Page 138 of Code Bound
He hesitates. “The Harrow is not safe, Vesper. Humans can be . . . evil, for lack of a better word. There will be far worse scenes you come across in your travels. There will be far worse people than this NPC. Some of them will be players. Some of them will be the remnants of them. I would like to tell you there is hope, but . . . humanity has been a source of disappointment for me for a very long time. I suspect they will be for you, as well.”
Despite the things I’ve done to survive, I still think I’m capable of being a good person. I try to be a good person. Even here in this fucking game where everything is trying to kill me, where other players are trying to kill me, I try to be good. Even when people remind me that no matter the situation, without consequences, some people will always choose to be bad. This room is a testament to that.
I’d been about to stash Anders in the room, but I can’t put him in there with those bodies. They don’t deserve to be forced in his presence, not even in death.
I pull out my blade. “I’ve changed my mind,” I say, touching the Fang to Anders’ chest.
“He could be remade,” Cipher warns.
“Are you the one doing the remaking?” I ask.
He hesitates. “It takes a great deal of power to interfere, power that is very limited.”
I press the tip into Anders’ flesh, just enough to sting. He moans in response. “Do me this favor and I’ll forgive you for the Frostbit Sea,” I say, staring at the disgusting man before me. “Make his soul disappear.”
Cipher doesn’t answer for one second, two, three, and then he responds with the words I’m looking for. They’re the words I needed to hear, and even if I hadn’t given him my word, I would have forgiven him for the Frostbit Sea because of his next words regardless. The hurt disappears, and I fall just a little deeper in trouble with the system running this place.
“It shall be done.”
I shove the blade in deep and smile as I twist.
CHAPTER39
LOCKE
We’re back in the snow and no one is fucking happy about it. The safehouse in The Howling Wind Plains isn’t far from the next blacked out region on the map, so I assume we’ll leave it behind soon. There’s only one problem.
We have to find the Minor Boss first.
There’s also a Major Boss here, one that I know we’re not ready to tackle. As Tier Ones, we don’t have much to offer. Not yet. As if to reiterate that fact, I pop open my stat menu and check it again. Shit, I’ve probably checked it five times since we left the Ice Hotel of Horrors.
TIER 1 - KNUCKLE DREG
Wastrel, entry-level
STRENGTH: 12
AGILITY: 10
VITALITY: 11
WILLPOWER: 10
CHARISMA: 9
LUCK: 10
FRACTURE POINTS: 0%
CORRUPTION: 5%
CURRENT BUFFS:immune to cold damage for another 10 hours and 45 minutes
Nothing. I’m a little stronger than a regular human, a little less charismatic, and honestly, the rest is just plain sad. Being a Tier One is better than a Tier Zero, but I’m looking for the real power that comes with leveling up. And I can’t do that if I die attempting to kill a Major Boss before I’m strong enough.
“This region is a fucking nightmare,” Vesper says, distaste in every word.
I can’t even disagree with her. I took the last serving of my winterberry wine just over an hour ago, which means I’m severely limited on how long we can stumble around looking for this Minor Boss. The Minor Boss is marked on the map, but we can’t see exactly where it is, only a general area that we’ll be forced to look around in. And with the snow running off into the distance for as far as the eye can see, I don’t have high hopes. We’d decided that once my buff fell down past three hours, we’ll just start heading for the border. That’s the best we can do. It’s better to come back to the Minor Boss later than freeze to death out in the Shatterlands.
