The Final Trial, page 23
part #3 of Level Up Series
“Watch out — there are two more on the right!” Jovanna shouted.
I redirected Tank toward them, then finished off what had attacked us first. The nebula — that’s what this creature was called — seized itself by the ribs and ruptured its own chest, activating a last-chance weapon.
Yellow slime spurted out, instantly covering me from head to toe, melting my uniform and burning me to the bones. My scream stuck in my throat when I saw my shredded flesh fall off my body in clumps.
My health plummeted to zero so fast, and the vice-like pain squeezing my mind was so intense, that only the fear of final death motivated me to open my profile with two mental clicks and activate a leveling up — the only thing in this world that would immediately return me to 100% health.
Rex, who had toppled over after losing a leg, was breathing heavily next to me. He’d hit a ghastly anomaly: a section of the ground that instantly pulverized whatever came across it, a bit like a shredder. It was kind of like the thing I’d faced in the preliminary selection. What had previously been Rex’s left leg was now ground into a meat-and-bone soup and was clearly indicating the anomalous area.
Jovanna wasn't in great shape, either. At the beginning of the fight, one of the creatures that was 5 levels higher than her had jumped out of a tree onto her head, and only Tank’s intervention had saved her life, pulling her back from the brink. Her health had dropped into the red zone, and I hadn't made it in time.
Now the triceratops was bleating mournfully. The acidic insides of the nebula that was impaled on his horn were eating away at part of his snout, exposing the jaw. It looked horrible. It was a good thing that I didn’t see the whole picture but just a miniature in the interface control panel.
Jovanna’s arrow landed in the throat of the last nebula. It gave out a wheezy sob and fell down next to the crumpled Tank.
“Gather the loot, Jo. I’ll sort out the dinos.”
She nodded and went to search for the resources that had dropped. Based on the subsequent logs, we had quite a bit of loot: more than 20 points from each nebula.
I changed into the spare uniform that I’d brought along just in case. After a moment’s wait, I activated the fighting unit tab and pressed the regeneration icon.
The tyrannosaur bellowed and sprang to his feet, confirming that the action had been successful. The triceratops was now healed from the terrible wounds to his snout and was now breathing loudly next to Rex.
Test subject! Health reserves have been completely restored to the following fighting units: Rex, Tank.
It was a costly satisfaction, but there was no way to manage without the dinosaurs now, and waiting for them to regenerate would be a waste of time. They’d already been wounded too badly.
So there went my hard-earned 500 existence resources. This was a basic ability which worked only with all the units at once. It cost 500 points, but I suspected that if I leveled up and acquired more fighting units, the cost would also rise. Unfortunately, it worked only outside of battle. When damage was dealt to any member of the group, fight mode was activated (while the unit regeneration icon disappeared) and operated for some time after the fight actually ended.
We’d run across the nebulas when we’d wandered deep into the forest. After we’d left Zack, we returned to the base, changed into new uniforms and disposed of the old ones for a minimal price which the system calculated based on the item’s remaining durability.
I slipped the treacherous dagger into the extradimensional trunk. I couldn’t make myself throw it away for good, and I’d gotten an idea about how to use it. A twenty-five percent life steal could come in handy if we came across a powerful adversary such as Tafari.
After we’d sadly recounted the resources we’d collected, we concluded that the most pressing thing to do was launch the portal grid between our hexagons — but we’d already spent the resources for this in the instance. A portal would have allowed us to immediately port to Carter’s former main base and regenerate the mobs there. Carter’s mobs were level 3, which meant that Rex and Tank would become level 6 when you factored in my Leadership Ring of Reinforcement.
There we’d be able to think about some mounts.
We set out northeast, bypassing Zack’s hexagon, where we successfully captured the first neutral hexagon we came across. The second one was in the deep forest, and the closer we got to its center, the thicker the undergrowth became. We needed to literally bore holes in it; fortunately, Rex and Tank did this for us, leaving a wide opening behind them. Then the tyrannosaur who was in the lead stumbled into an anomaly which attacked us from all sides.
The nebulas, which were still new mobs for us, were semi-sentient, aggressive, and attacked in groups. These creatures, which had a humanoid physique and were two foot tall, had powerful claws on their hands. Their eyes continually oozed the yellow acidic slime which made them look like they were lit up. The lower part of the skull which looked just like a monkey’s was endowed with a protruding jaw and more large fangs than you could ever count. The long, contorted ears picked up sounds that the human ear couldn’t detect.
I learned all of this from the Pibellau virtual bestiary which was installed in my interface. This reference guide operated according to the same principles as the fog of war: in order to get the information, you had to kill the creature first.
I was less worried about the nebulas than about the anomaly Rex had run into. I motioned for everyone to stay where they were and, stepping slowly and carefully, I approached the anomaly.
The gallons of blood shed and the mincemeat of the tyrannosaur’s leg had already vanished. So my concern was whether we could detect any anomalies without first running into them. If traps like this were scattered all over Pibellau, it was no wonder that the civilizations that used to inhabit it had died out.
“What’s over there, Phil?” Jovanna shouted to me.
“I feel a vibration. It’s like when your phone is under your pillow and it rings when it’s on silent, but instead of the pillow under your head, the ground is under your feet. The air smells of ozone.”
I picked up a rock and threw it at the anomaly. Nothing happened. I stretched my hand out slowly, millimeter by millimeter, feeling an increasing pressure on the skin of my fingertips, as if I were trying to pull a piece of rubber that was stretched over it. Eventually it tore, the momentum forcing my hand forward.
Something grabbed at my fingers and was about to make mincemeat of them. I lost my balance and almost fell into the anomaly. “Motherfucker!”
“Is something wrong with my mother, Phil?” Jovanna asked with concern. “I don't understand...”
“Wait a sec,” I shook my wounded hand, waiting for it to regenerate. “Well, I’m still not sure if the nebulas arrange these anomalies or if they're scattered around the whole Trial field. That’s our new headache. There’s nothing about this in the reference guide or in the entry on the nebulas. So all we can do is be careful. The anomaly reacts only to organic matter and it feels like an invisible force field. The closer you get to it, the more pressure there is. You won't have time to react fast, so now we need to walk around the forest more carefully. We need to generate a couple of mobs as an advance guard to act as scouts. We might have to go through the catalog and either take unit points away from Rex or Tank, which will lower their stats, or we need to bring someone else into the clan.”
“Don’t forget that we also wanted to create mounts for ourselves,” Jovanna pointed out.
“I remember. Had Velociraptors been a little bigger, we could use them as mounts. We can figure that out at the base. Right now let’s keep farming and capture this hexagon. Even before we came across those nebulas, we’d been unlikely to make the 2,000 we needed, and now after the units regenerate, that’s even more the case. Then we’ll go back to the main base so we have time before it gets dark. During the night we’ll farm resources from the elites and upgrade the integration module. That will give us the portal grid, and we’ll pounce on Carter and level up the units. What do you think of that plan?”
“Whatever you say... boss,” Jovanna laughed.
I think it was the first time I’d ever heard her laugh. Even when her artifact bow had dropped, she’d been happy and enthusiastic, but she didn't laugh so infectiously.
Looking at her, I also started to laugh, not for any particular reason, but to ease the tension that had built up.
When we were done laughing, we lay side by side for a while. Jovanna’s head was on my shoulder. I think that was the best thing to happen to me in the last few days.
* * *
Level 2 of the integration module gave us access to the network of portals connecting all our hexagons. The module had indeed integrated all of our bases, allowing us to upgrade the fighting unit module that was on my main base for free (!), putting it on a par with the one on Carter’s old base. That meant we wouldn’t need to teleport to Carter.
Despite my fears, the unit regeneration process occurred didn’t require liquidating the original Rex and Tank. The only thing I personally noticed was the change of the dinosaurs’ interface status from 5 to 6. Having said that, this increase in levels had brought their main stats, including life points and damage, up 20%. Plus I’d invested two more points in Stamina, adding to the dinos’ health.
I didn’t need Agility, and for the time being I didn’t need Strength, either: Rex and I were dealing killer damage as it was, more than enough for our level. The benefit from Intellect was not great at this stage, since adding a couple of percentage points to the chance of doubling the loot wouldn’t have a dramatic effect. Luck was too abstract. So that left Charisma and Perception. Using Charisma I could generate more fighting units, including mounts, while Perception would allow me to increase critical damage, the visibility radius and the chance of finding an artifact.
But all of that faded when I remembered how many times over the last few days I’d had to hold on for dear life to the final health percentages.
We didn’t uncover any artifacts during the night, even though we’d killed three duxio — which had become easier — and a few of the smaller fry. In the early morning, another two-headed odzi snake appeared. That also went without a hitch: the strategy of having Rex crush the heads of the armored monster with his massive feet had now paid off by the bucketful.
In all, we managed to farm nearly 3000 existence resource points. That was enough for the module and new versions of dinosaurs, but not for much more. We didn’t even have enough to level up Jovanna. A level 4 fighting unit module cost 7500 points, so we’d decided it was irrational to level the units up any further.
We could receive far more goodies if we developed in a more balanced way: level 3 of the base would give us access to new modules and reinforce our defense capabilities; the level 3 uniform module would get us the Reinforced Set, and the improved storage module would supply a portable extradimensional backpack. I still needed to level up myself, and make sure Jovanna did the same. And I had to do all of this while ceaselessly farming resources and capturing new hexagons.
The situation was complicated by the fact that I was 4 levels higher than Jovanna, and the mobs we encountered were so much stronger than her that our group farm became pointless. Only a miracle in the form of Tank had saved her from a death at the nebula’s claws, so I no longer wanted to take a risk with her.
At dawn Jo and I left the shelter. I stopped to break the news to her that I wanted to split up. She protested.
I had to raise my voice,
“You stay here, Jo. This isn't up for discussion. Go farm resources in the hexagon that’s next to Zack’s. The mobs there will be your level. Tank will stay with you.”
“That’s dangerous, Phil. We need to be together. What’s the point in dividing our strength? Take me with you. You can't leave me alone!”
“I can and I will. I’ve set your resource expenditure limit at 100%. Invest everything you farm in yourself. The faster you catch up to me, the sooner we’ll be able to start hunting together again. I’ll go farther northeast; I need to find out who’s settled there. I need to figure out which way we should expand: northward or eastward. It would be stupid to start expanding without scouts or mounts — without them we won’t get back to the base in time and we’ll lose the hexagon.”
Jovanna suddenly touched my face. “OK. Take care, Phil. Don’t forget that you’re on your last life. And you promised that we’d win!”
She ran her palm down my cheek. Then she called Tank, placed her hand on his head and disappeared with him. That’s how the portal grid works: all you need to do is click mentally on your destination point on the map.
Using the interface, I activated the portal to our outermost northeast base and selected Rex’s and my icons. The next moment, we landed at the designated point, in the hexagon with all the nebulas and the anomaly.
Almost as soon as I’d left the territory of the base, following Rex through all the undergrowth, branches and broken tree trunks, the alarm went off.
I sensed a wave of cold flowing over me. My field of vision turned crimson. I could smell something rotten.
The spot where the invader had crossed the border lit up on the minimap.
Test subject! An enemy has infiltrated your territory! Base 14 is under threat of capture!
I decided to stay on the base and confront the potential adversary on my own turf. Even though the base was only level 1 and its fence wouldn’t even keep out a whistler, the fact that I could escape by using the teleport at any critical moment was a game changer.
No adversary appeared for a long time. I anxiously patrolled the whole perimeter, peering beyond the trunks of the trees that surrounded the base as I worried that I would be struck from behind. My enemy seemed to be looming from everywhere; the more time had passed since the breach, the more paranoid I became.
At one point I decided I’d just forget it and take off to the main base, but my enemy’s appearance put an end to the uncertainty.
As soon as I caught sight of him, I knew he was indeed an enemy. Or rather, I first caught sight of his army of undead, raised from the corpses of all the local mobs: from the agile sarasur cockroaches to the limping nebulas and whistlers, their flesh peeling. There were so many mobs that from a distance they seemed to be moving toward me like a rippling colored rug.
A tall figure wearing a strange uniform walked in the center of this swarm. The captor’s garb was shrouded in a haze of black soot swirling around him. Eighteen-inch spikes jutted out of his bone pauldrons. He held a nine-foot-long staff with a knob shaped like a fishtail.
I’d been expecting Tafari to arrive from that direction on a rhinoceros, so I couldn’t hide my surprise. My jaw dropped as I read who it was:
Nagash, human
Level 14.
Class: necromancer.
Nagash? Who the hell was that? How had he reached level 14 so fast? And WTF was a necromancer doing on Pibellau?
Chapter 14. He Who Couldn’t Care Less
Well yeah, and I'm sad, but at the same time I'm really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It's like, it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin' really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I'm feelin' is like a, beautiful sadness.
— Butters, South Park
THICK DARK orange clouds now covered the skies of Pibellau. It smelled like rain, but the air had a slightly bitter tinge, which made the prospect of rain unpleasant. In any case, the Master of the Undead had now displaced the imaginary Master of the Downpour.
The horde of the undead stopped about 100 yards away from the base and got into formation. In addition to Nagash himself, I spotted a few other low-level humans wearing colorful clothing; they appeared to be his vassals. There was no other way to explain the fact that none of them were above level 5. Without bothering to be furtive, two of them fanned out to the sides, walking around the base to the right and the left, while one of them came directly toward me.
I was annoyed that there was no way I could summon Jovanna to help me. While we did have an interface, and all test subjects had additional lives, there was no clan chat or any other communication system — none at all, as if the creators had done everything to prevent any potential full-fledged cooperation or team play.
I could hear Rex breathing next to me. His presence made me feel more confident. I stood ready to activate the teleport, so we’d be able to get out of there fast if we had to. Right now the most important thing was to figure out who this was and if he was worth fighting. What he wanted was more than clear: he wanted to seize my hexagon and he didn’t care how — whether by bringing me into his clan or just killing me.
But it was my right to decide whether to fight with him now or later, once I’d prepared myself. Something told me that at his rate of leveling, it would be better to get it over with here and now.
