Fate Online...
Surface- Bronze Rock Region
Nation of Duran'thia- City of Dera'kan
Fallen Estates of Loranan
"So let's go over it one more time.' Jedidiah stated as he paced before Ava and the Portal Stone in front of her. 'You go into the Archive scope it out and find the Guardian there. Once you do, kick its ass then grab what you need and only what you need. More Guardians will spawn if you get greedy and will overwhelm you." Jedidiah spelled out the task.
Ava sighed and rolled her eyes, "I understand. You told me everything last night and this morning again. Don't get cocky. Don't get greedy. Get in, defeat the Guadian. Get what you need and only what you need, then get the fuck out. I understand the plan. Now, do you know what the Guardian is? Is it a Monster, Undead, or Construct?" Ava asked the Spirit.
"No, I have never needed to go into the Archive. The stories say the construct changes each time a family member enters to retrieve what they need. If you were going to place an item or information, you would never even see it." Jedidiah fumed as he continued to float back and forth.
Ava smiled, "You are worried about me." Ava laughed a little at that.
Jedidiah whirled on her with a scowl on his face, "Yes I am worried about you but not because of what you think. Your training took longer then I thought it would. If any spies of the royal family found out you are here, they will send assassins to hound you and kill you. The royal family knows the significance of this place to the Loranan family. They know our secrets and most powerful artifacts are located here. So I want you to succeed. If you die, we will have to spend more time here, which is unacceptable and dangerous. So yes I am worried, very much so."
Ava smiled at the Spirit before clapping his shoulder, "Well then, I guess its time for us to finish this up. I am going to head into the Archive. Wish me luck!!!" Ava called out as she touched the Portal Stone and activated it. With a flash of light, she was gone. Jedidiah looked at the after image and mouthed 'good luck' to it and hoped she would not need it.
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Ava opened her eyes and steadied herself. Books and items were everywhere. All of them carefully maintained and preserved, but Ava was sure if she even touched one the Guardian would manifest immediately. That was not the plan though, first, she would try to hunt it down before triggering any traps. Defeating the Guardian would force it to answer where the secrets of the Dragon King and proof of his betrayal were. Without that information, she could take weeks or even months looking for it in here.
Ava was far from a Rogue and had no stealth skills to speak of, but she knew how to be quiet as she slowly stalked through the Archive. Jedidiah had been clear that she would know the Guardian when she laid eyes on it. Once she did, she would Buff then attack. Hopefully, it would not detect her magic before she was ready to strike. Twenty minutes later she found a Spirit sitting at a desk reading a book and making notes. Ava considered what to do, if she used Analyze, the Spirit would detect it and could strikeout. However, if it was not the Guardian, she could face two opponents. Before she could make a decision, the choice was taken from her as the Spirit spoke up. "Come child. Come into the light, it has been so long since I have had any company." The Spirit called out taking her by surprise.
Ava shrugged her shoulders and strode out from between two shelves. She quickly Analyzed the Spirit as she moved closer.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Archivist Nathaniel Loranan
Level: ???
Health: ???
Mana: ???
Note* Spirits, for the most part, are a higher form of Undead and can both think and feel. Be careful when interacting with such beings for some crave the life once lost and seek to reclaim it at the cost of others.
Ava dismissed the information as she strode into the light of the nearby candles and studied the being before her. He had been about middle-aged for a High-Elf before dying. He appeared to have no weapons, but with Spirits it meant little. They could conjure weapons at will and since he was here and a Loranan, he was probably a Mage as well. "Welcome child, what is your name?" He asked as he studied Ava from her shoes to her staff and took note of the two heirloom armor pieces as well as the staff in her hand.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"I am Ava, an Immortal of the Loranan family. I was told there was a Guardian in the Archive, are you the Guardian?" Ava asked as she studied the Spirit right back.
Nathaniel smiled, "They are still telling that story...Those rumors always paint me in a nasty light. I am Nathaniel Loranan, the Archivest, and Guardian of the Loranan Archives. I suppose you were told you have to defeat me to earn the truth about what you seek?' Nathaniel asked with a smile and at Ava's nod, he chuckled. 'I suppose we could have a Duel if you wish, but you can always just ask for what you are looking for." Nathaniel said with a smile causing Ava to frown and fume at Jedidiah.
"That bastard Jedidiah---" Ava was interrupted by Nathaniel's laughter as he fell out of his chair.
Nathaniel took a couple of deep breaths before explaining. "Jedidiah was the one who sent you?' At her nod, Nathaniel continued. 'That boy was terrified when he came in here. He was not sent but snuck in. So I taught him a lesson and scared the piss out of him." With the explanation given Nathaniel continued to laugh for a few minutes before calming down.
"He told me he had never been in here. That bastard is a liar, should I even be paying attention to him or is he leading me into trouble?" Ava asked the Spirit who seemed to freeze and contemplate the question.
"That is a good question. What are you seeking? If you answer that, I can tell you if he is leading you into trouble." Nathaniel responded after a time.
Ava fidgeted thinking before nodding, "I seek the proof that the Dragon King betrayed our family as well as any information about our families' former allies. Information that we can use to redeem the Loranan family name."
Nathaniel snorted, "Then yes, he is leading you into grave danger. The Dragon King and his family will not allow anything to contradict their telling of the story of how our family fell from power. That bastard completely destroyed Rebecca with his betrayal. She tried to fight and win him back, but in the end...it destroyed us all. The Dragon King could not allow it to be known he had betrayed a powerfull ally so he engineered their downfall over the course of a couple of weeks. The heads of our family during that time, including Rebecca, were hunted down and killed. Our family was leaderless and scattered once the proclamation to exile was released. Our lands and fortunes were confiscated, but they underestimated our strength and our backlash made all our holding unhospitable to anyone but Loranan family members. The Necromancers of our family, once spurned by High-Elf society, became the greatest boon in our hour of need. They are the ones that held of the King's assassins and guards while the majority of our family ran." Nathaniel seemed to be lost in the past and the painful memories there, so Ava waited and considered her options.
"What would you recommend? How should I proceed?" Ava asked the Spirit causing him to frown before shaking his head.
"If you want to redeem the Loranan family name and destroy the Dragon Kings' allies, you will need what Rebecca left here. It will be dangerous and every assassin within a hundred miles of you will come after you once the Dragon King becomes aware of what you have." Nathaniel explained as he conjured a glass and liquid before sipping it.
"What would you recommend we do? How would we go about it?" Ava asked the Spirit causing it to smile.
Nathaniel smiled, "Before we get into that I want you to read through everything she left, then we will discuss that if you wish. Ok?" The Spirit asked and Ava nodded her head in agreement bringing another smile to the Spirit's face.
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Real World...
North American Alliance- Greater New York Conglomerate
Black Spire- BlackRock HQ
Anthony watched the news feed of the gutted city. Of the remaining parts of the city, buildings were collapsing or burning. "What is the estimated body count?" Anthony asked Adam.
"Seven-hundred thousand and counting. Buenos Aires is a slightly smaller city and due to the attack on Rio de Janeiro, some people who would normally be in the city were not there. This attack has completely crippled the relief effort of Rio de Janeiro due to the fact all the majority of the relief supplies and funds were supposed to be filtered through Buenos Aires. The interim Government was also stationed in Buenos Aires, it's currently unknown if any of them survived." the A.I. responded without emotion.
"Has anyone claimed responsibility for this attack?" Anthony asked the A.I. as Eve appeared beside her brother.
"No. Once again, those who are responsible are staying in the shadows so far. All remaining major governments are considering instituting a police state until the nuclear weapons that were stolen, are recovered or the perpetrators are caught." Eve responded.
"What are the chances that the increased security will catch the perpetrators or stop the deployment of more nuclear weapons?" Anthony asked as he ignored his comm unit beeping.
"Minimal. Based on this group's success and lack of claiming responsibility, they have planned this for a while. They have likely planned for the heightened security and may even have copies of each countries contingencies for their actions. This shadow group will more than likely have multiple plans in action to counter whatever security world leaders will put in place." Adam responded causing Anthony to frown.
"Do we have any teams in the region that could render aid to the affected cities?" Anthony asked as the nearby screen brought up a global map and zoomed into the affected areas of the Brazil Union. Several symbols light up on the map revealing various teams and what their specialties were.
Before Anthony could dig into the new information a priority communications came through. "Sir, the President of the North American Alliance is calling and demanding to talk to you." Anthony sighed and activated the comm unit minimizing the map.