Death March Read online

  But I was going to win. Whatever she had planned, I’d make her regret it.

  “Fine,” I said. “Whatever. Let’s go through all the classes in as much detail as you can provide. Let’s go through the magic users next.”

  I forced myself to focus as Nixie reviewed the wizards, summoners, witches/warlocks, clerics, oracles, battlemages and enchanters. Nearly half of Euphoria’s classes were arcane related, but the more I learned about the class system the more that made sense. The fighter class alone allowed for incredible diversity as you leveled up, making it so that you didn’t need a half-dozen combat classes. The same went for straight rogues, wizards, and clerics. These were the four base level classes that in and of themselves allowed for incredible customization down the road.

  The more specific classes like enchanter or darkblade needed a unique setup from the get-go; a particular blend of arcane and combat, or arcane and stealth. And of course magic was the most versatile combo maker there was, hence the six arcane classes.

  I don’t know how much time passed, but when Nixie finished reviewing the last class I got up and started to pace, arms crossed, frowning at the endless expanse of white space.

  “It’s a big decision,” said Nixie, taking my place in the armchair and looping a leg over the armrest. “Want some help figuring out what you should play?”

  “No, I think I’ve made up my mind,” I said. “I don’t want straight combat, so the knight, fighter, and ranger are out. The arcane classes take too long to become independent, so they’re out too.”

  “You plan to adventure alone?” asked Nixie. “Most players band together to coordinate their skills.”

  “Trust me, I know. But I may have to hit the ground running and get the hell out of Dodge the minute I spawn. Needing six or seven levels of arcane classes to be able to do so isn’t an option.”

  Nixie shrugged. “Your call.”

  “Yeah.” I stopped before my avatar. “Ranger is tempting for the survival skills. But what’s the point of being able to make it alone if I can be easily found? Nope. It’s going to have to be a rogue class for me.”

  General flexibility or a focus on stealth, magic, and assassination? Again, when I really thought about it, it wasn’t really a choice. “I’ll take darkblade.”

  “Very well.” Gold light shimmered around my avatar, and he assumed his haughty stance once more, curved dagger in hand.

  I was starting to grow impatient, which I knew was a bad thing during character gen. But I needed to know what Brianna was up to. What did she have in store?

  “Before we get into your stats, I can give you the following introduction.” Nixie’s voice was all business. “Euphoria is unlike any MMORPG game you have played before. Your every interaction with Euphoria is filtered through your character sheet.”

  I nodded. Sounded obvious.

  “For example, your ability to pick up a stone will depend on your strength score—”

  “Nixie, I’ve played lots of games before. This is pretty obvious.”

  “Keep listening,” she said, sounding annoyed for the first time, “because most games limit your in-game abilities only when it comes to strength, speed, resilience and so forth. Physical characteristics. In Euphoria, your social and mental abilities are also filtered.”

  This grabbed my attention. I’d never heard of this before. “Wait. You’re saying the game will make me dumber if I have a low intelligence score?”

  “In a way.” She held up her palm, cutting me off. “No, we won’t edit your brain or actually lower your IQ. However, a low intelligence score will result in the game making certain things harder for you. The lower your intelligence score, the more complex and hard to understand any text will become. In extreme cases, they might all become completely illegible. A low charisma score will result in NPCs reacting poorly to your presence, and both intelligence and charisma will control what you actually say, regardless of what you mean to say.”

  I let that sit for a bit. “So if I go in there with a super low charisma, I could end up insulting people even if I try to compliment them?”

  Nixie flashed me a grin. “I knew you were sharp. Exactly. I’ve found that most people treat their social scores like dump stats if they’re not directly relevant to their class talents. Don’t make that mistake in Euphoria. Or, if you choose to go that route, do so knowingly.”

  “Great,” I said. “So as a level one noob, I’m going to be dumb and insulting as well as weak and helpless. Man. I hate level one.”

  Nixie winked at me. “It gets better as you level up. So. Here’s your sheet.”

  It appeared before me on a slanted blue screen. I read it quickly, devouring it with all the interest and anxiety of an experienced gamer.

  Chris Meadows

  Species: Human

  Class: Darkblade

  Level: 1

  Total XP: 0

  Unused XP: 0

  Guild: None

  Title(s): None

  Domain(s): None

  Allies: None

  Cumulative Wealth: 0

  Attributes

  Strength: 8

  *Dexterity: 10 (+2 darkblade class bonus)

  Constitution: 8

  *Intelligence: 8

  Wisdom: 8

  Charisma: 8

  Mana: 1/1

  Skills

  Stealth: Basic (I)

  - The shadows welcome you, and you intuitively know how to use them to mask your presence.

  - Basic (I) scales off dexterity and gains a bonus from wisdom. Allows you to evade cursory detection if you move slowly. Unlocks stealth-related talents.

  Backstab

  - Attacks dealt when an opponent is unable to defend themselves will strike a vital spot for extra damage.

  - Backstab scales off dexterity and gains a bonus from strength and wisdom.

  Talents

  Shadow Step

  - You have the ability to move through one shadow and emerge from another close by.

  Mana Drain: 1.

  I looked up at Nixie. “That’s it?”

  “The beauty in the Euphoria system lies within the interplay of those basic stats,” she said. “Unfortunately, I’m prohibited from going any deeper into that aspect of the game. Now, being human allows you to raise a single stat by two points.”

  My first real decision. I fought hard to keep my disappointment and shock at bay. How long had it been since I’d played a first level character? I was used to sheets that were dozens of pages thick. This didn’t even feel like a real character.

  Focus, I chided myself. Not that there was much to deliberate. The asterisks next to dexterity and intelligence probably indicated that they were the primary stats for my class. That made sense; I’d most likely be gaining access to my magic a few levels on, which meant my intelligence was going to be key.

  But that was a few levels down the road, and right now I needed to survive level one. Boost my con to increase my durability? No. If I got in a fight with Brianna and her friends, I was dead. Boosting my constitution to ten wouldn’t make a lick of difference. I needed to max my stealth.

  I wanted to laugh. ‘Max my stealth’. As if Basic (I) based off a dex of twelve was going to give Brianna any trouble.

  I clenched my fists again, then forced myself to relax. I didn’t have any hard evidence yet that I was going to be screwed over. All she’d done was make sure I looked like, well, me. That was hardly proof of dastardly intentions, was it?

  Who was I kidding.

  “Dex, please.”

  My score pinged and turned into a twelve.

  “Woo hoo,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Most players are despondent when they first view their sheets,” said Nixie. “But don’t sweat it. All spawning zones feature level-appropriate challenges. Play it smart, play it safe, and you’ll find you
rself gaining power faster than you can imagine.” She grinned. “And as you know, power progression is one of the best parts of the game.”

  “Yeah, true.” I sighed. What had I expected? “All right. What about my gear?”

  “It’s what you see on your avatar,” she said. “You begin with a dagger and peasant’s garb.”

  “Starting gold?”

  “None,” said Nixie. “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault. Anyways, Brianna promised me all kinds of loot as soon as I got into the game. Even if she doesn’t give me something amazing, I’m sure she’ll hook me up with something.”

  Nixie gave me a hopeful smile. “Well, that’s about it. All that’s left to determine is whether you want to begin the game unaffiliated or as part of a guild. That will in turn determine where you spawn, give you access to guild resources, and modify your interactions with NPCs of different guilds.”

  “Cruel Winter,” I said with a sense of misgiving. Even if she was going to give me a tough time, having access to guild resources and support would be invaluable in Death March mode.

  “Very well. Spawning location set.” Nixie hesitated. “Best of luck, Chris. I hope Euphoria fulfills your every dream. I’ll see you in six months.”

  “Thanks, Nixie.” I hesitated. “There’s no way to get hold of you once I’m in, is there?”

  “No,” she said. “Not at your difficulty level.”

  That in and of itself made me hesitate. Having Nixie in my corner while dealing with Brianna would have made a huge difference. But so be it. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and gave her a grim nod. “I’m ready.”

  “Very well. Good luck hug?”

  I laughed in sheer surprise, but the concern on her face caused my eyes to fill with tears. What the hell? I rubbed the tears away. Why was it that kindness often hit you harder than cruelty? Nixie stepped into my arms and gave me a tight squeeze. She smelled nice, and for a moment I simply held her tight. Then she stepped back, adjusting her bangs self-consciously, and smiled.

  “Insertion beginning in three, two, one…”

  My mind stretched nearly to the breaking point as I entered Euphoria Online.

  My awareness expanded beyond my body, attempting to encompass an infinitude whose composite elements – mountains, hamlets, the thundering waves of an ocean in storm, the deep silence of an ancient forest – defied my ability to hold them all simultaneously within my mind.

  They flashed by, intertwined by bands of golden light, and for a glorious, sanity-threatening second I was a silver fish evading a shadowed predator, a child sitting sullenly in a corner, a rutted street, a morass of broken rock, the sound of laughter on the wind, a bottle half filled with liquor, an algae-covered pond, an eagle spiraling over a battlefield –

  I screamed, and my consciousness imploded, reducing to just myself. My mind reeled, and after that brief glimpse of the immensity of Euphoria I felt so painfully limited—and then even that comparative awareness faded. Leaving me standing in a meadow, the sun brilliant overhead, blindingly so.

  I raised my hand and squinted against the sunlight. A breeze whispered past, and I thought I heard echoes in its passage, but I was mistaken. Instead, it bore the scent of pine sap, of grass and pollen, of the great wilderness that surrounded me, and I realized that I stood in a highland meadow, tall grass undulating like waves before the wind.

  Euphoria.

  I was in.

  My heart pounded. I turned, trying to contain my excitement, to take in the immensity of the landscape, to get my bearings like a professional gamer and start taking control, but I couldn’t focus on any single part.

  Snow-clad mountains formed a formidable wall to my left, their slopes scarred by deep ravines and covered in a dark forest that grew right down to the edge of the meadow. A beaten path extended toward a distant lake of hammered silver. A large, ruined building stood a dozen yards off to my right, the meadow ending beyond it at a cliff, past which extended a rolling land made dim by distance, the mountains on the far horizon reduced to pale-blue silhouettes. The sky was vast and filled with towering cumulus clouds like the anvils of the gods themselves.

  Exhilaration filled me, and I let out a raucous whoop as I spun and grasped at my head. My VR previews had been an insult to the reality of this place. I’d never imagined it would be this beautiful, that the colors would glow, that everything would appear so raw and wondrous and vast.

  Grinning like a fool, I turned to examine the meadow’s sole building.

  That’s odd.

  What had once been a longhall was all but destroyed. Its stone walls were blackened, and its roof collapsed. A large part of the front wall had been knocked inward as if by a wrecking ball.

  I studied it, my elation giving way to confusion.

  Had the guild just been raided? If not, what a weird choice for a spawning point. Where were the vendors or the bank?. Even in the most basic games you could expect a quest giver to get you started.

  The wind moaned through the longhall’s gaping windows, and I felt the first prickles of unease. Where was everybody? For that matter, where was Brianna and her crew? Why weren’t they here as planned?

  I turned back to the footpath and sighted down its length. It curved past the distant lake to a small village of exceedingly modest appearance, and — looming above it on a mountain bluff—perched a massive castle.

  From this distance I couldn’t make out much detail, but the building’s presence provided a measure of comfort. At least I hadn’t been stranded in the middle of nowhere.

  Frowning, I approached the ruins, then stopped. The ground was strangely flat, artificially so. I crouched and parted the high grass, revealing slabs of stone under a thin layer of dirt. I yanked out some of the grass and brushed away the earth. White stone, with what looked like a faded crimson stripe, disappeared into the grass on both sides.

  Why would the spawning point for the Cruel Winter guild be so completely abandoned?

  I strode up to the ruined longhall. The destruction hadn’t been recent; weeds had grown thickly inside the blackened walls, and swallow’s nests littered the eaves.

  Near what had been the front door, I found an old sign. Two rusted chains trailed from its top, indicating that it had once hung beneath a beam. Welcome to Cruel Winter, it read in a medieval script with the faded image of a white wolf’s head beneath.

  I tossed the sign aside.

  What had happened here?

  I cupped my hands to my mouth. “Brianna?” The vast landscape devoured my paltry yell, and I became painfully aware of my lack of armor and the fact I only had a small dagger for defense. “Brianna!”

  Nothing.

  I clenched my fists and cursed myself for a fool. Why had I trusted her? Why had I thought she’d play this straight? I’d no idea what she was playing at, but I wouldn’t stand around here waiting for her. Games rewarded initiative. I’d head down to the town and discover what was up. As a guild member in my spawn zone, I should be safe. Right?

  I crossed the meadow, my awe at Euphoria’s beauty replaced by doubt and unease. When I reached the far side where the path sloped steeply down toward the far lake, I stopped.

  Something was wrong with the village. Even at this distance, I could tell that half the buildings were little more than ruins. No people walked down there, either. No signs of life at all.

  Fear gripped my gut. Forcing myself to take measured breaths, I looked up at the distant castle. No pennants fluttered in the wind. Its drawbridge was lowered over the chasm that separated it from the road. Large holes were obvious in its vine-covered walls. Buzzards circled slowly overhead.

  Movement drew my attention toward the tree line. My heart hammered. I rested my hand on my dagger’s pommel. It might look pathetic, but it provided a modicum of comfort. “Brianna? What the hell are you playing at?”
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br />   Brianna didn’t step out from the trees. Instead, two massive figures emerged. They each stood about seven or eight feet tall, with huge sloping shoulders and great bellies under their hide armor. Their skin was gray and splotched with liver marks, but their faces were what evoked terror.

  Narrow eyes, bulbous noses, and mouths that were wide gashes filled with sharp teeth and massive twin tusks. Their ears were pointed and tufted with bristly hair, and even from where I stood, their rancid reek of old sweat nauseated me.

  I couldn’t move. Each of them held a tree limb larger than I was. They stopped and stared back, equally surprised. Fighting them would be impossible.

  What the hell are two ogres doing in a newbie zone?

  They exchanged a glance and split up, each moving wide to flank me. In their small eyes I saw a terrifying combination of avarice, hunger, and delight.

  “Shit!” I started to backpedal. “Shit, shit, shit!”

  They moved slowly, not wanting to startle me, but each of their steps was deceptively long. In a matter of moments, I’d be flanked. What could I do? Stealth, Basic (I)? The very thought made me want to laugh and sob at the same time.

  Backstab?

  Nope. I had only one option.

  I spun on my heel and broke into an all-out sprint. Terror gave me wings. The long grass thrashed at my knees as I ran toward the far edge of the meadow. Both ogres bellowed and broke into a run. I felt as if I were trying to outrace an avalanche.

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  The far end of the meadow ended in a series of cascading cliffs. None of them more than a drop of a dozen yards. If I could get over the edge, drop down into a ravine, and activate Basic Stealth—

  Something hit me between my shoulder blades and lifted me off my feet. Pain wrenched my body, and I flew.

  I hit the ground, rolled several times, and came to a stop. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. I strained, but all I could do was make a high-pitched whistling sound. Pain enveloped me, like I was on fire.