Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

confusion, amusement, and curiosity chased each other around on the boy’s face. It was like he was kneading Isaac’s soul, and that only intensified the excitement.

His name was LJ, and when he told his story, Isaac heard Femida’s thought. Killing that idiot wouldn’t be enough. When LJ mentioned the “fat idiot,” Femida reached for her sword, though Isaac blocked her and asked her to calm down. They started chatting back and forth.

He’s fascinating! I want him!

Pervert!!

He makes my heart skip a beat. Is this love? Will we have kids?

Why, god? Why do I have to be stuck with such an idiot? And why do I get all the crazies?

Now, I get it—he’s the love of my life!

Stop it. He doesn’t know anything about sex, and he’s my chosen one!

We can fix that. Anyway, shall we go pull each other’s hair, sweetie?

Isaac tormented the poor girl throughout the rest of the meeting. For some reason, just having the guy there was enough to drive Isaac up the wall.

He’s just like me!

More, give me more of the crazy! Come on, show me what you can do…Sagie!

It was definitely Sagie, the criminal who was the reason Femida had been hiding all those five years. When Isaac found himself in the astral, jumping in after Sagie, he once again found himself in the darkness and surrounded by the spirits he’d seen when he was being reborn. The madness left him a little, and he returned control to Femida. It had actually been Isaac who jumped into the portal after Sagie, and not Femida. The closer he was, the more excited he got, though all of his feelings lost their urgency in the astral. That was when he threw all his questions at Femida and heard Sagie’s story.

The talented young man had created a weapon similar to Isaac, though he’d been so young that it seemed impossible. Sacrifices? Rituals? Screw it—the whole thing was fascinating.

After the clinic and back in Radaam, a PK clan ambushed them on a snowbound road leading to Kurg. Two groups attacked them at the same time from different sides. Sagie was able to notice them when they were still a hundred meters away, despite the thick snowfall and their high speed, and the battle started a minute later. A pair of mages had the poor judgement to summon a demon that tore off their heads and headed back with its trophies.

The most surprising part was that a squad of scouts stayed away from the battle but still died fifty meters away from the road. Sensing blood, Sagie said there was something over there. The three of them swept over to see four scouts skewered on tree branches along with their mounts. Femida said the battle had lasted just a couple of seconds, and their opponent left just one track. It was almost like he hadn’t actually done any moving around.

Then, a small black tree standing behind Femida quietly changed its look and gently scratched at Isaac’s helmet. The two-meter man wearing a funeral suit had neither a face nor ears, and he looked straight into the slit in the helmet. Feelers pinned the swordswoman as the man enjoyed looking over the armor. He found it incredible.

Sagie hurled something lethal, and the black man disappeared. He didn’t die; he just slipped into one of the shadows, looking pleased with himself. Femida cursed, though Isaac was close to euphoria.

And that was how they got to Kurg, where Sagie’s friend lived and there grew a tree he wanted to see.

Isaac had gotten to see yet another person just like him: Slender.

***

The sun is just going down over the horizon, and the snowstorm is getting so strong that visibility is falling toward zero. Strong winds sweep the plain, in which Kurg was at the centre, all year round. There aren’t any rocks, no trees grow, and only flying bots are there to bother players. Even they disappear when winter rolls around.

We can see the enormous tree from a dozen kilometers away. It’s grown so much that the tip is engulfed in the clouds, making it easy to find the city.

No sooner do the gates open than two unprepossessing figures run across the empty square near the northern gate. It’s early morning, the city is just waking up, and the guards are dragging themselves out of their rooms to start the morning rounds. We slip through under their noses and dash through the empty streets, arriving at Arkham’s tavern.

The entire city is covered in a white blanket of snow, with just the dismal gray of the city towers and walls poking above it. As we run through the streets, we notice groups of players in the empty houses. Artisans are opening their shops in preparation for the workday. Old ladies with baskets and cans of milk are scurrying around everywhere. The city is waking up.

We find Arkham in his tavern’s back yard, where he’s dickering with a traveling salesman for a lot of wine. The dwarf refuses to back down—the wine has been in his family for more than a hundred years, he insists. Laughing, the innkeeper points at the seal with the mark of last year’s harvest. Just then, however, his eyes meet mine, and the bargaining stops. Arkham comes over when the dwarf leaves.

“I see you found your girl! That’s good—you won’t be whining up in the tree anymore.”

“I’m glad you’re looking good. You even picked up some weight in the last month.” The innkeeper had a small belly poking out. “Nobody to train with?”

He laughed as he buttoned up his coat.

“I’m glad you’re back. It’s been uneasy lately, with lots of strange people and none of the regulars. We have various kinds of shady characters sitting in there all day long.”

“It’s winter. The marauders are all weathering it in the taverns and