Komtur raised the Key, triumphant. The capture timer started counting down. If we held the keep for an hour, Atrocity would belong to the Watchers. Meanwhile, together with Olaf and several other players, I descended the stairs to the depths of the citadel, where the mysterious Heart was kept.
* * *
The Heart of Gravity
Castle artifact. Quality: unique. Size: colossal.
Crafted by Ni-All, the Bone Koranthir.
Visitation: contains an unlimited number of sentient beings.
Hypnosis: sends the visitor into a trance-like state, opening their mind.
Admiration: increases the owner’s reputation with all Visitors to Admiration. The effect only applies in close range to the Heart.
Great Expander: randomly enhances the Visitors’ natural abilities. Attention: the enhancement is unlimited and may prove destructive!
Gravity: the Heart’s irresistible pull will haunt any leaving Visitor, calling them back.
When Pale Bone was in power, and Rag-Amon gleamed with a thousand fires, the great koranthir Ni-All created the Heart. It is beautiful and deadly. It grants powers and clears the mind. Like candlelight, it pulls you closer. But beware: the one who tastes its power once will forever hear its calling...
The Heart was a castle artifact. I had only heard about them, one of the most guarded clan secrets. Installed into special castle slots, they were supposed to fortify the citadel and grant various benefits. For example, the Watchers’ Mass Resurrection was the effect of a similar item.
It looked like a large piece of amber clutched in the green claws of a casing. I could recognize the Ancients’ handiwork at first sight: the Heart resembled both the elevators at the Helt Akor Crossings and the Crystal of Negation that once had bound the Temple of Shadows.
And it was crafted by Ni-All! Could it be the Ni-All whom Weldy had told me about? The mysterious ancestor of the Nialits? If so, the Heart might turn out to be the key to her main quest! But logic immediately cooled down the glimmer of joy: first, the Heart’s affixes were too dangerous, and second, it had to be destroyed. I started to get a better understanding of Panther’s motives. He had someone who had become a victim of that evil artifact!
As if hearing my thoughts, Captain quietly stepped out from behind the Heart. I recognized him by the stealthy movement of a dangerous predator. He had barely changed, other than the deep shadows under his eyes and a tired apathetic expression on his face. He curled his lips in a smile.
“Well, it seems it worked out, eh? We’ve given Sphere a good shake-up!”
The Unity tag lit up above his head as Captain returned to his old clan. His old friends — Black Don, Elpheros, and Diareus — surrounded him and gave him friendly hugs.
Olaf carefully circled the giant crystal. His eyes were burning.
“It’s a cheat... You could stamp out an army of loyal fighters...” I heard him muttering, and Komtur replied, “Now it’s clear why the Pandas hunted NPCs...”
“Don’t admire it too much!” Panther warned them. “You made a promise!”
Komtur gave a reluctant nod. It had definitely occurred to our leaders to get their hands on such a valuable prize.
“Especially since,” Captain added with a smile, “the Heart is here for a reason. Outside the Astral Plane, it will incur the wrath of gods. Most likely, it will get destroyed together with its castle.”
“I’d love to study it more, of course...” Olaf mumbled. “I can imagine so many uses for it... But fine. Cat!”
Slowly, I drew Aelmaris out of its sheath. That’s why I was there — to destroy the unique artifact in one swing.
Unerringly finding me with his eyes, Captain Panther gave me a subtle nod and said, “Wait! Do you have the Gene? First, we need to release everyone inside. The control panel must be somewhere around here...”
I walked around the Heart, looking for the mentioned spot. Of course, they couldn’t see it: it was a standard Ancient control interface in the shape of a blue, glowing five-fingered print. When I put my hand there, intricate lines in Kann-Elo lit up in the air, and the artifact started slowly pulsating, emanating light. Dozens — no, hundreds — of frozen shadowy silhouettes stood inside, fused into the amber. Were they the “Visitors” mentioned above?
“What should I do next?” I asked softly. The Ancient glyphs swirling in the air didn’t ring any bells.
“Ah, you don’t have the Kann-Elo Knowledge skill!” Olaf suddenly remembered. “Just a second, please!”
We had to tinker with it for a while: I sent them screenshots of glyphs, and they translated them. Honestly, anyone with Ancient Gene should have known their language by default. The Pandas had learned the Heart’s description upon identifying it, but controlling it required pressing alternate icons, same as in the Endless Paths.
After entering the correct combination, the Heart started glimmering and finally flashed, momentarily blinding all of us. When I opened my eyes, I saw many new creatures around. All of them were NPCs, human and non-human, belonging to different races. They looked as if they had just been yanked out of a long slumber, reeling, blinking, rubbing their eyes, and staring in confusion. It felt as if they had no idea what was going on and where they were, completely lost in time and space.
“Come on!” Panther whispered, suddenly standing right next to me. “Destroy the Heart! Because soon, they won’t let you do it!”
Interlude: The Admins
New Tokyo, campus of Sphere of Worlds Corporation, operative meeting
“...ONE HUNDRED forty-three. Sixty-eight attacks over the last six hours. Seeing as only twenty have been recorded since
