¡± I said as I stepped into the room Ina and I were given to share.


    ¡°What¡¯s that? Have you never shared a room with a woman?¡± Ina laughed at me as my face turned red.


    ¡°Er, no, is not that. I simply have not spent time with a woman that was not Ina.¡± I rolled my eyes as I heard how stupid I sounded. ¡°Also, is only one bed for sleep, is not strange?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not so strange, not many places have more than one bed per room, and those that do, well, the rumor is that they¡¯re quite expensive.¡± Her words were foreign to me, what did she mean by the rumor? Had she never seen a larger inn? Not like I knew what to expect, this was my first foray into the gaming world.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Just as well, though, since I¡¯m Ina, so I guess that negates the issue, then?¡± Her words were soft, encouraging, they meant to put me at ease. I took the chance to accept their well-meaning.


    ¡°Yes, I suppose is true.¡± I shrugged my shoulders as I sat on the bed. It was comfortable, despite looking like a basic straw mattress on wooden slats. I looked about the room and felt at peace. There were no hard metal edges, no nicotine stains on the plaster, there was nothing that reminded me of home, and maybe that was what I needed. There were no longer any severe deadlines, there was no super-giant company holding a paycheck out for me to jump towards. There was just the inn room, myself, and Ina. I noticed that there was a flashing marker in my vision, so I focused on it.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Update: Relocation


    You have successfully found a place for the villagers of Val¡¯Fore to stay, despite the misgivings of the hunters early on. In exchange for your help, you receive 1,000 EXP, a free stay at an inn room with board, a small collection of Health Regen potions (3), and an increased reputation with the villagers of Val¡¯Fore. Your rank with them has increased from Friendly to Respected.


    <<<<>>>>


    Level Up X2!


    You have 10 attribute points to distribute!


    You have 5 total proficiency points to distribute!


    <<<<>>>>


    Ah, I had leveled up after finishing the quest! I immediately put half of my points into Intelligence, and the other half into Spirit, then I decided to put 1 of my proficiency points into light armor, choosing Improved Fit, since I knew I would be using that most often. I put one point into bladed weapons, since I was carrying a short blade now, buying Piercing Blow, but I held on to 3, just in case. I had a feeling there would come a time when I would need points, but right now wasn¡¯t it.


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill: Improved Fit


    Effect: Every piece of clothing in Eldgard fits every person, but what if you wanted it to fit better? Improved Fit enhances the way Light Armor fits a character, enhancing its effectiveness in combat by 5% (Current: 5%).


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill: Piercing Blow


    Effect: Punch through armor, flesh and bone with a fierce strike of a bladed weapon, dealing an additional 25% weapon damage (Current: 25%).


    <<<<>>>>


    Satisfied with my accomplishment, I closed my skills and laid down on the bed.


    ¡°You¡¯re sleeping clothed?¡± Ina¡¯s voice was almost a chide. I turned my head to see what she was talking about, but immediately turned my head back.


    ¡°You are not wearing, eh, things.¡± I sputtered as I could feel the heat of embarrassment burn across my face. My eyes were wide as I stared at the ceiling.


    ¡°My clothing is appropriate for sleeping, Vlad. Your hides and whatever are not.¡± She stole across the room quickly and blew out the candle on the small dresser that lie in front of the also small window. ¡°Now, you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± I could hear the smile in her voice, as the bed shifted next to me where she sat.


    ¡°I suppose this is better.¡± I sat up and stood, unequipping my gear as well. I was down to my smallclothes before I even realized it. The cool air of outside pushed against my skin, despite the wooden walls of the inn. It was wonderful, it reminded me of spring in Russia.


    ¡°Are you going to lie down, or are you going to stand there all night like a fool? We¡¯ve a long way to go tomorrow, you know?¡± Ina¡¯s voice was tired, but it sounded so much like my Ina that I forgot where I was for a moment.


    ¡°Yes, dear.¡± My reply caught in my throat as I finished the statement. She just chuckled as she rolled over in the bed. I sat down and shifted a time or two, then lay my head on the pillow. It was like a cushion of air. Truly developmental magic in action, to make a hay pillow feel like the most expensive pillow I ever owned. I closed my eyes just for a moment, and I was pulled into a dream. I was on vacation in the United States with Ina, we were under false identities since we worked for large corporations. We were visiting a few of the old castles in the Carolinas, and we had rented a room at a bed and breakfast. The room was small, but cozy and enjoyable. She lay across my chest as we watched the wind blow the early fall leaves off of the trees outside the room, and for that moment everything was perfect.

 SEVEN: Within Will of Change…

    Timeline: 2 Days until Astraea - 06:50


    ¡°What in Putin¡¯s ashtray is noise!?¡± I was startled awake by a blaring bell in my head, louder than anything I had ever experienced. And pain, so much pain. Like a migraine I had once, back in University when I didn¡¯t sleep for three days because I was studying for my doctoral finals. One moment, I was enjoying a nice rest with my beloved in the Carolinas, and the next I was assailed by an invisible attacker. Oh, the developers were going to get an ear-full.


    ¡°Vlad, what are you talking about? There¡¯s no noise, aside from the common room downstairs. But thanks for the wakeup, I guess.¡± Ina rolled her eyes as she rolled out of the bed, both were swift and practiced. I opened my eyes and saw the image of an alarm clock covering most of my vision. It was translucent, but still present. I also had a message, if I remembered what the email icon from years of electronic toil looked like. I waved my hands frantically in the air, shouting for the alarm to stop, and the noise finally went away. I collapsed back on the bed with a huff as I thought about the messaging system.


    --Special Notice from Osmark Technologies!--


    There was a video attachment, which was strange. I focused on it, and it began to play. Osmark technologies¡¯ annoying jingle fed into my ear as the small window changed from black to a person sitting at a desk.


    ¡°Good morning, you¡¯ve successfully spent your first full 24 hours in VGO! Your logout option is now inactivated, as your body has begun to shut down.¡± God, was he chipper for being such a downer. ¡°You¡¯re one-third of the way through our patented transition process, and you probably have one hell of a headache.¡± He continued to be pleasant, even though I wanted to smash his puny skull. His voice bordered between irritating nerd and upbeat overly-protective mother. ¡°Make sure you get yourself a nice breakfast nearby soon, it will help to soothe that pain and make the day better. Thanks for choosing Osmark Technologies! Have a great second day!¡± And with that, the image went back to the flat-black square. I rolled my head to try to work the muscles in my neck, and I waved my hand in the air, dismissing the video.


    ¡°Such annoyance.¡± I was speaking slowly, it hurt to think.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I thought I was rather good in bed.¡± Ina¡¯s voice came through the pain as a gentle wave, there was some kind of soothing process to it.


    ¡°That is joke, yes?¡± I looked at her as she pulled her armor on, her face was split with a huge smile.


    ¡°Yes, Vlad, that was a joke. What were you muttering about?¡± She sat back down on the bed and pulled her boots on.


    ¡°I had video message, first full day of being here in Eldgard.¡± I painstakingly sat up, and put my legs over the bed. I collected my clothes from where I had laid them, and went to work putting them on.


    ¡°What¡¯s a video?¡± Ina was still so full of innocence, there was so much that would break her heart on Earth. It was my turn to chuckle, and I did, though I regretted the decision.


    ¡°Is a repeat of something that you see. Is, ah, complicated to explain. You see something, and can see it again, same thing.¡± I had a really hard time explaining something entirely foreign.


    ¡°That¡¯s really vague, but I kind of get it.¡± She literally popped off the bed, her feet physically left the ground. She was just as much of a morning person as Earth Ina was, and it irritated me just the same. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go get some food, eh? The day won¡¯t wait for itself.¡± She stopped and looked at the ceiling for a moment, one finger on her chin. ¡°Or maybe it will? Time is a fickle thing.¡± Before I could even protest, she had her hand on the door, and was opening it.


    ¡°Fine, yes, food, let¡¯s go.¡± We left the room together, and headed into the common area where there was a line for breakfast. People were waiting patiently for the queue to move, it was really impressive. There were a pair of the village hunters watching to make sure nobody got out of control, which was probably a smart plan. Hungry people do silly things sometimes. We got in line to get our share, waiting only a few minutes, before finding an open spot on the floor.


    ¡°Nothing quite beats a good breakfast gruel.¡± Ina was already half-finished with her bowl of the slop-fused-with-old-eggs-and-runny-cereal that was sitting in front of me. I just stared at it with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re not going to eat?¡± Ina leaned forward towards my face and started whispering, loudly. ¡°I know it looks like rubbish, but it¡¯s really quite good. Go on, give it a go.¡± She poked her wooden spoon at me like a sword. It was surprisingly intimidating.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Looks like horse fat with milk, blech.¡± I took a spoonful of it and hesitantly brought it to my lips. I took a deep breath and shoved it into my mouth. Shockingly, it was delicious. I ended up draining the bowl in minutes, and the Osmark nerd was right, I was feeling much better. The pain had started to subside, my thoughts were starting to clear, and I noticed one of the red markers that was annoyingly flashing in the corner of my vision had faded. I focused on the other one, which brought up a notification.


    <<<<>>>>


    Current Debuff


    Unwashed (Level 2): Goods and services cost 10% more; Merchant-craft skills reduced by (2) levels


    <<<<>>>>


    I raised my arm and gave myself a sniff. Phew, I would not be doing that again. My face wrinkled of its own accord, which brought a ringing laugh out of Ina, who had a mouthful of food. That food was now all over the front of me, which made her laugh even more. I looked down and frowned hard. Ina¡¯s laughter stopped and her smile started to fade. I realized then that I was ruining the fun. This world was meant to be a good time, and I was taking it too seriously. My face broke into a huge grin, and I let out an absurd laugh. Ina followed suit.


    We both washed up in the village bath house, which was really just a room with a few buckets of water and a couple holes dug into the ground, and headed down to the main road. My attention was diverted by a loud argument, held by a small number of people standing about. One of them was the village elder who had welcomed us last night.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°We should see what¡¯s going on, maybe we can help.¡± Ina was already in motion as I was opening my mouth to say something. Another check box on the Ina list, she was always trying to help everyone.


    ¡°It is their fault! They brought the villagers here, and now the bandits are after a blood price!¡± The young hunter from the night before, the grandson of the elder, was shouting.


    ¡°Grandson, these bandits will not come to our village.¡± The elder was calm, collected. Everything you would expect from a man used to directing people.


    ¡°They¡¯re already on their way. Beldes was beaten pretty badly by a scout, who told him that they would be coming by the sun¡¯s height.¡± A man, who I assumed was Beldes, sat on the ground not far away. His hunting leathers were torn, there were several places where blood was fresh on his clothes, and his bow and axe were nowhere to be seen. His face was mostly a swollen bruise, one of his eyes was forced shut by the swelling.


    ¡°That could be a problem, but we will persevere! We have survived bandit raids befo-ah, look now, here are the two who led those wonderful people here. Have you anything to say for yourself?¡± He turned to us just as we added ourselves to the circle of people. I raised a finger as I was about to speak, but Ina beat me to it.


    ¡°We will do whatever is necessary to prevent the bandits from destroying your homes. It is our fault, we will right it.¡± Her words had the force of a thousand kiloton bomb, it stopped the argument in its track.


    ¡°See, grandson? They will handle it.¡± The elder waved a hand, as though to say everything is fine now.


    ¡°How will you handle it? With you two, alone, against an entire battalion of armed renegades? They have bows, they have axes, they have armor and spells, and what do you have? Luck? Is there an invisible army somewhere that I can¡¯t see?¡± He was obviously terrified, but was spouting off as though he was angry. Fear has a way of making even a powerful man whimper like a sodden puppy.


    ¡°We will make trap.¡± I spoke before Ina could respond.


    ¡°We will?¡± She faltered for a moment and gave me her best You¡¯re Dead stare she could.


    ¡°Yes, but will need many supplies. How many fighters you have?¡± I hated this broken English, it made me sound like a buffoon.


    ¡°We have twent-well, nineteen. Beldes is really not up for combat.¡± The elder looked down at the poor man who was terribly injured.


    ¡°Will need metal, wood, springs if you have. Will take time, but can win.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure we can do this?¡± Ina asked in a low voice, her face a mask of solidity, hiding the fear inside.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Alert: In the nick of Time


    The elder of Cressfal village has requested that you handle the oncoming bandit attack, and the requisite defense of Cressfal, as it is ¡®clearly¡¯ your fault. Ina has offered to help you.


    Quest Class: Rare, Unique


    Quest Difficulty: Deadly


    Success: The bandit war party retreats and the village of Cressfal is saved


    Failure: More than 50% of the village hunters are killed before the bandits are destroyed and/or Cressfal village is overrun


    Reward: 3,500 EXP; Potential to unlock a unique opportunity, considerable increase in reputation with both Cressfal and Val¡¯Fore villagers


    Accept: Yes/No?


    <<<<>>>>


    I nodded my assent into the air as I selected yes, mentally and verbally.


    ¡°Will not be easy. You work with hunters, I will set up traps, barricades, other things. We make ambushes at proper places, create choke-point, yes? Then we crush.¡± I made several motions with my hands, ending it with smacking my fist into my palm. ¡°Crush is good.¡±


    Ina and I got to work. She made the hunters ready for the confrontation, and I headed off to gather supplies. The village elder directed me to the woodcutter¡¯s home, where I found ample amounts of wooden planks, hundreds of crude nails, and a small stash of finer objects. Somehow, the woodcutter had amassed a wealth of engineering components.


    ¡°Was trying to build sawmill?¡± I wondered about his plans for the future, but he wasn¡¯t around to ask. I set to work, preparing the bulwarks that would hopefully keep our own archers out of immediate arrow fire. I created choke points out of large wooden barricades, at the northern head of the village, and then again at the middle-point. Within those choke points, I constructed several spring loaded spike panels. The spikes were wooden dowels sharpened to a wicked point, but I didn¡¯t have any steel available, and no smelter to work the metal into something useful.


    ¡°You¡¯re really quite something,¡± a voice from behind me said, as I was tensing the spring on one of the last traps I had placed. It was Ina, she was still glistening in sweat from the sparring match with the hunters.


    ¡°Is what I do, make traps, build weapons.¡± I shrugged as I forced the panel into place, then secured the trip-wire made from fishing twine. I finished the trap by covering the line with some leaves - just enough to hide the wiring, but not enough to trigger it accidentally.


    ¡°Go over it with me, so I know where to be, and where not to be.¡± Ina was kneeling down on the ground now, looking at the trip-wire. It would definitely provide a nasty surprise for the bandits.


    ¡°We have choke point in northern entrance to village.¡± I grabbed a large stick I had been using to torque springs, and drew in the dirt of the walkway a few feet away. ¡°You and hunters will draw enemy bandits here, and hopefully lead to trap.¡± I was hopeful, because nothing ever went exactly according to plan. I was concerned, because these were people we were dealing with, and people are chaos incarnate.


    ¡°Okay, what kind of traps?¡± Ina picked up a twig and tapped it against the ground.


    ¡°We have spike trap here, here, and here, also pitfall lined with spike here. Do not fall in, will not be fun.¡± I marked a series of x¡¯s on the crude diagram. I then made another series of lines that looked like an inverted bottle-neck, where I had built barricades to drive the bandits down the main street. ¡°I have special surprise at end of street if they make distance.¡± I drew a large angry face on the ground at the end of the street, where I had placed my hastily crafted catapult. It launched small boulders, and could potentially launch a human if necessary. I was praying it wouldn¡¯t be.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got all sorts of fun planned. How did you get all of this done so quickly?¡± Ina looked around and down the now-deserted main road, where the barricades were a wall of wood, with some spikes protruding at odd angles.


    ¡°Many villager offer to help, I give direction, they hammer nails. Is simple.¡± Another shrug from my shoulders, almost unbidden. There was a sudden chirping in my ear, it was gentle at first, but started to grow. While I was working on the traps, I stumbled upon the alarm clock feature built into the game¡¯s interface. I set it for 15 minutes before we estimated the bandits would arrive. ¡°Is show time. Get hunters, show them trip-wires, make combat line, and kill many bad people.¡± I nodded with ferocity, if one can put ferocity into a nod.


    ¡°You¡¯re a mad genius, Vlad.¡± Ina clapped me on the shoulder and stood. She hesitated a moment before walking away.


    ¡°Everything is al-Mmmmf¡± I stood up while speaking, and Ina spun quickly, kissing me. I was taken aback, I had not expected such an expression of emotion. Her eyes glittered in the afternoon sun, they held so much back behind them, like an entire ocean of feelings dying to be set free. She stepped back after the kiss, her face red with a sheepish smile on her lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s for luck, and safety.¡± Ina tossed me a sly wink as she trotted off towards the gathering hunters.


    ¡°Is for luck¡­¡± I said to myself, the air the only witness to my experience, as my jaw hung slack, the absolute shock of the situation still evident on my face and in my head.


    Unfortunately, the time I had to enjoy my moment was ripped from me too quickly as I heard the sounds of shouting from the North. The bandits had arrived, the fight had begun.

 EIGHT: Superior Tactics …

    I heard the fighting well before I saw it, and already I was concerned about our chances. We were down two hunters in the first arrow volley, and they had only lost a few of their rank. The numbers were not looking good. The opposing force held the advantage for now, but soon, they would see why Cressfal would not be taken without a fight.


    ¡°Hunters, shift back, main street, go, go!¡± Ina¡¯s voice was a solid beacon amongst the chaos of the yelling combatants. She slipped in between two men fighting, burying her sword in the gut of the bandit who had raised his axe to take another hunter by surprise. She moved swiftly, like fire and death, almost ethereal.


    ¡°Just few more meters,¡± I said as I watched from behind a barricade. I wanted to make sure someone was able to man the catapult if they made it that far, and I wasn¡¯t handy with a blade. The hunters rallied around Ina as she bellowed loudly, the air vibrating and shimmering in a circle around her. The hunters that were within the radius of the strange phenomenon suddenly fought with renewed vigor, and their attacks were much more disciplined. I watched the icon for a countdown come to an end, and a series of arrows launched outwards from the murderholes within the first layer of chokepoints. Several bandits went down in the barrage, mostly dead. The hunters spread out behind the first bottleneck, and the bandits followed ignorantly. One of the front bandits tripped a series of spike traps. He was rewarded with a solid skewering, along with a few others who were in close proximity. Their bodies hung off the spikes as the spring and piston snapped from the weight. ¡°Unexpected result, wood cannot hold up several bodies. Will make note.¡± I was talking to myself again, as though this fight wasn¡¯t happening right before my eyes, but instead on a video screen, like an experiment gone horribly awry. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a failed experiment, but a chance to experience new data in a semi-controlled environment.


    ¡°Move, move, move! Down!¡± Ina¡¯s voice shattered the battle din just in time, as a second volley of arrows shot out of the murderholes, streaking into their targets with ease. I saw the bowmen withdraw from their positions and move further down the line. I didn¡¯t want to seem too optimistic, but it looked like we were winning. The bandit¡¯s attacking force was down to half, and we had only lost 4 men so far.


    ¡°What happen to pi-¡± My words were cut off as a small group of bandits, who thought they were clever trying to avoid the walls, stepped on the false floor I had created, and fell through. The sound of their agonized screams reached my ears in seconds. ¡°Ah, there is pitfall.¡± A small smile had found its way onto my face. I didn¡¯t want to admit I was enjoying it, but I was. Did that make me a terrible person? I don¡¯t know, I made weapons and devices of destruction for a living. Maybe I¡¯m on even ground now.


    ¡°Hunters, pincer!¡± Ina shouted the words so loud it could probably be heard in Val¡¯Fore, if it were still standing. Several of our hunters had stayed out of sight, and were now backfilling the bottleneck, pushing the bandits further into the trap. A series of arrows peppered a bandit who was trying to climb the walls to escape. He fell and crushed two others on his way down. The heavy Thwang of an overly-tightened spring sounded from just a short distance away, heralding the second line of traps. I had managed to find some old honing oil that had started to turn, and used it to poison a few of the spike traps for those who survived the immediate impact or impaling. It was working marvelously, if the screams and tortured shouts of the bandits could be believed.


    ¡°Stop watching fight, go man catapult.¡± I had to tell myself to move, I wasn¡¯t used to the experience of large-scale combat, and it was causing me to be half-entranced,  and half-paralyzed. ¡°Move ass, or everyone die.¡± I managed to kick myself into gear, and headed to the catapult. I had already loaded it with what I could find, mostly sharp rocks and pieces of wood. The payload would be more like a grapeshot than a rock, but that was okay, I was aiming for that effect. I threw my arm up, just as Ina had taken her eyes off the fight. She was covered in blood, her sword dripped gore. She was a mess, looking like the angel of death, my own personal creature of destruction. I jerked my arm down as quickly as I could, showing her the hunters needed to move to the sides.


    ¡°Walls! Now!¡± The hunters obeyed her command as one, a couple of them disengaging from bandits who looked confused. I jerked the catapult lever back, and the arm shot forward. The entire alleyway I had created turned into a storm of fragmentation as stones, wood, and nails flew through the air. Most of the bandits that were left, less than ? of their original fighting force, took simple flesh wounds, but a few of them took arterial lacerations, or were given a well-placed wooden plank through their body. One unlucky bandit took a large rock to the face, and moving as fast as it was, his face vanished in a fine, pink mist.


    ¡°Withdraw! You morons, withdraw!¡± there was a new voice on the battlefield, one I hadn¡¯t heard before. My eyes darted across the field as quickly as they could to find the source. It had come from a tall, muscular man holding a very long sword. He was wearing the same hides and leathers as the other bandits, but his clothing was different. It was decorated with various baubles, almost like war trophies. His voice commanded with the same force as Ina¡¯s, which probably meant he was also capable of the same kind of destruction.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Conrad, you finally show yourself. It¡¯s been too long, and my blade hungers for your heart.¡± There was so much fire in Ina¡¯s voice, I was immediately intimidated.


    ¡°The obnoxious warrior woman, who has been keeping my freedom fighters at bay.¡± The man shoved at the back of a bandit who was running in the opposite direction. An arrow whipped past his face as he continued his approach. If he was concerned, he didn¡¯t show it.


    ¡°Your reign of terror in these lands is over, Conrad. And I will be the one who brings vengeance to those you¡¯ve slain.¡± They began a deadly dance, circling one another in the largest portion of the bottleneck.


    ¡°You¡¯re too straight forward, you didn¡¯t build these defenses. Who did this? Who is responsible for slaughtering my men?¡± He looked around the immediate area. The only sound was his own men groaning in agony. Not even leaves dared to rustle on the trees. Ina took the opportunity to attack while he was distracted, but Conrad was wickedly fast. He brought his blade up and caught her overhead swing with ease, shifting the weight of the blow, driving her to the ground. He kicked her in the shoulder as she landed on her knee. Ina rolled a half dozen meters before spitting in the dirt and standing.


    ¡°That was rude.¡± Ina wiped the dirt from her face as she switched her sword stance. She pulled a shortsword from her hip, and held it backwards, while holding her longsword forward in her other hand. This time it was Conrad¡¯s turn to strike. He ate up the distance in the blink of an eye, his blade outstretched, intending to catch Ina with it, but she sidestepped and batted his blade away. She forced her shoulders down, and a glowing aura enveloped her. I couldn¡¯t be too certain, I didn¡¯t have any real measuring devices on me obviously, but it seemed like she moved faster.


    ¡°You¡¯ve improved.¡± Conrad switched to a power-stance, holding his sword with both hands. He growled loudly and his clothes suddenly grew tighter, the muscles on his forearms bulged and grew in size, while the seams on the leather pants he was wearing split in places. What the hell was going on? Were these fighters directly augmenting their physical prowess with some kind of combat skills? He was on the offense again, swinging fiercely, his blows carving sparks from Ina¡¯s blocks and parries. Conrad appeared to be stronger, but Ina was much faster. She spun in a tight circle after she redirected a blow, and caught Conrad in the lower leg with one of the swords. She moved to follow-up, but Conrad was ready. He pulled his blade up, and rammed it into Ina¡¯s chest.


    ¡°NO!¡± I was moving before I even realized what I was doing. The next thing I recall was flying through the air at a ridiculous speed. I must have loaded myself into the catapult and launched myself down range. I tucked myself into as small a shape as I could, and braced for impact. I didn¡¯t know what I was going to do once I got there, but I definitely didn¡¯t expect to slam directly into Conrad.


    ¡°Oof!¡± Conrad¡¯s body was like a wall. My entire body spasmed when I fell to the ground, I was wracked with pain, and was suffering from a new series of debuffs. They popped up in front of my eyes in a solid cascade, one after another.


    <<<<>>>>


    Debuffs Added


    Fractured Leg: You cannot use your right leg to move and your movement speed has been reduced by 80%; duration: 2 minutes.


    Cracked Ribs: Your breathing is impaired and your cracked ribs are causing you pain; Stamina Regeneration reduced by 20%; duration: 2 minutes.


    Lower Limbs, Minor Paralysis: Your lower limbs have been paralyzed from a minor spinal injury; unable to stand or walk; duration: 2 minutes.


    Fractured Arm: You cannot use your right arm and cannot cast mage spells requiring hand gestures; duration: 2 minutes.


    <<<<>>>>


    I dismissed them as quickly as they appeared, I needed to get moving. My health bar was flashing at 20%, but Ina was lying on the ground, her body shaking, heaving, her lungs trying to work.


    ¡°Ina, Ina!¡± I crawled to her side, my body hurt in so many ways I couldn¡¯t think straight, but I knew I had a Healing Potion stashed away, a gift from one of the villagers who had made the trek to Cressfal. I popped the cork, and poured it into Ina¡¯s mouth. I was lucky she was lying on her back, or it would have made getting the potion into her mouth a major challenge.


    ¡°You.¡± Conrad stood up, his body uncertain, his gait unsteady. He leaned on a sword he had picked up, pointing his other hand at me. ¡°This is your doing! My men, dead, because of you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough, son.¡± The village elder was suddenly standing there. He must have traversed the path while I was trying to get to Ina.


    ¡°Do not call me son, you threw me out, you abandoned me! I had to become this, this monster, to live. These fools, they took everyth-hssss¡± His voice cut off as the elder lifted a hand and fired a series of small bolts of energy from his finger tips. They slammed into Conrad¡¯s chest, pushing him back, knocking the air out of him.


    ¡°No, you threw everything away. I gave you a chance to atone, I gave you a chance to be a better person. In the end, it is my fault you are this way. I gave you everything, to make you happy.¡± There was a sad look on the elder¡¯s face, he suddenly looked very old.


    ¡°I ... just ... wanted ¡­¡± Conrad stumbled about as he tried to stand again, the magic attack having knocked him to his knees. He tilted backwards and couldn¡¯t stop his own momentum. His eyes went wide as he tumbled into the spiked pit. He didn¡¯t even scream as he landed.


    ¡°My son, may you be at peace, finally.¡± The elder walked over to the pit and stared into it. I wasn¡¯t sure, but I could have sworn a tear rolled down his cheek. It wasn¡¯t long after that when everything faded slowly to a deep black. ¡°Get them up,¡± I remember the elder saying. ¡°They¡¯ve saved us all.¡±

 NINE: Question of Quests...

    Timeline: 2 Days until Astraea, 19:44


    I awoke to the smell of sweet tobacco lingering on the air. I found myself resting in a small building, not the inn room, but a living area. It was lavishly decorated with rugs, fine furniture, and decorative, hung oil lamps. Across the way, I saw Ina sitting at a small bench, her arms resting on the bottom of an open window. She had her pipe in one hand, the smoke from it created a sort of mystical appearance about her.


    ¡°You survived, is good.¡± The words croaked out of my throat as though I had swallowed a beast of some kind, likely a toad, or maybe a tortoise. I attempted to rise from where I was lying, but everything was in pain. She let a gentle chuckle slip from her as she took another pull from her pipe. The cherry-flame in the bowl lit her face in a pleasant light.


    ¡°Of course I survived, I¡¯m very hard to kill.¡± She stood, slowly, and the bandages on her chest and abdomen become violently apparent. They were still bloodied from her injury, though she didn¡¯t show any kind of pain. She brought the pipe with her, and handed it to me. ¡°Here, I¡¯ve laced it with Skullcap, it will help to ease the pain.¡±


    ¡°You are herbalist?¡± I should have known, since she lived with the villagers in Val¡¯Fore for so long, and there was a rather large forest nearby. It didn¡¯t matter, really. I was thankful for the tobacco, so I took a few drags. It tasted of earth, and had a dry afterburn. It was almost too much for me, even with my years upon years of smoking experience. ¡°Ah, is good.¡± I lied.


    ¡°It was an old trick I picked up years ago from the previous village elder in Val¡¯Fore. He was a good man, and an excellent herbalist.¡± She took the pipe back from my outstretched hand, and tamped it on a small wooden bedside table. Ina stowed the pipe and then took a moment to help me up. I groaned and struggled to get seated, then tested my limbs as I stood slowly.


    ¡°Thank you for help. I was worried, you know.¡± I didn¡¯t want to talk about what I felt, I just wanted to let it go. But something was driving me forward, like a giant meteor, hurtling through space.


    ¡°Oh, with Conrad?¡± Ina turned to me and smiled a bit, she stepped to the side and stopped. ¡±There was a history there, we had once been lovers. But that was an eternity ago, and our minds were clouded with the stupidity of youth.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and all this.¡± I waved a hand at her person in general. I was concerned I would lose her again.


    ¡°Vlad, I am fine, everything that happened has been healed. You¡¯re not going to lose me to someone as worthless as Conrad. I had hoped you¡¯d figured that out by now. Enough lollygagging, we need to get going, we¡¯re missing the feast.¡± Ina pushed open the door to the house, and I was suddenly struck by exceedingly bright light. There was a massive bonfire in the middle of the village, people were dancing like maniacs around it, others were clanging cups and laughing.


    ¡°What is feast for?¡± My mind was shifting gears, and my thoughts were back on the noise outside. I was confused as to why they would be holding a feast, let alone a massive one.


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s to celebrate! We beat the bandits, and they¡¯re not coming back. Ever. Which is, in and of itself, a great reason to celebrate.¡± Ina took my hand and gently pulled on it. ¡°Well, come on then. The food isn¡¯t going to eat itself!¡± I left the house, Ina pulling my hand along, and before I knew it she had entwined her fingers with mine. Well, that was a surprise. It only took a moment for someone to holler that we had arrived, and there was an overly loud cheer. One person shouted something about us being the ¡°saviours of Cressfal,¡± which clearly wasn¡¯t true. If anyone was the responsible party, it was obviously the hunters who were so capable with a little bit of help. There was an older gentleman heading our way, it was hard to see who it was in the darkness, backlit by the fire.


    ¡°Ah, the heroes awaken.¡± It was the elder, he was looking in much finer spirits. ¡°It is good that you have come to celebrate. We are not just celebrating the victory, we are celebrating a new beginning.¡± He placed a hand on the side of my face, and I felt power thrum from under his palm. He smiled as he turned about, heading back to the crowd of people by the fireside. I couldn¡¯t be sure, but the smile he had when he turned looked sad somehow, as though there were things left unsaid. Far be it from me, though, to know what lies in the heart of a man whose family was just destroyed.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Update: In the nick of Time


    You have completed the quest ¡°In the nick of Time!¡± The bandits retreated, and the leader of the bandits was dispatched permanently. There were minimal losses within the hunters of the village, and the entire village now has you to thank for their continued freedom! You have received 3,500 EXP, and your reputation with the villagers of Val¡¯Fore has increased to Honored, your reputation with the villagers of Cressfal has increased to Respected! Your Unique reward was given to you by the village elder, as an ¡°Awakening.¡± Every ¡°Awakening¡± is different, and has an unexpected impact on the individual for whom it is bestowed.


    <<<<>>>>


    Level Up X4!


    You have gained 20 attribute points!


    You have gained 4 Proficiency Points!


    <<<<>>>>


    I immediately dumped 10 stat points into Intellect, then 3 into Vitality, 5 into Spirit, and 2 into Constitution. I held off on my Proficiency Points for now, I had collected a rather large number of them.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Ina¡¯s voice was, for the first time ever, suspicious.


    ¡°Have no idea.¡± I felt something change within me, but I wasn¡¯t sure what it was, until I saw a green indicator on the edge of my vision. I focused on it, and was shocked at what came up.


    <<<<>>>>


    Class Skill Unlocked!


    You have unlocked the Job Class* of Engineer!


    Engineer is a class which benefits all around them by improving and modifying equipment. They can also manufacture traps, and engineer weapons. The class kit for Engineer places heavy emphasis on tactical advantages, eschewing melee and physical combat for more civilized forms. As an engineer, you will be responsible for the technological advancement of the entire nation of Eldgard. No pressure!


    Job restrictions:Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Ranged weapons/Engineered Weapons preferred, melee weapons and skills will suffer a debilitating reduction in effectiveness


    Light armor preferred, heavier armor will reduce skill effectiveness, and will reduce efficiency in creating engineered products.


    +20% to materials harvested from gathering sources


    +30% improvement in ranged and engineered weapon accuracy


    +15% in speed to produce traps


    +1% chance per point in Engineer tree to receive ¡°Enlightenment¡±


    Enlightenment grants you a blueprint for the item you have manufactured. Blueprints are tradable items that allow the knowledge of the great Engineers of Eldgard to be shared to anyone who has the skill and technical knowhow to read them.


    <<<<>>>>


    And as quickly as that, I had a job class. But what was that asterisk tagged onto the ¡°Class¡± word? I focused on the asterisk, hoping for more information, when a new quest popped up.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Alert: Weaponizing The Alchemical


    Having an innate knowledge of engineering, you understand that there are many specialities involved in manufacturing and developing engineered products. As a result, you have gleaned that there is a deeper class that you can unlock through the collection of a very specific book - The Arch-Alchemist¡¯s Engineering Grimoire, which details the painstaking process of literally weaponizing alchemy.


    Quest Class: Epic; Unique


    Quest Difficulty: Infernal


    Success: Recover the Arch-Alchemist¡¯s Engineering Grimoire from the tunnels locked away for centuries below Rowanheath


    Failure: The Grimoire is destroyed before you have a chance to read its contents


    Reward: 5,000 EXP, new job class unlocked: Alchemic Weaponeer; class specific weapon


    Accept: Yes/No?


    <<<<>>>>


    I knew there was no turning back when I saw that. Somehow, the bitch-turned-fate wanted me to follow the path I once took in life, now, in VGO. I accepted the quest with a stone-faced nod and a word.


    ¡°I have been given job, and quest for advanced job.¡± I stood there, mulling over the situation, very confused. What had the elder unlocked within me with his touch? Was this the reward from completing the quest he had offered before the bandits attacked?


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a class!? That¡¯s great, Vlad! I¡¯m so excited for you!¡± Ina was so pleased for me that I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Yes, sure, it was great. I had wanted to be a sorcerer.


    ¡°Is good, but is challenge. Quest is in Rowanheath, underground.¡± I looked anywhere I could, except at Ina. The fire was mesmerizing in the way it danced, the people were a joy to watch, but I felt Ina¡¯s eyes watching me, and I didn¡¯t want her to see my concern.


    ¡°We should take tonight, Vlad. We should enjoy it for everything it is worth, then tomorrow morning, we will head off to Rowanheath. It¡¯s only a day¡¯s journey from here, thereabouts.¡± Ina had, somehow, taken my hands in hers. She turned me around, slowly. The world slowed down to a crawl, everything else was suddenly no longer important. Our eyes met, and I knew that everything would be okay. It all would work out the way it was meant to, and I could feel that.


    ¡°Ina, do you dance?¡± It was a bold move, I had no idea how my body in VGO would react to dancing.


    ¡°Why yes, I do. Not well, though.¡± She rolled her eyes as we walked over to an open area, and we danced. We danced like maniacs, as though nothing mattered. We also ate, everything that was available was delicious and hearty. The crisp skin on the meat, the soft and juicy flesh of the fruit, everything was incredible. It was like I had never eaten anything in my life, and maybe that was just the point. After the party, Ina and I retired back to the inn room we had shared the night before. It was an emotional time, as we lie together, and we both let our emotions run hot. What started as a simple kiss led to much more, as we found ourselves in a tangle on the bed. It was my first sexual experience in a great many years, and I wouldn¡¯t trade it for anything. Afterward, we laid in the bed and stories were told, of Ina¡¯s life before me, and of mine before her. Laughs were shared, and tears were shed, as we reflected on our pasts, and the things we missed. Everything we experienced was real, and intense, and wonderful, and I never wanted it to end. But it had to end, because we had a journey ahead of us that would take us to Rowanheath, and it would deliver us to our fates.


    My rest was not restful that night, as I was constantly plagued by dreams of death. Not solely mine, but all of my loved ones, in sequence, from start to finish. First I watched my mother die again, slowly, as she succumbed to early-onset dementia, and became someone who didn¡¯t know any of us. She regularly referred to me as my father, when they had met. So, for the two years that my mother suffered from her failing mind and body, I was Dimitri, and my father was a stranger in our house. He said it was fine, it didn¡¯t bother him that much, just to know that she remembered his name at all was enough. Towards the end of her illness, my father became increasingly depressed.


    I dreamt of the evening I came home from my mother¡¯s care facility late, my father had left hours before. I came home to none of the lights on, except for one of the bathroom lights, down the side hall. We hadn¡¯t used the side hall since my sister had left for University and moved to America afterwards. I shouted for him, called his name, but there was no response aside from the buzzing of the vent fan in the ceiling. I knew something was wrong, so I rushed down the hallway, only to find a red glistening puddle at the entrance to the bathroom. It led to my father¡¯s pale and rigoured body, his head was practically gone, the top half splattered against the bathroom walls. There was a shotgun locked in his hands. I screamed in horror, because it doesn¡¯t matter how hard your life is, seeing your father¡¯s corpse in front of you will destroy that confidence.


    Suddenly I was in my mother¡¯s care room, her nurses with her, the monitor beeping slowly as her heart rate was reduced to almost nothing. I watched the lucidity come to her eyes, as she looked at me for the last time. Her hand brushed mine, she grasped my fingers, and gave me a gentle smile. That was the last thing I saw before her eyes faded to a glossy haze, her heart stopping, the monitor alarming. The head nurse, knowing my mother had a DNR, or Do Not Resuscitate order, in place, reached over and flicked the power switch on the monitor. A doctor came in, I don¡¯t remember his name, and checked his watch. He pronounced my mother dead, on April 22nd, at 14:35. I stood there, stock still, unsure of what to feel, or what to do. My eyes refused to blink, my soul refused to stop shaking. I stood there for an hour, maybe two, before I was ushered from the room. And then, when I had finally left her side, I cried. It hurt, everything was sharp stabbing pain inside. I had lost my father, and not even two weeks later, lost my mother.


    Then I was standing in the entryway of my apartment, the one I had lived in while going to University. Bruno was over, he had grabbed the post while he was coming upstairs for me to help him with his studies. I had a letter postmarked from America, it was from my sister. She had run into trouble, and was trying to get out of a very bad situation. She had fallen in with some foolish people that were deep into drugs, and not just using, but selling, and running them. She said she had only one thing she had to do before she could be free, she had to run drugs across the ocean, as a mule, and into Russia. The letter had arrived nearly a month after it was postmarked, I had assumed she was in Russia by then. I tried to look her up, I contacted people I knew that would have connections, but I was too late. One of my contacts had found an obituary for her. She had been smuggling heroin rectally, and the assumption was that one of the bags had ruptured. She was killed of an opioid overdose, it wasn¡¯t slow, but it wasn¡¯t pleasant either. They had found her body after a prolonged stay in the airliner lavatory. By the time she was found, she was already gone. I remember Bruno being comforting in his own way, but the numbness I had felt was deeper than anything I can recall since.


    The dream refused to stop there, though. I was standing by Ina¡¯s bedside, watching them administer the ¡°last¡± round of chemo, the IV drip was bright yellow in my mind, though I don¡¯t remember it actually having a color to it. She smiled at me as the infusion started, then everything went to hell. I remember the way she actually died, and it was not like this. But the dream had a way of ripping the fabric of reality, and making things so much worse. Her body spasmed in agony as her chest exploded, a giant beast made of dripping gore and cancerous growths fought its way out, tearing through her body like it was waste paper. It was absolutely massive and terrifying, I backed up but was already against a wall. The lupine creature stared at me with its dead eyes, and jammed one of its clawed forelimbs into my face. I felt the skin, bone, and sinew tearing, shredding as I screamed. I watched this happen both from my own eyes, and as an observer at the same time. I heard my own screams become a gurgle, then watched as my body went limp.

 TEN: Journey of Fate…

    Timeline: 1 day before Astraea, 07:05


    I woke with a scream, everything was fire, and my brain was once again accosted by a shrieking alarm. Ina was not in the room, and that was probably for the best. I slammed my head against the headboard of the bed, before realizing that I wasn¡¯t under attack by a sonic weapon, but it was the alarm again. I forced my eyes to open, to see that I could still see, making sure the dream wasn¡¯t real. The room danced in front of me, the dizziness starting to slowly fade from the sudden and abrupt awakening. I dismissed the alarm with a word, I was getting better at handling the interfaces of this game world. I saw I had another message, so I opened it. It was that same Osmark Technologies goon again, his face was the absolute epitome of customer service. I wanted to punch him in the face so badly, just to prove a point.


    ¡°Good morning! You¡¯ve successfully spent your second night in VGO, and are now 24 hours away from completing your transition. The pain and discomfort you¡¯re experiencing today will be more intense than yesterday¡¯s, but just remember that a good, hearty breakfast will help to alleviate some of those pains. We hope you have a wonderful day, and thank you for choosing Osmark Technologies!¡±


    That was the end of the message. It chirped away, and I mentally deleted it.


    ¡°Ugh, what nightmare.¡± I struggled to sit up in the bed, and noticed my wounds had mostly healed. Even after the night of dancing and drinking, which didn¡¯t do me any harm thankfully. It looked an awful lot like my tolerance for alcohol had carried over. Finally, a perk to be a Russian. I was startled when the inn room door popped open and Ina walked into the room carrying a bowl of the same breakfast gruel from the day before. Surprisingly enough, I was looking forward to eating it, even if it looked like the remains of something I had just seen in a dream.


    ¡°Well, good morning. Had a rough night¡¯s sleep? You were tossing and turning, and doing a lot of groaning.¡± She handed me the bowl and sat down next to me on the bed. She fished a pair of wooden spoons from her belt and passed me one before starting to eat.


    ¡°Had nothing but nightmares, all of nightmare, endless.¡± I shuddered as I thought about what I had witnessed. My father¡¯s suicide, my mother¡¯s death, my sister¡¯s obituary...and then the giant cancer-monster tearing my poor Ina¡¯s body to shreds. There was nothing for it, I remembered that VGO was created based on player¡¯s memories being imported through neural mapping. I was only hoping that it wouldn¡¯t happen again.


    ¡°Nightmares are the tales of those we¡¯ve lost, they¡¯re a reminder of the love they once held, and how we change it into our own grief.¡± Ina¡¯s voice was a bit muffled as she continued to shove food into her mouth while speaking, but her words rang true in my head. She finished her bowl of gruel before standing and strapping a large pack on her back. Had she prepared that while I slept? ¡°Hurry up, Vlad. We¡¯ve got a day¡¯s walk ahead of us, and that¡¯s if we go at a normal pace. Let¡¯s try to get there before evening, eh?¡± I finished my bowl as well, draining the remainder of it like a drink. I immediately felt stronger, more fit, and I watched my ¡°Hungry¡± debuff vanish.


    ¡°Is no time like now. Wait, is that how adage go?¡± Stupid broken English wouldn¡¯t even let me use the proper adages. This was just becoming a sick joke. Developer heads would roll.


    ¡°Do you mean ¡®no time like the present?¡¯¡± Ina smiled as she gave me a chide. She turned to walk out the door, and I followed.


    It was less than 10 minutes before we were headed South on the slightly worn path that would see us to Rowanheath. We would have to travel South for about 4 hours, before turning West, then heading back North. The journey would force us to skirt the southern tip of the mountain range that separated Rowanheath from the Tanglewood. It was a natural protective barrier, and I appreciated every bit of it. After the nightmare I had, I needed some comfort. As we walked, Ina pulled a short bow off her back. I hadn¡¯t noticed it before, but that may have been because I was so distracted. She handed it to me while we traveled, and gave me a quick rundown on ranged weapons, especially bows and crossbows.


    A notification filled my screen when I equipped the short bow.


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill Unlocked!


    Skill: Ranged Weapons


    Ranged Weapons are useful for tactical strikes from a distance, as well as hunting for your dinner. They are comprised of short bows, longbows, great bows, and war bows. They are especially effective against lightly-armored targets, though a master of the bow can punch through even the hardest armor. This skill is always in effect and costs no stamina to use.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: Increases Ranged Weapon damage by 5%


    <<<<>>>>


    I quickly dismissed it, ready to be given more information from Ina.


    ¡°Firstly, always have ammunition. Second, make sure your weapon is in good condition.¡± She handed me a bundle of arrows consisting of 20 solid, well-made oak shafts with bronze tips. They were what she called ¡°broadhead¡± tips, which would cause considerable damage to the target. I slid the bundle into the quiver she handed me next, then slung it over my shoulder. We paused at a small game trail which was well worn and ran into the Tanglewood.


    ¡°So, game trail is like clue?¡± I asked her the question because I had never been hunting before. She nodded and put a finger to her lips. Then she flattened her hand out and crouched down to the ground, before being enveloped in shadow. Holy shit, I thought, as she practically disappeared in front of me. There was a strange outline to her body that I could see, but aside from that, I wouldn¡¯t have known she was standing there. I did the same thing, but had a hard time finding the right balance. After an attempt or two, I managed to enter stealth and got a prompt for my work.


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill Unlocked!


    Skill: Stealth


    Stealth allows you to creep through the shadows, making you harder to detect by hostile forces. Successful attacks from stealth mode activate a backstab multiplier for additional damage.


    Skill Type/Level: Active/Level 1


    Cost: 10 Stamina


    Effect: Stealth 7% chance to hide from enemies


    <<<<>>>>


    I wasn¡¯t planning on using it for anything in the near future, but it was cool to have. Once I acquired the skill, Ina stood up, breaking her own stealth, and nodded approvingly.


    ¡°Good, stealth can be great for hunting and trapping game, or even in combat situations. I don¡¯t usually use stealth, my armor is a bit heavier than I¡¯d like for that kind of practice.¡± She smacked herself in the chest, and the metal interwoven into her Ringmail clanged a bit.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Stealth is good, will provide tactical advantage.¡± I stood as well, and we continued on the trail South.


    About half an hour into our journey, we spied a small collection of rabbits feeding near the edge of the Tanglewood. Ina crouched and slipped into stealth, after pulling a crossbow free from her hip. I followed suit, and crouched myself. I pulled my shortbow from my back, and knocked an arrow. I took aim, as best as I knew how, and released the arrow. It went way wide, but half a second later a crossbow bolt skewered one of the rabbits who were now scattering in every direction.


    ¡°Got one! That¡¯ll make a good meal.¡± Ina stood out of stealth and headed over to collect the rabbit. She shoved the whole thing in her backpack, then recovered the arrow I had shot. She walked back over to where I was now standing, my brain was telling me that I was a moron. She put her hand out, making a ¡°give me that¡± motion. I sighed and rolled my eyes before complying. I handed her the bow and the arrow quiver, and she handed me the crossbow, as well as a bolt pouch full of bolts. I took a couple seconds to look at the weapon. It was basically the same thing as a propelled pistol, but using a wire to propel the payload. The trigger was spring loaded, quite a marvel of engineering in a Fantasy world. I liked it a lot better already. ¡°I think a Crossbow will suit you much better, Vlad. Why don¡¯t you keep that one?¡±


    ¡°Vlad will use with great appreciation.¡± I clipped the crossbow to my belt, and found a place for the bolt pouch. And with that, we were off. I received a notification about engineered weapons, which was one of the weapons my class was proficient with, and took a minute to examine it whilst we walked.


    <<<<>>>>


    Skill Unlocked!


    Skill: Engineered Weapons


    Engineered weapons, such as crossbows, ballistae, muskets, and flintlocks require a great deal of skill to use to best effect. Though the simpler versions of these tools of destruction can be found in the hands of common soldiers, the more advanced weapons are suitable only for experts trained in their use and maintenance.


    Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1


    Cost: None


    Effect: Increases engineered weapon damage by 5%


    <<<<>>>>


    I read the skill more than once before waving it away. Engineered weapons, in a Fantasy world. Now we were getting somewhere.


    Timeline: 1 day before Astraea, 12:18


    A few hours after leaving Cressfal, we stopped for lunch. Ina pulled a few dried rations from her pack. They were made of some kind of unidentifiable meat, but their taste was nothing short of delicious. It was, quite literally, the best jerky I had ever eaten. She also pulled a few small rinds of cheese out of her pack. These were wrapped in cloth, but the smell was terribly enticing. I was pleased to have it. We ate in silence, taking a few moments to ourselves. We were both, I imagine, working through the details of what had happened so quickly over the last two days. Ina had gone from defending a village of people to finally making her way to achieving her dream. And as for myself, well, I had gone from being completely alone in the world to having someone I was both very familiar, and completely a stranger, with. There was a lot going on, for sure. Before moving on, we shared a pipe full of tobacco, laced with Hare¡¯s Grass, for stamina. Smoking it gave me a green buff notification. I focused on it, trying to understand this world better.


    <<<<>>>>


    Buff Added


    Hare¡¯s Pace: You are imbued with the stamina and recovery of a Hare! Your stamina will decrease 25% slower while running, and you regenerate stamina 50% faster. Duration: 30 minutes.


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°One day, you will teach herbalism, yes?¡± I wanted terribly to learn herbalism and alchemy, now that I had seen the simple effects of herbalism in action. We stood together, and continued our way South after quickly recollecting our bags. I tried to hand the pipe back to Ina, but she waved a hand at me, shaking her head. A gentle smile slipped across her face and I placed the pipe into my bag.


    ¡°Of course I will, but first we need to see to Rowanheath. We¡¯re about halfway there, I¡¯d wager.¡± I didn¡¯t know how Ina knew where we were, but she seemed to know what I was thinking. ¡°Imagine that you have a map,¡± she said. ¡°Now, imagine that you can see that map in front of you, sort of physical, but also not.¡± I tried to do that very thing, and was rewarded with a large, mostly greyed-out map of the entirety of Eldgard!


    ¡°Whoa, is huge place.¡± My shock was evident in my voice. Ina chuckled, like she always did when I learned something new.


    ¡°Eldgard is a massive place, Vlad. And we¡¯ve only seen the smallest amount. So, off to the North West of the mountain tops there is Rowanheath, and we¡¯ve journeyed about halfway today. We¡¯re almost there, and we¡¯re so very close to accomplishing both of our dreams!¡±


    ¡°Is incredible. We can do anything.¡± I was suddenly filled with a renewed vigor to achieve that which I thought impossible. We carried on South after I closed my map, beginning a slight turn towards the West.


    We walked for another solid hour or two, it was so hard to keep track of time when you¡¯re just walking, before the path we were walking began to become a solid road. It resembled the dirt roads in the farmlands in Russia, hard packed and rutted with, what I assumed, were wagon trails.


    ¡°Oh, good, we¡¯re finally getting to civilization.¡± Ina sounded pleased, though I could tell there was some disappointment in her voice. She was leaving everything she had ever known. As if intended to pull our attention out of our own lives, we heard a shout from afar. My eyes searched the distance, looking for the source of the noise. I found something that was not expected. There was an overturned wagon, littered with crossbow bolts, and a person underneath it.


    ¡°Hey, help! Help me!¡± There was a richly-attired Wode yelling, dragging himself across the ground with his arms. It looked like, from this distance, that his legs were broken. His clothes were tattered and blood-stained and his hair was matted with dirt.


    ¡°We should go help,¡± Ina said without thinking. There was a sense of suspicion, something familiar but distant, like when we set scenes with Almaz-Antev for weapons development and demonstration, almost like the whole situation had been staged. I shook it off and ignored it, and we both ran towards the man. On closer inspection, the wagon had a broken wheel, and there were a pair of dead bodies, both wearing armor, scattered about the ground.


    ¡°Oh, oh, thank the gods.¡± The merchant was obviously in pain, his face was contorted as he pulled himself along the ground. ¡°They took everything, and killed my guards. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m still alive, but I can¡¯t go back to the merchant guild like this.¡± He waved a hand at the destroyed wagon. It was obvious what he meant.


    ¡°What happen?¡± I was legitimately curious, but the suspicion was starting to well up again. It all seemed too perfect. I quelled the sensation before stepping aside to let Ina talk.


    ¡°What do you need? We can help.¡± Ina knelt beside the man and offered him one of the healing potions from her belt. He took a deep drink, draining it in one go.


    ¡°Oh, thank you. It was awful, these thieves, they came at us in a hail of crossbow fire. One of them broke the wheel with an axe. My guards didn¡¯t stand a chance. Please, you have to help! They headed South with my goods, please, I will pay anything I have on me to get them back. They¡¯re worth more than my life.¡± The man struggled to sit up, his body beginning its process of healing the injuries with the help from the magical draught.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Alert: Thievery in Broad Daylight


    You have stumbled upon a small, destroyed caravan. The Merchant who ran it has requested you to find the thieves who stole his cargo and killed his men, recollect his goods, and return with them.


    Quest Class: Common, Random Event


    Quest Difficult: Moderate


    Success: Find the thieves and retrieve the cargo


    Failure: Fail to find the cargo, or die during the quest.


    Reward: 250 EXP; 2 gold pieces


    Accept: Yes/No?


    <<<<>>>>


    I accepted the quest, nodding at the merchant slowly.


    ¡°Is dangerous, Ina. Should be careful.¡± I cautioned her, laying a hand on her shoulder, but her eyes were already hard and focused.


    ¡°Of course it is, but this man needs our help. We need to help him.¡± Ina turned to me and gave me that hard smile I had known for years, the way her mouth turned up at the edges.


    ¡°Yes, help. Very good, let us go.¡± I could never deny her the desires of her heart when she gave me that smile, here, or on Earth. Regardless of my decision, I purposed in myself to keep an eye out for things that didn¡¯t add up, and as it stood, the math was very poor.


    For thieves, their trail wasn¡¯t very well covered. It was almost too easy to find the small cave where they were hiding. Ina saw the pair of guards at the front of the cave before I did, and she stopped short. I bumped into her, our gear rattling a bit. She knelt down into the brush and activated stealth. I followed suit, and managed to make it just as one of the guards looked our way. He made a motion to the other guard, and they both approached our hiding spot. My heart was thumping like a drum in my chest, but that wasn¡¯t the worst part. That happened when I felt the edge of a blade scrape my neck from behind.


    ¡°You idiots, you¡¯re just so gullible.¡± The ¡°merchant¡± from earlier now was attired in leathers and had a pair of nasty looking daggers, one of which was held at my throat. ¡°Now, tell your little girlfriend to comply as well, and we won¡¯t kill you outright.¡±

 ELEVEN: Black and white not so simple…

    We were bound in what looked like a small loothouse, a shallow cavern with natural stone walls and various items piled up in a disorganized manner. The thieves must have had this scam running for a while to have acquired this much stuff. None of it looked particularly spectacular, but there were a couple heavy looking bags of what I suspected were hard currency sitting on a table. The number of thieves in the cavern were small, maybe 6 total, but the number of captives was much higher. There were, all told, 12 of us. A few of the captives looked an awful lot like peasants, just trying to make their way in the world, while a couple of the others were clearly meant for combat. There was a Risi, who I recognized from my time in the race selection, with muscles on top of muscles. His face, though, showed defeat. Maybe, I thought, I can get his help.


    ¡°Look, we can¡¯t kill them, it isn¡¯t good for our profits.¡± One of the thieves was sitting in front of a book, it looked like an old-world ledger. His face was streaked with ink, or soot, maybe both.


    ¡°And why not?¡± The merchant from earlier, who I had learned was named Balkin, was at odds with the ledger-keeper.


    ¡°Because if they end up dead, what do we do? Bury them? Where? Here, in the cave? Do you know how much that would stink in just a few days?¡± He stood from his table, and smacked a hand against it. The loose coins that were gathered rattled a bit, one fell off the table and rolled towards me. I watched it slowly turn in circles as it stopped, landing on its side, face up. My eyes shot back to the ledger-keeper, who was now visibly sweating. He looked shaky, and a little pale, maybe he didn¡¯t like the idea of murder.


    ¡°Okay, fine, you win Lark. But what do we do with them? We¡¯ve only been doing this for 2 days, and already we have 12 people captured.¡± Balkin was now tapping his foot in irritation, expecting some kind of answer immediately.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, we need to relocate. It won¡¯t be long before someone sees what we¡¯re about, and sends the local Wardens, or worse, the City Guard.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re too far out for the guard to even be bothered. That¡¯s a solid hour¡¯s walk in full plate. You expect them to come to us? They¡¯re occupied with the Thieves Guild thing.¡± Balkin raised a hand and spread his fingers, like he was disinterested.


    ¡°Oh, the disappearance of the Gentleman, yeah. Well, still, we need to find a new place to do this. We can¡¯t keep it up here. Someone will notice.¡± Lark was close to talking sense into Balkin¡¯s thick skull. I could see the gears turning in his head. I used the distraction to loosen some of the fibers on the back of my boots. Hopefully I could make something sturdy enough to pick the locks of the manacles on my wrists. I was well into the process when I felt something metallic hit my hand. It tumbled to the floor and let out a slight clink. At this point, Balkin and Lark were arguing so loud that most of the other thieves had left, and neither of them were paying attention to the captives. I looked around to see who had basically handed me my freedom when the Risi gave a quick nod, then shifted his shoulders farther than his manacles should have allowed. He was free! I shifted my body a little bit, and leaned back. My fingers reached the cold of the metal lockpick, and I twirled it about to get it into the right position. All those years of twirling my pens and tools while working paid off in spades.


    ¡°Damnit Lark, these stupid reasons you have aren¡¯t even remotely valid. We have a good thing going here! Why should we break something that is already fixed?¡± Balkin slammed his fist down on the same table Lark had hit earlier. More shaking, more coins shifting, more tinking as they fell on the hard stone ground. At the same time, the lockpick I had been working ever so gingerly snapped in the lock. Well, shit, there went my amazing escape. But then a thought occurred to me, I was an Engineer. Surely something in my ability tree would be useful in this situation!


    I dumped 3 proficiency points into my skill tree to unlock Dismantle, which allowed me to break the mechanical pieces of anything I touched, so long as they were simple. With a thought, I activated it with the manacles as the target. The manacles got hot for a minute, but then I felt the lock inside click. I shifted my hands and caught the manacles so they wouldn¡¯t fall. I leaned up against Ina and did the same. Her manacles popped as well, and she caught them deftly. I looked over at the Risi, who had just started to stand as Lark stood up and shoved Balkin. The Risi used the chaos of the shove to grab an old dagger and lunge at Lark. He deftly moved out of the way, and kicked the Risi in the shin. The look on Lark¡¯s face was priceless as his kick did next to nothing. The Risi, however, backhanded Lark in the face, knocking him to the floor.


    ¡°Get up, get moving. Free the others, cause chaos. I will take care of these¡­¡± He looked like he was struggling for the right word. ¡°Idiots, that¡¯s the best I can come up with for them just now. They¡¯re idiots.¡± He kicked Lark in the chest while he was down, eliciting a long-winded shriek from the poor man. Balkin was recovering as Ina pulled her blade free and carved a wide gouge into his arm. He shouted something about murdering us all when he had the chance, which quickly led to him shouting for the rest of the thieves. I knew we needed to act fast, otherwise we were going to be overrun. I stepped from prisoner to prisoner, using Dismantle on all of their manacles. A thought occurred to me while I was freeing them. Where the hell did the thieves get all of these manacles? They were pretty high quality. One of the prisoners was a burly looking man with a salt and pepper beard and short, shock-white hair which stood on end. He rose quietly when I freed him and grabbed a pole axe from the pile of various weaponry. He weighed it in his hands, a brief smile covering his face, as he moved to the front of the group.


    ¡°Ina, need plan, will be overrun soon.¡± I shouted at Ina, who turned just in time to avoid the counter-attack from Balkin. She nodded fiercely, and continued to press her advantage. In the meanwhile, the man with the pole axe, a Wode, shouted loudly in the small area. I was suddenly feeling very invigorated, and had an intense desire to fight. I noticed a small half-green half-red marker in the corner of my vision. Was this a buff and debuff at the same time? It had a countdown that was quickly spiraling down from 60. I didn¡¯t have time to inspect it, I pulled my crossbow and fired off a round at Balkin, who was now expertly fighting two opponents. I missed wide, but it was enough to throw him off balance, giving Ina an opportunity to open another wound, this one in his leg.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Push for the front!¡± The Wode shouted with everything he was worth, and made an impressive jumping attack, jamming the head of his pole axe at Balkin, who leapt backwards as well. He was an evasive little shit, no doubt about it. The other prisoners were finding old weapons and armor and equipping themselves. I felt nearly heart-stopping cold seep into my fingers as my crossbow developed an odd sheet of crystalline ice. There was another green mark in my vision, another buff. I assumed it had something to do with causing ice damage, but didn¡¯t have time to check. I wasn¡¯t sure who the ability had come from, and it didn¡¯t matter, because immediately thereafter, I was forced down to the ground from an intense scorching heat launching over one of my shoulders. There was a huge fan of flames pouring from the fingers of another of the prisoners, igniting everything on fire. The furniture and various racks immediately burst into flames, and then we were all heading outside quickly. The gigantic Risi had thrown Lark over his shoulder, and was carrying the unconscious thief out of the cave, taking the strides as though he wasn¡¯t burdened at all.


    When we were all outside and clear of the thick, inky smoke that was pouring from the cavern¡¯s mouth, I found that we were all surrounded by a very formidable force of men and women of various races, and apparently various classes, all wearing similar attire. The armor was branded with the mark of the local Battlewarden chapter, according to Ina. It was a blue and white crested falcon on a field of silver. Someone had called the cavalry, and it had come none too late. Balkin had been brought to his knees, and there was a Dawn Elf man with a large axe standing in front of him. He looked down at Balkin with eyes filled with anger. ¡°Your thievery ends now, Balkin Hardshadow.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me without a fair trial, Veryln. I know my rights. You¡¯re nothing more th-¡± his voice was cut off as the sound of metal cutting through flesh filled the space. His head rolled off the side of his neck, striking the ground with a wet thump. It took a full 2 seconds for his body to follow suit and fall over. The rest of the thieves who had been rounded up immediately fell to the ground, begging for their lives.


    ¡°Round these fools up, take them to the local garrison. Let the city guard handle them. As for the prisoners, who is responsible for releasing them?¡± The unnecessarily large Dawn Elf, who Balkin had named Veryln, looked through the crowd of prisoners, with our ragtag gear, and our complete mess of organization.


    ¡°This man here, Veryln. He¡¯s responsible for setting us free. And let me tell you, I am so glad to be free.¡± The burly Wode clapped me on the shoulder as he walked by. He stepped forward and clasped wrists with Veryln, who had a smile on his face.


    ¡°Good to see you¡¯re still alive.¡± Veryln turned to me, a different kind of smile now folding his lips. ¡°And who are you, that you would risk your life for all of these random strangers?¡± I was completely dumbstruck as he put out his hand for me to take.


    ¡°Vlad.¡± Really? That¡¯s it? Just your name? Wow, Vlad, way to make things extra awkward.


    ¡°Not every day a person, let alone a Dawn Elf, would risk himself for the good of others. You have my thanks.¡± I stuck my hand out, and he shook it. I suddenly received a notification, which was both good and bad.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Update! Thievery in Broad Daylight


    You have failed to recover the merchant¡¯s stolen goods, which were destroyed.


    <<<<>>>>


    Quest Update! The Daylight Thieves


    You have successfully completed a secret quest by routing the thieves who were absconding with passersby and imprisoning them. As a reward for your efforts, you have been granted 500 EXP, and you are now Friendly with the Battlewardens of Rowanheath!


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°Ah, thank you. Yes, was no problem. Had hoped anyone would do same.¡± I wasn¡¯t really sure what to make of the situation. I mean, I had failed that one quest, but it was given by someone who wasn¡¯t really a quest giver. Is that how it worked? Or did it not matter? I would research that later. Now, Ina and I needed to get to Rowanheath. The sun was beginning to set, and we still had a solid hour¡¯s walk.


    ¡°Your thanks is unnecessary. Hopefully we will see you at the chapter house one day. Fare thee well, and thanks for bringing these thieves to justice.¡± With that, Veryln turned away. He issued a quick, militaristic command and the rest of the wardens turned and marched off, towards Rowanheath.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be one of them soon,¡± Ina said, with a sparkle of expectation in her eye. ¡°And then, Father, I will have followed in your footsteps.¡± I was very excited to help her achieve her dream, but we needed to get there first.


    ¡°Ina, is good to have goals, but need to move.¡± She picked up her pack she had placed on the ground after our exodus, and we started to head back towards the road. As we were traveling the long road to Rowanheath, I was taken unexpectedly by a Universal Alert. It completely occluded my vision, so I didn¡¯t have a choice but to read it.


    <<<<>>>>


    Viridian Gate Online Universal Alert!


    Notice: Traveler Grim Jack Shadowstrider, honorary member of the Ak-Hani clan, has founded the first traveler-owned faction in Viridian Gate Online! Any traveler opposed to the Viridian Empire may now request to join Grim Jack¡¯s faction, the Crimson Alliance, bound to the Dokkalfar city of Yunnam, located deep in the heart of the Storme Marshes.


    Notice: Joining the Crimson Alliance instantly lowers a player¡¯s relationship with all Viridian-aligned factions to Unfriendly. Joining the Crimson Alliance instantly raises a player¡¯s relationship with all Rebel-aligned factions to Friendly. Joining the Crimson Alliance entitles members to all Crimson Alliance Faction buffs.


    Notice: Grim Jack Shadowstrider is now an exalted enemy of the Ever-Victorious Viridian Empire!


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Ina looked as confused as I was. There were a million questions running through my head.


    ¡°I think someone just made very big mistake.¡± What the hell is the Crimson Alliance, and why in the world would this Grim Jack Shadowstrider want to become an exalted enemy of the Viridian Empire?


    ¡°Well, the Viridian Empire is absolutely massive, and they¡¯re pretty much the ruling force here in Eldgard. Whoever this Jack is,¡± Ina said over her shoulder, as we continued to walk towards Rowanheath. ¡°He just made a very terrible enemy. The Viridian Empire is known as the ¡®Ever-Victorious Empire¡¯ for a reason.¡± I hung my head low as I continued to listen, knowing that things were about to get considerably more complicated than I was really willing to deal with. But this was a new world, a new life, and I needed to be ready to handle absolutely anything that it would throw at me. Hopefully, though, I wouldn¡¯t be bound and threatened by an idiot with a pair of daggers again anytime soon.

 TWELVE: Where walls meet road…

    The absolute, imposing walls of Rowanheath were the first thing that greeted us as the sun set. We saw them well before we were even close, and as we approached, they just got bigger. Ina gawked the whole time, like country-folk who had never seen a big city. And, to be fair, that was exactly what she was. To me, it felt like I was coming home, I was finally going to be back in civilization - well, civilization as far as a Fantasy world could produce.


    ¡°It¡¯s so big,¡± Ina said as we approached the South-Eastern gate. ¡°How does anyone find anything in a place this large?¡± I knew it was a hypothetical question, but the logistician in me couldn¡¯t help but find an answer.


    ¡°Typically, people make road, road has name, name lead people to thing, thing is what person want.¡± I had never made a less eloquent statement in my life.


    ¡°Is that how it works?¡± We approached the gate guards after waiting in a bit of a line, who looked us over a couple times before waving us on as though he were infinitely bored.


    ¡°Yes, less or more.¡± I turned about as soon as we were through the gate, I had no idea where we were going. We needed information before we got too carried away and got lost, then mugged, and then killed. The last thing we needed was to die as soon as we arrived in town.


    ¡°What is it,¡± Ina asked, her eyes still everywhere but where she was.


    ¡°Need direction. Guard, where can find food and rest?¡± I was beginning to really tire of this ignorant speech pattern.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what? Are you dumb, or just uneducated?¡± The guard looked over to his partner on the other side of the opening, they both shared a laugh.


    ¡°He just asked where we can find food and shelter for the night. Something inexpensive, preferably. We¡¯re travelers from, eh¡­¡± Ina struggled.


    ¡°Right, right, sorry about the laugh. It¡¯s been a long day. You¡¯ll be wanting to head over to the Old Hill Inn, it¡¯s a right sorry place, but it¡¯ll do you right. Head North a while, then when you¡¯ve come to the market district, turn West. It¡¯s a few hundred yards past the intersection. Can¡¯t miss it, it¡¯s on a hill. Hence the name. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse us, we close the gate in a few hours, and there¡¯s a bit of a line on, since you¡¯re lolly-gagging.¡± The guard waved us away as he turned to continue his ¡°process of checking people.¡± Yeah, he was doing a fine job.


    ¡°Oh, just be on your guard, yeah? There¡¯s groups of travelers about who are roughing up people who are part of that there ¡®Crimson Alliance,¡± what-have-ya. Wouldn¡¯t want to get carried off in the night, hahaha!¡± His laughter was unsettling, but his warning was appreciated. After we were done with the guards, we headed down the path they had recommended. The city was absolutely gargantuan, with its constantly splitting intersections, and the people pouring through the streets, even this late in the evening. At one point, I turned, sensing that someone was watching me. There was a shadow of a person running out of sight behind a building.


    ¡°Do you feel, eh, watched by person?¡± My question was more of a statement, but Ina understood.


    ¡°I got that feeling the minute we arrived here in the city, but I think it¡¯s just because there are so many people. Don¡¯t let it get to you, Vlad. You¡¯ll go crazy.¡± Ina continued to walk, her shoulders set in that all too familiar ¡°I¡¯m on a mission¡± position.


    ¡°Did see shady person hiding, though. Is cause for concern, yes?¡± I had that irritating suspicion itching the inside of my skull again.


    ¡°There are lots of shady people in the world. Besides, why would they target us? We have almost nothing of value on us.¡± We spent the rest of the walk in silence, while the foreboding sensation in the back of my head grew. After a solid 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at the market district. It was absolutely crammed full of people trying to buy last minute items at a discount, or just trying to get home in a hurry. We edged and pushed and forced our way through, until we were finally able to take the Western road at the intersection.


    ¡°Market was crazy.¡± I turned my head to see the crowd disappearing behind us as we walked between rows of towering buildings. The light didn¡¯t reach here, especially this late in the evening, so it was difficult to see.


    ¡°It was a good thing though, I think we lost whoever was tailing us.¡± Ina sounded chipper, as usual. Not a cautious bone in her body, really.


    ¡°Hopefully inn will be appearing soon.¡± My mind kept going back to that shady character who fled out of sight when I turned to look at him, but we arrived at the inn without event. It was an old, delapidated thing, with a slightly tilting frame to it. The wood was 3 different colors, with a myriad of patch jobs in various places on the walls. It stood 2 stories high, but the upper windows were mostly boarded.


    ¡°Do you think this is the right place?¡± Ina sounded uncertain for the first time since I had met her here in VGO. It was kind of cute.


    ¡°Sign says Old Hill Inn, must be place.¡± I gently placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as I took the first step towards the inn. Once we entered, it was a far cry from the outside. The floors and tables were well-kept, and full of patrons. Dozens of people were sitting and standing, eating and drinking, some were talking, others were laughing or playing music. There was a well polished bar near the back of the common area, just to the side of the stairs, and in front of what could only be the kitchen. Ina and I headed over to the bar and we both sat down. The chairs were extremely comfortable after our day¡¯s journey, and I couldn¡¯t have been happier to finally get some fine alcohol.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir.¡± Ina¡¯s voice carried gently as she called over the bar keeper, who I assumed was also the host of the inn.


    ¡°Whatcha want?¡± He was a stout Dwarf, with a beard that would rival the fur of a grizzly bear. He wore a quilted apron that was stained with years of food, drink, and polish. He held in his hands the quintessential trinket of every barkeep: a single glass, which he cleaned constantly with a cloth of some kind.


    ¡°Oh, we were wondering if we could get some food, and maybe a room for the night?¡± Ina seemed unaffected by the Dwarf¡¯s brash demeanor.


    ¡°Aye, ye can, we¡¯ll getcha set up right. Have ye got anything to trade, by the by?¡± He tilted his head as Ina pulled the relatively fresh rabbit from her backpack.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got this, is this alright?¡± She laid it on the bar, and the Dwarf looked it over.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have old Bertha make ye up some stew with that, won¡¯t cost ye a copper.¡± Ina¡¯s eyes glistened for a moment over that, her mouth visibly watering from the idea of rabbit stew. ¡°As for the room, I only got one left, are ye okay sharin¡¯?¡± He looked at the two of us, obviously anticipating that there might be a problem. I opened my mouth to speak, but Ina beat me to it.


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t be a problem at all. How much will it be?¡± She pulled her money pouch from her hip and weighed it in her hand.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a silver a night, that covers breakfast in the morrow as well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too bad.¡± Ina laid a silver coin on the bar top and the Dwarf quickly swept it up. He stuck it in his mouth and bit down.


    ¡°Aye, good quality. None of that garbage the Imperials are trying to pander about as their new ¡°falcons¡± or whatnot. Blasted Imperials and their games.¡± The Dwarf seemed a little miffed by the Imperials, despite the fact that he was running an establishment in an Imperial city.


    ¡°So, when should we expect that stew to be ready?¡± Ina asked the question carefully, as the Dwarf plucked the rabbit off the bar top and took it to the back, behind the swinging door.


    ¡°Give it a few, lass. It¡¯s not magic, ye know.¡± And with that, the barkeep vanished from sight.


    ¡°Rabbit stew, is good?¡± I had to ask, because I had never experienced it before. I was looking forward to trying it, since absolutely everything else I had eaten in VGO was incredibly delicious.


    ¡°It depends on how they make it. My parents used to make it with herbs. They would sear the meat on a spit first, over an open flame, the skin rubbed with all kinds of savory seasonings. Then they would chop it into small pieces and cook it in a thick broth of vegetables and fat. Oh my, it was delicious.¡± She swooned at the thought of the food, and it was very enjoyable to watch. I knew she would be an incredible person to spend the rest of my second life with, and I was looking forward to every bit of it.


    ¡°Sound like heaven.¡± I licked my lips, thinking of the savory meal she had described. I was daydreaming about the stew when there was a disturbance towards the front of the inn. A pair of travelers had gotten into a fist fight over something. I wasn¡¯t close enough to hear any of the conversation, or what they were yelling about, but a very large Wode stood from a nearby table, lifted them both with ease, one in each hand, and threw them out the front door. There was some applause as the Wode dusted off his hands and headed outside, I assumed to ensure they didn¡¯t attempt to retaliate. That was some good inhouse security.


    ¡°People will fight over the most ridiculous things,¡± Ina said, more absentmindedly than directed to anyone. ¡°It¡¯s sad, the amount of war there has been. The deaths, the loss of life, all over ideals. Little things that people can¡¯t seem to compromise on, no matter the cost.¡± Her words were naive, I knew, but also innocent, and very true. How many wars had I been an indirect part of? An uncountable number, I¡¯m sure.


    ¡°People fight because it gives truth to lie.¡± The words came from my mouth unbidden. ¡°One person tells lie to self, they believe. Then they must lie to another, who not believe. Fight break out, sometimes in word, sometimes in fist.¡± I shifted in my seat as I stared off into space. I was beginning to feel regret, the all too familiar experience I didn¡¯t want to deal with right now.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, Vlad. You¡¯re very insightful.¡± I was pulled out of my daze by an unexpected kiss. It lasted longer than I would have expected, but it was wonderful. I was drawn in, I had fallen for her, before I even realized it. I was experiencing falling in love with Ina all over again. We were interrupted by a gruff, yet understanding, clearing of one¡¯s throat.


    ¡°That stew ye be asking after, here ye go.¡± The Dwarf, whose name we still had not been privy to, placed a pair of bowls on the bar. He put a couple very large chunks of bread down as well. ¡°The bread is on the house, fer bringing Bertha such a nice rabbit. She thanks ye for it. Been a while since we¡¯ve had a fresh kill.¡± He stood there for a second, then sighed, picked up another glass off the bar top and went back to cleaning it.


    The stew smelled amazing, filled with herbs and various kinds of seasonings. The gravy was thick and hearty, with large chunks of soft, well-cooked rabbit floating about. It accompanied largely chopped vegetables and a great amount of potato. Ina was already digging into the stew with the bread, taking large chunks from the stiff and stale bread, then dipping it into the stew. I followed suit, and was forced to acknowledge that food in VGO was better than anything I had ever eaten on Earth. My mind soared as I ate the incredibly filling stew, the flavors dancing around on my tongue. I was so disappointed when my wooden spoon hit the bottom of the bowl.


    ¡°Oh my gods, that was the most delicious stew I¡¯ve had since I was but a child.¡± Ina¡¯s face was covered in smeared stew gravy. I wanted nothing more than to take a cloth and wipe it clean, I hated food being on people¡¯s faces. But she seemed so happy, I didn¡¯t want to mess with it at all.


    ¡°Was truly best stew,¡± I said, with full honesty. I was pleased to be living this life, even with my regrets. Even with leaving Earth Ina back in the ground, and coming here alone, I was experiencing a full life, and it had only been 2 days.


    ¡°We should probably retire, Vlad. We¡¯ve got to see about getting into the underground tunnels tomorrow, and I know nothing about it.¡± Ina stood, leaving her bowl and spoon on the bar top. The Dwarf grunted and pulled it behind the bar. He did the same when I stood from my seat.


    ¡°Ah, yes, rest. Is good, is necessary.¡± I followed Ina up the steps from the common room to the actual rooms. Ina opened the door for us, heading over to where there was a candle resting on a night table. She lit it from one of the lit candles in the hallway, then set it back in its place.


    ¡°So, are you going to have a problem sleeping with me again?¡± Ina¡¯s eyes flashed with a teasing fire, something I had not expected to see in her. I knew it existed, it had been one of the things I had loved about Earth Ina. She had a wicked sense of humor.


    ¡°No, is no problem. Will sleep on floor.¡± I smiled, she smiled, we both laughed as we undressed for the evening. We were both down to our small clothes before too long, lying in the bed side by side. ¡°Is strange, whole world is new, but I find you.¡± I hadn¡¯t been thinking, I just spoke. I realized what I had said just as she responded.


    ¡°The world is a crazy place Vlad, but I¡¯m so glad I get to share it with you.¡± I leaned over on my side, and blew out the candle. When I returned to my lying position, I was quickly covered by an arm. Ina¡¯s skin was soft and warm, and so very real. She nuzzled against my neck as she gave a contented sigh. I closed my eyes for what felt like a brief moment before I was pulled into yet another dream.


    I stood in a field, wearing my armor, which was strange because up until now I had been having dreams of my Earth life. The ground was covered in small white flowers, gently blowing in the wind. I heard a voice calling to me from afar, it was Ina. The voice started off ethereal, almost like hearing it through water, but it became louder and more clear as I walked. I headed towards a small forest in the distance, but it wasn¡¯t any forest I was familiar with - the trees were all burned down, scorched, destroyed, as though annihilated by a great, raging fire. There were small buds in the ash and dust on the ground, like little trees coming to growth. They gave me a feeling of both peace and terrible fear. The voice rose to an unbearable volume as the dust started swirling like a cyclone, kicking up ash. Within began to form a pair of people, both were Ina, but they were separate. I instantly recognized small differences, and I knew I was staring at both Earth Ina and VGO Ina, side by side.


    ¡°Come with me, Vlad.¡± Earth Ina¡¯s voice was broken, but I heard it with all the sweetness the world could offer. She extended her hand, and I was immediately transported to another place, high above the plain below us. I could see for hundreds of miles, and I watched as a scorching inferno spread out from a single point, an impact crater of some kind. Everything was running in slow motion, and I was surprised to see an absolutely massive meteor striking the ground in another location, far outside what I should have been able to see.


    ¡°This is Astraea?¡± My words came out in pure Russian, gone was the broken English, I was relieved, but terrified at the same time.


    ¡°This is the end, Vlad. I¡¯m here, one last time, to tell you I love you. Behold, our stricken world, destroyed by our great impudence to the gods above.¡± With that terrible and cryptic message, I watched her mouth open, a silent scream frozen on her lips as she turned to dust and blew away. I blinked, not knowing what else to do, and I was back, standing at the edge of the wasteland. I saw VGO Ina standing there again, her body wrapped in a cloak I had never seen. It looked to be made of some kind of magic, the way it glowed gave off a warm and soothing sensation.


    ¡°Vlad, this is the end of everything.¡± She turned to me and reached out her hand. I reached to take it, like the last time, but before I could, her body shook and her face became a mask of agony and pain. She leaned over and held her gut, coughing as blood poured from her mouth.


    ¡°Ina, Ina! What is problem, how can help?¡± I was back to the idiotic broken English again, but I didn¡¯t care as much as usual. I needed to help her.


    ¡°You can¡¯t Vlad, this is fate¡­¡± Her voice faded as she fell to her knees. Her body turned to ash, and blew away, just the same as Earth Ina¡¯s had done. My fingernails dug into my palms, my fists clenching as tightly as I could before I shouted with everything I was worth. My body was wracked with pain and agony, I looked down and saw my hands were starting to crack and split. My legs were beginning to do the same. I looked about in panic, and noticed I was standing at the epicenter of the crater, which was now deep beyond knowing. I screamed, I shouted, I tried to run, but nothing would stop the agony.

 THIRTEEN: Fate is Fickle Bitch

    Timeline: Day of Astraea - 15 minutes before impact


    I awoke to a new kind of sound blaring in my skull, but there wasn¡¯t any kind of pain involved this morning, which was a surprise. So far, every single day I had awoken in VGO, my body was filled within agony. That was a blessing, since the new alarm was obnoxiously loud. I finally opened my eyes and saw a bright red message icon flashing in the corner of my vision, along with the normal white one. I chose to ignore the white one for the time being, and open the red one. It wasn¡¯t a video message, it was just an emergency notice.


    ¡°The Extinction-level event, known as Astraea, is set to impact within the hour. Please stay aware of your message box for further information.¡±


    That was the extent of the message. I had thought they had calculated it to be later in the day? The door to the inn room creaked open and Ina walked in, her face a dual measure of panic and fear.


    ¡°Vlad, everyone in the common room is freaking out, saying it¡¯s the end of the world or some such nonsense. Some of them are really upset.¡± She walked over to the bedside and sat down next to me. ¡°Do you want to go downstairs and see what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Yes, need to know.¡± I stood slowly and stretched my hands, remembering the agony from my nightmare. After finding that they worked fine, I quickly equipped my gear, and headed downstairs for more information.


    Timeline: Day of Astraea: 8 minutes before impact.


    I found the people in the common room to be just as animated as I had expected, if not worse. There were a few people, whom I assumed were players like myself, who were sobbing. As I made the last step of the stairs, an individual in dark robes to the side of the bannister nodded at me.


    ¡°Hey man, check the audio chat channel, they¡¯re broadcasting the news report live. You know, if you wanna hear what¡¯s up.¡± He put his hand up to his ear and went back to listening to whatever he was listening to.


    ¡°Many thanks.¡± I pulled up the chat interface with a thought as Ina came down the steps behind me. I told her about the audio channel, and she looked at me confused.


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®broadcast?¡¯¡± Her eyes glazed over for a moment before she snapped back to reality. ¡°Oh, oh I see. That¡¯s...unique.¡± I stepped over to a wall, leaned against it, and tuned into the chat channel. I had a feeling this was going to be a real day ruiner. As the broadcast began, the room fell silent, aside from the periodic clinking of metal as people moved, shifting in their chairs or stepping outside.


    Sounds of static blurred through the chat channel as I listened in, shouting and panicked voices filtered through the background. A man cleared his throat before beginning to speak. ¡°It is with a [static] have reached the end, ladies an- [static].


    Damnit, the static was such an issue, I could hardly understand what they were saying, but I got the gist of it. There was the sound of shuffling papers, someone yelled something unintelligible.


    ¡°Despite the admir-[static] minds, we have failed to split or [static] asteroid. And so, we find ourselves on the verge of a catas-[static] extinction of the dinosaurs.¡±


    The common room of the inn was deadly silent as people strained their ears to hear the words. The expectant pause in the broadcast did nothing to eschew those concerns.


    ¡°A disaster the likes of which mank-[static] less than ten minutes to go, there is nothin-[static] those we love, and brace for impact.¡±


    Another pause, this one punctuated with the sounds of hammering, or metal of some kind, within the intense static. The attention was brought back to the announcer with a loud clearing of his throat, more of a nervous tick if I had to guess. He was doing it frequently.


    ¡°In preparation for the com-[static] run through a rough simulation of what we can expect over the next minutes, hours, and days. Lydia?¡±


    I heard the heavy sound of metal being stabbed into wood as a person on the other end of the common room jammed a dagger into the table, his face was the definition of anger.


    ¡°Oi, yer gonna pay fer that table, lad!¡± The Dwarf¡¯s voice was loud and stern, but the table stabber didn¡¯t seem to care. He sat back down in his seat and put a hand against his ear like we all were doing. There was a new, jarring voice on the line, it must have been Lydia.


    ¡°Thank you, John.¡± [Static] ¡°...collected from the radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, we believe [static] Central America of the Gulf of Mexico.¡±


    There was more metal crashing, someone shouted about evacuations in the background. The yelling was starting to fight for power over the sound of the static.


    ¡°Though the asteroid will likely land in water,¡± there was a smoothness to her voice that would have been perfectly suited to a CEO of a massive company or organization facing bankruptcy, ¡°our experts have sa-[static] Earth¡¯s atmosphere will have negligible effect on its incredible velocity.¡± [static] ¡°the equivalent force of one hundred million megatons of TNT.¡±


    ¡°That is huge bomb, Vlad has made big ones before, but is absolutely gargantuan.¡± I was doing it again, looking at the situation like it was a data stream or a simulation as opposed to life and death. I was brought back from my internal monologue by the sound of a demonstrated explosion coming through the audio channel. Then there were voices again, bleeding through the near-constant static. The reception was beginning to worsen.


    ¡°Two thousand five hundred kilometers, or one thousand five hundred miles, will likely be killed within second-[static] electromagnetic pulse, will erupt, destroying all technology not properly protected, and causing world-wide blackouts. At that time, our station will likely go off-air.¡±


    There was a pause, harsh to the ears. The shouting previously heard was gone, now replaced by the sound of shuddered breathing.


    ¡°Now, if you live on the other side of the globe,¡± she had rebuilt her courage, her voice was strong again, but already starting to waver. ¡°You will likely [static] as long as possible. Within twelve hours, the colossal amount of debris from the initial impact will start falling back throu-[static] rain down in a barrage of fiery hail that will destroy many major urban centers.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The sound of thousands of tiny rocks landing on a hard surface punctuated the deep static. It was quickly drowned out by someone shouting loudly again, this time something about ¡°only minutes left,¡± and ¡°get to shelter.¡± I had almost turned off the chat channel, but the same player from earlier shook his head and pointed to his ear. Ina came up behind me and laid her head on my shoulder, her face was pained and terrified. I¡¯m sure I looked no better, I could feel the red burning into my cheeks.


    ¡°Moreover,¡± the all-business voice was gone, she was now a scared child in a world of terrible things. ¡°The finer particulates will create a burning, suffocating cloud, which will cho-[static] will hang overhead for a long time ¨C perhaps as long as a week ¨C and as a result, the surface temperature will swell to well over one hundred and ten degrees Celsius.¡±


    ¡°Entire earth will be scorched to dirt and dust¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing. Being a high-ranking employee for Almaz-Antev had offered me a considerable amount of information regarding the impact, but a lot of this was finally hitting home. I had seen the numbers, I had heard the data. But this was unbelievable. Someone across the room started bawling loudly, like a child. There were no complaints or irritated remarks. I was sure many others wanted to do the same. The voice continued, this time shockingly clear, as though divine intervention had stepped in to take over.


    ¡°At such extreme temperatures, many forests and homes will spontaneously ignite, and even exposed water will begin to boil. It is imperative you stay in shelter for at least a week, or longer if you are able.¡± There was sudden, heavy sobbing in the background as the male anchor started speaking again.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve just received a confirmation from NASA, one minute and counting until impact.¡± The woman¡¯s crying in the background could be heard over the stunned silence, then there was chaos in the channel as people were shouting ¡°Get to the shelter!¡±


    ¡°Good luck, and Godspeed,¡± said the male anchor, punctuated with a muttered prayer. ¡°It¡¯s truly been a pleasure and an honor to bring you the news.¡± There was a brief pause, then a chirp signaling that the channel had been closed. So, that was it. The world, everything I had ever known, was gone. I stood there, completely numb. Everything inside me wanted to shout, wanted to rage at the gods above for their carelessness. I wanted to tear the world apart and start over. I wanted to cry, I wanted to sob, I wanted to curl up into the smallest ball I could and just disappear forever. I stood stock still for a moment, before a universal alert flashed onto my interface.


    <<<<>>>>


    Viridian Gate Online Universal Alert!


    Notice: Traveler Robert Osmark has founded a faction in Viridian Gate Online! Any traveler of the Viridian Empire may now request to join Robert Osmark¡¯s faction, the Ever-Victorious Empire, bound to the Imperial City of New Viridia, the seat of power of the Viridian Empire in Eldgard.


    Notice: Traveler Robert Osmark has been crowned Emperor of the Viridian Empire!


    Notice: Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire instantly lowers the player¡¯s relationship with all Rebel-aligned factions to Unfriendly. Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire instantly reaises a player¡¯s relationship with all Imperial-aligned factions to Friendly. Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire entitles members to all Ever-Victorious Empire faction buffs.


    Notice: Emperor Robert Osmark is now an exalted enemy of the Eldgard Rebellion!


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°He dares?¡± My words were ripped from my lips as my fists trembled by my sides. ¡°He dares take moment of sorrow and crown emperor on his head!?¡± I was outright shouting at this point, and I wasn¡¯t alone. There was a lot of swearing going around the common room at the Inn. ¡°Filthy bastard, would be killed where stands in Russia.¡± I punched the wall so hard that I left a large indentation, and received a debuff for my efforts. The pain didn¡¯t last but a second, but my rage burned inside me like a cauldron of coal. Then, as if to crown the moment, another notification flashed across my interface.


    <<<<>>>>


    Universal Message from the Viridian Emperor


    Today is a tragic day, one that will be scorched into our collective memory for as long as we live. All of us have suffered great loss: friends, family members, coworkers, our way of life. No one is unaffected by this awful and unavoidable catastrophe ¨C everyone watching this has my deepest condolences. Now, as you have already seen, I¡¯ve crowned myself Emperor, and though many of you may think such an act is callous or coldhearted, I¡¯m here to tell you that I¡¯m doing it with a heavy heart and with the best of intentions.


    In the face of such terrible grief, rage and anger are common responses. In the face of this type of tragedy, people often react violently, as we all experienced firsthand from the riots and looting which have plagued our cities and streets over the past several weeks. In order to avoid a similar situation here, we need to have a strong, stable hand at the helm of the ship, guiding us into the calm, clear waters of prosperity and peace. I intend to be that hand.


    Now is not the time for fighting or squabbling. Now is a time for rationality and unity to prevail despite overwhelming grief. So, for the sake of us all, my word is now law, and any acts of rioting or lawlessness ¨C including defection to the Eldgard Rebellion and overt disobedience ¨C will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Please know I don¡¯t relish this, but it is a necessary stopgap measure until we can come up with a better system.


    With Sincerest Condolences,


    Robert Osmark, High emperor of the Viridian Empire.


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°Best...intentions?¡± I read the message once, then read it again, then a third time. I was dumbfounded, I literally could not believe what I was reading. There were a thousand feelings going through my mind, and not the least of them were rage and outright hatred. I was furious, I was absolutely struck with hatred for the man. That was when I received a third message that forced its way onto my interface.


    <<<<>>>>


    <


    >


    Vlad, you¡¯ve done well to see yourself through the 3-day period to be fully transitioned. We regret to inform you that your activation as a cell for the Viridian Empire has come. Please be aware that you will be receiving missives from here on out via the personal messaging system. These orders are absolute. Failing to follow through will result in negative repercussions.


    Be wise, be vigilant, be superior.


    -Almaz-Antev Weaponeers


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°So much going on¡­¡± My words slipped out of my mouth with a slur as I fought to keep my feet. Ina caught me before I fell.


    ¡°Come on, love. Let¡¯s go have a seat, eh?¡± Ina escorted me to our inn room, where I collapsed on the bed. I turned my body and shoved my face into the unnecessarily soft pillow, where I shouted obscenities for 10 solid minutes, in three different languages. Ina just sat and listened, rubbing my back gently. When I had finally finished being angry, I sat up. She threw her arms around my neck and just hugged me. ¡°Bad day, huh?¡± Her sad smile was comforting in so many different ways, but it reminded me of so many things I had lost.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lost much, but have you. Is good price I¡¯ve paid.¡± I returned her smile, trying everything within my power to make it seem convincing. I failed, but she didn¡¯t tell me that. She continued to be supportive.


    ¡°I heard, it sounded absolutely terrible. How does one even accept such?¡± Her brow furrowed as she legitimately tried to understand the situation. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you would even begin, or what kind of emotions you¡¯re going through.¡±


    ¡°Is not easy, will take time. But having you, here, with me. Is good start.¡± I leaned into her and gave her a gentle kiss.


    ¡°And what¡¯s with that Osmark asshat crowning himself Emperor right after it happened? Making it illegal to not be aligned with the Empire?¡± She shook her head at the thought. ¡°My family would roll in their graves if I aligned with those fools.¡± She chuckled a little as she stiffened her shoulders somewhat. ¡°So, want to get something to eat? I could use some breakfast after that.¡±


    ¡°Vlad could eat.¡± I had to admit, the thought of breakfast sounded wonderful, and I wanted everything to just go away. I wanted to think nothing about the last 30 minutes, and I had a feeling that food would help.

 FOURTEEN: In Days Gone By…

    Ina and I sat at the bar, working on our breakfast. Given the circumstances of the last hour, the barkeep had offered everyone breakfast on the house, which got cheers from the populace. Between bites of a large breakfast consisting of eggs covered in a dairy product of some kind that strongly resembled cheese, pan fried potatoes, and a few slices of buttered bread, Ina and I discussed our class quests.


    ¡°Mine is very simple,¡± she said, as she shoved another fork full of egg into her mouth. ¡°Juft neet to go to duh barrath uf duh ordens an do a teft.¡±


    ¡°Eh, what did say? Hard to hear around egg.¡± I smiled at her as she chewed faster, then swallowed hard.


    ¡°I said I just need to go to the Warden Chapterhouse in town and finish a trial, it¡¯s simple, won¡¯t take but a few minutes.¡± She took a deep drag from her flagon of ale before shoveling another pile of potato-with-egg into her face.


    ¡°Ah, is simple then, no? Should do yours first.¡± I nodded as I followed suit, by sticking a great wad of toast into my mouth, chewing loudly.


    ¡°No, no, we will do yours first. I mean, there¡¯s actually no telling how long it will take for mine to get done. It could be a Vigil, which is something the Wardens do from time to time where they watch a specific location for a full 24 hours without rest, food, or water. If that¡¯s the case,¡± she poked her fork at me as if skewering the winning conversation piece, ¡°then yours will be better to do first.¡± She nodded, and I opened my mouth to say something. She cut me off as she picked up one of her pieces of toast, shoving it into my now-empty mouth playfully. I bit the end off of it with a smile.


    ¡°Okay, okay, we find tunnels. Eh, do we know where are Plague Tunnels?¡± I knew that there was a quest marker on my map that was quite literally in the center of Rowanheath, but there was a huge keep there, and my class quest specifically required me to go into the plague tunnels.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, we¡¯ll ask around.¡± Ina finished her breakfast and downed her ale. ¡°Ahh, yes, full stomach, ready for a quest!¡± She was in rare form today, and I was all about it.


    ¡°Will need strength, in old world, tunnels of plagued people existed too. Was terrible place, exiled other hum-err, exiled other people underground to die without spreading disease. Was bad practice, but got job done.¡± I shrugged a bit. Sometimes I found it hard to see black and white the way they were all the time. As I finished the statement, I considered the mistakes that were made in Russia a few years back. Exiling people to the underground rail system just because they had the Plague seemed cold hearted, but it kept the disease from running rampant.


    ¡°Alright, that sounds terrible.¡± She rolled her eyes, the things I spoke about regarding Earth always seemed to make her cringe. I was beginning to find that it was a truly terrible place.


    We both stood from the bar and nodded to the barkeeper, who grunted his usual grunt, and continued to clean a glass - was that the same glass he was cleaning the night before? There¡¯s no way it was. As we headed out the door, there was a person in shrouded clothes that slipped outside just before us. There was an air of suspicion about him, but I chose to ignore it. He was, after all, just another inn patron.


    As Ina and I stepped out of the doorway, the man in the black leathers, who now had a face thanks to a missing hood that no longer covered his deep raven hair and Wode heritage, leaned against the wall.


    ¡°Hey, I hear you guys are heading down into the sewers.¡± He nodded over to us as he flicked a coin into the air, catching it deftly. I watched as he did this a few times, not so much because it was impressive, but because the coin didn¡¯t look like the silver that Ina had in her bag. It had a different mark on the front of it, and I couldn¡¯t quite see what it was.


    ¡°We are, actually, but that¡¯s our own business, thanks.¡± Ina was a bit standoffish which surprised me some. Previously she had been extremely open with people, but perhaps she was learning her lesson with the last time we were ¡°helpful.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my, well, excuse me pretty lady. But your friend there, he uh, looks a little out of place, doesn¡¯t he?¡± He snatched the coin from the air and kicked off the wall, standing upright.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, thanks very much.¡± Ina tried to walk past him, but he shifted his body and stood in our path.


    ¡°Ah, see, here¡¯s the deal. The sewers, they run every which way in this damned town, right? So, I just happen to be the best tour guide this side of the Imperial Fort over there.¡± He pointed at the overly large keep that dominated the middle of the town. It could literally be seen from everywhere in Rowanheath. ¡°Now, lucky for you, I¡¯m running a special. There¡¯s only one entrance to the tunnels that will get you to the Exile Gate, which I imagine is where you¡¯re heading, saying what-have-you about the Plague Tunnels just inside the inn there.¡± He tilted his head and gave us a smile that showed off several gold teeth, and many more rotted ones.


    ¡°Oh, I hadn¡¯t considered that. Well, what¡¯s your price, and your name? I¡¯ll have both before I hire you.¡± Ina was a shrewd businesswoman on Earth, and it seemed as though my memory of her, what was mapped by the system anyway, translated that here as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dirk, and the price is ten silver.¡± He raised an eyebrow, it was fiendish to look at.


    ¡°Well Dirk, I don¡¯t favor you, so I¡¯ll say three silver and five copper, and that¡¯ll be my standing.¡± Ina folded her arms, there was no getting by her when she stood her ground.


    ¡°Ah, a shrewd one, are ya?¡± He looked around shiftily before scratching at his left forearm. I looked down and noticed he had a few open wounds there, they reminded me of amphetamine abusers from Earth. He was an addict then, good to know.


    ¡°Well, judging by the way you¡¯re covered head to toe in leathers, have shaky hands, and look a bit on the edgy side, I¡¯d say you¡¯re addicted to something. And I won¡¯t feed an addict, so, come down on your price, or I won¡¯t pay at all.¡±


    ¡°Ack, how? Nevermind, it doesn¡¯t matter. Look, I¡¯ll do five silver, but that¡¯s the least I can go, please. I need a fix, I¡¯m going insane. I¡¯ll get you there, no trouble.¡± His businessman-like demeanor immediately failed and he started to look more and more desperate.


    ¡°Alright, that works. But your word is your bond, or I will put this sword to use in your spine.¡± Ina patted the hilt of the longsword she had on her hip. Apparently I wasn¡¯t needed at all in this situation, Ina could obviously handle herself.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, look, let¡¯s get going eh?¡± He put his hand out and Ina placed the five silvers into it. His hand snapped shut and he brought it closer to his eyes than he needed to. He counted them with his finger, sliding them against each other. When he was done, the coins disappeared into his sleeve. I was impressed, I had seen sleight of hand before, but his was on another level.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Now then, Dirk, shall we?¡± Ina raised an eyebrow, and her tone of voice went along with it.


    Dirk led us through crowded city streets that fed into alleyways. Before we knew it, the rising sun overhead was lost behind buildings crowding in on either side of the alley, giving the place a truly dark feeling. I kept my eyes open for trouble, as I imagined a rogue such as Dirk would have a nasty trick up his sleeve. However, we managed to make it through the majority of the city without incident. We did have a brief run-in with a small group of individuals who, at a glance, seemed fairly unassuming. However, once we were past them, I heard the unmistakable sound of knives unsheathed.


    ¡°No, hey, no. Guys, these travelers are with me. We¡¯re heading to the sewers, it¡¯s fine.¡± Dirk¡¯s words were quick and firm, as though he already knew it was going to happen.


    ¡°Oh, sorry. We thought they were marks.¡± One of the individuals shrugged his shoulders as he put the knife back into a sheath hidden beneath his cloak.


    ¡°Normally, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue, but these are paying customers.¡± Dirk tilted his head in a strange way, but it seemed to mean something to the other two men who were standing about.


    ¡°Alright, good luck. It¡¯s crawling with giant rats this week. The travelers haven¡¯t been keeping up with cleaning it out.¡± The one rogue who had spoken before hitched a thumb over his shoulder as he turned to walk away.


    ¡°Thanks Gant, I¡¯ll keep an eye out.¡± That was the end of the conversation and we were moving forward again.


    Another ten minutes or so of walking, and we arrived at the main entrance to the sewers. It was simple, unadorned bricks and stone with a rickety wooden staircase leading down to the entrance. It trickled rancid water that twisted and turned out of view in the distance. We stepped down the few old, wooden stairs that took us to the mouth of the stone tunnel when Dirk stopped.


    ¡°So, here¡¯s where the sewers start. Now, try to stay close, because it¡¯s dark down here, and I only have the one torch.¡± He pulled a wooden stick from his bag that had been wrapped in cloth at the top. It stank of old meat, which I assumed was a kind of fat they used in Eldgard to keep torches burning. Dirk pulled a small set of flint and steel from his pocket, held the stick out with his knees, and sparked the old-world match. The flame caught and the torch blazed to life. Dirk shifted, returning the flint and steel, and took up the torch.


    ¡°How long will torch last?¡± I asked more out of mental curiosity, not thinking before I spoke, as usual.


    ¡°Long enough,¡± Dirk replied. There was something about his statement that made me cringe a little, but it may have been the stink of the torch. After he spoke, he plunged into the tunnels, Ina and I following after quickly.


    ¡°This place is an absolute labyrinth,¡± Ina said as we trudged deeper into the tunnels, the light of the sun fading well behind us as we turned a corner at a three-way intersection.


    ¡°That¡¯s the reason you need a good guide,¡± Dirk replied, his torch casting flickering red and orange light into the gloom ahead of us. There was a noise that caused him to stop and draw a long dagger from his hip, he turned his head to the side and nodded. Ina drew her longsword, and I pulled my crossbow, not sure what to expect.


    ¡°Noise sounded like squeak, not small though, not like rat.¡± My eyes darted in every direction, trying to find the creature that had made the sound. Next to the walkway we were on, there was a fetid flow, slowly creeping its way out into the open airway we had come from. I was taken by surprise as I looked down into the water, where an excessively large rat, easily twenty times the size of an Earth rat, leapt from the stinking stream. I stumbled backwards and landed on my backside with an oof. My eyes landed on it long enough for it to be registered in my vision as a [Plague Rat].


    ¡°There¡¯s the rat!¡± Dirk swung his torch at it, following it up with a quick sweep of his blade. Ina backpedaled efficiently, sliding her feet into a defensive stance. The rat landed mere centimeters from me, but I had dropped my crossbow when I fell, and it was too far out of reach.


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that sound?¡± Ina looked around as we were assailed by the sounds of several splashes. More rats leapt from the waterway, all covered in stinking water, several with eyes missing, and most of them had swollen, disgusting sores on their bodies.


    ¡°Plague Rats!¡± Dirk was quick to strike one with his torch, setting the wet fur to sizzling. The smell it emitted was overpowering. I nearly vomited where I sat. I covered my face with my hand and used my free arm to bring myself to a crouching position. I tried to activate stealth, but received a notice for my efforts.


    <<<<>>>>


    Stealth has failed! Plague Rats can smell your presence, see in the dark, and you are in moderate lighting!


    <<<<>>>>


    Bah, so that wasn¡¯t going to work. I scrambled for my crossbow as Ina shouted, the ground around us vibrated as I saw a bright green icon appear in the corner of my vision.


    <<<<>>>>


    Buff Added


    You have been imbued with Bend Like the Reed, granting you enhanced dexterity. Dexterity increased by 5. Duration: 2 minutes.


    <<<<>>>>


    I noticed that I was moving around quite a bit quicker than I had been before, and managed to get to the crossbow without too much effort. I took aim at the closest Plague Rat and fired a bolt. It struck hard as the rat shrieked and turned its attention to me.


    ¡°Nice shot,¡± Dirk shouted as he stabbed the rat in the spine, killing it instantly. It collapsed to the ground in a repulsive pile as Dirk spun, catching a leaping rat with his weapons. It scrambled at his defenses, mouth snapping and claws raking against his leather armor. There was a squeal and a sword broke through the front of its skull, stopping just shy of Dirk¡¯s face.


    ¡°I got you,¡± Ina said as she ripped her blade free of the creature. The rat fell to the ground with a whomp. Ina twisted her body, whipping her sword around in a lightning-fast arc. It caught a pair of the rats as they scurried closer, sending them tumbling backwards.


    ¡°Only a couple more,¡± Dirk said as he lunged with his torch. The rat he had lunged at snapped its jaws around the wooden handle of the torch, and Dirk drove his knife into the side of its head. One more down, one to go.


    ¡°Is running?¡± I reloaded my crossbow and took aim, hoping to score a pinning shot. I fired, and time slowed down as the bolt coursed through the air. I watched it fly, almost as though I was the bolt, as it struck the hind leg of the rat with enough force to drive the bolt¡¯s head into the stone beneath. Had I just done that? Did I force my shot to connect, or was it sheer luck?


    ¡°Great shot, Vlad!¡± Ina charged the rat and drove her longsword through the creature¡¯s side, ending it quickly. She put her foot on the rat and slid her blade free, flicking the putrescent blood from the sword with a snap of her wrist. ¡°Ewww, that stuff is just gross. My sword is going to need a good cleaning.¡± She sheathed the blade and came back to our group. I reloaded my crossbow, pulled the wire back, set the safety latch, and hooked it to my belt.


    ¡°Alright, that was entertaining. You guys are pretty good.¡± Dirk smiled with half his mouth as he looked up to the ceiling, almost like he was listening for something. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get going though, so let¡¯s hurry, eh?¡± He spun in place and took off at a quick walk down the tunnels. Ina and I carried on as well, making sure we kept an eye, and now an ear, out for any other creatures that might decide to waylay us.


    About 30 minutes into the sewers, Dirk picked up his pace without warning.


    ¡°Hey, slow down!¡± Ina shouted after him, but he turned a corner and disappeared before we could follow. The light from his torch vanished as quickly as he had.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for this!¡± Dirk¡¯s voice echoed back through the sewers as though he was everywhere at once, and for all we knew, he very well could have been. With nothing to light our way, Ina and I stood in place, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dark. I cursed myself for not being better prepared. What had I expected, the sewers to be lighted like they were back on Earth? Stupid, idiotic Vlad.


    ¡°Well, this is just awful.¡± Ina¡¯s voice was unsure, I heard the tremble of fear in her words.


    ¡°No, is okay. Will find our way.¡± I tried to be reassuring, but it wasn¡¯t working as well as I had hoped. That was likely because I was just as concerned. I had tried to remember the turns we had taken in the tunnels, and when I pulled my map up, there was an area that was colored, which must have been the path we followed. I was about to suggest that we simply backtrack, get a few torches at a general store, if those existed, and then come back, when there was a flicker of firelight down a tunnel.

 FIFTEEN: You can’t plan this…

    My hope soared for just a moment when Ina called out into the darkness.


    ¡°Dirk, is that you?¡± Her voice echoed in the tunnels for a moment before a shrill laugh came back, followed by a trio of bodies, all of whom were carrying torches and large weapons. Their gear looked new, expensive, and definitely menacing.


    ¡°No, little love, it¡¯s not. But that¡¯s okay, because it won¡¯t matter soon.¡± One of the trio, a large Risi carrying a heavy axe over one shoulder, pale skinned with scars crisscrossing his face, quickly advanced and slammed Ina in the gut with the haft of his axe. She crumpled to the ground, almost without a fight.


    ¡°What is!?¡± I reached for my crossbow just in time to be hit in the chest by a bolt of flame, it burned my skin through my clothes like I was carrying a bag of hot coals under my shirt. I fell to the ground, the pain slowly receding as I noticed my health had dropped by half. I had a flashing red icon in my vision, it popped up unwarranted, but I dismissed it as soon as I skimmed it.


    <<<<>>>>


    Debuff added


    Burned: You are suffering from skin burns. Your fire resistance has been reduced by 5%. Duration: 2 minutes.


    <<<<>>>>


    ¡°This is, as you so stupidly asked, an ambush.¡± The Risi looked down at me, where I was clutching my chest on the ground. Ina was starting to stir, but he kicked her in the side, eliciting a muffled urgh as she rolled a little ways.


    ¡°Why you do?¡± Gods dammit, even breathing hurt. How had I taken so much damage from a single blow? They must have been much higher level than we were, which was bad. ¡°Is...is not okay.¡± I was angry, but I knew when I was beaten.


    ¡°Why do we do it?¡± There was a Wode in the back, he held a staff and had flames lacing his body in a sphere. That must have been the mage who hit me with the fire bolt. ¡°Because we can. And if it wasn¡¯t intended to be okay, it wouldn¡¯t have been built into the game, moron.¡± His face was smug, like he deserved to harm others, as though it was his divine fate.


    ¡°To be fair, we were just bored, but we figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to pick on a few lowbies!¡± A dark skinned individual, likely a Murk Elf, stood in the back, a pair of long swords at his hip. He threw his head back and laughed. That was when Ina stood, literally jumping up from the ground, and rushed the Wode mage. She struck his flaming shield with her sword, the tip forward in a piercing strike. The mage backpedaled as quickly as he could, but it was too late. The sphere of fire collapsed around him, and the blade bit into his chest.


    ¡°How¡­?¡± The last words that left his lips before he collapsed to the ground begged a question Ina would never need to answer. She spun quickly to strike at the Dark Elf, but was caught by a heavy blow from the Risi, who¡¯s skin had developed a red tinge. The axe hit Ina in an upward sweep, picking her up off the ground and slamming her into the roof of the sewer. Ina screamed out as she hit the ceiling, the stone above her cracking from the force of the blow. She stayed there for half a second before falling unceremoniously to the ground, her body broken from the landing. The sound of cracking bone and snapping cartilage reached my ears as she landed, unmoving. Blood dribbled from her open mouth, I had to really focus to see if she was still breathing; her chest rose and fell slowly, almost immeasurably.


    ¡°You...you...YOU!¡± I was furious, I rose from the ground, and chugged a Health Regen potion I had snatched from my belt. The pair of Travelers who still stood just laughed as I pulled my crossbow in one hand, and the dagger Ina had given me in the other. I knew I wouldn¡¯t use the dagger to its full effectiveness, but it was more of a distraction. I shouted as I rushed the large Risi. He shifted his stance, and spun his axe in his hand so that the blunt side was facing me. I tried something I had seen before in fighting movies, but had never attempted: I tried a feint. I took a wide step with my left foot as though I were going to move there, and the Risi drew his axe back like a baseball bat. I then dropped to my knees, and he swung his axe. It soared right over my head, but just barely. I fired my crossbow at his chest, but I must have struck a loose stone in the floor, because my hand shifted up, and the bolt smacked into the side of his head. It didn¡¯t down him immediately, but it was obviously painful because he spun with his axe and collapsed to the ground, yowling like an annoyed cat.


    The Murk Elf drew his paired swords and took a step forward, his blades both up in the air. I collapsed onto my back and the paired weapons swung through the air. Wow, the same basic tactic had worked twice in a row! Either I was insanely lucky, or - Hhhckkkk was the sound my throat made as I caught a foot directly on my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs. The edges of my vision went black. Maybe being flat on the ground wasn¡¯t a great decision.


    ¡°Thought you would shoot me in the fucking face, did you, you little shit?¡± The Risi stood over me, his crushing weight pushing my stamina points lower and lower as he put more weight onto me. ¡°I don¡¯t take kindly to insults.¡± He pushed down with considerably greater force, and I felt my ribs snap. I tried to shout, but there was no air in my lungs.


    ¡°Hey, hey, hold on. How is he going to remember not to mess with us if we just kill him here? What if he¡¯s an NPC, and he doesn¡¯t respawn?¡± The Murk Elf was speaking, but I couldn¡¯t focus on his face. Everything was starting to blur and the words they were speaking were heavily distorted.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have much of a problem with me zero¡¯ing that one chick, though.¡± The Risi was tilting his head, his axe hefted on a shoulder. His face was turned to where Ina was lying, his attention was waning from me, and I was able to almost breathe again.


    ¡°She killed our mage, man. And she¡¯s not dead yet, but whatever happens.¡± The Murk Elf wrung his hands in the air, like he was washing them, then shrugged hard. The red bar that showed my life force was flashing insistently, pulsing brighter with every passing second. I expected to die right there, but the pressure on my chest disappeared entirely.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, good point. We won¡¯t get the EXP for killing them, but at least they¡¯ll have learned a lesson not to fight back.¡± The Risi laughed raucously as he put his axe into a sheath on his back. He dropped his torch next to my body as he turned to walk away. I struggled to breathe, my body refusing to allow me the simple necessity of oxygen. I turned my head and saw Ina, her eyes open but glazed over.


    ¡°I...na¡­¡± I croaked out her name, scrabbling with everything I had to try to get my body in motion, I had to get to her, I had to save her, I would not lose her. I had saved her once before, I could do it again. Our eyes met and there was a sudden moment of lucidity in her gaze. Her lips moved, soundlessly, but I knew what she was saying. ¡°I love you.¡± I watched her eyes roll back into her head and her shallow breathing stopped. An intense and powerful rage welled up inside me as I looked at her body, broken and shattered, her arms and legs in odd, unnatural directions.


    ¡°What about Gavin?¡± I was hearing the idiot travelers talking, my strength was starting to return, things were making sense again.


    ¡°Eh, we¡¯ll pick him up back at the keep. His own fault for being so squishy.¡± I moved without thinking, my body nearly rising of its own accord. I felt my hand grasp steel, heavy, unexpected. I felt my legs move, but I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I was in control anymore. My body stumbled and fought for purchase as it ran at the back of the Murk Elf. The sword was raised in both of my hands and I drove it deep into his neck.


    ¡°What!?¡± The Risi turned in time to see his friend¡¯s body collapse, the sword Ina had carried sticking out of his neck.


    That was it, that was all my body could do, but I didn¡¯t fall. Instead, the Risi grabbed me around the throat with one giant hand and pulled me to his face. His eyes were bloodshot, his breath was terrible, why was I focusing on these stupid details? I was about to die! Focus Vlad, focus!


    ¡°Just couldn¡¯t leave well enough alone, eh? Had to go and stab Jacobin in the neck. You¡¯ve got one chance to explain yourself before you make an enemy of the entire Viridian Empire.¡±


    His grip was insanely strong, but it didn¡¯t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. I had a brief moment of clarity as I hung there, my body literally hanging on by a thread, my health points sat at 1.


    I spat in his face, then, through a choked gasp, I managed to mutter Poshyal ¡®na hui.


    ¡°What the hell did you say, dipshit?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you,¡± I croaked. I saw his face contort with rage as my spine gave under the crushing force of his grip. He threw my body to the ground, and the world faded to black.


    Time of Death: 13:30


    Timeline: Day of Cataclysm, 21:30


    I awoke, screaming with lungs I didn¡¯t think I would have. My body burned everywhere, and I hurt in so many places, I wasn¡¯t sure I was going to make it. Somehow, I was back at the inn, but Ina was not. I looked around the room, it was dark, empty. There was noise downstairs, but I wasn¡¯t capable of caring at that time. I had a red icon sitting in the corner of my vision, as well as a message. The message indicator was red, but it wasn¡¯t flashing, so it wasn¡¯t an emergency indicator. That was fine, I needed a minute to get my bearings. I pulled up the debuff. It was much worse than I had imagined.


    <<<<>>>>


    Current Debuffs


    Death¡¯s Curse: You have died! You have lost 843 EXP! Skills improve 20% slower; duration, 8 hours. All EXP earned reduced by 15%; duration, 8 hours. Attack Damage and Spell Strength reduced by 20%; duration, 8 hours. Health, Stamina and Spirit Regeneration reduced by 25%; duration, 8 hours. Carry Capacity -23 kilos; duration, 8 hours.


    Death¡¯s Sting: Suffer extreme physical discomfort and waves of weakness; duration, 4 hours.


    <<<<>>>>


    That was miserable, there was no way I was going to be able to do anything with that lingering. But I needed to get back to Ina, I needed to get to the tunnels and finish this quest - no, what the hell was I thinking? I needed to find her body and bury her properly. I had to. I had no choice in the matter.


    Ten minutes later, I managed to sit up in the bed, my vision swam and the room spun, but I held on. My emotions, however, did not. I first thought I was going to vomit with the force of the sob, but I didn¡¯t. I just cried. I held my face in my hands as my tears flowed over my fingers, pouring down onto the floor below me. I couldn¡¯t believe she was gone, again. I had lost everything once already, and now I had lost everything again. First, it was to an unimaginable evil, the darkness of cancer, and then to an unavoidable fate in Astraea, and now to the Viridian Empire. Was I destined to lose everything I loved? I refused to admit it at first, but now I understood. I was never meant to be happy, I was meant to suffer. The dark gods of oblivion apparently had a mark on me, and I was to suffer forever. I sat in the inn room for just a minute before deciding what needed to be done. I would head back into the tunnels, I would find Ina¡¯s body, and I would bury her the way she deserved. She wouldn¡¯t rot or be picked apart by the rats, not if I had anything to say about it.


    I clenched my fists as I rose from the bed and was flooded with nausea. I braced myself against the wall, but the feeling passed. I pushed out the door, and headed downstairs. I was greeted by the Dwarf, who shook his head at me and gave me a soft smile.


    ¡°Eh, run about by them Imperial bigots, were ye?¡± He seemed to know what had happened, and he handed me a small pack of supplies. ¡°Here, these are fer ya, sorry about yer lady friend.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, is painful, but will pass. Maybe.¡± I nodded my assent and headed to the door, but before I could leave, he shouted after me.


    ¡°Watch them Imperial Travelers, they¡¯re going through every city, running amok and roughing up people who aren¡¯t aligned with the Empire. Lots of people are leaving town, lots of others don¡¯t come back. Most of us city folk, we do okay, but the Travelers, well¡­¡± His words lingered in my head as I exited the inn and took off down the alleyway.