The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 138: The Phantom Menace

Looking down, Crucis saw another player walking on the ledge below.

This player was a level 55 Assassin, and would be a promising early target. From the scratches across his ankles, it looked like he hadn't yet got used to using the Divine Mana to ford the rocks in the way, and had tediously climbed over them. His attention was on the path in front of him, with an occasional glance at the wider area across the ledge.

He seemed hesitant to continue onwards, suggesting that he had seen another player ahead of him and didn't want a run-in. Crucis could deal with that other player later.

Still watching the player below, Crucis drew his [Silver Wasp] sword. Due to the effect of the Eitr, its blade was now encased in a cold, white light, as bright as sunlight seen through tired eyes. As he moved it, it was lighter than usual, and made a dull, low-pitched hum as it swerved through the air.

Due to the hum, he sheathed it for the moment. It would be more efficient to withdraw it once he was near his opponent, since it would otherwise make his approach more obvious. The Divine Mana already made it possible for players to have an awareness of others entering their vicinity, so it was best not to give too much indication other than that.

Fortunately, this player didn't seem to be paying much attention to the Divine Mana mechanism, so it might be easier to get the drop on them. It wasn't that surprising, since people were nervous and might not be experimenting with every feature, especially with an ill-explained one.

Soon, the countdown to the event ended, and fighting was enabled. Crucis saw the word 'Aesir' appear in white under his name-tag, out of the corner of his eye.

He crouched down and carefully made his way to the end of the ledge in front of him, then used his Agility to leap soundlessly towards the ledge below. As he dropped, he used the Divine Mana to control his flight, and felt his feet almost levitate weightlessly as he steered into a nimble, soundless landing behind the level 55 Assassin.

He could see that the Assassin's name was [Balofager], of the familiar [The Fountain] Guild, who was here allied with the Vanir. Since the Guild had recently lost its leader and dissolved into cliques, it wasn't surprising that some of its players were hiding on their own.

Balofager sensed him dimly, as a disturbance in the Divine Mana, and hastily reared his sword around to the left. However, Crucis' sword flashed up assuredly to block this, producing a flash of sparks when the two glowing swords met, and hovered comfortably on the right of Balofager's neck.

Balofager gulped, as he saw the bright sword perched behind his neck.

In a moment, the fight was over, as Crucis easily stepped to the left and slashed his blade cleanly through Balofager's neck. Since it was a Divine Weapon, it simply passed right through, beheading Balofager.

From this kill, Crucis gained 100 Divine Mana, plus 100 more for first player kill. This made a total of 670, with 30 deducted for the leap before the fight. He also gained 200 [Ivaldi Gold], which would be converted into rewards at the event's end.

As Balofager's corpse fell to the ground, Crucis wasted no time in backstepping towards the rocky wall behind him for security. He used [Agile Step] to enter this. Although he had killed his foe, he needed to stay out of the open whenever possible, so that he couldn't be seen from above and attacked in a similar way.

Catching his bearings, he heard the dim sound of a Divine Weapon sword behind him and to the right, which seemed to suggest a cavern inside the mountain where some player was fighting monsters. He listened carefully to make sure that it was only one player's sword, and confirmed that there was only one player there, meaning that there was no risk of walking into the middle of a fight.

Edging towards this, he stopped when he heard the sound of the sword suddenly disappear. In its place came the roaring of a monster, which soon revealed itself by walking out onto the ledge.

It was a tall, bulky form, with dense fur like a mammoth's, that walked on two feet and had two small, red eyes. The creature's face was mostly taken up by its enormous mouth, which was filled by massive, thick canines almost the size of a forearm. Its mouth was bathed in the dank sheen of blood, which soaked the fur around it. Tilting his head to look above it, Crucis saw its name, [Bergakungen (Mountain Troll)].

It must have killed the player who was fighting in the cavern. Fortunately, it couldn't see Crucis, since he was hidden in the wall.

As the creature retired back into the cavern, Crucis could hear the faint sound of goat-like braying and hoof-steps from the direction where the player had been. The player must have been fighting some goat-like creatures in the cavern, hoping to avoid notice, when the Bergakungen appeared and killed them. From the sound of the hooves, stepping more purposively and aggressively than most goats, they seemed likely to be a more aggressive, fierce creature modelled on mountain goats.

Although this mountain had seemed safe, clearly there were powerful creatures roaming around. Creatures like this level 90 Bergakungen might have been feasible opponents if this event was unlocked normally, at a time where people were at least above level 110, but since it had been activated early players' stats were probably not high enough to deal with the creatures. Especially in a dark cavern, when the player in question had been busy fighting goats.

After a few seconds, Crucis noticed a message appear in the panel to his left:

[ALERT: The borders of the area will be shrunk in 4 minutes, and every 4 minutes after that. This will be gradual at first.]

He could hear a few distant gasps from players on ledges far below him. Nobody had been told about this policy before the event began. It was probably a measure to increase conflict, by forcing players to run up against each other in a smaller space. However, it meant that the mountain, whether or not it was safe, wouldn't be a practical hiding place for long, since it was near the borders of this area. He would have to find a way off.

Scanning the area around him, he noticed a bridge of wood and rope connecting the mountain and one of the large rocks next to it. This bridge hadn't been visible when he had approached the mountain, since it was at the back of the mountain, and was quite inconspicuous. The bridge led to a ledge on this mountain, which he quickly noticed was a 'dead end,' and didn't lead anywhere else.

Two warriors were clashing loudly on the bridge, which swayed wildly from side to side. After a few flailing clashes of swords, one warrior surprised the other with a shoulder charge and shoved them off the bridge.

The falling warrior plunged a long way down, trying to use Divine Mana to break their fall. However, due to the distance and velocity of the fall, it was useless, and they died in a heap on the plains below.

The survivor desperately grabbed a hold of the rope railings, and just about managed not to fall off himself as the bridge swung queasily. Forcing himself to stand straight, he rushed with disciplined steps towards the mountain, and jumped with relief off the bridge onto the ledge here. He seemed nauseous and dizzy, and looked around aimlessly as he stumbled around, still feeling the seasick after-effects of the bridge's movement.

Crucis carefully crouched down and moved in the warrior's direction. Since the warrior was stranded here for the moment, and disoriented, he would be a decent target. It would require another leap, but with more Divine Mana on hand that would be doable.