Mad gestured a thumbs up and left the pavilion.
Left alone, Zenos opened the blue-lit system menu. A bright button labeled [Alerts] with a separate, round [5] icon pulsated at the top of the menu. He opened the alert screen.
[You have (1) attribute re-spec available] the first notification read from the top of the alert list. [You have (2) trait points available] the next followed. [You have (10) talent points available.] [You have (1) new title available.] [You have (1) quest reward available.]Zenos closed the window and switched to his character menu. Above his attribute readout was a new button that read [Attribute Reset] and at the top of the window—above his own paper doll avatar—was his name, level, and class.
[Zenos.] [Level: 50.] [Class: Necromancer.]Did I choose that class? He looked down at his pale, white hand. It still looks the same, but in that place… I held out my hand and they appeared. Would that also work here?
Zenos straightened his arm and braced his palm. He made a slow breath and focused on the pavilion entrance. What were the words? he thought, squinted his eyes. Didn’t it go something like… “Arise?”
His eyes turned bright and orange motes of light were shed from the back of his hand.
[At-Will Ability: True Eyes of the Emperor Activated.]No, stop! Cancel!
Zenos shoved his hand under the cover of his bed roll and the light faded from his eyes. The motes that drifted above dimmed to glimmering dust before they finally faded away. His heart beat hard in his chest and he swallowed to please his chalky throat.
I can’t use that here. There’s no telling what would appear, and though Mad might have suspicions I’d… prefer not to explain an eight-foot tall skeleton.
There was a hesitation in his heart—a catch in his voice—whenever he considered confessing to Mad. There were times Zenos considered beneficial that Mad know about his player account, his origin, and the true nature of the gods. However, he could never say the words.
Yes, it’s better that I hide this ability. Mad should believe whatever he wants to believe, he thought. If he knew what I was, he would never be the same.
Zenos wobbled as he pressed himself up from his bed roll. His legs felt unsteady, having been without pressure in quite some time, but he found standing to be surprisingly comfortable. He touched his stomach and knew he hadn’t lost weight or muscle mass. Apart from the immediate disorientation, he appeared healthy and functional.
This is also the system’s doing, he thought and swished his arm through the air. And my full reaction time feels faster, even though my agility didn’t change. Do all these changes have to do with that announcement?
Zenos flexed his hand. Version 2.0.
A tall pair of brown boots were placed on the floor by the pavilion’s entry flap. They were taller than Zenos’ previous boots and looked rugged, with cleats on the sole for stability in the snow. He sat on the stool and slipped them over his socks, tied them tight around his feet.
[Mountaineer’s Boots] a system notification read. [Rarity: White (Common).] [Quality: 75.] [Defense: 20.] [Durability: 100.] [Enchantments: None.] [Improvement Grade: A.]Zenos closed the notification. Three new quality categories, he thought. That must be another improvement to the system. Was all this Gaia’s doing? He sighed. I’ll check the player manual for changes later.
He lifted the flap of the tent and stepped outside. His boots immediately crunched on a thin layer of hard-packed snow. It was the middle of the night, but his eyes were already adjusted to dim candlelight, and after a moment the towering iron face of the dungeon gate became clear. They were certainly among the ruins, but the dwarf statues did not whistle and their eyes remained dark.
Ahead of him was a firepit setup outside his pavilion, and a smaller, square tent that he surmised belonged to Mad. Wood was piled beside Mad’s tent and equipment, pans, and supplies were piled around the cold firepit. Zenos felt a smile come on.
This mess is just like him, he thought.
Mad was in the corner of his vision, standing on the roof of a ruin. He was hidden in shadow, but his location was obvious by the red health bar that was visible over his head. [Target has 6,000 HP remaining] the system reported.
He’s not a target, Zenos thought and the health bar disappeared from his HUD. But to think he had such a ridiculous amount of health in the first place. Just how powerful are the Gold Rank adventurers?
Zenos waved at Mad and the distant shadow waved back. “Anima, Level 1,” Zenos heard, and a thread of hair turned white with light. It swam through the air by its unsettling undulations and came to float above Zenos.
“That’s an invitation,” he muttered and started into the ankle-high snow.
The anima followed him to the wall of Mad’s ruin, where Zenos set his cleats on an icy ladder and climbed to the roof. Mad was on the roof with a pair of black spectacles in his mitts. “Leave us, please,” Mad said to the anima. “I need the darkness.”
The glowing thread dimmed and turned dark.
“What are you doing?” Zenos asked as he blinked furiously, readjusted his eyes.
“These are called binoculars,” Mad said. “They’re an import from Atilonia. They work like a telescope, but these ones are fit with something the Atilonians call night-vision. You can see night as day, even without spells.”
“That would come in handy right now,” Zenos said.
Mad chuckled. “They’re dialed in for a great distance,” he said. “You’d only stumble over your own feet.”
“Are you looking for something?”
Mad nodded and lowered the binoculars, held them out in his hand. “Here, take a look.”
Zenos took the device, which was heavier than he expected. He settled it over his nose like one would wear reading spectacles and studied the distant ocean as if it were lit under green light.
“Marvelous,” he said.
“Adjust your angle a few degrees up. Watch the horizon.”
Zenos did his best to follow instructions. “Should I see something?”
“A long shadow,” he said.
Zenos narrowed his eyes and scanned the horizon. He turned back and forth, until he spotted a star disappear just above the water. “I think I see it,” he said. “There’s a shadow swallowing stars.”
“That’s a cargo ship,” Mad said as he folded his arms. “I can’t be sure, but I think it’s Atilonian. I don’t know who else would sail with their lights off at this time of night.”
“Isn’t it heading west?”
“That’s right.”
“And Atilonia is to the east,” Zenos said.
“They trade with the western continent, but if you’re above board, why run silent at a handful of knots?”
Zenos lowered his binoculars and perked a curious brow.
“It’s traveling slowly,” he clarified with a smile.
“You brought these binoculars just to watch a ship?”
“There’s still a world beyond this island, Zenos,” he said. “The islanders have started to return, and the stories they tell… well, I’m more worried than ever.”
Zenos handed the binoculars to Mad and fit his cold hands in the pockets of his mint-green greatcoat. “Because you’ve been planning to send me to the mainland.”
Mad nodded. “You were barely alive, but you didn’t appear to thirst, or hunger,” he said. “Your body didn’t thin, or seem to age at all. So, while you slept, I took what steps were necessary to plan for your departure.”
“I take it you’re staying,” Zenos said.
Mad made a somber smile and shrugged his shoulders. “Someone has to keep an eye on the dungeon,” he said.
Zenos sighed. “That’s the way it is.”
“Anima, Level 1,” Mad said and another thread appeared to brighten the area. “Remember I said I’d reward you for completing your first quest?”
Zenos frowned at him, eyes thin as they recovered from the light. “What about it?”
Mad reached into the pocket of his coat and retrieved a black mask. “Take it,” he said and presented it in his hand.
It was fair to say Zenos was uncertain about touching black objects. They had a habit of causing his HUD to glitch and his memories to go missing or become jumbled. Since Mad was holding it in his mitt, Zenos thought it was probably fine, but he did touch it with the most tepid grasp.
“It’s made from the wood of trees found in the Black Forest,” Mad said. “I carved it myself.”
Zenos turned it in his hand. There were no sockets for eyes or holes for the nose and mouth, and its surface was perfectly smooth. It looked shaped to fit comfortably on the face.
[Death Mask,] the system identified the item. [Rarity: Cyan (Unique).] [Quality: 100.] [Defense: 10.] [Durability: 100.] [Enchantments: None.] [Improvement Grade: D.] [Additional Effect: Suppresses health, mana, and player status information.]“The Crypt is a group of Necromancers in Atheria,” Mad said. “I learned a few tricks from them, like how to work the black wood. Death masks like these are traditional for some Echokhet hunters, but they’re also used by adventurers when they want to hide their conditions.”
Zenos smiled. “You made this for my eyes, didn’t you?”
“I can’t have you startling children.” Mad smiled back. “Or, the inquisition. You might get questions if you wear the mask, but once you have guild identification, no one will bat an eye.”
“Thanks, Mad.”
[Quest: Liar’s Mask has been completed,] a system notification read.“Try it on! I’m pretty sure it fits.”
Zenos lifted the mask over his face and it sucked into place, fastened to his cheek bones like it had stuck to a magnet. While it covered his entire face, it didn’t obstruct his view, and it appeared nothing had changed. He only recognized its presence by its weight, the itch of wood, his own stuffy breath, and—of course—the new buff present on his HUD display.
[All auras suppressed,] the buff tool tip read.Zenos peeled the mask off and took a refreshing breath of air. “That’s not something I want to wear all the time,” he said.
“But it’s something you’ll need,” Mad added. “Mana suppression, sad as it is, has become a daily habit in Atilonia.”
“Because of the war?”
“Among other things.”
They chatted under the anima light for a while longer, then made to return to the camp. “We’ll leave at first light,” Mad said from the mouth of his tent. “The sooner you’re in the guild’s protection, the better. Understood?”
Zenos nodded. “I understand,” he said and Mad closed his tent flap.
The pavilion was the same as Zenos left it, with the candles just a little lower. He untied his snow-crusted boots and left them on the floor by the door and set his [Death Mask] on the table, beside the towels. It belonged in his inventory, but he didn’t want to reveal that to Mad. It was a small blessing that the adventurer didn’t notice the broken sword Zenos swung at the dungeon ruler, or maybe he thought the sword had come from the floor.
This is really where we part ways, Mad? he thought as he unbuttoned his coat and folded it in a neat square. It’s not that thought you’d be coming with me, but… it’s been a long time since I traveled alone.
Zenos sighed as thoughts of the demon lords flit through his head. He made a slight, unwitting smile. But, you’re all still there, aren’t you? Maybe one day I could bring you back.
A hand brushed the Zenos’ shoulder and he turned.
“Mad, you can’t sneak up on me like that,” he said.
There was a woman behind him. Her shape was somewhat indistinct, but the body of glimmering blue dust certainly had the curves and posture of a lady. The face, outlined in light, had a familiar appearance, but it was featureless like his mask.
“Anton?” Zenos heard the woman’s voice in the back of his mind.
His eyes rounded. Jessica? he thought.
Her figure became unstable, its motes of light flickered and trembled. Zenos sensed a fleeting terror through his Eyes of the Emperor and the woman reached for his face.
“Who are you?” she asked fearfully, and her dust dimmed. It scattered and faded into the air.
Tears streamed from Zenos’ eyes, but he didn’t understand why. Jessica, he thought again. Where did I hear that name?
He checked his shoulder and saw his long shadow, made dark by the candlelight. What words were imparted to him on the cloud-top mountain came to the front of his mind.
“You will be challenged by everything.”
