PROLOGUE

EARTH, North America, 2037

 “I swear to God, Silk! If you get caught on the way in just because you’re trying to steal some cheap loot, I’m going to nail your nuts to a stump and kick you backwards!”

 “Calm down, Crush! Jesus! Where the hell do you get this stuff?!” Silk put down the gold candlestick he had picked up, hearing the sound of chuckles over the group chat. “I’m on it.”

 The rest of the party watched safely from behind a grove of trees several hundred yards away, nearly invisible in the dark. They would not have been able to see anything, but Jewel had cast the spell Shared Vision to let the rest of them see through Silk’s eyes.

 “I will not calm down!” said Crush, “You’re messing with the big payday!”

 “He’s not wrong, Silk,” Loki said. “It has taken us forever to first find this castle, then fight through the Wilds, and finally break through the defenses to allow you a small window of time to get in! No one on the forums has even heard of the Castle of Transition! The loot we could get from this place will probably be artifact!”

“Okay, okay, fearless leader! I’m on it.” As Silk spoke, he looked down and gave the four of them a great view of him scratching his virtual balls.

“You’re a dick, Silk!” said Daliah.

A low chuckle came over the group chat as Silk made his way down the stairs to the lower levels, “That’s not what you said the other n-” The rest of the comment was lost to everyone as Daliah sent a psychic pulse through the spell connection. It was the mental equivalent of stubbing your toe in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom, minor but insanely irritating.

“Enough Silk!” shouted Loki, “and cut that crap out Daliah! I hate that!” The rest of the group was nodding and glaring at Daliah, who had the good grace to look down and away.

Silk, for his part, stopped the chatter and continued down the dark hallway he found himself in. There were no torches or other lights, and if not for his Senses of the Bat subskill that Rogues only found upon reaching the lofty level of one hundred and thirty, then he would have been knocking into walls. Luckily, their entire party was ranked in the top one hundred groups in The Land, so none of them were noobs.

What was strange was the complete lack of monsters and NPCs (non-player characters) in the castle. The surrounding lands were teeming with high-level creatures and difficult terrain. It had taken Jewel a solid day to burrow a hole in the shield covering the castle, burning through countless replenish mana potions. It meant that the castle shield had an ungodly amount of HPs (hit points)! And the hole had barely lasted a few seconds before shutting again. Silk had managed to squeeze through, but no one else had been able to follow. It meant that if he got in trouble he was totally hosed!

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He had yet to encounter any resistance though. The layout had no hidden traps he could detect, no mazelike corridors and no enemies! It was like it was inviting him in! Hopefully inviting me into the treasure room, Silk thought gleefully. He would love some artifact level gear, like those Gloves of Dark Beckoning that Chinese kid had posted he’d found in a secret labyrinth. Lucky a-hole!

As Silk made his way down a fifth spiral staircase, green light came from the bottom, and the entire party held their breath in anticipation. Months of work were hopefully about to pay off. He stepped into a round room, and they saw the source of the light. It was coming from an arch of black crystal. In the arch was a rippling Dartmouth green energy field. Looking at it was almost like staring straight down into a deep and limitless ocean on a stormy day. In front of the arch was a short column with the indentation of a hand print on top. In the rest of the room there was… nothing else.

“Are you effing kidding me? Where is the loot?” Crush shouted. The rest of the group kept quiet, but all were sharing the same disappointment.

“Maybe it’s back up top,” Jewel said hopefully. “Probably down another corridor?”

“So what do I do here,” asked Silk, “do I put my hand on it? Do a little dance maybe?”

“You could make a little love,” Loki suggested.

“Maybe get down tonight,” Crush finished, light chuckles coming over the chat line.

“Uhhhh, I say touch it,” a voice said.

“Was that you Daliah? I don’t know why I keep expecting you to be smart just because you’re psychic! What should I do, Loki?” Silk asked exasperated.

“Uh… touch it,” Loki replied.

“That’s what she said,” plugged Crush’s gravely voice.

“Thanks, oh fearless leader,” Silk exclaimed. “You’re about as useful as a Swiss cheese condom… and good one, Crush.”  Chuckles came over the chat line.

He braced himself to touch the pedestal. He was really hoping there wasn’t any pain. Even though the game muted it down, even a minor burn or electrical shock could ruin your whole morning. Still though, they hadn’t come all this way for nothing! Silk placed his hand on the imprint.

“Are you the agent of your people?” a deep voice boomed, seeming to come from all directions at once. At the same time the only door leading out of the room clanged shut.

Immediately lowering his body and drawing both daggers, Silk quickly looked around. There was no place for anyone to hide They could always be cloaked or veiled, but his True Sight Talent had maxed out forty levels ago, and no players or NPCs had been able to hide from him for quite a while. Assuming it must have been a game prompt, he tried to chat with his group, but no one responded to his queries. Shrugging to himself, he answered.

“Uhhhh, yeah.”

The voice spoke again, “Do you embrace a life of adventure and danger, love and betrayal, power and wonder?”

“Yes,” the words came out stronger, Silk’s greedy little heart imagining the top shelf loot they were about to get.

“Will you be among the first to move forward, preparing the way for others?”

“Hell yeah,” Silk shouted, throwing both fists in the air.

Silence greeted his proclamation. After a few seconds, he realized that unless you are an Asian time traveler who had saved a cheerleader, you just couldn’t pull this stance off. Before he could lower his arms though, he heard another voice. It was quite different from the previous deep bass, and it said in a self-satisfied tone, “Thrice heard and witnessed.”

The world flashed white and…