Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Woo, another chapter! And this ride's just getting started...

Chapter 20 - Death Run

Awaken Online - Location Unknown

Jason

The portal spat them out with an almost disdainful flicker of rainbow energy. Jason and Alex tumbled onto damp earth—breathless and battered, the scars of their repeated deaths not visible on the surface, but etched into their psyche.

It turned out, Jason’s intel had been right.  The game had a pity mechanic.

Specifically, for people who died too many times…

System Message: Death Run Detected

Your current respawn point is [Unbound] and you have died repeatedly.

As a result, your respawn timer has been reduced to five minutes.

Good luck out there! It looks like you’re going to need it…

“Whoever wrote these prompts is an asshole,” Alex grumbled from where he lay on the ground nearby, swiping away his own blue notification.

“Yeah, I’m getting that impression too,” Jason agreed as Alfred calmly stepped around their prone forms, took a seat, and began casually licking his paw—his expression mocking.

The fact that they were on the same page for once was a testament to what they’d just endured.  Getting torn apart by skeletal rodents had just been their first death—not even the worst. They’d since been decapitated, burned, poisoned, drowned, and generally abused by a laundry list of creatures of all shapes and sizes. Their corpses littered canyons, forests, deserts, beaches, city streets, and the peaks of several mountains – each death transporting them somewhere new.

On the bright side, their PVP debuff had finally worn off.

Jason sat up, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard. After so many deaths, surveying their surroundings had become habit, his Perception and Listening skills forced to adapt to a new need.  Jason didn’t need targeted details.  He needed a general snapshot.  He needed to absorb an immense amount of basic information in an instant—that split second after they exited the portal often the difference between living or getting brutally murdered.  Or eaten.

So, he’d adapted; had tried to apply those skills more broadly.

The sensation had been odd at first—like his mind was… expanding.

Yet with far too many opportunities to practice, it had become more natural, until—

Skill Evolution: Perception + Listening à Awareness

Through mastery and increased understanding of both Perception and Listening, a new skill has been formed, your ‘awareness’ expanding.

Skill Level:  NA

Empowered Effect: At the cost of detail, you can enhance your Perception and Listening abilities beyond their usual limits, allowing you to absorb large amounts of sensory information in an instant.  Cooldown: 1 Hour.

            The implications of that notice were… fascinating.  Could that apply to other skills?  Had Jason been missing an entire layer of complexity lingering just beneath the system’s surface?  One based not just on rote training, but understanding?

            Although, those were questions for later.

Right now, the whole “maybe-getting-eaten-alive-thing” took precedence.

His senses expanded as information flooded through his mind.  The trick was to just let go; just let it rush past.  Not try to focus or grasp at any one thing, just go with the flow.

Jason blinked.  First things first. No immediate threats, only the stillness of a well-maintained courtyard, untouched by chaos or conflict.

Another blink.  The grass was a deep gold—not green—swaying softly in the breeze, and towering trees with smooth stone trunks encircled the area, their crystalline leaves refracting the rich sunlight, casting fragmented patterns across the strange.  Overhead, huge rocky islands drifted through the sky, breaking through the cloud cover.  Smaller deposits of rock and crystal also defied gravity, clustering into small, swirling galaxies of debris.  The reason for that was obvious.  The air itself hummed with light mana, as if the very foundation of this place pulsed with divine energy.

Another blink.  In the center of the courtyard was a statue. The Lady of Light.  Her form was depicted with outstretched wings and a serene, watchful gaze—one that seemed to follow Jason.  An unusual contrast with what appeared to be suspended rings of polished rock and crystal that hung in the air over the courtyard as though held up by an invisible hand.

It almost looked like… an obstacle course.

Another blink. Jason’s Listening skill picked out the faint sound of voices and he went still, his attention shifting to a towering structure on the far end of the gardens.  It was built of stone and murky crystal which pulsed with an internal glow bright enough to turn it opaque. The three-story building was dotted with narrow entrances at each level, not unlike a coop or an open nest, built for creatures that arrived from above rather than through a front door. More mounting evidence.

They were definitely in Nephilim territory.

As his enhanced Awareness faded, Jason shook his head, his mind feeling too—a pressure behind his temples.  He eyed the patchwork of sunlight between him and that building like it was lava… which, it sort of was?  Unfortunately, this body had a few limitations.

“How are you already moving?” Alex grumbled, glaring at him through half lidded eyes as he cradled his head.  “Does dying not affect you at all?”

Jason shrugged as his Skeletal Illusion took hold, the swarm of tiny creatures skittering across his body and reforming bleached white bone into pale smooth skin. “Well, technically, I’m already dead,” he replied with a chuckle.  “As for the rest?  I guess I’m just accustomed to pain.”

He reached out with ivory fingers, sunlight touching bleached bone. There was a sharp burning sensation and smoke began to coil away from his hand — his health leeching away rapidly in the corner of his UI. Even more interesting, he received a new prompt:

Syste

m Message: Light Mana Saturation Detected

You have entered the domain of the Crystal Reach, a land bathed in light. In the aftermath of the Reckoning, the city’s influence has expanded, along with its mana, further empowering this effect.

·         Light-aligned NPCs and players receive increased stats and experience gain.

o   Empowered Effect - Radiant Overflow: Light-aligned NPCs and players gain an additional 30% maximum mana, with light spells costing 20% less mana.

·         Dark-aligned NPCs and players suffer reduced stats and experience gain.

o   Empowered Effect - Lightbound Shackles: Health and mana reduced by 20%.

·         Sunscourge: Direct sunlight inflicts additional damage to undead residents and travelers.

Warning: The effects of this aura increase in strength based on proximity to the Crystal Reach. Current effect: 30%.

Well, that confirmed Jason’s suspicions.  The debuff certainly wasn’t ideal, not when the Nephilim were already higher leveled and more skilled than Jason and Alex.

Jason watched as the sunlight ate into the bone, chips and splinters burning away into so much smoke.  This Sunscourge effect was going to be a problem…

“Masochist,” Alex muttered under his breath, horror lacing his voice.

He didn’t know how right he was — Jason even had the skill to prove it.  Although, he raised a fair point.  How many players could handle watching their fingers melt away?  Or expanding their awareness like he just had?  Was this really normal?

Those questions were uncomfortable.  Unwelcome.

Jason retreated into the shadows, his hand stitching itself back together as the light’s burn faded. He masked the lingering discomfort—both mental and physical—the same way he always did.  By keeping his body hidden and his humor sharper than his pain.

“What was that?  Did you want to reset again?” Jason teased with a grin.

Alex was about to snap back, but thought better of it, his jaw snapping shut with a click “Nothing,” He grumbled finally as he pushed himself upright.

Another upside of dying dozens of times?

Alex had become slightly more sufferable.

“Please, please tell me we’re finished with whatever crazy plan you've come up with that you refuse to explain,” Alex muttered. “Seriously, we’ve wasted a lot of time.”

Like he said… slightly.

“Only one way to find out” Jason began, his hand swiping at the air to pull up his map.

They were near the Crystal Reach, but exact location mattered…

Alex looked on apprehensively as Jason’s fingers tapped, swiped, and zoomed – homing in on their location. A gray fog filled most of his world map, much of the game world unexplored.  The exception were a few bright pockets. The locations of their previous deaths.  However, Jason pinpointed their location a moment later.

It looked like they were positioned south and east of the Crystal Reach, the border of the Twilight Throne looming to the northeast – now just a dark storm front on the horizon.  Pax was now far to the south, the mage city of Vaerwald resting between them.  That must explain why the prompt had indicated the aura was weaker here.

Which made this the perfect spot for the next stage of his plans.

“I think we finally found it,” Jason offered finally.

“Oh, thank the gods!” Alex replied, exhaling sharply.

“Don’t get too excited,” Jason retorted, swiping away the map. “We still have work to do.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Perfectly cryptic. You want to explain what exactly we’re looking for or why we needed to die over and over and over in order to find this random garden?  Or maybe what any of this has to do with unlocking your relic?”

“Not yet,” Jason answered curtly.

Alex just let out a growl of frustration – one that gave Jason some pleasure. He never thought he would say this, but he could finally see the appeal of kidnapping someone and keeping them in the dark. Not that he would ever admit that to Cady, of course.

“Then what exactly is the play here—" Alex began.

He cut himself short as Jason raised his left arm and the limb began to splinter and break apart, the shards of bone hovering in the air before him. Using his Custom Skeleton while the limb was still attached hurt—badly—but the pain was a manageable thing; a necessary thing. This was much more efficient than chopping it off, allowing him to salvage more of the bone.  He had precious few resources except the bones that he stored inside himself. He also couldn’t be sure yet that they could survive here or find new… materials. Which meant he needed to be sparing.

The bones merged and flattened to form four small spiderlike drones. Even as his left hand danced through the gestures of Custom Skeleton, his rights began to reform.  The bone slowly stitching itself back together as darkness suffused the injury and his mana regeneration repaired the limb.  His body was an infinite supply of bones… assuming he could endure the pain.

Which left the four little spiders watching him, their health already fading even in the shade.  That wouldn’t do at all, now would it?

His new little friends needed a few upgrades.

Lucky for them, Jason had thought ahead. He pulled aside his tunic to reveal the thick panels of bone that protected his abdomen. A twitch of his fingers and a small Soul Blade sliced through those layers, leaving a searing line of pain in its wake.  The sensation was fleeting and he was left with a gaping hole in his abdomen.

His hand dipped inside, removing a bag – one of many.

“And I thought I’d seen everything,” Alex murmured, watching in horror.  “Are you really storing your bags… inside of yourself?  Maybe I was wrong.  Maybe you’re just insane.”

Jason shrugged. “No, I just plan ahead. We might respawn more quickly, but we can still lose non-soulbound items on death.  Looters likely won’t think to look inside a random skeleton’s rib cage.”  He glanced at Alex, his eyes skimming across his equipment.  “If I were you, I would double check your own items to make sure you’re not missing anything.”

The five minute respawn window was short, but they’d died in areas with other travelers and residents — one of the downsides of Jason’s “travel plans.”

Alex’s eyes went wide, his hands patting his armor as he began to inspect his gear. “Of fucking course,” he grumbled. “At least, most of my equipment is soulbound—dammit, where the hell are my potions?  There’s a whole bag missing…”

Jason tuned him out.  Instead, he infused a small light mana crystal into each of the four spiderlike drones.  He’d made sure to stock up on plenty of the gems before leaving Pax.  As the gem settled into their tiny abdomen, the effect of Sunscourge faded to a mere trickle—at least, while they were still standing in shadow.  It would have to do.

“Scout the area – avoid sunlight,” he commanded, his voice firm and unwavering.

The drones scattered in all directions, their skeletal legs skittering through the grass and up the nearby walls – sticking to the shadows – before disappearing from sight. As they spread out, Jason watched their progress through his map. The light mana crystals embedded in their bodies also served another purpose, occasional pulses of mana feeding information on both the layout of their surroundings and the mana signature of its residents.

His eyes narrowed as pinpoints of ivory light filled the map.

“What do you see?” Alex demanded, still fuming from the loss of his gear.

Jason's gaze remained fixed on the display. “It looks like a village – a small, rural settlement. A few dozen houses, a handful of shops, a meeting hall, but… this is strange. The buildings are all ringing some sort of floating structure in the center of town. One filled with a high concentration of light mana…”

“What’s that structure?” Alex asked, pointing at the nearby tower.

Another great question.

“Only one way to find out,” Jason replied. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Alex opened his mouth to protest—but Jason was already gone.

Activating Sneak, he disappeared from sight, blending in with his surroundings. He moved like a wraith, sticking to the shadows of the wall.  When that was no longer possible, he flitted from one patch of shadows to another, leaving only telltale wisps of smoke in his wake.

He soon arrived at that large structure, pressing up against the mixture of rock and crystal.  Had the Nephilim built it by repurposing these strange trees?  That implied they were natural—not formed.  The crystal was murkier than the gems mined beneath the Crystal Reach.  It absorbed the light, collecting mana within its depths, but it was a feeble, dull glow.

Imperfect crystal, which explained Pax's monopoly.

At this distance, he could better make out the muted hum of voices inside. Peering cautiously through a doorway, Jason discovered a huge circular room. Terraces ringed the enclosure, towering more than three stories and illuminated by sunlight that streamed down from a huge hole in the ceiling.  Who had designed this place?

Like, did it never rain here?  Did rock trees even need water?

Wait… was that grass—was it real gold?

No wonder the Nephilim were so liberal with it.  Maybe Alfred had done this to justify using gold as a currency—much like the paper they used back in the real world.

Jason shook his head as his Perception skill picked out more details of the structure.  Each of those ledges contained plain wooden desks piled high with books and scrolls.  And, in the center of the room stood an adult Nephilim woman wearing a resplendent white robe, a crown of gleaming gold resting upon her brow. And sitting at each desk? Young, winged children, their laughter and chatter filling the air – perhaps no more than eight years old – at least, in human years.  Twenty, at least. Which meant, this must be a schoolhouse.

The instructor's voice resonated with authority. She moved gracefully across the room, each step exuding confidence. “Acolytes, please find peace and tranquility in the knowledge that we are but the Empresses’ servants,” she began.

The children quieted and she continued, “Good.  Today we will discuss the dangers posed by these so-called travelers who have invaded our kingdom.  Their influence has only grown in recent days and their presence threatens even our community of Asphodel.”

The children's eyes widened, their wings fluttering in anticipation.

“These travelers,” the instructor continued, “are unlike any monsters or being you have encountered. They come from another world, one far different than our own.  Only they can easily identify their own kind by some sort of peculiar marking that floats above their heads. They may also take on the shape or appearance of any of the six great races—even the Nephilim.”

An unsettling murmur rippled through the students.

“Yes, blasphemy of the highest order.  They profane the Lady by assuming the appearance of her children.  That’s why we must remain diligent.” She paused, allowing the gravity of her words to sink in. The children let out an anxious murmur of confusion.  

“But have no fear,” the instructor continued. “The travelers give away their identity through hidden signs. They sometimes speak in an odd tongue, using terms such as ‘loot’ to describe treasures, weapons, and equipment.  Or they may ask you for a ‘quest.’

“They are relentless in their pursuit of these quests,” she warned, “constantly asking questions about where to find the next task or how to defeat the next foe. They have a single-minded determination and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.”

Jason shifted uncomfortably.  It was strange to hear such teachings spill from the lips of a resident—for them to acknowledge what the travelers really were.  It broke the illusion.  A fantasy where this world was somehow independent from their own.

That small movement didn’t go undetected.

The instructor’s gaze swept to the door—

Jason’s Dodge skill saved him, time slowing just enough for him to slide back around the corner, pressing his back firmly against the wall as light bathed the opening.

He held his breath, seconds ticking passed, until—

“Remember, acolytes, if you encounter these travelers, exercise extreme caution,” the instructor continued, Jason breathing out a sigh of relief.  “Their presence has already disrupted the balance of our world, bringing chaos and uncertainty to our holy lands.  The destruction caused in the Crystal Reach is a testament to the threat that they pose—”

Jason didn’t hear much more, using the anxious chatter of the Nephilim children – those so-called “acolytes” – to retreat back into the garden.  That had been way too close for comfort.

“Great, you’re not dead,” Alex muttered when he reappeared.

He didn't sound too relieved.

“Not yet,” Jason replied.

“So?  What did you find?”

“It's a schoolhouse for young Nephilim,” Jason whispered back, keeping his voice low and eyeing that building in the distance warily.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound so bad… does it?”

“Not normally, except their instructor is over level 700,” he replied evenly.

“And the children?” Alex asked gingerly.

“Minimum level 400,” Jason muttered.

“Good gods.  So, what now? Do we die again or…” Alex trailed off, his question clear.

Jason grimaced and pulled up his character status.

Character Status

Name: Jason

Gender: Male

Level: 351

Class: Necromancer

Race: Lich

Alignment: Chaotic-Evil

Fame: 0

Infamy: 46,000

Health: 0

H-Regen/Sec: 1.60

Mana: 16,278 (24360)

M-Regen/Sec: 80.44 (100.82)

Stamina: 3294 (3680)

S-Regen/Sec: 15.44 (19.30)

Strength: 128 (160)

Dexterity: 133 (166)

Vitality: 29 (36)

Endurance: 154 (193)

Intelligence: 64 (80)

Willpower: 1284 (1605)

Affinities

Dark: 72%

Light: 14%

Fire: 12%

Water: 4%

Air: 4%

Earth: 8%

Even with the levels he’d gained while traveling with Cady and without the PVP debuff reducing his stats, each of those children were more than 50 levels higher than him. And that was ignoring the fact that the instructor was nearly double his level.  The loss of nearly eight thousand mana and 20 mana regen per second was also noticeable, his wounds healing slower.

For the first time, he was beginning to appreciate the other travelers' predicament.  Jason and Alex were among the highest level players in the game and even they stood no chance against this world's original residents.  So, what hope did the average player have?

Yet he wasn't going to give up—not yet.  He mentally inventoried his resources.  He only had a handful of basic drones, no combat minions, no augmentations, and they were in the middle of enemy territory.  With the searing sunlight and the debuff that suffused this area, even escaping this garden would pose a challenge.  Even if he managed the feat, he doubted that his Disguise would hold up to scrutiny if a stray sunbeam was enough to give him away.

Of course, he brought supplies, but infusing his limbs with a few mana gems wasn’t the same thing as finding a high-level corpse. He could also use his body to create more minions, but that took time. His eyes rose to the aerial obstacle course hanging over the gardens. He suspected it was the only a matter of time until those “acolytes” were let out for recess.

And yet… this place was perfect.  A golden opportunity, if you will.

            He just needed to come up with a plan, something that could—

“Hello? You still in there?” Alex demanded. “Should we commit suicide again or what?”

Jason’s attention snapped back to his haughty, demanding companion. The last few hours of getting brutally murdered had given him an excellent opportunity to consider why Alfred had insisted he bring Alex along.  He hadn’t wanted to, of course, but the AI rarely intervened in the ebb and flow of the game world.  So, if he was offering advice, Jason was going to take it.

However, as he surveyed the avatar of light’s gleaming armor and telltale ivory wings, the answer to that mystery was starting to take shape—one that conveniently dovetailed with the plan that was beginning to form in Jason’s mind…

“Are you finally willing to listen?” Jason offered skeptically. “Maybe even work together without running ahead and getting murdered by a squirrel?”

Alex grimaced, but nodded grudgingly.  “Sure.  Fine.  As long as you explain the plan.  All of the plan,” he amended quickly, almost like he'd been burned before.

Meanwhile, Alfred watched from nearby, those feline eyes staring with unblinking focus, offering no new hints or advice.  He’d certainly increased the difficulty level, but this location – this situation – it was a perfect opportunity for Jason’s plans – possibly even too perfect. Almost like the AI had manufactured it himself.  Even now, those alien eyes issued an unspoken challenge.

Could Jason make this work?  Could he win against impossible odds?

His dark mana rose to the challenge, that warmth surging through his bones.

There was only one way to find out.

Jason’s eyes shifted back to Alex, his swarm of undead skittering aside to reveal a slow, unsettling grin. Then, without hesitation—

He tore his own arm off.

Crunch.

Jason offered the limb to Alex. “You sure you can handle it?”

Quantity over quality.  He didn't have time to be precise anymore.

His companion took the limb grudgingly.  “What are you doing?”

“We’re going to need materials. After all, this might just be my craziest plan yet,” he replied, earning himself the perfect reaction from his companion.

Alex looked worried.  Really, really worried.