The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 153: Double-Cross

After switching characters, Cael made his way to the Western streets of Kruxol.

The streets were crowded, but, above the usual buzz of players socialising and gossiping, there was a staccato of occasional, frenzied outbursts as people tried to find out if anyone they knew had died during the recent event.

As he neared the Western edge, he heard loud calls like fishmongers' from small groups of players clustered on the border. A few were even following passers-by around to ask for their help, typically being rebuked. Getting closer, he could make out that these players were looking for party members to help them complete dungeons.

"40s dungeon! We've got 4, need 1!"

"Anyone level 30 and up? Hey, you there, you up for a dungeon? No? Come on, man, my friend just reached level 40 with that dungeon. I bet we'd make it through! Still no? Aw."

"Seeking a fourth player, level 45 and up! We can do this with four, just need one player! Anyone want to be the lucky man?"

There had been more of these groups, but by now players were getting reluctant to venture out due to the news of players returning from the event. Only eight reckless groups remained, still optimistic after seeing several other groups returning from successful dungeon runs and growing significantly. The threat of DeathGang invading the town had also caused a few inhabitants to become less cautious.

Walking across the assembled groups, Cael found a group of three level 40-41 players, two male and one female, which was discussing the Tomb of Risi.

"Doubt we'll find another volunteer, everyone interested thinks we're too weak," one said. He spoke in a dry, pessimistic drawl.

"You mean not everyone wants to go and dance with some zombies for the thrill of it?" another, named [Danielus], replied.

"Well, why doesn't one of you go around walking up to people and ask if they're up for it? We're not going to find anyone by just standing around shouting."

"We'd need a gimmick to stand out. Like, what if we walked up to them backwards?"

"Hey, wait, someone's coming over!"

Cael greeted them. "Hi, are you guys heading to that Tomb dungeon?"

The players looked surprised to see a level 50 walking over, and went silent for a moment.

Soon, one of the males spoke up, the same luminary who had thought of walking backwards. "Yeah, but we'll need some help. Hey, are you up for this? It's our lucky day, then."

"Sure, why not? I heard the dungeon had good drops for Mages. Do you guys know the way?"

"Yeah, I have a map. The name's Danielus, by the way. But these guys are my friends from I.R.L., so they'd know me as 'Daniel.' Or 'Danny.'"

Danielus was a stocky, British-American man in his early 20s, with scruffy brown hair and a humble face which looked perpetually concerned that whatever he was saying or doing might be embarrassing and offensive. This may have been the product of his childhood in Britain, a place where doing anything without a license is considered unthinkable.

After loudly rummaging through his inventory for a few seconds, he produced a map with directions scrawled in towards the [Tomb of Rişi], which was circled in red a few dozen times. This dungeon was inside a mountain named [Narxadda].

"Yeah, I know these guys," added the other male, dismissively. "But that doesn't matter. We're all too weak for this dungeon, but with a level 50 we could do it. I hear it's easier the first time, then it gets really hard next time. But it's the best EXP we can get out here. I think four is enough."

His name wasn't visible, suggesting that he hadn't spent as much as his comrades. As such, Cael replied, "Hopefully. What's your name, by the way?"

"Ah, call me Mirko. Yeah, I'm not like these gringos, throwing greenbacks everywhere. Can you believe these guys? They came from America to Mexico, just to get stuff cheaper. Have you ever heard of such a thing? They immigrated from America... to Mexico?"

Cael laughed, but Danielus jumped in to defend himself. "We didn't move for that reason. Allie and I were coming to Mexico for study. We became friends during the course."

He gestured towards the female, whose nametag showed [Alliie].

"She's no good for you," Mirko interjected. "You should find a good Latina woman, not this busybody American girl."

"Please, we're just friends. By the way, Mirko, didn't we meet at her wedding?"

"Yes, yes. I pity her husband, to waste his Mexican stock on her. But let's not bore our new friend with these details. OK, so the 'Tomb of Risi' is a level 40 dungeon, but at full difficulty it's way harder. You know how tough the draugr are?"

Mirko gestured towards a few crumbled buildings on the edge of Kruxol, to make his point.

"So that would be too hard. But the first time you try it, the difficulty will be less. I think only about level 44, 45. No draugr. Less rewards. It's close to a starter town, that's why. But still good EXP."

"Level 44 still sounds like it would be a challenge for you guys," Cael remarked dryly.

Danielus and Alliie were only level 41, and Mirko was one level below. This was reasonably high for players who had spent most of their time inside Kruxol, but would still explain why most players didn't want to join them in challenging the Temple of Risi.

"Yes, but I'll do my best. Not sure if Allie here will, though."

Mirko glanced snidely towards the slender American girl avidly reading chat messages a few metres away. Hearing her name, she snapped her head angrily towards the group, green eyes staring daggers towards Mirko. Her hair, dyed bleach blonde, flew in the Eastward wind and covered half of her face, with a couple of loose strands of red hair revealing her natural colour. She brushed aside the hair, and began shouting loudly.

"Oh my God, Mirko, shut up! If I'm such a drag, why am I higher level than you?"

"Because of the petrodollar, angry lady," Mirko replied.

"Look - ugh, never mind. Hey, you guys never told me you found someone strong to help us out! Hi there, glad you've showed up."

"We were right here, how could you not notice?" Mirko replied immediately.

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"Yeah, but I was, um, staying out of the way. It's because Danny told me to be quiet when somebody else came. I actually listened for once!"

Danielus raised his eyebrows, as if acknowledging that it was unexpected. "Yes, well done. But we'd better get going before you run Mirko and this level 50 guy off. Right?"

"Please, I got two guys to help us yesterday! Like, I'm the charismatic one here. Still, it's great to finally find someone brave enough to go today."

She spoke with pronounced vocal fry, the sound of which seemed to annoy Mirko every time she talked.

Before they could start arguing again, Danielus spoke up diplomatically. "Yeah, it is. So should I start a team, then?" Danielus asked. "Is everyone alright with that? I hope so!"

His voice had taken on a slightly awkward uptalk now, as if trying to emulate Alliie. It made him stutter occasionally, since it didn't fit that naturally with his American-British accent.

Cael sent a party invite before anyone answered the question, and the rest accepted quickly. Since he was the highest-levelled in the group, it seemed natural to the others that he would offer to lead their team.

Looking through the team list, he noticed that Mirko's username was [Murrrk]. All of these three were warriors.

"Alright, let's go!" Alliie said, and set off immediately.

Danielus shushed her, and told her that if she's this loud then they'd all get attacked.

While she tried to keep her voice down, nervous energy kept her talking. "So, Cael," she said, "you're pretty strong, but I don't think you have a Guild. How come, not into it?"

"Guild signups are closed, silly," Danielus interjected.

"OH! Whoops!" she said, annoying Danielus by raising her voice again.

"Yeah, he's right," Cael said. "But it's not a bad question. I got lucky and was helped out by bigger players from [The Fountain] and [Communion], eventually I caught up with some and could contribute. But without them, it would have been tough."

This was actually an obvious lie. Strong players from [The Fountain] and [Communion] rarely helped players, even their own Guild. However, [The Fountain] had been running a days-long charm offensive presenting themselves as a benign, helpful contrast to DeathGang, and due to this he figured that the excuse would sound plausible to most Kruxol players.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard those guys are real knights in shining armour!" Alliie said, as if on cue. "But you must've impressed them, I doubt they'd carry around a deadweight. Even Danny often says he wishes I wasn't holding him back, and we're on the same level!"

"Ahem, I was just politely trying to hint that you should focus more in the middle of a fight."

"'Politely'!"

"These two don't know how to keep it in their pants," Mirko said conspiratorially to Cael.

"I think quarrelling is just another way that they enjoy each other's company," Cael replied.

"Excuse me, I heard that!" Alliie said, not really seeming as flustered as she tried to sound.

"Look, it's not my fault that you're cute together," Mirko said.

"Um, I'm married to someone already."

"You're a 21 year old girl married to a 70 year old man, I wouldn't say that's built to last."

"A 70 year old man who is your uncle."

"Well, there you go trying to make it personal."

Danielus eventually got the group to quiet down, after firmly grabbing them by the shoulders and growling unintelligibly at them.

He seemed to take on a leadership role in the group sometimes, since he was the only one who could - at least every so often - hold back from quarrelling.

On the way to the dungeon, they turned Southwards off the Western path and went down a long, mossy stone slope. Alliie was too hasty, and began to slide down uncontrollably, with Danielus desperately hanging on to the back of her shirt to slow her fall. She managed to make it down in one piece, but crumpled to the ground holding a sprained right ankle.

Her fall had brought the attention of a group of Hashin, who were waiting in ambush on a large cairn to the right of the path. They leaped down theatrically and drew their swords, on seeing two level 41 players. From the elaborate leaps, Cael guessed that these four players had been inspired by tales of their higher-level comrades launching ambushes with Divine Mana-fuelled jumps during the recent world event.

However, they had been hasty. Three of them were only level 42, accompanied with one level 44 player named [MaxIRA] who seemed to be leading them, and Cael's [Magic Missile] sent them hurtling back on low HP before they could reach Danielus and Alliie.

He prevented MaxIRA from rising with [Spark], then calmly charged a [Mana Sphere] and unleashed it while the group leader was still squirming on the ground. This collided fiercely with MaxIRA's head, and lowered him to 15% HP.

Mirko furiously set upon the Hashin, swearing wildly at them in Spanish to the effect of them having had sex with their mother and grandfather while eating excrement. Presumably, he had some sort of grudge against this Guild. His sword battered against theirs, and he grappled one to the ground while smashing her head with the hilt of his sword. Soon, this Hashin was dead.

The others tried to escape up the slope, but Cael easily sent them falling back down with a [Mana Push] to the side. They lost their balance as they swerved suddenly, and then catapulted down as their feet failed to find purchase on the mossy rocks. Danielus and Mirko managed to kill them off before they could stand.

MaxIRA tried to get up, staring daggers at Cael, but was still dizzied. As he tried to scramble up and attack Cael, a [Mana Strike] sent him backwards, crashing against the cairn. After another [Spark], he was helpless, and died tamely to a stab from the limping Alliie's sword.

Alliie jumped in surprise when she saw MaxIRA's face, but was coy when Mirko noticed and asked why. "Well, um, he's black, that's pretty atypical for a Hashin. Maybe they're the Gangster Regiment?"

As she slumped down to soothe her ankle, she noticeably leaned against the corpse, brushing its skin quietly, as if reminiscing about something.

"Excuse me, that's racist," Danielus scolded.

Alliie had just improvised the answer on the spot, and hadn't had the time to notice that it could come off like that. "Oh, yeah! Whoops. Well, that's not what I meant, just... trying to add some levity after all that stress."

"You were barely involved in the fight, what stress? But yeah, I can understand that. Now let's get to the dungeon."

"I think she knows that guy, or he reminds her of someone. Maybe a former flame," Mirko whispered to Cael. "She's a liberal from Chicago, wouldn't surprise me."

Alliie shot him a harsh glare, sensing that he was talking about her behind her back without knowing precisely what he was saying.

Mirko seemed nervous for a moment, knowing that Danielus and Alliie would get mad at him for saying that.

"Come on, it's not her fault for slipping on that slope. It was difficult," Cael said to Mirko, pretending that Mirko had been talking about something else.

"Hey!" she protested, flustered. "I couldn't help it, okay? Like, even Danielus fell down. Stop being so judgmental! He's right, you guys have to stop blaming me for everything."

"Enough," Danielus said. "Can we just be quiet and go to the dungeon now?"

They carried on down the winding, wide stone path ahead, bordered to the left by a deep canyon. Soon, they reached a long stairway, leading to a tall, semi-circular doorway on the side of a large, rocky mountain.

Cael walked up to the door, and saw a screen asking him to confirm his team. It displayed the names and classes of each team member. Once this was done, a prompt appeared:

Reminder: dungeons can be completed with 5 players. Challenging with 4 is risky. Are you sure?

• Yes
• No

He selected 'Yes', and the name of the dungeon flashed in front of him, accompanied with a message in smaller text:

Temple of Rişi

This is a Special Dungeon, triggered by the Draugr Invasion world event. Due to its proximity to new players, you are asked to complete an easier, basic form of the dungeon to unlock the full version. If you complete it, you will be rewarded with a [Temple Token], giving you a free extra dungeon chance which can be used here or at a lower-level Major dungeon.

That wasn't a bad deal, the token would give him the chance to do two Major Dungeons in a day.

Cael buffed the group, and then they walked in.

The first chamber of the dungeon was a large, circular stone room. Etchings like cave paintings covered the walls, displaying what looked to be large, mythological wars. A few minotaurs and dragons were displayed amongst the hundreds of ranks of soldiers.

From a wide hole on the other side, a group of three undead scurried in.

These were all level 35, and had the tag [Reanimated Corpse]. They scurried like rats normally, but when preparing for battle they rose stiffly on two legs.

Despite her slight limp, Alliie raced in first. She seemed surprised when the creature ducked effortlessly under her sweeping, high [Slash], briefly resuming its usual rat-like posture.

It then leapt up at her, and scratched furiously at her face, leaning forwards over her with its slimy, rotting flesh.

"Get it off! Get it off! Ack!" she screamed, as she tried pushing it away with her arms.

This was a mistake, because it had high Strength, and easily overpowered her. It shoved her to the ground, and Danielus had to run in to kick it off.

Meanwhile, Mirko had also gone forwards, but held his sword out nervously as two Reanimated Corpses bore down on him. He occasionally glared sideways towards Danielus and Alliie, frustrated that they weren't offering support.

Cael targeted these two corpses with a [Magic Missile], and the corpses were blown backwards into the air by the impact. They landed crumpled with only slivers of HP left, a much stronger effect than he had prepared for. He had been expecting the fight to go on for longer, and had been thinking about which skills to use next, but these plans wouldn't be necessary now. Seemingly, these opponents weren't that difficult for a strong level 50 Mage.

He raised his Black Cursed Draugr Staff, and cast [Dark's Tendrils] on one of the corpses. It withered to the ground, as its HP ran out.

He had picked up an INT buff spell scroll, for a spell named [Magisterial Domain], while walking through Kruxol. He then used this buff on himself before entering the dungeon, and it seemed to be quite effective. However, he figured that the enemies falling so easily here was primarily because they were weak, and they would probably not last much longer even without the INT buff.

Mirko struck down the other Reanimated Corpse easily, as it seemingly had barely any HP remaining after Cael's first attack.

Meanwhile, Danielus and Alliie had been tirelessly working together to pin the other corpse back against the walls of this room, despite it constantly evading entrapment by crouching down and scurrying out of the way in a hazy blur. Cael sighed somewhat, at seeing them again trying to corrall it against the walls.

Taking advantage of the corpse being tied up in dealing with them, he began charging a [Mana Sphere]. The corpse seemed to sense this after a few seconds, and dodged away from Alliie and Danielus to pursue Cael. However, Cael was on the opposite side of the room, and before it could reach him it was mowed down by a powerful white Mana Sphere that broke through its chest. Its body fell to pieces.

"Nice job!" Alliie said, turning to Cael with a smile. "You really saved us there!"

She then turned quickly and hugged Danielus. "Oh, and also, thanks Danny. The thing was right on top of me, I was so scared. Thanks, thanks, thanks!"

"You're welcome. Anyway, let's go on," Danielus said.

They moved through a few more rooms, facing similar opponents. The initial description hadn't been kidding when it said that this dungeon had been made easier. Cael barely had to put in much effort to decimate the mobs, with an occasional [Magic Missile] being all that was necessary.

The others, though, seemed to find it fairly challenging. That was partially due to poor choice of gear and stats, and partially due to them not being used to voyaging outside of town.

After three more rooms, Cael noticed a few messages from Danemy.

Danemy mentioned that he was nearby, and gave co-ordinates. Cael replied, telling him to come up to the stairway leading to this dungeon, which would be a good chokepoint to trap people in.

Since Danemy wasn't sure about where this was, not having done this dungeon before, Cael guided him through chat after fighting another wave of Reanimated Corpses.

Passing under a large, chalk arch, the party came to a massive cavern where they faced the first mini-boss, a level 43 [Mass of Undead]. It was, as the name said, a grotesque amalgamation of several Reanimated Corpses into one, large corpse creature. Their various bodies melted together, and the resulting creature towered a few feet over any of the players.

It pounded its fist into the ground as it saw them, and Cael noticed Danielus and Alliie shivering nervously.

Since buffs cleared on entering a mini-boss room, Cael quickly began buffing the other players for the fight.

Mirko went forwards, and rose his shield to tank. However, the Mass of Undead pounded its fist into his shield, and he skidded dizzily backwards before falling over. The ringing noise of the blow echoed through the cavern like church bells.

"Guys, some support here? Guys!" Mirko shouted out, raising his voice above the echoing noise.

While Alliie and Danielus walked forwards, they clearly didn't seem willing to tank blows, and stayed a few steps behind Mirko as the creature lumbered up towards him.

It brought its massive fists towards him, but he just about managed to roll away to the side. The impact of the fist shook the ground next to him, and he lost balance as he tried to get up.

The slow boss calmly turned towards him again. He retreated, but it followed him with robotic, massive steps.

"Come on, put your shields up! Help!" Mirko screamed, before a string of Spanish swear words.

Catching his breath, and seeing that he was cornered, he continued, "I hate you guys, you said we would work together! By the way, I know I didn't tell you, Allie, but I saw your old husband in this game and I know where he is. I'm going to find him and tell him to marry a younger girl. And I'll tell him about how your mother gave birth to you with a male prostitute!"

Allie looked shocked, and backed away from the fight, as if leaving Mirko to his fate. "So you lied about that? If he's here... then he'll be using his old game username from a decade ago, 'MartialParra.' I know it! I'll find him first."

Danielus, however, ran forwards and tried to distract the Mass of Undead with a slash to its right flank, only to be batted four metres away with a small wave of its arm.

While this Mass of Undead was strong, its power was exaggerated by these warriors' bad stats and equipment. Though they wore heavy armour, it didn't do much to protect them, and actually limited their actions. Their equipment also contained irrelevant stat boosts like INT, rather than Strength, Constitution or Dexterity.

As the Mass of Undead prepared to attack Mirko, it was interrupted by a fully-charged [Mana Sphere]. This barrelled into its right flank, sending it teetering to the left, before a follow-up [Mana Push] dropped it to the side.

"Thanks, man! I wish you didn't have to help my worthless friends here!" Mirko said, with a thumbs-up gesture.

He then crouched down to stab at the fallen creature, dealing large, gaping wounds that rained pus and blood. Cael cast a [Flare] to help out, remembering that undead bosses are sometimes weak to fire.

The Mass of Undead certainly was. It wilted as soon as it was struck, and its HP jumped down surprisingly much. As it tried to raise itself, and kick Mirko away, Cael used [Spark] to pin it to the ground.

Gaining confidence, Alliie and Danielus ran in and began hacking at the corpse as well. Soon, its HP had depleted to 0%.

After this mini-boss fight, Cael felt quite confident that he could clear this dungeon by himself. The enemies on this run-through were easy enough that it wouldn't make a difference. He was overpowered for level 50, and facing level 40 enemies.

As the group slowly recovered from the fight and prepared for the next room, Cael quietly sent a few messages to Danemy.

Cael: ok ready? they'll be out in a second

Danemy: that was fast af

Danemy: but yea we here

Cael: alright, give me a moment

Cael: let me figure out the party ldr menu lol

Cael navigated through the Party Leadership menu, going back and forth until he found the option to kick members. This was generally added for cases where members were being disruptive, blocking progress, or obstructing the group in other ways. However, in effect, it just meant that group leaders could kick people for no reason. If this happened while you were using one of your dungeon reward chances, then bad luck.

He selected the three members of the group, and a message flashed up:

[Confirm to Kick [Danielus], [Alliie], and [Murrrk]?]

• Yes
• No

He affirmed the decision, and the other three vanished from the room around him.

A quick message popped up.

Danemy: lol gottem

Danemy: ok their here brb

Walking on to the next room, he pulled out a sheet of paper and used his Illusory Quill Pen to write on it with mana, while casting [Lesser Aura] to suspend his mana in place and [Arm of Hades] to transform it. This would probably be enough to overcome the creatures here.

He noticed that the other members of the group had sent him Friend Requests. While not accepting these, he opened a chat window with them after half a minute, and saw a notice at the top of the window:

This player is dead, and will not be able to respond until they respawn.

It was an easy way of checking whether players had died. Of course, Alliie and Danielus had nametags displaying, so they wouldn't respawn at all. As such, there would be little point in sending them a message.