Skibabylon
Draw Pain
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Feral Wolf
0/100 HP
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Encounter Complete
All Party Members gain 300 XP
All Party Members gain 200 Gold
Level Up!
Skibabylon: Level 7
Skibabylon: +50 HP
The wolf shrivelled up and collapsed, its lifeforce drained, and Grey collapsed onto the side of the cave, glad they’d finally broke the XP threshold. It wasn’t easy to kill things when your class was entirely focused around healing other people, but luckily they’d been able to outfit their abilities entirely with buffs to try and compensate. Draw Pain had been surprisingly handy as well: Grey had forgotten just how much damage it often dealt.
Grey practically had the entirety of the Rocklands to themself. It had led to a few sticky situations where they’d had to flee from large groups of wolves, but they hadn’t died while out here. The few other players in the area seemed to be heading towards the Dragon Graveyard that Amelia had been on her way to, their levels too high to bother with the small fry. Grey had asked a few of those players what was there, but all they talked about was loot and an infamously rough bossfight with a hydra: nothing unusual that could make Amelia act the way she did.
What they had said to James a day ago was still weighing on their mind. James had known Amelia longer than they or Patrick had, and although they knew he said it out of anger or shock, the idea he thought so lowly of her was one they couldn’t shake. Grey knew what it was like to be stifled and protected by someone who didn’t care for them at heart. Although they doubted it, they hoped it wasn’t what was happening to James.
“You know,” they shouted at the cave behind them, “you are terrible at hiding.”
They heard a low growl and almost expected another wolf, but instead Knight Oblivia walked out of the shadows.
“I’m going to be frank, you need to learn how to follow people better,” they told her. “First Lambda and Gungnir let their deal slip, and now this. It’s almost like you want to be found.”
“You’re a perceptive one, I’ll give you that,” she replied.
Grey stood up, brushing some dust from their clothes. “Why are you following us?”
“You damn well know why. It’s because of Draconautis.”
“The zombie dragon?”
Oblivia cocked her head. “It’s a dragon, huh? Who would have thought it?”
“Judging by the others, It mindwiped us when it killed us.”
“I got the same, but for some reason parts of my memory remained…I can’t say why.”
“What do you remember?”
She paused. “Nothing I’d want to tell you.”
Grey let out an exasperated sigh. “We’re all in the same boat, Oblivia. Just help us out here.”
“All I remember was waking up with this bitter taste in my mouth, like I’d just drank a very dark coffee.”
“You sure that’s all?”
“Cieth is the only person I know who survived the memory wipe completely.”
She clearly wanted to change the subject, and Grey knew better than to press her. They’d get what she really knew in due time.
“And now there’s a second. GlassAngel, our resident Saber.”
Oblivia scoffed. “Another fool with insight.”
Grey started walking towards Oblivia. “You’re chattier than usual.”
Oblivia raised her sword and pointed it at Grey. “I’m not trying to be friendly. I’m here to make you stop.”
Grey stood still. “Then explain it to me. Why are you doing what you’re doing?”
“Originally I was following you to make sure you didn’t do something stupid. I hired Lambda and Gungnir to follow you while I was offline. And the first time we lose sight of you, you chuck yourself into that monster’s waiting arms. Keep playing the game for all I care, but if you investigate this any further, you and your party won’t be able to take another step in this world.”
Grey jammed the staff into the ground and folded their arms. “You’re a player too, Oblivia. Why are you getting in our way? If we can get to the bottom of this, we can protect other players from what’s lurking here, and stop them reaching the same fate as your party.”
Oblivia’s hold on her sword wavered. “How do you know about them?”
“Educated guess. I overheard your conversation with Cieth back at the first village, and we know about the disappearances. I put two and two together. I’m sorry about what happened to them, nothing we do will bring them back. But, if we work together-”
“That’s the reason I’m trying to stop you!” She screamed, before her voice returned to normal. “Don’t you idiots get it? I don’t want another party being put through this shit. I can’t have anyone else live like this.”
“So why choose ignorance over getting rid of the root cause? There’s only so much one player can do in hiding this, and I don’t know why you’d choose that over fixing things...unless you’re working with Kabletech.”
Grey wrapped their hands around their staff again, ready to fight if they needed to.
“No! I’d never work with those bastards!” She gripped her sword tighter and tried to sound more reasonable. “I tried to dig deeper. But every time I did, I was pushed back. There are worse things down there than Draconautis. I only half remember them, but I still see them in my sleep...even with the mind wipe, I don’t think I could ever forget. Maybe you’re special, and you can buck the system somehow. Hell, I don’t know why Draconautis tried to kill you at the start of the game, maybe that proves you’re worth something. But seeing that thing has killed you twice so far, I very much doubt it.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Grey pulled the staff out and turned to leave. “If there’s one thing I’ve learnt after all this time, it’s that being special doesn’t get you as far as determination does. And for someone who insisted on rising up the ranks in the PvP scene, you sure seem to give up easily.”
“This isn’t a fucking game! What, you think getting the best gear will allow you to save everyone? You think I want to do this alone? Determination and willpower and friendship will get you shit here. Sable Online will kill you if you keep going, and believe it or not, I don’t want you to die. But if you and the rest of your friends are that enthusiastic about throwing your lives away, then do it. I clearly can’t stop you anymore.”
Grey looked over their shoulder, their eyes filled with a raw hatred that made Oblivia falter for a second.
“People have tried to kill me before. I lived then. I’ll live now.”
Before they went, they opened the menu to check their stats.
Skibabylon
INT: 1
Grey smiled and kept walking. “See you around, Knight Oblivia.”
>>>
Dream Bonus
Dream of the Armour
STR+5 for 3 hours for Armournauts.
Current STR: 30
Buy the Destroka Resurrection expansion for $60 to make use of this Dream Bonus
Patrick groaned as he was apparently not able to get a decent buff from these dreams. He had been grinding out in the Rocklands, but was forced to retreat after he ran out of mana in the middle of a fight, and decided to sleep to regain his health. Still, he had managed to climb to Level 8 in the meantime, which was enough for him to be getting on with.
He climbed out of bed and left into the main tavern. Of everyone in the party, even though he’d been the one to get the information about the weird happenings of Sable Online, he was also the most sceptical about them. Kabletech was a corrupt conglomerate, and the reason he was still following this bizarre idea was the forlorn chance he could mess with them without having to actively revolt and risk his life. However, the idea they’d make people disappear because they found a glitch in a video game seemed excessive. Both Amelia and James said they saw the zombie dragon, but he remembered nothing about it, and no matter how much he trusted or cared about them, he’d always trust his own eyes and memory first and foremost.
There were more players than usual in the tavern, all equipped with very fancy looking gear and having levels in the 60s. He had no idea why there were so many, Kries had been barren outside of NPCs since he got here. He turned to the table next to him, saying “Hey, do you know why there are so many people here?”
His heart sank when he realised the people he asked were Lambda and Gungnir.
“You know what?” He sighed. “I’ll ask someone el-”
“Apparently there’s a new raid in the city somewhere,” Gungnir explained, smiling. “Some high level guild was prepping to take it on. Think the devs realised how sparse this area is, the whole region’s been getting new content. I dunno, never been a big raid guy myself.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
Lambda took a sip from his tankard, while Gungnir looked confused. “Have we met before? You look familiar…”
“I’m usually with Cieth’s party. You slammed a scythe down in the middle of our table.”
“Oh, you’re a friend of Cieth?” Gungnir said. “Nice! We met him while we were going through side quests, nice guy. I liked the girl he was travelling with, what was her name again?”
“GlassAngel,” Lambda said, glancing at Patrick. “They were good players. Helped us out with that Goblin Cave. Got some nice loot with the gold we found in that place. I don’t remember meeting you before, though.”
“You were ranting about something crazy about the INT stat. You almost picked a fight with us.”
Lambda looked confused. “I’m not really the kind to pick fights with random people. I think I’d remember that.”
“How the hell could you forget that? Unless…”
Patrick opened up the menu, and he finally understood what had happened.
Lambda
INT: 0
Patrick laughed, trying to brush it off.
“I’m sorry, I got you mixed up with someone else. Nice to meet you, thanks for helping out the others. Not gonna lie, they really needed the help. See you soon, we should be friends at some point, bye!”
Lambda and Gungnir looked between each other, trying to figure out what the mage was on about. Patrick didn’t really care as he walked away, pulling his hat down like it would hide everyone from seeing the thoughts racing through his head. This must have been what happened to them. James and Amelia had gained INT by keeping their memories, and he and Grey never had it because they forgot. Now he was seeing it happen before his eyes. It was still hard to believe they had been killed by some kind of zombie dragon, but he couldn’t deny what was happening any longer.
He then proceeded to walk into James.
Patrick instinctively pushed him away, while James looked at him bewildered.
“You ok?” James asked.
“I’m sorry my...hat was too low,” Patrick lied.
“See, this is why I’ve never liked the floppy wizard hat, cone ones are way better.” James said, checking Patrick’s stats/ “Level 8. Not bad, considering we’ve just had side quests.”
“There were some simple kill quests for me to do. Gave me a good lot of XP. They’re from an NPC near the potion shop, wears a big green robe.”
“Yeah, I’ll get around to those. You wanna work together?”
Patrick shook his head. “I’m finishing for tonight, sorry.”
“It’s ok,” James paused for a moment. “I’ll be alright on my own. We’re glad that you joined us, by the way. We get why you don’t play them often, but it’s good to be playing games with you again.”
Patrick smirked. “Yeah, as much as I hate wearing this helmet, I couldn’t keep turning you guys down forever. I can’t even remember the last time I played an RPG with you guys. Just wish that thing’s didn’t turn out...like this.”
“It’ll be ok. We’ll figure this out.”
“We can play Final Fantasy XIII for the tenth time instead.”
James shook his head. “As much as I like that game, this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Something’s wrong with this game...and over the past few days I’ve realised, even if it’s scary, it’s a little exciting, isn’t it?”
Patrick looked almost shocked. “You saw what it did to Amelia, right? You must have gone through the same shit she did. And it’s attacked Lambda and Gungnir now, not even the normal players are safe from this. You and Amelia could be targeted at any time, and you think that’s exciting?”
James smiled meekly. “Maybe I’m just trying to rationalise the situation in a weird way. Aren’t you kinda curious, too?”
“I’m here to fuck with Kabletech. My parents ran across the whole damn world to escape people like them only to fall into their waiting arms. I don’t care what the truth about this game is. If unearthing these mysteries can even just annoy the people at the top, that’s what I’m gonna do.” Patrick opened the menu before looking James dead in the eyes. “Be careful. The monster’s watching...I know he is.”
Player logged out. Shutting down headset. Have a nice day.
Patrick stats: Level: 8 VIT: 150/150 STR: 35 DEF: 10 DEX: 20 SPL: 25 INT: 1 Mana: 250/250
Grey stats: Level: 7 VIT: 200/200 STR: 15 DEF: 15 DEX: 10 SPL: 30 INT: 1 Healing Pool: 600/600
