Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds (2 page)

“It feels like Yvvaros has been occupied by an enemy force,” said Luke. “The game was like the wild west before, few rules and no law.” “But what are they doing here? What’s their end game?” asked Silverstrike.

“They’re here because nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Luke. “They have to do something, even if it’s just for show.”

“That’s probably why they left permadeath on.”

Luke’s hand clenched into a fist, and he dug the tip of his foot into the ground.

They disabled guild chat and kept permadeath on to keep people from wanting to go all in. Has it worked?

“It’s not the same game we started out playing,” said Luke. “They’ve changed it.”

Silverstrike didn’t say anything back. He set a hand on Luke’s shoulder. It felt just as reassuring as it would have in the real world.

“Kato!”

Luke turned to the guild hall and saw Tess running toward him. Silverstrike’s hand tightened on his shoulder, and Luke raised an eyebrow at him.

Tess is Emily, Ben’s older sister. But she’s also…

Tess wrapped her arms around Luke and he held her tight to his chest in a loving embrace.

“Hey,” he said. “Sorry it took me so long to get back in. My appointment was pushed back to the afternoon.”

“It’s fine,” said Tess.  “I kept myself busy enough, but I was starting to get bored.”

She pulled back slightly in his arms and her eyes met his. Luke gazed back into her beautiful eyes and delicate face. He cupped her cheek in his hand and leaned his forehead against hers.

“Please, no PDA around me,” said Silverstrike.

“Relax, little brother,” said Tess. “I just missed Luke, that’s all.”

Tess took Luke’s hand into her own and gave it a squeeze.

“Come on!” She pulled him forward toward the oasis. “Some of the plants in my garden are starting to get really big”

Luke followed after her to a small garden she’d begun to cultivate. The soil was imported from Stark Town, and the oasis provided the water for the irrigation system. The patch was carefully maintained in uniform rows. There were no common weeds in Yvvaros, which made gardening exponentially easier than in the real world and several of the rows looked almost ripe.

“Everything grows faster in Yvvaros,” said Tess. “In a day or two, some of the carrots will be ready for harvest.”

“Awesome,” said Luke. “We can sell them in the general store and bring in a little extra money.”

“As if!” Tess poked him teasingly. “We’re going to eat them. This is our own private garden. I’m not going to let some stranger buy it out from under us.”

Luke laughed, and then bent over to inspect the crops. Carrots, lettuce, turnips, green beans,  a small apple tree, and some other fruits that Luke couldn’t identify were all growing in the garden plot. Luke was impressed by how much work Tess had put into it.

I wish we could live here without having to worry about permadeath or real world politics.

“Luke?” asked Tess. “So what do you think?”

“I think you’ve done an amazing job,” he said. “I’m guessing all the work you’ve put in has raised your farming skill by at least a couple of ranks.”

Tess nodded.

“We’ll get a boost to our cooking skills, too, once we start harvesting. It will be great to eat something else besides bread.”

Luke stood with her for another few minutes by the garden. Being around Tess was its own therapy. He felt more relaxed when he was with her than he did anywhere else in or out of game.

“You’re back.” Katrina, the leader of Athena’s Wrath, was walking out of her guild hall and over to Luke. She was smiling, and her long platinum hair blew slightly as a gentle gust of wind passed through Dunidan’s Rest.

“Yeah, I just got back a couple of minutes ago,” said Luke. “What’s up?”

The alliance formed between The Consulate and Athena’s Wrath had originally been one of convenience. A large guild had threatened uniting their interests. They had joined forces in order to protect themselves from the much larger more aggressive group. It had worked, Luke had killed the leader and his traitorous second, and together they had run off the rest of the guild.

Now, the two guilds served almost as a single unit, pooling their resources to trade and to develop Dunidan’s Rest. Luke was happy to have Athena’s Wrath around, especially with a new threat looming on the horizon.

“If it’s alright with you, I want to expand the settlement a bit.” Katrina scratched her head and then gestured over to an empty corner of the walled enclave. “One of my guild members has been training her smithing skills and wants to set up shop.”

Luke nodded.

“That would come in handy,” he said. “I was planning on heading into Stark Town this afternoon anyway. I’ll pick up some iron ore and building supplies while I’m there.”

“Thanks.” Katrina walked back over to a group of her guild mates, and Luke moved toward the gate. Tess followed him with her arms crossed, an expectant look on her face.

“So… Can I go with you?”

Luke frowned. Tess leaned her face in close to his and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Tess…” He sighed, and shook his head. “I know being cooped up in here isn’t fun, but I can’t bring you into Stark Town. There are too many Arbiters around.”

“Oh, come on!” said Tess. “I’ve been stuck in Dunidan’s Rest for the past week. I’ve been training, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Tess doesn’t have a real world body to go back to.

“Not this time,” said Luke. “Get Katrina or one of her guild mates to hang out with you in the meantime. We can’t risk it until we know more about the threat, you agreed to that.”

Tess stomped her foot and rolled her eyes.

“Kato, I can’t hide forever.” She looked at him seriously for a second. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Luke sighed.

“I don’t want to have to worry about you, Tess. But I do.”

He pulled her back in close to him and gave her another hug. “Yvvaros is not the way it was, it’s too dangerous right now. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Luke turned toward the gate before she had a chance to argue further.

CHAPTER 2

The expanse of the Sarchia Desert in between Stark Town and Dunidan’s Rest was a sandy stretch of rocks and dunes. Luke made his way across more slowly than usual, taking the extra time as a chance to clear his thoughts.

I still don’t feel like I can protect Tess against everything. Yvvaros was never a safe place, and it’s more dangerous than ever now.

The Battle of Kantor was still fresh in his mind. Luke remembered just how close Tess had come to dying. He’d been able to save her, but only because he’d been granted a temporary skill upgrade that he still hadn’t been able to explain.

Conjure Sword 10… it wasn’t in my skill set the next time I logged in. Where did it come from, and why?

Whatever had caused the skill to appear, it hadn’t happened again. That fact made him much more wary about where he went, and just how difficult it would be for him to protect Tess if he encountered high level monsters, or something worse. He had to get stronger

Something moved in the sand in front of him. Luke pulled out his sword, a level 12 Obsidian Blade, and watched as a small, spiny, creature emerged from the ground.

SAND SCAMP: A dexterous scavenger, the Sand Scamp patrols the desert in small groups, looking for vulnerable prey and setting up ambushes. Highly intelligent, it’s rumored that the creatures create complex burrows underneath the surface of the ground.

Luke turned as two more Sand Scamps joined the one he’d already spotted.

CONJURE SWORD 3

MIRROR IMAGE 2

Using the familiar version of Conjure Sword, Luke began to maneuver around the scamps as his mirror images circled him. It was an effective mix of offense and defense, allowing him to attack the group without leaving himself vulnerable to retaliation.

The Sand Scamps were low level enemies. He used a conjured sword to pin one to the ground, and its health bar disappeared in an instant. Luke spun as the other two launched themselves into the air, dispatching them both with a single strike.

Maybe it would have been okay to bring Tess, after all. It’s not like the enemies around here give me that much trouble.

Luke sheathed his blade and made his way across the last stretch of sand to where the Sarchia Desert transitioned into the Inner Plains, the fertile region of grassland around Stark Town and the floating city of Kantor.

He could see Kantor in the distance. It didn’t look any different but it represented something new, something oppressive, since the Arbiters had arrived on scene.

Kantor had been seized by the Arbiters as their base of operations. What that meant in practice was that anyone who was interested in doing any of the quests available in the floating city, or buying anything from the merchants, or even just paying a visit, had to obtain express permission from the Arbiters first.

Back before permadeath had been a part of the game, Kantor had been the default bind point for every new player. If a player died in-game, they would respawn safely in the floating city. It had been one of the most active and dynamic places in all of Yvvaros.

Now it’s an occupied city.

Luke had heard stories about the in-game regulators.  They acted as the judge, jury, and executioner in the new Yvvaros hierarchy. There had been reports of players who’d gone all in being abducted, being taken up to Kantor, and never being heard from again.

On second thought, I’m glad Tess is still in Dunidan’s Rest.

Luke slowed to a walk as he crossed into Stark Town. With Kantor now mostly off-limits, the tiny settlement had become the booming center of trade and commerce in Yvvaros. The marketplace was packed. Merchants, NPCs and players alike, were selling their wares to anyone who would stop and look.

He pushed his way through a group of players heading out of the city. One of them stopped walking and turned to look at him. Luke thought for a second that he’d done something wrong, until he saw the look on the player’s face.

“You… You’re the Hero of Kantor!” The player shook his head and pointed at Luke dumbly, mouth slightly agape.

“I’m just Kato,” said Luke. “Kato of Dunidan’s Rest. Nothing to see here…”

Not this again. I was hoping that this would have blown over by now.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Kantor, Luke, or rather, his character Kato, had become a   celebrity in Yvvaros. Even though Luke had done his very best to make it clear that the victory had been a group effort, it was his face and his story that the people had latched onto.

“How did you do it?” asked the player. “I’ve heard about the battle. Is it true that you can hack the game’s code using hand gestures?”

Luke smiled and wiggled his fingers.

“Yeah, totally.” He rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m just a normal player. I don’t have any game breaking tricks up my sleeve. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m on my way to pick up some supplies for my guild…”

I’m starting to get sick of all of this attention.

He could still feel the eyes of the player on him as he pushed his way deeper into Stark Town. The settlement was alive with conversation and activity bustling from every direction. The smell of smoked meat and baking bread wafted on the air.

This level of immersion felt normal to Luke, but it hadn’t always. Originally, Yvvaros had been released with a much more basic version of the Gamesoft VR headset. The difference between the first and second generation, which connected directly to the brain using noninvasive electrodes, was like the difference between watching a movie and being a part of it.

Maybe that’s why I don’t like the attention and living up to the expectations of random players.

The merchant he was looking for had a cart drawn by the Yvvaros version of a horse. The beast looked like a combination of a dog and a mule but was big enough to ride or pull large loads. He made his way through a cluster of players to get closer and pulled out his bag of gold.

A couple of minutes later, he was slipping iron ore and wooden planks into his satchel. The bag was magical, as many things in Yvvaros were. The satchel could expand to accommodate objects of any size but it had a weight limit. Luke bought enough building supplies to bring him in just under the limit.

After buying Katrina’s supplies Luke headed to the Inn. The real reason he was in Stark Town was to learn anything he could about what the Arbiters were up to. He passed the bulletin board on his way to the inn and stopped to read the notices players could leave for each other.

He was shocked. Instead of the usual help wanted ads advertising quests, the board was filled with missing persons notices. Luke estimated there were easily 100 notices.

“Jesus…”

They’re abducting people left and right.

He turned to go. The thought of Tess’s face ending up on that board haunted him. He shook his head, trying to force the thought away. A worried group of players had shown up to scan the faces alongside him. Luke moved away from them.

Before he left, Luke stopped at a food vendor waving meat kabobs in the air and purchased one. Marveling at the depth of flavor, he wondered how the developers had managed to create such intricate detail. The contrast between the vibrant world the creators had developed and the bleak one run by the Arbiters was striking.

He was lost in his thoughts for most of the walk back, but was quickly brought back to the present as he approached Dunidan’s Rest. A group of five heavily armored soldiers, all of them wielding long spears, were standing outside the gate of the settlement.

The Arbiters have finally come for Tess.

He breathed deep and increased his pace to close the distance. Each Arbiter was wearing armor that looked as though it had been created to channel the brilliance and style of Kantor. Their breastplates and greaves were a mix of shiny gold and polished steel with a white cloak draped over their shoulders. Their helms obscured all but the faintest gleam of their eyes.