Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

her that detailed just how much stuff they’d been using in the dungeons they’d completed until now.

She grimaced at the cost. “Good thing we insisted on all the crafting loot,” she muttered out loud.

“Probably a very good idea.” Sinister stood next to her, on her tiptoes, trying to peer over at what Murmur was reading. “What’s the good idea again so I can be suitably impressed?”

Murmur bent her knees slightly so Sinister could see better. Just having her close made everything feel more manageable. “Crafting. Potions. Flasks. Repair kits. They all cost a ton of money, and well, without the crafting materials we’ve been getting all going back to Neva, I’m afraid the guild would be broke.”

Sinister laughed. “Nah, Neva would find a way for that not to happen. She’s amazing with finances, if you haven’t noticed.”

Murmur raised an eyebrow, because she had noticed, but it wasn’t like Sin to point that sort of shit out. “Okay. I’ll bite. What’s on your mind? The tl;dr version please, because we have about five minutes before we get the information on what we’re doing with these three completed keys.”

Sin smiled, but it seemed a bit forced. “So I know you have your own shit to deal with. Like we all do in a way, but…” She paused, biting her lip like she wasn’t sure how to proceed.

“Come on, Sin. How long have we known each other? How many secrets have we shared? I’m not about to judge you for any reason.” Murmur wiggled her eyebrows, which she was fairly certain made her look comical given the nature of locus eyebrows.

“Fine.” Sin took a deep breath, and Murmur wondered if she should have encouraged her friend to spill these beans. “My head. It feels all sorts of strange. This headset appears to take the powers I have and amplify them in ways I didn’t think I could. And sometimes…”

Her eyes shifted to make sure no one was close enough to hear what she was about to say. “Sometimes it talks to me? I think, anyway. Sort of like an NPC in my head, but nicer. Not programmed. Like she talked to me a couple of days ago when you were floating in the air all freaky-like and stuff. And I get that it’s possible and stuff, considering what we’ve seen, but…I’m just feeling a bit like a floppy fish.”

Murmur stopped what she was reading instinctively, mulling the words over in her mind. She knew the headgear had been altered but hadn’t been aware that it might reach the same brain centers as deeply as her own did. Part of the reason it had been altered was to give her guild a more solid connection to Somnia herself. “But the voice is nice, right?”

Sinister raised an eyebrow. “Sort of. Well, yes, it is. Other times it’s like I can almost hear it, but it’s whispering, so it’s not quite audible.”

I didn’t realize you were actually speaking to the others. Are you meaning to? Murmur asked, trying to keep her frayed nerves under control even though she knew it wasn’t Somnia’s fault.

I’m not right now, but I do sometimes. I try to make it more in a suggestive way. I’m just making use of the tools that have been put in front of me, and with the headgear adapted, it helps me amplify the abilities your friends possess. I thought you knew that’s why the headgear was tweaked. Allowing me to interface directly with them was one of the perks.

Of course she’d known that, but she’d just not thought it through all the way. Sorry. Just juggling a lot at the moment. Will she be okay?

Of course! You really think I would hurt Sinister?

Somnia did sound rather offended at the idea, and Murmur sighed, wondering if the headache was ever going to go away. “You’re okay, Sin. It’s just the world communicating with you.”

“Okay. So.” Sinister frowned, clearly thinking. “I knew I heard her when you were in trouble. But I thought that was a sort of once off. And I know you hear shit, but I thought that was an ability that came with your class.”

Murmur shook her head. “Nope, not at all. That’s a nice unique ability given to me by the bastard who tweaked the crap out of my headset. Luckily, you’re all wearing safely tweaked ones.”

Sinister hesitated. “Probably better not to fight or ignore it?” Her voice quivered for a moment, like she was intimidated by what Murmur had told her but was trying to put on a brave face.

“Definitely better not to. This AI can be a little more persistent than you’d expect.” She laughed and headed over to the entrance of the keep where everyone was gathering.

Telvar stood there, the early sunlight reflecting off his golden-bronze scales and making him look as regal as a dragon should. He was talking to Emilarth and Belius, and all of their expressions made Murmur hope to high whatever that they weren’t going to give a lecture or something equally as tedious.

Tel cleared his throat and kept her waiting no longer. “As your quest dictates, you must raise Gefängnis, and I am here to deliver instructions to you all. Gefängnis requires the turning of keys in three separate locations in order to activate the mechanisms that raise it. To this end we will disperse into three mostly equal groups, and you will all be required to use the portal activated by unlocking the zone.”

Murmur muttered as well as everyone else around her. This was news to her, and she sent Telvar a small glare for not having forewarned her. Although, she guessed everyone had been busy in their own way.

“We will fan out in groups of eleven; one of us will need to be with each of you. It is our keys you will present, for we cannot wield them ourselves. Thus, we must ask this of you, noble adventurers.” Emilarth’s voice rang out clear in the gathering, and Murmur had to give