The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 135: Aerial

Since there were 20 minutes remaining until the world event, Crucis decided to get used to exploring the area.

He saw a cave opening to the left, and walked towards it. The way to it was a rocky, uphill climb.

He found that his steps were much lighter than usual here, and easily jogged up the ascent. He used the rocks as footholds, to stabilise himself as his feet almost floated across the ground. Feeling unbalanced, he briefly backtracked and climbed again, in order to get used to the movement. That would be important for the event to come.

Finally, he reached the cave entrance. However, it was higher up than he had expected, and a large, slippery rock blocked off entry from beneath. In spite of his slightly weightless movement, he couldn't quite ford this rock.

Although he nearly managed to make it over, his hands and feet slipped off the top of the rock, and, giving up on the attempt, he carefully slid to the ground.

He thought back to what he had read about Divine Mana. Apparently, it could aid with movement and jumping. Since it would replenish during this period, he decided to try it out.

Jumping up, he grabbed the top of the rock with his hands, then used another rock on the side to launch up from with his feet. However, this time, he used the Divine Mana, and felt his feet almost levitate as a white, chilling glow appeared faintly around them.

His hands still slipped off the rock, as usual, but his feet somersaulted past the edge of the rock and onto the dryer dirt of the cave entrance. His body twisted on its way, and he found himself facing back the way he had came, as he stood in the cave mouth after landing.

Catching his breath, he turned slowly towards the cave. Its opening was a simple tunnel, leading to a cross-roads with three paths onwards.

There was a loud roar from the central path. Glancing in, he saw a massive, tyrannosaur-like creature stretching up to the high ceiling of the cavern, its body as tall as St. Vitus Cathedral. Although its beady eyes looked down and noticed him, and he noticed its gaping, enormous mouth lowering as it bent down to look, it didn't seem interested in attacking. Clearly, these monsters were remaining relatively dormant until the event.

He probably wouldn't want to be stuck in this position when the event started.

Taking the left path, he found that it led to a large ring around the central chamber.

On one side was a large pool, with a cold, chilling mist rising from its surface. He knelt down by it, and let the sharp chill wake him up. Looking inside, he saw a massive, dark fish-like shape swimming deep below, along with a few small fish glimmering above. Soon, the dark shape passed out of sight. This pool seemed to be connected to a deeper water source underground. However, it was difficult to tell much else about it.

Dipping his head briefly underwater, he noticed what looked like an underwater castle in the distance. The water was fresh, but freezing, and he felt more alert. Looking around further, he saw that the castle-like structure was actually just a series of underground tunnels, some of which seemed to rise away above the water. There seemed to be a few holes in the walls that allowed people to enter, but they were far away and difficult to make out. He approximated that they were somewhere beneath the large plains and mountains.

There seemed to be some more large, aquatic creatures, including an eel that could be seen dimly in the distance. However, at the moment they just circled idly.

He drew his head up, and wiped some of the water off before putting his mask back on. He dropped a nearby, small rock into the pool, to check what the currents were like in the water. It fell steadily for a while, but after it was about 100 metres down it was suddenly swept firmly to the right.

As he watched it, he was startled by the loud sound of footsteps on the rocky floor behind him. Turning around, he saw three Assassins entering the tunnel, their Guild tags marking them as Hashin.

Suddenly alert for a moment, he calmed down as he noticed that none of them made a move to attack. They talked discreetly among themselves, but did not withdraw their weapons. Of course, the event hadn't started yet, so they probably didn't have the option of attacking.

One of the Hashin waved casually, and after a few seconds Crucis recognised him as ImpalerVladislav. Crucis smiled stoically and waved back.

"Hello, my friend Vlad says you were a great help in Kruxol?" said the Hashin in the middle. Crucis noticed that he pronounced Kruxol in the local manner, 'kru-hy-sol,' albeit rendered curt by a slight German accent.

"He exaggerates," Crucis replied, "but I was there, yes. Anything for a good time."

"It's alright, he exaggerates about me as well! Well, he has to, I am his leader. So I think, maybe there is some truth to his exaggerations!"

Crucis laughed, as did the other Hashin.

"So you're Drifter, then? It's an honour."

Dr1fter shook his hand. "No honour. Ask any big player who knows me, they'll say I'm no good, I am just a hacker and cheat. My Guildmates only praise me because I make them!"

Vladislav playfully patted Dr1fter on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, you're not that terrible."

"I know little players think you are this big supervillain," Crucis told Dr1fter, "and, since I am mostly in their company, I still find it an honour."

"Ah, I just ignore their opinions, to be honest," Dr1fter replied.

"So do I, but they're easy to kill. I must have run into hundreds. Still, we're defined by the company we keep, no?"

"Hm. Well, you sound like a bully. That's good, you're like us. Vladislav was right about you. Well, why don't you join us for now? We're going to find our way to the 'Apollo Amphitheatre,' where all the big spenders are hanging out. Don't you also want to see how the other half lives?"

"Oh, really? Sounds great! By the way, did you guys start this world event?"

"Don't bring that up! Yes, we did, but it was an exhausting night's work. I still suffer to think of it! Jin and Vlad here also did their part, they were excellent."

"I died, wasn't much good," Vladislav said, letting his Eastern European accent show.

"No, you were excellent, we couldn't have made it otherwise." Dr1fter turned to Crucis. "By the way, you and Vlad are from same part of the world? Also, I think you have another question to ask, so go ahead."

Clearly, Dr1fter was quite observant.

"Yes, I am also from East Europe, Belarus," Crucis said. "I wanted to ask, you can't go to the amphitheatre normally, and have to sneak in too?"

"Oh, yes! Good question. I'm level 82, I must look like a whale! I am not really a donor, you know. But I have some paywall goods, because my Guild has some shady affiliates -" He paused. "That is, affiliation with the guys in charge of the game. So I don't have all the donor benefits, but I can keep up if I bully enough little whales and steal precious trinkets."

"What kind of affiliation?"

"Sh, that's a secret." Dr1fter laughed, but was clearly anxious about the subject. "OK. It's not really my business, but I have an idea! That is, first, we are meant to help with difficult, secretive tasks, that most Guilds wouldn't do. Second. They needed some guys to show off and play the villain. You know, they want us to kill people early on and give them someone to fight, then they will spend more, this kind of thing. It's even better than NPC bosses! And it makes everyone more competitive, same reason as they make fake whale accounts that others have to spend to compete with. Sometimes it is like WWE, they expect us to take losses too, make 'storylines,' other rigged crap. There's probably other reasons, I don't know all. So we know some game secrets they have told us - though most we know by being smart. I'm kept in the dark about it, to be honest. But it's just silly advertising tricks, not interesting. I think they can't wait to see the back of me by now!"

"Yeah, I doubt they can handle you."

"They can't," Vladislav said. "You should have seen FGRT flipping out about him yesterday! We were overhearing it, great fun."

"Now, now, Vlad. If they can't handle me, they don't care. They will replace me," Dr1fter said. "They are very resourceful, you see. But let's not discuss that now."

He maintained a light-hearted tone despite his concerns.

"Nice to meet you, by the way, I'm Jin," Jin said, finally speaking up. His voice was firm, but polite.

Crucis shook hands with him and Vladislav.

"Alright, now let us try to get to the Amphitheatre," Dr1fter declared. "I think there is a way, but it is a bit crazy, so we will see what happens!"

Crucis followed him as he walked around the edge of the cave, carefully inspecting the walls until he found an appropriate place.

Dr1fter immediately used [Agile Step] to enter the wall, and the rest followed.

"OK, now first thing," he said. "There is an invisible wall in the way, but I think we can squeeze past it. Just keep walking to the left until you find another wall, then walk forwards and left. You will go past the wall in front of you."

Crucis stumbled forwards, and saw that there was an invisible wall in front of them.

After Dr1fter effortlessly made it through the wall, looking like he was moon-walking, he invited Crucis to try.

Crucis tried, but the strange, slightly queasy sensation of sliding across the invisible wall was unfamiliar, and he accidentally took a step too far forwards and was repelled by the wall.

"It's alright, I got lucky," Dr1fter said, smiling. "It's tough! Try again."

Crucis tried again, focusing on repeating the specific movement, as Dr1fter had done, and ignoring the strangeness of the slow slide against the wall. After about twenty seconds, he was through.

The other Hashin members also required a few tries, but got through soon.

The group continued on, moving easily through the large, rocky cave wall and the small outcrop of rocks behind it. However, soon Dr1fter came to a stop in front of a dark, straight uphill part of the wall.

Crucis could hear a creature grunting on the other side of the wall. Dr1fter noticed the direction of his stare, and nodded.

"Do you hear it?" Dr1fter said. "That is the 'basilisk armadillo.' A weird creature. It won't attack yet, of course, but if it notices you in this thin wall then its gaze will paralyse you. So you must all use Stealth skill. You have 'Stealth Cloak' as well, Crucis?"

"Yes," Crucis replied.

"OK, good. It will be not allowed during event, but for now it is fine. Use it to pass this thin part of wall, until you get to the rocks in other end. Then we will almost be there!"

He quickly used [Stealth Cloak], as well as a skill named [Dreamspeed], and in two seconds he was through the passage.

Jin followed, and took about four seconds to cross it.

Crucis went next. He could hear the creature pacing its lair to the right, but tried to shut it out. Casting [Stealth Cloak], he rushed up through the small corridor of wall, and found that he could climb it easily after he had practiced climbing to the cave earlier. He reached faster than Jin had.

Finally Vladislav attempted it, but after losing his balance slightly he was caught out by the creature and froze for five seconds. He slid back down the slippery path. The [Basilisk Armadillo] now pressed its snout to the wall, inspecting it fervently and making it more difficult for Vladislav to pass.

Dr1fter casually picked up a rock and threw it at the far side of the armadillo's lair, distracting the armadillo which turned around and took a few steps towards the loud sound of the falling rock.

Taking the cue, Vladislav used [Stealth Cloak] again, and this time made it undisturbed up the wall despite swaying from side to side.

Dr1fter had already taken a few steps ahead, and led the group towards the Amphitheatre. His steps were purposive, even though they looked like bohemian wandering.

Soon, the lush white of the Hellenic Amphitheatre appeared in front of them. At first, the pillars around its borders, and finally the many semi-circular rows which a large group of players were filtering into. Most players at the front were standing, but a few at the back sat and waited for the event to start.

None of them saw the Hashin players and Crucis standing in the cliff face right behind the Amphitheatre, a few metres above the last row of seats.

From this elevation, they had a clear view of the stage.

Dr1fter, however, seemed more occupied with overhearing the conversations going on between players seated at the back of the Amphietheatre. They were mostly talking - half-desperate, half-optimistic - about how they hoped for something that would make the upcoming event less dangerous, and let them get through it easily.

"Listen to them chatter. I think they don't just need some help. They need a lifeline," Dr1fter declared, lowering his voice slightly to avoid being heard from outside. "They are all so worried, now they want someone to tell them there is no danger. Not that they will fight and win. Where is the spirit? That is why the game needed the Hashin, because whales can't do anything without some carrot and stick."

"Yeah, a glum lot," Vladislav commented.

"It is the nature of the beast. People will pay the most when they cannot stop, like a drug addict who is dependent on the drug. Nothing in a game is made so beautiful that people cannot press 'X' - or go to the menu and quit, in these new games. These games rip off most assets, don't even make them. No, they must be scared until they have to pay to restore equillibrium. Some people pay for special sensations, but in a gambling den like this game the most cash is from people who spend for equillibrium. Hardcore spendthrifts, not hobbyists. The rule is more common than the exception."

"Do you have to be so cynical all the time?" Jin smiled.

"He's right, though," Crucis said.

"True."

"By the way, Drifter, do you come from Germany?"

"Ah, good guess. I do live in Germany. My accent is obvious, no? But I'm not from Germany. From Austria."

There was a loud noise from in front of them, as a figure appeared on the stage. Crucis saw a glowing, large male human figure appear on the stage, with powdery-white skin. This figure facedthe crowd with a wild grin, and briefly juggled small balls of light before these dissolvedin his palm.

As the figure cleared his throat, Crucis saw that his name was [Archangel Michael].

"Well, well, an audience," Michael said, in a booming, flighty showman's voice. "I should impress you somehow... but I don't know how. How about a magic trick? I will make this sword disappear!"

He grabbed an expensive, enchanted golden sword from an audience member in front, and summoned up a ball of searing, white fire in his other hand. As he set the sword on fire, the flames greedily devoured the sword until nothing was left. He held out the open hand where the sword had been, and showed it to the crowd.

The intense fire had not left a scratch on him.

Some in the crowd assumed that this trick was choregraphed, and the player had agreed to it, so they applauded hesitantly. Crucis also heard some speculation that maybe Michael would hand out a better replacement sword. Given that Michael seemed to be drawing on the AI of this game, Crucis guessed that he might be more of a free spirit than these players thought. Most of these players had progressed primarily through main storyline quests, and not really encountered many NPCs who weren't heavily scripted based on the story.

The swordless player and his friends, however, protested angrily.

"What the hell? Who are you?" the player shouted, reluctantly drawing out his shoddy backup sword and waving it threateningly. "What in God's name was that?"

Michael laughed.

However, the complaints continued. Summoning a few more balls of light to his palms, he began idly juggling them as he waited out the loud heckling.

"Yeah, how dare you!" a friend of the player joined in. "Why would you do that? You're supposed to help us!"

"You're chosen to show us our rewards!" another added. "You weren't supposed to destroy things!"