Melly and Thea huffed and puffed their way towards the summit of the massive hill that overshadowed the Pirate Bay. The trip had taken the trio well over an hour of hard hiking to near the top. During that time, Clemiticus followed closely behind, skipping through the long grass singing some strange song about a ‘Safety dance’.
Melly thought that their timely arrival at the luxurious holiday town would mean they would all get to spend some quality time relaxing. Instead, she was whisked away into their next quest, that involved marching south into enemy territory. She breathed deeply as she reached the top. The air was warm and dry, carrying the scent of salt on the wind. Before her lay an ever expanding yet deep valley of white sand and forlorn dunes. She smiled. They’d finally made it to the desert.
“Oh, damn,” Melly gasped, staring at the can of beans that was Clemiticus. “Remind me to keep putting my points into stamina when I level.”
Clemiticus nodded seriously. “Will do.”
It seemed the only thing Clemiticus took seriously was stat point allocation, and maybe loot distribution.
“How are you handling this, Thea?” Melly said, turning to the young girl.
“Bloody combat players!” Thea swore. “Why can’t I get stat points when I level?” she whined.
“Yeah, that sounds awful,” Clemiticus said mournfully.
Above the young girl, the green fairy fluttered its wings and stared off into the distance with an odd expression. Melly didn’t understand the whole combat verse town planner or whatever the players said. No matter how she tried to make sense of it, it kept coming back to more and more impossibilities.
Melly’s mind then fell on the meeting back in Pirate Bay. Clemiticus’ fairy had explained the quest in detail. It had said in its singsong voice, “To break the curse of the sea you must obtain the Ocean Pearl from the catacombs of the Merfolk, then take the Ocean Pearl to the seas and cast it back into the salty depths. The number of people who can enter the catacombs shall be the count of three. No more, no less. Three shall be the number of people and the number of people shall be three.”
Melly shook her head at the memory. The fairy’s squeaky voice still echoed in her mind.
“Four shalt thou not go, neither shall be two unless accompanied by another to complete the count of three. Five is right out!”
In the end, they decided that the three people would include Clemiticus, Melly and Thea. The town planner might be useless in combat, but she knew the area and her participation was mandatory in the completion of the quest.
Derrick had not objected, stating that he would take the whale and bird back to the ship and help Nuecus with his secret project.
“So, are we ready?” asked Clemiticus as he stared off into the distant sand covered adventure.
The girls wore a solemn expression as they nodded.
“You first,” Thea said flatly as she stepped aside for Clemiticus.
“Thanks,” Clemiticus said as he took his first step towards their new adventure.
Bing!
“Clemiticus has entered the Coral Desert,” sung the blue fairy.
“Melly has entered the Coral Desert.”
Thea followed one step behind.
A green light flashed, and a deeper voice sang, “Thea has left the safe zone.”
“Thea has entered the Coral Desert. Warning PVE and PVP have been toggled on. If you wish to enter game mode: Combat, restart the game and play in combat mode.”
“You sure about this?” asked Clemiticus.
Thea nodded and walked a few steps ahead of them. “I’m confident that you two will keep me safe.”
An idea flashed into Melly’s mind. “Hey Clem!”
“Ya?”
“You know that item you found when we ran around my hometown?” she asked.
Clemiticus’ eyebrows shot up. “Great idea!”
Thea looked confused as Clemiticus thrust his hand into his pants and pulled out a wooden shield with a large metallic cross guard.
“You might not be able to attack,” Melly supplied, “but I’m fairly sure you should be able to block.”
Thea’s eyes sparkled as she took the shield. “Wow, it’s so steam punk!”
Clemiticus nodded. “Yeah, looks sick.”
“Won’t you need it though?” Thea asked.
Melly laughed, “He hasn’t yet.”
“Plus, pirates don’t look cool with shields,” Clemiticus added.
Melly rolled her eyes. “Ok let me check it out.” She scooped up a loose stone and threw it at Thea who easily blocked the projectile.
The three of them looked up at the green fairy expectantly.
The green fairy shrugged.
“What’s your fairy’s name, by the way?” Clemiticus asked. “I can’t see its name.”
“Oh, it’s Midori,” Thea answered. “What’s yours?”
“Fairy the fairy.”
“Nice!” Thea smiled.
Melly looked confused as the two ‘players’ nodded with approval.
“Can we like,” Melly spoke while gesturing towards the vast desert of death, “get going?”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Sure!” they chorused.
The three then trudged over the hard white sand of the desert in silence. Melly was pleasantly surprised that the aptly named ‘Coral Desert’ was more coral and less desert. Most of the white sand they thought they saw in the distance was actually bleached corral of many differing sizes.
“Apparently, this whole place was once underwater,” Thea stated. “Like a sheltered inland sea.”
Melly nodded. “I gathered as much. See there's even some fish bones scattered here and there.”
After fifteen minutes of walking, the path descended swiftly. Pools of saltwater pockmarked the ground in shallow depressions. Each held a myriad of strange, bleached coral that swayed with the wind.
How can there still be water here? Melly wondered. It’s so hot. To her surprise, she found herself enjoying her little walk. She looked over at the other two sweating and puffing. Even Clemiticus, the antihero of fitness, was struggling.
“You guys, ok?” she asked.
Clemiticus panted as he pulled out a waterskin. “So damn hot!”
“How aren’t you sweating?” Thea blurted as examined Melly.
She shrugged.
“She must have a very high fire resistance stat,” he spoke through ragged breaths and handed Thea a second waterskin.
“Damn, must be nice,” Thea added.
Melly’s mood skyrocketed. Finally, it was her turn to shine.
The three moved deeper into the desert, passing more and more rock formations as they walked. Thea gasped and pointed towards a nearby pool. The coral within had not been touched by the sun. Instead, each delicate stem of the coral was vibrant with colour, varying in hundreds of differing hues, leaving the pool sparkling in the sun like a speckled rainbow.
“Purty,” Clemiticus said then whistled.
“We must be getting close,” Melly said, admiring the colours.
Thea nodded. “There!”
Melly looked up from the pool expectantly and spotted it.
The entrance to the catacombs stood in a large depression in the land. It looked as if someone had dug a massive hole and placed a building in the middle. It was perfectly square, cut from the sandstone of the sea floor with what looked like sea inspired carvings along its surface. In its centre, facing them was the wide entrance to the dungeon. Guarding either side of the entrance were two tremendous statues of Mermen, holding tridents.
They moved tentatively down into the hole and towards the entrance. It was eerily quiet. The only sound came from their muffled footsteps and the crackling of something nearby.
“I smell smoke,” said Clemiticus.
Melly sniffed the air and nodded, “Me too. I think I can hear a fire coming from inside.”
“Same,” replied Thea.
“We ready to go in?” asked Clemiticus.
“I don’t see why not,” replied Thea as she hefted her new shield to her shoulder.
The three slowly left the bright sun behind and entered the dark catacombs, rounding a corner that led into a large room. Ahead, Melly spotted what was making the crackling sound. Ahead lay a lit brazier that emitted an amber glow into the otherwise pitch-dark room. It was far cooler inside the building, which caused a shiver to run down Melly’s spine. She moved closer to the brazier for warmth but felt no heat from the fire.
Beside the brazier stood a massive stone door that had been sealed. From its centre protruded a large round button decorated with magical runes.
Clemiticus walked towards it nonchalantly and pushed the button without thinking.
“Wait, what are you…” Melly panicked.
The door rumbled and slid open to one side.
“What?” Clemiticus replied with a shrug.
Melly let out a deep sigh. “Go ahead, I’ll follow.”
He grinned.
Bing!
“Clemiticus has entered the Merfolk Catacombs: Level One.”
“Melly has entered the Merfolk Catacombs: Level One.”
Then a green light flashed.
“Thea has entered a danger zone. Thea has entered the Merfolk Catacombs: Level One. Warning PVE and PVP have been toggled on. If you wish to enter game mode: Combat, restart the game and play in combat mode.”
“No turning back now,” commented Thea.
The green fairy shrugged. Melly looked up to see Fairy poking its tongue out at Midori. The blue fairy was definitely unimpressed by its green counterpart.
“Good luck master!” Fairy cheered.
“Cheer’s bud,” replied Clemiticus with his usual thumbs up.
The three walked slowly down a long stone corridor. The light behind dwindled until they were left in utter darkness.
“Ouch,” complained Melly. “Someone stood on my foot.”
“Yep, that was me,” replied Clem “I can’t see a bloody...”
“Hey wait a tick!” Thea interrupted. She grabbed the two from behind and pulled them towards an opening in the wall.
“Oh wow,” murmured Melly.
There, between a crack in the wall, was a narrow passage lit by a sea of green and blue lights. It glowed from what looked like a myriad of iridescent patches of moss.
“Can we fir through there?” asked Clemiticus.
“I think we can. It’s narrower here and looks like it gets wider further in,” replied Thea. “Try not to touch the glowing stuff. Could be poisonous.”
The trio ambled their way through the gap and into the passage, carefully dodging the glowing vegetation.
The further they travelled the more the moss grew and the more it illuminated their way. Soon outcroppings of coral that had their own colourful radiance sprouted out between the cracks in the walls and floors.
“Oh, so pretty!” remarked Thea.
Melly could see the outline of Clemiticus nodding and found herself agreeing. It was beautiful.
Further down, the way became so bright that they had no difficulty seeing at all. The passage opened to a circular room with a pedestal in its middle. Above them were a series of stone spheres that perfectly reflected the light of the glowing coral below.
Melly was about to walk into the room when Clemiticus held out a hand to stop her.
“Ok! Room number one,” he spoke, looking at Thea.
She nodded in understanding and readied her shield.
Melly tensed as Clemiticus knelt to pick up a stray fallen piece of coral. He threw it into the room and drew his Pirate cutlass. The coral landed in the middle of the floor, echoing with each bounce.
Melly frowned. “What was that…?”
“Shhh,” Thea interrupted.
Crack.
Three spheres on the roof cracked open as three figures fell to the ground.
Thud!
“Reeeeeee!” The creature screamed.
“Oh my gods what’s that smell?” Melly cried.
The three creatures resembled human sized bloated puffer fish with gangly arms and legs. Each of the strange creatures wielded a rusty sword and looked eager to fight. Above each of them, read the description:
Merkin warrior Level 15.
“Ah. Ok good,” Clemiticus spoke confidently.
The fish creatures hadn’t noticed them yet.
Melly fought back bile as the pungent smell of the disgusting creatures overwhelmed her. She coughed “Why… Aren’t they attacking?”
Thea pointed to the edge of the circular chamber. “We’re outside the room, which means we’re outside the aggro range.”
Clemiticus grinned. “That means we have plenty of time to plan our attack.”
Melly sighed.
“Awesome free EXP!” he added.
“Ok,” Thea looked serious. “What’s the battle Strat?”
“Hmmm…” he mused. “Ah I know, how about I aggro and use my luck stat to Tank while you find ammo for Melly to throw at them?”
“Great plan!” she answered eagerly.
Melly looked at Thea. How the hell did she get all that? She thought bewildered.
Within seconds, Clemiticus leapt into the room and started yelling at the sea creatures.
“Hey! Merkin! You smell like ass!” Clemiticus yelled.
The Merkin warriors roared in anger and chased the swashbuckling loon. As promised, his luck stat provided the best kind of defence.
Thea let out a bark of laughter as she watched the crazy man wriggle out of harm’s way again and again. It looked like the kind of dance that drunks perfected and the sober lament.
“Oh shoot,” she berated herself and went to gather broken coral for Melly.
Melly plunged her hand into her pack and pulled out her potato. She eyed her target and threw it at the closest warrior. It was a direct hit.
Bing!
“Melly has forcefully slaughtered a Merkin warrior.”
“Clemiticus and Melly have gained combat experience.”
“Nice!” Thea cheered and handed Melly a piece of coral.
Melly shrugged and threw the colourful projectile at the next warrior.
A red number flashed above the Merkins head:
15 damage.
“That only took out five percent!” Clemiticus shouted between a gap in his improvised dance move. “Keep going.”
Melly took the next piece and threw once more.
Miss.
And again…
15 damage.
She threw piece after piece until the next Merkin warrior's health only had ten percent left.
Swoosh!
Critical strike.
30 damage.
Bing!
Fairy’s voice rang out through the chamber. “Melly has slain a Merkin warrior!”
“Clemiticus and Melly have gained combat experience.”
“GG!” cheered Clemiticus. “Is your potato read yet?”