Dreaming Orora Read online

  Hok turned around and started towards the door, “Just do me a favor would you. Hold on to it. And if you ever plan to toss it, give me a heads up.”

  Jorgen nodded but offered no more.

  “Oh and one more thing,” Hok paused, “just so you are in the picture, Eric is approaching The Dreaded as we speak. If and when we do the fight, remember that there are limited seats. I would hate for people to say The Brotherhood were cowered enough to pass on the fight.”

  None of them said anything and before long Hok was out of their premises. He walked out of there in fast steps, his teeth grinded and both hands balled in fists. How did Eric take this? The poor man been pleading with everyone and anyone with no one willing to help. They were cowering for fear of losing their characters.

  Unfortunately he had to convey the bad news to Eric. “Eric?” he opened a private chat, “I’m sorry man. Doesn’t seem like we’ll get any luck here.”

  “Told you, I tried before, no dice.”

  “I thought after getting our bearings and having a plan people would fall in, but you know how people are,” Hok said.

  “At least you conveyed the message to Jorgen.”

  “I guess,” said Hok, “It should be secured for now. How is it on your end?”

  “They did not change their stance, I don’t know why I even bother. I guess we better focus on gathering the remaining pieces. Still have four to go?”

  A red message popped on the lower right corner of Hok’s display. A friend request from Jorgen. Hok smiled, “Eric, I’ll have to call you back.”

  Guilds: there are two types of Guilds in Orora, player created and job related guilds. As a Recruit, you can join one of the former only at all times while enjoying as many as you want of the later.

  Job related Guilds provide quests and missions to further said job, while player created Guilds provide an open window of opportunity to do anything with your friends.

  9 – The screams

  It’s been Gods know how many days and still the same. Bale got used to the screams by now. Got used as in he surrendered to the fact that he couldn’t do anything about it. But still they hunted him day and night. Drowned even the very thoughts he had. They were now part of his life.

  They’ve been torturing Varga for the past few days, almost nonstop. They would slash, stab, crush, and even use magic and arrows to exert all kinds of pain on her. They weren’t looking for anything as far as Bale could tell. No questions asked or information solicited, just laughs and curses. They were, if their word could be taken for truth, just practicing on her. Day in and day out. They would continue hitting her to the brink of death and then proceed to heal her back, and the cycle continued.

  At the very least, things took a turn to the better from when it all started. Back then, they killed her and had a necromancer handy to revive her soon after before her body disappeared. The necromancer would then release her from under his control and they would repeat the process. They stopped doing it after a while for some reason and continued the torture, minus the killing part.

  Bale tried to reason with them at first, but he got few shouts and hits for his effort. Ever since then they just ignored him, and he learned to ignore them all the same. But the screams, they persisted.

  Setting on the floor, his back leaned against the wall, Bale noticed a rather suspicious but much welcomed silence. Maybe it was nighttime outside, but he lost track of the day and night cycle inside here long ago.

  Then a faint laugh carried over, “Still not talking to me, warden?” Varga said. Her voice lacked the rasp, rough tone he came to know. It was sad, broken.

  “I’m really sorry for what they are doing to you,” said Bale. He stood up and moved towards the bars. He grabbed two bars and pushed his head forward trying to make out something in the darkness lurking outside.

  “Are you? I thought you didn't care for our kind.”

  “While that may be true, I’m no animal. That’s no way to even treat an animal.” Bale waited, expecting a reply. Nothing came back. “Why on earth are they doing this to you?”

  “I have no idea,” said Varga.

  “I can’t for the life of me figure this out,” Bale said, “what could possibly be in common between the two of us that they are keeping us alive here?”

  “Alive?” Varga snorted, “I died enough times to care to count. What are you talking about? At least they are not torturing you anymore.”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to rub it in your face. But there is that as well. They are not doing the same for me.”

  No one said anything for some time. “Well, can you be raised?” Varga said.

  “I… don’t know. Shouldn’t I?”

  “Hmmm, maybe they don’t know themselves. That’s why they are not killing you or risking doing so,” Varga said, “you can probably teleport home if you are dead.”

  “Could be,” Bale said, he never thought about it that way. Varga was a Beastmen, they don’t resurrect. Not in the same sense as people do. Men have the blessing of Lady Altana. Plus, she couldn't resist a necromancer resurrection spell, while Bale could deny a raise spell.

  “Funny,” Varga said, “I used to think that our world was more or less constant. Not changing. Not since the Age of Vagabonds at least.”

  “Age of Vagabonds?” Bale was by no means a history buff, but even someone with as little knowledge as him should’ve heard of such thing.

  “It’s what you humans call the Age of Heroes,” Varga said, “Less you forgot, we were fighting for our lives, for our lands. We were more or less Vagabonds.”

  Bale never saw it from the perspective of the other side. To them it has always been the Age of Heroes. They fought the invading Beastmen to defend their lands. No one ever shed light on what the other side of the battle thought.

  “But you were attacking our homes, our cities,” Bale said. “It was your army that tried to invade us.”

  “That’s your version of the story. The way we saw it, you were expanding to the point of invading our lands. That’s just your nature of greed.”

  Can’t argue there. But like she said, that’s their version of the story. Neither of them took part of that era or the war. So it was only the stories and tales they’ve been told.

  “Well,” Varga roared, it was more a yawn, “if you don’t mind, I want to get some shut eye before the pounding commences.”

  Bale sat back down on the ground. For a brief moment he envied her, at least Beastmen could sleep. He just sat there waiting, enjoying the silence, for the screams were due for a comeback soon.

  ~

  Another day and another time Bale was startled by the screams. They were going at it again. He didn't hear them coming or passing through. Perhaps he got accustomed to being ignored inside of this cell.

  He stood up and approached the bars, “Picking on the defenseless? Really heroic of you. Come here and face me you Ooglob’s behind.”

  Bale cocked his head when the sounds stopped, only faint rasps of Varga breathing carried over. Then he heard hurried steps heading his way. A light started to creep closer. Then a man, an archer from the looks of it, stood behind the bars staring at Bale. The fire danced off the torch in his hand. “What? Were you just trying to curse me or something?” Bale took two steps back.

  The man put off his torch, pulled out his bow and strung an arrow across. The place fell back to its usual darkness.

  “Speak you shit,” the man said, “What’s the matter? Got no answer for that?”

  “I don’t know why Lady Altana helps the likes of you,” Bale said.

  The man lowered his bow and burst out laughing. He stopped, pulled the arrow and let loose. It hit Bale just above his pelvis area. The blow pushed him few steps back and he collapsed down on one knee. The pain was enormous.

  “Stupid little shit.” The man said putting away his bow, “Just shut up and stay down. You should thank your lucky stars that our leader told us not to kill you. Now we have only that ugl
y bitch to play with.”

  His stomach throbbed. The pain demanded his undivided concentration so Bale didn’t bother to look up, but he heard the man laughter followed by his footsteps fading away. Back to Varga.

  Bale pulled the arrow out and pressed on the wound. He crawled to the side and relaxed his back on the wall. He sat there for a while looking at his surroundings and listening to all the screams.

  They kept coming. More and more screams.

  Items in Orora come in all shapes and sizes, but they can come in four different flavors.

  EX: for exclusive items bound to the player once received. You cannot sell, or trade those items to other players. They have no monitory value either.

  RA: rare items are designed so that you can have only one in your possession at all times. You can sell and trade this kind of item. If you happen to get another as a drop, it’ll fall into the void.

  RA/EX: a combination of the two means it’s bound to you and you can only have one of it at all times.

  None: an item with no EX or RA means no rules apply on it. Have as many as you want, give it to whomever you like.

  10 – The quest

  “Man, this is just amazing.” Oz said after the small fanfare music let him know, and everyone around him, that he leveled up. “We are flying through those levels. Just look at me,” he flexed his arms and puffed his chest.

  “You know you don’t really grow in size when you level up?” Fitch said.

  They’ve been leveling up for few days now and they flew through levels they wouldn’t have dreamed reaching in this small amount of time. They were level seventy now.

  “I still don’t know about this ring man,” Paragon said looking at his hand.

  “Here we go again,” Oz said.

  “I didn’t read anywhere about this item nor the quest.”

  “That’s why it’s called a unique quest,” Oz said.

  “I know, but, since when GMs hand the quest reward rather than getting it in the loot box? And to get three of them?”

  Fitch had his suspicious just as Paragon said. Something about the whole thing sounded wrong. The GMs did want to award him only the ring at first. Changing their mind and offering the others was an odd thing in on itself.

  Oz groaned and extended an arm towards Paragon, “If you don’t want yours, I’ll be more than glad to take it.”

  “Anyways, welcome to the seventies man,” Paragon said.

  “Should we take a break now?” Fitch said.

  “Yeah, we should head to town and upgrade our gear,” Oz said. “That’s the only bad thing about this. We are flying through the levels that our equipment can’t keep up.”

  “Really?” Fitch said, “How about the fact that we don’t have enough time to practice our new skills and abilities before getting newer ones? I don't know when and where should I use all of those abilities I got. Not to mention the unallocated points I accumulated.”

  “Pfft, you’ll have plenty of time to do that when you are max level,” Oz said.

  “I believe we are too high for this place now guys,” Paragon said, “the mobs here won’t give us good XP. Some don't even agro us.”

  “Well, it was good while it lasted,” said Oz, “port to where?”

  The ring that doubled their XP enabled them to continue fighting in the area surrounding Gaff for few more levels than they would’ve without it. Because their XP reward was doubled, they didn’t mind the small hit while they leveled up. Had it been normal XP gain, the time investment would not have been worth the effort.

  “Any place,” said Fitch, “we’ll meet tomorrow, I’m too tired to continue fighting today. I’ll head to Buharr. Need to get my job quest and do some shopping while I’m at it.”

  “Yeah, I need to go get my archer stuff too,” Oz said, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do some research-” Paragon said

  “-of course, who else will?” Oz said and laughed.

  Paragon squinted at Oz, “as I was saying, I’ll do some research on where to go next because yes, one of us has to do it.”

  And just like that Oz popped out of sight. Paragon looked at Fitch, “Well, seems you are stuck with me,” he smiled, “since Healers are also in Buharr.”

  “Yeah,” Fitch said and they both ported back.

  Every job has a specific starting town and a guild that offered them a job specific quests or missions. The guilds were part of the lore of Orora and Recruits could only join as part of some initiation quests. Unlike players’ created guilds where they could expand and fight other guilds, those job guilds were static and only existed to offer missions. Those missions once completed offered job specific armor, weapons, spells or abilities. The milestones of each job, denoted by the multiples of ten, always provide a new ability for said job.

  The Paladin, Warrior and Healer jobs all have their guilds located in the city of Buharr west of the Akria continent, smallest of the big four landmasses. A huge fort turned city-state after the Battle of Heaven and Hell hosted those three guilds. The place looked rough and grey, reflecting the tough nature of the Paladins and Warriors. The Healers remained there from the olden days where it was said that Lady Altana took shelter in the castle during the legendary battle.

  Both Fitch and Paragon appeared before that very statue of Lady Altana.

  They parted ways and Fitch headed to the Paladin guild. A castle within a castle. This place was a testament to the prowess of the Paladins. Huge silver armored gate stood before him. It only opened to those enrolled in the guild. He took few steps and the thing clanged and groaned before swinging inwards. The inside looked even more magnificent. Armors, shields and swords adorned the walls around a rounded training pit in the middle of the hall. Few people clashed their swords training and the sound echoed around. To the left, a Paladin in full golden armor sat behind a small counter.

  Fitch approached the clerk, “I just reached level seventy, need the guild quest.”

  “Yes sir,” the clerk said. He reached somewhere behind the counter and produced a scroll, “there you go sir.”

  Fitch grabbed the scroll and scanned through it, his face pale.

  “Oh my God,” Oz’s voice raged in the party chat. Fitch didn’t notice that they were still in a party until now. “The Mythic mines? Seriously?”

  It appeared though Oz got stuck in the same boat as Fitch. “It’s the same for me man.”

  “I think it’s the same mob we have to fight,” Paragon said. “All jobs get this same quest at this level. I read online some complains from other players.”

  “And? What can we do?” Oz said, “That Dark One is still dwelling there. I don’t think anyone can access the mines.”

  Fitch snorted, “and just when I thought things where finally turning for the better. What I tell you about my darn luck in this game. The only time I really need to visit this place the whole world brakes and bends backwards just to keep me out.”

  “Keep us out man,” Oz said, “us. Your luck kind of spelling over to us.”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait it out,” Fitch said. “We can always do the quest later, right?”

  “I think so,” Paragon said, “but I believe we can’t get the higher level quests until this is done.”

  “No choice,” Fitch said, “we’ll look into-”

  “-Fuck me in the ass, are you serious?” Oz said. Fitch seriously thought about kicking him out of the party for all the fuzz he’s making, but he dreaded the idea of having to deal with him the next day.

  “That would be an uncomfortable experience for the both of us,” Paragon said unable to hold the chuckles, “What is it?”

  “The power man. This little shit just told me, again, that I have fifteen minutes to log out.”

  “I thought you said it was fixed last time,” Fitch said.

  “That’s what they told me. Damn it, I’ll have to chew their asses one more time. Anyways, I got to log guys.”

  “Take it easy
,” Fitch said.

  Fitch turned around and spotted another counter in the far side of the hall, the guild’s store. He thought about an upgrade to the shield or some armor pieces and started towards it. Before he reached the merchant he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a woman behind him in a loose shimmering dress barely covering her chest. One of her tall-slender legs peeked out of the dress. Her hair, chestnut brown, just above her shoulders carefully not covering any of her milky white face. Fitch found himself staring at her for few seconds before snapping out of it. “Yes?”

  “Are you by any chance doing the level seventy quest?” the woman said, a warm smile decorated her face.

  “Yes,” Fitch still had the stupid look of confusion on his face.

  “We can team up to head to the Mythic mines,” the lady said.

  “Um…” Fitch checked her quickly. She was anonymous but had some equipment that only a max level Summoner could use. A job versed in summoning mythic and great creatures to do the fighting for them. “You seem to be already at max level? And not a Paladin I believe.”

  The lady smiled, “True, the quest is not for me. My little brother is a Paladin just like you. We are heading there and thought we might need some help.”

  “Oh, I have two more friends that needs this quest,” Fitch looked at his party, no one was there, Paragon must’ve logged out as well, “but they are both not on now.”

  “That’s ok, we were going to do it tomorrow anyways. Just gathering some people today.”

  He hesitated for a second. Should he trust a total stranger just like that? Then again, what did he have to lose? Might be a good chance to expand his friend list in the game. “Alright, we’ll be here same time tomorrow then?”

  “Yes,” the lady said, “the name is Tala by the way,” she extended a hand. “See you here tomorrow.”