Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (29 page)

Activate hypercognition.

Concentrating, Alan did so half a second later, watching as the world about him slowed down.

Alright, here is the plan. We are going to leap down, and using forward momentum attempt to behead the Experimental Warden with our laser knife when it is low enough health, in approximately 12.672 seconds. Quickly grabbing any loot the boss drops, we will proceed to leap off the platform, into the abyss.

Wait, we’re gonna steal the kill, just like that?

Yes.

But
—

These players are likely slavers. I am about 97% certain based on their equipment and speech patterns. Did you not notice how they didn’t come here to fight bosses? The Abyss Labyrinth is the perfect place to lay traps, as there is little to no regulation, plenty of unknown entrances and exits, and if the authorities come, you can leap to your death, so they’ll never catch you. This does makes it crucial that you do not get caught though, jump off the edge. Is that understood?

Um, yeah.

Looking down at the players, Alan noticed that many of them did look rather menacing, and were even marked with the chaotic status that only came from attacking other players or committing severe crimes.

Get ready.

Taking a deep breath, Alan put away Orion’s Cores and got out his laser knife. He really needed a sword if he was going to keep going for one hit kills.

Eve plotted out the exact angles that he was to leap out and strike at. Trusting Eve’s abilities to calculate, Alan leapt from the platform as the leader of the slavers took out a purple-laser cutlass, no doubt wanting to finish off the boss himself. Slowly, Alan felt gravity take hold as he dived forwards, knife outstretched. When he was a few millimeters away from colliding with the boss Eve deactivated the armor’s invisibility field right as Alan activated the knife’s own laser field.

Alan’s blade sunk into the Experimental Warden’s neck which had already been tenderized by the flames. A slew of messages popped up but Alan ignored them, grabbing the two pieces of loot the boss dropped, and then began to sprint with all his might towards the edge of the platform. With a yell, the slavers fired at Alan, but he managed to evade the hooks and other capturing devices using his inhumane reaction speed and surprise. He was struck by a few darts, tipped with some metal that pierced his shields and light power armor, but before their effects could come into effect Alan was already leaping off the platform, into the abyss.

Alan read the message log as he fought the effects of the poisons he had been struck with.

Then, Alan’s consciousness faded…

***

Alan found himself, back at his Home, the blank, white space that was his safe haven within the Game. He stood next to the only other being there, the Administrator; staring, mouth agape, at the screens open before him.

This… this…

Yes?

These death penalties! What the hell? How is this fair? And you didn’t even mention potential memory loss! Did you know this would happen?

Yes, I did. And it was worth it. We have gained far more levels than we lost, and can earn stat points relatively easily through training.

But, the lost abilities
—

Can be relearned much more easily once remembered, especially as we know how to unlock them. You will just need to run until you collapse with hypercognition activated.

Do you have any idea how painful that was!? Do you really think that… well, alright, I probably will go through it again, for the abilities, but still. Warn me or something next time, okay?

Very well. I suggest we hurriedly retrieve the package then proceed to the Black Rose Docking Bay. There are 34 minutes remaining, and we are saving ability points for the Quick Learner talent, which costs 500 ability points, thus no need to spend any now. Simply place the points you gained from the Gifted skill into agility, then respawn at the Administrative Center.

Alright...
 Alan agreed dejectedly.

***

25 minutes later, Alan found himself approaching the Black Rose Docking Bay. He had easily retrieved the mysterious package from the Administrative Center, no questions asked, and had proceeded to sprint all the way. He managed to make it with 10 minutes to spare.

Standing in a corner, Alan saw Kitana, conversing with a giant, grey-skinned bald man in flowing brown robes with a huge war axe on his back. Alan was about to make his way over when someone called out at him.

“So! You managed to make it, and with the package no less. Impressive work, thanks a lot.”

Alan turned, finding a man, maybe in their late twenties or early thirties, with bright blue eyes. He wore a white uniform that Alan, could, perhaps, describe as a lab coat, if scientists allowed their coats to fall into disrepair and become rumpled beyond reason. The man had a certain gleam to his eyes as he scanned over Alan, nodding to himself.

“I am Phantom," he said. "Now, hand over the package so I can inspect its contents.”

Alan hurriedly did so, excited to see what was inside. A message popped up once he transferred it to Phantom.

Phantom carefully took out a metal key, similar to the one Alan recently found. As soon as the key was near the small black box an opening appeared, and Phantom inserted the key into the slot. Phantom then removed the top of the box revealing… an unmarked bottle of amber liquid, which Phantom took out and examined with a joyous smile on his face.

“Um, what is that?” Alan asked, curious.

“Why, the finest Haxlardian whiskey, of course! Only 250 bottles of this stuff is made a year, and it’s illegal to sell it outside of the Haxlard Empire.”

“Wait, so I braved the Undercity for… a bottle of liquor? How much is it even worth?”

“Hmm? Oh, about 15,000 credits, maybe. It’s finding the stuff that’s so damned hard.”

15,000! I bribed those guards 20,000 credits, each! Then spent 60,000 to teleport it up here!

Yes… it seems this quest wasn’t actually as important as I thought it was… Maybe… Well, we’ll see.

“Wait, you know that it wasn’t even yours to pick up, right? Some other person came to pick it up right after me!” Alan said.

“Interesting," Phantom said, examining another recruit. "I’ll have you tell me more about this later, but that will have to be after your initial assessment. Assuming you get accepted into the guild, of course.”

“Initial assessment?”

“You don’t think we just let anyone with a recommendation that completes a fetch quest in, do you? Impress me in the assessment, or at least do reasonably well, and I’ll recruit you as my squire. Now, I have errands to do, but I’ll watch the streams. Probably.”

And with that, Phantom turned around and strode away.

“Wait, aren’t you tired?” Alan called out after him.

“Nah, Erudites don’t need much sleep,” Phantom yelled back, as he merrily took a swig from the bottle of liquor Alan had gone through so much effort to acquire.

I’m not sure I want to work under him…

Yes, we’ll have to see. I think it should be noted that I did not notice his approach at all. He seemingly appeared out of nowhere… We should concentrate on this initial assessment for now, though.

Nodding, Alan walked over to Kitana, who had finished her conversation with the grey-skinned giant. To Alan's surprise, Kitana had risen to level 120 and was wearing a completely outfit. He thought his leap to level 79 had been fast, but Kitana had only been level 80 when he last saw her aboard the Titan. She now had on black robes over a black vest and grey undershirt. Alan could tell her clothing was not made of ordinary material, as the light around it seemed to be absorbed by the cloth, creating a sort of dark aura. She still wielded the same katana.

“Hey, Kitana. How are you?”

“I’m doing quite well, Alan. This is quite the guild you’ve found.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve found it to be interesting. Just wondering, but how did you level up so fast?”

“Well, Mason,” she gestured to the man she had been talking to earlier, “is one of the Arms Masters of the guild, and he wanted to get an estimate of my ability. Thus, he suggested I visit a local underground fighting ring. The battles were quite exhilarating, and I managed to kill a number of opponents, impressing many and leveling up quite a few times in the process.”

“Kill?”

“Hmm? Yes, the fights were mostly to the death. Otherwise it would be mostly pointless, wouldn’t it?” Kitana grinned, gazing into the distance, smiling almost bloodthirstily, causing Alan to shiver slightly. It was strange, to think of all the people around him going about killing things, but he supposed he should get used to it. It was all part of the Game, after all.

“Um, yeah, I guess so… Glad you’re having fun.”

At that moment the grey-skinned giant clapped his hands together, creating a miniature sonic wave, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone in the hangar, some 30-odd people, mostly younger looking kids, around Alan and Kitana’s age, 16 at the youngest, 25 at the oldest.

“Alright, recruits. My name is Mason, and I am an Arms Master of the Black Rose Guild. Any who wish to join the guild should now follow me into the shuttle, to take the initial assessment slash trials slash whatever you want to call them. Any wishing to leave now may do so, but know that once you step foot in the shuttle you must complete the test to completion. Any questions? No? Good, let’s go.”

Alan raised his hand when Mason had asked for questions, as he wanted to know more about the initial assessment, but quickly put it down after he realized Mason had no desire to answer any. He followed Kitana onto a large shuttle with around fifty seats, and a new quest popped up.