World: MSS - Loading...
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“Lock, we know you’re a [Player].”
Kyrian delivered this news without any warning. There was no note of satisfaction in telling me that he knew my deepest secret. No hint of disdain or disgust. Even more so, he didn’t sound scared. I should know, I’ve heard fear in people’s voice a lot lately, especially my own. There was no raging hatred behind the six words either.
There was just hurt.
But none of that registered in my brain as a thought, being shoved to the back as nothing more than subliminal details. What my brain focused on was the fact that Skaris had the door closed and that my heart began to race. It was like all the adrenaline that had settled down at last came surging back up.
I fell back to my hammock, sitting there. Kyrian remained standing while Skaris guarded the door.
I debated jumping out the window.
“Lock, stop. I can tell you’re thinking right now.” Kyrian said at last.
I looked up at them.
Yes, there was hurt in Kyrian’s expression. But there was something else there. Something I couldn’t put a finger on. What was that in his eyes? Skaris had the same expression.
“We are,” Skaris paused. “Worried about you, Sssslaveborn.” It took a lot out of Skaris to say that.
Oh. That’s what it was.
I took a deep breath, fighting through the shaking gasps and calming myself. I wasn’t in danger, I convinced myself. That automatic reaction of being ready for violence wasn’t warranted. Kyrian and Skaris were my comrades. Allies.
Yet, this was one my worst fears come true. Wasn’t it?
“How’d you find out?” I finally managed.
“We didn’t. Until just now.” Kyrian answered, smiling.
Skaris smiled wickedly, fangs gleaming in the candle light.
I cursed.
“Relax, Lock. We’ve suspected for awhile.” Kyrian went over to the dresser and leaned against it.
“You did?”
“Yes.” Kyrian answered. “First of all, you’re surname is Slaveborn. That’s a dead giveaway if nothing else, then you tried to hide it for a time. But too many people already knew.”
“Too knowledgeable with monssssters. Much more than even the elder hunterssss of my home.” Skaris chimed in.
“Even the items.” Kyrian shrugged. “Small things, here and there. Only those who have traveled with you as long as we did would know.”
“What about Aurora and Stole? Do they suspect it?”
“No, and I imagine they never would. They joined us too late.” Kyrian was frowning though. “You can chalk up your knowledge to experience and being studious at this point.”
“Vetilian is sssssharp.” Skaris disagreed.
Kyrian didn’t say anything. He knew Aurora was smart too.
I cut through the small talk with a hand, mentally focusing on the issue at hand. What they said had startled me, but the ease with which this conversation devolved into just another casual talk bothered me. This wasn’t something to be just brushed under the table like this. It wasn’t like they said ‘oh we found out you were eating cookies behind our backs’ –which, albeit true, wasn’t as important. This was a big important topic they brought up.
“I want to know what you guys think.”
“I think there’s no problem in continuing as we’ve been. You’ve already made yourself stand out by being a head above the other adventurers in terms of monster knowledge. The rumors of you being a non-Turina affiliated [Aura] user has already reached everyone’s ears.” Kyrian said. “There should be no issue with people suspecting you’re anything remotely close to that.”
“Not that,” I muttered, frustrated. “I want to know what you guys think about me… being a Player.”
God, I sounded so young and frail even to my own ears. I felt so vulnerable before them right now. I couldn’t tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. A side of me was a little scared but another side was a little excited. Maybe it was just like that feeling, a little of good and the bad.
“I was surprised to hear you admit it, I admit.” Kyrian said. “But I’ve suspected you for so long that it’s not a big deal anymore, Lock.”
“Ssslaveborn isssss Sssslaveborn. I respect your ssswordplay, your decssssisssssivenessss, your honor. That hassss not changed. I do not care where you come from.”
“I guess Skaris is right. You could be from the north for all I know, from one of those human settlements trapped behind the Uleum Horde’s territory.”
The one of the three Great Orc Hordes –one of two, now that the Samak Horde was no more– to the North of the Turina Empire and possibly the most powerful. They were the orcs behind the ice wall, constantly harrying the human empire. Rumors were that they were one of the few powers in the world that could rival the Turina Empire’s military might, as long as it was on ice. The Turina Empire tried to conquer them before, to no avail.
“There are humans behind the Uleum Horde’s territory?”
“Rumors. People say there are villages of savage people, warrior born people that have struck a deal with the orcs. But the only way they could do so was to adopt their culture and their ways.” Kyrian shrugged. “No one’s seen these people as far as I know.”
I tucked that information away for later. It could be useful. Perhaps it could be a cover.
Kyrian must’ve had the same thought. “I will look more into it. But at first glance, it seems a much more plausible cover than before. Something worth using.”
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“Thank you.” Then I growled, realizing that the conversation was veering again. I narrowed my eyes at them. “You’re changing the topic. You still haven’t asked me things about being a Player that normal people would be curious about. Are you trying to-”
Skaris snarled in sudden annoyance. “Enough! Ssslaveborn. No one in this room givessss a ssssingle ssssshit about your sssstupid player ssssstory. Go write it in a sssscroll for someone who caresssss.”
Strangely, that made me feel better than anything else they could have done.
Kyrian raised an eyebrow at Skaris’ outburst but did not comment on it. Instead, he turned to me. “I decided to confront you about it today because after what you shared, it feels like things are getting more dangerous. More than that… it feels like you’re holding something back. There’s more, isn’t there?”
Skaris nodded in agreement.
I didn’t even hesitate blurting it out. It was like the words had been just waiting to be said, to be given existence. “Arione is also a player. The other party, the one with the human named Delas, I think they’re players too. Dibo and I have a secret agreement to infiltrate the Player’s Guild, a guild made of just people like me, to find out who killed his father. Probably sometime around 200 years ago.”
Whew. That was easier than I thought.
“Arione is a player? From your world? Truly?” Kyrian asked, frowning. “It bothers me that a Player would understand the intricacies of this world’s magic better than its original inhabitants.”
“Yeah. And don’t worry bout it, he’s an Elf. He lucked out.”
“Were you two friends?”
“What the fuck did you say to me?”
Kyrian smiled. “It was in jest.”
I smiled mockingly, “Haha.”
“Are all players friends?”
“I doubt it. Though the Horsehead and Tanya seemed to be. I don’t know. I know this though. Arione, that weeb, definitely didn’t have a single friend.”
“Sssslaveborn, you had many othersss like you? Warriorsss? Comradesss?”
“Er…” I chose not to answer that.
“You seem more natural now that we have this out in the open.” Kyrian stated.
I re-examined myself. He was right. My mind… it was at ease. My body, which had been tensed up like a coiled spring, was at rest. I felt like I could just lie down there and fall asleep.
“I actually have one more question, Lock.”
I grunted. “Ask.”
“What is a weeb?”
This was going to be a long night.
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I was out on the deck with everyone.
And by everyone, I meant everyone.
I think being cooped up below deck in the hulls had started to wear on everyone’s psyche. Patiences were wearing thin and I even saw Aurora and Kyrian look annoyed at each other. Two of the most even tempered members in my party and Aurora actually grew annoyed enough with Kyrian to just walk off. Then again, Kyrian was sticking to Aurora almost 24/7, with the guise of helping her sort all the items from the Dimension Rings.
It wasn’t just our party though. The other parties were out here too. Even Clover’s party, a few of them anyways. As far as I could see, the ones who chose to come into the sunlight was the mysterious woman with the metallic greaves, a short cloaked figure that had to be Scarlet and the polar opposite: a tall cloaked woman whose tanned skin showed on her hands. That one had to be L’teya.
I saw Delas’ party out here and considered approaching them, trying to bait some information out of them. But I decided against it. The Turina party left a wide berth between themselves and the rest of us, choosing to stay near the helm of the ship. I hadn’t met the Captian yet but he seemed a merry sort.
Leaning on the railing, I looked at the other battleships that cut through the waves at our sides and back. Again, I marveled at the size and held out a hand, enjoying the feeling of the wind fill up my hand before escaping through the crevices of my fingers. The sea breeze was nice and cool on my skin and I was growing used to the seasickness.
Skaris and Stole were off to the side. Stole was fiddling with her Arbalest while Skaris was watching intently. Aurora stood next to me and Kyrian was nowhere to be seen for once.
“How’s the Dimension ring organization coming along?”
“There are more than a hundred rings. But from what I can see, it might be worth close to half a million gold coins.” Aurora answered easily.
Holy crap. Half a million? That could easily buy us a grade 3 Core. Maybe not the best one, but a grade-3 nonetheless. I mentally went through the market prices I knew about the Cores that might be suitable for Stole and Skaris. If the Free Trader’s League lived up to their reputation, we could sell off our loot there and still buy some key components. There was bound to be something useful there.
“Let’s sell them off at the Free Trader’s League as soon as you land. Take Kyrian with you please.”
Aurora made a face like she ate a bug.
What could I say at a time like this? Was it one-sided love? If it was, I didn’t want the party to implode. Kyrian was young and a mage. Chances were, he was more starved for female attention than an engineering undergrad. But Aurora, I could trust her. No doubt that her social graces were a step above Kyrians in that aspect.
“I trust you Aurora.” I turned my back to the railing, leaning on it.
“You do? Do you know what’s been going on?”
“Yes, I do.” I studied the other adventurers. Some were training, some were talking.
“Mr. Lock… You knew?”
“Kind of hard not to notice. It was pretty obvious from the get go.” I turned to face her, my gaze even and steady. “You’re the Shield of this party. If there’s no trust from me to you for something as small as that, I wouldn’t have asked you to become our Shielder in the first place.”
She looked wistful. “Small?”
“Small.” I agreed. “Those things don’t matter to me. My only worry is that it will affect the party negatively. But those are risks that I knew we’d all have to face one day.”
Gods, I was the last person to have been giving dating advice. But whatever I said must have struck a chord with Aurora because she looked loads better than before. She inclined her head in a slight bow, acknowledging her thanks. I returned it.
It didn’t last long.
Stole looked upwards and sniffed once. She closed her eyes, concentrating. When she opened them, there was a slight snarl to her face. “Mister.” She said, looking at me.
I recognized the look. “A lot of them?”
“A lot of them.”
Shit.
“Monsters.” I said out loud, pushing myself off of the railing. My hand went over to my Dimension Ring, drawing the falchion. The ring of steel rang true and if my words hadn’t reached them, the weapon surely got their attention.
At once, the adventurers all looked at me and I realized everyone had stopped what they were doing.
“Someone go get Zenom and Cecilia from below deck, as well as any other adventurer who’s there. Gather the battle-ready priests and priestesses and prepare for the wounded.”
“What’s this guy on about?” Delas stood up from where he had been talking with one of the cloaked members of Clover’s party. I really needed a better way to refer to them. I decided to call that particular woman ‘Ms. Greaves’. “None of us are detecting anything.”
“Our Scout can detect them.” I said easily.
None of my party members were dithering. Skaris had drawn his spear, eyes searching the skies with a fierce grin. Stole and Aurora had already stuck together, Stole covered by the Tower Shield and poking out with the head of her arbalest. But the other adventurers were just looking at me like I was the crazy one.
Delas quickly shot a look at his elf member. “Jourgan?”
“Nothing.” The elf-scout, a very thin man using double crossbow guns answered. “I sense nothing.”
“See? Nothing.” Delas had a smug look on his face.
“That’s because Stole is better than him.” I answered without missing a beat. I gave up on talking to Delas. He could be a player anyways, if he croaked here, all the better for me. “I’m not lying, monsters are descending.”
But no one moved.
Until the Turinan Scions leaped down from the railing of the Captain’s helm.
Dorocian and two others, both of them with Gray hair. One of the gray haired Scions stepped up. He was broad shouldered as was typical of Scions, like all of them were casts of a superhero movie being bred in a secret lab somewhere. His gray hair fell in waves to his shoulders, curling perfectly at the tips. His green eyes shone with what I realized was merriment as he drew a gladius and a shield.
“How long?”
I looked at Stole.
“Two minutes.” She said, closing her eyes in concentration.
“Excellent.” He faced me, smiling. “You have an excellent eye for talent, Slaveborn.” then his eyes flickered to Aurora and back.
Judging by the hair color, this guy was a relative of Aurora. As for their personal relationship, I could ask later. What really worried me now was the fact that monsters were approaching the ship. In the game version, the number one reason ships capsized wasn’t because of pirates or bad weather. It was because of monsters.
Monsters were messy. They screamed, they roared and generally were tough as hell to kill. Which meant that in their death throes they struggled like mad. Depending on the size and agility of the monster, a lot of them would throw themselves overboard, hoping to escape the blades of the adventurers. Then like sharks, the scent of blood would draw other monsters.
Then more. And more.
Until finally, you ended up facing something you couldn’t handle.
Moby Dick. Kraken. The ship was nothing but canned food for them.
The ocean was deep in MSS, just as deep as it was in our world. The only difference was that the nightmares of the deep here were real without a doubt.
And they were the undisputable rulers of the Seas.
“One minute, Mister.” Stole gritted.
“Gurran and Huin will defend the Captain. The rest of us will defend here.” The gladius-wielding Vetilius pointed at some nearby priest. “You, go get Sir Zenom Saintred. Tell him that Sir Borealis requests his assistance above in dispatching some minor monsters.” Then he pointed at Ms. Greaves. “Not all of your party is up here. Bring them.”
Ms. Greaves hesitated then rushed to obey. What the hell? She acted like she was this total badass in front of me in the Scavenger’s base and she obeys a Scion? I thought everyone with an attitude hated the Scions.
Borealis turned to Dorocian and the other Vetilius. This girl’s short gray hair fell to her neck, cupping her face. She wore a breastplate with a short skirt. The girl drew a rapier and a buckler, looking just as eager as Borealis was. Her eyes searched the skies as Borealis barked his orders. “Dorocian. Dawn. Stay close to the Healers.”
Borealis hadn’t just organized the fight in a couple of words. He left no room for doubt as to whether my words were a lie or not. The actions he took, the orders he gave, everyone was moving to obey. The seriousness with which he took the situation was infectious. The disbelief that hung in the air was dispelled and every single adventurer drew their own weapons, ready to fight.
For a moment, there was silence as tension began to climb.
Zenom Saintred and all the adventurers that had been below deck arrived.
“Mr. Slaveborn.” Borealis said to me suddenly.
I looked at him.
He smiled. It wasn’t the friendly kind.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Then as the monster dive-bombed out of the sky, their winged bodies coming into view from thin-air, I saw it at the edge of my vision.
Borealis’ Gladius and Zenom Saintred’s Greatsword were surrounded by Aura. Borealis had an aura of light blue-green, something close to turquoise. A color of glaciers, reminiscent of unwavering will that remained after all else would fade away. Zenom’s aura blazed with the deep scarlet of fire, reflecting his heart of justice and passion for the Church he served.
I felt their gaze on me, almost like a challenge.
And I knew what they wanted.
They wanted to see if the rumor was true. That a Slave from the middle of nowhere had learned the closely guarded secrets of the Human Empire.
In answer, my gray-black aura hummed, singing songs of death.
My sword doesn't exist for the sake of justice, nor does t reflect the colors of a Great House. The Swordsmanship that was passed to me from Arrosh... from Nearnigh...
The Sword is a weapon to kill. Nothing more.
“Blasphemy.” Zenom whispered.
I ignored him and leaped to action as more than a dozen adventurers did the same.
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