A New World (Gamer, Book 1) (20 page)

Axel swipes him around the ears.

“
Down boy.”

“
That’s quite a quest you have
there. 150 parts and most of it timed,” Josh says, casually sharing
the quest with Harry as he uses his hand to cover the small screen
that appears in front of him sent via Shady.

“
Well, as you can see, I have my
reasons.”

Erica gives him a disapproving look and Axel
gives him much worse.

“
Harem or no harem,” Josh says,
“as long as you do your job then that’s all we need.”

Shady nods his head and tries to avoid the
peeved looks of the women in the group.

“
Harry. It’s time for us to get
going.”

He nods and they walk to the front entrance of
the dungeon, which is a large cave mouth. It has taken two weeks to
find Shady, who has obviously been very busy and he has two weeks
of game time left.

He stops in front of the door and Josh taps
the square plate that tells the players entering the details of the
dungeon.

Player, what may I do for you?
a sexy
computer voice whispers to Harry and the group.

“
I want to make a bet.”

Please select from the following
options.

Harry reads through them.

“
I’ll bet all of my gold and my
game time.”

Erica gasps and Shady looks
shocked.

“
Are you sure about this?” Josh
asks. “It’s a one way street if you lose.”

“
I know, but I don’t have enough
gold to bet, so time is the only other option.”

The computer pauses.

Gold and time accepted. You have 3
hours to complete the dungeon as specified by the rules set at its
creation. Thank you for your patronage and do come
again.

Harry looks to the others.

“
Whatever happens, thank you for
this.”

They all pat him on the shoulder (even Shady,
who has his own debts to pay) and turn to the cave
mouth.

“
It’s time. Let’s get
moving.”

They step forward and the world shifts. The
game has seen their intent and the fight is on.

Betting It All

Harry: Level 15, No Class // Josh: Level 17,
Wizard // Axel: Level 20, Archer // Erica: Level 15, Healer //
Shady Thief: Level 17, Thief. Bet: 100% of Gold
and
Time.

Things got nasty from the moment that they
entered. A group of three skeletons nearly wiped the floor with
them and Harry and the team were barely saved by a rather brave
move on Axel’s part that saw the skeletons crushed under the weight
of some of the stone that she shot off from the ceiling
above.

Since then it has been getting worse and worse
as the fight grows more and more bloody and they die at incredible
rates. All of them are already suffering from a limited amount of
gold after taking some very serious deaths earlier on and Harry has
been almost obsessively checking his gold after each death,
thinking about how likely he is to run out before he reaches the
end of the dungeon.

Another group of skeletons rush round a corner
and speed towards them. These ones are the sword fighting type and
they streak forward with dust trailing behind their undead bones
and their skinny swords sliding along the ground behind them in a
lazy fighting style that has proven to be more effective than it
appears at first glance.

Harry takes point and charges ahead of the
group. Arrows and magic zip by him and slam into the oncoming
enemy. One falls to the initial volley and it allows Harry to come
in quickly and slash out at the remaining two.

Unfortunately, they immediately dominate him
and his health sinks down towards the red zone very quickly. He has
so far found the creatures of this dungeon to be much stronger than
the ones that he has faced so far in the game world and, even with
the party shifting into position to take on the assault, Harry has
difficulty in getting a good line through the enemy's defense,
which is smooth for all of its users seeming lack of concern for
the concept.

Shady appears out of nowhere behind one of the
skeletons and grabs it around the throat. It cuts into his arm,
eliciting pixilated red and a cry of pain, but it allows Harry to
come around the side and slam his sword into the creature’s spinal
column, cutting it in half.

The other skeleton slashes its sword at the
thief’s chest as its partner dies, but he is saved by a perfectly
timed arrow that pierces the creature's forearm at the elbow joint,
taking off its sword arm before it can strike.

With the skeleton reaching for its limb, so it
can reattach it, Harry and Shady find the perfect opportunity to
swipe past it and use their weapons to decapitate the monster. They
crush its skull and send it to a quick death.

"This is quite something, isn't it?" Harry
says to the others as they come forward. "I've never faced monsters
at this level. It's a totally different game playing a
dungeon."

The others nod their heads in understanding
and share their own feelings. It is a shock to them to face off
with the monsters that inhabit the dungeon, yet it is not
unwelcome. There may be a sense of desperation in the group, but
all of them, know deep down, that this dungeon is truly a test of
their abilities. Each of them has experienced more brutal combat in
this cave of pain than in the outer game world. It's a hard fight
and one that is slowly whittling away at them, yet they are proud
of their success so far. None of them are sure whether they will
make it through to the end, but there is a determination in them
that is born of necessity. The end boss will supply them with items
and gold that is far beyond what they can obtain outside by just
fighting monsters and questing. Anyone of them could obtain a
significant advantage in the game just by defeating the final boss
and receiving a rare or super rare item. Success is essential and
they all desperately want it.

Harry and Josh take the front and Axel takes
the rear. The enemy can attack from any angle and any place and
they have learned the hard way that an all-round defense is a good
defense in a place like this.

They come around a corner and enter a small
darkly lit room. There are sounds of movement coming from all
directions and they stop just inside the doorway as little red
lights start to burn in the corners.

"This can't be good," Shady says.

Josh casts a spell and the room’s contents are
revealed. There are skeletons lining the walls, held there by heavy
chains, and every single hollow eye is staring directly at
them.

"Is there any other way? Did anyone see
another route?" Harry asks Shady.

"I think this is it. I haven't seen any hidden
tunnels and I didn't find any hidden doors or other means to pass
by this place," he replies.

Josh brings his ball of light closer to the
skeletons on the left side and they try to reach out to it. They
can't move from their positions, but the chains look old enough to
break and there is no telling what secrets this room
hides.

Harry and the group stalk inside slowly. Axel
and Josh and Harry take up the front and sides preparing for any
eventuality.

There is a wild shuffling to the left and a
skeleton breaks from its chains. A howl goes up from the other
monsters around them, who see their comrade freed and begin to
struggle with their shackles too. It's not long before a few more
are breaking off from the wall and Harry and the team start back
the way they came in.

Unfortunately, a force field of some kind
stops them from exiting appears and they find themselves trapped in
the room with dozens of skeletons preparing to attack.

Respawn Point Set.

They all look to one another and a silent
understanding passes among them. There will be no escaping this
room today. This place will be their death if they don't fight for
their lives with everything they have.

Harry hacks out with a burst of flame and cuts
the air in intricate circles that send the flame out from his
weapon a meter or so. He slowly speeds up his pace and steps away
from the group to begin violently spinning his body in a whirlwind
attack of flame that unleashes the fires of his true
abilities.

Harry is cutting out along a random path that
comes close to damaging the other party members. However, he keeps
it under control and the flames demolish the shambling undead a few
at a time.

Behind him, he sees Josh slamming his hands
together as the enemy approaches. A wave of energy knocks them to
the ground and Axel and Shady began shooting arrows and throwing
knives to end the lives of those who wish to assault the
living.

All throughout this, Erica has been throwing
beams of golden light that brings the party back to full health.
Harry is expending life at an insane pace and without Erica's
assistance he would have died a long time ago.

The fight continues and soon Josh is skewered
through the throat. He falls to the ground and the skeletons leap
on Erica. Harry dashes to her in an intense moment of speed and
manages to decapitate all three skeletons that are biting at her at
the expense of his life.

She soldiers on like a true healer and heals
both herself and the others who are left alive. Harry and Josh
appear a few seconds after each other and continue to wage war on
the combatants.

After 20 minutes of fighting, and quite a few
more deaths, the press of undead soldiers slowly thins out. The
last skeleton receives a strong punch from Josh that shatters its
body into pieces. The group stands around staring at the carnage.
They all look to the two doors in the room, but the reddish glow
that blocks them hasn’t disappeared yet. This means that the fight
is not over.

Something grayish and dust like appears in the
middle. They set themselves at the ready, thinking that this new
monster will immediately attack, yet find that it doesn't
move.

Harry steps over to it and swipes his sword
through it. Nothing happens and he waits, but this strange new
enemy doesn't do anything.

They gather around it and Josh puts out a hand
to touch it. The moment that he does there is a mad howling in the
room and the grayish thing disappears and surges through Erica’s
body. She falls to the ground completely gray in color and shudders
for a moment before dying. The dust surges back around and this
time takes Harry down. He dies a quick and painful death and
awakens to find that he is the only one to return. The other two
haven’t respawned and Harry finds this change of events perplexing
to say the least.

Axel cries out and Shady as well behind him.
They turn gray and fall to the floor. Harry is left standing alone,
waiting for them to return, but they don't.

Target Selected. One-on-One Duel
Initiated.

Harry spins in a circle trying to see where
the attack will come from. A wave of dust like particles slips over
his leg and he cries out in agony as the flesh is abrasively ripped
away.

He looks down to see red pixilated blood
pouring from his leg. The creature has taken a quarter of his
health and the pain of trying to move the limb is too much for even
him to bear.

He grits his teeth and waits for the next
attack to come. The thing flows through his sword arm and his
weapon drops from his hand. He spins around putting his good hand
out in front of him and tries to see where the next assault will
come from. His vision is already blurring with the agony of the
artificial pain. It's more hurt than he has ever experienced in his
life and it feels all too real.

The creature zips past him again, passing over
his cheek and taking half of his face with it. He grabs the wound
with his working hand and cries out in agony. The strange grayish
dust shape forms into a deep gray skeleton. It has barren eyes and
enough skin on its face to form a horrific rotting grin.

The creature steps forward and grabs Harry on
the injured side of his face, pushing its fingers into the broken
skin. He cries out in horror as those skeletal fingers sink in and
touch the nerves underneath.

Fighting the pain inside of him and knowing
that this could well be the end of the game for him if he doesn't
fight back, he punches out with his good hand. It takes the
creature in the head, but only knocks it back. Harry watches in
shock as it continues to grin at him and brings its head back
forward. The monster comes closer and closer and it opens its mouth
wide in preparation to bite.

Harry reaches out to his sword, but the weapon
is meters away. He has nothing to fight with except his one working
hand and that has proven to be not enough to defeat this
creature.

He looks into those black pits and at the
sandy complexion of the boss monster. He looks down at his hand as
the undead’s teeth come within centimeters of his neck and realizes
that he has one final weapon that he can use.

Concentrating on his fist he forces the fire
to coat it. The pain is incredible and his leather glove is burnt
away in seconds as his entire hand bursts into flame.