The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

The world of those who fear the dark is ruled by the one who hides in shadow.

As Crucis had anticipated, the level 13 Ligate was returning to Kruxol along with Jarius and a few others. The travelling party looked powerful, but a bit scruffy, suggesting that they had been trying to get some sleep in the last few hours. Due to this, most of them were at the same level as they were before.

In order to observe his former companions, Crucis re-traced his steps towards a small alley near the Western border of Kruxol, where a few rats appeared for new players to kill. Under the pretence of fighting the low-level rats, he kept watch on the group entering Kruxol. The group had stopped and formed a circle, and Jarius was handing out reasonable amounts of gold from the Guild treasury to compensate people who had died earlier. Since Kruxol was a starting town, it was unlikely that Jarius and the other high-level players would be staying here. As such, Jarius was seemingly handing out some equipment and gold to the five low-level players before departing. These players could then train in the relatively easy quests around Kruxol.

Crucis noticed that Ligate had received a [Heartwood Bow], a fast but slightly inaccurate bow which could be highly effective on a low-level archer. Looking around, he saw that the players had mostly received quite high-quality equipment, and he sighed slightly that with such equipment these players would probably soon outlevel him comfortably. At present, they were only three or four levels above him at most, but better equipped. However, if he could stay ahead of them, then he could harvest their gold by attacking them and, if lucky, get some good equipment drops as well. This new glut of well-equipped, low-level players stuck in Kruxol was a natural target, since their drops could be much better than most others at their level. However, Crucis was reluctant, because if he fought a few of them then they might see him as a villain and group up to hunt him down.

As Jarius left, Crucis was pleased to see one level 11 Mage from the group retire into an Inn to sleep. At least that Mage wasn't likely to eclipse him soon. However, he saw a few others seeking quests. One of them was Ligate, who had switched classes to Archer using the free option given to new players which allows one class change when under level 14. Jarius, due to dissatisfaction with his Guild's current archers, had requested this change while they were both still in Sanra. Ligate was talking to an old woman by a shed just outside the West border of Kruxol, taking on a quest that Crucis recognised. The woman said that her dog had grown unruly and needed to be pacified, and in a small fenced area behind her shed the player could fight an [Undead Dog]. It was a fairly young dog, that looked like a Rottweiler, but was now only a skeleton. Strangely, most forum posts about this quest had involved people talking about how cute the monster 'puppy' was. Crucis shrugged slightly on remembering this.

He noticed that Ligate had walked around to the back of the shed, and was trying in vain to enter the fenced area. Seemingly, he hadn't yet realised that you needed to enter through the door in the back of the building. Anticipating Ligate, Crucis ran swiftly up to the shed with his high Agility, and then used [Agile Step] when he saw that the wall was bugged. Finding himself within the building's walls, he made his way towards the back and waited.

Once Ligate finally noticed the door leading from the building to inside the fenced area, he walked carefully into the dark building and towards the door at the back, finally opening it to see a growling skeletal dog. Ligate was visibly surprised at the undead dog. This sort of quest, which sets the expectation of a normal situation like a woman with a pet dog, and then subverts this expectation with a fantastical twist like having the dog turn undead, is a staple of MMO writing. It has been done often enough that it can seem predictable, but for Ligate it seemed like an unexpected, horror-themed twist. Ligate reached shakily for his bow, and directed an arrow towards the dog. He was trying to keep his distance, because Jarius had only given him a bow and no weapons for melee combat.

Crucis saw Ligate hesitating at the door, and shuffled towards it. Ligate was using his [Arrowstorm] skill to send a fast volley of arrows towards the undead creature, yet the dog kept slowly advancing at him as the arrows deflected off the skeletal creature and left dents. The dog was at 40% HP when it reached Ligate, but it jumped at him and started to claw at his chest, shoving him harshly backwards and reducing him to 76% HP. Leaning against the door, Ligate managed to fire off a [Poison Arrow], weakening the dog somewhat and giving Ligate time to recover. Although Ligate was in a slightly awkward position, this was a quest meant for new players and his enemy was quite fragile.

As Ligate began to draw his bow, Crucis's arm emerged from the wall beside the door and wrapped itself around Ligate's neck, forming a [Chokehold]. Ligate was surprised by this, but didn't know if it was another player or a further unexpected hijink of this quest like the undead dog which had unsettled him. He cussed about the quest under his breath, and Crucis realised that the archer hadn't yet realised that his attacker was another player. Crucis decided to play this up and pretend to be a horror-themed NPC, cackling lightly and delivering the generic line, "You should not mess with things that you don't understand." Sneering as Ligate shivered heavily, he held himself back from clucking wickedly like the chicken-that-is-not-a-chicken boss. Ligate stood still for a moment to see if there was any more dialogue in this scene that might hint at what to do, and Crucis reached around to deliver the [Black Spot] attack, carefully cutting a bleeding slit in the front of Ligate's neck.

Ligate screamed out, feeling waves of pain that poured through his throat as if he was nauseous with it. Blood began running from his mouth, and he started screaming louder. Concerned that someone might hear the archer, Crucis used [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse the archer and shut him up briefly, then tensed his arm to choke Ligate more thoroughly and impede the archer's ability to speak or scream.

When the paralysis ended, Ligate began struggling against Crucis, causing Crucis to step back slightly due to his lower Strength stat. However, the [Undead Dog] had lifted itself on its hind paws and jumped towards Ligate, and was now slashing at Ligate's face. Ligate was apoplectically letting out strangled screams that sounded like whimpers. As Ligate tried to fend off the dog with frenzied punches and kicks, Crucis smiled slightly and dragged Ligate's head sharply backwards towards the wall. As Ligate's head slammed against the wall, his struggle against the dog went limp, and the dog bit his shoulder fiercely. Crucis noticed that Ligate was at only 4% HP, and was trying to leap out of the way of the dog's assault. Crucis used this momentum to drag Ligate sharply to the right until the archer lost his footing and started flying horizontally rightwards, at which point Crucis used [Ripper] to slash near Ligate's neck and kill him.

Crucis held still for a moment, and saw that Ligate's corpse was drifting horizontally above the ground. The archer would not be able to reclaim the gold and items that Jarius had just donated him. In exchange for changing class, Jarius had given Ligate a healthy lump of gold, and Crucis now found himself with 12,500 extra gold. This was a good amount for him. He had also looted a Dexterity Orb, an item which triggers every 30 minutes and has a 20% chance of granting the owner a buff of +15% Dexterity for 5 minutes, although as a temporary item the orb expires after 3 hours and disappears from the inventory. It had a low chance of being given to a user as a reward for being logged in each day, although Cael and Crucis had only received gold from the login rewards so far. Seemingly Ligate had been luckier. This orb still had just over 2 hours left before it expired and disappeared, so it could still be of use.

The sight of Ligate's suspended corpse reminded Crucis of the earlier attack by the Hashin, and Crucis felt a kind of satisfaction at starting to master what had earlier victimised him. He was slightly uncomfortable with having killed someone who had fought in his party recently, but this at least assured that his enemy wasn't unpredictable. Now that Ligate was dead, the [Undead Dog] began to growl at Crucis. Ligate had aggroed the dog, but now it was likely to attack anyone else nearby. However, Crucis noticed that the dog was weakened, and used [Stealth] to avoid attack while slashing firmly at the dog's neck with [Ripper] to kill it. The dog's skull cracked off the rest of its body, and the creature died.

Crucis looted a [Legbone] and a necklace made of the creature's sharp claws, which he remembered as the same kind of necklace that Cael had used to cause the bleeding status. He had been earlier unaware that it was a possible drop from killing this dog, and that the shopkeeper was lying about it coming from a 'ferocious beast' when in truth they had probably just killed an undead dog. He also realised that entering walls would give him further access to this creature, who players can usually only fight when doing the old woman's quest. Since the [Legbone] is necessary to forge some basic blunt weapons, and the necklace was powerful, this dog might be a good source of early-game materials. He figured that most players familiar with the bugged walls were higher-level and assisted by Guilds, and therefore didn't care for the dog's drops as much or care to abuse it. Besides, the dog didn't give boosted EXP like several bosses or special mobs, so it wasn't likely an interesting venture for players who were at a higher level. The proximity to Kruxol also meant that larger players could soon arrive if they heard of your presence.

On killing Ligate, Crucis's name had turned red, due to killing a player who was neither a criminal nor involved in any criminal activities like fighting guards. This meant that guards would attack him on sight, and meant that escaping into Kruxol wouldn't be easy at the moment. Further, he might get killed there if players spotted him. However, he was uneasy about staying in this building, because Ligate had already encountered him here and more people might show up for the quest. He could try to hide in the abandoned farm out West, but he would probably be seen on the way and his red name might tempt an attack. Due to this, it seemed that he had no choice but to wait here for half an hour until the red name wore off. Since only people taking this quest were able to enter the fenced area, it seemed like the safest option was to wait in there and kill the [Undead Dog] when it respawned in 15 minutes. However, he would have to kill any unwanted visitors before then.

The red name would last for 30 minutes after he killed one player, but if he killed 4 more players while still red-named then it would extend for another half-hour. He had heard that it used to increase for every two players killed, in an early version of the game, but that was scrapped for a more lenient version because red-named players in the wild were likely to be attacked and hence to get more kills. Crucis expected that a few players might turn up to fight the dog, but most wouldn't enter because the game would notify them that the dog hadn't respawned yet. Besides, since it was night, he was unlikely to run into many players, and could hopefully hold fort for a half-hour. He sat down in a patch of slightly rough hay on the ground, and waited, keeping a dagger out in case the dog spawned.

After about 8 minutes, he saw a group of two level 8 players approach the old woman outside. The players were chattering tiredly with each other, talking about how their Guilds' stronger players were planning to escort occasional groups between towns in order to help smaller players. Crucis knew that he should be careful, because once his victims revived they would be likely to tell Guildmates of his location and the area might become unsafe. As they entered the building, the two players went on talking, saying that they should get stronger in order to assist the Guild. The level 8 warrior, [GaryTron], was wearing a cosmetic necklace, and Crucis overheard some of his words, "We need to spend the Guild invitation gold more wisely, I wasted a few thousand on bling." His companion, a female Mage named [Tundra], softly whispered a response that Crucis didn't catch. GaryTron laughed in response.

As Crucis saw them approach the door, he realised that the Undead Dog was soon to spawn. Due to this, the other players would probably enter in. He stood straight and crept near the door, taking care to stand on the side with the hinges so that they wouldn't see him immediately after opening the door. It reminded him slightly of the comedy scenes where a character is being chased and hides behind the door, but in this case it gave him more time to use the [Stealth] skill without being seen through the doorway. As he saw the door creak open, Crucis used his [Stealth] skill and watched the two players rush into the room, unaware of his presence. GaryTron was holding the door open for Tundra to pass through. Since Crucis had only a few seconds of invisibility, he hurriedly ran up behind GaryTron and used [Stunning Dagger] to stab the warrior in the back, then dashed forward quickly to Tundra and elbowed her in the face. The Mage fell to the ground, and Crucis turned to the warrior behind him who would just now be recovering from paralysis. Crucis had a plan of sorts: by dealing with the warrior first, he could isolate the Mage who would be vulnerable alone.

However, as he turned around, he saw the fast arc of a rapier near his arm and flinched slightly as it weakly cut his left arm. He wasn't expecting GaryTron to strike so quickly after the paralysis. Crucis leapt backwards, away from the warrior, to get his bearings. However, GaryTron was quick in pursuit, bearing down on Crucis with his rapier. As the warrior prepared to thrust the rapier with his right hand, Crucis used [Agile Step] to step behind the warrior's right shoulder, and gave a sharp [Ripper] to his lower-level foe's arm. The warrior felt a sharp pain from the strike, and was barely holding onto his rapier. He tried to strike at Crucis again, but his right arm was drooping limply and he couldn't raise the sword to strike. Crucis took advantage of this with a [Chokehold], but Tundra had sat up on the side of fenced area and cast [Basic Healing], which restored GaryTron to almost full HP and healed his arm. This spell was the result of a slightly obscure low-level quest South of Kruxol, but one of Tundra's Guildmates had shown her where to find the quest while tiredly introducing the new members yesterday. Taken by surprise, Crucis was elbowed away by the warrior and kicked backwards. Crucis turned to the Mage with a disgusted expression.

The Mage looked worried, and was cussing loudly at him for a few seconds, then said, "Get lost, bully! Leave him alone!"

Crucis frowned, then replied, "There's two level 8s here. You shouldn't swear like that around children."

"Yeah, well, you're going to lose to them, retard. Thanks for the heal, Susie," said GaryTron as he prepared to resume his attack.

Due to his high Agility, Crucis was able to dodge-roll to his right to escape GaryTron's strike. The warrior was still low-level, and couldn't pull off any complex skills, only striking and thrusting with the rapier. Crucis tried to keep his distance. As the increasingly frustrated warrior ran in to strike, Crucis waited until he got close and then bolted quickly to the warrior's left, stabbing the shoulder with a [Stunning Dagger] move that had cooled down while he was avoiding the warrior. He had decided on a new plan. Fighting the stubborn warrior was slightly pointless if the damage could be healed, therefore he decided to rush the healer and kill them as quickly as possible so that he could exploit his level advantage over GaryTron. He ran straight to Tundra, who was getting to her feet, and slashed her firmly across the face with [Ripper], then clotheslined her back to the ground as she let out a pained yelp. Crucis crouched down towards her as she fell in the corner of the area, with her head and shoulders resting on the fence. Using [Chokehold], he grabbed her neck and used this grip to repeatedly slam her head forcefully against the edges of the fence.

Seeing GaryTron approaching and howling with anger, Crucis crept into the corner of the fencing, behind Tundra, and held out the Mage as a shield. Having got a good look at GaryTron's skills, he didn't think that there was any good way for the warrior to attack past this human shield, especially with Crucis safely in the corner. Tundra was struggling lightly, but was still light-headed and dizzy from the collision of her head with the hard fencing. Crucis saw her clumsily preparing her left hand to use [Mana Push] on him, and shrunk his body to the right side in order to avoid the mana cast by the spell. He used [Black Spot] on the weak Mage, causing a small slit on her neck, then watched as the bleeding drained her remaining 15% HP. Suddenly, he was surprised as the Mage began spasming violently and helplessly shrieking at the pain. He held the Mage's body out towards GaryTron and kicked it forwards as he walked, advancing on the warrior and daring them to attack. The warrior held off from doing so, and watched as his dark-haired brunette partner, with grey eyes and a light body, bled from her neck in front of him. GaryTron tried to sidestep and get a clear angle to strike at Crucis, but Crucis hauled his human shield to each side to block the warrior's approach.

"You bullying scum, our Guild is going to get you, they're called GoldBlood! They're going to get mad at you and hunt you down!" shouted GaryTron.

Tundra joined in, with, "Yeah, our strong Guild will take you down!"

Crucis knew that this was something of an empty threat: due to the garbled names, it was unlikely that the Guild would be able to tell him apart from other Assassins. He would just have to make sure to stay away from this building once the Guild came looking. As such, he replied dismissively, "I'm sure they won't be so surprised that weak players die. It happens all the time. No need for them to strain themselves over it." GaryTron glared at him angrily.

As Tundra's HP drew down to 3%, Crucis flung her body high towards GaryTron, then used [Agile Step] to sneak behind the warrior's left shoulder, which he struck with [Stunning Dagger]. GaryTron had been trying to support Tundra's frail body as her last HP drained out, and now watched as his paralysed hands let go of her drifting corpse. Crucis kneed the confused warrior to the ground, and stabbed him in the back. Swooping down, Crucis used [Ripper] across the warrior's back, widening the stabwound. GaryTron was flailing on the ground, and let go of his rapier, which Crucis kicked away. However, the warrior wasn't done, and used his right shoulder to shove Crucis fiercely to the right. Crucis felt his skin scrape lightly across the ground as he skidded away on his back, and grimaced as he got up. He had 60% HP remaining. He saw the [Undead Dog] respawning, and used [Stealth] to avoid fighting it immediately. As the dog leered over the fallen warrior, GaryTron tried desperately to get up. Crucis dropped swiftly to the ground near GaryTron, and used his knees and arms to lift GaryTron into the air, slicing at the warrior's throat with [Black Spot]. The dog's claws slashed at GaryTron, and the warrior soon died from the bleeding neck.

Crucis let go of GaryTron's aerial corpse, and reflected that he could do with a better way of lifting corpses, like the uppercut that he had seen the Hashin use. However, the [Undead Dog] was now preparing to attack him, so he struck at it with a quick [Ripper] to the head, then used his Agility to kick it to the ground and use [Stunning Dagger]. This fast assault outpaced the slightly slow undead, who was after all a creaky skeleton, and it died. Crucis noticed that his Dexterity Orb had activated.

Crucis checked his loot, and noticed that he had gained 17,000 gold from the two players. This haul must be due to the 'Guild invitation gold' they mentioned - a few large Guilds were offering gold to new entries in order to help with development. He had also got lucky, and looted some equipment from GaryTron:

[Boots of the Young Deer | Increases Dexterity by 200. Increases Agility by 5% for 30 seconds at the start of a fight.]

Seemingly, the reason why the warrior had been moving quickly is that their Guild had lent them some strong Dexterity-based gear. It wasn't enough for a level 8 to outpace Crucis, but it was enough to be a nuisance. He decided to keep that in hand, and wait until he could re-enter Kruxol to store and check on his gear. He had also received a few items from the small players, and another skeletal necklace from the Undead Dog. Scanning the items, the most expensive he found was dropped by the Mage, a [Starry Necklace] that reduced 10 MP from the cost of each spell. He was not a Mage, so he figured he could just sell it for 7,000 gold. The rest of the items dropped were mostly from early quest enemies, and he couldn't tell which items had belonged to the warrior and which to the Mage. He sat back down in the fenced area, to have a look through the inventory.

One item in particular stood out to him, because it was marked as a [Quest item], and he inspected it hurriedly once he realised that it would unlock a rare quest.