Part V: Cast From The Ascended World

‘The Player is in the Tundras,’ the elf said. ‘Not a day’s travel from here. He’s coming. For you.’

I gulped; I allowed myself that, just this once.

‘How do you know this?’ Tokas asked him, her eyes about as wide as mine surely were.

‘There was a merchant, in the store. News of Players travels fast in these parts. They spoke of a pyroknight’s attempt to save librarians from a horrific fire.’

‘Librarians?’ I repeated, meeting Val’s gaze.

‘Horrific fire?’ Lore repeated. ‘You don’t think… You don’t think he started that?’

‘Yes, Lore,’ Val said, then immediately shook her head, not bothering to follow that up with some supposedly good-natured insult. ‘We’re not ready. Do you have the potions?’

‘I have as many relevant ingredients as were on offer in this backwater town,’ Corminar replied. ‘I will craft as we walk.’

‘It enough?’ Arzak asked.

‘Walk where?’ Lore asked. Lore won simply because he was louder.

‘The sea,’ Corminar answered, his gaze shifting to Arzak. ‘You told them about the water, yes?’

‘We figured that bit out all by ourselves.’

‘It enough?’ Arzak repeated.

Corminar’s lack of answer was deafening.

‘Gods…’

‘Strip your armour,’ Corminar suggested.

‘Cor, this is not the time to be hitting on us,’ Val replied, and then after a moment added, ‘...Again.’

‘We will move faster without armour. To be stripped to our loincloths would give us greater agility, and far more chance of avoiding his attacks.’

‘And far more chance of dying if he does hit us.’

‘Our options are speed or defence,’ the elf replied. ‘Certainly not both.’

‘I choose armour,’ Lore answered instantly, tightening the straps on his own.

‘There time yet to decide,’ Arzak said. ‘We go now. We talk. We think. We plan.’

I began to rush up to my room to gather my things before immediately remembering that I, you know, didn’t have any things. In fact, the only “things” I had were the five Slayers trying to save me—and there were all down here risking their lives to kill this Player before they killed me.

Arzak stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head from side to side as she watched Lore, Corminar, and Val—no surprise on that last one—bickering about the correct strategy, while Tokas stared at the top of the table, head in hands.

Maybe this wasn’t the team I would have chosen to defend me, but it was all I had, and I would have been lying if I said in that moment I wasn’t grateful to each and every one of them.

I wasn’t going to tell them that, though. ‘Alright, chop chop!’ I said, clapping my hands loudly to get their attention. ‘Let’s go, people. Unless you wanna face down a pyroknight on dry land?’

‘No,’ Arzak backed me up. ‘We not want this.’

‘Well, then…’ I gestured for the door.

* * *

The Slayers were oddly quiet as we travelled, the thought of the fight ahead weighing on their shoulders as much as mine. We all knew that our fleeing to the coast of the Iron Sea was only delaying the inevitable; we would be clashing with the pyroknight before long.

I took some solace in that this team had fought Players before, and presumably—I hadn’t heard of any dead friends—all survived to tell the tale. But, I supposed, it didn’t do any harm to be quiet, to prepare ourselves for the fight ahead. Surely that was what all my new acquaintance were doing.

‘How far are we from the coast?’ I asked, breaking the heavy silence. ‘Two days? Three?’

‘Two, assuming we continue at this pace.’

‘And… will he catch us? In that time?’

Corminar swallowed his initial response. ‘Perhaps. Will he move at a faster pace than us? Yes. But perhaps those we pass will not be as forthcoming or as accurate in their directions. We can only hope.’

I nodded; this wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, but it was, at least, an honest one. ‘I’m not ready,’ I whispered. ‘Thought I’d have more time. Thought I’d have more abilities.’

Corminar considered me carefully, having been the only one with hearing good enough to hear my despair. ‘It is of no consequence,’ he replied, speaking lightly so that only I would hear. ‘This is what we do. This is what the team is for.’

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‘Then why are you so nervous?’

‘Going into battle against a Player is no everyday occurrence. It is better that we are cautious than cavalier.’

The logic was sound, but did little to soften the upset in my stomach.

We travelled onwards, heading south towards the relatively calm Iron Sea, where we could stand our ground with the greatest advantage. We passed through towns and villages that were situated on the main traveller’s road, stopping only quickly for food, and wasting not a moment otherwise. In the back of my mind—and surely the rest of the team’s—we felt the pressure of the Player, catching us up with every second that passed.

Corminar handed out a small red vial every few minutes, these being the fire resistance vials that would give us a small extra advantage against the man who hunted us. As he handed me my first, I identified it.

Greater Potion Of Fire Resistance

Effect: +50% resistance to fire sorcery

Fifty percent.

It didn’t feel like enough, not with the battle being so close, now. This would halve the amount of damage that the Player could deal to us, but half of a huge amount was still… a huge amount. With no specialist armour on, and such a low investment into my Vitality skill, even one solid hit could kill me. This fact hadn’t escaped me, though I was doing my very best not to think about it.

We passed through another village, not stopping for food, and for the second time Lore didn’t even suggest stopping for food. Merchant tried to flag us down, offering fresh blades and—according to my Identification—pretty terrible potions, apparently correctly assessing that we were a gang of adventurers heading for battle. We ignored them all, only Arzak of the group responding to them in any kind. ‘No. We no need.’

When the village was some way behind us, Tokas piped up with, ‘They might have had better fire resistance potions. We should have checked.’

‘They did not,’ Corminar replied.

‘How do you know?’

‘I know.’

There wasn’t the mood among us to continue the verbal spat, and so the elf and the tiefling let the matter drop.

And then screams erupted in the village behind us.

All six of us halted instantly, slowly turning to the source of the uproar.

‘Two days, you said,’ I told Corminar. ‘We were supposed to be at the sea!’

‘I hoped it would be two days. I assured you of nothing,’ the elf corrected me.

‘It could not be him?’ Lore suggested, his tone hopeful.

In the distance, one of the buildings’ roofs was suddenly engulfed in flames.

‘OK, it’s him,’ Lore continued, no longer hopeful.

‘What are the options?’ I asked.

‘Same as they always are: run, or fight.’

Tokas roared, clutching at her head, the building stress apparently becoming too much for her. She grabbed Lore by the shoulders—no small feat considering their comparative size. ‘Please, everyone… Run! Run like your lives depend on it, because they bloody well do!’

‘We don’t—’ Corminar started, but Tokas was far from finished.

‘These Players, these Players that come into our world nowadays, they’re not like they once were. They have no world to return to—the Ascended Realm is dead. They’ll do anything to survive, these days. Anything! They’re desperate. They’ll kill you. Please, just… just run!’

‘How you know all this?’ Arzak asked.

‘Yeah, and why in the hells did you not say anything sooner?’ Val added.

‘Please,’ Tokas said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. ‘Please, run! This one, he won’t be like the ones we’ve faced down before. He… he…’

‘And what about him?’ Val asked, pointing to me. It was the very question I had on the tip of my tongue. ‘This Player isn’t going to—’

‘He’s already dead,’ Tokas said.

I pulled a face. ‘Well, thank you for the vote of—’

‘But the rest of you, you still might live. He doesn’t know who you are. He won’t track you down. He won’t—’

‘No,’ Val interrupted. ‘No, I won’t abandon him.’

To my own surprise, I smiled.

‘Me neither,’ Lore added.

Arzak stepped up to Tokas, grabbing her gently by the arm. ‘We Player Slayers. We do not run.’

‘Nor do we give up opportunity for such a challenge,’ Corminar said, pulling his bow from his shoulder.

The screaming grew closer, villagers from the nearby town running for their lives. The flames grew higher, great plumes of smoke now billowing into the heavens.

‘You go if want,’ Arzak said to Tokas. There was no malice in her tone, and only kindness in her eyes. ‘We no judge you.’

But Tokas shook her head, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. ‘No,’ she said in a croaky voice. ‘No, it’s best for me if… It’s best for… for everyone if I help you.’

Arzak nodded. ‘Then we fight Player once more. Get ready.’

"Styk"

Level 8 Novice Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 16

Intelligence — 69

Dexterity — 23

Strength — 36

Wisdom — 23

Charisma — 0

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 16

Knifework — Level 15

Identification — Level 8

Stealth — Level 5

Abilities:

Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

Stab II — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 20%.

Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.

Local Portal II — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a ten yard radius. Uses mana/second.

Portal Slice — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects that are not reinforced by magic.

Ash Husk — Convert your flesh to ash, strengthening it against flame for ten minutes. Gain 50% resistance to fire attacks.

Stealth Attack — Passive. 50% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.

Basic Identification — Discover basic attributes for a particular object or person. Ability scales with [WIS] + [INT].

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +400%