The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

"The other room is empty now, it just contains the King's pet bat. Not sure what else it would have been used for," DicingDevil said.

"He has a pet bat? Awfully fancy, this monarch, wonder where he keeps his slimes, giant rats, and spiders," responded Crucis, ducking into the last unexplored room.

The door to this room was painted across with gold and red lyre. Crucis wasn't sure what this image signified, and he couldn't see any sign of instruments in this room. While the King's study had contained a piano, this room was almost empty.

Stepping over the soft, torn pink carpet, which had silver spiral patterns across its edges, Crucis saw that there was a small creature caged in the corner. The rest of the room was empty, although there seemed to be a few scratch-marks on the floor which may represent furniture having been removed. Squinting in the direction of the cage, Crucis saw that there was a small cupboard behind it. However, as soon as he approached it, he heard a loud, guttural hissing noise, and the cage started to shake violently.

He kept his distance for the moment, and the creature relaxed and began squeaking out a strange, slightly childish song, like a suffocating songbird. What a strange bat.

As the rest of the group slowly made their way into the room, Crucis asked Grisier to cast [Conjure Light]. As Grisier's spell lit up the room, Crucis could see that the creature in the cage did resemble a bat, or a large sparrow drenched in oil, but seemed to have some colourful feathers in small patches across its back. Kneeling down, he could see that the cage had a small inscription beneath, saying 'Flair Bird.'

"Anyone know what a 'flair bird' is?" Crucis asked.

"Those are, like, a species of colourful birds towards the North. They look a bit like colourful, small parakeets, but I think that the flair bird only exists in this game," Akshel replied.

"I see. How did you hear about them, by the way, Nature Boy?"

"I used to be into birding, so I keep an eye out for these things. There was a book about it in the hunting reservation, they're one of the species it's forbidden to hunt. Why are you asking about them?"

"This cage says it's for a flair bird, not a bat."

DicingDevil and Akshel came closer, to investigate, and Crucis stepped away to give them room.

"Yeah, wait, this bat has feathers," DicingDevil said dryly, "It's a bit hard to make out in this room, though, and usually we have to escape this area before it caves in, so we had just assumed it was a bat. I think there's an oil lamp right behind it, so maybe it is drenched in oil or something. It doesn't have a name-tag, but it says it's level 30."

"Yeah, this does look like an under-the-weather flair bird," Akshel added. "I can't see what species it is, but the King seems to have named it 'Nil Nisi Bonum,' sounds like Latin but not sure what it means. Can't Mages name their summons?"

"They can, at higher levels," Grisier confirmed. "And necromancers can revive creatures and name them, I saw a guy with an undead giant rat following him around. The creature doesn't separate from the necromancer until the creature dies. By the time players can use spells like [Reborn], they'd be able to revive much more exotic species. However, these creatures require occasional MP investment to keep them in control, or the magic animating them will turn them into a hostile undead from time to time."

"I see. I'd guess that you can't attack your own summons or creatures," Crucis said, "so maybe the King was trying to get around this by dousing it in oil, hoping that it would die? The game might not pick this up as an attack."

"Why would he kill his own creature?"

"He wasn't able to use magic any more, since he had reincarnated as a warrior. This means that he couldn't dedicate MP to keeping the weird bat-bird in control, and it could have become hostile. It's also animated by magic, so if it went rogue then the magic could also become unpredictable."

"That's true. And it would probably have required plenty of MP to reanimate this bird, since it is a rare species, so the magic invested in it could be quite powerful if it went rogue. Actually, I saw something similar to what you mentioned. Our Guild's Necromancer had tried reviving a rat pet to test out the ability, then had to drag it to a boss fight so that it would die and he could get a stronger 'pet.'' Something similar might have happened to this bat-bird."

"Well, a bat is just a flying rat, after all," Crucis shrugged.

"If the bird was reanimated by MP, couldn't it have lost some vitality if it used the magic when it turned wild?" DicingDevil asked.

"Yes, but it wouldn't explain the oil, it's probably a combination of both," Grisier said.

"True. Could be both. Since we can't check its name-tag, any other way to see what kind of creature it is? Pressing on the wristband doesn't seem to give much info about this guy. Any other way?"

"Kill it?" Crucis shrugged. "If you attack it, then check the combat report, it should mention the species name. That report defaults to species name."

"But couldn't it still retaliate with magic?"

"It probably doesn't have much left, it looks to have used up most of the magic animating it." Grisier said, "It can barely stand, though it is quite aggressive. I doubt it can do much."

"Only one way to find out," Crucis said.

He drew out his [Silver Wasp Sword], and used the [Half-swording] skill before walking up to the cage. Holding the sword horizontally, he eased it between the bars of the cage, and thrust it just below the back of the creature's neck. A small billow of black smoke emerged from the resulting gash. The creature turned weakly to face Crucis.

Leaning closer, Crucis continued to stab towards the creature's chest and throat, keeping his hands safely outside of the cage. The creature was soon down to 15% HP. However, as he prepared for another strike towards the creature's bleeding throat, Crucis shuddered and stepped away, clutching his right shoulder. Blood was pouring from a heavy wound in his shoulder, and he clenched his teeth as sudden pain flowed through his arm.

Turning back towards the creature, he saw that its HP had increased to 35%. It was also glowing with a bright blue aura, which occasionally flashed with green, red and yellow shades. Beneath its HP bar, the creature was listed as having a status effect named [Bright Wonder], which weakened its attacker.

"Yep, it's using magic. Confirmed," Crucis grimaced.

Crucis returned to the cage, and continued stabbing painedly with his sword until the bird was dead. Although he felt an occasional, weak push from the creature's little remaining mana, the bird seemingly did not have enough mana to launch any serious attacks.

Crucis used his left hand to swivel through tabs in the message box to his left side, soon reaching the combat report tab.

"Yeah, it calls this 'Flair Bird (controlled by: King Ganféan)', so it was a revived Flair Bird," he reported, "It seems like, since it's controlled by a boss, the game counts it as an extension of the boss. So it could still be painful. Pity that we had to kill it, it had this whole cool vampire thing going."

"Vampire?" asked Akshel.

"It looks like a bat, plus its spell caused the bleeding status and it regained some of the damage dealt as HP. I'd like to keep it as a pet, to test if it could have more powerful spells with more MP invested. Would make a good Halloween pet."

"Ah. I did see a couple of people with summons or revived 'pets' that seemed OP, but not sure how they made it stronger. By the way, the Man-Bird also looked like a bat. Maybe this bat was related to the Man-Bat enemy," Akshel said.

"That's probably the King," Crucis commented.

Crucis had a suspicion about why some players had stronger summons: because they were using a different type of mana to summon or revive the creature. For instance, summoning during [Arm of Hades] might cause a slightly different creature to appear, due to the different kind of mana used. However, he kept quiet about this, since he didn't want DeathGang prying too deeply into the matter.

"I guess we'll have to fight it, then, and see if it gives completion for this dungeon. The coincidences are too pronounced. But it will be difficult," DicingDevil said.

The rest of the group nodded. Crucis was sitting against a wall, resting his arm. Akshel and Grisier shoved the cage aside, and started looking through the cupboard behind it. DicingDevil took a closer look at the cage.

"It says here that this bird was a gift from the King Alrenor to the Lady Khrisa, so it seems to have originally belonged to another King," DicingDevil said.

"Yes, there's a letter in here," Akshel reported from the cupboard, "It says that the bird was a gift to woo her, and she accepted his marriage proposal shortly after. However, the bird died after she moved to the palace, as a caravan carrying it there was capsized during an attack by raiders. During the attack, a bridge carrying it collapsed."

"It must have been desposited somewhere by the river," Dionarcy said, "but still a weird choice of pet for a Necromancer, cheery and colourful. Not as grim as you'd expect." He laughed.

"I know you're joking, but didn't he stop being a Necromancer?" Crucis said. "It's not that surprising a choice of bird, especially when it's associated with royalty. He had hopes of a rich and fulfilling life, great wealth, etc., and he probably used this bird to symbolise that."

"Yeah, I guess he was sort of conflicted as well," Grisier said.

"Anything else in there?"

"Some sheet music. Also a few documents about necromancy, I think, but torn so much that I can't read them. There's a poem here, but sadly not one of those poems which gives EXP."

"By the King?"

"Nah, by someone named Ibn Khres. I think my Cryomancy instructor had copies of books by him, including under the pen-name Plejerzim, he's probably some well-known poet here. It says that the title is 'Lily vo zalitlzhit.' I think this poem may be in translation." He read out the poem.

There is no life beyond the castle gates,

My mistress told me as we lay in bed,

But I told her, no, there are great forests

And birds that flow wild, not caged,

In more brilliant colours than the palace

Itself can boast. She refused to talk

To me for a day, and I was forced to spend

Time with another mistress to ease my woe.

However, as the sun set on the next day,

She snuck, stealthily, out of the castle's gates,

And walked carefully through the forest,

Shrinking away from the cries of animals

Who she had been taught, when young, to avoid.

She was unused to the harsh ground, and

The night frightened her with fire-like paranoia,

So she soon attempted to turn back, but found

That she could not remember the way, and

Only miles of forest lay before her. She ran

Frantically, looking in vain for castle gates,

Only finding herself deeper in the forest.

Yet as she searched, she heard a voice calling

For her, and it said, "Come here, I will give you all

You want, and all your struggles will depart from you,

If you enter my abode, then prosperity is yours."

She froze in panic, and tried to run, but

The voice followed her, until she gave in.

I heard her dying cry, but all I could think

Of was my anger that she had abandoned me

Last night, and that too at the very moment

When I was most aroused by her parochial eccentricity.

"I'm fairly sure I've heard a song like this," Crucis said, "But the poem is a bit interesting. The voice seems to be describing some kind of palace, as if the girl tried to return to the palace but found that it was a mirage. It's a bit like the King here, who was drawn by the promise of a - somewhat artificial and unstable - palace life and was ruined as a result. But it also reminds me of Hades and Persephone, where the tempter was himself a King."

"There was some terrible old song like that, yeah. I mean, ever since the spread of Chinese p2w reached its height a decade ago, games 'borrow' just about everything from elsewhere: assets, text, features, whatever else," DicingDevil noted, "Otherwise they couldn't keep up with their Eastern competitors."

"Yes, yes. Though who knows how much of the game is actually in control of the devs by now, it might just be automatically recycling things from elsewhere."

DicingDevil nodded.

"It's true that the fascination with palaces seems quite like the King," Grisier said, "And it also mentions how wild birds are more colourful than in the palace. He had a wild bird in his previous life, but he seems to have feared it and tried to kill it as a King."

"The female in this poem resembles the King, strangely, but he's not a female," Crucis mused, "Much of it could almost read like some sort of warning to the King, but the poet is very insistent that it is a female mistress. By the way, the poem's ending is great, what a mensch."

"Definitely," nodded DicingDevil, "All's well that ends well. But yeah, weird how the King is the female in this story, a Red Riding Hood sort."

"Or a red gem sort."

"How do you mean?"

"The poem is about a female, but there's an important female right next to the King. So far, the Queen's role in all of this hasn't been completely clear, but obviously she's important. So if there's an important female here whose life is tied closely to the King's, it wouldn't be surprising if her story sounded similar, would it?"

"Yes, but what do we know about her story?" asked Dionarcy.

"For one, the King used to flirt primarily through lavish displays of wealth and power, so that's probably what won her over," Grisier said, "I guess he felt like he came to this second life with power as his main privilege, so he decided that he should leverage that to get the life he wanted."

"But she wasn't that dedicated to him," Crucis noted, "and she was a bit power-mad herself, to the point where she's the strongest boss in here and was seemingly interested in magical gems and powers, though admittedly the King has weakened somewhat."

"Yes, she seems to have had her own search for power, I guess it might be tied up with the King's."

"Also, the bird was apparently from a gift by another King, who was wooing a Lady. Perhaps that King's courtship influenced this King's showy romancing of the Queen? That would mean that the bird is also connected to this, also it belonged to the lady when it was being transported to the palace and died - like the poem's female."

"I see. I mean, the shady voice in the forest seems a bit like a necromancer, if we take the poem from the Queen's perspective."

"Yeah, it's sort of a voice offering the Queen great riches and power, but it is deceptive and slightly artificial, a Necromancer's mirage palace. By the way, does anyone play the piano?"

"Yes, Grisier does," DicingDevil replied, "Why do you ask?"

"What do you think of the sheet music?"

"Oh, let me check," Grisier said.

"I didn't see any sheet music in the study, even though there was a lot of paper. But seemingly there is some here. Maybe the piano used to be here instead - but go on."

"This barely sounds like music, it almost reads like random notes and dissonance strung together. I tried to imagine playing this, but I can't make much sense of it."

"Strange. Maybe try playing it on the piano in the study, before we go? We'll see how it sounds on this piano."

"Understood."

DicingDevil, Crucis and Grisier walked over to the study, with the rest of the group resting outside and stretching their legs. Nobody was highly enthusiastic to do battle with the Man-Bird again, due to its bizarre attacks and near-imperviousness to damage. This meant that they did not mind the slight delay.

As Grisier sat down on the piano, he attempted to play some notes, but flinched back in surprise.

"This piano is weird, some of its keys don't work, the ones that do aren't arranged in any clear order. And some keys seem to get stuck on something," he said.

"Try playing the sheet music as you usually would," Crucis replied.

Grisier sighed and started pressing the keys, occasionally having difficulty because some keys on the left of the piano seemed to be jammed. Crucis noticed that this music wasn't seemingly difficult for Grisier to play, because most of the notes were in the middle of the piano. What Grisier played sounded almost like a song, with a patter of light, high notes in twos, joined by a sequence of loud, bagpipe-like low notes which sounded as if the piano had broken. The piano's high notes sounded oddly brief, like ephemera, but its low notes were often dysfunctional and sounded either like strange bagpipes or like a ship's horn. There was an occasional percussive noise as a key was blocked by something below. Grisier soon reached a sequence of low notes that sounded like a mess, and stopped.

"That actually sounded better than I thought, but this thing is really broken and I can't tell where this song is going," he said.

"I saw a small glimmer underneath the keys," Crucis said, "Since this piano isn't really in great condition, do you reckon we could check what's blocking the keys?"

A few of the keys were damaged or had substantial holes, so the three of them used spare swords which they had picked up in this dungeon, and tried to pry a gap in the piano's keys so that they could see what was below. Finally, Crucis managed to tear a few rickety keys off, and grabbed a purple gemstone that had been obstructing the keys.

"That looks like the Queen's gem," DicingDevil said. "I wonder if it can be used to cast magic."

Crucis lifted the gem, and tried to see if anything could be done with it. It would glow for a few seconds, occasionally, but nothing happened. He lended it to Grisier to check, but even the Mage found no way to channel magic through it. He handed it back.

"It feels like, when it glows, a few veins within the gem start to expand and contract unevenly, it sort of has this weird asymmetric movement like crawling, diseased skin."

"The gem is crawling in its skin?" Crucis asked.

"You could say that."

"Anyway, it doesn't seem that powerful, but there does seem to be something there. Maybe we should keep it, just in case it helps in the boss fights."

"Do you reckon that breaking it might weaken the bosses?" DicingDevil asked.

"Maybe the Queen, but the red gem seemed to weaken its owners, based on her letter, while her purple gem seems to strengthen her," Crucis said, "So if the Man-Bird has a red gem, then breaking this might release some strength back to him? I don't know, but we wouldn't want that. Plus the Queen already seems to carry a gem with her, so I'm not sure if she needs this one. Let's keep it intact for now, we'll see if it can do anything to the Queen, and if not we can take it back to town and have some NPC check on it."

"Sure thing." DicingDevil picked up one of the purple gems from beneath the keys, and so did Grisier.

Crucis felt that it was likely that these gems would turn out nearly useless, since the King and Queen were living through a sort of wish-fulfillment reincarnator story, and methods used with great success by such protagonists are rarely of much use in practice. However, he was curious if the Queen boss would somehow be affected or disrupted by them.

"Should we return to try and fight the Man-Bird?" DicingDevil asked. "Though I'm not entirely sure how to go about that."

"We can try to use [Bleeding] to cut down its HP incrementally, it doesn't seem to resist the damage from that status effect as much. The main issue seems to be when it uses the nail to boost its stats," Crucis replied.

"I could use [Breath of Ice] to try and slow him down when he does that," Grisier offered, "But I'm not sure if it would be enough."

"It wouldn't," DicingDevil said. "It still moves too quickly, with that weird run. And it's too strong. I think that Dion can handle it in its normal form by now, though we'll have to figure out how to deal with the nail."

"Grisier has a good point," Crucis said. "If he uses [Breath of Ice] and [Mana Strike] when the creature reaches for the nail, then the rest of us use [Stunning Dagger], then Akshel might be able to lock down the boss on the ground and prevent him from using the nail. Then we can just strike with moves that induce [Bleeding], to whittle away its HP."

"That's a decent plan, but we'll work out the details when we reach the boss. For now, let's see if it's still in the round room, and we can figure out how to approach this fight from there."

Crucis switched to the necklace of sharp bones which he had looted from the [Undead Dog]. He carried it around because its price was quite cheap, so losing it wouldn't be significant. It would be helpful here to induce [Bleeding] on the difficult boss to come.