CHAPTER 1
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Warning
ID System Integrity Compromised
Item Id: #1139697 “Moldy broken pineapple” not recognized
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Ajax groaned as the doctor stitched up his wounded back, pain ripping at him like the teeth of a ravenous worg. What the hell does all that mean? He gripped the side of the hospital bed with clenched hands. Stay focused. He had to focus on something other than the pain.
Browsing his inventory panel again, he tried to bring up the stat information of the moldy broken pineapple, but again got the same warning message. Strange.
The young female NPC nurse leaned over him to speak in his ear. “The doctor is nearly done. Try to relax.”
Relax! Ajax wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. He could feel the needle going into the burned flesh, patching up the deep shrapnel wounds. Why had the programmers made Visaria like this? Why did he have to feel excruciating pain?
This torment felt as real as it would have in the real world.
Trying to keep his mind off what the doctor was doing, he moved on to another item.
Cavalry Man’s Saber
He won’t be needing this anymore where he’s going
+15 AP
+ 5 damage when using slashing attacks
The weapon seemed fine. Why not the pineapple?
Just to play it safe, he opened his character panel and glanced over his stats to make sure everything was in order.
Ajax Stoneheart
Race: Human
Class: Spiritual Warrior
Skill Focus: Warrior Paladin
Level: 8
Player Kills: 3
Might: 16 (BASE: 7+9 Might from equipment) (1 Might increases AP by 5)
Dexterity: 1
Intellect: 3
Spirit: 12 (BASE: 5+7 Spirit from equipment) (1 Spirit increases healing by 10% and improves mana regeneration by 2%)
Luck: 1
HP: 282/327 (BASE: 235+12 BLS +80 from equipment)
MP: 230 (BASE: 190+40 from equipment)
AP: 210 (BASE: 150+15 from weapon + 45 from equipment)
DEF: 145 (BASE: 20+125 from equipment)
XP: 11467/15500
Everything seemed fine. He must have gotten 400 XP when the Steampunk Arla had died.
Ajax frowned. Why had the item ID system’s integrity been compromised? Was it the void’s doing?
“We’re done,” the nurse said, easing Ajax onto his back.
He gritted his teeth as his body weight pressed down on his wounds. The nurse put a red potion to Ajax’s lips. “Drink this, it will restore your health and ease the pain.”
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Opening his mouth, he let her pour the liquid down his throat. The stuff tasted like medicine, but its effects on his hp and pain were almost instant.
HP: 327/327 (BASE: 235+12 BLS +80 from equipment)
Thank the One God.
With his pain eased, his thoughts turned to Lillus. “Can I get up and see my friend?”
The NPC doctor who busied himself with packing away his surgical implements shook his head. “I don’t believe they are done with her yet. You must wait…” his voice trailed off as the door to the operating room flew open. Talon burst in, his breath coming fast. “We need to leave.”
**************************
Ajax carried Lillus out of the hospital as she sucked down several health potions. Her skin was pale, but the doctors and nurses had done a good job in cleaning her up and treating her wounds. They hadn’t had the time to finish the job, before Ajax and Talon had interrupted them. She smiled up at him. “I think I like you carrying me like this.” She swooned. “My big strong hero, lifting me from the clutches of danger to carry me away to his bed. I can’t wait for the happy ending.”
Chuckling, Ajax said, “More likely I’m going to be bringing you from one danger into the next.”
Lillus continued to smile at him dreamily. Perhaps the effects of the health potions had gone to her head.
“Where are we going to go?” Ajax asked Talon, as they raced toward Firesoul who had hidden in a copse of trees some distance from the tiny village located somewhere in the Wild Lands.
Talon glanced at him over his shoulder. “We head north, deep into the Fallen Empire of Pendrax.”
“We need to go southwest,” Lillus said, tossing the empty potion vial on the ground.
They entered the trees and saw the dragon ahead. “We need to head outside of the Imperium and circle around. If we went south from here, we would be hunted first by the Imperium, and then by the Dernese.”
Lillus didn’t look happy, but she had to accept what the dragon rider said. Ithilda would stop at nothing to see them dead. All three were outlaws now, and a bounty had been placed on their heads by the Imperator herself. This would mean everyone in the entire Imperium would know them as criminals and be offered a reward for their heads. The quest would be universal.
Thankfully, the NPC doctors acted under the same Hippocratic Oath as their real life counterparts had. But that wouldn’t stop them later informing one of the Imperator's agents that they had treated Ajax and Lillus in their surgery.
As they emerged into the forest clearing, they found Firesoul ready to take flight. His wings flapped, and his muscles bulged. “Hurry up and climb on.”
The three companions climbed into the basket saddle. A moment later, Firesoul took flight. Ajax held Lillus’s hand as his stomach lurched. The Demon Mage still smiled at him, though her eyes were ringed with dark circles and she held herself stiffly. She must’ve been in a lot of pain.
“How many?” Talon shouted over the wind.
“Eight.” The dragon sped up. “My mate… has done something most ill-advised. She has left her rider behind to come and try to save me.”
“How did she—?” Ajax began.
“Her dragon powers. She speaks to me now, in my head, as I do in hers. She says that the riders are led by Supreme Commander Sejanus.”
Grimacing, Talon thumped his fist against the side of the saddle. “Great.”
“Who’s Sejanus?” Lillus asked. “I don’t recall hearing his name before. Then again, I’m not from around here.” She poked her tongue out at Ajax.
One day, you’re going to tell me everything there is to know about you, Ajax thought. Because, I’m going to keep bugging you until you do!
“He’s our leader, the Supreme Commander of the Elite Imperium Guard,” Talon replied. “The best fighter among us. And a downright—”
“Bastard.” Firesoul spat out a flicker of flame.
Talon laughed. “Dragons aren’t constrained with the ‘no swearing’ rules we are.”
“Really?” Ajax chuckled. “That’s weird.” Every time a player tried to swear in Visaria, something would always come along to interrupt them so they could never get the word out.
“Yea, this game used to have lots of kids playing it. But it seems the designers forgot to implement the language restrictions on the dragons. Back then, violence was alright, but swearing and sex weren’t.” Talon snickered. “Damn, our society was fu-”
A gust of wind cut off his words.
“They draw closer,” Firesoul hissed, increasing his pace. “They have two of the greens among them.”
“Joy.” Talon turned back to Ajax and Lillus. “The green dragons are smaller, faster, more agile mounts. It’s likely they will catch up to us, so prepare yourselves for a fight.”
Just as Talon finished speaking, two small dark specks appeared in the sky behind them.
Firesoul descended closer to the ground, flying a handful of feet above the dead trees. Ajax held onto Lillus tightly, as wind buffeted them. Talon seemed to have let the dragon take the reins and left it to the beast to decide how best to escape. “My mate won’t arrive in time to aid us,” Firesoul said.
“Knowing her, if we fall, she will try to avenge us.” Talon reached over the side of the saddle to place a hand on the back of the dragon’s neck. “Tell her to go back before—”
Firesoul grunted. “I have, but she won’t listen. All I can do is try to take down as many as I can before she has to face them.”
“How long will it take her to get here?” Ajax asked.
“Too long,” the dragon replied. “We could defeat the two greens, but the other six would be on us before we could escape. So sad that I’ve become hunted by my own brothers and sisters. We hatched together.” The grief in the dragon’s voice broke Ajax’s heart.
They heard the distant roar of one of the greens pursuing them. Ajax pictured their last fight with a dragon and its rider. He and Lillus had barely survived, and their dragon mount, Old Nel, had succumbed to her wounds. This time, there would be two enemy dragons, each bearing high-level riders, and after them—would come the other six.
How are we going to get out of this? Ajax thought as he glanced at their pursuers. They were no longer indistinct dots on the horizon, but were much closer. So close, he could see the riders on the dragon’s backs. “What are we going to do?” He turned to Lillus. “Can you use your game master powers again?”
The Demon Mage frowned as she stared at the oncoming dragons. “I will if I have to. But there are six other dragons out there, and if I spend myself on these two, I’ll be out of the fight.” She lowered her face. “And it’ll be days before I can do anything except sleep.”
Ajax glared back at the enemy. No doubt, they would begin attacking as soon as they were within range. If only he could speak to them and try to convince them he wasn’t a traitor and that the Imperator was no longer fit to rule. The void had her in its grip, and she no doubt did its bidding. His stomach lurched. Perhaps that’s why she had launched her massive invasion of the Republic of Dern, to weaken the Imperium by sending most of its army far from home.
His eyes widened. Maybe the leadership of the Republic was also under the influence of the void. Both sides had enacted simultaneous invasions of one another's lands, on a scale never seen before.
Did the void want to weaken humanity before their own armies arrived? By the time the invading forces of the Imperium and the Republic were deep inside each others territory, many players and NPCs would be dead, and huge swathes of land would be devastated.
Easy pickings for the world-consuming void wraiths.
One of the pursuing dragons let out a triumphant roar as they drew ever closer.
Dear, god. Ajax felt numb at the enormity of it all. We’re doomed.