Syndicate Slayer Read online

  That was not the answer I wanted to hear. But complaining wasn’t a business strategy, so I accepted his quest with a meager ‘yes’.

  Back in the center of Cloudkiss, I pondered my strategy. Okay, maybe I was overanalyzing issues. With the game’s smart algorithm, the challenges always adapted to my skills and proficiency. So maybe this quest featured more challenges than any other quest that I had done before. After all, the true purpose of the mission was going to be revealed after I’d talk with the Aeonlight representatives. But before that, I needed to buy more items and stock up my potions. The nearby gear shop with the funky wooden sign enticed me to drop massive amounts of credits.

  Could it be?

  I walked inside and heard a familiar jingle.

  A young girl with a vibrant smile stood behind a massive glass showcase and greeted me with endless fire inside. “Dash, dash, double-dash.”

  Moola was in the house and this was her applause.

  “You remember me?”

  “Of course. You were one of my top five customers.”

  “Were?”

  “Oh, Dash. You stopped buying from me! I thought I scared you away with a bad deal but then I remember I never make bad deals. So what’s the scoop?”

  Looked like Moola hadn’t heard of my mixed Western Crescent results. Probably for the better, as that would have screwed up our business relationship. Maybe forever.

  “I was busy,” I said. “Weak excuse, I know. It’s complicated.”

  “Well, nothing about my hot Cloudkiss Mountain Village Bonus Sales is EVER complicated. In fact, my deals are so easy to grasp even customer’s who lost half of their brain get ‘em.”

  “You have customers with only half of their brains?”

  Her cheeks colored pink. “Well, I was metaphorically figuratively poetically speaking.”

  She clapped her hands. “Enough with the blahblah, it’s time for items.”

  She opened a new box beneath the glass cover of her showcase. “I have a new shipment for adventurous warriors just like you, Dash. With the Reepo infestations going crazy over the continent, you need some serious equipment to protect you and your loved ones.”

  My glance traveled from the left to the right corner. Dozens of new items graced her showcase, ranging from high potions, anti-Reepo vaccines, and various types of mines: smokers, stunners, spikers, acid, explodas, and even my new semi-smart spider mines. My inventory also contained all the beast men weapons that I had collected on the battlefield surrounding the outpost.

  “Do you actually buy Preshaar weapons?”

  “What have you got?”

  I showed her my bone collection of Preshaar weapons. Moola looked less than enthused. “What am I supposed to do with a bunch of bony scratchers?”

  “You’re a creative girl. You’ll figure something out.”

  She shrugged. “I’ll give you two thousand max for the collection.”

  “Two thousand? Those are rare, hand-crafted weapons from the Western Crescent. And considering the recent events over at the island state, they’re only going to get more precious.”

  “Fine, twenty-two max. That’s my last offer.”

  “Three thousand five hundred and you have a deal.”

  “Done.”

  I thought about it. The sum wasn’t that much, but since I still had over sixteen thousand left from my recent Sunblood quests, I could be more lenient.

  I sold Moola my stash, bought a couple of spider mines, anti-Reepo vaccines, and health potions. The basic set that had kept me alive for the past sessions. Moola observed my face with widening eyes. “I can see you’re looking for something special, something that will double your survival chances.”

  “You’re reading my mind.”

  “It’s what I do for a living. Let me show you something electrifying.”

  36

  Moola revealed another section of her showcase. The one with the overpriced premium items. “As a WarTech, this item should quench your hunger. Yum, yum.”

  I glanced around the new selection. New weapons, new armor, and a bunch of upgraded mine versions marginally better than my current one. The little increase in stats didn’t justify the exorbitant price range. Except for one upgrade.

  The Electrocute upgrade.

  Electrocute enhances mechanical melee weapons with the core electro-damage ability.

  Electro DMG chance: +20%

  Stun chance: +15%

  New ability: Chain-reaction.

  20% chance your electro-sparks travel to nearby (<3 meter) targets, causing up to 33% base damage.

  Price: 8,750 credits

  Almost ten thousand for a single upgrade? No wonder few low-to-mid-leveled players carried fully-slotted weapons. You had to be a rich player to obtain them. But hey, since my digital wallet glowed with over sixteen thousand credits, I could spent some bucks. Plus, the upgrade turned my BlitzBlade into an artificial thunder god. So I divorced myself from almost ten thousand and received the precious upgrade.

  Moola’s eyeballs turned into dollar orbs, ka-chink. “Thank you, Dash. You’ve made a wonderful decision.”

  She handed me the upgrade which looked like a tech orb with circuit-patterns running through the surface. Even the name of my weapon changed once I inserted the orb into the free slot.

  BlitzBlade+

  Plus.

  Little change, okay, but I liked it. As good old Walt Disney had said, plussing was the way to go.

  The sales girl grinned on. “You need more?”

  “I’m okay for now. Your items have burned a hole through my budget.”

  “With that upgrade, you’d make your money back in no time. Seriously, you should rename yourself to Raiden the god of thunder.”

  “I think I stick to Dash for now.”

  Moola waved me goodbye as I left her tech item shop.

  “Can’t wait to see you again, Dash. Please don’t wait another eternity.” She hugged five of her items. “My babies need a new home.”

  “There’re more daddies than me out there.”

  “None of which are as fine as you.”

  It sounded almost like a flirt, but my mind was occupied with moving on. Outside the shop, I called my usual suspects. Namely Rokkit, Yumi-D, and Wu. L’ocean was unfortunately out of the picture, which still felt weird. I hoped the other players wouldn’t rebel against me. Last time I checked, Rokkit surged in viewerships on his own channel while L’ocean/Cruz still suffered from his TechMage’s death.

  Wu accepted my request without further comments and joined my private game. “Give me two and a half minutes.”

  Rokkit called me up on the long-distance chat.

  “I already saved your ass in case you can’t remember.”

  “I do remember, and I’m grateful for that, Rokkit. I truly am.”

  A silence hummed, which was rare, because Rokkit always had something to say.

  “I thought we’d work together, you know, you, me, and Yumi-D, the whole clique.”

  “I watched some of your streams, Boltzmann, and they are a mess.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “First you engage with a Blue Flame storyline and find some success thanks to me and L’ocean. Then you get captured and work for the Syndicate, fighting the Preshaar.”

  His statement angered me. I felt like being a classless level 2 character again and trying to justify my so-called morally ambiguous decisions. “I didn’t turn; I already told you. I fought back the Syndicate and helped the chieftain win against the Sunblood troops.”

  “Keep your yapping and hear me out. This flip-flopping doesn’t bode well with viewerships.”

  I paused. Maybe he did have something useful to say.

  “Look, consider yourself an actor in a series. Your audience wants to see continuity. They want to see how you help the Blue Flame rebellion fight against the Syndicate. If you keep changing narratives by joining opposing sides, you break your consistency. So pick your side and stick to it.
”

  “In case you wonder, my viewership numbers are still growing.”

  “For now. Check out other player streams where they flip-flopped. Viewers dropped like smelly flies and followed streams that were far more consistent.”

  “Does that mean you’re not going to join my next quest?”

  A sigh relapsed from the connection. “You just never learn, Boltzmann, do you? Make up your damn mind. In the meanwhile, I’ll have to play my own story string and dominate doing it.”

  Rokkit said goodbye to me over the connection. Despite the attitude, I understood his reasoning. Thankfully, other co-players were far more lenient with my approach. Yumi-D and Wu responded to my call. She seemed surprised I even contacted her, despite our, well, deepened relationship in the hotel room.

  “It’s weird hearing from you,” she said over the chat comm.

  “Why?”

  “Because I thought you were going all solo-player now, trying to build the most watched player stream and raking in the sponsorship money. You know, big-boy-trying-to-take-over-the-world style.”

  “I always want to ally with ambitious co-players. Besides, I need your expertise as a kick-ass Ranger.”

  “Now you just want to make me blush.”

  “Impossible.”

  “True.”

  She still hesitated. Something was holding her back, and I hoped it wasn’t our changing relationship.

  “Hey, listen, if this moment is bad—”

  “Okay, I’ve accepted your request. I can’t play for long though, because I have another expo session soon. Where do we meet?”

  That was fast. Yumi to the D.

  “Varmegarden, in front of the Aeon sanctuary. We’re going to help the followers discover a new location or something like that.”

  “Sounds actually semi-interesting. Okay, this one I’ll join. For old time’s sake. See you soon.”

  At least someone who was eager to participate in my quests. A Ranger and an Assassin, which meant I had to act as the tank slash close-range damage dealer. A minor challenge, but I was up to it. I walked up to the stable and leased a speedy and aggressive fowl. Ever since I had ridden the muscular Preshaar fowls from the Western Crescent, I couldn’t go back to ‘weaker’ models. I needed more muscle power and speed. Especially since my inventory and armor became heavier and dragged down my total fowl running speed. I paid more than twice the price for the fowl, mounted the fiery beauty, and shot down the steep mountain path until I regrouped with the Hope Road. I avoided treading the path as it was occupied by slow caravans and convoys, but I rode a dozen meters nearby to avoid crossing the Great Plains. With the effect of the Fyrekraut boost, I landed in the Varmegarden township in no time. Yumi-D and Wu awaited me like straight A students, eager to start their lesson.

  “Am I too late?”

  Ranger Yumi-D sighed. “Aren’t you always?”

  For the first time, I hugged her digital avatar before my eyes turned to Wu who had upgraded his assassin gear. He wore a couple of impressive BlazeFire Blades, tactical poison daggers, and more concealed weapons beneath his advanced coat made from crystal spider webs. Not to forget that amazing glaive. A freaking glaive.

  “It’s been ages, my friend.”

  “Agreed. The last time we liberated this town from the Syndicate. Memories I remember fondly.”

  Boy, that felt like half a gaming life time ago.

  One week of gaming equaled a couple of months in real-life.

  “I can see you’ve made quite the progress.”

  “I’ve joined various multi-party sessions and experimented with various styles. I’m going to specialize on the Assassin sub-category now.”

  “That certainly fits your style. I still remember how you sliced and diced through the enemy captains during our garrison attack.” I paused. “Fire is the wrong word. You were burning through the floors, killing half of the troops with slick stealth attacks.”

  “To be fair, most of them were reserve troops with little armor. I was in blend-mode and caused critical as well as surprise damage.”

  Wu, always the modest player. The opposite of Rokkit. From all the allies I had teamed up with so far, he ranked among the most likable. Always helpful, always social.

  Yumi-D went in-between us. “Friends, I’m sure you’ve got a million of stories to share, but I’m here to play, experience, and loot. So, let’s get it on, shall we?”

  Man, I missed working in a human team. All the interpersonal banter and quips that made gaming a more pleasurable experience. We followed the target mark on our mini-maps and ended up on the main plaza yet again where we had defeated Odin’s mobile armor and his cohorts. The garrison I blew up didn’t exist anymore, even the rubble made place for a creamy-white building with a stylized shape of a vertical crystal. Its pointy roof targeted the sky and looked like the ‘embassy’ on the Western Crescent.

  “Interesting mix between church and crystalized architecture,” Wu said.

  He spoke my mind. I had never ever seen a building like that, even though its engravings and banners felt familiar. I had seen similar symbols at the Holiplaze in the canyon site.

  “Don’t tell me this is…”

  We neared the gothic-shaped entrance where a man in his thirties wearing white and blue striped clothes approached us. “Welcome, travelers. The sanctuary of Aeonlight is open. The priestess is holding a sermon which you can join.”

  “We’re on a mission.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  Looked like the followers grew more cocky with their expansion. I wondered how they’d behave once they dominated an area.

  I stepped inside first and faced an oval-shaped chamber. Opposed to traditional churches in Europe, where everyone sat on wooden benches, facing the priest in front, this design was oval-shaped, forcing attention toward the center. Hundreds of followers and travelers knelt around the stage where a young man and woman dressed in Aeonlight uniforms fumbled with a particle projection of ancient motion images. They looked more mature than last time, but I still recognized them as Caspian and Celeste.

  37

  Wu and Yumi-D stood next to me as my favorite followers of the Aeonlight continued their sermon. The oval-shaped chamber had dimmed to semi-darkness except for the big, blue glow emanating from the projection.

  Celeste talked. “…and thus, the Reepo is not a punishment, but a redeemer that will usher us into a new world order.”

  The speech finished. The projection vanished and the lanterns of the chamber flamed on again. The listeners rubbed their eyes and stood up like sleepers awaking from a distant dream. The quest giver exclamation hovered near Celeste and Caspian. I approached them with small steps and observed their facial expressions. No signs of passive-aggressiveness, yet.

  “Dash, I see you.”

  “Hope so.”

  She offered her service smile and gave me a half bow, Caspian following suit. Both followers looked more like young adults than teenagers now. Maybe they had aged during my gigs, or maybe the advanced attire changed their looks.

  “I had no idea pilgrims were allowed to teach.”

  “Oh, we’re not pilgrims anymore. We’re both priests in service of the Aeonlight.”

  “Congratulations,” I said. “I’ve talked to the leader of the Blue Flame. He ordered us to help you with your expanse.”

  I introduced Yumi-D and Wu to her, whom she welcomed with a dedicated half-bow. She was so much more mature than last time. “Let’s go to the sanctuary room, shall we?”

  My co-players nodded and followed me into the back room which was filled with bookshelves, old scriptures, and a working table that reminded me of Balzac’s attic studio with a religious touch.

  Caspian turned to me. “Because of the recent events of the Western Crescent, we’ve decided to expand our services to the Eastern Part of the main continent.”

  He pointed toward a territory that I had never ever visited before. It lay almost two hundred kilometers away
from our current location. Well, as long as it didn’t feature Preshaar, I was fine by it.

  “Win Dorado sports no Syndicate presence, making it ideal for our followers to spread the message of unity.”

  Celeste nodded with a smile that reminded me of her old childlike appearance.

  “A few million citizens live on that part of the continent. Many decades ago, the Win Dorado citizens followed a pure and harmonious lifestyle. But with the downfall of the Beltar Empire, the citizens have forsaken the Aeonlight in exchange for vice.”

  Caspian took over again. “We want to bring back hope. We want to lead people back to the unity of our land and guide them closer to the Aeonlight.”

  It sounded like some sort of missionary mission, which made me wonder why the Blue Flame rebellion was involved. Balzac had insisted on keeping his movement free from dogmatic ideology, but maybe the loss of the Western Crescent made him desperate.

  “Of course,” Caspian continued, “With Balzac’s help, we will convince the people of our fight against the Syndicate.”

  Quest: Led by the Aeonlight (Update)

  Type: Bodyguard, Exploration

  Description: Aeonlight priests, Celeste and Caspian, want you to protect their travels to the Win Dorado in the Fortune Forest where they attend a meet-up with the mayor.

  Rewards: 3,250 credits, cont. experience, 1x skillpoint

  One skill point as a reward for the quest? Wow, that was better than I had thought. A quick glance to Wu and Yumi-D revealed that they shared my excitement. Credits and gear were desirable, but skillpoints allowed us to fight better and advance sooner. Win-win all the way. The quest also came with a ‘challenge’ warning, which was unusual. Nothing about the mission description looked demanding.

  “Let’s do this.”

  The Aeonlight siblings nodded. “Magnificent, Dash. I have no doubt that you and your friends will help us bring back the light to that amoral place.”

  “Is it really that bad over there?”

  “You have no idea. Embrace yourself for the worst.”

  Celeste intervened. “We do not, however, judge them. In the deeper sense, no human is good or bad, only our thinking makes it so.”