{"id":299,"date":"2025-07-13T16:10:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/concentrikey.com\/?page_id=299"},"modified":"2025-07-19T02:52:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T02:52:28","slug":"the-world-of-ona-chapter-7","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/concentrikey.com\/?page_id=299","title":{"rendered":"The World of ONA – Chapter 7"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The World of ONA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Level 7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cavern was empty of monsters and memorable features. The walls looked the same, the turns and twists and drops deeper into the mountain were unremarkable.

The Crystal Breakers legacy was a handful of completed rooms in side passages along the main pathway.

\u201cWas the game completed?\u201d I said to the Red Knight as she guided me in silence, like a tracker on the hunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u201dPlease be silent, there are dangers lurking around every corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the caverns are empty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Source Aura deleted everything in her path.\u201d
\u201cSo the game was deleted?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight stopped, looked around and said, \u201cThe game is over. I failed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan the game be restored?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. I should have pursued the Source Aura with more urgency. The red knight is not deserving of a seat at the high table of Castle Bromme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight faded into a ghostly figure, the torch she carried dropping to the floor of the cavern. \u201cI no longer have a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I panicked as the torchlight dimmed and flickered out, the cavern as dark as I\u2019ve ever seen a place. \u201cWait!\u201d

The Red Knight fell to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait, I need you,\u201d I shouted into the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight said nothing.

I closed my eyes and turned back, and was soon knocked off my feet with unimaginable strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you promise to need me?\u201d shouted the Red Knight, her armored body falling heavily onto the sandy floor of the cavern, at my side as I struggled to move out of her way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight said, \u201cI have a name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked for the silhouette of the Red Knight as my eyes continued to adjust to the dark cavern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnisa, the sister of Ona.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The torchlight sparked to life and I was staring eye to eye at the Red Knight, and she was smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said, \u201cNice to meet you, Onisa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tower has a spare room,\u201d said the Red Knight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to find Loaf and save the game world before the Source Aura deletes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the tower guarding the kingdom of the Crystal Breakers had such a nice guest room. I peaked before we started the quest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes Castle Bromme have guest rooms?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said the Red Knight.

We continued the quest deep into the cavern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many of what?\u201d said the Red Knight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnisa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you have any idea where you\u2019re going?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d I said, caution about getting lost in the caverns.

\u201cThe Source Aura deleted the landmarks carved by the Crystal Breakers, and all the twists and turns now look the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pulled the torch from the Red Knights tight grasp and stepped into one of the side rooms along the main path. I searched for a door or any way out of the cavern and quickly found the exit behind a small pile of rubble, or what appeared to be a smashed statue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight dug into the pile of rubble and found the head of a statue, then began to laugh. \u201cThe Source Aura created an infinite loop.\u201d

\u201cSo we have traveled nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, hours of walking in a circle under the tower.\u201d

\u201cI\u2019m too tired to care,\u201d I said, \u201cguide me back to the surface\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight took me by the hand and smiled, \u201cI will lead you to the tower guest room, to rest.\u201d In a few short minutes we cleared the rubble, crawled into a narrow passage and stood in the tower guest room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a think you planned this from the start,\u201d I said, waiting for a reaction to confirm my suspicions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said the Red Knight, \u201cI would have made you work a lot harder to find the way out of the caverns.

I sat in a small wood chair near a small wood table and stared into a fireplace. \u201cWhat can we do about the Source Aura?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need an army.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh? The game has no outside players. The characters are all part of the story, even the ones in training at Castle Bromme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you hear about the flower field guarded by a giant?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cI reached a pond in a clearing, and was rescued by Loaf.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you fell for the trap.\u201d

The Red Knight smiled, \u201cThe flowers are the characters of outside players, must be a hundred or more.\u201d

\u201cThe people behind the characters no longer play the game, but many left the perfect solution to our problem. The characters who are not part of the original game, cannot be deleted by the Source Aura.\u201d

The Red Knight left the room, and returned minutes later wearing the red dress with silver thread patterns. \u201cSo you tried to log out of the game while I was gone?\u201d She pulled a chair close to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did you\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Knight smiled, \u201cGet some rest before the level update is announced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world dissolved into a burst of blue pixels, and I was logged out of the game. I walked around my apartment, stretching my legs and grateful to feel the cool air conditioning in the apartment. The sun was setting and it looks like rain.

“Loaf needs to work in the morning. I should guide him to a save point and talk him into returning to the game in a week. I refuse to see a good friend lose himself in a game.”

I prepared a quick late night snack and mentally prepared a return to the virtual world. I was burned out from the years of pro gaming, but the training was going well. I considered becoming a professor and returning to the university.

“The used equipment is running low on battery, must be all original first release stuff he bought. The later models resolved the hardware issues. I wish he was smarter about technology, all he does is dream big. I met Loaf in a computer programming class, but his attention span was too short continue the coursework.”

The house was quiet until the voice of a exhausted woman announced her arrival at the front door. “I’m back from work. I thought you were playing games at a friend’s house, the fantasy virtual world game?”

“Loaf talked me into playing. I can train him to use the equipment from home, the game uses the old helmet and visor links, remember those?”

“Please don’t return to your old life,” said the woman I was dating in the real world. The Red Knight would not be amused.

Ona sent a message to the players. “Level eight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Continue<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Short Story Collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Concentrikey \u00a9 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World of ONA Level 7 The cavern was empty of monsters and memorable features. The walls looked the same, the turns and twists and drops deeper into the mountain were unremarkable. The Crystal Breakers legacy was a handful of completed rooms in side passages along the main pathway. \u201cWas the game completed?\u201d I said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-299","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe World of ONA - Chapter 7 - Concentrikey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/concentrikey.com\/?page_id=299\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World of ONA - Chapter 7 - Concentrikey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The World of ONA Level 7 The cavern was empty of monsters and memorable features. 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