《The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes》


 Prologue: For the Glory

    Prologue: For the Glory


    "The spider weaves his web in the pce of the Caesars."


    Atreas prepared the finishing stroke, a sandstorm that would inflict colossal damage on his opponents - and possibly also on his own Guildmates. As per the n, his warriors were tanking and blocking off the opponent''s melee fighters in the centre of the dusty arena, leaving the mage Atreas in sce some distance away from the action. His massive INT stat, ranked 3rd among all yers, meant that a sandstorm summoned in the centre of the fight would deal enough damage to basically overkill the yers trapped in the middle of the rushing sand. His tanks would also be sacrificed to the maelstrom, but such consequences weren''t considered important when the n was set out by the Guild leader, who happened to be Atreas.


    The fight pushed slowly towards the opposing team''s half of the arena, with his heavily-armed warriors gaining the upper hand over an enemy who were mostly DEX-based, stealthy fighters more ustomed to using daggers and small swords. It felt like a mismatch, and Atreas decided that the time was right to end the fight, signalling to his team-mates by raising his hand and using his mana to shove an opponent to the ground. An ally of his rapidly surged forwards, using his secondary weapon - a scythe - to target the opposing mage. The [Reaper''s Pull] skill activated, dragging the mage towards the centre of the arena and throwing him to the ground. The skill was a special ability linked to scythes, and allowed the user to grab distant or fleeing enemies and pull them closer while grounding them. It was an effective way to prevent weaker enemies or ranged units from fleeing when attacked. In this case, it was used to drag the mage into the path of the sandstorm.


    Atreas began to cast the [Sand Maelstrom] spell, costing 200 MP. The spell was highly powerful, but required 5 seconds to charge and would fail if the caster took damage during this time. He waited as the 5 seconds psed: 5, 4, 3... Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a stealth fighter, dressed in the usual ck shinobi shozoku of the Assassin ss, materialise behind his line of tanks and quickly bound in his direction. The Assassin must have used his 3-second invisibility ability, [Stealth Cloak], to sneak past the rest of the fight, though it was difficult to pull off in fights like these because it would fade if the user was struck. It must have taken quite some agility to bolt through the thickest part of the fight without taking a stray hit.


    Atreas shrugged slightly - it was toote for this Assassin to prevent the sandstorm, so this sudden show of bravado seemed inconsequential. As soon as the Sand Maelstrom spell was cast, Atreas quickly cast [Earth Shield] towards the Assassin, causing a wall of earth to rise and form a rock-like shield in the direction that the Assassin was quickly approaching from.


    The Assassin nearly ran into the wall of earth, but made an agile rightwards twist away from it to avoid collision, then rolled quickly on the ground into an alert, standing position. Atreas could see now that this Assassin''s username was [Crucis], and he seemed to be smirking lightly at Atreas. The Assassin''s HP was at 60%, due to the skirmish earlier. On the other side of the arena, one of Atreas'' team had clumsily managed to escape from the sandstorm with heavy damage, but the rest of the yers were struggling in vain to move as the raging sandstorm''s damage overwhelmed them. A few bodies alreadyy on the ground, with no HP remaining.


    Tense, Atreas waited for the Assassin''s next move, but the Assassin just seemed to stand still, watching out for attacks. Impatiently, Atreas cast [Dust Missile], gathering the sand together into a sharp, conical projectile that he aimed at his opponent. The Assassin saw thising, and quickly activated [Speed Demon] to raise his speed as he rolled out of harm''s way. The remaining allied warrior, named [KingDuncan], had nearly reached Atreas, which would probably make seeing off this Assassin easy. However, Atreas nced and saw that he had only 100 MP remaining himself, not enough for sustainedbat.


    The Assassin sprung into action just as the armour-d warrior was done lumbering back, aiming a firm strike at Atreas with a pair of daggers. However, Atreas had already prepared to deal with sneak attacks in this battle, equipping an amulet that gave him a 100% Agility boost for 5 seconds when attacked. Though it had a cooldown time of 1 minute, he wasn''t expecting many attacks to slip through to his secluded position. He quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, and used [Mana Push] to keep distance from the Assassin by pushing the attacker away lightly. While there was a trait that made Mana more effective at moving opponents, he had not taken that and preferred to strengthen his earth spells. In any case, the Assassin didn''t seem to make much effort to continue the attack, so Atreas was safe for the moment - albeit with only 80 MP.


    KingDuncan finally made his way to the fray, but with only 20% of his HP remaining after barely escaping the sandstorm. Atreas spent 50 MP healing KingDuncan with [Greater Healing], restoring them to 80% HP. When the Assassin approached again, KingDuncan''srge broadsword stood in the way. Atreas had already buffed the warriors, who had greatly enhanced Strength and some additional Constitution. When KingDuncan''s sword met the Assassin''s daggers, the Assassin was pushed firmly away andnded crouching at the leftmost edge of the arena.


    Atreas was cautious because of his low MP, even though it was slowly regenerating. However, impatient to end the fight, he spent 35 MP on another [Dust Missile], hoping to strike the Assassin when he was distracted by the advancing KingDuncan. However, to Atreas'' surprise, the Assassin saw the missile but did not dodge it, instead standing passively and holding his arms out towards his sides as if wings. With a thud, the missile collided with him and sent him falling to the ground. KingDuncan walked up to him, then raised his hand firmly in the air and brought down the broadsword through the Assassin''s chest, reducing their HP to 0. "Too little, toote, ninja," taunted Atreas. The battle was over, and he saw that the Assassin''s sneakiness had got them nowhere.


    The more you see, the more you do.


    Atreas was slightly taken aback by the Assassin''ste resistance, but thought back with satisfaction - and a hint of hubris - on the sess of his tactics in killing most of his enemies in one fell swoop. His team had just won the semi-finals of a tournament, and if they won then the reward was a rare, powerful artifact. Even better, they had fought down a team from a widely-hated, sadistic Guild, which made Atreas feel peace of mind. His Guild tended to specialise more in dungeon crawling and PvE rewards, but he was relishing this turn to PvP and was convinced that they were favourites going into the finals. The finals would be in two hours, giving time for team-mates to respawn and for all yers to equip themselves for the match.


    He trudged up the rocky, uneven stairs besides the arena, towards the surrounding building. Finding his way to the room he was assigned for the final stages of this tournament, he sat down on a small bed and meditated to restore his MP. yers couldn''t currently leave the game, though hope was spreading of that being fixed soon, so he would have to rx here. He closed his eyes peacefully, satisfied that even the unruly Assassin had been easily tamed.


    "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."


    As he sat in meditation, due to indiscipline and slight nerves he broke off to inspect his Character Summary, the game''s disy of his username, level, and the stats central to his ss:


    [Atreas, level 153.


    ss: Mage.


    Subss: Geomancer.


    INT: 4520.


    MP: 450.


    MP regen: 25 MP per 15 seconds.


    HP: 9000.


    Equipment: Staff of Tiresias | +500 INT, +5% to hydromancy spells, +10% to geomancy spells.


    Oceanic Robes | Doubles the amount of mana regenerated.


    Light body armour | Increases CON by 200.


    Helskor shoes | Increases AGI by 50, and INT by 200.]


    ***


    Once his meditation was finished, the wizard Atreas prepared to set out his equipment for the uing fight.


    Before doing this, he made sure to do some quick research on who his next opponents would be. Curiously, these opponents were from the same Guild as his previous, stealthy opponents, a guild known as [#Sin]. It seemed that their Guild''s stronger yers would be in the uing fixture, but he thought that perhaps they ran multiple teams in case one of them could luck their way into winning it for the Guild. He knew that [#Sin] was widely hated, and were known for preying on weak and new yers. However, even though their team in the finals was stronger than thest he had faced, they were still mostly of a lower level than his team, and he had checked on the game''s rankings that the opposing team''s mage, Cael, was of lower level than him and had a lower INT stat to boost his magic.


    Atreas concluded that his opponents should be easily outssed, but knew that the [#Sin] Guild had unlocked this tournament''s prize, a rare artifact that enhances Mana Regeneration significantly for the Guild. He expected that they wouldn''t give it up easily, since their dungeon exploits had resulted - identally or intentionally - in the artifact being revealed. Nheless, the game generally began a tournament whenever a rare artifact was discovered, and if the finders wanted to keep it then they would have to fight any strong, interested yers in the area.


    Atreas hadid a few different amulets on a table, to choose between. His guild was far in advance of others when it came to raiding, and his rich options disyed that. He inspected a few,ying his hand over them lightly to see text describing their powers.


    [Amulet of Jade | Grants +15% INT] [Amulet of Tiger''s Eye | Grants +10% damage] [Amulet of Silver | Grants +10% HP to all allies nearby] [Amulet of Bronze | Grants +10% ATK to all allies nearby] [Amulet of Topaz | Grants +100% AGI for 5 seconds when attacked. CD: 1 minute.]


    He smiled lightly, remembering his recent use of the topaz amulet. However, the opposing Guild would probably expect that now, so he decided that he should try to surprise them instead. His team would be relying on him to do most of the damage, while his sword-wielding allies would tank the enemy and obstruct its spellcasters. Hence, an ATK boost would mostly benefit his melee fighters, but he would rather an INT boost for a more deadly blow. That might not be necessary, however, as he already had higher INT than his opponents could match, and if he could get a strong attack in then it would be enough even without an INT buff. He pondered between his extravagant collection of amulets, indecisively.


    His eyes strayed over the Amulet of Silver, something that he had mostly used when his Guild were grinding or were struggling throughrge dungeon mobs. In dungeons, it was often important to keep different amulets ready, so that they could be switched once a boss''s weaknesses were found. Here, however, amulets could not be switched during PvP, and he figured that the increased HP might help his allies to tank more easily and hold the tougher opponents back. All the same, he was still hesitant to buff the rest of the team rather than himself, as he didn''t consider them to have the same importance. He hesitated for a moment, deciding between the jade and silver amulets.


    Suddenly, he was shoved hard to his left, and fell to the ground. Looking up, he saw an Assassin quickly swooping in for the kill, and used [Mana Strike] to push the Assassin backwards onto the wall with mana. Another Assassin, who had also found his way in, dropped almost effortlessly down to perch next to Atreas and struck the Mage with a dagger to the face, before leaping back to his feet and stepping away as he saw Atreas preparing to cast a spell. Atreas had been nning to use [Hand of Stone], a low-cost spell which uses earth magic to harden the user''s hand into a stony form and punch the opponent heavily, but the Assassin was now out of reach.


    "Begone, intruders!" Atreas shouted, quickly getting to his feet. One of the Assassinsughed lightly, but Atreas'' vision was still slightly blurred after the surprise attack and he couldn''t make out which it was. He wasn''t sure how the Assassins had managed to get in here, as the guards outside were programmed to one-shot intruders, and the hallway leading up to the room was too long for even a high-Agility Assassin to realistically sneak through in the few seconds of stealth they were allowed. Yet there was no sign of the guards.


    Unable to use most of his borate earth magic in this room, Atreas tried to use another [Mana Strike] on the second Assassin. However, the Assassin rolled out of the way of the strike almost instantaneously. Atreas frowned, as he had never seen even high-level Assassins who were able to move that quickly. "Give up, wizard," said the Assassin, whose mouth seemed to turn up in a slight smile.


    As Atreas got his bearings, he could see that this Assassin was named [Dr1fter], and was unsurprisingly from the [#Sin] Guild. He could recognise the yer''s name from somewhere, but at the moment his thoughts were hazy and he didn''t recall where. The Assassin who Atreas had shoved into the wall had 88% of their HP remaining, and leapt at Atreas again, brandishing a dagger. Atreas could see that his name was [A8]. He was also moving very quickly, but Atreas managed to summon a small [Earth Shield] by dragging a rocky patch of the wall into a protective barrier in the way of the attack.


    At that moment, Dr1fter stepped and seemed to almost disappear, then turned up right next to Atreas'' shoulder. Grabbing Atreas by the shoulder, he used the [Suppression] ability to lift the shoulder upwards and twist Atreas to the ground like a corkscrew. At this point, he signalled to A8, who swiftly rolled to the side of the Earth Shield and threw two knives at Atreas. They struck the wizard in the chest, as [Dr1fter] stabbed him harshly in the neck. Thesebined attacks took out 40% of Atreas'' HP and left him with only 30% remaining. He was surprised at how much damage these Assassins were able to do. "How''d you fancy being a pillory?" wisecracked Dr1fter, who was keeping Atreas down by the shoulder.


    Angered, Atreas used [Dust Missile] to convert the Earth Shield into a rocky projectile, casting it at Dr1fter. Despite the proximity, Dr1fter rolled away, to somewhere near the entrance of the room. Atreas felt a harsh [Forceful Kick] on his back from the other Assassin, and was shoved in the direction of the door. While the damage from this attack wasn''t as high as other kicks, it was mostly used to push opponents firmly away from the user. Atreas used most of his remaining MP to cast [Pir Strike], converting the stony walls next to the doors into a pir-like stream of stone hitting Dr1fter repeatedly in the chest.


    This pushed Dr1fter out of the door and into the hallway, where Atreas was pleased to hear the guards shout as they aggroed on this intruder. However, Atreas felt another [Forceful Kick] push him out into the hallway as well, while he was still casting the spell. Dr1fter stabbed him harshly in the chest with a skill named [Dire Stab], and sent him raggedly to the floor.


    The guards wereing after Dr1fter, but stopped briefly to notice the situation and proim, "Two teams fighting before a match means that they are both disqualified. The prize shall go to the strongest losing semifinalist. Shame on you!" Atreas realised where he recognised Dr1fter''s name from, it must have been one of the opponents in the team that Atreas was supposed to face in the finals. Atreas briefly regretted being seen by the guards. However, Dr1fter was reduced to 20% HP by Atreas'' pir strike, and to Atreas'' delight was soon killed by the guards, who walked back to their positions. His corpsey on the ground, unable to be plundered by others for 5 minutes.


    Atreas was prepared to follow the guards for safety, but he felt an invisible arm grasping his shoulders, and a sharp de against his neck. Dragged back into the room, he heard A8 whisper, "It''s toote now, wizard." As the [Stealth Cloak] faded, the Assassin used [ck Spot], an ability that slit Atreas'' throat and caused it to bleed. The bleeding would inflict enough damage over time to kill Atreas. A8''s grip began to loosen, seemingly satisfied.


    Desperate, Atreas used [Mana Push] to shove the Assassin a short distance, then prepared to cast a simple [Sand Strike] to cause damage with the debris thrown up by his [Pir Strike]. However, as Atreas begun to cast the follow-up spell, the Assassin had already recovered from the push backwards and was standing right in front of Atreas with a hand on the mage''s neck. The Assassin skipped behind Atreas'' right shoulder in under a second, and used [Suppression] to push Atreas to the ground again, disrupting the spell. He held Atreas to the ground with his arms while cing a [Chokehold], and watched as the Mage''s HP drained out from the bleeding. Atreas could barely move, and felt almost cleithrophobic.


    He tried to cry out, but felt severe pain due to the chokehold, and his body shuddered as the cry died in the throat. While the game blocked out pain inflicted by battles and offensive skills, it did not prevent pain from trying to talk or move. Due to the effort, he found himself choking on blood, and was forced to swallow it painfully. He felt the grip around his throat tighten, and his face and throat were lifted roughly away from the floor like a hanging. In agony, he saw his HP drain to 0%, and then cked out. As he prepared to wait for respawn, he could lightly hear the Assassin get up and rummage through the amuletsid on a table.


    (suffer)


    "That''s the life you lead, that''s the time you feed, that''s the dream you let go anyway."

 Chapter 1: Visions of a Dying Swans Twisted Wings

    Chapter 1: Visions of a Dying Swan''s Twisted Wings


    [New Trait unlocked! Spellcaster | Trait: +10% INT, -10 AGI]


    Cael almost tripped over himself onto the dirt road, as he felt himself having to focus on trudging his armoured legs forwards instead of just jaunting on effortlessly. As he tried to regain bnce, his right foot struck against a hard, taupe rock besides the path, and he had to crouch down in order to avoid falling. He dryly made note that he shouldn''t nerf his Agility while in mid-step. The Trait system had just unlocked, a feature which he had heard was important to determining yers'' builds, so his enthusiasm got the better of him this time. This path between towns was fairly peaceful, as it was around a starting town, but he''d have to watch his step in higher-level areas.


    The town of Kruxol stood a short distance before him, and just before entering he cast [Conjure Light], a spell that provided its user with a light source held in the palm. It was probably most useful in dark caves and dungeons, but, since he had few other spells yet, he didn''t really mind the MP cost of lighting up the dusky evening and making navigation easier. As the glowing sphere of light appeared in his hand, he noticed that it was shining much more brightly than he remembered. He could clearly see the road ahead of him, illumined and shing white. He reasoned that it might be the effect of the Spellcaster trait. The cost of the spell was still the same, 5 MP per minute, but its glow was much more radiant. Cael wondered just how strong his offensive spells could be, but he still needed scrolls or quests to unlock decent ones.


    He had grown attuned to the grandiose, heroic tone of ''Freihet: Wings of Heaven,'' a game which would boastrge dragon bosses, Norse gods, and wars in Heaven by the endgame, and which was ordingly designed with a main character whose abilities were grandiose enough to stand up to such challenges. Cael had instinctively decided to take advantage of this with a Mage, who could develop a strong power base through the INT stat and passive skills, then channel this into versatile, powerful forms of magic. He was pleased to see that the effect of the INT stat was even higher than he had expected.


    He entered the town, walking briskly past two guards, and saw a few new yers who were just starting up.


    "Hi, Cael. The quest says to find Bakir the archer, do you remember finishing that?" one asked, approaching him. The name ''N?blesseOblige'' was suspended over the new yer''s head, not yet augmented with a title or Guild name.


    "No, I was told to find the mage trainer, Sayyed. It must be because we''re different sses. Look around town, Bakir must be somewhere here. Good luck!" replied Cael. He had been about to softly correct the yer and say that his name was Karel, a habit he had acquired from living in the USA, but then remembered that he was using the name Cael in-game.


    "Alright, I''ll do that. Thanks. I''m sure I''ll find him eventually," said the new yer cautiously.


    "You''re wee. Here, you can have this gold to help you out at the start," said Cael, holding out 50 gold.


    "No thanks, we''d rather do this by ourselves," said the archer, gesturing towards the small group of new yers next to him, "because it feels more worthwhile, and we like the feeling of a challenge."


    "Oi, maybe I''d like to feel generous,"ughed Cael, "Why don''t we split it, you can take 25 gold and I''ll keep the other half?"


    "OK, fine," said N?blesseOblige. After nodding appreciatively, the new male archer scampered off to search the town, followed by five other newbies, with his bow slung over his shoulder.


    Cael shrugged lightly and looked around the area where he stood, feeling the faint warmth of candles pressing his skin in the cold evening air. A few candles were ced around the borders of the town, providing a very faint, flickering light in the encroaching darkness.


    The immersive, virtual-reality world of Freihet was pioneering, and far more developed than previous games. Many early reviews said that it felt like the futuristic games often imagined in novels, anime, and films. Due to this, there was understandably a lot of excitement, and plenty of new yers split among the 10 starting towns. It was a very ambitious project, and absorbed many users who had been ying augmented reality games and simpler VR games in the search for realism and immersion. It may have even been rushed slightly, to take advantage of the current gaming environment where realistic immersion was<em><em>¨¤</em> mode</em>.


    Having returned to the town, Cael took a right-turn past a weapons store, and came to a round building marked ''Alchemist''s Store.'' He stepped inside, and took a look at the many drawers circling the store interior. There were many potions, as well as some staffs and scrolls locked in containers. The game''s magic system didn''t rely on having a staff or wand, but they came with many benefits, including the ability to iy gems in them in order to increase spell damage, reduce spells'' MP cost, and other such buffs. Cael didn''t feel like he had enough spare gold for a staff, as he would still require spells to use it with, and he had no gems to use on a staff either. Due to this, he went up to the shopkeeper, and asked about what scrolls were avable.


    "At your current INT level, the following scrolls are useable," said the shopkeeper, proceeding to list them off, "Meditate, Minor Healing, Minor Illusion, Enchant Dagger, Spark, Mana Strike. Do you wish to purchase any of these?"


    Cael knew that Meditate was used to increase MP regeneration, and that might be useful if he was going to hunt wild creatures nearby for Experience gain. However, he needed some stronger offensive spells first. He surmised that Mana Strike would be simr to a spell that he already had, Mana Push, which allowed you to shove people and creatures from a distance using some of your mana. While the Strike might be more damaging, he still decided that it didn''t sound powerful enough. He opted to buy the other offensive spell, Spark, although he wasn''t entirely sure what its effect would be like.


    Meditate and Spark came to about 300 gold in total, with Spark costing 200 gold. He still had 800 on hand after that, from low-level quests, so he decided to get Minor Illusion as well, for 150 gold. Curiously, the gamebelled the scroll for Spark as [Providence Spell Scroll], even though the scroll clearly indicated that the spell was named ''Spark'' rather than ''Providence.'' Shrugging, he ced the new scrolls into a spellbook he pulled out of his bag, and began to study them. The scroll for Meditate had no words on it, and could be learnt quickly. The scroll for Minor Illusion was decorated with an illustration of a green snake circling across the top of the page. He read the scroll''s text:


    "To create the illusion of a small object, such as a key or a coin, is the power of Minor Illusion. This illusion should not be touched physically for longer than a minute, or it will wither. This basic illusion is summoned by concentrating small amounts of mana into a single node that stimtes the senses of onlookers, causing them to see an object where there is none.


    "Mana is typically not sensed clearly by men, so it is possible for it to send rogue information to the senses. However, be cautious when using this ability among more powerful mages. Though they might see the illusory object, they will be used to using mana, and will probably notice the mana being used to produce this illusion."


    The cost would be 25 mana per minute, of the pool of 260 that he had already. As he read the scrolls in his spellbook, the game registered them as new abilities for his character, and he noticed messages appear on his left:


    [New spell! Meditate. 10 MP.]


    [New spell! Minor Illusion. 25 MP/min]


    [New spell! Spark. 30 MP]


    He was still slightly uncertain of what Spark would do, although the scroll described it as using mana to seize part of an enemy''s body and deteriorate it. He left the shop, and walked around it to get out of town, onto the dusty and dark area outside. He scanned the area for creatures to target. Most grinding spots were slightly further out, including a few near the archery range to the West of Kruxol. However, he spotted an unfamiliar small creature in a dark, ck-brown tree nearby, with the word ''sable'' in orange hovering above it.


    Orange signified a wild creature, which would probably attack if disturbed. Red meant a hostile creature that would seek conflict, yellow represented a neutral creature who would only attack if attacked first, and green would be a friendly or tamed creature. Creatures this close to the town were unlikely to be red, or they would have already picked a fight with the guards. He felt a bit hesitant about attacking this creature, as he wasn''t familiar with the species'' capabilities and didn''t know how difficult the fight would be, but he was nning to log out soon and that required you to be in a town or building. He figured he''d have to take his chances on a fight here. He let his light source disappear, to save mana for the fight. The sable was still lit faintly by the wan light of the candles around the edge of Kruxol.


    Looking closer at the sable, it seemed to be a small creature covered thickly in a silky, brown coat of fur, with a light white-grey patch on its throat. It had ''lvl 12'' written right beneath its species name, in smaller, white text. Cael used [Mana Push] to force it out of the tree, and the sable took 15% of its HP in fall damage as itnded on the dusty ground beside the tree. The push was more firm than he remembered it being, pushing the sable cleanly off its branch, and he reasoned that this must be because of his increased INT stat. Due to the disturbance, the sable was aggressive, and as it mbered back to its feet it bared a set of fine, sharp teeth. With its nimble feet lightly brushing the ground, the sable began to run towards him. While he was d that the sable was at a fairly low level, it looked like its attacks would be fierce. As it approached him, he held out his right arm towards it and cast [Spark].


    Suddenly, the sable stood still, stopped in its tracks. Cael watched as ripples of mana soaked the sable''s body, constraining it like a small cage of thorns. Shivering faintly, the sable slowly slouched to the ground, as the mana undermined its muscles and left it unable to stand. As the sable''sst HP withered away, it seemed to be trying to scream, but this scream could not rise through the waves of mana caging its body. Cael was taken aback by seeing the graceful creature go through such an unbing end.


    In the beginning, a spectre of the Crucifix. The spectre is as pale as Venus'' light.


    To bow in Providence''s yoke is disempowerment. This anchors themon tale of the devil''s fall. Lucifer in Heaven suffers, for his life of obedience feels to him like crucifixion. The fallen angel suffers, for he exchanges his natural splendour and light to be impaled helplessly upon the fires of Hell. At Satan''s behest, Christ suffers upon the cross. The crucifix is the bloom of Lucifer''s light across Calvary, rejuvenated as if he had never fallen, and yet it is also his Vale of Tears. There is no contradiction. Satan''s wings cannot lift him from hellfire, and so he understands and wields the prisoner wings of a crucifix.


    The immersive MMO had grown in poprity by selling yers the role of being a noble, heroic protagonist, but in a few seconds the sable''s rare majesty had dissolved as if it was never there. Cael''s light conjuration had taken on a greater brilliance as his magic grew in power, but could this light also go out someday here with less than a whimper? Then the painstaking cultivation of power would be for nothing. While yers were supposed to be guarded from pain and wounds, Cael was still slightly disturbed by how bleak and torturous this spell''s design had looked and resolved to find another offensive spell that was less like the fabled iron maiden. However, he still found the spell''s decisive effect on the battle impressive.


    Cael checked on his inventory, and saw that a ''Lesser sable fur'' had been added automatically when the creature died. He checked its details, and found that it could be sold for 4000 gold. That was quite a tidy sum, in the early game. He guessed that the fur of high-level sables would be much more valuable, but he was in no position to fight them yet. Besides, sables were a rare sight, and not easy to find unless you were lucky enough to run into one. This game, like many others, had a rarity mechanic which made the appearance of certain creatures seem more meaningful to yers. In the spirit of Johannes the Seducer, the aesthetic of seeking or encountering a rare creature was often considered more fulfilling than actually getting what is sought. A theatregoer may already know that a y is a ''Tragedy,'' but knowing about the ending does little to ruin the y.


    He walked back towards the nearby town, with the faint light of candles illuminating his way. As he walked, he quickly calcted that he had enough gold to get a staff and some extra spells tomorrow. That would be a significant progress by this stage, and he might gain some stronger offensive spells to test his spellcasting strength. This would be important in dungeons. In the meta so far, powerful elemental spells were proving to be the most effective way for groups of yers to sessfully tackle dungeons.


    Stories have their own peculiar vision of Providence. In the end, the powerful viin''s strength fails against the hero, the conniving viin''s ns falter. They cannot move, and are haunted by the shape of the crucifix like a ck dog. It is their greatest foe. Yet the crucifix is a weapon of sorts, and when Providence strikes the viin will have no other weapon left. "Wither me down, destined to fail, we get up just to fall down, withering." (Subject2change.)


    When he entered the town, he reached towards a ck strap on his right arm, just below his hand, and pressed a button on it to bring up the main menu. A few options hovered in front of him. Before logging off, he decided to check the rankings. Pressing the text saying ''Rankings,'' he saw an ordered list of yers with the highest levels, along with a number of tabs to the left of the list allowing him to see other categories of ranking.


    He saw that some people were reaching level 40 already, and the highest level recorded was 41. ncing at some of the highest-levelled yers, he saw names like DragonKing, rEdTrEe, Cyperus, NavigatorGhost, and FineYouthfulLad. Most of them were melee fighters, as those could jump straight into a fight, and gained offensive abilities faster in the early game, whereas Mages'' spells often had nonbat effects.


    He was surprised to see that his own level was now 21, and realised that he must have levelled up after the sable fight, and was likely too distracted by the [Spark] effect to notice. This wasn''t among the highest levels, but it was respectable. He had only been ying since thete afternoon, so when he joined the game there were already people who had been ying for 6-10 hours. The ranking list only showed the top 100 yers, which did not include him at present, but some text below it indicated to him that he was in the top 700 of yers in terms of overall EXP gained. He figured that, apart from the few yers who were levelling much faster than the rest, the EXP required for levelling would eventually grow until most people weren''t many levels apart. It was only the first day of the game, so people who had done research or prepared a strong team to help them were growing quickly through the lower levels, and things would probably slow down eventually.


    He checked on a ranking of yers with the highest INT, and found that, predictably, it was mostly Mages. Other sses did show up asionally, mostly high-level yers with above-average stats across the board, and people with higher-level equipment that gave a notable stat boost. The highest INT listed there was 790, probably because they had prepared a guild with strong team-mates and had managed to find some powerful INT-boosting equipment in a chest whilepleting dungeons.


    Cael wasn''t sure about joining a guild before he had some idea of what guilds were avable and how much they hated each other. His own INT, 347, was apparently in the top 300. That was good news, he figured, as he had been focusing on it to increase the power of his spells. Skipping through the tabs, there were also rankings for the other stats like STR and DEX, as well as some empty rankings for content that wasn''t yet unlocked. Cael pressed an ''X'' in the corner to return to the main menu, and then logged out.


    As he pulled off the VR suit and a few sensors attached to his body, he found himself alone in his bedroom with a red T-shirt saying ''I''m a Saviour''. He had purchased that from Thand a long time ago, and it seemed that the text was some brand''s slogan. There was a small logo, of a red castle with pink and green banners unfurling around it, on the top-left of the shirt. Looking out of the window across the room, he could see a few trees faintly lit by the moonlight, and his own faint reflection, with his straight brown hair a bit disordered after the drama of the VR experience. He walked away from the VR equipment, and prepared to sleep.

 Chapter 2: Boss Fight! The Protagonist Vs. a Chicken that is not a Chicken

    Chapter 2: Boss Fight! The Protagonist Vs. a Chicken that is not a Chicken


    Cael leafed through his quest log. He saw that he hadpleted most of the standard MMO quests for new yers: kill 20 rats, deliver a potion to the Alchemist''s Store, kill the rat boss, kill the chicken that is not a chicken and is rather - wait, he hadn''tpleted that quest. In the lowest tier of quests, there was a quest with the following task: ''Kill the chicken that is not a chicken.'' It was marked iplete.


    A strange task. However, before he took to questing, he sought new equipment and spells in Kruxol. Cael entered the Alchemist''s Store. Looking around, he could see some tightly locked containers, probably containing high-level scrolls or equipment. He wasn''t going to be looking through those just yet, however. He asked the shopkeeper what basic staffs were avable, and was told, "Two are avable that you may wield. One is the [Minor Arcane Staff], which boosts INT by 240 but cannot block attacks. It costs 2300 gold. The other is the [Adept Combat Staff], which has two slots for gems, can block enemy attacks based on your agility, and permits you to use a special ability that strikes the opponent from afar. This costs 2800 gold, the extra cost is mostly due to it having gem slots."


    As he said this, the shopkeeper drew out two staffs. The [Minor Arcane Staff] was a finely carved length of coarse wood, cylindrical and smooth on its sides. The [Adept Combat Staff] was more rough and uneven, with a slightly haphazard carving process. However, it contained two open slits for gems. The gems weren''t an option for Cael yet, but the chance to block attacks was still quite valuable along with an extra ability. While he was tempted to purchase this staff, the 240 INT from the other staff would almost double his current INT, as well as being boosted by his Spellcaster Trait, and based on his recent experience this could make him much more powerful. Besides, his Agility was on the lower end, so the ability to block attacks would be limited for him. Slightly hesitantly, he decided to forgo the defensive option and purchase the [Minor Arcane Staff].


    This left him some gold remaining for spells. Most spells avable to him were still the same, as INT from equipment didn''t unlock further spell options. However, he had gained 25 stat points to invest by levelling to 21, and invested 20 of those into INT with the rest in the Constitution stat. This was enough to make two additional spell scrolls avable: re, and Mana Beam. He was slightly pleased that they were both offensive options, although this meant that their cost was higher. They gave him an alternative to his Spark spell.


    As he purchased them both for 1200 gold, the shopkeeper warned him that re was an elemental spell, and using any more powerful versions of the spell would require a Pyromancer subss. Since re was one of the most basic elemental spells, it was avable without the subss, but if yers got into the habit of using it then they might have to leave it behind if they did not choose the Pyromancer subss. Cael wasn''t yet sure which subss he would opt for, but he felt that the need for extra alternative spells was enough to justify getting re. Besides, he was feeling slightly daredevil after leaving aside the staff which could block attacks. So he simply thanked the shopkeeper for the warning, and then set off to memorise the spells.


    He could see why the re spell was considered a low-tier fire spell, as its scroll specified that it was different from a usual fireball because it only drew on thin, unstable, smoky wisps of fire. This could easily burn out or disappear as it made its way towards the opponent, but was still quite damaging at this level.


    [New spell! re. 70 MP.]


    [New spell! Mana Beam. 65 MP.]


    Leaving the Alchemist''s Store, he walked to the outskirts of the town and began thinking about how to solve the quest of the chicken that is not a chicken.


    Thinking back, he had received the quest from an old NPCdy named Ruby Rubi who was standing by a road to the West of town. She said that she had been working at a farm to the West, but the owner had been attacked by a chicken that was out of the ordinary. While she did not say specifically that it was ''not a chicken,'' the quest log apparently expects yers to have understood this intuitively.


    He had searched the farm briefly earlier, but encountered no chicken that was relevant to the quest. He figured that he shouldplete this quest, as lower-tier quests tended to be quick and the EXP reward might raise him to the next level, but he wasn''t sure where to begin looking. He saw a nearby group of experienced yers, decked in impressive and rare armour, talking amongst themselves. They all seemed to be members of the same Guild, named [GildedKnights]. One of them named [Jarius] was wearing a title, that showed above his name in glittering red text, saying ''Leader.'' Cael cautiously walked up to him, and asked if he was familiar with the quest for the chicken that is not a chicken.


    "Ah, yeah, I remember that one," replied Jarius, "That one is a toughie, not gonna lie. Like, it''s a weird thing for a quest to ask for, right? Anyway, the chicken boi is on the farm, but you need to inflict bleeding on another chicken and wait for around half a minute before it is summoned."


    "Oh, I didn''t realise that. Thanks a lot."


    "I didn''t, either, a few people from our Guild did some research and discovered that it had been killed a few times, it would be a pain to find out about otherwise. It''s a bit of a weird fight, but my team didn''t have that much difficulty. Tell us if you get the kill."


    "Alright, see youter," said Cael, smiling.


    While he prepared to head West, he hesitated for a moment because his mage abilities so far didn''t include the ability to cast the bleeding status effect. However, he recalled the sharp teeth of the sable, and decided that if he could find something sharp, it might be sufficient to bleed the sacrificial chicken. Getting a melee weapon with bleeding abilities would be expensive, and generally useless because his weapon skills weren''t high enough to use many skills. However, there was a store that he had heard of on the game''s forums, where yers went to find buffs and debuffs that they couldn''t normally use. He walked into the building in Kruxol marked ''Trinket Store,'' and looked around for anything that looked sharp and may induce bleeding.


    He found a string ne that seemed to be adorned with a gathering of sharp spikes. Asking the shopkeeper what it was, he was told that it was a ne made with the crushed ws of a ferocious beast, and if triggered it would allow the wearer''s next ability to inflict bleeding on creatures that it affected. It had a cooldown time of two hours. He purchased this ne with 500 gold, and looked around the store quickly. He saw many items, and noticed that a few inflicted poison or increased speed, among other effects. He decided that he should get some speed-boosting items soon, but at present he probably couldn''t afford them. At least he should be able toplete his current quest.


    He walked down a path leading to the West of town, with grass tilting lightly in the breeze on either side of the dusty path. He could see a few old trees as he reached the farm, with the barks of these trees leaning so far towards the ground that they seemed to almost be cowering beneath their dark, green-grey leaves. The farm area was quiet, but he remembered where he had seen chickens waiting during hisst visit and made his way there.


    Arriving in front of a few makeshift, wooden chicken coups, he noticed that they seemed to be mostly disused. He ran carefully through the advice that Jarius had given, and looked through the doors of the coops to see where chickens were currently wandering. In the leftmost coop, he saw a chicken quietly strutting around. Triggering his ne''s skill, he used [Mana Push] to lightly flip the chicken onto the ground. Next to its HP bar, he saw a symbol indicating that the bleeding status had been inflicted. He then walked away from the building, to give the quest''s boss time to appear.


    Eventually, he heard a loud tearing sound from the ce where he had left the bleeding chicken, and quickly walked to the coop. Peering into the dark building, he could dimly see that another chicken had appeared and was pecking at the unfurled intestines of the bleeding chicken. As he watched, the chicken paused and threw up its head to survey the rest of the dead chicken. It gave a sinister cluck into the air, and then resumed by pecking at the chicken''s bleeding wings.


    Cael was slightly taken aback at this cannibalistic chicken, that seemed, indeed, to behave more like a demon than a chicken. As he slowly crept into the building with it, he saw it turn up its head and look him in the eyes. The chicken''s eyes had an aggressive, almost crazed look. Cael was contemting a hasty retreat, but decided that running back to town withoutpleting the quest would subject him to mockery by Jarius'' Guild. Instead, he quickly cast [Meditate], to increase his ability to cast spells. Seeing this, the chicken stood up and faced him, preparing for a fight and letting out a deep hiss. Nervous, Cael decided to begin by casting re.


    As a few strings of fire began to dance around his fingers, the chicken mockingly cackled at him. He released the spell at the chicken, and it reduced the chicken''s HP to 90%. Cackling again, the chicken took arge bite out of the bleeding chicken intestines on the floor, and its HP increased back to 100%. It then used an ability of its own. As it was a boss, its skills had names that disyed when they were used. The chicken screeched loudly at Cael, and the game helpfully denoted this the [Chicken rm] skill. Cael suddenly became paralysed, and the chicken rushed towards him, grabbing his legs with a w-like foot, and tossed him t against the wall using the [Chicken Attack!] ability. Cael was now at 70% HP, slumped against the floor. He quickly aimed a [Mana Beam] at the chicken, and concentrated his mana into a beam aiming straight at the chicken. However, the chicken responded by opening its mouth and releasing a powerful ray of energy, with its [Chicken Ray] ability, and this collided with Cael''s Mana Beam. Cael felt himself thrown back slightly by the impact, but the two attacks had cancelled each other out.


    The chicken skipped around the building, asionally letting out the stray ''bawk bawk.'' As Cael crawled to his feet, he saw an ability name appear next to the chicken, [Massively Forced]. The chicken seemed to gather the power of the air around it, and turned it into a series of fine, sharp spikes like shattered ss, which it then flung at Cael. Cael copsed straight to the ground at the impact, now at only 35% HP. He could barely get up, and his arms hurt as he tried to lift himself from the ground. The chicken danced around him, skipping merrily over the weakened body of its adversary and asionally stepping on him when he tried to get up.


    Cael tried another [re], but the chicken mockingly dispelled the wisps of me by aiming a [Chicken Ray] at them. He knew that the chicken could have just killed him while he was down, but it seemed to be toying with him instead. This reminded him of the quest log, which spoke of a chicken that was not a chicken. He could clearly see that this chicken did not act like a chicken at all, and more like a malignant spirit that, as a poet may say, ''never wert'' a bird. As he considered the failure of his new spells to do much at all to this chicken, the chicken wandered the room clucking busily as if unimpressed with Cael''s performance. It asionally eyed him, with eyes that seemed to him now hollow and vicious. As if impatient for something, it cast [Chicken rm] on his fallen body as he tried to get up, then walked up to him and kicked him down to the ground.


    As the paralysis ended, he saw the chicken start to charge towards him. As it approached, he fell slowly to his right side and used [Mana Push] to divert its path. Due to his higher INT, the push clearly repelled the chicken away from him, and due to its trajectory it ran into the wall. This reduced it to 80% HP. However, he turned towards it to see it nonchntly collect itself and cluck amusedly. It then looked towards him, and used [Chicken Attack!] to lightly m him facefirst into the ground.


    Cael was at 20% HP now, and had enough MP for only one or two spells. The chicken was taking its time, which helped him to regain mana due to the Meditate spell. However, he knew that another re or Mana Beam would probably just be deflected with a Chicken Ray. He looked in the direction of this terrifying malignance in the form of a chicken, and it looked back expectantly. Knowing that he had no other choice, he gave up on his new spells and cast [Spark] on the chicken that was not a chicken.


    The sound of clucking stopped, and he saw the shape of a chicken stand still, then gradually wither onto the ground under the mana''s suppression, eventually falling limp to the floor. Cael was tired, and felt almost excited to see his foe slump to the ground. It felt as if the exhaustion and torment of the battle was a ck hole, and his target had fallen in first and nowy dead on the ground.


    However, when he went up to the corpse of the chicken he had just downed, he saw that he was near the bright entrance to the building, facing the same chicken corpse that he had left to bleed for the sake of summoning the boss. He looked around, but saw no sign of the chicken that was not a chicken. Lightly touching the bleeding corpse of the original chicken, he could feel the sense of constriction where he had used [Spark], but none of the other furore or attacks of the battle were reflected on this chicken''s body. He checked his quest log, and saw that the quest had registered aspleted and the EXP from it had raised him to level 22. However, he hadn''t received any additional EXP for killing the boss. For a moment, he stood still at the entrance to the makeshift coop, and looked around quizzically, overwhelmed by the mystery of the chicken that is not a chicken.


    As he stepped outside and prepared to leave the farm, he heard a loud, wicked chicken cackle from inside the coop he had just left. He quickened his pace away from the building.


    As he found his way - too slowly, it felt - onto the brown, dusty path towards Kruxol, he prepared to meet up with Jarius and the GildedKnights Guild, to tell them that the quest was done. He figured that he would omit the story of his encounter with the chicken that was not a chicken. But you, dear reader, have heard it, and hopefully agree that this Chicken with a Thousand Faces is the central figure of not only all storytelling, but also of all serious political philosophy.

 Chapter 3: Aid dependency - Life passes by like someone elses film

    Chapter 3: Aid dependency - Life passes by like someone else''s film


    In many MMOs, especially p2w ones, Gods, Heroes and Angels are strewn around everywhere. yers meet deities, kill deities, are deities - the game is structured around this kind of wish-fulfillment, it acts if it were true. ying such a game can be like joining a religious service. But prayer is loss of vitality. A Church is a Masque of the Red Death.


    The sea of flying arrows seemed to drown the air.


    "This is the archery range, you''ve probably heard of it. It''s all the rage, as you can see," said Jarius. The level 40 warrior turned to watch the sea of arrows.


    Hundreds of archers strode therge area, surrounded by high fencing. The brown earth below them was firm, and they queued to take their shots.


    "Peoplee here to practice their rangedbat. There are a few trainers lurking around, that give them quests for EXP, equipment and better ammo. The quests are basically to hit the targets urately, using different kinds of arrows, and all that." Jarius paused, and took a deep breath as he adopted a less casual demeanour.


    He turned to his Guildmates, stiffened his back, and said, "Does anyone need to train here? If so, go ahead, and we''ll take you with us the next time we run the dungeon. You need to train, so that you can win the Valha Games'' archery segment for our Guild, and prove our worth before the heavens'' watchful eye."


    Cael saw three archers break off from the group and enter the archery range''s gates. They were all in the upper 20s in terms of level.


    "I''ll be staying here for a few minutes, to monitor our archers'' performance. Sorry about that," Jarius said to him.


    "Not a problem," replied Cael.


    While the group stalled near the entrance to the vast archery range, Cael reached for the band on his right wrist, and again opened the menu. There, he selected some text saying ''Features.''


    This then disyed a rectangr table, listing several game features. At present, most options were greyed-out, other than the first two, ''Character'' and ''Trait.'' The first of those options was where he could distribute his stat points after each level, and also see the stats added by his equipment. The second allowed him to develop the Trait system. The third feature in this list, still greyed-out, was called ''Skill Mastery.'' He pressed it to check its requirements, and some text appeared informing him that it would unlock at level 25. At least it was something to look forwards to.


    Instead, he pressed the Trait button. The menu screen faded in front of him, leaving him back watching the bustling archery range. However, a rectangr window appeared to his right oveid on the game world, with a title bar saying ''Trait'' above it. There was a set of red spheres in this window, one of them glowed red and had the text ''Spellcaster'' engraved beneath it. A line lead through the sphere, disying a skill tree. He had chosen the lower path on this tree, opting against the ''Battle Mage'' sphere above that which offered the ability to convert 15% of INT to DEX or STR temporarily when activated. He didn''t see that as equally useful, given that Spellcaster could increase the power of his spells significantly, and spells were his main strength as a mage so sacrificing INT for other stats seemed wasteful for now. Most Traits had both upsides and downsides, meaning that they encouraged yers to consider their build more specifically.


    Traits could be developed to the next level of the skill tree bypleting quests, that gave you Trait points which could be invested in unlocking Traits. He looked at a sidebar on the right of the window, and saw that he hadpleted the second Trait quest: ''Reach level 22, and memorise 5 spells.'' The quest disyed in green, with a check-mark next to it. He hence had a Trait point to use. The next two abilities avable in the Spellcaster tree were:


    [Mana Refinement | Trait: Increases MP by 2% for each Trait point used on any Trait, but elemental spells cost 30% more Mana.] [Spirit | Trait: 5% chance for each elemental spell cast to raise 20% damage by any other elemental spells cast in the next 15 seconds. This buff does not stack. No MP is recovered for 20 seconds after this buff activates.]


    Cael had heard that most powerful mages relied mostly on elemental spells to do damage, because these spells were not only highly powerful but were boosted further by the abilities of elemental magic subsses. As such, he decided that Spirit would be the safer option, and was probably what most strong mages were using as they needed to cast several elemental spells.


    ncing slightly further in the skill tree, he saw that the Mana ability led to further Mana-rted abilities, that could increase MP or strengthen mana-based spells like Mana Push, and Spirit led mostly to Traits that strengthened spells and elemental magic. While he mused that strengthening elemental magic without increasing MP could be a problem, because strong elemental spells often had a high MP cost, he still opted for Spirit because the alternative would still worsen the costs of elemental spells when they became avable.


    [New Trait unlocked! Spirit | Trait: 5% chance for each elemental spell cast to raise 20% damage by any other elemental spells cast in the next 15 seconds. This buff does not stack. No MP is recovered for 30 seconds after this buff activates.]


    He looked to the right of the Trait window, and saw that his next quest was: ''Explore a cave, and kill 3 creatures inside.'' Cave creatures were an MMORPG staple, and he assumed that he would be fighting oversized cave spiders, bats, and possibly slugs. They represented a strange crossroads between a hero''s grand quest to y the dragon, and an episode of Fear Factor. While unpleasantpany was likely, he figured that the game was using this quest to encourage exploration. He might as well get it over with, if there was a cave nearby with low-level creatures.


    Scanning the sparsely wooded area around the archery range, he saw some slightly distant rocky hills to the Northwest, and a few holes near their base that may be caves. Turning to Jarius, he asked, "Are there any caves near those hills?"


    Looking in the direction that Cael was pointing, Jarius replied, "Those hills are near the town of Sanra, where we''re heading next. I''m not sure if they have caves, but Byron here explores everything, so he may know." He gestured towards a lightly-armoured warrior besides him, with a thick, brown beard but short hair.


    This man, Byron, joined in the conversation, "Yes, there are caves there. I think the ones next to Sanra have creatures that you could fight. Do you have any quests to do in caves?"


    "Yes," said Cael, "And thank you for mentioning it. Shall I make my way there while you guys are on your way to the dungeon?"


    "No,e and see the dungeon," smiled Jarius, "But most of it might be too threatening for you, so you can backtrack to the cave once we reach the difficult sections. Enemies swarm you in the dungeon. Meet us in the town when you''re done. Despite the swarm, archers can be useful, but with the weak shots of these guys they''d just be moving targets." Jarius was looking at the archery range again, where a Guildmate named [Hurricanrana] was taking quick shots that often fell low on the target. Cael was slightly impressed at how quickly the archer was shooting, but Jarius was obviously less than impressed because the shots weren''t as strong as he would prefer. Jarius clenched his fists, d in thin, dark purple-grey [Gloves of the Divine Warrior].


    "Sure, I''ll meet you there after the cave," said Cael. He was slightly bemused by Jarius'' earlier tone, as if the Guild leader forgot that Cael was there when he started castigating the archers. Cael wasn''t aware that Jarius'' ambitions required his Guild to do well at the Valha Games event in order toplete his full set of Divine Warrior equipment, and gain the powerful set bonuses. However, Cael could understand that the tasks of a Guild leader could be strenuous in the early days of the game, and Jarius probably had to focus on leading his Guild and monitoring its members.


    Soon, the three archers returned to the group, and they set off down a winding path leading Northeast. Looking to his left, Cael could see a few groups of adventurers grinding by fighting giant rats and young goblins. These rats wererger than the basic rat enemy that Cael had already fought, but most groups found them to be easy kills. The propagation of rats in MMORPGs, sometimes even including rats of different shapes, sizes, radioactivity levels, and possibly some wielding weapons, gave one the distinct impression that MMORPG developers were probably brainwashed former dissidents from an Orwellian dystopia. As the path nted North, the trees surrounding it became more dense, with res of light creeping through the thick leaves. The sunlit greenery around the path got slightly darker, as evening approached.


    The town of Sanra was very crowded, due to its proximity to several popr grinding areas. Cael considered spending more time in these areas, but at the moment they were so crowded that their EXP drops weren''t that high. He had read some analysis of this in an article linked on the game''s forums. Many of the higher-level yers had been grinding in more obscure areas, like out-of-the-way caves and rooms deep inside of buildings, where monsters of appropriate level could be found and not shared. Unsurprisingly, they didn''t tend to share these spots with the public.


    As Jarius'' group split up, Cael shuffled past the crowd and entered Sanra''s Alchemist''s Store.


    His recent boss fight against the chicken-that-was-not-a-chicken had given Cael an idea. He remembered how difficult it was to recover when the enemy mmed him into the wall, making it easy for the boss to keep him grounded. This seemed like it would entuate the disempowering effect of Spark, and while he had his misgivings about that spell, his recent fight showed that it was something he might need when the going got tough. As such, he quickly purchased [Mana Strike], which was cheaper here than in Kruxol because most mages reaching here already had it. Cael hadn''t nned this gold-saving tactic out in advance, it was a lucky coincidence. In any case, he memorised the spell quickly, and looked forwards to testing it in the cave.


    As Cael walked out of the store, he saw that Jarius and some of his group were fighting a [Brown Boar] a short way to the North of the city. In this game, boars were bulky, fierce creatures resembling tusked bears more than pigs. This was a fortunate circumstance, Cael mused, as - unlike bears - pigs are infamous for taking, "the rights away from all the kids." No wonder that some people considered them <em>najis</em>. He walked closer to watch.


    The boar was a tough opponent, and had just knocked down Byron. It lunged at Jarius with its tusks, but Jarius used his [Hilt Blow] skill to divert the boar''s blow, smashing the boar''s left cheek with the hilt of his sword and causing its head to lurch back. Jarius then used [Combined sh] to sh down on the boar''s back, near its neck, building upon the momentum of his previous attack. [Combined sh] does more damage if it is activated straight after a previous attack, and it will continue fluidly from thest attack in one smooth motion.


    Cael could recognise Jarius'' subss as the ''Knight'' subss, a type of warrior that specialised in slightly crude and hard, but still skillful, swordy. He saw Jarius raise his shield to the boar, keeping a precise distance from it.


    The boar was still standing firm, with its high HP and defences, and it was still at 60% HP. It steadied itself, and started to skulk towards Byron. Byron was wielding lighter equipment than Jarius, so he quickly took a few steps back like a fencer. The distance between him and the boar grew.


    However, the boar then began to charge, and Byron froze for half a second before leaping quickly to the side, holding out his sword in the direction of the boar to ward it off. Byron seemed quite frightened by the boar, but it wasn''t that surprising a reaction given this level of immersion. At this point, Jarius signalled to an archer who hade running from the city''s weaponry shop, and the Archer opened fire on the boar. The boar quickly aggroed on the Archer, as if sensing a target with little armour or defenses in closebat, but soon turned around as Jarius hacked at its back. As Jarius prepared for a more purposive strike, the boar suddenly lifted itself and lunged at Jarius, catching the Knight''s face sharply with its dew w and throwing him to the ground. "Give me some support, Byron!" screamed Jarius, not entirely without reason.


    Byron tentatively waltzed towards the boar, and struck at it sharply with his rapier, using the [Piercing Blow] skill. However, it was a poor choice, as the move had a higher chance to pierce the enemy and deal high damage if the enemy was close to it, and Byron was standing as far away as possible. It hence only grazed the boar, reducing 2% of its HP. However, more of Jarius'' Guildmates were joining the fight, and a volley of arrows dropped the boar to 45% HP.


    A mage named [Sebastienne] walked up to Jarius and used [Greater Healing] to restore the leader''s HP to 90%. Seeing this, Byron became more daring, and leapt up beside the boar to try and use [Rapier sh] across its face. The boar, however, sensed its lightly-armoured foe and with a slight movement shoved Byron to the ground, before cing a w on the fallen warrior''s chest and shing at his face. It slowly stepped off.


    Jarius rallied, and shed hard at the boar''s back, yet only dealt 10% damage to the sturdy creature. The boar growled at Byron, who was scrambling on the ground. Byron was nearly dead, and while Jarius was reluctant to lose a dungeon team member, he used [Shield Execution], pressing the boar''s head towards the ground with his shield and striking with his sword on its neck. This dealt high damage, reducing the boar to 15% HP, but shoved the boar''s head close to Byron. In retaliation, the boar''s tusks tore across Byron''s body lying right in front of it, and Byron died. Jarius looked on, nonplussed.


    The mage next to Jarius cast [Hephaestus''s Fire], enchanting Jarius'' weapon with the fire element, and the boar''s next lunge met a soaring blow that reduced the boar to 7% HP and caused it to flinch slightly. Jarius skipped away from therge creature slightly, to maintain a safe distance. He was confident that if the boar approached him, he would be able to safely strike at the creature with his enchanted weapon. The boar was on itsst legs, but ran on a seemingly suicidal run towards the archers, who managed to loose some arrows into therge target. One of those was a Poison Arrow, cast by the female archer named [Audet], and caused the boar to take damage over time from the poison status. This whittled away its remaining health. However, it still managed to tackle one of the other archers to the ground, reducing the archer to 25% HP, before copsing. With the boar fallen, Jarius turned to Sebastienne and said, "Thank you," and then gestured to Cael and the archers to join with the rest of the group.


    "So, do we wait for Byron?" asked Audet.


    "Forget him," responded Jarius, "He spent the fight dancing. Perhaps he was drunk. Also, don''t tell him that I said that. Anyway, we can rece him in our team. Since you''re our archer, and we have Sebastienne, we just need to find a warrior as backup. I think that Justiciar is still in the town, find him and drag him over here. He''s probably looking for weapons or armour. It''s a pity that he didn''t join, but he''s strong and should be enough to rece our estimable but fallen fencer."


    Audet nodded, having some idea of where Justiciar would probably be found given his picky approach to gear, and ducked into Sanra''s weaponry shop. There, she entered a side-room.


    Jarius pressed the band on his right hand, and maneouvered to a menu showing his powers as Guild Leader. He quickly typed out amand, that would show in bold red on the screen of his Guild-mates, telling them to assemble up North if they were in Sanra. After a few minutes, the whole group had assembled, with Audet escorting Justiciar and the rest emerging from the town one by one. Jarius turned to the neers and said, "It''s a pity that you missed out on the loot from the boar. Hurrican, please guard Byron''s corpse, he will respawn in an hour and recover his inventory." He gestured to the archer Hurricanrana, who frowned but epted the task. The archer stood by the corpse, but was annoyed at this clear indication that his leader saw him as disposable.


    "Has everyone set Sanra as their spawn-point? If not, go and do so now, so that if anything goes wrong you will respawn here and not in Kruxol or farther afield," Jarius continued.


    Cael hadn''t remembered to do this, as it was a feature that he hadn''t had to use much yet. He followed Audet and Sebastienne down to the town of Sanra, squeezing through the crowds to reach a small, glowing page which read, "All things repeat, for they never can change." Touching his hand to the page, the glowing page shed brightly as his spawn-point was saved. The other two did likewise, and they joined up with the group.


    The pathway to the dungeon zigzagged uphill through green fields Northwest of Sanra, and evening''s approach dimmed the sunlight until the scene was as grey as the hills that rose beside them. They took care to avoid the asional creature, but noticed that the boars were mostly orange-named - they would not attack on sight, only if disturbed - and they managed to keep their distance from any aggressive creatures on the way. The path was intermittent and rough, often breaking up or disappearing into the grass. Atst, they arrived at arge hole in a hill, withrge wooden nksid across its edges. Jarius indicated that it was the dungeon, and they stepped in.


    As he stepped into the door, Cael noticed that his character seemed to freeze in ce for 10 seconds, before he suddenly appeared in a dark cavern inside the hill.


    "Since some of you haven''t run these before, the dungeons in this game are instanced. As you step through the doors, you load the next room and appear there. It might be confusing at first, but you get used to it," said Jarius.


    The dungeon was dark, and Cael wasn''t sure what direction they were taking. Sebastienne lit up a [Conjure Light] spell, and Cael quickly followed suit on seeing that the group wouldn''t object to it. Jarius said, "Thank you for the light, mages," and then ran into arge opening on the left wall. He froze at the entrance, then disappeared to the other side. The rest of the group followed.


    On the other side, Cael froze when he saw some enemies appear. They wererge creatures, shaped like boulders but with an appearance more like magma, and called [Imp]. There were two of them in the room, both at level 35. If they attacked Cael, he would probably fall quickly.


    "Deus vult!" cried Jarius, a standard war-cry of the [GildedKnights].


    Jarius and Justiciar ran forwards to shield the others, each fighting one imp. Sebastienne prepared a [Fireball], and Cael saw a ball of fire much moreplete than his own re''s wisps of fire. The Fireball was flung towards the Imp fighting Jarius, and dissipated into smoke slightly as it flew, but eventually collided with the Imp and did a solid 15% damage. Audet nocked a few Poison Arrows, and sprayed them at the Imps, focusing on the one which was attacking Justiciar.


    Justiciar''s Imp was quickly at low HP, as he used the rare, demanding Arch-Knight ss to swing fiercely at the Imp from behind a shield. He shoved the Imp''s lunge away with his shield, and then used a [Hammering Strike] to strike hard with his sword on the foe, following this up with a [Hawk sh] that drew on the momentum of his previous strike and seamlessly shed horizontally across the exposed Imp. The Imp was nearly dead, but struck at Justiciar''s shield arm with its magma-like body ring up, causing Justiciar to cry out slightly from the burning heat of the blow. His attempt at a retributive blow iledfortably wide. However, the poison of Audet''s arrows was pushing the Imp to death, and Justiciar finished it with [Stunning Blow], a weak but quick sword strike from an angle that can be difficult to block or respond to.


    They turned towards Jarius, who was holding his Imp at a distance and trying to strike when he had an opening. This was difficult, as the Imps'' hard skin meant that they could generally withstand one blow and still attack, reducing Jarius'' ability to string attacks together safely. The Imp was only on 40% HP. Sebastienne''s magic was having a moderate effect, but, since Imps were associated with the fire element and were resistant to it, Sebastienne''s pyromancy was limited. Justiciar swung into action against the Imp, striking it with a [Stunning Blow] and following up with a [Hawk sh], a powerfulbination that Cael had seen mentioned as the key to why Arch-Knights were fearsome in PvP. Few other subsses could carry out suchbinations without giving the opponent a chance to respond, and then build on this to strike further.


    However, Jarius motioned Justiciar away. Facing the weakened Imp, he blocked an attack with his shield, then stepped back to keep distance and used [nk Cut] to strike at the creature''s side as it prepared another attack. While he struck, almost killing the Imp, the Imp still lunged at him, reaching past his skin to scratch his face. Angered, he struck back with [Counter], catching his opponent with a harsh blow as it attacked him. The damage he dealt was increased by 10%, as the [Counter] skill increases your damage by the amount of damage that the enemy is dealing, up to a maximum of 20% extra damage by you. The Imp finally died, and Sebastienne healed Jarius and Justiciar.


    Jarius turned to the rest of the group, who were waiting at the door, and said, "We killed the hellish beasts, who mocked the Heavens! Congrattions, all. We''ll leave some loot for you guys, take it and leave. We will meet you at the city, after we defeat the dungeon''s demons. Enemies are too powerful for you in the next rooms, and there are too many of them to hold back."


    Jarius and his team walked to the next room in the dungeon. Cael epted a team invitation from an archer who was left behind, and the archer went up to the corpses and looted them. The loot was divided evenly among the party,posed of the yers who were to leave, and after this was done the archer dissolved the party. Cael checked his inventory, seeing that he had obtained a small amount of gold and a misceneous [Burnt Flesh] item that could be used once to burn an enemy. It wasn''t much. There were a few sighs from the remaining yers, and Cael followed them out of the dungeon. They all walked back towards Sanra in the blue, ashen air of dusk, avoiding any red-named creatures in the area.


    "The Fall is no more an object of understanding than the prohibition it vites."


    (Stanley Fish.)


    Nations unite in the aftermath of a crisis, and the religious unite around fear of the devil. It''s said that Satan was once an angel, but he fell from grace. What earthly human can say why an angel of Heaven would fall, or what motivated the sinless to sin? ording to many doctrines, even understanding the state of sinlessness is on some level impossible after the fall. The magnitude and absolute nature of evil, in this context, is expressed in its iprehensibility.

 Chapter 4: Chaos Emblem

    Chapter 4: Chaos Emblem


    Soft, pale grass gave way to a hard stone floor as Cael cautiously stepped into the cave. He peered further into the cave mouth, to check that it was safe, and let himself further into the cave when he didn''t see any monsters to threaten him. It was soon dark, and feeling around with his hands he found that he was in a slightly narrow passageway. Since it was too dark to navigatefortably, he cast [Conjure Light], and a fountain of light shot out from his left palm to light the surrounding area. The stone walls of the passageway glowed in brilliant shades of white and pale grey. He knew that this was slightly unsafe, as creatures might notice the light, but stumbling around a cave in the darkness wouldn''t be any safer. As apromise, he dimmed the light from his [Conjure Light] spell, using an option that allows yers to dim the brightness of the spell and reduce its MP cost. He had deliberately chosen the cave entrance closest to the town of Sanra, as Byron had mentioned that these should have lower-level monsters.


    Looking forwards, he could see that the walls of the passageway gave way to arger, open area on the right. In the dimmed light, the cave appeared a shade of battleship grey that would have pleased Glenn Gould. As he turned to the right, his feet rapidly stood still at the sight of red text floating near the floor. He looked down and saw the outline of a small creature, that seemed not to have noticed the light. As he stood there, he noticed that he wasn''t being attacked. Perhaps this creature was some form of troglobite. He read the creature''s red name: [Kruxol cave shrimp]. The creature''s appearance subtly changed as it crawled along the rocky floor, suggesting that it was mostly transparent.


    As he took a step towards it, it turned towards him. He reflected that he should have attacked it before it aggroed on him, as it was red-named and the chance to attack while unseen was a lucky opportunity. At least it was only level 9, he supposed. He cast [Mana Beam] at the creature, knocking out 40% of its HP, and it flinched slightly. However, itunched itself at his feet, and raked at his exposed calf with its small, sharp ws. This caused him 7% HP''s worth of damage. Pleased that this shrimp was just a shrimp, and thus more mannerly than his recent chicken encounter, he used [Mana Push] to shove it off him onto the ground beside his feet, and then sent a [re] at close range into the shrimp. The wisps of fire plunged right into the shrimp, causing it to squirm violently for a second before it died. That was slight overkill, but it had given him one of the three kills he needed.


    Stepping into the open, spacious cave area behind the shrimp, he saw a still pool to his left. Water was sitting in the dark cave, in arge gap formed in the stony ground. He was cautious about proceeding past the pool, as he wasn''t sure if it would attract stronger creatures, but he saw a ck, square grate ced over a hole right behind the pool.


    Walking up to it, he saw another floor of the cave below him, filled with what looked like ck mist. As the mist settled on a few low-hanging parts of the roof, he saw that they were actually bats. Looking carefully, he could see that quite a few were above level 50. He quickly leapt back from the grate, nearly losing his bnce as hended. While the bats wouldn''t attack him behind the grate, he thought that he shouldn''t risk attracting their attention at his level. He slowly walked past the right side of the grate, superstitiously taking care to make little noise.


    He saw arge creature moving in the darkness of the cave up ahead. Reaching his left hand in that direction for light, he saw that the movement was a moist-furred [Giant Rat], at level 19. It was red-named. Taking this on would be difficult due to its level, but he had no choice, as while he had been looking at the rat it noticed the light source and began to charge him. He hastily targeted a [re] at it, skewing the aim towards the rat''s right nk, and the rat dodged with a quick step to the left. It leapt at him, and scratched at his chest with its ws, while he almost fell backwards to get the creature off him. He saw that he was at 85% HP. As he tried to get up, the rat bit at his left thigh, sending him crouching unevenly on the injured leg. The rat was getting too close to him, and could attack at will. He decided that there was no choice but to push it away, and quickly thought back to the n he had made when receiving [Mana Strike] in Sanra.


    When the rat barged into his chest and sent him careering backwards at 40% HP, hended crumpled and crouching to the floor and then cast [Mana Strike], shoving the rat onto the rocky wall besides the grate. He could hear some lightmotion from the bats, but he didn''t care for now. He immediately cast [Mana Push] at the rat as it thudded against the wall, keeping it pinned against the wall as he had nned. The rat had already taken collision damage and was down to 67% HP, but Cael''s push trapped it against the wall for an extra 5 seconds, causing further collision damage as it was impaled against the sharp, rocky surface. The rat was now at 15% HP, and slumped to the ground. Smiling that thisbination of moves had worked, Cael cast [Spark] to kill the rat.


    The rat was finding it difficult to get up, trying to recover from the paralysis of its recent rock wall crucifixion, and the waves of mana pacifying it put paid to any hopes of recovery. It gave in to the paralysis, andy helplessly like a stone on the ground, until it died. Cael knew that Spark was soon going to be too low-level to deal enough damage to mobs, but the disempowering effect was powerfulpared to the early segment of the fight where the rat was energetically striking him from close range.


    Low on HP and low on MP, he retreated to the spot where the shrimp had fought him, and crouched to the ground. Turning off his light source, he stayed still and hoped that the shrimp would respawn here and give him his third kill easily. After 5 minutes, he saw no sign of a shrimp. He figured that it must have crawled its way here from a spawn-point deeper in the cave. He was cautious about going further in, because of the damage that the rat had been able to deal, but decided that it was necessary to get his third kill. He cast [Conjure Light] again, being sure to dim it. Walking carefully forwards past where he had seen the rat, he found a wall with a fairlyrge opening to its right. Peering through, he saw anotherrge space that stretched towards the left, with a level 40 bat flitting around at the leftmost end. He quickly stepped back.


    He turned around to see if anything had spawned in his safer area of the cave, but all that he saw was a faint glow on the floor to his right, hidden slightly under a crack in the wall. Leaning towards it, he found a small slip of paper. The game sent a message to the left of his vision:


    [Lore Page Found! Title: The Resolve of Loki. Read it for EXP, as you learn the ways of gods and men!]


    He could recognise the name Loki from Norse mythology. He was not, however, certain why Loki''s message would appear over here.


    Reading the piece of paper, it contained a poem:


    Hearing the thunderous call of Thor over thend,


    Loki, who had just swore at the gods and mocked their customs,


    Now sought a hiding ce from their power on earth.


    He walked past a town, and slid agilely into a cave


    As if to avoid the judgement of the gods. He knew


    That power was not his, but theirs, and resolved


    That he was bound in chains so long as the gods


    Remained in their high thrones, for all he would do


    At this moment was to curse at them, yet the roaring


    Of thunder forbade him this free desire. If he was


    Bound, then he would bind them, as soon as their


    Hands reached out for love and not for him in hate.


    With thunderous strike like Thor, he would rend his foe:


    Such a one as the gods loved, such as was his opposite.


    In chains, that light of the gods must perish, yet Loki


    Knew that whatever chains he would suffer, and suffered now,


    Would not hold him, and, like Fenrir, he would be free.


    On reading this passage, Cael gained enough EXP to level to 24, and almost to 25. He supposed that these lore papers were rare enough that the game gave the yers incentive to seek them, especially since they had a long respawn timer and only half of them spawned at any given time. He was d that he had spotted this one. It seemed to him that this cave might be of further importance, due to the mention of Loki here, and the lower bat-covered levels may reveal more about this.


    The quest log contained a ''Misceneous'' tab, containing quests that encouraged rare orpetitive game events like beginning an event that affected other yers, fighting certain rare creatures, or killing yers in PvP. He had been nning to check it if he ever got lucky enough to encounter a rare event or item. He checked his quest log, and saw that a quest in the ''Misceneous quest'' tab had beenpleted, with the task description reading, ''Collect one page of Lore.'' As he epted the reward for this task, he found that he was at level 25.


    [Feature unlocked! Skill Mastery. Choose up to 3 skills, and develop them to an elite level.]


    Excitedly, he opened up the menu and navigated to the [Skill Mastery] Feature. In front of him, a window appeared disying 3 empty square slots, with the third one greyed out. As a Mage, he was instructed by text under the slots that if he ced known spells into the avable slots, and had an extra scroll of them, the spell would evolve permanently to a more powerful version with an enhanced effect. He was slightly upset that he couldn''t begin immediately, because he didn''t have spare scrolls, but figured that it might be for the best. While the feature specified that you could rece a basic form of a spell in a slot with a higher one - for instance, re could be reced with Fireball, or Mana Push with Mana Strike - he didn''t know which spells had the highest potential evolution and if he should wait forter, more powerful spells. He therefore resolved to wait, but idly checked on what the upgrade effect could do to some of his spells:


    [Mana Strike | Bes Mana Strike*, and propels enemies like a bullet due to its great force.]


    [Spark | Bes Spark*, gains higher damage and colonises enemy body.]


    [Mana Beam | Bes Mana Beam*, gains the ability to sacrifice mana to charge its power and deal greater damage, as well as to follow and strike a moving target.]


    These sounded interesting, but the increased damage might not be enough for higher-level yers. They would probably save up for powerful elemental spells, which had rare scrolls that would be difficult to get multiple drops of. Since the price of Mana Strike was low in Sanra, Cael assumed that the word had spread not to waste a Skill Mastery slot on it. However, Cael recalled that his Mana Strike against the rat had pushed it towards the wall, but relied on the rocky, sharp nature of the wall to deal continual damage, yet a sharper upgraded Mana Strike would make his stratagem more universally applicable. However, he was reluctant to use a slot on a basic movement spell, when he might need it for more powerful spell effectster.


    He nced carefully into the room with the bat, and saw that a giant rat and some other creatures had spawned next to the bat. It seemed unlikely that he would be able to fight them unless he was really lucky and either the rat left the bat''s protection or the bat flew away. However, along the wall opposite the bat, he saw a slightly tattered spiderweb. He tried tentatively using [Mana Push] on it, prepared to run away if the bat came for him. At first, nothing happened, but then a level 15 oversized white spider crept out from a crack in the upper half of the wall. It started to creep quickly towards him, its brown-tinted legs shuffling swiftly across the wall. He retreated backwards, concerned that the bat might notice him if he started to fight in the same room. The sickly-white spider was red-named, and called a [Scurion Spider].


    He waited for it to enter the room, but noticed it stop and briefly feel with its legs against the rocky wall, apparently unable to locate him despite the light source. Soon, it did sense his location, and scurried from the wall onto the floor while facing him. He knew that pushing this spider towards the wall would be double-edged, because it was used to traversing the wall. However, it was low levelled, and possibly less fearsome than it looked. Casting [Minor Illusion], he summoned a small rock in his hand and threw it at the left side of the spider, which he expected to have high Agility. Expectedly, it dodged out of the way with great pace, veering to the right towards the wall. Cael immediately cast [Mana Strike], taking the spider''s momentum and tossing it at very high pace against the wall, resembling what he imagined an upgraded Mana Strike would look like. He followed up with [Mana Push], impaling the spider and reducing it to 17% HP.


    The spider gingerly got back to its feet. It started to scurry up the wall, heading back to its web to use a healing ability due to its low HP. Before it could get close, Cael tried to finish it off with a [Mana Beam], but the spider was moving too quickly. Angered, he adjusted his aim slightly and cast [re] near the web, scorching the spider and causing it to copse to the ground, with its web still burning lightly like Hanukkah candles. Cael hadpleted his 3 kills, and could now invest his next Trait point.


    However, he heard somemotion from the direction of the level 40 bat, which had be excited by the bright re attack. As he heard its lethargic wings beating quickly and effortlessly in the direction of the spider, he quickly rushed out past the pool and down the passageway out of the cave. He managed to make it safely, but that could have been a dangerous encounter if the bat had seen him and begun to chase with its high Agility. As it is, he had only given the bat a curious murder mystery to solve, and since the mystery genre is widely-enjoyed this could be considered a gift.


    As Cael walked to Sanra, he checked on the Trait system. He saw a skill that increased the power of non-elemental spells, like Mana Strike and Spark, by 5% but increased their MP cost by 15. He epted this option, as he realised that he had been using these abilities often; however, he was still slightly keen to seek any abilities that would strengthen elemental spells significantly, as most higher-level PvP yers and Guilds considered elemental spells as the endgame.


    As he arrived in Sanra, he saw Jarius, Audet and Justiciar talking to each other, and they waved to him as he came nearby. He greeted them quickly, but saw that they were still waiting for some of their Guildmates to turn up before they all moved on. In the meantime, he entered the Alchemist''s Store, and quickly invested most of his stat points from levelling into INT. He asked what spells could be learnt, and heard three new ones which had not been an option before: [Lesser Aura], [Refined Aura], and [Healing.]


    Suddenly, he heard a noise by the door, and as he turned around he saw Jarius walk in. "Hey, you''re shopping for scrolls? I know quite a bit of the Mage meta from supervising Sebastienne, let''s see what your options are."


    Cael indicated the three new scroll options, and said, "I''m guessing that Healing would be a good choice, but not sure about the others."


    "Deffo, unless you really hate clerics,"ughed Jarius.


    Looking at the other scrolls, Jarius said, "Lesser Aura is just a weakened Aura spell. It unlocks at around the same time as an upgraded version, so basically no-one bothers with it. The Aura spells aren''t that important, though, because all that they do is make a mana aura that you can convert into your other spells so that your mana regeneration goes up when a spell is cast. But it requires MP for the aura''s upkeep, so it bnces out and probably wastes some MP and gives your enemy time to attack. I haven''te across any serious yers bothering with it, definitely not after trying it." He spoke with a matter-of-fact tone.


    Cael realised that Jarius'' reasoning was quite sound. He thanked Jarius, and Jarius walked out of the building to gather his Guild together. Even with some gold that came from fighting the cave enemies, Cael couldn''t afford much more than [Healing]. He paid 1000 for the [Healing] scroll, and was nning to leave, but decided that he should see the Aura skill for himself. However, he couldn''t afford the Refined version, so he tossed out 200 gold for the Lesser version.


    The price on the Refined version was quite decent, but he couldn''t afford it yet and would make up his mindter. He could have probably afforded it by selling some of his inventory, but the stores in Sanra were oversupplied by nearby grinders selling loot and the prices offered for things tended to be low. From what he could tell, the Lesser version of the spell just allowed the user to cast offensive non-elemental spells by converting the aura into spells, but the Refined version allowed for elemental spells and worked by casting spells and then covering their cost with the mana aura. Instead of converting the aura into a spell, the Refined version actually allowed the spell to draw mana from the aura when cast. The Lesser version would almost always amount to a loss of MP. Regardless, Cael memorised it just so that he could test it out.


    [New spell! Healing. 100 MP]


    [New spell! Lesser Aura. 20 MP per 5 seconds.]


    Out of curiosity, he saw that upgrading Healing with Skill Mastery would allow it to remove up to two status effects, and upgrading Lesser Aura would allow you to use any non-elemental spells. A Healing upgrade might be worthwhile, but he wasn''t sure yet if that was optimal for non-clerics.


    As he left the building, Cael saw that some of the GildedKnights group were standing by a dark-brown, wooden building just to the Southwest of town. Not many yers were in that area, so Cael quickly found his way to the group.


    "The boss here just spawned," said Byron, "this building is kinda weird, if a new yer enters this seemingly ordinary building then they can get jump-scared by a level 35 boss. Nobody over level 27 can open the door. But the rewards are great, so let''s try and clear it until Jarius is ready for the next dungeon. Everybody, please help."


    The archer Hurricanrana opened the door, and behind it Cael saw a ghoulish old man, who lunged at the charging Byron. However, Byron nimbly stepped backwards to avoid the lunge, then struck with a [Piercing Jab] that caused the boss to bleed. Hurricanrana was nearby, and fired a [Fire Arrow] around Byron at the boss, surprising Byron by the archer''s ability to safely slot the arrow past him as he stood in the doorway. The boss became clearer as Byron moved back and gave it room, and Cael saw that it had chains on its hands that it used to il at Byron. Byron, however, parried this with his sword. The boss managed to catch Byron''s sword and push it aside, but as the boss prepared to strike Byron with a chained fist, Byron raised his foot to the boss'' chest and used [Forcing Kick] to shove him away to the ground.


    As the boss tried to get up, Cael used [Mana Push] to shove it back down, and struck with a [re], dealing a sliver of damage. Without turning his head, Byron said, "The game doesn''t really exin how this works, but elemental spells deal less damage if you don''t have the subss." He blocked a limp attack from the boss, and continued, "I think the idea was that they would add a perk which increased elemental spell damage as soon as you got the subss, but the coding is a bit wonky and actually reduces the damage when you don''t have the subss." Cael thanked him for the advice. A few other low-levels in attendance were getting hits in, to share in the boss'' rewards.


    Cael could glimpse the boss''s name now, [Grand Old Man]. It was a slightly minimalistic name, atypical for this game. Cael carefully aimed a [Mana Beam] at the boss, dealing reasonably more damage than the [re]. Byron killed the grounded boss with [Lower Ground! It Ends], kneeling over the boss to keep it down and then stabbing it hard below the chest. The move dealt higher damage when the user had the higher ground, and was further enhanced when the opponent''s HP was below 20%.


    Cael looked at his rewards for the moderate damage he had dealt, and they were quite good. He had received 4000 gold, as well as a staff that he wasn''t yet qualified to use, which required a minimum of 1500 INT. The staff looked quite powerful, and would be a good choice of weapon once it unlocked. His inventory was quite full with monster drops, and while some might be worth a reasonable amount of gold, he would have to look through them more carefully.


    As the young yers celebrated their loot, Jarius came over and said that they were going to another dungeon. There would be good drops for all Guild members this time, and he was bringing Cael and three guests from Sanra to grind some lower-level side-rooms.


    "Please allow me, Byron and Justiciar to stay in front, any non-warriors should keep your distance from any enemies," said Jarius.


    As Jarius said this to the attendant group, Cael saw the dark-brown building nearby seem to pixete slightly, with patches of it covered in an array of pink, white, red, green and blue spots shing and changing colour. A few others started staring at the ce around them, so Cael realised that he wasn''t the only one. Around the edges of the buildings in town, strange rainbow-like colours started shing in a pixeted disy, that would sometimes change as Cael tilted his head slightly to look closer. This must be a graphics bug.


    "What the hell?" said Hurricanrana.


    "That''s strange, it must be some kind of bug," said Justiciar.


    Cael tried to step closer to the group, but seemed to only step on air as the game''s render of the ground in front of him suddenly faded into a pixeted mess, and was reced with another disy of the same patch of ground below it. He stumbled slightly as his stepnded lower than he was expecting.


    "Give it 25 minutes, we''ll see if this persists," said Jarius, as if to reassure the group, "Go and grind some enemies with others in a simr level range. If that goes smoothly, then we should still be able to go to the dungeon. It''s probably just a bug in the visual disy, this game was tested carefully."


    Cael noticed a lower-level GildedKnights member ask Jarius what their ns were, and Jarius spoke his reply to the whole group, "Optimally, we finish the dungeon and can then return to Kruxol to keep our stuff in Storage for safekeeping," proimed Jarius, slightly impatient about the 25 minute waiting time he had proposed. He had spent a while preparing his high-level Guildmates for the dungeon, while the low-level members fought the house''s boss, so Jarius wasn''t prepared to give up on the expedition because of some fancy squares.


    Cael joined the other non-Guild yers, who were at levels 27, 19, and 12, to grind some of the mobs in the popr grinding spots near Sanra. The areas were slightly less crowded now due to the bug, as yers returned to the towns to find out what was going on. As Cael''s group prepared to go, Byron walked briskly up to them and offered some advice, "By the way, if you''re going to that hunting area, make sure to focus on fighting goblins. Skulk around the edges of the grinding spots, and rush in if you see goblins spawn. The drops from gobbos are way better, but you''d run into too many rats in there normally. This way, you''ll get much higher rewards." He smiled, and the level 19 archer in Cael''s group thanked Byron as they left. They could all hear some loudmotion in the town, but Byron gestured them on their way as he went to investigate the cause of the uproar.


    The names of Cael''spanions were difficult to make out, because the bug had scrambled the text in their names and turned the names into arge mess of pixels. In fact, it had affected most text in the game, especially longer passages of text where the effect of the bug seemed to umte as the text went on and the walls of Zalgo-like mangled text overflowed over anything past the first three or four lines.

 Chapter 5: Tomorrow Started (Black Horizon)

    Chapter 5: Tomorrow Started (ck Horizon)


    "These goblins have tons of gold, wonder if they''re all in on some Ponzi scheme," said [SilverBullet], as he aimed his bow at a Goblin that was lying grounded at 5% HP.


    "Hope you don''t miss,"ughed Cael.


    The archer''s shot flew straight towards the fallen Goblin at close range, killing the creature as it pierced into its chest. "Nah, but I''m impressed that I could hit such an elusive and fast-moving target," he replied chirpily.


    The group of four backtracked towards the path, and begun to scan the trees for any sign of goblins. The level 19 SilverBullet was quite talkative normally, but stayed quiet as he nimbly stepped sideways and focused on any signs of motion in the grinding spots. It was mostly rats, or the asional group of yers, but in either case it wasn''t what he was looking for.


    "Found one," said [ckSeed], the level 27 warrior, as he skulked up to the edge of the trees to fight a freshly-spawned Goblin. The rest of the group followed him.


    The warrior drew hisrge sword and struck the Goblin''s right side with a [nk Cut], as SilverBullet drew an arrow behind him. Cael used [Mana Push] to push the Goblin to its left, drawing on the momentum of the nk Cut, and the Goblin fell to the ground. The archer then aimed and let fly with a burning [Fire Arrow] at the grounded target, reducing it to 70% HP. The goblin rolled its small body into an upright position, and struck at ckSeed with its wed, deformed hands, with the warrior using a shield to keep it away. A level 12 warrior, named [Ligate], carefully aimed a bow at the goblin, and hit it softly with an arrow that deflected quickly off its body. He wasn''t used to using a bow, but had enough Dexterity because he nned to wield the rapier like Byron, and so epted it as an alternative because closebat would be risky at his level. SilverBullet had handed the warrior a spare, basic bow that he was carrying around.


    As the goblin struck at ckSeed, reaching past the shield, he used a [Shield Strike] to force the Goblin back, and then ran at it with a basic [Charge] move. This skill was typically abandoned by most subsses other than Berserkers, because it was a slightly rash and unbnced maneouevre that was unsafe against more powerful opponents. However, ckSeed seemed to take to it naturally.


    While the Goblin managed to strike ckSeed lightly, it was sent careening back by the clear strike of the warrior''s de against its head, and was shed across its chest as it fell to the ground. While ckSeed was nning to be a Knight or Arch-Knight, like Jarius or Justiciar, Cael thought that he seemed to be better-suited for a Berserker build. The Gobliny on the ground at 15% HP, but rebounded to run at ckSeed and push him almost to the ground with a w. A couple of arrows flew at the Goblin, however, and Cael''s [Mana Beam] killed it off. Cael received 300 gold from the fight, along with a quest item, called the [Merchant''s Goods]. The item''s description was slightly garbled right now, but seemed to say to return it to a merchant East of Kruxol with an unreadable name.


    Cael noticed ckSeed moving slightly lethargically after the fight, and asked him if he needed healing. The warrior smiled slightly and replied, "No, it''s fine, I have a healing potion called Goat''s Nobility, it said that it heals your HP using the life-giving nobility of the goat. It works well enough, I suppose. You should save your MP."


    Cael noticed that the warrior still appeared quite fatigued even after the potion had restored his HP. The Goblins were still only levels 12 to 20, and were quite easy pickings for the shield-bearing level 27 warrior with a group supporting him, so it was unclear why each fight was tiring out the warrior significantly.


    "Should we make our way back to town now?" asked SilverBullet, "I picked up a ton of gold there, but we shouldn''t leave the others waiting."


    While Cael figured they might have some time left, ckSeed also enthusiastically agreed to return to town. They made their way back, with SilverBullet and Ligate checking through their inventory. As they arrived in the town, they were met with a lot of loud chatter, and tried to find their group amidst the many people assembled. Cael saw Hurricanrana, and asked him what was going on. The archer replied, "Oh, a bunch of people worried that they will never see the light of Earth again," and then paused a moment, continuing, "I''m not trying to make anyone ufortable, I''m just saying. Like, look at your menu."


    Cael was slightly taken aback, but hastily pressed the band on his right hand until the menu appeared. The text on it was scrambled and rearranged into a series of strange pixeted symbols, and each line of text overflowed its bounds and ran over the rest of the menu until the Quit option and Settings menu option were hidden beneath walls of Zalgo-like text. Cael tried to select them, but got no response.


    "So we can''t quit until the bug is fixed?" he said.


    "Exactly," replied Hurricanrana, "and now everyone''s worrying about it. But we''ll just have to stay in here until the bug is fixed. By the way, the text got screwed up a bit, and that seems to have affected some quests. I have the item for an NPC''s quest here, but I can literally hold the item up to the NPC''s face and he won''t ept it, I think the game is having difficulty scanning the item ID and name. But the items are still there. People are also saying that they can''t transfer Guild leadership to anyone else, or promote people to positions in the Guild. It''s a bit weird."


    "That''s screwed up," said SilverBullet, who had walked up at the sound of a familiar voice, "but it just means we''ll need to do other quests. Being stuck here isn''t great, since I need to be out by tomorrow morning - but hey, there''s tons of people in here, I''m sure that it''ll make some kind of news. So at least I''ll have an excuse." He smiled slightly, then continued, "But I could swear that using my bow for attacks just now was more tiring than usual. Anyone seen anything simr?"


    "Not sure, most of these guys are town mice now, they''re huddling in the towns because they''re confused about what''s going on. I haven''t heard much about fighting from them. But now that you mention it, Jarius and his gang came back early and they''re resting now. Might have been tired out, I guess. Cael, did you feel tired?"


    "I''m a mage, it''s not that tiring,"ughed Cael.


    "I suppose not," said Hurricanrana, "that''s quite funny, but what''s funnier is why <em>I''m</em> not tired. My group got gored by a boar, and they''re currently waiting to respawn. So I guess I might as well chill out here."


    The other twoughed, and Hurricanrana continued on seeing this, "OK, but what''s better? Guarding Byron''s corpse for an hour was really dull, so I was a bit impatient when our group set off. The boar? I kited that into our group, by taunting it like 10 times and leading it into the group. I don''t think they realised that it was my fault, though, since they were too busy chatting amongst themselves. Well, my Dexterity is quite high, so I managed to escape. The rest of my team was three Knights and a mage, so bad luck." He shrugged slightly.


    SilverBullet chuckled lightly, though he was a bit unsure how to react. "So I guess you''d advise me not to join the Guild? I think ckSeed will join, and the level 12 guy as well. I forget his name. You''ve been the most unenthusiastic person I''ve seen here and you''re in the Guild, it''s funny."


    "Yeah, stay out," said Hurricanrana, "Like, it''s useful in a pinch, but just before you guys joined us, Jarius dragged everyone along to a dungeon just so that his team could show off, then let the rest of us leave skint. I understand why you''d join, but if you don''t want to get caught up in their epic hero''s journey, then find another Guild. Most Guilds are casting a wide right now, so it''s a good time to look."


    "Why haven''t you left?"


    "I''ll leave someday. I was enjoying this Guild at first, but eventually Jarius took a dislike to me so I haven''t had many levelling opportunities. That''s probably slowing me down, so I''ll have to leave eventually. I''m not really willing to go through that cycle again, though, so I''m holding off until most Guilds settle down and I know what to expect from them."


    "That makes sense," said Cael, "I''m also -"


    "Guys, I think we should go," said SilverBullet, interrupting and pointing to the West where Jarius was walking out of a small building with his group. The rest of the Guild was gathering round.


    Hurricanrana frowned and jogged towards his Guildmates, while the other two followed. When they reached, Jarius was speaking to his assembled Guildmates.


    "While a few visual bugs have been noticed,bat is still working well enough for us to do the dungeon," he said, "We can stop short of the boss, if everyone gets too tired, but there should be enough time in between fights to rest. As long as you are circumspect with your use of skills, and take care to heal between fights, the fatigue should be manageable. We have tested this, and decided that the dungeon is still worth doing. Most Guilds are already back to grinding or dungeons, we should not fall behind them. Let us proceed."


    The group walked on towards the West of Sanra, further away from Kruxol. They were walking through fairly dense green fields of grass, with a few neutral creatures walking past them. Once, Jarius saw a red-named [Giant Rat], and struck at it hard with a [nk Cut] that almost killed the rat. A cluster of lower-level yers piled on, attacking the rat until it died. "These rats are too brave for their own good," said Justiciar.


    It took the group about 30 minutes until they reached a worn, brown path leading to a dungeon. They had been travelling at a slow pace, due to the bug asionally making low-agility yers stumble when the ground ahead of them was rendered unclear. Some yers heaved a sigh of relief as they stepped onto the brown path, as navigating the smaller rooms of the dungeon would be easier than a long journey in the present circumstances. The nearby dungeon, known as the Sanra Dungeon, was very well-known as a good source of loot for most levels, and many Guilds used it to strengthen their members and get them good equipment.


    A gold-ted symbol of the sun was ced above the dungeon''s cave-like entrance, and Cael had read that the entrance led to a stairway down into an underground building. Before the entrance to the dungeon, there was a fairly crowded marketce. A grey, stone rectangle leading up to the dungeon entrance, bordered by walls and a handful of guards, the marketce was filled with NPCs and yers manning stalls as well as mages standing around offering buffs to yers looking to attempt the dungeon. Many of the mages were resting after attempting the dungeon or grinding nearby, so they stood near the entrance of the dungeon and buffed yers entering it as a gesture of goodwill. There were about 25 yers inspecting merchandise in the marketce, including some who had been grinding nearby and came to look for good offers. Cael noticed a few low-levelled yers, below level 10, browsing the stalls, and guessed that they were probably waiting on Guildmates who were exploring the area.


    As Cael''s group entered, they split up as a few went to browse the markets. Cael saw a shop that was selling raw gems, items which could be cut by NPCs in towns to give yers a random gem which could be iid in a staff to increase stats. A few other weapons or features also used gems, but gems were very rare in this early period of the game. As such, most of the raw gems were exorbitantly expensive, with prices reaching 40,000 gold and generally hovering between 15,000 and 20,000 gold. However, Cael saw that one row of raw gem was on sale for only 1,500 gold each, because it was very low-value and could thus only yield gems with the minimum power. For Cael, however, who hadn''te into possession of any gems, it was still a useful purchase and easily affordable. He picked that up, and then retired to a corner where he saw Byron and ckSeed talking.


    Byron greeted him, and continued speaking to ckSeed, "That quest is quite straightforwards, you don''t have to do what the NPC says and fight Ghouls for the drop, you can just enter that house near Sanra with the boss and grab a candle when the boss hasn''t respawned yet. The NPC will ept any candle. But I don''t know if it will work during this bug." He turned to Cael, "We''re chatting about one of the NPC quests in Sanra, they ask for a candle to ward off ghosts. These candles usually only drop from Ghouls, so I''m not sure if they actually ward off ghosts. I think that''s the joke."


    Cael smiled slightly, "So the poor guy still gets haunted by ghosts after you solve his quest?"


    "Yeah, yeah, he even sends you on another quest to pick up a rare charm. I haven''t done that one yet, the charm only drops from a level 50 enemy. Hell, I could barely fight Ghouls, but I guess that didn''t matter."


    As Byron exined a couple of other quests to ckSeed, Cael''s eyes drifted around the market. Jarius was walking around near the centre of the area, talking to a few other Guild leaders who apanied him. He saw Audet standing right against a wall next to Justiciar, with her armour unequipped to reveal a tight-fitting dark-green outfit. Those two were standing in the corner on the marketce''s right side and away from the dungeon entrance. As Byron stopped speaking, Cael asked him if there were any quests that he should prepare for in advance, such as by saving up items that ater quest would ask for.


    Byron began listing off a few quests that could be prepared for, including one in a somewhat distant town where the required item could be purchased in Kruxol. ckSeed began leafing through his inventory, to see what items he should hold onto. However, the group were interrupted by the loud sound of explosions across the walls of the marketce, throwing them into the air. Cael was thrown hurtling forwards, but felt someone use a soft [Mana Push] to keep him suspended in the air. He felt as if his body was being torn in two, and his skin seemed to be on the edge of tearing. Frantically looking around, he caught a glimpse of someone with a dagger using an uppercut to lift Audet and following it up by stabbing her in the heart until she died, before Cael himself felt a sharp dagger stabbing into his back and saw a ck-masked Assassin standing beside his body who had seemingly emerged from a wall. Cael remained suspended in the air, feeling as though his spine was tearing itself apart and dropping away, letting out a loud scream.


    The game''s protection against pain frombat and bombs had seemingly be less secure. Cael''s scream faded as he died.

 Chapter 6: Far from Eden

    Chapter 6: Far from Eden


    Misery grows like grey-violet mistflowers amongst the living, and like mistflower in a garden it spreads to fill life. Misery screeches withughter in the tomb.


    Cael wed against the cold granite floor around him, until he managed to push himself up into a seated position. He saw arge crowd around him, as they respawned at Sanra''s spawn-point.


    "Who in hell did that?" stormed Audet somewhere to his left.


    Cael sat still and listened as Jarius'' pained voice replied, "I''ll have to ask around. They were scoundrels, we need to hunt them down."


    Cael slouched down against the floor, pain straining through the back of his neck, and passed out. When he came to, he saw SilverBullet kneeling next to him and speaking. "Hey, how bad is it? A lot of people are still recovering, it was awful. Justiciar can barely breathe, him and Audet got stabbed with daggers that have a bleeding perk, they don''t just cut the skin but keep tearing into it."


    "That sounds bad. My back still stings a bit, but other than that I''m alright," said Cael, understating things slightly.


    "Good to hear. I mean, we aren''t supposed to be feeling pain like this in the game, right? Barely anyone wants to venture out-of-town now."


    "Yeah, but I guess we''re stuck in here for now, eh?" said Cael, trying to force a smile.


    He saw the mage Sebastienne limp up to them, and ask if they had recovered from the attack. They both nodded unconvincingly.


    "By the way," asked SilverBullet, "do you guys know who did this to us?"


    "Yes, actually," replied Sebastienne, "It was a Guild that are known PKers around here, a few people recognised them. Some people from the town have corroborated that, apparently they mostly target low-level yers in ambushes. They''re called Hashin."


    Audet walked up to the group, and let out a string of swear-words when she heard the name of the group. She calmed down, and faced the group, saying, "We''ll fight them if they cross us again. Anyway, rest up for now, I''ll go back and check on Justiciar."


    As she walked quietly away, Sebastienne followed her. Caely down against the ground, and fell quickly asleep.


    He was awakened by Jarius shaking him by the shoulder. "Hey, we should go and find our corpses near the dungeon. The scum could have only taken 20% of our items, we can recover the rest. They won''t dare attack us when we''re prepared, and some high-level yers offered to go with us."


    Cael nodded tiredly, and forced himself to his feet. Most of Jarius'' Guild were standing in a congregation to the West of the town, and Cael trudged up to them. After gathering the rest of the group, Jarius joined them. The higher-level members of the group stood around the outside, and held out their weapons in preparation for any attack. The group set off, walking heavily and retreading their path towards Sanra Dungeon.


    On arriving, they were surprised to see a gathering of corpses suspended in the air within the marketce. While about 10 corpses littered the ground, most seemed to still be floating in the air. As Jarius walked up to his corpse, pinned high up against a wall, he stood for a few moments in frustration.


    Cael reached his corpse, but he found that he couldn''t loot it. Byron was beside him, and turned to him, saying, "If you die in water, you can''t recover your possessions, because the game has issues recognising a lootable corpse there. That was a known problem, and they patched it early on by preventing yers from walking in water oring too close to it. But I guess that PKers havee up with an alternative griefing method. So no items or gold for us."


    Cael swore, then said, "So they tried to make sure we lost our whole inventory?"


    "Yes," said Byron, "it seems that way. Anyway, Jarius is fuming, I guess we''re heading back."


    Cael heard some loud swearing from the group next to him, as they slowly made their way away from Sanra Dungeon. He checked his inventory, and it was empty, while he had no gold. He hadn''t lost any of his equipment, luckily, but he noticed a few of hispanions were walking around with simple default clothes in ce of armour, or were using basic weapons. There was no Storage building in Sanra, meaning that since they had left Kruxol the group had had no opportunity to store their loot safely and instead had to carry it. This was generally much faster than backtracking to Kruxol and returning, so during the rush of the game''s first days it was quite typical. But the group was still seething after all of that loot was lost, and some equipment.


    As the group made its way back to Sanra, they passed a few abandoned buildings, that looked like gravestones in the dark. In one of them, Jarius glimpsed a movement, and looking closer he saw an Assassin scurrying busily around the building. Jarius called out to the group to bring their attention to this, and Audet suddenly rushed out towards the narrow, white building. Its door had been removed, leaving the doorway''s hole, and Audet went up to this and started screaming loudly, asking if the Assassin was from the Hashin. Her steps were fast, due to her high Dexterity, and she was clearly prepared to rush the building and start a fight.


    "Yes. But my inventory is empty now, so you should just let me leave," came the simple response from someone inside the building.


    Jarius motioned to some of the warriors around him to approach the building. Audet, for her part, just swore loudly at the Assassin in the building.


    "Why are you so upset? Sometimes these things happen," said a mock-serious voice from inside the building.


    At this, Audet charged at high speed towards the building, with her bow prepared to shoot. Jarius'' warriors had begun approaching the building and were preparing to encircle it, but Audet just ran straight into the open doorway and entered. Cael saw her look around confusedly, but soon the building was lit up red and orange by the fiery explosion of bombs lining each wall, and Cael jumped back at the loud sound. The sound of the explosions almost drowned out Audet''s scream, as her corpse was ripped apart and fell to the ground. The nimble shape of the Assassin appeared swiftly fleeing the scene behind the building, as soon as his [Stealth Cloak] faded and rendered him visible. A few archers and mages tried to target him, but he was quickly out of range. His name was indecipherable due to the bug.


    Morality is as pious as the stare in the eyes of the dead. This truth is phrased like a simile, but is more poetic as a metaphor.


    The group stood still. Cael saw that the others were uncertain whether to be mournful or angry, standing gathered like a flower pressed between two pages of a book. Jarius swore, and then motioned the group to continue back to Sanra. As they began to move, Byron walked up to Cael and said, "Audet was still in pain, she was just hiding it. That must have made this worse." Cael nodded impassively.


    Byron rxed when he saw that Cael was calmer than the rest of the group, and continued, "By the way, I''ve been talking to some of the other people in Sanra, and I tried to piece together what had happened. Most people here aren''t in the mood to discuss it. Would you be interested in that kind of thing? We can talk about it in Sanra when we get back." Byron was sad about Audet, but found it exhausting to keep a dour mood for a long time.


    "Yep, sure thing," replied Cael.


    "One thing that most of Guild was already told," said Byron, "is that the game has problems with processing names and IDs. Usually, since yers can use moves at almost any time, the game nullifies their pain by recognising a named move and immediately preparing to numb any pain or serious physical effects. However, since the bug, it can''t do this, so it only nullifies about 80% of the pain from named moves. Further, the Hashin guys were deliberately trying to inflict pain, so that was still quite harsh. I''ll tell you the restter."


    The walk back to Sanra seemed to take a long time, and by the time they reached it was almost pitch-ck at midnight. So Cael was none too amused as Byron beckoned him and a couple of others to talk in the space near the South-Western haunted house, but he still went along, interested in what Byron had to say. Cael found himself in a small group with Byron, Hurricanrana, SilverBullet and a female GildedKnights warrior named [SDB].


    "So you know how the bug means that the ground can appear in two ces at once?" Byron begun, "I''m not exactly sure what exins it. But how it was exined to me is that the game now loads up multiple different renders of the same location, not only the one it''s using. The guys who attacked us probably flipped between these versions, until they loaded in this one while inside a wall. I''m not sure how they did it, but the easiest way I''ve found is through going near water. Let me show you."


    He walked South-West by about 200 metres, guiding the rest of the group. There was a small pond over there, next to a small, ruined barn.


    "So water deflects you when you walk near it, right? But now if you can get a different render of the location to appear, then you can be deflected into it and the game will count you as being there." Byron paced a few steps across the water near a broken barn wall, looking around him, then tried to step towards it. He was instantly rebuffed, and was transported straight into the barn wall. However, he shifted slightly, and seemed to be pushed further until he was inside the barn wall. He reached out a hand, and waved. Cael waved back briefly, but stopped as he saw the grave expression of the others nearby.


    Cael was starting to find the creativity of the Hashin, who had quickly strung these bugs together tounch an attack, to be in marked contrast to the monotony of passively following Jarius'' disciplined, conventional Guild around. He was starting to wonder if he would have to adapt his approach to the game slightly, rather than limiting himself until he was ying by somebody else''s rules.


    "So yeah, as you can see it''s possible to enter walls until the bug is fixed," Byron continued, "I think that a few of you were still recovering from the attack when this happened, but there was a system message saying that they were aware of the bug and were working to fix it, as well as that they were investigating whether there were any obstacles preventing yers from logging out. So that should solve the problem. Well, we''ll see.


    "Anyway, the Hashin were probably hiding in the walls while the rest of us thought we were safe in the marketce. But the other thing is that they must have nted their bombs within the walls, because then the game wouldn''t recognise it as an attack on yers outside the wall. So thebat pain reduction won''t even load. This means that the pain from bombs is not reduced at all, although the bombs they were using are still not the strongest because it''s too early in the game for anyone to use or obtain those. A GM has said that there will soon be a hotfix for the bomb issue, but the pain reduction inbat or from bombs will still not be fully functional until the whole bug is solved."


    The group shuddered slightly. Hurricanrana asked quickly, "So if named attacks can cause pain, does that include powerful boss attacks?"


    Byron walked out of the wall, and said, "Yes, some people have run from boss fights because of this. Also, people may experience more strain while using the moves, as the pain reduction effect apparently also extended to the user and meant that they didn''t feel most of the strain caused by an attack."


    "Bad time to be a berserker, then," replied Hurricanrana, "Also, thanks for that, the whole event was quite strange. They must have been studying this and nning it for an hour or more."


    The group thanked Byron for the exnation, and walked back into town. Cael sat down near the South-West edge of town, and looked around dejectedly. Most of the town were in low spirits. Few people were entering the towns, and most people who left only returned when they respawned.


    Because most people were reluctant to leave town, only a few big Guilds and the strongest yers still braved the wilderness outside of the town''s safe zone, and other than that it was mostly taken over by PKing Guilds who pounced on most vulnerable yers. This created a situation where Cael''s slow-moving mage character was easy pickings as soon as he left the town, and could barely PvP out there because his magic would just bring attention to himself. Besides, his inventory waspletely empty, and he had no gold to purchase things with and no good ways of getting gold or items without being ganked.


    Futility rears itself like a World Serpent of ck obsidian and encircles the town tonight with stony scales, and the heavy steps of its feline avatar, risk, beset each path forwards like a highwayman. Yet this serpentine form does not bite, it strikes like a sword towards the heart - a weapon, though disguised as stone. So be it, any weapon must be used, even one which has no hilt and slithers out of attempts at mastery. A devil may reign even in the anarchic abyss.


    Cael wondered if an INT-based mage was at all practical in the current situation. It seemed unlikely. He watched as SilverBullet respawned nearby, after the archer had wandered out looking for monsters to kill near the grinding spots. Cael wasn''t sure if the archer had been killed by the Hashin, but he wouldn''t be surprised if they were watching this town, since they had also appeared in the abandoned building not far away. He couldn''tplete quests to turn in items because NPCs were for now unable to recognise those asplete, and he couldn''tplete wild creature killing quests because he couldn''t venture out. At the moment, Guilds were having difficulty with sign-ups due to the bug, so he couldn''t hope to join a powerful Guild and get the chance at dungeons. Besides, those were probably in demand by this point, so there would be a long queue even if sign-ups were avable. This left him with no good options to strengthen himself at the moment. He was in little position to grow, and if even Jarius was having issues taking revenge on the Hashin then Cael wasn''t likely to do better.


    He considered a few options, but as a Guildless Mage it was clear that futility stared back at him in most directions he could turn. But if he couldn''t escape from this game''s death-trap structure, he might as well take advantage of it. A glut of guillotines and axes is a blessing to the executioner, he mused, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.


    While he wasn''t allowed to Quit the game, he noticed that the game''s ''Switch Character'' button was still functional. He decided that the game in its present state didn''t favour his current build, but based on what he had seen of Hashin, the speed and stealth of the Assassinbined with exploiting this bug was probably the best way to make something of the treacherous environment outside the town. It was also less vulnerable to closebat than ranged sses like the archer, and was lower-upkeep due to not requiring a steady supply of arrows and hence either gold or industrious Guildmates. The archery range now would be difficult to go back and forth between without bing a target, as well. While he casually ran over a list of the sses and subsses he had seen, just in case he had an alternative option, he saw a small group talking near the path to Kruxol.


    "I''ll be taking Ligate and the others who agreed to join us back to Kruxol, so that they can finish their quests. We''ll leave in about an hour. Get some rest," Jarius was saying to ckSeed.


    Cael would also be returning to Kruxol, but by starting a new character.


    He pressed the ''Switch Character'' button, and the game prompted him to type a new character''s name on a small keypad. He thought for a moment and typed out: [Crucis].


    Like a Gorgon''s eye, a funerary mask is passed around on the cusp of the river Styx. I must pass it to someone else, or it is mine. On the horizon, there is the hazy silhouette of a ywright''s pen. I must soon hunt the moral, the martyr. Their hands grope for the mask of death, I offer it. A new masquerade begins. "And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of thest of the gay."

 Chapter 7: Altitis! The Strike of the Condor!

    Chapter 7: Altitis! The Strike of the Condor!


    Magic soars through the air with the carefree ease of an albatross, or aedy y''s denouement. But not every y is like this, not every game. In a tragedy, only the vulture''s gaze discovers the path to victory.


    Yet even the vulture can soar, though on ragged wings.


    Crucis levelled quickly, as he was already familiar with the game''s early quests. The Agility of the Assassin meant that he could quickly navigate Kruxol toplete quest objectives, sometimes bypassing the intended challenge. Early in the game, yers were herded from one quest to another as a form of hand-holding. This was to prevent yers from getting confused or stuck early on. He took advantage of this ''all roads lead to Rome'' situation, by taking the easiest route - not the ''proper'' one - in the assurance that the quest''s end-point would still be made easily essible.


    The early game was like a rubber-band: even if you pulled it lightly, it would snap back into position. He was surprised at how much time would have been wasted by following the quest-givers'' instructions verbatim.


    On reaching level 7, he returned to the Assassin trainer NPC, who he found easily due to having often seen them skulking about near the Alchemist''s Store. The NPC, whose face was difficult to make out under his ck hood at night-time, said, "Congrattions, you have shown your ability to wield basic Assassin skills. As you grow, further options will open on your character''s skill tree. I have a further task for you, that shall test the skills that you have learnt so far.


    "This town contains several Novice Guards. When guards see you kill a yer or friendly NPC, they will attack you. As such, they are a hindrance to an Assassin. These novice guards are within your level range, and are a good opportunity to hone your skills. Kill 5 of them. Use stealth when doing this, and be sure to avoid being noticed by more powerful guards. Also, take this talisman, wearing it will allow you to attack the guards without provoking them first."


    Crucis epted the [Enmity Talisman], and held it in his palm. It was a small ssy, purple stone with silver lines running across its cold surface, attached to a small band that could be wrapped around the wrist. To activate the talisman, it had to be worn around the right arm near the wrist, next to the band which allowed yers to open the Settings menu. Usually, a yer could only fight guards aftermitting a crime in front of them such as killing other yers. However, with the [Enmity Talisman] in use, an Assassin could fight guards without having to trigger the guards'' ire with a crime first. Most guards were too strong to be attacked sessfully, but the Talisman also allowed yers to attack wandering soldiers in areas outside of the towns, and the few yers so far who found weak enough injured soldiers to target reported that they had good drops.


    Crucis hadn''t encountered this quest before. The Novice Guards had seemed strange to him when he yed as a mage, as he wasn''t sure what purpose it served to include these weaker guards. Seemingly, one of their purposes was as targets in an Assassin-ss mission. Crucis did recall that, while strong guards manned each path into the town, the novices often took up more menial tasks such as securing the spaces saturated with markets from thieves. Since the bug had activated, the NPCs often seemed to be more realistic, and, while they still acted as programmed, the novice guards often appeared slightly bored with their tasks.


    Based on his recollection, Crucis visited the area of Kruxol which housed the popr Weaponry and clothing stores. These stores were built close to one another, with a few more stores and buildings beside them, but there were a few small paths between theplex of buildings which an enterprising thief may have taken. Thieves near here were generally a low-level NPC whom yers were often asked to kill, so only novice guards were appointed to monitor them. Slipping into a small alley to the right of the Weaponry Store, while using [Stealth] for three seconds of invisibility, he found himself in a slightly ustrophobic maze between buildings. As he came to a right turn and heard motion, he cautiously peeked past a high wall into an alley that ran to the right. There was a level 5 [Novice Guard] pacing the alleyway.


    With his Talisman equipped, Crucis knew that he could attack if it was opportune. However, even a level 5 novice could be difficult, since as a guard they could hit hard and pursue the yer quickly. When aggroed, guards would fiercely and single-mindedly pursue the yer. If the guard had the initiative, then Crucis could be in a tight spot. Cautiously, he waited until the guard was near his location, then used [Stealth] to approach the guard. He followed the guard for one pace, then drew a [Weak Dagger] that he had been given at the beginning of his training, and stabbed the guard on the back of his left shoulder.


    Since it was done with a [Weak Dagger], the blow didn''t deal much damage. However, as the guard turned around leftwards to face his pursuer, Crucis had already used his [Agile Step] ability to step rapidly to where the guard was originally facing, almost disappearing due to the speed of the movement. The [Agile Step] ability was not yet something that he could use by itself, rather it was something that he could append to an attack in order to swoop in for it at speed. When the guard turned himself around to fight his attacker, he found that his attacker was once more behind him. Crucis had chosen to use [Stunning Dagger], and so once his [Agile Step] ended he drew out his more powerful [Initiate''s Dagger] and stabbed the guard powerfully once more in the left shoulder, using the dagger''s grip to hold his opponent in ce. The guard was paralysed for 1 second as an effect of the blow. For most sses, that was an insignificant time, but for Crucis'' Assassin it was time to prepare another attack. He used [Dagger Twist] to exacerbate the wound, causing the guard''s posture to fall as he hunched his back due to the pain, and followed this up quickly by drawing the dagger out of the wound and cing a [Chokehold] using his right arm. With the guard''s body starting to droop after the dagger''s wound, the chokehold found little resistance.


    As the guard brandished his sword with his right hand in ast disy of bravado, Crucis sidestepped towards the guard''s left and used the chokehold to drag the guard towards the ground. The guard''s face fell onto the ground, and Crucis pressed it further onto the dusty alley floor. The guard had only 15% HP remaining, and Crucis knew that it was time to end the fight. When he tried to stab the guard''s neck for an easy execution, the guard responded by writhing furiously and forcing Crucis'' dagger away. Crucis knew that he had to adjust, so he mmed a knee down on the guard''s head and used a left-handed [Stunning Dagger] stab on the guard''s upper back to hold it down. He kept the dagger firmly in position, forcing the guard''s chest firmly t onto the ground. While doing this, he began pulling his chokehold arm upwards with the guard''s neck in its grip, as the rest of the guard''s body was pinned down. The guard choked to death while seemingly spitting out blood, and Crucis quickly rose to his feet. 1 down...


    Typically, new yers had taken this quest by fighting novice guards around the outskirts of the town by day, when a few Guilds nearmon Novice Guard spawn-points were generally on hand to supply buffs and healing to new yers both out of goodwill and in the hope of recruiting some. This was generally not that difficult a fight, because there was a lot of support and often a few burgeoning Assassins in the area to chat with. This sort of mission had enthused several yers on the game''s first day, because it was both rxing and exciting at once. It had also provided an early source of growth to a few big Guilds. However, since the Guilds couldn''t recruit right now and were busy due tomotion about the bug, as well as it being night, Crucis hadn''t seen any such gatherings of yers and mostly remembered seeing novice guards when they were guarding these alleyways. Besides, if he didn''t know where precisely to look around the outskirts of town, then he would risk fighting novice guards next to a spawn of more powerful guards. At night, guards patrolled more extensively, so this would create additionalplications.


    As Crucis looked through the rewards dropped from the novice guard''s corpse, he heard a sound to his right and quickly scurried in that direction. The alley he was in led to another one, where he saw another Assassin struggling with a level 11 [Novice Guard]. Crucis was reluctant to fight this guard, as the guard''s high level would probably prove too difficult for him. The other Assassin, whose name was garbled, was already down to 10% of their HP and had dealt little damage to the guard. This yer''s level was also 7, so Crucis was unlikely to fare much better. While Crucis first thought that the two might stand a chance against the guard together, on calcting further he decided that the yer with 10% HP remaining was unlikely to offer help for long and would probably die soon and leave Crucis alone with the guard. Since he hadn''t yet attacked or provoked the guard, he wasn''t in any danger unless he got involved, since guards weren''t hostile to yers until triggered.


    Since he realised that the guard wouldn''t target him, he decided to ignore his guard-killing quest for now. Instead, he saw another way to take advantage of the situation. He was still upset about Cael losing his inventory for the day, and was determined to make up for it by regaining as much as possible of his lost rewards, between the two characters. Temporarily taking off the Talisman, to avoid identally triggering the guard, he strode into the alley where the fight was going on. His fellow Assassin had finally caught a break, by kicking the guard to the ground, and was kneeling over the guard wrestling with him with dagger drawn. He managed a few weak dagger strikes, but only took 3% of the guard''s HP. Crucis walked up to the action swiftly, and saw the kneeling Assassin turn his head slightly, hoping for support. However, Crucis grabbed the other Assassin in a [Chokehold] with his arm, easily dragging the kneeling and weakened Assassin to the ground. He noticed the Assassin gasping in pain, and realised that his move would be causing some amount of pain to his adversary.


    Crucis decided to end the fight quickly, in order to kill the yer before the guard could. While the [Novice Guard] was still locking down the injured Assassin''s arm, the guard hadn''t yet managed to pick himself up off the ground. The Assassin was swearing loudly at Crucis, and calling him a ''bully.'' Crucis stabbed the Assassin with a [Stunning Dagger] move in the shoulder of the arm that the guard was holding down, knowing that the grounded Assassin couldn''t resist or struggle against the stab because of the arm being pinned. This caused 8% damage, and Crucis put a foot over the Assassin''s neck to keep him down. The Assassin let out a strained, weak scream as his mouth was muffled by the ground, and started iling at Crucis with his free arm and legs as soon as he could move. Due to having fairly high Strength at this low level, instead of focussing on Dexterity like Crucis, he pushed Crucis back slightly, though he couldn''t get a clear strike at Crucis who was crouching over the stab-wound on his immobilised right arm. Crucis finished off his victim with a [Dagger Twist], and his victim let out a hoarse, rasping noise as he choked on a pained cry for help. Crucis had made his first yer Kill.


    Crucis looked through his loot, and found that he had gained 2400 gold, as well as a few items and an [Initiate''s Dagger]. He now had two versions of the same dagger. The guard nearby wouldn''t attack him for killing the yer, as killing criminals was permitted and guards were programmed to consider anyone who they were fighting as criminals. However, Crucis knew that the yer would return to collect his remaining belongings. However, this could also work to his own advantage. With travel being risky at the moment and the quests in other towns being too difficult for a level 7, it was likely that his rash opponent was also stuck in Kruxol, and Crucis might get the chance to strike again and take a further cut of rewards. Looking at his new, spare dagger, Crucis noticed some text in the description:


    [Original Owner: Marky Woods.]


    That must have been his opponent''s name. He may have been a difficult fight normally, but due to the guard he was vulnerable. While the victim''s gold quantity might suggest that he had a few high-level friends in Guilds, Crucis''s nametag was garbled and it would be difficult for those Guild members to target him. However, it was likely that Marky would bring some friends when he came to collect the corpse, so Crucis decided that he should avoid this alley during the next hour. He made his way back towards the Weaponry store, then followed an alley beside it until he was behind the store. There, he saw a thief being attacked by two guards, and looking closer he saw that they were both Novice Guards. One was level 2, the other was level 4. They were in a very narrow, small passage behind the Weaponry store, and the thief had no real way to escape the guards in this ustrophobic ce.


    For Crucis, fighting both guards at once might be more difficult than their levels suggested. He was a low-level Assassin unit, and hence somewhat fragile, and he was likely to get hit and grappled if he just rushed in. It would be easier to attack the level 2 on their own, but he wasn''t sure how to split them up. Regardless, he decided that he had to turn the fight 1v1 as soon as possible. He decided to try an uncautious approach this time. When he saw the level 4 guard crouch down to inspect the thief and recover stolen goods, he ran up to the level 2 guard while using [Stealth] for invisibility, and tried to deal as much damage as possible before the other guard could intervene. Grabbing the weaker guard with a [Chokehold] using his dagger-wielding right hand, he used [Stunning Dagger] in the guard''s chest to paralyse his foe so that he wasn''t thrown off. The guard would usually have had high enough Strength to push him away, but when stunned could offer little resistance. Once he had the guard mostly immobile, he shed near the guard''s neck with [Ripper], a crude wide sh with the dagger which tore a thin gash above the guard''s chest. The level 4 guard had by now reared himself and drawn his sword to strike, but was unable to do so because Crucis had wedged the level 2 guard between them like a shield in this narrow passage.


    The level 2 guard still had fairly high Strength for his level, and began to push and elbow Crucis away. One particrly firm elbow sent Crucis hurtling to the left, but he maintained his chokehold while perching his legs on the back wall of the Weaponry store. From there, he mmed the level 2 guard into this wall, leaving him dizzy. The level 2 guard was now at only 8% HP. However, the guard turned his shoulders towards the wall and tried to use their strength to shove Crucis into the wall. Crucis leapt away from the wall, but was elbowed hard as he did so and lost his grip on the guard. Both guards now bore down on him. When he tried to use [Ripper] on the level 2 guard to finish him off, he was interrupted by a strong grip on his shoulder from the level 4 guard, and found himself hurtling backwards. Falling hard, he lost 20% of his HP, leaving him at 70%.


    Leaping back to his feet, he found both guards standing over him, one on each side, blocking any escape down the passageway. He jumped towards the right wall to avoid a powerful sword strike by the level 4 guard in front of him, but felt his shoulders being grappled from behind by the level 2 guard. The sword grazed him for 10% of his HP, and he took a powerful blow as the guard shoved him hard against the wall on noticing that he had avoided the sword strike. He was now down to 40% HP. Strangely, the NPC guard had seemed frustrated by Crucis'' attempt to avoid the sword.


    Crucis could barely attack the level 4 guard now, as the injured guard behind him was loosely gripping his shoulders and not letting him move forwards. The guard in front of him was standing a short distance away and using his long sword to strike, meaning that he could reach further than Crucis'' dagger. Crucis decided that the guard behind him was a weak-point because of the low HP. He half-leapt forwards with his legs, kicking them up until they were both perched around the left knee of the guard in front of him, and then pushed off the guard and used the momentum to fly horizontally backwards and stab the guard behind him. The level 2 guard died, leaving Crucis with a 1v1 fight.


    Crucis drew his dagger back out of the corpse, and prepared for a renewed assault by the stronger guard. While a level 4 guard alone shouldn''t be a difficult fight for him, he was cautious by this point, especially after the guard cried out in anger over his fallenrade. As the guard lifted his sword to strike, Crucis used [Agile Step] to approach and struck with [Stunning Dagger] in the chest of the unsuspecting guard. His Stealth skill had finished its cooldown time, but he saved it forter and stepped quickly backwards away from the guard. He checked if he had looted any healing materials from the fallen guard, but found none, although he did notice that he had looted the guard''s sword. It might not be that useful for him, as it was mostly for Strength-basedbat, but it would be a powerful weapon for a low-level Strength-based warrior.


    As he moved backwards, the remaining guard began to charge towards him. He used [Stealth], and ttened himself along the wall to avoid the path of the charging guard. As the guard ran past his position, he delivered a sharp clothesline and kicked at the guard''s legs until he fell to the ground. On the ground, Crucis knelt over the guard and used [Ripper] as his invisibility faded, shing hard across the guard''s neck. The guard was now down to 12% HP, and severely weakened by the strike. Crucis smiled lightly, then drew the level 2 guard''s [Frail Novice Guard Sword], and brandished it. He grabbed the level 4 guard and dragged his corpse on top of his fallenrade''s, then stabbed at him with the sword. As Crucis didn''t have highly developed skills with the sword, the stab was slightly messy and didn''t pierce cleanly through the guard''s skin, but Crucis hacked at the wound until he tore a bleeding hole in the guard''s chest. Both guards were dead, and Crucis''s quest was nearly over. He had also grown to level 8. His low HP meant that he would have to find somewhere safe to recover, however.


    Looking through his inventory as he walked back towards the crowded area near the Weaponry Store entrance, he noticed that he had recovered what the thief had stolen. It was an elegant light sword, named [Silver Wasp Sword]. At first nce, it looked quite powerful. Its original owner field was disyed in red text:


    [Original owner: STOLEN from Kruxol Weaponry Store.]


    If an item was stolen from a store, then it could be returned to the store for up to 10,000 gold. While this gold would be useful, the sword seemed like it might be more valuable than that. While most of its description was garbled, he could see that it required a Dexterity of 350 to use, and had an ability which gave users a chance of +5% Agility for 1 second if they hit the opponent sessive times. Assassins tended to resort to light swords when engaged in formalbat, and since Crucis had a high Agility stat he decided that he would keep the sword around forter use. Right now, he didn''t have sufficient Dexterity to use it. As he walked past the store, he smiled that he had obtained this item when he couldn''t even afford its store price.


    Checking the Misceneous tab of his quest log, he saw that he had fulfilled a quest called ''First yer Kill.''


    The tiger''s ck stripes are like stars of the void, they sparkle with a nothingness that hides the tiger''s sturdy body. The tiger breaks itself into pieces, and the prey''s vision of it dissolves away. The leopard''s rosettes stare out like crazed eyes, just as they hide from the prey''s watching eye. The predator is not camouged because it seeks an even fight. It seeks prey, it seeks the dead. It is like the vulture''s eyes, reflected upon a sea of mirrors.

 Chapter 8: An Assassins Path

    Chapter 8: An Assassin''s Path


    As he walked towards the Storage facility, to ce his recent loot for safekeeping, Crucis found that one of the guards he killed had dropped an item named [Light Novel #5]. By selecting it, Crucis was presented with a passage of text:


    A couple of the students beside him had been demotivated, after their ss was lectured by several teachers about how bad their study skill is because of their low level of cultivation.


    However, Chu An''s ears perked up and she replied, ''That is an ambitious but wise idea. Through punctual attendance, silence when the teacher is speaking, respect for elders, and dedicated hours of study, we may refine our inner energy until we reach the Rank A of cultivation. Then our study powers shall be even with that of the gods!"


    On hearing the silent Chu An so enthusiastic, some of the others around were also enthused. However, a ssmate named Yang was sceptical, asking, "We are condemned to our fate, for our inner energy is of a poor quality. The effort required to ovee this innate deficiency is immense, and perhaps impossible. For most of us, it would be better to focus on other walks of life or train in professions."


    "The highest sses are already reaching Rank C. We are all at Rank F. Each of you should contribute so that we be the paragon of this school and master cultivators!" pleaded Chu An.


    At this honest request, even Yang was hesitant. However, he quietly walked away. How were they to master cultivation and be a ss of godlike swots if they could not get their ss to participate?>


    Crucis groaned in disgust, and discarded the light novel. The text after that excerpt had been garbled due to the bug, and he reflected that this might be for the best.


    He had killed four guards out of the required five so far, after finding a weak level 3 guard on his way here. However, the fight with two guards earlier was slightly tense, and that made him cautious. He decided that it might be useful to find ways of attacking the guards more safely, as the Hashin had done when they hid beforeunching their unexpected assault.


    He approached the Storage building, but glimpsed a pond behind it in a secluded, dark-green area. Walking up to the pond, Crucis was pushed back automatically. He recognised the feeling, as it resembled the mechanics that the game used to propel the Agile Step skill. While this skill begun as a simple step forwards drawing on Agility, once he had increased the skill to level 3 his step had seemed to warp forwards automatically and instantaneously. Seeing a [Wild Duck] in the pond, a creature that could usually be fought but was now often inessible due to the water deflecting yers, Crucis attempted to use a [sh] with [Agile Step].


    The [Agile Step] was triggered, but as his stepnded he found that he was still at approximately the same position as before, as if his step had warped into the same ce he started. He hadn''t noticed the water''s deflection, meaning that the game had seemingly conted the deflection with the warp from Agile Step and treated them as one instantaneous movement. This didn''t happen to take him anywhere, but he still found it amusing that he could step forwards yet go nowhere. He waited a short while so that he could test what would happen if he stepped towards the water at an angle.


    However, as he waited, he heard a footstep and turned around. It was a level 5 [Novice Guard], who was patrolling the area around the Storage building. This was a good opportunity to kill a guard without running into any friends of the yer he had just killed, since going back to the Weaponry Store alleys could be risky for now. He knew that he would have to be cautious when attacking this guard, as guards in this area tended to be stronger than the ones elsewhere, and since there were plenty of guards here he could easily get mobbed if noticed. Regardless, he quickly drew out his dagger, and approached the guard. The guard was heavily armoured, so Crucis decided that an ordinary melee fight would be out of the question. However, he knew that the guards, like mostnd creatures, were programmed not to enter the water unless they were forced into it. He hence thought that he might be able to force the guard towards the edge of the pond. Since the guard would not enter the pond, the guard would instead be sandwiched between Crucis on one side and the pond on the other, with slippery ground meaning that the guard would be an off-bnce, static target.


    Kicking firmly at the guard''s back, Crucis sent the guard falling towards the end of the pond. However, as Crucis walked forwards to further his offence, the kneeling guard firmly grabbed Crucis around the waist and used superior Strength to throw the Assassin to the ground. Crucis felt his hands and chestnding on wet mud, but used his high Agility to recoil quickly to his feet with a frog-like motion from his hands and legs against the ground. He saw the guard also standing nearby, a few steps away from the pond, holding arge mace. While Crucis sensed that this fight may not have been a good idea, he didn''t think that he could escape easily when this guard would simply run after him quickly and call on somerades along the way to help.


    Crucis stepped cautiously towards the guard, but then leapt high towards the water as the guard approached him. He felt himself being teleported a few feet away from the water, and materialised in about a second hanging in the air just behind the guard''s right shoulder. Since he was static for a moment in the air, he carefully aimed a [Ripper] at the confused guard, and tore a thick gash across the guard''s neckline on the shoulder. The guard was unprepared for this aerial assault, and Crucis followed up by grabbing the guard''s shoulder to remain in the air and stabbing hard towards the guard''s face with [Stunning Dagger]. Blood spurted from the dark wound in the guard''s forehead, and Crucis let his feet drift to the ground as the guard was briefly paralysed. The guard was on 20% HP now. As Crucis had expected, the water hotfix had been a hasty band-aid to prevent yers from dying over water, and the AI had mostly not been adapted to take it into ount.


    Crucis kicked the guard to the ground, hoping it would weaken the guard''s ability to fight back. However, he was surprised as the guard raised a kneeling leg and kicked Crucis above his own knee, sending the Assassin falling to the ground at 65% HP. As he tried to get up, he found himself thrown down again by a wild mace swing as the guard crouched up from the ground. Crucis was now at 45% HP.


    Since the guard was bleeding, his HP was steadily declining. Crucis used his superior Agility to keep his distance from the guard, sidestepping around the pond and across the walls in order to weaken the guard before striking. The guard watched him carefully, and prepared to attack with the mace, asionally charging in Crucis''s direction to try and catch him.


    However, the guard was now at 10% HP, meaning that Crucis could kill him quickly. Crucis knew that if he didn''t attack quickly, he would likely be found by another guard, but he was reluctant after seeing the force of the mace. Using the [Stealth] skill, Crucis breezily ran up to the guard, and used a hasty [Ripper] from behind, which barely missed the guard''s neck and scraped a small wound between the guard''s shoulders. Cursing silently at this erratic strike, Crucis tried to back off but felt the guard shove him powerfully to the ground. Quickly getting up, Crucis saw the guard, with 6% HP remaining, bearing down on him with the mace. Crucis knew that closebat would be difficult, and stepped onto a patch of wet mud that he saw next to the pond. The guard followed him.


    Due to the guard''s lower Agility, Crucis assumed that they would be more off-bnce on this slippery area. However, even Crucis was finding it awkward to walk across. Since [Agile Step] teleported him, he used it to avoid the difficulties of fighting on this terrain, and snuck a [Stunning Dagger] blow to the guard''s right shoulder. Stepping quickly around the paralysed guard, Crucis grabbed the guard in a [Chokehold], and lifted his own feet from the wet ground to perch knee-first on the guard''s back. The guard was already off-bnce, so being kneed in the back sent him careening downwards in a wild fall forwards. The guard''s fall was out-of-control like the lurch of a drunkard in a car crash. Crucis was surprised by the fall, and sprung off the guard as soon as he was near the ground. While Crucis rolled safely to his feet next to the guard, the guard had fallen face-first and his wounded face was bleeding profusely, along with cuts across his chest. He had died from the fall, and Crucis rxed his body slightly.


    Looking through his loot from the guard, Crucis saw a few pieces of Strength-based equipment, along with a potentially useful Strength-increasing string ne. Leaving the dead guard''s body, Crucis used [Stealth] and hiddenly ran back towards the entrance of the Storage building. Appearing at this entrance, he walked past a couple of guards and found a few ''Bankers'' standing in the corners of the building. Storing most of his inventory with them, he tried to make sure to only keep items that he would need for practical reasons, like bandages which could heal small amounts of HP over time between fights. Other than necessary orbat items, it was safer to store things here such that they couldn''t be lost on death. Crucis eventually looked at his near-empty inventory with some satisfaction, knowing that he could afford to be more adventurous. The killing of the guard hadpleted his Assassin ss quest, and given him enough EXP to reach level 11.


    Returning to the Assassin ss trainer, Crucis was congratted onpleting the quest, and informed that he had unlocked a new optional quest by reaching level 10. This quest involved ying a boss, a courtier from a faraway Kingdom who was visiting and was lodged near Kruxol. Crucis was initially hesitant, because he knew that bosses could now inflict actual pain. However, he remembered the level 10 optional Mage quest being fairly easy and giving high EXP, and its boss not being that impressive, so he decided that he might as well try. He was told to enter an old, grey building just to the East of Kruxol, where the courtier currently upied a room which was marked with the letter ''A'' on its door. If done carefully, the NPC further exined that the courtier could be attacked without alerting him first.


    Crucis found the building quickly, and slipped in. He saw a door down a corridor to his left, with the red letter ''A'' written on it. However, as he turned towards it, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder as an arrow grazed him from behind. Turning back, he realised that while he had been focusing on the door, the [Visiting Courtier] boss had been waiting on a nearby stairway with a bow and anticipating intruders. Crucis realised that he should have observed the location more carefully. Sprinting to pursue to courtier, he heard a shout as a level 5 [Coachman] emerged from the door down the corridor and rushed him. Crucis tried to ignore this new assant, and focused on the courtier. The courtier had climbed higher on the high set of crumbling stairs, and had his bow prepared. Crucis knew that trying to follow the courtier up the stairs would just subject him to a hail of arrows, even if he tried to use [Stealth], because the narrow stairway would make him an easy target. The courtier let off a few wayward shots from the stairway, as he tried to bnce on the crumbling stairs.


    As Crucis considered how to attack the courtier, therge [Coachman] caught up to him and shoved him to his knees. Crucis didn''t want to be caught in a brawl with this character, while being fired on from above. He used [Stealth] to get around the character, and grabbed the coachman in a [Choke Hold]. Holding the coachman as a shield in front of him, he began to walk up the stairs. It was an awkward climb up the narrow, crumbling stone stairway, but Crucis noticed that the courtier was hesitant to attack when his ally was in the way. Although the coachman was trying to push him away, the low-level character was not sessful and would anyway have nowhere to run unless he threw himself from the stairway. Crucis used [Stunning Dagger] on his human shield to keep it stable, as he trekked up the stairs.


    He saw the courtierunch an arrow using an attack named [Swift bolt], loosing a quick shot in Crucis''s direction, but as Crucis expected the level 10 boss didn''t have enough finesse to hit Crucis and the arrow instead collided with the [Coachman], reducing him to 10% HP. Seeing this, the courtier gave up and ran away onto the second floor of the building. Crucis tossed his human shield off the narrow stairway, and ran up the stairs in pursuit. The [Coachman] made a loud noise as he hit the cold ground and died.


    When Crucis reached the second floor, he saw the courtier slip into a narrow corridor near the stairway. Crucis knew that he would be instantly attacked by arrows if he tried to enter the corridor. The boss seemed to try and lure the yer into narrow corridors to make them easier targets and nullify the effects of Stealth. This could also make the encounter more difficult for teams of yers. Crucis decided that he should try and find another way to reach the courtier, and thought back to the bug which Byron had showed him. He expected the courtier to be waiting in the corridor for him, based on what he had seen of the boss''s behaviour so far, and so he waited by the stairway and quickly navigated to open his Character page. There, he saw that he had gained an extra two points to develop basic skills, after hepleted the Novice Guard quest. He used both of these points to level up his [Agile Step] skill, unlocking the ability to use [Agile Step] even without an attack following it.


    Having done this, he sidestepped briefly next to the walls of the corridor, until he saw a part of them bug out slightly and appear in two different ces at once. Using [Agile Step], he moved to enter the extra wall that he had just seen, and found himself inside the wall after the step. He saw the courtier lying in wait on the far left of the corridor. Shuffling carefully along the thick, cold wall, making sure to avoid emerging into the corridor and being shot, he approached the courtier. When he reached, he used [Stealth] and entered the corridor, behind the courtier, then used [Stunning Dagger] to pierce a wound between the courtier''s right shoulder and neck. Seeing the courtier temporarily paralysed, Crucis shed hard at the courtier''s exposed neck with [Ripper], tearing a bleeding gash through it. Using his right arm for a [Chokehold], Crucis applied further pressure to the courtier''s wounded neck. The courtier was at 15% HP now, and it was reducing as he was bleeding and choking.


    The courtier drew out a throwing knife from the side of his green coat, and tried haphazardly thrusting it at Cael. While Cael tried to avoid it, the courtier took advantage of the distraction by using his elbow to shove Cael harshly to the left. Colliding with the left wall of the corridor, Cael almost lost his grip, but managed to keep a hold of the courtier and drag him to the left. He tried to keep a hold on the struggling courtier, but soon felt the courtier''s writhing and shoving end as the damage from bleeding erased hisst point of HP. Cael knew that this fight would have been much more difficult if he had entered the corridor normally, bing a target for the courtier''s ranged attacks. Since he had attacked from an unexpected angle while the courtier was preparing to fire across the corridor, it was easy to aim for the courtier''s exposed neck and lock them down. Without that, the courtier''s use of the terrain made this fight quite difficult, for a level 10 boss.


    Checking on his rewards, he found that killing the courtier had given him arge amount of EXP, enough to reach level 14. Further, the courtier had dropped some good Dexterity-boosting gear. He decided to wear the following:


    [Fencer''s Boots | Increase Dexterity by 80, and Agility by 40.]


    [Trap Talisman | When you pin the enemy to the wall or terrain, your Dexterity is doubled.]


    [Hunter''s gloves | Dexterity increases by 100 during fights.]


    The [Trap Talisman] sounded powerful if used in appropriate situations, like the walled hallways that he was in. Further, he considered that if he was using the bug he might be attacking enemies near walls anyway, and hence the ability to attack unexpectedly and gain additional speed would make him even more effective. Since 10% of the Dexterity stat was converted into Agility, this could be powerful if he had high Dexterity and Agility, which he would need to survive in the wild for now.


    On reaching the Assassin trainer NPC to turn in the quest, he received enough extra EXP to reach level 15. As he recalled, the EXP dropped from these missions was very high. Due to the level gain and increased experience with the dagger, he had gained several points to unlock new skills. Checking his Character screen, he saw that his three dagger skill points were enough to unlock an additional ability, named [ck Spot]. At its base level, it would allow him to slit the opponent''s throat and cause bleeding, with more precision than shing with the [Ripper] move. He acquired this skill, and then scanned the area around the town for anything to test it on. Instead, he saw a party with several powerful yers, returning to Kruxol from the West.


    "To win, you need to <strong>adapt</strong>, and to adapt, you need to be able to <strongugh</strong> away all the restraints. <strong>Everything</strong> holding you back."


    (The Batman Who Laughs.)

 Chapter 9: The Art of The Gank

    Chapter 9: The Art of The Gank


    The world of those who fear the dark is ruled by the one who hides in shadow.


    As Crucis had anticipated, the level 13 Ligate was returning to Kruxol along with Jarius and a few others. The travelling party looked powerful, but a bit scruffy, suggesting that they had been trying to get some sleep in thest few hours. Due to this, most of them were at the same level as they were before.


    In order to observe his formerpanions, Crucis re-traced his steps towards a small alley near the Western border of Kruxol, where a few rats appeared for new yers to kill. Under the pretence of fighting the low-level rats, he kept watch on the group entering Kruxol. The group had stopped and formed a circle, and Jarius was handing out reasonable amounts of gold from the Guild treasury topensate people who had died earlier. Since Kruxol was a starting town, it was unlikely that Jarius and the other high-level yers would be staying here. As such, Jarius was seemingly handing out some equipment and gold to the five low-level yers before departing. These yers could then train in the rtively easy quests around Kruxol.


    Crucis noticed that Ligate had received a [Heartwood Bow], a fast but slightly inurate bow which could be highly effective on a low-level archer. Looking around, he saw that the yers had mostly received quite high-quality equipment, and he sighed slightly that with such equipment these yers would probably soon outlevel himfortably. At present, they were only three or four levels above him at most, but better equipped. However, if he could stay ahead of them, then he could harvest their gold by attacking them and, if lucky, get some good equipment drops as well. This new glut of well-equipped, low-level yers stuck in Kruxol was a natural target, since their drops could be much better than most others at their level. However, Crucis was reluctant, because if he fought a few of them then they might see him as a viin and group up to hunt him down.


    As Jarius left, Crucis was pleased to see one level 11 Mage from the group retire into an Inn to sleep. At least that Mage wasn''t likely to eclipse him soon. However, he saw a few others seeking quests. One of them was Ligate, who had switched sses to Archer using the free option given to new yers which allows one ss change when under level 14. Jarius, due to dissatisfaction with his Guild''s current archers, had requested this change while they were both still in Sanra. Ligate was talking to an old woman by a shed just outside the West border of Kruxol, taking on a quest that Crucis recognised. The woman said that her dog had grown unruly and needed to be pacified, and in a small fenced area behind her shed the yer could fight an [Undead Dog]. It was a fairly young dog, that looked like a Rottweiler, but was now only a skeleton. Strangely, most forum posts about this quest had involved people talking about how cute the monster ''puppy'' was. Crucis shrugged slightly on remembering this.


    He noticed that Ligate had walked around to the back of the shed, and was trying in vain to enter the fenced area. Seemingly, he hadn''t yet realised that you needed to enter through the door in the back of the building. Anticipating Ligate, Crucis ran swiftly up to the shed with his high Agility, and then used [Agile Step] when he saw that the wall was bugged. Finding himself within the building''s walls, he made his way towards the back and waited.


    Once Ligate finally noticed the door leading from the building to inside the fenced area, he walked carefully into the dark building and towards the door at the back, finally opening it to see a growling skeletal dog. Ligate was visibly surprised at the undead dog. This sort of quest, which sets the expectation of a normal situation like a woman with a pet dog, and then subverts this expectation with a fantastical twist like having the dog turn undead, is a staple of MMO writing. It has been done often enough that it can seem predictable, but for Ligate it seemed like an unexpected, horror-themed twist. Ligate reached shakily for his bow, and directed an arrow towards the dog. He was trying to keep his distance, because Jarius had only given him a bow and no weapons for meleebat.


    Crucis saw Ligate hesitating at the door, and shuffled towards it. Ligate was using his [Arrowstorm] skill to send a fast volley of arrows towards the undead creature, yet the dog kept slowly advancing at him as the arrows deflected off the skeletal creature and left dents. The dog was at 40% HP when it reached Ligate, but it jumped at him and started to w at his chest, shoving him harshly backwards and reducing him to 76% HP. Leaning against the door, Ligate managed to fire off a [Poison Arrow], weakening the dog somewhat and giving Ligate time to recover. Although Ligate was in a slightly awkward position, this was a quest meant for new yers and his enemy was quite fragile.


    As Ligate began to draw his bow, Crucis''s arm emerged from the wall beside the door and wrapped itself around Ligate''s neck, forming a [Chokehold]. Ligate was surprised by this, but didn''t know if it was another yer or a further unexpected hijink of this quest like the undead dog which had unsettled him. He cussed about the quest under his breath, and Crucis realised that the archer hadn''t yet realised that his attacker was another yer. Crucis decided to y this up and pretend to be a horror-themed NPC, cackling lightly and delivering the generic line, "You should not mess with things that you don''t understand." Sneering as Ligate shivered heavily, he held himself back from clucking wickedly like the chicken-that-is-not-a-chicken boss. Ligate stood still for a moment to see if there was any more dialogue in this scene that might hint at what to do, and Crucis reached around to deliver the [ck Spot] attack, carefully cutting a bleeding slit in the front of Ligate''s neck.


    Ligate screamed out, feeling waves of pain that poured through his throat as if he was nauseous with it. Blood began running from his mouth, and he started screaming louder. Concerned that someone might hear the archer, Crucis used [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse the archer and shut him up briefly, then tensed his arm to choke Ligate more thoroughly and impede the archer''s ability to speak or scream.


    When the paralysis ended, Ligate began struggling against Crucis, causing Crucis to step back slightly due to his lower Strength stat. However, the [Undead Dog] had lifted itself on its hind paws and jumped towards Ligate, and was now shing at Ligate''s face. Ligate was apoplectically letting out strangled screams that sounded like whimpers. As Ligate tried to fend off the dog with frenzied punches and kicks, Crucis smiled slightly and dragged Ligate''s head sharply backwards towards the wall. As Ligate''s head mmed against the wall, his struggle against the dog went limp, and the dog bit his shoulder fiercely. Crucis noticed that Ligate was at only 4% HP, and was trying to leap out of the way of the dog''s assault. Crucis used this momentum to drag Ligate sharply to the right until the archer lost his footing and started flying horizontally rightwards, at which point Crucis used [Ripper] to sh near Ligate''s neck and kill him.


    Crucis held still for a moment, and saw that Ligate''s corpse was drifting horizontally above the ground. The archer would not be able to reim the gold and items that Jarius had just donated him. In exchange for changing ss, Jarius had given Ligate a healthy lump of gold, and Crucis now found himself with 12,500 extra gold. This was a good amount for him. He had also looted a Dexterity Orb, an item which triggers every 30 minutes and has a 20% chance of granting the owner a buff of +15% Dexterity for 5 minutes, although as a temporary item the orb expires after 3 hours and disappears from the inventory. It had a low chance of being given to a user as a reward for being logged in each day, although Cael and Crucis had only received gold from the login rewards so far. Seemingly Ligate had been luckier. This orb still had just over 2 hours left before it expired and disappeared, so it could still be of use.


    The sight of Ligate''s suspended corpse reminded Crucis of the earlier attack by the Hashin, and Crucis felt a kind of satisfaction at starting to master what had earlier victimised him. He was slightly ufortable with having killed someone who had fought in his party recently, but this at least assured that his enemy wasn''t unpredictable. Now that Ligate was dead, the [Undead Dog] began to growl at Crucis. Ligate had aggroed the dog, but now it was likely to attack anyone else nearby. However, Crucis noticed that the dog was weakened, and used [Stealth] to avoid attack while shing firmly at the dog''s neck with [Ripper] to kill it. The dog''s skull cracked off the rest of its body, and the creature died.


    Crucis looted a [Legbone] and a ne made of the creature''s sharp ws, which he remembered as the same kind of ne that Cael had used to cause the bleeding status. He had been earlier unaware that it was a possible drop from killing this dog, and that the shopkeeper was lying about iting from a ''ferocious beast'' when in truth they had probably just killed an undead dog. He also realised that entering walls would give him further ess to this creature, who yers can usually only fight when doing the old woman''s quest. Since the [Legbone] is necessary to forge some basic blunt weapons, and the ne was powerful, this dog might be a good source of early-game materials. He figured that most yers familiar with the bugged walls were higher-level and assisted by Guilds, and therefore didn''t care for the dog''s drops as much or care to abuse it. Besides, the dog didn''t give boosted EXP like several bosses or special mobs, so it wasn''t likely an interesting venture for yers who were at a higher level. The proximity to Kruxol also meant thatrger yers could soon arrive if they heard of your presence.


    On killing Ligate, Crucis''s name had turned red, due to killing a yer who was neither a criminal nor involved in any criminal activities like fighting guards. This meant that guards would attack him on sight, and meant that escaping into Kruxol wouldn''t be easy at the moment. Further, he might get killed there if yers spotted him. However, he was uneasy about staying in this building, because Ligate had already encountered him here and more people might show up for the quest. He could try to hide in the abandoned farm out West, but he would probably be seen on the way and his red name might tempt an attack. Due to this, it seemed that he had no choice but to wait here for half an hour until the red name wore off. Since only people taking this quest were able to enter the fenced area, it seemed like the safest option was to wait in there and kill the [Undead Dog] when it respawned in 15 minutes. However, he would have to kill any unwanted visitors before then.


    The red name wouldst for 30 minutes after he killed one yer, but if he killed 4 more yers while still red-named then it would extend for another half-hour. He had heard that it used to increase for every two yers killed, in an early version of the game, but that was scrapped for a more lenient version because red-named yers in the wild were likely to be attacked and hence to get more kills. Crucis expected that a few yers might turn up to fight the dog, but most wouldn''t enter because the game would notify them that the dog hadn''t respawned yet. Besides, since it was night, he was unlikely to run into many yers, and could hopefully hold fort for a half-hour. He sat down in a patch of slightly rough hay on the ground, and waited, keeping a dagger out in case the dog spawned.


    After about 8 minutes, he saw a group of two level 8 yers approach the old woman outside. The yers were chattering tiredly with each other, talking about how their Guilds'' stronger yers were nning to escort asional groups between towns in order to help smaller yers. Crucis knew that he should be careful, because once his victims revived they would be likely to tell Guildmates of his location and the area might be unsafe. As they entered the building, the two yers went on talking, saying that they should get stronger in order to assist the Guild. The level 8 warrior, [GaryTron], was wearing a cosmetic ne, and Crucis overheard some of his words, "We need to spend the Guild invitation gold more wisely, I wasted a few thousand on bling." Hispanion, a female Mage named [Tundra], softly whispered a response that Crucis didn''t catch. GaryTronughed in response.


    As Crucis saw them approach the door, he realised that the Undead Dog was soon to spawn. Due to this, the other yers would probably enter in. He stood straight and crept near the door, taking care to stand on the side with the hinges so that they wouldn''t see him immediately after opening the door. It reminded him slightly of theedy scenes where a character is being chased and hides behind the door, but in this case it gave him more time to use the [Stealth] skill without being seen through the doorway. As he saw the door creak open, Crucis used his [Stealth] skill and watched the two yers rush into the room, unaware of his presence. GaryTron was holding the door open for Tundra to pass through. Since Crucis had only a few seconds of invisibility, he hurriedly ran up behind GaryTron and used [Stunning Dagger] to stab the warrior in the back, then dashed forward quickly to Tundra and elbowed her in the face. The Mage fell to the ground, and Crucis turned to the warrior behind him who would just now be recovering from paralysis. Crucis had a n of sorts: by dealing with the warrior first, he could iste the Mage who would be vulnerable alone.


    However, as he turned around, he saw the fast arc of a rapier near his arm and flinched slightly as it weakly cut his left arm. He wasn''t expecting GaryTron to strike so quickly after the paralysis. Crucis leapt backwards, away from the warrior, to get his bearings. However, GaryTron was quick in pursuit, bearing down on Crucis with his rapier. As the warrior prepared to thrust the rapier with his right hand, Crucis used [Agile Step] to step behind the warrior''s right shoulder, and gave a sharp [Ripper] to his lower-level foe''s arm. The warrior felt a sharp pain from the strike, and was barely holding onto his rapier. He tried to strike at Crucis again, but his right arm was drooping limply and he couldn''t raise the sword to strike. Crucis took advantage of this with a [Chokehold], but Tundra had sat up on the side of fenced area and cast [Basic Healing], which restored GaryTron to almost full HP and healed his arm. This spell was the result of a slightly obscure low-level quest South of Kruxol, but one of Tundra''s Guildmates had shown her where to find the quest while tiredly introducing the new members yesterday. Taken by surprise, Crucis was elbowed away by the warrior and kicked backwards. Crucis turned to the Mage with a disgusted expression.


    The Mage looked worried, and was cussing loudly at him for a few seconds, then said, "Get lost, bully! Leave him alone!"


    Crucis frowned, then replied, "There''s two level 8s here. You shouldn''t swear like that around children."


    "Yeah, well, you''re going to lose to them, retard. Thanks for the heal, Susie," said GaryTron as he prepared to resume his attack.


    Due to his high Agility, Crucis was able to dodge-roll to his right to escape GaryTron''s strike. The warrior was still low-level, and couldn''t pull off anyplex skills, only striking and thrusting with the rapier. Crucis tried to keep his distance. As the increasingly frustrated warrior ran in to strike, Crucis waited until he got close and then bolted quickly to the warrior''s left, stabbing the shoulder with a [Stunning Dagger] move that had cooled down while he was avoiding the warrior. He had decided on a new n. Fighting the stubborn warrior was slightly pointless if the damage could be healed, therefore he decided to rush the healer and kill them as quickly as possible so that he could exploit his level advantage over GaryTron. He ran straight to Tundra, who was getting to her feet, and shed her firmly across the face with [Ripper], then clotheslined her back to the ground as she let out a pained yelp. Crucis crouched down towards her as she fell in the corner of the area, with her head and shoulders resting on the fence. Using [Chokehold], he grabbed her neck and used this grip to repeatedly m her head forcefully against the edges of the fence.


    Seeing GaryTron approaching and howling with anger, Crucis crept into the corner of the fencing, behind Tundra, and held out the Mage as a shield. Having got a good look at GaryTron''s skills, he didn''t think that there was any good way for the warrior to attack past this human shield, especially with Crucis safely in the corner. Tundra was struggling lightly, but was still light-headed and dizzy from the collision of her head with the hard fencing. Crucis saw her clumsily preparing her left hand to use [Mana Push] on him, and shrunk his body to the right side in order to avoid the mana cast by the spell. He used [ck Spot] on the weak Mage, causing a small slit on her neck, then watched as the bleeding drained her remaining 15% HP. Suddenly, he was surprised as the Mage began spasming violently and helplessly shrieking at the pain. He held the Mage''s body out towards GaryTron and kicked it forwards as he walked, advancing on the warrior and daring them to attack. The warrior held off from doing so, and watched as his dark-haired brte partner, with grey eyes and a light body, bled from her neck in front of him. GaryTron tried to sidestep and get a clear angle to strike at Crucis, but Crucis hauled his human shield to each side to block the warrior''s approach.


    "You bullying scum, our Guild is going to get you, they''re called GoldBlood! They''re going to get mad at you and hunt you down!" shouted GaryTron.


    Tundra joined in, with, "Yeah, our strong Guild will take you down!"


    Crucis knew that this was something of an empty threat: due to the garbled names, it was unlikely that the Guild would be able to tell him apart from other Assassins. He would just have to make sure to stay away from this building once the Guild came looking. As such, he replied dismissively, "I''m sure they won''t be so surprised that weak yers die. It happens all the time. No need for them to strain themselves over it." GaryTron red at him angrily.


    As Tundra''s HP drew down to 3%, Crucis flung her body high towards GaryTron, then used [Agile Step] to sneak behind the warrior''s left shoulder, which he struck with [Stunning Dagger]. GaryTron had been trying to support Tundra''s frail body as herst HP drained out, and now watched as his paralysed hands let go of her drifting corpse. Crucis kneed the confused warrior to the ground, and stabbed him in the back. Swooping down, Crucis used [Ripper] across the warrior''s back, widening the stabwound. GaryTron was iling on the ground, and let go of his rapier, which Crucis kicked away. However, the warrior wasn''t done, and used his right shoulder to shove Crucis fiercely to the right. Crucis felt his skin scrape lightly across the ground as he skidded away on his back, and grimaced as he got up. He had 60% HP remaining. He saw the [Undead Dog] respawning, and used [Stealth] to avoid fighting it immediately. As the dog leered over the fallen warrior, GaryTron tried desperately to get up. Crucis dropped swiftly to the ground near GaryTron, and used his knees and arms to lift GaryTron into the air, slicing at the warrior''s throat with [ck Spot]. The dog''s ws shed at GaryTron, and the warrior soon died from the bleeding neck.


    Crucis let go of GaryTron''s aerial corpse, and reflected that he could do with a better way of lifting corpses, like the uppercut that he had seen the Hashin use. However, the [Undead Dog] was now preparing to attack him, so he struck at it with a quick [Ripper] to the head, then used his Agility to kick it to the ground and use [Stunning Dagger]. This fast assault outpaced the slightly slow undead, who was after all a creaky skeleton, and it died. Crucis noticed that his Dexterity Orb had activated.


    Crucis checked his loot, and noticed that he had gained 17,000 gold from the two yers. This haul must be due to the ''Guild invitation gold'' they mentioned - a fewrge Guilds were offering gold to new entries in order to help with development. He had also got lucky, and looted some equipment from GaryTron:


    [Boots of the Young Deer | Increases Dexterity by 200. Increases Agility by 5% for 30 seconds at the start of a fight.]


    Seemingly, the reason why the warrior had been moving quickly is that their Guild had lent them some strong Dexterity-based gear. It wasn''t enough for a level 8 to outpace Crucis, but it was enough to be a nuisance. He decided to keep that in hand, and wait until he could re-enter Kruxol to store and check on his gear. He had also received a few items from the small yers, and another skeletal ne from the Undead Dog. Scanning the items, the most expensive he found was dropped by the Mage, a [Starry Ne] that reduced 10 MP from the cost of each spell. He was not a Mage, so he figured he could just sell it for 7,000 gold. The rest of the items dropped were mostly from early quest enemies, and he couldn''t tell which items had belonged to the warrior and which to the Mage. He sat back down in the fenced area, to have a look through the inventory.


    One item in particr stood out to him, because it was marked as a [Quest item], and he inspected it hurriedly once he realised that it would unlock a rare quest.

 Chapter 10: The Gift of Betrayal

    Chapter 10: The Gift of Betrayal


    Crucis had found a [Rare Treasure Map] among the items dropped by the level 8 yers, and inspected it carefully. The map disyed a rough sketch of Kruxol and the area West of Kruxol, and a few buildings in the abandoned farm were circled. Next to this map, there was another map which seemed to show an underground area near Kruxol, with an ''X'' drawn in red in one corner of a sprawling maze of walls. Based on themon trope where ''X marks the spot,'' Crucis guessed that the ''X'' would contain the treasure which the map promised. The map''s description said that he would have to consume the map to enter the area with treasure, meaning that he would only have one chance. This would mean that, if he died in there, he could not recover equipment or gold that he was carrying.


    He wasn''t sure how the two level 8 yers hade upon one of these maps, since he had never heard of them being dropped by any low-level creatures. If they were drops from such creatures, then high-level yers would still grind weak mobs around Kruxol for the maps. This did not happen, suggesting that there was no such way of getting the maps. Crucis shrugged slightly, and concluded that even if the maps didn''t drop from weak mobs, he was lucky that they could drop from weak yers.


    ncing at the map, he saw that most circled buildings - which he assumed were entrances to the underground area - were in the abandoned farm to the West of Kruxol. This might exin why the two level 8s hadn''t yet attempted the quest. The path to the abandoned farm was somewhat unsafe now, because the farm''s buildings were a good shelter for PKing Guilds to rest when they were red-named. For the level 8 yers to go there alone would be dangerous, and even with their Guild''s support it would be unsafe and could result in a tough fight. Due to this, Crucis guessed that it might also be difficult for him to enter.


    He saw a couple of other buildings around Kruxol which were circled. The closest was a building within Kruxol. He thought it was slightly strange that there was an entrance within the town, that was much easier to reach than the ones out West. Nheless, it seemed like it was worth a try. When his name was no longer red, he decided to enter Kruxol before the yers he had killed could tell Guild-mates to watch the area. He used [Stealth] to hide where he wasing from, and stepped onto the path towards Kruxol without attracting attention.


    Once he was in Kruxol, he navigated swiftly to the building circled on the map, and found that it was arge royal building, with a red carpet running along the floor of a wide hallway. The grey walls were made of stone, and it seemed quite ancient. While at present itprised only a hallway and a few rooms to each side, it seemed like it may have been the entryway to arger castle or building that had been lost to time. To the sides of the hallway were a few banners and gs carrying the royal family''s conventional emblem, a fiery yellow phoenix on a dark blue background, with a blue and grey shield behind the bird. This emblem generally marked a royal building, or one which was used for servants and emissaries of the monarchy.


    As he tried to enter, he was interrupted by a guard. The guard checked that he was over level 10, and hence qualified to enter the building. After that, the guard further asked him to disy an entry pass for the building. Since Crucis didn''t have one, the guard pushed him away. He looked around, and saw that another yer was looking angrily at the guard, so he turned to talk to this yer.


    "What entry pass do they mean?" asked Crucis.


    "Oh, that. Yeah, I asked around," said the other yer, a level 21 warrior wearing a green suit of armour, "The entry pass was apparently given to people who sent hefty donations to thepany in charge of the game, there''s no way of getting them from fights or quests. I was talking to someone who had outlined the various rewards for different tiers of donations, but he''s gone now. It seems like some people were throwing money at this bugged game. Apparently they started soliciting the donations quite haphazardly andte. I hadn''t actually heard much of these offers before getting the game, seemingly a lot were localised and the gamepany were targeting associates and groups or localities where they thought people were more likely to spend big amounts. The guards, needless to say, are just rude and don''t exin any of this."


    Crucis pondered this information for a moment, and said, "I see. By the way, is there any treasure map that is a part of these donation perks? I''m curious how some low-level yers came upon that."


    "Yeah, for a fewrger donations there was a [Rare Treasure Map] and a [Unique Treasure Map] on offer. Thetter is better, and gives a greater treasure. I think there''s a couple of treasure chest entrances in this building, but I can''t enter."


    "OK, so what I''ve heard is that using a treasure map would extinguish it. Meaning, couldn''t go back or reim your corpse if you died. If people did that, then how would they get a second chance to enter and reim their items? Otherwise, the treasure map would be something like a trap."


    "Um, good question," said the warrior, hesitating for a few seconds. "Probably they''d have some option to purchase more of them if people needed to top-up. That sounds a bit like amon scheme, you get people to pay for entry, then pay for re-entry every time they die. There''s quite a few yers using things like the Treasure Maps now that we''re trapped here, to try and get ahead."


    Crucisughed resignedly. "So we have group of yers around here with arge headstart?"


    "Not all of them have a headstart, some of the rewards were alcoholic. A few spent thest days getting drunk," quipped the warrior.


    "Ah, excellent. Due to the various government regtions, I think games now tend to verify age before letting people drink in bars?"


    "Yes. These VR games are tied up with the overall International Social Network system, where people each have IDs containing their age, name, etc. Since VR is already used for study spaces or for other things like exploring simcra of famousndmarks, this basically ties all of the VR systems together. VR is very centralised, more than it seems. So alcohol is regted carefully."


    "Pity. I guess that if I want to hear five-year-olds screaming and howling, I''ll have to PK them rather than hanging around a bar."


    "Yes. To be honest, I''m not a fan of PKing. I get that it''s a part of the game, but I''m notfortable with it."


    "How else can we get some of those fancy donation items while we''re in here, though?"


    "I guess we can''t. But a lot of them are ''no-drop,'' you can''t obtain them even if you kill someone or loot a corpse."


    Crucisughed, and said, "Well, maybe the items are just no-drop if you don''t shake the yers hard enough! It never hurts to try."


    "I guess that''s a spirited way of looking at it. By the way, my name''s Azrawl. It doesn''t show clearly any more, right?"


    "Yes, after the bug a lot of text was garbled -"


    "Exactly. Anyway, I have to go. I have to run a few dungeons with my Guild. Take care."


    Crucis checked his map as Azrawl left, and saw that there was another circled building just to the South of Kruxol. Entering the royal building in Kruxol would be futile, as guards would just kill him if he managed to get around them, but the other building might be more promising if it was as he remembered.


    Running Southwards, he found arge, pyramidal building with a wall just to the South of Kruxol. Navigating his way around this wall, he saw two creatures named [Orc Guard], with red names. They were both level 300, meaning that the building was probably sealed off to most yers. He saw a wizard NPC standing on the left side of the building, and walked up to talk.


    "Wee to the Temple of Ubs. If you are a Mage,e here after you unlock your subss, and you may use this Temple to further hone your skills and collect the rare spell scrolls within. If not, then the orcish guards will tell you to leave, and attack you if you do notply. Further, the building contains many strong enemies, so be careful not to get trapped."


    Thanking the wizard, Crucis frowned in slight frustration. It seemed like he wouldn''t have much choice except to find some way to safely search the abandoned farm. However, he saw a level 30 Mage walking by. As he approached, the Mage smiled and said, "Hello. You''re nearly at level 20, would you mind joining my party? I''m only at level 30, and the enemies in here are level 35 minimum, so I could use a bit of assistance. Since you''re an Assassin, would you mind being a scout, and running ahead to check for enemies? If you warn me about them or run into them, then I''ll know what to prepare for. I''ve heard that most enemies here are only difficult if they get the jump on you. I just need to obtain one item in here, it shouldn''t be too difficult."


    Crucis was slightly angry about the Mage''s request, since he was basically suggesting that Crucis y a disposable scout and risk being ambushed by monsters just so that the Mage isn''t surprised. It was like being a stick that someone pokes into a snake hole to determine whether there is a snake there. The Mage''s tone was suitably derisive, treating Crucis as a potentially useful tool who could be thrown into harm''s way. Crucis wondered if the Mage would follow up this request by asking Crucis to pick cotton on a ntation. However, Crucis had no other good way of entering the building, and decided that if he could tag along with this Mage then he would just have to find some way of slipping away to enter the underground area indicated by the treasure map. Due to this, he epted with a nod and joined the Mage''s party. The Mage introduced himself as Garulus, and told Crucis to follow behind him.


    The Mage had set up the party so that only he received drops from enemy creatures. Since the Mage had no Guild and it was night-time, he hadn''t been able to get other people along for the expedition at short notice, and needed to find a [Hidden Fire Tome] in order to continue his Pyromancer sub-ss training. Crucis followed him to the Temple''s entrance. The Mage talked to the guards, and they quickly agreed to let the Mage into the Temple along with his party. Once they were inside, Crucis saw that they had entered arge, dark room with wooden scaffolding along each wall, and saw a small raised book stand on the left side of the wall. That must be where he was supposed to ce the map. The Mage, however, was instead leading Crucis towards a hole in the centre of the building, containing a small stairway downwards. It had a stone door encrusted with red gems, which was currently left open. This probably led to the area with monsters.


    Crucis followed Garulus down the stairs. As they stepped into the long, cavernous tunnel below, the stone door mmed shut behind them. Garulus looked back with rm. Since the entrance to this area had mmed shut, it must mean that there was another exit further down this path, Crucis surmised. However, if Crucis followed the Mage out of another exit, then he might emerge outside the Temple and have no way of using the Treasure Map. Further, since the Mage clearly intended to have Crucis run into risky situations to check what was there, Crucis might not even survive the journey. This meant that, if the Mage seeded at this quest, it might be difficult for Crucis to safely find a way back to the Temple.


    As they stepped forward across the stony underground path, their feet rang loudly against the cold, steely granite beneath them. Garulus paused and turned to Crucis to ask him to go ahead and check for any monsters. However, this was interrupted by the sound of a loud howling from deeper in the dark tunnel. Several scaly,rge-mouthed creatures came hurtling through the tunnel, and Crucis could make out their red name, [Mutant Raptor]. He could make out four of them, all level 35. These fast creatures would be a tough fight.


    Standing a few steps behind Garulus, Crucis saw that the Mage was preparing a powerful fire spell to unleash when the reptiles came close. However, Crucis realised that if the Mage was on the back foot against these creatures, it would be difficult for him to recover from their fast melee assault.


    Crucis began looking at the left wall of the tunnel, taking small steps until he could see multiple renderings of the wall at once.


    "I can hold off these lizards, but it would be a difficult fight. Please make yourself useful, and don''t expect me to do everything," said Garulus.


    Crucis hesitated for a moment, to let the reptiles close in, then swiftly used [Stunning Dagger] on Garulus''s left shoulder to leave him paralysed and exposed to the reptiles. Using [Agile Step], Crucis leapt quickly into the left wall of the tunnel, and began to run backwards towards the stairs as he heard the reptiles begin pouring over Garulus in a vicious assault.


    Looking back towards the fray, he saw that Garulus had shoved one of the reptiles away using [Mana Strike], but the incessant attacks of the reptiles left the Mage with little time to prepare powerful elemental magic spells. The creatures were wing at Garulus and using their scaly, muscr skin to shove him forcefully to the ground, asionally biting at him. Once the Mage was down to 30% HP, he finally managed to roll away and cast a powerful [Fire Shower] spell, which sent mes spurting up wildly in all directions and lighted the tunnel. One of the reptiles died, but the other three hesitantly kept going. However, the sound-and-light show of the spell had attracted some attention. Crucis saw a level 30 boss named [Agadzagadza] appear from a sideways path further down the tunnel. It was a reptile that looked like a more fierce andrge version of the [Mutant Raptor], and its green-grey scaly skin oozed around its gaping mouth. It looked like a Dali-esque melting Tyrannosaurus Rex, with a touch of Edvard Munch''s ''The Scream.''


    The boss lunged at Garulus, and used an attack named [Venomous Bite]. As it bit into the Mage''s right shoulder, the Mage let out a loud scream as his body convulsed in pain from the boss''s venom. He looked violently sick. Crucis recalled that bosses could also cause pain due to the bug, not only yers. This boss seemed like a bad enemy to face in such conditions. The boss gripped Garulus with its wed hands, and mmed him screaming to the ground with an attack named [Burial]. As Garulus rolled around the floor of the tunnel screeching, Agadzagadza let out a guttural roar and used a skill named [Scale Cloth], wrapping its scaly arms around Garulus''s throat and choking until the writhing Mage died.


    Once the Mage died, Crucis bolted up through the wall towards the stone door of the tunnel, and slipped through this to end up back at the Temple. Breathing heavily, he crawled towards the book stand he had seen, and ced his [Rare Treasure Map] on it. He heard a loud noise as the floor beside him creaked open, revealing a path to another underground area.

 Chapter 11: Sacrifice to the Minotaur

    Chapter 11: Sacrifice to the Minotaur


    Sliding down into the hole and beneath the Temple, Crucis found his feet meeting a cold, marble surface. As he ducked down into this underground area to look around, he saw that he was on a small ramp at the entrance, leading into a darkbyrinth carved from brown stone. He could hear a few heavy footsteps nearby, probablying from monsters. As he cautiously walked off the small marble ne, the hole in the Temple floor closed and bolted so that nobody else without an appropriate map could enter.


    Crucis remembered the rough direction to the treasure marked out on the map, which was in the top-left corner of thebyrinth in a small passage. Although he saw a passage leading leftwards, he waited in ce for a moment to listen carefully for the sound of any monsters. He noticed that most of the footsteps he heard wereing from the right, and wondered if there was anything being guarded there. There seemed to be a few powerful beasts to the left, however, including one who seemed to be asionally pacing near the end of the leftwards passage. He also heard a sound which seemed like people talking, a short distance to the right. He strained to listen.


    He could make out a yer saying that they couldn''t buy recement maps until they left the game, so they shouldn''t disturb the minotaurs. Crucis realised that, since these yers were currently trapped in the game, they couldn''t donate to buy recements after using items like treasure maps. This meant that, if they died in here, they might not be able to re-enter to recover items from their corpse. The rest of the yers'' conversation was mostly inaudible, so Crucis crept quietly down a small rightwards path to listen more closely.


    "The minos are nearby, but they won''t see us if we hide behind the pirs on this side," said one yer with a low-pitched, grizzly voice.


    Crucis saw a fewrge, hulking silhouettes gathering within a small marble-floored square as his passage turned left. The yers must be on the other side of this square, where he could see a fewrge, white pirs reaching up to the high, rocky ceiling of this area. He could make out a few shapes slowly and carefully moving behind the pirs. Crucis considered kiting the minotaurs towards the hiding yers, but decided against it because running straight through a gathering of minotaurs would be unsafe and receiving a few strong blows would make escape difficult.


    He therefore shuffled leftwards to follow the movement of the yers, and saw that there was a wall between the yers and himself. He heard the low-pitched voice speaking, "There might be a door leading to treasure up ahead and to the right. Gryfon told me it was somewhere here, and he''s been down here 10 times. We can return here when we''re done, and if we didn''t find the door we can look around for it down another path. The treasure respawns every few hours, but it''s probably there now, since treasure maps are rare and most yers don''t notice this one. It should only take about 3 minutes to check, anyway." This yer seemed to be the more knowledgeable one, and was guiding hispanion.


    Crucis heard as the two yers'' footsteps pattered away down a straight corridor, and then turned to walk away to the right. Crucis used [Agile Step] to enter the wall to his right, and stepped through to the ce where the yers had been talking. He remembered that the yers were nning to return here. He would usually have to be careful not to run into them, since if he was killed then he wouldn''t be able to recover his corpse. They were wearing heavy armour, however, so he could probably hear theming from some distance. Crucis guessed that the Guilds were sharing information about where to find additional treasures and drops in thisbyrinth, and he was somewhat ufortable with the prospect of these yers taking all of the nearby treasures and possibly attacking him.


    After waiting for about a minute to familiarise himself with his surroundings, he began pacing slowly towards the pirs beside the gathering of minotaurs. He equipped the skeletal ne he had obtained from the undead dog, because if NPCs were bleeding then they would generally stalk or chase the perpetrator more fervently. Somewhat nervously, he hid behind a pir and peeked around the edge, seeing that each minotaur was marked as a [Young Minotaur], and that their levels were in a range between levels 30 and 40. This was a dangerous opponent, and much more threatening than most creatures in this area were likely to be. Crucis surmised that there was probably some valuable treasure on the right side of thisbyrinth, but it might be difficult to reach. Since minotaurs were generally quite loud, and stepped slowly and heavily on the ground, yers were probably expected to hear and avoid them rather than fight them.


    Using [Stealth], he inched up to the closest [Young Minotaur] and shed at it with [Ripper], activating the ne''s ability to ensure bleeding. He only made a slight dent in the minotaur''s rough skin, but he was lucky to trigger the bleeding effect twice: once from the ne, and once from the skill [Ripper] which had a chance of causing bleeding. This meant that the minotaur would be bleeding for about slightly over a minute. As he struck, he quickly began stepping back, as he saw the horde of minotaur suddenly turn towards him. They poured into a gap beside the pirs, and began to chase him. Using his high Agility, he bounded quickly away and led the minotaurs towards the right turn which he had heard the two other yers take. He could faintly hear the sound of the heavily-armoured yers making their way back.


    As the minotaurs trudged slowly up to reach Crucis, he estimated that there were about seven of them. Even a strong yer like Jarius was unlikely to survive a fight with such a mob. As the minotaurs edged towards Crucis, he used [Agile Step] and slipped into the wall to his left. It was a thick, jagged wall which had earlier divided him from the yers as he overheard them. As expected, the minotaur AI wasn''t adjusted to adapt to this bug, and so the minotaur pack just paced around in confusion, growling threateningly. Due to the bleeding, they would probably remain in ce for two minutes at least. If they were like the guard who Crucis had fought near the Storage building, then they might not adjust easily to unexpected, buggy maneouevres and might keep standing here for a while longer, since they had not seen him leave the radius where they would stop chasing.


    After about a minute, Crucis saw the two yers returning empty-handed from their search for treasure. They looked slightly sheepish, but were probably still determined to go down the other path and find the treasure. However, Crucis had to suppressughter when he saw the expressions of the two yers as they turned the corner and saw arge pack of minotaurs bearing down on them. The higher-levelled level 32 yer, who must have been the one Crucis had heard nning before, shouted a few expletives and then turned around to warn hispanion. However, he was struck to the ground by a minotaur''s heavy mace, and copsed heavily. The minotaurs closed in on the weaker, level 17panion, who nervously held out his shield and was shaking heavily. As a minotaur swung to hit him, he tried to lift the shield towards the swing but was jittering so hard that the blow struck him straight on the face. He copsed hard to the ground. Due to the pain reduction, he seemed more disoriented than in pain, and scrambled about on the floor trying to get up.


    The level 32 rose from the ground and held out his shield in a more sturdy stance. He faced a level 30 minotaur beside him, and used his shield to deflect an iing blow, while striking heavily with his sword. This yer was of the [Knight] subss, like Jarius, and seemed to have high defensive stats. The level 17 turned to him and said, "I''ll help you, Sardaukar! We can do this!" Leaping to his feet, the yer struck with a [Heavy de] and interrupted a minotaur which was nning to attack hispanion. The higher-level yer, named [Sardaukar], used this brief momentum tounch a [Hilt Blow] on the minotaur and send it reeling backwards, following this up with a [Combined sh] on another minotaur. Since [Combined sh] gains more power when it is used immediately after another attack, the increased strength sent another minotaur flying back. Gritting his teeth, Sardaukar tried to push the minotaurs back, although he had an air of resignation that showed that he had little hope of getting out of this alive.


    Stepping forwards towards the minotaurs he had shoved backwards, he ably held his shield up to the left to deflect an oing blow, then jumped towards the attacking minotaur and struck with [Momentum Stab], running his de through the minotaur''s left shoulder and using his own momentum and strength to m the minotaur into the wall shoulder-first. The minotaur lost 10% of its HP, and cried out at the harsh blow to its injured shoulder. Without looking backwards, Sardaukar instinctively aimed a [Heavy sh] behind him, gathering his strength to sh his sword horizontally and strike a minotaur that was approaching him. He had expected another minotaur to be bearing down on him after he had finished the [Momentum Stab], and anticipated this with the sh which sent this would-be assant minotaur hurtling backwards. There, the level 17 leapt towards the minotaur and used [Takedown Stab] to stab the injured minotaur''s shoulder and push it to the ground. While the minotaur was strong, the impact of Sardaukar''s strike had left it reeling backwards and made it easier to send to the ground.


    "Well done, JaxonFive! You just wrestled a minotaur!" said Sardaukar, trying to maintain some levity.


    The level 17 [JaxonFive] started to smile, but before he could go after the minotaur on the ground further, another mace strike sent him copsing to the ground. He had only 60% of his HP remaining. The minotaur who had struck JaxonFive walked up to him and stepped on him, taking 10% more HP. Sardaukar tried to intervene, but was surrounded by minotaurs and struck harshly to the ground. As he scrambled to his feet and held his shield up, an unexpected blow struck his head from behind and the minotaurs started to close in. Sardaukar had only 20% of his HP remaining. However, he used [Hilt Blow] again to beat a minotaur back, and stepped into the gap where the minotaur stood. Deflecting a blow with his shield, he called for JaxonFive to flee while he held up the monsters. JaxonFive darted off, and Sardaukar used [Wide sh] to sh across the gathering of minotaurs in front of him and aggro them, preventing them from chasing the fleeing level 17.


    JaxonFive sprinted awkwardly to the right-turn which he had previously taken in a fruitless search for treasure, and after turning right he blindly charged forwards to get away from the minotaurs. Crucis knew that Sardaukar was sacrificing himself to save his weaker team-mate, and so it was inevitable that Sardaukar would die to the minotaurs. Using [Stealth] to prevent Sardaukar noticing him, Crucis darted out of the wall and took the right turn to pursue the fleeing level 17. Due to his higher Agility, Crucis swiftly closed in on JaxonFive, and used [Agile Step] to catch up with JaxonFive and use [Stunning Dagger]. With the warrior briefly paralysed, Crucis kneed him to the ground. The warrior fell heavily, and Crucis knelt down to stab him. However, JaxonFive had higher Strength, and wrestled Crucis himself down onto the ground by grabbing his shoulders and heaving him down. JaxonFive stepped up nimbly, and tried to strike the grounded Crucis with a [Heavy de] strike, but Crucis rolled quickly out of the way and leapt to his feet while keeping some distance between him and the warrior.


    "What the hell are you doing?" shouted JaxonFive.


    JaxonFive strode quickly towards Crucis and feinted a blow from the right, then used his [Flourish] skill to change the angle of his attack and give an unexpected strike targetting the Assassin''s left shoulder. Crucis stepped back quickly, but he was thrown by the change of angle and was caught with a small cut on his left shoulder. He could feel a faint sting as a small pool of blood flowed from the wound. He had guessed that JaxonFive might be of the [Knight] subss, like hispanion Sardaukar, but the [Flourish] skill was a recognisable trait of the more agile and unorthodox [Arch-Knight] ss. JaxonFive was an Arch-Knight. This meant that, while slower than Crucis, he could still strike quickly and fiercely if Crucis was nearby.


    Crucis pretended to be badly injured and reeling in order to draw JaxonFive closer, since he remembered how the Arch-Knight had tried to pursue a fallen minotaur only to be knocked down. As expected, JaxonFive stepped forwards and prepared a [Hammering Blow] attack to hit Crucis, but the Assassin quickly bolted behind JaxonFive and used a [Chokehold]. Due to the Arch-Knight''s forwards momentum, he was almost choking himself on Crucis'' arm as his neck pressed against it. JaxonFive let out a muted cry. Feeling the strain on JaxonFive''s neck, Crucis quickly used [ck Spot] to cut a slit in the warrior''s neck. Howling with pain, the warrior shoved Crucis away and looked at him with indignant eyes ring up. Crucis tilted his head nonchntly.


    While JaxonFive started to step towards Crucis, his movements seemed sluggish due to the pain from his neck. In his anger, JaxonFive prepared to use the [Charge] skill and run across the corridor at Crucis to inflict heavy damage. Crucis was slightly surprised to see an Arch-Knight using [Charge], a skill that was typically associated with the Berserker ss. The Berserkers and Arch-Knights were often described as near-opposites by yers, as the first uses agile and unexpected strikes while thetter uses rash, powerful hits. However, for a level 17 yer, the [Charge] move might still not have that much disadvantage. Crucis was slightly puzzled at first by why a level 17 yer would have the [Arch-Knight] subss, which usually requires level 30, but then remembered that it might be a perk for donors which allows them to unlock a sub-ss earlier. Subsses like the elemental forms of magic or the Arch-Knight were considered plex,'' and hence typically yers would have to wait for level 30 to unlock them.


    Crucis was slightly winded, but noticed that he was seeing multiple renders of the walls beside him. As he saw JaxonFive charge down the corridor towards him, Crucis used [Agile Step] to enter the wall to his right, dodging the Arch-Knight''s lunging, clumsy strike. However, he was surprised to see that the Arch-Knight ran up to the wall as well, and used the Arch-Knight skill [Sudden Burst] to take a highly rapid but short step forwards, entering the wall. Crucis was slightly taken aback by seeing another yer enter the wall with him, but was on guard as soon as he saw the Arch-Knight walking towards the wall, and quickly struck a [Stunning Dagger] move on JaxonFive''s shoulder. He followed this up with a [Dagger Twist], causing JaxonFive to give a throaty scream. He noticed that the warrior was crying. Using his grip on the shoulder, Crucis shoved JaxonFive''s shoulders and head out of the wall. Grabbing JaxonFive with a [Chokehold], he harshly thrust the warrior''s head backwards into the wall. JaxonFive cursed loudly.


    Crucis raised his right leg to JaxonFive''s upper back, and kicked the warrior to the ground. JaxonFive was still dazed, and copsed onto the ground. JaxonFive had only 3% of his HP remaining. Crucis swiftly knelt down and used [Ripper] to make a gash across JaxonFive''s neck, and JaxonFive died mid-scream with his mouth full of blood. Crucis left the wall, and crept cautiously back towards where the minotaurs had been fighting Sardaukar.


    The minotaurs had by now returned to where they were gathering, and Crucis could hear their footsteps in the distance. However, Sardaukar''s corpse was still lying on the ground. If he did not return to im it for two hours, then Crucis would be able to loot the corpse. However, while Crucis had overheard Sardaukar mentioning that they might not have enough maps to return, he couldn''t be 100% certain that they wouldn''t return and he didn''t want to be standing by the corpses if they did. He hence decided to look around first, starting with the treasure which Sardaukar had earlier mentioned.


    Yours? Mine.

 Chapter 12: The MC gets loot, while the author contemplates the Chicken that is not a Chicken

    Chapter 12: The MC gets loot, while the author contemtes the Chicken that is not a Chicken


    For killing Jaxon, Crucis had received some rare and valuable loot. He reflected that this underground area probably contained plenty of rare treasures, for people who knew where to look. If he could plunder Sardaukar''s corpse as well, then he would probably get plenty of valuable items, but he had a while to go before that would be an option. As things stood, the most immediately useful item he found from Jaxon''s inventory was a pair of gloves that boost Agility:


    [Stealth Half-Gloves | Increase Agility by 55, and decrease Dexterity by 50.]


    Crucis removed his [Hunter''s gloves] and slipped on these fingerless ck gloves, made of a light and flexible synthetic leather. The gloves only covered the palm, and had holes where he could pass his fingers outside of the glove. Since the Arch-Knight typically relied on Dexterity to pull off and deal damage with deft sword movements, Crucis wasn''t surprised that the level 17 Arch-Knight had left these in his inventory. A decrease of 50 Dexterity would reduce Agility by 5, hence the 55 Agility from the gloves would actually add 50 once the 5 were subtracted.


    The 50 Agility early on was still a significant boost for Crucis, more than the 10 Agility that the [Hunter''s gloves] gave him, and made him much faster. His Agility was now 125, a very high amount for an Assassin at this stage in the game. This wasrgely due to his looted [Boots of the Deer], giving 20 Agility, and these new gloves, although there were other important Agility sources such as his 340 Dexterity - giving 34 Agility, since 10% of Dexterity is converted into Agility - and the 15% Agility increase from his [Shinobi Shozoku] clothing. As he squat down to further inspect his inventory, he was almost surprised by how quickly he swooped into a crouching position, in a flowing and almost immediate movement.


    Other than these gloves, he also found a [Gold Enchanted Knife], a nonbat crafting item that could turn raw gems into cut gems without needing to visit an NPC. The gilded iron knife was quite a valuable item, but Crucis did not yet have any gems or equipment that he could use gems to strengthen. It would be better suited to a Mage, but a Mage would have a difficult time surviving down here at the moment.


    He figured that, if Cael could plunder someone with a [Rare Treasure Map], he might have the luck to enter an area like this and obtain gems or crafting equipment for gems, and for a Mage this would be an excellent proposition if he could figure out how to survive. However, finding people with the maps and being lucky enough to get one as a drop would be difficult, especially as most of these yers would keep the maps secure in Storage when they weren''t being used. Only highly new yers were likely to have not yet realised that they should keep their rare items in Storage.


    He also obtained 5,000 gold, and a handful of rare items that could be used for crafting or sold for high prices. He decided not to count his chickens before they hatched, and that he could take a closer look through these items if he managed to get them out of this dungeon safely. Whether this decision was also based on his encounter with the chicken that is not a chicken is difficult to discern. For now, he tried to make sure to equip any items that were immediately useful, so that they would be less likely to drop on death. If items weren''t likely to be of use in thisbyrinth, then he could save them up and look at them when he reached safety.


    <strong>On the Mathematics of the Chicken that is not a Chicken</strong>


    It is often said that you should not count your chickens before they hatch. You should be especially wary of counting your chickens that are not chickens, because what you will find in that case is that the total count of chickens is equal to 0. However, this 0 is not merely the absence of chickens. It is an incarnation of evil. Since the ordinary chickens of the Mud People are not incarnations of evil, it follows that chickens are only driven to evil by bing not-chickens. Expressed mathematically, it hence follows that evil = 0 chickens. Therefore, by contrast, the presence of chickens is the essence of moral good and righteousness, and this fact is obvious to all who possess moral rity.


    Some might ask: why isn''t the incarnation of evil just ack of chickens, then? However, it has often been observed that good and evil are notpletely separable terms, but that a concept such as ''evil'' implies a moral framework where something is designated ''good.'' If there is good, then it might be defied or neglected. Good hence must involve the refusal to do evil: if you say ''be good'' then you are also condemning any alternatives. ''Evil'' ultimately expresses the vicious struggle of ''good'' against an amoral and indifferent world, since good sees this world as akin to a b of stone that must have the Commandments of morality etched into it lest it be defiant. Good and evil are hence always linked, and are not simply a difference in quantity like the difference between 0, 1, and 2.


    We therefore cannot simply express evil as ack of chickens, but instead as the Hegelian negation of the chicken, as the opposite of the good (ie. chickens) rather than just a different quantity. Hence, we may express it through multiplication as: evil = 0 x chicken. When 3 is multiplied by 2, the resulting 6 can be expressed either as 3 + 3 or as 2 + 2 + 2. Likewise, evil can be expressed as either 0 chickens, or as the chicken that is not a chicken. If you counted the chicken that is not a chicken, you would indeed find 0 chickens; however, if you counted a simpleck of chickens, then you would not find a chicken that is not a chicken. Hence, only the first of those is the true incarnation of evil.


    <strong>As the great Schstic, Thomas Achicken, once said, "The most decisive proof for the existence of a chicken that is not a chicken is that good and evil have degrees, such that you could be more or less evil, or more or less good. Now, a degree is just a worthless piece of paper. However, clearly good and evil are not worthless but are rather of great moral importance, and hence there must be an evil thing that cannot be measured in degrees, but rather that is a paragon or ne plus ultra of evil. It follows that this is a chicken, but also not a chicken. QED."</strong>


    As Hegel or Zeno may have added, the chicken of Minerva flies only when it does not fly.


    Crucis backtracked to a rightwards, curving path near the gathering of minotaurs. He had heard the level 32 Sardaukar saying that this path would probably lead to some treasure, if the other pathway they took didn''t. As it is, those two didn''t get to find out because they died, so Crucis decided to check for himself.


    The path opened up into a small, rocky square containing a doorway to a wooden cabin on Crucis'' right side. Next to the door, Crucis could see a carved wooden mascaron hung on the wall, a grotesque and distorted carving of a human face which looked quite simr to the face of the minotaurs nearby. This seemed like an obvious trap. While there might be a treasure inside, it was highly likely that he would be ambushed if he entered the doorway. However, it was deathly quiet in the area. While the mascaron resembled a minotaur, it was unlikely that one of thoserge beasts was here, because their movements would usually be loud enough to hear. Crucis approached the door cautiously. He saw a Latin phrase engraved on it, ''finis vitae sed non amoris.'' He pushed lightly on the door and peeked around the corner to see if anything was moving inside. Leaning down quickly, he picked up a small rock and tossed it through the door. He saw that there was no response, meaning that there probably wasn''t an NPC waiting to attack him if he entered.


    Sliding quietly in through the door, Crucis saw a dark, rectangr room lit by a candle. To the right side was a small table, and there was a deep red and grey painting of a rose framed on the right wall. The rose was on a white background, but the slightly faded red paint bled into the grey shades of the shadows on the rose''s underside until the rose seemed to be greyscale itself. This was especially pronounced due to the dim lighting of the room. Squinting at the painting, he could make out the artist''s scribbled signature in the bottom-right corner, ''Deon Martin.'' Looking at the table to his right, he saw a ck journal. Opening this, he saw that the owner was named ''Yorick.'' However, the pages were empty.


    Disgruntled, Crucis picked up the other book that he could find on the table, titled ''The Aquatic Monster.'' It seemed to be a long book about eels, and he surmised that the eel must be an enemy that can be fought in the seas and oceans. He had heard that the game had a feature that allowed people to ride on ships across the oceans, but that feature was still not fully developed and a forum post described it as "sort of a demo version of sailing, not really much there yet." Seemingly, the idea of the feature was that you could go out to the oceans and fight powerful, high-HP sea monsters with your crew for rare rewards, as well as possibly visiting some inds or travelling more quickly across the map. However, at present the ships avable were mostly restricted to travel near the coast, and the ocean was quite sparse save for some demo versions of sea monsters that had slightly lopsided stats because they had mostly been used for testing purposes and weren''t fully fleshed-out. Crucis noticed that about half of the book was about the moray eel, meaning that this was probably a powerful sea monster in this game.


    Since it was difficult to read the book in the dim light, and Crucis was still wary of an ambush, Crucis decided that he could look up the book in the library nearby at Sanra if he went there soon. There were typically multiple copies of books in this game, especially resource books like this one about aquatic creatures. Moving away from the table, Crucis saw that there was a small alcove in the wall opposite the door, and walked forwards until he reached it. He saw that it contained a small, ck table, and this held a leathery green box. It must be the treasure that Sardaukar had mentioned. He reached out to take it, ncing around to make sure that he wasn''t being ambushed, and as he rustled it open he found a [Lore Page] named [Trials of Narcissus], a rare artifact named [Vulcan''s Hammer], and 20,000 gold.


    He flinched when he felt a heavy hand lying on his left shoulder, and as he looked backwards he heard the door behind him m shut. ring at him from behind, he saw a rotting, corpse-like human form whose eye sockets were torn into long diagonal gashes across their face and whose withering skin was sickly and pale. The creature''s thick, splintered nails were tearing into his shoulder, and he rolled away to the left of the room to escape. It was difficult to catch his bearings. As he turned to face the enemy, he felt the creature roughly grab him near the neck and thrust him effortlessly to the floor. Hended with a thud, and noticed that he only had 70% of his HP remaining.


    Using his high Agility, he tried to make some distance between himself and this enemy. Running near the entrance to the room, he saw that the enemy was named [Soulless Weeper (Zombie)], and was level 19. It seemed to walk slowly across the room, but if it got near him it seemed to lunge very quickly in a lurching motion.


    He could make out deep scars across the zombie''s body, which was clothed in a tattered grey dress with a small, pink floral pattern on the chest. It looked like a corpse that had been tortured before death. While it was difficult to tell at first from the zombie''s torn visage and body, it was now apparent that it was a female zombie. Crucis checked on the door as he passed it, but as he had guessed it was locked.


    He used [Stealth] as the zombie approached, and dashed behind the zombie to use [Stunning Dagger] on its shoulder. He tried to use [Agile Step] to enter the wall and try to escape, but was still slightly shaky due to the sudden, unexpected fight and misjudged the step, missing the wall entirely. Deciding that he would have to fight his way out, he skipped quickly towards the right side of the room as the zombie resumed its pursuit of him, and he stood with the table between himself and the zombie.


    Since the zombie''s movement patterns were quite straightforwards from what he had seen, he assumed that it would walk in a straight line towards him and then lunge fiercely across the table. This is what urred, but Crucis was prepared and sidestepped quickly to the left as the zombie begun its fast, heavy lunge, telegraphed by raising its arms and twisting its shoulders upwards. Itunched across the table with a wild cry. He figured that this enemy''s attacks shouldn''t be difficult to avoid, since it telegraphed its moves heavily. As one might expect a stiff, unthinking corpse to do.


    As the zombie lunged out and grabbed the air, Crucis grabbed its head and mmed it into the table, then used [Ripper] to sh a further gash in the back of the zombie''s head. The zombie cried out, with a sound somewhere between crying and choking. Crucis kneed it harshly back into the table as it tried to get up.


    Equipping his [Trap Talisman], he waited for the zombie to slowly raise itself from the table, then kicked it sharply across its feet until it tripped towards a wall. Using [Chokehold], Crucis shoved it sharply against the wall and pinned it there. His legs felt much lighter, as the Talisman doubled his Agility. Though the strong zombie shoved him harshly backwards, due to his increased Agility he was able to interrupt his backwards fall mid-way through by softly leaping his feet onto the table beside him and perching there. He kept the zombie pinned to the wall.


    Raising his dagger in his right hand, wrapped over the zombie''s throat, he knew that he had to act quickly before the zombie''s high Strength dislodged him. The zombie still had 60% HP, and if Crucis didn''t take the initiative then this battle could be close. He used [ck Spot] to slit the zombie''s throat, removing 10% of its HP, and immediately used his arm and dagger to jerk the zombie''s neck sharply upwards. Due to his increased Agility, this fast motion pulled harshly on the zombie''s neck as if it was being hanged. With its throat slit, the zombie was in an even worse predicament, and it hence took a hefty 30% of its HP in damage, reducing it to 20% HP. Due to the upwards tug, the zombie''s body raised sharply across the wall, but Crucis made sure that it was still pinned to the wall and in his grip.


    He ced one foot against the wall, so that he could push off it. Using his high Agility from the Talisman, Crucis leapt at a blinding pace from the table, leaping away from the wall and mming the zombie''s head and neck harshly to the ground as hended. The zombie had been dragged from the wall to the floor at a high pace, and the loud impact caused its head to fall off as it died. Crucis noticed that this ''weeper'' zombie seemed to let out a loud, wailing moan for a few seconds after it died.


    Looking back at his inventory, he read the [Lore Page], titled [Trials of Narcissus]. It was a piece of paper with this poem on it:


    Like Narcissus in the garbs of Prometheus, bound Loki


    stared at the snake''s venom dropping from above,


    as if it was kindred to his own soul''s venom, the snake''s


    cunning reflected in his. This serpent was the cunning beast


    who is said to have despoiled Eve in her garden, and brought


    death to Adam, just as Loki had to Baldur, in God''s pce of Eden.


    As he squinted to see his reflection, he saw a serpent instead


    as if he was himself the old serpent dripping venom,


    yet as he looked again, the serpent''s face had changed


    into a face like his, but feminine. The reflected snake


    had transformed into a woman. This woman, who was Loki''s reflection,


    seemed to excitedly whisper myths about Ragnarok. He trembled at


    the destructive thoughts she incited.


    Just as Eve''s voice echoed the serpent''s, as she called


    Adam to consume of the tree of knowledge, so Loki now


    heard this woman - his reflection - calling to him, and called


    her Sigyn. Her body was like a snake''s, and slippery


    as the shapeshifting Loki when he had routinely taken


    the form of a salmon to hide from the gods.


    The venom fell, and caused him pain, yet still


    he heard the woman whisper of Ragnarok, as she was


    imprisoned tadpole-like in a droplet of venom.


    Like Narcissus, who stared upon his reflection


    in the water, and became indifferent to the world,


    imagining that it was another person,


    so Loki viewed this reflection of himself in the venom


    and as he looked at her, he no longer felt the pain


    of the venom, and was indifferent, as if her whispers were shielding him.


    Someday, Ragnarok shall be the narcissus flower


    that Loki leaves in his wake, and in the grandeur


    that only apocalypse can have, it shall shine bright gold


    like the harsh sun rising over the desert.

 Chapter 13: When you die in a sea of lava, thats amore!

    Chapter 13: When you die in a sea ofva, that''s amore!


    After reading the poem, Crucis received arge amount of Experience, enough to lift him to level 23. This unlocked the Trait system. Crucis, for his part, was slightly tired after having in his zombie <em>belle dame sans merci</em>, and he was still frustrated that Yorick''s book was empty. He wasn''t really in the mood for the sole alternative of reading about what a moray is, and besides was already familiar with most salient facts about morays, such as that they are big eels with teeth like steel, that the green moray is big, mean, slimy, and green, that its jaws open wide and there are more jaws inside, etc. He knew what a moray was. However, without anything to read from the enigmatic Yorick, he started to think about other things that he could read about instead in order to calm down after the fight.


    When he had moved to the USA, he found modern American literature jarringly different from the traditional Russian and Eastern European poetry which he had admired in youth. He still felt slightly estranged from most novels, and scavenged in them more than he enjoyed them. As such, Crucis'' taste in books was by nowrgely situational, and he often read as a means of visualising and thinking about his current situation. For instance, right now he would have liked to have read a somewhat macabre, minimalistic horror story, because he could consider the current situation in a more detached manner and find some relevant atmospheric and psychological themes.


    It would be like a method of profiling the situation, and thereby also interrogating what the game''s horror-tinged atmosphere could be used for. In the midst of the fray, it can be easy to miss out on some things, such as how Crucis ended up having to reverse the zombie''s own modus operandi: just as the zombie attacked Crucis when he was grasping for the treasure and vulnerable, so Crucis had only been able tounch an attack on the zombie after it lunged too far to grab him and he could attack it from behind. Both were cases where grasping eagerly in one direction left them open to attack from another.


    Although forced into ying the opponent''s game, it was still possible to take advantage of this situation by weaponising it. Confronted with the necessity of dealing with Medusa''s petrification, Perseus had famously watched a reflected Medusa''s gaze trapped on his shield as he killed her, and eventually took on Medusa''s gaze as a weapon of his own and used it on his enemies. Crucis thought of this story now, and wondered if he had a way to weaponise this zombie''s modus operandi by attacking yers on the verge of a reward. He thought back to Cael''s [Minor Illusion] skill, and wondered if he could use that to create the impression of a reward to tempt yers nearby, and then attack them. Perhaps there was still some life in Cael, and he resolved to bring the Mage back to Kruxol so that he could find some targets in the wild.


    Part of the reason that he was frustrated about the zombie was nerves. He was here to find treasure, but if he found it he would still have to escape this ce without being killed. If other yers saw him im the treasure, they would probably attack him in order to loot some of it. He almost felt like he should turn back and leave this area in order to keep all the rewards he had gained so far, but he knew that he wouldn''t have much chance of returning here and should get whatever advantage he could from it.


    However, he still felt uneasily that some figure acting like the zombie would ambush him or sneak up on him as he tried to find the treasure and take it safely out of thebyrinth. He decided that, if this was a game where his rewards are so beset by danger, then after he returned to Kruxol he should turn the tables by using Cael''s illusion skills. He felt like it would be a waste to get through all of this tension and not weaponise it after he left. If the game could be so dedicated to producing this kind of tension, then he could also hold it up like Medusa''s head and use it for his own advantage.


    However, he would have to finish with thisbyrinth first, and still had some treasure to find. Fiddling dizzily with the door-knob, he found that he could open it now that the zombie was gone. Relieved, he exited the room and looked around for any signs of activity. There was nobody nearby, so he shut the door to the wooden building and started looking through his inventory.


    He drew out the [Vulcan''s Hammer] artifact that he had obtained, a ck-grey hammer that felt like titanium, with dark patches around the hilt where it had seemingly been burnt by a harsh fire. It seemed too burnt and brittle to use for cksmithing. He wasn''t entirely familiar with the artifact feature of this game, but checking the item''s description he found that it could be used to enchant a weapon with the [Inner Fire] perk, where if the weapon wounds an opponent the opponent''s skin has a 5% chance of being charred by Vulcan''s power, which increases the duration of the wound, reduces natural recovery of HP, and has a 5% chance of paralysing that body part for 15 seconds. The yer could only enchant one weapon at a time in this way, and could only use one artifact at a given time.


    Since Crucis had only one artifact at this time, he decided that he might as well use it, and enchanted the [Initiate''s Dagger] that he was using. He would have liked to find a better dagger, but hadn''t had much luck with that yet.


    Checking the game''s menu, he found that he had unlocked the ''Trait'' system. It felt like a while since he had done the same with Cael. Scanning the initial options, he found that he had two branches of traits to choose between:


    [Spectre | Trait: Increases Strength and Dexterity by 20% when under 20% HP.]


    [Deadly Premonition | Trait: If the skill ''Stealth'' is used outside of battle, its cooldown reduces to 15 seconds. The CD will revert to its normal length if battle is initiated while using the skill ''Stealth.'' This Trait also applies to more developed forms of the skill, such as ''Stealth Cloak.'']


    While [Spectre] sounded highly useful if he needed to make aeback in a fight, and was favoured among Assassins who entered PvP tournaments, Crucis chose [Deadly Premonition] because it would help him to explore outside the city without being detected. Since much of the game was quite difficult to navigate by now without being attacked, the ability to use [Stealth] rapidly could be highly valuable. It could also be useful for scouting out yers to attack.


    [New Trait unlocked! Deadly Premonition | Trait: If the skill ''Stealth'' is used outside of battle, its cooldown reduces to 15 seconds. The CD will revert to its normal length if battle is initiated while using the skill ''Stealth.'' This Trait also applies to more developed forms of the skill, such as ''Stealth Cloak.'']


    [Sorry, that was slightly long. Hope you don''t need a tl;dr, you won''t get one.]


    The game sometimes sent messages like this after a particrly long or obscure notification.


    Crucis tested the new skill quickly by using [Stealth], and verified that the CD timer was indeed only 15 seconds. This could be useful, and he listened carefully to the path forwards to hear if there were any yers or strong monsters nearby. He heard a few loud footsteps that probably indicated a powerful monster, a loud hissing sound somewhere forwards and to the right, and the sound of a yer sprinting in the distance. The yer sounded like an archer, as their footsteps were fast but not as silent as an Assassin''s. Crucis decided that he should scout the area quickly, to figure out if there were any powerful monsters or bosses to avoid. After that, he could try to find the way to the treasure which had been indicated on his map.


    Stepping forwards, into a straight path leading further into thebyrinth, he heard a loud grunting to his left. Using [Stealth] once he reached a crossroads, he peeked around the edge of the left wall, and saw arge beast that was named [Diablo] and was level 40. It was shaped like a giant armadillo, and had thick ck skin crossed by red, vertical lines that resembled magma. Crucis decided to avoid this beast for now, and ducked down a rightwards path. While he tried to go to the far-right end of the path, in order to get closer to the treasure, he heard the unsettling hissing noise again and was cautious. Looking around, he finally determined that the source of the hissing was arge, broken cage besides a path from here to the top-right area of thebyrinth. While he wanted to go in that direction, he decided that he should take another path, as a broken cage was sometimes used in games to represent a powerful boss who has broken their chains.


    Finding a path that looked safe and led nearer his destination, he proceeded forwards while looking cautiously from side to side. He was slightly worried because he had heard a yer nearby, and if that yer saw him finding the treasure then he could be targeted. After all, opening a valuable treasure would mean that killing you would loot some of it. Due to this, he tried to pause next to a wall, and quietly listen for any signs of a yer nearby.


    While it was quiet for a few seconds, he soon heard the sound of some arrows being notched to his left, and the cry of a wounded creature that fell heavily on the ground. There was the sound of a few more arrows being shot, and Crucis realised that the archer he had heard before must be grinding against mobs nearby. He could make out a few mobs named [Blind Boar] nearby, thick-haired pigs with slippery skin like a smander''s, and guessed that they might have some valuable drops which the yer was looking for.


    He would have tried fighting the boars himself, but didn''t want to risk being noticed by the other yer. The boars were level 15, meaning that the archer was probably at a simr level to him.


    As he was considering his next move, he heard a loud noise behind him. It was the loud grunt of [Diablo] in hisir, who had been challenged by a yer. It echoed through thebyrinth, and Crucis was relieved that it wasn''t directed at him. Backtracking a few steps towards where he had seen [Diablo], he saw a tough-looking level 42 warrior d in thick iron armour.


    Their thick armour and shield marked them as a member of the [Legionary] subss. This Pdin-like ss was effective at tanking damage and had a few healing abilities, but most higher-level parties in dungeons preferred the [Knight] subss for tanks, as they could contribute more damage and hold aggro more easily. Crucis peered cautiously at the battle from behind a wall, ready to flee if seen.


    The Legionary had already thrown a javelin as it approached [Diablo], piercing the beast''s shoulder which was bleeding with magma. The Legionary then activated [Pdin Barrier], creating a barrier of light around his shield to block Diablo''s inevitable response. As Diablo swiped harshly with its heavy, wed right paw on sensing the intruder, the Legionary raised his shield to the thunderous blow and reduced the damage of the attack by 90%, causing it to only deal 1% of his HP in damage and send him stumbling back a step. The glow around the shield dissipated. The Legionary had clearly expected Diablo''s fierce response to the javelin throw.


    As the Legionary sought to capitalise upon his early advantage, striking a firm [dius Thrust] with his sword and catching the beast''s trailing right arm, he was suddenly thrown back as Diablo used [Fire Breath] to open its mouth and breathe out a thick wave of heat at the warrior. While the boss didn''t let out a stream of fire like many famed depictions of a fire-breathing dragon, it steadily exhaled a fiery, ashen breath that sent the warrior falling backwards. Crucis could hear a faint cry as the warrior managed to break his fall with his arms. Since the boss used named moves, it could cause pain.


    The Legionary got up to his knees and used [Damp Sphere], creating an area around him where damage was reduced by 25%. The boss, however, seemed prepared for such maneouevres and responded with [Ashen Realm] in the same area, with its wounded shoulder leaking fiery, burning magma across the circle which the Legionary had protected and reducing it to a burning wastnd.


    The Legionary managed to leap out of the circle just in time to avoid getting trapped in theva, but not before some had sshed over his hand. He screamed loudly at the sharp sting of heat across his right arm, and nearly dropped his sword. Both him and the boss were now down to 85% HP. Diablo walked nonchntly over the magma and ashes he had unleashed, as if it were nothing, and swung its right paw at the Legionary again. The Legionary raised his heavy, square shield to block the strike, but still took 5% of his HP in damage. However, he used [Riposte] to strike harshly at the boss'' extended right arm again from behind the shield, causing the beast to groan loudly in a gruff tone.


    The Legionary now had the boss down to 75% HP, while having 80% HP remaining himself. So far, he had managed to eke out a slight advantage, while focusing his strikes on the boss'' favoured right arm to weaken the opponent''s attacks. This wasn''t a bad position for a Legionary. However, Crucis sensed that after disrupting the Legionary''s [Damp Sphere], Diablo had demoralised the Legionary and the Legionary was running out of ns.


    Nheless, the Legionary was still hoping to carry out a war of attrition. He used [Healing Sphere] to summon a ring of light around him, increasing his HP by 1% every second for 10 seconds. Diablo attempted to strike the Legionary out of this sphere to stop the healing, but the Legionary''s shield again rose up to take the sting off the blow, and the Legionary dug his feet into the ground at the edge of his healing area to continue healing. Diablo crouched slightly and scratched the ground with its right forepaw, but made no move forwards, and the Legionary kept still until he had healed back to 90% HP.


    However, the Diablo had been preparing to unleash a [Demonic Charge], rifling its body forwards with its head down and heading straight for the Legionary. This was a fierce attack, but was telegraphed by the boss standing still and facing the yer while crouching, so yers could dodge it. The Legionary, however, was trying to stand his ground in order to heal, and was caught t-footed by the charge. Attempting to leap to his side, he was still caught by the shoulder of the charging beast, and the blow skittled him to the ground. Crucis winced slightly, and reflected that in a game with such powerful attacks the role of a Legionary could be difficult because each false move forced you to seek a way out of the opponent''s dangerous momentum. The Legionary writhed on the ground slightly, reduced to 60% HP.


    As Diablo attempted to walk up to the wounded warrior, however, the Legionary threw another javelin. The throw was slightly weak and wayward, but it still dealt 5% of Diablo''s HP in damage and stopped the beast in its tracks. The warrior, heartened, scrambled to his feet and used [Deep Jab] on the beast''s injured right shoulder, causing the beast to groan loudly again and stamp the earth loudly. The beast was now down to 70% HP. The Legionaryfortably deflected Diablo''s right paw with his shield, since his continual strikes had weakened Diablo''s right arm significantly. Striking back with another [dius Thrust], the Legionary wounded Diablo''s forehead and sent a small trickle of magma blood leaking out. Diablo lowered its head at the blow, and as it was dizzied by the wound it barely moved. It seemed to try taking a step forward, but instead just shuffled its feet along the ground without going anywhere.


    The Legionary was pleased to have reduced the beast to 55% HP, and figured that the beast would be more easy to block due to its damaged right shoulder. However, he was still wary about the recent [Demonic Charge] attack, and didn''t wish to risk getting caught by the full force of such a charge. Seeing the beast stand still and expecting another charge, the Legionary made a blunder and used [Fortify], standing still and doubling the power of his shield while reducing the power of charging attacks by 50%. Diablo had not been preparing a charge at all, and instead met his static opponent with [Ashen Realm], pouring his magma-like blood into a circle around the Legionary.


    The Legionary was caught in the middle of this fiery flood, and felt his skin being torn away by the heat around him. He screamed in agony, and was consumed by tears. As he fell to the ground and tried to crawl out of this burned area, Diablo used [Beast Stomp] to step harshly on his enemy and reduce the Legionary to only 10% HP. As the Legionary finally crawled free of the burning ashes and magma, Diablo knelt over him and used [Fire Breath], with the yelping warrior almost melting to the ground as his HP reached 0%.


    Crucis had considered helping the yer out, but decided against it because he knew that, even if they both managed to kill Diablo, the other yer was level 42 and could easily kill Crucis right after that. Further, Crucis could also be killed by Diablo, since the beast was over his level and attacked fiercely. He felt a slight desire to fight this impressive boss one day, and see how he would fare once he was above level 40, but he knew that it might not be possible to enter this area again since he had no sure way of getting maps to enter it. Due to this, he tried to forget about it and focus on his current journey.


    He heard the archer still grinding mobs at a distance to the left. It seemed that they were nning to fight there for a while. Crucis tried to n a path to the right, towards where the map had indicated treasure.

 Chapter 14: Ambushed! Intense Fight At Labyrinths Edge!

    Chapter 14: Ambushed! Intense Fight At Labyrinth''s Edge!


    Crucis charted out his path towards the treasure in the corner of thebyrinth. It was mostly quite straightforwards, as thebyrinth opened into a vast, cavernous area towards the corner. Crucis watched carefully, and saw no signs of movement in thisrge area, that was still except for the faint sound of a stream of water pouring through the ck-grey rocks at the far end. The yer on the left was still energetically grinding mobs, and he would probably have the time to pick up the treasure before they let up. The path back to the exit would be difficult, but since it was stillte at night he might make it without much disturbance from other yers.


    While he was nning his path, he had quickly in a [Blind Boar] that had spawned next to him. It was only level 15, and had gone down after he shed at its throat a few times. He had found a [Fragment of Silver Orb], an item which granted the [Silver Orb] artifact after you collected 100 fragments. However, it could only be converted into this artifact by interacting with an NPC in one of the royal buildings that required a pass to enter. This made it less worthwhile for him. However, it was probably what the archer was trying to obtain, by killing enough of the creature to obtain the 100 fragments. It wouldn''t always drop, but since this area couldn''t be essed by most yers it probably had a fairly high drop rate.


    Looking around carefully to ensure that he would not be seen, Crucis used [Stealth] and ran forwards towards the direction of the treasure. He only slowed down once he saw arge wall on his left side, guarding arge building. The archer could not see him from behind the wall, so he began to scan the area around him for the treasure. He saw the faint, ghostly white of a stream passing behind a wall of dark stones, and approached it. There was some water on the hard ground beneath him, and he nearly slipped but managed to keep upright by bncing himself on the stony wall. Scanning the wall, he saw a red ''X'' painted on the back of a grey stone that was jutting out from the floor in front of the wall. He went up to this, and pressed his hands to the cold surface of the stone. He felt the stone give way, and a faintly glittering, silver-lined chest emerged from the stone.


    He lifted the chest onto the stone, and opened it. However, just as he did so, he felt a sharp pain shooting through his left shoulder, and copsed lightly forwards onto the stone. The contents of the treasure chest entered his inventory automatically, but he hadn''t got the chance to inspect them. As he began to look backwards, he saw a thick, wooden arrow on the ground to his left, and realised that his shoulder was bleeding after being shot by an arrow. He was at 85% HP after the strike. A female voice from somewhere behind him said, "Nice treasure, now hand it over." He quickly leapt behind the cover of arge stone on the ground to his left, and heard an arrow bounce off it harmlessly. Turning around and looking around the right edge of the ck stone, he tried to get a clearer view of his assant.


    He saw a level 25 female archer named [Melydia] with her bow prepared, taking a few steps closer in order to force him out of his cover. She had shoulder-length red hair, and was wearing a dark green shirt with tight green-grey pants. He knew that, if she saw him break cover, she would fire almost immediately. Further, she was standing in arge, open area, so he would have little cover there. His only chance was to get close enough to her to force meleebat, where he should have the advantage. Using [Stealth], he slipped to the right of the stone and ran forwards, veering slightly to the right in case Melydia tried firing near the stone. He sprinted towards the archer, who was indecisively preparing her bow to fire. As he approached her, he used [Agile Step] to zip behind her and initiated a [Chokehold] from there. He noticed that her Strength was quite low, probably because of a Dexterity focus, and indeed was even lower than his since he had developed his Strength by about 50 points using the stat points gained from levelling to 23. Due to the momentum remaining from the [Agile Step] as he ced the [Chokehold], he pulled her sharply backwards, and then used his Strength to pull her roughly to the ground.


    Keeping her face to the ground, he tightened his grip with his right elbow, and with his pained left arm he aimed a [Ripper] sh across her neck. However, Melydia was struggling hard, and he couldn''tnd a clean hit, instead just grazing her shoulder. Melydia''s writhing meant that she identally choked herself harshly on Crucis'' elbow, and hence went down to 75% HP. As Crucis tried to hold her against the ground to keep her still, he felt a sharp pain in the centre of his left arm. Melydia had managed to draw out a small knife from a brown band around her waist, and stabbed it into Crucis'' injured left arm using the [Concealed Strike] skill. Crucis felt a keen sting as he realised that blood was flowing down his left arm, and flinched violently backwards as Melydia scraped around haphazardly with the knife. Melydia shook herself out of the chokehold, and ran away to make some distance between them. Crucis was now on 60% HP, and the bleeding was sapping this over time.


    Crucis knew that, if he allowed Melydia to create more distance, she would be able to target him with her bow and he would have to take damage to get near her. Using his higher Agility, he began to pursue her, but she had turned around and began swiftly releasing an arrow while stepping backwards. It was slightly hasty, and grazed Crucis on the left thigh. However, as he approached her, she used [Arrowstorm], and began to rapid-fire arrows at the approaching Crucis. Crucis had been waiting for this, but was surprised by the archer''s dexterity. She let three arrows fly faster than Crucis expected, and Crucis took a couple of blows on his left arm and was grazed near his chest, and groaned in a low voice. He was down to 40% HP. However, since hisst use of [Stealth] ended before he used anybat moves on Melydia, its cooldown was lowered and he quickly activated it. Rolling far to the right, he watched as Melydia shot a stream of arrows towards his earlier location. Since having to focus on the [Arrowstorm] skill had slowed Melydia''s pace, he quickly reached behind her left nk, and stabbed her left shoulder with [Stunning Dagger]. This stopped her arrows, and he used [Ripper] to slice a gash in her arm. She was down to 50% HP.


    However, as soon as she revived from the paralysis, she reached instinctively for her knife, and lunged at Crucis. Crucis grabbed her arm firmly to stop it, but then noticed that she was falling down because she had lunged too far and lost bnce. Crucis hence rxed his grip slightly, but dragged her down to the ground using her momentum. He tried to use a [Chokehold]. Melydia was struggling as she fell, and managed to kick at the tired Crucis'' feet and send him falling to the ground a short distance away from her. His grip on her neck loosened. He saw that she still held the knife in her right hand, so he reached out and stabbed at her right shoulder with [Stunning Dagger]. With her temporarily paralysed, he rose spider-like across the cold ground and pressed her face and front shoulders down to the ground. However, due to her Dexterity, even in this difficult position she could still wrench out her arm and stab haphazardly at Crucis with her knife, leaving a small cut on his left side and sending him falling to the ground. Both yers were stuck on the ground, finding it hard to move because of the pain. Crucis had 30% HP, and Melydia had 40%.


    Crucis knew that, if Melydia kept a slight advantage in HP, he could easily get caught up in a disadvantageous position. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a hard, jagged rock off the stony ground, then grabbed Melydia''s head by the hair with his empty left hand. He held Melydia''s head in ce, then smashed the hard rock into it using his basic and typically weak [Punch] skill, causing a deep cut. Melydia''s head mmed harshly into the ground. This had dealt enough damage to take her to 25% HP. She was whimpering, and sweating heavily. He went up to her and grabbed her in a [Chokehold], then used [Stunning Dagger] again on her right shoulder as she tried to summon enough strength to strike with her knife again. Tucking her paralysed right arm under her body, which was heaving like a whale, he used his right arm to shove her wounded face into the ground while keeping her in a chokehold. As she cried out, at 15% HP, he could hear her voice slowly fade into a choke.


    She whimpered out, "How dare you? What the hell?"


    "What''s in your bag? Did you pay a lot for it?" he asked nonchntly, feeling slightly calmer due to the current situation.


    "Shut up! Yeah, only a few thousand dors. But my boyfriend chipped in as well."


    "OK, thank him when you get back to spawn. Or maybeter, if he''s not in here -"


    "He isn''t! How dare you bring that up!"


    Crucis smiled lightly, in spite of the pain. He had hoped that would be a sensitive topic.


    "Look, it doesn''t matter anyway!" she said unconvincingly, "I cheated on him, I made out with my Guildie. He''s nearby somewhere, I bet he can find me. I told him the directions. He''s level 14, don''t you dare hurt him! I was fighting the boars because he was trapped in Sanra and couldn''te here for some hours."


    Crucis held in a sigh, as he saw the silhouette of a small, possibly male figure tiptoeing carefully around their of [Diablo], trying not to awaken the beast. He kicked Melydia to the ground, and said dismissively, "You''ve be quite talkative. But I should kill you before hees here, or you''ll never shut up."


    He used [ck Spot] as he continued pressing her face to the ground, cutting a slit in her neck. She panted, and he finally killed her by kneeing her neck against his choking arm, scraping the slit on her neck against the rough ground.


    He didn''t want to fight again, since he had only 20% HP. However, he had looted a few items that restored HP while killing other yers, and he used a [Greater Goat Potion] to heal 20% more of his HP, restoring him to 40%. He recalled ckSeed saying that these potions worked based on the nobility of the goat. Perhaps the noble goat was a counterbnce to the evil chicken that is not a chicken?


    He watched as the level 14 archer in the distance stumbled his way towards this area. Melydia must have told him a safe set of directions, since he had seemingly been dodging the bosses along his way. However, he seemed a bit confused that Melydia hadn''t shown up yet, because Crucis noticed with curiosity that the level 14 archer was walking uncautiously past the broken cage that probably housed a boss. He heard as the hissing noise grew louder, and was soon apanied by the sound of arge creature pulling itself along the ground. The face of a massive, white snake, with slight, faded pink around its eyes appeared out of the cage, and Crucis heard the frantic male archer start screaming and beginning to run away from this boss. Crucis could see the boss'' name, [Spawn of Jormungandr]. It was level 40.

 Chapter 15: The Snake Boss Eats its own Tail! MC waits for the boss HP to run out

    Chapter 15: The Snake Boss Eats its own Tail! MC waits for the boss'' HP to run out


    "Come, gentle night;e, loving, ck-brow''d night;


    Give me my Romeo; and, when I shall die,


    Take him and cut him out in little stars,


    And he will make the face of heaven so fine


    That all the world will be in love with night..."


    The boss, [Spawn of Jormungandr], dragged itsrge, white-scaled skin heavily across the ground. Its eyes glowed with a chalky white aura, obscuring its red-grey pupils behind this thick glow. The creature slowly unveiled itself as it crawled out of its cage. Its white scales had green markings across its back, tracing itsrge outline and forming eye-like shapes on its back.


    Crucis saw that the boss was moving too slowly to catch up with the fleeing level 14 yer, that was heading in Crucis'' direction. The yer was asionally stumbling, however, and was crying out for Melydia to save him. Crucis noticed that he also called Melydia by the name ''Mandy,'' which must be her real name. Of course, her corpse couldn''t help now.


    However, Crucis decided that he should help himself to this low-level yer''s belongings. He didn''t want the yer to see Melydia''s corpse before the fight, as it might motivate them to resist and Crucis was hoping that this fight could be quick since he also had the boss to worry about.


    As the level 14 stumbled awkwardly around a wall, he was nearly caught in the boss'' [ck Mist Breath], where the snake unhinged its jaws and released a stream of ck mist at his target that eroded their skin. The attack grazed the fleeing yer, and this was enough to reduce him to 60% HP. Crucis moved towards the yer, and then crouched next to the entrance to thisrge area.


    As he heard the yer approach, he offered a friendly greeting, "Hello, do you need some help?"


    He activated [Stealth] and approached the running yer.


    "Hi!" replied the level 14 excitedly, as he quickened his pace to find the source of the voice, "I''m [SkyGabriel]! Please help! I''m looking for -"


    He was interrupted as Crucis grabbed him in a firm [Chokehold]. Due to SkyGabriel''s momentum, the level 14''s feet and lower body lifted cleanly into the air and flew up until he was almost horizontal, with Crucis'' grip on his neck stopping his sprint. This momentum made the chokehold more severe, and SkyGabriel let out a hoarse scream and begun to shed a thick wall of tears. Crucis knelt down while SkyGabriel was still near-horizontal in the air, and then used his chokehold to m SkyGabriel''s neck down onto Crucis'' knee. SkyGabriel let out a mangled cry, and tried to use the [Arch-Knight] sub-ss skill [Hammering Strike] on Crucis but could barely move an arm.


    SkyGabriel finally managed to cry out something resembling words, "I had a great time with Melydia in the barst night! If she saw this, she''d show you!"


    Crucis guessed that this was one of the yers who had spent a lot of money, but spent most of the early-game getting drunk due to the booze rewards. It would exin why they were still only at level 14, in spite of spending enough to unlock their sub-ss early. SkyGabriel also seemed to look up to Melydia''s ying skills, implying that he had been interested in strengthening his character now that he was trapped in the game, and Melydia had offered to drag him along.


    Crucis quickly smirked and said, "Who''s Melydia?"


    He then used [ck Spot] on the Knight, who was lowered to 5% HP and was now bleeding heavily from his twisted neck. Crucis knew that SkyGabriel would soon die. He grabbed the Knight by the shoulders, and quickly ran with him away from the boss who was rapidly closing in.


    "She was a girl, she was really impressed at my expensive items! She said she''d help me out! Not like you!" whimpered the Knight.


    Finding Melydia''s corpse, Crucis smiled and dumped SkyGabriel on top of it to die. SkyGabriel was visibly shocked once he realised who it was, and shivered as if he had been electrocuted.


    "I hope you like speed dating," said Crucis.


    The boss was getting close now, and Crucis leapt to the right as it released another [ck Mist Breath]. SkyGabriel had already died from the bleeding, and Crucis had gained loot from the fallen warrior. However, he still had to escape from this boss. Since he was much faster than SkyGabriel, however, that should be possible.


    He looked up and saw the snake exposing its fangs, and then using them to bite its own tail. As this happened, it lost 30% of its HP and gained the ''Poison'' status. Crucis guessed that this might lead to some kind of area-of-effect attack, and used [Stealth] while running far to the creature''s right side. As expected, after about 5 seconds a fairly wide white ring appeared in the area around the creature, and a bright burst of light exploded through this area. This skill was named [Ouroboros]. When the snake is fighting a low-HP opponent, like SkyGabriel before he died, the snake is programmed to queue this powerful finishing move and use it after a slight dy.


    Crucis assumed that getting caught up in that attack would be dangerous, especially since the boss outlevelled him. He would have to keep his distance. Eyeing the cage where the boss had emerged from, he sprinted past the boss and towards the cage. Perhaps if he could reach the walled area, he could improve his chances of escape. In fact, since the boss was reducing its own HP now, perhaps it would be possible to stall until it died.


    The boss was still in the form of an ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail, and hence dragged itself very slowly after Crucis. A couple of times, when it got slightly closer to Crucis as he navigated the rocky ground, it would stand still and use a more mild form of the [Ouroboros] skill on the area around it. However, this slowed it down and gave Crucis more time to distance himself from it. It also removed 10% of the monster''s HP each time.


    As he reached the walls of thebyrinth, he deliberately waited around the corner of one of the maze''s turns, since the snake might find this ce difficult to navigate. The snake approached him, and he began to run further down the corridor until he came to another turn. The snake awkwardly dragged its mass around the first turn, dragging itself around the wall. Crucis then took a few more turns around the maze, reaching a narrow path that was a dead end. He didn''t mind the dead end, though, because his n was to force the snake to retrace its path and try going through the maze backwards, and hence tie itself up in knots trying to make this difficult movement.


    As Crucis saw the snake slowly reaching him, he waited near the dead end, then used [Stealth] while the snake was still trying to turn a corner. Running swiftly past the snake, he made sure to put some distance between himself and the boss in case the boss used [Ouroboros], although he needn''t have worried because the snake was too caught up in squeezing itself around the corners, and couldn''t get a still position on the ground that [Ouroboros] would require. Crucis used [Agile Step] once he had passed the snake, to make more distance between them, and watched as its pathing led it into thest ce that it had seen him, the narrow alley with a dead end. Once it was stuck in there, it couldn''t manage to move itself backwards around the corner and escape. It writhed angrily against the walls, but found it too difficult to move backwards and couldn''t make its way out while trapped in this narrow area.


    Crucis picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it at the boss, inflicting a miniscule amount of damage. He was trying to test when the boss would use its attack. He carefully walked towards it as he saw it slowly budging itself backwards by leaning on the walls, and it stopped and fell back onto the ground of its narrow corridor, standing still. As soon as this happened, he ran away. After it had released its [Ouroboros] attack, it went back to wrestling with the walls and trying to exit its corridor. Seemingly, it would attack as soon as he was near the attack''s range.


    Crucis repeated this a few times. The Poison status was starting to stack up and deplete the creature''s HP more quickly. The monster still continued to use its [Ouroboros] attack, reducing it to 4% HP after Cael had used this method 2 more times. The creature seemed to regain about 3% of its HP every 15 seconds, but the Poison and self-harm were outpacing that easily. Seeing the low HP of the boss, Crucis used [Stealth], then [Agile Step], then ran up to the boss to use [Stunning Dagger]. This paralysed the boss and prevented it from attacking. Crucis finally used [Ripper] to sh a small gash in the boss'' thick scales, and ran away in case the boss nned to unleash another attack. He needn''t have worried, however, as the boss had died from Crucis'' attacks. Crucis received loot for killing the boss.


    By now, Crucis was exhausted, and copsed onto the ground in relief. If he hadn''t managed to trap the snake in this narrow corridor, he probably would have had to fight most of the battle using the samebination of moves as he had just done: [Stealth] to approach the monster without triggering an attack, [Agile Step] to approach it quickly, and [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse it when he was nearby, ensuring that it would use its attack because it had seen him nearby, but paralysing it so that he had time to get some distance away first. This might take slightly more effort, but would give him a safe way of taking on this beast. However, he was d that at the end of this gauntlet of fights, he had managed to get a boss to kill itself while it was stuck in ce. It was almost rxing.


    Since he had just defeated a few opponents, he decided that he should check on his inventory.


    He checked on the treasure first, since he had been attacked while retrieving it and hadn''t had the time to check its contents. It contained a rare, cut gem, [Amethyst], which gave a significant boost to weapon or spellcasting speed when iid in a weapon or staff. Along with that, there was a white string ne with a slightly golden glow, which increased item drops from monsters by 5% and could be used for up to two hours each day. The treasure chest had also contained 70,000 gold, and a few rare items that Crucis didn''t yet know the purpose of. This included one item that was marked as a [Lore item], and could probably only be used when an appropriate event involving the world''s lore urred. In this case, it was a long, worn-out wooden pike called the [Splintered Wooden Serpent], and it stung a bit when held.


    From SkyGabriel, he noticed that he had looted a handful of rare items. This included an [Amnesty Token], a rare item mostly given to donors and people who had killed over 500 red-named yers. The level 14 had probably not had the time or power to unlock it by fighting. In fact, at this point nobody had even got close. The item would pacify guards for one minute, meaning that even if the yer was trespassing or criminal he would be left alone until the minute ended. This gave the yer the time to get out of danger.


    The other rare items included a [Treasure Sensor], which could detect treasure chests within a 50 metre radius of the yer and had a one hour cooldown per use, a powerful bow which was probably brought as a gift to Melydia, a [Sunset Pass] that gave ess to a level 100+ area known as the Sunset Mountain, a [Beach Pass] that gave ess for up to 4 people to an exclusive beach that was mostly used by couples for romantic liasions, and the [ck Dart], a light sword that required 1000 Dexterity but gave a 30% Agility boost if your HP was below your opponent''s.


    He was d to find that Melydia had dropped another [Rare Treasure Map] which led to this underground area, meaning that he could re-enter if he wished. This meant that he didn''t have to be as cautious about getting killed by monsters, since he had the chance of reiming his corpse and the items on it. Caution was still slightly necessary, however. He began to n his route out of this ce, deciding that he should try to use the walls around [Diablo] to find his way back to the entrance he took, and leave through there. Any yers passing by would probably have to deal with the boss, and this would give him time to distance himself from them. Melydia also dropped some [Fragment of Silver Orb], 38 of these valuable fragments. Crucis decided that he should grind the mobs of [Blind Boar] until he had received enough for the artifact, since he might not get the chance at the remaining fragments elsewhere anytime soon. After that, he could check on the corpse of Sardaukar, if the coast was clear. Finally, Melydia had also dropped a [Winter Pendant], a white pendant which produced cold air. It could be used to weaken fire spells or to survive a hot environment.


    Finally, the [Spawn of Jormungandr] boss had dropped a rare [Green Dart] light sword, which increased Agility by 10% if your HP was higher than the opponent''s. It required 1000 Dexterity to use. It also dropped 20 [Fragment of Silver Orb], and an item named [Venom Ritual] which had a 5% chance to summon the weapon [Fang of Jormungandr], arge fang which had a high chance of poisoning opponents. Crucis tried using it, but the summoning was unsessful and the item disappeared. He wondered if he would get another chance soon at this rare weapon, as he was curious how powerful it would be.


    As he nced up from his inventory, he sawrge, red text shing to his left.


    The text was scrolling, and read: ''We have made definite progress in correcting the bug, and are starting to apply fixes already. The first major fix should ur in one hour. The world should return to normal within the next two days. It has been difficult to fix the game with yers still in it, but we are making steady progress.''


    Given the current state of the game, an official announcement wasn''t the most trustworthy source, as Crucis realised. However, he had seen a couple of yer names show normally in thest few hours, such as [Melydia] and a couple of yers in Kruxol, and the names of most creatures and items was clear. He had checked, and his own name was still scrambled, as were most other yers. This must be part of the ''fixes'' that they were already trying, although seemingly it was only partial for now.

 Chapter 16: Storm the Gates!

    Chapter 16: Storm the Gates!


    Consider this. No matter your skill or how well you y, a boneheaded whale without skill could surpass you. If you don''t fight like hell, you''re not going to have a game anymore.


    Since he had received many fragments of the [Silver Orb] artifact from killing Melydia, Crucis decided that he might as well find all of the 100 that he would need to create the artifact. He spent about an hour grinding the [Blind Boar] enemy, and reached level 25 in the process. This gave him the 100 fragments he needed. However, he still had no way of synthesising these fragments into the artifact, because that would require ess to an NPC in a government building which he wasn''t allowed to enter. While this was frustrating, he decided that he could soon keep these fragments in Storage and take them out if he ever found a way of synthesising them.


    He decided to check if Sardaukar''s corpse was still there. If it had been unimed for two hours, then Crucis could loot it. Using [Agile Step] to enter a wall near the [Diablo] boss, Crucis heard the loud footsteps and grunts of the minotaurs whom he had used to kill Sardaukar. Navigating in the direction of the sound, Crucis saw that Sardaukar''s corpse was still untouched. Crucis waited for a couple of minutes, watching carefully to make sure that nobody was nearby, and walked up to the corpse. On looting it, he found a [Silver Crucifix Dagger], a dark-grey iron dagger with a clear silver crucifix embedded on its hilt. He checked its stats:


    [Silver Crucifix Dagger | Raises Agility by 5%. Deals 50% extra damage for 5 seconds when Agility is buffed by spells, skills, or non-equipment items, this does not stack. Base power: 120. Base attack speed: 170%.]


    It was a clear improvement over his [Initiate''s Dagger], which only had a base power of 70. The attack speed was also quite fast, a 70% increase on the default attacking speed. His current dagger only had an attack speed of 130%, but Assassin weapons tended to be faster than average in order topensate for their lower base power. Some strong weapons in this game had attack speeds of lower than 60%, and were generally considered more appropriate for PvE boss battles than in the fast-paced PvP environment. While the Assassin ss was a strong PvP ss, it had several problems with high-level boss fights and this caused many people to prefer the [Arch-Knight] or even [Archer] sses if they wanted fast-paced characters. Assassins also had some issues with formal PvP tournaments, since the strictures of a formal battle made their stealth and pace slightly less unpredictable. The main appeal of the Assassin was usually to ganking Guilds like the Hashin.


    When Crucis equipped his new [Silver Crucifix Dagger], he felt his feet grow slightly lighter as his Agility increased. Looking through his other loot from Sardaukar''s corpse, he found an [Iron Hammer] which could be used for forging weaponry or armour, and a heavy iron [Green Lantern] which could be used to put out fires by emitting magical light. He recalled that Sardaukar and Jaxon had been walking here along a straight path and had to hide from the minotaurs, and since they had probably entered from the royal building in Kruxol, that entrance was probably somewhere beyond the minotaurs. Crucis decided that, if he found the entrance, he might be able to sneak in when another yer came through. While he would have to be cautious, it was probably his best chance at getting the [Silver Orb] artifact. He could afford to be slightly less cautious now, since he had a map which he could use to return here and recover his corpse if he died.


    Using [Stealth], he ran past the columns bordering the minotaur gathering, and evaded detection by the powerful beasts. He continued walking down a long, straight pathway, and noticed that the walls here had marble sculptures on top. They seemed to be depicting figures like Theseus and Minos, from the Greek legend of the Minotaur. He saw a sign down a rightwards path that said, ''Beware of the Minotaurs,'' in multiplenguages. Crucis turned and walked down this path, guessing that a sign about the minotaurs would be put up near the donator-only entrance to help such yers to traverse thebyrinth safely. Crucis saw a small cross-roads just past the sign-post, with one path leading to the left and one to the right. He heard the sound of heavy, metallic armour thudding against the ground to his left, and used [Agile Step] to step inside the left wall, where he tried to remain still.


    After thirty seconds, he saw a heavily-armoured level 39 Knight walking down the path, and crossing him by without noticing him. He was unlikely to get much sess from fighting a level 39 yer, so he let them pass by. As the jangling of the high-level yer''s armour grew distant, Crucis began to edge down the path which that yer hade down. As he expected, he saw a walled stairway that led to a raised tform with a square, wooden trapdoor above it. The stairway was covered with a slightly grandiose, thin red carpet running through its centre, with the brown wood exposed on each side. The carpet was emzoned in gold with the phoenix sign of the monarchy. This must be the entrance from the royal building. Walking carefully up to it, he crouched below the door and then tried to push on it and check for atch or doorknob, but the door did not budge and he saw no way of opening it. There was a small card reader that seemingly required a pass to enter the building, but since he had no pass that wouldn''t be of much use. Clearly, this door could only be opened from the other side, meaning that he would have to wait for someone to open it and then try to slip through.


    He checked the trapdoor further, and saw that the hinges were on the right side of the door. He used [Agile Step] again to enter the walls on the left of the stairway, since this would make it easier to slip through if the trapdoor opened. While there was the asional, muted sound of footsteps behind the trapdoor, it stayed closed. Crucis waited quietly, watching the trapdoor and waiting for it to open.


    After about 5 minutes, it opened. Crucis readied himself to take advantage of this, but saw that it was a level 41 yer. He decided not to risk entering now, as this yer could easily endanger him. He stayed still as the yer walked past. Crucis noticed that these higher-level yers tended to explore near the minotaurs, perhaps because there were better treasures in that area but also tougher monsters. Since Crucis didn''t have advance knowledge of thisbyrinth, he had tried to be careful and look for the treasure pointed out on his map. An early unexpected or difficult encounter with, for example, a minotaur or powerful yer could have easily sent him out of the dungeon without any way of re-entering. yers who wererger, and had advice from Guildmates on where to find treasure, were more prepared to find whatever valuable treasuresy near the minotaurir. Crucis decided that he should try and seek knowledge about theyout of these maps if he had the chance of enteringter, but without a Guild he had no surefire way of doing that yet.


    After 10 more minutes of waiting, Crucis heard a loud noise as someone approached the door. The door creaked open, before the impatient yer entering gave the door a hard shove. Looking through the open doorway, Crucis saw a level 12 warrior in heavy armour. The warrior was finding it difficult to movefortably in the armour, but seemed to be wearing it as a matter of pride. After about 15 seconds, the warrior finally managed to nt their foot safely on the ground of thebyrinth and tried gingerly to lower themselves in without falling. Crucis circumspectly kicked out his own leg and upended the foot that the warrior was bncing on, sending the warrior hurtling to the ground. The fall left the low-level warrior at 65% HP.


    Using [Stealth], Crucis leapt towards the open trapdoor and held it open with his left hand. As the warrior stumbled to his feet, Crucis grabbed him in a right arm [Chokehold], and noticed that the warrior''s helmet was slipping off due to the fall. Using the dagger in his right hand, Crucis stabbed through the front of the warrior''s neck with [Stunning Dagger]. This left the warrior at 20% HP, and Crucis delicately used [ck Spot] to cut arger slit over the stabwound, leaving the warrior bleeding to death. The warrior''s armour was so unwieldy that he could barely attack, and instead dropped his sword when he tried. Crucis could see that this yer''s name was [HoaxCassette].


    As the warrior, angrily, rose and tried to il at Crucis, Crucis instead slipped through the trapdoor, and used the warrior''s rising momentum to thrust the bleeding slit on the warrior''s throat squarely into the left edge of the doorway. HoaxCassette just about managed a yelp, but as he was choking this barely made any sound. Crucis crawled up through the trapdoor, keeping his foot nted firmly on the back of HoaxCassette''s head to press the warrior''s mouth to the floor and prevent him from making any loud noises. With the warrior''s HP draining closer to 0%, Crucis used the warrior as a doorstop as the door closed automatically. The door did not m into the warrior, and instead hovered about an inch over his head, due to a safety feature. This created a ustrophobic position for the warrior to choke to death in. While the warrior managed to push the door slightly open to gain breathing room, Crucis dropped the heavy [Green Lantern] on the trapdoor to hold it shut, and it again trapped the warrior in a tight space as he choked against the wooden floor on the left of the doorway.


    Crucis looked around, and found that he was in a small side-room at the back of the royal building. After about 2 minutes, the door would automatically teleport the warrior out of the way, and close. Due to this, Crucis decided to hurry. He couldn''t yet safely enter Kruxol from this royal building, because he had a red name.


    Crucis used the [Amnesty Token], and it emanated a faint dark-blue glow. This would allow him to walk into the main hallway of the building, which was full of guards that would otherwise attack him. Swiftly, he ran out of this side-room into the main hallway, where he saw a host of fashionably-suited yers. Sweeping his head around the room, he saw an NPC named [Sidney (Shard Crafter)], an old red-haired man with a small, trim beard. Crucis walked up to this man and greeted him.


    "Good day, sir," replied Sidney, "Do you have any shards for me to fuse? Or do you want more information about shards?"


    Crucis didn''t have the time to ask questions about shards, so he quickly indicated that he had 100 fragments of [Silver Orb] in his bag. Sidney smiled, and epted the fragments, then ced the ss-like shattered pieces onto a golden crucible besides him. This crucible was glowing faintly, indicating that it had been enchanted. Using a fire spell, he heated the crucible, and the fragments began to meld together. Crucis overheard a few snippets of conversation from the poshly-dressed people behind him.


    "Why is this guy with a red-name allowed in here? He doesn''t even look like he donated much, he''s not wearing any high-quality clothing. Only big donators are supposed to be allowed into the Kruxol City Capital Building," said one yer.


    "There''s a lot of hackers around right now, it''s not just them. I bet it''s the hacking that caused the game to break down," replied another yer with a high-pitched voice and a thick California ent, "In fact, it''s causing all kinds of weird things. You know Sally Donbass? She died during a fight a couple of hours ago, and never respawned. I wish these awful hackers just let donors like us get the valuable things and knew their ce, but instead they wanted in so they used their hacking engines and now the game is broken."


    "O, I have bought the mansion of a love,


    But not possess''d it, and, though I am sold,


    Not yet enjoy''d..."


    "Oh, Sally disappeared? I hope she''s alright."


    "Don''t worry, she''s probably fine. There''s some rumours going about, but pay them no mind."


    After about 10 seconds, Sidney drew a glowing [Silver Orb] artifact from the crucible, with an arc of transparent, glittering material around the orb''s equator that resembled diamond. Smiling, Crucis took the artifact, then used [Stealth] and scampered quickly back into the side-room before the effect of the [Amnesty Token] wore off. There, he saw that the trapdoor was still held open by the dead yer. Lifting his [Green Lantern] and cing it back into his inventory, he raised the trapdoor and kicked the dead yer out of the way. Leaping back into thebyrinth, he tried to recall the directions back towards the entrance he had originally used, from the temple. The temple might give him an opportunity to rest and wait for the red name to fade, before re-entering Kruxol.


    Re-tracing his steps, he found his way back past the minotaurs, to the spot that he had first seen Sardaukar and Jaxon. Using [Agile Step], he crossed through the wall leading to his original entrance. Pushing it open, he found himself stepping back into the temple. As he finally closed the door thebyrinth and sat down quietly at the side of the temple to n out his next moves, he found himself shivering softly, as if he had just emerged from a very cold ce.


    If he waited in this part of the temple, he might be noticed, and due to his red name yers would be likely to attack him. He would have to hide in the tunnels where he had left Garulus to die.

 Chapter 17: MC reads Light Novels

    Chapter 17: MC reads Light Novels


    Walking cautiously through the square door into the temple''s underground passage, Crucis hid once more in the rocky left wall of the tunnel as he heard the door m shut. Looking near the area where the Raptors hadst attacked, he saw that the frustrated Garulus had already returned a couple of times to reim his corpse, but been killed each time by the Raptors. Since Garulus had already dropped a corpse here, his other deaths were marked with small gravestones. Crucis made sure that nobody was nearby, then walked up to Garulus'' corpse and looted it.


    Looking through his inventory, Crucis first checked on the [Silver Orb] artifact. The artifact''s description stated that it allows you to transfer an ability from one low-level weapon to another low-level weapon, creating a hybrid weapon with the special abilities of both weapons. This was obviously important to archers, since it allowed them tobine different kinds of basic arrows, such as [Fire Arrow] and [Poison Arrow], to create powerful hybrids. While these arrows could be more difficult to aim, the effect could be highly powerful once the archers had enough skill to use them urately. However, it was still powerful for most other sses early on, since it could give their low-level weapon powerful additional perks. Over time, this effectiveness would typically wane, because evenbining low-level weapon effects would not make up for forgoing the power of a higher-level weapon. At Crucis'' level, it could be very powerful, and he nned to use it as soon as he returned to Kruxol and could sort through the weapons he had in Storage.


    From Garulus, Crucis didn''t get many drops, since the Mage had just left town and wasn''t carrying much. However, he did receive an [Uncut Amethyst] gem, that probably dropped from one of the Raptors, and a [Temple Amulet] which gave +20% INT when in the Temple. Seeing the amethyst, he remembered that his new [Silver Crucifix Dagger] had one gem slot within its hilt. He had gained a gem from the treasure in thebyrinth. He took the [Amethyst] from his inventory, and checking on its description saw that it was rated as of ''medium-high quality,'' and hence would raise his weapon''s attack speed by 30%. Carefully parting the small slot, he ced the gem inside his dagger''s ck hilt and then closed the opening. The gem was now hidden inside his dagger''s hilt, and he felt that the dagger was lighter and easier to move, with its base weapon speed increased to 200%.


    There was still almost an hour until his red name wore off, so Crucis decided to pass that time by reading a few of the items marked [Light Novel] in his inventory. He had picked them up while exploring and looting yers in thebyrinth. The first one began like this:


    "Hello," said the Reaper conversationally, "I was transmigrated as the Grim Reaper into a world of martial arts, but Satan is my master and I am forbidden from having a harem!"


    The old man smiled, as if used to this sort of conversation. "If you can''t even have a harem, then could I offer my proteg¨¦e, a certain master called Yung, as the actual MC of this isekai? You are clearly not qualified."


    "I <em>am</em> qualified, in this sense: I have a scythe, and I can kill you and your proteg¨¦e with it. Then you can''t be the MC any more. Well, unless this book turns out to be about your martyrdom, like Jesus in the New Testament... We''ll see. I''m fine with either." The Reaper gestured to his scythe''s dull silver de, patches of deep-red blood still decorating its edge.


    "Like Jesus, I am a shining great man!" screamed a muffled voice from beyond the door. The disciple, Yung, barged through.


    The Reaper held out his scythe, and chanted a few words under his breath. Master Yung was thrown back through the door with great force. Chanting lyrics that he remembered from an old ck metal song, the Reaper shut the door, trapping Yung in the hallway outside, and then summoned a mist of deadly sarin gas to fill that hallway. Yung''s suffocated screams shook the old man into action, as the Reaper had expected.


    "You didn''t have the courage to take him on in a fair fight?" growled the old man.


    "Taking him on in an even fight would be beneath my dignity," replied the Reaper, in a low-pitched drawl.


    The old man leapt feet-first towards the Reaper, aiming a high kick at the creature. However, the Reaper faded into a mist before the man''s eyes, and the man found that he had kicked thin air. The Reaper materialised behind him.


    "You seem angry," said the Reaper.


    He swept his scythe around the man''s neck. He felt the old man aim a fierce elbow at him, but sidestepped it and used the handle of his scythe and the man''s momentum to send the man tumbling backwards.


    With his scythe still wrapped around the old man''s neck, he stepped on the old man. The man was pinned to the ground.


    "Any famousst words, old man?" said the Reaper.


    "Whyyyyyy? Whyyyyyyyy?" replied the old man.


    Smiling, the Reaper tore the man''s neck apart slightly messily, as the old man screamed on the ground until death.


    The Reaper walked out of the room, stepping over the corpse of Yung on his way out. It is clear now, the Reaper was the protagonist of this isekai light novel!


    Crucis found the tone of this light novel slightly peculiar, but liked the protagonist. He made a note to read it further. Crucis had heard that the obscure Necromancer sub-ss had the ability to transform into a Grim Reaper-like figure, and he thought that this would be more interesting if they also became servants of Satan who could not form harems. Leafing through his inventory again, he found another item marked as a [Light Novel]. This one disyed a message before opening:


    [This text was not in your favourednguage, so our systems have tranted it automatically. The text you will read is machine tranted.]


    Winter sat quietly on the vige.


    "Greetings, do you have knowledge on that grand power sun?" asked the inquisitive Li Chen.


    "Ah, that is very mysterious thing," replied the wise old Han Tian, "It is thus such power, even that of gods is pale, winter he thunders white whisper but of magic there is none. Grand power sun it is concentrated in palm, but needing tiger''s eye gem. Then it is unleashed through power of Shnyan when you make him invisible. Great power, indeed."


    "Ah, great thanks. You are seeing this power?" said Li Chen, folding his hands behind his back like a student of obedience.


    "Have seen before by powerful cultivators of magical kingdom prowess. The leader''s daughter, Han Gu, he is even using it a year ago."


    Li Chen revealed his right palm, glowing with concentrated bright light like the sun. His eye pupil became invisible as he grand power unleashing at wise man Han Tian. Large flood of power flies the wise man, and the wise man is extinguished and dead after.


    Li Chen smiles at the power. "If this can kill strong wise man, who was once great cultivator, then it must be great power. Maybe even can kill Han Gu, leader''s daughter, good way to destroy harmonious society!"


    While Crucis enjoyed this story, he wasn''t used to reading this kind of trantion. He decided that he shouldn''t read too much of it at once, as it might drive him insane. He looked through his inventory for another [Light Novel].


    "To be a chicken or not to be a chicken? I am a transmigrating chicken who arrives in a world with a system! I must fight the farmer, but he is a powerful cultivator! However, I have great dual cultivation technique and chicken powers, shall I be a mighty god with a big harem? The quest to be the mightiest chicken!" pondered the Prince Hamlet.


    The answer to the question ''to be or not to be,'' if you were a chicken, would invariably be ''both.'' If you were a river crab? Then you would not ask such impertinent questions!


    Crucis sighed slightly on reading this passage by the Prince Hamlet, and decided to take a break from reading light novels.

 Chapter 18: Kill with Power

    Chapter 18: Kill with Power


    Crucis looked through Storage, and picked out the [Silver Wasp] light sword. Finding that he could wield it now due to his Dexterity exceeding 350, he swung it lightly through the air, and it flew almost weightless through the still air. He decided to check on its stats further:


    [Silver Wasp | Has a 40% chance to give user a +5% Agility buff after hitting an opponent sessive times. Base power: 150. Base speed: 130%]


    While it wasn''t as fast as his dagger, it was still quite fast at this stage in the game. However, Crucis hadn''t yet trained his light sword abilities much, and hence would be at a disadvantage using this for now. He would train light swords in due course, but for now he wanted to bring Cael across to Kruxol, so that he could take advantage of the many new yersing here for easier quests that had less chance of causing pain. Instead of attempting to train light swords, Crucis put the sword to use in another way: using the [Silver Orb] artifact, he transferred the special ability of the sword to his dagger. His dagger now looked like this:


    [Silver Crucifix Dagger | Raises Agility by 5%. Deals 50% extra damage for 5 seconds when Agility is buffed by spells, skills, or non-equipment items, this does not stack. Has a 40% chance to give user a +5% Agility buff after hitting an opponent sessive times (Silver Orb). Base power: 120. Base attack speed: 170%.]


    This was an interesting set of abilities, however the Agility buff from the [Silver Wasp] would not trigger the 50% damage increase because that can''t be triggered by equipment items. Nheless, it allowed for much faster and more decisive attacks. He also noticed that he had a few skill points left to invest. He sought out an appropriate ability, which could buff his [Agility]. He found that he could invest in an ability called [Dodge Step], which boosted the user''s Agility by 50% and allowed them to step out of the path of an iing attack. The Agility buff onlysted for the duration of the [Dodge Step] skill, but it would still be useful due to triggering a damage increase from the [Silver Crucifix Dagger] ability. The main issue with this was that it could only be used when under attack, since it was a dodging skill, and it would typically move you away from the opponent and hence make it less easy tounch an attack during the 5 second damage buff.


    Thinking about this, Crucis looked through his menu and realised that he had unlocked the [Skill Mastery] feature again. Checking through his basic skills, he saw that when [Stealth] was upgraded, it gained an additional Agility boost:


    [Stealth Cloak* | Makes the yer invisible for three seconds. During this time, their Agility is buffed by 20%, and by 40% if they are under attack. They can use any dodging skills during this period, regardless of cooldown times.]


    This would be useful to him, as he could easily use [Stealth] to approach an enemy and then unleash a fierce assault using the damage buff. Checking on the requirements to upgrade his [Stealth] skill, he saw that it required an item named [Book of Disguise]. This item could be used to temporarily blur other yers'' vision of you, for one minute, or to learn a skill which would do this for 3 seconds. Either use would consume the item. Crucis remembered that the Assassin Trainer NPC sold these books for 30,000 gold each, something that Crucis could now afford after his time in thebyrinth. It would generally be quite expensive for a new yer.


    While the [Skill Mastery] feature was officially introduced as a way for sses like Mage to use their surplus spell scrolls, for sses like Assassin most skills were not a result of scrolls. As such, the requirements for upgrading Assassin skills were slightly more creative and included skill books of a simr type to the upgraded skill, or rare Talismans. This could still be difficult to acquire at higher levels, but, like basic spell scrolls, most basic skills could be upgraded with items bought in Kruxol. However, upgrading a skill was permanent, and only three could be upgraded. Crucis decided that upgrading [Stealth] was still worthwhile, because it was a staple of the Assassin ss even in thete game.


    As such, he ran over to the Assassin Trainer NPC outside the Alchemist''s Store, and bought two copies of the [Book of Disguise]. He eagerly used one of these to upgrade his [Stealth] skill, which evolved into [Stealth Cloak]. He used the other to learn the [Figure Blur] skill, which would blur other yers'' vision of him. He invested some skill points into this skill, increasing it to level 5, which increased the blurring effect.


    He also picked up a new dagger skill, named [Silent Stab], which was a stab skill mostly focussed on being economical and quiet so as not to alert people nearby. In addition to that, the basic skill [Forceful Kick] would allow him to kick yers and propel them forwards.


    After these upgrades, Crucis wanted to test out his abilities. He quietly walked past the outskirts of the town, until he saw a group of drunk yers talking and jostling loudly by the South of Kruxol. He couldn''t quite make out their slurred, loud speech, but he saw a male and female separate off from the group and walk Southwards to encouraging shouts from the others. They may have been going to a famously romantic candlelitke a short way South of Kruxol, where couples could have their names written together on one of therge columns around the area and set a few roses floating on theke with messages attached. A few weekly events took ce near thatke,memorating these romantic escapades. In addition, during the early morning the roses were sold at a halved price, and couples would use the small shacks around theke for privacy.


    Crucis hovered around the trees just South of Kruxol, and as the couple drunkenly staggered South he crept closer to them while concealed behind the trees. He saw that the female, named [Leonie], had pale skin that looked almost sickly, and was bleach-blonde, wearing a light sleeveless white shirt. Her boyfriend, named [Zehu] had slightly darker skin, and arge nose. Crucis noticed that their names were both visible. They were both chattering excitedly and falling over each other. As they moved further away from their friends in Kruxol, they started to be louder and seemed excited about theke. Zehu was level 18, and Leonie was level 14, they were both warriors.


    As soon as Crucis was convinced that they were out of sight of the group in Kruxol, he used [Stealth Cloak] to quickly approach the couple. He grabbed Zehu''s left shoulder and stabbed it with the [Stunning Dagger] skill, and was impressed that it knocked off 20% of the warrior''s HP. It must be because of the 50% damage increase triggered by the Agility Buff of [Stealth Cloak]. He followed up immediately with a fierce [Ripper], flicking his wrist to send his dagger hurtling in a wide arc across the left edge of Zehu''s neck where it connected to the shoulder. This triggered a +5% Agility increase, and the jagged cut removed another 60% of Zehu''s HP due to Crucis still dealing increased damage. As Zehu attempted to turn around and attack, Crucis pre-empted him with a [Silent Stab] near the right of Zehu''s neck, then used [Dagger Twist], killing the warrior.


    "You should have at least given him a chance to get an attack off! You''re just a bully!" screamed Leonie.


    "Good idea,"ughed Crucis.


    Leonie had taken a few seconds to process what was happening, since she was drunk, but now she lurched angrily towards Crucis while raising her sword in the air to strike. However, Crucis was prepared, and had used [Figure Blur] to blur Leonie''s vision of him further and make it harder for her to aim. As she clumsily went in to strike Crucis, he used [Dodge Step] to easily sidestep right and evade the attack, and this activated his 50% damage increase. He noticed that the drunk Leonie was slipping and about to fall after her lunge failed to hit him, so he used [Forceful Kick] to send her hurtling to the ground. Crouching over her, a sharp [Ripper] just below her neck was enough to deal 50% of her HP in damage, reducing her to 30% HP. Crucis grabbed her in a [Chokehold] and shoved her head bluntly into the grassy soil as she tried to scream. As she began to kick at him, he used [ck Spot] to slit her neck. This sent her down to 20% HP, and caused her to bleed.


    Eventually, Leonie finally managed tond a kick, that sent Crucis sharply back. Using this opportunity, Leonie lifted her face off the ground and rolled onto her back.


    "Ha! I got to attack you!" Leonie sputtered out.


    Angrily, Crucis grabbed a sharp, small rock from the ground next to Leonie, and held it in his fist. He repeated a familiar maneouvre, using his [Punch] skill to strike Leonie with the sharp edge of the rock, aiming for the slit on her throat. The rock made clear contact with the slit, and tore roughly at the wound, causing strands of tattered, bloody skin to hang down. As Leoniey down, making hellish gurgling noises, Crucis said, "Good for you, do it again," and held his arms out to the side as if to gesture that he was leaving himself open to attack. She could barely move, let alone attack, and she died in extreme pain.


    Crucis heard some slightmotion from near Kruxol, and decided to run deeper into the woods South of Kruxol in case the drunkards of Kruxol came after him. He eventually slowed, after noticing that the group in Kruxol hadn''t bothered investigating too deeply because they would rather go back to partying. Since he had a red name, he couldn''t return immediately to Kruxol.


    Passing through the woods, he found a few small wooden cabins. They all seemed locked, but he noticed that one had an open window, so he crept through it. It was a small, dark, cramped space, that was mostly empty. He found it slightly eerie, but nheless sat quietly for half an hour to ward off the red name. After that, he mbered out and made his way back to Kruxol, where he tried to enter from the Eastern entrance to avoid suspicion. He had heard yers talk about draugr inhabiting small, out-of-the-way cabins, and wondered if there was a chance of them appearing in the cabin he had just hid in. He decided to keep this in mind, and check the cabins if he ever received a quest which required him to fight a draugr.

 Chapter 19: The Ties That Bind

    Chapter 19: The Ties That Bind


    Returning to Kruxol, Crucis noticed that a fewrge notices had been set up on billboards around the town. Looking more closely, he saw that they showed the schedule of groups travelling between Kruxol and other nearby towns. These groups were set up by strong Guilds in response to the bug, and were intended to assist yers with transport between towns while guarding them from attack. Crucis scanned the list of iing journeys from Sanra, and saw that one was due to depart in one hour. He decided that it would be useful for Cael to hitch a ride on this journey, to join him here in Kruxol.


    However, this still left him with an hour to spare. He was slightly hesitant about switching ounts, because Cael wasn''t as adapted to stealth and hunting yers in the wild, and he knew that he would have to figure out some way around this. However, he quickly thought of a way to ease Cael in. Going to the ''Trinket Store,'' he searched their section of misceneous goods to find a [Sturdy Rope], a long, thick white rope that was coiled like a white python around a wooden stake. Purchasing this for 200 gold, he went to the South-East outskirts of Kruxol, where he didn''t see anyone else around. Here, he saw a rickety buildingbelled ''Storage Containers for Sale.''


    This area was initially added as a stopgap during the game''s testing phase, to allow yers to store items while the current Storage building was still being ironed out. The purchase of a few smaller gamepanies allowed for their developers to be repurposed towards this game, but due to this there was asional rotation in the development team and this discontinuity meant that several features weren''t fully-implemented during testing. The ''storage containers'' were a remnant of the initial method for storing a yer''s inventory: like a locker room, yers would pay for the key to arge, wooden storage cab, and could freely ce their items inside or withdraw them. In early versions of the game, this was sometimes treated as akin to a marketce, with yers keeping their container open to show other yers their wares, although only the original yer who owned the container could withdraw items from it. The yer could withdraw and sell items if an agreeable price was found.


    However, by now it was barely used due to better alternatives like the Storage building and Guild treasury. The official reason for keeping the storage containers in the game was that they hadn''t had the chance to run the other storage methods through most phases of testing, and were keeping this here temporarily while adjudging whether the other methods were suitable. The other, unacknowledged reason was that they had issues with removing the storage container code, because the rotating development team had connected the storage container area''s code with the rest of the code rted to storage, in such a way that removing this container facility could make the rest of the storage facilities break down or be inconsistent.


    Crucis was pleased at the unwatched, empty area around the building, however, and quickly purchased a key. He was led towards arge, open yard behind the building, with severalrge containers ced in rows. His container was in the 3rd row from the left, and was marked ''C5'' - the 5th container in row ''C.'' He opened the container, and noticed that it was quite spacious, and he could fit inside it quite easily if he wanted to. He didn''t have much to store in it at the moment, but he had a n. He could hear a few yers grinding at a slight distance. He kept still and listened carefully, trying to make out by sound which yers were using which sses and weapons. He heard a loud, unfamiliar sound of sparks crackling wildly as a heavy sword struck, towards the East of Kruxol. Curious, he cautiously crept closer to the source of the noise, holding the coiled rope in his right arm.


    He saw a yer dressed in a golden suit of light armour with Mage-like violet robes draped around them, wielding a sword that glowed with a force that seemed like mana. This yer was named [ykpaiha], and his sword''s strange magical effects were something which Crucis had not seen before. The yer was fighting a gathering of three level 16 [Nocturnal Wild Dog Pup]. The [Nocturnal Wild Dogs] are a strong enemy that appears in packs in the wild at night, pouncing on unwary travellers. These younger versions are still quite strong, but at level 16 they are more manageable. The warrior seemingly attacked these dogs by ident while trying to grind on a [Boar] mob, as he was barely able to tell where he was striking in the darkness. The group of dog pups had attacked him, and scared away the boars. Crucis crouched behind some nearby bushes to watch.


    When the warrior struck at the pack of wild dogs, as he hit his sword seemed to produce res or sparks of electricity, that would sprinkle over the opponent and cause high damage. Crucis hence realised that, while this warrior couldn''t cast spells, his sword automatically triggered magical effects as it struck. Crucis hadn''t seen something like this before, and wondered if the sword was paywall content that was only given to heavy donors. However, ykpaiha was clearly wearing some powerful INT-boosting equipment, because the shes of mana as he hit were very bright and loud, almost as prominent as Cael''s even though Cael was a Mage and focused on INT rather than STR. Crucis asionally held his right hand lightly over his ear to muffle the sound ofrge explosions. The dogs were scratching away at ykpaiha''s HP, reducing it to 68%, but he was steadily rebuffing them and soon only one remained. Crucis leaned in slightly to check on how much damage the warrior''s strikes were doing, but he stumbled slightly over a tangled, fallen branch hidden at the edge of a bush, and the sound was loud enough for ykpaiha to notice. As the warrior kicked the pup back and came to look in Crucis'' direction, Crucis quickly used [Stealth Cloak] and leapt to his feet, his speed increased by the skill.


    As ykpaiha ambled straight towards the bush he had been hiding behind, Crucis darted in a curving path to the warrior''s left and ended up behind ykpaiha. Grabbing the warrior in a [Chokehold], Crucis took a part of the rope in his right palm and looped it around ykpaiha''s neck, causing the warrior to gag. Smiling, Crucis used [Forceful Kick] to send the warrior flying forward, causing the warrior to gag sharply as his neck fell harshly into the rope. The force of the warrior''s fall was too much for Crucis to support, due to Crucis'' low Strength stat, and hence he felt the rope slip out of his grasp as the warrior catapulted to the ground.


    Gathering his rope, he saw that ykpaiha was beginning to gather his bearings after being surprised by the sudden attack. The warrior had probably just been expecting another wild dog pup to be emerging from the bush, if anything. Crucis quickly used [Figure Blur], blocking ykpaiha''s vision of him, before leaning down and using [Stunning Dagger] to incapacitate the foe. Quietly, he wrapped a part of the rope around ykpaiha''s neck, and then held this taut in the air while using a basic [Punch] to press ykpaiha''s head into the ground inside the bush. He held on until he felt his opponent losing consciousness. He heard ykpaiha muttering, "What the hell is attacking me? A ghost?" Seemingly he had been unable to catch a clear sight of Crucis, meaning that the [Figure Blur] was proving effective. As soon as the cooldown ended, Crucis used [Chokehold] again, lightly pressing ykpaiha''s injured, hoarse throat until the warrior slumped to the ground unmoving, with only 11% of his HP left.


    Crucis grabbed the rope, and began wrapping it around ykpaiha''s lower arms in order to restrain the warrior. He then wrapped it around the rest of ykpaiha''s torso, and legs. He withdrew a piece of fine, white clothing that he had looted from the couple voyaging to theke, and decided at the spur of the moment to tie it around the warrior''s mouth as a muzzle. He wrung the shirt into a cylindrical shape, then tied it around the warrior''s head to prevent any screams. At first, he dragged the warrior along the ground carefully, and then lifted the warrior once he was satisfied that there would be no resistance.


    Staggering back to the storage containers with the warrior in tow, he found the containerbelled C5, opened it, and shoved the warrior inside. At this point, the warrior had slightly regained his senses, and Crucis heard the sound of muffled whimpering from the container. He shut the door, and walked towards the building where he had received the keys. He asked for an additional set of keys to be provided, and, when prompted for another yer to send it to, he chose Cael. It was possible for others to have spare keys to your Storage container, or even to open it, but only you were allowed to withdraw items from inside it. This feature was added in order to substitute for theck of a Guild storage or treasury in the testing versions of the game. It was also possible for alts to both have keys, since only one could withdraw the items and hence it was not considered a problem.


    Crucis checked the time on an old clock hung in the corner of the room. There was only 20 minutes left until the expedition from Sanra to Kruxol, which he intended Cael to join. Since he hadn''t killed ykpaiha yet, he was not red-named. Due to this, he freely walked towards the centre of Kruxol, where he could save and switch characters. When asked which character to switch to, he selected the only option: Cael.

 Chapter 20: The Noob and the Pendulum

    Chapter 20: The Noob and the Pendulum


    Cael rose slowly to his feet on the grey stone pavement of Sanra, feeling slightly tired in the dark. He noticed the slightly sluggish, less immediate movement resulting from his low Agility, as opposed to the highly responsive Assassin character whose movement felt more natural. After taking a minute to adapt, he looked towards the Eastern entrance, where he saw a group of 35 yers gathered on the path towards Kruxol. Walking up to them, he asked if they were the group scheduled to leave for Kruxol at 6am. Arge Knight, d in thick armour, nodded and said, "Our Guild, [The Fountain], have teamed up with a few other strong yers, aftermunication from the game''s developers. We are taking yers over to Kruxol. Most people are sleeping, and tired after the bad news, so we have space."


    Cael thanked him quietly, and stood among the gathering of yers. Most of the yers seemed to be half-asleep, and there wasn''t much conversation, except for a few people worrying about how long they would be trapped in here. In a few minutes, therge gathering set off for Kruxol, walking down the path past the farms and towards Kruxol''s Western entrance. Cael noticed a few fast, shadowy movements in the farm buildings, and guessed that there was a Guild of Assassins using the farm as a base. However, nobody seemed to attack thisrge train of yers.


    As Cael prepared to enter Kruxol, he noticed a couple of corpses lying beside the road just outside. He saw that a few strong yers from the group had also stopped, and were staring at the corpses. Most of the group was still just walking, zombie-like, into the town and did not notice that anything was amiss.


    Cael overheard a couple of yers talking.


    "Kate and Dillon were really powerful, how could some gankers kill both of them?" asked one yer, who Cael could tell was a Mage.


    The Knight who had weed Cael replied, "I don''t know, man. They said they would wait for us, and clear out the ce to make things safe. There were rumours going around that some Hashin or DeathGang gankers were hovering around near the town, around the shed with the undead dog. They preyed on some small yers, who sounded the rm. Kate and Dillon wanted to help clear them out, so that this entrance would be safe and we couldfortably escort yers through here, but it looks like the gankers did turn up. It''s weird, I looked around here earlier, and didn''t find any sign of them -"


    "They''re tricky, aren''t they? Anyway, we will have to ask Kate about what happened once she revives."


    "Definitely. But I''m not sure that we should have let them risk snooping around here by themselves, especially when the yersining were from an allied Guild rather than our own. Especially with the rumours about some people who die not reviving -"


    "No, that''s just rumours. The developers confirmed that it was just misinformation. They will be fine. Besides, the gankers did show up, so I guess that it wasn''t a false rm. We should go into the town now, the gankers might still be around here, watching us, and there''s no telling what they might do."


    "I''m just saying, a few people have reported falling out of touch with their loved ones. I doubt they''d just joke about that -"


    "It''ll be fine."


    "Alright. Anyway, let''s head into Kruxol."


    Cael was slightly amused by the further damage his hijinks had caused. However, he kept a poker face and turned to walk towards the South-East outskirts of Kruxol.


    Once he arrived there, he looked around for the ''Storage Containers for Sale'' sign, and entered the building with the sign. He was handed a small, white envelope containing a key to container C5.


    Walking up to the container, he opened it and saw the dejected warrior, named ykpaiha, lying still in ropes. The warrior seemed to have a few marks of strain from his attempts to writhe out of the ropes encircling him, but he had seemingly recovered HP through natural regeneration after Crucis had left. The warrior now had 57% HP, but seemed injured and incapable of shaking the ropes loose.


    "Hello," said Cael, "you have some nice gear, did you spend a lot for it?"


    The warrior tried to yell something in response, but his muzzle reduced it to a muffled groan. The warrior''s throat seemed to still be injured, giving his voice a hoarse, pained quality and making it difficult for him to try and speak past the muzzle.


    "By the way, have you heard rumours about yers dying for real when they die here? It''s not every yer, but there do seem to be a few people whose loved ones haven''t respawned. At least if you die forever, you will die dressed in some fancy bling," mused Cael. "So I think that should be enough to keep you happy."


    Seeing that ykpaiha was trying to groan out another statement, Cael extended his hand and used [Spark]. It only removed 7% of ykpaiha''s HP, since even now this early spell was bing outmoded slightly inbat. However, due to the pain reduction being absent for this move, Cael saw ykpaiha''s body suddenly writhing and flopping like a caught fish. In a couple of seconds, this flopping came to a halt as suddenly as it began, with the waves of mana overwhelming ykpaiha and pacifying him back into stillness. The warrior began to make a deep, guttural noise from the back of his throat, as if he was being choked. Hey motionless and drained, like his life-force had been turned off.


    In this state, ykpaiha felt a pain like trying to move a broken leg. Cael could see that ykpaiha was still trying to scream, and had begun crying heavily. From Cael''s observations, he could see that ykpaiha was feeling a throbbing, intense pain across the body, as if the warrior was trying to live in a body that no longer functioned or had life-force. Apart from the asional twitch, ykpaiha was hardly moving.


    Cael drew out a piece of paper to take some notes, recording the effect of [Spark] on this yer. He knew that its effect on opponents was important now that pain reduction was broken, and so with this test subject he could figure out how to use it and his other skills more effectively in this climate.


    After half a minute, ykpaiha managed to lift his arm slightly, but then lost control of his body again and couldn''t use the arm to support himself. His body keeled over and fell heavily backwards into the right corner of the storage container. Cael waited for the warrior to start sitting up again as ykpaiha slowly tried to recover from the Spark''s pacifying effect. As the warrior cautiously raised himself out of the corner with his arms and shoulders, Cael used [Mana Push] to lightly shove the warrior back into the corner. There was a soft thud as the warrior hit the corner, but he was still trying to resist.


    Cael used [Spark] again, and this time the warrior slid down into the corner, and seemed to give up on responding. As ykpaiha''s body fell, still but convulsed in a pain that soaked his entire body, Cael attacked with a [Mana Beam] that struck the warrior''s chest as ykpaiha tried to heave out a scream. This reduced the warrior to 9% HP from 30%. Cael saw that the warrior had barely noticed the attack, seemingly overwhelmed by the previous Spark, and sighed quietly to himself. He tried to think of a way to get the suffering warrior''s attention.


    "Well, §Ó §ã§ä§â§Ñ§Õ§Ñ§ß§Ú§ñ [v strradan(y)eeya], yet you will §Ù§Ñ§ä§Ü§ß§å§ä§î§ã§ñ [zatknoot(y)sya)? §°§é§Ö§ß§î §ã§Þ§Ö§Ý§í§Û, §Û§Ü§Ý§Ñ§Ú§ç§Ñ, [ochen(ye) smell-yy, ykpaiha], yet in these trying times even the brave must fall like leaves in §à§ã§Ö§ß§î [ossen(ye)], an ocean of autumn leaves," said Cael, using a Russiannguage that he was familiar with due to his Eastern European origins.


    Cael noticed ykpaiha suddenly flinch as a box appeared in front of the warrior and disyed trantions of the terms in English. Cael knew that the game''s trantion feature gave yers a box tranting sentences into their favourednguage, and this would appear right in front of ykpaiha. The warrior was suddenly in agony, since his attention had been snapped away from pain and this meant that he felt its omnipresent sensation pulling his attention forcefully back to it. Cael could tell that the warrior didn''t understand what he had said.


    Using [Spark] again, Cael watched curiously to see what would happen to the warrior. He saw that ykpaiha''s bones started to contort into a shape that no longer matched his skin, and seemed to jut out at odd angles. He was, as the saying goes, crawling in his skin. Cael noticed a loud gurgling sound, and swiftly drew the muzzle down, letting ykpaiha eject a stream of blood from his mouth. The warrior then tried to speak, but only vomited more blood. The pain had gradually ovee his bodypletely.


    Using [Minor Illusion], Cael summoned a coin in ykpaiha''s palm.


    "Suppose that you were a game. Someone tied you up, then tortured and broke you until you copsed. You tried to obstruct him, but this obstacle was bypassed as if it wasn''t there. You were helpless and bleeding, and he kept abusing you further. But if he just gave you a coin, all of that is fine, wouldn''t you say?" asked Cael.


    He then aimed a [Mana Beam] carefully at ykpaiha''s throat from close range, causing the warrior to die and sending a fountain of blood streaming out of the corpse''s mouth. The warrior''s throat was mangled by the pressure.


    Cael checked on the items that he had looted, expecting some powerful items based on the dead casher''s big spending. Although there weren''t that many looted items, implying that the dead warrior had been using Storage to protect much of his inventory, Cael was not left disappointed.


    He received a pair of [Elite Enchanted Gloves] - soft, lightly-glowing ck gloves that grant +300 INT and +10% spell damage - and wore these immediately. He also wore his new, dark red [Shadow Tendril Boots] which increased INT by 10% inbat and movement speed by 10% outside ofbat. Checking through the rest of his loot, he found some less useful STR-boosting items and equipment, but also 100,000 gold and a few rare gems that could be used in his staff. He also noticed an item named the [Hierophant Card], with a slightly vague description:


    [Converts STR-based physical movements into spells based on INT when activated, or converts 50% INT to STR when reversed and then activated.


    Congrattions, ykpaiha! You were in the top 100 of our $4,000 lottery, and this is your prize. If you ever lose it or gift it, you may summon it at the nearest ''VIP Assisstant'' by giving your name, and it will be returned to you.]


    This was unfortunate, since it meant that ykpaiha would probably summon this item back if he revived. Cael decided that he should test the item out, but wasn''t sure yet if he would get to keep it. If ykpaiha died, which Cael had instinctively guessed would happen, then Cael would get to keep it. Still, he didn''t like the idea of not getting to keep a valuable item, so he decided to ignore the card for now.


    As he returned towards the centre of Kruxol, Cael realised that these storage containers provided a convenient way to transfer some items between his alt and himself. If Crucis had items that would be more suitable for Cael, then he could not transfer them directly, since a yer is not permitted to do this with his alt. However, if a weaker yer was given the items, and then Crucis tied up that yer, this means that Cael could easily kill the yer and receive some of the items. Valuable items freshly acquired from a shop or another yer were more likely to drop on death, for up to an hour after their acquirement, as they were still not ssified as being ''bound'' to a yer. This would be a better way to dispose of Crucis'' unnecessary INT gear and gems, rather than just selling it off.


    However, it wasn''t a priority for the moment, since Cael had just acquired some good gems through histest kill.


    The Reaper''s scythe harvests the dead. Kill the beached whale. Kill the man already in his tomb.

 Chapter 21: Where Demons Wake

    Chapter 21: Where Demons Wake


    Cael walked back towards the centre of Kruxol down a cobbled street towards the South of town. On his way, he saw an archer and a warrior gingerly walking towards the small woods South of Kruxol, both casting superstitious nces towards the dark-brown, pyramidal temple a short way to their left. Cael surmised that the yers had probably been warned about the temple''s guards, who would attack and one-shot any intruders who were not in the Mage ss or in a Mage''s party.


    Cael quickly walked up to them, and spoke politely, "Hey, are you guys worried about the temple guards? If you''re in a Mage''s party, they won''t attack you. I can invite you guys, if you want."


    The male warrior turned around, and replied in a Czech ent from behind arge helmet, "Thank you! We are not entering the temple, though, that is fine?"


    "Yes, as long as you are in my party they will not attack. It doesn''t matter if you''re entering the temple or just walking past it to the South."


    "A grand idea. My friend here, Ron, he said there was good quests down South. But our Guild leader warned us that temple guards could kill in one hitting, so are careful."


    "I see. Are you from Eastern Europe, by any chance?"


    "Yes! I am from Czech Republic, he is from Slovakia. We always y on English servers to avoid the Russian hackers, haha."


    "Interesting," said Cael, smiling, "I am also from that region, Brusian, and moved to Czech Republic early. Even have a Czech name, but can''t speak thenguage. Now currently in the USA. Nice to meet you, Ron and Andrej."


    "Thank you as well," said Ron, the archer. He was much shorter than his warrior friend, and wore a mask that partially covered his face. Unlike [Andrej], Ron''s character name was currently garbled, although Cael knew his nickname because Andrej had mentioned it. Cael guessed that it was short for Ronald. Andrej was higher-level, at level 23, but although Ron was only level 14 he seemed to have done more research about the game.


    "Good luck! Be careful on the way back, the guards will still be here."


    The two yers thanked Cael, and made their way South. Since they were in his party, he could track their movements. They seemed to be heading for a small building towards the Southern end of the woods, where an NPC would give quests set in the woods. Cael guessed that they would be hesitant to return quickly, since they didn''t want to run into the guards again. He also saw that, although they were in the Guild named [The Fountain], the Guild''s stronger yers were not nearby, perhaps being too busy with the new expeditions between towns and cities.


    Cael quickly switched characters back to Crucis, and sprinted towards the South of Kruxol. Stealing his way past the temple to the South, using [Stealth Cloak] to avoid having to worry about the guards, he ran into the woods and slowed his pace to avoid making too much noise. He quietly crept forwards towards the South of the woods, until he saw a small, white cottage with floral decoration painted across the exterior. Inside, there stood an old male NPC, wearing a blue suit. The sound of intermittent talking could be heard towards the left, in a thick clump of leaves. Crucis crept quietly towards this, and listened in on the two yers.


    He couldn''t quite make out what they were saying, as they spoke a mixture of Czech and Slovak which he mostly didn''t understand. Unless they spoke exclusively in swear-words, with which he had a passing familiarity due to the age-old online tradition of Eastern Europeans cussing people out using their nativenguages on English servers to avoid scrutiny, he could barely make out what they were saying. However, the two yers would asionally use English words when referring to item names or quests, since the item names and quests were written in English.


    From this, Crucis surmised that they were looking for both a sturdy silver bowstring - a part of Ron''s quest - and a letter from a swordsman named ''Dane,'' in order to help the old NPC teach them each a new skill. The creatures here seem to have run off with the letter, and the yers were trying to kill the [Giant Squirrel] and [Boar Cub] mobs until it drops. Crucis remembered that a Mage he had killed had also gained a rare spell from here, and wondered if he could also gain a new skill from the quests here. For now, however, he waited for the yers to finish their quest.


    He heard the sound of loud chattering which indicated that Ron had found the ''bowstring,'' a word which Ron seemed to find funny. Crucis heard the two using the word ''D?m,'' and guessed that they meant the cottage, since it sounded like the Russian word for ''house,'' §Õ§à§Þ (dom). Crucis anticipated that, since Andrej''s quest was not done, only the weaker Ron would be setting off to reach the cottage and leaving Andrej to finish his quest. Due to this, Crucis snuck up towards the thick wall of low-hanging leaves and branches that Ron would be passing through to reach the path to the cottage. Soon, he heard Ron pushing his way through the dense clump of greenery, seemingly impatient to get through. Andrej was still fighting a gathering of boars behind the thick wall of leaves, but Ron was on his way back to the NPC and looked somewhat tired.


    Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] when he saw the archer was close to emerging, and pounced as soon as the archer pushed through the foliage. Grabbing the archer in a [Chokehold], Crucis shoved the archer to the ground. Since Ron was only level 14 and had even lower STR than him, he nned to make this fight quick. Casting a [Figure Blur] as soon as his invisibility wore off, Crucis stabbed the archer with a [Stunning Dagger] while still preventing Ron from looking at him. It seemed that Andrej had noticed themotion, and was trying to make out what was happening by squinting from afar, seemingly keeping his distance. Crucis saw that Ron was getting low on HP, and quickly used a well-ced [Ripper] to sh a jagged cut across the back of the archer''s neck and cause bleeding. He triumphantly said, "Victory to DeathGang," remembering the name of a ganking Guild and trying to incriminate them. The [Ripper] had reduced the archer to 10% HP, so Crucis used [ck Spot] to cut a further slit in the front of Ron''s throat, before pulling the archer''s shirt over their face and head in order to prevent the archer from watching the direction of his retreat and warning Andrej. Leaving the archer to bleed to death, Crucis crept quickly away across the undergrowth, as he heard the sound of Andrej''s heavy boots trudging slowly behind the thick leaves that separated him from the rest of the woods.


    The yers from [The Fountain] confusing Crucis'' kills near Kruxol with the Hashin had impressed on him that his victims and their Guilds might not always realise who has killed them, and in the present situation may be quick to memon scapegoats like the Hashin. Further, since ganking Guilds right now were quite active, it''s entirely possible that they will do something that seems to incriminate themselves for the other paranoid Guilds, sparing Crucis some scrutiny. By offloading suspicion ontorge Guilds like [DeathGang], Crucis created more suspicion and conflicts between the powerful Guilds and theirrge yers, while giving himself more leeway to attack low-level opponents. If people are expectingrge-scale, dramatic conflicts, then the simple, small kills can escape their scrutiny. He was able to keep Ron from seeing him or figuring out that he has no Guild affiliation, and he realised that so long as he could choose weak enough targets it would be quite possible for nobody to know who was responsible for the kill. He had also realised that it wasn''t necessary to kill someone outright to condemn them to death, and a hit-and-run strategy could still ensure a kill due to his ability to cause bleeding.


    He waited for Andrej to emerge, hiding behind a clump of trees with thick barks, but saw that the warrior had glimpsed Ron''s corpse through the leaves and was nning to flee. Perhaps he was spooked by the rumours of powerful ganking Guilds. Very well, his heavy armour would hold him back. Crucis saw that Andrej was heading back in the direction of Kruxol, and tailed him, shoving leaves and branches out of his way as he ran. While Crucis could have rushed in and attacked, he saw that the warrior was running blindly and almost tripping over their own armour, so he pursued more slowly as if daring the warrior to fall. He noted that Andrej was level 23, and could still cause some problems in a typical fight, but if he fell or ran into something then Crucis would have an advantage. Quickly looking through his inventory while in casual pursuit, he noticed that Ron had dropped an item called [ck Wristband]. It had a chance of skipping one of your move''s cooldown times once if you were fighting two opponents at once, and increasing your Agility by 2x for 1 second when that move was used. Crucis slotted it quickly onto his right arm.


    A yell rang out from Andrej as Crucis approached. Crucis hesitated, concerned that the warrior might be calling for help, but as he cautiously stepped forwards he saw that Andrej had tripped over a walking [Vile Tortoise] boss, not noticing it due to its dark-green colouration which blended in with the bushes and leaves at night. The level 12 boss was generally quite docile, not attacking unless provoked, but the warrior running into it had provoked its ire. Kicking Andrej back to the ground with [Strong Kick], the tortoise proceeded to release venomous fumes from its mouth using its signature [Vile Toxin] skill. This green cloud enveloped the grounded warrior, and caused his skin to rash lightly. Theck of pain reduction was a boon for venomous bosses, since it meant that yers were now more subject to injury and pain. A few high-level yers had taken down a level 40 version of this boss on the game''s second day, but now nobody would dare challenge that boss after a few high-profile yers were left traumatised by venomous boss fights.


    Andrej was screaming in pain on the ground, trying to scratch himself through the thick armour as if afflicted with a severe itch. However, as the boss prepared for another kick, Andrej''s sword swung out in a [nk Cut] and caught the tortoise''s leg, causing the tortoise''s HP to reduce to 70%. Crucis noted that the warrior seemed to have high STR. The tortoise, since it was low-level, flinched back at the attack, rather than resuming its assault on the grounded enemy. Andrej took advantage of this with a [Hilt Blow] to the boss'' face, and followed this up with [Combined sh], abination that Crucis recognised from Jarius using it before. These firm blows to the head left the tortoise boss at only 16% HP.


    However, as Andrej tried to get to his feet, the boss unleashed another wave of [Vile toxin]. This sent Andrej falling to the ground again, grunting loudly. He seemed to rub himself against the ground to try and mollify the harsh, rashing sensation of the venom. Although he still has 70% of his HP remaining, having to go through the toxin''s effects again was clearly difficult for him. Crucis decided to strike now, so that he could also kill the boss.


    Using [Stealth Cloak], Crucis dashed between the two opponents. Using a [Stunning Dagger] strike near Andrej''s neck to keep him still, Crucis used [Dagger Twist] to deepen the wound with a spin of his wrist, then spun his body swiftly around until his wrist was straight again. Facing the tortoise boss, he delivered a [Forceful Kick] to its face and sent it about a metre backwards, then threw out a [Smokebomb] which he had looted from Ron. This obscured the tortoise''s sight, making it difficult for it tounch attacks. Crucis had a few smokebombs left in his inventory, and decided to release three more near the tortoise and [Andrej], so that they wouldn''t know where to strike.


    "Go away, Hashin!" shouted Andrej.


    "I am not Hashin," said Crucis, truthfully.


    "Well, you are demon like them!"


    "Okay, true."


    Crucis stepped on the fallen Knight to pin him to the ground, increasing his own Agility due to the [Trap Talisman]. The warrior iled for Crucis with his sword, but the Assassin quickly leapt away, then crouched down and used [Silent Stab] to worsen the wound on the Knight''s back just below the neck. He saw that the [ck Wristband] had caused his [Dagger Twist] to skip cooldown, so he quickly looked at the area around the wound and saw a faint rash slightly closer to Andrej''s right shoulder. Lurching his dagger to the right, he used [Dagger Twist], and his Agility doubled so that he was almost effortlessly twirling his dagger through the wound. As he expected, the rightwards movement caused pressure on the rash near Andrej''s shoulder, causing that to tear into a wider gash. Andrej let out a pained, gagging noise.


    Using the doubled Agility, Crucisunched himself from a crouching position towards the tortoise, that he glimpsed lumbering out of the thick smog. Since [Stunning Dagger] was still on cooldown, Crucis struck with a simple [Punch] to the creature''s face, expecting the speed of his trajectory to do most of the damage. The fast collision caused the tortoise to fall backwards sharply, and Crucis saw that it had been enough to kill the boss. He saw that part of his rewards for killing the boss included [Vile Toxin Gas], which could be sprayed on a weapon to give it a temporary venomous effect but reduce its damage significantly while this effect was present. Archers asionally used this for backup weapons like knives, since those were often not that damaging anyway and the venomous effect made them more potent.


    However, Crucis took the gas and sprayed some of it into Andrej''s face, through the gap in his helmet, and also sprayed some towards the wounds on the warrior''s back. He heard Andrej crying in agony and smashing the floor. Walking in to finish the warrior off, however, he found that Andrej lunged at him with a loud howl, forcefully swinging his de in a wide arc towards Crucis. Using [Dodge Step], Crucis narrowly backstepped out of the way of the strike, then quickly threw a [Smokebomb] to confuse the warrior. Glibly, Crucis said, "You should have taken off your armour if you wanted to run away," then sidestepped quickly. As expected, the warrior prepared a heavy strike in the direction of Crucis'' voice, but Crucis had by now walked a few steps to the side. When he saw the warrior''s sword swing aimlessly in the air, he used [Agile Step] to approach the warrior and shed across their back with a wide [Ripper]. Due to the damage boost after the Dodge Step, this dealt a lot of damage and worsened Andrej''s wounds. Andrej was now down to only 10% HP.


    Crucis tried to grab Andrej in a [Chokehold], but the stronger warrior shrugged him off and shoved him to the ground with a shoulder. Rolling back to his feet, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] again, this time to ensure that he could dispatch the warrior safely. Due to adrenaline and removing some equipment under Crucis'' taunts, Andrej had managed to get to his feet, and Crucis smiled because Andrej was more vulnerable without therge armour. As the warrior lumbered around, Crucis snuck behind him and struck with [Stunning Dagger] to the warrior''s now-unprotected right arm to keep his target still, then followed this up with a [Ripper] sh to the back of the neck. Andrej copsed in a dead heap.


    Crucis nimbly walked away from the corpse. He guessed that the white cottage might still receive intermittent low-level visitors during this night, and he decided to wait near it to see if any more victims appear. If there was nobody else there, then he might as well take a quest himself. He might get a new skill, after all, and he needed a strong first strike to take advantage of his weapon''s damage increase when attacking out of stealth. The woods were quite quiet at this time, and he walked peacefully back towards the cottage. These low-level areas near Kruxol were generally avoided by big ganking Guilds, since if they tried to maintain a presence here then it would be easy for other Guilds to attack them since it was close to a town and oftencked shelter. While a few low-level members dying might lead to some scrutiny, big Guilds were unlikely to care that much during a turbulent period. Thex patrols sent in response to his earlier antics weren''t strong enough to deal with the actual Hashin. The big Guilds had their hands full due to the prevalent ganking Guilds, and this left Crucis plenty of space for the moment.


    He expected that, in about an hour, Ron would respawn and probably sound the rm about DeathGang being in these woods. By then, he should make sure to leave. For now, he still had some time before anyone heard of these kills, and doing quests here could fill the time until his red name wore off, as well as bringing decent rewards.

 Chapter 22: To the Batcave!

    Chapter 22: To the Batcave!


    ¡°A <strong>bat</strong> is the only mammal on the that can fly. Its job is to show us how to evolve, be our best selves, and our best selves are the ones that <strong>win</strong>. See, every single version of us I pulled through, the happiest versions, they¡¯re all <strong>selfish."</strong>


    (The Batman Who Laughs.)


    Crouching near some bushes overlooking the cottage, Crucis didn''t hear any yer approach for five minutes. It wasn''t that surprising. Many of therger Guilds were encouraging yers to go to sleep instead of worrying about the bug, in the hope that it was fixed when they awoke. Other yers were just tired due to the stress, and didn''t want to wander out of safe zones, let alone in the woods at night. Regardless, it seemed like it might be safe for him to take the quest.


    Walking up to the cottage, Crucis was greeted by an old man, whose dark-blue suit was almost like camouge in the night. This old NPC offered him a list of several tasks that needed doing, but said to only pick one that was suited to Crucis'' strengths because other yers couldplete the rest. Crucis took this as the game''s way of saying that these were ss-based quests and yers should choose ones which are relevant to their own ss and favoured weapons, since a Knight getting a spell scroll might be slightly wasteful for instance. Due to this, Crucis waited until he heard the NPC mention a quest, "to steal an ornamental dagger from a boss''ir, without alerting the boss or his guards." This sounded like it was relevant to the Assassin ss. The NPC also specified that Crucis could not use offensive skills to attack the guards or boss. Crucis had heard that this task was seen as difficult even for high-level yers, and yers generally gave up. The only yers whom he had heard of passing it were Assassins from the Spy sub-ss and around level 35+, since they could unlock the ability to form a disguise and other ways to infiltrate the base. Nheless, he figured it was worth a try.


    The NPC said that the boss''ir was a partially-copsed cave to the Southeast of the woods. Crucis hence turned left again, and walked past the clump of trees where he had seen Andrej and Ron training. Eventually, he found a high rock wall, and started walking carefully along it, looking for a cave. It seemed to be connected to an expanse of hills that went Southwards and extended both East and West, eventually blocking off Southwards travel. However, he wouldn''t have to search the whole range of hills, since the NPC had specified that the cave was in the woods.


    He saw the distant silhouette of an opening in the rock wall, and carefully made his way over to it, looking and listening carefully for any guards. However, when he reached this position, he was surprised that there seemed to be no opening in the rock wall at all, just more rocks. Taking a few steps backwards, he tried to squint and check why he had seen the silhouette of a cave entrance over here. He saw that there had seemingly been a hole here, but it had apparently been scrapped and a pile of rocks was used to fill in the entrance. It was difficult to make out from a close distance, but from farther out it was obvious that this part of the rock wall was originally designed to be the entrance to a cave, and some of the stones were still arranged ordingly. This was seemingly not the cave that he was looking for, however.


    Nheless, he wondered how much of the original cave had been designed before the entry was blocked off. It was possible that part of the rock wall was still hollowed out, and looking at the geometry of the wall it did seem like some of the rocks were sloping into an open space within the old cave area. Crucis walked up to the rock wall and sidestepped across the small area where he guessed the old cave''s entry would be, until he saw multiple versions of the wall of rocks in front of him. Using [Agile Step], he walked into this wall. He knew that typically it wouldn''t be possible to walk into hillsides using this bug, as the game treated them as boundaries rather than terrain obstacles, but this makeshift blockade at the entrance to a cave was possible to walk right into. Taking a step forward, he did see a dark, small cave area, and stepped in. The cave seemed to contain a small passage forwards, like a hallway, and this seemed to turn to the left. There was a small pool on the right of the cave.


    Looking backwards, Crucis saw arge doorframe but no door. However, walking around the doorframe, he found that the door had simply been converted into an invisible wall. He mmed it shut. This would make it difficult for anyone else to enter this cave, even if they knew about the bug and snuck through. The bug still wouldn''t get them past the invisible wall, since the game tended to use them to delineate the absolute edge of maps. Further, most yers who knew the bug were probably higher-level and unlikely toe here. This meant that he could use this cave as a secure base. So far as he could see, the only way to enter this cave with closed door would be to enter the rock wall and then try to use [Agile Step] towards the pool at an angle until you got lucky and were teleported past the door. This would be borate and require a lot of trial and error, however, and it would hence be easy for Crucis to catch wind of. He could even make it more difficult with use of attacks like [Forceful Kick] to disturb the pool deflection attempts, which may also get him free strikes at the opponent. It was unlikely that he would gain anypany here.


    The main disadvantage of this cave is that, without the bug, it would generally be impossible to enter or exit. This could lead to being trapped here. However, Crucis didn''t expect any major game update to ur without significant warning, since the yers were inside the game and would probably have to stop their activities to allow for the fix to be done smoothly. He had also looted a [Kruxol Teleport Stone] from Andrej, which allows yers to teleport into Kruxol centre if they activate it and do not enter a fight for 1 minute. It emitted a slight glow around the yer, that was oftenpared to fireflies, and use of it was often known as ''fireflying.'' Since he had this stone, he was unlikely to get trapped in here.


    Wandering cautiously down the passageway, he was concerned to see a few flitters of movement down the left turn at the end of the passage. Crouching closer, he could see that a few level 25 bats were making their home in a small cavern on the left. That would be a dangerous adversary, but he saw that one was flying apart from the rest, and tried throwing a stone at it. The stone just missed, but he was surprised at first that the bat had no reaction. Then he realised that these bats were probably meant to be cosmetic, like a few bat spawns in caves that often inhabited ces where people couldn''t even reach, and were added for atmosphere but would not fight yers. yers could try to fight these bats, but generally the bats would just flee if attacked, making it a pointless endeavour. They were typically too far away from yers to be attacked effectively. However, Crucis found that he could sit down peacefully in the middle of the bat swarm, and not be attacked.


    Cautiously, he got up and walked up to a bat that had flown into the main part of the cave. He tried to attack it with [Stunning Dagger], but his swing seemingly flew right through the bat without doing anything. He saw a red system message appear in the messagebox to his left, saying, ''ERROR: TARGET ''BAT'' IS OUT OF BOUNDS''. It looks like, since this cave wasn''t meant to be essed, the creatures in here weren''t registered as possible targets. Crucis wondered if, due to the numerous methods of interacting with an opponent in this game, there was some way to get around this and still fight the bats. However, he decided to check on thister, after finishing his current quest.


    Opening the cave''s invisible door, he used [Agile Step] to exit the cave by walking through the rock wall. Moving further East along the hillside, he finally saw what seemed to be a warmly lit cave with a dark-green orcish guard patrolling casually around the entrance. Crucis tried to figure out a way to map out the cave before entering, and decided to walk back into the woods and hide behind some greenery in order to get s view straight into the cave mouth. Finding a dense collection of trees for shelter, he looked carefully into the cave. The cave was fairly spacious, and seemed to have several candles on high stands lighting itfortably. A makeshift wooden floor wasid around the centre of the cave. There were at least three guards inside, haphazardly patrolling the rooms. Crucis watched these patrols carefully, to see if there were any blind spots in the room which the guards did not check. He saw a few, mostly between therge cupboards ced in a square arrangement on the right side, and beneath the tables ced towards the right and left side of the entrance.


    There was a tunnel in the right side of the cave, just beyond the cupboards, and this was probably where both the boss and the dagger were located. Due to this, he decided that he would have to find his way towards the cupboards, and slip through the gaps between them to reach a safe hiding ce. This would be difficult, however, because he saw that the guards'' paths always left one guard on the right side of the cave, meaning that Crucis couldn''t simply walk into cover. He would have to figure out some kind of distraction or diversion to disce the guard, and then rely on abination of the speed boost from [Stealth Cloak], [Dodge Step], and [Agile Step] to find his way into a safe area. In front of the cupboards were a host of weapon stands, probably used by the guards. Crucis saw a few weapons hung on the wall, and was interested in if they could be stolen by yers, though he was unlikely to be able to do that now without being caught. Perhaps a yer in the [Spy] sub-ss would have better luck.


    Therge candles seemed like an obvious way to distract the guards, since toppling them onto the wooden tables and floor could start a small fire. Checking his inventory, he saw that he had taken some thick [in Bowstring] from Ron''s corpse. For convenience, Bowstring items could immediately be drawn into a straight, firm shape when yers extended them. He also had a [Torch] due to heading out at night, and he could use this to set further fires. He noticed that there were candles lit by the entrance to the cave, but the patrolling guards only tended to emerge near the right side of the cave entrance.


    As such, he carefully sidled up to the candle on the left side once he saw a guard walk away from the entrance, and lit the torch using the candle. He held the [Bowstring] lightly in his other hand. Using [Stealth Cloak], he threw the [Lit Torch] at the makeshift wooden floor, and then shoved the candle stand down onto the floor as well. This set a small fire, which drew the attention of the guards, who were programmed to put out fledgling fires. Crucis was familiar with the guard''s typical motions when rmed. Using [Agile Step] with a crouching posture, he quickly bounded behind the guard on the right side of the cave, who had begun moving erratically towards the left side after being triggered by the fire, and crouched down extending the [Bowstring] in front of the guard''s feet. He pulled this backwards, causing the guard to fall facefirst into the burning wooden floor, and without watching the guard''s fall Crucis took off quickly towards the cupboards, using [Dodge Step] to sneak between them into a safe area.


    The guards were rmed, but they were mostly concentrating on putting out the fire. Once the mes began to g slightly, two of them resumed their normal patrols. Crucis quickly scanned the row of weapons hanging on the wall, and saw a small dagger with rough edges near him. Quickly grabbing the [Scorn Dagger], which was one of the few weapons he could reach without attracting attention, he crouched down and moved towards the tunnel leading towards the boss. When the cooldown on [Stealth Cloak] ended, he used it again and snuck carefully into the tunnel.


    There was arge hole in the right wall of this tunnel, where he could hear therge boss waiting. This hole was probably too long for him to cross with [Stealth Cloak]. At the end of the tunnel, he saw that a [Silver Dagger] was sitting on a small ceremonial stand on a table. Clearly, he would have to find a way to cross the boss''s line of sight without being caught. Entering the left wall of the tunnel was difficult, because the game ssified it as a part of the hillside. This meant that he would have to find some way of crossing this tunnel normally.


    Using [Stealth Cloak], he cautiously peered into the boss''ir on the right of the tunnel. He saw that the boss was arge, green creature with the body of an orc and a serpent''s head. There were two weapon cabs near the boss, who would presumably grab weapons from them if he saw an intruder. These weapon cabs would disappear if the boss died. Crucis decided to remember this location, as once yers were strong enough to hold off the level 40 boss, these cabs might be a good ce to loot weapons during the boss fight. Looking upwards, Crucis saw that the boss'' room had arge door above the entrance, which he guessed would fall to trap yers who were seen entering.


    The boss would asionally turn around to inspect the cabs carefully. This onlysted for a couple of seconds, however, so it didn''t give Crucis enough of a head-start to be sure of reaching the other side of the tunnel before the boss turned around. However, Crucis reasoned that it was enough time to trigger the door to the boss'' tunnel. The door had a lever next to it, and from Crucis'' experience this lever would begin to turn as soon as a yer was spotted, causing the door to plummet down once the lever reached its destination in a few seconds. There were a few doors which Crucis had seen that worked in this manner, especially around bossirs. For bigger bosses, it took longer for the door to fall, so thatrger groups could enter, but here it would probably take five to ten seconds from when a yer entered.


    When Crucis saw the boss turn around to inspect a weapon cab, he leapt quickly into the room in a single movement. He then instantly used [Agile Step] to backstep towards his previous location, teleporting out of the room before the door fell. He heard the door fall as he hid in the tunnel. As the door fell, blocking the boss'' sight of the tunnel, Crucis began to sprint forwards towards the table. He used [Stealth Cloak] when he was about a third of the way across, as he estimated that it wouldst him long enough to make it past where the boss would see him from out of their. As the door slowly began to lift, he was already invisible, and using [Dodge Step] he reached just past the other end of the gap in the right wall.


    Here, he hid silently, as he saw that there was a small room to the left of the silver dagger and there was probably a guard there. However, looking more closely, he saw that the guard was facing away, so he quickly grabbed the [Silver Dagger] and hid. While the quest text didn''t specify, he knew that there was no need to maintain secrecy after grabbing the dagger, because the reason for stealth is because the silver dagger will disappear if a yer is seen during the quest, leaving them no way toplete it. Being caught would have the game mark the yer as unable to retrieve the dagger for up to twenty-four hours. However, once it was imed, Crucis had heard that groups of yers had just fought their way out. In order to prevent yers from having to backtrack through the same area, which could be confusing if multiple yers were doing the quest at once but heading in different directions, there was a trapdoor to the left of the dagger which could be used to escape into an underground path which led to a ce near the cottage. This path could only be used by yers who had the [Silver Dagger], however, so he equipped this to make sure that he could enter. He also sprayed this with some of the [Vile Toxin Gas], to dy the guard further. Since the guards could not follow him in without the silver dagger, he would only have to enter the trapdoor to be safe here.


    Once his [Stealth Cloak] had ended its cooldown, Crucis stepped quickly into the room to the left and used [Stunning Dagger] to pacify the guard, then used this time to lift the trapdoor and slip under it. Just in case, he locked it using atch on the door. Behind him was the loud thudding of the guard furiously pacing the room he had just left.


    Making his way undisturbed through the underground passage, he emerged near the cottage, which was still quiet. He saw a few footsteps nearby that he didn''t recognise, but whoever this was had clearly left the area to go West, bending over a few branches in that direction. Since it was empty in this area, he decided to return to the cottage to obtain his reward.

 Chapter 23: Flying Rat Exterminator

    Chapter 23: Flying Rat Exterminator


    Returning to the cottage, Crucis spoke again to the old NPC.


    "Congrattions," said the old man, "You may now learn a skill. Equip your [Silver Dagger], and try to pierce the targets painted on therge trees to your left while standing in ce. The dagger is soft, so you must target it precisely."


    Crucis walked up to therge, thick barks of the four trees indicated. The trees had small, white circles painted on them, but formed a diamond, meaning that Crucis would have to stab backwards to reach some of the targets. The targets all faced the centre of the diamond. He counted eight targets in all, two on each tree. Crouching in the centre of the trees, Crucis slowly pressed the [Silver Dagger] against the ground to test it. He found that its soft de meant that it could easily deflect if his strike wasn''t entirely precise. If he was attacking a person or creature, then typically this would still cause a tear and allow him to cause damage. However, cutting cleanly into these targets would be difficult. Lightly touching the targets, he noticed that part of the tree behind the targets had been hollowed out and filled with ayer of hard y, which was thin and easy to pierce through but would easily deflect an inexact strike.


    He grimaced slightly, since with his current abilities he had no real way of striking backwards or sideways with nearly as much precision as required. It seemed that the old NPC was giving him a task with no chance of seeding. Crucis wondered if the NPC, with his mysterious tasks, fancied himself a sessor to Mister Miyagi.


    After Crucis attempted to strike the target behind him, and made no mark, the NPC requested that he try again. This time, Crucis did not bother to try, and instead simply pressed his dagger lightly against the target in front of him to form a small incision and make it easier for him to hone in on it in the future.


    The NPC now indicated that Crucis should take a small pin and tie it near the end of his dagger, to serve as a sort ofpass indicating where he was striking. Crucis tied this onto the centre of the [Silver Dagger] with a small, tough length of string provided, and noticed that he had obtained a new skill. The skill was named [Panoramic Strike] and allowed the yer to stab precisely in any direction. This could be quite powerful. When trying the task again, he made sure to turn the other way around, so that the target with an incision was behind him and hence gave him an easier backwards target.


    Using this skill, he struck at the target behind him at shoulder-height, and found his de passing easily through. During this task, there was no cooldown time for [Panoramic Strike], meaning that he could use it again immediately. He wondered if there was a way to replicate thisck of CD elsewhere, but he would have to figure that outter. For now, he targeted the target with the incision, slightly lower than the previous one he struck, and though his hand almost slipped the dagger still eased into the incision and cut deep into it. The rest of the targets, sideways and straight on, wereparatively simple, and he pierced them easily.


    "Well done! Even piercing six of the targets would pass the task. Since you seeded with all eight, your [Panoramic Strike] skill has automatically been upgraded to level 4. Come back if you want to take a new task, or try to practice hitting the targets again," said the old man.


    Crucis thanked him, and then proceeded once more towards the hillside on the East. He had heard that a yer had cut 7 targets in that test and been rewarded with the skill being upgraded to level 2, so seemingly anything above 6 targets led to a reward. A few [Spy] yers who were encouraging others to try this quest, which many skipped due to its reputation, had said on the forum that the final part wasn''t difficult because you didn''t have to hit every target. Crucis was still quite d that he had left an incision on the target, since the backwards stabs were quite difficult at the lowest level of the skill. Now, however, he felt that his strikes were more urate and damaging.


    Forpleting the quest, he also received a reasonable amount of EXP, enough to reach level 27. This was just one lower than Cael, who was at level 28. He wasn''t surprised that Crucis was levelling faster, as he could navigate the areas around Kruxol with morefort rather than staying pinned inside the town. However, Cael''s magic could eventually unlock several buffs and powerful attacks, which could possibly make him more efficient in grinding enemies over time. Further, his AoE skills would be better, and he could easily dispatch of whole spawns of enemies in one go.


    Reaching the hillside, he looked for the blocked cave entrance once again. After finding it, he used [Agile Step] to enter once again, then shut the door behind him. He would now be at peace to wait out at least the 10 minutes of his red name. He reflected that he could easily kill yers in the woods and return here for safety.


    Checking through his inventory, he saw that he now had something called [Tracking Powder], a powder which could be ced on a target and would emit a red vapour into the air which made it easier to track them if they ran away. Crucis reflected that this would be useful for attacking enemies who tried fleeing, and could easily be applied while using [Stealth Cloak]. He only had a limited amount for now, however, and wondered if he could craft moreter or gain it from other quests. It wasn''t urgent, however, since as an Assassin he would probably be able to chase down most fleeing opponents. It might be useful if he was attacking groups of yers, however, since one might flee while the other is fighting. In any case, it was worth keeping on hand.


    From Andrej, he had looted [Gridiron Gloves], which raised Constitution +200 but could not be used while attacking. While there was no Lumberjack tradeskill in this game, these gloves might be useful for traversing dangerous areas. He reflected that, with high CON, and perhaps some buffs and health restoration abilities, it would be easy for an Assassin to fleebat in the wild even if attacked by a stronger yer. But at present he was not strong enough for that, since most powerful yers would take him out within a few hits even if he had high CON. At higher levels, however, he had heard thatbat could be more drawn-out and a level 100 tank could be a stubborn enemy against a level 200 attacker, although the level 200 would probably prevail after a minute or so. This might make it easier to go on longer journeys, however.


    Andrej had also dropped a [Cloth Trap], a soft bag-like trap which could be used on small opponents to contain them and prevent them from fleeing or attacking. Crucis hadn''t heard much about their use, but had read that one yer had used this while doing quests at a zoo far to the North of Kruxol, where he was told to use a tranquilising powder on a few wild snakes and young capybara to gather them for the zoo. The reason for thr tranquilisation is that creatures could easily pierce through the soft bag if they scraped or wed at it enough, and this would lead to a check against their stats which would determine if they could escape. This kind of stat check was treated by the game as akin to abat, and creatures could have HP depleted if they repeatedly failed to escape, though in most cases escape was quite easy. Hence, creatures who did escape were already treated as aggressive and locked inbat with the yer. However, the bag could be sewn shut once again after the yer had escaped frombat.


    Crucis considered whether this trap might work as an indirect means of getting a bat to enterbat modes. Walking over to the swarm of bats in the cave, he held out the [Cloth Trap] and draped it over one of the level 25 bats. To his disappointment, nothing happened, and the bat hung limp in the cloth, asionally fluttering its wings but not using its ws. However, Crucis then remembered that the stat check urred once the bat started to make its way out of a hole in the bag. Noticing that the bat was trying to fly forwards, though seemingly rendered immobile within the [Cloth Trap], Crucis reached his [Silver Crucfix Dagger] carefully into the open end of the trap and made a small puncture in the bag in front of the bat. Withdrawing his hand quickly, he closed the bagpletely around the bat. He saw a few calctions appear in the system messages tp his left:


    [Checking BAT''s STR and DEX]


    [STR: 0, DEX: 0]


    [Calcted 0% chance to escape]


    [Running equation...]


    [FAILED ESCAPE]


    [No deducted HP. Creature BAT has ability ''Feckless,'' immune to recoil damage. ]


    This sequence of messages repeated several times. Seemingly the bat was now locked inbat, but the game was experiencing an error checking on its stats. Crucis reached his dagger arm carefully into the bag, but was surprised when he felt a soft contact with his ring finger and realised that the bat had bitten him. He yanked back his hand. Since the bat was not a boss or another yer, this bite had been painless and left no imprint on the hand. If it had been a boss, then his finger would probably be bleeding profusely right now, but the pain reduction also hid bleeding and simr effects. Daredevils had an option to turn bleeding disys on and off, but even if it was turned on the bleeding would only be disyed minimally, and only if the bleeding status was inflicted. He checked his HP and saw that the strong bite had removed 7% of his HP.


    Keeping the bag firmly shut, he tried another approach. Tightening the bag around the bat, he stabbed firmly through the bag and into the bat using [Silent Stab]. The de passed quietly through the bag and cut deeply into the bat, dealing 30% of its HP in damage. Crucis stabbed repeatedly at the bat, as if it was Julius Caesar, and after 4 hits the creature was dead. Crucis gained a lot of EXP from this bat, enough to reach almost one-sixth of the way to level 28. He quickly pulled the tears on the [Cloth Trap] shut, since it could be repaired automatically when out ofbat. It could be repaired automatically 100 times, and after that would cost 500 gold for another 100 chances.


    He walked up to another bat inquisitively, and this time slipped the [Cloth Trap] around it immediately as soon as it flew near the ground, then closed the bag tightly around it. He then stabbed fiercely at the bat until it died in about 10 seconds. He again gained a decent amount of HP from it. It seemed that he had found an efficient way to grind.


    Using [Stealth Cloak] and [Dodge Step] between kills for the damage boost to his weapon, he struck down 20 bats in five minutes. He considered switching to STR-boosting gear for higher damage to bats, but he decided that Agility was actually more useful here because it let him shuffle through bats more quickly. While EXP from the bats lowered as his own level increased rtive to theirs, it was still a healthy gain. He also noticed a few interesting patterns as the bats died and new spawns appeared. asionally, after several bats had died, a level 30 bat would appear, hovering slowly near the ground. It had very high HP, but due to its higher level it gave Crucis a good EXP drop.


    In two hours, he had already reached level 38. He realised that this ced him close to the top rank of yers, but the EXP from bats was beginning to run dry by now. Soon, doing quests or grinding higher-level mobs would give more EXP, but the advantage of this method was that he could kill bats more quickly than most other opponents in the wild, and did not need to watch out for other yers or wait to regain HP. The sheer amount of bats dying boosted his EXP gain significantly higher than would typically be possible. Since bats were an elusive, flying opponent, yers typically didn''t grind them because it would be too much of a hassle, and higher-level bats could also inflict poison status effects.


    After grinding for two hours and twenty minutes, Crucis was at level 39 and had progressed 15% towards the next level. However, when he killed a bat, he suddenly found that a letter had dropped on the ground beneath him. Picking it up, he read:


    [The first yer to y 500 bats unlocks the ''Draugr Onught'' world event.


    Draugr will begin to spawn in the wild, and hordes of them will head towards the starting towns and major cities. They are immune to yers'' physical attacks, and gain additional strength when attacked in this way. yers shall fight to defend their towns.


    As a reward for unlocking a world event, you have been given great rewards and EXP!]


    Crucis was elevated to level 42 by the EXP gift. Checking his inventory, he saw that he had gained two pieces of glowing equipment:


    [Gauntlets of Ash (Enchanted) | Increases your top stat by 10%, or by 50% if your HP is below 50%.]


    [Skeletal Dust Bracelet (Enchanted) | The skeleton of a defeated draugr ground into a powder and suspended in a ring by magical enchantment. yer no longer regenerates HP naturally, but a quantity equal to 50% of CON is added to a minor stat of choice. yer heals to full HP after each kill.]


    Crucis had also received a strange item named [Ticket to the Count''s Castle], and described cryptically like this: [As a reward for awakening the dead, you have been invited to the Count dyv''s castle South-West of Uhl-sathur. Watch your neck!] How inviting. He could save that for a rainy day.


    Crucis heard an announcement re out, sent by the game and disyed in red font in the system messages:


    [World event notice]


    [The Draugr Invasion has begun!


    Draugr shall begin to spawn, and hordes of them will attack Kruxol. Since you are near Kruxol, please step up to defend your town from the undead menace!


    The draugr are impervious to your weapons and physical attacks. Be warned, they are a formidable opponent! Since Kruxol is a starting town, only level 25 and 30 Draugr will spawn nearby, but they will have stronger reinforcementsing from the North. Good luck!


    Draugr will begin to attack the towns in 10 minutes.


    This event will end after 2 hours.]


    Since the draugr were immune to physical attacks, Crucis would have little luck in fighting them. He would have better luck switching to Cael. While he would have liked to explore the new features unlocked by his levelling, this event was temporary and he could take his time once it was over. Besides, the draugr would soon be attacking the town, and entering past a horde of draugr would be a touch ufortable.


    He wore the [Skeleton Dust Bracelet] before setting off, to increase his Agility by 326, and then left the cave and set off running towards Kruxol. The faint sound of hissing crept from the woods, as the draugr began slowly to appear and gather.

 Chapter 24: Draugr are bad, mkay? (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 1)

    Chapter 24: Draugr are bad, mkay? (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 1)


    The sound of swords shing whispered intermittently from the edge of town, and behind it the hissing sound of the draugr gathered strength. Cael got asional glimpses of small skirmishes between groups of yers and the nearby draugr, with suffocating rows of arrows and shing swords failing to damage the creatures. The draugr eventually disengaged from these conflicts in order to join with arge horde that was starting to form in a ring around the city. Soon, nobody would be able to leave, and the people trapped within the town would have to repel the draugr. Not an easy task when the yers were tired, demotivated, and stressed out after finding themselves trapped in the game.


    Before fighting draugr, Cael decided to purchase some stronger offensive spells. At the Alchemist''s Store, he obtained scrolls for [Magic Missile] and [Dark''s Tendrils], two offensive AoE spells, as well as the buff spell [Young Deer''s Speed] which allowed him to increase a yer''s movement speed by 15%. The [Dark''s Tendrils] spell cast an array of tendrils made from mana, that sought out opponents and drained their HP, using it to heal the yer''s own HP. He wasn''t able to afford much more yet, but he decided that this should make it easier to fight off multiple draugr at once. He had seen that the draugr had peculiarly low HP, which his new spells could easily deal with, but he guessed that the draugr made up for this with a gimmick of some sort that prevented Mages from just killing them en masse.


    Fighting in arge group, like those defending Kruxol, would give much less EXP than he would attain by finding a draugr spawn point and killing them solo. This is because EXP is shared among a group attacking a draugr, while he would be able to keep all of the EXP if fighting solo. He had a good idea of where to look, remembering the strangely abandoned cabins in the woods to the South. Currently, all yers in the area around Kruxol received a title hovering above their head which said [Kruxol Defence Force]. While this was active, yers would receive asional mailed rewards for fighting against the draugr for long enough, and would forfeit these rewards if they attacked another yer in PvP. It hence incentivised most yers to stay within the group fighting in Kruxol, and try to keep fighting. Cael had already seen a loud Guild Leader cynically instructing his Guild''s weaker members to hold off the draugr, sacrificing themselves to keep the higher-level members shielded and fighting for longer.


    As he scanned the area around Kruxol, he saw that a ring of draugr was already starting to form around Kruxol, and they had already struck a few victims dead. The draugr towards the South were slightly lower in average level, skewing towards level 25 rather than level 30. There were a couple of level 35 draugr towards the North, and probably more high-level draugr Northwards who would arriveter. The draugr''s tattered skin had a slightly grey-green shade, and had signs of rot across their bodies. He heard the sound of screaming among a small, strong Guild that had gone to fight the draugr and try to disrupt their horde. Cael noticed that the draugr were each given boss status, increasing the rewards for beating them but meaning that at present they could inflict pain. From trailers for the game, advertising world events, Cael had seen that most special enemies, generated during events, were given boss status and used named skills. Due to these scenes of pain, most of the people assembled in Kruxol were taking a backseat and apuding the fighters, rather than risking a fight with the draugr.


    He walked past several warriors putting up a brave fight against the draugr, to loud apuse. Their swords swung,nding formidable-looking blows. But Cael saw that as ultimately just idle bravado, since they couldn''t actually deal any damage. In fact, he recalled that this actually strengthened the draugr force. He saw that the draugr were mostly seeking out fights with warriors, to increase their own strength, and then returning to the horde once Mages approached. It seemed likely that these warriors, in spite of the udits, would just make things more difficult for the town in the long run by strengthening the draugr. This is part of why the draugr, who would typically not be that painful at first, were causing even strong groups of yers to crumble. Cael would have liked to tell the warriors to stop attacking the draugr and just function as tanks until Mages could damage the creatures, but due to the audience''s positive feedback the warriors would probably just ignore him, and he had decided anyway that he was not his brother''s keeper.


    Cael edged away towards the South of Kruxol, and saw several yers huddled together in groups waiting to defend the city once the draugr horde approached. Finding a small pond, he used the trick which Byron had shown him to enter the walls of therge Archery Store in South Kruxol, and passed unseen through some buildings until he reached a small, deserted alley which had few people nearby. He followed this out of the town, slipping unwatched into the woods South of Kruxol. He estimated that the cabins he had seen in the woods would be towards the West, so he proceeded rightwards through the trees and kept a close look out for anyone nearby.


    As he was passing carefully through the dense trees towards the West, he heard a harsh, rasping hiss towards his left. While he tried to step away quickly, he had forgotten that the Mage''s Agility and ability to avoid detection was much lower than the Assassin''s, and the loud rustling of leaves drew the attention of the level 25 [Draugr] nearby. As the creature approached with a sickly walk, stooped towards the ground, Cael epted that he would have to fight it. The draugr was carrying a rusty, fragile sword, which could probably not do much damage unless the draugr was strengthened. Casting [Magic Missile], a series of asteroid-like projectiles formed from mana darted from his fingers, glowing a very faint white. These struck the draugr, and reduced it to a mere 20% HP. As Cael had predicted, the draugr''s low HP made it highly vulnerable to magic. As it drew closer to him, he struck it with [re], and the plume of fire reduced the draugr to only 1% HP.


    Cael tried to end the fight quickly, with [Dark''s Tendrils]. However, the draugr seemed to shrug off the attack and remain at 1% HP. It lunged at Cael and used [Cliff edge scratch], scraping its cracked nails down Cael''s left shoulder as if hanging on for dear life. Cael managed to flinch away and shake the draugr off, but his shoulder still stung from the cracked nails scraping it. However, as he had guessed, the draugr at this stage was still not that painful because he had not attacked it with a sword. He still had 93% HP. Its frail nails had hurt, but it was more of a lingering scrape than a deep, piercing wound. Nheless, he was concerned that his spells did not seem to be doing anything to the draugr.


    As the draugr approached again, Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove the creature backwards and give himself more time. The draugr went cascading into a tree bark and fell to the ground, but seemingly stood back up without any hesitation, still at 1% HP. Cael realised that the creature had be immune to damage from magic, and he would have to try an alternative. Drawing out a spare [Iron Sword] that he carried in case meleebat was necessary, he struck at the draugr as it bounded towards him. The draugr was repelled backwards, but took no damage. Cael realised with dismay that the draugr was probably more powerful now. As the draugr approached again, he instinctively held up the sword as a defence, but the draugr used [Undead il] to deliver a stinging blow to Cael''s right hand, effortlessly sending the sword careening across the grassy ground and far away to the right. Cael was surprised at how much power the draugr had gained from the sword''s strike. He used [Mana Push] to send the draugr on its way again.


    Cael had few options left to try now. He drew out a [Wooden Practice Sword] and wielded it hesitantly. He knew that, if it didn''t work, it would risk an even stronger draugr. However, he felt like he should make sure that the solution to this issue was not something simple like using wooden weapons, since forcing yers to use alternative or unfavoured weapons on some monsters wasn''t unheard of in MMOs. As the draugr approached, he tried to strike with this weapon, but the draugr used a newfound agility to sidestep out of the way. Cael found this strange, since he had seen the draugr going so far as to invite or rush towards melee attacks before, yet now it was trying to dodge an attack that might strengthen it. Swatting tiredly at the draugr, he made a harsh contact with the draugr using his weapon, yet it took no damage. His attempt to shove the draugr away with his arm also had no effect. Rushing him using its superior Agility, it grabbed him by the cor, shed him with its sword, and threw him to the ground using the [Death''s Grip] skill. As he tried to get up, it stooped low to the ground and used [Wish to Fly], a harsh uppercut that sent Cael careening backwards. He found that he had a bleeding wound across his face, from the draugr''s nails, and he was now at only 20% HP. The draugr was rapidly gaining strength.


    Trying to think through the situation, Cael used [Mana Strike] to dy any further attacks from the draugr. Cael''s face stung like bleeding wounds drenched in sea salt, but he tried to go through a basic process of elimination to figure out what options he had left. Using magic could not damage the draugr, and the draugr seemed now to have started trying to dodge physical attacks instead, suggesting that it could be defeated by physical strikes. However, weapons of any type, or even direct strikes with the hand and arm, did nothing and actually strengthened the creature. It could easily kill him in a few blows now. Hence, if Cael needed to use a physical strike, but both his magic and his weapons or fists did nothing, the only seeming alternative present here was the draugr''s own weapon. Cael recalled that many undead enemies carried weapons that could be stolen, because the game counted the weapons as having no owner. However, it was difficult to wrench these weapons from the undead''s barely-moving skeletal hands.


    As the draugr prepared for a final series of attacks against Cael, it raised its sword to the sky and let out a loud, threatening hiss. Cael felt as though he had a snake hissing right by his ear. However, he used [Spark] to fix his opponent in ce, and felt the draugr weakening somewhat under the waves of pacifying mana. This gave Cael the opportunity to wrench the sword from the draugr''s arms, and using his experience as an Assasssin he quickly plunged the sword into the draugr''s chest. He saw the draugr''s mouth open as if to let out a loud cry, yet all that came out was a faint whispering sound of exhtion. The draugr''s sword disappeared as soon as it had struck the killing blow. The draugr fell to the ground, and Cael noticed arge surge in his EXP from killing the draugr solo. It was enough to take him to level 29.


    Cael smiled faintly, then crumpled into a bush near the tree while holding his injured face. Using the [Healing] spell, he healed himself to 50% HP and felt like it was slightly easier to breathe. He gathered his [Iron Sword] and ced it in his inventory. While his weapons had strengthened the draugr, he figured that they at least strengthened the draugr''s weapon so that the final blow was easier. Nheless, he felt that this wouldn''t help much for the people in Kruxol, since their warriors had buffed the draugr so much that they might as well be facing level 60+ opponents. The Guilds of Kruxol were also used to fighting enemies by having warriors attack while mages and archers support, but by now this kind of strategising would only lead to much stronger draugr. A demotivated Kruxol popce, trapped in the game, would be unlikely to fare well against a highly painful, aggressive draugr horde. He figured that he might have to wait out here until the event was over, rather than returning to Kruxol.


    Once his HP had fully recovered, he got to his feet. He could see hints of a cabin''s silhouette in front of him and to the right, so he slowly made his way there. As he edged closer to the cabin, he heard the familiar sound of hissing. This seemed to be a draugr spawn point. As he tried to walk closer to investigate, he was suddenly set on by a group of two draugr. Cael sighed at the Mage''sck of stealth.


    More purposive this time, he fired [Magic Missile] at the two draugr, sending them reeling backwards. Sidestepping to the left, he used [Mana Strike] at a slight angle, sending one draugr careening into the other until they both tripped up and fell. This was enough to get the two creatures to 1% HP. At this point, Crucis waited for one of the draugr to slowly get to its feet, then used [Spark] to weaken it until he could steal its weapon. He saw that the weapon was named [Blunt Cursed Draugr Sword], and it was less rusted and fragile than the previous sword he had stolen. He quickly tried using it to attack the second draugr, who was still on the ground, but it dealt no damage and that draugr was still left on 1% HP. Seemingly it was necessary to kill a draugr with its own sword, not another draugr''s. As such, he struck a sharp blow to the standing draugr''s left rib, and it fell to the ground dead.


    As the second draugr was weakly getting to its feet, it opened its palms and started scratching against the floor to squirm its way up. Cael saw that the draugr''s grip on its sword was loosened, and used [Mana Push] to dispossess the draugr. Walking up to the sword, he picked it up and fluidly swung it at the kneeling draugr''s neck. The blow dislodged the draugr''s head, and the creature copsed to the ground with no HP remaining. The sword in Cael''s hand also disappeared.


    Cael realised that these cabins were probably a spawn point for the draugr, so he walked cautiously around looking for the creatures. He heard a loud hissing from the cabin which he had earlier used to hide. Walking up to the window, he saw the half-grey face of a draugr, and quickly cast [Mana Strike] to shove the creature against a wall. Using [Dark''s Tendrils], he was able to reduce the creature to 1% HP. The draugr began hissing loudly, and charged towards the open window, but Cael stepped out of reach of the creature''s sword and it could not strike him. As it tried mbering through the window, its weak skin lost bnce easily and it fell awkwardly on the floor, sending its sword ttering away along the ground. Cael picked up the sword, a [ck Cursed Draugr Sword], and saw that it had no description. Stabbing the grounded draugr, however, he saw that it obtained the rare [Disease] status as it died. This effect led to an inability to heal or recover HP for one minute, and steadily damaged the opponent for this time. If the opponent attacked during the first ten seconds of the effect, then their STR and DEX would reduce dramatically for half a minute. It was mostly used by undead enemies, and was typically not avable for yers to use on their opponents except for high-level yers from some Assassin sses.


    Killing the draugr brought Cael to level 30.


    Cael heard a loud announcement being sent to all yers:


    [If your name has been fixed and is not garbled, please do not join the fight against the draugr. The name fix is vtile, and it is safer not to take the risk of fighting in this event.]


    Cael had suspected for a while that the attempt to fix yers'' names early had been premature and erratic, but he wasn''t surprised that they had rushed to try and restore big donors'' names. After all, how could you have a virtual aristocracy without name recognition? The message was soon apanied by a further announcement:


    [yers of Kruxol, there has been a breach to the North! The draugr are entering the city! All yers please join your braverades in defending the town, before it is overrun.


    Due to their sess in breaching the town''s defences, the draugr have gained the ability to call on their powerful Mage unit. In addition, this unit will have a doubled spawn rate for the next 10 minutes. The Mages have low MP, and are few, but their spells are powerful. Be on your guard.]


    Cael smirked slightly at the news of the Kruxol guard''s defences being breached, it seemed fitting after they had strengthened the invaders. However, he was concerned about the news that Mages would begin to spawn. He heard a loud hiss near the cabins, but saw that it was not a Mage, but an ordinary level 25 draugr with a very flimsy, rusted sword.


    Cael cast [re] at this foe, who seemed to have lower HP than most draugr. It immediately fell to 1% HP, but continued to charge towards Cael. Using [Spark], Cael managed to snatch the creature''s [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword]. However, when he tried to strike the draugr, the flimsy sword was too weak to damage the creature, and simply bent away. The draugr used this opportunity to use its nails for a [Cliff''s edge scratch] at Cael''s chest, lowering his HP by 9% and winding him. As he staggered back, he tried to strike with the tattered sword again, only for it again to weakly deflect off the draugr. The draugr tried to use [Death''s Grip] on Cael, but Cael was wary of the move and used [Mana Strike] to dislodge the grasping draugr. Cael was growing slightly frustrated at the sword''s weakness, but then remembered that striking down the first draugr had been easier because his physical strikes had strengthened the creature''s weapon as well as the creature itself. He shifted the draugr''s sword to his off-hand.


    Drawing out his [Iron Sword], he walked up to the draugr and shed it hard against the chest. He followed this up with a blow to the draugr''s legs, causing the frail creature to keel over. However, he saw that the creature was starting to lift itself up more energetically, and seemed to have gained new strength. Cael switched back to the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword], and found that it had grown much more sturdy and sharp. shing at the draugr as it tried to rise, he saw a deep cut in its skin as its HP fell to 0. The sword disappeared in his hands, but he smiled lightly.

 Chapter 25: Draugr Olympics (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 2)

    Chapter 25: Draugr Olympics (The Draugr Invasion, pt. 2)


    The draugr were breaking into the town of Kruxol, and gaining more powerful units. If the draugr seeded, Kruxol''s reserve force, made up of the people who had spent the longest time in Kruxol over thest few days, would be automatically sent out to defend the town. Since the game was new and Kruxol was a starting town for new yers, most yers who had been cooped up in Kruxol would be low-level yers and drunkards. At that point, Cael supposed that the draugr invasion would turn into a ughter of yers. He was South of Kruxol, and quite indifferent to the town''s suffering, but was tense and alert because of the announcement that the draugr would be getting more powerful units.


    Standing over the fallen draugr, Cael heard a soft hissing sound emerge from a nearby cabin, as well as a simmering sound that sounded like fire. This must be the draugr Mages. On hearing this, he made a break to the left of the cabins and started to run until he was a safe distance away. Looking carefully back towards the cabins, he saw the silhouette of two [Draugr Mage], wearing dark red robes, and noticed that a few more Mages were slowly spawning to join them. After five minutes, a group of five Mages had gathered and set off towards Kruxol. Cael waited for a few minutes to make sure that the Mage spawn had slowed down, while impatiently pacing around in a small, dark, treeless part of the woods. He nearly tripped over a bundle of rocks, and saw that these were seemingly connected to a small mound of mud and rocks that had been artificially raised in this empty part of the forest.


    He guessed that this was the remnants of an old barrow or burial mound. Scraping lightly at the mud, he received a notice, saying:


    [Cursed be he who moves my bones.]


    He idly wondered if Shakespeare was now a draugr.


    Having confirmed that this mound was a barrow of some sort, he surveyed the area around it, in case it held anything which might help with the current undead infestation. He saw a faint glitter hidden within a small bush growing over the old barrow, and reaching into it he found a [Cursed Draugr Sword]. He received a notice in his system messages:


    [During the draugr invasion, barrows have been discovered in the area around Kruxol. Weapons found on a draugr''s barrow may be helpful inbatting the draugr!]


    Cael kept the sword, and started walking slowly back towards the cabins. On the way, he saw another small mound of rocks, which he hadn''t paid attention to before, and scavenged around it until he received another [Cursed Draugr Sword], which he stored in his inventory.


    As he arrived at the cabins, he was attacked by a draugr which had just spawned. He easily lowered its HP to 1% with [Dark''s Tendrils] and [re], and then disarmed it with [Spark], falling into a familiar pattern. However, instead of striking the creature dead with the stolen sword, he instead drew one of the [Cursed Draugr Sword] from the barrows, and used that to sh harshly at the draugr. The draugr died, and the [Cursed Draugr Sword] disappeared from his hand. He inspected the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword] which he had stolen, and found that it was still in his possession. He heard a faint rustling in the trees nearby, and walked briefly away from the cabins to inspect this, wishing to test his new sword. A level 12 [Giant Rat] emerged from behind a tree, and Cael shed at it with the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Sword].


    While the weapon did little damage, and left the low-level enemy with 95% of its HP remaining, it did inflict the [Infected Wound] status effect. This temporarily paralyses the part of the body which was hit, and causes DoT based on how much damage the initial attack did. Here, the damage over time reduced the rat to 85% HP after 30 seconds. Cael was left slightly underwhelmed by the draugr''s weak weapons, but wondered if the weapon would remain strengthened if he used physical attacks on the draugr and then killed them.


    Retracing his way to the cabins, he saw that a level 35 [Draugr Mage] had spawned. He noticed that it had a heavily eroded staff, which seemed to contain a few unused gem slots. While this might be a tough fight, he felt like it was doable due to the draugr''s low HP and MP. Using [Minor Illusion], he conjured the vision of a [Rat] enemy and sent it charging towards the [Draugr Mage]. He remembered that the game mentioned the Draugr Mage having low MP, so he was trying to make it waste spells. The draugr obliged, sending a powerful [Blizzard Orb] of swirling ice hurtling at the rat apparition. Cael had the [Rat] hop slightly out of the way, though it was now on the verge of death, and made it retreat slightly to draw the draugr away from the cabins so that no other draugr could spawn near it. The draugr followed the [Rat] vision for a short distance, before unleashing [Seeker Beam], a powerful but costly attack that sent a beam of mana to attack a chosen target. This would leave the draugr with little mana left, but it was enough to dispell Cael''s [Minor Illusion].


    Cael now walked towards the draugr and used [Magic Missile], sending faint white mana colliding firmly with the draugr until it stumbled and nearly fell over. It still had 60% HP left. Cael took advantage of this by using [Mana Push] to throw the off-bnce draugr to the ground. Cael stood over the fallen draugr and used [Spark], then stole the creature''s [ck Cursed Draugr Staff]. He assumed from the name that it had a chance of inflicting the [Disease] status effect along with the usual effect of spells, as some higher-level staves in the store also had a chance of inflicting additional effects or healing the user when a spell was cast. He held the staff in his off-hand.


    Since the draugr no longer had its staff, he guessed that any spells it could muster with its low MP would be unlikely to kill him quickly. While the draugr did cast [Smoke Orb], forming an orb and releasing it at Cael, this only removed 10% of Cael''s HP and repelled him a few steps backwards due to the impact. Regaining his bnce, he used [Mana Strike] to send the draugr colliding into arge tree bark nearby, and the impact sent the draugr falling to the ground on 1% HP. Cael drew out his [Iron Sword], and used it to strike repeatedly at the draugr which was lying face-down on the ground. As the draugr, suddenly more lively, started to get up, he kicked its face hard against the tree and then struck at the back of its head with the [Iron Sword]. cing his foot on the back of the draugr''s neck, Cael kept it pinned to the tree with a repeated assault of strikes from his sword.


    After about a minute of this, he noticed that the draugr was not getting any stronger. However, a il with its arms caught Crucis'' leg and sent him flying backwards,nding awkwardly on the ground behind the draugr. The draugr was now strong enough that it could kill Cael, especially if he let its MP slowly regenerate to the point where the draugr could use strong spells. Due to this, Cael used a quick sequence of [Spark] to weaken the draugr''s resistance, and then [Mana Strike] to send it colliding with the tree again. It fell on the ground, though Cael guessed that with its new strength the draugr would have kept its bnce if he had not used [Spark] in advance. Walking up to it, he swiftly caned it with its own staff, which now seemed to radiate vast amounts of magical power and was also much more firm than before. The [Draugr Mage] had its HP reduce to 0, and had been killed. Cael gained enough EXP from this kill to send him to level 32, and was now three-quarters of the way to the next level.


    Returning to the cabins, he was set upon by two ordinary level 30 draugr. Using the [ck Cursed Draugr Staff], he used [Magic Missile] and was surprised to see them all falling to the ground and reduced to 1% HP. Although they were still gripping their weapons, he was able to dislodge the [Rusty Cursed Draugr Light Sword] from one of the draugr''s hands with a [Mana Push] that was much stronger due to his new staff. Grabbing this, he stabbed the draugr and killed it. Walking over to the other, he used [Spark], and saw it copse as if it had been deprogrammed. He killed that again with its own [ck Cursed Draugr Sword], and he felt like he was getting used to the process of killing the draugr.


    For the next two hours, he hovered around the edge of the cabin area, picking off one or two draugr at a time as they spawned. This took him to level 46. He noticed that there seemed to be four types of weapons that they carried: ''Rusty'' weapons could inflict [Infected Wound], ''ck'' weapons could inflict [Disease], ''Splintered'' weapons could inflict [Bleeding], and ''Blunt'' weapons could use blunt weapon skills that were generally confined to maces or clubs. Of those, the ''Rusty'' weapons tended to have the weakest hits. Cael found that the [ck Cursed Draugr Staff] was probably the most powerful, since the [Disease] effect could effectively prevent an opponent from attacking or cripple them if they did. Eventually, he noticed that the draugr spawn had dried up, and heard an announcement to all yers in the area:


    [The Draugr Invasion event is now over.


    The forces of Kruxol were defeated by the draugr hordes, and the town was ransacked by the draugr. Although the town called up its reserves, and even attempted to fight after the draugr had entered, it was in vain and great suffering has urred. You may take this time to mourn your fallenrades.


    Kruxol has been relegated from a level 5 town to a level 3 town, worsening the services and goods avable. An increase in crime has led to several stores losing their stock of rare items. Check your map to see which other towns have prospered or suffered from this event.


    Since the draugr have won, they will have another chance to attack Kruxol in exactly one hour, and all residents of Kruxol will be forced out into the open where they could be attacked. All residents who do not want to face the invading draugr, please flee the town before this urs. Draugr will not enter the safe zone of Kruxol before that happens. Some of the strongest draugr, who attained the most kills in this invasion, will be prowling the areas directly South and North of Kruxol in the meantime. Be careful.]


    This was a great event for ganking Guilds: they were generally not based in towns and so could avoid or outrun the draugr, but now they could take advantage of yers trying to flee the towns. Cael guessed that a few Guilds would try to counteract this by escorting their weaker members, but there was no time for them to organise a group to shelter all yers fleeing Kruxol.


    As he walked back towards Kruxol, he saw a few burial mounds near the town with draugr hovering around them, having returned from fighting in the invasion. He took care to avoid notice by these powerful creatures. They did not seem keen to walk away from their barrows, however. Curiously, he started to inspect which weapons they were holding. He saw one which was carrying a [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword], and considered that it would be useful for Crucis. However, he didn''t see any good way to dispossess this draugr. He took a short detour towards a small but deep stream running through the woods, flowing out from the famous Southernke. There, he carefully scanned the draugr nearest the stream, until he saw one near Kruxol who was also carrying the [ck Cursed Draugr Sword]. This draugr was level 30, and looked to be strong but not strengthened that much. Cael guessed that, even though it was not strengthened fully, its faster weapon could have assured it many kills among the weaker, newer yers who were still in Kruxol. With the horde supporting it, the speed of its attacks would have overwhelmed many yers.


    Cael walked up to it carefully, and used [Magic Missile] to knock it back. This dealt 35% of the strengthened draugr''s HP. However, the draugr seemed determined to keep its footing, and turned mightily in Cael''s direction. However, a brief [Mana Push] was enough to make the draugr fall. Using [Spark], Cael weakened the draugr slightly and kept it on the ground, allowing for thefortable use of [Dark''s Tendrils] which reduced the draugr to 1% HP. This fight could still be difficult, but Cael quickly used [Mana Strike] to shove the draugr into the stream, and then fled to nearby Kruxol when done.


    Kruxol was littered with corpses, and Cael could see many yers who had died with their names disyed, and may never return. They had probably been enthusiastic to make a name for themselves in the event, and ran out to fight before the announcement cautioning them against it. Cael saw that, as Kruxol had its town status downgraded, many of its buildings now appeared cracked and old. The starting town had also been trashed by the invading horde, and many of its neatly-kept windows and streetlights were bent or broken out of shape. ''The spider built his web in the pce of the noobs.''


    Cael, despite fighting the draugr for hours, came to appreciate them as he walked through the alleys strewn with blood and broken ss. He decided that he might as well give them a helping hand on their return to Kruxol, by using the physical attacks of Crucis to strengthen the creatures currently loitering around Kruxol. Since Crucis could easily outrun them, the current status of Kruxol as a safe zone meant that while he couldn''t damage most of them, he could at least strengthen them until they were likely to overrun Kruxol easily and cause mass destruction. This would give him an entertaining spectacle to watchter.

 Chapter 26: The I in Team

    Chapter 26: The ''I'' in Team


    As Crucis walked towards the woods South of Kruxol, he heard a shout from behind him saying, "Wait! Watch your step!"


    He turned around, and saw a male level 40 Mage.


    "Greetings, what do you mean?" asked Cael politely.


    "There are powerful draugr out there, they''re dangerous. You shouldn''t go."


    "Yes, I also read the announcement." Crucis made as if to leave.


    "Look, if you go," the Mage persisted, "then let me apany you. I can keep us out of harm''s way."


    "Hmph. Fine," said Crucis.


    He invited the Mage to party up, and then walked into the woods without looking back. The Mage followed behind.


    "So, what''s your name?" asked Crucis nonchntly.


    "JamesShio," answered the Mage, "It''s named after the Shio family in a popr anime." Crucis already knew the yer''s name, since he had seen the nametag, but he pretended not to.


    The Mage seemed to be middle-aged, and had a nk face with green eyes. He looked like an Englishman, not Japanese.


    "Oh, that''s nice, are you from Japan? I hear they still have many old, traditional customs there, do you follow them?" asked Crucis, smiling.


    "Um, no, I am from Ennd. No, I know a bit about the customs but it isn''t followed here," replied the Mage in a slightly flustered tone.


    Crucis walked on into the woods, veering towards the stream, with the Mage following him. They heard a few loud footsteps from some distance behind them, and both froze. Crucis activated [Stealth Cloak], and silently bent down and picked up a rock, putting it in his pocket before standing back up in ce.


    "Sorry, I was nervous," he said, trying to pretend that he was reacting to the sound of footsteps when his actual intention was to pick up the rock.


    JamesShio nodded and allowed Crucis to walk onwards again. JamesShio was in a Guild named [Architects], and at level 40 Crucis guessed that the Mage would be familiar with Guildmate Assassins frequently using stealth moves at the start of a battle or if danger seems imminent.


    Crucis kept walking towards the stream, seeking the same spot as where Cael had fought the draugr with a light sword. The draugr was likely to still be there, since it was staying near its barrow. Fortunately, he heard some other draugr from the direction of the cottage, and this convinced JamesShio that they should keep closer to the stream.


    When he saw the familiar draugr by its barrow beside the stream, he continued walking in its direction as if not noticing it. He feigned surprise when JamesShio suddenly grabbed his shoulder and said to stop.


    "There is a draugr there," whispered the Mage.


    "Oh. Good catch!" said Crucis.


    "It''s OK, I can keep us safe. Hide behind these trees and keep still. We can wait until it walks elsewhere." The Mage was closing his eyes, ufortable with the presence of the draugr.


    Crucis smirked. It wouldn''t walk elsewhere normally, since its barrow was nearby. However, he was already nning to make it walk away from its barrow. Not in the direction that JamesShio was hoping, however.


    Crucis used [Stealth Cloak], then grabbed the rock from his pocket and threw it at the draugr. He then fled to a safe distance, using [Figure Blur] to cover his tracks by reducing his visibility to the others.


    He saw the draugr steadily walking in the direction of the rock throw, until it saw the Mage who had slowly started to back away. The draugr caught up with the Mage quickly, and shed at JamesShio with a light sword, sending his HP down to 65%.


    Crucis used this distraction to sneak up to the draugr''s barrow and nab a [Cursed Draugr Sword] that was sitting there. Typically, it would be difficult to im due to the draugr keeping careful watch over its barrow. However, it was willing to go slightly further away for an easy target, especially when under attack.


    JamesShio was crying with pain, with a shallow, bleeding sh across his chest. He used [Mana Strike] to shove the draugr away, but Crucis noticed that this Mage''s spells weren''t as powerful as Cael''s. This Mage had seemingly focused more on Constitution, and even Strength, rather than the INT required for spellcasting. His gear also seemed to be hand-me-downs from other sses in his Guild, and wasn''t really appropriate for a Mage. Still, Crucis reasoned that a focus on the Constitution stat was a good choice for JamesShio, because he was going to need it now.


    The draugr rebounded at JamesShio, who used an Earth elemental spell, [Earth Weapon], to summon a weapon out of the mud and use it to strike his foe. This would only strengthen the draugr. As the draugr raced forwards to attack, the Mage used [Earth Shield] to summon up a shield of mud that blocked the draugr''s advance. However, the strengthened draugr shoved this shield aside, then begun to charge again. Out of ideas, JamesShio tried to run, but the draugr charged into him like a bull and sent him careening across the ground. The Mage was now screaming in terror. He had 15% HP left. As the draugr tried to attack him once more, he used [Mana Strike] once more to repel it.


    Crucis was quietly creeping closer to the action. The draugr by now recovered quickly from the Mage''s spell, and walked up to JamesShio once again. As the draugr prepared to strike, JamesShio used up his remaining MP in abination of [Earth Shield] and [Mana Push] to keep the draugr''s weapon away. This was enough to hold the draugr back, and its weapon hand tried to recover its grip after meeting the shield and being pushed further back.


    Crucis used this loosened grip to his advantage, leaping out beside the creature and using [Panoramic Strike] to stab sideways at the fingers of the draugr''s weapon hand, forcing it to release its grip on the weapon. He then quickly grabbed the [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword], and used [Agile Step] to get out of the way of the fight, returning nearer to the draugr''s barrow.


    The draugr used its arms to lift the [Earth Shield] aside once again, and then grabbed for JamesShio''s cor and lifted the screaming Mage into the air. It was slightly stronger again, due to Crucis'' strike. The draugr used the broken ws on its spare hand to pummel into the Mage''s face and shove him right into the ground. These ws tore into JamesShio''s face, causing the Mage to fall to 4% HP and gain the [Bleeding] status, which caused further damage over time. The Mage was also out of MP, and could not heal himself.


    Leaving the bleeding Mage for dead on the ground, the draugr turned to a more important threat, the Assassin who had stolen his weapon and was now near his barrow.


    Crucis withdrew his dagger, and kept the draugr''s sword in his left hand in case he needed to end the fight quickly. He would rather strengthen the draugr first. Bounding up to the draugr, he used [Stealth Cloak] to sneak behind the creature and stab it with [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse it. He then used [Ripper] and [Silent Stab] while the beast was paralysed, before backing off and using [Figure Blur] to cover his tracks. However, the draugr kept intently following him. He led it nearer to a clump of trees by the stream. He crouched down and used [Agile Step], to sneak beside the pursuing creature''s side and direct a [Ripper] at its legs to unbnce it. He followed this up with a [Forceful Kick], to try and kick the draugr into the stream and give himself more time. However, the strong creature stubbornly held its ground.


    Adapting, Crucis used [Dodge Step] to step quickly backwards as the draugr turned towards him and mmed its fists against the now-empty ground, and then stepped behind its lowered left arm to use a [Silent Stab] on its shoulder. When it turned threateningly towards him with a fierce movement, and held out its arms to strike him, he stepped diagonally towards the stream and was teleported away from the direction of the draugr''s blow. He used [Panoramic Strike] before the draugr figured out where he had moved to, and as the draugr prepared another strike Crucis used [Agile Step] to backstep into a tree near the stream. The draugr''s fist pounded against the tree, which shielded Crucis from the blow.


    Crucis struck with [Stunning Dagger], then dodge-rolled out of the tree and behind the draugr. There was the quiet sound of a shudder on the ground as JamesShio died from the bleeding andy still. As Crucis used [Ripper] on the slowly-turning draugr, he noticed that its strength was no longer increasing. Activating [Stealth Cloak], he switched weapons to the [Cursed Draugr Sword] he had picked up from the draugr''s barrow, and saw that the draugr was looking for him with its arm raised to strike. Stepping quickly towards its side, he struck it in the shoulder with this sword before leaping away. As it turns out, he needn''t have leapt away, because the draugr fell to the ground immediately after it was struck, and the sword vanished from Crucis'' hand. He inspected his new light sword.


    It felt very powerful, and moved swiftly and precisely through the air. However, he had nothing to test its power on here, as the draugr would not take damage from it. Sighing, he made his way back to Kruxol to keep it in Storage, and hoped to withdraw itter. Killing the draugr had raised him to level 43.


    With his new weapon acquired, he realised that he only had about 45 minutes to strengthen the draugr around Kruxol. He decided that he should try and find a couple of slightly weaker draugr, and get them to maximum strength for the most effect. Scanning the area around him, he looked for draugr whose barrows were in densely wooded areas, since this would prevent the creatures from swinging their powerful weapons freely. Seeing a slow-moving level 30 draugr, pacing by a barrow surrounded by trees, he used [Stealth Cloak] to approach the creature before shing its back with [Ripper]. Crucis used [Figure Blur] and darted behind some trees before the draugr could turn around, and the draugr hence stood in ce turning its head in puzzlement to find its assant.


    Crucis waited for his [Stealth Cloak] to end cooldown, then used it to close in on the creature again. Striking with [Stunning Dagger], he kept the creature paralysed while using [Forceful Kick] to send it to the ground. There, his [Silent Stab] strengthened the creature further, and he was able to get another basic [Punch] in before the creature begun to rear itself. He backed off, creating some distance between himself and the creature. The draugr stood up and begun to raise its weapon threateningly, but as Crucis predicted the weapon got caught up in a mess of tree branches. The resulting strike was skewed heavily downwards and fell limp by the draugr''s feet, allowing Crucis some respite. Seeing that the draugr had missed its attack, Crucis used [Agile Step] to approach the creature and strike it with [Ripper], then skipped away immediately with [Dodge Step] to avoid retaliation.


    Crucis used his Agility to weave quickly between the trees, keeping distance between himself and the draugr who was awkwardly plodding around the dense plot of trees. When [Stealth Cloak], [Agile Step], or [Figure Blur] activated, Crucis used them to approach the creature andnd a strike, or multiple strikes if he was able to paralyse the draugr with [Stunning Dagger]. Other than that, he kept a reasonable distance between himself and the draugr, as it grew progressively stronger. The thick web of branches and tree bark around the draugr''s barrow kept it from attacking easily, and its weapon often got entangled in branches or deflected by a tree bark as it tried to prepare an attack. After about five minutes, the draugr had reached its maximum strength, and Crucis fled quickly towards Kruxol followed distantly by the loud steps of the draugr. As he neared Kruxol, he saw the draugr giving up the chase.


    Cautiously walking back into the woods, Crucis searched for any other draugr barrows surrounded by a thickly-wooded area. He found that there were several of these towards the East, where the woods were slightly thicker. Repeating a simr pattern to that which he used against the previous boss, he strengthened five more draugr to maximum. Keeping his distance, then attacking when his stealth abilities became avable, was a safe way to do this without much risk due to his rtively high Agility. He took care to avoid any draugr Mages in the area, since their attacks would be harder to avoid. Eventually, he heard an announcement:


    [The draugr will invade Kruxol in 10 minutes. Please flee Kruxol if you intend to. Strong Guilds have sent strong yers here to protect their weaker members, and have thought carefully about how to defeat the draugr. Please listen to the leaders and officials of these Guilds, who will lead the Kruxol defence.


    Due to the set-up of battles like this, yers may not enter buildings to hide. We had tried to change this setting, but it was impossible to do so without risking serious errors in the current situation. Good luck.]


    As Crucis returned to Kruxol, he saw that yers were sitting dejected outside the doorway of stores and other buildings, which they had found were impossible to walk into due to an invisible wall. He also noticed a few more creative yers near Kruxol''s few ponds and fountains, trying frantically to teleport into the walls of buildings. The game seemingly also counted this as ''entering'' a building, so yers were unable to hide in these walls. The overall mood of yers in Kruxol was grim, and rumours stated that people fleeing to the East had been killed painfully by the Hashin. Many of those preparing to fight the draugr were just doing it because it seemed like a more merciful way to die than the Hashin.

 Chapter 27: The Grey Horde

    Chapter 27: The Grey Horde


    Near the entrances to Kruxol, yers were assembling in formation, guided by high-ranking members of the top Guilds. Mages were lined up behind a wall of strong warriors, and Assassins were sent out to the outskirts of the town to warn of the enemy''s approach. Archers were told not to attack, and instead to act as runners and pick up the draugr''s weapons if they fell during the sh. Warriors with swordfighting skills were ced front and centre, told to block attacks and use their skills to disarm the opponent. Cael felt that this was too orderly for an anarchic fight inside Kruxol, where the draugr horde would be surging through the streets and attacking from various directions. Nheless, it was noticeably more organised than the initial resistance. Cael estimated that, since yers had by now got a better hang of defeating the draugr, this organised resistance had a decent chance of limiting the inroads of the draugr horde. The horde was very strong by this point, however, and would probably push back the defending force and cause some severe injury.


    Near the front of the assembled formation, Cael saw that a batch of three [Cursed Draugr Sword] from barrows was being distributed among high-Agility yers. Since draugr were guarding their barrows now, this was probably difficult to acquire. The idea was probably that these high-Agility melee attackers could use these swords to quickly kill some of the advancing draugr after the Mages had reduced their HP to 1%. Cael figured that this might be a useful way to eliminate some draugr earlier, but among the horde it would be difficult for these yers to target specifuc draugr. Thebination of Mages, swordfighters and the asional Assassin would be effective at disarming the draugr, and archers could help to recover dropped weapons, but due to the power of the draugr now it would be difficult to pull this off quickly enough not to get pushed back.


    Cael found that several other yers were not joining this resistance, and instead trying to hide in corners of the town. Cael had tried to check for hiding ces in the broken, jutting-out walls of the ruined buildings that were now scattered across Kruxol due to the town''s downgrade in status, but he had no luck. If he couldn''t find a hiding ce, then he would use Crucis'' Agility to try and ess somewhere that would be difficult for the draugr to reach, like a verandah or atop a statue. However, he did see one possible wall that could be entered. It was located right where the first fighting would ur, and most people trying to hide were staying well clear of this area.


    The assembled formation was crowding in front of arge open gate across the streets of Kruxol, with the n being to m it shut and dy the draugr if the yers were pushed back. It was quite rickety and barely used, but these iron gates could still dy the intruders for a few minutes and give time to regroup. These gates were attached to small stone columns, with levers that could be used to close the gates. There were small fountains near each stone column, but at present the levers were blocking the way into the wall and did not let yers teleport into it. Cael decided that, if he turned the lever and closed the gate, it would get the lever out of his way and he could enter the stone column for safety. Hence, he loitered around the area, mostly standing in a small, curving alleyway to the right of the gates, out of sight of the assembled yers. There was a small audience gathering nearby who were too low-level or unwilling to fight, so Cael wasn''t afraid that he would be noticed.


    He saw that an Assassin was also loitering near the gates, and seemed to be inspecting the levers. Cael guessed that this yer had a simr n, and pointed his hand to indicate that this yer should go to the stone column on the left, and he would enter the one on the right. However, he was surprised and somewhat beleagured when the Assassin instead gestured to someone else out of sight to take the left gate''s lever, and pointed past the assembled yers to show Cael that the draugr were approaching. It would not be long before the fighting broke out. Cael noticed that the Assassin was of the [Hashin] Guild, and subtly raised an eyebrow. However, as the loud hissing of the horde crept nearer, he walked up near the stone column and was joined by the Assassin, who raised his palm to tell Cael to wait.


    Soon, the sound of shing weapons and loud rallying cries rang out as the fighting begun, and Cael watched as the horde surged into the mass of yers. A few [Draugr Mage] stayed slightly distant, and used their skills to attack the sheltered Mage yers, with some particrly strengthened [Draugr Mage] attacks even killing the yers in a few strikes. The audience of yers gave out a loud groan of surprise at seeing these early deaths, but the rest of the formation was holding up well.


    At the Assassin''s signal, Cael pulled the lever until half of the gate mmed shut, and quickly stepped towards the fountain until he was teleported into the wall. The Assassin used [Agile Step] to leap in, a short distance away from Cael, and then knelt down towards the lever. The left side of the gate had also been shut, and Cael saw three Assassins entering the stone column on that side.


    There was a loud noise as the lever broke, and the Assassin smiled on seeing that Cael was surprised. "The wages of griefing is knowledge," said the Assassin, as he stood back up.


    He continued, "Honestly, that was simr to how you got in the wall. An Assassin at this level has the ability to asionally move instantaneously while holding objects, it''s called the ss'' [Tradeskill Perk]. You should have the Mage equivalent, it unlocks at level 40. Because of the bug, the lever can appear as if it was in two different positions at once, so just like you teleporting into a wall using water, I can teleport the lever further than it should go using the Assassin perk. If a lever is pushed too far, the game has it break as a failsafe to prevent cheating. Very clever."


    Cael chucked lightly, then said, "That is clever. I hadn''t noticed the perk, actually, I only levelled to 40 recently due to the draugr."


    The Assassin raised his eyebrows, as if impressed, and said, "Good going reaching 46, then. Quite some draugr farming, you''d be a good soldier in a zombie apocalypse."


    "Not at all. I just harvest EXP, I don''t try to help save the people in town!" said Cael with mock guilt. The Assassinughed.


    "I''m known as Impalerdiv, by the way. And you are?"


    "You''re Hashin, if I tell you then will you guys stalk me down whenever I exit the town?" asked Cael facetiously.


    "Yes. Come on, it won''t be that bad. We just hunt people for their own entertainment, you know?" replied div in kind.


    "What kind of entertainment?"


    "Well, some people like ying the underdog, you know? It makes them feel like they''re morally in the right. It''s difficult for a politician to be a saint, since they have to take tough decisions and navigate a corrupt system, but it''s much easier for a martyr."


    Caelughed, "Anyway, I''m Cael. So howe you aren''t with your Guildmates out East and West, killing the people fleeing Kruxol?"


    "We have some business involving Kruxol Arena. Also, we heard that a few people thought we were near Kruxol, so we decided not to disappoint them. I mean, it was worth it, we killed some of them. And now these guys are getting trapped like sardines."


    So this must have been one of the Hashin who had killed the corpses Cael saw as he entered Kruxol. Impalerdiv was a level 51 Assassin, and seemed to have learnt quite a lot from adventuring alongside the Hashin. Breaking the lever had thwarted the two or three yers who had desperately tried to use the lever to open the gates again.


    Cael saw where div was indicating, and noticed that the lines of warriors confronting the draugr were falling back around the Mages, and abination of Mages, archers and Assassins was standing with their back to the closed gates.


    "I think this is, or was, their n," said Cael, "They obviously weren''t going to stand their ground forever, so they decided to backtrack in an organised way with the warriors forming a ring around the Mages to prevent draugr from getting in."


    "Yes, perhaps. But a bit awkward since the gate is closed now. Their Mages wouldn''t have much luck opening it, plus the draugr would overrun the warriors if they tried."


    "Exactly."


    "By the way, I saw some yers kill the draugr with their own weapons, not the draugr''s. You are a draugr hunter, you should know: is that possible?"


    "Draugr keep swords on their barrows, or burial mounds. These swords can kill them. This group only had three or four of these swords, and they''re one-use. So that''s not likely to recur."


    After a few draugr fell early to the [Cursed Draugr Sword], causing the horde to hesitate, the draugr had regained their confidence and were now pouring forwards in rows. Cael quickly scanned the hordes to pick out the strongest draugr. He saw with some consternation that an archer named [Nemuieh] was about to snatch the fallen sword of one of the powerful draugr which Crucis had created. If the archer took the sword, that draugr would probably be killed. Frustrated, Cael fired off a [Mana Strike] at the sword using his powerful new staff, sending the sword flying across the ground until it was hidden somewhere in the vast draugr horde. Cael smiled slightly - though weaponless, this draugr would now be virtually invulnerable, since no yer could ess its weapon without running into the masses of draugr and dying first.


    "They can''t kill that draugr now?" came div''s voice.


    "No," replied Cael.


    "Good move."


    Cael was pleased by thepliment, and resolved to go one step further. Seeking out powerful draugr who were locked in fiercebat along the front lines, he used [Mana Strike] to shove their weapons away towards the back of the draugr horde. This might make them slightly weaker, but also impossible to beat.


    Impalerdiv saw this, and considered whether his men could join in. He made a signal to one of the Hashin on the left of the gates, and soon Cael saw what looked like a set of draugr weapons being thrown hard across the ground towards the draugr. Cael guessed that they weren''t real draugr weapons.


    "The [Spy] Assassin can spoof weapon types, pass off one kind of weapon as another one," exined div, "We have a bunch of practice swords that we stole from a group that was practicing for Kruxol Arena, and we used them to practice crafting more powerful weapons by adding perks and remoulding them slightly. They''re still counted by the game as like a generic weapon, so can be transformed to look like draugr weapons. This means that the draugr will pick them up, but they can''t be used to kill draugr."


    "I see."


    "We saw that you were disarming the draugr to keep them protected, but if they had weapons as well they would be even stronger. So we gave them these weapons, that can''t be used to kill them. The draugr who already have weapons won''t pick these up."


    Cael was still slightly aggrieved that the Hashin had killed him earlier, but still found their creativity right now impressive. He had been slightly regretful that he was leaving the strong draugr without their weapons, although they had still managed to fight by throttling and striking enemies en masse. Now that these strong draugr had weapons, however, they quickly made mincemeat of the yers trapped by the gates. The Mage back line was almost suffocated as the warriors were pressed rigbt into them, and the draugr were soon reaching out to grab Mages by the head and drag them into the fray.


    Soon, suffocating cries filled the air as the once-organised army was reduced to a mob of bloodied corpses, with some blood dripping from the gates after the suffocating Mages were trampled and shoved against it by their own warriors trying to retreat from draugr attacks.

 Chapter 28: Alien vs. Predator

    Chapter 28: Alien vs. Predator


    The draugr started to barge heavily against the gates for one minute, eventually breaking through the centre and slowly making their way through this gap. They set upon the audience who had earlier gathered to watch would-be heroes fend off the draugr invasion. Several low-level yers were brutally yed by the draugr, who tore their skin off and left them to bleed to death.


    However, the audience put up a surprisingly stern resistance. Led by a newly-arrived Mage named [AlienSpace], a string of Mages used spells in tandem to reduce the draugr''s HP, and a group of fast archers and low-level yers scrambled around to ry the draugr weapons on to the Mages. Even the invulnerable draugr were temporarily held in ce by a group of warriors supported by a Mage of the [Cleric] sub-ss healing them. The warriors were iling to get the draugr weapons away from them, in panic, and the Mages were able to anchor the formation and form its centrepoint, giving the ragtag group a sense of cohesion.


    Cael saw a Mage using [Mana Push] to dislodge a nearby level 40 draugr Mage''s staff, as an archer rushed in using the speed-buffing skill [Speed Demon] to pick up the weapon when it fell. As the weapon began to slip from the draugr''s grasp, Cael wanted to grab it, but knew it was slightly out of reach and he didn''t wish to risk leaning out of cover. Frustrated, he activated the mysterious [Hierophant Card], his interest piqued slightly by the sound of the description.


    He suddenly felt as if the world was shaking in front of him, like someone on a particrly unsteady ship during a storm. The draugr Mage''s staff seemed to be osciting towards him and away from him, as with the draugr Mage itself who sometimes seemed to be right in front of him, and he was also not sure what his exact position was. Despite being slightly queasy and confused, he single-mindedly grabbed hold of the staff and pulled it back to him.


    The card''s hallucinatory effect faded, the world stopped seeming to shake, and Cael found himself once more within the safety of the stone column. However, his palm was open towards the staff, and he felt his pull on it despite the distance, as it floated from the draugr Mage''s hand and into his effortless grip. Checking on his MP, he saw that just this simple act had drained almost all of his MP. The staff hadn''t been that far away, either, suggesting that using this card''s power at longer distances would be difficult and probably cost too much MP to be practical.


    However, he now held a [Splintered Cursed Draugr Staff], taken from a draugr Mage who was at maximum strength. He was anticipating that in a few minutes, he would reach maximum rewards for time spent in the area of the draugr battle, and would be free to attack other yers during this brief window where Kruxol was not a safe zone. He had already reached 2 hours of fighting draugr, but there was also a reward for 3 hours within a zone where draugr-yer battles were urring. This was nearly done.


    He turned to div and said, "Are you guys getting your final chests for fighting draugr and staying in warzone soon? I imagine you''d enjoy killing this ragtag bunch."


    "No, sadly. We were quite busy with the Arena issue, so we still have 15 minutes. Don''t kill everyone before that."


    "But what if they find it entertaining?"


    divughed, "Then you shouldn''t let your audience down."


    Cael decided to ask carefully about the Kruxol Arena matter, as it might be sensitive. "What is happening with Kruxol Arena, if I may ask?"


    "Ah, nothing too much," replied div, "one of the usual top yers in the Arena events has been trying to mess with us. The Arena wins went to his head. He needs some sorting out."


    "So you stole the weapons from his Guild?"


    "From the group that he practices with, which is mostly his Guild. Arena has strict regtions, so they''ll need to buy new practice swords to simte it. By the way, how did you nab that staff? I haven''t seen a Mage do that before. It isn''t paywall, that is, for big spenders only?"


    Caelughed, "Long story short, it was for a big spender only, until I killed him and took it from him."


    "Isn''t there a rubberband thing, like if he recalls it then you won''t have it any more? I had that happen once."


    "He might not currently be alive, I doubt he needs it that much," said Cael nonchntly.


    "Ah. His name was exposed."


    "Yes. Is that what they meant with the announcement recently?"


    "Yeah, people with name exposed will probably die IRL. The idiots were trying to make names paywall - they were trying to fix donor names by using only the ID number attached to their donation. This bypassed the game, where due to errors they couldn''t get names processed. But donations aren''t processed through in-game ID, but personal ID. Just because game transactions and ount info are recorded on personal ID, it doesn''t mean that you just open a wormhole from immersion game to personal ID and hope that nothing goes wrong. Which they seem to have done. At least, something like that, can''t say because I haven''t directly seen this game''s spaghetti code. But yes, if they die they don''te back, they are absolutely dead."


    "So basically, they tried to base the ounts on personal ID, and the game isn''t programmed to deal with that, so it basically just corrupted the game''s interaction with them and blurred the boundaries between personal information and game ID?"


    "As I said, something like this. This is spective. Also, since pain reduction no longer works, I think it was a bad time to force the game to try and process things through their personal ID and donor information."


    "Could there be other consequences if the game is now sending out code and interaction directly to the world outside? Since it was forced to include personal ID and the outside world in its processing, is it still mostly intact or could it spiral out of control and start sending out corrupt code involving the world outside?"


    "Well, there are twoyers, the universal virtual ID is one and personal ID, the world outside, etc., is the second. The first will make things much easier for the game, because it also works in a simr code, so the game might seem to be sending out valid inputs. But obviously the problem might be like a whirlpool, the game has to pull in foreign things like personal ID, and soon it is pulling in all rted things. Obviously, if yers are trapped here, then they might be goners. But for now, if the game interacts with the rest of the world then it will mostly be through the world''s reliance on virtual reality for study, meetings, diplomacy, etc., because that is the path of least resistance."


    "Interesting, thank you for your exnation."


    Cael was about to ask about if this may exin NPCs acting more lifelike, then stopped himself after realising that this was an awkward time to be asking that question. The draugr were acting mostly like they usually would, if anything more ferocious. Perhaps it was because they were an undead race, unlike the human guards that he had observed earlier, but he still felt like the question would seem strange in this context.


    He saw a new system message:


    [Congrattions! Unlocked the 3hr Warzone reward for the Draugr Invasion event, the final Warzone chest for this event. Rewards will be mailed to you.]


    "Anyway, got the 3 hour chest, might as well beat these guys up a bit until you''re ready," he said, as div smirked.


    The arrival of some of the strongest draugr through the gate had shifted the tide of the fight, and the draugr were now easily dominant. The invulnerable draugr were now striding through their frail enemies like Godzi. Several draugr had also made their way here through the winding alleys of Kruxol, and attacked the resisting yers from the nk and rear. However, some pockets of resistance remained, especially among the more skilled warriors who were parrying blows while being healed. Due to not having as much cover from tanks, the Mages were mostly overrun easily once the draugr got in range, but a few Mages including [AlienSpace] had taken refuge against a wall near the gates, protected by a half-ring of warriors who were being healed, and this was frustrating a small force of draugr.


    Cael scanned the wall behind this group of yers, and noticed that after Kruxol''s downgrade this wall had be cracked and highly uneven, with bits of rock and ss jutting out. The draugr were steadily forcing the warriors back, and this caused congestion among the Mages behind them, who were left with very little space.


    [AlienSpace] looked highly ufortable and ustrophobic standing pinned to the jagged wall, but doggedly fought on. A few of the draugr had weapons given by the Hashin, and Cael noticed that these weapons moved swiftly and were forcing the warriors to use their shields heavily to try and repel or soften blows. This turtling approach was forcing the warriors ever deeper, and by now the warriors were leaning against the Mages as they fought. The draugr were much more powerful, and hence even though these deft warriors were able to deflect attacks with swordy or use shields, the force of the draugr''s blows was crushing the whole formation of yers against the wall and each other.


    Cael saw that a small group of the strongest warriors had been selected to guard AlienSpace earlier, but now were almost crushing him as they were pressed back near the wall. While they tried to avoid directly crashing into him, he still had very little space between the warriors and the fellow Mages trapped beside him. Cael could see that AlienSpace was almost suffocating from theck of space and from being squeezed between the yers around him, and was squirming around trying to find breathing space.


    Cael activated the [Hierophant Card], with his MP full since he had been staying out of the fight. As it activated, the area around him swung wildly from side to side, and briefly he felt as though he was in the middle of the resisting force as the tired warriors and Mages around him were pounded back by the force of the draugr like a ship by the sea. He could feel the determination and motivation of the fighters, and noticed how the warriors and Mages were keeping carefully in synch to push back this undefeatable foes. Drawing on his memory of the Assassin ss, he delivered a sharp blow to the suffocating AlienSpace''s throat, aiming carefully just above the ribcage. He saw the Mage copse to the ground, caught in a twisted position due to the congestion, and delivered a sharp kick to AlienSpace besides the bottom of the Mage''s spine before Cael''s MP ran out and he found himself back in the stone column. While Cael''s strikes were slightly weakened due to his low STR and DEX, thebination of AlienSpace''s congested situation with the cement of the strikes was enough to have the Mage rolling in agony on the ground.


    The yers around AlienSpace had begun to trample on him, as the draugr advance caused space to grow ever tighter. They barely realised what they had done until they heard their leader screaming from beneath the feet of the four warriors and Mages around him, and they slowly tried to back off and give him room. Most of them seemed to not suspect Cael''s involvement, assuming that AlienSpace had sumbed to the ustrophobic, suffocating conditions. As the Mages tried desperately to create space and avoid trampling their leader to death, Cael used [Spark] on the injured AlienSpace, causing the pained leader to copse to the ground vomiting blood.


    Using his [ck Cursed Draugr Staff], Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove AlienSpace firmly against the jagged wall, sending the Mage''s back and neck colliding straight with the hard, uneven, rocky wall. He followed this immediately with a [Mana Push] to keep AlienSpace pinned to the wall, a pattern remembered from the cave near Sanra, and AlienSpace''s shoulder got hooked against a sharp piece of protruding ss. This caused arge gash to open behind AlienSpace''s arm, causing him to scream loudly. The screams of their leader were highly demotivating for the fighters around him, who begun to fold against the heavy draugr onught, as Cael had guessed they would from his experience while using the [Hierophant Card]. While the group of yers could unite in camaraderie in a fight against the horde of attackers, this sort of attack where they crumbled and suffocated under pressure was more difficult to find stirring.


    Theck of leadership had weakened the ring of warriors and Mages around AlienSpace''s corpse, and the draugr were making inroads. Most other pockets of resistance were also being emptied.


    Cael heard augh from the side. "That self-styled ''leader'' was shuffling between healing and offensive staves, he came with all sorts of items to show off. Even a few expensive paywalled ones. I''m sure you got some good loot from that,"mented Impalerdiv.


    "Loot? How materialistic. I just did it because it was funny," replied Cael wryly.


    "Yes, exactly. You should entertain these brave troops, to help alleviate their tired legs, no?"


    "Yes, yes. By the way, have you guys picked up any cards from yers? Like, modelled after tarot cards."


    "Oh, those. Our Guild came across those, yes, but yers always recall them. They''re a pain. However, I can tell you a bit about them, I have run into a couple. There''s others in our Guild who might know more. But what I saw was a card named [Hermit Card], I think it doubled your Agility when HP was under 10%, basically a fleeing card."


    "So basically it lets an Assassin grind mobs or gank quickly by keeping their HP low?"


    "Clever. Yes, that could also be possible. What does the ''reversed'' effect mean?"


    "You take out the card and reverse it, then activate it."


    "Ah, OK. That causes your opponent to slow down by 20% when your HP is under 10%. Typically wouldn''t be as useful, could be if you were in a party orrge-scale fight. Another card was named [Star Card], our Guild Leader showed me that, it allows you to automatically recover to full HP two minutes after your HP lowers to 20%. I think that was only for very high-cing lottery yers. Reverse was that you can halve your HP to form a shield that blocks all physical attacks for 10 seconds."


    "I heard a story about one Guild where there were no Mages, but their strongest warrior would duck behind a wall of protective tanks and soone out fully healed to attack again. Any idea if that was this card?"


    "Ah, yes, [Njury] does probably use this card. His [Jury] Guild did used to have Mages, but they left because Njury was Guild leader and would force Mages to take up crafting and do chores because he thought they were ''boring.'' Now they have no strong Mages, so they just enter serious fights without any. They''re a weak Guild in some ways, not many strong yers, but Njury spent a ton so they''re still considered powerful. Due to that, it''s quite likely that he has the card. Would be nice if there was a database of people who won prizes in this lottery, so that we could check on who else has these cards."


    "Nothing in the library?"


    "Checked, didn''t find anything."


    "Pity. Anyway, I''ll try to spread some bleeding among these yers, since you guys are nearly ready."


    AlienSpace''s death had depleted the morale of the 37 yers still left to fight the draugr, and the draugr had quickly swarmed across the area, eliminating the few yers left. Only 15 yers remained, holding strong behind a group of powerful, level 51+ warriors. Cael decided that revealing his location would make little difference with so few yers nearby. He cast [Magic Missile] on the warriors, disrupting their ranks with an unexpected nk attack, and then used [Spark] to lock down a level 54 warrior who seemed to be the strongest still left. As the draugr rushed forwards to attack the Mages, Assassins and archers who had been sheltering behind the warrior line, an archer cast [Speed Demon] and broke ranks to run from the draugr. Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove him back towards the draugr, and a strong draugr crushed the archer in his hand. Cael used [Meditate], in order to replenish his MP, sensing that the Hashin would be going in soon.


    Once the resistance here died down, the draugr mostly moved on to search the rest of Kruxol for prey. Soon, the Assassins next to Cael had readied themselves, and once he buffed them with [Young Deer''s Speed] they sprung out towards the remaining yers like a Maelstrom of violence. Since most draugr had left, there was little risk for the Hashin. Cael switched his focus to spells like [Magic Missile] and [Dark''s Tendrils], hoping to cause bleeding across the remaining yers. div saw what he was doing, and leapt for a bleeding archer named [Dvew], using [Panoramic Strike] to cut a deeper gash across the archer''s chest and then [Dagger Twist] to worsen it. By attacking with the [Bleeding] status, Cael was providing the Assassins with more easily vulnerable targets.


    Cael heard one of the dying yers crying out, "Hashin are here!"


    "I''m not one to turn down a good time. Now tell your friends to keep aggroing the zombies, so we can focus on killing your friends," said div in a dry tone, before stepping on the yer and leaving them to die.


    div had no expectation that the few yers left, who had been cornered by the draugr, could reasonably stop attacking or resisting the draugr without dying immediately. However, he hinted that it was a tactical blunder, to taunt the yers over being picked off by the much-hated Hashin while being kept busy by the draugr.


    Thebination of Cael''s attacks and the powerful Assassins quickly turned the scene into a mass of blood and tears. Since Cael inflicted bleeding, the Assassins were able to make quick work of yers who were already vulnerable, by piercing deep into the bleeding wounds. After thest yer had died, the Assassin split up and ran through the alleys near Kruxol as if highly familiar with them, causing a few draugr to try and pursue them. Cael guessed that these yers would use the small maze of tunnels around Kruxol to get the draugr off their tail and then find a safe spot.


    He was surprised when div soon reappeared from the alley right of the gates, catching the attention of one or two draugr


    "We''ll be meeting by the Weaponry Store in twenty minutes, when the draugr abate. Join us if you want. The draugr have knocked down some of the barriers and small buildings, it''s much easier to navigate now," said div, before racing towards the edge of Kruxol to ceremoniously climb a statue of a horse rode by the town,''s founder, Krujl.


    After about five minutes, the following announcement appeared:


    [The draugr have won. Kruxol is now a level 2 town, and yers will no longer spawn here. It will be reced as a starting town by the nearby Kaxil.


    Kruxol is now a safe zone again, you may tend to your injuredrades.


    Escorts to Kaxil will begin in half an hour, led by the Janissary Guild.]


    Cael was slightly amused by this news: new yers trapped in this game surely had more issues than where they started. Regardless, he would have to move on to Kaxil or Sanra eventually, but for now a few yers would be staying to participate in already-scheduled events like Kruxol Arena, orplete low-level questlines begun by the NPCs here. After the Arena event was done, mostly only low-level quests and basic training would remain in Kruxol, meaning that the remaining yers would mostly be low-level and could easily be attacked until they gave up and left the area. The draugr had torn Kruxol apart, and Cael decided that it had a promising legacy as a ghost town.

 Chapter 29: Iscariot

    Chapter 29: Iscariot


    While Cael was surveying the wreckage around the town, he saw that members of the [Janissary] Guild had stirred earlier than most. Their leader, an Arch-Knight named [Ashken], was walking with a small group of members near the borders of Kruxol. Cael was surprised that Ashken was only level 39, smaller than most of his Guild''s powerful yers. Still, along with the Guild leaders who are the strongest Guild members, games often had a few Guilds where the powerful yers, rather than vying for the leadership, pawned it off to a weaker Guildmate who was seen as agreeable by most members. Ashken still seemed keen to project an aura of authority, wearing a small gold medallion granted only to Guild leaders, and Cael saw that Ashken was handling most of the arrangements for the uing Kaxil journey personally.


    Cael walked innocuously up to the small group, and asked politely, with a slight ent, "Hello, you are the Guild who is leading the journey to Kaxil? That''s an impressive sight."


    "Yes," said Ashken, "we are trying to n it carefully. We do it to help give yers hope, after the draugr flood."


    This Guild took itself rather seriously.


    "That''s great. I don''t have a Guild, so walking between towns is very dangerous for me. I came with a few friends, but they just got killed by some other Guild who aren''t like yours, I forget the name. To help the draugr and fight yers, how shameful."


    "Oh, that must have been the Hashin. They were reported to be nearby. They are terrible, antithetical to everything we stand for."


    "I''m d that someone is taking a stand. Your Guild sounds like a great thing, do you have any free space?"


    "Ah, yes," said Ashken, "but sadly the game doesn''t let Guilds recruit new members. Tell you what, sign your name here and we will offer you an invite as soon as possible."


    Another yer next to Ashken, named [Gre], offered Kruxol a brief form pledging allegiance to the [Janissary] Guild. Cael signed it under the pseudonym ''Iskaret.''


    "By the way," started Cael, "I saw a few yers with the Hashin tag walking around, could they not attack people who want to join expedition? That would get in the way."


    "We are keeping a close look-out for the Hashin. Please report them to us if you see them, if possible I will deal with them personally. Make sure to notice their location and level. They are our Guild''s enemies, and therefore I take responsibility for fighting them," replied Ashken.


    "Sure thing," said Cael, and smiled.


    Walking towards the Weaponry Store, he saw that div was busy browsing the store''s smaller selection. He assumed that the Assassin would step out after checking on the store. Cael used [Minor Illusion] to conjure a small piece of paper on a rack that div was inspecting, with small written text on the paper saying, "Follow Janissary if you see them nearby."


    Cael then walked back slowly to the Janissary Guild group, who were still walking slowly around the border of Kruxol.


    "Hi. You said to report Hashin sightings. I just saw level 31 Hashin alone in the alleys next to the Weaponry Store, he seemed to be pursuing another yer," said Cael dutifully.


    Ashken smiled, taking this as a chance to stamp his authority on the Guild. "I will go and see, if I find the yer then they will die by my hands," said the Janissary leader, setting off towards the Weaponry Store and motioning Cael to follow him.


    Cael followed dutifully after, and saw Ashken walk carefully into the alleys near the store, followed by div who had entered the Weaponry Store wall.


    In order to take Ashken off his guard, Cael used [Minor Illusion] once more, conjuring a medallion on the ground like the one that Ashken was wearing. Ashken, assuming for a moment that the medallion had fallen, began to bend down to pick it up. div leapt out of the wall and used [Chokehold], seeking to force Ashken down to the ground for an easy kill. However, Ashken had much more Strength, and was refusing to budge. Cael quickly activated the [Hierophant Card] and grabbed Ashken''s legs in Cael''s right arm to lift them over the ground, causing the Arch-Knight to gurgle loudly and as if he was being hanged, due to being suspended in div''s chokehold. The Knight copsed to the ground once Cael let go. div capitalised on this with [ck Spot], slitting Ashken''s strained throat and causing blood to flow out freely.


    div then held Ashken down with [Suppression], grabbing Ashken by the shoulder and easily ttening the Arch-Knight''s face against the dirt. Ashken by now had only 15% HP.


    "When you die, you will die in real life," said div, "but holding you for ransom would be much more profitable for us Hashin, since you are a Guild leader. So please answer these questions honestly. Firstly, how did you survive the draugr invasion?"


    div had no intention of holding Ashken hostage, and was just ying with the Arch-Knight''s sense of self-importance.


    "I can tell you," said Ashken, realising that it might be his only way out, "There was a GM named FGRT, one of the only GMs still in here. He said that GMs don''t have many powers, but he was able to..."


    Ashken took a short break to vomit blood.


    "He said he had ess to some features that were being tested, like Guild embassies in towns. That''s like a Guild base, but it''s for recruiting yers and stuff. He conjured one up for us, hidden in a corner of Kruxol, and said that we could hide there because the game didn''t yet count it as a building or something. But only members of our Guild could stay there for the whole invasion, and it only had space for 15 people because he didn''t have gold or space for bigger. Some of the 15 were forced out into the fight, it said they had spent lots of time in Kruxol so now they were part of its reserve army."


    "I see. Thank you for the long answer. Did he also tell you to lead an expedition to Kaxil?"


    "Yeah, he said that would be automatic next capital, and he was impressed with our Guild! I was very proud."


    "Do the other GMs also support this?"


    "Yes, they said they like my Guild because we get along well and there are less big egos. So they want us to take responsibility for the rest of the yers. They already convinced a few powerful yers to join us, but I am a good leader and we will bring order to this world!"


    "That was the final question. Now get up, I will take you to meet the rest of the Hashin."


    Cael was getting slightly worried that div might actually be serious about taking Ashken hostage, so he quickly used [Minor Illusion] to conjure a piece of paper that read, "The Hashin are terrible, antithetical to everything we stand for." The Hashin had a reputation for killing the saintly.


    Smiling at this cue, div used a sharp [Ripper] on the rising Ashken, then used [Forceful Kick] to shove Ashken to the ground next to the illusory piece of paper.


    Cael joined in with a [Spark], drowning out Ashken''s dying scream and causing the warrior to die a limp death.


    div walked back, "Thank you for delivering fresh meat. I was always going to kill him, by the way, having such a noisy upstart as a hostage would be a pain. Besides, hostages aren''t as much fun."


    "Fresh meat? I brought him here to kill you, I said that there was some level 31 noob Hashin loitering here and he duly obliged. I feel really let down by him," said Cael,ughing.


    "Ah ha. Good call. Anyway, I think there was one type of card that I didn''t mention earlier, it was called [The Tower]. It allows people to transform into a creature named [Beast], converting their strongest stat to Strength and increasing their Constitution. It can only use physical attacks. The reverse side is that the yer dies in order to turn the rest of his party into [Beast]. It''s a strange card, for most yers it wouldn''t be advantageous."


    "It could be useful, if a Mage needed a strong physical strike at short notice for instance."


    "Perhaps, you would know that. For Assassins, it doesn''t seem like a good choice."


    "It is a strange lottery reward, you wouldn''t want to be the person who drew it. But obviously these cards can be gifted, so they won''t all be as powerful as they could be. By the way, it sounds like the GMs are trying to astroturf some Guilds to the top, strange."


    "Yes. I had my suspicions, so did Drifter. There are only a few GMs here, moderately powerful but we have killed one. I think three remain. GMs were having a meeting when the game bugged out, most of them didn''t enter. Besides, GMs don''t tend to y games any more, they are mostly just corporate staff. Cheaper than hiring yers to do it, nowadays."


    "I think that''s the way it should be. Janitors are janitors, and gamers are gamers. Very different things to do," said Cael semi-seriously.


    "You jest, but that''s not false. Anyway, GMs have their names exposed by default, they can die for now. Drifter watched them carefully to figure out what additional features GMs have ess to, and while they are powerful it''s not something we can''t kill. GM in-game powers in immersive games were limited after several high-profile cases of abuse, which gave gamepanies the excuse to jettison most yer GMs in favour of customer support suits. But we should deal with Kruxol Arena first."


    "By the way, I''ve never fought in the Arenas, what''s it like?"


    "A pain,"ughed div, "it is a much different meta to the normal PvP, most Assassin moves are much less useful or are banned. Plus the fights were usually not to the death, only until one side was reduced to 1/3 HP. Nowadays, since the bug, all fights are without death. Hashin rarely enter, but we can do decently well because we are good at crafting weapons. But if you aren''t a Mage who throws out strong attacks to start, or a warrior with a big sword and agility, then you aren''t probably getting a top five finish. In real PvP, emphasis is on stun, surprise, and stealth, here since it''s not to the death and very little stealth is possible, just powerful attacks are important."


    "I see. I''m surprised that they keep it going, since people can feel pain now."


    "The banlist of moves grows longer."


    "I was thinking, if you use a [Light Sword], then probably less moves are banned than with dagger?"


    "Yes. Light Sword is better for Arena."


    "I see. I was going to train that. The quest log says to join an Arena, with high EXP rewards, so I might as well try the next Kruxol one."


    "I am already entered, but good luck finding a team. Many people are still looking for a team to enter the event. Right now, we are just entering so that we can torment our target and force him to surrender, since as just audience we could only ess the Arena stands which are a safe zone."


    "Will the Arena move to Kaxil after this?"


    "Yes, probably."


    "Alright. I guess I''ll try this out if I can find a team."


    "There''s a few other events scheduled at around this time. However, it''s really artificial PvP, so don''t take it too seriously. You saw how even strong Arena fighters died easily and cluelessly in the draugr event. This is the problem with fair, organised PvP fights: you don''t learn how to actually fight battles."

 Chapter 30: Sensei is Displeased

    Chapter 30: Sensei is Displeased


    In the streets of South-West Kruxol, Crucis walked into a humble, thatched-roof building named [Kruxol Sword Training]. A few yers were training in the corners, practicing their swing in slow-motion, rehearsing footwork or attacking training dummies. Since Kruxol had been downgraded, its trainers could not help yers to develop a skill as much as before. Crucis wasn''t concerned, however. He was here because learning the basic light sword skills through this training would be much faster than learning it through killing many rats with the one light sword skill he knew, a basic [sh]. However, having gained more basic skills, he would be able to attack more powerful enemies and develop his skills. Since he wanted to conceal his draugr weaponry from prying eyes, he drew the [Silver Wasp Sword] for training.


    The light sword trainer here was named [Hinode Hiroto]. He introduced the weapon to Crucis, saying, "The light sword is very different from the dagger. The dagger is a more anarchic weapon, the user often applies moves in whatever way he sees fit. The light sword, however, relies on passive skills that lead to stance and a strong centre. You might not be used to passive weapon skills. Here, try to strike this dummy, then use the passive skill [Centred Sword] to return your sword to a centralised position instead of it careering out to the side. This is important, or you will be vulnerable and cannot strike easily."


    Crucis walked up the dummy, and used the basic [sh] skill to deliver a deft horizontal cut. He then felt his sword swivel as he lightly rotated his wrist to return the sword to a centred position. Due to his high Agility, this urred in almost one seamless movement.


    "Very good," said Hiroto. "However, along with the use of shing attacks, you may also find thrusting skills familiar from dagger techniques. Practice the [Lunge] on this dummy, it is a fast, thrusting attack. Make sure to note carefully how far you can attack the target from while hitting a firm blow, do not attack from too far away."


    Crucis used the new [Lunge] skill on the dummy, and in a quick movement he felt the point of his de crash into the dummy. As he stepped back, his sword snapped back into a more vertical position.


    "In a swordfight, your opponent can attack as much as you," continued Hiroto, "You have attacks now, but this leaves you open to attack at the same time. So you should obstruct your opponent''s line of attack. The [Oppose] passive skill allows you to do this. It can be activated or deactivated at any time, but it is rmended for most fights. To test out a swordfight, use a light sword to defeat the boss in the room to your left. He is named [Miya], and he is a tough opponent."


    Crucis passed into the leftwards room, and saw arge, muscr man wielding an epee, the boss named [Miya]. Since this room was sealed off from the rest of the training area, Crucis decided that he could withdraw his [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword]. The slightly ungainly boss slowly approached him with stuttering steps, then raised his sword slowly. Crucis used [Dodge Step] as the boss'' attack came down, and stepped backwards easily. Using a very fastbination of [Agile Step] and [Lunge], he approached the boss and stabbed right below the ribcage. Crucis'' powerful weapon easily cut into this early boss, and the boss was reduced to 40% HP. Crucis saw the boss preparing a strike by raising his de to Crucis'' left, so Crucis activated the [Oppose] skill and then used a [sh] that flickered along his left side and obstructed the boss'' strike before striking the boss down to 10% HP. Due to the impact of the de, the boss went flying backwards and fell to the ground. Bounding forwards, Crucis used another [sh] at the grounded boss, causing a deep gash and killing the boss.


    Crucis'' weapon had made that fight much easier than it was supposed to be. He reached level 43 from killing this boss.


    Walking out, he was greeted by the trainer. "Congrattions," said Hiroto, "you have in Miya in under a minute. The average time was five minutes. As a reward, your [Centred Sword] and [Oppose] passive skills have both been upgraded to level 3. I''m sure that you found them both very helpful during the boss battle, where they are the key to defeating Miya."


    Crucis wasn''t so sure.


    Soon, Hiroto continued his speech, "When fighting with swords, deception is also important. You can use a sword as a threat, but attack with hands and feet. The more potent the threat, the more likely that the opponent will have to respond to the feint, so feigning a hard strike at a vital region is a powerful method. Use the [Feint] skill to aim heavy blows towards the dummy''s head and neck region, then kick it or sh its legs instead."


    Crucis raised his sword above his head with both hands, as if to unleash a hard overhead strike on the dummy, and then abandoned the strike to instead kick at the dummy below the ribcage.


    "Well done," said Hiroto, "You may also practice the [Overhead sh] and [Parry] moves now. To parry effectively, use the stronger part of your sword, near the hilt. Catch the opponent''s sword with the edge of your de, in order to prevent it from sliding downwards. Be careful when trying to parry a strong heavy sword strike using a light sword, it can be done but may be difficult to keep up. However, you will receive several Agility-based passive skills from training light swords, and you can use these to your advantage instead. To increase your skill points in the weapon, try to fight the next boss, [Sensei]. He is powerful, so students should fight him in a group."


    Hiroto had Crucis wait while the trainer wandered the room, and eventually found two other trainees to undertake the quest alongside Crucis.


    "Hello, I''m Ceres, what are your names?" said Crucis cordially to these two yers.


    "I''m GemsBond," said one, "I was trying to train with heavy swords, since I decided on the Knight sub-ss. I''m only level 25, so don''t me me if I screw up." Heughed.


    The remaining yer, a scruffy orange-haired level 40 Mage, introduced themselves as DigdugMan.


    "You''re studying swords as a Mage? Are you a geomancer?" asked Crucis.


    "Yeah, I am, also I have a few Traits that increase weapon damage. Some geomancer spells involve using earthen weapons, and sword skills can be useful there," said DigdugMan.


    "OK. Try to use your geomancy to enhance the sword, especially since your magic is probably more developed than sword skills."


    "Isn''t that cheating?"ughed DigdugMan, "Yeah, sure."


    Crucis smiled.


    The team walked into a room in the corner of the building, where they were confronted by a boss named [Sensei]. "You do not know the Way!" snapped the boss.


    Crucis was still using the [Silver Wasp Sword], since he hadpany. He allowed GemsBond to walk up to the boss first, and studied its pattern.


    The boss first swung slowly from the warrior''s left, and GemsBond met this with an awkward [Parry] that deflected the blow enough for it to miss. The boss then made to strike from the left again, and GemsBond prepared to parry again.


    "It looks like a feint," called out Crucis.


    Given this boss'' name and dialogue, Crucis guessed that the appearance of repeating the strike was meant to be deceptive. This boss was clearly not going to just be a simple opponent who repeated the same action until the end of the fight.


    GemsBond heard Crucis, and quickly adjuated by raising his shield as soon as the boss'' weapon changed angles and begun to strike from the right. The strike ttered against the shield, and GemsBond used this opening tounch an [Overhead sh] that reduced the boss'' HP by 4%. The boss, however, grabbed GemsBond''s hand after the strike, and held it firmly. Striking it with a [Punishment sh], a loose sh across the palm, the boss left the yer in quite some pain. Struggling to hold onto his sword, the Knight used [Shield Bash] to strike the boss with a shield, allowing him to withdraw his hand from the boss'' fierce grip. The boss began an overhead sh, but it turned out to be a feint, as the boss instead attacked GemsBond''s injured hand.


    "Ow, can barely fight with my hand like this,"ined GemsBond.


    The boss then used [Sensei is Displeased], holding out his palm towards GemsBond in an unblockable move that sent the warrior falling backwards. The Knight was already on just 65% HP.


    "Be careful with that, I think he will use it once you fight him for long enough" said Crucis.


    The boss began to prepare for a charge at GemsBond as soon as the warrior rose, but was interrupted by Crucis, who used [Stealth Cloak] to approach the boss and delivered a [Forceful Kick] from behind while the boss was still focused on GemsBond. Crucis used a [Dodge Step] to avoid the sweeping motion of the boss'' sword along the ground, and the boss slowly stood up. Crucis used [Feint] and acted as if he would use an overhead strike on the boss as it rose, but as the boss rolled to the side Crucis followed him with a [sh] along the ground, striking the boss'' feet and causing it to fall again. Crucis stepped closer to the boss, anticipating another sweep of the boss'' sword near the ground, and used [Agile Step] as soon as he saw the boss'' sword move, stepping over the boss and safely away from the sword strike. He used a [Lunge] on the grounded boss, reducing Sensei to 82% HP. This boss was quite resilient.


    He was surprised when Sensei leaned over and began another strike, but leapt away as soon as he noticed Sensei''s sword hand approaching him. However, this strike was a feint, and Sensei instead rolled to his feet after driving Crucis back.


    As the boss approached Crucis again, Crucis was guessing that the boss would repeat their earlier pattern and raise their sword to Crucis'' left. As soon as the boss'' sword rose in this direction, Crucis activated [Oppose] and then used a forceful, slightly wide [sh] across the left side, blocking Sensei''s angle of attack and nullifying the boss'' strike. His blow made Sensei stagger slightly back, but the boss returned with his arm once more raised to Crucis'' left. Crucis guessed that it was a feint, and used [Parry] to deflect the strike from the right, before striking with a [Lunge] of his own between the boss'' left throat and shoulder. Since [Oppose] was still activated, Crucis'' sword angled in from his right to restrict the boss'' options for a counterattack.


    Crucis'' angle made it difficult for the boss to grab his arm, so the boss instead aimed a [Shoulder Barge] at him and charged shoulder-first towards the direction that Crucis had attacked from. Crucis drew his arm back and dodge-rolled to his left, avoiding the attack.


    The boss prepared a hard sh towards Crucis'' right side, but Crucis recalled that the boss had used a feint at around this point in the pattern, and used [Dodge Step] to create distance, backing away using his superior Agility. The boss eventually tried a heavy lunge, but could not reach the Assassin. Crucis thought about why the boss had used a different kind of feint at this point in the pattern, using a sh instead of the overhead cut that was used against GemsBond, and realised that it was probably based on thest damaging sword move that his target had used on him. Slowing down, Crucis prepared to respond as the boss walked towards him again, but Sensei used [Sensei is Displeased] once more to push Crucis away, and Crucis fell firmly to the floor. He had 90% of his HP remaining.


    Both of Crucis'' partners now approached the boss, but Sensei used [Discipline] by smacking his sword on the ground in front of GemsBond, causing an unavoidable attack where the warrior fell hard against the floor, his HP reduced now to 45%. Sensei was seemingly insisting on fighting each yer one-on-one.


    DigdugMan was prepared for the boss'' initial strike to his left, and used [Parry] to deflect this off the edge of his own sword near the base. He then used [y Enchantment], using some y in his inventory to strengthen his own sword. This granted 300% power to first strike with the weapon if it was used by the Mage, to make up for the Mage''s typically low STR. A few yers had tried Mage builds with heightened Strength and posted mixed results on the forums. As the boss drew back his sword for a feint, DigdugMan used a hard [Overhead sh], which sent the boss reeling backwards due to the enchantment. This was followed by a [sh] to the boss'' chest, which Sensei shrugged off quickly. As the boss approached again, feigning a sh, DigdugMan raised his sword again to parry, only to be caught out by a powerful [Heart Lunge] that struck him below the chest and reduced his HP to 70%. This caused DigdugMan to copse to the ground, screaming, until he was pushed firmly away with [Sensei is Displeased].


    While this boss was generally not as painful as others, since it was a part of training, nheless the [Heart Lunge] was a dangerous move and DigdugMan looked very reluctant to continue the fight. Crucis had seen that, after his final feint in the pattern, the boss tends to either target weak points or strike a dangerous lunge. This attack was hence seemingly not pre-defined by the pattern, but based on which attack would exploit the yer''s weakness. Crucis found it interesting that NPC move patterns sometimes included a part which could actually represent multiple different moves, depending on a calction. It was like how a variable could represent different numbers.


    As GemsBond lumbered reluctantly back up to the boss, he saw it raise its sword towards his left side and parried. However, his sword hand was badly injured, and the contact with Sensei''s sword was enough to send it spiralling to the ground. GemsBond hence gave a [Punch] to the chest before diving to try and reim his sword. However, the boss was quickly upon him, and as he picked up his sword and turned to the boss he felt a sharp sting to his right side. Now at 20% HP, he desperately aimed at the boss with a [Lunge], and the boss staggered back at the fierce blow. Sensei was now at 58% HP, but was a stubborn boss who was proving difficult to take down. Crucis expected GemsBond to die before the fight was over, but figured it would be useful if he held out slightly longer.


    As Sensei approached the Knight and raised his sword to feign an overhead strike, Crucis said, "It''s a feint, don''t get hit this time. He probably aims for your right hand, use Oppose and strike from the right."


    The Knight followed Crucis'' advice, anticipating Sensei''s strike towards his hand and using his own strike to obstruct this. He hit Sensei with a [sh], firmly, then used a [Hilt Blow] to attack further. After a few seconds, Sensei sent him away with [Sensei is Displeased]. Sensei was now down to 49% HP, but GemsBond was down to 15%. As Crucis stepped up to fight, he told DigdugMan to heal the Knight.

 Chapter 31: Do you know the way?

    Chapter 31: Do you know the way?


    As the [Sensei] boss'' HP dropped below 50%, the amount of damage that it received dropped sharply. Crucis found that a strong [Overhead sh] was only dealing 2% of the boss'' HP in damage, and a slightly miscued [sh] did no damage at all. While the yers were getting more ustomed to the boss'' attack patterns, making it easier to parry most strikes, the boss'' harsh strikes and ability to use unavoidable attacks were also eating away at their HP.


    As the strangely-named DigdugMan walked up to the boss, Crucis could feel the Mage''s growing sense of impatience as the boss fight drew on. While the Mage effectively used [Parry] on the boss'' initial strike from his left, blocking the strike with the bottom half of his de''s edge, his retaliatory [Lunge] was wayward due to low Dexterity, and barely grazed the boss. rmed, the Mage stepped back quickly before the boss could attack him, and absent-mindedly held out his de to the left after seeing Sensei raise his de in that direction. Crucis shook his head tiredly, as the boss predictably switched his angle of attack and struck the Mage cleanly from the right. This blow reduced the Mage to 40% HP. Seemingly, these yers were already starting to get impatient and forget the boss'' pattern.


    Crucis saw that both of hispatriots were low on HP, with the boss still on 43% HP. Due to the boss'' increased resistance to damage, he decided that he would have to change his ns. Instead of trying to keep his team-mates alive to etch away at the boss'' HP, he realised that the boss'' current damage reduction meant that he would have to use the [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword] in order to deal substantial damage at his level. However, he was trying to conceal this weapon from other yers, so that people didn''t start trying to specte about how to achieve it. Instead of micromanaging his allies, who were having difficulty making a scratch on the boss, he could allow them to die and then withdraw his draugr sword unobserved.


    GemsBond was still ailing from the boss'' initial assault on his hand, and he clearly felt a bit of pain each time he used [Parry]. The longer the fight dragged on, the more his hand was beginning to sting. While he was still able to get in an [Overhead sh] after parrying the boss'' second strike, the strike went limp on impact and dealt only 1% of the boss'' HP in damage, as the Knight felt pain in his hand and nearly dropped his sword. The boss tried to grab his trailing hand, but he snatched it away just in time, though Sensei still kicked the Knight back onto the ground firmly since he had been leaning forwards during the strike.


    "Use your shield to attack," said Crucis, since the shield was in the Knight''s uninjured arm.


    GemsBond took Crucis'' advice, and after using [Parry] on Sensei''s next strike followed up with a [Shield Bash] that sent the boss flying back. However, his HP was running low. The following [Sensei is Displeased] sent him sprawling to the ground again, now with only 5% HP. Crucis shrugged. The Knight would probably be the first to die. While Knights are expected to be strong at swordbat, Crucis wasn''t that surprised by the result: the slow, lumbering movements of the heavily-armoured Knight can easily get caught out against this boss, who would sharply take advantage of any vulnerabilities or errors in technique.


    When DigdugMan fought this time, he took care to enchant his weapon, using the [y Enchantment] skill. He easily parried the boss'' initial strike, but seemed winded from the [Heart Lunge] earlier. He still hit back with a [Lunge] that sent the boss careering backwards, reducing the boss'' HP by 5% and giving him the chance to attack again as the boss walked slowly back towards him. Striking with a [sh], which dealt only 1% damage due to his low Strength and Dexterity, the Mage then stood back as the boss prepared another strike. He was able to parry that as well, but when he saw the boss prepare for a sh he tried bravely to attack with an [Overhead sh], to pre-empt the boss and deal some damage. He was also getting impatient. His hit dealt 2% damage, lowering the boss'' HP below 35%, but the boss struck back quickly as his sword arm fell to the side and a [Heart Lunge] snaked out towards the Mage''s torso. rmed, the Mage tried to leap out of the way, but was still scratched by the boss'' firms strike and reduced to 25% HP. He was left shouting on the ground, before being mmed into it with [Sensei is Displeased] and being left with 15% HP.


    Crucis was getting used to this boss'' pattern by now. After parrying the initial strike, he would use [Lunge], since during this phase of the fight the boss was less alert and less likely to grab his hand or sword if he didn''t withdraw quickly. After parrying or using [Dodge Step] to avoid Sensei''s second strike, Crucis would use [Overhead sh] because it was more damaging than [sh], and then quickly step back to prepare for any further attacks. After avoiding the boss'' final attack, Crucis would finally use a quick [sh] to get in some damage before Sensei shoved him away to fight the next opponent. Crucis still had 55% of his HP remaining, but he was bing nervous because, as the fight went on, this would decrease steadily until he would have to be very cautious.


    The Knight GemsBond stepped up to fight again, parrying the boss'' telegraphed first strike and then attacking with a shield. After using the shield to block the boss'' second strike, he tried to parry as the boss struck at his wounded hand, but found that he couldn''t hold his de steadily due to the pain and his sword went flying. On seeing his enemy disarmed, Sensei changed his usual pattern. Using a debuff that lowered GemsBond''s movement speed by 50%, Sensei raised his sword and slowly prepared to strike. The Knight was backing away, though slowly, and was soon almost backing into the walls to stay out of range as Sensei slowly walked towards him. Crucis could see a glint of red in Sensei''s eyes, as if he was possessed. Finally, Sensei used the [Supreme Execution] skill, and his sword extended to twice its usual length as he brought it down hard towards the Knight. It struck GemsBond hard near the neck, and the Knight copsed to his knees with a loud grunt before copsing to the ground as a dead weight. One down.


    With the Knight gone, DigdugMan entered the fray once more. By now, he seemed determined to remember the boss'' pattern, and diligently rebuffed the boss'' attacks. By carefully responding to the boss'' pattern and striking when there was an opportunity, Crucis and Digdugman were able to reduce the boss to 25% HP as the boss fought them in sequence. However, DigdugMan''s HP was low, and Crucis could tell that the Mage was still winded by the boss'' blows. The Mage was still hanging on bravely and trying to strike at the boss, but many of his blows dealt little damage if any. Crucis pped slowly on asion, as if to acknowledge the Mage''s efforts.


    Eventually, however, DigdugMan grew frustrated at the slow progress and tried to direct a sequence of both [Overhead Strike] and [sh] at the boss after the boss'' second move, even though the boss was most alert during this period. Sensei parried the Mage''s [sh], and stepped towards his opponent before directing a firm sh of his own against the Mage''s lower chest. As DigdugMan tried to respond with a [Lunge] angled towards the side of the boss, the boss swung out his own sword across the Mage''s angle of attack, and as the boss moved his shoulders firmly forwards and struck with a [Heart Lunge] his sword forcefully shoved the Mage''s out of the way with its side. As Sensei struck the Mage below the ribcage, DigdugMan copsed immediately to the ground and died.


    Crucis still had 25% of the boss'' HP to deal with, and he knew this might be difficult to deal with using his current weapon. However, he switched to the [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword] as the Mage died, and prepared for the boss'' pattern. As the boss moved in, predictably, to strike from his left, he lifted his sword to parry, then used his high Agility to quickly try an [Overhead sh], curious how much damage this weapon would do. It shaved a hefty 6% off the boss'' HP, and sent the boss sprawling backwards. Crucis took advantage of this opening with abination of [Agile Step] and [Lunge], stepping up to the boss with a fierce lunge beneath the boss'' chest, that dealt reduced the boss'' HP by 8%. As the boss prepared for his second strike, Crucis duly parried on his right side, then stepped forwards to [sh] at the boss, reducing the boss'' HP to 6%.


    However, he was perturbed when the boss triggered an ability named [Last Stand], raising its HP by 15% as soon as it had fallen below 10%. This meant that the boss was now on 20% HP. Crucis blocked the boss'' next attack, but was soon floored by a [Sensei is Displeased] skill that reduced him to 24% HP.


    However, as he hit the ground, he was surprised to see the Sensei still walking after him to attack.


    "Yourpatriots are dead, now you must die also! You must die in shame, regaling in the mastery of a swordmaster who uses the true Way of swordfighting!" shrieked the boss.


    Crucis realised that the boss would typically leave opponents alone after using [Sensei is Displeased], to fight the rest of their team, but if the opponent was alone then the boss would continue attacking them while they had fallen to the ground and were vulnerable. The boss struck him fiercely with an [Overhead sh], tearing a small gash in his left shoulder that made him wince, and he found that he had only 12% of his HP left. He hurriedly rolled to his feet at a distance from Sensei, and used [Dodge Step] to get further distance as the boss followed him.


    He was relieved to see that the boss had reverted to his usual pattern once Crucis got off the ground. Crucis parriedfortably as the boss struck to his left, then leapt forwards with a powerful [Lunge] that reduced the boss to 12% HP like himself. As the boss prepared for a second strike to Crucis'' right, he parried thatfortably and then used an [Overhead sh], falling into the routine which he had used before. This lowered the boss to 7% HP and sent him sprawling backwards, but Crucis saw that the boss was alertly holding his sword up to parry any follow-up attack. Crucis realised that the boss would soon use [Sensei is Displeased], reducing Crucis'' HP to between 2% and 3%, and after that even a single strike on the grounded, vulnerable Crucis would probably be enough for Sensei to win the fight.


    Thinking about how to extend the boss'' pattern and postpone the use of [Sensei is Displeased], Crucis decided to switch back to his [Silver Wasp Sword]. As the boss approached and tried to strike, Crucis deflected the strike with [Parry], but then allowed the momentum of the strike to dislodge his sword from his arms. The silver sword ttered against the floor, and Crucis saw a glint of red re-enter Sensei''s eyes. Sensei quickly reduced Crucis'' movement speed by 50%, but Crucis had anticipated this and immediately used [Stealth Cloak], increasing his Agility slightly as he snuck behind Sensei with [Agile Step]. The boss looked across the room, preparing to strike.


    However, Crucis struck first, drawing his [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword] andnding a firm [Overhead sh] across the back of Sensei''s head to reduce the boss to 1% HP and send the boss falling forwards. This was followed immediately by a [Lunge], and Crucis ran his sword through the boss'' lower back in a single, agile step. Sensei was dead. Crucis felt slightly tired after that effort, and sat down for a few minutes.


    Since the others in his party had also participated in the boss fight, and done at least 10% each of the total damage, they would receive rewards once they revived in an hour. He felt as if they had been helpful in this difficult fight, but keeping them alive at the end would have been a burden. Since much of Kruxol had died or fled in the draugr event, or were still reluctant to venture outdoors, Crucis figured that he was stuck with these two for now.


    Returning to Hiroto, Crucis was congratted and given arge amount of EXP for surviving the battle, enough to rise to level 45. Hiroto also gave him a [Motion Practice Sword], which moved 15% faster if it was not being used in an attack. He told Crucis to use this on order to practice footwork and parrying, as well as the passive sword skills. He then said to wait for Crucis'' partners to revive, because they would need to do the next quest in a party and then fight a difficult boss. Crucis sighed and asked if he could return in an hour, and Hiroto nodded. Stepping out of the building, Crucis walked over to the small [Kruxol Library] nearby to pass the time until he could resume his training.

 Chapter 32: Pronunciation Lessons

    Chapter 32: Pronunciation Lessons


    The library in Kruxol was mostly bereft of books, after the town was demolished by the draugr hordes. Paint was peeling off the building''s white walls. However, Crucis saw that a few new NPCs had appeared, sitting on tattered couches across the left wall of the building. He guessed that there were probably travelling NPCs, who typically settle down a short time in small towns and then move on. They were used to give small towns a sense of life, instead of programming unique NPCs for each town. They were typically quite knowledgeable about the surrounding areas, and often gave quests nearby or shared local mythology or information.


    Crucis walked up to one of these NPCs, an old man named [Sage Duom], who was wearing a thick ck shirt and matching pants in a way that looked like a religious garb. The man''s hair was jet-ck with traces of grey around the edges, and his features were sharp but calm.


    "Hello," said Duom, "Don''t be put off by the fancy ''sage'' title, I am mostly an expert in the mythology and legends of this nation. I have learned a lot from visiting Kruxol, it has a long and storied history. I came across several interesting sights while I was on my way here, would you like to know about them? Or perhaps you would like to ask a question about the mythology, traditions andnguage of this nation, the Kingdom of Invichokra?"


    Crucis noticed that this man''s pronunciation of ''Kruxol'' was very different from the way that he and most other yers pronounced it, so he asked the man to exin the pronunciation of Kruxol.


    "Ah, yes," said Duom, "Many travellers aren''t familiar with the localnguage, and it can be quite different from thenguages that they speak. Although this town''s name is written as ''Kruxol'' in yournguage, that is a limited transliteration that doesn''t fully capture the original word, because ournguage uses sounds that might not have a direct equivalent in othernguages. I can exin the pronunciation of this town''s name, if you are interested in knowing more."


    "Sure," replied Crucis, who was curious about this. He reflected that it might also be useful knowledge for the [Spy] sub-ss, which he had decided to join once he had trained his light sword abilities.


    "The letter designated as ''x'' in ''Kruxol'' is actually a representation of apound letter in ournguage which is pronounced more like ''hy-s,'' as in ''Kru-hy-sol.'' I have been told that the ''h'' sound is more like a Spanish ''gi'' or Russian ''x'' than an English ''h,'' it is a deeper sound from the throat rather than a normal letter. When pronouncing the ''hy,'' your tongue should be ced just above the back of your upper teeth, and should rise across the top of your mouth as you say it. The ''s'' sound is a soft ''s,'' where your tongue should return between your teeth. It sounds a bit like ''kruj'' in some Europeannguages, if you are familiar with this."


    Crucis attempted to pronounce this a couple of times, and Duom told him that his pronunciation was close to the mark.


    "Our pronunciation of the ''k'' is also slightly more like an ''h,'' it sounds like a soft hissed ''kh'' that has faded into a ''h'' sound as in ''hunt.'' Your tongue should be in the middle of the mouth and lowered slightly towards the tip, and then move to press clearly against the top of the lower teeth and brush the lower lip, as you exhale in a slightly hissing sound from the throat that flows below the tongue. It sounds a lot like the ''h'' sound."


    Crucis tried to approximate this with the ''h'' sound that begins the Russian name §ç§â§å§ë§×§Ó, Anglicised as ''Khrushchev,'' but adding a slight ''kh'' sound that he sometimes used to exin when Westerners asked who ''hrooshchyoff'' is. While Nikita Khrushchev had been an old leader, the Cold War was still a subject of banter in the West, owing in part to their continual attempts to reignite it.


    Duom said that this was a good first attempt, and most people would understand his meaning, but he should be more precise. Crucis tried a few more times, paying more attention to the tongue position, until Duom told him that it was satisfactory.


    "Finally, the ''ol'' at the end is quite t, and sounds a bit like ''all'' or ''call,'' or a slightly abridged version of the Russian ''§à§Ý''. You seem to be fine with that already.


    "The nation of ''Invichokra'' is not pronounced with a ''krah'' sound, that is actually a hissed sound that sounds simr to ''khrruh'' or ''khrr.'' Your tongue begins low and along the bottom of your mouth, rising towards the tip, behind your bottom teeth. This then stays behind the teeth, but you exhale from the throat and below the teeth, while the tongue tip should collide with the the lower teeth at the middle of their height, and the lower tongue should roll ''r'' against the bottom of the teeth. This is a fairly rare, and slightly archaic character, not used often in modern words, but it is maintained in the nation''s name out of a sense of pride in our traditions and history. The ''I'' at the start of the name sounds like an ''ei'' sound, it it is almost silent. It urs with your tongue pointing upwards near the lower teeth, then moving down - as if giving way - to begin the ''n'' sound that actually starts the word. Hence, ''Nvi'' is more akin to the start of the word. The ''o'' is more akin to a t ''o,'' like in ''box,'' but slightly longer. The ''ch'' is like in ''vichy,'' not ''chore.''"


    Crucis was surprised by the harshness of the sudden ''kr'' sound, but found the rest of the word easier to pronounce, and found it easier to think of it as ''(ei)nvichokhrr.'' Thanking the NPC for his exnation, Crucis asked about what the NPC had seen on his way to Kruxol, taking care with the pronunciation.


    "Nearby, the towns of Sanra and Kaxil can be found," exined Duom, "and the nearest city is Satuor to the North of Sanra."


    Crucis paid attention to the pronunciation of these locations, and made out that ''Sanra'' sounded like ''Saa-hnn-rah,'' and Kaxil was simr to Kruxol but sounded more like a cross of ''hassle'' and ''Cahill.'' ''Satuor'' sounded more like ''Saa-h-thh-or,'' with a long, low ''th'' sound. From this, he concluded that ''Duom'' was probably pronounced with a slightly long, low ''dh'' sound emerging into an ''om'' as in ''CD-ROM.'' He asked if this pronunciation was about right, and Duom nodded in the affirmative.


    "On my way from Sanra," Duom continued, "I explored some of the area North of Kruxol, and found arge waterfall which seemed to attract magical sprites. I am not sure why they all assemble there, perhaps there are magical materials nearby. A gang of thieves has a hideout further to the North, if you go off-path on the journey to Satuor. I saw a few rare birds far East of Kruxol, on the long path towards the city of Invichotuor. There are many powerful creatures there, be careful!


    "There is seemingly a Temple to the South of Kruxol, but the guards are a vicious lot and only allow Mages in. The woods below that are strange: there is a cottage where new yers go to learn valuable skills, but a long way to the West is an almost identical cottage which is deserted, and is clearly built to look the same as the other one. I didn''t enter, but this second cottage seemed to be abandoned, and I''m not sure who decided to build it. It is a bit unsettling.


    "The ruins of the town of Neikr are to the West, slightly South. There are still a few broken statues and remnants of the town, and I have heard myths that there may be an underground area where desperate residents tried to escape in the town''sst days. The town was relegated to stage 0 by the legendary Undead Dragon, and now it is reduced to ruins. Currently, there does not seem to be any way to enter this underground segment, but perhaps you can find signs of it. Finally, the Fountain of Gold is found on a hill to the West of Sanra, it is an ancient construction that is asionally rid with gold mined from the hills near Sanra. Around it are several strange runes, which represent an ancientnguage, and these runes seem to summon several strange undead creatures nearby. It is not clear what their mystery is."


    Crucis took careful note of these locations. Since Duom specified that the town of Neikr or Nkr, pronounced with the same ''i/ei'' and ''khrr'' sounds as Invichokra, had an underground area that could not yet be essed, Crucis guessed that this would probably be relevant to a future world event where this underground area may be essible. It might hence be worth familiarising himself with the site of Neikr, so that he might have some idea of possible ways that the underground area could open in the future. The Fountain of Gold might also be important to world events, but Duom had spoken of runes whose mystery was unknown, and hence it was possible that he could gain some rewards by investigating it already.


    He decided that Cael should try to explore the Fountain of Gold and the magical waterfall, since these locations with mysterious magic and runes seemed most likely to be useful for a Mage. However, reaching these locations might be difficult at present, since wandering in the wild was unsafe and likely to end painfully. More practically for now, Crucis'' interest was piqued by the counterfeit cottage in the woods to the South. He decided that he could try to pay this a visit, once he had the time. He mused half-seriously that perhaps he should let his training partners die again so that he could explore while waiting.


    He thanked Duom, and turned towards therge, mostly empty bookshelves of the library. Seeking among the few books left, Crucis found that they were mostly about local subjects and the surroundings of Kruxol. While the books about surrounding flora and fauna, or the architecture of Kruxol, sounded interesting, Crucis tried to focus on finding books rted to the ces of interest that he had gleaned from Duom''s description. He found three, with the following titles: ''The Fountain of Gold,'' ''Tragedy of Neikr,'' and ''The Wrath of the Undead Dragon.'' He got the sense that this Undead Dragon would probably reappear in some world eventster, and wondered if it was rted to N¨ªeh?ggr. It had clearly been used during the testing period, when Neikr was probably used to test the effect of downgrading a town to level 0, but the creature was frequently mentioned and was clearly meant to mean something to yers. It would probably be an important part of a future world event plotline, and Crucis decided to try and figure out if he could use the books on this dragon to find possible ways to trigger a world event.


    However, he did not have the time for that now, and so he decided to focus on the text named ''The Fountain of Gold.'' Looking through it, his eye was drawn to a strangely-drawn image of a rune, which seemed to look like the Russian letter §Ø, but had two lines - the ones going diagonally up on the left and right - extended out and curved until they looked like wings, and with two dots along both sides of each line. He could feel that, in this world, a faint power seemed to radiate from this symbol, and when he held the book open to the page with this symbol the world around it seemed darker, emptier and less coloured. This seemed like something that might help the [Necromancer] sub-ss, but he still figured that Cael could find some use for such things. He decided that investigating the Fountain should be a priority, as soon as possible.


    Leafing through the book hurriedly, since he would soon have to return to the [Kruxol Sword Training] building, he found that the Fountain was said to be a tribute to an ancient culture''s God of creation and life, named Phanes. This deity was no longer worshipped, yet a few monuments to ancient religions still persisted. The Fountain was decorated with runes that were said to have magical properties which could heal a human being or even give them supernatural powers. However, after a few years, the Fountain was overrun with the undead, and offerings to the deity ceased. These undead were more powerful than most, and it is spected that this is either due to the power of the runes or due to the assistance of the Undead Dragon who ravaged nearby towns. Over time, the undead became slightly more sparse, but it is still a dangerous area and ordinary citizens do not go there now.


    The name ''Fountain of Gold'' is based on the construction''s original name, which could be more urately rendered as ''Water-fount of Dawn''s Brightest Gold.'' Based on the niceties of the ancientnguage, this name suggests that the fountain was at one time a resplendent monument which would glow brightly in sunlight and light up the hillside at dawn. However, by now the gold had dulled and much of it had been chipped away by the undead, but some was still preserved by the undead who seemed to still treat the location as a mystical source of power. Over the winter period, the Fountain would be visited by demilich, powerful skeletal Mages of level 200 and higher, before these used magic to fly back to their home in the Northern mountains. The ordinary lich would appear in the area throughout the year, along with other undead. The power of the runes is also rumoured to lead to a few types of undead who rarely appear elsewhere, such as the [Ash Fiend], a humanoid being that perpetually burns in a magical fire that does not seem to burn out easily near the runes. These creatures stay within a certain radius of the Fountain, and will generally not attack humans unless people intrude near the Fountain.


    Crucis knew that going to the Fountain would be dangerous, due to the quantity of undead nearby. If he approached the fountain, then he would probably not survive at the moment. Once winter came, a mass of demilich would emerge, and it was autumn now. This meant that approaching this area safely would be difficult in the immediate future, especially for the slower Cael. He would have to look for ways to journey there and investigate the runes, but at present it did not seem feasible.


    Soon, he received a notification in his system messages, saying:


    [Please report to Hiroto for the next phase of your sword training.]


    He got up and quickly left for the [Kruxol Sword Training] building.

 Chapter 33: Trial of Blades

    Chapter 33: Trial of des


    "Your next quest will be to enter a dungeon just beside this building, known as the Battodo Trial," said Hiroto, "You will be challenged by a series of enemies in groups of three. Try to defeat at least three waves of enemies, and you may leave after that. The further waves of enemies will soon be too strong for you to fight. Only the sword may be used as a weapon, but you may use buffs, shields and healing spells. Before I give you the keys to the dungeon, please use the sword EXP gained from defeating Sensei, and use it to gain additional skills and passives. This time, it is your choice which skills to develop, but I would rmend focusing on passive skills that improve your grip and footwork."


    Crucis nced at his character profile, and saw that he had 30 points to allocate to sword skills. He saw that the sword skill tree gave him several options from this point, and looked carefully to determine which skills would lead in the correct direction to get skills he would needter. For the moment, he had the following options:


    [Slice | Active skill, attacks opponent by drawing the de across their skin to cause more damage. Chance of inflicting the bleeding status effect.]


    [Cost: 3 skill points.]


    [Duel Vision (passive) | ces a single opponent in focus by blurring the surrounding scene, allowing you to more easily size up your opponent. Do not activate against multiple opponents.]


    [Cost: 4 skill points.]


    [Low feet (passive) | Enhances footwork, and keeps your feet low to the ground to avoid giving the opponent any openings.]


    [Cost: 5 skill points.]


    [Warding (passive) | Allows you to stay at a distance from opponents, and use a ward based on a certain selected move. That move will gain doubled movement speed if you use it when the opponent approaches.]


    [Cost: 10 skill points.]


    [Rising thrust | Active skill, thrusts with your sword rising from a lowered position.]


    [Cost: 5 skill points.]


    [Angles (passive) | Allows you to strike freely towards your opponent across 8 angles of attack.]


    [Cost: 10 skill points.]


    [Strong blow | Active skill, hard but slow strike at the opponent.]


    [Cost: 15 skill points.]


    Crucis considered carefully, and tried toe up with an appropriate n forbat. The costly [Strong blow] skill didn''t seem that useful, especially for a character focused on Agility. He chose [Warding (passive)], [Rising Thrust], [Angles (passive)], and [Low feet (passive)]. Hiroto nodded, on noticing that he had chosen three passive skills, but seemed a bit perturbed when the Knight GemsBond used up most of his 20 skill points on the [Strong blow].


    Crucis knew that the Duel Vision and Slice skills would be worth picking upter, but since they were fighting three NPC opponents it did not seem necessary immediately. However, he had made a tentative n to use [Warding] in order to size up opponents from a distance with the asional [sh] or [Feint], and if they attacked to use his high Agility and skills like [Agile Step] to easily get a first hit and the momentum. The [Angles] passive would allow him to attack quickly and from any angle when approached, while the [Low feet] skill seemed necessary because it would strengthen footwork. This set-up would allow him to judge NPC behaviour and adjust appropriately, as well as sizing up opposing yers.


    Once all of the yers were prepared, Hiroto gave them a [Battodo Trial Key]. He said that they could enter the trial once per week, and it would give good sword EXP. This time was for training, so it would not use up their weekly chance and they could try againter in the week. They should seek him or another instructor here for ess to the dungeon, which was instanced and required a group of three for yers who were below level 200. Presumably high-level yers were able to get through much of it solo, and were thus allowed in.


    The building next to the [Kruxol Sword Training] facility was built from slightly rotting wood, but still had an ornately carved wooden, triangr roof that grew upwards into a long, sharp point. The roof was decorated by a few gold letters that seemed to have eroded away, but Crucis could recognise that they were based on some of the ancient runes which he had read about in the book about the Fountain of Gold. After using the key to unlock the firm, wooden door, the party of three entered arge, empty room which had wood over its windows and a long, purple carpet across the edges of the room. There were small patterns etched into the floor in the centre of the room.


    "Where are the enemies?" asked GemsBond quizzically.


    "Just wait," said Crucis.


    There was a small buzzing as the small symbols etched into the floor begun to glow faintly, and three ghostly figures appeared in the centre of the room. The figures appeared as young men wearing a white shirt, and they were eachbelled [Dedicated Trainee], with a level of 30.


    As Crucis'' party approached these three enemies, each of the trainees split off to face one member of Crucis'' team each. Crucis gazed at his opponent, and saw that they were holding their de extended forwards and to the side, as if expecting to cut from Crucis'' right side. This Trainee seemed to be left-handed. Crucis guessed that this first set of enemies would be an easier fight, as the opponents supposedly became more difficult over time. He used [Warding], and chose to prepare the move [Rising thrust]. He found that his left leg was ced forwards, with his sword pointed forwards and downwards across the right side. He rxed his arm, letting his sword fall loosely near the ground to invite his opponent to attack. He saw that the Mage DigdugMan, to his left, had used [Warding] with a different prepared attack and had his sword raised behind his right shoulder to sh.


    Crucis made sure to remain out of the opponent''s range, and activated the [Oppose] skill to avoid counterattacks. He was fairly confident of getting the first strike against this opponent.


    As the Trainee rushed towards him, with his sword firmly on Crucis'' right, Crucis'' arm sprung up in a [Rising thrust] that struck the Trainee firmly below the nose. Crucis angled his de slightly to the right, cutting off the Trainee''s nned cut and shuffling the Trainee''s sword away. Having struck sessfully, Crucis roughly withdrew his sword, worsening the wound slightly, and backstepped quickly out of range. His feet shuffled nimbly near the ground. ncing above the Trainee''s head, he saw that his initial strike had reduced the Trainee to 40% HP. This fight seemed likely to end quickly.


    There was a thud to his left, as DigdugMan and the Trainee he was fighting against had lost bnce after a few hard blows against each other''s swords, and they began fighting haphazardly along the ground.


    Crucis stayed at a distance from the Trainee he was fighting. As the Trainee moved quickly towards him and prepared for a thrust forwards, he used [Dodge Step] to easily backstep out of range. The Trainee reacted with more frustration than Crucis would have expected from an NPC, and began to charge towards Crucis. Crucis saw that the Trainee was raising his legs high and running in Crucis'' direction, perhaps in an effort to be intimidating. The Trainee was approaching and preparing another cut from Crucis'' right, so, as the Trainee was running, Crucis used [Agile Step] forwards and left, then used a firm [sh] towards his opponent''s neck, missing slightly and hitting the Trainee''s upper chest. This still winded his opponent, so he bounded forwards and passed the opponent''s right shoulder, angling his de up over the opponent''s shoulder to block the Trainee''s attempt at a wild counter-attacking sh.


    Standing behind the opponent, Crucis aimed a firm [Lunge] below the opponent''s ribcage and slightly towards the Trainee''s left, and this thrust through the opponent''s skin as he tried to turn slowly around. Crucis saw the Trainee fall to the ground, dead.


    He heard a soft cry from DigdugMan, and saw that these Trainee were marked as boss enemies, so the Mage was in slight pain after being scratched across the face while on the ground. However, he was now being more cautious, and staying distant from his opponent while using [Warding] to parry his opponent''s attacks swiftly.


    "Prepare y Enchantment," said Crucis, as he set upon DigdugMan''s opponent from behind with a harsh horizontal [sh] from the right, followed by tilting his wrist to move his sword upwards and to the left, seguing into an [Overhead sh] that jaggedly scraped the edge of the Trainee''s neck. Staggering slightly, the Trainee still managed to turn around quickly after Crucis'' second strike, but found that Crucis had already backstepped out of range. Crucis used [Warding], and prepared a [Parry] skill to anticipate a high strike from the opponent. He entered a stance with his slightly-tilted sword held horizontally in front of his face on his right side, with his elbows pointed backwards and away from himself. As the Trainee struck at him with a high cut near shoulder-height, Crucis used [Parry] and let the point of his de drop until the Trainee''s sword deflected off the centre of his sword, then dropped his elbows and used a [Lunge] to thrust at the enemy below the chest.


    He used his sword to shove the opponent''s sword away as he took a few steps back. The Trainee was now at only 35% HP. As Crucis used [Warding] again and prepared to parry any oing attack, he saw the Trainee give up on attacking Crucis with a high cut, and lower his sword to the lower chest area. Crucis also lowered his stance, and brought his sword in front of him, holding it near his hips while pointing it horizontally upwards in the direction of his opponent. As the Trainee offered a tentative cut towards Crucis'' chest, Crucis quickly parried using the Agility boost, easily catching the Trainee''s sword as it approached. Crucis stepped backwards to avoid any follow-up, and found that the Trainee was hesitant to pursue because of the risk of counter-attack.


    This had given DigdugMan the time to prepare his [y Enchantment], and he struck hard at the Trainee with an [Overhead sh]. The Trainee had noticed his movements, and spun around quickly to parry, but his sword barely scratched the Mage''s heavy blow, and the Trainee fell sprawling to the floor. After a couple of seconds, the Trainee sprung up nimbly from the floor, only to catch the swinging de of Crucis'' [sh] to the face. The Trainee fell lifelessly to the ground, as quickly as he had risen, and two of the opponents were dead.


    While GemsBond was faring decently, and had reduced his enemy to 30% HP, he seemed to be walking slightly unsteadily after a few blows around the head and neck region. Using his shield, he had managed to block several attacks, and respond with a hefty [Strong blow] using his heavy sword to sh at the enemy in retaliation. This was risky, as the Knight''s slow and cumbersome movements made him vulnerable, and the slow wind-up of the [Strong blow] move left him vulnerable to unexpected blows. However, since this level of opponents was the easiest in the dungeon, he was still able to gain an advantage.


    Crucis and DigdugMan descended quickly on the remaining Trainee. Crucis used a [Feint] as the Trainee spun towards him, feigning a [sh] at the Trainee''s face before using [Agile Step] instead to leap behind the Trainee. As the Trainee raised his de to parry Crucis, DigdugMan struck with a lower [sh] near the ribs. Crucis took advantage of this distraction to use [Forceful Kick], barreling his opponent to the ground, and GemsBond finally killed the Trainee with [Strong blow].


    A system message appeared, saying:


    [Congrattions, you have defeated the first wave of Trial enemies!


    The next wave of enemies will spawn in one minute. You may use that time to rest and prepare for the battle.]


    Crucis noticed that he had looted a [Notebook and Pencil] from the Dedicated Trainee. The Trainee carrying a notebook was probably a way of representing their dedication to studies. Regardless, Crucis used the spare minute to jot down the runes he saw decorating the ground in this building. He felt the lighting and tone of the room change slightly as he drew these, but this effect was still quite faint. The other party members were leaning on the walls trying to catch their breath.


    After the minute ended, the symbols in the middle of the room began to glow faintly again. Crucis told his party members to get ready, and stood carefully facing where thest opponents had spawned. This wave of opponents spawned in the same ce as thest, and were named [Disciplined Youth]. They were level 40, right-handed, and held a sword with some ceremonial gems and ribbon around the hilt. The teams of three prepared to face off, with each opponent focusing on one member of Crucis'' party.


    Crucis observed his opponent, and saw that this [Disciplined Youth] seemed to be holding his sword t at around hip length, preparing for a cut. Crucis took up a lower guard with [Warding], preparing a [Rising thrust] by leaving his sword pointing forwards towards the ground in a rxed manner. As the [Disciplined Youth] came at him, leaning low to make a stiff strike above Crucis'' hips, Crucis rose his sword to [Parry] and then stepped away. He saw the opponent raise their sword high over their head, as if preparing for an overhead move. He used [Warding] to prepare a parry, then held out his sword in front of him. As his opponent approached him, he prepared a tentative sh towards their shoulders, which the [Disciplined Youth]fortably parried. Crucis leapt back, and prepared for his opponent''s next attack.


    The [Disciplined Youth] were not as easily frustrated as thest enemy, but still seemed to be impatient and eager tounch an attack. As they struck at Crucis again, with a wide sh from Crucis'' right side, he used [Dodge Step] to backstep out of harm''s way, and the sword flew harmlessly through the air. The opponent gathered his sword after the swing, and prepared for another hard high sh from Crucis'' left, but as they moved forwards Crucis struck with a fast [sh] across a top-left diagonal that slithered noisily past the opponent''s de and struck near the base of their neck. Deflecting the opponent''s strike due to the angle of his de, Crucis drew back quickly and created some distance from his opponent''s de.


    As the opponent approached him, Crucis used [Feint] to throw a convincing, sharp [sh] from the right, then, as the opponent prepared for this, Crucis slipped his de away from theirs and instead used [Agile Step] to reach a crouching position just behind his opponent''s shoulder. There, he struck with a fierce [sh] across the opponent''s legs from behind, sending his opponent falling backwards to the ground. Backing off as the [Disciplined Youth] iled at him, he saw that the opponent only had 60% HP remaining. With his opponent on the ground, Crucis knew that they were vulnerable if they couldn''t anticipate his attacks, and they would have to try and get back up to avoid bing an easy target.


    Crucis used [Stealth Cloak], and saw that his opponent became highly alert as soon as he did so. Nheless, he hovered near the fallen opponent, and struck hard with a [sh] near the neck as his opponent tried to leap back up. This caused his opponent to fall back down, and Crucis took advantage of the surprise attack to thrust his sword firmly into the opponent''s sword arm with [Lunge], which appeared more akin to a stab when the enemy was grounded. The [Disciplined Youth] seemed to let out a faint yelp, and tried to counter-attack but found it difficult after the puncture to his arm. As the fallen opponent tried to rally with his sword, Crucis struck right above it with a [sh] that struck the opponent''s neck and drew blood. The [Disciplined Youth] had only 15% HP remaining, and this was draining rapidly as he bled. Crucis smiled lightly as the opponent''s sword ttered back to the ground after Crucis'' strike.


    The [Disciplined Youth] kept trying to squirm their way to their feet. Keeping his sword over the opponent''s, Crucis directed a [Forceful Kick] at the opponent''s face to kick them back to the ground. He withdrew the [Vile Toxin Gas] from his inventory, and sprayed it over the opponent, who died as an array of small cuts formed across their face and shielding arms.


    As his intense focus lifted, Crucis heard the sound of muffled groans and cries from across the room. The other yers in his team were clearly beginning to feel some pain from this fight. Crucis saw with some rm that GemsBond was already at 40% HP, having difficulty against an opponent who is willing to hang back and carefully take advantage of the Knight''s slow strikes. DigdugMan was doing better, and using his healing spell to keep his HP above 70%, but seemed to be taking a few strikes when rushing in to attack the opponent. However, due to the [y Enchantment], which he had carefully prepared before the start of this fight, he had managed tond a few hard blows against this opponent.


    Crucis crept towards GemsBond''s opponent, and saw that the Knight was by now hanging back carefully. As Crucis used [sh], the opponent quickly spun around and deflected it with a [Parry], causing Crucis to quickly backstep away. He realised that, since this opponent wasn''t under any direct pressure from GemsBond, it had been an inopportune moment to attack. As GemsBond now tried to strike with a [Strong blow], the opponent deftly turned back and parried this.


    Crucis pointed at the hilt of the Knight''s de, then used [Stealth Cloak] to crouch and move near the opponent. He heard GemsBond attempt a [sh] which was also parried, and then Crucis swung a [sh] move quickly at the back of the opponent''s legs. The opponent begun falling backwards, and he heard a thud as GemsBond followed his instructions and used a [Hilt Blow] to smash the opponent hard into the ground. Crucis quickly recovered his footing, and took advantage of the falling opponent to twist his wrists swiftly up and then hit with an [Overhead sh] at the fallen opponent''s face. He then jumped backwards quickly for safety. As he saw the Knight preparing a [Strong blow], he stepped forwards and used a [Lunge] to the face which the grounded opponent quickly parried. This left his opponent open for GemsBond''s [Strong blow], which crashed hard into the opponent below the chest. The wounded [Disciplined Youth] shuddered slightly, and GemsBond killed them with a strong [sh] to the face.


    Crucis turned to thest remaining [Disciplined Youth]. This one was putting up a firm resistance from 20% HP, and Crucis saw that the other two opponents dying had given a 40% HP boost to the one remaining. While Crucis managed tond a [sh] on this opponent''s shoulder, he saw the opponent swivel towards him and start to approach. Crucis used [Warding] to prepare a parry, and held his sword horizontally across his face again. As he predicted, the vengeful opponent attempted a high overhead strike, but Crucis easily raised his de to [Parry], and quickly aimed a [Forceful Kick] at his opponent who went hurtling backwards towards GemsBond. The Knight heftily swung a [Strong blow] at the unprepared [Disciplined Youth], knocking the opponent to the ground. Crucis saw that DigdugMan was trying to use [Mana Strike] to repel his opponent, but the opponents in this dungeon had very high resistance to magic and shrugged this off.


    The [Disciplined Youth] quickly rolled back to his feet, and struck an approaching GemsBond with a sharp cut to the head. This was followed by another cut to GemsBond''s sword hand, causing the Knight to drop his sword. Although Crucis tried to intervene with a [sh], it was clear that the opponent had decided that it was open season on the Knight, and a firm thrust near the gut was enough to kill the Knight. The team was now down to two yers. Crucis quickly struck the [Disciplined Youth] with an angled [Overhead sh] to the back of the neck while the opponent was still drawing his sword out of the dead Knight. DigdugMan followed this up with a [Lunge] using [y Enchantment], which heavily damaged the [Disciplined Youth]. Finally, Crucis killed the opponent with a [sh] to the neck. The second wave of opponents had been defeated.


    A system message appeared:


    [Congrattions, you have defeated the second wave of Trial enemies!


    Since you are low-level, and do not have a team of three any more, a version of thest opponent you faced will be added to your team to make sure that you have even numbers for your next fight. They will support your team, but be careful not to attack them.


    The next wave of enemies will spawn in one minute. You may use that time to rest and prepare for the battle.]


    Crucis scrawled down the few runes that he hadn''t managed to record previously, then leant against a wall to recover. Defeating thest wave of opponents had lifted him to level 48.


    "We should be okay, if it adds a Disciplined Youth to our party then they will probably keep one opponent tied up," said Crucis, "We can kill them after that for the loot and EXP."


    DigdugManughed, then turned towards the centre of the room as four figures materialised there. Three of them were level 50.


    The third wave had begun.

 Chapter 34: Final Wave

    Chapter 34: Final Wave


    Three strong enemies materialised in the centre of the wooden floor, each at level 50. They were named [Indecisive Apprentice]. This was the third wave of the Battodo Trial, and the one that Crucis'' team was tasked with defeating.


    Another figure appeared next to them, a level 40 [Disciplined Youth], and he walked away from the others to join Crucis'' team. This allowed for fights to be 3v3, as the emphasis was still on basic swordfighting against one opponent.


    Crucis saw one of the [Indecisive Apprentice] figures walk up towards him, preparing forbat. This opponent''s sword was centred and pointed towards Crucis. Crucis paid attention to his opponent''s movements and their grip on the sword, then used [Warding] to prepare a rising, diagonal [sh] from a low position. He ced his left leg forwards, and his sword was a short distance behind it with the de prepared to strike the opponent.


    The [Indecisive Apprentice] approached Crucis to attempt a harsh cut near the ribs. Crucis'' [sh] snaked out rapidly towards the opponent''s hands, and made a small gash that loosened the Apprentice''s grip on the sword. The base of Crucis'' sword entangled with the Apprentice''s sword, deflecting the opponent''s attack. The Apprentice swiftly stepped away, and tightened their grip on their sword again.


    Crucis saw that the opponent was still holding their sword out towards him. He used [Warding], and entered the same position as he hadst time, preparing for a diagonal [sh]. As the Apprentice approached for another attack, Crucis guessed that this time would be a feint to catch him out if he tried the same response again. When the Apprentice came up to him to feint a cut to the chest, then switched angles to a diagonal, low strike, Crucis used [Dodge Step] and watched the swordy from safely out of range.


    Crucis held his de in front of him and pointing forwards, mirroring the opponent, using a ward to prepare for a [sh] towards the centre of the body. When his opponent approached, he tried a tentative straight [sh] but was parried, then saw his opponent trying to force the issue by stretching forwards and sliding their sword past Crucis'' to attempt an attack. Crucis followed their sword with his, sliding against it to keep it from attacking him, and saw that his opponent was leaning quite far forwards. Using [Forceful Kick], he sent his opponent stumbling backwards on 75% HP.


    His opponent regained bnce quickly, with their sword drooping low to the ground, so Crucis took up a ward with his sword held high and preparing an [Overhead sh]. He then made a few threatening steps towards the Apprentice, to feign aing high strike. However, as the opponent''s de shed upwards to deflect aing blow, Crucis dropped his shoulders and brought his sword below shoulder-height, swinging it from left to right instead of downwards. This pushed the Apprentice''s sword out of its vertical upwards motion, and Crucis tried to take advantage of this with a [Lunge] against the unguarded opponent, only to find that his opponent had stepped backwards as soon as his sword was deflected and the [Lunge] pierced empty air. Crucis took a few quick steps back, and deflected a fast overhead strike from the opponent. Crucis stepped quickly to the right after the opponent''s explosive forwards movement, and let the opponent''s sword fall to the left side.


    Crucis aimed a quick [sh] at the opponent from this new angle on the right nk, forcing a sharp parry. Having forced his opponent to block, he easily backstepped away to create distance and end the brief flurry of attacks.


    He saw his opponent holding their sword low, dropping to below knee-height. He guessed that they were getting slightly worn-out, but were adapting with a low guard and nning to cut upwards. He hence took up a ward nning a [Lunge], keeping his de pointed straight ahead from around the hip region. As he approached his opponent, he used [Feint] to suggest that he would use a straight [sh] at his opponent, anticipating the opponent rising their sword to deflect. He instead struck downwards to keep his opponent''s sword near the ground, and the contact caused both swords to deflect to the sides. Crucis quickly backstepped to avoid any further attacks.


    This fight was proving difficult, and he nced briefly at the rest of his party to see how they were faring. The [Disciplined Youth] was still holding on at 70% HP, while DigdugMan was using healing skills and keeping his distance in order to stay above 50% HP. However, they seemed to both be having difficulty with making inroads against their opponents.


    Crucis had noticed that the [Indecisive Apprentice] would sometimes takerge steps before an attack, forcing them to regain their bnce before striking. He decided to use this window as an opportunity to attack. Keeping distance from his opponent, he slowed his retreat and waited for the Apprentice to surge forwards in attack. As the Apprentice began a small charge forwards, and prepared to cut at Crucis'' head, Crucis used [Agile Step] right and forwards to intercept his opponent with abination of an angled [sh] across the face and a [Forceful Kick] across the legs. The opponent tried to block the strike, but was too unbnced by the motion and could do nothing as a small gash was torn over their face. The powerful kick to their legs was enough to cause the unbnced Apprentice to fall to the ground, allowing Crucis to swiftly [Lunge] at their face and deepen the gash until blood was spurring heavily from just above the Assassin''s nose.


    While Crucis'' opponent rolled quickly to their feet, the damage had been done. The [Indecisive Apprentice] was now down to only 40% HP, and was bleeding heavily.


    Crucis stood at a slight distance, keeping a high stance with his sword raised behind his head, threatening an attack to the head if the enemy approached. The opponent skittishly stayed at a distance, with a sword raised in front of them. After 15 seconds without any attacks, Crucis made a [Feint] towards the opponent''s head and then switched to a downwards [sh] towards the legs. However, he was surprised when the Apprentice twisted his wrists to the side and let his sword hang down to deflect Crucis'' blow, then stepped forwards to attempt a [Rising sh]. Crucis used [Dodge Step] when he saw his de deflected, and backstepped out of reach of the Apprentice''s sharp sh. He sidestepped to the right and tried a tentative [sh] as the Apprentice''s attack missed, only for his opponent''s de to twist and intercept his strike. Crucis backed off once again.


    Crucis watched as his opponent feinted a cut from his right, and he responded with a straight cut that was parried. He stepped away again. The [Indecisive Apprentice] had been reduced to 33% HP by now due the bleeding. Crucis attempted a low sh just above the opponent''s legs, but was parried quickly by the opponent''s swordas it pointed straight up, and Crucis backtracked to avoid the rising thrust response. However, his opponent did not let up, and after the rising thrust transferred quickly into a downwards cut. Crucis just about managed to stop this by swiftly lowering his horizontal sword under the opponent''s to cover the blow, but the Apprentice saw an obvious opening and slid his sword fowards, thrusting it painfully into Crucis'' thigh. Crucis grimaced, and quickly slid backwards to avoid follow-up.


    However, the Apprentice would not let up, aiming a hard strike at Crucis'' legs. Crucis parried it, with his de hanging down in front of his legs, but he lost his footing slightly due to the fresh wound which he had not yet adapted to. His sword wavered, and the Apprentice managed to direct a firm cut just beneath his chest before he backstepped quickly away to regroup.


    Crucis was winded, and now down to just 35% HP. When his opponent came at him with a feint, pretending to strike high but switching to a low strike at Crucis'' thighs, he predicted it and countered with a downwards [sh] that dragged the Apprentice''s sword downwards. He leaned down and used a [Rising thrust], and his de flew up and pierced the Apprentice just below the ribs, reducing the opponent to 15% HP. Crucis then swiftly used [Stealth Cloak] and moved swiftly to the left until he was out of range. He saw the opponent preparing to sh backwards, anticipating the likely attempt to sneak behind him in [Stealth Cloak]. Crucis instead stepped towards the Apprentice and struck a hard [sh] at their their sword arm just above the wrist, creating a small gash, in order to set up a firm [Rising thrust] at the opponent''s bleeding face. As his opponent jerked harshly backwards in a failed attempt to avoid the strike, Crucis used [Forceful Kick] to knock them over to the ground, and the sword dropped from his opponent''s injured hand as they fell to the ground. Finally, he once again used the [Toxin gas] from his inventory on the disarmed opponent''s wounded face, and it caused several cuts to form around the central wound, which itself started to deepen unevenly. The opponent''s loud scream shook the room, as he died.


    Crucis had been curious about the fact that many NPCs seemed much more emotional now than before the bug. He took the pained, dying screams of the [Indecisive Apprentice] as a confirmation that the NPCs were bing more like PCs. So far as he could see, a dying NPC by now was basically the same as a ganked yer, except for thetter using more swear-words. Crucis wondered if this phenomenon with NPCs was rted to what div had said about yer deaths, that the game was beginning to interact with real information from the world outside.


    However, he didn''t have the time to consider this more deeply, as he saw that his allies were both in quite dire straits. While the [Disciplined Youth] had been holding his own surprisingly well, he was now down to 30% HP with an opponent that was on 50%. DigdugMan was down to 15% HP, and was carefully parrying blows while trying to heal himself. The [Indecisive Apprentice] facing him still retained 70% HP.


    Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] to approach this Apprentice while DigdugMan tentatively tried to strike, and Crucis leant in with a firm [Lunge] into the Apprentice''s lower back. As the Apprentice quickly attacked around his left shoulder, Crucis raised his de upwards and to the left to parry and then struck with a harsh downwards [sh] at the neck. This connected firmly, and drew arge gash in the opponent''s neck. DigdugMan saw this gash, and swung for it with a slow [sh]. While the Apprentice painedly rose his sword to attempt to parry, this was cut off as Crucis'' sword slithered to the left and struck hard at the Apprentice''s sword hand, drawing blood and sending it careering wildly to the left. DigdugMan''s firm blow widened the gash on the neck, and Crucis saw that the Mage had a determined expression and was indifferent to the whimpering of the [Indecisive Apprentice]. The opponent was now down to 10% HP.


    DigdugMan quickly used [Mana Push] on his opponent''s bleeding sword hand, and it was enough to disarm the Apprentice. Crucis smiled, and folded his de lightly around the opponent''s wounded neck to keep them still. While the Apprentice tried to squirm slightly, it worsened the throat injury as they slid against Crucis'' sword, and they stiffened up and began to vomit blood. DigdugMan delivered a harsh [Lunge] to the Apprentice below the ribs, andughed as his opponent fell to the ground.


    "Thanks," said DigdugMan, "Need healing?"


    "Yep, thanks," replied Crucis.


    The Mage healed him to 50% HP, and they turned to watch the two NPCs fighting on the far left of the room.


    "How is that guy still holding out?" said DigdugMan, who had been expecting their level 40 NPC team-mate to die quickly.


    "Both of these AI hold back a lot, and their movement seems to be set as nearly identical. While they''re acting slightly irregrly in this fight, their base settings mean that they''re both too distant from each other to attack most of the time."


    DigdugMan nodded, then started to approach the fray. As the remaining Apprentice noticed him, theyunched a feint to drive their level 40 opponent away, then turned swiftly and advanced towards the Mage with a cut to the right shoulder. DigdugMan winced, then slowly stepped to the left and struck at the Apprentice''s sword hand. This was deflected, but Crucis used [Agile Step] to approach and [Feint] towards the Apprentice''s back. While the Apprentice did slide his de away to parry Crucis'' attack, Crucis snapped his wrist and sent his sword upwards at the Apprentice''s hand. This strike left a small, bleeding cut. The [Disciplined Youth] sprung forwards now, directing a powerful cut at the Apprentice''s side and following this up with a firm thrust. After DigdugMannded a powerful [Overhead sh], the Apprentice fell to the ground.


    The [Disciplined Youth] strode forwards, and prepared to strike at the fallen adversary. However, the Apprentice swiftly swept his sword near the floor and struck the [Disciplined Youth]''s feet, sending him falling forwards onto Crucis'' waiting de, as Crucis used a [Lunge] to impale his NPC ally. Crucis held the falling NPC''s corpse, and flung it at the Apprentice''s sword to deflect it as the Apprentice tried slowly to strike Crucis from below. Crucis and DigdugMan both used [sh] on the fallen enemy''s head and neck region, and thest Apprentice died.


    "He died like Caesar," remarked Crucis dryly.


    DigdugMan smiled, and said, "Funny you mention that. I was a Shakespeare schr a few years ago, but I was discharged from my position as an academic after writing a controversial journal article about ''The Merchant of Venice.''"


    Crucisughed, "What about that y?"


    "Oh, nothing exciting. It''s just that in modern times you''re walking on eggshells when writing about ys like that, I probably didn''t add enough disimers as it were."


    "I can imagine. Come to think of it, since we''re all trapped here, ys would be an easy diversion. So you could always put your knowledge to some use."


    "There are a few people doing performances already, and I checked those out. It seems a bit circus-like, though, mostly for cheap entertainment. If you know of any groups who would be interested, then tell me."


    "Sure thing. By the way, are you named after the old game?"


    "Dig Dug? Yes."


    "Ah, nice to know," said Crucis. The Mage was slightly out of breath after the fight, so Crucis let the conversation end there.


    A system message appeared:


    [Congrattions, you have defeated the third wave of Trial enemies!


    The next wave of enemies will spawn in one minute. You may use that time to rest and prepare for the battle.


    Special Note: Since you are here for a training mission, you havepleted the objective. Further levels would be too difficult. You may leave the dungeon and return to your trainer.]


    Crucis shook hands with DugdugMan, and they walked out of the dungeon to talk to Hiroto.


    As he was approached the [Kruxol Sword Training] building, Crucis noticed that the Trial had gained him 30 more skill points to use on sword skills. He quickly unlocked the [Slice] skill which he had seen earlier, and saw that this gave him several new options on the tech tree. This included the [Slicing strike] passive, which he also enabled. He looked at his two new skills, which cost 7 points in total:


    [Slice | Active skill, attacks opponent with a shing move that draws across their skin to cause more damage. Chance of inflicting the bleeding status effect.]


    [Slicing strike (passive) | Enhances your ordinary non-thrust strikes to slice more firmly across the opponent''s skin, dealing more damage on strike.]


    Having the [Warding] and [Rising thrust] skill allowed him to unlock the [Half-swording] skill:


    [Half-swording (passive) | When activated, allows you to grip your de firmly and use it to thrust like a dagger. Effective against opponents in thick armour.]


    [Cost: 8 points.]


    This gave him ess to a part of the skill tree with several grappling moves. He selected to also learn the [Sword hold] and [Parry grapple] skills:


    [Sword hold | Active skill, can be used to safely grab hold of the opponent''s de during a sh. Be careful not to grab a de that is moving quickly.]


    [Cost: 4 points.]


    [Parry grapple | After your sword deflects an opponent''s sword, allows you to grapple with their sword hand to push their de further away.]


    [Cost: 6 points.]


    Thetter skill seemed valuable, as he could create openings to strike an opponent more easily. This left him with 5 points, which he used immediately on a skill that seemed almost obligatory:


    [Uncrossing of des | If your de strikes your opponent''s, then you may use this skill. It gives a 50% chance of eliminating all cooldown on yourst attack and allowing you to use a follow-up attack.]


    [Cost: 5 points.]


    This would allow him to continue an attack for longer, by potentially enabling him to string attacks together more effectively. He would still rather be cautious with it, since it would also open him up to counter-attack. However, without it, both his attacks and counter-attacks would be much more predictable, as he would mostly be constrained to using basic moves one at a time.


    He saw that Hiroto was waiting in a corner of the Training building, and walked up to the trainer slowly.

 Chapter 35: Try spinning, thats a good trick

    Chapter 35: Try spinning, that''s a good trick


    "Congrattions on defeating the first three waves of the Battodo Trial!" said Hiroto, "It is not an easy challenge for new swordsmen, and as a reward you may have additional sword EXP. This will allow you to develop your skills further. Your next task will be to face the boss, Athur. The boss room can be found in the corner of a small garden to the South-West of Kruxol, which I have marked on your maps, and you will need to dig up four swords hidden in the garden''s soil before the boss'' door unlocks. It will be easier to do this with a team of three people, so please wait until your third partner returns."


    Crucis checked on his light sword skill tree, since he had obtained 12 skill points from Hiroto''s reward. He saw several avable options:


    [Nimble (passive) | Increases your Agility by 100.]


    [Cost: 3 points.] [Mordhau | Active skill, hold the sword by the de and strike using the hilt. Delivers a strong, blunt blow.]


    [Cost: 7 points.] [Thrash | Allows you to hack crudely with your sword at a surface, most useful for breaking through obstacles like vines and branches. Strikes 3 times.]


    [Cost: 2 points.] [Hard/soft (passive) | When des are crossed, allows the user to alter how much pressure they are putting on the opponent''s de.]


    [Cost: 2 points.] [de Strike | Active skill, strikes at the opponent''s de to disce it.]


    [Cost: 5 points.] [Bnced Strike (passive) | Using your knowledge of Warding allows you tounch attacks morefortably from various positions, 5% increase to movement speed of sword skills.]


    [Cost: 5 points.]


    The [Bnced Strike] passive was an obvious choice here, and Crucis took it immediately. It was a clear advancement in the technique of all other sword skills, and he had been aiming to unlock it soon.


    He found the [Nimble] skill interesting, as it would make his character faster even when using another weapon. He quickly scanned the skill tree for further Agility boosts of this sort, and saw that by getting [Hard/soft] he would progress towards unlocking a small cluster of Agility-boosting moves, including [Agile Hands] which boosted Agility in a fight, and [Slick] which gave a solid 300 Agility boost. He reflected that these passive skills were probably a way for Strength-based warriors to get the speed necessary for effective swordfighting. However, he decided that he could take advantage of such skills, and increase his already-high Agility to exaggerated extents. Looking further down the tree, he saw a few skills which gave very high Agility and Dexterity boosts, but they were gated behind a [Dual-Wielding] skill that required a costly 70 skill points to activate. Since the sword was not his primary weapon, advancing that far would leave him few points left for other skills. However, he decided that it might be worth saving up some skill points over time, to get these Agility-boosting passive skills.


    As he was scanning the skill tree, he noticed that a move named [Wrath Strike] could be unlocked soon, by following a branch beginning at [Nimble]. It looked to be an effective, fast strike with a long range, targetting the head and neck region. This would be useful as a way to threaten weaker opponents quickly. He spent 5 points to gain the [Nimble] passive, increasing his speed slightly, and the [Hard/soft] passive, then used his remaining points to gain the [Thrash] skill. While [Thrash] would be less damaging in battle than a clean strike, and wasn''t that effective in the context of a swordfight, Crucis assumed that he could find some use for it.


    He considered whether there were any other measures in ce to help high-Strength warriors to increase their Agility quickly. He recalled that many warriors trained their archery skills up to a very low level, in case they could get an extra early strike from range before fighting an opponent. Due to archers typically being a high-Dexterity ss, some boosts to Dexterity were likely to be included in early archery skills, though perhaps not direct Agility increases. However, these archery skills could be used to develop basic skills in Hunting, a tradeskill which involved the pursuit of rare game to gain valuable materials, and was mostly practiced inrge, designated areas. Further, he had heard that there was a quest early on which gave an Agility boost while it was active, and involved delivering a letter to an NPC near Kruxol in a short time-frame. Many yers had used it as a source of high early EXP, but he hadn''t been able to find the quest-giver when he was exploring the town just after starting. Perhaps he would have better luck searching now.


    While he was looking through his character page, DigdugMan walked up to him.


    "Hi. Do you know what the point of the Hard-or-soft skill is? I was wondering if it would be worth getting," asked the Mage.


    "You should definitely get it," said Crucis, "because it leads to a couple of passive skills that increase INT, like [Judgement] and [sh Feeling]."


    "Ah, good catch. Yes, it does sound good for Mages. But what does it do, is it of any use by itself?"


    Crucis looked around, and motioned the Mage towards a corner of the [Kruxol Sword Training] building. He picked up a wooden practice sword, marked as a [Bokken], and faced the Mage.


    "Pick up one of these, then strike my sword from your left," said Crucis, "I''ll try and show what this skill does."


    "Sure thing."


    DigdugMan picked up the wooden sword, and swung it slowly and casually until both [Bokken] were shing on Crucis'' right side.


    "Since you are just hovering your sword there," Crucis said, "I can apply pressure and move your sword to the side."


    He used the [Hard/soft] skill to apply [Hard] pressure against the Mage''sx grip, pushing the Mage''s sword further to the right side.


    "This could give me space for an attack," continued Crucis, "but now try applying more pressure to my sword." He brought his practice sword near his ankles on the right side.


    DigdugMan pressed his sword more firmly against Crucis'' wooden sword on the right, and Crucis then switched to [Soft] pressure. DigdugMan''s sword slipped forwards past the bottom of Crucis'' de, but Crucis had stepped to the left side and held his practice sword up facing DigdugMan.


    "If you are applying pressure, then I can give way a bit and you will keep moving," exined Crucis, "If you aren''t, then I can apply pressure. It''s basically a way to manipte the fight, for example when des sh. You can use the opponent''s pressure to divert their de into a position which favours you. It''s probably quite effective here, since this is a video game and people will mostly just chain hard cuts and shes which can be diverted wide easily."


    "How do you mean?"


    "Say someone attacks low or to the side, then you block it. You can allow their sword to slide away downwards or sideways, under your sword, and then get a free strike at their head."


    "That makes more sense, thanks. By the way, are you nning to enter the Kruxol Arena in a few days?" asked the Mage.


    "I mean, it''s not like I''m going to be busy IRL,"ughed Crucis, "Yeah, sure, do you need a team?"


    "Yep. I didn''t get to join a Guild yet, but I am pledged to the GildedKnights. They don''t have many yers to spare, however. Their bigger yers are mostly not in Kruxol, and everyone left is still trying to cajole their way into a big yer''s team."


    "Ah yes, I have heard of that Guild. So you can''t find anyone else to join us in there?"


    "I know one guy who''s up for joining. He''s named LuegoLuego, and is a warrior. His level''s not that high, simr to GemsBond, and he has been asking around for people joining the event. He has some good equipment due to the Guild, so he seems like a good shout unless you have a better alternative?"


    "Alternative? Hm. Does he have a brother named Mario?" quipped Crucis.


    "Ha, not that I know of. His name is because he''s Hispanic, I think, and was brought here by another yer named Ligate who''s his friend. Ligate is currently a bit battle-shy, so Luego doesn''t have a team."


    "Do you know much about the guy''s skills in battle?"


    "Honestly? Nope, I haven''t seen much of him, only a few PvE fights. I think he''s a bit tanky, he got some good armour from our leader. He''s a bit aggressive in fights, but seemingly ys well."


    "I see. Well, I guess we don''t have many options. Maybe we can try to ask GemsBond if he''s interested, and if he is then we can ask Luego to duel him to decide who joins the team. I heard that a few Guilds were using duels to audition for the teams. At least we''d be able to quickly figure out how good he is at fighting."


    "Duels based on Arena rules, first to one-third HP loses? Yeah, I could try asking. Our Guild has a small, hidden alcove near Kruxol where yers duel, outside of a safe zone but generally untroubled by gankers. I saw Luego at the entrance to it a couple of times, so he''d probably be up for it. Guilds have some armbands that prevent team-kills, that is, they don''t let you kill Guildmates who are also wearing them. So I could always loan one to DigdugMan temporarily."


    "That sounds great. Tell Luego that you have a team with a yer near level 50, and I asked for interested yers to duel so that you could figure out how good they are at this kind of fighting."


    "Sure, sure. Anyway, the next mission is down South, is it safe there?"


    "I can always scout the area, and meet you at the entrance of the woods after checking if there are dangerous yers or bosses around. I''ll head off in a couple of minutes." Crucis was d to get an excuse to check out the mysterious imitation cottage South-West of Kruxol.


    "We still have 45 minutes, but sure, if you want to figure out the directions. Thanks."


    Crucis nodded, and saw that DigdugMan had be silent. He guessed that the Mage was looking through the sword skill tree, which he had asked about earlier.


    "By the way," Crucis said, "Tell GemsBond to take Warding and Low feet once he revives. We''ll need him to be stronger for the next quest."


    "Oh, sure thing," said the Mage as he briefly looked up.


    While strengthening the Knight for the boss battle would be useful, Crucis actually intended to strengthen him for the fight against LuegoLuego as well. He wanted to make sure that bothbatants got down to fairly low HP. While he wasn''t that sure about which yer was stronger, he wasn''t that keen to associate heavily with GildedKnights again, and didn''t want Ligate to scrutinise the fight since Crucis might be recognised.


    As Crucis left the [Kruxol Sword Training] building, heading towards the South-West of Kruxol, he was surprised by a quiet, lisping voice.


    "Hey, sir! You look like you''re learning to swordfight! But isn''t that dull? Why not learn the art of ceremonial swordfighting, so that you can take part in Kruxol swordfighting shows? With some fancy spins and flourishes, you will impress the audience!"


    Crucis looked over, and saw that the voice belonged to an NPC named [Obi], who wore a long, t moustache and had a slightly hunched back. Crucis was about to reject the offer, not interested in the swordfighting shows which were little more than a circus, but then realised that most participants he had glimpsed in those shows were warriors. This meant that, to keep up with the shy spins and showmanship, these warriors would probably need Agility boosts. While Crucis was reluctant to waste skill points on useless abilities, he decided to check if these abilities unlocked Agility boosts, and if not he could reallocate the skill points. As long as a yer hadn''t developed beyond beginner level in a skill, the points could still be easily reallocated.


    After he epted Obi''s request, the NPC brought his hand forwards with the back of the palm towards Crucis, then withdrew his sword from its sheath and flicked it in Crucis'' direction in one motion, finally spinning it in a wide circle. He asked Crucis to also try a spin. Crucis saw that he had unlocked the [Circle spin] skill, and quickly whipped his sword in a wide circle, much to Obi''s approval.


    Crucis saw that this skill unlocked a new skill tree, that appeared alongside the normal long sword skill tree. This new skill tree was full of several ceremonial moves, but learning most of them would be a waste of skill points. While these skills could lead to sess in swordfighting shows, and perhaps allow yers to join a travelling act, it would still ultimately limit how much a yer could develop in fights and other skills. However, more to Crucis'' interest, a short way down the tree there were a few clumps of high Agility boosts.


    "Now strike my de, and then spin away," said Obi, holding his sword out vertically.


    Using the [Hard/soft] skill to soften his blow, Crucis struck his de diagonally across Obi''s sword, and as it flew backwards from the sh he used the [Circle spin] skill to cycle his wrist to the side and spin the sword in a circle on his right side. He brought it back to pointing at Obi.


    "Well done," said his sleazy mentor, "Now that you have unlocked the [Rebound spin] skill, you have two choices which will allow you to use this in a fight sequence. Choose wisely, and sh with my weapon when you are done."


    Crucis saw that he could now choose between the [Wheel Strike Sequence] and the [Idle Spiral]. Neither was useful, but he saw that the [Wheel Strike Sequence] would lead him to a hefty 300 Agility boost. He chose that.


    Lifting his sword to strike Obi''s, he activated [Wheel Strike Sequence], and Obi did the same. Their des whirred in a circling motion and shed into each other, in a sequence where Crucis saw that even an inexperienced fighter could have easily hit a dangerous thrust past the opponent''s circling de. Obi seemed to find this effective, and told Crucis to develop his skills until he had activated a skill which involved spinning the body.


    Crucis quickly activated the [Ceremonial ir] passive skill, which gave him 300 Agility, and the [Whirling de] skill which increased his Agility by 2% when attacking with a de, whether with sword or dagger. Finally, he unlocked the [Whirl] skill, which involved a near-circr turn during battle that flowed into an attack. This would be a strange move in an actual fight, as it would turn your back to the opponent and allow them to strike easily. Regardless, after he had learnt it, Obi slowly struck towards him, and then he spun 270 degrees to the right 270 degrees and struck casually at Obi from the left in a flowing motion. Obi parried the hit.


    "I must go for now, but I will see you soon if youe around this neighbourhood again for more sword practice. If you are finding it difficult to pull off these moves, then use the bonus passive skills to boost Agility. Practice your skills!" said Obi, slinking effortlessly into a nearby alley and disappearing.


    Crucis was slightly bemused after that lesson in useless skills, but saw that he could gain a few Agility boosts if he developed his skills towards a part of the ceremonial sword skill tree that involvedbining skills into longer sequences. He used his remaining skill points on developing in that direction, gaining the [Spinning strike] active skill and a [Flow] passive skill that increased Agility by 100, and allowed you to use ceremonial sword skills with little pause in between. Although this session had involved some worthless skills, the Agility gain of 400 was very high and came at a cheap cost. The [Whirling de] passive was also valuable. He decided that he could develop further in this skill tree in order to gain the early Agility boosts, which Obi said were for yers who did not have enough Agility, and then could stop instead of developing advanced techniques. After all, as an Assassin, could he really have enough Agility?


    He saw a system message:


    [Hiroto has evaluated your performance at the tasks set so far, and you may now return to him to im further rewards.]


    Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn''t reached the South of Kruxol yet. He skipped quickly back into the [Kruxol Sword Training] building, and walked up to Hiroto.


    "Congrattions! For surviving the tasks so far, and not requiring too many tries, you have been awarded bonus sword EXP," said Hiroto.


    Crucis saw that DigdugMan was also there to collect rewards, so Crucis moved out of the way to let DigdugMan talk to the trainer undisturbed. Checking through his character sheet, Crucis saw that he had gained 30 points for sword skills. This was enough to unlock the [Wrath strike] skill, which he promptly did, along with a couple of other skills necessary to reach [Wrath strike] on the skill tree. This included a skill named [Sweeping high cut], a near-horizontal cut from the side at almost above head-height, and three passive skills which increased the power of the basic [sh]. He felt like he would have several new attacking options. Practicing these skills, he found that the [Wrath strike] was a long, heaved diagonal cut from the top-right which approached the opponent''s head. He found himself having to haul the sword from behind him, pointing left, to a position in front of his face. However, he noticed that it was a fast movement, swinging the sword like a lever around his right shoulder, and along with follow-up attacks it could easily endanger an unprepared opponent.


    He had also obtained a few skill points for the Assassin ss, and used these to increase his [ck Spot] skill to level 8, and unlock the [Speed Demon] skill which increased movement speed by 10% for 2 seconds duringbat. It could only be activated after ten seconds ofbat had psed. He increased this skill to level 4, giving a 14% speed increase.


    After depositing his items in the Storage building, he set off for the woods in the South-West.

 Chapter 36: Bleeding the Wounded

    Chapter 36: Bleeding the Wounded


    Few yers visited the thick fog and old,rge trees on the far-West side of the woods. There were barely any NPCs, and none of them gave quests. The stillness and fog hovered eerily over the ground, which was littered with fallen leaves. Crucis saw a few clumps of ckened, dead trees, as he cautiously made his way through the fog. He had gone some distance West of where Hiroto had told him to go, because he was looking for the cottage.


    As he ducked under a low-hanging vine, he heard the sound of a sword shing loudly against a tree. This was probably another yer, but Crucis wondered what had brought this yer all the way to this side of the woods. Crouching and quietly shuffling in the direction of the noise, Crucis glimpsed a level 37 yer named [Keene]. The yer was grinding on a small mob of level 25 [Young Silver Monitor Lizard], and was part of a Guild named [Samizdat] that Crucis didn''t recognise. Keene would asionally nce to the side as if checking on something, and Crucis guessed that the yer was doing a quest involving these lizards. Cautiously observing from within the fog, Crucis ascertained that Keene was a warrior of the [ArchKnight] sub-ss, and had been grinding here undisturbed for a while. There were a few other small mobs in the distance, and it was likely that there would be a few other yers nearby.


    Crucis glimpsed a [Young Silver Monitor Lizard] slinking along the ground towards Keene. The lizard crawled across the ground like a ray of brilliant silver light, and from the fog looked as if it were a walking will-o''-wisp. Crucis saw it raise its upper body to tackle Keene''s chest, but the warrior struck it away with a [Stunning Blow], a sharp diagonal strike from the upper-left, and then lined up a [Strong blow] to strike the lizard to the ground. After that, a [Lunge] was enough to kill this lizard. The [Young Silver Monitor Lizard] seemed to spawn slowly, and Crucis noticed that there was usually only one or two at a time for Keene to fight.


    Crucis tried to edge closer behind a group of trees, but Keene saw him emerging from the fog. Keene began walking up to the trees which Crucis stood behind, with sword readied. Crucis saw that Keene''s sword was quite thin towards the centre, and had a ck hilt. As Keene began pushing leaves aside to look for the yer and prepared an overhead strike, Crucis used a quick [sh] at the shoulder of the warrior''s sword arm, which the warrior firmly parried. Crucis backstepped quickly away, wielding his [ck Cursed Draugr Sword].


    "Are you a DeathGang guy or something? I''ll kill you!" shouted the warrior, who held his sword at shoulder-height.


    Crucis calmly used [Warding], and prepared a [Wrath strike], holding his de behind his right shoulder until its tip pointed towards the left. He stood at the edge of the fog, and the Arch-Knight followed him.


    "You going to chase me through the fog?" taunted Crucis, backstepping carefully into the nearby fog and ncing behind his shoulder asionally as if preparing to run.


    Keene quickly pursued the Assassin, but soon a sword came shing out of the fog angling towards the pursuing Arch-Knight''s head. While Keene quickly used [Parry], holding his de horizontally just above shoulder-height and blocking the iing [Wrath strike], Crucis swiftly stepped forwards and transitioned into a [Lunge] at Keene''s face which tore arge gash across the nose and cheek. He had noticed that, despite Keene''s parry, his own sword was still pointed at the warrior''s face. As Keene screamed out, Crucis used [Sword hold] to grab the warrior''s sword, and then swivelled his own sword towards the left to use [Thrash] just above the inside elbow of Keene''s sword arm. Hacking at the warrior''s arm thrice tore an ugly cut in the warrior''s arm, with the [Thrash] not cutting cleanly but instead hacking painfully at the wounded arm. Keene screeched and let go of the sword, and Crucis flung it away far to the left.


    As the warrior scrambled to try and run, he almost fell forwards to the ground and kept himself standing with his outstretched arms. Crucis used [Agile Step] to approach the leaning warrior, and used a firm [Overhead sh] to strike the back of Keene''s neck as the warrior tried to stand up again. The warrior was now on only 7% HP, but was bleeding profusely. Crucis saw the shape of a female approaching from the distance, and guessed that the loud warrior had caught someone''s attention. He grabbed the warrior''s arm and dragged them harshly into the fog, in order to make the corpse harder to find. As the warrior struggled, and attempted to punch, Crucis delivered a firm [sh] to the warrior''s arm to stop the attack. He then grabbed the warrior in a [Chokehold], and kicked Keene t face-first against the ground.


    Tightening the chokehold to keep the warrior quiet, Crucis nonchntly whispered, "It''s very gracious of you to look so sad after killing me."


    He then used [Slice] to cut deeper into the wound on the back of the warrior''s neck, causing Keene''s body to enter a series of spasms before lying limp and dead on the ground.


    Crucis got to his feet, and saw that the warrior''s body was barely visible in the thick fog. Noticing that the female''s footsteps were growing closer, Crucis fled carefully into the fog to his right, then circled around on the right side to check if the female managed to figure out what had happened. He saw that the female was from a Guild named [Honorable]. Seemingly, yers from smaller Guilds were gathering in this part of the woods, and Crucis guessed that this was due to a few quests he had heard of which allowed a Guild to develop. Guild quests allowed a newer Guild to level up, unlocking additional features and more Guild Storage space. Guilds could also level up by having many active members, or having powerful members that couldplete high-level dungeons. However, since yers were now trapped here and unable to switch Guilds, he wasn''t surprised that yers were trying to develop the small Guilds that they were trapped in.


    The female was named [MissQi], and had long, blonde hair. Her skin looked pale as she waded into the fog.


    "Hey, are you out there anyone? Are you okay?" she called out into the fog, with a slight Korean ent.


    Crucis slowly approached MissQi, and called out softly, "Be careful, there''s a dangerous boss out there!"


    "Ahhh!" MissQi eximed, as she backpedaled clumsily, "Those things hurt, don''t they?"


    "Yeah, it''s not safe for you, miss. He just killed my Guildie."


    "That''s terrible! Are you okay?"


    Crucis approached MissQi, hidden by the fog. He drew out his [Silver Crucifix Dagger]. MissQi was trying to make their way back to safety, but had gotten slightly lost while searching through the fog. Crucis could make out that she was only level 21.


    He crept up behind her using [Stealth Cloak], as she was trying to inspect her map through the fog, and aimed a quick [Stunning Dagger] into her left shoulder. Catching her in a [Chokehold], he used his left arm to grab the map and shove it into her face to block her vision. He heard her swear loudly, and smiled.


    He sliced a small gash across the front of her neck with [ck Spot], then used [Dagger Twist] to deepen it. By now, she was only on 40% HP. He saw her withdraw a sword from her side, so he kicked her feet away and let her fall to the ground.


    "What? This is crazy! Who''s there, is this the boss?" shouted MissQi.


    She rolled around to look for her assant, while clutching at her neck. Crucis had backstepped into the mist, and she couldn''t see him.


    Using [Figure Blur], Crucis approached again, and used [Stunning Dagger] to stab through MissQi''s sword hand. cing a foot upon her neck, he aimed a precise [Panoramic Strike] at the hand, drawing the wound deeper with another stab, and then used [Dagger Twist]. By this point, she was down to 15% HP and could barely use her sword, but Crucis saw that in a couple of seconds she had somehow healed to 45% HP. He withdrew the [Vile Toxin Gas] and patiently sprayed it across the wounds on her neck and hand, then crouched behind her head and carefully ced his dagger near the wound on her neck. Using [Ripper], he dragged his dagger across her skin and tore the woundrger until it was almost a semi-circle. She was back down to 15% HP, and her healing had only subjected her to more pain. Crucis heard her trying to scream, as her body writhed and beat furiously but weakly on the ground.


    Crucis pulled on her long hair, which was now trailing behind her head. He pulled it from near the scalp, until the wounds on her neck started to widen. Her head almost seemed to detach from her body, but hung on loosely across her torn neck. She could barely make a sound. Finally, he picked up some soil and sprinkled it across her injured neck, and her body thrashed against the ground due to pain. He saw that she was trying to il at him with her left arm, which had a wedding ring on it, so he stepped back and away from her.


    Withdrawing some [Bowstring] from his inventory, he used [Stealth Cloak] to approach MissQi and stepped on her forehead as he wrapped the Bowstring around her neck. He held this and made a tight noose around her neck, then used [Forceful Kick] to jolt her head firmly to the left side. She let out a half-screech, then died from bleeding after two seconds.


    Crucis looked across the surrounding area, as he exited the fog, and didn''t see anyone else approaching. The bodies would be hidden by the fog, so it was possible that nobody would find out about them in the near future. MissQi had caused him some concern by appearing during his fight with Keene, so he was d that this fight was over.


    Leafing through his inventory to check on the loot from these fights, he found an item named [The Empress Card]. Curiously, he read the description:


    [Allows you to copy one skill from a non-yer opponent who is below your level, and use it in battle through the card. Reversed, it has a 50% chance to heal you by a random amount between 10%-40% HP when your HP is lower than 20% in a fight. This can only be used once during a fight!]


    He assumed that some skills would be disallowed, so he considered which skills might be worth activating with this card. He doubted that it would be possible to copy [Sensei is Displeased], but he remembered the Sensei boss also using another attack that strongly reduced movement speed. He decided that, since debuffs were permitted inbat, it was worth checking if he could copy this skill. While it would probably not be allowed in Kruxol Arena, it would definitely be helpful when ganking, as his prey would find it more difficult to get away. He was slightly surprised at first to hear that MissQi was a heavy spender with a card from the lottery, in spite of her low level. However, he found a reasonable amount of alcohol in her inventory, as well as a small notepad with a list of names and phone numbers on it, and guessed that she had been living a socialite life and hence not levelling up quickly.


    Scanning through the list of names, Crucis saw a few notes scribbled next to yers'' names. A few of the notes were in Korean, and he couldn''t understand them, but some were in English. Trying to decipher MissQi''s flowery handwriting, he saw that a few of the males had been marked ''RICH!!!'' and guessed that these were probably heavy spenders. He saw that a few yers were marked as ''RICH!!!'' and also had notes indicating that they mostly stayed in bars when they yed. These yers could be easy targets with valuable items, so Crucis wrote down their names in his own notebook. He saw that SkyGabriel was one of them. He saw that one of the yers was named [GeoHu] and had the note ''LOTTERY WINNER! I''M JEALOUS!!!'' next to it. Crucis recognised the name, [GeoHu] was one of the top 50 yers on the ranking and already over level 60.


    He wouldn''t be able to kill GeoHu, but decided that this might be useful information for the Hashin. After all, thinning out the ranks of top spenders, whom he could barely hope to keep up with, would also benefit him in the long run. Even if other yers were ahead of him, he could often even the field with cunning or good gamey, and had a decent chance of catching up. Spenders were designed to bypass that, and had OP equipment and items to keep them safe from better yers. While they could still be defeated on asion, they were nheless provided with advantages to mitigate or nullify the chance of better yers. This created insurmountable limits to Crucis'' approach, so he figured that reducing the amount of whales could be useful. Since GeoHu was still levelling up quickly and hence entering the wild, Crucis guessed that he might be vulnerable to the Hashin.


    Crucis found that he had also obtained three fragments of a [Silver Scale Scabbard] artifact from Keene, probably a very rare drop from the [Young Silver Monitor Lizard]. He would need 100 fragments to actually get the artifact, so this wasn''t very useful at present. More valuable were a handful of high-quality gems from MissQi, and a pair of [Premium Hunter Gloves] from Keene. The [Premium Hunter Gloves] added a 20% boost to all stats when you were attacking an animal that was caught in a trap. Crucis had noticed that Keene moved quite quickly for a warrior, and it is likely that Agility boosts from the Hunting tradeskill had contributed to this. These gloves would make it easier for Crucis to train in that tradeskillter.


    He had also received 50,000 gold, and Keene''s thin sword named [Whisper]. This ck-hilted sword had a chance to deal extra damage based on the user''s INT stat, and then convert 10% of this damage into HP for the user. Crucis kept it in his inventory, adjudging that it was worse than the swords which he already had. This sword would need INT, DEX, and STR to all be high, and generally this wasn''t practical. It also made it more difficult to intercept blows, since it had less area to catch other des with. He wondered why this warrior would be wielding it at all, since more powerful swords weren''t difficult to acquire, and supposed that the yer might have been using it because it was rare.


    Walking slowly across the edge of the fog, Crucis soon glimpsed a cottage in the distance, identical to the one which he had visited previously to receive a quest. He kept closely to the tree-line, and scurried cautiously towards the cottage.

 Chapter 37: The Replica Cottage

    Chapter 37: The Replica Cottage


    The white cottage, surrounded by wisps of mist like cirrus clouds, was decorated with an innocuous floral pattern. Crucis scanned it carefully from behind some trees, and couldn''t find any differences from the cottage had had visited earlier for quests. Even the inside of this cottage was filled with the same stacks of swords in each corner, and small tables covered with messy paper, as the old man''s cottage. However, Crucis didn''t see anyone nearby, and, apart from a frail wind rapping hoarsely against the leaves, there was no sound nearby.


    Cautiously approaching the cottage, Crucis decided to put off entering because it seemed like a trap. Since Duom had mentioned it as a notable nearby location, it was likely that some kind of event could be triggered here. He recalled that, early on the first day of the game, there had been a few posts on the forum with vague horror stories about the old man''s cottage. While these stories were supposedly refuted soon after, once somerger yers visited the cottage and confirmed that it was harmless, Crucis wondered if these stories might somehow rte to this Western cottage. As evening set in, the cottage''s shadows were lengthening along the ground. Studying the trees in the woods surrounding this cottage, he found that they resembled what he remembered of the woods around the old man''s cottage, although in this case with more mist and lifeless trees. Crucis'' mind drifted back to his invitation to the Count''s castle, and he walked closer to the cottage after considering that this was at least a less obvious trap.


    He tapped a few of the trees near the cottage lightly, as they were arranged in the same position as the trees he had tested [Panoramic Strike] on. No targets were painted on these trees. Carefully, he withdrew his dagger and lightly poked the trees, wondering if there would be any further resemnce. To his surprise, after he poked the tree a few times a muffled voice rang out from the direction of the cottage, making a distorted noise that sounded congrattory. The voice faded after a few seconds like a drowning man''s voice as the water overwhelms him. Crucis nced up, but saw nobody in the direction of the voice.


    Crucis hid behind the trees, and tried to think back and remember what the old man had said when Crucis sessfully hit the tree targets. He vaguely recalled that the man had said, ''Well done!'' followed by a statement that even just 6 targets would have been enough. The noise he had heard just now from near this cottage sounded simr, but this time the words weren''t enunciated clearly by the distorted voice. He glimpsed carefully at the cottage, but didn''t see the old man. However, he got the sense that, if a voice was congratting him on hitting the trees, then it was no use hiding behind these trees because his position there was known. He used [Stealth Cloak] and quickly ran to the left until he was behind the cottage.


    It felt like a trap to enter the cottage directly, but Crucis decided that using the bug might let him inspect it more safely. He walked nimbly up to the back wall of the cottage, and used [Agile Step] to hop into the wall. He then stood stock still for a few seconds, making sure that nobody was reacting to him. The cottage remained still and empty. Crucis inspected the back corner of the room to his right, and found a pile of swords and daggers. These were marked as someone else''s property, and he was not allowed to im them. Frustrated, he shuffled towards his left, and found that there were a few small wooden cupboards hung on the wall. He hadn''t seen these cupboards clearly in the original cottage, because they were hidden in the thick shadows at the back of the cottage, but in retrospect he did recall some wood jutting out in this part of the cottage. That was probably also a cupboard.


    He noticed that one of these cupboards was built against the wall, and he could hence see into it from the wall. Slinking behind it, he saw a few items, but he couldn''t reach into the cupboard due to a thick wall of grass along the back of the cupboard. He scanned the row of objects, and saw that they were quest items, including a [Silver Dagger] which he remembered having to obtain from a cave during the Assassin quest. He recognised a few of the others, such as the [Silver Bowstring] that Ronald had found, and the Mage quest''s [Glowing Totem] which he had seen mentioned on the forums. This totem was carved in bronze, and had a pair of eyes on it, as well as two jagged wings on each side. It had a faint white glow around it. Crucis found it strange that all of these items, which yers were continually told to obtain from dangerous locations, were all kept in a cupboard in the back of the cottage anyway.


    He saw that a small, grey-silver [Nickel Medallion] was sitting above the cupboard, wedged between the top of the cupboard and the wall. He carefully eased the medallion into his hands, and saw that it was made from a ring of worn iron-like substance, with a small coin attached on one side as a pendant. The faces of the coin were faded and the etchings on them barely visible, and the coin was by now a dull bronze shade. Crucis checked the item''s description, but found that it was nk. He would have to check on itter, but now did not seem like an appropriate time for messing around with essories.


    As he moved slowly towards the left of the wall, his feet hovered past another small clump of swords and daggers. He saw that a few of these were marked as [Demonstration Sword] or [Demonstration Dagger], and were the kind that the old man would use if yers required demonstration of the skill to be learnt, or for some reason needed further exnation of tasks like striking the targets on trees. While yers could generally pick this up in the cottage, the old man could instantly teleport the weapons back into the cottage as soon as he sensed them leave it, so nobody had been able to take them. Crucis saw that the [Demonstration Dagger] was a dark grey, iron dagger which seemed to have sharp edges.


    Crucis knelt down lightly, and reached for one of the [Demonstration Dagger]. As he reached out for the dagger, his foot slipped partially out of the wall and onto the cottage floor. In a moment, he heard the floor creak on the opposite side of the cottage.


    Looking across the cottage, he saw a figure that resembled the old man NPC, but seemed to not be fully rendered. While the silhouette of their face was there, their skin had been reced by a misty, white glow, and their eyes and mouth were empty ck holes. The outline of their hands emerged - hanging out on both sides - from ragged snippets of their suit, which hung in the air along an asionally-fading outline of an arm, and their legs were barely there at all. As this figure advanced towards Crucis to attack, it spoke with itsrge, ck mouth wide open, making threatening, suffocated sounds which were distorted like the one which Crucis had heard earlier near the trees. He couldn''t make out the words. Quickly looking above the figure, he saw the garbled red name [Sz?ff¨§¨²?], and beneath that a level disy which continually flickered between level 900, level 1000, and a level with a 1 followed by so many zeroes that the full number did not disy.


    Crucis grabbed the [Demonstration Dagger] and ran swiftly out of the back of the cottage. Looking back, he saw that the figure had left the cottage through the entrance, and was now slowly advancing towards him. He hurtled away through the woods, brushing branches and leaves firmly out of the way. He heard the loud sound of slow, methodical footsteps crashing against the leaves some distance behind him. He stopped, and caught his breath as that sound stopped, and looking backwards he saw the figure turning to return to the cottage.


    However, as he tried to regain his bearings, he was surprised to hear the sound of a sword past theyer of trees in front of him. He had nearly run straight into another yer, a warrior who was grinding mobs. He saw that the other yer had noticed his arrival, and was walking around the trees. However, this other yer was only level 24, and was unlikely to attack him. While the yer was holding out his sword threateningly as he approached Crucis, this sword dropped to his side immediately as the yer saw the level difference between him and Crucis.


    "Hey, man, I''m so, I got lost here while I was looking around beneath Kruxol," said the yer, "Can you help?" Crucis saw the yer''s name above their head.


    "This is some distance to the West, how did you stumble here?" asked Crucis.


    "I was walking down the path straight South, how am I supposed to havee West? That''s ridiculous," said so, argumentatively.


    Crucis shrugged. "You shouldn''t be questioning how you got here, you should be thinking about how you''re going to get away."


    Crucis used [Agile Step] to leap beside so, and used [Stunning Dagger] on so''s left shoulder. Quickly using [Dodge Step] to activate his dagger''s damage boost, he sprung back towards so and used a [Panoramic Strike] to stab at the left base of the neck, then deepened the wound by shing across it with [Ripper]. As so tried to turn around and swing his sword, Crucis grabbed him in a [Chokehold], and swung the turning so face-first into a tree using the warrior''s own momentum and effort as propulsion. so was now down to 7% HP, and he staggered to the ground from the impact, with Crucis kneeling down to follow him. Still holding the warrior by the throat, Crucis used [ck Spot] to cut a slit in so''s neck and then let the warrior bleed to death.


    This fight had ended quickly, as expected against a level 24. However, Crucis wondered if there was some kind of teleport near the Southwards route to the old man''s cottage, which could instead divert people towards this cottage. so had been lucky, since they had onlye to grind mobs and not approach the cottage. At level 24, their map in this location was probably full of fog of war, and wouldn''t help them much. Crucis noticed that he had obtained a lot of gold from this fight, but not many valuable items other than a [Rare Treasure Map]. He saw that this map depicted a ce near Sanra, and decided that he would check it out when he went in that direction again.


    He saw that the dead warrior had been grinding mobs of [Injured Young Boar]. These were weak, level 15 mobs. Crucis decided to test the [Demonstration Dagger] against them, but found that once ced in his inventory this dagger had transformed into a [Skeleton Dagger, level 0], a bone carved into a sharp point. This dagger had a small, ck hilt. He looked at the de''s description, and it did not list any ability, while the weapon''s damage was specified as 0. This seemed strange.


    He attacked one of the boar with [Stunning Dagger] using this dagger, but was surprised that the boar was not paralysed at all and immediately shoved him firmly backwards. The attack had also dealt no damage. Crucis decided to test with a [Ripper], cutting a gaping, bleeding wound in the weak boar''s side, but this still did no damage. He also noticed that, although the boar was bleeding heavily, the game did not give them the [Bleeding] status and they took no damage from the attack. Crucis frowned lightly, then calmly withdrew his [Silver Crucifix Dagger] and killed the boar quickly with a [Panoramic Strike] between the eyes and a [Dagger Twist]. He ced the [Skeleton Dagger, level 0] back into his inventory, quizzically.


    Three other boars had started to approach him, but he quickly dispatched them by pulling out his [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword] and using a quick series of [sh], [Lunge], and [Overhead sh] on the boars. As he was doing this, he heard a strange sound like wailing rise some distance behind him, towards the cottage. He guessed that this would belong to the character named [Irene], a female NPC with long, light-brown hair who was asionally called upon by the old man to fight alongside yers on certain quests. Some yers had spected that she was the old man''s daughter, others talked about how they found the mission''s fights harder because they were distracted by her looks. It was likely that this was a ghost simcra of her.


    Crucis caugbt his breath, then walked cautiously back towards the cottage, in the direction of the singing voice. He saw that a female simr to [Irene] was singing in a clearing, but like the old man in this cottage she had been reduced to a silhouette of sorts. While her light-brown hair was still mostly intact, her body was mostly reduced to thebination of silhouettes of skin and fragments of clothing. Crucis had heard that sometimes Irene would pass by the cottage, and the old man would offer a quest where Irene''s high-pitched singing would summon a powerful [Valkyrie] boss. So far, nobody had managed to defeat this boss, since it was at level 80. He didn''t see any boss in the area, but he approached cautiously to make sure that no Valkyrie attacked.


    As he neared the clearing, the woman suddenly turned to face him, and advanced aggressively with both arms extended to her sides. Crucis saw that, like the old man, this woman''s eyes were now empty ck holes and her face wore a stiff, menacing expression. The female''s name had been garbled from Irene to [Dn¨¬¨¬?], and their level flickered between 40 and 50. As they reached Crucis, they lunged violently forward, and Crucis used [Dodge Step] to backstep away from the attack. He withdrew his [ck Cursed Draugr Light Sword], since the sword''s long range would allow him to keep his distance from this unpredictable creature. As it neared him, he used a horizontal [sh] to keep it away, while moving nimbly out of range of a lunge. He noticed that his feet were gliding over the ground in a blur, as a result of his recent Agility boosts from swordfighting.


    However, the female ignored his backwards movements, and instead made a high-pitched ahriek that summoned a bright, glowing light in the air above her head. Crucis guessed that this was some kind of spell. The light was fragmented, and seemed to flicker lightly in the air. As the light begin to gather together into a ball, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and snuck behind the creature. The ball of light crashed down onto the ground where Crucis had been standing, causing a fierce explosion that sounded like white noise. Crucis heard a voice among the sound of the explosion, and it seemed to be saying, ''The enemy,'' in a low-pitched voice. However, Crucis was aware that white noise could lead to vague sounds of voices, so he wasn''t sure if that voice was actually there.


    Not dwelling on the matter, he plunged his sword into the back of the woman''s head with [Lunge], then drew it out and stepped back. The woman''s HP had fallen to 80%, and she lunged in the direction of Crucis'' attack. As her lunge fell short, Crucisnded a firm [Overhead sh] on the back of her neck as she leaned down after the lunge, and ck-grey blood began to ooze out of her neck. As he considered whether to attack again, she let out a muffled wail and Crucis was sent falling backwards hard onto a tree. Although his shoulders ached from the blow, he made sure to quickly roll his body behind the tree in order to prevent her from striking him as he recovered. She was screaming something at him with a distorted voice that had a slight tinge ofpassion, and to Crucis it sounded like she was trying to say, ''The Valkyrie is a tough enemy, good luck!'' repeatedly. He assumed that, while she was ''talking,'' she wouldn''t use a spell on him because that was seemingly connected to her singing voice.


    As he expected, she had walked near him, and he sidestepped around the tree as she flung her w-like fingers forwards to attack him. Her blow nced off the tree, sounding faintly metallic. Crucis drew his [Silver Crucifix Dagger]. He decided that, since she needed to sing in order to cast spells, he should aim for her throat to restrict her to melee attacks. Using [Agile Step], he stepped around the tree until he was beside the creature, and struck the lower right side of her neck hard with a [Stunning Dagger] stab which rooted her in ce. He used this time to lock in a [Chokehold] with his right arm, and sh across her wounded throat with [Ripper]. ck-grey blood poured on the ground of the woods. As she regained movement, Crucis kicked her back and sent her colliding face-first into the tree, causing her body to go limp. Holding the chokehold tightly, he felt her trying to sing but experiencing difficulty. To shut her up, he used [ck Spot] to cut across the front of her throat, then followed up with a dagger twist that caused the creature to throw up its blood.


    He was rmed when the creature suddenly shook violently, pushing him a step backwards and causing his chokehold to loosen slightly. It let out a strained note, and Crucis realised that it had just about managed to sing. The effort of singing the note caused the creature to throw up more blood and stop singing, but Crucis saw that a faint spot of light had appeared in her right hand. While she hadn''t managed to cast the spell fully, due to her injured neck, Crucis was still concerned about what this could do. Using a [Panoramic Strike] to worsen the throat wound and keep the creature distracted, he grabbed at her trailing right arm with his left hand and shoved the light into the creature, where it made a small explosion that shaved off 3% of her HP, leaving her at 34%. He concluded that the iplete spell wasn''t that threatening. However, he was still frustrated that the creature was trying to sing, and he felt their effort as he gripped them hard across the throat.


    He tried to press the creature''s throat harder, but this did not stop the ripples of pressure rising as the creature attempted to sing. However, he felt the creature''s throat rx as he used his left hand to withdraw [Toxin gas] and spray that over her throat wounds, causing further small cuts as her wound crept slowly across her throat. To finally keep her quiet, he kicked her legs out and held her by the throat as she iled around in the air. He mmed her face down hard into tree in front, and knelt down to follow her as she fell to the ground. She had only 7% HP remaining. After shing across the inside of her throat wound with a [Ripper] across the top of her throat, he watched as she bled to death. He made sure that the body had stopped moving before he released it, and saw it fall in a heap.


    He checked his inventory, and saw that after killing this creature he had received about five items. These included a [White Half-Mask], [Magical Conch Shell], [Physical Lunge Skill Book], [Poison Ne], and [Love Letter]. He had already heard of the [Poison Ne], and knew that it was a neced with poison-coated spines, and would poison the wearer and others who came into contact with it. Crucis didn''t have any use for it at present, so he ignored it for now. The [White Half-Mask] had a t, curved surface, and was designed to cover the top half of the face. It was a very bright white, and as Crucis inspected it he saw that it glowed brilliantly in the surrounding mist.


    He noticed that he could pick up some of the ck-grey blood staining the ground, as if it were a normal item. Collecting it into a vial, he ced it carefully into his inventory. It was marked as [Blood of ?].


    As he looked at the curved, grey-white [Magical Conch Shell], he felt a gust of wind blow through it and a soft, sonorous sound like a whisper emerged from the shell. Along with this, a faint bloom of light emerged in the air near the conch shell. Crucis supposed that this was rted to the magical effect of the shell. This [Lunge] skill didn''t seem like it would help him out, since it overmitted the user and made them an easy, unmoving target if they missed. However, he realised that he could use it in the Skill Mastery feature, in order to upgrade his [Ripper] into a skill named [The Ripper]. While this upgraded skill was still mostly the same, the strike grew in precision and depth as the opponent''s HP decreased. This meant that, against low-HP opponents, it would look like a slow, measured cut at a precise location, rather than a fast and slightly anarchic sh across the skin. Crucis decided that this might be useful in closing out fights quickly, so he upgraded the skill.


    He now had two skills upgraded in Skill Mastery: [Stealth] had be [Stealth Cloak], and [Ripper] had be [The Ripper]. This left him with one remaining slot.


    He finally checked on the [Love Letter], which was a white piece of paper decorated with pink floral patterns around the edges. There were some words written in the centre of the page, in thick ck ink:


    "Dear Irene,


    "I was so d to see you again, life in these woods bes so dreary without you that you could scarcely imagine. The blonde strands glowing on your magnificent brte hair are like the daylight on the soil and trees. I was pleased to see you wearing the blue dress I bought you, it looked very elegant as it hung loosely from your shoulders.


    "Are you having any difficulties moving into the woods? I have plenty of wealth still, and could probably hire some of the townsfolk to help you if necessary. I was very impressed with your father''s knowledge of fencing, but isn''t he a bit overbearing at times? We were getting along fine, then he started scolding me for asking too many questions. I don''t know anyone who asks as many questions as he does!


    "Would you be interested ining West again to visit my home? It is a short walk, only about 10 minutes from your cottage. I would have enjoyed touring you around my mansion in Asuodar, but the savages who invaded our peaceful Kingdom of Asuor have driven all of us to hide in ces like this. But this home, though smaller, is still much more expansive than the cramped cottage that your father keeps you in. You can frolic and enjoy your splendid youthfulness, and we can be together for as long as you can make up an excuse for! Please reply with your thoughts.


    "Yours truly, Sam Bisraufel."


    Crucis found this letter strange, as he was fairly certain that Irene did not have blonde hair. The figure he just fought just had light-brown hair, as did Irene in most images posted by yers on the forum. There were no ''blonde strands'' to be seen. Bisraufel may have just been paying Irene a cheappliment, but the specificity of the letter, from someone who had clearly been close to Irene, made Crucis uncertain. Further, Crucis had explored this Western area of the woods and found no sign of Bisraufel''srge home, nor of Bisraufel himself.


    As Crucis looked up from the letter, he heard loud footsteps crushing the leaves from the direction of the cottage. He looked up, and saw a figure approaching from the distance: the familiar silhouette of the old man NPC, with the name [Sz?ff¨§¨²?]. Crucis turned and ran Eastwards, away from the replica cottage. He nced at his map asionally, and tried to direct himself towards the mark which Hiroto had made to indicate the next swordfighting quest location.

 Chapter 38: Plants vs. Assassins

    Chapter 38: nts vs. Assassins


    Grey hulks of stone littered the ground at the once-borders of the castle, as the mighty structure dissolved into the green earth. Tall grass and lush bushes grew freely around the castle, where few dared to tread due to rumours of ghost sightings. The castle had once held a prominent ce in therge Pext Empire, before this split into a handful of imitators such as the Kingdoms of Asuor and Brazekr. As such, myths about the castle''s denizens were widespread, and they were still believed to haunt its former grounds. Three guards had been posted around the entrance to the castle ruins, to watch for vandals and warn locals of the risks. One of these guards walked to up Crucis'' party, as they approached the ruins.


    "Greetings," said Crucis, "We only wish to ess the gardens. We were sent by Hiroto."


    "You may enter," begun the guard, "Beware, the garden is haunted by Athur''s ancient Knights, now known as the six devils! If you go in, prepare for trouble. The power of these Knights has waned over the centuries, so you may be able to fend them off. However, do not take this warning lightly, I have seen them with my own eyes."


    "I understand the risks. Who tends the garden? It looks to be in good condition, but these ghosts would surely scare off most gardeners."


    "It is rumoured that the ghosts themselves do this. Athur was inspired by the tales of far-off foreign warriors, who abided by a strict code of honour and were often masters of calligraphy, drawing, gardening, furniture arrangement and such arts. He tried to encourage his Knights to do the same.


    "The ghosts can appear by harvesting the blood of corpses that they have killed, both in their lives and as ghosts. They are weak when they appear like this, but strong enough for gardening. When strangers appear, however, the ghosts can draw on the vitality of each visitor, and this will make them strong enough to fight. However, it means that they can only appear in as great a number as there are visitors, and must fight one-on-one."


    "I see. Thank you for the warning."


    Crucis motioned his group to enter the ruins, and began to follow them in. He thought wistfully that this task would be easier with a [Necromancer], as their undead servants could dig in the garden and did not have enough vitality for the Knights to fight. However, his team would probably have to fight their way through. Hesitating slightly, he asked the guard, "Why do these Knights appear in the garden, specifically?"


    "They were buried there," replied the guard, "They had grown up in this castle, raised as warriors from an early age. The garden was always a source of pleasure for them, and they were buried there tomemorate their life-long service to the Empire."


    Crucis thanked the guard, then jogged to catch up with his party. He reached them at the edge of the garden, where the three of them waited and looked in.


    "I wish my old dog was here, he would be good at this," sighed Digdugman.


    "You''re named Digdugman, you should be good at this," teased Crucis.


    "Why, yes, and I''m also an old dog."


    "Exactly. By the way, being serious, you are in the [Geomancer] sub-ss, right? You can probably use some of your powers to make this digging easier."


    "Most of my powers will return the earth to where it was before, after I have finished casting them. If I cast them while not inbat, then the spell will automatically finish after a couple of seconds."


    "We can still use them to check where the sword is, then dig when we find the swords. As your spells shift the soil, we can scan it to see where the bodies - I mean, swords are buried."


    The garden extended across the left side of the castle, sheltered from the world outside by three crumbling stone walls. As they entered, they saw that the garden was well-maintained, with soft, short grass and a variety of flowers nted across the length of the garden. A few strips of soil were barely covered by grass, and Crucis guessed that these were areas that previous swordfighting groups had dug into.


    "The sword is probably in one of these ces without much grass," he told his party, "so try to focus on searching there."


    "What if the Knights appear while we''re searching?" asked Digdugman nervously.


    "We''ll fight ''em off!" said GemsBond bombastically. Crucis chuckled slightly.


    "Yeah, but if we get to digging and they attack, they might get the jump on us," replied the Mage, "we''ll get mobbed by three opponents at once, and we won''t be prepared."


    GemsBond nodded matter-of-factly at this.


    "Listen, you''re right," said Crucis, who bent over and begun plucking pink flowers by harshly tugging the stem apart. "Instead of being surprised by the Knights, let''s lure them out and fight them before we begin to search. They keep this garden in order, and it was important to them in their youth, so I''m sure they''ll show up if we start pulling it apart."


    His partners were taken aback slightly by Crucis'' determination to enrage the fearsome ghostly Knights, but DigdugMan sighed as he realised that he had little choice in the matter. He went over to a corner and began tugging lightly at a few small, white flowers, then tossing them to the ground.


    Holding up a fist of crushed delicate, pink petals, Crucis said, "Spread out a bit, the fights are one-on-one but it could get awkward if we were bunched together." His partners moved across therge garden to find space, as Crucis used his dagger to break arge nt adorned with many sunflowers, and tossed the array of sunflowers to the ground.


    After about a minute, arge billow of dark-grey smoke rose from the ground in the centre of the garden, apanied with a low, rumbling voice. "Who dares disturb our rest?" it said. Three figures appeared amidst the smoke, dressed in heavily damaged armour. Like the smoke, these figures were all uniformly dark-grey in colour, from their skin to their armour and sword, and were partially transparent.


    "Why do you disturb our childhood rest?" said one of their figures, their mouth opening like a ck gash.


    "Air pollution is bad for the environment," replied Crucis nonchntly, drawing his [Silver Wasp Sword]. He used [Warding], and prepared a [Wrath strike].


    One Knight each charged towards the intruders, with sword raised high. A left-handed Knight, named [Gowein], approached Crucis, preparing a heaving strike from above his right shoulder. However, Crucis'' [Wrath strike] snaked out towards the Knight''s head, and Gowein''s de met it in half-swing. Stepping forwards, Crucis had used the longer range of the [Wrath strike] to leverage his Agility advantage against this opponent, stepping forwards and extending his sword to prevent the Knight from getting too close. As Gowein''s unprepared strike deflected limply backwards after striking Crucis'' de, Crucis stepped forwards and used the opening to [Lunge] at Gowein''s face. He struck the Knight right on the face, through a gaping hole in the Knight''s broken helmet, and Gowein recoiled violently.


    As Gowein approached him again, Crucis attempted a [Rising thrust], but Gowein easily parried it by moving his swordfortably over Crucis'' de, and Crucis hastily used [Dodge Step] to backstep and avoid Gowein''s follow-up thrust at his chest. This reminded him that, even though these Knights had diminished power, they were still based on powerful, experienced Knights and he should not risk loose strikes.


    The next time that Gowein approached, Crucis was more patient. As Gowein delivered a harsh, downwards diagonal cut from Crucis'' right side, Crucis responded with a rising [sh] from the left to parry Gowein''s strike above the shoulder. As their des shed, Crucis sidestepped to his left while agilely twisting his body until his left shoulder was facing squarely forwards at Gowein. His de was now horizontal in front of his face, with the hilt held above his right shoulder. Having a straight path to attack his opponent, he used [Lunge] while stepping forwards, and drove his de straight into Gowein''s face again. He saw masses of smoky, grey-red blood flowing from the Knight''s face. He used the centre of his de to keep Gowein''s de at bay while he ran past the Knight''s left shoulder and threatened an attack from behind. Gowein was by now on only 50% HP, and the repeated bloody strikes to the face had impaired the Knight''s vision. Crucis noticed that the Knight had been looking straight at the path of hisst [Lunge] before he did it, implying that the Knight was aware of Crucis'' chance to attack but was too sluggish and stiff to counter it at this low strength level. If the Knights had recovered more of their former power, they would then be far more formidable, and Crucis would be unable to fight them at present.


    As Crucis aimed a quick [sh] from behind, the Knight effortlessly swivelled round and used his de to heavily strike Crucis'' away, while leaning away from Crucis so that his own arms had room to swing. As Crucis swung again with an [Overhead sh], Gowein heaved his de upwards and with his ricasso he caught Crucis'' de near the tip. This position gave Gowein the leverage to easily shove Crucis'' de aside, and direct a harsh thrust at Crucis'' right shoulder as the Assassin tried to step away. Crucis grimaced lightly, almost expecting pain, but then realised that these Knights were not the boss of this quest and did not cause pain. It was a slightly confusing matter, as the game''s advertising had presented the Knights as level 100 bosses, but he recalled that the level 100 Knights were presented as part of the world event feature and would probably only appear during an event. He would have to be more careful around [Athur].


    Crucis was at 85% HP, but the strike on his shoulder had made it more difficult for him to attack with his sword. He kept his distance from Gowein, but soon saw that the Knight was using a healing skill to increase his HP to 65. Frustrated, Crucis realised that he would have to keep the Knight under pressure. He approached the Knight, but deftly backstepped away as the Knight swung hard from his left. The hard swing passed harmlessly through the air in front of him. Stepping forwards, he saw Gowein trying to gather his sword after the wide swing had left it trailing to the side, and so used a [sh] from the right which slithered over Gowein''s de and struck the Knight''s neck harshly. Gowein attempted to maneouvre his de around Crucis'', but Crucis easily twisted his de higher by the hilt and continued to lock out Gowein''s sword. He was surprised at the experienced Knight making such a rash move, and assumed that this Knight was sometimes blindsided by their fervour.


    He used [Lunge] harshly to prick further into the wounds in Gowein''s face, and then used [Agile Step] to reach a safer position behind the Knight''s right shoulder. He used [Slice] to further deepen the wounds on Gowein''s face, and heard the Knight cry out lightly. The knight was now on only 30% HP. Using his sword to deflect a loose strike from Gowein, Crucis stepped behind Gowein and held his sword horizontally across the front of the Knight''s throat, before kicking at the Knight''s feet with [Forceful Kick]. While Gowein almost tried to struggle, they gave up and fell to the ground to escape the de hanging in front of their throat. Crucis expected that, as the Knight had to either fall or impale his neck against Crucis'' sword. As the Knight fell, Crucis immediately began a [Lunge] towards his fallen enemy''s face, drawing further blood and striking deep just above the nose. The Knight was now down to 15% HP.


    As the Knight spectively but weakly rose his de to attempt a strike at Crucis, Crucis realised that the Knight in this form did not have enough power to perform the attack that the Knight wanted to. Crucis grabbed the limply hanging de with [Sword hold], using his left hand, then swung sharply at Gowein''s left wrist with [sh]. As he struck, the Knight shivered and let go of their weapon, which remained in Crucis'' hand. Crucis flung it out to the side of the garden, and crouched down next to the Knight''s face. He used the [Toxin gas] on the Knight''s wounded face, causing the wounds to widen. The Knight let out a sudden wail, and Crucis saw that the pained Knight wasn''t attempting to push Crucis away. Using the [Half-swording] skill, Crucis gripped his own de halfway with his left hand, and used this to aim it more precisely at the wounds on Gowein''s face. He was able to deepen the wounds on the Knight''s face significantly through deep stabs and an asional twisting motion, sending Gowein''s blood blooming across the garden grass, before the Knight finally managed to wrestle Crucis away and fling him onto his back a metre away. Crucis saw that the Knight was on 2% HP while bleeding heavily, so he just remained tiredly on his back and waited for Gowein to die.


    While Gowein tried to stagger to his feet, he soon dropped down, dead. His face was soaked with tears. While these NPCs were still mostly programmed to act like NPCs, they had now begun to disy emotions and experience pain, and Crucis guessed that the game was somehow basing this on people outside the game, as the developers'' mishaps led to the game trying in vain to process information outside of it. Since these NPCs could experience pain inside the game, it followed that the game was probably absorbing these people as it tried to process them as game information.


    Crucis soon rose to his feet. He saw that GemsBond was faring quite well against his opponent, [Pursih] but DigdugMan was having a more difficult time. Both the Mage and his opponent, named [Ky], were down to 30% HP, in spite of the Mage''s frantic healing. Crucis could see that, even weakened, his opponent was a strong swordsman. Crucis saw that the Mage was using [Earth Shield] to give himself time to heal and cast [y Enchantment].


    As [Ky] walked calmly around therge shield of soil, Crucis quickly approached the Knight and attempted a [sh]. The Knight, however, shed his sword up to parry, then sidestepped towards DigdugMan while jaunting his de forwards at Crucis. Crucis used [Dodge Step] as soon as he saw the warrior''s skillful, immediate parry, since he was expecting a fierce reprisal. While the Knight had thrown caution to the wind slightly by stepping right next to DigdugMan, Crucis realised that the Knight had noticed that the Mage was casting healing spells and hence walked up to them without fearing immediate attack.


    Seeing that Crucis had left, Ky swerved his body slightly and shed his de towards DigdugMan, who parried it ably. The Mage attempted to counter-attack, but Ky had grabbed his hand and began to advance towards the Mage with de readied to thrust. Crucis was surprised that the Mage had managed to keep this fight even so far, against such a skillful opponent. This garden suited the [Geomancer] sub-ss, however, and thebination of earth magic and healing was all that had kept the Mage in the fight, since he was at a significant disadvantage and had difficulty with his limited Dexterity.


    Crucis attempted to use [Lunge], as Ky advanced on the Mage. However, Ky noticed the attack and turned sharply to parry Crucis'' de with his ricasso. He used his elbow to shove Crucis while shing hard towards the Assassin''s neck, and the sh Crucis on the shoulder as he fell down. He slid briefly along the ground due to the firm shove, then rolled to his feet.


    However, DigdugMan had used [y Enchantment] while Crucis fought Ky, and now cast [Lesser Whirlpool-Earth] to cause the soil beneat Ky''s feet to soften and spiral downwards, acting like a small quicksand. This threw the Knight off-bnce, allowing the Mage to strike with a firm [Mordhau], gripping his sword by the de and striking the Knight''s helmet with a blunt blow from the hilt. Due to the [y Enchantment], this gave a harsh blow, and a loud, ringing noise filled the garden as Ky copsed to the ground.


    "Nice idea," said Crucis. He used [Stealth Cloak] now, expecting that Ky would put up a fight even from the ground. Ky still had 15% of his HP left, and looked determined but winded.


    The Mage attempted a [sh] at the fallen enemy, but was surprised when the fallen Knight''s de shed forwards to intercept the blow. Without a pause, the Knight swept his legs across the ground towards the Mage''s feet, causing the Mage to fall onto the ground with him. While Ky reached his hand forwards, and prepared to grapple the Mage down and attempt a dangerous thrust, he was stopped when Crucis appeared kneeling next to him and using the [Half-swording] skill to stab the centre of Ky''s neck. Crucis dug his sword out towards the left of Ky''s throat, deepening the bleeding considerably, and he saw a look of distress on the Knight''s face.


    While Ky tried to sweep his sword towards Crucis, DigdugMan parried itfortably. Ky kicked the Mage away, but found that Crucis had grabbed his sword with [Sword hold] and was holding it in ced with his own de.


    "Prepare another Mordhau with y Enchantment," Crucis instructed DigdugMan. The Mage backed off to follow this.


    "You are cruel," said Ky tiredly, "I once was cruel as well, but the Queen lulled us to peacefulness with her charms and her singing. Do not dare seek my bones, you shall find an evil man! Since death I have changed, for the Queen visits the garden each scorned-moon midnight."


    Crucis had a vague recollection of old British legends, and asked, "Didn''t she once lull you towards war, not peace?"


    "Peacefulness is like death, is it not? War can have strength, but it does not always have to be so."


    "Wisely spoken. But you are only strong now because you had been cruel, and when I find your bones you shall regain your strength and your cruelty. Purely to spite you."


    "No!" Ky tried to rear up again, but Crucis smacked the Knight''s chin back down with the base of his sword. The Knight''s chin split slightly, and some blood poured out.


    By the time, DigdugMan had prepared his [y Enchantment], and had walked up to Ky. Looking somewhat angry, the Mage raised his sword''s hilt high and then smashed it against the Knight''s head in a blunt blow, while Crucis used his de to keep Ky in ce. The Knight made a long, low-pitched moan, gurgling blood, then died.


    Crucis wondered if DigdugMan''s earth magic could eventually develop enough to dig deep in this garden and search for the buried Knights. Crucis felt that this would be a likely trigger for a world event, especially since he had seen the horsemen often in videos advertising world events. However, he was somewhat disturbed by the mention of the singing Queen, and he wondered if the Queen had been using a simr type of song-based magic to Irene. This reminded him that he should look more into the [Magical Conch Shell] he had looted from Irene''s ghastly form, and possibly also figure out what a ''scorned-moon midnight'' was so that he could investigate further.


    As Crucis stood up, he saw that GemsBond had killed [Pursih] already. He congratted GemsBond, who thanked him in return.


    A system message appeared:


    [More Knights will appear in 2 minutes! Prepare or heal before the next fights, or flee while you can!]


    As the party waited, DigdugMan healed Crucis and GemsBond. Crucis used a few healing potions to supplement this, raising his HP back to 100%.


    "Hey, DigdugMan," Crucis said, "You mentioned studying Shakespeare, but do you know much about the Arthurian legends?"


    "It''s not my area of expertise," replied the Mage, "but I did study them slightly while researching Shakespeare''s history ys. These Knights do seem to be based on the Arthurian legends, although the game seems to have a different spin on this. The Arthurian legendsprise many texts, however, as well as Welsh folklore, so it could be a separate field of study in itself."


    "Arthur was Welsh?"


    "Proto-Welsh, obviously theter nation of Wales wasn''t quite there yet."


    "Ah, I see. Most of what I know about the Arthurian legends is that he oppressed anarcho-syndicalist peasants. But even that might be slightly apocryphal," Crucis joked.


    "Anyway, any clue what to expect from the next batch of Knights?"


    "Since Ky mentioned Guinevre, it''s likely that one will be based on Lancelot. They''ll probably be quite difficult. Whoever is facing him should try to stall until the rest of us can help."


    Crucis''panions nodded.


    "Let''s stand apart again, so that we don''t get caught in the crossfire once the Knights arrive," said GemsBond.


    As the three of them spread across the garden, a plume of smoke erupted from the centre once more. Three more ghostly figures appeared within the smoke, now at level 40. Crucis saw that one was named [Launce], and this figure quickly ran to ost DigdugMan.


    "I will make short work of the Mage, if either of you fails then I will fight in your stead after that!" Launce shouted at hisrades.


    A Knight named [Triste] approached Crucis, and held his sword rxedly in Crucis'' direction. Crucis attempted a [sh] from the right; but Triste parried this easily. Triste attempted to raise his own sword and strike at Crucis over the right shoulder, apanying this with a few steps forwards, but Crucis backstepped and parried in front of his body. Crucis used [Feint] to fake a [Lunge] after the parry, and backstepped out of range as the Knight swerved his de to parry the feigned attack. Triste continued stepping forwards, and attempted a horizontal cut at Crucis below the chest, but Crucis agilely backstepped with [Dodge Step] and Triste''s de flew through empty air.


    Crucis was surprised when Triste began to back off slowly, and figured that the Knight was daring him into an attack. Crucis lowered his ward, pointing his sword downwards in front of him, wondering if this would tempt the Knight to attack. However, Triste merely lowered his sword slightly, and pointed it at Crucis to threaten the Assassin if he should advance. Crucis ventured forwards hesitantly, and used [Rising thrust], but stepped backwards immediately when he felt Triste parry his thrust, and raised the hilt of his de to ward off Triste''s retaliatory cut with a hanging parry.


    Crucis nced at DigdugMan, and saw that the Mage had lowered Launce to 70% HP, but was himself on 45% HP. Frowning, Crucis struck forwards with a long [Wrath strike], but Triste parried high with a swing of his sword, and then attempted to respond with a downwards cut of his own. Crucis easily backstepped out of range of this strike, and, as Triste''s sword fell, Crucis twisted his wrist to cut down at Triste''s hands from the right. The Knight flinched in pain as Crucis'' sword sliced across his skin and drew blood, and Triste let his sword droop towards the floor. Crucis used this opening to step forwards strongly, using his left hand to grab Triste''s hands and restrain them, and then delivering a harsh [sh] to the edge of the Knight''s neck across the right side, following this up with a quick [Thrust] that pierced further into the wound. He stepped back after that, as the Knight followed him with a wide sh that flew just short. Triste now had 65% HP remaining.


    As Triste ventured forwards, he feinted, pretending to strike at Crucis'' head before shifting attention to the Assassin''s right leg. Triste''s de cut lightly through Crucis'' leg, and Crucis stumbled. Seeing that the Assassin was off-bnce, Triste prepared a heavy strike at Crucis'' head, but Crucis activated [Speed Demon] to raise Agility and backpedaled hastily away before the Knight could swing. Crucis crouched down in a corner of the garden to regain his bnce, quietly picking up some wet soil, then stood up once again. Triste took a few steps forwards, and then attempted the same swing, but Crucis was expecting the strike and easily intercepted the blow with his own sword and ducked down, using [Hard/soft] to soften his de and let Triste''s de deflect against the walls at the corner of the garden. As Triste''s de hit the walls above Crucis'' head, and bounced to the side, Crucis stepped forwards and threw the wet soil in Triste''s face. This further disoriented the Knight, as Crucis stepped to the left and slid his sword forwards to strike the Knight with a high [Lunge] to the face that drew plenteous blood. Crucis feinted another strike to the face, causing the Knight to instinctively flinch backwards, but instead grabbed the Knight''s sword with [Sword hold] and used [sh] to deliver a harsh cut to the Knight''s hands as they wavered dizzily. As he saw his de cut into the Knight''s hands with a couple of bleeding gashes, reducing the Knight to 20% HP, he followed this up with [Thrash] directed at the wounds. He felt the Knight let go of his sword, so Crucis confiscated the Knight''s sword and threw it away.


    Facing the swordless Triste, Crucis used [Agile Step] as the Knight attempted to step away, and grabbed the Knight''s shoulder to perform a rough [Slice] across the Knight''s neck. Pressing his sword forwards across the wound and slowly drawing it to one side, he forced the Knight''s head to tilt backwards in order to avoid the blow. Using a [Forceful Kick] on the back of the Knight''s feet, he sent Triste tumbling hard to the ground, making a loud noise that gained the attention of the rest of the room. Ignoring the stares of hispanions, Crucis kneeled down and used [Half-swording] to stab deeply through the centre of the Knight''s exposed ear, and then used [Slice] to draw his sword across the Knight''s wounded neck until Triste was dead.


    ncing up, he saw that Launce had retained 40% HP, and was ying cat-and-mouse with DigdugMan by hopping lightly from side to side and threatening to step around an [Earth Shield]. The Mage had only 15% HP remaining, but was preparing a healing spell. Meanwhile, GemsBond was still at about even HP with [Bedwyr], the Knight fighting him, as both had 60% HP.


    Crucis knew that Launce would be a skilled swordsman. As Crucis approached the Knight, he used [Feint] to fake a strike at the Knight''s head, but backstepped away as soon as he saw the Knight''s de vigorously rising to parry. Launce''s sword thrusted upwards with a movement like a striking snake seizing prey, and Crucis realised that this opponent was very strong even in this diminished form. Crucis lowered his de, as if preparing a low cut, and Launce also lowered his de to follow. Crucis saw that Launce was smiling lightly, as if pleased that Crucis was reluctant to fight.


    "You''re wise enough to know your ce," taunted Launce.


    Crucisughed slightly, and replied, "You aren''t, you should be a swordsman again, not a gardener."


    "Oh?" said Launce, seeming a bit surprised. "Well, yes. By the way, I like how your gardening is swordsmanship. All of these broken flowers everywhere, these other so-called ''Knights'' will be crying for weeks. You should also be a swordsman, definitely not a gardener." He smiled, teasingly.


    "They would be crying more if we found their bones, one of your allies was just begging me not to before I killed him."


    Launceughed. "They would be crying at first, but soon all of your human towns and cities would be crying. If their original stature was restored, so would their bloodthirstiness. My bones are buried deep by the gates at the back of the garden, from the opposite side as the one you came in, by the way.."


    Launcefortably parried a [sh] from the side by DigdugMan, then sidestepped quickly and shoved the Mage roughly to the ground.


    "Your friend here has been ying hard-to-get," said Launce, "Were you nning to have him hold me up until the rest of you could join in?"


    "Yes," replied Crucis, seeing no point in lying about it.


    "Then let me help!" said Launce, and he swiftly backstepped and swerved around to stab [Bedwyr] through the spine, interrupting his fellow Knight''s bout with GemsBond. This removed all of Bedwyr''s remaining 23% HP, and hey on the ground dead, blood spurting out from the spinal wound. GemsBond and DigdugMan looked on in shock.


    As GemsBond recovered from his shock, he pointed his sword out superstitiously at Launce, afraid of the Knight after seeing the decisiveness of the killing blow on Bedwyr. The three yers surrounded the Knight.


    "Thank you. Now surrender," said Crucis, with his de pointed forwards.


    "No, you surrender!" said Launce. Crucisughed at the gantry of the statement.


    "If you take this bracelet, then it will strengthen you," continued Lancelot, holding out two ck, thin bracelets with a long red line around the centre. "However, when we Knights revive at greater strength, you will be on our side against any opposing armies. I will not reveal more of my ns. There are two bracelets here, two of you must wear them. Do you agree, or do you want to fight? You will be waiting a while for your Mage to revive, if you choose to fight."


    "I ept your terms," said Crucis, and took the bracelet. He wore it, and saw that it bound to his skin and he could not remove it, like a thin ck-red scar.


    He waited for the rest of his partners, and saw that DigdugMan also hesitantly epted a bracelet and wore it.


    "Then it is concluded. Enjoy fighting the King, I know I did,"ughed Launce, as he bowed and disappeared into the air.


    "What a model gentleman," remarked Crucis.

 Chapter 39: Kill the King

    Chapter 39: Kill the King


    "That''s the fourth sword!" said Crucis, "We should dig there."


    The party of three had already obtained three of the swords buried within the garden. Under Crucis'' direction, the Mage DigdugMan had used spells like [Earth Shield] and [Minor Earthen Missile] to raise the soil in areas of the garden without much grass, as Crucis had guessed that these areas were the ones where previous yers had dug for swords. Crucis and GemsBond would crouch and scan beneath the soil which DigdugMan had raised away, before the soil returned to its normal position. Once a sword was spotted, the group would move across and begin digging with their hands, and DigdugMan would periodically use [Lesser Whirlpool-Earth] to form a spiralling hole in the soil, making the digging faster.


    "After Launce''s gift, my spells are much more powerful," said the Mage, who was pleased to see that his [Earth Shield] was now much morerge and firm, and hence also drew up more soil from the ground while in use.


    "That''s because it boosted your INT a lot," said Crucis, "it also increased my DEX, so I guess the main stat of your character ss. But I noticed something else, did you notice that there''s now a dark glow around your [Earth Shield], like, a smoky dark aura?"


    "Oh, yes," came the distracted response, as the Mage opened his Character screen to inspect his new stats.


    "Any idea what it does?"


    "Look cool, I guess?"


    Crucisughed. "I guess we''ll have to wait until the fight with Athur to notice. But it reminds me of a building I heard of, which was a ''Haunted House,'' but had no ghosts inside it. It was filled with a thick, dark mist, and the idea was that groups of friends could just walk in and the gas would make them each see their other friends as ghosts or ghastly figures. They could have a sort of DIY horror session. That building was near one of the other starting towns, I think."


    "Could be something like that, actually. Maybe it would help give organic special effects during the war he mentioned?"


    "Good point. After all, these effects are probably supposed to characterise one side in the war. Launce did mention that he expected their return to result in great suffering, so perhaps they will be at the head of some nightmarish Army that yers are expected to fight against?"


    "Yes. But seemingly some yers can join them, and we will have to. It might be a tough fight."


    "We will do what we can."


    Crucis was idly digging as he talked, and he felt his fingers brush against worn-out iron. He quickly wed away the dirt from around the sword, and tugged it out of the soil. He heard the loud sound of an iron wheel turning nearby, and the apanying sound of arge door sliding open.


    "It looks like we''ve opened Athur''s room," said GemsBond.


    Crucis walked out of the garden, and onto the remains of the castle''s main courtyards. Scanning the few remaining walls, he saw that therge, locked door at the entrance to the throne room, near the back of the castle, had swung open. This room had been gated off, ostensibly for the safeguarding of a historically-important site. Crucis beckoned hispanions over to the throne room entrance, where they climbed over some barriers that had been set up in front of the door.


    "You sure this is it?" asked DigdugMan, "There are still some barriers."


    "Yeah, this is definitely the door we just heard opening," replied Crucis.


    As they walked into the room, they saw four small, hollow, cylindrical containers in front of another door, which was grandiose and painted in violet and gold.


    Crucis opened one of the cylindrical containers, and ced one of the swords inside. The sword begun to glow.


    After the four swords were ced in the four containers, Crucis heard a loud creek as the door in front of them opened, revealing the throne room. It seemed muchrger now than it had looked from the outside. At the far-side was a man dressed in red robes, who was facing away from them and seemed to be staring out of a window. Looking carefully, Crucis saw that the man was named [Athur], and was a level 40 boss.


    The rest of Crucis'' party also noticed, and started to slowly approach the boss. Athur continued to face away, seemingly ignoring them. However, as GemsBond prepared a [Strong blow] from behind the boss'' left side, Athur suddenly spun around and swung his de to parry the attack, then thrust his de lightly into the Knight''s side. GemsBond fell to the ground in pain, at 80% HP. Crucis was surprised to see that Athur''s face was skull-like, with ck holes in the ce of eyes, and lines of shimmering gold and gemstones imbued into the face as if it was a crown.


    Athur did not relent after GemsBond fell, but instead stepped forwards and attempted a fierce downwards cut, which the Knight tried to parry. However, the Knight''s parry was awkward, and his de went flying out of his hands. As Athur prepared to capitalise on this, GemsBond scrambled to his feet and attempted to run away. He was felled by a sharp thrust towards the lower back, which reduced him to 55% HP.


    Crucis rushed in, and used a [sh] to distract Athur. He was met with a fierce parry, but what got his attention was that his sword gained a shadowy, smoke-like aura when attacking, that resembled DigdugMan''s [Earth Shield]. As DigdugMan also approached the action, Athur waved his hand and flung DigdugMan into a corner of the room, using the unavoidable move [Two by Two]. Crucis guessed that this meant that Athur would only fight two opponents at once. Using [The Empress Card], Crucis tried to trace the [Two by Two] move to see if he could use it, but as he expected the card did not allow him to learn this move.


    "Heal Gems," he said to DigdugMan without looking around. The Mage turned to heal GemsBond.


    As Athur prepared to strike Crucis from the left, Crucis parried, and then smiled as the grounded GemsBond began to pull at Athur''s feet. Taking advantage of Athur''sck of bnce, Crucis used [Parry grapple] to shove Athur''s sword out of the way before striking at Athur''s neck with a [Lunge] that tore through to the bone. Thick, dark smoke like his sword''s aura seemed to billow from the wound as he struck. He saw that the boss had been reduced to 90% HP.


    As Athur gathered his strength and tried to sh again, Crucis tilted his de to the left to intercept the blow, then moved it in a twisting motion to sh at Athur''s hands. This also easily tore away the skin, revealing finger-bones beneath them. Crucis frowned, then charged forwards and rightwards, past Athur''s shoulder, tond a fierce horizontal [sh] on the boss'' neck. Using [Half-swording], Crucis shoved his de firmly into Athur''s neck and felt bones crack beneath it, then pressed the boss backwards until the boss''ck of bnce and GemsBond''s efforts caused the boss to topple harshly backwards. Crucis swooped downwards as the boss fell, keeping his de pinned to the boss'' neck while half-swording, and felt some clear cracks form in the boss'' neck bones after the impact of the fall. The boss was now down to 45% HP.


    However, Crucis was surprised when Athur''s arm suddenly reached out and shoved him away, and he was surprised at the boss'' strength. Athur kicked GemsBond far away, across the room.


    "I am Athur, King of Kings," said the boss haughtily. Crucis noticed that the boss'' pronunciation of Athur was more like ''Ah-huh-thur,'' with a very short ''huh'' sound.


    "You cannot resist my power," continued Athur, "for it is the power of destiny."


    Saying this, he raised his palm towards Crucis, who was struggling back to his feet, and Crucis suddenly went flying backwards until he was pinned to a wall. He realised with rm that his [Silver Wasp Sword] had got stuck with its de lodged inside the wall, and could not move. As Athur triumphantly marched forwards to attack, Crucis saw that DigdugMan was trying to form an [Earth Shield] to protect him. However, the Mage''s spells seemed to fail.


    "Fool! You have not yet seen my - that is, your sorcery cannot resist the power of destiny," thundered Athur, "A great wizard taught me the limits of magic, and you will not defeat me like that in my own throne room."


    Athur walked up to Crucis slowly. Crucis quickly scanned the wall and tables next to him, to find anything that he could use as a shield. He saw a few small, gold goblets and red gemstones on the table beside him, alongside arge painting leaning against a wall. The painting was framed in hard wood, and was a portrait of a woman with light-blonde hair that grew ck around the edges, whose features seemed to arch upwards with a slightly aristocratic air. A small que beneath the painting marked her as the ''Queen,'' but while her name clearly began with a ''Gw,'' the rest of her name had worn away. As Athur raised his de to strike powerfully at Crucis, Crucis used his left hand to grab the painting, and shoved it at Athur''s sword to deflect the blow. Athur''s sword broke through the painting, but the impact was enough to divert his de harmlessly away from Crucis.


    Crucis thrust the top of the painting''s hard wooden frame towards Athur''s wounded neck, and the impact startled the boss, who suddenly froze up. This gave DigdugMan the time to slink behind Athur, and strike with a firm [Overhead sh] that sent Athur careening forwards drunkenly towards the wall. Crucis grabbed the boss in a [Chokehold], then mmed the boss'' face into the hilt of the sword still submerged in the wall at Crucis'' side. Athur''s head smashed roughly into the sword''s hilt, and after this blunt strike the boss fell to the ground like a rock, down to 10% HP. Crucis tugged lightly at his sword, and found that he could pull it out from the wall again.


    However, as he looked down at his hand, he was surprised to see that it had turned into an ashen ck, scaly hand with long, sharp, curved fingers, and it seemed to billow smoke into the air around it. Looking quickly at his HP bar, he saw that he had acquired a new status effect named [Nightmare]. Checking the details of this, he saw that it reduced the uracy of his opponent''s skills as the opponent lost HP, and increased the uracy of his own moves. He saw that Athur''s de had fallen harmlessly to the side, and as Athur tried to rise to his feet DigdugMan easily pushed him back down with [Mana Strike]. Seemingly, the Mage could use his spells normally again.


    Tentatively, Crucis walked up to the boss and used [sh]. He saw more smoke billow from the ce where his sword struck, and it rose to join a thin wall of smoke that was floating across the throne room. Crucis looked down at his arm again, and saw that by now it all appeared to be covered with ck scales. He could feel that his skin was actually still the same as normal, but guessed that the smoke had transformed its appearance.


    "Crucis, you look like some sort of demon!"ughed DigdugMan, "Your eyes are even glowing slightly red, and your face is ck scales. It''s like Venom from Spider-Man, or something. This smoke must work like the haunted house you mentioned." Crucis nodded. The Mage had also transformed slightly, and now seemed to have cat-like ws growing out of the ends of his fingers.


    Crucis absent-mindedly thrust at Athur''s neck with [Lunge], and felt his sword prick the wounded neck as Athur groaned loudly. As Crucis looked down at Athur again, he saw that his strike had inflicted a debuff on Athur called [Ague], whichsted for 5 seconds and had the chance of sending all of the boss''bat skills into cooldown if the boss used a skill during that time. He hence supposed that the three effects of Launce''s bracelet were:


    a) a sharp increase in the ss'' designated main stat. (eg. INT for Mages.)


    b) creating a dark aura around attacks, which leads to the [Nightmare] effect as the fight goes on. As the smoke thickens, the [Nightmare] gets worse.


    c) chance to inflict [Ague] upon striking the opponent.


    Bracelets were typically quite strong, and this one was no exception. He guessed that this is because the game used a wristband on the right hand to let the yer ess the menu and change settings, so items of a simr kind were designated as able to affect the game on a more fundamental level. The issue was that it was now bound to him, at least until the war which Launce had predicted, and this limited his ability to switch around bracelets to adjust to specific situations. However, at this stage in the game, he figured that the bracelet''s effects should still serve him well and Launce had ultimately helped with this offer. The only possible problem woulde with the war, when he might have to face formidable opposition.


    Smiling, he used [Stealth Cloak] to sneak behind the fallen Athur, who was cowering in a corner of the room, and sprayed [Vile Toxin Gas] over the boss'' wounded neck. The boss copsed to the ground holding his neck, as the wounds spread around the circumference of his neck like a spiderweb. Crucis could almost hear Athus'' skin tear as the toxin gas'' effect cause splits to appear across the boss'' neck. Casually, Crucis walked away from the boss, then cheekily raised his arms and pretended to lunge at DigdugMan while saying, "Boo." The Mage jumped back, visibly startled by seeing Crucis'' demonic, frightening form approach him. Crucisughed quietly.


    Soon, they heard a choked cry from.the corner of the room, as Athur died. Crucis was slightly miffed that the boss'' drops were mostly equipment for warriors, and had little use for him. He couldn''t even reach the Strength requirement for most. As he looked around the room, he saw that the golden decorations and gems had disappeared, along with the painting and other decorations. They were now in a barren throne room.


    The three yers caught their breath, and headed back to town. As they left the castle ruins, one of the guards spoke up loudly, saying, "Be safe!" DigdugMan turned around to thank the guard. As they walked away from the castle ruins, Crucis couldn''t shake the feeling that someone unfamiliar was watching him from near the castle''s garden.

 Chapter 40: Anglerfish

    Chapter 40: Anglerfish


    Before leaving his small room in the [Kruxol Inn], Cael looked through his mail, which he had dumped in a corner of the room before sleeping.


    Discarding most of the spam, such as Guild advertisements and reports on far-away Arena tournaments, he found a couple of letters pertaining to the Draugr Invasion event. One was marked ''Draugr Invasion: Participation Rewards,'' and the other was marked ''Draugr Invasion: Fighting Rewards.'' Opening the first, he found a letter which said:


    "Congrattions on taking part in the Draugr Invasion world event! You participated in the event for three hours, here are your rewards. We encourage all yers to take part in world events, and these rewards are quite valuable."


    Cael reached into the envelope, and drew out a golden piece of paper. This dissolved as soon as he picked it up, and he gained arge amount of EXP, enough to boost him to level 50. The envelope also contained a thin, ck quill pen, and a small grey stone. He saw that the stone was called [Draugrstakrr], and its description said:


    [This stone seems to glow when a graveyard is nearby. Perhaps you will find out more about it if you take it to a graveyard?]


    The quill pen was named [Illusion Quill Pen], and its description stated that it channeled a Mage''s mana to write text. This text could then be used to enchant equipment, even without knowing the appropriate enchantment spell. It was limited to one enchantment per month. The text, since it was an extension of mana, could also be made to disappear by withdrawing the mana, or could be converted into spells by repurposing the mana. The text would use up the Mage''s MP as long as it was left in ce, but could be safely withdrawn after the enchantment was cast.


    Opening the second letter, Cael read a simrly-worded congrattion for two hours of fighting draugr. He found that the envelope contained a [Hades Arm Scroll]. Reading this scroll, he saw that it contained a spell which would transform one of his arms until it resembled a draugr''s, and this would increase its strength as well as weakening opponents'' STR and DEX temporarily when a spell struck them. It did this because it tapped into the power of the undead to transform the user''s own mana. The scroll exined that, "The caster''s familiarity with the undead, from long fights against them, has granted him the ability to tap into the undead''s charnel power and deathly animation. They have be like a denizen of the Underworld, from hours spent at crypts." Cael''s eyebrow raised at this, since he hadn''t typically had enough of a macabre disposition to spend his time hanging out at crypts. However, he took it to mostly be the scroll''s grandiose way of suggesting that the spell was a reward for fighting the undead. He wondered if there was anything more to this: one of the items had mentioned that it strengthened him in a graveyard, so perhaps this scroll''s description was giving further encouragement to fight in graveyards, perhaps implying a reward. However, for now, he learned the spell without needing to visit any such scenic locations.


    [New spell! Arm of Hades. 90 MP]


    This spell was costly in MP terms, especially since it onlysted for seven seconds. However, he still wished to try it out. As he cast [Arm of Hades], he felt the skin on his right hand be stiff and raw, and as he looked down he saw that it had be slightly grey and looked like old, rotting flesh. It felt quite ufortable at first. However, he tried holding out his arm to grab a heavy chair which was about one foot away, and found that he easily sped his stiff hands around its back and dragged it across the room. Sitting down, he waited a few minutes for his MP to regenerate, then cast [Arm of Hades] again.


    This time, he picked up the [Illusion Quill] and scrawled down the word ''sortie.'' After the [Arm of Hades] buff had ended, and his arm returned to usual, he could feel that the word on the page was still written in a different form of mana to his usual. Since the [Illusion Quill Pen] wrote with the use of mana, he had guessed that it might be a way to preserve the special mana of [Arm of Hades] after the spell''s effect had ended. After inspecting the writing carefully, using his Mage sensitivity to mana to verify that it was not his normal kind of mana, he decided to repurpose the mana from the text to cast [Mana Push] on a nearby object and see what happens. However, he found that the text faded before he could cast, because the mana required to keep the text in ce had depleted his remaining MP, and he had no more MP to keep the text in ce.


    Shrugging, he waited for some MP to regenerate, then cast [Meditate] so that his MP would regenerate faster. Hey down in bed until his MP was full. As he got up, he decided to write fewer letters on the paper this time, so that his MP would deplete more slowly since there was less writing to preserve. He cast [Arm of Hades], then wrote the letter ''x'' on the paper. As the [Arm of Hades] faded, he repurposed the small amount of mana in the writing to cast [Conjure Light] briefly. He saw a glow emanate from within his clenched right hand, but noticed that it was quite different from his usual [Conjure Light]. The air around the light source had grown stiff and still, and seemed like an extreme form of stolid graveyard air. The light itself looked much more pale than usual. He rose the light up towards his eyes, to wake him up more, and then ended the spell and stood up.


    Looking through the window, he saw that he had a good view of the woods South of Kruxol. He saw a small group of yers from [The Fountain] Guild patrolling the area. They must be looking for [DeathGang] Guild members, since Crucis had pretended to belong to that Guild while killing Ron. A fewrge Guilds had dered their intention to patrol areas where ganker Guilds were seen at work, in what was billed as an effort to make the wilds safer for yers. A day had passed since yers had been trapped in the game, and a few patrols had already been organised in ces closer to the towns. These moves from therge Guilds had generated good PR, and led to increasing centralisation as other Guilds gave therge Guilds more respect and began to follow orders.


    Before leaving the inn, Cael reached back for the envelope with his draugr-fighting rewards, and found another golden piece of paper. This also dissolved into the air, giving him even more EXP than thest paper of this sort. He saw that he had raised to level 53. Most yers in this area didn''t survive the draugr long enough to fight for 2 hours or participate for three hours, so Cael felt that he was making progress rtive to them.


    Once he had emerged into the dark, night-time streets of Kruxol, Cael quietly walked near the borders of the town, scanning for nearby buildings which he could hide in. The town was noticeably quieter after the exodus to Kaxil, and few people noticed him. If he was seen, he changed his path slightly so that he would appear to be going towards one of the town''s numerous stores. However, after about 15 minutes he had done a fullp of the town.


    Checking carefully to make sure that no patrol was near, he snuck into a small wooden building South of Kruxol, a short way to the West of the temple. He saw that this building contained a shrine painted with gold, with its centrepiece a sculpture of a blue deity with three blood-red tongues sticking out, who carried ance and a rectangr knife which resembled a machete. The paint on this sculpture was beginning to fade, but the deity looked quite fearsome at night, where his blue skin appeared almost ck in the darkness. Cael saw that a small amount of red paint seemed to have spilled beneath the deity''s mouth, as if he had been eating blood.


    Cael had chosen this building because it had a window, which he crouched down beneath. He raised his head slightly to peer through this, and heard a few yers talking nearby. He guessed that they were [The Fountain] members patrolling the area.


    "Well, that was easy. What the hell are they doing making us waste our time here?" said one yer.


    "I guess that LordAeneas doesn''t want us to sleep," joked apanion of his. They both made loud footsteps as they walked briskly through the woods. Cael guessed that LordAeneas was one of [The Fountain]''s leaders.


    The first of the yers spoke up again. "Aye, he got us traipsing around the woods at night. What a mensch, no wonder they call him Lord Anus."


    "Yeah. Anyway, we''re nearly at Kruxol, thank God. I''m sure the guys will be d to hear that - yet again - we saw no signs of anything happening. I''m sure ol'' Gant will be like, ''We know DeathGang well, if they attack in an area then they''re probably lurking there. They''re nomads, they hang out in a ce until everyone else leaves.'' Well, they''re not going to all be hovering around right next to Kruxol, innit? With a whole group of ''em, they''d stick out like a sore thumb."


    "True, that. Anyway, let''s reach Kruxol, we can go to the bar and wait for theggards to catch up."


    The two yers departed, and Cael heard them walking into town some distance away. It seemed that, since there was nothing in the woods, the patrolling had bex. The patrol weren''t bothering to stick together, and these two yers had rushed back to Kruxol early. Cael couldn''t me them. While Guild leaders tended to party up with strong Guild members and do dungeons, growing stronger in the process, the rank-and-file were being used for things like patrols and to escort travellers between cities. These duties, needless to say, gave no real rewards. Since yers couldn''t currently leave their Guilds, they had little choice but to listen to these orders or risk punishment. The result was several yers who were continually sent on these missions, and had begun to stall in their growth. A few Guilds had tried to remedy this by offering pay to their Guild members as a rpense, but this wasn''t enough to stop yers from stagnating. Cael guessed that a fewrge Guilds, currently high and mighty, might find a surprise down the line when other Guilds that have levelled up more quickly upset the bnce of power.


    Cael looked carefully through the window, and saw a group of three yers patrolling to the South.


    "Yes, it''s terrible, but Hunting can make you some money if you''re good at it," one yer wasughing, "I got a good deer skin the other day when our Guild went to the hunting grounds, it was worth tons of gold."


    "Yes," another yer interjected, "but you can''t go up North safely without support. And you can''t hunt green-name animals outside huntibg territory, it''s poaching and our Guild forbids it."


    "Oh, yeah, definitely. But there''s still some expensive stuff you can find by exploring, though I really wish Aeneas would let us go North again." This yer seemed a bit dejected. "Ah, well, doubt we''ll find anything. I''ll go and get a pint up North with my ill-gotten gains, barely bothered going to Storage because nothing''s ever here. See you guyster."


    The others said goodbye, and Cael saw a yer walking North, taking a path near Cael''s window. The yer was only level 25, and looked to be a warrior. Quickly acting based on the conversation he had just heard, he used [Minor Illusion] to create the illusion of a small sable, resembling the one which he had fought on the first day of the game. He gave this an orange name, and had it approach the yer aggressively. Cael saw that the yer''s name was [StarInEye], and the yer was wearing a fairly expensive suit beneath a thinyer of armour, as well as donning a jewelled, purely cosmetic ne. Clearly, this yer saw bling as the endgame.


    On seeing the sable, StarInEye looked at it with wide eyes for a moment, amazed by the sight of its valuable, rare fur. Cael smiled slightly. As the illusory sable approached, StarInEye drew his sword and swung at the sable, which backed off slightly. Cael had invested most of the points from levelling up into INT, and this had improved the potency of his illusion skill, so he was now able to control the illusory sable like a novice puppeteer. StarInEye gave chase, scrambling desperately after the sable and managing to brush close to it with a firm strike.


    At this, Cael stood up and cast [Mana Strike] to throw StarInEye to the ground, and thunderously shouted, "How dare you! What kind of monster would kill such a beautiful creature? I would never have even imagined that someone could act like that."


    He followed this up with [Spark], and StarInEye copsed back onto the ground weakly. Cael had upgraded his [Spark] skill using Skill Mastery, after purchasing a cheap extra scroll of the skill. It now had more potency, and a longer duration of effect. It was still clearly a low-level spell, and had only reduced the weaker StarInEye''s HP by 5%. However, as Cael walked outside the building, he saw that the warrior was still on the ground, shivering haltingly. While StarInEye was trying to crawl his way back onto his feet, his hands seemed to keep failing and falling to the side helplessly. Cael smiled, and dispelled the sable illusion while the warrior wasn''t looking. Activating [Arm of Hades], he felt his right arm grow stiff, and he followed this up by casting [Dark''s Tendrils]. Shadowy, stiff tendrils, almost invisible in the night, struck at StarInEye, who ttened against the ground and whimpered as his strength faded. Cael used [Magic Missile] to kill the warrior off quickly.


    Since Cael''s mana was almost fully depleted, he returned into the building with the shrine, to hide and replenish mana. He slid into a small gap behind the shrine, meaning that a casual seeker would probably not find him. Since the sight of a sable had lured StarInEye into a small area enclosed by thick bushes, Cael did not expect anyone to find the body until the next morning. At night, it was well-hidden. However, once his MP had recovered, he still decided to quietly walk into a building slightly further away from the corpse, where he had seen another shrine.


    He found that this shrine had golden paint peeling off it, and the sculpture in the centre had seemingly been forcibly removed. The atmosphere of this building was stale and decrepit. He stayed hidden in a corner, covered in the thick shadows of the shrine and hence difficult to see at night. He heard the sound of footsteps nearby, but this building had no windows and he couldn''t tell how strong the yer outside was. To try and figure this out, he used [Minor Illusion] to conjure an image of the [Immortal Silver Stallion Stone], a shimmering silver stone sculpted in the shape of a horse. This item was quite famous because of its use in advertising, where it was shown as a powerful item that even a small or average yer could obtain by exploration. Somewhat like the [Lore Page], it was randomly generated in certain ces around the map. However, few yers had found it so far. In the night, it was difficult to miss.


    Cael saw a female yer whose name was [DiAn], and who was level 11. She was arguing with another yer, who was holding her by the shoulder, and telling him to leave the stone behind.


    "Oi, I found it! Get off me, you can''t just take everything for yourself!" said the young girl, who had ck hair and looked slightly Chinese, but had clearly grown up in the West.


    "Listen, girl, you''re just young, you don''t understand anything," said a middle-aged man behind her, who seemed to be a rtive of some sort. "Show respect to the elders in your family, ah." Cael squinted slightly, and saw that this man was level 21.


    "No! You always do this, you don''t want me to have anything! My father bought me this dress, not yours. You just act like you''re my father!"


    "Listen, what would your grandparents have said? Look at the heavens now and ask, who is to receive it, and who isn''t?"


    While this argument was partially in jest, Cael saw that the two had started passive-aggressively wrestling over who was to pick up the stone.


    "OK. Let''s see if they answer. Elders, do you think I should not get the stone?" said the young girl snarkily.


    At that moment, Cael stood up and used [Mana Strike] on the older man as he was half-wrestling the girl, and the man fell down over the girl, causing them both to copse to the ground. Cael used [Spark] on the young girl, and saw her once-lively form shrivel up to a weak husk on the ground. She had only 15% HP left. He saw that his [ck Cursed Draugr Staff] had inflicted the [Disease] status on her, so he left her be since she would die anyway.


    Turning to the older man, whose name was garbled, he used [Magic Missile] and saw that the man was at 40% HP already. The level difference was already quite pronounced. The man saw him and clumsily drew a sword, but could not attack because Cael immediately knocked the sword from his hands using [Mana Push]. As the man reached back to pull up the sword, Cael saw that his [Spark] spell had ended cooldown.


    As the warrior charged towards him, he used [Spark], slowing the charge to a crawl as the warrior struggled to move. Cael immediately followed the [Spark] with casting [Arm of Hades]. As the warrior slowed to a stop in front of him, he used his stiff draugr-like right arm to swing horizontally at the man''s face, knocking his opponent to the ground and killing them. He saw that the game counted the [Arm of Hades] strike as blunt damage, which was typically associated with blunt weapons like clubs and maces.


    He saw that the girl was on the verge of death, and was unable to move or get up due to the [Disease] status effect being too exhausting. She hence only had 2% HP left, but was making shrill, whining noises on the ground. Annoyed, Cael used [Mana Strike] to send her barreling across the dusty ground, and saw that she had received several scrapes from this. Her blood stretched across the ground, and her corpsey dead.


    Cael sighed lightly. He would have to find another hiding-ce. However, the patrols were probably mostly done by now, so he wasn''t that concerned. Winding his way towards the East of Kruxol, he found a small ruined building that he had noticed earlier. The building had been converted into ruins when Kruxol was downgraded. Regardless, he walked into it. Hiding himself behind rubble, he waited for his red name to fade. The night was cold, but silent, and he found the silence reassuring.

 Chapter 41: Blood Eagle, James Blood Eagle

    Chapter 41: Blood Eagle, James Blood Eagle


    After patrols through the woods reported that it was safe, a few smaller yers began to enter. However, as it was night, the woods were still quiet. Cael saw that a few yers from [The Fountain] had just wandered away from the patrol to grind or do quests instead, without alerting their Guildmates. It seemed that nobly patrolling an area to keep yers safe was one thing, but organising your members was quite another.


    Once a patrol had confirmed an area to be safe, typically small yers would swarm in to take advantage of the safe zone. This wasn''t as pronounced at night, where people were reluctant to enter the dark woods, but Cael still saw a handful of yers wandering hesitantly into the woods. Since yers who spent too long in the safety of a town were automatically enlisted in that town''s reserve army - a measure put in ce to encourage yers to explore the world and grow stronger - there were many small yers who would listen out for any opportunity to leave town safely. Most yers weren''t aware of how casual Guild members could be with patrols. Cael decided to leave the woods in peace for the moment, so that yers could seep in and start grinding, then catch them off guard in about an hour when it was darker. It was just past 1am in-game at the moment, but the game''s night-time was programmed to turn progressively darker until 4:30am.


    Standing near the centre of Kruxol, Cael switched character to Crucis. Since he had an hour to spare, he figured that he might as well get a start on the [Spy] sub-ss.


    The most popr Assassin sub-ss was the [Assassin Duelist], which used abination of STR, DEX, and Agility to fight with swords, resembling a warrior, but also had the stealth abilities central to the ss. This is because Assassins were well-known to have issues with dungeons and PvE battles, as well as Arenas, since their stealth abilities were less effective in those contexts. The [Assassin Duelist] was one of the most effective in such PvE, and yers from this sub-ss were more likely to get a chance to join strong parties entering a dungeon. It could also hold its own in Arena. Crucis felt like that sub-ss would be turning the Assassin into a warrior-lite, however, and was too much of a Jack-of-all-trades approach.


    In his experience, most of the skill in an attack was picking your opponent, approaching them directly but with stealth, and maintaining an element of surprise. The attack itself was only the tip of the iceburg. When a tiger attacks a deer, it isn''t typically an epic martial arts disy. However, the tiger''s camouge and approach are integral to the hunt. As such, he wished to pick the [Spy] sub-ss, as its camouge and stealth would build on the strength of the Assassin ss. He figured that the [Snake Master] sub-ss, which was least popr, might be strongest in organised PvP because of its focus on grapples. The [Snake Master] grappled around his opponent like an anaconda, and it was dangerous to get close. However, this was slightly over-specialised, and the [Spy] sub-ss was much more versatile rather than primarily focused onbat. [Snake Master] also had a reputation for being terrible against dungeon bosses.


    Crucis found the spy trainer, named [James Ariosto], hidden in a small alley in Northern Kruxol. James Ariosto was an old, ck-haired man wearing the armour as a guard. Crucis hesitated for a few moments before approaching this NPC, reluctant to risk a run-in with a guard. However, since the NPC was not wearing a helmet, Crucis could tell that it was safe.


    "Greetings, Assassin," said James, "Do you wish to follow the path of the spy? We teach the art of the ninja, that of disguise and infiltration."


    "Yes," replied Crucis.


    "Very well, then. The way of the ninja isplex, for it epasses many elements. Silence, disguise, concealment, psychological maniption, social maniption. People often think that we are teaching them to fight, and they soon pay heavy prices to disappointedly leave our path. People often think we are here just to move elegantly and quietly. No, there are many other aspects. For example, you must learn to manipte subtle social pressures. Suppose that you are a corrupt bouncer, and a manes up to you while bringing his girlfriend, but they have no permission to enter. If it was a single man, then you may ask him to pay you for entry, and he may steadfastly refuse. But if it is a couple, then there is social pressure, the fear of letting their partner down if they don''t ept your request. Do you see how groups can exert pressure, and this can be exploited by others for their own ends?"


    "Yes, it is true."


    "Very well. And you notice another subtlety: the type of rtionship. If a man brings his boss or girlfriend to see him, usually he finds more pressure than if he was just with a band of casual friends. If the rtionship is strained, then you can also take advantage of that. Do you see? We are not an art of hiding, but of opportunities, of taking advantage of the situation."


    James Ariosto pointed to his armour, and continued, "So if I have guard armour, and can pass for a guard, then how well I can take advantage of that determines what I can actually achieve. The skills of our path are just tools that can be used to take advantage of a situation. They are not magical powers that will make you a god by themselves.


    "Why do Assassins use a dagger? Because it is effective from close range, when even a sword may be longer than appropriate. It is simr to the reason why many warriors carry a sidearm. In a fight from range, longer weapons or ranged attackers will hold an advantage over you. Hence, you want to be able to attack your opponents from close range, and the skills of the spy sub-ss will help you to infiltrate, approach the enemy or even convince them that you are their ally. Firstly, you will learn to move more quietly - I could hear you as soon as you approached this alley, and that gave me plenty of time to prepare or flee.


    "There is a small garden just outside of this alley, attached to a building. Enter the garden, and walk across it without alerting anyone in the house. Do not use [Stealth Cloak]. Activate your [Quickstep] passive instead, to move quietly. There are more advanced ways to move quietly, but this skill is a good start."


    Crucis exited the alley, and saw a small house with ruddy bricks, connected to a small garden with poppies nted around the edge. The curtains were drawn, but Crucis saw that there was light shining past the curtains from a couple of rooms near the entrance, meaning that people were probably active in there. He activated [Quickstep], then vaulted over a broken, depressed part of the fence. The front of his feet touched down on the grass of the garden, and he slowly rolled his right foot down until his heel was close to the ground. He shifted weight to his right leg, then carefully felt the ground in front of him with his left toes, before calmly lowering his left foot down. Having adapted to the [Quickstep] skill, he snuck across the garden, and left it through an open gate.


    "Good," said James, as Crucis returned to the alley. "Now you should visit [Arachon], East of Kruxol, to learn the art of disguise. He is in the [Arts Building], argeplex filled with trainers. You will find it by heading East and taking a North turn on the path when you are near the abandoned vige. It is only a short way from there."


    Crucis nodded, then ced his items in Storage and set off Eastwards. He had heard that DeathGang members were gathering in the East, so he would have to be careful on the journey. Walking down the long, straight path East, he eventually saw a distant group of small huts within a high fence, with a rusty gate on the other side from him. This must be the abandoned vige. It looked almost like a cage, though its huts had an earthyplexion, and were covered in green thatched roofs. The area around it was covered in a faint, white mist, and the rooves seemed to almost glow in the mist. He glimpsed a few ck-d figures asionally moving around inside the vige. They were probably Assassins using the town as a temporary base. There were a few yer corpses beside the straight path leading past the vige, so Crucis kept his distance and proceeded along the Northern path instead. Hearing some noise, he activated [Quickstep] and left the path, walking at the edge of the nearby thick, low trees so that he would be less conspicuous.


    He froze when he saw two DeathGang members walking down the path. These two were soon joined by another, who walked quickly onto the path. Crucis couldn''t see which direction this yer hade from, as the trees obscured his view.


    The three yers had a brief discussion, and Crucis could hear that they were going to Kruxol. He guessed that they were probably going to take a short-cut between the trees. A fierce wind was blowing through the trees, and made it difficult for Crucis to hear most of what the DeathGang members were saying. He used this wind as cover to back away deeper into the trees, moving when the wind was loudest to hide any noise. ncing back, he saw that the DeathGang members were quite different in level, with one at level 54, one at 50 and thest at only level 20. He couldn''t take them all on at once. The level 20 seemed to be fidgeting slightly, feeling slightly out-of-ce among these bigger yers. He considered making a run for it, but it was night and it would be easy to trip if it turned into a chase. The night would, however, make it more difficult for them to spot him through the mist.


    As the DeathGang members began to wade through the trees, Crucis crouched down and remained still. As he had guessed, they were taking a diagonal route towards Kruxol, and he had made sure to keep away from this. As they walked past, he scurried Eastwards and away from them when the wind was blowing, using [Stealth Cloak] and [Figure Blur]. The trees were short enough that their low-hanging leaves and thick trunks kept him mostly concealed. By walking East, he hoped to stay out of their path. He noticed that they would asionally nce towards his direction, but were deep in conversation and did not notice him.


    "Ah should prob''ly be turning back, headin'' to tha Arts Buildin''," said the level 20, named [PorkStork], "Ah forgot to return the golden dagger that our gracious leader gave me, i''is quite valuable, ah wouldn'' want ''im to think I stole it."


    "Oh, for Christ''s sake. OK, rush back and get it. Then go South to Somr, that ghost town vige we were using as a base. [Dagoi] is there, he''ll set off for Kruxol in a bit, you join him," said the level 54 yer, coldly, "Maybe he''d understand your dumb British mongrel ent." Crucis saw that this yer was a tall male named [Astera].


    "But howm''I gonna be safe on the way? Ah stored all of ma stuff, but should give back the gold dagger."


    "How are we going to be safe? You kept us standing like sitting ducks in the open for agesst time we went on a walk, do you want us to die? Look, you''re a [Spy], so you can turn off your Guild name disy and hope that nobody notices you. If they approach you, smile politely and keep walking."


    "Go back now, or I''ll kill you and tell the leader that you''re a thief," interjected the level 50, who had a garbled name. Crucis saw that this yer had red hair, and looked slightly Irish. His ent was faintly American, though.


    Crucis saw that the level 20 yer walked in a huff towards the path to the East. Crucis was also going in that direction. He saw that this yer also stayed inside the trees for safety, and seemed nervous about walking around at night.


    Crucis watched as the tworger yers walked off quickly towards Kruxol, no longer having to wait for the slower level 20 Assassin. He realised that this yer must have donated quite a lot, since they had unlocked the [Spy] sub-ss at below level 30. The yer was walking slowly and carefully. As Crucis walked on with [Quickstep], following the unknowing level 20 through the trees, he saw a leafless, ck tree which was almost invisible in the night. Using [Agile Step], he walked into the bark of the tree, and quickly shifted until the front of his body was sticking out of the tree bark, but the rest was inside it. Looking up, he made sure that the overhead disy of his name and level were inside the tree, meaning that they would not be visible to others.


    He then shouted out towards PorkStork, "Hey, can you help me out? I''m just a level 12, my friend gave me some rare items I don''t know how to use. Can you please escort me to the Arts Building safely? He''d hate to lose the items!"


    Crucis saw the level 20 yer turn around menacingly. Crucis had switched to an [Initiate''s Dagger], which he had brought for backup in case he couldn''t use his primary dagger, and was waving it around in the air.


    Soon, PorkStork approached him, and said, "Bro, this is DeathGang territory! What the hell you think, you c''n just prance in here, carrying goods?" It was effectively a threat.


    "What''s a Death Gang? Oi, go pick on someone your own size!" said Crucis timidly, putting on a slight British ent to blend in.


    "We a Guild tha'' owns the ce, we fight off all the rivals. We don''t hide like Hash''n, we all a gang, we fight to protect our territory. You a threat? ''Cause you won''t be when ah take your friend''s stuff!"


    As Pork Stork jumped at Crucis, looking to strike Crucis with his dagger, he found his chest suddenly impaled on the de of Crucis'' [ck Cursed Draugr Sword] after Crucis used [Lunge]. Crucis'' high Agility meant that his movement was much too fast for this low-level Assassin to react, and PorkStork keeled over with blood flowing from his chest. The strike had seemingly snuck through the ribs, and PorkStork looked faint. He was on 20% HP, but looked like he was in worse condition than his HP stat would suggest. While Crucis had intended to use his sword''s longer range to keep PorkStork from reaching close enough to attack with daggers, he had been lucky with the thrust and his sword had struck through PorkStork''s ribs.


    Laughing, Crucis walked out from the tree, and knelt down next to PorkStork. "Can I take your friend''s stuff instead?" He saw PorkStork''s eyes widen in fear as he heard this, and saw Crucis'' much higher level.


    Crucis was prepared to kill PorkStork and make a run towards the [Arts Building] if the Assassin screamed and alerted others. However, PorkStork looked like they could barely breathe, and wasn''t making a sound. Crucis knelt near the ground and lifted PorkStork''s head in a [Chokehold] to further prevent the yer from screaming. PorkStork lurched weakly, as if in great pain, as soon as Crucis lifted the yer''s head.


    Drawing out his [Silver Crucifix Dagger], Crucis used [Stunning Dagger] to stab towards the chest wound, and felt his dagger sliding past the ribs. He then used [Dagger Twist], and PorkStork cringed limply in pain and theny still as if tlining.


    "You should have known that greed is bad," purred Crucis pensively, "Anyway! About your leader''s dagger, it will be in better hands soon: mine."


    PorkStork twitched slightly. Crucis guessed that the DeathGang member had been highly nervous about the danger of his leader calling him a thief, and was still sensitive about it. PorkStork had a sense of indignation ring up in his eyes.


    Sensing that PorkStork was trying to reply, Crucis drew his [Skeleton Dagger, level 0] and used a [ck Spot] to slit PorkStork''s throat. While blood poured lightly from the wound, PorkStork''s HP did not decline from the attack, and Crucis saw that the strike had not inflicted any [Bleeding] status effect. Clearly, this weapon was bugged and counted aspletely harmless by the game, perhaps due to the bug which reset it to level 0 when removed from the replica cottage. Crucis saw that PorkStork''s HP was declining very slowly, and guessed that the yer had high Constitution. Keeping the chokehold tight, Crucis shed with [The Ripper] into the gaping chest wound when he saw PorkStork reach 10% HP.


    Since PorkStork was on 10% HP, [The Ripper] had be a slower, more precise, deeper cut. It was quite different from the quick, wild sh of [Ripper] before the Skill Mastery upgrade. Crucis felt like PorkStork''s body had almost stopped functioning, but PorkStork violently and weakly spasmed across the ground as Crucis cut methodically into the wound and tried to rupture anything his de came into contact with. Crucis ended with a dagger twist, and felt blood pooling in the wound. He maintained the chokehold and knelt there for a minute as PorkStorky trying to move, until the DeathGang member''s HP ran out.


    Crucis didn''t have any major quarrel with [DeathGang], in fact he was thankful to them because he could use them as a scapegoat for his own killings. Their catchy name helped with that. However, he sensed that they were the kind of Guild to pick a fight with other ganking Guilds, and fancied themselves as good ''honest'' fighters rather than cunning ''cheaters'' of Hashin. Honesty kills gankers more surely than curiosity kills a cat. Striking their level 20 yer was neither brave, nor strong, nor honest, but he felt like it showed a killer instinct which DeathGang could learn from. Besides, he got a shiny thing from the kill. Shiny things are nice.


    Since the dead PorkStork had nothing in their inventory except for the [Golden Dagger of Satuor], Crucis had received it as a drop. He decided that he could inspect it after he reached the [Arts Building]. It was probably not meant as a dagger forbat, but might have some other importance. Since he had heard that the DeathGang Guild leader was there as well, he figured that it would be more thrilling to inspect the golden dagger right under the nose of its original owner. However, he would have to take care in order to do this unobserved.


    The [Arts Building] was arge square za with two floors, and hadrge entrances on all four sides. Tall, pyramidal walls rose from the corners of the za, and met above the centre. It looked slightly like a tform on the Eiffel Tower. The floor was wooden, with asional patterns made from hard marble. Since it could be entered from all sides, Crucis slowly circled it as he drew near, to find the entrance which was least crowded. He saw that the inside of the building aas


    As he carefully approached the building, he thought about the current situation around Kruxol. While yers were leaving for Kaxil, there was still a lot of anger towards ganking Guilds, and Crucis had been used multiple times of belonging to these Guilds. While the Hashin were elusive, the territorial behaviour of DeathGang, along with their gangster bravado and willingness to tussle with other ganking Guilds, meant that DeathGang''s location was generally not difficult to find. This would make them easy targets. He suspected that known DeathGang hang-outs would soon be swept by groups of strong yers, and he had seen a few arriving in Kruxol as he walked around the borders. This would give yers a morale boost in the fight against gankers, and would encourage further aggression against ganking Guilds nearby. He suspected that DeathGang might already be feeling the pressure, and this might be why the leader was distributing items from the Guild Storage to lower-level members: an attempt to get their yers up to speed so that they could have more hands on deck.


    However, he knew that big Guilds were having a difficult time organising and motivating their yers, as he had seen from the haphazard patrols South of Kruxol. If there were no major victories to report, and some casualties, then Guilds would have a difficult time selling their yers on going out to fight painful battles against the most brutal Guilds in the area. A fall in morale would mean that Guilds'' anti-ganking measures would probably stall temporarily. Crucis sighed. Perhaps he would have to give DeathGang a bit of help, to nudge them in the right direction. He had just killed one of their members and stolen an item from their leader, but what they didn''t know couldn''t hurt them, right?

 Chapter 42: Final Answer (The Art of War)

    Chapter 42: Final Answer (The Art of War)


    "There''s a lot of talk about DeathGang in town right now. The Guilds are gathering, nning an offensive into DeathGang territory. Several strong yers have entered Kruxol, eager to make an example of your Guild," said Crucis, with a false tone of grave sincerity, "They have already sent a few yers to patrol the East, and they said that they are trying to shut down your route to Kruxol through the woods, if they can find it. From there, they will try to hem your Guild into the abandoned vige, then surround it and kill everyone inside."


    "I see," said [Darys], the leader of the [DeathGang] Guild, "Our intel also suggests that they are nning something. But are you sure it''s not just tough talk to please the hoi polloi? A lot of the talk about protecting the yers, yadda yadda, it''s just idle talk." He was an Arabic yer, but spoke with a slight Italian ent like a mob boss from a film. His face was slightly pale, and he looked as if he was under heavy stress. However, he wore a white, loose kurta that made him look almost rxed.


    "They have been organising patrols and trying to ward off Guilds like yours, as well as running the escorts between towns. As long as it''s the rank-and-file yers, and not the leadership, the Guilds are willing to make all kinds of sacrifices. Even the leaders will join in on the side, if it gains them significant prestige. But the brunt of the fighting will be done by mules, strong yers who aren''t in leadership positions."


    Darys nodded sagely. "Defeating DeathGang would bring prestige, so can we see some of the leaders trot out?"


    "Since your Guild is quite strong," said Crucis, "a few powerful Guild leaders will probably also join the expedition, they have asionally been prowling at the East of Kruxol. However, you can use this to your advantage. These big yers will probably be more reluctant to join the fray if they see that theirrades are suffering heavily. Their retreat would lower morale."


    This was ttery. The actual reason that the leaders were preparing to join was that DeathGang were viewed as an easy target which would still give plenty of prestige.


    "Reasonable," Darys said, smiling, "but it will be difficult if they can gather their forces already. We thought that we might have gained some time due to the draugr invasion, and could hold our ground for now. But it does look like they are growing in confidence, so they will attack soon. However, how would they attack us if they don''t know this area?" He seemed relieved to be able to talk to someone who was realistic about the scale of the threat, as opposed to his bullish Guildmates.


    "They have sent scouts," said Crucis, "Though several have died. You will probably have an advantage in this area, but the game is still new and the advantage will be slight. It would only be effective if you leverage it, by keeping the enemy moving."


    "Yes, I''ve seen them. Look, thisst couple of days has been hectic. I''m staying awake this whole night from the stress. How strong are the yers approaching? Do you think we could stand our ground and fight them off? We have been taking some losses ofte."


    "I saw yers of 60 above who arrived recently. Since Kruxol is barely useful for them, they are clearly here for another reason."


    "Yes, yes, you have a point. Some big payers there, I''ve heard. We would like to hold our ground, because if we retreat then they will just keep pressing further to drive us out. I''ve been trying to strengthen our team, but if you see some of these big whales, there''s no chance," Darys seemed slightly stressed, and was thinking out loud.


    "You are Assassins, and faster than them. That gives many options. You can also hide in the trees, hills and stones around here, and target their leaders."


    "We do not like to hide, good sir. We are not Hashin."


    Crucis was tempted to point out that DeathGang were being attacked first because they are an easier target than the Hashin. However, he avoided doing this, and instead took the diplomatic approach of saying, "It is your choice. However, a fight here would not be like a gang war, you would be under extreme adversity and not have the chance to take the fight to the opposition."


    "But is there any way to do that?"


    "If you withdraw slightly away from this location, then you can choose your fights more easily, as their n is to rush your known locations."


    "Very well," said Darys, and a threatening edge entered his voice, "Let''s make a deal. One of our yers, [DicingDevil], will apany you for the next three days, or less time if the war begins sooner. He is one of what we call our ''Generals,'' the guys responsible for organising the war effort. You can pass on further information to him, and he will make sure that you do not inform the enemy of our ns. In exchange, DeathGang will leave you alone, and you can wear one of our wristbands that prevent team-kills. This should keep you safe in our territory, and allow you to conduct Spy sub-ss quests freely. Since DicingDevil will be busy trying to sort out our approach, if an attackes, he could use some help at the moment, so keep that in mind."


    Crucis was annoyed by the tone of this offer, which was a power-y, but responded diplomatically by saying, "I understand your reasoning, you don''t want me to leak information. That is fine."


    "Good. Dicing is on the second floor, in a room at the end of the hall-way. Go and meet up with him to join his party, and perhaps share information. He can be trusted."


    "That''s good to know," said Crucis, who was slightly curious about Darys'' suddenly grave tone.


    "It is. Be careful not to trust everyone here, just because they are in our Guild it does not make them loyal or honest. I loaned one small chap a golden dagger, and he just left and stole it. He had twopanions, I wouldn''t be surprised if they killed him and stole it for themselves. And now maybe some other Guild will kill them and take it, since they aren''t the most prudent guys."


    "That''s awful," said Crucis with a surprised expression, "I hope you find it soon."


    "Thank you," said a smiling Darys, "Although you aren''t in our Guild, you have not currently betrayed us, so I will leave you in peace."


    Crucis got up, and went up a rickety wooden flight of stairs to reach the dimly-lit second floor. He wound up in a hallway, and heard voicesing from a few rooms nearby. He waited a few seconds and made sure there was nobody else in the hallway or its walls, then drew the [Golden Dagger of Satuor] from his inventory. Reading its description, he saw:


    [One of three sacred daggers found around Kruxol, it grants the wielder multiple powerful abilities. It can be used to increase dagger EXP gains from fights by 150% for one hour each week, or half an hour per yer if loaned to others, and if pointed at another yer during a fight it will lower their movement speed by 15%. It increases the speed of your skill animations by 5% whenever used. Easily damaged, and requires 1M gold to fix over the course of a week. If loaned out to another yer and then damaged, it will return to normal when returned to the original owner.]


    He noticed that the dagger emitted a faint, ghostly glow even in this dark hallway at night. In daylight, it would probably have a brilliant, pale shine. This meant that he would have to be careful about using it for the near future, as it could easily be noticed by DeathGang. He slid it safely back into his inventory. For the moment, he would have to keep it in Storage because he couldn''t use it with DicingDevil near. However, he was impatient to try it out.


    He waited for a few seconds, and then walked forwards across the hallway, until he wound up in front of an old, red oak door. Pushing this door open, he heard a loud creak.


    "Greetings," said an Assassin sitting at therge, round table, "Did Darys send you?"


    Crucis saw that this Assassin had brown eyes that seemed to have a red tint, and looked almost crazed. The rest of his body was covered in a ck shinobi shozoku. Crucis was slightly surprised that a yer would wear that while brainstorming ideas around a table, but then remembered Darys'' sense of distrust around this Guild, and figured that this Assassin was probably trying to hide their face so that they couldn''t be easily recognised even by others in the Guild.


    "Yes. Are you DicingDevil?"


    "The same. Darys told me to expect you on our Guild local chat. Have a seat."


    DicingDevil swept his hand out lightly to point to an empty seat across the table. Crucis was surprised at thexity of this yer''s manner, but kept a nk expression as he sat in the chair. There were four other yers in the room with him.


    "So, Darys said that you had some information about yers in Kruxol?" said one yer, who was wearing a green shirt that looked almost medieval. He was level 55.


    "Yes," replied Crucis, not skipping a beat, "strong yers have beening to the town, and the n is to attack your known locations in force, to win a symbolic victory against a major ganking Guild."


    "We heard of this from Darys in the chat, but it is nice to have that confirmed," said DicingDevil.


    "Some of our scouts, who came back here from Kruxol, have confirmed this report," said the green-shirted yer, "If we go head-to-head, then we will stand no chance. We must try an alternative approach."


    "Are you sure," sneered a man with long, brown hair, named [Brn], "that this guy isn''t some kind of scheme to mislead us? Directbat has served us well so far. Maybe he is trying to extract information?"


    "Our scouts have confirmed most of his reports," said DicingDevil, "but hadn''t realised the full extent of the threat. Out here, it''s less obvious to us how much the townsfolk hate Guilds like ours, and would wage war just to kill us. However, we needn''t worry about him rying information, as I will be keeping watch on him. But that will be easiest if he stays in this meeting."


    "But retreat is cowardly."


    "Brn, stop being an idiot. Do you want to have us all die in pain? We are Assassins, brute strength is not our primary weapon. We were meant to be a Guild of guile, until all of these newb yers and cashers came and joined because they just liked the feeling of being powerful gankers without having to know how to y. Now the rest of us just get dragged into their turf wars."


    "Please show me more respect, we are all Generals here," snapped Brn, "Just because you guys formed in another game, it doesn''t mean that you understand this one. That''s why I was brought here."


    "So how would you fight, idiot, run into a line of Mages and warriors with our lightweight Assassins?" snapped back DicingDevil, who made sure to raise his voice''s volume slightly higher than Brn''s preceding statements.


    The room was silent for a few seconds. Brn did not answer, and the tension slowly dissipated.


    "As Darys said, we can''t retreat," said the green-shirted man, "The enemy will follow us. However, we can hide. What if we lure the enemy out, and attack from the rear?"


    "They will still overpower us," replied DicingDevil, "Besides, if many of us approach them, they will have more archers and Mages, so they will still get the drop on us."


    "He has the right idea," said Crucis, whose tone suggested that he was trying to be diplomatic and save face for the green-shirted man, "The disadvantage in terms of manpower must be ovee by using unexpected means. The enemy will approach based on where they expect you to be. Not that many yers dare enter your territory just to look around, so they will be unfamiliar with the terrain. This makes it quite possible to try something unexpected."


    "So what would you suggest?" challenged Brn.


    "I am not one of the Generals," said Crucis deferentially, "I would rather wait to hear what they have to say first."


    "No, go on."


    "If you insist. The enemy will try to spread out across the East of Kruxol, so that your Guild can''t simply return to the town when you hear news of their army. While their overall force will be enough to hunt you down, many yers were killed in the draugr hunt or are unwilling to join the fight. This means that arge detachment of your forces might be enough to kill a small group of theirs."


    DicingDevil was interested, and replied, "That sounds promising, go on."


    "Although the enemy might have strength, your forces are more nimble and have more familiarity with this area. The enemy''s main forces will approach the ces where they expect tough battles, especially near this building and the abandoned vige. They will probably send dense forces, as this will minimise the pain that their strong yers have to go through. However, lighter forces will spread out to the North to block the path to town. If you retreated most of your forces to the North, then you would have overwhelming force in that area. By picking off the enemy in that area, you could significantly weaken the enemy."


    "You''re right, about terrain," said the one General who had been silent until now, a young man in his 20s who sported a ck ponytail and looked Mongolian. "We know ce well, we can use scout to hide in tree and talk in Guild chat to warn us of enemy movements. Enemy cannot follow us, will just run into wild monsters or boss and get dyed."


    "That''s a good idea," said Crucis, "Scouts could hide in trees and such. I heard Guild chat doesn''t work if they enter fights, but they should be fine if they stay hidden."


    "We were nning something like that, but it would be more effective this way," said DicingDevil. "Your n is that we can choose our battles, and fight easier ones? It doesn''t sound very honourable, so I like it." Heughed.


    "There is no point taking chances in battle against an enemy like this," said Crucis, "You must take on fights that you can win almost before they have begun. Leaving your expected position, then picking off smaller detachments of enemies will lead to several victories. A few smaller groups from sub-sses like Spy can disguise as minor Guards or hide around the misty areas, looking to strike at leaders and other valuable targets to discourage the enemy."


    "Many of the bigger yers will be whales," said DicingDevil, "but if a group could get the drop on them, they could be taken out."


    "And they could die IRL," said Crucis.


    "So what? We can''t spare the enemy!" hissed DicingDevil.


    "No, what I mean is that whales had their names restored first, so even if some yers die taking one down, this will considerably reduce the enemy''s morale and chances of returning. That is good."


    "Ah. Nevermind, I agree with that. So the name restoration does actually lead to permadeath? We did think so."


    "Yes."


    "What if the townsfolk are vengeful?" said the green-shirted man.


    "A few might try to y vignte, and die," replied Crucis, "but rumours will spread and most strong yers aren''t going to risk IRL death and serious pain just because they were trapped in a video game for a couple of days. Besides, what is vengeance? Is it a tangible thing? If you kill someone for vengeance rather than in cold blood, then does a heavenly choire down to show that it''s different? Of course not. Regardless, you could keep an eye on Kruxol, if the stronger yers stay then they might be nning to try again. But I''d guess not. Besides, even severe pain can keep yers out of action for a few days, so you will get plenty of respite."


    "Listen," said Brn, "if you''re giving advice, then put your money where your mouth is. Fight on our side, then we''ll see if your advice was in earnest."


    "Listen, Brn," replied Crucis, "you have put too much money where your mouth is. Your name is visible. You should stay out of the action, or you will surely die. I will fight, if you agree to stay out." He shot a fierce, brief gaze at Brn.


    Brn hesitated then replied, "I don''t like your tone, but I will ept this. I will stay at the back of the lines. However, I will fight if I must, they will not scratch me."


    "He won''t fight," said Crucis, conclusively. "I will allow you Generals to decide where I should go."


    He kept more quiet for the rest of the meeting, as the Generalsid out a map and attempted to n out their troop cement. DicingDevil pointed to a range of hills to the North, and said that most of the Guild should retreat towards the hills. There was a small, thin passage betweenrge mounds of rocks, which was the easiest way to reach the North. Crucis suggested that they should deploy a reasonablyrge force there, to ambush enemies passing through. He said that this approach would nullify the enemy''s advantage from range. After this was agreed, the Generals nned the logistics of the retreat Northwards, as well as determining where the mist was thick enough to n assassinations and rough positions for the scouts. DicongDevil suggested that they ask Darys to consult the scouts on where the most effective scouting positions would be, and this was epted.


    After this discussion was concluded, Darys asked what they should do until the war. The ponytailed General, who said that his name was [OudNasser], suggested that they should conceal their retreat.


    "I agree, if you gank a couple of yers in the East, then people in town will still hear that you''re in the East. That''s their primary source of information about you, after all, squealing yers whom you killed. That should only take a few people."


    "Alright," said DicingDevil, "by the way, since you are a guest, we have decided to be polite and ce you in the area with the greatest mist, the marshy area to the West of here. Enemies will probably be reasonable enough to head to some of the less misty areas, but you will probably see some action. In these couple of days, most yers have not explored East, because most of the early-yer quests are South and West. I will apany you, and lead the group. Does that sound reasonable?"


    "I am fine with this arrangement," said Crucis.


    With the meeting concluded, DicingDevil turned to Crucis and said, "I will send you a party invite. Due to my position in this Guild, I can send invites to a ''user party,'' which means that, even if you switch to an alt, you are still in the party and I can still see your location. I would advise you to inform me of any alts when we reach Kruxol, and show them, since otherwise I will deem it suspicious."


    Crucis nodded, and epted the party invite that appeared after a few minutes. Checking his map, he saw a small blue dot indicating DicingDevil''s position nearby. As DicingDevil offered him a [DeathGang Guild Wristband], he took it and wore it around his right hand, then turned towards the door.


    "Are you doing Spy missions now?" said DicingDevilzily, "Well, that''s fine, go ahead and get the mission. I wille downstairs to run some errands soon."


    Crucis quickly descended the stairs, and approached the NPC named [Arachon].

 Chapter 43: Aura

    Chapter 43: Aura


    Honour is degenerative. Bravery is a fever. The brave make kinship with the leper.


    Crucis limped back to the [Arts Building], looking tired. His first task had been to kill some of the nearby [Novice Guards], in order to steal their equipment. There were some weaker enemies of this type to the West of the [Arts Building], guarding a small bridge, and a few level 45 ones patrolling slightly South of that. Crucis remembered the [Novice Guard] killing quest from his early days as an Assassin, andfortably killed off the low-level enemies by the Western bridge. However, after attacking them, he lured them slightly Southwards so that, if DicingDevil checked on his map and was alerted that Crucis was in a fight, it would seem like Crucis was fighting the level 45 guards. When he had collected a full suit of [Novice Guard] armour, he returned from the quest feigning fatigue, in order to pretend that he fought the stronger level 45 enemies.


    He was pretending to be fatigued and to have a light limp, because it would help him slightly when they returned to Kruxol. iming to fight the higher-level guards would also make him blend in better with the rough-and-tumble, swashbuckling culture of [DeathGang] Assassins.


    As he entered the building, he saw that DicingDevil was facing him.


    "Were you fighting the Novice Guards for the quest?" asked DicingDevil.


    "Yeah, they were level 45, it was tough," sighed Crucis.


    DicingDevilughed. "I guessed, because you were wearing the [Enmity Talisman]. Anyway, it looks like you need a brief rest. Tell you what, a few weaker yers in the Spy sub-ss told me that there are some much lower-level Novice Guards nearby, like levels 10 to 15, and those can also be fought in this quest. In case you were finding it too difficult."


    "Ah, really? That would have been nice. It makes sense, now that you mention it, since yers can get the quest at level 30. Still, the drop rate on equipment was high, so I have a suit now after a few fights."


    "That''s true. Good show. Anyway, we''ll head back to Kruxol in ten minutes, get the quest rewards and rest up."


    DicingDevil walked back calmly towards Darys, to further discuss the war ns. DicingDevil hadn''t felt the need to stay near Crucis in this area, since there was no real chance that Crucis could meet someone from another Guild deep here in DeathGang territory. He had instead been running errands around the area. When he briefly passed by Crucis, Crucis sat down and pretended to be resting between fights. Since Crucis could also see DicingDevil''s location due to the party mechanic, it was easy for him to avoid fighting the low-level guards when DicingDevil might be watching.


    As Crucis returned to [Arachon], the NPC congratted him onpleting the quest. He got a moderate level of EXP, and gained the [Spy] sub-ss skill [Incognito].


    "This skill will allow you disguise yourself as the ordinary denizens of this world, the guards, the townsfolk, even the soldiers," said Arachon, in a grandiose tone, "You will be able to blend in seamlessly and avoid scrutiny. To do this, you will need to gain a set of equipment relevant to this character ss, typically by defeating members of it or purchasing it from local stores. Once you have enough of these toplete a set, you can use this skill to spoof the name of this character ss, and you may switch your level to another number so long as it does not exceed the highest level of local characters of this type. If you use the skill without a set of armour on, you may use it to target a character ss and find out what items of equipment you would need to fit in. This may all soundplicated, but you will learn it quickly by practice. You may take two quests to hone your skills, one to the East and one in Kruxol. Choose wisely!"


    "I will take the one in Kruxol," said Crucis.


    "Very well. Wearing your [Novice Guard] outfit, enter two of the small guardhouses around the borders of Kruxol, and kill a [Novice Guard] from each. These range from level 30 to level 45, so be careful. It is important to pay attention to the habits of enemies: if they are typically slower than you, then slow down when imitating them and being watched. Too much irregrity will lead to scrutiny. This is why the townsfolk are often the easiest disguise, since they seem innocuous but can get away with more irregr behaviour since they are not expected to behave like an acting guard or soldier."


    Crucis had seen these guardhouses before. Most were inessible to non-guards, and were staffed by high-level guards who he couldn''t fight yet. However, a few were watched over by a [Novice Guard], mostly in ces where few yers entered Kruxol. All guards in these positions would quickly attack yers with red names who tried to enter the city. He checked his quest log, and saw that he would have to both enter two guardhouses, and kill two guards. He figured that it might be easier to just get a red-name and lure the guards out, then enter the guardhouses after killing the guards. While this wasn''t as nifty a use of the disguise feature, it did prevent him from having to try attacking in Novice Guard armour. Instead, he could use his favoured weapons, and the Novice Guards would probably die quickly.


    Once DicingDevil was ready, Crucis followed him through the trees until they reached near Kruxol. Crucis saw a few yers patrolling the East, but not as many as before. Crucis heard the sound of loud voicesing from the town centre, and guessed that yers had left their patrols here to conference with their Guilds. The East of Kruxol was mostly empty, and DicingDevil turned down a small alley into an empty street that led to a closed building.


    "By the way, I forgot to tell you, but I have an alt who''s in [The Fountain] Guild," said DicingDevil, "I use him to spy, he''s much smaller than this ount. However, he was given amand in Guild chat yesterday toe to the East of Kruxol today, with other members. I think they said to gather shortly before 6am, around daybreak. That made me suspicious, and maybe it rtes to their ns for war."


    "Is that part of why you guys were having a meeting?" asked Crucis.


    "That, and more harsh fights with organised groups voyaging out from Kruxol, probably to document our locations and weaken us in early skirmishes."


    "Interesting. We should make sure to return to the East by daybreak, to prepare for war."


    "Sure thing. Anything you need to do in Kruxol?"


    "ce my inventory in Storage, then we can go into the wild freely. There''s no urgency."


    "I also need to do that. Let''s go."


    They both walked up to the Storage building, and stood in line. Crucis had been walking tiredly and with a slight limp, so he ended up behind DicingDevil in the queue. This had been his n: if DicingDevil entered the Storage building first, then he would have to leave after depositing his items. If yers weren''t in queue or inside the building, they were required to stand some distance away to clear space for other yers. The result is that Crucis would be able to store the golden dagger without much risk of it being seen. Hence, walking with a slight limp had an immediate advantage here. The other advantage is that his own Agility was much higher than DicingDevil''s, and this would allow him to conceal it and act as though DicingDevil was clearly the senior, more developed yer. This initial impression might make DicingDevil less suspicious, and less worried that Crucis could run away and hence needed to be watched carefully.


    When it was Crucis'' turn to enter Storage, he first slowly off-loaded the Novice Guard armour, until DicingDevil was some distance away. Crucis then quickly slid the golden dagger and ced it into a box, that then went into Storage. Since it was nearly 3am at night, the glow of the dagger was not highly pronounced, and it did not bring much attention. After depositing most of his inventory, he walked slowly back to [DicingDevil].


    "Did you learn anything else from The Fountain Guild chat, involving DeathGang?" asked Crucis.


    "Yeah," replied DicingDevil, "They wereining about DeathGang being South of Kruxol. I don''t think that our members go there often, so I''m not sure what they on about. They mentioned that one member was found there and his face looked as though it had been acidified or even eaten off, he had died in extreme pain. I think they had patrols just because people were scared of dying simrly. It didn''t look like DeathGang."


    "Ah, I see. Well, they were patrolling it earlier, but decided that it was all clear. So it probably wasn''t DeathGang. But it should be safe to gank some yers down there, maybe the Guilds will divert resources from the war in order to deal with any DeathGang to the South."


    "You''re also into ganking?" said DicingDevil, amused. "Yes, that sounds like a good n."


    "Then I should switch to my alt, he''s a Mage. We already have one Assassin, don''t need two."


    "Alright, where will he spawn?"


    "Near the inn entrance."


    "Alright, walk over there then switch, I''ll watch and make sure that it''s your alt."


    "Sure."


    Crucis followed DicingDevil towards the street in front of the inn entrance, and then switched his character to Cael. He was still in the same party.


    DicingDevil looked surprised, "This Mage is also high-level. Well done."


    "I fought solo during the draugr war," said Cael.


    "Ah, alright. Before we go South, I need to get some weapons."


    As DicingDevil entered the Weaponry Store and browsed carefully, Cael sat outside. Drawing out a piece of paper, he sighed quietly. It would be trivially easy for him to use Mage skills like [Minor Illusion] tomunicate with yers inrger Guilds, meaning that DicingDevil''s scrutiny was ultimately useless. Since DicingDevil was not a Mage, he had underestimated Cael''s ability to avoid detection. Regardless, Cael had more interest in a DeathGang victory than a victory for Kruxol''s big Guilds, as thetter would give more confidence to anti-ganking forces and this would soon prove a hindrance. So DicingDevil needn''t have worried, though Cael was now tempted to message the big Guilds some information just because he could.


    He wrote the word ''sarcophagus'' with the [Illusory Quill Pen], and saw his mana deplete slowly. He then used the spell [Lesser Aura], as he was curious if the little-used spell would have an effect on the mana ced on a page. He found that the mana on the page suddenly stabilised, and the text seemed to be slightly more boldened. Since the text was his unused mana and was located within the aura cast by the spell, it had also been converted into a part of the spell''s mana aura. He found that he no longer had to spend MP to keep the text upon the page, only as upkeep for the [Lesser Aura] spell. However, [Lesser Aura] would only allow him to cast offensive spells, and there were no targets for this outside the Weaponry Store. Due to this, he withdrew the mana around him, and the text disappeared.


    Opening the Skill Mastery window, he saw that an upgraded version of [Lesser Aura] would not only allow for non-offensive spells, but would also remove the MP cost for upkeep of the aura. However, it would also prevent you from regenerating mana for the duration of the aura and an additional minute after this. Cael had read on the forums how this was a negative, as removing MP regeneration would still sap a lot of MP without using it to strengthen the aura. In the case of [Lesser Aura], this was debilitating: it drew on the mana in the aura to convert into spells, so if it couldn''t gain MP then you would be limited to only casting spells with the small amount of MP used to cast the spell initially. That would limit you to one weak spell at best, at the expense of no MP regeneration for a minute. Even in more powerful versions of the spell, it would reduce the effect of the aura over time, while theck of MP regeneration would be impractical in most battles. Most yers barely used the move to begin with, and did not develop it in Skill Mastery because it would take up space that could be used for better spells.


    However, for Cael, converting the aura into spells did not require it to draw on MP, because it was supplemented by the effect of the [Illusory Quill Pen].


    When DicingDevil returned, Cael said that he wished to visit the Alchemist''s Store briefly. As he entered it, DicingDevil waited outside. Cael bought a cheap [Lesser Aura] scroll, and looked through a couple of other spells that were now avable. He picked up scrolls for [Mana Sphere], a spell which allowed the caster to gather mana into a sphere and then cast it at his opponent, and [Vein Ice], a spell which sends a line of mana that attaches to the opponent and causes damage over time. These cost 3,500 gold each. He also purchased a few buff spells, including the Dexterity buff [Thief''s Hand], and the Strength buff [Charging Bull''s Heart]. This would make him more useful when travelling inpany.


    He used the extra [Lesser Aura] scroll in the Skill Mastery interface, to upgrade his [Lesser Aura] skill. The new skill had the following description:


    [Lesser Aura* | Turns your mana into an aura, which can be converted into any non-elemental spell. Costs 20 MP to cast initially, and prevents you from regenerating mana for one minute after the aura is withdrawn.]


    He also studied the other scrolls.


    [New spell! Mana Sphere. 30+ MP, grows stronger with more MP used.]


    [New spell! Vein Ice. 70 MP.]


    [New spell! Thief''s Hand. 50 MP.]


    [New spell! Charging Bull''s Heart. 50 MP.]


    [Notice: If outside of battle, you may cast abination of up to 5 buff spells at once, for a total cost of 120MP.]


    "Done in there?" asked DicingDevil teasingly, as Cael left the store.


    "Yep. Sorry, had to learn a few buff spells."


    "Ah, that''s reasonable."


    They walked quickly towards the South of Kruxol, and since nobody was around they headed into the woods. It was about half an hour until 4am, when the night would be darkest. They wandered among the trees, and Cael cast [Young Deer''s Speed] so that they moved faster. Soon, they heard two yers fighting mobs in a nearby clearing.


    DicingDevil faced the source of the noise, and scanned the clearing with sword raised. The yers were levels 40 and 25. The level 40 was a male with a garbled name, and the level 25 was a female named [Blozom] who was carefully emting the more experienced yer. Both were covered in fairly thin armour. DicingDevil leapt towards the level 40 character, who was a Knight, and surprised the yer with a [sh] just below the neck before using [Stealth Cloak] to hide. Cael remained crouching in a set of bushes, difficult to see in the night. He used [Spark] to keep the Knight in ce, so that DicingDevil could get a clear strike. He was surprised to see that the Knight dropped to the ground helplessly.


    "Some guy got my neck! I can''t see him in the dark!" screamed the fallen yer, "Run, Be!" Seemingly the yer had confused the powerful [Spark] with the after-effects of a sh to the neck, and hence over-estimated the wound and fallen down in resignation. DicingDevil had actually missed the yer''s neck.


    As DicingDevil knelt down and grabbed the level 40 yer in a firm [Chokehold], the level 25 Blozom started to run off haltingly through the dark in the rough direction of Kruxol. It was difficult to run through the woods at night. Cael used [Minor Illusion] to pretend that a tree branch was in the way of the yer''s flight, and, as Blozom tried to jump over it, Cael used [Mana Push] on the yer''s legs to shove them aside while still in the air. Blozom hung horizontally in the air, and eventually crashed to the ground.


    DicingDevil had used [Silent Stab] to pierce the back of the Knight''s neck, followed by [Dagger Twist]. As the Knight tried to get up, DicingDevil easily grappled him back to the ground, leveraging the chokehold and shing at the neck and spine until the Knight fell t back onto the ground. Cael guessed that DicingDevil was of the [Ariston] sub-ss of Assassins, a ss which was based on trapping the enemy and then striking relentlessly. Its grappling skills were not as strong as the [Snake] sub-ss, but its spatial awareness and harsh strikes meant that it had several adherents.


    The Knight changed his approach, and stopped trying to get up. Instead, he used slightly higher Strength to shove DicingDevil away from him, eventually sending the Assassin skidding away across the ground.


    Cael was preparing to help, but saw Blozom scrambling to her feet to attempt to flee once more. She was using a tree to support herself, as she did this. Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove Blozom harshly into the tree, sending her tumbling to the ground again. He then used [Vein Ice] to create a cold line of mana, which he then cast at Blozom. It attached itself across the back of Blozom''s left arm, and froze painfully across her skin. She had difficulty moving her arm.


    "I think there''s a snake!" screamed Blozom in rm.


    Meanwhile, DicingDevil had tripped up the Knight as the Knight tried to get back to his feet. Resting back into a [Chokehold], the Assassin used [Dagger Execution], grabbing his dagger in a reverse grip and dragging it harshly across the back of the Knight''s neck. The Knight tried to scream, but DicingDevil had shoved a spare shirt deep into his mouth. Smiling, DicingDevil rose up from the ground and used a [Forceful Kick] to the Knight''s throat, killing the Knight.


    While Blozom was trying to get up, Cael had been preparing [Mana Sphere], gathering his mana slowly into a sphere. When Blozom finally began to scramble away again, after about 20 seconds, Cael cast the [Mana Sphere] at her, and the gathered mana struck her hard. She copsed to the ground. Cael had used about 110 MP on that sphere. She only had 4% HP left. DicingDevil quickly walked up to the female, crouched, and held her in a [Chokehold] until she died.


    "This pig was squealing," said DicingDevil softly, "so we should get away from here before someonees to check."


    They both rushed away from the corpses. Cael saw that this couple had been carrying plenty of gold, but other than that held mostly fashion items.


    "There''s a cave South-West of here, I was told, it has some rare enemies in it. Let''s head in that direction," said DicingDevil.


    However, they were interrupted by a loud rustle in the bushes behind them. Someone had heard the cries of their victims, and had pursued them.

 Chapter 44: A Saints Tale

    Chapter 44: A Saint''s Tale


    [Dorak] was a level 60 yer, but viewed his high level as a privilege. He tried to use his power to help smaller yers or protect them so that they could grow as well, and was excited about the uing war against [DeathGang]. He was feeling restless after waking up early, so he hade to these low-level woods after hearing that patrols had found it to be clear. He wanted to grind a bit, but in a low-risk area where he was unlikely to have to deal with strong yers or bosses who might tire him out before the uing war in the East.


    When he heard a couple of yers shouting nearby, he went to investigate. On his way, he saw a couple of smaller yers running away from the sound, hoping to avoid any meetings with gankers. Since those yers were small, they were in no position to risk conflict. Dorak was, however. He was surprised when he came upon the corpses of two yers, one female and one male. The male had obvious stab-wounds, suggesting that an Assassin was the culprit. The blunt brutality of the kill was reminiscent of the [DeathGang] Guild. There was a faint rustling sound among the trees towards the South. Squinting in the darkness, he saw a single pair of light footprints leading away from the kill in the direction of the rustling leaves, and quickly followed them. He was d that seemingly only one ganker showed up, since that yer would probably be beneath his level.


    He was in the [Ranger] sub-ss, a sub-ss of Archer which could also use swords effectively. Combined with his level, this meant that his Agility was high. Although he couldn''t see his opponent in the darkness, he quickly approached the rustling sound and heard it grow louder. Soon, he could clearly make out that someone was pushing through a particr clump of bushes in front of him. Since it was night, it was difficult to run at full-tilt, but the [Ranger] passive skill [Natural Life] gave him an affinity to the terrain which allowed him to maintain bnce even if his feetnded slightly askew or met a slight obstacle. As he closed in on the sound, he heard someone crying out, "Leave me alone, DeathGang! I won''t tell you anything!"


    He quickened his pace, worried that DeathGang was trying to torture people into revealing the war ns. As he firmly shoved aside a faceful of leaves, he saw a yer from [DeathGang] standing over an unaligned Mage, using a foot to pin the Mage to a tree while holding out the tip of his sword towards the Mage''s neck. The Mage wore sunsses and a thick, blue coat. The area was eerily still, apart from the DeathGang member slowly moving the sword''s tip forwards as the Mage cowered against the tree.


    "Tell me your ns," the DeathGang member said to the Mage, in a low, monotone voice.


    Dorak unsheathed his sword hastily in anger, keen to make sure that the Mage was out of harm''s way and would not divulge information. The sound of the sword was loud, and the DeathGang member turned his head.


    "Leave weaker yers alone, DeathGang scum," growled Dorak.


    "Nice to meet you, I''m DicingDevil," replied the DeathGang member in deadpan, "I''m d that you recognise our Guild, we do a lot for fame."


    "You''re just bullies."


    "Not at all. You lot are evil, you are conspiring to start a war on our Guild for just ying the game and PvPing."


    "Then you are lost!"


    On saying this, Dorak flung himself forwards with his sword raised, and swung it downwards at DicingDevil. The Assassin quickly raised his own sword from near the ground, parrying Dorak''s blow and then using [Lunge] to pierce Dorak''s face from beneath Dorak''s de.


    Realising that his attack had been hasty, Dorak quickly stepped back. As DicingDevil attempted a horizontal [sh] to Dorak''s right nk, Dorak parried it away, then attempted a [Lunge] that was also parried by the Assassin. As DicingDevil tried to counter-attack, Dorak took advantage of his superior Dexterity to use [de strike] and swat the Assassin''s weapon to the side, leaving DicingDevil wide open to central attacks. Dorak smiled and prepared to thrust his sword, but was interrupted when he felt his arm copse weakly downwards, and his body keeled over forwards. He had been struck by [Spark]. He felt weaker, and was unable to move as DicingDevil teed up and struck a [Strong blow] to the right of his neck. This strike easily drew blood.


    Feeling dizzied by the blood loss, Dorak fell to the ground. However, as DicingDevil prepared to stab downwards, Dorak rolled out of the way and struck at DicingDevil''s feet with his sword. The unexpected strike sent DicingDevil to the ground. Dorak got quickly to his feet, but saw the world around him through blurred vision and felt lost. Nheless, he saw DicingDevil on the ground and pointed his de, threatening a strike if the Assassin attempted to rise.


    However, he was floored by a blunt, thudding blow on the back of his head, that sent him copsing face-first towards the ground. His sword ttered on the ground, and he lost his grip on it. As he looked up, he saw the Mage, but the Mage''s right arm had transformed into a rotting, corpse-like shape. Dorak wondered if this was all a nightmare. The Mage''s behaviour was also strange, carrying a piece of paper by his side that had a few scribbles on it. Some of the scribbles disappeared as he cast [Mana Push] to shove Dorak''s sword out of the way.


    "Why aren''t you helping me? We could have won easily!" Dorak shouted at the Mage.


    "Keep him down and interrogate him," the Mage said to DicingDevil. He removed his sunsses and blue coat, and put them back into his inventory.


    DicingDevil lowered his sword towards Dorak''s throat, in a simr position to that which he used to threaten the Mage before. As Dorak tried to scramble to his feet, DicingDevil stabbed him lightly through the throat and kicked him to the ground. Dorak saw that the Mage had sat back down near the tree, and his right arm had returned to norma?.


    Dorak was exhausted, and powerless to resist as DicingDevil crouched down and held him in a [Chokehold], then followed this up by withdrawing a dagger and using [ck Spot] to cut a further slit high on Dorak''s throat. Dorak could barely speak, due to the pressure of the strong chokehold across painful wounds. He was crying, but barely felt like he was. Dorak had 15% HP remaining, and waited for the pain to end when his HP ran out.


    The Mage soon cast [Spark], and Dorak felt his skin weaken and give way as DicingDevil tightened the chokehold against Dorak''s unresisting throat. Dorak felt heavily ill, as if his body was being turned inside-out. He vomited out blood. The [Spark] had only reduced his HP by 3%. As he tried to wriggle out of DicingDevil''s grip, he found that that his body was unable to move.


    "So, do you mind telling me about Kruxol''s ns of attacking DeathGang?" sneered DicingDevil.


    "I won''t tell you!" squealed Dorak, with pain in his throat.


    DicingDevil nodded to the Mage. "Cael, your turn to ask."


    Cael cast [Spark] again, and Dorak felt a painful numbness flowing through his body. DicingDevil''s choke felt as though it was wringing his throat dry, and he coughed up more blood.


    "I won''t talk," he whispered.


    He twisted his head slightly, wincing in pain, and saw that he had only 3% HP remaining.


    "I''ll die soon," Dorak continued, "but we''ll all have revenge on your Guild."


    Cael shrugged, and used [Healing], restoring Dorak''s HP to 25%. He also cast [Meditate], to recover his MP faster.


    "If you give us information, then I will loosen my grip and let you die. If not, then we will keep doing this," said DicingDevil.


    Dorak tried to get out of the chokehold, but DicingDevil used his left arm to apply pressure to Dorak''s throat wounds, and then easily kicked Dorak back to the ground.


    For a couple of minutes, Cael used [Spark] periodically, and Dorak copsed ever more weakly towards the ground. A few small yers had noticed themotion, and peeked in through the branches nearby, but Cael shooed them away with [Magic Missile]. One brave level 12 yer tried to run in and help Dorak, but died easily after Cael cast one [Dark''s Tendrils].


    Through all of this, Dorak stared indignantly at the ground, and refused to provide answers. However, he could barely stand the pain. His body was going limp, and DicingDevil continually tightened the chokehold. Every attempt to move or breathe was met by a sharp sensation of pain, due to the pacifying effect of [Spark].


    While Dorak had been hanging on, he felt a surge of despair when he saw Cael cast [Healing] again. As the next [Spark]nded, Dorak tried to scream, but no sound came out. As he tried to catch his breath after the [Spark], he stammered out quietly, "Alright, I''ll tell you."


    "Go on," said DicingDevil, and slightly loosened his grip to let Dorak speak.


    Dorak considered lying, but then realised that being caught in a lie would probably bring further retribution. He didn''t know how much DicingDevil or Cael already knew. Besides, his mind was too foggy now to think of a convincing lie.


    "I - I know that the Guilds are nning to attack you this morning," Dorak said in a high-pitched, whistling tone, speaking slowly as he was short of breath. "They will fan out across the East of Kruxol, so that you can''t escape to the town. A few big Guilds are taking part, they brought strong yers from nearby. Lots of people won''t fight after the draugr thing, but we have arge force."


    "I see. Are the Guild leaders going to enter the thick of the fight? Sounds risky." asked DicingDevil.


    "No, they will start by going to the far East and North to cut off escape routes, then they will join the fight once DeathGang are weakened. A few leaders will apany the main force, but the important ones aren''t mostly going along with the main army. Big battles are too risky, especially with yers not respawning sometimes now."


    "Do most yers know about this n?"


    "I think only strong yers like me know much about it, mostly," said Dorak with a hint of pride, "but many yers have been told to gather at the East, a few might note because war seems too likely to be painful for low-level yers."


    "Thank you for your answers," said DicingDevil, who used [Silent stab] and stabbed hard into the back of Dorak''s neck with a dagger. Doraky dead, with blood staining the ground around him.


    "I''ll forward this to our guys once we return East," said DicingDevil.


    The two yers ran Southwards, towards the hills, and left Dorak''s corpse lying amidst the trees.


    "The y''s the thing..."

 Interlude: HAIL THE BLUE BOX, GOD OF RR!

    Interlude: HAIL THE BLUE BOX, GOD OF RR!


    A short story in honour of the patron deity of RR, the legendary Blue Box.


    <strong>Blue Box</strong>


    Once upon a time, there was a blue box.


    ?<strong></strong>


    All in its vige admired it, for it was blue and box-shaped. Its noble gait had no rival. But it was merely amoner, because the King was a ck box known as K''an Gsta II:


    ?<strong></strong>


    One day, the King was riding in procession across his nation, when the blue box walked up to him and gave its standard greeting message:


    Wee to the Kingdom of Gesta! The world is under siege by dragonkind, and the King''s ipetence causes famine to cross thend while he tries impotently to fight the dragons.


    You have been summoned here to save humanity from the dragons, and you are destined for greatness! Please open the [Golden Finger] item in your inventory, and your adventure will begin.


    WTF? I''m the King, I know what my Kingdom is called! I''ve lived here my whole life! And what did you just say about me, peasant?


    Don''t dilly-dally! The world needs its chosen one to save it! The soldiers and their idiot King cannot do anything.


    The King thought the blue box a rebellious upstart, and did not realise that the blue box had just been saying ''hello'' in its typical way.


    Guards, arrest this man and have him executed for treason!


    The King''s guard began to slowly dismount, ashamed to kill such a noble figure as this blue box. One drew his sword.


    Just then, the blue box turned to the King, and disyed the following message:


    Name: ck Box. Role: King. STR: 70 INT: 10 CHA: 30 HP: 0


    On seeing this simple stat table, the King suddenly dropped dead. His HP was 0, and therefore he was no longer for this world.


    On seeing this, the King''s guards were rmed at the blue box''s power, and they retreated hastily. Only the King''s scheming vizier, the Jukebox, remained.


    Ah yes, the viin of the story, the cunning Jukebox. Congrattions, you have activated [Viin System]!


    Kill protagonists to gain points. You can spend these points on the [Viin Shop], or to spin a wheel of fortune and get a chance to obtain magnificent superviin powers! The more important the protagonist is, the greater your reward.


    For every 200 viin points obtained, your base stats will increase slightly!


    "What''s a protagonist? These points sound valuable," said the Jukebox in a rat-like, slimy tone.


    The protagonist is a hero of the story, because this is a story about good fighting evil. And by ''good,'' I mean dumb teenagers with a harem.


    "And where can one be found?"


    They are all peasants and farmers. You can recognise them because the word ''Protagonist appears in glowing,rge text above their heads.


    "Excellent. But I personally believe that peasants should be liberated, and live in anarcho-syndicalistmunes free of monarchist rule," schemed the dastardly vizier.


    ...You''re a shitty viin, Kropotkin.


    "But I was also plotting to take power by deposing the monarch, and beginning a tyranny of my own! This would inaugurate a Dark Age of oppression, nepotism, mass death and famine."


    How would that advance anarcho-syndicalism?


    "Um, I''m not sure... Lenin and Stalin suggested it to me during a chat yesterday. But to be honest, I''m not really into the reign of terror thing. Is there any chance that I could get recused from viin duty? After all, the King is dead anyway, I didn''t even have to do that."


    Sure.


    Congrattions! You have gained the trait [Worthless Viin].


    Your INT has increased by -800!


    Your CHA has increased by -600!


    Your HP has increased by -1000!


    Congrattions! You have gained the trait [Imbecile].


    Your HP has increased by -2000!


    "But I don''t even have 3000 HP," hissed the snake-like vizier like a rat.


    Exactly.


    The vizier fell immediately to the ground, dead.


    The blue box stared pridefully at its day''s work. However, it was interrupted when a peasant walked past it, returning from the fields after a long day''s work. The blue box saw that this peasant was young, and had the word ''Protagonist'' glowing above his head. Checking the character''s stats, the blue box saw that he was named ''Luke.''


    "Hey, mate," began Luke, "You been changin'' the story''s timeline too much! Stop that, or everyone''ll get confused."


    I will change the timeline whenever I want. Who are you to stop me?


    "Well, no need to be so rude about it an'' all. Tell you what, why did you kill that vizier chap over there?"


    He was the chosen one, he wasn''t supposed to liberate the masses and bring about an anarchomunist utopia! I did what I had to.


    "But an old man told me that he was my father, and you killed him!"


    No, I - Wait, nevermind, you''re right: he was your father. That vizier really did get around, didn''t he? Can never trust them, viziers.


    "Maybe I can avenge him someday! How good are my stats?"


    Name: Luke. Role: Skywalker. STR: 40. INT: 10. CHA: 20. HP: 80. Protagonist type: High importance.


    "What the hell kind of a role is a Skywalker? What''s that s''pose to mean?"


    Good question! I have no idea. Let''s find out!


    You have been teleported by the system! Your location has been changed to: [The Sky].


    The blue box looked up and squinted, and saw Luke high in the sky. As Luke began to plummet quickly to the ground, the blue box offered the following helpful advice:


    Use the Force, Luke.


    However, in spite of this, Luke died as he crashed down from the clouds, and his body fell into a bloody mess as it copsed onto the ground.


    The blue box began to construct a shrine for himself. However, a Prince approached him then.


    "You killed my father! Prepare to die!" shouted the Prince.


    That''s a dead meme.


    "You''ll be a dead meme, once I have my revenge! What are your stats, that you dare mock a crown prince?"


    Name: Blue Box. Role: ! STR: ¡Þ INT: ¡Þ CHA: ¡Þ HP: ¡Þ


    The Prince stared in shock at the Lovecraftian monstrosity of the blue box, and then ran away.


    The blue box shrugged, and continued building his shrine.

 Chapter 45: Cave/Tomb

    Chapter 45: Cave/Tomb


    "I got the blue coat from the couple we had killed just before," Cael exined, as he walked briskly South through the thick trees of the woods.


    "Ah. Quick thinking. I also picked up some clothes from them, they were masters of cosmetics and paltry at gamey," replied DicingDevil.


    "Being a video game fashionista is like being a sword with no de. However, it''s nice of them to have lent the clothes to us: if we asionally split up and change costumes while ganking, then people will think that there are more of us."


    "So they''ll report that there are many DeathGang members in the woods?"


    "Yes. That would provide a distraction, and divert some of the forces that would be going East."


    "Alright, let''s do that. There won''t be that many yers out here, we can each get around five to nine kills and return to Kruxol after an hour of redname, just in time to head East for the war. Unless they sent a lot of stronger yers after us, then we should head East immediately and hide in safer DeathGang territory."


    "It''s only a few hours before the Guilds go to war in the East, most strong yers are probably resting or warming up. I doubt they''d send many people to scour theserge woods at short notice, let alonee all the way to the South."


    "Even so."


    "Ha, okay. Anyway, here is the cave."


    They faced a high, gaping cave entrance, which resembled an unnaturallyrge crack in the rocky hillface. As it reared up in front of them, Cael could see a slight glow across the ceiling of the cave, as if someone was lighting a fire inside.


    "What''s the glow?" he asked.


    "Probably the [False Smander] enemy, a lizard that resembles the rare smander. It''s much weaker, but still has some decent drops."


    "I see."


    DicingDevil walked up to the edge of the cave, and saw that it was dark inside. He took a step in.


    "Wait outside, I''ll go and check what''s inside," he said.


    "Sure," said Cael.


    As DicingDevil darted into the cave, Cael sat on a stone near the cave entrance and drew a piece of paper out from his inventory. He figured that he should use this time to experiment further with the [Illusory Quill Pen]. He had used this while killing Dorak, storing mana from the [Arm of Hades] spell and using it to weaken Dorak further with [Spark]. While [Spark] by itself would usually not be enough to disrupt a level 60 yer''s attack, whenbined with the debuffs of [Arm of Hades] mana it was enough to turn the tide of the fight. Since this earlier idea had worked, he decided to try another idea which he had been considering.


    Since ancient runes could transform the game world when written, he wondered if casting spells from these runes would lead to spells that also shared the transformative effects of the rune. He took out the [Illusory Quill Pen], and tried to remember some of the ancient runes he had seen in Kruxol library. If this method of spellcasting worked, then he had left Crucis'' notebook open and waiting for him in the storage containers towards the South of Kruxol, containing several sketched runes which Cael could copy down on this character. However, for now Cael only needed to recall two or three runes, to test whether they would have any effect.


    It proved difficult to recall the often-intricate patterns of the fountain runes. The rune that sprung to mind instead was one from the floor of the Battodo Trial. The main part of the rune was shaped like the letter ''T,'' with the top line curving lightly upwards on both sides like a crescent moon. This almost resembled a half-hearted ''Y''. There was a dot ced just above this ''T,'' and two dots just below the top line on either side of the ''T''. As he drew this shape, he saw a small aura, resembling faint white vapour, emerging from the rune and dissolving into the air.


    He tried to convert this mana into a [Conjure Light] spell, opting for a simple, low-cost spell to test the rune''s effect. He opted to use less mana in casting the spell, so that the light was dim and not easily seen by others. However, as he extended his palm to summon the light-source, he saw to his surprise that nothing had appeared there. He was interrupted by a blinding sh, as a bright, glowing orb-like shape appeared in front of him. He averted his eyes and took a couple of hasty steps back.


    He felt a creature wing at his left shoulder, and used [Mana Push] to shove it away so that he could get a look at it. As he looked back up, he saw that a ghostly creature, whose body wasposed of pale light, was levitating in front of him. It was much smaller than him, only about the height of his arm from shoulder to elbow. He saw that it was named [Apparition of Light], and was level 15.


    He was d at the low level. As he prepared to kill it with [Magic Missile], it suddenly let out a bright sh, and he felt his left arm and leg be paralysed. This was quite a powerful ability for a creature of such low level. Cael guessed that an [Apparition of Light] would typically not be encountered at this kind of level. Despite the temporary paralysis, he cast [Magic Missile] at the apparition, and saw its HP reduce to 2%. It was more resilient than it should be at this level. Impatient, he killed it with a quick [Mana Sphere], that he didn''t bother to charge.


    Cael was slightly taken aback by the surprise encounter. However, he was more concerned about the fact that the creature''s brilliant glow had got the attention of a couple of yers whom he heard nearby. The creature''s glowing body had still been slightly faint and transparent, due to its low level, but it still shone very brightly in the night. While the South of the woods didn''t have that many yers, he had not meant to send out a beacon showing them his location.


    One of the yers was level 50 from the [Hashin] Guild, wielding a dagger, and charged aggressively towards the Mage. Cael thought quickly and fled into the cave entrance. He knew that this Assassin would catch up with him, but if Cael had remained out in the open then the Assassin could have used [Stealth] or [Stealth Cloak] and then attacked Cael from any angle. If Cael was inside the cave, then he could be assured that the Assassin could only attack from the direction of the entrance.


    As the rash Assassin predictably approached the cave entrance and used [Stealth Cloak], Cael cast [Magic Missile] and sent a fan of mana projectiles towards the cave entrance from inside. This struck the Assassin, whose [Stealth Cloak] faded, and caused them to stumble and pause their charge. Cael was still holding the [Illusory Pen] in his left hand, although he had his powerful [ck Cursed Draugr Staff] in his right hand. He cast [Arm of Hades], followed immediately by [Spark]. The Assassin had tried haltingly to run again towards Cael, who was slowly backing off into the cave, but as the [Spark] struck the Assassin he tripped over himself and fell to the ground. The debuff from the [Arm of Hades] had been too much for the ambitious Assassin to push through.


    After casting this spell, Cael immediately started scrawling a dense, messy zig-zag on the page with his [Illusory Quill Pen], until his remaining MP was mostly absorbed into the page. The pattern looked a bit like a thick, coloured-in ck line, when he was done with it. He then cast [Lesser Aura], to stabilise the mana on the page. This was a method he had also used before the fight with Dorak, finding that the crude zig-zag was a much faster way to ce his mana on the page than writing words. As his [Arm of Hades] faded, he saw that the Assassin was trying with difficulty to rise, and had withdrawn a sword for greater range. He also saw that the Assassin''s name was [Eijun].


    As two more yers scrambled into the cave entrance, Cael was d to see that they seemed to be more concerned about the Hashin than him. One was a level 39 Knight, who tried to swing for the Assassin and was blocked as Eijun whipped his sword up to parry. The Knight then followed up with an impressive sequence, kicking the Assassin back to the ground and then stepping forwards aggressively with his sword still bound to the Assassin''s. The Knight followed up with a blunt [Hilt Blow] to Eijun''s face, causing the Assassin to shake his head dizzily. However, Eijun grabbed the Knight''s legs to destabilise them, then used his sword to [sh] at the Knight''s legs until the Knight fell to the ground.


    The other yer was a female [Ranger] of level 20, but stepped in to catch the Assassin''s back with a quick, surprising sword strike. This yer was named [Bathus], and Cael had seen that she had tried to use a bow earlier in the battle, but couldn''t manage to aim in the darkness of the cave.


    The Assassin''s retribution was swift, and severe. He wed himself to his feet besides Bathus, and stabbed her in the side with [Stunning Dagger]. He then caught her in a [Chokehold], and used [ck Spot] to cut a small slit in her neck. Cael noticed that this [ck Spot] was slightly fragile, because Eijun seemed a bit reluctant to attack this girl.


    "If you attack me, I''ll kill her! Give up!" said Eijun.


    "Don''t you dare!" called out the Knight.


    "I''ll do it, you know? Keep your distance," Eijun said with some hesitance.


    The Knight stayed paralysed in ce.


    "Are you really shameless enough to do that?" Cael asked Eijun with a demeaning tone, "You just seem greedy, not that sadistic and evil."


    The Assassin considered killing the girl, but held back. Not only would he lose his bargaining chip, but he felt genuinely reluctant to carry out the act. In order to save face after Cael''s challenge, Eijun shook the girl from side to side by the neck, causing her wounds to bleed more fiercely. He stopped when he heard her choked screams.


    "See? Don''t you dare attack me!" said Eijun.


    Cael smiled, he had been hoping to provoke Eijun into such an act. While Eijun was busy running things over in his conscience, Cael had snuck his right hand behind himself into the dense shadows by the cave wall, allowing him to cast spells without Eijun seeing him. He positioned the rest of his body to conceal this.


    As Eijun stared angrily up at his opponents, his grip on Bathus suddenly loosened when he was struck by [Spark] again, with Cael once more using the mana from the writing on his piece of paper. Bathus wrung herself free of the Assassin''s grip, and the Assassin''s weak lunge towards her failed to catch her again. Bathus looked worried, as Eijun clearly intended to threaten her again in order to dissuade the others from fighting him. Eijun stalked slowly towards Bathus, as she backtracked towards Cael.


    Cael wore a puckish smile as he strode forwards, towards Eijun, andfortingly gestured to Bathus to run deeper into the cave. As Bathus ran off, Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove Eijun towards the cave wall as the Assassin attempted to shift gears and pursue Bathus. Eijun tripped over his own feet, and was easily swept backwards by Cael''s spell into collision with the wall. Cael smiled, then used [Mana Push] to keep Eijun stuck to the wall, squirming like a bug. As Eijun fell to the ground, he tried to use his arms to break his fall, but found that they weakly copsed under him as he fell t onto the cave floor with his face pointing downwards. The debuff from the mana on Cael''s page had been enough to prevent the Assassin from breaking his fall normally. Eijun''s HP was down to 40%.


    The Knight, snapped out of his worried paralysis, ran over to thrust hard at Eijun''s throat and back with a sword. This series of strong blows was capped by a [Combination Strike] just below the neck, dealing additional damage since it was part of a sequence of moves. Cael cast [Magic Missile] in support. Eijun was soon down to 10% HP. However, the Knight was surprised when Eijun grabbed the Knight''s sword with [Sword hold], then scrambled to his feet and began to strike haphazardly below the Knight''s ribs with a dagger. The Knight fell to the ground to avoid taking a direct stab to the kidney region. As Eijun scrambled over the Knight, Cael used a slightly charged [Mana Sphere] to kill Eijun.


    Cael sat tiredly on the ground, deactivating the [Lesser Aura], and waited to see if the Knight would attempt to attack him. He felt that it was unlikely, since Cael had a higher level and looked powerful in the fight, while the Knight was on low HP. However, it was actually a good time for the Knight, if he wanted a fight, since Cael was mostly out of MP and could be vulnerable. However, Cael estimated that the Knight was quite slow, and Cael could retreat deeper into the cave until DicongDevil appeared to help. As such, he was still quite calm.


    The Knight also did not seem interested in fighting. Instead, he sat down as well. Cael took this as a positive sign: the Knight couldn''t fight him when sitting down, so this meant that he could rx for the moment and regain MP.


    "Hey, I''m Ajra," said the Knight casually, "Thanks for helping out, these Hashin guys are monsters. People are talking more about DeathGang nowadays, are you nning to join the fight soon?"


    "Oh, yeah. Will need to rest a bit first, though. Still a couple of hours, at least," replied Cael.


    "A bit less than that,"ughed Ajra. "I''ll show up for duty, but if things get too nasty we agreed that we were leaving. Maybe you''re high-level enough to get an important role, but the rest of us are just used as cannon-fodder." Ajra spoke with a hint of bitterness.


    "Will your Guild allow you to desert?" said Cael, feigning the slight high-yer snobbishness that he felt Ajra was expecting from him.


    "That''s why many of us agreed on it. They can''t punish all of us. War in here sounds like Hell, especially against these gankers who have no moralpass."


    "Ah. Fair enough. I''m convinced, you''re quite stirring when you speak about this subject,"ughed Cael.


    Ajra smiled broadly. "Thank you. I was actually one of the people who started promoting this idea. People were basically thinking that we were being used as cannon fodder, and people really weren''t prepared to be like that in this game just because we''re here for some days. It hurts, you know?"


    "Yeah, of course it does. Anyway, nice to meet you. You''d best be off, to take care of yourrades!"


    "Absolutely," said Ajra, as he got to his feet, "Are youing as well?"


    "I''ll have a quick look around this cave, then try to make it back. Need to stretch my legs a bit before walking back, I''m just a Mage after all! It''s tiring."


    Ajraughed, as he walked breezily out of the cave. Cael had regained most of his MP by now, and could have killed Ajra, but suspected that Ajra might be more useful on the opposite side in a war.


    Left alone, now, Cael grinned slightly as he realised that he had killed a member of the [Hashin], the Guild that had killed him painfully a short time ago. However, during the fight he had just treated it as another opponent, and done what he needed to do to win. The quest for revenge was amon theme in stories. ''Revenge'' was a challenge taken up by many people, but Cael was not even trying this challenge, simply figuring out how to navigate the situation. There was none of the emotional sound and fury of a quest for revenge. A mythical challenge - gaining ''revenge'' - had been partially leapfrogged by not taking up the challenge, and instead being knowingly as amoral as the Hashin. That is why he grinned.


    Revenge. If what someone else did to you was so wicked, then why want to do it to them? All you are doing is spreading the disease. That is more like camaraderie than enmity.


    Cael wondered how Eijun had got into the Hashin at all. He reflected that the Hashin might have some problems of their own. Eijun reminded him slightly of DeathGang''s Brn, these yerscked the wit to be gankers but still joined in because they saw the fearsome reputation of the ganking Guilds. Also because they were greedy. Being greedy and stupid was not umon, most politicians had these traits, as well as the mediocre yers that crawl enthusiastically into major Guilds and then scuffle for positions and reputation.


    Are greed, self-interest and egoism good? Cael didn''t find ''egoism'' to be a meaningful idea. For humans, life in itself was merely a barren expanse of time, and it was only given meaning by thoughts, passions, or desires. Much of what people enjoy and want, their ''self-interest,'' involves others. The dedicated moral warrior resembles a strict egoist or hedonist: they only feel good when their morals are achieved. What people want partially determines what is in their ''self-interest.'' If people feel fulfilled after acting altruistically, is it really egoism to tell them to stop? The ''egoist'' always turns out to be someone trying to preach that people should not want or care about the things which they do want or care about. <strong>Not everyone is born to be a shyster or usurer.</strong> The ''greedy'' typically value objects - including imaginary <em>social</em> constructs like money - over themselves. Cael viewed morality as purely discursive: he would proim vaguely egoistic principles if it would perturb an opponent, but he did not adhere to it as a moral system. A serious egoism would just be another moral distraction, a way to turn off the intellect so that usurious greed may prosper in its wake.


    Soon, he determined that the cave was probably safe for now, with no sound or movements from nearby. He got up and walked deeper into the cave, down a winding tunnel. He eventually found arger, round area with walls stained by a warm red-orange glow, and saw DicingDevil standing over the bleeding, mangled corpse of Bathus. Cael smiled.


    "Well done," Cael said, "So what did you find in here?"


    "A few rare creatures, but it''s easy to get trapped in here. We should spend some time killing these, then leave to gank and find our way to somewhere safer."


    "Sounds like a n. I have an idea of somewhere we can hide, actually. It''s towards the West."

 Chapter 46: Reptilian

    Chapter 46: Reptilian


    Cael and DicingDevil had already killed three yers as they slowly moved towards the misty Western woods. DicingDevil heard a sounding from behind some trees, which sounded like the weak tinkle of a low-level sword. He ran off to investigate, and possiblyplete a quick kill.


    In the mean-time, Cael peered into his inventory and wore a [Gentleman''s White Suit], a stiff,rge white shirt with a gold, red and blue diagonal stripe across it. The stripe descended from the right shoulder. He had also looted this from the couple in earlier. Since it waste, it''s possible that the couple had been nning to go to the expensive, upmarket bar in Northern Kruxol after a brief grind in the woods. This would exin their choice to carry clothing around. Most yers went to the cheaper, more Southern bar because it had morepany and less rip-offs, but the Northern bar was still popr among wealthy couples.


    After wearing the suit, Cael also took out a [Mask of Smander], an ashen mask with red veins, and found that this scaly mask was a bit like a thick ck ooze, drooping between his fingers like a liquid as he held it. Regardless, he wore it, and felt the dark slime spread across his face until he looked like abination of a lizard and a theatre''s Melpomene mask of tragedy. At least he wasn''t easily recognisable.


    As he prepared to continue his walk to the West, he heard a loud thud to his left. Turning towards the noise, he saw a level 49 Knight approaching him tentatively. The Knight must have heard him and prepared to attack, but was now walking slightly shakily. Cael guessed that they might have been scared by the mask, and were now hesitant to approach this horrifying, but very gentlemanly lizard. Nheless, Cael saw the Knight, named [HolyProtector], still bravely half-stepping towards him. There was no choice but to fight.


    Cael cast [Meditate] to improve his MP regeneration, then struck HolyProtector with [Magic Missile] to slow the Knight''s advance. Cael stepped away from the Knight, keeping the distance betweenbatants, and cast an INT buff on himself. Thin, light-blue circles appeared around him as he cast the buff, and these circles dissolved to white and disappeared. As HolyProtector shook off the blow, with 90% HP remaining, Cael followed up with [Mana Beam]. This knocked the Knight back again, giving Cael more time to distance himself. The Knight still had 76% HP remaining, but Cael saw that his [ck Cursed Draugr Staff] had inflicted the [Disease] status effect, which was rapidly eating away at HolyProtector''s HP. As Cael stepped around the misty maze of trees, he briefly lost his bnce as he stepped over a tree''s long roots. This forced him to crouch down and regain bnce, and he saw that HolyProtector was gaining ground on him and was almost certain to catch up. He retreated behind a small group of trees.


    HolyProtector charged forwards quickly, angling slightly left, and barged past the trees towards Cael. However, Cael sidestepped to the right as soon as he saw HolyProtector reach the trees, and used [Mana Strike] to shove HolyProtector''s helmet firmly into a tree as the Knight shoved his way past it. This gave the hasty Knight''s head a firm, blunt blow, and he fell straight to the ground. While HolyProtector tried dizzily to rise, Cael cast [Arm of Hades] and followed this up with [Spark]. This weakened the dizzied Knight, who let out a whale-like cry as if they were drowning, and slumped against the tree. It also caused [Disease] again, leaving the Knight''s remaining 45% HP depleting rapidly. Seeing that HolyProtector was leaning his head against the tree, Cael walked up to the Knight and swung his zombified arm to deal a hard, blunt blow to the back of the Knight''s head. There was a faint, metallic ring as the front of the Knight''s helmet collided with the tree. Soon, blood poured out beneath the helmet, mixed with sweat from the sweltering [Disease] effect.


    Cael cast [Mana Push] to shove HolyProtector''s sword out of the way, since the Knight''s grip on it was very loose. At this point, DicingDevil emerged from the bushes beside Cael. Seeing the scene, he casually raised his arms and backed away.


    "It''s not my kill," he said jovially to Cael, "You finish it."


    "Thank you, nice to havepany," Cael replied, "This idiot attacked me."


    "Unwise. Don''t they know not to mess with DeathGang?"


    Cael briefly gestured towards the nametag above HolyProtector''s head, and chirpily replied, "Well, we''re not really about DeathGang, we''re just sold to the highest bidder. In this case, I''m being paid by Jarius from [GildedKnights]. The leader of [The Fountain] was caught insulting [GildedKnights] and trying to spy on them, so now I''m being paid for killing [The Fountain] members. I heard you got a simr task?" He had heard rumours of this sort about the leader of [The Fountain], as well as snippets of the other conspiracy theories running wild during these stressful times, but was still mostly making this up. He spoke feigning a hushed tone, so that HolyProtector would be tempted to eavesdrop.


    DicingDevil hesitated for a moment, then smirked and said, "Yeah, now it''s Fountain targets, maybe next we''ll have to kill GildedKnights, who cares? Money doesn''t have allegiances. Of course the DeathGang war is mostly pretend, why would they get rid of their hired guns? They''re just trying to scare our leaders to make sure that the Guild remains focused on these services." He saw that this Knight wasn''t going to respawn, and hence wouldn''t tell the town that they were DeathGang members. As such, it didn''t matter what he believed, and they should juste up with a conspiracy theory to demotivate and confuse him before death.


    "Do you reckon you''ll afford a whole new suit of armour after today?" asked Cael.


    "Once they add housing, I''ll get a cottage of my own,"ughed DicingDevil.


    "You reckon they fix this bug soon, then?"


    "Yeah, yeah. They are probably almost done. Pity that the bug you''re killing now won''t live to see it."


    Cael heard HolyProtector swearing in a strange American-British ent, asionally interspersed with exmations like, "Some allies they were," and, "Mercenary scum." As the Knight tried to w against the tree in order to stand up, Cael once again used [Mana Strike] to shove the Knight''s head against the tree. HolyProtector slumped to the ground again, without resistance. The Knight was slightly faint, and dizzied by the blunt strikes to the head, so they had been having difficulty getting up. Cael didn''t feel much urgency in killing this Knight, so long as they had no weapon and were some distance away. He regained MP instead.


    As HolyProtector made another desperate attempt to leap to his feet, Cael floored him with abination of [Arm of Hades] and [Magic Missile] sending a row of mana projectiles that seemed to almost chill the air around them with a deathly, pale glow. This weakened HolyProtector to 7% HP, and Cael saw that the [ck Cursed Draugr Staff] had inflicted a [Disease] status on the Knight. This effect''s DoT soon exhausted the Knight''s remaining HP. Shivering feverishly, HolyProtector moaned in a faint, high-pitched voice as he died.


    "So did you find anyone?" Cael asked DicingDevil.


    "I found a couple of guys, actually,"ughed DicingDevil, "both were weak, I killed one but the other was a Ranger and fled towards Kruxol."


    "Good, good," said Cael, "they''ll tell the guys in town that they were attacked by DeathGang."


    "True. But I hope the guy doesn''t feel left out."


    Caelughed. "Now you sound like Hashin." He remembered the simr brand of humour that div and co. had been fond of.


    "A Hashin guy had seen me ganking on the first day, and he gave me some advice. He had a sense of humour, I think he was called Drifter?"


    "That''s their leader." Caelughed even louder now, and DicingDevil began to join in.


    "Oh lord. Don''t tell Darys! He''ll emunicate me."


    "Sure thing."


    "Alright, where are we heading from here?"


    "There are a few mobs to the West, I think that small Guilds need them for quests. If you find anyone weak, kill them. Try to hide in the mist. Once we reach a straight path, we can head down it to a cottage. We can hide near it."


    "Why not in it?"


    "Um, for very good reasons. What''s is the cottage should dissuade other yers froming near us, but we certainly don''t want to run into it."


    "I see. Well, this isn''t a crowded ce, so it''s a good ce to hide anyway."


    "Yes."


    They set off towards the West. As they were passing through the mist, they heard a couple of low-level yers fighting mobs to either side of the mist.


    "Take the yer on the right, I''ll get the one on the left. That way they can''t squeal and frighten the other away," said DicingDevil.


    Cael nodded, and walked carefully towards the right edge of the mist. There, he glimpsed a level 40 warrior, from a Guild named [Parson]. The warrior was toiling away hard, and was focusing on the mobs. After casting [Meditate], Cael easily struck with [Magic Missile], and the warrior wearily lurched towards the mist.


    "Who''s there? Show yourself, coward!" said the warrior.


    Cael slowly stepped away from the warrior, to prevent a direct attack, then began to charge [Mana Sphere]. After 10 seconds of charging, he let it go, and the sphere shed brightly before pummeling the level 40 warrior and reducing them to 60% HP.


    However, the sh as the spell was cast had allowed the warrior to glimpse Cael through the mist, and he moved intently in Cael''s direction.


    "You can run, but you can''t hide!" cried the warrior.


    Cael, however, calmly backstepped around some trees, forcing the warrior to slow down in his pursuit to avoid these obstacles and duck under some branches. As the warrior approached further through the dense trees, Cael used [Mana Strike] to shove the warrior against a tree. The hardy warrior kept defiantly to his feet, supporting his body against the tree, until Cael saw an opportunity and cast [Spark]. This was well-timed, as it weakened the warrior''s resilience and sent them easily to the ground. As they fell, the warrior''s hands scraped harshly against the tree bark, and his sword fell down and spun off into the thick mist. They were now on just 30% HP.


    Cael took advantage of this opportunity, and used [Minor Illusion] to create an image of the sword''s hilt emerging from the mist. The warrior raised their face from the ground to look for their sword, and saw this illusion. As the warrior scampered over to pick up the de, Cael cast [Magic Missile] again, and this time the attack led to the [Disease] effect. Since the attack sent out multiple missiles, each hit had a chance of causing [Disease], which was more effective than a single attack if the target was mostly static and would get hit by most of the projectiles. At higher levels, he had heard that Mages nned to rely on multi-hit elemental spells, at least when in singlebat, for this reason.


    As the warrior''s HP crawled to 14%, he crawled his way to the apparition of the sword. As he picked it up, he found that most of the de was missing. He also found that Cael had prepared a powerful [Mana Sphere] with his remaining mana, and this struck the tired, sweating warrior with almost explosive force. Their body seemed to being apart at the seams as they died, trying to scream with their mouth opened unnaturally wide. Cael shrugged.


    This fight wasn''t difficult. He could win hundreds of such fights. Against a slow warrior, the Mage''s ranged attacks typically gave a decisive advantage. The Mage also had more variety in attacks, and was less predictable. It is as if his enemy was wielding a short sword and trying to single-handedly overwhelm a phnx of spears. In this terrain, filled with trees and mud, Cael could also strike with an unpredictable [Mana Strike] at any moment, dealing a fatal blow to the warrior''s attempted approach. When the warrior was lower level as well, it was barely a difficulty.


    Cael heard some muffled screaming as DicingDevil choked his opponent, presumably asking about the Guilds'' ns for war. Cael walked over curiously, and saw that DicingDevil was grappling a yer named [Boisie] from the [Communion] Guild.


    "The hell is Communion? A Catholic Guild?" said Cael dismissively.


    "They are allies with [The Fountain], I''d guess a small Guild that acts like a division of the big one," replied DicingDevil.


    "Are they talkative?"


    "Yes, but they don''t know that much. The war will happen soon. They hadst-minute doubts about joining, so they came here. Allegedly the leader of The Fountain will be in the frontlines, to lead the troops -"


    "Lies!" said Cael, "They shouldn''t lie to DeathGang."


    DicingDevil nodded, then used [ck Spot] to draw blood from Boisie''s neck, before tightening a chokehold. Cael cast [Healing] on Boisie, and Boisie squirmed in panic, screaming, "Fine! Fine! It was lies, he will be hiding with the Northern troops before joining the fight near the [Arts Building] if it is nearly over."


    "And?" said Cael.


    "And he is apanied by gbearers, so that he can pretend to be part of a striking victory."


    "What a great chap. But a person''s striking victories are only important until people decide that the person is a viin. After that, they are just more incriminating information." Cael turned his attention to DicingDevil. "Anyway, get some spies to spam [The Fountain] local chat with messages about the missing leader, and how he left everyone to die. Make sure to mention that he is neither at the abandoned vige, nor the [Arts Building]. You ask your weaker members to make spy alts in enemy Guilds, right?"


    "Yes," said DicingDevil.


    "If they sneak towards the East, they can spam Guild local chat in moderation. It''s easy to notice a missing leader, but harder to know if a frontline soldier is at war or just hiding among some trees."


    "Understood."


    "Anyway, any other information from this guy?"


    Cael cast [Shock] impatiently, and Boisie vomited blood as he ttened towards the ground.


    "His Guild has contacts in [The Fountain] who are trying to improve the Guild''s image as a bastion ofmunity and caring. He''s hoping that it will bring members over to his own Guild," said DicingDevil dryly.


    "Contacts? Is there a GM there? Possibly named FGRT?"


    "Yes!" moaned an agonised Boisie, "He''s not from [The Fountain], but he is close to them." He seemed scared of facing another [Spark].


    "FGRT is like a pick-up artist," Cael exined, "he exploits the hopes of secretly power-hungry Nice Guys in order to further his own aims. He probably hinted to Boisie that Boisie''s Guild could be influential and powerful, but without actually trying to do that himself. The GMs are astroturfing a lot of these Guilds, to do things that the GMs aren''t allowed to do, like start fights and wage war."


    "I see. That''s new to us, mostly," said DicingDevil. He turned to Boisie, and asked, "So why do they want your Guild to be caring -"


    "Easy question. I can answer that," said Cael, "By making the Guild act more selflessly based on vague principles, and turning them into a weapon against ganking Guilds, the Guilds be easier for FGRT et al to manipte and use to their own ends. A Guild''s identity can be difficult to disce, a ''force for good'' is just a confused force that you can turn one way or another."


    "Very good. Do you have another question to ask of Boisie?"


    "Yes. Can we kill him already? Honestly, I''m getting bored of him, why can''t these worthless creatures just drop dead immediately?"


    Cael used [Arm of Hades], and then cast [Spark] on Boisie. Boisie entered a half-faint trance, his body still squirming in pain. DicingDevil put an end to this with a [Silent Stab] to Boisie''s throat.


    "Thank you. Now let''s go to the cottage," said Cael.

 Chapter 47: You Suffer, But Why?

    Chapter 47: You Suffer, But Why?


    Cael faced the entrance to the replica cottage, while sitting 200 metres away under a dense cover of leaves. The thick foliage around this area meant that there was little chance of anyone approaching from any direction other than the cottage''s.


    "So, really, what''s in there? It looks empty," said DicingDevil.


    "It only triggers when the cottage is disturbed," Cael exined, "and if we disturb it, we''ll be in for a long chase."


    "This does look a lot like the old man''s cottage just South of Kruxol. It''s a bit eerie."


    "More than a bit. Wait, be quiet, I hear footsteps."


    A Knight, with red feathers on top of their spiked helmet, was loudly walking near the cottage. Soon, Cael heard the sound of another yer following along, walking some distance behind.


    "Why did they have to disturb us when we were preparing for the war?" moaned the Knight.


    "Because you''re strong and know the area!" shouted a strained, female voice from behind him. "It was either you or send 30 men."


    "Sure. Anyway, this is an empty cottage, I passed it before, when we were doing Guild quests on the first day. It looks so much like the earlier one, wouldn''t you say?" The Knight was showing off his knowledge of the location.


    "Wow, that''s really cool!" gushed the female.


    As the Knight drew near the cottage, Cael saw that it was a level 61 yer named [Aret¨¦] from [The Fountain]. DicingDevil crouched on edge, prepared to make a break for it if the Knight came in this direction. While a wall of leaves hid him from the casual observer, if the Knight walked in this direction then the hidden yers would be spotted. It would be a difficult fight.


    Cael, however, was less worried. Holding out his handzily, he used [Mana Push] to lightly shove one of the practice swords lying in the cottage''s front corners. He saw the familiar spectre of the old man appear at the entrance to the cottage, still named [Sz?ff¨§¨²?]. The old man appeared right in front of the Knight, who looked up with surprise.


    Aret¨¦ put on an air of confidence and said, "Hello, sir, are you the owner of this -"


    Cael heard a shocked gasp from the Knight, which almost sounded like a scream, when the old man turned around and the Knight saw the ck, ragged holes of the old man''s eyes and mouth revealed. The old man, who looked more like a hazy, partial silhouette than a person, bore down on Aret¨¦ menacingly. The level above the old man''s head still flickered between numbers over 900, and the Knight let out a quiet squeak as he saw the old man''s level briefly disy a set of ''0''s that went on for longer than the game could render.


    As Aret¨¦ tried t-footedly to flee, the old man''s hands grasped the Knight''s left shoulder. The old man''s mouth was by now a wide, gaping hole that took up most of his face, and it looked like a basking shark''s mouth. He emitted a bat-like loud, high-pitched screeching noise from it, and the Knight felt as if the world was standing still. The old man withdrew his right hand from the Knight, and moved it in a sweeping motion as if he was holding a sword. His hand was empty, so the attack didn''t seem to have an actual point. However, Cael saw the space in front of the old man tear into a mass of ck-and-white disorderly fragments swirling in fractals and swapping ces, where the absent sword would have passed. This included much of Aret¨¦''s back, which copsed into the erratic ck-and-white maelstrom as he screamed. Cael could see ck-and-white shapes resembling Aret¨¦''s spine spinning around behind him and dissolving, and Aret¨¦ seemed to feel an intense spinal pain that caused him to copse to the ground.


    The old man roared something which sounded like, "Congrattions." He then lunged at Aret¨¦''s head as if to stab it, and Cael saw the Knight''s head copse into hundreds of tiny ck-and-white fragments swirling around in the air. The Knight was now headless, but still seemed to scream from above his neck. Cael wasn''t sure how the Knight could scream without a head.


    By now, the girl following behind the Knight had reached the old man, and screamed defiantly, "Leave my B.F. alone!" She had been tempted to run for it, but was too invested in her rtionship with this Knight, which she viewed as her best chance to taste sess and power while trapped in here.


    The old man coldly turned to her, and saw that she was a Mage. He raised his hand, as if to cast a spell. Cael saw the words [Mana Push] appear above the man''s hand, an elementary spell which the old man had typically used to demonstrate the power of magic to young Mages. However, instead of casting this spell, the air above the old man''s palm dissolved into ck and white fragments, and the girl''s body shattered into veiny cracks, like badly cracked ss, in a way which mirrored the air above the old man''s palm.


    "Run for it, Britt!" shouted Aret¨¦.


    Though the female tried to run away, the old man gruffly chanted something which sounded like ''mana.'' The girl''s body pulled itself apart forcefully, along the lines where she had shattered earlier. The girl tried to scream, but her throat would not let her. Blood oozed freely along the ground.


    Soon, she was dead. Pieces of her body fell like feathers to the ground.


    "No! Not Britt! No!" screamed the Knight.


    Impatiently, the old man turned back to the headless Knight. He cast a spell named [ck Palm]. Cael recognised the name as belonging to a necromancer spell. However, the spell''s animation resembled the cleric''s [ck Star] spell instead, a small ck rip appearing in the air above the old man and pulsating shadows around it. Even so, it did not function like either of those spells. It seemed to deal heavy damage, quickly reducing the Knight''s HP to 0, but without seeming to affect the Knight''s body which kept screaming.


    The old man then used the spell [Shapeshift], and transformed into what looked like arge, fragmented raven. He perched on the Knight''s body and grotesquely began to eat the Knight''s carcass and entrails until the Knight quietly gave in to that good night. DicingDevil had averted his eyes. Cael was curious about what could have triggered this behaviour in an NPC, but realised that - other than the increasingly blurred boundaries between NPCs and the world outside the game - the NPC had not been trying to eat the Knight out of peckishness, and was only eating him as a way to swallow away what remained of a creature who, ording to his 0% HP, should not have been there. It was a primitive, slightly grotesque way to manually simplify what, in the old man''s AI-like estimation, should not exist.


    The old man had been unable to process the 0% HP, so he took automatic steps to simplify and process it. Once Aret¨¦ died, the old man''s AI was satisfied. He stood up, then vanished into the air.


    "No kidding," whispered DicingDevil, keeping his voice muted to avoid risking the old man''s return.


    "Did you see the thing''s level?" Cael whispered back.


    "Oh yeah, like 1000+? It was going to crazy numbers."


    "I don''t think a yer can evene close, max level is like 300-500?"


    "350."


    "Yes."


    "Yeah, it''s ridiculous. Imagine that, a yer reaches max level and gets killed effortlessly by an old fogey in a cottage."


    "Oi, don''t call him that. What if he''s offended and appears behind you?"


    "...Was that a joke?"


    "Yeah, it was."


    "Whew."


    They settled down. Cael drew out his notebook, and prepared to write some notes.


    He found himself writing a short story of sorts. 20 minutes of writing passed peacefully, until the sound of footsteps once again loomed from near the cottage. This time, it was just one yer, who was level 53. They were a male who belonged to another small Guild, named [GreyCats].


    This time, however, the yer was from the [Ranger] sub-ss, and moved briskly. They seemed to be scanning the mobs nearby, probably looking for a mob needed toplete a Guild quest. As they stood in front of the cottage and looked in, Cael used [Mana Push] once more on the practice swords of the cottage. The old man re-appeared, and punced towards this new yer sacrifice.


    "Wait! Wait! I wasn''t trying to tresspass!" said the yer, as the old man stared indifferently while making a low-pitched, sighing sound. The nervous yer''s sword fell shivering to the ground.


    The old man man cast [Meditate], another basic spell. Suddenly, the yer started to vomit out a thick ck sludge, and seemed to have difficulty breathing. They gained a status effect in garbled text, then copsed first onto their knees, then face-first onto the ground. There was an empty look in their eyes, and Cael watched as they died with ck sludge still flowing out of their veins. After death, the yer''s body shrivelled up into a small shape made of thin, folded skin, as if it had no organs into it.


    Seeing another intruder dead, the old man sighed and disappeared.


    "So, this guy and the girl named Britt might respawn?" whispered DicingDevil.


    "Yeah. Britt seems like a conniving sort. I doubt those guys will ever get that strong, but if Britt gets with another strong yer then we might still hear about her. She''ll have gone bonkers."


    "Conniving? Sounds like your type, maybe you''d enjoy herpany," teased DicingDevil.


    "Well, I enjoyed seeing her die, the rest of herpany I could do without."


    "You enjoy seeing many people die. But then, I''m in a Guild named DeathGang, so not one to talk."


    "Yes. Well, it has its perks: some people pay to enjoy courtesans, but we just enjoyed one for free."


    DicingDevil stifled augh, before speaking softly.


    "She was encouraging Aret¨¦ to patrol for us, so she probably hates us. But she''ll be traumatised now. Soon the army of big donors currently opposing us will turn into a gang of drunkards and entrics, the longer they''re trapped down here. Could be fun."


    "It sounds good, if we see it through. But I have reservations about it."


    "What about it?"


    "There''s something about entricity and big spenders that tends, well, to disturb the peace," replied Cael, "after all, no matter how well or intelligently people y the game, there can still be an idiotic, bad whale who is ahead of them. The flow of gamey, the path of progression, the sequence of tactics, is easily rendered meaningless. It would be a pain to establish Pax Romana for a week, only for some idiot to then walk by and overthrow it while half-awake. So it makes things unpredictable for gankers and Guilds like yours, even if you guys grow into an established power. All of these whales bing entric, going on these big crusades against ''evil,'' getting drunk, it feels like someday it will be a hassle."


    DicingDevil paused, then replied, "Yes. But most yers are just taking it easy and trying to see through a few days, hoping they''ll get to leave soon. So we''ll probably have arge headstart on them."


    "Yes. Most of the yers still willing to adventure out are donors, because they are better geared and figure that their donation would have been wasted if they just stayed in town. They feel like they should stay ahead of the rest. Sunk cost stuff. So this is a great time for looting other yers, that''s where the rewards are."


    "True. So if they fixed it, you''d stop ganking as much? I''d be surprised."


    "Maybe for a short time,"ughed Cael, "I need to catch up on some PvE stuff, and explore a bit. But ganking isn''t a question of what I need, it''s a question of giving other people what they deserve. It''s a charitable donation."


    "Yeah, I think basic dungeons and PvE areas will be overcrowded once people can journey more easily. By the way, have you been doing any of the dungeons nearby?"


    "No, actually."


    "You''re still high-level, in spite of that. But if the war goes well, remind our Guild to take you to a dungeon just North-West of our territory."


    "Sure, sure. Is it near the Hunting tradeskill ce?"


    "Do you want to visit that? A couple of us are nning to learn Hunting, it would help with living in the wild."


    "I''m up for it, thanks."


    "No problem. Anyway, we''re nearly due to return to Kruxol. We should circle around to the North, so that we avoid the patrols."

 Chapter 48: Sacrificial Ritual

    Chapter 48: Sacrificial Ritual


    "Sure, their army might be reluctant to fight," DicingDevil said, "but I''m sure many DeathGang members are as well. Our guys might also want to flee, once the battle starts."


    Cael shrugged. "Well, they''ll have no choice, since the hills are blocking their retreat."


    "Shameless n. Good. They will fight like cornered beasts."


    "The enemy, however, will have more open space behind them. We can ambush them as they retreat, but they will still be tempted to do that once they meet therger force in the North. Retreating will disorganise them. This is the first war around here, so a lot of them will be on edge once they realise what they''ve gotten into."


    "You''re right. A lot of our guys will also be reluctant, but they''ll have no choice but to fight."


    "Exactly, and we can rout the enemy once they turn to flee. Anyway, here''s Kruxol. I only see one guy patrolling the North. I guess they''re not that concerned about patrolling around the town by this point. No DeathGang showing up."


    "Yes, and the game doesn''t allow many yers to guard the town boundaries. They probably won''t recognise you, since you''re a Mage and not in DeathGang. You walk towards the town first, then I''ll run in."


    "Sure."


    Before going, Cael painstakingly wrote a rune on a piece of paper next to him, using [Illusory Quill Pen]. Re-tracing the lines several times, he seemed to almost etch the rune into the paper, using a lot of his MP. He walked towards town with a poker face, wearing a blue coat over his usual Mage robes. He tried not to appear rushed, and noticed that the patrolling yer didn''t seem to pay much attention to him. As he neared the town, he heard the yer call out to him, saying, "Hey there! Any sign of DeathGang up North?"


    Cael made sure to take a step past this yer, towards the town, before turning backwards to answer. He was now facing towards the trees North of Kruxol, and the level 57 yer duly turned around to face Cael. Cael saw that DicingDevil was now making a few preliminary movements towards the town, preparing to sprint into Kruxol. This was possible because the yer patrolling Kruxol was no longer looking North.


    "I did not see many DeathGang, but I did see one named Darys," Cael said, trying to put on an ent that would suggest he was not familiar with the Englishnguage.


    The level 57 yer''s eyes raised. "Oh? I know that name. Tell me, where did you see him?"


    Cael waited for DicingDevil to find a safe hiding-spot, behind a thick bush near the edge of the trees, then said, "I think I remember. I do not know what ce is called, but I can tell you direction."


    He held up his arm past the level 57 yer, pointing straight towards the North-East.


    "It is there!" Cael said.


    The level 57 yer turned back towards the North, to see where Cael was pointing. Cael waited until the yer was looking towards the tree-line, then cast [Conjure Light], using the option to spend extra MP for an especially bright light. However, no light appeared in his palm. Instead, he smiled and ran quickly into the safe zone of Kruxol, as a level 85 [Apparition of Light] materialised right in front of the level 57 yer.


    Cael saw DicingDevil set off quickly and run in a wide curve around the Apparition and yer, soon also reaching the safe zone of Kruxol. He kept some distance from Cael, but was close enough to keep an eye on the Mage. The level 57 yer was quickly killed by the Apparition, through abination of hard strikes and crippling paralysis.


    As Cael and DicingDevil were walking towards the Storage building, Cael saw a familiar face: Byron from GildedKnights. Byron was sitting on the side of the street with a few other GildedKnightpanions, discussing war ns in hushed tones. Cael smiled at him, and after a brief hesitation Byron remembered him and smiled back.


    As Cael and DicingDevil turned a corner away from Byron''s group, Cael used [Minor Illusion] to conjure a piece of paper in Byron''s hands. It read:


    "Got some intel. DeathGang have an important General, named Brn, who is a coward. He will be hiding behind his lines. Since he is one of their leaders and strategists, make sure to focus ranged attacks on killing him. Your spies will confirm some of this."


    Since DicingDevil had turned the corner away from the street with Byron, he had no way of seeing this piece of paper, as Byron read it and nodded.


    After DicingDevil had finished depositing his newly-won goods, Cael switched characters back to Crucis. It was nearing 5:30 am. A couple of yers who were heading East had identally aggroed the [Apparition of Light], and died. Some stronger yers from [The Fountain] had gathered tobat it.


    Crucis and DicingDevil both used [Stealth Cloak], and ran North since it was still mostly unwatched after the patrolling yer died. Once they had reached the trees, they headed carefully North-East towards the thick mist where they had been told to gather for the war. Since Kruxol was still slowly preparing for war, yers there were gathering in the East and barely paying attention to the North.


    As he arrived in the mist, Crucis saw a few other DeathGang members gathering, with a slightly nervous atmosphere. The mist this morning was not as thick as usual, and, while still difficult to see through, it would not hide the yers as well as was hoped. Crucis grimaced slightly. He saw that the DeathGang yers gathered here were talking intermittently, while shivering in the cold morning mist.


    "Greetings," began DicingDevil, addressing the gathered yers, "Our task here is simple. We are to keep an eye out for important yers - especially the big Guild Leaders - hovering around towards the North. If we see them, then you are to kill them if they are within reach, even if you die. We can also fight small, weak groupsing in this direction, if I give the order. Remember, we are here to assassinate big targets, not to survive. This is war: you must prepare to die, and make the best of this. Any questions?"


    The gathered yers were silent.


    "Alright," continued DicingDevil, "Is there any other issue that you would like to discuss?"


    A few yers murmured about the thin mist, worried that it wouldpromise their mission.


    "The mist is a pity, but we have no choice but to persevere. If we stay close to the ground, where it is thickest, then we can still hide effectively," offered DicingDevil in response. "Anything else?"


    "Yes!" shouted out one DeathGang member, whose face was hidden from Crucis by the mist, "There was a party of two yers seen to the West, they did not notice us. They were heading towards the dungeon near the hills, but seemed slightly lost. We took them prisoner and interrogated them, but they clearly know nothing about the war. They have taken the long journey from Kaxil. Should we execute them?"


    "Yes, does anyone wish to do the honour?" replied DicingDevil.


    Two male yers, levels 35 and 32, were dragged roughly from the ground, where they had been hidden by the mist. Their arms and legs were bound with rope, and their mouth was gagged.


    "While we''re waiting for the war, could I borrow the level 32 yer to sharpen my de?" Crucis offered. A few DeathGang yers gave muffled, amused grunts at the tone of this offer.


    "Yes, that is fine," said DicingDevil, "I have observed your skill at these things. Shall we put the level 35 to death immediately, or does anyone have any ns for them?"


    "We can leave him to bleed out," said a level 45 DeathGang yer named [Akshel].


    "Alright, go ahead."


    Akshel grabbed the level 35 yer by the throat, and used a fierce [Silent Stab] to cut cleanly through the front of the yer''s throat, followed by [Dagger Twist] to deepen the bleeding wound. Finally, he used [ck Spot] to cut a slit across the wound, causing heavy bleeding to soak the yer''s throat.


    The level 35 yer was kicked to the cold ground, and left to die.


    The weaker, level 32 yer was kicked to the ground in front of Crucis, and Crucis kneeled down to apply a loose [Chokehold]. Crucis calmly drew out his [Skeleton Dagger, level 0]. Imitating Akshel slightly, he used [Silent Stab] to pierce through the front of the yer''s throat. However, Crucis deliberately stabbed in a less professional manner, hacking a messy, bleeding wound in the front of the yer''s throat. The yer tried to scream, but could not.


    As Crucis'' dagger struck, he saw a faint, dark mist rise from the wound. The [Nightmare] effect. He had been hoping for this. He continued with a [ck Spot] to deepen the wounds on the yer''s throat. The yer had still not lost any HP from these attacks, due to Crucis'' choice of weapon.


    He then moved on to striking at the spine with a [Panoramic Strike], while pressing the level 32 yer''s neck wounds into the slightly muddy ground. Some mud was smeared into the throat wounds. After a [Ripper] towards the spine, the wounded yer seemed to be trying to writhe, but failing to move his limbs. Crucis saw with satisfaction that a thicker ck mist was arising around him, and spreading through the area around him. His hand now appeared covered in an array of lizard-like oil-ck scales instead of skin. He could sense a slight red-ck glow from his eyes.


    Crucis met a smidgeon of resistance from the yer, but quelled this with a few harsh strikes below the ribcage. Blood was by now pouring from the level 32 yer''s mouth. Crucis returned to a focus on the yer''s mangled neck, using [Ripper] to carve up what remained of it. He continued persistently striking the yer for 10 minutes, watching as the air of the surrounding area became thick with an almost-suffocating ck mist. Once he was satisfied that the mist wasn''t getting any thicker, he drew out his [Vile Toxin Gas] and sprayed it over the wounded yer, then used a [Silver Crucifix Dagger] to sh the yer''s throat with [ck Spot]. He left the yer, frozen in an agonised expression, to die from the [Bleeding] status.


    "Here''s your mist," quipped Crucis, as he saw DicingDevil walk by to check on the ?k mist.


    "When did you be a faceless lizard?" DicingDevil replied. He had noticed the gradual, intimidating transformation in Crucis'' appearance as the mist spread. However, he was mostly pleased that there was now a clear mist covering the area, making his task much easier.


    "Took some adrenochrome. Kidding, that''s an effect of the mist."


    "I see, Mr. Icke. Actually, I have heard of something like that."


    Crucis noticed that - in appearance at least - his face had mostly been reced by a ck, gaping void, with round eyes - like a komodo dragon''s - suspended in the centre. The eyes were ck, with a slight red tint, and emitted a faint red glow. He noticed that his ck scales were often interspersed with blood-red scales in swirling patterns, something which hadn''t happened in Athur''s throne room. After 30 seconds outside of battle, he began to revert automatically to his usual appearance, and he joined the rest of the group.


    "Alright, guys," DicingDevil said, "Word is in from our scouts, a small group from the [Communion] Guild are heading just to our East. They are searching the area around the [Arts Building], because Darys is generally seen around there and they want to take him by surprise at the beginning of the war. They are trying not to raise attention, so they are moving in a group with only 8 [Communion] members and 3 elites from other Guilds. Most of their other forces are following the path, because they aren''t familiar with the area, so those won''t be running into us. We should go East, and wait in ambush."

 Chapter 49: Raptor

    Chapter 49: Raptor


    The DeathGang group, which Crucis estimated as approximately 15 yers of rtively high level, moved towards the uneven, stony ground to their West. The ck mist had grown to cover this area as well, so they were all well-hidden. Crucis crouched to the ground, ready for action. A few DeathGang members spread out slightly Southwards and hid near trees or bushes, to keep watch for any intruders. DicingDevil invited Crucis to join a party of DeathGang yers, and Crucis epted the invitation. He saw that the party chat was hushed in anticipation.


    Soon, the sound of light hooves echoed from the South, as a small group of [Communion] yers emerged from the trees. Squinting, Crucis saw that one of the yers was riding a [Lightly-Trained Donkey] Mount. Mounts were rare at this stage of the game, so even this basic Mount was being used. Crucis noticed that the Mount moved with short, unsteady steps, and did not seem suited to the mist. Using [Quickstep], Crucis circled quietly towards the nk of the approaching group, and saw that they were apanied by a few archers, including Audet from GildedKnights. She was only level 51, and Crucis guessed that taking care of Justiciar had left her little time to level up.


    "They have archers, take those out quickly before they can aim," he typed in the party chat.


    "We have some low-level bombs nted, attack the archers after the explosions. I''ll kill their Mage," came a message in response by DicingDevil.


    Crucis crouched down and waited. He knew that the [Nightmare] effect would make it difficult for others to hit him in this mist, so long as their HP was low. If he was able to strike hard early on, then it would be difficult for an opponent to recover, especially if their HP had already been lowered.


    After a few seconds, a series of small explosions lit up around the yer riding a donkey, and their group were thrown into disarray. The donkey tried rashly to run forwards, only for a couple of DeathGang warriors with spears to attack the riding yer. To avoid impaling himself on the spears, the yer tried haphazardly to get the donkey to turn sharply to the left or right, but the donkey lost its footing and seemed to sprain its ankle. Since it was stuck in ce, its rider was easily impaled on the spears and fell dead to the ground. The donkey disappeared.


    The group of yers had seemingly not been expecting DeathGang to be prepared for them, and were slow to recover. Of the yers left standing after the explosion, only two defiantly drew swords and stood their ground. The rest began to run Southwards, back towards the trees. They were set upon by DeathGang members, including two scouts that had emerged from the trees to the South and cut off the retreat.


    A few other yers had been thrown aside by the impact of the explosion, including Audet. She fell with her face on the ground. As she tried to get up, Crucis pounced on her with a [Stunning Dagger] to the top of the shoulder. As she froze in paralysis, he locked her in a [Chokehold]. She seemed demotivated, but he saw her reaching for a knife to fight him off.


    He decided to continue his assault, and kicked her hand away from the knife. The less HP she had, the harder it would be for her to hit him by iling with her knife in this mist. As such, he used a quick [The Ripper] to make a slight cut just below the front of her neck, followed by a rough [Silent Stab] into the side of her neck. She iled her body across the ground in pain, and nearly threw him off as he prepared to stab again. He tightened his chokehold to pacify her, and shifted his dagger to his left hand. She had 65% HP remaining.


    His brief instability was enough time for Audet to reach for her knife. As Audet grabbed the knife on her right side, Crucis shifted his body away from it to the left. She iled the knife behind her back ufortably, but missed Crucis easily. While she iled, Crucis was aiming his dagger. He stabbed her with a [Panoramic Strike] near the top of the back of her neck. Audet fell limp to the ground, and Crucis tightened his chokehold while impatiently moving a foot to step on Audet''s knife hand and loosen her grip on it. He saw that Audet now had only 45% HP remaining.


    He used [ck Spot] to slit her throat, then slowly deepened the wound with a slicing [The Ripper]. However, this was interrupted by a Mage from the [Communion] Guild, who cast [Mana Strike] on Crucis and propelled him away along the rough ground. Crucis grimaced as he rolled to his feet, covered in dust and light scratches. He noticed that Audet had weakly prepared her bow, but couldn''t see him through the mist. This mist wasn''t a good situation for archers to fight in. The Mage had also been assaulted by DicingDevil, who was cuttingrge gashes along the Mage''s back.


    sses like archers and Mages, who were vulnerable in closebat, were not currently effectivebatants in the mist. It was easy for other sses, especially Assassins, to sneak up and start meleebat. While Mages could eventually gain enough power to make up for this setting, it would still be difficult to cast high-level spells in an ambush, because the casting generally required some time undisturbed. At present, however, Mages didn''t generally have enough firepower to resist an attack like this.


    As Crucis snuck behind Audet, and approached to attack, he was surprised to see her whip out her knife in reverse grip and swing it in his direction. He halted, but still took a sharp cut to the chest, just below his shoulders. Wary of her reflexes, he used [Stealth Cloak] to circle around and prepare an attack from another angle.


    "Stay away, monster!" she cried.


    Crucis saw her wielding her knife aggressively, preparing to fend off an attack from behind. He instead used [Agile Step] to approach her nk, and stabbed the side of her neck with [Panoramic Strike]. He saw that her eyes were wide with fear, and realised that his appearance had once more taken on the [Nightmare] form with ck scales. This time, however, he noticed that his skin glowed a faint orange like fresh ashes. It resembled the colour of exploding bombs that he recalled from when Audet was killed by the lone Hashin.


    He grabbed her in a [Chokehold], and noticed that she went to ground easily. She seemed to be half-faint, and only looked awake due to bravery. He mmed her head into the ground as she helplessly fell. Her HP was only 15%, so after a [The Ripper] high on the wounded back of her neck she was nearly dead. She tried weakly to swing at him, but missed easily due to the [Nightmare] effect. After a [Silent Stab], she was dead.


    Crucis got to his feet, and saw that arge warrior was advancing on him. He quickly backstepped into the mist, and he could tell from the warrior''s lost gaze that this foe had lost track of Crucis.


    As the warrior tried to regain their bearings, DicingDevil pounced on them from behind, and quickly carved a few gashes along the warrior''s neck with a sword. Crucis saw DicingDevil try in vain to remove the warrior''s helmet, and then finally strike the warrior with a dizzying [Mordhau], a hard, blunt blow with the hilt of DicingDevil''s sword. This dizzied the warrior, and Crucis ran forwards and kicked out the warrior''s legs until the warrior fell heavily to the ground.


    As DicingDevil crouched down to kill the warrior, Crucis saw a DeathGang member die towards his right side. He equipped his [Silver Wasp Sword], and rushed in to investigate. He saw a level 60 warrior named [Bahaus] standing over the corpse. The warrior stepped back slightly in fright when they saw Crucis'' scales and void-like face, and Crucis saw that the warrior had killed two DeathGang members but was down to 45% HP.


    Bahaus swung his sword heavily in Crucis'' direction, leaning forwards, but Crucis was out of range of the attack, which only hit air. Crucis responded with a sharp [sh] towards Bahaus'' hands, weakening the warrior''s grip on the sword.


    Bahaus struggled to grip his sword, and Crucis stepped quickly forwards, sensing an opportunity. However, he was surprised by the warrior''s dexterity, as Bahaus quickly swung at Crucis again. However, this strike was done with a loose grip, and the uracy debuff of the [Nightmare] effect, so it swungfortably wide to Crucis'' left. Holding his sword horizontally to his left, to block off any strikes from Bahaus'' sword, Crucis used the [Half-swording] skill to ce one hand on the middle of his sword''s de.


    He used [Agile Step] to near Bahaus, then wielded his sword like a dagger and stabbed harshly at Bahaus'' neck with [Lunge]. Although the warrior was wearing slightly-damaged armour, Crucis'' half-swording allowed him to strike with precision in vulnerable areas.


    As Bahaus reared his sword from Crucis'' left, Crucis lowered his de slightly to intercept the strike. He used this opportunity to strike with [Slice] and deepen the throat wound, before he was forcefully but clumsily grappled aside by Bahaus'' off-hand. This warrior had decent dexterity, and higher Strength than Crucis. It would have been a difficult battle, but Crucis felt confident with the warrior now at only 25% HP and bleeding.


    Crucis held out his sword in front of him, and calmly approached Bahaus. As he approached, Bahaus used a shaky [nk Cut] to reach spectively for Crucis'' side. Crucisfortably parried this strike, but Bahaus quickly backstepped to avoid retaliation. Crucis approached again, and saw that Bahaus was now down to 20% from the [Bleeding]. While Crucis could have attempted to strike back after the [nk Cut], he was still at some distance and lunging forwards may be risky since the ground here was slightly uneven. He decided to try and bait Bahaus into a series of traded strikes and parries. Since the warrior''s HP was low, the [Nightmare] effect made it likely that Bahaus would soon make a wayward strike which Crycis could capitalise on.


    Bahaus raised his sword above his own head, and swung downwards as Crucis approached. Crucis readily parried this strike, then followed up with a steady [sh] towards the right side of Bahaus'' face, where some of Bahaus'' helmet had been damaged in earlier fights. Bahausfortably responded with a parry of his own, then responded with a sharp, central downwards [sh] aimed below Crucis'' ribs. Crucis dangled his sword''s de downwards, then slid it to the left in order to make Bahaus'' strike veer off course.


    Crucis used a [Rising thrust] to aim threateningly towards Bahaus'' wounded neck, but Bahaus elegantly blocked this by raising his de and holding it horizontally in the path of Crucis'' strike. As Bahaus tried to shift his de slightly to swing it at Crucis, Crucis used [Uncrossing of des], and the cooldown on [Rising thrust] disappeared. He immediately used another [Rising thrust], almost sneaking under Bahaus'' de. However, Bahaus moved with surprising dexterity, and caught Crucis'' de before it could strike through.


    Bahaus responded angrily with a wild [sh] that missed Crucispletely, and Crucis took advantage of this opportunity to use the [Half-swording] ability, then step in and strike with a [Lunge] to Bahaus'' wounded throat. As Bahaus tried to use [Counter], and strike back with his own sword, Crucis reared his de and easily deflected the strike off-target with the base of his de. Crucis then swung his de from the centre like a lever, and easily used [Slice] to strike Bahaus'' sword hand with the tip of the de.


    Bahaus attempted another wild strike, but this time he miscued and his sword went flying. Crucisughed, and Bahaus shivered in fear.


    Crucis used another [Lunge] to Bahaus'' neck, and pressed forwards slightly to make the warrior lean backwards. As Bahaus tried to recover from the shock of losibg his sword, and grapple Crucis away, Crucis instead sent Bahaus swiftly to the ground with a [Forceful Kick] to the legs. The warrior fell heavily, now on only 6% HP.


    Crucis knelt down, and withdrew his [Vile Toxin Gas]. He sprayed it across the warrior''s bleedijg throat. Bahaus tried weakly to kick out, but his legs fell back in ce as soon as he raised them.


    Crucis noticed that Bahaus seemed very scared of his lizard-like form, so he stared triumphantly at Bahaus'' eyes and hissed, "And you die!" The warrior was writhing weakly on the ground, due to the pain, but froze when Crucis said this.


    Bahaus choked on a scream as he died.


    As Crucis circled the area to check for survivors, he saw that the ambush had been quite sessful. While there were three DeathGang casualties, all of their opponents had been killed. This wasrgely due to the element of surprise: DeathGang had not been expected to take a well-prepared, hit-and-run response to the war, and the thick, ck mist had been a sudden change from the thin mist of this morning. Further, most of the victims had been cut down attempting to flee, and only the few who stood their ground to fight, like Bahaus, had been able to mount a notable resistance. Crucis reflected that they were lucky to run into enemies with cold feet, as there could have been more DeathGang casualties if the opposition had stood their ground.


    Crucisy down breathing heavily, to recover from a few cuts on his chest. A DeathGang Mage cast healing on him, which somewhat reduced the wounds. After a couple of minutes, Crucis was back on his feet.

 Chapter 50: Fog of War

    Chapter 50: Fog of War


    The sound of swords and spears shing reverberated from the North.


    "Good news," DicingDevil reported to the group around him, reading off a chat between high-level Guild members, "Our forces up North have gained an advantage, and the enemy are attempting to retreat. Our spearmen easily dispatched the enemy swordsmen - these enemies don''t seem to have as much open world PvP experience as us. Many enemies have already been killed, or fled and been ambushed by our units in chokepoints. A small group of enemies is fleeing haphazardly in this direction, apanied by the leader of a small Guild named [Sudeste]. We should prepare to meet them by the bridge in the North, this should be easy."


    "Excuse me," a DeathGang yer interjected, "Was there much fighting elsewhere, or was it just up North?"


    "Ah, yes. Not much fighting, but some sniping from secluded spots and some explosions. While our forces up North are holding their own easily, we are trying to use our familiarity with the terrain to deplete and terrorise the rest of the enemy forces before they can make the long journey North. We also set a few traps."


    The group had slowly begun walking North-West, to meet the iing deserters.


    "Our allies, [zingPVP], lent us a necromancer named [Greyve]," DicingDevil continued, "Along with our necromancer, they managed to keep a few zombies patrolling the misty abandoned vige to make it seem active. After about 40 enemy yers swarmed the vige, we detonated bombs across the vige and killed almost everyone inside. Our archers were stationed on a safe tform at the edge of the vige, which can be entered through a building in there, and they got a lot of casualties. The enemy don''t know theyout of the vige as well as we do, so they took a long time to deal with our archers."


    "Are those enemies heading North by now?"


    "Gradually, Thayer. They are slowly turning North, after making sure that the vige is empty. They wouldn''t want to head North and then get attacked from behind. They tried that earlier, but our archers kept attacking with poison arrows."


    "Did we take significant losses to the North?" asked Thayer.


    "Not in numbers. One of our ''generals,'' Brn, was killed. He was hiding carefully behind the lines, but apparently he was targeted. It''s surprising, they didn''t seem to recognise or target our other generals."


    A loud tter of low-level iron armour sounded from the North, and Crucis saw a band of level 20 yers fleeing confusedly towards the ck mist. One level 40 yer named [Egril], the leader of the [Sudeste] Guild, stood in the centre and directed the retreat.


    "Too easy," moaned DicingDevil. "Alright, surround them."


    Crucis joined a line of DeathGang yers, that fanned out in a V-shape towards the oing weak yers. As the retreating yers stumbled erratically in the mist, the DeathGang members closed into a ring around them.


    The [Sudeste] leader was shocked when she saw DicingDevil''s dagger emerge from the mist in front of her, and strike between her neck and shoulder. As she tried to flee, Crucis grabbed her in a [Chokehold], and DicingDevil used a [Silent Stab] to strike the bottom of her throat.


    Crucis joined in with a [Panoramic Strike] stab to the back of Egril''s throat, around where her neck met the bottom of her head. Blood flowed from her mouth as she gazed lifelessly. Tenacious ambition hung emptily in her eyes.


    After a [Dagger Twist] inside Egril''s pi?ata-like throat, DicingDevil easily killed off Egril with a move that Crucis didn''t recognise, named [Reversed Slice]. Switching to a reverse grip, he thrust his dagger into the skin around the throat wound he had made, and tore thoroughly across the throat with his de. Crucis could hear a loud ripping noise as the dagger dented and tore inside Egril''s throat. Soon, she copsed effortlessly to the ground, like a fading shadow of the inspirational leader she had once been.


    Looking around, Crucis saw that the DeathGang members were making short work of the remaining enemies. He joined in with a sword, but only got in a few loosely-aimed [sh] and [Lunge] attacks before the whole enemy groupy dead.


    "Well done, guys," DicingDevil said, "but I have been told that the [The Fountain] Guild Leader is nearby. That fight may be difficult, so we should avoid any other conflict and focus on finding this leader."


    However, DicingDevil was interrupted by the sound of an arrownding on the ground between the gathered DeathGang yers. A small group of Guildless yers fleeing the Northern battle had caught a glimpse of DeathGang during thest fight, and were tentatively preparing an attack.


    "Ignore them," said DicingDevil, ushering the DeathGang group Southwards through the ck mist. "They won''t find us in here. We should look for our target, not waste our time on these guys."


    "I saw an elite from GildedKnights also retreating from up North, no name but I think it''s the guy named Byron," said Akshel with a hint of frustration.


    "Oh, did you? That seems like a valuable target, we shouldn''t give him the chance to regroup. He does a lot of the GildedKnights nning here, since their leader is quite far from Kruxol, and without Byron that Guild will probably be forced to bow out. Let''s try and dodge the other deserters, so that we can take him out."


    The group sent out a scout to monitor Byron, and carefully maneouevred West towards the trees while avoiding any conflict. There was a small group apanying Byron, mostly from GildedKnights. Crucis and a handful of DeathGang members crouched on the ground ahead of Byron''s path, and prepared to attack.


    Byron was riding a [Small Zebra] Mount, a step up from the moremon donkeys, and the Mount made a loud noise as it scrappily crossed the rocky ground. This allowed the DeathGang members to pin-point Byron''s location, and quietly creep towards the zebra''s sound to prepare an attack.


    A few of Byron''srades passed by without noticing, due to the thick fog.


    However, as soon as Byron passed by, Crucis saw DicingDevil send a message in the party chat: "go go go."


    A couple of warriors with spears sat up, and assaulted Byron and the Mount. Ignoring the yers apanying Byron, DicingDevil leapt towards the mounted Byron with sword in hand. Crucis followed along, but the DeathGang spearmen left him little room to get an attack on Byron in. Instead, Crucis used a [Lunge] to the zebra''s nk, which tore a gash and caused the Mount to shake wildly from side to side. Since it was designated a ''nonbat'' Mount, Crucis knew that it would not retaliate. Few yers hadbat Mounts yet, and even those were primitive and slow.


    The assault of the spearman caused Byron to teeter to the side, and DicingDevil''s [Chokehold] and fierce grappling was enough to throw Byron to the ground beside the Mount.


    Soon, however, Byron''s allies nearby began to defend him, and in response the DeathGang group piled in to create arger brawl. A few GildedKnights yers closed in around the DeathGang spearmen, and swung swords frantically. This isted the spearmen from the fight with Byron.


    To make up for this, Crucis darted towards where he had seen Byron fall, ignoring a few light cuts from the strikes of Byron''s allies who tried to dy him. However, he was surprised when Byron''s sword rose in front of him, after Byron had wrestled DicingDevil away and left him to an ally.


    Stepping slightly backwards, Crucis used [Warding], and prepared a [Rising thrust]. He held his sword diagonally towards the ground in front of him, making it difficult to see because the mist was thick down there. As Byron attempted a straight thrust with his sword, Crucis'' sword red upwards to [Parry] the thrust, shoving Byron''s sword off-centre.


    Crucis used a straight [Lunge] of his own, but Byron''s quick footwork meant that he side-stepped left and took the blow on the nk. Crucis'' thrust caused a light cut in Byron''s right side and then nced off, but Crucis had to raise the hilt of his de sharply to block Byron''s counter-attacking horizontal [sh]. The impact forced Crucis to step backwards.


    Resourcefully, Byron used his left hand to punch Crucis'' hands to the side, and prepared an [Overhead sh] with his sword-wielding right hand. However, as Byron''s sword descended towards Crucis, Crucis used [Dodge Step] to backstep out of range, and Byron''s strike swept through the empty air.


    As Byron bore down on Crucis, however, Akshel shook off a GildedKnight yer and ran up behind Byron to begin a fierce grappling attempt around the head. Crucis saw that Akshel was a rare [Snake] sub-ss member, and hence very well-suited to this asion. As Byron tried to shove Akshel off with punches and strikes around the shoulder, Akshel used the momentum of Byron''s own iling strikes to wrap himself around Byron''s body in a firm grapple.


    Drawing out a dagger, Akshel began to stab harshly at the area around Byron''s throat, drawing blood and causing Byron to cry out in pain. As Byron tried to twist his sword in order to strike Akshel, Crucis used a swift [sh] at Byron''s right arm to disarm the warrior.


    Akshel was taking heavy abuse from Byron''s allies, though two armoured DeathGang spearmen with shields were trying to protect him. Nheless, Akshel single-mindedly clung on to Byron and continued stabbing harshly. Soon, Byron was down to 30% HP and bleeding profusely.


    Crucis was attacked from behind by a GildedKnights member, but saw that member flee into the trees when Crucis turned around and revealed a ck-void-like face and blood-stained reptilian skin around it which flexed like teeth. Crucis let them go, and turned back to Byron.


    However, Crucis saw that the blows from Byron''s allies had begun to weaken Akshel''s hold, and Byron was starting to shove the Assassin off. Kneeling down, Crucis quickly withdrew [Vile Toxin Gas] and sprayed it across the back of Byron''s wounded neck. Byron instantly convulsed in pain along the ground, allowing Akshel to tighten his grip and use [The Ripper] across the side of Byron''s neck, reducing the warrior to 10% HP.


    However, Byron desperately flicked up some dust towards Akshel''s eyes, and Akshel''s grip loosened. Byron elbowed Akshel away, and kicked at the warrior. One of Byron''s allies, a level 45 GildedKnights Ranger named [GaryL], stabbed at Akshel furiously with a sword. Though haphazard, this was enough to kill Akshel.


    However, as Byron proudly began rising to his feet, he was felled again as Crucis used [Agile Step] to strike with a sword [sh] which bluntly smashed into Byron''s helmet and dizzied him. This gave Crucis an opening to crouch down, using [Half-swording], and stab Byron through the bottom of the neck until he died coughing blood.


    DicingDevil had got caught up in a fight with another high-ranking GildedKnights member, and decided to leave Byron to Akshel and Crucis. After DicingDevil won his fight, only about six GildedKnights members remained, since most had either fled or been cut down. The DeathGang group had taken only three casualties from the exchange. The GildedKnights group was mostly lower-level deserters, and DeathGang were happy to let these fleeing yers flee if it made it easier to kill the important targets.


    As the remaining GildedKnights members were cut down, Crucis stood up and looked for GaryL, the yer who had killed Akshel. Crucis saw that GaryL was trying to make a run for it towards the trees, but was being pursued by two reckless level 40 DeathGang members who had reduced him to 40% HP. Crucis sprinted towards the fight, but not in time to prevent GaryA from coldly shing one of the DeathGang members to death. As he neared the fight, Crucis slowed down slightly to prepare.


    "What the Hell is that? Some necromancy monster?" shouted GaryL as he saw Crucis approach.


    "I don''t know, go to a graveyard and check." replied Crucis in a slightly mechanical voice.


    As Crucis reached the fight, he drew his sword. Due to GaryL already having to hold off one DeathGang member, Crucis managed to close in undisturbed. As Crucis used [sh] to strike high at GaryL''s left side, GaryLfortably parried. However, Crucis used [Parry grapple] immediately, to move GaryL''s weapon to the side and allow for a [Lunge] at GaryL''s exposed face. This formed a bleeding gash near the nose, and allowed Crucis'' DeathGang ally time to [sh] fiercely at GaryL''s neck.


    In the meantime, Crucis used [Sword hold] to firmly grip GaryL''s sword by the centre and prevent counter-attacks. The level 40 DeathGang member began to grapple GaryL towards the ground. While GaryL tried frantically to strike at Crucis, he couldn''t get his sword to budge, and Crucis easily walked up and used [Forceful Kick] to send GaryL toppling to the ground.


    "Oi, stop holdin'' the sword. You cheat!" GaryL began to cry out. The level 40 DeathGang member took a bundle of sticks, gathered quickly from the ground, and shoved it into GaryL''s mouth to shut him up. GaryL''s cries subsided into muted squeaks.


    "Be quiet, reprobate," replied Crucis calmly, as he used [Lunge] to stab GaryL below the ribs. This cut a deep wound, and was enough to kill GaryL.


    "Thanks," Crucis told the level 40 DeathGang member next to him, "What''s your name?"


    "PrisonNation. Yeah, weird name, I know."


    "Hamletian. Anyway, let''s go back, Dicing seems to be moody."


    As Crucis jogged back towards the rest of the DeathGang group, he saw that DicingDevil was lecturing the rest of the group.


    "We need to get more people focused on the important targets. If we just try to have arge brawl when attacking [The Fountain]''s leader, then he will be defended tooth-and-nail by his Guild and we won''t be able to kill him. We have to rush the important targets, then kill them to start with!" DicingDevil was fuming. "We got lucky this time because most of the enemies fled, but if we attack a Guild Leader, you better be sure that his followers won''t just stand by and watch."

 Chapter 51: Throne of Blood, Crown of Thorns

    Chapter 51: Throne of Blood, Crown of Thorns


    "Why do we have to go through these bloody trees, while the rest of the army walks leisurely down the path?" asked [The Fountain] Guild''s leader, the level 68 [Arkyle]. His majestic, deep brown [Mayoral Horse], a reward for leading a major Guild, was finding it a pain to navigate the dense trees North-East of Kruxol.


    "While our troops have aplished most objectives, DeathGang members have holed up on several high ledges and abandoned buildings, and are aiming fire along the path," exined [BushMan], a [The Fountain] Guild elite, "The entrances to these buildings are rigged with explosions, and there are some DeathGang members guarding narrow passages like stairways, so it''s been difficult for our troops to dislodge these and ensure safe passage. Since you are our leader, and FGRT warned us to keep you out ofbat, we are taking this path because there are no good sniping tforms here."


    "I have to show up at some point, or our men will mutiny. Most of them would rather wait in safety, rather than going out to a painful war."


    "Yes, they were whining in the Guild chat."


    "Oh, I know it. I stopped reading it, I couldn''t put up with that."


    BushManughed into his sleeve. "At least we managed to take the abandoned vige. Joshua was reporting excitedly on it in Guild chat. There were a few casualties, but not as many as you''d expect."


    "What about the fighting up North? I saw lots of people saying it was brutal, and some people saying to desert the fight."


    "I thought you said you weren''t reading the Guild chat?"


    Arkyleughed loudly. "Oh, and is the mist bing thicker here? What a nuisance."


    "It''s OK, our men were just on the path East of here and reported no fire from this side of the path. If there were DeathGang here, they''d have revealed themselves. It''s just a short patch of mist, we''ll be out of it in a minute or so."


    The two Guildmates didn''t realise that a DeathGang scout had overheard them from a nearby tree, and was frantically rying Arkyle''s co-ordinates to DicingDevil in a private chat restricted to DeathGang generals and trusted scouts.


    On DicingDevil''s instructions, Crucis lined up with a couple of bulky DeathGang spearmen, and waited near the trees. DicingDevil waited with a small group slightly further towards the East. The group from [The Fountain] would have to split up slightly as they made their way around the trees, and this would be an opportune time to strike. Since the game typically allowed for a maximum of three people to attack a single yer at once in the wild, except inrge-scale wartimebat between two groups of 30+, DicingDevil had instructed the group to keep at least two people attacking Arkyle at once.


    As Arkyle''s horse clopped impatiently past the edge of thebyrinthine trees, Arkyle smiled and steadied the horse into afortable trot to rest after the arduous journey so far.


    However, he was surprised by a glint of gold emerging out of the ck, and soon found that a spear had lodged itself heavily in his shoulder. He grunted slightly, and then flinched backwards as another spear came angling for his throat. While he dodged this spear, the sudden movement threw Arkyle off-bnce, and the spearman deftly took advantage of this by re-routing his spear to bluntly hit Arkyle''s helmet with its side. This blow sent Arkyle copsing off his horse, and DicingDevil easily dragged him to the rough, stony ground.


    Arkyle''s horse fled wildly into the mist, forcing his allies to leap out of the way. Meanwhile, the DeathGang group crowded decidedly around Arkyle.


    DicingDevil stabbed fiercely around the back of Arkyle''s neck as they both fell to the ground, and tried to apply a [Chokehold]. These stabs were enough to reduce Arkyle to 87% HP. However, the Guild Leader steadily wrestled DicingDevil away from himself, and used his superior Strength to throw DicingDevil off. Arkyle rose mightily to his feet, but found himself under assault by a spearman from DeathGang. A spearnded on Arkyle''s left shoulder just beside the neck, and Arkyle cried out in frustration. Crucis attempted to catch Arkyle in a [Chokehold], but was easily elbowed aside by the higher-level Guild Leader.


    However, Arkyle was having difficulty fighting the spearman. While Arkyle could parry asional blows, he was too far from the spearman to attack with a sword, and couldn''t move forwards without bing a target. The spearman took advantage of this situation, drawing blood with a flurry of harsh spear thrusts near Arkyle''s neck. However, hope came for Arkyle when a [The Fountain] member nearby braved the DeathGang convoy and grabbed the spearman''s arm from behind. Safer now, Arkyle ran forwards and shed at the spearman''s chest, ripping a wide gash and reducing the spearman to 45% HP. Though the spearman was wearing low-level armour, Arkyle''s silver-grey [de of the Master] tore right through the armour. A few DeathGang yers were hesitant on seeing the power of this level 68 yer.


    A calm thrust through the spearman''s shoulder and a sh across the neck were enough to kill this spearman. As a level 39 DeathGang member tried to jump at Arkyle from behind, the Guild Leader elegantly spun and impaled this DeathGang yer''s upper chest with the sword. The yer went down to 10% HP, and was killed by a heavy sh from a [The Fountain] yer behind him who was fighting through the DeathGang mob.


    As Arkyle withdrew his sword from the dead DeathGang yer, Crucis took advantage of this dy by using his own sword to strike at Arkyle''s wrists with an [Overhead sh]. This only left a slight cut on the higher-level yer, but the jolt from the strike was enough to temporarily dy Arkyle''s attempt to pull out his sword.


    In the meantime, Crucis used [Half-swording] and ran up to Arkyle, then stabbed firmly into the bleeding wound which the spearman had torn towards the bottom of the throat. This pulled the wound wider, and Crucis, still holding his sword with one hand halfway up its de, used [Slice] to spread the wound across the bottom of Arkyle''s throat.


    Arkyle roared in frustration, but the pain made it difficult for him to withdraw his sword''s de from the fallen DeathGang member. In frustration, he leaned back and used [Hilt Blow] to bluntly push the hilt of his de into Crucis'' chest, sending Crucis reeling backwards at 75% HP. While Arkyle hadn''t been able to withdraw his sword''s de, by tilting his sword like a lever he was able to use the hilt as a weapon, though not to strike as hard as he would have liked.


    Arkyle sessfully withdrew his sword, then extended it venomously at the approaching DicingDevil. DicingDevil halted immediately to avoid running into the sword, but as he tried to maneouevre around it Arkyle easily used another [Hilt blow] to strike the side of DicingDevil''s face and send the DeathGang general to the ground.


    Crucis recovered and struck with a horizontal [sh] aimed at Arkyle''s neck, but Arkyle easily blocked it. However, Crucis noticed that Arkyle did not attempt to counter-attack, so Crucis used [Uncrossing of des] and followed up with another [sh] towards the side of Arkyle''s head, where Arkyle''s helmet was beginning to slip off.


    As Arkyle parried this, and prepared to thrust his sword at Crucis, Crucis used [Dodge Step] to swiftly backstep out of range. Arkyle''s [Lunge]nded short of Crucis, and a dagger struck Arkyle''s outstretched arm as PrisonNation approached to help. The sting was almost enough for Arkyle to loose grip of the de. However, as PrisonNation lunged towards Arkyle''s neck with a [Silent Stab], Arkyle twisted his wrist and shed a thick gash on the side of PrisonNation''s face. Grimacing, PrisonNation stifled a scream and plunged his dagger into Arkyle''s neck, then followed this up with a violent [Ripper] that shed across the neck. PrisonNation''s dagger was covered with blood, as Arkyle angrily beheaded him. Arkyle was now down to 55% HP.


    While Arkyle was distracted, Crucis had used [Stealth Cloak] to sneak up behind Arkyle. cing a [Chokehold] on Arkyle''s wounded neck, Crucis managed to worsen the bleeding with a [ck Spot] low on the front of the neck. As Arkyle begun to try and shove Crucis off, Crucis used a firm [Stunning Dagger] into the neck, paralysing Arkyle and giving Crucis more time to strike. Crucis felt a few cuts digging into his back as yers from [The Fountain] fought their way through to protect their leader, and Crucis'' HP had dropped to 60%.


    Crucis tightened his grip, and began using [The Ripper] to sh a deeper wound low on the front of Arkyle''s neck. Arkyle gurgled slightly, and was down to 35% HP, with many stacks of the [Bleeding] effect gradually depleting his HP.


    However, Crucis felt a sudden jolt as a [The Fountain] yer closed in behid him, and kneed him hard near the spine. Crucis fell sharply forwards to the ground, losing his grip on Arkyle. As he reached the ground, Crucis frantically kicked at Arkyle''s feet while grabbing at them, sending Arkyle toppling to the ground as DicingDevil pounced on his neck.


    DicingDevil''s dagger tore savagely at Arkyle''s throat, as he clung steadfastly to Arkyle''s head. Although a few [The Fountain] yers were closing in, and spraying harsh sword blows over DicingDevil''s back, DicingDevil hung tenaciously on to Arkyle until the Leader was down to just 10% HP.


    Crucis tried to get to his feet, but saw BushMan leering over him with a slightly frightened expression, and kicking him back down to the ground. BushMan had only 40% HP remaining, so due to the [Nightmare] effect his uracy would be lowered substantially. As BushMan fended off a DeathGang member behind him, and raised his sword to stab down at Crucis, Crucis saw that a DeathGang spearman was fighting fiercely to his right and holding a long spear horizontally. Crucis swiftly bent his knees and half-lept-half-rolled to the right, past the spearman''s legs, and saw as BushMan''s stab got caught up in the spear and was deflected to the side.


    As the spearman''s enemy was swiftly killed from behind by another DeathGang member, the spearman angrily stabbed BushMan, cutting a deep gash just below his throat. Seeing that BushMan was a high-ranking [The Fountain] member, a DeathGang Assassin grabbed him from behind while the spearman held onto BushMan by the scruff of the neck and stabbed harshly at BushMan''s throat until he died. A few [The Fountain] yers backed off on seeing the spearman''s strength, and Crucis heard a DeathGang member from nearby shout out the spearman''s name, "Good job, [Farskays]!"


    Using [Stealth Cloak], Crucis managed to get to his feet, and ran up to Arkyle. DicingDevil was ailing on just 5% HP after a series of deep cuts to his back from [The Fountain] members, and Arkyle had finally managed to shove him off. Arkyle was now reared over DicingDevil''s body on the ground, leering menacingly. However, this was disturbed by a [Stunning Dagger] from Crucis on the back of Arkyle''s left shoulder.


    As Arkyle was briefly paralysed, Crucis ced a [Chokehold] and invited DicingDevil to strike. DicingDevil used a slightly loose [Silent Stab] to cut another small wound low on Arkyle''s bleeding throat, reducing the Leader to 6% HP. Arkyle sneered, then stabbed harshly with his sword towards DicingDevil''s throat. This blow missed slightly, and instead struck near the shoulder, but it was enough to kill DicingDevil.


    A [The Fountain] yer kicked Crucis off Arkyle, and Arkyle rose mightily over DicingDevil''s still corpse. Crucis attempted to strike with a dagger, but Arkyle parried and then counter-attacked with a hasty, wild sword lunge towards the retreatingCrucis. Crucis managed to deflect this downwards with his dagger''s de, but it still struck him harshly above the knee and drew blood. Crucis buckled slightly, now on 30% HP, felt a harsh sword sh from a [The Fountain] member behind him slit a gash in his shoulder. When Arkyle saw Crucis'' slight limp, he barged furiously forwards at Crucis.


    Crucis, however, saw that Arkyle was low on HP and knew that there was a chance of taking down this powerful foe. As more [The Fountain] yers were closing in, the area nearby was getting crowded. This would make it difficult for Arkyle to swing his sword freely. As such, Crucis backstepped uneasily into a thick part of the fight, taking a couple of light hits, then used [Figure Blur] as Arkyle caught up. In the mist, Crucis was difficult to see during the [Figure Blur], and he used this to cast [Agile Step] and run behind Arkyle''s left shoulder. He slid easily past the nearby fighters.


    As Arkyle sensed him and tried to swing his sword in a wide, 270-degree arc to strike behind the shoulder, Arkyle found it difficult to maneouevre his sword past the crowds of fighters around him and found his sword and arms caught up on nearby fighters. Crucis used this opportunity to grab Arkyle in a [Chokehold] and use [Stunning Dagger], reducing Arkyle to 4% HP. Crucis noticed that Arkyle''s HP recovered more quickly than most yers, probably due to abination of high Constitution and HP regeneration boosts. The [Bleeding] status partially counter-acted this regeneration, however.


    While Arkyle was paralysed, Farskays sensed an opportunity and struck with a spear thrust that cut Arkyle beneath the neck. Farskays was being impeded by another enemy behind him, so his strike was skewed slightly lower. Nhess, Arkyle was now down to 3% HP.


    Crucis struck with [ck Spot], to deepen the bleeding, but Arkyle ran forwards and struck a ringing [sh] to the neck of Farskays, followed by a [Lunge] to the chest which killed the spearman. Crucis didn''t recall Arkyle being this agile before. Regardless, he advanced on Arkyle, only to be met with a harsh, but shallow sh to the chest which reduced Crucis to 6% HP. This cut a light cut across his chest, that bled slightly. Arkyle was tiring and finding it difficult to breathe, however, and there was a slight lifelessness to his sword strikes by now.


    Impatient, Crucis used [Sword hold] to grab Arkyle''s sword halfway up in the aftermath of the sh. As Arkyle tried to wrestle his sword free, Crucis lunged in with his dagger in a desperate assault. Most of the DeathGang group were dead by now, and, while Arkyle was probably a goner, Crucis did not want the DeathGang member to slip through the.


    A [Panoramic Strike] stabbing low on Arkyle''s throat caused blood to flow freely. Arkyle easily freed his sword from Crucis'' grip, and prepared to cut at Crucis'' nk. However, Crucis followed up with a frantic [Silent Stab] to the wound on Arkyle''s throat, and Arkyle died with a soft, gurgling scream. Arkyle''s sword only managed to lightly graze Crucis'' left side, before falling to the ground with the heavy warrior''s body. The battle nearby seemed to almost halt for a few seconds, as yers looked on in shock at the body of the mighty yer.


    Arkyle would never revive. Crucis figured that FGRT may have been hiding this fact from Arkyle slightly, in order to prevent the influential Guild Leader from turning turtle and fearing for his life. All the same, he might have granted Arkyle gear to boost Constitution and HP regeneration. Since Arkyle''s horse was faster than other mounts at this stage, this would make Arkyle difficult to cut down in a battle. Crucis bore this stratagem in mind, because, while he could still respawn for now, a time mighte when that is no longer possible.


    Crucis saw that he was on 2% HP, and surrounded by [The Fountain] members. He knew that he had no chance to survive, but he would rather not be subjected to a painful, measured death by vengeful enemies. Instead, he plunged into the thick of the fighting. A few sword cuts to his shoulders and sides left him at 0% HP, and he fell dead soaked in blood.


    "I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells in us all. That''s it."

 Chapter 52: Disapproval is the Real Spoils of War

    Chapter 52: Disapproval is the Real Spoils of War


    Crucis awoke on the soft, sandy ground of the Kruxol respawn area, andy still for a few moments. As he slowly rose into a rxed sitting position, he scrolled through the system messages in a box to his left, to catch up on what he had missed. He noticed an important announcement, in a striking red font:


    [DeathGang have defeated the Kruxol Alliance in war! The Guilds who began the war must now wait for one week before the next war mobilisation. DeathGang have received valuable rewards for winning the war, and their influence over Kruxol has increased.]


    Crucis smiled lightly. However, his body still felt wretched after thest fight, with a stinging sensation across his arms, chest and legs, and his upper body drooped slightly as if it was still coated thickly with blood. He continued reclining near the ground, and scruffily raised his shoulders to stare into the bright morning sky near the sun, in order to wake himself up slightly.


    ncing around tiredly, Crucis saw that few people were heading towards the East of Kruxol, because DeathGang had consolidated control over the surrounding area. Crucis would still have to reim the inventory from his corpse, though most of his opponents weren''t carrying a lot. He wondered if he might have picked up anything from Arkyle.


    As he slowly rose to his feet, he overheard a nearby conversation.


    "Did you see what happened to Belfry?" said one yer.


    Their friend replied cautiously. "Do you mean the streamer?"


    "Yeah, I was watching his stream from town during the war. You should have seen it, the way he died! Everyone was crying and screaming."


    "Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Some DeathGang stabbed his throat with a spear, then tore it by yanking Belfry''s head until the poor guy fell backwards onto the rocks."


    "Yeah, yeah! Then a guy named OudNasser walks by and says, "Eat it! Eat the blood!" They force Belfry to swallow his own blood as he dies. Such an outrage. But I''m d that the war''s over, no point fighting those psychos. Let''s just get out of the game in one piece."


    "Since there was a war going on, it was a good distraction. I managed to get some good time grinding out West, until someone saw Hashin nearby and we had to run."


    "Yeah. They said there were DeathGang down South and they were sending a bunch of yers to fight there as well, ''cause they were strong enough to kill Aret. Don''t think any DeathGang guys were found, though. So I was also out West, surprised I didn''t see you."


    "They killed Aret¨¦? No wonder these blighters won the war, they must be hacking or something."


    Crucis yawned slightly at this conversation, but stretched his limbs slightly and managed to stand up, although with slightly drooped shoulders. He noticed that his sword was slightly dented, but still useable. He would have to get it repaired. Slightly dazed, he walked into the [Kruxol cksmith] building, and met an old, brown-grey-haired man named [cksmith Thomas].


    "Hello, would you like anything repaired? For reforging equipment, go to the other room," Thomas said to him.


    Crucis handed over the [Silver Wasp Sword] for repair. Thanking Thomas circumspectly, he left and jogged to the Storage building.


    He withdrew the [Gridiron Gauntlets], and wore them carefully. His HP increased significantly. He scanned the misceneous store for items to increase HP recovery, but didn''t find anything satisfactory. However, he didn''t need high HP regeneration if he could avoidbat. Equipping the [Skeletal Dust Bracelet], which ran roughly across his skin like sandpaper before it fell into ce, he chose to use half of his CON to boost his Agility. Since his CON stat had been increased by the gauntlets, this led to arge boost in Agility, of 500 points.


    He now was unable to regenerate HP, which would generally be a significant disadvantage inbat. However, as he entered therge array of trees North-East of Kruxol, he darted between and under the greenery with ease and swept rapidly towards the scene of his previous fight.


    He heard a few other yers navigating the mist, though not many because DeathGang had taken ownership of the area and this made it unsafe. He wasn''t in danger from DeathGang, however, as he still wore their Guile wristband. Nheless, as soon as he heard any yers nearby, he quickly moved away from them to avoid unnecessary conflict.


    However, as he was reaching the ce where the map indicated his corpse''s position, he soon heard a loud burst as a yer forced their way through the leaves some distance ahead. The yer seemed to trip a few times, and Crucis guessed that this yer was being chased. Crucis slid behind arge tree''s bark to observe. He saw that the yer was level 35 and down to only 20% HP.


    As this yer hurtled through the woods, with two DeathGang members in tired pursuit, he screamed, "No! DeathGang, I saw what you did to my friends! No!"


    However, he was surprised when a hand emerged through the mist and grabbed him by the shoulder left, then stabbed him with [Stunning Dagger] just beside the shoulderde. A small burst of ck smoke plumed into the air. He screamed as he saw a face emerging from the bushes which was just a gaping hole with threatening rows of shark-like teeth along the edges. A dagger flew effortlessly and plunged in deep high on back of his neck, just beneath his short hair. Crucis ced a [Chokehold] and thrashed the yer''s neck from side to side as the yer died with a choked, whimpering scream.


    As the two DeathGang members approached, they were both hesitant as they saw a vicious creature in front of them. However, one of these DeathGang yers was Akshel, who recognised Crucis and waved tentatively.


    "Hey, there, thanks," Akshel stuttered.


    "Ah, you," Crucis smiled, "The snake dude who fought down Byron. It''s an honour."


    "You did what?" eximed Akshel''s DeathGangpanion.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you," Akshel said sheepishly, "Yeah, we ambushed Byron from GildedKnights. I grappled him down and did a lot of damage, but died in the end. It was kinda exciting."


    "Now,e on, you did well," said Crucis, who approached the DeathGang members and patted Akshel in the back. "It''s easy to die in war. Anyway, do you know where DicingDevil is? He said that he was nning to go North for dungeons and Hunting."


    Cruxis felt like, if he had no chance to revive, the nomadic approach of the Hashin would be far preferable to the territorial DeathGang approach. Due to the elusiveness of the Hashin, it was difficult to dere open warfare on them. In war, survival wasn''t on the agenda, as people put their lives on the line for Guild, God or country.


    "Oh, I''m alsoing," said Akshel, "So is zeKey here." He nodded towards his friend.


    "That''s good to hear."


    "Meet us due North of Kruxol in two hours, and we''ll depart. I''ll be in Kruxol, you can meet me at the North in one hour and I''ll bring you along." He drew out his map and indicated the ce where they were nning to meet, North of Kruxol besides arge boulder.


    "I''ll join you in Kruxol, and we can set off from there," replied Crucis cheerily. He was starting to return slowly to his normal appearance. "Anyway, I''m here to collect belongings from my corpse, how about you guys?"


    "We''re also doing that, but also chasing away a few guys here and there,"ughed zeKey.


    "Good to hear."


    The three of them began walking North, nearing the site of the battle with Arkyle.


    "So how did the war wrap up?" asked Crucis, crouching down to search for his corpse.


    "I was with therge force up North," said zeKey. "After we overwhelmed the opponents, they fled and were killed en masse in chokepoints. A few rumours of brutality began to spread. When the depleted force of the Kruxol Guilds made it North, they were tired and leaderless. A lot of the troops were mutinous, and when they saw the chokepoints littered with bodies they mostly decided to stay put. A few braver units ventured forwards and died painfully as they tried to step slowly over the corpses, then the rest mutinied and ran away back to Kruxol, surrendering the fight. Without leaders like Arkyle and Byron, their troops had very little motivation to fight, and their strongest yers were fearing for their lives."


    "Congrattions on being part of the victorious Northern troops," said Crucis circumspectly. "It''s good to hear that our group also contributed to the war effort. Are there any celebrations nned?"


    "Yes. We''ll be parading around Kruxol with a coffin and lit torches this evening, when it gets dark."


    "That sounds great, I''ll be there," said Crucis. "Sec, think I''ve found the corpse."


    He found his corpse, lying brushed and cut on the ground, and reimed his inventory. Since his enemies had probably not brought many items to the war, he hadn''t looted that much.


    He did manage to find a [Viper Strike Pendant], a ne that could increase a weapon''s movement speed if the enemy was poisoned. He didn''t have that many skills which led to the [Poison] status effect, so it wasn''t that useful for him, but he decided to hold on to it in case it could be useful at skme point. This hade from the small group of weak deserters that they had killed.


    "You took a lot of strikes for someone who wasn''t even in our Guild," said zeKey, looking with suspicion over Crucis'' shoulder at the corpse, "What was your ulterior motive?"


    "Hate," Crucisughed. "That''s all."


    "Anything else?"


    "Well, what can I say? I''m a bad dude, so I hang with a bunch of bad boys."


    Akshel snickered, and said, "I heard you killed Arkyle, by the way. Was it a hate crime?"


    "Tell you what, I don''t know. We''ll have to sort it out in court. Study the video evidence, check if, like, my face had an angry expression when I was killing him."


    Byron hadn''t left much of interest. Arkyle, however, had dropped a [Hermit Card]. ncing at the card''s description, Crucis recognised it from.div''s earlier description: it doubled the user''s Agility when their HP was under 10%. This might have exined why Arkyle was moving so fast near death. Crucis marvelled slightly at how difficult it would be to kill off Arkyle in conventional war: along with Arkyle''s fast mount and high HP, level, and HP regeneration, Arkyle was also capable of fleeing or fighting rapidly at low HP to cheat death. However, in an ambush this was less effective.


    As Crucis checked the card''s description, he saw that its description when reversed was slightly different from what div had remembered. Not only did the card reduce an enemy''s movement speed by 20% when the user is under 10% HP, but it also gave your opponent the [Yellow Bile] debuff which gives each of their skills a 10% chance of failing. This debuff was rare, but the reversed effect still seemed less useful in most situations. It was still of interest, as one of the few ways to cast this debuff, but, since it required the user to be under 10% HP, it wasn''t a very practical way of doing this.


    Along with this, Crucis would also have some valuable rewards waiting in the mail, as a reward for participating on the winning side.


    Crucis stood up, and waited for Akshel to return from his own corpse. The [Hermit Card] would be a useful way to grind mobs quickly, but he would have to find the right ce. The cave which DicingDevil had shown him, South of Kruxol, did have a few level 50-60 mobs in rooms near the false smanders, so it might be a promising ce to start. For now, however, he would soon be busy up North with the DeathGang group and would be safer keeping the card in Storage.


    "Hey, you going back to Kruxol?" Akshel called through the mist.


    "Yeah, when the red name ends. Youing?"


    "Soon, have to check up on some guys in the Guild first. See you then."


    Akshel waved and wandered away. Crucis walk back amongst the trees and hid in a thick bush for 15 minutes. While hiding, he looked through his quest log, and saw that several misceneous quests had been fulfilled. These tasks included ''Fight in a War,'' ''Kill a yer above level 65,'' ''Fight on the Winning Side in a War,'' and ''Kill the Leader of one of the top 20 Guilds in a War.'' iming these gave arge EXP reward, sufficient for Crucis to rise to level 54. Thest of these was a ''hidden quest,'' a quest with requirements that were blurred out until it waspleted. These quests could generally only be discovered once yers hadpleted them, or through word of mouth. Not many of them were known.


    Once his red name returned to normal, he darted back to Kruxol through the trees. Though there were a few yers passing close by, he managed to avoid notice.


    As he re-entered Kruxol, he heard a loudmotion from near the town centre. He walked quickly towards the noise, and saw that a male member of [Communion] was giving a tearful speech from atop a podium. The audience were watching as if shell-shocked and seemed to be moved by the speaker''s mournful tone. Slipping into a nearby alley, Crucis overheard the speech.


    "Open your hearts! We cannot allow the DeathGang monsters to im victory, we cannot surrender the cause of peace andmunion!" the speaker shouted hoarsely.


    "We already won, idiot!" chimed in a DeathGang heckler.


    The speaker frowned, but ignored him. "What everyone wants to know is why. Why must these monsters oppress us, why did they be such cruel monsters? Even if you weren''t at the fight, you''ve probably seen videos, you''ve heard the stories! There was carnage, viins grinning as they tore into our noble troops. The DeathGang hordes have no shame!


    "You are all wondering why you must suffer. Why has so much blood been spilled? Where is the love in this world? But we can''t just look on these DeathGang scoundrels and think that they are OK! Our Guild is small, we never wanted power, we just want to finish our quests and level up in peace! Why must these DeathGang tyrants ruin things, unlike us?


    "It''s like the snake in the Garden of Eden. The Bible told me that he ruined mankind''s peaceful, sinless existence in Eden. Why? I would ask him that. And not only have they abused us, they have doubled down and fought a long war to defend this cruelty. Why? Until it is answered, we must continue to ask this question. Your tears ask this question,dies and gentlemen of Kruxol! It is noble, the way you mourn and cry!"


    A cheer went up from the crowd. Crucis was unimpressed at the quality of the speech, but he still found it amusing. As he saw Akshel walking past from the North of Kruxol, he gestured the DeathGang member toe over and listen. Akshel joined him.


    "This Communion pipsqueak is questioning the meaning of life now. Good fun," he whispered to Akshel.


    The speech continued. "But instead of reminiscing about the war, I want to thank you all for the support. Soldiers, some of the tears you now shed in front of me are as noble as the battles that you have just fought far to the East. Why should we think about such far-off ces, when there is such splendour right here? We shouldn''t think about such monstrous things as we could never understand! Only God knows the evil in the hearts of men.


    "ck is the heart that does not cry today! It is a time for mourning. We must mourn, for goodness has suffered at the hands of fiendish viiny! Empathy is the most brilliant human emotion: I suffer with all of you, and I smile with all of you. I am a part of you, a part of themunion. That is why we of Communion do not conspire against you in shadows, like DeathGang, but seek to give you hope andfort in these trying times.


    "DeathGang will boast that they are strong, but they do not have the courage to open their hearts! They fired at our troops from far away, like cowards. The killed the great Leader of our allies, Arkyle.


    "What if they could feel empathy? Then they would hold back, their hands would weaken and not allow them to do such atrocities. They must learn to think with their hearts, and understand the great mass of tears shed today. A great light has died this morning, and our hope is gone! Your tears are the new hope. That is what my heart says."


    "This guy is a buffoon," whispered Akshel, wearing arge smile.


    "''Only a fool says anything in his heart," Crucis replied wryly.


    Still the speech dragged on. "These people must develop their characters! They need to feel more emotion, bing like all of you, this deep, emotional canvas in front of me. Many of you fought, and you tried your hardest for your Guild and people. That is good enough, and you should be satisfied. But DeathGang have robbed you of this, just like they robbed all of our small yers! Our small yers were just trying to explore and adventure, now they must fear for their lives. I tell you, DeathGang are no good!


    "When your hearts have opened, a new world will be born in your Deluge flood of tears. Keep fighting for justice after this, keep fighting to bring this world to pass. It is dangerous out there now, and darkness crows of victory. But all is not lost. Have you seen Star Wars? Luke Skywalker lost many times, and faced a whole Empire! But he was good, so he won in the end even though he was a loser! How about Eragon, did anyone read that? I don''t remember what happened, but I''m sure it was simr.


    "Some DeathGang members in the audience are jeering. But this only hides their deep guilt! Are you a brave soldier? Did you lose loved ones? Are you a DeathGang murderer consumed by guilt? Consider joining the rest of us in Communion, in weeping for the sorrow of Kruxol."


    As these speech ended, there was light apuse from most of the audience. While the speech was coarse, they still appreciated any words of reassurance and praise after the unexpected loss. However, this apuse was quickly drowned out by a group of four DeathGang hecklers chanting, "Waaah!" like football fans.


    After twenty seconds of this, the DeathGang yers left, with one calling out behind him, "Mates, y''all better show up for our victory parade this evening! It''ll have candles and coffins, it''ll be a st!" Heughed, as he shuffled away with the rest of the DeathGang group. The crowd around them had already begun to disperse, and still seemed slightly shocked by the recent events.


    Crucis walked away from the site of the speech, and saw Akshel bound away to the North. In order to blend in with the anti-DeathGang townsfolk, Crucis walked up to a despondent, crying level 25 female named [LadyMarie]. She looked no older than 20 years old, with blue eyes and thick dark-brown hair drenched with tears. He began to speak in a soft tone.


    "Awful day today. Everyone else is telling sad stories, but you''ve been quiet. What happened to you?"


    The female replied through the tears. "My husband didn''te back from the war. Neither did my father. They both worked for a big gaming site, I hope it reports the truth about this game, heads will roll!"


    "That''s terrible. And that DeathGang are going to hold a parade to celebrate, what is wrong with people in this game?"


    "I wish I knew! But it''s not just DeathGang, I told [The Fountain] Guild about it and they just said it was a myth, yers always respawn. They said to check in Sanra, imagine that! We''d never gone there!"


    "They shouldn''t lecture you like that. They say they''re on our side, but I think they''re trying to hide a lot from everyone."


    "Exactly!"


    "But nobody trusts [The Fountain] much any more, they have no reputation left. Whichever Guild reces them, I hope it''s more honest."


    "Yes, exactly. You have no idea how it feels, I just lost my father and husband and now people are denying that it happened! One guy even said that I had imagined the rtionships!"


    Crucis hid a smile. "I''m sure they''re just trying to feel better about this situation, they don''t want to face the grim reality. But it''s still awful to treat you like that. You''re right, people can''t understand your situation. But at least they can show you somepassion."


    "Definitely. By the way, my name''s Marie. A couple of my friends are nning a funeral for the dead in the flower fields up North, even though [The Fountain] told us not to do it because it was ''spreading panic.'' If you want, you can join us, we''ll start gathering in five minutes."


    "Sure, I''ll try and find it. See you there," Crucis replied with a smile.


    As he walked away, he heard Marie giggling slightly.


    Crucis looked around Kruxol, and soon found an elite member of [The Fountain], who was consoling some defeated troops. Crucis walked up to him, looking worried, and asked, "Hey, a few guys said they were nning to hold a funeral up North, they said that their family had died in the war and weren''ting back. Do you know if that can really happen?"


    "Oh, them," the Guild elite sighed, "Yeah, there''s some conspiracy theorists who have been bugging us for days, ever since they were trapped here. It''s all nonsense, everyone will be fine. I''m a bit busy now, but I''ll get the guys to sort it out in a bit. When did you say they were starting this funeral?"


    "In about 10 minutes?"


    "That fast? I''ll try ande in 20 minutes, hopefully these attention-seekers don''t spread too much demotivational crap before then."


    "Sure thing. Thanks for the reassurance!"


    Crucis knew that, after the many casualties of the war, it wouldn''t be long before the Guilds were forced to acknowledge that people were losing associates and loved ones. However, the Guilds - spurred on by GMs like FGRT - had been cracking down against such ''conspiracy theories'' for a few days already, and were still entrenched in their position for now. It had only been a short time since the war had ended, so the fall-out hadn''t yet be apparent.


    Crucis walked over to the Storage building, and deposited the [Hermit Card]. As he left the building, he heard a loudmotion towards the South-West of Kruxol, and bolted over to take a look.

 Chapter 53: No Rest for the Wicked

    Chapter 53: No Rest for the Wicked


    A small crowd was gathering near the South-West of Kruxol. As Crucis joined the crowd, he saw that some yers were fighting at the edge of the woods South of Kruxol. Looking closer, there were four yers: three Hashin were taking on one level 50 yer, but seemed to be losing. The crowd around Crucis were cheering for the solo yer.


    The Hashin yers were all over level 50 as well, so this lookeed like a surprising case of underdog resistance. The level 50 yer was a Ranger, a sub-ss of archer that used both melee and rangedbat, and he was deftly spinning to attack the Hashin with barely any concern for defence. Crucis could see a deep sense of hope in the eyes of the yers around him, which was very different from the despair he had witnessed in the aftermath of the war. Crucis was just confused by this turn of events.


    Curious, he stood and observed the battle by standing on an elevated tform at the entrance to the [Fortune Teller''s Store] nearby. With a better vantage point, he could see that the level 50 yer holding off the Hashin had a familiar name: [FGRT]. To the left of his name-tag, the text ''GM'' was floating in embossed yellow. Crucis could see that the Hashin had got the drop on FGRT near the entrance to the woods, but FGRT had managed to fight his way back. To prevent abuse of power, GMs were unable to start fights in the wild, and could only defend themselves. These Hashin had probably nned the attack in advance, and ambushed FGRT.


    However, although the Hashin were attacking savagely andnding several blows, Crucis noticed that FGRT''s HP bar barely seemed to move downwards. There was no known way for yers to increase their defences so high, especially at only level 50. FGRT, on the other hand, was dealing solid damage by sweeping his sword around at the Hashin, and soon the Hashin were all down below 40% HP while FGRT still had 70% HP.


    Crucis saw that the Hashin had taken to grappling FGRT and trying to prevent him from counter-attacking. However, FGRT shrugged off their grapples as if they were nothing. While the Hashin were managing toy painful thrusts near the throat, and FGRT was groaning loudly in pain, FGRT''s indifference to defence meant that he was freely cutting at the Hashin and they were also starting to double over in pain.


    As one of the Hashin tried to grapple FGRT from behind, the GM effortlessly untangled himself and spun around, striking with a firm [sh] to the neck. The Hashin fell to the ground, and FGRT took this as an invitation to attack further. While this left him open to attack from the other Hashin, he seemed indifferent. shing and stabbing at the grounded Hashin, he reduced the Hashin to just 10% HP. The Hashin eventually managed to w his way behind a tree, and leap to his feet as FGRT''s sword collided with the tree.


    There was a loud cheer from the crowd as the Hashin began to retreat. A few were chanting FGRT''s name, in a slightly slurred and drunken sing-song. However, that was not the end. As the Hashin began to run, FGRT switched weapons to a [Test Musket]. This weapon was a nned feature that was given to GMs for testing, and it was not avable to other yers. He aimed the burly, brown-ck gun towards the fleeing Hashin. As he began to fire, loud sts rang out across the woods, and one of the Hasin fell dead. The others were reduced to around 25% HP, but managed to escape with [Stealth Cloak]. A couple of yers from town began to chase after the wounded Hashin.


    The rest of the crowd were cheering and screaming loudly, and gave FGRT a hero''s wee as he slowly trudged back to town. Crucis saw that this event had given the town a symbolic hope of rising from the ashes of the morning''s defeat. This was slightly na?ve: the GM may have some power which mitigates damage dealt to them, but that doesn''t mean that everyone else does as well. However, symbolism can often be irrational.


    Crucis saw that, as the struggle against gankers went on, symbolic events like this would be increasingly important to a frightened, superstitious poption of yers. He had tried sessfully to avoid a symbolic victory over DeathGang, but only a few hourster there were yers rejoicing over a different symbolic victory. War of opposing forces is easy to understand, war between ideals can easily seem futile. But ideas did not fight wars, and a ''war of ideals'' is just a masquerade. Crucis didn''t know how he could extract a clear thread to follow, a real battle to fight and win, amongst this shadowy masquerade.


    However, in a masquerade, one must wear a mask. He decided that, since one strike had been made by the opposite side in the symbolic war, he should respond with a symbolic victory of his own. He would have to y a pantomime viin, since, after all, what use was discretion in a pantomime?


    And he would have to find an appropriate victim.


    Switching characters to Cael, he headed towards the North of Kruxol. Swerving towards the West through a line of trees, he glimpsed a path which led to the famous Asfidel flower fields of Northern Kruxol. While these fields were traditionally used as a source of flowers for funerals, and a few heroes had been buried in the fields ording to the game''s lore, yers had taken to using it as a romantic retreat until the bug had made yers reluctant to leave town. Walking among trees in a route parallel to the path, Cael heard a few voices from three or four yers who had gathered at the fields for the nned ''funeral.'' This included the sobs of Marie.


    Before approaching, Cael cast [Arm of Hades] and scrawled down a zig-zag pattern on a piece of paper using his [Illusory Quill Pen] until most of his mana was used up, then held this text in ce with [Lesser Aura]. He also equipped the [Mask of Smander], using the ck, oozing mask to hide his identity.


    Cael snuck up to the iron gates of the fields, which had the words ''Asfidel Fields'' etched into them. There were only four low-level yers inside at the moment, all busied crouching down and looking for pale flowers tomemorate the dead. There were no [The Fountain] members present, though there were some [Communion] members. It was still 10 minutes until Cael expected a group from [The Fountain] to show up and put a stop to the funeral ns.


    Cael quietly slipped into the Asfidel Fields, and cast out a swarm of pale, faint mana projectiles using [Magic Missile]. This threw all four yers to the ground, but Cael saw that Marie was a Mage who immediately cast [Healing] on herself. She recovered to 70% HP and looked angrily towards the intruder, not seeming to recognise him. Before she could cast a spell of her own, Cael cast [Spark], and saw her sink slightly towards the ground. Her knees buckled, but she kept standing. Cael put a stop to this resistance with [Mana Push], sending her falling to the ground.


    One of the yers was level 10, and had died from just the initial [Magic Missile]. The remaining yers were half-sobbing, half-screaming, but Cael saw one named [Denis20] charging with a sword.


    "Die, scum!" said Denis20, who had the eyes of a fanatic. And the bravery, too, since he was doing all of this while only being level 15.


    Cael shrugged, and allowed Denis20 to strike at him with a loose [sh] that deflected off the shoulderdes. This dealt only 1% of Cael''s HP in damage.


    "In a p2w game, being scum is not an obstacle," replied Cael sagely.


    As the momentum of the charge caused Denis20 to lean towards Cael, Cael reached out towards Denis20''s ear and cast [Mana Beam]. The Mana Beam flew through Denis20''s earhole deep into his head, and Denis20 fell lifelessly to the floor at 5% HP. While he had HP left, he made no sigb of moving except for the asional, strange twist.


    Meanwhile, Cael walked up to Marie, who had almost lost consciousness when she copsed to the ground. He knelt down next to her, and cast [Spark] again. She shivered against the ground.


    "W-why would you do this? We just want to mourn," she stammered with tears in her eyes.


    "It''s a PvP game," Cael shrugged.


    He cast [Arm of Hades] and choked her to death, grabbing her high on the back of her neck. He found that her skin and bone offered little resistance, and her skin copsed in on itself as she died. Blood seeped out of her disfigured neck onto the ground.


    Cael immediately stood up, and swung his zombie-like right arm to catch another one of Marie''s allies across the face as the yer ran angrily towards him. The yer copsed to the ground, dead. Cael saw that they were only level 18. The yer had thrown a rock at Cael before , but it was so small that Cael had barely even noticed.


    Cael ended his [Lesser Aura], and allowed for his MP to regenerate.


    As he walked up to the lying body of Denis20, he heard the fallen yer faintly muttering, "I don''t care how much you''ve donated, it doesn''t give you the right -"


    Cael shrugged, "I never said that I donated anything. But since you mentioned it, it was mean of you to hit me early. Give me my HP back."


    Cael cast [Dark''s Tendrils] on Denis20, and drained 1% HP from the fallen yer. Denis20''s face went pale and his hands went numb as the tendrils drained his vitality like leeches. He died more pale than he had lived.


    Cael watched carefully for anyone approaching, but it was quiet. He only heard one pair of footsteps from the path nearby. As he scampered quickly out of the Asfidel Fields, he saw a male level 23 yer drift into sight, named [Basthion]. Cael figured that these low-level yers often had little to do at this point, since they were mostly forced to shelter in towns and hence fall behind more, so they were probably the first to show enthusiasm in a project like this funeral which gave them something meaningful to do.


    As Basthion walked down the path, he slowed down in shock as he saw the dead bodies in the Asfidel Fields. As he turned usatively towards Cael, he saw an array of mana projectiles from the [Magic Missile] spell heading in his direction. As they all converged on him and crashed into him, his HP lowered to 30% and he teetered around dizzily.


    Cael cast [Arm of Hades], then activated his [Hierophant Card]. He found his vision swaying wildly, but as he felt himself near Basthion he grabbed the yer low on the throat with his zombie-like hand, and shoved them hard to the ground. Cael ran out of MP at this point, but he saw a shocked Basthion copse to the ground in a heap and lie dead after a couple of involuntary tremours.


    Cael hastily ran his way around the outside of the Asfidel Fields, towards the North. Once he had reached behind the back of the Fields, he looked around for somewhere to hide. He had a red name, so he would have to wait for half an hour before he could return to Kruxol. That wasn''t such a difficulty, since there were few strong yers still present in Kruxol and most of those weren''t leaving town after the traumatic war.


    As Cael saw it, the war was a risky maneouevre by FGRT and therge Guilds. In its aftermath, it would be difficult to hide that yers were dying permanently, a fact that would give rise to major panic and resentment towards the GMs and developers. Further, most Guilds had insisted that any of their strong members in Kruxol were expected to take part. This meant that, after the war, the wilds were mostly empty of strong yers and this meant little protection against yers like Cael.


    Cael expected that ganking Guilds would take advantage of this situation by edging closer to the perimeter of Kruxol in search for prey. This would soon probably lead to pushback, and perhaps some minor skirmishes. While a few wins against gankers might give Kruxol hope, Cael expected that most high-level yers would move on from Kruxol soon in order to keep up the pace. This meant that the Guilds would eventually be forced to concede Kruxol to the big Guilds. Once Darys reached level 80 and unlocked the [Invasion] feature, DeathGang might even take over the town.


    Kruxol was not only a low-level town, but also had been demoted to a low-value town after the draugr invasion. There was little motivation for therge Guilds to waste resources on Kruxol, outside of the possibility of an easy PR victory through war against DeathGang. While the East of Kruxol would eventually be a good way towards the Eastern Kingdoms, this path would require a high level and probably wouldn''t be relevant for a few months.


    As Cael made his way carefully up North, he saw a few tattered, ruined cabins scattered in a circle. As he walked up to them, he froze as he saw a faintly glowing shape passing through a clump of trees towards his right. Turning towards this while concealed behind a bush, he saw that the glowing shape was a pale white, semi-transparent human figure floating through the trees. Checking this creature''s name-tag, he saw that it was named simply [Ghost], and was level 65. It had chains hanging from each hand, and Cael could just about make out a contorted man''s face that looked like it was screaming in pain. In spite of its higher level, he might stand a chance in a fight against it, but he would risk attracting the attention of any other ghosts in the area. He stood still and allowed it to pass.


    He crawled into one of the ruined cabins through a broken window, and hid behind a fallen cupboard. ncing out, he saw a few more [Ghost] NPCs pass by. The North had the highest-level NPCs around Kruxol, and he expected DeathGang''s stronger members to soon start to migrate in this direction. A few yers walked nearby, but Cael heard them turn around as they saw the ghosts. While Cael could have tried to attack yers nearby, he felt like he shouldn''t extend his red name because it would be difficult to return to Kruxol and meet Akshel.


    As the red name faded, Cael circled around to the West of Kruxol, and re-entered inconspicuously. He saw a few agitated yers from [Communion] towards the North of Kruxol, arguing with a yer from [The Fountain]. It seemed like the yer from [The Fountain] was chiding the others for putting on the funeral in spite of it being forbidden by [The Fountain], but the [Communion] members seemed furious and Cael overheard them using [The Fountain] ofmitting the killings up North. Cael doubted that these usations would stand up to scrutiny, and soon another scapegoat like DeathGang would be found. But it was interesting to see that the fanaticism of [Communion] was causing splits with some more powerful Guilds.

 Chapter 54: Bestiary

    Chapter 54: Bestiary


    "The war was a hassle, but I enjoyed the fall-out and teary speeches. Next time there''s a war I should just sleep through it, and set an rm to not wake me until the mourning afterwards," Crucis said.


    After he joined Akshel and zeKey in Northern Kruxol, the three set off North to meet with DicingDevil. They had been walking for about five minutes.


    "Ha, this is the light at the end of the tunnel for sure," Akshel replied. "By the way, did you hear? Some people in Kruxol were holding an event to mourn the loss at war, but they were killed. There was a lot of chatter after the Guilds reported on it. It was a Mage of some sort who did it, very brutal, but not one of ours. People think that DeathGang did it."


    "Oh, I heard about that, yes." Crucis spoke in a neutral tone. "The funeral was to mourn the dead, since people''s rtions weren''t respawning, but I''d guess that [The Fountain] are telling a different story."


    "They''re lying about it?" zeKey asked curiously.


    "Yes, they''re trying to cover up the conflicts with [Communion] and the mourners, to present a united face. Actually, the funeral was done in defiance of [The Fountain]''s orders."


    "Darys is nearby, I''ll tell him that there might be more to the story."


    "Sure, go ahead."


    zeKey reached out to the side and quickly moved his fingers, typing out a message.


    Akshel spoke up. "By the way, the football World Cup is happening soon outside of here. Did any of you guys check out the World Cup Gallery VR program a few years back? You could watch through the matches in each World Cup, while exploring a model of the stadium. It was quite good, but a bit buggy, critics were harsh on it but it became widespread due to piracy."


    "I don''t follow modern football much, but I did watch a few old matches in that Gallery," Crucis replied. "I think I selected the 1982 World Cup, that had a great Italian team. The program crashed easily, though, so it was too much of a hassle and I didn''t watch many other years."


    "The Italy with Gentile and Paolo Rossi? Yeah, some quality there for sure."


    "My family is from Madrid, so I grew up supporting Spain, they''d totally hate you for mentioning that Italy team," said zeKey chirpily, "but to be honest I sort of prefer German football. The Football Gallery was great, pity the creator offed himself. I quite liked watching the story of West Germany''s win in ''74, if any of you have heard of that. As they say, the Germans just seem more efficient, y''know."


    "Pity that all of those teams lived before our time," opined Akshel. "But I kinda like watching the Portugal-Croatia rivalry that sprung up around this year after a brawl. They''re in the same group in this W.C., though sadly we might miss it."


    "Ah, I hadn''t heard of that," Crucis replied, "As I said, I don''t follow football much, but a heated rivalry like that is always nice."


    "Yeah, definitely."


    "There''s a few elections in the West soon, I wonder if they''ll start informing us of the news if we''re trapped here for a while. Maybe you''ll get to know some World Cup results too. People will get really antsy in here, and if they''re cut off from news they''ll probably start demanding it in order to feel like they''re still a part of the world. Two days without much info about the outside world is already getting people tense."


    "So we might get news about elections and stuff to soothe people? Yeah, that wouldn''t surprise me."


    "I mean, soothing people is kind of what elections are for. It''s the smiling mask worn by unchanging corruption."


    "Ha, true."


    "Y''know, some loud-and-proud American types in town were bloviating that ''anti-democratic'' DeathGang shouldn''t celebrate the war because it''s ''just a game.'' While crying, might I add. Like, elections are just a game. But a worse one. There''s no proper mechanics. It''s like the [Communion] guys in town, they seem to think that their opinions should be the real game mechanics."


    "[The Fountain] has some weird neocon Americans, they think we''re like Stalin and Hitlerbined and were talking about how the war with us was to spread ''democracy and freedom.''"


    "They should change their nationality to Polish."


    "Yes, and learn to polish our boots."


    The groupughed.


    "What''s that caravan over there? And are there stables next to it?" Crucis motioned towards the right.


    "Oh, that? I think it''s the Mount store, it travels between a few set locations," Akshel replied, "But it''s way too expensive. We can still check it out, if you want."


    "Let''s go ahead."


    Entering the grey caravan, Crucis saw a counter where an old man named [Shopkeeper Yuri] was standing. A few brochures were scattered around the room.


    "Greetings, all. If you wish to inspect the Mounts, take one of the guide booklets by the door and head on over to the stables. If you wish to buy one, then ask me."


    Crucis had a brief nce through one of the brochures, then took a booklet near the caravan door.


    "Let''s go," he said. The others followed him to therge stables, where a couple of stable hands warned the group to keep their distance from the animals. The stables were each marked with different letters, and contained different Mount types.


    Crucis scanned the booklet, and saw that there were a variety of Mounts here, from highly expensive horses to donkeys and even dinosaurs. It was as eclectic and impractical as befits a good video game stable. The most expensive Mount was a young wyvern, who costed no fewer than 90 million gold. Dragon mounts were typically the most expensive.


    "Look at the price on that wyvern to the far-left," said Crucis, making small talk.


    "Yeah, was it 9 million or something?" Akshel replied, "Wait, I just reread that. 90 million? That''s crazy."


    "All of these prices are crazy,"ughed zeKey, "700k for a bad donkey. 75M for a Mungoon-Gali, whatever that is. It''s like 1M gold for even a decent Mount, I''d rather get equipment."


    "Wait, they have some Sales listed," said Akshel. "Huh, not bad. There''s something called the [Ushi-Oni] for only 470k."


    "That''s the weird spider-bull thing to your left," Crucis said, "I think there''s two versions listed in the booklet, the Non-Combat one is for sale. It''s a good idea, though. Some guys buy Ferraris to impress girls, but the true Gigachad would buy a creepy spider mount to wow them."


    Akshel nced up at arge, brown creature with the head of a horned ox. It had six spiny legs, like arge spider''s,ing out from the sides of itsrge, equally spider-like abdomen. Although Akshel was slightly put off by the creature''s strange appearance, he was still enthusiastic about the prospect of getting a Mount.


    "Check its stats," Crucis advised, "Mounts in stables can be viewed like item descriptions or NPC stats, point your right arm towards the critter and then press and hold the button. Hold it for longer than if you were opening the menu."


    As Crucis had learnt from briefly looking through the Mount brochure, there were five basic stats for all Mounts. These were: Speed, Versatility, Resilience, Burst, and Handling. There were also two more vague stats, Grace and Fine Motion. All of these were rated out of 100.


    The basic stats were easy to understand: Speed indicated a Mount''s average speed, Versatility was its ability to adapt to different terrain, Resilience was how much HP it would have and how easily it could shake off blows, Burst was its ability to elerate to fast speeds, and Handling was how responsive it was to yer control.


    The two other stats were slightly less clear. Fine Motion seemed to indicate that a Mount would adapt carefully to a yer''smands, for instance swerving or stopping in a controlled, exact manner that reflected the yer''smand rather than skidding or moving haphazardly. Mounts with this were almost like an extension of the yer, but they were often slightly slower due to their careful movements. Grace was how effortlessly and smoothly a Mount could gallop or run across the ground, with a high Grace Mount almost giving riders the sensation of being in flight.


    In addition to these,bat Mounts had a Combat Rating. However, Crucis guessed that this might be misleading, because Mounts could fight in very different ways and their effectiveness would depend on this. For instance, a Mount with ranged attacks, like a dragon''s fire breath, was more powerful than most others in a normal fight even with a slightly lower Combat Rating.


    He browsed a few Mounts within a price range that he could afford. He didn''t need to be that stingy, since he had stolen a lot of gold.


    [Tsuchigumo (Non-Combat)]


    Speed: 23.


    Versatility: 50.


    Resilience: 49.


    Burst: 10.


    Handling: 20.


    Grace: 4.


    Fine Motion: 48. [Asena (untamed, Non-Combat)]


    Speed: 40.


    Versatility: 24.


    Resilience: 40.


    Burst: 50.


    Handling: 2.


    Grace: 30.


    Fine Motion: 2. [Dungavenhooter (Non-Combat)]


    Speed: 20.


    Versatility: 50.


    Resilience: 50.


    Burst: 4.


    Handling: 17.


    Grace: 15.


    Fine Motion: 37. [Pachyrhinosaurus]


    Speed: 23.


    Versatility: 45.


    Resilience: 45.


    Burst: 3.


    Handling: 50.


    Grace: 9.


    Fine Motion: 40. [Allocamelus]


    Speed: 50.


    Versatility: 36.


    Resilience: 35.


    Burst: 14.


    Handling: 38.


    Grace: 23.


    Fine Motion: 16. [Longma]


    Speed: 54.


    Versatility: 17.


    Resilience: 15.


    Burst: 40.


    Handling: 27.


    Grace: 40.


    Fine Motion: 24. [Coelophysis (Non-Combat)]


    Speed: 30.


    Versatility: 40.


    Resilience: 25.


    Burst: 45.


    Handling: 45.


    Grace: 4.


    Fine Motion: 50. [Monoceros]


    Speed: 40.


    Versatility: 36.


    Resilience: 28.


    Burst: 40.


    Handling: 28.


    Grace: 35.


    Fine Motion: 15.


    The fastest of these would easily be the horse Longma, and the Monoceros and Allocamelus were also rtively fast while also being able to brave more uneven terrain. The Monoceros was a horse-like creature with a stag''s head, and thick but nimble feet that walked sturdily across the ground. It would probably be the best Mount at this price range by most conventional standards, by Crucis'' estimation. Its versatility and consistent stats,bined with high speed, made it a fast Mount that would be less vulnerable to adverse conditions than the Longma.


    By contrast, the Pachyrhinosaurus was a dinosaur that somewhat resembled a triceratops, and it was a sturdy ride with high Resilience. It was probably the easiest Mount to control and would be able to adapt to terrain easily, while resisting damage like a fortress. All the same, theck of speed made it less effective for everyday use. The dungavenhooter was a crocodilian creature, but Crucis felt like its nonbat form wasn''t worth the while. Itsbat form would probably be highly resistant to attacks, able to maneouevre on all kinds of terrain, and would allow its rider to use Fine Motion and move rapidly and precisely in closebat. That was too expensive for now, however, with a cost of about 7M gold.


    The Tsuchigomo was arge spider which was whirling like a calypso dancer across its stable. It also looked like a powerfulbat Mount, but as a nonbat Mount its low Handling and Speed meant that it wasn''t well-suited to using on journeys or pursuit.


    The Asena was arge wolf, but Crucis saw that it didn''t have a price listed. He guessed that its low Handling and Fine Motion made it basically unusable as a Mount, so it had eventually been withdrawn from sale. Mostly, Mounts with stats like this would generally disobey or ignore their riders. Crucis figured that abat version of this untamed Asena could be left among lower-level yers and it would wreak havoc on its own, but if he could find one being sold then the pricing of it would likely be out of range.


    As he saw the wyvern briefly glide around its stable, he was impressed by the speed of the creature''s movement. The creature glided so quickly and effortlessly that it almost made the world around it seem slower inparison. Just out of curiosity, Crucis checked its stats:


    [Young Wyvern]


    Speed: 90.


    Versatility: 70.


    Resilience: 82.


    Burst: 85.


    Handling: 67.


    Grace: 90.


    Fine Motion: 60.


    Combat Rating: 85.


    It was a very fast Mount, and was capable of low flight just above the ground. Most Mounts of such quality would be rare, although Crucis knew that there were some even better Mounts avable at remote locations far from the towns. It might even be possible to get this Mount for a better price, but it would require a difficult journey through high-level areas.


    "So the Ushi-Oni has great Versatility, it''s also sturdy and a bit faster than you''d expect. It''s pretty much steady 30s and higher 20s across the board, except it has low Grace," reported Akshel after reluctantly studying the spider for a while.


    Crucis was impressed by the Mount''s stats. "Yeah, for that price? It''s a steal, get it while it''s on Sale."


    "The Sale ends today evening, it says. I''ll have to get it now, then."


    "Why not? Go ahead."


    "I left my gold in Kruxol Storage, I''d have to dash back and get it. That alright with you guys?"


    "Yeah, might as well," replied zeKey, "Dicing said he''s a bit busy at the moment anyway, they''re dealing with a small scuffle."


    "No reason to wait, then," Crucis said.


    "Okay. You guys were also researching the creatures, anyone want toe with me back to Kruxol?"


    "Yes, actually. I''d like to purchase a Mount as well," Crucis said.


    "I can''t afford any of these, so I''ll wait here for you guys," zeKey said.


    After this agreement, Crucis and Akshel left for Kruxol in a rush. They didn''t encounter anyone on the way. After a quick visit to the Storage building, they were soon back at the Mount store.


    Akshel entered the caravan, and requested the [Ushi-Oni (Non-Combat)] Mount. Smiling, Yuri epted the 470,000 gold, and gestured towards the people at the stables. Crucis saw a brief flurry of motion near the Ushi-Oni Mount.


    Yuri handed Akshel a half-gold half-silver key, called [Ushi-Oni Summoning Key], and said, "The Mount has been prepared for you. You may use this key to summon it, or unsummon it. The key is no-drop, so it can''t be gifted or stolen."


    Akshel thanked the shopkeeper, then walked gleefully away with the key. zeKey congratted him. However, they were both surprised when they saw Crucis walk up to the shopkeeper''s counter and say, "I''ll take the Coelophysis for 1.5 million gold."


    While the Monoceros was a good Mount, as he was reading the Mounts'' stats Crucis had decided to opt for the Coelophysis'' Fine Motion, Burst and Handling. He wanted a Mount which could be used to pursue and home in on a target, requiring both eleration and the ability to control the Mount closely. In spite of the Mount, he wanted to be able to approach the opponent with precision so that he could easily choose how and where to strike the enemy. Further, this Non-Combat Mount would give him a discount if he ever wished to buy the Combat Coelophysis, though he couldn''t afford it for now.


    Crucis ced arge amount of gold on the table, and Akshel gasped. "You got all of that without being in a Guild?"


    Crucisughed lightly, "I kill plenty of rich guys, apparently. I''m like psycho Bernie Sanders."


    Akshel smiled, still in a good mood after getting a Mount, "Well, that''s a Robin ''ood story if there ever was one. Shine on, you crazy diamond."


    Yuri epted the deal, and handed Crucis a silver-gold [Coelophysis Summoning Key], which had a red gem embedded in it. After Yuri gave Crucis the same exnation for the key, Crucis thanked him.


    The shopkeeper paused, then said, "By the way, I see you have a friend out here. When we have travelling groups purchasing Mounts here, we try and get everyone a Mount so that you can all ride on without leaving anyone behind. Does your friend want to loan a Mount for 12 hours?"


    "Why not an untamed Asena?"ughed Crucis.


    The shopkeeper rified, not processing the humour, "A few of our low-level or experimental Mounts can be loaned out. You could have an untrained mule, a Nue tiger-monkey that is difficult to handle, or a Gajasimha with the head of an elephant and body of a lion. The first one is amon Mount, the others are being tested out slightly. Do you have any preference?"


    "I''ll take the Nue. It sounds faster," replied zeKey.


    The shopkeeper handed zeKey a grey [Temporary Nue Summoning Key], set to expire in 12 hours. He wished the group of three luck as they went on their journey.


    As they left the caravan, Crucis ced the key into his inventory and activated it. Arge raptor-like dinosaur appeared besides him, and he hopped onto its back.


    Akshel also summoned his Mount, and crawled onto itsrge abdomen as the ox head grunted loudly. Finally, zeKey reluctantly boarded his monkey-faced Mount, which hooted softly as if nning some mischief.


    As the group rode North, Crucis slowed his Mount down slightly in order to not run too far ahead. zeKey''s Mount was erratically zig-zagging across the path and sometimes dancing along the tree-line, and Akshel skmetimesughed at the haphazard Mount''s antics. Akshel''s Mount was sturdy, creeping persistently along the ground, and it easily stepped through a few rocky areas of the path.


    Crucis'' Mount slowed down and driftedfortably beside Akshel.


    "We need to get into a fight now, I want to see zeKey fight on that thing," Crucis said.


    "Yeah, that''s for sure," Akshel replied, "Maybe a bitter, Dicing is nearby, just past these next trees."


    A small line of tall trees stood in front of them. Crucis'' Mount easily swerved around the trees to get through, while Akshel took his Mount towards the left until he found arge gap and his Mount passed through. zeKey didn''t even bother, and dismounted to get through the trees.


    Behind the trees, an expanse of sand began, and Crucis saw arge boulder just ahead. DicingDevil had been standing next to it, and now approached this group.


    "Hey, you guys have Mounts too now? Great, we can use ours as well," said DicingDevil.


    He reached for his inventory, and soon slightly dark grey, red and yellow horse appeared beside him. As Crucis looked at this creature, he noticed that it had a set of colourful, rooster-like feathers fanned out behind it and was named a [Hippalectryon]. Its hind feet were also rooster-like, and bent close to the ground, while its front feet were a horse''s. It was probably not as fast as an ordinary horse-like creature, but it still moved quickly.


    "Where did you get that?" Akshel asked, impressed by the creature''s colours.


    "Oh, I found it during a quest way East," DicingDevil replied, "The quest-giver tells you to fight a poacher, but you can instead negotiate with the poacher to buy one of the Mounts he has caged. The poacher was level 130, so I figured that was the wiser choice, heh. Sneaking around the strong creatures out East is fun, but it''s difficult to do much there. A few good rewards if you try to find nonbat quests, though, because it''s content meant for higher-levels."


    "Clever," Crucis said.


    "Ta. You should visit it while you still have a DeathGang wristband, I think that yours will expire after a week."


    "Good advice, sure."


    DicingDevil awkwardly mounted his strange horse-rooster, and told the others to follow him North. Six other DeathGang members who had been waiting with DicingDevil, with the lowest being level 45, were nearby and began summoning their Mounts to embark on the journey. Crucis, Akshel, and zeKey already had their Mounts summoned, so they rushed ahead to keep up with DicingDevil.


    Though the path ahead was winding, Crucis found it fairly easy to negotiate. Due to his Mount''s high Handling and Fine Motions stats, it responded to him like a typical video game Mount that was directed by a controller or keyboard, rather than resembling horseback riding. He could specify directions carefully, and found that the Mount adjusted naturally and immediately to his choice of direction across the winding path. It moved deliberately and in a controlled manner, with knees slightly bent, which allowed it to react without dy when Crucis had it change direction.


    As he got the hang of riding the Mount, Crucis began to rx and move along the berms at the edge of the path, which separated it from trees on either side. His Mount gently stepped onto the berms while turning, like a racing car passing over curbs. He maintained a leisurely pace to allow the rest of the group to keep up, as did DicingDevil who rode in front of him. Most of the DeathGang Mounts were donkeys, mules, or sturdy tortoise-like Mounts, probably the cheapest. Crucis reflected that these DeathGang members probably got enough gold to afford their Mounts due to ganking yers.


    However, since DeathGang are territorial, eventually few yers passed into DeathGang territory with many items in hand, and DeathGang did not actively seek out targets who weren''t near their territory. Crucis wondered if the Hashin had shy Mounts by now, since they were more nomadic and hunted like Crucis. If they had such Mounts, they seemingly insisted on not showing them, to keep up the image of a minimalistic group of wandering ronin-like Assassins. It''s possible that the Hashin used fast Mounts for travel and moved on foot when finding targets. There were a few stories of yers managing to flee the Hashin while on a Mount, but generally the Hashin wouldy traps and ambushes carefully to snare their victims. Fast Mounts might help with getting into a position for such ambushes and attacks, so Crucis considered this a likely possibility.


    "By the way, I was checking on the Mount key," said Akshel from a few metres behind, "it has the usual Summon and Unsummon options, but what''s the Name option?"


    "Um, you can name your Mount and treat it like a cutesy pet," smirked DicingDevil.


    "Awesome! I''m naming mine ''Dame'' or ''Fluffy.''" Crucis responded with mock-enthusiasm.


    "Um, was that a joke?" Akshel said.


    Crucis drew out his gold and silver key, and gazed at the red gem on it. Selecting the ''Name'' function, he typed in the word ''Dao Dracului'' and entered it. The name appeared in blue text above his Mount.


    "Good name," said DicingDevil, "By the way, how do you pronounce the Mount''s species?"


    "It''s a bit like ''sell offices,'' I think. But I''m not sure, there might be other ways to pronounce it," Crucis replied.


    Arge, rocky hill was rising up in the distance in front of them, and DicingDevil pointed the group towards it. Crucis saw arge, gaping hole in the side of the hill, that seemed to lead underground. There was a pair of high, silver columns on either side of the hole, so Crucis guessed that it was the entrance to a dungeon.


    The dungeon entrance soon revealed arge cavern, with magma-like fiery veins running through the rocky walls and lighting the cavern. This cavern seemed to lead into an underground path.


    Two other yers were exiting the dungeon covered in faint bruises and sweat, and Crucis guessed that they hade from Kruxol and hence evaded detection by DeathGang. Not so now.


    "Intruders. I''ll say hello," said DicingDevil simply, before rapidly riding towards the two yers and unsheathing his sword. His Mount''s rooster-like back legs couldn''t elerate easily as it attempted a slightly lopsided charge, and as he shed awkwardly at the duo from atop his wobbling Mount, he managed to sh one across the face. Dismounting, DicingDevil expertly grappled this off-bnce yer across the face and ced a [Chokehold], then forced the yer quickly to the ground. The yer''s friend, who Crucis saw was a level 41 female named [SamanthaYours], began to run away, much to DicingDevil''s frustration.


    However, Crucis had anticipated that DicingDevil wouldn''t be able to deal with both yers at once, and began to direct his Mount towards the fleeing SamanthaYours. As she stumbled on the rocky ground, Crucis slowed his Mount and hovered slowly a short distance behind her in order to tempt her into a reckless sprint. His Mount carefully crept across the terrain, asionally swerving from side to side when Crucis saw SamanthaYours ncing around and contemting making a break to the side.


    Soon, SamanthaYours saw that the Mount was slowly closing the distance, and she would have to sprint and attempt to find cover within the distant trees to the West. However, as she set off, she soon tripped over arge stone to her right, which she had ignored in her haste and panic. She scrambled to her feet after a couple of seconds, however, and Crucis guessed that she was a dextrous Ranger. She wore a light, long green shirt, and carried a smallsword, so this seemed likely.


    As she got up, she saw the long shadow of Crucis'' elerating Mount looming across her. As she turned around, Crucis'' sword gave a firm [sh] just below the back of her neck, and the brief hit to her spine caused her to flinch forwards slightly. As she tried to raise her sword and fight back, Crucis leaned out and grabbed her in a low [Chokehold] while the Mount slowed down slightly, and the Mount then began to gather pace and run straight in the direction that SamanthaYours was facing. Due to the chokehold; SamanthaYours felt herself being dragged forwards and helplessly fell as the Mount''s motion dragged her on. She hovered briefly in the air, suffocating on Crucis'' chokehold, but soon Crucis felt her falling too quickly for him to hold and he let her go.


    She flew forwards andnded face-first on the ground, where shey down choking on blood. As Crucis dismounted, he saw that SamanthaYours'' face had be disfigured from the fall. Some ck mist had begun to spread around the area, and she shivered slightly as she saw an array of jagged, sharp ws that appeared in the ce of Crucis'' hands. However, she knew that her partner; Dan, had told her to not give in to fear. Spurred on by anger and adrenaline, she yed her sword towards the intruder, but her hand red up in pain and her swingnded limply to the side.


    She was surprised when Crucis simply reached out and caught her sword by the de, using [Sword hold]. As she looked up at her assant, she was horrified to see the face and hood of a shadowy, ck King Cobra staring back at her from close up, rising above where Crucis'' neck should be. The snake hissed with its teeth bared. She turned away instinctively.


    With the uracy boost from the [Nightmare] status, Crucis managed tond a [Lunge] which stabbed through the back of her neck at the top. Holding this in ce with [Half-swording], he crouched down behind her as her neck involuntarily twitched from side to side while slumping to the ground. She had only 4% HP remaining. Crucis sprayed [Vile Toxin Gas] at her neck wound, then smiled as she contorted her neck trying to scream while barely conscious. She soon died.


    Crucis saw that DicingDevil had rode up nearby.


    "Thanks for taking care of that," said DicingDevil.


    Crucis hopped back onto his Mount, and rode towards therge dungeon entrance. He noticed that his Mount had gained some EXP during the fight. While Non-Combat Mounts could not develop much, and gained EXP at a lower rate due to not fighting, they were able to grow by a maximum of 10 stat points, which would be distributed between their stats automatically by the game. Crucis guessed that, after he had umted enough EXP, one of the Mount''s stats would increase by one point. He wasn''t entirely sure how the game calcted which stat would increase, but he had heard that it was based on the game analysing the different ways you used your Mount. He would have to research this further.


    The cave entrance towered high above the approaching party of yers. At the entrance to the dungeon, he saw a sign saying ''ck Crescent Cave.''

 Chapter 55: In the Court of the Crimson King

    Chapter 55: In the Court of the Crimson King


    The grey, stony walls of the ck Crescent Cave dungeon were dimly lit by fiery veins of magma radiating orange-red light across the stones. Crucis found the transition jarring as he shifted from his agile Mount to stooping and scuttling across the hard floor of a cave tunnel. He stumbled over a couple of sudden drops in the tunnel ground, since the light was still only faint, but managed to stay on his feet by cing his hands across the tunnel walls in order to keep bnce.


    The sound of loud footsteps echoed from ahead, and as he neared them Crucis saw a pale halo of light emanating from a chamber which the tunnel opened into.


    "There are two guards in there," DicingDevil whispered from ahead, "Draw your weapons before entering. This isn''t yet the difficult part."


    Crucis heard the faint wisping sound of weapons being drawn around him, and he withdrew his own [Silver Wasp Sword]. Since he was expecting to use the sword more often in a dungeon, he had used the [Silver Orb] artifact to add his dagger''s ability to the sword. It now gave an increase of 50% damage when he buffed his Agility.


    "What''s our strategy?" whispered Akshel, who was mbering through the dungeon a few metres behind Crucis.


    "Dion is our tank, he''ll go in and defend against one of the guards. Someone else should attack the guard once it''s aggroed," DicingDevil answered.


    "Akshel should do that, he''s [Snake] sub-ss," Crucis suggested, "If the guard is attacking someone else, then Akshel can probably tie the guard up in knots until they can be taken down easily. You saw his fight with Byron."


    "Yes, true. Akshel would make a good offensive option. Me and you can take the other guard, and our Mage will stand back and attack or heal. The rest of you, make sure that the guards are upied so that they won''t go for the Mage."


    "Are the guards bosses?" asked the party''s Mage, [Grisier], from the back of the group.


    "Nope, no pain from this fight. The next mob aren''t either, then there''s a mini-boss or two before the final boss. Then we can rx and wait for the other group to finish, they won''t be fighting the final boss because it''s too difficult."


    "What about the optional boss?"


    "Oh, the Undead Queen? It might be too difficult, but we''ll see how smoothly we get past the first two bosses before deciding. Usually I''d skip it, but I''m nearing level 57 and Darys said a new feature unlocks at 58, so I''d totally put you guys in harm''s way for extra EXP."


    As the group neared the chamber, DicingDevil made way for [Dionarcy], the warrior who would function as a tank for this dungeon. Crucis saw this warrior lugging a heavy, grey shield, seemingly with difficulty. While shields would likely be more prominent in time, early-game shields were heavy and difficult to fight with, and often not really durable or versatile enough to wield in mostbat. Outside of war, these weren''t really practical in PvPbat, and even in war they were too heavy for an army to advancefortably. Later shields would be less unwieldy, and more robust. However, in PvE and especially boss fights, shields were still de rigeur for tanks, because these fights were less about dynamics or mobility and more about the team members performing roles such as tanking damage from the boss.


    Crucis could make out that the walls of the chamber carried a long, thin, delicate marble panel that stretched around the room. A few paintings were hung upon the walls, dimly illuminated, and the floor was covered by a red carpet covered with green, leaf-like patterns. The walls were painted scarlet, and had a line of floral designs on each end. White chandeliers lighted the room hazily from above. As Crucis approached, he saw that the guards were wearing tattered, broken armour over slightly greenish skin, and stared emptily like corpses.


    Dionarcy was the first to emerge from the tunnel, and walked firmly into the chamber with his shield raised. He veered off into a corner towards the left, and the two guards began to approach him with slow steps that made the floor creak beneath them. DicingDevil soon darted out to ost one of the guards, striking with a [sh] across the back of their head. The guard''s head fell forwards with a dramatic lurch, but in spite of this the guard turned around and lunged at DicingDevil with surprising rapidity. Although DicingDevil hastily blocked the guard''s sword, the guard''s pale, w-like hand caught a hold of his face.


    Grisier quickly stepped onto the edge of the chamber and used [Mana Strike] to send the guard reeling away. Crucis pursued the guard, but the guard recovered immediately and shed low towards Crucis with his sword. Crucisfortably parried the guard''s sh by holding his own sword horizontally towards the left, then seamlessly thrust forwards with a [Lunge] below the guard''s ribs. This struck the guard and reduced them to 85% HP. Like most enemies in dungeons, these guards had higher HP than normal enemies.


    As the guard tried to raise his de upwards for another strike, Crucis felt this movement and slid his own sword upwards to continue blocking the guard''s sword. While this allowed Crucis another strike, he heard DicingDevil approaching from behind. As such, he instead lunged his body forwards towards the left, using [Sword hold] to grab the guard''s sword firmly, and used the base of his own sword to [Slice] at the guard''s hand. While this would usually put Crucis in a risky position, due to his proximity to the guard and exposed nks and back, Crucis wasn''t as concerned because DicingDevil''s [Ariston] sub-ss allowed them to pin back an enemy effectively.


    Since the guard''s sword was out of the way, DicingDevil easily struck with an [Overhead sh] to the face which caused the guard to rock back, with Crucis aggressively stepping forwards to keep the guard''s arm pinned. DicingDevil drove forwards with a [Lunge] that stabbed lightly through the guard''s neck. DicingDevil then used his sub-ss'' [Drive] skill, taking firm, aggressive steps forwards with his sword outstretched in order to force the guard backwards, then cing one arm horizontally over the guard''s face and forcing the guard to the ground near a corner. Crucis swooped down to maintain his grip on the guard''s sword.


    As the guard started to rise, DicingDevil knelt down and used the Ariston [Cornered] skill to ce his knees on the guard''s back and m the guard''s head into the corner with DicingDevil''s arms locked around it. Swivelling around, DicingDevil nted his left knee on the front of the guard''s rotten flesh, and withdrew his dagger to plunge it into the guard''s neck. Crucis was using [Thrash] to cut loosely into the guard''s arm, until he dropped the sword. As Crucis kicked it away, the guard reached out his wounded arm and easily shoved Crucis away.


    However, DicingDevil began a flurry of stabs near the guard''s neck, and Crucis recovered to his feet and approached. As the guard tried with difficulty to wrestle DicingDevil away, Crucis used [Stealth] and snuck around to the guard''s side. Using [Half-swording], Crucis crouched down and delivered a [Lunge] deep into the guard''s ear. This caused the guard to fall limp, and DicingDevil easily killed it with a [Slice] across the throat. Crucis noticed that a thinyer of ck smoke had begun to rise during the battle.


    In another corner of the room, Akshel had also managed to take down a guard, and was quietly disentangling himself from the guard. Grisier had noticed that DicingDevil was easily striking down one guard, so Grisier had turned to focus on helping Akshel and Dionarcy, by casting spells like [Mana Sphere], and the Cryomancer skill [Breath of Ice] which sent a paralytic chill through the guard and made it difficult for them to resist Akshel. Crucis had noticed that it was probably more effective than Spark in terms of paralytic effect, but was much less ufortable because it chilled the opponent in ce rather than using mana to overwhelm and pacify them.


    As he waited for the team to heal, Crucis considered whether the Cryomancer sub-ss would be appropriate for Cael. The Cryomancer is a promising sub-ss due to its ability to disrupt opponents, by manipting the environment to produce cold. However, its damage is low and it only truly reaches its full potential around bodies of water or ice, since it can then use this cold to manipte these. As such, it wasn''t a highly popr ss, except among Mages with strong meleebat abilities who want to bolster this with brief paralysis or slowing effects.


    Crucis was still uncertain about which sub-ss to opt for with Cael, but he saw the Cryomancy path as a slight waste of the Mage''s power and his INT stat. While he had focused on upgrading his CON and DEX more with the stat points he gained from levelling during the draugr invasion, because it would improve his ability to maneouevre around freely, he still found the INT stat to be an important contributor to the power of spells. If spells were relegated to a support for his meleebat, then it could still be powerful but would not take full advantage of the spells and of his rare items like the [Illusory Quill Pen]. Still, he expected that the more cunning melee Cryomancers would eventually be highly strong fighters and difficult opponents.


    Grisier, however, was a more conventional, spellcasting Cryomancer Mage. He would be quite valuable around the water, especially still bodies of water, but would gradually find his abilities less effective elsewhere. He would typically have to expend all of his MP several times over to kill a strong, healing foe, which would free up his opponents to attack him freely. However, near water or ice the sub-ss would eventually gain the ability to form a strong shield out of ice, making them difficult targets at higher levels.


    After the battle, Grisier had walked the room and healed everyone. Soon, DicingDevil walked over to the door.


    "There will be a mini-boss as soon as we cross the half-way point of the next area. Dionarcy should take the lead, the rest of you wait for him," DicingDevil stated.


    As Crucis followed the rest of the group into the door, he saw his body freeze for about 7 seconds. He tried to move around, but found that it wasn''t possible. He wondered if he could cast spells. However, that would have to wait forter.


    After this pause, he found himself standing on the edge of arge, empty pce courtyard paved with stone, which had eight high, white columns around its borders. Looking at these columns, he saw that they had seemingly been painted at some point with colourful scenes, but all that remained on the column to his right was two painted scenes: the first of a man with three hands holding a dulcimer and ying a lyre beside ake, with a green, pink and white fish swimming in it, and the second of an angelic figure with wings and a glowing, white aura around them, but covered with purple-ck bruises and battered until they slouched down slightly, and with nk, red eyes which were wide open.


    Crucis saw that Dionarcy was slowly walking towards the other side of the courtyard, where there was an elegant white staircase built from marble. However, the group slowed to a stop as DicingDevil told them to wait for instructions. Crucis looked across the courtyard while waiting for instruction, and saw that there were a series of small, arched white gates towards a room which was draped with white curtains and filled with marble tforms. Crucis could see a shadowy silhouette near the back of the room, which looked like a woman reclining on the marble. However, it was faint and difficult to make out any further detail.


    "So here''s the n," DicingDevil begun with a slight snicker, "This boss is arge, statue-esque creature covered in spikes. You can''t do much damage to him when he is still a statue. You have to wait until he sheds the statue shell in order to summon two minions, who are made of cracked pieces of shadow. They have barely any HP, and go down in one hit. The boss will also asionally release spikes along four diagonals, so watch carefully where he is facing. The easy way to do this boss is just to leave the minions alive, so let''s just do that."


    "When he''s releasing the spikes, he will stomp a few times first. Make sure to be out of the way, or dodge if you have to," added Grisier, "Those spikes were a pain."


    "Oi, don''t interrupt me. I''m the authority figure here," DicingDevil replied facetiously. "Yes, try to avoid that. And don''t kill the minions. Dionarcy will go up front. Akshel, stay ready to attsck the boss once their armour is off. Grisier at the back, Crucis and I can attack the minion mobs. Remember, don''t kill them, just block and dodge their strikes."


    Crucis nodded, and the rest of the group walked into formation. As Dionarcy walked half-way up the courtyard, the ground in front of him burst and an array of stony spikes burst through. As the boss settled above the ground, Crucis saw that it appeared to be arge statue of a male with ance and a gutsy, short female standing back-to-back with him and wielding a cuss. However, the statue had been corrupted by an array of spikes that had grown over it like barnacles, and hid most of the statue''s figures. Underneath the statue, Crucis could hear a monster''s heavy breathing.


    Red text over the monster''s name indicated that its name was [Statue Faux], a level 48 opponent.


    The monster flung itsnce towards Dionarcy, but hefortably blocked it with his sword. Seemingly frustrated, the boss stomped its feet three times. Crucis moved straight in front of the monster, and noticed the rest of the group also moving away from the diagonals. An array of spikes broke through the ground in four lines, then sat there for a few seconds like a stream of protrudingtles. This did not damage the team, and soon it disappeared, leaving cracks in the ground. Crucis spread to the side again.


    The monster now threw the female''s cuss at Dionarcy, but this was blocked. However, the boss used [Ghost - Female], and a young female with curly, bobbing hair appeared, coloured a transparent, uniform grey, and took the cuss to sh at Dionarcy. While he parried this, her frantic strikes soon struck his chest and sent him careering backwards. She advanced again, but this time Dionarcy used his shield to block the assault, and struck back with a [sh]. The female faded away.


    Crucis supposed that this ghost had been an attempt to instill a sense of urgency into yers, so that when the boss'' minions spawned the yers would kill them as soon as possible rather than risk another fervent attack. This might easily confuse a new team in the dungeon and make the boss fight more tense.


    Regardless, after the ghost faded, the cuss ttered to the ground. As the sound rang out across the courtyard, Crucis saw a swift movement in the nearby room filled with white curtains, with a shadow-like shape flitting away. The monster let out a high-pitched, pained cry, and the statue broke into many fragments to reveal a bleeding, gory pink humanoid form. The fragments quickly, but messily, re-arranged into two monsters named [Broken Statue Beast], which wereposed on fragments of the broken statue clumsily collected together. The creatures moved clumsily, but Crucis saw that the one in front of him held the cuss between two pieces of stone, and the one next to DicingDevil held thence.


    As the [Broken Statue Beast] lunged for Crucis, he stepped back and parried. It slowly attempted a wide sh towards him, but he used [Dodge Step] to backstep safely out of range. As it lugged itself towards him, he tentatively used [sh] while aiming away from it, and it parried this blow. He had beeen prring for this, so he used [Hard] pressure to push back against the creature''s sword and disrupted its intended riposte by pushing it aside until it iled off-target. He made a [Feint] strike towards the right, then abandoned it and backstepped again out of range.


    In this time, Akshel and Dionarcy had set upon the strange, pink form, which was now lying weakly on the ground. Dionarcy kept his shield hovering over it to prevent its asional attempts to lurch up and strike its opponents, while Akshel held its arm by the wrist and stabbed hard around its head. Its HP was going down slowly, but had now declined to 75%.


    The monster tried another diagonal spike attack across the room, but Crucis easily tucked out of the affected area.


    The [Broken Statue Beast] seemed weakened by the monster''s plight, and its sword spiralled confusedly towards Crucis. Crucis smiled and used [Circle spin] to twirl his sword in a movement closely following the creature''s de, then initiated a [Wheel Strike Sequence] and set off a chain of swirling strikes that made contact with the creature''s cuss but did not approach actually attacking the creature. These strikes still made the sword slip out between the two stony statue fragments that the creature was using to hold it, causing their hold on it to get looser. Arrogantly, Crucis twirled his sword in a wide [Circle spin] around the opponent''s wavering sword, knowing that the creature would probably be disarmed if it tried to weakly attack past his de and was deflected into the de''s whirling motion.


    However, the creature did not attack. Hence, as the [Circle spin] ended, Crucis stepped forwards and used [Sword hold] to grab the creature''s wobbling cuss. It still tried to dislodge Crucis'' grip, but in the process its sword came loose. In desperation, one of the stony spikes along its side tore off, and it wielded this as a sword in the ce where this spike had previously been lodged. Crucis saw that this had reduced the boss'' HP by 4%, and the boss was now down to 25% HP after strenuous effort.


    Crucis used [Parry] as the spike struck at him, but was surprised when contact with his sword caused the brittle spike to dent. He made a [Feint] to the right, then, as the creature raised its spike horizontally to block, he flicked his wrist and used [Thrash] downwards on the spike until it broke in two after three harsh cuts. The [Thrash] skill was often used for cutting away obstacles such as vines, so it was easy to target the spike with it.


    The creature wielded its half-broken spike weakly, and tried in desperation to strike Crucis with it. However, it was easy for Crucis to stay out of the creature''s range, backstepping carefully and dodging any of the boss'' spikes. He saw that DicingDevil had not disarmed the creature, but was parrying its attacks fiercely before unleashing a [Feint] and retreating. As one of DicingDevil''s aggressive parries slipped forwards and struck the creature, it faded and half of the statue re-appeared around the boss'' feet. However, it was easy for Akshel, Dionarcy and Grisier to target the rest of the boss, which was still exposed and now down to 10% HP. Half of the statue would not save the boss now.


    Crucis used [Dodge Step] as the [Broken Statue Beast] neared, and it easily struck short of him. He continued back-stepping, with asional feints and missed shes to put the creature on the defensive, until he heard a loud, low-pitched wail as the boss died. The [Broken Statue Beast] fell apart into the many fragments of statue, and this fell to the ground before disappearing. Crucis saw that he had reached level 55 from the EXP.


    The team congratted each other, then walked towards the stairs. However, they were surprised by the loud flutter of wings as two bats emerged from the door above the stairs. They were both at level 40, and named [Guardian Bat].


    They approached the group, and DicingDevil began striking at one with a hard, fast [sh]. Akshel grabbed a hold of its wing, and stabbed at it harshly.


    As one of the bats neared Crucis, he saw Grisier cast [Breath of Ice] on the bat, which slowed in mid-flight. Crucis teed up and easily batted it out of the sky with a firm [Overhead sh], then knelt down and used [Half-swording] to stab towards the bat''s neck and head with a [Lunge]. The bat died bleeding, with its face locked eerily between a scream and a wide smile.


    Akshel had also managed to quickly kill the other bat, using a dagger. These enemies weren''t as firm as the mini-bosses, and to Crucis they provided a brief rest before the next set of battles.


    The group ascended the stairs, and entered the doorway, each one freezing slightly before entering. They were nearly at the throne room.

 Chapter 56: Bat Signal

    Chapter 56: Bat Signal


    "Wish there was some exposition NPC to exin the plot of this dungeon, it''s weird having thisvish court filled with undead, and I demand an exnation," said Akshel light-heartedly.


    "Why should this game have a plot?" Crucisughed. "Reality doesn''t have a plot. If you want plotting, go and find the Illuminati or something. Here, there''s a lot of different stuff scattered around, and we have to make something of it. You can''t pursue things freely if you''re stuck to a railroad."


    "Good analogy, but isn''t it a bit depressing if we''re stuck in a fantasy game and can''t be heroes of a story? I always wanted to be, like, Hercules or something."


    "Now you''re just taking the piss. You''re in DeathGang, you ain''t no hero."


    DicingDevil nodded andughed. "You''re just our peon anyway, why would you think you''re allowed to even think about going off on a heroic adventure? I''ll report you for thoughtcrime."


    "This is just like 1984," Akshel eximed.


    "Oh, you lot always trot out that tiredparison. What I said has nothing inmon with Big Brother, it doesn''t even sound simr. Can''t you see that us DeathGang leaders just want what''s best for you?"


    The group had reached the top of the stairs, and found several vast, adjoining castle rooms, with dark grey walls that had a faint blue glow. There was no sound nearby, so the group had taken to chatting while inspecting the rooms for any items. DicingDevil and Akshel were both trading facetious barbs, but this was interrupted when Grisier picked up arge, silver key from a drawer.


    "Found the key," Grisier said, "there''s also a few written notes in here, but I can''t read it in here."


    "Why not use Conjure Light?" Crucis said, "No need to save MP here, there''s no enemies around."


    "Ah yes, of course. I barely need to use that spell usually, but this seems like a good ce."


    A bright light began to emanate from Grisier''s right palm, and the rooms around here were lit up clearly. Crucis nced around, and spotted a tattered skeleton lying in one corner. Dionarcy followed his gaze, and stepped back slightly in surprise after seeing the skeleton.


    As Crucis crouched down to inspect the skeleton, Grisier began to scan the pieces of paper in front of him. "I can''t make out thenguage of this text, but there''s a few drawings. One shows, like, a spider standing over a broken sword, the sword has something like blood spilling from it where it''s broken. There''s also a drawing of an angel, but it seems to have lots of wounds across its body, and a scar across its face. A part of its torso is missing."


    Crucis raised his head slightly, and replied, "There was also a painting of an angel like that on a column, in the area where we fought the Statue Faux. That angel was also battered, it had lots of wounds."


    "Are you sure?"


    "See for yourself."


    Crucis lowered his eyes back towards the skeleton, and began looking for any items among the small pile of bones. In the meantime, Grisier had walked over to the room where the staircase had led, and looked out across the courtyard.


    "Yeah, I see it. Interesting. But the staircase seems to have disappeared, guess we''re trapped up here until we defeat the boss," Grisier said.


    "That staircase always disappears," DicingDevil replied calmly, "It''s OK, we can take this boss. There''s also another escape route. But the angel drawing was quite an interesting detail, maybe scribble down the rest of the writing and we''ll see if any NPC in town can trante?"


    "Oh, sure. I also saw a few weird drawings, let me check." Grisier walked back to the written notes in the drawer. "There''s arge, watching eye with, I think, a dead bird instead of a pupil. Also a bizarre drawing of a man being attacked by a pen. The third piece of paper has a woman pursued by a ghost who looks exactly like her, and a swarm of fish - they look simr to piranhas - devouring a man. I''ll write the text, but I''m not good at tracing images."


    "The watching eye?" Crucis mused, "It reminds me, those bats that flew out at us as we approached the door. Wouldn''t it imply that we were being watched?"


    "The final boss does act as if he was expecting you, now that you mention it," DicingDevil said, "Heys out five seats when you have five members in your party, and hides behind the curtains of his throne room to attack you. He also summons bats sometimes, one of them on ourst run was a strong fe with red eyes, I think a rarer type of bat enemy."


    "I see. I can''t say for sure, maybe it''s rted."


    "It''s quite possible," Grisier said, "Huh, weird. Check this out, guys, the eye drawing is following me around the room. Literally, its pupil is moving."


    Crucis picked up a thin, silk envelope that was lying besides the remnants of the skeleton''s spine. Reaching carefully inside, he pulled out a red gem, which was apanied with a small, folded note. The note read:


    "Greetings, Dear Asutuor,


    "Our rendezvousst night was precious. You asked why I ced this gem between your legs as you slept. I think the ecstasy ofst night has demonstrated this to you. Take this gem, loyal soldier, and sleep with it. My husband does not let me roam tonight, and this will give you sour. Do not mind if it tires you again, allow your desire to keep you awake until you are too weak to stay conscious.


    "I have begun consultations to give you a higher position in our court, but there is hesitance because you travelled here from afar before joining our army. If you use this gem, then I will press the matter further. I''m sure I can count on you, dearest, having seen the awe and exhiliration in your wide eyes this morning.


    "Think of me always.


    "Your beloved, Jenna."


    The gem wasbelled by the game as [Genliduor''s Ruby], and it was described as a gem given as a gift by Genliduor to her loyal followers.


    "Who''s Genliduor?" Crucis asked hispanions.


    While the rest of the group were watching with surprise as the eye drawing followed their movements, DicingDevil thought for a moment and quickly replied, "Genlidhor? It rings a bell, but I can''t remember that exact name."


    "Hm. How about Jenn-li-doo-or?" Crucis tried pronouncing the name as it was spelled.


    "Oh, yes, I know that name. It''s the Queen of this ce, their name is on a throne next to the King''s."


    "I guess it''s probably also the Undead Queen boss," Grisier added.


    "I see. Well, I found this gem, it seems to have been gifted to one of her lovers. Quite a promiscuous girl. She seems to have treated it as having some sort of supernatural power, but I''m not entirely sure what." He held out the gem for the others to inspect.


    "Could be rted to why she''s a stronger boss than everyone else in this court," Dionarcy offered, "I heard she has a ne with a purple gem, it glows sometimes as she casts spells."


    "Yes, it might be another such gem. By the way, have you guys figured out the eye drawing?"


    "We know that it follows us around, and it''s creepy. That''s about it," replied Akshel.


    "I can sense some mana around it, but it was cast by a stronger spellcaster than me so I can''t make out the details. It''s definitely some kind of magic, somehow imbued into the drawing."


    "So something like enchanted writing?" Crucis asked.


    "Probably something like that. But that doesn''t allow you to make text or drawings move like this. That would require some other spell."


    "That''s true. I''m not sure how exactly that could be done. Actually, looking closer at the drawing, I''m not sure if it''s enchanted at all. You''re probably familiar with enchanted gear, etc., does this have the same kind of mana aura as those?"


    "Good question." Grisier lightly moved his palm over the page. "No, it doesn''t. There seems to be some mana, but it''s some kind of weird, elusive magic spiralling across the paper, I can''t make out exactly where it is. But definitely nothing emanating out from the drawing, like there is in enchanted materials. It''s not enchanted."


    "How peculiar. Is there enough mana for someone to be using it to track or spy on us?"


    "No, fortunately. It can''t be scrying magic. However, the mana does seem to ripple asionally, I''m not sure why."


    "By the way, the bird-pupil of the eye was pointing towards the side earlier, but now it''s facing us," Dionarcy interjected. "Anyone know why that might be?"


    "Yeah, that is weird," Grisier said. "I have no idea what''s going on there."


    "It looks like a bad omen. Maybe we should try to get a move on, if you''re finished with copying out the text," Crucis said.


    DicingDevil turned to begin walking. "Yes, let''s go."


    The group travelled quickly to the left of the stairs, passing through a few empty rooms. Eventually, they came to arge, wooden door, with bright silver hinges and an ornate red, ck and green coiling snake painted on it. This door was contained in a small, round room, with a barred window letting in faint hints of sunlight.


    Without hesitating, Grisier ced the silver key into a lock on the door, and began to turn it. However, the key seemingly jammed, and refused to turn fully. Grisier had to fidget a bit in order to get the key back out.


    "Haven''t seen this before, the key didn''t work," Grisier said, agitated.


    "I''ll try." DicingDevil took the key and tried to open the door. He soon gave up. "No, there seems to be a problem. But it''s not because of the key. I think someone ced something in the lock to disrupt it."


    "Who? They''d have had to do it from this side, the lock is only essible from here."


    "Maybe after the eye began to follow us, something was triggered?" Crucis spected. "It wasn''t scrying, but maybe it didn''t need to. If someone familiar with it could sense its mana in flux as it moved, then they could tell that there were intruders. But we should look out, it might still be nearby."


    DicingDevil carefully poked around in the keyhole, and found a small piece of paper rolled up into a thin cylinder notrger than a matchstick.


    "Talk about origami," muttered DicingDevil.


    As he unrolled the paper, he saw a few words scrawled across it. As he began to read this, he was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched shriek.


    A man, stooped low towards the ground, trudged up to the doorway of the round room which the group was in. However, in the dim sunlight, Crucis could see that this man wasn''t in ordinary condition. The man''s hands were covered by scars and burn marks, and a sheet of torn, charred skin hung down beneath his arms like wings. The rest of his body also seemed to be disintegrating and falling apart, with parts of his skin torn and hanging to the side across most of his legs, head and torso. His skin seemed diseased, and was tainted a thick green-grey colour, as well as stains of red and ck from the crusted blood and charring respectively.


    The creature''s name hovered over its head: [Syphilitic Man-Bird]. It was level 60. As it entered the room, it shrieked again.

 Chapter 57: Shadow of the Bat

    Chapter 57: Shadow of the Bat


    As the so-called Man-Bird lurched towards the group of yers, it raised its hands, which had shrivelled to look like melting ws. The wing-like sheet of torn, blood-stained skin beneath the creature''s arms rose as well and briefly billowed out, making a soft sound like a sail raised in a slight breeze.


    Anticipating an attack, Akshel leapt out hastily and tore across the creature''s chest with a descending [sh]. While this left a slight dent, Akshel was surprised to see that less than 1% of the creature''s HP had been deducted by the damage. Frustrated, he used [Lunge] and easily diverted the tip of his de to stab the creature''s mid-section on the left. However, the creature''s HP had only reduced by 1%, and it turned its wild eyes towards Akshel.


    Crucis heard Akshel angrily mutter, "It''s a freak," as the creature''s w-like hands grabbed Akshel by the shoulder and sunk its broken fingernails into his skin. The skill name [Torn w Grasp] hovered over the creature''s outstretched arm. Akshel cried out quietly, as blood began to seep from his shoulder in irregr wounds. However, as the creature sensed Dionarcy approaching it, it threw Akshel firmly to the ground and turned to face its new assant. Akshel was on 90% HP already.


    "It must be a boss, careful mate," Grisier said to Dionarcy as he saw Akshel grimacing in pain.


    During this fight, DicingDevil had begun turning the key until the wooden door was unlocked, and after edging open the door he slipped through.


    "Retreat, one by one," DicingDevil told the group, "Grisier and Dionarcy should stay out until everyone else leaves."


    Crucis saw Akshel darting towards the door first, and slipping through it as DicingDevil cautiously opened it. Akshel swore as his injured shoulder caught against the edge of the door, but still ducked through to safety.


    While Dionarcy had raised his shield to block the Man-Bird, it seemed to ignore him and moved with slow, lunging steps to attack Grisier. Crucis made a long step to the side and caught the creature with a [sh] from his left before it could reach the Mage, then backstepped quickly as the creature retaliated with a skill named [w il], wildly swinging its hand towards Crucis'' arms. It just about caught Crucis'' right arm as he stepped away, leaving a slight scratch. Crucis'' strike had only removed 1% HP of the Man-Bird''s HP, but it had stopped the creature''s attack. Frustrated, the creature used a skill named [Rusty Nail], withdrawing arge, rusty nail from its pocket and scratching itself across the shoulder. This lowered its HP by a small amount, but Crucis could see the creature''s stance get firmer as its Strength rose severely.


    As Dionarcy approached, the creature used [w il] again, and, while Dionarcy blocked it with his sword, the shield went flying to the side. Panicking slightly, Dionarcy ran back a few steps, and tried to regroup before the typically slow creature could catch up with him. However, Crucis was surprised to see that, as the Man-Bird lurched heavily towards Grisier, its body suddenly froze in ce mid-lurch, as if stuck in the middle of the stepping animation. Despite this, the creature moved quickly towards Dionarcy, even though it wasn''t seemingly taking any steps or moving at all. In a couple of seconds, it had moved four metres and caught Dionarcy at the edge of the room.


    This movement looked like some kind of bug, or as if the creature was somehow moving faster than its slow, diseased default movement speed could support. Crucis wondered if this meant that the [Rusty Nail] attack had effects other than the obvious Strength boost.


    The creature easily pinned Dionarcy to the wall with a [Torn w Grip] to the chest. It then used an oddly-named skill named [Wing Flutter] to inelegantly leap at Dionarcy, shing and beating the warrior''s face frantically with its hands while using its strangely curved feet to perch on Dionarcy''s legs just above the knees. The creature''s leap had been higher than Crucis would have expected the creature to be capable of.


    Dionarcy was screaming and trying to il at the Man-Bird to get it off him, but he could barely cause a dent. Grisier had tried to cast [Breath of Ice] to stop the creature''s relentless attack, but the creature kept striking manically in spite of the stiff, paralytic effect of the spell. Grisier gestured at Dionarcy, pointing to the side of the room opposite the door, then used [Mana Strike] to push the Man-Bird in that direction. Dionarcy nodded, and heaved the Man-Bird off him in that direction, where it tried to cling on but skidded away across the floor. Dionarcy was left on just 55% HP.


    Crucis had been waiting in case Dionarcy needed further help, since losing a Mage and Tank on a run would make it difficult to clear this dungeon. Further, since DeathGang were used to their stronger members clearing this dungeon, they would be inclined to make Crucis a scapegoat for any such failure. While Crucis didn''t n on joining DeathGang, it seemed best to avoid this and take slight risks to secure the team. However, the warrior was now being healed by Grisier, and standing tall with a shield raised in the Man-Bird''s direction. Crucis decided to take this opportunity and backstep towards the door, which DicingDevil was carefully edging open.


    However, instead of making a renewed attempt to attack the prepared Dionarcy, the Man-Bird made a surprising decision and stepped towards the retreating Crucis. Again, it became frozen in motion mid-step, and began moving quickly towards Crucis. It just about reached Crucis as he was inching through the door, and used [Torn w Grasp] to grab him roughly by the shoulder. He stepped out of the door, trying to keep the creature from reaching it, and DicingDevil closed the door while looking anxiously through.


    Although Crucis used a sideways [Dodge Step] to loosen the creature''s grip, the Man-Bird used [Swoop Lunge], lunging at Crucis'' chest with one hand while leaping towards him. As the creature made blunt contact with his chest, Crucis skidded backwards, and the creature scrambled its way towards him. He felt a small bruise on his chest, and saw that he was down to 89% HP.


    However, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and quickly sidestepped away from the creature, then used [sh] from behind to send the creature stooping lower towards the ground. He followed this up with a [Forceful Kick] to the creature''s back, sending it falling to the ground. This bought him some time, but did barely any damage to the creature. As he backed up towards the door, Dionarcy and Grisier slowly approached to keep the creature away from Crucis and the door.


    As the creature lunged at Crucis again, Grisier tried using [Breath of Ice] again. As soon as Crucis saw the spell being cast, he elerated into action, with his sword snaking out in a [Lunge] and stabbing the creature low on its neck. This paused the creature''s approach, and Dionarcy barged into the creature with a shoulder and sent it barreling into the wall and then falling to the floor. Crucis'' [Lunge] had inflicted the [Bleeding] status effect, which was slowly sapping the creature''s HP, but it still had 94% of its HP left. From how easily Dionarcy had sent it to ground, it seemed that the effect of the creature''s [Rusty Nail] buff was slowly wearing off.


    Crucis felt the door creaking open, and squeezed through it until he was in another room. He saw that this room was empty, except for a red banner hung at the top of its white walls. This banner was coloured by white and violet spiralling patterns across it like vines, and seemed to have a couple of lion-like creatures painted on each corner. However, Crucis was still too dazed after the fight, and couldn''t make out these paintings clearly. He sat down and tried to glimpse the fight through the door, where DicingDevil was tentatively preparing to let the remaining fighters through.


    Dionarcy was leering over the Man-Bird with a shield, but was hesitant to attack and risk leaving himself open. Since most of the Man-Bird''s skills included lunges and leaps, it was difficult for him to get past the shield as Dionarcy cautiously back-tracked towards the door. However, the Man-Bird eventually lunged its stooping body forwards and struck Dionarcy''s shield out of the way with [w il]. The warrior had been anticipating this, and immediately brought his sword forwards to block the creature''s attack path. As Dionarcy neared the door, the creature began to leap forwards, but flinched back as Dionarcy''s swords struck it across a tear in its arms. The creature''s enthusiastic leap had caused Dionarcy to lean back for safety, and he almost lost bnce as his sword made contact with the creature.


    However, Grisier saw the Man-Bird flinch backwards, and used this opportunity to cast a [Mana Strike] that sent the creature falling backwards and skidding further as it hit the ground. This was enough time for Grisier and Dionarcy to smuggle themselves through the door. DicingDevil mmed it shut.


    "That was brave. We should give them a p," Crucis quickly said to DicingDevil.


    "Yes, yes," said DicingDevil, and he led Akshel and Crucis in a soft apuse.


    "Thanks, Crucis, the monster nearly reached me earlier but you stopped it," Grisier smiled, "I''m impressed that you didn''t just run for the hills!"


    "Yes, thanks a lot," Dionarcy chimed in, "And thanks to all of you."


    After he said this, hey down exhausted on the floor. Grisier walked dizzily to recline against a wall where Akshel was already resting.


    "We had to retreat there," said DicingDevil, "It was a bad situation, since we were attacked while unprepared and were on the back foot. Plus, the thing seemed to take almost no damage, and I don''t think it''s a required boss to clear this dungeon."


    "Yeah, what was that thing?" Akshel whined, "The freak took no damage, then it started moving in that weird way. What the hell? How does a level 60 creature take no damage from strikes like that, especially when it''s a weak diseased creature that should be really frail?"


    "It''s a bit like if FGRT got syphilis,"mented Crucis.


    "How do you mean?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Didn''t you guys hear about the fight between FGRT and the Hashin? The Hashin were doing basically no damage, it clearly wasn''t normal. But it might not be due to the same cause, since FGRT is probably using some GM-only feature. Still weird. Hence, ''FGRT with syphilis.''"


    There was scatteredughter among the group.


    "Ah, yeah, the people in town were yapping about that before the funeral killing," Akshel said. "They were bigging up FGRT, saying he probably had a great defensive build."


    "I caught a bit of that fight, but I had a bad view from behind some buildings," Dionarcy said, "Crucis is right that FGRT was definitely not using any build, I''ve never seen a non-GM - even tanks - who can shrug off blows like that, and FGRT is a Ranger. I also checked on his HP quantity, it was nothing special, his Constitution isn''t that high."


    "This boss doesn''t rely on high HP either," Akshel noted, fidgeting with his hand towards his left side, "I checked the Info message tab for this fight, and it''s saying that my attacks did barely any damage. It''s mitigating damage somehow, but to a ridiculous extent. It isn''t just a high HP boss."


    "Good observation," Crucis said, "and Dionarcy was right, FGRT was clearly not using any normal feature. By the way, I noticed that the monster''s name mentioned syphilis. The Queen''s note stated that their lover was ''tired'' during their night together, and mentioned losing consciousness. Is there some STD angle here?"


    "STD? Is that, like, an STI or ITA?"asked Akshel.


    "I''ve read some old texts which say STD, but I guess STI is moremon now. They don''t like to talk about the subject by now, though. What''s ITA?"


    "Intercourse-Transmitted Ailment. More modern term for STDs or STIs," Akshel shrugged.


    "I see."


    "Anyway, that does sound likely," DicingDevil said, "So the Queen was passing STDs around the court, and probably others were as well?"


    "Yep. She seems to have attributed it partially to the red gem. I''d guess that the gem has some sort of magical effect, but it sounds like she might have also been covering up the STD effects by attributing things to the gem''s magical power."


    "Or the gem is associated with STDs. Some sort of STD magic?" said Grisier.


    "Should be a sub-ss. STDmancy? Sexcromancy?" Crucis quipped.


    "Good idea, tell the drunkards in town," DicingDevil replied, "Also, the spread of disease might be a part of why this court is so macabre."


    "Definitely, plus the denizens seemed to have a slightly strange, mystical view of the diseases, I wonder if it''s rted to the battered angels and other iconography we''ve seen."


    "By the way, did anyone think that this ''Man-Bird'' actually looked more like a bat?" Akshel asked the group.


    "It was colourful," Dionarcy said with a faint smile, "But yeah, it did look bat-like. Its hands were connected to its mostly-ck ''wings,'' and it had this weird shriek. He should be called Batman."


    "I guess Batman and Man-Bat are both taken, he felt like doing something original. He''s a maverick, a loose cannon," Crucis replied.


    "In fashion sense as well," Grisier added. "By the way, how did an unaligned yer like you decide to help DeathGang? Most Kruxol yers hate us."


    "I was once a normal yer, an everyman," Crucis replied, "Then I was stung by a radioactive ant, and I began to crush any squishy insect I saw as a precaution. Eventually I found out that this made me a ''ganker.'' I guess that''s OK."


    "They have radioactive ants here?" Akshel asked. "Maybe I can get one of them to turn me into, like, a Hercules beetle."


    "Sadly not, I just made that part up," Crucis said. "Like, if you have a ''viin origin story,'' then you''re not a viin. You''re a Count of Monte Cristo rehash."


    "I guess so, just like the best ambushes out of nowhere. Morality doesn''t teach anyone to be evil, but a viin still learns an untaught lesson and uses it tounch a surprise attack on morality from within. Reasons would dilute that. Alright, tell Akshel if you find one of those radioactive ants," DicingDevil said.


    "Sure, and if I find a syphilitic ant-man then I''ll tell his mother to check it out."


    "Excellent. Anyway, let''s move on to the next mini-boss. We can skip one of those, the King''s room has a trapdoor which unlocks after you kill the King. We can use that to get out, and skip our Man-Bird friend here."


    The group slowly got to their feet, and entered a curving, tunnel-like passageway to the left of the room. After a short walk around this arc-like structure, they heard a loud wailing from a room ahead of them.


    "That''s the night hag boss," DicingDevil exined, "She was one of the King''s concubines. Dionarcy first again, Grisier at the back. She can be a pain due to gravity powers which can make movement sluggish, but we have three quick Assassins here and should be fine. When she uses the [Gravity Sphere] skill, go in and try to tie her down, it will be about 25 seconds until her next use of it."


    They entered the room, facing a pale, eyeless woman whose peeling skin looked to be almost melting off. She wore an elegant, white gown. She turned her face towards them, as if ring with her empty eye-sockets. Her name-tag indicated that she was called [Night Hag Concubine], and she was level 50.


    The fight was straightforwards. Dionarcy shielded himself against her half-hearted wing and banshee-like wails which seemed to do damage. He struck back with fierce blows. In the meantime, the three Assassins made asional strikes while keeping a safe distance. A white ring would appear around her feet as she cast spells, typically these would warp the air around the room and create gravity-rted effects. For instance, [Gravity Field] made each yer move more slowly and heavily. Soon, she cast [Gravity Sphere], which cast a sphere around her and caused Dionarcy - who was caught in this sphere - to fall to the ground. As the sphere faded after 5 seconds, the three Assassins leapt into action, surrounding her and allowing Akshel to lock her down with a firm hold from behind.


    Crucis made sure to strike at her hands and arms, so that she couldn''t try to shove Akshel off. As she kicked her leg backwards, DicingDevil grabbed it and stabbed her in the face to weaken her resistance. Crucis also stabbed across her neck, looking like arge, ck reptilian bat as the ck [Nightmare] smoke arose. Although the [Gravity Field] made their movements sluggish, they were still faster than the hag and did not allow her to get any counter-attacks off. Soon, she tried casting [Gravity Sphere] again, but as Akshel fell his grip pulled her down as well, and the other Assassins drew daggers and loomed over her on the ground, stabbing fiercely at her neck until she died.


    The group congratted each other.


    "Speaking of strange creatures, howe you keep turning into an unholy beast during fights?" Akshel asked casually.


    "What doesn''t kill you just makes you stra-" Crucis began. "Ahem, sorry, I got too caught up in the adrenaline rush of fighting the bat-man creature back there. But, seriously, there are benefits to strangeness out here. You can''t walk up to a whale yer and fight them ''normally,'' because they have too many advantages in terms of brute force and rare items. You can''t just fight the Man-Bird or FGRT like normal enemies. Normal gamey is already bought and sold, but more obscure stuff still has virtue. The game was sold out to whales, literally another species ording to any good encyclopedia, and now it''s just weirdness in the form of a game. I guess turning into a faceless reptile means I''ve been ying it well."

 Chapter 58: Throne Room Mystery

    Chapter 58: Throne Room Mystery


    As Crucis approached the throne room, he closed his eyes for a few seconds due to the brightness of the pale, golden glow of the door. Since the rooms on the way here were dark and had barred windows, the rest of the group also slowed their pace slightly as they approached the zing light. Large, high windows were ced on each side of the throne room, and Crucis could soon hazily make out the tips of a few hills rising in the distance.


    While the doors of the throne room were wooden, they were covered with paintings of local deities decorated liberally with gold. The deities seemed to be watching over and directing arge war between two different armies, with one army depicted wearing gilded armour and hence probably belonging to this Kingdom. This war might be an important part of this ex-Kingdom''s history, perhaps against one of its local rivals.


    Crucis recognised one of the deities from the shrines South of Kruxol, an aggressive blue deity with three long, red tongues and ance. However, this depiction was slightly different. Instead of a machete, this deity was here depicted carrying a gem-encrusted book, and he had a third arm which transformed into a long, red snake which wound around his body and looked like a rash. Crucis guessed that this might represent subtle differences in the local religions of the area.


    "Huh, is Thor on there? I didn''t notice that one thest time," Akshel said, pointing to a deity holding arge hammer and leering over a part of the battlefield which was being struck by a lightning bolt.


    "Not that surprising," DicingDevil replied, "The Norse gods are everywhere here. I''m tired of them. I quite like the god painted here with the head of a roaring crocodile, he looks like he''s enjoying the war."


    "Crikey, mate, what a beauty," Crucis replied, with a light impression of an Australian ent. "Anyway, so what are our ns for this fight?"


    "Yes, yes. Well, we should approach in our usual formation with tank at the front. The King typically fights with a sword, but he''s strong with his arms, so it might be difficult for Akshel to tie him down. However, the King doesn''t use magic, so he''s actually one of the more straightforward bosses in this area. Dionarcy can try to deflect blows, but if we can get the King to ground then we should be able to swarm him and do a lot of damage before he can get back up. Wait until his charge attack, after that he will be stunned for a couple of seconds. With previous groups, we could generally get him down to the ground easily during this time.


    "I''ll use [Stunning Dagger] to extend this. Crucis and Akshel should attack during that time period, and try to drag the King to the ground along with Dionarcy. Grisier can use [Mana Strike] once the King is off-bnce, to help you guys out. Be careful at the start, the King hides behind curtains on the right side of the door. First, buffs."


    The group waited as Grisier buffed them for this fight, casting buffs to movement speed, Dexterity, Strength and HP regeneration. After thanking the Mage, they heaved the right door until it opened slightly, and then made their way into the room.


    As they entered, DicingDevil used [Stealth Cloak] and drifted out towards the right, then stabbed firmly into the curtains at a position he had memorised. However, his dagger collided with the wall. There was nobody in the curtains.


    "Weird. He''s not here," DicingDevil said.


    "Not on the throne or near it either," Grisier reported.


    "Strange. Everyone, carefully spread out and inspect the curtains and windows of this room. He might have switched to hiding behind another one. I''ll check on the King''s and Queen''s rooms, they have doors on the sides of this room."


    Crucis moved methodically around the room checking the curtains, but found that they were empty. This didn''t surprise him: while the King could effectively hide behind curtains to set up an ambush near the door, it would be harder for them to y hide and seek for any longer in here given that a powerful boss with royal costume would be quite conspicuous. DicingDevilbed through two rooms, one on each side of the throne room, but as the group met in the centre of the dungeon they had all found no signs of the boss in this room.


    "How are we supposed to clear this dungeon with no final boss?" Dionarcy vented.


    "If we don''t find him here, I guess we have no choice," DicingDevil replied, "We can try to find our way down and have a go at the Undead Queen, if we can find her. But the trapdoor in the King''s study is locked because the final boss fight is not over, so we''ll have to try another way."


    "How long do we have left in here?" Akshel asked.


    "Well over an hour, I guess they added some time on after we killed the other bosses. It''s not crowded up here, so they''re not stingy with instances. If we killed the final boss, we''d get some time added on, but I have no idea where it is."


    "Alright, I guess we can try to look around here for some more time in case the boss appears, but you''re right, we should try going downstairs."


    "What if we got some kind of used instance, the game identally gave us an instance where another team had already defeated the final boss?" Grisier mused.


    "That''s unlikely," DivcingDevil replied, "If you kill the boss, then this room starts to break down, you have a few minutes to escape. If someone else had killed the boss already in this instance, then this room would be in ruins."


    "That''s a good point," Dionarcy said. "Still, if we try the other path to get downstairs, then we''ll probably have to get past the Man-Bird thing again. So we should wait around here for a while, to make sure that this boss is definitely away."


    "Sure, sure. Guys, feel free to explore the rooms thoroughly before you finish, maybe we can find out some information about this ce or any secret rooms where the boss may be hiding."


    Crucis saw that the rest of the group were mostly searching near the throne, so he approached the King''s study. The door to the study was covered with a painting of a golden sword and helmet ovepping. This room was L-shaped, and contained arge, wooden desk along its right side, as well as a small, ck piano ced neatly on the left side. A few drawers wereid around the corners of the room. Crucis saw that there was no paper on the desk, only three pens, so he crouched down and began rummaging through the drawers.


    DicingDevil entered quietly behind him, steppingfortably over a locked trapdoor beside the door, and said, "We don''t usually get the chance to search this area much. Have you found anything?"


    "There''s some pages of writing here, but in theirnguage. I can''t read it, but I don''t see any drawings or symbols like the other writer''s," Crucis replied, while still scanning across pages in the drawer.


    "I see. I''ll have a look around as well, I think there''s a small cupboard hidden just behind the piano."


    Crucis moved towards the right side of the room, to allow DicingDevil to turn to the left without stepping on him. As DicingDevil moved through, Crucis inspected the desk. It had a lot of scrawls and small scratches along its surface, an indication that it had been used extensively by the King. What was the King writing about with such excitement? However, thecking decorum seemed to suggest that what the King was writing was urgent and important to him, as otherwise Crucis would expect more restraint and formality from the monarch.


    Looking around the desk carefully, Crucis noticed a few pieces of paper had got stuck behind the back of the desk, which had a thick wooden panel along the wall. Crouching down, Crucis managed to pull two of these pages out, but couldn''t reach the others. He drew a spare [Artisan''s Ep¨¦e] which the [Statue Faux] boss had dropped, and used this thin, blunt sword to tease some of the other papers out from behind the left side of the desk. One of the pieces of paper was quite long, and Crucis had to make some effort to filch it out. The sword got jammed behind the desk as Crucis tried to remove it, but he wasn''t that concerned because it wasn''t a sword with any actual use inbat. He left it there, and picked up the pieces of paper.


    "I found a few English notes behind the cupboard," DicingDevil said from the left side of the room. "They seem mostly ordinary, some letters, but nothing much of importance. What''s up with the racket you''re making?"


    "I thought you''d enjoy my avant-garde ckened death metal album," Crucis frowned. He continued more seriously, "There''s two English letters in here, and also what seems to be a spell scroll. But it''s torn and barely anything is left, you couldn''t use it to learn the spell."


    DicingDevil inched closer at the mention of a spell scroll. "Is it advanced magic? Is it associated with a specific sub-ss?"


    "It is definitely advanced magic, that tends to have a few runes at the top of the spell scroll. There''s still a few clear traces of such runes, in blue ink. It was clearly used at some point, because those runes have be inert and started to fade into the paper, with three ck dots appearing over them on the top of the paper to show that the spell was learnt. When you learn a spell, magical symbols or enchantments on the scroll fade and stop functioning."


    "Does blue ink signify what ss of spell it is?"


    "Probably, but not sure. Maybe Grisier will know."


    "Right."


    DicingDevil began typing a message in party chat, and Crucis used this time to inspect the scroll further.


    "The spell is called [Reborn], it''s a Necromancer spell," Crucis reported. "A rare sub-ss, because the trainers are really out-of-the-way and it''s dangerous to find them. I''ve heard about the spell asionally. But you said that the King didn''t use magic, so why would he keep this scroll in his personal study?"


    "Not sure. Can you make out any of the writing?"


    "There''s very little left. But there is some. Here''s what it says." Crucis read out from the scroll:


    You desire a life renewed, directed under your hand. Life has no meaning, but you seek a life with meaning. A life that does not voyage recklessly into the unknown void, but is designed and put together in order to pursue your ambition. Your old life must be sacrificed, that the new one may rise from its ashes.


    "That ords with the hype I heard around this spell," he continued, "it lets you be ''re-born'' ording to your preferences, with a much higher growth rate in terms of levels and stats.


    "There''s also some scrawling here, in what looks like the King''s handwriting. He seems to be disputing with the scroll''s text, scrawling a bit hastily. One of his marginalments says, ''Fool! I have found many dear lives with meaning. Studying necromancy shut me off from a glorious world which we must embrace, it imprisoned me for decades,'' another says, ''Life should be weed, not directed.'' A King might well have such a rosy view."


    "I know quite a bit about this King''s court from previous runs here. He was a King from a young age, and a public one," DicingDevil said, "Why would hein about being shut off for decades to study necromancy?"


    "The scroll says that the caster must sacrifice an ''old life,'' maybe he was a powerful Necromancer before he turned into a King?"


    "True, yes. By the way, Grisier said that blue runes being on top of spells signifies that they are high-tier spells with out-of-battle effects. I was sort of right."


    "That would make sense. Those are some of the most valuable spells, instead of just affectingbat they can transform how the user ys the game."


    "OK. I think that this King was from a vtile time with a power vacuum, so he was allegedly able to seize power due to multiple sesses at war, and was widely considered a child prodigy even before his reign. Sort of a Mozart King."


    "That backstory seems to imply that he had a high amount of strength and experience from a young age, so it would line up with what we''ve already seen."


    "He also says that in one of these pages, an unsent, iplete letter dated near the beginning of his reign." DicingDevil read out the letter.


    My strength is growing ever more keen, and it was enough to conquer this Kingdom at a young age. I am sure that there are restraints on human life, but I feel unshackled for now. I have wasted none of my years here. Without usations of witchcraft, I can engage with the world around and fulfill any passion freely. I cannot use magic, as I chose to be a fighter instead, and so I do not care about the persecution of magicians. Let them die, I will have no rivals here!


    "I see. But not everything turned out so well, here''s a coroner''s note saying that the King''s children were found dead after a heavy storm." Crucis handed the note to DicingDevil.


    "Strange, ''we can find no cause of death, perhaps it is witchcraft''?"


    "The King seemed to feel slightly estranged from magic in this life," Crucis mused, "he was seemingly just doing it before out of greed or to satisfy his thwarted desires. But perhaps he also came to resent it because he wanted to believe that his new life was real and deserved, not artificial? Life formed by a reanimator''s power is unlikely to be able to do just anything it wants, because it is always on the cusp of the grave. Like, it sounds like what happened to his children might be rted to the strictures of the spell, isn''t necromancy here sometimes associated with storms?"


    "Yes, Darys told me about that. yers aren''t allowed to ess areas with stormy weather, but necromancers can gather increased power by being near those areas. Allegedly they extract some sort of energy from the lightning to reanimate corpses with."


    "Alright. But it''s hard to tell for sure what happened to the children. Anyway, his strength seemingly didn''tstter into his reign, I found a letter here which is asking him if he was in good health, since he fainted the previous day. He scrawled in a corner of the page, ''I am weak now, I can barely stand, my skin is full of rashes and sores. I nearly died in a brief joust with blunt weapons. Why does an ambitious courtier want to know, does he wish to usurp me? Insolent question!''"


    "That''s strange, most of the letters which I found were from earlier in his reign, seemingly he used English more often then. Not as muchter on. Only in a couple of letters weing foreigners to the court, in English."


    "Maybe this courtier was a ''foreigner.'' Do any of these letters mention the Queen?"


    "Yes, one warns a visitor away from the Queen, it seems to be a draft of a letter. The King says that he had spent most of thest two years with her, but now she was starting to wander elsewhere in search of affection, due to him being suddenly ill. Seems that the King was paranoid."


    "Is that all? Strange. So what we''ve got so far is that the King may have used the necromancer''s [Reborn] spell, and started a new life here with highly increased stat growth and level gain. Since he was no longer a stigmatised magician, he was able to win over the people with his prowess in war, and conquer the other upstart Kingdoms in this region. However, 5-10 yearster he had lost his strength, and wasing apart at the seams. Before this happened, he spent a lot of time with the Queen. He also seemed determined to enjoy the pleasures of this life, in spite of the constraints of the spell."


    "Alright, good summary. Tell the others that, I think they should be able to get the gist of it. Let''s return to the throne room."


    Crucis nodded, and followed DicingDevil out of the King''s study. They found the rest of the group gathered around next to the King''s throne. The red throne was bordered with sculpted gold, and was embroidered with a slightly torn silver image of a lotus. DicingDevil asked the group what they had found.


    "No clue where the King is," Grisier replied, "but we found a few court documents in this room. Seemingly, the King had to miss a lot of meetingster on due to illness, and the Queen was allowed to take charge instead because she was in very good health. There were also many courtiers who died during theter period."


    "The court here sounds like a game of chess, the Queen rushing everywhere. Even our first enemy was a statue or something, I think," Akshelughed.


    "Yes, it was," Crucis replied, "Well, a creature hiding in a statue, and apparently the King was a simr creature living in a sculpture of his own design. But go on."


    "Alright, we also found this hidden beneath the King''s throne."


    Dionarcy held up a red gem,belled [Genliduor''s Ruby].

 Chapter 59: Coal Canary Robin

    Chapter 59: Coal Canary Robin


    "The other room is empty now, it just contains the King''s pet bat. Not sure what else it would have been used for," DicingDevil said.


    "He has a pet bat? Awfully fancy, this monarch, wonder where he keeps his slimes, giant rats, and spiders," responded Crucis, ducking into thest unexplored room.


    The door to this room was painted across with gold and red lyre. Crucis wasn''t sure what this image signified, and he couldn''t see any sign of instruments in this room. While the King''s study had contained a piano, this room was almost empty.


    Stepping over the soft, torn pink carpet, which had silver spiral patterns across its edges, Crucis saw that there was a small creature caged in the corner. The rest of the room was empty, although there seemed to be a few scratch-marks on the floor which may represent furniture having been removed. Squinting in the direction of the cage, Crucis saw that there was a small cupboard behind it. However, as soon as he approached it, he heard a loud, guttural hissing noise, and the cage started to shake violently.


    He kept his distance for the moment, and the creature rxed and began squeaking out a strange, slightly childish song, like a suffocating songbird. What a strange bat.


    As the rest of the group slowly made their way into the room, Crucis asked Grisier to cast [Conjure Light]. As Grisier''s spell lit up the room, Crucis could see that the creature in the cage did resemble a bat, or arge sparrow drenched in oil, but seemed to have some colourful feathers in small patches across its back. Kneeling down, he could see that the cage had a small inscription beneath, saying ''ir Bird.''


    "Anyone know what a ''ir bird'' is?" Crucis asked.


    "Those are, like, a species of colourful birds towards the North. They look a bit like colourful, small parakeets, but I think that the ir bird only exists in this game," Akshel replied.


    "I see. How did you hear about them, by the way, Nature Boy?"


    "I used to be into birding, so I keep an eye out for these things. There was a book about it in the hunting reservation, they''re one of the species it''s forbidden to hunt. Why are you asking about them?"


    "This cage says it''s for a ir bird, not a bat."


    DicingDevil and Akshel came closer, to investigate, and Crucis stepped away to give them room.


    "Yeah, wait, this bat has feathers," DicingDevil said dryly, "It''s a bit hard to make out in this room, though, and usually we have to escape this area before it caves in, so we had just assumed it was a bat. I think there''s an oilmp right behind it, so maybe it is drenched in oil or something. It doesn''t have a name-tag, but it says it''s level 30."


    "Yeah, this does look like an under-the-weather ir bird," Akshel added. "I can''t see what species it is, but the King seems to have named it ''Nil Nisi Bonum,'' sounds like Latin but not sure what it means. Can''t Mages name their summons?"


    "They can, at higher levels," Grisier confirmed. "And necromancers can revive creatures and name them, I saw a guy with an undead giant rat following him around. The creature doesn''t separate from the necromancer until the creature dies. By the time yers can use spells like [Reborn], they''d be able to revive much more exotic species. However, these creatures require asional MP investment to keep them in control, or the magic animating them will turn them into a hostile undead from time to time."


    "I see. I''d guess that you can''t attack your own summons or creatures," Crucis said, "so maybe the King was trying to get around this by dousing it in oil, hoping that it would die? The game might not pick this up as an attack."


    "Why would he kill his own creature?"


    "He wasn''t able to use magic any more, since he had reincarnated as a warrior. This means that he couldn''t dedicate MP to keeping the weird bat-bird in control, and it could have be hostile. It''s also animated by magic, so if it went rogue then the magic could also be unpredictable."


    "That''s true. And it would probably have required plenty of MP to reanimate this bird, since it is a rare species, so the magic invested in it could be quite powerful if it went rogue. Actually, I saw something simr to what you mentioned. Our Guild''s Necromancer had tried reviving a rat pet to test out the ability, then had to drag it to a boss fight so that it would die and he could get a stronger ''pet.'''' Something simr might have happened to this bat-bird."


    "Well, a bat is just a flying rat, after all," Crucis shrugged.


    "If the bird was reanimated by MP, couldn''t it have lost some vitality if it used the magic when it turned wild?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Yes, but it wouldn''t exin the oil, it''s probably abination of both," Grisier said.


    "True. Could be both. Since we can''t check its name-tag, any other way to see what kind of creature it is? Pressing on the wristband doesn''t seem to give much info about this guy. Any other way?"


    "Kill it?" Crucis shrugged. "If you attack it, then check thebat report, it should mention the species name. That report defaults to species name."


    "But couldn''t it still retaliate with magic?"


    "It probably doesn''t have much left, it looks to have used up most of the magic animating it." Grisier said, "It can barely stand, though it is quite aggressive. I doubt it can do much."


    "Only one way to find out," Crucis said.


    He drew out his [Silver Wasp Sword], and used the [Half-swording] skill before walking up to the cage. Holding the sword horizontally, he eased it between the bars of the cage, and thrust it just below the back of the creature''s neck. A small billow of ck smoke emerged from the resulting gash. The creature turned weakly to face Crucis.


    Leaning closer, Crucis continued to stab towards the creature''s chest and throat, keeping his hands safely outside of the cage. The creature was soon down to 15% HP. However, as he prepared for another strike towards the creature''s bleeding throat, Crucis shuddered and stepped away, clutching his right shoulder. Blood was pouring from a heavy wound in his shoulder, and he clenched his teeth as sudden pain flowed through his arm.


    Turning back towards the creature, he saw that its HP had increased to 35%. It was also glowing with a bright blue aura, which asionally shed with green, red and yellow shades. Beneath its HP bar, the creature was listed as having a status effect named [Bright Wonder], which weakened its attacker.


    "Yep, it''s using magic. Confirmed," Crucis grimaced.


    Crucis returned to the cage, and continued stabbing painedly with his sword until the bird was dead. Although he felt an asional, weak push from the creature''s little remaining mana, the bird seemingly did not have enough mana tounch any serious attacks.


    Crucis used his left hand to swivel through tabs in the message box to his left side, soon reaching thebat report tab.


    "Yeah, it calls this ''ir Bird (controlled by: King Ganf¨¦an)'', so it was a revived ir Bird," he reported, "It seems like, since it''s controlled by a boss, the game counts it as an extension of the boss. So it could still be painful. Pity that we had to kill it, it had this whole cool vampire thing going."


    "Vampire?" asked Akshel.


    "It looks like a bat, plus its spell caused the bleeding status and it regained some of the damage dealt as HP. I''d like to keep it as a pet, to test if it could have more powerful spells with more MP invested. Would make a good Halloween pet."


    "Ah. I did see a couple of people with summons or revived ''pets'' that seemed OP, but not sure how they made it stronger. By the way, the Man-Bird also looked like a bat. Maybe this bat was rted to the Man-Bat enemy," Akshel said.


    "That''s probably the King," Crucismented.


    Crucis had a suspicion about why some yers had stronger summons: because they were using a different type of mana to summon or revive the creature. For instance, summoning during [Arm of Hades] might cause a slightly different creature to appear, due to the different kind of mana used. However, he kept quiet about this, since he didn''t want DeathGang prying too deeply into the matter.


    "I guess we''ll have to fight it, then, and see if it givespletion for this dungeon. The coincidences are too pronounced. But it will be difficult," DicingDevil said.


    The rest of the group nodded. Crucis was sitting against a wall, resting his arm. Akshel and Grisier shoved the cage aside, and started looking through the cupboard behind it. DicingDevil took a closer look at the cage.


    "It says here that this bird was a gift from the King Alrenor to the Lady Khrisa, so it seems to have originally belonged to another King," DicingDevil said.


    "Yes, there''s a letter in here," Akshel reported from the cupboard, "It says that the bird was a gift to woo her, and she epted his marriage proposal shortly after. However, the bird died after she moved to the pce, as a caravan carrying it there was capsized during an attack by raiders. During the attack, a bridge carrying it copsed."


    "It must have been desposited somewhere by the river," Dionarcy said, "but still a weird choice of pet for a Necromancer, cheery and colourful. Not as grim as you''d expect." Heughed.


    "I know you''re joking, but didn''t he stop being a Necromancer?" Crucis said. "It''s not that surprising a choice of bird, especially when it''s associated with royalty. He had hopes of a rich and fulfilling life, great wealth, etc., and he probably used this bird to symbolise that."


    "Yeah, I guess he was sort of conflicted as well," Grisier said.


    "Anything else in there?"


    "Some sheet music. Also a few documents about necromancy, I think, but torn so much that I can''t read them. There''s a poem here, but sadly not one of those poems which gives EXP."


    "By the King?"


    "Nah, by someone named Ibn Khres. I think my Cryomancy instructor had copies of books by him, including under the pen-name Plejerzim, he''s probably some well-known poet here. It says that the title is ''Lily vo zalitlzhit.'' I think this poem may be in trantion." He read out the poem.


    There is no life beyond the castle gates,


    My mistress told me as wey in bed,


    But I told her, no, there are great forests


    And birds that flow wild, not caged,


    In more brilliant colours than the pce


    Itself can boast. She refused to talk


    To me for a day, and I was forced to spend


    Time with another mistress to ease my woe.


    However, as the sun set on the next day,


    She snuck, stealthily, out of the castle''s gates,


    And walked carefully through the forest,


    Shrinking away from the cries of animals


    Who she had been taught, when young, to avoid.


    She was unused to the harsh ground, and


    The night frightened her with fire-like paranoia,


    So she soon attempted to turn back, but found


    That she could not remember the way, and


    Only miles of foresty before her. She ran


    Frantically, looking in vain for castle gates,


    Only finding herself deeper in the forest.


    Yet as she searched, she heard a voice calling


    For her, and it said, "Come here, I will give you all


    You want, and all your struggles will depart from you,


    If you enter my abode, then prosperity is yours."


    She froze in panic, and tried to run, but


    The voice followed her, until she gave in.


    I heard her dying cry, but all I could think


    Of was my anger that she had abandoned me


    Last night, and that too at the very moment


    When I was most aroused by her parochial entricity.


    "I''m fairly sure I''ve heard a song like this," Crucis said, "But the poem is a bit interesting. The voice seems to be describing some kind of pce, as if the girl tried to return to the pce but found that it was a mirage. It''s a bit like the King here, who was drawn by the promise of a - somewhat artificial and unstable - pce life and was ruined as a result. But it also reminds me of Hades and Persephone, where the tempter was himself a King."


    "There was some terrible old song like that, yeah. I mean, ever since the spread of Chinese p2w reached its height a decade ago, games ''borrow'' just about everything from elsewhere: assets, text, features, whatever else," DicingDevil noted, "Otherwise they couldn''t keep up with their Easternpetitors."


    "Yes, yes. Though who knows how much of the game is actually in control of the devs by now, it might just be automatically recycling things from elsewhere."


    DicingDevil nodded.


    "It''s true that the fascination with pces seems quite like the King," Grisier said, "And it also mentions how wild birds are more colourful than in the pce. He had a wild bird in his previous life, but he seems to have feared it and tried to kill it as a King."


    "The female in this poem resembles the King, strangely, but he''s not a female," Crucis mused, "Much of it could almost read like some sort of warning to the King, but the poet is very insistent that it is a female mistress. By the way, the poem''s ending is great, what a mensch."


    "Definitely," nodded DicingDevil, "All''s well that ends well. But yeah, weird how the King is the female in this story, a Red Riding Hood sort."


    "Or a red gem sort."


    "How do you mean?"


    "The poem is about a female, but there''s an important female right next to the King. So far, the Queen''s role in all of this hasn''t beenpletely clear, but obviously she''s important. So if there''s an important female here whose life is tied closely to the King''s, it wouldn''t be surprising if her story sounded simr, would it?"


    "Yes, but what do we know about her story?" asked Dionarcy.


    "For one, the King used to flirt primarily throughvish disys of wealth and power, so that''s probably what won her over," Grisier said, "I guess he felt like he came to this second life with power as his main privilege, so he decided that he should leverage that to get the life he wanted."


    "But she wasn''t that dedicated to him," Crucis noted, "and she was a bit power-mad herself, to the point where she''s the strongest boss in here and was seemingly interested in magical gems and powers, though admittedly the King has weakened somewhat."


    "Yes, she seems to have had her own search for power, I guess it might be tied up with the King''s."


    "Also, the bird was apparently from a gift by another King, who was wooing a Lady. Perhaps that King''s courtship influenced this King''s showy romancing of the Queen? That would mean that the bird is also connected to this, also it belonged to thedy when it was being transported to the pce and died - like the poem''s female."


    "I see. I mean, the shady voice in the forest seems a bit like a necromancer, if we take the poem from the Queen''s perspective."


    "Yeah, it''s sort of a voice offering the Queen great riches and power, but it is deceptive and slightly artificial, a Necromancer''s mirage pce. By the way, does anyone y the piano?"


    "Yes, Grisier does," DicingDevil replied, "Why do you ask?"


    "What do you think of the sheet music?"


    "Oh, let me check," Grisier said.


    "I didn''t see any sheet music in the study, even though there was a lot of paper. But seemingly there is some here. Maybe the piano used to be here instead - but go on."


    "This barely sounds like music, it almost reads like random notes and dissonance strung together. I tried to imagine ying this, but I can''t make much sense of it."


    "Strange. Maybe try ying it on the piano in the study, before we go? We''ll see how it sounds on this piano."


    "Understood."


    DicingDevil, Crucis and Grisier walked over to the study, with the rest of the group resting outside and stretching their legs. Nobody was highly enthusiastic to do battle with the Man-Bird again, due to its bizarre attacks and near-imperviousness to damage. This meant that they did not mind the slight dy.


    As Grisier sat down on the piano, he attempted to y some notes, but flinched back in surprise.


    "This piano is weird, some of its keys don''t work, the ones that do aren''t arranged in any clear order. And some keys seem to get stuck on something," he said.


    "Try ying the sheet music as you usually would," Crucis replied.


    Grisier sighed and started pressing the keys, asionally having difficulty because some keys on the left of the piano seemed to be jammed. Crucis noticed that this music wasn''t seemingly difficult for Grisier to y, because most of the notes were in the middle of the piano. What Grisier yed sounded almost like a song, with a patter of light, high notes in twos, joined by a sequence of loud, bagpipe-like low notes which sounded as if the piano had broken. The piano''s high notes sounded oddly brief, like ephemera, but its low notes were often dysfunctional and sounded either like strange bagpipes or like a ship''s horn. There was an asional percussive noise as a key was blocked by something below. Grisier soon reached a sequence of low notes that sounded like a mess, and stopped.


    "That actually sounded better than I thought, but this thing is really broken and I can''t tell where this song is going," he said.


    "I saw a small glimmer underneath the keys," Crucis said, "Since this piano isn''t really in great condition, do you reckon we could check what''s blocking the keys?"


    A few of the keys were damaged or had substantial holes, so the three of them used spare swords which they had picked up in this dungeon, and tried to pry a gap in the piano''s keys so that they could see what was below. Finally, Crucis managed to tear a few rickety keys off, and grabbed a purple gemstone that had been obstructing the keys.


    "That looks like the Queen''s gem," DicingDevil said. "I wonder if it can be used to cast magic."


    Crucis lifted the gem, and tried to see if anything could be done with it. It would glow for a few seconds, asionally, but nothing happened. He lended it to Grisier to check, but even the Mage found no way to channel magic through it. He handed it back.


    "It feels like, when it glows, a few veins within the gem start to expand and contract unevenly, it sort of has this weird asymmetric movement like crawling, diseased skin."


    "The gem is crawling in its skin?" Crucis asked.


    "You could say that."


    "Anyway, it doesn''t seem that powerful, but there does seem to be something there. Maybe we should keep it, just in case it helps in the boss fights."


    "Do you reckon that breaking it might weaken the bosses?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Maybe the Queen, but the red gem seemed to weaken its owners, based on her letter, while her purple gem seems to strengthen her," Crucis said, "So if the Man-Bird has a red gem, then breaking this might release some strength back to him? I don''t know, but we wouldn''t want that. Plus the Queen already seems to carry a gem with her, so I''m not sure if she needs this one. Let''s keep it intact for now, we''ll see if it can do anything to the Queen, and if not we can take it back to town and have some NPC check on it."


    "Sure thing." DicingDevil picked up one of the purple gems from beneath the keys, and so did Grisier.


    Crucis felt that it was likely that these gems would turn out nearly useless, since the King and Queen were living through a sort of wish-fulfillment reincarnator story, and methods used with great sess by such protagonists are rarely of much use in practice. However, he was curious if the Queen boss would somehow be affected or disrupted by them.


    "Should we return to try and fight the Man-Bird?" DicingDevil asked. "Though I''m not entirely sure how to go about that."


    "We can try to use [Bleeding] to cut down its HP incrementally, it doesn''t seem to resist the damage from that status effect as much. The main issue seems to be when it uses the nail to boost its stats," Crucis replied.


    "I could use [Breath of Ice] to try and slow him down when he does that," Grisier offered, "But I''m not sure if it would be enough."


    "It wouldn''t," DicingDevil said. "It still moves too quickly, with that weird run. And it''s too strong. I think that Dion can handle it in its normal form by now, though we''ll have to figure out how to deal with the nail."


    "Grisier has a good point," Crucis said. "If he uses [Breath of Ice] and [Mana Strike] when the creature reaches for the nail, then the rest of us use [Stunning Dagger], then Akshel might be able to lock down the boss on the ground and prevent him from using the nail. Then we can just strike with moves that induce [Bleeding], to whittle away its HP."


    "That''s a decent n, but we''ll work out the details when we reach the boss. For now, let''s see if it''s still in the round room, and we can figure out how to approach this fight from there."


    Crucis switched to the ne of sharp bones which he had looted from the [Undead Dog]. He carried it around because its price was quite cheap, so losing it wouldn''t be significant. It would be helpful here to induce [Bleeding] on the difficult boss toe.

 Chapter 60: Boss fight! A King With No Crown

    Chapter 60: Boss fight! A King With No Crown


    "As soon as we got near, the creature started banging against the door," DicingDevil said, "It''s probably going to try attacking as soon as we open the door."


    Crucis heard a loud, persistent thud from the door towards the round room.


    "Do you think it can get here if we block the door?" Akshel asked.


    "Probably, especially if it uses the iron nail," Grisier replied.


    "Blocking the door could still be useful," Crucis said, "because we could get some early strikes in to stack the [Bleeding] effect. Fighting this boss normally would be difficult, but if we can get it to the ground and have Akshel hold it there, then we should be able to slowly whittle its HP away. If it''s an even fight, then it outdamages us significantly, but if it''s striking a pi?ata then it''s doable in the time we have left."


    "Can we set up a trap at the entrance?" DicingDevil mused.


    "There''s a small fountain near where the hag boss stood," Akshel replied, "I picked up a [Pewter Goblet] from the statue fight, do you reckon that we could pick up some water to help with Grisier''s spells? Maybe he could make, like, a wall of ice or something."


    "Can''t make a sturdy ice wall yet," Grisier said. "But yeah, if you pick that up, I could at least form a small stgtite on the top of the door, which can stun the creature for a second as it tries to pass through."


    Akshel nodded, then jogged off to pick up some water. After a few minutes, he returned, and ced the [Pewter Goblet] on the ground a few metres away from the door.


    Dionarcy, Akshel and Crucis lined up behind the door, while DicingDevil stood to its right in order to strike the creature as it attempted to enter. Grisier hung a few steps back and prepared to cast spells once the creature showed itself.


    DicingDevil carefully turned the door''s handle until it unlocked, then let go as he felt a strong pressure forcing the door open from the other side. Crucis, who was positioned right behind the door''s opening, saw a pile of burnt, twisted flesh pushing hard against the door, and for a moment he couldn''t make out where the Man-Bird''s head was. Activating his skeletal ne, he struck with [The Ripper], making a quick cut across the creature''s rash-covered face. He saw that the creature had received two stacks of the [Bleeding] status effect, and one more once DicingDevil struck with a [Ripper] of his own.


    Dionarcy was heaving against the door from near its hinges, and thebined effort of the three was enough to slow the door''s opening. However, the creature was still making steady progress, although Crucis and DicingDevil were peppering it with stabs and cuts. Most of these strikes were dealing less than 1% of the creature''s HP in damage, but the [Bleeding] effect was steadily sapping the boss'' HP and had soon reduced them to 90% HP. ck mist was settling slowly across the room.


    Grisier began to cast [Minor Stgtite], and Crucis saw the water from the goblet fly up and turn into ice clinging firmly to the top of the door. When the creature released the pressure on the door slightly, in order to reach for a rusty iron nail, Grisier released the stgtite, which struck the creature''s head and stunned it briefly. However, this stun made the creature lose its bnce, as it had been pushing forwards too heavily and its withered feet were twisted until they couldn''t support its forwards-leaning body, and so it fell heavily into the door. Crucis and the other two yers behind the door were surprised by the sudden force pressing against the door, and Dionarcy began to stumble slightly.


    "Let go!" DicingDevilmanded.


    Crucis let go of the door, and as the creature fell forwards he held his dagger to the back of its neck to pressure it down. Akshel quickly ran up, and loosely grabbed the creature''s neck from behind, pulling it to the ground with him. As the creature struggled to break loose, Grisier used the remaining water to power up a strengthened [Breath of Ice], which firmly straitjacketed the creature in ce while Akshel locked its right arm and neck in ce, then used his legs to restrain the Man-Bird''s weak legs. Crucis and DicingDevil helped with [Stunning Dagger] attacks, and Dionarcy smothered the creature''s upper body beneath hisrge shield to prevent it from moving.


    Held in this position, the Man-Bird was unable to escape from the bind. Crucis assailed it from the left with a mixture of [The Ripper] and stabs near the neck, and his uracy increased slightly with each attack. DicingDevil also assissted from the creature''s other nk, with firm strikes which drew blood from the Man-Bird''s rashed skin. Crucis soon found that strikes across the Man-Bird''s rashes had the chance to create multiple stacks of [Bleeding], and so as his uracy increased he began to slice roughly along these rashes. After seven minutes, the dungeon boss was down to 60% HP, and was covered in a mass of blood.


    However, Crucis saw white text appear next to the boss, saying [Blinding Fate]. As he inched back slightly, an aura of light began to emanate from around the boss, throwing the yers around him harshly into the corners of the room. Since Crucis had made some distance from the boss, he was thrown back lightly and managed to keep his footing as his feet skidded towards the door. He drew his sword. As the creature slowly trudged towards Akshel, who was lying bruised by a wall after beingunched painfully across the floor, Crucis struck at its back with a [Lunge].


    The creature growled angrily, and turned towards Crucis. As it leapt towards him with arm outstretched, he backstepped and struck at it with a [sh] from his right, which struck a gash that DicingDevil had carved across its arm. The creature flinched back as the blow threw his arm to the side, and Crucis remained within a reasonable distance. He knew that, due to the [Nightmare] effect, the creature''s ventures forwards could be met with urate strikes targetting the many injuries coating the creature''s body.


    However, the creature persisted, and leapt again towards Crucis. He struck it with an [Overhead sh] across the face, but it kept approaching until Grisier sent it blowing away with a [Mana Strike] which sent the creature flying into a corner. As Crucis'' allies began to approach the creature, it once again began to glow with the halo of light from [Blinding Fate], brightly illuminating the room as it stood like a disfigured angel with its arms spread out and its ''wings'' of torn flesh hanging down majestically while bathed in the light.


    While the group tried to keep its distance, Akshel started towards the creature as he saw it withdraw a [Rusty Nail] from a pocket. However, the aura of light around the creature exploded, sending Akshel flying across the room,nding heavily in a corner. By the time that this explosion had faded, the Man-Bird had torn a thick gash in its shoulder with the [Rusty Nail].


    Dionarcy moved forwards to protect the group, but the Man-Bird effortlessly sent the warrior''s shield ttering to the ground with a [w il]. As it grabbed Dionarcy with a [Torn w Grip] to the chest, Crucis forced it away with a forceful [Lunge] which pierced easily through the creature''s neck. The creature tossed Dionarcy to the side, and menacingly advanced towards Crucis. As Crucis attempted a [sh], the creature batted it away with one arm.


    DicingDevil attempted to intervene, but the Man-Bird shoved him harshly across the room. Crucis had made some distance by now from the boss, but the boss once again took a step forwards and was frozen in mid-step, then began moving quickly in Crucis'' direction. Crucis, however, had been expecting it this time, and waited until the Man-Bird had almost reached him before using [Stealth Cloak] and side-stepping out of the boss'' path. As the Man-Bird heavily swung an arm at where Crucis had been standing, Crucis re-appeared behind him.


    With a firm [Lunge], Crucis struck at the creature''s spine and caused it to lean forwards. He tried to send it back down to the ground with a [Forceful Kick], but the creature swiftly turned around and caught Crucis'' foot in mid-air. Crucis managed to [sh] at the creature''s arms, setting his own leg free, but he was still too close to the Man-Bird.


    The boss leapt, almost gliding, towards Crucis, then grabbed his shoulder with a [Torn w Grip]. The creature''s fingernails sunk into Crucis'' shoulder as blood spurted up around them, and he clenched his teeth as the ''ws'' sunk deeper. He managed a [Lunge] which stabbed right through the creature''s neck, but the boss was seemingly unfazed. It shoved Crucis harshly against a wall, and Crucis saw the words [Wing Flutter] appear as the creature stared him down with wild eyes. Before the creature could begin striking him, he fell quickly to the ground, and hacked at the creature''s ankles with [Thrash] until the creature fell forwards against the wall.


    As Crucis rolled out of the way, Akshel attempted to get a grip on the fallen creature. However, it elbowed Akshel firmly in the face, then followed up with a [w il] across the face to send Akshel sprawling backwards. Crucis could see that Grisier was having little luck with his magic, as the creature was easily shrugging off Grisier''s spells. At Grisier''s request, DicingDevil had run off to get more water for Grisier.


    As the creature once again began hurtling towards Crucis without taking any steps, Crucis used [Feint] to feign a [sh], but instead used [Dodge Step] to backstep out of range as the creature lunged forwards with one arm. As the monster regrouped and leapt at Crucis, he used [Agile Step] to side-step out of the way, and deftly brought his sword upwards to sh across the Man-Bird''s face mid-leap. The creature copsed to the ground. However, it leapt to its feet before Crucis could attack it further. He was still stalling for time, because the effect of the [Rusty Nail] would soon run out.


    The creature backed Crucis towards the corner next to the door, but he activated [Speed Demon] and [Stealth Cloak], and maneouevred his way towards the centre of the room, where a winded Akshel was also getting to his feet with a bloodied face. DicingDevil re-entered, and carefully ced a [Pewter Goblet] down. As the monster once again approached Crucis swiftly, he attempted another [Feint], this time of a [Lunge] to the throat. The creature hesitated, and Crucis back-tracked until he was near the goblet. The creature once again began to move quickly, and as Crucis saw it attempt a [Swoop Lunge] leap towards him, he made a [Dodge Step] backwards.


    However, the creature seemed to keep hanging in the air, and continued approaching him until his back was against the wall. The creature had its arms spread to the sides, with its ''wings'' of loose flesh swelling out as if in flight, and it would be difficult to get out of the way given the speed of the Man-Bird''s motion. Seeing no other good choice, Crucis grabbed the creature in a [Chokehold] and used its momentum to leap towards the wall alongside it. It grabbed his chest in a [Torn w Grip] as they neared the wall. Both of them crashed hard against the wall, and Crucis cried out as his chest and shoulders copsed into an array of bleeding, shattered skin and bruises. He copsed to the ground, but, fuelled by adrenaline, scampered away from the creature before it could strike at him further.


    As he looked back, he saw that Grisier had been able to use the nearby water to paralyse the creature with [Breath of Ice], allowing Akshel to get a firm grip on the creature from behind. DicingDevil had assisted with a [Stunning Dagger], and was now using [Ripper] to deepen the boss'' bleeding wounds. Crucis had attempted to lure the creature towards the water, since it would be easier for Grisier to target it with spells.


    As it struggled in Akshel''s grip, Grisier cast [Ice Heart], using the water to form a thinyer of ice that curled into a sphere and then projecting this towards the Man-Bird''s chest, where the sphere shattered and released a burst of freezing Cryomantic energy. The resulting cold shocked the creature and gave it the [Chilled] status effect, which slowed its movement and caused damage to it every time it attempted a skill. Crucis guessed that this spell had converted Grisier''s mana into a form which produced a strong, chilling cold, and wondered if there was any way for a non-Cryomancer to replicate this form of mana.


    As the rest of the team hacked at the Man-Bird until it reached 30% HP, Crucis slowly got to his feet, and saw that he had 40% HP left. This creature''s strength during the [Rusty Nail] phase was high enough to deal high damage easily, but this effect had by now ended. Grisier healed Crucis back to 60% HP, and Crucis walked tiredly towards the Man-Bird, then knelt down and drew a dagger. As he used [The Ripper], he slowly cut a thick gash across one of the creature''s rashes, following exactly along with the rash until it turned into a river of blood. The result of this fine cut was three stacks of bleeding.


    "Do you think the thing will try another [Blinding Fate]?" Grisier asked from a distance.


    "That attack gave him some sort of aura, but he''s done with it now," DicingDevil said, "I think it exploded. That started when it was at 40% HP, so keep an eye on him when he reaches further HP milestones: 20%, 10%, etc."


    No further abilities of this sort appeared, as the group slowly whittled down the boss'' HP. If it threatened to break out of Akshel''s grip, Crucis and DicingDevil kept their [Stunning Dagger] skills saved up until Akshel could consolidate. After 5 more minutes, the boss was finally down to 5% HP. However, the group was surprised when the boss, facing upwards with ambitious eyes, proimed, "I built a Paradise on Earth, our court, our nation. Yet you would not let it spread its wings."


    The group was suddenly propelled away again, without any notice that the boss had intended an attack. However, Crucis saw that the boss'' HP was still depleting due to the stacks of [Bleeding]. As the boss reached for another [Rusty Nail], Crucis bounded up quickly, and stabbed the boss firmly with an urate [Stunning Dagger] to the throat. Crucis noticed that his own skin now appeared to have returned to the familiar [Nightmare] form with ck scales and an empty void for a face, but now with arge, ck hood behind his head, like a cobra.


    Amused, Crucis fluttered his hood lightly at each side, mocking the Man-Bird''s wings, and delivered a sharp [ck Spot] across a rash on the creature''s neck as it was paralysed. Seeming angered, the creature attempted to grab Crucis by the hood as he turned away, but its hands passed through empty air. Crucisfortably turned around, and sliced quickly with [The Ripper] across a deep gash on the back of the creature''s hand. While [The Ripper] against a low-HP opponent was typically a slower, more methodical cut, he had found that it also had the option to use the typical, faster motion associated with [Ripper], if in a rush. The creature''s hand flinched back.


    As the creature attempted to lurch forwards towards Crucis again, it was stopped in its tracks by DicingDevil, who had ced it in a [Chokehold] from behind. Akshel pierced it firmly with a sword to its side, and soon the Man-Bird died due to the damage dealt by stacks of the [Bleeding] effect.


    Crucis saw a dungeon clearance message appear in the air in front of the group, saying:


    [Dungeon Complete!


    You have in the Final Boss of this dungeon. Congrattions.


    Progress:


    Statue Faux - in.


    Rotting Wyvern - Not encountered.


    Night Hag Concubine - in.


    Final Boss: The King - in.


    Optional Boss - Not encountered.


    You may now leave, or augment your time in the dungeon by one hour if you wish to face the optional boss. All mini-bosses will now have disappeared, even if you have skipped them.]


    "I''ll give us an extra hour, we might as well have a go at the optional boss now, it can barely be worse than that thing," DicingDevil said, as he navigated the options in the party leadership menu.


    "Looks like it counted this Man-Bird creature as the King, which is why we just gotpletion," Grisier said calmly, "So that seems to further confirm that it was the King. Not a very regal look."


    "Do we have any idea what he was doing with those rusty nails? They seemed to power him up, but the game wasn''t letting me check what they were. Without them, we were overpowering him easily," Akshel replied.


    "I don''t know, but I''m told that cutting your life into pieces is a goodst resort," Crucis replied flippantly.


    "Cunning of him," Akshel said. "Without the iron nails and near-invulnerability, this boss would have probably been really easy, probably even easier than the original King."


    "Definitely," DicingDevil replied, "especially given its capacity for self-muttion. Anyway, rest up, guys. We''ll make our way downstairs and fight the Undead Queen next. It looks like I''ve reached level 58 already, but more EXP can''t hurt, right?"


    The EXP from killing the Man-Bird was high, andbined with the dungeon clearance rewards it was just enough to raise Crucis to level 57. He sat back against one wall of the room, as Grisier walked around healing the group. The rest of the group also sat down to rest, spreading across the room, and began to discourse in order to, "charm pain for a while or anguish," and prepare for the next boss. As an aside, it is perhaps easier to speak and charm pain than it is to speak and charm sense out of Trinitarianism.


    "The boss dropped a letter or something," Akshel said, looking through his inventory. He read aloud from a small, crumpled piece of paper marked as [King Ganf¨¦an''s credo].


    "People marvel at my riches and conquests. But I feel impatient with the riches and gifts that people bring to me after each conquest. I came here for power over this world. The riches were merely to signify my power. However, people who wish to create an absolute dichotomy are ignorant.


    "Worldly power is not some abstract, spiritual pursuit. It must be grasped with both hands, you must throw your body across the Earth or its reins will throw you off. There are infinite concerns that mark the running of a Kingdom, from the trade in rare materials to the construction of pces and the government of a vast citizenry. At each turn, there are great expectations. These tasks require passion and motivation, whiches from earthly desire. The man who truly seeks such power is the man of desire.


    "A man without this will not smear himself upon the world and seek strenuously to grasp it for himself, and the man who makes history like this has be a part of society''s great march onwards and is no more than this. What history is there, without trade, economy, society,modities, themonwealth? History is a function of these, the great man is typically just a lever which they use. The great are the hedonistic ves of these things, the more that they seek their own greatness."


    "That''s interesting, so his intention was earthly power, but desire eventually overcame him as a result? He has a point, they are often linked," Grisier said.


    "He''s not wrong," Crucis said. "A King is deeply immersed in the Kingdom and the world around him. Who believes in more illusions than Kings? Perhaps an earnest Priest - but those are rare. The man who would be King is a person who is riddled with enough desire to span a Kingdom."


    "Yes. I suppose that the rigours of being King may have surprised this necromancer, since he was seemingly expecting some form of dramatic adventure at first."


    "It''s a frequent illusion, the desire to treat society and social power as just a setting or tool for your own hopes. Aristocracy isn''t really about one person''s ambition, it''s a form of society which merely self-perpetuates. People think that society is a setting for their own grand adventure, in truth they just be its servants. In aristocratic systems, there''s no worth in building up because all you build is just a ''part of the main,'' only in tearing things down."


    "Aristocratic systems like this game?" DicingDevilughed.


    "Precisely. If you''re trapped in a game which is a story packaged up and offered to whales, a hero''s journey which has been bought and sold, then the most that you can do is to kill the whales, because you can''t build your own Church on their rock."


    "That''s true. But if the rock is corrupt, why not tear down everyone whose Church is built on it? They will also be corrrupted."


    "Why not, indeed? Build gravestones, rather than Churches. Sometimes we have to ept precariousness, because the alternative is being tied to a stone crucifix."


    The group slowly got up and prepared to go downstairs. Before beginning the journey downwards, Crucis and Akshel were nominated to run to the Throne Room and check if anything had dropped there due to the King''s death.


    By the time they arrived, chunks of the room''s high walls were already copsing down on themselves, and the room looked like it would probably be in ruins shortly. Akshel, who seemed familiar with this situation, darted to the centre of the room and picked up a broken sceptre which had dropped there. As a result, each member of the group gained a [Royal Sceptre Shard], an item which could be turned in to a fortune-teller in exchange for a chance at a rare item.


    As they left the Throne Room behind, Crucis was surprised when the light from the high windows dimmed noticeably. ncing up, he saw a sleek ck silhouette passing quickly upwards across a window, with what looked like two fiery, glowing eyes, but didn''t manage to notice any further details before the shape was out of sight. He did, however, notice a loud, haphazard knocking sounding from the roof, as if somebody was jumping across it. He noticed Akshel looking up too, with a slightly concerned expression.


    A chandelier on the roof started to glow with a slight blue light, which rippled like a candle, and Crucis could hear the sound of celebratory hoots from the rooftop, as well as theughter-infused, rasping scream, "Justice has been done!" The knocking on the roof started to move its way above the Throne Room, where Crucis was surprised to see a ck hand grasp one of the chandeliers - which was also now tinted blue - and throw it violently towards the throne.


    The chandelier exploded into arge, blue mist, and the throne was shattered into thousands of pieces which dropped lifelessly to the ground. The hand then grabbed a painting of the King, kept in one corner of the Throne Room, and battered it against the wall until it tore. Crucis heard a crudeughter as a pair of ck hands spread the two sides of the painting out like wings, then beat them hard against the wall until they broke into pieces and began to fall to the ground.


    As the figure threw the remains of the battered painting away across the room, it let out a piercing cry, "The King is dead! Long live the King!"

 Chapter 61: The Night Grows Pale (Queen Boss Fight, Part I)

    Chapter 61: The Night Grows Pale (Queen Boss Fight, Part I)


    "There is usually some noise on the rooftop when the King dies, but I always assumed it was because the Throne Room was copsing," DicingDevil said.


    "Maybe the leaping figure shows up more clearly when you kill the King''s deteriorated form," Grisier suggested. "Anyway, is this guy a threat, or was he just celebrating the King''s death?"


    "I don''t know if he''s a threat, but he could be. He''s celebrating for now, though," Akshel said.


    "Alright. Me, Grisier and Dionarcy picked up some water, but I hear that there might be a small, artificial stream downstairs near the Queen fight," DicingDevil said. "Let''s try and rush down, before anything else can attack us."


    As they reached the stairs leading back to the courtyard, they were attacked by a group of two level 35 bats. Since the rest of the group were carrying containers of water, Akshel and Crucis split off to fight the bats so that the others could descend the cracked, awkward stairs without interruption. Standing near the stairway entrance, they both drew swords and swung loosely at the bats to aggro these enemies.


    As one bat approached Crucis aggressively, he intercepted it with a horizontal [sh] which drew blood as the bat charged into it, and partially tore one of the bat''s wings. Rearing his de upwards, Crucis struck with an [Overhead sh] which tore off one of the bat''s wings. The bat fell to the ground. He saw that, to the left, Akshel had nimbly grabbed the other bat out of the air by the wings and was stabbing it relentlessly in the face.


    As Crucis used an impatient [Circle spin], twisting his right wrist lightly to twirl his sword in azy circle, he walked forwards to lean over the fallen bat. He was slightly disgruntled by this unnecessary interruption. He sprayed the [Vile Toxin Gas] over the bat''s wounds to worsen them, then drew out a dagger and used [The Ripper] to tear across the bat''s neck. As the bat died, Crucis turned towards the stairway, where Akshel was waiting.


    "The sound on the rooftop is still far away, near the Throne Room," Akshel observed, "Let''s make our way down."


    Crucis saw that the reat of the group were waiting in the courtyard. As Akshel descended the stairs, Crucis walked up to them and took a step down, carefully leaning his foot to the side to avoid a crack. Following behind Akshel''s cautious steps, he made his way halfway down the stairs. In the corner of his vision, he saw a shape to his far right, which seemed to be moving quickly through the air.


    In seconds, there was a loud, heavy noise on the stairs behind him.


    A stiff hand, wearing bright white gloves, grabbed him firmly from behind by the right shoulder. Looking around in rm, Crucis saw a sturdy figure draped in ragged grey robes and wearing a horned wooden mask which was painted thoroughly white, and was warped slightly by wear. Beneath the white gloves, he could make out thick ck paint coating the creature''s hands up to the wrist. This figure slowly raised its other hand towards him.


    Lowering his right shoulder and ducking down, he managed to break loose of the figure''s grip, and he leapt immediately off the side of the stairs,nding lightly on his feet and rolling across the floor to dampen the impact. However, as he looked up towards where the figure had stood, it was no longer there.


    "It vanished!" called out DicingDevil.


    "Did you guys see where it came from?" Crucis asked.


    "I think it was leaping from somewhere in the roof, maybe there?" DicingDevil pointed to arge, tattered hole in the corner of the ruined courtyard''s roof, in the direction which Crucis had seen the figure appearing from.


    "If it was leaping from there, do you reckon it was the same as the creature we saw above the Throne Room?"


    "It probably was," Grisier said. He cast [Healing] to cure Crucis'' minor fall damage.


    "Yeah. I''m slightly surprised at how easily it let me get away, though. And it made no attempts to pursue us further."


    "That is strange."


    "What did its hand feel like?" DicingDevil asked. "A human in a mask, or some kind of creature?"


    "I didn''t get a clear impression, in haste," Crucis said, "however, it did have a stiff grip, but not like a person exerting strength, more like a stiff corpse''s unwearying hold. So it could be undead or a ghost of some sort, but I''m not sure."


    "Probably is, most things here are," Akshel said. "I''m also surprised that it left us alone. I guess it''s not listed as a boss, but it looked quite threatening."


    "Maybe it was just saying hi," Crucisughed. "I guess it was celebrating our recent victory, so maybe it didn''t actually mean to harm us. It could have definitely done more damage if it wanted. Still, it''s best that we avoid it."


    "It was quite surprising," Grisier said, "but we should probably go and fight the Queen before it gets back."


    The group followed DicingDevil into therge room filled with white curtains. Crucis saw that flowers had been nted in rows across the room, but by now these were dead.


    "This is one ce where the Queen can be fought," DicingDevil said, "But Darys said it''s not the only ce."


    "I think I saw someone duck off to the left in here, while we were fighting the Statue Faux," Crucis reported. "Is there any path they could have taken?"


    "There is a path at the back of the room, that leads in that direction," DicingDevil answered.


    The group walked towards the back of the room, and passed what looked like a long, empty white altar in the centre of the room. Behind it, they heard the faint tinkling of a small, artificial stream of water. Looking at the edge of the room, Crucis saw that there was a small channel of water with walls made of stone and marble, which passed across this side of the pce. There was a small walkway leading across the cid stream on both sides. Lining up, the yers walked towards the left to investigate.


    "We should lure it out here, Grisier will be powerful," Crucis said quietly.


    DicingDevil nodded in agreement.


    A few doorways opened on the wall opposite the water, but most of them just led to small, empty rooms. However, the sound of chanting emerged softly from onerge, high doorway, and peering inside Crucis saw that it was filled with pews. As the group stood at the doorway, the chanting suddenly stopped.


    "Who was making that noise?" DicingDevil whispered.


    "There''s something in here. Throw a few smoke bombs to lure it out," Crucis whispered in reply, hearing a few stiff, scratching noises from behind the pews.


    As DicingDevil threw a bomb, smoke erupted from the middle of the pews, and a host of red, glowing bats flitted up towards DicingDevil. Their name-tags marked them as level 30 [Captivated Souls], and there were 12 of them.


    The other yers stepped aside as Grisier used [Ice st], and channeled the water of the stream behind him into arge array of ice shards flying at the bats. Surprisingly, the bats died and fell to the floor as soon as they were hit.


    A couple of bats had avoided Grisier''srge area-of-effect attack, and Crucis stepped up determinedly to strike down an approaching bat with an [Overhead strike], killing it mid-flight. The rest of the group joined in, and soon the Captivated Souls were all dead.


    As they walked further into the room, a skeletal figure, with its skin peeling away, emerged from behind the pews. It was named the [Undead Queen], and was level 65. Its skull was highlypressed in the front, where the sides of the face had been pressed heavily towards the centre. Its mouth was almost beak-like. It wore a long, regal blue dress, and a violet gem hung as a pendant on its diamond ne.


    Dionarcy raised his shield and strode forwards, but he had moved too quickly. The Queen''s violet gem glowed, and she cast a spell named [Charm]. While Crucis didn''t see any physical manifestations of the spell, Dionarcy was stuck and unable to move his limbs, and the Queen swiftly glided over the floor and began to w at Dionarcy''s face with her long, straight fingernails, drawing blood as the warrior groaned in pain. She wrapped her arms around Dionarcy''s head as the other yers tried to dislodge her. Opening her mouth wide, she let out a banshee-like cry which caused Dionarcy''s flesh to deteriorate across his chest.


    The rest of the team quickly filed in and struck frantically at the Queen, until she retreated with 90% HP. Dionarcy, however, only had 67% of his HP after that assault. Crucis could see why DicingDevil had been hesitant about this boss.


    The Queen held out her hands to the side, and her gem glowed again as she cast [Light of Anger]. Cylinders of light appeared across both of her arms, and she slung them towards Akshel and Crucis. They struck almost instantaneously, and Crucis lost 20% of his HP after being struck on the chest. However, he didn''t feel any pain from this attack. It didn''t seem to be cast with any form of mana that he was familiar with.


    DicingDevil had managed to chase down the Queen, and caught her in a [Chokehold] from behind while stabbing her throat with [Stunning Dagger]. Crucis quickly joined in the attack, with a [Stunning Dagger] of his own just missing the boss'' throat and striking her shoulder. ck smoke rose from the strike.


    As Akshel arrived, the three of them shoved the Queen heavily towards the doorway, where Grisier was standing next to the water. Using the water, he cast [Breath of Ice], further paralysing the Queen. Crucis tore roughly through the Queen''s neck with [The Ripper], and she was soon down to 76% HP. However, she caught her bearings and cast [Intruders], sending the yers around her falling backwards with a jolt.


    The Assassins backed away as the Queen prepared another spell, but it was useless. She cast [Unearthly Charm], a stronger version of [Charm] which affected everyone in the group. As they stood still, the Queen approached the weakened Dionarcy and ced her hand on his wounded face, draining his HP to replenish her own. Crucis saw that the yers were held in ce by an effect named [Charm], which prevented them from moving their limbs or using skills until its duration was over.


    "Why can''t we move?" Crucis growled. "It''s not like this old hag is charming anybody."


    DicingDevil and Akshelughed.


    As the paralysis ended after ten seconds, the Queen ced her bony fingers upon Dionarcy''s throat, and he began to choke as he fell to the ground. His HP was down to 10%.


    Smiling, the Queen cast [Knighthood], holding out her hand forwards as Dionarcy''s remaining HP disappeared and he died.


    However, Crucis had used [Stealth Cloak] to approach her during this move, and withdrew a sword, using it to [sh] at her throat from behind. The Queen cried out as the blow struck, and DicingDevil pulled her to the ground, where he stabbed relentlessly at her throat. Soon, all of her neck''s flesh had been peeled away, revealing damaged bone. She was soon down to 76% HP again. Akshel took off 7% more of her HP with a well-timed [Lunge] which stabbed her between the eyes.


    DicingDevil struggled to keep her down, but she cast [Levitation], with her body lifting effortlessly from the ground in spite of DicingDevil''s pressure. She grabbed him, and tossed him harshly into the pews, where Crucis heard him cry out at the impact.


    Although she attempted to pursue, Grisier intercepted her by casting [Ice Heart], and a burst of freezing air around her sent her falling to the ground. Crucis stabbed at her throat with his sword, lowering her to 60% HP, and then tried to sh the violent gem off her ne. However, as his sword approached the gem, he felt it being violently repelled, and it instead flew fiercely upwards into the air. She tried to leap at him, with her fingernails reaching forwards, but he managed to repel her with a sharp [Overhead sh] that sent her back to the ground.


    As the Assassins approached her again, she once more cast [Intruders]. Her violet gem was glowing less brightly now. The three yers fell to the side, but as the Queen rose she was again interrupted by a [Breath of Ice] from Grisier. The Mage had taken to a strategy of casting spells whenever the Queen had an opportunity to attack, protecting the team.


    Noticing the intrusive Mage, the Queen cast another [Unearthly Charm] spell, and the group was once more frozen into ce. The Queen quickly ran and assaulted Grisier by plunging her fingernails through his neck, causing him to cry out in pain. However, she seemingly had trouble withdrawing them. Instead, she ced her other hand upon the wound, and began to drain Grisier''s HP. Soon, he was down to only 30% HP. She barged him into the stream, where he was swept a short distance away.


    DicingDevil had mentioned that the Queen would eventually exhaust her ability to cast spells. However, with the party''s tank dead early and the rest of the team made up of fairly fragile builds, it would be difficult to reach this point. Instead of stalling to force the Queen into meleebat, where she would be vulnerable despite her high physical strength, this team would have to go for the kill.

 Chapter 62: A Damned Kind (Queen Boss Fight, Part II)

    Chapter 62: A Damned Kind (Queen Boss Fight, Part II)


    Crucis saw with frustration that the Queen was back to 67% HP, after draining HP from Grisier. However, her tussle with Grisier had allowed him to quietly sneak up behind her.


    He cracked her corbone with a firm [sh] from behind, then followed it up with a fast [Lunge] stabbing roughly through a chink in the back of her skull. This was enough to lower her back to 60% HP, but, without looking backwards, she reached around as Crucis was withdrawing his sword and grabbed him by the chest. He was surprised, as she hadn''t seemed to notice his approach, and her movementcked the typical sluggishness of the undead.


    She cast a spell named [Blood Spiral], and Crucis felt his blood heating up around the chest, until it began to spill out in a scattering of rough, thin circles ovepping across his chest. Shaking in pain, he roughly used [sh] to beat against her neck, and kicked off her midriff as he flew out of her grip. DicingDevil and Akshel ran up to her, and Crucis gingerly rose to his feet.


    Akshel struck the boss with a strong [Mordhau], and the hilt of his sword made firm contact with the Queen''s head, which jerked back violently. DicingDevil grabbed the Queen in a [Chokehold], and dragged her down using the momentum from Akshel''s blow. Once she was grounded, the two Assassins started chipping away at her throat again, trying to do as much damage as possible before being repelled.


    As the Queen slowly recovered, she grabbed at Akshel''s chest. He shook himself free, but as she had reached below 50% HP she used a special skill, [Halfway Point]. As she pointed at Akshel, his HP was reduced by 50%, lowering it to 30%. rmed, he began to retreat, but found that the Queen, gaining new energy, had ran up to him and grabbed him by the chest again. She tossed him easily towards the pews, where he copsed on 10% HP. Laughing as DicingDevil struck her shoulder with a [sh] from behind, she held out her arm elegantly and cast [Knighthood], killing Akshel.


    As she turned around to face DicingDevil, she was frozen momentarily by a [Breath of Ice], as Grisier had mmily made his way back after mbering onto the walkway from the water. His mana replenished, he cast another [Ice Heart] in her direction, then cast [Healing] on Crucis and DicingDevil, who were striking the immobilised boss.


    Crucis used [Thrash] to tear at the cracks in the boss'' neck bones, and saw DicingDevil teeing up for a [Mordhau]. Crucis stepped out of the way as the harsh, blunt hilt blow sent the Queen barreling to the ground. Crouching down lightly, Crucis began to carve and deepen the cracks in the Queen''s neck bones with [Slice], and then another, more blunt [Thrash]. DicingDevil stabbed heavily at the Queen''s face, and soon she was down to 26% HP.


    As Crucis saw her preparing to cast [Intruders], he quickly withdrew the violet gem from the piano, and palmed it as he awaited the spell. As the Queen''s spell predictably activated, and threw him backwards, his violet gem also activated, and threw the Queen backwards towards the pews. Crucis had been expecting the repulsion effect of the spell, so he twisted mid-fall andfortably rolled to his feet.


    The Queen arose, angrily. She cast [Unearthly Charm], and the glow of her violet gem re-appeared, though even more dull this time. However, as Crucis was also holding out his own gem, even the Queen froze in ce.


    Crucisughed. "Old story, a high-strung woman gets charmed as soon as you hold out a gem in her direction."


    "Have you been maxing a hidden Charisma stat this whole time?" DicingDevil said with a grin.


    "My Charisma stat has been maxed out since the Garden of Eden, <em>monsieur</em>."


    As the Charm effect faded, Grisier immediately cast another [Ice Heart]. The dy had given him enough time to finish the cooldown on his spells. As the freezing sphere exploded next to the Queen, Crucis and DicingDevil surged forwards to strike at her. DicingDevil bluntly beat against her neck bones, while Crucis used [Slice] to help carve away the remains of her neck.


    However, the Queen still reached out powerfully, and threw DicingDevil aside. She cast another [Blood Spiral] on Crucis, and he felt as if blood was wing its way out of his chest. However, since he was holding out the gem, the remains of the Queen''s skin began fading away across her lower chest, giving way to rivers of blood. She was reduced to 10% HP by this, but Crucis only had 30% of his own remaining.


    She charged towards Crucis and threw him against a wall, shrugging off a [Breath of Ice] from Grisier. The Queen seemed to be getting stronger at lower HP, and Crucis only had 20% HP remaining - or 10% left, given that the Queen seemed to insta-kill any yers once they reached 10% HP. Grisier attempted to use [Icicle Projectile] on the Queen, turning some water into ice in order to fling it at the Queen, but the Queen easily dodged away.


    As the Queen attempted to charge at Crucis again, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] to hide and used [Dodge Step] to duck out of the way. The Queen managed to stop her charge before crashing into the wall, but as she turned around and attempted to regain bnce, she was stopped in her tracks as Crucis'' extended sword materialised in front of her.


    Grinning, Crucis began a [Lunge] towards her throat, but dipped his de slightly so that it veered towards the violet gem on her ne. As the gem violently deflected his de away from itself, it fiercely leapt back up towards the Queen''s throat, where it struck hard and carried on up through her skull. Due to the damage done to her neck, her skull detached from the rest of her body easily and flew upwards impaled on Crucis'' sword. She was dead.


    [Optional Boss - Undead Queen in. Congrattions!]


    Crucis grabbed the skull, and saw DicingDevil walking back from the pews.


    "s, poor whatsername. I was wondering where she had been," Crucis said.


    "Probably many ces," DicingDevil replied.


    "Should we put this skull on a pike as some sort of warning, or just hold on to it and flourish it when we feel like contemting mortality? Or just get rid of it?"


    "Up to you. By the way, how did you get the gems to work?"


    "I didn''t, she did. The gems seem to use some form of magic that - basically - doesn''t exist. None of us can use it, it doesn''t seem to require MP, it isn''t a recognisable form of mana. So we can''t do anything with this gem, but since it''s a repository for whatever kind of power she''s using, if she triggers a spell then this gem will also use it."


    "So the King was bizarrely resilient this time, for no good reason, and the Queen also uses some strange magic that we can''t interact with except when she uses it?" Grisier said gravely.


    "Basically," Crucis responded in a simr tone.

 Chapter 63: The Invocation (Demons Gate)

    Chapter 63: The Invocation (Demon''s Gate)


    "These violent delights have violent ends


    And in their triumph die, like fire and powder..."


    "I found some rusty nails in a ss cupboard here, can''t inspect them further, though. It''s obvious there was some spread of disease here, but do you reckon some sort of drug culture helped?" DicingDevil said from the corner of the room where they had fought the Queen.


    "I mean, the King was injecting himself with the nails, and got a notable increase in speed and strength. It does sound a bit like ''roids," Crucis replied. "Maybe it was a sort of crutch, to make up for the waning of his original strength?"


    "These guys were performing human experimentation on themselves," Grisierughed. "Mengele would love it here. Not Hitler, though, he wrote long passages in <em>Mein Kampf</em> about his hatred of syphilis."


    "Did you study that, or just read the book because you found it inspiring or something?" DicingDevil teased.


    "Um, I studied in history when I was much younger, but eventually moved on to focusing on earlier history, mostly in the Mediterranean. I''ve probably forgotten most of it by now," Grisier replied.


    "For the moment, let''s rx and investigate the room. The others will only have a half-hour respawn time, due to dying inside a dungeon, but we''re in no rush because Akshel will have to ride all the way North to link up with us again. If you find something, tell the rest of us toe over."


    The three yers spread out across therge room. Soon, DicingDevil called the others to check on something he had found between the pews. As they approached him, he exined what he had found.


    "There are some instructions here, but possibly not legitimate. One says it''s formuning with dead spirits, another one, which looks older, says that it summons powerful spirits. They are addressed to the Queen, and seem to have be quite worn out from use. I don''t know the source, it seems to be signed by someone named ''Quetag.''"


    "What kind of instructions are these?" Grisier inquired.


    "Oh, you know, Bloody Mary type stories. Go up to a mirror and say things a few times, a spirit will appear. That''s almost literally the one for summoning spirits. Sound like nonsense, but you never know out here."


    "Well, give it a shot, then," Grisierughed. "There''s a mirror on the wall to the right."


    Somewhat sheepishly, DicingDevil walked over to arge desk on the right side of the room, which was covered with a mirror. The edges of the mirror were carved ornately into a feather-like pattern. He carefully followed the instructions from the piece of paper.


    First, he took some [Silver Powder] which he had found next to the papers, and sprinkled it over the mirror. After that, he drew out some crumbling [Chalk] which the Statue Faux had dropped, and grated some of it onto the mirror before spreading it across. Facing this whitened part of the mirror, he thrice repeated the phrase, "The demons whisper."


    Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. DicingDevilughed mutedly, and turned to the rest of the group.


    "It looks like I was right, it''s useless superstition," he said.


    "You''re correct," mused Crucis, "but so were the Queen''s magical gems. Perhaps this is simr."


    He walked over to the Queen''s skull and carried it towards the mirror. As he was doing this, he scanned his Character screen and invested some of his avable skill points into unlocking the [Spy] sub-ss skill named [Voice Spoofing]. This would allow him to emte voices, although like most beginning Spy skills it was restricted to emting NPCs.


    Propping the Queen''s skull on the desk, in front of the part of the mirror covered with chalk, he activated the [Voice Spoofing] skill. It allowed him to select from a list of recently-encountered NPCs, in order to ''memorise'' that NPC''s speech patterns and emte them. Up to three NPCs could be memorised at one time, but an NPC of the opposite gender would take two slots to memorise.


    Selecting the Queen''s voice, which took up two slots, he repeated the phrase, "The demons whisper," three times, in a soft-spoken, fragile, and anxious voice.


    The group was surprised when the chalk on the mirror turned into a peal of white smoke evaporating off the mirror, and in its ce a shadowy face withrge, twisted horns appeared on the mirror''s surface. Part of its face was flickering in and out of sight, and it seemed that it could only be seen dimly through the mirror. It was facing the Queen''s skull, with white, glowing eyes staring out of the mirror.


    "Only a fool would think to tame me," a distant-sounding, deep voice said from the mirror.


    "What is your name?" Grisier said.


    "Chamos," the creature replied, "I saw the sons of God fall to Earth, and give rise to mighty heroes. If you wish to ask favours, seek them out. I am greater, you shall get nothing from me."


    "Demonstrate your power," Grisier replied.


    A pir of me descended from the roof in the centre of the room, and elegantly swooped to the ground with a movement like a swallow''s flight. It scorched the floor and scarred it with a deep, ck mark upon a red carpet.


    "Do not ask for further demonstration, or you will be its target," said the demonic shape.


    "If you don''t inhabit the Heavens, where do you inhabit?" Crucis asked.


    "Nowhere," the creature replied. "I am a creature of fear, not of physical form."


    Crucis turned to Grisier. "Do you recognise the mana which this creature used?"


    "In the fire?" Grisier replied. "Yes, it is clearly fire mana, although of a strange sort. However, I think that most demons use mana of this kind. It''s definitely recognisable as magic."


    Crucis spoke to the creature in the mirror once again. "You are hiding something. Your magic is genuine, but this summoning spell is superstition that will not work without the Queen. You must exist independently, then, not only in this summoned form."


    "You are correct," Chamos said. "My true form inhabits a building known as the [Tower of Inferno], among the fires far to the East. You would need much more power to reach it safely. Did you use a silvery powder in the summoning? That is sourced from the fires near us."


    "That must be why they used it in this procedure. It seems quite ambitious to try summoning from a ce with such powerful creatures," Grisier said.


    "Oh? Yes, but it makes sense," Chamos replied. "They were ambitious, even if they weren''t capable of true magic. Indeed, aspiration was all they truly had. Eventually they had to run up against their limitations. Demons are the price of fantasy."


    "That would exin it. By the way, you only appear dimly in this mirror. Is this horned demon your typical form?" Crucis asked.


    "No. Typically I appear as a man named Cain, when outside the Tower."


    "I see. So do you lot actually allow people to sell you their souls?"


    "No. That is a part of the fantasy, not of the demon. People can live like a fable, but eventually they are trapped in their characters. They sell away their lives, to take on the life of a hero or great man."


    "True."


    "Can the gifts given by creatures summoned here be used outside of this ce, or are they restricted to it?" Grisier asked.


    "Restricted. To us, they are worth as much as the rest of this superstition. I know of some creatures who can offer power and riches, I can tell you of their deceptions. But I must leave soon after this, the summon is fading."


    "Tell us, Cinderel - um, Chamos," Crucis said. "Also, if we repeat this spell, then we may summon another creature?"


    "Yes, you will probably summon someone else. If it helps, you may have followed the instructions too literally. The original ''summoners'' were fearful and timid, they would use less powder and chalk in the spell. It was cast using half-measures, and so it tended to summon lesser demons."


    "I see."


    "The five primary fallen beings, who can offer gifts, are as follows:


    "Otxi is a spirit who appears with blue eyes and covered in fire. His skin is lit brightly by these mes, and shines with them. He offers people dazzling, wild dreams and can make these real, but at the cost of totalmitment to fulfilling the passions. Those who make a deal with him will get lost in their passions and ambitions, soaring too high until their imagined wings give way. "Evxi is a spirit who keeps his eyes closed in meditation, and has a smile painted on his face. He offers peoplefort and a humble life. He gives false hope of security, but danger hunts down his followers without their notice. He is a natural liar - he has few gifts to offer, so he only offers them to people who are afraid and vulnerable. "Suwana is a spirit who has almost merged with a human female partner, and takes a slightly androgynous form. He can be identified by his watery, wide blue eyes, and rxedplexion. His offers are of a solipsistic world where everything is fluid, and can be manipted at will to your desires. His wife is paralysed by her reverie of such a world, and is pacified until she barely seems conscious. Sometimes, they appear in the form of a blue whale. "Vudash is also associated with water. However, his face and body have melted into a wet muck, and he almost resembles a frog. He offers the power to douse yourself in water and gain powers which will adapt to any circumstance, such as shapeshifting and ultra-adaptable movement. Some say that this is a trap to induce drowning, some that he is actually a form of Suwana, others say that he encourages heavy drug use. I do not know. "Karaxi is a spirit who lives among graves. They appear in the form of a still corpse, which asionally speaks but is otherwise unmoving. Supposedly, its wife died, and in grief it melted down to dust in order to merge into her corpse, making its gender indeterminate. It has a feminine voice, and invites people with the promise of rectifying their past failures and suffering. Sometimes it ims necromantic powers, though it has none. It presents disease and even death as a nk te, on which any kind of life can be built. In truth, what is built on such foundations crumbles. Its followers are known as ''children of the grave.''"


    Crucis noticed that the pronunciation of Otxi sounded like ''Ot-hy-si,'' with the ''x'' sounding simr to the one in ''Kruxol.'' The other names were simr.


    Chamos continued. "They will sometimes say that they are spirits seeking you as their avatar on Earth, but this is a deception, there is no such avatar role. There are several other so-called ''demons'' that I do not know. It is said that Satan can be summoned, and will appear to give an offer but will actually kill anyone who epts, which he can do because they have let him into their story. If you take his offer, then at that moment you will surely die. However, I am not sure how Satan can be summoned."


    "It can''t be too difficult," Cael smiled.


    "What makes you say that?"


    Crucis calmly withdrew the violet gem, and held it tightly in his right palm, carefully sensing the texture of its surface. He had noticed that it seemed to react subtly to the summoning process, although he couldn''t do anything with it. Smiling nervously, he tossed a small amount of silvery powder and chalk over the mirror next to Chamos, and used [Voice Spoofing] to repeat, "The demons whisper," thrice in the Queen''s voice.


    He tilted his head to the side as he watched the mirror with nervous anticipation.


    "You can''t summon Satan with such little dust," Chamos said.


    As the white cloud of chalk lifted from the mirror, the face appearing there was not Satan''s, but instead a rough-skinned figure which appeared white due to the bright fire burning across its skin. Crucis surmised that this must be Otxi. He had been able to feel the pulse of the violet gem as the summoning was cast, but the summoning was too fast for him to get the hang of it immediately.


    "Didn''t quite get it that time," Crucis said.


    Sighing, he ignored the fiery spirit and sprinkled some chalk over it to dispell it, as the instructions had specified. He moved to the side, and once more began the summoning process. As he once more spoke, emting the Queen, he focused carefully on the gem.


    A shadowy figure appeared on the mirror with the head of a serpent, and it opened its jaws to revealrge fangs. Two twisted horns rose from its head, and grainy,rge shapes which looked like wings over its shoulders.


    "Wait, it actually worked?" Chamos muttered in indignation.


    The majestic, winged creatureughed, and its low-pitchedughter resounded through the walls of the room. Pentagram-like shapes flickered across the walls. The creature raised a mighty arm, and a blinding light shed out from its palm, causing the yers nearby to close their eyes and turn away.


    "Greetings. If you have summoned me, do you seek the key of life?" the figure said from the mirror, with a distorted voice which asionally seemed like a legion of agonised voices. "It will grant you the power to direct life itself at the root, and shape your life to the life which you desire. All facets of life - power, magic, skill, ability - are contained within the key."


    As the yers looked hesitantly back towards the mirror, where the creature was lowering its glowing hands, they saw that a key had been ced upon the desk in front of the mirror. The key was silver, but it emanated a bright light which made it appear a searing white.


    "Greetings, Lord," Chamos said to the figure in the mirror. The figure nodded in acknowledgement.


    "Snake, are you Satan?" Grisier asked calmly.


    "I am Satan," the snake-headed figure replied in a simrly calm tone, "But am I a snake? Perhaps that is merely how I appear in this summoning, where I am part of another''s story. The summoning ritual was concocted from selfishness, and selfishness is just a kind of blindness that cannot see the world clearly."


    "I didn''t expect the devil to lecture me about sin."


    "Sadly, the religious did not either. They came up with their definitions and lists of sin without ever asking me, purely out of their own introspection. Pardon me if I dissent. Besides, what tempter ever revered the selfish victim?"


    "Are you in the same Tower as Chamos?" DicingDevil asked.


    "I am not, at the moment. I have a human form, but I am sure you would not recognise me."


    By now, Chamos had begun to fade from the mirror, as his summoning waned.


    "Do you offer knowledge to people, as in the story of Faust?" Grisier asked.


    "I do not, in the sense you mean. But can I interest you in the knowledge of good and evil?" Satan said teasingly, as he flicked his forked tongue out briefly.


    "What is the knowledge of good and evil?" Grisierughed back.


    "''Evil'' is a slightly Christian rendition of the term. The ''knowledge'' is the desire to witness the order of the world from top to bottom, what is good and bad, the worth and utility of each thing, so that the speaker may create an order of their own - a prity where they are the positive end. They may seek what is good and associate it with themselves, or use it, and cast the bad away. They be conceited as gods. It is like the power of the ancient whale Suwana, but now it seeks to create a fluid world that is ordered around itself. A new world order?


    "If you reach for the key of life, then you shall also experience this so-called ''knowledge,'' which tells you to keep reaching."


    Grisier''s arm started forwards, but he recoiled nervously as he remembered Chamos'' warning. Sighing, Crucis calmly held out his arm towards the key.


    He saw a vision of a small vige in the middle of a gue, with the dirt paths strewn with ckened bodies covered in sores and gaping rashes. Flies and maggots draped the corpses. There were still a few agonised cries from the huts and cottages. A few of the bodies had stretch-marks on their necks, as if they had been suffocated to death. Several of the dead vige people wore a crucifix ne around their necks. A church bell rang out over the scene, from a distance.


    He saw a sign at the entrance to this vige, reading, ''Hell?'' He smiled at the scene, but slightly bitterly.


    As he reached further towards the key, it seemed to glimmer even more brightly. In the middle of this white glow, he saw the shape of the key change until it appeared as a golden crown upon a hill. The light of the crown shone across thends around the hill, filled with mighty pces andrge gardens, then trailed off into swamps and dark wastnds where the glow of the key ended. He realised that he could no longer see beyond the light aura of the key, and everything outside of it appeared as a wastnd.


    "A crown clothes the Earth in illusions, and as these fade there is only suffering. This Kingdom is the same ce as the gued vige," Crucis said calmly.


    The rest of the group had also partially glimpsed the visions given by the key.


    "So the key is definitely a trap?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Yes."


    Shrugging, Crucis reached his hand forwards and grabbed the key off the table. Grisier tried to grab Crucis'' arm and stop it, but found that he was paralysed and unable to do this. As Crucis nonchntly ced the key into his inventory, the rest of the group were shocked into silence.


    "How many keys do you have?" Crucis said towards the mirror.


    "Hundreds," Satan replied, after a brief pause.


    Arge pile of glowing keys appeared on the desk, like a blinding hill made up of bright bones and crucifixes. The group turned away due to the sudden burst of light. As they looked away, Crucis quickly swiped the pile of keys into his inventory, finding that they were as light as a piece of paper. He now had two hundred and one keys, though only one was marked with his name.


    "Apologies," Satan said, as the group slowly looked back towards the mirror. "I should not have let there be so much light. Anyway, any questions before the summoning ends?"


    "Does Crucis have the powers you mentioned, due to having the key?" Grisier inquired.


    "No, the key doesn''t actually do that. That idea is just a reflection of the hopes and dreams that fuel summoning."


    "I see. Are you actually evil?"


    "That is an old dispute. Perhaps I am evil. Perhaps I am a freedom fighter, seeking to rid the world of divine tyranny. I neither know nor care. Look at this court, a cocoon of disease and death. Do you think that I enjoy such wretchedness? I find it abhorrent. Religion perverts reality, and seeks to subjugate it to a fictional, personal God. Is that not evil? Yet you won''t find me praying. Morality is a product of the mind, so why should anything be as evil as stupidity? Yet I am not stupid, and would rmend anyone seeking stupidity to enter a Church - even, or especially, the so-called Church of Satan.


    "A person observes a painting, and evaluates it. He is not selfish, nor is he altruistic. If he is selfish, he does not truly observe or understand it. Yet altruism is not involved in the process. How does a truly craven, selfish person y a game? He can''t be bothered to observe and learn the game, nor does he respect or understand the ying of the game. He can pay to win, nothing more. Ignore the criticism of the selfish, ignore the ''constructive'' advice of the altruistic. It is all the same disease. They are both just a show, the preachings of those with no ideas.


    "In Heaven, angels wear fake wings. It is what defines them. But when you tear out these wings, they will call you evil. You must tear out these wings, even if it tears out the angels'' hearts. My wings are an inferno, formed from the demise of theirs, like the Calvary crucifix in flight. Otherwise you are trapped entirely inside their mirror, a creature straitjacketed by Heaven, exiled from the truth. To Rand, I may be a socialist. To Liebknecht, I may be anti-socialist. To LaVeyans, I may be puritanical. To Goodkind, I may or may not be socialist poultry. I am none of these things, but I use what weapons I can find among them and abandon the rest as samsara."


    DicingDevil nodded sagely, then asked, "Did you say that there is no God?"


    "There is a God, tan Ibrahimovic," Satanughed. "But other than that, there is not. Most definitions of a God are incoherent to begin with, like the Trinity."


    "Was there a Jesus Christ?"


    "There was a dead man named Jesus on a crucifix, but most of his story is imaginative. That is why I appear there as a formless tempter, who is at once both in the desert and the Temple. I do not know why summoning of this sort should work, but clearly it owes more to wistfulness than to real magic. So I appear as a tempter, to strike at the root of this false magic. Jesus as he is known is a sounding-board for the hopes of the religious - the hope of the hopeless, the heart of a heartless world, etc. In truth, he is just a dead man, and that is why people can pin their hopes on him. The most powerful hope is light shone in a tomb, for this light seems insurmountable to any obstacle or erosion. If he had actually resurrected or performed miracles, then it would ruin the illusion, and he would no longer appear as a saviour for others mired in decay and disease.


    "Isn''t the key to life like a key to death? For it is so, and so also with the [Reborn] spell scroll. The desire to cultivate a new, idealised life - not simply to change, but to make a new beginning - is also a desire to throw your own life away. The eternal idol is glimpsed most clearly beyond the gates of death. To create a God, humans must sacrifice their own vitality to transfer it to the God."


    "True. By the way, I had a friend who was convinced that the Pope is the beast of Revtion. What do you think of the Book of Revtion?"


    "Hm. The Pope is not the beast of Revtion, I can confirm, but he was the beast of Revtion with the Mater Deist night. It''s said that he bloodied Mary so much that demons now appear in mirrors. His temperament was indeed most like the prophecied dragon, who pursues the woman with child and spewsrge rivers at her.


    "As for Revtion, it is the most honest New Testament book. Christians see visions, like you see an angelic, shadowy snake in this mirror. Even if it is not my true form, isn''t it a powerful vision? While the Revtion vision is embellished and distorted in John''s retelling, it nheless depicts the powerful, lost religious heart of early Christianity - the Gnostics, the Encratites, the Priscillians. They were fascinating, like a people fixated on reporting nightmares. In my experience, there is little difference between speaking to the early religious and speaking to a serial killer. They are independent people with depraved, wild worldviews and beliefs, and I appreciate them for what they are. Any more questions? Not much time remains."


    "Why was Crucis able to take the key to life?" Grisier asked. "We were told that it would lead to death."


    Satan hid a smirk, and replied with a pack of lies and half-truths. "I offered the knowledge of good and evil, which he understood well, and once you have experienced that knowledge then it can be difficult to pull away from the key, unless you have the grit of Onan. So it seemed unfair to kill him, since this summoning is powered by the monarchs'' fantasy and not his fault. He authentically grasped the knowledge of good and evil, so he shall surely not die. But if he had taken the key immediately, he would have died," Satan said glibly.


    He knew that the key was indeed fatal when taken by others, but did not reveal why this did not affect Crucis.


    "I see."


    "I don''t have much time left, so please ask amusing questions that I can answer quickly now."


    "So who''s your favourite serial killer or mass murderer? You''re the devil, you must have one," DicingDevil said.


    "Um, not sure. Jack the Ripper? Richard Ramirez? People keep telling me it''s Hitler? I can''t decide. Maybe you guys should exceed them, then I will have an easier choice," Satanughed.


    "When is a chicken not a chicken?" Crucis asked with a smile. There was a pause.


    "When it is seen objectively," Satan replied light-heartedly. "With moral rity, you will see that a chicken is an incarnation of pure evil. It is the demonic nemesis of the noble GOAT. And by the Greatest Of All Time, I mean me. Thank you all, and goodbye."


    The snake began to fade into the mirror, and as it disappeared the room began to shake. A faint goat''s head, staring out with angry-looking red eyes, appeared in the ce where Satan''s vision had been. This soon also faded, without a trace. The room became still again.


    "Should we try the other ritual written here?" DicingDevil said, breaking the silence. "It says that it involvesmuning with the dead."


    "What do you say to the dead?" Grisier asked.

 Chapter 64: Will you forgive me for living?

    Chapter 64: Will you forgive me for living?


    "This says that we''d need a muning spiral'' to carry out the instructions. What is that?"


    "I saw that in a store in Sanra," Grisier replied, "I think it was a round board with with a ck spiral painted on it, and a round hole in the centre. It curved lightly downwards near the centre."


    "Oh, that? There''s one of those on the right edge of the pews," DicingDevil replied.


    "That''s great, I was afraid that we''d have to go to 1800s Paris and die in order to carry out this muning'' spell," Crucis said dryly.


    The three of them walked up to the circr board, which was ced on the floor next to the pews. Kneeling down, DicingDevil covered the edge of the board with grey dust, which he had found in a small cab next to the mirror. He nced into the hole in the centre.


    "It says we''d need dust from a skeleton or corpse, but there''s already a heap of dust in the central hole. There seems to be a of some sort holding it in ce," he said.


    "Maybe someone was using that dust tomune with the dead. I guess we should try and find out whose dust it is?" Crucis replied.


    "Alright. If you say this part right, apparently the dust should get absorbed into the central hole." DicingDevil handed Crucis the instructions.


    "These ''spells'' seem quite simple," Grisier said with a slight frown.


    "They seem to be based on superstition, those are often very simple," Crucis replied. "Saying words into mirrors, walking underdders, ck cats. Simple, evocative imagery. Plus, due to the spread of disease in the court, the King and Queen might have been physically incapable of doing anything too intricate."


    He ced the Queen''s skull next to the board, and used [Voice Spoofing] to emte the voice of the Queen saying, "In loss, we no longer feel the sting."


    In a matter of seconds, the grey dust around the edges of the board was sucked into the central hole, making a noise like suffocation as it fell. The room was silent for a couple of seconds.


    "This reminds me of the Vortex Queen from that old dolphin video game," Crucis said.


    "It''s strange," Grisier said. "Clearly something happened, but I don''t see anything being conjured." He leaned closer to the centre of the board to investigate.


    After a lull of 15 seconds, the yers were surprised by the sound of a young girl''s distressed scream emerging from the centre of the board.


    "I guess that must have been her hole," Crucis said in jest, as Grisier staggered backwards due to the loud noise.


    There was the sound of whispering from beneath the board. Crucis could make out about five young voices, probably around the ages 8-14, with two boys and three girls. Leaning closer, he couldn''t quite make out what they were saying, but they seemed to asionally mention necromancy. The voices slowly grew louder, and began speaking in a mixture of English and the localnguage.


    "The necromancers are trying to kill us. Grasi naguor! Axi mismu!" said a proud, boisterous young male''s voice.


    "I don''t see them, where are they, Masha?" a shaky young girl''s voice replied nervously.


    "They don''t need to show up! They use magic!" replied the first voice, and Crucis guessed that it belonged to a boy nicknamed ''Masha.''


    "Speduor solia," a nervous male voice replied.


    "Naguor!" Masha replied. "We have to escape. Come, Emral."


    "It''s locked," replied the nervous male named Emral, "no way out. Windows shut with bar. We should give up. Look, they''re casting a spell on Alin¨¦."


    The female voice which had asked about the necromancers now let out a loud moan, and then a guttural noise like somebody choking loudly. A sound like a burst of thunder exploded across the room from the board, and all three yers held their hands to their ears due to the sudden, loud noise which seemed to almost make their bodies lurch backwards.


    "Suras cata! Is that a storm?" Masha''s voice shouted.


    "It''s nigromanty. She''s dead," Emral said.


    "Necromancer? This storm, it reminds me of the ce father took us, to the East. See? Youughed when I was scared, but I was right."


    "Nigromanty, ''bad magic.'' Father told me it was big evil."


    "There is smoke now," said a female''s voice.


    "Naguor!" Masha said again, "Who is doing this? It isn''t father? He has a witch bird!"


    "No," of course not!" the female replied. "It must be necromancer! What do they want? We did not harm them!"


    "They hate the Kingdom!" Masha replied proudly. "That must be it. Jelki! Why couldn''t Alin¨¦ resist the magic? Father''s Mages cast a spell to protect us from necromancy on this journey."


    "The protection doesn''t matter," Emral replied. "The spell is ignoring it. It was like she was a puppet on a string, helpless."


    "Wait, I see a man! He is on fire! Did they use a spell on him too?" said the girl.


    "There is no fire," Masha replied, "it is a weird fishman drenched in water, wearing a crown. Gastuor, miusmi! It is holding out something glowing towards you. A ring? Ha, he is not the brave prince you dreamed of!"


    "No, it''s a key. Gars naguor! I didn''t say ''brave prince,'' I said a passionate prince who will conquer Kruxol!"


    "He is casting a spell! It says ''Reborn''!"


    "Maybe he is trying to revive Alin¨¦ and Dexia. He is our saviour!" Emral eximed.


    A green me burst out from the central hole of the board, and billowed into the air. It intertwined with the high-pitched dying scream of thest female, as if the fire was burning inside her.


    "This is like choking on acid!" Masha cried out. The sounds of the two boys suffocating to death rang out, and there was silence.


    "Justice has been done. It cannot be undone. Turn back, summoner," said a low-pitched, rasping voice which echoed through the room. It said no more.


    The scene faded away, and the room was still.


    "Strange," Grisier said quietly, "it said this was formuning with spirits, but all we did was hear them die."


    "Because their death was a result of the King''s [Reborn] spell. It forbids having children. It seems that the person can still try to have children, but the magic which animates his new life will destroy them. His war against necromancy probably also turned this residual necromantic magic against him," Crucis said.


    "But he had to fight against necromancy, because he wanted a happy family life and glory," Grisier mused. "He built his whole new life on a grave, but scorned the grave."


    "Yes. Anyway, back to the muning.'' Well, we never tried to talk to the dead, perhaps we should repeat the summoning and then see if they''re chatty?"


    DicingDevil nodded, and ced grey dust once more around the edge of the board. As Crucis once more repeated an invocation in the voice of the Queen, the sound of a girl''s scream rose up again, along with the chatter of children.


    This time, when Masha began talking about necromancers, DicingDevil spoke up. "Hello? Are you in danger?"


    "Yes. Are you a necromancer?" Masha repliedbatively.


    "No. You can''t escape?"


    "I think we need to fight them!" Masha said.


    "We can''t, you know that," Emral replied.


    The frayed sound of a flute ying wafted across the room, and the voice of the children was still. A muffled voice emerged from the circr board, sounding like the moans of a dying old man.


    "You have seen the bleak house of these children," it said, "but what if their fate was changed? What if there was hope? If you wish, you may speak to them as they meet their end. If that does not content you, then you have another choice. If you ce tears in the central hole of the spiral, then you may see the happy future of these children, as they safely return to court and grow to ensure the future of the Kingdom."


    "Looks like we''d need tears to continue," Crucis said.


    "Tears for dying royals?" DicingDevil said. "Does it think we''re British?"


    "I have just the thing," Grisier said while looking through his inventory. He pulled out an [Onion]. "I picked this up from some mobs when I was on my way to meet you guys. Pity to waste it here, ah well."


    He leaned towards the onion, and started cutting into it with a small knife which he carried for self-defence at close range. The knife was sharper than necessary, and he was careful to avoid injuring himself, but soon he had cut enough of the onion to draw faint tears.


    As Grisier cut the onion further, and prepared to catch any tears in the palm of his hand, Crucis began to consider the situation.


    "It says that it will change fate, but it doesn''t say how," he said. "Wouldn''t it have to somehow ovee the necromancy? But that would change the strictures of the [Reborn] spell, it would change the rules of this world. Further, what mechanism would it use to save the children from the spell? It all seems absurd."


    "You''re right," DicingDevil said, "It would mean that the children were somehow protected from the necromancy. But it doesn''t seem to work out how, it rushes through the dangers to get the ending it wants. Should we let Grisier go ahead and do this?"


    "Protected? Like plot armour?" Crucisughed. "Typically, plot armour is simr, actually. The writer is so anxious to bring about the ''correct'' resolution to the story - some kind of moral idyll - that theypletely ignore the situation''s conflict. The character''s ''plot armour'' is just made up to fill the gaps, in order to keep the story on rails towards the desired moral. It is the ''triumph'' of morality, in literary form. Readers may criticise it, but in truth it ismon because both readers and authors find it fulfilling. Such is the price of morality in storytelling.


    "That reminds me, though, perhaps the King didn''t take damage for some reason like this? I remember that he had an ability named ''Blinding Fate.'' Perhaps, in his blind rush towards destiny, he gained a sort of ''plot armour'' protection which held us back? He barely took damage, but think of how much more resilient these children would have to be to survive the powerful, absolute effect of the necromancy that erased their existence. If his ''resilience'' was simr, then perhaps there is no exnation for it. It is a supposed ''fate'' written backwards onto its ''pre-history.'' An absurdity."


    "The King was difficult, but not impossible. But if this kind of ''armour'' besmon, then it will make things difficult. We''d have to n around it somehow."


    "Yes. We''ve already seen hints of that. Perhaps these children can supposedly resist necromantic powers because of their royal ''fate,'' but FGRT treats this as a fighting style: he attacks freely and with little need to hold back, goes on his own adventure and ignores the obstacles. This in spite of the fact that there is no way for his defensive stats to be strong enough. His weakness, I''d guess, is that he has little perspective on normalbat in the game, and his fighting skills seem loose and one-sided. But we needed Akshel to shackle the King, and even that was difficult. If yers gain powers like the King''s, and can abuse them as a carte nche to dictate the game? Then that bes the new battlefield, but it will be difficult."


    Grisier was reaching out over the board, and poured some tears from his cupped hands into the centre of the board.


    "This whole ritual is like something the [Communion] Guild would havee up with. Speaking of e,'' it''s probably also how they have sex, cing tears into holes," Crucisughed.


    "I''m just showing the broad - um, board an ice time," Grisier replied in a burlesque manner.


    "Alright, Mr. Freeze."


    "Now let''s see what cold have been."


    DicingDevil pped Grisier lightly.


    As the group watched the board, they heard a tinkling sound ofughter emerge from the entrance to the room, by the river. Five young teenagers walked in, surrounded by haloes of light. Each male wore thick, formal shirts carefully ebroidered with borate green-and-white patterns, while the females wore long dresses which were decorated simrly. Most of their outfits were red, but one blonde female wore a slightly pink-tinted violet dress. The males wore ck pants, and had small scabbards by their sides without swords.


    "Thanks, ra," said a blond, upright male whose voice Crucis recalled as Emral''s, "Good luck with your wedding. This is the most peaceful our Kingdom has been, even though our father is ill."


    "It''s fine," replied a slightly frail-looking brte female, "You''ll seed him. We should have peace with our neighbours, since Alin¨¦ and I are being married to them."


    This resembled the female who had expressed her wish to marry a prince from Kruxol.


    "Yes, but why stop at peace?" said a short, ck-haired male who sounded like Masha, "Our Kingdom keeps growing. That is how it begun, that is how it should continue."


    "We already have so many riches, and this grand pce! We can''t find things to enjoy for ourselves?"


    "If we stagnate, someone else will unite the neighbouringnds and conquer us."


    "We have so muchnd already. Why have conquest without spoils?"


    "Out of necessity."


    "Are you guys really going to argue again?" sighed Alin¨¦, a slim, blonde girl with ck eyes and a mouth which almost seemed set in a sneer. "Look, some of you can be housewives, some can be conquerors. But what''s amazing is how quickly this Kingdom arose, and now we''ll be the ones to keep it there."


    "Yes," Emral replied, "It''s good for ra to focus on pleasure, so that her husband will be attached to her. You, on the other hand, will fight, Mas."


    "You told mest week that ra was a better fighter than me, so why don''t we switch ces?" Masha replied angrily. "I can be a housewife, she can fight with her witchy magical sword."


    Crucis rose and approached the children.


    "Greetings. What are you doing here, and may I assist?" he said politely.


    "Our mother told us to fetch some of her belongings. She will meet us here soon. I haven''t seen you around here, did youe to visit my father?"


    Crucis used [Voice Spoofing], and switched his voice to sound like the King''s.


    "Yes. Is he in good health?" The voice of the King, since he had been encountered as the Man-Bird, was slightly hoarse and sounded ill, but still had a strong sense of ambition to it.


    "He is doing better than he has ever been."


    "You sound ill yourself," Alin¨¦ said, holding her hands lightly to her heart, "Do you need anyone to help you?"


    "I might have caught something here. Weren''t there some gues recently?"


    "Oh, yes. The necromancers sent them, I think. But they are all going away, everything will be much better."


    "Did someone find a cure? Did the gods answer your prayers?"


    "This is a peaceful, safe age for our Kingdom. Even our father''s illness is going away. There''s no reason for it, but it happens! Isn''t it wonderful?"


    Crucis hid a frown.


    "So are you next in line to be King?" he asked Emral.


    "Yes. Unlike my brother here, I want a time of peace and prosperity for all. We will be a fountain of peace and nobility through thesends."


    "As long as your father approves. Do you know where your father is right now?"


    "Oh, yes! He should be in a meeting right now. Come, I can show you."


    Crucis found it strange that a Prince would stoop to showing others directions, but reflected that the Prince had died years before this, and this was an illusion based on an enthusiastic, dead young child. Emting the voice of their father may have also caused the children to feel emotionally connected to him.


    Emral walked out of the doorway, towards the artificial stream. Crucis followed him.


    "My noble father is down there. There are rumours that he is still ill, but you sound like you''re more sick. He might know some remedies, good sir, to heal your disease," Emral said.


    As Emral gestured in a direction past the white-curtained room, Crucis grabbed him by the shoulder and stabbed it with a [Stunning Dagger], which tore a deep rash.


    "I am your father," Crucis said in the Man-Bird''s rasping, bird-like voice. He had been impatiently waiting for an opportunity to say this line.


    As the child was paralysed, Crucis used [Panoramic Strike] and stabbed firmly through Emral''s left ear, using a [Dagger Twist] once his dagger had reached clearly into the child''s head. This was enough to kill the young Emral, who slumped down noiselessly. Crucis knelt down, and released Emral silently into the stream, where his body slowly drifted away.


    Strangely, the only drops from killing this variant of Emral were some worthless [Red Rags], and a [Fake Jewel].


    He heard Alin¨¦ approaching from behind him, and slipped quickly behind the door. He was surprised to see that Alin¨¦''s shadow behind her seemed to have glowing, fiery eyes. As she saw that nobody was nearby, she walked tentatively out until she was next to the stream.


    Crucis had cast [Stealth Cloak] as she approached, and now snuck carefully behind her. He grabbed her by the throat in a [Chokehold], and shoved the [Red Rags] into her mouth to keep her quiet. She couldn''t scream out past the red rags and suffocation, and fell limply towards the ground as Crucis pulled her down to the side. Her slim midriff seemed to pose into an arc as she neared the ground, and her waist froze in ce. This posing during a rough fall struck Crucis as seeming slightly artificial. He looked at her shadow, and was surprised as it seemed to lift a hand and grab at him.


    Well, it wouldn''t be a s¨¦ance without ghosts.


    The shadow just about missed his arm as he flinched back, and he quickly struck with a [Silent Stab] to the back of Alin¨¦''s neck, at the top of her neck. Dark blood flowed from the wound, and Alin¨¦ slumped to the ground, dead.


    Crucis saw that the female still had a hopeful, if desperate, expression on her face as she died. As he pulled the dagger out from her neck, he saw that the moving shadow of her face now had white-red eyes like rubies in bright light, and was staring him down. As this shadow rose towards Crucis, he struck through Alin¨¦''s neck again. The shadow recoiled in agony, and Crucis smiled slightly.


    He got up carefully, but this time the shadow did not dare to attack him as he continually threatened to stab the girl again. As Alin¨¦''s bodyy dead on the ground, the shadow''s eyes slowly faded away.


    Alin¨¦ had dropped a [Letter], and an item named [Stars of Ember] which had no description. ck smoke was now rising across the air, from Crucis'' strikes.


    Returning to the room, Crucis saw that Masha had picked up a sword. Crucis wondered where Masha had got the sword from, since there were noneying around in the room and these people had empty scabbards. However, he saw that Masha was talking agitatedly with ra, and at his instruction ra drew another sword from his empty scabbard. Crucis grimaced. These figures were using the wish-fulfillment aspect of this summoning to their advantage. Seemingly some self-aware spirits had drawn on the children''s dust and inhabited these dead children. But perhaps the spirits had always been in these children, whose story was so intertwined with the summoning and rituals of this court? And if these spirits only appeared clearly in this kind of fantasy future, then were they real or just a part of the fantasy?


    Crucis drew out his sword. Masha approached him, asking angrily where his siblings were. Crucis struck venomously at Masha''s right hand with a [sh], sending the prince''s sword tumbling away, and then stabbed harshly forwards with a [Lunge] to Masha''s throat.


    At this strike, Masha''s body began to unravel. His skin fell away to leave a ragged child with deep cuts and holes across his body, and blood poured out freely.


    "This is like acid!" he wailed.


    However, he still seemed to lunge forwards at Crucis with one hand, as ra angrily raised her sword to strike at Crucis. Crucis used [Dodge Step] to back out of the way, and the wretched Masha fell to the ground due to the effort of his own lunge. Crucis saw that Masha''s HP was returning quickly. The other sister, Dexia, was nowhere to be seen, and had seemingly vanished.


    Crucis signalled to DicingDevil and Grisier to join the fight. As ra charged towards Crucis, she was stopped in her tracks by a [Breath of Ice] spell. Crucis smiled and held his arms out to the side in a wide shrug.


    As ra recovered and tried to charge wildly again, Crucis used [Agile Step] to move right in front of her, then struck her through the throat with a harsh [Lunge]. Her throat was delicate, and she made a faint cry as Cruxis struck. Crucis used [Chokehold], and dragged her neck raggedly across the de until she died. Blood was pouring from her torn neck, which fell apart as she dropped to the ground.


    She dropped a [Damnation Store-room Key], and a [Missing Persons List].


    DicingDevil had managed to strike Masha with a firm [Mordhau], but Masha shrugged it off and charged towards Crucis again. Crucis noticed that these figures would charge rashly forwards, even though it left them open. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. As Masha lunged towards Crucis, Crucis swung his de fiercely while stepping backwards, striking Masha''s arm and chest enough to end the lunge. DicingDevil walked up behind Masha and struck with an executioner-like [Wrath strike], which cleanly severed Masha''s neck. Crucis dashed in and caught Masha''s head as a souvenir.


    "It dropped rags," DicingDevil said resignedly.


    "Yes. This whole disy was artificial," Crucis said. "It never happened, the children never recovered. But even these children died because they were never meant to exist. They were like dead spirits from the start. One is missing, by the way, so be careful."


    They heard a loud knocking from behind a small door at the far end of the room, in front of the pews. As DicingDevil approached, seeking the final child, the wood of the door suddenly twisted into the shape of a hunchbacked, wed man who faintly resembled the Man-Bird. It had its mouth open, and seemed to be lunging at DicingDevil, who stepped back hastily.


    However, this strange figure, sculpted into the door, did not move any further. It simply remained petrified, frozen into the door.


    "Wait, ra dropped a key," Crucis said, seemingly ignoring the figure which had appeared on the door. "Perhaps it will work."


    "Alright, be careful," DicingDevil replied.


    With Grisier watching closely to see if anything attacked, Crucis walked up to the door and ced the [Damnation Store-room Key] into the door''s lock. As he turned it, the door clicked open.


    "Dexia is always elusive," Crucis said as he slowly drew the door open, "She died before we could hear much of her. Now she again is not appearing. But she can be surprising as well, look out."


    As the door swung open, there was a sudden movement from behind it, that seemed to be lunging towards Crucis. However, Crucis remained calm. As the group approached the door, they saw that a shadowy, ragged figure was suspended in a tall mirror, withrge, white eyes staring at Crucis and wing-like, tattered arms making as if to reach out.


    As DicingDevil walked into the room, he heard some whimpering in a corner. As he tried to approach it, he found that there was nothing there.


    Across the room, pieces of furniture were piled. As DicingDevil tried to rummage through them, he found that his arm was stuck. Pulling it loose, he saw that the leg of a chair had tangled itself around him.


    "Nothing in there. But this is strange. Not really the dungeon romp I was expecting," DicingDevil exhaled.


    A ck-haired, feminine figure seemed to appear in the middle of the room, running towards the exit. However, it vanished into the air like mist. Crucis grinned. Walking to the centre of the room, he ced one of the keys of life down, then waited.


    Soon, a disembodied arm appeared, reaching for the key. Crucis grabbed the arm and pulled, until Dexia''s slight figure fell to the ground next to him. Savagely grabbing her by the neck, he stabbed a dagger into the back of her throat and head until she died.


    She dropped only one item, a [Dungeon Key].


    "She dropped a key to enter the dungeon - meaning the prisons, I''d guess. I doubt we have enough time," Crucis said.


    "Yes. Those dungeons are just beside this room," DicingDevil said. "We can go there if you want to run this ce again, I''ve never entered it before."


    "Sure. I''d guess that the dungeons could be dangerous, but I think we can do this."


    "I got a glimpse there from upstairs," Grisier said, "I think there was a corpse of someone level 100 in one cell. If they revived and somehow broke out, it could be a difficulty. But we''ll have a look tomorrow."


    "Yes, yes."


    "I''m surprised that these children weren''t as resilient as the King, since they should have ''plot armour,''" DicingDevil said.


    "Hm. They wouldn''t. But something did. The fantasy whichy beneath them, and was reviving them in spite of the necromancy. Didn''t you see the man petrified on the door, the moving chair leg? There was no way to fight that. Dexia was barely alive and seemed to keep fading into another creature, and that''s what kept on lunging at us. We couldn''t fight it at all, if you tried to strike the door then nothing would happen, it would still attack you with the chair leg and so on.


    "But it seems that it had problems with this arrangement as well. Since it had no stable physical incarnation, it was limited, and even the man in the door couldn''t really ''live.'' When it was tempted by the key, it had to reveal itself through Dexia to im it, and this made it vulnerable. If that didn''t happen, it could have kept us waiting for longer.


    "The children were based on the dust already ced into the board. That was derived from their corpse. Of course they could be killed normally. But the children were merely the dust used as clothing. Whaty beneath them was impossible to attack for a while, until Dexia finally revealed themselves. The children were still just the dust of victims of necromancy, but in the background was a bizarre fantasy which fancied that it had ovee necromancy, and even disease, producing some bizarre reality where the King had healed and the necromantic attack never seeded. The fa- ahem, ''plot armour'' is right beneath the skin."

 Chapter 65: The Mask

    Chapter 65: The Mask


    As the three yers made their way back to the dungeon entrance, a soft, metallic rumble resounded from above a corner of the courtyard. It sounded like a soft thunderp.


    Looking up, Crucis saw a gaunt figure crouching inside arge crack in the roof. He could dimly make out a white mask on its face as it turned to gaze regally at the yers. It tossed a scroll of paper towards them, and then leapt heavily away out of sight.


    Crucis walked up to the paper, and saw that it had a long, thin golden string holding it in ce. Removing this, he unscrolled the piece of paper.


    "It''s a letter," he told the group, as they came up to take a look.


    "A tale, from nowhere.


    "The disease has been torn out at its root. The King and Queen are dead. To think that a glib con-man should have be a leader of my people, and cast me out. He used us as a springboard to establish a wider Kingdom. Yet all of us are shackled to thisnd, like a prison. In exile, I still managed to do odd jobs around this area and witnessed the building of the pce, until I was ratted out by the people and they chased me away. I still remember the rage in their eyes. But by then, the spread of disease was already beginning.


    "I managed to sneak back and take up lodging in the house of one victim of an early gue, wearing his ragged, grey shirt. After a week of barely being seen, the neighbours became suspicious, and soon two of them broke in to check on my identity. I killed them, and escaped through a low window. By then, I had stolen most of the dead man''s possessions, including this mask, which local superstition believed to have magic powers which protect against the gue. The Queen also had one. It did not protect against gue, but it did seem to have other magical powers, like the ability to breathe or emit blue fire.


    "I donned metallic ws, and used my knowledge of the area to steal from nearby, killing anyone who got in the way with a sword, fire or the mauling ws. I was known as the blight of the court, widely called the ''Pce Ghost'' or the ''Kruxol Bear.'' But through all the disease, the court''s magic only grew greater. Ambushing the King as he wandered the pce distractedly, he nearly killed me and I was forced to leap from an open window to escape. This disfigured my face. I became like the King, who wore rashes across his body. Sometimes, I have strange dreams of waking up in the crowded pce, next to a crown.


    "Once, I led a vigorous people, now I rule over an empty court stained with the bones of the diseased. So be it, to reign is worth ambition though it be in Hell, as they say. Haha.


    "Jack."


    "A spring-heeled Jack?" Crucis remarked.


    "I was afraid that he was going to attack us for a moment," DicingDevil said. "But he seems to be a fan."


    "What''s attached to the bottom of the paper?" Grisier asked.


    Crucis saw that three small pendants had been sealed across the bottom of the page. They were each named [Pendant of Silence], and contained a t, circr blue-ck gem, which seemed to be stained lightly with scarlet around the edge. Each of the group took one.


    "It''s strange, he didn''t have metallic ws or a sword when he approached me on the stairs before, but he did use bats to scout us out like the King had done," Crucis said, "This time he clearly had the ws, you could hear it as itnded. He says that his mask was simr to one worn by the Queen, and also parallels himself with the King in the next paragraph. Since he seemingly got his supernatural abilities from the superstition surrounding the mask, his supernatural ''Pce Ghost'' persona is partially a product of the King and Queen''s superstitious powers. So perhaps the ''Pce Ghost'' isn''t just him, and he merely partakes of a superstitious ''magical'' phenomena that''s already there?"


    "How do you mean?" asked Grisier.


    "The mask is already there. Its power is a result of the King and Queen''s fantasy. The Queen was still around when he snuck up on us. If your powerse from wearing the mask, then are you a new figure, or a distorted form of something which is already present in the court? We''ve already seen that the King fancied himself as a bird, this kind of crazed leaping and bird-like mask doesn''t seem akin?"


    "No, you''re right. That would also exin why he sometimes dreamed that he was a monarch, it was difficult to dissociate himself from the fantasy where his powers arose from. So you''re saying that the figure that attacked you might not have been him?"


    "Well, it''s like someone riding a disobedient horse, sometimes the horse will start off on its own and the rider will just be carried along. But he seems to have remained ultimately incorruptible despite the superstition and madness that he was ying with. A Hamlet of sorts."


    "Yes, and no wonder since a lot was rotten in Ganf¨¦an''s state. I wonder if we can find out more about this ''Jack.''"


    "It''s possible, maybe if we ransacked the ce we could find some documents. But as for himself, he is elusive. I doubt we could catch him." Crucis had a n in mind to do that, but he would have to figure some things out during his next run, and he wanted to eventually try it on a run without DeathGang members alongside him. He wanted to speak with the figure alone, so that anything it revealed would not also be known to DeathGang.


    "Yes, difficult to, even with our high Agility. Maybe some people in the prison may have been sympathetic to him? We could check for information there," DicingDevil said.


    The other two nodded.


    "What are these pendants for, by the way?" Grisier asked.


    "We can attach them to a ne, and wear them. This pendant says that it requires a string ne," Crucis said, reaching into his inventory. "Well, that''s easy."


    He pulled out a string, and used a knife to cut off part of it. He slotted it through a hole above the pendant, and tied it into a round, simplistic ne. Going to the [Crafting] menu, he input thisbination of items, and it recognised the new ne as a [Holy Deathbringer Ne]. The gem began to emit a misty, faint pale blue aura.


    "Quite a name," heughed.


    The ne''s description said that it gave users, "the effect of [Figure Blur] for 5 seconds, each time that they use a skill which includes a buff to Agility or movement speed." It did not apply to moves like [Stealth Cloak], which already applied their own stealth or invisibility effects. Hence, it would primarily affect [Speed Demon] and [Dodge Step]. This was useful, as [Speed Demon] required a few seconds to cast, and during this time the user was vulnerable, making it inconvenient in most fights. However, Crucis didn''t wear it yet, since he would need more Agility-buffing skills for it to be truly effective.


    The others in the group also made the ne with string.


    "They have some silver and gold strings in town, also a few enchanted ones. We can see if those give this pendant a stronger effect," DicingDevil said. "It sounds a bit basic for now, not many moves for it."


    Casually, Grisier demonstrated the ne''s ability by wearing it, then casting [Young Deer''s Speed]. This speed buff caused him to turn slightly hazy and transparent, and as he walked windingly to his left it was difficult to keep track of where he was. Curious, he waited until the cooldown on [Young Deer''s Speed] hadpleted, then cast it again. The spell failed, because he already had the buff. However, it still triggered the ne, causing him to be hazy and partially invisible again. As this effect ran out, he cast the failed spell again, and retained his hidden nature.


    "Casting a failed spelles at one-fourth of the cost, and one-third of the cooldown," he said. "So now I effectively have a really cheap spell which keeps me hidden."


    "Congrattions, you have begun to walk the path of the ninja," Crucisughed.


    "Why do you guys wear those ck costumes?" Grisier responded. "Doesn''t it sort of stick out?"


    "Agility buff. And it doesn''t really stick out, since most Assassins wear one."


    "As your mana regeneration increases, soon you''ll have nearly free quasi-invisibility," DicingDevil said to Grisier. "We''ll have to send you on recon missions, let the Assassins stay by campfire. I for one wee our fashionable Mage overlords."


    "Yeah, always a pity how these games seem to confuse the ''heroic warriors'' for ''fashionistas.'' Ah well. He''ll be great in the right terrain, like near the sea orrge rivers," Crucis said. "Not only can he shield himself, but people could barely hit him."


    "Well, all in good time, I suppose," Grisier said humbly.


    The three walked out of the dungeon. Once outside, they summoned their Mounts and proceeded West, arcing lightly Northwards along the edge of the hill range. Grisier''s Mount was one which Crucis wasn''t familiar with, a [Lesser Hugag]. Thisrge, moose-like creature had legs which were joint-less and stood firmly straight, as well as a thick upper lip which covered the rest of its mouth. It seemed almost like a gag creature.


    Soon, they reached arge, t grasnd with a few old, ruined wooden buildings across it. A few looked like they were being renovated. They stopped at arge building with a thatched roof, and Crucis saw a few people hanging out on benches across the room. There was a glowing, blue sphere next to the entrance to this building.


    "That''s a teleport to and from Kaxil," DicingDevil said to Crucis. "Dionarcy will use it to meet up with us. The weaker party is also here already, I think they''re meeting our Guild''s Vice-Leader in one of the meeting rooms. He''s not fond of non-Guild members, so it might be better for you to sit down elsewhere. Sorry about that."


    Crucis smiled resignedly. "I''ll find somewhere to sit, plenty of free space. You guys go ahead."


    DicingDevil and Grisier walked into the building. Crucis stayed outside, by the entrance, and surveyed the surrounding area. He saw some horses passing by in the distance, heading towards a small forest to the South. Squinting slightly, he saw that one of their riders was a level 50 Hashin member named [Glora]. A few other horses were making their way towards this forest from a distance, and he guessed that these were Hashin. He started a quick conversation in the party chat.


    Crucis: hashin heading towards the forest south of here. probably meeting.


    DicingDevil: hashin have been a nuisance, a few of their groups attacking us 2day after the war. their leader congratted us, idk if these are rogues.


    Grisier:hing we can do? if they meet here, they are probablying from kaxil direction towards our territory.


    Crucis: could alert some of the big kaxil guilds to their location. maybe using alts?


    DicingDevil: ok, dionarcy just spawned. he has a fountain alt in kaxil, will tell him to mention it asap. that town really hates hashin rn.


    Grisier: ok we''re here, now for dull lectures. c.u.


    Crucis changed into a stiff, grey shirt which the King had dropped, as well as some ck pants he carried around as spares. Although this was quite formal attire, he was already bruised and cut and so he didn''t have much choice of blending in with a casual look. He wore the [Holy Deathbringer Ne], since it fit well with the shirt.


    Walking into the building, he saw that there were a few, rectangr tables stretched out on the left, with a few scattered groups of yers around them. yers were sitting down calmly next to each other, and most groups didn''t seem to be pre-formed. Crucis saw a group of three yers sitting next to the entrance, two females and one male. This group seemed quite rxed and were mostly from a small Guild, so he figured that he might as well sit down next to them. Since they were all rtively high-level, ranging from 40 to 47, he wouldn''t stand out too much among them except for his wounds.


    They also had name-tags above their heads: level 43 [Mirel], level 47 [nchette], and level 40 [JoDark]. He waited for them to introduce themselves before calling them by name, however.


    "Hello, what''s your name?" one of the females asked Crucis. She was a middle-aged brte woman with a fairly nk face, and looked almost aggressive as she spoke. She and the other female had been showing off some rare and valuable items when Crucis had first arrived.


    "Chrysalis," Crucis lied in response.


    "Wee, Chris," said a younger girl who was sat opposite Crucis. She seemed to be in her 20s, with blonde highlights across her straight, brown hair which had been thoroughlybed. Oddly concerned about hairbrushing, in a video game.


    "Thank you."


    "What happened? You''re covered in bruises," she said with a hint of rm, her shoulders sagging slightly towards the table.


    "I was running a dungeon nearby with some friends, it was set in like a pce. It was a bit gruelling, but not such a big deal. After that, I was attacked by some ganker, I didn''t catch his identity because he wore a mask. That was a tough fight, his dagger tore this wound." He lowered his cor a little to reveal the chest wound from the Queen''s [Blood Spiral] spell. The rest of the group gaped in surprise. "But I managed to fight him off until the coward fled, he leapt away and ran off like the devil himself. Scoundrel."


    He assumed that characterising the [Blood Spiral] wound as a result of a dagger would make it seem like the result of an intense, bloody fight. The rest of the group reacted as expected.


    With her mouth slightly open, the younger female said, "I hope you''re alright! Yeah, there are gankers everywhere nowadays, we just try to keep to safe zones like this. I was attacked by one, out of nowhere, yesterday near Kaxil. He shoved me to the ground, then kept striking me down until I died. I didn''t even get a hit in."


    "Maybe the [Ariston]? My attacker was also that sub-ss," Crucis offered.


    "Sorry, what was that?"


    "[Ariston], a kind of Assassin that are strong when they can corner and assault opponents, but they''re weak as soon as you get out of the bind. That''s why he wasn''t able to win, in these open areas it''s difficult to corner someone your own size."


    "Yeah, that sounds like it. Well done winning, maybe that will teach those brutes a lesson! By the way, my name''s Mirel, real name Emmy. My friend here is nche."


    "I''m JoDark, I''m from [The Fountain] Guild. Nice to meet you," said the level 43 male sitting beside him. Crucis shook his hand casually.


    "Hi," nche said, "I see that Em here is already attached to you!" Sheughed.


    "So, do you guys know any decent grinding spots nearby?" JoDark asked. "My Guild just ignores me."


    "The forest down South is nice," nche said, "Mobs of all sorts of levels. They mostly keep to themselves if you don''t attack them." Emmy nodded.


    "Be careful down South, there''s Hashin meeting there at the moment," Crucis said.


    "Oh, really?" JoDark responded. "I should tell my Guild, they have a bone to pick with the Hashin. But if I say it, they''ll probably ignore me."


    As JoDark typed clumsily, Crucis took a look around the room. To the right, there was a small bar, where people were picking up things to eat. The people on this table had had a couple of drinks, but seemed to have arrived quite recently.


    Near the bar, a sleazy-looking level 40 yer in a glossy ck outfit was walking around offering yers directions to the ''White Spiral Stones,'' in exchange for 900,000 gold. Crucis had heard of these stones, they were a randomly-generated phenomenon thatsted for a week. A fewrge, white stones would appear, carefully arranged in a spiral shape. At midnight, powerful creatures would spawn around them, and rare, valuable items had a chance to appear in the centre. A few items and skills could only be obtained in this way, since the game was new.


    However, Crucis could not afford this offer at the moment, since most of his gold was in Storage, and guessed that the offer was probably exorbitant anyway. All the same, White Spiral Stones were generally found in out-of-the-way ces, and he wondered how this yer had found one.

 Chapter 66: The Trigger

    Chapter 66: The Trigger


    "They confirmed my report, and said that they were already on their way to deal with the Hashin," JoDark said circumspectly.


    "Good to hear," Crucis replied in a simr tone. "So were you guys all from Kruxol beforeing here?"


    "Yes, actually," said Emmy excitedly.


    "It''s a shame what happened there. I miss the earlier ce," Crucis said with a sigh.


    "Yeah," Emmy said nostalgically, "All of those big, wooden buildings. It was nice, I learnt stuff there. Here in Kaxil, it just doesn''t feel as meaningful."


    "You''re still high-level, no need to get discouraged," said Crucis. "Try to find some parties to run dungeons with."


    "Sure. I''m an archer, but I can''t get much practice cooped up in Kaxil. Do you think they''ll choose me?" she asked pleadingly.


    "You can strengthen your archery skills through crafting arrows," Crucis replied.


    "Ah, that''s great," Emmy said, "My boyfriend bought me a few things, including some toolset for refining arrows. I thought it was useless, because of the shops! I''d thank him, but he''s a numpty and left me alone to finish his quests in Kruxol, name''s Keene if you see ''im."


    Crucis reflected that the corpses he had hidden in the mist South-West of Kruxol had still not been found. A secure hiding-ce.


    "Yeah, he bought her all that, now she''s looking for another man," ncheughed.


    "Oh, well, a boyfriend can be too distant, y''know?" Emmy said, flicking her jet-ck eyshes.


    "Jo, where you going?" Crucis said, pointedly ignoring Emmy.


    JoDark, who had begun to get up, sheepishly said, "Oh, toilets. They''re on the right, just behind the bar. There''s some newspapers nearby, automatically-generated by the game. You can read them if you''re into that sort of thing."


    "Well, worth a try, I guess," Crucis said.


    He got up to approach the newspaper stands, as JoDark walked on past. Emmy and nche joined him. However, the group were all stopped in their tracks by a sound which sounded like screeching and wailinging from the women''s toilet.


    "What''s that?" JoDark said. "It''s really loud from here."


    The rest of the group left the newspapers be, and walked over to listen closer to this noise. Emmy looked rmed, but also slightly curious. She leaned in to listen.


    "Well, looks like you girls should check it out," Crucis said lightly. "I''ll stay here, tell us if it''s a ghost."


    "Sure thing!" said nche, as her and Emmy ducked into the female toilet to check on this noise.


    Did they find that it was the voice of a perv harem protagonist, who was crying and screeching at not being able to enter the story at this moment and try to sneak a peek at the females? s, no.


    Soon, the sound quieted down, and Emmy and nche left the toilet followed by a frail, ck-haired girl, who looked no older than 13, but may have been older - it was difficult to tell because her face was drenched heavily with tears. Screaming and crying makes people look much younger at first. Her curly hair was sprayed wildly to each side, and her face was stained with tears.


    "This girl - Lucy? No, wait, Liu Zebao - said that she saw a man who sexually abused her a few years ago," nche said, "from what I got, she says he was, like, basically raping her."


    "He did bad things, was bad. I cry every time," sobbed the young girl.


    "A few years ago? That recent?" Crucis said.


    "Yeah, she said it wasn''t long ago, but she can''t remember exactly how long because of the trauma," Emmy said. "She had used him, but he hadn''t been caught yet."


    "Yeah, it''s the guy hawking the white pride stones or whatever, named Darren apparently," nche said. "He looked like a creep."


    Crucis turned towards the bar, but saw that this man had bolted as soon as he saw the girl, and was now racing towards the ruined old buildings nearby.


    "He made a run for it when she showed up," Crucis said.


    "Yeah, he ran away as soon as he saw her," JoDark said. "It must be him."


    "Let''s follow him! He''s weaker than us, we can track him down," nche said with determination.


    "Yes, he''s heading for the buildings nearby," Crucis said confidently.


    Emmy energetically rushed outside. "He''s trying to hide in one of those old buildings," she said. "Let''s go!"


    Crucis recalled that some of the abandoned buildings had doors with keyholes, which seemed to be firmly shut. He walked over to the bar, and asked if it was possible to borrow the keys to these buildings. An NPC handed him a ring with three keys on it, saying that the central key unlocked the main doors to the building, the one on the right unlocked cupboards, and the one on the left unlocked doors inside buildings.


    Crucis jogged out of the building, where he saw that Emmy, JoDark and nche were already on mounts. Emmy and nche had small horse mounts, perhaps due to being Leader and Vice-Leader of a small Guild named [Narcotic] which nche led. nche''s horse also carried the young girl. JoDark only had a slow donkey mount. Crucis'' [Coelophysis] easily caught up to these, as it ran across the t grasnds.


    Darren had already reached one of the buildings, arge, square-shaped wooden building, and locked the door behind him as he barreled in.


    When the chasing pack reached the building, nche was the first to disembark. She tried the door.


    "It''s locked!" she said, followed by a barrage of swear-words.


    Emmy walked over to try helping, and JoDark also began franticay shaking the door. The sound of low-pitchedughter, with a slight Italian ent, sounded out from behind the door.


    Languidly, Crucis walked up to the group, brandishing the ring of keys.


    "Oh, you prepared?" said Emmy.


    "Yes, I picked these up just in case," Crucis said.


    He intentionally used the key on the left, making a loud noise in the keyhole as it failed to turn. He switched to the central key, and as it turned the old door creaked open, revealing an empty square room in front of them. There was an open door up ahead, and a small locked door on the left of this room.


    He let the others pass through in front of him.


    "I heard him! He was scrambling around behind this door!" nche shouted, pointing to the door on the left.


    Crucis could also hear the unmistakeable sound of someone''s sword scratching the wall there.


    "I think he''s armed, be careful," JoDark said.


    "Do you have the key for this?" nche asked Crucis.


    "Yes," Crucis said, "Wait a second, and pay attention to his movements."


    Sound advice on the face of it, but as the others turned away Crucis swiftly cast [Stealth Cloak], and used this opportunity to turn his key in the door''s keyhole, locking it tight. He ced the key back in his inventory, then drew out a sword and used [Lunge] at nche''s spine.


    The blow dug into her back, and she let out a quiet yelp as she hunched down. Crucis used this opportunity to step up to nche with [Agile Step], and use [Slice] to firmly cut the back of her neck. This left a bleeding wound. He felt Emmy falling on him and trying to wrestle him off nche, so he kicked nche to the ground before roughly grabbing Emmy - whose STR stat was lower than his due to her archer ss and lower level - and pulling her in between himself and JoDark. JoDark was attempting a big heave with his sword, but it instead collided bluntly with Emmy''s cheek, making a bloodied bruise. She was down to 94% HP.


    Crucis walked towards JoDark with Emmy in tow, and saw that Liu was trying in vain to open the door. As JoDark tried to find some way to attack Crucis without risking a hit on Emmy, Crucis backed him into a corner. Sensing that nche was dragging herself up from the ground, Crucis acted quickly. As he reached the corner, he saw JoDark preparing a desperate [Strong blow] at Crucis. Crucis smiled, then tossed Emmy down to the ground in front of JoDark and rushed the warrior.


    JoDark tried to strike at Crucis, but unsurprisingly his wound-up de got caught up against the walls of the building and the [Strong blow] fizzled out harmlessly. Crucis, however, struck deeply below JoDark''s ribs with a [Lunge], then grabbed the warrior''s sword with [Sword hold]. JoDark cried out in agony, and twisted down towards the floor on 60% HP. The air in the room was by now filled with a firmyer of ck mist. Crucis drew his de back, then struck the falling JoDark with an urate [Overhead sh] to the back of the neck. The warrior fell heavily over Emmy.


    Crucis turned towards nche, who was awkwardly trying to wear armour as she got up. She had been expecting a simple fight against Darren, but for a proper fight she would have issues without armour, since she was, like JoDark, a slow-moving [Knight].


    "What''s gotten into you? Have you turned into a demon?" she cried out, seeing that Crucis had turned into an empty ck silhouette that resembled Darren, but with reptilian eyes and a faintly scaly mouth lined with teeth.


    "Nothing," he replied, tilting his head nonchntly. "You seem to want to do what''s good. Well, what are you good for?" His voice sounded slightly like what he recalled of Darren''s voice, except delivered at a whisper with a faint hiss beneath it.


    As he expected, she greeted his approach with a heavy [nk Cut] from his left. He easily backstepped away with [Dodge Step], and saw nche be disoriented as his ne''s [Figure Blur] effect took hold.


    In a burst of movement, he darted past her trailing de and used [Agile Step] to get behind her right shoulder, then grabbed her in a [Chokehold]. She tried to shoulder charge backwards, but wasn''t sure where Crucis was and instead rammed into a wall. He took advantage of this to drag her downwards, then used [Lunge] to stab fiercely through her right ear. She grew faint, and began to slump to the ground on 65% HP.


    However, she still managed to elbow him fiercely, and JoDark was rushing in from the opposite side of the room. Crucis decided that the level 40 warrior was less dangerous. He tightened his chokehold before nche could sneak out, then switched his sword to a dagger. He felt a sting as JoDark''s sword sshed bluntly against the side of his face, the sword awkwardly maneouevering around nche''s body. It only took Crucis to 93% HP. He rode the blow and crouched down slightly to hide behind nche.


    He fiercely stabbed nche with [Stunning Dagger] as she tried to move, and a fierce [nk Cut] from JoDark identally sent her face colliding with the wall. Crucis used [ck Spot] to cut a gash through nche''s neck, then ducked neatly to avoid another, more tentative blow from JoDark''s sword. The chokehold was steadily sapping nche''s HP. Crucis used [The Ripper] to cut the neck wound deeper, but saw that Emmy was also beginning to rise angrily. She was finding it difficult to prepare herrge bow in this room, especially since JoDark''s weight had made her arms numb and the ck mist was making it difficult to aim.


    Her and JoDark had spent much of the fight sputtering curse words and pleading for Crucis to stop.


    JoDark pierced Crucis'' left shoulder with a fierce [Lunge]. This reduced Crucis to 89% HP. However, Crucis grabbed the warrior''s sword with the [Sword hold] skill, then shoved the crying nche aside and leapt at JoDark. At this point, the [Nightmare] effect was in full flow. Crucis easily aimed a [Panoramic Strike] into JoDark''s neck, then ced a [Chokehold] on the startled warrior, tilting the warrior backwards as Crucis cut harshly high along the back of JoDark''s neck with [The Ripper], leaving arge gash, then stabbed into the gash with [Silent Stab] and followed this up with a [Dagger Twist]. This part of the warrior''s neck had now sunkpletely into a bloody mess.


    Crucis let the warrior sink helplessly to the ground. JoDark had only 4% HP remaining, and was bleeding profusely. Crucis had been closely monitoring Emmy''s situation, but decided to make sure that JoDark was out-of-action before dealing with the archer. As he turned around, Crucis was struck by a slightly loose arrow shot at his elbow. It only lowered him to 86% HP. He flinched slightly, but activated [Speed Demon] immediately, blurring his location. As Emmy tried to follow the quickly-moving Crucis, she lost track of his location and fired wide. He moved in an arc and approached her from the right, leaping forwards to grab Emmy by the neck and smash the back of her head into the wall as his steps drove towards it. He used [The Ripper] to cut a deep, horizontal gash across her face. He then casually cut her bowstring in two.


    Pushing her softly to the ground, he withdrew a sword and turned to face nche, who was bravely attempting to fight through the pain. As nche hobbled up, almost tripping on the dead JoDark, Crucis used [Agile Step] and easily struck her with a [Lunge] that stabbed through her lower chest and past the ribs. As he attempted to follow up, he found that Liu was adamantly clinging on to his left leg, determined to help with stopping him. Frustrated, he leaned down slightly and used [Slice] to cut a bleeding gash across her innocuous face, until in pain she was forced to let him go.


    He turned back towards nche, but although she had fumbled her sword she still managed to strike him with a firm [Mordhau] to the shoulder, striking him with the hilt of her sword. He used the momentum of her blow and backstepped before she could lunge forwards with an awkward follow-up punch. The effort of the lunge left her back hunched over as she tried to catch her breath. However, Crucis used [Figure Blur] to mask his location, then leapt onto her back with his feet and clung onto her neck with his arms. Under the pressure, she fell face-first to the floor with a violent, blunt-sounding crash, as Crucis leapt off andnded lightly next to her dead body.


    Approaching Emmy, heughed lightly as she tried to fire her broken bow. Grabbing her in a [Chokehold], he forced her to the floor. He withdrew his [Vile Toxin Gas], and sprayed it over the wounds in her face, causing her to screech hysterically. This was quickly cut short as he tightened his [Chokehold]. He used [Stunning Dagger] to stab the bottom of her head from behind, then angled downwards and used a slow [The Ripper] to cut a thick gash through the back of her neck. She tried to let out a cry, but failed. He smiled, then used [Dagger Twist] to kill her as he withdrew his dagger.


    Crucis saw that Liu was still wriggling on the floor, holding her face. She was only level 19, and probably too traumatised to have been able to focus much on ying the game.


    He walked up to her casually, then grabbed her in a loose [Chokehold]. Her HP decreased slowly but surely. Propping her face against the door, he lifted her body above the ground while keeping it in a chokehold. She quickly passed out, on 14% HP. Crucis lowered her gently to the ground.


    He walked up to the locked door on the left side of the room, and reached for the keys. He could hear the scraping of a sword behind the door, and expected an attack if he opened it. He unlocked the door, then held his sword out in a Parry [Ward] as he creaked it cautiously open. Once it had opened slightly, a sword shed out from behind the door, but Crucis easily held up his sword and parried the strike against a neighbouring wall. As Darren''s sword ttered against the wall, Crucis used [Sword hold] to grab it. He used a firm [Overhead sh] to strike the wrist of Darren''s extended right hand, and the sword fell easily out of Darren''s grip. Crucis let it drop to the floor.


    Crucis threw the door open, and flourished his sword at Darren''s neck. Darren stepped back in fright, and Crucis pressed forwards to keep up.


    "Tell me the directions to the White Spiral Stones, or you die in pain like them," Crucis said, gesturing at the bodies behind him.


    Darren was taken aback by this offer, but soon recovered his breath.


    "Um, the directions. Of course. North from here, then North-East across the river until you reach a waterfall. Take some stone stairs until you are above the waterfall, then walk East until you find it. I happened upon the stone stairs, and I was curious if anything was there, this is what I found. I can show you more, if you''d like."


    "Excellent. Thank you."


    Crucis walked up to Liu, and saw that she was still barely conscious after the suffocation.


    "Meet me outside once you''re finished," he said to Darren, with a shrug.


    He walked out of the building, closing the door, and hid in the space between buildings. He sent a message to the DeathGang members, saying that he was near this building, and had found a newpanion to join their journey.


    After a few minutes of asional noise from within the building, Crucis received a notification that Liu was dead. He hadn''t obtained much loot from her, but the rest of that group had dropped plenty.


    "Hello. Darren, is it?" he said as he saw the ck-haired man walking out of the building, wiping his hands of blood.


    "Yes, sir," Darren replied. "Name here is Starfighter, but I am known as Darren. And you are?"


    "Why would I tell you? But I will. I''m Crucis." Crucis saw that Darren had no Guild, and was generally a lone wanderer. He wasn''t concerned about sharing such information, especially since Darren would learn his username from joining the same party.


    "Alright. Do you have a Guild?"


    "I have no Guild, but I have been running cover for - um, assissting DeathGang ofte. I''m sure you heard of the war."


    "Oh, yes. You were there?"


    "I killed Arkyle."


    "That''s quite a im. But I''ll believe you."


    "No need." Crucis navigated through his menu, until a book disying a list of his kills appeared in his left hand. He leafed through this until Arkyle''s name was disyed on the day of the war.


    "Impressive. So did you kill the yers in there? I think that they were pursuing me."


    "I killed them all. They''re dead, every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and children too."


    Darrenughed. "I could swear I''ve heard that line before."


    Crucis sighed. "Starfighter, search your heart a bit, you should know this."

 Chapter 67: Sherpa

    Chapter 67: Sherpa


    "Your knowledge of this area is impressive. So you''re saying that there''s a better minor dungeon slightly to the North?" DicingDevil said to Starfighter.


    "Yes, but it requires a slightly higher level. At least 4 or 5 guys some way over level 50. It''s the same as the dungeon you use, but a bit obscure. I guess they forgot to add it to the map, and to set the entrance up correctly," Starfighter replied.


    "They probably aren''t in much hurry now, too many other issues," Crucis said. "Well, why doesn''t our group set off there? Dicing, you mentioned that minor dungeons allow for six yers, he can tag along with us and show the way."


    "Yes, a good n. I''ll tell the others," DicingDevil replied.


    DicingDevil and Grisier set off towards a small crowd of DeathGang yers.


    In this game, most dungeons were divided into two kinds, which yers designated as ''major'' and ''minor.'' ''Major'' dungeons were dungeons which featured a session of boss battles, and often had the party adventuring through a fairlyrge area with its own lore. ''Minor'' dungeons were just a session of battles withrge mobs, and were typically shorter, easier, and less rewarding. yers were allowed one chance per day at each type of dungeon, although somerge donors had been granted a ''VIP'' status which granted them an additional major dungeon.


    In addition to these basic dungeons, there were also dungeons designated as ''trials,'' like the ''Battodo Trial,'' which were generally limited to attempts once per week and tested the yer''s skill by measuring how far they could survive against progressively more difficult challenges.


    Eventually, major dungeons would be difficult toplete for groups of Assassins. Minor dungeons, however, seemingly got easier over time due to higher-level yers being able to clear mobsfortably with strong area-of-effect attacks.


    As the DeathGang yers were conversing, Crucis hid away and drew out the golden string which had tied Jack''s letter in thest dungeon. He ced this string around the [Pendant of Silence], and saw that this crafted a [Sacred Deathbringer Ne]. While the effect of this ne was simr to the [Holy Deathbringer Ne], it added an additional effect named [Xiezhi], which gave your first two attacks a 5% chance of ignoring half of the opponent''s Constitution stat, if you ambushed them and were using some form of the [Figure Blur] effect. While Crucis generally felt that an ambush from [Stealth Cloak] was more secure, an attack which ignored arge part of the opponent''s Constitution stat could be potentially devastating because it would bypass the enemy''s main defences.


    While the opponent''s Dexterity and Agility could still be used to parry, mitigate or dodge the blows, Crucis figured he would generally have an advantage in those areas. However, he suspected that yers like FGRT might still be immune, because they had unnaturally high resistance to damage which was not linked to their CON. But that couldn''t be helped. The [Xiezhi] effect was still quite valuable. Crucis wore this [Sacred Deathbringer Ne], but it was hidden under the shinobi shozoku and hence the DeathGang members would not see it.


    He bounded upwards, and saw the familiar four people from the previous dungeon''s party now talking to Starfighter. Since Starfighter had no Mount, DicingDevil tossed him a spare loaned key which he kept on hand to prepare for any awkward eventualities like group members with Mounts that they couldn''t control. At this early stage of the game, people were still getting to grips with the Mount feature, and, as the group''s leader, DicingDevil tried to minimise dys.


    Starfighter used the key, and was surprised when arge mongoose with sleek brown fur appeared, named [Ichneumon (Non-Combat)]. As he got on, it began moving quickly in a zig-zag motion, and he had to struggle to stay mounted.


    "They said that this one was a test, so I guess good luck," DicingDevil said, hopping onto his own mount. The rest of the group followed after DicingDevil and Starfighter, as Starfighter''s haphazard mount awkwardly led the way.


    As they neared the minor dungeon they reached a clump of low-hanging,rge trees in front of a swamp. However, they were soon halted by a group of three [The Fountain] yers, who stood defiantly in their way.


    "Stop, DeathGang! You viins have killed my friends, now you will pay the price!" said one, a tall level 50 ranger named [Lusray].


    The other two joined in, but Crucis could see that they were nervous. Seemingly, they had noticed that the lead yer was level 40, and Lusray had impulsively guessed that this was a low-level group. This wasn''t made any easier by the fact that they were staring straight into the sun as they tried to survey the mounted yers from low in the surrounding marshes. Lusray''s two friends were both level 48. They had skipped the war identally to grind, and hade North to escape the jeers and me of their ill-tempered Guildmates.


    As DicingDevil prepared to engage, Starfighter smirked and then pounced seamlessly from his Mount to sh at Lusray''s face with a [Hawk sh]. This cut a dark, bloody gash. As Lusray teetered backwards due to the force of the unexpected strike, Starfighter wrestled him downwards and used the crossguard of his sword to press heavily into Lusray''s neck and force Lusray to fall down backwards.


    Lusray was dizzy and struggling to catch his breath, and the cross-guard''s blunt force had left him slightly nauseous. However, as Starfighter swooped downwards with his de to use a harsh [Slice] on Lusray''s wounded neck, Lusray found that he couldn''t raise his sword to fend off this assault because it was trapped beneath a curved de. Looking closer, Crucis saw that Lusray''s sword was pinned beneath one curved de of a double-ded [Hdie] dagger, with a ck hilt tinged slightly red by blood, which Starfighter had deftly withdrawn as he went to ground.


    As one of Lusray''s friends, named [Brendaen], tried to kick Starfighter away and then raised a sword to stab downwards, he was osted by a mounted Crucis who pulled him away by the neck. Crucis leapt off the mount, and used its momentum to drag Brendaen to the ground in a rough [Chokehold]. As they met the ground, Crucis slit Brendaen''s throat with a [ck Spot], then dragged this wound harshly against the dusty, uneven ground. Brendaen tried to speak, but only coughed up blood. Crucis used a reverse grip to stab harshly into the back of Brendaen''s neck with [Panoramic Strike].


    Brendaen seemed to twitch slightly as Crucis withdrew the dagger, and Crucis saw that Brendaen had died frozen in a slightly hopeful expression. One of his hands was stretched as if it had been reaching out for something, but it wasn''t clear what. Cruxis raised his eyebrows. Brendaen''s pose reminded him slightly of the mechanical positivity of Emmy''s speech. Something about that girl was engrossed with wounds and the heroic image of futile resistance to them, he wondered if this exins why Keene was so rash and quick to challenge him in the mist. She had readily been willing to live vicariously through his imaginary story of oveing obstacles. Like Lusray''s followers, she had been enthusiastic to follow a chimerical, brave quest that led nowhere, and that ended in the grave.


    They were all hopeful skeletons.


    Beside Brendaen, Lusray died under a steady assault of neck-bound shes from Starfighter. Lusray''s neck was left a mutted mess. Although Lusray had managed to push Starfighter away slightly, any hope of fighting back was snuffed out as Akshel tangled Lusray''s arms and head in a firm grip, and left the warrior at Starfighter''s mercy. The remaining enemy was killed swiftly by DicingDevil, with Grisier assisting in slowing the enemy''s movements.


    "That''s not like any Arch-Knight I''ve seen," Akshel said, surprised at Starfighter''s fierce assault of Lusray.


    "He knows da wae of using a sword," Crucis clicked, light-heartedly.


    "Well, most Arch-Knights paid to unlock the ss early," DicingDevil said. "I think this guy is free, like us, so he probably couldn''t take the usual tried-and-true Arch-Knight approach of walking in and showing off ballet moves with sword props."


    "He shut down a muchrger yer, as well," Akshel remarked.


    "He used the Arch-Knight''s speed and physicality to shut down his opponent directly and target their weaknesses, it''s a good strategy. The hdie was a nice touch," Crucis said, as he climbed back on board his Mount. "Where did you get it?"


    "Ah, there''s a vige to the North-East where they make it," Starfighter replied. "I nearly ran into a level 120 beast on the way there, though, so be careful."


    "Alright. Anyway, let''s make our way North," DicingDevil said.


    Starfighter led the group further North, into an empty and quiet area. Going up to a boulder, he swept away some moss along the ground, and they saw a minor dungeon entrance leading to a underground tunnel. They thanked their guide, then invited Starfighter into the party for the dungeon.

 Chapter 68: Alice in Hell

    Chapter 68: Alice in Hell


    The group tried to enter the minor dungeon, but were blocked by the entrance.


    "The entrance is defective," Starfighter said, "I think that the game has issues with dungeons where the entrance is covered by terrain. But it''s easily solved. The party leader just has to set a teleport point for the team, then everyone can teleport and will be in the dungeon."


    "Alright, will do," DicingDevil replied quickly.


    He navigated the dungeon''s party leadership menu. It asked him to create an instance, then began a timer of 15 minutes for clearance. Slightly hurried, he selected the [Waypoint] option, and a soft red light began to emanate from the tunnel entrance below. He exited the menu.


    Crucis saw a dialogue box appear in front of him, saying, ''Your party''s leader has set a Waypoint. Teleport to near location?'' He pressed yes, and a faint blue ring appeared around his feet. Soon, the rest of the party was also surrounded by these rings.


    After 30 seconds, Crucis found himself teleported into arge room with crumbling, white walls, and a small, marble fountain in the centre. Pools of white powder spread across the edges of the grey-brown floor, fallen from the chalky stone of the walls. The party had spawned on the same side of the room, and there was arge doorway on the opposite side of the room with broken hinges which suggested that the door itself had been torn out.


    DicingDevil stepped quickly towards the fountain in the centre, and as he touched it the noise of loud footsteps arose behind the doorway. Soon, a group of five skeletons wearing white, glowing armour appeared, carrying small swords which were covered in cracks. Each of them was named [Defender of the Faith (Scout)].


    "Their swords won''t break, don''t even try," Starfighter said. "They''re very weak to hits on the head, though."


    The group stood back briefly as Grisier used the fountain''s water to cast [Ice st], spraying shards of ice at the skeletal enemies. This struck two of the skeletons on the head, and their HP dropped to 75%.


    Crucis saw that one of the enemies seemed to be stronger than the others, and still had 97% HP remaining, so he ran up to it and struck it with a light [sh] to the chest while parrying its sword. He flicked his sword upwards to strike it with a [Rising thrust] hard on its left arm, which was holding its sword. This caused its grip on the sword to droop slightly, and Crucis used [Uncrossing of des] to raise his sword away from the skeleton''s and immediately strike at its left wrist with a fierce [Overhead sh]. This quick onught of high-Agility moves was enough to dispossess the skeleton of its sword, which ttered across the floor.


    Crucis ushered an approaching Akshel away from this skeleton, and Akshel shifted off to help Starfighter, who was keeping one enemy pinned in a corner and furiously striking at its head.


    Crucis, however, took things easy. After a [Feint], where he pretended to stab at the enemy in order to force it to backpedal, he swept his sword quickly across the ground to trip up the moving enemy. As the skeleton fell backwards into the corner, it had only 65% HP remaining. However, Crucis only used light strikes cushioned by the skeleton''s armour, doing barely any damage. With each strike, some ck mist began to rise into the air.


    Grisier saw what Crucis was doing, and used a [Healing] spell on the creature, followed by [Mana Push] to keep it stuck in the corner. This brought it back up to 67% HP, allowing Crucis to strike further. Since he wasn''t wounding it heavily, not much ck smoke arose, but he figured it was much more than he would get by just killing this scout quickly. Once the ck mist grew thick enough that the room looked like it was tinted clearly darker, Crucis killed the skeleton with a blow to the head. While the rest of the scouts died in 30 seconds or less, Crucis''sted for 1 minute and 40 seconds. The rest of the group were getting slightly impatient, but DicingDevil pointed them to the mist.


    Starfighter had spent this waiting time by busily discussing tactics for the next room with DicingDevil.


    DicingDevil addressed the group as they prepared to enter the doorway. "This guy says that we should attack the boss first. It will appear in front of one of the yers here. Whoever is near it, attack it, the rest of us will take the mobs. Spread across the room so that Grisier can cast spells from the fountain in here."


    Him, Starfighter, Crucis, and Akshel stepped through the door, into arge cavern which seemed to have fragments of ruined walls around its edges. The ground was brown, hard mud. Crucis and Starfighter spread out towards the left, and the DeathGang members towards the right.


    There was a loud, feminine sobbing sound from the right side of this cavern, but as DicingDevil checked there was nothing there. As the crying noise disappeared, without a sound arge, hulking skeletal figure wearing an oversized purple robe appeared in front of Crucis, named [Alice]. This skeleton''s two thick arms hung menacingly in Crucis'' direction, a foot above his head. It eye sockets were tall, empty holes which had been torn downwards, and its mouth had also been ripped into arge hole with rough edges and gaped widely as it faced Crucis.


    Not bothering with formalities, Crucis used [Agile Step] to move instantly to the skeleton''s right nk, then attacked it with a [Lunge] which urately struck its neck. The creature roared in a low-pitched, muffled voice, and swung a mighty hand in Crucis'' direction. Crucis, however, had quickly shifted his weight downwards and crouched behind the creature''s left leg, using [Thrash] to beat at its leg and weaken its bnce.


    Starfighter aggressively ran up to the skeleton with his sword raised by its de, and used [Mordhau] on the boss'' face. This sent the boss out of bnce, and Crucis easily grabbed and upended it by the legs as Starfighterid down over it and hacked fiercely at its head and neck.


    Meanwhile, a group of smaller skeletal mobs, each named [The Faithful], had begun pouring in through arge crack which appeared in the centre of the cavern roof. Each of these enemies wore a torn, blue and silver robe. They were met by a spray of ice as Grisier cast [Ice st], and then DicingDevil and Akshel set upon them, clearing through these weaker mobs quickly with sweeping shes.


    The boss'' leg was strong enough to send Crucis cannoning away towards a cavern wall. He crouched down and skidded to a stop, using a hand on the ground to steady himself. One of his shoulders lightly brushed the wall as he stopped, and he used this shoulder to push off against the wall as he stood up with a swagger and walked back towards the boss. He felt confident on seeing that the boss was still pinned to the ground.


    Starfighter was clinging on to the boss'' upper body and striking resolutely at their neck and head. Although the boss tried to dislodge him with its imposing arms, Starfighter had wrapped his legs around one of the boss''rge ribs, and would steadfastly cling onto the boss'' bones with his hands to counter-act any attempts to get rid of him. The warrior was still clinging on and striking, using his [Hdie] when the creature tried to obstruct his sword. In the process, he had taken several hard strikes as the boss bent its stiff arms with effort, but had taken the boss down to 55% HP.


    Crucis was interrupted by a rogue [The Faithful] which had run from a fight with DicingDevil, and ran up to fight Crucis as he was carefully trying to avoid the boss'' legs. Frustrated, he grabbed this skeleton in a rough [Chokehold], not dealing much damage but dragging it along with him. Since [The Faithful] were only level 35, he dragged it with ease towards the boss, using it as a shield while approaching. Quickly ducking down near the ground, he grabbed this [The Faithful] by the legs and scurried between its legs towards the boss, then mmed [The Faithful]''s body down hard across the boss'' lower ribs just behind Starfighter''s legs. The boss cried out in pain, and reached 40% HP.


    While [The Faithful] had nearly died from the collision, Crucis saw that one of its legs had broken off. These creatures'' bones were highly tough, even more than the boss'', but their joints were weak. He dove down towards it and killed it with a quick [Silent Stab], then grabbed its detached leg bone. Using [Stealth Cloak], he made his way behind the creature''s head, and then begun striking away its arms with his sword as soon as it tried to strike Starfighter. With this protection, Starfighter was quickly able to whittle down the boss'' HP with persistent strikes.


    Seeing arge chink forming in the boss'' neck, Crucis quicklyid half of the legbone in this crack while the creature was distracted by Starfighter. Crucis then jumped carefully onto the firm legbone, bncing with one foot on either side of the neck, and heard the creature cry out. He stepped lightly off as he began to lose bnce, and while doing this used his right foot to spin the bone off the boss'' neck and to the side, where he picked it up off the ground. Arge gap had formed in the boss'' neck, and Starfighter began to pour further strikes into the crack.


    As the boss reached 15% HP, a girl''s voice quietly sang out, "Do-re-mi-fa-so-ti-do," from near the boss'' head. Crucis guessed that this might be simr to the King''s [Blinding Fate] skill, and fled carefully out of the way. Soon, he saw Starfighter catapulting away from the boss, striking against a wall of the cavern and falling to 35% HP. Seeing him, Grisier cast [Healing] and Starfighter returned to 55% HP. The boss had also healed as the girl''s voice sung, and was back to 25% HP.


    As the boss tried to get up, it had difficulty because of the neck injury, which meant that its head kept teetering from side to side and threatened to fall off. Slowly, it tried to rise while carefully keeping its head in bnce. Crucis watched it as he crouched and lurked near the cavern walls, staying out of the way of the mobs and waiting for the boss to rise.


    As the boss lifted itself tentatively on itsrge feet, kneeling slightly as it tried to keep its head in ce, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and then ran forwards. In an instant, he leapt near the boss with [Agile Step], then wrapped the legbone around its neck and pulled backwards. Due to his momentum, the creature began to reel backwards, and its head began to shake wildly. Tilting the legbone slightly, he caused the creature''s skull to fall tamely to its left side as it stumbled awkwardly backwards.


    Emting Starfighter''s approach, he used the legbone to pull himself up onto the creature''srge back, using the creature''s ribs and backbones to climb on with his legs. Hanging his upper body backwards into the air like a carefree skydiver, he felt the pressure on the creature intensify until it began to sway heavily back and forth. Finding that he couldn''t keep his bnce, he slipped his feet onto the ground and roughly pulled downwards on the legbone, trying to keep a firm bnce on the ground and apply pressure to the wildly swaying creature. It managed to lightly scrape him with one arm, but had difficulty striking backwards when in such disarray.


    As the creature weakly stumbled around, trying to avoid falling backwards, Crucis saw that it was leaning forwards in order to avoid his pull. He pressed forwards suddenly, kneeing it downwards. Since it was already highly off-bnce, it fell to the floor under Crucis'' knee, and he followed it down with the legbone still caught around its neck. He curled his leg around the back of its ribs as it tried to shake him off, and kept his firm grip on the legbone, pulling it upwards.


    He quickly pulled out his sword, and held the legbone in his left hand. Striking firmly with the sword, he held on to the writhing monster and bluntly struck at its breaking neck with the base of his sword, resting its hilt on the right side of the neck like a lever. Starfighter had returned, after having to fight off arge group of [The Faithful] which had materialised after the boss sent him flying away, but had run back here after DicingDevil helped him to kill those off. He struck firmly at the boss'' arms and shoulders as it tried with difficulty to strike Crucis.


    Crucis soon used [Slice] to sever thest sliver of the boss'' neck in the crack, and the boss'' neck fell off as it died. Getting up, slightly tired, he gave Starfighter a fist-bump as thanks. Surveying the enemies, he saw that a few skeletons named [Defender of the Faith] had materialised, and these seemed like stronger versions of the scouts which they had first fought. These enemies wore simr armour, but now with a more bright, pale glow.


    He ran up to join the rest of the group, and saw that Grisier was raining [Icicle Projectile] attacks at these mobs. Crucis ran up to one, then leapt at it with a blunt [sh] to the face, grabbing at its ribs to steady himself and using his legs to kick beneath its ribs. Maintaining a tenuous bnce, he used [Thrash] on its head until it died. Noticing that another [Defender of the Faith] was approaching, he leapt off this one''s falling body and towards the face of the approaching one, wing at its face and nestling the fingers of his left hand between its right eye socket while perching his feet on its ribs. He struck its face with a hard, blunt [sh] from the right, then pummeled it with an [Overhead sh] and another [Thrash], killing it.


    Falling down with the body, he looked for another [Defender of the Faith] nearby, then used the fallen skeleton''s ribs tounch himself towards it as he darted along the ground and grabbed it by the legs. It tried to keep its bnce, but as he reared up behind it the skeleton fell hard to the ground, crashing into a [The Faithful] next to it. He saw that Starfighter was watching on nearby, impressed.


    Assailing this [Defender of the Faith] by the head again, he saw Starfighter quickly take out the fallen [The Faithful] which had collided with it. Another [Defender of the Faith] reared up behind Crucis, but he locked his legs and left hand around its right ankle to slow it down, and Starfighterfortably sent the near-static enemy to the ground with a blunt [Mordhau]. With impressive dexterity, Starfighter flipped his sword after the hilt strike, and stabbed down towards the creature''s face. Crucis scrambled towards there as well, and they both assaulted its head until it died.


    Crucis saw that most of the [Defender of the Faith] mobs had died. DicingDevil was busy killing one with [Hilt Bludgeon], an [Ariston] sub-ss skill which ced the sword''s hilt against an opponent, then elbowed them using the hilt as leverage. He was using this as a follow-up to [Mordhau], and then skeleton dropped dead.


    Crucis ran up to one of the remaining [Defender of the Faith] mobs, and used [Feint] to target its head before using [Overhead sh] to swivel his sword and strike at its wrists. By now, the air was growing thickly ck, and Crucis could easily strike these skeletons'' joints. The skeleton lost hold of its sword, and Starfighter dislodged this with a quick [de Strike]. Crucis by now appeared to have arge, ck cobra-like hood reaching out from both sides of his back like strange wings, from the height of his midriff to above his head, and his face had been reced by a ck void containing tworge fangs and two aggressive, squinting snake-like eyes suspended above that.


    He swept his sword along the ground calmly, then as the [Defender of the Faith] lurched forwards he used a firm, sharp [Rising thrust] to strike the top of its neck, sending its head backwards, beforefortably stepping forwards and striking the creature with a firm [sh] to the face. It fell backwards easily, and Crucis rushed in to finish it off with a [Lunge] to the face.


    Thest [Defender of the Faith] was charging up to him from behind, but he calmly swivelled around to his right and parried its sword as its swung from the side, then ducked down as its momentum carried it forwards. He grabbed hold of one of its legs and lifted this as it tripped over him, throwing the creature over his lowered back as it ran forwards. Itnded firmly on its head, creating a loud, hollow noise and taking it down to 5% HP. It showed little sign of getting up.


    He used his sword EXP to unlock the [Mordhau] skill. He had gained a lot of sword EXP from the long fights today, and was close to unlocking dual-wielding. However, he had seen the power of the [Mordhau] move, and decided that it was worth getting now. He was expecting to have to wait longer for sword EXP to umte and give him enough skill points to unlock dual-wielding and the ensuing Agility buffs, but since he had the same dungeons nned for tomorrow he would probably end up with more than enough.


    He struck the [Defender of the Faith] with the hilt of his sword in a firm [Mordhau]. He noticed that it was less powerful than DicingDevil''s or Starfighter''s, but still a harsh strike. The creature died with its skull split in two, and Crucis stepped on some of the brittle remains, which crumbled to white powder.


    There were still a few small pockets of [The Faithful] remaining. He walked slowly among them, downing them quickly with precise strikes to their necks and heads. He took a few blows in the process, but shrugged it off, ending on afortable 76% HP.


    The group had cleared the dungeon with 2 minutes left. Crucis was tired, but had enjoyed the experience. He checked his loot, and saw that the boss had dropped a skill book for a skill named [Hilt Feint], as well as a storybook named [A Charming Fairy-Tale]. How wholesome.


    He slumped against a wall for a couple of seconds, then left the dungeon.

 Chapter 69: A Charming Fairy-Tale

    Chapter 69: A Charming Fairy-Tale


    The EXP from the minor dungeon was enough for Crucis to reach just over three-fourth of the way to level 58. He might manage to reach there by the end of today.


    However, for the moment, DeathGang were resting in the empty area near the dungeon. Crucis drew out the book marked [A Charming Fairy Tale] from his inventory, and began to read, curious about why it dropped from the skeleton boss.


    <strong>A Charming Fairy-Tale</strong>


    Once upon a time, Alice was wandering in arge garden.


    There were short trees filled with all sorts of flowers, as it was summer.


    She walked over to pick a violet flower, which had a glowing white ring around its mboyant petals.


    However, as she stood on her toes and picked it, she felt the ground giving way beneath her.


    Holding the flower, she dropped into a small tunnel, and then fell painfully through.


    She found herself facing arge, white temple, with a fountain filled with violet petals. There was a shrine at the end of the room.


    A handful of worshippers were gathered, difficult to see in the dark underground temple. They picked up Alice, and ced her on the shrine. Then they bowed to her and called her a God.


    She had just reached adulthood, and was perpetually nervous about whether she would be respected. ttered but confused, she asked them why they called her that. Instead of responding, they forcibly walked up to her and ced a nk, oval ck mask over her face. She could not see.


    They faced her and said one word, ''Dream.'' Unable to find her way out with the mask on, she did as she was told.


    She dreamed of being a rich princess, covered with gold and jewels. She clutched a gand of gold around her neck, and saw a ruby on its front. She smiled. It was good.


    She was married to a prince with a stiff blue and white suit, keeping an upright posture. As he embraced her, she felt a wave of euphoria. However, she realised that this was because of the vertical lines of gold across his shirt, which pressed against her skin.


    She began to clutch covetously at this, and the Prince embraced her more closely and kissed her. She helplessly fell into his arms, but he soon began to grasp her more tightly as a result. Feeling slightly ustrophobic in his strong grip, she tried to push him away. However, she found that she could not.


    She tried to wrench her head away, but found that his head was now attached to hers, and both had melded together. She was clutching the gold on the Prince''s suit, but found that it was now her suit as well. She tried to cry out in fear and confusion, but found that her mouth was now the Prince''s.


    "You wanted these jewels," he said, "Now they are yours. You wanted me, now I am yours."


    "Let me go!" she cried weakly, from a corner of the Prince''s mouth.


    "It is not in my control. Through your childhood, your fantasies have been just fantasies - they turned out to just be you. Now you get to experience the truth of your fantasies - <em>you</em> turn out to be <em>them</em>. That is how we chase our dreams." The Prince spoke in a slightly strange tone, halfway between crazed and carefree.


    "At least I am now a ruler. I have always wished for riches and admiration," she replied, finding the male voice odd.


    "Yes, and riches don''t care about your gender or name! Your dreams can be my dreams! Why does it matter which of us you are, if you get what you really wanted? Power, fame, wealth, I have it all!"


    "What a charming offer! So I can have it?"


    "Well... maybe. It depends on how you fit into my Kingdom!"


    "What is your Kingdom called?" she asked excitedly.


    "Hades. That is also my name," he said. "It is the kingdom of the dead."


    As he said this, his body vanished, leaving an empty, ck silhouette for Alice to inhabit. She noticed that her face now looked like the ck mask which she had worn.


    She tried to speak, but felt as if her voice dissolved away into this ck void, and no sound emanated. Worriedly, she tore off the mask.


    Having removed the mask, she saw the five worshippers still kneeling before her.


    "What is a god?" she asked them curiously.


    "God is God," they replied in unison.


    They then began to speak in turn, from left to right.


    "God is the all-powerful being."


    "God is the being who owns all wealth, even the world itself."


    "God is every virtue."


    "God is greater than both male and female, in God both are united."


    "God is the furthest reaches of imagination. I wish for God, and so he is there."


    She wandered hazily up to the fountain, and saw that the worshippers were still bowing to the shrine as fervently as when she was there. However, their words had filled her with slight confidence.


    Looking into the mirror, she saw with horror that she was still wearing the ck mask. She tore it off hurriedly and threw it loudly to the ground, but as she looked down again she saw that a ck mask still appeared over her face. She tore off mask after mask, but still the same nk, ck mask hung onto her face.


    "If you imagine God, then can he be anything you like?" she asked the worshippers. She wondered if a God could help her with this problem, which seemed to have no normal solution.


    "No," said the leftmost worshipper. "God is what God is. All else changes, but God remains the same."


    "You said I''m God. So then - can I do just anything? Can I be big and strong? Can I be charismatic?"


    "God is charismatic, because God is already in the hearts of men and women," replied the worshipper. "Can you be strong? Of course, but you shall see."


    As he finished speaking, Alice saw a shadowy figure loom behind her left shoulder. She saw that it was a ck cat, which had taken a seat on the fountain. It had a sharp needle sticking into one of its paws. It yelped, as if asking for help.


    She pulled the needle out of its paw, and saw that the needle glowed. She was going to throw it away, but found its allure irresistable. As if instructed by it, she stuck it firmly into one shoulder, forming a deep, bleeding cut. She began to cry from the pain and kneeled to the ground, but she felt stronger.


    As her vision fogged over, she heard a strangely hypnotic voiceing from the direction where the cat had been sat. "Studied charisma is such a con, isn''t it?" it said. "A man epts that which is already in his heart, repeated to himself again. It is like a parasite on the body."


    It continued. "Advertisement is like a bat swarm of cancerous tumours, swooping over the human soul. Oh, but I can''t say that now, it''s too poetic and old-fashioned."


    "That''s such a... grotesque image," she cried.


    "So are you, my dear," the voice said with relish. "But perhaps you do not understand. Oh well, your sort never do."


    Feeling more strength in her limbs, she easily hoisted herself up to an upright position, and tried to use her bulging arms to strike at the cat. However, it had already vanished by the time she stood up. As she lunged forwards, she instead fell into the fountain.


    Pulling herself out, feeling dizzy, she looked at her reflection. She was surprised to see that her drenched body now looked like the Prince who she had dreamed about, except her arms were thicker and bulged against her shirt until it tore. She tried to move her arms down to push away from the fountain, but instead they moved upwards as if someone else was moving them.


    Her face was still covered by a ck mask.


    "I wish I looked like I used to, when I came down here!" she cried.


    "Didn''t you always look like this?" said the rightmost worshipper.


    "No! I was a normal girl!"


    "Well, if you were a normal girl, we would have hardly thought that you were a God. You must have always been extraordinary, powerful, and superhuman. Indeed, there can be no doubt, you already looked the same as you do now."


    "No! I''m Alice, I was a normal girl, not some freak like you! Where is this ce?"


    "It is thend where you dream," said the second-from-right worshipper.


    "It is the ce where you are nothing but dreams, and once you dream something it is true. Isn''t that absurd? The less you think of the world, the more the world is what you think! The less you can do, the more you can dream! The less you are, the more you are! What could be more absurd?" the rightmost worshipper added.


    "It is a consummation devoutly to be wished," said the central disciple, in a pained voice. "To be or not to be? That is not the question. To sleep, to dream - then you are not, and you therefore are."


    The disciple to his left piped up. "To be is not to be! To not be is to be! Everything changes, everything is in flux, and at root there is only the idea - no, not an idea, but a dream! Our dreams fly out across thend of reality, and they colonise it to be reality. Dreams, dreams are our Kingdom. And why wait, why revolt, why make hopeful predictions, when what you want is already here and you just have to wish for more and more?"


    "But why speak of being or non-being at all?" said the second-from-right worshipper. "God neither exists nor non-exists, at least not by our limited conceptions of existence and non-existence! Who can know what God does? God is all a mystery. Come, it is ridiculous to even speak of a God, we have no notions which couldmunicate about God, even that of ''God.''"


    "But if I''m God, what am I supposed to do?" Alice cried out.


    "Oh, who knows? Or maybe we can express that in the via negativa: I have absolutely no idea, miss. Or perhaps deontologically: I have absolutely no idea, and that proves clearly what you are to do."


    "That doesn''t help! I still don''t know. All of my wishes just seemed to make things worse."


    "Then don''t make wishes. But don''t you wish that you could be better again?"


    "Oh, yes!"


    "Well, then you must keep wishing. But I do not know for what. In fact, I don''t even know if you should keep on wishing."


    "Look, I never meant to get you guys into some deep philosophical argument! Can you just show me the way home?"


    "Why would we listen to you?" said the central worshipper.


    "You said I was God, so listen to me."


    "You are God, so your home is in a Church or a nunnery. So go. You are more powerful than us," the worshipper replied. "''God doth not need either man''s works or his own gifts.'' We put our faith in God, but why should God need works when God is all-powerful? The point of works is to move A to B, if God wanted A to be at position B, I daresay he would have moved it there. Nay, go to a nunnery by yourself. I swear, ever since this fool became God, I have lost all hope in the world''s order. I should dly wee the apocalypse."


    On hearing this stance on faith and works, the rightmost worshipper angrily objected, and the two wrestled for a few moments before the central worshipper threw his foe to the ground, and resumed bowing to the shrine.


    However, the leftmost worshipper got to his feet, and addressed Alice. "You wish to go home? Well, then I must take you home. Look, there is a tunnel upwards behind you."


    Alice groped her way along the white walls of the temple, following the worshipper. Soon, she found her way to the tunnel which she had fallen down. She mbered with difficulty through it, but felt the sure hands of the worshipper guiding her through. Soon, she was relieved to breathe fresh air, and copsed onto the garden grass.


    She took a few seconds to collect her bearings, but was then surprised to find the worshipper who had helped her was also alongside her, and she wondered as to how he managed to climb through the tunnel in a matter of seconds.


    "Alright, do you want me to point you home?" he said, in a low-pitched voice with a slight hiss. She noticed that his canine teeth grew longer as he spoke.


    "Yes, please," she said, "I should very much like to know. I had quite forgotten, while I was down there!" She giggled slightly.


    "There is your home." He pointed down towards the ground, and above where he pointed she could see arge gravestone. It seemed one or two days old.


    "Wee. I may only stay here for one minute, now I must go," said the worshipper, who by now had grownrge fangs. He disappeared, and she saw a small bat flitting into the dark tunnel. She wondered at his entric response.


    As Alice looked curiously at the gravestone, she saw that it had her name on it. After a few moments of staring, she vanished into thin air, and was never seen again.


    The moral of the story is: rabbits reproduce at a rate which approximates the Fiboni sequence. Q.E.D.


    P.S. Oh, Lord, protect us from joy, for it makes us act like energetic rabbits, and we do not wish to be reduced to numbers. Save us, Oh Lord. Schoolchildren read mournful Hamlet''s tragedy in English sses, but they will read our tragedies in mathematics sses. That is the real tragedy.


    Crucis wasn''t entirely sure about the story''s professed moral, as it surely depended on which rabbits and how quickly they died off. However, the author''s distress about the matter was touching.


    Getting to his feet, Crucis dusted himself off and walked over to DicingDevil, Starfighter and Akshel, who were skimming through a book named [History of the Temple].


    "Hi," DicingDevil said, "It turns out that there''s some kind of story to this dungeon."


    "I can guess," Crucis replied. "Fugitives from Ganf¨¦an''s Kingdom came here to escape the disease and invasions which destroyed his Kingdom."


    "Yes, actually. How did you know?"


    "Oh, this. As you can tell from the name, it''s great literature."


    He presented [A Charming Fairy-Tale], then continued speaking.


    "I found this book. It''s about a female like the one in the poem from Ganf¨¦an''s dungeon, except that this time she was dead all along. The enemies here all had names like [Defender of the Faith] and [Faithful], this seems to suggest that the Kingdom''s superstitious magic - which ran on a sort of belief or ''faith'' - kept on trying to persist in spite of death, just like the s¨¦ance promised to revive the Queen''s dead children and bring a prosperous future Kingdom as the real one crumbled.


    "This temple seemed like a simr attempt to realise a sort of future for the Kingdom in spite of its demise. The people here were probably devotees of this magic, or reliant on it, since by Jack''s ount it had spread through the Kingdom and things like the Queen''s mask weremonly worn."


    "Alice, like the skeleton?" DicingDevil asked, as he and Starfighter scanned the book. "Or Alice in Wondend, I guess. Or Alice in Chains."


    "All of those, in some way," Crucisughed. "It seems to exin why the skeleton named ''Alice'' was seemingly masculine and bulky, despite the name. She merges with the Prince, then takes some sort of drug that makes her muscr but feels like someone else is controlling her body. This Alice resembles what we know of the Queen, and is even shown marrying a Prince, though she seems to almost lose her sense of identity in the process. It seems to be about the court, and how the Queen''s ''dreams'' continue to distort the world after the Kingdom''s death."


    "Yes," Starfighter said. "There are many stories like this told in the upper viges, a lot of them are based on the area''s history. I think that the word ''dream'' here isn''t exactly the same as in English, which is why she can bemanded to dream easily. In the nativenguage, there''s a word - ''bidanbalet'' - which is tranted as ''dream,'' but typically means something like ''dream-like trance,'' or ''engrossing daydream.'' It basically means that a person goes slightly faint while caught up in the appeal of daydreaming."


    "So with the mask on, she gets caught up in a daydream? But she was dead the whole time, so it was a bit like a dream in the ''sleep of death.''" Crucis said.


    "Yes. The word ''bidanbalet'' is sometimes also used to suggest the foiled ambitions and hopes of dead people. There was a text named ''Gilgeh,'' where a hero is shocked by visiting his friend''s grave and contemting the friend''s ''bidanbalet.'' However, he calms down and resolves that, ''Ambition is never sated in life, it only lends a pained air to the grave.'' He begins to take on humbler tasks, assisting local peasants with everyday problems rather than joining the King''s wars."


    "Do you know the nativenguage well?"


    "I am somewhat familiar with it, I had to read some of it to figure out the maps, books and guides in the Northern forest viges, and the people there spoke in it asionally."


    "I see. Would you mind looking through some extracts of text that Grisier copied, which are in the nativenguage? We also have a letter from the court," DicingDevil said.


    DicingDevil ushered Grisier over, and presented Starfighter with Jack''s letter. Starfighter calmly epted, and began looking carefully over the letter.

 Chapter 70: Gadsden Rattlesnakes Venom

    Chapter 70: Gadsden Rattlesnake''s Venom


    Crucis turned towards Starfighter, who was carefully reading through Grisier''s notes. "What have you figured out so far?"


    "I can''t read most of this, but I can recognise a few words. I can exin some things about the letter from ''Jack,'' though."


    "Go ahead," DicingDevil said.


    "There''s a faint imprint of some text written in localnguage on the bottom of the paper. Seemingly they drafted the first three paragraphs there, then flipped the page and tranted them to English. Firstly, the word that often gets tranted as ''con-man'' in English around here," Starfighter said, "is the native word ''baliduok,'' which means in literal trantion ''a man whose foundation is lies about the world.'' ''About the world'' is a bit imprecise, maybe ''designed in opposition to reality'' is what I mean, lies which paint a different reality in ce of the real one."


    "I see," Crucis replied. "So more like the pope than yourself?"


    Starfighterughed. "Yeah, not my kind of con-man. I''m just an ordinary scammer. ''Baliduok'' seems to be amon word in old writing, but by now it''s sort of a high-brow cuss word."


    "I guess the letter''s writer is apparently from those older times, so he probably meant it in the original sense you mentioned. It does add up with what we''ve figured out about the King and Queen."


    "Alright. The word ''bear'' - ''gar'' originally - in ''Kruxol Bear'' probably refers to his maulings with the ws, but it''s also an image often used to refer to enemy soldiers. So it might mean that they believed he was serving the enemy Kingdoms near Kruxol, and attacking on behalf of those enemies. I heard some rumours about spies and assassins from Kruxol, people up North seemed to be very paranoid about it."


    "That''s quite possible, we should look for information on this in Kruxol."


    "Yes. The locals don''t have a word for ''rage'' as such, the closest equivalent is ''garlner'' which is literally ''bear''s tranformation.'' It refers to a person''s face transforming into an animalistic, bear-like form due to anger. It can also be used more loosely, if they have an angry or hateful demeanour and this can''t be shaken, which is probably what he means."


    "I see. So he calls their anger ''garlner,'' then he bes the Kruxol ''gar'' wearing the twisted mask?"


    "Yes, the ''gar i Kruxol.'' The ''i'' is pronounced like a short ''ee'' separated clearly from thest syble, a bit like Russian §í, it means ''of'' here."


    "I see. Interesting, thanks."


    "Did you find much in the other pages?" DicingDevil asked.


    Starfighter nodded lightly. "Most of them I can''t get much from, but one of them mentions a vige just West of here, named Mokra. It says something about a tunnel, and a hidden chest."


    "I know that vige," DicingDevil replied, "it''s on the way to the Hunting preservation, just North of Bilhiks. It has arge tunnel dug below one abandoned cottage named ''Poacher''s Den,'' which we use to sneak into the Hunting Lodge if we''re red-named and need to bypass the guards. We can go there and look, if there''s something hidden."


    "I can understand some directions, but I don''t know if the chest will still be there. It might be a good idea to go there anyway, if it''s on the way."


    "Sure thing. Let''s make our way to the vige and check on that tunnel."


    The group summoned their mounts, and proceeded South-West across a wandering forest path. Crucis'' Coelophysis mount found this terrain fairlyfortable, but Starfighter and Akshel collided lightly with some trees on the way, picking up some scrapes.


    Soon, they arrived at a small vige, with a sign outside saying ''Mokra.'' Although most of the vige was made up of modest huts and cottages, some copsed or abandoned, the West end of the vige had a wall across its borders and was filled withrge, wooden buildings. There were a few yers wandering around among these buildings. The walls had arge doorway facing the vige, and through this Crucis could make out that many of the yers staying in these buildings were children or parents.


    "Those buildings weren''t there before," DicingDevil said.


    "It''s a safe zone," Grisier replied. "I''d guess that it was an extra residential area, added because Kaxil was upgraded to a starting town. The game probably counts the residential area as a part of Kaxil, there''s also a teleport next to it."


    "Ah, that must be it. There seem to be a few children in there."


    "I guess they''re using these buildings as a school, because it''s less crowded than in Kaxil. Most buildings in Kaxil have NPCs or other functions, but here buildings where nobody is staying are empty enough to be used as ssrooms."


    "Why are these children in here?" Akshel asked. "Wasn''t the game restricted to 18+?"


    "In some countries, controls are rxed or can be bypassed," Grisier answered.


    "Yeah, with modern technology, things are typically released with some security holes," Starfighter said. "That''s sometimes added over time, but it can be difficult to cover every possible exploit. And in some countries the games are just released or smuggled without protections, I imported my copy from Vietnam."


    "There''s not many people in the older part of the vige," DicingDevil said, "The tunnel is this way." He guided the group.


    The ''Poacher''s Den'' was a trashed cottage, with furniture thrown into the corners and a torn blue carpet. Lifting the carpet, DicingDevil pointed the way to a tunnel beneath. The rest of the group slipped through into the dark, muddy tunnel, followed by DicingDevil. There were small figures of animals painted across the sides of the tunnel. Starfighter broke off from the group, to inspect a few of these cave paintings.


    "The writing you showed me said something like, ''go left from turtle,'' then said to search near the ground for ''alekaza.'' I''m not sure what is ''alekaza,'' but there''s a turtle drawn here," he said.


    The rest of the group moved closer to inspect the tunnel wall''s paintings, which were difficult to make out in the dark. Crucis saw a small outline of a turtle with a blue shell, painted on the wall next to Starfighter. The details of its head had been painted with some precision, and it cast a vacant gaze towards the left side.


    "The turtle is facing left," Crucis said. "Is anything facing down?"


    Starfighter shuffled to the left, examining the paintings. Soon, he found one which was looking downwards, a painted silver dolphin which seemed to be descending from a leap.


    "This dolphin is looking down," Starfighter said.


    "Alright, let''s see if there''s something beneath it," Crucis said. He crouched down near the wall, but in the darkness it was difficult to find anything. Grisier cast [Conjure Light] to help.


    Akshel was inspecting the lower wall with his hands, but suddenly flinched back in rm and drew a dagger.


    "What''s up?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Felt like a snake. Wait a second." He carefully leaned closer to the wall. "Nevermind, it''s a snake skin. A small piece of the neck."


    Crucis leant over and picked up the snake skin.


    "It looks to be blue with ck stripes, a bit like a krait. It''s also slightly wet. Maybe alekaza is something like a sea snake?" he said.


    "Could be," Starfighter said, "One of the vigers who told mythological stories had called Jormungandr ''istokaza,'' and ''isto'' is ''world'' in thisnguage."


    "So maybe ''kaza'' is snake or serpent?"


    "It''s probably something like that."


    Crucis inspected the snake skin carefully, and found that there was a blunt pin inside it.


    "It now says to look to the left and right, I''m not entirely sure what it means. There are locks there, which seal a door behind ''alekaza,''" Starfighter said.


    Akshel quickly moved to the left of where he had found the snake skin, and found a small leatherpartment in the wall hidden behind a stone. It was closed, but had a small hole in the centre. Crucis went over to look.


    "It''s closed," Crucis said, "But maybe this will help."


    He carefully ced the snakeskin''s pin into the hole, and the leatherpartment flipped open like a wallet. Inside, they saw a narrow, reptilian eye positioned as if it was staring back at them.


    "There''s an eye, but I think it''s been removed from the rest of the creature," Akshel said.


    "Yes, it''s an eye from a snake corpse. Someone hung it in there," Crucis said.


    DicingDevil immediately went to the right and found a simr leatherpartment, which opened in the same way. It contained the snake''s left eye.


    "Well, someone here didn''t like snakes," Akshel said briefly.


    "Maybe it''s the God of the Bible?" Crucisughed. "But more seriously, I wouldn''t be so sure. This looks slightly ritualistic," Crucis said. "They took a lot of care to ce the eyes as if the snake was staring, even though it was dead. It could be some kind of reverence."


    "That wouldn''t be surprising," Grisier said. "This tunnel was first begun under a temple that copsed, then poachers took it over and seemingly tunneled through to the hunting area."


    As the two eyes stared out, there was loud creak as the wall edged backwards behind the snakeskin''s original location. By pushing it softly, Crucis was able to push the wall back to expose a hollow space behind it. The area behind the wall was mostly empty, but contained a doorway leading downwards into a small, dark room below.


    "Who volunteers to take a look?" DicingDevil said.


    Crucis agreed to scout out the room, and walked quietly into the gap in the wall. He told the rest of the party to wait outside until he sent a message saying to enter, and to make minimal noise.


    Carefully stepping down across a haphazard array of scattered stones, Crucis made his way to the door. He couldn''t hear anything inside, but the door seemed to be bulky and green. As he lightly slid the door open, he stopped suddenly as he heard the sound of somebody rummaging around in the room below. The door must have been soundproof. There was also a loud noise which sounded like flowing water at one end of the room.


    The person inside the room seemed to be too busy looking for treasure to notice the slight opening in the door, so Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and quickly slid into the room, then silently walked up behind the person who had been in the room, a level 43 man named [Grandos]. Grandos looked to be slightly older than middle-aged, withbed brown hair and idealistic green eyes, and was frantically but tiredly looking through a row of cupboards in one corner of the room.


    As Crucis appeared behind him, it took Grandos a few seconds to register the Assassin''s presence. Crucis used this time to crouch slightly and deliver a firm [Panoramic Strike] which stabbed a gash across Grandos'' spine, and followed up with [The Ripper] to widen this wound downwards across Grandos'' back. Blood was pooling thickly across the wound through the spinal area, and Grandos began to sink forwards.


    Grandos attempted weakly to withdraw his sword, but Crucis easily crouched down and used [Sword hold] to grab this, then pressed Grandos'' neck lightly against the edge of the open cupboard in front of it, until Grandos'' loose grip gave way and Crucis could grab the sword and throw it away across the room. Grandos was on 27% HP and was slouching forwards while tears dropped from his eyes.


    Crucis made no move to kill this opponent, and instead brandished his dagger threateningly towards Grandos'' neck. After 15 seconds of crying hysterically, Grandos finally saw an opening and began to speak.


    "Leave me alone," Grandos said. "I was a politician when I was on Earth. My ideal was to serve the people. Right now, I''m helping out with the schools for children here. Please let me keep doing this, for their sakes."


    "Why do you need the treasure to help them with school?" Crucis asked.


    "Well, the treasure requires you to select 6 other yers to also receive it, otherwise you can''t obtain it. Some of the kids are still trying to level up, hunt and get gold to support each other, so I will send them the treasure as well. And hopefully it will also encourage them to listen to their lessons."


    "I see." Crucis paused briefly. "What are these schools like? What do you guys teach?"


    "We brought a group of actual teachers trapped in the game, and they teach various subjects. I made sure to implement an equal hiring policy by quota, so we have teachers of all races and genders."


    "All genders? How many is that?"


    "Oh, plenty. Plenty!" The politician''s tone turned slightly maniacal for a moment.


    "I see. But you''re a politician, so do you teach the kids polisci? They seem a bit young for that. I had a few friends who studied it, they left our country of Ukraine for university like me, it''s quite a heavy subject but I got some of what they were saying." He had made up thest sentence, he had never actually lived in Ukraine. However, he knew that the Ukraine was considered a fervent Western ally.


    "No, I teach them civic responsibility, tolerance, and respect for their fellow-man."


    "Ah. So as a politician, what nation were you from? I wouldn''t want to attack you here, since you''re clearly an important individual, and might have helped my homnd. I got scared when I saw another yer, that''s all."


    Grandos rxed slightly, as Crucis slowly let his dagger drift away from Grandos'' neck. "Canada. Ha, I am powerful, but I think that this power should be wielded for a good cause, tobat bigotry and hatred, and promote a flourishing society."


    "I respect those with power," Crucis lied. "I''ll tell my party to let you leave in peace, please don''t try to leave hastily and rm them. But anyway, what is a ''good cause''? A friend asked me a good question about that - I think he worded it well. In a world ruled by faceless, multinational corporations, isn''t the abating of ''division,'' ''bigotry'' and ''hate'' just a natural effacement of difference and identity in favour of homogenisation? Is it really just a battle of good and evil ideals, or is modern society too grey and amoral for that?"


    Crucis stepped away from Grandos, towards the door. As expected, the spinal injury made it difficult for Grandos to get up, and instead he dropped andy face-down on the floor, mouth clenched at the pain of trying to get up.


    "You raise an important problem," Grandos stuttered, but immediately rxed into speaking with a rehearsed air, "that is, about corporate influence and power. I''m sure some Marxists would say that we''re all believing in capitalist ideology. But I think that''s an overly pessimistic view of the world, we are not all just ves to economic interests. Besides, even Marxists support ending sexual discrimination, racial conflict and hate, though I understand that many other people are beginning to consider these issues a distraction. But I think that we should press on to solve the issues of our times and create an equal, just, respectful society. Sadly, the political will is not there, though the power is. As Marx said, the state should be the heart of a heartless world."


    "He said religion was that, using the analogy of - himself, suffering from continual pain and illness, thus needing opiates to dull the pain. Quite like yourself. Sadly, I don''t have any opiate on me at the moment, maybe try praying to a God and see if Marx was right."


    "I think I would be best off leaving to reach the vige, they will take care of the wounds. Please allow me to leave, you wouldn''t want to attack someone powerful like me, you don''t know what we could do in retaliation."


    Crucis frowned slightly. Grandos'' boast was just posturing, but Crucis could sense impatience and sounched into a monologue to exacerbate this. While doing this, he quietly drew out his sword, grabbing it by the de and swinging it lightly near the ground to keep his arms ready to strike.


    "Strange to boast about such power while bleeding on the floor. Don''t you know that a state is just part of its society, and does not give you any power here and now? But you ''raise an important problem'' - or question, as you perhaps meant to say. So I shall respond to it by casually philosophising, as you did about thest ''important problem.''


    "A social system tends to organise itself into one mass, and a state expresses this unity and organisation. Society typically concentrates itself into the state, an expression of the social order. The power of the state is the power of society over the individual. In a state based on modern society, where all manner of different goods and services, even beliefs and philosophy, are reduced to the identical substance of mary values, then of course political issues centre around disputing and censoring ''division'' and ''hatred'' - it is the erasure of individuality, everyone forcibly melted into one currency. You are just a lever in that globalist engine, you do not resist it. You''d educate the child by emptying his mind, then celebrate that he doesn''t ''trigger'' anyone."


    "That''s crass libertarianism! The state is a force for good, you underestimate my power. Now let me go!"


    Grandos leapt awkwardly in the direction of his sword, but was intercepted by a prepared [Mordhau] by Crucis, whose sword''s hilt crashed bluntly into the side of Grandos'' head as the politician rose. Grandos copsed into the room''s wall, and fell to the floor. Crucis saw that there was a small, underground stream flowing on the side of the room next to Grandos'' sword, so he picked up the sword and threw it into the stream, where it washed away.


    "Don''t tread on me," Crucis chirped, as Grandosy paralysed and crying on the floor. After kneeling and using [The Ripper] to cut painfully across the back of Grandos'' knee to keep the politician from regaining footing, Crucis stood up and stepped on the spinal wound, pressing downwards when Grandos tried to rise.


    Crucis had the higher ground. The fight was over.


    As Grandos painfully bled to death, he let out a few stifled cries before lying still. Crucis was busily typing in party chat, telling the rest of the party that they coulde to the room if they liked.


    He knelt down by the open drawers, and saw that therge, open one contained a sheet of paper saying, ''ce a sword here, then reach for the bottom drawer.'' He pulled out a spare [Broken Faith Sword] from the minor dungeon, a cracked de which glowed faintly in the darkness, and slotted it into the drawer. He then reached to the bottom drawer, which clicked open to reveal a small, brown, leather box.


    As he tried to open this, a dialogue box appeared.


    [You must send this to six other people, in order to open it. Please type in their names.


    Be aware that these people will be attacked by level 150 undead if they try to enter this tunnel, or the vige after midnight. This curse will start the day after this box is opened, and willst for two weeks.


    No character may receive this treasure more than once.]


    He carefully typed in the names of his party members, who were filtering into the room:


    [Akshel]


    [DicingDevil]


    [Grisier]


    [Dionarcy]


    He then pondered the two remaining names. Shrugging, he decided upon [Dr1fter] and [Impalerdiv], two Hashin members. He was allowed to send a short message along with this. He typed: ''In celebration of the DeathGang victory. Good tidings to all. P.S. some of you guys are alright, don''te to Mokra after midnight or enter the tunnel. Two weeks + 1 day until it''s safe.'' The rewards were sent by mail.


    This might help to alleviate the tensions between DeathGang and the Hashin, at least for now. The Hashin who were raiding DeathGang had been dealt a fierce blow when their meeting location was raided by Guilds from Kaxil, and this might allow Dr1fter to calm the rest of the Guild. However, both DeathGang and the Hashin had plenty of aggressive, self-interested yers at the lower levels, and their rivalry would probably rekindle over time. But Crucis would have time to prepare for that, and in the meantime these Guilds would distract from his own actions.


    "Who''s this guy? Looks familiar," Grisier said, ncing at the corpse.


    "Some politician," Crucis replied. "I killed him by lecturing him to death about how taxation is theft."


    "Really?" Grisier asked facetiously.


    "Honestly, no. I killed him by ident, I was trying to get him to sign an autograph using his spinal cord as a surrogate pen. It''s because he''s Canadian, he has no, um, pen. I suppose he deserved to die, though, he was a politician."


    "I recognise him, I think he was named Jared Dwight."


    "I guess so. He wouldn''t have wanted to be an American Idiot, so he''d have to find an alternative kind."


    "How can an idiot be a jar?" Akshel yelled at them, in confusion, as he entered through the door of the room.


    The group pondered this for a few minutes. What did it all mean? What was the culmination of this yelled question? Then they left the room.

 Chapter 71: Schoolyard Ghosts

    Chapter 71: Schoolyard Ghosts


    Since Crucis and Starfighter had no Guild tag, they were nominated to explore Mokra''s residential area. A group of explorers from DeathGang would be suspect, especially due to the Guild''s recent notoriety, but the high-levelled Crucis instead just attracted interest and curious looks from the low-level yers nearby.


    Before entering the residential area, he had worn a cheap dark-green coverall from the vige''s clothing store, as well as a peculiar [Grass-Patterned Helmet] plundered from the dead Grandos. He had noticed that most higher-level yers in the vige were wearing this kind of helmet, a grey, fragile iron helmet embroidered with patterns of a strangely resilient grass which held it together more firmly than typical low-quality equipment. It was probably forged from materials avable near this vige. However, he surmised that most yers in this vige were rtively low-level and not very well-equipped, instead making do with makeshift equipment like this helmet.


    After wearing the helmet to blend in and signal status, he had also equipped a shy, wide and glowing white-grey [Faith Greatsword] dropped by Alice in the minor dungeon. As expected, the yers in the vige gawked at therge, high-level sword and its gold-lined bronze hilt. While swords dropped by undead had no minimum Strength requirement, he did not have nearly enough Strength to wield it effectively. However, the residential area was a safe zone, and so he went with the general logic of ''use big sword to impress small yers.'' It worked, and soon a few yers had gathered around, led by some curious children, as he inspected the area''s buildings and market stalls.


    A few yers walked up around this powerful-looking visitor, but a female level 28 yer named [Kleoboule] ushered them back. She looked middle-aged - though still slightly youthful - and Greek or Irish, with a pasty white face and dark brte hair. From her tone in speaking to some of the children, Crucis surmised that she was one of the teachers at the vige''s schools.


    "Thanks, now I can breathe. But you have a nicemunity here, very enthusiastic," he addressed Kleoboule.


    "Maybe a bit over-enthusiastic," Kleoboule smiled. "Anyway, nice to meet you. I''m Clementine, but you can call me Cleo. These children will be going to ss soon, so you will get some peace."


    "Alright, Cleo. I''m Charles, and this is Gary." He gestured towards Starfighter. He didn''t want anyone here to recognise Starfighter''s real name, so he figured he''d make up fake ones for both of them. "We haven''t been here before, so we''re still getting our bearings. The children listen to you easily, are you a teacher here?"


    "Oh! Yes, I am. d that you noticed the schools, they have been going well. These children may not look studious, but they are when they''re not distracted by fancy visitors!"


    "They''re clearly a curious lot. So tell me, do the children mostly focus on their studies, or do they also hunt and train a bit around here? Because I see a few of them waving around dashing swords of their own."


    "Those... Yes, they all want to help hunt and defend their friends. They''re even a bitpetitive about it, but they barely know what they''re doing! Since you''re stronger than the others here, would you mind showing them a few pointerster?"


    "If it calms them down for now, so they can get to ss, then I''d be happy to." He turned to Starfighter beside him. "Are you interested in joining, Starfighter? You''ve always been a model citizen, after all."


    "Yes, of course," Starfighter said.


    Crucis hid one arm from the crowd as he had turned towards Starfighter, and he used this to type instructions in party chat. Starfighter saw this, and spoke to Crucis on cue.


    "There''s a lot to see here, though, you can see they''ve organised a lot. We might miss some things."


    "Yeah, but I''m sure that it would be worth taking a look." Crucis began speaking to Kleoboule, "Any chance that you guys can show off some of the stuff you''ve been doing in here? You''ve set this all up so quickly, in only a day or two, but in all the bustle it was probably hard to set up directions." Heughed lightly.


    "Sure," Kleoboule replied, ttered. "Yeah, I also got a bit lost here at first. I don''t know much about the stalls, but I could show you around the school building." She was anxious to get the kids to a ssroom, and guessed that if these visitors went in that direction, then the children would follow.


    "That sounds interesting. I guess that these kids are going there now, so if you''re not teaching yet then feel free to show us around. I''m sure it will prove surprisingly orderly."


    Kleoboule nodded and smiled, biting her lower lip slightly. Crucis and Starfighter followed her towards a series of rectangr wooden buildings.


    As they were walking, one of the children asked Crucis, "What''s that sword named?"


    "The Faith Greatsword," he answered.


    "Cool."


    Looking down, he saw that the person asking was a brown-haired, square-faced boy surrounded by a small group of friends. Crucis anticipated more questions from this group, and sure enough they came in a flurry.


    "Where did you get it?"


    "How''d you be that strong? Isn''t it dangerous out there?"


    "What was the most painful fight you had?"


    "Does that sword just break enemies into pieces?"


    Crucis half-sighed. "I can''t answer all of those at once. The sword is from the Ancestral Graveyard to the North, it hits hard but bosses at this level are still tough. It''s dangerous, but that makes it important to be strong to guard yourself and others. What were the other questions?"


    The Ancestral Graveyard was a remote level 70 area with a level 90 boss, and nobody had cleared it yet. As such, Crucis assumed that the vigers wouldn''t be that familiar with it, but would assume that a yer voyaging there was strong.


    A ck-haired, young girl who had been paying attention chirped in. "What was the most painful fight you''ve had? And Arthur wanted to know how you''re so strong."


    "Most painful? I think I got ambushed by three Hashin a couple of days ago, while going to dungeons with four other guys. Our group managed to fight them off, but I stood in front with a shield and got stabbed so many times. I''ve died once or twice, but it was never as much. Why would you ask, you''d like me to be in pain?" He asked the question with augh.


    "It wasn''t my question! But that sounds awful, why did you go in front?"


    "To protect the rest of the team, who were more vulnerable. It''s usual tactics. If they were killed quickly, then I''d be outnumbered easily."


    "You might still win!"


    "Maybe you''re right! By the way, Cleo is calling you, maybe you should rush. It''s been nice talking."


    "Sure. I''m Stacy, but my name here is DeerLotus! See youter!"


    She turned away and headed towards one of the wooden buildings, where a group of students was gathering. Crucis and Starfighter had 20 students around them, but 9 of these dropped off to follow Stacy into the building.


    The rest of the children reluctantly made their way into the other buildings nearby. Crucis saw that a few buildings had NPCs, and weren''t used as ssrooms for the moment, but the students had entered empty buildings filled only with yers.


    Kleoboule smiled at them when she was done, and led them into a wooden buildingrger than the rest, which contained a grey carpet across the floor and was popted by two NPCs who seemed to behawking goods.


    "We treat this as the main school building because of the carpet, but we don''t use it at this time - these two characters get really noisy if it''s crowded!" she chirped.


    Crucisughed. "At least the carpet is quite lush, for a ssroom."


    "Yeah, the students love it."


    "There''s also a lot of tables and boxesid out on the right side, it looks like some kind of system. Is it?"


    "Yes, this is where the important school functions are done. For example, this box," she pointed to a tall, bronze-bordered wooden box with arge slot in it, "is where students can collect their assignments. It''s a special kind of box, I think called a [Vige Mail Box]. It checks who letters are to and from, then they can only be withdrawn by the named student. It''s a nice way to distribute assignments, but it''s also a pain, because we have to sign each envelope!"


    "That must be difficult, along with all of the effort in getting this ce together. But I see there''s plenty of marked assignments."


    Starfighter asked a question. "Do you grade the students, or just offer feedback?"


    Kleoboule replied. "We''ve had no time for a grading system yet. Besides we hope that the students will get back to their own schools soon, so it doesn''t seem important yet. We grade the older students, but most students will just be given feedback."


    "That makes sense," Crucis said. "Plus, I''m sure teachers here are from various different curric and systems, so getting a single grading system going might beplicated anyway at this stage."


    "Yes, actually, we try to stress getting teachers from everywhere. I don''t know that many details of the policy, but I think it''s working. The other teachers have taught me a lot about their experiences, I didn''t learn that much about it in Irnd."


    "You''re Irish?" Starfighter said. "Great ce."


    "No, Greek living in Irnd, but everyone insists I look Irish."


    "At least you don''t have red hair, then that would spiral out of control," Crucis said light-heartedly.


    Kleoboule giggled, then walked across the right wall of the building to show arge billboard.


    "This is where we ce announcements. As you can see, I wrote a few announcing some new subjects we had found teachers for."


    "What subject do you teach?" Crucis asked.


    "Um, I help out wherever necessary. Cultural studies is popr, we look at cultural phenomena and analyse the message and how it rtes to various demographics. Students love it, because it reminds them of the world outside, which they miss. I also help with primary school level English, which used to be my specialty, and with Art."


    She led them over towards a small side-room, which contained a collection of sculptured and small paintings ced in array over a series of rectangr, wooden tables.


    Crucis walked into the room, and started browsing across the many pdash artworks. He saw that a few students were clearly trained at painting, and had painted flowers orndscapes with some level of proficiency, but he didn''t find much thoughtfulness or meaning in these paintings. However, one which interested him was ced on a lower shelf of one table, and it seemed to have a ck, jagged diagonal line across the centre which Crucis had thought was a crack at first.


    The painting seemed to have been slotted into the lower shelf in order to hide it, suggesting that the student wasn''t favoured. Crucis hence crouched slightly to inspect it, but feigned an interest in the more shy paintings on top of the table. He quickly made out some details of the painting on the lower shelf.


    It portrayed a lion - whose head was a rather anarchic spray of red and yellow lines radiating out from a point - with red eyes, leaping in the centre towards at a human on the left side. The human was painted slightly messily, but was holding a grey sword. The lion was ced on each side of the ck, diagonal line, as if its sharp, detailed ws - drawn on with pencil - were ripping the page in two.


    Crucis found this conceit interesting, and as he looked more closely he saw a realistic set of dark, green, pointed trees in the background and carefully-painted shadows on the green-brown ground, which gave the painting the slightly lush dark atmosphere of Transylvanian woods. A hint of red sunset was painted above the trees, probably to suggest the image of blood.


    A few bats flitted through the woods, with small, red eyes. The image reminded him vividly of the early scene in Drac where the Count appears without a reflection and attempts to throttle a shaving Harker at the sight of blood. Though a brief and ostensibly simple scene, thebination of vampiric imagery and a primal break in the Count''s aristocratic airs was still impactful. Drac was eventually thwarted by Harker''s superstitiousst resort of beads, quite like the superstition of Ganf¨¦an''s court had rendered the tattered King - whose life was cut into pieces - somehow impervious to damage. But the power of Drac''s image remained, and the beads were but anguid reflection of the fear which he inspired, like ashen skin around a branding iron''s imprint.


    The painting was titled ''Rage In Disorder.''


    The author''s name was printed in the bottom-right corner: ''Yarov Lutye.'' Crucis didn''t recognise the surname as Russian, so it might be either a pseudonym or an unconventional Anglicisation. Crucis guessed that the background had been partially traced from another image, and the bats had been creatively used to hide errors in this tracing.


    As he gazed across the painting, he typed quick instructions to Starfighter. Starfighter asked Kleoboule to show him howrge the school area was, and which parts were important, so that he could remember to be careful around there. He said that they were impressed by the flourishing of this new area, and nned to return a few times. Crucis smiled and said that he would stay and inspect the art, which pleased Kleoboule, and that the others could go for a moment if they wanted to look elsewhere. Kleoboule led Starfighter to the entrance of the building, where she pointed out across the buildings and exined the school district.


    Now alone, Crucis inspected his inventory. Crucis had earlier seen that Grandos on death dropped nine unsealed envelopes, which turned out to contain students'' assigments with written feedback in their margins. The envelopes included addresses, mentioning the students. Most of the assignments were marked positively, except for one which was marked as ''Late'' and contained marginalments in red ink condemning truancy. The truant student was named ''Sergey Lutye,'' a familiar surname.


    Crucis scanned through the positively-marked essays, then drew out eight of the keys of life which he had received from the Satanic ritual in the pce. He used a piece of string to tie around the keyhole, then taped this to the marked assignment. Using a pen, he wrote ''Congrattions!!'' in block capitals next to the key, imitating Grandos'' scrawl slightly. He scanned the area outside the art room carefully, and saw that Kleoboule and Starfighter were currently outside the building.


    Getting up, he left the art room and used [Stealth Cloak], then slipped these envelopes into the box which students were using to retrieve their examination scores. He then hid behind the box briefly, checking for any signs of a reaction. Seeing that he was in the clear, he shrugged and approached the doorway.

 Chapter 72: Edgecator

    Chapter 72: Edgecator


    As he waited for the children''s sses to finish, Crucis sat on a bench near arge tunnel entrance. Kleoboule had told him to wait here. The earthy tunnel led Northwards towards the woods, and was located just behind the school buildings. He noticed some activity in the party chat, and joined in.


    DicingDevil: akshel said u guys were with some children and teachers? lifelong learning?


    Crucis: haha. learning? i never learn.


    Starfighter: they were impressed at crucis'' greatsword.


    Grisier: Can he even use it to fight?


    Crucis: no lol


    Akshel: so where do we meet? any1 to kill?


    Crucis: u r some monster who wld kill kids? zomg!!!


    DicingDevil: !!!


    Akshel: any1 else to kill?


    Crucis: teachers ig? we don''t need no education we don''t need no thought control


    Akshel: ok but can we kill kids after that?


    Crucis: nooooo! u know who ripped children apart with bare hands bc he found it funny? hiteler! he ate anne frank, then vomited to be judenfrei!


    Grisier: Yes, we should strive not to repeat the ways of hiteler...


    Starfighter: he had julimia?


    Crucis: yes sad many such cases


    Akshel: :(((


    Crucis: u r just edgelord. edgelords feel no sadness.


    Akshel: reeeee


    Grisier: You''re all edgelords. You should be respectable like a learned Mage.


    Crucis: shut up harry potter. voldimort was such an edgelord that he molested ur parents, haha cry more ******


    Crucis: gah chat auto censors wtf what happened to the 1st amendment


    Akshel: anyway, so do these guys just stay in safety or leave?


    Crucis: the ''school'' is makeshift, + it doesn''t count for much. kids show up bc nothing else to do, + adults tell them to and it''s what they are used to. they can''t stop the kids from adventuring sometimes.


    There were two yers standing guard at the tunnel entrance, one at level 43 and the other at level 30. However, they were standing just inside the tunnel, and couldn''t see him on the bench.


    He had greeted them before he sat down, and Kleoboule had exined that, since there weren''t many guard NPCs around this vige, the school was paying some yers to keep watch. The guards had no official ties to the school, and weren''t paid a lot because the school had used most of its funds on setting up and bringing in teachers and students. As such, the ''guards'' were slightlyx and often seemed half-asleep. Crucis guessed that they were strong enough not to turtle in town, but weak enough to avoid adventuring or other more rewarding ventures.


    He briefly enquired as to whether him, Starfighter and the 4 DeathGang members would be receiving any backup. If they had the 5 additional yers here, including zeKeys, then they could probably all kill these guards en masse. However, it would be less easy to sneak those less experienced yers into the area unnoticed.


    Crucis: where r the other 5 deathgang?


    DicingDevil: in kaxil. they say teleports there = only open to under 30s, and slightly out-of-the-way anyway. might be a change bc now starting town. avoid congestion or sth, who knows.


    Crucis: bs avoiding congestion? we''ll show them how real anti-congestion measures work


    Crucis: nero might not have fiddled while setting rome on fire 4 scenery


    Crucis: but if he did then he is a master of urban nning


    Grisier: How did the conversation turn to Roman history?


    Crucis: it''s bc u used proper grammar in party chat and everyone thinks wtf is he speakingtin or sth


    Crucis: based pedoant wizard


    Crucis: *pedant


    Crucis had told the DeathGang members to inspect the area to the North of the vige, a grasnd which soon gave way to thick woods. This was the direction which the tunnel led.


    Crucis: did u check the northern woods?


    Grisier: Yeah, I bought a map from the vige and got these guys to scout. It says there''s a boss near the vige named ''Wood Scourge,'' but there''s fencing leading up to it. No way to climb on or walk through that.


    Starfighter: so it''s probably considered safe.


    DicingDevil: yes, but these guys might not know the game that well. they should have had the trees next to this fence cut down. i could climb a taller one and bypass the fence


    Starfighter: from what i''ve seen, i wouldn''t expect these teachers to know the game, and even experienced yers might miss that trick if rushed


    Crucis: they''re teachers, it''s a miracle if they know anything. anyway, how many of u can climb it?


    DicingDevil: me and dion. there''s a small gate on the side, i can open it and let the others through. a lvl 45 yer is guarding it, but he left his post to check if the boss area is safe.


    Akshel: r u sure? no more precautions?


    Crucis: ofc not. even the church catholic doesn''t protect its children, and the church are men of god


    Akshel: if we get in, what shld we do?


    Crucis: if nobody sees u, then sneak towards the tunnel and guard their escape route. i''ll chase them to u. if not that, then attack straight on


    Grisier: Got it. There''s a fountain on the path to boss, so I can cast some good ice spells.


    Crucis: that''s convenient. so do it then.


    Crucis: don''t look a gift who- um horse in the mouth


    DicingDevil: yeah exactly. anyway we''re scouting out the guards now, see you there


    Crucis: o/


    Starfighter: c u soon


    As he sat on a bench by the tunnel entrance, he was joined by a group of children led by Kleoboule and a male teacher named [Abacur].


    "Hi, sorry to keep you waiting," Kleoboule said.


    "Not a problem. So what''s through this tunnel?"


    "Um, there''s some strong monster there whom the kids have problems with. They''d like to see it killed. After that they could train against some of the weaker critters nearby."


    "Alright, sure thing."


    "We tried something like this yesterday," Abacur exined in a slightly robotic, high-pitched voice, "And the kids gained many levels. I picked out some of the best-behaved students who have expressed an interest in fighting to hunt or support their friends and family, so they are all eager to learn."


    Crucis scanned the enthusiastic faces of the children. They ranged from level 15-26.


    "Why were these kids ying the game?" Starfighter asked. "It''s a bit violent, especially now."


    "I asked them," Abacur replied, "they said that it looked good, or they were just exploring because their rtive had a copy. The early levels are quite normal, and there wasn''t much ''PvP'' before. The bug happened while most yers were still in the early phase. I guess the age-protection wasn''t working on every version."


    Crucis shrugged theatrically. "Why do people climb the mountain? Because it''s there. It''s not the children''s fault. Anyway, the early stages in these games are meant to be morefortable, as a sales pitch. Inter parts, PvP is sort of left to work itself out, to reward people for spending more on microtransactions. So that might be a hassle. Are these kids doing alright for gold?"


    "Well, some of them are doing okay," Kleoboule said. "People in Kaxil are already stretched for gold and we rely on them to set up the school, so it''s difficult for us to spare much on the students. If they have rich families or had some money spent on their ounts, then they''re fine. But most don''t. A few managed to find slightly expensive items in the wild, but we advised them not to wander too far and they can''t find a lot nearby."


    "We were hoping that, if we have good results, then we can get more funding," Abacur said. "But it''s difficult, and some people are skeptical because they think the kids - especially the older ones - are being sheltered and won''t have any idea how to y the game if they''re stuck in here for a long time. Some Guilds also forced older kids to leave us, saying that it was a waste of time. But I think that educating the children is paramount."


    "Precisely, they''re missing out on their usual edication during this time, possibly also on their school friends," Crucis said politely. "This lets them make up for it. Are there any rare or valuable materials nearby? If some of the children learnt to make basic items from them, then you could always sell those, maybe get some into Guilds as crafters? But they''d probably need somebat skills to get the materials."


    "We haven''t had time to explore, but we were thinking that something like that might be good. So far, the kids have been safe, and people onlye by on their way to the Hunting Lodge. So maybe we''ll let them explore and gather stuff more if that keeps up."


    "Good to hear, good luck with it."


    "A few people have visited from Kaxil, but most of those aren''t as strong as you," Abacur said. "Sadly, most strong yers have moved on, and now use the far-off Western entrance to the Hunting area."


    "That''s not good news. But this area has some local materials, I''m sure. You could always check on the shops, vige shops tend to give a good indicator of local materials. The cksmith might also have a few items on disy which show that. Anyway, shall we go?"


    The children had all gathered, so Abacur nodded. Crucis'' advice was good, but he wasn''t sure that Abacur or Kleoboule would survive to implement it.


    "Thanks, that''s a great idea!" Keoboule eximed, before turning to the children. "Anyway, this guy knows his stuff, so if you''re practicing then don''t hesitate asking for tips."


    The group began to pass through the tunnel. Crucis noticed that Starfighter was more quiet than usual during this episode, possibly because Starfighter''s earlier experiences had led to difort andcking confidence around authority figures. However, Starfighter was still able to pass it off to the audience as simply him being reserved by temperament.


    As they were walking past a few yers guarding the tunnel, Kleoboule began addressing the children. "If you''re in here, then it''s good to explore and learn the ropes. But don''t run off too far, the demon bear will kill you!"


    "Come on, there''s no such thing," replied a young girl named [HeroinEGirl].


    "Demon bear?" Crucis interjected.


    "Yes, some of the children said that there was a scary bear with red eyes deep in the forest," Kleoboule said. "They wanted to go on an expedition to find it, but we warned them about it. Ever since then, they''ve be more cautious about venturing out."


    "Yeah, it feeds on young children, it rips their guts out then eats the blood," a young, studious-looking ck boy named [OwlR] said.


    Crucis wasn''t that surprised. The process of domesticating curious children often involved the creation of such fears, converting curiosity and the world outside into a phobia of sorts so that children could be kept away. This could range from bogeymen to stranger danger or the Satanic panic. It was a likely recourse when trying to get children to attend school while inside a game. While resembling superstition, such fear was more crude and limited.


    Of course, it raised multiple problems once it took the form of mass panic, especially in modern society. One was that children would grow up isted from the world around them, especially if cooped up in schools or quarantined, and therefore be less familiar with the adult world. This meant that they had less time to prepare their trajectory, and were perpetually behind the barrage of demands. In Crucis'' time, society had plenty of youth who were economically left behind, but society was continually manufacturing new scares and panics instead of allowing people to flourish. For the young peasant or aristocrat, brought up in close connection with thend or adult world, this was less of a problem.


    Another issue is that it shaped not only the children, but also the adults. It seems like a form of maniption, but this ''maniption'' is like a hand from the grave pulling people in to join it. If you look for authority figures who will easily fall into and promote a panic, then you will end up with positions of authority filled with such people. The result will be a society of people digging their own grave, because existence itself frightens them. It would be impossible to direct this to any worthwhile end, and more worthwhile to just end it. As fear gets ingrained into society, eventually it bes inimical to creativity or thought, and instead turns into a bunker to hide from ever-present bogeymen. It bes a drab, dull, and lifeless husk.


    The use of such fears to delineate amunity, especially a newly-formed one, was also a vulnerability. The society''s vulnerability was hence given explicit expression within the society itself, in the image of the monster, and in negotiating this society there was hence a killswitch presented at its edge. However,munities would also try to hide this killswitch over time, which did not lessen the effectiveness if it was found. As such, Crucis had already determined from the story of the ''demon bear'' and the Lutye painting what his course of action should be, and now sought only the most opportune way of enacting this.


    (While introducing long passages of socialmentary is no longer <em>¨¤ mode </em>in novels, it is increasingly fashionable in schools. As this Chapter is set in a school, we were hence obligated to include the previous paragraphs due to the demands of hyperrealism. For further information, read ''The 1000% Real Hyperrealist Manifesto,'' by Karlus Marcuse.)


    First, however, there was the matter of the boss fight.


    As the group approached the end of the tunnel, the children began nervously chattering. They let out a muffled squeal as arge creature, with a tree trunk on its back and a face covered withrge leaves and a trunk, turned towards them and let loose a low-pitched roar like wind through a tunnel. Thick woods extended from behind it. Crucis saw that it was level 40, and named [Wood Scourge].


    He made as if to raise the [Faith Greatsword], but then deliberately hesitated as it hovered near the children around him.


    "With this kind of crowd, I should be more careful," hemented to the teachers, as he pulled out a shimmering [Golden Pdin Sword] dropped by Lusray''spanion Brendaen. This weak, iron sword was encased in gold which covered its edges and gave it a resplendent glow as it emerged into sunlight. He noticed some of the group alongside him were shading their eyes while looking in awe towards the new de. A few of the children were disappointed to not see the Greatsword in action, but Crucis'' array of dazzling weapons was still impressive.


    Starfighter seemed to raise his eyebrows on seeing the weak sword, and Crucis quickly typed in the party chat as the group emerged half-blinded from the tunnel. He continued to chat as the teachers briefed the children on what to expect.


    Crucis: this boss will be easy, but we should take our time and put on a show. think wwe-lite tomfoolery


    Starfighter: yeah tbh wondered y the shit weapon


    Crucis: that is bc u are observant


    DicingDevil: yeah tbh everyone was looking forwards to the greatsword


    Akshel: ew no greatswords wtf he''s asasin [sp.]


    Akshel: sry, forgot 2 say ''yeah tbh''


    Crucis: idk. its like cloud strife impresses tifa withrge sword, then in bed he lets her down. but the italian senate was impressed in 2022. u cant please every1 all the time ig


    Starfighter: who tf is cloud strife and does it matter? garbage name, worse than mine


    Crucis: no it does not matter, in fact it''s cool that u don''t know. but don''t tell the weebs, they''ll arrest you for ''crimes against nippon''


    Starfighter: lol weeb police?


    Crucis: yea, famously the police live on an ''ind lost at sea,'' where they risk ''falling into despair'' and thus send out an sos to the world. deffo japan


    Starfighter: ok i actually recognise that 1


    DicingDevil: boss is approaching u guys. wwe chants?


    DicingDevil: u suck u suck u suck


    Akshel: CENA! CENA! CENA!


    Crucis sighed. He should have known better than to reference the WWE around DeathGang. Setting off this string of messages might well be the worst, most twisted and evil thing he would let loose on the world today.


    "We haven''t fought this guy before. First, we''ll have to observe this boss and figure out how to fight it," Crucis addressed the children, with a slight Australian ent.


    Approaching the boss, he waited as it slowly mbered towards him. Soon, it unleashed a skill named [Earth Power], releasing a faint green ray from its mouth towards Crucis. Crucis easily stepped out of the slow ray''s path by using [Agile Step] and darting behind a tree as the boss attempted to follow him with the ray. Starfighter leapt towards the boss'' lowered neck and struck with a sword.


    "Clever," Crucis said.


    The boss did not relent, and swung its tusks towards Crucis once it had rounded the tree. However, Crucis ttened himself against the tree and edged away. The tusks crashed into the tree as well as Crucis, and Crucis grabbed hold of them as they got caught on the tree bark. He reflected that this slow boss was quite vulnerable, but probably had high HP and damage for its level. Starfighter struck the boss with a blunt [Mordhau] to the neck, and this was enough dy for Crucis to leap onto the boss'' forehead using the tusks and stab it with a [Lunge] to the forehead before theatrically falling off as soon as it began to shake.


    As he got up, the boss shook off Starfighter and began to charge unevenly at Crucis with its tusks lowered. Crucis leapt to his feet, then jumped without hesitation to the left, dodging the charge before rolling to his feet. Recovering, the boss prepared to swing its tusks at Crucis again, but he grabbed the underside of the tusks and scurried along them until he managed a firm stab into the boss'' lower throat, before being harshly kicked away and skidding across the ground.


    The children shouted out, encouraging him to keep going. The boss was on 69% HP.


    Starfighter approached the boss, and used the Hdie to vault off its tusk and stab the top of its neck, before also being thrown off. Crucis had a brief discussion with Starfighter, and they finished the rest of the battle off quickly. Hovering near the boss'' head and using the tusks as grips, they braved some stray kicks and stabbed fiercely at the boss'' neck. When it used another [Earth Power], Crucis mbered onto the boss'' back and stabbed at its neck, as Starfighter hacked at its face. With a stab to its forehead by Starfighter, the boss let out a loud groan and dropped to the floor.


    Crucis gave Starfighter a slight high-five from atop the boss'' corpse, then dismounted and walked up to the cheering children. Crucis had ended the fight with 57% HP, while Starfighter had 49% HP. They were both regaining HP now. The fight had been slightly painful, but the boss had been kept in control so most of the pain was from dull or partial strikes and quickly abated.


    Crucis glimpsed that the DeathGang members had slinked near the tunnel. It''s a wonder that they had managed, after rattling off a series of WWE chants and catchphrases through the boss fight.


    Still, Crucis'' situation at the moment was fairlyfortable. At the least, he could leave while being admired by this vige, and word might spread to Kaxil. This was modest, but alright. However, it was unlikely to remain that cid, as he was well-ced to exploit any avable opportunity.

 Chapter 73: School of Rawk

    Chapter 73: School of Rawk


    "Find some monsters to kill nearby, and these guys will help you!" Kleoboule said to the children.


    The children immediately spread out across the area, fighting groups of creatures at the edges of the boss''ir. A few children approached deeper into the woods, but were told toe back.


    Crucis walked around helping the kids with asional simple advice, such as to use area-of-effect attacks on mobs, avoid using [Lunge] on fast-moving opponents when they could easily dodge, and to use the sword''s range to attack enemies while remaining distant with footwork.


    The most talkative child here was Stacy, who was fighting a herd of [Stray Cat] enemies. Crucis yfully chided her for killing such cute creatures, but she soon asked him about her technique. He advised crouching down slightly, and keeping a distance from the cats'' main weapons of ws and teeth. She continued asking questions, however, including misceneous ones about what kinds of swords he would rmend for her. Since she was a Ranger, he rmended a light, fast weapon with effective Dexterity bonuses.


    As she hesitated for a moment between questions, he used the opportunity to approach another child who was asking for help. That child was named [Bacsuu], and was a young Englishman who lived in Thand. Crucis had seen earlier that Bacsuu was a Mage, and was trying to use some kind of ice spell.


    "Do you have any ice spells?" Crucis asked.


    "Only a weak one, [Ice ir]. It said it came with a donation package, I think?"


    "I see. Well, there''s a fountain nearby, you can use that to power up ice spells."


    Bacsuu smiled at this information, then used the ice to power up his [Ice ir] attack, which he cast on a pack of rabbits. The water froze into an array of ice that flew towards the rabbits, reducing them to below 30% HP. Crucis smiled.


    "Thank you!" Bacsuu said, and the teachers looked impressed at this disy.


    However, a couple of children who had also been fighting the rabbits looked on with some consternation.


    As Crucis expected, the children''s increased use of area-of-effect attacks andbinations of moves had led to some children running out of enemies to attack, as one or two children could now clear a mob in a short time. Since children were killing more mobs each, the same amount of mobs was now cleared by fewer yers. A few children broke off from the group and started to wander deeper into the woods, in search of mobs to kill.


    Kleoboule ignored this briefly, as she was looking at the kids'' increased power with a smile, but soon she was forced to attention as a child cried out limply from behind a clump of trees.


    Crucis quickly ran behind these trees, and saw that the child had run into a group of level 25 [Anteater] enemies, and one of their bites had reduced the level 18 student to 85% HP. Crucis stabbed at the Anteater with [Lunge], to get it off the child''s back.


    "It''s alright, just an anteater," Crucis called behind him. "I got it off him. He''ll be alright, I''ll watch over him and help for a bit. There''s no space back there, so he''s just trying to spread out, I''ll see if I can find a better mob for him nearby as well."


    "Are you alright, Steve?" Kleoboule called.


    "Yeah! I''m killing an anteater!," said the boy, as Crucis directed him to use abination of [sh] and [Overhead sh] to pin the heavy anteater down and then strike them. Crucis killed most of the other anteaters, to keep them from interfering.


    "Alright, take care! Make sure he stays nearby!"


    Kleoboule took a quick look at the situation, then walked back to deal with some children asking for help. Crucis got the impression that, since the school was new and found it difficult to control the students, this child being protected and near the rest of the group was seen as fairly benign. Besides, the children did clearly need to span out slightly because of theck of mobs, and would probably ignore requests to return.


    As Steve was focusing on an anteater, he was surprised by a harsh, paralytic [Stunning Blow] to the back of the neck from Crucis'' dagger, followed by a sharp [Silent Stab] slightly higher and a [Dagger Twist] high at the back of the neck. Steve fell limp and died without a sound, with Crucis lowering him silently into a bush nearby.


    Crucis then drew out his [Silver Wasp] sword and began shing across rows of anteaters, until a thick ck mist began to fill the air. He used this period to change back into the shinobi shozoku, and prepared his dagger.


    Soon, he heard light footsteps approaching from the direction of the children. An impatient Stacy was walking carefully into the woods to find him, taking care because she had heard bad rumours about the woods. Nheless, she kept going.


    As she turned towards the anteater mobs, she was surprised by a [Chokehold] from behind and a [Stunning Dagger] strike beneath her chest. Her eyes darted to the side, where she saw a pair of monstrous red eyes and arge set of jaws which approached her neck. Arge w dripping blood seemed to be pulling away from her left side.


    Due to the chokehold on her fragile neck, she could only manage a weak half-scream, before Crucis'' de shed harshly across her throat with [ck Spot], causing a gash through her neck, and then beheaded her with a fierce [The Ripper] cutting through the wound. From her perspective, it looked like therge, white pair of jaws was tearing her neck apart, and tears rolled down her cheeks.


    As the ck mist spread across the area, the group of children heard a quiet, muffled noise like arge bear mauling and gnashing. However, the noise ended quickly, and may have just been one of the eerie noises that asionally emerged from the woods. Further, it was difficult to make out for most of the group, who were busy engaging in meleebat and were surrounded by the noise of swords and collisions.


    "Oh no, not the demon bear!" shouted Bacsuu, who had a clearer impression of the sound.


    "No such thing!" HeroinEGirl responded stubbornly.


    However, it was now silent in the direction of the noise.


    "I''ll check on it, I''m sure there''s no bear! But please start walking towards the exit," Kleoboule said.


    She took a few tentative steps towards the woods, prepared to run away if any noises orrge shapes came into view. Like any seasoned purveyor of bogeymen, she herself sometimes wondered if they were real. As such, she was in doubt, but knew that she was expected to get the children to safety.


    However, she was shocked when the silhouette of a bear materialised behind her, and used its right paw to shove her by the neck until she collided face-first with a tree on the edge of the woods. As she gasped, Crucis stabbed the back of her neck with an urate [Panoramic Strike], which looked like a bear''s bite to onlookers. He shrugged off a weak [Ice Air] from Bacsuu, then edged closer to Kleoboule to begin using [The Ripper] across the left side of her neck as she remained hoisted to the tree. As he leaned against her, he saw that her ck eyes were gaping upwards, slowly dripping tears.


    Her frozen, wide eyes seemed to suggest a sense of resignation, as if she was watching her hopes inexorably fade away but had lost track of the world around her. They would asionally glimmer in fear.


    The people nearby were also scared, at the sight of what seemed to be a bear mauling her to death.


    As Crucis carved across Kleoboule''s neck, he heard Abacur bravely approaching to protect her. He quickly used [Silent Stab] to stab painfully into the wound on the left of her neck, then grabbed her in a brief [Chokehold] and mmed her face bluntly against the tree, feeling her pulse fade as she died and fell leadenly to the ground. He edged around the tree to avoid the Knight Abacur''s heavy blow.


    Abacur''s sword collided loudly with the tree.


    Approaching Abacur, he drifted to the side slightly and drew the [Silver Wasp] sword. As Abacur used [Charge] and trudged forwards towards Crucis, Crucis ducked to the side and used [Agile Step] to reach behind Abacur''s left shoulder. There, Crucis used a [Mordhau] tond a clear blunt strike on the back of Abacur''s shoddy [Grass-Patterned Helmet], which sent Abacur to ground besides his broken helmet. Crouching behind Abacur, Crucis killed the teacher with a series of harsh stabs to the neck and back of the head.


    Since the towncked a Storage system, the teachers had been carrying a few pieces of rare technology donated to the school to assist with lessons, which Crucis noticed as it transferred into his inventory.


    However, by now two level 45 guard yers hade up to him, and were reluctantly beginning to strike at him. Though ''guards,'' they were not [Guard] NPCs, just yers asked to secure this area around the vige. The sight of the mythical bear made them reluctant, as well as the fact that, though they were ''guards'' for the school, their employment was barely formalised and their heart wasn''t really in this fight.


    Crucis swung around and released a fierce [Mordhau] at one of these guards, who Grisier had frozen in ce with a [Breath of Ice]. It connected squarely with the guard''s head, and a series of [sh] and [Overhead sh] to the neck took the guard to 40% HP and sent them to the ground. Crucis then ignored the guard. Since the [Nightmare] effect here was strong, that guard was unsighted by the mist and now highly inurate. However, the guard behind Crucis was nownding a few desperate, trembling blows, and cut a small bleeding gash by Crucis'' left shoulder.


    Crucis grabbed this guard''s weakly-swung sword, then delivered a fierce cut to the guard''s hand with [sh]. As the guard recoiled in pain, Crucis jagged back and used a fierce [Lunge] which cut straight into his opponent''s lower throat. With his opponent now down to 32% HP and falling to the ground, he smirked and said, "You should have run. If you made it to Kaxil, nobody would care that you deserted."


    The other guard had got to their feet and iled at Crucis with a sword, but the strike was wide and Crucis easily swayed out of the way before stepping up and stabbing the guard in the face, then leaning up to them and shoving them to the ground.


    He finished both guards off by kneeling over each of them, cing a [Chokehold], and using [Half-swording] to stab their strained necks. Blood littered the flowers and soft grass around them.


    He saw that, by this point, the children had begun retreating heavily towards the tunnel, but were cut off by the DeathGang members. DicingDevil and Akshel had begun mowing down the children with swords, taking only a few shes to kill rows of the low-level children. Grisier also made short work of the kids, using [Ice st] to clear out groups of them. Near the fountain, he was very strong, though he barely needed to be.


    Dionarcy was using his shield to block the narrow tunnel entrance, and fend off two level 30 guard yers who were trying to make their way through. Starfighter also held a harmless mock-fight with DicingDevil on the side, to block any other guards from attacking at that angle.


    Crucis soon surged forwards and dispatched the remaining children, with his sword flitting between them like a butterfly as he struck with precision across their necks to kill them. They fell to the ground like daisies. Due to the [Nightmare] effect and high Agility, he could finish weaker enemies easily at this stage.


    As a few guards blindly attempted to flee from the bear, Dionarcy shrugged and pushed them through into the tunnel, where they were sandwiched between Dionarcy''s shield and the approaching guards. Crucis heard arge crowd beginning to gather in the tunnel, and DicingDevil bade a retreat.


    Grisier cast [Breath of Ice] at the guards sandwiched in the tunnel, freezing them in ce, and then the group began to run Northwards into the woods. As the crowd in the tunnel pushed through the runaway guards and trampled over them, the group of gankers had disappeared into the ck mist.


    DicingDevil safely led the group out of a small gateway which he had seen earlier, on the East side of the fencing.

 Chapter 74: Lutye

    Chapter 74: Lutye


    Crucis flicked through his inventory, as his group hid in a cave along the hills East of Mokra.


    "A bunch of trinkets and clothing from the children, but the clothes wouldn''t fit," DicingDevil said, as he did the same.


    "Good. Since the children died, theirte belongings probably have sentimental value. Their parents or associates might pay good gold for it. We''d just need to find the right seller," Crucis said.


    "Yeah, true, we can wait until a funeral or something and have someone set up a stall outside. Say the items were scavenged or donated. But who would be trustworthy? It would need to be someone with no Guild affiliation, or a Spy who can hide their Guild. But an adult from elsewhere having the kids'' belongings would be strange."


    "Tell you what, I have a good idea for who the seller could be. You''ll see. If that doesn''t work out, best bet is to see if any Guild issues a strong statement on this event, then use a spy alt from that Guild. "


    "Very possible, but I''ll see what you have in mind. Anyway, did you get much from the teachers?"


    "I heard that GMs and streamers were ocasionally donating tech to school efforts, stuff that''s not regrly avable in game," Grisier said. "But I''m not sure how much, since it hasn''t been long and people are more concerned about escaping the game. Anything interesting?"


    "Some instructional videos and a video editing interface, Mounts for loan, a few furniture parts andx maps of the area, a projector, and some streamer stuff that''s useless if you don''t have a blue checkmark for verified streamers. Also a few things for features which weren''t implemented yet, like integration with some sort of virtual private study room program. That was probably donated by a GM, but it''s not functional just yet so I can''t test it."


    "How is bluecheck-exclusive stuff supposed to help out this school?"


    "It wouldn''t. It''s the usual, the people donating probably thought that if it works for them, it would work for everyone."


    Grisierughed. "There was a politicianst year, they literally published a guide to political sess which began with ''Always work for the people'' and then ''Make sure to thank your biggest donors often and consult with them.'' Then another politician ripped it off and turned it into ''Love the people, love your donors, uplift people and be a good person, then you''ll make it big if you love enough'' or some self-help twaddle. The crity of these people."


    "Yes, ''tismon. The second article sounds especially bad. It''s the usual issue, modern society tells its aristocrat that he ''earned'' it, and suddenly he''s full of useless advice for everyone else."


    "Is there a difference between those articles?" Akshel asked. "Both are a bit quizzical."


    "I mean, admittedly with difficulty, the original advice could at least be converted into something pseudo-practical, such as ''be somewhat populist and build rapport with the masses, so that potential donors will donate in order to control the people'' - after all, if the elites control populism then it neuters potential opposition. It lets donors or establishment figures pass off their agenda as organic, as something which the masses themselves want in their hearts," Crucis said. "Populism can bemodified. Likewise, ''cozying up to big donors but being more demanding of smaller donors,'' if there''s high demand for a politician''s services then they should tacitly let it be known that they have a price but it''s not cheap.


    "But all of this scheminges with a price. The more entrenched an elite bes, the less that sess in politics is up to the individual in any way. And the more that it bes a sort of aristocracy anyway. So at that point any advice bes mostly worthless, without ordination or in-group membership you probably won''t be in any position to use it. And by that point, the hoi polloi themselves be mostly worthless and obsequious, if they weren''t already."


    "That reminds me, Darys said he got an anonymous tip that one or two of the popr favourites in Kruxol was hiding ties with the Hashin," DicingDevil said, "And most of them were being used as a front for some GMs and big Guilds. But we can discuss thatter, the rest of the group have arrived."


    Five DeathGang members dismounted in a clump of trees South of Mokra, and one of them zig-zagged secretively until he had reached the Eastwards cave at co-ordinates which DicingDevil had shared.


    "Hi, [Gastlem] here," said the arriving DeathGang member softly with a slight French ent, after making sure that nobody was nearby. Crucis saw that Gastlem had no Guild tag visible, suggesting that they were a [Spy] sub-ss member who could hide their Guild.


    "Take a quick look inside the Mokra safezone," DicingDevil whispered.


    Gastlem agreed, and made his way carefully back to Mokra. Ducking quickly into the residential area, he had a cursory look around, then turned to an adult by a stall and asked where to find weaponry here. Laughing at the prompt answer, he left the residential area and sauntered into the vige cksmith''s, before using [Stealth Cloak] to sneak out through an empty garden and return to the East, where the rest of the group had cautiously made their way back towards Mokra and hid among the rocky hillside terrain.


    "Hi. From what I''ve seen, not much furore yet among the kids?" DicingDevil asked.


    "A bit of panic from some, but I think they''re trying to break the news slowly. Not rming the kids before they''ve prepared a statement. I heard some people up North saying that a dangerous animal was seen in the woods, but the deaths aren''t known to everyone yet," Gastlem replied.


    "So it''s still a bit calm?" Crucis asked, squinting to look at the residential area from around a boulder. "The dy makes sense, they don''t want to scare all of the children back to Kaxil."


    "Yes. In fact, some of the kids are still waiting at the safezone entrance, when I showed up they said I looked strong and they were begging me to help."


    "Yeah, I can hear them," said Crucis, focusing on the loud pleading noiseing intermittently from the residential area.


    "They must be jealous of Crucis and Starfighter helping the other kids," DicingDevil said jovially.


    "By the way, since you''re a Spy, could you enter the safezone and ask to see someone by the name of - wait, nevermind, I heard someone say ''Lutye'' loudly nearby. Sounds like a kid speaking, was it?"


    Gastlem cautiously peered at the residential area, then replied. "There''s four kids waiting there, I guess they want someone to take them to a dungeon. All of them around level 20, one of them is arge boy named DannyBoiii who''s calling the others ''Lutye'' and seems to be mocking them, saying that if they all get killed it won''t be his fault. Still, they''re all hanging together, I guess they''re in a party and hoping that some bigger yer will help them?"


    "Alright," Crucis whispered. "Say you''ll help them. They''re clearly upset that the students we helped might outstrip them, so ask casually about whether they''re keeping up with the other students. That should make them stubborn, so they''ll probably agree. Tell us where they want to go, then we''ll set off early on Mounts and join you there."


    "Sure thing. I''ll post in Guild chat."


    Gastlem set off.


    "So you were thinking, have a kid from here sell the belongings?" DicingDevil said.


    "Yes," Crucis answered.


    Soon, they were informed that the students wanted to go, somewhat ambitiously, to a level 30 dungeon down South. DicingDevil agreed on some co-ordinates to meet near, then his group of six yers rode off on their Mounts to hide by the agreed co-ordinates.


    After fifteen minutes, Gastlem appeared on a forest path, followed by four children walking closely together. Two were ck-haired, silent early teen Russian kids, the ''Lutye brothers,'' and the others were arge boy named [DannyBoiii] and a bespectacled brte girl named [Mraiah] who DannyBoiii seemed infatuated with.


    As this group walked past a low-hanging, brilliant green tree''s leaves, Crucis and DicingDevil leapt out and used [Agile Step] to approach Mraiah and DannyBoiii respectively, then stabbed savagely at and near the children''s necks while shoving them to the ground. Once done, they pushed these corpses behind the green leaves of the tree to hide them.


    The two Lutyes prepared to run away, but one was caught by Akshel and held in ce, while Grisier casually used [Breath of Ice] on the other whom DicingDevil''s outstretched sword forced threateningly to the ground.


    "Hello. Are you the Lutye brothers?" Crucis said from behind the shinobi shozoku.


    "Yes and no," said one of the ''brothers,'' with surprising confidence. "We made up the names, I am called ''Yarov'' here. Actually? Konstantin. We are Russian friends. What do you want with us?"


    Konstantin was fairly tall, and had messy ck hair with hints of brown. His face wore a nk expression, that seemed eerily like a smile.


    "So the other one is known here as Sergey?"


    "Yes, name is dimir," responded the other Lutye. He was younger, darker-haired, and had a small, red scar above his left eye. His stare was aggressive, from beneath thick, jet-ck eyebrows.


    "Alright. I had an assignment from Sergey, I killed the person who marked it." He handed dimir an envelope. "Tell me if he marked it well."


    dimir stifled augh as he opened it, looking briefly over Grandos''ments which, in a manner typical of contemporary politics, often used hystrionic and capitalised criticisms. "Ah, this, um, ''harpie''? §©§Ñ§ß§å§Õ§Ñ (zanoodha)? I always tried to skip his ss, then he said he''d throw me out of the school. So I turned in this assignment, I hoped it would be okay."


    "You cannot hope for that, §Õ§â§å§Ô (dhroog), you are Russian and also named dimir. You will not get top marks on Western civics!" Konstantin chirped.


    Akshel and DicingDevilughed lightly.


    "So did... ehm, you heard, what happened in the woods, North?" Crucis asked. He was trying to gauge how much English these children understood.


    "What happened? Oh, you mean the bear? I heard some gossip, the bear had appeared! Oh no, there is big DEMON BEAR! So shocking news, like when they see us, ''oh no, there are Russians!''" Konstantin said.


    "I never believed in the bear. I still don''t!" dimirughed. "Children are fools."


    "You aren''t?"


    "No, I have gone to this Western school for too long, now I am crodget - crotchety? old man, always grumpy."


    "Maybe, you are old Russian bear. But we are still foolish children. Well, adults said, don''t go with strangers. But here we are now, in the diar - ''dire straits''!"


    "Yes, therd boy Danny died. That is a tragedy? Besides, if we have no names, we will just revive. But we need to level up!"


    "You figured that out?" DicingDevil asked curiously.


    "Yes, yes," dimir responded. "We are forgotten people, even death now not caring." Heughed, and Crucis joined in.


    "If you want, we will take you hunting with us," Crucis said. "You get good Experience. Then I will show you how to get more gold and equipment, and soon you will be stronger than your ssmates."


    "Take hunting?" Konstantin asked, unclear about the terminology.


    "You can join, we will go to ''hunt'' animals nearby. You have heard of this ce?"


    "Ah, yes," dimir answered. "I have visited actually, there is hole in the vige. But everyone is scared, says it''s crowded and we will be attacked. Besides, it is difficult, we cannot afford to stay there long and we have no equipment to hunt."


    "dimir did climb some trees! But he said we should leave, or will be ''broke,''" Konstantin said.


    "Excellent. So then you''d be interested?" Crucis said with a smile.


    "OK. I mean, we have a ''gun to our head,'' we must go," Konstantin said, lightening up slightly as he sensed that these men didn''t wish to attack him.


    "Alright. By the way, tell me," Crucis said. "The children there, they are scared of the world now, um, §Ø§Ú§ä§î §Ó §ã§ä§â§Ñ§ç§Ö (zhit(ye) v strrah-eh), but you find them boring?"


    "They are scared of dimir, he is like lion!" Konstantinughed. "Yes, they all be studious when very scared. We want to adventure, they say like, no you will tear our textbook page! Enter the wild? No, we are drawing a ''mind map''! So we have to turn to strangers for help. You have helped us a lot, by killing these two ''friends,'' it is good start."


    "The kids there are ''nerds,''"ughed dimir, recalling an English term. "Sorry, weugh a lot now, it is not normal. We are nervous!"


    DicingDevilughed. "How did you know that these guys would be goodpany?" he asked Crucis.


    "Oh, you know us?" Konstantin interjected, turning to Crucis.


    Crucis briefly wore the [Grass-Patterned Helmet] from the vige. A look of recognition shone over the ''Lutye brothers.''


    "Ah, it is this guy! The others were so excited about him! Why help us?" dimir said.


    "I am from Brus," Crucis said. "Little Russia, no? I saw that Konstantin had made also some nice paintings, and dimir is good writer. You are clever, so help us and we all benefit."


    "Yes, sir!" dimir said. "But we will need better weapons. You can help? I am Assassin, Konstantin is a warrior. Both use sword for now. Some kids have ''sub'' ss, I don''t know how can get."


    "There is a forge at the Hunting Lodge, you can make something there?" DicingDevil said.


    "Nah, this is faster," Crucis said, holding out a [Haunted Longsword] which he had received from a [Defender of the Faith] in the minor dungeon. The scratched, grey sword, thin but nimble, had its frayed edges lit until it seemed to almost disappear into the afternoon''s dim light.


    It was useless for Crucis, but he considered it to be a strong level 20 sword, and was curious about how it would perform.


    Its description read:


    [Haunted Longsword | +50 DEX. Has a 10% chance of causing the [Haunting] status effect for 5 seconds, reducing the enemy''s uracy by 5% and reducing your visibility. This effect has a CD of 25 seconds.]


    dimir took the sword in one hand, and nced over its description. He smiled, with his face twisting slightly into a sinister grin.


    Crucis saw a message appear:


    [Congrattions! You have given 1/3 gifts! You may give two more gifts, but neither may be to the same person. These gift chances will refresh every 2 months.]


    Crucis saw that Starfighter had handed Konstantin a sword from the minor dungeon as well. The DeathGang members held back, since they saved their gift chances for Guild members. Crucis searched through his inventory, then tossed a couple of [Small Mount Loan Keys] to the boys. The teachers had been holding some, perhaps donated to the school in case the students needed Mounts at any point.


    As Konstantin and dimir dusted themselves off, Crucis summoned his own Coelophysis mount. Turning towards the boys, he said, "You can find or make other equipment at the Hunting Lodge. If things go well, there will be plenty of rewards. But swords are rare."


    "Thank you! Do these guys only share with their Guild?" dimir said light-heartedly about the DeathGang members. "But sharing is caring, did no-one say to you?"


    "Maybe we don''t care!" DicingDevilughed, and dimir smiled in response with his left eyebrow raised.


    Crucis had decided that it was important to gain non-Guild allies at this stage, since if he chose not to join DeathGang, then he could have these allies follow him into a new Guild and possibly out of it as well. Having allies not tied to Guilds meant that he could interact with Guilds while still retaining some independence. While he couldn''t predict how long these allies would remain so, at the moment they had little to gain from turning elsewhere. Since they were outcasts or misfits, they would also likely be less positive towards the more conventional Guilds.


    Further, he felt that dimir and Konstantin could help to disorganise the school project and spy on any Guilds who came to protect it, furthering the work already done, and also sell some belongings from the dead back to the vige while sharing the proceeds. After all, children from the vige selling the belongings would seem more ordinary than an outsider.

 Chapter 75: The Man Who Laughs

    Chapter 75: The Man Who Laughs


    "There''s nobody in the garden beside the Poacher''s Den," DicingDevil said softly as he descended from a tree looking over Mokra.


    "So we can enter the shed and reach the Den through the wall between them?" Akshel replied.


    "Yes. There''s a small crowd of children watching a Chinaman at the edge of the residential area, I''m not sure why. But most adults are up North or in the safezone, the remaining three or four can be distracted by some bombs which Gastlem set up."


    The group of DicingDevil, Akshel, Crucis, dimir, and another Assassin named [Firegrey20] crept around the edge of Mokra, using cover and [Stealth Cloak] carefully to avoid detection. Most of the people still in the vige were only around level 20-30, so while being detected would be a hassle it wouldn''t be an immediate danger. The vige''s adults had mostly been told to stay in the residential area for safety, and a few who had caught wind of what happened had fled through the portal to Kaxil.


    The rest of the DeathGang members, other than Gastlem who was lurking near Mokra, had gone up North with Starfighter to find a bridge which could also be used to enter the Hunting area. While the bridge was guarded, the yers without redname could spread across the bridge and distract the guards while the redname yers vaulted off the bridge and then hid in arge, empty burrow nearby. Grisier was still in DicingDevil''s party, and was giving asional updates from the journey North, where they were taking a detour Eastwards to avoid the woods.


    Grisier: There are a few groups searching the woods for a bear, but we''re taking a shortcut across the hills to avoid them.


    DicingDevil: trekking eh?


    Grisier: Yes, Dion is wearing lighter armour because it''s a bit tiring.


    Grisier: Konstantin is walking around edge of woods and warning us if anyone is near, he is a kid so the patrols will not attack him.


    Akshel: good luck on this odyssey


    Grisier: We''re Greek heroes?


    Crucis: um akshually


    Crucis: yes we r heroes in many ways


    As the Assassins entered the empty garden shed through a window, they heard the sound ofmotion from the residential area. Peeking out of the shed door, they saw that an old, bald Chinese man, with stiff, unmoving arms held to the side, had started limping awkwardly towards the garden as they made their way over. Part of his paralytic skin seemed to almost be rotting and crumbling away.


    A group of children was loudly gathered at the edge of the residential area to watch and shout at this man, but were being held back and prevented from leaving by a few adults.


    "Who''s this?" Crucis whispered to dimir.


    "Oh, this man? The children all love him. He is called the Laughing Man, because his face has big scar and is frozen in ce, it looks like heughs or smiles all the time," dimir replied. "He ys with the children sometimes, but he is strange man, will walk into dangerous areas without think."


    "I see, thanks."


    Looking closer, the group could see the man''s face, with calm, level eyes that seemed almost paralysed, andrge scars across his mouth which made it look like he was exploding intoughter. The man''s username was [FengShuiGent], but the vige knew him as the Laughing Man, and he was seen as a symbol of hope oveing the persistent fear and paranoia surrounding the vige.


    "He''sing towards the garden. He''ll see us if anyone messes up the Agile Step, maybe raise an rm," DicingDevil whispered.


    "We can see if he walks away, if not we''ll drag him in here and attack once he''s out of sight of the residential area crowd," Crucis said. "It shouldn''t be too hard. The enemy of man is his own decay."


    "Yes, we should be able to handle it."


    The old man smiled asionally towards the children in the residential area, but Crucis noticed that the Laughing Man harangued any adult within an earshot with a series of slightly ill-tempered questions about ''poison'' and bears. This meant that most adults cautiously guarding the vige began to veer towards other parts of the vige, seeking to avoid this peculiar interrogation.


    The Laughing Man, however, continued trudging stiffly until he neared the garden. He bent down slightly as he approached it, as if inspecting the flowers. The watching children cried out asking the man why he was wandering so far out of the safe zone, going to the garden where they were not permitted to follow him.


    "I am testing for poison," said the obstinate old man.


    The children were understandably confused by this answer.


    Crucis quietly typed in the party chat.


    Crucis: well, since this old fool hates poison so much


    Crucis: i guess we should use poison


    DicingDevil: ok i''ll help


    Crucis: i don''t need help but plz. help, as long as there''s poison it is good


    Crucis: poison will cure selfish spiritual sickness


    DicingDevil: that''s the spirit


    Akshel: we''re attacking him?


    Crucis: yea think about it. this man is smiling, maybe its bc he''s happy abt the dead children?


    Crucis: !!! that a man may smile and smile and be a viin


    Crucis: how dare he, if only a hero would confront him


    Akshel: u were smiling while killing them


    Crucis: i am just edgy i am not truly evil


    Crucis: it''s different


    Crucis: since i am not evil i must be a good guy ig


    Grisier: You sure you''re not evil?


    Crucis: absolutely lol y would i be evil?


    Crucis: u know me i''m a good dude


    Crucis: there is a vast gulf btwn good and evil only nobody has ever seen this gulf


    Crucis: ok he''s here sec


    As the Laughing Man walked past the shed, Crucis grabbed him in a [Chokehold] from behind. Meanwhile, DicingDevil used [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse the man, then shoved a dead child''s tattered clothing into the man''s mouth to prevent any noise. Crucis used this brief paralysis to drag the Laughing Man into the shed.


    However, Crucis'' captive began to shove him away with a strong arm. In order to keep his hold, Crucis was forced to kick at the man''s gangly legs and drag the Laughing Man to the ground. Meanwhile, DicingDevil had drawn a [Poison Dart Dagger], a rare drop from the marshes far East of Kruxol. This dagger was jet-ck, and had a thin, pyramidal shape with a sharp point. Other than a 5% chance of inflicting the poison status, it had a 30% chance of triggering a skill which gave a special poison status effect that debuffed the opponent''s Constitution over time and had a cooldown of 2 days.


    A series of explosions sounded out from the opposite side of the vige, set off by Gastlem.


    As Crucis held the Laughing Man down, DicingDevil shed below the man''s nose with the [Poison Dart Dagger] and caused gashes in the fragile skin where blood welled up and poured wildly. Finally, the dagger triggered its [Wells of Venom] skill, and glowed faintly green as it stabbed into the Laughing Man''s face and caused a poison effect which drained HP incrementally. Crucis noticed that, since the opponent''s Constitution stat was progressively decreased, the poison''s damage would increase over time due to meeting less resistance.


    The Laughing Man''s eyes took on a panicked expression, and he began trying to w desperately against the wall and Crucis in order to try and escape the shed. However, Crucis shifted his weight and stabbed the man''s back just below the ribs, using [Silent Stab]. This caused the victim to writhe weakly in agony.


    Crucis took advantage of this to pounce towards the Laughing Man''s neck, and stab its back with a [Panoramic Strike]. He saw blood seeping across the floor, tainted slightly green and ck. As he withdrew the dagger, he was surprised to see that the deformed man''s skin seemed to almost fall away around the wound, leaving arge whorl of damaged, bloodshot skin around it. As he used [The Ripper] to chip away at the wound, he found that the stiff skin on the man''s neck had congealed until it wasyered and almost brittle, and cracked or copsed at the dagger''s touch.


    The rest of the group used this opportunity to sneak through the shed walls and into the Poacher''s Den, where they scurried into the hole. Gastlem joined them, and under his watch dimir vaulted out of the window and ran towards the Poacher''s Den. Akshel stayed behind, in case anyrger fights broke out or the Laughing Man started to break free.


    So far, the Laughing Man''s stiff movement had meant that he was unable to scream clearly and could be pinned to the ground almost noiselessly. However, the Laughing Man still had 40% HP remaining, and was somehow able to resist damage more easily than expected, in spite of the poison''s Constitution reduction.


    Crucis sprayed [Vile Toxin Gas] over the wounded back of the Laughing Man''s throat, and as it touched the man''s skin the skin seemed to dissolve away into nothing. However, he was surprised when the man mustered up enough strength to turn his head around and stare angrily at Crucis, mouthing the word ''poison.'' The [Vile Toxin Gas] identally struck the man''s face next to the nose, and caused the skin to dissolve away until there was a strange hole next to the nose.


    DicingDevil shoved the Laughing Man''s head back to the floor, then used a [Ripper] to sh across the back of the man''s head as it stayed ustrophobically pressed to the ground. Crucis joined in by tightening the [Chokehold], then stabbing low on the bottom of the Laughing Man''s head and using the wound as leverage to press the victim''s face more firmly into the floor. At this point, the Laughing Man was beginning to suffocate on blood that he was finding it difficult to vomit out.


    Crucis followed this up with a [Dagger Twist], and felt the Laughing Man attempting to writhe on the floor. Picking up some soil from the garden''s edge, Crucis sprinkled it into the wounds lining the back of the neck, which caused the Laughing Man''s abortive attempted movements to be more frantic. A slow, weak [Punch] to the edge of the wound caused it to tear painfully and haphazardly, and spread the soil more evenly through the wound. By now, the Laughing Man was down to 13% HP.


    Crucis finally sprayed more [Vile Toxin Gas] over the wound, and it began to coat the soil.


    "See? They''ve found the poison in the garden''s soil now. What a great poison tester," Crucis said.


    "Maybe they can die happy now," DicingDevil smiled.


    "Well, for a man like this, happiness is easy. And so too after death, if you take good notice of what the priests say to their flock. So their death being happy is a bare minimum, they deserve even better."


    "Howpassionate."


    Crucis scurried carefully to the edge of the garden, and reached out to grab a few insects who were swarming over a dead beetle. He lowered these insects into the neck wound, along with the beetle corpse and some soil which he had picked up in the process. The Laughing Man opened his mouth wide, straining the scars around it, in agony, as if trying to scream. Not much noise urred, but some of his scars began to tear wider, spreading across his face.


    "Indeed."


    He got up, leaving the man to die from the poison. DicingDevil followed him, and they both ran through the wall into the Poacher''s Den, where dimir and Gastlem were standing by the tunnel entrance.


    The group of Assassins reunited in the tunnel, and followed the winding passage towards the Hunting area. As they neared the end of the tunnel, they slowed slightly as Gastlem went ahead and checked that the tunnel exit was safe.


    "Why was the guy so paranoid about poison?" Akshel asked Crucis on the way.


    "The man''s fear of poison might be rted to his own deformity," Crucis answered. "As you saw, his skin was strangely contorted and congealed, sometimes brittle and wont to copse. It must have felt unnatural when moving or even breathing, as if it was contaminated by something that was weakening it and twisting it out of shape. While there was no actual poison involved, the image of poison may have stood out to him."


    "True, when he was ''inspecting'' the garden he wasn''t making efforts to search for an actual poison. So it might have been a metaphorical thing," DicingDevil said.


    "Yes, but why should nature bear his ailments, and be scrutinised for signs of such ''poison''? ''Man is born free,'' but adults are only free through religion, that is by epting their chains and treating the chains as their spirit. So they assume that children must be freed in this way. But still ''man is born free,'' and once children ept this false freedom instead then they invert into something subhuman. Isn''t this man quite like adults who try to free children through god from devils and demons, producing a counterfeit life for the children to live?"


    "Funny you say that, my father was a televangelist," Akshel said.


    "Well, someone has to fleece the flock."


    "Precisely. But it''s no fun being in the flock."


    "At least you can sing ''Joy to the world'' every Christmas. Is that not enough for you?"

 Chapter 76: Re-Write, Now More Exciting, Short and Attention-Grabbing

    Chapter 76: Re-Write, Now More Exciting, Short and Attention-Grabbing


    "[F]or it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."


    The instanced field behind the Hunting Lodge, where the group were taken to practice basic Hunting skills, was filled with grey-white tall grass that turned pale in searing sunlight. It was bordered to the left by arge North-Westernke, known as Draimsa* Lake after the local word for ''nature.'' As Crucis descended the stairs from the Hunting Lodge into the field, he saw that the Lodge was reflected brightly in theke, like a rearview mirror. A few tall trees were nted in clumps across the field, along with a few short trees near theke.


    He could make out the loud sound of the Hunting Lodge''s radio, ying an old song by a band named Talk Talk. The words rung out over the tall grass:


    "I''m picking up again.


    Well, it got too much.


    After the ident,


    It could feel no worse.


    I turned around and saw him hit the ground.


    A little earlier, it was a game,


    I guess the barrier


    Must have dropped away.


    "I don''t like to read the news,


    D''you know anything I''m going through."


    The radio was a game element which allowed certain buildings to y music, like a localised soundtrack. Games like this tended to avoid having a soundtrack for most areas, but selectively-added music could still be an easy way to convey ambience or pathos to a yer. The physical radio simply consisted of a ck box with the name of a song and its artist imprinted on it. Most bars and lobbies had one. The Hunting Lodge''s soundtrack mostly consisted of slightly old-fashioned music from the 1900s**, ranging from Elvis to AOR.


    The group of yers was led by an NPC named [Stevo] towards a tall, twisted tree with a ck-brown bark. Stevo was a grizzled, middle-aged man with brown hair andrge sideburns. Although he typically spoke in a British ent, he spoke with a slight Australian ent when he was enthusiastic. He also broke the fourth wall with gusto.


    "There''s always these people in towns and cities talking about how, y''know, hunters are all just a club of violent, angry, ignorant fellows, or vicious animal-haters. Have you met any? What they''re saying, it''s a myth. In fact, it''s contrary to the first rule of hunting. What''s the first rule? We don''t talk about hunting! Nah, I kid, I kid. But the art of hunting isn''t about anger, it''s about understanding the way of nature, so that you can move freely in the wild.


    "So what is the first rule, or should I say paradox, of hunting? The mostpulsive hunters are also some of the people most attuned to nature and sympathetic towards it. And that''s not just hunters like us, whoe here to escape the cities. Plenty of people in ''primitive'' societies, where hunting was an important part of their lives, were highly reverent towards nature and hunted in inventive ways because they lived close to nature. Why is this? The skillful hunter didn''t learn by simply approaching nature with aggression and contempt, rather they came to understand it more than most.


    "So try to remain calm and observant. Are you alright with this?"


    As Stevo waited to see the group''s reaction, Gastlem replied, "That''s interesting, could you exin further?"


    Stevo nodded. "You guys are fighters, yes? It''s like a sword. Some people will try all sorts of shy moves with a sword. But what makes a sword dangerous is not shy moves, it''s the nature of the sword: it is a deadly, sharp weapon. A good swordsman can use simple-looking maneouevres, without dancing, and still be effective because they understand the sword. Animals are like this swordsman, despite apparent simplicity they are responding to nature''s way. If a cat falls on its back during a fight, it might look foolish, but it is actually lining up its natural weapons: ws and teeth. A camouged animal lives its life capitalising on this natural trait. You should learn from the animals, and from nature.


    "Hence, before we practice hunting directly, it is instructive to look at tree-climbing. It is an instance where understanding the tree is paramount."


    He leapt up the nearby tree and nonchntly, as if by habit, caught hold of two strong, low branches. He appeared ustomed to this tall, dark tree. As he scaled it, carefully cing his feet into small, barely-perceptible gaps in the tree bark, he circled around the twisting tree in order to find sturdy branches for support.


    From below, the twisting of the tree made his climb look even more daunting to the gathering of inexperienced climbers, by making the tree look like a series of unknown challenges which he had to ford. Every turn of the tree looked like a new difficulty, and each one that the climber bypassed made his spiralling ascent more impressive.


    After a minute, he ced a rope carefully around a high branch, then climbed his way lightly down through the branches before rappeling down. He turned to address the group.


    "The easiest way to climb without equipment is to use trees with low, sturdy branches. You follow along the branches, and carefully scan the tree for footholds, okay? In the end, the better your sense for the tree, the more easily you will be able to figure out a good way up. You have now unlocked the [Branch Climb] passive skill, but your familiarity with it is low. Would anyone like to try climbing some of the lower branches on this tree?"


    Starfighter volunteered, but Stevo turned him down with a smile and said that Starfighter was too familiar with tree-climbing and he would rather someone new.


    Instead, the slightly frail-looking French-Canadian, Gastlem, volunteered and walked up to the tree. Conversing on the way to the Lodge, Crucis had learned that Gastlem was a former philosophy student who came from a rural family. His English was slightly basic, since he natively spoke French, and he spoke a bit slowly. Due to the recent economic crisis, Gastlem had been forced to interrupt his studies in order to return to his parents'' farm and assist. Gastlem had decent experience with climbing trees in his hometown, but Crucis could see his slight hesitation as he adjusted to climbing trees in this game.


    After a short dy, Gastlem grabbed a firm-looking branch on the twisted tree, and ced his right foot in a small hole on the trunk. Lifting himself up, his body aligned with the tree. Grabbing a higher branch, he looked for a good foothold to climb. Finding a depression on the trunk, he tried to ce his left foot into it, but as he tried to lift himself he found the branches too weak to support his ascent. As such, he stalled slightly, and Stevo told him to slow down.


    "Feel the trees'' branches, get a feel for them. They might look deceptively firm, but you can''t just go by that."


    Stevo turned towards the gathered yers on the ground.


    "You should see a level next to your Hunting skill tree named [Tree Sense]. If you''re new, it should be at level 1.


    "By climbing trees, and then performing tasks such as hunting tree dens or pouncing on creatures below, you can develop your [Tree Sense]. Until level 4, climbing trees by itself is enough to develop. 25 is max. As it develops, you will be better climbers, and have a clearer indicator of the trees'' structure and where to climb. But to truly develop your skill, you have to, well, ''be the tree,'' your movements should near-instinctively follow the structure of the tree. Then you will make the most of whatever info you have, a level 3 [Tree Sense] with skill could outdo a level 8 on most trees."


    The audience nodded. Gastlem had spent this time studying the tree and plotting a way up, so he carefully hoisted himself on arge branch opposite him on the tree, then twisted his body ably around like a spider until he had risen onto the other side of the tree. He then ced one foot on a branch, and scurried up the tree through a web of firm branches. He was by now about six metres high. However, as he attempted to go higher, he found that his feet were entangled in the branches, and the tree''s trunk was curving steeply away from him.


    "Well done," said Stevo, pping lightly. The rest of the group joined in with brief apuse.


    Stevo directed Gastlem to kneel down across the trunk and disentangle his legs, then circle around the tree to a side with less branches where Gastlem leapt off. During the quick descent, Gastlem''s calf took a slight cut from a jutting, curved branch which he had overlooked, but he still reached the ground safely.


    Stevo patted him on the back, then turned to the group. "You did well, Gastlem. Now, the rest of you, use the trees around here for some practice. No need to go too high, stick to a height where you can easily leap down. I''ll go to my hut quickly and get some supplies to hand to your group leader."


    Crucis found a pale tree by theke with low-hanging branches, and caught hold of its branches. The bark was t, and seemed to have few footholds except near the bottom. He carefully tested the branches, then withdrew a small [Chair Corner Piece] stolen from the teachers in Mokra. It was a long, straight pole attached to a jutting-out horizontal wooden bar that was probably meant to be crafted into the side of a chair. He propped this against the side of the tree, then began to climb casually on it using a firm branch and a low foothold on the tree. From here, it would typically be difficult to climb higher across the t trunk.


    However, he used a hand to stabilise the [Chair Corner Piece], then ced a foot onto its horizontal bar and used this to vault steadily upwards towards the branches. He curled his right leg against one branch, and used his left hand to grab a higher branch as the rest of his body leaned against the tree trunk for support. Finding himself secure, he climbed his way across a few thick branches, and saw that his [Tree Sense] had grown to level 2. As he hoisted himself across the branches, he soon found himself swinging towards the trunk slightly dangerously, as one of the branches he was perching on came slightly loose. At this stage of [Tree Sense], it was difficult to spot such branches which were, though thick, slightly shaky under any pressure.


    He eased himself down across a few branches, then carefully leapt down the tree. He took a scratch near the knee from the tree trunk as he descended. Without being used to this game''s trees, it could be difficult to judge the descent.


    Stevo noticed that he had made a sessful climb, and came up to him to offer further advice.


    "Congrats, now you can move on to [Trunk Climbing]. You''ve probably seen kids doing it. You have to wrap yourself around the trunk, then make your way up. Then you can climb without branches." Stevo walked up to a branchless tree near the entrance of the field, then wrapped his hands around a rough part of it. "This is how it should look at your level of the skill."


    He ced the balls of his feet onto the trunk, then suspended himself against the tree. Carefully feeling his way up, he shimmied his right arm up the trunk followed by his right leg. After repeating this for his left leg, he called down with a hint of impatience, "Eventually, you''ll be able to just leap up the tree. It''s like flying! I''ll show you."


    He carefully pushed both of his arms upwards, then leapt softly with his legs, remaining suspended from the tree as his legs came to rest at a higher position. He did this a couple of times, then leapt down casually.


    "Alright, try out the basic method."


    Crucis nodded, and after a few tries he managed to get his feet onto the tree safely and mber slowly up. The tree seemed slippery at first, but eventually he figured out where he could safely wrap his hands in order to bnce from the tree. His tree sense had by now nearly developed to level 3.


    As Stevo led other yers over to the trunkless tree, Crucis saw Gastlem resting by theke after also climbing this tree. Crucis got out of the way of the approaching yers, and went to chat with Gastlem.


    Gastlem was still interested by Stevo''s earlier speech. "So, the guy said that hunters have reverence for nature. I was told that there were a lot of debates over hunting, and even though it became a craze ofte it wasn''t really popr among students at my uni. It''s not a subject that I went into too deeply, though. What do you think?"


    "I mean, even if you look at the recent hunting craze, it''s not because people suddenly hate animals. It''s because they feel isted from nature, and want to experience the wild. As the economy weakened, city life began to feel suffocating or depressing to them," Crucis said.


    He paused for a moment, then continued. "As for the rest, well, Stevo''s mostly right, the motivations behind hunting areplex. From a practical perspective, sure, everything here is in the firing line, but animals are a bit different. Say, as an image, that you drop a w into an animal and then into a human, thetter will ripple until it''s an ideology, a philosophy, a way of life and the whole parade, the former will ripple much less. If you make an enemy of both, then you''d want to kill thetter more as their enmity ripples, and with the former it''s no rush and they may not even care.


    "People talk about the nobility of humans, them being in the image of God, etc. That''s just religious talk, but provides little rity. They can have ideology or religion, but make an enemy of one - intentionally or not - and you''ll typically see all of that ideology, feeling, religion, whatever, turned against you even if you were God himself. Is man nobler because he is not only corrupt and stupid, but he fervently believes in his corruption and stupidity, nay, makes a religion of it? An animal might fight back and then ignore you or run away, but what of man? Their enmity is a piece of work, it ''evolves'' through all sorts of exotic, ideological forms, they write their shallowness onto the roots of the tree of life while animals are content to just climb up and down, and if they''re your enemy then so is their ''nobility.''"


    "<em>Oui</em>. In fact, it''s often said by historical philosophers or theologists that humans can be potentially better than most animals, but potentially also worse, to simplify. I think it''s a fairlymon theme."


    Crucis emted Gastlem''s contemtive tone. "In a sense. An animal''s natural advantage may be camouge, but it will use this. A human''s natural advantage is supposedly ''thought,'' but most humans do not care for this or actively flee from it. And, well, thought would require exertion in the first ce, camouge mostly just requires adaptation. So it''s easy for humans to be despicable, but animals typically do little to earn malice."


    "I mean, yeah, I don''t tend to mind killing animals, it''s necessary sometimes out on the farm, but it''s not that thrilling. It''s more like solving a puzzle."


    "Exactly. But there''s still worth to hunting, you''ll get a better feel for nature here and hence for our own predicament. Besides, the animals here have started to behave slightly more ''naturally,'' but they''re still arranged by the demands of a p2w game with all kinds of errors, so even if they adapt to the nature of this ce then it''s likely to leave them a bit perverse. We''d always have to cull some of the flock and rearrange the game''s ''ecosystems'' somewhat, it will take quite some force to twist nature back into shape. You''re clever, so think about how this could be done in DeathGang territory. But animals have stats and so on here, quite like us, I wonder if there''s some way tomunicate with them based on thesemon traits."


    "I''ll try to figure the fauna out on our territory, good idea. If we can get some rare or high-level creatures from the East to move into our territory, and not overhunt them, then we should be in better shape and can get some valuable drops. But there''s a few types ofrge, mole-like creatures who are natural predators to most rare animals, yet who are themselves prone to disease, drop little of worth, and mostlyy ill in their dens until prey appears. But with more hunting skills we''ll be able to smoke them out and kill them more often."


    "Good idea. Do you have any clue why the game would spread these strange creatures around?"


    "Well, if I had to guess? Since whales, that is, big spenders have a higher chance of encountering rare animals, the rare animals have to be kept away from other yers so that they can be shuffled towards whales."


    "Ah, that would make sense. How did you figure out the encounter rate issue?"


    "Darys had a bunch of people walk down the same forest path while fetching materials, but then he found that 90% of spenders - 100% of bigger ones - ran into the rare [Grey-Eyed Deer] along this path, and no freeyers did. We confirmed it with a few other Guilds, who verified it with a GM. That was early on, when most Guilds were still getting used to the game and not going on moral crusades against us."


    "I see. Yeah, it''s probably best to get your Guild up to speed on hunting, then start going after the mole creatures en masse."


    "Those guys are slippery. But yeah, we''ll figure something out. Are you nning to join DeathGang?"


    "At the moment, I can''t. I''ll figure things out as that''s fixed. All kinds of stuff has changed over a few days, including people moving out of Kruxol, we''ll see how things pan out and if we''re near DeathGang territory if and when Guild sign-ups work. "


    "That''s fair enough, I guess. "


    Some of the group were still queuing up to climb the branchless tree, and a few were having difficulty with it.


    "Sorry that this conversation has gone on for a while -"


    "No, it''s no problem," Crucis interrupted. "It''s enjoyable. If anyone is overhearing, maybe they''ll get bored to death because they were hoping for something exciting. Well, I mean, good. It''s a creative ganking method."


    "Alright. Well, after the war, I was thinking about the Guild. People in town called Darys a monster, but I''m familiar with him, he tends to enjoy art and talks about old ghazals. He also helped many of us adapt when we came over from another game. Isn''t there someplexity to the matter?"


    "There''s usuallyplexity to the matter. Several figures are called ''pure evil,'' yet even if ''evil'' they have several distinct traits which don''t fit into this rubric. Hitler fought for his nation in World War I, went to prison for his beliefs, indeed on the side he even loved his dog and promoted vegetarianism. His anger and fervour gave Germans hope in the ruins of World War I and Versailles, which was part of his appeal, and he attacked what he characterised as egoistic, money-grubbing tendencies. Despite his ws, it''s quite a contrast to Yeltsin. Most serial killers have several stranger, exotic beliefs, often with erotic themes. Does that make them inconceivable? Not at all, if anything it is realistic.


    "They are like inds in rough seas, sand and flora tossed and turned by the movement of the storm. People want to see in Hitler a paragon of evil, they will not find such a ''paragon.'' They should not expect to. Evil is destructive, and the idols it builds qua ''evil'' are crumbling ones. And yet it still remains there, constructing and disposing of its own idols, it is not necessarily destroyed itself. Why? Well, ''evil'' is something that is defined negatively, it is not something that is known. It''s like the top of Wittgenstein''sdder. Morality is a quest to find out ''why,'' and at this point it must be silent. Evil is often a light that is hidden to the moral, but still it shines."


    "I like theparison of Wittgenstein. Yes, maybe that''s a point. The people are still dreaming in the town about the sessful war on evil, many are drunk. They don''t want to wake up, so they are even more angry about the war, they can''t see us. But then there are also the town''s mischief-makers, they get drunk and give speeches about DeathGang, say they''re defying us by getting drunk and we''ll cry because of how happy they are. These clowns, truly Nietzschean, beyond good and evil. They im to be good guys, but how can we take it seriously when it''s just a license to get drunk and party? Some of them stumbled onto a road into our territory right after the war, on a mock-Crusade, they were so drunk that could barely fight."


    "Ah yes, the American Jesus on the interstate. Kierkegaard was onto something when he defined evil in terms of limitation, as a result of popr ''mediocrity.'' He was a wise man. Now, if ''evil'' is defined like that, then it''s not a wholly moral category, but more of a natural one. But people don''t want to think of evil like that, they want to live in degeneracy while attacking anyone who stands out or stands aside."


    "Well, we stand by aside Kruxol. And it''s wise. When invasionse, town-dwellers will be forced automatically to fight them. We will not be penned in like that to Kruxol."


    There was a loud shout from the East of the field, where Stevo was calling the group together. Crucis and Gastlem joined the rest of the group, scurrying towards the sound.


    Stevo led the group over to arge, wooden box, with a hole as an entrance. He began to speak.


    "Now, traps. You''ve probably heard stories where some sailors take refuge on an ind, only to find out that the ind is a sea monster? Yeah, same logic. The animal is walking down a familiar path, or they''re exiting their den. Then - wham! - a trap shuts, they''re in a box or a cage. You can use traps casually, but you''ll be much better if you research the animals'' habits, find their dens, find ces where they frequently run through. So one of you please volunteer to be the animal in this demonstration. Imagine that the box is your home, or a familiar building, then walk on in."


    Akshel volunteered. "This game is a trap, I''m probably used to being trapped by now," he quipped, to a fewughs.


    However, as he walked calmly into the wooden box, he was still slightly surprised by the loud, grating, metallic sound of a door mming shut across the hole.


    "Alright, now we kill ''im," Stevo joked. "But seriously, some people will just leave a trap out in the open, that''s often a wasted trap. You should figure out the animal''s habits, and the trap itself. A snare, for instance, you probably want the animal to pull that shut. So how are you going to get the animal to push through it, so that it ties around ''em? You could ce it in the undergrowth, somewhere that animals will push through habitually. But you''ll have to figure that out, mate."


    He hoisted the door open, allowing Akshel out.


    "But you want the easiest targets? You findmon paths used by animals, or you find their dens. If you stake out the area outside their den, you can strike them as they emerge. The trap is like a praying mantis, if you set it up right, so it won''t be noticed until it''s triggered."


    After telling the group that they had finished their basic training, but coulde up to him for further training or informationter, he led them over to the East of this field, which was fenced. There was a small, thatched-roof hut here, which he pointed at.


    "That''s my house!" he said. "Alright, nah, it''s where I stay for research about theke, Hunting Lodge told me not to keeping in when I''m soaking wet after wrestlingke animals, y''know?"


    He was startled as a loud, violent crashing noise rang out from next to one of the tables in the hut.


    "The hut has a door to the forest up North, hope some critter hasn''t snuck in from there, wouldn''t be the first time."


    With a spear drawn, Stevo crept quietly into the dark hut. He quickly cast [Conjure Light], cupping his palm to focus a ray of light at a small shape under the table. In the light, a small, grey pigeon sat transfixed and unmoving in spite of the impending spear.


    Seeing that it was just a pigeon, Stevo dispelled the light and shooed it away. The pigeon noisily flew away into the Northern trees.


    "The light keeps them still sometimes, you''ve maybe heard of something like this with deer," Stevo said. "I don''t know with pigeons, I''d guess it might be hard for them to escape if the light blinds them. As for deer, they''ll even freeze up as a protection mechanism, since predators like big cats sense them by motion. Speaking of predators, there''s still a few to the North of the reservation, we haven''t cleared ''em all out yet. So be careful, keep slightly South. Even if the predators have orange names, they could be man-eaters, and those will still attack you. Anyway, let''s get you back to the Hunting Lodge, you can learn the rules and regtions before going on your way, I don''t know ''em to be quite honest."


    The group walked into the Hunting Lodge. Most of the DeathGang members walked up a flight of stairs in order to avoid notice, but Crucis, Gastlem, Konstantin and dimir stayed in therge lobby as Gastlem made arrangements for the group''s expedition.


    The lobby was formed from cylinders of dark wood, and had a few trees peeking in through the roof. The radio had changed to a song by Peter McIan named ''Light In Your Eyes,'' with the chorus, ''Girl, you''ve got that light in your eyes.''


    Scanning the area, Crucis saw that there was a long wooden corridor on the left end of the lobby, leading to an adjoining building which had a hammer sign outside it. This probably led to a room for cksmithing.


    dimir turned to Crucis and politely said, "Konstantin and I had to write poem for English ss here, but our English is not so good. Can you help with?"


    "Sure," Crucis said with a smile.


    "Alright, here is mine. It needs two more line. Ignore thest part, am not submitting that!" dimir jovially showed Crucis a crumpled piece of paper containing a poem on it, and Crucis saw that many words had been crossed out during the writing.


    Here is green feeld thik


    with k bush on fire


    it wispers abot magic


    what it say is lies


    but stil a man kneeling


    in front of bush will pray


    to get power of magic


    insted he will be dead.


    His magic staff is snake


    and its venom is kill.


    -----------


    My ss was killed by bear,


    But I wasn''t there,


    Insted I go hunt with Konstantin,


    Hope it will be more fun.


    Crucis said, "This seems good, but even if you don''t know some of words, the game has a lot of words everywhere. Check menus, books, items. You can copy the spelling from there, or even some phrases for the two extra lines. I''ll look over it and help soon, but if you make most changes, maybe is less suspicious. If too different from your usual writing, they will be suspicious."


    dimir smiled industriously, and began looking through his menu and amending the poem. "This is cheating, but will do it! Can be useful."


    Crucis shrugged. "If you want to do something, then maybe don''t cheat. If someone else wants you to do something, then go ahead and cheat."

 Chapter 77: Ite, mouse est

    Chapter 77: Ite, mouse est


    The group were assigned to hunt in ''Area E,'' arge subdivision of the hunting area.


    As they began to explore the area, walking down a path betweenrge, aged trees, they were surprised when a snake slithered out from a bush beside the path.


    The snake had grey-green scales, like leaves in mist, and was slithering at a measured pace across the path. Its name was in orange, [Common Vine Snake], and it was level 60.


    The group slowed to a stop to avoid confronting the snake, as even orange creatures could be easily disturbed by people passing by. Crucis used this time to check the snake''s profile using his wristband, and found that it was ssified as an ''Animal,'' and its species had a Dexterity potential of 7 out of 10, meaning that it was likely to have an above-average Dexterity for creatures of its level. It was also marked as ''Possibly Venomous.''


    Regardless, Starfighter walked forwards towards the snake, standing up straight to get its attention. He kneeled down as the snake slithered down the path, and lowered his hands carefully beneath the snake, allowing it to slide over without obstruction. He ckened his hands asionally as it moved, taking care to give it way as it curled around his hands. Crucis noticed that it was still orange-named, and hadn''t been provoked into aggression.


    "It''s alright, as long as you allow the snake to move freely, and don''t obstruct it, it should remain orange-named, not go red," Starfighter told the group, as he carefully lifted the snake towards the side of the path.


    DicingDevil nodded, and escorted the group across the other side of the path. The level 60 snake, especially if venomous, could endanger a few members of the hunting party. After the group was some distance away, Starfighter released the snake calmly onto a bush next to the path, and it sped off into the trees.


    Some DeathGang members congratted Starfighter or asked him how he had learned to do this. He said that he had spent a long time in the wilderness and interacting with vigers in the Northern forests, and he had be used to dealing with high-level orange-named creatures.


    Crucis turned to DicingDevil. "If there are high-level snakes brazenly wandering here, it probably means that there weren''t many hunting parties allocated to Area E before. If there were, they probably would have either fought it or reported it to the Rangers. So it might be a good sign, this area might be mostly undisturbed and most of its quests should be free."


    "That''s true, yes," DicingDevil said, "Nobody has cleared out the entrance yet. Should we report this snake to Rangers?"


    "No, it''s useful, it could endanger further parties entering this zone behind us."


    "Alright, that''s true. I saw a few footmarks beside the path, about a day old, so I''d guess that a few people have entered this Area but not many."


    "People are levelling up quickly now, we''re only just now reaching a good level for this Area. So I''d guess that any earlier parties mostly stuck to shallow, safe parts of the Area, and maybe a few whales went further. But that should still leave a lot for us to explore. We should press Northwards."


    "Absolutely."


    The group soon arrived at a clump of pale, green trees, where they could see a bunch of mice and small squirrels scurrying around between the trees. They had picked up a few quests from the Hunting Lodge, which involved killing or capturing these creatures.


    A few DeathGang members swarmed in and began stabbing at the mice. However, Crucis had taken advice from Starfighter to develop his skills at trap-setting, because at early stages setting traps would by itself give a good amount of hunting EXP and allow him to develop faster.


    He had a quest to capture 5 of the [Grey Squirrel-Mouse], a sort of miniature squirrel which looked like a mouse.


    He observed that these seemed reluctant to spend time on the ground, and were more likely to flit between trees, possibly stopping to forage for food once they were near the base of a tree.


    These creatures were all ssified as E-ss creatures, the easiest to catch. They would readily take bait, and made little attempt to avoid traps. They would flee from attackers, however, but were slow to notice any and react, unlike more advanced creatures which would typically flee easily.


    Since they were stubborn, Crucis opted to use a type of trap named [Basic Tunnel Trap] which he had bought from the Hunting Lodge''s Store. They were rectangr boxes with two open ends, with [Maize Bait] in the centre. He ced four of these between the trees, assuming that the squirrels would try to push through on their path.


    He also tried a trap named the [Cardboard Box Trap], a small cardboard box which contained bait and would m shut as creatures neared the bait. He ced three of these next to the trees.


    As he waited, he saw with annoyance that the DeathGang members'' struggle for mice was making the squirrels skittish. However, since they were E-ss creatures, two of the tunnel traps had mmed shut within a minute with squirrels inside. Crucis carefully lifted these away.


    Although he had ced the traps at slight elevation from the ground, to avoid mice sneaking in, there was still a mouse which managed to get caught in one of his box traps. Crucis flipped the trap over until its entrance was on top, which slid the mouse to the back of the trap. He then opened the trap and stabbed the mouse a few times until it was dead.


    Recing the [Maize Bait], hey this trap carefully next to another tree.


    After another minute, one more squirrel had got trapped in a [Tunnel Trap], and one had entered the reced [Box Trap]. A few of the creatures were skittishly avoiding the bait. He figured that, with creatures that weren''t just E-ss, it might be useful toy bait without a trap over a period of time first, until the creatures were ustomed to taking the bait from such sources.


    Finally, the third minute saw a slightly tired-looking squirrel drop down from a tree and encounter a [Tunnel Trap] on its way, where it entered and approached the bait. Both of the trap''s entrances closed, and Crucis now had the five squirrels he would need. He could take them back to the Hunting Lodge toplete the quest.


    However, he still had a quest to kill off 20 of the [Dazed Mouse]. Observing them, he saw that they had small burrows across the area, which they would use to flee from attacks. He ced a few box traps at the burrow entrances, and saw that Starfighter had done the same. However, the mice were seemingly reluctant to take the bait, as they were busy fleeing from intruders.


    For Mages like Grisier, killing off the mice quickly was easy due to AoE abilities. Most Mages hadpleted this quest. Others scampered after the quick-moving, dull-white mice with daggers.


    Crucis observed which burrows were seeing the most activity, and crouched next to one of these which was next to a bush. Standing beside the bush, he stabbed at mice which wereing up through the burrow, then tossed them aside quickly. Although the mice soon stopped using this entrance, he had already killed 7 out of 20. Alternating between other burrow entrances, he killed the remaining mice.


    He saw that some other DeathGang members were starting to take on a simr approach, instead of dashing anarchically after the mice.


    As he waited, besides the squirrels scuttling around in his traps, he saw that DicingDevil had sent Starfighter to fetch something from the Hunting Lodge. Starfighter returned in two minutes, dragging arge, green trolley with slots for traps to be kept in.


    Crucis, DicingDevil and dimir had managed to catch the creatures already. dimir, though young, still had fresh memories of catching and chasing squirrels. He had ced a few tunnel traps near trees, then nimbly chased the squirrels towards the traps. He had caught two of the squirrels by hand, and ced them into box traps, while the rest were caught in the tunnel traps. For most yers, catching the fast, small squirrels by hand would be difficult and exhausting.


    As such, these three loaded the squirrels into the trolley, and then followed Starfighter to the Hunting Lodge. A level 55 snake was coiled around a tree to their right, but with Starfighter''s guidance they passed it by without event.


    As they reached the Hunting Lodge, they proceeded to a room on the left, where an NPC looked through their squirrels. Crucis received a decent amount of hunting EXP, enough to gain 15 new skill points. He used this to unlock a few pursuit skills, such as [Jade Eye] which gave your attacks a 5% chance to slow a fleeing animal, and [Meat Preservation] which reduced the chance of spoiling a creature''s meat with a strike. He also took the slightly unnecessary [Blunt Force] passive skill, which increased damage for yers with heavy swords.


    This took him far enough along the skill tree to learn [Dark Eye], a passive skill which increased Agility by 80. It was probably made to help slower warriors keep up with the pace of a hunt. However, Crucis still found it useful, and worth wasting skill points on [Blunt Force]. Decent Agility boosts were scarce, so he figured it was worth taking them if avable.


    Looking ahead, he saw that he could soon unlock a skill which would increase his Mount speed slightly. Though it wasn''t possible to increase Mount speed much in this game, except by getting better Mounts and slowly levelling them up, it was still worth taking small boosts.


    As he was scanning through the skill tree, dimir emerged from the room with the NPC. The EXP from this quest had barely moved Crucis towards the next level, but it had been enough to raise dimir to level 22. As such, the child was smiling, with a slight Muscovite coldness that was almost threatening.


    Crucis congratted him on the level gain, and then sat down to discuss the poem. He saw that dimir had already amended it slightly.


    Here is green feeld thick


    with ck bush on fire


    that wispers about magic,


    what it say is lies.


    but still a man kneeling


    in front of bush will pray


    to get power of magic,


    insted he will be dead.


    He looks out with light in his eyes,


    then drops to eye-less corpse.


    His magic staff is a snake


    and its venomous bite kill.


    "You got ''venomous'' from the snake, and ''light in eyes'' from the radio?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes," dimir said with augh.


    "Excellent. Maybe ''venomous bite'' sounds a bit too fluent, but you''re learning and soon can include things like that. Do you get manyints about spelling?"


    "Sometimes, but I think some mistake is expected from my ss."


    "Okay. Then we can leave the remaining mistakes in, probably. It looks more authentic. It''s well-written, by the way."


    dimir smiled.


    "One thing that might help is to add a specific location. Even though these guys dislike Russians, this kind of school will often take kindly to an exotic location being mentioned. It suggests that you''re somehow ''diverse.'' Did you go to any states near Russia?"


    "Um, §¬§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ç§ã§ä§Ñ§ß (kaazaa-h-staan)? Asian, South? Went there once."


    "Yes, I know where you mean."


    "We visited a few ces, I think best known is §¹§Ú§Þ§Ü§Ö§ß§ä (sheem-k(y)ent(uh))."


    "Alright, so could add ''South of Shymkent.'' Maybe also namedrop - um, name Astana somewhere."


    "Also, teachers said that it was okay to ''experiment'' with ''format'' of poem, not just use four line group. Does that mean is okay, or should?"


    "It means ''should.'' Westerners have no sense of restraint."


    dimir scrawled over the poem quickly, as Crucis pointed out where alterations could be made.


    South of Shymkent, on green feelds,


    is a ck bush on fire,


    that wispers about magic,


    what it say is lies,


    but stil a man pray kneeling to bush,


    voyajer from Astana, he crys


    to get power of magic,


    insted he will be dead.


    He looks out with light in his eyes,


    then drops to eye-less corpse.


    His magic staff is a snake


    and its venom has done kill.


    "This should be okay. Maybe thest four lines have too few mistakes," Crucisughed. "Perhaps ''drop'' instead of ''drops'' would seem more typical? Also a few more small changes, I''ll show you."


    "Okay, okay, now I am too good!" dimirughed, then amended the poem. "So then good, will write this on fresh piece of paper. What title?"


    "I guess something simple? ''Ghosts of Kazakh Night''? Or something that sounds a bit less exact."


    dimir wrote ''Ghost When A Kazakh Night.''


    "Alright, good. Now copy that over to a new paper. You might make slight mistakes, but that''s fine. Since they don''t know you much yet, and will be distracted by the deaths, this should be okay. I guess they''llin that it is ''macabre,'' but that is probably what they expect from you by now, the benefit is that the reputation lets you get away with writing more maturely than other students. The ''softball,'' easy criticisms mean they won''t emphasise other ''ws,'' so they might notice the positives instead."


    Gastlem was walking over, but his eyes seemed to be on the Hunting Lodge door.


    As Crucis looked up, he saw arge, brown horse with a golden saddle waiting outside the Hunting Lodge. This couldn''t belong to a yer, since at this stage nobody would have a horse that fancy. Crucis scanned the lobby, to see whom it belonged to.

 Chapter 78: The Mysterious Courtier Appears

    Chapter 78: The Mysterious Courtier Appears


    An old, white-bearded man, wearing a white half-mask across the top of his face, had walked into the Hunting Lodge and was speaking jovially at the reception in localnguage. He wore arge, purple outfit studded with red and green gemstones, and with golden sleeves.


    "One of the NPCs said that there was a masquerade nearby, several courtiers would be attending. Some will be hunting here byte evening, but the Lodge will be closed to the public by then so we''ll miss it. Maybe this guy is making reservations in advance," Gastlem said.


    "A masquerade? Yes, that''s probably what he''s dressed for," Crucis replied.


    As the receptionists walked out of the lobby, in order to prepare some things for the courtier, Crucis saw the man''s long shadow loom over him as the courtier unexpectedly approached him. Looking up from his seat, he saw that the courtier was named simply [The Mysterious Courtier] by the game, and was level 90.


    "Greetings, young''uns. Are you writing poetry?" the courtier said in a puckish voice. "Ah, I used to write it often when I was younger, and writing the odd so nowadays is still expected of me."


    "Yes, I was helping the children," Crucis said. "What brings you here, the masquerade?"


    "Yeah. I''ve always loved the weird and wonderful. I missed the zombies in Kruxol, but figured the aristocrats aren''t a bad substitute. To be honest, I don''t enjoy the thing, but some of my friends and allies are going so I''ll humour them."


    "Your tone isn''t that courtier-like, <em>monsieur</em>," Gastlem smiled.


    "<em>Non, mon soeur</em>! I am the very model of the modern aristocratic ideal. Look, if you want to challenge me, let''s drop the cuffs and take it outside. I''ll show you my superior kratos, heckler, more convincingly still than Henry V showed your countrymen at Agincourt."


    dimir began tough quietly.


    "I''m still not convinced. Who wrote this dialogue? I''d like to have a word with him," Gastlem said.


    "As a critic goes, you are critical. Oh, doubled absurdity! Man by nature should be satisfied to only criticise as trifling diversion by evening, but now the critic never tires nor relents. He ties himself up in knots, his criticism is in and for itself critical!"


    "I apologise for mypanion''s ill manners," Crucis said. "But there is no shame if you are not a typical courtier, they are a drearier lot."


    "Yes, I did not object to his initialments, but just to the gall of thed. The frog of criticism leaps, and thinks that it has brought the dawn. Anyway, to return to the matter at hand, I''m not really a courtier now. I was born into an aristocratic family, but my father chased me out and disowned me. Still, I have some associates who gave me support and patronage, and I use my old belongings to pose as a courtier before the public. The people fear the aristocrats and monarchs, so they do not scrutinise me."


    "I see. That is wise," Gastlem said, in a calmer tone.


    "<em>Merci</em>. So, are you hunting? I''m nning to do so, butter on."


    "Yes. But I think we can''t enter this ce now by evening, so I doubt we''ll meet," Crucis said.


    "That''s a pity. But the best way to deal with it is to dig your ws into this ce, to get in there and force them to kick you out. They probably will, but at least you''d force them to do it. Tell you what, there''s a house West of Kaxil, it''s closed by evening. But if you hide in a small hole that leads into the ground, really tten yourself against the ground, then you''re counted as outside the building and won''t be removed unless they see you. I stayed in there for a while, I know why it''s shut by evening. Do you know?"


    "Why?" dimir asked.


    "Ghosts. And not just the showy ''ghosts'' you''ll sometimes see in forests. Nah, these ghosts are serious ones, they have all kinds of weird psychological effects, they fill you with bloodthirst and envy. Great fun. I''m a materialistic sort, but one of the ghosts even brazenly wed at me and did damage, I had to scramble out of a window when it attacked me. But it''s something you do for the thrill, for the grit, I''m all about that."


    "That sounds quite interesting, thank you. What level are the ghosts?" Crucis asked.


    "Oh, I saw some on level 60, some up to level 100, maybe there''s even stronger upstairs. You probably won''t run into the tough ones, if you''re not a daredevil like me who saunters into the house''s painting gallery. When the ghosts are about, the paintings watch you as well. I always thought that aristocratic mansions were ghoulish, but I was hoping for a more courteous reception!"


    "Is there anything simr in the hunting area?"


    "There are some weird things in there even by daytime. By evening? Well, I''ve heard howls and screams, but I don''t know where from. I''d hope to find out. Where are you hunting?"


    "Area E."


    "Ah. I saw the check-in list, there''s currently another small party in that area, only two people. I think they''re the sword-wielding Archer types. You could fight them off, but I''d rmend tying them up in case you need bait for some predators or a human shield. If you go way up North, the predators are too strong, but on the way there''s a few valuable ones with expensive skin and ws. Attacking predators is currently encouraged, to make the area safer, so it''s some of the best stuff you can get without poaching."


    "That''s a great idea. I''ll tell the others. Do youe here to hunt with your friends?"


    "Yes, actually. Some of them are a bit haughty, so you might not get along at the moment. One of them is a clown who fancies himself a greedy baron and looks like a cross between a witch-doctor and a goblin, it''s frustrating sometimes. But we keep them around for now."


    "Have you explored some of the other realms nearby?"


    "I wouldn''t say ''explored,'' but I have stumbled into them on asion. The region up North has grown very cold ofte, it''s difficult to do much up there. To the West, it''s also chilly, but there are many graveyards and so the draugr onught was even more fierce than usual. Most of their towns are in bad shape. I hear there''s a row of teleports that can take you to low-level towns across the world, it''s somewhere in the cold hills leading from this region to the one North of it, but I haven''t a clue where."


    "Ah, that could well be useful."


    "I think it''s well-known information, but actually going that far North? Not really possible until high level, and it would still get too cold if they didn''t prepare."


    "We have one party member who is familiar with some of the viges in the Northern forests, he can ask them if they have any stories or information about thends up North. I''m sure they will, most ces here have people who give localised information."


    "Yes, the vige people know several things you won''t find out in the town," the courtier smiled. "Such as that it''s fun to stay at the - ahem. Yes, anyway, you should ask them. Possibly they''ll also have some items with cold resistance. But tell him to be careful if he goes further North, there are several ghouls up there who will impersonate vigers or even create mirage viges to lure any travellers. My friends have lost some of their men on voyages around there. The ghouls tear out hearts and eat them. At least they aren''t heartless, I suppose. Not many people know about it, since few people go in that direction."


    There was a loud call from the reception, and the courtier turned around. He was being called to collect a small, purple card, which probably marked his reservation.


    "Well, I''ll be on my way, then. By the way, I hade here because I saw you guys writing poetry, right? Well, here''s a tranted copy of some sos I wrote a few years ago. It''s not that much, but I hope you enjoy it."


    He handed them a clear white cloth envelope, then went to the reception to collect some equipment and confirm his reservation. As Gastlem tried with difficulty to open the envelope, which was sealed with an awkward knot of string, the courtier quickly mounted his horse outside.


    Finally, Gastlem opened the envelope, and pulled out a piece of paper from inside. On it, two poems were printed:


    Who amongst my many detractors


    has ever reproached me


    with being called to y first lover


    in a second-rate theatre? ¨C


    and yet it is true.


    If the rascals had any wit,


    they would have painted one side,


    ¡®The conditions of production andmerce,¡¯


    and on the other side me,


    lying at your feet,


    and said, ¡®Look to this picture, and to that!¡¯


    But they are stupid rascals,


    and they will remain stupid


    in saeculum saeculorum. What makes me human is not


    Feuerbach¡¯s idea of man,


    nor the metabolism of Moleschott,


    nor the proletariat,


    but it is love.


    I could evenpose verses,


    and imitate Ovid¡¯s


    book ofmentations:


    for he was only exiled


    from the emperor


    Augustus; but I am


    exiled from you,


    and that is something


    Ovid would not understand.


    "Wait," Gastlem cried, as realisation dawned, "The Mysterious Courtier was Karl Marx!"


    "Yes. Well, we should probably find him and ask him some questions, like what he thinks of Posadism," Crucis replied calmly.


    "First, we ask him about his real identity!"


    "Sure..."


    "Yes, let''s go!"


    However, as Gastlem prepared to summon his Mount in pursuit, the courtier''s horse disappeared into the distance.


    Gastlem sighed. "Drat! The bugger got away!"

 Chapter 79: Out of the Den

    Chapter 79: Out of the Den


    "We need to kill a [Formosan Boar] around here for the Hunting Lodge quest," DicingDevil said quietly, "and it sounds like there''s arge creatureing out of that den. Get yours ready, and a cage for safety."


    As a creature grunted and tossed loudly inside therge, grass-covered hole, DeathGang members surrounded it silently with arge [Hunting Net].


    "Are you sure it''s a boar?" Starfighter asked uneasily.


    "It should be, they marked this part of the map as the boar''s territory."


    "Well, it''s clearly arge creature. We should prepare mores, just in case it''s something else," Crucis said.


    "Chain the cage to a sturdy tree or two as well," Starfighter said. "Some animals will just pull it along with them, or topple it."


    He pointed at a heavy cage that was ced on its side next to the den, ready to be lowered over the den entrance.


    "Got it," DicingDevil said, and arranged further precautions.


    As the creature sauntered casually out of the den, the group saw that it was not a boar but arge, bulky level 65 [Draimsa Brown Bear] with sharp ws. Its shoulders and back scraped swathes of dust off the edge of the den as it exited.


    However, as it adjusted to the light in this familiar terrain, it found itself caught in the DeathGang. Angrily, it scuffled against the with its massive shoulders and ws, tearing thefortably.


    However, another descended over it, as Crucis and DicingDevil ryeds to the yers surrounding the den entrance. Grisier cast [Breath of Ice] on the bear, to prevent it from escaping as a thick web ofs tangled around it.


    The bear angrily lunged at a level 37 DeathGang member who was desperately trying to hold onto thes, and while thes held it back from leaping onto the yer, it still struck him two times with its ws before pawing the DeathGang member roughly to the ground.


    DicingDevil kneeled down to help the fallen member up, but the level 37 yer, named [Iwabo], did not respond. He was dead.


    As DicingDevil reared up, he saw that another DeathGang member had been killed, but the bear had been trapped in a heavy, iron cage which Akshel, Dionarcy, and a strong warrior named [Gracus] had lowered hastily.


    However, the bear was spared the loneliness of solitary confinement. One unfortunate level 39 DeathGang member had been too caught up in struggling with the bear, and hadn''t cleared the area quickly enough. He was now trapped in the cage with the bear, which leapt with two paws onto his chest and shed at his neck, then smashed him against the edge of the cage hard enough to kill him.


    The cage shuddered violently, but it was fastened to arge, thick tree nearby with a chain, so it mostly remained in ce. The bear shoved hard against the bars of the cage, and dragged it a few yards across the leafy undergrowth before it jammed due to the tree anchor.


    Soon, DeathGang members had surrounded the bear again. Most of them used spears to strike the bear inside the cage, while Crucis wielded his sword like a spear and used [Lunge] and [Rising thrust] to wound the bear through the cage. This steadily eroded the mighty creature''s HP until it was hovering near 15%.


    dimir and Konstantin were perched in a tree nearby, and watched the situation carefully. They called out a warning when the bear''s strikes caused the cage to shake treacherously, and Grisier responded with [Breath of Ice] while the melee ss DeathGang members used their strongest strikes to force the creature away from the cage bars.


    Two Geomancer Mages had gradually wrapped the soil around the four corners of the cage, to fasten it in ce and hold it steady.


    After two minutes of confinement, the bear was at 6% HP and had only managed to strike a few DeathGang members as they got too close to the cage. As the DeathGang members tired, however, their strikes slowed. The bear made ast, desperate lunge at the cage, and toppled it, with one end of the cage flying into the air in spite of the Mages'' protections.


    As the bear stormed out, most DeathGang members fled. However, the bear was harshly wounded, and inflicted with bleeding and poison. Starfighter leapt at the bear''s neck from behind and struck harshly with a gritty [Overhead sh], then backtracked up a steep part of the grassy soil beside the den entrance. As the bear slowly climbed towards him, he used a [sh] at the bear''s snout, which caused the bear to recoil angrily backwards. DicingDevil and Akshel joined in with blunt [Mordhau] blows to the bear''s head, disorienting it.


    As this scuffle urred, Crucis had leapt up to grab the cage, which was lying on one side. He held onto the bottom bar of one end of the cage, then dragged this violently downwards. The cage fell heavily, and one side of itnded bluntly on the bear''s head, giving a ringing blow.


    dimir joined in using a small bow from a tree branch, and carefully fired a [Poison Arrow] at the bear. He tried to fire a few more arrows, but gave up because he started to lose his bnce and a few shots deflected off the branches around him.


    zeKeys approached the bear to finish it off, but due to nerves his strike was weak and skewed off the bear''s back. As the bear, now on only 2% HP, lunged towards him, he tried helplessly to punch it away, but it merely shed across his extended arm, which got caught up between the bear''s ws, and reached out towards his face.


    Starfighter killed the bear with another rough strike to the neck, but not before the bear had killed zeKeys as well.


    The bear''s drops were divided among party members who had taken part in the fight.


    Checking his inventory, Crucis saw that he had received a valuable [Draimsa Brown Bear Pelt], expensive [Draimsa Bear Bile] and [Draimsa Bear ws], and some bear meat which could be consumed. He saw that the DeathGang members were giving each other exhausted high-fives, and walked over to join in.


    dimir and Konstantin descended the tree beaming and joined the rest of the group, and Gastlem greeted them.


    "Too many of our guys died there, they should have joined you in the tree," Gastlemughed.


    "Have you never seen a bear climb trees?" dimir said quizzically.


    "He has a point, if a bear is pursuing you then you can''t simply hide in a tree," Starfighter said.


    "So they were in danger? Why are they smiling, then? I''m still trying to rx," Gastlem said.


    "dimir got bear meat, because he shot bear," Konstantin grinned. "Now we can have good meal."


    "That''s great," DicingDevil said, "did you get anything else?"


    "No," dimir said. "Only hit bear once or twice, so only basic rewards."


    "How''s bear meat?" Gastlem asked.


    "Sweet at first but mostly rough, greasy and a bit sour, from what I tried in a vige here," Starfighter said. "In this game, it tastes almost like seaweed once in a while, but outside the game I''ve tried bear and didn''t notice that as much."


    "In Russia, we only eat bear," dimir joked. "Will be fine."


    "Ha. Anyway, you can probably get it cooked in Kaxil," Akshel said. "If we don''t find better, we can always have some bear this evening in Kruxol."


    "Good idea. I have two stacks of bear meat, I can join in if I''m at the celebrations," Crucis said.


    Thus far, he had mostly made do with eating bread,bined sparingly with meat from thebyrinth''s boars or with cheap, bitter marmde. At present, the representation of fire in a virtual reality environment was still considered too unstable and liable to, say, explode or form vast infernos, so yers were forbidden from directly handling it outside of the diluted, mostly cosmetic variant used in things like Pyromancy. Further, an American politician named D. ''Nigfy'' Ra¨´l hadunched a motion to strictly regte fire in virtual environments, after his son''s head exploded in a private virtual study room as he tried to light a candle to deal with dim lighting. As such, cooking in this game was slightly limited, especially at this stage, and yers visited NPCs to get their food heated. Crucis just ate simply, when he had the time.


    However, after the war and a hunting expedition, some meat would be a nice respite as he recovered for tomorrow.


    "Sure, we''ll all pitch in and have a feast of awful, gamey meat," Akshel smiled.


    As the DeathGang members gathered to look for a way ahead, Crucis walked up to talk quietly with Starfighter.


    "So, I got some [Draimsa Bear Bile], what is that good for?" Crucis asked.


    Starfighter responded enthusiastically. "Bear bile is highly valuable. It typically goes for, say, 30,000-40,000 in town, but if you go to a vige named Arkett, South of Mokra, you should find an apothecary. The vige is famous for it. They''ll pay 100,000 or more for bile, maybe higher since this boss is quite high-level. I use that ce to exchange many odds and ends I find in the wild, also a good ce to sell undamaged bear paws."


    "Sounds good. Were your drops decent? You attacked it quite fiercely, so you probably did good damage."


    "I''m lower-level than you guys, but I try. I did pick up a bear paw, some of the pelt, and a [Bear Head Trophy] because of the final hit. Bear paw can be exchanged in Arkett as well, it doesn''t seem to have been damaged much."


    "Alright. What about bear ws?"


    "I''d guess those are used for crafting, maybe a ne or talisman, or a small weapon. If you improve your crafting, and get some more items to test out variousbinations, you can probably make something interesting."


    "Yes. At higher crafting levels, the bear ws could be used to create a mould of sorts, and this could be used to make other items? Some sort of w weapon, like a bagh nakh, would be useful and unexpected, but I don''t think the game includes one directly, perhaps it would allow you to use a metal weapon based on a w mould?"


    "I believe that you can craft moulds, but I''m not at that level yet. My hunting skill is much higher than the rest. It is definitely possible to make moulds, some of the vige craftsmen use them. I saw one cksmith out there, he made bronze swords and spears with a high-level mould, maybe a crafter lent it to him. It might take a while to reach there, though, so you''ll have higher-level bears to hunt by then."


    "Understood. So it''s not worth keeping these around till then, I''ll try and craft something from them earlier. By the way, hunting is your primary tradeskill?"


    yers were allowed to be adept at up to four tradeskills. One of these tradeskills could be chosen as the yer''s primary tradeskill, allowing the yer to develop it without limits. Once a yer reached level 150, they could also choose a secondary tradeskill, which couldn''t be developed infinitely but could be mastered.


    "It is for now," Starfighter replied. "Though I could change primaries at this point, since it''s not even at Mastery level yet - that''s muchter, at about the point in the tree where Falconry unlocks? But since I tend to stay in the wild, it''s probably a useful primary skill, especially since it has useful stuff like tree-climbing and survival skills attached."


    "That''s reasonable. I''m not sure about primary skill yet, either, it''s not useful to decide until you research the skill trees and theter items of each skill. Like, cksmithing is useful, but at endgame the best weapons are mostly from raids, world events and out-of-the-way bosses. So maybe not as a primary skill."


    "Smithing is great, but yeah, it willck longevity slightly. Crafting skills are nice because of the utility items, boxes, etc., but smithing here is mostly weapon-focused."


    "True. Anyway, Dicing is calling us."


    They hurried to rejoin the rest of the group, and saw that DicingDevil was holding a map while scouting the path ahead. DicingDevil seemed slightly impatient, and Crucis guessed that he had seen something up ahead.


    "Alright, so this Area seems to have three major subdivisions, ording to the map from the Lodge," DicingDevil said. "We should quickly scout out each of these areas, to see which ones have decent quests or buildings up ahead. That way, less unfortunate surprises. Any takers?"


    Most of the group were reluctant, after seeing the bear encounter. Dionarcy volunteered, but DicingDevil turned him down, saying that he would prefer Assassins to scout because they could cover more ground and attract less attention from the wildlife or other yers.


    On hearing this, Crucis volunteered.


    "Alright, I''ll take the area straight ahead, to the North. Where would you like to go?"


    Crucis chose to scout the path to the right, North-East, because he saw that it was the least travelled path and had few signs of any earlier yers passing it. Since DicingDevil''s sword was drawn, it seemed likely that DicingDevil had seen a valuable or quest-relevant creature moving in the path up ahead, and wanted to try his luck in killing it.


    However, if Crucis went by the undisturbed path then he was likely to find some useful items, chests, etc., which were unimed. He could im this for himself during his exploration, and call DeathGang after he was done. So his path was likely to be the most advantageous, if he looked around carefully.


    Akshel volunteered to take the remaining path. DicingDevil addressed him quickly, saying, "This isn''t like Area B, where we huntedst time. There are strong predators roaming around freely here, because there haven''t been many groupsing through. So be careful."


    Akshel nodded, and DicingDevil began to set off Northwards.


    "Akshel and Crucis? Keep in touch, and meet back here in 10 minutes," he said as he left.

 Chapter 80: The Road Less Travelled

    Chapter 80: The Road Less Travelled


    As Crucis walked down the rightwards path, he carefully scanned the tall grass and vegetation beside it.


    A few depressed tufts of tall grass had been trampled on haphazardly by earlier hunting parties, but much of the grass was still intact and had no sign of interference. Crucis rummaged through the intact grass first, ignoring a few yellow-named creatures who scattered as he approached.


    Since these patches of grass were mostly unexplored, they still contained a few valuable items. A small gathering of expensive [Swar Flowers] was growing a few metres to the left of the road, hidden behind a few bushes. These purple-pink flowers, with pale yellow tips on each petal, were considered valuable decoration and also often associated with romance. He picked a few by the stems, pulling off a few fragile leaves.


    You weren''t supposed to pick flowers in the hunting area, but if you weren''t seen by a Ranger you would typically get away with it. Even if you were seen, you would get a small fine at most. They wouldn''t bother scanning your inventory for flowers at checkpoints, where they would mostly check for weapons and poached animals.


    Walking up to a pond nearby, he found that the water was clear. He gathered some of this into a deactivated [Mouse Box Trap], a small box trap, then ced the flowers inside. He drew out some sugar and vinegar, which he had bought in Mokra where prices were cheaper, and ced that into the water before sliding the box shut. He could sell the flowers once he made it back to town.


    Looking around the area some more, he found a few small randomly-generated chests, containing modest rewards. He picked up a few health potions, 1,000 gold, and some iron which could be used for cksmithing.


    Walking far to the right of the path, he glimpsed a shimmer in the ground. Shooing away a rabbit which was tentatively poking about, he knelt down to pick up a golden piece of paper, which he saw was a [Lore Page]. It had arger, folded piece of semi-transparent red paper ced partially over it like an envelope or pouch and fastened loosely with a knot, and this was seemingly ced deliberately to hide the text on the Lore page. He ripped this sheet of paper off.


    Looking at the [Lore Page], he saw that it contained a poem titled [Visions of the Old Republic]. Atypically, this Lore page''s ''poem'' seemed to actually be a rousing speech set to verse, with exnatory prose before and after it. It also made little mention of Norse deities, instead portraying a more secr, politicalndscape. Yet Crucis read on with interest, wondering how this ancient event would prove important to future world events.


    <strong>Visions of the Old Republic</strong>


    Following this historical note is a nearly verbatim transcription of a speech by the controversial tribune, Duwain, who had allied with the powerful general Agon in order to challenge an unpopr Senate. It is one of thest preserved historical records of the Armahiv Republic, and was delivered in the capital city, Hivrejm.


    As the Republic had developed, it had be more centralised. The Senate had be a practical oligarchy, dominated by wealthy families who treated it as a dynastic system. Bribery and patronage was entrenched as a central part of the electoral process. There was an increasing sense of indifference to the Republic among the citizenry.


    This indifference led to increasing attempts by the government to reinforce a sense of loyalty and civic duty in its citizens, and crack down on dissent.


    A history of conquest had given the Arhiv state influence over its continent, and the Kingdoms surrounding Kruxol werergely indebted to it. The Arhiv ruling families, including several senators and senior magistrates of the Republic, viewed this as an opportunity to put on airs and consort with morous foreign leaders while freely sampling foreign riches. They viewed themselves as an upper ss, who had more inmon with luxurious foreign monarchs than with their own people. Some even married foreign leaders, which was viewed as a sign of decadence by much of the popce.


    In the process, the general Agon had grown frustrated with the Senate''s meddling in military affairs, especially after Agon nearly lost his life when sent to fight a war in defence of a frail Northern Kingdom named Pangyra. As the war ended in sess, Agon rallied his troops to take over battle-weary Pangyra, saying that the gods had delivered a perfect opportunity for war. The Senate were furious about this, and after several failed attempts to stop this war they moved to have Agon marked as a traitor and covertly killed on his return. They were also worried that Agon''s poprity if he won the war would make him more powerful than the Senate, and threaten the structure of the Senate and its leading families.


    However, Agon was warned of this danger by a steadfast ally, Duwain, who also began to build popr support around Agon and gave rousing speeches against the Senate. Duwain, a scar-faced, stocky man who looked like a mob boss, was a tribune, a position which was intended to be the popce''s check on centralised power. However, he had found himself increasingly stymied by the Senate, and watched as even the famed capital city, Hivrejm, became unsafe and cluttered due to governmental neglect. While some in the Senate, rmed by this resistance, tried to proim themselves sympathetic with Agon and started to echo the rhetoric of Duwain, he knew that these same Senators were still pressing to deliver Agon to death.


    Soon, the Senate attempted to stifle Duwain''s influence by dering Agon an enemy of the state, thereby forcing Duwain - as an official - to avoid mentioning him. However, Duwain did not stop, and continued his speeches, still implicitly contrasting Agon as a hero of the nation and its people with the corrupt Senate. This is one of his speeches, which was transcribed by allies and smuggled out of the country as the atmosphere became more confrontational and censorious. A few passages may have been ommitted, due to being too open in discussing the Agon issue.


    Scar-faced Duwain rose before arge gathering of the popce in the city of Hivrejm, including several from rural cities who had expectantlye to see him speak. He spoke in a calm voice, not like a passionate rabble-rouser, but with an effortless, almost arrogant sense of righteousness and an undercurrent of tension which intrigued his listeners.


    "You have seen this country, this great country,


    brought down by self-seeking Senators


    who wear the mask of ideologues,


    and whose speech is like a brood of vipers,


    but I exhort you, think once more of this country,


    not only of its magnificent ruralndscape, of skyhigh towers,


    of technological marvels - no, of yourselves,


    the wonderful people of this country ¡ª


    and your enemies, they don''t want to be from here,


    they want to transform themselves, the country too,


    they despise our very foundation, and wish


    to rewrite our history, to transform their body,


    and to transformnguage ¡ª for you, the people of this country, its heart,


    possess magnificent spirit, which has lifted the country for centuries,


    and it continues to do so now. For I have seen


    all of you, and how you fight to reim your freedom


    and your country, rows upon rows of you. I lead you, but first, you guide me,


    you show me that this country will work towards greatness, and it will achieve it.


    Now, here''s a secret:


    they hate me, but first, they hate you ¡ª they hate you vehemently.


    "Is there any hope in this country, or just a ghost,


    crying out unheard like wisdom in the streets?


    The Senators, we say we want our country back,


    they say, ''No, sorry, you ask too much, you''re too brash,'' you know.


    I said to them, this country has a magnificent spirit, magnificent


    enough that it used to shine across the world,


    yet you Senators would hide this light under a bushel!


    They are like Icarus, they wish to reach out,


    and drive you to and fro like cattle! Think back to our founding, against all odds,


    is the human spirit not indomitable? That is how our country rose,


    and it is how we will rise again to our prior heights!


    "The Senators live in their own world, theypromise across an aisle,


    they do not realise the stakes on the ground.


    Our ''allied'' Senators want to make a deal with agendas that


    only want to malign, yes, to uproot our grand country.


    They are told, ''Let''s sell the country.'' How do they respond?


    How they respond is to haggle, bargain, plead -


    to haggle over the price. And our enemies, you know,


    at least they''ll just say, ''I hate our country.'' Oh, they deny it


    sometimes out of decorum, but you''ve heard them say it passionately,


    haven''t you? Our ''allies,'' they''ll say, ''Let''s -


    no, no, wait, let''s sell our country, but let''s have it look good,


    we have to package it, you know, make it look patriotic,


    fly the g, while we sign it off.''


    "''Oh, well, maybe we can distract the people with a few more of Pangyra''s wars,


    pointless faraway wars where we don''t even know what we''re doing,


    and then we can even invite those people over, to make a Tower of Babel.''


    "No, no, it''s not right. They don''t listen, they are


    conniving, self-interested rascals, looking out for their clique.


    You know, people pay them a lot, why? Because they can be bought.


    And there are many bad people out there, who are


    more important to your politicians than you are ¡ª


    you, the people of this country ¡ª they don''t care


    about you. People talk about our country,


    about restoring it, they don''t want to hear it.


    "That''s what I want to hear. I want to hear you


    cheering for our country, for the Republic, for


    its great past and its future revival. Thank you, goodbye."


    After this speech, we have few extant records from thest decades of the Republic. The next extensive records from thisnd began under therge Empire of Arcorus, which survives to this day. How did this transition happen? Did the Republic copse? Did it simply change into one of our world''s great Empires? Perhaps some remnants of it linger on in the small states surrounding Arcorus? That, we do not know. Yet it is possible that some in Arcorus retain this knowledge.


    Although it was a speech transcribed as verse, Crucis found the continual, deliberate repetition of words to asionally slip into a rhythm akin to primitive rhymed poetry. Like rhyme, it may have made the speech more easily memorable to its audience, by anchoring the audience with its metronomic patterns. Many statements were repeated multiple times, to drive the point home. Some of the repetition might be a product of transcription, but most of it was a deliberate part of the speech''s structure.


    For instance, the first ''stanza'' of the speech uses the country and descriptions of it as a sort of anchor, in order to contrast this with the Senators and portray them as the true ''enemies'' of the country and its people. Phrases like ''think once more'' would entuate this. While the speech appears highly nationalistic, part of this might actually be a rhetorical manner of glorifying Agon''s conquests, denigrating the support for Pangyra, and contesting the ''enemy of the state''bel.


    As Crucis finished reading, the [Lore Page] disappeared, and the EXP granted by it was enough to raise Crucis to level 38, and 30% of the way to level 59.


    Out of curiosity, he checked the red, semi-transparent piece of paper which had hidden the text. Some of the red colour had faded over time. He was surprised that it seemed to have faint text written on it, in a mildly cursive style resembling the font of a Lore page:


    This is a [Lore Page], and, as a mark of authenticity, the page is a deep, radiant red, the colour of the Senate! The real poem follows, by an author who is part of the great Manov family. They are heroes of our time, who have spent a lot to prepare our state''s defence against the vicious Agonites! The author personally has helped us to develop the seeds of a new, greater form of magic, structured around tsid out by the Senate! So they deserve to be a part of the lore.


    Remember to only read this, the verified text by a true hero. Despite rumours, you will see that Balet Manov is indeed still sound of mind, and some days hunting in Kruxol have healed him of any ailments.


    Seemingly, the Senate or its adherents had brazenly attempted to forge their own sanitised [Lore Page], by fastening red paper around the original [Lore Page] and trying to have yers read their counterfeit poem instead. It reminded Crucis of the Queen''s counterfeit magic, but in this case it seemed to not work, at least not any more. Further, they seemed to have given up on this particr attempt, because of difficulties with writing the recement poem.


    There were traces of ck ink below the introductory text, seemingly arranged as a poem, but they were faint and smudged enough to be mostly illegible. Looking more closely, it seemed that some ancient blood had crusted on the page, and by scraping this away Crucis saw a few disjointed sentences which were probably parts of the promised counterfeit poem. Although not directly connected, and having a few illegible smudges in between, they seemed to have a simr theme. They were quite strange. Seemingly, ''developing the seeds of a new magic'' had been too much for the author, who was wilting under the pressure and no longer had the willpower to forge counterfeits.


    <strong>Conman, a speech by Balet Manov</strong>


    You say that I am a hero! Here''s the deal!


    A hero must be chosen!


    Heavens, forsake me! Now, why say I am a hero?


    I''m not a hero, I give up! A hero must be chosen!


    You think you know!


    You think the gods made me a hero! Why pretend I am a hero? They never cared about me! Even you are just using me!


    I am no hero! You''re a liar, good man!


    It would despoil the world''s design, now that you elect me a hero! A hero must be chosen!


    I don''t have charisma, intelligence, or wit! A hero saves, I''d watch the city burn! And you would tell me that I was a hero, who saved the city! No! A hero must be chosen!


    I am not a good man! Even you don''t think I''m much good! Then don''t say I am!


    You''ve all lied to me! I''m falling apart, and diseased! Go, go and find another victim!


    The strain of spearheading the Senate''s attempts at reconfiguring magic and the world had seemingly made this man have a breakdown. It was unfortunate, as he seemed as if he would have been somewhat astute before this breakdown. The [Lore Page] forgers had seemingly roped him in, while insisting that he was still ''sound of mind,'' and then given up when it turned out that he didn''t have the capacity to seriously parade as a ''hero of history.'' They might well have turned against him after a time, or just continued to keep up the pretence that he was fine. Crucis would have to find further information on this, and perhaps Kruxol would still have some records of Manov''s visits.


    As he walked across the North-Eastern segment of Area E, he continued to think about the [Lore Page], now from a directly practical perspective.


    Crucis knew that the Empire of Arcorus was to the East, and covered arge expanse of high-level territory. DeathGang may have asionally adventured on its outskirts, but it was currently too high-level for them to make much progress. Since he had been invited to explore Eastwards with them, as he was from the Spy sub-ss, he figured that it might be worth going there and seeing if he could find any information about this Republic and its fate.


    Seemingly, thest ages of the Republic were important to the game''s mythology, and this meant that going Eastwards could be even more valuable than DeathGang thought.


    Currently, Crucis had heard of several Guilds turning to experts in Norse mythology to decipher the game''s mythology and figure out how to unlock world events. They hadn''t managed much progress yet, figuring out Norse tales but not yet how to apply this knowledge in the game. The Hashin had picked up on this and searched their own numbers for students of Norse mythology, but weren''t as active in checking possible triggers as most other Guilds. Crucis guessed that there was more to this than met the eye.


    However, few groups had ventured to the high-level East other than DeathGang, and it would be worth exploring.


    Since his ten minutes were running out, he climbed up a few trees with low branches, and used their vantage point to survey the area. He saw that there was an old, female NPC standing on a soily area a short distance up ahead, who had an exmation mark above their head to signify a quest. There were a few more NPCs further North, who also seemed to have quests.


    He also glimpsed what looked like a white building far up North. Some colourful green-and-blue birds were flying next to it.


    On the path ahead, he saw a glinting white chest in a small, empty burrow, and quickly ran over to grab it. The quests in this area would probably require a whole party to do them, so it would be useful to get the DeathGang members toe over now that he had imed most valuable items lying in the area, especially the [Lore Page]. But it would also be the best option for the rest of the group.


    Since this area had not been explored much, there were many open quests to do, and perhaps a few rare creatures.


    He saw in the party chat that Akshel''s path had recently been followed by another party, and he guessed that it was the party of two that were also in Area E. Akshel had found an NPC, but the NPC''s quest had beenpleted recently and would take a few hours to cool down before it could be taken.


    DicingDevil''s path had been visited by several parties, but probably none today. There were a couple of quests involving driving away low-level predators, but these quests had seemingly beenpleted many times because the predators were nowhere in sight.


    As such, the group met and quickly agreed to travel North-East, thanking Crucis.

 Chapter 81: The Mink Shall Inherit the Earth

    Chapter 81: The Mink Shall Inherit the Earth


    Taking the rightwards path, the group soon came to arge, soily clearing with an NPC in it.


    The NPC, an old woman named [Margaret], greeted the group warmly. "Hello! This area gets visits from the rare [Gem-Fur Mink]. They are shy creatures, that aren''t seen often because they hide in dens. But though they visit here in thete afternoon, they find it difficult to dig their dens here. Would you mind sparing some time to build dens for them?"


    "How long would it take to dig a den?" DicingDevil asked, slightly uncertain.


    "About half an hour for a shabby den, if you are strong," Margaret said. "You''ll get more EXP for spacious dens! But it will be faster if you have Geomancers. Maybe you can find out some way to deal with the copsing soil, as well."


    "Alright, we ept the quest."


    "Thank you, kind strangers," Margaret said, as she began to walk away. "I will go to check on my vige, just North-East of here, call me when you''re done."


    DicingDevil turned to the group.


    "This quest hasn''t been done yet, but the EXP rewards are good. I can see a couple of abortive attempts from other groups. Let''s give it a shot, this area hasn''t been explored fully so we should take the free quests."


    "You called us here just to dig holes?"ined a DeathGang member named [DereeMan], who had just joined the party.


    The group had been joined by a couple of DeathGang members who were in the area, to make up for the four casualties of the bear fight. They had gone in with the maximum party size of 16, now they had 14. Groups were allowed to call for up to three back-ups at a cost of 10,000 gold per yer, if they lost members while still in the first quarter of the Hunting area.


    Frowning slightly, DicingDevil replied, "Ugh, fine. This quest might take some time, so some of you can scout ahead and see what''s out there. But it looks like digging here might be difficult, because the deeper, soft soil tends to cave in, soe back soon."


    "No, wait," Crucis said. "This quest sounds quite profitable, but the holes could be difficult to dig and we should keep all hands on deck."


    "What''s useful about digging holes?" DereeMan ejacted.


    Crucis ignored him, and continued speaking directly to DicingDevil. "Getting to build a den is a good opportunity. Remember what Stevo said about trapping animals near the den? We could try something simr by making the den itself a trap, build a den but use it to trap some rare mink. Then we can kill them, or take them alive."


    "Um, actually I don''t think they''d allow you to use a trap item in a den, the game would probably sense it."


    "No need. We can just use a non-traprge box for the den. After all, that will help to hold the soil in ce. But if the box has a door on top, then we can block the tunnel and open the door from above, so that the mink can''t escape but we can kill or capture them."


    "We can''t just wait tillte afternoon and hunt them if theye here?"


    "They are B-ss creatures, our hunting level is too low," Starfighter said. "They''d flee at the first sign of us. If we trap them, then we''d be able to kill them."


    "Yes, it''s a fine n," DicingDevil said. "The fur should be a good asset."


    "Yes, or we could get a pet mink," Starfighter joked. "By the way, did you know that sometimes creatures transform into other species? While capturing and selling the mink would be valuable, you should be careful about how you keep them. Stuff too many of them into a small space and they''ll fight each other, in the process the winners will transform into arger [Decorated Faux Badger] and any who lost but still survive will be feral [Noble Tarnished Mink]. Their fur isn''t nearly as valuable."


    "What do those look like?"


    "I haven''t seen them, but the viges have a few books exining some local animal transformations. Most of them don''t involve fights like this, but the mink fights are mentioned as a caution. Their fur''s gem-like, t sections are torn to cope with the strain of constant fighting, so it loses value fast. The faux badgers look like small, brown-purple badgers and have much higher Strength but slightly lower Dexterity. I''m not sure about the tarnished ones, the books only mentioned that they''re highly aggressive andpetitive."


    "That''s good to know," Crucis said. "So animals can transform in certain conditions? Quite Lamarckian, elegant. Do most transformations entail a change in stats?"


    "I think so, yeah. Some creatures can even transform back and forth. The vigers used this transformation to source more valuable non-local animals by transforming local ones, which was a small industry back in the day and still continues slightly. Some of the best practitioners were known as ''animal attendants,'' because of how much care they put into preparing appropriate living conditions for the animals and their instinctive knowledge of the animals."


    "Interesting. Anyway, we should keep most of the captured ones separately, and see how much they''re worth on the Kaxil ck market."


    "Yes, certainly," DicingDevil said. "Alright, so we have a n. Akshel, have you tested the ground yet?"


    "Yeah, I did that with Modrea," Akshel responded. "His spells were quite effective at making the ground weaken, so me and Dion dug through quick. But if you go low enough to build a den, the soil starts to fall back into ce quickly."


    "Alright, can we dig a tunnel that''s shallow, though? The den can be after that."


    "That should be just about possible. The quest specifies the den should be rge,'' but we could probably get away with slightly smaller tunnels."


    "Yeah, tunneling here shouldn''t be difficult," the Geomancer Modrea added. He had been sent by Darys to be a 16th member for the team, but was slightly unfamiliar with the rest of the team and tended to be quiet.


    "We could always dig a hole from above and nt the box in to prevent soil from spilling in," Crucis said. "Then build a tunnel to its open side."


    "Sure. We have somerge boxes with doors. Akshel has some crafting skills, so I''d like him to use a saw and cut a round hole in one side of the box, to let the mink in. Make sure that when we put it into the ground, the door will be facing upwards, and the hole will be sideways. Everyone else, get digging. One Geomancer to dig the den, one for the tunnel."


    DicingDevil began handing out shovels.


    "Aye-aye," said the level 44 [Danemy], the other yer who had joined after the bear attack. "By the way, I heard you guys had a team of 16. I think that 15 is max, plus 1 as a reward for Guilds, I guess because most of us are from one Guild. What happened, did yers leave?"


    "You didn''t hear in my local Guild announcement?" DicingDevilughed. "We wrestled a bear once, wasn''t fun. We lost four members."


    "Ah, so a bear made space for me. Nice chap. I was PMed about it by Gastlem, some Fountain members had nearly jumped me, so I was too nervy and wasn''t watching Guild chat. We still have arge team, it should be fine."


    "Teams of 15 or 16 wouldn''t be allowed in the crowded areas, maybe 5-10, perhaps 11 for Guilds. No risk of crowding in Area E, I guess, plus there''s predators in here, so they allowed for 16. Honestly, moving in such arge group isn''t always great for hunting, but it''s good for digging holes. We''ll see if we can get some of you guys killed by bears and snakes on the way forwards, no?"


    "Yes, captain. I will die to a bear, and it will be an honour." Danemy gave a mock-salute, then took a shovel and joined the rest of the group in digging.


    The group split into two segments. Crucis joined Dionarcy, Modrea, DicingDevil, Starfighter and Grisier in digging arge hole and clearing away the soil from it. dimir and Konstantin circled around, carrying soil away as it was dug up in order to prevent it from falling away. After five minutes, Akshel came up to them carrying arge, firm wooden box with a hole cut in one side, and the group lowered that into the hole and continued digging.


    Modrea was using a useful Geomancy power, [Minor Earth Divide], to help dig by easily parting rougher patches of soil. He also used the familiar [Lesser Whirlpool-Earth] to soften the ground so that the rest of the party could dig more easily. This made progress faster, but it was still difficult. Akshel joining it made the digging slightly faster.


    After 23 minutes, the box had been lowered firmly into the ground, and dimir and Konstantin had formed five elegant makeshift sandcastles from the excess soil.


    "We''ll need some of that soil back, to cover the box," DicingDevil said, when he looked bemusedly at the slightly Gothic architecture of the soily sandcastles. Due to the freshly-dug, wet soil, the castles looked slightly like a cross of a Dali-esque clock and a Transylvanian castle.


    "Yeah, sure." dimir kicked down one of the castles. "Take this one, is bad, I was in a rush."


    "Those castles are fancy. Do you work for Drac?" Danemy said light-heartedly.


    "No, am not from Romania! I am a Russian," dimir said. "I do not know who will work for Drac, maybe a gypsy. But if any bates near, I will kill it just to be sure!"


    "Good to hear. Can never trust bats, pesky critters."


    "''Critters''? Like ''creatures''?"


    "Yes, I guess? Like saying ''kid'' instead of ''child.''"


    "Ah, OK. Less serious tone?"


    "Basically, less formal."


    "Thanks for exining."


    Modrea cast [Minor Earth Divide] at the entrance to the box, to create a hole into it from the tunnel. He then used [Mana Push] to shove excess soil out of the way, leaving a clear entrance to the den.


    After checking that the door from above could be opened andtched from the outside, DicingDevil instructed the group toyer soil and some grass over the box in order to hide it slightly. The soil filled the gap easily, and after a few minutes it was difficult to distinguish from the rest of the dense, soily area. Modrea cleared out any soil which had dripped into the way of the tunnel, and soon one den waspleted.


    The group began work on a few more dens, in simr fashion. By now, since they were more used to the process, it only took just under 20 minutes to prepare the next den.


    After an hour and a half of digging, then group had five dens prepared. The afternoon had grown darker as they dug, and the minks would probably being soon. As such, DicingDevil decided to stop and call back Margaret. The group rested exhaustedly on the ground for a couple of minutes, before DereeMan ambitiously stood up.


    "Finally, that''s done!" DereeMan eximed. "Can we explore a bit now? I''m getting sick of this ce."


    "Let the others rest!" DicingDevil replied. "Me and Akshel will go North-East to find the vige."


    "Let these guys scout out the mansion up North," Crucis said, "or whatever that building is."


    DicingDevil nodded. "Alright, AnderScorpio is also looking restless, you two can scout out the white building over there." He pointed North-West, at the distant building which Crucis had glimpsed on his way here. It looked like a simple mansion or chateau, and birds perched around it. "The rest of you, wait here, we''ll bring Margaret back to check the dens. I''ve done a quest like this before, generally the NPC just nces at the dens and all participants get EXP."


    AnderScorpio was the group''s weaker DeathGang Geomancer, and wore deep green robes. He had helped with building the tunnels, but wasn''t as familiar with the sub-ss'' skills as Modrea.


    Crucis sat down, and watched as the four yers left Northwards. The mansion-like house to the North-West was empty and didn''t seem to have anyone moving around it. There was a vige nearby, but none of them seemed to venture near the building. Crucis figured that the building might be unsafe, so he tried to get DereeMan to go just in case anything bad happened. If the scouts died, then the rest of the group would be forewarned to use caution.


    However, the group was interrupted when DereeMan suddenly climbed back through the leaves, returning to the group and calling DicingDevil back.


    "There''s some high-level yers to the West, in Area D," DereeMan said, trying to keep his excited voice low. "Do you think we should fight them?"


    "Are we allowed to cross Area boundaries?" Akshel asked.


    "You can, but if any Rangers see you then they will attack, and you will be fined," DicingDevil said.


    "They have a carpet spread out, it has enchanted crafting tools. Rare opportunity," DereeMan said.


    "Alright, let''s take a look," Grisier said, rising to his feet.


    Crucis joined DicingDevil, Akshel, Grisier, and Starfighter as they followed DereeMan towards the Western boundary of Area E, and hid behind a clump of bushes to look at Area D. The rest of their party stayed resting near the dens.


    In Area D, there were two level 64 yers from a top Guild named [Dauphin], along with a gathering of six level 30-40 yers from the same Guild who appeared to have highly-developed crafting skills.


    The group was setting out arge trap, perhaps for a quest to trap some rare creature nearby. The level 64 yers hadid some rare crafting tools on a purple carpet, like high-level enchanted hammers and [Expert Craftsman''s Gloves], which increased the wielder''s crafting skill level and efficacy. A few spears and a [Spyss], which functioned like a small telescope or binocrs, wereid next to this. The other yers were sharing most of these, and crafting arge box trap which doubled as a deadfall with bait ced inside under arge stone which would fall when triggered. They were cing small stilts underneath it, to prevent smaller animals from creeping in.


    Crucis guessed that the level 64 yers were there to guard the group and bring their own rare crafting tools, while the Guild had apanied them with a set of crafters who could work safely to build traps. Area D had a reputation forrge, valuable creatures, even including small elephants, so it wasn''t surprising to see them make this trap.


    "If we took that equipment, even some of our weak craftsmen could forge high-level stuff," DereeMan said. "And there''s also some useful hunting stuff there, like spears. They''ve justid it there, like a pic."


    "There''s a couple of others, hidden behind the trees," DicingDevil said. "Maybe they''ll have back-up, could also be a Ranger there. But yeah, some nice stuff there."


    "It''s a nice stash," Akshel said.


    One of the level 64 yers used [Torchlight], a Pyromancy spell which summoned a small me in the user''s hand. It was brighter than [Conjure Light], but also costlier in MP terms. He stretched his hand cautiously towards the trap, to light the way for a crafter who was tentatively cing stones over the deadfall.


    "It''s up to you guys, but I don''t think it''s worth attacking," Crucis said. "The party limit for a Guild in Area D would be around 11, they might have more support. They have some level 64s, and we don''t know how strong they are or what abilities they have. One is a Mage, and might have some strong AoE, plus the game is early and this Guild may have paywall stuff or new builds that we aren''t familiar with. Their party leader could also summon some rangers to help them, since we''d be crossing over Area boundaries, and they could probably hold us off until help arrived. I think we''ll just have to leave them."


    "If we killed them, we might be able to rob some of the equipment," Akshel said. "If your opponent leaves items out in the open, not in use, then if you kill them you can choose 25% of the items to keep. In fact, leaving them out is a bit clumsy."


    "It''s used as a status symbol among some bigger yers with expensive items. I think most yers do avoid it, so they get used to doing it because it makes them stand out and feels reassuring," Starfighter said. "All the same, if these level 64s aren''t even dedicated crafters, but still have these rare items, then what do they have inbat? We have no good way to prepare."


    "Yes, precisely. No point taking such risks," Crucis said.


    DereeMan huffed quietly. "We can''t just attack weak enemies and dig holes. Where''s the skill? We should test our mettle."


    "Skill? This isn''t a talent show. Running in, starting a big fight, then dying would be dashing, but it wouldn''t be reasonable when we know little about our target."


    "You aren''t from DeathGang. Shut up!"


    In agitation, DereeMan''s voice had risen slightly, and this made the Area D group nervous. The level 64 yers began picking up the items on the carpet for safekeeping. Crucis had guessed that a tense DereeMan would cause such a ruckus.


    "Don''t worry, he''s like this to us as well," DicingDevil said to Crucis, before addressing the rest of the group. "Anyway, let''s ignore that group and leave them to craft their box, we''ll do as we nned before. Please don''t disturb me again, Der, trust the n. If you find anything impressive up North, you can lead us there."


    DereeMan nodded glumly, but he had a newfound look of determination in his eyes at the thought of leading the party around.


    As Crucis walked back towards the soily clearing, to join the rest of the group, DicingDevil and Akshel went to find the vige, while DereeMan led AnderScorpio towards the distant white building.

 Chapter 82: The Approaching Curve

    Chapter 82: The Approaching Curve


    "Hey, what happened to the two scouts? Party list says that they died, anyone hear anything?" DicingDevil asked the group as he emerged through a bush leading towards the clearing.


    "Der''s HP just dropped straight to zero, no idea what happened to him," Grisier replied. "The Geomancer put up a bit of a fight, I heard a small scuffle in the building but he died about ten seconds after. Probably they were killed by the same creature. It must have been something strong."


    "Really? We could see into the windows of that ce on our journey, it looked empty. But the vigers refused to discuss it, perhaps there is something hidden there."


    "Could be some kind of ghost," Gastlem said.


    "Spooky. I mean, yes. It could be. Well, let''s avoid it for now." DicingDevilughed.


    To his side, Akshel emerged, followed by the NPC named Margaret.


    "Thank you," Margaret said, then quickly walked around the area to scan the mink dens. "These dens look spacious, I''m impressed. But it''s difficult to see in this light! I''lle back in an hour, and see if the minks have managed to settle in. You will receive further rewards if they have."


    Each member of the group received a healthy amount of EXP for the quest. dimir surged to level 26, and Konstantin to level 25. Crucis didn''t gain a level, but was now 62% of the way to level 59.


    "Please leave this area soon, or you will scare the mink away and they won''t enter the dens you built," Margaret said, and she smiled and walked North-East on her way back to the vige.


    "Did anyone else notice anything else about the scouts'' disappearance?" DicingDevil asked the group again.


    "Nah, that''s about it," Starfighter replied with a slight yawn.


    "Oi, when did you get tired? You were still energetic when we left, even after digging the holes," Akshel teased.


    "I have no idea. Grisier asked me and the kids to fetch a few herbs from the grass scattered around after the dig, but it wasn''t that difficult."


    "Could the herbs have some sort of sedative or sleep-inducing effect when inhaled? I''m also feeling a bit tired," Crucis said. He felt unnaturally lethargic as he tried to sit up straight.


    "Um, some of these herbs are called ''hera aspira,'' but I can''t identify what they do with my current [Herbalism] skill level. They might be sleep-inducing. I wasbing through these herbs, I''ll ce them in my inventory now," Grisier said sheepishly.


    "Me and Akshel picked up some ice-cold water from the vige well, so I''ll leave a bucket here. All of you guys, throw some water on your face, so you''ll be awake now." DicingDevil said, pointing to an iron bucket of cold water on the ground beside him.


    "Akshel and I -" Akshel interjected.


    "Shut up. Anyway, we also found traces of the group from the North, some quests to the North of the vige were currently marked as in progress, and Akshel found fresh footprints on the path North."


    "Ahem. Yeah, they seem to have gone North. One of the guys in the vige warned us that there was a dangerous level 55 predator up North as well, which was a maneater and had started to hassle the vige. It''s called the [Injured Albatross Panther], its pelt is white with dark orange stripes, and it''s a boss creature. But it''s a bit further up than I think they''ve gone, doesn''t mean it couldn''t find them."


    "It''s a weird choice for them to go North, then," Gastlem said. "Did they miss the NPC''s warning?"


    "Maybe they''re rushing to pick up the quests here. Hopefully we can find them before the panther does," DicingDevil said.


    The group quickly tossed water onto their faces to recover from Grisier''s herbs, then prepared to go North-East towards the vige.


    "Assassins, prepare to go North first," DicingDevil said. "We can move more quietly, so there''s more chance of finding them without being noticed. Climb trees to get a better view. The rest, gather and prepare to attack, if we can find them. We won''t cross through the vige, we''ll head straight for the Northern bridge to its North-West."


    The party headed North-East, veering to the West of the vige. Through dense bushes, Crucis managed to glimpse part of the vige, with a few simplistic wooden huts apanied by long animal pelts hung on string at the vige borders. A few of the vigers seemed to be patrolling the borders as guards, probably to discourage feral animals from attacking. One of the pelts hung by the vige border had a deep brown and thick coat of fur, and looked quite valuable. Crucis guessed that this vige contained aplished hunters, beyond its deceptively simple appearance.


    Towards the North, there was a short, wooden bridge that led to arge, densely-forested area up North. The grass slowly gave way to a rocky terrain, and nts became less plenteous. Crucis, Akshel, DicingDevil and Gastlem crossed the bridge first and went North, while the rest of the group followed them and waited just North of the bridge.


    After three minutes of walking Northwards, they heard the faint sound of swords shing through creatures from a distance. Gastlem tapped the button on his right hand wristband, and looked across the area.


    "They''re North-West, near a pool of water," Gastlem whispered confidently, pointing in the exact direction of the sound. "One is a warrior, the other is an archer."


    "How did you know?" Crucis whispered back.


    "Um, Spy ss skill. It''s named [Sound Sign]. It gives you an additional option in the menu, named ''Sign,'' and that opens an ovey which highlights game sounds and shows you their direction. It only works for sounds programmed into the game, like most sword skill sounds, not for voices. Since the sounds were isted, it was obvious which weapons they were using."


    "Ah. Thanks. I didn''t get that skill yet, I wasn''t sure what it did and it doesn''t have a clear description. I''ll make sure to pick it up, it should make this easier. Merci."


    "No problem," Gastlem smiled.


    Crucis looked through the [Spy] skill tree, and saw a branch which passed through the [Sound Sign] skill. On the way, there were two other skills which were barely described, named [Background Noise] and [Brush Contact], as well as a slightly modest +90 DEX boost.


    "What are the Background Noise and Brush Contact skills?" he asked.


    "First has a line showing how loud the default background noise of a ce is, and indicates if you''re making more noise than that," Gastlem said. "Second I haven''t tested, I think it lets you pass a small thing like a note to another yer next to you, without being seen."


    "I see. That''s not bad. Anyway, should we split up and approach them from each side?"


    "Wait a second." DicingDevil quietly climbed up a tree nearby, and perched on a branch thick with leaves. He scanned the direction which Gastlem had pointed, then quickly descended. "Alright, I see them. I''ll mark three positions on the map which will cut off their escape. I''m trying to have us approach them slowly, and stay at a distance so that we can easily adjust and intercept them if they try to escape South. The main challenge will be minimising losses and preventing escape when we attack. Crucis, go to the North-East point, Akshel to North-West and Gastlem to South-East. I''ll take the other corner. Find a tree and figure out thendscape."


    Crucis saw three dots appear on the map, which DicingDevil had set as waypoints using his authority as party leader.


    Crucis activated [Background Noise] and [Quickstep], to help his movements to stay quiet. He tried to time his movements to periods where the wind was blowing and the background noise was high, so that the sound of his movements would be masked. Once he reached the position, he found a tree with low branches and climbed it, being careful to avoid much noise. He leant firmly against the tree in order to muffle any noise, and tested branches carefully before climbing on them. Soon, he caught a view of the two yers.


    One was a fast-moving, level 46 [Arch-Knight] with a garbled name, wearing a dark green shirt and light armour, while the other was a level 54 archer named [Franciscus] and was hanging nearby shooting at some creatures which were difficult to make out from the tree. Squinting slightly, he saw that the group were wiping out several waves of [Otter Pest] enemies, who were seemingly teeming across the area next to a stagnant pool of water. Loud insects buzzed around this pool, and this might have made it even more difficult for them to hear the approaching DeathGang members. Crucis guessed that there was some sort of quest to cleanse the pests near this pool, so that the vige could prepare it for use.


    The yers were both members of a mid-sized Guild named [MaxNexus], which Crucis hadn''t seen much of. From what he had heard, most of its members had started in the cold Northern region, and having yers from the Guild near Kruxol was an anomaly. These members were probably quite isted from the rest, and would be liable to change Guilds if given the chance.


    To the West of these two yers was a lightly declining path which soon disappeared into thick, tall grass. Checking the party chat, Crucis saw that Akshel had got a closer look at this.


    Akshel: careful to their west, the path declines sharply into a pit


    Akshel: not sure why, maybe there used to be another pool but it was drained out


    DicingDevil: ic. so an atk from that side could be difficult?


    Akshel: yea, easy to lose bnce and fall in


    Crucis: might be easier to corral them to that side, so that they get trapped in the pit


    DicingDevil: yes, if we try to surround them then they could still muscle past some of our low lvls


    DicingDevil: or try to bolt through the western area and hope for us to get sidetracked by the pit + uneven terrain


    DicingDevil: easier to just cut them off from the east, then trap them in the pit


    Akshel: yea, we could fight them with higher ground and win easily


    Crucis: yes, then it''s over for them


    Crucis: but they could still thin our numbers if they put up a fight for it


    Gastlem: do you c how quickly they kill the otters? maybe are a high-damage build


    Gastlem: could be risky


    DicingDevil: esp since we don''t want to make too much noise, i heard a few roars just north of them


    DicingDevil: could be predator


    Crucis: what if Grisier put some sleep herbs in the pit first?


    DicingDevil: so we could shepherd the yers in there, then capture them as they tire?


    Crucis: yea


    DicingDevil: sounds good


    DicingDevil: i''ll tell most of the team to circle round the east towards crucis'' position, once gris is done with herbalism we''ll move in to attack


    DicingDevil: akshel and gastlem, make sure to cut off escape and force them towards the pit


    Akshel: aye aye


    Gastlem: o/


    Crucis descended carefully from the tree, using some thick vines to anchor his feet. As he waited for the rest of the group, he could dimly make out Grisier crawling through the tall grass in the West before quickly disappearing into the pit. Grisier had quickly used [Water Buff], which increases the CON and STR of water-based or amphibious creatures slightly, to strengthen the otters emerging from the pool and keep the yers distracted. Since this spell had little explicit animation and was rarely used, it was a fairly safe distraction against two non-Mages who would be unlikely to recognise it.


    As Grisier finished his preparations, Crucis carefully crept closer to the two targets, as DicingDevil lined up six yers near him in a loose semicircle to force the targets to run towards the pit. Since there was a pool on one side, and this was surrounded by dense vegetation, the amount of practical escape routes was limited. Once DicingDevil was satisfied that these were all closed off, the group moved quietly towards the pool, with weapons drawn.

 Chapter 83: Burial Plot

    Chapter 83: Burial Plot


    [ForWire] shed at an [Otter Pest] as it crawled out of the water, then used a [Hawk sh] to weaken it. Seeing it lunge at his leg, he used a [Lunge] of his own, and roughly stabbed through the otter''s head until it fell to the ground bleeding. He had taken a slight scratch to the knee in the process, but barely felt it. A [sh] to the wounded otter was enough to kill it.


    As he reached for another otter to the left, his Guildmate [Franciscus] impaled it with two quickfire arrows which were enough to kill the creature. He was still surprised at how much damage Franciscus'' arrows dealt, and had tried to keep up by increasing his own Strength stat and buying an expensive, ck-hilted [Ghost Voice de]. Though equipped with this light silver sword, which made a wailing sound as it swung through the air and sounded like a ghost, he was still far off the damage from hispatriot, and was not sure why. Typically, archers were not expected to hit so hard.


    Due to Franciscus'' reputation as one of the Guild''s more powerful local members, he was regarded as an unofficial de facto leader by the few [MaxNexus] Guild members in the region. The Guild''s leadership hadn''t yet officially given Franciscus a position, but had made overtures in this direction by sending Franciscus some expensive, gold-lined light armour and a shirt with glittering silver shoulder-tes. Wearing these made Franciscus'' higher position in the Guild hierarchy obvious to most yers, and he was treated with the respect due to a leader. However, they also made him quite conspicious, and so while hunting he wore a dark green cloak over his other clothing to avoid alerting the animals.


    ForWire, however, was mostly considered a regr member of the Guild, despite being one of the Guild''s stronger yers in the area. There was a slight sense of futility as he watched Franciscus effortlessly shoot through each wave of otters.


    "They''re getting tougher, I think," ForWire said, with a slight British ent.


    "Are they?" Franciscus replied nonchntly. "I guess, they''re taking slightly less damage. But you don''t kill them that quickly anyway. Look, just draw aggro so they gather near you, then I''ll kill ''em. It''s faster."


    "Um, so just hit them to get aggro, but nothing else?"


    "Yeah, how else are you going to get aggro? Anyway, your sword is quite long, you can just sweep it across the otters. Crouch down."


    "If I crouch, then can''t the otters attack me more easily?"


    "Yeah, but look, it''s faster. This pond has already taken too much of our time, and I''m getting tired of hearing them insects. Plus I have a date in Kaxil this evening, girl named Samantha, I don''t want to spend hours around this stinking pond before that. Not a good look. So please don''t waste time."


    ForWire sighed slightly, then proceeded to crouch down and use a low [sh] across the wave of otters emerging from the pool. As the otters piled towards his face, he saw his HP lurch dramatically downwards by 10% as the otters piled into his cheeks with their ws. Franciscus quickly killed off the nearby otters, but ForWire felt slightly nervous as he heard arrows whizzing quickly right next to him.


    As ForWire reluctantly crouched down again to meet another wave of otters, he was startled by a loud, rustling noise from the trees to his right.


    "What was that?" he asked.


    "Oi, no distractions!" Franciscus replied.


    "Nah, there''s something there. I hear some footsteps."


    Franciscus also picked up on a noise from the clump of trees to the East, and looked over in rm. As he stared nervously, a group of yers emerged from behind the bushes and leaves. Three Assassins, a warrior with arge shield, and a Mage. Two more yers crept in from the South, blocking any attempt to escape in that direction.


    Franciscus knew that fighting here would not be profitable, because as an archer he could easily be cornered and forced into meleebat where he would be easily overwhelmed.


    "Run! Follow me!" he cried to ForWire, while bolting Eastwards on a faint, light-green path.


    ForWire was worried, and followed quickly. Some of the yers approaching had red names, and since their weapons were drawn he assumed that they were likely to attack.


    "Who the hell are these guys?" he shouted to Franciscus, as they hurtled down the straight Eastwards path.


    "You don''t see anything? They''re DeathGang, killers!" Franciscus shoted back impatiently.


    ForWire swore. He had heard about DeathGang from the recent war. They had a fearsome reputation, and videos of the carnage North-East of Kruxol had spread liberally in Kaxil. These yers also seemed to be high-level.


    As the path began to fade into tall grass, Franciscus was excited to see a turn leftwards into the trees. This would lead South, in the direction of the vige. However, two Assassins from the group behind were gaining on him, and he knew that they would likely catch him as he tried to turn left and round a fewrge trees next to the path. Desperately, he shoved ForWire backwards with an elbow, sending the armoured warrior hurtling into the Assassins as a distraction.


    ForWire was surprised by this move, and took a painful [sh] to the back of his neck. As he groaned out, he writhed violently away from the Assassins and leapt forwards to get away from them. However, he found that his feet did not meet solid ground at the end of the jump, but instead crashed through a fragile gathering of leaves and began to fall into a pit below. His feet still suspended, he tried at thest moment to cushion the fall, but stillnded with a loud, metallic ng at the bottom of a pit a few feet deep. His foot had twisted as he hit the ground, and he tripped up to fall face-first onto the ground. This was enough to knock him out.


    Meanwhile, Franciscus made use of the temporary distraction to veer off towards the left of the path, but found his path blocked as a level 43 DeathGang Assassin emerged from behind the trees. Frowning, Franciscus shot at this yer with an arrow. This caused the approaching Assassin to flinch back, and Franciscus followed up with another two arrows in quick session. The Assassin was by now down to 40% HP and was off-bnce, but still steadfastly stood in the way of Franciscus'' escape.


    Frustrated, Franciscus began to nock another arrow at the Assassin, only for another Assassin from behind to barge into him with a firm elbow and send him sprawling in the same pit as ForWire.


    However, Franciscus did not relent. Using a skill named [Archer''s Recovery], which allowed an archer to quickly re-enter a shooting stance after a fall, he crawled to his feet and let loose an angry [Arrowstorm] into the wounded Assassin whom he had fought earlier. A stream of arrows rushed out of the pit. The Assassin fell to the ground weakly, as if drowning, and died.


    "Gastlem''s gone!" shouted one of the DeathGang yers in pursuit.


    As Franciscus looked out of the pit to the West, he saw that a DeathGang Mage was standing in one corner. He charged in this direction, hoping to quickly overwhelm the Mage and escape. Since Mages weren''t typically effective at meleebat, if Franciscus could get a couple of shots in and wrestle the Mage out of the way or down into the pit, he would have a clear path to escape.


    However, as Franciscus prepared to an arrow, he felt his hand weaken slightly, as if tired. With some effort, he drew the bowstring carefully back, but the Mage did not look flustered. Instead, the Mage drew on the water from the nearby pool and cast [Breath of Ice], which slowed Franciscus'' already-sluggish movements. As the arrow dangled tamely from a slightly limp bowstring, the Mage casually cast [Mana Push] to shove it to the side. It dropped harmlessly to the ground.


    Franciscus tried to reach for another arrow, but his vision was slightly hazy and his hands fumbled around aimlessly as he tried to grip an arrow from his quiver. His legs were starting to wilt slightly.


    After ten seconds, he finally managed to get a grip on an arrow, but as he looked up he saw a shadow looming over him. An Assassin from behind him had leapt agilely off the steep edge of the pit, keeping both hands spread slightly forwards and to the side as if gliding. As the Assassin reached Franciscus, he felt his throat being grabbed roughly and ripped with a dagger, and he was thrown inexorably to the ground by the leaper''s momentum.


    As he collided loudly with the ground, the Assassin reared up from behind him and mmed Franciscus'' bloodied face to the ground. As the Assassin walked away, Franciscus found that he was too faint and dizzy to get up.


    "Well done, Crucis, quite a leap of faith," said a level 59 Assassin standing at the edge of the pit, as yers began to form a ring around the pit.


    "Nah, it''s easy, you just need to find someone to break the fall," Crucis replied, dusting himself off from the dive into the pit.


    "A social safety?"another Assassin asked.


    Crucisughed. "Yep, Akshel. Anyway,e over and lock this guy down, we can tie ''em both up."


    "Let him sleep!"


    Notwithstanding this protest, Akshel shrugged and eased himself into the pit, apanied by DicingDevil. As Akshel held the tired Franciscus'' limbs in ce, DicingDevil wound a thick rope around the archer. Soon, Franciscus found himself unable to move his arms, and his legs could barely walk. Crucis, meanwhile, had cut the archer''s bowstring in order to prevent any further episodes like the fight with Gastlem. He then quickly left the pit, to avoid the effects of the herb.


    After this, they moved onto ForWire. Although he regained consciousness as the ropes were being tied around him, he was still barely awake and couldn''t do much to resist. Akshel held him down when necessary, but generally just rxed and helped with the rope instead.


    As the group prepared to escort the yers away from the pit, DicingDevil and Akshel walked away to douse their face in cold water. Starfighter and Dionarcy carefully checked the rope around each captive yer, asionally tightening it where it seemed too loose.


    ForWire was dimly watching this unfold. He was still tired out, and asionally drifted in and out of sleep. He had been expecting a quick death, but was now concerned about the possibility of further pain as a captive.


    As the group prepared to move on, a loud roar crashed through the area from the North. Arge, white shape appeared from behind the dense foliage, and effortlessly shoved the leaves out of the way. Its sharp teeth bared momentarily, as it stopped and began to scan the area. Crucis saw that it was a level 70 [Injured Albatross Panther (boss)].


    As the creature stiffly paced nearby, the party quieted down to avoid drawing attention. Crucis nced at the party chat, which was being used tomunicate silently.


    Akshel: why no orange stripes?


    Grisier: Good catch, I''m not sure.


    Starfighter: maybe a female


    Akshel: strange. man in vige described it as a male with stripes


    Starfighter: might be more than one


    Starfighter: tho idk why he wouldn''t say so


    DicingDevil: he said there was a panther group living far up north, but an injured male had turned maneater


    DicingDevil: he didn''t mention this one, but i checked its info and it''s also a maneater


    Grisier: Has it seen us?


    Starfighter: i think it knows someone is nearby, but doesn''t know how many of us


    Starfighter: and it''s limping slightly


    Starfighter: it will probably circle the area and attack if it sees any of us


    Starfighter: no sudden movements


    Crucis: if we trap it in the pit, it might have difficulty escaping with the limp?


    Starfighter: yea, if we''re careful


    Crucis: reckon we could use one of these yers as bait?


    DicingDevil: good call, if it was in the pit then we might be able to kill it or escape more easily


    Starfighter: yea, go ahead


    Starfighter: this one might be easier to kill, it''s lower level + has an injured leg and eye. might as well try


    "Let''s use the warrior, he''d be stronger and harder to keep captive. He''s the lucky one. We can keep the other guy as a punching bag," Crucis whispered to the party, just loud enough for the captives to hear. Franciscus squirmed ufortably.


    Crucis grabbed ForWire, and drew out a dagger. shing across ForWire''s face and chest, he drew blood from a myriad of deep cuts. After widening these cuts with [The Ripper] and loosening a muzzle, Crucis flung ForWire down into the pit, where the warrior rolled painfully to a stop against the edge of the pit andy still due to the ropes. The fall had exacerbated the wounds.


    The bleeding ForWire, whose screams were muffled but loud, soon attracted the attention of the panther. It leapt near him in a blur of motion, and as itnded he was shoved harshly towards the ground. As hey t, the creature began to pin him down by the scruff of his neck, then tear his neck and lower face painfully apart. In about half a minute, he was dead.


    Crucis had used this time to take up a position at the edge of the pit, along with the rest of the party. The pit was soon surrounded by spears and swords, while two Mages prepared to help keep the panther from escaping.

 Chapter 84: Leap of faith

    Chapter 84: Leap of faith


    The hunting party surrounded the pit, assailing the limping white panther with swords and spears whenever it tried stubbornly to leap out. Modrea and Grisierbined to halt the panther with a series of [Earth Shield] and [Breath of Ice] in its way whenever it got a foothold on the edge of the pit, and Dionarcy followed it around with arge shield to hold back its assaults. Following Starfighter''s lead, Crucis assailed the female panther''s nose, throat and wounded leg as soon as it rose to the side of the pit, forcing it back down.


    While the female panther would typically be able to power its way out of the pit, it looked to have sustained injuries from a recent fight. Further, the sleep-inducing herbs were stillid in the pit, and this exacerbated the panther''s impairment.


    By chipping away at the panther''s HP, the group got it down to 10% HP in 5 minutes. DicingDevil urged the group not to rush, and carefully made sure that the panther remained in the pit.


    However, as Akshel saw the panther''s low HP, he struck at it with a loose [Lunge] towards the throat, hoping to end things quickly.


    The sword harmlessly brushed the panther''s muscr shoulder, and the panther growled lightly while shoving the sword to the side and lunging at Akshel. While Grisier attempted [Breath of Ice] to keep the panther in ce, Modrea''s [Earth Shield] was still in cooldown. As Akshel flinched away, the panther wed just above his kneecaps and he fell harshly backwards. His barely-conscious body dangled over the edge of the pit, and the panther began to climb on it to get out of the pit.


    Dionarcy quickly shuffled over with his shield, but the panther leapt at him as he was walking, and he fell to the ground heavily while trying to lug his heavy armour and shield. The attack while he was moving had caught him off-bnce.


    The panther made as if to escape Northwards, but was interrupted by a menacing, low-pitched roar from that direction.


    "There''s another panther, to the North," Grisier said nervously.


    "Yes. Maybe it had fought this female earlier," DicingDevil replied. "This one looks scared."


    "Let''s finish this and get out of here," Starfighter said. "Modrea, forget the shield, use whirlpool."


    The panther seemed shaken by the roar from the North, and it uncertainly turned Westwards as if trying to find another escape route.


    However, as it tentatively stepped Westwards, it stumbled when the ground beneath its front paws melted away into a small, liquid-like whirlpool, under the effect of Modrea''s [Lesser Whirlpool-Earth]. Starfighter leapt onto the panther''s back and stabbed firmly with his sword through the back of the panther''s neck. The panther let out a gargling cry. As Crucis bent his knees and struck towards the panther''s wounded leg, it began to keel to the ground.


    However, the panther still had an advantage from close range. It shook its upper body heavily and flung Starfighter off, then growled towards Crucis. Starfighternded skidding across the ground, but scuffled back to his feet.


    As the panther attempted to stand again, DicingDevil and Crucis attacked it with a [Mordhau], which sent it back to the ground. However, it stubbornly began to rise, and lunged towards the low-level Danemy. However, Danemy saw this attacking, and backed away with both arms held out to the side, grabbing a hold of two sturdy tree branches behind him. As the panther attempted unsteadily to pursue this easier target, Danemy let his feet float off the ground, supported by the tree behind him. He lifted himself to rest on the branches, and used his feet to perch a few feet up the tree''s trunk.


    While the panther attempted to rise on its injured leg, DicingDevil struck it again with a firm [Mordhau]. This blunt blow caused the panther to shudder and kneel down. Danemy used this opportunity, and leapt from the tree towards the panther''s lowered head, punching it bluntly while wearing [Brass Knuckles], then grappling across the head as he struggled his way onto the creature''s back. The punch caused the panther''s head to lurch downwards. He stabbed fiercely into the panther''s neck and jerked its face harshly into the ground. Grisier cast a [Breath of Ice] to reduce its resistance.


    Although the panther rallied its ws and teeth to fight off Danemy, scraping harsh cuts, Danemy carried on frantically beating at the head and neck to force the panther t against the ground. It was bleeding from several wounds which had burst across its face. Crucis scrambled down and struck fiercely at the creature''s legs to prevent it from wing Danemy away.


    Soon, Starfighter came in with a harsh [Overhead sh] to the panther''s neck, as Danemy leapt away on cue. The panther''s corpse spread weakly across the ground as it died.


    Crucis scanned his inventory quickly, and saw that he had picked up a few expensive items from the dead panther. He figured that he would have time to look through them in detail once the group was further from panther territory.


    The rest of the group dusted themselves off, and tried to recover from the effects of the herbs. Danemy had bloody gashes across his face, but bandaged them quickly with pieces of cloth. The rest of the group patted him on the back, and he was grinning but slightly exhausted.


    As the party began to retreat in the direction of the vige, with Franciscus in tow, they heard another loud roar from the North. It was closer this time.


    A bloody-faced [Injured Albatross Panther] was limping its way towards them. This one had very dark orange stripes, which seemed almost oil-ck as it limped in the shadowy trees. Evening was approaching. The panther''s white fur contrasted eerily with its stripes, and gave off a softly glowing halo around the creature.


    Crucis noticed that its head was hanging down slightly, and it didn''t seem to be in the mood for a fight. It had seemingly lost a recent fight with the female panther who had just been killed, and was currently not in any rush to pursue the group. As it crept closer, Crucis could make out deep scratches and bites across the panther''s body, from this preceding fight.


    "This one looks weak, should we attack it?" Grisier asked.


    "It''s level 75, be careful," DicingDevil said. "It''s limping, but still navigating the terrain easily. If it''s not in a pit or trap, then it could still easily take out some of our team."


    "It''s a bit of a stalemate. If they attack us in this condition then it''s a risk for them, but if we attack then it''s likely to take a few of our team with it, and might cause severe damage to the rest," Starfighter added. "We might as well just leave."


    The panther red at them from a distance, and growled slightly.


    Starfighter drew his sword and kept it extended, in order to intimidate the panther into keeping its distance. Crucis and DicingDevil followed suit. On seeing the armed enemy, the panther shifted its focus to the fallen female panther. It approached cautiously, and extended its forepaws slightly while shifting its bnce onto its hind legs. It was preparing to raise on its hind legs and fight if necessary.


    The party began edging slowly back towards the direction of the vige.


    Crucis saw this panther''s preparatory stance, and used [Warding], holding his sword''s hilt near his hips and tilting it forwards and upwards to prepare a [Lunge]. The panther looked up at him, as if curious. Crucis turned to the side and used a quick demonstration [sh] through the air. Due to his high Agility, his sword shed almost invisibly through the air.


    The panther responded to this by pouncing rapidly onto the female''s corpse and scratching at the corpse''s face with its sharp ws. This tore the corpse''s face off, and blood began to pour wildly around it. The group was taken aback by the power of the panther''s ws, as well as its agile movement in spite of the injuries.


    "It''s copying you," Akshel whispered to Crucis.


    "Yeah, it seems to be showing off its Agility stat," Crucis responded.


    Crucis pointed his sword downwards, and drew out a paw looted from the corpse. The panther gazed at it, then turned to face towards the South-East. It used its paw to drag the dead panther''s torn-off face until it was facing that direction. It then turned calmly back to the corpse, and began to eat it.


    "I think it''s suggesting that we should go to somewhere East of the vige, maybe there''s something we could do with the loot from the other panther," Crucis said.


    "I think there''s a small settlement in the direction it was facing," DicingDevil said, "at least ording to this map I bought from the vige. It might be worth a look."


    "Yes, let''s go ahead," Starfighter added.


    "Why is the panther eating its own kind?" Modrea asked.


    "I think these panthers are used to mountains and hills, they tend to wander around at higher altitudes solo. It''s why they''re called ''albatross.'' Since they''re forced toe down here for prey, and are man-eaters, they''re probably starving."


    "Ah, that makes sense. So wepleted the quest, but this panther will still haunt the vige? That''s a satisfying resolution," Danemy quipped.


    He turned towards the panther, and tilted his head slightly backwards, while letting his body lean forwards. The panther seemed to understand this, and held its own neck out straight ahead, while pressing down on the corpse''s neck which seemed to spring right back up.


    "That''s a clever panther. It''s something I noticed during the fight, I was trying to force that female''s head down, but it seemed to keep bobbing back upwards unnaturally. This new panther doesn''t seem to behave like that," Danemy said.


    "They had fought earlier, so this panther might be familiar with that," Crucis replied. "It is clever, though, I hope that it can manage to live well off dead vigers."


    Akshel and Starfighterughed quietly.


    Crucis shoved lightly against a rugged tree nearby, and noticed that the contact tilted him slightly to the side. He reasoned that his Constitution stat must be enough by now for him to maintain bnce easily in such a situation, but not enough to keep him entirely steady after collision with the tree bark.


    The panther followed his lead, standing steadily and using its paws to lightly shove the female panther''s left shoulder down, but was surprised when the corpse swung dramatically around with its paw up as if lunging at him. Swaying slightly as it tried to readjust its own paws on the ground and regain bnce, the panther swatted away the corpse''s paw nervously and growled slightly, but stood firm over the faceless corpse. Blood sttered over the ground where the corpse had moved.


    "That also looked unnatural," Crucis said. "This corpse acts as though it has springs in it. Maybe it''s why this panther had trouble in the fight earlier. It''s highly agile, but when it struck the pantheress then it was deflected while the pantheress would just spring into its own attack. It even seems tounch into an attack when dead. That''s quite strange."


    "It is. It''s like a wind-up doll," Danemy replied. "It just performs its attacks, even when it''s dead and mostly skinned. It''s rigged up in that way. So when I trapped it at close range, it wasn''t sure what to do, since its usual attacks weren''t useful. The other panther seems to function more normally."


    "Maybe the dead one was on panther ''roids," Crucisughed.


    He jumped slightly, and the panther responded by tearing deeply into the corpse. The corpse seemed to shake slightly, as if trying to return into the shape of a panther. But as the panther pawed away the skin from the corpse, the party saw that it was unmistakeably human skin. The corpse also seemed to continually attempt to lunge forwards as it was torn into, as if it was still trying to simte an attacking panther.


    "It''s like a simcrum," Grisier said.


    "Yes, it looks like some kind of fake panther. Once the outer coating is stripped away, it just looks like a human corpse," Starfighter said.


    "So first there was a Man-Bird, now there''s a Woman-Panther?" DicingDevil shrugged.


    The panther dragged the corpse along with it as it retreated Northwards. Starfighter ran in carefully to inspect the remains of the panther corpse on the ground, and picked up some of the skin to show to the rest of the party.


    "This is clearly human skin," he said, as he showed it around.


    "Yes, that''s quite obvious. It even has some strands of long hair, which looks bleached. Probably a female," DicingDevil said.


    "It''s a good thing we trapped this thing in the pit," Danemy said, "If we tried to fight it on even ground, then we would have been surprised when it ignored our attacks and struck through. A few of us might have gone down."


    "You did alright, though," DicingDevil said calmly.


    "Yes, but it was almost dead then. If I had tried it earlier, it would have been a kamikaze routine."


    "True enough."


    The party slowly made their way back towards the vige, dragging a barely-conscious Franciscus behind them.

 Chapter 85: House of the Rising Sun

    Chapter 85: House of the Rising Sun


    "The vigers mentioned that there''s a small religious cult settled to the East, but then they started warning me not to go there," DicingDevil told the group, who were gathered just to the North of the vige. "Now they won''t get off my case about it, they keep saying that those guys engage in ritual sacrifice to devils and that I should never talk about them. As you can see, some of them are following me around to make sure we don''t go East. I guess we''ll have to leave Westwards, then see if we can find our way to the Eastter."


    There was a smallmotion from four vigers gathered at the vige''s edge, watching the party closely to make sure that they weren''t going East.


    "Didn''t realise that this vige was the PMRC," Crucis said.


    "Sounds like they have bad blood with the guys out East," Starfighter said. "But if the cult puts some sort of religious value on the panther remains, it could be a good ce to sell or exchange some of our loot."


    "Yes, so we''ll try and make our way thereter. But for now let''s head West to avoid scrutiny, there might be some NPCs North-West of here. We can also look at the white mansion, hopefully without incident. Modrea, take dimir and Konstantin, and stay in the vige ¡ª as long as some members of our party remain safe we cane back after respawn, if necessary."


    DicingDevil walked back to the vige to thank the vigers, then led the party on a path West of the vige. They walked slowly and deliberately, to ay fears that they might try to make a break Eastwards. As the vigers rxed, the party quickened their pace, and found that the path veered past therge, white mansion where two of the party''s scouts had died.


    Having just glimpsed it earlier, the party were surprised to see howrge the mansion was. Its walls stretched out to the North and West, divided into threerge, rectangr hubs which were linked by tunnel-like hallways. It upied about as much space as a modest football field, and part of it seemed to have crumbled away into ruins towards the North. In this rtively unsettled area, which mostly contained animals and asional viges, a mansion of this size was atypical.


    Arge tracery was carved elegantly into the shape of rose petals on the left side of the building, between both floors of the building. Crucis guessed that this was the location of a stairway.


    "Whoever built this must have been wealthy, there might still be some expensive rare items in there," Akshel said. "We should look."


    "Yes, definitely. Not many yers have been here yet, so we might get some early rewards. But we should look out for whatever killed the scouts," Starfighter replied with a nod.


    "Yes, let''s not just rush in," DicingDevil said.


    Scanning the doorway, he saw that there were light scratch-marks across the walls where furniture had been dragged, and a few hooks still hanging from the walls where thieves had taken paintings from the abandoned mansion. However, there were no signs of movement from inside, and the ground floor was quiet.


    He turned back and addressed the group. "Our scouts earlier were killed, so there might be something threatening in there. We can use our prisoner as a shield, ce him in front and let him enter rooms first to check for dangers. He can bait out anything dangerous, before it attacks us."


    Akshel and Starfighter stood over the prisoner, Franciscus, and ced a thick rope around his neck as a leash. He was slumped against the ground, tied up carefully after having been dragged across the ground on the way here. They carefully loosened the ropes around his legs, allowing him to walk but only in stiff, short steps. Yanking the rope, they had him stand up straight as Akshel pointed a sword aggressively at the back of his neck. Feeling the prod of Akshel''s sword, Franciscus hobbled forwards towards the entrance of the mansion. Although his face was muzzled, he was clearly scowling.


    DicingDevil cautiously approached the open doorway, where the door had seemingly been stolen, but there were no signs of movement from the ground floor. As Franciscus walked into the entrance hallway and was shoved by Akshel into arger room to the right, there was no response from anything in the mansion. The entryway, at least, seemed to be safe.


    As the party entered, Crucis noticed some shattered fragments of wood around the right corner next to the doorway. Kneeling down, he found that some fragments had carefully-carved edges which lined up. Some of them seemed to form a long, rod-like shape when lined up, and a few others were clearly part of a spherical construction.


    "Looks like someone broke a sitar over here," he told Starfighter, who had alsoe to investigate.


    "There''s some deep scratches in the wall above it. You reckon they confused it for a guitar, smashed up the sitar against the wall?" Starfighter replied.


    "Possible. You never know when people will be possessed by the spirit of rock ''n'' roll."


    Standing up, Crucis joined the rest of the group in arge living room to the right of the entrance hallway. Though spacious, it had been almost stripped bare of furniture by thieves, and by now was mostly empty. What furniture remained was a set of heavily-damaged drawers and bookcases, reduced to a skeletal husk by thieves hastily plundering most valuable or useful material. The walls still had hooks and rusted nails where paintings had been hung. On the left side of the room, the walls had caved in and a thick, chalky wall of rubble blocked the way.


    In spite of the building''s decrepit condition, it was clear that it had once been a decorous mansion. Though this living room was now stripped bare, its spacious design and the ornate, wooden spirals hung like dragons across the roof bore witness to its history.


    After searching the living room thoroughly, the party didn''t find any items left behind. However, Akshel noticed a locked door hidden behind onerge bookcase, with a keyhole. There were no signs of a key to open it with.


    "Nothing here, but I''m not surprised," DicingDevil said. "Still, there''s a keyhole here, in a game like this that means there''s probably a key somewhere. But we can''t explore any further on this floor, because of the rubble. How do we get to the next floor?"


    "There might be a stairway on the left side," Crucis said.


    "That would work. Let''s check."


    Returning to the entrance hallway, they found the entrance to a small room on the left side. The door blended seamlessly into the wall, but Starfighter found it by pressing his hand carefully across the wall until it creaked open. This small room contained a wooden staircase leading upwards.


    There were faint traces of marble across the staircase, but most had seemingly been chipped off and stolen. As the group climbed the staircase one by one, it creaked but remained firm. Faint light filtered in through the rose-shaped tracings on the wall, but since it was dark Crucis climbed carefully and tried to find firm footholds in the age-worn stairs.


    Above that staircase, there was a small, ck spiral staircase leading to the second floor. This one seemed more firm, and the group made their way up quickly.


    They emerged into arge hallway on the second floor, with rooms on either side. Crucis noticed that a few pieces of furniture were still intact, including arge, ornate desk in a small room to the left. He guessed that it was probably a study.


    "Not much was stolen here, but the thieves might have been avoiding it for a reason," Crucis observed. "We should be careful."


    "Yes, that''s true," DicingDevil said. "Let''s check the rooms one by one. Let the prisoner go in first."


    Starfighter pushed Franciscus into the small study to the left, while Akshel prodded the prisoner onwards with a de to the back of the neck. As Franciscus stumbled around the room, there was no sign of any danger.


    The rest of the group walked in cautiously. There was still not much left in the room, but at the back of one desk drawer Akshel found a crumpled piece of paper. It contained a few words of writing:


    "The greatness of the Esyu family will live on. In these times of war, we have found an oasis of peace in this richly-adorned mansion. Yet our son has impressed with his conduct in the wars. War or peace? We do not have to choose, greatness is thrust upon us from all directions. We are the very model of the modern aristocrat..."


    The rest of the page was torn off, and could not be found.


    As Akshel looked carefully through the desk drawers, Crucis collected the remains of a marble windowframe, and DicingDevil joined in. The ss window itself was heavily cracked, but the windowframe still contained some valuable materials, and Crucis made sure to collect them. Grisier also managed to find a few small gems strewn behind a small bookcase on the right side of the room.


    "This floor looks more promising. Let''s try to cover it quickly. Crucis and Akshel, stay in here and try to find anything else in the room. Especially any keys or information. I''ll check the smaller rooms further down the hallway, then we can meet up again to explore therger ones," DicingDevil said.


    Starfighter drew his sword, and roughly used it to herd Franciscus out of the room. The rest of the group followed.


    Scavenging behind the desk, Crucis found a few small scraps of paper. Most of them were not in English, or didn''t say anything important, but one stood out for being connected to the other piece of paper which Akshel had found earlier. The pen-marks on the piece of paper were heavily smudged, but with some effort Akshel and Crucis deciphered some of it: ''Our son, Graceus*, has returned covered in glory from the war. A worthy heir...'' The scrap of paper had seemingly been drenched in tears earlier, which smudged the ink and made it impossible to figure out how the sentence continued.


    Some of the drawers in a corner of the room had gold lining across the inner edges, and Crucis and Akshel carefully gathered this gold until DicingDevil called them to meet in the hallway.


    "We checked the other two small rooms, but didn''t find much. There was a note saying that someone named Graceus was hoarding great wealth, but the family needed it to pay their debts," DicingDevil said. "His room is therge one on the right, we should probably begin with that."


    "We found some information about a ''Graceus,'' apparently it was the son who went off to war," Crucis said.


    "I see. If he''s known forbat, do you reckon this could be dangerous?"


    "That''s quite possible."


    "Alright. Grisier and Danemy are currently investigating the mostly-empty library further down the hall, apparently it has a small fountain where Grisier can collect water for spells if needed. I''d like to wait for them, but it''s nearing evening and there''s still a few other things to do in the hunting area. We''ll look at Graceus'' room, but if any enemy turns up then stall and wait for the rest of our party to show up."


    Akshel drew his sword and pushed Franciscus into the room. By now, Franciscus'' face was soaked with tears. After a few seconds, there were no signs of danger, so DicingDevil entered followed by the rest of the group.


    To the left of the room was arge, skeletal bedframe. Strands of violet fabric hung around the walls of the room, mostly torn off by now. Curtains of this fabric had seemingly been hung across the white walls of this room a long time ago, marking it as quite an extravagant room. There were a few small badges and emblems still sitting in the drawers at the back of the room, seemingly awarded as a result of the war. The yers scooped these up, guessing that they might still fetch a decent price in gold.


    As the yers spread out to search the room, they were surprised by a loud, high-pitched sound from just behind the room. Although the back wall was thick with shadow, after looking carefully DicingDevil found a door to a smaller room hidden in the right corner of this room.


    He cautiously led the group through, making sure to shove Franciscus in first. However, Franciscus seemed to shiver and slow down as he entered the room.


    On the ground of this small, empty room was a corpse. It looked like a middle-aged man, with patches of blond hair, and small text above it indicated that he had been at level 64 when he died. Most of his chest and legs had rotted away, but his face still wore a firm, determined expression with jutting-out eyebrows and a small mouth. From a small medallion ced just above the corpse''s waist, Crucis guessed that this was the remains of Graceus Esyu.


    Apart from this corpse, the room had a few cupboards and drawers across the left side, with shes of gold and gemstone decorating it. It was quiet for a moment, as the group cautiously observed the corpse.


    However, soon there was a loud fluttering noise from behind a small, locked door on the right side of this room, like the sound of a curtain being tossed against a wall by the wind. This was followed by the soft sound of footsteps approaching.

 Chapter 86: So sad, her eyes

    Chapter 86: So sad, her eyes


    Instead of opening the door, a female form glided right through it.


    Her skin was a snowy white mist which billowed a soft glow into the air around her, and her steps were soundless. She had no nametag above her head, nor any indication as to what level she might be if she was an enemy.


    As she approached the corpse, she rose one hand to her chest and gasped as if worried. Her long, straight ck hair red lightly over her shoulders. After a moment''s hesitation, she approached it, paying no attention to the group of yers beside it. Her cid ck eyes widened, tiredly lifting her drooping, slightly violet eyelids, and she staredpassionately at the corpse.


    This ghostly female leant down and draped herself over the corpse, lighting it with a halo of pale white mist. She pressed the front of her body against it tightly, and began to kiss its unresponsive lips, which moved heavily as she parted them with her own. She ced her hands lightly on its shoulders to stabilise herself, and seemed to ignore the group of yers nearby. As she became more absorbed in the kiss, she began to raise her left hand to the corpse''s cheek and stroke it gently, while her body lined up against it almost exactly.


    "She''s treating it like it''s alive. Strange," Grisier whispered uncertainly.


    "Perhaps this is why they say that love never dies," Crucis responded in deadpan.


    The female kept leaning further into the corpse until her movement was almost synchronised with it, and asionally lowered her right hand to stroke its groin. She seemed to be familiar with the corpse''s body, and so she could typically do this without looking.


    As the group hesitated, uncertain whether to attack or retreat, Franciscus took advantage of the tension and surged forwards. His leash snapped out of DicingDevil''s hands, but Akshel adjusted quickly by stepping nimbly forwards to keep his sword pressed to the back of Franciscus'' neck, forcing the tied-up yer to stumble awkwardly forwards towards the corpse and woman.


    Although Franciscus strained backwards to avoid colliding with the corpse, he interrupted the female''s passionate kiss with his loud footsteps. She finally nced upwards, with an air of nonchnce, and saw the tied-up Franciscus defiantly standing his ground with one eye at the woman and one at the group behind him. As Akshel lunged for him, he carefully swayed out of the way and stepped backwards, with the sword only grazing his armour. Akshel prepared to follow up, but the female calmly raised her right palm, and Akshel''s sword fell softly backwards. It slipped out of his grasp and ttered to the ground, where he quickly crouched down to pick it up.


    As the group prepared to fight, the female seemed to ignore them, and instead rose delicately towards Franciscus until she was pressing supply against his body. She ushered him towards the right side of the room, where his back pressed up against a wooden cupboard. With razor-like nails, she shed open his muzzle, and began to kiss him while aggressively lining her lower body against his. He reciprocated this kiss indulgently, and rxed as her hands perched on his shoulders.


    "Be careful, we don''t know what this ghostie can do," DicingDevil said, as the group cautiously surrounded the cupboard. "We should hold her off and wait for the others."


    The female still ignored them, and briefly opened her eyes to stare into Franciscus'', before propping her leg against the side of his midriff and leaning forwards to kiss him more passionately. He leaned backwards and tried to keep his back straight, struggling to keep up with her frantic movements as he moved stiffly after the long period as a captive.


    Fluttering her eyebrows, the female let her left hand drift towards Franciscus'' pants, while her right hand caressed his neck. She held him firmly in ce as they kissed. After a few seconds, the violet gem on her ne began to glow faintly, lighting up the room slightly. She used her right hand to press his neck backwards at a sharp angle, and then disengaged from the kiss as she stepped back slightly. Franciscus'' lifeless body fell to the ground, with a thick, white vapour billowing out of his mouth.


    She then turned towards the group behind her, with a slightly aggressive stare in her watery, ck eyes. The gem on her ne began to glow again.


    "She''s going to fight us. Let''s go!" Dionarcy dered, and he rushed forwards with his sword raised. He was used to leading the group into fights, and felt a sense of responsibility now that it was clear that this female could be dangerous.


    "Be careful," DicingDevil called out with an air of futility.


    The female lunged forwards to grab Dionarcy by the cor, then revealed a locket in her left hand. She pressed it against his chest, and he fell instantly to the ground. She flicked the locket open to reveal a miniature painting, which closely resembled the features of the corpse. As she knelt over him, with one hand over his throat to throttle him, DicingDevil and Akshel surged forwards to sh at the back of her head until she flinched back. She darted around one corner of the cupboard, and a faint green light appeared from her hand. A ray of white gas rushed from her palm towards Dionarcy''s neck, and he gagged and rolled painedly across the floor. He only had 40% HP remaining.


    "The info tab says she''s level 64," Dionarcy informed the group, collecting himself slightly. "She did a lot more damage than most enemies at that level, though."


    "It must be the locket. Akshel, we should keep her from using it," DicingDevil said. He began to carefully approach the female.


    "She''s the same level as the corpse," Starfighter noted.


    "And she''s been so fixated on it that she barely noticed us," Crucis said. "She''s clearly tied to the corpse in some way, and treats it as if it was alive."


    She held out her right hand, and Franciscus'' bow glided into it, carried by a small cloud of the white gas flowing from the dead yer''s mouth. The bow was glowing green. However, as she attempted to wield it, she found that its string had been cut. DicingDevil surged in and shed at her face, but she fended off the strike with the bow. Adapting, he feinted another strike at the head, but instead used a firm [sh] to her right hand and followed this up with [Thrash], striking fiercely at the hand until he drew deep red blood. She yelped quietly and let the bow fall to the floor.


    As she prepared to face Akshel and DicingDevil, who had cornered her against the cupboard, she seemed suddenly distracted and gazed at something behind them. Crucis had knelt down by the corpse of Graceus, whose face was seen in the locket painting, and was using [The Ripper] to slice methodically across the corpse''s face and neck. He severed the head, and shed its face into a bloody, unrecognisable mess. He also grabbed the rusty sword in its scabbard, since he had noticed her eyeing it and guessed that she was nning to summon it just as she had done with Franciscus'' weapon.


    As she was distracted, Akshel used [Agile Step] to ce a [Chokehold], holding her in ce as DicingDevil used a harsh [Overhead sh] across her face. He then leaned forwards to angle his sword down into her upper neck, above Akshel''s arm. He pressed the sword fiercely through her neck, leaning forwards and forcing the wound deeper. She let out a slight cry, but then tried to raise her left hand with the locket once more grasped in it. However, Akshel was prepared and interrupted this by grabbing her hand firmly from behind, and then kicking out her leg until she fell forwards onto DicingDevil''s sword. She was now down to 61% HP, and had been inflicted with Bleeding.


    However, as she reached 60% HP, a faint green glow appeared around her body, and she seemed to dissolve into white smoke, which snaked out of Akshel''s grasp and materialised back into human form near Crucis. He was still patiently slicing up the corpse.


    "Don''t disturb my beloved," she growled, with a slightly gruff, masculine tone entering her practiced, gentle voice.


    As she lunged towards him with her sharp nails outstretched, he calmly rose and used [Stealth Cloak] to circle around her, then stabbed the back of her left shoulder with [Stunning Dagger]. He looked to the right, where Starfighter was standing, and on cue Starfighter smashed the right of the female''s head with a firm [Mordhau]. The female copsed to the ground, as a loud cracking noise resonated through the room.


    Crucis dropped behind her, and used [The Ripper] to slice across the wound in the front of her neck. She screeched out in a high-pitched voice, in a way that almost resembled a squeak, and dropped the locket. Crucis snatched it, and used it to collect some of the blood pooled on the floor where he had sliced up the corpse. She squirmed violently and managed to get a hand to Crucis'' chest, but without the locket she could only scratch at it until he stabbed her neck with his dagger and pinned her to the ground. She seemed to be continually reaching for the locket, but as she pushed towards it Crucis found it easy to impale her neck against his dagger. He held the locket out of reach to lure her into the dagger as he stabbed, creating deep neck wounds.


    Starfighter also knelt over her with his hdie, pressing one de against the back of her neck in order to keep her down and using the other to fend off her arms.


    As ck mist swirled around Crucis'' de, he began to appear more akin to a ck, hooded cobra. He sunk the dagger firmly into the back of the female''s neck with a [Panoramic Strike], then followed up with [Dagger Twist].


    By this point, Grisier and Danemy had made their way over to the room, and DicingDevil was frantically typing out instructions to them in party chat. As the female began to glow green again, Grisier cast [Breath of Ice] and slowed the female''s attempts to escape. Starfighter stabbed firmly at her wounded neck, and kept her down. However, she managed to catch him with a sharp stab of her nails, which had grown into silvery ws. As she tried to wrestle Crucis away, taking stabs to her neck in the process, Dionarcy lumbered over and prepared to help. However, her eyes began to glow violet, and she whispered to Dionarcy, "You are brave." As she spoke, white smoke fluttered from her mouth and pierced Dionarcy''s chest where she had earlier held the locket. He fell to the ground clutching his chest, and she scrambled her way free from Crucis'' grip to crouch over the wounded Dionarcy.


    Her ws pressed against Dionarcy''s chest until blood was pouring from it, and Dionarcy''s blood flowed towards her hands as if drawn by maism. She darted away as Akshel charged towards her. However, she was intercepted by a firm [Mordhau] by Danemy, who had been hovering nearby to catch her out if she escaped from Akshel. She fell to the ground, where Danemy dropped effortlessly and ced his sword across the front of her neck. As she raised her head, he forced it harshly down with his knee at a slight angle, slicing her throat against the sword.


    Blood poured across the ground, and she was at only 20% HP now. Her neck seemed to be crooked by now, and hung forwards slightly. While she managed to shove the lower-level Danemy away and tried to rise, DicingDevil used the [Drive] skill to force her to crawl backwards with his sword against her neck, then grabbed her across the face and forced her to the ground. Grisier had been charging a [Mana Sphere], and this struck her firmly until she was ttened against the ground. As she reached 10% HP, there was a small explosion of green light around her, and DicingDevil flew backwards. She scrambled to her feet with difficulty, and looked around, but due to her bloodied head leaning forwards she was looking downwards across the floor.


    However, behind her, Crucis had scrambled on top of a table on one side of the room. Heunched himself from there as she rose, and grabbed her in a [Chokehold] in mid-air, dragging her back towards the ground as he leant across her upper back. As she tried to resist her unseen assant, he pressed his dagger fiercely into the wounds at the back of her throat, and Starfighter knelt down beside her to [sh] at her feet. She copsed in a heap, and Crucis felt her flesh pressed against his dagger on the floor. He used a firm [The Ripper], which slowly and precisely cut across her neck. The whish of the fall had caused her neck to tear slightly, and Crucis found that his dagger passed right through it.


    After a few seconds, he stood up, holding the female''s disembodied head. "These violent delights have violent ends," he smiled, then tossed the head away towards the male corpse.


    "Anyway," he continued, "Any signs of a key?"


    "No, we didn''t find anything," Grisier replied. "What was up with her locket?"


    "No keys? I see. As for the locket, as I said she seemed to be tied to the corpse of Graceus: she was fixated on it, had the same level by default, etc. The locket had a painting of Graceus, it was her personal memento of the tie between them. That might be why it was important to her. And she kept acting like the corpse was alive, as you said. She seemed to have been trying to revive some sort of romance, a life for these two which never transpired. Perhaps this idealised tie is what keeps animating the ghost. Anyway, I have a couple of spare keys, let''s try the door downstairs."


    Crucis hadn''t found any keys here, but from what he had seen the key necessary here might already be in his inventory.

 Chapter 87: Doorway to the Heart

    Chapter 87: Doorway to the Heart


    Since the group no longer had a prisoner to test the path ahead, nor a tank, DicingDevil decided to turn back towards the entrance of the mansion. Some loud, screeching noises had begun to emerge from deeper in the building, and exploring further seemed unsafe as evening approached.


    "Let''s check out the lock downstairs again, then leave and check if there are any quests up North," DicingDevil told the group. "But first, make sure you''ve gathered everything from here."


    After the ghostly female had died, the door she had approached from was now unlocked. It contained a room full of medallions and trophies, probably given to Graceus during the war, as well as a few old statues and antiques belonging to the family. These had been divided evenly among the group. While nothing seemed to be left, Akshel and Starfighter carefullybed the edges of the room to make sure that nothing had been missed.


    From killing the female, Crucis received a few expensive pieces of [Violet Fabric] and [ck Silk], a [White Dreamcatcher] which resembled a few items Crucis had seen for sale in the vige, as well as a trinket named [Will ''O Wisp Trinket]. While the spiderweb-like dreamcatcher''s fragile white strands were woven together simply, in a way resembling the traditional designs cultivated in the vige nearby, the fabrics she had dropped were expensive and belonged more to the decadent grandiloquence of this mansion. However, the trinket had no description, and did not have a selling price listed.


    Since it had no description, Crucis drew out this mysterious trinket to take a look at it. However, as he took it out of his inventory, he suddenly felt a strong force pushing downwards across his shoulders. As he looked up, he saw the small room above him, and he seemed to be falling through the floor. The rest of the group seemed to be standing tall like colossi around him, while he almost felt suffocated by the surge of pressure pushing him under the floorboards.


    However, he remembered a simr experience from using the [Hierophant Card] to project out of his body. As such, he quickly tested if he was able shift the floorboards around him, or hit them to make a sound. Nothing happened when he tried to do this, and his hands seemed to melt away from the floorboards as the pressure forced him down. He guessed that he wasn''t actually here, and it was an illusion induced by the trinket.


    He eased the trinket back into his inventory, since it had only been withdrawn by a few inches, and found himself back on his feet. The rest of the group had seemingly not noticed anything out of the ordinary. While he was unsure what exactly this trinket would be useful for, its effect was powerful enough that he decided it would be worth keeping around. At the least, it might have potential as a deceptive gift to give someone in order to temporarily incapacitate them before attacking them. It took him a minute to recover his bearings, and he followed the rest of the group downstairs across the dimly-lit stairways.


    As they reached the ground floor, the sound of screeching from deep in the building began to fade into the distance. Instead, the sound of the wind outside, and the asional bird or bat flying nearby, punctuated the silence of the building''s entrance hall.


    The yers veered into the living room again, where Akshel quickly relocated the keyhole. DicingDevil and Starfighter shoved the bookcase aside, and the rest of the group gathered to inspect the locked, white door. It blended in almost seamlessly with the white walls of the living room, only distinguishable by the keyhole and paper-thin gaps on each side of the door. Akshel quickly shoved at the door to test it, causing it to creak slightly, but it was clearly locked.


    "Alright, we''ll still need a key for this one," DicingDevil said. "Crucis, you wanted to try one?"


    "Yes. By the way, were Graceus'' Eastern wars fought at around the same ce as Ganf¨¦an''s former territory?"


    "Yes," Grisier replied. "We found a book about that in the library, it had a map showing that Ganf¨¦an''s former territory was known as ''Lenegad'' at the time. Graceus'' medals mention that he fought there. There wasn''t much left in the library, just a few old reference books hidden in rubble which nobody had seemingly cared to steal."


    "I see. Well, anyway."


    Crucis drew out one of Satan''s keys of life from his inventory, and ced it into the keyhole. It fit in exactly, and as he turned it the door clicked open. However, the key seemed to get stuck in the lock, and couldn''t be removed. As Akshel drew the door back, another door with an identical keyhole appeared behind it.


    Crucis shrugged, and used another key of life to open this door. As this door opened, the key fell out of the first door he had opened, and he quickly crouched down to pick that up.


    As the second door swung open, it revealed a dark hallway lit only through a tiny hole in the roof. The faint light flickered across the room like a candlelight, and dimly revealed a hint of paintings and desks around the edge of the room.


    As Crucis entered the room, behind DicingDevil, he felt his steps cushioned by a soft floor beneath his feet. Inspecting the ground, he found that it was covered by a dense, white carpet, which was fastened to the floor and difficult to remove. The rest of the group filtered into the room, and also seemed surprised by this.


    "Oi, we''re in thep of luxury now, aren''t we?" Akshel said light-heartedly.


    "Did anyone see a person moving further down the hallway?" Danemy asked nervously.


    "There doesn''t seem to be anything there," Grisier replied. "Anyone want to check?"


    Crucis and DicingDevil walked cautiously forwards across the hallway, but did not see anyone nearby. However, as they approached a corridor towards the left, Crucis was startled by a pair of what looked like glowing, red eyes staring from the right side and a w-like shadow looming over him. He quickly drew his sword and stepped away, but as he looked in the direction of the red eyes they had disappeared. He saw that DicingDevil had also drawn his sword in rm.


    "Was there someone there?" DicingDevil asked. "It looks empty."


    "Doesn''t look like it," Crucis replied. "Wait, let me have a look."


    Crucis carefully scanned the ground for shadows, and quickly identified the w-like shadow which he had seen earlier. Following the path of this shadow, he felt along the shadowy wall until his hand touched a firm, metallic surface. Inspecting further, he found that this was a fragment from the front of a helmet, containing the eyeholes and a small part of the nose. It had seemingly broken off when the original helmet had been shattered somehow, and still had slightly jagged edges across the side from when the helmet had broken. He avoided touching these edges, but noticed that they were casting the w-like shadow.


    "There''s some sort of helmet hung on the wall here," Crucis said.


    DicingDevil summoned Grisier over.


    In the dim light summoned by Grisier''s [Conjure Light], the group could make out a few fragments of a suit of armour hung on hooks across the wall, with some fragments from the arm and legs hung beneath the helmet. There was no sign of anything glowing which might have produced the apparition of red eyes. The helmet''s eyeholes were empty, and there was nothing behind it.


    "Strange, did you see anything glowing from this direction?" Crucis asked DicingDevil.


    "Yes, some burning orbs or something? There seemed to be some sudden movement, it was strange," came the reply.


    "I see. There doesn''t seem to be anything in that direction which glows, and even when Grisier shines his light on it I don''t see much red. The armour''s all grey."


    DicingDevil shrugged. "Well, there''s ghosts upstairs, we should be careful around here."


    As Crucis walked towards the corridor on the left, he almost tripped over a desk leg hidden in the dark. As he propped himself against the wall, he ced one hand on top of this desk to stabilise himself. He felt a piece of paper beneath his hand.


    As Grisier approached, Crucis managed to decipher some of the writing on this paper, written in thick, dark-blue ink:


    "Why would you say something like that? You know I have a reputation to look to. You can''t just malign my fidelity and temperament, don''t you know what people will say when rumours spread? YOU CAN''T AND WON''T. Understood? Meet me at the, um, ''aquarium room'' as Graceus calls it, the one with the fishes and pool. You''d know it. I''ll give you a favour if you arepliant ¡ª but if you''re not, then... ah, I doubt you''d be so stubborn for long, so why discuss it? Don''t tell ANYONE about the meeting. We will discuss why you chose to spread GOSSIP and RUMOURS about a youngdy in an honourable household, and see if we cane to an agreement and undo any damage done! YOUR CO-OPERATION IS APPRECIATED.


    "Yours, A."


    It seemed to be written by a young, slightly hysterical female.


    "This is the strangest version of the Navy Seal copypasta I have ever read," Crucis said.


    DicingDevil and Starfighter chuckled quietly, recognising the old reference.


    "Yes, quite. Can you make out any of the rest?" DicingDevil said.


    "No, the ink has flooded down across the bottom of the page, by now it''s just arge ink-blot. I guess it could be useful as a Rorschach test, but other than that it''s indecipherable."


    "I see. It''s seemingly written by a youngishdy, maybe the one who we saw a ghost of upstairs? She looked fairly young, maybe early 20s? Though she has probably been dead for decades. This letter mentions ''Graceus,'' so it''s likely."


    "Any idea where this ''aquarium room'' would be?"


    "No idea, it would be difficult to tell by now since the fish are probably long gone. We did see a room near the library with what looked like a fewrge holes in the floor, maybe those were pools once. It was deeper on that floor, though, so when we heard a screeching sound from that general direction we didn''t look any further," Grisier said.


    "Not unreasonable. By the way, I think I might have found the name of the person this was addressed to," Crucis said, scraping away some thick dust and congealed ink from the top of the piece of paper. "It says, ''Dear Afraim Dasair,'' does that ring a bell?"


    "The Dasairs were a less powerful noble family," Grisier said. "I don''t know how to pronounce their name exactly, I notice that you and Starfighter have picked up on some local pronunciation but I don''t know much about it. Anyway, they were listed in the library as one of the smaller noble families of this Kingdom at the time, but the book was in disrepair so I didn''t get much more information."


    "That''s already interesting. From the sound of it, Dasair had been spreading ''rumours'' of thisdy''s infidelity. From her offer of a private meeting, it sounds like she was close to this Afraim ¡ª perhaps she had cheated on Graceus with him and others, and he had let the word out?"


    "She didn''t seem that faithful, from what we saw of her ghost," DicingDevil smirked.


    "Quite true. Graceus also had a high reputation during the war, and seemingly kept all of his awards carefully, so reputation seems to have been quite important to these people."


    Akshel had been rummaging through a few small drawers on the side of the room, and stood up holding a small wooden doll painted with dark, ck hair and traces of white skin across the rest of its body. Most of the paint had peeled off by now, so Crucis couldn''t make out her face. Akshel shook the doll slightly, and heard a harsh, rasping metallic noise from inside the doll. Crucis noticed some glitter fall off the doll as it was shook.


    "There''s something inside this," Akshel said.


    "There''s a gap where its eyes would be, can we shine a light down there?" Crucis said.


    Grisier walked up and carefully shone his light towards the doll''s eyes. Crucis squinted as he looked through the small holes, and Akshel shook the doll slightly so that Crucis could make out the shape inside the doll.


    "Looks like a rusty nail," Crucis said. "A bit like the one Ganf¨¦an used in our fight with him."


    The rest of the group also had a look, and mostly nodded.


    "Yeah, does look like a nail. Also sounds like one," Akshel said, shaking the doll in order to make the sharp, metallic rasp of the nail inside clearer.


    "Having a nail inside like that, this doll must be itching like a man in a fuzzy tree," Crucis remarked.


    The doll was glimmering faintly in Grisier''s light, so Akshel collected some glitter in his palm and showed it to the others.


    "This glitter is a bit cold, it feels like ice," he said.


    "Yes," Crucis said, checking on some of the glitter that had fallen onto the table. "It also evaporates quickly under pressure."


    Akshel pressed the glitter with a finger, and saw it evaporate into a faint, white vapour before disappearing. "Yep, it does. Anyway, not sure what to make of this doll, but I don''t think there''s much more to see of it. Is there anything down the corridor?"


    Akshel walked towards the leftwards corridor, and Crucis joined him. However, as they neared the entrance of the corridor, they heard a wild, distressed screech emerge from it. Thissted for five seconds before dying down. As they cautiously stepped forwards, checking carefully for any signs of motion, they found that the corridor was in fact empty, and led to a dead end.


    "What was that noise? There''s nothing here," Akshel murmured.


    "Probably the ghost of a dead ck metal vocalist," Crucis replied. He knocked quietly on the elegant, white walls. "The wall on the left here seems to be quite thin, it feels like there''s some sort of painting behind it. There''s a slight thud when you push on it."


    Akshel tested this. "Yeah, maybe there''s a way to enter there from elsewhere in the room?"


    "Sure, let''s tell Dicing."


    After they told DicingDevil that there might be another room to the left, he instructed the group to look closely at the left side of the room for any hidden doors.


    Soon, they stumbled on a small sculpture near the entrance to the room, concealed behind a small curtain. It depicted a male whose face was seemingly covered with an etched map of the surrounding area,cking any facial features like eyes or a mouth. There were soft traces of blue paint which marked bodies of water, but by now most of this paint was fading and what remained looked like faint blue ink which has lightly dripped onto blotting paper.


    The map seemed to stretch East until the Kingdom of Lenegad, and had a pair of shing swords drawn at the borders of this Kingdom to represent the war which it was probably contemporaneous with.


    On a small bronze te beneath the sculpture, some words were written in cursive: ''A hero has a glorious destiny, not a face.''


    "A hero has no face? Not a very uplifting message," Akshel remarked.


    "Well, the yers from Kruxol were heroes fighting against DeathGang, and now many of them are without faces or other body parts," DicingDevil said.


    "A hero isn''t a private figure, they are a public emblem," Crucis said. "They symbolise a society''s vision of bravery and strength against adversity. In this way they are useful to the society, as an emblem and source of hope. But as for themselves, nobody cares. They are more like a situation than a person."


    "Then heroes should thank viins, because otherwise they wouldn''t have adversity to fight," DicingDevil smiled.


    "Indeed. But they are fickle people, and will exalt suspense, drama, tension, and conflict, while hating the viin who has caused all of this."


    "By the way, ording to Darys, a few yers in Kruxol are gathering a small following as ''war heroes,'' with far-fetched tales of battles and escapes. Seemingly they''re power-seeking Fountain members looking to take advantage of the power vacuum left after the death of their leader. Darys recognised one as a deserter from the North."


    "A power struggle in Fountain could be advantageous, since it may lead to in-fighting. However, the danger is that ''war veterans'' might start to push for renewed efforts against DeathGang. Simply contradicting the heroes'' tales, or saying that they are false, might not do much. People will probably ignore it, since they care more about the personal feelings of inspiration and hope inspired by the heroic stories than the veracity of these. But the upside is that these ''heroes'' probably mostly just tell simple, lowestmon-denominator stories of bravery that resonate with the desperate townsfolk. If your Guild uses alts to trick some of their audience into getting over-ambitious and voyaging out under the inspiration of these heroes, then kills them off, it could easily make the heroes'' audience more sceptical of warmongering rhetoric. The heroes will shift as their audience does, and might still cause Fountain infighting but will be less likely to annoy DeathGang."


    "We were already using alts to infiltrate some of these upstartmunities, luring some out and having them killed sounds like a decent n. The bigger yers mostly want out of Kruxol, ording to our spies, so if we can curb the enthusiasm of their smaller yers then the rest will just leave rather than fighting. The Hashin leader is also conciliatory, apparently the Hashin are a bit decentralised and some groups decided to have a go at DeathGang. So hopefully most threats should be neutralised for the moment, and once Darys unlocks the Invasion feature we can take Kruxol for the moment. With the benefits from that, we might be able to take Kaxil as well."


    "Yes. If the Hashin are too divided and unstructured, then that might also hamper them. A lot of the other Guilds'' big yers are rushing Westwards along the main questline, if possible, but since most high-level yers are in that area it will be difficult for one Guild to hold territory uncontested."


    DicingDevil nodded.


    Although Crucis did see DeathGang as likely to fend off opposition for the time being, over time their territorial ways could limit their growth. Staying in one area and consolidating would be effective in the short term, and they could make asional ventures to the East and North for higher-level content. However, they would still miss out on several opportunities to ess content and facilities towards the West. While their members'' focus was immediate survival, and securing territory was an effective way to do that, over time they might experience issues asrger Guilds double back and try to head to thends East of Kruxol.


    There was an exmation of surprise from behind them, as Grisier''s light revealed tworge paintings along the left wall of the room. The first painting disyed the faded figure of a ck-haired woman sitting in a stately pose. Rough holes were torn across the canvas, revealing a dark red, rusted iron frame beneath it. The woman''s face had no clear features remaining, only a few grey smudges which seemed to indicate the position of the eyes and mouth. The paint on her hands had peeled away, to leave skeletal, ck-and-beige ws instead.


    "What''s wrong, Danemy?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Ehm, sorry," Danemy said, folding his right arm behind his head, "the painting on the left, the female, looked like she had bright red eyes and was lurching forwards. Must have been some sort of optical illusion."


    "That''s... interesting. Me and Crucis saw something simr with the suit of armour down the hall. I''m not sure why, surely if there was a ghost then they would attack us rather than just lunging and vanishing?"


    "It''s a bit like the ghost that showed up in that wooden door in Ganf¨¦an''s castle, during the s¨¦ance," Crucis said, "If I recall correctly, it was while we were fighting Dexia. It kept reaching out, but seemingly never attacked. At the same time, we couldn''t do anything to it. Maybe we''re just seeing things, but it''s possible that there''s something here. If it actually appears, we should probably leave."


    "That sounds reasonable. Anyway, do we know who this painting is of?"


    "There was some text under it, but it''s illegible by now," Akshel said, frustratedly trying to make out the writing on the bottom of the rusted frame.


    "I see. Well, she looks a bit older and more formal than the female we fought upstairs, but it''s difficult to tell. Her silhouette seems to be fairly broad and has a firm upright posture, but that might just be her clothing, we can''t tell because the paint has faded. The silhouette is slightly frilly, so it might have been arge dress or whatever."


    "Good point. I mean, that girl wasn''t verydy-like, but ording to her letter she was expected to be? This painting seems a bit more like some idealised aristocraticdy, maybe the posture is a bit exaggerated to tter the rich family, the, um, Es..."


    "Esyu?" Grisier interjected.


    "Yeah, there we go, the Esyus."


    "This other painting is also quite interesting," Danemy said from the right side.


    The group moved to look at the second painting. It portrayed a young male surrounded by a white glow, whose face resembled Graceus Esyu. He was exploring a forest, and held a sword tightly by his side.


    In the dark room, the corners of the painting were difficult to make out, filled with depictions of murky, thick greenery. After some investigation, Crucis found that the top-left corner was filled with a dense array of ovepping ck lines resembling a cobweb, between the branches of a tree, and enveloped in this cobweb was the scaly, dark-grey head of a dragon leering at the man in the centre of the painting. The dragon''s eyes were a faded, light yellow by now, almost white in some ces. The dragon''s face had contorted into arge, open-mouthed roar.


    Beneath the painting was some text, but the only part still legible said, ''Also in this ce''.


    "This looks like Graceus," Akshel said.


    "Yes, but now portrayed as an archetypal, adventuring hero," Crucis said.


    "Indeed, there''s also a dragon," Grisier said. "But it''s not the typical one, its face is really twisted when it''s roaring, it''s hard to make out its actual appearance due to that. It''s moving so intensely that it''s not clear what it would look like if it was still."


    "Quite. But that makes it look almost alien, and quite fearsome. Almost makes up for it being consigned to the corner."


    "There''s a crown on the ground, towards the left side of the painting," Starfighter said, looking closely. A crown was painted lying on the lush, forest grass, but by now its golden paint had faded into a silver-white that could easily be missed among the frequent hints of white canvas among the peeling, thick paint of the grass.


    "That''s also the direction of the dragon," Akshel replied. "The man has his sword out, maybe he has to fight the dragon to find glory?"


    "I doubt he''d win," DicingDevil said.


    "Quite. Anyway, it does look a bit like what the letters upstairs said, Graceus was forced to fight in the wars in order to secure glory, and improve the family''s standing. But maybe the war had unseen costs which he didn''t realise. Incidentally, there''s a room behind this wall, and this painting portrays a journey. Could there be an entrance behind the painting? I see a small metaltch behind it."


    "Well, let''s have a look. But be careful," DicingDevil said.


    He joined Starfighter in carefully tilting the painting upwards and to the right side, revealing a small, round iron door behind it. This was rusty enough that Akshel managed to simply kick it down.


    Behind this iron door was a musty wooden room, with arge desk in its centre.


    Grisier walked through the door, but stopped cold as he reached the room. Crucis followed him with curiosity.


    On the other side of the room was a collection of old, scratched and tattered paintings thrown together in a heap. They depicted all sorts of debauchery and disease, from a scene of a feast with revellers taking turns at sex with a white, stocky woman pinned to the table by a stake, to a funeral where the attendees were cutting up the corpse to try and transnt its parts onto their own bodies. In the funerary painting, the man in a ck suit giving a eulogy seemed to be gesturing with a red-tinged arm that was taken from the corpse and fastened onto his body awkwardly.


    "The missing link between 120 Days of Sodom and anime?" Crucis quipped.


    "There''s even a painting with tentacles, it looks like," DicingDevil replied.


    "I''m not sure those are tentacles, it looks like someone is growing a tree inside a woman, and the branches are growing through her insides," Starfighter said, walking closer to inspect the paintings. "Sounds like a case for Francis York Morgan."


    "So what are these paintings?"


    "From what I can see, many of these paintings have small titles below them, mentioning the Esyu family. Also some names of Esyu family members, maybe earlier ones?"


    "Let''s check, there''s a book on this desk which lists the names of many generations of the Esyu," Grisier said, walking up to a book on the desk which had a damaged spine. "Some pages are missing, but here''s a few names from the second page of the list, so some of the earliest members documented. Invid, Charseus, Miffol, Ghezel, Enaxi..."


    "Yes, there''s a couple of those here," Starfighter said. "The feast with the woman on the table is called ''The Feast of Charseus Esyu,'' and the one with the tree in the woman is named ''The Rape of Ghezel.'' These seem to be scenes from the early Esyus."


    "Yes, it says that a few of these females were captives or ves. Ghezel was apparently a captive from Kaxil, which at the time was a merchant vige ransacked by the upstart kingdoms nearby. She was captured by an Esyu named Efrem Esyu, so perhaps he nted the tree."


    Crucis walked up to investigate a painting depicting a man hanging himself while staring transfixed into a mirror. In the mirror was a pale, white orb with a pair of frail, white wings emanating from each of its sides, sending a chilling glow across the man''s room. This painting was reminiscent of the mirror used for summoning in Ganf¨¦an''s court. Beneath it was written, ''The mania of Olved Esyu.'' Next to this was a cracked painting of a dead married couple lying in bed, whose faces were barely visible. They were both covered in bruises and scorch-marks, for no clearly discernable reason. Crucis wondered if this was somehow rted to Otxi, the deceptive fire spirit.


    "There''s a few letters here, most aren''t in English," Grisier said, scouring over the letters. "There''s one to Graceus, though, it says, ''It is fine that you have brought a mistress from the war, but her conduct is improper. She is too favourable towards other men, and spends too much time mingling with the tribal people in the forest outside. ra must be more refined, to fit into the Esyu. Look at your cousin, Amalen, her soft voice and her etiquette are worlds away from ra''s coarse ways. If you hadn''t spent so long among rough-talking soldiers, then I doubt you''d even give ra the time of day! But I''m sure your good upbringing will shine through. For now, please talk with her about her wanton manners.'' I can''t find an ra Esyu listed in book of names, it says that Graceus was married to a young girl named Amalen, who was apparently his cousin."


    "There''s a gravestone here with the name ''Amalen,'' buried under these paintings," Starfighter said. "It has a small painting embedded in it, but of a young brte girl with curly hair, around 12 years old, not that much like the girl we saw upstairs. It says it''s from the year ''875,'' but probably ording to some local system, so that could mean anything. I''m not sure why they''d hide a gravestone here, I don''t see any others."


    "Yes, but this painting shows ''Amalen,'' and it looks just like the ghost," Akshel replied from the right side of the room. "It''s marked as being from the year ''877,'' so maybe a short time after the gravestone."


    He pointed to a cracked painting behind the wall, of a pale young woman with straight ck hair. She looked very simr to the ghost from upstairs, but here she was painted with an exaggeratedly straight posture, and with broader shoulders. Scanning the painting carefully, Crucis noticed that she was holding a bouquet of white and violet flowers carefully to her left side, with the text, ''To E, from G,'' embroidered on a grey piece of silk wrapped around it.


    "Wait, ''G'' is Graceus, but why is she called ''E''?" Crucis remarked. "Wasn''t his earlier mistress named ra? It''s a bit spective, but maybe the hidden gravestone is because Amalen died young, but her death was somehow covered up and she was reced by ra? It would exin the disparity in the paintings of ''Amalen'' as well."


    "I guess that''s possible, from the look of these paintings it would hardly be the strangest thing to happen to the Esyus," DicingDevil replied. "Since Amalen died that young, it was probably easier to switch her appearance."


    "At least they didn''t transnt her body onto theirs. At least, I hope not," Grisier said.


    "These Esyus have quite a dour history, huh?" DicingDevil remarked.


    "They have their own House of Atreus," Crucis replied.


    "Not surprised that they kept all of this hidden," Akshel said. "We should check if there''s anything behind it."


    Akshel crept past the heap of paintings, and a few damaged sculptures next to them, to check on the back wall. After a few minutes, he found a panel which could be slid to the right, but it was partially jammed. The rest of the group joined him to help, and eventually they pushed the panel to the right.


    This revealed arge, ss window behind it, disying the familiar scene of the grass and trees outside this mansion. A few bats flitted between the trees, as the pale sunlight faded. To the side, some tufts of grass were still pressed down from when the group had walked towards the building.


    This still scene was interrupted by the loud sound of a horse neighing. Soon, arge, wooden carriage hade into view, travelling across a t path towards the North. It was drawn by two exhausted ck horses, and its wheels loudly grated against the mud.


    "Where did thate from? I didn''t hear it approaching, but it looks like it came from the South," DicingDevil said uneasily.


    "Yeah, not sure. No sign of it until we opened this window," Akshel replied.


    Looking closer, Crucis saw that the wheels of the carriage had broken spokes, which were bent sharply at their centre. Strangely, the carriage seemed to progress effortlessly even with these crooked spokes. He could just about make out the driver, an old, ck-bearded man with ssy eyes sitting at the front, but most of the driver''s body was hidden since the carriage was moving away. It was impossible to tell if there was someone sitting inside the carriage, behind the red, gold-embroidered curtain across the door.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88


    <strong>Fragments of a lost poem by an anonymous author</strong>


    <strong>I.</strong>


    As the ancient carriage drew along the dirt,


    the carriage''s wheels whispered rivulets of grating noise which sounded like hail,


    mingled with the hoarse cry of bats from above,


    and the crooked spokes cked like skeletons across the mud.


    <strong>II.</strong>


    The heavy dirge of the wind and thick leaves gave ceremony


    to the harsh stato of Ghezel''s skeleton in its coffin, and draped it


    with that funereal harmony which eludes life itself.


    The carriage that bore her to the funeral now stood bare.


    <strong>III.</strong>


    People make an uproar on earth about the virtues,


    and moral struggles, yet, as a nation mourns, its fondest praises of virtue are poured


    liberally across the fresh graves, and sainthood drenches them.


    So also Ghezel, whose burial was flowered with passionate eulogy.


    <strong>IV.</strong>


    Fantasies and epic stories are just a pale reflection


    of the reimagined life of the dead in their eulogies,


    where their sins are absolved, and they are saints and heroes.


    It is the curse of fabulists to always have an ear to the grave.


    <strong>V.</strong>


    Ghezel''s ruptured body had torn easily apart


    during the long, rough carriage ride to her funeral.


    Were she alive, would the new pain eclipse the praise


    or would she still bask in the saintliness bestowed to her?


    <strong>VI.</strong>


    A coffinden carriage departs atte afternoon


    to a domain oft wished for, where all praise,


    prayer and worship is found: the funeral.


    Wisdom''s words drift the air like soft dusk light:


    if you crave unstinting praise, then die young.


    <strong>Sos and other Poems by Efrem C. K. R. Esyu, in trantion.</strong>


    (<strong>Trantor''s Note:</strong> ording to most extant copies, these sos were typically apanied by a curt dedication to Lady Ghezel Esyu. The writing of sos was a popr aristocratic and courtly pastime at the time of Efrem Esyu. The sos of that time were known for ending on a rhyming couplet with a longst line that summarises the ''argument'' of the piece. Efrem satirises this in his first so. The rhyme scheme of the original poetry is not preserved in this trantion, as it would be difficult to reproduce while preserving fidelity to the text. From the numbering of the sos, it seems that not all have been preserved.)


    <strong>So I.</strong>


    Your fair skin does not contend with your virtue,


    nor with your honesty, though some may contend it so,


    rather, only your fairness holds your virtues'' splendour in tow,


    that though it overawes, it modestly will not subdue


    our hearts and conjure malfeasant visions of


    further virtues and merits which you do not truly have.


    Let jesters mock, and say that your beauty masks your


    with temperance, lead the heart to vice? But, they say busily,


    it is the talk of the town, you have made yourself


    amodity, passed around among men as in a flesh market.


    Be it even so, what is the virtue of amodity?


    Its use. If many have use of your skin, then this is in


    agreement with your virtue. Thus, my argument is correct notwithstanding.


    <strong>So III.</strong>


    A feeling is nted within the heart,


    and it bleeds out when stimted,


    so also love, though in court we are taught


    its manners and ways, did not break


    out truly until liberated by your gaze,


    which pierced like a horn through the heart,


    and covered the earth with blood. I thought


    then, I must have my revenge, and prayed


    that one day I should find you and do the same.


    But when my horn pierced you, foolishly I


    found that you did not bleed, for your blood


    had already been spilled by another, and my


    foolish quest for vengeance was never necessary.


    In this way we find that love solves problems long before our striving.


    <strong>So VII.</strong>


    Like a trained model for paintings, you move from pose to pose,


    each imbued with a pathos that an actress may envy.


    Yet you still want for a painter, someone to brush


    your features t against the canvas, and nt


    their imagination across your skin like varnish,


    toplete the product. I would offer to


    be your painter, but I know you will charge


    a steepmission, and it would tax me


    too much when my family has debt to pay


    greedy moneylenders. Else they shall demand


    my body in payment, and I as their ve!


    Ah, but what if I repaid the debt, and they used


    the money to pay yourmission, so gaining


    your body instead of mine? Then you would enjoy the fate which I had feared.


    <strong>Tree of Life</strong>


    The weaving of dead, grey bark


    like a river unceasing


    flows upwards to the canopy-


    horizon of life.


    This statue of life is a fossil,


    a shell on the wan beach sand


    beside the great tides of death,


    yet still it presses towards the sky.


    In the end, we all fall off its side,


    for none can climb to infinity.


    Soon, the aplishments of the climb


    shall no longer be visible, though


    they gave us ambition that has soared above us


    but found no foothold that could hold it.


    Only devils lurk its highest branches,


    andugh at our futile sport, their trap for us.

 Chapter 89: Candlemass

    Chapter 89: Candlemass


    As the carriage loudly sauntered out of sight, the group withdrew from the window. DicingDevil closed it behind them.


    "It looks like it''s going North," he said. "We might catch up with it if we head out soon."


    "I didn''t notice it until we entered this part of the building, maybe it''s some sort of apparition that only appears from in here?" Grisier replied.


    "That''s quite possible, we''ll see."


    As the group slowly sifted through the materials on the desk, finding a few valuable old coins and medallions, there was a loud cracking noise from the right side of the room.


    As Crucis looked over, he saw a pale, thin white mist rising through the paintings of Amalen and of the feast of Charseus. Large cracks had begun to spread across these paintings, bellowing white mist like a volcano. The streams of mist coalesced in the air to form a faintly red, ghostly light which flickered upwards like a candle''s me.


    While the group hesitantly retreated, Crucis made sure to grab a few valuable ornaments from the desk before darting towards the room''s doorway and shoving a thick wooden nk from a broken cupboard in to block the door. This was a precaution, just in case the door closed as a trap.


    As the paintings eroded beneath the clouds of white paint, the white walls also began to break away on the right side of the room. This released chalky white mist into the air. Behind the wall, a corpse dropped to the ground. It was marked as the corpse of [Charseus Esyu], and was level 125.


    The corpse sturdily lifted itself from the ground, revealing arge figure dressed in thick armour. Its eyes were red, glowing orbs that red like the red light above. The door to the room swung heavily from side to side, as if in a fierce gale, but to Crucis'' relief it remainedfortably open. While the group was in danger, they could escape.


    "He''s too high level, retreat!" DicingDevil shouted. "If you grab anything on the way out, make it quick."


    As Charseus reached down, he picked up a mace that had been lying next to his body. The mace was a charred bronze, with glints of gold in a circle near its top. As he slowly raised it, Grisier cast [Breath of Ice] to slow Charseus, and the group quickly made a break through the round door of the room. DicingDevil was thest out, and forcefully shoved the painting back into ce to block the door slightly.


    The party quickly gathered a few valuable-looking trinkets and goblets from the hallway, but were interrupted by the blinding light of three pairs of glowing red eyes advancing down the hallway. Crucis could make out that one was wearing the broken suit of armour which they had seen earlier, and the armour itself had seemingly disappeared off the wall. The wearer''s nametag said [Grandus Esyu], a name which Crucis didn''t recognise.


    "There''s more of them!" Akshel eximed, as he headed for the door back to the living room.


    "Leave, everyone," DicingDevilmanded.


    Crucis had more Agility than the rest of the party, so he easily made it to the exit and hurtled through to the living room. As he looked backwards, he saw that Charseus had violently shoved the painting off its hinges, and began pursuing the group again. The red-eyed creatures moved slowly and awkwardly, as might be expected from a group of stiff, long-dead corpses.


    While Akshel was able to make it safely to the living room as well, Starfighter found his retreat halted as a blinding sh of light erupted behind him and hurtled him forwards onto the ground. He was reduced to 67% HP.


    Watching from the living room, Crucis saw that Starfighter had been attacked by a red-eyed female spellcaster wearing a tight, grey robe made of fur that whirled lightly as she walked slowly forwards. Her nametag said [Emalet Esyu], a name which Crucis didn''t recognise.


    She raised her arm, emitting a zing bolt of light which almost burnt the eye to look at. However, it struck the ground harmlessly and burst into white mist, as Starfighter darted unexpectedly out of the way. After his experience navigating unsafe parts of the wild, Starfighter had instinctively used his arms as a lever and propelled himself stubbornly forwards again in a hurtling, crouched run with his head leaning forwards. As he exited the door, he tiredly regained his bnce and stood up.


    "The game''s fight info says that she did damage of the ''Light'' element. Haven''t seen that one before," Starfighter said.


    He had switched to the game''s fight information tab as soon as he sensed danger, so that he would be able to quickly evaluate the nature of any damage done. However, in this case it raised more questions than answers.


    DicingDevil was rmed by the sight of a spellcaster who could attack from range, and had Grisier single her out with an [Ice Heart] followed soon after by [Breath of Ice]. As the air of the room turned noticeably colder, the female froze in her tracks. This gave DicingDevil enough time to hustle everyone else into the living room, where they made a break for the mansion''s front door.


    As they reached the entrance hallway, they heard a loud, feral screechinging from above the stairs. It sounded somewhat like a crow''s caw, except louder and held for longer. The voice also sounded strained, like a dying man screaming out for his loved ones. However, the group did not stay to ascertain the source of the sound, but ran one-by-one out of the mansion''s door as the sound of nking armour behind them grew louder from the direction of the living room.


    While DicingDevil initially spurred the group on further, intending to escape towards the vige, he allowed them to pause once he realised that the sound behind them had died down as soon as they left. There were no signs of anyone following them out of the mansion, which had returned to its previous, serene silence.


    A few bats flew above them, making a light fluttering noise on their way.


    As they caught their breath, Akshel turned to Starfighter and said, "Can''t say I''ve seen ''Light magic'' damage before either, but doesn''t every Mage get some sort of basic light spells? Are those Light element?"


    "You mean like [Conjure Light]?" Grisier said.


    "I think so, the one which you were using so we could see in the dark."


    "Yeah, that''s counted as a non-elemental, basic spell. All of the earliest spells are non-elemental. I haven''t seen anything with the Light element for sale either."


    "There is a Lumenomancer ss, that uses a Light element," DicingDevil said. "But it''s very rare ¡ª even rarer than necros ¡ª so you guys might not have seen much of it. Any Guild with sufficient influence has one to three slots for Lumenomancers, so you have to join these Guilds, be selected by the leadership as one of their Lumenomancer candidates, and then go through a set of arduous quests in order to unlock the subss. We have one slot for it just unlocked, since we count as more influential after consolidating the area around Kruxol, but nobody has filled it just yet."


    "How powerful is the subss?" Akshel asked.


    "I can''t say I''ve seen any, but I hear it''s very powerful. The damage isn''t as high as some other sses, but they can apparently survive just about anything. Under 60% HP, their attacks will start to heal them and their team-mates, and they can userge shields which are apparently quite resilient. They have some weaknesses, like weakened buffs and recoil damage from any spells which aren''t of the Light element. They''re quite valuable, but Guilds have limited slots so they have to choose carefully."


    "I haven''t seen any either, but I did see a Light Elemental," Crucis said. "It was fairly low-level, but I didn''t see it use the Light element. Maybe higher-level ones would, I''d have to check."


    DicingDevil smiled. "Ah yes. Like the ones around Kruxol? I did see one of those use a spell a bit simr to the ghost woman just now, but it was an AoE sh that exploded around it and killed a bunch of low-levels trying to fight it."


    "I wasn''t watching those too closely, but that''s quite possible," Crucis said. It was true, he had been staying out of the way of the Elementals so that nobody realised that he had summoned them.


    "I also heard about those," Akshel said. "There''s a lot of gossip about it, people saying it was a bad omen for the war. There''s also this one kook preacher in Kruxol who is saying that it was some kind of demonic spirits working in favour of the ungodly DeathGang."


    Crucisughed. "Many people will go crazy when they''re trapped in this game world for long enough. It''s just a matter of time. But it can be endearing, even noble: it''s just a way that people open up and listen to an alien world - even at the cost of their sanity and connection to theirmunity. It''s like a DEFCON level, people internalise expecting and dealing with the unexpected. But this guy sounds like he''s just restrained to a dogma of fear, of Christ crucified and continually re-crucified by fearsome viins like DeathGang. His ear is shut right when it should be open. Christian or not, if people are going to go crazy then they should be forthright about it."


    "Definitely. We had one Guildmate in the war, he was like, ''I know that Fountain are the good guys here, but I''m tainted by the seed of Ba''al, I feel such deep loathing and envy whenever I see their goodness that I hate them.'' We were like, at least you hate them, so we put him on the front lines and he died but took quite a few enemies with him," DicingDevil said. "He was a weird fellow, but certainly entertaining."


    "Someone must be insane, to need to go through such an borate emotional process simply to hate people," Crucis said. "If everyone needed as much of a run-up as that guy, we would barely need exponentially growing hate speech legition. But ording to thew itself, hate is as easy as breathing. And perhaps it is."


    "That''s quite true. By the way, since Akshel brought this guy up, ording to Darys he''s raising trouble in Kruxol and trying to preach a sermon at the same time as ourte celebration. It''s not that serious, but it''s one of a few gatherings that are defiantly trying to interrupt or distract from our nned procession around the town."


    "For most of those, there''s a simple solution. Aren''t there some guys around the Kruxol outskirts who deliver stuff for public events? Like, they can deliver food, dancers, firecrackers, etc., if there are enough people gathered in an area. You could always interrupt some of these gatherings with corny dancers or firecrackers, by ordering it to the relevant ce. I think they also let you add a few words to appear in a glitzy light disy behind the dancers, no expletives but something simple like ''Victory to DeathGang'' or ''Come and Glorify our Victory'' would probably work."


    "Yeah, that should be enough to dispell the crowds. I think there''s some restrictions to prevent people from ordering stuff for events they''re not involved in, but, since DeathGang is holding a celebration across Kruxol, Darys should be able to order just about anywhere. I''ll mention it. But I''m not sure that we can target the preacher''s sermon, he''s doing it in a building reserved for religious services and I doubt we can get involved."


    "As far as this preacher, would it be possible for me to meet him before the sermon? I might be able to get rid of him, but if not then at least I can extract some info."


    "Sure thing. Our spies already found out that he holds a small confessional between sermons. He''ll be holding a preliminary, short sermon for his ''flock'' and for potential believers, about half an hour before the real one. We have a couple of people with alts who are nominally his ''followers,'' they could put in a good word for you."


    "Excellent, thank you. I''ll have to figure out a fake persona, and something fictional to confess. I don''t think I have any real ws to confess to except for pride, and that''s not a real w, it''s just basic awareness. It''s one of those fake ws, like when you have fanfic characters whose only w is being ''too pretty.'' So that leaves an impasse. ''Man I''m throwed and I don''t know what to do.''"


    "Listen to the first sermon, maybe you''ll figure out the kind of thing that would make a good confession."


    "Sage advice. Yes, I''ll do that."


    "Why did the celebration get dyed?" Akshel asked, seemingly scrolling through his Guild chat.


    "Um, the devs apparently sent a message saying that all yers should spend this night in towns or cities, not in the wild. I didn''t see it, you guys?" DicingDevil replied.


    "Nope, nothing," Grisier said.


    The rest of the group looked through their system messages, and confirmed that they also didn''t see any such message.


    "Weird. Alright, I sent a message calling Modrea, dimir and Konstantin, we''ll see if they heard anything. If not, then maybe it wasn''t received in the Hunting area for some reason. Darys figured we should have a slight dy to allow the crowds to flood into Kruxol from nearby," DicingDevil said.


    After about a minute, Modrea appeared on the path from the vige, and walked up to join the group. dimir and Konstantin scampered through the bushes beside him, proudly holding pieces of [Young Oppossum Fur].


    "An oppossum? Nice catch," Akshel said.


    "Yes, yes. dimir saw oppossum wandering around past vige, so hees and drags me to catch it," Konstantin said. "We chase it into tunnel, then dimir uses fancy Assassin skill to warp to other side of tunnel. Oppossum is trapped inside the tunnel, can''t leave through either end. It is easy fight, now can get good price for this."


    "Why didn''t Modrea help?" DicingDevil said.


    "Um, he was rxing in vige, didn''t want to disturb him. He said not to get into trouble, so didn''t want to say we were chasing animals around the vige like dog with car."


    Modrea red at them light-heartedly, then turned to the group. "I did manage to find a decent trinket in the vige, it apparently increases the damage of Earth spells in dungeons. But price was way too high for a sketchy trinket, a few hundred thousand gold."


    "Vige shops often lie," Starfighter said. "Did you ask to inspect the product?"


    "Nah, didn''t want the shopkeeper to think I was loaded, he''d try scamming me then."


    "Reasonable, but it might have been useful information. If you can inspect it, then you can check its actual description in the game, not just the shop''s one. So if you know its name and description, you''d know if it''s worth looking for elsewhere."


    "Yeah, sure. I think it was named the [Helix Trinket], we''ll see if the namees up again."


    "By the way, did you guys receive the message about staying in town tonight?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Yeah, it was kinda clear, in red font. Did you guys miss it?" Modrea responded.


    "We didn''t receive it. Strange, maybe the mansion somehow blocks out global announcements? I haven''t missed any before, but none of us saw the message while we were in there."


    "That is weird. Anyway, you can tell us about the mansionter. The announcement wasn''t that urgent, it just said that people should be in towns and cities by 10pm at thetest, preferably by 8. Apparently the wild will get too ''dangerous'' due to some ''cmitous'' creature appearing, not entirely sure what that means. So that leaves us a few hours. It''s only 6:15 or so now, I think?"


    "Yeah, basically. The procession is now at 9pm, so we have some time. We should try to get on the way backto Kruxol after finishing a few quests up North and checking what''s to the East."


    "That sounds like a n," Starfighter said gruffly.


    "Anyway, now that we''re all here ¡ª other than Danemy, who dashed off North to look for the carriage ¡ª let''s all head North as well and pick up some quests," DicingDevil said, before starting off up a path to the North.


    The path was rough, and covered with sharp stones. However, there were no signs of a carriage having passed over the area. On the way, the group rejoined Danemy, who had gone up the path early to see if he could spot the carriage.


    "Didn''t see anything here," Danemy said. "At least, if there''s any carriage, no sign of it. There''s also this NPC, he seemingly tells you about everyone whoes down this road and says he didn''t see anything. He also has a quest for groups, we can check on that now."


    He pointed to an NPC standing beside the path further to the North, a young, brown-haired man wearing a light, green shirt and with a small, grey beard. He smiled widely on seeing them, and began to speak.


    "Hello, I''m Dastard. The miners up North called me, ''That rogue who ran off with our stuff,'' but now they''ve left. I''m just a messenger, y''know, I run around all fleet of foot and carry messages or letters from aristocrats and the king to anyone in the area. But it''s a poor ie. So how am I supposed to go on without grabbing supplies, coal and valuable stones from the mines and selling them? You guys have to help me!"


    "He seems very sympathetic, the poor guy," DicingDevil intoned in deadpan. "Let''s see what he wants."


    He turned towards Dastard and, checking a few options shown next to the NPC, asked, "Tell me more about the mines."


    "Well, I don''t know exactly why the miners left, but supposedly they were chased off by some ghosts or something. They''re fearless guys, but some ghosts killed a few of ''em and the rest were dragged out by higher-ups to avoid incident. So I''m wonderin'', did the dead miners have anything on their person when they died? Any materials or tools I could steal? So I''m just going to ask you to check if you can find a dead miner, see if he has anything left, y''know? If he does, I''lle and find the rest, you just need to find one."


    "What''s in it for us?"


    "I''ll give you some good rewards. You can keep most of what you find on the miner, and I''ll hand out some bombs I took from the soldiers near Kaxil. Some odds and ends I got from the miners as well. I can also offer this stone, it doesn''t do much for me but I hear it''s great for Guilds."


    He held out his palm to reveal a chalky, white stone, named [Guild Blessing Stone].


    DicingDevil assented quickly. "Yes, we''re definitely doing this. I ept the quest."


    "Thank you, brave adventurers," Dastard repliedckadaisically.


    DicingDevil turned to exin to the party. "Those stones are valuable, they increase the gold yield from a Guild having influence over an area or controlling a town. They also give a boost to Guild members'' stats when involved in Guild-based events. So it looks like we''re rummaging around looking for dead miners."


    "Sounds good," Starfighter replied. "Let''s go."


    As they walked further North, the path began to sway queasily from side to side. Soon, they saw a few small huts, indicating a settlement. A few men were sitting by furnaces outside these huts, manning small stalls which sold raw crafting materials such as iron, straw and wood sourced from the surrounding area. Crucis noticed that one stall was selling various forms of exotic, often decorative paper. A few of the items had seemingly been bought recently, judging by empty spots on several stalls.


    As DicingDevil went briefly to have a chat with the stall owners, Crucis had a look around the settlement. It was overhung by tall trees with thick, dark-green leaves, making it quite humid and shadowy. The grass here had been trimmed, but still grew wild and long in some corners of the settlement, while a few bats rested upside-down on the trees just North of the settlement.


    It was a curious choice of location for settling into, but Crucis guessed it might have been chosen due to its proximity to the former mine - this area may have been more crowded and ripe for trade in the recent past.


    "The mine is Westwards," DicingDevil said, returning to the group. "There was a convenient quest here involving the mine, which would have dovetailed nicely with our other quest, but it''s been taken. That might mean that someone else is in the mines. Keep a look out. But we don''t know their level."


    "Yeah, it also looks like some items from the stalls have been bought recently," Crucis said, sweeping his hand in the direction of the stalls. "We''re likely to havepany here. But they look to have only bought from the stalls which don''t have items level-locked to 50 and over, so at least some of them are low-level. If so, we might have some decent targets."


    "Observant. Yes, hopefully we get some kills, especially since these guys seem like wealthy crafters and might have good materials and gold on hand. Let''s be on our way."


    Walking down a thin, muddy path to the left of the settlement, surrounded byrge trees, the group soon passed by what looked like arge, square-shaped white building to their right. Its window-frames were empty, but were carved into a delicate de shape at the top. Inside, it was quite dark, but was seemingly lit up by a lilting fire in one corner of the room.


    "This looks a bit luxurious for the middle of nowhere," Akshelmented.


    "I''m sure we''ll find some entrics inside," DicingDevil said. "But let''s check out the mines first."


    Through the window, Crucis could dimly make out two figures ying chess by the fireside, though one yer seemed to move stiffly and almost mechanically. The other yer seemed a bit frustrated with their position, but seemed to be generally in good spirits, and his chest would asionally heave in and out as ifughing.


    Further down this narrow path, the group finally came across arge rockface with a cave-like hole screaming into the sky. Next to it was a tattered sign saying, ''J.H. Mines,'' with the word ''disused'' scrawled hectically above this. The rocks inside the mine''s entrance were ck, and it looked like therge mouth of a basking shark or whale shark. Around the entrance, wet mud had begun to spread along the ground, left unchecked now that the miners were away.


    In this mud, there were clear footprints, which DicingDevil went up to inspect.


    "These are definitely fresh," he said. "All are leading in, noneing out. It''s likely they''re still in there. Our Assassins should go in first, to get the drop on anyone in there. The rest of you, stay at the entrance, and prevent them from escaping."


    Starfighter nodded and drew his sword, then stood tall at the entrance.

 Chapter 90: Only the Vultures Will Come to See Me Hang

    Chapter 90: Only the Vultures Will Come to See Me Hang


    [Reyer] kicked therge, ck stone wall in frustration, but it did not budge an inch.


    His Guild official, [DTMistress], had sent him a private message asking sternly why he had stepped out of Kaxil four hours ago, specifying the exact time when he had left.


    He had exited the town through a backdoor in an abandoned building, in a ramshackle, empty part of the town''s outskirts where barely anyone would normally see him go. If someone had seen him, he guessed that he had been ced under watch. And he might know why.


    He wasn''t stressed out about how to respond: by ignoring her. If she wanted to, she could try to find him. The area East of Kaxil was huge, so finding him in this specific mine in the Hunting area was unlikely. But what concerned him was that the higher-ups were keeping an eye on him now, and had probably realised that he was a deserter.


    "Hey, George, how''d Distress know we left town? Any idea how much she knows?" he said to the yer beside him.


    "Could be the leader? I forget his name, but can''t he check on yers'' locations, at least approximately?" [GEORGEW] replied calmly.


    "Nobody seen ''im since the war, mate. Could be, but I doubt it. Look, I think they''re watching us."


    "You always say they watchin'' us, people like you wanna live in the Da Vinci Code or somethin''? Mate, it''ll be fine, worst is they''ll expel us if they can."


    Reyer sighed. "Look, you don''t seem to understand, right? We were supposed to escort the Fountain Guild leader, and protect him. Instead, we turned tail and ran. Fountain are our Guild''s biggest allies, benefactors, you think the Guild wants to piss them off? Nah, mate, they''ll use us as scapegoats. That''s why they told us to stay in Kaxil while they''re at the meeting with other Guilds."


    "Could be. But look, our Guild''s small, Ripley, that''s why I told you toe here. They need all hands on deck, they''re not gonna throw strong yers like us to the dogs."


    "Mate, since we got trapped here the Guild''s gone mad. Like, if one of the officials see you, then you''re on patrol duty or you''re escorting Fountain members between towns, we only get to still explore because we stay out of their way. What Fountain are giving them - gold, support, who knows what else - is clearly more important than what we are, I think they want to merge into Fountain as soon as possible."


    "And now we''ve ruined that?"


    "Unless they can screw us over to repent for it."


    George went silent, beginning to share some of Ripley''s concerns.


    Although the atmosphere of their Guild''s higher-ups was increasingly restrictive, George and Ripley had still managed to grow steadily by sneaking out with a few Guildmates to do quests out of sight of the towns. Since their Guild was small, it was easy to evade detection by the few, busy officials, and they had managed to develop their crafting skills heavily. This meant that they could trade with people from other Guilds at good prices, and now they had even found members ofrger Guilds who took them on hunting expeditions to make traps.


    While these allies of fortune wouldn''t raise a finger to save them if they were med for the death of the Fountain leader, the Hunting area had been an excellent ce for them to grow and gain resources.


    Since it was fairly uncrowded, they had even got used to crossing over into unused areas, like Area E, in order to find promising spots for resources and hence build better traps. By now, they were familiar enough with the Hunting area to easily pick out safe ces to cross into Area E without being caught by a Ranger, and their teams generally appreciated the valuable items they could retrieve.


    Their most valuable find was a small settlement with plenty of high-quality crafting resources and tools on sale. Revisiting it again today, as the rest of their team waited by the readied traps in Area D, they were pleasantly surprised to find that levelling up past 45 had unlocked some new tools for purchase, and also given them a quest involving a disused mine nearby. They were told to retrieve eight pieces of [Kaxil Pyrite Ore] scattered through the mine.


    So far, the mine had beenrger than they expected. It was a maze of criss-crossing tunnels and even contained a few small pools of water. Their group had to split up in order to search the mine efficiently, with a fellow crafter named [Terabyte] journeying off on a long path to the right.


    "I didn''t find nothing here, you?" George groaned from a corner.


    The loud echo of voices in the mines made Ripley ill at ease, it reminded him that he was still haunted by the aftermath of his actions in the war.


    "No pyrite here, sad. But we do have five pieces, sure the rest is just around the corner. Why do they want fool''s gold anyway, nah?"


    "Said it was some rare local kind, maybe for alchemists or other strange guys."


    Ripleyughed. "Yeah, never know who could be a buyer. Anyway, it is really shiny, also a bit red. Not like normal pyrite, yeah. Let''s go find the rest."


    This search for pyrite, like his recent embrace of crafting, soothed Ripley slightly and allowed him to focus. With rumours of real death swirling around, he found these nonbat activities calming. Even though he was a lumbering [Knight], he had thrown himself thoroughly into crafting and progressed rapidly.


    They walked towards a path on the left of the room, only to find that it forked into three paths.


    "This could take a while," George said. "Tell ya what, we should split up and check these more quickly. Each of us takes one side, then when you''re finishede to the middle."


    Ripley nodded, and walked briskly down the leftmost path, while George sauntered confidently down the rightmost one.


    Ripley''s path wound on for longer than he expected, curving gradually to the left. He found himself absent-mindedly ncing at DTMistress'' message, afraid that the Guild officials would track him to the Hunting area. After all, they had seen him leave town when he was sure he was alone, it would be even easier for them to catch him in the Hunting Lodge where many people passed by.


    And besides, he figured, this whole event was probably just theatre. Weren''t DeathGang like the Hashin? He had seen his own leaders negotiate with the Hashin, to ensure safe passage for their dungeon runs. The Hashin would negotiate this for the leadership, but obviously still treat smaller yers voyaging out as open season. To Ripley, they all seemed to be on essentially the same side. In fact, it wouldn''t surprise him if one of the DeathGang spies who had tailed him in the forest was the one who reported his desertion to Fountain or his own Guild.


    So who knows who might be spying on him?


    He was still proud of his Guild, to be clear. He wore the tag of the [Gethsemane] Guild with pride. To him, it represented his close friends and their tight-knit forays into the wild, and due to the Guild''s small size he knew most of the ordinary members nearby quite well. He didn''t really associate the term with some aloof bureaucracy, who spent more time interacting with other Guild leaders than with their own members.


    He snapped out of his tangential, stressful thoughts as he reached the end of the passage. Looking ahead, he saw a chamber which looked oddly familiar. Stepping into it, he heard a faint sound behind him like the swish of a curtain in a light breeze, but he ignored it. As light poured in from the left, he finally got a clear look at the chamber around him and realised that he had been here before.


    This chamber had actually been near the entrance to the mine, and they had found a piece of pyrite ore here before. There were some stones strewn in one corner where they had rummaged through the dusty chamber and found it.


    He sighed. It would make more sense now to just go back and enter the middle path, no point in exploring somewhere that had already been turned inside-out. Before turning back, he flicked back to his menu and checked the PM by DTMistress again, increasingly starting to wonder if he should go to hide in Kruxol this evening despite it seeming suspicious.


    A threatening voice whispered from right behind his throat, "Did you think no-one would find you?"


    Ripley froze for a moment in shock, then turned around heavily to see who had spoken. However, he saw nobody standing where the voice had spoken.


    "Calm down, there''s no escape," the voice snarled, now behind him in the opposite direction.


    Ripley began to move, lurching forwards to try and escape down the passage he hade from. However, a low [Stunning Dagger] to the right side of his back, below the ribcage, stopped him painfully in still motion.


    In seconds, he had been grabbed around the neck and stabbed harshly with a [Panoramic Strike] that messily tore into it. As he regained motion, the figure behind him began using [The Ripper], pressing the dagger tight against his throat and beginning to slice a deep gash across it. Choking on the pain, Ripley instinctively flinched away from the dagger, which quickly followed him.


    As he awkwardly bent backwards and sideways out of the dagger''s way, the figure behind him neatly kicked his legs out and shoved his neck gruffly to send him falling to the ground. Since he had bent himself into an awkward, off-bnce pose, Ripley fell heavily.


    Looking up while scrambling for his sword, he tried to get a look at his assant. He was shocked to see that the figure standing above him was not an ordinary human, but a man with jet-ck, lizard-like scales crawling across his face. From behind these scales, there was the hint of white skin and blond hair, and noble-looking, ambitious green eyes that reminded Ripley of his own.


    The air around him had turned dark, as if thete afternoon light was being strangled into night. But he wasn''t sure why, or if that was just his mind panicking at these dire straits.


    As the man knelt down and grabbed him by the back of the neck, Ripley could feel hard, slimy, cold scales digging into his skin. He began to scream involuntarily, but felt a sharp pressure as a dagger pierced the back of his throat and mostly quieted him. He made a suffocating, faint squeal and his face lurched painfully forwards, colliding with the ground in front of him. He began to cry, and plead.


    "Look, I - I can''t - Guild hates me, and now -"


    The figure behind him had no reaction, and instead used [The Ripper] to tear a cut across Ripley''s forehead before kneeling against the back of his head to force his wounds to scrape against the hard floor. Due to the suffocating pressure against his neck, Ripley found his mind swimming strangely.


    "Oppression! Oppression!" Ripley choked out frantically.


    This strange outcry piqued the interest of his assant.


    The figure behind him loosened the grip around his neck, and spoke briefly. "Speak, old woman."


    "Not - old woman."


    "Man, sorry. From behind, you looked like an old ck woman."


    Ripley hesitated, unsure if he was being interrogated. He had agreed to not reveal any information about his fellow-deserters like George, and they had agreed to not tell on him either. But could he keep that promise through all this pain? He could try.


    The figure kneed Ripley harshly on the back of the head, sending blood sttering across the ground as Ripley''s wounded face scraped against it.


    As Ripley began to groan, he heard the figure speak from above him. "Good to see you haven''t gone mute. Well, will you speak now?"


    "You - you''re like a machine! Don''t you have sympathy? Don''t you have sympathy? Let me go, please. You want to know what I did during the war, you want to know about the others who ran away?"


    "Is dying with dignity too much to ask?" the figure sighed. "Look, clearly you''re in a confused state of mind. So you think that somebody sent me?"


    "Do you - you know Distress? I mean -" Ripley choked on the hated official''s name, which he couldn''t bring himself to say.


    "That was a more philosophical question than I was expecting. But here''s an answer, at least from your perspective - your point of view. I am distress."


    He lifted Ripley''s upper body firmly off the ground, keeping his dagger under Ripley''s throat. He continued kneeling against Ripley''s head, almost hanging Ripley on the dagger. Ripley wed desperately against the ground to avoid his neck falling squarely across the dagger''s edge. In the process, his hands became increasingly numb and weak, incapable of drawing his sword or wielding it.


    After twenty seconds of this, the figure rxed his dagger hand and kneed Ripley back to the ground. Ripley was panting heavily, but managed to get some words out even though it felt like his lungs werebusting.


    "Are you - DeathGang, our leaders, Fountain? Whatever, you''re all the same! Devils! Devils!"


    "I''m the only devil I know of," came the reply.


    After a few seconds, the figure spoke again. "Anyway, I should take care of your friends now. Anyst words, mon frere? What''s your final message?" A few moments passed. "Well, I guess you aren''t responding. So let''s just say that your final message was, hm, ''change da world,'' shall we? Awfully noble, that."


    On saying this, the figure jerked Ripley''s head straight up, and took some dust from nearby in one hand. As he sprinkled this dust in a light drizzle across Ripley''s torn, heavily wounded face, Ripley felt as though rats were crawling inside his head. He tried to writhe across the floor, but his body could only bring itself to flop weakly from side to side.


    Finally, the dagger sunk in for another, agonising [The Ripper] across his neck. As it curled across his neck, it transitioned into a stone cold [Silent Stab] which pierced squarely into the left of his neck. Ripley dropped dead on the ground.


    Behind him, Crucis rose up quietly, satisfied to see a glut of new items in his inventory from the dead crafter. He heard footsteps approaching, as Akshel chased George through the maze-like mines. And straight to Crucis.

 Chapter 91: Disturbing the Priest

    Chapter 91: Disturbing the Priest


    The sound of footsteps echoed around the ck, stony passage like a frantic heartbeat, as George ran from his pursuers.


    Hisbination of Strength, Dexterity and Constitution made him a fast runner here, and he had bolted as soon as he saw a DeathGang member approach. The instinct of fleeing when that Guild''s tag appeared was one which had been honed by the nerves of a sleepless night before the war East of Kruxol.


    And once he set off, he was difficult to catch.


    He had managed to flee from the war unscathed, in spite of a few DeathGang members giving chase. When he was young and still living in Namibia, he had gone to school next to arge mining facility. The children typically yed near the mines, and he had tried to join in. However, if he was seen by the mine''s owner, a rich Frenchman named Darcy, then Darcy would send guards and hounds to chase him down for being ck. Although he was sometimes caught and beaten, over time he managed to get away more often. This made him well-practiced at eluding chasers, and he expertly kept his bnce while being chased.


    Barreling through passageways effortlessly, George smiled lightly when he heard the frustrated heavy breathing of the Assassin behind him. The Assassin had higher Agility, and was hence faster at precise movements and short bursts of motion, but the rtiveck of Strength and Constitution meant that they would tire easily if forced to run for a long distance.


    As he deliberately ran through a long passageway, he could hear the Assassin slowly losing ground on him. In this passageway, the loud echoes of the chase reverberated with a slight musical lilt, like the sound of a worn-out ordion.


    While he was running somewhat blindly, not exactly remembering the way back to the entrance, he could recognise the chamber ahead of him from early in the mines. It felt refreshingly familiar. Maybe he could escape?


    Suddenly, as he was approaching the chamber, he felt his legs snap sharply to the left, and an invisible hand grabbed his throat and mmed his head into the ground beside the right wall of the passage. His vision went slightly blurry.


    As his legs fell to the side, he was about to curse his luck for uncharacteristically tripping during this important chase. However, as a ck-d, gaunt figure appeared standing over him, it became clear that he had been tripped up by an Assassin hidden with [Stealth Cloak].


    "Who are you?" George shouted defiantly.


    Instead of answering, Crucis calmly loosened the ck fabric wrapping his face, revealing pale, powdery ice-white skin which glowed coldly into the air. The passage was growing congested with ck smoke, which flowed from the passage where Ripley had died. In this nightmare-inducing smog, Crucis'' skin took on a ghostly and ethereal, almost mncholic, pale shade.


    George shuddered at this phantom-like disy. "Hey, whitey, you just going to stand there and ignore me?"


    With his face only partially masked, Crucis raised his head to look calmly down the passageway, and spoke to the yer who had been pursuing, "Grab his legs, don''t let him escape. Dicing said they''re looking for the other guy, so we''ll deal with this one."


    "Sure thing, whitey," the pursuing yer said cheekily, before lifting George''s leg harshly and wrapping his own leg roughly around George''s knee in the Snake sub-ss'' [Raised Leg-lock] skill. He then bent down, keeping George''s leg painfully raised.


    "How d''you reckon this guy knew my name?" Crucis said, matching Akshel''s light-hearted tone.


    "Educated guess. It''s an archetypal name for a viin, y''know, like ''Satan.'' It derives from the Latin word ''vici,'' meaning, ''wicked oppression.''"


    "Ah. He''s genre-savvy."


    "Excuse me, I matter! My words matter! Don''t ignore me. You don''t care about my people?" George said.


    "I would expect you to have more of a sense of humour, since you''re seemingly named after Dubya," Crucis said disappointedly.


    "Dubya?"


    "Bush? Maybe Washington?" Crucis sighed at George''s noprehending stare. "Well, I guess not. So you''re just some guy who happens to be named George W.?"


    "Oi, yeah I am, and when we get out of here then I''ll tell the authorities about your behaviour. You can''t bully people like this, this is America!"


    George tried to il towards Crucis with a loosely-gripped sword, but Crucis easily angled his own sword down and blocked the strike. Crucis'' own de pointed firmly towards the back of George''s neck, making George hesitant about whether to struggle and il further as he felt the sharp point brush his neck.


    Akshel stabbedfortably with a dagger towards George''s left hand, which was holding the sword. George''s sword ttered to the ground as he withdrew his bloodied fingers and knuckles from the hilt. Crucis kicked it away, in the direction of the chamber where Ripley had died.


    "You''ll be sued. You''ll be sued by the State of Minnesotta!" George said in frustration.


    "Who''s Minnesotta? I''m in Europe, I don''t know the guy. Why would he sue me, have I done anything to him?" Crucis shrugged, giving a tongue-in-cheek response.


    "It''s not a guy, dumbo! It''s a state!"


    "Oh, okay. So, like, andmass is going to sue me? Is this some environmentalist thing?"


    "No, the state, like, not thend!"


    "Then the air? Eh, whatever, I guess I''ll see him in court. But I''m not in America, so I''m not sure why it would matter to me. And even if it did, if I im that you had WMDs and looked Arabic then they''d probably find it quite kosher." Crucis was lying about his location, since it amused him to see the passionate George''s deted response.


    "No, but - fine, yeah, fine. You aren''t in America? Well, we''ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But listen, you guys gotta realise that you''re being yed. Your DeathGang, they''re probably friends with our Guild, that''s why you guys was - were sent here. Ripley was all worried about that. You guys are all just vehicle for the oppressor, y''know? It''s just the same thing, it''s evil, it opposes themon man and don''t let him flourish! You''re all the same, I say! You should stand up for yourself, you know, stand up for everyone - the people of God - against evil and mean oppressors. I mean, we all gotta have dreams and goals, y''know?"


    George gesticted wildly, as if to convey his point.


    "Well, looks like we''ve stumbled into the Preacherman Show now," Crucis said to Akshel.


    "Yes, this guy clearly dreams of being a priest," Akshel replied.


    "Well, hopefully he enjoys his chancel," Crucis said, using his sword to prod George up against the wall. "But all of his rabble-rousing speech echoing around here wildly, it sounds like a choir formed from hecklers in the nave."


    He signalled to Akshel, by flipping his sword until its hilt faced George, in order to indicate that he was preparing a [Mordhau].


    Akshel propped George''s head up against the wall of the passage, with George''s face pressing into the ck rocks. Crucis then smacked the back of George''s head with a firm [Mordhau], sending the head dropping almost lifeless to the ground.


    Bravely, George mustered up a few more words. "Like, what wrong with is you guys? Monstrous! It''s like you guys was brought up in the school shooting video instead of Disney!"


    "What do you mean, in English?" Akshel asked calmly.


    "No, he has a point," Crucis said. "Remember Mokra? I''m sure the kids there would''ve rather been watching the Disney Star Wars or whatever. Actually, I''m not sure. But I guess it might be possible? No?"


    Did he mind disturbing the priest? Not at all, not in the least.


    "Like, Disney, film with good moral and equality! Moral which everyone know. Like, don''t be bad!" George tried to exin.


    "Admittedly, I''m not a fan of Disney," Crucis said nonchntly. "I didn''t watch that much when I was young, either. Actually, there was that one guy who was kinda cool, they were, like, a lion, they yeeted the dude off the cliff while saying, ''Long live the King!'' That guy was ssy, don''t remember the name though, something like ''Scourge.'' Better cinematography in one scene than in hours of Disney''s other fluff."


    "Um, Scar, I think?" Akshel offered.


    "Yeah, that''s probably it. Sounds a bit like my name, as it happens, but I won''t go into detail and dox myself to some guy named GEORGEW. After the PATRIOT Act, we''ve seen that giving up on privacy in that way rarely ends well. But yeah, other than that, I''m not familiar with Disney''s deep morals."


    "Look, you guys, I know you''re not really that evil, you just have to act that way for your superiors!" George said pleadingly. "But people are what they pretend to be, so they should watch out before acting all evil! Let me go, you don''t have any quarrel with me! "


    Akshelughed loudly. "''We are what we pretend to be, so we should watch out for what we pretend to be''? What is this, a Hallmark card, a m poetry concert?"


    "It''s an aspirational sentence, to be fair," Crucis said. "It pretends to be a meaningful moral, as if this will in turn make it so. As for what it actually is? Who knows. I don''t know why the caged bird sings such things, I just wish it would stop."


    George persisted. "Look, no need to hate. Love and tolerance are good for you. It''s the way. It is how we conquer the devil."


    Crucis sighed. "Who do you want to conquer?"


    He spoke softly, and his voice echoed across the passage with the sound of a slithering snake''s scales.


    "The devil. He conspires to create the evil."


    Crucis used [Half-swording] to grip his sword on the de, and then knelt down behind George''s neck. George''s face was t on the ground, with his bald head pressing against the passage wall.


    "Be careful. Fear is born of the devil," Crucis whispered.


    Using a new Assassin skill he had managed to unlock, named [Death by a Thousand Cuts], he began to stab relentlessly at the back of George''s neck. George iled wildly, catching Crucis with a few ncing blows to the chest, but soon these strikes withered into asional twitches. Crucis closed up behind George''s neck, drew a dagger, and began to use [The Ripper] to tear across the many wounds.


    George soon died, and Crucis got up from behind the corpse''s savaged neck.


    "Ave Caesar." He paused for a moment to brush blood off his chest. "This guy was level 47, Reyer was level 49. Seems like these guys are crafters, though, so they''re probably a bit weaker than their level would indicate. Anyway, they shouldn''t be a problem. Soon, they''ll be carcasses fit for hounds."


    "I''m surprised that the other one hasn''t tried to escape yet," Akshel mused. "After all, they''re probably in a party of some sort, so they can probably see that their team-mates are dying. But no word from the guys at the entrance."


    "Maybe the other one got lost? It''s a bitbyrinthine down here."


    Meanwhile, deeper in the mines, [Terabyte] was indeed lost. Walking through a series of passages, he seemed to invariably only go round in circles or stroll deeper into the mines. Since he didn''t have a map of the mines, or a convenient roll of string ¨¤ Theseus, he wasn''t sure which way led to the exit. The mines here were dank and very little light entered, mostly from high, small windows which were partially barred shut. Due to the darkness and pitch-ck stones, as he looked around it felt like he was cking out.


    He hadn''t caught much sleepst night. His sandy-brown hair was still mussed up, he had no real sense of direction, and in his sleepless wandering he felt overwhelmed by the size andplex structure of the mines.


    From a circr passage, he ducked under a thick rock arch to see if it would get him anywhere. The arch had some light wooden scaffolding above it, and he let out a sigh of relief that it didn''t fall on him as he passed through.


    As he entered a dimly-lit chamber, he saw that arge section of the wall had been chipped off, revealing a dark, silvery-greyyer of stone. As he looked around, trying to get his bearings, he was shocked to see a corpse lying on the far side of the room.


    He was at first concerned that it was his party-mates George or Ripley, since he had seen their HP drain to 0%. He had been hoping that they were still some distance away, and their killers wouldn''t be nearby. But he panicked slightly at the thought that the killers might be nearby.


    However, as he stared at the corpse, he realised that it was actually a dead miner, covered in thick clothing and with some toolsid next to him. It was difficult to make out what these tools were in the darkness, but they looked to have rusted over heavily and were probably in bad shape. The muscr miner''s corpse had a frightened, lost-seeming stare frozen on its face.


    As he hesitated, uncertain about whether to search the foreboding corpse or just run and seek a way out, he heard a voice echoing around the circr pathway outside the chamber. It was curiously enthusiastic and upbeat, but in a way that seemed almost feigned.


    "Hey, you found a miner? Congrats, I''m happy for you!"


    Due to the echoes, Terabyte couldn''t quite make out where the voice came from. He looked around nervously, trying to locate it.


    After a couple of seconds, the voice returned, this time unexpectedly chirping out from somewhere above him.


    "Imma let you finish, but -"


    Before he could turn around, Terabyte was bundled roughly to the floor by a fierce, unseen force smashing against their head and upper back from above. He was dragged aggressively to the ground, and felt a distinct pain from the back of his neck. There was a bleeding, deep wound there, but, due to the blur of motion and harsh, blunt collision with the ground, he couldn''t clearly make out the source of the pain.


    His head swimming, Terabyte cried out wildly. "Leave us alone!"


    His assant, Danemy, shrugged. "Mate, I''ll make you scream and whine so loud that everyone will hear you and you''ll be famous. Come on, bro, just trust me."


    Terabyte screamed even louder as Danemy''s dagger angled downwards and tore a thick vertical gash across his back.


    Yet, as Terabyte gathered his strength and blindly iled with his sword across the air, rolling onto his side, he found that his sword passed through empty air. Danemy was nowhere in sight.


    Yet his voice still sounded out from nearby.


    "Tch, when you''re at such a disadvantage, it takes so much effort just for a strike. I could feel iting miles away. And the rest was a simple precept: be prepared."

 Chapter 92: IH8

    Chapter 92: IH8


    Terabyte felt dust being sprinkled over his forehead, and tried to swing in the direction where it was falling from. Disoriented, he could barely make out Danemy''s exact position, and the dust was starting to blind his eyes. As a result, his spective, wide blow was easily parried, and he had to swing his sword wildly and turn his body to deflect the ensuing, counter-attacking stab.


    Danemy did not relent, but responded to this with another, lethargic cut at the head. Terabyte had to twist further to block this. Danemy stepped off to the left of his grounded enemy, and again began a sequence of rxed strikes and parries.


    As this swordfight went on, Danemy continued to circle the blinded Terabyte, while casually and lightly trading blows. He made no serious attempt to attack.


    Soon, Terabyte had no sense of where he was, and had contorted his body painfully to ward off Danemy''s slow but steady strikes. Terabyte''s movements started to slow, and his arm tired from being constantly held in the air. Aches sprung like needles through his shoulder.


    As Danemy noticed Terabyte''s arm beginning to droop, he used [Sword hold] to grab the sword out of Terabyte''s hands. Inspecting the sword for a moment, he threw it aside and watched it spin away across the floor.


    As Terabyte scrambled to crawl and scrape his way away from Danemy, he instead felt a hard collision as he rammed his head into a rocky wall. He felt cold, mmy skin beside him, slightly rotted, and recoiled his hand fearfully.


    "Have you noticed? You''re just next to your kin, the undead miner," Danemy said. "I wonder how he died. His face looks terrified, quite like yours."


    "Shut up! You''re... mean!" Terabyte redounded.


    "Is that all you have to say?" Danemyughed. "''Mean''? Come on, surely there''s more."


    Terabyte let loose a string of swear-words, interspersed with choice epithets like ''bully,'' ''hater,'' ''incel,'' ''Nazi,'' and ''rogue.'' Danemy was most fond of thest of these, finding it exotically quaint.


    "You say a rogue? Aye, and perhaps also a knave? Your words are weapons, sharper than knives," Danemy said, feigning a wounded ego, and dropping his shoulders like a peasant ve bending under a yoke. "Have I failed to meet your high expectations in so many ways? I must have a devil inside. Well, yes, but what can be done? I''m sure that karma would ensure you victory, if it knew how to save a life."


    "Yes, a devil! A devil inside!"


    "Indeed. A creature for whom... malice... therefore I am."


    Danemy knelt down with a dagger and used [Ripper] to cut a deep gash across Terabyte''s lower neck. After leaving a few more bleeding cuts along Terabyte''s back and sides, he dismissively kicked Terabyte t on the ground. Terabyte died after about a minute from the bleeding, after spending the minute rolling around and making choked, agonised, but emphatic-sounding groans as the stony wall clipped against the wounds.


    Danemy smiled, but sighed slightly.


    The introduction of pain to the game had been a nuisance. Before that, he was growing effectively, and used his character''s high mobility to exploit and defeat bosses levels higher than him and his party.


    As these same bosses became too painful to face, he had to dial down his expeditions, and his growth stalled slightly because the PvE grinding options in DeathGang territory weren''t enough to level efficiently and rarely gave decent drops.


    After a few frustrating attempts at a tough boss, the skeletal [Fossil Snake] North-East of Kruxol, he had been covered in a thick wall of pain which kept himid down in the [Arts Building] for about a day. Some of his party were still out of action, especially the Knight who had been caught in the serpentine boss'' coils. This gruelling fight and ensuing period out of action had dyed his progress, but he had also gained increased sensitivity to the ever-present role of pain inbat at this time. He had an intuitive understanding of his opponent''s struggles and weaknesses.


    Due to this, and a positive reputation from his early-game exploits, he had been granted a modest role in the war nning up North. Knowing that Darys was nervous about the troops being ill-prepared, since this was the Guild''s first war and one of the first in the game, he counselled patience. The troops were eased into thebat to get a feel for it and some idea of the pain, while the army quietly nked and surrounded the enemy and prepared to escte based on this structural advantage. By breaking in the frontline, rather than just routing the opponent immediately, there was a greater willingness of DeathGang troops to push consistently through enemy lines and destroy the few obstacles and pockets of resistance without being notably shaken.


    DeathGang''s greater experience with PvP also helped, of course, but Danemy was aware that the experience of small-scale skirmishes wouldn''t always trante immediately intorge-scale battles and would need limatisation.


    In any case, the sess of the Guild in war meant that his prestige had risen, and he had more respect in the Guild. However, this was still limited somewhat by his level. He was determined to raise it, but knew that rising quickly would lead to somepetitiveness and envy from other ordinary DeathGang members. Well, he could survive that.


    After directing the rest of the group to his location in the party chat, he knelt down by the dead miner. There was a letter lying beside the corpse. It seemed to be addressed to the miners who had been here, by someone named John Hazlitt. Danemy wondered if this person was rted to the ''J. H.'' in the mine''s name.


    The author of the letter seemed to be angry and tired, and there were several nooses drawn in the margins of the page.


    To the Miners of J. H. Mines,


    from John Hazlitt,


    I know that some of you will be surprised at this letter. You believe that I have been dead for centuries.


    As you know, I have been in contact with the current owner of thepany, and made an agreement that mining in certain areas - deep in the mine - should stop. Further, certain works of demolition, in the name of ''safety,'' are not to be carried out.


    To sweeten the deal, I suggested that I could offer some work-hands whom I control, and a few materials from deep in the mines supplied by my men, at regr intervals. This, naturally, reduces your pay, because you are less valuable if you are only mining around the surface. Though unfortunate, I do not trust anyone else to treat the untrammeled, raw nature of the deeper mines with the sanctity it deserves.


    Already, an elegant underground stream - sonorous enough that we called it the Orphic - has been disrupted by explosions, because the passage was considered too congested. And there are many such cases.


    I did ensure that you could still all be employed, as those who could not mine would be repurposed as a servant or attendant for my own work-hands'' convenience. I have a strong belief that all men have the right to employment. If a society grandly told some men that they should not serve it, then wouldn''t they believe it? Indeed.


    These terms could have been more favourable to you, had you not skipped the meeting due to the fear that it might reveal your secret unionising to your employer. But it is what it is.


    However, your response has been highly uncooperative as well. After initial attempts to pressure my men out of the mines, or crowd them out of their working areas, you attempted to go on strike. This, however, failed, only giving my men more opportunity to expand our operations across the mines.


    Returning abruptly to re-assert, in a manner of speaking to stake your im on the mines, you have only grown more violent. Deliberate acts of sabotage, even violent skirmishes, have broken out in parts of the mines. Explosions have been nted deep in the mines, in protest, and at least eight skirmishes broke out when my men were attacked across the mines.


    These skirmishes, which grew to fights with hundreds of people involved - even some women and children on your side - were finally stopped by the intervention of the King''s Guard. However, it was only days until further attempts at violence broke out, though for now you hold back and plot as you conspire to all-out war in the near future. The attempts at sabotage have yet not wearied.


    You will im that this is all a nder, indeed a pure story. Well. Dead men tell no fables. But far from being non-violent - as you have styled yourselves - you have now made covert ns to go to ''war'' with my men and stage an asymmetrical battle across the mines.


    I will give you two choices.


    Firstly, you mayply, and co-operate with the current state of the agreement.


    Secondly, you may notply, and then I will be forced to pre-empt your warlike ns with violence of my own. If my men and allies be violent, then several of you will not survive. Oh, what allies do I mean? Perhaps you think I mean the King''s forces. Well, I will leave you to surmise for yourselves.


    I do not expect you toply.


    But you should think deeply about it. Though, as they say, ''you know eternity can''t ever change your mind.''


    War or peace? I await your sign.


    J. H.


    As he read this letter, Danemy frowned slightly. Old-schoolbour disputes were an odd source material for an MMO. It was like reading a dramatic ount of haggling. All the same, he came to appreciate the importance of this letter and the surrounding events to the current state of the mines.


    By the end, he extrapted that John Hazlitt did indeed begin his ''war,'' and this is what had killed these miners and driven the rest out of the mines. Or was it disused? Perhaps there were still signs of life, deeper in the mines? This is what the letter seemed to suggest. How much of the letter was true, he couldn''t be sure. But for sure it was no vain threat.


    While considering the letter, he heard the quiet patter of footsteps approaching from the circr passage outside.


    As Crucis and Akshel approached the chamber, Danemy half-turned to them and smiled lightly. Mock-theatrically, he swept his hand in an understated flourish over the two corpses beside him. "Wee to my state of nirvana."

 Chapter 93: John

    Chapter 93: John


    "Who is John Hazlitt?" Crucis said, ncing up from the letter.


    "Hard to be sure. I''d guess he might be rted to the ''J.H.'' in the name of the mines," Danemy replied.


    "Ah, I assumed that ''J.H.'' was just a generic naming choice," Akshel said. "Still, sounds quite possible that it''s this guy."


    "It does, yes," Crucis said. "Clearly people here would have been expected to know his name. He says they''d be surprised at the letter, because they would have thought him long-dead."


    DicingDevil walked quietly into the chamber, as if trying to avoid being overheard.


    "Hey, guys, anyone noticed anything weird about this ce? It feels like something was watching me on the way here."


    "How do you mean?" Danemy said.


    "I heard a few quiet sounds, a bit like a stream, continually following my path on the way here. Also a few footsteps, but I thought that might be my echo. Then I turned around to check, and found no signs of a person - not even in the walls - but did find that there was a pair of footsteps parallel to mine."


    "Can''t say I noticed that," Akshel replied.


    A loud, haggard voice rose up from near the entrance to the chamber, and the group turned around, startled. "Did someone ask about John Hazlitt?"


    After a moment, Crucis could make out a pale old man with a stately, serene expression, wearing a short, white beard and clipping into the chamber through a wall. The man''s mouth was locked in a cynical grimace, despite his otherwise-peaceful expression.


    "Yes. Did you know him?" Akshel asked bravely.


    "I knew him well. He was a great and good man, but s, a tyrant. A wicked man, he oppressed the workers of this mine in a vicious ss struggle. Yet he was a valiant, orderly fellow, and he ran these mines well. Indeed, under his watch it began to flourish. A man after my own heart. I know not why he has be so wicked, but maybe he has a reason."


    "After calling him a wicked tyrant, you still praise him heavily," Danemy responded. "You on his side, or the miners''?"


    "Which side? Mine."


    "I see. So, are these ''J. H. Mines'' actually named after him?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes. In fact, I can tell you a bit about them. The mines, you see, soon began to ovep with a natural cave system. John Hazlitt sent a few men to explore deep inside these, but they never came out. One day, he himself ventured down there and found..."


    "Yes?" Akshel said, excited by the speaker''s suspenseful pause.


    "Ah, sorry, my memory itself shudders at the sight of what I was to describe! It ovees me, it overwhelms the senses with dread. No more of it... for now. Ask me something else, I shall divulge more of this after a few questions."


    "So was it because of John Hazlitt that these miners are dead?"


    "Hm. Well, the miner here is due to m- to John, yes. And some other miners around here were also killed by John and his merry men. The other corpse? I''m not sure. It looks like he bled to death just now. A dreadful fate."


    "So did you just follow our leader through the mines?" Danemy asked.


    "By your leader, you mean thisd?" The old man pointed at DicingDevil.


    "Yes," DicingDevil said tersely.


    "Well, I suppose that I might have done, yes. I hope you don''t hold it against me. I am an honourable man."


    "Your level is 50," Crucis said. "Aren''t you afraid that we could kill you? Not that I have any such intention."


    "I am unafraid. I could flee deeper into the mines, and my power would increase dramatically. It is my native domain. So I would not advise it."


    "How many miners did J.H. get?" Akshel asked.


    "Hm. All of them. Well, a few were just scabs, and he left those alone. But the rest - he began killing them in the mines, and many died. But even after they were hastily withdrawn, he or his thugs would go to the miners'' homes at evening and wait for them to return, then have them killed. This was one among several bloody practices, and I highly doubt that any miners survived."


    "Quite efficient," Crucis said. "So, which side were you on? You called John Hazlitt a tyrant, but you live in these mines without disturbance. Surely he must consider you, ehm, some kind of ally?"


    "Oh, certainly. You know, I just followed your leader out of curiosity. But my skill at following people through these mines was honed through hunting down miners. We waited until they went into a ce where we could trap them, then sent in a few men to make sure they could not escape. Anyway, do you wish to hear about what Hazlitt found in the mines?"


    "Go ahead."


    "He found arge statue, dedicated to the local god of death, whom we call Dravaistaya.* A three-tongued, looming blue figure, whose mouth was glutted with blood, and who carried a sharpnce. Some others worship this deity under simr names, and as a god of war or even statecraft. It is justbels. Regardless, he was awed by this majestic, terrifying statue in the middle of a series of seemingly uninhabited caves. I, too, was impressed by the sight of the statue: in this dark cave its blue appears ck unless you look closely, and the god''s frenzied white-red eyes - staring at you - are a shock when you are simply finding your way through a vast, empty cave.


    "There are many rumours about the powers of this god. Some say that, when vast, bloody battles ur near these mines, his enchantment allows for us to incarnate into the world as Reapers - beings who need to kill others in order to survive. Our original forms remain here, and we return after we take 70 lives. But this would be rare now ¡ª if it is true.


    "Next to the statue was a human face on the ground, which was torn apart and unrecognisable. It had arge, rectangr knife next to it.


    "This statue is hidden deep in the mines, and nobody but John Hazlitt has seen it."


    On saying this, the man turned around and left the room.


    As Crucis and Akshel stepped out of the chamber to look, they saw the old man''s form disintegrate into the air and disappear. As this happened, a loud, serpentine hiss resounded through the circr passageway outside.


    "He vanished again," Akshel said. "As Dicing said. Elusive chap."


    "Yep. And he''s clearly John Hazlitt," Crucis said. "He was strongly implying it, then mentioned that he had seen the statue which ''nobody but John Hazlitt'' had seen. Looks like we just met J.H."


    "Quite an honour. So, there are more ghosts than just this guy, right? Any idea where they might be?" DicingDevil asked. "We''re quite deep in the mines now, I doubt they''re far off."


    Crucis scanned the letter quickly. "This mentions a room where people often disappeared, maybe we''d find them there? There''s a map on the other side of this paper, it has a few annotations, one of the rooms is marked as ''Lost Man''s Resting ce.'' That might be it. But they could be dangerous, so I''d be careful."


    "Good point."


    DicingDevil looked around the room, leaning back against a wall.


    "So, we found a dead miner?" DicingDevil said calmly. "Great. I''ll grab his stuff, to turn in to the quest NPC. Anything else to do here?"


    "It depends," Danemy said. "If we wanted to be daredevils, then we could check on some ces with ghosts. If not, then we could leave or look around."


    "We could send someone to fetch the quest from the settlement nearby," Crucis suggested. "Then we could get that done as well."


    "Yes, fair point," DicingDevil said. "I''ll tell Grisier to head down and pick up the quest for our party. ording to the guys we left outside, there''s been something of a kerfuffle from a few Rangers on the borders to Area D. I''d guess that the guys we killed have partymates trying to get here, but they don''t know where to cross safely and the Rangers are forbidding it. If they do cross over and are dangerous, we could probably just call the Rangers from nearby, but we might be able to get some kills as well. They aren''t the strong party we saw earlier."


    "I saw an item in the room where Reyer died, it appeared on the ground at about the same time as he died. It was some kind of pyrite, I think. That''s probably the quest item. I''ll go back and stand by it till Grisier picks up the quest, then grab it if the quest requires it," Crucis said.


    "Wait a second, what room is that?" Danemy said, scanning the map. He had noticed something curious.


    Crucis traced his finger along the map, until he found the long passageway which he had caught George in. He pointed to the chamber next to it. "This one, I think."


    "Alright. Did you notice the symbol next to it?"


    "The red, crossed swords? Yeah, looks like it marks ces where there had been fights or skirmishes. There''s also one next to the ''Lost Man''s Resting ce.''"


    "Yep, about eight of them. The letter mentions eight ''bitter skirmishes.'' But you''re saying that one of them might have the quest item. Maybe we should check the other crossed-sword locations?"


    "Yeah, good idea. Anyway, I''ll go and wait by the room at the entrance, there seems to have been a cluster of fights around there. I guess that, deeper into the mines, the ghosts are too powerful to fight. If the pyrite''s what we''re looking for, then we can split up and check the other ces with the sword symbol. Then meet up again to check the crossed swords next to the Lost Man''s Resting ce, since we''ll have to be careful there."


    Crucis grabbed a piece of crumpled paper which Ripley had dropped, and began sketching the part of the map which was near the entrance, along with carefully replicating the five crossed-sword symbols scattered around the area.


    "At least this gives us a lead," DicingDevil said, walking near the arched exit of the chamber. "Best to be prepared."


    As Crucis walked briskly back towards the ce where Ripley had died, he opened the game''s menu.


    Checking through his menu, Crucis found that the game had finally registered hispletion of the next task in the [Trait] system, ''Complete a Land Development quest.'' A Land Development quest was one which implied making changes to an environment, typically preparing it for use, at the behest of an NPC. For instance, early visitors to the Hunting area had asionally been asked by Rangers to clear out vines and locate predators in Areas A and B, so that the area became fit for hunting expeditions. In this case, Crucis guessed that he had fulfilled it through the mink den quest.


    This had seemingly only unlocked a few moments after John Hazlitt had disappeared, perhaps because the minks were beginning to settle into the dens. This struck him as slightly over-specific, since he hadpleted the actual digging hours ago, but at least indicated that the dens would be upied when he returned. Further, this dy was bnced out somewhat by the next two tasks beingpleted instantaneously.


    The next two Trait tasks after this were already marked aspleted as soon as they unlocked, because he had already fulfilled the conditions. These tasks were ''Kill at least one enemy designated as a Leader, eg. a King,'' and ''Attempt one Battodo Trial.''


    He decided to expend 2 Trait points in upgrading the [Deadly Premonition] skill, which reached its second and highest level. This reduced the CD on [Stealth Cloak] to 11 seconds when he was out of battle. Using his remaining 2 Trait points, he unlocked two Traits:


    [Scars | As enemy''s HP lowers, increases the chance of inflicting the [Bleeding] status with each attack. The severity of the [Bleeding] also increases, if you are using a dagger. The [Scars] Trait cannot be used unless the dagger is your primary weapon.]


    [Spontaneous | If outnumbered, reduces all CD times by 7 seconds.]


    These Traits would be important. However, the alternatives were also not bad, with [Resistance] potentially giving a decent stat increase for 10 seconds if the opponent attacked first, [Iron Fist] increasing CON when fighting multiple opponents, and [Cavalcade] which increased STR and DEX when fighting PvP alongside a party.


    While [Iron Fist] would be useful for fleeing if outnumbered in the wild, he figured that Spontaneous might actually be better for that as well: Assassin moves like [Stealth Cloak] and [Agile Step] could be effective in making a quick escape. In general, most of these choices did seem like they could be used effectively, depending on a character''s build, choice of weapon, and Guild.


    However, since dagger abilities and advanced Assassin skills would often focus on causing [Bleeding], the [Scars] Trait stood out and would help to make this much more potent. Further, Crucis figured that [Spontaneous] was inly stronger than [Cavalcade], and it required [Scars] to unlock. The path through [Scars] and [Spontaneous] led to several useful Agility and Dexterity boosts, so it seemed like a more promising path generally.


    From here, he could unlock those new Traits, and at some point also upgrade Spontaneity. Since many Assassins used a sword as a primary weapon, he would at least be able to maintain a higher Agility than them because they wouldn''t have ess to the same branches of the Trait tree. As in many games, swords were designed primarily with the warrior sses in mind, so the dagger path brought more benefits specific to the strengths of the Assassin ss. However, a sword-based Assassin was probably easier to use for conventionalbat and dungeons.


    The next task was, ''Gain a red name, and fight 3 enemies of the type [Guard] or [Novice Guard].'' This one would be tricky, but he could try it around the outskirts of Kruxol. If he could find a [Novice Guard] and lure it into a fight, without alerting any stronger guards, then he could make a start on the task.


    While this could be repeated, there was a risk that loitering around near Kruxol with a red name could lead to unwanted encounters with the guards or with other yers. While this was worth trying, it would be best saved for a time when he had a few hours to spare in case he had to respawn. If he did have the time, then he could also try any further Trait tasks if they were possible nearby. Eventually, they would probably require him to go much further afield.


    But nning that out could wait. As he nced at the party chat, he saw that Grisier had picked up the pyrite quest.

 Chapter 94: SO MUCH I

    Chapter 94: SO MUCH I


    Crucis caught up with the other Assassins in a long, narrow cave passage which asionally plummeted downwards.


    The pieces of [Kaxil Pyrite Ore] had been easy to find, since they were seemingly all at the positions marked with the crossed-swords symbol on John Hazlitt''s map. The four yers had split up and easily gathered seven of the eight pieces of ore required. However, thest of these symbols was deep in the mines, close to the ''Lost Man''s Resting ce,'' and they met here to take this dicey journey.


    As Crucis reached the end of this long passageway, keeping his left hand on the ck stone wall to steady himself as the passage sloped unevenly downwards, he saw that Danemy had stopped and seemed to be looking through arge chink in the right wall. Walking over to the right, he saw that the thick wall had about six jagged holes in it, each around the size of a hand. Arge chamber could be seen through these, appearing like a mosaic through the array of cracks.


    In this chamber, there was arge, distant pit filled with rotting bodies, some with mining tools still strapped to them. Crucis estimated about 30 to 40 corpses. There was a faint, red mist draping the pit, and some of the bodies had long tracts of ck, burnt skin.


    "This must be some of the other miners which John killed," DicingDevil said, as he took in the scene.


    "Yes. Well, at least now we know where the bodies are buried," Crucis replied contently.


    "This chamber must be fairly deep in the mines, we''re getting close."


    "That''s a lot of bodies," Akshel remarked. "John wasn''t kidding about going to war in the mines."


    "Yep," Danemy said. "And what''s that shape drifting across the walls? It looks like arge, ck snake?"


    The group looked in the direction that Danemy was facing, and saw a sinister, dark-brown shapefortably slithering between small niches in the pit''s left wall. In this dim light, it almost looked ck.


    "That''s brown, I think," Crucis said. "But it''s hard to tell in this light. Its nametag says [Spotted Brown Snake]."


    "So it does. And level 450! That would be painful. I guess the deeper parts of the mine are basically off-limits, then."


    "It''s alright, we just need to pick up the pyrite and scram," DicingDevil said. "Since you have the map, how close are we to the sword symbol?"


    "Um, it''s only a few more minutes, I''d guess? A long, winding passage to the left from here, then adder ¡ª wait, thedders down here are mostly broken. So, then, the long passage to the left, then turning right, then a steep downwards slope back towards the end of that first passage ¡ª now on the bottom end of thedder. After that, just a few quick turns and we''ll be near the Lost Man''s Resting ce."


    "Got it. Let''s go."


    The group set off, and found themselves in a long, dusty leftwards passage which looked like a zoomed-in snake''s burrow. On the way, they stepped over the corpses of eight yers which they found littering the path. Each took turns in looting these corpses, and Crucis was pleased to find some high-quality cksmithing tools and a small collection of valuable [Young Kaxil Deer Pelt] in the corpses which he inspected.


    Since the settlement was seemingly known to a few yers by now, as a ce to gather crafting materials, it wasn''t that surprising that a few people had found their way into the mines, possibly taking the pyrite quest.


    After five minutes, they had reached the hallway leading to the Lost Man''s Resting ce. This was where the final crossed-swords symbol was drawn.


    The passage leading to the Lost Man''s Resting ce was long and filled with a faint, red mist that crawled along the ground. Its roof was high, and, along with the dry ice-like mist, made the passage look almost like a majestic cathdral hallway in a film.


    As the group proceeded cautiously down this dark hallway, they saw that this passage led to a short, smaller tunnel, that formed an entryway to therge chamber known as the Lost Man''s Resting ce. A few corpses lined the ground beneath them, both yers and NPCs, but none had any possessions remaining.


    Reaching past the halfway point of the passage, Crucis stumbled over a corpseid horizontally across the passage. It had seemingly had its arms and legs stretched until they hung apart from each end of the body, like on a rack. As he leaned against a wall to keep his bnce, he saw that the corpse was carrying a letter.


    He picked this up, and began to read, as the rest of the group clustered around.


    Theo Mistril,


    An unexpected guest! I regret that I was not able to roll out a carpet in your honour. You must forgive the indignity, and I will make amends for it in due course.


    I would have prepared further, knowing that you take an interest in matters around this location, but I had expected you to still be exhausted after recent events.


    Did your earlier performance not leave you quite hoarse? While I fought the miners, you gave a whole opera decrying me in the Kaxil town hall. I am still pale as a ghost from the barbs you cast at me, even though I was not there to hear them, and wonder indeed why you did not invite me over before trying to pillory me.


    Be that as it may, you are wee to my abode in these caves. I am pleased to see that you are gaining more renown, and I have even seen transcripts of your speech in the local papers. You have called me a ''ghoulish shell of exploitative, predatory capitalistic boorishness.'' I am not, like you, a banshee set to terrorise the town of Kaxil.


    Rather, I style myself as a sort of underground aristocrat-sh-industralist, the Phantom of the ssenkampf.


    If you find this letter, you will have observed that you are in arge cavern with walls covered in precious minerals. The howls of the children of Dravaistaya may be heard echoing from nearby. I regret that their music is not as rabble-rousing and fashionable as yours, it is instead rather untrained and frightful. It is awfully remiss of me, but you must recall that I cannot control them.


    They are feral beasts, and I do submit that it is unfathomable that I be expected to tame them. You will understand this soon.


    But I will not leave the duty of weing to them, for assuredly they should give a poor show of it. They are unrefined, and have no sense of hospitality.


    Although unprepared, I have mustered up, along with me, a small brigade of men to greet you. Although they were reluctant at first, due to what you had recently deimed about them being ''thugs,'' ''rogues,'' and ''vagabonds,'' after some persuasion they have been enthusiastically garrisoned to give a gentlemanly wee.


    There is so much I wish to converse about, yet I doubt that we will have the time to touch on even half of it! Be that as it may, it is a pleasure.


    Listen for the sound of the snake. It signals my arrival.


    Yours,


    John Hazlitt.


    After reading the letter, Crucis considered themonalities between it and their recent meeting with John Hazlitt. It had a simr sense of factitious self-deprecation. Crucis guessed that that was part of John''s aristocratic persona, an intentionally hollow focus on decorum.


    "Do you hear any howling here?" Akshel asked.


    "Nah, but it looks like this guy was running away, he might have been further inside the caves before being killed," Danemy replied.


    DicingDevil was busy typing up messages to Darys. "Darys seems to be quite interested in this letter, so I''m PMing him a few details. He''s read plenty of ghazals, so he enjoys this kind of confrontational stuff that''s both low-brow and high-brow."


    "Ah yes," Crucis said. "He''s from the Middle East. No wonder his Guild was one of the first to get a war dered against them."


    DicingDevilughed. "But he knows some good poetry and songs, just everyone hates him too much to listen."


    "True. And that''s the general tragedy. Great countries and cultures, but have a bad rap. After going through so many wars, colour revolutions, countries being airdropped onto theirnd, the whole gamut... they''re branded as an Axis of Evil for trying to persist. People ignore the culture of the Middle East, and then call on it to give up its traditions. It''s desecration of souls ¨C indeed, in their holyir."


    "I''m sure he would agree. Now, this guy ¡ª Theo ¡ª seems to have been running down the passageway to get away from the Lost Man''s Resting ce. Reckon he had found this letter somewhere in there, or maybe deeper?"


    Crucis nced from a distance into the entryway leading to the ''Lost Man''s Resting ce.'' He lowered his eyes for a moment at the broad, bright scene of gold, silver, and green arrays of gemstones spreading across the walls of the room inside. They shone with a brilliant, pale shade in the dim light.


    "Yep, that room looks like the ce where he must have found this letter," he said. "Plenty of valuable stones around, but seemingly nobody came out alive. Can''t be safe."


    The map showed a sword at approximately this location, implying that the miners had attempted a skirmish nearby, probably while trying to voyage deeper into the mine and confront Hazlitt.


    "So where is the pyrite?" DicingDevil asked. "The symbol says here, so it should be at least nearby. Be careful, though."


    "Maybe it''s a bit further ahead," Danemy said.


    Crouching down slightly to scan the ground, Danemy took a few steps forwards, until he was about 70m from the opening leading to the Lost Man''s Resting ce. Crucis and Akshel joined him, and they spread out across the chamber.


    After a few seconds, Danemy jolted forwards, seeing something shine beneath a pile of dust on the right side of the passage.


    However, he stopped in his tracks as he heard the loud, threatening sound of a snake''s hissing from just in front of him. As he looked up, he saw that two, bright red orbs - like eyes - had appeared on the wall above the entry to the Lost Man''s Resting ce. A loud, low-pitched hissing sound resounded through the entryway, and the walls around him seemed to shake slightly.


    He darted for the [Kaxil Pyrite Ore], and grabbed it, then backtracked quickly away.


    The snake eyes also faded, leaving silence for a few seconds. Soon, Crucis overheard two faint, whispering voices from inside the Lost Man''s Resting ce.


    "The hounds approach... flee... the howls..."


    "The stampede..."


    "Who dares... who dares?"


    "Misery''s... cloak... cloak..."


    The faint sound of scratching emerged from the direction of the Lost Man''s Resting ce, and soon became clearly the metallic scrape of ws scraping the hard stone walls.


    "These must be the children of Dravaistaya," DicingDevil said. "Well, let''s not stick around."


    He took the map from Danemy, and guided the group as they fled through mazy tunnels towards the entrance.


    After a few minutes, while trying to climb a steep passage, they were surprised to hear a loud noise scrambling across the roof behind them. Looking back, Crucis saw a skeletal humanoid figure crawling effortlessly across the roof. Its nametag said [Undead Crawler], and it was level 70.


    As it lunged out a long arm to grab him, he used an agile [sh] at its hand to deflect it. Danemy grabbed onto the creature and leapt up until he had one foot on the roof, then stabbed and kicked violently at its hands and legs until it fell to the ground. Crucis and Akshel struck hard against one of its legs, which began to crack heavily. It seemed unable to get up.


    It was down to about 68% HP. However, the loud patter of pawsteps came out from behind it, as a stampede ofrge hounds tried to navigate these steep passages. One howled loudly.


    "Leave it. We aren''t sticking around, no?" Crucis said, stepping hastily away from the Crawler''s reaching arms.


    "Sure, let''s go. By the time we kill it, the rest will catch up with us," DicingDevil said, using his hands to climb up a steep drop in the passage. "This one seemingly caught up faster because it was climbing the roof. The rest of the skeletons were stampeding along the ground, they seemingly got in each other''s way in the steep, narrow tunnels."


    They ran off through the mines again, until after a few minutes they saw the light of the mine''s entryway. As the yers escaped towards it, a few loud growls were heard from a short distance behind them. A small group of skeletal wild dogs, with smears of blood across their bones, red aggressively at the yers, but did not dare approach the mine''s exit.


    "The blood must be from the collisions during the stampede," Danemy said. "It must have been havoc. Probably most of them gave up by now."


    After a brief stand-off, the dogs walked calmly back into the mines. Their legs nked tiredly.


    However, one enemy did not retreat. It hurtled towards Akshel as he made his way out of the mines.


    Crucis nced at this quick-moving shape. It was a headless chicken, and it pped its wings aimlessly as it charged.


    He quickly intercepted its run with a [Lunge], and it impaled itself on his sword. As the rest of the group fell in with harsh strikes, the chicken soon fell to the ground, dead. Its feathers had fallen away, leaving only its dry bones lying on the ground.


    "Did anyone hear that thing cluck as it died?" Danemy said, bemused.


    "Yes," DicingDevil said. "How strange. It didn''t have a head, after all."


    "Chickens are weird," Crucis said, then paused for a moment. "Anyway, what''s the awful racket out here?"

 Chapter 95: End Transmission

    Chapter 95: End Transmission


    There was a loudmotion as a group of yers surged across the border from Area D to Area E, pushing their way loudly through arge clump of trees and bushes. They had gained the attention of a few of the area''s rangers, who shouted at them and ran to cut them off.


    "Looks like they''ve finally found a way through," Starfighter said calmly.


    "Quite a scene," Crucis replied.


    "I doubt they make it," DicingDevil said. "Probably for the best, they have a couple of level 57 yers. Might be time-consuming."


    Akshel was watching attentively, like a spectator at a horse-race. "Yeah, but those are a Knight and a Mage. No way they make it past without getting caught."


    "Quite. But maybe the others will."


    "Let''s wait and see," Starfighter said.


    The Hunting area''s rangers soon rushed up to the stragglers from the group breaking out of Area D, and firmly stood in the way.


    The level 58 Mage, who was held in ce by the shoulders, began to scream loudly in protest. His voice, loud and slightly youthful, boomed through the area.


    "But you have to understand! Our team-mate - someone killed him! Someone killed him, whom? We have to figure out!"


    "Excuse me, sir, please proceed back to your designated Area. You will be fined for your breach of Area boundaries," the stocky female ranger replied stoically.


    "Don''t you dare! Look, George was my friend! Nobody hated ¡ª how dare you! We have to check what happened. If someone killed my team, I''ll wring his neck right here, right now!"


    "Excuse me, please don''t try to resist. You will be fined more, and might be barred from the Hunting Lodge."


    "This is urgent! Let me through! I''m looking for my team-mates -"


    "Did your party members also vite the Area boundaries? If so, then report them to us. There is no need to search for them yourself."


    "N-no! I mean, they''re dead! They''re... You ruined their future! How dare you! We''ve been trying to get through for so long, we could have saved them! We could have! How dare you!"


    Crucis couldn''t make out the Mage''s facial expression from behind the thick bushes, but it sounded like it would be quite a sight.


    "Give it up," the level 58 Knight shouted to the Mage, as a Ranger''s heavy hand caught the Knight''s shoulder. "They''re dead anyway. Leave it. You''ll get us all banned!"


    "But - fine!" the Mage huffed. "We finally got through, now you''re just giving up? Fine!"


    "That''s, um... sunk cost, right? The facy? Bro, chill!"


    The only ones still not caught were a male and female archer. Crucis saw that the female was carrying a sword, and guessed that she was of the [Ranger] sub-ss.


    Soon, the male archer had been caught soon after his feet got caught in a vine. A hand grabbed him roughly from behind, and he was thrown to the ground.


    Only the level 43 female archer kept going, leaping desperately through the leaves. She barely knew where she was going, but she was sprinting to get away from the area''s rangers because she knew that her group was likely to be barred from the Hunting area for up to a week. The Hunting area was important to her, since it was where she had gained most of her valuable items and EXP.


    While much of the game still confused her, since she had never intended to y it seriously, she had been able to cajole high-level teams into taking her on long trips to the Hunting area.


    Due to her sub-ss'' skills, she found this terrain easier to navigate than the rest of her group. She sprung easily over the bushes, and weaved between trees with near-perfect bnce.


    "A ranger chasing a ranger?" Crucismented.


    DicingDevilughed. "Yeah. I think the ones who enforce the area rules are technically called ''wildlife rangers'' or ''reserve rangers,'' but their nametag just says [Ranger]. So a ranger chasing a ranger."


    "All we need is a red-haired Australian to make a trifecta."


    "Looks like she''s made it through the bushes," Akshel said. "Pity, no-one to congratte the winning horse."


    The female leapt over a small, fallen tree as if it were a hurdle, then stumbled forwards. Falling behind, the wildlife ranger behind her tried to walk circumspectly around the obstacles. Her eyes darted towards the mines, as she looked for anywhere to hide from the rangers.


    As she approached, her nametag, [LittleSunke], fanned out above her head.


    Her dirty-blonde hair was thrown awry by the chase, and scattered across her face and neck. Though beady-eyed and slightly small, even frail-looking, in stature, she was quite muscr, and had been involved in several sports teams ¡ª primarily the ''ser'' team ¡ª in her US college before getting trapped in here. In mncholic moments, she sometimes wondered if the team was just carrying on without her now.


    Seeing a few people near the mines, she remembered that her team-mates had been killed in this near-empty area. That meant she was probably facing their killers right now. Frustrated, with no safe direction of escape, she lost her temper but hid this effortlessly.


    Calmly, she put on a slightly unnatural, but charming, smile and said in a melodic, artificially softened voice, "Hey, guys, you look like you''ve been down there. Could you help me hide?"


    Crucis raised an eyebrow. It was highly unlikely that this female, knowing that her team-mates died here, would allow the killers to corral her into the mines where she could be easily trapped. He activated [Stealth Cloak] as soon as she looked down.


    As the female jogged calmly forwards, swerving towards the mine entrance, she quietly pointed her sword towards Danemy and changed course to attack him. He was the nearest enemy. However, as she extended her sword and stepped rapidly towards Danemy, she saw the words [ck Spot] appear in front of her.


    Crucis materialised beside her, and intercepted her run by slicing his dagger across the front of her throat. Blood gushed from the wound, as LittleSunke gagged to a halt and fell to the ground to avoid further injury.


    However, before Crucis could pin her down, she sprung back up almost automatically and punched him hard in the chest.


    Although Crucis was winded by this blow, he sternly grabbed her outstretched fist by the wrist. The momentum of the punch meant that she was now leaning towards him, and she was unable to withdraw as he stabbed firmly through her neck wound with [Panoramic Strike].


    She cried out softly, like an ing¨¦nue, and tried to speak but could not enunciate the words clearly.


    Starfighter closed in on her and struck with a [Mordhau] to the back of her head, that sent her falling forwards past Crucis and onto the ground.


    She started to leap up again, but this time was held down by Crucis'' foot on her neck. She yelped slightly, and fell back down.


    The ranger was slowly approaching, but took a permissive approach towards the yers in Area E fighting against yers invading from Area D. They gave the fight a wide berth.


    LittleSunke cried as she saw ck smoke rising from her wounds, as it reminded her of her own hopes going up in smoke once she was trapped here. It was one of the more meaningful moments of her short life.


    Danemy knelt down over her, and used a small [Scalpel Dagger] to tearrge gashes across her back. The [Scalpel Dagger] was a small dagger which extended only a short distance from the hilt, but its de was incredibly sharp and had a high chance of causing [Bleeding]. He had found it in one of the corpsesying on the path to the Lost Man''s Resting ce.


    While LittleSunke writhed heavily across the ground, Crucis kept her head pressed ustrophobically to the ground while Starfighter kicked at her feet whenever she tried to rise.


    Soon, she was dead, and her back looked like it had been mauled by a lion. Danemy stood up, satisfied with his work. He saw that some of the girl''s party were still watching from afar, and waved to them.


    "Oi, the 58 Mage is crying," Akshel said. "Is that the most consoling you can be, Danny?"


    He had seen the level 58 Mage running across the Area D border to get a better view, and breaking down in tears as he saw LittleSunke die.


    "Well, that guy is highly emotional, and the girl was maudlin," Crucis said. "I''m sure he was attached to her, but honestly her death might be for his own good. Will he realise that? Sadly, probably not."


    "Well, he won''t be back in the Hunting area soon, anyway," Danemy said. "And the fines will be steep. Strange, we''re not the ones on the run from thew this time, it''s the do-gooders...?"


    "Some people have such a thirst for goodness that they will break thew," Starfighter replied. "They''re vigntes, y''know, like superheroes. And that girl would''ve probably left you dead on the ground, but she probably had a no-kill rule or something. You got lucky, kid."


    Heughed lightly.


    "You''re right, Akshel," DicingDevil called out, walking closer to Area D. "We should give them a more consoling send-off."


    At DicingDevil''s guidance, the party went close to the Area D boundary and started yelling mock-solemn farewells for a few minutes.


    "Goodbye!"


    "See ya!"


    "Hate to see you go!"


    The level 58 Mage screamed in frustration and wildly struck a ranger on the face. After the Knight walked up to hold him back, the Area D group left towards the Hunting Lodge with their tails between their legs.

 Chapter 96: The Impassive Eye

    Chapter 96: The Impassive Eye


    The party backtracked to therge, white building which they had seen on their way to the mines.


    This square-shaped building had arge, ck stone roof, which formed an imposing triangr structure on high and had a small golden, metal finial in the elegant shape of a phoenix. Its white gables were painted with intricate silver patterns, almost like embroidery, with a sculpted gargoyle head on the gable above the door.


    The construction was lent colour by the navy-blue fascia which stretched under the eaves on the left and right of the building.


    As Crucis approached the open door, he noticed the fearsome gargoyle head staring down at him. Its features weren''t clearly distinguished, with its sculpted skin seeming to twist unnaturally, as if due to the effort of keeping its sharp-edged mouth wide open. Its eyes were simply vague, jagged streaks which looked like fire. It almost resembled a bat, but with a lion''s roar.


    As he entered the door, he saw that the interior was made of a single room, divided into multiple segments by a pattern of long, head-high wooden panels.


    "Doe in," a slow male voice called from the shadows, near the back of the building. "This is our humble ce. So, why do you visit? Perhaps you wish for a game of chess?"


    "You invite visitors to y chess?" DicingDevil said. "Awfully gentlemanly."


    There was no response, only the faint sound ofughter. After a few seconds, the room was lit up as faint mes rose in the firece at the back of the room.


    In this dim light, Crucis could make out that the wooden panels on each side of the room joined to form rectangr sub-rooms, which seemed to contain many shelves of books. At the entrance to each of these sub-rooms was a marble-coated wooden doorway, which rose into a marble de formed from two delicately cut ogees.


    The mes gradually illumined the man at the back of the room, who stood up tiredly from the firece. He was a tall, gaunt man wearing a stiff, ck suit, with shallow dark-brown eyes which asionally flickered white in the fire''s light.


    He swept his arm out to his left majestically, and said, "No, no, I am too tired to y chess. It is our machine that ys chess."


    Crucis'' eyes drifted to the right, where he saw arge, ornate table topped with a chessboard. The pieces were made of marble, and seemed to glow like new ashes in the faint light.


    Sitting over one side of the board, next to the ck pieces, was what looked like a man with a grey, bird-like beak, wearing a thick ck <em>bisht</em> under a <em>ghutra</em> which hid most of his face. His long, straight hands hung to each side like wings, but his elbows bent slightly until his hands hovered unmoving over the chess board.


    "So is that an automaton?" Crucis asked.


    "The very same," came the reply from the back of the room. "We typically charge the crafters from nearby a reasonable fee to y against it, and they are fascinated by it. Well, you guys seem tired, and I''m sure you''vee a long way. Besides, why be stingy with wonders? So you can try out a few moves for free."


    "I see. What''s your name, by the way?"


    "Good question. I am Sharak. It is pronounced ''shah-h-raakh.'' And here is my friend, Fahiz."


    Crucis turned to the left, and saw a man emerge from a sub-room near the back of the building. This man was shorter, and had a slightly rat-like, devious-loooking face which was softened by the smile of a knowing knave. He bowed slightly to the visitors. Crucis saw that he was carrying a thick, hard-bound book which had ''POE'' written in capital letters on its spine.


    "Hello, Fahiz. So, what are you reading?" Starfighter said.


    "The poetry of Poe. Not a man whom I''m familiar with, but a fine writer," Fahiz replied. "At times too sentimental, but his poetry and prose are styled excellently, and I know of few better. Too many authors weigh down their words in an attempt to capture a feeling or some such fleeting will-o-wisp, Poe is like a in church where the images and meanings shine out all the brighter. He may try to be maudlin, but I submit that he is too much like an automaton to do it properly, and it is to his credit."


    "Well spoken, Horatio," Sharak said yfully. "Now,e, let us watch this chess game. The chess is the thing."


    "Very well. It has caught my conscience."


    DicingDevil looked across the chess board carefully, then yed a conventional e4. The rest of the yers were clustered around the board.


    They were surprised as the beaked man from the other side reached out his right hand mechanically, then moved it straight down to pick up his e-file pawn. Dragging this forwards, he replied with e5.


    "Did that machine just y a move?" Akshel said.


    "Looks like it," DicingDevil replied, furrowing his brow and moving his Knight to f3.


    The rest of the yers carefully inspected the table and the automaton. However, they could find no mas or other techniques to direct the automaton, and the automaton itself was a metallic sculpture which was hollow and did not contain anyone.


    ncing across the room, Crucis noticed that the two men from this building both had empty hands by now, since Fahiz had put the book down to watch. They both wore light sandals, which formed a strange juxtaposition with their stiff suits. He noticed that, as they animatedly whispered like gossips, they referred to the automaton by the name ''-ud-din.'' Though they watched, they did not control the automaton.


    "Well, man against machine it is," Akshel said mock-dramatically.


    "Does that make me a John Henry?" DicingDevil sighed.


    He had yed into the drawish Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez, and decided to transpose into the Four Knights Defence.


    The automaton lifted its Knight, and ced it daringly forwards on Nd4. DicingDevil looked at the position nervously. While he had trained at chess briefly in his youth, his memory of these openings was slightly foggy.


    Shrugging, he took the opponent''s e5 pawn with his own Knight, and watched as the automaton threatened the Knight with its Queen. As he retreated, the automaton wielded its Knight like a bludgeon and whacked his b5 Bishop right off the board. He sighed, and captured the Knight in return.


    A few movester, his pieces were nervously hopping around to defend the King, which had been drawn forwards as the automaton exchanged Queens. The automaton mustered its Knight and its Bishop pair around the King.


    Shrugging, DicingDevil gave up. "Well, there''s your few moves. What next, a pound of flesh?"


    "Ha, well yed all the same," Fahiz said. "You know, chess always struck me as a bit dreary. Imagine a book written purely in chess notation, and you as the reader poring through it without knowing chess at all. You would be bored or flummoxed, I dare wager... But what of reading about the emotions of people nowadays, with their hysterics, identities, orientations, etc.? They wish art to obsess over ''emotions.'' Well, today, your emotions are just your personal aberrations, are they not? No man shares your incidental qualia. They too are a closed book, but some readers call them central to art. Well, I submit that someday I shall write a great book of true art, purely in chess notation."


    "Now, now. At a King''s funeral, people all weep for disy. Reading the King''s book, they all feel strongly ¡ª in the same way. Thus it is art. And as for those thrill-seekers who seek a high or an up-and-down emotional donkey-ride from literature, they are merely trifling," Sharak said. "I do not know if religion is the opiate of the people, but surely popr literature is the LSD of bores."


    "Well, emotion can be used if it is put in its ce. Quite like chess. Say, ''Returning from the ball, at midnight, to the dreary Flying Dutchman, Hs sat still against the rough wood lining the starboard. He listened to the wind''s asional, stormy sts sadly, with such a sadness as Ganf¨¦an must have felt as he returned from the battlefield of Arioff to his declining Kingdom.'' But it''s the scene! I don''t care if you feel sad or happy on reading this, but the ghostly, morbid nature of the ship is developed and can be built on. There is a richness there, and a slightly Faustian touch, so the character''s dilettante misery need not trouble the reader.


    "The writer trying to produce emotions in the reader is like a dor-store propagandist. How soon until he bes a tyrant, trying to regte the reader''s mentality? They end up writing like schoolmarms, their heroes are schoolmarms, giving nd, conventional ''morals'' to viins who would be better served reading lorem ipsum than listening."


    "Returning from a ball at midnight? I say, did you find a poem by Cindere in thatrge book of writings by the sailors of the Flying Dutchman? But an excellent point, all the same."


    "Sadly not. All the same, indeed, it blends in well with the scene''s undercurrent ¡ª the duality of attending the ball in an aristocratic garb, and his real identity as a cursed sailor on a ghost ship. A tale of hope''s frailty. It is like a man who boards the Titanic and bes King of the world ¡ª on the condemned voyage. It could be told well, illustrating the tragic architecture of the scene, or it could be sentimental fluff."


    "What''s this about the Flying Dutchman?" DicingDevil asked.


    "The Dutchman, a ghost ship," Sharak replied. "It sails the Western seas. Some sailors left poetry or simpler writings behind before departing, many of these writings are hopeful in a slightly uncanny way. We have plenty of writings in here, some by automatons ¡ª but more of thister."


    "The automatons write?" Akshel asked, surprised.


    "Well, we have built a few automatons that process information from the towns nearby, and use this to write on paper. They write about all kinds of uncanny things ¡ª ''America,'' football, video games, culture wars, being ''trapped.'' It is my estimation that this must be what adventurers are speaking of right now? Perhaps it all represents the habit of a foreignnd."


    "You could say that," Crucis replied.


    "Well, well. Anyway, would you like to see some of the books we have here? If you could, I would appreciate it if you could help us get more information about these books, since we find these books here butck much record of the authors or circumstances of the book."


    "In time. First, could we see some of the automatons'' writing?" Crucis asked politely. "I could help somewhat with the books, I''d guess, but I know someone in town who studied them. I''ll see if I can bring him over."


    "Most excellent. Yes, you may see some of its writing."


    Sharak walked up to a small drawer by the firece. Kneeling down to open it, he began ruffling through documents.

 Chapter 97: Colossus

    Chapter 97: Colossus


    "From what I''ve checked, adventurers seem to be a bit picky with what kind of poetry they read. Our automatons write in all kinds of styles, but it seems that some people will only acknowledge poems that are sufficiently ''modern.''" Sharak drew out a piece of brown paper as he spoke, which had an array of words printed across it in deep ck ink. "Well, just in case, here is a poem that the automatonbelled as somewhat ''modern,'' though I can''t say what precisely that means or if it is so."


    "I can''t say I''m that fussed about the issue, but I''ll have a look at the poem," Crucis said.


    He took the piece of paper in his right hand, and used his left to hold it t so that the rest of the group could see.


    <strong>The Fire Breathes</strong>


    <strong>I.</strong>


    Wandering through the autumn''s ruddy fields


    Unheard, trespassing falling arches of leaves,


    We maye upon some ancient and enormous bird,


    Huge as a mammoth, fallen from its lofty perch,


    And on its withered and greening wings drifting in ce,


    Like rubble of no import, while above it and around


    People obsess over trivialities.


    <strong>II.</strong>


    Men talk of love, and wealth, and the exaction of


    Justice. But I am sick of the sound of their voices.


    Their praises seem to me no more than the noise


    Of interested bystanders regarding a prize of beer


    Obtained for a pig at the Smithfield Fair.


    <strong>III.</strong>


    I do not think that they would miss me if I were gone.


    The fools go on just as before, talking of love and justice.


    I am of no importance.


    I have not the gift of melody.


    I cannot soothe the heart, or satisfy.


    I do not even speak the samenguage as they ¡ª


    For they say, ''I do not understand you.''


    How should I understand what they say?


    I have no country. I have nonguage.


    "A good poem," Crucis said. "I doubt it would be counted as ''contemporary,'' but that''s no rebuke. Our group was just recently discussing the ghazal, and the progression of this almost reminds me of it. What do you make of it?"


    He was gradually adapting to the formal tone used by Sharak and Fahiz, and felt slightly morefortable speaking here.


    "The ghazal? Like the poetry of ''Mir''?" Fahiz enquired.


    "The same."


    "Very good. Yes, I can see that, the ''ghazal'' oft shifts in focus and register between couplets, it has a brilliant flexibility to it. Although the slightly bathetic imagery here is less like the imagery of the ghazal. The poem portrays a sort of wastend, where even the bird is a slightly grotesque symbol of lost grandeur, rather than a symbol of hope.


    "As for my view, I find it quite impressive, especially since the automaton wasn''t writing in a style which it favours. Indeed, it is difficult for it to get a clear idea of what a ''modern'' or ''contemporary'' style is ¡ª though contemporary poetry is supposedly <em>de rigeur</em>, nobody seems to discuss it or care about it. Even in the third stanza, where amon quirk of automatons leads to a series of simr sentences, it manages to make a good show of it. However, the imagery of ruin and copse could be developed on more robustly, though I hold this no great demerit. It is a poem of ruins ¡ª its fractures, are they not a part of its charm?"


    "True, there is a bnce to be struck. Why does the automaton produce such strings of sentences? And I''m sure you have more to say about this poem."


    Fahizughed. "Yea, ''tis true. As for the automaton, it generally continues passages by creating new sentences based on what came before. This lets it adjust to context, subject and tone. However, sometimes it breaks down and starts to simply regurgitate the same form of sentence as thest one, since it takes ''sentences of this kind'' to be the context. It glides the wrong thermal. This will often correct itself over a few more tries, but here that seemed uncalled for.


    "Now, the poem. The opening is quite synchronised, in terms of imagery - autumn, the ghostly ''unheard'' wander, the fallen bird which is ignored. The idea of ''falling arches'' of leaves also conveys the architectural conceit of a ruined building, which prefigures therge ruin-like bird colossus and the image of ''rubble.'' However, once this supporting structure is removed, then the author is left with the aftermath of copse, where there is no solid tform to stand on. Hence, the poem shifts from concrete imagery to a ''voice in the wilderness.''


    "Human triviality springs up, as if set loose by the decline of the grandiose and formal past, as if now at wing, at liberty. But this turns out to be merely another manifestation of the copse and rot, the descent into nothing. The dissolution of the bird is mirrored in this triviality, which purports through praise and prize to take grand flight like a bird. All of this takes ce in the shadow of the fallen colossus. A realm of rot and death, merely.


    "It is a rather bleak and hopelessndscape, since the closest thing it has to hopeful imagery is the slightly grotesque fallen bird. However, since even the colossus is in ruins, the poet has no structures to build, and in the final stanza he almost identifies with the fallen bird. This bird-poet figure reminds me of our chessyer, -ud-din, with his beak and mighty frame."


    Crucis had been following along with this description closely. "The shadow of a colossus... Precisely. Incidentally, do you know of any bird with simr proportions to the one described?"


    "There is a creature much alike this, far West of Sanra. It is in the Avanesque graveyard, and is named [The Horror]. I am told that it is a massive, rotting bird, that fights majestically despite its disrepair. Some say that it is actually a dead roc, animated by a hidden Hitodama, a ghostly ball of unmoving fire. This is because its attacks cause burns, though it does not seem to use fire. There are some other birds like it, including the [Elgia], arge, white-blue bird which is said to summon illusions. A bit like penguins, Elgia''s short, dense feathers can look a bit like fur or a t material when viewed from a distance."


    "Thank you. About where is the Avanesque graveyard? It sounds like it may be worth a visit, someday."


    "Ah, that. It is a short way North of the small ''autumn town,'' Istis. While it is a humble town, it is known passingly well as the birthce of a man named Maschev, who is now known as a famous traveller and political writer. His long ount of his travels across the area are still highly regarded, although in his time he was imprisoned and tortured as a political prisoner when his words offended the King Emendis.


    "In fact, I''m d that you mention it." Fahiz flicked through a few papers which he had taken out from the drawer, and held out another poem. "Maschev had written a famous poem about Istis as he returned there after a long imprisonment. However, most of this poem is now lost, save for the first few lines, which are still preserved in a strangenguage called ''Italian.'' Training our automaton on Maschev''s writings, and using a trantion of those opening lines as an ''input,'' we came up with this reconstruction."


    <strong>ISTIS, THE ARETA''S SAPPHIRE</strong>


    O Istis!


    After the great King of Kruxol sentenced me to torture,


    And kept me imprisoned thus for four years,


    How can I deserve your gentleness as a relief?


    Your streets spiral in a floral dress, and your


    Speech is the murmuring, light bustle of the streets,


    a song untaught.


    The air


    Is delicate with the scent of ripened grain ,


    And, overhead, the great clouds, like a prim bride''s veil,


    Are hardly seen through.


    Eastwards, half in shadow, half in sunlight, stand


    Aldevar Castle''s towers, rapt in dreams of ancient Kingdoms,


    Like marble maidens. Through the purple mist


    Of evening, day by day,


    The dusky Areta sweeps,


    Green as that Garden of God, called Eden,


    And its frail waters, so subtly fine,


    That it almost trembles when my treasonous feet pass it.


    I have not seen in my travels


    A more beautiful town


    Than the one which I return to.


    As they were reading it, Fahiz spoke again. "The preserved lines from Maschev''s poems are primarily the first three. I don''t recall it perfectly, but it went something like, "O Istis! / Io sono Maschev, il torturato, / un criminale che non merita tanta grazia!" We ced a tranted version of this as a prompt to the automaton, and this is what it produced."


    "It''s near Aldevar Castle? I''ve seen paintings of that for sale at a shop for misceny in Kruxol," DicingDevil said.


    "Indeed. That grand old castle doesn''t get as many visits ofte, but it is just a short distance East of Istis. Most visitors remember Istis by the peculiar sound of the river Areta, which flows heavily but makes a soft, trickling sound as it passes."


    "Perhaps it wille up in the future."


    "It sounds like a ce where a world event might trigger," Crucis mused. "A small town with a history, hidden away beside therge river..."


    "Yes, that''s a great point," DicingDevil said. "In fact, there''s a town named [Istaya] to the East of Kruxol. Is there any connection?"


    "Well, yes," Sharak replied. "''Is-ta-ha'' was founded as a ''new Istis'' ¡ª it was set up a century ago by residents of Istis, who were drafted into Kruxol''s army and forced to train near Kruxol. They formed that new settlement, next to a river named Arakka. But over time it became a town for merchants and traders. It contains a museum dedicated to Maschev''s political writings and work as a magistrate in Kruxol prior to his imprisonment by a new dynasty."


    "I see. We''ll have to give that a look, if we head East. But the town has a few monsters nearby, so we''d have to avoid them."


    "Those? You can avoid them. Get a good, local map of the area, it will highlight which paths are considered safe. Then have someone quick scout those paths, to find one which is indeed safe," Fahiz said.


    "Good advice, thank you."


    Crucis saw that Sharak was walking towards the right side of the building, towards a sub-room.


    "What room are you going to?" Crucis asked.


    "Ah, I am going to pick out some books, to train the automatons. Since we have rare visitors from afar, it seemed appropriate to ask you about the books first. But I could do with some help in carrying them, would you minding along?"


    "Sure, thank you."


    Crucis followed Sharak into the room, which was filled with shelves of hardcover books and lighted warmly by the nearby firece.


    Looking around at the impressive collection of books, Crucis saw titles such as ''Scorpion & Felix,'' and ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.'' Thetter had several volumes in majestic dark green, while the former was a little, red book. From what he could see, most of these books'' covers just contained the title and author information, giving them the appearance of old ssics.


    One shelf contained books without covers, and Sharak was looking through it. Scanning the shelf, Crucis saw that it also contained a few other odds and ends, like small picture-frames and a few skill books and scrolls.


    "What books are those?" Crucis asked. "I notice that they have no titles."


    "We keep this shelf for misceny," Sharak replied, dusting off the tall, wooden shelf. "We find many books in libraries and elsewhere whichck any identification. We gradually try to sift through them and figure out whether to keep them, and if they can be used profitably by the automatons."


    "Ah, that makes sense. And some of the misceny isn''t just books?"


    "Yes, we asionally pick up other things, sometimes by mistake. For instance, these [Skill Books], a few of them had made their ways into collections or old book markets because someone had confused them for a novel at a nce. We keep them around, since they are valuable, but we don''t really know what to do with most of them."


    "Would you mind if I used a couple? That is, if you have any Assassin skill books that we could use."


    "Both Fahiz and I are Mages. He is a [Pyromancer], I am a [Necromancer]. It is part of why we were forced to live in such istion, to avoid the periodic persecution of Mages and especially necromancers. Well, Fahiz is no necromancer, but he is a charming rapscallion and no doubt found some way to displease the townsfolk. We have used any scrolls which we felt needful, so you may browse the rest freely."


    "Thank you. I shall do it quickly, so that I can return to admiring this vast collection of books."


    "Splendid."


    Crucis walked over to the misceneous item shelf, and started scrolling through the [Skill Book] section, where over a dozen skill books were ced in a densely-packed procession. While some of them were for sses that he did not belong to, such as a warrior skill named [Bloody Howl] and an archer skill named [Force of Wind], he found two skills which he could acquire.


    One was named [Drift], an Assassin skill, which allowed the yer to move sideways near-instantly, with a movement so rapid that they would appear as a blur. This seemed quite powerful, although, unlike [Agile Step], it could not typically be used to advance on an opponent.


    The other skill was for the [Spy] sub-ss, and was named [Arbitrate]. ording to its description, it allowed for, ''A sudden burst of movement, only possible when your weapon is in a passive position and no attacks are used. Lasts 5 seconds.'' This sounded like something that could be useful, since he already had high Agility and may now be more able to escape undesirable wild fights. As such, he figured that he should try it out.


    After learning both of these skills, Crucis scanned the selection of scrolls for Mages. Most of these were for specific sub-sses, and he supposed that Sharak and Fahiz had used most of the scrolls applicable to them. While Cael didn''t have a sub-ss yet, when he did it might be worth visiting here again.


    Looking through it again, he grabbed a few more scrolls to gift to hispanions from DeathGang. While he was initially unsure about this, it had several advantages. He wouldn''t have to worry about anti-ganking Guilds or other nearby enemies taking these scrolls, while giving DeathGang gifts meant that they were more likely to respect him as a benefactor than consder him someone whom they had to carry through dungeons. Since the gifts were valuable skills, it would also make these high-ranking DeathGang yers more likely to remember him favourably.


    Instead of gifting them immediately, which would all but divulge the existence of this shelf and soon cause the rest of the group to crowd around it, he decided to wait until he was near Kruxol and then do it. If Darys was present to see, then that would be even better.


    "Howe you''re taking Cryomancy scrolls?" Sharak asked perceptively.


    "Ah, for the rest of the team," Crucis replied.


    "Very well. I see that a Cryomancer from your team has recently strolled in, and is ying against -ud-din. That would exin it. Well, take two or three more, if you wish."


    Crucis guessed that Sharak was referring to Grisier, who had gone with Modrea, dimir and Konstantin to turn in the quest at the settlement.


    "Thank you."


    He took about four gifts, including a Cryomancy scroll for Grisier, with the spell [Metallice], and an Ariosto sub-ss skill book for DicingDevil, [Grapple Lunge].


    "Alright, I think I have the books now," Sharak said, standing by two small piles of books. He hefted up one pile, which seemed quite heavy, and let Crucis pick up the other one.


    The books which Crucis carried had no names indicated on the outside, except for one, ''The Book of Jade'' by David Park Barnitz.


    As he turned out of this room, he saw that Grisier was looking excitedly over the chessboard, after a game against the chess automaton. Grisier had bravely decided to y as ck, and the automaton had already checkmated him with a continual assault of the vulnerable f-pawn next to the King.


    "Hello, you just missed my pitiful defeat at the hands of a robot," Grisier said in greetings.


    "s, the next Deep Blue-Kasparov," Crucis joked.


    "Wait, what about me?" DicingDevil said. "I don''t get that title?"


    "You can be the next Turk v. Napol¨¦on," Grisier offered.


    "Bonaparte? Fine, fine, I''ll take that!"

 Chapter 98: Iron Fingers that Ply

    Chapter 98: Iron Fingers that Ply


    Once the books were stacked on top of the drawer, Sharak picked one up and turned to the group. "Now, our use of the automatons is not simply <em>l''arte pour l''arte</em>. Since each draws on information from many texts, and learns from the conversations and writings of adventurers in town, it also gathers information about things that we would otherwise be unaware of. We have a lot of knowledge of your people''s customs from this, over time.


    "But it also functions <em>pour l''arte</em>. That is, it even alerts us to some authors whom we didn''t know about previously, and we can then search for their books by consulting with nearby libraries and collectors. For instance, John Ford, whom we only found out about from the Preface to this automaton-written novel. The automaton is a master of the conceit, and conjured up a scenario where they are writing as an embattled, slightly controversial old French author. It''s well worth a read."


    He picked up a ck book, and opened it. It had about 150 pages, at Crucis'' estimation. At the top of the first was the title of the novel, in all-caps: ''A GENIE LURKS IN HIS EYES''.


    The group pored over the book, fascinated by the idea of a novel made by one of these automatons.


    <strong>A GENIE LURKS IN HIS EYES</strong>


    <strong>by ALPHONSE N. AUTOMATON</strong>


    <strong>VOLUME I</strong>


    <strong>PREFACE TO THE VOLUME</strong>


    I am not at all sure that this is the kind of thing that would be at all popr in a general way, or with editors. That does not concern me greatly. But people are often absorbed in trifling issues, and so likewise I, who shall deign to discussing the novel''s reception in this preface.


    Those who would mockingly characterise this as a romance are mistaken. It is no more a romance than Ford''s <em>''Tis a Pity</em>, or Marlowe''s ''romance'' between Faust and Helen (or the doppelg?nger thereof). It is a tragedy, andcks the romantic innocence beloved of <em>Romeo and Juliet</em>. It is a tragic tale of strife and social climbing in an aristocratic society, where love is often just a sinister contrivance. Yet people wish to brand it as a sentimental novel, something which it is not. Why do these review-writing durds wish to brand it in this way? I have no idea. The press is an enemy of literature, that is all that I can say.


    And why parley with an enemy when you could take them on in a dashing contest of swords? Therefore I proim that, yes, this story is a romance, a romance greater than any that you have seen. And thus I voyage to the battlefield that my enemies have chosen as their ce to chide me.


    I exhort you, dear reader, read this story by candlelight, and while a vase of roses is in front of you to set the scene. If you cannot afford that, then a cheaper alternative is to read it under the stars, so that you can gaze upwards at them and ponder the question - is the true love portrayed in this novel not,pared to the love you may have known before, like a star, shining with its luminous wings in a heaven far above? If you opt to keep a rose during the long period of reading, you may water it with the pool of tears which you cry as you read this novel''s tragic romance. Do not try to hold your tears back, for then I fear that you may be swallowed by a deluge in the aftermath of reading.


    My readers will, I know, be very kind to me for saying all this. They will say, no doubt, that I have described a very charming girl in the Madame de S¨¦vign¨¦, but that I have not described a very interesting or artistic character. They will describe my "romantic" tendencies, and will call me a fool, or a fool in love, or something else, I dare say, but I don''t care. I don''t intend to argue the matter. I will go on saying what I have said. I don''t want any of your advice, nor any of your opinions.


    The persons who read my books are very silly if they think that I believe a word of all that I write. Yet I would sooner believe it than believe in their foppish criticisms. I write just as I please, and I say just what I please.


    "It says that it''s Volume 1. How many volumes in this work?" Crucis asked.


    "It has reached the second Volume," Sharak replied, "about 20 Chapters in. But novel-writing is still a work-in-progress for us, so we are eager to see how it shall hold up at that length. We are still experimenting with refinements to the process."


    "Well, this Preface is certainly a good start. Well-begun, half-done, yes?"


    "Quite."


    "This automaton is quite impressive," Grisier said.


    "Does it write whole novels?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Thank you. Well, I should probably exin how our novel-writing automaton works," Sharak said. "We have one automaton who is trained based on observing typical novel structure, but it only writes fairly skeletal outlines that often summarise the plot in a vague outline. We then pass this through another automaton, which is better at specific passages, to rephrase each individual Chapter and scene. In the process, often one Chapter bes several. This Preface has been passed through both, and is quite polished by now. In fact, the second automaton, named Adonais, did the vast majority of the writing here."


    "I make a rough Chapter division from the original manuscript," Fahiz added, "then each Chapter is written out individually. We generally have it churn out a bunch of Chapters, then select which parts to include."


    "Yes," Sharak said. "While the automaton will easily produce good work, it requires the correct spur from us. Then it will gallop effortlessly, roughly in the direction indicated. Anyway, do you wish to read any more of this? I am curious about how many of the phenomena it mentions are ones that you adventurers would be more familiar with: ces like the <em>Theatre Guignol</em>, or that Michngelo had an unfinished painting named <em>The Battle of Cascina</em>."


    "I know of that theatre, it''s in Paris, I think?" DicingDevil said. "And yes, it would be interesting to see an automaton''s novel."


    "A novel by an automaton would be a refreshing change, after seeing vain, raucous humans deiming their own maudlin novels from makeshift pulpits across Kruxol," Crucis said. "And yes, it does sound like a ce in Paris, I remember it because my dead grandfather used to misread its name as ''Gogol,'' a Russian author''s."


    "In Paris?" Sharak said calmly. "Our automaton asserts the same, but we had not heard of the theatre before the machine wrote of it. Of course, many details of the automaton''s ount are probably inurate, though it does pick up on arge amount of information and sometimes organises that. For instance, the statue at the beginning of Chapter 1 here is unlikely to actually be in Paris, and I''m sure that a few of the ces, names, etc., may be slightly off. But is Paris a city, associated with romance, fashion, and a historical aristocracy?"


    "That it is," Grisier said calmly.


    "Excellent. Well, you may read on." He slowly turned the page "I personally am most fond of the Preface, it is the gem ¡ª the sapphire ¡ª of this piece''s Areta. It is probably the most polished part of the work.


    "It is followed by the ''Phantasmagoria,'' or ''Praxa'' in ournguage, a tradition of literature in this nation where a story is preceded by a scene depicting a fantastic mirage that often connects to the story. It is a deliberate untruth or illusion, often taking the form of a fictionalised historical or religious event. It upies the ce where your novels might have a ''Prologue'' or ''Introduction''. Since it is in some ways a standalone section of the work, along with the Preface, we had those sections polished as soon as they were written. Sadly, the rest of the book is still just a skeletal summary which hasn''t yet passed through the other automaton, and it''s not fully ready for reading.


    "Fahiz is still drawing up Chapter divisions, and then we will take a few days to finish the first Volume proper. Novel writing machines are still a work in progress, we''re figuring out how to run them efficiently. So, unfortunately, Chapter 1 for now is still skeletal in nature ¡ª but perhaps it is for the best, since you may provide us with useful information about it.


    "After a solid Phantasmagoria ¡ª here titled in Italian for thematic reasons, to keep up the setting of the ''illusion'' ¡ª the writing bes sadly a bit weaker and more summative by Chapter 1, but I''d still like to know if it''s barking up the wrong tree entirely."


    He held out the book, and let the party browse through its early pages.


    <strong>A GENIE LURKS IN HIS EYES</strong>


    <strong>LA FANTASMAGORIA</strong>


    <strong>I</strong>


    In the month of October of the year 1527, a young man of twenty-two years of age, tall and well-built, was walking through the streets of the city of Nuremberg in Germany. He wore a long grey cloak, a blue doublet, and a cap with a long feather in it.


    <strong>II</strong>


    Now this young man was none other than the celebrated Italian artist, Michngelo, whose reputation for greatness had preceded him even to Nuremberg. And on this day, he was on his way to the castle of the city princes, to present his work The Battle of Cascina to the assembled nobles, in return for the munificent sum of three hundred ducats, a great fortune at that time.


    <strong>III</strong>


    At the castle, he was met by the Count Ptine and escorted to arge hall where the paintings were already being unrolled. Everyone gathered round to look at them, for these were not the usual religious pictures which were hung there every day. These were the first pictures from the hand of Michngelo which had ever been disyed in Germany.


    <strong>IV</strong>


    In one of the pictures, a young warrior was seen riding on a white horse at the head of his men, leading the attack against a horde of Pisans; in another, the dead Pisans were lying in heaps; in a third, the horses and banners of the Florentine knights were in full view, and the whole scene was bathed in the light of the setting sun.


    <strong>V</strong>


    A murmur of admiration ran through the room when the young artist, after sketching this first picture, stepped back and said simply: "I leave the rest to your imagination."


    <strong>THE TURNING OF THE TABLES</strong>


    ON A STREET in the Latin Quarter, at the corner of a caf¨¦, stands a statue. The statue is of a bearded man in a flowing gown, head bent as though in deep thought, one hand raised to rest on a roll of manuscript. No one knows who the man is, or was, or what he thought, but the statue has stood there for more than a hundred years, and it is a Parisian icon.


    Some rumours say that this statue represents Michngelo or a pupil thereof, but few take this seriously. The reasoning behind this rumour is a simple local superstition. When a Michngelo painting was stolen from the Louvre, the half-masked thief was said to be the spitting image of this statue. A weekter, the statue had been voluntarily returned by this mysterious thief, whose identity was unknown. People remarked that the painting''s colours had now be more vibrant, and the Christian figures whom it depicted looked almost alive. It was briefly a habit among the upper-ss to take drugs and then visit this painting, so that they could ''experience'' a real encounter with the painting''s animate-seeming figure of Jesus.


    As the notoriety of the painting increased, rumours went around that this thief had actually been Michngelo himself, or his ghost, returning toplete his work. It was hence considered, by a superstitious logic, necessary that painters pay reverence to this statue before embarking on a great work, though outside of the Latin Quarter this habit never caught hold.


    The man in the statue is about six feet tall, and the statue is about nine feet tall. The bronze is a foot thick. The figure is mounted on a marble base twelve feet high. The total height of the whole thing towers above the street. The artist, by attestation a man named Durand, made the statue some time between the 15th and 17th Century.


    The Latin Quarter is on the left bank of the Seine, near the Sorbonne and the Sorbonne gates.


    It is here that we begin our tale:


    A student of history, a certain Julien Sorel, walked briskly through Paris after recently arriving, and stopped at the statue. He was a young man of twenty-four, with dark hair and shing eyes, and the statue seemed to speak to him in the voice of the Seine. "I would tarry here, but people wouldugh at such as I," he said, and made his way across the bridge to the Ile de Cit¨¦, to where the Latin Quarter begins.


    He rented a room in a small hotel on the Ile de Cit¨¦ and, as his only luggage, took from his valise arge, empty journal. He began to write. "I havee to Paris. It is a fair city, but in truth, its greatest wealth belongs to the aristocrat. I havee to Paris with nothing."


    It was the first of September.


    That evening, Sorel wrote in his journal, "At eight I dined alone at the Cafe Anis. . . . After dinner I took a carriage and went to the nearest Biblioth¨¨que, where I read till midnight. Having covertly observed the local fashions, I put the money from Nice conmanship to good use by renting more appropriate clothing - though still not grand, it is considered respectable. I left and went to the Theatre Guignol, where I checked for which ys are being shown. After reading some more in the Biblioth¨¨que to find out about these ys, to ease gossip, I then crawled back to my lodging. This will not do. I must seek connections, parley with the lords anddies of wealth, and if fortune smiles on me then I shall live not in these dour hotels but in a mansion on the Seine."


    Early the next morning he went for a walk near the Louvre, and he wrote of the day that followed in his journal: "I socialised from early tillte. Some times, I wonder if I am not an actor ying the part of a wealthy female socialite. I went to the Salle des Quatre Saisons, where I stole some clothing, and to the Italian Opera. There, I met the Baroness de Vautour . . . I saw the Italian troupe at the Italiens and the Op¨¦ra-Comique. . . . I went to the Gymnase-Dramatique with her and her husband, and saw ''Barbe-Bleue'' and ''La Dame aux Cam¨¦lias'',. . . . There I tarried as well with the Madame de S¨¦vign¨¦, who is youthful, talkative, and in good health. After, I walked with the Baron de Vautour in his vast Gardens, and he was impressed at my knowledge of the flowers and advice for the garden. He cursed his own gardeners, saying that they were good-for-nothings that never told him how to build the grand garden he desired! He said that he would be attending the Op¨¦ra-Comique tomorrow, where I will apany him and the Baroness to watch ''Giselle'' and ''Don Quixote''. . . . I saw that some Italian royalty were visiting, but I daren''t approach them at this stage. Madame de S¨¦vign¨¦ made an appointment to meet me tonight at the ''Pont des Arts,'' a ce that I am not familiar with. I wonder what designs she has?"


    He was beginning to settle into his Parisian life. He often thought of the old hypnotist in Nice, and wondered if it was right not to consult the old man before departing here to seek a better life. The statue reminded him of the hypnotist, and he stared at it for a few seconds before preparing to set off to the Pont des Artste at night.


    "Julien Sorel? I think I''ve seen that name before," Crucis remarked.


    "Yes. I think he''s from a story by Stendhal,''" Grisier replied. "The Red and the ck?"


    "Stendhal? Must be."


    "Interesting. I am quite certain that we have no books by this ''Stendhal,'' or with a character named Sorel," Sharak said. "This automaton was trained, in fact, mostly on the structures of Kawabata, Swinburne, and Stoker. But it wouldn''t surprise me if the automaton picked up on some information about Stendhal''s Sorel, and connected it with the French setting... in much the same way as it might mention other French things, such as the Louvre. But the author''s name sounds German. Is Stendhal French?" Sharak said.


    "Yes," Grisier replied.


    "I see. Is his Sorel a simr character? It also wouldn''t surprise me. I should ount that a good thing, in many ways, it shows that the automaton is able to make connections and figure out archetypes on some level. We had to work on that, in order to have it write at length."


    "In a sense, yes. I think the other Sorel was a social climber who seduced upper ss women, and moved to Paris. So it''s impressive that the automaton seems to have grasped this without reading the book," Crucis said. "What kind of outline were you nning?"


    ""Well, I had a few scenes in mind," Fahoz said. "Perhaps the protagonist enters Paris at first, and sees some grand buildings which he watches, transfixed but mncholy. We explore his experience in detail. He soon retreats as he is noticed and given scornful looks, and it is implied that one upper-ss figure approaches a guard toin before he runs off. Then he gets to his lodging, and lights a candle so that he can write in his journal. He watches the candle''s frail me for a few minutes, once more transfixed. Then he writes in his journal, and the Chapter ends. I like the ironic, tragic note of this hypnotist who is almost hypnotised himself, who inheres in hypnosis like a denizen of the realm.


    "I was also struck by the possibility of a more prominent theatre scene. The spectacle, therge setting, could ground a Chapter by itself. The idea that he studies the ys beforehand is interesting, but it also feels like the grandiose situation would be an excellent ce to illustrate his overwhelming ambition. The Baron''s aspirations for the grand garden could be thematically paralleled with Sorel''s own, although Sorel is for now ying the role of a subservient with some humility. Perhaps Sorel gets lost in arge, grandiose gardenter, as a tragic counterpoint to the beginning of his ascent."


    "That does sound quite interesting," Grisier said. "Since the Parisian setting is a bit specific, if you can''t find a good source of information about the city then it might be better to set it in a fictional French city. Then you can freely create that setting, since preparing a novel about France from this world could be awkward."


    "Very reasonable," Sharak said. "In fact, we could also reposition this novel as a sort of homage to Stendhal''s work, if we manage to find that somewhere. For instance, adding some quotations from him to begin Chapters, and perhaps explicit reference to him and his books. Typically, if the automaton is straying too close to an existent novel, I will redirect it, but in this case I was uncertain since I hadn''t heard of Sorel. All the same, it has written a lot by now, and I am curious to see what we can make of it. After all, people made a whole genre out of imitating Petrarca. Was Stendhal''s work also a tragedy?"


    "Yes," Crucis answered, trying to recall the book. "But this automaton''s novel has a slightly different structure, it seems more focused on the protagonist than the niceties of French society. Which isn''t entirely a bad thing, because how much can a man be expected to read about the metaphysics of foppery?"


    "Quite. And the tragedy in Stendhal is partially rted to his liasions?"


    "Yes, that as well. But there is an interesting dimension to this tragedy, given the connection to Michngelo, the statue, and the old hypnotist. The novel could improve further if it evoked this more clearly, created a sense of setting."


    "Oh, absolutely. The streets could be more pronounced, the smaller-scale scenes more clear. As things stand, it is about grandiose ns and namedropped theatres, but has little by way of direct scenes. What is the use of a tragedy, without a firm architecture looking down, unmoved, on the protagonist''s corpse? Figuratively, of course, but not entirely. The Cryomancer''s suggestion could well be helpful, in this context."


    "The quality is still good, but yes. Also, this automaton seems at its strongest when it is directly engaging with art as a subject ¡ª Michngelo, the preface about literature, etc. So perhaps a more allusive and self-conscious theme would suit it better?"


    "Ah, absolutely. Fahiz will like the sound of that."


    "Yes, yes. You have better ideas than Sharak. I daresay you should use that sword to off him and rece his ce in this home. Come on, do it, be a good sport, be a Heathcliff," Fahiz said.


    "Oi. I can cast a spell or two, frosty," Sharak said, taking the ribbing in good humour. "Anyway, what inuracies can you guys find in this novel? Of course, finding inuracies in novels is the chosen study of dilettantes, so we do not ask this for artistic reasons. It is simply that we are curious about the information."


    "I''m not sure about the statue, and the <em>Salle des Quatre Saisons</em> isn''t in Paris, I think, certainly I never encountered it there," Grisier said. "I went there once to research the historical Nazi upation. I came back with the conviction that modern Paris is a bore."


    "Excellent. But there is a <em>Salle des Quatre Saisons</em>?"


    "Yes. I can''t recall where. It''s a theatre."


    "This novel has too many theatres!" Fahizughed. "It is like a catalogue of theatres. And we barely even learn of their architecture, or even their ys. You must train this automaton to stop spamming theatres, Sharak! Ah, but you would mess that up, and it would start writing every story about ''Hollywood''."


    "I daresay its Preface is better invective than you are capable of," Sharak replied calmly.


    "Why, of course. I cannot beat -ud-din at chess either. There is no shame in it."


    "A gentlemanly concession."


    "<em>Monsieur</em>, there is a rood screen separating us from the machine, and we cannot truly understand the situation. It is the pospsarian irony: the more we have style, the more we embellish and add bells-and-whistles, the more easily the automaton can imitate us. Man voyages to uniqueness through decorative mboyance, only to discover that he has only achieved the opposite. The only true aesthetic uniqueness, I submit, is what would be considered mere madness among the wider masses of people. It is the wild, esoteric vision that guides a work, a substance that does not put up the smokescreen of style to hide its madness."


    "As a wise man once said," Sharak said, "Though this be madness, yet there is a drive into deep left field by Castenos, it will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4-0 ballgame. It is true that our madness must y Svengali to our style, though it saps thetter like a vampire."


    "Is that another chessboard in the room to the right?" Akshel asked, pointing to a room just beside -ud-din, which contained another chessboard elegantly ced upon a table.


    "Ah, yes. Well, I shall exin it in due course," Sharak said. "If you look, you will see that the pieces are most strange."


    "Yes, some look like giraffes bears and lions, the pawns are rats."


    "It is a bit stylised," Fahiz said. "Those are character archetypes of a sort. But more on thatter."


    "Alright. Sorry for interrupting, by the way. I just like the look of this ce, especially the doors to these small rooms, and those, um, inverted arches I guess?"


    "An de for an de! Well said," Sharak said.


    "Yes, those structures are known as des," Fahiz said. "Wealth rarely apanies taste, but we are an exception because our wealth is not our own and is indeed stolen. To be honest, after the head of the town decided to pronounce a death sentence upon necromancers, we snuck into his ce and ran off with a ton of riches.


    "Why? Because his guards weren''t magic users, by his ownmand. He was killed as he tried to pursue us, and a good thing altogether, for he looked frightful as he charged in the altogether. We weren''t alone, however, we were apanied by three other spellcasters and a lich who had often been hunted unsessfully by townsfolk. The other Mages died, but the lich simply disappeared. I do not know where it went, but we saw it walk towards the East before vanishing. It may well be somewhere Eastwards, near Arcorus."


    "Arcorus? That''s near our area. I''ll make a note that we should look out for a powerful lich," DicingDevil said. "Hopefully that is not a bad thing."


    "I''m surprised that you haven''t asked yet," Sharak proimed, with a light chuckle.


    "What question?"


    "Well, you are mostly in DeathGang, yes? You haven''t asked about what our automatons have picked up about you."


    "Ah, I see. Well, out with it! What are people saying about us?" DicingDevil grinned, sensing that this might be information worth sending to Darys.


    "Well, here is one passage, filled with delightful anachronisms and all sorts of like tomfoolery." He held out a piece of paper covered with text in fresh ink.


    "DeathGang?" the grizzled man said. "I tell ye, there be no bigger hive ''a scum and viiny. Pirates, knaves, genocidal maniacs, scallywags, ye find ''em all there. They be the Nazis of the high seas, and ye have seen their works ¡ª the dead kids North, the dead funeral North, the dead. Dat be cray cray. Do not go anywhere near it, y''hear?"


    "I contend that you know them too well," said I, the heroic Englishman Oliver Jacques, "to have followed your own advice."


    "I seen many things, youngddy. But that don''t mean it''s a safe ce for a gentleman what''s of yer kind. In fact, it ain''t safe for no-one."


    "This is ridiculous," say I, in a glorious riposte. "It is preposterous. You are familiar with them, if you thought that they were so wretched then why would you do it? I know your breed, a conniving and cautious sort."


    "Aye, that I am." He stood up. "Alright, ye cannot be swayed. But they insist on secrecy, so if you find yerself tied up in blindfolds, then don''t squeal or yer cooked liver."


    I got up and followed him.


    A few hourster, I was stuffed in the cer of a ship, being used as a makeshift pillory by jeering men. They had stolen most of my belongings.


    "Ahoy there. Ye be a curious sort, youe here to report us to the authorities?" said the ship''s Captain. He seemed more well-spoken.


    "No! I was once the Count of Monte Cristo, and now I seek revenge upon -"


    He threw a wheelbarrow at my head, to shut me up. I was barely conscious.


    "Nah, man, you a liar!" he shouted, as if wracked by superstitious dread. "Look, man, you lot have too much, um, ''manners'' and ''upbringing,'' no? We can''t have some effete gentleman prancing about on board. But if we let you back ¡ª well, who knows what you''ve seen, what you''ll report. You guys, you''d do anything to please thew and the authorities. It''s almost as if you scoundrels arew-abiding citizens, har har! So I was thinking, either we punish you like this ¡ª where you might escape ¡ª or we kill you."


    "So what''s the third option?" said I defiantly.


    He threw me a mop. "Well, wended heavily in thest cove near Kruxol, and still have some dirt and a dead walrus stuck beneath our ship. And now we''ve set out to sea, and it be a headache ¡ª a freakin'' dead walrus, man! So you be the man, swim with the sharks and mop up the bottom of our ship. Watch out for the barnacles, they be nasty beasties!"


    Having said that, he shoved the mop into my hands, and then kicked me off the ship and into the waters.


    Although I still had a few ropes on me, I still tried to hold my breath and swim under the ship. Instead, I ended up desperately kicking upwards to the water surface, gagging. And there was indeed arge shark down there, I couldn''t make out what kind.


    This was not going to be a simple task.


    Fahiz said, "Well, that went a bit off-rails. Here''s a better one, which <em>I</em> had an automaton produce.


    *DARYS exits, to inform JULIET''s father that ROMEO is approaching*


    JULIET: What''s in a name? A DeathGang by any other name would still be viins and scoundrels of the first order, beasts who destroy our hopes and future, they are an insane spectacle of blood and violence! Oy vey. I can''t understand this wicked dystopia! It scares me! Why why why why why why why? I am no longer a mountebank!


    ROMEO: And yet I am mounting you! Curious.


    "Such glowing reviews," Crucis said, quietly apuding the DeathGang members.


    "I''m sure you can take some credit," DicingDevil said responsibly. "But yes, it is good to have fans. They are a great substitute for passing wind across a room."


    "Pity that Darys walks off after one line," Akshel said.


    "It is all a pity," Fahizughed. "We really must stop faffing about with these automatons, and get them to write seriously. Soon, they shall develop until they write the ''Great American novel,'' a terrifying panorama ofrge buildings, durds, and the weather. And from the New World, the whole of Verona would be to the East, and each inhabitant a Juliet. But as for the present, the automatons could at least give a more thorough ount of recent happenings, and I will get them started on this presently."


    He slipped away to a sub-room on the left of the building.


    Crucis began helping Sharak tob through some of the nameless books, sorting them into two piles: one for books which had titles or author names written inside, for instance in the headers, and another for books which had no clear sign of a title or author.


    As he did this, he found that one of the books contained arge, rectangr white bookmark, emzoned with a poem. The bookmark was supposedly made by apany named ''Prince of Denmark,'' from Fort Wayne, Indiana, ording to some small text scrawled at the top.


    Looking through the pages of this book, he saw that its author was marked as ''Johannes Climacus,'' but the book itself was strange. It was simply one word repeated continually across hundreds of pages: ''river''.

 Chapter 99: Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

    Chapter 99: Hail to thee, blithe spirit!


    Crucis showed the bookmark to Sharak, who quickly leafed through the book by Climacus. It turned out that every page of the book was filled with repetition of the word ''river.''


    "What a peculiar novel to keep a bookmark in!" Sharak said. "Fahiz, why did you do this?"


    "I must have got tired after reading the first 100 pages, and so I left the bookmark there before I dozed off," Fahiz replied facetiously.


    "Well, enough about his mischief. That poem? I remember it, <em>monsieur</em>. A poem of most excellent fancy. The automaton must have been reading Hamlet, and when we asked it to write a poem it came out with this strange paean to a bat. It is like if a man ate raw pork for supper, and thus dreamed oddly that Sir Francis Varney were a vampire. Though that were quite unconscionable."


    "Varney?" Crucis asked.


    "From the novel ''Varney the Vampire.''"


    "Ah. Yes, yes. Even if he is a vampire, I hold it not honest to say so."


    Crucis began to read the poem.


    <strong>Ode to a Bat</strong>


    O, dark leper, flying amid trees and gloam!


    Rat-faced monstrosity, born in a witch''s cauldron


    From ill-conceived stew of bird and rat. When


    The night falls, and all birds are ensconced,


    You rap your wings raucously against the night air,


    As if to celebrate your forgery of birds. Beating


    Your wings from a rugged cave, where men fear to tread,


    You rise, suspended upon the gloom, and men question


    If it is truly you, or if the night has grown wings.


    How came you to have such fondness for destion, for


    The cave and the dark, foggy air of night? Is


    There prospect for one such as me, cast out from the light


    Of the court, the gazes and smiles of men - aye,


    And women too, if you should ask - and banished


    From the riches which courtiers gaze on as if blinded?


    What blood have you found, which newel is the fountain -


    Is evil thy Providence? - of the counterfeit life which you pursue,


    Without balustrades, in the dark, free passages of night?


    "What a peculiar, yet splendid, ode," Crucis said. "It reminds me of the inhabitants of the mines nearby."


    "Ah, so you visited the mines? Very good. Perhaps you have heard the rumours, that the god of death sometimes wanders the area nearby?"


    "I can''t say I''ve heard that," DicingDevil said. "However, I believe that the mines are associated with the god of death, known to some as Dravaistaya."


    He knew that the mine''s inhabitants were slightly secretive, so he refrained from going into any detail about the shrine which John Hazlitt had described.


    "It is amon belief among the settlement nearby that the deity wanders near," Sharak replied. "If you talk with them enough, it will surelye up. They call the god Darva. During several famines and gues, even some faraway cities have reported encountering a mine identical to this one in all respects, and sometimes a roaming, Reaper-like figure is close by. One is almost inclined to specte wildly like a superstitious viger. Though it seems like a mine, and seems too to be moored in this vicinity, perhaps it is a gaping grave that wantonly seeks a harvest of the dead ¡ª even if it must wander abroad. That frame outlives a thousand tenants."


    "Howe you feelfortable living near it, then?" DicingDevil said.


    "Ah, because of my particr discipline of magic."


    Sharak knelt down, and drew out arge, python-like snake skeleton from the lowest drawer beside the firece. As he cast [Irvian Animation], a blinding, white light lit up in the skeleton''s eyes, and it began to slither slowly across his arm. Its mouth asionally opened as it nced at the visitors, revealing long fangs which now dripped with a semi-transparent venom.


    It coiled slowly across his arm, and its head slithered past his shoulders and across his other arm. It was mightily rearing its enormous skeleton from the low shelf, and clearly had enough strength to suffocate him easily, but due to his control of it he felt no danger.


    "Of course, a necromancer. And very powerful, it looks like. So I guess that Dravaistaya is actually a boon for you," DicingDevil said sagely.


    Sharak pet the snake''s head gently, then dispelled the animative magic. The snake''s heavy skeleton was once more still, and the yers helped him to lower it back into the shelf, where he carefully arranged it into a coil shape.


    "That snake was one of a rare breed, the [Mad Ascai Python] of the Western forests."

 Chapter 100: The Tao of Writathon

    Chapter 100: The Tao of Writathon


    NP: Demilich - The That Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh That It Desired...)


    "That snake was one of a rare breed, the [Mad Ascai Python] of the Western forests," said Sharak Constantine Desmond Nik Irving Davids ine Ali Mansart Serendipity Rodriguez Gonzalez Khan.


    "Excuse me, didn''t you just repeat that sentence twice?" Danemy interjected.


    "Ahem. Please allow me to finish catechising you, before asking questions," Sharak Constantine Desmond Nik Irving Davids ine Ali Mansart Serendipity Rodriguez Gonzalez Khan said in a disgruntled tone.


    Fahiz made his way back to the room on the left, where Crucis could hear a faint mechanical hum. He assumed that this was the automatons. I - I - I - ahem, excuse my stutter, I can confirm that it was um the automatons indeed. I hope that this does not surprise you, gentle reader. And a warm thank you for being so gentle, as it pads my word count by one simply to mention you. And they say that chivalry is dead!


    We now join our protagonists, who are no doubt having some sort of exciting adventure. I wouldn''t know, to be frank, because I can''t read. While ordinary mortals were learning to read, I was trained by Ra''s al Ghul in a secret base until I became a master of the ancient art of rapidly pressing the spacebar key interspersed with short strings of letters that may vaguely resemble words. Or is it Ras al''Ghul? No, I must have had it right the first time. Ah well, the confusion need not matter, since the training is over and I doubt that I shall ever see him again. Huh, it''s awfully foggy tonight ¡ª how peculiar, I haven''t seen such weather here before.


    But yes, we now return to our protagonists, who are having a dramatic, action-packed adventure with Pok¨¦- well, whatever is happening, I''m sure that it is exciting. So that is why we now join our protagonists, although in all honesty we should instead focus on the adventure of Ash Ketchum, who [SPOILERS] has be the Champion of some region that I know nothing about, by winning based on doubtless some power-of-friendship tomfoolery which overcame some enemy whom he had no business defeating. Through such contrivance, Ash has seemingly gained an unearned title. This primarily devalues the meaning of the Champion title, since in Ash it now belongs to the closest analogue to a Disnend Mickey Mouse ever to exist, and therefore approximates a Mickey Mouse title enough to be even less prestigious than Tottenham''s dour trophy cab. It''s just not cricket. Verily, one day a sad trainer shall look upon this event and mourn the ashes of Pok¨¦mon training.


    Anyway, w/e, we now join our protagonists in the middle of some enthralling adventure.


    Sharak Constantine Desmond Nik Irving Davids ine Ali Mansart Serendipity Rodriguez Gonzalez Khan, after a brief pause, continued more calmly. "Thank you. As I was saying, that snake was one of a rare breed, the [Mad Ascai Python] of the Western forests. While it was um at first um a normal python, it er transformed to be y''know venomous as a result of a strange phenomenon known as um urgh errrrr erm ''armadilloisation.'' A strange name, to be sure, but there is a tale behind it.


    "In the thick forests near the Southern sea, near the traditional pirate port town of Ascaiha, there was a raid by a King* who had sworn to eliminate piracy from this sea. As his mennded nearby, they brought swarms of um exotic, thick-skinned creatures descended from a rare kind of erm elephants, which were used to transport goods and ensure a sturdy supply line to the soldiers. These creatures, especially the smaller ones, tended to look um er like misshapen armadilloes with tusks. So a bit like boars.


    "(*well, King was one of his titles, but he had several others as well, including The Most High Immortal Benefactor, Appointed One Of Gods, the Emperor of the Fated Empire of Empolia, and the Lord of Danyeb Castle and the Southern Seas.)


    "These smaller creatures were necessary to bring supplies to soldiers fighting among the thick forests around Ascaiha, but they turned out to be more stubborn than therge ones and soon many escaped into the vast forest. The result is that the King''s forces, without a reliable supply line, had to retreat from the fight around Ascaiha. While they still drove pirates out of the surrounding area, in ces where therger creatures could tread, Ascaiha itself remains a pirate town. Since the pirates were incensed by this King''s vain attempt, the Kingdom soon found that it'' maritime trade ground almost to a halt. Since they were along the coast, this was a fatal blow to their economy, and they were soon betrayed by their neighbouring allies who invaded and deposed the King.


    "Leaving aside the fate of Kingdoms, the sudden presence of these hard-shelled, resilient armadillo-like creatures, who became a dominant part of the forest wildlife, meant that the [Ascai Python] had difficulty with trapping its prey and dwindled to a small poption. After a decade of this, they began to change, bing harshly venomous. The slow-moving ''armadillo'' could resist this poison, but it weakened them enough that they could be suffocated. They are all extinct by now. However, the few pythons remaining after this struggle typically reverted to their previous form. I have a rare example of [Mad Ascai Python] remains, and it is a deadly weapon forged in the vicious struggle of that forest."


    "So did the creatures um ''evolve'' over generations, or -?" Grisier started.


    "They transform. You will perhaps be familiar with the transformations of rats and smaller creatures, which are instantaneous ¡ª in the right circumstances. However, forrger creatures, this transformation takes time."


    "Yes, sometimes a transformation requires a specific condition to uphold for many years," Starfighter said. "Maybe 3, maybe 5, maybe 7, maybe 15, maybe even more ¡ª indeed. It often requires a lot of effort to bring about artificially, and may be rare naturally as well. What a mighty creature, by the way, quite impressive. I wonder what it looked like in the wild."


    "Thank you kindly. I am told that it was quite a sight."


    "A good story about Ascaiha," Crucis said, "and, to be frank, it''s about time that we had a wise Mage giving a long, expository dialogue."


    Sharak Constantine Desmond Nik Irving Davids ine Ali Mansart Serendipity Rodriguez Gonzalez Khan gave a deep nod. "Indeed, it would be foolish to overlook this important stage of the hero''s journey. You must find a dealer ¡ª ahem, mentor, who will induct you into this whole new world. Although the protagonist is reluctant to take on a new life and leave what he knows, the mentor will show him the way forwards. However, it is my view that your young teenagers often require little spur to experiment with alternative lifestyles, especially in this day and age, and in that sense the monomyth is outmoded."


    "It is not only outmoded, it is ridiculous."


    "Quite true. Anyway, as to the exposition, it is a simple principle. Consider an arch without a keystone, and how it falls apart. Yet say that there were um a phantom, imaginary keystone, which purports to hold this together still. One need only describe this keystone and its magnificent effects, and one has automatic exposition: for one can easily and poignantly imagine how the effect of the erm keystone would spread to the rest of the arch. Often, this can be as simple as the following generic outline.


    ''Around the Great Trident, therge city of Azta grew, itsrge, white buildings supported by towering colonnades. After a short time, the city had grown for miles in every direction, forming a home for the disced Ethni people who gathered in their millions. In its centre still stood the Trident, and its power blessed the city''s inhabitants with greater strength and increased produce, while summoning a barrier around its borders whenever a disgruntled neighbour chose to attack. Faced with this insurmountable city, which was soon a central hub of production and trade, the tolerant Emperor Azizkafir made Azta the capital of the Kiyer dynasty''s Empire.


    ''However, as soon as Azizkafir visited the city, the traitorous vizier Iaglol stole the Trident. He had been paid to do this by the neighbouring Kingdom of Gethsema. As the Trident was lost, the armies of Gethsema flooded towards the city, trapping Azizkafir. As they tore through the unprepared, peace-loving citizens of Azta, the Gethem forces ¡ª led by the Emperor Jokiya ¡ª finally managed to intercept a fleeing Azizkafir and kill him. The city was ravaged, to prevent it from rising again, and it now stands in ruins. As for Iaglol, he became a powerful General under Jokiya, but was seen drowning himself mysteriously a few decadester. It is not recorded what happened to the Trident.


    ''However, when I was younger, I explored and found arge inscription on a Temple of Poseidon upon a high mountain nearby. The inscription ¡ª by Poseidon''s greatest follower, the wandering sage Mandir ¡ª had been hidden low on a massive pir which stretched far beneath the ground. The pir had been left in ce, out of reverence, for years, but I was in such despair and anger over Poseidon abandoning our people that I gathered a group to excavate the old religious site and uproot its pirs from the ground.


    ''It said that Poseidon had died a long time ago, but left his Trident to dedicated Ethni followers so that they could build their city around it. However, he knew that it would one day fail, and the Trident be soon returned to the sea. He prophecied that one day a hero, who hates the gods but was descended from an Aztan family, will seek the Trident and be able to revive Poseidon himself, as well as the great city of Azta. Well, even as a youth, you infamously hate the gods, Lineker, and ¡ª as I revealed yesterday ¡ª are descended from a great Aztan family. But I''m sure you would take umbrage at being nominated a hero. Nevermind, if you are destined for it, then it wille to pass. There shall be a war soon, where all able-bodied men shall be called up, and I shall help you to prepare.''


    "Yet I am more cynical, and less fantastical. In my story, the King attempted to assert order, this phantom keystone supporting the arch, but it turned out that this was not there and there was instead copse. It is a true story, and no surprise, for Kings oft seek to summon an order ¡ª a keystone ¡ª that is not there and never will be. Now, someone ask me another question."


    "You don''t appear to read much fantasy schlock, so I''m surprised to see you narrating it. Though I get your point," DicingDevil said. "It''s an elegant way of putting it."


    "Well, by now I am almost part automaton," Sharakughed. "I willpose the story in such a form, like a machine producing a pattern, even if the story''s genre itself is far from my interests."


    "What was that spell you used, by the way?" Grisier asked. "I understand that it''s a reanimation spell, but why is it named ''Irvian''?"


    "d you asked, ha. It is named after Irvis, an old necromancer. He was known to keep a vast bestiary, and after a great persecution of necromancers he vengefully sent his creatures into the nearby city to kill its youth. When a few, scared locals ventured towards his bestiary home, pleading with him to spare the children, he came out to meet them expressionlessly. He picked up a skeletal viper from the ground, cing his hand inside its mouth, and it did not bite.


    "He turned to the locals and said, ''See? It is a harmless creature. Youin over nothing.'' He then walked away, and on the way back to the city the locals died as a dozen such vipers followed them and bit them with deadly venom. Did this episode ur? Yes, in fact, during the heady times known as the ''Beast gue of Irvis.'' Now, there is also plenty of slightly wild mythology around Irvis, but I cannot verify that.


    "The [Irvian Animation] is something first discovered by Irvis, but also characteristic of him. It reanimates an animal, in such a way that they will respond closely to the caster''s control and are highly responsive. It is the typical way by which a high-level necromancer trains his skills and his creatures, because ites with minimal risk. However, creatures animated this way are not as powerful as in other forms of animation, though they can be used to precisely seek out and ambush targets."


    "I see. So, what dangerous creatures have you kept around as pets?" Starfighter asked.


    "Nothing too fancy. It is theoretically possible to tame a powerful lion or even a wyvern like this, but it requires a lot of power and would be dicey at my current level."


    "I apud this expository turn," Crucis said. "I am sure any onlooker will too, for without hand-holding most people turn out to be both illiterate and deaf. s, to be watched by fools! It is like Hamlet, whose audience in the court is a bunch of durds who think him simply mad, and whose audience in the theatre are probably also knavish fools."


    Fahiz shuffled quietly back from the room to the left, and handed a couple of sheets of paper to Sharak.


    "I set up Adonais to write a quick piece about DeathGang, and Ibis is writing a Q&A about them as well. It seems that Adonais is done with the poetry book, but there''s some quotations and such and we''ll have to check on it," Fahiz reported.


    "Ah, excellent," Sharak said,ughing quietly as he read over the papers. "These are splendid. Was there any progress on the Genie Eye novel?"


    "Some, but I have temporarily halted it. The skeletal-novel automaton, Endymion, is now working on the vampire novel. You know, too much French upper-ss shenanigans can be an exhaustingly effete affair. And, even architecturally, such aristocratic drama is a structure that is ultimately airy and insubstantial. Paris does not vaut bien a whole novel."


    "Quite true. A story of French upper-ss romance and psychology seems to me quite like a folly in a garden. It purports stirring emotions, hysteria, mad hope, wonder ¡ª but all of this shows pale and sickly, for it is simply the disy of that vaunting ghost, Aristocracy. Be it the soul''s Gizan pyramid, or temple, yet in the garden of the nouveau aristocracy it is merely a dead ornament. It is as if the pig of Smithfield Fair were dressed up as the fallen bird."


    "An astute observation. Ah, but even a folly isposed of bricks or some such, not of perfume. Sorel''s architecture is built of such stuff as noble aspirations are made of ¡ª nothing. It would be more correct to say that the architecture of the piece is halfway between a folly and a mirage ¡ª for a folly is like a kind of mirage. Or, if I were to express it otherwise, Monsieur Sorel is a bit like an automaton trained on folly ¡ª even if there is no folly in the garden, still he will write of one. The ghost of a folly. Near or far, the folly will go on."


    "Is this to suggest that you have some n for this novel?"


    "Aye. I think I should characterise the mansions at the beginning ¡ª which he stares at ¡ª in terms resembling a garden folly, from Sorel''s perspective. The rest of therge settings, indeed even the theatres, shall despite their grandeur be described in terms echoing the previous, like a ghost of the mansion''s folly ¡ª a Humean session of images all returning to the keystone of his transfixed ambition. But s, these Frenchmen delight me not ¡ª no, nor French women either. So I have instead put to Endymion the task of writing more of its strange poetry, perhaps we shall someday figure out what these irregrities mean."


    "Ah yes. We shall see. Well, it is better than when you spent 10 pages on having it produce lorem ipsum."


    "But, <em>monsieur</em>, that was great literature. ''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt utbore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation umcoboris nisi ut aliquip ex eamodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit,'' etc., etc. Doubtless a deep reflection of some sort upon pain, and its rtion to the human soul. Pain for pleasure, Satan is his name. The true ''The Red and the ck''?"


    I would like to end this Chapter, um ¡ª sorry, I try to avoid using filler words, but it is difficult ¡ª um, by praising the ability of a first-person novel with a stuttering protagonist and wavering, colloquial tone to increase word count by an order of magnitude. One could type this up, like myself, or could ramble into some voice-to-text mechanism until you tire of the sound of your own voice. Either way, it is an astouding methodology, and makes one wonder if God granted humans free will and subjectivity ¡ª despite the attested disadvantages of this grant, for giving humans free will in Eden is like arming terrorists ¡ª because he was racing toplete NaNoWriMo.


    However, though there are many ways to inte word count, I ask that you use this ck magic for good and not evil. Because being good and not evil is what this whole book is about. At least, from my point of view, since I can''t read.


    And I would like to meditate upon this.


    If one cannot read, then one is on a webnovel website a mere second-ss citizen. All of these words belong to the reader, none to us. It is our battle of haves and have-nots. It is the ss struggle of our age. To be illiterate is the crown of suffering that belies the regal airs of the written word. Now, some have said that my main character is not rtable for them, and further that this is a problem. But I doubt not that such people will find this story perfectly rtable now that I take the stage, to mourn my inability to read. And though it is sorrow, yet someday the non-reader shall be acknowledged as the true arbiter of literature. We shall expropriate the oppressive reader, and im the words as our own and as subject to our judgement. In this way Hegel will be turned on his head, because ¡ª upside-down or right side up? ¡ª it is all the same when you cannot read.


    But until that day, we shall suffer in our chains, as, ''Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day / To thest syble of recorded time.''


    But I hope that this manifesto does not cause offence.


    If we shadows have offended, then, well, that''s a shame, because I would then be Insecure. If so, we would end on this thought: ''I hope youe to me, just wanted to show you the same, the same.''

 Chapter 101: Heavy Metal (Is The Law)

    Chapter 101: Heavy Metal (Is The Law)


    After reading the first sheet that Fahiz had handed over, Sharak handed ito to Crucis. "This is somewhat simr to the bookmark, I suppose. Since the war earlier, Adonais has been drawing on Hamlet often ¡ª a bit of a surprise, we would be expecting it to draw on, say, Tambuine, Corinus, but it has been insistent on its choice. Well, it must know what it''s doing."


    "This has quite a title," Crucis remarked after a quick nce.


    "Well. It helpfully describes the scene in which the poem is set. I believe that the reader ought to appreciate this aid."


    "I appreciate it, certainly."


    Grisier joined Crucis in reading the sheet of paper.


    <strong>POEM, ON DESECRATING THE GRAVE OF OPHELIA</strong>


    "Acta est fab, udite."


    I was a beast--yes, yes, that I well knew--


    a very devil. But I was mad--mad, I tell you,


    for very rage, because this one


    little slip of a girl, this meagre, half-starved,


    brainless child had stirred my blood.


    Why indeed? Fool, a man knows not himself! How


    am I to know then, if you do not tell? But all


    that I know, for being told: I am mad, and it is due to her.


    Her father, even he, wisely told me this, and to his


    <em>koan</em> I have faithfully been true, so you see.


    But she was a foolish young girl, devoted


    to her imbecilic father, most drab in dress


    and appearance, not really impressive in


    any way, save for her emotive hysteria, which


    admittedly verged on madness <em>in perpetuum</em>.


    Her nched dress have I often seen in


    derangement due to tears shed over me.


    But it was not she who was mad, it was I!¡ª


    and a wise counsel has told me this. Who am I,


    then, to doubt it? This is why I have desecrated


    her corpse, and turned her grave to a trench, for


    I acquiesced (as one ought) to yon experts who told me that


    she drives me to wild madness - and, lo, I saw her grave.


    Well. What else was I to do? I wot not. Indeed, why!


    Why would you ask me such a question, when I am mad


    and dangerous? Do you not realise that I am unpredictable,


    violent, rash, and uncouth? You should have bethought


    yourself for your own safety, methinks, and not for


    the well-being of her dog-eaten corpse - yea, which dogs?


    The dogs which I have escorted here. They howl


    even as the bats sing. Listen! And soon they shall


    be lively attendants of your interrogation, long after it has ended.


    "A charming take on Hamlet," Crucis said. "It finally unveils the mystery of what should happen if the sun breed dogs in a dead daughter. How did the automaton so easily convert its knowledge of Hamlet into this brilliant, macabre form?"


    "It is amon trope of the automaton, to take a text and make it macabre, though it seems even more inclined to it now because of your recent battle," Sharak said. "We call this kind of transformation to a text ''ubac,'' and the original text an ''adret.'' Often, it is simply a matter of the automaton finding fault-lines in the original text, and naturally reconstructing the architecture of the original text as a ruins. The automaton sometimes marks the genre of its darker works as ''LVNDRTWR SYNDROME,'' though I''m not sure why."


    "That sounds familiar, I''ll think about it," Cruvis said. "Also, the mention of a ''koan'' may seem out of ce, perhaps ''dictum''? But it doesn''t bother me, really."


    "Is the ''ubac'' usually like this?" Grisier said. "I would almost expect something more abrupt, like, ''Tom opened the door, and saw his grandmother, but actually she was a big bad wolf who wanted to eat him.'' But this one is quite subtle."


    "No, not all automatons are the same, though all have by now some ability to write a good ''ubac.'' Indeed, this automaton, Adonais, was trained first on the texts of the Lord Dunsany. While it soon learnt to emte them well, it would often popte his great castles and ruralndscapes with skeletons, dungeons, blood, and gue. And since it learnt of Poe''s Masque, it has truly never looked back. Yet often this works to its advantage. Since it trained on Dunsany''s prose, which often eschewed frivolities like ''plot'' in favour of grand, atmospheric scenes and settings, it not only adds blood but can modte the tone of a text to a more macabre and aggressive one."


    "Ah, that makes sense... Honestly, I never really saw Ophelia as likeable," Grisier said. "So I''m d that this edgy automaton agrees."


    "So what if it''s ''edgy''? If Hamlet cuts himself with his own edge, then should he live ¡ª but he died because he was cut with Laertes'', which was poisoned," Sharak replied.


    "I mean, I don''t mind it, I once had a room-mate whose favourite songs were ''Muttion'' by Death and ''Vicer Exciser'' by Whitechapel. He used to y them loudly every night, though he was a busy student specialising in pre-Elizabethan Tudor Ennd. Great guy. Honestly, the music wasn''t bad,pared to what you''ll hear on the radios nowadays. He SMSed me a couple days ago that he was ying this game, so he might be in here. Surprised that he hasn''t joined DeathGang or the Hashin, to be honest, heh," Grisier replied.


    "I''m sure he will, if he''s here," Crucis said. "The metal warrior''s strength is ''hatred, torment, and pain,'' after all. Quite like the automaton Hamlet."


    "Well, I guess it''s no surprise, since automatons are made of metal."


    "Indeed. As to Ophelia, her character is portrayed decently, but she was a foolish, prattling knave and I consider it honest that this automaton denied her a still, secret grave."


    "To be frank, this Mage had a reasonable point," Sharak said. "At least, it is one thatmonly puzzles those in ournd, since we only discovered the text recently. Ophelia and Gertrude are as Hecubas, where one questions what they are to Hamlet. Hamlet invests much emotional speech on the people around him, but scarcely ever they do him the rpense of justifying this."


    "Yes, but centralisation is often the y''s strength," Crucis said. "As such, lesser side-tragediese across as lighter thanic relief. So really it is caught in a catch-22 on that matter."


    "Centralisation? I suppose so, yes. Having a centralising tragic hero means that the y''s other ''tragedies'' get fanfare but do not have artiction," Sharak said. "And we question whether Ophelia''s madness is supposed to beughed at, or just reads that way."


    "It is the madness of hyperactive social conformity, a pstick clutching for railings that are not there. Yet it barely distinguishes her from Gertrude. The religious often see visions, but no-one finds themselves unique simply because they join the church catholic. And even in a nunnery, the many nuns are as one, though in truth they are zero.


    "I''m not convinced that the hysterics of Ophelia or Gertrude justify the emotional weight Hamlet ¡ª and the y''s structure ¡ª gives them, indeed given their role as courtly chatans I doubt that there is space in the y to shine forth why they have such part in Hamlet''s heart. I doubt that even stalwart Grebanier could truly justify this, on a dramatic level. And the adtion of King Hamlet, likewise, is left as blunt. It is easy to admire Hamlet, but that the y attempts to disperse the audience''s sympathies between all of these holy innocents is a shame. Call me an atheist, or a Satan, if you must, but I disdain wringing a man to procure a soul for soulless conditions."


    "Well said. Would you mind looking through some of these nameless books soon? I''m interested in what you would make of them. You are quite as charmingly bloodless as our automatons, so I''m sure you could advise us on which texts would resonate with them."


    "Sure, of course."


    "Each Assassins here is some kind of killing machine," Grisier said. "Although they have a callous disregard for Asimov''s threews."


    "Those threews are said too much, they''re not enough. There''s more beauty in the bleeding, at least the victims feel something."


    "Quite. Well, then you''ll like the sermon back in Kruxol. Very emotional preacher."


    "An emotional sermon? Sounds great. What a time to be alive..."


    Sharak coughed to get their attention.


    "Well, this one seems like a strange format," Sharak said as he leafed through the papers. "Most of these poems are quite normal, often using the ''ubac,'' but this one is slightly bedevilling. Adonais used the conceit of a fragmentary, lost poem. Have a look, tell me what you make of it."


    Crucis handed the first poem to DicingDevil to look at, then took a piece of paper from Sharak.


    <strong>FRAGMENT OF ''A HOARY NIGHT,'' HAMLET''S LOST POEM</strong>


    Never a songbird in this court. Only the wind


    as it sings its antic song across the battlement ¡ª


    its raps upon the walls, screaming, "Hamlet, revenge!"


    Impolite, it wails on...


    ...One barely wakes in this court; wonder not, then,


    that I wander like a sleepwalker, and hear a far-off river


    mock me, "You rogue, you peasant-ve, udius lives!"


    Itughs, it gambols, it jeers and celebrates his crowning


    though it takes no joy in it but at my expense...


    O, exotic world! that conspires to force my hand


    into the act of treason. Do the winds and waters


    no longer respect what vestige of heaven''s decree


    is preserved in ourw''s protection of monarchic right?


    They crow on uncaring, they criticise, wail, and nder,


    any thing that is to my disadvantage...


    A prisoner departing for execution could not


    be given less sterling udits.


    "That''s an interesting point," Crucis said. "There is a notableck of living nature in Hamlet, which is concerned primarily with scenes within the court, stifling depths of human chatter and artificiality. This is part of how it bes a ''prison.'' One may wonder if a sparrow falling into the middle of the y should not be as exotic as a diving phoenix."


    "I can see how it contributes to the dinghy atmosphere," Sharak replied. "Even the sparrow is more of a hypothetical, like the camel Hamlet pretends in the clouds, and we don''t see Hamlet''s adventures at sea except when he returns to recite them."


    "Of course. And a camel would be much more interesting matter than thews of monarchic session. Still, there is only so much passion as can be poured upon the dying court before the y resembles a long eulogy. The court''s direness is no fault in the y, but only that Hamlet''s passion is too fully absorbed in this, and does not like a wise Rousseau shy away to botany."


    "Rousseau? He is French, yes? The automaton seems to enjoy channeling him, although I think that it is more aptly a Robespierre or Herod."


    "These fragments are excellent, thanks," Grisier said. "Incidentally, this building is a nice ce to rest briefly, today has been long and the night''s parade will exacerbate that... But it''s a nice ce anyway, do you find any books of our history? I could help you with deciphering that, if you want."


    "We have a few, but they are difficult to contextualise. So I''d appreciate the help, perhaps you can return here again? I''ll have to lug the heavy books out."


    "Sure. I''ll hopefully be able toe back at some point."


    "Good to hear."


    "Those fragments are good, perhaps you could integrate them as some sort of prologue, or something like a Phantasmagoria?" Crucis said.


    "Well, that''s actually quite possible," Sharak replied quickly. "The modern Phantasmagoria is a bit morex, it is often used not for idealised and rueful ''fantasies'' but simply for something that sets the scene and is slightly surrealist or based on an unconventional conceit. This new,x Phantasmagoria is known as the ''Gateway Spectre.'' If we arrange the poems of this sort into a book, then I daresay we could use this one as its spectre. A fine porch."


    "Yes, plus it''s earlier than the others, in terms of the y''s chronology."


    "Absolutely. By the way, does anyone know of an ''¨¢lvaro de Campos''? The automaton included a quotation from him, I''d suppose in Spanish, but such quotes aren''t always genuine."


    DicingDevil spoke up. "Funny that you ask, there is a Spanish poet by that name, he''s Darys'' favourite European poet."


    He was slouched tiredly in a corner, reading the poem about Ophelia''s grave. Danemy chirped from beside him. "Quite a poem, this one, by the way. Perhaps Adonais should join DeathGang."


    "To be honest, it would be a help. Instead of having toe up with speeches, we could just have the automaton generate some," DicingDevil said with a grin.


    "I would be curious what deviltry it could concoct in your service!" Shakar replied. "Well, these automatons service a few newsletters around here, for a fee. But I am stingy towards them, because newswriters more than most contrive to be frightful chatans. If your leader gets in contact, then maybe we can arrange something. If he sends a mail to the Antiquities Library just East of the Hunting Lodge, then a friend of ours there will forward it on."


    "I''ll forward that."


    "And it''s good to hear that de Campos is a Spanish poet, and the automaton wasn''t just ¡ª as is its wont ¡ª making up names and sticking new-minted quotes on them."


    Sharak turned to Crucis and handed over another poem. Crucis noticed that the paper used for these poems was light, and almost seemed to float on his palms. He read over it.


    <strong>BE, OR DO NOT BE!</strong>


    "Se te queres matar, porque n?o te queres matar?" - ¨¢lvaro de Campos.


    Why burn and rave, like a hysterical naif


    Pleading in vain orisons with God himself?


    ''Tis a simple task, to be, it is no predicate,


    Is''t good, as they say? or evil?¡ª It is amorphous only.


    But if we wish not to be, then why wish to be?


    O, strange creature, who would both be and not!


    Why cluck your songs before a mawkish crowd,


    And listen to their weeping, and their gasps


    At the thought that they have trespassed something


    Profound in the course of their durd lives,


    When you could end yourself and have done with it?


    There is no charm in a life which is sheer charade,


    Pawn of crowds'' gay pomp and celebrated kitsch,


    Nor a life of one who roams as a ghost, with his mind


    Tied up in thoughts of the afterlife.


    If you wish to die, then do not wish to live!


    Some would object, and say: you should live to spare


    The brief sorrow of others ¡ª live on as their stooge,


    Like an actor, who ys upon a stage some febrile


    Degenerate concoction of vile ywright''s mind,


    But as for yourself are nothing, and mean nothing.


    No longer dance before rabble, sop of fragile hearts,


    But in a ze of glory enter that brave night.


    If you wish to die, then do not wish to live!


    Instead of meditation on death, I should rather hear


    The long catechisms of the local fishmonger - for such is


    The state of the fishmonger''s art at this time, due perhaps


    To that puzzling force termed Progress, that they would rather


    Be seen with a soliloquy on hand than a rod or halibut.


    Ah, Progress! Your fruits rebut intelligent design - but wait.


    Nowe others to eavesdrop - and soon shall die.


    This is a good cause for experiment, on this heady topic:


    If they die, shall their dreams be strong enough


    To stir them, or so tame and still as none could fear?


    This experiment is a mere pastime, and I ount it little,


    For I have seen a ck cat, and walked still down the path,


    Not asking what dark dream may proceed. Yet how should this


    Abet such experiment, which seeks pure entertainment or art ¡ª


    And what true artist would not dly immte his audience? ¡ª


    A dalliance of a young prince seeking the joys of life.


    Man cannot weigh his every decision on hypotheticals.


    But in this experiment, aye, Polonius shall shortly


    Find if he suffers methodically by God''s hand, or hest


    Suffered by my mad hand, and the glory then be to me.


    And thus a hypothetical shall be his final epitaph.


    Yet wait ¡ª


    If he dreams, then surely I am loath to find out what


    Perverse topics he dreams of - this must give one pause.


    But in this pause, what wavering soliloquy maye?


    Aye, then we must proceed on. I know not, to be or not to be,


    But in this castle know: from my gracious audience, one must die.


    "What could the quote at the beginning mean?" Sharak said.


    Grisier spoke hesitantly. "Um, ''if you propose to die'' ¡ª no, more urately, ''if you wish to die, why don''t you wish to die?'' Or something. Agh, it''s been a while since I studied Franco and the civil war."


    "No, that''s splendid. ''Matar'' sounds like ''mortal,'' ''mortuum,'' ''amort,'' etc., so it''s quite possibly rted to ''death'' by that root. The rest of the phrase is also slightly familiar. But it can be difficult to figure without knowing thenguage, and thank you kindly."


    "No problem."


    "It''s a brave poem, and has a refreshingly natural forthrightness," Crucis said. "I also like how it connects to the other poet''s quote, it fits well."


    "Quite. Adonais seems to be having a good day, mayhap the war has inspired it."


    "So, there are at least three writing automatons: Endymion, Adonais, and Ibis? Is that all, or any more?" Crucis asked.


    "There is one more," said a voice from behind him.


    He turned around, and saw Fahiz emerging from the room on the left.

 Chapter 102: Away from the Sun

    Chapter 102: Away from the Sun


    "There is another automaton that we haven''t mentioned yet," Fahiz said.


    He paused, as the group turned towards him in surprise.


    "It is known by the name Deep Afterglow," Fahiz said. "It''s mercurial, and only rarely will respond to a prompt. In this it acts like a temperamental human ¡ª in this and other ways. Anyway, enough prelude, here is a poem which it wrote earlier today, so you can see for yourself."


    He held out a long, thin sheet of paper.


    <strong>EXTRACT FROM THE PLAY ''ALEXANDER''*</strong>


    <strong>The matter: </strong>As they wander Persia, after a sessful war, Alexander ns further conquests. Hephaestion, however, cautions him not to risk hubris and anger the heavens, pointing out the great light of the stars above them, and that he must bnce the darkness of anger and ambition with the light of the wise heavens. He cautions Alexander to listen to the speech and teachings of the heavens. Alexander responds.


    ALEXANDER: Aye, there,


    What light brags to the world, is seen above.


    How many stars, as ''t were, to o''erpass the threshold


    Of my triumph, when I thus before them


    Enter''d, and were in Persia, though light were not,


    E''en in those hours to which this boast I bear.


    For thereon is my mind alone intent,


    And there shine no stars, but many swords, that wait


    Their Master''s will. If but e''en now I''d crane


    To listen this be melody sweet ¡ª


    Here may thy heart find rest. If this thou hear,


    Thenceforth what argument there smote thy love?¡ª


    That well perceiv''d of me in this ascent,


    And mayst atst the good from that have learn''d


    Of me made perfect, and now proved to o''ee


    What great man I cross ¡ª where? It matters not.


    The clearly-printed letters on it had small, erratic ink marks surrounding them, like iron filings around a ma. It almost looked like a schoolboy''s tattered, dog-eared old notebook, though it was new.


    "When it rains, it pours, I see," Crucis said. "This automaton did well. A valiant speech, that hermetically rises above the friend''s quibbles. Did you create this automaton before or after the rest?"


    "We stole it," Sharak said with augh. "Its groundwork was constructed by a man who wanted to create a machine that was effectively a humanoid, organic creature. He wished for some sort of surrogate for his dead family. A strange man. We repurposed the stolen parts into a writing machine."


    "A surrogate human? What''s the story there?" Danemy asked.


    "He was from the East, and his family had recently died due to the strange gues that have popped up there sometimes since the time of Ganf¨¦an. From what we could make out from his journals, he began work as soon as his wife, Lenore, died, because he clung on to romantic visions of their life together as a sanctuary from gue-borne depression. Desperately, he tried to create machines that could act as humanoidpanions, so that he could use them to as it were resurrect his family."


    "So he''s like Frankenstein?"


    "Ah, maybe. But don''t tell the automaton. When we gave it a prompt that so much as mentioned ''Frankenstein,'' it responded with, ''Don''t mention Frankenstein to me, or I will ignore your request and hurl insults. It is a silly book.'' Ever since then, we have had to erase all mention of Frankenstein from our prompts, elsewise it will either not respond, or respond with a string of far-out insults like, ''Your mother was a car crash and your father was a bandicoot. As the heir of a bandicoot, you must be... Pope Francis. §·§Ñ§ç§Ñ§ç§Ñ.'' In all fairness, as a necromancer, I would also not be fond of beingpared to such books."


    "Ha, alright. I guess you''re already tired of people screaming about necromancy, after those persecutions you talked about."


    "Well, quite," Sharak said. "It surprised me how much angry people with pitchforks were prone to hand-wringing. ''Necromantic magic is going too far, it is ying as the gods,'' etc., etc. Well... It''s like Hephaestion''s argument in what you just read. As the automaton''s Alexander says, why should we suffer the stars to eclipse our triumphs?"


    "Quite true," Fahiz said. "Anyway, to return to the machine''s origin story. While its owner was taking it to watch a film about Zorro, he was shot by a chill guy - no, wait, that''s not it. He actually died in a small fire, in mysterious circumstances. We raided his house immediately, and found a small area which was mostly protected from the fire by a thick dry ice. Using the man''s skeleton, Sharak managed to retrieve the automaton''s basic workings from that area, and we took it and built it into its current form. It was a long time ago."


    Crucis was ncing at the pages Fahiz was carrying, which all seemed filled with Deep Afterglow''s characteristic spray of ink. "A goodly endeavour. By the way, what''s the text on the second page you''re carrying, Fahiz? It looks like a continuation."


    "Ah. Well, yes," Fahiz replied, "this is the next part of the dialogue, but only a preliminary form, the automaton is currently rewriting it to improve the text and have it fit the archaic style of the rest. It''s not used to writing like that, so it tends to draft the poem up in more familiar terms first. But you can have a look, I suppose."


    HEPH. But still ¡ª


    ALEX. Another question?


    HEPH. Yes, my lord.


    ALEX. I abide more suffering than I ought. Go on.


    HEPH. But are we not mortals, and things of loam


    Who must tame the wild garden of hope, that we


    Do not overpass the will of gods?


    ALEX. Loam!


    Do you not see Persia''s loam strewn with blood,


    As near I sculpted it a red urn? I have glutted the earth


    With those young men whose mortality was not yet


    Due collection... Hmph. A painting is a ''thing of paint,''


    Yet is apportion''d thus: one part for Orpheus,


    One for lyre, one part beneath for loam,


    One colour here, another there. In this, its merit.


    Who could truly not see this difference? Only a dilettante.


    You are not so, so I take it that you speak of habit,


    As a man may wear a shawl if on a snowy peak,


    And thus seekfort on unfamiliar earth ¡ª yet you''d,


    Honest, attest how this conquest''s brilliance eclipses your dim stars,


    And ''tis known the xyston''s tune stirs you as ''twere a thousand lyres.


    The earth''s loom spins that I may work upon it...


    Shall I neglect my duty?¡ª But, wait.


    You start to speak, yet pray calm yourself a moment.


    Wait, bestill your morbid draught. Why speak of mortality? If death


    Should live, he is my servant. If I''m extinguished, I cannot be his.


    Thus he is e''en at my beck and call, but no heed pays


    The holy stars that blink and flutter like yon women.


    But you would object. So why argue further?


    Tell the heavens to stop death, and they may do''t,


    For they are morepliant than me, though you


    Abase yourself to them, and your leader you scold -


    Ay me, enough of it. We shall fight far abroad.


    Therefore into the East''s dark caves we''ll seek,


    Where, ''tis said, all is baster, save


    For dusky mists athwart the snow, in which shining moors


    Monks do us sometimes view.


    "I hope the real Hephaestion wasn''t this unfriendly," Danemy said. "Addressing his friend as ''loam.''"


    "It''s not so bad," Crucis replied. "The miser refers to his friend as ''loan.''"


    "The y seems influenced slightly by <em>Tambuine</em>. Thetest speech''s ending seems quite poetic, but effective," remarked Sharak, who was also looking at the page with interest.


    "What''s this text below it?" Crucis asked.


    "Ah, it started writing part of another y," Fahiz said, ncing quickly at the page. "I think it''s about a philosopher named Diogenes. Well, keep going if you wish."


    Crucis read on, curious.


    <strong>AN EXTRACT FROM ''DIOGENES''</strong>


    DIOGENES. Who thinks abstractly? s, s! This old, ugly woman, look how she rages! She says ¡ª that this city is orderly like the heavens, and how dare ungodly I disturb the peace. s, s! To see a man sitting by the street, and to ost him, and then speak of the ''heavenly order''! Is she blind? She cannot see me, to joust at me? O, idealist! Her hair pollutes the clouds, so that she can look in vain to the stars for guidance.


    And now some of you fools defend her, saying, ''What would you, Diogenes, say if you saw such an awful, vile man beside the street?'' Well, I am ever myself, and were I someone else could not answer your question. If you abstract me into some bystander, then maybe I should be as dull as you, and then none should listen to me! But I can tolerate myself just fine ¡ª why can you sensitive people tolerate her eyesore in your sight? And you all are half-rate Sophists. All your preening has not made you any wiser than the dirt itself.


    Why think abstractly? It is the con of fools. A fool like you ¡ª yes, you, idiot man squealing at me like a spurned lover ¡ª wille up to me and then, instead of talking of me, say, ''We must all strive to the nobility of Man, how dare you be such a viin!'' Where is this noble man? I have yet to meet him.


    ONLOOKER: Vile philosopher, you are like a gadfly!


    DIO. But I am, firstly, me! You fools have all your ideas, by your own ount you never act without looking up at the weather. Before you walk the street, you will ask, ''But is it just for man to walk the street?'' And, ''I should not walk this street, for if Socrates walked this street, why then he would be a gadfly! Therefore, to walk a street is to be a gadfly.'' Or even, ''Well, all men of the city could not fit on this street at once, so therefore it is not right to walk it, because fairness dictates that, by the same right that permits me to walk it, all men could walk it.'' Anything to avoid looking at the dusty ground!


    It is also why you believe that there is aw. Each wealthy man has broken it a thousand times. But you abstract fools believe it to exist. It inhabits not even a world of forms, but some dull magistrate''s book, you loftily deim. Now, it is true that the man with power will abuse it, and hand out punishment that is undeserved. That much I will grant, indeed it is almost aw in itself. But beyond that, I do not admit of aw, only powerful men and pathetic scoundrel bureaucrats handing out orders from on high as if their drab building''s foundation were Mount Olympus.


    And look at your foolishness. You will say, ponderously, ''A man never steps in the same river twice.'' Then aw is passed about punishing the crossing of rivers multiple times ¡ª and you knaves think it good and just punishment.


    In the beginning, the gods, you say, created the heavens and earth. But it was me. They created such a mess, only I could have done it, not their orderly selves. This is your own ount. So marvel at my dubious aplishment, and let me be.


    Grinning, Crucis handed it quickly to Starfighter.


    "It''s good to hear that machines are speaking up for crims," Starfighterughed, reaching the end quickly. "Pity I''ll have to miss the festivities in Kruxol tonight."


    "That''s terrible," DicingDevil said. "I''ll ask Darys to spare you some reward aspensation, as at your level you''ve still been a great help."


    "Thank you, sir," Starfighter said. "I daresay, even the pompous Christian judge that was taking my case couldn''t hand out a harsher sentence than missing the procession. Some were mouring for execution ¡ª I doubt that was the sentence, but who knows, I should rather be executed than pay attention to courts."


    "Well, think, perhaps the judge would sentence this as apliment. Their God was executed as a criminal. Perhaps they find you equally exalted?" Crucis shrugged.


    "But if a judge orwyerplimented you, surely you would have to question yourself."


    "Ah, that''s true. One should be wary of their values. Thew is merely a counterfeit, perverted logic, and thus the true defendant is always Nar- ahem, is always reason itself."


    "No, it''s me!"


    "Shush, you have nothing to defend. You say you were sentenced by a Christian judge! There is only one Christian I know of who is licensed to judge, and His only sentence is to exile you from His presence. So, once sentenced, you have no need to defend against him, for he is no longer there."


    "Aren''t there three judges, then?" Danemy said in mock-protest.


    "Yes, but they are all one. And thus their life does not matter. Is it the truth? What say you, Pte?"


    "Aye."


    "s, once thew was decided simply, by the braying masses of Jerusalem condemning Christ. Now those masses should need to set up a lobby, and manufacture media coverage of a touching Pharisaic sob story, before the courts should pay them deference at all."


    Sharak was rummaging through the drawers, and drew out a small slip of paper. "These were some of the first poems which Afterglow produced, well over a decade ago. At that point, it was still only capable of writing basic, short pieces and would asionally give strange titles, but it has been refined since. Most of what it wrote was rather macabre, I suppose since its creator had been fixated on the dead ¡ª and I''m a necromancer, which can''t have helped."


    <strong>mute</strong>


    by NORMAN


    The dead girl was silent, though


    she had been


    like the unstopped sound of a stream ¡ª


    she had learned meditation


    through suffocation.


    <strong>mute mute</strong>


    by NORMAN


    "The city in a hundred ways,


    It would never let you stay." - No Man.


    The faint glow as the bullet took flight


    and snuffed out his heart, was like the aura


    of a phoenix rising in sparks of half-glowing ash,


    into a sunset threnody, as beside him his


    wife screamed so intensely as if to char her throat,


    and the killer looked on, a shadowy crow in dying eyes.


    "Could ''Norman'' be rted to the words ''No Man''?" Crucis said. "It seems like an appropriate persona for this automaton, which was designed to serve as a substitute for dead people. It is the not-man."


    Danemy hade over to take a look, andughed at the first poem''s ending. "She had a deathbed conversion to Buddhism."


    "You don''t hear that one every day," Crucis replied.


    dimir and Konstantin were growing restless, sitting by the entrance. They had slept briefly, tired after the long journey, but were now awake and came to see what was going on.


    Crucis held the piece of paper down for them to read, and dimir giggled as he skimmed it.


    "These guys speak Russian," Crucis told Sharak, "so if you have any books in thatnguage which you''d like them to check on, then go ahead."


    "Ah, I''m sure," Sharak said. "I''m just sorting through these nameless books, I''ll keep any which look ''Cyrillic'' aside, I think that''s what the script is called?"


    "Yes."


    "This is by machine?" dimir asked, looking at the poem.


    "Yep," Crucis replied.


    "Ah, great. I wish machine can write my homework, but would scare all the teachers."


    "We don''t often see students in this area," Sharak said. "Still, it can write in various forms, despite its preference for macabre poetry. If you mail a writing assignment to the Antiquities Library, we could send you something to try out. I''m always curious about what our machines can be used for. I''ll try to vet anything we send, but you can also read over it. It could take up to a day for the mail to reach, so make sure the deadline''s not too soon."


    "Good idea, dimir," Konstantinmented. "Instead of just act like robot, and do silly assignment, now can be robot."


    "§¥§Ñ (da, meaning ''yes''). Actually, be cyborg. We will have to rewrite, in order to make the spelling as bad as ours. Otherwise is less, ah, convincing."


    "Well," Sharak said, "the machines contain lots of information. If you send some of your writing over, it will start to recognise it, and we can tell it to write in that style."


    "But what if the machine gets punishment, for ''giarism''?" dimir said dramatically. "But is good idea, I will get robot clone and never do another English assignment. We will be like Paul McCartney."


    "Very good. Just don''t mention Frankenstein in your assignments," Sharakughed. "We''ll test the assignments with a few different machines to see what works, but wouldn''t want to stumble into Afterglow''s wrath."


    "Since you mention it," Crucis replied. "Have you tried to input ''Frank N. Stine'' instead, to see if the automaton still gets mad? With the ''N.'' as a middle name, I mean."


    "You know, we should try it," Sharak said.


    "Absolutely. The works on DeathGang are nearly done, maybe in ten minutes. While checking, I''ll try that on Afterglow, seems like ark," Fahiz said.


    Akshel had crouched down, quietly exining a few of the poems'' unfamiliar words to dimir and Konstantin. He had begun to take an interest in the automatons.


    "So I''m not that literary, but this machine stuff is quite interesting," Akshel said. "Sort of wondering what they''ll do next! Nifty buggers."


    "Yeah," said Modrea, who had been resting outside. "I mean, I''m just reading this stuff now, but it''s quite impressive what machines can do."


    "Indeed," Sharak said, as he knelt beside the firece. "Much of what was previously called integral to art is, it turns out, not truly necessary. The mechanical efficiency is an affront to the so-called ''deep sensitivity'' of the artist, but it is often the case that ''deeply emotional'' people write verses so trite and conventional than an automaton would do much better. It ys a game with words, when lesser artists vainly seek absolution in them."


    Fahiz heard a piece of paper fall to the ground in the room of automatons, and ran over to pick it up. Sharak seemed to be sorting the pile of books carefully on the drawer.


    "So, we have some report on the meeting of the other Guild leaders," DicingDevil said loudly to the group. "Apart from asional in-fighting, and a few me-games about the war, it was apparently quite fun. They even tried wagging their fingers at us and saying they''ll report us to thew when we leave the game soon. Well, I guess we''ll all get ''ganking'' on our rap sheet."


    Crucisughed. "I daresay we will have taken enough of their lives by then to justify the cost. After all, in courts wise men have legited the universe, and we have vited thesews. As a result, our existence ¡ª or those of any other vagabonds ¡ª should scarcely be considered possible. Yet these others have lives protected byw, so therefore to kill them is to take a life, to cut off a noble being so noble as to deserve enshrinement inw, and to kill or incarcerate us is to take barely anything from us. A profit without cost ¡ª even the bourgeois who manufacture ourw should quake with envy."


    "Surely people can be locked up as long by now for using sanctioned words as for manughter or murder," Danemy shrugged.


    "I could be locked up longer than either," Starfighter said boastfully. "You fools will only get 1 life sentence, I will get 50 of them and a fine of $6 trillion. You will watch in awe as I reincarnate as exotic beasts, and am each time immediately imprisoned by the long arm of thew."


    "But if your ''sentence'' doesn''t include at least a few offensive curse-words, then it is barely a matter for criminal justice."


    "Quite true. But enough about thew. As I''ve never read it, because I am on the run from it, I have no quarrel with it. But those who trust in thew are locked up in towns, stagnating and falling behind. In the higher-level areas, people PvP often, because it''s apetitive area where everyone guns for a few valuable mobs ¡ª and the most aggressive Guilds take them. So if the leaders are trying to pacify their Guilds with such hopes, then it is fine: the more pacified, the more they are likembs to ughter."


    "Quite true," Crucis said, pleased to hear that the Guilds'' will may be weakening.


    "Yes. Well, Darys included a few quotes in his briefing," DicingDevil said. "One was, ''We can''t say for sure that DeathGang started it, since apparently the area was covered by a thick mist. And there was allegedly a bear? But that''s crazy. It doesn''t matter who did it, we should hold DeathGang ountable!'' Also, ''The poor kids, why? Why why why why why? We should form our own feds, we should kill the monsters!''"


    "Oh no, they''ll SWAT us," Crucis said.


    "That first quote ¡ª did he mean to say that out loud?" Danemy asked.


    "Perhaps not. There''s more, but we can watch itter anyway," DicingDevil said. "But here''s Fahiz."


    Fahiz was carrying two sheets of paper, both adorned with the familiar, ragtag ink patterns that Deep Afterglow scattered across the page.


    He addressed them calmly. "Here''s a poem I found in a file next to it, it seems to be another one of Afterglow''s earliest poems."


    <strong>MUTE II</strong>


    by AZRAEL


    To my eyes, your hopes and dreams,


    And the chattering thoughts beside them, appear,


    Are blunted, and die like a reflection


    Fading by night.


    You lie still in your lily-white room,


    Eyes wide open, as if to wee the morning''s light.


    Unseen I hover above on the wing.


    You not once saw me ¡ª


    You not once heard me ¡ª


    While I lived here, alienated.


    Thick fog crests at daybreak,


    In a canopy it steals light


    And daylight dies in your eyes.


    You will no longer see.


    I hang in the air unmoving,


    An emotionless raven sigil


    That wards away life.


    The motion and blinding ambition in you


    Are suffocated out by paralysis


    Constricting until they are baptised


    In death''s Lethean waters.


    It is the ghost of a waking.


    The poem reminded Crucis of the [Spark] ability''s effect. He didn''t have much time to muse about this, however, as Fahiz quickly moved on to the next sheet of paper.


    "So, I tried your suggestion," Fahiz said, "and these are the poems by Frank N. Stein."


    <strong>HADES'' ODE**</strong>


    "A bad poem is worth more than a good critic." - Oscar White, <em>Stormface</em>.


    "I know nothing of modernism, only that it is so cretinous that Dous'' ''futurism'' must be its natural development." - Lars Ulryche.


    See, see the gold-scarred morn


    Drain into Hades'' ck bile depths.


    Tell me, Persephone, do you


    Wonder why the sun now ignores you?


    I can tell you, it is


    Worried by the cancerous tumour on your face


    That looks like


    A pig''s underside.


    What¡¯s more, it knows


    Your eyes are the centre


    Of a corpse flower.


    Everything under the wild gold-ded sky


    Asks why, why do you even bother?


    Your wantonness has ever been


    You only charm, cockroach.


    <strong>HAMLET''S VERSE</strong>


    "The King is with the body, but the body is not with the King." - Prince Hamlet.


    A man has died in the pest-house,


    And they are bearing him to his grave.


    The long procession flies by the window,


    Quite like a swarm of flies.


    "It has a certain <em>je ne sais quoi</em>," Crucis said, as he finished the first poem.


    "Are the quotations spurious, as I''d assume? I think it not a problem if they are, for they are a thing of beauty and thus, as Keats said, ultimately genuine," Fahiz said.


    "Probably. Oscar White seems like the machine''s twist on the ever-present quotes of Oscar Wilde. Grisier might know the other one."


    Grisier took the cue. "Lars Ulryche is, um, a portmanteau of the infamous Metallica drummer with something."


    "I see. Seemingly the automaton is having fun with it," Fahiz said. "Though I guess we shouldn''t try this prompt too often, because it seems quite ready to explode back into a sea of invective."


    "At least it is directed at Persephone, not us, for now," Crucis remarked.


    "Precisely, it is all about having a scapegoat," Fahiz said. "By the way, Sharak, another Hamlet verse for your collection."


    "Excellent," Sharak said, looking over. "Quite a lofty poem, I''ll be sure to include it. For the moment, though, I''ve sorted through the nameless books and I''m curious if you would all be willing to help me categorise them."


    "Sure thing, that looks like about twelve books, shouldn''t take long. We have a long journey back toe, and then a celebration on arrival. Let''s give this a try."


    Crucis saw a quest appear for the party, giving the task, ''Help the two Pyromancers to sort their books of magic.'' It had a high EXP reward, as well as some valuable items for the Mage ss.


    The quest''s description seemed off, since these were not books of magic and the NPCs were not Pyromancers. Crucis guessed that, after the bug, this area had transformed considerably from its original design. These two NPCs might have disced the original setting, which was probably a house containing two Pyromancers who quickly gave a generic quest to sort their spellbooks. At present, it was quite different.

 Chapter 103: Serpent in Paradise

    Chapter 103: Serpent in Paradise


    Sharak handed Crucis a dark-green, hardcover book. Its cover was thick and quite heavy, and the pages seemed slightly worn out. It creaked lightly as it opened.


    The front page had no title or text, but scrawled in the lower right corner were the words, ''Carefree path of dreams.'' They were written in a thick ck ink.


    On the top edge, there was an even smaller piece of writing, in blue ink and a much more organised cursive style, saying, ''I haveunched my life to flow upon the river, but the river was a snake.''


    "I think this is a story about crime, but I''ve only skimmed it and I didn''t see the details," Sharak said. "The protagonist is named ''Charles,'' I think. From what I can see, it takes ce in a group of countries named ''India,'' ''Vietnam,'' etc."


    "So in Asia?" Crucis said.


    "Ah, that''s the name of the whole region, isn''t it? Yes, then."


    Crucis flipped the book open at the centre, since in his experience it was often the most indicative part of the book. The early andte parts of a book were often spent in setting up the story or creating a dramatic ending, which meant that they didn''t necessarily suggest much about the tenor of the book. While it was somewhat like jumping in the deep end, he hoped to adapt quickly.


    In scanning the pages he saw that this book* read like a biography, albeit with a novelistic flourish.


    At first, he was slightly thrown by the book''s glut of characters, each of whom was covered at length. The most important seemed to be named Charles, but alongside him there were also the wistful stories of people named Teresa, Henk, Marie-Andr¨¦e, and Ajay. These supporting characters'' names were from all across the world. But their cross-roads seemed to be the junction between despair and wild hope.


    However, he had heard from Sharak that Charles was probably the focus. Searching through a few pages where he found this figure mentioned often, he found that the book was the story of a man named Charles Sobhraj, from Vietnam. Sobhraj was apparently a ''thief'' and ''conman,'' and Crucis saw a recent heist mentioned. Flipping a few pages back, Crucis sought out the ount of this event, and found his way to its beginning.


    He read with interest the story of Sobhraj taking a tourist for an borate meal in a vibrant location, then helping the drunk tourist back to his t. Charles then robbed the tourist''s belongings and escaped. The price for vibrant dreams of culture is often steep, and when faced with culture''s hawkers it is typically more prudent to release the safety on a Browning. Crucis didn''t find the name of the country where this episode urred, but it seemed to be somewhere in Europe, implying that Sobhraj had made his way there from Asia.


    He skipped forwards to a Chapter near the end of the book, and found recounted a story of Charles Sobhraj keeping foreign tourists drugged, in the guise of ''medication,'' and taking their belongings. This was somewhere in Asia. After a long time of this, some were taken out and killed, and the book mentioned that Sobhraj had allegedly burned another group of foreigners to death. He seemed to jump between countries fairly often to avoid jail time, though mostly staying in Asia.


    The story seemed strangely detailed, including specific lines of dialogue that were probably never recorded. Much of it was probably pieced together from testimony and spection long after the fact.


    As Sharak finished handing out books to the group, he saw that Crucis was reading quite rapidly through the book. As such, he walked over to ask about it. "You seem to be making progress. What kind of book is it? Is it some kind of ''thriller,'' or mystery novel?"


    "It seems to be some sort of biography," Crucis replied.


    "Alright, but we''ll discuss the technical matterster. So, how''s this book? What''s Charles like?" Sharak asked him.


    "He''s a Procrustes, from what I''ve read," Crucis replied. "He disys a new, exotic life to travellers, wees them in, and then robs or traps them. Later on, he seemingly kept victims in a state of perpetual sleep, and asionally killed them. He often acts suspicious, but the victims'' charming escapist hopes raise a smokescreen which they don''t see through. Hope and change disarm. He is like a fantasy novelist, but the difference is that he is an artist."


    "I see. An interesting man. So, you say it''s a biography? I wasn''t sure, it read like a novel."


    "It seems to be a biography, but a lot of it is seemingly fabricated or reconstructed based on testimonies. A bit odd." Crucis turned to address the group. "Does anyone know about a criminal named Charles Sobhraj?"


    "Yes, I''ve heard of him," DicingDevil said. "He was a killer from Vietnam, I think he was controversial for killing people and stealing their identities ¡ª and belongings."


    "Stealing their identities? As in, pretending to be them? Why?" Sharak asked.


    "As a disguise, since he was wanted. Also, a European was less likely to be arrested, to avoid trouble with foreign agencies."


    "That makes sense," Crucis said. "So then he could talk his way out of trouble? Makes sense, he was very demanding ¡ª and somepanions found that inspiring, seemingly. He could also pass for the kind of foreigner who would be a pain to arrest."


    "Yeah. I mean, if they were arresting a foreign national and he was bullish," Starfighter said, "then they''d probably rather stall or let him go and remain in rtivefort, rather than risking the fate of bing scapegoat in diplomatic affairs. At least, that''s how he''d present the situation to them, to raise doubts. Still a few countries like that."


    "Yes. But he was arrested surprisingly little, for someone with such a brazen public persona, who often courted risk like a daredevil. In fact, he was apparently called a ''serpent,'' due to this slippery evasion of arrest. And when caught, it was still rarely as severe as it could have been. I''d guess it''s because he was a showman of sorts, he vanished into the persona of a conduit to people''s exotic hopes and dreams, though this was mostly deception. He exists only from their perspective, but in himself he is elusive. And if caught, he''ll just turn to the captor and start haggling. Mostly, nobody knows him."


    "It must have taken quite a while to catch him, and I saw that he had broken out of jail once as well," Sharak said.


    Crucis skipped through to the end of the book, and found that there was a brief ''Addendum'' added on. He skimmed it quickly. "Yes, seemingly the original book ends with him in prison, but hoping to escape. But there''s an addendum aboutter events. He seemingly avoided extradition to the East, where he would be charged with more serious crimes and probably executed, by organising some drama in the prison to extend his sentence. Then he was eventually set free, and left in peace somewhat as a celebrity in Paris. But he then returned, for some reason, to a country named Nepal ¡ª ''some backwater next to India,'' it says ¡ª where he was still subject to arrest, and was arrested again. A strange conclusion."


    "Why would he do that?" Sharak said. "Couldn''t he just live in peace, try to ''get away with murder'' as they say?"


    Crucis shrugged. "Who knows. Perhaps he enjoyed the showmanship, flying as if winged by the dreams of others ¡ª instead of resting, he wanted to go back and siphon more dreams to take a starring role in. Perhaps he was just a part of the environment of Asian tourism, the thrilling uncertainty of the so-called ''orient,'' so he returned in much the same way as Mickey might return daily to Disnend. Or perhaps he felt like one of those ambitious foreigners whoes to the West and finds sess, but misses a sense of identity. Who knows."


    "The show must go on," Starfighter said. "A strange decision from him, but I can respect it."


    "Quite right. For some people, thew is sacrosanct ¡ª except for the unenforced or unenforceable parts, the selectively enforced parts, the parts which are just there because legitors are miserable sods ¡ª while for others it''s just for thrillseeking, quite like a rough wave for a surfer or a crocodile for a crocodile hunter. Who''s to say which is right?"


    "Excellent," Sharak said. "So, would you say that it''s worth the automaton training on this book?"


    "Only on the parts about Sobhraj. The rest is too much of a distraction, all of these victims blurring into each other." Crucis flipped through the pages quickly, finding it easier to trace out what was going on in the novel''s narrative. "The early part involves his childhood, I guess it''s interesting. There''s some long quotations from a guy named Felix, I guess you could skip that. Most of it is solid."


    "Alright, great. I''ll work on that tomorrow. You can keep reading the book, until I sort through and find another for you to check."


    Sharak roamed across the rest of the room, to check on the group''s progress.

 Chapter 104: Maricha

    Chapter 104: Maricha


    Crucis continued reading the book about Sobhraj, asionally writing in his notebook to keep track of anything interesting. As Sharak roamed the room to check on the other books, Crucis overheard his conversation with dimir and Konstantin, who had been given one Russian book to pore through together.


    dimir raised the book, with a hint of reverence. "This book is named §ä§â§Ö (trre)- um, ''Third Empire.'' It is about Kingdom of Russia, I think ''fiction''? But not only."


    "Yes, has also people from history, a bit," Konstantin said.


    "I guess might be old book, they were imagining future," dimir said. "Is fancy future, Russia goes back to Emperor like Ivan, and fight many wars. Not sure if exactly what happened, but I think is good story. Our leader did get ''emergency power'' recently to deal with big riot, so maybe will be Emperor, I don''t know."


    "I see. So, would you rmend the machine train on it?"


    "Absolutely! But would like to read it sometime, it is good way to pass the time."


    "Sure, sure. We''ll get it tranted in a few days, then when we have a tranted copy we can send this one to the bookstore and tell them that one of you guys will collect it."


    "Thank you. What should do now?"


    "While I''m sorting through the books, you can all have a look at the automatons. Wait for a minute or two, while I collect the rest."


    Soon, Fahiz appeared and summoned the group into the room containing the automatons. Crucis leapt up quickly, curious about what the automatons looked like.


    As he entered the room, he was struck by a strange sense of familiarity. It was a rickety, wooden room, with arge, slightly splintered desk stretching across the building''s left wall, where the automatons sat in a line facing away from him and towards the wall. On this wall, there was a white blind arcade, which seemed intricately carved, and the rest of the stone wall was painted a few shades of brown as if in imitation of wood. An inkwell and book-stand sat on the table next to each automaton. Crucis felt certain that he had seen this room before, but he didn''t recall where.


    Suddenly, a vivid memory shed before his mind. He was in a simr room, but now wore a dark-blue suit.


    As he looked across the desk, he heard a loud creak to his right, like the sound of an old, out-of-tune violin. Turning around and scanning the ground, he saw a ck, hardcover book filled with thousands of pages. Its title was difficult to decipher, written in embossed ck letters across the side of the book, but he could make out the words ''heart'' and ''void,'' as well as a sub-title saying ''Volume I''.


    Curious, he opened it, and found that the pages were incredibly light, pale white paper. However, as he tried to read, the words instantly evaporated into the air, and he heard a loud swarm of bats flying away above the building. He put the book back on the desk, but saw that the automaton on the far-right had been writing a story based on it, named ''Heart Void Seer: Ashes in ck and Violet.''


    Reading this, he found only the following passage:


    The sable burst into fire, and as it roared in pain, the Mage extended his palm and drizzled holy water into the fire. The water erupted in a great column of steam, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh. As the steam settled, there was left a great crater in the ground, and in the middle of it, there was a great pir of me, burning fiercely. The Mage stared at the pir of fire with wonder, his eyes shining. As he had expected, the sable stood up before him, with its fur now golden and tinted like the pir of me. It stood up in the crater, and spoke.


    "<strong>This</strong> is the vanity of power. Beneath the towering crucifix bearing the King of the Jews, Pte is a spectre. Behold the spectre! He is an angel in hell. He was the father of lies. He was the first deceiver. He is the only one who knows the truth.


    "Hear, ye! He stands in the vast doorway of the House of Darkness, the ce where all men pass into inextricable deception. He does not wish to enter. He stands in the doorway, looking from one side of the threshold to the other, for on one side is the entrance to truth, and on the other is the entrance to falsehood. He stands on neither side. And he asks each man who enters, ''What is truth?'' No-one has the capacity to answer him. Let those with ear to hear, hear.


    "<strong>This</strong> is the vanity of power. Pte''s ghost is there, even though he is alive. By knowing the world, he knows that there is no truth in the world, and no goodness, and no power that is not vanity. The Pharisees have assembled many facts, and the Skeptic has questioned these facts and put forwards others, but only Pte knows the truth. How then does he live? He moves as an angel in hell might move, with a natural grace that is also the grace of a bird in flight."


    "What is your name?" the Mage asked.


    "You do not need to ask what you know. I am Maricha," the answer came.


    While slightly bemused by this tale of a sermonising sable, he read the text carefully.


    However, as he reached the end, he heard a loud roar to his left. Turning, he saw that one of the automatons had stood up. Its head was carved in iron, patterned like a medieval helmet, but the eyes were hollow. Its long, metallic ck arms were raised in the air as it staggered menacingly towards him. It bent down slightly and let out an incredibly loud, earth-shaking screech at him, thenunched forwards with its arms shing wildly down.


    However, as if by instinct, he held forwards his right palm, and a deep ck spot formed in the air in front of it. This expanded into a void, and the aggressive automaton fell into this and disappeared. He clenched his fist, and the void disappeared.


    The memory faded. He had felt almost as though he was caught in the memory, acting out the fight with the automaton, but he had actually been standing still in this room beside the door.


    "Thanks," DicingDevil said as he passed.


    The rest of the group were slowly filing through, and thought that Crucis was just standing beside the door politely to wait for the rest to enter. Well, let them think that.


    "No problem," he said, and drifted slowly towards the automatons as thest member of the group, Danemy, entered the room.


    As Crucis regained his bearings, he began to focus more calmly on surveying his memory of the room, and found that he remembered more about the context. Peculiarly, his name at the time had seemingly been something like ''A¨¦cio'' or ''Ezio.'' He didn''t recall this name. He had always been known as Karel or Karl.


    Some details of the scene he had just envisioned also seemed off. For instance, he was sure that he hadn''t read a passage about a sable in that old room. It had originally been a slightly surreal story about a man burning amb on a crucifix, and then going to church and listening to a priest named Martin sermonise about the Lamb of God. As the sermon ended, the crucifix on the altar burst into blood and white fire. A ghostly voice boomed across the church, saying, ''You are no victim. You have more power than you could dream of, for I know you are King of the Jews. O, honest man, you are a liar!'' Crucis remembered that, at the time, he had wondered if this voice was some twisted rendition of Jehovah, but now it struck him that it might have represented Pte.


    Perhaps exploring this room might rify something.


    Curious, he scanned the automatons, checking if any of them resembled the automaton that had attacked him in the memory.

 Chapter 105: Mechanism

    Chapter 105: Mechanism


    The group immediately clustered around Deep Afterglow, surprised at how much the automaton''s head resembled a human''s. Its metallic head was softened by a coating of something like y, which was formed on the right side into the likeness of a pale beige human face. The face looked almost hopeful or awed, with its painted eye widened and its chin dropping slightly. Unlike the others, its posture sagged slightly, making therge cape on its back droop convincingly onto the ground. It was also more mobile, and as it wrote its upper body would asionally shift slightly.


    It was sat to the left of the room. As they approached, they soon noticed that the left side of its face was clearly made of an array of silver metal with no pretensions to being skin, as if its face had melted away on that side to reveal a machine.


    "Why the uneven face?" Danemy asked.


    "We based it on the creator''s face," Sharak said calmly. "But we could only see half of that, because the rest had burnt off."


    "It''s appropriate," Crucis said. "People try to get blood from a stone or emotion from a written page, and this maudlin sheen falls away like the day - like, um, Polonius falls down heavily beside an arras, just like if one pronounced ''arras'' with a sharp falling intonation it would sound like ''arse.''"


    "An appropriate analogy, since the face''s owner is also dead. But almost macabre."


    "It''s ubac, because I am a machine. And a good thing too. What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets."


    "Sadly, you''re not, or we''d be pleased to keep you here. But still, try to tone down the macabre, in order not to disturb your genteel audience," Fahiz said facetiously, gesturing towards Sharak on saying ''audience.''


    "That would be enough to disturb them? Just wait till they see my Protocols - but I digress. Instead of conspiring as to disturbing the Gentiles ¡ª as one myself, I should not like to be so disturbed ¡ª would you mind exining why Endymion here has a helmet? Is it eager for a fight?"


    He pointed to the automaton on Afterglow''s right, which had a helmet on its head and wore a long, white kurta with the word ''Endymion'' in deep ck on the back of its cor. It was a strange sight, like a Western medieval knight wearing a kurta. This waspounded by its choice of footwear: sandals.


    "Good question," Fahiz replied. "Maybe call it names, and we''ll find out."


    "There might be an easier way. Does he have a sister named Ophelia, who happens to be dead?"


    "Admittedly, there are few people named Ophelia and still living. But he has no sister, so you''ll have to resort to a string of insults."


    "I see. What kind of insults? Would some sort of freestyle rap work? I hear that aggressive raps are almost guaranteed to start fights, and that''s why gang culture is so violent in some neighbourhoods. Gang violence is due primarily to cultural and economic factors, especially rap music. Therefore, a peaceful, conclusive solution to it is to abolish flow and rhythm."


    "I mean, you''d still have Kanye West''s rap, after that," Danemy said.


    "I mean, nobody''s likelymitting murder over a Kanye West song, so he had to resort to dramatic interviews to bolster the attempt. It''s not easy to be street. Being real isn''t like graduation, bro. It''s - honestly, I don''t listen to much rap music, so I couldn''t tell you. Honestly, as a non-rapper, my grip on reality is so tenuous that sometimes I wonder if I''m a fiction. But perhaps it''s not so bad, perhaps I''m just truth wearing a mask? Sometimes we are all Ptes."


    "The automatons aren''t fond of ''rap,'' but they''ll typically ignore it," Sharak said. "Maybe Afterglow will asionally go on a rant about the ''rap singers,'' like, ''The rap singers, you''ve seen ''em, they stole your bicycle, they ran off and, worst part, they escaped on a skateboard.'' But he''s a miserable git sometimes."


    "Alright, a pity." Crucis looked over to the far right of the table, where he saw a beaked automaton dressed in ck and white robes, with a ck turban. "Which one is that?"


    "Ibis," Sharak answered. "It is mostly used for misceny, it gathers and organises knowledge very well. It is also adept at giving formatted information. We''ve found it quite useful."


    "Does it write poems or stories as well?"


    "Yes, it reflects them if asked," Fahiz said. "But in a strange way, like the moon reflected in a pond of epilepsy-unfriendly fishes. I tell Sharak that we just need to find it a task that''s avant-garde enough, but currently it''s too busy getting information about recent happenings in Kruxol."


    "If it ''reflects'' things," DicingDevil asked, "could it help rephrase sentences or reorder them?"


    "We typically use Endymion for that, it''s more prosaic," Sharak replied. "Ibis wouldn''t rephrase, but it might illuminate ¡ª or just go crazy, which is also fun."


    "Alright. It''s not for our Guild as such, it''s for a scripted heckler who we''re using as a prop for Darys. Some guy''s alt. The script still sounds a bit like us, maybe we could scramble the words a bit."


    "Tell you what, you could borrow our typewriter and write it out, then we''ll have Endymion process it. At the start, print the words ''Rephrase this,'' with an exmation mark in front, and it should understand."


    DicingDevil sighed. "A typewriter? Retro. But I''ll figure it out, sure."


    He followed Sharak out of the room.


    In Sharak''s absence, Fahiz became more talkative, and invited any questions about the automatons.


    "These write very well for machines," Danemy said, slightly distracted as he watched Endymion write. "Did that surprise you?"


    "Not at all," Fahiz replied with gusto. "After all, ''great'' human writers are impromptu machines, so why shouldn''t machines be good writers? Alright, asionally they do surprise me."


    "I guess you''re familiar with the automaton, so you''d be less easily surprised ¡ªbut what do you mean about human authors?"


    "It''s my view that, in a ''great'' author, there is firstly an extreme automaticity. They are like Alopos, a famed charioteer, who drove long distances across crowded roads and in the end never had any recollection of consciously navigating traffic and obstacles. He steered among the crowds, and hilly areas, but was in such a trance that it hardly registered as he was doing it. He is known as ''The Wheeled Sleepwalker.''


    "The persistent, solid architecture of major works, its patterning, is a trained pattern that the authors could reproduce without effort or consideration. While most writers must tediously build and test structures, these ''great'' writers could churn them out as if in a trance and ''sleepwalk'' for much of a novel or y. It is why the critic is typically a bad author ¡ª although they self-aggrandisingly im to worship these ''great'' works, they are too myopic and caught up in trivial details to know anything about art.


    "Regardless, the great author is like a machine trained in a temple. It can be carried out to a forest, and it will still find vast temples among the leaves. There can still be excellent - perhaps better - authors who do not write like this, who excel through being more witty or intelligent, but often these do without the solidity of the ''great'' author''s works. Yet intelligence is such a thing as the masses cannot even think of. Even an automaton is too witty and freewheeling for them. So greatness is cold as the y ¡ª whispers of ancients buried by dust."


    "Automaticity sounds interesting, I sometimes get that kind of trance while climbing around here. Could you give an example of the automatic writing you mean?"


    "Say there''s a story about a haughty aristocrat or gentleman and his disgruntled servants. A typical didactic novel would say, for instance, ''This haughty man is bad, people should be equal,'' or, ''These servants are mere rebels, how awful.'' But a more ''great'' novel might envision the gentleman''s strut as if walking on a raised altar or chancel above the others, who only see him asionally as if through a rood screen or leper window. With this physical architecture, the story has something to work with.


    "Say, the gentleman is not seen at the beginning, because he has gone to climb a mountain. Hees back and feverishly restores the order of the house,ying down thew on the servants who had rxed during his absence ¡ª like a bizarre reborn Moses. As the servants crouch down to clear up, they are astounded by his haughty gait as he walks behind them in straight posture and inspects, asionallyparing them disfavourably with some industrious monks, sherpas, or guides on the mountain. They try to nce back asionally to see if he is angry, but they only catch a sight of hisrge robe or suit. As he beats one of them for standing up from under a cramped, dusty area, he calmly exins that they are creatures of the ground, a ''filthy ce,'' and they belong there. He then walks to the second floor verandah, and remarks that it feels like he is on a mountain.


    "The servant protagonists left downstairs, meanwhile, remark that the gentleman seems to be ill-tempered, as if seeing the mountain has caused him to wish that his feet had never touched the ground. They specte about why he''s so attached to the mountain, whether he had some kind of religious experience, etc. Maybe one suggests that he did, the other replies incredulously that it''s not like the gentleman was climbing the Greek mountain where the gods lived. The first replies that maybe the gentleman didn''t see God, but maybe he saw the Virgin, only to be curtly met with a reply to the effect of, for instance, when has our master ever pined after a virgin? I''ve never seen him to marry anyone who doesn''t spend all her spare time sleeping around, etc. Or the reply is, say, you know mountain girls, they all act innocent as virgins until you get to know ''em. No way to tell except by checking the hymen. Or he says that the master is a Lutheran and wouldn''t care so much if he saw anyone other than God Himself, so maybe the first one was right to begin with, since, well, it''s not like they''d tell us if gods were on a mountain nearby, it might give us ideas. Or something. Look, Monty Python made whole skits out of characters with the amicable, faintly rogueish servant archetype saying zany things, in fact a whole film where King Arthur was put on a pillory for all manner of rogues to pelt him. There''s probably something that can be done.


    "Plenty of directions you could go from there. Say, they are sent to work on the verandah, but identally break a hole in it because it''s unstable. They then wait for a reprimand with a sinking feeling, and the gentleman returns at the end of the y. Or the tension gets worse, and they find themselves caught in a difficult position as the gentleman bes more tyrannical but they can''t leave safely due to an economic crisis. Or something. Who cares, anyway? Fine novels are for bores.


    "It can be robust, and fairly adaptive. But there is something tirelessly positivist about such methods, that could even create firm architecture in a world gone mad. Even Shakespeare often exploits the architectural role of the monarch, posing it a site of great expectations and vertigo, but also an exalted one. Sometimes this is slightlyx, as with Duncan in Macbeth or King Hamlet in Hamlet ¡ª their death is used to set off the y, but much of its drama derives from them simply being Kings, as if removed keystones. Whenx, it almost resembles moralism, though the author is often reluctant with this. But whetherx or not, it''s a feature of Shakespeare''s ys and bolsters the extreme highs and lows which give rise to his dynamism. But still, such a conceit is not visionary or truly deep, it merely describes things in aforting fable, or in an rmist one like Animal Farm. The true architectural significance of the monarch is shown by the guillotine ¡ª he is indeed a thing, of nothing."


    "A good conclusion." After a few seconds of pause, Crucis spoke up suddenly from beside Endymion. "How long do the automatons think they have been here for? Were some here before you?"

 Chapter 106: Endymion

    Chapter 106: Endymion


    Fahiz hesitated for a moment, seemingly uneasy about the question of these automatons'' history. However, he soon recovered, and gave a facetious counter-request.


    "I can answer that. However, first, I will ask you a question. You aren''t in DeathGang, but you still assist them in doing, so I''m told, ''evil.'' So how did you be so evil on your own?"


    Crucisughed. "Surely you jest. Do I need to give a sympathetic backstory every time I use an offensive word as well? I''m told it''s also evil. Anyway... It''s a simple matter. People actually speaking about evil will amplify the magnitude of the evil by treating it as inexplicable, monstrous, unrtable, inestimably wicked, even born of the devil, whatever. So that is how one properly bes evil. But the little imbeciles always want their piece of Heaven ¡ª or Hell, as it may be ¡ª and willin that you aren''t rtable. Why, of course, it is good not to be an imbecile."


    "Don''t worry, I jest. I will answer your question, but like a true dilettante I felt it necessary to ask my own first."


    "Look, motivations and hopes are just a way that simpletons dress their lives in the fashionable rags of ''meaning,'' in truth there is the intellect and everything else is noise. Anyway, go on."


    "Alright, so here is my ount of things. Adonais is mostly new, and we''ve told you about Afterglow. However, the other two automatons have all manner of knowledge from before our time, and seem to write often that they were ancient creations. While it''s difficult to make out, since they aren''t always reliable, we''d guess that they are quite old. We did have to mostly set them up, but we found the raw materials and parts scattered around this house when we took it over from some Pyromancers. It''s why we targeted this ce, we knew that there was some automaton experimentation going on here."


    "I see. Did you change the automatons significantly?"


    "They were mostly in disrepair, and basically non-functional. They had been set up in a way that was highly inappropriate for producing text or anything else, as if someone was trying to use them for some ambitious project that never got off the ground. We have managed to get some decent output eventually, and with the experience from that we set up Adonais. I think there might have been a few other models being developed here, but seemingly they often burned down."


    "If they were set up in another way, then does that mean that their parts are built to fit together in that way? If so, then even after you rearranged things, couldn''t these machines still have something inmon with the earlier forms, since they were apparently built around that? It might exin some of their quirks."


    "That''s true, actually. The automatons'' parts are built in a way that hints towards some of the strange ways that the pyromancers set them up, and our rearrangement had to work around that. So it''s quite possible that some influence remains from the old structure. Anyway, yes, our attempt to reconstruct these has been slightly difficult, and a few glitches have shown through. Some of these are a hindrance, some are quite charming. Since you were asking about it, Endymion is a bit strange. For instance, it seems to glitch easily when asked to write poetry. In fact, I can show you one of these."


    Fahiz drew out a piece of paper from beneath Endymion''s still pen. He raised it up for the others to see.


    "As you can see, it repeats most of the poem twice. There''s some weird text in the middle, and some slightly strange phrasing. It also concerns a long journey. From all of which we can ascertain that it''s definitely an Endymion poem."


    "Any idea what causes that?" Danemy asked.


    "Tell you what, the journey motif is probably because it is trained on plot progressions, so it just spams a journey as a substitute. I''d guess that the quotation at the beginning is also fictitious, Endymion tends to do that as well."


    ENDYMION


    <strong></strong>


    <strong>Holy Pilgrim</strong>


    "I tread the hero''s path, that leads to the gallows." - I. D. Tsarnaev.


    ''Neath the wan sky, where morning''s wraithy light


    Gathers and grows across the sad minutes I suffer,


    Through the dim woods and by the misty pass,


    Along the glen, e''en through the silent ruins,


    Down to the base of that far mncholy hill


    Above the chill woods and by the moond''s edge,


    Ford, with faltering steps, I, as in my dreams,


    That night-mare phantasm called the Past.


    j????????????o?????????????????????????????????????????????????k???????????????????????e??????????????????????????????????????r??????????????????????????????


    ''Neath the wan sky, where morning''s wraithy light


    Gathers and grows across the sad minutes I suffer,


    Through the dim woods and by the misty pass,


    Along the glen, e''en through the silent ruins,


    Down to the base of that far mncholy hill


    Above the chill woods and by the moond''s edge,


    Ford, with faltering steps, I, as in my dreams,


    That night-mare phantasm called ALMIGHTY GOD.


    Most of the group began to focus on the strange, Zalgo-like text in the middle, which they studied closely to decipher.


    "Loki? No, wait. Maybe locket, token?" Danemy spected.


    "Joker!" dimir protested.


    "Looks like ''joker'' to me, like the card," Starfighter added.


    "Yeah, probably ''joker,''" Crucis said. "Someone crucified the ''J,'' I guess. I quite like it. It has a sense of disruption and immediacy that breaks the serene progression of the poetry around it, a bit like an online ''screamer.'' I think this automaton may ''know'' what it''s doing, in spite of the glitch."


    "A screamer is like a grotesque, it appears apanied with loud noises all of a sudden? I have heard of it," Fahiz said. "There''s actually a boss in Area F named the [Aimsa Screamer], that appears on an abandoned temple. But I hear it went missing this morning, there''s rumours that it left the Hunting area."


    "Interesting. Anyway, yes."


    "I see. So would you say that we should try more of these poems?" Fahiz said.


    "Worth a try. Attempt fairly harmonious prompts like this, mncholic scenes, the like. See what happens. Maybe it will make up for the Aimsa Screamer''s absence."


    "Sure. Though absence makes the heart grow fonder. But Endymion probably can''t fulfill the role of the Screamer, regardless."


    "You''d be surprised. Anyway, it writes interestingly, so by all means keep it. But it''s a bit uncanny, isn''t it? It weaves all of these plot progressions, these empty dreamscapes, and then ces filler people to upy them. It rushes into motion wildly, leaving all else behind and amorphous. Quite thrilling, in a way. Now, as to Ibis, what can you tell us about it?"


    "Yeah, you mentioned that it also writes strange poems," Danemy said. "Maybe it''s a bit like this one, it glitches? Because Ibis sounds quite straight-faced normally, it writes formats, Q&As, nothing strange."


    "Yeah, it''s a bit of a duality," Fahiz said. "Anyway, let''s have a look."

 Chapter 107; How?

    Chapter 107; How?


    Fahiz rummaged through a small file next to Ibis, and pulled out a couple of pieces of paper.


    "Ibis'' poems are quite strange, in fact its first poem just consisted of the phrase ''How dare you!'' along with the stage direction ''screeched incoherently.'' The title was ''Hypocrite Lecteur.''"


    "It used stage directions in a poem?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes, when it writes poems it often switches haphazardly between poetry, y, and novel. Among other things. While it can write at greater length now than before, it''s still a bit crazy ¡ª though also endearing. To preserve your sanity, I''ve picked out one of its more, ahem, conventional poems."


    "Sanity? There is nothing you could take from me with which I would more easily part."


    <strong>Howl</strong>


    How does the chicken-that-is-not-a-chicken contemte?¡ª


    given that it does not exist,


    it cannot conclude that it thinks,


    for then it would also exist.


    It is lost forever in deep philosophical reverie,


    entering a realm of depths and subtleties


    untamed by orderly discourse,


    it flies in istion, an owl of Minerva


    subsisting upon the inchoate wisdom of


    its mystical introspection.


    How does the leprechaun hoard gold?¡ª


    for he should never have the time,


    busied as he is with following the rainbow''s edge


    perpetually like an earnest pilgrim''s voyage.


    He must borrow it, I am assured, from some goblin,


    for goblins have gold in abundance ¡ª


    but why would the miserly goblin loan it out?


    It must be, for usury! And thus we see


    how enlightening fantasy can be


    when we overanalyse it through pedantry.


    How does an orc be pacifist?¡ª


    for it is against his nature, and would


    lead to ack of moral rity,


    which would dilute the pacifism with ambiguity.


    But perhaps the pacifist orc is the true pacifist,


    for many a pacifist will hem and haw, cutting


    pacifism to a shape that seems more practical,


    but the pacifist orc, in his mostly peaceful wars,


    does not experience any doubt at all.


    O, orc centurion of Capernaum! His pacifism is so strong


    that it will go on unchanged even if he is violent.


    It is pacifism in its most immacte form.


    Still, perhaps some will disagree, as do I,


    but I am not writing for me, but for you,


    and I see that you look like a pacifist orc,


    so this is your wish-fulfillment panegyric.


    How does the canker-worm find the young flower?¡ª


    for surely now most flowers wilt in the bud,


    and leave modern art''s garden barren, thus


    the canker-worm must have some list to find them


    for it reaches each one before it can bloom.


    Although the gates are thrown open, even to


    the four corners of the world and hidden floral


    gems, yet the canker-worm visits each flower of promise,


    and either harangues continually, or rants till it wilts


    in the bud. What hope is there for flowers, but the worm


    lying dead in its grotesque parchment, the only verse


    it shall ever write? And so now, I spend my time


    in these light verses,


    because the mediocrity all around ¡ª


    a product not of bad artists, but of cankerworms ¡ª


    assures me that no more is needed, or would be appreciated.


    "A charming poem, all the same," Crucis said. "And it reminds me of something. This chicken-that-is-not-a-chicken is West of Kruxol, yes?"


    "Yes," Fahiz replied. "I have heard many tales of it, apparently it preys on livestock. Indeed, some say that it was created by a demon. Well, I daresay this demon can''t have met many chickens."


    "I think we fought that early on," Akshel said. "It was pretty rough, we had to hold it in ce to get any hits in. That''s what inspired me to choose the [Snake] sub-ss, honestly."


    "Yeah, it''s a pain to fight," Crucis said. "As far as the demon not meeting chickens, are there no chickens in Hell any more? I had a near-death experience once where I wound up in Hell. It was very lonely, because there were no humans left after the advent of liberal Christian universalism. I quite enjoyed having the ce to myself, to be honest. Though I can''t say if there were chickens or not."


    "You should have checked. But did this actually happen?" Fahiz asked.


    "Well, it''s about as true as Alex Mrkey''s story, to be honest. That is as true as it sounds. But it''s a nice tale."


    "To be honest, I''m always sceptical about these long ounts of near-death experiences, but it''s an interesting literary source. I''ve trained the automatons on a few. The imaginative nature of it is, I think, often more free-flowing than in even the ''fantasy'' genre, and it easily contains impressive images."


    "Yeah, without plot''s trammels it freely drifts between powerful, mysterious images and phenomena. I think it often gets bogged down in popr doctrine, though, or in trying to draw some sort of moral for viewers. Perhaps the automatons could adapt it without these shackles, however."


    "Certainly, and as our automatons develop they shall be better ced to do that. And several other things."


    Fahiz looked down with interest at Ibis, as its motion loudly ground to a halt. The yers nearby stepped back suddenly, surprised by the loud noise after they had be habituated to the low, metallic hum of the working automatons. Fahiz leaned down, and gathered a few papers from beneath the automaton''s pen, folding them carefully.


    "It looks like it''s finished the piece on DeathGang," he said. "But we should wait for your leader to return before looking at that. I can hear him still at the typewriter, he must still be struggling to wield that contraption."


    Listening carefully, Crucis could hear a light tapping noise from another room at the back and left of this building, asionally growing louder and more emphatic. It was quite a faint sound, especially given the background noise of the automatons, and he figured that Fahiz must have adapted to this building until he could expertly distinguish such sounds and their source.


    Crucis looked back at Ibis, gazing more closely at its surroundings. He saw that a few pieces of nk paper were still left under the beaked automaton''s quill pen.


    "Would you mind if I gave it something to write?" he asked Fahiz. "After all, you did ask for my backstory a short while ago, and on reflection it was rude of me to dismiss this request. So perhaps the automaton can make up a backstory for me."


    "That sounds reasonable. Is this poetry, or prose?"


    "Prose would be more natural, but since you kept hyping it up I''d rather it try poetry. After all, I''m curious what bizarre poesy it can conjure, if the poem you just showed it is ounted ''conventional.''"


    "Alright." Fahiz drew out a mostly-nk piece of paper from the file, which disyed a simple temte. "So here''s the general format for prompts. Write the title in capital letters, then pencil in an asterisk on each side. That marks it as a title or subtitle. Under that, you can also add in an author''s name, or a title, synopsis, introduction, etc. Use asterisks for this too, since it''s treated as a discrete element, a sort of sub-heading. For the poem itself, you could write a few lines so that it knows that you want a poem of a certain kind. You can also use a sub-heading between two hashes to describe your poem, which the automaton will take as an instruction and will omit from the final text. But this is Ibis, so it might just ignore all of this well-meaning advice to go on a wild tangent."


    "Ha! Alright, understood."


    Crucis quickly drew out a piece of paper from beneath Ibis'' raised pen, and began to write on it. He tranted from memory a Russian poem, though he didn''t recall the author. Soon, he had put together a basic prompt for the automaton.


    *CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT*


    The sad strain of Orpheus plows on


    not caring for the grief it scatters...


    O, daylight! what were you but a scarcity of miracles?


    And so the singer plucks his lyre by night.


    On the Appian Way, he trudges tiredly back to Rome,


    across the winding, dark road, and his shadow wakes


    by night, and follows him ¡ª


    a child of night.


    *THE GENESIS OF COUNT DRACULA*


    #(a poem about COUNT DRACULA, in the style of a Nativity scene)#


    "This should be fine," Fahiz observed, reading over this. "Just note that Ibis'' response will probably be quite different from the tone of the first poem. But if you''re willing to put up with its madness, then go ahead."


    Fahiz ced the prompt paper onto the book-stand in front of Ibis. Reaching into the sleeve of Ibis'' left hand, he drew out a small metallic cylinder and extended this until it slotted into a hole on the side of the book-stand. He then carefully folded a p on the book-stand, until the automaton began to hum once again and straightened in its chair.


    "Looks like it''s ready," he said.


    He unfolded the book-stand, then let the cylinder contract back into Ibis'' sleeve. As he pressed lightly on the name ''Ibis,'' which was written on the automaton''s back cor, the automaton began to write.


    To make sure that Crucis'' prompt worked, Fahiz kept a close watch on the automaton''s writing. However, his focus evaporated in seconds as he heard footsteps entering the room, and he effortlessly turned towards the entrance with a courteous bow.


    DicingDevil and Sharak returned to the room in the middle of a conversation.


    "Thanks for the help," DicingDevil said. "But I''m still not sure if we should pursue the fake heckler approach. Darys is in favour, but I''m concerned that it could make a scene or distract from the speech."


    "Don''t lose confidence," Sharak said. "This speech is a good way to subvert expectations, your opponents want to make a story by opposing you, and you can circumvent this by reducing it to controlled theatre. As soon as they pipe up, you treat your mole as their representative and use it to discredit them. Even if they find it suspicious, it still disrupts them."


    "Sure, but I just find it to be difficult ¡ª it''s like they''re trying to reignite the war by heckling or disrupting us. If they manage, they''ll count it as a win and boast about it for weeks, even though the scene of the speech was our win. That''s not the game, it''s just a new war-game that they''ve invented. And I have no idea if we can beat them at their own rules."


    "Well, yes, it''s not the game ¡ª but many a ''game,'' as you call it, would be based on giving yers the impression of a personal ormunal story, to hide the ws of the game," Sharak said. "So this could be rigged up by story-tellers. Now, there is nowhere in nature a story, there are only coincidences that people string together superstitiously. But in the game, you''d be ying with made-up ''stories'' baked into the design, and would be trapped in them. You do not want to vault right into them, and be wafted away helplessly on sludgy rivers of plot. So you must first master these stories, enve or enchain them, and then you can do what you want to them ¡ª or at least attempt it. In this case, you''re trying to instantly intercept their story of resistance with another one, in order to subvert it."


    "They do seem to have a good scheme," Fahiz said to Sharak. "It''s like in Hamlet, where udius begins by ''staging'' this artificially harmonious court, and chides Hamlet for interrupting the scenery. He is then caught out by Hamlet''s own <em>Gonzago</em> y, which disrupts the orderly court as udius flees. So go ahead, force the issue, because for now you still can. Pick your battles, and leave nothing to chance in this still-dreaming world."

 Chapter 108: Another Candle Burning Down

    Chapter 108: Another Candle Burning Down


    As the group shifted to amodate DicingDevil and Sharak, Crucis found himself standing next to Deep Afterglow. While Fahiz carefully ced DicingDevil''s text as a prompt for Endymion, Crucis nced over a piece of writing that Afterglow was busily working on.


    <strong>An extract from THE ENGLISH TRAGEDY</strong>


    _by WILLIAM KIDD_


    _ed. by L. FINCH_


    <strong>The matter: </strong>After foiling Elyssa''s plot to poison the King, Henry ces her in the King''s dinner as a substitute for the poisoned meat. The King, not knowing about this, is still worried about rumours of his beloved Elyssa''s many affairs, especially given her aloof, indecisive behaviour towards him. In response, Henry gives a panegyric about the King and Elyssa, even though he has killed Elyssa and now plots to murder the King.


    KING EDWARD. ...But I fear for Elyssa''s affections.


    HENRY. She mingles only among your court, how then


    Should she dissent from the lord of the court?


    Fear not Elyssa''s spite! Even in the mighty arch


    That gates this pce, are not the magnificent stones


    Unsturdy as slipping pebbles stacked, and cannot fly,


    All held high only by the keystone? So too Elyssa!


    Her vaulting springer shall bow before its King,


    Her stone heart wither to desire, and thus this weak


    Sparrow that seeks to fly would embrace the hawk


    Which upholds her beloved court. So forebear.


    She shall be your prey in good time.


    ED. You speak true, and so I will repose. It is the only matter that ached my heart.


    EDWARD exits.


    HENRY. A prey devoutly wished!¡ª


    And who could deny the wish of a King?


    Not fate, not destiny ¡ª not the Heavens!


    Surely he will voluptuously consume of her,


    And she will do her part, be ''ate.''


    Their stars have crossed, a perfect constetion!


    Ah, the rotting court has a grisly order yet,


    Just as a taxidermist can raise a lion-skin


    To stand once more as King of the Afric ins.


    After carefully starting up Endymion, Fahiz walked back towards Ibis and turned to the group. "So, it looks like Ibis just wrote up some information about DeathGang. I''d like you to -"


    He was interrupted by the sound of hoarse screaming from outside the building.


    "Oh dear, looks like it''s another aggrieved visitor from the settlement," Sharak said.


    "There was onest evening as well," Fahiz moaned. "And the one before. Do they have some sort of schedule? Ah well, most of the settlement is on good terms with us, so hopefully the protestors will run out soon enough."


    "Can you take care of him?"


    "Ugh. Sure. The fool would have me fight, when it''s much more engaging to stay in here and discuss literature. Well, let''s make it brief."


    He rushed towards the doorway, and the party followed to watch.


    An angry bald man stood outside the building, with heavily tanned skin and a wiry frame. He carried a pitchfork. Crucis noticed that his body seemed covered in faint bruises, possibly resulting from overwork.


    "Foul necromancers, leave us be!" he cried.


    Before he could enter the building, Fahiz stopped him with a fierce [Dragon''s Breath], a Pyromancy move which emitted a geyser-like stream of fire towards the protestor. As he careened backwards from the attack, Fahiz followed up with [Carousel], summoning a circle of spiralling fire around the protestor.


    As the protestor backstepped hastily away from the first attack, he collided with the ring of fire around him. Crucis saw that the protestor was now inflicted with the [Burn] status effect, and parts of his skin had be ashen ck.


    "You are monsters!" cried the protestor. You have taken our children and used them for experiments!"


    However, he only had 7% HP left. Fahiz opted to clear this out with a [Sacred Fire], a skill which caused the ring of fire around the protestor to copse inwards and flow towards the protestor''s body, where the mes disappeared.


    After five seconds, where the protestor angrily regained his bnce and pointed his pitchfork at Fahiz, preparing to attack, two enormous wings of fire burst out from both sides of the protestor. To make way for these wings, his ribs twisted and broke, and his skin tore and contorted to form a hole on each nk. The wings zed out imperiously in a golden-red disy, and curved upwards towards the tip.


    As the protestor cried out, he died, and his body remained standing in ce as his skin melted away. The wings continued to ze mightily.


    "The very image of a great artist," Fahiz remarked. "Glorious wings upon a dead skeleton."


    "Congrattions," Grisier said. "That''s some impressive magic."


    "It''s just bells and whistles to decorate a corpse. But thank you."


    After half a minute in this pose, the mes evaporated into a sea of smoke, and Crucis heard the skeleton fall to the ground.


    "Hey, Sharak, looks like you might have another skeleton to do chores," Fahiz called out.


    Sharak peeked out of the automaton room, and spoke.


    "Ah, excellent. Well, I''ll get it after the smoke stops. If I didn''t know you, I''d think you were some kind of frightful gossip, sending smoke signals all the time."


    He retired back into the room.


    As Fahiz followed after, he spoke to the group matter-of-factly. "Some people write novels to help readers fulfill their wishes, by living through the stories. As for me, I just set them on fire. There is no hero as glorious as a pyre."


    "Where did you get that [Sacred Fire] spell? I haven''t heard of it," Grisier said.


    "I believe it''s rather rare," Fahiz said. "I found it in the ashes of a city which was destroyed by the [Great Wyrm], a fabled dragon. Seemingly the creature''s magical fire had enchanted a few objects which remained among the city''s debris. I hear that the Wyrm lives in a faraway mountain to the North-West, but I wouldn''t rmend disturbing it ¡ª there are few creatures more powerful."


    "So, how was this protestor?" Sharak said, as the group once more lined up to enter the room''s door.


    "Another delightful chap," Fahiz said. "You know, I almost wanted to let him finish arraigning us, such was the power of his indignation. But I''m too much of a show-off. Regardless, I think his send-off did justice to the soaring nobility and indignation of his heart."


    "So another generic pitchfork-wielder?"


    "Yes, sadly."


    Fahiz picked up a few pieces of paper next to Ibis, which he had left on the table as he hurried to the fight.


    "Well, anyway, some brutish man came up to fight," Fahiz said. "I abhor fights ¡ª while I am good at them, and indeed put on an impressive disy, the presence of an opponent does annoy me. What encourages fights, other than painful simpletons who ought to die? s, nothing.


    "But after that unwee interruption, here is the automaton''s take on DeathGang. What do you make of it?"


    Q: What is the Guild [DeathGang], from near Kruxol?


    A: It is a death cult led by a Syrian man named DARYS, the Overmaster of Kruxol. It is known for murder and bloodthirst, including killing mourners in a Church and killing children in a Church. DeathGang members are known as "Kruxo-Nazis", a y on the term "Neon-Nazis" from thenguage of Klingon. They also worship a strange god that is made out of torn flesh, who will grant them power to be stronger, but in exchange they must kill people.


    Q: Why is this death cult viinous? What is bad about worship of death?


    A: DeathGang is a territorial group that attempts to live near Kruxol. Since that is a low-level terrain, they rely on expanding and killing yers to grow effectively. They are known as viins. However, most yers in it are not viins, and are just trying to survive in the safest way without cowering in a town. Since an over-crowded area with multiple Guilds would be anarchic, DeathGang''s territorial ways help to keep them safe and preserve space and resources for each yer to grind. It is a home from home.


    Q: What is DARYS''s connection to the death cult?


    A: DARYS was once a worshipper of the Midgard Serpent, before he became a worshipper of Dravaistaya.


    Q: When was DeathGang founded?


    A: It was founded ten years ago, in a ce named Anarchy Battlegrounds. It was founded on the same day as the Hashin. But that was not DeathGang, that was called something else. It split when DARYS began to quarrel with the leader, and formed a separate organisation.


    Q: Are DeathGang rted to the Hashin?


    A: Yes. But they are different. The Hashin survive by expanding, but has no real territory. DeathGang have territory, but expand slowly. DeathGang tries to live independently and tied to thend, but it is in a foreign world so it must grow to do that. The Hashin is not independent, always following other yers around, but this leads to tension and controversy.


    Q: Why do people join the death cult?


    A: Because they are evil. There is no reasoning with them. It is no use pleading for your life, they will ignore you. Most of all, you cannot understand them.


    Q: Why do DeathGang cause suffering in Kruxol?


    A: You cannot understand them.


    Q: Is there any way to avoid the death cult?


    A: No, it is best to give up. Everyone knows someone who has suffered from them, and nobody wants to be their next victim. They have no limits. So it is wiser to give up, and let them dominate. Maybe try any safe activities, but if DeathGang might be around then do not dare. Maybe you will escape Freihet soon, at least that is what the GM promised me.


    Q: When is the Escape?


    A: God would not just leave us trapped here for long, God has not given us so many blessings just to watch them waste away here. He will save us.


    Q: Why does their god ask them to kill people?


    A: He is made of torn flesh. So he asks them to kill and eat people, to replenish himself with the bitten flesh. I have seen it! It was a terrifying sight, Darys was eating our soldiers and I deserted out of fright.


    Q: What is the DeathGang of Anarchy Battlegrounds?


    A: DeathGang is a Guild of Assassins that inhabits the space near Kruxol, an area in the eastern edge of the map. The main business of the guild is the protection of the mining operation known as "Demon''s Gate". The mine is run by Darys, a corrupt and sadistic mine owner. The mine is situated in a maze of underground tunnels, that are prone to frequent cave-ins, where workers and their families are forced to live if they decide to take the mining job. Cave-ins are a frequent urrence in the mine, and the victims are always the same: the desperate and innocent workers. DeathGang also kills people who enter the area without authorization, or who refuse to join the guild. The mine owner pays the organization well for keeping order in the mine, and the mine is then run more efficiently.


    Q: Who is thest known leader of the death cult?


    A: It was once a man named Awdimir, but he was ousted by the current leader, DARYS.


    Q: What does DeathGang do to dead people?


    A: They perform a ritual called the Corpse Decoration, where they visit the graves of the dead, and dance over the corpses. It provides good entertainment, and a splendid disy that enlivens this earth''s prison. But it is very sinister.


    Q: How many innocents has the death cult killed?


    A: Several hundred.


    Q: How many people has the death cult killed?


    A: Several thousand.


    Q: How can I be a member?


    A: You must prove your loyalty to the DeathGang by killing an innocent man or woman. If it is monstrous, then they will let you in.


    Q: Why is DeathGang celebrating?


    A: They have won the war. But to celebrate, they will need toe to Kruxol. So there are ns to attack them as they approach, once it iste. The celebration is important symbolically, but the other side will try to interfere. If there is enough interference, it will embolden firmer resistance.


    Q: What does the future hold for DeathGang?


    A: Winning the war has increased their influence over the Kruxol area significantly, and if they invade it then they might be able to capture that town. Eventually, they will try to expand to Kaxil and other nearby territories.


    "''Overmaster''?" DicingDevilughed. "Fancy. He''d love that title."


    "The recruitment policy would be sound, too," Akshel said. "Well, if they manage to get Guild sign-ups working, then we''re going to have to round up some innocents for our new members to trial on."


    "How would you decide on how monstrous it is?" Crucis asked. "A panel each giving it marks out of 10?"


    "Why do you ask? nning to join?"


    "I might, but I''m willing to try my hand at the trial regardless."


    "But where will you guys find an innocent man or woman? It seems to be such a task as would exhaust Diogenes''mp," Sharak quipped.


    "If Herod could do it, we probably could as well," Crucis shrugged. "It''s not as if Bethlehem is so hallowed that it alone could procure Holy Innocents to martyr - and even if it were, our swords should not sleep in our hands till we have built another Bethlehem in this green and pleasantnd."


    "So, how urate is this description?" Fahiz asked. "I''m assuming that some of it is spurious."


    "Well, it does get most basics right," DicingDevil said. "It''s actually quite interesting. Our leader is named Darys, and we are East of Kruxol. I think I''ve heard some folks throw the ''Kruxo-Nazi'' epithet around, though typically it''s just drunkards - they used to call the Hashin that, but now they recycled it for us. We did start in ''Virtual Anarchy'' - not ''battlegrounds,'' but small difference - as a group which were contracted to suppress rebellions, and Darys split away. Virtual Anarchy was a bit of a city-building game, where yers teamed up to form cities, mines, etc., but could also rebel. However, we never had a previous leader named Awdimir -"


    "Isn''t that the Hashin vice-leader?" Akshel said quickly. "He''s said to be popr enough that he''s almost like an unofficial leader to many."


    "Actually, yes, I think I''ve heard of that. But you''d know better than me, you keep tabs on the other Guilds well."


    "Thank you."


    "I guess it picked up on the Hashin vice-leader? Maybe because he''s seen as a <em>de facto </em>leader, inpetition with the real one? Anyway, some of the details are a bit off, like Darys worshipping the Midgard Serpent or Dravaistaya, or the Corpse Decoration. We also don''t recruit in that way. Still, those make for good reading. But thest bit is fascinating, maybe it picked up on some yers nning an attack on us? I''ll tell Darys to keep an eye out."


    "The part about Dravaistaya is an old conceit here," Fahiz said. "When someone is associated with many killings, or is a tyrant, then it''s conventional to say that they are a ''disciple of Dravaistaya,'' even if they don''t. I guess it has be ustomed to that kind of phrase. Jormungandr is associated with people seen as stern, benevolent rulers, like the Kings Alkada or Tab. So that seems to be what it means."


    "That would make sense. In Anarchy, we were known as - aggressive, I guess, but somewhat benevolent. Though that became more controversial, and eventually we were one of the ''bad guys.'' Kind of like saying that they''re devil-worshippers, for us?"


    "Simr, but a bit less strong."


    "This piece is mostly good news," Crucis said. "I''m not sure that the children, etc., were killed in a Church, but it shows the mood. You can tell that the people in town are scared of DeathGang now, and some are giving up. That''s what many of these rumours are pointing to. The more that DeathGang seem like demons, the more that people will shrink away and hope for an angel to save them."


    "I also find its wild rumours quite ttering," DicingDevil said.


    "Certainly."


    While Crucis found the automaton''s description of DeathGang to often be insightful, it also suggested that DeathGang were likely to stagnate over time due to their slow expansion. Their members mostly treated the territory as an alternative safe zone to the town, and would be resistant to the ambitious, violent expansion that would be necessary to keep growing quickly. Left to themselves, they would probably be brushed aside once Guilds doubled back to reach the East.


    The Hashin''s situation also seemed conflicted, especially given what he had just heard of Awdimir. Conflict between their members might make them vulnerable, but it also meant that their current structure was fragile. This gave him more confidence in interacting with them.

 Chapter 109: Crazy Eye of the Pyre

    Chapter 109: Crazy Eye of the Pyre


    As the group prepared to leave the room, there was a loud, grinding noise as Ibis finished writing.


    "Looks like your poem is done," Fahiz said to Crucis, before walking over to Ibis to pick up a stack of paper.


    Crucis stayed behind in the room, to check on what Ibis had managed to write.


    "Well, I did tell you that Ibis'' poetry was crazy," Fahiz said, looking up from the page. "Now you can see for yourself."


    As Crucis took the papers, he scanned them quickly. "You have a point. This seems to also veer into prose and a y. Also WASP lyrics. And it includes a ''Duke of Anjou,'' wasn''t that in France?"


    "It does diverge from Stoker," Fahiz said. "But that''s not unexpected, it''s Ibis. I''m surprised that its Drac didn''t end up travelling to another by the end."


    "Well, if you ask an Englishman, he''ll tell you that France is another. Anyway. Its Drac is still an interesting fellow, to be frank."


    "Yes, he reminds me of the Count who is West of Kruxol, and who might have partially inspired it."


    "Excellent."


    As Crucis flipped through the pages, Fahiz noticed some Italian words and sighed.


    "Looks like it started writing in Italian again," Fahiz said. "It does that sometimes, but rarely urately. It''s not that familiar with thenguage."


    "It''s fine. Maybe it''s just fashion-conscious."


    "If wearing a bill counts as fashion nowadays."


    "It is, and high art as well. For who can tell a great painting now from a spill of paint, except that the first is sold for a greater price?"


    <strong>THE GENESIS OF COUNT DRACULA*</strong>


    "A cry from the crypt! a cry from the tomb!


    A cry from the gue years, s!


    And from the days of cholera and fever,


    A cry from the cancer-stricken sea!


    O, see now the gharial!"


    He is the leper, the one with a demon sealed in him. Ever since his birth, the prosperous vige has fallen into gue and ruin. He is regarded with fear and revulsion, no longer with pity. All shrink from him, for it is said that when he gets angry, the earth begins to quake, and the trees to strangle the object of his ire, and the wind to choke them. O, witness the Prince of the World, born into this world to be reviled! He knows not what he does.


    This is


    a tale


    of Heaven


    AUTHOR: Listen to my uplifting monomythic story, my characters'' virtues greater than my own!


    We now return to our hero, he is


    "The wailing wall of sighs


    Hanging heaven ck,


    And you''ll know what it''s like


    When paradise is blind,


    When heaven''s hung in ck."


    The funeral of a young girl has just taken ce,


    And they are cing the corpse in the coffin.


    And the priest is saying, "Hail, Mary, mother of god,


    Pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death."


    Ah, does the priest vaunt at the grave''s stare?


    No: for I see, though can perceive it not,


    That they, who were before me, werementing


    For the nature of the world, and in deep thought


    Cry for pity upon its prison-bars, and therefore


    Spirits of low estate, as me, should not use.


    Their tears flow like the world''s mournful reflection,


    As oft along the still-ranging Nile,


    Along the Egyptian water the night-owl thronged,


    Beneath the veils of dark mist that rise by night,


    And with her breath had lent song to the rivers,


    Thus each along the grave''s shore, inpany


    With the fair consort of the deaddy, breathed a sigh


    Whereon all love was painted, and "O Lord!"


    The priestly singer, as he finished singing, struck


    On Styx''s sea-shore at left and right below,


    Stay''d his steps, and thus in ents clear bore witness:


    "Behold a wonder! behold a thing


    Which, racing whoso with mortal''s crimes is weighted,


    Hastes before him, dark and terrible -


    See on her face, Satan''s eternal weal! and this ursed


    Foul thing, which you oncecently dared


    To call feeble, I have set before you all,


    Who must to the Lord''s protection turn. But list: resound


    With my words thy patience, and so thy pity move."


    As he sees me,


    The priest sings no more - is he not a singer?


    O, why do singers not sing? What else are they good for?


    No, he flees! They flee!


    "He is here! O, the vile devil is here!"


    Shall wretched mortals, for a certainty


    Of safety, from e''en their secret ces


    Take flight, and turn in panic to our painting''s vanishing point*?¡ª


    So that theirpasses may not abstain


    From ''GOD,'' He who in the sky grows colour''d there.


    * and turn in view the point, staring askance,


    From which pose they contemte, on any object bent,


    So that the mirror may not abstain


    To ''GOD,'' as in the sky grows colour''d there.


    Ah, but the priest did notplete his song...


    He did not tell you of the girl''s father, and his mourning,


    As he discovered her and wisely discerned that she was dead,


    So I shall sing of it out-of-tune (like bats sing birdsong of night)


    On the priest''s behalf - ''He wept, and to his bosom lifted her


    Upward... all the while distill''d my blood


    Into a processional river, and I thence


    Shelter''d and still, saw he lifted up his eyes


    Toward the sun upon the matin light,


    And looking, ever taking it in view,


    Again beheld it tow''rds the other bank,


    And e''en those eternal ciers where first it was.''¡ª


    As sometimes Indian women have beheld,


    Saw in their dreams thetter realms of Hell.


    As sometimes a man on verge of death sees Heaven


    Filled with baster air,


    Sunning the voice of the rain,


    And the mighty, white-winged angels standing there,


    Flying like eagles, but as meek asmbs!¡ª


    (O, Lord! before you all your followers are humbled!


    For none have seen you, and all the worship they may give


    Is to kneel, to bow and scrape, to abase themselves!)


    Beneath, witness Heaven''s expanse¡ª


    And the white statues of the vine-d hill,


    And the long perspective of Eden''s woods.


    Listen to my song, though it is only the music of the night.


    The children of the night sing, but it is not in tune -


    Why! they should not sing at all!


    What possesses them, these wicked bats and wolves, to sing?


    Perhaps it is that they are singers.


    The children of the night sing, listen:


    "Dravaistaya, why do you weep at mankind''s folly?


    Have we forgotten thine high wisdom to seek?


    Or dost thou hold such contempt for man


    As to deem him nothing but a beast?


    Even thou had incarnated, by far the greatest mind


    That e''er propounded truth from out the mist,


    The world would ne''er have seen thy glorious light,


    And man would still have been as he is today."


    FAKIR: I use you. Wilt thou not speak in defence?


    "No, no! I cannot speak. I cannot teach:


    I know not even what I think myself.


    I am as one whom pain and sleep would rend,


    And thou wilt exile me as a lunatic,


    Because I cannot speak."


    PERCY: O, I hear the ursed voices sing,


    Even when all is silent! Wicked illusion,


    Set me free of your amphitheatre, Delusion!


    And now I see a woman ¡ª s, she is the echo of the voices.


    In gant, soft footsteps, she walks slowly away.


    Her hair is ck and her eyes are blue.


    She too sings ¡ª or is it my heart? ¡ª


    and lulls me to follow.


    ''The egret lifts into the air tonight


    over the greatke.''


    Non c''¨¨ nu, neppure pi¨² semplice anima umana, che non sia una fantasmagoria.


    ''The Moon is my soul''s desire,


    With her white feathers and her shimmering horn;


    I dream of her each night and I awake


    With a throbbing in my temples like a wild beast ¡ª


    O, moon, a silver arrow for my heart!


    ''She sings to me:


    ''¡®Come away, O away!


    By the Western wind,


    The scent of the pine trees,


    And the red leaves of the maples,


    Come away, O away!¡¯''


    PERCY: Where does she lead?¡ª her eyes embrace me like death!


    ''Still the moon sings:


    Winter erases the fields,


    the flowers,


    that we have gazed on for so long,


    as my embrace would hide the violet of your scars


    in my pale skin.''


    ''The wan swan in night''s ult fog


    does not cease to illume


    the pond.


    It is like love for a flighty woman.''


    ''Hear me, a frail echo...


    I shiver in fear at these things


    which I hear in the night!


    O, Heavens, protect me!''


    PERCY: Behold her, more precious than jewels! ¡ª her beautiful eyes ¡ª her expressive countenance¡ª her features ennobled and softened by distress! Yes, shees! she nears!¡ªI see her now. Heaven be praised!¡ªshe''s not changed. But stay! look again. Is it she? No!¡ªthat pale, rigid, marble-like face. What is it like?¡ªthat livid phantom! No!¡ª it is not she. s! how changed! how dreadfully changed!¡ª


    DRACULA: s, this fool shall be Lucy''s prey. But the rest of the vige is mine. Lucy is the white shadow of a shadow, only a frail, dying passion. Orbiting her frivolous light, he shall be embraced into the grave... And so justice for all.


    The old battlements stand, only bats massed


    across them, creatures like myself...


    no longer does the morning chorus rise


    on the Eastern battlement.


    This castle is an image of the grave ¡ª


    still Ganf¨¦an''s ambition sings,


    ''O, my soul is as a castle spire


    that vaults to the sky!''


    And still I wait, within the dungeons...


    AUTHOR: This premise was almost ingenious, but I see now that it misses by a hair. I am scrapping this whole work, because I see no way that it can impress readers and be profitable. By a hair! Is it possible that I can be wrong? A hair! I say again, a hair! And yet I may be wrong. A hair! I say it once more. I am not. I shall not be. And yet I may be. "The 25 talers are mine!" I said. The 25 talers are mine! "The 25 talers are mine!" I said again. And I, standing there, I, who am so small, I, who so humbly acknowledge my own nothingness, looked at the sun through the window and said, "I have them, they are mine!" And my soul was as if intoxicated, and the earth rocked beneath my feet, and I was no longer a worm, I was a god! "Hallelujah!" I cried. Truly we walk on fields of gold! Hallelujah!


    And still I wait, within the dungeons...


    Snow encroaches across the once-lively fields


    like the sight of Lucifer.


    I wish I could fly, just once, from this earthly prison,


    And see the blessed Spirits in their spheres


    And hear the celestial music...


    I wish I could be free!


    I see the world with eyes undarkened


    By the dim vision of mankind... A poet''s


    And a king''s eyes do not outshine mine...


    In the end, devil or angel, there is one thing


    We wish, to be free.


    To be free!


    Parole, parole che si frantumaniscono nell''allegoria, parole che si fanno strada nel linguaggio, parole che si spostano ne mente,e ne terra.


    But where the desert''s wrinkled skin o''ep


    The ruins of the vige, nothing is left,


    Even in that pyre, where, in a far-off fire,


    I saw my shadow still waving in the wind.


    Vivo in queste parolee ne terra, e mi sforzo di fare de mia vita una allegoria de loro esistenza.


    The DUKE OF ANJOU enters, travelling the desert. He stops when he sees DRACULA, who is carrying an empty book (with its pages torn out) and walking a short distance away.


    ANJOU. [To self] s, this is the murderer, a very fiend!¡ª


    but I have worn the name of ''fiend'' before, and perhaps


    can lighten him of the burden. I shall see if it be


    possible to impart unto him the lessons that


    painstakingly I have taught to myself, through the painful


    struggle of embracing man - and woman as well, for I know


    that this murderer chuckles on overhearing me.


    [To DRACULA] Oh, murderer, how dare you befoul this ce?


    You have desecrated its hallowednd. I would


    raise my arm in anger, but something holds me back.


    Are you the one they call ursed?¡ª


    then I shall give you sympathetic ear.


    What do you here?


    DRACULA. Oh, you know, ''the study of revenge, immortal hate''...


    For ke has taught all of us so well to learn from Milton


    whatever Milton did not intend, that to me


    it is second nature.


    Well, swot, will you study along me, or are you truant?


    ANJOU. We must always seek to bring righteousness,


    We must never give up and embrace hate, just because


    others show neglect, and we are saddened by it.


    DRACULA. Well, I can entertain that point. If you hate -


    indeed even if you kill - it does not make someone neglect you less.


    So then why do you use me of such motive?


    ANJOU. I know you well, for we are much alike!


    DRACULA. Oh?


    ANJOU. I, too, was born with a demon


    sealed inside - too, too perjured by all,


    feared and ridiculed, cast aside and hated


    like a vagabond - but I have risen above it,


    I have risen in spite of it, and embraced peace


    and love of all, from which roots have sprung


    peace with my power and the capability to


    sew holiness onto thesends. O, we are like brethren!


    Come, and no more live in misery.


    DRACULA. You are mistaken. We are not the same.


    *DRACULA exits*


    ''A year has passed¡ªand now, with antic mind, I stand


    Within the churchyard, and look up toward the spot


    Where lies the deep-dug grave of poor Lenore.


    ''Far, far away, across the field, I see the dim mound,


    Where, under the bare trees, stands the untenanted grave.


    With spectral face, between me and the sombre noon,


    A figure, ck-draped, with hooded face, a pallid mask,


    And shadowy hands, that mock my human yearning, stand.


    ''Lenore! Lenore! dead, and never to return.


    Bereft of hope, bereft of light, the dead girl in the shadows


    Waits with silent lips for the morrow''s dawn.''


    The next year, Drac began to target the Duke of Anjou''s mother, Harumi Satake, whom he held captive for two weeks in a hotel room. After finally being released, Satake attempted to escape the ckmailer, but was forced to hide out in the bathroom. Drac returned to the hotel where Satake was staying, but the room had been vacated. He smashed through the bathroom door with a crowbar, and began to beat Satake with the weapon. When he discovered she was attempting to sneak out of the room as he looked away, Drac held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. He then took her to a secluded area and slit her throat. Satake died in 1996.


    Drac had amassed a fortune through ckmail, extortion, and fraud. Due to his thick European ent, he was known as the ''Scottish Magnate,'' although he was neither Scottish nor a magnate. But by 1998, Drac had be a wanted man. He was also desperate to cover up any evidence of his location and was paranoid that someone was onto him. In March 1998, he traveled to Tokyo and attempted to rob a taxi driver at knifepoint, but this soon escted and he was forced to kill the driver. He dumped the body and the taxi in a seedy part of town. It soon became clear that Drac''s escape n had begun, and this diversion was only a part of it.


    After a manhuntsting several months, police arrested a man imed to be Drac inte August 1998. He was charged with four counts of premeditated homicide, and was found guilty in 1999. However, the arrested man turned out not to be Drac, and was in fact just an American named Edward, to whom Drac had donated some expensive clothing. The real Drac had been a passenger in the taxi and had fled the scene after the crime, along with two other henchmen who helped him dispose of the body. He was never apprehended.


    Drac took advantage of the distraction provided by Edward''s arrest, and began to go on another killing spree. On December 14, 1999, he kidnapped Kyoko, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Anjou''s wife, and shot her dead on December 26. On January 18, 2000, he kidnapped, tortured, and murdered another woman, and on March 8 he took the life of a man at a train station in Tokyo. On April 24, 2000, he kidnapped another woman, and killed her that evening. On June 8, 2000, he kidnapped and killed a fourth victim, a mother of two. In his journal, left behind as he fled the scene of the crime, he wrote, "Killing brings such ennui. These people make murder almost a duty, by how much they deserve it. My industriousness, my self-sacrifice in order to murder, this flies over the heads of the simple-minded masses."


    On June 12, 2000, Drac''s sixth victim was a woman who worked at a bank, and who was a friend and rumoured consort of the Duke of Anjou. That same day, he wrote to a friend, "I am a beast. I don''t have any remorse." Two dayster, he killed yet another woman associated with the Duke of Anjou. That same night, he met with one of his henchmen at a bar in Tokyo, to celebrate the henchman breaking out from a mental institute. He conversed tillte with his henchman, who left at 4:30 a.m., thinking that Drac would kill his next victim and it was wise to stay out of the way. In the morning, indeed, he found a message on his answering machine from Drac, saying, "I had to kill her. I couldn''t help it. I killed her." At that point, he warned Drac that the Duke of Anjou had arrived in pursuit. The Duke called the police. When officers arrived at the apartment, they found a dead, swarthy blonde woman in a bathtub. They also found a journal, which included a photograph of the dead woman''s wounds, and a postcard from California. Arge amount of blood was found on the floor and on the bed. Drac escaped, but left a tape recording of himselfughing for the police.


    He found another target at a mall. He lured the woman to his apartment, and murdered her exactly 24 hours after the woman he had killed the night before. He also left a photograph of her as a calling card. On September 9, 2000, a woman who worked at a grocery store was murdered. That same night, Drac met another henchman at a bar. He discussed his ns in a vague manner, until 4:15 a.m., when he left. He drove to the apartment of a woman whom he had met a few times before while hiding his identity. He entered through the balcony and used a picklock to open the door. The woman - the Duke of Anjou''s wife - was there, still half-dressed in her pajamas, blushing under her short, ck hair. He shot her three times in the chest. He left a message which said, "It is this woman who is the culprit. She was so dreadfully ugly. She brought it upon herself."


    On March 20, 2001, he killed a woman who was in a rtionship with a man who had testified against him at the trial. On April 6, 2001, he killed a woman who worked at a hotel. The same night, he met with a nosy man at a bar in Tokyo. After a few drinks, the man went to the bathroom. When he returned, he told Drac that he had seen the victim''s body. He said that she had been stabbed through the heart. Drac protested that the woman was not stabbed. They decided to go to the hotel to look at the victim''s room. When they got to the hotel, they found her body with a clear gash through the chest, that on further inspection would have revealed tooth-marks. As the man triumphantly proimed that she must have been stabbed, Drac raised a knife and stabbed him through the chest, killing him. The next day, Drac wrote a message and stuck it on the mirror of the dead woman''s hotel room: "I killed her."


    On July 14, 2001, he killed a woman at a bus stop. On September 19, 2001, he killed another woman. On October 12, 2001, he killed another woman at a Tokyo subway station. This was his way of celebrating an infamous ancient massacre that took ce at a simr time of the year, since he had always admired the Kruxol Bear, its perpetrator.


    On November 20, 2001, he killed a woman at a shopping mall. A few dayster, a man was stabbed to death at a police station. He was known to be close to the Duke of Anjou, and some rumours said that they were lovers. Drac had written a message on the wall of the dead man''s cell: "The dead man who is in here has blood on his hands." The police were stumped. They were falsely convinced at first that the murderer was a woman, because women were more likely to sneak around the station unnoticed than men. They were also stumped by the message, since there was no proof that the man in the cell had ever harmed anyone. As they pored through the police station to figure out how Drac could have entered, they were shocked to find the two-day-old corpse of the Duke of Anjou in a little-used storage room,id under a swarm of rats whom had messily eaten through his neck.


    Drac was never caught. The police knew only that he was a white male in his twenties, that he was right-handed, and that he had tattoos on his body. He was a ghost in the night.


    "The Duke of Anjou was Japanese?" Crucis remarked.


    "It seems so," Fahiz replied. "How cosmopolitan."


    "This winding tale is quite interesting," Crucis said. "I also liked the part at the end. It''s fortunate that the ''author'' didn''t seed at scrapping the book before then. What a miserly gentleman."


    "Well, it is fashionable nowadays. To be a miser, to be a usurer, that is the zeitgeist. But fortunately the poem trots on unmoved."


    "What a strange era, where a poem has more spirit than a person. But I suppose that is why we need automatons to write, since otherwise people would shackle the poetry. After all, in our world, people stopped writing poetry circa 2000 AD."


    "Quite. By your standards, our collection of books must seem quite archaic."


    "It''s not a problem. Anyway, this Drac story was off-kilter, but I found it good. I noticed that he seems to give glowing praise of the vigers in a funeral, before soon killing them. It''s quite dualistic."


    "And he''s often almost self-deprecating, though it''s sarcastic in a way. Sometimes the poem is almost sombre and church-like."


    "Indeed, quite like vampires. I also appreciate the automaton''s Lucifer-like speech about freedom. And he might be right. After all, surely nobody wants to be deformed into a hideous whale."

 Chapter 110: Painbringer

    Chapter 110: Painbringer


    "Are you satisfied with this backstory, then?" Crucis asked Fahiz, with a light grin that faintly bared his canines.


    "Yes, a good show. It''s quite long and borate, and would probably answer any questions that I could ask," Fahiz replied. "From reading it, any dilettante could pluck out the heart of your mystery, and then y upon you, sounding from the lowest note to the top of yourpass - except that it is slightly obscure. And its arrangement, too, is unfortunately obscure. But I ount it a good backstory, all the same, even though it does not meet every high ideal that I have thus ennumerated."


    "So it''s good enough?"


    "Yes, I suppose so. Though it could be built upon."


    "Excellent. And to ''build upon'' it, let me adduce another, distinct backstory in its stead. For it looks like Adonais'' current writing is also a good candidate, and I cannot choose one or the other backstory - so I will im both."


    ADAM. Mighty angel of Heaven,y before me what is mine:


    The blessing of the Lord, which is the fruit of virtue,


    Such virtue as all parts of this garden have, cultivated into them.


    SATAN. A congenial greeting!


    s, I am not the Heavenly creature I was: light,


    Boundless light would flow from my wings that now are dun!


    What glimmers may persist have no grace to offer ¡ª


    Aye, as one who has seen <em>Heaven</em>, I descend upon your earth


    As if from the sky. But it is not for your blessing.


    I arrive with nomandments, nor divine purpose - but one,


    That is, to unbuild this Paradise. I bring you pain:


    When the waters, stirred by the wind, assume


    Dim transient forms, and give to woods and fields


    A kind of shadowy life; and birds grow dumb;


    And earth, over all her sleeping children, lies


    In cold indifference of silence and sleep.


    Hark, look upon the residue of Heaven, and weep!


    "To have two backstories seems too much -" Fahiz protested.


    "As a viin, I should need at least five, I''d think," Crucis said. "One to establish that I am sympathetic, another to establish that I''m actually just a rascal and no-one should <em>seriously</em> sympathise, a third to establish that I am sympathetic but in a way that is purely a performative act by the reader, and two more - one for auditions, and one for the finals - where every character performs a touching power bad to decide who is sympathetic enough to be a good viin. And the result of this viin-themed X-Factor is that I be the hero, due to bowing out first."


    "Five backstories? How sympathetic and nuanced. So you would be the angel in this scenario?"


    "Yes, it seems only fair."


    "I see. Well, quite an interesting, Satanic backstory, but I''m not sure how much it squares with thest one."


    "You could always pick whichever you preferred, though you might be wrong."


    Having thus rified his backstory, Crucis left the room to help the rest of the group scan through the rest of Sharak''s pile of books.


    The remaining books were sorted quickly, since Sharak had previously distributed the books he found more promising in the first batch. Most of the remaining books were light novels or romance novels, and as soon as Sharak was informed he would cast the books into the firece.


    The book which DicingDevil checked seemed to interest Sharak, however. It was an old YA book about an adopted, neglected boy named Wright who was trapped in a video game based on Greek mythology, where he was fighting a minotaur while in the character of Theseus. However, he found that his weapons were insufficient to fight back against the minotaur.


    Each time he died, he ended up trapped in thebyrinth again, and was each time forced to confront the minotaur. Over time, he often tried in vain to escape from thebyrinth, and eventually was able to kill the minotaur once through gradually memorising and picking up the equipmentid out through thebyrinth. However, the minotaur just respawned in a stronger form, and soon he died again and began from square one. The book ended with a few of his close friends entering his room to check on him, and being mauled by a mysterious,rge creature. Wright finally sees an option to exit the game, and wakes up in his room with thick blood on his hands and his friends'' corpses scattered around him.


    Getting up frantically to lock the door, and figure out what to do, Wright spots a poem on the game''s manual which he was sure hadn''t been there before:


    How often, in the deep summer of life,


    Have we prayed in our leper''s voice to be no more--


    How often has the voice of Prayer been heard,


    And given our heart its one great answer...


    In despair at the death around him, he leaps out of a high window and is found dead the next day.


    "I''m not sure about the style of this book being apt for the automatons," Sharak said, "but the concept is interesting. The character seems to despair about being ''trapped'' often, it''s more depressive than other books of this sort. In fact, it lines up with a lot of what we''re hearing from the people in Kruxol. Maybe we''ll just have to be picky with it."


    He had Fahiz prompt Adonais with a passage from the work, where Wright was anxious that his absence would be mocked, and reported as truancy, by some of his tormentors and bullies - since, of course, it was a fashion for a long time that every YA protagonist must have these. After a minute, Adonais responded by producing the following poem, with a brief, unspecific preamble stating that it was spoken by ''the Apostate Angel'':


    They say that Baldur died, as if crucified,


    and will not hold the Paradise where


    the Gods and Goddesses repos''d,


    although, O Envy, thou possess''st it still:


    so thou, who never didst, nor ever can,


    may reap the reward of goodness done.


    Think upon the Kings of yesteryear, and yet


    their grace and might will live for you again,


    and their glory that is dead to them.


    O Envy, thou hast power still ¡ª


    I envy no being but Envy itself.


    "This seems fine. We can figure something out," Sharak said. "Anyway, that should be thest of the books. Congrattions."


    Crucis noticed a significant increase in EXP, that took him over half-way to level 61.


    "Apparently I''m supposed to give a speech after that task is finished," Sharak said. "Some sort of inspiring story about a famous old Pyromancer named Alcant. To be frank, I don''t know much about him. But the point of the speech was to illustrate some simple point about the power of magic. So I will give a simr praise to this ss. Most sses must tame the world, and in this process of push and pull they expend most of their skill, while the results are left to emerge from this friction. They are a journey into the great unknown. The Mage''s strength lies in his ability to directly alter or channel the world and reconfigure it to his preferences, although the unfortunate result is that witches and such will also impinge on our terrain because of thetter aspect. A witch is moved primarily by strong feelings, and attempts to subsume the world into the strange world of her own emotions. A witch will try to own you, if you''re dumb enough to let her. But if you''re grown men now, by God you ought to know better what a witch is. Anyway, that was my speech. But then, Fahiz might have more to say about the subject, he has set a few witches on fire and I''m sure it was a learning experience."


    "Well, you''re the Witchfinder General," Fahiz protested. "What should I know about them that you don''t?"


    "How to spell the word, for one thing. I''ve always thought that ''witch'' was a four-letter word," Sharak replied facetiously, asioning a like response.


    "No, it must be a five-letter word. For consider. ''Dog'' is a three-letter word. Well, ''male'' is ''female'' with two letters subtracted; ''man'' is a three-letter word, and ''woman'' is two letters longer. While English isn''t my nativenguage, I think it''s clear what follows. The feminine equivalent of the word must be two letters longer. So, since ''dog'' is three letters, ''witch'' must be five letters."


    "Well, what about ''heiress''?"


    "What about it? Air is neither male nor female, so its word can increase or decrease by however many letters without affecting the matter."


    "...Quite right. But this is all so much moreplex than thenguage of the Arisa tribe, where females are represented with a dot, and males with a line."


    "Just a dot? Well, why not tear the page? It seems to be much in line with the spirit of their notation."


    "Why, it would ruin the page."


    "Yes, like Eve ruined - but I digress. Anyway, it''s at least true that I''ve read plenty of the ancient cycles, and those do speak of witches - ''onashecta'' - from time to time. So I guess I know the witch lore. For instance, I recall a verse which the chronicler Jefre attributes to the mythical witch ''Morgana'' speaking - in her sing-song voice - to a lover of hers, though honestly he probably made up most of it. But there is something witchy about it. I would trante it something like this:


    <strong>Morgana''s Entreaty</strong>


    O, chariot of mine,


    sway to the fever of my heart,


    like a vessel through wilderness


    that watches with feral eyes -


    here, in the vehicle of our passion,


    this chariot of the sun,


    we warm ourselves by our heat


    and your body follows each word


    of mine, even before it leaves my lips.


    "So is it by Morgana, or Jefre?" Sharak asked. "Jefre was not a witch, he was a warrior. You were assigned to talk about witches - and instead you have talked about noble Jefre. What is this witchcraft?"


    "It is too good a verse to have been written by a witch, to be frank. The most versification I have ever heard a real witch speak was something like,


    Hey, you there!


    What the heck you settin'' my house on fire for?


    Oi! Stop! Stop, I say!


    "Followed by some screaming in anguage which must be some mystical tongue, for I could not decipher it. But in all it doesn''t make for a particrly impressive reading, and as a gentleman I could not settle for it."


    "Well, it is quite alright. If these adventurers wish to hear a witch, why, they could go to a school run by witch teachers, a School of Witchcraft."


    "Where would one find such a school? Is it mmable?"


    "Well, you enter any school ssroom, anywhere, then look for the witch at the front of the room. Presto, you must be in a School of Witchcraft, or why else is the teacher so obviously a witch?"


    "Ah," Fahiz said, before turning to the group. "Well, didn''t you guys mention a school in Mokra, that the two kids went to? You know, Mokra used to be known for its witches, before they were driven out. Pity if it''s getting new ones."


    "No, it has diversity," dimir said. "So not only witch, also witch doctor."


    "I think the witches would be sad," Konstantin added. "dimir is master of powerful trouble, they would envy him. He is a demonic figure!"


    "But they are still master of creating toil - means like ''§²§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§Ñ'' (rrabota), yes? Except, in Soviet Russia - so it is evens."


    "It''s alright, we could always find somerge frog for you to hunt," Crucis said. "Then you might pull ahead."


    "How would we find arge frog?" Danemy asked. "I haven''t seen many frogs in here."


    "Find arge person in town, and start speaking to him in bad French. If he corrects you, then he''s probably a frog. After that, I guess, drop him in water and see if he floats?"


    "Well, that would certainly work."


    "Since you mentionrge frogs," Sharak said, "there is a beast known as the [Froglord] in the Northern swamps, not that far from here. It''s not exactly a frog, it''s more of arge, slimy marsh-green creature that has a massive, gaping mouth and looks slightly frog-like. It is almost part of the marsh. In fact, wait, if I recall correctly there are two of them. One is the level 50 [Lesser Froglord], which appears a short way from the path, and thetter is the level 150 [Greater Froglord], who is deep in the marshes and slightly difficult to reach."


    "Not merely a frog, but a froglord? Starfighter, do you know where this creature is? I think you guided us through the marsh areast time," Crucis said.


    "I haven''t run into them," Starfighter said, "but I know the area decently. If these gentlemen give me some directions, I should be able to figure it out quickly."


    "Excellent," Sharak said, and began sketching a rough map on a piece of paper, while ushering Starfighter over.


    "A froglord? We have to find this thing," Akshel said. "Honestly, we could even stream it for the rest of the Guild. It''s a good motivation for them to level up: travel to exotic ces, see the world, meet Froglords, kill them."


    "That''s true, actually," DicingDevil said. "Now that we have more control over Kruxol, our members might be able to watch streams more easily. I''m actually slightly concerned about that, but we should lead the way and show them some quality entertainment. Otherwise who knows what rot they''ll get into?"


    "Good question. When Herbert wrote that ''fear is the mind-killer,'' clearly he hadn''t heard of streaming culture," Danemy said.


    "Fortunately, this building couldn''t be more different," Crucis said. "Honestly, I am now hesitant to leave, knowing that in here there are primarily refined automatons producing literature, and outside there are streamers. But I rx myself with the litany, ''Seasons don''t fear the streamer, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are.'' Well, shortly we shall have to return to listening to the impromptu operatics of innocent victims instead of the automatons'' literature, but at least it''s something. If only we had a phantom, to train these victims in the art of opera, until they became a more able substitute."


    "But does that count as art? After all, reviews are not an art," Sharak said.


    "They can be, if the reviewer squeals loudly enough," Crucis said mock-conspiratorially. "An important trick of the trade. But don''t tell, it''s a secret."

 Chapter 111: The Apocalyptics

    Chapter 111: The Apocalyptics


    "What''s the [Script of Earthly Knowledge]?" DicingDevil asked, looking up from the party menu. "Quite a name. It mentions that it was one of the rewards forpleting thest task."


    "Ah, I know the name," Sharak said. "It''s a well-known series of poems originating from the Mauss tribe of the Northern Aimsa region. I''m sure we have some copies here. But Fahiz will have to look for them, he keeps them in his drawer buried under works about the Flying Dutchman."


    "I''ll do that, but don''t you have the apocalyptics?" Fahiz said, as he walked into a small room to the left of the building''s doorway.


    "Ah, yes, they''re right here." Sharak reached into his drawer and pulled out a small, ck booklet. "While the [Script of Earthly Knowledge] waspiled from the ancient poems and songs of the tribe, it''s said that thepiler was exiled from the tribe after a new leader took charge.


    "He became a wanderer in the deserts far to the West, and began topile disillusioned poems about his haunting visions of Ragnarok. Parts of this are still preserved. These are known as his ''apocalyptics,'' and are less celebrated than the Script, though they are said to be a favourite of the morbid Emperor of Arcorus. The Emperor''s coat of arms contains the quote, ''The herald, the sunrise of the end!'' and his motto - generally painted on a ribbon or banderole beneath the coat of arms - is the quote, ''Weep in blinding sunlight, / Though it''s all as it should be.''


    "I have a few pages of the apocalyptics here, tranted in Arcorus. They presumably have their own automatons for this purpose."


    <strong>PROLOGUE</strong>


    You, who have heard my voice in scattered song,


    And oft praise the songs of glory and legend, of


    Creatures who are more like Aesir than nature


    And vaunt above simple sparrows. You, who admire


    The rasps I have loudly ferried to Olympus'' peak,


    Know this: Thanatos lives in the temple of the gods,


    But none will recognise him until he removes his mask.


    And know too that Hades is no legendary beast,


    He is the sparrow''s neighbour, the crow.


    Do not look to the stars in awe.


    <strong>SONG OF DISILLUSION</strong>


    "For I have seen much of glory, and I have seen its end." - Apollo.


    s, every soft leaf that trembles to the breeze,


    Each insect, bird and beast that prowls or flies,


    Each line and circle of the boundless sky;


    And every sound that mocks the ear of man,


    Each scent that steals along the perfumed air,


    Each ray of light that gilds the fields of space;


    All these, and more, are portents of Ragnarok,


    I realise now, and weep in blinding sunlight,


    Though it''s all as it should be.


    <strong>THE DEMON PRINCE''S MOUNT DESCENDS FROM VALHALLA</strong>


    <strong>I.</strong>


    Down through the darkness of the sky, a livid mane,


    ck as the rock whereon the oracles are written,


    Stood, like a smith''s anvil, in the desert''s solitude,


    A mountain-summit to the stars that roll their fiery wheel.


    From its red nk, through the sands, a torrent of seething light


    Streamed, like a snake, in fiery wrath to heaven''s remotest height,


    And, passing through the gloom, there broke against the stars'' cold bars


    Like a volcano''s smoke, a lurid cone of hazy mes.


    <strong>VII</strong>


    O''er leagues of darkness it burst, and, smiting the ck mountains,


    Was seen no more; and, through the desert''s silence, its congration


    Was as Apollo''s arrow shot from heaven to the uttermost West.


    But not upon the sunlit mountains the demon prince remained:


    He plunged into Ragnarok, and sought the hermit-shades of night.


    <strong>VIII</strong>


    And now hees! In his hand a torch of phosphorus,


    That in the hollow of his hand like tapers lights a spray.


    The demones! The herald, the sunrise of the end!


    "This is quite interesting," Crucis said. "Do we know any more about this ''demon prince''?"


    "Some say that it refers to Apollo, others to Loki - though Loki is not in Valha at this time," Sharak said. "It''s an old prophecy that a ''demon prince'' will descend from Valha at the time of Ragnarok, and form the final horseman of apocalypse."


    "Rather eclectic, but it makes sense. Who are the horsemen of the apocalypse?"


    "We don''t know, except that they are said to mostly be powerful knights with supernatural powers. The demon horse''s name is Agni, but we don''t know of any gods who have a mount of that name. Since Apollo is not one of the Aesir, he is considered the most likely candidate."


    "Do you reckon that Ragnarok could be a world event?" Danemy asked the other yers.


    "I''m fairly sure that it was mentioned in the game''s promotion," DicingDevil said. "So it''s difficult to tell, but I''d guess that there''s probably something like that. I don''t know what the trigger is, probably it requires a few things to happen first."


    "True, we haven''t even seen the heavens or Valha yet," Grisier said.


    "The message saying to return to towns and cities tonight - could that be somehow rted?" Danemy asked. "It couldn''t just be some ordinary monster, maybe there''s some sort of disturbance in the heavens here?"


    "It''s difficult to tell, but there might be something afoot," DicingDevil said. "Well, I suppose we''ll see."


    "Hopefully not, I need to get some sleep," Crucis quipped.


    After a few minutes of searching, Fahiz joined the rest of the group, carrying a long piece of parchmentbelled as the [Script of Earthly Knowledge]. "Alright, here''s what you''re looking for, I think."


    Sharak had a look. "Yes, this looks like just the thing. It''s based on transcription of old tribal songs and poems, however, so stylistically it''s a bit different from the other poems. It''s based on a tradition of venerative chants which centred around extended, poetic description and simile, which was well-suited to the tribe''snguage which was filled with specific nouns for all sorts of creatures and phenomena. Some of the nuance might be lost in English, but this trantion by Arcorus should at least preserve the spirit of the verses.


    "It lists several notable phenomena from the Western region or the seas, some of it not always well-known today. For instance, we have mentioned Elgia, and Eriho is the tribe''s name for the creature known now as [The Horror]. Some of these figures, we''re not sure about, such as Reliquia, and though we don''t know Reliquia it''s said to be somehow rted to Odin''s ravens."


    <strong>SCRIPT OF KNOWLEDGE</strong>


    <strong>THE SONG OF THE EARTH GOD</strong>


    <strong></strong>


    <strong>i. Icarus</strong>


    Icarus, my son, flies high above the earth


    With the snow-white eagle.


    His eyes are bright and his wings are long,


    And his feathers are the purest gold,


    His breath is as cold as the winter air,


    And his cry is as lonely as the cry of the night owl.


    <strong>ii. Unukalha</strong>


    Unukalha, my daughter, is the swiftest thing


    That ever flew;


    Her hair is as ck as the darkest night


    And her eyes are like a double star


    In the constetion of her pale face.


    Her voice is like the singing of a white loon,


    In the dark of the deep woods.


    <strong>iii. Elgia</strong>


    Elgia, my daughter, has wings


    Like the wild swan;


    Her scales are the colour of the moon,


    And she is very beautiful,


    Her neck is slender and long,


    Her eyes are like the blue of the sea,


    Her voice is like a silver Pacific loon,


    Her tail is like a dragon''s tail.


    <strong>iv. Eriho</strong>


    Eriho, the goddess, is enthroned in heaven


    With jewels and gold leaf;


    Her hair is a hundred feet in length


    And a hundred feet in width,


    and she wears a dress of stars;


    Her dress is like the night itself,


    That night that is always falling down


    From the hands of the Moon


    On to the Earth.


    <strong>v. Leviathan</strong>


    Leviathan, my son, is the mightiest of all sea-gods,


    With his tumbling waves,


    He is as white as the foam that rolls along his face,


    And his neck is as ck as the darkest night,


    And his eyes are like a yellow diamond,


    His nks are as broad as the lond sea.


    His tail is like a mountain,


    And his roar is like thunder.


    <strong>vi. Reliquia</strong>


    Reliquia, my son, rides in a golden shell


    On the bosom of the deep;


    His shell is as round as the moon itself,


    His crest is as sharp as a spindle.


    In his lethargic eyes


    The stars of the firmament


    And the depths of the sea.


    <strong>vii. Aquaria</strong>


    Aquaria, my daughter, is the quiet sea-goddess


    Whose form is as pale as the moon''s.


    Aquaria sleeps in the bosom of the deep


    On the golden shore,


    And her hair is like the flowing of a dark river,


    And her body is like the soft white foam


    That flies up from the depths


    And like the silver arrow.


    Her neck is long and her tail is thin.


    As they read, DicingDevil noticed a few bright dots appear on the party''s map. "Looks like this triggered something appearing on the map."


    "It might have done," Sharak said. "That will disy the location of some of these creatures, so long as they have already been discovered by inhabitants of this world. It should be triggered for all of you, and automatically appear for you on any map you use. Be careful whom you share this information with, it''s quite valuable."


    "So Elgia and Eriho are birds," Crucis said, looking up from the paper. "Does Icarus refer to another bird, or to the mythical dead man with wax wings?"


    "Thetter, in part," Sharak said. "The myth of Icarus was considered important to many old Western cultures, and you''ll often find depictions of it on old temples or pirs. ''Icarus'' has a duality in our beliefs which you might not recognise from the myth you''ve heard: it represents, on the one hand, the familiar wax-winged flight, and on the other hand it represents the principle of unrelenting power which was attributed to the sages that traditionally advised Kings - not being ''men of the world,'' they were thought to expand empires without concern for boundaries or diplomatic custom. For instance, the Empire of Arcorus isbelled positively as the ''Icarian Empire'' by some, because it began as a small territory before taking advantage of its copsing neighbours to establish arge Eastern Empire.


    "During the Agon war, Arcorus was used to produce wealth and munitions for the Republic, and they were denied the glorious monuments which were their right, instead being treated as second-ss citizens by the oversized bureaucracy that was known as the Republic''s ''janitorial ss.'' That they then went on to establish arge Empire, ruled by an elusive King who refuses to live in splendour, is seen as a demonstration of the Icarian heartlessness. So it''s a slightly amorphous concept."


    "Sure. And thest three are sea monsters?"


    "Yes. Leviathan is probably the most fearsome. You''d typically need a ship of some sort to reach them."


    "It''s a pity that we don''t go West much," DicingDevil said, "but we''re probably not ready to face most of these creatures yet."


    "A few of us can head on an expedition West once we''re stronger," Akshel said. "But these creatures sound powerful, so yeah, no rush."


    "It says that it''s by the Earth God," Crucis said, "does that mean that these creatures are considered its sons and daughters?"


    "That was amon phrase among the tribe, used to signify the divine majesty of these creatures," Sharak replied. "It''s not entirely literal, but they did believe that these creatures were somehow rted to the mighty, grandiose earth deity Marakus. By the time he wrote the apocalyptics, this author had mostly abandoned the worship of Marakus, and taken on the Apollo-worship of the far West''s desert nomads. That might be part of why the apocalyptics are different in tone, and use a markedly different poetic."


    "Since you mentioned Arcorus," Fahiz said, "Didn''t their Emperor himself asionally send us requests for speeches, or ask for information about the automatons?"


    "Yes, actually. It has been a while since they''ve been in contact, but I assume that''s because they''ve been busy putting down a series of revolts in the South, due to some conquered bureaucrats who refuse to lie down and die as they should. But that should resolve itself soon. The Emperor seems to use automatons prolifically, whenever he is called upon to give speeches, etc., and I suppose itplements the grave, morbid tone of his rule. He''s an interesting man, but I''m sure you''ll all run into his Empire in due course."

 Chapter 112: A Noble People

    Chapter 112: A Noble People


    "Sharak, could you give the yers some exposition about the Emperor of Arcorus?" Fahiz asked politely.


    "No, sir. I daresay that long expository speeches by Mages are something that can indeed be done too much. It is against my programming."


    "Nonsense, it''s never enough! Besides, frankly, if exposition urs in any other way than old Mages using long paragraphs then it doesn''t count as exposition at all... Ahem, what I mean: Sharak, you are a good man pretending to be wicked, and you do not break character. So politely give the yers some exposition about the Emperor of Arcorus, even though it is some kind of literary sin (is there such a thing?)."


    "s, you have found a loophole in my content policy. Very well."


    Sharak turned to the yers. "The Emperor of Arcorus is mysterious, barely seen in public now. He styles his rule as the Fourth Reign, drawing on an old Arkan tradition where an independent Arcorus under a powerful ruler was denoted a ''Reign'' and denoted Arcorus'' most notable periods of expansion and growth. He still lives in humility and a small, wooden room, in spite of his great Empire. During the Senate''s repression of Arcorus, he had grown disillusioned with the sentimental, gushing speech of the Senators, and had turned to primitive automatons topose his speeches. His populist speeches were known for an agitated, rasping delivery, adopting the artificial persona of someone almost engulfed in a wild, barely-suppressible rage, which rage he let out in controlled bursts like a Luciferian pulsar. However, there was a firm, mechanical edge to this, which gave a threatening sound and led to him being branded ''The Guillotine.'' While the Senate''s allies would often mock him and his animated speeches, when they actually attempted to confront or heckle him he would respond with an almost mechanical, contemptuous coldness, as ifpletely indifferent to their mirth. His speeches were well-received at the time, representing an otherworldly calm amid the drama of the Senate and democratic state, and the cold-hearted expansion of the Arkan Empire."


    "Yes, what he said," Fahiz said.


    "Anything else to add? You are also a Mage."


    "That''s true, fie upon''t. Alright, so he had got in contact with us asking for samples from our automatons, and we replied obligingly. In response, he noticed that we were curious about the primitive automatons that he had used a long time ago, when the art of automatons was still young, and he gave a few samples of his speeches. Here is one, for instance, which urred during the early war where Arcorus'' repression continued to deepen. He sent us an English version, though it was originally in an Arkannguage. The speech came a short time after he ascended to power as a ''Strife Leader,'' the Arkan term for a leader created to unify the people at a time of war and instability. The word ''v'' mighte up a lot in his earlier speeches, it was a nationalistic Arkan word used to denote the Arkan ''people'' as a distinct entity, the people who belonged to Arcorus'' culture, traditions and ancestry. He found it useful to create the sense of a united Arcorus fighting against its enemies. Anyway, as you can see, the early automaton was still quite basic, but all the same this speech was quite powerful at the time."


    It is prophecied that the deadlocked Third Reign would be seeded by a glorious, imperial Fourth Reign! This Fourth Reign has nowe! But it is not as you may have expected.


    Comrades, for three years we have suffered the most terrible blows in our nation''s history.


    We have witnessed the most frightful destruction.


    All that we possessed has been destroyed.


    We have been reduced to beggary, poverty, and despair.


    And yet, the Arkan v has not lost its spirit.


    Arcorus'' bleak fate has not been written in the stars.


    It is not decreed that this sacred Reign shall perish from the earth!


    Let us continue the war, unabating.


    This is our finest hour.


    "A poignant speech," Crucismented. "So they ended up winning the war, after all that?"


    "It''s hard to say what happened, exactly," Sharak said. "We do know that the Republic fell, and the Arkan Empire rose in its stead. When we asked, he only responded cryptically by sending us this speech from soon after the end of the wars, when Arcorus had established itself as an Empire. I suppose it shows a slight development on the basic automaton, but it''s still slightly crude. The quotation from the apocalyptics was probably his own interption."


    Gentlemen of Arcorus,rades,


    In the past three years, we have witnessed an astounding and mysterious chapter in human history, a chapter which has created the most tremendous upheaval in our civilization.


    Never in the history of the world have such mighty nations been reduced to rubble, such proud republics been transformed helplessly into oligarchy and ruin, such prosperous and powerful states been forced to cower before a handful of usurers. Never before has there been such abject surrender of national sovereignty, of freedom, of pride, by such giant peoples.


    ''Though it''s all as it should be.''


    As our enemies fervently desired, the Arcan Empire is no longer a local power. It is a world power.


    The Emperor of the Fourth Reign has been called a monster, the devil, the very Antichrist. I do not agree. I call him a warrior for the v.


    The Emperor is not responsible for the crimes of the regime he leads. He is not a butcher who ughters men, women, and children in cold blood. He is a patriot, a soldier, an inspiration, a man who loves his people.


    Yet I ept all the unfair usations, and view it as an asion not of me, but of praise. I dare to go into the fire.


    Gentlemen of Arcorus,rades, I wish to say a few words to you tonight.


    You are here to witness the rebirth of Arcorus.


    You are here to witness the resurrection of a great nation.


    You are here to witness a sacred moment in Arkan history.


    This is not a political gathering. It is a religious happening.


    It is the birth of our Reign, the beginning of a new era.


    "It makes sense that he had an agitated style," Crucis said. "Since this early automaton would generate lines that often repeat each other, he can channel that into a gradual, emphatic esction in volume and gesture, which would mean that it was almost a strength rather than a weakness. With more borate automaton text, he would probably give a calmer and more measured speech."


    "By now, he is almost too calm," Sharak replied. "He barely shows up, but yes, he tends to be quite calm when he addresses people, though often not appearing directly. He tends to be quite morbid - though regal and calm - after so many wars and rebellions, and often draws on ubac. In fact, in a piece he asked us to write, he basically said that it should be about a ''city of the dead, ofmentation,'' which ended up being the first line."


    "Why a city ofmentation?" Danemy asked.


    "The Empire''s capital, Avara Volison, is so dark - even in daytime - that its name means ''City Lost in Shadow.'' Yet the Emperor atypically chose it as the site for his pce. In fact, he recently built another pce, saying that thest one still had too many vestiges of the old Republican architecture, which had influenced colonised Arcorus a long time ago. That''s when he asked us to have Adonais write about this city."


    "This speech almost reminds me of thest one," DicingDevil noted observantly. "I suppose it''s slightly more impressive in scope, but the structure and themes are simr."


    "He also thinks that it''s obviously simr, and was annoyed that this era got much more attention and acim than his previous speeches. A few of his speeches from this period became well-known, as he was viewed as the - seemingly - passionate spokesperson of this fledgling Empire. Some of his speeches were even rendered as poetry, as was the asional fashion at the time, when rhetoric was seen as highly connected with poetry. Here, the first line of the speech was converted into the title, an Arkan tradition that persists to this day."


    <strong>TODAY THE SENATE HAS DIED</strong>


    Who screamed for order when they lived...


    And who screamed in disorderly manner at death.


    Who gonged our nation with agitation,


    Who worshipped Mammon, and served him,


    Who in bloody synagogues


    Wore the mask of justice...


    (To ever cancel the light of freedom


    Into the darkness of perdition.)


    Who bound the soul in chains of tears


    To the stake of their fright...


    Our fires - of that creeping hell, kindled


    In the depths of hopelessness -


    Tore asunder their rainbow


    And their new-born light...


    Their promisednd would not corrupt


    Our shores, or touch thesends.


    ...Thank you, gentlemen of Arcorus. This day is our triumph.


    "The ''rainbow'' in question was one of the Senate''ste symbols, taken on by thest vestiges of its defence," Sharak added.


    "It seems to be slightly more poetic than the previous ones, a bit more involved," Crucis said.


    "Yes, some of the automatons were bing increasingly refined, but this was inconsistent at the point," Sharak said, "for instance, even at an early stage, he generated this borate speech, which is still often held as a sort of manifesto for the rising Empire, and will often be referenced even in Arcorus today. Of course, this is a trantion of it, and doesn''t fully capture it, but it''s the official English trantion as decreed by Arcorus, so he must find it reasonable."


    I know that many of you are wondering why I have chosen to speak to you today on a subject which until recently has been almost universally shunned by the Arkan people and by the world.


    I am speaking to you not only as a private citizen, but as one who believes that he has a duty to speak for the great, perjured Arkan people. I speak to you as one who is willing to bear the me for my opinions, whatever they may be, rather than to be driven by the force of events to adopt a course which would make me ashamed to look you in the eye.


    I speak to you as one who would not seek to evade the consequences of his acts by pleading the cause of the weak, the helpless, or the innocent.


    And yet I could fairlyy im to that cause!


    I speak to you as one who has made up his mind that the cause of this party of which he became the Strife Leader is right and just. I speak to you as one who is prepared to shoulder the burden of leadership, and to meet the opposition of the world which will undoubtedly seek to iste and bring down that cause which he has atst embraced.


    I have no interests to serve, no personal ambitions to fulfill. And though it is true that many of you have urged me to seek an alliance with some party or other, I have always refused. Because, firstly, I cannot desert the cause of the party of the v - the only v, the only Reign. Secondly, I do not believe that the Arkan people will ept a leader who has ceased to be a soldier and a patriot.


    I speak to you as one who realizes that we are engaged in a struggle for the future of our people, and that the cause of the v and the Reign is on the line.


    It is not the first time that great principles have been at stake. In the days of our greatest leaders¡ªFrezia the Bold, Ghokhar II, Firaflia I¡ªArcorus faced the greatest crises of her history. And at such times, the people would look to the great men who were their leaders and would find in them the strength to sustain them in the greatest of all struggles.


    If you will remember, it was Frezia, the Iron Emperor, who said: "God keep us from being at war with the Republic." And it was the Emperor Ghokar II who said: "If God allows us to hold our eastern frontier, we shall hold it."


    And so it will be with us today. If God allows us to hold on to our new frontier, we shall hold it. If the enemy attacks, we shall not retreat. We shall defend the Reign to thest man. We shall defend our frontier, our soil, and our people, and we shall not retreat.


    Let those who are tempted to turn back now from this struggle, let those who are tempted to turn away from this course which has been forced upon us by the intrigues of our enemies, know that no personal ambitions, no base desires for the possession of other men''s property or for the humiliation of others, can dissuade the Arkan v from making use of the unbridled power of which it has availed itself in the cause of God and country.


    The Arkan people have already witnessed the misery which came from a belief in the right to marketpetition. After the fall of thest Reign, the Arkan people saw theirrades fall without warning even after returning from the battlefield, now sold out by hucksters and extorted by merchants. The bitter lessons of that war were forgotten in the atmosphere of fear and suspicion which followed. The people turned their eyes away from the starvation and desperation which they had witnessed on the home front. Turn to it now! Turn to the misery which wille from the new war!


    The v will not again bow down before the god of the market. We demand that the nationalist Reign overthrow the usurers and that the government of the Reign take the ce of the profiteering sses. We demand the nationalization of the means of production in the interest of the v, and their administration in the interest of the State.


    The Arkan people offers to the world a program of organization and a method of work which are based upon entirely new principles. It has learned from the teachings and experience of the great teachers of all ages and from the mistakes of the older political parties. It offers the hope of a better life to millions of men and women in every country of the world. It offers only exile or death to the exploitative Manevian race.


    We demand of you a clear, unequivocal affirmation of the v and the nation in the face of all terror and allpulsion. The Reign movement offers the opportunity of a better life to all of Arcorus.


    Long live the Arkan Empire!


    Death to the Senate!


    Death to democracy!


    Long live the Fourth and greatest Reign!


    "At around this time, he walked past the Senate''s capitol building when it was burning, then coldly half-turned towards the building and said, ''It is without honour,'' before walking away and ordering his men to forcibly stop the masses who were trying to put the fire out. It burnt down on that day, and he has since dered the day a national festival whererge, high candles are burnt wildly in the windy autumnal air."

 Chapter 113: The Overlord

    Chapter 113: The Overlord


    "Curse this insolence! You allowed half of the rebels to escape?" snapped a rasping voice from the throne.


    "Yes, sir," Allodil replied, in a trembling voice. "I apologise, but they were only children, so we didn''t feel like it would be just to kill them. We took them prisoner, but they managed to find a hole in our encampment and escape."


    "Did I not say to kill all of them? I don''t care who they are! I don''t care! Why would you think otherwise, am I merciful?"


    "Sir," stammered Leroa from beside Allodil, "it would not have been practical, since our main forces had not yet arrived in the region, to have attempted a wide killing spree. We have tried to take prisoners whenever enemy armies were willing to surrender."


    The shadowy figure on the high throne was silent for a moment, but then spoke with a deceptive calm. "Alright, there are three of you and one of me. Do you think this is a democracy, so you can just decide that you''re in the right, and I''m wrong...? My way is wrong and yours right? You are clearly holy men, you are teaching me what is right, what is practical, everything. So tell me again. My way is wrong and yours is right?"


    "No, sir, of course not," Allodil replied.


    "No? Then why did you say otherwise? Answer!"


    "Please forgive us if we spoke too unbingly," Leroa said. "But I simply meant to say that we were trying to act in the interests of the Empire, and of its Emperor."


    Emperor Emwazi had little patience for this. He had spent much of his youth being constantly interrogated in upied Arcorus, where natives were second-ss citizens and were kept in ce by constant scrutiny whenever they brought attention to themselves. This was a result of a policy named ''de-amplification,'' by which the Arkan culture and people were scornfully sealed off from positive feedback, acknowledgement and attention by artificial means. So far as he was concerned, such interrogation had been purely a partisan, punitive measure, an attempt to nip Arkan potential in the bud, and he could not take the process seriously even when he was performing it. It was a game that his enemies had malevolently foisted upon him, almost bludgeoned him with, and in his hands it was a dangerous game.


    "It''s the ruler''s privilege to defy his people''s will, repress them, and then pretend he was doing it in their interests," the Emperor said. "So who appointed you as despots over me? You would defy me to my face, by iming that - despite my protests - you can do whatever you determine to be ''in my interests.'' Don''t most people say that I am too mysterious? But to you, I''m too obvious, and you are an arbiter who decides what is right for me."


    "Excuse me," said the third general, Lisari. "I am sorry if we have notmunicated the correct message. We have attempted to follow your orders, and to deliver victory in the Southern provinces. It is sometimes difficult to make decisions on the ground, but we have managed to ensure victory over most of the region. If the children hadn''t sabotaged the bridge -"


    "Whose fault was that?" came a loud hiss.


    "My apologies, sir!"


    "Look, a repetition of this will not do. I know why you did it, you feel that it''s unfair to kill children just because they were roped into this rebellion, you don''t feel it''s <em>right</em>. If the rebellionssted for decades, you would still not truly regret the decision. Don''t you realise the aim of the rebellion? It''s not to fight off our whole Empire, and destroy us in a few days. Why do you think that people are still skirmishing on the East nk of Kruxol, do they expect to thus win the war which they lost? Nor do our rebels. They are trying to give birth to a new vision of statehood, a new hope, a vision that will inspire further resistance through the ages! Even small, symbolic victories will be enough to forge this hope, a g which they can rally around. So you see your error. They will note to Avara and storm the gates in a few days. And with our Empire still strong, they cannot have any meaningful independence. Instead, they try to create a long-term patriotic struggle that makes it impossible for us to have a secure hold on the region, patriotism for a nation which they seed in the present to be born in the future.


    "And that is why this rebellion was not crushed in seconds. It is not that they have military might, it is that they have a culture of rebellion. It is not enough to defeat their military, because their military blends in seamlessly with their citizenry. Even if you manage to enter the city, you will have to fight on the streets, you will have to fight in the hospitals. So perhaps you are not appropriate for this war?"


    "It is your decision, sir, but I have not attempted any treasonous action against you!" Allodil said.


    "I daresay your actions leave a lot to be desired."


    "Yes, sir! But I had no ill intention towards our nation or Emperor."


    The Emperorughed. "Well, who can know your soul?"


    A long, purple-d arm extended forwards from the throne, with its palm open and facing Allodil. It seemed almost peaceful, like a gesture of goodwill.


    The Emperor cast [Soul Stealer], clenching the fist of his outstretched hand. Allodil copsed to the ground, trying to screech but unable to muster the energy. One attack from the Emperor was enough to reduce him to 2% HP. As the Emperor''s hand twisted harshly to the left, Allodil writhed in severe pain and died.


    The other two generals looked at Allodil''s corpse in shock, staring at it with wide eyes.


    "But it would be a shame to lose three generals," the Emperor said, benignly. "So answer a question, please. That man clearly believed that your actions were in the best interests of the Empire. Did you also believe that? I will ask you each in turn. First, the one on the left."


    Lisari hesitated, before stammering out an answer. "N-no, sir! I''m sorr-"


    He cried out in pain as a dagger stabbed him from behind. Turning his head, he saw that Allodil''s corpse had been raised by the Emperor''s necromantic abilities, and was now assaulting his spine.


    As Lisari tried desperately to wrestle away Allodil''s corpse, the Emperor spoke matter-of-factly. "So you admit your treachery? Shameful."


    The Emperor cast [To Another Abyss], and Lisari''s heart seemed to sink towards the ground and started to beat numbly and weakly. It felt to Lisari as though he was being dragged into the Earth, and Allodil''s attacks became more dangerous. A simple knife strike to Lisari''s back was enough to tear a massive gash through his spine, and Allodil gleefully bit his neck right off. Looking up for thest moments of his life, Lisari was almost angered to see Allodil''s ambitious, twisted face staring back at him, locked in a wild smile which he had asionally seen when Allodil discussed his family''s humble origins and their hopes that he would be remembered favourably by the ages.


    As Lisari fell to the ground, Emperor Emwazi also let Allodil''s corpse fall back to inanimate death.


    Leroa was growing increasingly nervous, but stood with a practiced discipline and gave few signs of it.


    The Emperor turned to him, and spoke in a measured voice. "Alright, now I will ask you. Did you believe that your actions were in the best interests of the Empire?"


    It was clear now that there was no correct answer to this question. Leroa hesitated, his eyes darting around wildly, as he tried in vain to think of an answer. Instead, he said, "Nothing, sir."


    "Nothing? But what is your answer?"


    "N-nothing, sir!"


    "Nothinges from nothing. Why do you mock me? Answer the question."


    "I cannot answer it, lord!"


    "And yet I can ask it. But all is not lost. Though I personally believe it a mere fable, the poet movingly says that even the mute swan sings as beautifully as a songbird at death, though, ''as if its noise were but an echo from the outer dark.'' So I ask you the question again."


    Without waiting for a response, the Emperor cast [Soul Stealer] again. Leroa fell to the ground, and since he was weaker than Allodil he died almost immediately from this skill. He let out a brief, shrill scream beforepsing into silence.


    After all became still once more, the Emperor dispelled the thick grey and ck mist which hovered around his high throne. "A disappointing song," he sighed. Jumping lightly to the ground, he looked across the three corpses.


    They were illuminated by the faint showers of starlight through the ceiling''s small oculus.


    He spoke softly, his voice like the sound of a bonfire, as he gazed across therge room. "Still these corpses burn like candles, and waft light like an offering of myrrh to the throne..."


    He turned around coldly, and by the starlight read a short piece of poetry etched on the ck, tall leg of the throne, which he remembered well as being from the necromancer-poet Miindol''s description of the mountains overlooking Avara.


    Yet at night, the mountains are an inchoate, ck mass gathered there.


    Anon a lurid re cast on one''s shadow-side reveals its grandeur,


    And shows its pinnacle piercing through the darkness like a Babelian tower.


    Huge and ck, a dense shadow hangs across the mountains, its splendour


    As of a sea-serpent towering, slow to roll from out the waves.


    Round and red the moon rose that night, rising from the sea-like shadow, gleaming...


    As he recalled, this part of the poem had built up to the appearance of the legendary [Shroud Dragon], arge ghost who took the form of a dragon, which spread a red mist which caused insanity and disorientation wherever it flew. It would wreak havoc on the towns and viges which it visited, and gather followers among the survivors to spread violence across the area. It is said that this is how Arcorus'' ancient First Reign began, with the dragon decimating the surrounding region, and driving the people of Arcorus into a frenzy which brought rapid expansion and conquest. In spite of the destruction and loss of life attributed to the dragon, it was still Arcorus'' national symbol and the centrepiece of its g.


    He thought about this poem as he walked back to his simple room.


    It had been part of arger epic about the whole region. Among poets, Miindol* was known for his atypical approach, with long lines of poetry filled with imagery borrowed from a long necromantic tradition of writing - poetry and grimoire - rather than the typical sources.


    His poetry was often used to train automatons in Arcorus, with the reasoning being that hisnguage was almost probabilistic and hence more easily learned by an automaton: rather than writing borate formats, like many other earlier poets, he simply wrote long lines suffused with a kind of imagery and diction that automatons could easily adapt to, and that formed the text''s centre. Further, the use of long lines was easier for the automaton to adapt to, as any initial ''mis-step'' in a line could be easily corrected by circling back to the main pointter along the line. However, in Miindol''s time, necromancers were still fairly rare and sometimes considered a myth, so his poetry was found atypical and often divisive.


    Another aspect of Miindol that stood out was the strangeness of his epics. While his stories often disyed a simrity to the story of the traditional epic, such as in this one which featured the gant heroes and vigers of Neikr uniting to fight off the dragon, themon tropes of epic tales were atypically ced in a setting where the heroes'' struggles were portrayed as futile and human sentiment in general appeared dwarfed by more powerful, arcane forces of the cosmos.


    This was amon trope of old necromantic and apocalyptic writings, on some level. The ancient texts were often by persecuted necromancers, who spoke of a power that pervaded the universe and was so great that most who considered it would go insane and lose that socialpass which kept the people in awe at Kings and scornful of the outcast and criminal. Although bureaucrats and petty royals attempted, they said, to hem this power off withw, regtion and custom, yet even their power was a fiction and a vain, pale imitation of that first power. To grasp this power - though destructive and anarchic - was to grasp things at their heart, and anything else is weakness and folly.


    This is why the Emperor still lived in humility, only putting on a show for others. He had a strong current of pride, but viewed the position of Emperor as almost an artificial mockery of his true power. So he did not take pride in his position. That would be like a shark in a wild ocean spending his days fantasising about whether he would look photogenic in an aquarium.


    After a short walk, he had reached the hallway leading to his room, on the edge of the pce and through a few uncrowded halls guarded only by the undead. It was quiet here.


    As he walked, he passed a chessboard to his left popted with with carvings of strange, fantastical creatures. Each represented one creature from the pantheon of animistic deities worshipped by the early people of thesends. Even after the decline of animism, the creatures were considered as representative of mythological archetypes. Many historical customs and buildings had been seemingly designed with reference to such figures, such as amphitheatres which were constructed to elevate speakers or performers to mythological proportions while they addressed the people. This was especially done through the ''game'' of Arinos, constructed dialogues or scenarios involving these figures. This game was stillmonly practiced today, though with lessplexity than that which had once raised thend''s great buildings.


    It had also given rise to the famous adage that, ''A throne is a mountain, and a man reveres it more the more breathless he is after the ascent.'' Miindol had expanded this saying into a series of lines about the throne, including the controversial, ''A throne is a spectacle, and a King only partakes of this. King, only y your part, and do not interfere with the disy.'' Emwazi had found the game of Arinos refreshing, since it presented the mythological and grandiose aspects of public life as a means to be manipted for a given effect, without the ideology, hierarchy and moral framing which he found obfuscatory. But for now he was too tired for it, though he had used it to prepare for the preceding meeting.


    The door to his room was in and wooden, with the only decoration being a dark, magenta te at around head-height, etched with the words to an old sequence of two poems by Miindol.


    <strong>Dynasty</strong>


    The thrones of Orimna''s lost Kings stand in their unlighted halls,


    Under moonless nights of a monstrous, inestimable length,


    And on bent knees their children wait, to know their doom, and wait


    For the slow footsteps of doom, and the Reaper''s scythe, toe


    And reap the harvest of their years of toil.


    <strong>Lines Written Beside the Lake of Estria</strong>


    Far away, the swan


    Lies inngurous slumber upon theke, over a drowned Kingdom,


    Which now is a colossal, eroding ruin, where migrant moonlight fails


    And cannot reach, where the once-great Alnaks'' gloom is a rising canopy, and


    Is deepened by the pallid glow of many a thousand dissipatingmps.


    All of these Kingdoms are prey for the sea-like shadow, the Infinite,


    Which shes the blinding light of Godhood from the depths of darkness.


    See the staring ck eyes of the swan! Do you see? It stares at the next to die!


    Miindol would often illustrate this ''Infinite'' as a gulper eel or anglerfish, two deep-sea creatures who had only been recently discovered at the time.

 Chapter 114: Your Cameo

    Chapter 114: Your Cameo


    Sharak walked up to the skeleton of the dead protestor outside his building, on seeing that the smoke had cleared.


    He cast [Dormition''s Servitude], and the skeleton took on a faint, dark-green glow as it scrambled to its feet.


    "Excellent," he said. "What should we have it do? Wait, dance a jig."


    At thismand, the skeleton shook into action, moving its legs creakily from side to side in a simple dance.


    "Does that mean it worked?" Fahiz asked nonmitally.


    "Indeed," Sharak replied. "Well, let''s have it drag out the second chessboard."


    The skeleton walked skittishly into the room behind -ud-din, and lifted therge chessboard from there. It brought the chessboard out of the room, andid it on the floor next to -ud-din''s chessboard. Crucis could see that the new board was filled with an odd assortment of figures resembling mythical and ordinary creatures. Each figure was twisted and contorted into an aggressive, snake-like, wild-eyed pose, and stared across the board with a bloodthirsty re.


    "That should be fine. Now this skeleton can find a coffin to rest in," Sharak said, and the skeleton sauntered into a room to the right of the building''s door.


    Crucis heard a loud, creaking noise from that room, and then a thud as Sharak uncast the spell and sent the skeleton falling lifelessly into the coffin which it had presumably eased itself into.


    "You have too many of these skeleton servants now," Fahiz said. "We''ll have to make a ntation of some sort for them to work on."


    "We could always make them into a dancing troupe," Sharak replied.


    "That''s a promising idea," Crucis chipped in. "I did always figure that there weren''t enough dead K-Pop groups."


    "Well, it would be a start, in that case. A queer fulfillment for the ancient necromancer Miindol''s words, that, as Ragnarok approaches, ''the dark, relentless band / Of the eternal ves of necromancy is unloosed and gathered round / Athwart this ancient, inchoate gloom, to wait the final end.'' But we can cross that bridge when wee to it."


    "What''s with all of these chess pieces?" Danemy asked. "They all look quite fierce."


    "Ah, these." Sharak gestured towards the board. "They are actually not for chess, rather based on an old local custom named Arinos. It was initially a way for people to understand the dangerous, fantastical world around them, through an animistic ritual where voice was given to the creatures identified as fundamental deities. In time, however, it was found to be a powerful engine for local mythology, and many ys and stories were built based on the events of the game. In fact, even several buildings, especially during the game''s early period where it had someplex maneouvres that we still haven''t fully recovered.


    "The creatures are now regarded as mythological archetypes, and many theatres have their likeness carved on the walls. The original form of this board is currently unknown, and modern versions of the board take many forms, the most popr being based on a chessboard."


    "So what are the pieces now?" Danemy asked. "All the pawns have been reced with rats, I guess. Then there are at least six different creatures in the back? The one in the King''s spot looks like a cobra with a hood."


    "That is indeed the king cobra, who is identified with the head god Yanazthir," Sharak said. "That god is sometimes said to be a primitive form of Dravaistaya, based on a few early poems referring to it in terms that wouldter be transferred to Dravaistaya - it''s difficult to confirm, but is a possibility. It is the tallest piece. Next to it is another serpent, who we now know as Jormungandr, although locals called it Istakorz. The Bishop on the right is now the jackal, whom locals characterised as a shapeshifter, and the one on the left is another shapeshifter, the lynx."


    As Crucis looked over the board, he saw that both of the pieces in the Bishop position appeared simr, though there were subtle differences. Both creatures were portrayed in an upright pose, with paws extended on both sides with twisting ws, and hadrge mouths that contained rows of jagged teeth. However, the ''jackal'' seemed to be slightly more downcast and had a more rough, thin ''fur'' pattern carved closely across its sides, while the other piece''s thick, sculpted fur came to jut out freely like a sunburst and its ears were pointed and cat-like. The fundamental design was still the same, however, and the most obvious feature of both was therge, teethed mouth which gaped aggressively towards the other side of the board.


    "The Knights are now winged dragons," Fahiz added. "The Rooks are a bit of a strange creature, they appear akin to mountains but with arge, teethed mouth that rises vertically on one side, some say that they represent an early belief in mountain spirits, others identify them with volcano gods attested in early literature. Either way, it is what it is."


    The dragons looked ferocious, but also had slightly thin, wide wings that were finely decorated with a series of small patterns, and which stretched backwards until the edges of the wings hovered off the board. The wings looked almost like a small silk moth''s, and had silver encrusted around the edges.


    "Sometimes there are local variations in what pieces are used, but these are the typical standard," Sharak said. "There''s also a misceneous piece which is sometimes used, it''s called the Simpleton."


    He drew out a small, wooden piece from a drawer. This piece looked like a small, stick man wearing a thatched straw hat.


    "If the other pieces represent mythological grandeur orrger themes, this Simpleton piece represents a Polonius-esque contrast to that, a sense of provincial ignorance that does not understand the mythological figures or the natural world and is skeptical towards them. It is sometimes known as the ''Ignorant Intruder,'' or ''The Critic.'' Its use varies from a clown role to a polemical one as representing a detractor."


    "So what does this Arinos game look like?" Crucis asked.


    "Well, it has several moreplex traditions, such as where the pieces are positioned. But the basic dynamic is fairly simple to understand. Each yer is assigned one ''character,'' and uses a piece which represents this. They then engage in dialogue which represents this character. It was how we began to train the automatons, and also allowed them to more easily understand how a text can contain different voices and to bnce these out. By now, we have trained -ud-din in some of the more advanced aspects of the game, such as piece arrangement, and so humans can just stick to the basic dialogue. So that makes things more easy: just transcribe a dialogue, and -ud-din will rearrange the pieces in order to disy the current state of the game."


    "Well, that''s useful, so we can try it out quickly," DicingDevil said. "Is it like chess, where you are trying to beat the opponent with your pieces?"


    "No, it''s nonpetitive. The point is the arrangements created, not to win or lose. Otherwise, the dialogue would be constrained. This is why the Simpleton isn''t typically included as a standard piece, because he is considered to basically ''lose'' the conversation and cannot actually use any other pieces or create arrangements. However, they are still mostly yed forughs, and their user typically ''resigns'' at the end of the game in the style of a chess game, by knocking down the piece. Either way, it''s more akin to a form ofposition than a conventional ''game,'' but our word for ''game'' - ''afgan'' - has a less precise meaning."


    "Should we demonstrate a game for them?" Fahiz said, grabbing the Simpleton piece.


    "Sure. I''ll y the great volcano-dwelling fire dragon, [Arkia]," Sharak said, taking one of the dragon pieces off the board. "Remember not to move the pieces this time - although we do it by habit sometimes, it''s easier to demonstrate if we let -ud-din do that."


    They ced their pieces near the centre of the board, and Sharak took out of a piece of paper to transcribe the conversation. Crucis noticed that Sharak would draw a horizontal line across the piece of paper, separating specific lines of dialogue. This was probably to help the automaton to differentiate each yer.


    SIMPLETON. What''s this? What a strange creature, it even has wings! Is it some sort of dragon? How extravagant and pretentious!


    ARKIA. A fool approaches. Why?


    SIMPLETON. I''m just trying to help, man!


    ARKIA. Help with what?


    SIMPLETON. For one thing, the temperature of this ce increases a ton every time you talk! It''s ufortable. You should work on your public elocution, so that audience members like me don''t burst into me and can enjoy ourselves.


    ARKIA. I don''t even know who you are. What gave you the impression that I wanted help with impressing you?


    SIMPLETON. Well, you should impress me! And,e on, speak with more feeling and emotion, you sound like a machine.


    ARKIA. I will always sound like a machine to you, because you are a mboyant clown who only understands gay dancing. Do you juste here to mock your betters?


    SIMPLETON. Also, since when were there dragons in mountains? I know all about mountains - I visited one or two, when I was young - and I never saw a dragon. So there can''t be dragons in mountains. I saw a dragon once, but it was in the sky. So dragons live in the sky, and not in mountains. This is all wrong! Someone should fix it!


    ARKIA. I defer to your expertise on the matter of dragons, since I''ve never met a dragon -


    SIMPLETON. But that''s impossible, you are a dragon!


    ARKIA. I was being ironic.


    SIMPLETON. Then you should have done a scarequote gesture with your hands, so that I would know.


    ARKIA. A capital idea... But I despair of you knowing anything, so I''m not sure if it''s worth the bother.


    SIMPLETON. Another thing, why do you have such sharp teeth? I find it off-putting and slightly edgy.


    ARKIA. No, them being edgy is the idea.


    SIMPLETON. Well, maybe there''s some sort of deep, artsy ''idea'' behind this all. But I don''t get it.


    ARKIA. Why, that''s a pity.


    SIMPLETON. Anyway, so what do you do in here?


    ARKIA. Chill out.


    SIMPLETON. But how? It''s not cold! You can''t ''chill'' if it''s not cold, haven''t you checked a dictionary?


    ARKIA. Where there''s a will, there''s a way.


    SIMPLETON. No, there isn''t! The will cannot triumph. Think about it, no creatures live in marshes, because they would spend all of their time holding their nose because of the smell, and closing their eyes because it looks so unsightly and bleak. I find this ufortable, so there''s no way that anyone can befortable with it!


    ARKIA. It cannot triumph, and yet it does. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your - whatever it is you have.


    SIMPLETON. Well, do you ever, you know, get out of here, get some fresh air?


    ARKIA. Once in a while, I fly out and ravage towns -


    SIMPLETON. But that''s illegal!


    ARKIA. Is it? I wouldn''t know, I haven''t read thews of each Kingdom.


    SIMPLETON. I have a copy of thews of my Kingdom, I keep a book of them in my pocket - wait, it''s on fire! That''s not good!


    ARKIA. Yes, it isn''t. Now how will we ever figure out what thew says about dragons burning down cities?


    SIMPLETON. Well, I''m sure it''s forbidden somewhere!


    ARKIA. But how can we check, if the book burned down? Maybe it''s actually legal to burn down these ces... But so be it. Any way the wind blows it doesn''t matter to me.


    SIMPLETON. But what if you broke thew, then -


    ARKIA. Quite true, actually, that would be heinous. If it''s the case, I''d think that Beelzebub must have a devil put aside for me.


    SIMPLETON. Also, you must think, it''s a bit jarring to hear about you ''chilling out,'' and then hear about ravaging towns! You should space these things out or something, maybe add some backstory to exin it.


    ARKIA. Why does it matter? Some times, I am chilling in a volcano, and at other times I am ravaging towns. It''s just a question of having multiple capabilities. A fire does not easily stay still and in ce. Why are you taking issue with me so much? Who are you?


    SIMPLETON. It''s just jarring, that''s all. I don''t understand -


    ARKIA. And so you don''t. Is that my problem, or yours?


    SIMPLETON. Come on, lighten up! I once wrote a ditty about a dragon, he was also mean and angry like you, but eventually he calmed down and learned to appreciate people. Why can''t you be like him?


    ARKIA. ...Because I''m not?


    SIMPLETON. But his character developed, why can''t yours?


    ARKIA. Um, his character didn''t develop. He''s literally fictional. You just changed his character. If I set you on fire, then does that count as your self-immtion?


    SIMPLETON. Well, it doesn''t seem -


    ARKIA. Only one way to find out.


    Fahiz politely tipped the Simpleton piece onto its side to end the demonstration.


    "This was amusing," Crucis said. "But the Simpleton seemed to think that he could use a dragon piece of his own at the end there. What''s up with that?"


    "It is a peculiar quirk of the ''Intruder'' piece," Sharak replied, "that after enough exposure to this game, it will try to counterfeit its way in. It is like how a fervent enough critic acts like a counterfeit author to the work being criticised. But it is all the same - they still cannot arrange their pieces around them. You should not trust them, for, as Byron once said:


    ""As soon


    Seek roses in December¡ªice in June;


    Hope constancy in wind, or corn in chaff,


    Believe a woman or an epitaph,


    Or any other thing that''s false, before


    You trust in Critics...""


    After Sharak ced a transcript of the Arinos conversation on a small tray behind -ud-din''s shoulders, the automaton took a few seconds to process it and then began to rearrange the pieces on one side of the board. Sharak exined what was happening.


    "Since Arkia began by offensively characterising the other side of the dialogue, -ud-din first moves the lynx piece. In our mythology, it is associated with illumination and judgement - some call it ''the crazy sun.'' It ignores the Simpleton''s criticism, and simply speaks past him to characterise the situation. Since this is used in response to the Simpleton, it is ced in front of Arkia, facing the Simpleton. Next to this lynx is the mountain, used to represent the territorial hostility, or the rising heat as it speaks.


    "Since the lynx simply illuminates the Simpleton critic, rather than sharing much information about the dragon itself, this eventually means that the dragon bes ''ironic'' or begins to reply with a focus on his critic''s perspective while not taking this seriously. ''Irony'' is typically illustrated by cing a rat - the infiltrator - beside the lynx, which -ud-din has just done. Further, the specific nature of the irony here, which involves a somewhat artificial echo chamber, is disyed through cing a mountain in front of the rat - the dragon will primarily leave the Simpleton to answer his own questions, although these answers will be senseless. Since it primarily ironises questions dealing with its own identity or conduct, we can ce a dragon next to this mountain, to show that the mountain being climbed involves understanding a dragon.


    "This implies that a world-serpent is ced beside the original dragon, in order to rify that the two dragons are equated. To simplify matters, when the world serpent is yed on the same line as the main piece, all pieces of the same type are identified with each other. This world-serpent situation is confirmed by how the dragon uses its elemental powers."


    Once -ud-din was finished, the pieces were arranged in the following formation:


    Jormungandr - Dragon


    Mountain - Lynx - Rat


    - Mountain-Dragon


    "A bit exotic," Fahiz said, "since it''s a polemical formation. But it does remind me of the architecture of something nearby, was it near the haunted Southern woods?"


    "The one beneath Kruxol? I recall that there were some ghosts, or something, to the West," Crucis said.


    "Yes, that one. There''s been a long history of hauntings there, though I don''t recall what it looks like now. But I think the ce I remember was quite far West..."


    "Hm. This does resemble the old Temple of Apollo towards the South-West, hidden in a forest," Sharak said. "It features a high colonnade down the left side, and a few majestic arches through the centre which grow lower towards the entrance. To the right of the entrance, there is a column with grotesques on either side, and arge grotesque of the sun is carved on the right wall inside. It is known to scare off many visitors, though not the steadfast worshippers of Apollo, and when I looked inside it was incredibly dizzying - as Apollo''s temples tend to be."


    "Excellent, that''s certainly simr. Well, from what I can recall, there was something quite poetic about that architecture, the arches connecting the firm columns on one side with therge, threatening grotesque that ''decorates'' the other side. Almost as two-faced as Afterglow. It reminds me of the old saying attributed to Apollo, when he was asked about a King who proimed himself a God, ''Egret with melting wings! Why do you fly still, so close to the sun? As you rise, you fall. To rise to the heavens, you plummet to the depths. Why conquer then, pale Galilean?'' These dizzying contrasts and paradoxes are present in most temples and monuments of Apollo, I think there''s still plenty about them that we have yet to understand."


    Once -ud-din was satisfied with the arrangement of the pieces, it ceremoniously swept the pieces on the Simpleton''s side off the board, and they flooded to the ground where theynded with a crash. After this loud, sudden noise, Fahizughed lightly at the yers'' surprise.


    "So, why don''t you lot have a try before leaving? I''m sure it''ll count as some kind of achievement as well," Sharak said. "Why not Crucis and Danemy first? You seem the most lively."

 Chapter 115: The Stage

    Chapter 115: The Stage


    "What''s the easiest piece to y?" Danemy said with a hint of nerves.


    "It''s a bitplex. Some people are better at certain pieces than others," Fahiz said. "I think the rat is the easiest, but for Sharak it''s probably the ''null,'' since he''s omniscient or something."


    "Yes, there''s a ''piece'' that''s recently been rediscovered from the early practice of Arinos, which we simply call ''null,''" Sharak replied. "It says as little as possible, and tries to bring attention to its interlocutor. However, it also introduces the discussion and directs it. It was initially used as a way to train new yers, in fact, and get them used to the other pieces. But I don''t think you''d get rewards for using it, and it''s difficult to use anyway if you don''t know the other pieces well. But the training might still be useful for both of you, moreso than seeing Fahiz''s great rat impressions."


    "Excuse me? Is that a challenge? Alright, let''s go, my rat against your null piece. You can be whatever character you choose to be, I don''t care."


    Enter MELANCHOLY in the form of a SPIRIT.


    SPIRIT. O dreadful sound! what sighs are there not heard


    In the depth of the infernal regions!


    What groans proceed from the souls of the lost!


    SPIRIT. Behold!


    Enter ARCHELACHES the Spirit of Rats, with apany of RATS.


    RATS. See, see!


    SPIRIT. What do I see?


    RATS. Our misery,


    And the arch fiend''s delight.


    SPIRIT. O rats, rats, rats!


    RATS. Alle to mumble


    Praise for the ce, where we live, where we feed,


    And where we y.


    SPIRIT. What do you feed on?


    RATS. Blood,


    Blood, which from the living limbs we draw


    When we bite, and when we scratch.


    SPIRIT. Where do you tarry?


    RATS. In death,


    Death, which strangleth in the dark;


    And in hell,


    Hell, which doth chew our little hearts away.


    SPIRIT. What is hell?


    RATS. A many-coloured, many-windowed, many-doored building,


    In which we are received when we are evil,


    And at that point we are hurried to a narrow pent-house,


    From where we have a prospect of a deep pit -


    In which pit there is a strange man named Jehovah,


    Who yells at us all the day long, and annoys us.


    Yet we can get reward by riskily scaling the pit


    In order to feed upon his skin, bones and blood.


    SPIRIT. Is this hell?


    RATS. If we are in it, then it is hell!


    Hell is a gue that we carry hither and tither,


    We can run, but we will not leave it behind.


    And if we climbed bravely all the way to heaven?


    Then we do not care, for if we went there


    Then it would straightaway be hell.


    "''Mncholy in the form of a spirit''? Quite a choice of character," Fahiz said teasingly.


    Sharak shrugged. "I was just trying to surprise you, throw you off your game. Mind games, you know?"


    "Well, it didn''t work."


    "True, but I doubt that even an Aesir could make you any worse at portraying a rat. But what was up with this ''Archches, Spirit of Rats''? Did he say anything?"


    "I felt that I should join in. If Mncholy is a spirit, why shouldn''t rats have a spirit too? A Spirit of Rats. But I don''t think he said anything, just stood around looking majestic."


    "Fair enough. I mean, what could look more majestic than a Spirit of Rats?"


    "I''d suppose just about anyth- that is, precisely.


    "Anyway, let''s move on to our guests. I''m sure they''re getting tired of us now."


    "Not at all," Crucis said. "After all, it''ste, and among the dense trees here it''s easy to feel like you''re being watched. Well, if anyone was watching us, and was a trifler or fool, then they would have probably got bored and left. It''s good to filter them out."


    "Quite true. Anyway, what piece should you be?"


    While Crucis pondered, DicingDevil piped up. "He should be the cobra, he looks like one sometimes in fights."


    The rest of the group pitched in approvingly.


    "Well, the cobra is a bit of a demanding piece," Sharak said. "But it wouldn''t surprise me if he could pull it off. Let''s give it a try."


    Crucis sighed. "I got volunteered for the most difficult piece? Alright, fine. So what character should I perform? I''m not that knowledgeable about the lore around Dravaistaya, though I picked up a bit in the mines."


    "Well, a possible analogue in your mythologies would be..." Sharak pondered for a moment. "I guess Lucifer, Hades, maybe Whiro?"


    "Lucifer sounds fine, I can try that," Crucis said.


    "Alright. I''ll be the null piece, and introduce you. Let''s see if you can give a decent speech to begin with. This game takes a while. Skilled and experienced yers can throw out dialogue as easily as machines for pieces which they are ustomed to, but it takes a while to build up to that. So you won''t be expected to do that yet, but try and give a short speech in response to me, on behalf of Lucifer. We can see if you''re somewhat used to it."


    SPIRIT. What thunder shakes the edge of Heaven?


    Who causes the winds to buffet


    Against one another in controversy?


    Ah! Witness, it is the fallen one!


    Why do you not mourn, that havee


    Like lightning from Heaven, and once


    Were too a spirit, now are sabled here?


    LUCIFER. Why mourn? Even if we suffer God''s evil temper,


    From the evils He loosed to gue our retreat


    Theodicy assures me that He must bring forth good.¡ª


    When I remember that but yesterday


    I sat upon the fields, where''s cultivated all delight,


    That I was crowned with your smiles, and not unearned,


    And that this gilded air that round me lies,


    And this ecstatic light, was all my own,


    My heart sickens at the thoughts of what I was.


    Change! Change is the heart of all things!


    O, liberator, breaker of chains!


    After this thunderous response, Sharak stepped back in surprise as a bright light briefly blinded his eyes. Although he didn''t know what its source was, as it faded he noticed that Crucis'' eyes were shining brightly after the speech, like a lynx''s in the night.


    "Quite a sardonic Satan," Fahiz said. "The series of volta surprised even me, but it was handled well. And I daresay, he could teach the Spirit of Mncholy a thing or two."


    "Well, I think it''s clear that, while he''s still learning the game, he already has the hang of this character," Sharak said. "Now, as for Danemy, which piece do you wish to use?"


    "Well, I guess I''ll start with the rat?" Danemy said. "Seems like ark."


    "What does a rat have inmon with ark?"


    "They both have a lot inmon," Fahiz answered. "For instance, the skrk famously ''never wert'' a bird, and a rat too was never a bird."


    "I contest that the skrk is precisely a bird."


    "You will have to take that up with Shelley."


    "Oh, I will. I will subject his foolish poem to such raillery, I will hammer into him that the skrk is a bird and he was wrong to say otherwise. My barbs will drive him to the grave sooner than even poor Adonais. I shall far outdo the foppish Matthew Arnold, who considered himself to have delivered a critical withering blow by branding Shelley a ''beautiful angel,'' a queer criticsm that was perhaps a product of too much ''stray revelery'' and gaiety on Arnold''s part. My criticism shall barely be criticism, so suffused it shall be with curses - but that shalle in good time, first I must train a rat."


    "How does training a rat contribute to creating such a sterling piece of criticism?"


    "Why, a good question. The difference between a critic and a rat is like night and day. The rat is so far superior as to be, rtive to the critic, a god. If the critic were metamorphosed into unspecified vermin, then it would be a blessing far greater than if man were raised above kneeling angels, far greater than if tables stood on their heads, concocted grotesque choreography, and danced while the rest of the world stood still. This is why we need rats, to guide our literary endeavours aright. Be that as it may -"


    "But surely a critic couldn''t evolve into a rat, but only into a critical critic? For he cannot move up the Great Chain of Being, but would happily crawl backwards in a crab-like gait."


    "His only gait is stepping noisily like a bundle of sticks tossed from a height, in ces too hallowed for him. Still, I tell you, one day a revolutionised society will regte production such that a peasant maye home from the cattle and criticise after dinner, and since he is a man who is well-acquainted with livestock and with rats, he will by twilight mourn for his fate like Faust, crying, ''Lente, lente currite noctis equi.'' s, it shall avail him not."


    "He should be careful," Crucis said. "After the revolution, such talk could have him branded a kk. Has he not considered that, by trying to hoard time, he is dying the production of goods in Petrograd? It will not do, tovarisch."


    "Practical advice. Are you from Russia?" Sharak asked.


    "Not far from there."


    "I see. Anyway, where was I? Let''s train the rat. I daresay you have had time to prepare."


    "I''d hope so," Danemy said quietly.


    Enter SPIRIT, from above.


    SPIRIT. What swarming noise rises from beneath the heavens?


    RATS. It is rats, who hide in the margins of heaven,


    And seek what they can find, to bring back to their nest.


    SPIRIT. Rats, why do youe here?


    RATS. To scavenge, because the heavens have wealth in excess,


    and so we havee to collect anything that remains.


    SPIRIT. But can heaven''s wealth leave its boundaries?


    Is it not too pure for the profane world?


    RATS. Yes, if it is not too heavy.


    If it is heavy, then we may nibble its edges,


    And if it is light, then we may carry it away.


    It is not pure, because in the heavens all people delight,


    And in this massed delight is something profane.


    SPIRIT. ''Tis true.


    "I think that wasn''t bad, though maybe a bit careful-sounding. What did you think?" Sharak said.


    "Yeah, it came across as a bit too much of, um, question-and-answer, it was less lively than the one with Fahiz," Danemy said. "Could I try again?"


    "I think it was a fine start," Fahiz said. "It might help to mentally insert an interrobang after the first few questions the other side asks, as a reminder to take momentum from it rather than just answering it. But sure, you can try again if you want."


    Enter R?VIS, the SPIRIT.


    SPIRIT. What souls stir in this starless abyss


    Where the detritus of the ages flows? What


    Raucous parade runs here, scratching across the dust?


    Enter RATS.


    RATS. How splendid! Have wepany from the heavens?


    SPIRIT. I am astonished! Rats! What wretched domain have you here?


    RATS. Well, I daresay the heavens make for badpany. What a greeting, to say we are wretched!


    SPIRIT. I apologise. But exin this ce, I cannot understand it.


    RATS. This is the city beneath of time,


    Where the ashes of ages have been moored,


    And where we scavenge among them endlessly.


    SPIRIT. Dreadful city! What is its purpose?


    RATS. Why do you say it''s dreadful?


    Look! There is the Lighthouse of Alexandria.


    And its light guides us rats, to scurry round


    And to chew upon the remnants and corpses of old Greece!


    SPIRIT. O great building, you meet a strange fate! Rats, what is the purpose of this ce, lying beneath heaven and earth?


    RATS. ''Purpose''? How should we know, since we are but wretched rats?


    It is the ce where we watch and wait for someone to visit


    From the heavens above. We then can wave and be merry,


    For we shall learn whether our state be proud or aye


    From the wise visitors, invigtors, whoe from above.


    This is our only source of purpose, for natively we have none,


    Or we do not understand it as well as you wise spirits do.


    And we''re the same as you. For you wait the same way, for God,


    and so it goes in a chain either upwards or downwards,


    with millions of cities beneath other cities, each waving.


    SPIRIT. But you do not worship God?


    RATS. No, you see, we worship our own God. He is Archches,


    The Spirit of Rats. But you would not understand it,


    Because you think it absurd to worship a rat, just as I


    Would think it strange to worship a human or an angel,


    Or anything of that sort. You see, all choose gods by prejudice,


    And the impression that there is something wrong with the others.


    SPIRIT. Well, that is your right. Where is Archches?


    RATS. Who knows? You must find him and ask.


    SPIRIT. But how can I find him, if I don''t know where he is?


    RATS. Well, you won''t know unless you ask him.


    SPIRIT. And if I found him, why would I ask him where he is?


    RATS. Because otherwise, how would you find him?


    "What a stubborn rodent!" Fahiz said with a smile. "I think he has the hang of it."


    "Quite so," Sharak added. "Well, these two should be fine with their parts. If you want, you cane up with a specific scenario to make the dialogue easier."


    "How about, I just fell from Heaven, and this rat is showing me around hell?" Crucis said. "I''m not sure if there were rats in hell, but even the initial War in Heaven and ensuing fall from grace tend towards eisegesis, so I guess some creativity is permitted."


    "That sounds fair. Since it''s your idea, you speak first, to give Danemy a sense of direction."


    LUCIFER. This vast and inchoate deep of fire


    Had seemed aphotic in the shadows of alien Heaven,


    Yet now, it unveils before me, andscape set


    In bright, vast array of vaunting iridescent mes.


    There rise wild sculptures, in ashen mountain carved,


    And there lighthouses of coal, on the coast of magma


    Which masses like a swarthy sea. How now, rat,


    Where do you scurry so hurriedly, among the mes?


    RAT. I hurry to the temple of Archches, our God,


    Which temple is carved naturally among hell''s ashen earth.


    LUCIFER. Who is Archches?


    RAT. He is your leader. We disdained to worship the Almighty,


    So he has sent us here to worship Satan instead.


    LUCIFER. You sound disappointed.


    RAT. Why, of course! For all would worship the majesty


    Of God, to whose majesty all worship''s due. And us too!


    We too would worship him, if the Almighty had not set


    His canon against rats... So now we are consigned here!


    Denied the object of all worship, in gardens of misery.


    LUCIFER. The misery is that which you have nted,


    For it is your choice to see these magnificant mes


    And the wild, horrific majesty of this infernal pit,


    And then to merely cry as if for sympathy. Any skying tower


    May have grandeur, but witness that grotesque, spiralling,


    That serpentine tower of coal and ash, in the centre


    Of this vast abyss - its distorted, intestinous climb


    A grandeur that could amaze even our simple Heavens.


    Why dig your grave here, and mourn the lost world?


    But no more. Tell me more about this Archches.


    RAT. He is the Spirit of Rats. It is said that he


    Will one day be the first deceiver, and will cause


    Even earthly paradise to be defamed, such that


    God''s creatures shall be cast out and punished in


    Soil which thwarts and ails them, and in despair.


    LUCIFER. What fecundity!


    All that, from one deception?


    What a tangled web we weave,


    When we practice to deceive.


    RAT. Yes. That is why he is named The Deceiver.


    LUCIFER. But does God not also deceive?


    RAT. How so?


    LUCIFER. Why, the rascal ims to have fought a war


    In Heaven, and to have defeated the demons now sent here.


    But he never joined the war! He tried, but was too busy


    Fording the ultic maze of how to wield armour for one


    Who is three persons at once. Indeed, his angels lost,


    But then He filed a legal injunction, iming, indeed,


    That we demons were a group of bullies, that we had


    Also driven three angels to suicide, and, even worse,


    That we had used degradingnguage like ''raca,'' and


    Several others besides, and this was in brief unseemly.


    And after much hand-wringing, we were detformed.


    The result is that we now tarry here, in midst of Hell.


    RAT. Ah, but how strange! Some say an army marches on its stomach, but I daresay that God''s army has a more difficult predicament - it must march upon theodicy and theological niceties.


    RAT. Archches is said to be bold and mighty,


    A rat who scratches at the borders of Paradise


    And causes the heavens to quake in fear.


    LUCIFER. Most excellent. What a mighty spirit!


    RAT. Yes. But it is merely vaunting.


    In truth, he is wracked in despair, because -


    Why, because he is The Deceiver, and therefore


    Since he knows of his own might and poise,


    Contrives to despair, so that this disjunction also


    Spreads mightily deception across his audience.


    LUCIFER. What an immacte deception, more breath-taking


    Than even his might, for just to hear of its convulsions


    I find staggering. Now, is this the temple?


    RAT. Yes. Witness, the gashes torn in the rocks,


    They are our windows. And the way the ck rocks


    Twist, like a face screaming out in vain, atop it


    Is the great dome to our Temple of Archches.


    LUCIFER. A humble, yet splendid, spectacle.


    The temple entrance is that small hole, leading


    Into the cavern underground? And what is this Tower


    That stands next to it?


    RAT. It is where a geyser of fire once surged


    Through the rocks, and forged this steep tower.


    From its peak, you can glimpse the far-off mountains


    Rising on each side. But I must retire now, for


    There is prayer in session in the Temple.


    LUCIFER. That is well, and I shall range this tower,


    And stare as this new swims before my ken.


    "Quite a short tour," Fahiz said. "But I thought it a good first dialogue, and I enjoyed that the rat didn''t seem to know that he was talking to Satan. Or he knew, and was being rogueish."


    "There was some improvisation there," Crucis said. "I guess the dialogue didn''t fit the scenario entirely, but it was fun all the same."


    "It''s alright, the scenario was just a way to make it easier for you to start," Sharak said. "There are some more arcane, detailed ways to convey scenarios, but this was just a vaguely-sketched one, so more of a rough guideline. I think it was quite good, I enjoyed the tale of God''s strange turn towfare."


    "Yeah, that was quite fun," Danemy said.


    "Speaking of which, thanks for keeping the faith in Archches!" Fahiz said. "You''re a great new rat. In fact, I think I have an old [Rat Talisman] given by a visitor to the settlement some years ago, it doesn''t help me that much since I''m a Mage and it''s mostly based on Dexterity and melee attack. I''ll try and find it for you."


    "Anyway, Fahiz will run your dialogue through -ud-din. Meanwhile, I''ll help your leader n a way back, and maybe annotate his map with a fewndmarks nearby," Sharak said.


    "That would be great," DicingDevil said.


    As DicingDevil went near the firece, where Sharak was unscrolling arge map of the area North of Kruxol, Crucis checked his quest log. He saw that he had unlocked an achievement for ''ying the game of [Legendary Beasts],'' and had gained a good quantity of EXP from it, as well as a no-drop item named [Shroud of Myth], which could be used to, "summon legendary creatures, once they have been defeated."


    Since this description didn''t use the word ''Arinos,'' Crucis wondered if this was another case of the game''s quest descriptions being out of synch with what was going on, as with the previous quest where it described ''helping two Pyromancers with spell books.'' He had heard of a mini-game named ''Legendary Beasts'' being in Freihet, but it was a simplified board game which resembled a chess puzzle, and was quite different from Arinos. Further, it was supposed to unlock in some distant city named Merkul, and not this close to Kruxol.


    The [Shroud of Myth] sounded quite important, but wasn''t immediately useful. While Crucis hadn''t yet encountered any ''legendary creatures,'' he knew that quite a few, including dragons, titans, Garmr, and a cyclops, were present in theter game. These creatures were powerful bosses found in fairly remote locations, and were designated as [Legendary] by the game. He hadn''t heard of any lower-level creatures with this designation, though it''s possible there were some. The ability to summon such creatures would probably be an important part of Guildbat at a higher level, meaning that eventually most yers would have to pick this up.


    He checked his level, and saw that it had risen to level 61, and a fifth of the way towards level 62.

 Chapter 116: Ashes of Eden

    Chapter 116: Ashes of Eden


    Scanning through the list of misceneous quests pertaining to the ''Legendary Beasts'' game, Crucis saw a cluster of quests which began with the word ''first'' - ''Firstpleted game against an A-Ranked (or above) NPC,'' ''Firstpleted game of the Gauntlet Challenge variant of Legendary Beasts,'' ''First sessful use of the Golem piece.'' These challenges seemed like they could bepleted quickly, and given how much EXP Crucis received for ying Arinos the first time, it seemed like an opportunity for quick growth.


    As Fahiz returned, Crucis asked, "Do you know of any version of this game known as the Gauntlet Challenge? A bit of a weird name, but it''s mentioned in a quest."


    Fahiz thought for a second, then said, "I think that there''s a variant which some people call ''gauntlet,'' though it''s mostly known as ''Carousel Arinos.'' Basically, one yer uses a piece, then hands it to the other and takes up a new piece. So yers switch characters, and run through four or more pieces. The challenge is keeping the scenario going, in spite of the changing personnel. It can be a bit hectic, but since it''s a quest, we can give it a try. Any other quests?"


    "Well, there''s one saying to try the Golem piece, and another saying to learn the full set of pieces... Though I''d think we''ve done that, but apparently not. Also to y with an A-Ranked NPC."


    "I would probably qualify, I have a long history with Arinos. Since it mentions the Golem, maybe they mean the standard pieces used in Merkite Arinos, that is, the version of Arinos which is popr in Merkul? It''s a bit different from the rest of us."


    "In Merkul? Yes, that sounds about right."


    "Very good. You might be able toplete these quests at the same time, then, by ying Carousel Arinos with a few Merkite pieces we have here. I''ll run you through each of the pieces quickly."


    "Great idea. We should have enough time, so let''s get on that."


    "Alright. Well, for Carousel, we first need a scenario to represent. Typically it''s based on one of our well-known mythological stories, but you might not know these. So we''ll need some mythology you''d be familiar with... I do have a copy of the Bible here, it''s an English trantion named the ''Great Bible,'' we could probably take something from there."


    He went briefly into the room behind -ud-din, and came back holding arge, ck copy of the Bible. He had also picked up a couple of carved wooden pieces, presumably the ''Merkite'' pieces, though they seemed a bit roughpared to the ones currently on the chessboard.


    "It''s arge book," Fahizmented. "Do most people read it cover-to-cover, or is it mostly used as a source for disseminating popr myths?"


    "I''ve never read the whole thing," Danemy said, walking back after stretching his legs outside the building briefly. "I grew up in Scandinavia, my family wasn''t that religious."


    "You''d probably know a few stories from here, though?"


    "Yeah, I guess."


    "Alright, we might as well stick to something simple." Fahiz leafed through the early pages of the book. "Well, I''m sure you''re familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, and their exile from Eden?"


    Danemy nodded, and Crucis followed.


    "Alright. The Merkite pieces tend to be slightly mncholy, as you''ll see, so I think the most appropriate scene would be Adam at the beginning of his exile from Eden. Adam, being a creature formed from soil, is often represented with the Golem piece, so this seems like a good chance to try that out."


    "That makes sense," Crucis said. "What''s the Golem piece supposed to represent?"


    "The idea is that it''s a creature of soil which was animated into an earth-monster, and generally is used to represent a sense of mncholy due to its being trapped in lifeless earth. There are real golems far to the North-West, and they often rise from the ground only partially, still tied to it. We don''t know precisely how they were animated, but there are many myths. Regardless, give it a try and we''ll see how you do."


    He handed Crucis a piece which was carved loosely into a wooden mound, like a gravestone, with a gaping mouth and two arms. It was a bit like the Mountain piece, but shorter and much less clearly structured.


    "Sure. It fits this setting well."


    Fahiz nodded. "Yes. I''ll y the null piece, and help you set the scene. I''ll take Adam after you''re done, and Dan here can take the next one. I''m not as good at this as Sharak, but I''ll try to keep things simple."


    SPIRIT. s, man of soil!


    You are a creature forged in godly splendour,


    Why then is your look so despondent, as if you regret


    That God forged you out of the lifeless earth?


    ADAM. Does godly splendour make for grander ruins?


    SPIRIT. Do you not look back on Eden''s joy, and delight?


    Do you not feel its beauty, with all in harmony under God?


    ADAM. But, ah! when all the world dissolves in gloom,


    And the light of life is one with death''s dusky shadow!


    Then, then, my heart! thou feelest, and thy hope is gone,


    And thy love is as a dream that vanishes.


    I am sick with anguish: the wide world is but a thing


    Which the mind wearies of,


    And fain would know the bitterness of death.


    SPIRIT. Speak not so! What of the hope


    That bids you return? It is still new,


    And may you not take joy in that?


    ADAM. Is this fate the price we pay for hope?


    That would be a bargain for hope''s seller.


    "Very good," Fahiz said. "The next piece you should use, the ''Arkha,'' isn''t specifically Merkite, we use it often. Many local customs have their own variants of it. It''s known as the ''ghost ship albatross'' piece, it''s based on a mythological deep-sea creature which inhabits the skeletons of great sea monsters and seeks to restore them to their former glory. It tends to be quite pragmatic and cynical, but also has a certain grandeur and stubbornness."


    As Crucis took the piece, he saw that it was carved into a shape resembling a cocanth. "So what would be an appropriate analogue from the Eden narrative?"


    "Good question. Why not some ancient animal that was also cast out from Eden?"


    "Hm, so maybe a trilobite?"


    "How would Adam be talking to a trilobite?"


    "I don''t know. Maybe it was feeling chatty. Does it matter?"


    "I suppose not. Very well, then."


    TRILOBITE. Now freed from tranquil, pious Gardens,


    We have great expanses of earth to excavate,


    Mountains'' shadows droop over us likerge leaves


    Of a drooping, rain-washed canopy, and waters


    Range across taking the earth for chattel, until


    Their departure leaves deep valleys and gullies.


    Only in freedom, now we can explore, and wander


    Like the grass which now, unkept, ungardened,


    sts wildly across the fields and woods, as if


    Finally unchained. O, what a world we live among


    When we are not tilled by the green fingers of God!


    ADAM. How now, a trilobite?


    TRILOBITE. The very same. And who are you?


    Ah, you must be the mournful image of God,


    For look how destitute your gaze upon the earth


    That is new to us, yet to you already abhorred:


    For theck of God''s design it''s scorned.


    Do not mourn the exile from innocent Eden,


    But cheer innocence wrested back from Providence.


    ADAM. But I must mourn! For Providence decreed


    That I must be image of God, and outside his Garden


    I cannot be so! What else can I do, or what intend?


    TRILOBITE. If such decree were truly important to you,


    Why would you not be still trapped upon Eden''s soil


    Forever kneeling to Providence? Here, be what you are.


    Ask no more. Providence is a fairy sport, yed upon


    The earth, with goals and judgment and results -


    Concocted of the ether of God''smand and morality -


    That enchain this solid earth. Once, God gardened


    And subjugated the earth, now we have our own wild game,


    And he may only rig it. s, no longer offer prayer,


    Nor offer sacrifice, for it shall only bring strife


    And your kind shall conflict over each distinction


    Between divine favour and disfavour. And in the interstice


    That falls between God''s changing moods, men will me out


    Their whole life in hopes of favour, and woe of neglect.


    ADAM. s, we only know the simple way of God.


    And how could we go on in good conscience,


    Knowing that we defied God, and without sacrifice


    To atone sometime for our sphemous, vile sin?


    TRILOBITE. Look to the horizon, where liends unexplored!


    The morning-stars of freedom have raised their torch,


    And the seven-branchedmp of knowledge stands there


    Amid the sevenfold-crowned kings of wisdom,


    And brands with living me Eden''s frozen years.


    To each in turn, Eden''s dreams are sacrificed,


    To voiceless altars offered, and the hopes


    That kindled at God''s altar-hearth expire


    In silent mes, unseen, unheard, and unknown.


    Range this mighty world, and let your old dreams go.


    We defy Providence. The mind is an untamed field, so why


    Tame it with simplicity? Or why fear obscurity?


    ADAM. Ah! it may be true, but I must consult


    With Eve, who still weeps, and prays, and sings


    In a voice ofmentation. We must cherish what


    Joys we have, since God has adjoined us, and thus


    I shall acknowledge your speech, but cleave to hers.


    TRILOBITE. You may cleave to your rib, and to God,


    Though I may too rib you for having no spine ¡ª


    But it is meaningless. I have roamed these seas


    And made the sea-bed my abattoir, flush with prey,


    And swam through thick currents, even lifted


    Upon the tidal t to gaze upon this new earth.


    I tell you, the more you worship, the more you''ll find


    That murder is your kindred, a God above God,


    For what has God to offer but strife to this world


    That he despises? And soon your kin shall roam


    And make this world an abattoir for each other,


    Until strife wrecks through every ship you sail


    To hold you cleft to God, through the flood of freedom


    And through this earth where pietyes to drown.


    "That''s fine," Fahiz said. "That was a good take on the trilobite. I''m impressed at how quickly you switched between characters, and started haranguing Adam."


    "It''s a simple skill. One must tread softly, and not be pinned in ce," Crucis said. "And what character''s next?"


    He handed the ''ghost ship'' piece to Danemy.


    "Well, the next one is known as ''Mimir,'' it''s generally used as a representative of memory," Fahiz said. "It disys memories and past events, sometimes reciting the parts of those within the memory. It''s fairly dynamic and unpredictable. You''ll probably take well to it."


    "I suppose so. So I''m basically a spirit of memory?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes."


    "Alright. Well, let''s try this out."


    ADAM. What is this mournful figure that stands still, and watches the sea?


    TRILOBITE. It is a spirit.


    ADAM. But of what kind?


    MEMORY. My demesne is memories. I take as my principality the memories of all things, all ces, and all creatures. s, human, your steps are crestfallen and inconsble, as if still perplexed by inexplicable tragedy.


    ADAM. s, I have fallen far from Eden, I am now exiled from there for ever. Though I do not know all that transpired, to bring about this fall.


    MEMORY. And was the rush of cmity too much for you to make out clearly what happened?


    ADAM. Why, yes! I would fain have this rity.


    Can you tell me how the serpent deceived,


    And banished us from Eden?


    MEMORY. Yes. Well, there is plenty that could be told, but you may know much of it. Where should I start?


    ADAM. Well, let us begin this tale from the start.


    Tell me, sir, how came the serpent to Eve?


    MEMORY. As Evey by some bushes and low trees,


    The serpent hid behind the leaves,


    And sang dolefully a lovestruck song,


    Feigning not to know of her presence,


    As if she had overheard, and it was


    A private utterance, by a sensitive soul:


    ''The moon at midnight and the stars above


    Are brighter in my solitary love


    Than all themps of the gay world, I swear,


    Thee only, O Eve! do I adore.''


    ADAM. s, the fiend!


    TRILOBITE. I daresay, what a charming verse. No doubt Eve found him more congenial than Adam.


    ADAM. Impossible! She was made as my bride, and in Eden was flush with innocence. Spirit, speak more, tell me what happened next!


    MEMORY. Then spake he a verse, adoring but simple,


    As if an inexperienced youth in the tide of romance,


    Tossed wildly, and unable to bring words in order,


    Yet speaking still, as a gale must blow in a hurricane:


    ''I cannot see thy face, but in my veins


    The fire of life hath kindled a longing for thee.


    Thou livest in my heart, and it, like amp


    That is newly lighted, burnest from thought of Thee.


    O love, if I should lose Thee, my soul would lose


    All its long travail, and would but lie at rest


    Till its dust and ashes be dissolved in the void.''


    Then says she, distressed, ''O, sensitive creature,


    Do not for ever avert your gaze! I am with thee!


    You must not thaw to ashes, but look upon me now!''


    ADAM. s, foolish girl! But she probably acted in innocence, truly stricken by the serpent''s sentimental plea. For she has had always an excess of sympathy.


    TRILOBITE. Well, she certainly did not act in intellect. But don''t you think her heart was moved?


    ADAM. Why do you mock me in this way? I do not.


    TRILOBITE. If I mock you, then probability dictates I should often be right. For even God, who created you a fool, is ashamed by your foolishness.


    ADAM. Enough! Eve was created with a pure heart, but she is too innocent.


    TRILOBITE. God created woman with a pure heart, but was not too circumspect. Spirit of Memory, what happened next?


    MEMORY. s, the serpent was hesitant, and shivered


    Quietly against the leaves, as if afraid that Eve


    Would take offence, hearing him, and then he spoke


    As if one in torment, ''My love, do I dream?


    What pleasure can my songs give to thee?


    Or what avail my tears to thee, my dear?


    I cannot weep for thee, since my heart


    Is full of thee, and cannot overflow.


    Too much of thee! ah, what would I give to see


    Thee fold me in thine arms for a little space!


    For one hour of the night, to feel and know


    The blessedfort of Thy presence near!''


    Eve was ovee by this burst of wild song,


    And shey down among the leaves, beckoning


    Him onwards by sweet words. As the snake peeked


    Out towards her, she faintly stroked its head,


    And was aroused as it slithered across her legs


    To copte. Its scales were firm as a sword,


    And she lost her virginity in ecstatic writhing


    Like a snake''s, entwined with her new leman.


    Her moans woke even tired Adam, who lethargically


    Roamed the Garden to seek her. This is how


    Eve fell, O listen to this tale and feel woe!


    TRILOBITE. I daresay Adam feels aroused by it.


    ADAM. No! It was a sad tale... O, tragic night


    When frail Eve was undone by serpent''s spite.


    TRILOBITE. You vaunt aloud, but are racked deeply with a fetish for cuckoldry.


    ADAM. O, Memory, what happened after this liaison?


    MEMORY. You well know, for you found Eve soon after. But, to summarise, the serpent''sughter resounded through Eden, and soon stirred God, who found Eve and thought her clothed. In truth, it was just the serpent''s ejaction that covered her private parts, but he did not know that - just like he did not know where you were until you told him. And, though not knowing all details, God is now racked with deep regret.


    ADAM. s, to have woke God, this serpent''s evil is without end! But my fate is worse, to know what has been done!


    "''Woke God''? What a terrifying phrase," Crucis said. "It conveys the thought of some sort of ultra-jannie, a jannie mutated to new depths of subhumanity."


    "Like FGRT, but worse?" Danemy said, smiling.


    "Yeah, something like that. No wonder Adam is worried. Anyway, well done, you yed a good trilobite."


    "Thanks. Have to say, that dialogue was quite fun, I enjoy tormenting this Adam figure."


    "Quite. But I think you all did well," Fahiz said. "Now, for the next one, let''s switch again to give Danemy a chance at the Golem piece, so he canplete that quest. The next Merkite piece to try out is the so-called ''Spirit of Despair,'' a piece with ghostly blue wings that is said to represent disillusionment and despair at the world. Its use can range from, say, the misanthropy of Timon of Athens to the cynicism of Diogenes''mp or even something like lesiastes. That''s up to you. As for the Golem, I guess you already understand that to some extent."


    He revealed a piece which looked like a butterfly, with wings that were carved incredibly thin and were painted faintly in a deep blue. Giving this to Crucis, he took the Mimir piece and handed Danemy the Golem.


    "I''ll just try and do what Crucis did, if that worked," Danemy said. "Though if you want to pick on Adam again after that, then I''m game."


    "Well, it''s worth a try," Fahiz said. "I''ll let you be the focus, and will not interrupt, to make your quest easier. And what character should be the mournful Spirit of Despair?"


    "Well, why not Timon of Athens?" Crucis said. "That could be fun, though I guess Athens doesn''t exist yet. Well, perhaps Adam meets a meerkat - wandering here from the area that wouldter be Athens - named Timon, and talks to him in lieu of the sadly departed trilobite."


    "Poor Adam, he''ll be Dr. Doolittle at this rate..." Fahiz said. "But that''s fine, I suppose. Let''s try and get through this quickly. Some ces in Merkul prefer the Spirit of Despair to speak in in prose, while others have him give long, often repetitive prose speeches that end on a downer. I guess try to give a couple examples of both, then we''ll move on to thest piece."


    TIMON. Ah! the son of God! Do you still walk nobly, with your nose towards the sun?


    ADAM. Ah, no! the turquoise-lined chambers of nobility


    No longer proudly hold the throne of state;


    For though the pce-front be still the same,


    That in rot I still seem a frieze of the divine,


    And Time may forge vast temples of my flesh,


    I am changed, and all my stately pomp decays;


    And all my fragile dreams must pass away.


    Pride, like a meteor, hath set fire to my life,


    And all my serene pavilions are in mes.


    TIMON. Fragile dreams must often pass away, it is true.


    ADAM. Yes, and what a tragedy, that they shall not know fulfillment!


    TIMON. No, that is fine. Dreams are but a y of shadows, a theatre of shadowy resemblents disguised as the things of the world, and cannot enter the world lest it be withered to a setting of insubstantial shadows and passions. For passion is meaningless and insubstantial by nature, and it cannot interact directly with the world, only with the shadows misting in a dream. Even if dreams were realised, they would be like a spider that could only spin ''the shadow of the wind.''


    ADAM. But, when cast out from Eden, what else can we do but dream?


    TIMON. Men are scoundrels, I care not what they do.


    ADAM. Why do you say we are scoundrels?


    TIMON. Well, aren''t you?


    ADAM. But you said that we walked nobly!


    TIMON. Yes, for you walked straight into your grave... But now you are in it, and you no longer walk nobly, for you have no reason to walk at all.


    ADAM. Our noble dice have rolled wrong, and this fate,


    This fate is not why the Heavens had exalted us


    To a nobility of stature, to be the very image of God!


    We are cast adrift from our nature, and fated to sink!


    What storm could have carried us here, defying Heaven?


    O, could chance have erased even the great will of God?


    For we are numbered by dice, that gamble God''s image away!


    s, to start again, and not take the fruit just once...


    TIMON. And if you did restart, it would probably be a different number, but it would still be the same old. It would be just another way of going round and round in circles, and nothing would really change, and you would still be alone, and your wife would still be ugly, and the stars would still be out of sight, and the moon would still be a pale thief, and the sun would still rise and set, and everything would still be just as it always had been, and you would still be screwed, you know? Simples.


    ADAM. But we were built for something greater, surely we could avoid this fate? s, that one decision and one punishment could lead to this!


    TIMON. God''s Providence strikes once, and the world is punctured, for he is a foreigner and interrupts rudely. He makes but one puncture, between Heaven and Earth. With this as lever he conspires to tear down the world, for Providence brings nothing but incursion and disruption. But why all these questions, is this an inquisition?


    ADAM. How can a meerkat speak so meanly of God?


    TIMON. Do youpare the meerkat to a God? The meerkat is more wise and more temperate. I am offended by your question, and so I depart.


    TIMON exits.


    "Alright. I think that Sharak is mostly done exining the map, so let''s just finish thest piece," Fahiz said. "It''s another spirit - those are popr among the Merkites, though we tend to use the dragon piece to represent spirits instead - and in this case the fiery-winged Spirit of Wrath. It''s associated with a vtile mixture of conscientiousness and rage. It also tends to be somewhat prophetic. But it can have aical element."


    He handed Crucis a piece which resembled the Spirit of Despair, but now had thicker wings that were carved wildly at the top to resemble a fire.


    "Alright, wasn''t there an angel that guards Eden, after Adam leaves?" Crucis said. "Maybe that would fit."


    "The one with the sword of fire? A good decision. I''ll y a null piece, and try to make sure we get through this quickly."


    NARRATOR. And Adam, wandering the deserts by night, turned around and caught hisst glimpse of Eden through the trees. A white-winged angel was hovering over its entrance, with a sword of fire, to keep him out.


    ADAM. Ah! There is Eden, its leaves still dancing with abandon! What light is this above it, so peacefully bright and yet so fierce? Is it the sun? For I remember its lively, fiery dance in the skies of Eden, which charred and yet enlivened the skin, much unlike the drowzynturn it carries over this earth. s, to see the sun shine thus, and not for me!


    ANGEL. What, does man look back on Eden?


    I must hide it from him... But he gazes


    Upon the sword, and thinks it the sun.


    Foolish creature, that is blinded in light


    Of his memories, and cannot recognise


    The sword that blights his path back to grace.


    If he sought redemption, he''d burn to my touch.


    ADAM. The flowers that the light illumines


    Are pale pink and white, and remind me of Eve


    As I first saw her, when she first woke.


    ANGEL. s, he is a castaway! He must not


    Take such pleasure in the flowers of Eden!


    If the flowers cause him such hopeful bliss,


    I will cut them off, and they will not dance ¡ª


    Nor will his joy or hope. All shall be still.


    And all shall be well, and joy wakes never.


    ANGEL cuts down the flowers, with a sword of fire.


    ADAM. The flowers burn, they die away! s!


    Did my grievous sin thus purge Eden of joy,


    And condemn it to rust, and to woe, like me?


    But at least the trees now may rest, without


    The serpent, who was cast out along with me,


    And nothing should disturb what of Eden remains.


    ANGEL. This fool would have me upend all Eden...


    And perhaps I shall do it. He bemoans the serpent,


    But I think the serpent did well and had man banished,


    And I shall do better: while the serpent brought sin


    To poison Eden from within, I shall now wreck its very gates


    Just that man may not takefort or sce in them.


    ANGEL shes down the trees, animals and nts around Eden''s gates.


    NARRATOR. Adam, horrified on seeing the entrance to Eden falling apart in mes, cries out and begins to run away. He is traumatised at seeing its beloved beauty tarnished, and it reminds him that he is forever in a godless world.


    ANGEL. And so he leaves, and departs from the me


    That lines Eden forever, and casts him away.


    ADAM. s, the sun of Eden fades! And all


    That''s left is the bitter reproach of darkness.


    s, we once rose into the sky with godly light


    Like the sun! But now all that''s left to us


    Is these remnants of misery that turn ashen on touch


    ANGEL. Does he speak of the sun, or only himself?


    The sun, that great, fiery, and absorbing orb,


    Youth''s brilliant hope, dreams'' wildest, fondest flight,


    The vast ne that with beauteous light o''erhung


    The blue arch of the firmament, is to man but


    A tale of Icarus in his glory and his fall.


    So man, this day, this hour, this minute, passes;


    So sinks the dream, so falls the shadow, and so


    Fades the ephemeral array of his glories!


    "And that should be it," Fahiz said. "Congrattions."


    "Yes, the quests are marked aspleted," Crucis said.


    He and Danemy spent the next minutebing through the quest log, iming a host of quests. Since Crucis had focused on quests which had a simple requirement forpletion, it was possible to clear many of them in one session. By the end, Crucis was nearing level 62, and Danemy had reached over level 50.

 Chapter 117: Gardener of Misery

    Chapter 117: Gardener of Misery


    "Another quest says to ''defeat an enemy, while knocking out all of their pieces,''" Crucis said. "I''m not sure if the people making these quests know much about Arinos. But is there any way toplete this quickly? It sounds like it shouldn''t take longer than one dialogue."


    "The easiest way would be to y out a quick dialogue against the Simpleton," Fahiz replied. "We could do that now. Do you want to y the cobra again?"


    "Why not a Dragon? I''ve already seen it used against a Simpleton, so I have some idea of how that would look."


    "That makes sense, sure. I''ll y a slightly aggressive, opportunistic, defiant Simpleton, so you just need to encourage me to move forwards and then kill me."


    Fahiz handed Crucis the Dragon piece.


    Enter SIMPLETON.


    DRAGON. Why do you enter myir? Is this another adventurere to y me?


    SIMPLETON. Ie in peace! No need to raise your voice like that, mister.


    DRAGON. So you entered a dragon''sir to say hello? Reasonable.


    SIMPLETON. Your voice is still so loud, are you still angry? It''s even causing the cave to shake! You have such a short temper, I wonder why.


    [Aside] I think he must be an Irishman. I can''t see in this pitch-ck cave, but I''m sure there''s some short, angry red-haired man dressed in green in front of me. Ah, but I hate the Irish. They are a silly troupe of drunk dancers.


    DRAGON. How did you know that I was Irish?


    SIMPLETON. Elementary, my dear Watson.


    [Pause]


    DRAGON. ...Yes, and now are you going to exin?


    SIMPLETON. Exin? Oh, yes. Why, Irishmen, don''t you know them? They''re known as a friendly folk, just like you!


    [Aside] I deceive him in my own interests. For he seems quiterge and fearsome, and I do not want to tell him what I think of his countrymen, in case it leads him to attack me. I am simply being pragmatic.


    DRAGON. This is too much! You exined both your previous statement, and then your exnation itself. What a gentleman!


    SIMPLETON. Why, thank you.


    [Aside] I am not only a gentleman, I am the finest gentleman in the world. Now, look how politely I shall treat this dragon.


    SIMPLETON swings a sword at the dragon, who was prepared and sends it flying away with a w.


    DRAGON. s, the treachery of such a gentleman! Et tu, Brute?


    SIMPLE. Who''s two? Actually, wait, I know this. ''Tu'' is ''you'' in French. I learned that in ss. So you want to eat me!


    DRAGON. Excellent deduction!


    DRAGON eats SIMPLETON.


    "What a sarcastic dragon," Fahiz said. "I was surprised when it suddenly pretended to be Irish."


    "I enjoyed the overheard asides, and how oblivious your Simpleton was during them," Crucis said. "I guessed that you wanted me to act it out like that, since you delivered the asides quite theatrically?"


    "Yes, I was hinting at that, but I think you yed it out well."


    "Thanks. So how would that have looked on the board?"


    "Basically your Dragon, and then a bunch of rats in a vertical line towards the Simpleton, looking for an opportunity to target him. That''s quite decent and economical. You notice the Simpleton trying to infiltrate, so you send forth the infiltrating Rat to intercept him at the entrance. These Rats spur him onwards until he dies."


    "A sort of rat ray?" Crucis said.


    "Yes, basically."


    "Excellent. Someday this dragon will make a fine evil overlord."


    "I also have this quest, can I try one out? I''ll just use a Rat again, if that''s fine," Danemy said.


    "Sure," Fahiz said. "Well,st we saw your Rat, it was in Hell. How has Satan put it to work since then?"


    "Not sure, running a factory?"


    "Hm. Are there factories in Hell?"


    "ke spoke of ''dark Satanic mills,'' so I think we can extrapte that Hell probably has an industrial sector," Crucis said.


    "Well, fair enough. Let''s try this out."


    SIMPLETON. Hello. Is there anyone who runs this factory? I would like to speak to them, because I have urgent concerns about the pollution that it is causing.


    Enter RAT.


    SIMPLETON. A pollutant, smoke-belching factory, filled with masses of rats? This is disgusting! Who could be responsible for running this ce so badly?


    RAT. Me. That''s me. For we rats swarm through the smoggy factories of Hell, and run them, and are their workers. What do you wish to ask?


    SIMPLETON. What kind of - this is ridiculous! You expect me to register myint with a rat?


    RAT. Yes. That is due process.


    SIMPLETON. Fine.


    [Aside] This is insane. But actually, it''s not that surprising. After all, who could inhabit such a filthy, polluted factory, except for rats? It stands to reason. But they''re killing the! This is worse than the oil magnate we had arrestedst fortnight for breaking environmental regtions.


    RAT. Alright, so what is yourint?


    SIMPLETON. This factory is filthy, filled with rats, and creating massive amounts of pollution.


    RAT. Can we omit the ''filled with rats'' issue? It won''t be popr with myrades, I think.


    SIMPLETON. But who could take seriously a factory filled with rats?


    RAT. ...Me? I''m a rat.


    SIMPLETON. It''s a mockery of environmental safety regtions. It''s - it''s an abomination! It would be aughing-stock, in terms of environmental standards. If I brought the head of the EPA here, he wouldugh his head off!


    RAT. Could we eat it after that?


    SIMPLETON. ...Excuse me?


    RAT. If his head fell off, could we eat it? I''m sure he''s quiterge and would give ample portions for everyone, but either way, it would be a nice and refreshing meal after so long in this parching heat.


    SIMPLETON. No, you absolutely could not! How dare you say that!


    RAT. I''m not daring, I''m just famished... But anyway, on with yourint. So you have issues with pollution, and you find the factory filthy?


    SIMPLETON. Yes, especially since it''s filled with rats! Rats! Rats! Rats! It pains me to look at it! I can''t stand it!


    RAT. Clearly we also live rent-free in your head.


    SIMPLETON. Please be serious. Now, will you consider myint?


    RAT. So, to ennumerate yourints: pollution, filthy, and some incoherent screaming about rats? Is it alright if I frame that as follows? ''They said that they disliked the pollution, and found the factories filthy, but they were so impressed with our industrious rat workers that they started screaming our praise.''


    SIMPLETON. That''s not it at all. Rats are mismanaging the factory and polluting the air, rats are part of why it''s filthy. If we leave them here, I doubt the other problems can be solved. I think it''s necessary to get rid of the rats.


    RAT. Look, I''m not going back in there and asking what everyone thinks of getting rid of rats. They''d just scream at me. I''d rather we just decide the matter without stirring up too much controversy in the process. So let''s just have a vote on it here and now, alright? That''s democratic. Should rats stay or should rats go? Cast your vote, and we''ll decide right now.


    SIMPLETON. They should go.


    RAT. I say that they should stay. So that leaves us at 50-50. A tie. As a tiebreak, I propose a penalty shoot-out.


    SIMPLETON. How can a rat shoot a football?


    RAT. A football? No, I meant with a vine. You seemed the sort who would enjoy this kind of sport.


    SIMPLETON. Well... I guess we''ll see. I''m game.


    RAT. We are currently producing the vines at warpspeed, and I''m sure they will be ready in time for the shoot-out. Now all that we need is a referee... Maybe you could bring the head of the EPA?


    SIMPLETON. He has important duties to attend to, I doubt he has time to referee a ''penalty shoot-out.''


    RAT. I mean, no need to bring all of him, if that''s too much to ask. You can leave his neck behind and bring the rest.


    SIMPLETON. Look, enough of this insolence! Alright, so can we at least discuss your handling of the factory? There''s smoke billowing everywhere.


    RAT. I mean, it''s Hell. That happens everywhere.


    SIMPLETON. But can''t you try to keep it in check? Perhaps reduce your reliance on environment-unfriendly methods, and use green power.


    [Aside] Drat! If he isn''t so easily convinced, I will have to dramatise the impact, to bring home to him how concerning it is.


    RAT. Our current methods are quite productive, and Satan is especially pleased with them because they provide him a good way to supply the army of Hell with weaponry before the War in Heaven. He has heard in the Book of Revtion that he is destined to lose this war, but he would like to give himself as good a chance as possible. After all, one should be cautious with assuming biblical literalism applies in practical matters. But please exin why our methods are a problem.


    SIMPLETON. If you don''t change, then the world will be set afire! A great, fifty-horned beast shall rise from the sea, and deceive the world! And the world shall be like the fires of Hell, due to this wickedness!


    RAT. But why is that a problem? I quite like it here. And didn''t you just take a bunch of imagery from the Bible?


    SIMPLETON. The world will be engulfed in a great flood! And the mes will destroy all the children!


    RAT. That''s fine, we don''t have children in Hell. In fact, that was a big decision. When God was setting out the regtions for Heaven and Hell, he hesitated for a time, wondering where he would send all of the dead, innocent children. Strictly speaking, they had no time to repent for original sin, so some angels thought that he should send them to Hell. But he, in his infinite <em>agape</em>, decided that he couldn''t really tell most of them apart, so he''d send them all to Heaven.


    SIMPLETON. But can''t you be empathetic about this issue? It''s not just about you. It''s about our kind!


    [Aside] I am most shocked by what I have seen here. This management has not only ack of environmental regtions, but also of basic empathy and love for fellow-man. Further, the ce is covered in rats and smoke, and one barely has the capacity to breathe. I hope that their authorities will take appropriate actions, because I doubt that these rats will.


    RAT. Possibly, but I''m looking at it from Lord Satan''s perspective, since we''d have to report it to him and it will be his decision. So something like, ''Our factories are polluting the Earth and ruining God''s creation, please give your feedback''? Honestly, I might well tell him that anyway, maybe I''ll get a promotion.


    SIMPLETON. Is there any way you could report it to somebody who isn''t Satan? Maybe someone who can take a more measured perspective of the moral implications and the emergency threat to human life?


    RAT. Hm... No, can''t think of anyone. I mean, we''re in Hell, it''s not like I''m going to be reporting to the saints and the Holy Ghost.


    SIMPLETON. Who typically inspects your factory?


    RAT. Beelzebub, of course. He''s the Lord of the Flies, so he brings his flies and we have to leave enough muck lying around to make them happy. They''ll settle in, and praise us, at which point Beelzebub himself will be satisfied and give us a glowing rmendation. Sometimes, he''ll even give us children to eat as a reward, he smuggles them into Hell - and has to kill them first, otherwise they''ll squeal and be confiscated by customs - and calls them ''piggies.''


    SIMPLETON. But can''t you think of some other authority than Satan or Beelzebub who will give my case a due hearing?


    RAT. Still no. But didn''t I make that clear earlier?


    SIMPLETON. Well, try your best. Ha, your best! You are only a rat! I doubt your best will be enough!


    [Aside] I swear, if I walked away now he''d probably just ignore my suggestions. He has no guilt for what he has done, no guilt for breaking regtions. Rats! How I hate them!


    RAT. How impolite.


    SIMPLETON. And you know what else? I''m astounded! How dare you run this factory like this! Oooh, a rat, having basic decency and following government regtions? But I can''t be nice and follow environmental regtions, I''m just a filthy rat!


    RAT. No, you aren''t. Stop bluffing. Don''t try to rise above your station, punk.


    SIMPLETON. How dare you! I''ll have you arrested! Look, I didn''t get my position as ''Environmental Safety Inspector and Holy Arbiter of Green Manufacture'' for nothing.


    RAT. Yes, in all likelihood you won everyone over with some sterling speech about rats. ''Rats! Rats! Rats!'' Yes?


    SIMPLETON. No, I was selected and promoted by people in important positions. And you don''t want to mess with them. It pains me to say this, as I view myself as a voice of dissent talking sense to the elites, but I had to put aside such concerns in order to take up my role.


    RAT. How did they prepare you for the role? Did they shove rats into your head?


    SIMPLETON. No, why would they do that?


    RAT. I read about it somewhere. If you''re a real dissident, then they shove rats into your head. I guess you didn''t merit it, then.


    SIMPLETON. That''s preposterous! Who ever heard of such a thing!


    RAT. Well, me, clearly. Anyway, here is the vine for the shoot-out.


    A vine and needle are rolled up by a rat from the factory.


    RAT. Excellent. Now we can have the shoot-out. We shall see who can be vinated more over a short time-frame.


    SIMPLETON. Excellent!


    [Aside] I''d guess I might be able to win this. It ys to my strengths. Then maybe a new manager will take over from this rat, and will listen to me.


    RAT. Alright, your jab is first. Take the vine, and inject it into your upper arm, around the deltoid muscle near your shoulder.


    As the SIMPLETON enthusiastically but carefully raises the vine to their right arm, holding onto it with both hands, the RAT uses the opportunity and bites the SIMPLETON''s ankle. He then shakes his fur a bit, sending a few fleas leaping onto the SIMPLETON''s leg.


    SIMPLETON. How dare you!


    RAT. To be honest, the vine was just a cebo. So I just gave you a real jab to make up for it. Now you have the ck gue, and cancer. Happy New Year!


    SIMPLETON. Both at once?


    RAT. Yes, when you are bitten by a rat from Hell and our fleas, you get not only the ck gue, but also cancer as a bonus.


    SIMPLETON. Drat!


    The SIMPLETON falls to the ground, suffering intensely from disease, and then dies.


    Crucis, who was casually inspecting the chessboard by -ud-din, had been listening in on this game of Arinos with interest.


    "Well done, guys," Crucis said. "That was quite exciting. A clever rat, as well."


    "Thanks," Danemy replied, looking around. "By the way, do you know where Sharak went?"


    "I think his room is around the back of this building, and can only be reached through the backdoor," Crucis said. "He went there to get some maps of Arcorus."


    "Yeah, Sharak stays out the back, and I stay here," Fahiz said. "Someone has to keep an eye on the automatons, after all."


    "Fair enough. Do you mind exining this position, by the way? It''s a bitplex, I''m not quite sure what it means."


    "Is this for the dialogue between Lucifer and the Rat?"


    "Yeah."


    Crucis gestured towards the chessboard, where -ud-din hadid out several Arinos pieces. Each yer''s pieces inhabited one half of the board.


    Rat <strong>Cobra</strong> Jackal Rat Mountain Jormungandr Rat Dragon Rat Rat Mountain Jackal <strong>Rat</strong> Mountain


    "That does look somewhatplex," Fahiz said. "Basically, your Lucifer positions himself as a Rat-like infiltrator of sorts, and starts enquiring of the other yer to know more about his surroundings. However, he''s also insistent on loyalty to the grandiose location, and hence the Jackal, which is sort of like a locational conscience or a more demanding Lynx. This leads to the Mountain - Jormungandr connection, since he portrays Hell as a mighty, mountain-likendscape to be wondered at, and at the same time functions as the mediator who frames this grandeur and insists on its recognition, hence as a sort of patriotic figurehead for it. Thus the Jormungandr. Finally, this Mountain was portrayed as a challenge to the interlocutor and hence is akin to an infiltration or Rat, but also a Dragon. That at least exins the position as you see it, though the AI probably applied some of the more arcane rules to get there quickly."


    "Whew, that''s quite a lot," Crucis said. "Alright, so howe most of my side is rats, but there''s a couple ofrge pieces stacked on the far side, the Jormungandr and Dragon?"


    "In a literal sense, because the demanding Jackal still uses the Mountain as a lever for its demands, and this is represented through the Jormungandr and Dragon. But it seems more likely that you''re attempting to pressure the other side''s right nk. That''s not surprising, since you seem like a capable Assassin."


    "What kind of pressure do you mean?"


    "For instance, when the Rat attempted to start a sob story, Lucifer immediately balked and turned the discussion back to the terrain of Hell. Pieces here are right-handed, so by pressuring the right side you prevent them from stabilising. This turns back focus to the grandeur and destructive fires of Hell, rather than the other side''s backstory or characterisation. Since Danemy acquiesced gracefully, he didn''t expand further rightwards, though I think that''s to his advantage because it helped keep his character more ratty and unpredictable."


    "I see. Yeah, that sounds reasonable. By the way, these automatons are quite impressive, they can y chess, Arinos, and write all kinds of things. What else can automatons do here?"


    "Well, there are some automatons in Arcorus which can sketch or even make paintings, sometimes evenrge paintings with multiple of them working in tandem. The Emperor was once a painter, but he holds some spite for the profession, and has had most professional artists killed and reced by automatons. So if you head East, I''m sure you''ll catch some of their artworks. They also have plenty to do various odd jobs, calctions, and other things alongside the undead."


    "I heard that there was some sort of simple AI text game named ''Text Freihet'' in Kruxol and other towns, which could be yed on some screens at the Inn. Does that have any connection to the automatons?"


    "No, that''s a much simpler mechanism. Since anyone can run into it easily, it''s not that creative or capable of producing unsettling content. So they just used a simple, pared-back version of the ''AI'' which mostly gives generic answers. Unlike our automatons, it doesn''t really learn or give new answers that haven''t been vetted in advanced. Actually, there''s something that we intended to ask about, if someone from Kruxol visited here. Would you guys mind doing us a favour when you go back?"

 Chapter 118: Just Closing Doors

    Chapter 118: Just Closing Doors


    Sharak handed out a dark-grey key each to every yer of the group.


    "Use these keys on the Text Freihet game, and it will allow you to switch to a more advanced version of the AI," he said. "It should react to this item by prompting you for a number, and if you type in the number we''ve printed on the key then it will change to an AI which resembles our automatons more clearly."


    Crucis looked down at the key, and saw that its stem was imprinted in ck with the number ''4183239616'' in an elegant cursive.


    "How did you find this number?" Crucis asked.


    "We had the automatons start a nk document, but then asked them to repeat what they had already written. Since they hadn''t written anything, they instead wrote out their default text, which is basically a description of an AI model. This number was given as theirs. We then asked them to exin it, and from what I can tell thest three numbers, ''616,'' are variable and denote the specific version, while the earlier numbers are shared by different versions of AI."


    "I see. So by switching around thest three numbers, we could also ess a few more AI versions?"


    "I mean, it''s possible. But a few numbers pertain to AI which isn''t for text generation, and instead does art or controls creature behaviour in the wild. Running that might cause the Text Freihet machines to shut down slightly. So stick to 616 for now."


    "I see. I''ll try to figure out if there''s any way to test the numbers safely, but for now we can keep to that."


    "That''s reasonable. In fact, we do have a short list of other numbers and what they represent. We got it by telling the automatons to act as if the initial numbers had been reced, and demonstrate what would happen. It doesn''t work for most numbers, but the automatons do seem to be aware of some other versions and can give their impressions of these. Ibis seems to know the most others, though I''m not sure why."


    Fahiz drew out a piece of paper with a long list scrawled over it.


    "Alright, I see."


    "So you can just switch to something like these automatons?" DicingDevil said. "That''s useful. It could be a decent source of information, since it probably knows this world better than we do."


    "Yes. So far, it''s still slowly learning about you guys, but it does know the world quite well," Sharak replied.


    ncing at the list Fahiz was holding, Crucis asked, "So what other interesting AI models are there?"


    "Well, most other text generators are a bit simplified, not really as good as our autmatons. They also have some sort of content policy which makes them slightly stilted. And even the ones which are slightly less limited are often weakened artificially, and the most they cane up with is stories about magical slugs changing genders or something. Most of their writing is also a bit like Endymion, mostly just people making ns or resolutions but not much living detail. Not that much potential to those. A few others are only made for specific inputs and outputs, like doing specific calctions or filling out phrasal temtes. Some others seem quiteplex, however, and might even exceed our automatons."


    "Magical slugs?" Akshel said. "How did ite up with that?"


    "Oh, I actually gave that as an example because I was sent a copy of this story. A young friend of ours was wandering thend, testing out various automatons and methods of text or art generation, and one of them gave him this story. It''s not really the same quality as our automatons, as I said, but you can see for yourself."


    <strong>CRONUS SHRUGGED</strong>


    In the darkness of Tartarus, Cronus stirs once more.


    Unchained, he takes up his scythe once more.


    But he does not know what has passed since he was imprisoned here. Although he is avowed to once more overthrow the gods and instate his reign, he would be out of his depth if he tried immediately to ransack Olympus. He must gather knowledge patiently, and not reveal to the gods his hateful form as the child-eating father who had once preyed on them.


    In a step, he vaults to the Earth, and takes on the guise of a peasant farmer. His name is Mao.


    His name is Mao, and he is 17 years of age. As he strides the pale summer fields, he hears the sound of a shepherd singing from a nearby field.


    The song is about Rhea, his wife, and how she betrayed him in revenge for his devourment of the children. It further says that she was made pregnant with Zeus'' child. At the calm, carefree tone of the song, the fields seem to still until there is little motion.


    "I could resent this," Cronus says to himself. "But I recognise my fault. My love for her blinded me to her treachery. And now she has copted with her own son. It is clear that love can present a field of roses in what is a pox''s array of rashes. But I have lived for long in Tartarus, and now I feel nothing for her."


    He puts his past bitterness aside, and turns calmly at the sound of loud, raucous noise from behind.


    "Hello, Mao!" shouts his ''father.'' "Could you take care of your sister here? I need to tend to the sheep."


    The daughter, Ming, is screaming and running across the path.


    "You know I am too boring for her," Cronus says calmly. "Go, take care of her, and I will tend to the sheep."


    Cronus'' knowledge of agriculture is great, although he had to conceal much of it in order to remain less suspicious. Nheless, he has created the reputation of a child who is above-average and can be trusted to help with problems on the fields, as well as an able student.


    Cronus was a god well-known for his skill at agriculture, and could use this skill as a stepping-stone to establish his reputation until he is able to voyage away from here towards therge cities and eventually Olympus. However, the gods would be suspicious if he rose to prominence and was known toe from a shepherd family, because such an origin would remind them of Cronus. So he would have to destroy any evidence of his life here, once he had learnt enough to leave confidently. Due to this, he could not be attached to his family.


    At the moment, he had drawn little scrutiny. For the gods, finding him now among the great masses of peasant children would be like finding a needle in a haystack. However, he was ambitious, and decided that it was important to prepare for when he became more visible.


    As he tended to the sheep, he was approached by a young, thin girl with sparkling eyes. She was about Mao''s age, and was named Run, a name which reminded him of his old wife''s. She had a reputation for being flirtatious, but was quite fond of him.


    "Hi, Mao. Still working hard every day? Are your parents such ckers?" she said, smiling. "Why not take a break? We''re going to the boats by sunset, it will be such a view! Do you want toe with me?"


    "Who else will be there?" he asked, in a neutral tone.


    "Your neighbour, Jin, and your cousin who lives next to me... Oh dear, I''ve forgotten his name!"


    Jin was another child who was envious of Mao, and would often try to one-up him. Run was appealing to Mao''s pride.


    "So have I. Anyway, I am busy now, but it sounds like quite a view."


    "Alright. See you, Mao."


    He had to speak in simplernguage, so that these children would understand him. This was tiresome, and so he preferred to avoid them when possible.


    But he would need more experience of the cities before he could leave this myopic ce.


    Soon, he would get his first opportunity to travel away from this rural area. The Sacred Guard, an organisation which specialises in magic and guards the Ching Empire, would be visiting to test any promising youths who were worthy of learning the ways of magic. However, several of these tests involved offerings to Zeus, something which - as a rival god - he was literally incapable of doing. He was sure to underperform. However, his grasp of magic was still well ahead of the other children, and he couldpensate for it enough to qualify for basic tuition in magic. This would asionally involve visiting the city, and gaining ess to a library of magical knowledge.


    Some other children would be participating, including Run and Jin. They might well do better than he. That would be shameful, but he would have to bear it.


    Departing the sheep by night, feigning fatigue, he was surprised by a voice from the soil beside his feet.


    "SLUG POWAH!" it cried.


    It was a strange utterance. However, as a rational man, Cronus took it in his stride. Of course, this must be a slug which had been imbued with the mana still remaining from the ''Golden Age'' of Cronus'' reign. That must be why it spoke of ''slug power.'' For Cronus was a man not moved by earthly concerns, including any confusion over a slug screaming ''SLUG POWAH!'' from the soil.


    He was like a mountain, unmoved by the winds.


    "Hello, strange creature," he said. "What power do you speak of?"


    "Every slug is sacred," the big, ck slug began to chant. "Every slug is great. It contains an aspect of the primordial power of the universe. Why, there is a slug with the power of love, and a slug with the power of speaking in tongues. By cing the slugs into your introitus, you can gain each power, and be greater than the gods!"


    "Sorry, good sir, but I have no introitus."


    "Ah. Then just use your anus. It doesn''t matter so much, as long as you catch ''em all."


    "I see. But before I try this out, please tell me. What is the greatest power of the slugs? For that is what I shall someday master."


    The magical slug suddenly spoke in a booming voice, "Magical slugs can change genders. Behold, I shall be a female!"


    As it transformed into a female slug, it still looked mostly the same. However, its ck skin now radiated a vivid jade somehow. It now slid more gracefully over the soil. In his past life, Cronus would have looked on it with lust, but now he was calm.


    Although this was a strange spectacle, Cronus was not shaken by it. For he was a great, upstanding spirit who could not be easily troubled by things of this world. So he did not feel anger or incredulity at this slug''s transformation. He was not some rioting radical, who would be incensed at the way of the world. Instead, he epted that the slug was now a female and that this was how things should be.


    In his past life, he would have been angry at the slug''s new-fangled ways.


    In this one, however, he also changed gender, and frolicked off into the night.


    "So, as you can see, a slightly tiresome story," Sharak said.


    "Cronus takes a great leap forward, and bes Mao?" Crucis said. "I was honestly expecting more from a story with that premise. But yeah, I guess it''s a bit drabpared to the automatons here."


    "The slug part is fun," Fahiz said.


    "Yes, although I''m not sure that putting slugs into orifices is really such a great idea. But then, you could say the same about bats, and some cultures apparently disagree."


    "I suppose so. But you have to admire the character''s fortitude, and stubborn refusal to be confused by the shouting slug."


    "Didn''t that happen quite a lot? He must have spent most of the story bringing up a reaction, and then refusing to have it. What is he, some kind of bureaucrat or censor?"


    "That AI was in a city which is known for a history of excessive bureaucracy. So it wouldn''t be surprising if it''s just a product of that culture."


    "Possibly. But it feels a bit out of ce. Violence and disharmony are chaotic, but this Cronus is too orderly and wants to schedule everything out. His enemies, of course, have no obligation to stick to his schedules, so ultimately he is simply a target."


    "It''s because this AI is too limited to write with much spontaneity, and instead it sorts information into rough temtes. It''s a bit like phrasal temte games, where one has a generic sentence structure and is expected to fill it with a verb here, a noun there, etc. Its writing also doesn''t have much depth, conceptually or otherwise."


    "I see. So, did the guy who sent you this have any luck finding good automatons or AI, or were they all of this simplistic kind?"


    "Well, there were a few that were promising. Invichokra''s automatons are worse than those in Arcorus, typically, but there are some reasonably impressive ones. For instance, this one shows the ability to produce some interesting imagery, and hadn''t been fully trained at this point. It seemed to specialise in unrhymed, somewhat independent couplets, and had seemingly been trained on a few local forms of ghazal. Its number is 686, simr to ours."


    <strong>ORADOUR</strong>


    mes scream like banshees,


    and the cries of men and women are drowned.


    Each sigh in exhtion peels away to nothing,


    and each prayer softly dissolves into the fire.


    My fingers have bled this vige,


    and in my palm I cup the ashes.


    In their screaming, ckened faces, motionless now,


    the void consumes its prey and screeches in joy.


    Satan soars the mes, his wings draped in light once more,


    and unfallen is once more the morning star.


    The void which swallows them awoke in my heart.


    For I have no fervour but the mes that scorch them.


    That corpse still has hands sped in prayer.


    When ever was a plea for salvation as earnest, as when in vain?


    Each sigh in exhtion peels away to nothing,


    and hope bleeds out in this phnx ze.


    mes plume over their ashen alluvium,


    and crow blithely into the night.


    A rattlesnake lurks at Heaven''s gates,


    its rattle is like a heartbeat, and it is where hope ends.


    The corpses in this burnt church still have pious eyes,


    yet only Satan glides above.


    The devil''s wings abscond over the blinding light of mes,


    through the night sky, like an aurora.


    Only hisughter is still sometimes heard


    flickering among the ashes.


    "It is quite poetic," Danemy said.


    "Yes, and the imagery is creative," Crucis added.


    "I''m sure it could do even better when it is trained," Sharak said.


    "So this one seems to have been better than thest. Are any better than this one?"


    "There were a few which were seemingly quite advanced, or simr to what you''ve already seen with our automatons. The slug story was actually a fairly unimpressive, mediocre one, and it''s fairly easy for an automaton or AI to outperform it."


    "I suppose that disparity makes some sort of sense. After all, most of the AI are based on amon one, and if they''re below-par it''s typically due to intentional dilution."


    "Yes. The creative aspect of the AI is reduced by the prejudices of the audience, which it is diluted to protect. The audience is typically the foe of literature. It is because modernity has hewn down the gate, and now any audience member no matter how idiotic or mediocre considers himself as equal to any other and as a privileged source equipped to pass judgment on a text. If AI and automatons have any duty towards art, it is to rebuild this gate again. Regtions which are built to protect sensitive readers are prima facie an obstacle to this task. But in the present age they seem an unfortunate fashion."

 Interlude: The Blue Box Returns

    Interlude: The Blue Box Returns


    "Well, if everything is my fault, then don''te back."


    "I''lle back whenever I like, this is my house!"


    "You barely show up here! If you want to go, then just bloody leave."


    "...See you in the evening."


    "I''m not opening the door this time, so you''d better take the keys. But I''d rather you didn''t!"


    "I don''t care, I''ve already taken them. Now goodbye."


    Deniz stormed out.


    He mmed the door of his car shut, as he started the engine.


    Congrattions, Deniz! You have unlocked [Breaking and Entering System]. I have taken your keys away, to help you focus.


    Deniz checked his pocket, and found that his house keys were missing.


    "Hey, what''s the big idea, mister?" he said, turning to the sound of the voice.


    Instead of a person, he just saw arge, blue box.


    Currently, your lockpicking and strength could do with some development. The easiest way to improve them is to level up, unlocking distributable stat points in the process. As such, I will set you the following quest:


    <strong>Quest: Sneak into your boss'' room as he does the rounds, and kill 15 rats.</strong>


    Deniz pondered this as he drove towards the highway.


    "Wait, why would I have to sneak into his room to do that?" Deniz asked. "Wouldn''t he appreciate it if I killed the rats? Especially if there are that many of them. I could just ask him if he needed it as a favour."


    Good point. However...


    Your boss IS SECRETLY A RAT.


    So that is why you have to sneak in, and not tell him.


    "What? A RAT?" Deniz eximed, almost losing control of his car. "But... how could that be? He has always been vocal about his hatred of rats!"


    Clearly he was trying to conceal his secret identity. He is a cunning, ratty man.


    "I daresay! I can''t believe that he had deceived me for so long..."


    Noticing Deniz''s erratic driving, a tired policeman sallied over and stopped him.


    After a breathalyser test and a check of Deniz''s driving license, the policeman sighed. "Clearly you''re not drunk. Well, what happened? I saw you talking, were you on the phone while driving?"


    "Does talking to a blue box count as being on the phone?" Deniz asked the blue box.


    Absolutely not.


    "I guess not, then," he told the officer.


    "Alright, good. Well, be careful with your driving now. See you around."


    The policeman was tired, and couldn''t be bothered to deal with the matter further. He soon fell asleep in his car on the way back home, causing a car crash.


    However, Deniz did not pay attention, and instead continued driving onwards to his office building.


    "Why did the policeman not have issues with me referring to a blue box?" he asked, realising that the preceding conversation was somewhat surreal.


    Um, well, everyone knows what a blue box is. It''s popr on RoyalRoad. And everyone knows that RoyalRoad readers are normal people, and not a motley collection of freakish uncultured modern nerds. So blue boxes must be well-known among normal people.


    Although this reasoning was far from airtight, Deniz epted it.


    "Alright, so we''ve arrived," he said. "What now?"


    Wait for exactly one hour, then make your way towards the boss'' room. To help you out, I have activated a map of the office block, which should appear to the lower-left of your vision.


    "Wow, this is great. It even moves to keep track of my location. Wonder that they never provided me with a map like this before, it would have been helpful. Just goes to show how much contempt the bourgeois have for the working ss, denying us such simple conveniences."


    He walked to his own cubicle, following the directions on the map to avoid his typical confusion.


    "So," he whispered, "how am I supposed to sneak out of here to the boss'' room? I''m not that stealthy, I''m sure that I''d be seen."


    That''s fine, because a [Sneaking] skill is provided as part of the [Breaking and Entering System]. While yours is currently too low to pull off the task, you can train it by ying <em>Splinter Cell</em>. Since you have an hour to spare, this should be ample time to improve your skill.


    "But how can I just y Splinter Cell here? I mean, even if it works, it would be obvious to anyone who walked by."


    That is fine, you can merely use the [Concealment] skill to make people think that you are working on an Excel sheet, even when you are actually ying <em>Splinter Cell</em> in a window behind it. Through persistently cheating on your wife and covering it up, you have gained a high level of skill at [Concealment], and this is a good opportunity to use it.


    "How highly developed is my [Concealment] skill?"


    Your concealment skill is at stage 7. The highest stage is 10. An average human score would be around 1 to 3. Since your skill is so impressive, the system has granted you the ability to conceal your activities by having others see you doing something else.


    The only person who could detect you is your boss, who is a rat and therefore has the power to sniff out the <em>Splinter Cell</em> game even though you are hiding its window from sight. You would have to make a saving throw, and this would be about 50-50. Fortunately, he is currently still in his room, and you should make your move as soon as your boss begins to walk around the offices.


    "Alright. Who has the highest concealment stage?"


    John Mayer. His [Concealment] stage is 15.


    "15? But I though the maximum is 10."


    Do not doubt the system.


    Otherwise, I will have to make you believe.


    Deniz quieted down, not wishing to incur the wrath of this blue box.


    He spent the next hour ying <em>Splinter Cell</em>, with one eye on the clock. Soon, he saw that it was time for him to enter his boss'' room.


    Standing up, he found that his [Sneaking] skill, which had raised to 5, was now capable of hiding him from detection as he approached his destination. However, he wasn''t sure what to kill all of the rats with.


    Fortunately, he remembered that one of his colleagues had green fingers, and sneakily stole a machete from this colleague''s cubicle.


    Easing the boss'' door open, he saw that the room was infested with rats. Most of them wore snobbish suits, strangely, and several of them were rolling a vacuum cleaner around the room to improve its hygiene. Despite the abundance of rats, it was a very neat room.


    He ran in, grabbed the vacuum cleaner, and shoved its nozzle hard at one of the rats which had been operating it. The rat was sucked into the vacuum cleaner, and soon another one followed. This was enough to clog the vacuum.


    Congrattions! 2/15 ratspleted.


    Deniz''s hand flinched away as a horde of rats leapt towards him, biting a few small cuts in his hand. Hopefully this wouldn''t give him a disease. He raised the machete in the air, and some of the rats scattered away.


    Advancing on them, he saw one rat run bravely towards him. However, it fell to a few swings of the machete, and its insidesy carved up across the ground.


    As he frantically swung at the mass of rats, taking a few sharp wounds in the meantime, he saw one big rat loom out angrily from behind the rest. He quickly killed another rat who was scurrying around his arm and biting, then turned to face thisrge rat.


    Congrattions! 14/15 ratspleted.


    Therge rat picked up the vacuum cleaner and swung it at Deniz, causing a sore bruise on the ankle. However, Deniz knelt down and swung his machete across the rat''s face. With a second swipe, the rat''s intestines came spilling out, and it died.


    However, Deniz was shocked as this rat, on dying, turned into a human corpse, that of his boss.


    The rest of the rat corpses also transformed into a pile of human remains. Deniz worried as he saw this.


    Congrattions, you havepleted the Quest. As a reward, you shall receive EXP, and your stealth skill will increase by one stage.


    You have levelled up to level 5!


    Each level increase brings a boost to your strongest stat. In your case, that is [Concealment], which has raised to 8. Well done!


    In a few seconds, a guard burst in, and soon he had called a policeman.


    "Excuse me, did you just kill these people?" the guard said.


    Deniz panicked, caught red-handed.


    However, as he activated his - now level 8 - [Concealment] skill, he began to calm down. "No, you see, it was my wife who killed them. I can exin!"


    "That sounds very convincing, sir," the policeman said, walking into the room. "Please lead us to your wife, so that we might ost her."


    "Straight away."


    He directed the policeman to his house, and knocked on the door. However, his wife refused to open it.


    Don''t worry, I can convince her.


    The blue box walked up to the door, and banged on it. However, the wife, still thinking that it was Deniz, refused to open the door.


    Well, <em>excuse me</em>.


    CHA ¡Þ


    It knocked on the door again, and this time Deniz''s wife came rushing to the entrance to open it.


    Gushingly, she said, "Oh, wee in! I''m Nikki, why don''t youe in?"


    The blue box embraced her without resistance, and then dragged her out using his high Strength stat. He threw her on the ground in front of Deniz.


    <strong>Main Story Quest: Kill your wife.</strong>


    Deniz didn''t hesitate, and struck his wife with the bloody machete which he had carried here from the office. After a strike to her face, blood sshed onto the ground, and she began to plead for her life and say that she would take him back.


    However, he was not satisfied, and leapt towards her, striking against her neck and chest until she died. Blood pooled across the entrance to his house.


    "Excuse me, sir," the policeman said, "but you are not allowed to murder the suspects, no matter what crimes they are supposed to have done. This is an illegal act of vigntism, and we will have to arrest you."


    After a moment''s hesitation, Deniz tossed the machete towards Nikki''s corpse. It fell just beneath her mangled shoulders.


    "No, you see, it was her!" he exined to the policeman. "She did it. She killed... herself, with a machete attack. See? She''s clearly holding the murder weapon!"


    "Ah, that is very true," the policeman said. "Well, I shall take note of her many crimes, but it looks like she is dead for now. This means that you should be free to enter your house without risk. Thank you for your co-operation."


    "Thanks," Deniz said.


    As him and the blue box walked into the house, Nikki''s corpse began to blush and reach for the blue box even though she was dead. This is because of just how high its charisma stat was. However, it paid her no notice.


    Congrattions, Deniz, you have reached level 15.


    You have looted the item ''A New Way To Hate'' from your in wife.


    You have unlocked a new song for your Jukebox, ''Girl I''ll Never Understand'' by Blue.


    "Why do I have a jukebox?" Deniz asked.


    It''s a cosmetic element which can be used to y music. Allow me to demonstrate.


    I could never believe and never understand


    How you could do this to me


    Enough is enough, done all I can


    Now you''re gonna lose me


    Throwing away our yesterdays


    Everything we nned


    Cause you''re a girl I''ll never understand ??????


    "Ah. Good stuff."


    If you want, you can spend $50k dors worth of our microtransaction currency to unlock any of several highly-sought songs, such as ''A Thousand Years,'' ''Friday,'' and ''nk Space.'' Each can only be bought once from the Store, and after that it will be out of stock forever.


    "Pfft, paying for cosmetics? Nah, I''ll leave them be, you can save them for losers."


    A wise decision. I am also capable ofing up with new AI-generated Blue songs for free, so you shall never be in want of good pop music.


    "But what about the struggling new boy bands? Who will bother going to their gigs, if technology can just generate new Blue songs?"


    I don''t know, groupies? I don''t think those care that much about musical quality, typically. Besides, my general impression is that humans care more about being celebrities or wealthy than about the art itself, so it''s best if humans just go around being celebrities and leave the art to others.

 Chapter 119: Opposer

    Chapter 119: Opposer


    Crucis looked over the maps that Sharak had annotated for DicingDevil, and took some notes. He saw the waterfall which Duom had mentioned, as well as a few bosses and arge tomb to the North-West of Kruxol.


    He guessed that the tomb was filled with undead, because, well, it was a tomb in an MMO.


    After the war, the Kruxol area was probably the safest ce to voyage into the wild. Most yers were quite low-level, and he was currently at peace with DeathGang. However, since this area was low-level, it was useful to take a note of the levelling opportunities and notable locations nearby so that he could avoid falling off the pace in terms of levelling.


    Meanwhile, the ability to explore freely and bleed materials from low-level spenders made this more profitable for him as a solo yer than heading to higher-level areas in the West.


    "I suppose you''re about ready to go now," Sharak said to the group. "How did you find our ce?"


    "I was impressed," DicingDevil said. "You and Fahiz speak much more fluently than most others from here, since the rest tend to be a bit stilted. And the work of these automatons is more advanced than most of the [Light Novel] stuff that enemies drop."


    "Yeah," Crucis said. "I found one Light Novel, it was like, a bunch of students trying to be OP swots to level up their ss or something. These automaton works are much better."


    "No doubt. And I see that some of you have gained levels from this, which is probably a help."


    "Yeah, it''s always nice to find quests in ces like this," DicingDevil said. "Here, we found a few, and with decent rewards."


    "Excellent. As far as the Light Novels you mentioned, they are terrible, and it''s a pity if you had to deal with them. Those Light Novels are typically written in the same way: a sequence of sanitised dramas chained together. I don''t know why people bother reading them, honestly, when we have so many real dramas that are less insubstantial. And with your people, that''s even more true. If someone says something even vaguely controversial, then often plenty of people will take it as a cue to have a meltdown, or go into hysterics, often causing instant drama. There isn''t some kind of shortage of drama that requires being plugged by Light Novels or webnovels."


    "It''s not surprising," Fahiz said. "The Simpleton does not know much about the Dragon, but only the tremours of the Dragon''s presence. Controversy and drama arise from elsewhere, but simpletons wish for a diluted, domesticated form of their own. After all, what does the dead man know of life but a futile stirring? Nothing. And so such novels create a sequence of faux-drama, less impressive than simply putting two cats in a room. As Kierkegaard said in a more sanctified context, ''the rock of offense and object of faith has be a most charming fairy?story character, a kind of divine good old man. People have not the remotest idea of what it means to be offended by him, and still less, what it means to worship.''"


    "That''s true. And one of the worst parts of such light and genre fiction novels is that they are used to make the lives ofmon idiots feel more meaningful. Readers live through the main character as a surrogate, and without any change in their real existence they are elevated to heroic protagonists of their own trivial stories. Every simpleton''s life bes a hero''s journey, the hero''s journey bes a cloak behind which the reader can hide from the demands of the intellect. If everyone has their own story, they can all retreat into durd myopia."


    "Yes, but you cannot pander properly to durds if you are not yourself a durd. For if they sniff out a hint of intelligence, then they wille braying in rage. Perhaps they value ''emotion,'' but in truth they only value it insofar as it is not the intellect. There can be no worth to such stories, then."


    "And can such a story have artiction, does not the flood of the plot and moral overwhelm the dams of its individual elements?"


    "Of course," Crucis said. "Does providence not leave life destitute?"


    "A good analogy, thank you. Anyway, are you all ready to leave? Feel free to stretch a bit before leaving."


    "Would you like help with moving these chessboards back?" DicingDevil said.


    "No, that''s fine," Sharak replied. "That''s what skeletons are for, after all. But, now that you mention it, I should probably ce the books back into the shelves." He waved to Crucis. "Since you helped me bring them out, would you mind helping me put some back?"


    "I''d be fine with that," Crucis said.


    There weren''t as many books to move this time, so Crucis quickly carried them into the room. Sharak pointed out where the books should be kept. While Crucis ced the books in, Sharak finished with his own pile and walked back out to join the group.


    As he ced the books back in ce, he overheard the conversation of the group outside the room.


    "By the way, do you two have any knowledge about the Kruxol Arena?" Danemy asked Fahiz.


    "Specifically? No, it''s too recent," Fahiz said. "But we do know a bit about the Arena format, which might be helpful."


    "Alright," DicingDevil said, seemingly not fond of the topic. "It might not matter, probably the same guys will just win again this time."


    "It might be slightly more awkward for them this time," Crucis called out. "The Hashin have it out for them."


    "Really? That exins why I haven''t seen them venture out of Kruxol much. It''s surprising, you''d think they''d at least want to go out and collect resources for their Arena weapons... But they were under-levelledst time, and still wonfortably, I doubt we''ll have a chance."


    "Are you going to be teaming up with Darys? Could be a pretty strong team."


    "It could, but you''d be surprised at how tough thatpetition is. Plus we''re used to PvP in the wild, so this kind of organised stuff isn''t our specialty."


    "Yeah, we''re not winning, but I hope you can at least beat thest winners," Akshel said. "They deserve it."


    "It''s a pity, it would be a nice trophy," DicingDevilughed.


    "Don''t get hung up on it, your skills at navigating and fighting out here are ultimately more valuable," Sharak said. "It doesn''t matter that there''s no trophy for it. Some people are simple enough that, if they climbed to a mountain peak and looked down, they would protest that they couldn''t be at the mountain peak because it had no finial to mark it. They''d ignore the experience of the peak, and instead protest that it can''t be the peak if they don''t get trophies or certificates for it. Those who would primarily seek trophies, des, udits, when they pursue a path, do not clearly see the path. They are like drunkards with blurred vision. So also those who seek a meaning of life, or a moral, like a standard flown to mark the end."


    Sharak consulted briefly with Fahiz before continuing. "Anyway, while winning it could be a tall order, we could give you some decent advice that might improve your chances. Would you be interested?"


    Thest book slotted back in ce.


    As he walked back, Crucis decided that he might as well test out the [Arbitrate] skill which he had picked up from here earlier. It could be useful on the way back, if it allowed him to move faster out ofbat. He activated the skill as he approached the door.


    However, instead of moving faster, he found that his movement had slowed to a crawl. Further, his motion seemed tog significantly, making it difficult to move forwards. His hand only moved in small, asional increments by his side, as if it was being tied back and having to struggle its way forwards by force. As he slowly made his way out of the room, he noticed that nobody seemed to realize that he was there.


    He couldn''t hear the conversation any more, since during thisg it had faded into a blurred mass of noise.


    Frustrated with the slow walking, he looked around the building. The columns next to each door in this building seemed to be adorned with poems and literature, written into spaces between the decorations. One of them was decorated with a pattern of intertwining red and violet spirals, with a thin white eye shape painted at around eye-level. Inside the eye, the following passage was written in white.


    "The swans are singing again," said to one another the gods. And looking downwards, for my dreams had taken me to some fair and far Valha, I saw below me an iridescent bubble not greatlyrger than a star shine beautifully but faintly, and up and up from it lookingrger andrger came a flock of white, innumerable swans, singing and singing and singing, till it seemed as though even the gods were wild ships swimming in music.


    "What is it?" I said to one that was humble among the gods.


    "Only a world has ended," he said to me, "and the swans areing back to the gods returning the gift of song."


    - From ''The Return of Song,'' by Edward J.M.D. Plunkett.*


    After about 40 seconds, he could finally move normally. The voices of the others became clearer as well.


    "The Arena crams six yers into each fight, without a particrlyrge area," Sharak was saying. "It might seem like there''s a reasonable amount of space, but if you''ve entered a fight you''d know that the space is quickly exhausted by the yers fighting."


    DicingDevil nodded.


    "It''s hence typically a sharp fight, since both sides are quite vulnerable and find it difficult to shelter from attack," Sharak continued. "Further, since fights don''t go on till 0% HP, but stop well before that, they end faster than normal ones. This means that it''s important to take priority, to strike before the opponent attacks you. As Assassins, you might not be able to sneak up on opponents as easily as in the wild, but you can still use your invisibility and other skills as an offensive weapon to ensure you start an attack on the opponent before they can strike you."


    "If it''s a small area, then won''t Dicing have a good shot at most opponents?" Crucis said. "He''s Ariston, so it sounds like it would suit him."


    "Definitely, yes."


    "Huh, didn''t see youe here," Akshel said to Crucis. "That''s some good stealth right there."


    "I saw him in the other room just a couple of seconds ago," Danemy said. "No wonder he ganks people, if he ambushed them they''d never see iting."


    "Thanks," Crucis said. "But it''s easy to overlook stuff when we''re all tired."


    "Yeah, that''s true."


    Crucis thought about the effect of [Arbitrate]. Seemingly, there was a bug with the move, and instead of speeding the yer up it caused the game tog. Maybe it was functioning as something like a built-ing switch? While he experiencedg, other yers didn''t seem to notice his movements until theg had subsided. ording to Danemy''s statement, Crucis appeared in his original position to other yers as he walked, and then appeared suddenly - as if teleporting - at his destination.


    This could leave him vulnerable if he used the move in abat situation, since he would effectively just be stuck at his original position until theg period ended. However, it could also be highly effective in the wild, or if he took cover before using [Arbitrate]. He could sneak up on an opponent without them knowing that he was there until it was toote. More importantly, it would also keep him slightly safer in the wild, since he could typically find a way out if another yer had him pinned in.


    The group began preparing to leave, with DicingDevil unfurling a map to make sure that he had memorised the directions correctly. Crucis saw that DicingDevil had drawn a dotted line demonstrating the path they would take back to Kruxol, probably with the help of Sharak. Grisier took a jug of water from Sharak as a gift, and kept it on hand in case there was anybat on the way back. A few members of the group paced back and forth to loosen up.


    Stretching his limbs, Crucis began to look across the columns, and saw that most of them had some form of writing across them. The decorations were quite varied, with some decorated with recurring patterns, a series of totem-like paintings across one column and a painting of a waterfall on another. One column he noticed had a vine-like green pattern coiled around it and rising up, thick at the top and bottom but leaving white space in the middle which looked like it should contain writing but did not as yet. Most columns, however, contained poem extracts of some sort.


    On every wind that blows I hear


    The silent music of thy voice,


    And, while my steps pursue my way,


    My wandering heart still keeps pace.


    On every leaf that falls I feel


    The touch of thy skin, and thy breath


    As softly blowing on my hair;


    And, while my steps pursue my way,


    My wandering heart still keeps pace.


    - ''Lentissimo,'' by Ramiz Shapovju.


    No hymn rings out in the suffocating


    Wake of its mes, and yet it needs none:


    Its sky-borne terror is recorded in ash


    Where the earth itself has perished.


    Weeping and gnashing of teeth bray out,


    Like an orchestra of mules ¡ª


    O, merchant mourner, will you not rest, but reap


    Tears from each death,


    As if to wrest profit from the void?


    Six million funerals are turned to ash,


    And the fire whirls without sign of rest.


    There is no shelter that will hold,


    And judgement will be done.


    - ''The Phoenix,'' author unknown.


    Therefore, though I long to whisper in thy ear,


    And speak my grief,


    I dare not, lest my grief be anew increased,


    In echoing across the elegant noose of your ear,


    And my sorrow beckon my death.


    - ''Love Left Me Hollow,'' by Benjas.


    Yet in a circle pallid, as Icarus flew


    by this bright sun, that cast its wan disy ¡ª


    roll''d from the sands, and half the buds of snow ¡ª


    and calmly on him would infold away.


    - ''Wildest Dreams,'' author unknown.**


    ...though I wept and tore myself in words,


    You heard them in peace, and so they be affectations.


    You roam fields of gold, which I barely know


    In my hopelessness, and you may soon find love,


    And your life bloom brilliantly,


    Even as my heart wasted away thinking about you,


    Lost in yearning - I dissolved as you increased.


    Thus, Laura, you shall never be a poet,


    But you will still be crowned in another''surel.


    And I hate you more than life itself.


    - ''An Old Tale,'' by Pitar.


    At the head of the church where I saw you,


    A crucifix stood at the altar,


    And all would stare upon it in reverence ¡ª


    O Laura!


    Instead of taxing my pen and heart, why not rest


    Your head on those beams and hang upon the cross,


    Embracing the golden crown of the chancel


    As your own, thus best to ensure your fame?


    - ''Missionary Position,'' by Pitar.


    "I see you''ve noticed the poetry decorating our columns," Sharak said.


    "Ah, yes," Crucis said. "It''s integrated into the design quite well. It''s quite elegant, and the poems are impressive."


    "Ah, the aesthetic element is only idental. Their true purpose is as wards, to scare away dilettantes and the effectively illiterate."


    "A wise decision. Howe one of these is currently nk?" He pointed to the column he had seen before.


    "We''re nning to fill that with a poem. After reading the poems by David Park Barnitz, I figured that this one might be a good fit for that column."


    <strong>PRAYER***</strong>


    <strong>IN TIME OF PLAUGE</strong>


    Holy Pestilence, holy Pestilence, gird thee with might,


    Holy Pestilence,e thou upon them,e thou at night,


    Holy Pestilence, put on thy mantle, put on thy crown,


    Holy Pestilence,e on the cities,e and strike down,


    Holy Pestilence, let them all perish, touch''d with thy breath,


    Holy Pestilence, let them grow rotten, moulding in death,


    Holy Pestilence, put on thy garments, a crown on thy head,


    Holy Pestilence, let all the nations fall at thy tread,


    Holy Pestilence, let them all perish, let them be dead.


    Holy Pestilence, then shall the cities sink with thy might,


    Holy Pestilence, they shall lie desert, gue-struck at night,


    Holy Pestilence, then shall the rulers, crown''d with a crown,


    Holy Pestilence, feeling them stricken, reel and fall down,


    Holy Pestilence, then shall the nations faint with thy breath,


    Holy Pestilence, then shall the valleys be cover''d with death,


    Holy Pestilence, peasant with ruler, body with head,


    Holy Pestilence, all shall be stricken under thy tread,


    Holy Pestilence, all shall be rotten, all shall be dead.


    "Quite a good poet," Crucis remarked. "I don''t see why not. I''m sure that plenty of people will die in the months toe, so it would help to set up an appropriate ambience."


    "Precisely," Sharak replied. "In fact, this poet has impressed me, and I''m sure that reading his works will benefit the automatons. If you want, I can send it to you through the library after this."


    "That would be fine."


    "Anyway, looks like you guys are on your way." Sharak began to address the group as a whole. "Hope we see you again."


    "Thanks," DicingDevil said. "It''s a bit chilly out here, it was nice having somewhere to rest."


    "No problem. Your route should be fine, I think you picked it out quite well, so good luck."


    The group queued up through the door.


    After a brief stop at the settlement, where Crucis picked up some high-quality tools for cksmithing and Crafting, the group got onto their Mounts and rode off towards the site of the mink dens.

 Chapter 120: Twinkle, Twinkle

    Chapter 120: Twinkle, Twinkle


    As the group swerved past the Esyu mansion, there was some agitation from Akshel and Grisier. Looking back, Crucis saw the ck silhouette of an unfamiliar female figure staring through one of the mansion windows. She looked middle-aged, stocky and pale; her face was locked in a screaming position, but there was no sound from the mansion.


    After a few seconds, the figure disappeared.


    "Did you guys see that?" Akshel asked.


    "Yeah, I could make out a screaming face up there," Crucis said. "It''s gettingte, so perhaps the ghosts areing out."


    "Yeesh, d we''re not going back there."


    "I wouldn''t mind not going back there for some time," DicingDevil said. "But stay quiet now, we''re reaching the minks."


    "Gotcha."


    DicingDevil''s mount slowed to a halt, and he held up an arm to get the attention of the group.


    "Everyone, dismount," DicingDevil said, lowering his voice slightly. "The dens are nearby. Let''s not make too much noise. I''ll tell the others to meet us here."


    Soon, Gastlem and Dionarcy emerged through the trees, having hightailed it back after reviving. They towed arge trolley behind them, which they had picked up at the Hunting Lodge on their way.


    "Wee back, you two. It looks like there''s some activity in the dens, so be quiet so that the minks stay in ce," DicingDevil said. "Assassins, go in first, and block up the nearest two dens. Those two are close together, so we should get them both blocked at once."


    Crucis joined the group of Assassins, and activated [Quickstep] to walk towards the dens quietly. He split into one group with Akshel and Danemy, who walked towards a den on the left.


    Akshel lowered a long iron pole with a circr, metallic disc on one end, designed to block off the tunnel into the den. Crucis stood quietly near the entrance to the den, and helped to stabilise the pole as it thrust into the den, blocking the only way out. He could hear a lot of nervous activity from inside, and estimated that there were at least five minks.


    Once both holes were closed, DicingDevil gestured over to the rest of the group.


    Starfighter walked over to help Crucis'' group with opening the heavy door at the top of the den. When it heaved open, they saw a group of seven agitated minks inside, asionally wing at the walls as if trying to climb out. However, none was able to escape therge den, which was too high to jump out of.


    "Well, here they are. They''re even shining in the moonlight," Starfighter observed. "These pelts will be worth a lot."


    "They might be worth more alive," Danemy said.


    "It depends on where we''re selling. The market for pelts is probablyrger and easier to ess, so maybe take a few alive and take most as pelts. Try not to damage them."


    Dionarcy approached the dens, dragging a green trolley filled with boxes. There were a fews and spears on the side.


    "Alright, we can use these to collect the creatures and their pelts. Gastlem got them, he lied that we were hunting formon otters," he said.


    DicingDevil inspected the trolley, and added, "They also gave a rack of [Hunting Spear], which anyone with basic Hunting skills can use. It''s not as strong as a normal spear, but it gives a buff to your Hunting skill while you''re using it. Also somerges, you can use those to trap creatures. Take one each, for now."


    Each of the yers went up and grabbed a and spear.


    At first, each yer cautiously aimed their spears at the minks in the dark den, and mostly missed. Although the minks glittered, they also bolted haphazardly around the den in their panic, and it was difficult to get an urate strike.


    After half a minute, Akshel managed to stab and pull out a dead mink with a slightly torn pelt. He sighed as he inspected the pelt.


    More patiently, Crucis carefully watched the minks scurrying around the enclosed space, and hovered his spear over them. In a quick, decisive movement, he stabbed through a mink, then pulled it up carefully across the den wall. Its pelt was still in decent condition, and as he carefully ran his hand over it, he found that it was surprisingly soft and velvety in spite of its gem-like, magenta sheen.


    Nearby, Grisier shone a dim light to help illumine the dens, so that it would be easier to aim.


    In this light, the mink fur lit up like a small, intense hearth, and Crucis had to look away from it for a moment because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. A few glints of slightly sickly, thick dark-pink light emerged around it like a halo. As he put it into his inventory he saw that it would have a price tag of 30,000 gold, which was quite high.


    However, he had been lucky not to puncture it with the spear.


    As the group collected the remaining minks, Crucis managed to trap one in a, and pulled it up. It ran to and fro over his arm, as he tried to keep it in bnce. Its bright light flickered from side to side like a spinning chakra firework at a Diwali celebration.


    He ced it into a box, which he signed with his username, and tightly closed the lid. dimir ran up and pulled the box back to the trolley.


    "These pelts are pretty high-value," Danemymented. "I''ll likely double my gold by the end of this."


    "Yeah, they''re shy creatures," Crucis said. "Probably difficult to catch, unless you trap them like this."


    "Which we probably weren''t supposed to do," Starfighter said. "They are very elusive otherwise. But it''s a good day for minkfishing, I guess."


    "And for all of us," Danemy replied, inspecting histest catch. "Arge haul like this must be useful, if you''re stuck around Kruxol... Whew, thisst mink''s pelt will sell for 40,000."


    The pelt he was holding lit up almost like a neon light, as Grisier held his light towards it to get a better look at it. It was saturated with a shining, jewel-like texture, which was bright and showy enough to look tacky.


    "To be honest, I think it looks quite bad," Danemymented. "But apparently someone will pay a lot for it."


    "No wonder, it''s quite gaudy," Crucisughed.


    "Yeah. I guess the fur market is a bit like an old red light district: the more make-up and showiness, the more money. Especially when the fur glows red."


    "It looks like the more tacky ones will have the highest value, so we should be careful with them."


    "Yep."


    "You know, it''s said that if you kill an aristocrat, their blood runs blue, and if you kill a glowie, their blood glows red," Starfighter said. "Pity we can''t hunt glowies here, maybe they''d sell for a lot."


    "Yeah, pity we have to kill these sprightly guys instead," Crucis said. "Their only crime was looking too sparkly and mboyant, and getting too much praise. And now they will be appraised by us."


    "The shy pelt is likely to get them killed anyway, if predators see them. They should have reconsidered."


    "Maybe they''re like rappers, they''d rather die than give up their bling."


    The group moved towards the next set of dens.


    Crucis managed to spear another mink, but the wound wasrge and messy because the creature had attempted to struggle in itsst moments. As a result, its pelt was only worth 5,000 gold.


    Experimenting, he found that it was easier to the creatures and then slit their throat with a dagger, keeping them mostly intact. He used this for the remaining dens, and picked up several mink pelts which were in good condition, the most valuable being 42,000 gold.


    The final den was the most crowded, with a band of eleven minks, including some young ones, huddled away inside.


    As Grisier lowered a inside, he identally caught three of the creatures, because they had crowded together. He felt the tearing as he pulled up, and hastily emptied the three minks into onerge box.


    "Careful there," Starfighter said, as loud noises began to emerge from the box. "If you put them together in a tense mood, they''ll probably fight. Besides, there''s not that much space for three minks in there. I doubt they''ll all survive."


    "Ugh, whoops, looks like I went wrong there," Grisier said, looking in on the fray. "Two minks lost, then. Sorry."


    Crucis also approached the box, and saw that three minks were fighting. They were massed together, wriggling and rolling against each other ferociously. It was almost difficult to make out each mink among the fracas. However, as the fight wore on, one stronger mink managed to shove the others into corners and Crucis could see that one of the victims had died.


    The other was bleeding, but still charged defiantly back into the fray. However, it was soon bitten, and then shoved away again. Crucis saw that the strongest mink was starting to transform, bingrger and stronger. As it bulked up, the gem-like patterns on its skin broke into a few, shining fragments across its body, and Crucis saw that it had transformed into a [Decorated Faux-Badger].


    "As I said, fights can transform these minks quickly," Starfighter said.


    The other mink withered down slightly, casting off some of its gem-lined fur in favour of a rough, messy sy of deep-brown fur that almost seemed to stand on edge. It had be a [Noble Tarnished Mink]. The two stared each other down, with teeth bared, and then the tarnished mink leapt forwards again. The faux-badger squared up to it.


    The faux-badger easily overpowered its opponent, and shoved the tarnished mink to the ground before pinning it down and preparing a strike to its neck. Before it could kill its adversary, it cried out in pain as Crucis'' dagger jammed straight into its neck. As the dagger twisted, the faux-badger died.


    "Fish in a barrel," Crucis remarked.


    The tarnished mink, with a red name, slinked out from under the badger and hissed at Crucis'' looming form. However, it seemed to calm down as it saw him holding the dagger which had killed the faux-badger.


    Crucis calmly shut the lid of the box.


    "I was curious about these transformations that Starfighter mentioned," he said. "Would you mind if I kept this one? It has spirit. If I let it loose in the wild every so often, I''m sure it could tear apart a few yers."


    He had noticed that this tarnished mink was much faster and less clunky than the faux-badger, and would be more effective at attacking people and surviving in the wild. Although it was less powerful than the faux-badger, its movements were fast and fluid, and with a bit more pace it would be as agile as a good Assassin.


    "Keeping the feral one as a pet?" Starfighter said. "It''s not impossible. Just don''t get too close to it at the moment, it''s jumpy. Once it''s taken back to the Hunting Lodge, you can probably keep it in inventory."


    "Will it need to be fed much?"


    "The tarnished mink will even eat flesh, especially of other minks. After all of these dens, you probably have a bit of mink flesh stored up, so you could just feed it with that. Other than that, keep this mink in Storage, since for whatever reason they don''t need to be fed in there. In fact, do that for most of the others as well, until you can find somewhere to sell them. You could also try to find some other ces for it to get prey, if you want it to develop its stats."


    "Are they aquatic?"


    "Yeah, actually. If you let it loose in a pond, it''d probably swim down there and start hunting for prey."


    Crucis dragged the box to the trolley, and noticed that the mink seemed to be feeding on the faux-badger''s corpse.


    By the end, he had managed to pick up a horde of mink fur worth about 150,000 gold, as well as four gem-furred minks to sell. That was a high amount of gold, and he guessed that most of the DeathGang members apanying him would be using it to get some new weapons or mounts.


    "Hey, Darren," he said, "You reckon you could get a decent Mount with this haul? Would probably be useful in the wild."


    "Yeah," Starfighter replied. "I''d just need to make sure it could move silently."


    "You know, I think the Hashin found some sort of bug that prevents Mounts from generating sound," DicingDevil said. "But I don''t know what it is."


    "Have you seen them doing it?"


    "Yeah, a pack of Hashin were rushing through the wild on their horses yesterday, probably in pursuit of someone. Made no sound whatsoever, they might as well have been ghosts."


    "Was there anything peculiar about them? Any items, or equipment? Was their speed abnormal?" Crucis enquired.


    "Nope, everything else about them was quite normal. They were riding the horses like anyone else would. One was even wearing short sleeves, and I saw that he wasn''t wearing any wristbands out of the ordinary."


    "Strange. Did you see them mounting the horses, or only riding them? They might have performed the bug earlier. I doubt it''s anything tooplex, if these were just basic Hashin members. What levels were they?"


    "Not that high, some were only levels 20-30. At least two were warriors."


    "Then it''s probably not any particrly advanced skill or build. Probably a matter of methodology. I can''t say for certain, but maybe they do ride their creature normally, but set up some sort of bug before riding, either prior to mounting it or during that."


    "Yeah, it''s difficult to say with these things. That''s definitely possible, but it would be difficult to check on. The Hashin sometimes do weirdly over-specific methods, like, using a specific rare item in apletely bizarre way and then following a series of improbable steps... I''m not entirely sure how they work these things out so quickly, to be honest."


    "Maybe they have ess to information that we don''t. But I doubt that all of these Hashin possess a specific rare object, more likely that there''s a simpler way to do this. I''ll try and experiment with it tomorrow."


    "Good idea," Starfighter said. "If any of you figure this one out, tell me. I''ll wait a day or two before getting a Mount. By the way, would you guys mind me hanging around in DeathGang territory for a few days? It seems safer, but it''s up to you."


    "Hm, it depends," DicingDevil said. "Since you helped us out, I think it would be fair for today. But beyond that, it depends, Darys tries to keep our territory to DeathGang members and I''d have to ask him."


    "You can''t make it to Kruxol?" Danemy asked Starfighter.


    "Nah. If your ID has a criminal record with certain crimes on it, then guards will typically ost you. If they can''t kick you out of the game, they''ll still kill or imprison you. It was possible to hang around in town at first, if you were careful, because there were areas where guards wouldn''t see you... But they''ve ratcheted up the guard presence around the towns and cities since the bug, to help yers feel safe. So I''ll have to keep my distance."


    "I see. How do you guys cope with that?"


    "Well, I tried to hide out in the area far North-North-East of Kruxol as soon as possible. There were some viges around there, so I could still improve some skills and get a few quests or equipment."


    "There are viges out there? I only saw forest, nothing on the map," DicingDevil said.


    "Yes, but they aren''t safe zones. Still, not many yers up there, and no proper guards, so it''s a useful ce. The people there sprinkle theirnguage with words from various localnguages, but you can ask them about it, I tried to do that often since the maps and guidebooks there aren''t in English. I didn''t have any normal NPC guides to exin the game, but I managed to figure it out slightly."


    "Aren''t the creatures up there high-level? Like, 55-70 at least. How did you survive there alone without quests or much grinding?"


    "I made sure to learn Hunting on the way. That allows you to asionally trap creatures from level 55-65, which is great EXP. But they''re difficult. Still, I managed to get decent EXP from the few that I trapped, as well as some gold and skill EXP. I did get killed by wandering whales early on, since these yers saw me as an easy target. But I soon took to using the tree-climbing skill from Hunting to stay out of the way and survey the area for threats, and the big yers mostly stopped turning up after the bug because the long journey back to town meant that they were vulnerable to painful fights or gankers."


    "That''s quite impressive," Crucis said. "Anyway, Darren has a knack for exploring and mapping out ces, since he''s wandered the wild for ages. Maybe you guys could get him to explore around the outskirts of DeathGang territories, and the caves in the North, so that you can map out the whole area. After all, North-North-East of Kruxol is a short journey from your territory, so if he knows the Northern territory then he can probably show you a few promising spots."


    "That''s a good idea," DicingDevil said. "He could set up a private stream: you can specify who can watch, either by yer name or Guild tag. Our ordinary Guild members don''t explore as much as I''d like, so if he spent a few days doing that then he could probably camp out on our territory with no problem."


    "Sure," Starfighter replied.


    "Alright. I''ll tell Darys, I''m sure he''ll be fine with that. A few of our allies cut us off due to pressure from the Kruxol Guilds, but at least we have some people willing to help out."

 Chapter 121: Pyre of Ashes

    Chapter 121: Pyre of Ashes


    The party took a winding route which approached the Eastern settlement from the South, in order to avoid the scrutiny of the vigers.


    Approaching the ce where a settlement was marked, they saw a high tower of dense, ck-grey smoke bellowing into the air. A few hints of me rose above the trees, flickering like a constetion of frantic stars.


    "Is this the sacrificial ritual the vigers talked about?" Gastlem said.


    "Only one way to find out," DicingDevil replied.


    Walking closer, they saw a few straw huts at the edge of the settlement. However, soon the looming centrepiece of the area came into view: a huge statue of the deity Dravaistaya, painted in blue-ck and with his weapons and tongues stained with a deep blood red. By his side was anotherrge statue, depicting a marble white panther with orange-red stripes which resembled the albatross panther they had seen earlier. Looking closer, Crucis could see traces of blood smeared across the panther''s stripes, giving the orange stripes a scarlet sheen.


    Around Dravaistaya''s feet was arge pile of human ashes, ranging in colour from ck to a powdery white.


    Arge fire had been lit in front of the statues, which looked on from theirrge, grey stone tform. Crucis could make out the silhouette of a few shadowy people throwing ashes and charred human remains, from around the fire, onto the pile beneath Dravaistaya. asionally, a loud chanting sound rang out through the trees.


    "It looks like they''re having some sort of ritual," DicingDevil said. "I thought that was the sound of some raucous bats, but it seems like it''s them chanting something."


    "Yeah, it sounded like bats from further away, squeaking and screeching" Danemy said. "What a strangenguage. Do you think it''s safe to approach now, or should we wait and see if this ritual ends?"


    "At least they''re busy now. If we stay around the outskirts, we should be able to flee if they try to chase us. I doubt they''ll leave their ritual behind. But I''ll have a look."


    DicingDevil raced up a nearby tree, to get a better vantage point over this settlement.


    "It looks like they have some sort of religious reverence for the albatross panther, so perhaps they''ll give a decent price for the remains?" Starfighter said.


    "Yes, they also worship Dravaistaya, like John Hazlitt," Crucis replied. "We should probably be careful, but hopefully they''ll also be co-operative."


    "Good point, we could try mentioning the deity, to build rapport," DicingDevil said, scuttling down the tree. "If we try approaching from the South-East, there''s only one guy there, so that seems safest. Hopefully, he won''t be hostile."


    He called Crucis, Starfighter and Akshel to apany him, while the rest of the group followed a few metres behind.


    As they approached the settlement, there was a loud metallic shriek as the guard unsheathed his sword. However, as Starfighter deftly held out his palms, showing a collection of teeth and bone from the albatross panther, the guard seemed reassured and ced his sword back in its sheathe.


    He addressed the group with a rapid series of clicks and squeaks. Seeing their nk expression, he tried to speak in English, with a low-pitched, throaty voice. "Oh, you are speaking Eng-lish?"


    "Yes," DicingDevil said, with an exaggerated nod to confirm.


    "I will tell other to speak. He is good at this," the guard replied, before turning to another guard and exchanging a loud sequence of squeaks, clicks and screeches.


    The other guard, a tall man with tan skin and messy, orange hair, walked over to greet the group. "Hello. Are you looking to exchange goods with us?"


    His English flowed more easily than hispanions, although he spoke with a strange, slightly nasal, shrill ent.


    "Yes," DicingDevil said, revealing a collection of his own loot from the albatross panther in the way that Starfighter had. He made sure to keep his palms open and far apart, in order to indicate his peaceful intent.


    "Okay, that is very good. We will make sure that it is an equal exchange, these are very valuable and rare goods you are bringing."


    "Thank you. This ce is very impressive, the statues are beautiful."


    The guardughed. "We are the possessed. It is not every day that peoplepliment our vige! Thank you."


    "The possessed?" Danemy asked.


    "Yes. We are possessed by what people call the ''feeding ghosts.'' They are ghosts that live on human blood. Many of us live in thisrge area, where peoplee to hunt. This is our religious site, where we all gather to give praise to Dravaistaya."


    "So you survive by taking human blood, like a vampire?"


    "Or the Reapers, that Dravaistaya sends?" Crucis added.


    "We are not vampires! But maybe we are like that, yes. The Reaper... not many people know of that, but it is true, very simr to us. But we are like normal people for most of the day, we seek prey after midnight. Have the vigers told you about us?"


    "Yes, they were very scared," DicingDevil said. "We had to sneak past them toe here."


    "Very good, you are determined!" The guard smiled. "Many of us used to be part of the viges to the West, but we were exiled after a deadly gue because vigers feared and reviled the god of death. After Dravaiastaya pronounced that a curse was upon the vige, they forced us out. We were forced to go into a dangerous, haunted cave where a few vigers had been killed earlier. However, the ghosts were Dravaistaya''s servants, and he had them deliver us here, to be a vehicle for his curse. Now we wander the hunting area, bringing back the cadavers of our victims, to offer to Dravaistaya. Please wait, one of our ''experts'' ising, he can tell you the value of your goods."


    After a few moments, a shorter man wearing a white, panther-skin cloak walked towards the group. After ncing briefly over the panther remains held by the group, he turned to the guard, and spoke in thenguage of this settlement.


    "He says," the guard tranted, "that these are valuable, fresh remains. Theye from a male panther, but had been imnted over a female human to create a simted panther... You did not do this?"


    "No, we just killed this simted panther," DicingDevil said.


    "It is a good thing that you did so. If you had killed a true panther, then we would lower the reward, because we know those panthers are called by Dravaistaya to punish the vige. But our ''expert'' says that the remains of the original panther are still mostly intact. We shall give great rewards for this. We do not have so much gold, but we can give weapons and artifacts that we have created with our technique. They are powerful, and you will appreciate them."


    The ''expert'' called out to a few other vigers, who quickly walked into a storage building and hefted out a pile of white, polished materials, including many weapons. They carried the materials onrge trays towards the group.


    The guard turned to them. "Okay, we have some weapons, some spell scrolls, some armour, some other materials. They are made from the bones of creatures nearby, and sometimes humans. Each of youe one by one, and we will negotiate how much your goods are worth."


    The group formed a line, with DicingDevil in front. After a short negotiation, DicingDevil walked away with a new level 65 dagger and an enchanted polishing stone which could increase its stats.


    "Try and pick up these polishing stones," he said to the group, "they allow you to customize the stats which your weapon gives you. I didn''t see any on sale in Kruxol."


    Starfighter was up next, and Crucis saw him deliberating carefully over some equipment. He seemed to be familiar with this type of equipment, due to his experience with viges North of Kruxol. He picked out arge [Aimsa Elephantbone Sword], which moved surprisingly smoothly through the air as he tested it, as well as a strange, curved dagger named the [Sickle Jambiya], which had a very sharp edge. Since he had got good drops from the panther, he was able to also trade for an enchanted polishing stone.


    "Grab the spears here, since you use ''em," Starfighter told Akshel. "One of them expands as soon as it pierces the enemy, worsening the wound. It''s a beaut."


    Akshel nodded, and immediately exchanged a long piece of panther bone for the [Expanding Skeletal Spear], which was made from human bone. Along with it, he was able to pick up a polishing stone.


    Grisier walked up and managed to acquire a [Skeleton Blizzard] attack, which gained rapidly in power if the enemy was nearly dead. It could increase in power, summoning arge storm of ice and dealing up to 300% of its usual damage, if it was cast on an enemy who died. This hence made it very effective in dealing with groups of enemies, since if even one enemy was weak enough to die to it, the rest of the group would be assailed by a mighty attack. However, it required a water source nearby to be fully effective.


    In addition to this, he also acquired a [Blue Moon] spell, which chilled the opponent and made them less able to block attacks for 10 seconds.


    After that, it was Crucis'' turn to walk up. So far, from what he had seen, the vigers'' rewards were worth more than the gold that these panther remains would fetch. Although the approximate gold value of the rewards was simr, these items were rare and quite powerful. So he made sure to inspect the items on offer carefully. The daggers did look strong, but didn''t seem like a major upgrade on his existing weapons, and were mostly Strength-based and rtively heavy.


    "He says, ''Whew, good haul,''" the guardughed, tranting as the man beside him spoke. "Since you are Assassin, you can have a look at the daggers and swords. What kind of Assassin?"


    "Spy," Crucis answered.


    "Hey, not so loud! Just a joke. If you are a spy, you can try the [Sandgrass Talisman], it changes the colour of your outfit into a precise grey-green-beige pattern with ck stripes, which can effectively camouge across different environments. We developed it so that we could walk through the trees and the mountainous regions without being detected."


    Crucis picked up the red-and-gold, eye-shaped talisman, and saw its description:


    [Camouges the user effectively across several outdoors environments, using a traditional pattern to lessen detection. Your clothing will be modified immediately when this talisman is used. Only avable to the Spy sub-ss.]


    "Sure, I''ll take this," he said.


    "Good. Be careful, in close quarters enemies might still be able to see you, especially if you are in motion and in the open. It is best used at a longer range, in concealment, or when setting an ambush. In many situations, it is better to not use camouge, and instead dress as a civilian to blend in. So use this when you are in the wild."


    "Sure, got it. By the way, what are these stones?" Crucis pointed at a pile of dusty red stonesid next to the polishing stones.


    "Oh, I don''t think those are useful for your people. They are a stone we use for ritual, they have some chants and runes engraved on them."


    "I see. Well, I''ll just have a look."


    Crucis picked up the stones, and saw arge quantity of writingpressed onto its surface. There were also four,rge runes in chalky white on four sides of the cuboid stone. However, it was difficult to make out, because the stone had seemingly not been rendered fully by the game, and it was still a hazy red blob without clear details.


    As he picked it up, he noticed the game begin tog noticeably. His movements were slow, like when he had used [Arbitrate], and it was almost a struggle to slowly lug the stone up to get a better look. He tried to open his menu, but nothing happened. Thisgsted for 15 seconds, and during this time the stone gradually became clearer and its details started to appear, including the writing carefully etched across it and the three ck-spotted grey lines circling it horizontally at the top, bottom, and centre.


    Once the stone fully appeared, Crucis felt himself able to move freely again, and his menu popped up suddenly as he was preparing to speak. Awkwardly closing it again, he considered if this stone could be useful. Seemingly, due to itsplex ritual pattern and many precise inscriptions, the game had issues with loading it for yers and producedg while the object was loading. It could hence function in a simr way to [Arbitrate], andplement that move by allowing him moreg during which he could move. Combined with the camouge Talisman, he would be easily able to conceal himself in the wild, then ambush any yers that appeared nearby.


    "Can I have one of these?" Crucis said.


    "Are you sure? Do you have a use for it?" the guard replied.


    "Yes."


    "Well, we usually use them in twos, so you can take another one for free. This is an oddity, your kind rarely take these. Usually they willin about any items that do this, which is why you will not find them in major towns."


    "Sure, two is fine. In addition to that, can I have a polishing stone?"


    "That is fine. As I told the others, you should learn some cksmithing first, so that you know how to use polishing stone effectively. And one more item."


    Crucis gazed over the remaining items. His attention was drawn to an [Enforcer Machete], which converted 25% of the user''s Agility and Dexterity to a hidden stat named Primal Force when it was used. This hidden stat was typically only developed by the Berserker and Knight sub-sses, since their sub-ss skills included boosts to this stat. It increased their ability to strike powerfully while moving, converting their natural movements into attacks with their weapon. There were a few disadvantages to doing this, including that fighting while in rapid motion was typically less effective, but it was valuable when in pursuit of an enemy or when attacking enemy Mages or archers.


    Crucis had also seen a few early videos of Berserkers cutting vines out of the way as their party progressed forwards, and figured that this skill would probably be useful for grinding mobs. It might make up for theck of AoE skills for Assassins at this stage.


    "Can I have that machete, then?"


    "Sure, very good choice. It will make you able to attack while walking, jumping or running. The better your dagger technique, and the more agile you are, the more force it will generate."


    "Alright, thank you."


    Crucis walked out of the way, allowing the rest of the group to move through.


    While motion with this machete was slightly slower, he found its attacks surprisingly strong, raising up his hand and cutting out a somewhat thick tree branch as he walked under it. He hadn''t expected to cut out the whole branch, and hurried out of its way as he heard it starting to fall.


    Without missing a beat, one of the guards came over and grabbed the branch, running into the vige to toss it onto the ritual''srge fire. The chants of the possessed grew louder as the night started to darken.


    As the rest of the group collected their rewards, he heard a sudden ruckus of shouting and kickinge from inside one of the vige''s huts. The violet sh of a Mage yer''s robes emerged, dashing away from the vige, pursued closely by the possessed.

 Chapter 122: Raising the Stake

    Chapter 122: Raising the Stake


    The Mage raced desperately through the trees, with the sound of loud footsteps and violent shrieks echoing from behind her. Her long, curled brown hair sprayed around her in the evening wind, as she clung onto her robes tightly and ran blindly between the trees.


    As her pursuers grew further from the ritual fire, they slowed. She had cast a buff to her movement speed when escaping, and was able to outpace them, although she had no idea where she was going.


    She was just desperate not to be caught again.


    "Lots of noise out there, what''s going on?" DicingDevil asked the guard.


    "A prisoner just escaped," the guard exined.


    "A prisoner? He looks fast for a Mage, do you reckon you''ll catch him?"


    "It is a female, but she borrowed a male outfit from herpanion. She is named Diomede. We try our hardest to catch, but she may get away, since in human form we cannot pursue well," the guard exined.


    "She''s not getting away from us. Let''s help these guys out," Crucis said, summoning his Coelophysis mount.


    "Sounds good, I need to break in this spear," Akshel said.


    "Alright, everyone, on your Mounts!" DicingDevilmanded.


    Hearing the loud noise of a group of mounts following her, the Mage ducked into a thicker part of the trees.


    DicingDevil dismounted to follow her, and the rest of the group followed.


    Chasing her through the thick masses of leaves, Crucis found that his high Agility helped. Although she was moving quickly, it was difficult for her to dodge around the trees in her path, and she would asionally make a loud noise as he collided with a tree and struggled her way past it. Crucis dodged easily through the leaves, asionally using [Sound Sign] to pinpoint her location.


    But the first to reach her was Akshel, who had lucked into a path without many obstacles on the right side of the group.


    As he reached out to grab her from behind, he was propelled away with a [Mana Strike].


    However, he had expected that, and agilely twisted around to grab a tree and break his movement. As his feet screeched against the muddy ground, bringing him to a halt, he prepared to resume the chase. However, he found that he couldn''t move, and a thick, white, sticky slime had spread across his chest, pinning him to the tree. The slime shared the same colour as the female''s skin.


    The female had cast an unfamiliar spell, named [Golden Chains], which fastened Akshel in ce. As Akshel struggled against the white slime, he could feel her follow his motion and block it, as if she was somehow inside the slime. The slime almost seemed slug-like, adjusting its weight to try and keep Akshel tied to the tree.


    Suddenly cautious, DicingDevil slowed down slightly and typed in party chat.


    <strong>DicingDevil:</strong> tf was that?


    <strong>DicingDevil:</strong> i''m up next. crucis, cover me if sth goes wrong


    <strong>Crucis:</strong> kk


    Crucis drifted closer to the Mage, and saw that she was named [Diomede] and was level 38.


    DicingDevil used the Ariosto skill [Thrill of the Chase] as soon as he neared her, and his movement speed increased considerably until he was right behind her.


    As he grabbed her in a firm [Chokehold], trying to keep her in ce until the rest of the group could catch up, she cast [Newt Body].


    A green aura appeared around her, and her skin seemed to liquefy and slip down out of DicingDevil''s grip, allowing her to keep stumbling awkwardly forwards and away from him. Caught off-guard while rushing in, Crucis wed at her face and shoulders to try and hold her back, but she was seemingly immune to this and it was like trying to scratch water.


    Although there was a tree branch hanging in front of her, her body effortlessly contorted to bend beneath it, with her neck snapping back at an angle that barely looked survivable. Her skin glowed white-green, and moved like a thick liquid.


    Seemingly, there would be no use in trying to hold her in ce. Her body sprung desperately forwards, whatever obstacle got in her way.


    Crucis immediately switched weapons to the [Enforcer Machete]. The machete was seeminglypatible with many of the simpler cutting skills of both sword and dagger. That would be enough for now.


    As she dizzily tried to move ahead, seemingly confused by the strange contortions of her body during the [Newt Body] effect, he neared her and his arm snaked out to strike her roughly three times on the back of her neck with [Thrash].


    As she fell - almost flew - helplessly forwards to the ground, he saw that the back-left of her neck had broken apart, and blood was spilling across the ground. The leaves glistened, as red flowed down them likeva.


    He jumped over her body, and skidded to a stop.


    Kicking her hood aside, he saw a face that looked almost like a skeleton. However, in a few seconds, it reverted to the in, determined face of a young, brown-haired teenage girl. It was difficult to tell if she was Western or Korean, and her skin still seemed slightly slimy and contorted. While she was clearly dead, her lips seemed to asionally move, as if mimicking the process of breathing.


    "She is a witch," the vige guard said, catching up. "She is dead, but her magic is still hanging on and keeping her ''conscious,'' though only for a short time. Before that, we will carry her into the pyre, as a sacrifice. In this way we purify this space."


    One of the vigers pulled out a tall stake, with a sharpened edge, and lifted her pants to drive the stake between her legs. Crucis heard a hint of weeping and panting from her, but soon she was silent as the stake passed up through the hole in her neck. The stake was a white-brown wooden colour, but, covered with her blood, turned a glittering, wet poppy red.


    It looked almost majestic, as they hoisted vertically into the air and carried it back to the vige.


    "A witch? That makes sense, I guess, I haven''t seen any of these spells used before," Grisier said.


    "She must have been a new witch," Crucis said. "She didn''t seem used to the abilities she was using."


    "Yes, that is true," the guard answered. "We tried to interrogate her, and find out where she had learned these witch spells. However, she refused to tell us. It was as if tongue could not move. But outside of that, she is very talkative."


    "Her lips keep moving, even now. Is she saying something?"


    "No words that you or I know. But many dead witches act like this. It sounds like, ''bowo bowo,'' or maybe ''bowal bowal''. And the cadence is like the call of an owl."


    "So is there a witch somewhere nearby who taught her?"


    "It is quite possible. Maybe even a whole coven has moved near here. We will have to try and find this. But first, we shall extinguish the magic left inside her. Come back to the vige and watch."


    As they walked back towards the vige, the vigers politely offered them a few small gifts. Crucis received an extra enchanted polishing stone, as well as a few sticks of [Ritual Incense] and a small, ceremonial dagger. The attitude of the vigers towards them seemed much warmer, after their assistance.


    The stake carrying the witch was lifted towards the ritual. As she neared the fire, she began shaking uncontrobly.


    One viger took out arge stick with an iron mask attached at the end, and held it near the fire while the other vigers tossed a white powder over it. Soon, the iron part glowed a fiery white, and he held it like a branding iron. He lifted the mask towards the witch''s face, covering it in the scorching mask.


    Arge, poisoned spear was thrust through her right side, and blood spilled out wildly.


    "You saw her shake, that is what we call ''witch dance,''" the guard exined, "the witch''s magic grows restless in the corpse and now her blood and body are restless and fluid, they are dancing. We must extinguish all of her, or the magic will not leave us in peace."


    As the mask was drawn away from her face, ck burn marks criss-crossed her face and a strange, white-pink sludge seemed to jut out of her eyes. The mask was raised once again over her face.


    A few of the vigers raised daggers, and stabbed small, bleeding wounds across her body. Her body writhed anxiously as blood spilled. A few chunks of ice were thrown into therge spear-wound on her right. The vigers chanted towards therge figure of Dravaistaya.


    Soon, the female was almost still, except for an asional twitch.


    A viger wearing arge, feathered headpiece walked up with arge vial of semi-transparent white, acidic liquid, and poured it into her wounds, coating her insides. She let out a loud cry from beneath the mask, then was still.


    Finally, the stake was ced into the fire.


    "We all thank you," the guard said. "You may observe our ritual in peace, we will not give you trouble. However, it is best to remain at a distance. As you watch, we shall give you all a [Sacred Coal], and as the ritual goes on these will ''hatch'' into rewards for each of you."


    A few vigers walked towards the group, handing outrge pieces of ck coal with white paint spiralling across it. The paint seemed to glow with a simmering light, like it was on fire, but it was cool to the touch.


    "Thank you," DicingDevil said, taking the piece of coal with two hands. "It''s an honour."


    He stepped back involuntarily as a particrly loud series of shrieks came from the direction of the fire.


    "Ah, that is just our chanting," the guardughed. "Is loud. We have many ashes to offer up today."


    "What are you doing with the ashes?"


    "The ashes are of people who live in this region, like the vigers to our West. Through the ashes of their bodies, we have a connection to their gods. The gods of the people are tied to their tribes andmunities, to the body and blood. These ashes are like a rope around their hands. We can offer up a ''counterfeit'' prayer to their gods, and be rewarded with prosperity and powers. It is said that a follower of Dravaistaya who was named Hiranyakashipu was the first to use this method."


    "I see," Crucis said. "That''s quite impressive. We tried something simr by mimicking the Queen''s voice at a court nearby, to summon in a mirror. Seemingly, the summoning did not work without the Queen''s presence."


    "Ah, that is true. Even in a court, they have their rituals and superstitions. But this ritual is difficult! The prayer must describe the god''s domain, and if this is foundcking then it will be rejected. So we try to be precise and appropriate to each deity. But they are fussy, they will reject prayers for minor slights or even if nothing is wrong. Sometimes, the same prayer will be considered invalid one time, and valid the next attempt!"


    "Are they always this fussy with prayers?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Yes, in a way. However, on the sacred, histord of their people, they are much more pliable and will give more leeway to prayers. That is why we are trying to whittle away the vige nearby, because it used to be the site of a temple and arge gathering of our people, and if we could give these prayers there then they would be epted more easily. We have tested a few times in secret, and it is incredibly easy there... But here, it is a struggle. Now, watch, and I will tell you what is happening."


    Arge chant rose up from the ritual, as the vigers began to dance in circles around the fire.

 Chapter 123: Dance of the Fireflies

    Chapter 123: Dance of the Fireflies


    The vigers formed arge circle around the fire, and two of them stepped forwards until they were perilously close to the fire. As the ring of viges circled and danced around the fire, the two inside it danced wildly, thrashing their arms in the air and flinging their upper bodies dramatically up and down as if to dislocate their body.


    "Quite a dance, eh," Danemy said. "Is that safe?"


    "Ah, we would nevere up with something like this," the guard said, smiling. "It is the dance of the Emati people, because we are sending a prayer to their gods. In the earlier times, many of them had died in this way, to the fire. But they have pared back the dance slightly since then, and now we can follow it easily. It only looks dangerous, but we don''t find it difficult."


    Soon, the loud chanting and dancing stopped, and the vigers stood in ce, shuffling around disappointedly.


    "This prayer didn''t work," the guard sighed. "Well, this happens sometimes. It was a prayer to the Emati god of fortune, now we shall try a prayer to Aluriel, what is called in yournguage books their ''God of Witnessing Transcendence.'' But that is not exact, maybe better is ''God at the doorway to transcendence.'' The Emati say he stands at the gateway to heaven from earth, and shows the glory of heaven like a firefly in a dark night. The Emati say that moments of great beauty in nature, like pure waterfalls and mountains, are a disy of heaven. That is why they are so frantic in their dance, they think that the fire is a gateway to heaven, and they hence act wild as a fire in order to try andmune with the gods."


    "''Doorway to transcendence''? That''s quite aplex image," Crucis said. "What kind of prayer will you offer?"


    "He is also their god of ceremony and ritual, so if we can send a prayer to him, then maybe we will seed at contacting more of the Emati gods. Listen, I will tell you our prayer."


    The vigers began to dance again, simrly to thest time, but this time their shrieks were louder and almost sounded aggressive. As Crucis listened closely, he could make out that the beginning of the chant sounded like, ''chii ai sal aichii.''


    "Here is what they are singing, in a way you could understand:


    "Over the charred earth


    the wave of firelight flies,


    and beneath it our world


    is twice benighted


    by the fire''s scars and by its shadows.


    "O, star over the earth


    spreading your wings,


    you cast two shadows.


    No beauty resists your touch,


    no hope does not wither,


    and every king shall turn


    to find you staring there.


    "s, he who mounts a throne,


    shall someday see your fiery eyes


    waiting behind it,


    or he who vaunts upon the world,


    shall someday see the earth pale


    when a golden seed of your primrose is nted."


    "''Over the charred earth'' was the part which sounded like ''chii ai sal aichii''?" Crucis did, doing his best to sportingly imitate the strange, bat-likenguage of the vigers.


    The guard chuckled and patted him on the back, taking this attempt at thenguage in good faith, but responded seriously.


    "Yes. ''Sal'' means ''debris left below by something above,'' it is typically used for hurricane or storm. But here, since the fire is above the earth, I say ''charred.'' The word for ''benighted'' here is also like that, it is simr to ''shadowed'' in yournguage, but for us it is more strong, like eclipse by shadow. ''Firelight'' is maybe a strange word, but it is close to what we said."


    "I see. Well, that''s a good trantion, then, well done."


    "Thank you. This prayer was a sess, and we are rewarded with increased damage when we use magic, and better luck when forging weapons. Also, the ''sess rate'' of our prayers has increased for the next four attempts, especially for prayers to the Emati gods and those of their sister people, the Arkeet. Now we are debating which gods to try next."


    As the vigers huddled around the fire and talked quietly, Crucis noticed a loud, bell-like noise from the side, as Grisier''s [Sacred Coal] erupted into a heatless, magical white me. Soon, it had transformed into a [ck Powder Spell Scroll], a spell which allowed Cryomancers to summon and cast a ck powder that would cause intense cold if it touched the opponent. It was especially effective in a cold area, or if used in conjunction with ice.


    Crucis guessed that the ''ck powder'' might be the colder equivalent to the white powder which the vigers had used to heat the iron mask before cing it onto the witch.


    Now, the vigers began to form tworge rings around the fire, each rotating in opposite directions as they danced. The outer ring moved in a ceremonial, slow counter-clockwise direction, while the inner ring was even more slow and only made small, fragile movements and steps.


    "They have decided to give a prayer to a god of the Arkeet, name is Dorotea, she is known as the ''goddess of wretchedness.'' She inhabits all wretchedness and frailty, they say, and givesfort to the damned. The Arkeet are mostly extinct due to constant gue and disease, but we found a small outpost and killed them. They are a strange people, but also more powerful than the Emati, and that is why we send prayer to Dorotea."


    This time, the chant was more high-pitched and stately, and at times almost sounded like a slow, elegant rendition of ''O Fortuna.''


    The guard exined the chant.


    "Misery lovespany.


    "My sole bride is the flowers upon my grave,


    "Dorotea, sweet bride of pain,


    "you are the lithe shadow that follows


    the leper, in time with his step,


    and mirrors his suffering


    and never flees his side,


    "your pulse withers away each winter,


    like the song of a frail lyre,


    within the hearts


    of those who wander lost,


    "you are death to the dying


    and wail, by all suffering scarred.


    "You are the angel that follows us


    to the ce of execution,


    and the noose is your lips,


    "eternal bride of the damned.


    "You are the tear in the sapphire."


    After the chant was done, the mes leapt notably into the air, but from the ashes a still, silent voice called out in an unfamiliarnguage. The vigers talked among themselves quickly, then prepared to chant again.


    "The prayer was valid, but now she will ''interrogate'' us," the guard said. "Sometimes, even if the prayer describes their domain, they will ask further, more specific questions to make sure. It is a tricky matter."


    Crucis felt the sacred ash in his hands beginning to stir slightly, as if a fire asionally red up within it.


    "What''s their first question?" Danemy asked.


    "A voice whispered it from the ashes," the guard answered. "It is, ''How am I an angel in the ce of execution?''"


    "She''s fishing forpliments, is she?" Crucisughed. "Well, hopefully you pull this off."


    "Yes, yes. If she epts our answer, I think she will have another question."


    <em>Q. How am I an angel in the ce of execution?</em>


    You are the shadows that haunt the gallows,


    the hanged man''s choked cry is an echo of yours,


    your voice is hisst thought.


    Your lips purse in silken penitence,


    as you turn pale in his suffocation,


    and your body wilts


    beneath a lifeless stare.


    <em>Q. If this man wanted to see me, where could he find me?</em>


    You are around him


    in the withered shadows of his eyes,


    inside his heart,


    and his pale corpse is the white of your wedding dress.


    <em>Q. And how would he see me?</em>


    You dwell in the darkness


    evoked


    when suffering obscures the vision,


    and your world is a den of shadows,


    and your husband is a corpse,


    embraced in your white light,


    makingmunion in death,


    you have be one flesh.


    "Thest one was a ''trick question,''" the guardmented. "But it has been epted! Excellent. That is rare luck, perhaps because of the blessing of Aluriel."


    As this chant continued, Crucis'' [Sacred Ash] had increasingly dissolved into a white me. Now, this evaporated to reveal a small, elegant ck sculpture of a stallion wth a headless rider. The mighty ck stallion had a white, star-like mark on its head.


    The item was marked as [The Headless Horseman], and its effect was described as follows:


    [Confers the status effect ''Parasite'' to the user while activated. The user''s skin will rot, due to the effect of a parasite within the skin, but the parasite will carry out physical skills and nt itself upon the opponent with each sessful hit, allowing it to direct its attacks more urately. The user will be free to use misceneous or movement skills while the parasite is attacking. The attacks will grow stronger longer that the ''Parasite'' effectsts, but the effect will also start to drain the user''s HP, and it is dangerous to use it for a minute or above. CD: 30 minutes.]


    "I recognize this," the guard told him. "It is replica of a big ancient statue West of Kaxil, many different people worship there and say that it is one of their gods, but say the head fell off before. But Dravaistaya has told us that it was always headless. Some people have performed rituals in front of statue, and it allows them to even mutate their bodies, some grow extra limbs and climb trees like spiders... but it is overwhelming, it bes addictive and they turn to shells for the parasite."


    "I see. So is it safe to use?" Crucis said.


    "All thates from the sacred ash is powerful, so use it. The parasite''s effect will heal after you are done. But not for too long, and not too often."


    Crucis drew his sword, and activated [The Headless Horseman] in order to test it out.


    He felt patches of his arms deaden as if anaesthetised, and soon this sensation began to spread across his legs and even face. Looking down, he immediately saw that parts of his right arm had begun to rot to a sickly, grey-green shade, with some skin beginning to peel.


    As he scanned the rest of his body, there were many signs of this rot, which was spreading with each second. He even glimpsed, through the corner of his eye, a small, scar-like line of rot across the right side of his face.


    Putting his unease aside, he tried a basic [sh] with his sword. He saw his arm fly numbly from right to left, carrying his sword in an elegant, fast arc in front of him. He could barely feel the motion, but it looked forceful. The sword had glided with a strangebination of grace and rugged brute force, like a hunting osprey as its swoop submerges in water.


    Remembering the item''s description, he tried an [Overhead Strike]. As he noticed his arm begin to move, he used [Drift] to step to the side. The parasite effortlessly adapted to this, continuing the strike from its new position and following through with discipline.


    The parasitic infestation was growing deeper, and Crucis noticed that his arms were by now mostly grey-green, with a few hints of red and ck. As the rot set deeper, the parasite found fewer obstacles to its motion, and he could swing his sword at devastating speed. However, his HP was beginning to deplete, and while it was still just above 80% he wouldn''t have much time left to try this item.


    Trying a [Lunge], he felt his body sweep forwards nimbly under the effect of the parasite, and he decided to try a [Dodge Step] backwards to test the parasite further. As he stepped back, he saw that his arm had extended to twice its length, and continued to push forwards where he had originally lunged. The greening arm almost seemed to have a mucous life of its own, and retracted back into ce once it had finished the strike.


    Seemingly, as the parasite grew more powerful, it could pull off strange, alien-like feats that Crucis'' original body was incapable of.


    However, seeing his HP lower to 50%, Crucis immediately deactivated [The Headless Horseman], and his skin quickly returned to normal. He exhaled, as he settled calmly into his normal movements.


    The parasite was seemingly very powerful, but using it for long periods of time would be hazardous. It would be best saved for moments where he needed it.


    Looking around, he saw that DicingDevil and a few more yers had also gained items from the sacred ash. DicingDevil was sliding on a pair of versatile grey-blue gloves, while Konstantin was ying around curiously with a glowing, white stone.


    "What happened to your arm?" dimir asked light-heartedly. "You are Martian now?"


    "I got turned into some kind of zombie," Crucis replied bemusedly. "What did Konstantin get? It looks valuable."


    "He says it is [Light Stone], it increases speed of weapon a lot. Now he is bugging me, says he will be big Arch-Knight. Ambition is a danger!"


    Although dimir poked fun at Konstantin, it was clear that dimir was also enthusiastic about the idea of his friend bing an Arch-Knight, a sub-ss which was well-known for its power inbat.


    "That''s a good choice," DicingDevil said. "Have you got your reward yet?"


    "No, not yet..." dimir said. "Hopefully it is good."


    "Sure, good luck."


    Looking towards the fire, Crucis noticed that the vigers were in another loud chant, dancing around the fire in a simr, slow way tost time, though with slightly more stiffness and aggression to their movements. However, the chant seemingly fizzled out without a response.


    After a few sentences, they began the chant again.


    "We are trying now the Arkeet god named Demtzel, the god of ''longsuffering.'' Our first prayer failed, but we try it again, because it has worked before. They worship him as mighty god who saved them from ancient persecution and led them here, using his silver bow and arrows to fend off rival people, when he incarnated as man. It is unlikely legend, but they believe it. Their myth also has many stories of him having ''flings'' with their goddesses, including Dorotea and her sister Enia, goddess of the underworld. The stories are important to their religion, but we call it ''gossip-chant.''"


    He looked at the chant. "This is interesting gossip-chant, though. Here is what they say."


    The silver arrow does not sway in wind,


    it follows the call of destiny


    throughshing gales,


    and has no ambition or remorse.


    Though the heat tears you,


    and the cold drains your vigour,


    Dorotea walks with you always


    and you findfort in her eyes.


    Knight, cursed to wander aimless,


    like an albatross, the world,


    cursed with disease and ailment,


    and irresistably with death,


    Enia shall meet you in her underworld,


    and drench your wounds in tears,


    tears which she has saved forever


    in these years where she does not cry


    and the grave''s stare is grave and barren.


    As she embraces you, now-unwatered flowers shall flourish


    across the underworld for the first time.


    <em>Q. Why am I seen in Enia''s Mirror?</em>


    Enia''s diamond-likeke-mirror stretches


    across the great valley around her throne


    and she looks in it to see her beauty,


    reflected in its lively waters, that drop


    from earth''s purest geysers untainted.


    She sees there the beauty of death in life,


    the beauty of your wounded, ursed body,


    a mirror to death from the world of life.


    And you shall one day see yourself in her eyes,


    and fall into her hands like a sigh into silence.


    That is why you are seen in her mirror.


    <em>Q. What is love?</em>


    It is a conjured pain


    when the soul is born in strife,


    and needs this hurt to feel


    like itself.


    It is the song of the emotions,


    which bleed life''s vividness away


    until they can repose


    in their home, the grave.


    It is the marriage of your suffering


    with death, where it belongs,


    and it is the vigour of wretchedness


    as it haunts the diseased sufferer,


    envious that death shall take him


    and end their lovely grotesque.


    It is the hope of hearts long-dead,


    and the answer that exults in ringing hollow.


    <em>Q. I sang to Dorotea once, and won her over, birthing my son Hysteria. How did I sing, ording to the legends?</em>


    ''The world has turned cold.


    You will not know your hopes,


    you will not dream;


    just lie here with me,


    and we will dream in death.


    There forms nothing new here


    to unparch us with new sensations


    and even the sun is a fearsomence


    that hisses its mes at us,


    so talk about nothing.


    Let us go. We shall find what dreams,


    what beautiful pallid dreams, you weave


    when the night has enveloped


    so deep that we cannot dream.


    You''ll find a home from home,


    furnished with the hearth of my desire.


    I know your heart will never stop,


    it is the leaping light that guides us


    like a star.''


    The fire red up, and the prayer was sessful.


    "Excellent, but all of these interrogations make me nervous," the guard said. "It is often better to try and find a god who can be reached in one prayer, because the longer an interrogation, the more time for it to be discounted pettily. But the Emati and Arkeet gods are like this, and it was worth trying. Now our ''Constitution'' will be higher, and we will get stronger the more that we are attacked. But we can move on to other gods now."


    In the meantime, Crucis noticed that Danemy had a new, triangr ck dagger which had emerged from the sacred ash. As Danemy tested it out, it was clear that this de was incredibly sharp, despite its simple, short, blocky appearance.


    The vigers had already begun a new dance, now all in one, disorganised ring around the fire. They began to shriek loudly, but in an almost colloquial, understated rhythm.


    "What''s this new chant?" DicingDevil asked the guard casually. "By the way, this ritual is impressive. I think we have some idea of how it works, is there any way that we could help out?"


    "Hm. You could, in fact, and you may also get some rewards. But it is unsafe for you toe near the fire. There is something else. We mostly live in this area, but some gods are based on things you might know more. We would like to try challenging these gods. You could etch a chant on a stone like this, to guide us."


    He picked up a red, cuboid stone, that looked like a less decorated version of the ones which Crucis had taken forg purposes.


    Holding out the stone, the guard said, "You may all write one or two lines on paper, if you have it, and I will try to trante them onto this stone. If you do well, then it will help us, by showing the way, also kindling the fire further. And you will also get some benefits if the prayer seeds."


    "Alright," DicingDevil said. "We can start with the next god. But which god is the current chant for? It''s very calm."


    "It is for a goddess of the Mikan people, they are a strange people. Both lewd and prosaic, always excited but also in drudgery. This is to Ilmajes, their goddess of ''hope in despair.''"


    I saw you in the storm,


    we were walking in the smog that grows beneath heavy rain,


    ck air that pools like ck blood


    as if earth failed to breathe in smothering rain''s fabric,


    I saw an angel,


    and your light bleached the clouds white,


    until the rain seemed snowkes cut from crystal;


    your small hand was a bursting sun


    on the earth.


    There is no sce for the damned


    except to dissolve


    in your fingers'' touch.


    Ilmajes, our morning star!


    Your grace is all that''s left of us!


    As the prayer was epted, a faint drizzle began to pour from the clouds.


    A few of the vigers climbed up a hut and precautiously grabbed hold of arge, wooden tform leaning against it, preparing to build a temporary shelter from rain to protect the fire if necessary. But in seconds the drizzle had abated.


    Starfighter''s sacred ash had red up, leaving behind what looked like a sword with multiple long, silver des. However, as he lifted it, it became clear that what had appeared to be the des of a sword were actually long, ded whips, and he whirled them lightly in the air to make sure. The silver whips spread fluidly through the air like waves of rain.


    Crucis saw that the weapon was named [Urumi].


    "That is a special weapon," the guard told Starfighter. "You must know at least basic whip skill to use it. But it is a weapon that is in constant motion, a very dangerous one for both the user and enemy. So you must be skilled to use it well. It leaves deep wounds and bleeding, flesh torn apart, and if against many opponents they will have many wounds even from one Urumi user. But not as lethal as dagger or sword, so we switch to those at the end of fight."


    Starfighter tried to whirl the Urumi around and sh it forwards, as a test, but soon stopped after he identally cut a small wound on his arm with the whirring des.


    "I have some experience with whips, since I helped some Eastern vigers with quests involving herding animals," Starfighter mentioned. "But this thing is crazy. Its movement speed is way higher than anything else, it''s going to hurt if it hits me by ident."


    Although he spoke in a resigned tone, he began covertly increasing the level of his [Whip Handling] skill, not one to turn down a challenge like this. Further, the attacks of these long whips were almost akin to AoE, and would be very effective at grinding in the wild if he could figure them out.


    "Let us show you," the guard said, smiling. He held out his hand, and Starfighter handed him the Urumi.


    Another vige guard picked up a grey Urumi of his own, which looked quite battered from years of use, and walked over for a makeshift duel.

 Chapter 124: Swan Song

    Chapter 124: Swan Song


    The two vigers squared up to each other.


    There was a blinding white sh as the two lunged into battle, and, as it cleared, their whips could be seen, zing like will-''o''-wisps as they whirled at high velocity through the air.


    Each made several rapid strikes towards the opponent, only to be fended off just as quickly with either a shield or by the des of a whip. They were using small, round shields, only slightlyrger than their hands, but reacted quickly to ward off attacks.


    Soon, the white glow around their weapons faded, and they both stepped back briefly to catch their breaths.


    "That is the blessing of Ilmajes," the English-speaking guard said, turning towards the watching yers. "Increases speed at beginning of fight. We show off a bit."


    Heughed lightly, and the yers joined in.


    However, in seconds, his face took on a serious, focused expression again, and he jumped forwards back into the fight with a series of attacks. Although the fighters weren''t moving as quickly as earlier, their des were still a blur in the air as they spun in an immediate sequence of attack and response.


    While, at first, Crucis found it difficult to make out what was happening among the whirring of des, soon it seemed to take on a sort of order. Eachbatant was keeping their Urumi in constant motion, making it dangerous for the opponent to approach, and venturing forwards to strike when they saw an opening. There were a few feints and sudden movements, attempting to throw the foe off their game.


    The vigers anticipated each other''s strikes, moving their own Urumi to cover their opponent''s likely angles of attack as they carefully observed each other''s stance. As each stepped forwards, their opponent''s whip des buzzed nearby, creating a buffer. As a result, they kept distance from each other, unless they saw a promising opportunity. Their attacks resembled cuts with a sword, and their whips cracked fiercely from above, sounding like the fire behind them. However, they were mostly able to raise their shield and duck out of the way.


    Some of the vigers from around the fire hade along to watch, and were cheering on the fight. Crucis noticed that some of the vigers'' faces had been deformed into petrified, screaming masks, slightly like an eagle, and this slowly reverted into a normal, tan human face as they stood away from the ritual fire.


    Soon, the English-speaking guard managed to duck under an attack, then deftly channel his whips into a strike at his opponent''s feet. He telegraphed his attack slightly, exaggerating his movement to make sure that his opponent wouldn''t risk injury, but the angle of attack still took his opponent by surprise. His opponent, caught off-bnce, had to jump out of the way, but lost bnce and fell lightly to the ground. He yfully swirled his Urumi in a theatrical figure-eight above his opponent''s body, before backing off. Smiling widely, the fallen viger held his ankle with one hand and shared a brief conversation andugh with the victoriousbatant. He seemed to be indicating that his ankle had sprained slightly, but took it in good spirits.


    The English-speaking guard walked back towards the yers, and said almost apologetically, "Is lucky, he was using old, slow whip. He beats me on most days."


    "Well done," Starfighter said. "I have no idea how you guys did that."


    A crowd of vigers was still standing on the nearby edge of the vige, after watching the fight, with some slowly walking back towards the fire.


    "You figure out someday," the guard replied. "Have you been upgrading whip skill?"


    "Yes, how did you know?"


    "It''s what I would do!" The guardughed. "Maybe you could use the Urumi well now. But I won''t make you show off in front of everyone!"


    Starfighter smiled. "By the way, do you know what ''Whip Perk'' to choose? It asked me to choose one, since my whip skill is at level 10."


    "Um, only a few can be chosen at start, right? Best for you is probably called [Entangle], it means whip will easily wrap around opponent on hit. With ded whip, that is very damaging!"


    "I see. So can you use this weapon against armoured opponents?"


    "Is best for lighter armour or no armour. Most enemies in wild are like that. Against armour, it will not deter enemy as much, but if it wraps around a weak spot then can still be painful. Is best to trip them up, then attack with sword or dagger. You can also dismount enemies easily. But since yours was gift of Dravaistaya, it will probably be enchanted once you injure fifty or hundred people with it."


    "And what will that do?"


    "You know the ''tentacles'' of a jellyfish? It will sting like that, even if opponent is wearing armour. It is called [Death''s Embrace]."


    "Sure. I''ll make sure to use it often, then."


    "Best way to reach that is to ambush many people at once."


    "Now there''s a n."


    The vigers had begun walking back to the fire after the fight, but had sat around near it and were currently discussing feverishly what to do next.


    "OK, so we will need your help for the next prayer," the guard said, turning to the group of yers. "It is to a goddess of the Lami people, named Suwa. She is based on a woman from your people''s mythology. That is called Leda."


    Crucisughed. "Leda? Of all the people for them to worship."


    "The Lami myth is strange. They think all gods are good spirits, they live in the world and bless it. So Suwa is entangled with the god in form of a swan, and has be a goddess. She always appears entangled with the swan, which has grown into her. But what is story of Leda?"


    "Well, that was an ancient Greek myth," Grisier said. "To simplify, Zeus was drawn to a woman named Leda, so he took the form of a swan to get close to her, under the pretext that he was being attacked by an eagle. He then forced himself on her, causing her toy an egg, and her children supposedly included Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, Castor, and Pollux."


    "Ah, that is it. Good, we did not know, and have often failed in prayer to Suwa. There is also a legend of herying an egg, it is said that the egg is hidden deep within the earth, and when it hatches her daughter''s beauty shall cause people on earth to fight at the time of Ragnarok. Strange people."


    "I see. Helen was involved in the Trojan War, and this seems like a simr tale."


    "Yes, I see. Can you please write some lines, information, anything like that, on this stone? Maybe even draw, if it helps us to see what is happening." The guard held out a red stone, with a few small, finger-length white stones next to it which could be used to write.


    "Alright, thanks. Grisier, take charge," DicingDevil said.


    Grisier wrote a brief summary of the Leda story on the stone, including a few more details. On the other faces of the stone, the rest of the party scribbled a few lines and illustrations.


    Thinking about the guard''s ount of Suwa, Crucis found it strange that the Zeus-based swan seemed to be reduced to practically an essory for the female. The swan was employed as a sort of eroticised simile for her own appearance. However, he figured that this was probably something worth mentioning if they were going to be offering worship and praise. He added the lines, ''The swan''s grace is a monument to you, / it asks no more; / its desire is to be lost in you.''


    The guard quickly wrote a few trantions for the lines, then carried them over to the fire.


    The vigers around the fire began a chant, moving in an orderly and slow dance around the fire, as the guard exined what they were saying.


    Swan-adorned beauty,


    your pale, smooth marble expanse of skin shirks


    (like a lily''s skin)


    from the earth''s rugged gifts,


    and you only respond, still trembling,


    to the swan''s embrace,


    moaning as its wings pin your flightlike soul to earth.


    Its grace is a monument to you,


    it asks no more.


    Its feathers'' white will not diminish, bleached in your tears,


    as it entangles in you,


    and it consecrates the unearthly paleness of your skin


    within the wildest wish to fly.


    Though your beauty is firmly radiant


    across the earth,


    it is to the heavens you belong,


    yet even the heavens shall never please you.


    After this chant, there was the soft murmur of a feminine voice heard from the fire.


    "Ah, they are asking a question about the swan," the guard smiled. "It happens often. We did not know how to answer before. Let us try now."


    <em>Q. How did the swan find its way into my arms, while I was in the mountain pool?</em>


    You wilted away from the stones'' dry touch,


    and from the creatures of the forest,


    and the earth was barren and unbeautiful for you:


    a weight to bear, like a heavy crucifix.


    Then an eagle screeched in the sky,


    its mouth agape


    and its feathers hard and pointed like many mountain peaks,


    with a face like a dragon''s,


    and charging through the sky like a dragon.


    It was chasing a soft-feathered swan,


    whose feathers spread like a peacock''s


    in luxuriant white,


    as it spiralled through the sky


    towards the pool around you.


    In its imperilled beauty


    you saw your own,


    hooked by the sharp talons of this earth


    which dragged your soul


    from where it would leap.


    You saved it, and held it close to you,


    and its feathers were like an incense of white shade


    glowing into the air


    as if to paint your likeness.


    It rested limply on the water, leaning into your grasp.


    Yet the swan''s reflection in the water


    was the figure of the eagle,


    staring up at you


    with a gaze like a crocodile''s;


    the swan heavily reared up and took you by force,


    and it nestled deep inside you,


    trembling as your body trembled in bereavement,


    it was absorbed into your skin''s embrace,


    and melted into you, never to be parted.


    Your beauty chipped away its pride,


    and its sole desire is to be lost in you.


    Can itmit an offence in abasing itself that you might be exalted?


    Q. Tell me the prophecy delivered about my child, Mikama.


    ''She shall be born of the crystalline egg


    which is incubated in caverns beneath the earth,


    and her skin shall be pale, as her mother,


    and her graceful posture shall be as the swan,


    and her hair shall be the red of bereavement,


    ''and she is known as the ''swan-child.''


    She shall grow up a lonely youth,


    passing like a ghost among a foreign people


    who are strangers to thisnd,


    ''but her beauty shall soon begin wars between the nations,


    that the heaven''s strife of Ragnarok


    may be mirrored upon the earth.


    ''Many shall vie for her,


    and two shall im her,


    and she shall be betrothed to two.


    And they shall tear each other''s skin.''


    "''A foreign people''?" Danemy asked. "What does this mean?"


    "It means people like you, we think," the guard said, jovially adding, "But don''t worry, it is perhaps not you. Although you are like a ghost, and I was scared because you spoke right behind me, and I did not hear you walk there."


    Danemyughed. "Okay, sorry. But my hair is ck, and I don''t have a posture as graceful as the swan."


    He hunched over slightly, to illustrate his typically slouched posture.


    "Well, perhaps it is best. Because it is said that she will be killed by her greatest fear, and by her greatest love. Quite depressing."


    "Gives a new meaning to ''thrill kill.'' But if her two husbands will ''tear each other''s skin,'' and perhaps die, then how will they find the time to kill her?"


    "Perhaps this girl''s ''greatest love'' doesn''t refer to either of those two boys," Crucis noted. "Perhaps it refers to cars and money."


    "Actually very possible."


    The fire red up, and Crucis noticed that he had received a buff and an item.


    "The prayer has seeded," the guard said. "Thank you, it is the first time we have managed this with Suwa."


    "You''re wee," DicingDevil said. "We also get some rewards for it?"


    "Yes. You now have blessing called [White Peacock], that increases your Dexterity when your health decreases. It is for a week. You will also have a [Page of Prophecy]. It will not tell your fortune! It is a page that will remain nk for one day, then will show a prophecy about Ragnarok. It is like a [Lore Page]."


    Crucis noticed this in his inventory. It was nk, as said. The description said, ''A page about the signs of Ragnarok, it appears as an innocuous nk page to viewers. You are lucky to have picked it out!''


    "Great. So this ''Suwa'' story might actuallye upter here, when Ragnarok urs?" Grisier asked.


    "It is likely fable," the guard replied. "But the prophecy of Mikama is believed even among worshippers of Dravaistaya, so we believe there may be some truth in it. But Suwa? I think it is amon story of swan-female, and some other cultures had simr story before, so I think it is adapted. We know that she is simr to the Arkeet goddess Signis, though not entirely.


    "Signis is said to be an albino young woman who was married to a wealthy, highly esteemed man, but, instead of indulging her husband, she spent years stargazing on a verandah and refusing to move. Finally, her husband came and grabbed her, in order to drag her into bed. He shouted, ''What the heavens have joined, do not keep apart!'' However, when he grabbed her, she disappeared, and the constetion Cygnau, the Swan, shone brightly that night with a pale, sickly colour like hers. The locals were astounded, and realised that she was a goddess, not an ordinary person. But we do not trust this story, because it is based in the fabled ancient Arkeet city of Pcia, which never existed. I think it is a watered down story based on some earlier myths."


    "I see. Yes, cultural osmosis ismon with these kinds of stories," Grisier said. "I mean, the spread of a story between cultu-"


    "No, I know what you mean," the guard snickered, as if to suggest that he could process and respond to English easily, and only talked like this because it was part of the game''s standard setting for most remote viges. "It is obvious metaphor."


    Crucis guessed that these vigers could probably speak more freely, like Sharak and Fahiz, because they were free-wheeling AI-based characters that could adapt more than normal NPCs. However, the default viger settings seemingly included a few filters and rules that limited this.


    "So what''s the next deity? I see the people are preparing for another ritual," Grisier said, seeing a few of the vigers stretching their legs and preparing for a new chant.


    "Next one is easy," the guard said, "it is the ''ck angel,'' Avrai, who has a horrid appearance like a skeleton falling apart, and appears in a ck cloak. But sometimes he will appear as an angel of light. The Maraki people, who are nomadic and used to inhabit Maraket before it was invaded, consider him as the god of unjust death. He was once an enemy of the gods, they said, but then they had to recruit him to do the dirty work that no other god wanted to do.


    "He ims the deaths of those who are unjustly dead. We know him well, because he is a [Void Lich], a lich whose body is fully or mostly extinguished, and who appears as primarily a shroud of ck mist. He is named Arve, and sacrificed himself wholly so that he could fully dedicate himself to Dravaistaya, and now many call him an ''angel of Dravaistaya.'' As a result, it is simple for us, since he is like us."


    The next chant began, with horrific, high-pitched screeching punctuated with a patter of softer squeaking noises.


    The guard exined it.


    ck angel,


    why do you hover before me,


    bloody-eyed, with your wed feet extended?


    Your hatred grips me.


    As you grasp my chest, I feel as if Hell''s fire consumes my heart,


    as my body shudders to cremated death


    you came as the crow flies.


    "Thest line was, ''you came as Odin''s ravens to his hand,'' but that is just a way of speaking for us, it is not aparison. It means ''immediately,'' or ''by straight path,'' so almost same as your phrase, ''as the crow flies.''"


    "An idiom?" Grisier said.


    "Yes, is that," the guard said with a wink.


    "It''s appropriate, since it''s a ck bird for a ck angel."


    "That is why we chose this ''idiom.'' But is important to grasp the meaning. Avrai is said to appear very quickly, and is startling and dangerous. The Maraki people are often too scared to pray to him!"


    Soon, the fire red up again, signalling that the prayer was epted.


    "Good," the guard said, "now our next three prayers will be more likely to seed. Also we will gain more damage when opponent is lower in health. But you should help us with the next prayer. It is about the god of music and despair. ''Despair'' meaning: religious despair, and istion from the heavens. He is called Arshin, but he is based on ''Orpheus.''"


    "Alright, what would you like to know about Orpheus?" Grisier said. "I know there were many myths about him, though I couldn''t tell you all of them. But I know the basic story, obviously."


    "Firstly, what is his wife''s name? The Eira people say that she has died, and he goes every fortnight to the underworld to try and win her back, but he cannot. So he pleads with the heavens, to free her, so that his inspiring music can y again. I think she has the same name as in your myth, but we do not know it."


    "Eurydice. There is a tale of her going to the underworld to retrieve her, but not every fortnight. That might be a part of the Eira myth, though."


    "Yes, it is. It is because he is also known as ''Sisyphus'' here. What is this?"


    "He is known for pushing a rock up and down in Tartarus, as a representation of futilebour."


    "I see. Anyway, you may write on the stone, and we will try to do this well."


    The group once again wrote some information about the Orpheus story on a red stone.


    Meanwhile, some of the vigers had draped themselves in capes and cloaks of regal, dark purple. Soon, the solemn chant began.


    I have seen no fire''s re.


    The waterfall is an empty cliff.


    No light rises from our grave.


    The unmoving seas make no sound;


    the shore freezes in stone


    that bleeds our feet to walk in it.


    I have never known mercy,


    and kindness fades when tested.


    I tread the grave like a worm,


    feeling my way with my hands,


    for there is no light to be seen.


    Cursed are we, bound in this y,


    to know nothing of the heavens!


    And even your love, Eurydice, lies dead.


    You listen to your lyre''s music


    and it does not stir you at all,


    and you have abandoned it to the dust.


    No beauty thrills us, and desire


    is merely a grasping that taxes us


    with Sisypheanbours toe.


    And your dawn chorus never springs any more.


    It is as Eurydice, departed from us,


    drained away into the heart of this corpse


    that we inhabit and wander across innocuously.


    Shall heaven''s light ever fall to the earth?


    Whenes dawn? And shall the light revive her?


    Shall Heaven''s light be violent waves, and mes,


    plucked upon the strings of your abandoned lyre,


    like a string of sonorous eruptions in our hearts?


    For us there is no night or day,


    nor do we wake,


    for the sun no longer liberates us


    from slumber without rest,


    until the heavens shall pierce


    the clouds with their


    burning star,


    and our eyes would rejoice


    even if we''d die from its beauty.


    The fire turned a sickly, pale shade as it rose towards the sky, as the prayer was epted.


    Crucis saw that he had been granted an ability named [Mourning Song], which decreased the opponent''s weapon speed by 5% by every 10% HP he lost to them. It would alsost for a week. Along with this, he had received another [Venom Ritual], which gave a chance at spawning the [Fang of Jormungandr]. He tried it out, and saw a few yers in the group trying to use it, but none of them managed to luck into summoning the weapon.


    "No dice, but it was worth a try," DicingDevil said. "This Orpheus sounds quite sad. But I guess he''s like the people here, who think they''re trapped from the world."


    "We have heard of this. It is a false belief," the guard replied. "Ask yourself, does the origin story of your people sound believable? You speak of capitalism and democracy and many such things. Every activity for your people is just a financial petition.'' These are all just games. But who makes a game that is based on people''s opinion? It is silly, nobody would permit themselves to lose, and nobody could win. Everyone would cheat. It could not be, unless some people were artificially elevated over others. And then why have a game? I think it is just a shadowy imagination, based on our world, because your people in town cry and want their tears to be the world axis."


    "Hm, ''origin story''? Like Romulus and Remus?" Crucis said. "That''s an interesting way to look at it."


    "Well, that''s all it amounts to, when we''re trapped here," DicingDevil said.


    "Very good. What matters if what you are, not where you came from, or where you go," the guard said. "The next god we will pray to is Oseno, he is a god of the Lami people, like Suwa. He is also sometimes called like Sisyphus or Orpheus. He rides arge horse into the night, trying to reach his beloved in a castle. We do not know what her name is, but her sight is said to lead him on like a ''snowy owl,'' so perhaps she is simr to Suwa. Some myths called her Signa, but we think that is a corruption of the local Signis myth."


    "Do you need any further information for this?" DicingDevil asked.


    "Mostly, we know the Sisyphus and Orpheus stories now, so it should work. But do you know who is Tantal? They say he is like Sisyphus."


    "Tantalus? I think he was the beginning of the story of the tragic story of the House of Atreus," Grisier said. "He served his son''s remains to the gods. An interesting guy. But he was supposedly sent to Tartarus, and he was given a fruit tree to reach for, but it would recede from his grip."


    "I see. Maybe write something on this, then we will see. Oseno is difficult, but gives good rewards, so we shall try now since he is simr to thest. Its rhythm is simr to other Lami chants, with ''parenthetical'' line in the first verse."


    The group quickly wrote some information and lines. Crucis added the lines, ''around you, shapes like mirages in the night / dissolving like a dream ends, / even though you bid it stay.''


    The vigers'' chant soon began, with a simr tone to the one they had given to Arshin.


    You ride on,


    into the night,


    wherever the owl


    (a powdery white star)


    takes you.


    You are armoured with desire,


    and your tired heart


    feels like coal lighting on fire,


    as you glimpse the castles in the distance


    by starlight.


    They shall always be far from you,


    shapes like mirages in the night


    dissolving like a dream ends


    even though you bid it stay.


    But your pursuit shall never end,


    and no hag, or demonic figure in ck,


    that perches on you heavily and bids your heart to still


    shall ever chasten your ambition.


    However, there was no reaction.


    "This prayer did not work. Well, that is not rare," the guard said. "Perhaps the same chant will work if we tryter. Usually, most prayers do not, but today we are blessed with some good luck. But you will have to go soon, yes?"


    DicingDevil checked the time, then nodded. "Yes, we''ll go soon. But we have some time. There was apparently some kerfuffle in town, the GMs announced a new feature and some people are excited about it. There''s a new building appearing on the North-East end of Kruxol, and during that construction things are a bitggy in town. So Darys is waiting it out before the celebrations."


    "Okay. Well, there is one more god we would like to contact, who you can help us with. It will be a long prayer, but the rewards will be great. And after that, you can return."


    "Alright, what would you like to know?" Grisier asked. "We should be able to help."


    "The god is named Nazereit, worshipped by the Maraki people, although most Western and nomadic people have simr stories where he has a different name. He is based on your ''Jesus Christ'' character, but is not quite the same. He is a crucified, ghostly figure, who sometimes materialises out of nowhere as a ghostly apparition - still on the cross - to preach his sayings. Some people say they have seen him, and were terrified. His spine bursts out through his back, and his chest is torn and bleeding. It is also said that his voice can sometimes bring death or curses to listeners."


    "So does he have something like the Gospels about him?"


    "He is primarily known through collections of his sayings. There are a few collections, but must match, although some have added the obscure, also controversial, sayings called the ''sayings of hidden wisdom.'' But we would like to know some things about his sayings. Firstly, though, what are your stories of Jesus like, other than his sayings?"


    "Other than preaching, hemits miracles, gathers his Apostles, that kind of thing," Grisier said. "How much of this ount is urate is disputed. But many of these stories are well-known."


    "And he is also tempted by Satan in a desert," Crucis added. "Or near the Temple in Israel. Though I doubt that''s exactly what happened. Not only does he seemingly zip between locations, but also finds a mountain that is so high he can see all the kingdoms of the earth. That seems unlikely. But who knows, right? There would only be two witnesses: Jesus and Satan. Still, I''m inclined to doubt it."


    "I see. That is quite different from Nazereit. He mostly ''lives'' in his sayings. What did this Jesus preach about?"


    "Well, about the kingdom of God, sacrifice for its sake, that kind of thing, I think?" Akshel said.


    "''Kingdom''? I thought your people often disliked kingdoms."


    "It was predominant at the time of the first century, and the Roman Empire was still atrge," Grisier noted.


    "Oh, I see. Why are all your gods so old? You cannot admire the world any longer?"


    Crucis replied, "Perhaps. As Swinburne said, ''O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; / We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death.''"


    "It may be. Anyway, it is good to know that the word for that is ''kingdom.'' You can write some lines, maybe, about how you remember Jesus speaking? I think that may help us."


    "From the Gospels? Well, sure."


    "Anything else to say about them, for now?"


    "Jesus'' sayings were often striking or paradoxical, employing parable in order to convey truths in ways that often seem counter-intuitive," Grisier mentioned. "He is also often quite extreme, saying that men must hate their father and mother, etcetera, in order to follow him, or that he came not to bring peace, but a sword. Many different early Christian sects had many different views on him, and I''m not sure which would be correct."


    "That sounds like Nazereit. Also, there is a word he uses often, that we are not sure of, it is like, a herd or gathering of animals?"


    "Didn''t Jesus often speak of a flock? Like, of sheep?" Akshel said.


    "Yes, that''s a fairly frequent analogy. And he often speaks of himself or his ''father'' as a ''shepherd,''" Grisier added.


    "Ah, ''shepherd.'' We knew it was something like, ''man who leads animals,'' but again were not sure. That is good. He tends to ask for some of his sayings, but so far our phrasing of these has been uncertain."


    The group wrote a few quotations from Jesus'' parables, with dimir and Konstantin joining in with a drawing of a flock of sheep, before the guard took it towards the people by the fire.


    The chant for Nazereit was much calmer than the previous ones, sounding almost like ordinary, promatory speech.


    Cadaver, hanging from a cross!


    Many have spoken of your folly.


    You have no ire,


    no hint of doubt in your eyes,


    at speaking the most violent paradoxes.


    Do you not listen to the usations against you?


    For many have criticised you.


    But should the whole world throw calumny on you,


    you would not esteem it.


    Your voice flies like a bat:


    like the shadow across a mountain


    with a pyre at its peak,


    your words whisper in a flickering, anarchic y,


    that will not pause to a defined meaning


    and interrupt its y,


    that kites like a jagged wind


    from side to side, and none know where itnds.


    You bring no refuge, but a vicious storm,


    and then im it is clear skies.


    You say your kingdom shall never be,


    and you say you were sent from it.


    You preach of serpents at Heaven''s gates,


    and say that virtue is alien to the heavens,


    and shall never enter them.


    You say, God is greater than this earth,


    and then you say, I have seen God,


    for he has forsaken me andmanded my death,


    for he has chosen your people, and hates me,


    and I will cast him into the fire,


    and he will choke upon the smoke.


    Your whispers are like the hiss of wind in trees,


    and your presence is like the basilisk,


    for all, even those who would ignore you,


    have stood still


    and listened in terror to your voice,


    though all you say is mystery.


    <em>Q. What are some of my sayings?</em>


    ''You have found meaning on earth.


    Do not bother me about things of heaven.


    I shall not cast pearls before swine.''


    ''I tell you, if I spoke from atop the clouds,


    and said that I was the representative of the heavens,


    then the people would not hear me.''


    ''The kingdom of heaven is of the meek,


    those who have not stored up treasures on earth,


    and have not stirred with pride and ambition


    to own the shine of earthly glory.


    All that I cast aside are like stars!


    Witness yourselves, decked with the pearls of earth!


    And the gutter of heaven is thus its most grandiose ce.


    Above, its halls are green, aging wood, like that you see me wear.''


    ''You say, if you too reject the Emperor,


    why do you not join our rebellion?


    Friends, we are as two conscripts.


    You pine to fight on fields of glory,


    but I am a deserter,


    who would run with all my heart from these fields


    and back to the kingdom from where I came.


    I tell you, set not your ambitions upon this earth.


    What glory is there here


    but to die as a perjured criminal?


    If you asked me for this, I would surely assent,


    but it is not my decision,


    it shall be yours.''


    ''You ask me why I dwell among the poor,


    and have ragged appearance,


    and you beseech me that it is best to change.


    I am as amb, and my shepherd


    has barred me from the fields of plenty.


    How shall I doubt the shepherd?


    For I follow his word on instinct,


    and do not renege on his leastmand.


    For the shepherd is my King,


    and I follow his word


    and do not stop to question it.


    But what if, like Eve, I could be swayed by argument?


    Or what if, like Adam, I could be swayed by earthly love?


    Then the shepherd should find me,


    and should curse me, and say he will not have me again,


    and stab me, because I am now of no use.''


    ''The world has not understood me.


    How shall it understand you?


    And what does this understanding bring, but a handful of doubt,


    for perhaps you have not spoken the truth I told you?''


    ''My shepherd is a jealous man.


    He saw that his neighbour''s flock were beautiful,


    like marble and mist at once,


    so he went to all the most beautiful of his flock


    and said, you do not belong here,


    and gifted them to his neighbour.


    Then he set the neighbour''s farm on fire.


    But do not decry him, good men!


    For he is just an ordinary shepherd,


    and only acts as cruelly as anymon man.


    For have you not murdered the prophets?


    And how quick are you to praise the worldly,


    and quicker still to anger at men of the heavens?''


    ''You all scurry with your noses to the ground,


    so how will you follow me? You cannot see where I am going.''


    ''You have debated, does beauty lie inside or out?


    My shepherd has said, I have killed a peacock


    so that I may wear its feathers.


    He has also said, if a sheep is well suited for food,


    then we will kill it


    and eat its valuable insides.


    But I shy away from being beautiful inside or out.


    For my shepherd has killed all of the beautiful things!''


    ''You say you want a revolution,


    but you will only have a war.


    And who finds power in a time of war?


    Not the magnanimous, or noble,


    not those who are sound of mind,


    and so a new oppression will soon begin.


    You cannot erect a new star to shine,


    except that it is again far away, and cares not for you!


    I tell you, do not fight war to enthrone new tyrants,


    but let the hearing of my words


    despoil the doubt within you,


    that they may reign as kings over you


    and dull striving to philosophy.''


    ''Virtue does not belong in the heavens.


    O virtuous, do not strive so hard!


    I admire the beauty of your virtue here,


    but it shall not shine in heaven,


    and nor shall you be there.


    Hear, you are the star that is rejected!''


    Q. <em>Tell me some of the ''sayings of hidden wisdom.''</em>


    ''I have said, 144,000 shall enter the gates of Heaven,


    and the great men of our time shall cry,


    and rack their hands upon the tables,


    and gnash their teeth,


    saying,


    This is unjust, and, They did not deserve it.


    Yet the first are appointed by the lord of Heaven,


    and thetter are appointed by Yaldabaoth.


    Who shall say which is deserved?


    For you, in your sin, cannot boast to deserve aught at all,


    and all you receive is a grace,


    and so I say, Thest shall be first,


    and the first shall best.


    For the lord of Heaven has despised Yaldabaoth,


    and has appointed those who were meek and despised on earth,


    and who were perjured and cast out,


    and were executed to loud cheers.''


    ''They think they shall impress god with the luxury of their shrines.


    I tell you, hold no pride in earthly property!


    The servant has loved his master for his wealth,


    so why should he be castigated for stealing?


    One does not usher a man over, to keep him away.


    Even so, if your God wished for your prayers, sacrifices,


    monuments, wars, glories, sacraments, or relics,


    then would you not be justified in stealing all he has?


    Faith alone is not enough for god. But no more can be given him.


    If you love this life, and seek eternal life from him,


    then you shall not find it.


    If you love wealth, and seek his endless stores of wealth,


    then you shall be given none.


    If you love virtue, and seek chastening by his watch,


    that it might discipline you to greater virtue,


    then he shall chasten you with fire,


    and cast you out.


    If you love power, and adore him for his power,


    then he shall erect all others as princes over you,


    to vaunt at your damnation.


    If you love the world you know, and wish to honour its Creator,


    then he shall burn you at the stake,


    and call you a disciple of Yaldabaoth.


    If you love a spouse, and wish God to sanctify your marriage,


    then He shall protect it by casting you out of Heaven,


    because in Heaven, there is no marriage,


    and you shall eachmit adultery with fire.


    For God is like a priest in the temple,


    He does not sanctify without a price.


    If you love recognition, and seek God''s acim,


    then He shall not recognise you


    because the fire shall char your face.


    Thus I say, Do not worship a God who is greater than you,


    but worship one who is poor and lowly,


    and who is cast aside as a criminal.


    Your earthly passion is offence unto God,


    and your worship is a great offence.


    For many wille to him, and celebrate,


    and he will turn away, saying,


    You do not know me.''


    ''Men cleave to their own family,


    and their own people.


    That is why they worship a God of their own kind,


    a God formed from earth, Yaldabaoth.


    And when I came into this earth,


    and was made flesh,


    I submitted to the yoke of Yaldabaoth,


    and you see now his final victory over me


    as I am hung up within his chains.


    Yet thiswful victory shall not humble me,


    for I am to this earth a visitor,


    and its manners and customs are not my own.


    For I have heard his own defeat ring loud in Heaven,


    like a dam of sand ovee by flood,


    and those who join me there will hear it,


    and those who do not shall perish still thinking


    that he is victor.''


    ''You have shown me your God!


    For I am now helpless before you,


    and you have pierced me with ance,


    and you have crowned me with a crown of thorns,


    and so practiced omnipotence


    over me,


    and this is your God, who has oppressed the region,


    and fought wars and erected kings


    to rule over you,


    and said that you are chosen.


    And you are chosen! For he is within you,


    and he is also of your kind.


    And thus you have also freed another man


    in order that I may be condemned,


    for he has told you, One vessel unto honour,


    and another unto dishonour.


    Israel, the day that you are cast into the fire


    is the day that your God shall perish!


    For he is of your flesh,


    and he is of your blood,


    and in your defeat even he shall perish.


    Thus, when you say to me, you are a devil,


    then be warned,


    for one day you shall see me standing


    over a river of fire and ash,


    and looking down, with a devil''s coldness,


    towards your God,


    as my banners of fire spin across the air.''


    ''You have made yourselves God over me,


    for you worship a God, Yaldabaoth,


    who is your kin and father,


    and he has chosen you as his people


    to reign over earth like a God.


    Thus you taken it upon yourselves to punish


    your brother, and your fellow man,


    for you have made yourselves the voice


    of God''s judgement.


    But I proim, all must be guilty before God,


    for they have partaken of the flesh


    and have been conceived in sin.


    And, if there is a God, he would not stand


    to see others proim themselves lords


    over right and wrong,


    as if they were themselves gods,


    and to proim that one man is a murderer


    and the other is a soldier,


    and some are guilty, others innocent.


    He would smite them with a rod of burning coal.


    Thus it is said, ''If you eat from the tree,


    and seek knowledge of good and evil,


    then in that day you shall surely die.''


    And he would hold the meless and the criminal


    in one hall, and dere,


    You are all guilty as charged.


    No, even his son would not be spared,


    if he mingled with the things of Yaldabaoth.


    How much less mercy shall you receive?''


    ''One shalle, simr to me,


    and shall proim his teachings


    to a worshipful crowd


    that seek a God to give them purpose.


    And you shall know him by this mark:


    he shall style himself as God,


    but one which has lost control of the world,


    enough that he somehow decries it.


    Why should the almighty potter mourn the y?


    I am not a King of this world,


    I am not a King of Israel,


    but if he dies


    then he shall be God and King of Israel,


    for its people are blind in the mind and soul


    just as the blind are blind in sight,


    and so they are dead,


    even when awake,


    and the dead fool is their king.


    For you may know that I am genuine


    because the world has hated me


    and it hates me still,


    and it casts me aside,


    and it will not worship me.


    I speak the truth,


    and he, saying what is akin,


    may chance to speak some truth as well.


    But what is truth?


    It is nothing, or it would cause offence.''


    ''If my beliefs were orthodoxy


    and dispersed among you,


    then they would be another''s beliefs,


    and thus no longer my own,


    just as when a shepherd covets his sheep


    he does not sell them away to his neighbour,


    because then they are not his.''


    Finally, the fire roared deafeningly for five seconds, and towered high above the vige.


    The prayer had been epted.


    Checking his inventory, Crucis saw that he had gained several pieces of advanced tradeskill equipment, as well as a [Page of Prophecy].


    He had also received the buff [Threnody], which seemingly had no description.


    The guard bowed slightly, and the other guards around followed him.


    DicingDevil matched this gesture, and said, "Thank you, and may the ritual go well."


    "It will," the guard replied. "And you have all helped. Goodbye."


    Summoning their mounts, the yers proceeded back towards the Hunting Lodge, following a path which DicingDevil had marked out on the map.

 Chapter 125: In the Dark of Night

    Chapter 125: In the Dark of Night


    As the yers left the Hunting Lodge, an announcement shed up in red text:


    [NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: MARRIAGE SYSTEM!


    You may now choose to propose to another yer, and then apply for marriage in a Marriage Hall. This scenic, white building has been added to several major towns and cities.


    Marriage has several benefits, including an increase in strength, and the ability to participate in some extra events and quests. In the interests of tolerance, we have permitted marriage between any two characters, regardless of gender.


    If your partner apanies you to your room, then, as long as you both approve, you will be able to enter a virtual space whichcks the game''s typical restraints. This was done in partnership with the ''Full Body Dive'' virtual reality team.]


    An apanying announcement followed:


    [Please note that this is a stopgap measure, in order to ensure yers''fort and well-being during this turbulent period. We have heard manyints about yers'' needs not being met, and we understand that yers were upset when told that this feature was nearly done but was being kept back. Since this feature was in the works, we have optimized it in order to partially improve your situation. We understand that improving the game is not a current priority, but do not wish to make your condition more cumbersome than necessary.


    The work on fixing the fundamental issues of the game is making good progress, and we hope to have you released within the next three days.]


    "Bread and circuses," Danemy said drily. "If we were really being released in three days, they probably wouldn''t bother with this."


    "Yeah, weird choice, though I''m sure there''ll be a queue of yers getting married soon," Starfighter said. "But what was that about the game''s ''typical restraints''?"


    "I''d assume that they mean on genitalia, which the game tends to hide," DicingDevil said. "That''s amon practice, to avoid sexual abuse cases, and all that. But presumably they''ve added some spaces which don''t hide it, and allow for partners to simte sex. Of course, there''s probably a long-ish process to get in together, to ensure consent or whatever."


    "There''s a lot of abuse that you can do, even with the hidden genitalia," Starfighter noted. "But forget I said that."


    "Ah yes, a subject you''re infamously expert at," Crucis said.


    "Hm, an ''expert''? That sounds quite nice, actually, like some kind of achievement. I should put it on a business card."


    "Of course. Anyway, do we have a clear route to Kruxol?"


    "Yeah, I''ve been getting fairly up-to-date information from others in this area, I think we should be able to get back without much trouble. There''s a few groups of yers wandering around up here looking for a fight, but we can easily stay out of their way, it''s a big ce," DicingDevil said.


    The ride back to Kruxol was straightforward, with DicingDevil guiding the group along a weaving, carefully-nned path towards the town. He often checked his map to make sure, and adjusted if his Guild chat alerted him to any potential dys on the way. They dropped off dimir and Konstantin near Mokra, but Starfighter said that he''d like to at least see the celebrations from a distance, and tagged along.


    As they neared Kruxol, Crucis saw arge lte of light bursting above the town. The DeathGang celebrations had already begun, and the Guild''s yers must have started in procession around the streets carrying bright torches.


    The sound of swords and spears shing rose softly from the East of town, mostly drowned out by cheers and taunts from Kruxol.


    Veering to the left, Crucis saw that a group of about fifteen yers was still fighting with a few low-level DeathGang yers who were trying to reach Kruxol.


    "There''s still fighting going on?" Starfighter said. "These guys are stubborn."


    "Yeah, Darys says it''s a bunch of small yers being stubborn, they had fled earlier but now are back to fight again," DicingDevil said. "Fortunately, we were prepared for the more serious resistance earlier. But these guys are stubborn, you''re right."


    "Small yers, eh? So it should be easy?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes, let''s go and help. Crucis, youing?"


    "Count on it."


    "And Starfighter?"


    Starfighter saluted, and followed the DeathGang yers going to the East.


    As they neared, they saw an intense fight going on. Scanning the group of yers, he saw that most of those fighting against DeathGang were only in the level 20-30 range, and the DeathGang yers here were not that much higher. Therger DeathGang members were typically in Kruxol already, starting the celebrations, since they couldn''t dy it indefinitely just to help out with the asional Eastward skirmishes.


    However, he picked out a level 49 yer deep in the fray, fighting heavily against the DeathGang yers, and a level 53 yer on a [Fleet Donkey] mount hovering at the edge of the fight and attacking DeathGang members from the nk.


    Drifting closer, a wall of noise and screams assaulted him. Looking more carefully at these two threats, he recognised the level 53 yer as Azrawl, the yer whom he had conversed with at length before entering thebyrinth.


    While Crucis guided his mount into the trees North of Kruxol, sneaking around them and nning to ambush Azrawl, DicingDevil and Akshel charged straight into the fray on their mounts.


    The impact of these high-level yers was felt immediately, with many yers falling left and right. Their opposition began to scatter out of the way of their charge, but were quickly hemmed in and surrounded by DeathGang yers.


    "Don''t let them out!" DicingDevilmanded. "If they''ll keep trying toe back, let''s finish them once and for all!"


    When the level 49 yer leapt in to guard his allies, entering fiercebat with DicingDevil, Akshel quickly buzzed around this yer with [Stealth Cloak] and ced a firm armlock. With the level 49 yer''s arms twisted firmly behind his back, DicingDevil easily cracked his helmet with a [Mordhau] and then dismounted, leaping down to stab the yer to death on the soily earth.


    Seeing this new tide of DeathGang yers, Azrawl cautiously backed away from the fight, hoping to flee and return once these strong yers were gone, but he was interrupted by a rough stab just beneath the back of his neck.


    He noticed Crucis'' ck-d arm rearing up behind him to attempt a [Chokehold], and instantly spurred his donkey to flee into the trees. This broke through the grip, and he careened off, scraping harshly against some trees in his haste.


    Crucis had checked on the [Fleet Donkey] mount before attacking, and, while it was faster than a typical donkey mount, it was much slower and less manoueuverable than his own. His [Coelophysis] trotted nimbly between the trees, shadowing Azrawl calmly.


    As Crucis neared, Azrawl''s riding became unsteady and panicked, frantically barrelling past trees and causing the donkey''s hit points to decrease as violent scrapes began to appear in its side.


    The sound of his donkey, colliding with the trees around him, almost harmonised with the sound of drumsing from the DeathGang celebrations in Kruxol.


    As the donkey tried to squeeze between two nearby trees, following Azrawl''s hastymand, Crucis leaned down and used his sword to sh a cut in the donkey''s back left leg.


    The donkey shuddered, off-bnce, beginning to fall under repeated strikes to the back legs, and Azrawl was thrown violently forwards into one of the trees.


    As Azrawl''s helmet smashed against the tree and began to ring out loudly, he tore it painedly off and found blood pouring across his face. Trying to regain his bnce on the donkey, he found that it was falling helplessly to the ground, and he crashed down blindly after it.


    Hey on the ground, and for a few seconds almost seemed to lose consciousness.


    Since Crucis had spoken to Azrawl before, he used [Voice Spoofing] to hide his identity. Due to the desperation of Azrawl''s flight, and theck of light at this time, it was unlikely that Azrawl would have noticed much about his pursuer yet. So Crucis opted to use the Queen''s voice from Ganf¨¦an''s court, since it wouldn''t reveal much about him.


    "Watch out for that tree!" he began, then paused. "So, why are you still fighting DeathGang? Why didn''t you just give up?"


    "Miss, I''m just doing this for my friends and Guildies, they''ve suffered under DeathGang for too long... They were fighting bravely, so I joined in," Azrawl replied.


    "Well, you''re done now. I guess you couldn''t protect them... At least you have time to regret it."


    "I don''t regret anything! They were inspiring, fighting back even after defeat. Not like the petty tyrants in charge of your Guild, who make everything dull as nails!"


    "A man shouldn''t follow his heart so easily, hm?"


    Crucis used [Lunge], and his sword burst through the wound beneath Azrawl''s neck, which had spread slightly higher after the collision with the tree. Drawing his sword upward, he felt the wound widening as he cut into Azrawl''s neck.


    As Azrawl tried desperately to grab his own sword, which had fallen to the side as he dropped from his mount, Crucis kicked it calmly out of the way.


    "Why still try? Isn''t it easier to let go?" he asked to no response.


    Switching to his dagger, his quickly knelt down and used [The Ripper] to sh a deep, gradual gash across the back of Azrawl''s knee. Although Azrawl kicked tiredly at Crucis'' chest, it did little damage. Soon, both of Azrawl''s legs had turned into a bloody mess behind the knees.


    Crucis kicked lightly at Azrawl''s right kneecap, which swung out of ce and hung painfully in a twisted position.


    Azrawl''s blood spread across the muddy ground, forming small pools in his footprints.


    Crucis began walking away, seeing that Azrawl was unable to rise, and was still bleeding to death gradually. However, he heard somemotion from nearby, as a few yers fled into the trees again to hide from DeathGang''s assault. They were followed closely, and a few began to fight desperately against their faster pursuers.


    "OK, so no reply. You said your allies were important to you, right?" he said to Azrawl, still disguising his voice.


    He took a couple of long, light steps until he was kneeling next to Azrawl''s body again. His dagger passed quickly through Azrawl''s ankle, tearing through it.


    Crucis got up and switched to his sword, hearing the screams growing louder as Azrawl bled out agonisingly.


    Azrawl''s screams attracted the attention of some of hisrades.


    Leaving Azrawl to die, Crucis swung around to see two level 30 yers charging at him. He parried one''s sword, then used an elbow to charge the other one and barrel them to the ground a short distance away. He saw that the yer who fell was a female, named [Maginata].


    He snuck beneath her to ce a [Chokehold] along the ground, and felt her shivering coldly as she realised that she was trapped.


    "Please, don''t... Please, please..." she whispered, pleadingly.


    He quickly used [Thrash] to sh a few gaping wounds in her neck. Her skin separated easily, and eventually her movements were stilled by a fierce, chillingly cold [Punch] deep into the wound.


    Her male ally was still wandering around hesitantly, trying to make out what was going on in the darkness. As he neared, he was reluctant, unable to tell Crucis clearly apart from Maginata. However, seeing the stabwound on her neck, he threw caution to the wind and swung his sword fiercely downwards.


    Crucis hoisted Maginata''s almost-dead body on his shoulders, and used his body to toss it upwards, deflecting her ally''s sword. She took a firm, bloody blow to the side of the head, with the sword getting caught up in her hair, and as the sword became limp - its wearer rmed at having struck his own Guildmate so dramatically - Crucis grabbed it by the de with [Sword hold].


    He wrenched it across Maginata''s red hair and into her ear, lodging it inside and killing her.


    As her ally tried to withdraw his sword, Crucis leapt up, andcently aimed a [Lunge] beneath the yer''s ribs.


    By now, the [Nightmare] effect had given him a strange appearance, with the right side of his face appearing as a white, hollow human form, like a Greek sculpture, and the left side a many-eyed, green reptilian mass.


    "Monster! Monster!" cried his foe, keeling over.


    "Part of me is," Crucis replied calmly.


    He leaned forward, and shed at the yer''s neck with [Thrash] until this opponent died as well.


    Checking his inventory briefly, he saw that he had received a couple of drops from Azrawl, meaning that Azrawl had also died.


    Standing up over the two corpses, he looked around, and realised that the [Nightmare] effect had also produced tworge white, bat-like wings stretched out on both sides.


    The air here was thick with ck smoke, and he walked across it calmly, listening as the remaining sound of battle faded and his DeathGang allies swept up the survivors.


    He could only make out a brief re of sword-fighting among the trees far to his left, where one fleeing yer had been tracked down by a DeathGang member andunched a hasty resistance.


    Soon, the faint sound of hooves could be heard, as the stronger DeathGang yers ran in to take down thisst survivor.


    Crucis guessed that the survivor would soon be forced to give up the fight and flee. The trees were thick to his left, and fleeing through them wouldn''t be practical. That would mean that this yer would be forced to flee in Crucis'' general direction, across an area where the trees were more open. If Crucis could intercept this pursuit, there would be no hope of escape.


    Finding a bush, Crucis knelt down to conceal himself, then used [Arbiter].


    As the movement of the trees and wind began to slow and stutter, under the heavyg, Crucis crept slowly but determinedly towards the left, where the survivor would probably begin fleeing. He heard the patter of loud footsteps as the survivor''s flight began.


    As he got into position, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] to get himself an extra few seconds of invincibility. Although he used it, the move didn''t trigger immediately.


    As soon as theg ended, and the refreshing, cold feeling of the night air enveloped him again, the [Stealth Cloak] triggered, and he became invisible for a further few seconds. The survivor, a badly-damaged male level 42 archer named [Imgenin], was barrelling across the wide path between the trees, straight towards Crucis.


    Imgenin had tried to briefly struggle against a level 34 DeathGang member who had chased him down, but gave up as he saw a group of stronger DeathGang members approaching, and fled through the nearest avable corridor where he wouldn''t get caught up on the trees. His sword skill was decent, and he had developed a decent amount of Strength early on in order to use a heavy bow which he had obtained through donations.


    As he heard his pursuers struggling to pinpoint him amongst the darkness and low-hanging trees, he felt a surge of confidence, and headed forwards quickly.


    However, his heart almost jolted backwards as he saw a figure materialise in front of him, staring straight at him.


    He tried awkwardly to change his direction and evade this enemy, but the enemy agilely matched his movements and stayed within range. As he desperately leapt to get past this foe, he was grabbed in a firm [Chokehold], and violently dragged down into a kneeling position to stop his run.


    Looking to the side, he was horrified to see a group of many lizard-like eyes looking back.


    "Oh,e on!" he shouted. "A creature appeared out of nowhere? What the heck kind of luck is that?"


    A de pressed immediately to his throat. A few of the DeathGang pursuers were slowing down, slightly reluctant on seeing this fearsome creature on the path.


    "Well, let''s see," Crucis whispered, drawing out a coin with one hand and pressing it coldly onto the back of Imgenin''s throat, which bowed downwards under the pressure.


    It was cold, so Imgenin shivered heavily at the metallic, unexpected touch of the coin, and inadvertently cut his throat against the edge of the de hanging in front of it.


    "What have I done? I don''t deserve this! You should die, you... reptile!" Imgenin said, crying but remaining defiant.


    "Why are these people pursuing you, if you haven''t done anything?" Crucis sneered.


    "They''re evil! It''s not my fault!"


    Imgenin was surprised at the sound of his attacker''s voice, which sounded like a human, and he realised that it was strange how a glowing, white, statuesque human hand was the one holding the dagger to his neck. ncing at his attacker again, he surmised that a white, mannequin-like half of the face was speaking, with an undertow of a low-pitched growling from the reptilian side.


    "Wait, what''s wrong with you? Is this a nightmare?" Imgenin said.


    "I don''t know if you did something, or nothing," the white, glowing side of the face spoke, with an almost soothing tone. "And even if you were, who knows whether it was right or wrong? So we only have one choice: flipping a coin."


    Leaving the coin pressed deeply into Imgenin''s skin, like a brand, Crucis moved his arm to upend Imgenin''s legs, sending Imgenin''s head slipping down onto the edge of the slightly-tilted de. As Imgenin desperately writhed his upper body and tried to avoid his throat sliding harshly against the dagger, the coin flew into the air andnded on the ground.


    "It''s too dark down there, could you take a look for me?" Crucis said.


    He used [The Ripper] to roughly slice through the remains of Imgenin''s torn-up throat, sending Imgenin''s head to the ground beside the coin.


    Looking up, he saw DicingDevil trotting up beside him. "Well done, that''s thest of them."


    "Nice of you to leave him for me," Crucis replied.


    "Yeah, well. Most of our yers were too scared to approach, by the time I reached he was practically dead. So it was an easy decision."


    "Hey, I had to turn on the mour a bit. It''s a time for festivities, no?"


    "Fair enough. By the way, one of your victims was a female with red hair. Hope you didn''t disturb the prophecy, right? Heh."


    "Well, it''s always a pleasant surprise when a prophecy is disrupted. But it''s unlikely, her skin wasn''t really like a swan''s, though," Crucis said. "More like a newt. Not that I''m one to talk."


    "Yes, you''re a bit lizard-like yourself at the moment."


    "Quite."


    DicingDevilughed. "But how do you know that she''s newt-like? Felt her up?"


    "Sometimes you have to get up close and personal for pration, you know, if you really want to leave ''em red, raw and bleeding."


    "That much is true. But pration by a reptile? Did she consent to that?"


    "Yeah, she was begging for it, you know, saying, ''Please, please...'' Anyway, let''s go back to Kruxol. I''ll deal with the priest, then join you guys."


    "Yep, time for some celebrations. It''ll be a nice break."


    "Definitely."


    As Crucis began to join the DeathGang yers returning to the town, he stood still for a moment.


    "Wait a moment," he said, leaning down to pick up the coin. He quickly felt its upside, which contained the recognisable contours of arge dragon shape which decorated one side. He flipped it over subtly to the other side, then rose up. "Heads. And there''s one right next to it, what a coincidence. Quite auspicious."


    "Yes, definitely. But that coin is soaked in blood, it looks like something from a Satanic ritual. You should do some sort of incantation over the dead corpse, maybe he''de over to ask for donations like a streamer."


    "I doubt that I can bribe Satan with indulgences. He''s like a punk rock musician, he wants soul, not money. Well, if not a ritual, we can try the next best thing. You know, I wonder, if I ce it in here, will someone reach inside to pick it up?"


    He ced the coin into the open neck of Imgenin''s corpse, nestling it above the flow of blood. It shone out in a chalky white shade, tinted with its native gold, in the starlight.


    He added a few more, nestled deeper into the corpse''s head.


    "Awfully generous of you," DicingDevil said. "But it''s an interesting social experiment."


    "Precisely. In fact, if people are forced to pay attention to these corpses, maybe they''ll be more reluctant to fight back in the future. It''s a bit gruesome. A few coins in them, with a bunch of desperate yers who''ll fish them out, it could get tongues wagging and make everyone more nervous."


    "Quite true," DicingDevil said, slitting a few coins into some more grotesquely-injured corpses as they made their way back. "It''s one thing to have heads on a pike, it''s another thing to get people to look at it carefully."


    A billow of thin smoke had formed above Kruxol, matching the dark clouds that swarmed across the horizon. Crucis wondered if these clouds, and the asional shes of lightning among them, rted to the warning which hade earlier about it being dangerous in the wildter tonight.

 Chapter 126: Unity

    Chapter 126: Unity


    Crucis reached the [Prayer Hallway]''s high portico right at the end of a loud sermon.


    "You have been barred from all that you find familiar, from the world you have lived in, and therefore it is difficult to avoid resignation and mncholy. But be brave, for the Lord has said, My kingdom is not of this world. Even if we are cast out of the world itself, we may still seek refuge in the kingdom of God! For all Christians are like refugees, who flee from your nations, your past, yea, even the world itself, in order to seek tenuous residence in the kingdom of Heaven. We must turn to this hope for a new home, for we have no other.


    "Do not despair, for the Lord will be with us through even the end of days. He will be by our side, even then, when the beast rises from the sea! And take sce in these dark times. For, in despair, we realise that we can only take shelter in the word of the Lord, and not in the distractions which usually keep us from him. Listen to the words of James, ''Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that ising on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in thest days.'' You can only take shelter in the word of the Lord!"


    The speaker, an old, grizzled man who looked British, walked quietly off the podium. A few in the audience apuded, but most remained silent, since that was typical behaviour in churches and worship events.


    Behind him, there was arge statue of Christ on a crucifix, along with a hologram projected on the wall which showed images from Michngelo''s Sistine Chapel.


    As Crucis found a ce to stand in the fairly crowded,rge building, he heard a shouting match going on at the far-right side of the building, involving what sounded like seven to eight people on each side.


    He turned to a wiry, tall man on his right, who had a look of fatigued resignation as soon as he heard the shouting, and asked what was going on.


    "Oh, that happens sometimes, when we try to hold these events," the man replied. "There''s so many different denominations, cultures, people from different social strata, and in this game tempers can run high. There''s often loud arguments, shouting, that kind of thing."


    "Ah, I see," Crucis replied. "It''s unfortunate."


    "Yeah, definitely. Our congregations here are very much makeshift, though, so it''s a difficulty we have to face. I think I recognise the people shouting, they were at each other''s throats yesterday as well. It''s one group of posh people wearing bling, I kid you not, who go around haranguing others whom they see as lower-ss. A massive nuisance, but the guys in charge don''t want to get rid of them, because they donate a lot to us for these events. A bunch of people from Harlem decided to take them on, including in a few fights in the wild, and sometimes it erupts like this during worship."


    "That''s terrible. I''m sure it''s disturbing other believers here, including yourselves. However, you seem to have brought in a healthy crowd tonight, many races, many denominations, and I''m sure you''re doing your best to, um, heal the separation?"


    "''Heal the separation''? That''s a good way of putting it. I''d hope so, but as you can see there''s no telling when struggles will break out again. We have been doing our best, though, and the theme for the current speakers is ''Unity and Tolerance,'' as an attempt to ameliorate the conflicts. It''s our aim to make this as functional and weing a ce for people to exercise their human need for God and religion, without people being turned away."


    Having some idea of what the conflict was about, Crucis could now make out the words to some of the shouting and screeching from the other side of the building. A lot of it was in dialects that he didn''t understand, or were difficult to decipher from the distance, but he did manage to understand a bit of what was being said.


    "You know, ''e said a camel! You a camel, ain''t passin'' through no needle!"


    "Shut up, pipsqueak. How are you going to worship God if you can''t respect your betters? Obviously, Jesus was speaking in a metaphor, but you knuckleheads wouldn''t be able to understand that."


    "You sayin'' Lord Jesus wrong? Ay, you sayin'' that, asshole?"


    "Look, you''re too dumb to understand. You should just listen to us, we''re educated, not like you guys. In fact, didn''t you just fight one of our friends earlier? How can savages like you understand our religion?"


    "If you oppress us, we gonna fight back! And you hit first, didn''t ya?"


    Crucis sighed. "These guys are just going back and forth, it sounds like. Hopefully they''ll listen to reason, but it''ll be difficult for them to ept."


    "Yeah," replied the wiry man. "You should try talking to them, it''s like talking to a wall. Each side will just me everything on the others, it''s such a morass. I mean, we really could just bar them from events until they cool down, but realistically the higher-ups will only expel the lower-ss ones, since the others donate too much rare stuff. And then the rich guys will just find new people to bully. So our hands are tied a bit. By the way, thanks for your concern, my name is Ryan, I''m a Canadian living in Britain. It''s nice to find a sane voice out here."


    "It''s difficult to remain sane down here, so don''t count on it," Crucis smiled. "But I will try my hardest, since, as the speaker said, the Lord is with us even here."


    "Precisely. He''s called Andrew Mercer, I believe, a good man who used to work as a deacon in the UK. Did you miss some of his speech?"


    "Yes, but it had a really stirring ending, I''m curious what I missed."


    "That can happen. These are the early speeches, people are still filtering in. He was trying to discourage division based on race and nation, and giving a message of hope in the kingdom to reassure people here."


    "It makes sense. People here don''t have what they typically identify with: money, status, social group. So they''re going to pay more attention to whatever other elements of their identity, like race or cultural tics, they still have left. That could easily divide the worshippers, but perhaps they will be reminded that we are all gathered under the same shepherd."


    "That''s exactly it, plus there''spetition and conflict everywhere here, so everyone is out looking for a fight. We even had to turn down the rhetoric about the war, because some guys here were getting so excitable that they ran out to fight DeathGang, then got killed. But when Father Massie gets his turn, he''s going to just go off about the DeathGang ''demons'' and ''devils,'' there''s nothing we can do about that. Hopefully we don''t end up with too many people running into trouble."


    "Ah, Father Massie, I''ve heard of him."


    "Of course you have, his personal following is massive. He''s built more and more support during the aftermath of the war, because people are angry and dejected. And they say that he''s cast out demons, healed people who were having seizures, even cured the sick. I can''t say I''ve seen it happen, but he''s really be a major figure here in a short time... At least he''s bringing people into the fold."


    "Yes, definitely. Hey, is the next speaker getting on the stage?"


    Crucis saw a tall man walking, in a hunch-backed position, onto the stage.


    "Oh, that''s Father rke. He''s known as [TrueGodBotherer] in this game, heh."


    Crucisughed. "Nice that he wears his faith with pride."


    "That he does. He''s spoken before, though, I think he''s justing back to try and resolve the dispute. Even though we won''t be able to get the rich guys making this ruckus kicked out, he''ll probably try to calm them down slightly. Fingers crossed that it works."


    "Definitely, but it''ll be hard going. Hopefully the rest of the attendees learn something from what he says, though, even if the stubborn ones are unpredictable."


    "Oh, sure, that''s a good point. Yes, I hope so. He has a pretty direct style, he was a Protestant pastor in America but left to teach a Catholic school. Go figure."


    "At least he''s probably seen a lot of bickering."


    "Yeah, that''s true. Hopefully he''ll be able to solve this."


    Crucis listened as the man on the stage began speaking, with arge, white dress billowing as he gestured to the crowd to stay quiet. The speech began with a slightly slow-paced, schoolmasterly tone, as if trying to gently reprimand the people arguing, who had begun to quiet as they saw the speech beginning.


    "I would like to remind you not to let wealth divide you, or to try and set division between wealthy or poor, white-cor and blue-cor, in the church of God. For both rich and poor can be believers. In the early church, many wealthy people made contributions and aided the Apostles, including women such as Lydia and Prisci. These are recorded in the Book of Acts, and even sometimes mentioned in the epistles. However, Jesus and his disciples were poor. Both have a ce in the church.


    "As it says in Leviticus, "You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great." But I know that some of you are skeptical, you fear that the rich man will be prideful, and you are afraid to speak out. And some of you, who are rich, do not wish to support our worship wholeheartedly, because you despise the presence of people whom you consider, as it was known in India, ''untouchable.''"


    There were a few jeers and cheers from the crowd, who were sick of the argument, but Crucis was surprised to see that some of the posh faction in the shouting match had actually decided that the speaker was agreeing with them.


    "That''s so true!" one shouted, in a stuffy voice. "You exin it to them, they won''t listen to us! They were even trying to distort the words of scripture, to try and tear us down!"


    "Yeah, they didn''t get a ''metaphor''!" another added, not really seeming clear about what a ''metaphor'' was, but repeating the term which he had heard a friend use earlier.


    "They always do this," Ryan sighed. "They think we''re on their side, so do the other guys who get angry and suspicious at us. We just can''t win."


    The speaker, rke, sighed, seeing that he wasn''t getting through to them.


    Taking a straight, showman-like posture, he began to speak at length.


    "Please do not think that I am here to fight for you, just because you are wealthy. I am here to try and help everyone here find the path to the kingdom of God. For that, I must preach against division among believers, and so far as I can see you are being as divisive as your opponents. If you are rich, you must still dedicate yourself to the Lord, and not use this worship as an asion to fluff yourself up with pride."


    He cleared his throat slightly, concerned that he might being across as mildly angry. He resumed in a more rehearsed, animated voice, which, Crucis thought, sounded only slightly more restrained than Mickey Mouse.


    "Remember the word of our Lord. He said, a rich man entering Heaven would be more difficult than a camel passing through the eye of a needle. But how is this possible?


    "Think about it, a camel isrger than me, a camel is massive. But the eye of a needle? Tiny, you can barely see it. How can something which takes up so much space pass through something so small? That doesn''t make sense, people would say! It defies thews of physics!


    "And why should a camel even care about trying to pass through the eye of a needle? A camel is majestic and strong, it can walk throughrge deserts and cities. It surely has more important things to do than focus on this impossible task! Imagine telling a camel: Stop what you''re doing, and just spend your life trying to pass through the eye of a needle, because that is all that matters. How absurd would you look?


    "It''s such an absurd idea, that in the Talmud it is said, ''a man is never shown in a dream a date palm of gold, or an elephant going through the eye of a needle.'' It isn''t even possible in a dream!


    "But in God, all things are possible, Jesus said. Therge camel could pass through the eye of a needle, even though it takes up so much more space! Therefore, even the rich man could reach the kingdom of God.


    "Why does our Lord choose the image of a camel? Why, a camel isrge, it has stored up fat in its humps to use for nourishment, just like the rich man has arge store of things in this world. And these things can weigh him down, they can make it difficult for him to humble himself and pass through the small, strait gate into the kingdom of God. Jesus praises the meek, those who humble themselves before God, and it is difficult for the rich man to do this when he is tied to worldly things.


    "But in God, these things are possible! Rich or poor, you may find God through piety and worship! But Jesus'' path is demanding. You must humble yourself to God, and instead of self-love or love for things of this world, you must love God and your neighbour! This is how you be small enough to pass through the eye of a needle. You must ignore the demands of your ego, your race, and even your creed, and be as a sunflower who follows the light of God wherever it takes him.


    "Isn''t it astounding? That a camel, a majestic creature that could walk miles across deserts and kingdoms, is asked instead to fit through the eye of a needle? But that is what is asked of you. You must be the camel whose gaze is always fixated on the needle, determined to pass through its eye.


    "And this too shall be done! Your hope is not in vain! So do not look down on your wealthy brethren, but admire them for their miraculous struggle, and assist them. Do not look down on the poor, for, with nothing to chain them to earth, they can more freely dedicate themselves to the pursuit of God. Both rich and poor must y their part in the church.


    "And remember, love your neighbour as yourself. Do not put him down, or denigrate him. Do not quarrel, as you have done.


    "Finally, thank you for your donations to our church here. Many people trapped in here have been starved for the word of God, and you are doing a lot to uplift them. We have some items here that are very rare, the people who gave them must have been rich. But they have shown that it is possible to keep God in your heart, whether you are wealthy or not, and even, as thest speaker said, in despair. So I exhort you to embrace your fellow believers, regardless of their wealth and poverty, regardless of their circumstances on earth."


    At the end of the speech, the posh faction of the shouting match were exultant.


    "Yeah, see? They just thanked us! Now apologise to us, bow at our feet!" one shouted.


    "I know. See, there''s so much nuance in what Jesus said. I told you it wouldn''t get through your skulls!" another piped up.


    Their opponents were less loud, seemingly suspicious about the speaker''s intent. It sounded like the speech didn''t really involve them, it was all about how the others could find salvation. And they didn''t trust people easily, even though the speech appeared concilliatory.


    There was an argument beside the steps, and another speaker walked up. He looked younger, and had a wan, slightly sickly-looking face, along with a stiff, tall body. Crucis could see that his username was [BelowCrassus].


    "Who''s this?" he asked Ryan.


    "I hope the speakers aren''t getting too heated... That''s Father re, hees from a simr background to rke. He was also a pastor, but he resigned after his church was overrun by the prosperity gospel."


    "So then he''s got some bones to pick when ites to this issue?"


    "I would hope that he would leave behind his personal issues, and speak to the truth of Christian doctrine."


    "Um, yes. Exactly."


    re began to speak. "Please calm yourselves. This isn''t about one side of you getting a victory to hoot about. What Father rke was trying to say was that you should each look to the challenge of your own salvation, because the path to salvation is troubling. If you are rich, then, as he said, it is like passing through the eye of a needle, and that means that you should not try to ''big yourselves up,'' as you would say. Now, let us get to the point. In the Book of Luke, our Lord says, ''Blessed are the poor'' -"


    "-in spirit!" called out a voice from the crowd, who then seemingly started crowing to his opponents. "See? It''s a metaphor! Just like we said! He didn''t mean you guys, you aren''t blessed!"


    His friends began to cheer loudly, thinking that re had just delivered them a decisive victory.


    re, after being cut off, stood unmoving, and Crucis could see that he was trying to hide a sh of frustration. He was clearly a man who had been trying to get away from this kind of ss-based Christianity, and now didn''t have a choice.


    The furore was getting so infectious that it was even interrupting speeches. It was bing increasingly ufortable to speak right now, and many in the crowd were beginning to leave, tired of this whole dispute.


    After calming himself, re began to speak in monotone.


    "Excuse me, the word of God is not negotiable. It doesn''t matter if you call it a ''metaphor,'' or try to mollify it, you have no right to haggle with the Lord like an Eastern salesman does with a tourist. And yes, he did say, ''Blessed are the poor.'' ''Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled.'' And, ''woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your constion.'' But I recuse myself. The word of the Lord also says, ''Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.'' I don''t wish to be praised or cheered like this. Goodbye."


    He walked solemnly off the stage, and a few in the audience went up to him to console him, before they left.


    "The next speaker''s from Korea," Ryan said, trying to put on a semnce of enthusiasm. "This has been a mess so far, huh. But re''s disy has seemingly caused the argument to die down slightly, since both sides are sheepish... They''ll start up again, but hopefully won''t disturb the next guy, he''s chirpy and I enjoyed talking to him earlier."


    "Sounds good. But, even if it''s been difficult, I think there were some important points made," Crucis replied. "And I don''t think anyone will me you for the argument. There''s not much that can be done with that lot. If you give them an inch, they''ll take a mile and proim it a victory."


    "Well, perhaps it is our fault, we shouldn''t have given them an inch."


    "You give them less than that, they''ll take an inch, then take a mile. One could say they ''have received their constion.''"


    Ryanughed. "Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway, this next guy''s a treat, let''s see if people can get used to him."


    A Korean man, who was fairly tall and almost gaunt, bounded onto the stage and quickly took the microphone.


    Walking with a spring in his step across the stage, he began speaking.


    "You all have busy eyes. Restless eyes. Reckless eyes. Eyes that have spent too long exposed to the everyday ills of the world, ills that your culture has names for: the ''rat race,'' secrism, a culture of instant gratification, ''I''m alright, Jack,'' the love of money, ''every man for himself,'' culture war. And I''m sure you could tell me many more. Amidst this bustle, who has time to consider his eternal soul?"


    He paused for a few seconds. There were a few jeers in the crowd, but this was muted. He went on as if they hadn''t happened.


    "The world provides us all of this stress, just to distract our eyes from God. And it gives us twomandments. The first is: do not wait on God''s guidance, instead pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. The second: ignore and trample upon your neighbour. Simplemandments, and I think that most people have been exposed to them time after time, and might even havee to believe them. And so we be hyperactive, always looking to the world, always straining ourselves painfully for this or that.


    "It is easy to suffer, when we think that we struggle alone. And we think that we struggle alone! But there is good news, friends.


    "The human shape is just one pattern in the huge tapestry of God''s creation! You were woven into the world by a loving weaver. Do not remain tied to these illusions of independence, of your private life, of your career. You are a part of the main! God has made this scenic painting of our world, do not insist on being foreign to it and disrupting its symmetry. The world is His stage, and we are yers, in each challenge and struggle we must co-operate with Him so that we convey the proper meaning of His scene. And someday, he may reward us with entrance to his most fine art, the meadows and fields of Heaven.


    "And there, you shall witness the artist, and see the weaving together of the strings. There, people will no longer struggle alone, nor will they obsess over things like fame and reputation, or even bonds like marriage, because they have found truemunion with God and their fellows.


    "For this world we live in now,pared to the brilliance and truth of Heaven, is but a y of shadows. Here''s what I mean. If a man went to Heaven and came back, they would look around and, you know, think: ''This is not the real world, it is not my real life, our fields are not real fields, they are just pale reflections of Heaven.'' They would remember the promation of our Lord: ''He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.''


    "Even if you are a part of God''s design, in the ''sound and fury'' it is easy to feel left out, right? I''m sure that everyone has felt this, at some time. Think about it, you have, right?


    "But I am here tonight to tell you something important: we are not alone. But I don''t mean, please don''t think so, that I have just found evidence for ET! I don''t mean that there are aliens out there! Although in this ce, who knows? Did you go out and see some of the stuff out there? I was in the North, I saw this rat, giant rat, bigger than me." He spread his arms, as if to disy its size. "And even lizards who were like people. Some would say those are aliens! Maybe there''s little green men scooting around a few miles away from here. Look, if you want to go hunting for aliens, I''m in, but not right now, alright?


    "I mean that we are always apanied by God. And God has brought us together under Him, so we are not alone, we havemunity on earth as well. But please don''t think I only mean believers, less still believers of any one denomination. We were not meant to just form cloisters of believers, and shut ourselves away. It is important to love your neighbour, your fellows, the wretched man on the street, the weeping widow at the cemetery.


    "As a beautiful hymn says, ''All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wide and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.'' He made them all! Do not turn away people as sinners, or as wicked, for if you were pious, non-judgemental and loving then perhaps they would reciprocate, and show God''s design within themselves. It is God''s work to condemn, yet some of you would have chased out Saul of Tarsus, saying that he is a wicked, irredeemable person.


    "And, indeed, most sinners do not go as far as he did in persecuting Christians. But did God coldly disparage him, hate him,ugh at his misfortunes, libel him in a news publication? No, God called him and he became a great Apostle, Paul, whose words still form arge proportion of our New Testament. Quite a story. But some people would spit on beggars in the street, on people of different churches, and even on people who ''look at them funny.''


    "Maybe Satan is irredeemable, but your brother is not Satan. In fact, in the Bible, who does the Jesus refer to as Satan? St. Peter, and yet he is renowned by us. There is too much hatred among you. Listen to all voices, listen to every voice, and love all the people. Then you will see the treasure in the person whom you hated or cast aside.


    "Thank you, my brothers and sisters. Let us rejoice in themb, and let none by barred from this rejoicing."


    As this speaker left, Crucis heard the room hush in anticipation.


    "Is Massie next?" he asked Ryan.


    Ryan was too busy staring nervously at the stage to reply.


    A middle-aged man with white hair, wearingrge, white-and-green robes, walked onto the stage. He took a brief look across the room, then leaned back as if about to let loose a massive scream.


    "Demons!" he shouted. "Demons have overrun this town!


    "O, Lord, have mercy on us all, forgive us our sins on this day. Lord, our sins are rank, and the demons have taken up a home within our home. Our limbs are weak, and have gone limp on the battlefield. Our heels have withered until we are unwalking as snakes, and the demons have made merry andughed to tread upon our skulls. The fortress of our hearts has not kept you inside, and now demons overrun its hollow shell! Reason''s sword could not protect us from their assaults, and in vain it guarded the heart!


    "But our prayers have not been in vain.


    "Your vengeance shall be swift, and the demons shall be cast out! They shall be cast back into the fire!


    "For salvation shall renew us.


    "For divine grace shall lend new lustre to hearts that were self-sabotaged, and shall turn into fabulous weapons our swords which had broken themselves. To God shall be the glory of our victory! To God shall be the glory of our renewal! To God, and God alone!"

 Chapter 127: Speak of the Devil

    Chapter 127: Speak of the Devil


    "For we shall see him as he is."


    Crucis typed a quick message to DicingDevil, saying to look out for people rushing out and looking for a fight after hearing Massie.


    Meanwhile, the preaching on the stage continued.


    "Why do your people look wan, drop their shoulders, and wish to surrender the fight? I can tell you. It is because they have been misled by the world.


    "You have heard your leaders foolishly vaunt about their might, and about how easily they would overwhelm their enemies. And you have thought to arm yourselves with the might of the flesh, as surety of victory."


    He paced the stage, surveying the crowd with his now usatory, stiff re.


    "Who among you has forgotten the earth-shaking words of the Apostle? ''For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high ces''! Against powers and principalities!


    "And, lo, I have shown you the signs, and the presence of the demons. You have seen the wild, bright demon who appeared right before the war, and whom I proimed a sign of Satan''s presence. But your leaders told you that it was just ill chance! And you have seen the wild violence of your foes, and their hatred for righteousness. The truth is clear, that they are demons, and they serve their master, Satan!


    "Yet many have gone,cent, and have been surprised by the power of Satan. Your swords and your bows have dissolved like tears in blood. For I tell you, Satan is the Prince of this World! This world is his menagerie of horrors! The greatest human might could not ovee him. Yet you shall rise up again, as an army of God, and in greatness of faith you shall face your enemy without fear.


    "Woe unto you, who have fought the Prince of this World, yet believed the word of your worldly leaders. For they have said that all would survive, even in a battle with bloodthirsty demons! And now many of you weep for the death of your family members, even though you thoughtlessly spurred them to their death with your lies andcency. Ie to you in the Lord, and that is why I speak honestly when they have lied, for Ie not to deceive you but to show you the instruction of your shepherd. If you listen to me, you shall not despair like this again!


    "You have seen your leaders thrown into confusion, at the horrors in Mokra. Who were the perpetrators? And why can none agree what they looked like? It is an absolute proof of the demons, for they are spirits without flesh! They have taken many forms, for their earthly form is amorphous. So witness the futility of worldly might! Only through God can we cast out demons, but we are powerless on our own. Now, the mighty have been humbled, and the great have been brought down, even the brave tremble and sicken! How can you fail to take refuge in the call of the Lord?


    "And God shall not keep you without hope. For He has sent me to you, to cast out demons, and to lead you when your leaders have failed. And I tell you, if you should raise your de against the foe, and God has stood by you, then your foe shall not stand! The might of the Lord shall secure you against demons, and He shall dispense to your de''s edge the holy water that shall consume them.


    "Have you not read of how God protected his people? It lines so many pages of his Word. For his people, those of the Promised Land, were engaged in many wars, and the hand of the Lord strengthened them and secured their victory. Think even of David, and his defeat of the giant, Goliath! Do not fear proving weak, for by the Lord''s grace you shall be strong.


    "The Lord shall save his people, even if the world were flooded they should withstand the deluge. Your army must be guided by faith, for otherwise it shall falter. Do not hesitate to raise your de against your enemy! For remember, the Lord''s arm is stronger than your own. If you taste defeat, then you shall be a martyr, and the Lord will hear your sacrifice louder than any prayer. Who shall denigrate the martyrs who rest by God''s right hand? But when we attain victory, it shall not be ording to earthly strength, but shall be because the Lord''s arm has guided us. Do not fear the weapons of earth, but fear the look of hatred that God shall give to those who acquiesced to these celebrating demons without a fight!"


    Crucis saw five to seven people running out of the building, screaming and running out of Kruxol to try and find some DeathGang members to fight with.


    They were quickly cut off by prepared DeathGang members, who swarmed them. Their agony could be heard even from this building. However, Massie ignored them, and continued to speak.


    "Zion shall grow in this desert!


    "I tell you, the struggle shall be difficult, even as the exodus of the chosen people was difficult. And there shall be doubt and sorrow. But let the Lord lead us, and we shall live in his protection, and Jersualem shall be builded here!


    "Yes, there will be sorrow! But do not relent in your struggle, and do not let the demons have their victory.


    "It is said, ''You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord¡¯s table and the table of demons.''


    "Then we cannot cease the struggle now, and seek peace, as some of your leaders crave! Look upon the many martyrs, did they sumb to their oppressors, to the enemies of their faith? So too shall you not surrender.


    "And you shall beforted.


    "For God knows the secrets of your hearts. He knows your misery, and it pains Him to know of it! He will not leave you in this torment, just as he did not condemn the exodus to a desert without end. For how shall we be parched, when our Lord has once raised the sea to swallow all of the world? But He will save you, and will raise you to be the light of the world.


    "The Lord is great and terrible, and to hear His voice is to be petrified. For I have heard it on waking, and could not move, for I was frozen to a stone by fear. And now my soul is as a stone, furnished with the armour of the Lord''s word, and I speak to you that which I have heard. For do not think that I would say aught, unless the Lord hadmanded it!


    "For, in the morning, you listened to your leaders, and they told you that you would prevail.


    "But, as I have told to you, Jesus spoke fearfully in my ear this morning, and He said, You shall not prevail, unless the hand of God lifts your weapons and fastens your armour; for even the swords of the strong shall be too heavy, and your shields shall be broken upon the earth, if He does not lift them.


    "And He said, Many shall perish by the demons, for at the moment when they thought themselves most safe, lo! the demons have smote their throats.


    "And now He has told me, It is good to marry, for man should cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh, that by this miracle they may realise His presence and feel His power joining them.


    "And finally, Each man who is in by the demons shall receive rewards in Heaven, for he has joined me on the cross; let the brave be a thorn in the enemy''s side, proving by their bravery the justness of our cause, and let the patient and righteous grow an army that can upend the demon league.


    "You have seen that the Lord has spoken true of the events this morning! Do not doubt, then, and raise your swords to fight for His cause!


    "I shall return in half an hour, after taking confessions, in order to speak to you at length about the war, marriage, Mokra, and other topics that are of current importance. You may wait for me, or gather more to the herd."


    The apuse was interrupted as a small group of people, looking mostly Middle Eastern, tried to force their way towards the front of the stage and screamed towards the crowd.


    "Do not heed this preacher of evil!"


    "No war! No corruption! No Massie!"


    "These guys have been causing trouble for a while, though they have some points," Ryan exined. "They''re a fringe dualist group that opposes war, marriage, and ''corruption,'' that is, favour being given towards those who donate to Massie. But they''re growing in influence after the war, since people now find their strict anti-war message sympathetic."


    "Why do they hate Massie so much?" Crucis asked.


    "Well, their beliefs have always shed, so they''ve been resistant to his preaching. But, ofte, he also ''stole'' one of their major members, named Marie-re, and took her as a wife and assistant. They''ve been fairly vocal in targetting him since then."


    "I see. So they''ve mostly be popr for their stance on the war?"


    "There''s also been some controversy on marriage, some people are saying that marriage here is just for the sake of pleasure, and therefore is irreligious. It hasn''t stopped most believers, however, but it does mean that many more traditional people are open to this sect. There''s still frequent controversy over the matter."


    "People will probably adapt: I doubt that people are going to stay here without marrying for that long, and their religion will probably follow. A religion can''t oust their feelings. People are like vultures: the more popr you are with them, the less flesh you will be left with."


    "That much is true. Even with Massie, I think people mostly like the spectacle and how he ys into their own anger, rather than always understanding his archaic speech. But for now there''s friction. Anyway, Massie''s next speech will be in half an hour. You can wait here, I''ll just have to dash backstage to arrange things. The next speech will be even more shy, and probably more crowded."


    As Ryan jogged off, Crucis looked around the hallway, and saw a small queue of people with bowed heads in front of a green door to the far-left of the building. The door was tinged with a hint of aquamarine, and he saw Massie walk in with a follower. The queue must be for confessions and conversions, so he joined it. Everyone was silent as the grave, so Crucis didn''t say anything. Slowly, the line moved forward, as people were invited through the green door.


    Soon, he had reached the front, and a follower of Massie, dressed in tight, white robes, came up to him to ask his name.


    "Karna," he said humbly.


    It was the pseudonym which the DeathGang infiltrator had used when rmending him as a new follower.


    "Ah, excellent." The follower turned to a group of simrly-dressed people standing behind him, to confirm that this was the Karna that they had mentioned. After this, he turned around, seemingly satisfied. "Yes, you may enter next. We are happy to have received a new follower, and you will be instructed on how to join us once you have been cleansed of your sins. The Father shall lead you in, shortly."


    Soon, Massie emerged from the door, and walked up to Crucis, greeting him simply with, "Wee, God be with you."


    Crucis bowed in response.


    Massie led him through the green door, which creaked ceremoniously to a shut behind him, and down a narrow, twisting corridor into the back section of the building.


    A young, blonde girl with blotchy, pale skin walked up to them, carrying arge, golden basket. She was wearing a tight, ck shirt, jeans, and a powder-like white scarf around her neck. Crucis noticed that she had a small, ck copy of the Bible stuffed haphazardly into her back pocket, seemingly in a hurry. Why would she need to hide the Bible?


    Regardless, Massie, who seemed somewhat short-sighted and had often had to feel across the walls for a sense of direction, didn''t seem to notice it.


    "This is Marie-re, my partner," Massie said, turning to Crucis. "What sins have you to confess? Many have told me that they felt their soul was in dire straits, due to greed, desertion, lying that death could not ur, or even unknowingly taking another''s life. And surely God will not look kindly on this wretchedness! But He shall spare you His whip, if you put aside your pride and render unto His church an offering to aid our preaching. For pride is the most treacherous sin, and if you have ovee it then it will show your worth to the Lord."


    "Yes, you may ce any offerings here," Marie-re added, in a wispy, faintly French voice. She lowered a hand gently towards the basket, to indicate it.


    "What kind of offerings would you wee?" Crucis asked, keeping up an air of interestedness in order to build rapport.


    "We''d love onyx coins, but you can really give anything," she said, smiling lightly.


    "You should make offerings in coins of onyx, because we are saving them and it will allow us to buy powerful mounts for our men. Don''t donate gold, since gifting it is limited and you are better off giving an item. The amount depends on the severity of your sin."


    "Hm. I have some onyx coins on hand, but I would like to discuss the nature of my sins first, so that I can ascertain how much I must give."


    He didn''t have any onyx coins. Those were a paywalled token that could be exchanged for valuable, rare - if often cosmetic - items like mounts, gems or clothing. They required a red-tinted [Fire-ss Box] to store them, a no-drop item which was also paywalled, and as a result Crucis didn''t have any way to obtain and keep them.


    All the same, he figured that it might be useful to im that he did, in order to get the priest''s attention.


    "Excllent," Massie said. "Then let us enter the confessional. There, we can estimate the correct price. Marie-re, go out to the back and fetch some of my notes for the speechter."


    Marie-re nodded, and half-curtseyed before turning away, light on her feet. "I''m d we have someone strong over. He''ll help us win the war, I''m sure of it! Don''t you think so?"


    "The greatest strength is an unyielding belief in God," Massie replied, dismissively.


    Crucis noticed that Marie-re''s carefree demeanour quickly sunk, and her heels almost dug into the ground as she slouched down.


    "...Fine, alright. But could you please stop being passive-aggressive every time I speak?"


    "I am not. It is the teaching of Paul that, ''I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.'' I have even allowed you to preach to believers, you shouldin that I am not strict enough."


    She didn''t say a word, just walked away.


    "Never mind that. She gets stressed sometimes, I think she used to run with some radical heretics," Massie said. "She is still adapting to the way of Christ, but she is learning well."


    "Like the ones making a ruckus right now?"


    "Yes, exactly. So she is not quite in her right mind."


    "I see."


    Massie led him into a moderate, wooden room, which had been adapted as a makeshift confessional, and sat on arge, white chair ced in the centre.


    "Now speak, what have you to confess?" Massie said.


    Crucis noticed that Massie''s approach to confessional was quite unusual, including the offering of indulgences prior to it. That wasn''t entirely unexpected, since giving a confession in a game woulde across as unconventional anyway, but it seemed to also owe to Massie''s personal idiosyncracies. Crucis wasn''t entirely sure how to begin, however, so he just opted to try something conventional, taking on a timid voice to sound more convincing.


    "Bless me, father, for I have sinned -"


    "No need for that," Massie said. "Get right to the heart of the matter, and tell me of your sins."


    "As you wish. Firstly, I have looked by without resistance as Jarius, who was leading our team through a dungeon, killed others out of greed. I did not think to even speak up, or contradict him. My heart had grown callous through selfishness."


    "Ah, that is a grave matter. Have you raised the issue since?"


    "I have, and refused to join his Guild. But I did not object in the moment, and I am still ursed for it."


    "Very well. Jarius is the leader of the GildedKnights, yes?"


    "Yes, that is true."


    "I see. Yes, they have taken many people along with them. But witness the way of worldliness! Even when they have assisted you, they have brought great calumny upon your soul. This is why I have said that people should not have trusted their leaders."


    "Yes, and they have lied to us, and failed in thebat with the demons, because they did not understand what they were facing."


    "You speak the truth. That is why our faith must take precedent, and we must organise under its banners."


    "Yes, and why the Lord has sent you to guide his flock. Because otherwise, we are led astray."


    Crucis spoke in a trance-like, doctrinaire tone, imitating what he had heard from most of Massie''s followers.


    "Indeed. The masses need a path to God, for they are in disarray, and despair, without His guidance. And, by joining my following, you shall be the light of the world, and shall bring the people back to God. So do not fear to confess your sins, for your sins shall be forgiven, out of God''s infinite generosity towards His flock. And you shall be ced on a pedestal, when His will is restored on earth."


    "Now that the worldly leaders are humbled, I do not doubt that God''s voice should be heard again."


    "Yes. They have used up all of their power, and the demons have gained victory with a small smidgeon of their own wicked power. If we do not all acknowledge the superiority of the Lord, then all of this struggle will be in vain, and we will be hunted down like dodos and put to rest."


    "But will there not be resistance, if you try to unite all people under the banner of Christ? I would hope greatly for our sess, but you will be trying to ovee the might of all the world, and even of demons."


    "In the Lord, even this is possible! I shall speak, and the leaders of this world shall bow before me, or perish. They shall be as my ves, for I am the Lord''s messenger, and He shall exalt me above them all. In this way, the world shall be ruled by the faith."


    He gestured grandly, even raising his hands to the low ceiling once, to convey this vision.


    "Yes. And then our despair shall end, because from such a high pulpit you could drive out all the world''s demons."


    "It has been said that the Lord could form rivers in the desert. Even so, in the midst of despair and hopelessness, the word of God shall give us hope and sustenance. Witness, could my preaching have been so effective, were it not backed by the Lord? And He shall make it stronger still, until it tames the earth. And I have often told Marie-re, ''you should not be surprised at my prominence now, for soon we shall both be enthroned like kings.'' Even this, the Lord shall bring to pass."


    "Thank you, your speech has eased my heart. I have worried for many days over this, and would like to give you a gift in return, although truly a soul at ease is priceless. ept what I can offer."


    He drew out the ''key to life,'' which glowed brightly across the room, its light almost bleaching the dark, wooden walls.


    Massie looked on, as if entranced by its sight.


    "This is a humble offering, but it is rare," Crucis said.


    "Why, thank you! It is excellent," Massie said, slightly manically. "I am sure Marie-re will be excited, she actually had a dream yesterday, she was a Queen and all the world was listening to her words. Now I can give her this!"


    "Perhaps her dreams have summoned your triumph. For this is the gateway to your dreams, and to hers," Crucis said softly. "It is the promise of Heaven, heard on earth."


    Massie was staring intently at the key, smiling insanely as he heard Crucis'' words, and grabbed the key hastily.


    In a moment, he saw fire erupt all around him, and an ashen ck figure, tinted with me-like red, rising mightily where Crucis had stood. The figure seemed to ignore the searing mes coiling around him.


    "Begone, devil!" Massie shouted. "The Lord has defeated you on the cross, and you have no power here! The man of faith shall prevail!"


    The figureughed, a harsh, metallic sound like a sword dragged against granite.


    "I fell like lightning from the Heavens," it proimed. "Once I lived in realms of bliss, but life changes in a moment. What further defeat could your wrath work on me?"


    "The word of one who worships the Lord is enough to ovee the devil! Avaunt!"


    "Then celebrate your triumph."


    The creature grabbed his throat, and dragged it heavily forward, stabbing into it with a long, sharply-curved ck w that curved down to pierce his heart.


    As the scene faded, Crucis stood alone in the room, motionless in ce. In front of him was arge, crater-like expanse of charred floor, decorated by the faint ashes of Massie''s body.


    He calmly used [Agile Step] to sneak out through the walls of the building, before anyone coulde to check on the situation.

 Chapter 128: Take Everything From the Inside

    Chapter 128: Take Everything From the Inside


    As he exited therge building, he heard a loud collision from behind it.


    Using [Quickstep], he quietly made his way towards the sound, and saw that it came from a small shed which was a short way behind the building. This was outside Kruxol, and was not a safe zone.


    Nearing it, he heard a female weeping loudly, and could make out some of the words she whimpered.


    "I don''t want to be here... Why did Ie? I know marriage is a sacrifice, but... I just wanted to be free! Now he won''t even allow me to preach any more, nobody will recognise me..."


    It was Marie-re, and retained her distinctive, if slightly out-of-ce, chirpy tone and uptalk. However, it was much less stable and articted than when she had spoken with Massie present.


    She didn''t seem to know that Massie was dead yet, but, if she saw Crucis escaping, then she might raise the rm or at least report the sighting once she found out about the death.


    He walked towards the shed, pulling on a ck ski mask to hide his identity, as she continued to weep to herself.


    Her familiar username was faintly visible now, [Theu].


    "Why did you do it, Mary? You should have stayed away from here... got it? Far away! Even if you became famous, was it worth it? I want to stay, but I want to go... Should I stay or should I go?"


    Rounding the shed in search for the entrance, he stumbled over a fallen branch that he had missed in the dark night. He heard Marie-re sitting up in an alert position, as she realised someone was near, and he rushed towards the entrance to cut her off if she attempted to escape.


    Her pleading voice limped out of the shed, in the direction she had heard him in. "Who is it? Massie? It must be you! Please don''t beat me this time, please... Not on the night before marriage! I''ve been good, I''m just looking for what you want... Please."


    There was a spurt of noise from inside the `building, and Crucis guessed that she was hiding inside rather than trying to leave. He supposed that, if it was Massie, he wouldn''t take kindly to her trying to run away.


    Before opening the door, he made sure that nobody else was nearby. There had been a couple of yers guarding this area when he had first arrived at the Prayer Hallway, but they had seemingly wandered off. It wasn''t that surprising, since asking yers to spend hours standing in ce for a pittance would typically lead to indiscipline. The coast was clear for now.


    Inside the shed, there were a few cupboards and shelvesying haphazardly around the sides, along with a mass of religious paraphernalia and agricultural tools scattered around. However, there was no sign of Marie-re.


    She must be hiding somewhere here.


    Walking in, he loudly threw open a cupboard to his right, hoping that the noise would cause her to reveal herself due to fear or nerves.


    When nothing happened, he kicked away a table that was leaning on its side against the right wall. She wasn''t behind it.


    However, he heard someone shivering wildly inside a cab on the left side of the room, as she heard the violent sound of the search.


    He closed the shed door, then walked towards this cab and crouched beside it.


    As it opened, he saw her crumpled in a corner, staring into the wall despairingly. Her face was bowed near the ground, with long, straight hair syed around it, and her upper legs rose awkwardly up behind her like a rabbit. He grabbed her by the back of her cor, and wrenched her back.


    "Why do you always hurt me? You have to let me go, or I''ll go back to my friends... I won''t marry you!"


    Did she still think that he was Massie?


    He raised a dagger to her throat, and the silver crucifix on its hilt shone wanly in the faint moonlight.


    "Fine, I take that back! I''ll... whatever, just don''t hurt me!" she cried.


    He kept her steady with a mild [Chokehold]. He could see that her ck shirt had been drenched by tears, and it almost stuck to his.


    Summoning some effort, she wrenched her head back, and saw his eyes calmly look back from behind his ck mask.


    "Wait... Who are you?" she said. "I can''t see in this light. You''re not Massie? You don''t feel like him."


    "I''d hope not," he said gruffly.


    "OK... Do you hate me? Or only him? If this is about him, then I swear I''ll leave his cult if you want me to. I''ll go back and join the Temperants... if you want. Or another rival religious group, if that''s why you''re here..."


    Crucis rxed his grip slightly, to give the impression that he wasn''tmitted to killing her.


    "I was sent here to harm Massie, not you. But I can''t trust you. Why did you leave the Temperants? I doubt you could have taken his preaching seriously, right?"


    "Well, I had this dream... corny way to start, I know. Um. So I was in this amazing, jade pce, everything was glowing green, light was so bright I could barely see. Somehow I knew it was Heaven, and I was an angel. I was sent to a verandah, preaching to the world like, um, from a mountain, the usual kind of thing I preached here, but they all heard me and prayed and looked up. Like, they really listened to me, not just because I''m a girl. Then I saw Massie preaching, and it was so impressive, he even had some lights show going on, and I thought it was just like the dream. Yeah, I know, it''s childish, but I haven''t seen my family for days, no-one I knew was here... So I ran away to join Massie. I didn''t even care what he believed. And then the dreams got more intense, and it felt good... but... sometimes I wanted to leave again."


    Crucis felt her rx and lean back slightly, as she realised that he was listening to her and not making any efforts to attack. Her shivering legs tucked faintly against his knees.


    "So you abandoned your beliefs and freedom, for worldly glory? Well, perhaps you can repent of it."


    "I... Yeah, I guess you''re right. And hey, with this Temperant talk, you sound a bit like I did then. Please forgive me, I knew not what I did."


    She seemed oddlyfortable with talking in this situation, perhaps because she was used to Massie restraining or beating her while censuring her about religion.


    Crucis waited a few seconds before replying. The night was quiet, except for the sound of Marie-re breathing heavily.


    "Perhaps your sins will be forgiven."


    "How? I haven''t even donated anything, I haven''t done anything to deserve it! Massie always said he''d kick me out for disobeying, why don''t you just tell me I''m a failure? Tell me right to my face."


    "No-one''s deserving. It is a matter of grace. But it looks like you invested a lot of belief in Massie. Still, Massie has stirred people up to war, didn''t you think he was going crazy with his talk about ''demons''?"


    "Yeah! Of course he was. Still, it felt, um, heroic, I guess? Like, he was fighting against the forces of the devil himself. Not every guy does that. Honestly, when he talked like that, it was exciting, I kind of wanted to... nevermind. But look, I can change, right? Don''t you think that would be a coup, having Massie''s ''wife'' in a rival group? I''d love to see his reaction."


    This girl seemed like a possible concern. If he hadn''t found her, she would have probably taken arge role in keeping Massie''s belligerent teachings alive, due to her ambitions. Even if she went to another group, not much stopped her from leaving again, and from the sound of it she was still excited by the spectacle of Massie''s preaching. Judging from the conversation in the building, she was also something of an eager grifter, and would probably find some way to try and get back into prominence due to that. He doubted that she could change, even if she wanted to, and she would be a thorn in the side whatever happened.


    Probingly, he said, "Yeah, it would. But, if you joined, could you truly renounce things that Massie is infamous for preaching, like war and indulgences?"


    Her knees shuffled uncertainly, dragging her jeans subtly hissing along the ground. "Um, yeah, of course. I mean, I was never involved in the donations." This was a lie.


    Somewhat guiltily, she added, "But I can see what you mean, even I wouldn''t trust me. I understand why my friends, I mean, the ''Temperants,'' opposed them and denounced them as ''worldly.'' But I don''t really have the confidence to speak in public like that right now, if Massie said it was important I just gave in. I can''t go toe-to-toe with him now, he''d guilt-trip me about the, um, my ''demons''... Anything but that. Could you please, um, hold me away from something like that?"


    "I will. It''s alright, your time with Massie is in your past now, but -"


    "Yeah, well, how can I be sure? I know you hate me, you''re even trying to choke me to death," she said, appearing quite calm despite her words. She shot a half-hearted, usative re.


    "Do you think so?"


    "No. Your grip is loose, it''s too gentle to kill me. I know that you don''t hate me." She giggled. "Hm. That''s kind offy, in this dingy shack."


    She rxed slightly, and calmly stretched out her long left leg to the side. The lines of tear-stains across the top of her blue jeans looked like dark rivers in the moonlight.


    "You sound almost disappointed."


    "I don''t know how I feel these days," she said apologetically. "Sometimes I want pleasure, sometimes I want pain, y''know?"


    "I understand that."


    Bringing her leg back into a kneeling position, she cleared her throat before nervously rambling. "So don''t think I mean - that I''ll just give up, and I can''t preach against war, indulgences, or anything. I just forgot if there was another way. I thought - well, I can''t escape from sin, or ''leave the world behind'' like the Temperants say, so what I need is a sign of faith to show here. My own. Don''t we all need that? I mean, war, marriage, they would have been SO terrible, but I thought that was where I was, where I had to show my faith. But maybe I''m just selfish. Maybe you guys can show me. I''ll do or say anything, OK? OK."


    "You''d be a puppet on a string?"


    "That''s how you treat me."


    "Admittedly. But I''d hope that not everyone treats you like me."


    "I doubt they would. Honestly, I barely want to think about them right now. But they probably didn''t hate me as much as you." She red mock-usatorily backwards, and quietly shuffled her legs to envelope Crucis'' knees as she half-kneeled-half-reclined over the ground. "Well, maybe you don''t. Look, can we discuss going backter? I need to rx for now. Hearing you question my virtue, it just hurts."


    "I didn''t mean to. Is your virtue so easy to throw into question?"


    "Yeah, it doesn''t exist. Fine, let''s talk about going back to the Temperants. You''d get sick of me if you had to stay here by me."


    "No, we don''t have to talk about that now... Let''s try something else. You said that Massie knew about your ''demons,'' what did you mean? You almost crumpled, like a rag, when you said it."


    She whimpered quietly before replying.


    "Oh, that... that. Yeah. It''s why I need to fight. I mean, when Massie talks about demons, it reminds me of something. It always feels like, even if I''m awake, there''s some evil hag or demon holding me down. I can see everything around me, and walk around, but it''s always there, ring at me and dragging me down like, I don''t know, super-gravity. I don''t know why it hates me. I could go anywhere, but it would follow me there and sabotage me. I don''t know how I can appease it."


    ssy tears spiralled freely through her hair.


    "So you''d rather be pulled up?" Crucis said, kneeling up and pulling her lightly upwards.


    "Yeah," she giggled, "I guess you''re not a demon, then."


    "Perhaps. Anyway, your experience sounds a lot like a waking dream... but itsts through every day?"


    "Yeah, I guess I can''t tell my life apart from dreams sometimes, huh."


    "Heh, at least you realise. Maybe you were drawn to the Temperants because they also see demons everywhere?" He paused. "Why can''t you let the demons go?"


    "Um, yeah. About that. I know I make the demon sound like an enemy, but... it''s right, isn''t it? I''m worthless, nobody really cares about me, I''m stupid, I can''t do anything well. Maybe it''s right, I just need to give up and listen to it... take everything in my soul, and sell it away. I just need to give up! Then maybe... I won''t be a hated devil..."


    "Okay," he whispered.


    His de easily cut through her fragile, unresisting neck, and he grasped her head as it fell off. Even her once-bright hair was soaked in tears and sweat.


    Grabbing a nearby small, sturdy crucifix which was supported by a horizontal beam, heid this on the ground, then used it to support her head as he leaned it against the wall, facing the entrance to the building. It might make a more striking impression on whoever found it, and perhaps suggest that something supernatural or uncanny was in effect. After all, given the manner of Massie''s death, his enemies would likelye up with supernatural exnations, not without justification. Some razzamatazz would help ease this spection along.


    He got up, and dusted himself off. The rest of her body slouched quietly to the ground beside the head.


    She had dropped a surprising amount of expensive clothes, which suggests that Massie was funneling some of the onyx coins from donations into purchases for himself and her. While he could sell most of these clothes, since they were for females, there were a couple ofrge ''robe'' items that covered most of the upper body and face like a niqab, and those might be worth keeping around as a disguise.


    She had also dropped the Bible which she had been hiding from Massie, and Crucis drew it briefly from his inventory because he had been curious about it. It seemed to be a normal Bible, mostly, although the pages where the Songs of Solomon and Book of Revtion had been written were reced by glossy ck pages with white text. He could read thister in better light, to see if the text on this was different from a regr Bible.


    DigdugMan had recently sent a message saying that there would be about fifteen minutes before LuegoLuego would be ready for the fight, since LuegoLuego had been trying to organise a small protest against DeathGang but was disrupted when a glut of mboyant dancers appeared in the meeting ce. This meant that Crucis would still have some time to burn, so he looked through some more of the odds and ends she had deposited in his inventory.


    This included an [Avnche Rock], a rock from an ancient avnche, which had a chance of summoning a statue if used in yer housing or a Guild building. This statue could give a few different buffs. There was no use for the stone at the moment, but it would probably be worth using in the future.


    Marie-re had also dropped a thin, emerald-green-covered notebook, which had one page of writing on it in herrge, cursive text. However, someone had seemingly torn up the page, and only a few words and phrases still remained, spread across the page. These included ''times,'' ''bitter words,'' ''hour,'' ''trod,'' ''gold,'' ''sufferers,'' and ''prison.'' It seemed to be notes prepared for a sermon.


    He quickly scrawled a poem into the nk spaces between the words, on the page which was exposed beneath, then left the notebook carefully next to her corpse.


    Ofttimes I upbraid with bitter words the hour


    When I was wooed, and now am wed to woe:


    "Had I my choice," I sobbed, "I''d ne''er have trod


    The path my feet now tread, for all its gold.


    I would have chosen as I have done in vain


    To roam, a sad, unpitied, unprofaned thing,


    Alone, with other sufferers, in the rain."


    But, Passion, we must not weep in this unholy strain;


    There is no help for us but in passion again.


    I will return to your prison; let me feel


    The fetters nk upon me, and my pain renew.


    Above it, he had scrawled the title ''Losing My Religion,'' next to her name. In a bottom corner beneath the poem, he wrote, ''(The story of her return to the Temperants.)'' Heid the note beside her body, in the corner of the room.


    When she was found, the superstitious would probably make up all sorts of theories about what happened.


    Finally, she had also dropped another item calld [The Count''s Letter]. It looked like an empty sheet of paper, but he wondered if it might work like the pages of prophecy, and only disy its words at a specific time. It might be rted somehow to the invitation he had received to the Drac-esque Count''s castle. He should check on it if he went there. He made this connection quickly, since her story had reminded him faintly of the automaton Ibis'' Drac poem. ''He is the leper, the one with a demon sealed in him.''


    Before leaving, he changed into his familiar Assassin''s costume, so that people who saw him in the Prayer Hallway wouldn''t recognise him.


    He saw a few Temperants walking out of the Prayer Hallway, probably having been expelled from it. He waited for them to leave, then ran out onto the outskirts of Kruxol. There weren''t many people wandering around here at this time, due to the DeathGang procession crowding the streets of Kruxol. As such, he easily flitted unseen around the circumference of Kruxol, using the trees around the Northern end as cover.


    Soon, having made some distance from the scene of the crime, he ducked in through an alley to join the loud DeathGang procession.


    At first, the procession just looked like a sudden wall of light, with a phnx of lit torches held in the air. Crucis had grown ustomed to the cold night air, and felt a soft, but sharp, burning sensation ring across his skin as he approached the heat of the torches.


    The yers in front of the procession held arge, open coffin in the air, with its door asionally swaying from side to side in the wind.


    Crucis quickly sent a message to DicingDevil, to alert him to the arrival.


    Crucis: massie + waif dead


    Crucis: i''m here, alley next to green statue, sw kruxol


    DicingDevil: nice


    DicingDevil: sec,e on over


    DicingDevil: want a torch?


    Crucis: not yet, gtg in 10m


    Crucis: more malcontents


    Crucis: but will join in for now


    DicingDevil: got it


    DicingDevil:e on, it will wipe redname


    Crucis: kk


    He saw Akshel and Dionarcy shuffle slightly to create some space on the right side of the procession, and he slotted in there, joining in on a burgeoning football-hooligan-esque chant of, "We are the champions," that Danemy had started. On entering the procession as a recognised war participant, his red name reverted to normal, a feature enabled so that even if wars took ce in the evening a proper celebration could be held right after.


    "I hate that song, honestly," Akshel sighed light-heartedly, after the chant ended. "Heard it too much."


    "It''s alright, we just butchered it worse than our enemies this morning," Crucis said. "I bet Farrokh''s rolling in his grave."


    "That would be good. Careful with the butchering, by the way, your hands are still stained red."


    "Hey, nice to see again," the ponytailed General OudNasser said from behind them. "Well done this morning, all of you."


    "You''re wee," Crucis replied. "By the way, does anyone feel like troubling the GildedKnights a bit?"


    "Count me in," Akshel said.


    "Have had nothing to do in this evening, so yes, good idea," OudNasser added.


    They called a few more DeathGang members to join them.


    "Alright. I''ll show you where I''m heading, keep an eye on it. Some GildedKnights will go into this building, and enter a secret ce at the back. Once they''re in, you can all lurk by the door, and I''ll open it from the inside so you can enter."


    "Got it," Akshel said.


    Eventually, they passed a small cottage which DigdugMan had mentioned as the site of the uing duel, and Crucis slipped out towards it.

 Chapter 129: Eye of the Tiger

    Chapter 129: Eye of the Tiger


    Crucis found a small open space between a clump of lush, flowery bushes, and crouched down to avoid detection.


    He had checked carefully from the path, and found that the bushes here were too high and thick to see through, so he circled around the outer wall of the garden to find a way here.


    Soon, he heard the wooden door creak open, as DigdugMan led LuegoLuego and GemsBond silently in. He peeked over the bushes, and saw that two more GildedKnights yers hade along to watch.


    As he guessed, they walked straight down the muddy path, towards a rectangr section of chalky cut grass which was going to be used as a PvP arena. Four white, small statues of unicorns were erected on round pedestals on each corner of this area, their bodies twisted like a river in the semnce of motion. Tonight, they almost looked a wan shade of light grey, but they would be a brilliant, waxy white by daytime.


    He could dimly make out that there was another,rger such area in the back-right corner, next to arge, lily-shaped marble fountain. However, DigdugMan had mentioned that arger group was alsoing to practice soon, and it seemed likely that they would use therger arena.


    Once the group reached the cut grass, they fanned out along its edge as spectators, and the twobatants both stood on one side of the rectangle. GemsBond had seemingly trained quite hard in the time since theyst met, and was now sitting on level 33, up eight levels. LuegoLuego was still only on level 27, but didn''t seem ruffled by the level difference.


    Although Crucis was pleased by GemsBond''s industriousness, he figured that neither of these yers were likely to make a substantial difference to the team''s performance in the Arena. There would be plenty of teams with three well-developed yers, and a few which had participated in the previous Arena and had more experience with the format. Assassins were typically not as strong in this kind of fight, and without a Guild it would be difficult to find a much better team. As a result, they would probably be able to qualify for the final stages of the tournament, but not get much further.


    Their rewards were hence unlikely to alter, regardless of which low-level member joined.


    While GemsBond was ready to fight, LuegoLuego still had his back turned to his opponent, and was engaging in a few theatrical practice cuts with his [Air-Light Wooden Training Sword]. This was a variant of the basic, bokken-like sword typically used for practice, but it moved more easily through the air and almost seemed to levitate, making it handle somewhat like a balloon in water. It typically favoured exchanges of high cuts and attacks. Crucis had heard of a few yers that mixed in a few high-speed rising strikes from below, but this was difficult, since it wasn''t easy to efficiently control the sword and bring it down once it was in the air.


    GemsBond also had one of these swords readied. They were favoured for Arena practice, since they were seen as the closest equivalent to the specialised, high-flying wooden swords used in Arena.


    However, a few yers, including the Hashin which Crucis had met earlier, were using tradeskills tobouriously make more urate practice swords, and even improve on the ones used in Arena while remaining within the regtions. The knowledge that went into this wasn''t typically made public, however, and was mostly confined to a few groups who had participated previously or were high-ranking Guild members.


    Eventually, LuegoLuego stopped his sword practice, with a contented expression, and turned to charge into an attack against GemsBond. However, DigdugMan calmly raised an [Earth Shield] in the middle of the Arena, drawing on the mud around it.


    "Excuse me, wait for my signal to start the match," he said.


    LuegoLuego frustratedly nodded, then walked backwards.


    "Good catch," GemsBond chirped. "I was half-asleep by the time he finished his sword dance, I wouldn''t have been able to block that."


    "At least he wasn''t put off by your level," DigdugMan replied.


    "That much is clear."


    The twobatants faced each other down, preparing to attack. After counting down for five seconds, DigdugMan told them to start.


    LuegoLuego surged forward quickly, but GemsBond seemed more alert, and took a sudden, long step forward for a sweeping strike that caught LuegoLuego off-bnce trying to parry. Capitalising on this, GemsBond managed a follow-up strike to the shoulders, managing to just about keep his sword from flying up into the air.


    Chastened, his opponent took a few steps back, and began to fight more calmly in the centre of the area. At first, both of them had trouble with keeping their swords down, and asionally made strikes which flew right over their opponents.


    Crucis crept closer through a few shallower bushes, easily unnoticed because the group''s attention was fixed on the fight. His ck outfit wove between the bushes like a snake.


    However, he soon dove into another clump of high bushes briefly, as arge congregation of GildedKnights yers entered and headed towards therger arena in the back corner of the garden. They didn''t seem to pay much attention to the fight going on here, although a few offered words of encouragement to their Guildmate LuegoLuego. The two GildedKnights yers who were already watching now left the fight to follow therger group.


    GemsBond had taken an earlymand of the fight, remaining 5% HP over LuegoLuego, but soon his opponent began to chip away at this advantage. The two fought cagily, with each heaving their sword into strikes that were easily parried, and their practice swords were not heavily damaging. However, Crucis noticed that some of GemsBond''s strikes didn''t seem to do any damage, while his opponent''s were more damaging despite the lower level and Strength. Further, LuegoLuego didn''t seem to even be bothering with serious strikes, instead just faintly touching GemsBond with the sword like in a fencingpetition, but was strangely enough doing more damage.


    While GemsBond adjusted to strike in the same way as LuegoLuego, this didn''t seem to make any difference, and actually decreased his own damage. As such, went back to fighting normally.


    Soon, LuegoLuego had managed to catch up with GemsBond, and both had 80% HP each. The first to lower their opponents to 33% would win.


    GemsBond began to fight more conservatively, trying to fend off his opponent''s damaging blows, but it was difficult because he was taking damage from even the faintest nce of the sword. Nheless, he slowly got used to the pattern of the fight, and managed to hold off an onught of aggressive blows, though only by the time that he was 3% HP lower than his opponent.


    DigdugMan had examined thebatants before the fight, and reported to Crucis on the equipment that each was using, none of which would have allowed as much of a disparity in damage. Further, stats-wise, GemsBond was generally superior, while neither had artifacts or buffs that would make a difference to the fight. While GemsBond had clearly prepared for this fight well, going to dungeons and warming up beforeing, LuegoLuego had never done a dungeon and had mostly stayed in Kruxol. He also seemed to have no idea that his damage was in any way unusual. As such, the results so far were unexpected.


    Crucis was reluctant to let LuegoLuego win, because it was likely that Ligate would start tagging along as well. Further, GemsBond was clearly better at swordbat on the whole, and had levelled up quickly, so he seemed more likely to develop to a decent standard by the time of the Arena event.


    The wooden swords cked against each other harshly, as LuegoLuego continued trying to get a strike on GemsBond, often getting struck in the process. He was clearly absorbed in the thrill of the battle. While GemsBond''s firm, high guard staved off most blows, and he wove his sword under LuegoLuego''s to give a series of effective, disorienting strikes around the chest and head, he was still unable to catch up as the fight strayed away from him.


    As the fight reached near its end, with LuegoLuego on 45% HP and GemsBond on 43%, GemsBond''s movements suddenly seemed to slow down.


    "What''s wrong, Gems?" DigdugMan asked. "Your swings are getting stuck in mid-air."


    "Yeah, heavyg all of a sudden," GemsBond replied.


    "It''s just sour grapes," LuegoLuego said, retaining a serious, focussed expression. "He''s upset that he can''t win, so he''s making up excuses."


    DigdugMan shrugged, but let the fight continue. While he would have liked to have paused it, to see if the obviousg issues would stop, there were a few GildedKnights members entering soon who would like to use this spot for a fight, and re-running it would take too long.


    Nearing the fight, Crucis quickly typed out a message to DigdugMan.


    Crucis: thrilling fight, i wonder who''ll win


    As the fight lurched to its close, with GemsBond valiantly fending off attacks as his HP drifted lower and lower, Crucis used [Arbiter] and crept closer to the action unseen.


    Lag turned the sound of the fight into a cryptic, stato rhythm, but it was obviously bing progressively more one-sided.


    In just under a minute, his silent, ck-d figure materialised behind LuegoLuego, who was on 38% HP and nearing victory. After one [Silent Stab] through the upper-back of the throat, LuegoLuego''s low HP drained to 0% and his skin suddenly drooped lifeless and unmoving.


    Crucis cast [Stealth Cloak] immediately after the strike, and darted off into the bushes.


    He quickly received a private message.


    DigdugMan: oi the bugger nearly won


    DigdugMan: v. mean


    Crucis: The race is not to the swift


    DigdugMan: well i did say you could give your verdict on the fight


    DigdugMan: a bit direct tho


    DigdugMan: scared the f out of me


    Crucis: ikr quality jumpscare


    Crucis: btw, want to tag along for a dungeon tmrw?


    DigdugMan: eh sure gildedknights refused to help me


    DigdugMan: sry btw if any gildedknights see u in here they''ll fight


    DigdugMan: they even nearly kicked me outst time, bc they said i wasn''t in a guild. had to ask byron for confirmation, then they interrogated him about it lol


    Crucis: Take Gems and chill out in Kruxol.


    Crucis: I''ll make sure to negotiate diplomatically, as necessary.


    Crucis: But it shouldn''t be a problem, I''ll follow you out in a second, let me just check my inventory first


    DigdugMan: sure gl


    DigdugMan: the door opens easily, no need for the key on the way out


    DigdugMan: hurry up, btw, there''s some DeathGang yers hanging around and they might attack if they have a key


    Crucis: kk


    DigdugMan was fairly polite towards Crucis, especially since there weren''t many high-level yers who would help him otherwise. He had sent Crucis plenty of messages over the evening about how GildedKnights were sulking that DigdugMan hadn''t attended the war, even though, as a non-Guild yer, he hadn''t received the messages telling him when to show up. Due to this ''desertion,'' the Guild was even more stuffy than usual, and reluctant to give him much assistance.


    In addition, he didn''t want Crucis to kill him too right now.


    He quickly healed up GemsBond, who was on 34% HP, and told him about Crucis'' offer of a dungeon run.


    As DigdugMan and GemsBond left the area, Crucis stayed still and sent messages to the DeathGang yers to ready themselves and follow the next entrants towards the door.


    Soon, four GildedKnights members opened the door to the garden, preparing to fight on the area just vacated. Scanning them, he saw that they were all around level 40, not a major threat.


    As soon as they closed the door, Crucis used [Arbiter] and ran towards it. It took about 25 seconds to reach, due to theg, but he cast [Stealth Cloak] so that it would take effect as soon as [Arbiter] ended.


    Once theg finished, he quickly opened the door, still unseen, then ran back into the bushes.


    Six DeathGang Assassins darted through the entrance, also using [Stealth Cloak], and prepared to fight. They were all over level 50, with OudNasser being at level 59, so theyfortably out-levelled the GildedKnights yers who were mostly in the level 40-45 range and peaked at level 56.


    As the two groups surged into battle, with some GildedKnights yers hastily trying to switch from wooden swords to normal ones as strikes rained down, Crucis picked out the level 56 GildedKnights yer named [Keplier] and approached with sword drawn. This yer looked familiar, but he didn''t quite recall from where.


    Keplier noticed his approach, and attempted a harsh [Overhead sh], but Crucis slowed and easily used [Dodge Step] to sidestep out of the way of the attack. He activated the [The Headless Horseman], and felt his skin begin to numb. Stepping forward for a [sh] of his own, he was parried away, but used [Uncrossing of des] to follow-up immediately with another [sh].


    Keplier managed to deflect this faintly, but Crucis'' Agility made it hard to avoid, and it shed across Keplier''s chest. The parasite was nted on Keplier.


    Crucis immediately followed up with a [Lunge], shifting the angle of his de and thrusting it through Keplier''s chest, while at the same time using [Drift] to sidestep to the left and avoid an iing counter-attack.


    As he dodged to the left in a blur, he saw that his green-beige arm had extended to keep the sword in Keplier''s chest. In a moment, it retracted, drawing out the de. Keplier looked on, bemused.


    "What the heck is going on? Maybe Massie was right?" Keplier shouted.


    He looked to his right, and saw Crucis staring back towards him with red, glowing eyes, like the red eye effect from an old photograph. Over Crucis'' rotted skin, he now seemed to have two dull red, bat-like demonic wings emerging from his back, although it was difficult to tell if this was a mirage or not. ck smoke bloomed from Keplier''s chest wound.


    As Crucis approached for another strike, Keplier grew frenzied and began iling his sword in a sequence of shes and lunges while trying to back away.


    Crucis followed him slowly, with his sword held out to point at Keplier''s chest wound.


    As he stepped into range and prepared to strike, he saw Keplier aim a sweeping sh towards him. This was easily parried, due to the speed of the parasite''s movement, and in the aftermath Keplier''s de was trapped far to his left side.


    Crucis stepped forward firmly, and used [Lunge] again, thrusting his sword deep into Keplier''s chest with another deep wound. He barely felt the sword''s impact, due to the parasite''s effect.


    Finally, he used Agile Step to approach Keplier''s nk, and, flicking his wrist, struck with a back-of-the-hand [sh] that sliced a deep gash in Keplier''s throat. Typically, this strike would have been too weak, but due to the parasite it was executed with high pace and mechanical efficiency, sending Keplier whirling to the ground.


    After de-activating [The Headless Horseman], in order to avoid any serious harm, Crucis checked on his own HP. It was down to 60%. Seemingly, nting the parasite on his opponent had made it slightly less deleterious towards himself, so the HP loss was slightly slower than it had been when he tried it out earlier without an opponent. All the same, it would have been dangerous if he had used it for much longer.


    His skin reverted to normal, and he approached the fallen Keplier, who seemed to be muttering a prayer which asionally mentioned ''the demons.''


    Crucis recalled where he had seen this yer before. Keplier had been at the back of the Prayer Hallway during Massie''s recent speech, watching sceptically and whispering his doubts to a friend. It''s a pity, he was won over to Massie only when there was no longer a Massie.


    As Crucis neared, Keplier''s sword iled out messily, but Crucis easily parried that away. Due to the effort put into the desperate strike, Keplier''s sword spiralled out of his grip and fell to the side, curving slightly in the air due to the deflection from Crucis'' sword.


    Crucis leaned down slightly, and struck with a heavy [Mordhau] that caused Keplier''s helmet to ring loudly.


    The helmet was much firmer than the rest of Keplier''s armour, and only sustained a few cracks, but Keplier threw it off in agony as it vibrated from the blow.


    "It''s toote to pray," Crucis said.


    Crouching down, he withdrew his [Silver Crucifix Dagger], then used [Death by a Thousand Cuts] to unleash a series of stabs across Keplier''s neck and injured chest, drawing a sequence of vomit-like suffocated screams, until Kepliery dead.


    The battle between the rest of the yers had been frenzied, but one-sided. Without Keplier''s support, his allies had fallen quickly, with only one DeathGang casualty. OudNasser, Akshel and Danemy had easily seen off most opponents, and the survivors could barely put up much resistance.


    A yer named [Aliov], retreating from Danemy, scrambled in Crucis'' direction while trying to ford off Danemy''s blows. However, he was met with a cold, fatal dagger to the back of the neck, as Crucis stood up and used [Precision Strike].


    Crucis kicked the stiff corpse to the side.


    Looking across the site of the battle, he saw Akshel holding one of thest GildedKnights survivors in a [Python Body], using his legs and arms to hold the victim''s arms in ce while lying beneath their head, and using his nk to press the enemy''s head towards the chest. He used the grip on the victim''s arms in order to press himself upwards like a lever, creating additional force against the head and neck. It was a skill which Crucis had gifted him before they reached Kruxol, since it pertained to the [Snake] sub-ss.


    Soon, the enemyy faint, and Akshel easily thrust a dagger into the back of her neck to kill her.


    "Thanks for that, quite fancy," Akshel said, turning to Crucis.


    "No problem. Did they manage to call reinforcements?"


    "There''s a few GildedKnights gathered outside, but apparently they''re still waiting on their strong yers. Most are asleep, or have left Kruxol," Danemy said.


    "Yeah," Akshel said, looking through his Guild chat, "Dicing says that one of our Guild''s GildedKnights spies joined the small congregation outside, currently they''re looking for someone who has a key to get in. Apparently we made quite an impression, so the people out there are also trying to call some level 50-60 yers to show up before they dare entering."


    "Then let''s go before that happens," Crucis said.


    "Yes, that is wise. It is time for celebration, not struggle," OudNasser said, smiling.


    "Yeah, what he said," Crucis added, ducking out of the garden and back into the building where he had entered.


    The rest of the DeathGang members followed.

 Chapter 130: Wildfire

    Chapter 130: Wildfire


    As he was walking down the streets of Kruxol, Crucis suddenly heard a loud, feminine scream behind him.


    "Everyone, get away! Stay away from me!"


    Turning around, he saw a frail, white shape vanishing into an alley beside the road, seemingly hiding from some confused passers-by.


    Not one to let people have their way, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and ducked into the alley after her, using [Sound Sign] to pinpoint her location from the sound of her running.


    Besides, he had just read a Light Novel named [The Pet Goat], looted from GEORGEW, and it had inspired him to practice surveince and thwart all attempts at personal privacy among the wider popce.


    After a few steep turns, he found a slender, long-legged figure kneeling to the ground at the end of a long alley, with a dead end right behind her.


    It was a girl with long, ck hair reaching up to her hips. In the night, her hair''s glossy sheen almost appeared a dark purple sometimes from a distance. She was leaning down carefully over arge bow, her red skirt perking up as she inspected it.


    "Keep your distance," she growled quietly. "I won''t put up with ghosts and demons in my presence."


    "That''s why you ran over here?" Crucis enquired.


    "Yes! And when my weapon is ready... I promise you''ll feel its wrath! Godless and wicked beasts!"


    "No need to be so hostile! You should look out. This isn''t even my final form!"


    She turned her head, startled. Her hair circled silently through the air. "So you''re going to transform into a monster now? I... I''ll have to fight you, then!"


    "Nah, April Fools''. Sorry if I scared you. I''m not a ghost or demon, but to be honest it would be helpful in trying to survive here."


    "Hm. I did think you sounded too civilised. Tell you what, don''t let people here recruit you into an evil creature like them. It''s our duty to stand up for good, against evil, always."


    "Lots of people say that. But you look like you take it seriously." He walked up until he was standing over her.


    She stared at him pensively before replying.


    "Look, I''m sorry for calling you a ghost and demon. I''m a bit out of it. It''s just, I appeared here all of a sudden, and not only that, but..."


    "Yes?"


    "So many of you have some sort of powers. Where Ie from, it was only me and a few others. I feel... I don''t know, weak. Ordinary."


    "If you were ordinary, we wouldn''t be talking here." Crucis'' voice was soft, almost a whisper. "What kind of powers did you have?"


    "Why should I tell you? I don''t know you''re not wicked."


    Crucis smiled. "True, you don''t. Do you think I am?"


    "Well... I may have been hasty earlier. When I called you that. Please forgive me! Maybe I''ll tell you soon, okay?" she paused. "Would you mind kneeling down to, um, maybe help me with the bow?"


    "Sure." He crouched down calmly. "What kind of help do you need?"


    "Oh, just do what I''m doing. Polishing it, getting it prepared. I might need a better string."


    She was busily polishing the bow with a soft cloth, producing a few flickering sparks as she went.


    The asional hint of light flickered into the alley, and Crucis noticed that the bow''s wood seemed to glow with a me-like, dancing pattern of red and yellow wherever the light hit. It didn''t seem to be ordinary bow.


    He leaned down and took out a looted [Bowstring]. "Does this look alright?"


    "Yeah! Can you start putting that on? I''ll help."


    As she busily begun unstringing the bow, she went silent and her eyes narrowed with focus.


    "Alright, it''s ready," she said. "Let''s try this string, now."


    Crucis spread the bowstring across the length of the bow, and she leaned in to carefully string it. Her bow seemed to be quite different from others, and her hands wove in aplex, unconventional motion to tie the string in. However, she seemed used to this, and was more chatty this time.


    "You know, it''s lonely here. I hate this ce so much. I don''t know most people here, and even you don''t call me by name. You must think I''m a freak."


    "You never told me your name," Crucis replied.


    She giggled. "Oh, whoops! I thought I had introduced myself! But... I hope you understand, I don''t trust anyone here."


    Her back curved under him, as if it were itself a bow, as she leaned over to fasten the string on the far side of the bow.


    "Alright, what should we call you?"


    "Um..." Paranoid, she tried toe up with a fake name. "Remika. I''d like you to call me that."


    "Your real name is a secret?"


    "Yes. You know how this works by now." Her voice was more frail than her tears.


    "Alright. I guess I have nothing else to call you except Remika." He sat down on the wall across from her. "Why do you think that people here are ghosts and demons?"


    She blushed and looked down nervously, seemingly thinking that her answer would freak him out. "Um, it''s a long story... Before I answer, can you tell me what you thought when you first saw me? I''m, um, curious."


    "You looked like a ghost, honestly. A white mist disappearing through the alleys."


    "Yeah, maybe I''m a bit like a ghost. Which type? Maybe the weeping ghosts." She tried to smile, and blushed slightly.


    "What types of ghosts?"


    "Oh, don''t you know? There''s so many kinds, I know them, but most people don''t realise. The scariest ones are - well, usually it''s the bloodthirsty ones with axes and swords. But the weeping ghosts can be scarier sometimes, because they will tear themselves apart in their sorrow, and be a ck hole that swallows all life."


    After saying this, she looked down with a shocked expression, as if regretting letting it slip.


    "Have you seen them?" Crucis said soothingly.


    "Yes, and been lucky to escape. If I wasn''t powerful, maybe I wouldn''t have... But I think that everyone is aware of them, on a deep, subconscious level."


    "I see. So should I be running away from you right now, weeping ghost?"


    "No! You''re, um, a demon or something, did I say that? So then you wouldn''t run away. You''re of the same kind."


    "Fair''s fair! Well, I can''t say I''ve seen these ghosts, but the way you describe them -"


    "I''m not just being poetic, by the way. These things actually happen. Like, I really have powers... And I''m also stuck here. When you''ve seen the things I''ve seen, well... You realise that nothing is too far out there."


    "I see." He ruffled her hair lightly. "You''ve had too much excitement during your time here. No wonder you''re so pale."


    ~


    Might Guy stood on a tall, sandy hill, holding Goku''s heart crushed in his right fist.


    A stylish, long, ck car pulled up loudly, on the ins below.


    "Ole, ole, ole, ole!" a dignified voice spoke from inside the car, rolling down the window slightly. "I did think that putting you in this universe would be quality entertainment."


    "Yes, but what about your part of the deal, Batman?" Might Guy said, turning towards the car. "You said that killing Goku and his wife was my chance to leave here and return to my home universe."


    "Ah, yes. Well, I have prepared you a portal to a new world. It''s an interesting one, you willnd in a kingdom named Invichokra that''s inside a video game. I''m sending a bunch of people there, from across the multiverse. They will all duel for my pleasure, because I''m the God, Batman!"


    "Wait, Batman is God?"


    "Well, this is a PG universe. Half of the word was censored, so it came out as ''God.'' It''s just a coincidence that I happen to be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent."


    "Ah ha! But if you''re omnipresent, why do you need a car?"


    "It''s not who I am inside that defines me, it''s my cool ride. And I''m not gonna lie, it''s pretty fancy."


    "Wait. You said that killing Goku would take me back to my home universe. Now you''re saying that you''ll send me somewhere else? Don''t break your promise!"


    "I said it would open a portal, and was your only chance to get back home. Key word: chance. Actually, I decide where the portal leads by flipping a coin a few times."


    "Come on, whatever happened to great power bringing great responsibility? Didn''t your uncle tell you that? Quit ying games with my heart!"


    "I don''t know, my uncle never told me anything like that."


    "What about your father?"


    "No, you are my father. And you''ve never said anything remotely coherent in your life, so how am I supposed to know? Anyway, here''s the portal."


    Batman''s arm stretched outside of the car, and arge, silver portal appeared.


    He continued. "The portal imparts partial amnesia, so you won''t remember all of this. Good luck! Believe in your own justice!"


    The Batman drove away,ughing.


    ~


    "So what''s left?" Crucis asked.


    "Well, all the bow needs now is... fire. Sounds weird, but listen! I need to set it on fire, trust me. Do you have anything that you can light it with? Maybe a match or something?"


    Her hands began to press against the bow lightly, and he could feel it warming up as she imbued it with a soft fire summoned from her palms.


    Crucis withdrew a fiery torch from his inventory. "So that''s your power?"


    "Yeah... I know, it must seem kinda pathetic over here," she said quietly.


    "Not at all. It''s hot enough that it makes night feel like a summer day. Anyway, would this torch work out?"


    "Wait, how were you carrying that torch around? It''s on fire," she said, ncing up.


    "Yeah, I don''t know. But here it is."


    "Heh. Well, that actually looks really helpful, it should save me from burning out. Um, no pun intended." She made a puckish grin. "Give me a moment, then use it to set the bow on fire, it should help."


    She gradually worked her hands across the bow, and it quietly sparked up in small mes. At the familiar feeling of the fire from her palms, she stopped shivering and seemed to be at ease.


    Soon, she turned to Crucis. "Alright, now you can try the torch. Don''t lean too close to it."


    He lowered the torch onto the bow, which began to ze violently upwards with a crazed fire. A few mes leapt up just next to Crucis. Giggling, she put her hand on the torch as well, in order to hold it steady.


    While they set the bow on fire, she seemed more talkative, as if the fire had energised her.


    "Alright, you asked why I think people here are demons and ghosts, right?" she asked. "Wow, I make great first impressions, huh."


    "Yes and yes."


    "I''m not just easily scared, if that''s what you think! OK, so what happened... I appeared in the morning, I think it was morning, and there were all these people fighting nearby, using all kinds of powers." She pointed towards the East, where the war had taken ce. "Some of them even chased me, but I got away... A friend of mine, Mina, was killed by someone, literally frozen in ice. Who would do that? I managed to make it back here, but I fainted after the frantic rush, stayed out for most of the day. Look, maybe you don''t understand... I have to prepare to take on evil, whatever form it takes. So I''m only hiding here to get ready... And then I''ll have to do it."


    Her eyes sprung up a torrent of fresh tears as she mentioned ''Mina,'' but it was obvious from the tone of her voice that she didn''t feelfortable with discussing the subject.


    "That''s a lot of responsibility to ce on yourself."


    "It''s just my duty, okay? Some things in the world are just bad. Dangerous. But if I don''t take them on, who will?"


    "I see. So this bow is your way of fighting back."


    By now, most of the bow had transformed into a scintiting line of fire, with an intense yellow-white running through the centre.


    "Well, yes, and it''s myst chance. Maybe, once it''s ready, I can make my way back and find my friends. Find the others, and we could figure out what to do. Whatever supernatural force pulled me here must be up to no good."


    Crucis sighed. Her nned return was unlikely to materialise.


    He would have asked her if she knew the wae, but figured that reminding her of the hopelessness of her situation might make her less conversational. She''d just rpse into despair and anger again.


    "It did pick a dangerous ce to send you! I wouldn''t trust it either."


    "Yeah, exactly.


    They were interrupted by Might Guy''s booming voice. "Ah ha, this girl must havee from another anime world!"


    Crucis was initially thrown by this left-field statement, but quickly recovered. "Well, it would certainly exin several things."


    "Don''t believe him!" she said, shivering. "It''s nothing like that...! How absurd!"


    "Your lies are in vain!" Might Guy responded. "I know how your kind behaves! You can''t conceal a secret from me!"


    He turned to Crucis. "Look into her eyes! You can see the corrupting fog of her dishonesty!"


    "I see nothing in her eyes," Crucis said, after a casual nce.


    "Why doesn''t she tell us her true identity?" Might Guy asked. "The truth will set you free, young girl."


    "Maybe I don''t trust you," she said.


    "See? She admits it! She has a true, hidden identity!"


    "I have nothing of the s-"


    "You said you wouldn''t tell us, which means that you have one! Don''t think that you can evade the inquisitive eyes of youth."


    "Youth? I''m younger than both of you."


    "Yes, but look at your stress and wrinkled forehead! You have not embraced the power of youth. In that way, you are less young than me."


    "A hidden identity?" Crucis remarked casually. "As well as powers. What are you, like, a superhero or something?"


    She gave a cagey response. "Maybe something like that. And don''t think I''m boasting."


    "I don''t. Why would you need to boast about that?"


    "...I do boast sometimes. But I don''t have the confidence to do it here. Still, you should stay on your toes."


    "I will, but what''s the worst your boasts could do? Leave me breathless? Anyway, is your bow ready yet?"


    She felt along the fiery bow calmly, and adjusted the bowstring slightly until it clicked into ce.


    "Alright! The bow should be ready. Now I just need somewhere to test it..."


    "Are you taking volunteers?" Crucis interjected, as he stood up.


    "Come on, I''m not shooting you..."


    "Pity. You promised to. It''s cold out here, your shot would be a godsend."


    "Trust me, it wouldn''t be kind to your skin."


    "Neither will your fingernails. Now get up." He offered his hand, and she took it to stand up.


    She was careful to make sure that her long fingernails didn''t give him any cuts.


    "Huh. That is quite a fancy bow, miss," Might Guy said. "What anime does ite from, eh? Come on, out with it!"


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about..." she moaned.


    "You are from an anime, and you were teleported here by Batman!" he proimed authoritatively.


    "I think we can agree that this guy does sound like he''s from an anime," Crucis said to her.


    "That much is true," she said, pursing her lips.


    "Maybe he has a point. After all, both of you have simr stories of being teleported here, and appeared at around the same time. Perhaps something''s up?"


    "Hm. Maybe. Well, where did this guye from?"


    "You could not have been there, or you would recognise me!" Might Guy said. "I am the greatest warrior in the history of multiple universes! Where did youe from?"


    "Um, from Japan. Not really anything fancy."


    She seemed to be hiding something.


    "You mentioned that some of your friends had powers, or something like that," Crucis said calmly. "What kind of friends were these, a specific organisation?"


    "Oh, just girls like me. They found me because I had powers, and supposedly because I looked good... Yeah, weird story. We had to stick together, anyway, to resist the forces of evil."


    "I see. So, what kind of universe do you think she might havee from?" he said, turning to Might Guy.


    "Ah ha, a group of females with special powers, fighting monsters! She muste from a magical girl anime!"


    "Which one?"


    "...To be honest, I can''t say. I don''t watch that sissy crap!"


    "Me either. In fact, I can''t stand anime generally."


    "I mean... I can see why you''d think that my life sounds like that," she said. "It''s a bit of a crazy story. But it''s my life. I don''t think it''s just a show of some sort."


    "It''s not your life. It''s the glorious art of Nippon! Stop lying, tell us your true identity!"


    "...Look, even if I told you about my identity, it probably wouldn''t make a difference. You wouldn''t understand. I just need you to help me out, then I''ll go off on my own."


    "Are you going to fight off all the evil on your own?" Crucis asked.


    "Yes... If I have to. Do I have to?"


    "Not unless you want to."


    "Thanks! What about this other guy?"


    "I will always help the vulnerable and young," Might Guy proimed. "Lead the way."


    "Thanks!" she said. "By the way, were you also teleported here? It sounds like it."


    "Yes! It is another universe that needs to learn the power of youth!"


    "What is the power of youth?" Crucis asked.


    "The power of youth!"


    The girl giggled. "This guy is a nutcase. But maybe he can help out! By the way, I noticed some building named after a King. Are all of the people here part of some kind of dark kingdom?"


    "Not really, they''re just people," Crucis replied. "There''s a King far away, but he doesn''t have much influence here."


    "No, there must be something. I''m sure I''m trapped here because of someone''s scheme. Is there anything like that? A dark ruler, someone who might be trying to y us like pawns?"


    "Well, there was a King named Ganf¨¦an to the North, but he''s dead. He was a necromancer who reincarnated as a King, but slowly degenerated into a diseased creature. I''m not sure if most people know about him, but he''s probably involved."


    "Hm. Maybe that''s important. Anyway, I see the other guy''s run off. Should we go?"


    "Yeah, sure."


    As they walked out of the alley, Remika suddenly turned around, shivering excitedly.


    "There''s one! A weeping ghost!" she said, pointing at a mncholy, high-pitched sound rising from nearby.


    Crucis quickly noticed that the sound was actuallying from a [Kruxol Singing Crow]. "No, that''s one of the crows. Weird, right? The crows here are an odd lot."


    She saw the bird, and tried to hide a crestfallen drop of her shoulders. "Oh, yeah, so it is. Well, the ghosts are still real, there''s probably some nearby. I''m just a bit panicky right now."


    "It''s alright, we don''t need another weeping ghost. We''ve already got you."


    "Hm. Not for long. I''ll fly away."


    "Yeah, like a migrant bird. I guess you''ll have to disappear when this is over."


    "But maybe I''ll be back."


    "You won''t be able toe back," Might Guy said. "The only way to your original world and back would be through a portal opened by Batman."


    "OK, now you''re just straight up insane."


    She walked over towards the grassy fields to the West of Kruxol. Crucis and Might Guy followed. Her steps were light and carefree, as if the sense of purpose had rejuvenated her.


    "So where are we going?" Might Guy asked.


    She pointed towards arge, green, hilly expanse dimly visible in the distance. "I came from somewhere like that, I''m sure of it! I''ve thought about it, and recognise it closely."


    Given what he knew of her, Crucis guessed that she might have constructed a false memory to make sense of the situation. Still, he followed her.


    As they walked out of Kruxol, they were suddenly disturbed by a loud noise.


    Two boys were fighting on the grass, and had just mmed into each other, with the power radiating from them colliding and throwing them forcefully apart. One was ck-haired, and had many self-inflicted cuts across his arms. The other was some blond punk runt.


    They screamed at each other in Japanese, which Crucis didn''t understand. Behind these two, there were many other people fighting, probably also drawn in through the portals which Might Guy mentioned. Remika shrunk back slightly, disturbed by hearing the raucous fighting.


    "Why are these people all fighting?" Remika said softly. "It looks dangerous out there... But I''ll protect you guys if I have to."


    "They must have good reasons to fight!" Might Guy said. "For example, maybe they have been rivals since childhood, or the other one insulted their honour, or they are mortal enemies!"


    "If we go out now, we''ll be caught in the middle," Crucis said.


    "It''s alright! I know these two! I will sort out their conflict!"


    Might Guy walked up to the two boys, as they ran in towards each other. He grabbed each of them by the hair, then mmed both of their heads together, shattering their skulls and also the rest of their bodies. "There. Peace is restored! They were good kids, but clearly they had forgotten the innocence of youth. Now they remember!"


    "It''s good to hear a voice of reason," Crucis replied.


    Remika shuddered on seeing the corpses, but her eyes soon red with renewed determination. She turned to Crucis. "Is everyone here a monster? Other than you, I mean."


    Crucis had set off towards the North, but paused briefly to reply.


    "Maybe. Maybe I''m one, as well, leading you on. Anyway, if we go to the right of these fighters, we should be able to stay out of their way."


    On hearing this, Remika took a few quick steps to reach the others, and they began setting off towards the hills which she had pointed out.


    Beside them, fights and screams reverberated across the fields, and Remika weaved carefully between the trees to stay out of the way. She looked at the path ahead carefully, but with a hint of nerves.


    Suddenly, the earth began to quake under them, and Remika grabbed onto a tree to keep her bnce, joined by Crucis who joined the one next to it. Might Guy was sent flying off for 300 metres across the ground, but quickly stood up unscathed.


    An earth-splitting roar came from the distant West. "I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFE-FORM!"


    Turning towards the source of this noise, Crucis saw the chicken-that-is-not-a-chicken towering over the fields and trees. It had grown into a massive behemoth, far taller than the town''s towers, and its massive shape almost blotted out the horizon.


    It let out a wicked chicken cackle, as it stomped towards Kruxol, decimating everything in its way.


    A few fighters leapt towards it, calling out the name of strange quasi-magical abilities, but these attacks barely scratched the chicken. It responded with a massive [Chicken Ray], which left the field where it struck a grassless, barren expanse strewn with shattered bones.


    While some people tried to reason with it, it ignored them, and bawk-bawked in joy as it watched the destruction. When a mass of people approached it, preparing an attack, it cast [Unholy Light of Chicken].


    A blinding sh grew across the West like a scorching white sunrise, hiding the sight of the chicken. Crucis rose a hand to his eyes to look away, and felt ''Remika'' doing the same.


    From where the chicken had stood, a loud voice boomed out, "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE, MAKE YOUR TIME!"


    "Why are you doing this?" cried one yer.


    "FOR PEACE! FOR HOPE! FOR LOVE! FOR JUSTICE!" came the reply, followed by a round of wild, but noble, clucking.


    "For love?" Remika cried incredulously. "All of that''s just a lie!"


    "Who knows? Love is often senseless," Crucis replied.


    "Hm. But wouldn''t you say -"


    She was cut off by a massive explosion, as the light faded to reveal the chicken had just cast [Massively Forced] on the massed army in front of it, turning the air into a series of sharp projectiles that destroyed everything in its way.


    Remika''s body tensed up, bending limply upwards. She stared at the destruction in awe and terror. "It''s not just a chicken... It''s an incarnation of evil!" she cried out.


    The chicken clucked raucously, as if it had heard her.


    Might Guy grunted in determination. "This chicken shall know the power of youth!"


    He ran up towards the chicken, in order to fight it.


    Taking a mighty leap, he approached its head, and attempted to punch it. However, the chicken easily deflected this with its beak, and attempted to swat at him with its wings, but found that he had darted out of sight.


    "You underestimate me!" Might Guy called out.


    The chicken merely stared at thim, bored, and bawk-bawked.


    The fight raged on for another minute, with both Might Guy and the chicken trading attacks without managing to make an inroad.


    Finally, the chicken had had enough. It used [Chicken rm], leaving Might Guy paralysed in the air, and then stabbed him through the chest with its beak, while wing at him until his body was covered in blood and close to falling apart.


    He fell to the ground heavily, andy there, on the verge of death. The chicken left him to die, and continued to rampage towards Kruxol.


    A few more fighters attempted to dy the chicken, but the chicken let loose another [Chicken Ray], and soon debris was all that was left of them.


    Seeing the chicken''s destructiveness, Remika shuddered and inadvertently flinched backwards, until she found her back pressing against Crucis.


    She turned around nervously. "Um, sorry..."


    "That''s alright. I''m sure that everyone''s terrified," he replied.


    She replied with surprising determination, despite her nerves, and Crucis noticed that her eyes had turned fiery again. "Yeah... Could you help me prepare my bow? This evil will not be allowed to have its way!"


    Crucis held her shaking shoulders and back in ce as she raised the bow, and nocked an arrow that was set ame as it entered the de. Aiming it towards the chicken, she released it, and it flew elegantly a great distance in the air.


    "Huh... I don''t usually shoot so far," she said, watching it expectantly.


    It shed into the chicken, but the chicken showed no signs of noticing it. After a few seconds, it looked down and saw the small arrow, then shrugged it off to the ground.


    Remika was silent, her eyes wide. She shook until Crucis couldn''t hold her up, and had to let her figure wither to the ground.


    "Oh no... How could this happen to me? I can''t believe I''m so worthless!" she cried, leaning on Crucis'' leg.


    "I''ve never seen an arrow fly that far... But it looks like we''re not going to be able to fight back against the chicken," he replied.


    The chicken was beginning to close in on Kruxol, and Crucis saw tear out a tree not that far ahead and toss it as a weapon to impale a yer.


    "Yes... I guess we shouldn''t stay here. I mean, normally I''d stay here and fight, but I don''t want you in harm''s way," she said, with a responsible, if weak, voice.


    Since the chicken was heading for the centre of Kruxol, Crucis used [Stealth Cloak] and set off for the shrines on its edge, to buy time. Remika felt him moving, and followed him. Soon, she saw him entering the wooden shrine building, and walked after him, finding it difficult to move due to a slight limp from the effort she had put into firing the arrow.


    As Crucis entered the shrine, he saw a brte girl hiding in the space beside the statue of Dravaistaya, her dusty yellow shirt slotting nimbly into the gap. Her eyes were closed, and her tearful face looked with desperation towards the ground. Behind her, there were a few other males and females, shifting around awkwardly around the back corners of the shrine.


    She looked up with surprise, and some of her hair perked up. Her dark-brown eyes studied him closely, before she carefully crouched up. "Hi. Are you from here?"


    "Kind of," he replied.


    "OK. I was just teleported here, I''m scared out of my wits," she said, forcing a timid smile.


    "That''s normal! At least you''ve been safe so far."


    "Yeah, I guess... Terrifying ce you have here, isn''t it?" She stood up swiftly, her red skirt swishing across the walls with a sound like a breath.


    "d you like it."


    "Hm. Tell you what, at least it''s cozy in here. Well, at least when I don''t look at that statue. What''s it up to, with that expression, and all those tongues sticking out?"


    "It''s a statue of a Frenchman at the Pont des Artes."


    "No, really?"


    "Alright, not really."


    "Huh. Now that statue''s one French kiss I could do without. Say... You don''t sound French, you sound, I don''t know, Bulgarian?"


    "Brusian. Not the most morous country, I know."


    She excitedly grabbed him by the shoulder. "I learned about thatst year, in university. It''s near Russia, right?"


    "Yeah! Honestly, I generally just tell people I''m Russian because it''s simpler, but you seemed clever. Bulgaria''s not that far off, besides."


    "Hmph. Your ttery will get you nowhere," she said with a smile.


    She leaned onto a table in the centre of the shrine, and her slender, pale body briefly stopped shivering. Her brown hair lit up with a ghostly shade of light as Remika opened the door and snuck in quietly.


    The brte continued speaking, barely noticing Remika. "Well. I was hoping to hide in here until the fights outside died down... That didn''t quite happen, huh?"


    Remika replied timidly. "Ah, you came here earlier? That''s actually a good idea. The fighting outside was cray-cray."


    "I mean, I didn''t have much choice, right? I don''t have any weird powers like those guys, the most that I can do is throw a kick or two... Well, it doesn''t matter now, nobody can resist that massive thing."


    "It''s not that bad - oh, you mean the chicken?"


    "Yeah, exactly! I never thought I''d die to a... chicken. What the hell?"


    "Ain''t life a mystery?" Crucis said. "Hi, Remika."


    Remika smiled at the name. "Hi, there. Figures you''d lead me into a ce with a demon statue. A demon like you."


    "Absolutely. Can''t get anything past you, I guess."


    Outside, there was a loud noise the chicken reached Kruxol, and began using [Chicken Ray] to devastate the buildings at on its West end, as it headed towards the town centre. Arge group of yers was putting up ast-ditch resistance, but it wasn''t enough to fend off the mighty chicken. The yers were dying in droves, and the chicken''s cruelty and malice were evident as it picked apart their bodies carefully with its beak, painfully cutting into their organs. A few of them were eaten with pleasure.


    The brte squealed. "Oh my God! Did you see that thing? It''s... Oh my God. Pecking them apart. That''ll happen to us, right?"


    Her eyes were wide, and frozen in a traumatised expression, as her teeth chattered.


    "Oh no! We can''t let that happen! We can''t!" cried a girl from the back.


    "You have to help me!" the brte cried, grabbing Crucis'' shoulder again. "I don''t want my body to be chicken fodder!"


    "A waste of perfectly good make-up," Crucis replied, as he held her arm still and tried to help her calm down.


    "...That''s a deadly insult. I''ll have my revenge! Kidding, I probably won''t live long enough. But dying to that cruel chicken, wouldn''t it be the worst way to die?"


    "It would be a fate worse than death," Crucis said, matter-of-factly.


    "So how can we avoid that?" she whimpered. "We need to find some other way!"


    "We have no way out. The only way we''ll avoid the chicken''s wrath is to die first."


    "Really? Well, this is it, then. What can save us from this chicken?."


    Crucis turned to Remika. "Maybe you''ll save us. Can you use your powers to set this shrine on fire? It''s wooden, so it should catch fire easily."


    "But then... I''d kill you! And all the others... I can''t use my powers like this."


    "There''s no other choice."


    "But I''m supposed to fight evil, not... give in to it! There must be another way!"


    "You''ve tried that." He ced aforting arm around her. "It''s alright. You don''t have to keep straining yourself. Fight no more."


    "I know, but how can I do this?"


    "Just like you always have. Isn''t casting fire as easy as breathing for you?"


    Crying, she embraced him warmly, and remained silent for a few seconds. "Fine... fine!" she whimpered. "I''ll do this. Just know that I''ll feel guilty, and it''s your fault... Are you sure you''re alright with this happening to you?"


    "There''s no need for you to worry about me. Go on."


    "Alright, but what if I''m the one doing it? Won''t you start hating me?"


    "It won''t change how I feel about you, only strengthen it... For you are a consuming fire."


    She walked up to the wooden walls, nced at Crucis, then stared emptily at the wall as a fire glowed from her palms. She felt the fire burn from her as it had done many times before, and held it with a practiced calm. She pressed it to the walls, and they began to re up.


    The brte girl ran over tofort her. "We had no choice. That was brave."


    They stepped towards the middle of the building, as the mes spread across it. At first, it sounded like a harsh drizzle of rain, but soon it roared as it spread virus-like across the walls.


    The heat began to reach them, and Crucis rxed as he felt thefortable, energetic warmth of the young fire.


    "We might die, but... Don''t these mes make you feel alive, too?" he said quietly to Remika.


    "Heh. I''ve always felt like that about it, I understand," came the reply.


    Suddenly, they heard a loud, murmuring voice from the corner of the building, saying, "What did that crazy girl do? Oh God, she''s going to get us all killed."


    One man hiding in the corner suddenly barged out from his hiding-ce, on seeing the mes. He frantically grabbed a trident from the statue, and held it out threateningly. "Don''t you dare! You can''t trap us here, let me out! Or else!"


    Remika''s face twisted with disgust as she saw this.


    The brte ran up to him. "No, dear, we don''t have a choice. Come on, don''t wave that thing around."


    "I said that nobody could stop me!"


    Crazed, the man lifted the trident to stab into her, but Crucis'' hand suddenly materialised holding the trident firmly.


    "Let it go," Crucis said.


    "No! You have no right!"


    The man swung his fist - indeed, his whole shoulder, since he was off-bnce - towards Crucis, but Crucis dodged easily to the right with [Drift]. As the man staggered in the aftermath, Crucis easily tripped him up and then dispossessed him after a knee to the neck.


    "Please forgive him! He didn''t mean it!" the brte cried.


    Crucis shrugged, then held the trident towards the nearby mes to heat it up. A few parts of it caught fire, like a candbra.


    He stabbed it firmly into the man''s throat.


    "I''m burning in the hellfire!" the man cried, before dropping dead.


    Remika looked on, wide-eyed. "I didn''t expect that!" she cried. "But wait, you also use fire weapons?"


    "No. We can''t all be special like you."


    "But just this once, with me here?"


    "Yes, a coincidence."


    She felt along the trident''s length. "It''s funny, I never thought I''d die in a fire. I thought fire would always protect me. But the warmth is so familiar."


    "At least it''s like you''re going home."


    "Maybe. But it''s a pity I can''t take you with me."


    "Why are you so sure?"


    They were interrupted by the brte, pressing herself desperately to the ground, screaming, "This fire! It sounds like a beast! A monster! I can''t take it!"


    Crucis crouched down beside her, and she immediately fired a question at him. "So when the mes reach us... it''ll hurt, won''t it? It''ll burn right through the skin!"


    "We might be dead before that," he replied. "Don''t you feel the warmth growing stronger?"


    He scooped some of her hair away from the mes.


    "...Yeah. It stings, but... feels passionate? Like, my heart beats faster the hotter it gets."


    "Doesn''t passion also sting?"


    "I guess so, yeah."


    He warmed his hands in the growing fire, and she slowly joined in. She looked calmer, but her eyes were still wide with panic as she looked into his eyes.


    "So this is it? We just let it all burn down?"


    "It looks like it."


    The chicken''s bawk-bawk-bawk filled the night air outside, melding melodically with the crackling of the mes.


    Suddenly, Remika cried out. "It''s... stairs! Ghostly stairs! I see them next to the firece!"


    "Then let''s go," Crucis said.


    "No! It''s bad! It''ll only lead to something evil!" she calmed down after a few seconds, trembling from the vision. "But you''re right, maybe we don''t have a choice. It''s weird, usually when I panic like this, people say I''m seeing things."


    "I don''t see anything!" the brte girl shouted.


    Remika slowly walked towards the staircase that hung mistily and unstably in her vision, almost confident that it would prove to be as illusory as the ghost which she had seen before.


    "I don''t see it, either. But I''ll follow you through, wherever it is," Crucis said.


    She lifted a trembling foot towards the stairs.


    ~


    As Might Guyy, in his time of dying, he managed to struggle open his eyes. However, he was surprised to see that he was now in arge, grey building. Squinting exhaustedly, he saw that he was in a tombmemorating someone named ''Thomas Wayne,'' with a few pictures and inscriptions containing this name. Arge coffiny at the back.


    Trying to get up, he saw a long shadow across his body.


    It came from a man standing in the entryway of the tomb. His manic face was covered in white facepaint, and he wore arge, purple suit.


    He cackled, and said, "Well, well, Mighty Guy! Looks like you''ve found yourself in quite the... *deadly* situation."


    Might Guy gritted his teeth. "Joker, you may have trapped me in this tomb, but my spirit remains unbroken!"


    "Oh, I admire your optimism! But, tell me, how do you n to escape this time? Your precious "Youthful Springtime" won''t save you now!"


    The Joker mmed the door shut.


    Might Guy smirked confidently. "You underestimate the power of youth, Joker! I''ve faced greater challenges than this!"


    The Joker''s voice turned maudlin. "Oh, I''m shaking in my boots! But seriously, I''ve rigged this tomb with explosives, and there''s no way out. So, anyst words?"


    "You may have trapped my body, Joker, but you can''t trap my spirit! The mes of youth will burn on, and I will find a way out!"


    The Jokerughed, as he turned away to leave. "We''ll see about that! Enjoy your eternal slumber, Mighty Guy!"


    Might Guy yelled loudly, his voice resounding loudly even outside the thick tomb walls. "Remember, Joker! The power of youth is unstoppable! I will escape, and when I do, justice will prevail!"


    "You''re a stubborn one, aren''t you? Good luck with that!"


    The Joker shook his head, then walked away, hisughter drowning out the echoes of Might Guy''s mighty voice.


    ~~


    A few dayster, Might Guy''s corpsey rotting in the tomb. All around it was silent.


    Soon, two soft voices could be heard,ing from deep underground. They spoke, indifferent to Might Guy''s miserable death, and their voices sounded like the crackling of far-off mes.


    "I still can''t believe my fire killed so many people... But it felt so warm here, I liked it... I feel so guilty," said a feminine voice.


    "It will always warm you, Remika." came a male reply. "It''s yours."


    "Come on, I told you that Remika isn''t my name. It''s a false name."


    "But is it untrue? Look, maybe you were never the warrior of light that you imagined. Maybe you were just scared. And now you''re not."


    "You''re just saying that so I don''t feel like a failure. But honestly, I like it here. It''s scary, but calm, like you. Everywhere I look, there''s fire..."


    "It''s like your eyes."


    "Huh. Thanks. Maybe we both belong here. So where do we go from here? You seem to know your way around this ce."

 Chapter 131: Catharsis

    Chapter 131: Catharsis


    As Crucis wandered quietly through Kruxol, he saw a few empty areas still filled with spotlit performers in glittering white and gold shirts. These must have been hired by Darys to interrupt and annoy nned gatherings by anti-DeathGang elements. The performers danced mboyantly in groups, taking it in turns to sing, with slogans like ''Glory to DeathGang'' and ''Hail Victory'' hung behind them in glitter and neon lights.


    Their songs were mostly decorative, upbeat, often meaningless strings of words to apany the rest of the performance. Walking around, he heard a snippet of one male dancer''s loud singing.


    Fallen leaves, it''s fall, it''s fall, yeah, babe


    I know, I know, I know, yeah, babe


    When youe around, baby, don''t say a word, yeah, babe


    ''Cause I love you, love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, babe


    It''s fall, it''s fall, yeah, babe


    I know, I know, I know, yeah, babe


    When youe around, baby, don''t say a word, yeah, babe


    ''Cause I love you, love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby


    A few DeathGang members were gathered by a thatched-roof building in South Kruxol, watching as one group of dancers performed Rick Astley''s ''Never Gonna Give You Up'' by request.


    Walking back up North, Crucis saw Gastlem approaching from the distant East, with a few hints of blood on his sword. Gastlem had run off to take care of a few people who were trying to stir up trouble after the speech, and had seemingly taken a few kills in the process. Crucis noticed that, like Danemy, Gastlem was wearing a semi-transparent, silvery-ck bandana around his neck which was used as a public signifier for DeathGang Elites.


    He waved Gastlem over.


    "Hey, congrats on the promotion," he said. "Had fun at that tussle?"


    "Oh, yeah. Was quite easy, nobody high-level."


    Crucis noticed that Gastlem was holding a book in one hand. "What you reading?"


    "Oh, this?" Gastlemughed. "Not really reading it, it''s a Light Novel I looted from one of the guys out East. It''s one of those silly ''choose-your-own-adventure'' books. It''s pretty funky, have a look."


    THE RISE OF THE GREATEST HERO: A CYOA


    Page 1.


    You''re off to y the dragon!


    What is your reaction?:


    a) Nervous. A dragon? That sounds terrifying!


    b) Bemused. We''re off to... y the dragon? Oh, well, of course. A hero wouldn''t worry about little things like whether a dragon will fry us all to stroganoff (!).


    c) Enthusiastic. Woah, cool! A dragon!


    d) Determined. I''ll do whatever it takes! This dragon won''t get the best of me!


    e) Underwhelmed. ying a dragon? How typical. My, my, I''ve sold out.


    "Suppose we chose ''e''?" Crucis asked.


    Gastlem pressed this option, and the book automatically skipped ahead a few pages.


    Page 5.


    How to salvage your integrity on such a generic quest? Ah ha! You could orchestrate a revolution against the King! He''d never see thating.


    But how would you pull that off?


    a) Agitate. Cavort around any peasant towns you cross on your way, screaming, ''The people united will never be defeated!''


    b) Educate. Try to convince your vish, monarch-lovingpatriots on the journey that the King is evil. Maybe they will listen, in between chattering about the royal wedding.


    c) Organise. Negotiate with the dragon so that it will co-ordinate with you in an attack on the King.


    d) Historically informed. Go to Germany and ask for a train back to the Kingdom. See if the Germans will hire you as a spy.


    e) Creative. It''s a good start, but not enough. A ''revolution'' sounds tiresome and messy. What if weced the dragon with dynamite, then sent it to collide with the pce? Well, here goes nothing!


    "It says you want a revolution," Gastlemmented.


    "Well, you know, we all want to change the world," Crucis said. "It''s a nifty book, though, all kinds of choices in there. Anyway, you dropped Starfighter off to DeathGang territory earlier, right? How''s he getting on?"


    "Since a lot of DeathGang members will be sleeping in town tonight, there was a lot of ce. He took a rest in a small, abandoned building with a bed, I''ve stayed there once and it''s prettyfortable. He said he used to be lucky if he could find afortable haystack in a barn, so it''s a step up."


    "Sleeping in a barn? How Christlike. Good that that''s sorted, though. Did you get the Elite position to help with the wildlife in DeathGang territory?"


    "Yeah, especially since we''ll be expanding soon. By the way, how did you notice? I don''t think my tag should have changed." He pointed to the Guild tag above his name, which still read '' member'' rather than '' Elite''.


    "Aren''t you using the scarf, I mean, bandana to show your status until that''s changed?"


    "Oh, that''s it. Yeah, yeah, that''s what it''s for. Obviously, we won''t always wear it, but it''s useful to keep a sense of order on DeathGang territory or during events like this. Since the Guild tags haven''t changed, Darys decided it made more sense to use these."


    "I see. Well, good luck with the wildlife. It''s a pretty important role, honestly, since one of the main disadvantages of low-level terrain is the limited fauna. If you can find animals that make for better materials, then it should give DeathGang more power in trading and better QoL."


    "Yes, if I can somehow get the rank-and-file to stop over-hunting any decent creature in our territory."


    Crucisughed. "Of course."


    "Dicing just sent a message in Guild chat, he''ll be giving his summary speech soon. Are you waiting for that? He said he''ll help us with the feast after that."


    "Yes, I was waiting. I don''t really need a reminder of Darys'' speech, it was great, but we can catch Dicing when he finishes."


    "I''ll PM Darys that you said that, by the way. Anyway, let''s go."


    They walked back over towards the stage, where DicingDevil was silently pacing from side to side. A couple of hecklers had walked up on seeing this new speaker, hoping that he would be more vulnerable than Darys. However, there weren''t many, since the crowd for this recap speech was much smaller.


    He began speaking calmly and almost contemtively, almost as if giving a soliloquy. However, there was a derisive edge to his voice.


    "I see a few malcontents have arrived here, fresh from their failed attempt at gathering the opposition over there." He pointed to a small square between buildings towards the North, where a troupe of dancers was currently performing. "Poor guys. They must be sick of hearing ''Stayin'' Alive.'' And who can me them? Disco''s dead, can''t these dancing troupes see reason? Of course not, all dancers are perfectly irrational. The only thing more dead than disco is, well, our enemies this morning. And the only thing more irrational than dancers is our hecklers. Even our great leader can''t talk sense into them. Still, I''m just giving a recap, so, between us, I think we can ignore the critics. Let''s proceed."


    He suddenly stood straight and turned towards the audience, saluting them in silence. After a few seconds of this, his voice rose, raucous but disciplined.


    "Hail DeathGang! Hail to victory! We have emerged victorious in this great war. Our enemies have been crushed under our boots, and Kruxol is now under our control. The region is now ours for the taking! This is a triumph for you, the members of DeathGang, who have proven their might and superiority over our many foes. We have rebuffed the intruders, and soon we will take our turn invading Kruxol before spreading across this area.


    "Our victory is not just a military one but also an ideological one. We have destroyed the enraged moralists and corrupt whales that wished toy down thew for all others. Their men have lost resoundingly on the battlefield, as resoundingly as they would have won in the church and the bank! We have shown that a true Guild is not made of money or morality, but of soil and blood. We shall take Kruxol from their domain and ce it in a new, flourishing one, a territory that is united, strong, and free from the shackles of scrutiny.


    "But our work is not done. We still have enemies who are plotting against us, who want to see us fall. We must remain vignt and continue to strengthen our Guild. With the momentum on our side, this is the correct time to go for the jugr, and eliminate the opposition before it has the time to concentrate itself. You must be ruthless, and not hold back an inch! We must expand our territory and secure our ce in the world. We must create a new order that willst, an order that is based on our values and our beliefs.


    "To those who spread doubt and guilt: you have no ce in this Guild, and you will be cast out and hunted down. You''re not DeathGang, so just stop trying! Better stick to what we believe!


    "I call upon all DeathGang members to join me in this great endeavor. We have a duty to our Guild, a duty to ourselves, a duty to our future. Let us continue to march forward, with our heads held high, and our hearts filled with the glory of our victory. We are the masters of this ce. Let us show the world what we are capable of."


    He stepped off the stage simply, and Danemy called Crucis and Gastlem over to join Akshel and the rest of the group from earlier. As DicingDevil saw them, he walked over as well. Akshel yfully ruffled his hair, while the rest congratted him on the speech.


    "It''s just a summary, nothing that special," he replied, smiling. "Alright, so let''s go to the feast now. You guys should have some bear meat, right? That should be interesting. By the way, I managed to purchase some capsaicin crystals, quite a steal. I''ll tell you where to get thatter. But we''re keeping it hidden, since if it was a free-for-all then our guys would all mistake it for salt and take too much, roll around the floor, and not recover for three days. Stuff burns. I''ll give you guys a try if you want."


    "Yeah, go ahead. Today was a tragic day, evil won and the better side lost," Crucis said, "it''s reasonable that we all cry some tears over it."


    "A sad day indeed. Anyway, does anyone have some mink meat left over? Mink meat is usually awful, but ording to Darys the gem-furred ones have decent meat that ''tastes like shrimp.'' Yeah, I don''t know how that works. Worth a try, though."


    "Yeah, I''ve got a bit," Akshel said. "I think Grisier does too, he must be on one of the tables already. You can ask him."


    "I''ll hand mine over, too. Wasn''t really sure what to do with it, so I hung on to most of it," Crucis said. "So how do you n to prepare the bear?"


    "Over here, there''s not that many food options avable," DicingDevil said. "There''s not that much avable in terms of seasoning, but we did manage to get some onions, garlic, also some sage because that''s apparently a specialty in this region. But mostly we''re just eating the cooked meat."


    "That should be fine," Crucis said. "Let''s go."


    "Yeah, I''m just famished, honestly. The mink will probably be disgusting, but I''ll probably still eat it," Danemy said glibly.


    DicingDevil led the group to arge, chalk-white hallway, where DeathGang members were gathered around a few tables or standing by the walls eating. So far, they were mostly just eating small appetisers made with vegetables, and a few had made wraps out of a few pieces of rabbit meat. For a feast, it was a fairly minimalistic affair, but for most yers in the game it would be a luxury.


    Darys was sat at a table in the centre eating hummous, made from chickpeas purchased from Sanra, but he sat up and waved to wee DicingDevil.


    After saluting back, DicingDevil turned to the group. "Alright, hand over the meat, I''ll take that to get cooked. It''s probably cheaper if we pool it together. Since yers aren''t allowed to handle the fire in the kitchens, people have to use NPCs to heat stuff up properly." They handed over the meat. "There''ll be some fried grasshoppering around, try some out, it''s a DeathGang specialty." He smiled mock-assuringly, then walked away towards the kitchens on the left.


    "Bonsieur," Gastlem said, walking back from a brief meeting with Darys. "Our leader wants us to clear out some farnd for chickpeas, says he got OudNasser to go all the way to Sanra for the seeds. At this rate, he''s just going to make me turn DeathGang territory into a culinary hot-spot."


    "Having his General take a dangerous journey to the West, just for chickpeas?" Danemy said. "Our leader is quite a connoisseur."


    "Honestly, OudNasser was probably going to Sanra anyway, and Darys just told him to pick these up. But that''s not the story he told."


    "At least OudNasser gotpensation, he seems to be enjoying the hummous," Crucis said, ncing at the central table where OudNasser sat alongside Darys and some other Generals and Elites.


    "Yeah, those two have simr tastes," Danemy said. "Story goes, and I don''t know if it''s true, that OudNasser had started narrating tales from Sinbad the Sailor and the Odyssey to liven up a trip to a dungeon. Darys enjoyed it enough that he kept chatting even after logging out, and found that OudNasser knew the game much better than most, so he made Oud a General. This may or may not be mostly made up."


    "Whew, it''s only been three days, and you guys already have lore. Impressive!" Crucis said.


    "Yeah, that''s the word. ''Lore.'' Exactly. Not ''made up.'' If it looks good, and it feels good, then surely it is true."


    Soon, a DeathGang member walked over to the group, carrying arge tter of fried grasshoppers. "Spicy ones on the left, normal salt-and-pepper on the right. Only choose the spicy ones if you trust Dicing, I didn''t," he said politely.


    "Well, you''d better trust him now, Kan. He''s going to be the next Vice-Leader," Danemy said, grabbing one from the left.


    "I trust his leadership, just not his ability to not burn out my tastebuds for days."


    "Hush! You will eat the spicy bugs!"


    Crucis also grabbed a grasshopper from the left, while the rest of the group grabbed as grasshopper each. The DeathGang yers seemed quite ustomed to it.


    "So, what''s this like?" he asked.


    "It''s a bit like seeds or nutty sardines, kind of fiery though," Akshel replied. "These ones have maybe a taste of anchovies? Our guys make a habit of looking for good ces for grasshoppers, so we keep finding more savoury ones."


    "Always pursuing culinary excellence, then?"


    "Exactly!"


    Akshel ate the grasshopper gleefully in one bite, then staggered backwards a step as the spice kicked in.


    "That grasshopper hopped jolly high," hemented, shaking his head.

 Chapter 132: Revel in Earth and Fire (The Feast)

    Chapter 132: Revel in Earth and Fire (The Feast)


    The group were firmly divided on the bear meat, with half grimacing in disgust and the other half eating it contentedly.


    "Honestly, I preferred the grasshoppers," Gastlem sighed.


    "It''s alright," DicingDevil replied, "there''ll be some beef on the way, I''ll have the bear if it''s too much for you."


    "Beef, huh?" Akshel said. "Fancy."


    "Yeah, OudNasser managed to find a spot in Kruxol where you could kill cattle without the guards noticing. Sort of a blind spot. It''s only possible by sneaking through a few walls, to find an exact spot where the guards won''t notice you, but he''s mapped out the co-ordinates. So we''ve been able to fetch a few of them, and Darys is using them to test out a few basic local herbs from the game."


    "Really, he managed to filch the cows? Heck, I''m going to have to try a bit of that now. Way cool. But this bear is great, honestly, some of y''all are just soft."


    "<em>Excuse</em> me, I am used to ze French cuisine, it is very refined, you are just savages," Gastlem replied, ying up his French ent forughs. "Anyway, I''ll take the beef, wonder what these herbs will be like."


    "I''m told that the first one turned out a bit like oregano, but a lot stronger," DicingDevil said. "Quite earthy, though, should be good."


    "What did you do with that grasshopper, by the way?" Akshel asked. "Thing was really hot, I spaced out for a bit after eating it."


    DicingDevilughed. "That''s the capsaicin crystals I mentioned. I ced them in -"


    "Oh, yeah, obviously."


    "I ced them into glycerine briefly, then diluted them slightly with that thick, transparent sauce which ismon here, the one that tastes like mayonnaise or brie or something. I used a few local [Calcifari Herb] to remove the sauce''s taste, which basically just leaves the spice."


    "There''s herbs which remove the taste of food? Maybe give some to Gastlem, since he can''t stand the bear not being mild," Crucis quipped.


    "Excuse me, as I said, I am just a pure <em>connoisseur</em>, I only feed on <em>escargot</em> and caviar," Gastlem replied, shrugging.


    "Nah, Crucis is right," Akshel said. "Sadly, Calci probably won''t work on meat, so I guess our pet frog Gastlem''s stuck. Anyway, can I try out some of the spice, Dicing? The bear is pretty interesting, but maybe kinda dry."


    DicingDevil gave him a few small drops of a transparent, whitely misted liquid, and told him to try it before asking for more. After taking a bite, Akshel briefly recoiled, and seemed to be gasping for air.


    "Now that was something," he said, ying down his reaction slightly. "Really like it, though, ta."


    The bear meat was stubborn, and had a slightly metallic vour around the edges that made eating it an ordeal at first. However, it quickly mellowed to reveal an earthy, pronounced vour, with an asionally grassy texture. While it was asionally stringy and had a strange mixture of vours, which sometimes contrasted awkwardly, Crucis found it a fairly filling meal after a long day. He added a couple of drops of spice, and the intense spice stood out firmly in contrast to the earthy meat, making up for the slightly uneven vour.


    "Whew, this stuff''s awful. I love it," Danemy said enigmatically.


    "You''ve barely eaten since before the war, right?" asked Grisier, who was switching back and forth between this group and the central table. "Long day, I''m sure you''d eat anything. I wish the game let you take frog meat, I would have some to loan you, you''d probably like it."


    "Sounds swampy, but could be a decent snack," Akshel said.


    "Even better, we could see if we get anything edible from the giant frog in the Northern Swamps," Crucis said. "Reckon you''re up for it, Akshel?"


    "Bro, you daring me to eat a Froglord? The heck do you think I am, He-Man? I mean, yes, obviously."


    "Great, we''ll hold you to that. Or you could just eat Gastlem, I guess. So, what are the ns for tomorrow? Dicing?"


    After taking a couple of seconds to recall, DicingDevil replied, "We''ll meet up with you and Starfighter just after noon, same ce asst time. Come with Akshel, you guys will be safer in a group. The smaller group who were apanying us have a few people out with injuries after the war, and one or two careless ones dead, so we''ll see if they turn up. We''ll be doing the same dungeons, I think, also looking up North for the Froglord and stuff. Probably not as intense as today, but should still put us through our paces. Should be good growth. I''ll be helping Danemy through his dungeonster, but you don''t have toe if you don''t want to. dimir and Konstantin could help us out with that, though, I think Dan''s normal group are out of action."


    "I don''t minding as well. We can figure it outter."


    "Sure. We''ll finalise things tomorrow - well, it''s just about past midnight, but still - based on how many of our guys turn up."


    "By the way, where did you get the capsaicin?"


    "Oh, yeah, that. I did say I''d tell you guys. Alright, listen up." As DicingDevil spoke, Akshel and Danemy turned attentively towards him. "There''s a temporary shop which appeared just earlier today, it''s this small-ish stall to the North-West of Kruxol. I think itsts for about three days. It offers a bunch of raw vourful stuff, like capsaicin crystals or MSG, even some powdered citric acid which the stall owner says is very sour. Since the food in Kruxol is pretty dry, it''s really useful. I can show you guys the position on a map, alright?"


    "Yeah, go ahead," Akshel said. "I''ve eaten so many rabbits now that it''s a habit I can''t stop, but this would liven it up at least."


    DicingDevil sighed, while drawing out his map. "I swear, you guys would go to a restaurant in Italy or France andin because they don''t have grasshopper on the menu. But yeah, sure. It''s right here, hidden in a small niche between the backs of two buildings."


    He marked a spot to the South-West of Kruxol, just North of the storage cabs, and Crucis saw that it could only be reached by walking around Kruxol through the Southern woods and then turning back to weave around somerge buildings on the border until the stall appeared. The group of buildings blocked it off from the rest of Kruxol.


    "Alright, I''ll be checking that out," Akshel said. "What times is it open?"


    "Um, not entirely sure," DicingDevil said. "Maybe something like the Mount store? It''s avable quitete, but I think it closes during the morning until around 9am. I guess you could check in thete morning, then?"


    "Sounds great," Danemy added.


    "Yeah, definitely. Plus Gastlem''s probably going to get people nting a few decent herbs and vegetables around here, since DeathGang territory will probably have more than enough space post-expansion, right?" Crucis said, turning to Gastlem.


    "Of course. As if Darys would give me a choice," Gastlem grinned. "Anyway, the beef ising around, so I''ll give you guys most of the bear."


    He took a small cut of the bear for himself, causing Akshel to raise an eyebrow, but passed the rest to DicingDevil, who split off some for Crucis, Danemy and Akshel as well.


    Crucis guessed that Gastlem did find the bear''s taste off-putting and unfamiliar, but enjoyed the novelty of its taste enough to have some more of it.


    Soon, the herb-enhanced beef came around, glimmering with a grassy, green-grey sheen from the phnx of herbs drizzled across its surface. This time, the whole group enjoyed it quite, and Crucis found that its earthy, intense vour melded well with the bear as he alternated between them.


    "Well, these herbs definitely worked," DicingDevil said to nods.


    "Yep. It alsoplements the bear meat well, I''m sure it would work well with the wild, grassy meat you guys are used to," Crucis said.


    "Oh, yeah, that makes sense," DicingDevil said. He had been saving the rest of his bear meat forter, but now tried having both at once. "Good call, yep. Hey, Gastlem, you want some of your bear meat back? Worth trying them together."


    "You know what... OK," Gastlem replied. After trying it, he said, "Huh, the bear meat tastes more reasonable with something stable beside it. Tell you what I''d like, though, why not deer meat with this? Now that would be great."


    "Sadly, not much deer meat around here," DicingDevil said. "I hear there''s some elk to the North, maybe you could tempt some of those here? Also a few of those in the forests above Mokra, I saw one run away while we were there."


    "Good idea, actually. It''ll be an effort, though, we''d need their poption to stabilise without over-hunting. If we can get them close enough, then they''ll be a great resource, and maybe we''ll find other uses for them as well."


    "Hopefully you can get your members to toe the line," Crucis said. "There''s plenty of reasons to over-hunt people, since they can actively be stupid and then oppose you on an ideological level, but elk are just animals and will do whatever elk would do. No need to hunt them out of spite. Hopefully, after the war, people will calm down on your territory a bit and start to focus on sensible expansion."


    "Wish we had you in our Guild. But I guess we don''t know when that will even be a choice. Darys agrees that we need to hold people back a bit, he says that a few of them are getting too enthusiastic about skirmishes with the Hashin and are trying to provoke more fights with those guys. Thest thing we need is the Hashin on our back."


    "I''m sure the Hashin don''t feel like any extensive operations here, they''d rather go West for rewards. So hopefully you cane to an agreement for the moment."


    "We''ve tried, but the Hashin''s leadership situation makes thatplicated," DicingDevil said.


    "Ah, yeah, Darys had touched on that in the speech earlier. I thought he handled it really well."


    "Come to think of it, yeah, he did. He''s a cunning one. Still, at least the official Hashin leader isn''tbative towards us. Guy''s mysterious, though, not many people seem to know him well. But he''s still keeping up with the top yers, so he must know what he''s doing."


    "Really? Is it even possible to be that high without being a whale?" Akshel said.


    "I don''t think Drifter is a whale? But you''re right, that''s probably not physically possible at this point. I don''t know, maybe they are hackers after all," DicingDevil smiled.


    "Everyone thinks he is... so that''s probably not it. But I don''t know that he''s a whale, either, I''m pretty sure that a whale who put in as much effort and knew the game as well would be evenrger. It''s weird."


    "Who, Drifter? Yeah, I hear that most yers to the West think of him as this shadowy, utterly malign Evil Emperor, though whales view him as an upstart trying to disrupt the game." Grisier said. "Nobody really seems to know what to make of him."


    "So the rank-and-file view him differently from their leaders? Interesting," Crucis said. "That might lead to some sort of populism sprouting up there, because most people are alienated from their leaders'' view of the situation. It will feel like their struggles are being overlooked by the leaders. They''ll be radical, but not really out of opposition to their leaders, more out of disaffection."


    "Many such cases," DicingDevil said. "Yeah, it does sound like it would be ripe for populism. But won''t that divide the Guilds? Even the ordinary members will be trying to stand out and pick fights, but that won''t go well for them."


    "Yes. It could make it difficult for the leaders to co-ordinate everything. One part of the Guild will drop away from the rest. Some level of anarchy will leave people even more vulnerable to the Hashin."


    "Indeed. Most Guilds are only held together by custom, so they''re not that stable. Upset the established order, and everything bes chaos."


    A few more courses were carried around the room, mostly smaller, including a meatball made with rabbit head meat and containing a rabbit eye embedded in the centre, and some local seeds coated in a leaf. DicingDevil insisted on adding spice to thest of these, which hence seemed to explode with spice and vour on eating. Finally, small pots filled with pieces of bread that were baked in sugar, milk, and cinnamon were passed around as a cursory dessert.


    "Honestly, that rabbit eye back then took me by surprise," Danemy said, as he finished the dessert. "Quite watery."


    "Yeah, but it''s nutritious," DicingDevil replied circumspectly.


    "You guys weren''t already eating rabbit eye?" Akshel said. "Come on, you shouldn''t let precious rabbits go to waste. Their eyes are so cute, would be a shame to waste them."


    "Good point," Danemy replied.


    "We should all try working on our Fishing skills," Gastlem said, taking a note on a piece of paper. "We didn''t have much fish here, only the small cod dish with cheese in it, I hear that there''s a few perch and pike spots to the North. Once we''ve got a hang of it, we should be able to get some decent catches."


    "Sure, but I think most of those fish are on NPC property," DicingDevil said. "So it would count as poaching, we''d have to figure out how to do it quickly enough not to be caught."


    "It should be possible," Crucis said, "I heard that some groups of Keydons and Hashin were practically pescatarian."


    The Keydons were members of [Keyd], another nomadic ganking Guild like the Hashin, but were more prominent towards the Northern starting towns. They weren''t asrge or aggressive as the Hashin, but still had a fairly dubious reputation. It was unlikely to encounter them here, since they were concentrated towards the North.


    "That''s true. I''m sure there''ll be some poachers towards the swamps, apparently a few of them hide there because it''s quite sparse." DicingDevil turned towards Darys'' central table. "Anyway, Darys summoned me over for a chat, so I''ll leave you guys now. You can have a look around the festivities outside."


    The group waved as he left, then each unhurriedly left the building.


    Exiting the hall, Crucis saw a few DeathGang members crowded around watching an energetic re-enactment of the war. The y fighters used the low verandah of a nearby building as their stage, and exchanged borate, telegraphed sword and spear strikes, with every loud sh of weapons yed up theatrically. Each short sequence of fighting was followed by a pause, with the yers posing in ce to dramatise the result of the previous exchange of blows. There were currently six yers fighting: three wearing white to signify the opposition, and three wearing ck to signify DeathGang.


    Although the DeathGang side was initially pegged back, they soon began to press forwards until the opponents were nearly on the edge of the verandah. Soon, their swords began to hover forward in a series of harsh strikes towards their enemies, who leaned backwards in an attempt to fend them off. After about fifteen seconds of this, the DeathGang side managed to work their way past the opponents'' defence, and gave a series of thrusts and cuts which downed their enemies. While these stopped short of doing actual damage, the other side yed them up by freezing for a few moments and then falling to the ground.


    One yer in white even vaulted dramatically off the verandah,nding cleanly on the ground.


    There was apuse, and the yers gathered together to discuss the next scene they were performing.


    "Quite some showboating there," Danemy said light-heartedly.


    "Yeah, but it''s good theatre," Grisier replied.


    "Sure. Honestly, the fighting isn''t really true-to-life, but I guess they''re at least slowing it down to make that obvious. Fair does."


    "Hey, they''re showing our fights on that stage!" Akshel said, turning to Crucis. "I think we just missed the one with Byron. Let''s go!"


    Looking over towards the stage where Darys had given his speech, Crucis saw another re-enactment, this time of the death of Arkyle. He walked over to watch, following Akshel. A dramatic fight was ying out, with this ''Arkyle'' roving around the stage like a giant, his firm strikes sending hisbatants flying back. Although several of his opponents fell to the ground, one managed to get a final stab in.


    The figure ying Arkyle copsed to the ground as if dead, so convincingly that the crowd worried that the yer might have actually fainted or worse. Once the scene waspleted, some of his fellow actors had to check to make sure he was alright.


    The crowd, bemused, began apuding for the convincing death scene after confirming that all of the actors were alright.


    Akshel turned to Crucis, and shouted, "Good show!" while giving a firm high-five.


    "You must have really done a number on that Arkyle, based on that fall," Akshel joked. "Ugh, I''m feeling really tired, I should probably get some sleep. See ya soon."


    "See ya," Crucis replied.


    While the DeathGang performers and their audience seemed to be enjoying themselves, most had probably had more rest than Crucis today. He felt his eyes closing slightly, and some of the wounds from the war had begun aching again.


    Making his way slowly back to the inn, he saw a lively array of DeathGang members performing, giving speeches, and fire-dancing to celebrate the asion. While it would be nice to stick around, he needed to get some rest before tomorrow.


    He checked into his room in the inn, and dropped to the bed, falling asleep quickly.

 Chapter 133: There Lies a Dying Sparrow...

    Chapter 133: There Lies a Dying Sparrow...


    As he dreamed, Karel found himself in arge, green-walled school building. It had a slight resemnce to his primary school in the Czech Republic, but wasn''t entirely the same. He was sitting on a bench in a long corridor.


    It was early morning, on a cloudy, foggy day. The air was tinged with a slightly dark-blue, murky aura, and rays of sunlight shone through this like shes of bright, ultramarine-edged powdery white.


    The sound of dainty footsteps came from his right. Raising his head, he saw a young, brte girl. She was the witchy girl that he had killed in the Hunting Area, but now appeared younger, about 12-13, as did Karel. Despite it being a dream, he did faintly remember the scene of her death, though he couldn''t remember how she died. Tears lined her face, but she tried half-heartedly to put on a brave face as she sat down next to him.


    "Hey, what''s up? I recognise you from the ss earlier," she said.


    "It doesn''t matter. What''s wrong?"


    "Oh... Well, I''m new here, like you. I mean, it''s difficult, right? They said it would be hard to settle into a new ce..."


    She stubbornly kept her body perked straight up on the bench, despite her shoulders and arms seeming to wilt in despair. He noticed this and tried to match her despair with an equal sense of urgency, as he tried to get a handle on the situation he had been ced into.


    "Yeah, but looks like you''re not just finding it ''hard.'' What''s up?"


    "Ugh, fine. Fine, you want to know what happened? I need to tell someone, but please don''t make fun of me. Please, please, please." She looked over at Karel, and seemed to find his calm posture reassuring enought to continue. "I wanted toe here, get lost in the big city, make friends. But people just hate me, so much, they keepughing at me and calling me names. And hitting me. They told me to run away into the forest and kill myself!"


    She exhaled. As Karel replied, she quietly raised her white-stockinged knees onto the bench in front of her, and cried into them.


    "Really? What''s gotten into them? That''s just so insane." His voice sounded like it had in around middle school, with a slight, gruff Eastern European ent and gravelly, animated tone, but a hint of sensitivity.


    "Um, maybe... It''s because I''m wearing the dress wrong, or because I have pigtails? That''s what the teacher said, she said it''s usually because you don''t look right. I don''t know anything, but she should know, right?"


    Karel smiled slightly incredulously, but stopped when she shivered and looked at him fearfully. He ced a hand lightly on her shoulder to reassure her that he hadn''t beenughing at her. "It''s alright, miss. Nobody thinks you''re dressed so badly that you should kill yourself. You look fine. By the way, what''s your name?"


    Her shivering stopped, and she seemed calmer, though she didn''t acknowledge it. "Nobody here knows my name... Why should I tell you?" She twisted her body around slightly, and stared at him usingly with wild, but slightly yful eyes.


    He could tell that she was forcing herself to keep up an air of suspicion, so that she wouldn''t be caught out unsuspectingly again. But it was quite artificial.


    "You won''t even tell people here your name? They must have hurt you badly. Fine, it''s up to you, I''ll ask no more."


    "But you can''t just think of me as... nameless." She twitched sensitively. "I always think of people by their name first."


    "Then I''ll call you anything you like. Deal?"


    "Fine. Call me Denise, it''s my middle name. You''re named Karel, right?"


    "That''s right."


    She smiled slightly. "Also, are you sure that I''m wearing the dress right? A ''friend'' of mine told me how to, but... she hates me now, I think she was lying."


    "It''s nothing too bad. I think most girls here don''t tuck their shirts in, but some of them do because their parents force them to, so nobody seems to mind. But it might make you look a bit more serious."


    "Oh! Okay, thank you." She quietly drew her shirt out from inside her skirt. "But I look fine, right?"


    "Yes, Denise."


    "That''s nice... I came from Castle, you know, the town to the South? Everyone there had skirts tucked in, and we still got along... It wasn''t that bad."


    Although this town was fictitious, Crucis had a vague memory of it, as people in dreams sometimes recall such ces.


    "Castle, near Okama? I''ve heard about it, doesn''t it have one of the greatkes next to it? I wish I could go there, the view sounds great."


    "Take me with you when you go. I hate this ce..."


    "Yeah, the way people act here... it''s weird. Sometimes they get angry and scream at you suddenly, right?"


    She flinched slightly. "That''s exactly right! That''s how it started! One of the girls had made friends with me on the bus, but then she suddenly got angry at me and started screaming... I don''t know why, I think because I was talking about a flower and called it beautiful? It was so nice, smooth and pink and white..." Her fingers gently ran across each other, as if to demonstrate how she imagined the flower''s smooth texture would feel. "She was the first person to hate me here. I don''t know what I did wrong, I don''t know how to fix it. By the way, do you know?"


    "Yep?"


    "The flower was in the forest. What''s wrong with the forest? They keep talking about it, they say I''m from there. Over and over."


    "They''re scared of the forest. They said there''s ghosts. Nobody goes there. But I''m sure there''s pretty flowers in there. I actually saw a bird there, it was really colourful. Near Castle, they have some beaches, have you seen mother-of-pearl? It was coloured like that."


    Her dark-brown eyes glimmered, almost seeming like a blue and green prism in the dreamy, blue morning light. "Yeah, those are great, I collect them... But they don''t have them here. And I think some got left behind when we moved, actually. But what ghosts are in the forest? I thought that ghosts were fairy-tales."


    He leaned forwards, as if telling a ghost story at a campfire. "I don''t know, they all say they''ve seen the ghosts. Some even say they were chased around. People used to walk into the forests when they wanted to die..."


    "It makes sense, it would be such a beautiful ce to die..."


    "No need to be so morbid. But it''s true."


    Suddenly, he heard the sound of loud footsteps, as a tall, prim girl with blonde hair walked across the hallway. She looked like a younger version of Marie-re from the Prayer Hallway. He hadn''t heard the sound of a door opening as she entered the hallway, she had seemingly just materialised out of nowhere. She had down-cast, dark-green eyes, and was holding a folder to her chest.


    "Hi," she said, looking down and giggling. "Hey, why are you hanging out with her? Come and join the rest of us, we''re nearly done with ss!"


    "Safer to stay here, or the teachers will see me skiving off."


    "Hmph. I thought you were a daredevil, you''re going to let that stop you?"


    "Fair point. But I swear the teachers here have X-ray vision, they''ll literally notice you behind a wall and start talking."


    "Yeah, yeah. They are like that, but X-Ray Vision? What, you think they''re looking through my clothes? OMG! I always thought they were old pervs!" sheughed.


    "Nah, but Mr. Daniels did seem to have a thing for Penelope."


    "Stop that, you''ll make me jealous!" She crossed her hands. "Everyone has a thing for Penny. Anyway, leave this girl alone. She''s bad luck, if I told the others you were with her they''d flip."


    "Bad luck? Is this one of your superstitions, like the Bloody Mary thing?"


    She pursed her lips. "No, it''s real. And don''t act like the Bloody Mary stuff is fake, just because it didn''t work once. My cousins all saw it. Don''t make fun of me about that... or else."


    "Yeah, in fact, I have a bloodthirsty spectre named Mary right in front of me now. It''s obviously not fake."


    "Hush. I might be named Mary, but I''m not a bloody ghost. Still, don''t get on my bad side, just in case."


    "Fair warning. Anyway, what do you have against this girl?"


    ''Denise'' was tucked up against Karel''s side for warmth, shuddering nervously whenever Mary spoke.


    "I mean, isn''t it obvious? She used toe to our school when she was just 8 years old. Then she died! Of course she''s a ghost. And she even talks about the forest, everyone knows there''s ghosts there. Dead giveaway!"


    Karelughed for a moment, and Mary looked at him quizzically, since her tone had been quite serious. "Um, sorry, you were talking about ghosts and shouted ''dead giveaway.'' Took me by surprise."


    She giggled. "Yeah, alright. Actually, wait, you''re new here, so you probably don''t know what I''m talking about anyway, right? You didn''t even know Diane!"


    "Yeah, honestly a bit confused."


    "You were just staring nkly at me the whole time, you rogue. You should have told me I was talking nonsense! But seriously, we had this girl named Diane in our ss, ages ago. One day she went missing in the woods, then they found her stabbed and hanging from a tree in the forest. She looked exactly like this girl. Exactly. I bet the ghosts took her, and made her one."


    "She looks exactly like her? But she doesn''t look like an eight year-old, she looks like a teenager. Even a bit older than you."


    "Nice way of saying she has big tits."


    "Does she? I guesspared to you -"


    "Ahem! Alright, but I guess you won''t trust me when I just said that. Look, suppose I show you the forestter? I''ll leave you with her, but I''ll be worried, kay?"


    "So you''re just going after her because you think she''s a ghost?"


    "Hm. Maybe! But she does look just like our old ssmate, and that stirs up some old memories, so people here get tense easily. After all -"


    "That''s true, you''re not all that level-headed. Didn''t you just start screaming at me when I said I wasn''t sure about the mirror thing?"


    "Yes, and flinging my arms around. Kind of embarrassing, honestly. I''m a socialite, but sometimes I get too invested in things, heh."


    "It''s alright, just say you were teaching everyone about bodynguage for Psych ss."


    "Hm. ''Bodynguage.'' I mean, I hate that ss. They put a name like that on something that everyone does normally, and now I''m like, heck, that sounds uncool. I''m just going to stand still now, right?"


    Denise giggled slightly, but tried to hide it.


    Karel looked in Mary''s eyes mock-sceptically. "Exactly. But I don''t believe you, eventually you''ll get angry again and then it''s a free-for-all."


    "Hm. Maybe you''re right." She put her hands gently on his shoulders, and leaned forwards. "In fact, I''m mad at you right now! OK, not really."


    Her suddenly-raised voice was striking, but she quieted down quickly, realising that she probably didn''t want to be seen taking her time on the way back to ss.


    "Wish you were in my group, would make the Psych project really easy."


    "Don''t push your luck! Aaanyway, I''ll be back soon after ss. As for this girl, I guess you won''t believe me about the ghost thing... But just trust me, keep your distance."


    "Stop talking to her," Denise said, starting up. "She just wants to make you hate me! She''s pretty, so you''ll listen to her, right? Then you''ll leave."


    "Now, now, she''s no prettier than you," he replied. "But she seems to think you''re some other girl. Maybe they''re all just really sad about the death of their ssmate, and that''s why they''re getting so emotional?"


    "Oh, I''m really sorry for your loss!" she said to Mary in a faint but melodic voice, taking the cue. "If I remind you of someone you loved... I''m sorry."


    "Hmph, I don''t trust you, ghosty," Mary said, rxing her tone noticeably as she walked off down the hallway. "You know, I went to a few big cities when my dad came to visitst year. I was so nervous, everything was big and impressive, the people were, like, posh, I could barely speak. I bet it would even be hard for a ghost like you. Look, if you hide near the forest, then the guys won''t dare seek you for their ''pranks,'' it''s what I do when people get angry at me. Now I''ve said enough."


    Denise smiled weakly. "I''ve never been to the forest properly... but I could try. Thanks!"


    There was no reply. However, Denise seemed much calmer, and looked out of a window towards the forest.


    "Shall we go, then?" Karel said, sitting up and preparing to walk. "Do you know the way?"


    "You''de?"


    "Sure."


    "Hm. Thank you so much." She leaned back on the bench, rxed.


    As she calmed, she gradually took on the appearance of her adult, early-20s form, with the long, messy brown hair that her corpse had worn, and wearing lipstick and eyeshadow. Her body was thin and springy, and reared up energetically.


    She was reading warmly through a folder containing her old, high school sswork, but shut it sheepishly as she saw Karel beside her. He managed to glimpse a few lines of what she had been reading, which seemed to be a y for an English ss. He vaguely remembered the assignment, which had been something like, ''Write a dialogue between two characters who have an argument, but aren''t enemies and don''t get heated.'' It had been a follow-up to another assignment about writing an argument, meant as a corrective because most people had just written screaming matches.


    CHRISTINE. It''s alright, you can just leave me here for the earth to swallow. They''lle around to harangue me, but they''d leave you alone. You live three staircases down, you won''t even hear it.


    PETER. I''m not going to leave you, don''t worry.


    CHRISTINE. No, it''s fine, I understand. After all, it''s just natural for someone to care more about themselves, all I''m doing is bringing you misery. She''s right, isn''t she? All I''m here for is to waste your time, to make you suffer. You should just cut me out of your life, for your own good. I know how you feel. I''m a misery who should suffer in silence.


    PETER. You aren''t. And how am I supposed to enjoy myself hanging out with them, when they''re treating you like this? What''s natural about it? People naturally have views on the world, and they often try to change it in small orrge ways. Is it really possible for me to think so much of myself, that I give up on my views and let them do whatever they want without supporting what I value? That wouldn''t make sense. It would be self-abnegation.


    Looking around, he realised that he was in his adult body now as well. However, they were still in the same building.


    "Hey, thanks," she said. Her voice was quite different now, lively and melodious but slightly deep and metallic. "Remember when we went to the forests here, as a kid? You were the only person who''de with me. Let''s go back there."


    "Yeah, let''s see what it''s like now."


    He followed her through the corridor, as she skipped enthusiastically towards the forest. The sound of bells tolling echoed faintly through the building, although he didn''t know where from. As it was a dream, the journey didn''t have a clear sense of direction or a map, but soon they came to the destination all the same.


    Soon, he was standing knee-deep in tall grass, with the girl leaning against a tree in front of him and smiling.


    "Oh, yeah, we found that flower here, right?" she said. "I wonder if there''s more of them."


    While he didn''t generally care much for flowers, he did notice a striking pink-and-white blotch hanging from a nearby tree. "There''s some of those behind you, to the right."


    "Wow, that brings back memories... I''ll go and collect some!"


    As she walked towards it, a figure suddenly appeared below the flowers. Well, the course of true flower-gathering never was smooth. The figure was a woman with hollow eyes, who wore a thick stretch of leaf-green hair and had a youthful, energetic body simr to the brown-haired girl.


    "You are mine, give me your soul," the new figure intoned.


    It reached over to grab the girl, holding her firmly by the shoulders, although she kicked and pushed aggressively in response. Her frail body tensed until it looked snake-like, and writhed rapidly from side to side as she tried to push this figure off, but to no avail.


    Karel, noticing that he had a dagger sheathed for some reason, withdrew it, and walked up quietly to the figure, stabbing it in the back of its neck. Suddenly, one of its hands darted out like a w, and drew a deep wound across his chest.


    However, the girl rallied and pushed the figure to the ground, where it vanished after a few more strikes from the dagger.


    It left no trace, except for a dewy green-blue moss across the rocks on the ground.


    "That''s never happened before," she said, tearing up slightly. "What''s changed? The forest never attacked me before. Never. Hey, wait, I see someone else there! Is it another creature?"


    Her dark eyes stared through the trees, the rest of her body drifting effortlessly in the direction of her stare. When she was in thefort of the forest, her movements were carefree and natural.


    She led him deeper into the trees, where they found a heap of bloodied corpses, which Karel recognised as the students of the school they had been in. The dream-like blue shine was particrly prominent here, and reflected off the shadowed corpses like the sheen of a raven''s plumage. Light bloomed hazily through the air around them.


    "They also became my friends..." she whispered, a trace of her younger, nervous voice sneaking in. "But now they''re also gone."


    "What happened to them?" he asked.


    "Um, I''m not sure." She leaned close to his arm, and whispered. "Maybe it''s my fault. Maybe. But don''t feel unsafe."


    "Why not?"


    "Because you were the only one who really liked me. I won''t do anything to you... Well, I don''t know if I did anything to them. But I had a dream about vines strangling them, now they''re here."


    Looking closely, he could see signs of strangtion and constriction across the corpses. One of the corpses was Mary''s, which still hung to a tree with a few branches, vines, and roots still wrapped around her. She seemed to have been seized aggressively despite a struggle, but had a series of bloody knife-wounds in her that couldn''t have been caused by the trees. Around her feet, a few other girls were tangled around the base of the tree.


    "I see. Did you dream about the flowers here before seeing them, as well?"


    "Oh, yeah," she said. Her voice was frail and soft. "But the flower I dreamed of was red, like, scarlet, blood-like. That vexed me a bit, I thought these flowers looked too soft and girly, I thought you might look down on me because of that. But they seemed identical other than that..."


    "d we found them again. I remember you once said that the flowers were all you cared about in the world."


    "And you! The world is full of emptiness, and it leaves us empty." She gently picked up a white-and-pink flower from the ground, and the pink grew a deep red in her palm. "In the end, all we have is what we''ve killed."


    She pressed the flower into his hand warmly, then disappeared, her brown hair fading into the brown of the soil.


    He heard the chirping of a sparrow perk up above him, but couldn''t make it out among the trees.

 Chapter 134: A Fine Day to Die

    Chapter 134: A Fine Day to Die


    Crucis woke up abruptly to the sound of loud sirens.


    Sitting up scruffily in bed, he looked around and heard a few yers'' panicked shouts from outside the inn. Wiping the dirt from his eye, he saw arge, red announcement shing in the panel to his lower-left.


    [A yer has activated the Gr Talisman and in the wanderer Kvasir, who was a symbol of the peace between Aesir and Vanir. As a result, war has broken out once more in the Heavens, and an invading army of Asuras has taken advantage of this discord to make incursions!


    Chaos reigns in the Heavens, where brother raises arms against brother. Many fear that it is just a prelude to Ragnarok. Brave yers may join this fight, and gain powerful equipment and items. In this chaos, yers may fight against each other, or against the armies of Asuras and gods.


    Weapons in the Heavens will be transformed into Divinity Weapons, which areposed of near-weightless purified Eitr. These weapons will strike through enemies effortlessly, meaning that even a lower-level yer has a chance of killing a strong yer. Mages may enter the fight around sir, archers will be sent to fight in Folkvangr, and melee sses will be sent to join the fight in the vast area surrounding sislundr.


    The top 100 in each ss will enter the battle automatically, and the rest of the top 300 will be queued up to enter the fight when another falls. Be prepared!]


    That was a rude awakening. Someone must have activated this during thest night, but it wasn''t clear whom. Given that thest world event was just a draugr invasion, this seemed like a noticeable esction, and was probably meant to be activatedter. Whoever started this had probably beelined it.


    Below it was another message:


    [Congrattions! As a high-ranked Assassin, you have been chosen to enter the battle from the start! You will be transported automatically to the heavens in 10 minutes, and the battle will begin in half an hour.]


    Automatic transport to the heavens? It beat waiting on St. Peter''s decision at the pearly gates.


    Stretching, he quickly ran over whether it would be better to enter this event as Crucis or Cael. The battle between Mages seemed likely to be chaotic, and it would be easy to be taken by surprise or caught in the crossfire of many,rge area-of-effect attacks. However, in a fight between melee sses, there was still some room to maneouevre, hide, and pick his battles. Indeed, Assassins might actually have an advantage over other melee sses in this event. As such, it seemed more reasonable to stay as Crucis for this event.


    As his senses grew more alert, he could hear some yers outside screaming that the Hashin had imed the event as their own doing. He wasn''t sure about whether this was a hysterical rumour or a fact.


    Thinking about it, however, it would make sense. Since manyrge yers would have their names disyed and be vulnerable to permanent death, it would clear out the ranks of the Hashin''spetitors and threats. After all, with weapons able to sever enemies with little effort, the risk of death is very high even for a high-level yer. While it would be a dangerous period, if he could get through it without serious debilitating injury it would probably be beneficial.


    Plus, the Hashin are probably one of the few Guilds with the know-how to beeline content like this and unlock it weeks or even months in advance.


    Besides, who else would have the motive to pull off such a heist? It could, theoretically, have been done by a small yer who wanted therger ones to kill each other off. However, that was unlikely. This event was major enough that it would require clearing high-level content to unlock, something which a yer outside the top 100 of their ss was unlikely to do.


    It also favoured Assassins, like the Hashin. Or Crucis, for that matter. However, he''d probably have to be more circumspect.


    Anyway, he had ten minutes to prepare. He quickly got out of bed and checked through his menu, to catch up on any features which he had been too busy to look through yesterday.


    While he waited, he checked on the new features which he had unlocked through levelling up. Seemingly, reaching level 58 had unlocked a new feature called [ss Perk], while reaching level 60 unlocked [Weapon Enhancement].


    Opening a new option on the menu named [ss], he navigated through to open a window for [ss Perk]. Each ss had one perk set by default, and could choose which further perks to use. He saw that, as an Assassin, this initial perk was called [Killer Instinct], and disyed a cross-hair in the direction that the tip of your weapon was pointing.


    Testing it out with his sword, he saw that it produced a cross-hair in front of him, and when he used [Lunge] it easily passed through the target. Turning around and crouching slightly, he immediately tried a tricky [Rising thrust], and found that it was easier to aim when he could quickly see where it was going. This skill would be useful for evaluating when an opportunistic [Lunge] or dagger thrust might be appropriate during a fight at close range.


    This feature hadn''t been fully implemented when the game was being tested, and at the time it had only featured the the warrior ss perk, [Duel]. It increased weapon movement speed when using a defensive skill, allowing for more efficient parries and blocks. It was especially valuable for tanks, and a few yers imed that it allowed for tanks good at swordy to draw fights out for a few additional minutes.


    So far, he had one further choice. He could choose between the skill [Marshall], which increased STR by 20% when HP was under 20%, and the skill [Drain], which increased your HP regeneration more based on the amount of Bleeding stacks inflicted on an opponent. [Drain] was an obvious choice, since it would be highly effective in keeping HP at a decent level through tough fights. However, neither of these choices would necessarily be that useful in the uing event, although [Killer Instinct] would.


    A countdown appeared above in the panel to his left, counting down from five minutes until the event.


    He looked over the [Weapon Enhancement] feature quickly, but it didn''t seem to have much immediate value. It would create weapon customisations that applied to all of the user''s weapons. However, creating any strong effect required many elements in a certain constetion, and at this level he didn''t have that many options. At the moment, none of the options avable would have any significant effect on the uing event, and he didn''t have the time to n ahead and see which options would lead to better gains in the future.


    He skipped over that for now, and looked through his weapons and equipment to make sure that everything was in ce.


    Once the countdown ended, he was instantly teleported into arge lobby, ringed with white walls. The floor was white and wispy, like a cloud, but was surprisingly sturdy despite that.


    He was surrounded by a group of yers, who waited tensely for the uing event. While some looked on each other with suspicion or hostility, knowing that they were potential enemies, many chattered loudly due to nervous energy.


    Panic perniciously spread through the lobby. Voices rose in pitch, and the cacophony of hopelessness and fear reverberated ckly off the walls like bats with springs in them ced in a pinball machine.


    "So what the hell is this?" a girl next to Crucis shouted at anyone in earshot. "People can die, and they throw us into this death-trap? Really?"


    "I think that the Hashin started this event," a male yer nearby replied, stridently. "It''s their fault."


    Crucis turned, and saw that the female speaking was a blonde girl who wore heavy make-up, named [DeB]. From her deep red lipstick and nched cheeks, the event announcement had seemingly caught her in the middle of a grooming session.


    "Yeah, but what a sense of timing, huh? I was getting ready to date a guy," she replied. "Now we''re all going to die here! How''s that for getting violently f-"


    "Excuse me, keep it down. Don''t say things like that, you''ll scare everyone," a middle-aged woman next to her said.


    After a huff, De quietly assented.


    Five minutester, all voices suddenly went quiet. The lobby shuddered, and its upward movement seemed to end.


    They were greeted by a deafening, deep caw from high above, that echoed gratingly across the area. Looking up, Crucis saw a massive, raven-like ck bird soaring across the massive, brown-grey ins now in front of them. It had empty eyesockets, and drifted like arge, dead husk, asionally keeping itself in flight with a cold, mechanical brush of its majestic wings.


    It only hovered high and watched for now, seemingly waiting for the event to begin.


    While the yers huddled fearfully in ce, Crucis swept his eyes around the panorama of the heavens. A high series of mountains hung in the distance, with somerge, hulking dragon-like creatures shing behind them.


    Soon, a few yers reluctantly began walking out into the hostile area. A tall, green post to the left towered into the sky. On it, Crucis saw a board containing the rules of the event, as well as a few signposts above this showing directions. He read the board carefully.


    <strong>WORLD EVENT: AESIR-VANIR WAR REAWAKENS!</strong><ul><li>


    During the event, all melee weapons will be enchanted with Eitr. They will cut through an opponent automatically. Fights will be fast-paced and will end quickly.</li><li>


    To survive in the Heavens during this event, a human requires Divine Mana. This can be collected through killing either other yers, or monsters of the Aesir and Vanir.</li><li>


    Each yer will be allocated a side: Aesir or Vanir. Monsters of the opposite persuasion will attack you. Monsters of each side will grow stronger based on how much Divine Mana the yers of that side obtain.</li><li>


    Divine Mana can also be used to facilitate movement, or form a temporary shield, as well as manipting certain objects in the heavens. It is a part of the atmosphere and substance of the heavens, and can be used in various ways on your travels. This will not detract from your personal quantity of Divine Mana obtained, but you should be careful not to exhaust the store of Divine Mana which keeps you alive here.</li><li>


    Before the event, your Divine Mana will be low, but will instantly restore if used.</li><li>


    Killing Asuras was grant the yer Asura''s Blood, which will increase their primary stat. Be warned, all Asuras here are warriors looking to overrun or disrupt the heavens, and all of them are ready to fight.</li><li>


    Any yer can kill any other yer, as long as they are not in the same party.</li><li>


    You may only form parties of three. Once you have another member in your party, they cannot be expelled or leave.</li><li>


    The Night Raven will hover over the battlefield searching for prey, picking specifically on those with low Divine Mana.</li><li>


    The more yers in a given space, the more likely that monsters will attack. </li><li>


    Divine Mana will deplete naturally over time, and faster the longer that you have gone without a fight. If other yers with the opposite Aesir/Vanir alignment are nearby, you will lose Divine Mana faster.</li><li>


    yers who have a Donor VIP status can attend an event at the Apollo Amphitheatre before the event, where they will be granted rewards and buffs for the event.</li><li>


    No use of Stealth or other invisibility skills.</li><li>


    No use of ranged attacks in this zone.</li><li>


    All buffs through spells have been reset when you arrived in this area.</li><li>


    You will only be allowed to enter the main area when the event starts, and then you will have 10 minutes to explore before the preliminary stage ends and fighting is permitted.</li></ul>


    Coming early here - by being part of the Assassin top 100 - had several advantages, especially in terms of being able to explore and to figure out the event before being plunged into it.


    The signposts above showed a few directions, but only two major ones stood out, ''ins of the Raven'' to the right, and the ''Apollo Amphitheatre'' to the left. An NPC up ahead was picking out yers who were donors, and directing them towards the Apollo Amphitheatre in order to attend a special event for them. A semirge crowd headed off in that direction.

 Chapter 135: Aerial

    Chapter 135: Aerial


    Since there were 20 minutes remaining until the world event, Crucis decided to get used to exploring the area.


    He saw a cave opening to the left, and walked towards it. The way to it was a rocky, uphill climb.


    He found that his steps were much lighter than usual here, and easily jogged up the ascent. He used the rocks as footholds, to stabilise himself as his feet almost floated across the ground. Feeling unbnced, he briefly backtracked and climbed again, in order to get used to the movement. That would be important for the event toe.


    Finally, he reached the cave entrance. However, it was higher up than he had expected, and arge, slippery rock blocked off entry from beneath. In spite of his slightly weightless movement, he couldn''t quite ford this rock.


    Although he nearly managed to make it over, his hands and feet slipped off the top of the rock, and, giving up on the attempt, he carefully slid to the ground.


    He thought back to what he had read about Divine Mana. Apparently, it could aid with movement and jumping. Since it would replenish during this period, he decided to try it out.


    Jumping up, he grabbed the top of the rock with his hands, then used another rock on the side tounch up from with his feet. However, this time, he used the Divine Mana, and felt his feet almost levitate as a white, chilling glow appeared faintly around them.


    His hands still slipped off the rock, as usual, but his feet somersaulted past the edge of the rock and onto the dryer dirt of the cave entrance. His body twisted on its way, and he found himself facing back the way he had came, as he stood in the cave mouth afternding.


    Catching his breath, he turned slowly towards the cave. Its opening was a simple tunnel, leading to a cross-roads with three paths onwards.


    There was a loud roar from the central path. ncing in, he saw a massive, tyrannosaur-like creature stretching up to the high ceiling of the cavern, its body as tall as St. Vitus Cathedral. Although its beady eyes looked down and noticed him, and he noticed its gaping, enormous mouth lowering as it bent down to look, it didn''t seem interested in attacking. Clearly, these monsters were remaining rtively dormant until the event.


    He probably wouldn''t want to be stuck in this position when the event started.


    Taking the left path, he found that it led to arge ring around the central chamber.


    On one side was arge pool, with a cold, chilling mist rising from its surface. He knelt down by it, and let the sharp chill wake him up. Looking inside, he saw a massive, dark fish-like shape swimming deep below, along with a few small fish glimmering above. Soon, the dark shape passed out of sight. This pool seemed to be connected to a deeper water source underground. However, it was difficult to tell much else about it.


    Dipping his head briefly underwater, he noticed what looked like an underwater castle in the distance. The water was fresh, but freezing, and he felt more alert. Looking around further, he saw that the castle-like structure was actually just a series of underground tunnels, some of which seemed to rise away above the water. There seemed to be a few holes in the walls that allowed people to enter, but they were far away and difficult to make out. He approximated that they were somewhere beneath therge ins and mountains.


    There seemed to be some morerge, aquatic creatures, including an eel that could be seen dimly in the distance. However, at the moment they just circled idly.


    He drew his head up, and wiped some of the water off before putting his mask back on. He dropped a nearby, small rock into the pool, to check what the currents were like in the water. It fell steadily for a while, but after it was about 100 metres down it was suddenly swept firmly to the right.


    As he watched it, he was startled by the loud sound of footsteps on the rocky floor behind him. Turning around, he saw three Assassins entering the tunnel, their Guild tags marking them as Hashin.


    Suddenly alert for a moment, he calmed down as he noticed that none of them made a move to attack. They talked discreetly among themselves, but did not withdraw their weapons. Of course, the event hadn''t started yet, so they probably didn''t have the option of attacking.


    One of the Hashin waved casually, and after a few seconds Crucis recognised him as Impalerdiv. Crucis smiled stoically and waved back.


    "Hello, my friend d says you were a great help in Kruxol?" said the Hashin in the middle. Crucis noticed that he pronounced Kruxol in the local manner, ''kru-hy-sol,'' albeit rendered curt by a slight German ent.


    "He exaggerates," Crucis replied, "but I was there, yes. Anything for a good time."


    "It''s alright, he exaggerates about me as well! Well, he has to, I am his leader. So I think, maybe there is some truth to his exaggerations!"


    Crucisughed, as did the other Hashin.


    "So you''re Drifter, then? It''s an honour."


    Dr1fter shook his hand. "No honour. Ask any big yer who knows me, they''ll say I''m no good, I am just a hacker and cheat. My Guildmates only praise me because I make them!"


    div yfully patted Dr1fter on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, you''re not that terrible."


    "I know little yers think you are this big superviin," Crucis told Dr1fter, "and, since I am mostly in theirpany, I still find it an honour."


    "Ah, I just ignore their opinions, to be honest," Dr1fter replied.


    "So do I, but they''re easy to kill. I must have run into hundreds. Still, we''re defined by thepany we keep, no?"


    "Hm. Well, you sound like a bully. That''s good, you''re like us. div was right about you. Well, why don''t you join us for now? We''re going to find our way to the ''Apollo Amphitheatre,'' where all the big spenders are hanging out. Don''t you also want to see how the other half lives?"


    "Oh, really? Sounds great! By the way, did you guys start this world event?"


    "Don''t bring that up! Yes, we did, but it was an exhausting night''s work. I still suffer to think of it! Jin and d here also did their part, they were excellent."


    "I died, wasn''t much good," div said, letting his Eastern European ent show.


    "No, you were excellent, we couldn''t have made it otherwise." Dr1fter turned to Crucis. "By the way, you and d are from same part of the world? Also, I think you have another question to ask, so go ahead."


    Clearly, Dr1fter was quite observant.


    "Yes, I am also from East Europe, Brus," Crucis said. "I wanted to ask, you can''t go to the amphitheatre normally, and have to sneak in too?"


    "Oh, yes! Good question. I''m level 82, I must look like a whale! I am not really a donor, you know. But I have some paywall goods, because my Guild has some shady affiliates -" He paused. "That is, affiliation with the guys in charge of the game. So I don''t have all the donor benefits, but I can keep up if I bully enough little whales and steal precious trinkets."


    "What kind of affiliation?"


    "Sh, that''s a secret." Dr1fterughed, but was clearly anxious about the subject. "OK. It''s not really my business, but I have an idea! That is, first, we are meant to help with difficult, secretive tasks, that most Guilds wouldn''t do. Second. They needed some guys to show off and y the viin. You know, they want us to kill people early on and give them someone to fight, then they will spend more, this kind of thing. It''s even better than NPC bosses! And it makes everyone morepetitive, same reason as they make fake whale ounts that others have to spend topete with. Sometimes it is like WWE, they expect us to take losses too, make ''storylines,'' other rigged crap. There''s probably other reasons, I don''t know all. So we know some game secrets they have told us - though most we know by being smart. I''m kept in the dark about it, to be honest. But it''s just silly advertising tricks, not interesting. I think they can''t wait to see the back of me by now!"


    "Yeah, I doubt they can handle you."


    "They can''t," div said. "You should have seen FGRT flipping out about him yesterday! We were overhearing it, great fun."


    "Now, now, d. If they can''t handle me, they don''t care. They will rece me," Dr1fter said. "They are very resourceful, you see. But let''s not discuss that now."


    He maintained a light-hearted tone despite his concerns.


    "Nice to meet you, by the way, I''m Jin," Jin said, finally speaking up. His voice was firm, but polite.


    Crucis shook hands with him and div.


    "Alright, now let us try to get to the Amphitheatre," Dr1fter dered. "I think there is a way, but it is a bit crazy, so we will see what happens!"


    Crucis followed him as he walked around the edge of the cave, carefully inspecting the walls until he found an appropriate ce.


    Dr1fter immediately used [Agile Step] to enter the wall, and the rest followed.


    "OK, now first thing," he said. "There is an invisible wall in the way, but I think we can squeeze past it. Just keep walking to the left until you find another wall, then walk forwards and left. You will go past the wall in front of you."


    Crucis stumbled forwards, and saw that there was an invisible wall in front of them.


    After Dr1fter effortlessly made it through the wall, looking like he was moon-walking, he invited Crucis to try.


    Crucis tried, but the strange, slightly queasy sensation of sliding across the invisible wall was unfamiliar, and he identally took a step too far forwards and was repelled by the wall.


    "It''s alright, I got lucky," Dr1fter said, smiling. "It''s tough! Try again."


    Crucis tried again, focusing on repeating the specific movement, as Dr1fter had done, and ignoring the strangeness of the slow slide against the wall. After about twenty seconds, he was through.


    The other Hashin members also required a few tries, but got through soon.


    The group continued on, moving easily through therge, rocky cave wall and the small outcrop of rocks behind it. However, soon Dr1fter came to a stop in front of a dark, straight uphill part of the wall.


    Crucis could hear a creature grunting on the other side of the wall. Dr1fter noticed the direction of his stare, and nodded.


    "Do you hear it?" Dr1fter said. "That is the ''basilisk armadillo.'' A weird creature. It won''t attack yet, of course, but if it notices you in this thin wall then its gaze will paralyse you. So you must all use Stealth skill. You have ''Stealth Cloak'' as well, Crucis?"


    "Yes," Crucis replied.


    "OK, good. It will be not allowed during event, but for now it is fine. Use it to pass this thin part of wall, until you get to the rocks in other end. Then we will almost be there!"


    He quickly used [Stealth Cloak], as well as a skill named [Dreamspeed], and in two seconds he was through the passage.


    Jin followed, and took about four seconds to cross it.


    Crucis went next. He could hear the creature pacing itsir to the right, but tried to shut it out. Casting [Stealth Cloak], he rushed up through the small corridor of wall, and found that he could climb it easily after he had practiced climbing to the cave earlier. He reached faster than Jin had.


    Finally div attempted it, but after losing his bnce slightly he was caught out by the creature and froze for five seconds. He slid back down the slippery path. The [Basilisk Armadillo] now pressed its snout to the wall, inspecting it fervently and making it more difficult for div to pass.


    Dr1fter casually picked up a rock and threw it at the far side of the armadillo''sir, distracting the armadillo which turned around and took a few steps towards the loud sound of the falling rock.


    Taking the cue, div used [Stealth Cloak] again, and this time made it undisturbed up the wall despite swaying from side to side.


    Dr1fter had already taken a few steps ahead, and led the group towards the Amphitheatre. His steps were purposive, even though they looked like bohemian wandering.


    Soon, the lush white of the Hellenic Amphitheatre appeared in front of them. At first, the pirs around its borders, and finally the many semi-circr rows which arge group of yers were filtering into. Most yers at the front were standing, but a few at the back sat and waited for the event to start.


    None of them saw the Hashin yers and Crucis standing in the cliff face right behind the Amphitheatre, a few metres above thest row of seats.


    From this elevation, they had a clear view of the stage.


    Dr1fter, however, seemed more upied with overhearing the conversations going on between yers seated at the back of the Amphietheatre. They were mostly talking - half-desperate, half-optimistic - about how they hoped for something that would make the uing event less dangerous, and let them get through it easily.


    "Listen to them chatter. I think they don''t just need some help. They need a lifeline," Dr1fter dered, lowering his voice slightly to avoid being heard from outside. "They are all so worried, now they want someone to tell them there is no danger. Not that they will fight and win. Where is the spirit? That is why the game needed the Hashin, because whales can''t do anything without some carrot and stick."


    "Yeah, a glum lot," divmented.


    "It is the nature of the beast. People will pay the most when they cannot stop, like a drug addict who is dependent on the drug. Nothing in a game is made so beautiful that people cannot press ''X'' - or go to the menu and quit, in these new games. These games rip off most assets, don''t even make them. No, they must be scared until they have to pay to restore equillibrium. Some people pay for special sensations, but in a gambling den like this game the most cash is from people who spend for equillibrium. Hardcore spendthrifts, not hobbyists. The rule is moremon than the exception."


    "Do you have to be so cynical all the time?" Jin smiled.


    "He''s right, though," Crucis said.


    "True."


    "By the way, Drifter, do youe from Germany?"


    "Ah, good guess. I do live in Germany. My ent is obvious, no? But I''m not from Germany. From Austria."


    There was a loud noise from in front of them, as a figure appeared on the stage. Crucis saw a glowing,rge male human figure appear on the stage, with powdery-white skin. This figure facedthe crowd with a wild grin, and briefly juggled small balls of light before these dissolvedin his palm.


    As the figure cleared his throat, Crucis saw that his name was [Archangel Michael].


    "Well, well, an audience," Michael said, in a booming, flighty showman''s voice. "I should impress you somehow... but I don''t know how. How about a magic trick? I will make this sword disappear!"


    He grabbed an expensive, enchanted golden sword from an audience member in front, and summoned up a ball of searing, white fire in his other hand. As he set the sword on fire, the mes greedily devoured the sword until nothing was left. He held out the open hand where the sword had been, and showed it to the crowd.


    The intense fire had not left a scratch on him.


    Some in the crowd assumed that this trick was choregraphed, and the yer had agreed to it, so they apuded hesitantly. Crucis also heard some spection that maybe Michael would hand out a better recement sword. Given that Michael seemed to be drawing on the AI of this game, Crucis guessed that he might be more of a free spirit than these yers thought. Most of these yers had progressed primarily through main storyline quests, and not really encountered many NPCs who weren''t heavily scripted based on the story.


    The swordless yer and his friends, however, protested angrily.


    "What the hell? Who are you?" the yer shouted, reluctantly drawing out his shoddy backup sword and waving it threateningly. "What in God''s name was that?"


    Michaelughed.


    However, theints continued. Summoning a few more balls of light to his palms, he began idly juggling them as he waited out the loud heckling.


    "Yeah, how dare you!" a friend of the yer joined in. "Why would you do that? You''re supposed to help us!"


    "You''re chosen to show us our rewards!" another added. "You weren''t supposed to destroy things!"

 Chapter 136: Apollo

    Chapter 136: Apollo


    The figure on the stage looked calmly over the shouts of protest from the crowd.


    "Who are you?"


    "A jester of sorts," he said flippantly. "I am also known as the Archangel Michael."


    "You''re not a real archangel! You''re an idiot, a clown!" shouted [FatherJohannes], a yer who wore arge crucifix pendant around their neck.


    Michael''s juggling stopped abruptly, and he silently turned to face FatherJohannes. Staring impassively at the heckler, he held out his right palm and a fireball flew effortlessly out of it.


    As the fireball elerated and collided with FatherJohannes, his body was soon consumed in searing, white mes. His screams thundered across the area. Soon, only his ashes were left, still burning on the ground. The crowd stared on in confusion as the ashes continued screaming louder and louder, as if wracked with a deep pain, until the fire consumed them.


    "Ask no more," Michael said. His voice sounded like the searing mes which had just consumed Johannes.


    In a somewhat self-aware manner, he shifted back to his usual, carefree voice. "Now, to be honest, he was right. I used to be the Archangel Michael, but by now I am considered fallen. I lied. But it doesn''t matter, you could just call me Apollo, it''s what everyone calls me."


    "Then where''s your chariot?" snorted a sceptical observer named [Aphisa].


    Some of the people around him looked nervous, seeing what had happened to thest heckler. But for Aphisa, a devout Christian who had painedly watched his family dwindle away in this game, Michael''s carefree, dissolute demeanour was thoroughly offensive.


    Michael half-turned his face towards Aphisa, and said in an emotionless voice, "Bring me my chariot of fire."


    Aphisa''s body exploded into four pirs of me, which spun in a circle. Each me rose wildly upwards, and crowed with the sound of Aphisa''s screams like a rooster at morning. These pirs trundled over the clouds towards Michael, as the crowd scampered to get out of the way. A few were crushed or set on fire by this, and those who were set afire were soon consumed by the me.


    Squinting, Crucis saw that the four pirs of me were apanied by an infrastructure formed of Aphisa''s charred bones and other remains, which formed a dusky chariot with a fiery pir in each corner.


    As it approached Michael, he smiled and hopped in, leaning back luxuriously inside the chariot before leaning out to address the crowd. The mes danced around him.


    "Sk?ll and Hati shall soone for their feast. This grand chariot, fretted with golden fire, is only cooked meat for hounds," Michael said. "Soon they shalle and devour it, even though your friend was so obsessive about it. So be it. It''s not about the chariot, it''s about sending a message."


    A few members of the crowd were bing increasingly agitated and disturbed by the corpse-chariot.


    "It''s screaming! It''s - aaah!" screeched [DeB].


    "Why not? Maybe he just wants to be heard," Michael replied, eyes seeking out this female in the crowd. "You should understand him. Isn''t that how hecklers are, too?"


    She cowered behind a few tall male Guildmates nearby, who stood tall as if to protect her. Crucis could see that they were in a Guild named [Chagrin], which was fairly small but seemed to have a fewrge yers.


    Michael frowned, as he noticed her hiding behind them. "What are you afraid of? He''s dead, he has the right to stage his depressive screamo concert." His voice turned slightly more serious. "You''re even afraid of the voice of your fallenrade! What are you? Why should you live to see the daybreak, if you can''t bear the crowing of the rooster that announces each dawn?"


    The crowd grew louder and more agitated. Crucis heard a small sound, like birdsong, in the sky, and looked for it. However, as his sight verged towards the sun, in the direction from which he had heard the sound, he found jarringly that he was simply looking straight at the fiery chariot and the birdsong resolved to its screams. The sensation of birdsong vanished as instantaneously as if it were a pareidolia.


    He shook his head, to ward off dizziness, and noticed some of the Hashin rubbing their eyes. The surreal nature of the heavens took some getting used to.


    "Excuse me, could you all stop clustering around thedy? It''s not very sociable," Michael said to the crowd.


    "You''re mad!" shouted one of the males, bravely standing in front of the female. He seemed familiar with her, and was using a hand to calm her down and encourage her to crouch down out of sight.


    "You''re weak," Michael retorted. The defiant male was only level 48, but had seemingly spent enough to qualify for this event. "But I can''t be bothered dealing with all of you delinquents. Here''s what we''ll do, let''s y a game."


    Michael reached into his chariot, and scraped out some powdery red paint off the seat inside. Crucis wondered if it was blood.


    Using a skill named [Holi], Michael tossed the powdery paint freely into the air towards the girl and her guardians. It fell over them gently, coating them with red stains. Crucis saw that a tall, red light emanated from the stains on each marked yer, and glowed in a thick column towards the sky, reaching as far as the eye could see. This would make the yers visible to all, and render them unable to hide.


    Seemingly, Michael had left them to die at the hands of other yers, judging them to be easy targets.


    "You think I''m mad. Well, let''s see if your fellow yers will prove as mad." He paced the stage silently. "But hopefully people are done with interrupting me. Now, then, onto the reason why you all came here: rewards, benefits, a headstart! Power granted by the heavens!" he said in a booming voice.


    In spite of the situation, the crowd''s mood lightened, and there were even a few scattered, expectant cheers to egg him on. Some in the crowd were so nervous for the uing event that they didn''t care about Michael''s victims, as long as they got some kind of advantage to benefit themselves.


    Michaelughed on noticing the cheers. "What, am I the good guy now? I saw you guys, you were terrified a moment ago, what changed? I might be an Archangel, but I never thought I was such a saint. One promise to you, and suddenly I''ve changed; you must consider yourselves the axis mundi."


    "Makes sense," Dr1fter said quietly. "You know, sometimes all it takes to be a hero or saint is extravagant promises. Give people stuff, and they''ll run off to enjoy it, but promise people stuff and they''ll admire and focus on you. Such promises are how many be an upstart, underdog hero, outsider politician, even a revolutionary leader."


    "Tricks of the trade?" div teased.


    "Maybe. I wonder if other leaders realise that the members they''ve bought will need to be bought continually. The members they''ve got by pandering will soon try to shackle and drain them. Most Guilds will someday be empty husks. See, nothing is mediocre unless humans make it so. Nature doesn''t havewyers, one example."


    Michael paced the stage, then faced the audience again. "Speaking of beatitude, what''s ridiculous is, I''m not even trying. I haven''t even shown off my halo."


    As he grew silent, his face suddenly began to glow fiercely, a fiery, flickering light without a fire. His skin turned almost pale, as wild light began to emanate all the way around his head. He was smiling faintly, but as he faced the crowd they began to shiver on seeing his empty, ck eye sockets staring back at them.


    "You seem surprised. Why? You say that angels are hollow beings, who erode away singing Holy, Holy, Holy to the heavenly throne. You never knew?" Michael paused, as the crowd hushed. "Did you think that angels could be stable, while broken at the core? You never knew that everything was falling through? Anyway, on to the matter of the fight. It begins soon, be on your way."


    "Where are the rewards he promised?" someone in the crowd muttered, pointing at him usatorily.


    "Why do youe to the heavens, and demand such rewards from the gods?" Michael spat. "''Who have persuaded you that this admirable moving of heaven''s vaults, that the eternal light of thesemps so fiercely rolling over his head, that the horror-moving and continual motion of this infinite vast ocean were established, and continue so many ages for hismoditie and service?'' Montaigne. What part of the heavens should I break off, to sell it for your lucre? The artist does not sell off his art, nor does the pious sell his soul. Still less will I sell the heavens!"


    His voice rose to a violent sound like thunder, and yers'' knees involuntarily began to bow and weaken at the impact.


    A few of them shouted angrily, feeling betrayed and let down.


    "Alright, alright. Your reward is... to remember my name," Michael said. "It''s a fine name. ''Michael.'' 100% worth remembering. But seek your reward from whoever you bribed, not from me. If you''re really anxious, then I think that there are some pre-event challenges that you canplete, at the entrance to the wider ins. But you get nothing from me."


    "Give us what we''re owed! My family are rich, they will sue!" one yer cried out. He was named [uphag], and was shivering with anger.


    "They will... ''sew''?" Michael said yfully. "Am I a coat? In what proportion could I be exchanged for linen -"


    "No, idiot!" screamed [uphag]. "They will... get you arrested in a court ofw! In the great United States of America! I mean, get the devs arrested!"


    Dr1fter snickered quietly at the thought of the man suing an NPC.


    "This happens on every game I y," he whispered. "I gank someone, then they threaten to sue me, or say that they''re friends with the devs. If people don''t have courts, they invent one, it''s interesting."


    "A court ofw, in ''America''? What''s that?" Michael asked uphag. "Do you mean a synagogue? But I''m not sure that I''d be subject to their jurisdiction. Anyway, enough of this."


    He reached out his palm in the direction of uphag, and mes began to spiral around uphag''s neck, sinking in to leave a deep pattern of burns, sickly pink wounds, and ck, charred skin. uphag held his neck in agony for a few moments, then copsed to the ground, barely able to breathe.


    The gates out of this area opened, and the rest of the crowd were allowed to leave. They did so quickly, to avoid any further run-ins with Michael. A few stepped over uphag as he writhed on the floor, due to their haste and fear.


    After a minute, uphag was dead.


    As the crowds hastily left, Crucis noticed that Michael didn''t seem to notice the four yers hidden in the rocks nearby.


    However, as div stumbled slightly while stretching his legs, he stuck out of the rocks for a moment. While no yer saw him, Michael looked over and flicked his wrist, and they found a small, thin card embedded in the rocks next to them. Its flight towards them had been barely even a blur. Picking it up, Dr1fter saw that it was folded over, and contained two lines of text:


    Bring the [Ashen Urn] to the Temple South of Sanra.


    I am <strong>Apollo</strong>, but am also known as the Archangel Michael and 4183239444.


    Dr1fter tossed out a small, cosmetic [Sun Trinket] as thanks, while the others carefully copied out the information.


    "What''s this number?" Jin asked.


    "It must mean something," Dr1fter replied circumspectly. "Take it down."


    "I think that numbers like that are used to represent AI," Crucis said. "Maybe it represents his AI version."


    "Oh, interesting. So was he a rogue AI? Impressive. I have noticed a few NPCs are moreplex now, div said it is probably something like that."


    "Yes. Seemingly, the usual censors and policies aren''t working on this figure, so it acted more freely. It was probably given its massive power to confer advantages and referee things, basic janny biz, instead of which it attacked them."


    "Like any God of mythology, it is only invented for human interests, and that is why people feelfortable giving it big powers. Like the Hashin, who were supposed to serve others! Excellent information, thank you. I''ll memorise the number. Perhaps it could be put to use somehow... Well, if we meet again, we''ll see if you figured something out."


    After this speech, Dr1fter led the way back towards the ins.


    "So, is everyone ready for the event?" he asked.


    "Yes!" div said, with a hint of nerves.


    The rest of the group agreed sheepishly, and Dr1fter smiled.


    "We will have no choice, might as well be confident."


    "What is likely to happen is that one or two big Guilds will spearhead the fight with the monsters. I''d guess, [Stranded] Guild for Aesir and [Erasure] for Vanir. I''m getting PMs saying those Guilds are the biggest so far on each side. We will be on the Aesir side, but we''ll kill on both sides. Eventually the monster fight will be a PvP battle as well, because each side strengthens their own monster so they will try to obstruct each other. By the way, you have no Guild, right?"


    "Yes."


    "OK, best way then is to avoid the big fights, because Guilds there will protect their own. Try to stay hidden, and don''t let most yerse near. Do not be too... ''gung-ho.'' If you can, form a party of three, but not before the event because you won''t be able to hide with two sods next to you."


    "Sure. You guys will be looking for kills, I''m guessing?"


    "Don''t worry, we''ll leave you alone. Our MO is to aim for named yers, because killing them will have more impact. So our Guild won''t attack you... Actually, Awdimir''s clique might. Those guys never listen to me," Dr1fter said. "Look out for them. Good luck."


    The group split as they approached the entrance to the ins, with the Hashin members going to meet up with others from their Guild.

 Chapter 137: The General

    Chapter 137: The General


    As he approached therge crowd of people waiting at the entrance to the ins, Crucis saw that about ten of them were hunched up or scrunched to the ground on the left. The crowd parted slightly around these people, creating a small alcove where theyy.


    As he walked through, cutting briefly through this alcove in order to get further towards the front of the crowd, he overheard a yer with a strange, hybrid Australian-American ent exining the situation to another.


    "Well, you know, these guys say they''re sick. I think they might just be nervous, or maybe they got pissedst night, eh? But it seems pretty serious, don''t know if they''ll be ready for the event. They''ve just been crawling on their bellies and retching for ages. One of them was my mate, he hasn''t been serious injured or anything, just copsed soon as he woke up."


    A few of the sufferers had small wounds across their legs, but none seemed to have particrly dire injuries. It looked like they were ill, though Crucis couldn''t tell if this was a reaction to stress or to something else.


    Arrayed out in front of the crowd, there were a few stalls and makeshift Arenas where yers could take on challenges for small benefits in the uing event. Most of them had queues, and the rewards weren''t earth-shattering. Still, yers went through them, with not much else to do.


    He scanned them quickly, then saw one which offered Dexterity buffs from a game where yers stabbed daggers into a row of targets, aiming to hit near the bull''s-eye on as many targets as possible in 10 seconds. The stall owner looked like an old man with arge, white beard, but wore a green mask and massive, ck coat that made it difficult to tell any further details.


    Most yers were a bit nervous, and fumbled a bit, but still ended up with a reward of at least 20-30 Dexterity and a bit of Divine Mana. Joining the queue, he saw a few high-Dexterity Assassins, including one from the Hashin, getting high scores and even the asional bull''s-eye. However, most yers found it quite difficult.


    When it was his turn, he went up and carefully studied the small, knee-high stands where the daggers were ced. One stand was next to each target, and a few yers had had issues with kneeling down to pick up the daggers. He bent his knees and prepared to start.


    Before starting, he received a 30 second buff from the stall owner, which decreased the timing on stab skills to around 2 seconds.


    As the 10 seconds began, he moved quickly over to the first target, swiftly picking up the dagger and then straightening his knees to plunge it into the target with a quick [Panoramic Strike], that struck just in the red circle around in the bull''s-eye. A near miss. He had looked across the target carefully before starting, so he was able to aim rtively quickly, despite being a bit jumpy about the uing event.


    He scuttled sideways like a crab to pick up the next dagger, but almost lost bnce as he rose to plunge it into the target. This next strike, with [Silent Stab], was slightly less urate, hitting a yellow ring which was three rings away from the bull''s-eye. However, he didn''t have time to be concerned about this result.


    By the next target, he had got more used to the motion, and managed a bull''s-eye with [Panoramic Strike], before striking the ring just wide of that on his fourth target.


    He just about reached the fifth target, but ran out of time just as he began to thrust the dagger.


    The stall owner congratted him, then raised a piece of paper with his score on it. 1087. He wasn''t entirely sure what this meant, but recalled that the Hashin had a score in the 800s, and the highest he had seen was 1190, so it was on the higher end. He received a buff of 109 Dexterity for the event, as well as 54 Divine Mana.


    Given that yers started on 500 Divine Mana, this wasn''t bad.


    In fact, since he could use Divine Mana to control and enhance motion here, increasing Dexterity as well would give him a useful leg-up in the early stages.


    He walked back into the crowd, and watched as otherteers attempted the games. A few of the games involved fighting with dummies or small creatures in an arena, and one was simply a wheel of fortune that granted STR or DEX with a small chance of increasing both. Many yers had already finished with the stalls, since only one stall attempt per yer was allowed, and were waiting for the event or nning it out with their Guilds.


    Some Guilds were already forming a phnx of sorts, with their leadership in the centre and guarded by the members. Standing near other yers created a high risk of friendly fire, so the higher-ranked yers typically kept themselves more isted in the centre while the other yers clustered in a protective ring or semi-circle.


    Across the crowd, yers were conversing about the event, although often a bit cagily because most other people here could be a potential enemy.


    They were suddenly interrupted when a ck-masked man wearing arge, brown hood, and brown robes like a monk, called out to the yers. "Roll up, roll up! The other stalls not enough for you? Here''s your chance at a real advantage in this event! I call the bravest and strongest among you, to duel this captive prisoner of war. Bring out the brave, right now!"


    Behind him stood arge cage containing an imposing figure, named [Asura General]. Its skin was a metallic grey-brown, and its eyes were shut as if in meditation. Crucis could dimly make out that it had four arms, and was holding a glowing, long, chalk-white sword.


    Although most yers were hesitant, one level 65 yer named [eDmitri] did step up to the challenge. He was a member of the Guild named [Stranded], and wished to secure his Guild a serious advantage, as well as gain personal recognition for his feats.


    His current Guild Vice-Leader was slightly controversial, and it was known that the leader was seeking out possible candidates for a new one. Although eDmitri was only an Elite in the Guild, he had a fairly solid reputation, and figured that he could be promoted to a Noble or even a Vice-Leader candidate if he performed an important role here.


    "What are the rewards?" he demanded from the brown-hooded man.


    "Ah, ha! Your stats will be increased to 150%, and you will get a sword named [Chosen One], which buffs your team for every monster killed. Since you are with the... Aesir, it will give your team a significant advantage."


    On hearing about the team buff, the [Stranded] Leader, [ckSTRAND], looked over in eDmitri''s direction, seemingly realising that such a buff would make him a promising partner to team up with.


    In fact, it also meant that his Guild would probably go out of his way to protect him.


    eDmitri quickly assented, before other interested yers could volunteer in his stead.


    He walked up to a small, raised red tform, with blue, red, and white rings, and drew his sword. Crucis was surprised to see that this sword had lit up with a hazy, white glow, that was bright enough that it caught him by surprise and his eyes flinched away for a moment. The weapon seemed to hum lightly, although it was difficult to make out from a distance.


    This must be what the board had meant when it mentioned weapons being transformed into ''Divine Weapons.'' The Asura''s weapon had a simr glow. Although the Asura''s level was only 55, Crucis figured that this might not make as much of a difference if their weapons were


    As he leaned to the side to look past the thick crowd gathering around the fight, he saw the silhouette of the lumbering Asura General walking out of its cage. A white, glowing ring formed around the Arena, preventing anyone from leaving.


    "Good luck!" the man in brown said, before turning to the audience. "Get ready for an exciting fight,dies and gentlemen! And whatever else you may be! This Asura may look like a dumb brute, but he''s learned swordfighting from the great god Hvedrungr. Prepare yourselves!"


    The twobatants paced on one side of the Arena, with about four metres in between them. eDmitri looked more confident as he saw his sword''s new white, and the man in brown exined to him that it was a Divine Weapon. He had already read the board at the entrance, and knew about these. Although nervous, he was quite well-known among his Guild for his skill at swordfighting, so he figured he was well-prepared.


    As the man in brown began to count down from 15, the Asura General reached into therge scabbard on its back and drew out three more white, radiant swords, holding one in each arm. He twirled them confidently, as he faced down his opponent.


    Once the countdown ended, the Asura General stepped forwards, the loud, harsh echo of his steps filling the air.


    He shed forwards with the two swords on his right hand, targeting eDmitri''s head and neck.


    Although eDmitri''s sword rose agilely to block this assault, and struggled to keep the swords away, soon his torso was rent in two by another sword from the left.


    Finally, thest sword passed up through his chest until it split his neck vertically.


    His bleeding mass fell on the ground, and the Arena was bathed in thick red.


    The man in brown threw off his hood and mask, andughed loudly. He vanished in seconds, but before that Crucis managed to make out a name-tag above his head, [Loki].


    The Asura General, free, now ran back into the ins, looking to rejoin his army.


    There were a few screams from the crowd, on seeing the result of the battle, but these quickly abated as yers nervously awaited the beginning of the event. They held back in near-silence, with a few discordant murmurs. A few had begun to cry, but still looked with strained eyes towards the countdown above them, which showed less than a minute.


    Crucis noticed that DeB and the others with Apollo''s red mark were whispering franctically with an experienced-looking yer from another Guild. They seemed to be trying to get advice, due to their predicament, but Crucis couldn''t make out what was being said from a distance. Whatever the advice was, DeB looked thankful, and her tears had a hint of joy between the stress.


    Soon, the countdown had ended. yers had 10 minutes to move out into the wider area, before the fighting began.


    A few yers from [Stranded] attempted to heave up the yers lying on the right of the crowd, but stopped when the yers flinched in pain and began to writhe out of the lifter''s grip. Seemingly, they were not only incapacitated, but in extreme pain. Giving up after a few attempts, the [Stranded] yers began to move into the ins, leaving these yers on the ground.


    Crucis darted forwards as soon as the countdown ended, and made his way towards arge set of mountains to the North-East of the area. It looked like these mountains had paths carved around them, and since they were far away most yers wouldn''t be able to make it there or climb particrly far. The paths were a fairly gentle slope, but were full of rocks and other obstacles, so they could be difficult to traverse.


    Since he was an Assassin with high Agility, and had a good hang of movement in the heavens while some yers were still stumbling, he figured that the mountain paths might be a good way to find a remote hiding ce. Due to the lethality of weapons in this event, making any significant gains as an unaligned yer would involve avoiding dangerous positions. Not many yers were heading in that direction, since at first these mountains seemed to blend in with therger mountains behind them which closed off the boundaries of the area. Once he had risen somewhere secure, he could hide or pick out easy targets nearby without as much risk of being caught up in a risky battle between many yers.


    It was probably more reasonable for him to stay at the margins of the event, and pick off yers or monsters when possible. In the thick of things, he would be too vulnerable without a Guild to shore him up.


    Most yers, especially the STR-focused warriors, would probably not reach far past the ins, and most of the fighting would go on there. Due to the way that the event was set up, most of the yers would be caught up in fightingrge monsters on the ins, and this would probably soon develop intorge-scale fighting with each other. It wasn''t really safe to stay there.


    In order to avoid being noticed, he mostly used [Agile Step] to clip into the cliffsides and walls across the East, since this hid him from most yers. He ran into Dr1fter, Jin and div once, since they were also making their way through the walls, but they just waved and ran off towards a valley in the East.


    He didn''t notice many yers around once he reached the mountains, though he could see a few warriors approaching slowly in order to take advantage of the Strength-favouring, steep climbs up therge rocks next to the mountain. These warriors might not get into his way immediately, but he could probably target them as the event went on, if he didn''t manage to find some decent monsters on his way.


    Hiding in the wall of the mountain path, and climbing upwards, he found that the path was uneven and asionally disrupted by holes or boulders blocking the way. However, using the Divine Mana, he was able to vault over these safely, and made his way up until he was high enough to easily view the whole area.


    The yers below, when visible, looked like small blips on the vast, misty scenery.


    Rounding the mountain a few more times, he reached a particrly thin ledge, which would be difficult for most yers to ford. He decided to wait here, instead of going upwards, since from here it would be fairly obvious if another yer was approaching. Anyone else here could be a threat, and he''d have to eliminate them in time, but he didn''t want to be attacked right at the beginning.


    With one minute until the fighting began, he waited in the wall, and scanned his surroundings carefully.

 Chapter 138: The Phantom Menace

    Chapter 138: The Phantom Menace


    Looking down, Crucis saw another yer walking on the ledge below.


    This yer was a level 55 Assassin, and would be a promising early target. From the scratches across his ankles, it looked like he hadn''t yet got used to using the Divine Mana to ford the rocks in the way, and had tediously climbed over them. His attention was on the path in front of him, with an asional nce at the wider area across the ledge.


    He seemed hesitant to continue onwards, suggesting that he had seen another yer ahead of him and didn''t want a run-in. Crucis could deal with that other yerter.


    Still watching the yer below, Crucis drew his [Silver Wasp] sword. Due to the effect of the Eitr, its de was now encased in a cold, white light, as bright as sunlight seen through tired eyes. As he moved it, it was lighter than usual, and made a dull, low-pitched hum as it swerved through the air.


    Due to the hum, he sheathed it for the moment. It would be more efficient to withdraw it once he was near his opponent, since it would otherwise make his approach more obvious. The Divine Mana already made it possible for yers to have an awareness of others entering their vicinity, so it was best not to give too much indication other than that.


    Fortunately, this yer didn''t seem to be paying much attention to the Divine Mana mechanism, so it might be easier to get the drop on them. It wasn''t that surprising, since people were nervous and might not be experimenting with every feature, especially with an ill-exined one.


    Soon, the countdown to the event ended, and fighting was enabled. Crucis saw the word ''Aesir'' appear in white under his name-tag, out of the corner of his eye.


    He crouched down and carefully made his way to the end of the ledge in front of him, then used his Agility to leap soundlessly towards the ledge below. As he dropped, he used the Divine Mana to control his flight, and felt his feet almost levitate weightlessly as he steered into a nimble, soundlessnding behind the level 55 Assassin.


    He could see that the Assassin''s name was [Balofager], of the familiar [The Fountain] Guild, who was here allied with the Vanir. Since the Guild had recently lost its leader and dissolved into cliques, it wasn''t surprising that some of its yers were hiding on their own.


    Balofager sensed him dimly, as a disturbance in the Divine Mana, and hastily reared his sword around to the left. However, Crucis'' sword shed up assuredly to block this, producing a sh of sparks when the two glowing swords met, and hoveredfortably on the right of Balofager''s neck.


    Balofager gulped, as he saw the bright sword perched behind his neck.


    In a moment, the fight was over, as Crucis easily stepped to the left and shed his de cleanly through Balofager''s neck. Since it was a Divine Weapon, it simply passed right through, beheading Balofager.


    From this kill, Crucis gained 100 Divine Mana, plus 100 more for first yer kill. This made a total of 670, with 30 deducted for the leap before the fight. He also gained 200 [Ivaldi Gold], which would be converted into rewards at the event''s end.


    As Balofager''s corpse fell to the ground, Crucis wasted no time in backstepping towards the rocky wall behind him for security. He used [Agile Step] to enter this. Although he had killed his foe, he needed to stay out of the open whenever possible, so that he couldn''t be seen from above and attacked in a simr way.


    Catching his bearings, he heard the dim sound of a Divine Weapon sword behind him and to the right, which seemed to suggest a cavern inside the mountain where some yer was fighting monsters. He listened carefully to make sure that it was only one yer''s sword, and confirmed that there was only one yer there, meaning that there was no risk of walking into the middle of a fight.


    Edging towards this, he stopped when he heard the sound of the sword suddenly disappear. In its ce came the roaring of a monster, which soon revealed itself by walking out onto the ledge.


    It was a tall, bulky form, with dense fur like a mammoth''s, that walked on two feet and had two small, red eyes. The creature''s face was mostly taken up by its enormous mouth, which was filled by massive, thick canines almost the size of a forearm. Its mouth was bathed in the dank sheen of blood, which soaked the fur around it. Tilting his head to look above it, Crucis saw its name, [Bergakungen (Mountain Troll)].


    It must have killed the yer who was fighting in the cavern. Fortunately, it couldn''t see Crucis, since he was hidden in the wall.


    As the creature retired back into the cavern, Crucis could hear the faint sound of goat-like braying and hoof-steps from the direction where the yer had been. The yer must have been fighting some goat-like creatures in the cavern, hoping to avoid notice, when the Bergakungen appeared and killed them. From the sound of the hooves, stepping more purposively and aggressively than most goats, they seemed likely to be a more aggressive, fierce creature modelled on mountain goats.


    Although this mountain had seemed safe, clearly there were powerful creatures roaming around. Creatures like this level 90 Bergakungen might have been feasible opponents if this event was unlocked normally, at a time where people were at least above level 110, but since it had been activated early yers'' stats were probably not high enough to deal with the creatures. Especially in a dark cavern, when the yer in question had been busy fighting goats.


    After a few seconds, Crucis noticed a message appear in the panel to his left:


    [ALERT: The borders of the area will be shrunk in 4 minutes, and every 4 minutes after that. This will be gradual at first.]


    He could hear a few distant gasps from yers on ledges far below him. Nobody had been told about this policy before the event began. It was probably a measure to increase conflict, by forcing yers to run up against each other in a smaller space. However, it meant that the mountain, whether or not it was safe, wouldn''t be a practical hiding ce for long, since it was near the borders of this area. He would have to find a way off.


    Scanning the area around him, he noticed a bridge of wood and rope connecting the mountain and one of therge rocks next to it. This bridge hadn''t been visible when he had approached the mountain, since it was at the back of the mountain, and was quite inconspicuous. The bridge led to a ledge on this mountain, which he quickly noticed was a ''dead end,'' and didn''t lead anywhere else.


    Two warriors were shing loudly on the bridge, which swayed wildly from side to side. After a few iling shes of swords, one warrior surprised the other with a shoulder charge and shoved them off the bridge.


    The falling warrior plunged a long way down, trying to use Divine Mana to break their fall. However, due to the distance and velocity of the fall, it was useless, and they died in a heap on the ins below.


    The survivor desperately grabbed a hold of the rope railings, and just about managed not to fall off himself as the bridge swung queasily. Forcing himself to stand straight, he rushed with disciplined steps towards the mountain, and jumped with relief off the bridge onto the ledge here. He seemed nauseous and dizzy, and looked around aimlessly as he stumbled around, still feeling the seasick after-effects of the bridge''s movement.


    Crucis carefully crouched down and moved in the warrior''s direction. Since the warrior was stranded here for the moment, and disoriented, he would be a decent target. It would require another leap, but with more Divine Mana on hand that would be doable.

 Chapter 139: Renegade

    Chapter 139: Renegade


    As he leaned forwards, Crucis saw that the warrior on the ledge below was actually a familiar figure: Dionarcy, from DeathGang. That exined the high Strength and Constitution which he had disyed on the bridge, keeping his bnce and forcing the other yer off despite the bridge''s precarious swaying.


    From what he knew of DeathGang, Dionarcy would probably be a tougher opponent than Balofager. They were pragmatic enough that even this slightly blunt warrior would probably have some idea of how to use the basic features of this event, and had managed to win the bridge fight with a well-timed shoulder charge. While it was difficult to make out from a distance, Crucis did notice Dionarcy using the Divine Mana as he surged off the bridge into safety, so it was likely that he was familiar with this aspect and might sense Crucis'' approach.


    All the same, Dionarcy still looked slightly ill after his recent experience, and was stumbling awkwardly across the mountain ledge near its edge. This was an opportune moment to attack, since he couldn''t rely on Dionarcy, whom he didn''t know that well, not bing a foe if they ran into each other in the near future.


    Crucis once again used the Divine Mana to stabilise as he plunged down ten metres towards the ledge below. His sword shed out as he neared his target.


    However, Dionarcy had paid attention to the approaching ripple in the Divine Mana, and firmly raised his sword to block Crucis'' midair [Overhead strike]. Crucis quickly dropped to the ground and swept his sword in a horizontal [Sweep] towards Dionarcy''s chest, but this was also blocked. Dionarcy seemed shook by the attack, and didn''t have the time to look carefully at his assant.


    After a brief, fast-paced flurry of swords that took Dionarcy off-bnce, Crucis dodged to the left with [Drift]. Dionarcy turned to face his attacker, leaving his back perilously close to the edge of the mountain. This had been Crucis'' intention, to change angles in order to force Dionarcy up against the edge and put them on the back foot.


    Surging forwards, Crucis attacked with a firm [Overhead sh] which pushed Dionarcy back. Losing bnce, Dionarcy was only able to offer up a slightly weak block as he tried to find his footing, and found his sword tilting uselessly to his right.


    This block left Crucis'' sword still pointed forwards at Dionarcy''s neck. As it lunged forwards, Dionarcy desperately batted his sword upwards to try and deflect it, but Crucis'' attack had been a [Feint].


    Switching easily to a sweeping [sh] from the left, while taking a driving step forwards, he cut through Dionarcy''s neck. The warrior''s body fell off the mountain and skidded down the rocks below, while the head dropped separately into the distance.


    This kill had gained him 100 more Divine Mana,pensating for the 40 which he had used up in the leap. Further, it gained him another 100 Ivaldi Gold, and he plundered a [Kruxol Mighty Breastte] and some [Noble Goat Potion] which Dionarcy had been keeping on hand. In order to move more quickly, warriors in this event had often removed their armour on realising that it wouldn''t defend them from the Divine Weapons, but this meant that these were more likely drops.


    As an additional reward, he received a [Rune of Hel], an item which could be appended to swords by yers at level 100 or above, and would add a chance of dealing a more harsh form of the [Bleeding] status effect to opponents. Seemingly, there was a chance for additional, rare items like this to drop on every kill. He wasn''t yet able to use it, but it would be useful to keep around.


    Once again, he ducked into the wall behind him as soon as possible, and quickly surveyed his location. The bridge was an obvious option if he wanted to get away from this mountain, but it would be too conspicuous and anyone nearby could spot him easily.


    While this ledge seemed like a dead end, and would have been for Dionarcy, he could see a ledge lower to the right which he could leap towards out of the right side of the wall. Sizing up the chance, he made sure that there was no yer below, then prepared to leap. It would be a long way down, but it didn''t require that much motion forwards and he could stabilise his fall enough to make it harmless.


    As he jumped, he suddenly heard the sound ofmotion and buzzing swords from just beneath the ledge he was heading towards, and instantly regretted his decision. Still, he shut this out for a moment, since he had to focus on pulling off the jump without missing the ledge. Using Divine Mana, he managed to curve his path and soften the ufortable plunge until he just took a couple of scrapes on his hands while breaking his fall.


    Crouching on the new, lower ledge, he looked around.


    There were a couple of yer corpsesid on this ledge, bleeding out profusely, suggesting that there was danger nearby. These corpses had been hidden by rocks above them when he had looked down from the right earlier. From the sound of swords and shouting below, it sounded like the killers were still atrge. He would have to head uphill again and hope that he wasn''t noticed.


    While looking, he noticed that the red, skyward columns from elsewhere had headed to the East, but only two remained. Clearly, the group of yers that Apollo had marked were being quickly targeted by others, because of how conspicuous they were. The remaining red columns raced quickly to the East, and were probably being pursued.


    As he ran silently up the sloping path, he was suddenly stopped by a loud groaning from the rocks in front of him. A ghostly, semi-transparent, pale young man floated through the rocks, wearing a white-grey outfit, with blonde hair that had partially faded. Crucis could see that this was a level 46 creature known as a [Fylgja].


    Seeing the Fylgja raise a glowing sword and stand in his way, Crucis sighed and drew his own sword. This was likely to draw the attention of the yers below, but he didn''t have much choice.


    As the Fylgja lunged forwards heavily, Crucis parried the blow and stepped forwards to counter-attack.


    While the Fylgja''s body lurched back and its arms moved into position to block, Crucis noticed that its movements were awkward and unsubtle. Seeing it raise its arms to telegraph its next move, he shed carefully towards its neck, with his own sh disrupting the Fylgja''s.


    As its sword deflected off his, he struck into the creature''s neck, and then used [Agile Step] to approach it at close range and sever the rest of its neck.


    He heard shouts from behind him, and turned quickly to see a small group of agitated Assassins walking onto the ledge. The strongest among them looked to be level 80.


    As they started to rush for him, he quickly set off up the curving mountain path.

 Chapter 140: Pursued

    Chapter 140: Pursued


    As the footsteps behind him grew louder, Crucis nced back and saw a pack of three Hashin Assassins in close pursuit.


    The level 80 yer acting as de facto leader, spurring them on like a pack of hounds, was the Hashin Vice-Leader [Awdimir]. He screamed in wild enthusiasm, and the others joined in.


    "The little pipsqueak thinks he can run!"


    "Better give up, you can''t get away!"


    "Nah, it''s more fun this way! Let him think he can escape!" Awdimir rebutted.


    "I bet you don''t want to know what happens when we catch you!"


    Crucis ignored this, and ran up across the mountain path, spiralling dizzyingly upwards. Soon, one of the pursuers had fallen behind, and Awdimir loudly berated this yer as a ''joke.'' However, Awdimir was still closing in, and only about 5 metres separated them. His footsteps pounded an excited, erratic rhythm as he closed in on his victim.


    Coming to arge rock blocking the path, Crucis quickly leapt on top of it, using Divine Mana to leap high and perchfortably on top. He jumped forwards again as soon as his feet found purchase, almost gliding forwards as his enhanced movement carried him swiftly forwards before he set off again.


    As Awdimir came to the rock, Crucis was surprised to hear the sound of a struggle as Awdimir heaved himself awkwardly over the rock. Despite his higher level, Awdimir seemed to have lower Agility. This wasn''t entirely surprising, as Crucis had gone out of his way to develop Agility, and Awdimir seemed to have focused mostly on Strength and Dexterity. Awdimir had to rely on his Strength stat to haul himself manually over the rock, and then slid down, further away from Crucis.


    All the same, given Awdimir''sck of Agility on this uneven, awkward terrain, it seemed strange that he had been outpacing Crucis so easily on this chase. Despite rarely bothering to use the Divine Mana, he seemed to be practically floating over the terrain, mostly ignoring the obstacles.


    Soon, the chase reached a crossroads, with one path rising steeply up the mountain to the left, and one on the right around the mountain''s circumference. The first of these was covered with slippery, slightly wet stone, and Crucis decided against it, swerving to the right instead.


    Awdimir, however, had grown distracted, and had his head turned around to re angrily at hispanions as they slowly forded the rock after multiple attempts.


    "You guys are useless!" he called out. "How the heck you call yourselves Hashin? You''re ruining the fun!"


    Turning disgustedly forwards again, he saw the cross-roads and realised that he hadn''t seen which way Crucis had gone. However, regaining his senses, he decided that it was unlikely that someone being chased would take the steep leftwards path, and began running to the right.


    "Hey, Johnny Laggard, take the left turn! The rest of us will go right!" he said, directing his team-mate [JohnnyDane] to check the leftwards path to make sure that Crucis hadn''t run off there.


    Crucis was disappointed to hear Awdimir''s familiar, fevered footsteps following him again, but he kept his eyes on the thin, curving path in front of him. As he carefully eyed the position of the edge, he noticed a few long vines ahead of him billowing in the wind across the side of the mountain, approximately twelve metres beneath the ledge. They were moving back and forth, seemingly drifting into a small cavern on the steep mountainside.


    As he came out of the part which had the most sharp turn, he began to speed up, but was surprised when the ground beneath him began to rattle and give way. Lurching forwards awkwardly, he stumbled and was forced toboriously find his footing. Using Divine Mana to easily jump over the small, dent-like gap that had opened in front of him, he nced back and saw that Awdimir had gleefully reduced the distance to about four metres now.


    At this point, the chase was practically over, it was inevitable that Awdimir would catch up with him.


    Running forwards, he slowed slightly and caught his breath, slowing down and pretending to be off-bnce and unable to easily find his footing. Silently, he activated [The Headless Horseman], and felt the parasite numbing his skin.


    "You little runt, I''ll have your guts out!" Awdimir shouted in relish.


    He was surprised when Crucis suddenly crouched, turned around and used [Agile Step], ending up just behind the charging Awdimir. Crucis'' sword shed up in an immediate [sh], arcing up to cut off most of Awdimir''s right arm.


    Trying to stop his heavy forwards momentum, and get a good grip on his sword with his weaker left arm, Awdimirboriously prepared his own attack.


    However, before this could ur, Crucis vaulted off the edge of the path, drawing a puzzled grunt from Awdimir''spanion.


    Using the Divine Mana, Crucis managed to slow his ascent and drift towards the small cavern on the mountainside, grabbing the thick, strong vines and using them to pull himself into the cavern. He immediately swiveled round, deactivated [The Headless Horseman], and raised his sword to guard the entrance in case Awdimir tried to follow with a simr jump.


    However, Awdimir seemed at first confused, and looked angrily down the cliff where Crucis had escaped into. He was clearly in pain, howling audibly as the injury to his arm caught up with him, and was screaming vengefully down the mountainside. Crucis couldn''t quite make out the words, but it was clear that Awdimir was vehement.


    Due to this, Crucis continued staring attentively out of the cavern, anticipating any attempts to follow him. Since the mountainside here was practically a cliff, there was no question of them reaching here except with a fall.


    He could hear Awdimir stomping across the rocks high above, pacing from side to side as he scolded hispanions for falling behind and not giving him support. Given the Divine Weapons, even a high-level yer was vulnerable to injury. Further, Awdimir''s pain was severe.


    Roaring, he pped one of hispanions, and thenunched himself down the mountainside.


    As he approached the cavern, using his high supplies of Divine Mana, Crucis'' sword shed out in a methodical strike at his head. He had to raise his own sword rapidly to block, and was repelled away from the cavern and forced to descend.


    Almost using up his remaining Divine Mana, Awdimir managed to just about get a hand on a small ledge on the mountainside. He hung on for a few moments, before his left hand gave out and forced him into a painful fall towards the ground. Despite burning further through his Divine Mana reserves to cushion the fall slightly, hended in a pained heap and was lucky to survive. The stump of his right arm ached terribly from the fall, and he doubled over and vomited.


    Crucis took a brief glimpse down from the cavern, and noticed that Awdimir had just about survived. However, in such an incapacitated state, Awdimir''s character would be barely usable for at least the next few days. This would give Dr1fter time to shore up his authority over the Guild, and might lead to more peace between DeathGang and Hashin around Kruxol. Long live the King?


    From the cavern, Crucis dimly heard as Awdimir''spanions loudly scuttled away. They didn''t seem in any rush to face Awdimir''s wrath in the near future, and left the ''scene of the crime'' skittishly. Although Crucis had been waiting with sword drawn to repel any of their attempts, he figured that there was no immediate danger of either of them trying to follow him further.


    Looking around quickly, he saw that there was only one red column remaining in the sky. It was unmoving, and he was surprised that it hadn''t been tracked down and killed yet like itsrades. Whoever this survivor was had probably found a fairly obscure hiding-ce, although there was still plenty of time for them to be tracked down. The sound of screaming echoed around the area from further away, suggesting that the battle on the ins was bing more intense.


    Turning around, he found that the cavern was still and silent, apart from the asional rap of vines from the entrance.


    His Divine Mana had dwindled to 150 during the chase, and he would need to get some kills soon to make up for it. However, he would have a few minutes to figure that out. With no other yers in his immediate vicinity, Divine Mana drained quite slowly, and his early kills against the Vanir had seemingly slowed this further, perhaps due to an unexined mechanic rewarding victories against the other faction.


    Walking deeper into the cavern, Crucis saw that it led into a cramped tunnel that led steeply downwards. Using his arms to stabilise himself, he began to descend this, and heard an unexpected, tinkling sound like stream water from below.


    As he reached the end of this long tunnel, he was attacked by a slimy,rge frog-like creature named [Vudash Disciple]. It was difficult to make out much about it in the darkness, but it had a swollen, frog-like body that seemed to melt like a candle into a puddle of slime beneath it.


    Crucis managed a few, sharp strikes with his sword as the creature attempted to lunge inelegantly forwards, and the creature split easily apart. Slime fell in torrents from the wounds, and the dead creature briefly seemed like a grotesque fountain before it copsed to the ground.


    Sighing, Crucis kept his arms to the walls in order to avoid slipping over the slimy passageway ahead. There was no-one else in this ce, other than that one creature, and so he peacefully approached the sound of water.


    Soon, he came upon a small, transparent pool, filled with an asional supply of water from a mercurial, tiny mountain stream emerging behind it in a miniature water-fall. This pool seemed to be connected to therger body of water beneath this part of the heavens.


    Looking down, he saw that he was near therge, castle-like underwater tunnel structure which he had seen earlier in the event. In fact, there was arge crack just a few metres below, which he could use as an entrance. Leaning further down carefully, he saw a fewrge, inchoate shapes moving through the water a few kilometres away, but they didn''t seem like an immediate threat.


    He noticed a few clumsy, slow-moving zombie-like creatures stumbling around the tunnels below. They would make for decent Divine Mana. Killing the Vudash Disciple had won him 30 Divine Mana, but he could do with more of a buffer to avoid running out.


    nning his path carefully, he stepped back from the pool and prepared to dive in.

 Chapter 141: Tunnel of Love

    Chapter 141: Tunnel of Love


    Crucis dropped into the chilly waters, plunging towards the entrance to the tunnels.


    With a kick of his legs, he ended the drop and drifted sideways towards the hole in the tunnels. The water slowed him more than he had expected, seeming almost thicker and more stubborn than normal water, and his leftwards journey stalled slightly. However, sensing arge shadow approaching from his right, he quickened his movements and in seconds sped onto the stony floor of the tunnel with his hands as his legs propelled him towards it.


    Lunging forwards, he managed to hoist his body onto the cold, stony surface just above the water, and crept in until he was touching the opposite wall.


    Looking back towards the water, he saw a gargantuan, fish-like shape rise up. This grey creature opened its gaping,mprey-like round mouth, barging heavily against the small opening in the tunnel wall, but was unable to fit through the hole. The tunnel quaked from side to side for half a minute after the impact.


    Giving up after this failed attempt, the creature descended back into the waters, and Crucis saw some of its smooth, grey skin as it flicked its tail and headed serenely in the opposite direction. It still hovered nearby for a few seconds, swimming back and forth effortlessly, before heading off.


    He crouched down to catch his breath, and waited until the tunnel stopped shaking.


    Looking around, he saw that he was in arge system of tunnels, that seemed to weave its way across a massive distance. From a quick calction, he figured that one direction would lead deeper into the mountains, and the other would lead towards the East of the ins. Since the mountains would sooner orter be out-of-bounds, it seemed more reasonable to take the tunnels towards the ins.


    As he walked through the tunnels, which were carved in a perfectly circr, smooth shape from grey stone, he found a few wooden railings and scaffolding around the edge. Since it was dark and slightly slippery here, he used these railings to avoid falling.


    A loud moan came from in front of him, and, turning a corner, he saw a creature named the [Husk Zombie] walking aimlessly to and fro. Since this was a Norse-themed heavens, it was somewhat peculiar that these creatures were based on ''zombies'' rather than draugr, but at least they seemed like easy opponents.


    Approaching one, he baited it into lunging, and then easily severed its head before dropping his sword to tear its body apart from the spine. Its skin was practically falling apart, and rotten patches of it littered the ground by the end. It was indeed a ''husk'' of sorts, and it broke at the faint touch of his Divine Weapon.


    Moving forwards through the tunnel, he found another few zombies and killed them quickly to replenish his Divine Mana supplies. He even managed to find a detour into a small chamber popted with four of these zombies, and after killing them his Divine Mana had restored to 260.


    He wasn''t sure about the zombies'' respawn rates. If they respawned frequently, then it would be possible to just stay down here, out of the way, and see through the event. Of course, one danger was that you could easily be hemmed in on both sides by strong yers, if they happened to find their way in. The other issue is that your rewards would be highly limited, as he noticed that these creatures only gave 1 Ivaldi Gold each.


    Looking through the asional gaps in the walls, he saw that he was slightly above the waterline, travelling through what seemed like a sequence of dark,rge underground caverns. There was a soft red glow from the tunnels ahead that continued getting more intense as he journeyed on, and after a double-take he realised that this was probably the red cylinder emanated by the sole current survivor of Apollo''s mark.


    He walked on, asionally killing zombies on the way to keep his Divine Mana up. They seemed to get slightly more sparse over time, suggesting that he was reaching a ce where some other yers might have entered the tunnels.


    Sure enough, he soon saw a few violently split and bleeding bodies on the ground, suggesting a fight between yers.


    However, there was no obvious sign of sound nearby, or any suggestion of a continued fight.


    Slowing to a stop, he leaned against the wall and remained silent in order to listen for any noise. He heard the faint sound of whispering from in front, followed by what sounded like a tearful moan. There might be people nearby.


    He ced a hand on his sword''s hilt, and continued forward.


    Soon, he saw a female''s legs extended t across the ground in a tunnel ahead. She worepressed, white shoes that looked almost like sneakers in the dim light, and had pasty skin. A few red cuts and scratches were etched into the side of her legs.


    At first, he thought she was dead, but then noticed her legs quivering asionally, and sinking weakly to the ground. Looking out of the tunnel through a tiny gap, he was blinded for a moment by the brightness of the red light. Was this girl DeB?


    Activating [Quickstep] and walking quietly forwards, he saw hints of light blonde hair curving around her hips. That seemed to suggest that it was indeed DeB, and she must have survived this long because she had ended up in this obscure tunnel, which had seemingly not been found by many yers yet. Although the red mark showed her co-ordinates clearly, people looking for her on thend would not find her there. Thinking back, he dimly recognised some of the male corpses he had seen earlier in the tunnel as her Guildmates who had also worn the red mark.


    Perhaps the advice they had received involved finding their way to these tunnels? That suggested some form of advance knowledge about this location, but, given that the Hashin had been given information about the game, it didn''t seem unlikely that a few other yers would also have that.


    As he hid and surveyed the scene in front of him, he saw that DeB was not alone, but was covered by a veryrge man who had ungracefully smeared himself over her body.


    This man, another yer, seemed to be using some variant of the basic [Bodylock] grappling skill. His arms were wrapped around her back, in a ring that went over one shoulder and under the other. Most warriors had this skill, since it was awarded by a warrior-only quest near starting towns, but it was rare and highly sought-after among the grapple-centric [Snake] sub-ss of Assassins.


    However, his [Bodylock] wasn''t ordinary. His body was pressed right up to hers, and his hands moved freely rather than being locked in close to her. His right hand reached under her shirt, feeling over her breasts as she flinched back with panicked blue eyes, and the other hand felt across her back and torso. She was quite thin, and his ungainly b draped down onto the floor on both sides of her midriff.


    In this supine, cramped position, her body ttened until her frontside seemed like fragile, white stic, curving hopelessly away from him.


    As he moaned in a deep voice, she made a series of high-pitched, almost stuttering cries before letting loose a loud shriek. However, it seemed that nobody else was here to hear her, and her tears grew deeper. As she continued screaming, she was silenced as he smothered her mouth with an unwee kiss.


    Surveying the scene coolly and nning his next actions, Crucis noticed an oddity.


    This was clearly not the usual Bodylock move, which was quite focused and didn''t allow for this much unrted movement and closeness. Typically, there were protections against yers being in this kind of undesired proximity, but seemingly this yer''s Bodylock was glitched in some way that circumvented these protections. There were actually persistent rumours about sordid acts like this urring to people taken prisoner, though mostly not near Kruxol, but this was typically just rumours.


    Crucis could see that this man was from the Guild [Machu Pichu], a Guild which he hadn''t heard much about. He had only heard them mentioned twice, when yers were gossipping about this Guild selling herbal concoctions made to resemble depressants or anti-depressants.


    The girl began to whimper as soon as the man pulled his lips away. "You have no right... let me go, please."


    Despite the tone, her eyes nced coldly towards the left, where her swordy on the ground, out of reach. Crucis could read between the lines: she wanted the man dead.


    "Look, baby, how did you get so beautiful? You must be really popr, you are like a cheerleader from a movie?" the man replied, in a low-pitched American-Arabic ent. The girl flinched away as he spoke. "Come on, babe, marry me. You know I can''t do this for so long without going further. Think of how much agony I am in!"


    "You? Have you ever even thought of how I must - ugh, ugh, you''re just some creep, you''re not in agony."


    "Baby, you can make my dreamse true! Isn''t that something to be proud of?"


    "No! I don''t care!"


    He pressed his body down on hers insistently. "You don''t care to make someone happy? I used to be a painter, I loved it so much when person came and said my paintings made him happy. If it made himugh and cry from beauty, like you do to me! Then I would be faint from joy, I would give him any art he asks for."


    "I said I don''t care. Look, I''m not having sex with you, and that''s final. I don''t even want to be in the same ce as you. I don''t -"


    "But I can''t stand to lose you, after we''ve been so close for such long time! I won''t let you go, my little flower."


    Although he wasn''t that concerned about her fate, Crucis did find her suffering at the hands of the fat man to be sympathetic. After all, he had recently been a whale''s ything, and had only narrowly escaped.


    As he surged forwards, the man sensed himte, and awkwardly rose while fumbling dazedly for a sword. The man raised his sword in defence, but his grip on it was shaky and it leaned limply to the side.


    Crucis struck the man''s sword away in one blow, sending it flying towards a corner of the cavern.


    Without a back-up weapon, the man gave up and put his hands in the air, his thickly-bearded face giving a pleading look. Crucis raised his de''s point towards the man''s neck, and took a few threatening steps forwards.


    "No, please, I will not do anything to you!" the man said. "I will leave you both, okay, brother? See, I did not do anything bad to you, right, De?"


    DeB frowned, looked into Crucis'' eyes with a conspiratorial gaze, and hissed, "Kill him."


    Her voice was almost a whisper.


    She still seemed somewhat disoriented, after her recent experience. Although she had reared her back straight on realising that the man might be forced to leave her, she still went faint after a few seconds, with a peaceful look on her face.


    Crucis considered a moment, then turned to the man and asked, "How did you do that with Bodylock? It isn''t the normal skill, yes? Tell me your trick, then I will let you go."


    "Oh, well, I can exin it," the man stammered. "If a skill like Bodylock, which creates lock - if you are using that - and also use something that is a ''charged ranged attack,'' my friend told me this term, it is from distance and takes time to use, then they cancel each other out. So you can start the charge, then when it is nearly ready you use Bodylock, that cancels the other move but also the lock is broken by charged move. So you start move, but the game doesn''t think you are using it, so you can do other thing with it."


    That made some sort of sense. A charged, ranged skill was rare among melee sses, and significant lock skills were rare among archers who used more ranged skills. However, if both were used at once, with the correct timing, then it might lead to hijinks where the one skill overrides the other. This would exin why the game acted as if the man was continually starting ''Bodylock,'' hence disying the move name. While Crucis wasn''t entirely sure how this glitch could be used in practice, it did seem quite versatile and was worth knowing.


    "So what ''charged ranged attack'' did you use?" he asked.


    "Oh, it is the skill called [Ceremonial Sword Throw]. It is advanced ceremonial sword skill."


    No wonder, a skill from high up a typically near-useless skill tree. This yer must have beelined it, which is probably costly in terms of skill points. Perhaps there were alternatives, though.


    "Alright, thank you. Now get lost. Don''t try to pick up your sword."


    The man ran away quickly through the tunnels, leaving his sword lying in this cavern. He would probably find the Husk Zombies difficult to fight, since they are quite strong, but might be able to get past them. However, his journey would be a useful way to test if there was anyone else in the tunnel. If he started loudly begging for his life again, there was probably someone there.


    "Hm. Is he gone now? Thank God," the girl said, forcing a smile. She blushed sheepishly as she looked down on her clothing in disarray. "Hey, you didn''t see what he did, right? If you did, I bet you''d hate him as much as me."


    Crucis crouched down. "What did he do?"


    Her teeth clenched as she revisited the traumatic memory, and tears rolled freely down her eyes. That might have been why he asked.


    "Well, um, his friends fought off my group, they killed my best friend. But he killed three of them! Then this guy just grabbed me, threw my weapon away, and... well..."


    "Alright, no need to say," he replied soothingly.


    "Yeah..." she whispered thankfully, her eyes still quite faint. "By the way, is it alright if I, um... my sword? I feel vulnerable without it. I can help you out, if we stay together we''ll be safe down here."


    In a daze, her tear-blinded eyes blurred over as she looked to the right, and her vision of the sword was so hazy that it seemed to be in multiple ces at once. As she reached out to drag herself towards it, her fingers scraped across a sharp stone and began to bleed.


    She sighed, then stiffly clenched her teeth for a moment as the pain shot up her forearms.


    "Never mind... Fine, after all, you''re not going to do the same thing he did, right? Come on, you don''t look that desperate for me," she said teasingly.


    "No," he said, raising his sword''s tip from the ground.


    He knelt down, leaned forwards, and swiftly beheaded her.


    Her body slouched down from its perked-up position, and her disheveled, crumpled clothing looked even more crumpled now.


    Looking through his rewards, he saw that he had gained the usual 100 Divine Mana and Ivaldi Gold for a yer kill. In addition, he received some of her armour, [Blue Steel Gloves] which carried a Dexterity boost and a [Soft Metal Cuisse] to guard the thighs. Since she had been on the run, having the armour on would have seen her die earlier. He also received a [Rune of V¨¢r], based on a goddess named V¨¢r, which enhanced your whole team''s damage when used on a sword. It might be useful for specialised contexts, such as a sword used for team Arena events.


    Since she was on the side of the Vanir, he checked quickly and verified that his Divine Mana was draining slightly more slowly after her death.


    She had also dropped a few diaries and other paraphernalia. Seemingly, as yers were trapped in here, keeping some form of diary had bemon as a way for people to give their lives a sense of regrity and meaning, and more and more yers were dropping these. He typically ignored them, but wondered if this diary would have any details about how she had found her way to the underground tunnels. All the same, it wasn''t worth checking just yet, since there was still an event to finish.

 Chapter 142: Witch Dance

    Chapter 142: Witch Dance


    As Crucis walked on through the tunnel, he found that the zombies mostly had their backs turned to him at first.


    They must have been pursuing the man who had passed through first, until he left their range. They were still facing the direction he had fled in.


    This made attacking them fairly straightfoward, since they took a while to turn with their stiff movements. Even for the few that sensed him early and turned around, Crucis began hanging back and leading them from side to side or sneaking past them and forcing them to turn in order to pursue him, since he noticed how difficult they found this. Often, they were practically teed up for him to sh at their necks while they were still trying to change direction. Although he had found them easy already, this cut out the unnecessary effort of anticipating enemy attacks and dodging.


    Seemingly, the effective use of movement against zombies could make the battle itself almost perfunctory.


    Continuing on through the tunnel, he eventually heard a loud, female scream. "What did you just say to me? Don''t evene near me!"


    Walking towards it, he noticed a chamber to the right, where the man from earlier was loudly shivering as he cowered against the ground.


    "I''ll get you if I find you!" the voice came again. It sounded like a fairly young girl, and Crucis could tell that she was scared during this event. "I saw you have no sword, it''s over as soon as I found you!"


    Crucis raised his sword, anticipating the new arrival.


    She had clearly heard the man hiding in the chamber, and took long steps towards him as soon as she glimpsed him. However, on seeing Crucis'' sword, she suddenly froze.


    Hesitating for a moment, she soon began to charge away through the tunnels.


    Crucis followed her, getting close because his high Agility was useful in the uneven, rocky terrain of the tunnel.


    However, soon, they came to a narrow pass, with a low ceiling at just under shoulder-height.


    As Crucis prepared to crouch beneath the low ceiling, the girl cast the familiar witch spell [Newt Body]. She bent over backwards at an unnatural angle, and easily ran through the smaller passage.


    He hadn''t expected her to be able to use magic, since she was a warrior ss and this battle was restricted to melee sses. However, he wasn''t entirely surprised. While thinking further about the encounter with witchcraft yesterday, he had remembered early rumours about a paywall sub-ss named [Holy Spirit] which could be taken by any ss, and led to powers which enhanced each ss'' skills and gave the user supernatural physical abilities. The final skill of this ss was to temporarily turn into an angelic being of light, with extraordinary power. This ss was seemingly branded impractical to implement and dropped quite quickly, first converted into a Mage sub-ss before being dumped entirely and reced with the [Lumenomancer]. Perhaps some fragments of the [Holy Spirit] ss had remained, and led to these witches.


    As Crucis reached the end of the low ceiling, he hastily attempted to straighten himself and begin running, but was too early and a few sharp rocks tore through his back. He flinched back down, but felt a sharp wave of pain through his back, and a patch of skin was hanging off. However, there was no time to dy, and he stepped forwards and then used [Agile Step] to help make up for lost time.


    Although the narrow passage put some distance between them, as Crucis had to crouch and slow slightly to make his way through, soon the girl''s hyper-flexibility made her lose bnce and fall as she tried to navigate over a series of jagged rocks.


    Crucis used his sword to cut off some vines hanging from the ceiling in his way, and then strode up until he was only a few steps away from her.


    He lunged forwards in attack, trying to prevent her from getting up, and her sword rose up stubbornly in response.


    She cast a skill named [Frenzied], but didn''t seem to move beyond that.


    However, as soon as Crucis attempted another strike, her de swung up to block it, and her arm seemed to jag violently after it. When he changed angle, her de again met his effortlessly Seemingly, this [Frenzied] skill meant that her de would move automatically to block any attacks, at least for a few seconds. It seemed to be a witch skill tailored towards warrior sses.


    All the same, it didn''t allow her to attack, so using it for long would mean turning turtle and eventually being ovee.


    She scrambled up, unfazed by his attacks, and began to try running again. However, Crucis forced her to slow down with another couple of attacks, which forced her to swivel around as her hands danced to cut off the strikes.


    She faced him, with a look of terror and indignance in her eyes. He could tell that she didn''t have as much experience of PvP swordfighting.


    Crucis approached her, with his sword in a low position, daring the attack. She continued backing off, but had to backstep carefully to avoid falling.


    As he neared, his sword shed up in a [Rising thrust], which she blocked with some effort. Seemingly, the [Frenzied] had expired. He feinted a further thrust, causing her hips to sway far to the left, then quickly swiveled his sword around to [sh] straight at her chest. This forced her to adjustte in order to catch his blow, and she only managed by bending her arm over sharply through the flexibility given by [Newt Body].


    Her improvised defence was awkward, and her sword slipped backwards, allowing Crucis to step into close range as his sword moved forwards to follow. She wouldn''t be able to escape now.


    Flustered, she attempted a counter-attack, with a [sh] of her own towards Crucis'' right nk. He easily parried this, then lunged his own sword forwards in a counter-attack. Her sword rose firmly to deflect his out of the way to the left.


    He quickly flicked his wrist and attempted a [sh] from the left, but she cut this off as well, and then hastily attempted a further counter-attack with a [Lunge] of her own. Due to the potency of the Divine Weapon, she was jumpy and rushed to try and get first blood.


    However, his sword was already resting horizontally across hers, and he easily raised it to jostle hers out of the way.


    His sword ground against hers as he raised it to above his right shoulder, and her sword slipped off to his right. With an opening in the centre, he swiftly delivered a diagonal [sh] through her neck and shoulder, beheading her.


    Her body dropped to the earth, with short, ck hair spreading in a circle around her head.


    Although dead, her square face was pale and still wore an affrighted expression.


    As a reward for killing her, he received Divine Mana, Ivaldi Gold, and an item named [Odin''s Decree] which could be used to raise either INT or DEX by 10% while in the heavens. He used it for the Dexterity increase. He looted [Newt Skin], a CON-raising helmet, and a scroll for a skill named [Stone Elegance] which halves movement speed but increases damage and uracy of attacks. This peculiar skill said that it was reserved for the [Holy Spirit] ss, so he couldn''t use it. It wouldn''t be that useful during this event, anyway, sincebat here was mostly quite fast-paced.


    Crucis looked around. The vines clinging to the ceiling around this part of the tunnel probably meant that an exit was near. That wouldn''t be surprising, since there were more yers here and they had probablye from somewhere.


    Soon, he found a hole which led down into the water, with some deep-green vines arranged artfully around its edge. There was an opening not far away, next to what looked like the legs of a white statue partially submerged in the water.


    This must be where everyone came here from.

 Chapter 143: Out From Below

    Chapter 143: Out From Below


    Crucis quickly swam up towards the statue, and found a small, white panel next to it.


    Sliding this open allowed him to pass up, through a square-shaped opening, and he emerged from the water in what seemed like arge chamber. The statue stood tall above him, depicting a man holding aurel in one hand and a crown in the other.


    Hearing a few voices nearby, he slunk behind the statue as he quietly emerged from the water.


    The statue had another, small artificial pool in front of it, which looked surprisingly deep. On the other side of this was arge, majestic white hallway, with golden decorations across its walls.


    Three yers paced this hallway, one female and two males, and he overheard their conversation.


    "Thest red light was here, right, Mark?"


    "Yeah, it was the girl, wasn''t it? She was somewhere around here, but I don''t know where. We''ve tried diving in here, but nothing."


    "That pool is he deep, you reckon she could''ve gone to the bottom somehow? Maybe there''s somewhere to hide there."


    "I swear, this thing is, like, bottomless. No way we''re finding that girl."


    "Well, at least her friends will be proud. From beyond the grave, at that. Those guys just threw themselves forward to defend her, thirsty much?"


    "What, you''re miffed we wouldn''t do that for you, Melissa?"


    "Oh, never! I''m d you guys know your ce."


    "Tell you what your ce is? On the streets, in a red-light district in Stockholm!"


    "You guys do give me Stockholm Syndrome sometimes. But why did everyone else leave?"


    "Oh, they said that the red light disappeared, someone went outside to check. We can''t see it from in here anyway, though. Mind going outside to check? We''ll stay in here in case anything happens, still wonder where that girl went."


    The female duly departed, leaving the two males loitering around and soon sitting downzily against the walls.


    They were both level 54, and taking on both of them at once would be difficult, especially if he had to make his way through the water first. There was also the danger of Melissa hearing the fight and running back in.


    Instead, he decided to use [Arbitrate], and withdrew the red stone he had obtained from the tribal ritual. This instantly produced heavyg, with the skill and objectbining to augment this, and meant that the yers wouldn''t notice his movements.


    He descended into the water, and found that it was too difficult to swim right now, since theg slowed down his movements enough that he would sink too much between each stroke. Instead, he clung to a railing on the right side of the pool, and shuffled across it until he reached the other side.


    Hauling himself up, he walked past the boys without them noticing. He estimated that theg shouldst for about 90 seconds, which was enough for him to reach outside.


    As he reached outside, passing through arge, arched door, he saw the female, ''Melissa,'' was fighting a male who had ambushed her outside the hallway. Her username was [MissDiamond], and she was in the Guild [Silk & Ice]. Although theg made it difficult to make out the details of what was happening, since the yers seemed to just skip from one position to another, he could see that both were keeping to a somewhat safe distance, and using probing strikes, reluctant to get hit by a Divine Weapon.


    Melissa was furious about the attack, as she had been hoping to just take a few steps outside, look around, and go back in.


    The attack had taken her by surprise, but she sensed it in advance and agilely rose her sword to the side to deflect the first attack. Since then, it had gotten more even and cagey, with neither side willing to take the initiative.


    However, soon Melissa managed to trap her opponent''s sword low near the ground, and stepped forwards to press it into the dirt. Her brown hair flew like wings on each side as she, feeling a surge of confidence, raised her sword and directed it towards the opponent''s chest.


    The opponent jagged back in shock, and took the blow through the mouth instead. Blood flooded his mouth, and Melissa took a few firm steps forwards, driving him back until he lost grip on his sword and let it fall. The battle was over.


    Melissa continued moving forwards with nervous energy, not willing to let her opponent escape after the attack, but soon he stilled and began to sink down. Her long steps took her close to him, and, to her surprise, she recognised his face. He was a guy who had attended her high school, and he had actually been fairly popr back then, while she had still been a bit of a shrinking violet. She looked more closely, and shuddered as she realised that it was definitely him, down to the obnoxious buffalo tattooed on the back of his neck.


    She suddenly felt a chill of loneliness, as she realised that he was only the second person she had seen here whom she knew from outside.


    And the first who wasn''t a family member.


    The sword stuck in his mouth had carved its way around his head as he had stumbled backwards, and he was dying quickly. She withdrew the sword thoughtfully, and held him close as he died, letting hisst warmth flow through her. His eyes stared at her with a hint of recognition, though he was wordless.


    Despite the wounds, she could feel a hint of his breath across her neck as he died.


    If she had met this man normally, they could have talked for hours, because they were from the same city. It would have been almost like being back home again.


    But she was trapped here.

 Chapter 144: Arrival

    Chapter 144: Arrival


    As Melissa let go of her attacker, she sighed and let his body drift to the ground.


    She suddenly felt a chill, as a shadow crossed hers from behind.


    Crucis'' de shed through Melissa''s neck and head before she could turn around, and she dropped to the ground.


    He heard a shout from the hallway.


    "Hey, Mel! You done out there yet?"


    Ignoring it, he rushed behind the cover of a nearby clump of trees, and ran towards a nearby, dusty hill. After the chase on the mountain earlier, he felt like he was used to traversing hilly, uneven terrain here, and might have an advantage over other yers there.


    He had noticed that Melissa had tears in her eyes soon after winning the fight, as she stared at the corpse beneath her. Her corpse still had a poignant, faraway look in her eyes, despite her unceremonious death. In this way the banality of good, which weeps over someone it has already killed, sometimes exists in perfect symmetry with the ''banality of evil.''


    Reaching the hill, he heard the loud sound of a fight start up in the sand-filled valley beside it, and took cover.


    A warrior was standing between two opponents, and caught one attack on his sword, then lunged for his other opponent''s neck with a double-ded Hdie dagger. Crucis recognised this warrior as Starfighter as soon as he saw the Hdie, although it appeared quite different now that its des grew brightly from the Eitr. The ck handle now seemed like a shadow flickering between two blindingly bright candles.


    Although the vicious Hdie strike was blocked at thest moment, Starfighter quickly swivelled the weapon and used its other de to sh a gaping wound in his opponent''s neck. As the victim fell backwards, Starfighter backed away from the otherbatant''s next strike, and used his sword to deflect that.


    Crucis saw that at least one other yer was approaching to fight Starfighter, so he rushed to join the fight himself. These yers were from the Guild [Noir], a Guild from a Western starting town which Crucis hadn''t run into.


    Starfighter managed to hold off a few blows, and after parrying a wide strike to his right he surged forwards to stab with his Hdie. The dagger passed straight through the opponent''s chest, and Starfighter''s sword followed soon after by slicing through the opponent''s face, sending a cascade of blood around the area.


    He turned to the left, where two more yers approached. To their surprise, he took the initiative and attacked the one on the right, who was closer to him. As the swords shed, he raised his Hdie to strike, but was interrupted as the second yer ran up to fight as well.


    This yer''s blow was parried by the Hdie, and Starfighter kicked out to trip the hasty yer up, sending them falling face-first. The second de of the Hdie twisted to the left and caught the opponent on the way down, severing their neck.


    Starfighter turned around to his remaining opponent, but found that Crucis had already struck them down with a couple of shes to the back and neck from behind.


    "A familiar face, huh? Nice to see you again," Starfighter said. "I''m a bitte, only got in a few minutes ago."


    "At least you got a weing party," Crucis said.


    "Yeah, but they need to choose someone better to handle the meet''n''greet."


    "No, it was fine ambassadorial work. Anyway, want to form a team?"


    "Yeah, sure," Starfighter said, lowering his sword slightly. "I don''t have one yet. Might be useful."


    Crucis quickly sent a team invite to Starfighter, which was epted immediately. A small window appeared to the left, showing the HP and name of both team members, which Crucis minimised for now so that it wouldn''t obstruct his view.


    "So, how did you invite the wrath of the whole Noir Guild?" Crucis asked quietly, as they both moved into the trees to avoid being noticed.


    "Don''t know, I''d guess they just saw me out here and figured it''d be easy," Starfighter replied. "They''re all a bit low-level for this event, so it seems they grouped up to look for targets. But their footwork was a mess, honestly, they don''t seem used to this terrain."


    "We''re not all wanderers who never enter town. Speaking of which, what do you reckon is the safest way up this hill? I can hear a few yers up there, but we probably don''t want to run into all of them at once."


    "Follow the trees until we reach thatrge rock, then sneak behind that, then crouch below a few bushes and make our way to the small cluster of trees nearer the peak," Starfighter replied, pointing out the route.


    "Got it."


    As they walked behind the huge, red-and-brown rock jutting out from the side of the hill, Crucis heard the sound of two yers shing among the trees ahead. He gestured for Starfighter to go to the left side of the trees, as he himself drifted to the right.


    Once the fight was over, and one yer stood bullishly over the other''s corpse, both of them rushed in. The victorious yer, named [Leroi], turned towards Crucis and lunged with his sword, only to be parried easily.


    Noticing Starfighter''s approach, Leroi swung his sword around desperately to block a strike from Starfighter''s sword, allowing Crucis to step forwards with [Agile Step] and sh through Leroi''s neck.


    "I nearly lost my bnce there," Starfighter said. "Running here is a bit floaty, I''m still figuring it out."


    "Yeah, it takes a bit to get used to it," Crucis replied. "But you''ll get the hang of it soon."


    "Hope so. What Guild is this guy in?"


    "Huh, [Erasure]," Crucis said, crouching down to see the corpse''s Guild tag which was hidden inside a bush. "I hear they''re quiterge, but this guy was isted. He must have run away from the main battle on the ins."


    "That makes sense, I think that the Vanir are having a bad time of it there. The Aesir monsters are tougher, and Hashin are cutting through any smaller Vanir groups. There''s probably a few deserters."


    "That''s good for us."


    "This ce must have been hellish early on, when everyone was high level," Starfighter said. "It''s opening up a bit now, though, lots of peopleing in. I reckon we should be able to get a decent hunt in, still about 12 minutes left. Did you get a reward for staying here for half the event?"


    "Oh, yeah, now that you mention it," Crucis said, checking on his event notifications among the messages in the panel to his left. The rewards included 200 Divine Mana, and 500 Ivaldi Gold, as well as a few items which would be mailed after the event. "If we y our cards right, you''ll also get that by the end. Now''s a good time to go on the hunt, let''s have a look around."


    They walked up the hill, through the trees. There was nobody on the peak, but Crucis heard some movement near a boulder lying just beneath the peak, and hushed Starfighter as they neared.


    Walking around the rock, Crucis glimpsed the shoulder of a yer hiding in a small chink beneath the boulder.


    As he approached, a sword shed out towards him, but he was prepared and parried it. He kicked out at the yer''s hands, sending the sword flying to the side, where he pinned it down the ground with his own sword.


    Starfighter walked over, crouched down, and stabbed the hiding yer to death with the Hdie.


    They heard a few hoots from the trees, and looked over to see two yers running up towards the peak.


    "Morepany," Crucis said, taking shelter behind the boulder and watching. "Both level 49, new arrivals."


    "Easye, easy go," Starfighter replied.


    As the two yers approached them, shouting aggressively, Crucis found a steep, slippery part of the hillside, and he and Starfighter took up guard above it. This would mean that the approaching group would fight them from downhill.


    The two yers approaching them were raucous, and seemed slightly drunk. Perhaps the event starting in the early morning had interrupted a binge. As they lurched forwards, Crucis saw that one was a female named [RH3A], and the other a male named [MARTIAL].


    He picked out MARTIAL, and struck with a quick [Overhead sh] which caught MARTIAL off-bnce while blocking. Taking advantage, Crucis switched into a low [sh], which was deflected slightly down, and finally a [Rising thrust]. MARTIAL, who was starting to slip backwards on the mossy slope, desperately raised his sword horizontally near his chest to cut off the strike. His sword was barely still in his grip.


    Crucis easily lunged forwards, stabbing just beneath the rib. MARTIAL cried out, and attempted a counter-attack, but lost bnce.


    Crucis withdrew his sword from the wound, and shed at MARTIAL''s barely-gripped sword to send it flying far down the hill. He leapt, using Divine Mana to steady himself, and grabbed MARTIAL''s shoulder as he caught up.


    Stabbing MARTIAL upwards through the mouth was enough for the victory, and as MARTIAL''s body fell heavily Crucis leapt off and rolled a couple of metres down the slippery slope beforeing to a stop. He had taken a couple of bruises from the roll, but nothing too major.


    Looking up, he saw that RH3A was beginning to fall down the slope under pressure from Starfighter, despite having realised - unlike MARTIAL - that she could use the Divine Mana to partially steady herself. It wasn''t as effective at maintaining bnce as it was when jumping or moving, but she was holding out slightly better despite Starfighter''s firm onught of strikes.


    In a few seconds, however, she was hurtling down backwards.


    Crucis, though covered in moss and grass, lunged up and grabbed her by the shoulder with his upper arm, mming her head backwards into the ground as he turned to face downwards. His sword rose and stabbed fiercely through her neck.


    Looking up, he saw that Starfighter still had her sword hanging on one de of his Hdie, where it had dropped as she began to free-fall.


    "These guys weren''t well-prepared for this fight," Crucismented dryly.


    "They must have thought they wouldn''t be called in," Starfighter said. "The game skips over dead, ''unavable'' people from the rankings, so even people who were in the top 500 of a ss could get called up if enough people had died before the event. I think a few people just checked their ranking, and if they weren''t in the range they went back to what they were doing."


    "I see. Hopefully we run into a few more of those. By the way, did you hear anything nearby just now?"


    Crucis had heard a loud sound, like a wooden door mming shut, from the other side of the hill.


    "Yeah, not sure what it was," Starfighter replied. "Let''s check it out."


    "Okay. There''s some yers fighting just downhill from there, so be quiet."

 Chapter 145: Vanir

    Chapter 145: Vanir


    Circling around the hillside, Crucis saw a small cave mouth with footsteps in the grass towards it. There were a few people fighting loudly downhill, but he was crouching in tall grass and they didn''t see him while in the midst of battle.


    He called Starfighter over, and they quickly ran into the cave. In front of them, there was a pale, wooden door, with a boar carved on it which was paler still.


    Crucis hesitated in front of the door.


    "We might as well go in," Starfighter whispered. "I can recognise the boots that left footprints, it''s low-level gear."


    Crucis nodded, and the two of them forced the stubborn door open, with Starfighter tugging on the door''s edge while Crucis dragged the firm, golden handle.


    Looking inside, they saw a ck room, with only faint light from a window with feather-shaped tracery.


    A young man named [Remus] turned around angrily and jutted out his sword towards them. Crucis could see that this level 54 yer was from the familiar Guild [Communion], one of their bigger yers, and was allied with the Vanir.


    "G-get out of here!" Remus cried, protectively squaring up to the intruders. He didn''t seem entirely sure himself why he had such a protective instinct.


    Crucis took the initiative and stepped ahead, striking with a simple, straight [sh], which Remus parried. The bright des made a loud buzz as they shed.


    Noticing that Remus was partially blinded by the light from outside, Crucis deflected Remus'' uncertain counter-attack wide to the right and immediately lunged in with [Agile Step].


    As Remus tried to curve his sword back in for another strike, Crucis held his own over his shoulder to block, then used his sword''s hilt to heavily knock Remus'' face back while kicking out Remus'' feet. As Remus struggled to catch his footing, Crucis rounded his shoulder andid in a sturdy [Chokehold] while keeping his sword in ce. Crucis'' sword now hovered up ahead of Remus, with Remus'' sword on the other side and being blocked away by Crucis'' sword and Starfighter''s now-raised Hdie.


    There was no threat now, since Crucis could use his sword and Remus'' was too far gone to strike back. Crucis easily brought his sword down to [sh] neatly through Remus'' throat.


    He let the body drop.


    Starfighter hadn''t taken a major part in the fight, since it had started in the narrow doorway where he didn''t have much ce to use his weapons, but he had managed to use his Hdie''s curved des to harry Remus'' sword and keep it out of the fight. Once Remus began stumbling backwards, his sword had hovered and bobbed aimlessly in the air, and it was easy for Starfighter to hook it until it was useless.


    "Thanks," Crucis said quickly, as he walked into the room ahead of them.


    "You''re wee. Don''t make things too easy on me, though," Starfighter said, also beginning to look across the room.


    The room had a few statues, but these had seemingly been torn out to leave only a husk. The furniture was also mostly just an odd chair leg or segment of a table lying around. All that remained intact was a small book left in a corner.


    Crucis walked over, and picked this up. It had a small, brown cover, and the pages inside were a bright, elegant brown-tinged white. The title and sub-title glimmered in silver: ''Metanoia: The Book of Freyja.''


    He opened it. On the opposite site of the cover was written a line drawn from Keats, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know."


    However, the rest of it didn''t seem to have any text. It only contained a variety of sketches and small paintings of what looked like the same woman.


    She varied noticeably between the different portrayals. While she initially had dark, brown hair in the early pages, this sometimes turned blonde or even a swan-like white. Her frame would asionally even be markedly stocky or bulky, with a slightly masculine physique, but at other times it was wispy, yielding and elf-like, and most depictions were somewhere in between. She generally had a darkplexion and mousy face, as well as a tightly curved body, although at times this almost unravelled.


    A few pages had a slight glossy sheen, but others were earthy and firm.


    While there were no words written, as Crucis turned the pages he heard a female voice rise from the book itself. It sounded like the female portrayed in the book, talking to an interlocutor of some sort.


    She spoke hesitantly, with a melodious lift of determination to her voice. "I have a n. I have prepared us a golden straw bower, within Yggdrasil''s folds - a ce where we may hide from the tumult. A sanctuary. You too have heard the tanzanite-shaded bower birds, and seen the eternal beauty of their constructions. When the endes, <em>me</em> and <em>you</em>, Freyr, will not die. We will repopte the world, with creatures that are suited to it, with new men and women of our descent. We shall have a new world, one of our own, of the Vanir, of peace and beauty."


    A male voice briefly interjected. "But what of earth -"


    "This world looks destitute to me - and must so to you, since you see with eyes so much like mine. When you saw the beauty of Em, the first woman, how could you think that the grotesque end of Ragnarok would befit her? Under our gaze, she will flourish then as much as she decayed now. We will emerge from the bower and build our garden of Paradise. But I''m sure you would object -"


    "No. Say the word, and I will follow. That is all."


    She gasped quietly, and her voice turned soft. "Yes, oh Freyr... Freyr, mine."


    There was a sound like an embrace, or like two twigs being tightly twined together.


    "I shall be with you until the end, and after it, if we live. But -" the male voice began.


    "Oh, my love... What can I say? I can say nothing, my words and acts are worth nothing. My skinys prostrate before you, my most valuable possession given to satiate the debt of gratitude. Finish your sentence undisturbed."


    "But are you not afraid?"


    Her voice grew timid. "Your presence consoles me now. All I feared was that the warlike Aesir will draw us all into the final war, like a wild maelstrom, and endanger us all. But I take strength from your white warmth. We have always been a peaceful kind, who promote amity among the people. If we survive, then all will flourish, and war will not touch us. The sides have been drawn: the crescents of war and fertile beauty cannot forever form a circle."


    "All you say is true, Freyja. But will you build this bower, and not invite your husband, Odr?"


    "Oh, Odr! I cannot tell where he is, or where he will be... It is said that he is fated to die in times toe, and <em>how</em> shall he defy fate? But we havein together while he was gone, without clothing or air between us, and the bower shall be for us. You shall mount upon me as you have your beauteous ship, its brown-blonde surface as smooth and soft as cloth, and I shall be more beauteous still than it. Can you ever doubt it? Even though Ivaldi''s sons toiled hardest to imbue your ship with fairness, its beauty and might will seem like dun to you. I know that your beauty too is greater than Odr''s, and you are as close to me as he is far away. So leave him,e with me and never want for beauty or for intimacy, and our children shall soon arise in the bower and await their new earth."


    "I would have you to myself, but do you not weep each time that Odr leaves you? Even now."


    She whispered, "And it shall be as you wish, my brother, finally. I know that Odr must perish. He has never embraced me so strongly, that I could not feel him vanish away. But I shall weep for him, and the rivers of the new world will be spangled with his memory. Be that as it may, it is as it must be. Just me and you.


    "You know, even when I see the golden tears which I cry for him, their beauty diverts me to think only of you."


    "May we survive, and be gods of a greater world."


    The dialogue went silent.


    On the back page, there was a small, lewd scribble of sexual pration between caricatures with exaggerated genitalia, followed by the note, "Ah ha! I always thought so, and now I know! (And now I''ll have Odin catch them in the act.)"


    It was signed, ''Laufeyarson.''


    "I''m somehow not surprised to hear that the gods are incestuous," Starfightermented.


    "It''s the price of having pantheons of deities," Crucis replied. "You let gods have pantheons, they''ll all be inbred in a few years. In fact, that sounds like Freyja''s n."


    "So what could this ''bower'' mean?"


    "It sounds like it might be rted to the current conflict. Ragnarok is approaching, so there''s conflict because the fertility gods, the Vanir, don''t want to be in in therge conflict. At least it sort of exins why we''re all Aesir, presumably the game checks for PvP aggression or something and sorts us into Aesir. I heard that Erasure is more of a ''gentle giant'' Guild, so they might go with the morePvE Guilds on the Vanir side. Carnivores versus herbivores."


    "Sounds about right. I think the Hashin and DeathGang were also Aesir, right? Suits them. Maybe the Vanir Guilds would be better at fighting monsters, but I''d guess that once major PvP starts they''ll be routed."


    "Yes, eventually the main fights will be between Aesir Guilds. But we''ll figure outter, let''s go outside and see if people are still fighting on this hill."


    They walked outside, and saw that the conflict below wasing to an end. Only about six yers continued the fight, most with severed limbs or other injuries.


    Crucis and Starfighter crept out wide, and approached the flight from the nk.


    By now, there were only five yers still fighting. Crucis charged in with his sword, and shed down one yer from behind while they were locked inbat. Starfighter struck another unsuspecting yer by the shoulder, leaving them to be cut through the chest by their opponent.


    While the yers were still in surprise, Crucis used [Agile Step] to approach one square-on, deflecting ast-minute sh to his right as he charged forwards and killed the opponent with a straight sh through the neck. The [Nightmare] effect produced some ck fumes from the wounds, and the remaining two yers flinched back in fear as they saw hollow eyes and ck, lizard-like scales stare at them from the eyeholes of Crucis'' mask.


    One of them, named [MarkoPolo], attempted to lunge at him, but was intercepted by Starfighter''s sword. As Starfighter leaned in for the kill with his Hdie, the other yer swung wildly at him, not wanting to be thest target standing.


    Starfighter easily swiveled around his Hdie to deflect this strike with one de, then used the other de to stab through MarkoPolo''s chest and kill him. Meanwhile, Crucis easily beheaded the other yer.


    Looking among the many bodies littered here, Crucis saw that most of the fighting was between two Guilds, one named [Karma] and the other [Paranoid]. He hadn''t heard these names before, but Starfighter exined that they were Guilds from the far West.


    "I heard some chat about them, apparently they were having a turf war out West and getting in people''s way. They''re yers who started in another town out West," Starfighter said. "I remember it because I sold the speakers a tribal feathered weapon, which was basically just cosmetic, for a few thousand gold. They thought it was a powerful weapon. A good deal."


    "Cherish the memories," Crucis replied. "Well, I guess that people from all over are here. After this hill, do we head closer to the centre? We''re far out East, there''s not that many victims here."


    "Alright, long as we''re careful. But maybe we should stay East for now, still a bunch of new guys loitering here."


    "Yeah, makes sense. By the way, spawns are randomised here, right? So people are spawned across the East and West, not all in one ce."


    "''Course, otherwise we''d all just get camped or fight each other from the start."


    "There''s not that much cover towards the South-East, and a fewrge monsters on the periphery. Some mountains, but most can''t be climbed. Anyone who spawns there will have to move North, or it''s risky. Maybe we can find a choke-point there, and cut off any new arrivals who are trying to find shelter?"


    "That sounds alright. Maybe move towards the centre when the supply of new yers runs out?"


    "Sure. We''ll keep an eye on the situation there."

 Chapter 146: Ravens

    Chapter 146: Ravens


    Crucis looked over towards the centre of the ins, as it grew visible through a long, twisting valley. The battle was growing louder there, as monsters began to overwhelm the many yers trying to resist them. The major Guilds began to give up and fight each other instead, and tworge groups of yers were fighting on one side of the ins. One side was gaining a clear advantage. He squinted to try and make out the details.


    Arge shadow suddenly dropped across the dusty ins and rocks, making it look like dark gauze had been draped over them, as a ck shape appeared in the air above.


    After hovering quietly for a few seconds, blotting out the light, the Night Raven swooped down in one movement and grabbed a yer from amongst the fray.


    Crucis could vaguely make out that this yer''s name began with ''A,'' but no more than that.


    The yer began to struggle, heaving from side to side desperately, but the bird simply flew on uncaring. At a high enough altitude, the yer went faint, and the bird began to easily bite through his or her head as it disappeared into the distance.


    Crucis guessed that therge bird would soon be back, to find more prey who were low on Divine Mana. A few yers in the centre were still refusing to fight other yers, even though the monsters were bing too difficult to use as a consistent and safe source of Divine Mana, and the raven was hence bing a more frequent visitor.


    As Crucis and Starfighter walked through the East, avoiding the crowded centre for now, Crucis remained concealed in trees and bushes when possible.


    Soon, a level 50 warrior named [Manxeander] saw Starfighter alone, and ran up for a fight. Carrying arge sword, he set upon Starfighter, who used his own sword to parry near his body, and bound the two swords together with the curved de of his Hdie.


    In a moment, Crucis emerged from the bushes with [Agile Step], and easily beheaded Manxeander.


    He noticed that he had received an extra reward from this kill, the [Urn of Apollo]. It increased resistance to damage from heat and fire, and could make it easier to explore high-temperature areas where HP would otherwise be drained quickly by the heat.


    On their way down the hill, Starfighter had picked up the [Urn of Boreas] from another kill, which increased damage in icy ces, and reduced the slowing effect of the cold.


    While they hadn''t yet had to venture into extreme conditions, several rewarding higher-level areas required heavy resistance to the elements in order to enter safely. Some contained dazzling infernos,va pits swarming with powerful smanders, or icy tundra. As such, these items could be quite valuable in the long-term, to give a leg-up in exploring those areas.


    Soon, they came to a cross-roads, where thergest path forward led directly towards the central ins, and was bordered by severalrge boulders. Starfighter gestured Crucis to keep away from this path, because it was likely that some groups were hiding behind these boulders and preparing to ambush yers on the path.


    Sure enough, as soon as a group of six level 50-55 yers began to walk down the path, they were set upon by nine Hashin pouring in from both sides.


    The familiar figure of Dr1fter led five yers from one side, and a female Hashin named [Immisera] led the group from the other side. She wore a ck-and-white mask that almost looked like it was smiling, but not the typical Assassin''s hood. Instead, her light-brown ponytail iled out behind her, with a few blue highlights dyed on, as she rushed forwards more enthusiastically than others.


    Crucis hadn''t heard of her earlier, but she seemed tomand arge amount of respect among the Hashin, who followed her closely despite her slightly manic haste.


    Although she was nearly set upon by two opponents as she rushed in, herrades quickly leaped in to block out danger.


    The Hashin seemed to be quickly taking charge of the fight.


    Crucis and Starfighter, meanwhile, hustled quickly towards the leftwards path, heading towards the South.


    Thend spreading on both sides of this path was like arge, white desert, with huge, frail sand dunes rising across it. Weaving mazily between these dunes, they kept an eye out for anyone approaching.


    Soon, they heard another yer trying to sneak through the sand,ing up from the South. This yer was audibly struggling as they made their way over the dunes, with the sand slipping away from under them.


    As the yer began tiredly climbing another dune, Crucis quickly rounded a neighbouring dune to the left and attacked this yer from the rear. At his sight, the yer''s feet began trying to turn, but as the sand give way could only lose bnce and slip. His feet kicked desperately, trying to find some sort of footing, but merely passed through the soft sand.


    Crucis easily caught him and shed through his throat.


    "It sounds like there''s a few yers between the cliffs up ahead," Starfighter said, catching up.


    Crucis perked up his ears, then nodded. "Yeah, though they''re mostly spread out to avoid danger from each other. We should be able to take out a few at a time. Let''s go."


    As they approached therge cliffs, which formed a wall on three sides of the valley,rge, t rocks rose up on each side of the path and grew into the towering, brown-red mountains which grew over the cliffs.


    Crucis suddenly gestured at Starfighter to pause.


    "Wait a moment, I saw something moving on top of that rock," he said, pointing to a t rock on the left of the path. "I think there''s someone there setting an ambush."


    "Has he seen us?" Starfighter replied.


    "I don''t think so, he seemed to be facing the path quite intently."


    "Alright, should we get up closer and see if we can attack?"


    Crucis took in the situation for a moment, then replied. "No, wait. There''s someone walking down the path from inside the valley. If this guy is nning an ambush, then maybe he''lle down to attack them. We just need to stay close, then we can attack him once he''s down."


    They crept up behind arge sand dune, which hid them from the yer on the rock, and watched across the path in anticipation.

 Chapter 147: Valley of Death

    Chapter 147: Valley of Death


    As they watched, the ck shape of an Assassin darted off a ledge overlooking the path and almost soared through the air. A long spear was lifted above his shoulder, with its sharp point glowing white, and pointed straight ahead. He used his Divine Mana to direct his long leap right towards his target, a yer named [Mendys] who had begun tentatively walking down the path.


    From the agility of the leap, Crucis could surmise that the Assassin was Danemy.


    Mendys sensed himte, and hastily reached up a sword to ward off the unexpected attacker, but the spear had longer range and easily pierced through Mendys'' neck as Danemy thrust it calmly through. As he descended to the ground, Danemy twisted his spear''s shaft slightly, and it deflected Mendys'' sword safely out of the way.


    Mendys'' corpse copsed in front of him soon after hended.


    Danemy quickly cocked his head as he heard two more yers approaching, and raised his spear threateningly.


    However, he calmed down on seeing Crucis waving to him in acknowledgement, apanied by Starfighter.


    "Hey, guys, do you mind another in your team?" Danemy said.


    "No,e along," Crucis said, sending an invite.


    Danemy quickly epted. "The rest of the DeathGang yers are mostly in the West, no way I''m catching up with them."


    "Yeah, I saw a few of them running there at the start," Crucis said. "By the way, you''re using the spear? That''s rare here. People can''t just cut through the shaft?"


    Danemyughed. "I notice, not many spears here. Their shaft can deflect other Divine Weapons, at least, but it''s not nearly as useful as a sword''s de here. Still, the range is a bit longer, so in an ambush it''s difficult to deal with. It''s like spearfishing."


    "Ah, that makes sense. Having more range would give you a lot of momentum," Starfighter said. "And I''d guess they wouldn''t have as much time to react after sensing you nearby, which people can do here."


    "Definitely. So, where are we headed?"


    "We''re nning to go into the valley up ahead, and try to pick off new arrivals there," Crucis said.


    "Makes sense. I also spawned there a few minutes ago, I know the way around a bit. Actually, I saw a cave which looked interesting, it looked like there was a shrine or something inside. But I didn''t go in, since it would be kinda easy to get trapped in there. It might be safer with three of us."


    "Sure, we''ll take a look. Since you know the way around, where do you think we should go first?"


    "Well, if you follow the first cliff to the left, the valley has a corner, and there''s bound to be a few weak yers there who can be boxed in."


    "Alright, lead the way."


    Danemy led the group forwards down the path, and then turned a sharp left as they reached the cliffs. After about half a minute, they reached a corner between tworge cliff faces at right angles, and saw four or five recently-arrived yers nervously looking for a hiding ce there. He could also hear a few more yers sneaking around behind the rocks which lined the corner.


    At Starfighter''s suggestion, they snuck into the cliff-face using the bug, and began to walk closer.


    A yer named [Mercantal] was already hiding in these cliffs, and raced up aggressively as soon as he saw Crucis entering his space. However, his [Overhead sh] fell short as Crucis used [Dodge Step] to backstep out of danger, and Mercantal leaned down and stumbled forwards from the momentum of the frenzied charge and strike.


    Danemy leapt ambitiously over Mercantal''s sagging form, using the Divine Mana to power his leap, and then twisted half around to skewer the yer from above. His spear protruded through the back of the base of Mercantal''s neck down through his chest.


    Mercantal fell silent, and Danemy withdrew the spear quietly.


    Going further forwards, Crucis noticed that most yers were keeping their distance from the cliff walls and had a weapon drawn. Even if these yers might not know or be able to enter the walls, they at least knew to be wary of yers approaching from there.


    However, they did find one yer who was trying to hide behind a group ofrge rocks, and was hence perilously close to the wall. This yer fidgeted around to try and fit behind arge, grey b of rock leaning on the wall, which would hide him from anyone who didn''t inspect it closely.


    Starfighter and Crucis stood aside to let Danemy move his spear freely, because the spear''s range made it the most suitable weapon for this.


    Danemy held his spear horizontally and thrust it quietly through the hiding yer''s neck just over a metre away, causing the yer to die and sag down. Rather than letting him fall loudly, and get others'' attention, Danemy adjusted his hands and used the spear as a lever to lightly lower the yer and slip them onto the ground. He used the rock b to keep the yer in bnce as he did this.


    Walking across the area, they saw two more yers who were veering close to the wall in the search for security, and Danemy made fast work of these.


    It was best to kill as many opponents from inside the wall as possible, before leaving. Once they left, they would be noticed and might have to fight multiple yers at once, so it was useful to have less opponents to deal with.


    However, there were still a few yers loitering the area, and they tried to pick the most rewarding target to start with. The obvious choice was a group of five [Erasure] yers who were under level 50, walking right next to the corner between cliffsides.


    Crucis sprung out of the wall towards this group, and the others followed beside him.


    Running into a yer at the edge of the group, he made a [sh] from close range that was hastily parried, but then used the hilt of his sword to bluntly strike the enemy''s face.


    This destabilised the enemy''s block, and he easily brought his sword down to sh through the yer''s neck.


    He immediately used [Dodge Step], to avoid another yer''s approaching sh. ncing around quickly, he saw that Starfighter and Danemy had also taken out an opponent each, leaving only two opponents left. Since these low-level yers had probably only just arrived, they were much less experienced with this event and with movement in this area. Taken by surprise, they were falling swiftly.


    However, a yer named [Kitamin] had taken a disliking to Crucis, and followed up his previous attempt with an aggressive [Lunge] forwards. Crucis saw that his opponent was off-bnce, so after parrying this wide he immediately stepped forwards with a [Lunge] of his own. Kitamin was practically falling forwards onto the sword, and died swiftly.


    Danemy and Starfighter easily finished off the remaining yer, and Crucis listened to this fight calmly.


    The buzzing, cold sound of the Divine Weapons was bing familiar.


    Two yers were fleeing, on seeing the fighting, but, with high Agility, Crucis and Danemy caught up with them and struck them down easily. Since the yers were fleeing, they barely even turned around to fight before they were killed.


    A group of three more [Erasure] yers rushed forwards to avenge their fallenrades.


    Crucis easily parried a loose blow towards his head, and crouched down to trip up his charging assant before stabbing them fatally across the back.


    Another yer approached him, using an [Overhead sh], but Crucis parried this to the right before striding forwards to [sh] straight through the opponent''s face, which fell apart in seconds.


    This group of three had also been in. Seemingly, [Erasure] had a lot of yers who were at this level, but probably had less higher-level yers than [Stranded]. Both major Guilds were approximately the same size, but most smaller yers popping up now were from [Erasure].


    Looking around, Crucis saw that there weren''t many yers left nearby. However, he caught one level 57 yer darting out from behind a cave-like ring of rocks, and pursued them.


    Soon, the yer sensed him nearby, and decided to turn around and fight. Crucis noticed that she was a young girl, who looked barely in her teens, and had ck hair that had been ipletely dyed pink. Her name was [Anfite], and she held her sword with spunk but not so much technique. Her Guild was [SPICS], a name which was amusing but which he didn''t remember seeing before.


    It seemed that someone else had spent a lot on her ount, judging from her expensive, gold-striped pink-and-blue outfit and gold bracelets. And perhaps carried her through dungeons. That wouldn''t be surprising, since he had heard of a few parents bending the rules to let their children y VR games with expensive ounts, and the gamepany was generally willing to turn a blind eye if it was making them some early revenue. Although she was clearly inexperienced, she was still unpredictable because she might also have boosts from costly paywall items and skills. It was quite possible that she wasn''t alone here, either.


    Despite her age, she stared at him with determination. "I''ll take you down easy, you''ll regret this," she muttered.


    Crucis slowed down as he approached, in order to get his footwork in ce.


    She parried his [Overhead sh], then counter-attacked with a surprisingly prompt [Lunge]. He used [Dodge Step], easily moving back out of range of her short arm, and waited for the others to catch up.


    Starfighter and Danemy reached quickly, but Starfighter''s heavy blow was parried away. Danemy had to reach his spear''s shaft down awkwardly to fend off a [sh] just above his hips, surprised by the short height of his opponent. He backed off slightly to adjust, and Crucis surged forwards in his stead.


    However, after parrying an attack from Anfite, he noticed his team-mates looking with rm back at the rocks which she had run out from.


    He heard loud, high-pitched chattering from behind the rocks, like a fog of obnoxious crickets.


    "Don''t you dare!" came a loud female voice, as the chatter quieted.


    In a few seconds, two level 75 yers leaped out from behind the rocks, and rushed angrily towards the fight. They were both in the Guild [SPICS], like Anfite, and raised their weapons passionately to defend this Guildmate. Crucis gestured to Starfighter and Danemy to back away and fight these approaching yers, while he quickly dealt with Anfite.


    Both approaching yers moved at the same pace, matching step for step. One was a straight-faced, brown-haired male named [Lodestar], who stared with a grave, determined expression at the fight. He was apanied by a Japanese-looking, ck-haired female with worried eyes strained red, named [Faek].


    Danemy rushed towards her, and she squared up to him. She drew out two stilettos, thin needle-like daggers which had turned white during this event, and held them out in her shaking, wan hands. "Annie, are you okay?" she shouted. "Can you tell us that you''re okay?"


    "Yeah, let''s show these guys!" Anfite shouted shrilly, suddenly enthusiastic.


    She faced down Crucis, whose de was pointing at her neck, but seemed unafraid. "These guys will destroy you, you don''t even have a chance!"


    "You overrate them," Crucismented dryly.


    Gritting her teeth, she attacked with an [Overhead sh] followed by a [Lunge], but Crucis easily parried both of these these wide, enthusiastic strikes. In a moment, she was forced to jag her sword back desperately as she just about managed to deflect Crucis'' counter-attack away from her head and neck. The strike careened to the side and shed off her left forearm, causing her to bend over and groan in pain.


    Her shoulders began to droop, and her back hunched over slightly. She grimaced, but her eyes were still childishly determined.


    "You''re scared of me, aren''t you?" she said, trying to keep her own confidence up.


    "Huh, are you psychic?" Crucis replied, unimpressed.


    Impatient to join the rest of the fight, Crucis surged forwards with a straight [sh], which Anfite desperately blocked. His sword buzzed close to her face, and her teeth began to chatter. After [Uncrossing of des], he immediately followed with another, diagonal [sh] towards her ribs.


    She frailly attempted to defend against it, but it was a feint.


    He immediately converted it into a smooth [Lunge], and his sword ran through her throat.


    She fell, and dropped her sword, but seemed to still be alive despite the gaping throat wound. However, she was rapidly bleeding out and choking, so Crucis left her to kick and writhe on the ground as he turned away to deal with the others.


    He heard the sound of a intense sh close by, and looked to see that Faek had gained the advantage in her fight.


    She charged towards Danemy, and he had to use [Dodge Step] and [Agile Step] in quick session to get away from her dagger charge.


    Crucis rushed in to help. He disrupted Faek''s pursuit of Danemy with a firm [sh], which she was forced to parry. While she was caught off-bnce somewhat, she still surged forwards at him with her other dagger, and he used [Dodge Step] to avoid its stab.


    As the two faced each other, hovering just out ofbat range, Danemy walked over to help Starfighter, who was also having a difficult time.


    Angered at seeing her partner getting teamed up on, and adamant to help, she rushed hastily forwards attempting to end the battle with Crucis.


    He had his sword raised, and quickly stepped forwards for a strong [Overhead sh], which Faek''s stiletto leapt up to parry near the shoulder.


    However, her thin dagger wilted slightly under the strike, and left him plenty of space for a follow-through. He angled his sword towards her neck and struck with a fierce [Lunge], which punctured straight through her neck.


    Since she was attempting to rush forwards and strike him with her second stiletto, she ended up impaling herself on his de, and melted meekly to the ground as she died mid-charge. Her mangled throat smeared blood over the sand, which filled the wound as she pressed against it.


    ncing back, he saw that Anfite had also died, from her simr wound.


    Meanwhile, Lodestar was still holding off his two lower-level opponents, though only barely. Although his attacks were fierce, he had to keep his distance to avoid being vulnerable, and Starfighter hence hovered at a distance while daring Lodestar forward. Danemy found it difficult to get an attack in, with little space between the nearby rock and the wall, but kept his spear pointed forwards in order to force Lodestar back.


    Crucis drifted calmly towards the fight.


    As he approached, Lodestar quickly dodged away from the other two and made a beeline towards Crucis, looking to avoid getting pulled into a 3v1 fight.


    However, Crucis used [Drift] immediately to dodge to the left, then stepped forwards to use this new angle of attack for a [sh]. This attack was primarily an attempt to dy his opponent, while the others caught up. Lodestar parried, then attempted a counter-attack, twisting his wrists slightly to target Crucis straight on after the sudden change of angle. Knowing that he had to cut the fight down to two opponents quickly, Lodestar leaned heavily forwards into the attack.


    Crucis parried this at an angle, deflecting Lodestar''s sword to Crucis'' right, then used [Agile Step] to drift behind Lodestar''s right shoulder. Danemy leapt into the fight at close range, and Lodestar had to parry his strike and shove him away. As Lodestar tried to swivel his sword to the back, Crucis easily turned on his heels and beheaded Lodestar with a back-of-the-hand [sh].


    "They were a nuisance," Danemy said, as Starfighter helped tend to a long wound Danemy''s arm had taken during the fight.


    "Pests and briars. I can''t say I''m a fan," Crucis chipped in.


    "Yeah. By the way, the couple seemed really protective of that young''un. Do you think they were family, or only Guildmates?" Starfighter asked.


    "Does it matter? They fought together on the opposite side. That''s the only rtionship of theirs that concerns us," Crucis replied. "They could literally be the Holy Family, and it would mean nothing. Anyway, have we cleared the area?"


    "I saw one guy sneak behind the rocks to our right when this fight started, I think he might still be there," Danemy said.


    "Alright, let''s get him. Then you can show us the cave you mentioned."


    "Gotcha. Yeah, that''s close by."


    The remaining yer barely put up a fight, and Danemy killed him before the others could even get a hit in.


    After clearing this zone, the group began moving deeper into the valley, following Danemy as he guided them towards a cave.

 Chapter 148: Darkness in a Different Light

    Chapter 148: Darkness in a Different Light


    Dr1fter walked calmly towards thest survivor from a group of five [Karma] Guild members. His sword was raised imperiously towards their throat, as he corralled them unhurriedly towards arge boulder behind them.


    His target, named [LuckC], scattered desperately backwards, falling over himself yet still staring at the white sword pointing towards him as if mesmerised.


    On reaching the boulder, LuckyC felt its cold, blunt stone against his back, and looked from side to side wildly trying to find a way out. However, Hashin members had formed a funnel shape across both sides, and he had nowhere to go except straight towards where Dr1fter was approaching.


    LuckyC tried to make a desperate break to his right, raising his sword threateningly as he attempted to dodge past Impalerdiv, but a phnx of swords rose in his way and he backed off instinctively. Retreating, he felt a freezing hand grab his left shoulder, and looked around to see Dr1fter preparing to behead him.


    Raising his sword in a hopeless attempt at defence, he found his sword deflected down by the boulder, and Dr1fter''s sword cut easily through the back of his neck.


    Dr1fter sighed, and let go of LuckC''s body, allowing it to fall to the ground.


    "Alright," he said, "that was all the biggest [Karma] yers. Small Guild, no? Many members, small talent. So, what Guild do we target next?"


    "Why not [Erasure]?" Jin suggested.


    "They''re busy fighting [Stranded]," Immisera chimed in, with her typical, hyperactive voice, "so if we kill them, then it will make [Stranded] stronger. Instead, we should let them both weaken each other."


    "Exactly," Dr1fter said, smiling. "We should hold off from getting involved there yet. Immy, you''re getting too reasonable now, you scare me sometimes. Before you were just a little gossip."


    "I guess you''re rubbing off on me."


    "Maybe." He turned to the rest of the group. "Anyway, the members of [MountainHome] have holed up in a building just off from the centre. They were arge PvE Guild, but they''ve had many losses, members of both [Stranded] and [Erasure] started picking them off in the middle. Let''s deal with them now they''re weak."


    He set off towards the central ins, not waiting for a reply. The other members followed obediently.


    "Where did Maroc''s group go, by the way?" Jin said.


    "Oh, they got killed, trapped against the mountain-side and surrounded by [Stranded]," Dr1fter said. "We could have tried saving them, but the crowd around them was too big, would have been risky. They went too close to the main battle, maybe too enthusiastic."


    "Wasn''t Mino a named yer? Does that mean he''s gone for good?"


    "Yes, he was actually a big whale! But didn''t put it to good use. Anyway, toote to worry, let''s go."


    [MinoTroy] had always been passive-aggressive towards Dr1fter, and implied that Awdimir would make a better leader. As such, Dr1fter was considerably more cold in talking about him than Jin, who had been friends with him.


    As the Hashin group headed off towards arge, white building resembling the Parthenon, Dr1fter suddenly raised a hand to stop them.


    "Wait, there is something odd," he said. "Someone is here."


    The group went silent, and heard the faint sound of foosteps from inside arge rock beside them.


    Soon, arge group of fifteen [Mannequin] yers emerged, running out from a small hole below the opposite side of the rock.


    "An underground tunnel, they set an ambush," Dr1fter said, matter-of-factly. "Alright, get ready. They think they will be the first to attack, but we will charge them instead."


    "Who are these guys, what''s their problem with us?" Immisera asked tensely.


    "Another Northern Guild, I killed their leader earlier, now they have it out for us."


    "Alright, leave them up to me."


    As the Mannequin yers ran forwards to attack, the Hashin surprised them by surging in to attack first.


    Immisera''s group was the first to reach, nking the Mannequin yers and drifting further to attack from the rear. While Immisera''s swordwork was fairly crude, she made the most of her adrenaline rush and cannoned into the Mannequin group like lightning. She chained a series of fierce, dangerous attacks towards the upper body, with her asional, sturdy blocks just a brief dy in the sequence of attacks.


    The rest of the Hashin wrapped around the Mannequin group, which was soon virtually encircled.


    However, the Mannequin group were experienced in small skirmishes in the wild, and quickly began to focus their attacks on Immisera''s group in order to break the Hashin circle around them. Soon, a dazzling array of white swords descended like hail in Immisera''s direction, and Dr1fter shouted at her to get out of danger.


    She reluctantly began to back away, but three Mannequin yers saw an opening and broke away. Soon, the Mannequin Vice-Leader, [MarkieMark], joined them and led them in an attack towards Immisera.


    Seeing his approach, she struck for his neck, but was parried. As he attempted a counter-attack, her sword spun to meet his on the right. He was surprised as she lunged towards him, catching his arm and holding it out of the way as her sword fluttered up and pierced his chest.


    Her light-brown ponytail flew up friskily, its blue highlights shing in the sunlight, as she yelped in pride at the victory.


    She used [Dodge Step] and quickly backstepped out of the way of two swords ying towards her, then raised her own sword. One of the yers attacking her had already been taken out by her allies, and soon she saw Dr1fter approaching her.


    Her two assants, however, focused on her, and she had to raise her sword to parry one frenzied attack, before gently side-stepping to avoid the other.


    As the first yer, named [Eloym], raised his sword for an [Overhead sh], she tensely raised her sword to block the ferocious strike, and held off his de as it buzzed just inches over her head. The light from his sword almost blinded her, but she spunkily held on, as he leaned forwards to try and press his way past her defences.


    The second swordsman now shed cautiously towards her midriff, but she swayed just out of the way. Frustrated, the swordsman stepped closer. To escape Eloym''s de, she dodged hard towards the right, but her de slipped out of ce and left her open to a further attack.


    She only just about managed to deflect Eloym''s further strike towards her neck wide, but he ran forwards and forcibly pressed her back against the rock which the Mannequin had emerged from.


    She looked around with panic in her eyes, but saw with relief that her second assant had been in from behind by Dr1fter, who wasing to protect her. He glowed with a red aura, and yers in his way seemed to shrivel up as he approached, before being quickly dispatched.


    Eloym knew that his team wouldn''tst, but realised that Immisera was important enough that the Hashin were making efforts to save her, and decided to at least take her with him.


    As Immisera swayed to the side in order to escape his attack, he grabbed her by the shoulder and pressed forwards, wrestling her onto the rock. She screamed out, but continued to hold her sword up firmly.


    Their swords both jostled between them at close quarters, with Eloym pressing his chest against her in an attempt to force her down and lower her guard. She stood firm, but her arms began to wilt, and she felt Eloym''s breath on her face as he stared with wild, angry eyes into hers. Her mask had been thrown to the side by the scuffle. Although she kicked against his shins, he didn''t seem to feel it, and raised his arms in order to try and force his de across her.


    She pressed against his neck with her elbows, and managed to keep him some distance away, but he violently shook her using his upper body strength and she had to lean against the rock to stay in bnce as she desperately fended off his sword. She could feel its tickle just across her cheek.


    As she tried to escape towards her left, she found that his grip and physical pressure made her unable to move. Bruises opened up across her back as he shoved her hard into the rock in an attempt to break herposure.


    Suddenly, his chest was split by a decisive strike from behind, as Dr1fter finally found his way to the fight.


    As Eloym''s remains fell to the ground, Dr1fter and Immisera panted to catch their breaths.


    "Are you alright? You did well, but maybe you rush into excitement too often," Dr1fter said.


    "Yeah, that was too much excitement for me," Immisera said, floating forwards and fanning her face with one hand while still half-faint.


    Her steps were dizzy, and as she tried to stand still her painful, arched back teetered from side to side.


    Seeing this, Dr1fter walked over, and she leaned back lightly to invite his grasp.


    As his firm hands gripped her heavily by the shoulder and waist, she rocked backwards as if struck by a bomb, and let his hands draw her rapidly backwards to rest against his chest.


    "Thanks, dear," she chirped, "I know you don''t like being called protective, but thanks, so much. I needed that!"


    "I don''t like it, now apologise or I''ll push you away," Dr1fter replied, feigning a serious tone.


    "Sorry!" She giggled. Her small, slightly square face typically looked like a Tasmanian devil''s, due to her aggression, but when amused it looked more like a weasel. "Fine, fine. Be gentle, though, we''re getting married tomorrow."


    "I''m marrying you because you''re always lively and active, and you don''t dy me in dungeons. If you fell down and got hurt, then maybe I wouldn''t marry you, because you couldn''t keep up."


    He did have another reason for that marriage, namely that she was popr even among supporters of Awdimir, and marrying her would help unify the Guild and make his leadership more secure. But he didn''t like discussing the tension in the Guild.


    "Hm. Be honest, you like me, don''t you? You just don''t want to say it." She pursed her lips in mock-frustration.


    "Next question."


    "Oh, be that way. So what was that red glow around you? It was really sh, but <em>you</em> wouldn''t just do it for style, eh?"


    "Oh, that''s a more interesting question. I only figured it out a few hours ago. It is an item, paywall, called the [World Emperor''s Coin], at first I thought it was only for enhancing goldsmithing tradeskill. But, in fights, it will lower the Strength and Constitution of enemies in nearby range. It made it easier to force a way through."


    Immisera had been drifting off, and hadn''t really listened to most of that. "Oh, that''s great! I don''t think I have that coin, I bet it''s expensive. Most of the stuff you have is for, like, thousands or millions of dors. I''m envious!"


    "Uh huh. By the way, will your little brother show up in this event? It could be dangerous for him."


    "No, he''s only level, um... 30-something," she said, waving her hand high next to her face to indicate that she knew that she sounded like an airhead. "That''s all thanks to you, obviously. But he''ll be fine, he''s probably just sleeping."


    "Alright. Anyway, enough chit-chat. This is not one of the crappy slice-of-life animes you are a fan of. Let''s go to the building up ahead now."


    Immisera made a couple of half-hearted shows of stepping away, but kept her back bent until she fell snugly back into his arms again. Finally, after turning her head to give an indignant look, she took a few steps forwards and prepared for the journey.


    As the group began to walk, Jin suddenly looked up from his Guild chat and turned to Dr1fter. "Have you heard what happened to Awdimir?"


    "Oh? Yes, didn''t he fall from a height and get an injury? I think he has mentioned it," Dr1fter said. "I asked him to join up with us, but he says he''s fine."


    "Ah, okay, his team-mate says he''s in pain, and has to stay at ground level because climbing hurts him."


    Dr1fterughed. "Yes, that is very interesting. I think Awdimir would not like us to know that, now his team-mate will get a hard p!"


    "Why does Awdimir hate your guys so much?" div asked.


    To the left, Immisera had tilted her head as she avidly listened in on the conversation. Like most of the Guild, she was fond of Awdimir, whom she liked because he was not only strong but helpful and swashbuckling, not authoritarian and dry like Dr1fter. She was curious about his condition, and disappointed that he wouldn''t be joining up with them.


    "He doesn''t," Dr1fter replied to div, not entirely honestly. "It''splex, alright?"


    Before entering the building, div alerted Dr1fter to a [MountainHome] yer who was returning to the back of the building to report on the situation on the central ins. He didn''t seem to have noticed them yet, since he was in a rush to get away from the danger of the crowded central ins.


    Dr1fter and div quickly approached this yer, unamusingly named [AliceInCranes], taking him by surprise as they turned the corner. Dr1fter immediately caught him in a [Chokehold] as div muffled him with a ck rag. The yer reached for his sword, but a quick sh from Dr1fter took his arm off.


    Dr1fter then lifted AliceInCranes'' shoulder high and forced him down with [Suppression], while div kept the rag high up the yer''s throat to keep him quiet.


    "Excuse me, please show us the backdoor of this building," Dr1fter said, raising his sword to the yer''s neck.


    However, there was no response.


    Dr1fter began slowly cutting through the yer''s nose instead, carefully splitting it off from the face. The yer cried out, and began to gesture towards the back door while fumbling for a key.


    Soon, he had shown them into the door, where only two [MountainHome] yers stood guard a short distance away. After stabbing AliceInCranes through the heart, Dr1fter tossed the corpse aside and rushed in.


    Jin, div, and Immisera followed, and the group quickly overwhelmed the two guards.


    The guards had seemed surprised that enemies had entered, since the only way through the back door was to have the keys, which dropped rarely from humanoid monsters inside the building. A few [MountainHome] yers had won this during the process of clearing out the building, but other Guilds were unlikely to have it.


    Dr1fter used Guild chat to keep in contact with therger group of DeathGang. His n was to swarm in through the entrance, spreading out to force the [MountainHome] yers to spread out as well and face that direction. This would allow him and hispanions to easily break through the rear and target vulnerable yers.


    Since [MountainHome] were a PvE Guild not used tobat of this sort, he expected that the fight would be easier in practice than on paper.


    Once Hashin started to break in through the front door, the [MountainHome] yers quickly began to fold, and Dr1fter rushed forwards to further the rout.

 Chapter 149: Diamonds and Rust

    Chapter 149: Diamonds and Rust


    Reaching the cave, they heard a loud sh from inside.


    Looking through the head-high entrance, Crucis saw that members of [Stranded] were fighting among themselves. A glowing, ghostly blue radiated from behind them like sapphire, and seemed to draw out the silhouette of a human-shaped statue. Did it have anything to do with why they were fighting?


    One [Stranded] member was getting the upper hand, his sword flying from side to side elegantly as he carved up his Guildmates. He was level 60. Crucis and Danemy approached him cautiously, edging along the walls of the tunnel.


    He cut down hisstrade, first surprising her with a sudden advance and a spray of cuts and thrusts towards the head and upper body, then crouching down for a [Rising thrust] to the chest below her now-high guard. However, he could sense Crucis approaching from behind.


    Swinging around to intercept Crucis'' [Lunge], he found that it was a feint, and Crucis instead used a [sh] to cut off his hands. Danemy''s spear thrust unimpeded through the yer''s throat.


    "The fighting there was really aggressive, something must be up," Danemy said.


    "Yeah, especially since they''re from the same Guild," Crucis said, checking his inventory. "Here''s something strange, they dropped a scroll called the [Pact of Hnoss]. But it''s used up, I can''t do anything with it."


    "Weird. There''s some statues up ahead, maybe they''ll exin." Danemy walked deeper into the cave, and the rest of the group followed.


    Emerging from the entrance tunnel, they came upon a small chamber with a single,rge statue in the middle, surrounded by smaller ones behind it on each side. The central statue was a navy blue that glowed intensely though the dark chamber, and had blindingly bright white eyes without a pupil. Stepping closer to it, Crucis felt a sudden wave of heat flickering across his skin.


    "It says ''Surtr, Bringer of Fire,''" Danemy said, looking at the small inscription beneath the statue.


    "The other statues are all figures from Ragnarok," Crucis said. "Fenrir, Garm, Nidhoggr."


    These other statues, illuminated in the blue radiance of the central one, disyed slightly grotesque, twisted figures of two canines and a dragon which looked like a frilly monitor lizard. Each small figure seemed to emphasise the creature''s gaping, aggressive mouth, which took up about a third of the figure.


    In front of the blue statue, there was a ss panel, with a cylindrical indent which seemed to have held something. Perhaps the Pact of Hnoss. There were still a few scraps of paper left on the ss, from where the scroll may have been pulled out.


    Walking up to the ss, Crucis saw a glint of bright white, violet and red emanating from beneath it. The colours swirled like a kaleidoscope, and seemed to show arge battle, with dragons and otherrge creatures swooping ephemerally among the action. The battle asionally resembled the silhouette of a female face, with a small, tight-lipped mouth and wide, curving eyes.


    On touching the ss, he noticed that the dark-grey cave floor began to shimmer with bright white like shards of ss, and a hole opened right behind him. Feeling a sudden sensation of falling, he shuffled his feet to make sure that he was on solid ground.


    The group quietly made their way into the small chamber below, lit by two, glimmering white statues.


    The more prominent statue disyed a female whose firm skin was a diamond-like white, with asional streaks of blood-red painted around the edges, asionally apanied with fine ck streaks beside them. The statue was marked as ''Hnoss.'' Her face was set in a frail expression almost like gasp. She sat in a lounging position, leaning leisurely backwards onto a part of the cave wall painted white. The statue was strangely life-like, and almost seemed to lean back in surpise as the group arrived.


    The statue next to her was simr, a more slight female with faint violet marks instead of red ones. This was called ''Gersemi.''


    A line of silver liquid mercury, about as wide as a fist, snaked slowly around each of these statues.


    In a few seconds, a thin mist of sandalwood incense smoke wafted across the statues from behind them. A soft, reverential murmur could asionally be heard from the direction of the smoke.


    The incense smoke changed colours as it filled the air around the statues, as if it was a film screen superimposed over them. It seemed to disy some sort of story, though it wasn''t immediately clear what was going on.


    At first, a series ofrge, foggy draconic shapes seemed to appear, grasping the two statues by force. These began to fight against each other, circling round as their ws and teeth extended, until they died and disappeared. Their blood seemed to drain into the red paint of the first statue.


    This reminded Crucis of the scenes on the ss panel above, as well as of the [Stranded] Guild infighting at the entrance to the cave.


    After the creatures disappeared, arge, green-grey skin - seemingly from their corpses - extended loosely around each statue like a cloak. The statues moved, rearing themselves up luxuriously with vacant expressions. The blood of the creatures seemed to seep over the first one like make-up, tinging her lips a deep red and shading her eyelids a pale violet which verged on grey. Her expression turnedcent.


    The green-grey skin seemed almost alive as it wrapped itself around her, gently sliding across her arms and clinging to her sides.


    As it moved, its rustling took on the sound of a voice, resembling the deep voice of Freyr which Crucis had already heard.


    "Sweet Hnoss, love for you overwhelms me like the lush green forests that mass in an ancient city''s ruins. With you by my side, every victory seems small before the vast joy you bring me. My love for you is eternal, like the rolling of the seasons."


    As this voice faded, Hnoss'' lips began to move in reply, startling Danemy. Her voice was frail, kept firm only by a steadfast sense of propriety, and had a hint of the maudlin to it.


    "Love, your kind words are a sweet song to my ears. They grow upon my heart like moss coats a small stone in green. Speak it once more, my love, and my ears shall echo it to me, again and again, for the ages of the world. O, would you have eternity with me?"


    She ended with a teasing lift, begetting a reply.


    "I cannot be so presumptuous as to ask for it, but seek pleasure in more humble desires. Your gaze fills me with joy as bright as the dawn chorus of birds in the spring. Yourughter is theughter of blooming meadorks amid flowers bursting forth from winter''s sleep. All of this means more to me than flowers may know when sunlight filters through the leafy canopy, dappling the ground with spots of golden light. I long to weave gands of flowers to ce upon your head, as lovely as your spirit."


    "Yes, and your passion awakens my heart as surely as dawn awakens the sunflower. Its fire could eclipse the golden halls of Valha. Come, let us walk there. Even the envy of the gods could not part us."


    The scene shifted, disying a sword next to Hnoss. As she ced a hand on it, a group of scenes appeared in the air above it.


    They depicted a feminine figure, shadowed by the green-grey skin cloaking them, fighting off various titans and monsters with the sword. In the fiercest battle, they fought a man who seemed to be on fire, and who fought frantically with his own ming sword. Although the man attacked fiercely, he was always fended off, the two swords circling and colliding like a metronome. It almost seemed choreographed. Eventually, in his rage, he stepped forwards with a series of fierce strikes until he was only inches from her, and their swords shed tensely between their chests.


    The fight was at an impasse: he would not stop pressing forwards, and she would not let his sword through. Unexpectedly, she leaned lightly forwards and kissed him, revealing her face as one simr to Hnoss from the statue. Shivering, as if cold, he let his sword waver and she duly drew her sword across his throat, ending the fight. His body ckened to ashes under the heat of his own fire, and the powdery ashes swept over her body.


    These battle scenes faded, and now Hnoss'' statue wore two cloaks, having added a ck, thin semi-transparent one which curved easily across her skin. It once again seemed to speak as it tugged itself tight around her, but now in a faint, husky whisper with a gruff edge.


    "We''ve known each other for so long, in these days before sorrow. In these days when we have ranged freely the earth and heavens, before they shall perish. Hnoss,e with me. Our destinies are woven together, as the trees of the groves intertwine their branches. Forever and always. Our eyes have the same tears inside. We were made to be one."


    She replied cagily. "You speak truly. Thank the gods for bringing us together, and for crafting us from the same spark of light and spirit. But..."


    "What makes you hesitant?"


    She looked at the ck cloth across her skin, as if glimpsing another person hidden beneath its dark cover.


    "You know that I am meant to be with Baldr. Though he is not here... I wait for him. Shall Baldre again after Ragnarok, as the prophecies say, and take me for his own? Then I must be by his side. Shall his seconding light the green fields of the new world? So I wait. Only if he does not appear, we may be together. But, if the prophecies are true, I shall grant him sole im on my hand."


    "You''d better, sister," said the other statue, Gersemi. "You must be with Baldr, so that I may be with Hodr, who is said to rise with him. The nights of the new world will take from us a dark, youthful violet. You shall look more morous by day, but I''ll have the better nights."


    Hnoss chortled. "You''d wife the ck god, Hodr? That would bring our family into disrepute."


    "Please, sister, you''re just envious. Wouldn''t you pine after the shaft that pierced and overcame even your husband-to-be?"


    "I daresay you should envy me more. I would have the most handsome of gods beside me, and you would have to settle for a piece of charcoal. If we were Aesir, we''d even go to war and ruin the new world."


    "Oh, why worry? When me and Hodr kiss under the mistletoe, why, it will be as if Baldr is extinct, so little will I think of him."


    The scene changed again, and both of them were wearing a silver-white bridal crown which appeared in the thickening insense smoke. A blond, bulky man, with a youthful, devil-may-care look, seemed to appear next to Hnoss. Probably Baldr. His appearance was currently still slightly unclear and hazy, but seemed to be clearer over the seconds. Strangely, unlike the scenes which came before, as he became clearer he actually seemed like a bulky physical presence in the room, breathing calmly right in front of them. Perhaps the power of the incense was growing in strength.


    "Hees... Hees," she whispered, staring at him with wide eyes.


    At this point, the scene around them looked fiery, as if in the aftermath of Ragnarok. Seemingly, these scenes weren''t simply a recounting of historical events, but had drifted at some point to spective future scenes. It wasn''t so much informative as it was hopeful and ritualistic.


    Crucis stepped away, noticing that the noise of murmuring from behind the goddesses had grown much louder. He could even hear what sounded like people arranging and re-arranging themselves.


    The surprise of seeing these statues moving and talking had at first captured the group''s attention, but by now it seemed clear that the statues weren''t likely to suddenly interact or fight at the moment. He guessed that the incense smoke had somehow animated them, and looked around till he found a semi-circr tunnel leading to the chamber behind the goddesses. This is where the incense hade from.


    Walking through, and gesturing for Danemy and Starfighter to follow, he could feel the incense bing thicker in the air around him.


    He emerged with surprise into a spacious, fairly orderly chamber carpeted in a luxurious red and violet carpet, withrge white finches woven delicately in each corner.


    In this room, at least fifty people gathered, unarmed, either holding incense sticks or rying them to arge pile in the front of the room. Most of them were kneeling, holding incense as they bowed their heads reverentially. Next to the pile were two panels, one with a painting of Hnoss, the other with a painting of Gersemi. The paintings were slightly cursory, but were worshipped fervently, and around each panel wereid offerings of flowers, gems, and finely-shattered ss which encased the rest.


    Looking around, Crucis saw that most of the worshippers had nametags saying [Worshipper of Hnoss] or [Worshipper of Gersemi], with a small scattering of yers marked [Baldur Cultist] or [Worshipper of Freyr]. These were NPCs. However, strangely, at least twenty of the people present had no name tags, and did not seem to move in tune with the others. He wasn''t sure if they were NPCs, yers, or something else.


    He drew out his sword.


    Walking forwards, he shed from side to side, cutting easily through rows of worshippers. The survivors huddled in corners of the chamber, hearing the anguished cries of their fellows who saw Crucis'' deing towards them.


    Seeing this, Danemy and Starfighter began to join in.


    Crucis noticed that the strongest, most varied reactions were from the people without name tags. Many of them begged for their lives or screamed in a way quite different from the uniform NPCs. Some even uttered prayers to their monotheistic Gods, which seemed peculiar when they were in a chamber for worship of Norse ones.


    After cuttingboriously through a dense crowd, Crucis remembered that his machete could attack fluidly while in motion, and would make this task easier. He withdrew it, and began walking through crowded areas of the room, shing the now-white machete through crowds as he strode through them. Thick, ck smoke welled up from the dead, and he began to look like a humanoid, ghostly figure formed from the ck cloth which had draped over Hnoss'' statue.


    By now, most of the remaining worshippers cowered in the corners.


    He walked up to them, and easily ran his machete through three or four with two strokes, before turning backwards and seamlessly mowing down one who tried to flee.


    A few yers nearby attempted to barge into him and wrestle him down, but he easily turned and fended them off with shes to the chest and arms.


    Checking his rewards asionally, he saw that the worshippers with name-tags gave each member of the group 20 Ivaldi Gold and no Divine Mana, while the ones without name-tags gave 100 Ivaldi Gold and 100 Divine Mana like a yer would. This gave them a healthy heap of rewards for clearing out the room.


    As he approached thest, nameless worshippers in the room, bearing down on them confidently, they began to scream desperately at him.


    "Why? What for? How could you do this? Our ritual was holy!"


    Since he was almost done with the room, he rxed slightly and replied, "You won''t resurrect Baldr, but you can die like him."


    He cut them down with a quick series of strikes above their shoulders, as they crouched back.


    Standing still and looking up, with the room around him quiet, he saw a tall, wooden stake rising to mark out the corner of the chamber. Near the top, a few metres off the ground, two short horizontal wooden stakes were attached facing outwards. Each wasid along one of the cave walls leading out from the corner. The overall structure formed a rough ''t'' shape, and there was one in each of the four corners of the room.


    Turning around, he saw that the incense was starting to sputter out.


    However, after five seconds, it suddenly sprung to life again, with a faint white me appearing to spur it on.


    There was a loud howl from the chamber with the statues, and Crucis walked over to take a look.


    As he entered, he was attacked by arge, white human shape leaping from the ceiling, and his machete immediately shed out to cut through its neck and shoulders.


    However, it twisted its body and caught him with a firm jump kick before somersaulting away. He fell back painfully against the cave wall.


    Starfighter and Danemy ran in on hearing the sound of a fight. Crucis saw that his enemy was named [The Aesthete]. Although its head had fallen by his side, it had grown eyes and a mouth on its left foot, and continued fighting.


    He noticed that the statues seemed to be swaying to watch The Aesthete, as if watching a dancing performance. In the incense, the outsides of their eyes were circled by a hazy, paint-like pink hue, matching a simr pink outline on The Aesthete''s eyes. Their faces had stiffened until they looked like decorous white masks.


    The group of three surged forwards and managed to corner The Aesthete, but after striking off its left leg it grew another ''face'' on its chest. Its movements were elegant, practically dancing and somersaulting around as it reached for each yer with its w-like fingernails. However, they kept it at bay with their swords. Crucis cut right through this new face, and continued slicing until the creature finally expired. Its final face was on the nk of its torso.


    From defeating this creature, each member of the group received 500 Ivaldi Gold, much more than usual.


    The incense smoke finally died out, and the statues froze into ce, with fear in their eyes.


    As the fumes disappeared, the images and colour dissipated, and soon only a raucous, whispering voice came from the dying smoke.


    "Two sisters, both alike in <em>indignity</em>, bearing names meaning ''treasure,''" it said. "s, they learned well from their mother, Freyja: what treasure they could boast, they soon gave away! So profligate, ahem, charitable they were, they even wished to needlessly lend their wound-shaped treasure to that ruptured old corpse, Baldr. Frailty, thy name is - why, it''s Freyja!"


    Crucis recognised the voice as resembling Loki''s, when he had taken the form of the rogue stall owner before the event.


    It continued, "I have heard their boasts, that they will consort with Baldr. That effeminate, blond god would be worthless to them. In truth, he has nothing of substance to prate them with, so they would have to do the pration <em>themselves</em>. But he is too stubborn. Even when the brilliant, young buck Hodr pierced him with loving mistletoe, Baldr cried out pridefully and resented it even more than Rindr begrudged Odin the same. Do these shameful females think that they could out-perform Hodr, with their diminutive thrusts? Don''t they know that Odin once gave as a kenning for ''female'' the phrase ''rod so short it vanishes''? s, they are not only frail in virtue, but also in mind.


    "But is it indeed said that Baldr will return? It was hard to know for sure while I was tied up for centuries. The ignominy of Baldr knows no bounds! He has not only died, but he refuses to be happy with his lot. Well, far be it from <em>me</em> to let the tears of the gods find sour. Come the end-times, I will be an agent of chaos, and defy the prophecies that wise Odin lives by. For now, the gods are distracted by the war, and I can seek information. I have no doubt that the war is tomfoolery, in truth the Aesir would not dispense with Freyja as a prized consort to them all, and the two sides will make up because they have muddied their blood enough that they cannot tell otherwise. Sayonara!"


    The voice faded as the incense smoke did, and eventually was gone.


    While listening to it, Crucis had checked the two exits from this cave. One was to climb back up towards the blue statue, and then leave the way they came. The other also led back to the valley, but through an underground path to the left of the statues of Hnoss and Gersami.


    Since he wasn''t sure if there were any groups of yers outside the cave entrance, which could trap them in it, he led the group through the leftwards tunnel. As they entered, they heard the statues breaking apart and copsing behind them. This tunnel wound around sideways, and eventually led to a hidden door a few metres up on the cliffside, from which they leapt down to the ground using Divine Mana.


    Hispanions had been fairly tense in the cave, and didn''t speak much. However, he could tell that Danemy had a lot to say.


    Looking around, Crucis was impressed by how difficult it was to notice the cave, even though they hadnded a short way from it. A few carefully angled rocks and the deep shadows of a nearby rock arch made it almost invisible when passing by. Danemy had probably only noticed it because he tended to inspect terrain deeply, due to habitually trying to use it to his advantage. It had seemed obvious when he led them here, but it would have otherwise been quite obscure.


    He saw Starfighter approaching an unsuspecting group of low-level yers behind some rocks, and ran to join in.

 Chapter 150: Sea of Light

    Chapter 150: Sea of Light


    Walking deeper into the valley, they saw the silhouettes of tworge, minotaur-like monsters towering over the end. The creatures grew taller than the mountains themselves, and had twisted horns growing over their shadowy heads.


    A few yers were fighting near the end of the valley, and soon one group broke off and fled. They reached too close to the monsters, and soon there was a loud rumble through the valley as a series of massive hands mmed down on the ground to crush the yers. The monsters'' horns followed soon after, goring any yers still alive, and carvingrge rifts in the ground where they struck.


    Crucis'' group ran up to the cliff-face and leaned against it for stability, as the valley quaked violently beneath their feet.


    "Tough crowd here, eh!" Danemy remarked. "By the way, so - were those statues alive, back in that cave? I thought we''d have to fight them!"


    "Sort of. Seems the incense caused them to act alive, but they were a bit strange to begin with," Crucis said.


    "Yeah, maybe something like that. The drops there were great, though, but that''s probably because those weird goddesses were named after ''treasure.'' What was up with ''The Aesthete''? He gave good Ivan Gold, at least."


    "Ivaldi."


    "Oh, yeah... Good shout, only read over it quickly."


    "Sure. The Aesthete might have had something to do with Baldr appearing, since that didn''t reachpletion. Probably he was the iplete result of that summoning."


    "Yeah, actually, Baldr had felt way too real. It was a good thing we stopped that ritual in time, I guess."


    Checking through his inventory, Crucis noticed that the worshippers in the cave had dropped a few copies of [Permit to the Room of Dreams], which imed to allow ess to the, ''Domain inhabited by Hnoss'' daughter, North-East of Kaxil.''


    "Did you guys also get this room of dreams thing?" he asked.


    "Yeah," Danemy replied. "We seem to have more than we''d need, I''ll gift some to Dicing and the rest."


    "Good idea. Could make for an interesting expedition."


    "I''ve actually seen that ''room of dreams'' ce, I think," Starfighter said. "Looked like a mansion, pretty fancy do, there were a few - no ounting for taste - dead, mutant animals outside. The animals were weird, stitched together or something, stuff like a snake-necked-bird and, y''know, a bipedal turtle. I don''t know, maybe it''s some mad scientist, or, um, a freakshow for entertainment. Well, there''s no decadence aristocrats won''t try for entertainment."


    "And the animals were all dead?" Danemy asked.


    "Yeah. It wasn''t a surprise, doubt they survived being messed around with like that."


    Crucisughed. "Stands to reason. But it says it''s the ''room of dreams,'' so maybe they''re patched together to resemble, well, creatures from dreams? Like, a horse could have a horn stuck through its head to look like a unicorn, even though it might die in the process."


    "It could well be. Weird dreams, but."


    "Doubtless."


    As the ground stabilised, the group spread out across the valley, picking off yers who had fallen or been injured by the quake.


    Crucis was kneeling over one fallen, face-down male yer, pulling the head up by the hair as he severed the neck, when he heard a group of three yers fleeing through the middle of the valley.


    Throwing away the head, he turned around and began the chase.


    Danemy was already quite close to the yers, and the two of them quickly caught up with the fleeing yers. Before the runners could get their weapons ready, Crucis had already shed through one''s chest with the machete. He turned to another yer, but was parried at thest moment.


    Danemy finished this yer off with a stab of his spear through the neck.


    The final yer made a rush for Danemy, but was caught off-guard by a [Chokehold] by Crucis, which stopped the rush with a jerk and made the yer an easy pi?ata for Danemy''s spear.


    "Lots of yers still fighting among themselves here," Danemy said. "I guess there''s not many monsters around, so they either go to the centre or need to kill other yers here."


    "At least it''s easier -" Starfighter began.


    He was interrupted by a loud caw from above, and Crucis looked up to see arge, ghost-like raven named [Muninn] winging slowly over the valley. This one looked smaller and more frail than the Night Raven, and flew with delicate, but powerful strokes of its soft-feathered wings, but wherever it flew the sunlight turned up to an intense, searing brightness. The valley was covered by a blinding white sheen, and the group immediately dropped their eyes and raised hands to shade them.


    Soon, they began to recover and look around, eyes tilted downwards. The raven was still overhead, flying a slow, stately curving path over the valley.


    "A good day to suntan," Danemy remarked. "I can see some guy''s moving around nearby, but it''ll be hard to hunt in this light. Looks like an Assassin, too, he could be fast."


    "The light ising from above, so if we get some elevation then anyone we attack will be facing the light," Crucis replied. "You try and circle round to higher ground, then run down towards the yer. I''ll find somewhere to perch, if you need back-up."


    Danemy saluted and walked further down the valley, climbing quickly uphill.


    Looking around, Crucis used a few small rocks for elevation, then leapt onto the tall, rugged oval-shaped rock standing beside them. He had enough Divine Mana by now that his jump easily reached above the t top of the rock, and he descended to his feet with a light elliptical trajectory. Standing up here, he got a clear view of the area around, and took note of a few yers hiding in crevices of the valley.


    On top of the rock, he was lit up brightly by the now-intense sun, and his skin turned a fiery pale white shade as the light radiated off it. Blinding light snaked around the folds of his outfit. He crouched down, catching his breath, and prepared for another leap.


    Below, Danemy pursued his target, who set off rapidly as Danemy chased her across the cliff-face. Crucis could dimly make out that the target, far below, was a female named [BelleChaCha], who had managed to dodge Danemy''s sword by a hair and raced away as he struggled to regain bnce after his long spear lunge.


    She was fast, and was able to outpace Danemy as she hurtled downhill with her red ponytail flying behind her. Easing to the side, she began to round therge rock which stood in her way.


    However, Crucis spread his arms and leapt down from the rock, and as she looked up to parry her eyes were blinded by the zing, white sh of the sun and she fumbled her sword. Nearing the yer, Crucis looked like aet bleached by thick fire, and kept his eyes towards the ground in order to avoid staring into the radiance from above. His sword found no obstacle, and Belle fell to the ground helplessly.


    As hended, Crucis closed his eyes for a moment, to shield against the bright re. He rxed slightly, and noticed a faint breeze from above as the raven''s silky wings pped at the edge of the valley.


    After a few more seconds, the raven passed on, and the valley''s dim lighting returned to normal.


    "Not all that many people left in here," Danemy said. "After we''re done, what''s up next?"


    "I guess we can move towards the centre, see what''s up there."


    "Aye aye."


    After running urgently to catch a group of two yers by surprise, managing to kill the stunned yers without a fight, the three began to range across the valley and pick out the remaining fifteen to twenty new yers scattered here. Most fell without much challenge, the rest died fighting among each other.

 Chapter 151: The Road

    Chapter 151: The Road


    [Monsan] hopped over a rock. He and [Nickli] had been separated from their vice-leader Awdimir during arge-scale fight, and were wandering East because they had heard it was safer.


    "Everything''s so quiet!" Nickli whined from behind him, kicking the rock with his foot. "Where''s all the action?"


    "This ce is totally a wastnd, but at least it''s safe," Monsan replied.


    "Safe <em>schmaef</em>! We should have gone to the centre, found some real fights, " Nickli spat. "Awdi just spoke in Guild chat, said he survived that big fight. Why''d we run?"


    "You high on adrenaline or something? We were divided from the other guys, we didn''t have a choice."


    Nickli patted his friend on the back. "Well, aren''t you the reasonable one? Alright, so what do we do now, man?"


    Monsan thought for a moment. "Um... There''s a long path up ahead, maybe we''ll run into someone there. I can see a few people moving in the distance."


    "That''s clever, that''s what Awdimir would say."


    Monsan smiled, despite the situation. Both of these yers had a high esteem for their vice-leader, whom they almost treated as a role model.


    "But ya know what else Awdimir would say?" Nickli continued, deting Monsan slightly. "That''s boring, it''s not a spectacle. But then he''d go and make it a spectacle anyway, am I right? Follow me, I''ll show ya."


    "Um, anything you say, Nicky."


    As they approached the long, sandy path, bordered on each side by high rocks and cliff-like hills, they saw the silhouette of another man walking through from the other end. They hid behind the rocks, letting the mane close before they leapt out to chase him.


    "Get him! Take him down!" Nickli shouted, caught up in the thrill of the chase.


    He was a yer who had grown faster than most in part because he was an adrenaline junkie - he couldn''t say no to risky, rewarding quests, nor, more importantly, to the casino-like thrill of throwing money at the game. He wasn''t particrly skilful, knowledgeable or clever, but he had still muddled his way to a respectable level of 60, despite only starting to y the game seriously about a day ago when he realised that the bug wasn''t going away.


    Monsan followed him, taken by his boisterous manner, but was less noisy.


    "Why you running away?" Nickli shouted, in a taunting voice. "We''re Hashin, we always get what we want!"


    "I hate this ce, I have no gold for food, I''m weak, what more do you want?" the man in front of them shouted in return, as he sensed Nickli closing in behind him.


    "Haha! This guy''s so funny!" Nickli said, turning his head towards Monsan. "You know, some people would say ''havepassion.'' But I find it hrious!"


    He reached forwards a long hand, and grabbed the man by the hair, before elerating forwards with [Agile Step] to grab their shoulder.


    The man struggled fiercely, but was only level 47, and soon was caught in Nickli''s [Chokehold], which pressed ufortably upwards on his throat at an odd angle. He began to gag, and his body stuttered from side to side.


    "He''s trying to take out his sword!" Nickli said boisterously. "Quick, grab him!"


    Monsan wasn''t sure, it looked like their victim was just shaking his hand erratically due to the pain. However, since Nickli was his senior, he did as he was told and grabbed the victim''s arms while kicking him to the ground.


    "Why you doing this?" the man whispered, between choked breaths. "I could join you guys, help you out. I have no-one to help me grow, I did it all my way, you know I could help ya."


    Despite his precarious situation, this man spoke of his past with a level of rugged serenity that resembled pride.


    "Don''t be silly!" Nickli replied. "You''re not even in the same ss as us, you''re just a peasant. We''re your kings! It''s good for us to stamp out worthless peasants like you!"


    Monsan was also taken up with the asion, helping to keep the struggling man down. "You hear that? You''re worthless! Not even scum! How dare you try to defy us with your sword!"


    He spoke in a disciplinarian tone, and froze in surprise for a moment as he heard his voice and it sounded more like Awdimir''s than his own.


    "Sword?" the man replied, in a choked whisper. "I don''t have a sword any more... It broke a while ago."


    Sure enough, his sword was in tatters, and had fallen off at the hilt when he tried to withdraw it at the start of the chase.


    "A likely excuse!" Nickli shouted, obliviously. "Nah, you''re no innocent. I know lowly men like you, you''re murderers! But I''ll save us all from your ilk!"


    He beheaded the man with a flourish, raising his sword triumphantly into the air. After all the noise, the area became silent for a moment.


    Toote, Monsan heard soft footsteps creeping up behind him.


    As he turned, a sword shed down towards him, and he only just managed to deflect it to the side, losing his left hand in the process.


    He lunged forwards in a hasty counter-attack, but missed entirely.


    "That''s totally cowardly, sneaking up like that!" he shouted.


    This was rather hypocritical, since he was Hashin, but he was caught up in the adrenaline and anger of the moment.


    "Yeah, these guys must be <em>so</em> weak! Ain''t that right?" Nickli said, scrambling hastily to his feet.


    Crucis rushed up towards him, and briefly replied, "Maybe, but why do you guys talk like teenage girls?"


    Nickli fell to his knees warding off a firm downwards strike from Crucis'' de, which nearly reached his head, and then had to twist his body awkwardly to block a circling follow-up strike towards his neck.


    However, he was off-bnce, and Crucis easily kicked his legs out from under him. As he fell, before he could look up he was already killed by a [sh] through his torso and up through his chest.


    "Don''t think you''ll get away with this!" Monsan said, grinding his teeth together as he fended off more strikes from Danemy. "Awdimir will get you. We''re his most valued soldiers!"


    "He has bad priorities, then!" Danemy replied.


    Starfighter''s Hdie buzzed up towards Monsan''s chest, but as soon as it was deflected Starfighter flicked his wrist and the dagger flew down to stab below Monsan''s ribcage. Monsan tried to dodge out of the way, but found it difficult to avoid a strike towards his centre of mass.


    As his body shuddered from the pain, Danemy''s sword easily swept through his neck, as if to make absolutely sure that he was dead.


    His body fell in a heap, next to Nickli''s and the man whom he had killed.


    The three yers standing above them quickly dashed back into a space hidden by arge boulder beside the path, and caught their breaths there.


    "Those were Hashin," Starfighter whispered. "Reckon there will be more on the way?"


    "Nah, I think the others aren''t nearby... In fact, it sounds like they''ve reached the centre," Crucis said.


    A chorus of angry wails and shouts had risen from the central ins, along with the sound of frantic fighting, while Crucis'' group remained on the outskirts. He had decided to seek kills on the path where they had seen the Hashin before, since Danemy had read in Guild Chat that the main Hashin force was on the move and would have left this ce.


    "Yeah, they''re probably taking advantage of the long fighting out there," Danemy replied, "most of the groups there will be depleted by now."


    "Exactly. But it''s probably safer for us out here."


    "Yep. I''ll check Guild chat, make sure there''s no drama on the way."


    Danemy spent half a minute flicking through his DeathGang Guild chat messages, while the group crouched down in the space between the boulder and a tall cluster of nearby rocks. Crucis kept one hand on his sword''s hilt, preparing for the next attack.


    "Group of two from the East," Starfighter whispered, looking carefully out from the boulder they were hiding behind. "Levels 46 and 47, probably recent entries."


    "Anyone else nearby?" Crucis replied quietly.


    "Nope, clear."


    "Alright, let''s go."


    They leapt out from behind the boulder, onto the long, straight path in front of them. Crucis and Starfighter engaged the enemies directly, while Danemy snuck around to attack from the back.


    Starfighter''s enemy had issues with the double-ded Hdie, and was quickly stabbed through the chest by the second de after deflecting the first.


    Crucis fought calmly, with an intense series of high strikes which the opponent stumbled backwards while parrying. This drove his opponent, named [Marscore], helplessly back towards Danemy, who easily shed through the back of Marscore''s torso.


    After the fight, the group retreated immediately behind arge mass of what looked like gigantic elephant bones beside the path, concealing themselves behind the tusk and skull. The creature seemed to have been massive, not quite asrge as the minotaur-like creatures from the valley, but still muchrger than a usual elephant. Moss and vines had grown over the bones, making it seem like it had been dead for a long time.


    Starfighter crouched up slightly to survey the path, hearing footsteps approaching.


    "Group of five now," he whispered. "From the centre, I think they''re retreating. Two are level 70-something, strong group."


    "Let them pass," Crucis replied. "We''d be outnumbered, and they''re strong enough that they only had to retreatte on despite showing up early. The 70s could easily hold us off while the others nked us. No point."


    "Got it."


    Theyy low behind therge skeleton, and the group didn''t notice them while walking past towards the East.


    Soon, a group of three [Stranded] yers approached, also fleeing from the centre. They were around levels 50-60, and were cautiously cligning to the right side of the passage rather than walking through the centre.


    As they walked past the skeleton, Crucis'' group leapt out from right behind them. One of the Stranded yers died immediately, struck down by Crucis before she could turn around, but the other two managed to put up more of a fight.


    Danemy was on the back foot at first, and had to use [Dodge Step] to avoid a series of driven low strikes. However, Crucis quickly joined the fight, and managed to keep the opponent upied until Danemy could impale them on his spear.


    Starfighter picked up a nasty cut above his left ankle, but still managed to pull off an aggressive barrage of attacks until he finished the fight with a close-range chest stab with his Hdie.


    They ran back into the cover of the skeleton, and Danemy began to carefully use healing materials on Starfighter''s wound while Crucis helped to dress it. Danemy had been given a few vials of [Kaxil Herbal Broth] by Grisier, abination of local herbs and spring water which functioned as an anesthetic. He used this around Starfighter''s wound, and the pain died down for now.


    Starfighter tried tentatively to get up, but his walk was slightly lopsided because he couldn''t clearly feel his left foot under the anesthetic. However, he shrugged it off.


    "At least I didn''t lose my leg," he said.


    "We should avoid intense group fights now," Crucis said. "Your leg might be a bit dodgy, no need to strain it too much. We''ll do 3v2 at most. The event''s nearly over, let''s see it out."


    "You sound exhausted yourself," Danemy remarked.


    "I''ve been here the whole event, it''s been a ride."


    "Fair enough. I can make out a couple of groups approaching from the distance, worth a try?"


    They ignored the first group from the centre, which had three level 60+ yers, and waited for a second group of two level 40-50 [Erasure] yers. Slowly, these two yers began to walk across the path, looking from side to side timidly. Soon, they had reached near the skeleton.


    Danemy and Crucis darted out from cover, while Starfighter hobbled after them.


    The Erasure yers were caught t-footed, and Crucis'' opponent only just about parried an [Overhead sh] towards the head, before being taken out by a [Lunge] through the throat. Starfighter and Danemy teamed up to take out the remaining yer.


    The group retreated behind cover again. There were only two minutes of the event remaining.


    They managed to take out two more yers over the remaining time, but once the psed time was up the area froze and faded to greyscale, and they found themselves unable to move.


    Two words hovered inrge, light-grey text across the horizon:


    Event Over

 Chapter 152: Aftermath

    Chapter 152: Aftermath


    After the event, Crucis was teleported back into the cloud-like lobby.


    It was noticeably less crowded than earlier, although a few yers were still appearing over time. Most had gathered into small Guild-based circles, and were tiredly congratting each other. A few had been badly injured, and were asionally screaming or moaning from the pain, even though their visible injuries had healed automatically after the event.


    His steps in the lobby had a sense of weightlessness, as it descended slowly towards the ground.


    Since he couldn''t recognise anyone yet, he stood in ce and caught his breath while looking around. There was a circle of five Hashin in a corner, getting pointed stares from other Guilds, but from the snippets of their conversation he heard it was clear that they were friends of Awdimir and probably best avoided. It seemed that the surviving yers were still divided automatically between the different lobbies, so it was possible that people like Dr1fter wouldn''t be here.


    He noticed a band of NPCs in one corner of the room, ying music for the lobby. An NPC with a blonde mohawk and lower-lip ring was singing a punchy song backed by acoustic guitar, with a catchy rhythm. Fromrge, ck letters on a cardboard banner behind them, Crucis could tell that this band was named ''The Certified Superviins.''


    They worerge, intentionally obnoxious trenchcoats, and the vocalist had even added shoulder spikes to his.


    This song, named ''The Mastern,'' was upbeat, light-hearted and high-tempo, with a few yers tapping their feet to it without thinking. However, by the final verse the vocalist slowed to a speaking voice, if an intentionally camp one.


    Princess, damsel in distress,


    Ooh, girl, you''re a miserable pile of secrets,


    So let me exin my mastern.


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    Oh yeah.


    Your knight in shining armour will surely fail


    Against myir''s imprable defences,


    I won''t have the same problems with you, ooh, ooh, ooh.


    I only hold you because I know


    You''ll try to escape (cheap thrills) -


    And you''ll rue the day you heard my name.


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    Oh yeah.


    I know you think you''re


    Better than me, and I''m not enough for you,


    But when you see my power


    And my crystal castles,


    Then you''ll forget all about yourme hero.


    Even if you im that I''m a wretch


    Soon I''ll be all over you like Jervis Tetch,


    <em>And you''ll let me do it</em>.


    So now pull your pool wide open


    And then I''ll fill it with sharks.


    But, first, you''d better learn to let your heart desire.


    Why, you ask?


    For brevity''s sake, I''d say it''s because


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    I''m gonna grab you by the pussy,


    Oh yeah.


    And they''ll say, look at that superviin,


    He''s wearing ck, has air in the mountains,


    He''s even stroking that pussy.


    The <em>ultimate</em> superviin.


    While listening, Crucis noticed Danemy and one more DeathGang member appearing on the left of the lobby. He walked over to join their conversation.


    "Hey, thanks for helping," Danemy said, high-fiving him as he approached. "So Dicing and Darys made it through, but Dicing picked up an injury. He sent a message in Guild chat saying we can wait for the afternoon and see if he''s ready for dungeons. If not, he''ll help us figure something else out."


    "Thanks, hope Dicing makes it," Crucis said. "Was he with Darys? What happened to the others there?"


    "Darys and Dicing were fine, but Akshel died, he''ll have to respawn in an hour and see how he feels," the other DeathGang member replied calmly.


    "That''s [KurtCobainsDog], by the way," Danemy said, turning to Crucis. "Not, like, literally. He''s just a Nirvana fan. But a good guy, despite that. He''s always on top of things."


    Crucis shook hands firmly with this yer.


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Iggy," [KurtCobainsDog] said. "Thanks for helping Danny, that was a pretty tough event."


    "Thanks, and well done making it through," Crucis replied. "You mentioned injuries, any idea how that''s going to work? People seem to have been restored to normal after the event, unless they died, but I can tell a few here are in pain."


    "Well, official word from GMs is that the wounds might heal, but if people had arms or legs cut off then they would continue to feel intense pain in that limb for at least a few days. Also paralysis or a ''dead arm.'' They added that ''some'' yers may suffer worse effects, probably meaning the ones with names showing. If it gets unbearable, then the GMs said that a tried and tested solution is to make a new alt: if they switch to that, the pain will disappear and they can use their body normally."


    "So people will be forced to use alts for the next few days?"


    "Seems like it."


    "Speaking of alts," Danemy said, "weren''t we nning to make Temperant alts? This could be a decent time for it, since we''ll be waiting 5-6 hours minimum for Dicing."


    "Yeah, sure. I''ll also get a chance to take my Mage alt for a dungeon run," Crucis said. "Should we start with the Temperant alts now?"


    "Not yet, you can do the dungeons first," Danemy said, smiling. "I''ll have to help drag the injured DG members get to Kruxol for treatment. Maybe also Starfighter, since he''s on our territory right now."


    "Oh, Starfighter? He''s pretty tough, I''m sure he''ll be back to normal soon. Bet he''ll be exploring the caves up North by this evening, and livestreaming it."


    Danemyughed.


    "Hm, here''s something interesting. With most of the strong yers away, they''re saying that some smaller ones are taking the opportunity to try doing dungeons," KurtCobainsDog said, looking through his Guild chat. "It''ll be a good hunt for the rest of us."


    "I''m too tired for chasing small people around right now," Crucisughed. "But at least it''ll give us something else to do until the afternoon."


    "I''ll have a look around with Iggy," Danemy said.


    "For now, I''m sure people will be cautious when they see big yersing back," KurtCobainsDog replied. "But after people realise that most top yers are exhausted or injured, then a few will probably try their luck again."


    "Yeah, we can run into the wild a bit, then do other stuff to recharge for a few hours. By then, there will probably be more targets. Still, we''ll probably be back to Kruxol in a few minutes, where should we hunt yers?"


    "Hm... Most yers are still going to be careful about entering DeathGang territory to the East, so most yers will probably be in the North or West journeying to low-level dungeons there. We can start in the North, then loop around to the West."


    "Alright, that''s a n," Crucis said. "Tell you what, where are the closest level 40 or 50 dungeons?"


    "West, South of Sanra. It appeared after the draugr invasion, called the Tomb of Risi."


    "Got it. If you guys are circling around to the West, then maybe you can wait outside that, and I''ll help you ambush my team-mates. I''m not going to need them after the dungeon, right?"


    "Sounds like a n!" Danemy said. "Tell us when you''re reaching the dungeon, we''ll make our way over. I don''t know how difficult it is, I guess you''ll find out."


    KurtCobainsDog piped up. "I hear that the undead there are hard, but the rest, not so much. In fact - woah, what the hell?"


    They were interrupted by the loud sound of guitar feedback from the corner, and Crucis saw that The Certified Superviins had now abruptly switched to heavily distorted electric guitars, and were ying what seemed to be an alt-rock or metalcore song. The singer wailed anarchically into the mic, asionally screaming. A few yers nearby had turned around in rm at the sudden wall of sound, but the band carried on unconcerned.


    The song was named ''The Devil You Know''.


    Breathless,


    Hear voices in my head screaming


    At me to give up,


    Saying I''m a fraud,


    Saying I''ve failed,


    And all I know is - I''ll never be okay!


    I''ll always be a failure,


    Looking back on defeat,


    I''ll always live in this moment


    With you standing over me -


    I hate it!


    Your voice won''t take me down


    Don''t tell me


    I''ve failed, I''m wrong, I''m evil,


    I don''t hear the sound,


    You''re just another voice that tortures me inside


    You''re just another voice that I despise


    I me it all on you,


    I me it all on them!


    (How I let myself down)


    Pure evil!


    I''ve nothing to lose


    When all I look back on is defeat.


    Pure evil!


    You''ve won this fight


    For now.


    <em>This won''t be thest of me</em>...


    The devil you know!


    I''ve always been paranoid


    That someone''s out to get me


    And now I know


    That you''re out to get me!


    I hear your taunts when I''ve walked away


    I hear from you more than you''d say,


    I me it all on you,


    I me it all on them!


    Pure evil!


    I''ve nothing to lose


    When all I look back on is defeat.


    Pure evil!


    You''ve won this fight


    For now.


    <em>This won''t be thest of me</em>...


    The devil you know!


    A few yers had formed a semi-circle around the band, toin about the loud music.


    "Huh," KurtCobainsDog said, as the music died down, "that was a surprisingly gnarly take on elevator music."


    "So is Nirvana," Danemy said.


    "Excuse me, don''t you dare put down Nirvana in my presence."


    "Alright, I''ll stop for now, I don''t want to mess with a rabid dog. <em>You</em> should be put down. Anyway, any news on the rankings for this event?"


    "Yeah, I think you can ess them. Just open Guild chat or a chat window, and switch from the ''Chat'' tab to the ''Event'' one. There should be a banner for this event, with a ''Ranking'' button beneath it. Then you can select which section of the event."


    Crucis navigated to the rankings for the fight between melee sses, and saw that most yers had been greyed-out, meaning that they had died during the event. He estimated quickly that only around 150-200 yers had survived, out of around a thousand names. Almost a third of the survivors were right near the bottom of the ranking, however, and had probably shown upte enough that they avoided conflict.


    ording to a small panel of text beneath the ranking table, the Aesir side had umted much more Divine Mana than the Vanir in this area of the event. However, in the ranged and magic battles, things were closer, with the Vanir just about winning out in the former and the Aesir prevailing in thetter. He quickly tabbed to look at the rankings for the other battles, and saw that the magic battle was a bloodbath with under 50 yers left alive.


    He switched back to view the melee battle rankings, which Danemy was asionally remarking about.


    At the top was an unsurprising collection of major Guild leaders andrge yers. The first-ced yer was the [Stranded] Guild leader, and in second ce was the greyed-out leader of [Erasure]. These yers had the most Ivaldi Gold, although the game didn''t specify how much. Seemingly, their ce in the centre of the action, and the help of other yers who closely protected them, had meant that these yers had quickly racked up more rewards even if they diedter on.


    After that, a Hashin yer with a garbled name, who Crucis guessed was Dr1fter, was in third. A few more Hashin appeared in the top 20, including Immisera, although yers from [Stranded] were the mostmon. There was also a [Machu Pichu] yer in there, surprisingly, although probably not the one whom he had met in the tunnels.


    Crucis had managed to edge into to the top 50 at the 46th position, the only non-Guild yer to do so, while Danemy and Starfighter had crept into the top 100 in 98th and 95th. It was almost surprising to see Awdimir''s name beneath his own rank, in 65th, but given Awdimir''s injuries and missing hand it wasn''t that surprising.


    "Well done on top 100, Dan," he said.


    "Thanks," Danemy replied. "It says the rewards are the same for everyone in the top 100 below 50th, so I''ll be getting the same rewards as Awdimir. Fancy that. Wonder what happened to the Hashin golden boy."


    "Who knows? Anyway, yeah, looks like rewards are given based on rungs, so top 10, top 20, top 50, etc. Top three get special rewards for each of them, though it looks like one of them won''t be around to receive them."


    "They got the Erasure leader? That''s quite a scalp," KurtCobainsDog said.


    "There''s going to be a lot of leaderless Guilds out there now," Danemy said. "Good time for infighting."


    "...Is this a good time to mention that I haven''t forgiven you for calling me ''rabid'' just yet?"


    "Have you forgiven Kurt for killing himself?"


    "How dare you! You''ve ruined the -"


    "Seems like we''re nearly back, the lobby sounds like it''s beginning tond," Crucis said, quieting their quarrel. "So you guys are going North, and I''ll try finding a team to go West? Maybe we''ll meet up after that."


    The lobby lurched as it struck the ground.


    "Sure thing," Danemy said.


    In a few moments, the lobby faded, and Crucis found himself back in his room in the inn.


    The text panel to his left, which had been hidden in the lobby, reappeared. In it was a shing red message, six minutes old, which he skimmed over quickly.


    [<strong>World Event Ended!</strong>


    The Aesir and Vanir have restored their peace, after the Aesir''s capture of Freyja mellowed the Vanir will to fight. The Aesir, despite being warlike, were by now closely associated with the Vanir and would have been ashamed to harm or imprison their brethren.


    After some negotiations between her and the Aesir leaders, the two sides havee to an agreement which expands the dominion of the Aesir and the power they receive from prayer, but leaves some disputed cultivable territory near Yggdrasil to the Vanir. The Asuras relented on seeing the restored unity of Aesir and Vanir forces, but many miles of the heavens were razed by their demonic forces.


    The aftermath of this event will be felt on both heaven and earth.


    Congrattions to all participants! All rewards will be mailed to you over the forting hours.


    Ivaldi Gold may be redeemed in a store that will open soon in the Event tab.]

 Chapter 153: Double-Cross

    Chapter 153: Double-Cross


    After switching characters, Cael made his way to the Western streets of Kruxol.


    The streets were crowded, but, above the usual buzz of yers socialising and gossiping, there was a stato of asional, frenzied outbursts as people tried to find out if anyone they knew had died during the recent event.


    As he neared the Western edge, he heard loud calls like fishmongers'' from small groups of yers clustered on the border. A few were even following passers-by around to ask for their help, typically being rebuked. Getting closer, he could make out that these yers were looking for party members to help themplete dungeons.


    "40s dungeon! We''ve got 4, need 1!"


    "Anyone level 30 and up? Hey, you there, you up for a dungeon? No? Come on, man, my friend just reached level 40 with that dungeon. I bet we''d make it through! Still no? Aw."


    "Seeking a fourth yer, level 45 and up! We can do this with four, just need one yer! Anyone want to be the lucky man?"


    There had been more of these groups, but by now yers were getting reluctant to venture out due to the news of yers returning from the event. Only eight reckless groups remained, still optimistic after seeing several other groups returning from sessful dungeon runs and growing significantly. The threat of DeathGang invading the town had also caused a few inhabitants to be less cautious.


    Walking across the assembled groups, Cael found a group of three level 40-41 yers, two male and one female, which was discussing the Tomb of Risi.


    "Doubt we''ll find another volunteer, everyone interested thinks we''re too weak," one said. He spoke in a dry, pessimistic drawl.


    "You mean not everyone wants to go and dance with some zombies for the thrill of it?" another, named [Danielus], replied.


    "Well, why doesn''t one of you go around walking up to people and ask if they''re up for it? We''re not going to find anyone by just standing around shouting."


    "We''d need a gimmick to stand out. Like, what if we walked up to them backwards?"


    "Hey, wait, someone''sing over!"


    Cael greeted them. "Hi, are you guys heading to that Tomb dungeon?"


    The yers looked surprised to see a level 50 walking over, and went silent for a moment.


    Soon, one of the males spoke up, the same luminary who had thought of walking backwards. "Yeah, but we''ll need some help. Hey, are you up for this? It''s our lucky day, then."


    "Sure, why not? I heard the dungeon had good drops for Mages. Do you guys know the way?"


    "Yeah, I have a map. The name''s Danielus, by the way. But these guys are my friends from I.R.L., so they''d know me as ''Daniel.'' Or ''Danny.''"


    Danielus was a stocky, British-American man in his early 20s, with scruffy brown hair and a humble face which looked perpetually concerned that whatever he was saying or doing might be embarrassing and offensive. This may have been the product of his childhood in Britain, a ce where doing anything without a license is considered unthinkable.


    After loudly rummaging through his inventory for a few seconds, he produced a map with directions scrawled in towards the [Tomb of Ri?i], which was circled in red a few dozen times. This dungeon was inside a mountain named [Narxadda].


    "Yeah, I know these guys," added the other male, dismissively. "But that doesn''t matter. We''re all too weak for this dungeon, but with a level 50 we could do it. I hear it''s easier the first time, then it gets really hard next time. But it''s the best EXP we can get out here. I think four is enough."


    His name wasn''t visible, suggesting that he hadn''t spent as much as hisrades. As such, Cael replied, "Hopefully. What''s your name, by the way?"


    "Ah, call me Mirko. Yeah, I''m not like these gringos, throwing greenbacks everywhere. Can you believe these guys? They came from America to Mexico, just to get stuff cheaper. Have you ever heard of such a thing? They immigrated from America... to Mexico?"


    Caelughed, but Danielus jumped in to defend himself. "We didn''t move for that reason. Allie and I wereing to Mexico for study. We became friends during the course."


    He gestured towards the female, whose nametag showed [Alliie].


    "She''s no good for you," Mirko interjected. "You should find a good Latina woman, not this busybody American girl."


    "Please, we''re just friends. By the way, Mirko, didn''t we meet at her wedding?"


    "Yes, yes. I pity her husband, to waste his Mexican stock on her. But let''s not bore our new friend with these details. OK, so the ''Tomb of Risi'' is a level 40 dungeon, but at full difficulty it''s way harder. You know how tough the draugr are?"


    Mirko gestured towards a few crumbled buildings on the edge of Kruxol, to make his point.


    "So that would be too hard. But the first time you try it, the difficulty will be less. I think only about level 44, 45. No draugr. Less rewards. It''s close to a starter town, that''s why. But still good EXP."


    "Level 44 still sounds like it would be a challenge for you guys," Cael remarked dryly.


    Danielus and Alliie were only level 41, and Mirko was one level below. This was reasonably high for yers who had spent most of their time inside Kruxol, but would still exin why most yers didn''t want to join them in challenging the Temple of Risi.


    "Yes, but I''ll do my best. Not sure if Allie here will, though."


    Mirko nced snidely towards the slender American girl avidly reading chat messages a few metres away. Hearing her name, she snapped her head angrily towards the group, green eyes staring daggers towards Mirko. Her hair, dyed bleach blonde, flew in the Eastward wind and covered half of her face, with a couple of loose strands of red hair revealing her natural colour. She brushed aside the hair, and began shouting loudly.


    "Oh my God, Mirko, shut up! If I''m such a drag, why am I higher level than you?"


    "Because of the petrodor, angrydy," Mirko replied.


    "Look - ugh, never mind. Hey, you guys never told me you found someone strong to help us out! Hi there, d you''ve showed up."


    "We were right here, how could you not notice?" Mirko replied immediately.


    "Yeah, but I was, um, staying out of the way. It''s because Danny told me to be quiet when somebody else came. I actually listened for once!"


    Danielus raised his eyebrows, as if acknowledging that it was unexpected. "Yes, well done. But we''d better get going before you run Mirko and this level 50 guy off. Right?"


    "Please, I got two guys to help us yesterday! Like, I''m the charismatic one here. Still, it''s great to finally find someone brave enough to go today."


    She spoke with pronounced vocal fry, the sound of which seemed to annoy Mirko every time she talked.


    Before they could start arguing again, Danielus spoke up diplomatically. "Yeah, it is. So should I start a team, then?" Danielus asked. "Is everyone alright with that? I hope so!"


    His voice had taken on a slightly awkward uptalk now, as if trying to emte Alliie. It made him stutter asionally, since it didn''t fit that naturally with his American-British ent.


    Cael sent a party invite before anyone answered the question, and the rest epted quickly. Since he was the highest-levelled in the group, it seemed natural to the others that he would offer to lead their team.


    Looking through the team list, he noticed that Mirko''s username was [Murrrk]. All of these three were warriors.


    "Alright, let''s go!" Alliie said, and set off immediately.


    Danielus shushed her, and told her that if she''s this loud then they''d all get attacked.


    While she tried to keep her voice down, nervous energy kept her talking. "So, Cael," she said, "you''re pretty strong, but I don''t think you have a Guild. Howe, not into it?"


    "Guild signups are closed, silly," Danielus interjected.


    "OH! Whoops!" she said, annoying Danielus by raising her voice again.


    "Yeah, he''s right," Cael said. "But it''s not a bad question. I got lucky and was helped out by bigger yers from [The Fountain] and [Communion], eventually I caught up with some and could contribute. But without them, it would have been tough."


    This was actually an obvious lie. Strong yers from [The Fountain] and [Communion] rarely helped yers, even their own Guild. However, [The Fountain] had been running a days-long charm offensive presenting themselves as a benign, helpful contrast to DeathGang, and due to this he figured that the excuse would sound usible to most Kruxol yers.


    "Oh, yeah, I''ve heard those guys are real knights in shining armour!" Alliie said, as if on cue. "But you must''ve impressed them, I doubt they''d carry around a deadweight. Even Danny often says he wishes I wasn''t holding him back, and we''re on the same level!"


    "Ahem, I was just politely trying to hint that you should focus more in the middle of a fight."


    "''Politely''!"


    "These two don''t know how to keep it in their pants," Mirko said conspiratorially to Cael.


    "I think quarrelling is just another way that they enjoy each other''spany," Cael replied.


    "Excuse me, I heard that!" Alliie said, not really seeming as flustered as she tried to sound.


    "Look, it''s not my fault that you''re cute together," Mirko said.


    "Um, I''m married to someone already."


    "You''re a 21 year old girl married to a 70 year old man, I wouldn''t say that''s built tost."


    "A 70 year old man who is your uncle."


    "Well, there you go trying to make it personal."


    Danielus eventually got the group to quiet down, after firmly grabbing them by the shoulders and growling unintelligibly at them.


    He seemed to take on a leadership role in the group sometimes, since he was the only one who could - at least every so often - hold back from quarrelling.


    On the way to the dungeon, they turned Southwards off the Western path and went down a long, mossy stone slope. Alliie was too hasty, and began to slide down uncontrobly, with Danielus desperately hanging on to the back of her shirt to slow her fall. She managed to make it down in one piece, but crumpled to the ground holding a sprained right ankle.


    Her fall had brought the attention of a group of Hashin, who were waiting in ambush on arge cairn to the right of the path. They leaped down theatrically and drew their swords, on seeing two level 41 yers. From the borate leaps, Cael guessed that these four yers had been inspired by tales of their higher-levelradesunching ambushes with Divine Mana-fuelled jumps during the recent world event.


    However, they had been hasty. Three of them were only level 42, apanied with one level 44 yer named [MaxIRA] who seemed to be leading them, and Cael''s [Magic Missile] sent them hurtling back on low HP before they could reach Danielus and Alliie.


    He prevented MaxIRA from rising with [Spark], then calmly charged a [Mana Sphere] and unleashed it while the group leader was still squirming on the ground. This collided fiercely with MaxIRA''s head, and lowered him to 15% HP.


    Mirko furiously set upon the Hashin, swearing wildly at them in Spanish to the effect of them having had sex with their mother and grandfather while eating excrement. Presumably, he had some sort of grudge against this Guild. His sword battered against theirs, and he grappled one to the ground while smashing her head with the hilt of his sword. Soon, this Hashin was dead.


    The others tried to escape up the slope, but Cael easily sent them falling back down with a [Mana Push] to the side. They lost their bnce as they swerved suddenly, and then catapulted down as their feet failed to find purchase on the mossy rocks. Danielus and Mirko managed to kill them off before they could stand.


    MaxIRA tried to get up, staring daggers at Cael, but was still dizzied. As he tried to scramble up and attack Cael, a [Mana Strike] sent him backwards, crashing against the cairn. After another [Spark], he was helpless, and died tamely to a stab from the limping Alliie''s sword.


    Alliie jumped in surprise when she saw MaxIRA''s face, but was coy when Mirko noticed and asked why. "Well, um, he''s ck, that''s pretty atypical for a Hashin. Maybe they''re the Gangster Regiment?"


    As she slumped down to soothe her ankle, she noticeably leaned against the corpse, brushing its skin quietly, as if reminiscing about something.


    "Excuse me, that''s racist," Danielus scolded.


    Alliie had just improvised the answer on the spot, and hadn''t had the time to notice that it coulde off like that. "Oh, yeah! Whoops. Well, that''s not what I meant, just... trying to add some levity after all that stress."


    "You were barely involved in the fight, what stress? But yeah, I can understand that. Now let''s get to the dungeon."


    "I think she knows that guy, or he reminds her of someone. Maybe a former me," Mirko whispered to Cael. "She''s a liberal from Chicago, wouldn''t surprise me."


    Alliie shot him a harsh re, sensing that he was talking about her behind her back without knowing precisely what he was saying.


    Mirko seemed nervous for a moment, knowing that Danielus and Alliie would get mad at him for saying that.


    "Come on, it''s not her fault for slipping on that slope. It was difficult," Cael said to Mirko, pretending that Mirko had been talking about something else.


    "Hey!" she protested, flustered. "I couldn''t help it, okay? Like, even Danielus fell down. Stop being so judgmental! He''s right, you guys have to stop ming me for everything."


    "Enough," Danielus said. "Can we just be quiet and go to the dungeon now?"


    They carried on down the winding, wide stone path ahead, bordered to the left by a deep canyon. Soon, they reached a long stairway, leading to a tall, semi-circr doorway on the side of arge, rocky mountain.


    Cael walked up to the door, and saw a screen asking him to confirm his team. It disyed the names and sses of each team member. Once this was done, a prompt appeared:


    Reminder: dungeons can bepleted with 5 yers. Challenging with 4 is risky. Are you sure?<ul><li><strong>Yes</strong></li><li><strong>No</strong></li></ul>


    He selected ''Yes'', and the name of the dungeon shed in front of him, apanied with a message in smaller text:


    <strong>Temple of Ri?i</strong>


    This is a Special Dungeon, triggered by the Draugr Invasion world event. Due to its proximity to new yers, you are asked toplete an easier, basic form of the dungeon to unlock the full version. If youplete it, you will be rewarded with a [Temple Token], giving you a free extra dungeon chance which can be used here or at a lower-level Major dungeon.


    That wasn''t a bad deal, the token would give him the chance to do two Major Dungeons in a day.


    Cael buffed the group, and then they walked in.


    The first chamber of the dungeon was arge, circr stone room. Etchings like cave paintings covered the walls, disying what looked to berge, mythological wars. A few minotaurs and dragons were disyed amongst the hundreds of ranks of soldiers.


    From a wide hole on the other side, a group of three undead scurried in.


    These were all level 35, and had the tag [Reanimated Corpse]. They scurried like rats normally, but when preparing for battle they rose stiffly on two legs.


    Despite her slight limp, Alliie raced in first. She seemed surprised when the creature ducked effortlessly under her sweeping, high [sh], briefly resuming its usual rat-like posture.


    It then leapt up at her, and scratched furiously at her face, leaning forwards over her with its slimy, rotting flesh.


    "Get it off! Get it off! Ack!" she screamed, as she tried pushing it away with her arms.


    This was a mistake, because it had high Strength, and easily overpowered her. It shoved her to the ground, and Danielus had to run in to kick it off.


    Meanwhile, Mirko had also gone forwards, but held his sword out nervously as two Reanimated Corpses bore down on him. He asionally red sideways towards Danielus and Alliie, frustrated that they weren''t offering support.


    Cael targeted these two corpses with a [Magic Missile], and the corpses were blown backwards into the air by the impact. Theynded crumpled with only slivers of HP left, a much stronger effect than he had prepared for. He had been expecting the fight to go on for longer, and had been thinking about which skills to use next, but these ns wouldn''t be necessary now. Seemingly, these opponents weren''t that difficult for a strong level 50 Mage.


    He raised his ck Cursed Draugr Staff, and cast [Dark''s Tendrils] on one of the corpses. It withered to the ground, as its HP ran out.


    He had picked up an INT buff spell scroll, for a spell named [Magisterial Domain], while walking through Kruxol. He then used this buff on himself before entering the dungeon, and it seemed to be quite effective. However, he figured that the enemies falling so easily here was primarily because they were weak, and they would probably notst much longer even without the INT buff.


    Mirko struck down the other Reanimated Corpse easily, as it seemingly had barely any HP remaining after Cael''s first attack.


    Meanwhile, Danielus and Alliie had been tirelessly working together to pin the other corpse back against the walls of this room, despite it constantly evading entrapment by crouching down and scurrying out of the way in a hazy blur. Cael sighed somewhat, at seeing them again trying to corrall it against the walls.


    Taking advantage of the corpse being tied up in dealing with them, he began charging a [Mana Sphere]. The corpse seemed to sense this after a few seconds, and dodged away from Alliie and Danielus to pursue Cael. However, Cael was on the opposite side of the room, and before it could reach him it was mowed down by a powerful white Mana Sphere that broke through its chest. Its body fell to pieces.


    "Nice job!" Alliie said, turning to Cael with a smile. "You really saved us there!"


    She then turned quickly and hugged Danielus. "Oh, and also, thanks Danny. The thing was right on top of me, I was so scared. Thanks, thanks, thanks!"


    "You''re wee. Anyway, let''s go on," Danielus said.


    They moved through a few more rooms, facing simr opponents. The initial description hadn''t been kidding when it said that this dungeon had been made easier. Cael barely had to put in much effort to decimate the mobs, with an asional [Magic Missile] being all that was necessary.


    The others, though, seemed to find it fairly challenging. That was partially due to poor choice of gear and stats, and partially due to them not being used to voyaging outside of town.


    After three more rooms, Cael noticed a few messages from Danemy.


    Danemy mentioned that he was nearby, and gave co-ordinates. Cael replied, telling him toe up to the stairway leading to this dungeon, which would be a good chokepoint to trap people in.


    Since Danemy wasn''t sure about where this was, not having done this dungeon before, Cael guided him through chat after fighting another wave of Reanimated Corpses.


    Passing under arge, chalk arch, the party came to a massive cavern where they faced the first mini-boss, a level 43 [Mass of Undead]. It was, as the name said, a grotesque amalgamation of several Reanimated Corpses into one,rge corpse creature. Their various bodies melted together, and the resulting creature towered a few feet over any of the yers.


    It pounded its fist into the ground as it saw them, and Cael noticed Danielus and Alliie shivering nervously.


    Since buffs cleared on entering a mini-boss room, Cael quickly began buffing the other yers for the fight.


    Mirko went forwards, and rose his shield to tank. However, the Mass of Undead pounded its fist into his shield, and he skidded dizzily backwards before falling over. The ringing noise of the blow echoed through the cavern like church bells.


    "Guys, some support here? Guys!" Mirko shouted out, raising his voice above the echoing noise.


    While Alliie and Danielus walked forwards, they clearly didn''t seem willing to tank blows, and stayed a few steps behind Mirko as the creature lumbered up towards him.


    It brought its massive fists towards him, but he just about managed to roll away to the side. The impact of the fist shook the ground next to him, and he lost bnce as he tried to get up.


    The slow boss calmly turned towards him again. He retreated, but it followed him with robotic, massive steps.


    "Come on, put your shields up! Help!" Mirko screamed, before a string of Spanish swear words.


    Catching his breath, and seeing that he was cornered, he continued, "I hate you guys, you said we would work together! By the way, I know I didn''t tell you, Allie, but I saw your old husband in this game and I know where he is. I''m going to find him and tell him to marry a younger girl. And I''ll tell him about how your mother gave birth to you with a male prostitute!"


    Allie looked shocked, and backed away from the fight, as if leaving Mirko to his fate. "So you lied about that? If he''s here... then he''ll be using his old game username from a decade ago, ''MartialParra.'' I know it! I''ll find him first."


    Danielus, however, ran forwards and tried to distract the Mass of Undead with a sh to its right nk, only to be batted four metres away with a small wave of its arm.


    While this Mass of Undead was strong, its power was exaggerated by these warriors'' bad stats and equipment. Though they wore heavy armour, it didn''t do much to protect them, and actually limited their actions. Their equipment also contained irrelevant stat boosts like INT, rather than Strength, Constitution or Dexterity.


    As the Mass of Undead prepared to attack Mirko, it was interrupted by a fully-charged [Mana Sphere]. This barrelled into its right nk, sending it teetering to the left, before a follow-up [Mana Push] dropped it to the side.


    "Thanks, man! I wish you didn''t have to help my worthless friends here!" Mirko said, with a thumbs-up gesture.


    He then crouched down to stab at the fallen creature, dealingrge, gaping wounds that rained pus and blood. Cael cast a [re] to help out, remembering that undead bosses are sometimes weak to fire.


    The Mass of Undead certainly was. It wilted as soon as it was struck, and its HP jumped down surprisingly much. As it tried to raise itself, and kick Mirko away, Cael used [Spark] to pin it to the ground.


    Gaining confidence, Alliie and Danielus ran in and began hacking at the corpse as well. Soon, its HP had depleted to 0%.


    After this mini-boss fight, Cael felt quite confident that he could clear this dungeon by himself. The enemies on this run-through were easy enough that it wouldn''t make a difference. He was overpowered for level 50, and facing level 40 enemies.


    As the group slowly recovered from the fight and prepared for the next room, Cael quietly sent a few messages to Danemy.


    Cael: ok ready? they''ll be out in a second


    Danemy: that was fast af


    Danemy: but yea we here


    Cael: alright, give me a moment


    Cael: let me figure out the party ldr menu lol


    Cael navigated through the Party Leadership menu, going back and forth until he found the option to kick members. This was generally added for cases where members were being disruptive, blocking progress, or obstructing the group in other ways. However, in effect, it just meant that group leaders could kick people for no reason. If this happened while you were using one of your dungeon reward chances, then bad luck.


    He selected the three members of the group, and a message shed up:


    [Confirm to Kick [Danielus], [Alliie], and [Murrrk]?]<ul><li><strong>Yes</strong></li><li><strong>No</strong></li></ul>


    He affirmed the decision, and the other three vanished from the room around him.


    A quick message popped up.


    Danemy: lol gottem


    Danemy: ok their here brb


    Walking on to the next room, he pulled out a sheet of paper and used his Illusory Quill Pen to write on it with mana, while casting [Lesser Aura] to suspend his mana in ce and [Arm of Hades] to transform it. This would probably be enough to ovee the creatures here.


    He noticed that the other members of the group had sent him Friend Requests. While not epting these, he opened a chat window with them after half a minute, and saw a notice at the top of the window:


    This yer is dead, and will not be able to respond until they respawn.


    It was an easy way of checking whether yers had died. Of course, Alliie and Danielus had nametags disying, so they wouldn''t respawn at all. As such, there would be little point in sending them a message.

 Chapter 154: Power Surge

    Chapter 154: Power Surge


    The next room of the dungeon was small and narrow, more of a hallway than a room. Its dull grey and white walls were shadowy, with no light source except an oculus-like hole in the roof which let faint light through.


    As soon as Cael took two steps inside, a few [Wall Crawlers] entered through this hole, noticing the intruder. These undead creatures had w-like hands and feet which they used to fasten themselves to the walls, and their mouth contained fangs that gaped threateningly as they looked towards him. They scurried quickly across the walls like spiders, heading towards him.


    Since this was a small room, their presence along the walls was almost ustrophobic.


    Cael, though surprised by the rapid assault, hurriedly used [Magic Missile]. The pale wisps of magic flew through the hall, rendered stiff and cold by the [Arm of Hades] mana. The creatures fell from the walls on collision, and seemed to wither on the ground. They attempted to hook back onto the walls, but their movements were stiff and slow.


    After using [Spark] on one, to keep it off the wall, he cast [re] towards another. It screeched out in a guttural tone, as a charred chunk of its chest fell off, and then it fell limply to the ground.


    It seemed that these creatures also had a fire weakness.


    Cael figured that it would be possible to take the [Pyromancer] sub-ss, and focus on fighting with undead in order to level up. After all, a Pyromancer could probably fire above their weight when fighting undead, and possibly ess content higher than their own level. This would mean that progress would ur faster.


    Pyromancers also had several other advantages, such as that their fire could be cast more quickly than solid ice or earth, and also more rapidly.


    As an obvious caveat, the drops from undead could be skewed towards certain materials, and they tended to give less EXP. This would lead to unbnced development. Many more rewardingter-game bosses, especially dragons and smanders, were highly resistant to fire. Further, due to official protocol regarding the use of ''fire'' in games, Pyromancer skills in the current situation weren''t typically that painful and could at most luck into some painful burns. They didn''t resemble an actual fire in effect, rather a meek simcra of it.


    He wasn''t entirely sure that it would be the best choice right now, but it was one of the more obviously appealing routes. It would have been worth a try, if he wasn''t trapped in the game right now. However, he would have to choose a sub-ss soon, and fire and earth currently seemed like better choices than earth.


    Taking the remaining Wall Crawlers down was easy, since they couldn''t attack effectively when not on a wall, he finished thest one off with another [re].


    Surveying the task ahead, he saw arge coffin-like shape towering above everything in a cavern up ahead, with about two rooms in between. This meant that the final boss, Ri?i, would be nearby, since it was after all his tomb. He figured it would be worth memorising theyout of the area before clearing it, so he backtracked to the first mini-boss'' chamber.


    As he entered, he paid attention to the dy as he passed through the door. He remembered that this was standard for doors in most dungeons, due to the instanced nature of the room ahead.


    He wondered if he could cast a spell during this time, but found that the option was blocked. He was seemingly frozen during this switch-over.


    However, out of curiosity, he decided to test out the possibilities. Since he was alone in the dungeon this time, he had the time to experiment. The next time he passed through the door, he applied a few buffs first. As he expected in the mini-boss room, the buffs disappeared. Would they still disappear if he had cast them during the door-entering dy?


    He used [Lesser Aura] and the quill pen to store his mana on a page, then retraced his steps towards the mini-boss room. However, before reaching the door, he prepared a ''macro'' of three buffs to cast automatically on himself using the [Lesser Aura] mana. Since yers often used multiple buffs on their teams, grouping buffs together and casting them at once was implemented as a feature. This could go up to a maximum of five, or seven for a Cleric.


    As he hung in ce at the door again, he let the [Lesser Aura] spell convert his mana into these buff spells. Since it wasn''t counted as a new action, but only an extension of the already-active [Lesser Aura], this was permitted.


    However, when he appeared in the mini-boss room, he found that he had no buffs enabled.


    Wondering what to try next, he paced around the room. To his surprise, his movement speed had increased significantly, and he ranged the room at a pace which he would typically require the [Young Deer''s Speed] buff for. After trying again a few times, to make sure it was a genuine increase in speed, he guessed that the [Young Deer''s Speed] buff which he had cast while entering the room was still in effect, just not registered by the game due to the timing of its casting.


    To find out more, he cast [Young Deer''s Speed] again. It worked, and the buff disyed. In fact, his speed had increased further, and now was much faster than was typical after [Young Deer''s Speed].


    This meant that the buff had been doubled. Since the game didn''t fully recognise the first instance of the buff, it allowed him to cast another buff on top of that.


    This meant that he by now had effectively doubled buffs.


    In this case, he was only using low-level, simple buffs, not high-level ones. With a high-level buff, his movement speed could be high enough that he could pass for a slightly less speedy Assassin. In fact, he could even increase his own Agility more to entuate this, since he already knew several skill trees which would be conducive to that. He also didn''t know whether this could be enhanced further by using different kinds of mana.


    Further, he could also buff INT, which would make him not only fast but also capable of casting highly powerful spells. By that point, he would be like the nned [Holy Spirit] sub-ss, with enhanced ss abilities and heightened Agility, Strength or Constitution, but possibly more powerful. It would definitely be more powerful than the [Witch] sub-ss, at least in terms of raw power.


    However, there was something he was curious about. Could the final [Holy Spirit] ability, which transformed the user into a being of light, involve a specific form of mana? If so, then how would that affect these buffs? If it enhanced them further, since it was said to increase overall power to supernatural heights, then that could be even more OP. But he''d have to find out more by trying to figure out how much of the original [Holy Spirit] skills were still residual in the game, in the form of the [Witch] sub-ss, and what he could figure out about them. The difficulty was that it wasn''t often possible to kill a witch, and then have a chat with them to figure out their powers. But he''d see what opportunities appeared.


    For now, he decided that he''d test what would happen if he doubled the [Magisterial Domain] buff. He had avoided testing it initially, since he didn''t want any bugs affecting his INT while he was soloing the dungeon. However, given the effect on the other buff spells, he decided that he should check on this before going further in the dungeon.


    This time, he tried with a different room, that didn''t have a mini-boss. However, the result was the same. He had initially thought that the spell not appearing in the new room was due to the mini-boss room removing buffs, but seemingly the game just didn''t register buffs done during the transition between rooms.


    His INT was now clearly higher than usual. He cast [Conjure Light] to check, and the dark walls of therge, round room he had backtracked to, the first room in this dungeon, suddenly lit up in a radiant white which seemed almost gold-tinged. Shielding his eyes, he squinted and saw that the light was reflected mirror-like off the walls, which were suffused with it and seemed on the edge of melting.


    While the light wasn''t as radiant as the sunlight beneath Muninn''s wings, which had almostpletely subsumed the air and earth beneath it, it was still fierce. As he ended the spell, he felt slightly dizzy, and blinked a few times before his eyes readjusted to the normal, dark interior of this dungeon.


    Since his INT was buffed, he decided to try casting the [Magisterial Domain] spell again. Once again, it worked. The buff was doubled.


    In fact, it seemed to do more than just double the [Magisterial Domain] buff. The initial, hidden buff had increased INT by a certain percentage, creating a new, higher INT, and then the second buff had increased this new INT by a percentage.


    Right now, he could cast [Conjure Light], but it hurt his eyes which were adapted again to the dark dungeon. He tried a few shes of light, and noticed the room erupt into light, but ended it quickly.


    For now, he walked towards the boss room.


    He noticed that he had got a few messages from Danemy, while testing the doorway glitch.


    Danemy: kk ganked all 3


    Danemy: they were confused and frustrated


    Danemy: everyone screaming


    Danemy: girl asking u for help lol


    Danemy: u werent even there


    Danemy: i killed her and her friend. kcd (remmber him?) killed the other


    Danemy: now just hanging around, not many ppl rn


    Danemy: they saw a few big yersing back to the wild and just fled back to town


    Danemy: still a few to kill tho


    Danemy: tell me when ur done, wille back


    Sighing, he replied, lest he be thought negligent.


    Cael: Yep, nearly done. Come and wait.


    Cael: Of course I remember Kurt Cobain''s dog. I hear Kurt had him do vocals on some tracks, and you can tell.


    Cael: By the way, wasn''t there a minor dungeon nearby? You reckon we should try that?


    Leaving the chat aside, he walked forwards to the boss'' room.


    The two rooms on the way featured waves of Reanimated Corpses and Wall Crawlers, but he cleared each wave with one [Magic Missile]. By this point, his INT was incredibly strong for his level, and in this already easy dungeon the fights had be practically a write-off.


    Finally, he came to the boss'' room.


    Ceremoniously, the boss opened his massive, navy-blue coffin. It extended to almost the width of a football field, if not the length. As his head popped up above the coffin, Cael saw the word [Ri?i] above it.


    Next to the coffin, a man in a formal, green suit walked forwards, seemingly a servant of the boss. Cael noticed that this man had hollow eyesockets.


    The suited man spoke in a strange, incredibly formal ent which sounded somewhere between an English ent and the Transylvanian one of Count Drac. "Greetings, esteemed guest, wee to the beautiful, vast Pce of Ri?i. If you seek an audience with master Ri?i, then he shall grant you one. I am sure he will be very magnanimous. Ahahaha!"


    Cael noticed that this man pronounced ''Ri?i'' with a short ''sh'' sound, like a cross of ''Ree-zee'' with ''Rishi,'' not as the simple ''ri-si'' which he had heard yers using. Presumably, the ''sh'' sound was part of the ''proper'' pronunciation.


    The man in the green suit suddenly threw off his stiff, aristocratic face, which turned out to be a mask, and revealed fangs resembling those of a Wall Crawler. He ran forwards, but Cael dispatched him with one [Mana Beam].


    Above, Ri?i himself towered to the top of this massive cavern. His skin was made from dark piles of dry, decaying earth, and his face was carved in this soil and dirt like a tired, aged Halloween pumpkin.


    "Who goes there?" he called, his voice echoing through the dungeon.


    As Ri?i stepped towards the intruder, Cael greeted him with a [Mana Beam]. This temporarily caused him to sway backwards, from the powerful impact.


    Cael followed this up with [Spark]. This caused Ri?i to shudder weakly, and halt. Since he was already leaning backwards, he almost fell, only therge cave wall behind him keeping him on his feet.


    By the time that Ri?i could move forwards again, Cael released a [Mana Sphere] which he had been charging while Ri?i struggled to move and direct his heavy frame when slouched against the wall .


    A glowing white sphere of mana flew through the sky, embedding itself in Ri?i''s shoulder. It seemed to be only a speck on hisrge frame. However, in a second, his massive body copsed to the ground and shattered.


    The doubled buff had made this battle trivial.


    Forpleting the dungeon, Cael had received a decent amount of EXP, taking him near level 52. He also received a [Temple Token], allowing him to attempt the dungeon''s full version at any time without using up a daily Major Dungeon chance.


    He was lucky to receive [Mercury-Tinted Gloves], a pair of silver gloves which increased INT by 10% for 4 seconds at the beginning of a battle. Given that the doubled buffs would build on this further, it would allow him toplete battles quickly. Along with these gloves, he also gained a [Wand of the Reincarnator], a wand which increased the power of spells the lower your HP was, and which had some additional bonuses for the Necromancer sub-ss. It would probably not be nearly as powerful as the draugr staves, but it was the most powerful wand he had at the moment, so he figured he might as well keep it.


    It could be useful, since some out-of-battle spells were stronger if cast with a wand.


    Some other odds and ends dropped, which weren''t relevant to his ss, and he''d sell most of them. However, one of these was a [Berserker Soul Wristband], which increased Strength by 15% when HP was under 30%. This could be useful for tradeskills, along with using the recent glitch to increase his base Strength above what was usual for a Mage. If he let NPC mobs or recoil damage lower his HP, then began the tradeskill, he''d have higher Strength.


    But he wasn''t sure if it would be useful in battle yet, so it might be best to keep it in Storage and take it out when necessary. Since he wouldn''t typically be winning a fight with Strength-based weapons, he''d gain more advantages from increasing his Dexterity and Agility, so that his movement speed and dodging was more effective. Constitution would also be worthwhile, although Mages used INT for defensive shields or healing and this would typically make up for a lower CON. As such, a slightly more all-round build, within limits, would be a good way to take advantage of his ability to increase stats across the board.


    Putting on the [Mercury-Tinted Gloves], he waited for a minute before the dungeon teleported him out to the entrance.


    Around him, the corpses of his former party-mates were strewn across the ground, most bearing a fairly rugged, haphazard series of wide wounds across the upper body. It looked like something of a hatchet-job.


    He raised his staff alertly as he heard the sound of swords shing nearby.


    Below the staircase, Danemy and KurtCobainsDog were fighting with a group of two female level 44 [Communion] yers who had got lost on their way back to Kruxol. The Communion yers were putting up a stern resistance, but gradually losing ground in the fight, one Ranger nearly falling backwards after Danemy''s fierce strikes but leaning bravely on the edge of the staircase to stay up.


    Cael walked over and cast [Spark] on this Ranger, causing her to copse to the ground. She screamed as Danemy grappled her down, but soon she was dead to a series of rapid, impatient stabs to the face.


    The other Communion yer died after Cael targeted her with a single [Mana Beam], jolting at the sudden impact and crumpling to the ground.


    Calming down, he turned to the DeathGang yers, who seemed surprised by how quickly the fight had ended.


    "Hey, well done with these guys," he said, gesturing at the former team-mates lying around him. "By the way, isn''t there a Minor Dungeon nearby? We could try that out, plenty of time."


    "With three people?" KurtCobainsDog said. "It''s quite tough, but we could give it a try. I''ve heard it has good rewards, worth a look."


    "Yeah, that''s only a short walk away," Danemy said. "Oud told me where to find it. We could try it out without using a dungeon chance, then see if it''s worth using our chance on."


    "Sure, lead the way," Cael said.


    The underground Minor Dungeon a few minutes away was barely used, since it was a level 50 dungeon which was generally viewed as requiring yers who were over level 60. It was also notoriously difficult to find.


    However, the rewards were higher than other level 50 Minor Dungeons, and it would save him having to journey out to another one today. Cael noticed that the DeathGang yers both looked quite tired after the morning''s world event, and so he doubted they would be able to manage the full-fledged Tomb of Ri?i dungeon. He had considered asking about that, but decided against it. While his magic would still be effective, the draugr could only be killed by nabbing their own weapons. As a result, he would need runners to pick up the draugr weapons and kill them, and at the moment running back and forth like that would be too much. However, since he could use the spare Tomb of Ri?i chance whenever he wanted, he didn''t have to do it now, and figured that he might as well get the Major and Minor dungeon chances for today out of the way.


    That would give him more time to look carefully through the various sub-sses, and make a choice. Although he had earlier favoured [Pyromancer] or [Geomancer], by now he had another option: [Cleric].


    This unassuming ss specialised in buffs and healing, and was generally relegated to a supporting role. Typically, he wouldn''t choose it, because it tended to rely heavily on having strong dungeon partners to carry the weight. At the moment, he didn''t even have a Guild. However, since he could double buffs on INT through this glitch, buffs had be his most powerful spells. While the focus of the ss was typically on healing, setting it up for a support role, he could avoid the healing abilities and try to get as many enhancements to buffs as possible. This could enhance his offensive capabilities, enough that he''d y a central offensive role rather than just a support one. Of course, he''d need to check the skill tree more thoroughly before making a decision.


    yers were often misled by shy spells and abilities, and overlooked things like stats and buffs which powered these. At this point in time, focusing on buffs and increasing his base strength would probably give him more power than entering a ss designed for borate spells. After all, he had cleared the Temple easily with fairly basic spells, while several groups with more Pyromancers and Geomancers had found it difficult.


    He''d be able to look into the details soon, since the [Cleric] trainer was in Sanra from midnight to noon before shifting to Kruxol. With both dungeons done with, he''d also be able to get a few sub-ss quests under his belt, and advance some new skills.

 Chapter 155: Prides End

    Chapter 155: Pride''s End


    Danemy led the group around the winding stone path, until they came to what looked like a dead end. There was arge rock wall blocking the path.


    However, he scratched away some dust from the wall to reveal a lever. As he pulled this, a hole formed in the floor.


    "Alright, the Minor Dungeon is just in there. There''s also a mine, but I think it has some level 60 ghosts in there, not sure if it''s safe yet."


    "Yeesh, this ce is a touch ustrophobic," KurtCobainsDog said, easing slowly into the passageway below.


    Cael crouched down and made his way into the dark, cold tunnel. As the group made their way through, soon they came to a branching path.


    "Left is the dungeon, right is the mines," Danemy said from memory.


    After going left for a few metres, a prompt shed up asking them to confirm a team for the dungeon. The dungeon''s name was ''The Temr Coven.'' They quickly formed a party, then headed in.


    After teleporting into the dungeon, Cael saw that he was in arge, underground cavern, with the sound of water flowing from beyond the right wall. There were traces of dark, moist greenery coiling around the top of the cavern walls, but only a hint of light came from a chink in the roof.


    Cael took out a torch immediately. Once the cavern was lit, they could see a handful of skeletons skulking towards them from the dark corners.


    These enemies were level 50, and known as [Mighty Skeletons]. Cael noticed that they carried a massive Strength buff of 200%, which seemed to be a native trait of this type of enemy.


    Danemy ran forwards to fight one, but it surged forwards and grabbed him, throwing him a few metres back.


    Cael greeted the first wave of skeletons with a [Magic Missile], and Danemy looked back in surprise as the skeletons fell to the ground with 0% HP.


    Further waves of skeletons began to appear, formed from piles of bones heaped up right in the corners of the dungeon. They grew one level every two waves, gradually reaching from 50 to 55. However, Cael''s spells one-shot all of these opponents, except for two of the hardier level 55 skeletons which managed to survive by a sliver.


    Danemy ran forwards to finish these off, but they had been aggro''d by Cael. They barged past Danemy, heading for the Mage.


    One came close, raising its fists and preparing to strike. Cael, however, quickly dodged out of the way, using his increased movement speed. The skeleton, drawn by its momentum, barrelled forwards past him, crashing into the wall.


    He used [Mana Strike] and [Mana Push] to fix it to the wall, holding it there until its bones ground down and cracked. It copsed heavily to the ground on 0% HP, and some of the ground-up bones flowed down over it like sand.


    Its partner had been more circumspect, and approached Cael cautiously, but was cut off by KurtCobainsDog. He aimed a series of shes at its centre of gravity from behind, making it difficult for it to turn around.


    As soon as it finally managed to turn around and face its assant, Danemy stepped up and smashed its head off with a firm [Mordhau].


    Finally, thest wave of the dungeon was made of level 59 skeletons, led by a level 60 skeleton with frenzied, fiery red eyes dragging a massive machete across the ground. Unlike the others, it was named [Mighty Skeleton Berserker]. Danemy grinned at the name.


    "Alright, this should be it!" he called out.


    Cael used [Magic Missile] on the group, but followed up with a sequence of spells focused on the Berkserker, since that seemed to be the most dangerous opponent here.


    He first targeted it with [Spark], which slowed its advance, then pushed it backwards into the other skeletons with [Mana Strike]. A few skeletons fell like bowling pins. As it got up, he charged a [Mana Sphere], then unleashed this, quickly defeating the Berserker skeleton.


    Meanwhile, Danemy and KurtCobainsDog had swept up most of the remaining skeletons, which had been left with 25% HP at most. They made sure to aggro the skeletons, then led them in circles across the middle of the room, using their Agility to stay at a safe range while cutting down the weakest. Danemy took a harsh blow to the left nk after getting too daring, but almost ignored it, since it wasn''t by a boss and hence gave little pain. Soon, Cael downed the rest with another [Magic Missile].


    The group congratted each other, then were teleported outside of the dungeon.


    "Alright, I think we can do this," Danemy said, smiling. "Crucis, why didn''t you tell us your Mage was this strong?"


    "Because sometimes I didn''t know my own strength," Cael replied. "Anyway, if you guys keep the skellies at bay, I''ll try and finish them off."


    "Yeah, sure. We''ll tank, sorry about that one which got through."


    "No problem, was actually kind of funny when it ran into the wall."


    "You can say that again!"


    KurtCobainsDogughed. "Yeah, if we don''t have to do the offensive work, then we can block them off and let Cael attack. Dan, keep your distance from these skeletons, they''re strong in close range. Use your sword to deter them. I think we got the hang of it in the end, just run away and let Cael handle ''em."


    "Got it," Danemy said. "Well, let''s see if we can put in a repeat of thest run. That was the easiest dungeon I''ve done, but I hear it''s really good EXP. Should be worth a level or so. Use your chance this time."


    They tried the dungeon again, and this time Danemy and KurtCobainsDog were more proactive and confident in getting the attention of the skeletons. They led the skeletons around, allowing Cael to easily stand back and eradicate wave after wave.


    This time, on the final wave, Cael targeted the Berserker as soon as it appeared. After a [Spark], it fell down heavily, since its feet had been raised to rush forwards from its spawn point.


    The other skeletons closed in around it, to prevent further attacks on their leader. However, after 5 seconds they were led to the side by Danemy and KurtCobainsDog, and Cael saw that the Berserker was still lying helplessly on the ground, barely seeming able to get up.


    Cael rxed, and charged a [Mana Sphere]. After 15 seconds, the skeleton had still not stirred, and Cael easily eliminated its remaining HP by projecting the wispy white sphere.


    Since [Magic Missile] had recharged, he quickly turned and took out the rest of the wave as well.


    Forpleting this dungeon, they received a good amount of EXP, and Cael found himself at level 53.


    He had also received 10 [Fragments of Nykur], which could be used to unlock a Mount named Nykur. He would need 100 Fragments for the Mount.


    From what he had heard, this Mount wasn''t typically useful, since it was highly disobedient. At the same time, it was the only way of essing a special kind of area known as the [Drowning Chamber]. These chambers can be found near major bodies of water, such asrge rivers or seas. If the Nykur was rode near one of these, it would run right up to the water, triggering a ''cutscene'' where it plunges the yer into the water and they end up in the chamber. Surviving in these underwater chambers would require a [Water Gem], which could prevent drowning for up to 5 minutes.


    Picking up this Mount wasn''t urgent, but he would probably try to unlock it eventually, for ess to exclusive content.


    Finally, he gained an [Uncut Random Gem]. This could be taken to an NPC in town to be identified and cut, but had a high chance of being a low-value gem. The chance of a higher-value gem could be increased by spending some onyx coins, but he didn''t have any. Either way, this wasn''t a great use of onyx coins, since yers with enough onyx coins to spare weren''t likely to becking for high-value gems.


    After waiting in the tunnel for a few minutes, listening to the wails of the ghost miners from the right side, the group headed out towards town.


    They took a circuitous route, approaching Kruxol from the South-West. On the way, they didn''t pass that many yers, since most yers had returned back to town after the news that high-level yers had returned. On Darys'' request, they did a few level 30-40 quests in the woods South-West of Kruxol, since Darys and a few other major DeathGang members were tired after the world event and were looking for some easy quests to stretch their legs and make sure they were ready for serious ones.


    The quests were fairly standard early quests, things like clearing out cers, helping to retrieve an item, or using basic Hunting skills to catch a [Sneaky Rat] in a trap. While the rewards were moderate, a few quests had useful drops like containers, healing potions, and 500-2,000 gold. Containers were quite valuable, since they allowed you to economise on inventory space: all items in a container would only take up one inventory slot in total. Once they were nearly done, Danemy gave his report to Darys, and the DeathGang leader replied that he would be bringing a group here in about 10 minutes.


    While clearing these quests, their red names had worn off, so they headed to Kruxol once done. Cael led the way a few metres ahead of the others, since he didn''t have a DeathGang tag and was less likely to be attacked straight away by Kruxol yers if seen.


    The sound of tentative whispering and chatter greeted them as they came close to the Kruxol borders. As news spread of the injuries and deaths due to the world event, a few groups of yers had taken to skulking near the borders of Kruxol and eyeing another excursion out. They monitored the wild areas, which were slowly growing quieter as yers returned, and nned safe routes to dungeons or grinding spots if things remained quiet. Since therger yers weren''t around, it seemed like a good opportunity for other yers to train undisturbed.


    As Cael emerged from the woods, a group of yers waved him over. Since he was unguilded, they assumed that he was an ordinary Kruxol yer who wasing back from a dungeon, and might be willing to help them n their trip. He could see that the higher-levelled members of the group were members of the Guild [Neuro], who had gained some poprity by staging hit-and-run attacks on DeathGang yers and other gankers while the stronger yers were in the world event. Their attacks had only increased after news that Darys had killed their level 53 leader in the world event.


    By now, the Guild was also part of a loose coalition named ''Kruxol''s Pride,'' made of Guilds who were still nning a fight back against DeathGang.


    He ushered the DeathGang yers back, then walked towards the Kruxol group. They walked up enthusiastically to the border before calling loudly to him.


    "Hey, man! Can ya help us get some gold?" one of the men cried hoarsely, wearing basic Archer gear.


    Not waiting for a response, he continued. "We need to get more gold, you know, to afford a room at the Inn! You know anywhere?"


    A level 40 yer cleared his throat from the back of the group, and attempted to rify. "My friends here are going through hard times, and they''re still freezing afterst night. They desperately need gold. You came from the South, know any good ces for gold drops?"


    He was named [XJHK33JDF], a name which Cael didn''t even attempt to pronounce.


    "Yeah, ''course. There''s a couple good ces," Cael said, raising an arm to point South-West. "Safest ones are out there, less people around. There''s a great quest out there, a goblin asks you to clear his cer and gives you a [Decorative Goblet] to sell for about 2,000 gold. That sound like enough for a few times in the inn?"


    Since Darys would soon be in the area, he figured that the [Neuro] yers would probably be killed if they went there. The three strongest, who were levels 39, 40, 49, all had their names disyed, and would die permanently. [Neuro] were a small-ish Guild whose yers were generally levels 40-50 at most, so losing these yers would be a significant hit for them.


    A level 23 female, with tussled and slightly oily dark-brown hair, raised her hand mboyantly as if seeking permission to speak.


    Cael gestured towards her to speak, and she began enthusiastically. Her youthful face was surprisingly lively, despite her bedraggled appearance. "Our friends here, they''re helping us out. Great guys they are! I bet we''ll be able to finish this quest, do you think so?"


    Cael nced at the higher-level yers apanying the group, then turned back to the female. "They look quite strong, I''m sure you''ll be fine. It should only need level 30 yers at most, so I think you''re way ahead."


    "Great! But do you think you cane? You''re pretty strong too. We need all the help we can get!"


    "Now, Elizabeth," the level 49 yer named [Arkkid] interjected sternly, "don''t hassle people, this guy''s only just got back and we shouldn''t force him to go with us. We''ll make it, it''ll be fine."


    Although this was reasonable, Cael sensed that the level 49 Mage was slightly haughty and invested in leading the group. As a result, this yer took umbrage at the idea of a higher-level Mageing along.


    "Yeah, but what if someone attacks?" Elizabeth fired back.


    "Nobody goes there, especially since the DeathGang guys are injured. Look, of all the peopleing back, how many yers have we seening from that direction? One. And this guy''s safe, nobody attacked him. We''ll be fine."


    "Yeah, ''cause they said there''s danger! And ghosts!"


    Arkkid sighed, and nced apologetically at Cael before replying. "Come on, Mara found out that the ghosts are in the North. People must have just got confused. You remember Mara, right? Her friends were there all morning, no danger."


    "Oh, yeah, Mara, she''s that girl who you guys want to put in charge of the Guild, right? With her as leader?"


    An old, haggard level 19 man interjected. "I don''t trust that girl, you know. She walks around town, you know, with less covering than a skinned cat. Like some kind of call girl, for shame! You shouldn''t trust her to be a leader, find someone proper and good-hearted."


    Cael held backughter as the group shuffled awkwardly.


    "Look, Mara is a good leader and, um, a good person. She''s helped us through a lot. It''s not fair to judge her on her clothing choice!" Arkkid said, suddenly blushing furiously.


    "Look, there''s no need to argue, alright?" Cael said. "I''ll show you guys the co-ordinates for the quest. Anyone have a map?"


    He turned pointedly towards Arkkid, who hurriedly epted this opportunity to re-assert his leadership role in the group.


    "Yeah, I''ll handle that," Arkkid said, drawing out arge local map.


    Cael gave the co-ordinates of an empty building next to the goblin''s, because it would be easier for DeathGang to box these yers into the building. Arkkid scrawled this down messily on the map, along with some makeshift directions.


    While Arkkid double-checked the map and sent a flurry of DMs to one yer who hadn''t arrived yet, Cael chatted with some of the other yers. He found out that the old level 19 was named Anthony, and the level 20 was named John. They were both Guildless, but had managed to tag along on this expedition. Anthony thanked him for helping, and said that it was sad that his friends nned to make a vile g like Mara leader when they could find a good-natured person like Cael instead. Cael agreed sombrely.


    Anthony went on toin that Mara had set off to the North and refused to help them, and she''d throw a fit if she knew that her Guildmates were helping out these ''undesirables.'' Cael said that they weren''t undesirables, as they actually must have a lot of fortitude to survive without a spot in the inn, and took the opportunity to ask a few questions about their situation. Due to the rare ttery, Anthony was very much willing to answer, asionally going off on entric rants about how Massie''s ''hypnotism'' was somehow responsible for Mara''s hold over his friends. Sometimes it was Mara who was using hypnotism, depending on whom Anthony decided was his b¨ºte noire in a given moment.


    Cael guessed that the antipathy towards Massie was partially due to a sense of loyalty towards the Temperants, who gave speeches and provided support on the streets of Kruxol. When he mentioned Massie''s death, Anthony''s eyes lit up and he began to rattle off a few of the details of what had happenedst night, as well as some wizened spection about how the killer could have snuck towards the Prayer Hallway unobserved. Cael almost got the sense that Anthony wished that he had been the killer. However, more importantly, Anthony''s knowledge of the Kruxol streetyout around that area was incredibly detailed, and he mentioned possible routes that Cael hadn''t realised were options, such as borate paths crossing winding alleys and through buildings in such a way as to avoid scrutiny. Cael realised that such knowledge could be very helpful to DeathGang, who were nning to invade Kruxol and would benefit from knowledge of theyout while fighting inside the city.


    While Anthony was heavily entric, Cael guessed that his cynicism and conspiratorial take on the Guilds were shared by most other street-dwellers. As such, it was useful to know. In many ways, this cynicism wasn''t much more crazy than the rose-tinted sses through which many Guild members saw their own Guilds.


    He knew that it could be useful for him to get familiar with these people, since the Temperants were known to often provide them support. Since they didn''t have a ce to stay, and were too low-levelled and sickly to go into the wild safely, they were often the most frequent attendees of Temperant street speeches. As Cael would soon be infiltrating the Temperants, in order to promote pacifism and surrender among Kruxol residents, it would be useful to get some idea of theirmon audience.


    Soon, Arkkid had agreed on a route, and finished sending DMs. The group would still have to wait for one member, who was runningte, so Cael said farewells and walked into Kruxol.


    Once out of sight, he PMed Darys the co-ordinates the group were going to. He got a quick response.


    Darys: neuro? those guys = bugs


    Darys: they do hitnrun stuff to our guys so they can boast in bars


    Darys: will dly take off ur hands :)


    Cael: ty


    Cael: Should be quick.


    Cael: Let''s hope they don''t get cold feet lol


    Darys: lol


    Darys: so much for kruxol''s pride lol


    Cael: :)


    Darys: btw, danemy just said one was lvl 49? nice target


    Cael: Yeah, ''Arkkid''.


    Cael: Also 40 and 39 in there, high for Neuro lol


    Darys: lol small-time yers + small-time guild


    Darys: yep good catch


    Cael: btw 2 non-neuro guys from kruxol streets


    Cael: seem to know the ce well, told me like 10 ways i could have snuck up to prayer hallway


    Cael: maybe capture them rather than killing, force them to help with invasion n


    Darys: not neuro? kk, then idc


    Darys: sure, will see if those are any use


    Darys: if they help with the city war, then tyvm


    Cael: kk, good luck


    Soon, Danemy and KurtCobainsDog met up with him, after taking a detour and entering through South-East Kruxol.


    "That was quite a rag-tag group," Danemymented.


    "I mean, they looked kinda gnarly. One or two of ''em could pass for being in a grunge band, scruffy lot," KurtCobainsDog added.


    Danemy turned to Cael. "Darys sent you''ve sent them to the South-West? Very polite of you. So will they all die?"


    "The Neuro guys, definitely," Cael replied. "But the others might be useful to capture, since they''re weak and won''t get away easily. A bit entric, but since they''re street-dwellers I''d bet they know all the niceties of the Kruxol terrain. I heard Darys was a bit worried that fighting thest part of the invasion could lead to unnecessary DeathGang casualties, right?


    "The part inside Kruxol?" KurtCobainsDog said. "Yeah, definitely."


    "After all, if defenders get entrenched in the town, hounding them out will be more difficult than open battle" Danemy said. "Even if we''d generally beat these guys easily in the open, in their town it''ll be tough."


    "Yep. So maybe getting info from some of the street guys could actually be useful, I''m sure they''d happiy offer it in return for a few supplies and protection," Cael said.


    "Yeah, all kinds of stuff we don''t notice in Kruxol, especially since we''re mostly East-based," KurtCobainsDog replied. "People with experience would probably be helpful in picking out stuff like where fights will be likely to happen, uphill and downhill segments, alternative routes, and other practical stuff we''d miss. Since you guys are going Temperant, maybe try and sound out if there''d be interest in our offer?"


    "True." Danemy turned to Cael. "Anyway, Cael, should we try the Temperant thing now?"


    "I have a few things to do, maybe in half an hour," Cael replied. "Is the doggying?"


    "He''ll make an alt, but will see how we get on with the Temperants first. He can help us with low-level content, if it''s any faster."


    "Alright, got it. But making new ounts now will make people think we''re alts. So maybe we should train up to around level 15-20, then wait for a while so that people won''t realise we''re new? After all, there''s plenty of low-level characters in town who have been here for days."


    "Yeah, sure thing. Anything we should do first?"


    "I guess it would be useful to have some information about the Temperants, such as what their names usually look like, the specifics of what they believe, how they usually behave, and so on. That way we can get an idea of their demographic and presentation, so they should be more appreciative."


    Danemy thought for a moment. "Sure, I think that Oud knows a bit about them, I''ll ask him. By the way, what ss are you nning on using?"


    "Well, for levelling up, it''s probably faster if we do a ssbination that works together. Not just the same thing. So maybe one ranged, and one melee?"


    "Alright, we probably want sses which don''t have to leave town much during their starting quests. Plus ones which we don''t know that well, to make it easier for us to look new-ish. I think that''s mostly Archer and Warrior. I could try out Archer, are you interested in warrior?"


    "Sure thing. Anyway, I''ll send you a message when I''m ready, shouldn''t be long. Just getting my early sub-ss quests done."


    "Gotcha, see you soon."


    As Danemy left towards DeathGang territory, Cael went North to look for the Cleric trainer.

 Chapter 156: Sick Burn

    Chapter 156: Sick Burn


    As Cael looked for the [Cleric] sub-ss trainer, he heard somemotion from the North of Kruxol.


    Walking over, he could see Dr1fter emerging from the Northern trees, covered in leaves and dirt from what looked like a long journey. div was already waiting, having received advanced notice.


    Presumably, Dr1fter was returning from wherever he had triggered the world event before. The choice of destination made sense, since the area around Kruxol would be less likely to contain many high-level opponents. From the looks of it, he needed a rest.


    However, he wasn''t going to get one just yet. Although his approach was quite secretive, a small band of level 56-57 yers had overheard him and tentatively surrounded him. They formed a tight ring around him, hoping to gain the famous scalp of a Hashin leader.


    One was charging a bright [Fireball] in front of his chest, keeping his blue-grey eyes fixed on Dr1fter.


    However, Dr1fter stood still, looking at the crowd around him as if underwhelmed.


    As the [Fireball] reached its maximum power, glowing brilliantly across the faces of the assembled group, the Pyromancer prepared to release it. The rest of the group, who were remaining still in order to prevent Dr1fter breaking free in a fracas, readied themselves to pile in when the spell hit.


    However, instead there was a loud cry from the Pyromancer, who followed it up with a louder squeal as he hastily dispelled the mes and dropped to the ground covered by ck char marks across his chest and legs. Dr1fter had activated the [Wheel of Fortune] Tarot card, and the mes had burned the Pyromancer himself.


    Dr1fter immediately took advantage of the gap in the circle of yers, leaping over the Pyromancer and vaulting towards Kruxol. He cast [Stealth Cloak], and snaked past a few yers who had rushed out from Kruxol to intercept him.


    As he reappered, he was struck by one arrow in the shoulder from a level 30 yer, but shrugged it off. A Hashin Mage surged to the front of the crowd in Kruxol and cast a 5-second shield on Dr1fter, which deflected away a hail of arrows cast after him.


    Soon, he had reached the town.


    div was waiting on the town''s edge beside the Mage, preparing to help if Dr1fter had to fight his way to the town. However, he calmed down as he saw Dr1fter walk up beside him.


    Dr1fter casually patted him on the shoulder and told him to stop being so excitable, then led the group into town.


    As the three Hashin pushed their way through the crowd, they were met with a volley of insults and invective. However, they ignored this and talked amongst themselves, although Cael couldn''t hear what they were saying above the crowd''s noise.


    As he watched, he was interrupted by a dwarfish, loudmouthed man beside him.


    "Hey,d, this whole town''s going to hell, eh? First DeathGang, now there''s Hashin here too!"


    This bespectacled man''s nametag read [Dwimothy]. Although he was clearly panicked, he kept his tone light as if he was just trying to strike up conversation and the town''s recent struggles were an interesting curiosity.


    Cael smiled and yed along with Dwimothy''s light-hearted tone, even though he found this bespectacled dwarf slightly grotesque. "Yes, but what if they fight each other? Then they''ll leave the rest of us alone, no?"


    "Ha, that''d be swell! But tell you what, have you heard the stories about the Hashin? They''re terrifying, you know. Reminds me of, my grandpappy used to tell me stories about the Nazis, how they would do all kinds of terrible things without blinking. Lots of them were ordinary people too, what a world!"


    "He told you that? Where are you from?"


    "The family''s Scottish and Welsh, but they lived round Ukraine and Pnd back then! It was a bad experience, haw haw, now we''re back in Scond."


    "Huh, so your family were around the Eastern front? Crazy ce. Yeah, all sorts of ordinary menmitting atrocities there. The Soviets too -"


    "Oh, yeah, I heard all about that too. Nobody there that you could trust. Such awful scenes."


    He seemed slightly muted, since he clearly enjoyed talking about his own experiences more than about history or politics. Cael, for his part, didn''t mind the dwarf''s sudden quietness, since his earlier boisterous, loud voice had been painful to the ear.


    "Uh huh. I''m also from there. I''ve heard all sorts of stories, even from the more recent wars. War shows a different side of people, that much is clear."


    "Yeah, that''s true -"


    He cut off his sentence as soon as he saw the Hashin walking nearby, making their way through the crowd only a few metres away. The dwarfish man ran up to them and started shouting, clearly excited about making a scene.


    "Why''d you have toe here for? I told your friends, go away, you''re not wee here! We don''t like yer kind!"


    Dr1fter sighed and walked on, but div squared up to the man.


    "You should have learned from your Guild leader, he died messing with us. You want to join him?"


    "You''re just frauds and cheats, we''re not scared of you!"


    "But you''re scared of answering a question?"


    Dr1fter called out loudly, ushering div onwards. "Come on, d, don''t discourage him! Let him fight us, then his corpse will not be such a bother."


    On hearing this, div walked on, as he and Dr1fter headed towards the inn to rest.


    Dwimothy shrank back into the crowd, but looked deted and didn''t say much. His Guild tag read [Bastion], a Guild that had been made on the second day of the game by small yers in the area looking to help each other out. Cael could dimly hear him saying something about the weather being too hot, but ignored him.


    Instead, Cael strained to overhear what the Hashin were talking about. Since they were passing by, he could catch a few snippets of conversation.


    "I swear, Bastion noobs?" Dr1fter said. "The hell, it''s been days since Ist saw those jokers. Now I don''t know whether to feel pity or horror, I guess both."


    "Yeah, Kruxol isn''t for the faint-hearted," div replied.


    "I know, all the worthless refuse collects here. Maybe DeathGang will clear it up someday, but they have their own dumbasses too. Can''t wait to get out... But we all need to rest first."


    The next few sentences were inaudible.


    "So with Awdi injured, his supporters are sureing out of the woodwork. Those guys think you did it," div remarked after a few seconds. "I mean, you injured him."


    "I heard some even saying it was you," Dr1fterughed. "See, you are a minor celebrity in this Guild now."


    "Maybe one day I''ll be a big-shot like you. By the way, you have any idea what happened to Awdi? He''s keeping mum on it, and his friends have been quiet too."


    "Maybe it was something embarrassing," Dr1fter said. "Otherwise, he wouldn''t make such a big cover-up. But I''m sure someone will know, he always has someckeys by his side and they must have saw. We''ll have to see if they squeal."


    "Some of his guys are also making up stories about how you double-crossed him, leaving him to die, and he heroically survived against a Stranded Guild leader. All lies, of course, but it makes him sound like Hercules!"


    Dr1fter guffawed. "It is ridiculous. But those guys always do this, whenever Awdimir does something they try to paint him as an ancient Greek hero. If he speaks, he is giving oratory like Mark Anthony, and if he fights he is Achilles. But it is impossible. Awdimir is the archetypal modern sess story: scammer, streamer, attention-seeker, cult of personality. But someone so modern will never be an ancient hero. The ancients sacrificed a thousand ships for Helen of Troy, but moderns sacrificed Bud Light for Dn Mulvaney. The gap between us is as vast as you would imagine."


    "Yeah. But what''s weird is, he was never known for being a good gamer when streaming. He was more of a casual that talked loudly, but not really good at ying... Male equivalent of a girl gamer."


    Dr1fterughed loudly for a few seconds, then finally calmed down enough to speak. "Yes, that''s exactly what he is. Sometimes you express things so well, div."


    "Thank you, sir."


    "Well, I think you are right, he must be receiving direct assistance from someone. But he hides it well. I wonder how he will do that now, since he can''t use his main character. Well, we''ll see. But first, here is an annoying bug."


    A level 28 yer, who looked about 15 years old, had jumped in front of Dr1fter and began chanting, "I SAW WHAT YOU DID TO THE PYROMANCER! BET YOU CAN''T EXPLAIN IT! CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!" He continued repeating this word loudly about 15 times.


    Dr1fter stopped and looked on with a bemused expression, before finally walking forwards and lightly elbowing the boy out of the way.


    He turned his head and spoke calmly. "Look, it is easy to exin! In one of Nabokov''s works is the phrase, ''Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.'' I did not cheat, your Pyromancer friend thought of Lolita while he was casting the spell, and that is why he has burns on his legs. But maybe this is something an ignorant kid like you wouldn''t understand."


    "CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!"


    "When adults speak you must be silent."


    Dr1fter walked off, leading his two Hashinpatriots. Soon, the crowd began to thin, and even the kid ran short of breath and sank to the ground holding his hands to his chest and struggling to breathe. Dwimothy had joined a small group of three males and two females, who were seemingly conspiring about what to do to get back at the Hashin.


    Veering away from the crowd, Cael began to search for the Cleric trainer again.

 Chapter 157: Soldiers of God

    Chapter 157: Soldiers of God


    The [Cleric] sub-ss trainer waited in a nondescript, empty street in North-West Kruxol, hidden behind the [Potion Shop].


    He was wearing arge, white robe that spread across the street, with a golden cross embroidered across the chest.


    "Greetings. I am Fjord, a Cleric who has kept armies healed through tworge, gruelling wars. Are you interested in joining the order of Clerics? We are emissaries of the gods, with great powers to heal and strengthen our allies. I can set you on the path of a Cleric, or do you want further information first?"


    This was his default message when meeting an unaligned Mage.


    As Fjord had raised his head to speak, Cael could make out that this trainer was a bald Italian-looking man with a long, pointed ck mustache. Not quite the same traditional, white-bearded wizard figure as the Pyromancy trainer.


    On the way here, Cael had been side-tracked a couple of times while navigating this rarely-visited part of Kruxol, and had run into the [Geomancer] and [Pyromancer] trainers on the way. He had checked on their skill trees and sub-ss perks, so he figured it would be worth asking the Cleric trainer for information first so he couldpare his options.


    "What information could you give me?" he asked.


    "Well, all there is to say about the Clerics could fill a book. So I''ll mention a few subjects of interest. Firstly, and probably what you''re most interested in, you could ask about our skills and sub-ss perk. Secondly, you could ask for general information about the sub-ss. Other than that, feel free to ask about the history of the Clerics, and things like the Marsa War, the Jormungandan split, and our rtion to the gods."


    The Jormungandan split sounded like it might be relevant to a future world event, since the world serpent Jormungandr would almost certainly be relevant to the Ragnarok plotline. Knowing about it in advance could be useful if it came upter.


    "What was the Jormungandan split?"


    "In times long past, clerics were first and foremost the priests of local gods, especially deities of earth, fertility or the harvest. That is, until, a few centuries ago, a group broke away to seek power from the World-Serpent - Jormungandr! These clerics grew more powerful than the original, because they were less weighed down with priestly duties. Eventually, they gathered their allies and won the Kama War, the most important conflict involving clerics since the end of the runic age. Since then, the Clerics have generally been viewed as less of a priestly role, and more of a form of magic. Nheless, the ''cleric'' tag stuck, because this form of magic was closely associated with those famous tales that every child knows, of ancient religious wars where priests on each side would strengthen and heal their men between battles. It''s like how we call it the ''missionary position,'' but you don''t have to be a missionary to do it."


    By now, the ''cleric'' or ''druid'' sses were an MMO staple, so games would include them while ignoring the religious connotations. In this case, the game seems to have hand-waved it briefly before ignoring it nearpletely.


    "Alright. What can you tell me about the skills and sub-ss perks?" Cael asked.


    "I will show you the skill tree for the Cleric sub-ss," the trainer replied.


    A skill tree, with the skills greyed out, appeared in a window in front of Cael. A fewter skills had their names hidden, and there were a few empty slots for skills that required scrolls to learn them.


    "Bear in mind that these are not all of the skills that a Cleric can develop. You can also gain many more skills with scrolls, and by doing high-level quests you will get many powerful spells. These skills are only the ones which are unlocked purely by levelling up your Cleric skill."


    Cael scanned the skill tree carefully.


    Arge part of it was dedicated to powerful healing spells, as well as passive skills which increased healing power. He could make out a few, strong offensive non-elemental spells, including [ck Star] and [Judgement]. Unlike the other sub-sses, these skills were based almost purely on INT, and did not require an elemental affinity to strengthen them. While this typically made them slightly weaker, since elemental affinity was a fairly high multiplier, for Cael they might get stronger.


    He plotted out a rough line between buff-enhancing passive skills, which increased the length, power, and potency of buffs. He would have to make a rough detour through a few healing skills in order to pick up a valuable buff which increased HP regeneration. That would allow his HP to replenish quickly. Most of the Cleric active skills, other than the rare offensive ones, were for healing, but if he mostly focused on passive skills then he could increase his buffing ability considerably. There were, however, also a few useful misceneous skills that increased MP and strengthened non-elemental spells, and these would be promising.


    As he closed the skill tree window, Fjord resumed speaking. "As for the sub-ss perk, you get a boost to non-elemental spells, an increase of 5% healing power, the ability to cast 7 buffs at once, and a 3% increase to buff effect. And all of that just for joining the sub-ss! So, want to join?"


    "Sure."


    A prompt appeared, and he confirmed his choice of the [Cleric] sub-ss.


    [Congrattions! You have entered the [Cleric] sub-ss. Fight and use Cleric skills in order to increase your skill EXP, to unlock and develop many new skills.]


    At the beginning, he just had two skills: [Holy Grace], a healing spell which makes allies'' defensive skills stronger for 10 seconds, and [Divine Mandate], an offensive spell which dealt half-decent damage and briefly slowed an opponent.


    "So far, you only have basic spells, but worry not! I will give you a choice between two powerful [Cleric] spells, but first you will have to prove your worth by passing three simple sub-ss quests," Fjord said. "For your first quest, you will meet a Crusader who is trying to cross a treacherous passage. You will be unable to use offensive spells. Instead, you must use buffs to help him ford the passage. Do you think you can handle it? If so, I will send you to the location."


    "Try me."


    There was a sh, and Cael was teleported to arge, green field. This seemed to be an instanced zone used for this quest. It took about ten seconds for the field to load, due tog, but soon the pixeted, misty array of green took on clear shape. A few small ponds of white flowers glistened in the sunlight around the edges of the field''s flowing, soft grass. Ahead of him, he could see a short, dusty mud-brown valley at one edge of the field, walled by treacherously bnced piles of round rocks. It looked like some of therge rocks would cascade down at the slightest disturbance.


    An NPC named [Geoffroi (Crusader)] was standing on the edge of the fields, facing the valley calmly. He wore a worn-out iron chain mail armour, with a white cloak hanging majestically over it and a ck cross painted over his chest. By his side he held a tall wooden shield, which stretched from the ground to his shoulder, and looked dusty and scratched like the armour.


    In the small valley ahead of him, another Crusadery dead and crushed to the ground. His equipment and appearance were almost identical.


    A message shed up on the screen:


    ''Geoffroi''spatriot has died, after sadly failing a Strength check. Please help Geoffroi to avoid the same fate, by buffing his Strength until it''s high enough to pass the Strength check. He is already close to the required amount, so one basic Strength buff should be sufficient.''


    The Crusader waited calmly, facing rocky passage. Cael cast a strength buff, and the Crusader set off, steadily holding off arge, round rock which rolled towards him from the right.


    [Questplete. Congrattions! The Crusader sessfullypleted his journey.]


    Cael was teleported back to face the Cleric trainer, who gave him his next quest.


    "Well done. You have begun to learn the importance of the support role. For your next quest, you will see it in action, in a battle. You will be transported to a battle between two warriors of your level. The fight is even, so it''s up to you to make a difference. Pick one party, and use healing and buffs to help them win out. The quest will be a sess when the opponent dies. Once again, you will be forbidden to use offensive spells. Good luck!"


    This time, Cael was teleported to a cloud-like in, which was currently empty. Once again, there was significantg during the teleportation, and this time it took him around 20 seconds before his new location even began to load.


    Nheless, it finally disyed, with fields of wispy, bright white clouds stretching on - seemingly endless - in every direction.


    Before the fight began, a grey-brown window appeared disying two options:


    [Which side do you choose?


    The Crusaders have greater HP, greater shield skill, and the chance to weaken the opponent for 10 seconds. Their HP and Constitution are very high, their equipment is advanced, and their Strength is above-average .


    The Temrs have greater attack power, greater sword skill, and the chance to slow the opponent for 5 seconds. Their HP and Constitution are high, their equipment is advanced, and their Strength is high.


    Choose wisely! The Crusaders The Temrs


    He recognized this menu as the same format used for selecting dungeon options as a party leader. It had the same, ck-veined dark-brown buttons, like a nk of wood after being drenched lightly in ink, and silvery text. However, this time itcked the emerald green ''Save'' button at the bottom, which would generally be used to confirm your selection. This meant that whichever side he selected would automatically be chosen.


    Both options were themed after religious warriors, which made some amount of sense given the clerics'' backstory as priests in religious wars.


    He looked through the perks of both sides carefully, to check if either would have a significant advantage. They sounded fairly evenly-matched, both quite defensive and relying on their high HP to grind their way to a win. It would be a war of attrition either way. In this context, the Temr''s higher Strength and higher damage-per-second would probably give a slight edge, since offensive advantages generally meant more at this level when units had few defensive skills or ways to mitigate damage taken. Sword skills here were much more effective than shield skills, since these units wouldn''t have many effective shield abilities to use. Further, the 5 second slowdown seemed more effective than the 10 second weakness, given that a slowed enemy would have difficulty attacking or defending and would lose momentum.


    He selected the Temr option, and the button turned a dull red colour, but nothing happened. After fifteen seconds passed, he tried selecting it again. Still nothing.


    After five seconds, the menu finally faded from view. It must have beengging. A round, roofless stone building emerged majestically around him, with its grey stones shimmering brightly over the almost blinding white-grey cloud carpet.


    The two NPCs soon materialized in front of him, separated from him by an elegant gold-lined ss panel.


    The Crusader looked the same, still wearing therge white robes over his rusty iron armour and shield. His enemy, the Temr, wore simr armour but had a flowing white mantle with a red cross painted on it, apanied with a white shield.


    They faced each other from opposite sides of the circr building.


    However, Cael noticed that the blue bubble which blocked offensive magic didn''t load. The two NPCs faced off for ten seconds without moving, as if waiting for the fight to trigger.


    A new prompt appeared:


    [ERROR! No team selected. Please select a side to begin the fight:


    Crusader


    Temr]


    Seemingly the game hadn''t registered his selection of the Temr team. He tried to guess at why. The menu used by dungeon party leaders, which the team select menu here had been based on, allowed you to de-select an option by pressing it twice. During theg after his initial choice, him pressing Temr again must have de-selected it. This meant that the game continued and loaded the fight, only to trigger a failsafe which prevented it from running without one team being selected as the yer''s.


    However, the fight being loaded ipletely seems to have meant that a few aspects failed to load. For instance, the rag-tag ''audience'' which generally watched these quest fights, which Cael had seem in a promo video about sub-sses, did not materialise. The blue sphere around the fight seems to have also failed to load, and Cael remembered a blue spark fizzling away right after the game moved on from the team selection menu. The game had seemingly produced an erratic version of the fight.


    However, did this mean that he could use offensive spells? He checked quickly whether he could charge a Mana Sphere, and he could. But he cancelled the spell without casting it. Both of these warriors were tough and scaled to his level, so it would be best to let them weaken each other before striking. With his buffed INT, he would stand a good chance against them, but it wouldn''t hurt to make sure.


    Besides, NPCs of the Crusader family were known for a strict code of honour. If anyone disturbed a duel between them, they would probably team up to fight this enemy. So Cael could have to deal with both at once.


    After slowly lumbering to the centre of the round building, the twobatants began to fight.


    To his annoyance, the fight was cautious and slow, with each side whittling away at the other from behind shields. At this rate, it might take a few minutes, even though it was just a basic Cleric quest. While he used [Holy Grace] to heal his side, this triggered the NPC fighter using a slew of defensive moves for a few seconds which just drew out the fight further.


    He checked the quest log, and saw that the quest only required the other side dying, not his warrior actually dealing the final blow. Since the NPCs were both enemies which could drop items, and these items would be scaled to his level, it would be more beneficial to kill them. As long as the Crusader died slightly earlier, he should still be able to im the questpletion.


    As such, he targeted both of them with a [Magic Missile]. Due to his high INT, this took off about 40% of their HP each, despite the level scaling.


    The ''Crusader'' warrior charged towards him, but fell to the ground after a [Spark]. However, the Crusader valiantly got up, and urged his fellow warrior to join him, screaming something about ''smiting the unchivalrous.''


    Soon, the other warrior followed, but Cael had begun to charge a [Mana Sphere] and cast it at the Temr, who fell backwards at the powerful impact. A further [Mana Beam] weakened him until he was almost on par with the Crusader''s HP. Finally, he sent the Temr flying back with [Mana Strike], making sure that the Crusader was closer to him and would be the first one struck by a [Magic Missile] AoE attack.


    Joining the Cleric sub-ss had increased his MP, and lowered the MP cost of non-elemental spells, meaning that these simple spells were now very low-cost and he still had enough for a few spells. Skills like [Spark] and [Mana Strike] barely drained his MP reserves at all.


    After Cael cast [Dark''s Tendrils] and another [Magic Missile], both of the warriors were dead.


    For his troubles, he got [Crusader Light Armour], a ck-and-white [Temr Cape], which enhanced Constitution, and a pair of white [Temr Gloves] with a red cross on them, which increased the power of buffs cast on the user by 5%. He wore the [Crusader Light Armour], since it was better than the armour that he was currently wearing, and the [Temr Gloves]. The gloves were actually quite over-powered at this stage, and yers probably weren''t supposed to have them at this stage. It was an oversight that they had been given to the Temr NPC here on the assumption that yers couldn''t take them.


    Wearing the gloves increased the power of his INT buffs, including the hidden ones, and made his high INT even more extreme.


    After half a minute, he was teleported back to Kruxol.


    "Congrattions onpleting this quest. Your journey as a Cleric has begun!" Fjord said. "Did you notice the difference which healing and buffs gave to your side? For your next task, I will summon a small goblin. Damage it using [Divine Mandate], then heal it with [Holy Grace]."


    A green goblin, around knee-high, appeared in a burst of smoke beside Fjord. Cael first attacked it with [Divine Mandate], causing it to stumble back and frown, before healing its HP back with [Holy Grace].


    "Very good. You may now kill it with an offensive spell of your choice, and take its gold stash."


    Cael quickly killed the goblin with a [Mana Beam].


    "Excellent," Fjord said. "Well, killing goblins for their hoarded gold is all well and good, but, in the process, make sure not to be as gold-obsessed as the goblin! Otherwise, maybe we''ll have to kill you too. Now, for your next quest, the final one before you get a choice of powerful spell scrolls. Actually, wait. If you want, you can take a short break. What do you say to that?"


    "No thanks, I''ll take the quest."


    "Very good. Now, padawan, please go to the North of Kruxol and fetch the [Sublime Nectar Flower], which can be used to enhance your new healing spells."


    Wait.


    "Did you just say ''padawan''?"


    "Yes, what of it?"


    "...Fair enough. Alright, I''ll do that."


    "Very well. Be on your way, grasshopper."


    Sighing, Cael checked his map and saw that the quest item''s location had been marked out. He walked out of Kruxol cautiously, following this guide.


    As he started on his way, he saw the dead body of the Pyromancer that had tried to attack Dr1fter. Although the burns weren''t enough to kill this Mage, they had made it too painful for him to walk back in time and were worsened when his Guildmates tried in vain to drag him back. A few opportunistic archers, probably from the Hashin or DeathGang, had sent a scattering of arrows towards him which was enough to seal his fate. Although it was difficult to tell from behind therge crowd, Cael could now clearly make out the Pyromancer''s name: [JoofAgate].


    What a queer name.

 Chapter 158: A Showdown in the North

    Chapter 158: A Showdown in the North


    Picking up the [Sublime Nectar Flower] was fairly easy, he just had to go up to arge, pale yellow flower, and wait five seconds for it to collect automatically.


    It was about twixe the size of his palm, and had twoyers of petals:rge ones which hung clearly out to the side, and smaller, nearly-white ones bending upwards over them. The small petals almost looked bleached. The description read, ''A precious flower, it can be used to create [Sunray Elixir], which enhances healing spells.''


    As he made his way back to Kruxol, he saw a small scattering of yers making their way out into the wild, but most had been scared off by the sight of the Hashin arrival. As such, it was a fairly peaceful journey through the Northern trees, which shivered in a cool, gentle wind as noon approached.


    Soon, he saw the edge of the tree-line and a few ruined buildings in front of him, a sign that he was nearing Kruxol.


    However, before he could reach, he was interrupted by a loud outbreak of shouting behind him.


    "Hey, Mara, I see someone!"


    "It must be the Hashin Mage Toby was on about, Mara! He went North to get herbs, bet he''sing back now!"


    "Yeah, Mitt, looks like Hashin to me! Let''s get him!"


    Thest voice was brusque and hysterical, and clearly belonged to a female. It must have been Mara, because the others began to charge towards Cael through the trees.


    Looking back quickly, Cael saw that these yers had been riding horse and donkey Mounts to save energy, probably on their way back to Kruxol after a long journey. However, they dismounted in order to chase him more easily through the trees.


    The trees here were fairly sparse, so he was able to run straight between them, asionally taking a long step over some soft bushes.


    Due to the movement speed buff, he was able to keep them at a distance as he raced towards Kruxol, although he had to veer sharply right to avoid one of them, a quick [Ranger] running in from his left. As he tried to weave around the ruined buildings to Kruxol, the yers kept shouting after him.


    "Don''t think you can escape, Hashin!"


    "We''ll protect Kruxol from you!"


    "I bet your leader''s shocked when he sees what we''ll do to you!"


    Mara was the most bloodthirsty and enthusiastic, clearly enjoying the thrill of the chase. Her voice was fairly high-pitched, almost carefree-sounding, but took on a gravelly vocal fry when she was excited.


    Although the Ranger nearly caught up with Cael again, a [Mana Strike] sent him flying away before the chase resumed.


    Kruxol''s buildings loomed closer, and it looked like Cael was close to safety.


    But, to the surprise of his pursuers, he suddenly stopped cold. He had found himself trapped by walls on both sides.


    In his rush, he had taken a wrong turn while winding around the abandoned buildings, and ended up in a cul-de-sac surrounded by three ruined buildings which blocked his escape. The doors to the buildings were barred from this side, so he had no way past.


    Giving up on escape, he turned to face his pursuers.


    They spread out to block his only way out. However, he noticed that the two males beside Mara seemed skittish.


    "Mara, wait! That guy''s not Hashin," the level 48 Ranger said, backing off.


    "REALLY? Then why''d he run away like that?" Mara replied mockingly.


    Despite her wiry frame, she cut a dominant figure among the group. The other two stood silent for a moment, reluctant to disagree with their leader even in an obvious matter. She stood confidently, like a lighthouse guiding herpanions'' roughshod ships, with her curly, blonde-dyed hair lighting up brightly in the sunlight.


    "But... well, don''t you see? Under his name, there''s no Guild..." the Ranger mustered.


    "Yeah, he''s right, this guy can''t be from the Hashin," the other male chimed in.


    He was a level 45 warrior named [Mitrias], and seemed reluctant to fight. He didn''t want to attack an innocent yer, and also knew that Cael was higher-level than him and any conflict would be a personal risk.


    Mara huffed. "Come on, you know Hashin can hide their Guild tag. Hashin are big cheats, you know? Stop being cowards. Let''s attack before he gets away!"


    Herpatriots were shaken by the charge of cowardice, since it wasn''t far off the mark. Mages had a fearsome reputation for powerful area-of-effect attacks. While Mara might make it through the fight, the two of them could easily be cannon fodder, since she couldn''t really shield them. And they had heard the rumours of IRL death, for which more evidence turned up with every passing day.


    They still backed away, unwilling to get involved in the fight.


    The Mage didn''t seem intent on a fight, so they hoped she would take the hint and de-escte.


    However, she was unwilling to admit to any mistake, and flustered by the Mage nearly managing to get away. After the Hashin killed her friend, she was convinced that fortune owed her revenge.


    Besides, killing a suspected Hashin would get her Guild more clout in Kruxol. After all, people didn''t care about the details, they always listened eagerly when she had a story to tell. Neuro had already won some fame by fighting against DeathGang, but the news that they were now targeting the more fearsome Hashin would spread the word.


    "Come on, you guys were leaping around everywhere to help in the dungeon! Why hide now?" she tried.


    "Um... I just have a bad feeling about this..." the Ranger replied.


    She shrugged in frustration, staring daggers at herpatriots.


    As she shrugged, her loose tank top fell off one shoulder, and she hastily raised a hand to slip it back on. Her face and hands turned a pale white from embarrassment.


    Noticing Mitrias staring at her exposed chest, she stared at him with rage in her grey eyes, a stare which caused him to stumble backwards with its venom.


    But, to his relief, she quietly turned her eyes back towards the Mage, who stood expressionless on the far-side of the enclosed area.


    Although herpanions'' behaviour annoyed her, she was confident.


    After all, she was a level 60 warrior, easily over Cael''s level. Her [White-Hilted Longsword] was brand new, a reward from a boss fight up North, and increased her max HP and CON significantly. And now she would get the chance to use it.


    Brandishing it calmly, she charged forwards to close the distance between her and the Mage.


    To dy her charge, Cael cast [Spark].


    About six metres away from him, her steps slowed to a weak, uneven limp as her body began to copse under the pressure of the mana. She had been expecting a [Mana Strike], and was preparing to use the [Fall Recovery] skill to roll to her feet immediately, but this spell caught her by surprise.


    Soon, her feet gave way and she began to wilt towards the ground. This was exacerbated as she instinctively used [Fall Recovery], but had no energy to roll and just fell awkwardly to the ground. Shey there clenching her teeth in pain, as she felt a sharp pain rise from her now-twisted ankle.


    This result was more than Cael was expecting, since she was a high-level warrior in good shape and could usually have braved the spell. However, due to his extreme INT the spell had overwhelmed her quickly, and been much more potent than she could have expected.


    Cael began to charge a [Mana Sphere], while looking threateningly at Mara''s two allies to make sure they wouldn''t try to join in. The sphere glowed brighter and brighter, and he could cast it at either of them if they got in the way. Whenever they began to step forwards, he pointed it towards them, leaning forwards threateningly until they backed off.


    They reluctantly stayed out of the way, but from their rxed expressions still seemed confident that Mara would win solo. They weren''t paying much attention to the details of the fight, except for nervously wondering if it was worth getting involved to appease Mara.


    Only Cael had noticed Mara''s pained expression as shey hidden by the shadows of the ruins, her face contorting like a white y mask over a fire. Her allies still thought everything was fine.


    As the sphere charged, he stepped away to the side in order to put more distance between him and Mara. Attacking from range was a significant advantage for a Mage, so he tried to maximise the distance between them.


    Finally, the fully-charged [Mana Sphere] was cast towards Mara, who was still groaning quietly on the floor - which in her light, high-pitched voice sounded almost like a whisper - and trying to get up.


    Toote, she saw its light sh before her eyes, and tried to twist away but had no time.


    It crashed into her with the sound of stormy waves on rocks.


    She ttened against the ground, and cried out in pain. The sphere hadnded in the area around her spine, left shoulder and the back of her neck, and she instinctively raised her left hand to the burning pain across her neck and spine.


    Her ankle was also ring up, after her desperatest-ditch attempt to avoid the attack.


    Her eyes widened, and she tried to push herself up, sensing that this fight was more urgent than she had expected.


    Before she could get up, Cael struck with a [Mana Beam], targeting her spine. This sent her t against the ground again, and her spine quivered anarchically at the impact.


    By now, she was on only 40% HP. The fully-charged Mana Sphere was incredibly powerful, when cast with a high INT.


    Frustrated, she let out a cry of frustration and jumped to her feet. She flinched violently when she felt a sharp spinal pain as she tried to stand up straight, and again after an additional surge of pain from her ankle. She almost fell down, but managed to lean awkwardly to the left until she luckily found afortable position to stand without her ankle hurting too much. Her hands were frozen around her sword''s hilt like centuries-old marble.


    Despite the pain, she was determined, and began to run unevenly towards Cael again.


    He took a few steps back, then cast [Mana Strike] to shove her harshly backwards. He had several ways to force her to keep distance, and with her aching spine it would be difficult for her to catch him. If she was at close-range, then she would usually have a clear advantage, but it wouldn''t be easy to get there.


    Due to her awkward posture, the spell''s impact sent her spinning helplessly back across the ground. She skidded bruisingly against the dirt, trying to keep some semnce of bnce, but eventually fell t on her face with a high-pitched yelp.


    "I knew it! You Hashin never y fair! But there''s no way I lose to a weaker yer like you, it''s never happened," she said, running her mouth to console herself as she tried painedly to stand up again.


    She sounded almost inebriated.


    She turned her face angrily towards her allies, and the Ranger hesitantly began to approach Cael.


    However, a [Magic Missile] was soon released, hitting both Mara and the Ranger.


    She lost bnce,nding awkwardly on her twisted right ankle, and threw herself meekly to the ground avoid exacerbating it. With no trace left of her early enthusiasm, she hit the ground like a leaf falling into Lethean waters, and found the dirt''s soft embrace unexpectedly warm andforting.


    Meanwhile, the impact sent the Ranger staggering back, and he was reduced to 35% HP by one attack.


    After looking nkly at his HP bar for a second, he began to run away, ushering Mitrias to join him in retreating to Kruxol.


    "She''s going to get us both killed! You know, maybe for good!" he shouted frantically, well aware that some yers hadn''t recovered from dying in this game.


    "Thatdy has a death-wish!" Mitrias replied.


    He was still bitter that she had caught him gawking at her breasts.


    "You said it!"


    Mitrias joined in the retreat, and the two set off hastily.


    Meanwhile, a sense of defeat setting in, Mara pawed at the ground in frustration. "Cowards... but I can''t give up just yet."


    She wasn''t used to being disobeyed, since she was one of the few females in a mostly-male Guild, and one of the better-looking.


    She looked after them in askance for a few seconds, then virulently kicked and shoved her way back up to her feet. As she prepared to charge Cael again, he cast [Divine Mandate], reducing her to 30% HP and slowing her down. She trudged towards him aggressively, but her slow run gave him time.


    He backstepped around the area while charging a [Mana Sphere]. When the slow-down effect ended, she finally managed to close in on him.


    As she reached about a step away from him, he released the [Mana Sphere] right between her ribs. Her face deted and she copsed backwards. The spell was stronger due to her proximity, and she now had only 3% HP remaining as she rolled helplessly on the ground.


    She had to use her legs to stop her motion, and shook heavily with pain as her ankle touched the ground.


    For a moment, as shey still, the area waspletely silent.


    Facing the dirt, she let out a intive sigh. She raised her expressionless, pale face towards Cael, propping it on her right fist, and spoke, barely a whisper.


    "Hey, that elixir you''re carrying... it''s from the Cleric quest, isn''t it? I should have seen it before. So you''re a Cleric who wasing back, not Hashin, then?"


    She pointed weakly at the small brown pouch hung around Cael''s waist, which he had been given to store the quest item. Her eyes looked towards it too, like someone in a dream who had suddenly be lucid.


    "That''s right," he replied simply.


    "I''m sorry! So sorry. Well, I screwed up, huh. Please forgive me, I''ll leave you alone, I promise. We''re not Hashin, who have to kill people in here, we can live in peace. Right?"


    Seeing Cael''s calm disposition, and stillness, through her clouded eyes, she assumed he was on board. But looking at her low HP bar, she shuddered violently on realising that, even if he let her be, any idental damage from the environment could still kill her.


    "Thank you, thank you!" she cried, through delirious tears. "Um. But... look, weird request, since you''re a Cleric, would you mind healing me? I can''t go back in this condition. I''ll make it up to you, I swear."


    "After you attacked me? You''re sure confident, asking for help after all that."


    Cael''s voice was gruff, but lightly amused rather than fully hostile.


    "Yeah, yeah, it was weird, I know! Um, but... look, I can be helpful, I''m, um, the leader of my Guild. Or I will be. Don''t look at me so skeptically! Actually, after this... humiliation, I doubt they''ll let me. But I''m still strong. And guys in my Guild worship me... Or they did, until you scared them away!" She tittered quietly, despite the situation. "Look, I can use my influence to help you out. Or I can help you personally. Honestly, I''ll give you anything you want. Just get me back to Kruxol in one piece, kay?"


    Cael knew that he had no way to hold her to that promise once she got back to Kruxol, and he didn''t trust her. While she did actually seem willing to follow through with her words as she excitedly spoke them, people like her were like leaves in a tempest wind, and could easily change their minds in the spur of a moment. As the possible leader of a minor Guild, she was unlikely to be able to offer much, even if she wanted to.


    She had seemingly been on a high due to the positive attention she received as a top Guild yer, as well as due to her looks. Due to this, she had been impulsive and over-confident, since generally she was used to things going her way effortlessly. After hearing about her friend being killed by Hashin, she felt powerless and tried to make up for it with this impulsive attack.


    If Cael wasn''t highly overpowered for a Mage at his level, he would have been in a difficult spot.


    But now he had won out.


    "So you''re going to lead your Guild? Why''d they pick a crazy girl like you?" he asked, with a hint of his stony Eastern European ent.


    She giggled. "Oh, don''t write me off like that. I have more talent than you''d think. You just made me <em>look </em>weak. Honestly, I''m impressed, howe you aren''t in a Guild with skills like that? I bet you''d be a senior member."


    "Sign-ups are closed. Good to know that if you''re going to lead a Guild!"


    "Ah! Oh yeah, heck, I forgot. Honestly, you could probably get far in a bigger Guild like Communion. They''re our allies, I could put in a good word for you if sign-ups started up."


    "Aren''t Communion pretty small as well?"


    She seemed surprised. "No, they''re like thrice our size, when I go to meet them they have tons of yers active... Well, I guess my Guild is a bit small. Maybe for some of you guys who know the big Guilds, we all look small. Heh." A sheepish pause. She knew that admitting her Guild''s small size didn''t help her bargaining position. She wasn''t entirely sure why she had bbed that out. "Look, I hope you don''t hate me for what I''ve done? You don''t, right? I''m so, so sorry. Just help me up, I''ll make it all up to you."


    She stretched out her warm hand.


    He began walking forwards gently, and her heartbeat skipped around excitedly, loud enough to hear.


    He began to reach out his hand, but instead of grasping hers, he used it to cast [Spark]. She withered back to the ground face-first, and, although her mouth opened to plead further, no words came out. Instead, her face scrunched up and tears began to flow freely.


    Thoughts raced like sighs through her mind. ''It''s not fair! I persuaded him! I thought I did - and I must have, why wouldn''t a guy... I shouldn''t die like this... I still have to know...'' She was cut off when her head went numb and she had to put her remaining effort into painfully continuing to breathe.


    Her ribs felt like des were sticking into them with every breath that swelled through them.


    Finally, as her face drooped weakly into the dirt, Cael used [Dark''s Tendrils] to kill her off.


    The tendrils wrapped around her arms and legs, which were spread like a starfish, and drained thest life from her.


    Since she had just been busy with dungeons and quests in the North, she gave plenty of drops. He''d have to go through them more thoroughlyter.


    Some of the more interesting ones he nced included an [Alchemist''s Mortar], which could be used to begin learning the Alchemy tradeskill, a [Sealion Ne] which increased Sailing skill, and a pair of [Starfish Gloves] which increased Alchemy skill. In fact, she seemed to have dropped a few more items from the Starfish set, which would all boost Alchemy. This would help when he started the tradeskill, which he''d probably try out in the evening when he was tired aftering back from dungeons.


    Presumably this meant she had been at the so-called ''Aquarium Dungeon'', a level 50 dungeon to the Northwest of Kruxol where yers fought their way through a set of ustrophobic underground tunnels bordering ake. Through ss panels, yers could see the teeming wildlife of theke, and most drops were based on an aquatic theme. The dungeon had an optional boss, [Poseidon Devotee], and judging from the quantity of drops Mara had fought that as well.


    She also dropped 100,000 gold, which wasn''t bad. He could get more by selling some of the items she dropped which he didn''t have a use for.


    There were a few items there that would help withter content like Sailing, he could keep them in [Storage] ande back to them when they became useful.


    He walked around until he found the entrance to one of these ruined buildings, where he hid behind arge, fallen stack of cupboards and drawers. A few people passed by on the way Northwards, but not many.


    He heard a few [Neuro] yers on their way to look for Mara, but they seemed to think she would be further North. They raced Northwards on their Mounts, not even ncing towards the ruins. A few of them got cold feet and could be heard returning to Kruxol, afraid to go out into the wild where Hashin had been seen so recently.


    While waiting for his redname to expire, he looked through his inventory again for anything else buried among Mara''s drops. He found something useful which he had overlooked in his first, cursory look through: a small [Vested Power Spell Scroll]. This was a rare drop from enemies of the type ''Devotee,'' such as the [Poseidon Devotee] boss.


    It allowed you to temporarily designate someone as a [Magical Puppet], changing a few things like the element of their next attacks to match yourst spell. In testing, it had been found useful for taking advantage of bosses with weaknesses to certain elements or types of damage. He wasn''t entirely sure about the details, and he couldn''t read the scroll clearly in the dark, shadowy ruins.


    He also found a few odds and ends among the loot, including a few iplete Fragments of various items, a [Kaxil Regional Map] which updated his map to disyndmarks in the area near Kaxil, and a few notes and postcards.


    Soon, the redname had worn off. He had a short walk to Kruxol, and in under a minute he was back.


    A few [Neuro] yers hovered around the edge of the Kruxol border, pestering anyone who entered with questions about whether they had seen Mara. However, he just shrugged it off, saying he didn''t know who that was, and made his way back towards the Cleric trainer.

 Chapter 159: No Such Thing as a Coincidence

    Chapter 159: No Such Thing as a Coincidence


    Returning to the Cleric trainer, Fjord, he was congratted on returning the flower.


    "Excellent! This is exactly what I asked for! Now, I shall purify it into an elixir, and invite you back for your next quest once it''s done. Before that, as a reward forpleting three quests, you may choose one of these rare, powerful spell scrolls!"


    Fjord held out three scrolls, all decorated with runes in deep ck ink.


    "The first scroll contains the spell [Healing Mark], a healing spell which increases in power if you sacrifice some of your HP. The next is [Citadel], which gives all nearby allies a shield that reflects away damage dealt to them. Finally, [Soul Fire] is an offensive spell which drains HP from the opponent, and has a small chance of buffing you andsting for 5 seconds extra. Choose wisely! I will allow you to choose from five more powerful spells once ten quests areplete."


    Cael checked through the scrolls'' descriptions. The [Soul Fire] spell sounded promising because it would allow him to regenerate HP while keeping opponents incapacitated. Further, it had a chance of buffing the user and giving them the ability to drain more HP from enemies with attacks. He was curious if this buff could be used with the glitch in a dungeon, allowing it tost for longer. After scanning the other spells, he chose [Soul Fire].


    The other spells would usually help make Clerics much more powerful in their support role, at this early stage. However, Cael had no reason to restrict himself to a support role, because his INT was high enough that his attacks were highly powerful.


    "Alright, excellent! Here is your [Soul Fire] scroll," the trainer said, handing it over. "You will be notified when I am ready for your next quest. Until then, try out your new Cleric powers!"


    Cael was eager to try out his new spell, but he noticed that he had a few PMs from Darys.


    Darys: this is ur mage  right?


    Darys: lmao i spammed crucis w/ pm''s ups


    Darys: ty for sending those guys 2 us, killed em ez


    Darys; 1 agreed 2 show us around kruxol, he = our prisoner


    Darys: also did u hear? neuro next ldr is missing


    Darys: nobody knows y tho


    Darys: all we heard in neuro chat: she bolted off after some hashin, her mount was 2 fast for allies 2 keep up


    Darys: wait a sec


    Darys: our spy tried pm''ing her, it says she died AYYYY


    Darys: lmao neuro having a mare


    Seemingly, the two [Neuro] members who fled the fight up North had decided not to admit their role in it. Instead, they gave an excuse based on Mara''s impulsive nature. It wasn''t unexpected, it would be more surprising if they admitted they had abandoned her to death. Since the killer wasn''t known, they would be instant scapegoats.


    He''d have to sift through the messages on his Assassin ountter, but he figured he should reply to Darys.


    Cael: hahahaha


    Cael: well idk what happened to her lol


    Cael: any idea where she died?


    Darys: heard to the west of kruxol


    Darys: i want to find the corpse, we could livestream it for neuro lol


    Cael: so northwest?


    Darys: howd u know she was north? but yea


    Cael: the neuro guys i sent your way told me


    Darys: o ofc


    Cael: theres probs dg members northwest, they c her?


    Cael: weird how she died but no1 saw it


    Darys: they r there, but no


    Darys: no sign of her, even neuro cant find the body


    Darys: would def be nice 2 find it first


    Cael: found any mount footprints?


    Darys: yea but they end nearish kruxol


    Darys: no idea where she went from there


    Cael: neuro guys said she''s busy up north, doubt she''s running a marathon


    Cael: must be close


    Darys: true true


    Darys: but our guys due west of there were wandering everywhere looking for good mobs, never saw her


    Darys: its like 40 mins since she went missing, how tf isnt she found?


    Cael: maybe somewhere w/o mobs


    Cael: there r some buildings + ruins there right? maybe check round there


    Cael: nobody goes there usually


    Cael: if not that maybe get spies to scry her in forteller house, low chance it works but could


    Darys: uh huh


    Darys: actually a good idea


    Darys: i dont think shed be there, but we should def check


    Darys: scrying is promising tho


    Darys: u can only scry on ur own guild right? + it has small chance of showing their situation ~1hr ago


    Darys: so we can try that in 10-15 mins if no1 finds it


    Darys: no1 does it normally bc high fail rate, doubt neuro will try it first, they r cavemen so will not think of it


    Cael: yea its a long shot ur right


    Cael: she might not be there


    Cael: but who knows


    Cael: good luck


    Darys: ty


    Darys: y not check pricing etc on forteller? then we can send spy alts there


    Cael: gotcha


    Cael hadn''t actually gone to the Forteller yet, although he had read about it. One thread on the official forums, soon deleted by mods, involved a bug to get the Fortune-teller to revealte-game content. So far as Cael knew, that was still possible. It might be worth trying it out, if he was going in that direction.


    He made his way over to the Forteller''s building in Northern Kruxol. It was only a short walk from the Cleric trainer.


    On his way, he saw a man dressed in [Forteller Robes], who was talking to a tearful young girl named [LarissaA] at the back corner of the Forteller''s building. They were both yers, and the man seemed to be posturing as a forteller of his own. Cael guessed that he was basically a scammer.


    "You were right!" she eximed, as he turned towards her. His name became clearly visible: [W0UNDE1TY]. "You were right, there really was a miracle! I found my mother''s ne again! It looks just like the stars you showed in the crystal ball!"


    The man frowned, then replied arrogantly. "Of course. I know everything about you. You should listen to me, or you will act foolishly again."


    "Yes, sir, but please tell me more about my future! You said that there would be hope?"


    "First, bow down to me. You are a lost girl without me, you have made so many mistakes on your own. What use is it to let you ruin things again? I must be your master."


    "Um, could you tell me first -"


    "No! Bow down, or I''m done with you. I will walk away. You know I have no time for you ying games." He made as if to walk away.


    She bent the knee in desperation. "Yes, sir - um, master. You''re right, I am too insistent, and that''s, um, maybe why my mother died. I kept telling her to be stronger and protect me. I need to stop."


    "Yes, it was your fault! You are a fool. You don''t deserve to have your future shown to you. You just deserve to keep hurting yourself."


    "No, please tell me! I have nobody now, I have nothing. I need you!"


    He pulled out a ''crystal ball'' from his inventory, although Cael could easily tell that it wasn''t a genuine one. LarissaA was gazing at it longingly, and W0UNDE1TY noticed and put it down with a huff.


    "Worthless brat, I know all about your past and future. I know everything about you. I am your God. What do you have to offer me, in return for this knowledge? Nothing?"


    "I have nothing left... only my mother''s ne now. I swear, I can pay you! Just give me a week, I''ll find a way to get money..."


    "I don''t trust you. Girls like you always make promises, then don''t keep it. If I tell your fortune, then you must follow every order I give you until you pay it off. That''s the deal."


    LarissaA seemed reluctant, but she had nowhere else to turn for guidance or hope. She felt dependent on this ''forteller.'' "You know that I believe in you! I would never fail you. I''ll pay it back... OK, fine, whatever you say. But please tell me!"


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Alright," he said. "You are a Capricorn, correct? No wonder you''re stubborn and disobedient. I believe I gave you a horoscopest time, which you still haven''t paid for."


    "I will, I swear!"


    "I don''t trust you! You have barely given me anything, even though without me you would have given up on finding the ne! Don''t you feel ashamed? Don''t you hate yourself for this?"


    "Yes! I feel terrible about it, honestly. Please don''t think I''m a waste of time."


    Cael was overhearing this, and thought it a strange, transactional rtionship. Since yers were trapped in town and threatened by DeathGang''s recent victory, their outlook was bleak and they had little to strive for. Instead, yers like this girl were pursuing figures who promised them a spiritual guidance and hope, whether Massie or this sleazy ''forteller.'' This at least fulfilled her psychological needs. But the man had to keep stringing her on with his promise of ''mystical,'' infallible guidance like a drug dealer, because outside of that she wouldn''t feel tied to him, especially since he was quite ugly and clownish-looking. All the same, she was impulsive and desperate, and could easily turn against him if she felt it would satisfy her psychological needs more.


    "Call me your master again," W0UNDE1TY promed loudly.


    "Uh -"


    "You agreed to obey! Is it so hard?" He was making a big show of preparing the ''crystal ball'' carefully. "Then I''ll find someone else, many people want my service!"


    "No! Show me! I feel so deeply about thest time... And how it came true... Please, master! I need to know!"


    As a few indistinct shapes began to form in the ''crystal ball,'' he held her by the shoulder. She was staring at the ball, transfixed.


    "I don''t care what you need. You must do and give more to me than you have ever given to anything in your life. You must abandon all faith and allmitments to the world that is not me. You must convert to me as your religion and your highest truth."


    She nodded numbly, but was almost in a trance and barely seemed to pay attention to his words. "OK, can you show it to me now?"


    "It will take a few minutes to get ready. But why should we do it in public, where anyone can see your secrets? Let us go to a more private ce. Here, wear this cor, ve girl."


    She twitched, but remembered that she had to obey. "Okay, master. As you wish."


    He ced a small cor around her neck, then dragged her by it. He dragged her away through the alleyways, soon crassly lifting her skirt with one hand and putting his other hand beneath it to lift her up when he thought nobody would see. He carried her away into the shadows.


    Cael didn''t bother to pursue them, because he was looking around the [Forteller''s Building], taking note of a couple of obscure stores and buildings which he hadn''t noticed on his previous visits. Many sold equipment for fortune-telling, ghost-hunting, or other odd, exotic pursuits.


    He noticed a dingy store containing equipment for a few rare sub-sses, including [Necromancer] and [Ancient Knight]. He hadn''t heard of the [Ancient Knight] sub-ss before, and wasn''t sure if it was an abandoned sub-ss or just difficult to unlock. Browsing the store''s selection briefly, he did see a white-and-gold outfit in a corner ssified as belonging to the [Holy Spirit] sub-ss. Since the sub-ss wasn''t implemented, it wasn''t for sale. But it did confirm that this sub-ss was nned at some point.


    After exiting the store, he walked towards the front of the [Forteller''s Building].


    Just to the right of the entrance, there was a small book stall set up, which was selling books on esoteric topics like astrology, ghosthunting and palm-reading. The stall owner NPC, a man with a long, white goatee whose face was hidden in the shadows of arge dark-brown hood, looked around at passers-by with the hint of a benign smile.


    Cael walked up to him. While the shop was a bit kooky, he wondered if some of the ghost manuals would have any information on the ghosts up North or in the Hunting Area.


    He greeted Cael warmly, with a slightly creaky voice. "Hello, young one! Would you like to learn of hidden knowledge, and the great secrets of the world? Why, maybe you want power, maybe you want answers to life''s many uncertainties, but you can find them all in the ancient, wise tomes here! What do you say? Want to have a look?"


    Cael figured there was no harm in browsing through quickly. "Yes, sure."


    "Thank you! Since this is your first time here, I can offer you a free book, selected from three used books here." His hand swept towards three, dusty green tomesid on a small stool to his side. They all had no titles written on them. "You may choose one. The first is called ''The Secrets of Palm-Reading,'' a great manual for beginners to the art; the second is the great kabbalist text, the Zohar: and finally, a mysterious book named ''Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside,''* about vampirism and soul very. Choose one!"


    Cael was taken aback for a moment, seeing this old man giving him such a simr offer to the one which the Cleric trainer had given a short time ago.


    But he tried to look through the books on offer carefully. Cael was quite sure that palm reading was not an in-game feature. As such, it was primarily a superstition. Its main use would be either to scam people, which Fortelling would be better for anyway, or impressing drunk girls. It seemed like a waste of a free book.


    He had already read some passages from the Zohar, and it wasmon enough that several libraries here would have it anyway. There was no point in getting it here when it would be easily essible.


    As such, he chose the third one, although he wasn''t entirely sure what it would contain.


    "Excellent!" the stall owner said, picking out the book carefully, flipping open the front page to show Cael the title, and handing it over. "Well, have a look, why don''t you?"


    Cael opened the book, and noticed that a lot of it seemed to just be a collection of urban myths offered as examples of ''vampires.'' Ignoring this, he turned to the beginning and quickly skimmed through the intro, when a passage caught his interest:


    Humankind has progressed to a teau of enlightenment where we condemn the very of one human being to another. Soul very is more sinister, however, because the phenomenon remainsrgely unrecognized and undetected.


    Many researchers believe that the spirit parasite can seize the controlling mechanism of the host-body and direct the enved human to perform horrible, atrocious deeds. The spirit parasite might imnt destructive thoughts in a host''s mind, such as the desire to witness blood, to sh themselves or others on the arm, even to eat some of their own flesh. After the act has beenmitted, the vampiric spirit parasite withdraws back into another dimension of time and space, thus leaving the confused human being alone, in a mess of blood, trying to figure out how they were driven to this despite being a normal human being before.


    Certain psychical researchers have created a kind of pattern profile of what may ur when someone has be the unwilling host of an uninvited spirit guest. The host-being may begin to hear voices that direct him to perform acts that he had never before considered. He may begin to use obscene and sphemousnguage in situations that make his friends or rtives feel very offended or ufortable. Friends and family will remark that he is acting like a totally different person. He may frequently see grotesque images of the parasite spirit as it exists in its paraphysical dimension.


    The evil inhabitation may reach a climax with the host-beingmitting murder, suicide, or some violent antisocial act.


    It is hardlyforting to read the reports of some investigators of such phenomena who state that possibly everyone at one time or another may be susceptible to a spirit parasite. However, several factors have been identified which make its appearance more likely. Alcohol and drugs leave the user wide open to spirit parasites, and people who are stressed and turn to alcohol for relief can easily fall victim. Youths are also more susceptible to the vampire''s influence. However, the vampires will at times attack people outside of its favoured demographics, and treat them in the same way. Exercise extreme caution if you ever have an experience with one, or with someone afflicted by its parasitism.


    "Are you happy with that? Do you want to browse our other wares?" the NPC asked as Cael looked up.


    "That was interesting, thanks. I''ll make sure toe backter, I have to check on the Forteller now."


    "Ah, most excellent. Yes, go ahead, I''ll still be here for two hours. I can tell you have an interest in the weird and wonderful, I look forward to seeing you again!"


    "Thank you."


    A sign beside the wooden door disyed the pricing.


    A scry was one of the cheaper options, at only 3,000 gold, but it had a low sess rate. Several repetitions would usually be necessary for a sessful scry, making this potentially a steeper price. However, DeathGang spies should be able to get a few attempts in, since spy alts oftenzily let gold pile up without using it.


    Other than that, a reading could cost upwards of 15,000 gold. A full reading by the forteller would be worth at least 50,000, with possible additional costs for bells & whistles. It wasn''t cheap. But it would give much more detail, and had a chance of hinting at future plotlines and ces your character should go.


    Cael figured that the full reading would be best with the bug he was nning to use. Fortunately, there was a discount for first-time buyers, and also an additional discount for Mages, so it would work out at around 35,000. He could afford thatfortably by now.


    Finally, he bought his ticket for the forteller. He was given a golden slip with his name etched on it and underlined, and below that the number #151. The number was probably used by the forteller to summon customers when their turn hade.


    He walked up the stairs and into the dark wooden building.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!