Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Another chapter!

Looks like we have this coming Friday and next Monday left before my hand surgery on May 1st. I may pause chapters for just a bit after the surgery. Doctor said about two weeks before my cast comes off and I transition to a brace.

Fingers crossed, it goes well!

In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter 17 - Hard-Mode

Awaken Online-Location Unknown

Jason

With a flash of multicolored energy, Jason returned to the world of Awaken Online.

He didn’t know where he expected to find himself. The game world was enormous, larger than many of the travelers truly understood. Perhaps he would respawn in the dry desert around Sandscrit, the frosty mountains north of the Twilight Throne, or even some newfound continent –one unexplored by the travelers and untainted by the Originals’ conflict.

Although, there was a certain sort of irony that he would find himself … here.

A dark forest loomed around him, one devoid of life. How could anything grow when no sun shone on these lands? Through the barren branches, Jason could only see churning darkness, lightning occasionally snapping and crackling through the cloud cover. Each flash cast shadows, phantom creatures that reached for him—that invited him in; beckoned him back.

In the distance stood the Twilight Throne. Its spires stretched up into that dark morass, lightning crackling along the lengths of the city’s ebony spires. Its walls were all but invisible at this distance, even with his Night Vision.

This had been home once, a city he had created with toil and bloodshed.…

Yet it was also a prison. One that kept him chained down, always on the defensive. He had spent so long - months - trying to protect that city.  From itself.  From Alex.  From Thorn.  From Gloria.  Despite all his efforts, in the end he’d only managed to save less than half of his people, allowing them to flee to Pax. His “Kin.”  That was the best he could do for them.

That was the trouble with caring about something. It made you vulnerable.

As though mocking his thoughts, the system conjured a notification:

System Message: Dark Mana Saturation Detected

You have entered the domain of the Twilight Throne, a land bathed in perpetual darkness. Since its fall, the city’s influence has spread, deepening its connection to the void and further empowering this effect.

• Dark-aligned NPCs and players receive increased stats and experience gain.

• Empowered Effect - Abyssal Surge: Dark-aligned NPCs and players gain +30% maximum mana, with dark spells costing 20% less mana.

• Light-aligned NPCs and players suffer reduced stats and experience gain.

• Empowered Effect - Eclipse Bindings: Health and mana reduced by 20%.

• Veil of the Fallen: The perpetual darkness of the Twilight Throne weakens the presence of light-aligned abilities, reducing their effectiveness and visibility.

• Scaling Effect: The effects of this aura increase in strength based on proximity to the Twilight Throne.

• Current Effect: 60%.

• The outer regions of the Throne have a weaker version of the debuff.

• The total range remains intentionally vague to avoid continuity issues.

Hmm, the empowered effects were new.  Maybe a product of the Originals’ return to this timeline and the expansion of the elemental cities.  Yet another wrinkle…

Soft footsteps padded through the dry earth, coming to a stop at his side. Even without glancing down, he knew it was Alfred, but Jason’s gaze kept straying back to that city in the distance.

“This doesn’t feel entirely… random,” Jason ground out, his features rippling and shifting as his Skeletal Illusion took hold. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Nothing that you don’t already know,” Alfred replied.

Of course, the AI had already picked up on his dark thoughts.

“You could build it again, you know?” Alfred offered. “Somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Much of this world is still unexplored and untouched by your kind.”

Jason grimaced. Hadn’t Frank suggested the same thing?

“Not so different from buying a beach house,” he replied evenly.

Except, he’d told them the truth.  There was no fleeing this conflict, in game or out.

“Piss poor place for a beach house if you ask me,” a voice spoke up from behind them.

Jason turned to find Alex emerge from his own rainbow portal, confused and momentarily disoriented. His gaze took in the dead forest around them before coming to rest on the Twilight Throne in the distance.  Jason’s Perception skill also picked out his fatigue. The circles under his eyes. His pale skin. Even here, he couldn’t hide it, this digital world a reflection of their own.

As Alex noticed the two of them watching, he summoned his mana, glowing panels of light overlaying his gleaming armor. Wrapping himself in confidence like a cloak.

“So, what now?  Is the plan to lay siege to your former city?” Alex demanded.

“No… no this was just a happy accident,” Jason replied, managing a lopsided grin—one he didn’t quite feel. Even the swarm that coated his body seemed reluctant.

It seemed they were both faking it.

“Besides, we aren’t strong enough to accomplish that. Not now - not yet.”

“Really? This from the same guy who claimed he was a one man army?” Alex insisted.

Jason laughed. “You shouldn’t believe everything you see on social media.”

Alex didn’t seem as amused. It might’ve been the ambiance, thunder crashing as lightning flashed overhead, casting him in a sinister glow.

Jason’s sighed.  “I may have put on a show for your father George and the other travelers. The reality is that this new… or old game world is much more difficult than the one we’re used to. Most monsters are several hundred levels higher than us. The races that live here aren’t human. They’ve lived here for centuries—time they spent training and honing their abilities. Even this world’s children would be a struggle for us.

“And that’s ignoring the PVP debuff,” Jason said gesturing at the air where two floating blue notifications hovered:

System Message:  PVP Penalty

As a result of dying while PVP flagged, you have been respawned in a random location.

Your respawn point is currently [Unbound].

Your stats have been reduced by 50% for 3 hours.

System Message:  Body Augmentation

All augments have been reset due to your death.

“See?  I can only summon half as many minions and the level cap has been reduced.  And that’s assuming I have the materials to make minions, which I don’t. I still have a few resources that I store with Bone Absorption but we need to use those sparingly. We’re also in a bad location and this area will suppress your own healing abilities. We should—” Jason began.

Alex didn’t seem to be listening. In fact, he was already walking off, heading deeper into the forest while grumbling to himself.  Something about “undead assholes.”

Joke was on him, Jason didn’t have any skin—anywhere.

“I wouldn’t go that way!” Jason called out after him.

“I don’t take orders from you… or anyone,” Alex yelled back over his shoulder. “Believe it or not, I can still accomplish things on my own.”

Yeah, so he was in a mood after the meeting.

“Are you serious? Do we really need to go through this again? I thought you learned your lesson after the Mile High Club,” Jason insisted.  To be fair, there was that part where he’d psychoanalyzed his daddy issues in in front of the whole world—two, technically.

            But he thought they’d moved past that during the meeting.

Alex hesitated for a moment, his feet skipping a beat but then he kept going.

Jason glanced questioningly at Alfred at his feet. “What's his problem? It’s like were back at square one,” he grumbled. “Why did you ask me to bring him again?”

“I believe the two of you make a good team,” Alfred replied with a deadpan expression.

Jason eyed him suspiciously. “Is that… another joke?”

Alfred never got a chance to respond.

“What is this?” Alex called out over his shoulder. “Some sort of undead squirrel? Should I be terrified of this too?”  The sarcasm was unnecessary.

Indeed, a small skeletal rodent crouched in the dirt before Alex.  In another life, it might have been a squirrel.  However, all of its skin, fur, and muscle had been stripped away, leaving only a bleached skeletal frame. Beady red eyes peered up at Alex from the sunken holes in its skull. It was almost cute, but appearances could be misleading…

“I would be careful—” Jason began.

“I told you, I don’t need your help!” Alex shot back.

The avatar of light pulled his blade with the scrape of metal, his mana surging and illuminating the trees around them. Despite his words, Jason could have sworn that light was dimmer than it had been before—back in Pax.  Yet it was still enough to make Jason nervous; enough to paint a bright target amid the gloom.

He started forward but it was too late.

With a squeal, the squirrel leapt forward at Alex, moving with surprising speed.  Alex swung hard, his blade a blur of light. However, just before he struck, the rodent’s body dissolved into streamers of darkness. It bypassed the blade and its fangs plunged between the chinks in Alex’s armor, cutting into tender flesh and blood soon staining his mail.

“Ow! fuck! Why does this hurt so much?” Alex demanded as he backpedaled and swung at the rodent with his offhand. However, its body broke apart again, re-materializing on a nearby branch and peering down at Alex’s expression mocking.

“That little fucker poisoned me,” Alex grumbled.

Indeed, Jason’s Perception skill picked out telltale black lines radiating away from the bite. Not only that, but a single attack had shaved off 23% of Alex’s health. He healed himself, which blunted the poison, but didn’t stop it entirely.

Meanwhile, Jason was trying his best not to laugh—which didn’t go unnoticed.

With a growl, light condensed in Alex’s palm before launching at the rodent. This time, the light was even dimmer before, like a flashlight with failing batteries.  The beam struck the branch and the wood exploded like dry tinder, fiery fragments raining down on the dusty earth below. As the debris cleared, Alex peered through the haze.

“I think I got him—” Alex began, only to cut off with a grunt of pain as the rodent materialized behind him and its fangs slice through the back of his ankle.

Alex dropped forward onto one knee as his leg gave away. “This little shit…”

The rodent was a blur of darkness as it darted around Alex – biting and cutting and clawing until the Avatar of Light’s blood formed a muddy slurry beneath him. His other hand flashed again and again as he tried to heal himself, his mana swiftly depleting, each spell healing less than the last, unable to keep up with the rodent’s attacks and the poison that riddled his body.

Alex glanced at Jason, his eyes filled with pain. “Are you just going to stand there?” He snapped, sounding more frantic now.

Jason raised his hands helplessly. “I thought you could handle this yourself,” he shot back.

“Funny! But if I die here it hurts us both—"

The rodent used his distraction to launch a final attack, racing forward in a blur of darkness, its body shifting between smoke and flesh so rapidly it was impossible to follow. Alex tried to raise his sword, but it was too late. His cry of alarm was quickly cut off as the beast burrowed into the tender flesh of his neck. He clawed at his throat desperately, trying in vain to stop rodent from clawing its way inside him. No longer able to speak, his eyes silently pleaded with Jason to help – to save him. To stop this gruesome massacre.

Except, there was nothing that Jason could do — not now. Not like this.

He could only turn away, the rest too difficult to watch…

Which is why Jason chose to record it instead.

As a, uh… learning experience for Alex. Also, for his stream.

Only moments later, Alex’s body fell limp and Jason’s UI notified him that he was definitely dead—as though the massive hole in his neck wasn’t obvious enough. The undead rodent emerged from the gaping wound, its ivory body stained blood red and little flecks of flesh clinging to its claws. The creature raised its snout to the sky and let out a squeak of pure fury, announcing its victory to the whole of the dead woods.

Which was… unfortunate. Terrible really.

But not entirely unexpected.

After all, Jason had tried to warn Alex. This area was way too high-leveled for the two of them alone and unarmed, especially with the debuff in place. Even the rodents were out of their league, which would have been obvious if Alex had bothered to inspect the creature. It was almost like he’d forgotten how… but that was ridiculous, of course.

Undead Tree Rat

Level 413

Wow. Okay, this might be even tougher than Jason expected.

It didn’t help that a “rapid exhalation” was coming from his feet.

“Now, that is humorous,” Alfred announced, sounding pleased with himself.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Jason replied dryly.  “But does this really seem fair? I don’t remember the residents and creatures being quite this difficult, even during my field trip back in time with Cady.” His eyes narrowed. “Did you make changes?”

The AI sobered, shrugging his feline shoulders.  “Possibly. I felt you could use a challenge – you excel when facing insurmountable odds.  However, you don’t have time to complain, do you?” Alfred glanced at Alex’s corpse with a meaningful look. The body was already cooling, which meant the window to match their respawns was closing quickly.

Thankfully, many more beady, crimson eyes peered down at Jason from the treetops. Dozens.  Then hundreds.  He hadn’t even heard them approach, his Listening skill failing to pick up the scratch of their tiny skeletal claws.  Just how high-level did their Sneak skill need to be to avoid his detection?  Although the reason for their visit was obvious.

No doubt they were drawn here by the cry of their own — by the promise of fresh prey.

And now all those murderous little monsters were staring at him.

“Well, shit. At least, it will be fast—” he began.

He never got to finish.

System Message

You have died.

Thanks for playing Awaken Online!