1:15 P.M.
When it comes to Ashcroft, people often forget that he was famous even before he became trapped in Ferrum. Before he was the Warlord of the Third Server, he was a YouTuber who had reached a level of fame such that even people outside of the YouTube sphere of influence had heard of him. Whenever he became embroiled in a controversy, it would not be uncommon for major news organizations to cover it.
Enzo didn’t know this at the time, but Ashcroft’s rise to fame had a significant bearing on their current situation. Ashcroft became really popular in 2032, but he was making videos back when Ninth Oasis first came out in 2026. He joined a high-ranking guild called the Scions of the Blue Flame in 2027. When the Scions became the dominant force in Ninth Oasis competitive play in 2029, the officers of that guild became rather well-known. The popularity of Ninth Oasis as the flagship product of the Kabuto system certainly increased the level of popularity. Ashcroft, as the lead field-officer of the Scions, saw a meteoric rise in popularity. Viral clips were circulated of Ashcroft defeating other well-known professional Ninth Oasis players. This paired with Ashcroft’s own natural charisma made him very famous. After the Scions of the Blue Flame disbanded in 2031, Ashcroft formed the Knights of Ashes, which went on to similarly dominate Ninth Oasis professional play. Many members of the Scions went on to join the Knights, and, by 2035, Ashcroft had become a household name. No serious commentator would mention Ninth Oasis and not mention Ashcroft or the Knights.
Of course, Ashcroft’s focus would expand beyond Ninth Oasis in the 2030s. He played just about every game on the Kabuto system, and he excelled at all of them that involved violence. Ashcroft was considered to be one of the world’s best players of the game Kingmaker: The Dawn War, a famously difficult fantasy game on the Kabuto system. In 2033, he started boxing Internet celebrities IRL and showed that he could fight in the real world almost as well as he could fight in game. When the game started, Ashcroft’s boxing record was three wins by TKO and no losses or ties.
“Ashcroft? You’re referring to the YouTuber?” asked Rachel.
“The very same,” said Tantalus. “What have you found, Red?”
“I’m looking at the posts on the BloodNet forums,” said Redgrave. “At first, people were freaking out about the whole ‘trapped in a video game’ thing, then people were talking about Ashcroft like he’s some kind of Messiah, and now people are talking about Tantalus. It seems that Ashcroft must have mentioned you by name.”
“Why did Ashcroft mention Tantalus?” asked Elias.
“We were in the Scions of the Blue Flame together,” said Tantalus. “He was a field commander, and I was a strategist. We hung out a few times, but we haven’t really talked much since the guild disbanded. I knew he’d be in the game somewhere, but I didn’t think we’d end up on the same server.”
“You knew Ashcroft?” asked Volta.
“Yes,” Tantalus said like it was obvious. “Anyone who was any good at Ninth Oasis back then was in the Scions. You needed fifty players to compete in the Large Group tournaments, so we had about seventy members at any one time. Over five years of existence, we must have had about two hundred members in total.”
“A lot of the messages I’m getting have links to two videos,” Redgrave interrupted. His eyes were still closed. “Both were posted by Ashcroft. One has the title ‘Testing out the Combat System: Day One’ and the other has the title ‘My Plans for the Future.’”
Enzo was then forwarded a message from Redgrave that said, [Bebop308: You know Tantalus, right? Could you make sure he sees these two videos?]. Opening this message in the menu, Enzo saw the two linked videos.
“We should watch these two videos,” said Tantalus. “Ashcroft is clearly trying to send us a message. It would be hasty for us to go to the meeting without knowing the message.
Enzo opened the first video. It was four minutes long.
When the video started, Ashcroft was in the center of the shot. His model looked almost identical to his model from Ninth Oasis. He had long black hair that streamed past his shoulders and scraggly five-o-clock shadow on his face. Ashcroft’s untidy hair, muscular build, and rigid posture made him look like a barbarian who could explode into violence at any moment. He had cast off the blue jacket of the uniform the players had all spawned in, leaving him only with the white undershirt beneath it. His left arm sported a number of recently healed pink scars.
With a charming smile, Ashcroft looked into the camera and said, “Alright… take one.” He clapped once in front of the camera. “Let’s go kill some orcs.” He withdrew his revolver from his chest holster and a one-handed cavalry saber from his hip. The saber's blade was dripping with blood.
Ashcroft walked away from the camera and stepped into the center of a street in the suburbs. He fired his revolver in the air and the sound caused the audio to cut out for a moment.
“Come on out!” Ashcroft screamed at the top of his lungs. “It’s just the two of us here! Easy pickings!”
Thirty seconds passed without incident. Ashcroft turned to the camera with a look of mild annoyance before a war cry could be heard from behind Ashcroft.
The camera turned and captured five grey skinned Deluvians charging forward. The Deluvians were closer to the cameraman than Ashcroft. Panic was evident in the camera work as the cameraman retreated backward. A rifle could be seen in the shot for a moment as the cameraman moved.
Ashcroft interposed himself between the charging Deluvians and the cameraman. Wielding the saber in his right hand and the revolver in his left, Ashcroft launched a counter charge against the greyskins. Ashcroft met the savagery of the Deluvians with a savagery of his own and sprinted toward the five screaming monsters.
A moment before the two opposing forces collided, Ashcroft subtly adjusted his course and slipped between two of the monsters. Ashcroft’s saber moved like it weighed nothing at all as he cut into two of the monsters. It was difficult to see, but Ashcroft cut one in the midsection before he reached them and cut the other in the back after he passed. He must have delivered both of those blows in the span of a second. Ashcroft’s saber sliced through the greyskins like they were butter, and the two he cut fell to the ground in a single gurgling heap. He had cut one entirely in half, and the other collapsed in such a way that made it clear that Ashcroft had severed its spinal cord.
Ashcroft took a moment to admire his sword. Clearly, he hadn’t expected his attacks to be as effective as they ended up being. One of the greyskins took this opportunity to attack Ashcroft, but he easily dodged the powerful but easily predictable swing. The greyskin’s longsword only missed Ashcroft by a hair as he spent the minimum amount of effort to dodge the attack. With a casual movement of his sword, Ashcroft struck and one of the Deluvian’s arms was promptly detached from its body. The one-armed Deluvian retreated, blood seeping from its wound, and Ashcroft began laughing.
“Amateurs!” Ashcroft laughed, clearly enjoying himself. “You’ve got power in spades but no skill.”
The three surviving Deluvians arrayed themselves in a semi-circle around Ashcroft, who took up a fencing position with his saber forward and revolver behind his back. The orcs stood there for a long moment, looking for openings.
Without warning, all three of the Deluvians attacked at once. One of the Deluvians was reduced to raw hamburger in an instant, but the other two greyskins used the opening created by Ashcroft killing their friend to push their attack. Ashcroft was able to duck out of the way of one attack, but the one-armed Deluvian was able to hit Ashcroft in the back. Because the one-armed Deluvian was not able to put the whole of its weight behind the attack, the blow merely wounded Ashcroft instead of cutting into his internal organs.
Ashcroft fell forward with a grunt of pain and rolled away from the two surviving Deluvians. They continued to push their attack, but their momentum was halted when Ashcroft leveled his revolver at the two of them.
Ashcroft had fallen to one knee and blood was flowing from his back freely. Enzo expected to see a look of pain or hopelessness in his eyes. Instead, there was a look of intense hatred. He slowly got to his feet and said, “Oh, you’ve done it now.” The camera barely picked it up, but Enzo could tell that he was growling with rage.
The two Deluvians attacked one final time. Ashcroft swiftly tore the throat out of one and chopped the remaining arm off of the one-armed greyskin. This final pass between Ashcroft and the greyskins made it clear to me that he had just been playing with them up until that point. He somehow fought more effectively after he had been wounded. Ashcroft got behind the Deluvian and effortlessly put two shallow cuts into the back of its legs. It fell to the ground, and Ashcroft put a foot on its back.
“Emile! Get over here and help me stop this orc from dying! I think we’ve got a prisoner on our hands!” Ashcroft said as he turned to the camera. He held his back and gritted his teeth in discomfort.
With this, the footage ended.
Having watched the video, everyone in the group opened their eyes.
“Is this real?” asked Volta.
“I suspect it is,” responded Tantalus.
“How did Ashcroft manage to do all that?” said Volta. Enzo was wondering the same thing. Having fought the greyskins himself, Enzo couldn’t possibly imagine a situation where he could beat five at once in a melee. He managed to kill one with a bayonet, but his success was more due to luck than skill. Enzo felt incredibly clumsy controlling my avatar on that first day. It was as if he had to learn to walk all over again. Enzo was only able to hit my targets because of his experience with guns in the real world. In real life, Enzo was an avid gun collector and hunter. He had spent several hundred hours at the gun range, and he was able to fall back on that skill when fighting the Deluvians.
“Red and I were actually talking about that earlier,” said Tantalus. “Have any of you played Ninth Oasis?”
Everyone except for Redgrave shook their heads to indicate that they had not.
“That makes sense,” said Tantalus. “And I assume all of you are experiencing a level of physical awkwardness… as if you’re trying to learn to walk with a new set of legs?”
Everyone nodded their heads to indicate that they were. “How do you know that?” asked Elias.
“That’s how I felt the first time I played Ninth Oasis,” said Tantalus. “Ferrum uses the same basic system as Ninth Oasis. To Red and me, this game just feels like a much more advanced version of Ninth Oasis. Ashcroft’s skill in Ninth Oasis must have transferred over to this game.”
“Does this apply to everyone who played Ninth Oasis?” Enzo asked.
“I suspect it does,” said Tantalus. “It’s honestly amazing how similar this game is to Ninth Oasis. I feel like anything I could do there, I can do here.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem very fair,” said Dendrite.
“Complain to GM,” said Tantalus.
“Ashcroft kept using the word ‘orc.’ Is he referring to the greyskins?” said Rachel.
“I think I know this one,” Cadmium said through the window of the truck. “In the Lord of the Rings movies, the orcs have grey skin, and the goblins have green skin.”
“That’s smart,” said Tantalus. “Well, ‘orc’ is a lot easier to say than Deluvian or greyskin.”
After a pause, Tantalus continued. “Let’s continue onto the next video.”
Enzo closed his eyes and opened the video entitled, “My Plans for the Future.”
The video started on an image of Ashcroft standing near the camera. He was attired similarly to how he was in the earlier video. The only difference was that Ashcroft was wearing the jacket of his uniform draped over his shoulders. He was standing outside, and the palace Enzo had seen earlier stood behind him.
“Hey everybody,” said Ashcroft. He delivered this line like it was the first half of the introduction he gives at the beginning of his YouTube videos. “I made this video to talk about the situation we now find ourselves in. I don’t know what to make of this ‘GM’ figure or his claim that death in the game will result in IRL death. What I do know is that we can’t log out, and the accuracy of the pain modeling has been… increased.” He subtly rubbed his back as if the pain of his wound was still bothering him.
“Clearly, something or someone is holding us here against our will, and it’s able to cause us pain if it so wishes. Dozens of people have approached me over the past few hours, asking me what we should do, and I haven’t been able to answer them. Honestly, I’m more of a ‘tactics’ guy myself. The big-picture stuff has never been my specialty. Therefore, I suggest that we all hold a meeting in the large park in the middle of downtown Osiris to figure out what to do next.”
The camera turned away from Ashcroft and towards a large park. It must have been half a mile long on each side. After a moment, the camera turned back toward Ashcroft.
“I had some of my guys look over the list of players here in Osiris, and they found a few ex-Scions among the player base,” Ashcroft continued. “They found RealSleep, FullDan, and Tantalus on the list. One other notable name they found was Mander of Sumeria. I would very much appreciate to hear the input of these four players. If the four of you would attend this meeting, I would very much appreciate it. I’ll be in the park for the next three hours, so come on by and let’s talk about the next step.”
As soon as Ashcroft finished this sentence, the video ended.
Enzo opened my eyes as soon as the video ended. The Chasm was still there in the background, but we had all but forgotten it. The party turned toward Tantalus and waited with bated breath to hear what he was going to say next. Tantalus stood there with his eyes closed long after everyone else had opened theirs.
“So, are we going to do what Ashcroft suggested?” Elias asked after a long silence.
“We do what Tantalus says,” said Redgrave. “I made a few videos with Ashcroft for Ninth Oasis, and he can be a bit… intense off camera. If Tantalus says it’s too dangerous, we should trust him.”
The expression on Tantalus’s face began to resemble a grimace as Elias and Redgrave spoke.
“How annoying,” Tantalus said through gritted teeth.
“What do you mean?” asked Elias.
“Ashcroft is much smarter than he lets on,” said Tantalus. “He’s always been an expert at creating and maintaining morale. He knows that, right now, the players need a concrete plan to put their faith in, and, based on the people he listed in the second video, he expects me to make that plan. The only problem is that I don’t have a plan yet. At least, not a finished one.”
“Why do you think he expects you to make a plan?” asked Rachel.
“FullDan, RealSleep, and Mander are great players in their own right. Each of them was S-rank in Ninth Oasis,” said Tantalus, “but none of them are strategists.”
After a pause, Tantalus continued. “Red, I’m gonna need to borrow your motorcycle. I want all of you to go to the park without me. Tell Ashcroft that I’ll be there in thirty minutes. I need some time to prepare.”
Redgrave and Tantalus traded keys, and Tantalus rode away on Redgrave’s motorcycle. Just before he left, Enzo heard Tantalus say, “Who does he think I am, General Patton?”
Over the course of the next five minutes, the rest of the group drove to the park.
When they got there, the park was absolutely packed with blue-clad players. All told, there must have been between a thousand and two thousand people there. They were clumped together in groups of three to ten, though quite a few people were standing alone. About one in ten of the players there wore at least one article of clothing in addition to their blue uniform. Seeing this sea of blue in front of me made me wonder why the NPCs had decided that blue was a good choice for a military uniform. There was basically no situation where blue would act as a good camouflage. At that moment, Enzo committed himself to finding a grey cloak like the one Redgrave and Tantalus were wearing. When draped over the shoulders, the cloak did a good job of covering the blue uniform, and the grey color served as excellent camouflage in the urban area they had been fighting in.
There was an intense feeling of dejection among the players. No matter where you went in the park, you could hear the sound of people crying. It was about 1:30 PM EST, so the game had been running for about three and a half hours at that point. The news of their condemnation was fresh in their minds at that time.
Most of the players had brought their rifles with them, and some had left theirs on the ground. Bolt-action rifles littered the ground at that park like beer bottles after a New Years Eve party. Enzo's group had left their rifles in the bed of the pickup truck.
“Now… where’s Ashcroft?” Redgrave said to himself.
Elias pointed to a far-off part of the park where the density of players was much higher. “That would be my first bet,” he said.
They started walking. “Do you think this might turn into a gunfight or something?” said Volta. “There are a lot of people with guns here, and none of them are having a good time.”
“No, that’s impossible,” Enzo said. “Tantalus tried to shoot out a window, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. See?” Enzo unholstered my pistol, pointed it at the sky, and tried to pull the trigger. Everyone around him flinched, but the gun didn’t go off. Embarrassed, Enzo loudly said, “Sorry, everybody. I’m just doing an experiment. Our guns don’t work inside the City.” The players around Enzo were calmed by his statement. One of the players tried to shoot his gun into the ground with minimal success.
As they walked, a few people recognized Redgrave and approached the group. Two of the people that approached them asked if they could join the group. One of the players who asked to join the group was Bebop308, the guy who had sent a message to Redgrave, and the other was Pixie_Chix, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who claimed to be B-rank at Ninth Oasis. Redgrave, who the rest of the group figured was in charge at this point, let the two of them stick around. Redgrave told the two of them that membership was ultimately up to Tantalus, but he assumed they would be able to stay. Enzo later learned that Pixie didn’t even recognize Redgrave. According to her, she had joined them because they looked like the only people in that park who looked like they knew where they were going.
They soon reached the concentrated group of players. The players crowded around a large wooden stage. The stage looked like it was made to be used for outdoor concerts. A complicated set-up of lights and speakers surrounded the stage. About a dozen players were standing on the top of the stage, and a few NPCs were there talking to some of the players. They seemed to be having an argument. Standing off the stage were a few confused-looking NPC police officers who clearly didn’t know what to do. Ashcroft was standing on the ground near the stage in the middle of a semicircle of players. He was saying something that the group couldn’t hear.
Redgrave stepped toward the crowd of people and muscled his way through. Pixie, Elias, Dendrite, and Enzo followed him through, but the rest of the group stayed behind.
“It’s good to hold out hope that we might be rescued, but we need to be prepared to stay here long-term,” Ashcroft said to the crowd as we approached. “Worst case scenario, we’ll need to beat this game to escape. That could take years.” Someone in the crowd let out an involuntary cry of despair. “If we do need to beat this game, I guarantee you that my guild and I won’t rest until GM is dead.” Enzo could tell that this is the point in Ashcroft’s speech where he turned his attention toward morale building.
“You see, five Knights logged on with me,” Ashcroft said and gestured over to some of the players working on the stage. “All six of us were S-rank in Ninth Oasis, and I can tell you with certainty that skill in Ninth Oasis transfers over to this game. Every one of the Knights is worth a thousand Deluvians. Just point us in the direction of GM, and you’ll have his head mounted on a wall by Christmas. And it’s not just the Ashen Knights who can fight, mind you. Mander and the three Scions I mentioned earlier are S-rank, and I know for a fact that the man standing behind you is at least A-rank, though he never officially went through the ranking process.” As he said this, Ashcroft pointed to Redgrave. The crowd turned to see us. Redgrave, the tallest of the group, stood out with his grey hair and cloak. “Give it up for Redgrave, everybody,” Ashcroft said. Everyone in the crowd clapped as Redgrave entered the clearing of people in the middle of the group.
“Thanks, thanks,” Redgrave said, his face turning red. Clearly, he wasn’t one who was particularly good at public speaking. Redgrave approached Ashcroft and said, “I need to talk to you.”
Stopping for a half-second, Ashcroft smiled and said, “Sorry everybody, Redgrave and I need to have a strategy meeting. Mosaic!” Ashcroft shouted over to the stage, and there was a groan of disappointment from the crowd. “Come tell these people about last year’s tournament!” As the group and Ashcroft were beginning to leave the larger crowd, Ashcroft turned to the crowd and shouted, “The morning will come!”
Mosaic and a few of the men on the stage responded in an almost guttural shout, “Victory is close!”
“What was that?” Elias asked.
“Just a little call-and-response from the old days,” said Ashcroft. “I changed it a little bit when the Knights formed. Anyway, what’s up, Redgrave?” Ashcroft spoke conversationally.
“Tantalus says he’ll be here in thirty minutes,” said Redgrave. “He says he’s working on a plan.”
Ashcroft smiled broadly, clapped his hands together, and said, “Excellent! I knew that old Stonewall would pull through for us.”
“You call him Stonewall?” asked Redgrave.
“Oh, he hated it back in the day,” laughed Ashcroft. “Don’t tell him I called him that. Anyway, I need to go talk to the players.”
Ashcroft went back to the crowd. Enzo heard him tell the crowd that Tantalus, the great strategist, would arrive in thirty minutes.
[Redgrave22]
