“Y ou good?” Mystical Darkness asked, seeing the rogue twitch and his eyes become empty for a moment.
“Just thinking of whether this is but a mere coincidence...”
Saying that, he sent her the screenshot of the quest he had just received and watched her reaction.
Her brows rose so high that they almost merged with her hair as she read until her face was frozen in astonishment as great as his own.
“What the...? No way!” she screamed in delight, turning to him. “That’s... That’s just... Dude! Is he for real?”
“Seems like it.” He smiled wryly and moved away from her a little bit in case her reaction turned out to be much stronger than he had expected. “I didn’t think I’d talk to that geezer ever again, but it looks like there’s no escaping him. I don’t want to give you false hope, so I’ll be blunt: it won’t be easy. At all. My relationship with him is anything but good.”
He already owed too much to Lamaniel, which diminished his chance of completing Darkness’s quest. Winning his trust back would be everything but easy.
“No problem.” Mystical Darkness shone like a star, happy to get the quest she had thought unattainable. If it weren’t for Raven, she would’ve probably had to wait much longer, considering that during the year since Ascension’s launch players had unlocked only four out of the hundred Floors. “This is already much, much better than I expected. I can wait.”
She jumped up and laughed, spreading her arms.
“Ahahaha! This is amazing! Now that’s the game I love!” Then she smiled and added, putting her hand on Raven’s shoulder: “We’re now connected, White Raven, so keep me posted.”
“As you wish,” he said with a brief nod, looking up at her.
“See you.”
“Wait. Since you’ve helped us... I think you deserve to know some of the truth. There’s one thing I need to tell you.”
This time he omitted many details, giving her only the essential information and leaving it up to her to decide what to make of it.
When he was done talking, Darkness stared at him in confusion, but then she smiled again, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“It’s a wonderful day today, don’t you think?” she said, looking at the horizon. She then took a deep breath and turned her face to the sky, closing her eyes. “Thank you, Raven. My sensitivity level is currently one hundred and four. I thought it was just a game bug, but now... I ought to pay a visit to the statues. If all this...” She looked around. “If all this is what you claim it to be, I don’t want to miss any of the fun.”
She looked down at the rogue sitting at her feet and whistled loudly. As she took a step off the cliff, she landed on the back of her flying mount that had an eagle’s head, a lion’s body, and two big wings with sword-like feathers.
“See you, Raven.”
Without looking back, she raised her hand in farewell and soon disappeared into the distance.
“See you.”
Shaking his head, Raven remembered he had more people to fill in on what was going on. However, since he found telling the same story over and over again to be tedious, he came up with a better solution.
***
Soon after, everyone whom Raven considered worthy of his trust received a link to a five-minute video where he summarized what he had told Mystical Darkness and Kingmaker.
The only person (except for Kingmaker) whom he could tell everything was his sister. But, since she took no part in the event, the conversation with her would have to wait.
After posting the video, he checked his map and headed toward another statue. He needed the Keys (the more the better) to complete his deal with Kingmaker, which meant delaying his mental development. However, since he knew what the top-level chests hid, he was more than willing to take a detour.
A SHARD OF A HEROIC MIND
Rank: Heroic
Type: Fragment
Description: A piece of an unknown hero’s mind, emitting an aura of power. Collect all fragments to identify the hero and gain their power.
Fragments collected: 1/5
Raven was unaware of what treasures opened by the other types of Keys had, but he was almost certain that they were also somehow related to the heroes and their powers.
Reading the description over and over, he couldn’t figure out one thing: why was the hero unknown? Was it someone from the Great Ten or were they from an earlier age?
Recalling how difficult it was to find the chests, he let out a deep sigh. The recent deal with Kingmaker was his best bet at ever revealing this hero’s identity.
***
Raven spent the next day reaching another hero. He had to avoid fighting as it’d consume too much of the time that he needed for the climb. Every time Wings entered cooldown, he stuck his dagger into the cliffside to hold onto it, then soared again.
Since this wasn’t his first climb, he knew it’d take him about an hour to reach his destination, depending on the wind and the flying mobs that would sometimes come his way.
This time, he was on his way to meet the first hero he had met in Ascension: Zal’Sscar, whose eyes were, regardless of where she was looking, always gazing into his with mocking superiority.
Seeing her face, he remembered — as clearly as if it had happened yesterday — her ghost’s claims about her being the strongest of the Great Ten.
Once he approached the statue, he saw the message about offering the Influence Spheres. Handing in the usual ten thousand, he selected the challenge and prepared for a talk.
What he had forgotten, however, was that the part of the hero’s soul present here was somehow connected with their ghosts across the Floors.
“How interesting.” Zal’Sscar twirled her dagger without even looking at it, shifting it between her fingertips like a drummer would their drum stick. “Once again, you come sooner than I expected, young messenger.”
She observed him closely, then shook her head.
“I see you failed to resist the power.” Her voice had a strange tone to it. It sounded like disappointment... Or reproach... Or maybe indifference. Gripping the hilt of her dagger and bringing it up to her lips, she licked the blade. “So, what does it feel like? To hold another’s life in your fist?”
“Nothing escapes you, I see. I know you’re aware of the things I have to do to reach the goal you’ve set for me.” Her reaction didn’t surprise him as he knew that she could sense any items he had in his inventory. He shrugged and looked around. Seeing a crowd of players gather around them, he asked: “Can we proceed to the challenge?”
Zal’Sscar smirked.
“I hope you can do it... successor.”
There were no pompous speeches like the ones he had heard from Darrau, Wagraf, and Ariadne (who emitted such a motherly, loving aura that it made him feel awkward in her presence).
Hearing these words, he prepared for a tough battle. This time, his choice was Deliverance. He was worried about his prosthetic arm, or rather, about whether the system would allow him to use it.
Turning down the option to make the challenge ten times more difficult, he opted for the standard Level Ten one as it’d still reward him with the Keys he needed.
Browsing the forums, he had discovered why a standard Level Ten Challenge would reward the player with ten Keys. According to those who had completed the Level One to Three ones, the system would give one Key for each challenge level higher than the first. Occasionally, when someone met a hidden condition, such as completing the challenge within a time limit, they’d get an additional secret reward: either extra Keys, Will Points, or Influence Points. The only thing he couldn’t explain just yet was the cap on the amount of offered Influence Spheres.
Choosing a heroic skill, he didn’t even look at its description, proceeding straight to the challenge.
The Sky Platform for Deliverance was identical to that used for Balance. From the forums, Raven knew this platform had a fixed diameter of three hundred feet. The only thing that changed from level to level was the enemy’s strength.
Aware of the conditions, Raven was ready for his inventory, skills, and gear to be removed, and for his stats to be reset. His only concern was the prosthetic arm. When it disappeared, he was startled to see that it was replaced by an actual arm.
“Well... At least it’s fair.”
Before he could fully appreciate this gift, a 3D projection of a weapon appeared in front of him, spinning widely like a compass needle. As the countdown continued, it began to stabilize. When the countdown reached three, it stopped.
It was a spear.
“Shit.”
The RNG Gods hated him.
...1 ...0
A familiar shriek ripped the air. Accepting his fate, Raven grabbed the spear and stared at the monster appearing at the other end of the platform.
Seeing the furry rodent, his eye twitched in annoyance.
“Real funny.”
Name: Cursed Rat