Chapter 60. Cat Ears

  “What are you doing?” Kab yelled at Cassandra. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “Go back if you want to,” she yelled back. “I’ll catch up.”

  #x200e But we each followed. At the base of the tree, three large hyenas were clawing and scratching at the tree, trying to climb it. They growled and laughed. The sound creeped me out.

  Laughing Hyena

  Level 19

  HP: 112/112

  Stamina: 268/268

  Mana 0/100

  ?

  Cassandra went nearly invisible as she approached, her body crouched down. She spun her knives in her hands until they were in stabbing-position then buried them into the back of the beast, piercing its heart from the back. It fell.

  The other hyenas looked at her, baring their teeth. But the fight wasn’t much of a fight. Our melee attackers bashed, sliced and defended like professionals, and within seconds all three dogs lay on the ground.

  I followed Cassandra’s gaze up into the tree where a small cat looked down at us.

  Lion Cub

  Level 3

  HP: 4/18

  Stamina: 8/45

  Mana 0/30

  “Maybe that small one has a diamond on it,” Janica said.

  Cassandra looked at her like she was a monster. “You can’t be serious,” she said. “It’s a baby. A kitten.”

  Your Perceptive Attribute has been triggered.

  The prompt confirmed it. Cassandra was onto something.

  “I’ll fly up there and take care of it myself,” Janica said.

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Cassandra said, more serious than I had ever seen her. She put a hand up into the first tree branch and started to climb.

  “Baby devils are still devils,” Janica said, flying up next to Cassandra as she climbed, her arms crossed.

  Rowan moved next to me and whispered, “Don’t tell Janica, but Cass loves cats. Like loves them.”

  I glanced over at her. Since my apology to the group back in the cell, Rowan had been cordial to me, but she hadn’t been friendly, really. It’s like our friendship had been completely reset, the trust between us drained. She hadn’t been rude to me. More like indifferent. This conversation felt like the slightest inkling of progress. “I won’t tell Janica,” I whispered back, “as long as you admit that ’80s music is superior to ’90s music.”

  She made a fake vomiting sound. “I’ll admit that someone who likes ’80s music is more likely to betray his friends and lie to them.”

  Ouch. I winced.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Too soon?”

  “No,” I said. “I deserve that. But it’s not the music’s fault. Just don’t blame the genre, okay?”

  She looked at me, searching my face. Then a little smile grew.

  A growl from above pulled my attention back to the scene above. Cassandra straddled a branch, thirty feet up, trying to get the Lion Cub to come to her. But the cat growled at Janica, who hovered next to them.

  “Janica, get out of here,” Cassandra hissed. “You’re not helping.”

  “Fine!” she said, fluttering down, shaking her head.

  “See,” Cassandra said to the cub. “It’s safe. The bad Fairy is gone.”

  “I heard that,” Janica called up.

  Cassandra pulled something from her inventory and extended it in her hand. A piece of food, perhaps. The cat sniffed at it, nervously, but kept its distance.

  Kab came up to me. “I’m gonna go back,” he said. “I want to get back to the raid.”

  I nodded. “I think we have to see this through,” I said. “We’ll get back to the dungeon as soon as we can.”

  Kab nodded. “Don’t dawdle. I’ll try to get them to wait as long as we can before engaging Clarity.”

  I bumped his fist. “See you soon.”

  Above, Cassandra descended the tree, one branch at a time, with a baby lion under her arm. She jumped down the last ten feet, landing with grace.

  “Umm Cass,” Rowan started, “that’s a game mob. Not a pet.”

  “It’s a lowly beast,” Janica said.

  Cassandra petted the cat behind its ears. The kitten was adorable, with bright blue eyes and white fur. It pushed up against Cassandra’s hand. “Not anymore,” Cassandra said. “I got a quest. Come on. We’re going to take it back to its family.” She started walking toward the copse of trees at the center of the desert valley.

  I looked at Rowan, who shrugged, then at Janica, who looked like she was going to have a fit.

  Within moments, we were surrounded by lions. But their nameplates were no longer hostile; they had taken on a yellow outline indicating a neutral relationship. The cats walked alongside us, escorting us to our destination. Yet, they eyed Janica, who flew twenty feet above and glowered down at them. A few of the cats sprinted ahead into the oasis.

  At the edge of the treeline, a group of lions sat on haunches, waiting for us. In the center, two of the cats were bigger than the others, with beautiful white coloring, matching that of the kitten. A male with a huge, bushy mane, lay lazily on the ground, swatting its tail on the ground. A female sat upright, next to him. Alert and dangerous. Looking between us and Janica, who had flown higher into the air.

  Lion King

  Level 22, Elite

  HP: 220/220

  Stamina: 375/375

  Mana 0/200

  Lion Queen

  Level 22, Elite

  HP: 220/220

  Stamina: 375/375

  Mana 0/200

  Cassandra stopped and released her new friend, who walked up to its mother and greeted her with loving rubs.

  The queen batted the cub, sending it rolling over the ground. The mother picked it up by the skin on the back of its neck and rubbed its head against the head of her kitten, lovingly. Discipline and love.

  The Lion Queen walked up to Cassandra with a strong slowness. It made a series of noises like it was talking.

  Cassandra nodded like she could understand. After a moment she turned to us. “The queen is offering me a choice of rewards for bringing back Claude.”

  “Claude?” I asked.

  “She offered me the Cat’s Eye Diamond,” her eyes were wide. “But… I guess Claude likes me. And she’s made me an honorary family member for saving him. She said Claude could become my companion.”

  “Absolutely not,” Janica said. “Dirty little thing.”

  The Lion Queen hissed at her. Janica flew a little higher.

  “Cass,” Rowan said. “We need that diamond.”

  “But Claude,” Cassandra said. “He’s so cute. And he could help us.” She puffed out her bottom lip, looking back and forth at us. “Oh, fine.” She walked over and petted Claude. “I’ll come back and see you later,” she said.

  A group of lions escorted us to the edge of the crater with haste. Every moment counted. As we ran back to the edge of the Savannah, I adjusted my Character Menu. We had killed almost fifty cats while looking for the diamond, and I had earned a level as an Elementalist, bringing me up to level nine. I had also earned over 700 Job points as a Musician, enough to buy my last purchasable Skill in the Musician Job class. I purchased Memorize Song for a whopping 500 JP, and a prompt opened up.

  Congratulations, you completed the Musician Job. You can now evolve the Musician Job into one of two options.

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  Option 1: Composer

  The Composer specializes in writing music.

  Musician Job has the following changes.

  All Passives and Skills from the Musician Job are removed and replaced with the Attribute: Composer.

  Composer: Arrange elements of rhythm and melody into original music. Can have various effects depending on the quality of the arrangement.

  Option 2: Bard

  The Bard specializes in using music to harm their enemies and buff their allies.

  Musician Job has the following changes.

  Rhythm evolved into Groove. Your party has a 10% boost to coordination and timing while stamina and mana regeneration is increased by 10%.

  New Skill: Mosh Pit. Channeled Spell. Enemies feel the rage within your music, causing them to bash their bodies into one another in a state of blissful abandon for 10 seconds. Must maintain the channel for the duration. Cost to cast: 50 stamina. Cost to buy: 400 Job Points.

  On Level up: 2 Constitution, 4 Dexterity, 2 Intelligence, 2 Wisdom, 2 Perception.

  I stopped running, stunned by the development. Rowan stopped ahead of me. “What’s up?” she asked. “We gotta go.”

  “Sorry,” I said. Then began jogging again behind her.

  Janica dropped back to fly next to me.

  “You see what I unlocked?” I asked her.

  “Yeah,” she said. “What do you think you’ll pick?”

  “They both look amazing,” I said. “Bard would be so useful outside of dungeons. That Mosh Pit Skill. So awesome. I’m pretty much useless without mana and the Bard would give us more crowd control and more regeneration.”

  “True,” Janica said.

  “But going into the fight against Clarity, I wouldn’t be able to use any of the Bard Skills or Passives because my Loadout is full with stuff I need for the Elementalist Job. Which makes Composer very interesting. It gives me an Attribute, which, tell me if I’m right, means that my music can have effects without taking up any Skill or Passive slots?”

  “Yep,” Janica said. “Exactly.”

  “This is tough,” I said. “What do you think?”

  #x200e “Well,” Janica said. “If you beat Clarity, you’re going to want the Bard Job because, like you said, there’s not much you can do outside of a dungeon. But I think you’re going to want every advantage against Clarity. If you don’t beat him… not like I would miss you or anything, but it might be over for you in this world.”

  I glanced at Janica, whose face was stoic. “Are there any long term advantages to the Composer route?”

  “Oh definitely,” Janica said. “If you can write any songs that have significant effects, you can use them in any battle regardless of what Job you are. Songs can affect both allies and enemies. They can be battle marches or lullabies. And if you can get other musicians to go the same route, you can make music together.”

  That last point sealed it for me. I chose Composer.

  Congratulations, you learned the Co mposer Attribute. The Musician Class and all of its Skills have been removed from your Character Menu.

  The cats left us at the edge of the Savannah. We said a quick goodbye, eager to get to the dungeon. When the cats were gone, Janica turned on Cassandra. “Let me see the diamond.”

  She held it out in her hand.

  Cat’s Eye Diamond

  ? Item Class: Race Changer

  ? Item Quality: Rare

  ? When used, a Cat’s Eye Diamond will change a person’s base race to be a one-quarter feline. That makes one of your grandparents a cat!

  “What the hell?” Rowan said. “How does that help us?”

  “It’s only part of the solution,” Janica said. “Warren, bring out the Tales of the Full Moon .”

  I pulled it out of my inventory.

  Tales of the Full Moon

  ? Item Class: Race Changer

  ? Item Quality: Rare

  ? Stories from within shed light on the transformation of people to Werepeople. This item can be consumed to permanently change your race to a Wereanimal. Note: only animal races can transform into Wereanimals.

  “You get it yet?” Janica asked, looking at us.

  “No,” I said. “Not really.”

  “We need one of you to turn into a feline so that we can then turn you into a Werecat. Wereanimals have a racial talent that reduces healing on their foes by 50%. It’s a debuff that lasts a full minute. Now, I know that none of you want to become a cat. You’ll stink like a cat, for one. You’ll shed. And your ears will look ridiculous. You might even get claws or fur on parts of your body. But somebody has to—”

  Before Janica could even finish her sentence, Cassandra closed her fist around the diamond. The gem disappeared in a puff of dust. Cassandra flashed a brilliant white, and her body began to change. Ears grew. White fur emerged on the backs of her hands. Claws erupted from her knuckles. Her eyes widened and turned blue like the Lion Queen’s.

  I stood there, dumbfounded. I had started to become used to this game, to the leveling systems and Job system. But I had never seen a race change. The reality of the transformation shook me. A gamer could become a new race. Moreover, a gamer could gain new talents by changing races. If Cassandra could gain a healing debuff without taking up a passive or active Skill slot, what else was possible? Could I gain a Race that increased my power with magic?

  Janica fluttered back, pulling up her shield and sword on instinct.

  Cassandra crouched down and stared at Janica like she was going to pounce on her. Then she stood up and laughed. “Come on, Janica, I was just kidding.”

  Janica sighed. “Hand her the book.”

  I handed Cassandra the thin tome that read Tales of the Full Moon on the cover.

  Cassandra opened it up, slightly nervous. “Too late now,” she muttered to herself. She scanned the first page. Colorful lights seeped from the inside of the book toward Cassandra’s eyes like a movie was playing before her. It lifted from the pages like smoke. Or like a magical pop-up book with animations. In a moment, it was over. Cassandra had transformed again. Two sharp canines protruded over her bottom lip. Not huge like a saber toothed tiger, but more like baby vampire teeth. Her eyes turned half-yellow, half-blue, a wild look about them. A mane prickled from the back of her neck.

  This time I took a step back. Cassandra had a dangerous presence.

  “What changed?” Rowan asked.

  I looked at her like she was crazy.

  “No. I mean with your stats. Did they change?”

  Cassandra began messing with her interface. “No,” she said. “But there are changes. Come on. Let’s talk on the way to the dungeon.”

  “Finally,” Arthur said as we stepped off the elevator on floor ten of the dungeon.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Couldn’t be helped.”

  “We have a little over an hour,” he said. “We almost left without you. We’ve been getting messages every fifteen minutes about the dungeon getting shut down, warning us to evacuate.” He looked at Cassandra and startled. “What happened to you? Never mind. Tell me later.”

  I looked around. The progress that the other teams had made was significant. Most were around level twelve, though the highest was fourteen. Which meant that Clarity would be level nineteen.

  The casters collected around me like super fans. They each wanted to tell me how great their new Jobs were. And I was reminded that until today, none of them had ever casted a single spell before. They had been trapped as Apprentices, waiting for a drop that would allow them to change Jobs. Useless to their groups. And now, they wielded magic.

  I smiled and encouraged them. We chatted about spell combinations and synergies.

  I noticed Rowan looking at me, a wry smile on her face, eyebrows raised. As if to say “look at how popular you are.”

  Arthur gathered us together, waving his hands as a signal to get quiet.

  People settled into ranks, standing around him.

  I moved through the crowd, taking a place next to Rowan.

  She didn’t look at me, but knocked her shoulder into mine.

  “We’re about to risk everything in this fight,” Arthur started. “If we die, we may never play IO again.”

  People shifted with nervous energy. The thought terrified me. This game had become everything to me. A new life. New friends. Respect that I had never felt before.

  “What is he talking about?” Janica whispered. “IO?”

  “He means we won’t be able to visit this place anymore,” I whispered back.

  “But not fighting might spell the end of this game for us anyway. The end for every gamer. Some of us have already begun to call this place home. A chance to work and live in a new reality that we can recreate. Where pollution, overcrowding, and oppression cannot touch us. Where we can be in nature. Where we can swing swords, wield magic, adventure, and truly live.”

  People nodded.

  “Keep your eyes open,” he continued. “We don’t really know the mechanics yet, and we only get one shot at this.”

  Arthur took the stairs up to the ninth floor, and we followed.

  The floor was completely empty, not a mob in sight. Eerie.

  “Warren,” Arthur said. “Get the portal open. It’s time.”

  I sliced open my hand and drew the ritual. When it was ready, Rowan set her Shards of Edreru in the center. I activated the ritual.

  A portal opened.

  Arthur stepped through first. The rest of us followed.