The Eden Crisis
Chapter 8: Fear of the Unknown

Claire and I walk around town and restock our supply of potions, magic crystals and revival items. Revival items are a must, but the cost is high for each item. The designers want the players to ensure they fight to stay alive.

The revival spell is another way to heal people, but it doesn’t come until a diviner is on level thirty. Even then it only revives one person at a time, making it useless if several people are down and there is only one diviner, because death occurs within fifteen seconds of HP’s hitting zero.

Claire sighs. “I can’t afford to get any more stuff. I’m going to be buying a house, and they don’t come cheap. I have my eye on the one in the woods near the river.” I know that house, and it is beautiful, but those woods are filled with wild animals. They can be aggressive, though they typically don’t fight unless you start it.

“I’m renting a room in the palace,” she says. “A house would be cool, but I think I am going to wait until more continents open up. I’ve heard that houses in Hullez are gorgeous but expensive.” Unfortunately, as Claire notes, Hullez is on Continent Seventy Eight.

“Hullez is far off,” she says with slight despair. “It’s unlikely that we can get there that fast.” She squints as though she were looking ahead. “Hey! It’s Apollo and Nero.”

We run up and greet them. “Crazy times, isn’t it guys?” Apollo says. “We’re on our way back to our spot on Continent Six. We will remain there and do our studies. I still have portal crystals.” He gives us a few of them. “Come see us anytime you need guidance, or call on us if you need help.”

We thank them and let them go on their way. Claire looks up at the clock tower in the square and sighs. “I have to go meet up with my brother.” I shrug. “It’s OK, I need to replace Cloud and Vergil, anyway,” I say. Claire waves and walks away.

Before I’d left them earlier, Cloud had mentioned that they were meeting in the temple ruins outside the Forest of Darkness. I make my way toward the area and fight enemies as I go. The easy monsters from before are harder, just as the figure in the sky had said.

I see Cloud ahead leaning against a broken wall. He really is the best. He is so protective of people he loves. As soon as he spots me, he puts a finger to his lips to signal me to be quiet.

I stand next to Cloud and listen to Shadow XIII with him. I wish I could see what they were doing, but this will have to do.

“Are we all agreed, then?” an unknown voice says. “You will join back, and the past is forgotten?” Who is speaking? The voice is muffled, as if wearing a mask or helmet.

“I don’t believe you about Cain,” Vergil says. “I watched him PK five of our members before he got me!” That’s my brother for you.

“They were arguing with Cain and took a shot at him,” the voice says. “He retaliated and they died but that is the past. Let it go, Vergil. Besides, we all know your real reason for hating Cain and that it is personal. Our reunion is business only. We are to help the people and give them hope. OK?” What personal business? Vergil says he doesn’t know who Cain really is.

Cloud gives me a look that explains it all. Leave it alone until Vergil is ready, it says. We continue to listen, and one by one they all agree to be a guild again. What hope do they plan to bring? What do they plan to do to help the people? Are they going to take on the game alone?

The Shadow XIII members begin to head toward us, each of them giving us a once-over. This is my first time seeing most of the members. Their cloaks are all different colors, as Vergil had told me on day one.

Most of the Shadow XIII members then teleport out of the area. Cain, Noel, the man called the Director and my brother come out next. The Director is terrifying. He reeks of malice. He wears a gunmetal grey cloak with the hood pulled up. Over the cloak is black-as-night armor that covers his torso, shoulder and head.

The Director looks at me. “I think we will need to watch your progress, brother of Vergil,” he says before teleporting away. Cain gives a small wave and goes off into the forest with Noel. Vergil hugs us and sighs.

“I am going to be helping Shadow XIII from now on, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to help you, too,” he says. “Cloud, tell Lucien to shove it if he makes you work too hard.” Cloud laughs at his words. “Dante already gave me that talk,” he says.

We walk back to town instead of teleporting so we can fight and level up, now that leveling up is a necessity to survive. Fortunately the new calibration allows for easier leveling up. As we walk out of the forest I spot Jade colored eyes looking at us, but as soon as I see them they disappear.

Three Weeks Later

As time goes on I accommodate to the game. I’m not the only one—people seem to be making life out of this game now. Whoever this hacker is, he changed things and allowed players to take control of pubs, inns, weapon shops, items shops, and even the apothecary shops.

I’ve been doing lots of quests lately. My level has increased by twenty. My spell arsenal is amazing, and I have high-level healing magic now, including a revival spell. My attack spells have also increased to stronger-water and earth-type magic.

I have even received a unique summoning spell that does massive earth-based damage. The name of the summon is Gaia. The quest itself was extremely tough. Fortunately, Cloud and Vergil were with me, and I was able to overcome the challenge and get the summon. In order to obtain the power of the summon, you have to prove yourself through either a quest or a fight with the summon itself.

According to the game’s back story, the summons were people who were citizens of the five great nations when Eden was whole. Each one of the existing summons is a great warrior who sacrificed himself in the War of the Eyes. Their spirits were trapped in crystal by the God Veren and used to allow future people to call on their help when needed.

There is one summon I really want, but it won’t be available until we reach Continent Twenty Two. Sadly, we are still on Continent One. People are afraid to take on the boss. They don’t want to die, and who can blame them, honestly.

I’ve heard guilds talk about fighting the boss but none have done so and lived to tell the tale. Speaking of guilds, I am now part of the Knights of the Lunar Order—specifically, the second in command. Claire more or less forced me. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

“Dante! I need to talk to you for a minute.” I turn to Claire and nod.

“Here’s the deal. I need a new second in command, someone I trust, and I trust you. You don’t need to do guild missions if you don’t want to, but when it comes to the big missions or recruiting others, I need you for that.” I cringe at the idea of being in the guild.

“I don’t think so, Claire,” I say. “I’m not really a guild person. It would have been fine if the game weren’t the real deal, but I just can’t be responsible for others’ living or dying.” Claire scowls and grabs me by the collar. “Listen here, you little twerp! I’m not asking! You will join, or I’m going to make you wish you’d never met me!”

Hello? I’m thinking I’m kind of already there. Claire lets me go, and as soon as I regain my composure I try to speak. “I . . . uh . . .” I grab my head. “Damn! I feel sick now. I’ll join on the condition I never have to have members in my group.”

Claire sighs. “Fine. I hereby anoint you my second in command.” God, I think, this is going to suck.

I go inside a pub and grab something to eat. While at a table I overhear a conversation from other players. They mention the first dungeon boss and an apparent joint operation between SOLDIER and Shadow XIII.

Lucien and the director both have agreed to fight the first boss with their guild members and some other players. Why hasn’t Claire messaged me about this? Maybe Lucien hasn’t told her. I continue to listen as the player mentions the timeframe for the operation. It’s in an hour.

I down my food in a flash and take off for Claire’s; she needs to know what’s going on. I run through the streets of the city to the western edge and go into the woods. Her house isn’t too deep inside the woods.

I see her house ahead. She is working in her garden. I walk up to her, and she turns to look at me. She gives a slight smile. “How are you, Dante? What brings you here?”

“I’m fine. I need to talk to you; it’s really important,” I say with seriousness, trying to catch my breath. Claire almost appears to be in shock, the color draining from her face. “Really, Dante? Uh, what is it?”

“SOLDIER and Shadow XIII are taking on the first continent boss,” I say. “They are doing some sort of joint operation. You hadn’t mentioned anything like that to me, so I assumed Lucien never told you.” Claire’s face is red with rage. That answers that question.

“He is what? If the boss doesn’t kill him, I will!” Claire opens her menu and changes from her simple clothes to her armor. She adds me to her party, and given the aura surrounding her, I don’t argue. “Let’s go, Dante! We both have a big brother’s butt to beat!”

We teleport to town and head toward the eastern woods where the main dungeon is. I can’t help but feel nervous at what we’re getting ourselves into. The monsters leading up to the dungeon are nothing we can’t handle.

We arrive at the temple, but the operation has already begun. We go inside and notice a fundamental difference between this dungeon and the original dungeon that was here before we were stuck inside the game.

“Damn it!” Claire says. “We need to move quickly but there’s no knowing where to go.” We begin exploring the dungeon. The monsters are different, too. What else did this hacker do?

We destroy monster after monster and go deeper into the dungeon. I hear roaring and yelling in the distance, but it isn’t a scared yelling; it is more of an excited-battle yelling. I motion to Claire, and we go to the room where the yelling is coming from.

I run in first and see a group of players fighting a large beast. This isn’t the boss, so it must be a treasure guardian. There are five players. Are they merge classes? They are all using magic, but their weapons aren’t sorcerer-type weapons.

“Finish him, Raziel!” a girl with a whip yells. The one I assume is Raziel flaunts a slightly devilish smile and holds his hands up. “Ethereal energy!” A whitish-blue beam of energy shoots from his hands and hits the beast. It roars and shatters into nothing.

The five notice us and walk over after they get their treasure. The one called Raziel puts his weapons, which are throwing cards, away. He extends his hand in a friendly way. “Hi, I’m Raziel.” I shake his hand. He motions to his companions. “Meet Gabrielle, Raphael, Mikael, and Lucifer. We are the leaders of the Seraphim Knights, a newer Sorcerer or Diviner guild, though as you can see we are of the rare merge-class types.”

Raziel seems genuine. I get a good feeling from him. “I’m Dante, and this is Claire. We are the leaders of the Knights of the Lunar Order.” They all begin to whisper to one another. Have they heard of us?

Raziel laughs sheepishly. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. I should have known who you were. Dante the Crimson Knight is well known among many Diviners who once believed themselves to be inferior to other players.” Crimson Knight?

As if sensing my thoughts, Gabrielle, the girl who had yelled earlier, explains the nickname. “The Crimson Knight is a moniker for you that other players have given to identify you. Several players have monikers. Cain, for example, is known as the Weaver of All Schemes, and his companion Noel is called the Eternal Reaper.”

I never would have believed I’d be famous—and for wearing a crimson-red jacket, of all things. I wear black leather pants and top, but they name me Crimson Knight. Go figure. It makes me laugh, but I have to admit I do like it. “Raziel, Claire and I are going to face the boss,” I say. “If you want to help, we’d appreciate it.” Raziel looks at his group and they nod. He agrees, and we all make our way through the rest of the dungeon.

As we go lower into the dungeon and encounter more monsters, I get to witness the awesome power of these guys. Their magic is on a level with Apollo’s or Cain’s.

We finally get to the last room before the boss. The boss’s door has a large skull insignia on it. Before we go through the door, we are stopped by Cain. “Ah, Dante, so good to see you. What brings you here?”

I point at the door. “I know that my brother is on the other side of that door.” Cain shrugs. “Sorry, Dante, Cloud and Lucien don’t want me to let you through.” Claire points her sword at Cain. “You should be in there fighting!” she yells. “You can’t be attacked!” Cain flicks the blade away with his index finger.

“Exactly, which is why Lucien doesn’t want me to fight the boss, win and get the bonus offered for victory.” I put myself in between the two. “We are going to pass, Cain.”

He laughs lightly. “I’ve never been one to stand in the way of choice. Go ahead—fight well and tempt not the fates.” He laughs at the end of his statement. Cain opens a portal and leaves the dungeon.

Raziel taps me on the shoulder. “What exactly did he mean by that?” I shrug. “I don’t know; it’s the saying of the game. Let’s go into the boss’s room.”