Aiden was having a hard time believing the words written in the system message he, Winterhell and presumably every other player in the city of Lockhaven had just received.
He gave the mental prompt to open his inbox for a third time, reselected the message and read it again.
New Quest available - Defend the Portal
A mystical portal has appeared in the Evergreen Glade and forces are gathering to destroy it.
Objective: Defend the portal
Duration: 12 Hours
Reward: Individual rewards will vary based on personal performance
With a deep sigh, he closed the window and gazed out towards the portal at the centre of the Evergreen Glade, its swirling lights of azure and violet towering menacingly.
“Aiden, If you read that message one more time, I’m going to push you off this tower myself,” came Winterhell’s voice from behind him.
They were still standing on the highest platform of the tower they had climbed to gain a better view of their surroundings as a result of the storm erupting without warning.
Winterhell’s initial reaction to Aiden's speechlessness had been a mix of surprise and amusement, though it was gradually being replaced with confusion and a hint of annoyance.
Aidon on the other hand wasn’t sure how to feel about the most recent developments.
“Did you see those shapes on the other side of the portal?” Aiden said.
“Shapes is a great word to use here,” Winterhell said, “because you didn't actually see anything.”
“If you asked me to design an obviously evil portal that should under no circumstances be protected, I would have probably come up with something practically identical to what’s standing over there,” Aiden continued, ignoring her comment, all while gesturing towards the Evergreen Glade.
”Have you ever eaten something that's both frozen and burnt?” Winterhell asked Aiden before he could continue with what she guessed would turn into a long rant going nowhere.
“Frozen and burnt? What are you talking about?” He asked with a bewildered look.
Winterhell smiled to herself for having potentially intercepted Aiden’s mental escalation. She started to walk back towards the stairs leading down into the inside of the ruined villa.
“Come let’s head down, we’ve seen what we came to see. I don’t think that anything good is going to come from staying up here,” she said casually, leaving a perplexed Aiden behind.
“Frozen and burnt?” Aiden repeated as he followed Winterhell down the spiralling stairs.
“Yes Aiden, frozen and burnt. You're clearly both over and underthinking this entire situation to the point that it's only a matter of time until you reach a state of total mental paralysis which will only cause you and your teammate to suffer. So why don't you skip the theatrics and let me in on what you're thinking about, so that we can sort out the insightful from the crazy together?” Winterhell said with an authoritative tone Aiden hadn't heard from her before.
As they reached the bottom of the staircase together, Aiden gave Winterhell a long and assessing look. Her usual smile was gone, replaced with a steady unyielding gaze.
“Alright,” he sighed. “It’s just—I mean, look at that portal. It’s practically radiating ‘ominous doom’ vibes. And now we’re supposed to defend it? I would have expected to have to destroy it so that whatever is waiting for us on the other side stays wherever it is they are being summoned from.”
He paused for a moment, looking at Winterhell, who in turn gave him an expression informing him that he had more explaining to do.
“So if the portal is going to summon dark forces, and we’re tasked to defend it, what does that say about us? What if the forces gathering to destroy it are the depleted remnants of a last alliance of mortals trying to prevent this evil from entering into their world? Or perhaps, this entire event could be an evil campaign?”
His speech began to speed up, as he unravelled his train of thought to Winterhell, who remained silent, letting Aiden get it all out of his system.
“You know, I’ve tried an evil campaign once, and it’s really not as fun as it sounds. Sure you feel pretty badass when it all starts. You build dungeons, make evil plans, practise one-liners in the mirror, choosing what sort of laugh you want to have and all that, which is pretty cool, but eventually you realise you’re not the world’s greatest misunderstood megamind, you grow tired of being a huge jerk all the time and go back to joining the rest of humanity in the battle against evil.
But even if this isn’t an evil campaign and we’re just caught up in the conflict between two opposing dark forces, who’s to say we shouldn’t be teaming up with the one who wants to destroy the portal, because what will come out of there might end up being much worse in the long run. You know, I’ve read about this theory that claims that there’s an eternal war between hell’s devils and the demons of the abyss. But then again on the other hand…..”
Aiden felt sudden and entirely unexpected, though probably not entirely undeserved impact against the side of his head, accompanied by a brief window of opportunity during which Aiden learned a number of important facts pertaining to his current situation.
Firstly, that the event was PVP enabled, meaning that any player could attack and inflict damage to another player at any given moment.
Secondly, he was reminded that every person had a limited capacity regarding the amount of panicked rambling they were willing to expose themselves to, before interpreting their situation as an extraordinary event that calls for extraordinary action, to use sudden violence.
Thirdly, he learned that discovering and obliterating Winterhell’s previously mentioned limit wasn’t worth the pounding headache that had presumably just been brought into existence by her wooden club.
Finally, he discovered, that this would now constitute the second time today, that he would be greeting the ground, unceremoniously, with his face.
Aiden’s short-lived yet very insightful window of opportunity was shattered with the cold slap of skin hitting the dusty, chilled stone tiles.
He blinked, dazed, as a fine cloud of dust billowed around him, clinging to his face and coating his soaked clothes in a thin layer of grime. For a moment, he lay there, blinking up at the cracked stone ceiling, his head throbbing as he tried to process what had just happened.
“Feel better?” Winterhell asked, holding her club with a raised brow, daring him to start up again.
Rubbing the back of his head, Aiden managed a wry smile. “Yeah, actually, I do.”
He slowly got back to his feet with a slow moan, shaking dust from his hair. He gave her a look. “You couldn’t have given me, I don’t know, a polite nudge?”
“That was the polite version,” Winterhell replied, though the corner of her mouth twitched in the faintest hint of a smile.
Aiden raised his hands in surrender towards Winterhell, and they both laughed, releasing the tension that had built up inside Aiden’s chest.
“You know,” Winterhell said, you’ve made your assumptions based on very little evidence.”
“Oh?” Aiden said, “How so?”
“Well,” Winterhell replied, “You’re assuming that the portal is evil, and that nothing good will come from defending it. But the fact is, you don’t know that for certain.”
Aiden gave her a flat look of disbelief, to which she just rolled her eyes.
“I mean yes,” she continued, “it would appear to be an evil portal of evil evilness, but this could just be the High Council having a laugh. You said it yourself, they love doing something totally unexpected, just to see how people react.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“So what you’re saying,” Aiden trying to continue her train of thought, ”is that this could be one of those situations, where good men go bad, or bad men get worse, so they send us to sort things out?”
There was a long silence.
Followed by another long silence, during which Aiden and Winterhell exchanged long pensive looks. Aiden was feeling excited because he thought they might be onto something. Winterhell, who was feeling very clubby, just wanted to hit him again.
Then finally, she took a deep, calming breath and said, “No. That’s not at all what I’m saying. I’m merely saying that there are too many unknown factors for you to jump to conclusions and panic about something over which you have no control.”
“Oh right,” Aiden said, with fake understanding, “yeah that’s what I was going to say as well.”
Winterhell gave a low moan as she gave up on the conversation and continued walking down the corridor which would take them back towards the grand staircase, followed by a grinning Aiden.
After a few precious moments of peace and quiet, Aiden gave her a sideways glance.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice what you said back there,” he said.
“What are you on about?” she said, her hand resting on the hilt of the wooden club on her belt.
“You said we’re teammates,” Aiden said, wiggling his eyebrows in what must have been the most annoying way Winterhell had ever seen in her life.
“I can’t do this all day,” she whispered under her breath. She then looked at him and answered, “well of course we’re teammates, stupid! I think we make a great team," she huffed, her eyes narrowing as she continued, “even if you can be the single most annoying person in all of Mythendel when you go into full-on 'existential crisis' mode.”
Aiden grinned wider, opening his mouth to say something, but she raised a hand to stop him.
“No.” she said, her voice carrying that same authoritative tone he was starting to realise she might be saving just for him. “You’re exhausting sometimes, Aiden. I mean it—mentally exhausting. You spin off on these ridiculous, paranoid theories that don’t help anyone, and half the time I want to strangle you with my own bare hands.”
“That was one time,” Aiden said in protest. “Plus we’ve only been in the game for like an hour or so.”
“I’m not finished,” she added, softening just a little, “that overactive brain of yours also happens to notice things plenty of people don’t. Where I’d just see a glowing portal, you see… well, whatever you think you saw. A whole conspiracy with interdimensional wars and an epic last stand.” She rolled her eyes, but there was a fondness in her tone.
She continued, “That’s why we work well together. I keep you grounded, and you… you keep me from charging in blind and smacking first, asking questions never.” She shot him a pointed look. “So, yeah, we’re a team. You bring the wild theories, I bring the common sense, and somehow, it works.”
As they walked down the corridor, a comfortable silence fell between them—at least until Aiden, true to form, broke it.
“Hang on, you’re the common sense?”
She groaned, her hand twitching toward the club as she muttered, “Gods, give me strength.”
But beneath the exasperation, she was smiling.
-
The corridor leading back toward the staircase was shrouded in near-total darkness, with only the occasional flicker of lightning from outside casting brief, faint glimpses of their path. The storm had quieted, leaving them without the steady flashes they’d relied on earlier. Now, the ruined villa felt almost claustrophobic, every shadow and corner stretching out in obscurity.
Aiden grumbled under his breath as he stumbled over a splintered chair, barely catching himself before colliding with Winterhell. She tried to shoot him a sharp look, only for it to be lost to the darkness enveloping them both. Against her own instincts, she said nothing, her focus on feeling her way forward, her hands trailing along the cracked wall.
Their progress was painfully slow, and with each careful step, they found themselves tripping over bits of fallen stone, brushing against rough, peeling wallpaper, and stepping on each other’s heels. The once-grand villa had turned into a veritable maze, and without proper light, even the smallest obstacles seemed to conspire to keep them off balance.
As they neared a doorway to the left, Winterhell stopped, her head tilting as she squinted into the darkened room beyond. A soft, warm glow—barely perceptible against the shadows—caught her attention from the far side of the room, like the faintest hint of firelight.
“What’s that?” she whispered, as she passed through the doorway and into the room.
Aiden followed her, one hand gently holding the hilt of his club. It's not like he felt that it would be particularly useful, but it was all he had, and something was still better than nothing.
As he crept forward, he found Winterhell crouching over the source of the dimly glowing light.
He held his breath as he saw a familiar-looking fist-sized orb. It was just as sleek and dark as the one he had found earlier by the statue in the plaza. Unlike the previous one, this orb shone with a warm, rich orange light, like embers burning just beneath the surface of polished glass.
“It's beautiful,” Winterhell said in a soft hushed voice. “What should I do with it?”
“Inspect the object properties,” Aiden replied, “You don't want to make a hasty decision you end up regretting,” he said, hoping dearly that whatever was in his inventory wasn't some cursed magical object, dooming him to a slow and painful death.
“Should I send you a party invite, so that we can share notifications?” Winterhell asked.
“That's actually a really good idea,” Aiden said. “We probably should have done that ages ago now that I think of it.”
A moment later, he received a system notification.
Player Winterhell has invited you to join their party!
Accept Y/N?
Joining a party enables shared access to loot drops, ability details, system notifications, and quest information.
Aiden accepted the invitation and a tab was added in the top left corner of his vision, listing the name and level of each other player in his party, which currently only consisted of Winterhell's name and level.
“Ready?” Winterhell asked, though Aiden had the impression she was speaking more to herself than to him.
He gave her a reassuring smile before replying, “Remember, this might only be a magical bauble without any real function.”
He was wrong. Very wrong. So very much and entirely wrong that he'd probably have to be right a whole lot for quite some time in order to make up for it.
As Winterhell inspected the orb, its properties were shared with Aiden.
Item: Genesis Orb
Rank: Legendary
Effect: Choose one: Unlock new one racial ability, level up one existing racial ability or generate a new race with one racial ability. (Uses remaining 1/1)
*Warning! Generating a new race will overwrite your current race and all current racial abilities. This action cannot be undone and can only be taken once.*
“In the beginning, there was potential. With this Orb, you hold the power to reshape your very essence.”
“This…..is amazing,” came Winterhell's voice with delight, practically lighting up the entire room with her bright voice.
Aiden who needed a moment longer to process this newly discovered information gave her a grin and said, “Do you realise what this means?”
“It means,” Winterhell replied excitedly, “that I get to become an elf, or a fairy, or a freaking minotaur, all while you have to stay a weird blue alien blob-person!” Her voice went up an entire octave with that last statement and she broke out into what she must have thought was dancing, all while holding the orb high above her head with both hands.
“Actually,” Aiden replied, while opening his inventory and selecting the orb he had previously found. “I found this in the plaza right before the storm erupted.”
He presented the orb, emanating with its soft blue light.
“Aiden, did you grab the loot and run?” Winterhell said accusingly, her tone shifting from excitement to that of deep offence.
Fully aware of the faux-pas that was loot hoarding, Aiden shook his head nervously, “No, of course not,” he said. “Well I suppose technically yes, but I think that you will agree that we've been more than a little bit distracted by recent events and it totally escaped my mind that it was even there.”
He raised the orb so that both he and Winterhell could see it.
“See? I haven't even inspected it's properties.”
To his surprise, Winterhell broke out with laughter, the tension lifting from Aiden's shoulders.
“Do it then,” she said, “I wonder if the blue light means that your orb will somehow be different.”
“Only one way to find out,” he replied, allowing his hopes to rise.
Item: Genesis Orb
Rank: Uncommon
Effect: Choose one: Unlock new one racial ability, level up one existing racial ability or generate a new race with one racial ability. (Uses remaining 1/1)
*Warning! Generating a new race will overwrite your current race and all current racial abilities. This action cannot be undone and can only be taken once.*
“Well at least things can't get any worse…. Or can they?”
Aiden read and re-read the not at all reassuring flavour text, comparing it to what Winterhell had received, then sighed. He would have laughed, had the system prompt not felt so serious and irreversible.
“Have you ever been threatened by flavour text before?” he said while looking up towards Winterhell.
“You’re doing that thing again,” she said, offering him wink that made chills run down his spine.
“Well hear me out before you get all clubby again,” he said. “Don’t you think that we need to at least think about it before making a decision as…final as this one?”
“Well if you want to think about it, here’s my take,” Winterhell said challengingly. “Based on what little information we have, we know that the rules on Mythendel are completely different than any other realm or event I’ve ever encountered. We can safely assume, that based on the fact that the tutorial was deleted so that the High Council can have a laugh, we will likely never have any safe information or data to base our decisions on.”
She paused briefly, as if to sort out her thoughts, then continued. “So in my opinion, the only decision you currently have to make, is do you want to stay a weird blue alien blob-person, or take an uncalculable risk and make the best of whatever situation you end up in? Sure it could backfire, but it could also lead to something really epic.”
Aiden could feel Winterhell building up to what she probably perceived as the great finale of her impromptu speach. She was practically bubbling excitement, and despite his best efforts, it was starting to rub off on him.
“As for me,” she said, “I’ve already made my choice, so don’t bother trying to change my mind Aiden.”
He was about to open his mouth to interject something smart, or clever, or at the very least in the form of a complete sentence, but his mental faculties failed him.
“Here goes nothing,” she said, and activated the orb.