Hell's Glitch (LitRPG): Into a Dark Adventure (22 page)

“Now everyone, it is
nearly time to proceed with the next phase of this project.  Before we do, I
would like to inform you of the penalty for backing out of your pledge at this
point or any point beyond.  What we’ve created today is a verbal pact, a binding
agreement from one soul to the next.  If that pact is broken, the penalty you
face is death.”

The shocked audience was stone
silent.  Was Milner serious?  Had he lost it?

“Take a look at those
guards.  Each of them is armed with advanced military grade automatic firearms
and are prepared to eliminate anyone who disrupts this part of the alpha test. 
I’ve instructed the guard by the front door to brandish his openly for effect.”

Alex looked over to the aforementioned
guard and saw him holding a NKV-P7357 bullpup configured assault rifle in front
of his chest.  He looked around the room, turning his head slowly from left to
right and back while dark googles hid his eyes.  Alex had only known what gun
it was thanks to all the research she did for a previous game she had worked
on.

“Now don’t be
frightened.  As long as you stick to the roles I’ve prepared for you then you
will be greatly rewarded once this test is over with.  Anything else will be
met with swift punishment.  I am sorry, but this is the only choice I have
available to me and I’ll need your help.  Now we will proceed with the
preparations for phase two of the alpha test.”

“I’m out!  This is
ridiculous Milner and you know it!” her coworker Randy said as he suddenly stood
up and glared at Milner.

Randy’s head was barely
visible over his cubicle.  He looked to be fatigued.  His thick black hair and
beard were a mess and his face sagged, but Randy had always worked harder than
most other people, so he must’ve been working since the early morning, pulling
what had to be a sixteen hour shift.  Alex was about four hours shy of that but
wasn’t feeling it quite yet.

“Mr. Zbyszko—Randall, for
your sake, you should calm down and have a seat.  I’ve already outlined my
plans and intentions.  It’s up to you to stick to the roles we’ve already
agreed upon.”

“No way in hell,
asshole.  I didn’t sign up for this crap!  This job was fun and all, but you’re
crazy and your expectations are even crazier.”

Randy gathered his things
and put them in his computer bag to the stunned silence of everyone else.  When
he picked up his bag and started to leave, the guard by the door stood directly
in front of the entrance to the hallway.

“Tell your goon to get
out of my way, Milner,” demanded Randy.  He didn’t dare take his eyes off the
armed man in front of him.

“I already told you the
consequences for breaking our pact.  Are you truly ready to face those
consequences, Randall?” asked Milner.

“If you kill me Milner, especially
over something as crazy as this, you can bet that my family will find out about
it and that you will pay.  I’m talking every aspect of your life being totally
fucked for the rest of its limited duration.  You know who my father is, don’t
you?”

“Yes, he’s a famous judge
and that means that he’s probably well connected with all sorts of law
enforcers and politicians.  I understand that Randall, but what’s it have to do
with our pact?” asked Milner.

“A pact?  Who cares?  Now
tell him to stand aside, Milner.”

“Listen to him.  Stand to
the side.”  The guard near the door stepped out of the doorway and held his gun
downwards.  Randy slowly made his way towards the door, keeping an eye on the
man.

“Stephen,” Milner said discreetly. 
Alex reacted to Milner’s voice and looked back at him and saw that the gray
haired man already had his gun trained on the back of Randy’s skull.  Without knowing,
she screamed, but it was too late.

******

“Your time is up!”

Alex snapped back to
reality at the guard’s yelling voice and quickly exited the bathroom.  She
walked down the hall back to the office.  Inside the office, she walked over
the spot where Randy had been shot and killed.  Even though there was no sign
of any of the blood from earlier, she couldn’t help, but feel entirely crept
out from walking over the spot.  It was also a reminder that Milner was dead
serious and that she had no choice now, but to do whatever he said she should
do.

Randy had paid the price
for his rebellion and he was a good man even in the face of death.  He knew that
Milner’s demands were wrong, and so he stood up to him and his threats
regardless.  It was brave, but it had accomplished nothing but getting him
killed.  It had done more for Milner’s cause, since the incident just made the
other designers and developers quietly bow their heads and work even harder.

As Alex neared her seat,
Stephen had approached her from the aisle.

“Get back to work, girl. 
We don’t have time for your games.  We’re on a schedule here, if you hadn’t
noticed.”

She wanted so bad to snap
back at the asshole, but she just didn’t have it in her anymore.  Milner and
his goons held all the cards now.  It wouldn’t help her or anyone else for her
to piss this man off and get killed for it.

Once she sat quietly in
her seat, she could tell Stephen was reveling in her defeat even though she did
her best to silently ignore him.  She put on her headset and drowned out the
world.  She focused on her secret goals, ensuring the survival of the testers
under her watchful eye.  Hopefully she could at least help them, since she
couldn’t help herself.

24
Sin and Punishment

Sam’s adrenaline was
pumping and his eyes and ears were as alert as ever.  He knew that he stood out
in this dark forest, thanks to his crimson Walker glow, that’s why he moved
quickly.  His prey was probably somewhere nearby.  He had stalked him all the
way to King Herke’s first Soul Beacon then lost him in the trees.

Whatever the case, Sam
got the feeling that maybe he was the one being hunted.  Of course, he was
right and he was nearly caught off guard from the player’s vicious slash from
his rear.  Sam rolled out of the way to avoid damage and looked at his
opponent.

The zombie-like revenant
that Sam faced was named Roburn.  Sam knew that his friend Robert typically
played under that handle and when he stopped and did the rock and roll devil
horns salute, Sam knew for a fact that it was him.  Sam returned his gesture
with a devil horns of his own.

Robert looked to have
gone with the Knight class at the start, or at least he found some of their
charred dark gray armor.  His character was tall like Sam’s, though more
intimidating in the armor set, and had some kind of huge tower shield in his
offhand.  It looked like one that Barrington sold at his shop for a small
fortune.  Sam wondered if the one Sedwin gave him was even better.

Robert’s face was mostly
hidden behind his charred helm, but Sam could see that the character had dark
hollows for eyes with the tiniest specks of flames in the center focusing on
him.  Some bits of Robert’s armor exposed his rotting flesh and Sam wondered
what unfortunate mishap had taken Robert’s life and as a result, his human
form.  Maybe he had lost to the boss or to Caesar like Sam had.

Robert brandished his Arming
Sword and pointed it at Sam.  Something dripped from it to the ground, blood
most likely from Robert’s solo escapades.  Sam wasn’t intimidated by his
friend.  On the contrary, he felt that his victory was assured.  He had just
defeated The Will of the Forest and cut a swathe through all of the other testers
he faced in his encroachments afterwards.  The Bloody Tearstone that he was
sure to collect from Robert would just be another trophy in his now
overwhelming collection.

He grinned at his friend
and bowed.  Robert followed suit.  The two of them then circled around each
other and closed in.  Robert seemed to possess a high level of confidence since
his character had more defenses than Sam’s.

Sam saw that he might
have some trouble getting his attacks through Robert’s huge tower shield, but
he had a few ideas on just how to do it.  As a test, he stepped forward and
thrust his blade out quickly at Robert.  Robert lifted his shield up in time
and Sam’s blow bounced right off, leaving him open for just a second.

He saw Robert ready to
pounce on his vulnerability, but he had made sure to keep space between him and
his friend, so he’d have the time he needed to recover.  Robert wisely failed
to take Sam’s bait.  Sam cursed, missing the chance to get an easy parry.

Robert stood back shaking
his head, so Sam decided to speed up.  He knew he was faster than Robert’s
armored avatar, so he used that advantage to circle around him since he was
just
turtling
(constantly defending behind a shield, like
a turtle).  Robert saw the writing on the wall once Sam got to his side and
lowered his shield.  He took a wide slash at Sam, barely missing then came
forward with a downward strike, which Sam did not expect.

Sam had been cut already
by the time he got his shield up and had lost a sixth of his health.  That lack
of added defense from the beginner rings had really come back to bite him.  He
also beginning to feel a little queasy as his poison gauge filled up over a
third of the way.

“You douche!  You’re
using poison?” he yelled.

He knew that Robert
couldn’t hear him, but the smile on Robert’s face was enough for Sam to know
that he got the message.  Well, all was fair in an encroachment and Sam still
had a few dirty tricks of his own up his sleeves.

He put his shield away
and built up heat in his offhand and condensed it.  He threw the ball of fire
into Robert’s face, but Robert blocked it with his tower shield, the Great
Knight Shield Sam believed it was called.  Robert still took some damage, but
Sam wasn’t done yet.  He rolled forward and tossed another ball of fire at Robert’s
head.  The ball exploded at the front side of his mask, doing triple the damage
from before, which still wasn’t much as Robert’s HP still hovered just below
his maximum.

Robert blindly struck out
at Sam with a heavy downward strike.  Sam anticipated the blow and easily
avoided it with a roll.  He nailed Robert with a backstab taking four-fifths of
his maximum health.  Robert fell to the ground with only a little health left
and Sam made sure to strafe around him as he rose up, staying near his back.

Sam could tell that
Robert knew he was going for a chain backstab.  Sam waited as Robert
recovered.  Robert hastily swung at Sam with a light horizontal slash.  Sam
pushed his strike aside, sending Robert’s sword hand airborne, and stabbed him
right in his digital heart.  Robert’s health faded away instantly and Sam gave
him his customary, “Are you not entertained,” pose.

Sinner’s Encroachment Completed

“GG bro!  We’ll do it
again, next time.”

Sam’s soul count
increased along with his Quintessence counter.  He also got the trophy he was
looking for, the Bloody Tearstone, before being sent back to his own plane.  He
was whisked back to the Soul Beacon near Sedwin and Barrington.  His thoughts
were still on the melee he just had with Robert.

“This dexterity build is
much better than I expected.  I thought he’d give me more trouble than that
with all his armor.”

The added four points
he’d put into dexterity right before he encroached upon Robert had really
boosted his damage, and beyond that, leveling his dexterity to twenty-five had
given him another Technique slot, which he put the Sword Uppercut into.

Sam thought back to the
differences in damage that he and Robert were performing.  Robert’s light and
heavy slashes did good damage against Sam’s newfound lack of defenses.  Sam
knew his win had come from his maneuverability and the really good critical
damage from the Rapier’s backstabs and opening blows.  They were risky
maneuvers, but were well worth the hassle.

From his countless
battles, he deduced that the Rapier’s critical attacks had done three times the
amount of a standard heavy strike.  He wondered what the critical damage was
for strength based weapons like the one Robert was using.

“Oh yeah, the Knight
class started with the Arming Sword.  But, his was poisoned.  He didn’t apply
anything during our fight either.  So, I wonder if you can add elements to your
weapon.”

Having poisoned weapons
wasn’t something that you were able to do in The Death Planes, but this whole
weapons system was different from the previous game, so he wouldn’t be
surprised if it were possible.

He walked over to
Barrington, whose smock was still drenched in sweat from his constant
smithing.  He had already come to the smith earlier to raise his Rapier to plus
twenty-eight.  He had even had enough souls to raise his Flexile Wooden Bow to
plus twenty thanks to all the Stumpies he had killed with it.  Barrington
looked up at Sam and wiped his sweaty brow with his massive calloused hand.

“Aye?” the bearded smith
asked.

“Can I add elements to my
weapons?”

“Ahh, you mean to know of
your blade’s affinities?”

“Sure ...”

“It’s a simple matter. 
As I said before, your weapon takes in souls just like yourself, but what I
didn’t tell you is that your weapons have a temperament of their own too.  The
temperament affects what kind of weapon it’ll be.  At this stage your sword has
much potential.  There are many paths of growth open to it.  But you must take
heed.  The more you use your blade and the more souls it takes, the more
limited its temperament becomes,” Barrington explained.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that seasoned
weapons are like seasoned men and seasoned dogs.  You can’t teach them new
tricks.  You must soon choose what you want your weapon specialization to be or
it will be chosen for you.”

“What can I do to craft
the weapon that I want to craft?”

“Your weapons take their
cues from you.  Though they’ve already been crafted by others, and even used on
the battlefield, they are still in their infancy until they are wielded by
someone with a strong soul.  Your soul affects the weapon along with the souls
you take when you kill with the weapon.  Your will alone can temper the steel
in ways you can’t even fathom.  When you combine that with a compatible
orestone and a skilled blacksmith, then you can make some truly frightening
combinations.”

Sam still wasn’t quite
grasping what Barrington was telling him.

“So my soul and the souls
of my enemies affects how my weapon can grow?  But how?  How does a soul affect
a sword?”

“Another easy one.  Your
blade will react to your own temperament and your tactics in battle.  That will
affect the ways it can grow and what ores it is compatible with as you go
along.  It is a truly symbolic relationship for those who are cursed.  Most of
us only hold onto our quintessence because of our blades after all.”

“So what is the temperament
of my Rapier?”

“That I cannot tell ye. 
I know it can grow, but I do not speak its language.  Sedwin does.  That is why
he makes for a great apprentice.  Ask him about the blade’s temperament.”

Odd, how did the bear
know how to speak the language of the sword?  Regardless, Sam took it over to
him.

“Sedwin, can you tell me
the temperament of my Rapier?”

“Surely I can traveler! 
This is my best talent after all.  T’would be a shame to not use it.  Ahh, so
let’s see ...”

He carefully inspected
the Rapier in Sam’s hand.  Sam didn’t expect him to sniff the blade as well.

“There are still many
paths open to this one, but it does seem to specialize already.  It is a
bloodthirsty blade, but it likes to have its targets chosen carefully and it
prefers accurate blows over simple hacking.  It is quite compatible with you
and confident that it’ll grow strong in your hands.  You’ve awakened it
yourself, it seems.”

“Awakened?”

“You’re its first
master.  It’s your soul that gave it life.”

“Really?”

Sam thought that was
pretty cool.  Maybe all legendary weapons started out the same way.  They were
simple blades until the strength of powerful souls warped them into powerful
artifacts.

“Yes and it yearns for a
name.  Though, it’s not quite sure that it deserves one yet.  It will wait
until it has matured.”

“It’s really saying all
this?  How can it?”

“It doesn’t talk truly. 
Not like I can to you anyway.  No, it instead reaches out with its
temperament.  That’s a ‘language’ we animals understand fluently.  Only you men
are dulled to such a thing.  You can read each other fine enough, but not
nature.”

“Hmm ... what can I do
with it?  What path does it want to go down?”

“It doesn’t work that way,
I’m afraid.  You must lead it and not the other way around.”

“I should ask that
differently.  What is it good at?  I’d like to know what element I could
effectively add to it.”

“It is quite flexible at
this stage, but if you wanted, it would excel with the use of blightstone,
mithril, conductium, and raw glass stone refinement.  I hesitate to say it, but
it would also excel with other more esoteric types of ore.  My master doesn’t
handle those though.”

“What types of ore would
that be?”

Sedwin stared at Sam for
a long moment.  He seemed uncomfortable with the question.

“This one has a strong
affinity for the more chaotic ores.  Demon bone, hell metal, and soul essence. 
My master handles none of those.  You’ll have to find another smith, if one
even exists in these cursed lands.”

Videogame logic told Sam
that there had to be one at some point in the game.  Sam figured he could wait
it out since his weapon was headed down that path anyway.  Still, he was
curious about the first four orestones that Sedwin mentioned.

“What’s blightstone do?”

“Foul blightstone makes a
weapon poisonous to the touch.  Forging anything with blightstone is so
dangerous that Master Barrington normally wears special gloves for the process.”

Poison was a powerful
status effect.  Sam was even more curious as to how effective it would be
against the enemies.  He thought it would be a nice addition to his Dagger.

“What about mithril? 
What’s that do?”

“Mithril is the standard
upgrade ore.  It makes for the most sophisticated sort of weapon.  Weapons that
are refined with mithril are the most reliable sort of weapons, but they lack
many of the special components of weapons refined with other ores.  Most of the
legendary weapons of human heroes have been refined with large amounts of
mithril.  An unbreakable human will makes them durable weapons as well.”

A plain and powerful
weapon.  That was something to think about.  It was the path Sam normally used
for his weapons in the old game.  These new types of orestones sounded pretty
exciting though.

“Conductium?”

“Refinement with
conductium ore produces weapons that are adept at channeling and manipulating
the very air to create a lightning effect with each strike.  It is a favorite
of many demon hunters.”

That one sounded good to
Sam.  It would go perfectly with his quick strikes.

“And what about the glass
stone?”

“Raw glass stone produces
the most pure type of weapons.  Raw glass weapons gain strength at an
exponential rate very quickly.  Their growth potential however is capped much
lower than the rest and they are terribly brittle things.  Raw glass weapons typically
outstrip all other types in raw damage until the other weapons reach their
final levels of growth along with their master.  It is because raw glass
weapons lose their temperament in the refinement process.  They become silent
and are simple tools for the willful fighter, and able to be wielded by all. 
They are completely unable to resonate with their wielder however, which is a
strength of Awakened weapons like your Rapier.”