Yvvaros: The Digital Frontier (12 page)

“Tess!” yelled Luke. “Hold on!”

“Luke, don’t let him-” Her words were cut off as Arex slammed another short range spell against her. She glowed bright blue for the briefest instant, and then her body shattered into tiny shards of ice.

Luke dropped to one knee.

It’s just a game, I know that… but? She’s gone…

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize that I could use Ice Palm for shatter kills, too,” said Arex. “Even if you had a revival potion, you wouldn’t be able to bring her back from that. Unfortunately, it also means that her equipment can’t be looted, either.”

“You bastard…” Luke felt rage take hold of him. He gripped his sword tightly.

“Kato, there is no point in you trying to fight me.” Arex charged up a spell in either hand as he walked forward. “Just give me the guild contract, give me the right to Zone 006, and I’ll let you-”

CONJURE SWORD

Luke’s original sword glowed bright white, creating a magical copy of itself that floated above and to the right of his head. It hung in the air like some kind of medieval drone, waiting for his command to fly forward or shift in front of him in defense. After a moment’s hesitation, Luke threw himself at Arex, swinging his original blade wildly and keeping the conjured sword ready to fly in and block.

“The battle has already been decided.” Arex leaped back faster than Luke could move forward.

He must have invested in Speed more than me.

The Red Mage launched a spell at him, a glowing ball of flame that Luke struggled to dodge in time. It came within inches of his face, not causing any damage, but setting the tree behind him ablaze.

“Whoops,” said Arex. “Bad aim on my part.”

“This is all just a joke to you, isn’t it?” Luke paused and stared at the amused look on Arex’s face.

“Yes.”

He doesn’t care about playing fair. Why should I?

Luke lunged toward Arex, using Pierce Attack 2 to close the distance. The Mage was taken off guard and threw up a magical shield a moment too late. Luke’s sword tore through his robe and into his body.

The blow did less damage than Luke would have liked, but it still left him feeling satisfied.

I don’t think Arex has any healing spells. He can only hold out for so long.

“I guess it’s time for me to stop fooling around.” Arex planted his foot on the ground and began launching icicles at Luke. The first few he was able to dodge with quick footwork, but the air became thick with ice, and one of them struck against his shoulder.

Damn it!

There was no pain, or at least not any simulated by the game. Luke’s chest felt hot, and it was hard for him to focus on anything other than his anger. His health bar was down to half of its maximum length just from that single spell.

“Hah! Now you’re starting to get it.” Arex walked toward him, slowly charging another projectile in his hand. “Give up, Kato. The two of us can start a new guild together, and start taking over. That’s what this game is all about! The strong will dominate, and the weak will submit.”

“Go to hell!” Luke attacked again, this time with both his regular sword and the floating conjured one. Arex put his magical shield up early enough to block the blows, and then pushed it outward, knocking Luke back.

“You’re only at level 6,” said Arex. “I’m just toying with you right now. You must know that.”

He’s right… I won’t be able to take him out with typical tactics.

“Goodbye, Kato,” said Arex. “I’ll make sure that the zone is well cared for once I’ve killed everyone in it and taken it for myself.”

Arex charged up a new spell, a giant fireball that Luke instinctively knew would be enough to finish him off.

Now’s my chance!

CONJURE SWORD

Luke re-summoned the energy blade, this time in a new, more advantageous spot. It was behind Arex, and the mage didn’t notice. Luke charged forward, playing the role of the brave warrior charging head first into certain death as the energy blade cut through the air toward Arex from behind.

The spell left Arex’s hand right as the conjured sword struck him in the back. Luke smiled as he saw the mage going down, and then realized that he was about to join him if Arex’s spell connected.

He ducked low, flattening himself against the ground and taking residual damage as the fireball crashed into the trees behind, erupting into fire. His health bar was down to only a sliver, but Luke was still alive.

“I… did it.” His thoughts shifted as he considered what had just happened.

Tess…

Arex’s fireball set a broad swath of trees on fire. Luke wondered briefly about whether there was a natural, in-game renewal system for destroyed vegetation. He slowly made his way over to Arex’s body and began stripping it of everything of value.

Even though the mage’s eyes stared up at him lifelessly, it was still within the period of time in which a player could be revived. Luke knew that Arex’s spirit avatar was hovering nearby, watching him and very likely cursing him.

“You’re wrong, Arex,” said Luke. “This might just be a game, but the players in it are still people.”

Luke made sure he had everything he Tess and Arex had arrived with before jogging off toward Stark Town, and Kantor. He was heading to the soul bind point.

“Are you being serious right now?”

Silverstrike was looking at Luke with shock. The two of them stood near the rune circle in Stark Town. Luke had just started explaining what had happened while he and Tess were harvesting wood.

“I killed him,” said Luke. “Well, his avatar. It was after…”

After he killed Tess.

“I wasn’t expecting you to just…” Silverstrike looked frustrated, as though he was a little put off by his lack of control over the situation. “He was in our guild. You could have sent me a message, or-”

“He attacked Tess.” Luke looked away from Silverstrike, and then up toward Kantor. “He killed Tess, Silverstrike. I couldn’t just walk away. Besides, it was your idea to take the contract in the first place.”

Silverstrike looked at him blankly.

“I know, it’s just…Jesus, man.” He shook his head and said nothing.

“Yeah. Oh, here.” Luke stepped toward his friend and pulled Arex’s belongings out of his bag. “Give these to the merchant. Be careful when dealing with him. I’m not sure how much of what Arex said we can trust, but supposedly the guy’s a cheat.”

“If the guy’s a cheat, then why did you and Arex end up coming to blows?”

That is an excellent question.

“I don’t know,” said Luke. “The way he plays the game, it’s not like we play.”

Silverstrike nodded though Luke wasn’t sure if he really understood what he was saying.

“You’re okay, though, right?” he asked. “I saw Arex fighting against the worm. He’s not exactly one of the newbs of Stark Town when it comes to controlling his avatar.”

“I’m fine.”

Silverstrike stepped in closer to Luke, glancing over either shoulder before leaning in.

“Look, Luke, I realize that it had to be done. I was ready to do it too, and would have if I’d had to.”

              “And?” Luke couldn’t prevent a twinge of anger from creeping into his voice.

“I’m not upset with you, I’m just saying that you have to be careful,” said Silverstrike. “You killed him, but he’s not really ‘gone.' The game doesn’t work like that.”

“I know that!” Luke realized he was yelling and tried to calm himself. “I know…”

“I have your back,” said Silverstrike. “You know that. We just need to make sure we keep in mind the consequences of our actions. We don’t need to make ourselves or our guild a target.”

Luke nodded.

He’s right.

“I think we’re going to have to rename it, by the way,” said Silverstrike. “It’s just me, you, and Tess now.”

Tess…

“I’ll catch up with you later,” said Luke. “Make sure you watch the merchant. And get him to give you more than just the blueprint when you turn in Arex’s stuff.”

Silverstrike smiled.

Stark Town’s transport hub was the rune circle. A group of players was standing around it as Luke approached, and new players would periodically step out of it and run off, in varying degrees of urgency.

The shift after he’d stepped into the circle was instantaneous. The only visual clue of what was happening was a white light that surrounded his body and filled his vision. The transition to Kantor was so quick that Luke felt a little sea sick once he and looked out into the clouds that passed by the floating city.

She should be in or around the Temple of Rygon.

The walk through Kantor brought him back to his first moments in the game and the strange feeling of being a guest in an alien world. There were still plenty of players running around, and Luke could spot the ones that were new and unaccustomed to the immersive nature of Yvvaros.

The sun was bright against the gleaming white walkway. What had surprised him about the city initially, and what continued to surprise him now, was how detailed it was.

There were tiny gardens outside each house. NPC merchants would materialize from the rune circle and guide horse drawn wagons down the road, dropping off deliveries at the various establishments. Even if there’d been no human players, it felt as though Kantor would go on, as alive as any town in the real world.

Tess was standing across from the temple, up against the city’s outermost wall. She was looking out into the sky, and Luke walked over to her slowly, taking up a spot next to her and leaning in.

“Hey…” For a moment, he was unsure of his words. “Uh, are you okay?”

Are you okay? I should be apologizing. It’s my fault she ended up getting attacked, getting killed.

Tess smiled at him. There was something unmistakably mournful about the expression, as though she was only putting it on for his sake.

“I'm all right,” she said. “It’s… the first time I’ve, well, you know… died. In-game, I mean.”

“Of course.” Luke turned so he was leaning with his back against the mid-length wall and looked over to her. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have been in the middle of that. It was my fault.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t apologize, it’s fine.”

There was a long silence between them. Luke felt a uncomfortable in a way that caused his concern for her to well up and manifest as a painful lump in his throat.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Tess?” he asked. “Can I do anything for you? Do you need some water?”

Water, right. As though that’s going to do anything for her in a virtual world.

“Really, I’m fine.” She paused for a moment, and then looked at him and blinked a couple of times. “I’m just glad that he didn’t kill you, too. You must be hungry. I got some food before. Here, take some.”

Tess sat down by the wall and pulled a fancifully decorated cake out of her satchel. It looked too big and too delicate to be stored in a bag, but there it was, completely intact.

“I was going to save it for after we got the guild hall setup,” she said. “But I’m starving.”

“You mean your stamina bar is low?”

Tess shrugged her shoulders at him.

“Sure.”

For a minute, the two of them didn’t say much to each other. Tess split the cake into slices, and both she and Luke had several of them, enough to refill their stamina all the way to max.

It felt weird eating the frosting covered cake with bare, dirty hands, but the game didn’t care about that kind of thing. Luke felt a little silly thinking about such a tiny detail, and as the meal went on, it started to seem almost natural.

“It’s a pretty realistic simulation,” said Tess. “I feel like the more time I spend in it, the realer it becomes.”

Luke nodded.

“I know exactly what you mean.”

Tess glanced up at a cloud that was passing a couple of dozen feet up and to the left of them.

“I… Dying like that, so suddenly, it brought back some memories.” Her voice was laden with quiet emotion, and Luke had to lean in to hear her. “I used to suffer from depression, in the real world. I guess I still do, to a certain extent.”

Luke didn’t say anything and waited for her to continue.

“Last year I had… a bit of a breakdown.” She smiled at him again, that same strangely mournful smile. “I tried to hurt myself. I tried… to kill myself.”

Luke reached his hand out to rest it on Tess’s shoulder. She was still looking out at the clouds and didn’t look as though she noticed or cared.

“I don’t mean to drag you down with my baggage, I just thought you should know.” Tess turned to look at him and Luke saw that she was blushing. “You must think I’m crazy.”

Luke shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I don’t. I think you’re Tess. I think you’re my friend, and…”

I think she has some of the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, even if they’re computer rendered. Even if they aren’t really hers in the physical world.

Luke leaned in and kissed her. He felt an overwhelming sensation rush through his body, not from the outside, but from within.  The lack of real contact didn’t stop the gesture from being powerful. In fact, it only seemed to amplify the symbolism and meaning.

“Luke…” whispered Tess. “Thank you.”

A gaggle of new players ran by them, laughing and chatting with each other in game speak.

They haven’t gotten to the point we’re at yet. They don’t see this ‘game’ for what it is.

“Come on,” said Luke. “Let’s head back down and meet up with Silverstrike. We need to have a guild meeting.”

Ten minutes later, the two of them were standing on the outskirts of Stark Town. Luke switched over to the guild chat and gave it a real sustained try for the first time. It made it easy for Silverstrike to find them, and when he showed up, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I got the blueprints!” he announced. “And there’s more! I managed to haggle some extra iron ore out of the merchant.”

“That’s great… I think?” Luke scratched his head, and Silverstrike gave him an exasperated look.

“Iron ore is one of the other crafting materials we need in bulk to put the guild hall together,” he said. “We can use it to make nails, doorknobs, hinges, all of that sort of thing. Along with some glass for the windows, clay, and wood, we should be all set.”

Tess nodded.

“So all we need now is glass?”

“That and some more wood.”

Luke smiled at his friends.

At least one good thing came out of this mess.

“Alright then,” he said. “Let’s get moving. I’ll go get the rest of the wood.”

“Uh… maybe we should talk about the guild, first.” Tess’s voice was only a little louder than a whisper. “About the name, I mean.”

“Oh yeah,” said Luke. “We can’t exactly be KSTA now, can we?”

Silverstrike thought for a moment and then raised his hand.

“The Consulate.”

Luke looked at him blankly.

“Oh come on!” said Silverstrike. “It’s out of Roman history, just like your avatar’s name. Though I don’t think your namesake was ever actually a part of it.”

“The Consulate,” repeated Tess. “I like it.”

Luke pulled the guild charter out of his bag.

This, along with the zone that goes with it, was what Arex nearly killed me for.

“Alright, I’m going to make the change, but… one other thing.” Luke scratched out ‘KSTA’ and replaced it with ‘The Consulate’ in the document. “I think we should store it somewhere safe, somewhere that’s not accessible to other players. It’s one of the few things, other than equipment, that can be looted upon death.”

“There isn’t anywhere like that in Yvvaros,” said Silverstrike. “The only banks and storage facilities in-game are inside of guild halls. We can put it in there once we’ve finished with ours.”

Luke thought for a moment about what his friend was saying.

“But what’s to stop somebody from attacking our guild hall while we’re all logged out?”

The question was a scary one and it made all the hard work they were going through to set up the zone feel like it was in jeopardy.

“You get an automatic bounty for violating the laws of Kantor,” said Silverstrike. “And hopefully, our guild will be big enough by then for us to always have someone online. Guild halls are easy to defend even with just a few people if you set up the defenses correctly.”

He’s… really thought this through.

“Alright,” said Luke. “Well, I guess we should get to it, then.”

This time, all three of them split up. Silverstrike took up the role of the blacksmith, taking the iron ore to the nearest smithing station to turn it into what they needed. Tess took a bit of money from each of them and went off to barter for glass.

Luke headed back in search of wood. This time he went to the evergreen forests that served as a transition from the grasslands of the Inner Plains into the cold northern tundra of the Blue Void.

There weren’t many players up that way, Luke soon realized. Compared to the rest of the continent, the northern reaches had thus far been ignored by the player base. It was as challenging of an area as the Msitu Wilds, and not as traversable as the Sarchia Desert or the areas closer to Stark Town.

The only other players Luke saw were, like him, chopping down trees and working their carpentry skills. The trees themselves varied in size, with some of them being high enough to make the thought of cutting them down seem a little outlandish. He tested his ax against a more modest specimen.

EVERGREEN TREE: Level 7

His ax could handle that, and soon enough, Luke had chopped it down, along with several others just like it. The work left him feeling almost like his avatar was breaking out into a sweat.

That’s not something coded into the game…

After taking one last look around, he turned toward the desert, leaving the tranquility of the northern region. He cut through the chaos of Stark Town toward the southern desert and Dunidan’s Rest. It took him a while, and when he arrived, he found that Tess and Silverstrike were already waiting for him.

“It’s time for us to start building,” said Luke. “Let’s do this!”

Construction in Yvvaros was much simpler than construction projects in the real world. The different construction components still needed to be placed into position, but once they were close enough, they would lock in like magnetic Lego pieces.