The MMRPG Apocalypse

Continuing in her spirit of acceptance that it was right to leave, Anna somehow managed to take the side of peace and calm Maria down as we walked the halls. The ride back was maybe the most peaceful moment we had experienced in this dungeon. I had no words, or thoughts, just a feeling of bliss.

The cumulation of all our efforts in this pocket world, everything we hoped and strived to accomplish, had come to an end. Tomorrow we would venture to the distant mountain range and then depart from this place.

This expedition had been a fruitful trip. While the EXP had not been the biggest gain for Jessica and I, Mark and Glenn had caught up quite a bit. Three levels for each of them in fact, bringing them up to level 24. Jessica and I were both on the cusp of reaching 28. Killing Donivan would surely have given us a large boost in EXP, but not only did it turn out to be a moral choice to let him live, would there have been another quest option to find the portal and escape? We couldn’t be sure of that.

With that thought in mind I didn’t regret our mercy towards the gnoll boss, and in any case, it was the gear we acquired and our new skills that was our biggest reward and boon. We now had another facet of character progression that would work alongside our levels to increase our power, and significantly, too.

Leveling had drastically slowed down, and I suspected the strength of our enemies back on Earth would probably not remain low. The system would never afford that luxury towards us, which meant we needed new ways to grow stronger. Individual powers were the safest and most surefire way to survive, but I suspected doing it alone was not smart nor a good way to live long in the post-apocalypse world.

Half the party was asleep by the time we reached the barracks, and waking them seemed near impossible. I carried Jessica back to my room without the slightest guilt, leaving Richard and Alex stumbling to carry both Mark, Maria, and Anna. Lucas was there too to help. It should be fine…

Jessica looked as peaceful and beautiful as an angel descended on Earth. I had never felt like I could see her face so clearly as I did right now: here with just the two of us, the moonlight shining through the barracks lightly illuminating her face. It was a serenity and peace that I hoped to never lose. I knew it though, that it would never last, and that terrified me more than the monsters.

I did my best to ensure the memory was etched into my mind, and would eventually become nostalgia down the road if I managed to survive. If the time spent in the dungeon and real world worked at the same speed, then nearly a month had passed in the real world, any number of things could have happened.

We had left during a tumultuous shift in the world, and I was sure that it was ongoing as we arrived here, too. What would we return to? That was why I felt my current peace and bliss would never last… we had to return and face whatever confronted us, or die. I slept in the chair along side the bed that night, not bearing to disturb her peaceful dreaming. I took one last look at her face and closed my eyes.

The journey the following morning was uneventful to say the least. There was no grand precession or goodbyes. Rhugar waited by the gate for us and said his farewells, even the Yellow Prince came. Besides that, though, there was no one. We were no heroes here, and in fact most didn’t know our name. It was better this way. No lingering attachments.

A carriage was prepared for us, though. Which was nice of the empire to do, as we weren’t going to be returning it. It would rot in the wilderness for all eternity where we left it I suspected, or at least until some lucky or unlucky soul stumbled upon it.

“Mike,” Rhugar put a light hand on my shoulder, “it was a pleasure.”

“I feel the same,” I said honestly, “you are a good man.”

“I am nothing of the sort,” he replied. As we talked, Anna and Maria surrounded the Yellow Prince, trying to pull any other benefits out of him as they could. Alex and Richard stood to the side, Alex’s face a bit annoyed by Maria’s fawning.

“She’s just trying to get you some more loot,” Richard nudged him with a devious smile.

Glenn and Mark and Jessica had already boarded the carriage. Lucas was still with me near Rhugar, “I guess we won’t be seeing each other again.” Rhugar said a bit wistfully.

“We won’t.” I left no room for doubt. Today we would leave, and nothing would stop us.

“That’s too bad.” He scratched his head a bit awkwardly. I could tell there had been a request coming before I had shut down that avenue. “I wish you good travels Mike,” was all he said, “you too, Lucas.”

“Ditto!” I yelled before boarding the carriage. “Anna, Maria!” I yelled at the two, my tone urging them to cut the shenanigans and join us.

“Rhugar, you may be a valiant warrior, but before that you are a man of the people,” Lucas yelled to him as we left, “consider government!” The expression of pleasure on Rhugar’s face was priceless, from jubilance to shock and then stone-faced, his eyes glanced at the Yellow Prince who eyed him back with a devious smile.

“I’ll take good care of this one.” The Yellow Prince laughed as he walked towards Rhugar and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “A king must know how to value his men.”

“Make sure you do!” I yelled at the both of them with a laugh. “We’ll be going!” On my words the carriage took off through the massive towering gate and onto the dirt road and into the prairie. My two skeleton generals sat at the helm of the carriage, each holding two ropes meant for the two horses leading us.

With their assistance, none of us would need to be out and exposed to the early morning sun, instead shading ourselves in the cool interior. We talked of the return, the bubbling excitement of returning home, but also the terrible realization that the home we were returning to could be completely different than how we left it.

“The world was changing when we left, how far has it changed?” Lucas asked.

“I’ll think about it when we get there,” Maria said matter-of-factly and then closed her eyes. It was such a succinct and silly way to respond, yet so logical, that no one could refute her words. The discussion died out, and all that remained was a pledge. We’ll deal with it as it comes…

With no gnoll army to stop our advance, the journey was smooth. They had lost their leader, and were no doubt in the process of a restructuring. According to Donivan that event would be unbelievably bloody. The strong were respected, and because of that, no gnoll would be found wandering randomly. Their gates were closed, as this was a most vulnerable, but exciting time for them.

The trip in the carriage was a short two hours, and besides the bumpiness of the road, which the luxurious interior of the cart battled for us, was mostly pleasant. We stopped at a crook in the road at the base of a mountain. A simple left turn led upwards towards a slope and wrapped around the northern face out of sight, the path to thin for the carriage to pass. “We go on foot from here,” I said.

Lucas and Jessica had already walked to the front, gently patted the horses to keep them calm and removed their reins. They would have to be set free, as no one was coming for them, and we had no plans of returning.

I was expecting something treacherous, or exciting as we ascended the slope, but instead was met with nothing. Really, just nothing. Besides the endless forest around us as we ascended, there was nothing of note to see. The entire mountain was plain and boring, containing no caves or interesting features or encounters. It was shaped in a mundane fashion, as if a child had used clay to form it in their hand.

“How did Donivan enjoy exploring this?” Anna asked while wiping a brow. The sun was high above us now, and with no trees for shade, sweltered upon our skin.

“His upbringing wasn’t exactly exciting,” Glenn offered, “any exploration was probably a godsend for him.” It was true, though. Donivan lived with the nobility, his upbringing heavily monitored and tailored to a specific path. There was no room for imagination or anything else, just your lofty duties and the goal your family had for you.

I looked at the map again as we crested the first bend, “The portal is here…” I pointed, “In between these three mountains somewhere.” My eyes scanning the map and then our surroundings.

Everyone grouped around and carefully inspected the slopes around us as well. “We should be in the right place,” Lucas said. From our viewpoint here we could see the exact depiction of the mountains, and it aligned with the map.

We were on the southernmost mountain, on its north face staring at the towering two in the distance. The portal was somewhere between these three, which meant we needed to descend to the valley below.

Alan grabbed a baseball sized stone and hurled it down a scree. It rushed with tremendous clangor, echoing into the gorge below where it eventually stopped with a thud, slamming against the trunk of a tree. Only the leaves shook, and not even a bird or animal stirred below.

“It’s not too steep…” I consoled everyone. We always had the option of returning to the entrance and taking a detour, but that would be at least an hour of backtrack in the scorching sun, and no guarantee we could reach this elevation from that entry point. “I have an idea…” I said with a devious smile.

That didn’t seem to inspire any confidence in my teammates, but without asking I already had my skeleton minions around us. “Don’t be shy.” I said. Spikey #1 and Spikey #2 both ominously standing behind Maria and Anna.

Their faces went dark, “Mike… what are you planning.”

“Just treat it like a slide.” I gave one more piece of advice and then my two generals gently bear hugged the two women and walked them towards the edge of the slope of rocks. “They’ll keep you safe.”

“Are you sure?” Maria was the most frantic of the two. In fact, the general embracing Anna was slowly being covered in a layer of frost, her face not appearing the most happy.

“I’m positive!” I said gleefully before turning to Thomas in a whisper, “give them each a shield, will you?”

“Hey! I hear—” And before Maria could finish her sentence, the general jumped onto his ass and slid down the mountain slope in a rush of dust and debris, “I’LL KILL YOU MI—” the last part of her words cut off fading as she raced below.

Anna’s departure went much smoother, the cool ice on the skeleton general cutting the friction down tremendously. She slid down much more comfortably, but gave me a death stare before turning to face the ride ahead.

My skeletons didn’t fear the friction of sliding down the side of a mountain, and so we each found ourselves in their embrace of death, sliding down the scree like it was a water slide. Anna and Maria were the two most unruly in the group, and thus I was forced to make them go first. The rest had no issue using my undead soldiers as skim boards.