Damn, it was nice to just hop around and swing his sword. No trickery or divine intrigue. That was exactly what he’d been missing – being healthy, strong and victorious. He’d forgotten for a while what it felt like.

  Jack glanced at the timer. He still had about five hours until dusk fell. He needed to obtain the Eternal Darkness, return to Jackcity and summon Necta before then. He stepped into the darkness and listened. Somewhere in the depths of the large chamber, metal clanged and heavy footsteps boomed. Another pair of Guardians?

  The darkness was absolute. As usual in the game, he could see out a couple of dozen steps but beyond that was solid blackness. Jack moved slowly towards the clanking of bronze, peering into the gloom. Gleaming armor – there they were. Two, again.

  Jack finished with this pair even more quickly than the first, even without the use of Sprint. These Bronze Guardians had no imagination, they just acted in the same manner as the first two. All Jack had to do was approach from the side and take them one at a time.

  But when the peal of the falling fragments of the last Guardian had died away, he heard heavy footsteps from the back of the chamber.

  “No, no good,” Jack muttered. “Gotta find the bronze mama that’s spawning these guys and cork that hole. Otherwise, I’ll just keep having to deal with them. And it’s getting distracting.”

  He hurried toward the next pair of Soulless Guardians. The further he went in, the faster he was able to take care of them. Jack already knew his enemy’s mannerisms well, how they moved. This knowledge played a dirty trick, however, as he let one blow past his defense. He’d gotten overconfident.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 10 hit points!

  And from the darkness, the heavy tread of two more Guardians approached. He had to hurry. This fight dragged on. Now, Jack was more cautious, retreating several times and circling around the pair of Guardians and attacking one before the other got close enough to join the fight. Jack had learned that when they worked in pairs, the axe blades hit with machine-like precision. It was like fighting a four-armed warrior, so better not to fence with two at once.

  Yet again, as soon as he’d dealt with one pair of Guardians, bronze again rang out in the darkness, signaling the approach of yet another opponent. He could also make out another sound in the distance, like the rapid drumming of blows. Like the ringing of metal, but hollower than the Guardians’ footsteps. What was over there?

  Jack found the next pair more difficult, and again let a blow slip past, though the bronze blade only just grazed him.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 4 hit points!

  He still had to pause to gulp down an elixir and replenish part of his health. As he did so, he noted that he was running low on elixirs. Things were getting dangerous.

  With that thought, he engaged in the next bout with another pair of Soulless Guardians. In the distance behind them, he saw a reddish spot appear in the darkness. It was too far away to make out, but it was glowing. The domed structure was massive, and the chamber on the first floor stretched on endlessly. No walls, no columns. Only regular intervals of bronze enemies. And here, finally, something else had appeared. It was also from where the hollow drumming was coming. It was beating quickly! There had to be two or even three hammers banging there.

  Finishing with the Guardians, Jack ran toward the red spot, illuminated from within. Now, it was clear that it was a door and someone on the other side was pounding on something. With a hammer, maybe?

  A staircase with wide, stone steps lay on the other side. It looked ancient in appearance, its steps polished smooth with wear. The staircase led upwards, where something hot blazed and a hammer pounded. From time to time, the light dimmed, as the striker took a step and obstructed the fire burning in the furnace. The noise of the hammer died and the ring of bronze feet sounded on the stairs. Another pair were ready. Jack stepped aside and pressed himself to the wall. When the noise rattled on the lower steps, he crouched low and rushed for the opening. He cut the legs from under a Guardian and jumped back to avoid the crumbling fragments. The second guard, walking steadily down the stairs, entered the chamber, tripped over its vanquished brother… and received a solid blow across its bronze mask. The statue stumbled and Jack hopped over to pierce the polished metal cuirass. Without pausing, he ran past the fallen Guardian, leaped onto the staircase and ran up.

  Faster and faster, now only two dozen steps remaining… He flew into the spacious room lit by scarlet flames burning in the stoves and furnaces. Molten bronze bubbled and flames crackled. In the foreground, a beefy, shirtless, bearded man wearing a scorched apron was striking a hammer against an anvil. The man stood with his back to the entrance, blocking Jack’s view of what he was working on. He was all alone, but was striking quickly, the giant hammer in his hand flying. The blacksmith took a step back, set the hammer down and cast his arms out in front of himself. He planted a head with an expressionless mask onto a bronze body, bent down and grabbed a pair of metal legs, and stepped back to the furnace. Under his hammer, a new Guardian had been born.

  “Hurry! Faster! Must work, must create!” the worker urged himself in a low, rumbling bass that shook the floor. “Fly swiftly, my hammer! Strike harder, my hammer!”

  “And here’s mama,” Jack muttered, then rushed the blacksmith. “Or, papa, rather…”

  No matter how fast he rushed, though, the blacksmith was quicker. He leaped aside, ducking under the sword blade, and seized his hammer. The man had a round, red face with bulging, blazing eyes. His swing was so fast, that Jack barely managed to avoid it. Retreating, he shoved the bronze body with his sword, bringing it down on its creator. The smith hesitated, dodging the falling bronze body, and Jack managed to escape the collision.

  However, running from the fight never crossed the blacksmith’s mind. He attacked, moving with lightning speed. It was no wonder that Jack had assumed there were two or three hammers pounding. Hoo-oo, the speed of this guy… Before Jack realized it, the hammer struck from somewhere off to the side, where it shouldn’t have been.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 7 hit points!

  You are burned!

  You lose 3 hit points!

  Jack was no longer even attempting to attack. He simply jumped from side to side, trying to avoid blows. He didn’t have a chance to do anything. Not open his skills menu or use an item from his inventory. The smith’s bearded face flashed in before him, his red-hot hammer drawing scarlet streaks in the air.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 2 hit points!

  Jack hopped back again, already near the door.

  You are burned!

  You lose 1 hit point!

  The damage from the hot hammer was still in effect, Jack realized, tumbling out of the doorway. With the stairs at his back, he had nowhere to retreat to. He hooked the door with his foot and kicked it at the smith, who cast it aside with his hammer. It gave Jack only a second, but it was enough for him to dip into his inventory and grab a different weapon.

  Blacksmith too fast? Well, we’ve got a little something with decent speed, too.

  When the smith stepped into the doorway, Jack cast the Wand of Veseloth out and activated the weapon icon. The ice spiders weren’t as quick as the hammer, but they were numerous and moved quickly enough. The bearded man didn’t even have time to utter a peep before the icy threads ensnared him. They quickly melted, hissing, but the spiders continued to weave and weave their webs, shrinking all the while.

  The blacksmith tried to hit Jack with his hammer, but couldn’t reach. He swayed forward, held fast by the web, and he jerked to keep his balance. Jack was finally able to read his stats.

  Adomaah, Divine Blacksmith

  Expertise: 100

  Health: 500

  Until now, the inscription had been impossible to make out. Adomaah moved so quickly that his stats had simply melted into a blurry, turquoise spot. Jack wasn’t too interested in reading them, now, either. He attacked. The hammer rushed toward him, snapping the icy filaments with a crunch, and the smith tore through his fetters, though they did hinder his movement. Still, Jack managed to strike Adomaah and red texture splashed in a thick torrent. The web underfoot instantly turned to water, but the spiders continued to scurry, wrapping Adomaah’s feet with more coils of icy rope.

  Jack was advancing and the smith, drenched with streams of melted water and blood, retreated and dodged. But the black sword didn’t let him stop, forcing him further and further back. Jack raised the Wand of Veseloth in his left hand, although the icon was still gray. Not enough mana. This wasted movement cost him another blow from the hammer.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 15 hit points!

  Ha, no more burns! The ice spiders had cooled the hammer. Meanwhile, Adomaah continued to bleed, losing strength. Now, he was moving only slightly faster than Jack. One more successful strike and the black blade landed again.

  Adomaah staggered, lowering his hammer. The spiders, now very small, tightened more loops around his ankles. The smith, tangled in the web, stumbled as he tried to dodge Jack’s next attack, and crashed to the floor.

  Jack stepped up to the smith and planted the sword tip into his hand. The smith released the hammer’s handle and roared in his thick bass, causing the entire building to vibrate.

  “Wait, brave warrior! Don’t kill me! I am Alterra’s greatest master. I have toiled, fulfilling the will of the Gods themselves! Let me live, and I will give you all that I can. I am a great smith, surely I have something with which to display my gratitude for your magnanimity!”

  “Yeah, I’m not going to kill you right now,” Jack said, bouncing the point of the Shadow of the King in front of Adomaah’s nose. “are you going to keep hammering more Guardians?”

  “I swear, I will not! I am unable to create now. My wounds are too great. Just tell me, what can quell your bloodlust? What gift? There are many curiosities here, made for the Gods themselves.”

  “Actually, I’m not looking to fight anyone. All I need is the Eternal Darkness.”

  “It would be improper for a mortal to have this great wonder,” Adomaah declared indignantly. “The Eternal Darkness and other such rarities created by my hand are not meant for all. They possess divine power. I create the Soulless Guardians to protect them from greedy hands. A foolish mortal can cause great misfortune if he takes possession of them.”

  “Like Voldos?”

  “He was worst of all! Because of him, my workshop was destroyed,” Adomaah growled. “My wonderful workshop! My dome, my collection of rare machines and tools! Don’t remind me of that arrogant man!”

  “I’m not looking to create any misfortune,” Jack assured him. “Necta sent me for the Eternal Darkness. I’m her servant. Got it? And she knows exactly what can be done with the Eternal Darkness, and what is forbidden. So, let’s not waste time. I know for sure that the Eternal Darkness is somewhere around here and I will find it. With or without your help.”

  “Then truly, I have no choice,” the Divine Blacksmith sighed. “Take this. It will help you find the Eternal Darkness.”

  The smith withdrew a roll of parchment from under his apron.

  Face of the Earth

  Unique

  One quarter of an interactive map of the continent.

  Collect the map fragments to restore the full map. The more pieces you collect, the broader its scale will become.

  “Oh, it’s the third…”

  “And in gratitude for sparing my life, please accept another gift,” Adomaah continued. “I am endowing you the weaponsmith skill. This is a right granted to me. The secrets of creating instruments of death are now within your power, warrior.”

  You have reached level 10 in the Weaponsmith skill.

  Now, you can create rare class items using a Set of Blacksmithing Tools.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have a Set of Blacksmithing Tools for me?” Jack asked. “A Weaponsmith needs those kinds of things.”

  Adomaah sat up on his elbow, reached out to the furnace and dragged a case out from under it.

  “Well, cool. Now, how do I find the Eternal Darkness? And what is it, anyway? I’ve seen the Eternal Light. It’s a spear. But the Eternal Darkness? Is it some kind of weapon, too?”

  “It is an impenetrable shield, mortal. Light strikes like a spear, but darkness covers like a shield. Use the Face of the Earth in your search. Only one who possesses at least three pieces will be able to go where this priceless relic is kept. Now, go. The battle has drained me.”

  The Divine Blacksmith dropped his head and closed his eyes. He was out, then. In other words, the conversation was over. The NPC had given all the information in his script and Jack would have to work it out himself from here.

  It was for good reason that Adomaah was called the Divine Blacksmith. The loot from his lair looked very promising. Jack walked around the smithy and raked quite a few interesting items into his bag. The blacksmith himself, though, wasn’t a rich man. He had no gold or jewels. But he worked at such a frantic pace, hammering tons of detail, that his goods looked amazing. He found six Soulless Guardian Axes alone, all rare level and all with red question marks that bespoke hidden properties. There were also two Soulless Guardian Cuirasses, a Soulless Guardian Helm, some kind of Goblet of Generosity…

  Jack checked all the nooks behind the crucibles and forges, and supplemented his loot with tools. There were guilds that specialized in tradecrafts. They would be glad to fork out their gold for rare tools from Gaerthron. There were all kinds of Tongs, Hammers, and Chisels, from rare to legendary level… he could only say one thing about all of it – it would be worth a ton of gold. Egghead was going to have his hands full trying to sell all of it. Or not! These would come in handy in Jackcity since there was much to build, and they would certainly need tools for it.

  However, evening was approaching and he’d be able to summon Necta. He needed to find the Eternal Darkness before that time.

  He went downstairs to the chamber and wandered around a bit in the darkness, but found no clues as to where to search for the artifact. Oh, yeah, the Face of the Earth…

  Jack drew out his double fragment and placed the new one next to it. Now, the info window read:

  Face of the Earth

  Unique

  Three quarters of an interactive map of the continent.

  Collect the map fragments to restore the full map. The more pieces you collect, the broader its scale will become.

  Aha, the image emerged faster than with the previous piece of the Face of the Earth. Progress already! But still, how was he supposed to search for the Eternal Darkness?

  He opened the timeline and began moving it into the past, but the picture didn’t change... Apparently, the Eternal Darkness was linked with a very old event. And if he shifted it to a few centuries back? Oh, the dome was intact and smoke billowed, as it did now. In the depths of the building, a small black spot flickered and next to it, a sliver of radiance. So, once, both the Eternal Light and Eternal Darkness had been kept here! He shifted a century forward. The Eternal Light had disappeared, but the black spot was still visible. They’d carried the Eternal Light off somewhere, but the Darkness remained with Adomaah. Even closer to the present day, and even closer. The image began to alter. Near the Divine Blacksmith’s lair, there was a tiny person in gleaming armor… Was that the hero Voldos? Evidently, so. He was grabbing a large rock and tossing it up at something. What was there? Something slowly and majestically descended on Voldos, something shrouded in light. It was probably Chronos coming for his Power Gauntlets, but Voldos had already taken them. And it looked like he was using them for all they were worth.

  A battle between the tiny opponents flared. The hero cast stones, sometimes tearing whole blocks from the wall, and cracks ran across the dome. The cloud of light circled overhead, firing lighting at him, which also added to the building’s destruction. Finally, the spot of light that was hiding Chronos rushed toward the ground and, for a second, the silhouette of a powerful, bearded man clutching lightning appeared amidst the radiance. Chronos fell on his enemy. Debris rained. Part of the building, already destroyed by the fighting, sagged and crumbled. A section of the dome collapsed and it began to look like it did today.

  Everything vanished in the clouds of dust and, no matter how hard Jack looked, no matter how he moved the slider on the scale, he couldn’t see anything more useful. Chronos had done something to Voldos, while a section of the building collapsed, and the Eternal Darkness was no longer visible within the walls.

  All that was left was to take a closer look. Jack wandered around the huge building and stopped where the hero Voldos had disappeared. The wall here was broken, and the stone that had crumbled away lay in heaped piles. The ground was pitted with cracks and holes, which even the centuries after the battle hadn’t been able to smooth away. Debris, large and small, was scattered all around. He turned back to the Face of the Earth and found the battle on the timeline. Where had Voldos come from, and where had he disappeared to? It wasn’t clear. Before he’d burst in on Adomaah, it looked almost like the hero had emerged from under the earth. Jack looked closely for the exact spot where the hero first appeared. Around here, no? That was it! A stone slab, half-buried in the ground… with an engraving! Jack stared at the branded symbol on his palm. They were the same. He placed his palm to the engraved mark on the stone. Something under his hand shuddered and Jack realized he was clutching an ancient bronze ring, green with age.

  He pulled the ring. Something screeched frightfully under his feet, then the slab moved, stones raining down underneath it and falling into a bottomless abyss. Then he leaned against the slab and, with some effort, moved it aside. An opening with steps leading down lay before him. Aha.

 

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