~‌ ‌1.19 ‌-‌ The Tower’s Secrets ~‌

Forest East of Noto town

3rd Lightday of The Full Moon

The raid kept their pace up, reaching The Tower swiftly. Upon their arrival, the group found the fields around The Tower littered with Dryad and Abominations’ corpses. The Dryads defending The Tower had put up a valiant effort, taking out many creatures with them. Around the base of The Tower, Flea could see what he hoped was the Abominations’ remains. At the door stood the three Lethality members, standing in such a way that conveyed to Flea; you shall not pass.

“Stick together and take out the Abominations as fast as possible. Tin ranked, take out those damn traitors and get inside. I’ll follow behind once we clean up out here,” Elder Jaga barked.

Flea nodded to Martina, and they both took off towards the three traitors. Flea found he had a hard time keeping up with Martina. The Manatid seemed faster than the wind. Getting close to Frustrated, Ren, and Grel’ek, two Abominations rushed into their path and were immediately cut in two by two thick air blades. Peeking over his shoulder, Flea could see the Queen unleashing pure destruction upon the Abominations charging the group with a fury of wind and what looked like hail sized chunks of ice.

“You should join us, Flea! The Master will give us powers normal players could only imagine. We will rule over Fantasy! Lethality will be number one this time. We have hundreds of groups working together across the game towards that goal. Help us, and we’ll put in a good word with the upper leadership!” Frustrated yelled over the sounds of battle.

“No way in hell! I’d rather make a rise in power with my own path. Do you understand that The Master is a necromancer? Taking that type of power will cause you to be hunted down across Mea!” Flea shouted back.

“Who cares! Once we establish a base of operations and merge with our other groups, no one will be able to stop us!” shouted Ren.

“We’ll stop you!” Martina shouted as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Before the Trio could raise their weapons in defense, Martina appeared behind Ren in the same puff of smoke and jammed his two daggers into Ren’s temples. The Dark Elf's body dropped like a sack of flour.

“What the Fuck! He has his first skill already! Kill him, Grel’ek!” Frustrated screamed as he ran into The Tower.

Before Martina could react to dodge out of the way, Grel’ek’s blade was already racing towards him. The Manatid took a large gash to the chitinous armor of his upper arm before he could get away.

“That damn croc is strong and fast,” Martina spat out, holding his hand over the wound.

A pale blue light radiated from Martina’s arm a moment later. Turning Flea found Niseph had cast her [Heal] on Martina.

“Thanks, darling,” Martina said.

“Ok, I’ll charge him. Martina, attack him up high. Flea, you take him down low,” Khorwin said.

“Was that a short joke?” Flea responded.

“Heh, maybe.”

They charged together towards the Lizardman. Khorwin arrived first, taking a strike across his shield. Martina went in for a strike but jumped back instantly. Grel’ek’s tail had swiped the space the Mantid had been in only a moment ago. The tail swipe cracked through the air as it broke the sound barrier. Martina moved further back, pulled his bow out of his bag, and launched three arrows in rapid succession. All three arrows bounced off the Lizardman’s hide.

Flea, fearing the croc’s strength and speed, decided to run for the door of The Tower instead. Reaching the door, he turned around and waved to Khorwin, who nodded back to him in understanding. Flea would go after Frustrated.

Entering The Tower, Flea could hear muffled arguing from far above. Thinking of his [Shadow Meld] skill, he activated it. His vision turned into shades of grey. The Gnome could clearly see outlines of the shadows on the floors and walls. A thick purple line, the only color he could see, showed him the boundaries of those shadows within The Tower.

Clinging to the wall, Flea slowly walked up the stairs. Halfway up, Flea could start to hear the shoutings a bit more clearly.

“...idea what you two need to do to finish this, but the other players brought along the Dryad Queen and an Elder. Your Abominations aren’t going to last much longer, and I doubt Grel’ek will either. You two need to hurry the fuck up.” clearly came Frustrated’s voice.

Flea then heard a voice he didn’t recognize.

“The book states the sanguine of kinship will restore the soul to its mortal binds. We have fathers phylactery, but what in the world is sanguine of kinship?”

“You two are dumb as fuck. It means the blood of a relative. So I assume you need to feed some of your blood to the phylactery or that coffin in the center of the room,” Frustrated spat at them.

The conversation seemed to stop, and Flea’s heart started to skip some beats.

They’re trying to resurrect The Master. Jaga needs to hurry up. No way I’m going to be able to stop those three by myself.

Flea continued creeping up the stairs. Reaching the platform with the open door, Flea snuck a look inside. He could see a room lit by magic lamps, like the one he held within his bag. Moving just inside the room and following the purple shadow line, Flea could now see the cloaked figures with their hoods down. He recognized the lieutenant instantly, his brother Kel looked like his twin, but had dark red scales on parts of his neck and face.

“My blood isn’t working, Sil. My body has been changed too much. You’ll need to do it for me.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Try the phylactery.”

Flea couldn’t see what they were doing, nor could he see where Frustrated had gone. The purple line stopped him only five or so feet into the room. Flea was unable to see deeper into the room due to the odd machines scattered in front of him. A commotion from the bottom of The Tower caught Flea’s notice, as well as the brothers.

“Stop them, use the orbs! They should be able to stop the Queen for a short time,” Kel yelled.

Frustrated appeared from around one of the machines, as he was taking out a glass globe from his bag. Flea moved backward and placed his back against the wall to allow Frustrated to pass. Frustrated walked up to the edge of the stairs, then tossed the glass globe down to the bottom of The Tower. Moments later, Flea could hear the screams of agony from below. Frustrated had thrown some type of poison or acid liquid down. Without a second thought, Flea broke his skill and shoved Frustrated hard from behind just as he was pulling out another of the glass globes.

Twisting his body around as he fell, Frustrated met Flea’s eyes. Frustrated’s eyes suddenly grew wide at the realization of what just happened, as he plummeted down the length of The Tower and crashed into the stone floor below.

Looking over the stairs, Flea could see the shattered globe on the floor next to Frustrated. The part of his body near the yellow liquid from the shattered sphere was smoking. Flea could see Martina, Khorwin, Niseph, and Elder Jaga looking up at Flea with their mouths agape, the Goblin flashing him a thumbs up. The group then started running up the stairs.

Turning back towards the doorway, Flea walked back into the room. The brothers seemed to pay no attention to the rest of the room and continued talking. In the center was a large metal looking coffin that the bothers were currently fussing over. Among the various large machines or contraptions, Flea could see a single table against the far wall. The rest of the equipment in the room were large vats of colorful chemicals with tubes connecting them. Cages, with their long-dead occupants, were stacked against the wall on the other side of the room. Flea decided to make his way to the table to see what he could find.

For what I take is the boss’s room, there isn’t much loot to swipe. It’s rather disappointing.

“Hurry, Sil! Stick your arm in here. This has to be the lock; it has to be it. It won’t react to my arm.”

Flea hurried over to the table, finding a leather-bound book opened upon it. Grabbing and throwing it into his bag, he heard a bloody yell from behind him. Turning around, he could see the lieutenant, with his arm inside the side of the coffin, trying to pull it out as he yelled his head off.

“Thank you for your sacrifice, my brother,” Kel said.

“What sacrifice? Help me get my damn arm out!”

Flea could see the lieutenant starting to age visibly. The coffin seemed to be draining the lieutenant’s life or energy from him. It only took moments for the cursing and yelling to stop as the Elf turned into white ash and then crumbled to the ground. The Tower then started to tremble as a pulse of energy erupted from the coffin. The pulse tossed both Flea and Kel back into the walls with enough force to cause injuries to the pair.

Coming to moments later, Flea felt an excruciating pain in his left leg. Looking down to where his leg should be, he found it was facing a ninety-degree angle above his knee and under his other leg. A bright white bone greeted him from the end where the portion was torn. Gritting his teeth and grabbing one of the common health potions from his bag, Flea drank it. The pain wasn’t as bad as the lesser, but still a tear-jerker nonetheless. As the Gnome watched his leg pull itself back together, Elder Jaga and the Queen came running through the doorway.

Jaga was upon Kel in a heartbeat, grabbing him and yanking him up.

“What have you done? Where is your damn brother?”

Coughing up blood as he hung from the Lion’s grip, Kel smirked at Elder Jaga.

“Sil gave up his life energy to bring our father and bloodline back into The Games,” Kel replied between laughing and coughing.

To the surprise of both Kel and Flea, Jaga bit into Kel’s neck, ripping his throat out and then spat the chunk on the floor.

“Tainted by demons,” Elder Jaga said.

The Dryad Queen kneeled close to Flea and watched his leg heal. Once it was fully recovered, she looked into his eyes and spoke.

“What has happened here?”

Flea explained everything to the Dryad Queen and Elder Jaga. Finishing his tale, the elder and Queen shared a look. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them, ending when both nodded to each other. The Queen then turned back to Flea.

“Take this for all the help you’ve given my daughter and people. Because of your willingness to help us, the Dryads now have a chance at a future again. If possible, please help my daughter continue her journey.”

The Queen handed him a silver and purple speckled egg the size of his head.

“This will hatch into one of the many Fae Wardens we use to bind with. When it hatches, you will be able to bind your life energy with it, forming a bond. This egg is our Grove’s last remaining. Please take great care of the life within. Niseph has told me about your partner you speak with. The Game should allow him or her to use the egg to create a body in which to inhabit and further help you on your travels. Take warning. If one of you dies, then the other will also die. Once you bind your life energy between one another, you are forever linked.”

Pets! I finally got my first pet, and Bob can use it! Amazing!

“You must go. Inform those alive to move far away from The Tower,” said Elder Jaga.

Getting up and placing the egg into his magic bag, Flea found the few remaining Dryads coming into the room and circling the coffin at the room’s center. Reaching the door and turning around, he saw The Queen and Elder Jaga joining them in the circle. Running down the stairs, Flea started yelling at everyone, still at the bottom to leave and start running.

“Where’s my Mother?” Niseph asked.

“She is with Elder Jaga and your sisters. They are going to put an end to The Master before he can finish reviving.

“NO! They’re going to sacrifice themselves!”

Niseph turned to run back into The Tower, but Martina grabbed the back of her leather corset and dragged her with them kicking and screaming. Crossing the field towards the forest, another powerful pulse of energy emitted from the top of The Tower, tossing the remaining players to the ground.

Getting to his feet, Flea started sprinting towards the forest again. He made it only a few feet more before he was thrown forward across the rest of the field, slamming into the trunk of a large tree as the third powerful surge of energy released from The Tower.

Moments after the third pulse of energy, a massive explosion obliterated the top of The Tower and more than half of its base. Stone bricks rained down among the players. Some of the adventurers’ luck ended as they were crushed by the flying stones coming down like cannon fire.

Getting up from the base of the tree, Flea started to look around. He found Niseph and Martina crushed by the stone rubble. The Gnome found Khorwin behind the tree’s shredded remains, with the Goblin’s right arm and ear missing. Grabbing his last Common Healing Potion, he poured it down the Goblin’s throat. Getting up, he left Khorwin to scream as he healed.

Flea made his way around the field of bodies to see if anyone else was still alive. The Gnome only found two other players, both alive, but injured. He helped them drink their Common Healing Potions and then, after their screams subsided, brought them over to sit with Khorwin.

Deciding to check out the remains of The Tower, Flea told the trio of injured players he’d be back in a few minutes. Making his way across the smoldering field towards the ruins, he could make out a third of The Tower still stood within the haze of smoke. Circling around the fires raging within the area of grass, Flea made his way closer to the ruined tower. As he reached the opening where the door had once stood, he peered into the heavy smoke inside of The Tower. Flea immediately spotted the metal coffin lying on its side, still intact.

A chilling wave of fear coursed through his body as he stared at the metallic coffin. A moment later, the fourth burst of energy shot out from the coffin, sending Flea flying over the field into the forest. Tumbling to a stop, Flea jerked up and ran over to Khorwin and the two players. Flea began to shout for them to get off their asses and start running towards the town. As the players built their speed up to a jog through the forest, Flea started to speak.

“We need to get back to town and warn The Elders that The Master’s coffin is intact at the bottom of The Tower. Even with so many sacrificing themselves, it doesn’t look like they made a dent in it.”

Making it back to the North Gate, they found no guards stationed and the gates wide open. Walking towards the town square, they started hearing the faint sounds of a battle. Rushing to join the fight, the group found most of the town’s guard and men slaughtered, their corpses littering the courtyard. The remaining townsfolk still alive were fighting a few Abominations and the Lizardman Grel’ek.

“We need to hurry and help them! If those Abominations destroy the town’s Crystal, we’re all screwed!” shouted Khorwin.

“Another player just respawned at the Crystal!” One of the players who came back with Flea shouted.

Looking through the destroyed earthen pillars and smashed wooden palisades, Flea saw the distinct flash of light of someone respawning.

“Be careful! Abominations and that damn croc are killing everyone!” Flea yelled to the newly respawned player.

“Really? After you pushed me down The Tower to my death, I’d rather not help you! Grel’ek, I’m going to use everything I have left. Hope to see you soon again, mate!” Frustrated, yelled to the Lizardman.

Dread poured into Flea’s mind. They were going to lose the town so quickly.

What’s going to happen to everyone? The game wouldn’t let the town be destroyed, would it? There has to be a happy ending. Any gods listening? Can you help this town, please? We failed at The Tower, and now we’ve been unable to protect this town.

Flea’s short prayer went unanswered as a blinding bright light flashed from behind the broken wood palisades in front of the Crystal, followed by an ear-piercing thunder and fire. Flea’s body was thrown back with such force he crashed through the roof of the closest building and pancaking into an interior wall. A second later, Flea received his death notification.

You have Died!

You may resurrect in 04:59:58.

~‌ ‌End Arc One ~‌