Jumping isn’t as easy as it looks, especially when you’re trying to watch your weight. Or modify it in any case. I took as much of a running start as I could myself off the branch. I tried to think of myself as lighter but it was too little too late and I crashed into the ground. The impact didn’t kill me but I got a new de-buff; Paralyzed. It lasted several minutes. I used the downtime to check my stats for the first time since beginning the game.
Veritas
Class: N/A
Level: 8
HP: 137/800
MP: -
SP: 790/800
At least I had the stamina to climb the tree again when my paralysis wore off. For my second try, I decided to drop the weight before I started the jump. That resulted in a slow fall that would have looked right at home on the moon. I couldn’t build the momentum for a good jump without any mass. The solution was going to have to be lowering my weight mid-jump but that was going to take practice.
I died again on my fourth attempt. It wasn’t any worse than the first fall. I just didn’t bother to heal up before taking a leap of faith. After that, I formed a routine. Jump. Fall. Regroup. Typically in that order, though occasionally I did fall while climbing back up the tree. There’s just something about monotonous activities that makes me careless.
I lost track of the number of jumps when I finally made it. I’d gotten close several times before that. Once I even slammed into the wall. This time, I sailed right over it. I was confident I wouldn’t die from the fall even if it happened on the other side of the wall. Worst case scenario, I’d have to sit there for a minute for paralysis to wear off. Fortunately, none of that mattered. I landed in the water, or more accurately, a fountain. That’s what I saw in the distance. The waterfalls were elaborate fountains that went all the way around the city.
“Suck on that, you evil knight!” I muttered as I got up. “I passed!”
Rather than bothering with the lesser buildings and palaces, I marched straight to the castle. That’s where the good loot would be. The hike to the castle includes more stairs than I’d ever seen. If it was the real world, I’d have had a coronary just looking at them.
I was almost to the top when I heard a sound behind me that made the virtual hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “No~ne shall pass!”
“Damn, that guy’s persistent,” I groaned as I took the remaining steps three at a time.
The castle sat at the pinnacle of the city and sprawled out in every direction. It was downright massive and felt too big to fit in the lake, let alone the floating island. In front of it was a kneeling statue holding a trident. The weapon pulsed with power, virtually begging me to come take it…so I did.
The knight reached the top of the stairs the moment I snatched the trident from the statue. For a moment, everything was silent. Then the knight fell to his knees.
“You have passed,” he whispered as he averted his eyes. “I thought I would never live to see another who was worthy of that trident…his trident.”
“Who’s trident?” I asked.
The knight looked up, or at least I thought he did. It was hard to tell through his slitted helmet. “Lord Poseidon’s trident, My Lord. Surely, you know where you are.”
“Actually, no,” I replied. “I sorta stumbled onto this place.”
“Stumbled onto…” the knight stammered, clearly at a loss for words. “Surely you jest, My Lord.”
“All the time!” I admitted with a chuckle. “In all seriousness though, where is this? Does this place have a name?”
“This is Atlantis, My Lord,” the knight replied. “And you are the first visitor in centuries.”
“In that case, how did you get here?” I asked.
The knight replied without pause. “I was left with the noble duty of keeping the hooligans out of the city in Poseidon’s absence.”
“Did you keep them out?” I asked.
“Only you,” the knight admitted. “You did not pass.”
“But you didn’t keep me out,” I replied.
“You bypassed. There is a difference,” the knight said matter-of-factly.
Deciding to let him have this one, I hefted the trident, examining it for the first time.
Mark of the Ocean
Legendary Item
Stats: Attack +50, Str +10, Dex +10, Sta +10 Agi +10 Int +10 Wis +10 Cha +10
Special: Command of the Sea
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Level to equip: 50
“Fifty?” I asked, gaping at the stats. “But I’m already holding it!”
You can hold it but none of the perks will work until you are at the correct level.
“Ah,” I sighed, stowing the weapon in my inventory. “So much for really cool weapons at a low level. I bet it will be just average when I get to level fifty.”
The system did not respond. I looked at the knight who was still kneeling at my feet.
“So, what happens now?” I asked.
“You have traveled long and far in this quest, My Lord,” the knight said. “However, your journey is not yet complete. You must find the other eye and return it to the statue that issued your noble quest. Only then may Atlantis truly be reborn.”
“Return it?” I asked. “What statue?”
“My Lord?” The knight asked.
“Ugh, fine,” I replied. “Can you at least give me a clue about where to find the other eye?”
“You will find it atop the geyser that never sleeps,” the knight explained, sounding like he was reading from a script. “But be warned, if you do anything that causes the flow to ebb, all will be lost.”
“Got it,” I replied, making a mental note. “Find Old Faithful, don’t stop the flow. Anything else?”
“Yes,” the knight replied solemnly. “Please restore my home to its former glory.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
----------------------------------------
I explored the rest of the city, but it was a waste of time. There was literally nothing of value lying around. The only thing I found that was marginally interesting was a vault deep below the castle. When I tried to open it, I got a system message.
This can only be opened by completing the quest: Restore Atlantis.
Getting off the island turned out to be easier than I thought. The moment I exited the city, I got another message.
Dungeon Complete. Would you like to exit the dungeon?
As soon as I said “Yes,” I was magically transported to the far shore of the lake where I remembered stepping into the water. In fact, I even saw the tree in the distance where I first appeared in the world. As soon as I set foot on land, a thunderous rumble came from the lake. I turned just in time to see the tip of the castle vanish beneath the surface.
“Guess it’s time to find that town,” I mumbled to myself. “Jed will be happy.”
The path to the first town was rather straightforward. There was a literal dirt road leading from my original spawn point. I wondered if all new players got the same treatment. It was dark outside when I got to town, so I decided to visit the inn. I could tell that’s what it was because it had a sign with a bed on it over the door.
“Seat yourself. I’ll be with you in a moment,” a portly middle-aged woman greeted me as I walked through the door.
The inn also doubled as a restaurant. Several families sat around quaint round tables eating food that looked delicious. The aroma made my mouth water. I made a mental note to get rid of the nasty aquan food that was still besmirching my inventory and replace it with tasty diner food.
“He there,” a young red-haired girl chirped as she dropped into an empty chair beside me at my table. “What’s your name?”
“Veritas,” I replied, remembering my in-game name.
“That’s a strange name,” the girl replied. “I’m Anna. My name is pretty.”
I blinked at her in confusion. “Is your mom or dad around?”
She rolled her eyes and pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “Mama runs this place.”
“Oh,” I replied, at a loss for words.
“Wanna play card battle?” She asked, a gleam flashing in her scarlet eyes.
“Um, what’s that?” I asked, wondering if she was an NPC designed to introduce a mini-game to me.
A grin flashed across her face. “It’s only the best thing ever. We can only play the mini version here but I know a way to use card battle to beat real monsters. I can teach you that too if you like.
Anna has offered you the class: Card Battler
“Oh,” I said as I read over the class description.
Card Battler
Advanced magic class that uses cards for buffs and abilities. This class will let you imprint various skills and monsters you face to create powerful cards. Use up to ten cards at a time as you expand your heart deck.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied, not wanting to choose the first class I was offered.
“Okay,” she chirped. “Do you want to play me? I got two decks. You can borrow one of mine.”
I looked up at her mother to see she was still busy and gave in. “Okay, we can play a quick game.”
“Yay!” She cheered, handing me a blue deck while keeping the red one for herself.
A glowing blue field appeared over the table and around us.
“Normally, we fight each other,” Anna explained. “But, since you’re new, let’s start with just monsters. Go ahead and pick one out of your deck. Any monster.”
I scooped up my deck and began flipping through the cards. There were various skill and spell cards as well as situational ones like a card that let me summon two cards at once. Most of the monsters were unfamiliar except for one; the aquan card. I chose that. A monster that looked like the aquan chief appeared on the table, only 1/100 of the size.
“Oh, you’re using a water theme,” Anna grinned. “Perfect, I’ll use fire.”
She slapped a card on the table and a red dragon that dwarfed my monster appeared.
“This is a fire dragon,” she explained needlessly.
“Are you sure these decks are balanced?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” She asked, fluttering her eyes. It was obvious she was playing me.
I sighed. “Okay, fine. What do I do next?”
“Okay, now choose a skill or ability to modify your monster,” she explained, still in teacher mode. “Normally, you could use a spell or place another monster, but I want to teach you how to buff.”
“Okay, I replied, flipping through the deck once again.
There were all kinds of cards that made monsters stronger. I could increase the size, attack power, or even change my monster to another element entirely. I wondered what a wind aquan would be like. Instead, I narrowed it down to two choices. One was a card that made my monster immune to fire-based attacks for three turns. The other was called Dragon’s Bane and gave it a potent edge against dragons for three turns. Deciding I didn’t want to be eaten on round one, I chose fire immunity.
“I thought you might do that,” she replied. “But that’s okay, my dragon does more than just magic. Wait till you see.”
She didn’t waste any time thinking as I had and placed a single card on the table.
Raw Power
Doubles the physical strength of any monster for 3 turns.
“Ugh,” I replied. “You’re going to eat my monster on your next turn, aren’t you?”
She giggled. “Not if yours eats mine first. It’s your turn. What will you do this time?”
I sighed. She was totally cheating, and I needed to think of a way out of it. I scouted my deck for anything that might save me. There had to be something. She wouldn’t give me a deck with no chance of winning, would she? I flipped through the cards slowly to buy time. Anna snickered to herself as she hid her gaze behind her deck.
“How do you infuse cards?” I asked after a while. “What if I wanted to make a card?”
“Well, that would be cheating,” she replied. “Card battle and real life are two different things. In the game, you have to play with the deck you start with. Why do you you ask?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I replied. “I don’t see any cards in this deck that will help me. I was thinking maybe I could make one from the monsters I’ve faced or skills I’ve used. Otherwise, I might have to forfeit…”
“No!” She jumped to her feet so suddenly, startling a nearby family. “You can make a card. I’ll give you a temporary skill.”