World of Eternia: The Complete Collection (32 page)

“Let me know when
you’re ready to leave Starter Town,” Laura says, interrupting his
thought. “Make sure you have enough healing potions,” she adds.

“I’m good to go,”
he grins. The fighter is carrying a half dozen Elixirs of Health,
each of which fully heals the health of the user. That is why each
Elixir is so expensive. Conrad plans to use an Elixir only when his
substantial health bar is knocked down to twenty percent or so. Thus,
he is in no danger of dying unless he's hit by dragon breath or death
magic and its instant death effect.

“Good,” she says as
the party leader chooses “Blackheart Manor” as the party’s
destination. The manor is a special mission available to necromancers
only. In WoE, there is a common core of available missions to all
character classes that are segregated by character level, plus a
special set of class specific missions. For these special missions,
the party leader has to be from the specific character class. Some
missions are solo player only, while others allow wide latitude in
who may come along. The purpose of these missions is to advance the
storyline for each character class, and to offer a different player
experience.

After Laura clicks
“Enter,” her player screen goes black for a moment, while the
word “Loading” flashes in white. After a few seconds, she finds
herself transported to a big mansion in the middle of the woods.

Conrad finds himself
standing behind the necromancer, and the barbarian immediately moves
to the front to the party. In a two person party comprising of one
melee fighter and one spell caster, the melee player has to be up
front to draw mob attacks while the spell caster works in a support
role. It is a different mindset compared to playing rearguard with
The Strangers, but Conrad is willing to adapt and immerse himself in
a different role. The chance to do something different is why he's
been playing without The Strangers in his party, because Conrad wants
to experience different roles in the game.

The barbarian takes his
time to scan the perimeter for any sign of an ambush. The manor is a
two story building that has a Victorian style exterior, with about a
dozen windows split evenly into sets of fours by two balconies on the
second floor. The entrance is a large set of doors directly in the
middle under the balconies. The manor is surrounded by a garden of
white lilies. "The place looks quiet, maybe too quiet," he
remarks as Conrad stares at the white lilies and try to read the
significance of these flowers.

"I'm sure we'll
have a blast inside, maybe literally," Laura quips as she starts
heading towards the front door.

Alarmed by the spell
caster's carefree attitude, Conrad puts a hand on the necromancer's
shoulder to stop her. "I take the lead," he admonishes,
remembering the time that Lucious nearly died in the WoE anniversary
campaign last year because the spell caster went ahead of Wesley and
got bitten by a venomous giant spider during an ambush.

"What? You don't
believe in ladies first?" she teases him.

The barbarian scowls at
her. "I'm not carrying a Raise Dead scroll. If you die, I'm
abandoning the mission," he says.

"Fine," she
pouts.

Conrad walks past the
necromancer and stands in front of the door. He stares at the door
knob for a moment and turns back to look at Laura. "You wouldn't
happen to know the 'Detect Trap' spell, would you?" he asks.

"Nope," she
says sweetly while batting her long eyelashes at him.

"Figures," he
mutters under his breath. "Well, here goes nothing," the
player says as he bravely turns the knob to open the door.

When Conrad peers
inside the mansion, he sees a luxurious living room that is richly
furnished with scenic tapestry on the walls, a crystal chandelier
hanging from the high ceiling, red carpet covering the entire floor,
and even a fireplace that is burning. Strangely, there is no servant
to greet the intruder. "Hello? Anyone here?" he asks.

Laura slips past the
cautious fighter, and steps inside the house. She is not surprised at
the lack of attendants, at least not living ones.

"I thought I told
you to stay behind me!" the barbarian shouts in annoyance.

"I got tired of
waiting outside," the necromancer replies with a pout.

Conrad scowls at the
cheeky attitude. "Okay, it's your funeral. You die, your mission
will be over and I won’t repeat it with you. So what are we
supposed to do in this mission?" he growls.

"I need to
retrieve a special item called the 'Blackheart,'" Laura replies.

"Any idea what
it's supposed to look like?" he presses on.

"Not really. I'll
know it when I see it," she grins. "It gives off a black
aura that only practitioners of the death sphere of magic can see,"
she adds.

Conrad is alarmed by
this answer. "If I'm going to face a lich, I'm quitting right
now!" He turns back to the door and is about open it when Laura
stops him by blocking him at the door and pushing his outstretched
hand aside.

"Dude, why would
WoE give me a lich as an opponent for my mission?" she replies.
"The final boss will probably be a priestess of death or even a
necromancer. You'll probably be fighting measly skeletons. Don't
chicken out now," she smirks.

"I'm not a
chicken," the warrior scowls at her. "However, it would be
foolish to fight a lich with just the two of us."

"How about this
then: if we find ourselves facing a lich, we'll flee. Okay?" she
offers a compromise.

"Fine,"
Conrad huffs.
Knowing how
deviant the game developers are, I just know we're facing a lich,
even in this setting,
he thinks.
If
only I still had my magic reflecting shield
, he groans
silently.
With that shield, I
could repel any death magic a lich flings at me. Too bad it got
destroyed during that bar fight last year.
Conrad decides
to change the topic. "So which room do you want to explore
first?" he asks. In addition to the entrance, there are three
other doors, or one on each wall.

Laura looks at the
doors, which are made of wood and indistinguishable from one another.
"Let's take the right door," she says.

"You got it,"
the fighter says as he slowly walks across the room towards the right
wall. Click! He feels a slight shift under his feet, and suddenly the
entire floor drops! CRASH! The player's hands are buzzing with
numbness as pain jolts through both hands. "Ouch," Conrad
says as his screen flashes “Stunned,” meaning that his in-game
avatar is currently unable to move. The player checks his health bar,
and sees that the drop has wiped out half his avatar's health.

"I hope Laura
survived the drop," Conrad says as his visor screen finally
clears up. "You okay?" he calls out while studying his
surroundings. The warrior sees something shift beneath the rubble to
his left, and quickly runs over to the spot. Moving aside the large
pieces of rubble, he sees a slender arm and quickly tries to dig out
his partner with his bare hands. A few seconds later, the barbarian
clears out enough rubble to uncover Laura’s face.

Is
she dead
, he asks silently while checking on the party's
health at the upper left corner of his player’s screen. He sees a
flashing red health bar, meaning that she's almost dead. Quickly the
rescuer reaches into his left boot to pull out an Elixir of Health
and pours its contents into Laura's mouth. "Swallow it and
live," he urges.

The semi-conscious
necromancer manages to drink the syrupy liquid, and a warm, soothing
feeling soon encompasses the player's hands inside her virtual
reality gloves as the avatar slowly recovers her health. Soon,
Laura's fuzzy player screen clears and she could clearly see Conrad's
face hovering closely above her own. She starts to free herself from
her entombment within the rubble.

Clap-clap-clap! The duo
quickly turns their heads to the source of the sound. They see a man
with a badly decomposed face sitting on a throne made of bones. "That
was most touching," he comments in a raspy voice. “It
certainly warms my beating heart,” he chuckles at the joke.

Conrad quickly pulls
another Elixir from his hidden boot pocket and gulps the content in
one swallow.
Might as well go in
at full strength
, he thinks as the player watches his
health bar instantly becomes full again. He rises to his feet and
pulls out his ivory club and double war axe. He hears stones shifting
on the ground behind him, as Laura pulls herself back on her feet as
well.

"Where are my
manners? I'm Tristan Blackheart, owner of this humble abode," he
says while remaining seated but waves his right, bony hand in the
air.

Conrad could feel the
hair on his arms stand as he listens to the NPC.
What
kind of character is he--a black priest, a black mage, or even a
lich? Something definitely feels off about this guy.
The
last time he felt this way was the encounter with the Regent of
Castle Eternia. He groans aloud, drawing a worried glance from the
necromancer.

Conrad steadies his
heart as he calmly considers his options. He looks around and sees a
few suits of armor leaning against the wall. He sees four of them in
all, with a lit torch on the wall to the right of each suit of armor.
Those are probably Armor
Guardians
, he recognizes. According to Lucious, these
minions are magical creatures under control of the creator but they
are very expensive to create. Each guardian is a decent, mid-cap
level fighter.

Conrad’s eyes
continue to inspect the room; it is circular with no signs of an exit
anywhere. “There’s no way out,” he mutters to himself. “I
guess this means fleeing is not an option.” Next to the throne is a
stand with a lantern. Conrad sees an open book on the stand.

“I see you’re
looking for a way out,” the master of the manor says, while
watching the barbarian closely. “There is only one way out: a
secret passageway right under my throne. I might consider letting you
leave, but the price is steep.”

“How much?” the
barbarian asks, trying to stall for time while thinking of a plan of
action.
Should I bum rush
Blackheart and hope I make it in time to prevent him from activating
the armor guardians? Or should I stay back and protect Laura while
she flings spells at Blackheart? It’s too bad we’re encountering
the big boss right away, or else I could observe her fighting
capabilities first. There are too many unknown variables right now.

“How much?” the NPC
repeats the question mockingly. “Oh I don’t know. I think I’m
in the mood for a human heart.” He licks his lips. “So, who wants
to sacrifice a life for safe passage for the other? Will it be you
sir?” The host points a bony finger at the barbarian. “Or will
you be the one to show your valor and bravery, mistress?” He shifts
his finger over in the female’s direction.

Laura slowly walks up
to the barbarian. “What a kind and generous offer, milord.” She
sniffs her nose. “I think we’ll need to pass and just force you
to get up from your throne.”

“Hohoho!”
Blackheart claps. “I like your spirit, my child. I think I will
enjoy devouring your heart first.” His eyes turn black as he drops
his illusion, revealing a rotted corpse. He snaps his fingers, and
the four Armor Guardians leave their positions along the walls to
attack!

“Time to party!
Yeah!” Conrad yells while running towards Blackheart.
The
boss character is at least fifteen feet away,
he thinks.
With luck I could reach him
before the Armor Guardians can intercept me. If I can take out the
master first, the guardians may deactivate. Hopefully, Laura can deal
with the guardians. If not, oh well,
he grins
.

“Damn you, Conrad!”
Laura yells as she suddenly finds herself facing half the Armor
Guardians, one coming to her left and the other coming to her right.
Laura sees two swords slashing at her torso at the same time; the
necromancer tumble rolls forward to avoid the blades. She quickly
lands on her feet and tries to cast a flame arrow spell. However, she
feels another blade approaching her head and drops down to the
ground, interrupting her spell casting. Laura alertly rolls body away
from the blade, which is stuck briefly to the ground. The spell
caster holds out her right hand, with her palm facing the stuck
blade, while her left hand is clutching her magical focus. “Atenlat!”
A flame arrow hits the sword and engulfs it. The dull steel blade
turns bright red in color. “Talneta!” An ice arrow hits the sword
again. The sudden drop in temperature causes the blade to snap,
ruining the sword.

“Yes!” The spell
caster pumps her fist in the air. “Whoa!” She suddenly feels a
blade approaching her head and tumble rolls forward again. When
Laura’s body comes to a complete stop, she realizes she landed
right in front of the ruined sword. She sees an armored foot about to
stomp on her head, and instinctively rolls to her left, hitting the
wall. She kicks out her leg, smashing into the ankle joint of the
Armor Guardian and causing it to fall down. Laura quickly straddles
the suit of armor, pulls out her enchanted dagger, and stabs down at
the Guardian’s torso. Suddenly, she feels movement towards her
head, and the necromancer quickly rolls to her right, away from the
wall.

The other Armor
Guardian’s heavy sword chop misses its intended target, and the
blade is imbedded deep into the chest of the guardian still lying on
the ground.

While the guardian
tries to free its blade, Laura takes the opportunity to cast Death
Sphere. Pulling out her skeletal hand focus, the necromancer takes
aim at the two Armor Guardians and chants the words of power:
“zozen-tulla-zozen-varid-zozen-weere-natel.” The spell completely
drains the spell caster’s mana pool, and a small orb of nebulous
black form in front of the skeletal hand. The orb expands outward in
a flash until it encompasses the doomed guardians. The suits of
armors instantly turn black and the next second they dissipate into
nothingness.