Chapter 12

Kailun Dolteri

Kyyyaaaa! This roleplay is even more ashaming than when I just play online! But if I stop now I’ll turn into a rag, and the boy told me a monster was threatening them, I have to go on like this! She turned around and saw it directly, standing like a moron in the middle of the road, feeling a threat from this woman without, however, its rotten brain being able to process the information. System, initiate combat mode.

“Combat mode activated, resource gauges and abilities displayed on the player’s HUD.”

Fourteen Mana Points (Mp)... it should be okay, this zombie seems to be low level and slow in addition, I’ll just hit and run by keeping the kids safe.

“Alright, everyone behind me! And kids, yah listen good, capiche?”

“Yes!” they said together.

“I’m gonna start by testing the water. Yah’re going to stay behind me, watching my back and backing me up at the same time. This’way I can gradually burn the motherfucker without him reachin' us, understood?”

“Understood!” They said as one once again.

I’m just going to use the basic spell, we’ll see how it will go… During their conversation, the zombie had slowly begun to crawl towards them. They launched the operation, the little ones on the lookout for an enemy as Kailun prepared to use her first spell.

So if I understand correctly, I can throw it just thinking of the name, so… Firebead! A spark appeared in her right hand, between her thumb and index finger, becoming very quickly as big as a marble. The young woman took the projectile with her two fingers and threw it at the enemy, where it exploded slightly. A small number appeared above the damage zone, and the zombie’s life bar was amputated by four Pv.

Okay! 16 more Hp, four more like this and I’ll be done with him.

The operation went without incident, and soon only four unfortunate Hp remained to their opponent.

“There, he’s almost dead, we’ll soon be able to relax.” Suddenly, Morgane grabbed the dagger that was hanging next to Kailun and rushed at the monster, stabbing him in the heart with the blade.

“Ahah, die scum!” she exclaimed to the general surprise.

“You see that sis’? I too can kill undead now!” She added, boasting in front of her twin sister. The zombie fell to his knees before starting to disappear into a fine dust. He left behind him only a small crystal that was planted on the knife held by the girl. The two objects then merge, to everyone’s astonishment.

That’s stealing! I’ll have to teach them a bit of respect!

“Congratulations, you and your teammates have successfully killed a level three zombie! You gained one Grey and six White Shards.”

“No loot was recovered due to the absorption of the loot by your weapon.” The young woman put this information in a corner of her head to focus on the more immediate problems.

“Well, kid? Think yah’re a hero ‘cause yah killed an enemy on the brink of death?” Kailun crossed her arms, pretending to be angry. That’s when Morgane realized that she had messed up. She wanted to return the dagger to its owner, but… “Well, keep it, I don’t need it and anyway it looks like you know how to use it better than me, huh? That way, when we meet another zombie, you can kill it all by yourself, since you know how to kill undead now, huh?”

“I’m really sorry, sorry-sorry-sorry!” She said with a frightened look at the idea of having to fight alone.

“If yah’re really sorry, next time yah’ll do what I tell yah to do, and yah won’t steal my kill, capiche?”

“Yes, sorry!” She looked genuinely apologetic so Kailun did not rebuke her further.

“As long as yah get it, that’s enough. Come on, come on.” Morgane handed her the dagger again, but the young woman did not take it back.

“No, really, keep it there, it really doesn’t help me. And you have guts, if I need help I’ll count on you and your blade, understood? Just do what I ask.”

“Sure! Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, let’s get back on the road.”

***

Kailun and the little troop met a few more zombies, all low-level, stupid and slow. She fought them in the same way as the first, from time to time letting Morgane go hand-to-hand, but with mixed results, as her blows were not as well placed as the first one.

She must have been lucky back then. Kailun said to herself while supporting the energetic twin at a distance, launching her beads of fire to disorient the enemy, thus preventing him from succeeding in making a blow against Morgane. The other two watched these fights from behind the young woman, Antoine with fervour, Liliana with interest.

They finally came out of the forest into open ground. They had no trouble reaching the main gate, Antoine’s secret passage being too small for Kailun. However, the twins chose to go through it, afraid of being scolded by their parents. As they separated, Morgane had a happy smile painted on her face, and Liliana seemed to be in deep reflection.

In front of the wall. “The guards there, yeah, on the lookouts, yah can open the door?” asked the young woman in an imperious voice. He did not hesitate and soon one of the fighters opened the door up enough to let the two night howls in. Well, they didn’t hang around to open it, they’re not afraid of it being a ruse? Their behaviour surprised her. Once inside, the door quickly closed behind them. “Well, boy?” asked Milo, looking at Antoine with furious eyes.

“Sorry sir.” He replied, truly ashamed.

“We’ll see about that later,” he said, looking at Kailun.

“So you are the new summoned, Antoine’s? It’s late, you can stay at my house until tomorrow, it’s not an hour to talk.”

“How do you know I’m related to Antoine?” She exclaimed, surprised.

“Greypa warned us that you were coming and explained the situation a little bit. Thank you for protecting the little ones.” Ah, looks like he knows about the twins. My bet is that they’re going to get it, the scolding they wanted to avoid. I wonder who is Greypa...

“Nothing, nothing, it’s my job after all. But I wouldn’t say no to a reward, ahahah!”

“We’ll talk tomorrow, go to bed, you make me feel like you’re in the same state as the zombies out there.” Indeed, Kailun had noticed the malus displayed below her resource bars for some time.

It looks like the only way to get rid of this fatigue is to sleep in the game or to disconnect long enough. I didn’t expect to spend most of my first few hours sleeping, but when you’re in Rome, you do what the Romans do.

“Thanks for the lovely compliment, I’m going to take the advice and go rest.”

Greypa

One more... Peace for two hundred years and now two in two days, that must not bode well… Thought the old man on his way home after spending a good part of the night following the kids, protecting them from the shadows.

I absolutely have to wake him up... A powerful determination burned in his eyes as he looked at the white wand. Since he had tried to retrieve it, it had not moved, hanging motionless in front of the wall from which Greypa had drawn it.

Zoe

They quickly arrived at the North Tower, one of the most prominent skyscrapers of whole New Brussels, in part because of the North Station buried under it, one of the main nodes of the railway net weaved through Belgium. It was perfectly representing the new style adopted when the city had been rebuilt, all in white with its touch of natural green, yellow, red and myriad of other colours that the plants and flowers had.

Letting the Gold Supermotors in a private parking lot, they took a glass elevator to the third level of the tower, where the tiny Italian restaurant they wanted to go was located, unknown but from the neighbours. Each time Zoe went into one of the skyscrapers, even if it was the thousandth time, she couldn’t help but marvel at the view.

The centre of the tower was hollow, with waterfalls and hanging platforms full of grass, fruit trees and other nice thingies, like a modern take of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Bridge connected the platforms to one another and people could be seen strolling and taking walk on them.

A gigantic glass dome and an array of mirrors kept the sunlight flowing in and, bathing everything in the warm rays of the summer afternoon. The air wasn’t as hot as outside.

It took only five minutes to the uncle and the niece to reach the restaurant. It was a tiny establishment nestled between two bigger stores, since the North Tower third level was a commercial district. As they were entering the place, Gaspar, the cook and owner, had warmly welcomed them. The more than sixty-year-old man seemed tired but pleased to see them.

“Sit down, sit down, how are you? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you two around, particularly you Luca.”

“Work, I’m afraid, lots of it.”

Zoe could help giggling hearing her Uncle shamefully talking about work when he was, in fact, playing all the time. Well, it is his work, but still.

“Ah, I’m happy to be there, I’m afraid you’re the only one I know able to master the art of pizza making to such a degree!” Luca exclaimed.

“We are well, thank you for asking.” Zoe replied kindly.

“And Madame, how is she doing?” she added.

“All right, she’s in the garden right now, but if you want I can call her, have a drink together!”

“We are here to eat, Gaspard.” She corrected.

“Now? The oven is not hot yet, you’ll have to wait a bit. You know I only open at 7 pm.”

“Don’t worry, we’re in no hurry.” Luca reassured him. And so they sat down at the table while Gaspard served them refreshments.

“Okay, let’s get to the news. So, this first game session? I got your text but there wasn’t really a lot of details...”

Zoe smiled and told him of her misadventures, the serene face of her Uncle becoming more and more disillusioned as the story progressed. The story was long enough to tell, Gaspard had even had time to bring them their Pizzas, wishing them a bon appetit. They began to eat in silence, before Zoe spoke again to ask something to her Uncle.

“It’s a Bastion, right?”

“Seems so to me.” He answered, thoughtful.

“I really am a lucky bastard, ain't I?”

“Ahahah, yes, that’s true lassy.”

“Maybe you can explain a bit more about them then? I mean, I’ve heard the general term, but I didn’t find a lot of information on them on the internet.”

“True, Bastions are quite rare and their owner tends to keep them secret. Here’s what I know, in summary. Now, where to start...” He thought a second while eating a pizza part. “Ok, I know. But remember, it’s a summary, each bastion are different, so I’ll only talk about what they have in common. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Perfect. So, Bastions… For starters, Bastions are special instance played in Solo. You will not be able to access the outside world and group conversations outside your Bastion.”

“No kidding. I tried to contact you quite early on but I received an error about a sealed space or something, communication disrupted blablabla… And, in truth, I didn’t try again after that, I did not have the time with everything that was happening.”

“It’s normal, Bastions are meant to be very intense.” He took a big piece of pizza and ate it a bit before continuing. “The second thing to know is that, as I said, Bastions are very rare things. To give you an idea, six people have already announced that they have conquered a Bastion, and we suspect that this is only half of those actually active, but it remains only twelve people out of a ten millions active players.”

“So the chances of arriving in a Bastion are so low…”

“Yes, and that’s why a Bastion is considered a Solo instance.”

“I guess the chances of two players being summoned in the same Bastion must be ridiculously small,” Zoe nodded.

“Yes, even if you can’t think of it as impossible, it’s so improbable it can be neglected.” He took a sip of homemade lemonade, freshly made by Gaspard’s wife.

“Third: a Bastion is a mountain of loot, and in so many different ways. All quests are reserved for the only player present, as well as all the treasures, which are often not found elsewhere, and there are even opportunities to acquire unique or lost classes.”

“That’s already quite a lot.”

“And it’s not over. The Bastions are also endowed with a long special quest, divided into Chapters themselves divided into Acts. Each time a Chapter is completed, the player becomes the de facto leader of a piece of the Bastion, until the whole of it belongs to them. From that moment onward, the player is known as a King, a Queen or a Ruler, as they choose, because they have their own kingdom, the Bastion they conquered.”

“You can become a leader?” She asked surprisingly.

“Yes, with gameplay close to a management/strategy game. It’s not bad for fans of the genre, but if you don’t want to get bored with it you can delegate. I like it.” Ends up with a smile.

“I knew Binding Fate had a lot of content but complete management? I read you had some tiny part of it if you became the chief of a village or something, but at this level?”

“Well, like Bastions, it’s quite rare to attain the full-fledged part of this system. I mean, you actually need to be the ruler of something bi, like a castle and its domain, at least more than a simple village, and that’s not so easy.”

“So you’re a ruler too? A King?”

“No, not as big, just a fief, some mines, not big enough to have the full Ruler gameset available. I think that on the top ten only Galéar and Falnelle have the full access, given their position... Oh, I was going to forget. As a Kingdom, a Bastion is practically impregnable.”

“What do you mean?”

“As mentioned earlier, Bastions are Solo instances, among other things, because it is impossible to communicate or to have fluxes of people between them and the outside world, in any way. This effect is never due to the restriction of the system, it is always caused by an intradiegetic effect. When the player becomes the leader of the Bastion they gain full power on the...the barrier we will say... that prevents movement and communication. Hence the impenetrable side. Allies can pass without problems, but enemies remain blocked as if the Bastion were not open.”

“it seems a bit OP to me.”

“I have already attacked a Bastion, lass, and having lived it I can tell you that yes, it is OP.”

“You lost.”

“More of a stalemate in fact, but that’s not the point.”

He ended in a tie with something so powerful? How much behind is his stream compared to now? “How powerful are you, Uncle? I mean, right now, not what you show in your streams?”

“Ah! I’m not going to tell you now, it would be a spoil! Get out of your Bastion and you can see for yourself.” He said with a playful smile.

“But let’s get back to the discussion. For now I would advise you to consolidate your power by making your character and invocator level up a bit, then begin immediately the second Act of your chapter. At least try to finish the first chapter before you try to explore the Bastion, you’ll need it because you’ll have access to development options for your starting village, Clarity, right? These developments will be vital in order to have a permanent base for Chapter Two onward, because starting then things may get complicated.”

“Understood” The young woman listened attentively and noted everything in her head. I’m looking forward to it, I’ve always loved management and strategy games.

“That’s pretty much all I know about Bastions, so we’ll stop there. Now I have another question. You told me that you made your class evolve, what’s its state right now?” The question asked, he took another sip of homemade lemonade.

“Ahahah, no-no-no, first you try to guess what’s its rarity and focus.” She answered in the same playful tone he had used.

“You’re really doing this to me lass? Okay, I’ll try. Judging by your reaction, it should be something quite rare already. I would say blue… and for the focus…” He looked at her with a focused gaze. “Normally you like magic a lot, but I’m sure it’s different in Binding Fate… I would say a tank? Or maybe a close-quarter dps?”

“Not bad Uncle, not bad. My class is Yellow.” He was in the middle of drinking and nearly spat out everything. “Ahahah, don’t strangle yourself either!” He took a towel to wipe his mouth before speaking again.

“How did you get access to an epic class from the start?”

“Talent, Uncle, talent.” She replied with the same banter as her Uncle.

“Luck, above all.” He said but she retorted directly:

“Luck is a kind of talent too!”

“...Not entirely false. With a Yellow class, I’m sure that it’s something very good around a warrior type?”

“I checked the stat and I think so too. I don’t know by heart the average stats of an Epic class but I think the modifiers are slightly off-shart. Also, the abilities and mastery bonuses seem really good.”

“What’s its name?”

“Aegis Berserkr.”

“...What? For real? AHAHAH!” He couldn’t help but laugh for two good minutes.

“What is so funny about it?” She asked once her Uncle had calmed down.

“Well, it’s indeed a very good class, only, it’s something most commonly found in the Dremesse Empire, a heck of an enemy of mine. I just think it’s funny that you acquired one of their best class despite them being in conflict with me. But enough with the jokes. You do know how to play it? You’ve found info on the internet?”

“Not enough for my taste. More and more it seems that what’s rare in Binding Fate is not documented properly or at all on the wiki.”

“True, information is power so people tend to keep what they know for them or in their organization if it’s not widely known. First of all, you’ll need a very good shield. Your weapon will be one-handed, but it can be a rarity under your shield, because your Aegis is your main asset.”

“Ah well, about that… You remember I told you I looted something from my fight with the undead platoon?” He simply nodded affirmatively. “Well, it’s a two-handed weapon.”

“What rarity?” “

Three question mark, and it’s a linked weapon, too.” She grinned proudly. He just looked at her peacefully.

“It’s very interesting. I somehow knew your debut wouldn’t be normal, but I’m starting to question my own luck when I hear all that you loot in a Bastion. No wonder it was a tie when I attacked one, if they’re all like that.”

“Yeah. So about this shield, I think it’s dead, no? I mean, linked weapons are often way more powerful than their normal counterpart, right?”

“Yes, you’re right. If you take their average power into account, I think using it and sacrificing a shield won’t even affect your class performance, even if your shield should be your main concern.”

“That powerful? I knew looting a linked item was good, but to this extend?”

“As I say, lass, you’re a lucky bastard.”

“Huhuhu that’s a really nice feeling.”

“Don’t get cocky, you’ll need to master your class if you want to succeed in conquering your Bastion. Rarity and Difficulty come together.”

“That’s also true.” She took a bit into a new pizza slice and enjoyed its taste. Nothing better than Gaspar’s pizzas. “So, what do I do with this class?”

“Good spirit. As far as I know, it’s a protection and suppression class. Your three main abilities revolve around that. Rampart of the Aegis is a versatile ability that can either give a Breath shield to a target or create a fixed Breath shield somewhere around you. However, since you need an actual shield to use it, you’ll be unable to cast it, so forget about it for now. Your second ability should be something around wrath or frenzy, yes?”

“Yes, Guardian Frenzy.”

“Sorry, I don’t know the actual name, all of this are extrapolation based on my numerous fight against Aegis Berserkr. So guardian frenzy it is. That’s your berserkr main ability. As for all berserkr, the more you’re injured, the more powerful you are. Normally that’s a glass canon ability but since your base class is a tank, it makes the Aegis berserkr really scary, and that’s also why Aegis Berserkr are respected. They’re the only berserkrs I’ve seen that could stay calm even under the effect of their frenzy, which is normally another of the pitfall that this ability as. This, with their tankiness, makes them really good at protecting key targets, since people will be reluctant to actually wound the berserkr, and by so, to attack what they’re protecting. But in my opinion, what makes them scary is their third ability.”

“Vital Link? It looked interesting but I did not have the time to check it.”

“Yes, this one. In my opinion, it’s one of the most game-breaking ability out there for the low-tier class. Basically, you can choose one consentent target for your Vital Link and, as long as this target is within a certain distance of you, you can share your Hps however you want. You can transfer them both way, redirect them automatically, spread then evenly, whatever you name.”

“...That’s why my class is so good at protecting someone. We can just take all the damage in their sake automatically, and use the lost health to empower oneself.”

“Indeed. That’s a high-end Epic class for you. So, you remember what we said about your class and all?”

“Yes! Ohohoh I’m so eager to try it! It sounds incredible!”

“Then let’s finish eating so you can go back to Binding Fate.” He said with a laughing smile, seeing the zeal is niece was displaying.” They finished eating while chatting casually, Zoe and her Uncle trading verbal shot all along in a casual mood. Their laughter resounded in the still empty guest room. Gaspard walked them to the door when they had finished their meal.

“Now let’s head to the VDC!”

“I’m always happy to see you like that.” He retorted before adding: “Come on, let’s go.”

***

Back to the VDC parking lot. “See you tomorrow then Zoe?

“Yup! Thanks for the food and the news, you’re the best!” She said, hugging him.

“I know.” He replied in a mischievous tone.

“Go to your capsule, I’ve an appointment in five minutes. Let’s eat and talk more tomorrow, I’m sure you’ll have things to say by then!” And he snuck away quickly.

Let’s dive again! She thought, walking in the white building with long excited strides.