Apostle of the Sleeping Gods Read online

  “I cannot forbid you to see her, but try not to ruin everything. You aren’t the brave and strong warrior you were when she knew you. As for now, knowing your wife is alive, you have to become the man you once were! Most importantly, don’t drink. Start training again, do something useful with yourself in the capital. Here’s some money to get you started,” I handed him ten gold in a clenched fist. “I’m not sure if you know this, but I cannot leave the lands around Tristad before the spring...”

  “I’m familiar with the concept,” Patrick nodded. “You, by which I mean guests of the city, come to us from a different world while you are young and, when you come of age, you can leave into the big world.”

  “Yes, that’s right. Have you seen what we get from new followers?”

  “Each one will make us all stronger. I like that,” he whispered and, blocking with his hand to keep others from seeing, gave me a thumbs up. Scratching his head, he looked up at the ceiling and asked: “These... Are they at least good, Scyth?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But the basic idea is if they don’t get their power back, the world will fall into the Nether.”

  “Yeah, looks like it,” he agreed. “I’ll try to convert some followers. Are you leaving?”

  “Yes, it is time. Alright, good luck on your way to the capital, Patrick!” I stood up from the table and extended him a hand.

  “And to you, wee lad!” The former drunk squeezed my hand and, not letting go, asked: “What’s it like, the world you come from?”

  “Why are you asking, Patrick?”

  “There’s this drink in my head. I just can’t stop thinking about it. It was sweet and a bit sour with little fizzy bubbles that tickled the tongue and throat. And once you have one sip, you can never get enough! I’ve never tried anything like it in all my days, even though I’ve been to many places. So that gave me an idea. Have you maybe got it over there?”

  “Sweet, fizzy and a bit sour?” I asked and then lied: “No, we don’t have anything like that.”

  “I guess I must have dreamt it...” he looked away and muttered barely audibly: “I have strange dreams, Scyth. And anyway, to the Nether with them! I’m going to see Jane!”

  “Of course you are.”

  And the next day, based on the priest marker on my map, Patrick was already underway to Darant.

  * * *

  I slept uneasily that night. At first I woke up with a headache. I spent a long time out on the balcony, taking in the cool air and trying to wait it out, but the splitting pain in my temples wasn’t going anywhere, instead digging deeper and pushing into the backs of my eyes.

  I spent a bit of time digging in the settings of our Home Doctor until the noise woke mom. She figured it out and turned it to painkiller. And that helped me get to sleep. Then just before sunrise, I shot up soaked in sweat, waking suddenly from a nightmare I couldn’t even remember. I turned my pillow over and spent a bit of time lying there but I couldn’t get back to sleep.

  And that left me a bit sleep deprived. In school I just couldn’t stop nodding off. Teacher Greg noticed, shook his head but said nothing. During a break I tried to figure out if the guys had been able to hold onto the epic loot they got in the Olton Quarries. I found them in the same little nook where they had convinced me to help with Evil from the Depths.

  “We put it up on auction, but it hasn’t sold yet,” Ed said, exchanging glances with Tissa and Bomber. “We need money, so we set the price sky high. Why?”

  “I picked a class,” I answered. “Archer. So now I’d love to have an epic bow.”

  “No problem. If nobody bought it yet, I’ll take it off auc as soon as I get home,” Ed had no objection. “You earned it. I’ll ditch last period and do it while Axiom is still in school. I’ll send it by mail.”

  “Great, thanks. In return I can give you the gloves from the epic set.”

  “No need yet. Keep ‘em, Alex,” Tissa said. “For now, we’re keeping all our epic gear locked up safe and sound, otherwise they just take it. Even epics have a ten-percent drop chance when you die, it’s just not worth the risk. Plus, as far as I understand, it’s a level-twenty item and we definitely won’t be able to use it any time soon.”

  “So then maybe just sell it? If you need money...”

  “No way!” Tissa shot out. “We’ll never get twenty before we leave the sandbox, but the gloves will be useful in big Dis! They’re basically exactly what both Ed and I will need!”

  “Alright, if you say so...”

  “How are you, Alex? How was your first day after the ban?” Hung asked. “I heard you had a talk with Big Po?”

  “Yes, he isn’t holding it against me. But he is gonna watch me. His guys are always sniffing around in stealth. I didn’t say I was in the ins and thanks to you guys for you not telling either.”

  “What kind of jerks do you take us for?!” Hung snapped. “We knew what we were getting into and are grateful to you for the achieve. But it’s all bullshit anyway. No one can take our talent away from us!”

  “Yeah, teleportation is a big deal!” Malik exclaimed. I didn’t even notice him at first even though, obviously, he didn’t have any stealth in the real world.

  “What are your plans?”

  They exchanged glances again and, when I thought there would be no answer, they gave one anyhow:

  “We’re farming an ins of gnolls and the underwater caves of the murlocks,” Ed answered. “Then selling everything through vendors and the auction. Usually in the morning, while everyone is in school. I dunno if you noticed, but sometimes one of us isn’t at first period. Well basically, we’re saving up for big Dis. We aren’t too worried about levelling, just trying to squeeze out as much gold as we can while we’re still in the sandbox.”

  “And what are you gonna get up to, Alex?” Tissa asked.

  “Well, I don’t have the curse anymore, so who the hell knows. I might try to join a clan. Or maybe I’ll try to level solo or just dive head-first into social quests...”

  “Well, you could join us!” she offered.

  “Yeah,” Hung supported her. “It’s gonna be hard for you to level bow without a tank. But with one, just stand to the side and shoot. Plus, if you got your class, you must be the same level as us.” He laughed, but it was somehow mirthless.

  “Maybe.” I decided not to refuse directly. Maybe I would go with them just so they wouldn’t get suspicious. “I’ve got a quest to finish up first...”

  When I got home, I had lunch with my parents then slept a few hours. When I got up, I got straight into my pod, hoping I could work on my leveling plan without anyone bothering me.

  Before running off after wanted criminals, I was planning to drop into the city council and turn in the Eye of Murkiss. A bit of money and reputation points with the city couldn’t hurt. Then I’d have to drop by the unarmed combat trainer Master Sagda and the bowmaster Hunter Conrad. Beyond that, I wanted to rank up my only trade – Cooking. Then I could run over and see Underweight and Overweight...

  But it was not to be. As soon as I appeared in Disgardium and left my personal room, I ran into a massive figure, taller than me by a whole head. I had no idea whether they were human, elf, orc or tauren. Their black cloak, obscuring their body, had a silver symbol (a circle in a square, the square in a triangle) embroidered into the left side of the chest. And the shade of their hood hid their face. There was no information over the head and I couldn’t even tell easily whether it was a player or a mob.

  I extended a hand, touching the stranger’s body. It was real, but had a coldness emanating from it. They gave a noisy exhale and came right up to me. The face was not human. The mouth had no lips, there was a hole where the nose should have been and it had no eyes whatever.

  “Scyth.” Its cheeks slid out of the way, revealing something between a mandible and a tentacle. A rotten reek breathed onto my face and a vibrating voice sounded in my head: “I am an emissary of the Destroying Plague.”

  I lo
oked down the hall, hoping there were no players nearby. The last thing I needed was to be seen talking to the bogeyman!

  “Don’t worry, only you can see me,” the emissary’s voice rustled out. “The Nucleus is pleased with your progress and would like to give you a test. You have been given a great honor: Tristad is to become a bulwark of the Destroying Plague! You have three months, herald!”

  With these words, the Emissary disappeared, leaving me alone with a new ability and quest I was forced to accept.

  You have unlocked the skill Plague Infection!

  Active skill.

  Infects the living with the Destroying Plague. After death, the infected come back subjugated to the one who infected them.

  Must touch victim. Only works on NPC’s.

  Cost to use: 10000 plague energy points.

  The nucleus of the Destroying Plague has given you an initial mission as a test: vanquish Tristad. To prepare the city for invasion, you must infect a critical mass of the townsfolk: 51%. Then save up enough plague energy to open a portal and legions of undead will come streaming in.

  Progress: 0%.

  Time limit: 90 days.

  Reward:

  — 10000 experience points;

  — promotion in hierarchy to: Legate of the Destroying Plague.

  Penalties for not completing mission:

  — lose Mark of the Destroying Plague;

  — lose rank Herald of the Destroying Plague.

  With a quiet clap, a level-fifteen Barbarian named Scissor emerged from the portal into the personal player rooms.

  “Cripes!” he exclaimed, pushing me aside. “Outta the way! What are you doing standing around here, friggin’ noob?”

  Spewing curses at all the idiots that filled Dis, he headed down the stairs. I then, feeling my legs buckling, slowly slid down the wall, thinking. Maybe I was just a “friggin’ noob,” but I could very well be wiping out this whole sandbox very soon.

  Interlude 1. Tobias

  FOR AS LONG as Tobias “Crag” Asser remembered, he had always lived with Him. The creator of the universe was always by his side. He awoke with His name, and fell asleep with it as well. Even when he went to answer the call of nature, he mentally gave thanks to the Creator. And it wasn’t that he was a particularly pious guy. In fact, when left alone with his thoughts, Tobias resented Him. But he was afraid to admit that even to himself.

  Try as he might, Tobias saw Him and His teachings as the sole cause of all his failures. His and his parents’. If not for their religious fanaticism, they might not have been content with the very lowest citizenship category, L. The only people lower on the totem-pole were the noncitizens.

  But his parents had no ambition to improve their lot in life. They could get by on modest means, and taught him to do the same. All of their words, every action related to their son was aimed only at one thing: raising a devout and god-fearing boy. Nothing else had any meaning. Only the Word of the Creator.

  They never asked how Tobias was doing in school, what his grades were like or whether he had any friends. They only bought him clothes if he’d completely grown out of his old ones. Any hole could always be patched. His family considered toys a luxury, along with all other forms of entertainment from books to films.

  He never would have had a shot at seeing a virtual world if not for the fact that all teens were required to spend time playing Disgardium. When the Department of Education employees brought in and set up his immersion pod, his mother just looked on stone-faced. It was a cheap base model, but Tobias was happy to have it. Still he had to falsely grieve the foolish secular laws forcing him to do something he really didn’t want to.

  In the ungodly pagan world, everything was different. He always remembered his first day in Dis (which he started calling Dis much later, referring to it by the more neutral “there” when talking to his parents).

  The day he turned fourteen, he never even left the guest room of the city council building. All beginners had already long since placed their attribute points and run off to see the city, but he was still sitting there trying to grasp it all with his tongue hanging out.

  He had no experience with videogames. He hadn’t studied guides of any kind; everything he knew was based on things he’d overheard in school. But he carefully read the introductory text and listened, afraid to interrupt the beautiful woman’s voice telling him about this magical universe full of captivating adventures. And she went on to describe it as a world inhabited by thousands of races where anyone could become a king and a hero. He saw glimpses of a future where he himself became a hero and saved the world. But Tobias slapped himself on the arm for such fantasies and prayed to the Creator for forgiveness.

  He never saw the real Dis that day. Chief Councilman Whiteacre gave his welcome speech and sent them all over to Carlson the scribe. Ashamed to ask any questions with others around, the young boy waited until the party of beginners had dispersed then spent a long time interrogating the scribe about what did what. But before he finished, the required two hours had passed and father slammed on the external emergency exit button. Tobias was dumbfounded when he climbed out of the pod, disgorging himself with effort back into gray and melancholic reality. Everything seemed dull now and, in point of fact, it always was had been. But Tobias only realized that after spending time in Dis.

  He didn’t get the hang of it right away, but it didn’t take him too long either. He was surprised how readily he accepted the game world as real and adjusted to its interface. He could wait to get a grip on attribute and damage points, or leveling skills and trades. For the time being, he was just happy with how realistic Tristad and the NPC’s that inhabited it were. It was very hard for him to believe they were nonplayer characters controlled by artificial intelligence. They just seemed painfully real.

  For the first few days Tobias tried to do social quests like an honest player: he delivered mail, weeded gardens and took out trash. And he was happy to do it. Quite a lot happier, by the way, than when he did practically the same stuff in the real world. But helping his parents with chores was an obligation and the best reward he could hope for was to not be beaten. In Dis he was praised, thanked, rewarded with points of experience, reputation and copper, which he could use to buy things! One of his first days, he blew all his money on ice cream and candy. Sure the virtual, rendered food didn’t really exist but what difference did that make? It was sweet and tasted quite a bit better than the cardboard food he got in his world, the world of the Creator, who required not only unwavering faith, but also constant praying, obedience to rules and turning down anything fun. And He gave no rewards.

  Here though, unending gratitude was not a requirement. There were many gods and no one forced you to have faith in any of them. Stay on the good side of those stronger than you and and you could take whatever you wanted from those weaker than you. Tobias worked out that primitive rule in his second week.

  By that time, he had grown sick of social quests and didn’t want to group farm little mobs. He didn’t like playing in a team, and he wasn’t drawn to being a leader. He couldn’t even communicate competently. And carrying out someone else’s orders and being called out for messing up... No thank you.

  Playing on his own was a much better fit! He could go where he liked, do as he chose... Tobias couldn’t get enough of this feeling of freedom and was not willing to trade it for anything on earth. He walked around the outskirts of Tristad, cautiously pulling lone mobs and systematically stacking up experience points. The simplicity of the rules struck him: the stronger you became, the more you could have, the stronger the mobs you could kill, the better the loot they dropped and the more powerful your equipment became. The circle of power, as he called his new philosophy.

  One day he was hanging around by the Tremitelle river, watching a group of careless fishermen where the river grew calm, carrying its waters quietly and measuredly. There he saw a group of level-two players. He couldn’t say why they’d wandered over to these part
s, but there they were, were beating down a wild level-five boar.

  It was shrieking savagely and resisting. It had killed three of them, but they had already almost killed it. The creature had just ten or fifteen health points left, no more. And Tobias had just coincidentally hit level two the day before - so, after a bit of mental math, he ran at the players from behind. In all the confusion, the noobs didn’t even realize what happened. He took one down, then a second, a third. Then came the boar’s turn.

  Towering in the middle of a heap of corpses and trying to catch his breath, he surveyed all the riches with delight. One of the dead noobs was well dressed. Later, Tobias realized he must have been spending premium currency. But nevertheless he netted a couple silver coins, and the simplicity of it drove him crazy. It was much more than he’d earned in all his days in Dis. Plus there was lots of good gear and some not so good stuff, a mountain of experience from the boar and ingredients from it as well: pelt, meat, liver. After he sold all the junk, Tobias realized he’d found his calling. And his gold mine.