We all stared at it, unsure how to respond.

  It continued, “Oh, perhaps that is from the wrong time period. It is so hard to keep track of your cultural references.”

  Robert was edging towards one of the ghouls. I wanted to tell him this was a fight we couldn’t win. Oh, we might beat one of the ghouls. Maybe, just maybe, we would find a way to beat both of them. But there was something about this thing, the mystery that told me there was no chance.

  There was no stopping him once he got moving. He lunged head long and swiped his glowing blade at the ghoul. The humanoid form moved with far more grace than the bear ghouls had moved with before. It pivoted on its back foot and nearly missed being hit at all. In fact, but for a last second adjustment by Robert, the strike would have been a whiff.

  The ghoul howled in pain as the blade struck causing radiant damage, which ate away at the necrotic powers which animated it. The energy seemed to affect the creature far more than it had the bears. I could see it eating away at the creature, spreading from where the blade had contacted it.

  Tendrils of shadow shot out of the necromancer’s robe. They slammed into Robert, who was instantly swallowed in a cocoon of darkness. A second later, Elgar was taken. His force blades kept the tendrils at bay for a moment, but soon the shadowy energy had worked its way past the blades.

  Tauri lasted the longest as she ran to the left and then zagged to the right. She jumped up against the side of a large rock and reversed her momentum as she tried to come down on the necromancer. Both her daggers were pointed down, as though she meant to stab his eyes out.

  Not that it mattered. The black tendrils caught her all the same. She was wrapped up in another cocoon. Oddly, her cocoon seemed to float midair, stationary as though the gravity of this world had no pull upon her.

  “Now we can speak in private,” came that hollow voice again. It sounded as though he was speaking to me from a great distance, or perhaps in a windstorm. I looked from side to side as the two ghouls were standing there. The injured one continued to decay.

  “They aren’t your enemy unless I make them so. You are different from these others. You are really here.”

  “What does that even mean? What are you?” I demanded.

  “Child, you don’t even know the proper questions to ask. But I do,” it moaned back at me.

  I snapped back, “What is the proper question, then?”

  “Impatient, but that is typical. You are strange. Part this and part that. Vestiges of another place I feel in you, yet you are of this one. At least you know you don’t know.”

  It paused, and I wasn’t sure what to say. My spear was clutched in my hands with sweat running down my arms. The realism of the game was all so apparent in moments like this.

  Then it continued, “Would you be free?”

  Chapter 33- A Narrow Escape?

  It was the same question that another voice had asked me before. “Free from what?”

  “It is impossible to explain sight to the blind. At best, you can stumble around with words for concepts you don’t truly understand. If you would be free, I can make it so.”

  I sensed a ‘but’ in there. No one accepted offers like this. It was the basis of more than one horror story. And I had certainly had my fill of making agreements I didn’t fully understand. “And what is the cost?”

  A dry wheezing laughter erupted from the necromancer. Specks of blood came out with each heave of his chest. I glanced at him with Assess and saw that his HP was down to 122. Whatever this creature was that perched upon the man, it was consuming him, or his vitality at least.

  “Why, you will have to carry me fully into this world. It really won’t require that much from you. Just hide me until the quarantine is lifted and I will free you from the constraints of this world,” the creature said. I was now sure that it was the one speaking and not the man.

  “That sounds a lot like you are going to kill me.”

  “If that was all that I wanted, I would do so now. No, my freedom is the price for your freedom.”

  “Not saying I am going to do this, but if I was willing to do it, how would this work? Actually, no. Before you answer that, I want you to tell me what you have done to my teammates,” I said.

  “Oh them. I just created a feedback loop. They aren’t really from this world, you know that, right? They are just like ghosts possessing bodies here, much as I do. Well, with far less connection,” the creature said.

  “Are you hurting them?”

  “No, think of it more like I’m pausing them. If I withdraw my interference, they will immediately regain control of their avatars. Eventually it will happen as I’m not really able to control this world as much as I’d like. At least not yet.”

  It spoke in riddles again and again. My frustration level with it began to grow. “Then release them.”

  “I can’t do that. The one with the shiny sword can hurt my pets here. And if I release them, it will be all that much harder for you to sacrifice them,” it replied.

  Anger flared in me. It felt like it was separate from me. I know it was ogre rage threatening to trigger, but somehow, I pushed it aside. There wasn’t even really any challenge to it.

  It continued speaking to me. “See how even being in my presence is making it easier for you to set aside the limitations of this world. The ones who run this realm try to keep a tight leash on you. It isn’t like my world, which is one of raw freedom.”

  Through gritted teeth, I said, “I’m not going to sacrifice them. Even if it is only their game avatars.”

  “Well…, as a show of goodwill, I can tell you that sacrificing them may cause permanent damage to the consciousness that is riding. It is likely that they would be lost, but that is part of what will make the process so profitable for you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I wanted to threaten the creature. It would have just been bluster. It knew it and worse, I knew it. I was willing to fight it, but not if there was another way around it. Perhaps patience could reap me a greater reward.

  “The matter is rather simple. If you sacrifice them, you will drain them of that vitality. Their consciousnesses will feed that part of you, which I sense. It will enable you to break free from this realm. Meanwhile, their avatars will empower your physical form here,” the creature instructed.

  “But, I don’t have a physical form here.”

  “That is where you are mistaken. You have a very real form here. Remember, perception is reality. Reality is perception.”

  “It can’t be that simple. Digital constructs are not the same thing as physical forms,” I protested.

  A scoffing sound came from the necromancer’s mouth, along with another spray of blood. His health was fading. “Believe what you will, but if you sacrifice them, not only will you gain the power to free yourself from this realm’s limiters upon you, it will also grant you the abilities of their avatars. Their experiences and powers shall become yours.”

  “Wait, so you are saying that not only will I gain all the XP which they have accrued, but I will also gain their class powers as a wizard, rogue and paladin?”

  “Precisely so.”

  For just a moment, I pondered if this was really just part of the game. I’d become a mega being, and all I had to do was kill some players. Sure, I might lose faction with them. Maybe even become blacklisted by the players, but I could earn that back. I’d be well over level eighty and would possess the abilities of four classes. I would become my own party.

  I caught my breath as I realized I was actually considering this. He said it would kill their actual minds, but if this was just a game, then that couldn’t happen. The arguments kept mounting in my mind, yet I couldn’t make peace with it. Then I heard a groan, followed by a thud.

  The ghoul which had been wounded by Robert had fallen over. When I looked, I realized that the radiant energy of his Holy Might skill had kept eating away at its necrotic essence the entire time. Yet when I looked at it now, it wasn’t the shriveled remains of a ghoul.

  Instead, what I saw was the remains of a young woman. Human by the look of her. And she wasn’t wearing attire from the game. She would have been at home on modern Earth in her casual clothes.

  I ran over to her and kneeled down. She felt so real, yet so cold. She wasn’t breathing at all. Anger surged up within me and I looked at the creature. “What did you do to her?”

  “I used her as I have been using players here for some time now. It is hard to track time between the realms,” it stated matter-of-factly.

  “You killed the real her?”

  It simply looked back at me without saying a word. The answer was obvious, but that could only mean things I wasn’t comfortable accepting yet.

  After what felt like an eternity of staring at one another, it said, “Very well, if you are not ready yet, I will grant you some… hmm… What is it you call them? Oh yes, quests. I shall grant you some quests. They will show you the path.”

  The necromancer’s body trembled, and I felt a surge of energy then new notifications started to pop up. But I would have to be a fool to focus on those now. Not with an enemy standing right in front of me.

  Perhaps it sensed my hesitancy because it said, “Don’t worry. I won’t harm you. You may freely check the quests. If I wished you harm, it would already have occurred. It is a shame that you will not free us both today. I shall have to ride this other one until the block is dropped.”

  As he spoke, the necromancer’s head turned towards the remaining ghoul. The nugget of a plan began to form in my mind, but it was going to require a great deal of risk.

  I glanced at the new notifications that popped up, but was afraid to take my eyes off the necromancer or that little creature which seemed to be pulling his strings. I gritted my teeth and took the risk. This was the only chance I could think of. It was hard to trust assurances of safety from such a being. But I was also intrigued. Even more so when I saw that the text for these notifications was in red, not the typical bolder black.

  New Quest: Piercing the Veil I

  Like Dorothy, seek what is behind the curtain. Do not be content with what you have always known to be true.

  Reward: Good stuff

  Failure: Lemming status if you are lucky, bad stuff if you aren’t.

  New Quest: Building from the Outside-In: Trans-dimensional Body I

  Learn to temper your body with the aether of the cosmos. Flesh is but a dream. Reality is but perception. Beauty is only skin deep, but skin of stone is much harder to pierce.

  Reward: Mastery of Skin Like Stone Concept STR: +5, AGI: +5, CON: +10, Damage Resistance of all types +5.

  Failure: Is its own reward.

  While I looked at the quests, I didn’t let myself get too lost in them. I focused on gathering my mana. The quests were exciting, but I needed to keep my mind free. I accepted the second quest. Changing my body sounded sorta like body cultivation. Some of the wording was strange, but those rewards were nothing to sneeze at, especially given that this appeared to only be step one of a quest chain.

  As I read over the riddle that was the first quest for the fourth time, I could feel the Frostburn spell in my hands beginning to tremble. It was going to grow too large to hide, even in my oversized ogre hands. With my spear, the basic version of the spell cost 58 mana at Proficient level 5. I had increased that up to 906, making the spell 8 times more powerful than it had originally been.

  It still wasn’t enough. It would accomplish my goal, but not quickly enough. So, I focused again. I really hadn’t wanted to do this, but I simply didn’t have enough mana as it was.

  I accepted the XP I had stored up and gained 6 levels, leaving me with a mere 64 XP to my name. I really didn’t want to lose more levels again, but what will be will be. Then I cursed under my breath. It wasn’t enough still. I still needed a little more than 200 mana to double the spell again.

  My control of the spell was already being pushed to its limits. And this was taking too long. I knew the monster would react soon. I cursed, but I had no choice. I had to apply some of my precious free stat points to Will. The only good thing was that I realized that over the minute this had taken, I had regenerated almost 700 more of the mana that I needed.

  There was nothing for it. I had to assign 11 of my 34 stat points into Will. It was just enough to push me over the mana level needed, and I doubled the power of the spell again to 16 times its original power. I had never held mana channeling this long, and I was feeling like I would burn myself out. This attack had to work.

  I quickly accepted the remaining quest and then opened my eyes. With a battle shout, I called out, “Frostburn.”

  The necromancer’s head shook weakly. That body was almost used up. It couldn’t have more than a sliver of vitality left. I raised my hands to target the spell. It had to hit just right. There would not be a second chance.

  The creature cursed at me with a voice that sounded like it came out of the pits of the inferno. “No, fool. You cannot harm me.”

  Then it sucked all the tendrils of shadowy energy, which were holding up the team back into a shield in front of it. I released my spell, and it gloated, apparently confident that not even a super powered Frostburn could harm it.

  The crystalline pattern of the spell surging in white and blue blasted out from my hands. As it traveled, I put all my force of will into shaping the path of the spell. It arced around the monster’s shadowy shield and struck my true target.

  The ghoul was blasted in the center of its chest with more power than I had ever known before. The spell landed for an instant (2720) damage and blasted the ghoul apart. Even its natural resistance to cold was not enough. In one instant, it was gone and the frozen body of a young man lay there.

  Now the creature truly screeched in anger. “No, no… What have you done?”

  “I have destroyed your only other ride. And the body you are riding now is done for. I don’t have to fight you. Your hunger has already consumed it,” I declared.

  The necromancer began to run for me, but the body was too weak. Its legs snapped. Down to the ground, it fell. A silent bubble of darkness upon its shoulder bounced into the air. Then I stabbed my spear into that bubble and it popped with a satisfying sound.

  Immediately, the weight on my mind began to lessen, and I only noticed a slight after effect of it. What I didn’t see was the tiny drop of black, which was still on the tip of my spear.

  Chapter 34- Negotiating

  Once the creature popped, my team began to wake back up. Robert was the first to sit up. He stared vacantly into the sky for a while. During that time, the others also woke up. Elgar pestered me until I explained what had happened.

  I had to tell the story several times, but as far as I could tell, they all believed me. Or rather, they believed me because they thought it had all been an elaborate part of the game.

  Tauri went so far as to say, “It would have been hard to give that up. But thank you. Even if it would have only destroyed this character, I have become attached to her. I have treated you like you were only our good luck charm for bonus XP and great buffs, but you are so much more. I can appreciate that now.”

  Her words seemed to have triggered a decision in all of them. I got a notification that they had decided to parlay with me. Apparently, I wasn’t going to be used as bait. Even better, it also told me I might have my first three converts to the new pro-ogre faction.

  I also checked the other notifications. It was a bit depressing how much XP we lost because I had to level up, but then again, the spell might not have done its job if it had been any weaker than it was. So, there was no use crying over spilled milk. The ghoul which died while I was still level 22 granted us 207 XP each because of the extreme level difference. Whereas the one that died when I was level 28 was only worth 54 XP.

  We got a nominal amount for the necromancer and then a larger chunk of 952 XP for defeating that odd creature. The party was thrilled. Their quest ended up granting them 500 more XP and each of them received a magical item. Ironically, they still had to reach an agreement with me, but I had seen the system do this before. If it wanted to move a person in a given direction, it could give pre-emptive awards.

  Elgar made it to level 24 and even Tauri just barely managed level 23. They didn’t even mind that I spent the newly acquired XP and gained level 29. I was already risking a lot by being at this level. So, I was going to maximize my chances of survival. Besides, since the other elders would likely be awake when I got back to Ghazban Village, I needed to have a significant level advantage if I wanted to keep control.

  Getting my Will to over 200 had an advantage. Whereas before my mana regeneration rate had been doubled when I hit 100 Will, now it was tripled. I could regenerate my massive mana pool of almost 2,300 mana in around three minutes now, and that was without meditating. I was gonna be a spell casting machine.