Brent Roth - The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream (11 page)

Chapter 14: Anvil Descending

(March 3rd Game Day / January 21th Real Day)

By the time I had finished reading through everything my mind was boggled.

I didn't cheer or shout; I didn't even celebrate at all. I was still trying to take in everything that had just happened.

It was an Ancient Relic after all and was a timed event like I had thought, but for it to be one of the top ten on the server? Is there really such a thing? I mean, if it were true, why didn't one of the developers or researchers come and claim this power for themselves if it was so great? I couldn't really believe what I was reading, in my mind it was certainly embellishment by the developers.

In the Annals of History for Dragon's Wrath there is made mention of hundreds of Artifacts and Relics that held information or powers from the past, so it was reasonable to believe that there was a power ranking and one of those items would have to be ranked as number one.

If the game followed the mythology of the times then Lightning was considered the most powerful property of the Gods throughout the ancient world, from the Northern territories to the Mediterranean down through the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. If I was correct in my thinking, I had quite possibly discovered the most powerful Relic in the game, less than a real world month after it was released.

I didn't believe it.

I wasn't a lucky person.

I had studied everything on the game before it released and knew all about the history of the game and saw plenty of Easter eggs inside the "Annals of History" that was available on Dragon's Wrath's website.

It was a huge compendium filled with hundreds of pages of lore that was a fun read in its own right. I knew these things existed even though they were only hinted at. I knew it when I saw that odd weather pattern, when I saw that anvil.

But to think that my over-attentiveness that I have often considered a curse, to think that because of that bad quirk that I can't stop no matter how hard I try, I would have been able to come across one of the best powers in the game?

I didn't believe it.

Shaking my head in disbelief, thinking the game had pulled a prank on me and some celebrity was going to pop up around the corner with a camera crew, I quickly opened up my Character Window and browsed through the tabs where information about me was stored.

As I clicked through a few tabs to get to the Spells > Lightning Spells, I found a list of every Lightning Spell that existed that would be available to me in due time. All but one was grayed out but I had the innate knowledge now. I wouldn't need any NPC trainer to teach me anything, ever.

As soon as I read the spell, it was like going through a crash course similar to what Neo did; I was able to learn [Lightning Bolt] instantly. In my eagerness I quickly read through the available spells and saw a few familiar ones that had been reported by Alpha or Beta testers but I also saw a few that weren't listed and ones that were obviously of such a high level that I wouldn't be able to use them for at least a year or maybe even two.

What really caught my eye was that there was a special tab to the side, Spells > Lightning Spells > Unique Lightning Spells. I clicked on the [Unique Lightning Spells] tab and saw a few spells I had never heard about anywhere and one only required a level four proficiency, [Flash Step].

I could learn this one within a month or two and from what I saw it provided the ability to essentially teleport short to medium distances via lightning, it was an instantaneous spell that could prove immensely useful.

It was a damn near cheat skill was what it was.

After a few hurried minutes reading through the potential spell list I was sold at least partially on the benefit of the Ancient Relic, I at least had the knowledge that others did not have.

I could work with that.

Staring at my hands intently, I then looked up at the cracked anvil in the distance.

The rain had stopped and the clouds had parted revealing the beautiful moon and its mini-moon counterpart in all their glory. Illuminating the mountain top with their faint light, I could finally look at the anvil with clarity. It had been reduced to a large pile of rubble.

Approaching the stones, I placed my hand once more to see if there was anything left and was suddenly shocked when the entire pile of rubble collapsed on itself in a puff of dust.

There was nothing left.

Changing my focus, I walked near the edge of the mountain and looked down to where the river ran some three-thousand and three-hundred feet below.

Clasping my hands, I closed my eyes as I went through the process.

Gathering the surging electrical energy, the raw power condensed in my hands was slowly expanding as I spaced my hands further apart.

A cluster of electrical energy, a ball had formed.

As electricity continued to arc between the ball and my fingertips I was in awe.

I had harnessed the power of electricity.

Looking off into the distance, I brought my arms forth and aimed at the river. The cast only took two seconds but as it was my first, it had felt like an eternity.

With the completion of the cast the ball of electricity, no, the ball of lightning surged off in a straight-line at near instantaneous speeds, leaving a trail of lightning until it dissipated far off in the distance. It was a straight-line skill shot that flew where I aimed it.

It was basic, but it was powerful.

[Lightning Bolt] cost a lot of mana relative to a [Fireball] or [Frost Bolt] but it also did more damage and traveled much faster.

For short duration PvP fights, I would have preferred the burst damage of Lightning over the sustained damage of Frost anyways.

Reading the Spell-Tiers I realized what God-Tier meant and was quite surprised by the finding. [Lightning Bolt] like every other spell, has the potential to be upgraded once a proficiency with that individual spell is reached.

There are three such upgrades, one at level 4, another at level 7, and the final one at level 10 proficiency. The level 10 proficiency could take anywhere from two to five years to reach in real time and was considered Master-Tier.

Going above level 10 was considered God-Tier. [Lightning Bolt] at Master-Tier had a 20% chance to paralyze the target for one-second. [Lightning Bolt] at God-Tier had a 100% chance to paralyze the target for one-second.

That… is remarkable.

Yeah, this was a bit broken.

Staring at the moon, I couldn't help but wonder if the sun ever gets tired of always lending the moon its light. I also wondered if everything I accomplish in the future will only be due to the result of finding the Wondrous Legendary Ancient Relic.

There is no doubt in my mind, that no matter how successful or brightly I shine, some people will forever point to this moment in time as the precursor, as the only reason I am who I am. I may have found one of the greatest powers in the game, but from this day forward, how will people perceive me?

Just like the moon that shines so brightly in the darkness of the night, illuminating the world just enough to stave off complete darkness. The world stares back and appreciates the moon for what it provides, but in the end the moon is nothing without the sun.

The moon borrows its glory.

While contemplating what the future had in store for me, I packed all of my equipment into my bag and tied it around my body with the rope that I had.

After finishing up, I went and pulled out my little project that I had been working on. From two decently sized tree branches I had carved what amounted to rudimentary skis.

I had a plan to get down the mountain as rapidly as I could.

Sliding my feet into the grooves I had carved out of the skis, I waddled my way to the starting position.

Looking at the nice, clean gradual decline of the easterly slope that continued down the entire mountain in front of me, I couldn't help but smile.

There was a clear route that you could take all the way down, and I was sure it wouldn't be too difficult.

I then turned around and with a push skated down the opposite westerly slope, the one that was a near vertical wall, the one I had just climbed a few days past.

With twenty seconds of momentum built up I flew off the ledge and watched as my skis fell off into the darkness below.

While contemplating how long it took to fall straight down 3,300 feet, I enjoyed the view.

The answer turned out to be around twenty-two seconds.

Chapter 15: At the Base, a Woman

(Saturday, March 6th Game Day / Friday, January 22nd Real Day)

At the base of the mountain where I had built my log cabin, there was a large river in front that provided me with fresh salmon on a daily basis. Off to the side I had a cleared area, where I had felled trees in order to build my cabin. I had ideas of turning it into a pen of sorts where I could eventually raise some sort of livestock.

There was also a curious indentation in that clearing, about the same shape and size of a man's body that suddenly appeared the other night, but it will most likely forever remain a mystery.

Supposedly, there were no eye witnesses.

Having just returned from my trip in the mountains, I was eager to practice with my newly acquired spell and couldn't believe I actually logged out and slept normally the day before. Fully rested and fed, my real world body would have no complaints for quite some time now.

I paid that fee yesterday.

With the clock striking 8:00 AM, I would now be blessed with at least four hours of sunlight. So, with nothing important to do on my schedule, I decided to make my way south along the river for a little hunting.

Not long after I had set out, I saw a person fighting against two wolves off in the distance. Thinking to myself, I figured two wolves would be awfully tough for a beginner. But on the other hand, there were no beginners this far north.

And then it occurred to me, "Ah, that person is in trouble."

I wasn't sure if I should help or not as I wasn't exactly enthused at the sight of another person being near my territory. I had picked this area specifically because it was secluded and hard to get to. There weren't any towns or villages nearby and there shouldn't be very many users if any at all.

This was rather depressing.

But I better help; maybe I can lead them away from my house and back to the village… and just like that I drew my bow.

Running at a full sprint towards the person, as soon as I got within range I let off an arrow and with a
thud
the arrow had landed cleanly. The wolf that had been hit was shocked and yelped in pain as the other wolf turned its attention towards me.

Since the cloaked person was only defending themselves, I was now the premiere threat that had to be taken care of and both wolves charged at me.

I drew my bow and stood my ground as I took a sustained lead, matching my bow movement to the pace of the wolf on my left I released with a
thwack
. The arrow flew with pinpoint accuracy and pierced the wolf's skull, a fatal hit.

One wolf down and one wolf left.              

The second wolf was quickly nearing on me and I barely had the time to draw and release a nearly instantaneous [Snap Shot]. I could only anticipate where it was going and had no time to pace the wolf.

The arrow flew wide and landed harmlessly in the ground as the wolf entered within biting range. I quickly dropped my bow and brought out my woodcutting axe just as the wolf lunged and bit me.

As the wolf sunk its teeth into my fur and leather vambrace that mitigated the majority of the damage, I could just barely feel a few fangs that had pierced through.

The impact of the charge had knocked me back but I was still standing, if not staggered. I had taken a minimal amount of damage to my left arm but more importantly I was inhibited in my swing of the two-handed axe.

I tried to shake the wolf off my arm but it was to no avail, so I changed strategies and choked up my grip on the axe. All the while the wolf was continually tugging at my arm and nearly dropped me to the ground, but I maintained a knee and let the wolf pull. If it was biting my arm, it wouldn't be able to bite my neck.

I would take that any day.

Using my alternate strategy with a one-handed hold, I started to bash the axe into the wolf's head; not nearly strong enough to severely wound but more so in hope that it would release my arm.

After three solid hits I was able to break free and quickly switched back to a two-handed hold. Standing up, I took a high guard with axe raised and waited for the wolf to make the next move.

The large white wolf circled around me growling and baring its fangs while covered in my blood as the anticipation and suspense became nerve wracking.

Seconds had gone by in a flash as the wolf continued to circle.

It was much larger than the previous wolves I had encountered. I then noticed I could feel my heart beating in my chest,
bathump, bathump, bathump
. My breathing had become heavy, exaggerated and difficult.

The long sprint had winded me far more than I realized.

Turning my eyes slightly to look at my arm, I knew it wasn't that bad but I had still somehow lost nearly 10% of my Health.

The wolf had sensed my distraction as I was checking my arm and health and lunged at me once again, mouth wide and eyes filled with fury.

I immediately began my counter swing and swung the axe down with the force of a seasoned lumberjack, using all the muscles of the back and torso to twist and power through.

In doing so, the axe head cleaved straight through the wolf's skull, splitting it in two and dropping the creature, motionless at my feet.

As the fight had ended I made my way over to the cloaked individual who had collapsed to their knees in the snow.

"Are you alright? It's over," I asked.

To my surprise a beautiful woman looked up at me and replied, "I am well thanks to you, but I'm afraid the danger has not truly passed."

To this I simply shook my head in disagreement.

Gazing off into the distance, I proclaimed quite confidently, "As long as I am here you are safe from all manner of beasts in the immediate vicinity, though I make no promise for frost trolls if they choose to appear. If I may ask though… what brings you here to this forsaken land void of civilization?"

This was the most important question, I had to know, was there an influx of new players? Was there a town to the south I was unaware of?

The beauty simply looked downward, sighed and replied, "I thank you again for saving my life, I… I owe you my life. What I fear though is not a beast, but the Earl of Andal, for I was to be married to him but decided to flee into the forest instead."

Confused by what I had just heard, we engaged in some circular small talk until she finally opened up. After a long conversation with the young beauty I had come to the heart of the issue, she was in need of some form of assistance but I wasn't obliged to help.

Also of note… it would seem she is an NPC. There are no NPC or Player markers in-game so it's often hard to discern between user and AI out in the field, but a little conversation will quickly yield results. NPCs tend to be a little too formal to be mistaken.

It would seem as if I had a few choices to choose between: I could offer her assistance and protect her, essentially taking her under my wing; I could offer her limited assistance and let her continue her travels alone; or I could part ways with her here and be done with it.

The problem lies in that, if I offer her assistance after hearing her story, the Earl would become less friendly. If I offered her protection then I would be elevated to an enemy of the Earl. How the Earl would even know, I had no idea, but this is what I was told by her.

No matter how I cut it, it definitely smelled like the beginnings of a quest. The game had its own randomly-generated quest system along with the standard rigid quest system that was already in place.

That meant the game would evolve on its own through the Artificially Intelligent NPCs. But, taking such quests could lead to dire and irreversible consequences.

Presented with a conundrum, my mind waffled back and forth at the prospects.

A beautiful young lady in need of assistance but said assistance makes me an enemy to a local Earl, and I would eventually clash with his guards or users he employs on a quest. Does one help the beauty with the obvious consequences, or wash his hands of the affair and go his own way? Why are beauties such a hassle? It seems as if there's always a catch… sometimes I think it's just not worth it.

Yeah, I readily accepted to protect her.

She's a beauty after all, how could I say no.

It's like rescuing a princess from the clutches of some evil noble; I simply could not find it in my heart to refuse her. After declaring my intent to protect her, I was alerted by an event message: [You have gained a Temporary Companion!] [The Companion will follow and obey you so long as their Loyalty and Affection for you is greater than the requirement of the command or situation given] [Loyalty and Affection can be grown through interaction].

"What the f…."

My mouth nearly dropped to the floor from the sudden shock and surprise.

Getting a Companion, this soon in the game?

She's a knock out babe, and will follow me around in-game, and will do whatever I tell her so long as her Loyalty and Affection are high enough?

Oh the abuse this system is asking for.

The temptations are strong with this one.

Unsure where to go from here, the two of us headed back to my player home.

I had a lot of questions, after all.

Arriving back at the cabin I elected to start another conversation with my newfound companion as the atmosphere had seemingly become one of depression, "Consider this your home, all of the surrounding territory as well."

She looked a little puzzled at first but then nodded, "You are quite far from civilization…."

I couldn't deny that, "Yeah, but you won't find the area lacking. There is an abundance of food, fresh water, firewood, and the shelter is a sturdy one… if not a bit lacking at the moment."

My new Companion paced around the cabin as it lay, stripped bare of any creature comforts one might have been accustomed to.

There was a wooden bed, but it was uncomfortable and had no furs, sheets, bedding, or comforter. In the corner of the room lay my extra provisions while another corner was occupied by excess gear, but there wasn't much in total.

Besides the three corners being taken the 30'x30' singular room was quite empty.

While she continued to look around as if depressed or let down from what she was expecting, I immediately brought up the in-game browser to search for some answers on my mysterious beauty and the Earl I essentially declared war on.

After some extensive non-literal digging I was able to find some information on a quest from an Earl of Andal, which was quite far from where I currently was… that had players search for his fourth bride-to-be that had fled.

That story sounded awfully familiar.

Looking further, the majority of the users gave up on the quest as they were unable to find her, but one person replied that he had found her tattered clothing near the river where I had saved her.

"Ah, so that's it," I said aloud.

Having misunderstood my intent, she quickly turned around and apologized, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sound disappointed. I… I believe with a little decoration this can be a quite lovely home!"

…I see.

Ignoring her, I decided that she was a quest NPC fated to die to those two wolves, less she was rescued somewhere along her journey.

That's rather lucky of her, and me. And what a rather cruel quest chain too… I wonder if the developer had something against beautiful women.

Maybe it had to do with her personality? Well, it was too soon to tell, she seemed normal so far. At least she knew how to apologize for perceived slights.

I could appreciate that sentiment.

As I started to mull the information over in my head, I eventually realized the gravity of the situation; doesn't this make her a rare companion? She was quite the beauty after all, and it's not every day that some noble's future wife runs off… and if she was a quest for players then saving her was a direct challenge to the script.

I was intrigued and decided it was time to delve further into the depths of the interweb.

Reading through various forum posts, I had found the majority of the information was rather lacking. The game had an ever-evolving quest system that was created spontaneously by the individual AI's governing each NPC and the central AI's governing each town and region.

That was known since the Alpha and Beta phase, but what wasn't known was how Companions worked or where they would or could be found.

In essence, Companions were hard to find.

Companions that excelled at any one thing were even harder to find.

And for the majority of the players, the only way to get Companions was to increase your Reputation to a point where you could request one from a noble as reward for your services or purchase one through an auction of some sort.

Plainly put, I hit two jackpots.

The Ancient Relic, which was like winning the mega jackpot in the lottery, and then two days later the Companion, which was like winning a small sum from the slot machine.