“Why the hell is it so hot?” Gabriel whined.
Null looked at him with a confused expression, “Because we’re in the desert?”
“Yeah, but it's a game, they already toned down pain so you’d think they would tone down extreme temperature or something,” He waved his hand at his face in a vain attempt to generate a breeze, “My ass is melting out here.”
Null shrugged, “Isn’t bothering me much.”
“Well good for you,” Gabriel said with obvious bitterness.
In reality, he had no one else but himself to blame for the heat. He was still in his secondhand armor, which was designed for the more temperate environment of Gram.
He thought that maybe the looseness of the armor itself wouldn’t make the effect so bad, but all it resulted in was pockets of humidity against his skin that promoted further sweating, creating a vicious cycle within his gear. He didn’t know if he was supposed to be impressed or pissed off with the developers with this level of detail, but the longer he spent in the sun the more the scales tipped towards the latter.
Null, on the other hand, had discarded his plate mail attire and had switched to a simple short sleeved shirt and pants. There was a slight sheen of sweat across his pale skin, but other than that he seemed fairly unaffected by the heat.
“Why aren’t you in armor anyways?” Gabe asked.
“Did you not see the size of that worm?” Null responded, “If the mobs around here are of that same caliber, armor isn’t going to do a thing,” he shrugged, “Might as well be comfortable if I’m going to get my ass kicked constantly.”
Gabe pondered that for a moment, “...shit, you’re right.”
He slipped off his armor, digitizing it into his Smart Box, but kept a plain tan shirt and cargo pants equipped. Heat and humidity radiated off of him in waves, but he was already much cooler than before, which was a small blessing.
“Still, this place is a ghost town,” Gabe said as he looked around.
The ruins around them were silent, sunken into the sands to the point that only a few of the buildings were actually explorable. The barest hints of ancient architecture peeked out from the coarseness that surrounded them. The street they walked was perhaps the most revealed out of the previous ones that they had explored, but that only amounted to a few columns and the rigid corners of broken down buildings.
“You know, maybe starting from the outside in wasn’t such a good idea,” Gabe said.
“Yeah, this is kinda boring honestly,” Null admitted, “but we should probably be thorough, it’s not like we’re in a rush or anything.”
“True, we’ve got plenty of time. I just wish something would happen, you know?”
Null snorted, “Be careful what you wish for, sand worm could pop out at any second.”
Gabe frowned at that. He had to admit that dying wasn’t all too pleasant of an experience, especially to a large worm dropping on top of him. He nudged the longsword that hung from his hip, mulling over how useful the blade would actually be if all the mobs were of the same size as the worm. At the very least he had a somewhat effective weapon, depending on the enemy’s size. The only thing Null had was a dagger, and that worried him.
“You sure you’re gonna be fine with just that?” Gabe asked, pointing at the small blade strapped to Null’s waist. “Not that I doubt your skills, but I don’t think a dagger is gonna do much.”
Null flicked his hand, producing a ball of fire that hovered above his palm, “Magic, remember?”
“Right, right… how is that anyways? It looks cool as hell.”
“It feels cool as hell,” Null said with a grin, but that quickly faded, “Would have loved to practice some more with it before all this happened.”
Gabe nodded, “At least you can do something with your skills. I picked up a bunch of crafting and gathering skills. Lets just say that its not…” he gestured to the barren buildings around them, “the most applicable thing to have right now.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something growing out here, in the middle of the desert, with no fertile land in sight.”
Gabe laughed, “Thanks for the encouraging words.”
“Why did you pick up those skills anyway?”
“Well I had a plan, but I gotta sort this shit out first before I can start working on that, which sucks, but what can you do.”
“Delete your character and start over?”
“And what, let them get the best of me? Please.”
Null laughed at that, “Fair enough, can’t say I’m willing to do another two weeks of trials to resync myself to the system either.”
“Which in itself is dumb, you’d think they’d keep your data on backup or something.”
“Government mandate, people aren’t really too keen on keeping their neural data in storage somewhere.”
Gabe thought about that for a second, “I guess that makes sense, but we’re getting off track,” he motioned in front of him, “Lets just see what we can find.”
They continued their trek through the ruins, getting the lay of the land around their spawn point before deciding to venture further into the city. Irwin was kind enough to share his Map Data with Gabe before he left, but he wanted to get a feel for the land himself first before he decided to venture further. Null didn’t seem to mind following along for the time being, but Gabe could tell that he was getting bored, which he couldn’t blame him for. If it wasn’t the heat, it was the drab environment that was starting to get to the both of them. He’d only been there for a few hours, but he was missing the Emerald Forest already. Eventually, they arrived back at their spawn point, the only seemingly intact shack that was around for quite a ways. He wasn’t too sure why there was a spawn point located in this particular building, but he imagined it was more of a game design choice than anything that fit lore wise.
The shade of their impromptu home provided a much needed relief from the desert sun, and he actually managed to feel somewhat cool in the shadows. He plopped flat against the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as he hit the floor with a grunt.
“So, I’ve learned that the desert is hot,” Gabe said.
He glanced over at Null, who remained standing. His attention was occupied by the holographic display that hovered over his Smart Box. From where he was laying, it looked like nothing more than an incomplete spider web, but he knew that it was actually a map of the area, formed from their wanderings and the data Irwin provided before.
“I can see why Irwin and his team ignored this area,” Null said, “We’re not gonna be finding much out here, and they’ve probably cleaned out everything anyways.
“Right, though I’m wondering more about the lack of mobs,” Gabriel said as he sat back up, “I know they tend to be more realistically dispersed in Aelios, but I expected something to jump out at us.”
“Well, think about it,” Null said, “we don’t really need much beyond food to survive, and that’s about it. We may sweat, but there is no thirst meter that indicated a need for hydration or anything like that, which is an odd design choice for sure, but that does give us an edge in that department.”
“I see, so because there isn’t a water source here that means the amount of mobs should be reduced,” Gabe said as he stood back up.
“Yeah, unless there are some undead or something , which isn’t too much of a stretch considering that we’re around some ruins.”
“True, they probably come out at night or something…” Gabe frowned, “there’s an unpleasant thought.”
“It's something to consider though, but it's probably safe to say that this place is relatively secure for the time being.”
“Aside from the giant worm that’s nearby.”
Null shrugged, “Won’t bother us if we don’t bother it, seems like a fair deal.”
Gabe nodded and pulled out his own Smart Box, selecting the Map option and bringing up a layout of the area for himself. There was a small red dot in the abandoned building they were in, indicating his location. He and Null had yet to form an official party, so the Box did not register his partner’s location like it normally would have. He pressed his finger against the top of the building he was in, leaving behind a small white dot that opened a small text box.
+++
Please enter a note
__________________
+++
Under this text box was a small holographic keyboard. He typed out “Spawn Point” in the box and submitted it, and the words promptly appeared over the dot in white text. His eyes shifted towards the more unexplored region of the map, where he noticed that the paths started to slope downward. They all eventually bled into a singular path, which abruptly ended at the opening of a large structure.
“Looks like this is where they stopped,” Gabe pointed towards the singular path.
“Why though, is the question,” Null said.
“Yeah, well, it’d be better to check it out just to see what’s going on,” Gabe suggested, “It’s not like we’re making much progress out here anyways.”
“Agreed,” he looked around their dilapidated surroundings, “Hopefully we’ll see something besides sand.”
“Stone, probably,” Gabe said with a sigh, “Dunno why I depress myself.”
“Nothing wrong with a little honesty,”
“Well let’s hope I’m wrong,” Gabe said with a weak laugh, “let's get going.”
---
Much like the map suggested, the paths that led further into the city started to coalesce into a singular road, more formed by the receding sands than any paved streets. As they continued down the path, the sands sloped downwards, and with that came a change of scenery. Where the buildings before were nearly submerged in the sands, they now gradually started to reveal themselves the further they went down the slope. Towering structures rose up above them, not quite the size of skyscrapers, but large enough to cast them in total shadow. Gabe welcomed it, if only for the reprieve from the heat, but temperature started to become the furthest thing from his mind as they continued forward. Like the small hints of the outer ruins suggested, the designs of the buildings echoed a more ancient civilization than the modern design of Gram. The structures were rigid, evenly spaced from one another, with staggered floors as they reached towards the sky. Numerous arches lined their path, serving as bridges that connected the various buildings. He imagined that the city would have had a grid-like structure were its roads not obscured by sand, and he became more sure of that the further they made their way down. Some of the buildings had the barest remains of paint, with splotches of faded greens, reds, and blues that must have been the part of some grand mural, now lost to time.
“Gotta admit, this is pretty cool,” Gabe said.
“It is,” Null agreed.
“Would have preferred to have found this in a different way, but I’ll take it.”
Null nodded, but didn’t say much else. His attention was focused ahead, for good reason.
Their path was nearly at an end, marked off by another arch, but this one was large enough to obscure his vision at what lay ahead. When they passed under the arch, their path opened up into a large open area, wide enough that the shade of the buildings only barely touched the edges of its expanse. There was a building at the center of the clearing, at least four stories tall from what Gabe could tell. Pillars lined the walls, holding up the higher levels that looked reminiscent of the hanging gardens from Gram. He imagined it would have been quite the structure in the past, but, like the rest of the city’s architecture, it was stripped bare of any character that it may have held before.
“This place is huge… town square?” Gabe suggested as he looked around.
“Maybe,” Null said, giving a cursory glance of his own.
“Wonder where all the sand went,” Gabe said, “Sandstorm, maybe?”
Null shrugged, “Don’t really think that matters to us now,” he pointed to the lone structure that sat at the center of the square, “We should probably start there.”
They made their way to the building, the knocking of their boots against the sandstone ground echoing through the square. There was no wind, but they were deep enough within the sands that the heat had lessened somewhat. Silence hung in the air, like he was in a cemetery, which he supposed was fitting given where he was, but it was still unsettling. Null appeared to share this feeling, as he occasionally glanced over his shoulder as they made their way to the building.
There was no door, but rather an opening that led into the depths of the structure. It was large, large enough for things other than just pedestrian travel. Their footsteps turned hollow as they entered the main chamber, which was massive in its own right. The center of the chamber, like the square before, remained open, its walls lined with numerous alcoves. The upper levels were distinguished by the balconies above, their walls also lined with alcoves that must have held some sort of purpose in the past. The top of the building was built of aged glass, remarkably intact, if caked in the sands that once covered it. Small bits of sunlight bled from the ceiling and into the main chamber, cascading over a large circular disc that sat at the center of the floor.
“This place reminds me of a shopping mall,” Gabe’s voice echoed throughout the chamber.
“Was about to say the same thing,” Null said, “But, that’d be weird right? Everything suggests ruins, but shopping malls don’t really strike me as ‘ancient’, you know?”
“Well it is a video game,” Gabe reminded him, “There’s probably some lore explanation for this. Us being in some post apocalyptic future isn’t too much of a stretch.”
“Fair enough, plus, we don’t even know if we’re even r-”
The moment they stepped near the circle at the center of the room, a soft thump pulsed throughout the complex. Static followed afterwards, along with a metallic clicking that sounded a lot like a lamp flickering to life. Gabe looked around, catching the flickering of lights wherever he turned. Small, barely visible holographic displays blinked to life over the alcoves, glitched and scattered to the point that they were unintelligible, but even with their distorted nature he could detect an abundance of bright colors from each of them, designed to catch the eye in a variety of different ways. The faded greens, reds, and blues on the walls were granted a second life by the flickering lights, showing glimpses of a once vibrant scheme that painted the walls.
“Huh, looks like we were right,” Gabe said.
Null nudged Gabe and pointed at the center of the disc. Pieces of armor lay strewn about across the disc, with the helmet serving as the plate’s centerpiece. It was a full helm with a rounded shape but a sharp visor, with only a small slit to see through. It was clear there was a more fantasy influence to its design, but there was a sleekness and simplicity to it that reminded him of something from science fiction. In contrast to the aged decor of the building, this helmet appeared to be in good, almost new, condition. The other pieces of armor that lay about the ground appeared the same, gleaming slightly in the trickled down rays of the sun.
“Someone’s gear?” Gabe suggested.
Null shrugged again, “Could be, though I have no idea why they left it here. I don’t think it belongs to Irwin and his party, so-”
Before Null could finish his thought, the helmet began to shake. Instinctively, Gabe and Null stepped back to the edge of the disc, their eyes fixed on the armor as the rest of its pieces started to vibrate along with the helmet. The head piece started to float, hovering until it was about Gabe’s height. A small shimmer of pale green light pulsed through the visor, then started to grow. It took the shape of a human silhouette, a man from the bulk and size of it, the helmet fixed on its head. It held its hand out, and a solid blade of light emerged from its palm, sliding down to the floor. Light peeled away from the blade, revealing a sword of solid steel with hilt of black metal. The silhouette grasped the handle of the sword, and as it did so the rest of the scattered armor flew at its form. Like pieces of machinery, the armor clicked and snapped into place around the silhouette until the completed suit stood before them. If shifted the sword to its front, stabbed the tip into the ground, and waited.
Gabe started at the animated suit of armor, and scratched his chin.
“I gotta admit, that was pretty badass.”
Null shrugged, but nodded in agreement.
“So, you gonna check it out or what?”
Null shot him a confused look, “Me? Why the hell would I do that?”
“I mean, look at him! He’s obviously a boss of some sort.”
“You’re not answering my question.”
“Wonder if he can only guard a certain area. The disc maybe?” Gabe said, kicking the edge of the plate.
“Hey.”
Gabriel sighed, “Fine, you don’t wanna do it, I don’t wanna do it, but one of us has to figure out what we’re dealing with.”
“And how do you suggest we decide that?”
“Simple, with a game of skill and cunning,” Gabe said with absolute confidence as he held out a fist.
Null stared at it, then back at Gabe, a questioning look on his face, “With rock paper scissors, for real?”
“You got a better idea?”
Null opened his mouth to answer, but promptly closed it. He eventually held out his own fist and sighed.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“Best of three?”
“Yeah yeah.”
“Alright, rock, paper, scissors!”
Gabe chose rock, Null chose paper.
Gabe clicked his teeth, “Nice choice, I’ll get you next time. Rock, paper, scissors!”
Gabe chose rock, Null chose scissors.
“Heh, got you there. Rock, paper, scissors!”
Gabe chose rock, Null chose rock.
“Damn, a tie… why are you giving me that look?”
Null shook his head, “Its nothing.”
Gabe shrugged, “Fine by me. Rock, paper, scissors!”
Gabe chose rock, Null chose paper.
“Shit!,” Gabe said.
“Did you seriously only choose rock!?”
“I almost won, right?”
“That’s not the- you know what, fine, get moving. We got shit to do.”
“No need to be so jaded man, we’ll jus-”
The moment he stepped into the circle, his vision went black.
---
When his vision returned, he was standing back at the shack. A window floated in front of his face.
+++
You have died!
All of your stats have decreased by 1, and all skill progression has been reduced by 10%. Please be more careful next time.
+++
“Well shit.”
“I’ll say.”
Gabe turned to Null, who was resting in a corner of the building.
“How long have you been there?” he asked
“Just got back,” Null said, sitting down on the ground.
“What, he get you too?”
“You kidding? Moment you died I ran,” his companion said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”
Gabe gave that a moment of thought, then shrugged, “Yeah, guess I can’t fault that logic, did you at least catch anything useful?”
Null tapped his chin, “He’s fast?”
Gabe sighed, “Well, that’s something I guess. Guess we figured out why Irwin didn’t make any progress.”
Null nodded, “With an enemy as strong as that, we’re pretty much dead in the water.”
“As we are now, sure,” Gabe said, “Which is we gotta switch gears.”
Null looked at him, “Meaning?”
Gabe met his eyes, a serious look on his face, “How do you feel about grinding?”
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