Jack hurried ahead, weaving between columns, toward the light source but stopped, when he spotted movement in the shadows to his right. A giant stepped out from behind the columns. Not a real giant, of course, but an imposing warrior in heavy armor.

  “Not so fast, intruder,” he crooned in a deep bass. “I do not guard this place so that just any may pass so easily. I have been placed here by the will of Princess Ki to guard the road to the Land of Taunites.”

  His voice was low and booming, a voice becoming of a mighty warrior. Jack turned to face the warrior and examined him. Every piece of his gear looked peculiar – the too-massive pauldrons with spikes poking out to the sides, the embossing on his plate armor segments that formed monsters with interwoven tails, which covered him from head to toe. The helm was a terrible mask, with horns and protruding fangs, which prevented Jack from seeing his face. The enormous double-edged axe in his beefy hands…

  Mongor the Eternal Guardian, Taunite

  Expertise: 80

  Health: 200

  “Aha, the Land of the Taunites,” Jack remarked, “just the place I needed. Here’s where our wandering ends.”

  “The end,” the Eternal Guardian confirmed, “this is indeed your end. No one will walk the way of the gods so long as I still guard it.”

  “We can fix that.”

  Jack’s companions had gathered behind him. Even the goblins fell silent at the sight of the giant man.

  Lisa said sullenly, “He’s alive. The Signet won’t work on him.”

  Jack slipped a Trident of Light to her. “Maybe this’ll help. Just know that it eats a ton of mana and,” he lowered his voice, so Mongor couldn’t hear, “remember to shoot carefully. That thing blinds, so don’t hit my eyes.”

  “So few of you? And so small?” the giant asked grimly. “What a shame. I have languished here alone for a long time. I was hoping for something more amusing.”

  “One of us will be more than enough for you,” Jack called, drawing his sword.

  “As you say,” the Guardian said mysteriously. “When we begin, I will be one. Then my number will increase. If, that is, I somehow cannot defeat you at once.”

  Jack guessed this performance was for the player’s benefit. Mongor could go on for a while. Another time, Jack would have listened, but he didn’t have time for this now. He moved for the boss.

  “You don’t waste time, do you?” the giant grinned, also stepping forward. “I like that. So, you do not wish to hear my story? You do not wish to learn of the great warrior who killed you? I have been guarding the entrance to the land of the Taunites for many years. Before that, I served Princess Ki as her personal hero. You do not want to hear of the great warriors I fought in her name, or how I defeated them?”

  Jack walked slowly at first, pretending to listen to the NPC’s boasting. Then, he activated Sprint and, swinging the Black Sword to create a haze of darkness around himself, sped up. Even with his sizeable bulk, however, Mongor was nimble. He abruptly leaped out of the way and swung his axe. Jack had gained too much momentum to turn away, only managing to throw up his blade in time. The axe blade met black, shadow-wreathed steel. A blow like that should have swept any opponent off his feet. No doubt the massive, powerful Mongor had been counting on it. However, the Shadow of the King simply sliced off a piece of the battle-axe blade and Jack hardly felt the impact.

  Lisa didn’t join in with him, hanging back instead. The goblins showered Mongor with a hail of arrows, but the giant man didn’t even notice. His armor seemed impenetrable, particularly against such light, short arrows. It became clear that Jack would have to deal with the big man himself.

  The two adversaries paused, each watching the other closely.

  “As I said, while in service to Princess Ki, I dueled and killed the best Taunite warriors. And I always took their combats skills as my reward,” the huge man finished. “I have slaughtered so many brave warriors that I thought I knew all there was to know about the art of combat. But how did you survive my attack, little man?”

  Jack didn’t consider himself a small man and was going to convince his opponent of this fact. Lisa fired a spray of green sparks at Mongor from afar and Jack, hoping it would distract the man, attacked once more. This time, though, Mongor wouldn’t let him even get within sword’s reach. Again, the black sword cut away another piece of the axe blade.

  “You survived again?” the Eternal Guardian rumbled. “How are you doing it?”

  “Take a look at your axe,” Jack stepped back and readied himself.

  The giant raised his axe blade and stared at it through the slits in his visor.

  “Ahh, your sword!” Mongor nodded. “It will be my reward, then. I am satisfied. For the first time, I have found a thing worthy of my attention. But I now have something to show you.”

  The giant waved his axe and lurched forward. Jack backpedaled and, too late, realized the movement had been a feint. Mongor remained where he was, but… not alone. He’d split in two. Another swing, and yet another large man with an axe stump. Now, three Mongors stood in his way and Mongor prime didn’t mean to stop. He stepped forward, Jack backed away, and now there were already four, five, then six coming for him.

  Lisa muttered something about a throng of idiots. Her wand again spat green sparks, but they passed through one of the figures, not hindering it at all. Jack tried to remember which Mongor was the original, but the big men were constantly moving and shifting. He got them mixed-up right away.

  The six mighty warriors advanced on their enemy, changing places and waving their axes. Jack had no way of guessing which was the real Mongor and which were just apparitions. In any case, Jack was hoping that five of his opponents were simply harmless phantoms meant to distract, unable to inflict actual damage. He backed away. The six giants closed in, trying to surround him, and began howling with laughter. It was disconcerting, prevented Jack from focusing. Jack chose one and attacked. His blade passed right through the specter and in the same instant, an axe whizzed through the air. Jack didn’t have a chance to figure out which Mongor hit him. He was just lucky enough to manage to jump back. The apparitions and, among them, the real Mongor again began to close in and Jack was again forced to retreat.

  “Lisa, get back!” he shouted.

  Iron visors, forged in the image of a fanged muzzle, surrounded him. Six jagged axe blades whirled in an endless dance. Their laughter hounded him. Another blow fell from somewhere out of the whirlwind and, again, Jack couldn’t follow which of his six enemies had struck him.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 10 hit points!

  Yikes, that had been a glancing blow. Barely touched him. And still it took ten whole points? No, that wouldn’t do! Jack randomly chose one opponent and dashed for him, crashing into the massive figure. This one also turned out to be a phantom and Jack, not encountering any resistance, slipped through the ghostly enemy… and fell out of the circle of Mongors. He broke into a run.

  “Wait! Where are you going? My reward! Come back!” the six giants yelled, darting after him. The goblins scattered as the herd of giants rushed in their direction.

  Jack shouted as he ran, “Lisa, fire!”

  When the laughter sounded right behind him, he covered his eyes with his left hand, swerved and dashed out of the way. A blinding flash filled the chamber with white light.

  There he was! The real Mongor! One had stopped, rubbing his eyes with his fist, blinded by the attack from the Divine Harbinger’s weapon. The phantoms, though, paid it no heed.

  Ducking, Jack slipped under the jagged blade of a gigantic axe, straightened, then took off at a run and plunged the black blade into the giant’s broad chest. He hopped away, dodging his enemy’s blind swing, and brought the sword up once more… but it was over. Mongor toppled backwards like a felled oak. His five phantoms, dashing around Jack, weapons swinging, began to fade.

  “You have won,” the great man wheezed as he rolled in a puddle of red. “You have earned the right to enter the Land of the Taunites. I see that you are equal to their skill in combat. Henceforth, you have the right to walk the path of the gods.”

  The goblins gathered to gawk at the slain giant but Jack chased them back into the box. They were distracted by their own fussing. Only a few items now lay in the spot where the Eternal Guardian expired.

  Greaves of Endurance

  Class: Rare

  Stamina +10%

  Bracelet of Courage

  Class: Rare

  Strength +10%

  Nice items, and they would fetch a decent sum, but Jack decided to keep both for himself. One who walks the path of gods should be resilient and strong. The third, and last, acquisition seemed the most interesting, though. It was a bracelet of blued steel with black agates and it glowed with a ghostly light. This looked promising.

  Bracelet of Ghosts

  Enchanted

  Class: Rare

  +5% to health

  Durability: 46/80

  Special properties: creates Ghostly Doppelgangers.

  Maximum number: 8

  Duration: 20 min.

  Cooldown: 120 min.

  Jack tried it on and a new icon appeared in his menu with the image of a tripled figure. The person in the center was clearly drawn and partially overlapped by two paler figures on its left and right. Aha, so the bracelet gave him the ability to create ghostly doubles. Excellent.

  Jack shared his observations with Lisa, who couldn’t help but like the thing. After all, the black matched her necromancer gear perfectly. She even made a sheepish attempt to take the loot.

  “It probably eats a lot of mana. Maybe it’s better if I take it? I mean, my magic is higher-level.”

  Jack, though, was certain the artifact would be useful in future encounters.

  “No, it’s a combat artifact. If you start making a bunch of cute little witches, we’ll just attract a lot of attention. But if we multiply me, then we’ll really put the fear in someone. Now, are we gonna walk the path of the gods, or what? We’ve earned it, that’s a fact!”

  Chapter Twelve. Land of the Taunites

  JACK AND LISA, HAND IN HAND, stepped into the pillar of light. For a brief second, the radiance grew dazzlingly bright, then dimmed.

  Attention! You are the first player to walk the way of the gods on Gaerthron.

  You receive 1 XP

  You have 59 XP. Earn 1 XP to unlock new skills.

  They were standing on a low hill on a round stone slab, speckled with the same indecipherable runes. Orange light from altar lamps trickled through the half-opened door of the chapel behind them. An exit point, graciously provided by Alterra’s developers for those who walked the way of the gods and were in need of rest.

  It was still nighttime. Shadris silvered the sky and the scattering of stars twinkled overhead. The starry sky of Alterra was more familiar to ghetto residents than their own earthly sky. Besides, a permanent haze was always hanging over the ghetto, whereas the sky in Alterra was clean. Ruins towered around them and sharp mountain peaks loomed on the horizon. Taunite country seemed to be uninhabited. This part of it, at any rate. Lisa flinched and staggered, then did it again.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Jack worried.

  “Old Greta’s elbowing me and threatening to kill the power. She’s telling me that I shouldn’t play so long because of my head.”

  “Oh, well, I’ve got some things to do here in reality, too. Let’s meet tomorrow… say, around ten? Right here. And we’ll go on.”

  “Okay, Jack… Jack, it’s so hard for me to leave you. I’ve only just found you!”

  “I know,” he sighed. “But we’ve found each other now and we’ll never be apart again. I’ve got a lot to do, both in the game and reality, to get you into New Atrium. Just be patient.”

  They entered the chapel and hugged each other goodbye. Lisa looked like she was about to start crying, and even Jack was having a rough time with it. To distract himself from unhappy thoughts after they parted, he stopped by the Shell, where he had a message from Egghead waiting.

  Hi, Jack, I’m gradually establishing business with buyers and they’ll be ready soon. I promised them a big follow-up, so don’t take your time with the next run of goods. I’ll be waiting for you on Stoglav no later than two days from now. Don’t let me down! I promised my clients wonders!

  You’ll have your wonders. Expensive ones, at that.

  * * *

  Goodwin was sleeping peacefully when Jack returned to the real world. No, not good. They couldn’t both be out in an unlocked room. Yeah, the lower city wasn’t exactly teeming with people, but who knows who might pop their head in here? These New Atrium outcasts were like omegas, capable of anything. He had only to recall Douglas and Sal. First, they needed to find a safe place to hide. Then, they had another problem. How were they supposed to withdraw money from Alterra? Jack couldn’t show his face in public because Eckerhart would see him cashing out his game gold. Goodwin also wasn’t too keen on taking risks due to his dodgy past. He’d managed to register himself in New Atrium with an encrypted chip even now, after spending several years in the ghetto. Besides, he didn’t play, so how could Jack transfer gold over to him?

  No, he needed someone always at hand, both in reality and in Alterra. Stuff like that. Once these issues were resolved, the gold would come pouring into the real world. Then he could start thinking about how to turn that gold into a chip upgrade and getting Lisa across the Barrier.

  He woke Goodwin and asked what their next steps were.

  “I’m asking ‘cause conking out with the door unlocked is a bad idea. Where can we hide while I earn gold in Alterra?”

  “Actually, I was taking you to Mendez. He seems to be a decent man, the kind that’ll take us in for a few days. You’re right, we do need a more secure place. Let’s go to Mendez’s place. It’s not far.”

  Although Goodwin said they weren’t far, they trudged through the monotonous, gray corridors for almost an hour. Finally, Jack began to vaguely recognize some of the signs they were passing. It appeared to be the same place Sartorius had brought them after introducing Jack to Sal and Douglas. That time, though, he’d been under the effects of the drug they’d given him and his memory of it was rather fuzzy… But they eventually found themselves in front of the door leading to Mendez’s little corner of the underground.

  No one answered their knock at the door. Jack wasn’t too worried about it, thinking their host could have stepped out for a number of reasons. To the upper city for food, for example. Goodwin agreed, but still waited a few minutes and knocked again, loudly and persistently. Again, no one answered, but Goodwin pointed out the red light bulb blinking over the door and started to knock again.

  “Security camera’s on,” the old man said. “He’s here.”

  After another few minutes, Mendez’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.

  “What do you want? Sartorius said you only needed shelter once,” he asked.

  “Mendez, we need a place for another day or two. Let us in, please,” Goodwin replied evenly.

  “You guys get into some trouble? Why didn’t Sartorius come with you?” the voice behind the door sounded incredibly alarmed.

  “No, we just couldn’t find a place to stay. And Sartorius… you probably won’t see him anymore. He’s… the same thing as what happened to your daughter. Degeneration. That’s why we couldn’t get settled right away up top,” Goodwin lied. “Because of his degeneration. You’ve seen for yourself how bad it is. These people don’t even believe the real world exists. So, you know, we were counting on Sartorius. And now, this.”

  Jack saw how tense Goodwin really was. The old man was trying to speak calmly, convincingly, but was struggling. To top it off, most of what he was saying was the pure truth!

  Mendez, though, already completely worked up, began rattling off excuses.

  “No. No, I can’t, Goodwin. Really, I can’t! How am I supposed to know what happened to Sartorius? If it were just me here, that’d be another matter. I wouldn’t turn you away. But I’m not just looking after myself. I’ve got Anna on my hands, a helpless girl. She depends on me alone. She’s with me and I’m with her. We are together so long as I don’t catch the attention of the social services people or police. If they’re following you from the surface, if they find us, they’ll separate us. They’ll put her in a hospital and I’ll never see my little girl.”

  “Hey, who’s coming? Why would they follow us?” Goodwin coaxed again. “Mendez, it’s just an unfortunate accident. Who knows better than you about degeneration? Admit it, it happens without warning. We were counting on Sartorius. Everything was fine until it happened to him.”

  “How do I know if you’re telling the truth? What if you got mixed up in something so serious that even Sartorius won’t help you? No, I can’t afford to be found. No, no, I don’t want to risk it. I’m sorry, Goodwin, but I just can’t.”

  Alright, then, Jack thought. Time to intervene and play his trump card, otherwise the game was lost. They needed shelter. Plus, it was crucial that they find someone who would withdraw game gold into reality. Someone close at hand in the game and in New Atrium. Mendez fit the bill.

  “Listen, Mendez,” he gently nudged Goodwin aside and stepped in front of the camera’s lens. “I was just thinking that I know how to help you. You said you only get to see Anna sometimes in Alterra. She’s a pretty, young girl and there are a bunch of interesting players and swanky, named NPCs, but she’s not all that interested in you… Where does she live? In Svetlograd? I thought so! Of course she does, it’s full of knights. But what if you took her to a place without so many people? Where everyone didn’t look so amazing? Then she’d have to give you more attention, right?”

 

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