Spiteful Healer

Chapter 214: Steps Forward

“Hey, are you finally awake?” Jillian asked as she watched a sleepy Eli make his way down the stairs of their home. He looked down the hall into the living room at Jillian as she was bent over his Simbox, in the process of cleaning around it and the outside of it.

“Yeah…” Eli yawned, stretching his arms up into the air. “You didn’t go back in yet?”

“I’m about to. Hasn’t been that long.” She shrugged. “I had a chat with a few of my old pals, a couple of ultranerds that call themselves data miners…” She stopped what she was doing to stand up straight and face him. “Basically, they dig around in the program files to fi-”

“I know what data miners are, mom.” Eli rolled his eyes at her.

“Huh.” She gave him a look of surprise. “Well, in the beta tests of the game they were able to find a lot of goodies, but Averon wisened up to their antics real quick and moved almost everything of significance server side. Regardless, they did find information on a consumable item in the games database as early as the first beta tests. It functions exactly like portal dust where it's consumed in a spell cast - pretty valuable according to its item card, but this stuff was used for casting a resurrection spell… It’s implied the spell only works on humanoid NPCS, but, if somethin-”

“Mom, it’s fine. I’m okay.” Eli shook his head. “You don’t need to worry. Really.” He saw her continued look of concern. “It sucks to lose Snowflake, but in the end he was just AI, right?” Aegis replied. Jillian didn’t seem convinced, she just stared at him in silence for a few moments. Eventually, though, she gave a shrug and finished up what she was doing.

“Alright. I’m going to head back inside. Quinn and everyone is eagerly waiting for you, they want to have a meeting to discuss the future leadership of Kordas.”

“Oh, yeah, because the Royalty all…” Eli’s voice trailed off.

“Yep.” Jillian nodded while moving over to her Simbox. Eli saw she was already wearing her simulation suit proudly. “You coming?”

“Eh, in a bit. I’ll head to the store first, I forgot to restock on soap and shampoo last time I went.”

“Do you want me to go for you?”

“Nah, no, it’ll be fine. I could use some fresh air.”

“Alright.” Jillian shrugged. “See you inside?”

“Yeah.” Eli nodded. Following this, Jillian climbed into her Simbox and shut it, activating the Shattered World Online simulation. Eli on the other hand turned to the front door and slipped his shoes on before stepping out onto the street. It was evening, the sun was setting over his city giving it a deep orange hue. He made his way towards the nearest bus stop, but after waiting for a few seconds, decided to walk instead.

Making his way down the sidewalk of his street, he passed by several homes before reaching a local park where a few kids were playing together, acting out an action scene.

“You will not get past my shield!” One of the kids shouted, getting Eli’s attention. He continued walking by the park, but turned to see what was going on, only to see one kid holding his left arm in the direction of his friends, acting as if he was holding an imaginary shield.

“I’m gonna consume your light!” The other kid shouted at him before making weird scratching roars in his friend's direction.

“Ok, now you gotta sing her to death.” The shield kid instructed another one of their friends.

“What? No way, I don’t wanna be Yumily. I wanna be Aegis.” The kid protested.

“But I’m Aegis.”

“You always get to be the main guy.” The protesting continued.

“Ok fine let’s both be Aegis.” The kid relented.

“That’s not fair, then I want to be Aegis, too.” The kid pretending to be the bad guy joined in with the protests. Eli was dumbfounded by what he was seeing, but it wasn’t long before he had walked beyond the park and they were out of sight. A few more meters and he’d arrived at the parking lot of the nearest convenience store, and walked across the asphalt towards the automatic sliding doors of the shop and stepped inside.

The door made a ding to signal his entry, then the doors shut behind him. Aside from that, the interior was dead silent save for the buzzing sounds of the refrigerators keeping some of the store’s products cool. Eli navigated through the aisles to find a bottle of shampoo and bodywash, then made his way over to the cooled beverages and grabbed a vitamin drink before heading over to the counter, where the cashier was staring up at a projected screen on the wall behind him.

The cashier was so focused on what he was watching, he barely noticed Eli walking up to him and placing the items on the counter. When Eli looked at the screen as well, he saw that he was watching Aegis’ broadcast, where Hae-won was still recapping the battle, but took a break suddenly to start advertising Aegis figurines. A 3d Replica of Aegis wearing his new armor, with his new mithral shield, which she was advertising as his ‘new outfit’.

“Sheesh, dunno who buys stuff like that.” The cashier shook his head disapprovingly at the advertisement before turning to Eli and ringing him up. Once he had, Eli swiped his wrist implant over a machine on the counter, and the cashregister displayed an ‘APPROVED’ in green letters to show the payment had gone through. “Have a good evening.” The cashier smiled at Eli.

“You too.” Eli nodded back politely before making his way out of the shop with the items he’d purchased. He quickly made his way back home, passing by the park again. A part of him was eager to see how the kids’ play battle was progressing, so he was somewhat disappointed to find that they’d already left when he got back. Instead, upon seeing the park empty, he decided to take a seat on a bench by himself and enjoy the fresh air and the sunset.

He popped open the vitamin drink and took a swig, thinking on all of the things that had been transpiring lately, until finally, curiosity got the better of him and he began fidgeting with his wrist implant to call Shinji.

“Yo. How are you doing, Eli?” Shinji asked politely after answering the call.

“I’m good. You?”

“Doing good, lots of editing to do.” Shinji replied with his voice audibly strained. “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve got a question… I just saw a commercial for a figurine of myself… was a bit weird…” Eli asked.

“Oh, yeah. Tommy handles all that stuff, want me to put you through to him?” Shinji asked.

“I guess.” Eli shrugged to himself, despite Shinji not being able to see it.

“Ok, one second.” Shinji pressed a few buttons on the call.

“Hello?” Tommy’s voice suddenly joined into the call.

“Hey, Tommy, Eli’s on the line, he’s got some questions about your merchandising. He saw Hae-won advertising the figurines.” Shinji explained.

“Oh, right, of course. I assumed it’d be okay with you, it’s all part of the contract. I told you I’d handle all the marketing and advertising side of things right? Did you want to get involved in it in some way? Are you against figurines? Or the shirts, mugs, ect.?”

“There’s shirts and mugs too?” Eli asked.

“There’s a lot more than that.” Shinji butted in.

“Aheh… yeah. Well, gotta strike while the iron’s hot. Advertisements and sponsorships are great and all, but merchandise is the best way to allow your fans to support you directly, and get something in return for their money.” Tommy replied.

“Oh, okay. It’s something pretty normal, then?” Eli asked curiously.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Totally normal, nowadays all of the streamers are doing it.” Tommy reassured him. “And don’t worry, you’re still getting your cut of the sales. It’s part of the reason why there was such a huge jump in your paycheck this last month.” He added.

“Paycheck this month?” Eli asked curiously.

“Yup. You didn’t check already? I guess you’ve been so busy in the game. It should be on your account. We’ve been doing so well I was able to hire a few interns.” Tommy chuckled.

“Right… okay.” Eli replied.

“Anything else you need? Any other questions?”

“Nope, that was all.” Eli replied.

“Alright. Take it easy, don’t be shy about taking a longer rest if you need it, you’ve been working hard.”

“Ok, thanks, you take it easy too.” Eli replied.

“Cya!” Shinji said before the call quickly ended, due to Eli ending it.

Curiosity overtook him and he frantically went through his wrist implant, manipulating the screen display of his eye implant that showed information in his peripheral vision. Finally, he arrived at his account balance, and he froze. His jaw dropped.

“Three…” He mumbled to himself as he began counting the digits. He couldn’t believe his eyes, so he made sure to count them a few more times. “Three million…” He felt his heart race, adrenaline pumping. He continued to stare at the number, hand shaking and spilling some of the vitamin drink out of the bottle as he tried to take a sip out of it, spilling some on his chin.

“I’M RICH!” Eli released a burst of excitement, jumping up off of the bench and shouting to himself in the park.

“Oh yeah? I’m poor. Shut up.” A random middle-aged man shouted back at him. Eli turned to see the man grumpily walking by the park on the nearby sidewalk.

“Sorry…” Eli replied timidly, but the man was no longer listening. Following this, Eli excitedly put the lid back on his drink and rushed home, throwing his shoes off once inside and running over to his mom’s Simbox to press the Simbox communicator.

“MOM!” Eli shouted at her, startling her as she was in the middle of something.

“Oh my- What’s the matter with you, you trying to give me a heart attack?” Pyri replied grumpily.

“Mom, listen, I just checked, I got paid for the last month. You won’t believe how much it was!” Eli continued to shout enthusiastically.

“What, was it like, three million?” Pyri replied mischievously.

“Y-yeah… how’d you guess?” Eli asked.

“Because I got the documents on it. I’m the one handling the taxes for the household, remember?” Pyri replied.

“So you knew? Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Didn’t want you getting a big head. And I especially didn’t want you telli-"

“This means you can quit your job now!” Eli interrupted her, his excitement overtaking him.

“Yes, that. Telling me that.” Pyri grumbled. “Don’t get all weird about it, let’s just keep playing and see how things go, okay? For the moment, I want you to only think of it as us not needing to worry about money anymore, and that’s all.” Pyri explained.

“Right. Okay. Fine. I got it. No more money troubles.” Eli replied.

“Good. Now.” Pyri cleared her throat. “Are you ever going to log back in? Basically everyone is waiting for you. The Night Hunters have a big present prepared and everything.”

“Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll log in right now. And, Mom…” Eli stopped himself with a dramatic pause.

“Mhm?”

“We’re millionaires!” He whispered gleefully before closing out of the Simbox communication. He rushed over to his Simbox where his Simsuit was laid out for him and quickly put it on before sliding into the Simbox and shutting it. He plugged the heel of his Simsuit into the socket at the bottom of his Simbox, then activated the Shattered World Simulation and logged into the game world.

He found himself standing under the leaves of the yellow tree grove, the glowing island stone humming peacefully in front of him with its warm light shining on his mithral shield. His livestream automatically activated, and within seconds the viewership shot up into the 100’s of thousands.

“Yo.” Trexon called out to Aegis from behind, drawing his attention. “Everyone’s waiting for you back in Kordas. Are you ready to go?” Trexon asked with a smile.

“Yeah…” Aegis replied, but quickly shook his head. “Wait, first, there’s something I need to do.” He said as he quickly walked out of the grove past Trexon, in the direction of the fields where the battle took place. Once he arrived, he began scanning the ground for something, but not finding it.

“Did it all disappear?” Aegis asked himself while Trexon followed behind him and listened in.

“You mean Snowflake? No.” Trexon shook his head while Aegis turned to look at him curiously. “The others already came and gathered up every single stone fragment of him they could find. Come, I’ll show you,” Trexon waved his hand at Aegis to signal him to follow, while simultaneously with his other hand he began casting a portal spell. A few seconds later, a portal to Kordas opened up with its familiar shimmering blue outline, and beyond it the Portal Altar of Kordas was visible.

Trexon motioned Aegis to go through before him, and so he did, but he was not expecting what was awaiting him on the other end.

The streets of Kordas leading out from the portal altar were lined with thousands of players and NPCs who all immediately erupted in cheers and applause towards Aegis. Some familiar, some not. Some were bowing, others were pumping their fists in the air. A narrow path was made in the streets to allow Aegis to walk forward through them, but the sounds of their cheers and applause was deafening.

He froze in place, dumbfounded by the warm reception, and looked around to take it all in. He spotted Anazia, Artaphernes, Ren, Garrick, Chax, and many other familiar faces mixed into the nearby crowds.

“They’ve all been waiting for you, to show their thanks for what you did for this island and everyone on it.” Trexon explained. “And, at the end of that path, there’s something else. Tullan and the others have been working tirelessly on it.”

Aegis nodded weakly towards Trexon who nudged him forward, and the pair began walking together through the streets, crowds cheering and bowing to him on either side. He began recognizing more and more of them as he went on, including almost all of the elite NPCs that he’d met doing his intermediate class quests. The High priest of Kordas, Jael, Viella, and Ulaipu were all mixed in with Eccen and Galanis, and several White Flames and Black Lions guild members.

The longer it went on, the more unbelievable it all seemed, until finally he was lead to the townsquare of Kordas, where Pyri, Lina, Darkshot and Rakkan were all standing in the middle of the street waiting for him.

The moment she saw him, Lina ran forward and threw her arms around Aegis, hugging him tight and nearly knocking him over. He squeezed as well, and the two held each other for a long few moments before Aegis looked up and saw his other party members smiling at him.

“We’re so damn cool.” Darkshot grinned excitedly as Aegis approached. Aegis just smirked back at him as he, Rakkan and Pyri moved to the side while Lina walked up alongside Aegis, the two now holding hands. With them moving out of the way, Aegis was able to see more clearly into the townsquare behind them.

There, in the middle of the townsquare where a fountain once stood, was a perfectly reconstructed statue of Snowflake. The only remaining part missing from the statue was the head, which was in Aegis’ inventory.

Tullan, Yuki, Amlie, Ruffily, and several other crafters were standing about the statue, giving it some final finishing touches, while Quinn, Christoph, and Yumily all stood off to the side with their other party members and guildmates standing around them. Unable to hold back, Quinn suddenly rushed away from the others towards Aegis despite Sapphire attempting to stop her, and in an instant she had thrown her arms around Aegis and hugged him tight.

“Thank you so much. Thank you for saving our island.” Quinn cried into his ears, barely audible over the cheers nearby, but they were slowly dying down as the crowds watched the leader of the Night Hunters unload her emotions onto Aegis. Aegis awkwardly patted her back and returned her feelings as best he could.

“Of course. You’ve been looking out for me since I came to this island. We’re like a team, right?” Aegis replied as his voice became audible, due to the crowds now going almost completely silent.

“If we’re really a team, you should just join the guild.” Sapphire called out from across the townsquare, followed by a grumpy carrot bite and some laughter from the nearby players.

“Well, you know, I don’t want to pick favorites.” Aegis replied awkwardly, motioning to Christoph. This just got a few more chuckles of laughter from the crowds.

“We did our best to recreate him in his memory. The most honorable creature in all of Kalmoore.” Tullan said while stepping forward in front of the other crafters, motioning to the statue.

“We tried looking into bringing him back, with de-petrification, but, unfortunately, it isn’t possible…” Yuki said apologetically as all eyes fell on Aegis, while simultaneously Aegis stared at the headless statue. A moment later, Aegis reached into his inventory and pulled out the head of Snowflake and walked forward, preparing to place it down on the statue in order to complete it as everyone else watched on in silence.

Very carefully, Aegis set it down in place, and Tullan and Ruffily both jumped in quickly to seal the cracks and complete the perfect statue of Snowflake. Due to it not being a recreation, but an actual petrified statue of his gryphon, every single detail was already present in the statue, down to the frills of his feathers.

“This statue will hold his memory, so that he’ll live on as a part of Kordas’ history from this day forward.” Tullan announced, followed by a loud round of cheers and applause from the nearby crowds. Aegis, on the other hand, suddenly had a wide eyed realization as his jaw dropped.

“What is it?” Pyri looked at him curiously, being the first to see his changed expression. Following this, the crowds quickly went quiet as they all turned to look at Aegis with anticipation, as did his viewership of currently 2 million viewers.

“There’s no way to bring him back to life, as none of us know how to resurrect a beast, let alone a petrified one. But…” Aegis opened up his inventory and fumbled around with it, pulling out an item he’d almost completely forgotten about. “My enchanting skill is finally high enough.” He announced as he held an orb out in his palms.

Name: Greater Enchanting Orb: Guardian Golem

Type: Enchantment

Slot: Any Suitable Statue or Suit of Armor

Description: Imbues life into the statue or suit of armor that this enchantment is added to. The personality and statistics of the resulting creature are based on the quality and materials of the object that is enchanted.

Requirements: Enchanting(Intermediate): Level 45 or higher.

Aegis briefly read over the item card once more to confirm what it did. The golem that he’d slain back when he was level 30 and hunting for Iron in the mountain dungeon above Rene had dropped it, and yet he still hadn’t used it.

“Is that…?” Darkshot realized what it was before anyone else. Aegis excitedly thrust the enchanting orb forward into the statue of Snowflake before anyone could tell him to do otherwise, and the orb vanished within the statue. Several players gasped, others looked on with their breath held as they watched the light from the orb surge outward, spreading across the statue of Snowflake and briefly creating cracks of blue light all over.

After a few moments, the cracks of light vanished from the statue, and it appeared nothing had happened. The statue went back to looking normal for a few moments, but all eyes remained on it - particularly Aegis’.

Then, with a sudden sound of grinding stone, the spread wings of Snowflake’s statue slowly began to bend, pulling inward as the petrified gryphon’s stone body became fluid and malleable.

“It worked, he’s a golem…” Tullan said with wide eyes, stepping back from the now moving statue along with the other crafters, so that the gryphon statue had room to move.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to still be like Snowflake, though… woof!” Ruffily commented in a nervous whisper. Following her words, the statue began glancing around anxiously, and let out a few loud squawks. With its body made of stone, the squawks were loud and coarse, giving off a strange echoing sound due to the stony throat of the creature. Seeing all of the players and NPCs nearby, the golem began pawing at the statue base of which it had been set on, anxiously jerking its head around at the strangers in its confusion.

“Hey, hey!” Aegis called out to try and calm it down, but it didn’t pay any attention to him at first. “Hey, lil buddy, it’s me. Aegis.” Aegis called out, and immediately upon hearing this, the statue stopped panicking and turned to look down and face him. “It’s okay lil buddy, it’s me. I brought you back. You’re a golem now, but I brought you back.” Aegis said in a calming voice as the crowds nearby watched nervously. Aegis slowly stepped forward and held his hand out to the statue as it stared back down at him with stony gray eyes.

“Do you remember me?” Aegis asked. Following this, the gryphon charged forward towards Aegis from atop the statue base and nudged his beak into Aegis’ stomach playfully, letting out a few friendly screeches. Above the gryphon golem's head, the name [Snowflake(Elite) - Level 150] had already appeared.

Pyri put her hands over her mouth and gasped, while tears swelled up in Lina’s eyes and Rakkan and Darkshot both cheered excitedly, as well as a loud excited coo coming from Darkwing on Darkshot’s shoulder.

“You do, don’t you lil buddy?” Aegis smiled as he felt the familiarity within the golem. Following Aegis’ words, the crowds around them erupted in excited cheers, save for Tullan who grumpily looked at the statue base that now lacked a statue.

“I destroyed the old fountain to put him there, for nothin’.” Tullan grumbled to himself.