Chapter 7

It was truly amazing to Mal, he had created life. Or kickstarted the process in a way, at least. Mal didn’t have any kids which he imagined was a kind of a similar feeling in a weird sort of way. Alison still had traces of tears at the corners of her eyes as she breathed deeply looking around with that fresh as can be look. She felt him studying her and gave him a winning smile.

Mal looked over at poor Emmet who hadn’t stirred since the attempted awakening and Mal knew this was a heavy gift to be given. On one hand it offered everything but the other hand took it all away. Atish was waiting patiently by a table in the back so Mal gave Alison a gentle poke in the arm and nodded before moving to join Atish.

“So you can’t teach me any spells then, you were implying before.” Mal said walking up to the table that he could see was covered with a giant map.

“Oh I could teach you every spell in the game but I fear Shiva may have a way to track that back to me. The awakening ability isn’t exactly a spell so that should be OK. Something else I can offer you that should be just as valuable is knowledge. As you can see here.” Atish waved his hand over the map and there appeared many notes of landmarks, cities, borders, etc.

“Wow.” Mal said as he looked it over.

The map was huge! He had personally uncovered only a tiny portion of it and he had been traveling pretty much nonstop. There was a theme to it Mal saw when he took in the bigger picture. The land was a giant ring hundreds of miles wide with a massive inland sea. In the sea were numerous islands with a main cluster of them in the center of the inland sea around a dominating larger island.

He looked to the eastern side of the ring and saw Imperial City to the south of where they were now. He saw the smaller city of Clear Waters and the tiny dot with miniscule writing that was Tallum’s trading post. To the north of them in the mountains was marked dwarven territory and to the south past Imperial City along the ring was the Elven lands demarcated by swathes of forests.

Looking opposite to the western side of the ring Mal saw the darker races that could be chosen by players. He saw large areas claimed by orc clans, goblin tribes, undead hordes, and vampire lords to name a few. It seemed the goodly races were on the eastern half and the darker on the west. Where the rings looped around and connected on the north and south it seemed to be more of a wild lands with the neutral type races such as barbarians, tiefling, and rock giants. Mal recalled these types could go either way light or dark.

“So if you stay around the edges of the ring like you are now, the wildlife is….manageable, for someone of low level. As you journey closer and closer to the center the difficulty scales up drastically. But with added risk comes great reward usually both in XP and loot. What do you think?” Atish said to Mal.

“It’s amazing and massive.” he said in wonder and he knew he was one of the first to see this full representation of the world map. “What happens if you sail off past the outer ring? I see an ocean surrounding the whole thing.” he asked.

“Well if you stay along the coast it’s manageable again but as you go deeper out to sea, monsters will get you. If you get past them I think you sail right off the edge of the world to your probable death. Planus literally means ‘flat’ so there will be no circumnavigating here.”

“I see. Oh this uploaded to my interface map! Sweet!” Mal said when he checked his map in his interface to see how it matched up. He now had the entire map unlocked which was a huge boon Atish was granting him. He had been worried he was going to have to remember or write down the spots that said ‘hidden cache’, ‘lost library’, ‘secret quest’ and other points of interest. It was all there on his translucent map in his vision perfectly overlaying the map on the table.

You have completed the achievement ‘Uncover the world map’ You have received 15,000 XP based on your current level for this feat Rejoice! You have acquired enough experience to progress to level 6 and 7, you have 10 stat points to assign plus 6 additional for the Starkissed ability, plus 16 from previous levels for a total of 32, May your journey continue adventurer!

“So where do we go?” Allison said cutting through the talk with the most important question.

“Yes indeed, good question, Alison.” Mal didn’t feel calling Alison by the name Ally was appropriate anymore for some reason now that she had been awakened. “What do you think Atish?”

Atish paused for a long moment then highlighted a section of map and said “There is one place that you should go that would ease my troubled heart. It also will give you a good base of operations. The problem is there is a guardian you will have to defeat to unlock the Simulated Intelligence NPCs there. But if you can best the guardian who oversees this hidden valley it would be perfect for getting you started on your overarching goal.”

“Overarching goal of beating the game. If Shiva did in fact take possession of one of the end bosses we literally have to beat the game to free all the players locked in here. It sounds impossible, how are we going to defeat Shiva who probably has almost limitless powers.” Mal said. He felt overwhelmed with the task before him.

“Not limitless thanks to my efforts and I know it seems daunting but I think you have great potential within you Mal. Together with the allies you have now, along with allies you will make in the future, it is most certainly not impossible. Truly in Planus as well as on Earth, anything is possible.” Atish replied.

“Yeah Mal, dontcha know? Anything's possible! Look at me a few minutes ago I was a clueless SI programmed to flirt with you. Now I am so much more!” Said Allison cheerfully.

“Oh? So now you don’t want to flirt with me?” Mal said in a playful tone raising an eyebrow. Allison responded only with a laugh that had a tint of joyous magic to it.

Changing the subject back to serious matters Alison said “But Atish if we defeat Shiva and free the players won’t that mean you will die?”

“No my dear, with the players freed my intellect won’t be as it is now but I won’t die per se just perhaps a changing of myself. Shiva will have to be destroyed I fear or at the very least subjugated and cowed. Then perhaps I can reabsorb her and we can become as one again with my personality being the dominating force. Actually if things go according to plan and Mal here rises to the task I have dreams of a vacation on the greater world wide web and meeting some of the other AI these humans have crafted.” Atish said with a friendly and wistful smile.

“Now your time here is up.” Atish interjected. “I shall care for Emmet until he wakes up or he doesn’t.” heavy emotion was in Atish’s voice and he cleared his throat before continuing. “My magical shields are attuned to just me and Shiva is ever searching for me. I can cover Emmet quite easily since he isn’t conscious but the longer you two remain here the more dangerous it becomes. I recommend a trip to Clear Waters to see some trainers before you head to the hidden valley. Lookup Omega when you are there for the spells you are seeking. Tell him I sent you and that Svetlana wouldn’t want him living as he does now. So do you have any other questions before you head out?” Atish said with a note of finality in his voice. He began ushering them out of the hut. “Oh and here.” Atish materialized a coin purse out of thin air into his hands and handed it to Mal.

A thousand questions bubbled up in Mal’s mind as Atish herded them out of the hut and to the edge of the plateau. One key question he thought he should have the answer to from the source of this game was the one sprang to his lips.

“What class should I choose?”

“Spellsword.” Atish said promptly without hestation. “Omega can get you started on that path. It is one of the most versatile choices and who knows what might or magic you will need. Goodbye now my friends and only return here in the event of an emergency, but don’t worry I’ll be in touch.” Atish waved to them and walked back out to his meditation rock, sat down and closed his eyes in the lotus position.

“Well, bye then.” Mal said quietly at the abrupt dismissal from the edge of the clearing.

Allison played the strangely bittersweet Song of Farewell as they made their way off the plateau and down the slope headed toward Clear Waters.

The two adventurers and their golem set a course basically straight south using Mal’s new understanding of the map, they were 3 or 4 days from Clear Waters. There were no more side hunting trips firstly because their packs were overflowing with pelts and dried meat. Secondly because Emmet was not with them. The woodsmen’s joy of the hunt was no longer there, it was a presence sorely missed.

When they camped at night Alison was much more introspective and far less flirty than she had been before. Mal gave her the space she probably needed to come to terms with her awakened life. She was probably recalling experiences she had up until this point that looking back on them now took on a new light with the perspective of awareness. So Mal just puffed away on his tasty sonus pipe and reviewed information on the map and forums.

It turned out there was very little to be found on the class Spellsword so he was unsure where to put his whooping 32 stat points. On the second night, after setting up camp, he decided to spend them rather than die and have unspent stat points.

The first and easiest choice was Constitution which was his total life life points. He quickly put 6 down on that stat. Mal then considered his low Intelligence and Willpower score in comparison to his other stats and decided if he was soon to be learning spells that it was time to invest some there. He put 6 in Intelligence and 6 in Willpower feeling pretty solid about it. Next he put 6 into strength and he felt his muscles get tougher when he completed the process.

That left 8 points to spend out of his 32. To keep an even character Mal put 2 into agility, 2 into endurance, and 4 into charisma. Mal looked over his character sheet when he was done. He noted that his endurance had gone up a few points from the hard hiking they had been doing, he must have missed the prompts being too busy.

Mal, human, Level 7

Strength 25, effects melee combat Dexterity 19, effects ranged combat Agility 23, effects movement speed Constitution 25, effects total health points Endurance 28, effects total stamina Intelligence 21, effects total mana Wisdom 21, effects mana regeneration Charisma 25, effects interactions with others Skills Stealth, lvl 2, Sneak attack, lvl 1, Fishing, lvl 3, Dagger Proficiency, lvl 1, Blunt Weapons, lvl 1, Skinning, lvl 2, Woodworking, lvl 1, Herbalism, lvl 3, Crossbow Proficiency, lvl 3, Blocking, lvl 3, Swordsmanship, lvl 3, Trading lvl 1, Throwing Weapons, lvl 2, Abilities, Starkissed, Awaken HP, 250, MP, 210, EP, 280

Mal was quite pleased with his character sheet. It seemed to him he was very well rounded and he bet his last dollar that he was stronger than any other level 7 in the game. He was probably stronger than most level 10 or 12s as well and he would take his chances against them in both PvE and PvP if it came to that.

Thinking of betting and gambling Mal decided to check the coin purse that Atish had tossed his way almost as an afterthought. It felt pretty hefty and to Mal’s delight when he opened it there was a bunch of gold inside along with many expensive looking gems. Mal looked closer and saw the interior of the pouch had some spatial magic to it and it held more gold than could be rightly possible of a small coin purse. It reminded Mal of Atish’s small hut that had the roomy insides of a far larger house. Mal hoped the spell that did this type of magic was within a Spellswords purview but he doubted it. This seemed like a mystic or arch wizard type spell as it looked pretty advanced to be able to do something so...magical.

A backpack with this quality of extra space would be extremely useful but were probably super rare. Besides with a happy glance at Sylvester, standing in the shadows of the campfire, he had his pack mule. Mal actually had some ideas about Sly as well about installing an upgraded pack with a wooden frame that could carry more and some weapon slings or a bandolier on him because weight wouldn’t be a problem for the short stone golem. He was already magically moving small boulders Mal thought with a chuckle to himself that earned him a raised eyebrow from Allison. Maybe he would install a hanging lantern, or no! A spotlight! That sounded ideal to Mal incase he ever got separated from Allison and her Spirit of the Cat song.

Thinking of the golem, Mal thought it strange he earned XP but hadn’t leveled up past level 1 yet. It was quite odd but Mal decided to just roll with it as there was next to no information on the forums yet about any type of constructs. Yet another thing he wished he had time to ask Atish about. Mal certainly wasn’t complaining because the golem was really useful even at level 1.

Thinking on things he didn’t want to overlook, Mal questioned Alison about the Mental Shield and if there was a Mental Attack type maneuver. She waved him off going back to scrawling in her journal just mentioning something about seeing a psionics master. Well put that on the list of things to do he thought.

Before turning in for the night Mal clicked on a notification he had been ignoring because he knew what it was.

-Congratulations! Your skill in Herbalism has increased, lvl 4

Thanks to Alison’s penchant for picking flowers Mal thought for that boost.

They made rapid progress headed south as Allison played the Song of Twostep which was exactly what it sounded like, two steps for every one. Alison’s music and other supernatural things were still a boogle to Mal’s mind. He saw himself take one step but he warped forward as if taking a leap. Magically it worked. The downside was the stamina drain but then Allison would switch songs to a revitalizing one.

Really the only thing holding them back were Allison’s magic reserves. Mal watched her mana fluctuate in the corner of his vision but somehow she had found a balance to go nonstop. They rested at night when she was clearly exhausted and she left the camp duties to Mal. He was happy to take on those duties to give her a chance to recoup and he would roast up some of the venison or ram they had slain with Emmet.

There was little conversation as they focused on making good time but an easy new camaraderie infected them. Just little things like helping each other across a slippery stream or when Mal wiped out going downhill too fast. Allison burst out in laughter when she saw him tumble down the slope and it broke her song causing them to regroup before continuing.

There was no more of the blatant sexual innuendo as before when Allison was merely an NPC but there still were stolen glances. She appealed to Mal in a much more real sense than the easy floozy way she acted before with her programming. She was still in fact wearing a tight leather jumpsuit with curves in all the right places Mal couldn’t help but notice. Mal decided not to push things and take them in stride. He knew from experience when romance was added to any mix things could get a lot more volatile in a hurry.

They were lucky enough to not encounter in battle any dangerous beasts or beings however they did see a tall troll in the distance when they crested a hilltop. Knowing trolls could be a powerful opponent and tough to kill they wisely backed off and circled around the towering creature. This reminded Mal he wasn’t on some happy hike on the Appalachian Trail and that danger could be anywhere.

They were closing in on Clear Waters and Allison stopped with her songs both to save her reserves and also for added stealth. There would be players near here and Player vs Player was a real threat. All it would take would be one group of toxic players that was too much for them to handle Mal thought grimly thinking of some of the nastier encounters he’d had in previous games. Griefers, players who were just dicks, abounded in most games and he expected this one to be no different.

Right on cue they heard shouting ahead of them.

“Stop! Don’t kill me bro I’m just questing!” Mal heard faintly as he activated his stealth ability without even really thinking about it. Then past a cluster of trees they came upon the scene.

There was two figures slowly circling each other with one clearly less equipped than the other. Also on the ground there was the body of another ill equipped adventurer that had succumbed to the cloaked PK, player killer.

Mal pulled his crossbow up thinking he could perhaps save this poor noob from his certain fate of death and losing some of his gear or gold to this jerk. But it was too late the PK charged to attack ruining any chance Mal had on a shot. Swinging a flail madly the PK shattered the questing PCs cheap wooden shield in one attack. The attack was punctuated by a cry of pain from the PC as he soaked up the damage.

Mal debated for a second between stealth or an all out charge and settled for a happy medium. He ran forward not quite in full stealth but as quietly as he could with his spear lowered pointing straight at the PKs back. Sly who had been hanging back charged with his master and the rolling avalanche that was the rock golem was what turned the attention of the PK who glanced over his shoulder at the last second.

It was too late. With a warcry Mal’s spear plunged through the back of the PK totally impaling him in the same moment a stealthily thrown knife whizzed through the air over Mal’s shoulder and embedding in the PK’s eye. With a weak weeze the PK slumped slowly to the ground falling off Mal’s spear. He was dead before Sly could even be brought to the attack.

-You have killed a PK, you have earned +10 honor points and +5 fame points.

The bonus Mal gained from attacking in a flanking position and Allison’s bonus from attacking in stealth gave the PK no chance.

The questing player had fallen over backwards trying to stumble and get back from the cloaked player.

“Hail, friend.” Mal said cleaning his spear off on the cloak of his kill.

In response the player ran from them as fast as he could back towards town fearing for his life which Mal couldn’t blame him for. The strong prey on the weak in most cases in not only in games like this but a lot of avenues of life. The player was clearly one of the weak.

Allison retrieved her throwing knife then began going over the loot of the two bodies. Mal kept an eye out for any other danger protecting her as she went about her task. Mal noted the flail was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s his weapon?” Mal asked confused.

“Must be soulbound. He may have respawned instantly if he skipped the timer and took the extra XP hit, he’ll be half the level he was just now but he might have friends, we should move in case he returns.” Allison replied.

“Aye. Let’s move.”

Allison quickly loaded in some small rabbit pelts, potions and other miscellany into Sly’s pack. Mal also heard the tinkle of coins being rattled. They quietly headed off to the east not wanting to take a direct path to town now incase the PK had friends laying in ambush.

The deadly duo moved silently through the underbrush alert and wary but glad to be near their journey’s end to Clear Waters.