Apostle of the Sleeping Gods Read online

  I got up from the chair and headed for the door, but Ed walked into the doorway.

  “Quiet down! Granny just fell asleep. Why’d you get up, Alex? Bathroom?”

  “No, I wanted to go meet your...”

  “Another time,” Ed shot out. “She needs peace and quiet. So... We need one more chair...”

  He disappeared from the doorway and soon came back with a stool in his hands. He closed the balcony door tight and sat down with us. A slight smile came onto his face. He looked around and stopped on the big guy:

  “Hung, did you get it?”

  “Of course!” Bomber sniffed the air and gave a broad smile. “We came here to celebrate! So...” he took a large flask out of an inside pocket and shook it in the air. “Pure whiskey, folks! From the bottomless stash of my dear old dad!”

  “First Kill, whiskey and coke... Let me think...” Ed rubbed his hands together. “Guy’s, we’re wasting time! Alright Bomber, you’re the tank!”

  Chapter 3. Academic Ban

  A MESSAGE from Snowstorm came when I was still at Ed’s with the Dementors. As much as the strong alcohol clouded my mind, I still had enough sense not to read it.

  I uncovered my communicator just enough to see the notification. As soon as I read the name of the corporation, I clenched my fist before Tissa got curious and looked. She was sitting between me and Ed, periodically touching me here with her shoulder and there with her hair. A few times she put her hand on my knee. Just to be fair, she would put her other hand on Ed’s at the same time, as if our legs were just armrests for her.

  Eventually, I felt like my tongue was about to get too loose. And not even so much because I was an inexperienced drinker. I was just having fun hanging out, and they all radiated friendly warmth. I tried to give a furtive goodbye, but they wouldn’t let me leave alone. We all went together to the flying car, Hung made sure I input the right destination, then they spent a long time hugging me and patting me on the back. Ed, his tongue loosened, said that they would look over the loot from the dungeon and start quickly selling everything they didn’t need. And he assured me I would get my share for the whole ins, not just the final boss. And after that they let me go...

  I fell asleep on the way home and didn’t wake up when the flying car landed on my parent’s rooftop. When I woke up, I wasn’t sure how long I had been there. Maybe a minute, maybe an hour. Then, hitting my shoulders on doorframes and leaning on the walls for support, I lumped my way home, pulled myself into the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  I woke up just before morning to a gut-rending thirst, out of my clothes and under the covers. One of my parents had taken pity on me after my first real drinking experience. As further proof, there was a bottle of water and a glass on the bedside table and, next to them, a fizzy tablet. I had seen this combination before when father was hungover.

  I sated my thirst with the bubbly liquid analgesic and got up from the bed. AT was lying next to me, her head on her paws. Noticing that I was up, he raised an ear but, sensing my mood, didn’t come over.

  My head splitting, I paced around the room, trying to gather my thoughts. I still had plenty of time before school, so I decided to start with the basics: I got into the shower and spent a long time standing under its warm water, bringing my body and mind back to life. I was afraid to even imagine how much money I wasted between the water and the electricity to heat it.

  But it made me feel better. I decided to check if Greg was bluffing and got into my pod. But as expected I saw a message that I was temporarily banned from all game worlds. Then I remembered the email from the corporation.

  Dear Alex!

  We are writing to inform you that you have received a two-week academic ban from Disgardium.

  Taking into account your special status and required game time, I wanted to write personally to reassure you. All of us here at Snowstorm went to school as well :-) So we understand what you’re going through and won’t make your life any harder.

  For the duration of your academic ban, you are free of all obligations to spend time in Disgardium.

  I wish you a speedy resolution to all your issues, and may the skies of Disgardium always be blue over your head!

  With friendly greetings,

  Marianna Da Silva, Customer service department,

  Snowstorm Incorporated.

  With a happy chuckle, I got ready for school and left my room. I stuck my head out and saw a sympathetic look from father, then heard a sermon from mom, ate breakfast and went to school.

  Lessons just flew by. For the first time in recent memory, I hardly thought about Dis, carefully listening to all my teachers and finishing my assignments properly. During breaks, I would talk with the Dementors. They were getting close to Tristad and could practically taste the reward from First Advisor Whiteacre’s quest. The final boss had dropped a scorpion eye for each of us and that triggered a quest.

  Thanksgiving was coming up, so Greg didn’t insist on my extra classes, but I still went to them to make up for lost time.

  The four-day weekend went by like it was one. On Thursday, we had guests and they ate all the food mom made. Although saying she made it might have been a bit much. It didn’t take her more than an hour: she just unpacked a high-end cooking set called “Thanksgiving” into the multicooker, and it spat out a full meal for eight to ten people. It cost just ninety-nine phoenixes. The star of the table was a roast turkey, then came the mashed potatoes, cheesy corn casserole and pumpkin pie, among other things.

  On Friday, it was our turn to be the guests. My parents carefully hid their impending divorce and did a great job playing the happy family. It came easily to them. They just about had me believing it, if I hadn’t heard mom say she didn’t love dad anymore.

  On Saturday and Sunday, I did normal stuff. I studied, watched movies and videos from the Leman expedition to Mars, and tried unsuccessfully to drag Tissa out on a date. At first she was in Dis, so she it took her a long time to answer but, when she did write, her message was dry: “Can’t. Not in the mood.” I considered whether it was worth getting upset over but decided that it definitely was not.

  Out of boredom I even tried to call up Eve but her mother answered, saying her daughter’s recuperation was dragging on because she “was getting a taste for it.”

  Anyhow, by the end of the long weekend, I was sick of vacation. On Monday, I was delighted to fly to school. And that was where everything became clear.

  * * *

  Dead of sorrow. Gloomy. Downtrodden and crushed. That was how the Dementors looked when I found them in the schoolyard. And although the sun was scorching down from a cloudless sky, they were surrounded by a cloud of coldness and despondency. It was as if the Dementors had become their clan’s namesake.

  They hadn’t shown up for first period, and they came late to second. During the break Greg held me back, and I only managed to catch up with them after that. They were sitting on a bench and looking dismal, like frozen sparrows.

  “Hi...” I drew out cautiously. “How’s it going?”

  “Hi,” Tissa answered gloomily and turned away. She was in a touchy mood.

  The others kept silent. They all looked visibly tenser when I showed up. By the looks of things, I was intruding on a conversation they didn’t want me there for.

  “To hell with it,” Hung spit out. “This is his problem too.”

  Ed sized me up with an empty gaze and lowered his head, burying it in his hands.

  “What happened? Did somebody die?”

  “Yeah, we all did!” Malik laughed nervously. “A crapload of times!”

  “Alright...” Ed muttered, having made up his own mind. He raised his head and exclaimed: “Alex, we’re up shit’s creek! Hell, we’re at the headwaters!”

  “I can see that.” I said, taking a seat between Hung and Malik. “But what happened?”

  “Axiom...” Malik started explaining. But Ed stopped him and spoke:

  “Last Thursday, Big Po added us a
ll to their KoS list with a bounty of fifty gold for each time one of us is killed.”

  “And me?”

  “We aren’t sure about you, but you can check the forums,” Ed answered. “So far, it’s just us four: me, Tissa, Bomber and Infect. As for you, they have questions. But for what it’s worth, we said you weren’t with us.”

  “Did you at least get the loot back?”

  “We did!” Hung exploded unexpectedly. “But we lost almost all our gear! None of us made it back to town on foot! They caught us all!”

  “Where are you now?”

  “Same place,” Hung burbled. “The respawn point at Olton Quarries.”

  “We all got brought down to level ten. And they stripped us bare!” Ed took a loud breath in through his nose. His voice dropped and he said barely audibly: “I lost my epic Cloak of Urfin the Fiery. And I can’t go anywhere. There’s always a new headhunter waiting to rack up kills until diminishing returns kicks in.”

  “What is that?”

  “The same player or group can’t kill one person more than three times in a row per day,” Tissa explained. “After the third time, their attacks stop doing damage. So they switch out.”

  “What about teleportation?”

  “It doesn’t cast instantly,” Hung complained. “They are watching out for it, so they always make sure to get us before it’s done. Ed did manage once, but that just delivered him up to the nagas, and they tore him to pieces.”

  “What chance did I have?” Ed snorted. “Naked at level ten!”

  “Is that gonna keep happening for long?” I asked.

  “Until we leave the sandbox. Me and Hung flew over to see Big Po this morning. We were hoping we could come to an understanding...” Ed spat. “He just laughed in our faces! He said he is owed one hundred thousand gold in moral and material compensation. We don’t have anywhere near that kind of money, so...”

  “What?”

  “We don’t know, Alex!” Tissa moaned. “We don’t know! We’ll wait a few days, maybe things will quiet down. Our priority is reaching the city and getting geared up. From there, we can go level somewhere without people, maybe the Mire. It’s our only hope.”

  “If that doesn’t work, we’ll just quit Dis until we can go into the big world,” Ed threw out. But he changed his mind: “Hey, you think you could go with us? If we find a new ins, we could easily level there! Alex!”

  “It won’t work, Ed. I don’t have the curse anymore.”

  “What do you mean?” Rodriguez exploded. “Why?”

  “I finished Patrick’s quest. Right after that, the curse was removed.”

  “Aw nether!” the Dementors all shot out at once...

  “So that means...” Ed squeezed out.

  It was over... This was how my brief friendship with the Dementors would end. Obviously no one said it out loud, but I could feel it. Disgardium was the thing that connected us and, with it out of our lives, we had nothing to talk about. They would sit through classes in silence, replying drily to my greetings and showing no desire to talk. During breaks, they would all just disappear. Meanwhile, I didn’t intrude. I didn’t even have the time. All I knew was that, a week later, they eventually did get into Tristad, bind there and were preparing for a desperate escape to the Mire.

  Greg, delighted at my renewed upwelling of interest in school, loaded me up not only with extra lessons but also homework, even going beyond the required school program. I then tried to make progress, using the time before I could play again to maximum effect.

  At home my parents had inked a ceasefire and, in that shaky peace, both father and mother were particularly cautious with their words and actions. He stopped drinking, she stopped nagging. And they both threw themselves into a new project, wanting to earn as much as they could before the divorce. I didn’t know what the deal was with mom’s beau but, for the whole two weeks of my ban, she never once left home without father. It was all like before, even better. But that was just an illusion.

  After being discharged from the clinic, Eve had flown south to recover. Mrs. O’Sullivan must have gotten the school to agree to distance learning. I still hadn’t seen my childhood friend in person, but we were talking on our comms. She had changed a lot. I hadn’t seen anything except her face, but that was enough to make a big impression. Eve had become perfect. Ideal. But she still wasn’t to my taste.

  On the evening of the last day of my ban, I got a letter from Marianna congratulating me on the end of my academic ban and reminding me that my required time in Dis was coming back. That was a Tuesday.

  And that Wednesday, right after school, I ate lunch and climbed into my pod.

  Welcome to Disgardium, Scyth!

  Chapter 4. Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

  THE SMALL island Behemoth called home had grown larger in the two weeks of my absence. Due to the lower water level, it had also sprouted a good bit of grass. And there were no reminders of the Sleeping God. He must have poured the last of his energy into me, giving impetus to my new skills and now was dozing away, waiting for new followers and a temple.

  During the adaptation process, I considered how a packed and exiting life can change the perception of time. After I heard my parents were getting divorced, I spent one week in Dis. And now I hadn’t played for two since Greg’s ban. But it felt different, as if I had lived a whole past life in this world of might and magic, been exiled from it and was now finally able to return. It was a strange feeling, especially considering how bored Dis used to make me.

  I spent a bit of time thinking about what to do first. Flickering envelop icons, notifications about unread letters, system messages about my unchosen class and unspent stat points, the uncompleted quests from Patrick and Whiteacre, the set epic in my inventory. It was all intriguing but I wanted to... savor it or something.

  And here in the swamp, hostile creatures could appear at any moment. I had lost my secret weapon, so they posed a real threat now. If I died, I would both lose experience and be sent to the Tristad cemetery. The Mark of the Destroying Plague was not enough on its own. It only had an eight percent chance to procc.

  I made up my mind: I had to get to my personal room in Tristad as quickly as possible. But Big Po’s guys might be waiting there to waylay me. And I doubted they’d let me go before shaking me down for everything I had.

  I just needed one little thing, for the great depths RNG to be in my favor. Well, Sleeping God, don’t fail me now... Depths Teleportation!

  But I didn’t land in the city.

  It was a gloomy and morose place, but still light thanks to the bright sun. My swampy surroundings were replaced by the ever-present twilight of Gloomwood. As soon as I realized where I was, I fell to the dry cracked soil, hiding in Stealth. Something crunched beneath me, poked into my chest, and my hands were immediately covered in green slime.

  There was a clacking noise all around that would not stop. With a careful look around, I shot to my feet. My field of vision was flooded with notifications about failed stealth checks. There was no hiding in the middle of a huge well-guarded clutch of spider eggs. Beyond the web-sheet walls, I couldn’t even see any trees! Thousands of eggs dotted everything around, and I could see little spiders poking out of a few of them. But all that faded in comparison with the monstrous silhouettes of the adult arachnids. I quickly scanned one of them:

  Corrupted Arachnid Guard, level 14

  Next to him were the towering column legs of an even more powerful creature, a Corrupted Arachnid Brood Watcher, level seventeen.

  As for me, my excursion in the new Gloomwood ended before it even got started. A moment later, all the spiders dogpiled me.

  With Stoneskin on, I was able to last a whole thirty seconds, then another ten thanks to my Resilience being ninety percent of cap. In that time, I managed to lay low fifteen spiders, not sparing plague energy or a Ghastly Howl, but my fate was sealed. Unless curse of the undead triggered, it was foolish to even hope.

  Newborn Arachnid
has damaged you: 16.

  Health points: 0/405.

  You are dead.

  After I died, I was in no hurry to respawn. Based on the logs, all my Resilience wasn’t worth a wooden nickel against mobs of a much higher level. Even the newborn spiders were already level thirteen. And every level of difference in the enemy’s favor cost me ten percent damage. In the end, even though the spiders were hitting half-heartedly, their numbers were overwhelming. And as for me... my current amount of health was enough to hold out two or three blows against something like a Corrupted Arachnid Broodwatcher.

  The timer counted out my last second in a dead body. Out of old habit, I was ready to activate a chain of skills when I respawned to instantly rejoin the fight. But this time I didn’t need it. Before me then were the towering walls of Tristad. Nothing was rushing to attack me. I was in the graveyard. I saw a warning floating in the air: