Chapter 30. Ghosts
We departed at 10 a.m. Ned and Norma didn’t seem to mind the extra bodies on the boat. “Just more folks to kill sharks,” Ned said.
The trip to Lakemore took the better of four hours. We killed elite water monsters along the way, as our agreement with Ned dictated. With Ilrune and Aimon helping, we defeated our foes quicker than ever. Dread laid on the deck, sunning herself. Janica flew above us, fighting her own battles with imaginary foes and cheering whenever Rowan made a critical strike or Cassandra chopped the head off of a shark with twin blades.
Henry had leveled up his Alchemy, significantly, in Feygrove. For the first time, he made a difference in a fight. He threw potions at enemies which produced a variety of effects. A white potion to freeze a shark just before it tried to bite Cassandra in half. A green potion on a group of leeches that caused all of their health bars to sink, steadily, with poison damage. As with seemingly all spells in Integration Online , area of effect spells affected both the bad guys and the good guys. We were reminded of this, the hard way, when Henry threw a blue potion that caused both a catfish and Rowan to sizzle and become stunned with electricity. After that, he was much more careful when throwing his potions, and Rowan was quicker to get out of the area.
In addition, Rowan must have decided that she had enough stamina regeneration to turn on her Spartan Passive because I had a new buff that illuminated on my interface at the beginning of each combat.
You receive 10% less damage.
Cassandra and Rowan had each leveled up, again, through their training with Ilrune and the day’s fish battles. Rowan was a level two Spartan. When Cassandra achieved level five with the Rogue Job, she whooped, then immediately switched to a new Job.
Ilrune and Aimon were both wardens, though Ilrune fought with a halberd and Aimon shot with a bow.
I stayed in the back, content to buff my party through Rhythm and Tempo, especially because it allowed me to control the music. I drummed some of my favorite beats of the ’80s. Def Leppard, AC/DC, Queen. Rowan even danced a little when I played Michael Jackson. She noticed me noticing her, and stopped. I don’t know if she was embarrassed that I saw her or that she got pulled into a music genre that she claimed to dislike.
Upon leaving Feygrove, my mana drained to zero in a matter of seconds. I couldn’t cast any Mystic spells anymore, even if I wanted to. Yet I stayed in the Mystic Job, accumulating Job Points. I switched to the Instructor Job right before leveling up.
We sailed into Lakemore harbor around 2 p.m., and I checked my prompts.
You defeated Monster Catfish x 3
You defeated River Shark x 6
You defeated Ferocious Pike x 5
You defeated Clew of Leeches x 2
You received 672 Experience Points.
You leveled up as an Instructor.
You gained 4 Constitution, 2 Dexterity, 4 Intelligence, 4 Wisdom, 0 Strength, and 4 Perception.
You gained 215 Job Points for the Mystic Job.
You gained 15 Job Points for the Instructor Job.
I leveled up again in the process, once again switching to the Instructor Job before I got enough points to level, then switching back. This put me at an overall level of six.
When Lakemore was in view, Ned distributed loot to Henry who gave me some more Shark Sinew and Shark Skins.
Fishing boats littered Lakemore harbor and the docks were rife with trade. The town, itself, was another story. The further we went from the lakefront, the more shops and homes lay empty. Trash littered the streets. Windows remained broken. The people we saw didn’t exactly look desperate. They looked like the happiness had been sucked from their souls. We didn’t see a single gamer in the area, and it struck me that we might be the first to visit Lakemore. We were only three days into the game launch, and most people were probably still in starter areas.
Aimon led us through town, further and further from the docks.
“Where are we going?” Rowan asked.
“My family home,” Aimon said. There was a hint of dread in his voice. A resignation.
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We got to the outskirts of town. Large houses were scattered about a hillside. We hiked, following a road that winded up the hill. Deciduous trees surrounded us as we got higher into the foothills. In the distance, mountain peaks jutted up and above the foliage. It was beautiful. Even though I had never been to the mountains in real life, I loved the way they looked and felt. The air was clean, crisp. It smelled of pine.
The road crested at an elaborate white stone entryway with massive iron gates wide enough for a tank to roll through. In iron lettering, the word Edreru sat atop the left gate and the word University sat atop the other.
We pushed through, the road still lined with trees on both sides. Ahead, a three story building sat before us with outbuildings and houses all around. Everything was built of the same white stone, with the same style. Smooth facades with red, clay shingles, and pine accents.
“Is that… Spectre Academy?” Cassandra asked.
“Yes,” Ilrune said. “People call it that. I don’t think Aimon likes that term.”
“When I lived here as a boy,” Aimon said, ignoring the comment, “you couldn’t walk between buildings without seeing a friendly face, a person reading on a bench, or a group of university students sitting together on the grass.”
“You grew up here?” I asked. I could not believe that he brought us here. That he was willing to face this place.
“My parents, aunts, uncles, all worked at the University. My mother was the head of biological studies. My father an alchemist.” Aimon looked up at a large house. He stopped, bent over, and put his hands on his knees. “Sorry, I’m…”
“It's okay,” Ilrune said. He rubbed his partner’s back. “Nobody expects you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“I thought I was ready,” Aimon said. “I —”
“Take a minute,” Ilrune said. “Stay here. I’ll go in. We’ve come all this way not to let Warren try to communicate with them. But if you can’t stay, we’ll go back home.”
Aimon nodded, handed him a key, and down on the grass.
Ilrune opened the door, and stepped inside, looking around with caution. The rest of us followed. Dread stayed behind with Aimon.
The home was large and open, though the curtains were drawn. Thin rays of light shot across the room, disturbing an otherwise dark house. A silence greeted us. And a temperature low enough to make me shiver. Dust lined the top of every chair, couch, table, and dresser. The entry room has vaulted ceilings, two couches, and a fireplace. A wide hallway led to the kitchen in one direction, and a stairway in the other direction.
A ghost sat in a rocking chair opposite the fireplace. It rocked back and forth, pipe in its mouth, reading a thick book which lay on its lap.
Rowan took a step back, running into me. “Is that a—”
I felt the side of her body against mine. It was so crazy that I could be in a dusty, dark, place. Staring at a ghost. And all I could think about was that I was making physical contact with a girl.
“Yeah,” Ilrune said.
“That’s my Uncle, Voron,” Aimon said, surprising me with his presence. “Was my uncle, anyway.”
Uncle Voron looked up at us and raised his pipe in greeting. He had wild, unruly hair, elven features. He wore a robe and slippers. He looked relatively normal. Except that he was completely white.
“Ghosts give me the creeps,” Janica whispered. She sat on Rowan’s shoulder.
“You don’t say,” I mumbled.
Uncle Voron said something to us, but it came out as a series of screeches and wails. Then he got up, walked to the stairs, hollered up to the second floor. Again, all we heard was disturbing noises. He went back to his rocking chair.
A moment later, a woman in a smart outfit floated down the steps. Her hair was done, and she wore stylish glasses that curved up at the rims. She greeted us with a big smile and a loud, disturbing shriek.
“Auntie Lensa,” Aimon said.
“Warren,” Ilrune said. “Now would be a good time to make contact.”
“Oh,” I said. “Right.” I pulled open my Spell Book and activated Talk to Spirits. I still didn’t understand how to use spells without pulling open my Spell Book. I needed to ask Janica about that. I activated the spell.
White and yellow cords emerged from my person, weaving through the air and connecting me to Aimon’s family.
“Voron, honey,” the ghost woman said. “Pull your head out of that book and come say ‘hello’.”
Voron stood up and joined Lensa. They put their arms around one another.
“Is that Aimon?” Lensa asked. “He’s so grown up.” She looked at me for an answer.
“Yes,” I said. This was so strange.
“Tell him hello from us,” she said.
I turned to Aimon. “They say ‘hello.’”
Aimon looked at me, then at his family. His body was almost shaking. He stepped forward, and tears formed in his eyes. Ilrune stepped with him, keeping a hand around his shoulder. “Tell them that it’s good to see them.”
I relayed the message.
Lensa and Voron smiled at each other.
Aimon gulped. “How did you make it out?” he asked, the question directed to them. “Have you seen my parents?”
I translated. Was I speaking in wails?
Voron got serious, a stoic look taking over his face. “We were above ground when it all happened,” he said. “The entire University shook like it had been through a terrible earthquake. Floors collapsed and passageways toppled, glass shattered. The campus used a great deal of magical energy in its infrastructure. That’s what happens when you employ hundreds of magic users. The water systems, lighting systems, even the walls had magic flowing through them. We believe the sudden absence of magic caused some sort of a backlash throughout the main building. Lensa and I were having lunch together in the cafeteria when the glass ceiling above us shattered and fell on us.”
I gasped. I wouldn’t want to go out like that. Crushed or impaled by broken glass.
“But everyone below ground was trapped. That’s where Aimon’s parents were.”