《Oblivion Online (complete)》 Chapter 1 ¡°Bill! I swear to God if you don¡¯t get me some clean plates in the next few minutes I¡¯m going to smash that radio you keep fiddling with!¡± Marty yelled from the busy kitchen. Rush hour was always like this, the dish washer got distracted by the radio, and the lack of clean dishes put strain on everyone. Working for Arctic Storm Entertainment wasn¡¯t too bad. The restaurant at company headquarters wasn¡¯t fine dining, but helped provide a relaxed atmosphere for employees on their breaks. Plus, everyone got a nice discount. Most departments worked together to stagger their lunch hours, so the entire place wasn¡¯t packed all at once. While that reduced a lot of the strain on the waitresses and cooks, it also prolonged the lunch rush so that it really spanned about three hours instead of one or two. Storming back into the back, Marty leveled a glare when he found Bill once again changing the radio station instead of cleaning the stacks of plates arranged on the counter. ¡°Did you hear me Bill?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh hey there Marty, I got plates for you!¡± ¡°It¡¯s about time, and I swear if I come back and you are messing with that radio instead of washing the dishes, I¡¯m sending the radio through the dishwasher.¡± ¡°Fine, don¡¯t get your panties in a twist.¡± Rushing back into the kitchen, Marty dumped the plates onto his counter and got back to flipping the burgers on the grill. Getting back into the groove of tickets, his mind wandered. While a line cook wasn¡¯t the most prestigious of jobs out there, it did come with several benefits. He was one of the only bachelors he knew that could cook damn near anything with a grill and a fryer. The perpetually hot kitchen and constant running meant he really didn¡¯t have to watch what he ate either. Plus, he got nights off and made enough that there was usually plenty of entertainment cash after bills tried to eat his paychecks. Sure, it wasn¡¯t the lap of luxury, but Marty didn¡¯t need that. As the rush was winding down, Marty started taking a quick stock of what needed refilling. Burgers would be ok for one more night, tenderloins needed prepped, tomorrow¡¯s special needed preppedDid you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°MARTY!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Spinning around, he saw his helper Jennifer staring at him. ¡°I said, you got someone out front asking to talk to you. Table three.¡± Quickly washing his hands and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Marty headed out to see who could possibly be there to talk to him. He was pretty much slaved to the kitchen areas, so there weren¡¯t a lot of people he knew from upstairs. Walking into the dining room, his heart fluttered a bit seeing the head of HR sitting alone looking straight at him. Nothing good ever came from talking with HR, and Marty was one of many who subscribed to the belief that HR was there for the good of the company, not the good of the employees. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Marty,¡± he said as soon as he got up to the table. ¡°Did you need to speak with me?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Priscilla Dawson, Head of HR. I need you to come to a meeting after your shift here ends. Nothing terrible, don¡¯t worry about that. The 39th floor, speak to the receptionist and she will direct you where to go. What time can I expect you?¡± Crap, nothing to worry about? Nobody gets called in by the head of HR for nothing. Marty thought to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll be off at 3:30.¡± He replied. ¡°Excellent, I¡¯ll see you then.¡± Marty spent the next few hours in a fugue. At one point he even spent five minutes washing the same spot on one potato. A slap on the back startled him out of his funk. ¡°I think it¡¯s clean there Marty!¡± Sandra, his replacement said. ¡°Hey Sandra, sorry. I¡¯m a bit out of it today.¡± ¡°No shit, although you got one of the cleanest potatoes I¡¯ve ever seen. So where we at on the prepping? ¡°Next to nowhere. Sorry, I learned at lunch I have a meeting with HR and I¡¯ve been obsessing about it ever since I learned about it. Here¡¯s the list of what I should¡¯ve done but never got around to.¡± ¡°Ouch, well I should be able to handle it. You aren¡¯t good for anything else today, and I can¡¯t quite blame you for that. Head on out and hopefully I¡¯ll see you tomorrow. Take care.¡± ¡°Thanks Sandra, I¡¯m out. Hopefully I¡¯ll be better tomorrow.¡± Chapter 2 Luckily for my fellow passengers the elevator was empty. I don¡¯t care who you are, spending eight hours in a kitchen and you will smell like grease. It also let me pace back and forth to work off some of my nervous energy. Of course, when the doors opened into a fairly opulent reception area I immediately felt entirely out of place. Plush blue carpet covered the floor, and the walls were a gentle sky theme with streaks of clouds. The receptionist had an enormous desk made of some dark wood, with dual monitors set up along with two trays for papers. As I awkwardly stepped out of the elevator, she turned and asked, ¡°Welcome to the HR department, how can I help you?¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m supposed to be here for a 3:30 meeting? With Ms. Dawson?¡± ¡°Ah, you must be Martin then.¡± Pressing a button on her phone, I was dismissed for the moment. ¡°Ms. Dawson, your 3:30 is here.¡± ¡°Thank you Pamela, please set him up in conference room A.¡± Looking back at me, Pamela gave me a well-practiced but still natural looking smile. ¡°They will be with you shortly, please follow me to the conference room.¡± Following her, I tried to quell my rising panic. Conference room? Conference room?! Why do I need to meet with HR in a conference room? Oh god, I¡¯m so fired. A typical room greeted me as I silently passed Pamela. ¡°Thanks¡± I muttered before sitting down on the side of a rectangular table with four seats on one side and one on each end. Great, now I get to twiddle my thumbs and panic about all the things I probably forgot I might have done. Luckily for me, Ms. Dawson entered less than a minute later. Followed by three men in expensive looking suits with briefcases. Oh crap, these have to be lawyers. How deep of trouble am I in? ¡°Thanks for coming up here and meeting with us Marty. I¡¯m sure you are worried about these gentlemen with me, but please try and relax. They have some paperwork, depending on how far our talks end up going. In case you were wondering, they are part of our in house counsel, and first off they have an NDA for you to sign.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, NDA? What¡¯s that?¡± Suit number one spoke up, ¡°Non-Disclosure Agreement.¡± ¡°It basically says you won¡¯t tell anyone what is discussed in this meeting, and if you do it outlines what penalties you face.¡± Ms. Dawson clarified. ¡°Now, I will say this. You are under no obligation to sign anything. Your job is safe, and you can walk out that door at any time. If you choose to stay, you will sign the agreement. If you do talk, and reveal company secrets, we will then go after you to the full extent of the law. In this case, it would be a small term in jail along with triple monetary damages based upon the leaked information. Are you willing to continue?¡± My mind was racing. This entire thing was optional? And all I had to do was agree not to speak about it? ¡°I suppose I could stay and listen.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± She emphasized with a clap. Suit number two slid a packet of papers across the table to me. ¡°NDA forms. Two pages each, in triplicate. Please sign one for your records, one for our records in HR and one for the legal department.¡± I tried to read through them, but the legalese was making my eyes crossed. It didn¡¯t seem too bad, and I didn¡¯t see any mention of souls so at least that was safe. ¡°What¡¯s this about treble damages to be determined by the company?¡± ¡°That just means that if you reveal something that costs the company money, you will pay back triple the value of the information. Please don¡¯t do that, costs add up fast¡± Ms. Dawson clarified. I signed all three copies, kept one for myself and sent the others back to Suit 2. Slumping back in my chair, I asked, ¡°Well, this is your show. What did you need me for?¡± Clearing her throat, Ms. Dawson started her presentation. ¡°We have several offers on the table here, but first I want to make sure we have all the details of your current Oblivion Online account down. Your character is McFlyAway3, and is your third created character. A level 47 elf ranger, last played three months ago. Correct?¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds about right¡± I agreed. I wasn¡¯t surprised they knew my character, they ran the game. ¡°Excellent. I also see that none of your characters ever rose above level 55, and you never joined a guild. Can you talk about why?¡± ¡°Sure. That level range is right about where grinding to get levels becomes a way of life, and I absolutely hate repeating the same things over and over. As to the guilds, I just don¡¯t have the patience for it. Too many want to control every detail of your game, or make you pair up with immature idiots.¡± ¡°Thank you, that almost perfectly fits part of what we need you for. Would you be interested in a new way to play Oblivion Online? One where instead of grouping up in massive raid parties for the forces of light, you were instead playing as a character of the monster races? No party system, no raids. Solo adventuring at its finest?¡± I leaned forward as she was describing it, and got a gleam in my eye. ¡°That sounds fantastic. Will there be PVP?¡± At her slightly confused look I said, ¡°Player verses Player.¡± ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m not sure how it¡¯s different. All I can say is that the developers have redone the vast majority of gameplay.¡± Oh, I was getting more and more excited about this. No guilds forcing me to play how they want, no annoying idiots with an excess of space between their ears, and I get to play as the monsters in the dungeon? Yes, I was very interested. ¡°Ms. Dawson, I would be thrilled to be chosen for this.¡± ¡°Wonderful! Now, as a Beta tester you are entitled to some compensation for your time. We will be requiring you to send in bug reports if you encounter anything broken in the gameplay. You will have a dedicated Game Manager to send your reports to, and they will also be reviewing your game footage. If you do encounter a bug, send an immediate report. After that, try and reproduce the error and send a follow up report with any details you can find. If you would sign this set of papers, we will guarantee you employment for at least six months. You will be required to play for at least 8 hours a day, five days a week. You will be salaried, so there is no overtime but you will be making $65,000 per year. Any major bugs detected will get you a finder¡¯s fee, depending on the size of the bug, amount of detail in your report, and how much gameplay would be impacted. How does this sound so far? Questions?¡± My jaw had dropped. They were willing to pay me nearly double my current salary, to play a game? ¡°Will I have a set schedule or do I have freedom to choose when to log in?¡± ¡°Freedom to log in. We will be monitoring your account to make sure you are actually doing the testing, but it generally starts off with time monitoring only. If we determine that you aren¡¯t logging in enough, we will message you and start monitoring your gameplay.¡± ¡°Sounds fair. I¡¯ve no objection to any of that, but I am a bit worried about the monitoring gameplay aspect. Earlier you mentioned that my game manager would review my game footage. What happens if the company decides to use some of my in game footage as promotional material for when the monster class goes live?¡± ¡°Of course there will be additional compensation, and if you end up with a lot of promotional material, you might be chosen to become one of our streamers. That will be a future conversation, if we ever get that far.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°One last thing, can I meet with my game manager to go over the differences in gameplay? It would be very helpful to know what is a bug and what is a new feature before entering the game.¡± ¡°Easily done. How does Wednesday at 8 am sound? I know you were scheduled to work originally during that time, but we have talked with your manager. If you accept the position, your last day at your current position will be tomorrow.¡± ¡°Wow, you guys really work fast and think of all the possibilities, don¡¯t you?¡± Ms. Dawson got a sly look in her eye, and glanced at suit 2 for a second. Leaning in, she asked, ¡°That is all for this project, but I think we can do more. Would you be up for an additional project, to run at the same time? It will require another NDA, this one much more limiting.¡± Seeing both suits flinch, I couldn¡¯t help but be intrigued. ¡°Send me over the contract.¡± Looking at the new pack of papers suit 2 slid over, I couldn¡¯t help but whistle at the terms. Breaking this would result in no less than ten years in federal prison for industrial espionage, damages of at least three million dollars, and no chance of avoiding the monetary penalties through bankruptcy. This was some serious stuff. I quickly signed. Ms. Dawson started off again, ¡°Excellent. These questions will be personal, and for that I¡¯m sorry. First, what is your family situation?¡± ¡°I¡¯m an only child, single with no girlfriend. Talk to my parents a few times a week, but that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°Perfect. Pets? Dependents? Living in a house or in an apartment?¡± Flinching at the detail a little, I decided to see where this was going. ¡°No pets or dependents and I live alone in my apartment.¡± Both suits leaned forward to give each other a nod across the table, and Ms. Dawson got an excited smile on her face. ¡°Well, that meets all of our criteria. Last question, are you willing to cut most contact with the majority of the world and live inside a game?¡± Live inside a game? What could they be getting at? ¡°I suppose I would be able to, can you tell me a little more?¡± ¡°Of course. As you might or might not know, recently we have had a lot of success using our immersion technology to help in the medical field. While short term immersion is helpful, there are many conditions that would be helped with much longer times spent in virtual reality. To that end, we have developed a long term immersion tank and have been granted approval for human testing. What we need is a large, varied control group. Since you are already going to be playing the game for us, would you be up for entering the game for an initial time of six months?¡± I couldn¡¯t help it. My jaw dropped halfway through her explanation. Long term gaming pods? They want me to play a new version of the game for six months? Calm down, calm down. It sounds great, but there are real world issues I would have to take care of first. I can only imagine the horror my fridge would be if I left it alone for six months, let alone the rest of the apartment. I would be lucky if the police weren¡¯t called for a possible dead body or something equally absurd. ¡°Well, that is an incredible offer, but I do have a few concerns. The most pressing is what would happen with my apartment. I¡¯m not incredibly attached to it, but I assume I won¡¯t be able to live there while testing, and that seems like an awful waste of money.¡± ¡°Indeed. For safety concerns, and for the best data we need to be in almost complete control of the pod. So you would have a pod with a small privacy area in a restricted area of the building. We will have someone in every few days to clean this area for you, and you will be monitored 24/7 by medical personnel. I¡¯m glad you mentioned that you aren¡¯t too attached to your apartment, hopefully you will take our most popular offer. We will pay your landlord all the fees required to break your lease, as well as move your belongings to one of our secure storage facilities. We also have short term apartments for your use after your contract ends, until you can find your own place again.¡± ¡°Wow, yeah that really takes care of everything. So, while I¡¯m in the game, how do I get news? Is there any way I could keep in email contact with my parents on occasion?¡± ¡°Of course. You can log out into a virtual apartment that will have full internet, cable, and newspapers should you want. We will be monitoring your emails, but other than that you will have free time.¡± ¡°All that does sound great, but I am a bit concerned about the lack of human interaction. From what I can tell, monster characters won¡¯t be on friendly terms with almost anyone, and staying in a pod for 6 months without someone to talk to would be terrible.¡± ¡°Hmm, that does seem rather rough, thank you for pointing this out. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix it?¡± ¡°Internet calling should be easy enough to do, and if there is a virtual apartment, perhaps we could set up a virtual caf¨¦? Even if it is just for the people in the program, we could get some face to face interaction.¡± ¡°I will see what we can do on that end. Now, since you are already going to be testing for us, how does this sound. Obviously we will be covering all medical costs, and having our doctors do several thorough examinations. In addition, we can add on an extra $35,000 per year for being part of the medical trials.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great, almost too great. What happens if something goes wrong?¡± As I asked that, I swear I saw one of the suits eyes start twitching. Suit two was the one to actually answer though, ¡°In the unlikely event of bodily injury, we will cover the costs up to and including around the clock medical care. You would then be housed in one of our off site facilities. We will also be paying on a one million dollar life insurance policy for you, and the only thing you would need to do is set up the beneficiary.¡± I would be an absolute fool to pass this up. They had every angle covered, so I signed all the paperwork and prepared for my new life. * * * * * * * * * * * * * That last week absolutely flew by. A quick goodbye to most of my coworkers, while a select few of them got a promise to keep in touch via email. A few hugs, a lot of handshakes and well wishes, and I was out the door. Most of my things were packed away and sent to the company storage. I kept out my computer and two weeks¡¯ worth of casual clothes. I also was poked and prodded by several doctors, with a battery of tests to determine my overall fitness, reaction times, and endurance. By the time they had installed a quick IV button in my arm, I was more than happy to move along to meeting my game manager. My game manager Emily was nice. Average height, shoulder length red hair and green eyes, she had an amazing ability to simplify almost anything. I got a slow tour through the facilities, and it blew my mind. Their server farm was larger than my apartment, hidden behind a clear plastic wall so that everything could be monitored. I got to see the arts department as they were creating fantastical creatures from mythologies around the world and engineers bringing them to life. Soon enough it was time for my personal pod. ¡°OK, your employee ID card is your lifeline, don¡¯t lose it. It allows you to access whatever parts of the building you have access to. Simply swipe it in the elevator and press the button. All beta tester living areas are underground, and will be labeled with BB for Basement Beta testers. Your room is on floor BB 7.¡± Stopping at the proper floor, we got off the elevator and had to swipe our cards to get through another door. ¡°This secondary door is in case someone manages to get into the elevator and piggyback someone else. We take security very seriously. All restricted floors have a small elevator lobby that is monitored by remote cameras. In addition, there is a button next to the card reader for you to push if you think someone isn¡¯t authorized to be there.¡± I loved the precautions they were taking, but still needed to ask, ¡°If I were to push the button and it turned out the person was authorized, will security be upset?¡± ¡°No. They would much rather you call them and be certain rather than let someone in. Ah, here we are, welcome to your room.¡± Opening the door to B-8, I followed her inside and was rather amazed. A sleek silver pod took up the center of the area. The entire top was clear, and a reclining seat was inside. A computer desk took up one corner, with a wardrobe filling in the middle of the back wall. ¡°Through the door to the right of the pod is the bathroom, but I¡¯m sure you are more concerned with the pod, yes?¡± ¡°Very much so. It looks a lot more aesthetic than what is on the market so far.¡± ¡°Well, we have tried to make it a little more pleasing to the eye, but I assure you these are the least of the improvements. Come around here.¡± Walking around to the back, she popped open a hidden compartment. ¡°This is where we keep the nutrient paste that will be your food during your immersion. It will last roughly a week per bag, but will still be checked daily. There is a sign off log and checklist that the nurses will have to go through.¡± Letting the door click shut, she went to the side of the pod. ¡°This lid flips open, and the side door opens to assist getting people in and out. The gel padding in the chair will conform to you as you sit in there. It will also act as a massage to prevent blood clots from forming. Neutrally buoyant liquid will cover you from the neck down to keep you clean. It is also changed daily. Several leads will be attached to monitor your heartrate, temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen level. An IV will also be applied, that will keep you sedated. After you are sedated, a catheter and tube for solid waste will be inserted.¡± ¡°Will they also be removed before I am woken up?¡± I asked while mentally crossing my fingers. ¡°Yes, they definitely will be. We are striving to make this the most painless process possible since the majority of these immersions will be people who aren¡¯t healthy to begin with.¡± The rest of the tour passed uneventfully as there was only a small bathroom left. Chapter 3 I was incredibly excited. Today was the start of my beta testing trip. I had already unloaded my computer and clothes, and was sitting in the chair waiting for the technicians to help me into my rig. A knock at the door had me jumping out of my chair in a rush to complete everything. ¡°Hello sir, my name is Matt. Before we get ready there is a final checklist to go over. You are Martin Shellby?¡± ¡°Yes, but please just call me Marty.¡± Making a note, Matt continued, ¡°Excellent. Do you have everything unpacked? No open food or beverage containers? Phone number and email programmed into the pod? You have recently showered and did not put on any chemicals like aftershave or deordorant?¡± Nodding at all of his questions I was mentally hurrying him through his list. ¡°Excellent, please strip naked and enter the pod.¡± As I sat down in the chair, Matt methodically went through and double checked everything. Leads were attached to my chest and head, a medical cuff around my bicep, and an IV inserted into the quick button on my arm. ¡°Comfy?¡± he asked as he pressed a button, and a quick nod was all I was able to get out before my thoughts got fuzzy and my eyes closed. I came to in a living room. It was barren, nothing on the white walls and beige carpet. On a small end table in front of a black couch was a tablet with a flashing screen. I picked it up and pressed the accept call button, and came face to face with Emily. ¡°Welcome to your new home Marty. This is the area you will default to when you log out of Oblivion Online. You can add anything you want with verbal commands. Go ahead and try it.¡± ¡°Okay¡­. Add overstuffed armchair.¡± At my command, a wire outline of a chair appeared next to the couch. As I moved my eyes around, the outline moved as well. ¡°At this point, you probably see the wireframe of your chair. To finalize it, say confirm chair.¡± ¡°Confirm chair.¡± A chair matching the couch materialized around the wireframe. ¡°Excellent. Now if you look to your left there should be some doors.¡± Sure enough, there was a dark red door with OBLIVION written in golden script. Next to it was a brown door with no labels on it. ¡°Obviously the dark red door lets you log into the game. The brown door will offer prompts when you try and go through it. Caf¨¦ is the communal area where you can meet your fellow immersion testers. You can also be invited into their apartments once you have been added to their friend list. That¡¯s all there is at the moment, so I¡¯ll leave it up to you what you want to do.¡± ¡°Thanks Emily, I¡¯ll worry about decorating some other time. Should I use this tablet for my reports to you?¡± ¡°Yes please, that is the easiest way. All communications from this will be flagged high priority, but should there be something that needs immediate attention say 9-1-1- Expedited. That will flash emergency and any manager will be on with you within 10 seconds. Anything else? No? Great. Enjoy the game.¡± After the screen went dark, I quickly set it down and made a beeline for the Oblivion door. I opened it and after taking a second to admire the swirling dark vortex, stepped into the game.
User detected. Special protocols activated for user. Initiating Monstrous Opening.
After that blue box flashed in front of my eyes, I saw the remains of a ruined temple materialize around me. Motes of light swirled around me and coalesced into broken pillars and shattered wooden benches. The stone floor was pitted and peppered with scorch marks, and the altar had been shattered so thoroughly that it was impossible to determine what deity was originally worshipped here. ¡°Ah, yet another one of these supposed heroes has decided to eschew the light races and embrace the beast within.¡± Spinning around and crouching in a ready pose, I saw an old man with a dark robe. It took a few seconds, but I finally realized what was truly creeping me out about him. His robe was shifting constantly, though there was no wind. Almost as if the body beneath it refused to settle upon one form. ¡°Oh hoh, this one is observant. Fear not boy, I¡¯m not after you, for now. Right now the most important question is this: What beast lives within your soul? In the deepest, darkest parts that you hide away lest all discover. Society frowns upon the beast, but without the beast there never would have been a society at all. Pity, how civilization requires its own history to be cleansed. So, what do you have living in there hmmm?¡± As he finished speaking, a blue box popped up with my options.
Race Description Bonuses Limitations Evolution Tree
Goblins The most ubiquitous and adaptable of monsters, goblins breed faster than rabbits and are deadlier, but not by muchThis novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. 20% resistance to poison, experience gain reduced by 75% Technology limited to poor steel weapons and leather armor. Magic unavailable. Max level: 20 Myriad evolution paths, minimum common material
Gnoll Often referred to as lesser Beastmen, these bipedal creatures¡¯ society resembles their wolven cousins. Bonus to damage and attack speed in groups of three or more, experience gain reduced by 45% Technology limited to poor steel weapons and leather armor. Tier 2 magic. Max level: 35 Multiple evolution paths, minimum rare material
Dark Elves Machiavelli was a bumbling amateur to the Dark Elves. A vicious society that values cunning above all else, most lack the requirements to rise above the level of slave. Bonus to dark magic and mana regeneration, experience gain reduced by 40% No Technology limitations. Unable to learn light magic higher than tier one. Max level: 75 Fewest evolution paths, unique materials required
Kobold Legends say these are the descendants of dragons. Much like the chicken is a descendant of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Bonus to earth magic and slight resistance against slashing attacks. Experience gain reduced by 50% Technology limited to steel weapons and leather armor. Tier 3 magic Max level: 50 Few evolution paths, rare materials required
Troll Basically a lobotomized giant, their strength is unmatched Physical damage received reduced by 15%, health regen doubled. Experience gain reduced by 65% Stone age technology, basic elemental magic possible Max level: 40 Multiple evolution paths, rare materials required
Imp The lowest class of demons, their small size helps them remain unnoticed. 25% resistance to fire, experience gain reduced by 75% Stone age technology, basic leather armor. Access to obsidian weapons. Max level: 20 Myriad evolution paths, minimum common material
¡°I have a few questions before we begin. Why do all of these options have reduced experience gain?¡± ¡°Because we are monsters boy! The gods of light have deemed us unworthy of their blessings, and we are cursed. We can¡¯t rise above certain levels, and even getting to the same levels requires much greater feats.¡± ¡°Ok, that¡¯s going to suck. What about this ¡®monster evolution¡¯?¡± ¡°Our saving grace bestowed upon us from the dark lords. When a monster reaches their maximum growth, occasionally they may come upon a material that will allow them to evolve. Take the simple goblin. Weak, fodder for most dark armies. Yet when he reaches level 20, a simple mana stone is enough to cause him to evolve into a goblin shaman. Though his level will drop back down to one, his stats will remain the same. That is why lower levels of a higher tier monster are far more dangerous than they seem.¡± Nodding my head at his explanation, I was beginning to see why the experience gains had been reduced for the monsters. ¡°Can you undo an evolution once evolved? Or are you stuck with your decision?¡± ¡°Life offers no second chances. You are stuck after you have evolved, so be careful.¡± ¡°Will the rarity of the evolution material have any outcome on the¡± ¡°ENOUGH! I have answered all the questions you need. Decide, boy, which of these lurks within. Then, we will help it to become your new skin.¡± Deciding that the old man with the shifting body had a point, I looked over the options one more time before pressing one to decide my fate.
Congratulations, you have chosen Kobold as your race. Kobolds are a lizardlike race that lives in cave systems. Their leathery skin is pebbled with proto-scales that resist slashing type attacks. They use earth magic with their claws to cut through solid rock. Born in communal clutches, family ties are nonexistent. Societal position is based on strength and personal skill.
¡°Kobolds, eh? First one to have chosen that, but it probably won¡¯t hurt you. Kobolds make fine monsters. Now, let¡¯s set up how you want to be seen.¡± ¡°Before we do that, would you mind answering a few questions about kobold society?¡± Giving me a sideways glare, the old man answered curtly, ¡°Quickly, and don¡¯t test my patience.¡± ¡°Are there any colorations that are taboo? Or have certain societal implications?¡± With a sly grin he answered again, ¡°Finally some good questions. All black colorations are priests. Albino kobolds are sacrificed to the gods shortly after birth.¡± Waving to his left, a generic kobold appeared. With that in mind, I set about changing it to meet my desires. I kept my height of 5¡¯8¡± the same, but took off a little of the belly fat I had put on. I went with a light gray and brown camouflage pattern to hopefully break up my outline while standing next to a cave wall. The snout was slightly protruding, with sharp teeth. With no external ears, slits for nostrils, and slit pupils, there was definitely a reptilian vibe. As I hit the confirm button, the creature in front of me exploded into shards of light that rapidly orbited me for a few seconds before flashing into me. I lifted one arm and saw I had completely changed into a kobold. ¡°Now that you are finally a proper monster, what is your name?¡± Thinking about it, I wanted an uncommon name. I would need to be an independent jack of all trades if I wanted a successful character. Getting by using out of the box thinking and making the best out of the most inane ingredients, I would pay homage to one of the greatest tinkerers in television history. ¡°Angus MacG.¡± ¡°Angus MacG? Once again an odd name, but if that¡¯s what you wish then that is what you shall be called. Before you start, I highly suggest that you familiarize yourself with what racial abilities you have. Good luck, monster.¡± Old man might not be patient, but he does have a good point. Thinking about racial abilities, another blue window opened up.
Racial ability Description
Darkvision Living in complete darkness has caused kobolds to develop darkvision. This allows a black and white vision even in the utter absence of light, but only for a limited range. Improving the proficiency will increase the range
Mana Excavation Infusing their claws with earth mana allows kobolds to disintegrate solid rock. Improving proficiency will decrease the mana cost and increase the tier of rock affected.
Well, those would most definitely be helpful living in caves. Time to see how it feels to be a kobold. Pressing a button to finish the tutorial, my vision went to darkness. Chapter 4 I found myself on a rather uncomfortable stone slab in utter darkness. A quick thought activated darkvision, and the world resolved itself into greyscale. I was in the middle of a rough hewn chamber, roughly ten feet across. Walking over to one of the walls, it was criss crossed by sets of four parallel scratches. Holding up one of my hands, it was rather obvious this was the work of the claws of kobolds. I turned back to the table I awoke on, and it was merely a solid slab in the middle of the room. Beyond the table, I noticed something odd. There was a void in the middle of the wall. A simple oval of blackness, with absolutely no texture to it at all, as if there was just a hole in the world. Cautiously creeping closer, I was flummoxed after a few steps. The hole receded at the same speed as I did, revealing a hallway with the same carving marks as the chamber. Tilting my head in curiosity, I watched as flickers of color appeared and grew larger in the middle of the darkness. These flickers rapidly resolved into a massive kobold with a torch in one hand and a massive axe in the other. He was flanked by two all black priests with staves made from the spine of some creature. ¡°Hmph. Not completely useless. I guess you¡¯ll have to do.¡± The lead creature spoke with a dismissive voice. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°Ready for what?¡± ¡°Old man didn¡¯t explain? Figures. Ok, first things first you have three minutes to pick a skill get awoken. After that you will be transferred to our instanced dungeon, the Kobold Warrens, where you will have an hour to get used to the layout before it is eligible to be raided by the forces of light. You will stay there for a week, eight hours of raiding eligibility per day. The rest is your free time. Food and water will be provided, and you will get a starter spear. So, what skill do you want? Time starts now.¡± Seriously? I¡¯ve been in the game for less than ten minutes and I get this dropped in my lap? This sucks! OK, time to think. What skill would be useful? Weapons skills? No, I won¡¯t get much of a boost, and I don¡¯t even have a decent weapon. Besides, I have a feeling the only weapon I can choose is a spear right now, and I am terrible with those. Seriously, I would be more likely to hit myself than an enemy. Magic? No, at level one my mana is too low to depend on that for my primary weapon. Wait! ¡°Mana excavation. I choose to have mana excavation activated.¡± The hulk blinked at me several times, before beckoning one of the priests forward. His staff started to glow with strands of green and brown, and he reached forward and tapped me on the head with it. The glow flowed into my forehead as knowledge opened inside my mind. How mana would coat the edges of my claws, and break the bonds between the rock leaving nothing but dust behind. ¡°All good? Good. Here is your spear. Remember, one hour in the caves until the light can attack.¡± ¡°Wait, wait just a minute. What rules do we have to abide by? Will I earn experience? What level are my enemies?¡± I desperately asked questions, knowledge was vastly important. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll explain. Your earned experience will be deferred, and awarded at the end of your week, along with any titles you may have acquired. Your opponents will be up to level 5, and you will most likely die many times. Don¡¯t worry, your gear will not degrade and you will respawn with no penalties. You are limited to the top floor of the dungeon, do not try and move below to the lower floors. You are also forbidden from entering the entrance chamber along with the first 50 feet of hallway. Try, and you will be punished. Continued attempts will result in dire consequences.¡± ¡°Ok, that is understandable. If I alter the dungeon in any way, will it remain or will it reset itself?¡± ¡°Alterations remain for the week. That is all you need to know. Priest, open the portal.¡± Turning, both priests extended their staves making an archway as a violet portal shimmered down. I walked through and into the Kobold Warrens. More roughly hewn tunnels greeted me on the other side of the portal with torches alternating sides every five feet. They were placed in such a way that there was a small patch of darkness between the light thrown off. In addition, it seems my display was finally working. A small 1 was circled in the upper left corner of my vision letting me know my level. The bottom left portion of my screen had three colored lines. One red for health on the bottom, a blue mana bar above that, and a green stamina bar on top. All were semitransparent, and faded as I stopped paying attention to them. I looked down to the spear that the lead kobold had given me, and focused on it until a blue screen opened up.
Simple Spear A simple wooden spear with an iron spearhead. It is roughly made, but serviceable. Damage: 3-10 Durability: Unbreakable
As expected, it is generic starter gear. The only issue is how long it will take me to kill even a level one character. Every character starts with 50 each of health, stamina, and mana. Assuming I can get the maximum damage per strike with my spear, that¡¯s still five attacks at a minimum before my opponent dies, at worst seventeen. You also get penalized for using the same strike more than three times in a row, and I only feel truly confident with a stab from the spear. If I attempted to use this spear, I would be dead 10 times out of 10, even against a level one opponent. A level five would absolutely destroy me. Luckily I had an hour to improvise. First I stored my spear in my inventory. Since I had no bags, and no chance of obtaining them for a week, I only had five inventory slots. Walking up to a wall, I activated [Mana Excavation] and did a horizontal slash the width of my shoulders at neck height, losing about a tenth of my available mana. I spent the next half hour roughly chopping out my new weapon and waiting on my mana to regenerate. When I finished, I concentrated on it like my spear earlier to identify it.
Crude Stone Hammer Roughly carved from the granite tunnels of the Kobold Warrens, this enormous hammer can barely be classified as a weapon. Damage: 15-30 Durability:10/10 Special attributes: Attack speed reduced by 80% Actions cost 3x as much stamina as normal
Excellent! Now this is a weapon I can use! That damage was extraordinary for a level one. Now I had a fighting chance. The hammer was as wide as my shoulders and went from my neck to the bottom of my sternum. The attacking face of the hammer was about half as wide as my chest, this hammer was enormous. Now on to phase two, finding a way to use this to my advantage. I wandered around the twisting tunnels, rapidly getting lost. Soon I found exactly what I needed though. Just beyond a cross intersection was a campfire with two kobolds. I took one of the side tunnels and removed the first torch and stored it in my inventory. This gave me a lovely patch of darkness to hide in, but that wasn¡¯t all I needed.
Five minutes until forces of Light can attack
Shit, that¡¯s going to cut it close. I moved about three and a half feet into the darkness from the intersection, and started rapidly cutting out a cubbyhole within the rock so I was facing the campfire. Hopefully this would give me a hidden niche to launch a surprise attack from as the enemy was focused on the campfire. I burned through my mana, but managed to get a shallow hideaway for myself right as the next screen informed us of the invader.
One invader has entered the dungeon
The hardest part was waiting. I figured the intruder was methodically clearing the dungeon as they went, making sure they had a proper fallback position to retreat to in case they started to get overwhelmed. Ten minutes later, I heard steps crunch on the loose gravel in the tunnels. I took a few deep calming breaths, and wiped the sweat from my palms. A robed figure with a basic wooden staff passed me, oblivious to the danger he was soon to be in. Above his head was a green health bar with the name Al¡¯Kazaaam. Excellent, casters like him would have low defense and health. I tried to stealthily follow him from five steps back. He stopped two feet or so from the light of the campfire and started a cantrip to cast a spell. ¡°Frigid cold, freeze my enemies. [Frost bolt].¡± At the end of his spell, a bolt of bluish white flew and struck one of the kobolds by the fire, dropping his health bar by ?! This wasn¡¯t a level one, hopefully he ignored increasing his constitution when he leveled. Three things happened simultaneously. Both of the kobolds by the fire let out battle shrieks, and started charging the mage. I took a step forward and started winding up for a haymaker swing, and the mage started another cantrip, going for the spoken spell to get the boosted damage. ¡°Burning flame, singe my foes. [Emb]¡± Before he could finish casting the [Ember] spell, my massive hammer impacted the side of his head with a dull thunk, throwing him sideways. I spun almost ? of a full turn with the momentum, and my arms immediately gained the consistency of cooked spaghetti as I had exhausted all my stamina. The green bar was flashing at me angrily, and I could do nothing about it. Critical hit! -42 HP Flashed above the mage¡¯s head as his green health bar dropped down into the red area. Spell backlash! -25 HP, -25 MP Also flashed above his head, dropping him to just a sliver of health. As he grabbed his head in agony from the spell backlash, the uninjured kobold struck the final blow and drained Al¡¯Kazaaam¡¯s health. His body dropped to the ground and exploded in triangular shards with a rainbow hue.
All intruders eliminated. One hour cooldown before dungeon can be attacked.
Smiling at the notification, I looked at my two comrades. ¡°Well, that was fun. Are you both ok?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. When no intruders are in the dungeon, all wounds and negative effects will be completely healed within the hour cooldown. Thanks for the assist, it really isn¡¯t fun to respawn.¡± The kobold that had taken the frost bolt said. ¡°So, you the new recruit?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Yeah. You said respawn isn¡¯t fun, I thought that the natives of this world couldn¡¯t respawn?¡± ¡°Normally that is true, but the gods have given us monsters a curse. We are forced to man these dungeons, and in order for us to not become extinct we are allowed to respawn while in the dungeon. Back in the villages death is final.¡± Nodding my head, I was impressed with how the computers maintained monster levels. It also explained how the light side had a taboo about attacking the young found in monster villages around the world. Slaughter all the adults and none of the Gods would bat an eye, but attacking a child monster would trigger the aggro (aggression) of every single living member of the village. Once the monster village slew you, an incredibly nasty curse would be placed upon you, one that transcended any deaths you suffered. In addition, your relations with any factions that you had met dropped to Uneasy at the best. ¡°By the way, your hammer is shit.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it, I guffawed at his bluntness. ¡°Yeah, it most certainly is. One swing of this beast took all my stamina. Thankfully you both were here to finish him off.¡± The other kobold decided to give me a bit of advice, ¡°Look, if you want to use a hammer that¡¯s fine, but you made the head entirely too big, there¡¯s way too much to swing. Your handle is too long as well. Make the entire thing about the length of your arm, that should fix most of your issues.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess my excitement got the best of me this time. By the way, I¡¯m Angus. What¡¯re your names?¡± The one who got hit with the frost bolt spoke, ¡°I¡¯m Shrik, this other one is Khaliss. Find us after the eight hour active period, we will show you the ropes.¡± ¡°Thanks, I appreciate it.¡± ¡°We appreciate you saving our lives, so call it even.¡± Nodding to the pair in farewell, I walked away a bit before trying to modify my hammer. I made one cut with my claws to try and reduce the size of the head, and the entire hammer crumbled to bits. I guess stone implements can¡¯t be altered after being used in battle. No matter, I¡¯ll just carve a new one. Back at my niche, I started cutting a much smaller hammer while taking Khaliss¡¯ advice in mind. The handle ended up being around two and a half feet long. I decided the head should be sledgehammer style since that would be the easiest hammer to make. Starting with a square head a foot per side, I cut off the corners aiming for one third of the total length. This left me with an octagonal headed hammer that was much easier to swing around. I concentrated on it to determine how well I had done on it.
Rough Carved Stone Hammer Though amateurish, care and thought went into the creation of this hammer. The balance is a little off, but it will provide a serviceable weapon for those down on their luck. Damage: 12-24 Durability: 20/20 Special attributes: Attack speed slowed by 50%
Oh yes, this was much better. I could swing it one handed, but it had terrible accuracy. Looks like I will still be using the two handed swing, I had better keep to my ambushing tactics. I also needed to do something about battle notifications. While it was nice to notice critical hits, I didn¡¯t need them popping up and distracting me. I set it up so that all notifications would go into a queue at the bottom right of my screen under a plus sign symbol that would flash when new notifications were pending.
One invader has entered the dungeon
Well, I guess I will have to re-use this ambush spot, hope it isn¡¯t the same guy as earlier. As I killed time waiting, I tried to imagine what I would need to do to survive the week. First I would need to make several potential ambush spots. Second is to perfect a stone hammer that I could use with one hand and make several back-ups of it. If the durability of each one was maxed at 20, one definitely wouldn¡¯t last me the week. Last would be to make traps for the unsuspecting adventurers. Starter dungeons like this didn¡¯t have many traps, and those that were present were painfully obvious. Before I could go farther in my list making, I heard the not so stealthy approach of an intruder. The darkness near the intersection receded, letting me know this person had a torch in one hand. After the light passed, I poked my head out and saw the enemy. This challenger was a dwarf warrior. Torch in off-hand, they had a small sword as their primary weapon. My weapon would have reach, but would suffer in speed. I had to make the most of whatever attack I landed. For armor, they had a leather cap with some steel reinforcing in a cross and what would normally be a half plate on a human. Intriguing, using something like that probably carried some sort of penalty, but I wouldn¡¯t be attacking that. A line of steel plates protected the shins over some leather pants. As soon as the dwarf stepped into the circle of light from the campfire, Shrik and Khaliss immediately moved forward to attack. The dwarf oddly stuck the torch out in front as if it were a parrying dagger and jabbed it in their direction a time or two. That was all he had time to do before my hammer smashed into the back of his head that was conveniently at my natural swing height. Even worse, I had moved slightly to the side of the dwarf so that my hammer hit between the arms of the metal reinforcements on his helmet. ¡°Gah, AAAAAH!¡± The first cry was from my hammer, the second wail of agony when Khaliss jabbed him in the face with his spear. Those two attacks took his health bar deep into the red, but what should have been a finishing blow from Shrik instead glanced off the chest plate as the dwarf staggered back. I took a step back so that I wasn¡¯t within striking distance, as I figured the dwarf wouldn¡¯t go down without a fight and I was glad I did. ¡°[Cyclone Slash]!¡± The dwarf cried out as he spun in a circle and unleashed a red wave of energy that bent both of my fellow warriors over in pain. As he was resetting his stance and trying to determine just how many enemies were around him, I stepped forward and delivered a two handed overhead strike that sparked as it grazed down the metal parts of the helmet until it crushed into the dwarf¡¯s shoulder and relieving him of what was left of his life.
All intruders eliminated. One hour cooldown before dungeon can be attacked.
Whew, that was a bit closer than what I liked in a battle, especially for 3 on 1. Part of it was my weapon. It was a vast improvement on that first behemoth of a hammer, but it was still awkwardly top heavy in my hands. I needed something that I could swing easily with one hand. While I had plenty of time, I started on my third and hopefully last hammer design. I kept the same handle length, but this time the sides of each head were the size of my fists squared off. In an effort to lighten it just a bit more, I decided to first round off the square part of the hammer and give a curving slope as it headed back into the handle. Imagine if you had two cones, where the tips overlapped about a third of the way down. This was where my handle was. I even scored a light cross through the end of the handle to give a smaller impact area. Would that increase the force? I had no idea, but I¡¯m fairly certain they did it in the Middle Ages, and they wouldn¡¯t do that without a reason. The final head of the hammer was only a foot and a half wide, making it much lighter than the previous iterations. Giving it a few test swings, I was quite pleased with the end result. Let¡¯s see what the final numbers are.
Double Headed Stone Warhammer This stone weapon is a marked improvement upon previous designs. The wielder can use it comfortably with one hand, or easily add a second hand for extra powerful blows. Damage: 10-20 Durability: 20/20
Oh I was beyond pleased with these results. A well balanced weapon that could be wielded one handed and did far more damage than that initial spear I was handed. It also looked like it didn¡¯t have any penalties to attack speed or stamina usage, which was great since for the rest of the week I would be stuck at 50 stamina. I immediately set about making another one for dual wielding, even if I wasn¡¯t sure I would be able to keep it up. If nothing else, a sneak attack with two weapons instead of one would be much more devastating. Weapons in hand, I returned that initial torch I had taken from the wall so that I had room in my inventory. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be getting any loot from the invaders, but it was just a good habit to keep the inventory as uncluttered as possible. Closing my eyes, I decided to try and test one of the gamer legends about dungeons. Supposedly, if you were calm enough and there were no enemies nearby, you would be able to detect a slight breeze heading towards the entrance. Unbelievably that turned out to be true! The breeze wasn¡¯t enough to alter the flame of something large like the torches on the wall, but I could still barely feel it. Following it became easier the more I did it. Soon I was looking at what had to be the entrance hall, and I must say the designers did a wonderful job. Twice as wide as normal corridors, there was plenty of lighting from torches up to about ? of the length of the hall, which was almost as long as a football field. Set every ten feet was an alcove with an amazingly detailed kobold warrior wielding a plethora of weapons. Spears, swords of all shapes and sizes, massive hammers, and some even had wicked looking crossbows. Each face had its own unique snarl, as if offended that a different race would dare to encroach upon their home. Traditionally the initial part of a dungeon wouldn¡¯t have any danger, at least at this easy of a level. Which is why I was determined to make this part an ambush opportunity. I started carving out an alcove identical to the ones already present. I left a rather large stone pillar in the middle for the statue. Looking at the others, I had zero chance of even coming close to the artistic detail so I went a different route. The top of the pillar was whittled down and off center, and I started a detailed spear tip out of it. A rough shaft with the beginning outline of a hand, trailing down to vague shoulders and head. The rest of the pillar I left, as if the sculptor was interrupted before he could finish his work. Trap set, I settled in behind the stature for a well-deserved break and checked the time. Unsurprisingly around five hours had elapsed. Just as I got comfortable, of course I was interrupted.
Two invaders have entered the dungeon
Ah, just in time. I only had about a third of my mana bar, but none of my attacks used mana so that wasn¡¯t an issue. I kept still, listening in to their conversation. ¡°Jess, listen baby. I¡¯ll do all the work, you won¡¯t have to kill anything. I promise. Just stand here near the end of the entrance hall, there¡¯s never any monsters here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care Billy, I hate games like this and you know it! Besides, you always make me be your healer and it is sooooo boring!¡± ¡°But you do such a great job baby, who else could I trust with my scrawny ass?¡± I peeked around the corner and saw two elvish characters, one dressed in black leathers with dual daggers and one dressed in a white robe with a staff. Over the rogue¡¯s head was the name Shadow_Kitsune and the healer was Naughty_Nurse. Oh God, this was just atrocious. Someone obsessed with Japanese culture wanted to be a ninja and forced his girlfriend to play healer for him to make sure he doesn¡¯t die. Terrible. I actually felt really bad for Jess, she obviously would do anything for her douche-canoe of a boyfriend. I saw him slink off as Jess just stared after him. Poor thing, I already knew his plan. He would go out and sneak attack and kill one monster, and run away before the second could kill him. He would then drag the monster back and let Jess heal him as he barely managed to kill the second monster. I hated people like that, sure their DPS (damage per second) would be absolutely insane, especially if they managed to launch a devastating skill from stealth. The characters were useless otherwise though, being glass cannons. At least he split up their party, which made my job much easier. Sneaking up behind Jess, I had one of my new hammers in each hand. Luckily for me she was short for an elf. Spreading my arms wide, I slammed both of my hammers together like I was clapping my hands on the sides of her head. The results were both spectacular and gruesome. Her name immediately greyed out as her body dropped to the ground in death. Blood and other bits splattered everywhere. I then slunk toward the tunnel the ninja wannabe had taken, making sure my shadow didn¡¯t cross into the tunnel where he could see it and waited. I even put one of my hammers into the inventory since I had used about 1/3 of my stamina on that one attack. Soon enough I heard running feet as Billy cried out, ¡°JESS! WHAT HAPPENED?! JESS!!¡± Wait for it. . . Wait for it. . . NOW! Lunging forward and swinging my hammer, I managed to smash the head of my hammer into the knee of Billy right as he turned the corner. The impact knocked the hammer from my hands, but it also crushed Billy¡¯s knee and sent him tumbling forward, face crashing into the unforgiving stone floor and stunning him for a second. Opting to capitalize on his stun since he had already lost half of his life, I crawled up Billy¡¯s back and gripped him lightly around the throat. ¡°Never leave your healer unprotected, Noob.¡± I hissed into his ear, figuring he could probably use the advice. As his eyes widened in disbelief, I activated Mana Excavation and ripped out his throat and let him die.
All intruders eliminated. Insufficient time remaining for dungeon reset, day finished.
Well, that was excellent news. As the bodies disappeared in explosions of rainbow shards, I felt a vindictive streak rising. Maybe I should memorialize this fight for future generations. I tried to leave an X on the floor with a note saying, ¡°Here lies the remains of Shadow_Kitsune, slain because he didn¡¯t protect Naughty_Nurse.¡± Unfortunately, that¡¯s where I encountered my first bug of the day. It seems the floor wasn¡¯t alterable, which didn¡¯t bode well for my plans to riddle these warrens with traps. Before I could send an email to Emily, Shrik and Khaliss appeared. ¡°Come with us, time for resting.¡± Shrugging my shoulders at the curt response, I fell into line behind them. We came to an unremarkable wall somewhere in the warrens, and one of them trilled at the wall. A door slid back, revealing a barracks style room filled with kobold warriors. ¡°Take a bunk, there will be no fighting. First come gets the bed. In the back is rations and water, keep your own canteen. The food will not leave the cave, but the water can. It will provide no bonuses, but will keep you sated.¡± I made quick work of some of the world¡¯s driest, blandest jerky and took several swigs of water per bite just to keep it down. Exhausted, I laid down in one of the beds. ¡°Logout¡± I thought, and ended my first day in the game. Chapter 5 Emily was just wrapping up for the day when she got a ping from Marty. Mildly surprised that he would have found a bug so quickly, she opened up her email. Emily, I found my first bug and I¡¯m not sure what format you want these things in so I¡¯m just going with a letter style. I can carve things in the dungeon walls, but the floors for some reason are indestructible. I tried three times and didn¡¯t make a scratch, but still lost mana from the attempt. I realize that there are lower levels in the dungeon that would preclude digging too deep, but there are always at least 15 feet of stairs to descend between floors, and that would leave at least 7 feet of rock. Can we fix this? I have some ideas for traps that require floor modifications. I am also going to be altering the ceiling, and assume that this would also be indestructible at the moment. Thanks, Marty Emily was dumbstruck. How was he able to carve into the walls? They were solid rock! She picked up her phone and dialed in her supervisor. ¡°Mike? Hey, it¡¯s Emily. I¡¯ve got an odd problem I need to look into and I believe I¡¯m going to need you to resolve it. No, it¡¯s from one of the new beta testers. Yes, I¡¯ll come to your office. Can you pull the video logs for tester C-130 for me? I haven¡¯t watched anything yet, he just started today. Let me double check that, yes. His in game name is Angus MacG. Ok, be there in five.¡± Heading down to Mike¡¯s office, Emily was still disbelieving the numbers. She had checked Marty¡¯s stats, and it looked like he had unlocked over ten skills and had four kills and zero deaths. All the kills were also a higher level than him. Knocking on Mike¡¯s door, she entered at his call. ¡°Hey Mike, you got the stuff set up?¡± ¡°Yes, have you looked at his stats yet?¡± ¡°I glanced through them, but you won¡¯t believe it. He¡¯s got a 4.0 KDR (kill to death ratio) with all kills being a higher level, and over ten skills unlocked. I didn¡¯t check how many possible classes he has unlocked, but I¡¯m betting there are several rare ones.¡± Plopping down into one of the spare chairs, she turned to the giant LCD screen on the wall as Mike started some of the footage. In it, Marty was just walking through a portal into the dungeon. ¡°Wait a second, what¡¯s he doing to that wall? I thought that you couldn¡¯t destroy rock like that?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was worried about that as well. Turns out it is one of the racial abilities of the kobolds. Costs mana, and only works through their claws. Let¡¯s watch this at three times speed, it isn¡¯t like we will learn much from him cutting out rock.¡± A few minutes later both of them had their mouths open in shock. Mike stammered, ¡°Is that, a hammer? Quick, pull up the stats on that!¡± ¡°Yeah, the system created a new object for it. Crude Stone Hammer, and its damage is through the roof. No level limits either. Oh, here comes the first victim. A mage name Al¡¯Kazaaam. Level 5, he should be steamrolling this dungeon. How did, OH, that¡¯s gotta hurt.¡± They had just seen the part where the unfortunate mage took a giant hammer upside the head. Watching the rest of the exploits, they were both awestruck by the final set of hammers Marty had made. ¡°OK, right here is where he says the bug is. Ok, see how he is trying to claw into the ground? Apparently he was wanting to see if he could build traps in the floor of the dungeon but it is listed as an indestructible object. He hasn¡¯t tested it, but has shown interest in also doing something to the ceiling.¡± ¡°Yeah, both of those are listed as indestructible objects to prevent people from simply drilling down through dungeon floors and avoiding the floor bosses.¡± ¡°Well, Marty did point out in his report that there¡¯s at least seven feet of rock between floors, and he is stuck on the first floor so theoretically there isn¡¯t anything above him. Can we do something about it?¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Give me a moment, I need a developer.¡± Picking up his phone, Mike placed a call. ¡°Frank? Mike here. Can you come to my office for a bit? Got a bit of an obscure, not really a bug but call it an issue with a feature? OK, great.¡± Hanging up, Mike looked at Emily and continued, ¡°Frank will be here shortly, this¡¯ll be a fun project to spring on him. How long does your tester have in the dungeon?¡± ¡°Six more days, he just finished day one.¡± ¡°That long? Well, I¡¯m intrigued by what he¡¯s done so far so I¡¯m going to be pushing Frank hard to get some sort of solution to this.¡± A quick knock and the door opened before anyone could say anything. ¡°Hey Mike, you got an issue? Oh, hello ma¡¯am. I¡¯m Frank Scarab, head of game development.¡± Shaking his offered hand, she answered, ¡°Emily, game manager. Pleasure to meet you Frank.¡± ¡°You as well. Ok Mike, what¡¯re we dealing with?¡± ¡°Well, we started beta testing the new monster races today and they¡¯ve got a bug report that Emily felt needed to be sent up the chain, and I¡¯m frankly quite glad she did. Seems one of our testers likes to think outside of the box, and wants to lay out some traps in the dungeon. I really want to see what he comes up with, but the issue we are having is the floor.¡± Closing his eyes, Frank started nodding along with Mike as he talked. As soon as the floor was mentioned, his eyes flashed open. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯ll be a problem. Dungeon floors are indestructible to prevent tunneling down and avoiding the battles.¡± ¡°Yeah, we know about that, is there anything we can do? Seriously Frank, this guy has shown a lot of promise in just one day. Hell, he even created an ambush point by making it look like an unfinished statue near the beginning of the dungeon. I really want to help him out here just to see what we could copy from him and implement in higher level dungeons.¡± ¡°Sorry Mike, as much as I want to help we absolutely have to keep the floor indestructible. I can¡¯t budge on this, it¡¯s an edict from On High.¡± Mike¡¯s head drooped in defeat, until Emily spoke up. ¡°Wait, we just have to have a way to make sure they can¡¯t tunnel between floors right? Why do we need to have all seven feet of rock be indestructible?¡± Both men looked at her like she had grown a second head, but she continued. ¡°Seriously, let¡¯s give Marty three feet to work with, have a foot of indestructible rock, then three more feet for the lower floors to use. He wants to use the ceiling as well; can we make the top say 15 feet of rock alterable on the first floor of the dungeon? They are instanced so there technically isn¡¯t reason for that.¡± ¡°Genius¡± Mike uttered. ¡°Frank? I don¡¯t see any downsides, do you?¡± ¡°None. We still have more than enough indestructible floor to stop tunneling, your tester gets to unleash whatever traps he comes up with, and we can even boost this for the higher dungeons. Can you imagine how ticked players will be when they partially collapse the ceiling on themselves when they launch a massive explosion?¡± ¡°Wonderful, how soon can you have this done? Marty only has six days left in the dungeon.¡± ¡°Well, altering the parameters of the indestructible floor is simply changing the defining limits. I can have a group of guys do that in a few hours.¡± ¡°Great Frank, can you get this done tonight? I can¡¯t wait to get this guy some room to play in. Hell, I¡¯ll even throw together a highlight reel for the end of his initial week and bring the beers if you get the popcorn. Sound good?¡± ¡°Deal. Emily, I¡¯ll send you a message when we get this changed so that you can pass it on to your tester.¡± ¡°Thanks Frank, I appreciate it.¡± Emily left as quickly as she could, since she just wasn¡¯t that comfortable hanging out with the heads of two departments. Going back to her computer, she sent an email off to Marty. Marty, Congrats on your first bug report. It should only take a few hours to fix the issue with the floors. To make things work, you will only be given three feet of floor or ceiling to alter, with the exception of the initial floor. The first floor will have an unlimited area above it that is alterable, but it won¡¯t have anything of value. You have been credited with one medium bug detection. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Keep up the good work, Emily * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty was relaxing on his couch thinking over his performance for the day when he got Emily¡¯s message and he was extremely excited. While he didn¡¯t have much practice with traps, not many would be expecting a spiked pitfall trap in a level one dungeon. One thing that everyone forgot to do in almost all dungeons except spider dungeons was look up, and he was going to abuse that as much as possible. Holes in the ceiling that he could drop into combat from would be perfect ambushes. In all likelihood he would be able to take out one of the squishier back row targets before anyone could stop him. Hmm, if he could find a way to make small speaking tubes he might even be able to play some mind games on the unsuspecting. With thoughts of traps and mental tortures, he decided to head off to bed. He would need his rest if he was going to have hours of preparations before the dungeon run tomorrow. Chapter 6 I woke up and took a wonderful stretch. My digital sleep had been wonderful, with no dreams that I could recall. Heading into the kitchen area, I frowned at the space. An empty kitchen just wouldn¡¯t do; it was time to decorate. First the stove, four burners with a foot of sheet metal griddle running up the middle. I decided my theme was going to be black with silver trim. Above the stove I installed an industrial strength exhaust fan with the push of a button. Too bad that it wasn¡¯t nearly that easy in real life. A small prep area to the side separated the stove from the refrigerator. Gray granite speckled with blacks and whites became my counter tops. I also installed an island preparation area, with a hanging rack above it for My pots and pans. To the side was a double sink for cleaning my hands. Finally done with the setup, I opted for breakfast before work. Sausage and bacon went into one pan, while two eggs went into another with a little salt and pepper. Canned biscuits in the oven, I was getting into a cooking groove. On a whim I added a radio for some ambient noise, putting it on a random mix of classical music. Once everything was finished cooking, I made a biscuit sandwich with everything. Nothing beats the ecstasy of biting into a sandwich like that and having the egg yolk explode in your mouth, and run down your chin just a bit. Breakfast done, I took a half hour to just relax and watch the news. Nothing out of the ordinary, it was finally time for my dungeon plans and I headed to the Oblivion door. Sitting up in my bunk, the first thing I noticed was most of the kobolds milling around. Some were playing dice and cards to kill the time, but none of them looked busy. A flashing notification caught my attention, reminding me that his satiety levels were low. Heading over to the rations table, I noticed Khaliss had taken an intercept course with me. Nodding at the kobold, I pointed to the table to indicate where we should meet. As soon as he got there, Khaliss spoke. ¡°Do you know the dungeon opening rules? No? OK, we need to have it open for eight hours per day, and we get an hour notice before it starts. Since you Travelers aren¡¯t always here at the same time, ours will be a variable time. After you arrive, see me and let me know how long you wish before the day starts. If you miss a day, you will be punished. Two days and your experience, loot, and time here are forfeit. You will be required to restart your dungeon week. Do that twice, and you will not be a kobold any longer, understand? Good. Now, how long until our day starts?¡± Wow, these guys don¡¯t mess around. ¡°Fair enough. Let¡¯s start in five hours, I¡¯ve got a lot of preparation to do. Since there aren¡¯t any adventurers in the dungeon, do we still get a boost to mana regeneration?¡± ¡°Yes, but why do you need it? You don¡¯t have any spells.¡± ¡°Mana excavation. I¡¯m going to be making some changes to the dungeon.¡± ¡°Hrmm, just don¡¯t cause a cave in.¡± Nodding at him, I headed out to start with my traps. Several small alcoves were his first on my list. Most had some curve to them so that I couldn¡¯t be detected if you looked at it head on. I decided to start with only one pitfall trap at first, since I wanted to test its effectiveness. I also didn¡¯t want it to be too obvious, so I took extra care to make it hard to detect. First I cut out a square hole around 18 inches. I made it two feet deep, with a spike that came up about half of that right in the middle. The top edge I made one inch wider and one inch deep, leaving me a nice ledge that I could put the cover on. To make the cover, I cut a square from one of my hiding holes. On what was going to be the bottom, I cut out most of the material, being careful to leave at least a half inch of material. I also left an inch around each edge so that it would sit on the lip of the trap. Being paranoid that a normal character wouldn¡¯t have enough weight to break through even that little bit of stone, I cut scoring lines in an X shape on the bottom, hands shaking as I made sure I didn¡¯t cut all the way through. Lightly dropping it into place, I exhaled in relief when I couldn¡¯t even tell where the square was without getting on my knees. I also sprinkled a bit of stone dust around so that there wasn¡¯t a conspicuous clean spot. I also wanted to try the ceiling, but not for traps. I started with a small hole in the wall, that one would have to crawl to enter. I tunneled upwards, with hand and foot holds making a rock ladder. Once I had more than a foot of solid rock, I started in on making a room. It took a surprising amount of time, even with the mana regeneration. I had only gotten about half of what I wanted done when I got the notification of intruders in the dungeon. Damn, I even missed the hour notice? Oh well, time to check on my trap and see what I can catch. It took about twenty minutes, but the intruders finally showed up. Surprisingly it was a pair of mages. I guess they were waiting for their mana to completely regenerate between battles. While this was a good strategy for them, it meant I couldn¡¯t count on them to make stupid mistakes. They seemed to be paying fairly close attention to their surroundings, but they weren¡¯t looking at the floor. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, you go alchemist and specialize in ice magic and I¡¯ll become a scribe and specialize in fire. I¡¯ll scribe our spells into scrolls, and with your potions we will be rolling in the money. We just need to find someone who will specialize in AAAAH! MY FOOT!¡± Success! One of the mages fell straight into the trap, and I can see a crippled icon above his head. Doing massive damage to an enemy below the knee can cause a crippled effect, which slows down movement speed by 30%. Darting out of my hiding spot, I rushed forward and unleashed a flurry of blows on the back of the uninjured mage as he was trying to help his friend. My initial rush knocked both of them over, snapping the leg of the trapped one. While he was distracted with the pain, I took my hammer in a two handed grip and smashed it down onto the other paying no heed to my stamina. Three blows to the body ended the mage¡¯s life as well as the vast majority of my stamina. I stepped up to the other mage as he laid on his back in agony. Since over half his life was gone I took a gamble and tried for a massive hit with the last of my stamina. I reared back, and swung my hammer as if his head was a golf ball. There was a sickening thwack, and both bodies shattered in the death animation.
All intruders eliminated. One hour cooldown before dungeon can be attacked.
Sweet victory. I didn¡¯t want to make a habit of using the same trap, so I covered it with a solid stone slab this time. Not trusting my luck, I made my next trap just past the campfire of Khaliss and Shrik. We worked fairly well together as a team, and I didn¡¯t want them to have to go through any respawns. ¡°Hey guys, do you mind answering a question really quick?¡± ¡°Always questioning, just do your job.¡± Khaliss replied. ¡°Relax Khaliss, it is about our job. If you were to hear someone cry out in pain from just outside your firelight, would you go and attack them?¡± Raising an eye ridge, Shrik responded, ¡°Why would they cry out in pain? Unless you are attacking them again?¡± ¡°Oh, not this time. At least not at first. I was going to put a trap here. Hopefully they step onto the stone and break through and get stabbed in the foot. In fact, I¡¯ll probably put three around the edges of the fire. That way if they try and sneak up by following the walls they¡¯ll have a bad time as well.¡± ¡°If intruders make a lot of noise, we will attack. Especially near our fire.¡± Khaliss, always curt with his responses. Oh well, that¡¯s going to be just perfect for my plans. I spent the rest of the next hour making my three traps. You can¡¯t always assume that someone will come waltzing down the middle of the tunnel right into your traps.
Four invaders have entered the dungeon
Four this time eh? Looks like we will probably be getting our first balanced team trying to beat the dungeon. Hopefully they won¡¯t all be at level five. Trying to plot out how this would work, I figured that they would have an armored person act as a tank on the front line, a rogue character that would try and get behind the enemy to cause as much damage as possible, a mage off to one side casting magic, and a healer in back that was keeping the tank alive. Step one would be to take out the healer to even the playing field. I would then work my way to the front of their formation, hopefully getting in strikes while unnoticed. Any attack from outside an enemy¡¯s field of vision had a much higher chance of being a critical strike that would do 1.5 to 5 times damage.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! I had taken my place in one of the curved alcoves, and waited. Soon, I heard the group planning out their assault. ¡°OK, I only see two of them up ahead. Korinne, let me get a few hits in like normal before you start in on the one on the right. Make sure to keep Donnie¡¯s firing lane clear, with you two attacking it the kobold should die fairly quickly. Go ahead and open with [Slice and Dice] to take him down faster. Erin, I shouldn¡¯t need but a few heals, just don¡¯t start until I drop below half health.¡± Damn, these guys are organized and had almost a perfect plan for taking out two low level kobolds. I really hope my traps get them, because this might be impossible without them. As soon as I saw four bodies walk past me, I started sneaking out of my hiding spot. They would be focused on the fight ahead of them, confident that nothing was behind them. The warrior in his iron armor strode forward confidently, up until his foot crashed through my trap. ¡°GYAAAAH!¡± Even better, his momentum carried him forward enough that he fell flat on his face! His comrades flinched as Khaliss and Shrik jumped up and charged at the down warrior. Their twin spear thrusts on the downed warrior must have been crits, because I saw his life drop drastically. Then I was busy having my hammers crash together like cymbals on either side of the healer¡¯s head. ¡°Divine grace, lend me your aid. [Healing lig]¡± Poor cleric, couldn¡¯t get the healing light cast before my attack killed him in one shot. It was definitely worth the sacrifice of my stamina. ¡°Damnit! Why are there traps here? On the sides too!¡± Korinne had obviously fallen into one of my other traps. I glanced up and saw the warrior desperately blocking the incoming strikes with his shield. Unfortunately his throes deflected a stab that would have hit him in the breastplate so that it pierced his unprotected neck, killing him. ¡°[Slice and Dice]!¡± the rogue cried as she unleashed one of her class skills. For a small chunk of her stamina, she unleashed three slashes with each of her equipped daggers within two seconds. It¡¯s a short ranged skill, but perfectly timed like what she just did unleashed massive damage to Shrik. ¡°[Frost bolt]!¡± the mage cried as he targeted a defenseless Shrik, who had his back arched in agony. The bluish white energy struck him in the middle of his chest and killed him. That was the mage¡¯s last action, as I opted to rip his throat out with mana excavation. Even if it didn¡¯t kill him immediately that would render him useless for this fight. Why? Well, if he doesn¡¯t have a throat he can¡¯t speak which is required for low level spell casting. He also can¡¯t swallow a healing potion to fix his issue, and their team healer was already dead. I rushed past him to take out the female rogue who was holding her own against Khaliss. I was really surprised, as she did have the crippled icon and rogues usually depended on their agility to dodge incoming attacks. Playing it safe seemed like the best play here, as I saw how she was still alive. Instead of dodging and counterattacking, she seemed content to parry Khaliss¡¯ attacks, keeping up a stalemate. His weapon range kept him outside of her counter attack abilities, and her twin daggers allowed her to parry just about all of his spear thrusts. Of course it did nothing for the hammer blow that took her between the shoulder blades. Khaliss capitalized on her broken stance by stabbing her in the stomach with his spear, finishing her off. Nodding to me, we both turned to see the look of terror in the mage¡¯s face as he was frantically trying to get the mouth of a healing potion into his esophagus so that he could survive for a little bit. The bleeding icon above his head ticked one more time and he dropped to the ground dead.
All intruders eliminated. One hour cooldown before dungeon can be attacked.
¡°Whew, that was intense. I¡¯m glad we got them with those traps, otherwise we would have been toast.¡± Khaliss merely grunted in acknowledgement and went back to his fire. I reset their traps since I wanted them to survive, but kept moving into unexplored areas of the warrens. I found a hallway I hadn¡¯t done anything to yet, and just started carving random messages and song lyrics into it. I wanted a theme to it, and what better theme than Hell? So the first quote was a slightly altered lyric from the old band Sabaton, ¡°To the gates of Hell, as I send your soul to Heaven¡± and nothing more. Slightly further on, just inside the ring of light from a torch was the inscription on the gates of Hell from Dante¡¯s Inferno, ¡°Abandon hope, ye who enter here!¡± Now was where I had a lot of fun. The first two were written with fairly decent penmanship, but the rest of these were made with horrid penmanship, so that you had to work to read it. ¡°Help Me!¡± ¡°Oh, it burns!¡± ¡°Please stop the pain, the pain¡± and just for some variety ¡°Can¡¯t sleep, clowns will eat me.¡± That last one was repeated five times, like it was a song from a hymnal. Halfway through this hall was my hidden niche, and I was rather proud of it. I dug out a half height niche in the wall, but once I got past the normal wall I lowered it at an angle so I had a small ramp I could crawl out of. While I settled in to wait for the next set of invaders, I decided to look at my two hammers. Both were looking quite worn, and their durability had dropped into single digits. They wouldn¡¯t last another fight, so I started carving two more to replace them. The old ones I destroyed by trying to alter them, further confirming that after using them they are unalterable. I stood to stretch my back and promptly smacked my head on the ceiling. ¡°Damnit, that hurt.¡± I muttered to myself. Well, since there were still no intruders, I started giving myself just a little bit of head room. That turned out to be an absolutely stupid decision. The first carving sent stone dust straight into my eyes, setting off a round of muttered cursing. The muttered cursing might have escalated when I smacked my nose into the wall in my flailing. Double damn, where are these invaders at? I really want to take out some frustrations on them.
Two invaders have entered the dungeon
Ah, ask and ye shall receive. While I had some time for them to get this deep into the dungeon, I started grinding some of the loose rock by my feet into a fine powder. It isn¡¯t my fault if I improvise blinding powder by using crushed rock, right? Soon I heard the approaching feet. ¡°What the hell is this? Creepy talking about Hell.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me. Why would the designers quote Dante in a kobold dungeon? Especially if it is just a level one dungeon.¡± ¡°Hey Janet, you see this? I thought they didn¡¯t allow torture in these games.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t, it¡¯s probably just there to unnerve you. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Well its effing working.¡± The two intruders were finally far enough for me to see them from my hiding spot. A mage and a rogue, excellent. I think I can take them both, even at level one. I grabbed up a handful of dust, and counted my lucky stars as the rogue, LadyOfTheNight, started lagging behind and shuddering at my sayings. I let them both get by me, and slithered out as quietly as possible. Lady was reading out loud, ¡°Can¡¯t sleep, clowns will eat me. Can¡¯t sleep, clowns will eat me. Can¡¯t sleep, clowns will eat me. Can¡¯t sleep, clowns will eat me. Can¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°Clowns will eat me.¡± I finished the last line for her in a raspy voice. As she did a terror filled jump turn, I opened my palm and blew stone dust right into her face. ¡°AIIIIIEEEEEE! *cough, cough*¡± As her cry of terror devolved into a coughing spat, I turned and started sprinting towards her friend, MagicFingers. ¡°Huh? Janet, you Oh Shit! Where did you come from?¡± Back pedaling in surprise, she tripped over her own feet and went down without even casting a spell. As she tried to kick me, I brushed her foot aside with my left hammer and brought the right one down on her solar plexus. I didn¡¯t bother much with technique, just kept raining blows onto her body to keep her off balance and hopefully too panicked to attack. Sure enough, six blows was enough to take her out. Janet had mostly recovered by the time I had dispatched her friend, so I prepared to simply trade blows to her upper arms as she slashed at my chest. Sadly, I noticed that my life was dropping a bit quicker than hers. Knowing I had to take a risk, I stepped out of range and gambled on a critical hit. I feinted a high swing at her head, but pulled most of my strength hoping she would just think I missed and step in swiftly for a counter. As she fell into my trap, I did a complete rotation with just my wrist to get a speed strike on her exposed head. It solidly connected with her temple, dropping her into digital death.
All intruders eliminated. One hour cooldown before dungeon can be attacked.
I immediately dropped onto my butt and exhaled in exhaustion. Damn but that was a hard fight, and a lot closer than what I had hoped. If that mage had managed to control her panic, I would have most definitely been toast. However, the stone dust was a resounding success. I caught my breath, and let my health fully restore before I walked off to find Khaliss and Shrik. As I was coming up on their camp, another new popup filled my vision.
Day finished.
¡°Well, that came at just the right time, right guys?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m definitely ready for a break¡± Shrik responded. We all headed back into the hidden barracks for a lackluster meal and some rest. As soon as I was situated in a bunk, I softly said, ¡°Logout.¡± Chapter 7 Marty was worried. He had a great start with the first two days, but he was rapidly running out of ideas to keep his momentum going. He was also painfully aware of how close he had come to losing on several occasions. He was going to have to do some research, but first he needed something to decompress. Maybe it was time for him to head to that caf¨¦ and meet some of the other beta testers. He altered his clothing to a simple t-shirt and jeans and headed to the other door. The only destination was Caf¨¦ Oblivion, so he chose that and walked through another portal. He entered into an open air park with a hostess stand. To one side was a set of tables with a few occupied, while the other was a serene park with a small lake in the middle. There were a few ducks lazily swimming around, but thankfully no geese. Nasty little creatures, if they weren¡¯t pestering you for some food they were honking at some ungodly hour of the morning. There were a few people out enjoying the park area, but he wanted something to relax a bit so headed to the tables. ¡°Mind if I join you guys?¡± he asked as he came up to one of the partially occupied tables. ¡°Not at all, I¡¯m Jonathan.¡± One of the occupants replied. ¡°This is Derrick and Phoebe. We¡¯re part of the monster beta test, how ¡®bout you?¡± ¡°Yeah, just got done with day two. Need a drink though, how do we order here?¡± ¡°Just sit down and type it in. Derrick¡¯s been trying to get toasted for several hours, but they didn¡¯t program alcohol effects into this part. Which is probably for the best.¡± Phoebe answered. Marty odered a Seven and Seven and was loving how it appeared right after he hit enter. ¡°Wow, gotta love that fast service, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, no waiting, no costs, but no buzz.¡± Derrick answered forlornly. ¡°Sometimes you just gotta escape for a bit, and they took that away.¡± ¡°We¡¯re living in a virtual reality environment with anything you could want at the touch of a button Derrick, what the hell do you need to escape from? Hell, your damn job is to play your favorite game! That¡¯s teenage you¡¯s wet dream!¡± Marty made a mental note not to get on Phoebe¡¯s bad side. ¡°So, what¡¯s got you so down about the game Derrick?¡± ¡°The monster class. It¡¯s been nerfed to the point of being useless. I picked a troll, because of the strength. I¡¯m stuck in a cave, and I¡¯m so easily distracted it¡¯s ridiculous! Seriously, I spent three hours watching light reflect off a rock. A ROCK! I didn¡¯t even notice I was under attack until I had lost half my life! I would go to attack some of the squishier members, like the wizards that were blasting me with fire, and the tank shouts and everyone else just faded out of my vision. The tank seemed to grow, so I kept hitting him. I have yet to get a single kill.¡± Marty was shocked. He hadn¡¯t really given anyone the chance to use skills against him, but to be affected like that had to be horrible. ¡°Easy there Derrick, we¡¯ve all had our butts handed to us. Phoebe has to work with a group of NPC¡¯s if she wants to get her gnoll bonus and don¡¯t even get me started on the smell as a goblin. Besides, I¡¯m so short that I can¡¯t even get a proper lethal blow in. The best I can to is jump up to shank a kidney. Then they turn around and squish me.¡± ¡°Ouch, sounds like you guys have had it rough.¡± ¡°Yeah, it hasn¡¯t been the greatest couple of days. How ¡®bout you Marty? What¡¯s your worst death?¡± Jon continued. ¡°Oh, well I like the Kobold Warrens so far. Nobody has managed to kill me just yet.¡± Everyone stopped to stare at him for a minute. ¡°Bullshit.¡± Derrick stated. ¡°Ain¡¯t no way a level one kobold managed to remain deathless for two days. Unless you were hiding and just let them raid the dungeon.¡± ¡°Well, of course I was hiding. They have skills and a higher level. The only way I was going to win was get in a surprise attack.¡± Jon leaned forward, ¡°So what weapon are you using that you got so many kills? Are you one of those people who practice old style sword fighting or something?¡± ¡°No, I would honestly be terrible with the spear they gave me. For my skill I picked Mana Excavation. It let me make some stone hammers and pitfall traps. Plus, the leftover stone dust is great for blinding people.¡± Marty¡¯s new friends were staring at him slack jawed. They would occasionally glance back and forth, but that was it until Jon spoke. ¡°So let me get this straight. You made a stone hammer, traps, and blinding powder? How much damage was your hammer doing?¡± ¡°Oh, the first hammer was horrible. It did around 30ish damage, but took all my stamina to swing it once. I made smaller hammers that probably average around 20 damage per swing though, and they seem to be doing the trick. Now I¡¯m just worried people are going to start catching on and I will need some new tricks to stay ahead of the curve.¡± ¡°New tricks like what?¡± ¡°Well, honestly I have never played as a mage before so I know nothing about mana based skills or how to improve them.¡± Phoebe perked up at that, saying, ¡°Really? What do you have questions on? I used to play as a high level mage, I might be able to help out. Perhaps we could all brainstorm some ideas to help us all out.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine with that.¡± Marty responded. ¡°I really need to figure out how to improve my skill. It takes forever to tunnel through the rock. Right now I line my claws with mana and I can cut through rock. It leaves four gashes the size of my claws and takes forever.¡± Phoebe smiled, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the basic manipulation right there. Tell me, do you think that it is the claws cutting the rock or your mana?¡± ¡°It has to be the mana, I¡¯ve tried with just claws and it does nothing. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Simple. Why limit your mana into just the shape of your claws? You can make it any shape, just remember that lining physical objects is the easiest way to do it. It gives your mind an image to focus on. Ok, here comes mage training 101. Mana based skills depend on several things. The most important is the mental image of the skill. If you think your mana skill will form and arrow that bounces off the target¡¯s chest, you are going to cast a mana arrow that bounces off the target¡¯s chest. If you truly believe that it will skewer the guy you are shooting and impale him into the wall behind him, you have a much higher chance of that actually happening. So step one, imagine your skill how you need it to act. Step two is to infuse mana into your skill. For you, I would imagine mana moving from a pool in my stomach area down my arm and out to my claws. It will be tough at first, but like muscle memory the more you use it the easier it will become. If you can master this, then you will be able to cut straight through that rock.¡± ¡°That¡­..seems so simple I¡¯m kinda ashamed I didn¡¯t think of it myself.¡± ¡°Hahaha, yes, it is one of the first things that gets taught to beginning mages in the better guilds. Don¡¯t feel bad about it, you¡¯ve got quite a few things you have done in the past few days that have stymied the rest of us so let¡¯s improve us monsters, yeah?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. Should we start with Jon? I¡¯ve got an idea or two for the goblins, but first we need what he has available. Jon? Can you tell us your gear and what type of area you are in?¡± ¡°Sure Marty. Level one goblin obviously. I have two sharp knives and a simple loincloth for clothing. I picked the slash skill, so I can get a boosted attack every other second.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°OK, and your go to attack so far has been a backstab coupled with slash to do boosted damage?¡± At his nod, Marty continued, ¡°Great. So if you know you can¡¯t kill them with a single backstab, even with the crit bonus, why not go for crippling them?¡± ¡°Cripple them? How? I barely come up to their waist half the time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re thinking too high. I¡¯ve gotten a crippled status on a few adventurers by sending a spike through their foot. Why don¡¯t you slash both of their Achilles tendons? Then they can¡¯t walk and you can run around them faster than they can turn and get your slashes in. Beat them in a war of attrition, or do it and let a swarm of goblin friends take them down.¡± ¡°That. . . That. . . Damn.¡± He looked at Phoebe, ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t we think of something simple like that? No more jumping, and no low level gear completely wraps the legs so there is no protection against it.¡± ¡°We just are used to being the heroes Jon. We stand back, let our skills carry us through the fight. It really brings home how much of a handicap it is when you have no skills at your disposal.¡± ¡°Yeah, tell me about it. Plus we can¡¯t level up yet, so we don¡¯t get any stat boosts or choose any classes. When I signed up for this I didn¡¯t think it would be this hard. Perhaps after I get a few therapeutic kills in it¡¯ll be a bit better.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit Jon! Aside from the ankles, are there any ledges you can climb on to jump down while attacking? It¡¯ll be a bit harder to pull off, but hardly anyone looks up in the lower dungeons, you could get a fairly powerful strike in.¡± ¡°Sadly no, all the walls are smoothed out. I think the dev¡¯s set it up so that the backstory is that the goblins moved into a rock worm nest after the beast had moved on. It explains the uniformity of everything.¡± ¡°Damn, that sucks. Well Phoebe, what¡¯s your area look like?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a secluded valley with occasional animals. Mostly pine tree forests where the bottom 1/3 of the trees have no branches. My skill is Gnaw, which increases the damage done the longer I am able to bite one spot on the enemy. Thankfully there are no tastes unless you are eating proper food.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds like a tough spot. Ok, so you get bonuses for being in a group right?¡± ¡°Yup, but the rest of the group is stupid. They all sit around campfires, staring into the light and destroying their vision. Then they only attack from the front, in a semicircle. It¡¯s just horrible.¡± ¡°Ok, do you have to be in their group before battle starts, or can you get the boost if you join in?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter when you join, why?¡± ¡°Great. Then let the fools keep the adventurer¡¯s attention while you sneak up behind them and gnaw on their weapon arm or their neck if they have no armor on. Hide in a tree or something beforehand so you can drop down from behind.¡± ¡°Jon, how the hell does this guy keep coming up with such blatantly obvious solutions? We were both part of the top clans damnit!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know Phoebe, but I¡¯m damn glad he¡¯s here now. We might get some kills after all. Hey Derrick, quit sulking and tell us what your troll can do.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sulking, I¡¯m drowning my sorrows. It¡¯s just that my sorrows can breathe underwater, so they aren¡¯t drowning properly. Eh what the hell, he¡¯s got the two of you sorted, he might be able to help me. So, I¡¯m a troll in a cave. I have a tree trunk for a weapon, there are no places to hide, and only a few decent sized rocks. My skill choice is a passive, Stone Skin. I take 10% less damage from bladed weapons.¡± ¡°Ouch, bad luck on that. OK, so there¡¯s no cover for you, but that also means that there¡¯s no cover for the adventurers. I¡¯m sure you could take out that pesky tank if he didn¡¯t have a healer, so let¡¯s try this. Practice throwing those rocks so that you can hit what you want with them. Then, when the party sees you across the room, you can catch them unaware when you throw a rock and turn the healer into pulp.¡± He started to perk up at the thought of that, so I continued, ¡°Now you just need to teach those pesky tanks why you shouldn¡¯t close in with a troll. Did you ever play baseball as a kid?¡± ¡°Huh? Yeah, a little bit. What does baseball have to do with Oblivion?¡± ¡°Easy. Ever done solo batting practice where you toss a ball up and hit it on the way down? Well the pesky tank becomes the ball and the tree is your bat. See if you can hit the home run, keeping track of where he splats on the walls. Either that or just pick him up and bite his head off. Either way should kill him rather quickly.¡± ¡°Can we do that? Seriously, I thought the only weapon we could use was the ones they gave us?¡± ¡°Anything can be a weapon. I¡¯m using hammers carved from the rock of the dungeon itself! Besides, Phoebe can already bite her opponent, why wouldn¡¯t a troll be able to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. . .¡± ¡°Give it a try. What¡¯s the worst that could happen? You end up not killing them?¡± ¡°Alright, fine. I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt. At least, it wouldn¡¯t hurt me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit Derrick!¡± Phoebe encouraged him. ¡°What do you guys think, make this a habit? Come here daily to de-stress and talk tactics?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in¡± Marty declared. ¡°Me too¡± Jon agreed. ¡°As long as I can drink a beer or two I guess I¡¯ll show up.¡± Derrick confirmed. ¡°Great. We can work out the best way to make sure those adventurers don¡¯t win.¡± Marty spent a few more hours relaxing and talking over some of their previous exploits before heading for his digital home and some sleep. There were quite a few plans mulling around in his head, and he wanted to get to work early tomorrow to implement them. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily opened up yet another bug report about the Kobold Warrens and started mentally berating Marty and the entire lineage that gave birth to such a headache. When would the players realize that dying because you failed to develop a solid battle plan didn¡¯t mean that it was a bug. This one actually had something that might have been a bug had Marty not been involved. Apparently he had turned part of the warrens into a hallway from a mental asylum, and had spoken to an adventurer before blowing blinding powder into her face. How he managed to obtain high level blinding powder that normally took a level 35 alchemist inside of a level one dungeon was a mystery. She pulled up his logs and just stared. ¡°Damnit, he is entirely too resourceful. Better call Mike and Frank in on this one¡± she muttered while shooting off an email requesting a meeting. She even mentioned that someone would probably want popcorn. Ten minutes later she was back in Mike¡¯s office as Frank came in to sit down. ¡°OK, thanks for coming guys. I think we are going to have to up our timetable for releasing information on playing the monster race.¡± ¡°Oh really? What did Marty do this time?¡± Mike asked, intrigued. ¡°Well, he somehow managed to make blinding powder despite being a level one character and not having either a class or a profession. He also made one of your tunnels look like an insane asylum Frank. When a character was reading his poem about clowns eating him, he finished speaking the line right into her ear and then blowing the blinding powder right into her face.¡± ¡°Impossible¡± Frank said. ¡°Blinding powder requires a fairly high level alchemist, a mortar and pestle, and several rare plants that have been properly dried. It is impossible to make at level one, you need to be at least level 15 to get the majority of the components.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. Watch.¡± Emily said as she leaned back and closed her eyes, massaging her temples. Who would have thought that one beta tester would be such a hassle? ¡°Wait, what was that? How did he get a powder?¡± Frank was blabbering at the screen, especially when the blinded icon appeared over the adventurer¡¯s head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it, go back to just before he blinds her, I¡¯ll use my credentials to identify what¡¯s in his hand.¡± Mike backed up the video, and Frank just started shaking his head. Then he started chuckling. ¡°Damn Mike, I wish I had this guy on my team. He used stone dust to blind his opponent.¡± ¡°How did he get stone dust?¡± ¡°He ground small rocks with the base of one of his hammers. It¡¯s far less effective than blinding powder, but it is incredibly easy to obtain. The ruling AI decided that the effect of the powder would be temporary blindness, and get this. The duration is dependent on how fast you start blinking. Brilliant.¡± ¡°Ok, so we have him talking to the players in an admittedly creepy way. We can¡¯t say it was an NPC, people would rise up and riot. Probably. Alright, I¡¯ll kick this up the chain and see if we can get permission to release the monster beta knowledge early. Emily, what¡¯s his KDR?¡± ¡°Twelve kills, zero deaths. Biggest group taken down was four people.¡± ¡°Alright, how about this Frank. Marty is obviously a step above our normal tester, and definitely going to be harder to take out than the normal kobolds. Should we make his instance the champions instance?¡± ¡°Sure, works for me. I can¡¯t believe we are doing it after two days, but yeah we really need to.¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Emily interrupted. ¡°What is the champions instance, and will it make my life harder than it already is? I¡¯m getting bug reports from players complaining about getting killed enough as it is.¡± ¡°Ha ha ha, no it¡¯s nothing bad.¡± Mike answered. ¡°The champion instance lets players know that they are entering a dungeon with an increased difficulty. The rest of the monsters will get a slight boost to their stats, and Marty will get some slightly increased rewards at the end. The group level limit will be increased from 6 to 8 as well, but the maximum player level is still five.¡± ¡°Oh thank God, I¡¯m pulling my hair out as it is with all these bug reports.¡± ¡°This should stop the majority of the reports, don¡¯t worry.¡± Chapter 8 I woke up after a rough night of sleep. I couldn¡¯t get my brain to shut down, thinking of all the new things I was going to be trying today. Stumbling a little as I entered the kitchen, I wanted something to pick me up a bit. I made a quick pancake batter, leaving it so thick that it barely flowed. I plopped a good bit down onto my flat top, and while it was cooking I melted a bit of butter in the microwave. That came out, and I mixed in enough brown sugar to make it into a paste and added a generous dash of cinnamon. Just in time, as the bubbles that were on my pancake let me know it was ready to flip. Before I did that, I added my butter mixture in a swirl pattern. Less than five minutes later I was enjoying a batch of cinnamon roll pancakes, topped with strawberry jelly and maple syrup. Orange juice to wash it down was fine, since it was all digital I really didn¡¯t have to worry about the amount of sugar I would have just eaten in real life. Burping in contentment, I headed toward the Oblivion door.
WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT!
Players, we are proud to announce the official beta testing of a new way to play Oblivion Online! Monster races will soon be available for play, but beware! These races come with many drawbacks meant to enhance gameplay and increase the difficulty. Increased difficulty often comes with increased rewards, as many of you well know. For the past several days there have been players using the monster races in dungeon instances. This has inadvertently increased the difficulty of these areas and we are now instituting the following: A monster player that has at least five kills in their dungeon in one day will be upgraded to a champion instance. The increased difficulty and rewards will then be optional, and players will have a warning that not all monsters will behave the same as traditional NPCs.
Well, that was a wonderful greeting. I guess I got under a few people¡¯s skin with all the killing the past two days. As I finished reading the announcement, I felt a push on my shoulder as Khaliss wanted my attention. ¡°Something up Khaliss?¡± ¡°Yes Angus. We are upgraded to a championship instance. This hasn¡¯t happened in many years. Adventurers will be stronger, and we will get a boost to our stats. The gods have told me to offer you a choice, become boosted like us or stay at level one.¡±
QUEST ALERT: Khaliss has been instructed to offer you a quest for the remainder of the week. All the kobolds in this instance have been enhanced to champion levels, boosting their base stats. He offers you the same.
Options Conditions and rewards
Accept the boost to stats Stats will be boosted for the rest of the week. No additional rewards will be offered.
Decline the boost to stats Failure conditions: Fail to obtain a kill during the rest of the week. Failure rewards: Loss of faction points with kobolds and with Khaliss Pass conditions: Obtain as many kills as possible. Assisting in a kill will count as long as you are in the top two for damage dealt. Pass rewards: Dependent upon performance.
Accept Decline
Well, would you look at that. My first quest, and it looked like it would have great options should I manage to complete it. From the way Khaliss talked, it sounded like either the amount or level of adventurers per party would rise. Either way, there was no way I was going to turn this down. ¡°Khaliss, I decline the boost to my stats. It doesn¡¯t matter how many adventurers may come, I¡¯ll take them all down!¡± ¡°Well said, Angus. Well said. It¡¯s sad that our compatriots aren¡¯t at your level of confidence, but you have gotten most of the kills so far. It will be the same deal as yesterday, let us know when you are ready to start or we will begin in seven and a half hours.¡± ¡°Thanks Khaliss, I won¡¯t let you down.¡± Not wanting to waste time, I headed out immediately to the cave I had started making earlier. This time I sat right in front of the wall and worked on what Phoebe taught me. Feel the mana flow down my arm, to my fingers. Extend it outward, forming a curved blade, as if my fingers were just one massive claw. Keeping my eyes closed, I flicked my wrist forward and opened them to see what the results were. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Where before my claws dug in a few inches, I had just cleaved out a gash almost a foot deep for the same amount of mana. I used the next few hours to carve out several large caves above the tunnels, and some that dropped down within the walls. One of my favorites that I didn¡¯t have much hope for was within the walls. I cut a hole just big enough for someone¡¯s head to fit through, then went back around and wrote an inscription on the wall. ¡°Keep your eyes to the sky, and wisdom shall rain down from above.¡± One of my other hallways was a mind bender. Long ago there was a game with an assassin character that had hidden as a jester for so long he lost his mind. Aside from his insanity, he also had a rather high pitched voice, and I thought a hallway conversation with him would definitely creep some people out. ¡°Welcome, WELCOME! Remember, every day you wake up is one day closer to the last day of your life!¡± ¡°Was that the wind on your neck? Or was it a passing blade? We¡¯ll find out soon, won¡¯t we HEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEE!¡± ¡°I love the feel of caves! They¡¯re almost as good as the cold embrace of the grave!¡± ¡°While you weren¡¯t looking, I welded your greaves together!¡± ¡°Ex marks the spot! But which ex is the ex we are looking for? Mother knows, but she won¡¯t tell me!¡± I put a lot of random pitfalls all along the corridor. Some were marked with exes, most weren¡¯t. I even left some exes on spots that didn¡¯t have any traps underneath, because that would make life far too easy for them. At the very end of the tunnel, I carved a man sitting in the lotus position with several of the chakras marked. The chakra in the middle of the forehead I actually tunneled into a hidden room behind the wall. Above the man I wrote, ¡°Stare into the third eye for enlightenment.¡±
One hour until adventurers will arrive
Excellent! Almost all of my preparations were complete. There were only a few things I still had left on my list. First, I carved out two new hammers. I made a large bowl right after that, and proceeded to fill it with the stone dust from my two older hammers. That blinding powder was just too useful. My next test was a baseball sized hunk of granite. I know mages are able to infuse mana into objects, especially specializations like Spellswords. Why couldn¡¯t I do it? So I took my chunk of rock and made it as spherical as possible, since things with regular edges like a properly cut gem would hold the mana better. I sat still, and imagined 10 mana flowing from my hand into the rock. Opening my eyes, I saw that it had taken on a slight bluish white glow. It felt stable, so I put in 10 more mana and watched the glow intensify. At 25 total mana the rock started pulsing, and I felt that it was about to the end of what it could hold. So I dumped in another ten mana and threw the rock as hard as I could. As it flew, a streak of light followed it like a comet, and when it impacted the wall it exploded sending shrapnel everywhere. I rubbed my hands and smiled, these would be great for some of my plans. I made ten of them and charged them with 25 mana each, then headed to one of the last hallways I hadn¡¯t modified yet and took all the torches out of them.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
Oh, perfect time for test subjects! I headed out first to the hole in the wall with the quote about wisdom raining down from above and settled in to wait. Soon enough I heard people approaching. ¡°For a champion dungeon, this isn¡¯t really all that difficult.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t jinx us man, bad things will happen!¡± ¡°Oh relax Paul, there ain¡¯t no reason to be worried. Even if they are all champions, we are all at level three with skills to match. Dana will keep us healed up, I will knock ¡®em down, and you can set ¡®em on fire. Nothing to it.¡± ¡°Seriously Tom, it isn¡¯t going to be that easy. I bet we haven¡¯t even met the player yet.¡± ¡°Trust me Paul, whoever this player is won¡¯t stand a chance against us three. Hello, what¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it Tom!¡± ¡°Paul, it¡¯s just a hole in the wall. I¡¯m just going to stick my head in and see what¡¯s in there. Who knows, maybe I¡¯ll get one of those bonus attribute points. They tend to pop up in the lower dungeons, don¡¯tcha know?¡± I was counting my lucky stars. This guy was an idiot, and I saw him stick his head in facing up. TheUnrustableTomman. What a great pun for a name, but sadly you are going to be my first sacrifice. I raised my hammer over my head as he was frantically blinking, before muttering, ¡°Fool¡± as it crashed down with every bit of force I had into his face. His neck gave a sickening crack, his life bar instantly greyed out, and his companions started yelling as his body shattered in death. I headed up to my hidden corridors, and dropped down around the next corner, waiting to get them. As I heard them near, I darted around the corner and threw a handful of dust into the nearest person¡¯s eyes, it just happened to be the wizard. Having dealt with him, I advanced on the healer. I could see the terror in her eyes, so I smiled and licked my lips at her. ¡°Hello squishy!¡± I raised my hammer and made to strike into her upper arm, and when she flinched and went to block high I dropped low and slammed my hammer into the side of her knee. ¡°AAAAAHHH!¡± Having disabled the healer, and given her something to distract her from proper healing, I immediately rolled to my right to avoid any retribution from the mage. I turned back just in time to see him finally blink the last of the dust out of his eyes. Damn, I wish that would have lasted longer. His eyes were blazing with pain and anger, and he lifted his arm and pointed his palm at me in the classic spellcaster pose. I zig zagged back towards him as I pulled out my second hammer, and prepared for some pain. ¡°[Ember]¡± he called out and fired a small bolt of flame right into my chest. I was too far away to strike his body, but he helpfully left his arm just hanging out there. I took the bolt straight to the chest, as my twin hammers came crashing into both sides of his hand, mangling it into a nice pulp. ¡°AAAAAH, YOU¡¯LL PAY FOR THAT YOU SONOFABITCH!¡± I didn¡¯t give him any time to recover and kept pummeling him with overhand hammer strikes. He tried to put up a defense, but anytime his arm raised I switched to targeting that instead of his body. It took longer, but with the pain from a shattered hand he couldn¡¯t cast spells, and mages weren¡¯t generally known for coming out on top in brawls, so it was no surprise that he soon crumpled under my onslaught. I turned to see the healer was halfway down the hall, and hobbling as fast as she could. Poor thing, she had lost a third of her life, and wasn¡¯t high enough level to cast [Mending limbs], the healer spell that could fix broken bones. I didn¡¯t have much of my stamina left, and I needed a way to slow her down so I threw one of my hammers at her back, wincing in sympathetic pain at the dull thunk from the impact between her shoulder blades. She was pitched forward, stepped wrong on her already injured leg and crumpled into a sobbing heap. I hurried up to her, and wanted to end her misery as swiftly as possible. It wasn¡¯t her fault that her partners were idiots. I held my fingers straight, and imagined a wide blade of mana shooting straight out of my fingers. Holding her head still, I thrust it right at the base of her skull and watched her life bar instantly drop.
All intruders defeated. Forty Five minutes until a new wave of adventurers can appear.
Well, I guess that in addition to getting stronger adventurer parties in here, the time between them also dropped a bit. This would be great! I spent the time making rock grenades and charging them with energy so that I had a stockpile in my inventory. It turns out that a stack of ten of them would fill one inventory slot, and I kept going until I had a full inventory. Keeping my two hammers in there, I had 30 of the stones. Speaking of, I realized I hadn¡¯t identified them. First though, I headed to the fake statue near the beginning of the dungeon to be able to spy on the newest group when they entered the dungeon. Getting there with only a few minutes to spare, I pulled out one of the stones and identified it.
Mana infused granite sphere Though nothing beautiful, this carved granite sphere has enough of a regular shape to safely hold a small amount of mana. Beware, injecting mana beyond its capacity will result in instability and possibly dangerous consequences. Durability: 17/20 Mana infused: 25/25
Excellent, I was going to love using these. Nobody expects a ranged attack in a dungeon filled with spear users.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
Wait, were they not telling us how many intruders anymore? That must be an addition for the champion style of the dungeon. Oh well, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard since we still got notifications when everyone was dead. I made sure everything was hidden, then took out my hammers. Let¡¯s see what we are dealing with. Looks like three adventurers again. A dwarf warrior named StabbyMcStabFace, an elf mage named RyuIsAMage, and a Halfling rogue named Shadow. Nothing out of the ordinary for equipment, but these three just had the air of experience about them. ¡°Hey guys, before we get too far in here, let me show you something crazy.¡± The mage started. He stepped to the front of the group, cupped both wrists together at his hips while turning his body sideways. I saw a flicker of flame in his hands before he cried out, ¡°[Hadouken]!¡± and thrust his palms forward, launching a fireball into the darkness. ¡°How the hell did you rename the [Fireball] spell, and why do you have it at level three! That¡¯s madness¡± the dwarf cried. ¡°Easy. You can rename spells if you want, it just costs a gold coin. Totally worth it when you want to PvP. That way they don¡¯t know what skills you are using.¡± ¡°Yeah, well why did you go with that silly name from that game? What was it? Streak Fighter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Street Fighter, and it was a classic when I was growing up! I¡¯m telling you, that move was iconic.¡± ¡°It might be iconic, but did you really have to put your hands down by your waist? That¡¯s gotta make it hard to aim. Plus that¡¯s spell has to be a mana sink at this level, how many times can you cast it?¡± ¡°I can go twice per battle, but it should take whatever it hits in here down into red for life left, if it doesn¡¯t kill it outright. Trust me, we¡¯re good.¡± Damn, this one will be tough. That mage¡¯s ability is a tier two spell, and it causes a lot more damage than [Ember]. In all likelihood it would kill me in one shot. As they headed off into the passages, I went towards Khaliss. I would need backup in the battle, and the Khaliss and Shrik would be my best bet. I was well hidden in my shadowed alcove when I heard them approach. ¡°Only two this time, shouldn¡¯t be too bad. I¡¯ll start it off by hitting the one on the left, then switch out to the one on the right. Stabby, you catch them with a taunt and finish off the first one while Shadow and my second spell take out the other. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, we got this. Ready when you are.¡± I poked my head out and waited for my opportunity. As soon as the mage let out with his first [Fireball] I moved. Empty handed, I got to him the moment before he launched his second strike. I grabbed his left shoulder from behind, and a quick jerk was just enough to throw off his aim so instead of striking Shrik it struck the dwarf in the middle of the back.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Oi! What the hell ya doin¡¯ hittin¡¯ me in the back like that?¡± He cried as his health dropped into the red. The mage was unable to answer as I had already reached around with my other hand and slit his throat with mana enhanced claws. I dropped his body and headed forward, pulling my hammers. Unfortunately, Khaliss fell before I could get there. I did manage to avenge him with a single swing upside the dwarf¡¯s head. The rogue still hadn¡¯t noticed me, so I first took a swing at his lower legs for a crippling blow. ¡°Gah, where the hell did you come from?¡± He cried as I connected. ¡°[Slice and Dice]¡± He somehow managed to split the skill targets, hitting me three times with one knife and killing Shrik with three blows from his other knife. I stepped back a bit to gain some room and evaluate my options. I was faster moving distances, but his attack speed far surpassed mine so there was no way I would be able to kill him without taking some damage. The issue was that he had enough life to ensure that I would fall first if we traded blows. I also had plans for the granite spheres, and I wasn¡¯t willing to release them here. ¡°Tricky rogue, splitting your skill like that. I didn¡¯t realize that was even possible.¡± ¡°Heh, glad you liked it. Figures that the only kobold smart enough to plan an ambush would be another player. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve come to the same conclusion as I have, right? You don¡¯t have enough life to trade blows and kill me, and if you back off I¡¯ll just heal up and hunt you down. I¡¯ve already tagged you with [Marked for Death], so don¡¯t think you can hide in the shadows.¡± ¡°Damn, you already have that skill? Did you three just restart so that you could try out the monster players or what?¡± ¡°Actually? Yes, we did. You are the lucky first to be able to fight against us, and I¡¯m rather impressed. Too bad you won¡¯t be able to win.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be too sure about that¡± I responded, getting a mad plan in my head. If the granite spheres could absorb mana, why couldn¡¯t my weapon? I took a half step back to shield the tell-tale glow as much as I could, and started channeling 30 mana to the head of my hammer. I charged forward, aiming one hammer in a thrust at his left shoulder to keep him from slicing me with both knives and brought the other hammer around in an arching swing for a body blow. His eyes got wide as he saw my plan, but it was far too late. He did manage to bury one knife in my gut and twist it, but my hammer struck him in the side and a blue shockwave of mana burst forth and through his body in a widening cone, taking out the last of his life. I fell on my butt, hands shaking with excitement. I won. I WON!
All invaders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers can appear.
Wow, those guys were tough, but what a thrill. There truly is nothing better than going through a battle while outnumbered, with little chance of survival and coming out on top. Inspiration comes at the toughest of times, and it truly saved my ass. I need to check how that affected my weapon though.
Double Headed Stone Warhammer This stone weapon is a marked improvement upon previous designs. The wielder can use it comfortably with one hand, or easily add a second hand for extra powerful blows. Damage: 10-20 Durability: 6/20
Damn, that move wreaked havoc on my poor hammer, dropping its durability to just under a third of its maximum. Well, it just got upgraded to a desperation move. Ok, enough excitement for one day. Time to play it fairly conservative for the rest of the day. I headed to the darkened hallway, and placed one of the stones in the middle. Walking away, I was excited. The glow was rather eerie, especially against the dark backdrop. I could only see a few inches highlighted in the glow, it wasn¡¯t powerful enough for more. I headed out to the last torch, and carved a message to adventurers. ¡°Wake not the restless dead, for caverns deep are where dark things sleep.¡± Cryptic enough, I headed into the hall and put the last stone into my inventory. I also started carving yet another hammer, and spent the rest of the time making a stockpile of stone powder. Preparations complete, I waited for the next group to attempt the dungeon.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
It seems that world message earlier really fired up the adventurers, as the new group arrived right at the forty-five-minute mark. Let¡¯s see how they handle this! Of course I spent the majority of an hour just waiting around, they were taking their sweet time. Soon though, I heard their voices as they clomped along through the tunnels. A team of four stopped at the end of the tunnel, in the middle of the last pool of light. Too far to see their tags, but I could still hear them. ¡°I don¡¯t like this, as creepy as the rest of the dungeon has been there was always light.¡± ¡°Relax Doc, we still have whoever is in here outnumbered and out leveled. Beside the enchantments from the guild crafters will make sure we can take him down. Who knows, we might even get an achievement for all this!¡± ¡°Everyone knows there aren¡¯t any achievements available in level one dungeons, Steele. Even if it is a champion instance.¡± ¡°No worries everyone, trust the equipment we¡¯ve been given. Here, if the dark scares you that much, I¡¯ll carry a torch. I can still bang it against my shield to activate [Taunt], and that¡¯ll keep whatever appears off the rest of you. If it stops paying attention to me, I¡¯ll light its face on fire and hit it with a [Shield Bash]. Happy?¡± ¡°Fine, you got a plan. We will foll, wait a minute. What¡¯s this written by the torch? Wake not the restless dead, for caverns deep are where dark things sleep. Steele, I thought you said this was a kobold dungeon, what¡¯s this about restless dead?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a trick, ignore it.¡± ¡°What if it isn¡¯t a trick? What if there are undead here? We aren¡¯t specced out for undead damnit, Slicer went boosted bleeding, Carnage went crippling blows, and you went sword and board. Hell, the only one who would be effective would be me, and I don¡¯t have the mana reserves to do more than a few minor heals! We need to head back and change our gear or we won¡¯t make it!¡± Wow, a rather impassioned speech for the healer! Normally he would be right though, I¡¯m glad that I wrote that gibberish on the wall. The more distracted they would be the better off I would be. Heck, if you look at it the faint blue glow could be misconstrued as something undead. Maybe this will work out great? ¡°ENOUGH DOC! We press on. No going back, no more prattling on about undead. This is a kobold dungeon, and there aren¡¯t any undead here. Now get your game faces on and hand me that torch, let¡¯s get through this darkened tunnel. I want a diamond formation, Doc in back. Everyone keep an arms length distance between us at all times. Got it?¡± A chorus of ¡°Yes¡± answered. Sheathing his sword, the leader took a torch in his main hand and started heading down the hallway. I couldn¡¯t fault them for the formation, but the leader didn¡¯t want to listen to anyone else¡¯s ideas and that would be his downfall. I let them get halfway down before I pulled a stone from my inventory. ¡°Who dares?¡± I asked in a gravelly voice. ¡°Ah, the warmth of life ventures here yet again. Come, warm these old bones as I gift you with the cold embrace of death!¡± I slowly started moving the stone back and forth across the hallway, as if the creature talking to them was pacing. ¡°No undead, huh Steele! It¡¯s just a kobold dungeon, sure.¡± ¡°SHUT IT AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE!¡± ¡°Battle? This shall be. . . . a SLAUGHTER AHAHAHAHAHA!!¡± With my final taunt, I overcharged five extra mana into the stone and lobbed it in an arch towards the party. Following it with a charge, I pulled two more stones and overcharged the first with 15 mana and threw it as hard as I could at the party, right as the first stone got within range. Slamming the metal reinforcing bands of the torch on the shield, the warrior activated [Taunt] by shouting, ¡°You¡¯re mine you bucket of bones!¡± When the stone didn¡¯t change directions, he swung his torch at it and missed. The rogue on the left didn¡¯t, and his dagger caused the thing to explode and knock everyone back a bit. The second stone streaked through the gap left by the warrior and hit the healer right in the chest as his panicked eyes widened in terror. The explosion killed him before he could even utter a cry, and finished off the rogue while knocking the already off balance warrior onto his side. As he tried to get up, I noticed that his health bar was down to roughly 40% of its max, so I dumped the remaining 30 mana into the final stone in my hand and launched it at his back. I was close enough that he stood no chance, and the explosion would have blinded me had I not dropped my head in expectation. I pulled out my hammer, and looked up into the darkness. I guess I had extinguished the torch. Quickly activating darkvision, I saw the remaining rogue with only a sliver of life left as he leaned against the wall vainly trying to get over the blinding flash. A hammer strike to his stomach finished off Carnage.
All invaders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear
Wow, that was incredibly fun! I refilled my stockpile, and headed to one of the main hallways to start work on one of my more ambitious traps. I got into the ceiling and carved out a rather large oblong chamber parallel with the tunnel below. I also left a wide column about 2/3 of the width of the hallway at one end, and coming out of that a bench that headed towards the beginning of the dungeon. Looking at my in game timer, that was all I had time to finish before I needed to head back to my dark hallway. With about three minutes left on the timer, I made it back and remembered the torch that Steele had dropped. Activating darkvision, I bent down to pick up the dropped torch and was rather shocked when my hand went right through it. Of course, I tried it three times before I realized I was dealing with a bug. Pulling a torch out of my own inventory, I went to the one spot on the wall where the original was and tried dropping the torch. I bent down and was perfectly able to pick it back up. Looking at my clock, I figured I still had a good bit of time before the adventurers got here so I dropped it again, ran down the hall and back and was still able to pick it up and put it in its socket. As I waited, I sent off an email to Emily with my new bug. Emily, Found a new bug to report. An adventurer dropped a torch that they had picked up earlier in the dungeon. I am unable to interact at all with this object. I tried duplicating this with a torch I dropped from my inventory, and even leaving the torch and coming back I am still able to pick it up. The torch is extinguished at the moment so there is no further issue on my end at the moment. Thanks, Marty There we go, and sent. I had an idea as to why it would be causing issues, but wouldn¡¯t need to do their jobs for them and if I was wrong I didn¡¯t want to be responsible for sending them off on a wild goose chase. I only needed some new adventurers to come strolling into my area. Just under a half hour later I heard the echoes of voices. ¡°Right or straight ahead guys?¡± ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t a sinister dungeon so let¡¯s go right. I hate the straight and narrow.¡± ¡°Seriously Don, if you make that lame joke about the sinister dungeon one more time I am going to decapitate you. I don¡¯t care if we are in the middle of a dungeon with no resurrect scrolls, I¡¯m sick of it. We all know that sinister is Latin for left handed, because you remind us in EVERY. FUCKING. DUNGEON! So stop it already, will ya?¡± ¡°Sorry Zena, won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Good, now let¡¯s go to the right and see what¡¯s down this passage.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at them. By this point, every gamer knew about the sinister dungeon that every developer thought was brilliant. Name a dungeon the Sinister Dungeon, and the only way through was to take every single left. It was usually a level one or two dungeon nowadays. As I sat musing on developer choices, the four-person party came around the bend. The leader had to have been a female half-giant as she was head and shoulders above the rest of her party. She went with a massive axe that would likely ruin my day if I let it get anywhere close to me. The rest of the party were two mages and a dwarf warrior who carried a much smaller axe. This was getting far more interesting by the minute! ¡°Zena, wait just a minute before we go walking through the darkness. I don¡¯t like deviations from the normal, especially in low level dungeons like this. Something isn¡¯t right here,¡± one of the mages spoke up. To her credit, Zena did listen. ¡°Ok, everyone check this immediate area. Look for any clues or hints, anything that seems out of place. I¡¯ll even be checking the ceiling. Archimedes, you check the torches. See if any of the sconces turn.¡± I was impressed. This group was going to be very hard to take down if I let them get within striking range. Good thing I had thirty stones for launching from long range to take them out with. ¡°Zena, check this out. There¡¯s a poem scribbled on the wall. Wake not the restless dead, for caverns deep are where dark things sleep.¡± ¡°Crap, that could be undead. We didn¡¯t bring any cure disease potions, so play it defensively Don. We will go in a T formation. I¡¯ll be in the lead, using my weapons reach to keep them at bay. Good thing I took that upgrade to [Cleave] that has a knockback chance on anything that weighs less than me. Don, you are our second line of defense. If anything gets past me, kill it. Archimedes and FoxFire, You two are the wings and behind Don. Light ¡®em up with fire, spreading the love if there are multiple incoming. I want you to weaken them enough that a poke or two from Don will kill them. Don¡¯t be stingy with the mana, we will rest up to full before pressing on. I would much rather it take us a while longer to clear than for us to go charging ahead into a battle we don¡¯t have the resources to win, understood?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± Damnit, this girl was very good. Even without a healer in their party, this plan would be highly effective against almost any low level dungeon, but it would be absolutely devastating against undead. Most undead took extra damage from fire, and with the damage dealers in the back they would have two warriors able to slow them down with devastating blows from axes before they could get to their opponents. Of all the groups to go through the dungeon so far, this one was the best without a doubt and I was incredibly sorry that I didn¡¯t have enough time to finish my previous trap. I let them get almost to where the previous group had perished before removing a stone from my bag. ¡°More of the living have come to join the dead, how fortunate. I needed more minions, and you will make a great general my dear. Now, won¡¯t you kindly. . . DDDDIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!¡± I screeched the last word as the stone flew through the air, overcharged with ten mana. I took out another stone and immediately charged it with 30 mana and hurled it at Zena, as she was the most dangerous target. ¡°ONE INCOMING HIGH!¡± Zena cried as both mages launched their ember spells at the blue object. Both missed low, since they assumed that the creature would have a body. Zena set up with the axe parallel to the ground by her hip, and dipped the head to give extra power to her strike. Don¡¯s dwarf eyes must have had darkvision, as he cried a warning to her just a little too late, ¡°No don¡¯t, it¡¯s a trap!¡± The explosion rocked her back a half step and blinded her, and the second rock hit her center of mass and sent her flying backwards with nothing left in her health bar. I was rather glad I had overcharged that last strike, and as I was still just out of their visual range I used the last of my mana to overcharge the last stone and target the dwarf. If I wanted to remain anonymous, he had to die before he could identify me. ¡°Incoming again!¡± One of the mages tried to warn him, but it was too late. The stone struck him in the head for what had to be a critical hit, killing him instantly. As he dropped, his body landed on his torch, sending the hall into darkness. I sped past them as silently as I could, keeping to one of the walls. Both mages finally got their hands up and fired indiscriminately down the now empty hallway, terror of the unknown and the loss of their leader completely demoralizing them. The nearest mage died to the smashing of twin hammers on opposite sides of his head. As the other turned towards the sound, I ducked low and scuttled forward to strike at his hip with my left hammer. As he turned towards where he thought the blow came from, I stood to my full height and cracked by other hammer in the back of his head. He fell on his face, stunned and health bar in the red. I gave a simple strike to his back to end the fight.
All intruders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear.
I slumped in exhaustion. This constant attack by adventurers was rather draining. I also needed something much more devastating in case I came upon another good leader like Zena. Up until now, all of my stones were about the size of a baseball. I think it was time to upgrade the size. I carved out one the size of a basketball, anything larger would be too hard to throw and anything smaller wouldn¡¯t be nearly as devastating as what I wanted it to be. Before I could identify it, I got a ping from Emily Marty, We have looked into your problem and have confirmed the bug. It will take an overnight patch to alter the code. Most likely is that the system flagged the torch as both an adventurer¡¯s possession and a dungeon object. This would leave the object in the dungeon upon death but render it unalterable by any non-player entity. Thank you for catching a minor bug, this has been added to your contributions list. Keep up the good work, Emily Well, that was a nice takeaway. Who would have thought that I would find two minor bugs in the same dungeon? Oh well, on to more explosive things. I dumped all the mana I had into the sphere and identified it.
Mana Infused granite stone sphere (Large) Though nothing beautiful, this carved granite sphere has enough of a regular shape to safely hold a large amount of mana. Beware, injecting mana beyond its capacity will result in instability and possibly dangerous consequences. Durability: 98/100 Mana Infused: 50/300
THREE HUNDRED MANA!?! That was sheer and utter madness! It only took a few of the smaller stones to take out the adventurers, and this was over ten times that amount! I was going to have so much fun with this, it¡¯s just too bad that I won¡¯t be able to see the explosion. The thing was far too heavy to throw far enough to ensure safety. I was going to have to drop this thing down into their midst from up above and dive back down the hallway to safety. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if part of the roof caved in. It took a while, but the mana guzzler finally managed to get fully charged just before my next message.
Invaders have entered the dungeon
Oh these poor, unsuspecting fools. I stored my newest weapon of destruction in my inventory and headed to the ceiling. Once up there, I cut a hole much larger than what I would need so that I could aim the behemoth. It was also closer to the beginning of the darkened hallway. Like the majority of militaries everywhere, I played hurry up and wait. ¡°Steele, I¡¯m serious. I talked to others in the guild, there are no undead in the Kobold Warrens. I don¡¯t know what killed us last time, but it couldn¡¯t have been undead.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what others say, there are undead in here. What else has bluish flames and explosive attacks?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe some new kind of kobold mage.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a mage, level one spells don¡¯t fucking change direction. Now shut your mouth and get ready to unleash your strongest holy spells.¡± Would you look at that, it looks like Steele didn¡¯t have a great time last time he was here. I instantly switched from feeling bad for the invaders to feeling great that this dick had decided to volunteer for annihilation. I positioned myself so that I could barely see to the end of the light thrown off by the torches, and waited. Soon enough I saw a pair of boots, and decided that these fools didn¡¯t deserve any warning. I silently slid around so that I would see their backs as they passed underneath, and waited. ¡°No torches this time, Bellamy cast [Holy light]¡± ¡°I know the plan Steele, you don¡¯t have to micromanage everything. Give me a second. Amelia, Goddess of Life, I beseech thee. Grant unto this unworthy servant thy blessed light, that I might go forth to hold the darkness at bay. [Holy light]¡± Looks like Steele came loaded for bear. [Holy light] was a dual use spell. It created a ring of blessed light that traveled with the caster that would both heal allies and cause slow DoT (Damage over Time) to any undead caught within it. A few seconds later and Steele walked below me, right at the leading edge of the light. You could see beyond it, but the healing edge only went about five feet from the caster at the lower levels. I waited a half second, then pulled out my present. Dumping all 50 of my mana into it, I shoved it through the hole aiming for Steele¡¯s heels. I turned and dove behind me as the tunnel shook violently for a second.
All intruders eliminated. Insufficient time remaining for dungeon reset, day finished.
Poor Steele, he never stood a chance. I peeked over the edge of the hole and looked at the carnage. The floor had a small crater, while the walls were pitted from the shards of the stone. I smiled as I dropped down and headed to the kobold barracks. ¡°Welcome back Angus.¡± ¡°Thanks Khaliss, is there anything you need from me?¡± ¡°No, just keep up the good work. I saw you had all the kills for the day, 19 is an incredible number.¡± ¡°Will do Khaliss, I¡¯ve got a few more surprises for tomorrow. I just hope I can hold out for the rest of the week.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just two more days, I¡¯m sure you will be fine.¡± ¡°Seriously? Five days and not seven? Oh thank God, that¡¯s a load off my back. I didn¡¯t think I would have enough to make it through those extra days.¡± Nodding to the kobold, I inhaled my rations and headed to a bunk. ¡°Logout.¡± Chapter 9 Logged in to Kobold Warrens Issues chatroom as Admin_Em. Current occupants: Steele_Tim, WarriorPrincess, StarGazer, TinyDon, DocWho, Paul_Revered, and TheUnrustable. Steele_Tim: The games cheating I tell you. There¡¯s no way that a party like mine would totally wipe in a level one dungeon. WarriorPrincess: It can¡¯t be cheating, there¡¯s no way to cheat this game. Steele_Tim: Well someone found a way to hack it or something. Paul_Revered: I bet it¡¯s just a resourceful player. Ask TheUnrustable about his glory hole. TheUnrustable: IT WASN¡¯T A GLORY HOLE! TinyDon: Well, I gotta ask after a reaction like that. What were you sticking in the glory hole Unrustable? TheUnrustable: Look, the note said to look up and wisdom would rain down from above. StarGazer: You trusted a note in a dungeon? Seriously? TheUnrustable: I was looking for a bonus stat or something. It can happen! StarGazer: So what really happened? TheUnrustable: I stuck my head in and took a hammer to the face. Broke my neck, instant death. TinyDon: Oh that is fracking glorious! Bet you won¡¯t be using the glory hole anytime in the future. Steele_Tim: I can see why idiots like you would get slaughtered, but we were still cheated. WarriorPrincess: So how were you cheated Tim? Steele_Tim: Some sort of high level undead is in that tunnel. There is no light, and we got slaughtered by a barrage of bluish white fireballs. WarriorPrincess: So how is that cheating? It sounds like you died the same way my group did. You still haven¡¯t proven that it was a high level creature Steele_Tim: It got you too? See! It has to be cheating! Admin_Em: Steele_Tim, I have reviewed the logs for your cheating complaint. There were no actions that broke any game rules. All attacks were made with materials and skills available in the dungeon, utilized in a unique way. As such, your ticket has been closed. Steele_Tim: BULLSHIT! THEY HAD TO BE CHEATING! The second time I died I didn¡¯t even see what hit me! DocWho: Wait, the second time? You went back and got one shot? That¡¯s awesome Steele_Tim: NO IT ISN¡¯T! IT¡¯S CHEATING! I HAD THE BEST WARRIOR GEAR AVAILABLE! Admin_Em: Again I will reiterate: There was no cheating. You were killed in a unique manner, but that does not necessarily constitute cheating. This is your first warning, further insistence of labeling this cheating may lead to banning from the chat boards. TinyDon: Can you check your game logs? Maybe there¡¯s a clue there *snickers* Steele_Tim: One second. DocWho: TinyDon is evil. Didn¡¯t your mom ever teach you not to poke the bear? Steele_Tim: SERIOUSLY?! Steele_Tim: This is ridiculous. Quoting from the damage logs. Steele_Tim: Unknown hits you for 25 damage (unknown). Unknown hits you for 32 damage (unknown). Critical hit! Unknown hits you for 110 damage (unknown). You have died. Steele_Tim: Why is everything unknown? TinyDon: Did you see what hit you? Steele_Tim: No, it was just a blue flame thingy. TinyDon: There you go. If you don¡¯t know what hit you and you don¡¯t know what it hit you with, you get unknowns. Steele_Tim: Damnit! Paul_Revered: So what¡¯s the logs for how you died the second time? Steele_Tim: Critical hit! Unknown hits you for 750 damage (unknown). You have died. Steele_Tim: See? This has to be cheating! Nothing hits for 750 damage in a level one dungeon! Admin_Em: All actions were within normal gameplay rules. You were warned, and now you have a one week ban from the chat boards. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. *Steele_Tim has left the chat* Admin_Em: I will be monitoring this chat for the future, but it seems that the instigator has been taken care of. Enjoy your gameplay and for any errors or bugs you come across, please send a support ticket in. Thank you. *Admin_Em has left the chat* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily rubbed her eyes in annoyance. That arrogant little shit, it actually felt pretty good banning him for a week. Even if she would have to do a bit more paperwork. Might as well get started she thought. Mike, I had an issue with a player in the chat boards. He had previously opened a ticket, accusing Marty of cheating. I reviewed all the data available, and there was nothing to support his accusations. I closed the ticket and informed him of the resolution, he insisted on repeated accusations of cheating even when warned. I put an initial ban of a week on his account for the chat boards. Per protocol, I have the transcripts saved and attached for secondary review. On a personal note, you will want to save some of this footage for your montage with Frank. Some of the stuff he pulls is just genius. Thanks, Emily Now that that bit of unpleasantness was taken care of, Emily needed to fill out the forms for Marty¡¯s second bug. She didn¡¯t know if he was lucky or just good, but either way he had results and that was what mattered. Though a minor bug, it would be annoying if things like that kept happening, cluttering up dungeons. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty was ecstatic as he strolled into Caf¨¦ Oblivion. He had a phenomenal day at the Kobold Warrens, he wasn¡¯t even sure how many kills he got. He was also the first one to arrive, so he grabbed the same table as yesterday and sat facing the entrance and ordered a Jack and Coke. Taking a sip of his drink, he smiled as he relaxed in his chair and closed his eyes. ¡°Yo Marty! How goes life in the Kobold Warrens?¡± Jon yelled across the caf¨¦ as he entered with the others. ¡°Not too bad, not too bad. First though, to Phoebe!¡± Marty replied, lifting his glass in salute. ¡°Thanks to your tutoring, I got over 15 kills today!¡± ¡°No shit!¡± Derrick exclaimed, apparently in a much better mood than yesterday. ¡°Here I thought I was going to be the winner with 7 kills.¡± ¡°Seven kills? That¡¯s awesome!¡± ¡°Yeah, turns out that mages have a hard time dodging the headless body of their tank as it is thrown at them. Completely lose track of the guy who did the throwing, and then. . . SQUASH!¡± Derrick was chuckling evilly as he described his exploits. ¡°Ha! That¡¯s great man. What¡¯re we having to celebrate?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just sticking with soda tonight, no need for useless alcohol.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re all proud of you for that. I, however, will have a glass of wine.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Guiness for myself¡± Jon added. ¡°I got a few kills myself, or at least my horde did. Thanks for the idea of hamstringing them Marty, it worked wonders. I even got a few slashes to the back of the hand and left them flailing about with no weapon.¡± ¡°What about you Phoebe?¡± ¡°As disgusting as it sounds, biting people in the back of the neck and a few jerks of the head can often snap a neck. Other than that, I usually bit down on the weapon arm and held on for dear life. It only worked part of the time, as I was often first targeted by the mages in the group when I did that.¡± ¡°What about you Marty? What got you so excited?¡± Jon was wondering. ¡°Well, first off I made some magical hand grenades thanks to Phoebe here.¡± ¡°How the hell did what I teach you become a magical hand grenade? That¡¯s just madness!¡± ¡°Seriously! I carved out a few baseball sized chunks of granite and filled them with mana. Then I overcharged ¡®em a bit and threw ¡®em at the party. Of course, I took out all the torches first so they couldn¡¯t see anything but the small glowing rock that was coming their way. Half of them tried to whack it the first time.¡± ¡°I wonder what went through their heads when the thing blew hahahaha!¡± Phoebe was chuckling along with me. She obviously knew what happened whed you overcharged an object with mana. ¡°Speaking of what went through their heads, I think I¡¯m gonna have an issue with someone. I¡¯ve killed him twice so far, and he seems to be rather upset about this fact.¡± ¡°And by killed you mean¡­.¡± ¡°Total party wipe. There might have been some taunting the first time.¡± ¡°Of course there was. You¡¯re just like Derrick in that respect. So what¡¯s his name and what did he do?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Well, his character is Steele, and he thinks he is a great warrior leader. His plans are mediocre and he is incredibly headstrong.¡± ¡°Steele? Spelled with an E at the end? I know that lil¡¯ bastard.¡± Derrick interrupted vehemently. ¡°He is guildmaster of what he calls the ¡®Steele Legion,¡¯ a mediocre clan of about 40 or 50 characters. The only reason they are as good as they are is because he gets hand me downs from his older brother. He is one of the leaders of the Screaming Eagles. They are one of the higher guilds out there, and Rycran is allowed to rush his brother¡¯s guild through some of their dungeons.¡± ¡°So let me guess, this reinforces his sense of entitlement and rapidly inflates his ego.¡± ¡°Got it in one. If you do nothing else for the next several days, please make sure he never kills you.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, he won¡¯t be able to get me. Besides, he volunteered to be the test subject for my newest weapon, one I think Phoebe will be very interested in.¡± Taking a sip from her glass, Phoebe raised an eyebrow at me to get me to continue. ¡°OK, so you know about the baseball sized rocks, they hold 25 mana each. Tell me Phoebe, how much damage could a rock the size of a basketball do when overcharged with 350 mana?¡± She stared at me. Long enough that it was starting to get uncomfortable. ¡°Basketball sized? What was the base mana?¡± ¡°Maximum mana was 300. I dumped in 50 extra and threw it right behind him.¡± ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA!¡± She cackled maniacally. ¡°Oh god, that¡¯s fantastic! Even without shrapnel, you can basically guess at 1 damage per point of mana. You probably got him with a crit as well since it was from behind, I don¡¯t care who you are at low levels they are dead. Even a level 5 warrior who dumped everything into constitution wouldn¡¯t live through that.¡± ¡°Excellent! I am going to use that on him almost every time. He¡¯s also going to get some of my newer traps. I¡¯m going to enjoy making him miserable.¡± We ended up joking and telling war stories for the next few hours, before we all wound down and decided to head to bed. Chapter 10 I woke the next day excited for how it would turn out. Before I logged in though, I made a sausage and cheese omelet. Something simple just sounded right for my second to last day in the dungeon. I cleaned up the kitchen and headed straight to the Oblivion door. Sitting up in my bunk, I looked over to find Khaliss. By now I figured he was more or less in charge, and I wanted to see if he would offer any more quests. ¡°Good morning Khaliss, how are we looking for today?¡± ¡°Good morning Angus. The Gods are letting us hear whispers of the difficulty of our dungeon, and how the adventurers are unable to conquer us. This is excellent news for us, we will get great rewards back in the city.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear this. Perhaps we shall get a group of adventurers that isn¡¯t. . . lacking.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t approve of any of the adventurers so far?¡± ¡°No, there was one group led by a warrior named Zena. She listened to her group, planned accordingly, and did the best they could. They were just outmatched. Of all the adventurers, I think she would be the best.¡± Khaliss merely nodded and walked on. I headed over to the rations area and ate until my character was full, then headed out to the trap I had been building yesterday. The first thing I did was whittle down the bench area so that it was a bar connecting the pillar that was still standing. I left the pillar wide at the base, but cut it down up top so that it was just a straight column about a foot in diameter. I tunneled through the ceiling below the arm that was the bench, and also around the head of my trap hammer so the only thing holding it up was the column I left earlier. I went down to the other end, and carved an axle so that it could rotate. Right now the head of the hammer would swing down and cover the middle 2/3 of the hallway and hit anything from knees to chest. I had no doubt that it would be absolutely devastating, even though it would only be a one use trap. I spent the majority of the rest of the time connecting tunnels through the ceiling, and then started on one final trap. I started with a column nearly ten feet in diameter, and let it go from the ceiling to about my waist. I cut a small ring around the outside of it so that it was merely hanging from above, and slowly whittled down the column until it was barely able to support the nearly ton of rock that would hang above the adventurer¡¯s heads. I was only planning to use this if Steele broke down and figured out a way to cheat the system. I also made one more of the massive basketball sized stones and filled it with mana, then headed to the giant hammer before the start of the day.
Invaders have entered the dungeon
¡°OK guys, let¡¯s get this damn undead taken care of. We will head straight to his hallway and tear him a new one. Nobody messes with the Steele Legion!¡± Well well well, it looks like my good buddy Steele decided they were going to be the first ones through. I guess I get to use my hammer sooner than I thought. I looked through the hole in the ceiling underneath the arm of the hammer, and saw a group of five making their way down the hall, Steele in the lead. I guess this time he went with four warriors and a healer, with the healer in the middle of a diamond formation. I let them get into the area where my hammer would do the most damage, and tossed a pebble down the hall behind them. ¡°What the Hell?¡± Everyone turned at Steele¡¯s exclamation, and I slashed through the support column letting the hammer go. The results were spectacular! All five of the party was pulped, the forces literally ripping their bodies to shreds. I just stood there wide eyed, until a new popup filled my vision.
All intruders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear.
HA, HA, HAHAHAHAHAHA! That had to be the fastest defeat in the history of dungeon diving! Oh, this was fantastic! I decided that I needed to both memorialize this and needle Steele just a bit. I headed down to where the hammer came to rest, and off to the side I wrote a small ode to the ill-fated party. Here lies the remains of the Steele Legion, Who came to kill kobolds out of season. The leader a sap, Fell into the trap, Now all that remains Are the bloodstains. I didn¡¯t really care how petty it was, it was sure to infuriate someone as egotistical as Steele, and that would lead to mistakes. Looking things over, I really wanted to use that hammer again. I cut out a long stone pole, and went and to Khaliss and Shrik. ¡°Hey guys, think you can help me out with something really quick?¡± ¡°Perhaps, let¡¯s go see. We have the time¡± Khaliss responded. We made the quick trip to the hanging hammer, and both stopped at the odd trap. ¡°Angus, what is that and where did it come from?¡± ¡°That is what I need help with Khaliss. I carved it out of the ceiling, and it swings around. What I need is your help pushing it back up into the ceiling so that I can reset the trap.¡± ¡°Yes, but how did you set it off the first time?¡± ¡°Manually, but I think I have a way to make it a proper trap. First I¡¯m going to carve a small notch in the floor here for this pole to rest in. The pole is going to hold the hammer in the ceiling, and hopefully there will be an adventurer that isn¡¯t paying enough attention and breaks the pole, releasing the hammer.¡± ¡°Hmmm, that will work, but it might help if you notched the pole after it was set up so that it is a little weaker.¡± Shrik pointed out. ¡°Great idea Shrik, now let¡¯s see if we can pull it off.¡± Working together, we started the arduous process of resetting the hammer. After much swearing, and a good bit of muscling it around, we managed to get everything seated properly. I had to cut a notch in the hammer to make sure the pillar held, but it was fairly shallow so that an unsuspecting adventurer might knock it out of alignment. Just to tempt fate, I decided to leave a message to adventurers. With the final fifteen minutes, I cut out a stone sign and placed it next to the pillar. ¡°Danger, do not strike the pillar.¡± Heh, yeah. Don¡¯t press the big red button adventurers. I spent the scant few minutes I had left sitting in the ceiling resting by my hammer.
Invaders have entered the dungeon
Only three this time, and Steele wasn¡¯t among them. He was probably trying to figure out how his party managed to wipe only 50 feet or so into a level one dungeon. ¡°HA! Hey guys, look at this. Someone wrote an ode to those Legion dicks, I guess they didn¡¯t make it very far this time.¡± The rogue who was in the lead said as he laughed at my present for Steele. He was standing right next to the wall, and that was the only thing that saved him. ¡°I don¡¯t remember a pillar being here before, or a sign saying not to hit it¡± The party¡¯s warrior said. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what happens.¡± ¡°NO DON¡¯T!¡± ¡°[Shield Bash]¡± With a clang, the pillar shattered and the hammer swung down and obliterated the mage and warrior. ¡°Whoah¡± the rogue whistled as he beheld the carnage. ¡°No wonder the Steele Legion didn¡¯t make it too far, that trap is fantastic.¡± I was rather glad he saw it and was impressed. It was my favorite trap so far, and it was definitely lethal. While he was admiring it, I crawled down and waited in one of my hidden niches. As he walked past, I lashed out with a hammer and caught him in the knee. The surprise strike took out his mobility, and after exchanging a few blows his life ended.
All intruders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear.
Well, that was a fantastic start to day 4. Two groups down with very little danger to anyone in the dungeon. Khaliss and Shrik helped me to reset my hammer again, and I decided that I really needed to identify it, just to see what kind of damage it did.
Swinging giant granite hammer trap This ingenious trap is crafted entirely from granite, making it incredibly heavy. Gravity gives it a fantastic speed boost, and the impact force is tremendous. It would be best to avoid this if at all possible. Damage: 3000-4000 Durability: 19,982/20,000
That damage was absolutely insane! When you leveled, you got five attribute points to spend. For each point put into constitution, you would get 10 health. If a warrior put all of those points into constitution for every level, he could have a maximum of 300 health before entering this dungeon. It wouldn¡¯t matter if you had a glancing blow or they managed to try and block it, that hammer was going to kill whatever it touched. Finding myself with a lot of time to kill, I decided first to reset the trap, then go and replace all the torches in my hall of darkness. I wasn¡¯t going to use the undead hall, at least not for this next trip through the dungeon. I did head back to the main entryway so that I could be ready in case Steele showed up again.
Invaders have entered the dungeon
This time it was only a pair of adventurers, one warrior and one rogue. Oh, the fools must be underestimating me. I headed back to one of my halls with a bunch of writing on the walls, and waited in my hidden room behind the drawing of the man with the third eye. I really hoped that they would also be seeking additional attribute points. I pulled out my starter spear and settled in for a long wait. Waiting for them to reach me was incredibly boring, but about a half hour later I heard them traipsing down the hall. ¡°Wait a second Governator, look at the floor. This is probably trapped six ways from Sunday.¡± ¡°Ridiculous Peeking, this is a level one dungeon. There aren¡¯t any traps here.¡± ¡°Give me just a second. [Detect trap]. You know what? You are obviously right. Don¡¯t trust the rogue with the trap detecting skill. Tell you what, just step on that large X over there.¡± ¡°AAAH! DAMNIT PEEKING, THAT WAS A TRAP!¡± ¡°Of course it was you idiot, maybe next time you will listen to the ROGUE WITH THE TRAP DETECTING SKILL! Serious, this is probably one of the dungeons with a player in it, and the first thing I would do in their shoes would be to start laying traps for unsuspecting adventurers like yourself.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Great, now I have a hole in my foot and limited mobility for the next hour. Remember that when you start complaining about how long this is taking.¡± ¡°Just follow me down the hallway, I won¡¯t let you get any more traps.¡± I had to admire the rogue, he taught that warrior a very valuable lesson. ¡°Hey, Peeking, what about that picture over there. Is it a trap?¡± ¡°Let me see, [Detect trap]. Nope, looks clear.¡± Looks like I might get a use out of this after all. I heard scraping as the warrior limped over, and I was looking out around my spearhead to see when he put his eye up to the hole. As soon as he did, I thrust my spear through stabbing him in the eye, and gave it a vicious twirl inside his head before bringing it back. I heard a dull clunk as he fell over in death. ¡°What the? Damn, it must be a higher level trap than what my skill can detect. Maybe I can disassemble it and get some parts.¡± Seriously? Oh this is too good to be true! He doesn¡¯t realize that this isn¡¯t a trap, but a player behind a wall. I let the rogue get close and start poking around with some lock picks, before I altered the angle of the spear and stabbed him in the face as well. A twist of the spearhead for good measure and another player was sent to respawn.
All intruders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear.
I went and replaced the broken trap plate, then headed over and redid my tunnel of darkness. I think the next group would get to experience the unknown undead monster. After arranging it to my satisfaction, I noticed the expired torch that I couldn¡¯t pick up due to a bug. I bent over to give it a shot, and was easily able to pick it up. Unfortunately, it wouldn¡¯t go into my inventory, as the system still wasn¡¯t recognizing it as a torch and thus wouldn¡¯t let it stack with the others. I went over and picked up a new torch, and it would stack with the others just fine. I replaced the one on the wall with the one that wouldn¡¯t stack, and fired off another mail to Emily. Emily, I tried picking up the torch from yesterday¡¯s bug report. The good news is that I was able to. Sadly, it won¡¯t stack in my inventory with the other torches. I checked with a torch that was on the wall, and was able to add it to the stack of other torches in my inventory with no issues. Thanks, Marty With that taken care of, I headed back to my hammer alcove. With no real plans for the day, that forty five minutes was really boring. I spent about half of it just making spheres before even that got too much for me. I needed something to do, and I had no materials to work with. I cut out a decently large chunk of stone and stared at it for a bit. At first I had some grand plans to start carving it, but I had no idea what to make. I really wasn¡¯t an artsy type of person to begin with. I was much more comfortable in a kitchen. Sadly, granite wasn¡¯t the best for making kitchenware.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
¡°I don¡¯t care what they say, someone is in this dungeon and they are cheating. Everyone who dies in here with me under unusual circumstances will fill out a support ticket and will also post things on the message boards, understood?¡± ¡°Look Steele, I know you are upset. I would be too if I died so many times in a level one dungeon, but this is getting out of hand. Look at yourself, if you keep this up you are going to drive the newbies away from the guild and get them banned from the message boards just like you did.¡± ¡°Shove it, Grimlet. I only asked you along this time because I need your racial ability. That stone pillar up there is where I died last time, though the pillar is new. Arctus said he saw something swing from the ceiling, but he only caught a glimpse out of his eye. I¡¯m betting the pillar has something to do with it, and you¡¯ll help me figure this all out.¡± As I looked down on the two characters conversing, I saw one was a dwarf. If he was going to use his racial ability he needed to be at least level five, so that explained why Steele was rather short on lackeys. I reached over and picked up one of the uncharged spheres, it would work perfectly to foil Steele¡¯s plan. The dwarf racial ability was called [Roots of the Mountain], and it was an exceptional ability for tank type fighters. As long as they didn¡¯t move, the next attack would not be able to trigger any knockback effects. In fact, it was known to stop massive objects right in their tracks, and that was what Steele was looking to do to get around my trap. I watched as they set up, with the dwarf right in front of the pillar as Steele was beside it. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°Yeah. [Roots of the Mountain]¡± Grimlet spoke, and a golden glow grew from his feet, climbing up his body like a living network of vines. In under a second, the dwarf was completely enveloped and his ability fully activated. I cocked my arm back ready to throw, and as soon as Steele started his skill I let my rock fly towards the dwarf¡¯s shield. ¡°[Shield bash]!¡± ¡°NO WAIT!¡± Too late the dwarf cried. Steele¡¯s shield shattered the pillar a fraction of a second before the dull clang of the rock hitting Grimlet¡¯s shield. The rock had no knockback effect, but it didn¡¯t matter as the skill only worked on one attack. I locked eyes and smiled at Grimlet as he saw his impending doom. The hammer swung down and obliterated both warriors.
All intruders defeated. Forty five minutes until a new wave of adventurers may appear.
Poor Steele, he never learns. Oh well, not my problem. The first thing I had to do was get Khaliss and Shrik to help me reset this trap again. I went back up into my alcove and rested for a bit. I killed quite a bit of time trying to make a miniature kobold statue, but all of them just came out as lifeless bits. Of course, the first twenty or so ended up crumbling in my hands as I shaved off too much stone in certain areas. Something was wrong though. I checked the time, and I had been carving for over two and a half hours at this point. This drop in challengers was concerning, and I had no doubt it had something to do with Steele. Of course, as soon as I thought of this, Steele showed up in the dungeon but was oddly all by himself. ¡°I know you are nearby you little bastard, and this is where I finally get my revenge. DO YOU HEAR ME?!¡± Well, that didn¡¯t bode well, he obviously had some sort of cheating plan. ¡°Excellent, party added. [Guild teleport], target Steele Legion Guildmaster!¡± As soon as he finished his sentence, there was a flash of golden light and a new character that filled me with dread appeared. It was a dwarf paladin with high level armor. It was obviously a matching set, white silver with a golden trim. His shield was a golden lion rampant. By his gear alone, this guy had to be in the upper 60s for a level. I was so screwed. ¡°Seriously Steele? A level one dungeon?¡± ¡°Look Rycran, the player in here is cheating somehow and I need you to figure it out. Seriously, he¡¯s gotten me several times. Plus, we will be the first to conquer one of the champion dungeons, there¡¯s gotta be a title or achievement for that somewhere.¡± ¡°Fine, but this is the last time you waste my time like this. I¡¯ve got a lot more going on with my guild than you think, and this is a very bad time. So, that pillar there is where you died the last few times? Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll stop the trap, just make sure you are behind me.¡± As soon as he passed the pillar, he took a defensive stance and said, ¡°[Roots of the Mountain].¡± The golden light covered him much faster than the previous dwarf, and I readied myself for a replay of what happened last time. As soon as Steele started his [Shield bash], I had thrown a rock at Rycran. He waited for the rock to take out his skill, then called out, ¡°[Golden Aegis].¡± My blood went cold, as that was a level 75 paladin skill that reduced incoming damage by 90% for 15 seconds, and prevented any knockback effects from taking place. A golden replica of his shield appeared in front of him and absorbed the shock from the hammer, eliciting a minor grunt from the dwarf. ¡°Not bad. That hit me for almost a hundred HP (hit points). I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the devs added a trap like this in some of the higher tier dungeons.¡± As he walked around my ineffective hammer, I scampered back to the ceiling alcove in the darkened hallway. Before they could get there, I fired off a frantic email to Emily. Emily! Emergency! Somehow there is a level 75+ character in the dungeon as we speak. His character is Rycran, and he teleported in using [Guild teleport] to lock on to character Steele. In my panic, I forgot to sign my email. I had no idea whether my final trap would be enough to take out Rycran, as the system added massive penalties for trying to fight characters that were much higher level than you were. You would only do a fraction of the damage, your critical chance would plummet, and the enemy would gain a massive boost to their own damage. The general rule of thumb was that five levels had no effect, 5-10 levels would be extremely tough but possible, 10-20 levels was entering one in a million territory, and anything beyond 20 levels was impossible. In fact, the Scholars guild set up a battle between a level 55 mage and a level 35 warrior. The mage stood there and let the warrior hit him as much as he wanted, no skills were banned. No matter what that warrior tried, he couldn¡¯t overcome the mage¡¯s health regeneration. ¡°Here we are, the hall of darkness. Now, let¡¯s see what we have going on here. [Detect Undead].¡± Crap, crap, crap they were here and Emily hasn¡¯t gotten back to me yet. Well, they now know that there are no undead in this hallway, as a paladin Rycran would be well suited to not only battle them but also detect any hiding spots. ¡°I told you Steele, there are no undead here. I guarantee that I¡¯m strong enough to detect anything that might be hiding, and there¡¯s nothing showing up on my skill. Let¡¯s go home.¡± ¡°NO! Wait, just head down the hallway for me? Please?¡± ¡°Fine, but there¡¯s nothing down here.¡± Nothing to do now but trust in my trap. That and the fact that he has already used his two powerful damage reducing skills, and they had a day for a cooldown timer. I watched as he strolled down the hall, switching from looking right and left every few steps. He didn¡¯t bother with a torch, as dwarfs also had the racial ability darkvision. I was sitting on the top portion of my trap right next to the support column, as I didn¡¯t trust myself to have the reach to cut all the way through it from the side. As soon as I lost sight of the dwarf underneath the trap, I gave a second and a half count then slashed through the support column and squeezed my eyes shut. I plummeted down with the stone, and lost almost a quarter of my life from the slamming stop at the end. Stone dust billowed out and upward, but the noise from slamming into the ground precluded me from hearing whether or not I managed to squish Rycran underneath. ¡°No, no no no NO NONONONONOOOOOOOO!¡± The wailing was coming from Steele, although I couldn¡¯t see him through the dust that was still hanging in the air. I stood up and started walking towards him, stopping when I was about ten feet away. He was obviously in shock, face pale as he stared at where his brother used to be. His mouth was moving up and down, but nothing was coming out. This bastard, he couldn¡¯t just accept that he was bested by a dungeon, could he? He had to cheat, go running to his big brother. Well, I had enough of this. I pulled out the basketball sized sphere, holding it in front of my chest so that I would be partially lit by its glow. ¡°Steeeeeeelllllleeee, sooooooon steeeeeeeellleeee, a few more deathssssss and you will join ussssss!¡± I hissed as I overcharged the stone with every bit of mana I had. Frozen in terror, Steele could only shake his hands impotently as I launched the stone right at his chest. The resulting explosion knocked me backwards and my world went white. My health bar was an angrily flashing red sliver, my mana bar was equally flashing blue, and my stamina was slightly better off but still down to about 10%. Several status effects were scrolling across my field of vision. First was a closed eye with an X on it, letting me know I was blinded for the next three minutes. I tried switching to darkvision and got a new error message.
You are blinded! You have been blinded by an intense flash of light. Due to these circumstances, your eyes have been damaged until you can heal yourself either through natural regeneration or yourself or an ally casting a major healing spell on yourself. Vision impaired: 2 min 45 sec Darkvision impaired: 5 min 30 sec
Well, that sucked. The next icon was an ear with an X through it, that explained the high pitched wine I was hearing. Damn, being shell-shocked sucks. The hearing would take another three and a half minutes. The next icon was a red exclamation point, and I had to try a lot harder to focus on it and see what it meant.
Silenced! An explosion caused you to bite through your tongue. As such, you are unable to make coherent sounds for the duration. Spells and party chat options have been disabled until you are healed. Duration: 5 min 12 sec
Damn, that was annoying. The last icon was a head with stars orbiting it. This should be good.
Dazed! You have been dazed by an explosion. You are unable to move, use skills, cast spells, or check notifications. There are no spells or potions that can fix this status. Duration: 2 min
Well, I guess that flashing blue cross icon in the corner for my notifications will just have to wait for a bit. I tried to move my arms, but all I could do was wiggle my extremities for a bit. Thankfully the dazed status was very rare to come across in gameplay, as it could be absolutely devastating. Imagine you are in a battle where you can¡¯t move for two minutes. Every attack from the enemy would be a critical hit, and you would die rather swiftly.
All intruders eliminated. Insufficient time remaining for dungeon reset, day finished.
Well, at least I got them. As I was heading towards the barracks, I got a chime of an incoming email. Marty, Sorry for taking so long, but I was ordered by my boss to let it play out. We do have an emergency meeting, so please hurry and logout. You will be transported to an admin area, where we have Steele, Rycran, my own avatar and my boss¡¯ avatar. He will be leading it as he is impartial, and you will be in avatar form but your name will be blocked. Regards, Emily Well, I guess this will be handled rather swiftly. As I entered, I pulled Khaliss aside. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve got an issue. I¡¯ve been summoned to deal with the Heralds of the Gods.¡± ¡°Then why are you wasting time talking to me? Eat and go!¡± That simplified things a lot. I shoved a ration down my throat, swallowed, and laid down to logout. Chapter 11 I was in a white room with a courtroom setup. On one side was Rycran and Steele, and an empty table across the aisle for them was obviously for me. A white robed figure with gold trim was seated in the judge¡¯s seat, and slightly lower was another robed figure with silver and gold trim. ¡°Please be seated. As these two have not seen your avatar name, for these proceedings you shall be referred to as Kobold. Is that acceptable?¡± The judge had an artificially deep voice, obviously meant to highlight his importance. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± ¡°Good. Now, Steele here has on several occasions accused him of cheating.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cuz he¡¯s a dirty cheater!¡± ¡°SILENCE! I¡¯m placing a gag on you right now, you will only speak to answer questions.¡± The judges voiced boomed during this part, as if he were a God calling down divine wrath upon blasphemers. His gavel boomed in finality, and though Steele¡¯s mouth was frantically moving, no sound would come out. ¡°Better. Now, previous accusations have all been deemed without merit, and we won¡¯t be going through those again. We will also not take any action against the Steele Legion for taking control of the dungeon entrance. Though this is frowned upon, we leave it up to people in game to rectify any issues of this nature. Instead we shall watch this current incident to determine possible violations and punishment.¡± A screen appeared to our left, and we watched as Steele entered the dungeon and started ranting. Soon Rycran transported right next to him, and the judge paused the video. ¡°So, Rycran. You are a level 78 dwarf paladin, yet the dungeon settings explicitly prohibit teams with a combined level higher than ten from entering. Explain how you managed this.¡± ¡°Steele sent me a party invite before he entered the dungeon. After he entered, I accepted and he used a guild teleporter to transfer me to his location.¡± ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how you did it. Impressive. While this is technically a violation of the dungeon rules, it was done in a way that merely exploited a loophole in the dungeon programming and no manipulation of the game code. As such, I hereby rule that this is not cheating. For finding a major bug in the code, we shall award the normal finder¡¯s fee. Steele and Rycran shall both be credited with $300, either to be used by their in game accounts or able to be withdrawn without penalty. Kobold shall have his account annotated with finding of a major bug, and this shall be patched immediately.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Rycran replied. ¡°Now, let us continue watching.¡± The view switched to Rycran¡¯s view as he moved through the dungeon. I saw myself in the edges of his darkvision, but he still seemed confused as the video played. ¡°Excuse me your honor, could you explain where that rock came from? Even knowing it is coming, I still couldn¡¯t determine it. I just want verification that there was no cheating.¡± ¡°I object! Your honor, showing him will reveal my strategy that has worked extremely well for me and will put me at a serious disadvantage in the future. I still have one more day in this dungeon.¡± Nodding along at my explanation, the judge said, ¡°You bring up a good point. I will leave Rycran with a choice. First choice, there is no explanation. Second, you get an explanation, but both you and Steele will be bound to not disclose this information to any outside parties. What do you choose?¡± Looking at his brother obviously holding up two fingers, Rycran nodded. ¡°We choose the second option, your honor.¡± ¡°Very well. Look at the top portion of the screen. Kobold was hiding in tunnels he created in the ceiling.¡± We watched again as the rock came arching out and removed the first skill of Rycran. He just smiled. Turning to me, he gave me a nod of his head and said, ¡°Brilliant. Everyone forgets to look up, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Yep. Only in the spider dungeons do people look up.¡± The viewpoint increased speed until we came to the dark tunnel. It was interesting watching from a view where people used skills I had never seen before. [Detect undead] sent a green wave pulsing out from the paladin¡¯s hand. Portions of it clung to the walls, sparkling like green lights floating in the air. You could tell that there was a wall there, but that the pulse went beyond the wall as well. I wonder what color would show up when it connected with an undead? Soon enough a blue screen informed everyone that Rycran was dead. ¡°OK, I still have no idea how a level one kobold managed to kill me.¡± ¡°Can we switch to my point of view your honor? Starting from when Rycran started walking down the hall.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± The viewpoint switched, and we saw me walking up to a massive rock plug. ¡°I dropped that on your head. The swinging hammer trap wasn¡¯t my only ceiling trap, and this one I had to activate myself.¡± I explained as we watched Rycran walk down the hallway. A flash and everything was falling, to be surrounded by dust. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t complain about that. I doubt that anyone could survive that much rock falling on their head.¡± ¡°Before we go on, could I make a request your honor?¡± ¡°Go on, we might not honor it.¡± ¡°Understood. Could you remove that trap? Make it so that it never existed. I was never going to use it on any adventurers of the proper level, and it¡¯s doubtful that someone else is going to find a completely different way to smuggle in a high level character.¡± ¡°If we do this, the system will destroy any attempts to recreate this trap.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. I only have one more day there anyway, and I¡¯m going to keep pushing the undead kobold theory.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. All this time, Steele was frantically gesturing at his mouth. Finally, the judge decided to relent, but not before a stern warning. ¡°No disparaging Kobold, understood?¡± Nodding, the judge gave a slight bang on his gavel and Steele was able to speak. ¡°What was it that he used to kill me? I¡¯ve seen that blue glow before, but it wasn¡¯t nearly that large.¡± ¡°I remind you, you will be unable to speak about this after the hearing. Here we go.¡± The movie resumed, and when my view was tinged bluish white from below, it paused as the item description appeared off to the side. ¡°You made a granite sphere big enough to hold 350 mana?¡± Rycran was stunned. ¡°That is insane! Who knew we could add mana to plain rocks? I thought they had to be mana stones!¡± ¡°It is a really terrible return though. A baseball sized rock can only hold 25 mana. I¡¯m sure a mana stone of the same size could hold ten times that amount.¡± ¡°True, but still it could work in a pinch.¡± ¡°Ahem, if there are no further questions?¡± the judge interrupted. ¡°Sorry your honor, got distracted for just a bit. Can I be informed as to what I lost as equipment?¡± Rycran asked, and with good reason. After level ten, you lost experience with every death. In the case of a death caused by another player, you had a chance to lose some of your equipment. ¡°Sorry, I am not able to discuss that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll find out eventually. Steele has no questions either.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine on questions as well, your honor.¡± ¡°Excellent. As everyone can see, there was no cheating on either side. One last time I remind everyone that battle strategies employed by Kobold are not to be discussed with anyone, and I will also warn that there will be sanctions for anyone reporting cheating from this incident. You both are also banned from entering the Kobold Warrens for the next 48 hours. This last bit is for you, Steele. You have shown a propensity to abuse the report ticket system. I will personally be reviewing any more tickets submitted by you and your guild, and if I should determine that they are frivolous you will be sanctioned harshly, including deletion of your avatar. Am I understood?¡± ¡°Yes, your honor.¡± ¡°Good. Now, all of you are free to exit. Farewell and enjoy your game experience.¡± With that final bit from the judge, we all headed back down the aisle and toward the exit doors. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily removed the uncomfortable headgear that allowed her to quick access her manager avatar and started massaging her neck. She needed a break, but at least she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with that snide Steele¡¯s reports ever again. Hopefully Mike put the fear of a god into him when he threatened him with avatar deletion, but she doubted it. She had never seen any pricks as self-entitled as that smug bastard ever change with a warning. Oh well, it was no longer her circus and not her monkeys. She headed to her desk to start filling out paperwork. Thankful that at least she didn¡¯t have to fill everything out in triplicate anymore, there were still an inordinate number of pages to fill out for each incidence. She had just gotten the first few pages done when there was a knock at the door. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Hey Emily, you still filling out paperwork for that Kobold Warrens incident?¡± Mike asked as he walked in. ¡°Yeah, I should be done in another 15 minutes or so.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one more thing I would like to have you fill out. Pull up form ID-10T.¡± ¡°Idiot form?¡± ¡°Heh, Frank loves little jokes like that. What it does is set up an algorithm to listen in on anyone speaking certain keywords. We have to limit it a bit, so for the next 24 hours I want anyone associated with the Steele Legion flagged if they mention kobold, ceiling, or explosion. Those should be general enough that we don¡¯t have many hits, and everything will be reviewed by two separate people in our division.¡± ¡°That¡¯s. . . a fantastic little piece of work. I¡¯m assuming this isn¡¯t the first time something like this has come up?¡± ¡°No, and I doubt it will be the last. The lawyers are happy with this because we have at least five different people working together so it can¡¯t be a railroad job. I¡¯m happy because I just know that little brat isn¡¯t going to keep his mouth shut. I¡¯ve already saved the log files and transcripts from our little trial, and look forward to nailing his ass to the wall.¡± ¡°Mike, you sound rather ticked off. I didn¡¯t realize team leaders were allowed to swear about users like that!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know the half of it. You should see what we say about all our employees at the manager¡¯s meetings!¡± ¡°Ha! As if you guys would gossip like that. OK, I¡¯ll add this form to the rest of the batch, then I¡¯m out for the day. I don¡¯t care if it is early, after all that I had to do after that kid I deserve an early day. It¡¯s just too bad that there isn¡¯t a place where I can have a cocktail and enjoy a pedicure.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about the pedicure, but I do think you deserve a bit off. Thanks for all the hard work you are doing on this project.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡± the click of the door interrupted her mid-sentence ¡°Welcome.¡± Shaking her head, she went back to her paperwork so that she could get out for the day. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty was the last to arrive at Caf¨¦ Oblivion, and flopped bonelessly into his chair. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late guys, had a cheating trial and got to deal with Steele and his brother face to face.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Jon drawled. ¡°Care to fill us in? That¡¯s an awful lot to just drop in our laps without a lot of detail.¡± ¡°Yeah, first let me get a drink. I think I¡¯ll start with a shot of 151 and have a Jack and Coke as well.¡± ¡°Damn, that is a rough day¡± Derrick commented. Slamming down his shot, Marty¡¯s face scrunched up as the liquid burned its way down his throat. He waited for a count of ten before taking a sip of his other drink, ¡°Ugh, I needed that burn. They sure got at least that part right with the drinking.¡± ¡°Exactly. Now, about that cheating trial? I¡¯ve never had one of those, what happened?¡± Derrick pressed. ¡°Eh, some corporate person acted as judge, no name and no face that we could see. Reviewed the incident from my character¡¯s point of view, and from Rycran¡¯s viewpoint. We all agreed that no cheating occurred, and Rycran and Steele are forbidden from discussing any tactics that I employed in my dungeon.¡± ¡°You know Steele is gonna break that, right? Any plans for what to do when he does?¡± ¡°I¡¯m working on something, but I¡¯m sick of talking about him. How did you guys end up today?¡± ¡°Hehehe, I got the most trollish kill possible I think. Hopefully they even give me an achievement like ¡®Spittoon¡¯ or something.¡± ¡°Spittoon? Oh this has to be good. So what¡¯d you do Derrick?¡± ¡°Ok, so there I was fighting a group with a tank, healer, and rogue. I had knocked the tank down a few times, and managed to turn and get a brushing strike against the healer, taking him into the red. The warrior panics, runs over and immediately casts his warcry to get my attention. Well the healer was busy trying to save his own hide, the rogue was off somewhere, and the tank wasn¡¯t healed. So I picked him up, bit his head off, and spit it at the healer. The flying head hit the healer hard enough to kill!¡± ¡°PFFTBWAHAHAHAHA!¡± I shot my drink out my nose from my sudden laughter. ¡°Oh god, it burns. Kleenex, my kingdom for a Kleenex!¡± Jon passed me one and got a nod in thanks in return. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m ok. Reminder, no drinking during story time. OK, so what happened to the rogue?¡± ¡°He got wide eyed and stared at me, like did that just happen? Then he turned and ran away. I¡¯m sure that story is going to be on a message board sometime tonight.¡± ¡°No doubt. Jon, Phoebe? You two are awful quiet. What happened with you guys?¡± ¡°Nothing as interesting as you guys. I dug a few pit traps around the place, but they are fairly easy to avoid. Jon? What about you?¡± ¡°Well, I thought about my daggers for a bit. Beginner equipment is indestructible, so I took a page from dear old Marty here and used them to chip out some handholds leading up to a little ledge. I¡¯ve gotten accurate enough that I can jump off with a battle cry and get both eyes of the adventurers when I come down. It makes it fairly easy to take them out when they can¡¯t see where you are.¡± We spent a few more hours just relaxing before heading towards our own homes and some much deserved rest. Chapter 12 I woke up for my final day of dungeon life and decided that breakfast just wouldn¡¯t cut it today. I didn¡¯t feel like cooking either, just something deep fried and delicious. Soon enough I had some fresh hot chicken tenders, Nashville style, with french fries and some of the cheesiest macaroni and cheese I¡¯ve ever had. I was rather excited to find that you could pick and choose what cheeses went into your dish, so I went with mozzarella, sharp cheddar, and gruyere. Oh, it was fantastic. You know you have it perfected when the cheese trails don¡¯t want to break. I overindulged, and took an hour nap before logging in to Oblivion. ¡°Good morning Khaliss, how are you today?¡± ¡°No time for that, what did the Heralds of the Gods say to you?¡± ¡°They wanted to make sure we weren¡¯t breaking the rules of this world. Nobody had, and the Heralds warned the adventurers to not do a few things and banned the two involved from entering the Warrens with us.¡± Exhaling with relief, Khaliss spoke, ¡°Good. For a while I thought we were going to be destroyed, and before you ask yes, it has happened before. Now, we only have a few hours before our day begins. Eat what you need and head out to get whatever traps you have in mind ready.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± I responded with a salute. I quickly scarfed down some rations and a drink of water, then headed to my darkened hallway. I never believed Steele when he agreed not to warn of my tactics, so I was going to prepare a surprise for whoever he sent to take me out. I started with a hole that went down to the indestructible rock, just inside where the darkness started in my hallway. I cleared it in a circle, and managed to add in seven basketball sized stones. Each got charged with 300 mana, bringing them up to full capacity. Heading down the hall where I would be, I made a sloped trench big enough for one of the smaller charged stones. I covered both with solid stone, so that you couldn¡¯t see any of the light leaking out. I rolled an uncharged stone down the ramp just to make sure that there wouldn¡¯t be any obstructions, and when I uncovered everything I saw it resting against the side of one of the larger stones in the pit. I charged that stone and kept it in a separate inventory slot to avoid mistakenly grabbing it. After my preparations, it was close enough to time that I headed over to my hammer alcove to wait for intruders.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
Well, that didn¡¯t take long. I listened to the group of four as they planned. ¡°Alright, lets smash this dungeon guys. Pyro, you are up first. Hit that stone pillar with a spell hard enough to snap it so we can disable the trap. EagleEye, check if you can spot the bastard watching us from above. Steele says he is pretty voyeuristic, so I¡¯m sure he¡¯s there. If you get a shot, take it.¡± I¡¯m glad I planned ahead for Steele to break his word. I slunk backwards slowly, then headed off to my hallway to send an email. Emily, Steele has broken his word about revealing tactics. Watch my feed from when intruders first started entering the dungeon today for proof. I don¡¯t have access to the proper forms from the game itself, but consider this a formal complaint. He is mentioned by name, they knew how to disable the hammer trap and knew that I usually watched from the ceiling. Thanks Marty Well, hopefully that is a nice setup to ruin Steele¡¯s day. You would have thought that he would be at least smart enough to be subtle, but I guess it¡¯s hard finding good lackeys these days. I heard them clomping forward, it seems they weren¡¯t going to waste any time heading to my hallway. I saw the leader pick up one of the torches, and he was flanked by two archers and a mage in back keeping a line of fire on me. None of them were races that should have darkvision, so I would be partially safe for a while. ¡°Ah, the Steele Legion I presume?¡± I asked in my gravelly, undead voice. ¡°Cut the crap Kobold, we know you aren¡¯t undead. We¡¯re here for your head and the glory of claiming the first champion dungeon with a player in it.¡± ¡°Fooooolsssss. You will all dieeee, in a blazzzzee of glory.¡± ¡°Heh, we know about your exploding spheres as well. You don¡¯t have any tricks or traps left we haven¡¯t seen.¡± I waited until he had his group centered on my trap before I acted. I pulled out two orbs and threw them without overcharging. While they were in the air, I took out the one for the tunnel, overcharged it with about 5 mana, and rolled it through the tunnel and stood back up quick enough to catch their plan for my ranged attack. ¡°[Snipe shot]¡± both archers cried in unison, as they each shot one of the orbs, which exploded on impact. ¡°You¡¯ll have to do much better than that, we can shoot your orbs down all day long. Time to admit defeat.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. See, I just have to stall you for a few more seconds.¡± ¡°Relax guys, he¡¯s bluff¡± *KABOOM* A massive explosion erupted as all seven of the stones exploded simultaneously. A geyser of bluish white flames and shattered stone consumed them instantaneously. Gravel fell from the ceiling as the entire dungeon shook with the force from the blast, and I had to shield my eyes lest I be blinded yet again. I was still seeing spots afterward, and received a new blue box for my efforts.
All invaders defeated. Due to special circumstances, please log out for an admin review.
Well, at least I got to kill four of them today. I headed back to Khaliss to let him know I needed to log out to see the Heralds again, then made my way to the barracks. ¡°Logout.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily wasn¡¯t too shocked when she got the email from Marty about Steele breaking his vow. She picked up the phone and hit a speed dial button, waiting patiently for the other party to answer. ¡°Hey Mike, got a problem that will need your intervention again. Yep, It¡¯s Marty and Steele. Yep, Steele didn¡¯t keep his word. I¡¯ve got the video evidence from Marty¡¯s stream with the party of adventurers admitting that they knew all Marty¡¯s tactics. No, they are still in the game but I¡¯m certain Marty has a new headache for the developers and another overpowered trap. Yeah, I¡¯ll forward you the video then meet you in game for the trial. Thanks, bye.¡± Emily hated having to use the headset again, but there just wasn¡¯t enough reason for all of them to keep a pod at work their occasional immersions. This was two days in a row that she was going to have to use the blasted thing, and her neck was going to be sore for days. She knew she was supposed to be impartial, but these Steele Legion bastards were going to get the hammer dropped on them. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I found myself in another courtroom, only the defendant side was much larger. It was still empty, so I wondered what was going to happen. ¡°Please enter and sit down. The others will be forcibly removed from gameplay shortly.¡± Oh, that answers that. ¡°What the?¡± ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Noooo! We almost had him!¡± ¡°We were on a raid damnit, what is going on?¡± It looks like they pulled the entire Steele Legion for some reason. ¡°SILENCE!¡± The judge used his wrath of god voice, and I swear I saw his eyes flash red and lightning spark as his gavel struck. He was pissed. ¡°Steele, step forward. Three times you before me yesterday you avowed that you would not divulge any weapons or tactics employed by Kobold in the Kobold Warrens.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± He denied. ¡°Oh really? How do you explain this?¡± On the screen, there was a round table with several high level characters all facing Steele. He spoke, ¡°OK, what I am about to say doesn¡¯t leave this room. What I¡¯m about to tell you I have been sworn to secrecy on.¡± An elf mage interrupted, ¡°Stop. Sworn to secrecy by who? And what are we risking by you breaking that vow?¡± ¡°You risk nothing and the other person is unimportant. Some level one Kobold in the champion dungeon instance of Kobold Warrens. I know all his tactics and weapons, we can finally take him out and get our rewards.¡± ¡°How much rewards can there be from a level one dungeon? Even if it is a champion dungeon?¡± a lionkin berserker asked. ¡°This dungeon hasn¡¯t been conquered. It¡¯s the first of its kind, and has been going for almost a week. I¡¯m sure there is something important in there.¡± ¡°Very well¡± the elf spoke again. ¡°Where did you get this information?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just know that it is good. The character likes to hide in the ceilings, throws mana infused stone balls that explode, and his best trap is the giant hammer in the beginning of the dungeon propped up by a thin pillar. Take out the pillar first and it is useless. Send a pair of snipers to shoot the stones before they get to the group, and have a mage blast him from a distance. Then everything else will be simple dungeon tactics.¡± The video cut out after that. ¡°Where? How did you get that? You aren¡¯t allowed to spy on players! I want to file an official complaint on this!¡± Two more judges appeared behind the original, and one of them spoke. ¡°Denied. Proper paperwork was approved to monitor you for certain keywords and the surrounding footage would be reviewed. You agreed to this process in the Terms of Service.¡± ¡°I most certainly did not! How do I know that was in there in the first place? Those are like 20 pages of legalese!¡± ¡°The fact that you didn¡¯t read or understand them doesn¡¯t matter. You agreed to the terms by playing the game, and proper procedure was followed. Our legal team is already reviewing the evidence should you wish to challenge this outside of the game.¡± With that final proclamation, both of the new judges disappeared. ¡°Now, you willfully broke my orders. This is further confirmed by video confession of the four who entered the dungeon. You were mentioned by name, and the tactics and traps were described in such a way as to leave no doubt as to your involvement.¡± ¡°Wait, it could have been Rycran setting me up!¡± At his last outburst, his entire guild gasped. Did he just throw his brother under the bus? The brother that had been helping him out for years in the game? ¡°We thought of that. Rycran¡¯s character has been logged out since the trial yesterday. He has had no chance to communicate with those who entered the dungeon. Now, with the evidence arrayed against you, how do you plead?¡± ¡°Not guilty!¡± ¡°Very well. What have you to say in your defense?¡± ¡°This is ridiculous. Anyone could have figured out his tactics, there¡¯s no way to prove that it was me. Besides, he probably just cheated again to win against our players.¡± Dark thunderclouds actually started appearing in the sky, and the white marble turned black with glowing veins of angry red. ¡°You are a fool, and have been warned in the past about fraudulent accusations of cheating.¡± ¡°Then how did he beat that group? They were perfectly suited to take out his strengths!¡± ¡°No, they were not. Suffice it to say, Kobold set up a new, ingenious trap that your group had no way to counter. I won¡¯t be showing any of you how it was done so that you can¡¯t leak word of this in the future. Now, for punishment. Steele, I find you guilty of breaking vows made to the admins. You did so in such a way as to make your entire guild complicit in your crimes. As such, your guild will be forcefully disbanded. All lands, equipment, materials, and gold owned by the guild will be confiscated by the system.¡± A chorus of denials, ¡°you can¡¯t do that!¡±, and occasional swearing greeted that proclamation. ¡°ENOUGH! I AM NOT FINISHED!¡± They immediately quieted down. ¡°Those people in the room where you planned this as well as the four that were in the dungeon will have their avatars deleted and banned from the game for a week. Those who are in the guild but were not involved in this will have no punishment other than to lose their guild. As for you Steele, I am making an example out of you. You will be permanently banned from the game.¡± Everyone was stunned. A permanent ban was brutal. He couldn¡¯t even try and start a new account on a different pod, the technology that would interact with your brain would recognize him and prevent him from trying. At least I would never again have to worry about Steele again, or the Steele Legion. ¡°You, you can¡¯t do that!¡± ¡°It¡¯s done. Forced logout in ten seconds. Goodbye Steele. As for the rest of you who have been punished, you already have one administrative action against you. Take care not to get too many more, lest you get the same fate as Steele. For those brought here only to learn that your guild is disbanded, you have my apologies. We felt that this would be the easiest way to inform you of what happened. Thank you for your time. Kobold, please wait a minute after everyone else leaves.¡± I watched the dejected group turn around and leave. I didn¡¯t think that the entire guild would be punished, but it wasn¡¯t my choice or actions that brought it around so I didn¡¯t care too much. I refrained from gloating however, as I didn¡¯t want any of them to hold a grudge. ¡°Kobold, we aren¡¯t able to verify if anyone else was made aware of your tactics and limitations. Normally we wouldn¡¯t interfere, but you had a phenomenal strategy and your traps were brilliant. So much so that the developers are working to add variations of your hammer and that last explosive trap into several of the higher level dungeons. They were also particularly intrigued by the fact that detect trap won¡¯t work on traps that are manually activated by a monster. First, we are going to approve your elevation to one of our higher tier levels of beta testers. You have more than proven yourself, and will get proper compensation of this. Second, we are going to conclude your dungeon week a day early. There won¡¯t be any more champion instances, however your fame has spread to the point where we are going to include an optional miniboss based on your play style. Congratulations.¡± ¡°Thanks sir. I appreciate it, and I¡¯m glad I can finally get out there and start playing the game.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you are, so I won¡¯t keep you any longer. Farewell.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * I found myself back in the barracks, with all the other kobolds from my floor surrounding me. As soon as I opened my eyes, everyone started cheering. When they had calmed down a bit, Khaliss spoke, ¡°Victory is ours Angus! Congrats! We get to go home a day early, and earn our just rewards. Are you prepared? For this, you will come through the portal by my side.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are Khaliss.¡± He turned and we all lined up in a double line facing the swirling blackness of the portal. Stepping through it oddly had no disconnect or vertigo, it was just like walking through any normal door. We emerged on the other side at one end of a large arena. The stands were packed with kobolds of all ages, cheering. Lining a path across the sands to where a pair of kobolds sat upon elaborate thrones were blue pennants with crossed spears inside a circle. We made our way across slowly, waving at the crowds. When we arrived at the thrones, the king spoke. ¡°Our warriors have returned once again, victorious against the forces of light! Captain Khaliss, not since the ancient warriors of old have we remained undefeated in our week with the dungeon. For your teams amazing efforts, you shall all be rewarded with the title Undefeated, and shall also receive a ring to boost your stats. Well done.¡± The king let the crowd cheer for several minutes, then turned to me. ¡°Now, we also have a warrior who has rejected the light to join us here in the Underdark. Before we have you choose a class and receive your skill and experience levels, there is one thing we must address. HEAR ME MY PEOPLE! Through exploiting loopholes left in the rules of the Gods, the forces of light managed to send a warrior into our dungeon that would be impossible to defeat. A level 78 paladin, with all his armor and skills set loose among level 5 kobolds!¡± The entire stadium erupted in hisses and boos. ¡°However! Through ingenuity and resourcefulness, Angus managed to slay the paladin! As such, I hereby elevate you. No more are you a mere kobold, you shall forevermore be counted among the elite!¡± As the stadium once again erupted in cheers, I was distracted by a blue box.
You have been elevated! Monsters have different ranks that bestow different bonuses when leveling up. Ranks increase as you move down the table. Congratulations, as this bonus will not be revoked unless you are exiled from the Underdark.
Rank Bonuses
Common monster No bonuses
Champion monster Two bonus attributes added per level, selection random
Elite monster Each attribute increased by one per two levels
Heroic monster Each attribute increased by two per level
Demigod Each attribute increased by five per levelThis text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Godly Each attribute increased by ten per level
I didn¡¯t care how I got there, someday I was going to become a Godly type monster. Just the bonus from leveling would give it the strength of a normal monster leveling several times. I only wondered if the ranks remained after evolution. The king speaking broke me from my musings. ¡°Before we go any further, you also must choose a class. Based upon your play style for the previous week, you have unlocked the following options.¡±
Welcome to the second part of the monster tutorial! In order to proceed, you will need to choose a class. Monsters are not allowed to allocate their attribute points, they will be determined by your class. You will never have your character hobbled by purposely detrimental choices, but you will also not be able to min/max your character. Below are the classes, a description of each one, and what attributes are focused on for each class.
Class (tier) Description Attributes
Warrior (common) The staple of any battlefield, warriors are the main portion of any successful army Str, Con
Archer (common) Archers prefer to rain death upon their enemies from afar, though enemies that manage to close the gap are at an advantage Dex, Agi
Mage (common) Mages are adepts at magic. Woe be unto those who underestimate their abilities and forgo magic defenses Int, Wis
Berserker (rare) Berserkers are the madmen of the battlefield. They care not for defense, and are often found with a battle axe in each hand and a manic smile on their face. Str, Con, Dex
Trapper (rare) The trapper sets traps to capture and kill the unwary. They can advance their class to beastmaster by taming wild creatures Dex, Agi, Int
Geomancer (unique) Geomancers are masters of earth magic. Though greatly weakened in other areas of magic, they aren¡¯t to be underestimated. They may call forth golems, rain spikes of hardened stone, or bury cities in landslides Int, Wis, Dex, Con
Ambusher (unique) There is no honor to be had in war, and ambushers are the epitome of this. Launching devastating attacks from unexpected directions, those enemies that are not outright killed are often maimed and easy prey. Dex, Agi, Str, Int
Avenger (unique) Avengers live to protect their comrades. Always the tip of the spear, their wrath is fearsome when unleashed should others under them fall. Str, Con, Agi, Wis
Ah, I wondered if there was more to the tutorial than what I had gone through first. Well, it looks like I need to choose a play style. The common and rare classes were out, as the higher the tier the stronger the class would end up being. It looks like I also had a choice between an advanced form of rogue, mage, or warrior. I figure that the majority of my exploits would be solo, so all the bonuses from the Avenger class would be wasted. So, mage or rogue. Geomancer looked great, and I could just imagine a geomancer general, decked out in armor carved from obsidian with his magic leading an army of golems against whoever dared to oppose him. Well, he would do that if he were outside on a sunny plain, but we were here in the, what did the king call it? The Underdark? Yeah, that sounds right. We were most likely deep within a mountain, deeper than even the dwarves dared to go. So most of the places would likely be too small for a golem to get around in. Besides, everyone wants to do the magic thing but they were always a little too squishy for my taste. If I were going to make a living playing this game, at least for the next several months, I wanted a class that would be absolutely devastating with no chance of reprisal. I made my selection and looked at the pop up.
Congratulations on becoming an Ambusher! You are now an ambusher! Striking from the shadows before your enemy even knows you are there, killing or maiming them immediately. While assassins might be silent death, they only deal with one target at a time while numbers mean nothing against your tactics. New Skills available! Ambush ¨C beginner level 1 ¨C this passive skill boosts your attack power and critical hit chance when striking an unsuspecting enemy. Bonus 1% to attack and 1% to critical hit chance. Sneak ¨C Skill already obtained! Please see skill sheet after the welcoming ceremony for new information. Hide in shadow ¨C Beginner level 1 ¨C Blur your outline to break up your silhouette. Unusable in bright light, will not work on detection methods that aren¡¯t based on light. Cost: 25 mana + 1 mana/second
I looked up at the king after making my selection and nodded at him. ¡°Our newest elite has made his selection! We welcome you into our midst, Ambusher Angus MacG, kobold elite!¡± The crowd absolutely lost it at this pronouncement. While they were wildly cheering, I was watching some of the newer popups.
Processing deferred experience. . . Processing. . . Congratulations! The following are the results of your week in the dungeon:
Level up x 11! You are now level 12
Skill gained Skill level Skill bonuses
Darkvision Intermediate lvl 6 Distance increased to 30 feet
Mana Excavation Intermediate lvl 4 Cost decreased by 19%
Blunted weapons mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 8 Damage increased by 8%, attack speed increased by 4%
Hammer Mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 6 Damage increased by 6%, attack speed increased by 3%
Sculpting Beginner lvl 9 Sculpting speed increased by 9%
Sneak Intermediate lvl 2 Speed increased by 12%, Harder to detect by 6%
Ambush (Passive) Beginner lvl 1 Attack damage increased by 1%, Critical hit chance increased by 1%
Crushing Blow Beginner lvl 7 Chance to inflict status effect increased by 7%
Throat tear Beginner lvl 9 Chance of fatal blow increased by 9%
Skull Crusher Beginner lvl 7 Stun chance increased by 10%, Fatal blow chance increased by 3%
Earth Mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 5 Earth spells and manipulation cost 5% less mana
Trap making Advanced lvl 1 Traps do 30% more damage, are deployed 15% faster, and are 20% harder to detect
Mana manipulation Intermediate lvl 2 Manipulation speed increased by 17%
Mana infusion Beginner lvl 8 Infusion speed increased by 4%, maximum mana infused increased by 4%
Overcharge Beginner lvl 7 Overcharge maximum increased by 3%, Damage increased by 14%
Lethal Blow (Passive) Beginner lvl 8 Chance of instant kill increased by 4%
Mana Blade Beginner lvl 2 Damage increased by 2%, mana cost reduced by 1%
Mana shockwave Beginner lvl 1 Damage increased by 1%, durability damage reduced by 1%
Throw weapon Beginner lvl 6 Chance to hit increased by 3%
Spear mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 1 Damage increased by 1%
Vicious thrust Beginner lvl 1 Damage increased by 10%, chance to cause bleeding status increased by 1%
Hide in shadows Beginner lvl 1 Chance to be detected lowered by 5%
Due to a special action, you have unlocked an achievement
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
Slayer II Kill over 10 players +2% damage to other players, -2% damage received from other players Slay over 50 players
Group Discount I Kill a group of 3 or more with one attack +1% AoE attack radius Kill 5 groups of 3 or more with one attack
The More the Merrier Kill a group of 5 or more with one attack +1% AoE attack radius, +2% AoE attack damage Kill 5 groups of 5 or more with one attack
Hellen Keller I Spend over a minute silenced, deafened, and blinded at the same time +1% status effect resistance Spend over 5 minutes silenced, deafened, and blinded at the same time
The bigger they are I Kill a creature or player higher level than you +1% damage Kill over 50 creatures or players higher level than you
You don¡¯t look so tough I Kill a creature or player 5 levels higher than you +1% damage Kill 10 creatures or players 5 levels higher than you
Don¡¯t look down on me I Kill a creature or player 10 levels higher than you +5% damage, -5% damage received Kill 10 creatures or players 10 levels higher than you
Ant beats the elephant I Kill a creature or player 25 levels higher than you +10% damage to creatures or players higher level than you Kill 10 creatures or players 25 levels higher than you
David and Goliath I Kill a creature or player 50 levels higher than you -10% damage received from creatures or players higher level than you Kill 5 creatures or players 50 levels higher than you
Even Gods may fall Kill a creature or player 75 levels higher than you Ignore level difference penalties N/A
You have been granted the title: Undefeated Word of your exploits have spread, and your group of fellow warriors are known as the Undefeated. You can toggle titles displayed with the status menu. Infamy: +100
I made out like a bandit! Any kill you got in that initial week would be guaranteed to count toward some of those achievements, as you were locked in to a level one character. The reward for being able to take out Rycran was phenomenal as well. I could now fight almost anything, and I had a much better chance of winning if I was the more skilled. I was also surprised that my trap making skill was as high as it was. The skill progression for Oblivion was beginner < intermediate < advanced < expert < master < grandmaster. Each level was further divided into ten levels, so it would go from beginner 1 to beginner 10 before changing to intermediate 1. The bonuses would increase slightly between the ten intra-ranking levels, and would get a small boost when you jumped tiers. Oblivion was also slightly different than other games that merely had you keep using the skill in order to boost it higher in level. That would work up to intermediate 10, but to get into the advanced and above you had to have a breakthrough in the skill¡¯s usage. I guess coming up with an advanced trap like my ceiling hammer counted as a breakthrough. Suddenly I felt a nudge in my arm, so I turned to see what Captain Khaliss wanted. ¡°Follow me after the ceremony, we have things to discuss.¡± I nodded, figuring that he wanted to close his quest to me. ¡°We once again thank our brave warriors for fulfilling the requirements the gods have placed upon us! Let them now go and relax with their friends and families, until such a time as we need them again!¡± Wow, that king sure knew how to wind up a crowd. Bowing to the royalty, we turned as a unit (or as close as I could manage without practice), and headed across the sands one last time through a tunnel and out into a fantastic city. I was glad I was at the rear of this line, as I had to stop and stare at the glory. A massive cavern, the ceiling was studded with several reflective minerals. A massive crystal dropped from the ceiling and provided a yellowish light, and allowed me to make out the three tiers of the city. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve missed the beauty of the city. Since you are new here, I¡¯ll give you the quick tour. The bottom level is the war preparations. The arena which we just came from and the barracks are here, as well as parade grounds for tactics. The second level is the merchant¡¯s level, where you can find representatives of all the guilds.¡± ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t think the monster races would have access to the merchant guilds?¡± ¡°It is a well-guarded secret. We won¡¯t have access to the auction houses, but we do have the banker¡¯s, tailor¡¯s, enchanter¡¯s, blacksmith¡¯s, alchemist¡¯s, and tanner¡¯s guilds. Most of the selection are limited, but they should be able to craft you items from whatever you manage to harvest in the Underdark. There are also unique items that can¡¯t be found on the surface, though you can head to the surface eventually if you wish.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense, unique ingredients would lead to better potions and such. Are they manned by light races?¡± ¡°No, it is dark races. Less chance of someone getting killed, as masters in any field represent a lot of time, money, and materials. Now, welcome to the barracks. Time for your rewards from the dungeon.¡±
QUEST COMPLETED! Khaliss has been instructed to offer you a quest for the remainder of the week. All the kobolds in this instance have been enhanced to champion levels, boosting their base stats. He offers you the same.
Options Conditions and rewards
Accept the boost to stats Stats will be boosted for the rest of the week. No additional rewards will be offered.
Decline the boost to stats Failure conditions: Fail to obtain a kill during the rest of the week. Failure rewards: Loss of faction points with kobolds and with Khaliss Pass conditions: Obtain as many kills as possible. Assisting in a kill will count as long as you are in the top two for damage dealt. Pass rewards: Dependent upon performance.
You have succeeded far beyond all expectations on this quest. You managed to obtain 39 kills, one of which was a level 78 player. Your rewards will reflect this feat of legendary proportions.
Reward 1: 10,000 faction points with the kobold race. You are at exalted status with the kobold race! You will receive a 30% discount on all prices, and your chances of hidden and unique quests are greatly increased. Reward 2: A warrior always needs a place to keep his spoils. You have been given the Bottomless bag of Negation. See item description for more details. Reward 3: A bounty shall be paid per player killed. You have earned 6 p 76 g. Reward 4: Captain Khaliss has been impressed with your determination to be the best. He is willing to teach you one of his skills.
Wow, I was elated. One of the hardest things to do with a low level character was to get decent gear. Some of the better low level gear would cost in the upper silver to low gold range. Money worked in 100 increments, with the lowest denomination being copper, then silver, gold, platinum, and royal chits. With over 6 platinum to my name I would be able to stock up on some of the better gear I could get my hands on, but I was truly interested in that bag. Any item with a purple name was a legendary artifact, and those were rare and fantastic. I immediately identified it.
Bottomless Bag of Negation This legendary bag has 500 inventory slots for carrying vast amounts of loot. Item weight is reduced by 99%, and items will never spoil inside it. Note, due to the temporal and gravity enchantments, living material placed inside will not survive. Items placed inside are unable to be stolen, however they may still be dropped upon death.
This was the type of bag adventurers had wet dreams about. A bag that you couldn¡¯t steal items from, had 500 slots, and basically ignored item weight? I¡¯m sure there have been guild wars fought over lesser items. Especially since you were limited to five holding bags in the game. ¡°Khaliss, I don¡¯t know what to say. These rewards are completely outside of what I would have imagined. I love the amount of money I made on the bounty, but that seem somewhat excessive. How did I earn six platinum?¡± ¡°Each normal kill was worth one gold, as were the overkills. However, you also obtained 13 splatter overkills, and those were paid out at 50 gold apiece.¡± ¡°Splatter overkills? I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡± ¡°OK, quick explanation time. If you kill something with a blow that does over twice the health of the creature, you are credited with an overkill. If it is within five levels of you, the drop rate for money and rare items is increased. If you do over ten times the health in damage, you get a splatter overkill. All rewards are increased by one tier. Your hammer and that final trap both counted as splatter overkills.¡± ¡°Oh, ok then. Thanks.¡± ¡°No, thank you Angus. You saved several of our warriors from going through death. The adventurers were far more focused on you than defeating the dungeon, and we feel you deserve every one of these rewards. There is also the skill to learn. Perhaps you will pick up spear fighting?¡± With that taunt, I was treated to a display of martial prowess that was awe inspiring. The spear was flashing around his body, head, shoulders, stabbed forward several times, and spun like a staff both vertically and horizontally. It was moving so fast that the wood was bending, and I knew that the system had to have drastically nerfed his skills if he was ever to be defeated in a dungeon. With a flourish, he did a spin, thrust forward, and ended with the tip of the spear a fraction of an inch from the bridge of my nose before I even had a chance to flinch. ¡°So, care to learn how to properly wield a spear from a master?¡± ¡°Holy shit, that was mesmerizing! You just flowed between attack and defense so fluidly! No, I could never do the spear justice, and trying after seeing what a true master can do would be an insult.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, but the spear is my only melee weapon. Tell you what, go grab a pair of crossbows over there and a quiver of bolts. I¡¯ll teach you something any ranged attacker needs.¡± I quickly did what he said, and grabbed a pair of crossbows. ¡°Ok, so what do you need me to do to learn this skill?¡± ¡°This is slightly different than what you might expect. First I want you to aim it level from your shoulder, and this is the important part. Pay attention to the flight path of the bolt. Keep repeating that. It doesn¡¯t matter if you hit the target, I want you to learn the bolt¡¯s path.¡± Ok, that seemed like oddball advice, fire without aiming? Whatever, he¡¯s the expert so I held the crossbow like I was told, and fired, watching as the bolt flew and started dropping due to gravity. ¡°Good. Now do that 50 more times, keeping the same angle on your bow.¡± Let the repetition begin! Fire, lower the bow, pull the string, load a bolt, raise, and fire again. Over and over, watching how the bolt flew through the air. I fell into the groove around bolt 15 or 16, and started picking out where the bolt was going to land around bolt 30 or so. I don¡¯t know the exact number, but eventually I started seeing a light blue path that I absolutely knew the bolt would follow. ¡°Do you see it yet?¡± ¡°Yes, the blue path the bolt will fly through.¡± ¡°Excellent, now you are going to change the angle of your initial shot. I want it around 5 degrees above horizontal. Fire 20 shots at that angle, then increase to ten above the horizontal and repeat another 20. Tell me when you get the skill.¡± I changed the angle of the crossbow, and fired a bolt. The path was close, but the different angle altered it just enough to be a miss. I kept at it until the different angle didn¡¯t matter, then elevated again. I was much closer, and soon enough got the pop up I had been waiting for.
Skill Obtained! Windless Trajectory ¨C Beginner lvl 1 When aiming with a crossbow that you have some familiarity with, you are able to predict the path of the bolt in a windless environment. You will need to fire ten bolts at three different angles to recalibrate if you change weapons or ammunition types. Bonus (crossbow only): +1% to critical hit, +5% chance to hit
¡°Khaliss, I got the skill and it is amazing! Can I assume that most places in the Underdark don¡¯t have any wind that I need to be worried about?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Also know, that should you ever need me, I would be proud to fight by your side.¡± Getting an NPC (non player character) to agree to fight for you was incredibly difficult. You had to not only have a good reputation with any and all factions they were associated with, but you also had to personally impress them in some way. Maybe I should have taken that Avenger class, but it was too late for that. ¡°Khaliss! Good to see you made it back safe! Ah, did our newest addition get his money for the work already? That¡¯s wonderful! I¡¯m sure you¡¯re ready to turn over ten percent to the Goddess Tiamat, our dragoness progenitor.¡± An entirely black kobold with the thigh bone of some massive creature as a staff yelled across the yard to us as he approached. ¡°No.¡± I replied rather curtly, and proceeded to just stare at him. ¡°No? You don¡¯t wish to give to Tiamat?¡± ¡°Correct. I am not beholden to any deity as of yet, and I don¡¯t appreciate you trying to strong arm me into joining as soon as I arrive at the city. If I join a deity, then I will be more than happy to donate whatever share they require.¡± ¡°Surely you will join in the worship of Tiamat though? She who gave birth to the first kobolds?¡± ¡°I might, like I said earlier, I have barely been in the city let alone had time enough to determine which of the pantheon I would devote my time and energy to.¡± Getting fed up with this, I turned to Khaliss, ¡°Khaliss, thank you again for all that you have taught me. I¡¯m sure I will see you around for the next few days, as I won¡¯t be venturing too far afield just yet.¡± ¡°Anytime Angus, anytime. If I may, I suggest the Serpent¡¯s Strike Armory for weapons. They have the best, but it will be somewhat expensive.¡± ¡°Of course. Say, before I go I need to know about housing. How do I go about obtaining a place to live?¡± ¡°Go to the third level and carve it out for yourself, or buy it from someone. The southern end can be a maze, but it also has the most room for expansion. Once you have carved out your home, a cloth on the doorway will bar any from entering without your permission.¡± Nodding at his explanation, I headed off to see about housing and getting a feel for the city before I logged off for the day. Chapter 13 I headed to the second level to check out the armory recommended by Khaliss. The Serpent¡¯s Strike had an open air display area out front and judging by the sounds coming from behind a curtain a fully operational forge in the back. That curtain had to be slightly enchanted, as it was only a mild clanking that could be heard. I was browsing through the items, looking for something in my level range, but things seemed different for monsters. If you were playing one of the light races, you would be given a list of attribute requirements at the bottom of an item¡¯s description, with the attributes you were lacking in highlighted in red. Monsters gave you this weird percentage if you weren¡¯t able to use it properly.
Hardened steel great axe This large axe is made of a superior steel and has been enchanted to increase durability. Though the large size slows down attack speed, it more than makes up for the difference with damage potential. Cost: 35 g Damage: 50-60 (30-34) Durability: 300/300 Requirements 60%
¡°Excuse me, could you explain this to me please?¡± I tried flagging down an employee. ¡°First time shopping here?¡± ¡°Here or anywhere as a kobold to be honest.¡± ¡°Oh, you must be an adventurer then. Let me get the boss, he¡¯ll want to explain things.¡± The kobold I was talking to scurried off into the back, and it was a few minutes before one of the widest kobolds I¡¯ve ever seen lumbered through the curtain. His arms were as thick as my thighs, and he had on a scorched leather apron. As he walked up to me, he stretched out a scar covered hand and said, ¡°Welcome! I¡¯m Dharkiss, forgemaster here at the Serpent¡¯s Strike. Tlaloc said you had some questions? First time shopping as a monster race?¡± ¡°Yes sir, I¡¯m an adventurer and one of the first to be able to try the monster races. I was wondering if you could explain the requirements tag, as it is a bit different than what I¡¯m used to.¡± ¡°Not a problem. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve noticed it yet, but the gods have decreed that monsters aren¡¯t allowed to see our actual attributes. This is good and bad for us, as we can try and equip almost any piece of equipment. Want to be a mage wielding a battle axe? Go right ahead, but be prepared to face the penalties. The gods made it so that whatever we are lacking the most to be able to wield something will determine the penalties. In increments of 5%, however short you are in that attribute is how much you get penalized on almost everything. A quick example, say this axe here takes ten strength to use, but you only have 6 strength. You would see a red 60% requirements tag, and everything would be set to 60% until you increased your strength. That includes damage, attack speed, accuracy, parry, and critical hit chance for weapons. Armors get penalized to damage reduction, movement speed, dodge, and deflection.¡± ¡°Wow, that is some stiff penalties. Does that effect any of the enchantments?¡± ¡°No, enchantments are based on level. If you don¡¯t meet the level requirements to use an enchantment, then you will get an insufficient level tag and be unable to equip it.¡± ¡°Thanks for the explanations, everything is a lot clearer now. I¡¯ll have to go back and thank Khaliss for recommending this place. You¡¯ve been a great help, now I just need to find some proper equipment for my level.¡± ¡°Khaliss sent you this way? That old lizard still knows the best weaponsmith in town. Tell you what kiddo, have you figured out what your profession is going to be?¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t gotten that far, why?¡± ¡°Ever give smithing a try?¡± ¡°No, my last incarnation I was a carpenter with a specialty as a bowyer. It went rather well with my ranger class.¡± ¡°Bah, you¡¯ll find no archers down here, and precious little wood to carve up as well. Come on with me to the back, we¡¯ll get you squared away and try being a smith. Nothing better than knowing the weapon you are using is one crafted with your own two hands.¡± As he was talking, he grabbed me by the shoulders and started steering me to the back. I really had no choice in the matter, and soon I was in a sweltering cave with a massive forge in the back. ¡°Ok, we will start simple. A knife sounds good, grab you a small billet of steel. No, that one¡¯s iron. The steel is the stack next to it. Good, good, now take those tongs and place it in the fire. We want it just short of white hot, so we have a few minutes to wait. Go ahead and pick up a hammer, you want one that isn¡¯t too heavy as you will be swinging it a lot. Now, you are going to hammer it, gradually moving towards your tongs. If it starts glowing a dull red, we need to stop and move it into the flame to reheat it. Don¡¯t let it get too cold, you will put stress fractures in it.¡± Dharkiss kept giving me tips as I worked to forge a knife, but half the time it seemed contradictory. After a few hours of pounding out metal, he determined I was ready to quench it. I got it near white hot again, and dunked it in a tank of oil of some kind. I shook it a few times, and though that I had it cooled enough. I pulled it out and held it up, and after a few seconds it burst into flame! I quickly dunked it back into the oil again, as Dharkiss kept laughing in the background. ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA! Give it at least two minutes in the quench boy, you can¡¯t rush things like this. Unless you like things exploding into flame right in your face. HAHAHAHA!¡± I glared at him then took the smoking piece of metal out of the oil. In all honesty, it was ugly.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Um, I¡¯m no expert but I think I have almost no skill in this.¡± ¡°Well, damn boy. I¡¯ve never seen a straight piece of metal end up with that many curves. You¡¯ve got dents all the way down, warps everywhere, and see here? These cracks that are perpendicular to the blade are all stress points that could snap in the middle of battle. I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯ve got next to no skill here and this is destined for the scrap metal bin.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok, it was a long shot. Thanks for the lesson, and sorry for wasting your time.¡± ¡°Bah, it wasn¡¯t a waste. Now, what weapons are you looking at using and what¡¯s your class and level?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a level 12 Ambusher. So far I¡¯ve used a hammer for a few kills, and Khaliss trained me on the crossbow.¡± ¡°Ambusher, eh? Good class. Fairly well rounded, but you need to be sneaky so none of the heavy plate. I can¡¯t help ya for armor, you¡¯ll need to see the tailor for that. How much you got in the budget?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a few things to buy yet, but I could spend up to perhaps, three platinum? Weapons are probably going to be my biggest expense.¡± He whistled, ¡°Wheeeeew, three platinum? Pretty good for a starter budget. Let¡¯s see here, need a Warhammer and a crossbow. Here, check this bow out. How do you like it?¡±
Blinding crossbow Made with unknown materials from the Underdark, this bow has been enchanted to cause blindness on those that are struck by its bolts. Cost: 1 p 30 g Damage: 35-50 Durability: 150/150 Special: Chance to blind on successful hit +35%
¡°I love it. Count me in for that, and now I just need a war hammer.¡± ¡°Well, check this one out. I¡¯m sure you will find it acceptable.¡±
Brutal Warhammer of Crushing This steel Warhammer has been enchanted to not only increase its damage, but also to increase the chance of crushing bone when you hit. Cost: 1 p 75 g Damage 90-115 Durability: 500/500 Special 1: Damage increased by 15% Special 2: Increased chance to crush bone or chitin, reducing effectiveness of affected limb. (Opponent must have a rigid support structure)
¡°Done!¡± I handed over the 3 platinum and 5 gold, more than happy with the two weapons. The second special effect of the war hammer wouldn¡¯t be effective against slimes, but those weren¡¯t nearly as prevalent as other types of monsters. ¡°Thanks for everything Dharkiss, but I¡¯ve gotta get a move on. I need a house before the end of the day.¡± Waving at him, I headed off towards the third tier to build out a house. The third tier was labyrinthine. There were houses carved into small islands of rock in the middle of several hallways, some were merely caves in the walls, and some even had a small cliff of a roof overhead. After about ten minutes of wandering, I was finally starting to get into the less populated areas when I got that hair on the back of your neck standing up feeling. I figured something or someone was following me, so I took random turns until I found a place where there was a ledge near the ceiling I could hide on. I ran down the alleyway, and quickly climbed to the top of the ledge and followed it back to the mouth of the alley. Activating [Hide in shadows], I patiently waited for whatever was following me. A rat the size of a medium dog with jet black hair waddled into the alley, snuffling along as it tried to follow my scent trail. I took out my new crossbow, and waited for it to stop and sniff the air again. As it did, I used [Windless trajectory] to take aim, and fired a bolt right into the back of the creature. I couldn¡¯t try and be more accurate as I hadn¡¯t calibrated for my new bow, but getting a shot into the main body was still possible. The body disappeared into motes of light, and I checked my damage log for what had happened. Ambush successful! Critical Hit! You shoot summoned familiar for 82 damage. Summoned familiar is destroyed. Damn, someone wants to keep close tabs on me. I don¡¯t know why, but I didn¡¯t like it. I dropped down and collected my bolt, then headed back towards the second level. Having your own house would be the safest, but I had enough spare cash that I could rent an inn room for a while. Inns had less storage space in the actual room, but they also allowed access from any city. Strolling through the second level, I saw a sign that had a possible dragon sleeping on a pile of gold. I walked in thinking it was either a bank or an inn. ¡°Good afternoon sir! Welcome to the Dragon¡¯s Roost, are you interested in a room?¡± A mottled brown kobold greeted me as I entered. ¡°Yes, I would most definitely be interested. What are your prices and what do they include?¡± ¡°Well, the cheapest option is the room only, that costs 10 copper a night. We also offer up to two meals per day, both and the room will cost 20 copper. There are also deals for paying per week or per month.¡± ¡°What would it cost to have the room and two meals per day for a month?¡± ¡°For the month would be 5 silver with the discount.¡± ¡°Hmm, only a silver knocked off? I was hoping for a little more. How about this, can I borrow the kitchen from time to time? I¡¯m a cook myself, and wouldn¡¯t mind being able to prepare a few meals every now and then.¡± ¡°Only if you let me try your better dishes.¡± ¡°Sure! If you really like them, I can try and get enough ingredients and we can sell it as a special. I can show your cook how I prepared it so you won¡¯t be dependent on me.¡± ¡°That sounds wonderful Mr. ?¡± ¡°Oh how rude of me, sorry. I¡¯m Angus, Angus MacG. Pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°I always enjoy meeting a new customer Mr. Angus. Call me Alnoss.¡± I shook her hand and gave her the five silver. ¡°Here¡¯s your key, I know how you adventurers are so it is soul-bound and can only be returned to me. Should you fall behind on payment, your key will be disabled until you pay the balance. Fall behind more than a month and your belongings will be confiscated to pay for the key and your balance. Anything left will be forfeit to me for the trouble, understand?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± I replied with a little salute. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I plan on being around for a while. Unfortunately, I need a bit of food before I head to my room. What have you got that¡¯s quick?¡± ¡°Only a bowl of soup and some bread is ready at the moment.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Practically inhaling the soup and bread she gave me, I hurried upstairs and entered my room. It was rather Spartan, with just a trunk and a bed. I crawled into the bed and logged out for the night. Chapter 14 I walked into my digital apartment and messaged the group that I wasn¡¯t up for the caf¨¦ tonight. I was just too drained, from the Steele Legion fiasco to someone already trying to keep tabs on me, I needed a break. I needed something to keep me busy, so I decided to just cook something absurdly elaborate for only one person. So I spent the next hour and a half or so making the perfect beef wellington, and just savored each bite as it melted on my tongue. I went to bed early and left off the alarms. I wanted some uninterrupted sleep now that I wasn¡¯t on a dungeon schedule. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily was debating leaving early for the day. She had all her work done, and that unpleasantness from the Steele Legion was behind her. As she was logging out of all her monitoring programs, her desk phone rang. Damnit, you couldn¡¯t have just waited five more minutes, could you? She mentally berated it. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Emily, you coming or what?¡± A voice she just couldn¡¯t place asked. ¡°Sorry, coming to what? And I¡¯m sorry to say I don¡¯t recognize your voice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Mike! Frank brought some popcorn and I¡¯ve got a few bottles of beer that are at the perfect temperature. We¡¯re going to watch a good bit of what we¡¯re calling Marty¡¯s Montage, see how he took down so many higher leveled characters.¡± ¡°You know what? I think I could use a bit of something fun. I¡¯ll be down in a few.¡± She had spent enough time around her boss recently that she was no longer nervous, and honestly the two of them were bound to be entertaining. She didn¡¯t bother knocking when she got there, as they wouldn¡¯t hear it over the boisterous laughter. Looks like they started early. ¡°There she is! C¡¯mon, grab a beer. Mike¡¯s got the video all queued up, says we got at least ten minutes of solid adventurers dying.¡± Taking a chair and a cold beer, Emily took a long drink as she leaned back in a chair. ¡°Wow, this really hits the spot. You know guys, we should have one Friday a month where our departments get together in the afternoon and just have a party. Give people a chance to just relax for a paid afternoon, let them talk about the worst customer service stories they got that month. Heck, maybe even give a show like this of oddball bugs and characters doing crazy stuff.¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ld be ok with that, what about you Frank?¡± ¡°Brilliant! I would never turn down a reason to have a few cold ones. Hell, we could even see if we could swing the company to pay for a few packs of beer.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave the planning for some other time, we got us a movie to watch!¡± Mike turned and hit a few buttons on his computer, and the wall was replaced with Marty¡¯s view of the Kobold Warrens. Some of the earlier deaths they had seen before, but there were quite a few that got laughs out of all of them. ¡°Wait! Wait! Go back!¡± Larry protested. ¡°I want to see what¡¯s on the other side of that hole! You can¡¯t just show me an adventurer sticking his head through a wall and expect that to be it?¡± Mike played with his computer a bit, and split the screen. On the right, they could see things through the hapless adventurer¡¯s eyes. ¡°BWAHAHAHA! WISDOM WILL DESCEND FROM ABOVE THAT¡¯S GLORIOUS!¡± Larry cried out as he read what Marty had carved on the wall. ¡°Here¡¯s your bit of wisdom, don¡¯t stick your head in strange holes in the dungeon! HAHAHA!¡± Everyone got a kick out of that, as well as the third eye spear stab. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s he building in the ceiling there?¡± Larry asked, as Mike had left that part in to build suspense. ¡°Honestly it is one of the most devastating traps I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Mike replied. ¡°And one that the Steele Legion kept complaining about¡± Emily added. ¡°They couldn¡¯t comprehend the fact that they had gotten one-shotted in the dungeon.¡± Larry was glued to the screen as Marty built his mammoth trap. ¡°Is that a swing arm? What the Hell would need a swing arm that massive though? Besides, it¡¯s still connected to the. . . oh. That¡¯s why it¡¯s still connected. That¡¯s going to. . . yep. Completely splatter whoever it hits. Mike? Can you do me a solid and send this clip to my email? I need to have a talk with some of our developers, this is getting put into a few high tier dungeons.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Hah, I figured you would want that. Yeah, I¡¯ve already got the clip sorted along with the game identity. Yes, it is officially a game object, and this unrefined one does three to four thousand damage when it hits.¡± ¡°THOUSAND?! That¡¯ll kill some level 50 players! I wonder what they would rate it if we spring loaded it and made it out of mithril? We do have that ancient dwarf dungeon we can unlock in the next patch upgrade. This would be perfect to add.¡± ¡°Aaaand we lost him. Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll be back in a few minutes. He¡¯s just going through a mental list to see where he can add his new favorite toy.¡± ¡°No worries, I¡¯ve known quite a few people who were like that. Hey Larry. LARRY!¡± Emily had to almost yell the last part. ¡°How much of someone¡¯s body do you need to cast a resurrection spell?¡± Larry looked at her with a blank face. ¡°I don¡¯t honestly know, it¡¯s never come up. What have you hatched in your devious little head there Emily?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a combination of a few things. See, Marty has this move where he slams two hammers on opposite sides of someone¡¯s head, and they splat like a watermelon. I was just wondering what two of those massive hammers would do to a body if they collided like that, and how epic the splattering would be. We could probably destroy a body so thoroughly that resurrection would be impossible, and it would truly enrage quite a few raids.¡± ¡°My dear, you should transfer to my department. It¡¯s obvious your talents here are going to be wasted solving bugs.¡± ¡°Larry! No poaching! Besides, there¡¯s a better way.¡± Emily looked back and forth as the two bosses tried to barter her employment. ¡°You mean the way where I get my way every time? Glad you saw things my way Mike!¡± ¡°No damnit! Listen for a second. What if we had her keep working where she is now, but offer her a big bonus for any ideas like that? We can give Marty a cut too, since this is derivative of his gameplay.¡± ¡°Ok, fine. That¡¯ll work. Emily? You aren¡¯t going to turn down any big bonuses for when you have ideas like this again, are you?¡± ¡°Larry, if you want to give me money for my ideas I will never tell you no.¡± ¡°Excellent! Ok, I¡¯ve got several ideas squared away, lets watch the last little bit.¡± ¡°Sure, but one last thing before we do. The last clip is an edited possibility for us to advertise the new monster races. It¡¯s a slightly altered ending of the last group of adventurers to challenge Marty.¡± Mike hit play, and everyone watched a splitscreen view of the group walking up to a darkened hallway. Nobody from the group side could see the third orb Marty released over the flash of the other two exploding after being shot by the archers. The explosion from Marty¡¯s view was awe inspiring, the adventurers disappearing in a column of expanding blue-white light. ¡°Ok, here¡¯s the edited version.¡± The screen was filled with close ups of adventurers doing a final check of their gear. Daggers were slammed into secure positions for easy reach, chainmail tugged so that it fit properly and didn¡¯t hinder movement, and the orb at the end of a glittering white staff was polished so that the mage¡¯s reflection was visible in it. No words were spoken as the adventuring team wandered through the halls, cutting down kobolds with ease. Until they turned into a darkened hallway, and two glowing yellow eyes opened and stared at them. ¡°Ah, you smell of conquest, and the blood of my brethren. Perhaps you shall become worthy challenges.¡± As he spoke, the monster pulled two spheres from behind his back, smiling as he threw them forward. ¡°I¡¯m on it¡± the mage cried, stepping forward. ¡°[Mana barrier]¡± at his words, a translucent blue sphere formed in front of the group, taking up the entirety of the hallway. Before the orbs struck, the monster pulled a third one from his inventory and slammed it into the ground. As the flash receded, the mage taunted the kobold. ¡°You¡¯ll have to do better than that, spawn of darkness!¡± Haunting laughter filled the hallway. ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed it, dear mage? You¡¯re already dead.¡± The view switched to that of the kobold, as the entire party¡¯s eyes widened in horror. Blue flames erupted from underneath in slow motion, spewing stone shards in all directions. Faint clawing hands and tormented faces appeared in flashes of the expanding flames, but they were so fast you couldn¡¯t tell if they were truly there or just your imagination. After the explosion the view shifted as the kobold stood up, and a blue pop up appeared in the middle of the screen as it faded to black.
All invaders slain.
¡°Damn Mike, you went all out on that. I think it¡¯s fantastic, what about you Emily?¡± ¡°Honestly? I want to sign up as a monster race right now if that¡¯s what I think I can do. I would be willing to bet we get a good boost to subscriptions after releasing this.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up just before noon. Stretching, I was so thankful that I got to sleep in on a weekend for a change. Usually I would be prepping for a brunch at work, as Arctic Storm headquarters never really slept. Though the majority of the businesspeople stayed at home, there was no way that the technical staff could afford to have empty shifts. I felt really lazy after sleeping so long, so I just had an automatically created Danish and some juice for breakfast. I entered the Oblivion door, content on just doing a short day to get some things prepared before really starting with questing. Chapter 15 I woke up in my room to a flashing indicator. Since it had been so long since I had last eaten or drank anything, I was suffering from a hunger debuff stage one. This was a fairly simple fix, but the consequences were annoying. At stage one, you lost all health and stamina regeneration. Stage two you lost mana regeneration as well, and all recovery items lost half of their potency. Stage three you started dropping attribute points, and stage four was simply death. ¡°Hello Alnoss, how are you today?¡± I asked as I made it to the dining room. It was early for lunch, so it was understandably empty. ¡°I¡¯m just fine Angus, care for something to eat?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s not too much trouble that would be wonderful. I was also wondering where the best place was to get some essentials.¡± ¡°Essentials for what?¡± ¡°Well, to be honest everything except weapons. I¡¯ll need some armor, camping supplies, cooking supplies, and I also need to start my profession.¡± ¡°Well, at least you can get it all here. Any thoughts to your profession? Cook maybe?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll be happy with just the cooking skill. I failed miserably at blacksmithing, not sure whether I¡¯m going to go for something like tailoring and leather making to create my own armor.¡± ¡°I see. Well, good luck with whatever you end up doing!¡± ¡°Thanks Alnoss, I¡¯m going to head out now. Catch you later.¡± Finishing up with the innkeeper, I headed out to prepare for my explorations. My first stop was the Cartography Guild. I don¡¯t have the best sense of direction anyway, but even the best explorers forget where things are on occasion. For a gold coin, I ended up with a map that automatically updates. The general store wasn¡¯t too bad of a stop either, but nothing noteworthy. I got a tent that hid you from monsters for 8 hours, some generic bread and water to keep me sated, and a length of rope. As I left the store, I headed towards the leatherworkers. I needed a bit of armor before I even thought of heading out, as even an ambusher was bound to get hit on occasion. ¡°Welcome to the Lizard¡¯s Leather, how can we help you out today?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m in need of a full armor set. Body armor, cap, pants, you know the drill. If I get some gloves, I need them to be open in the fingertips as I use my claws a decent bit.¡± ¡°Oh, you must be the new adventurer! I¡¯m Krepaw, and I make the best armor¡¯s in this town. Before we start, are you looking for enchanted pieces or basic? I also need level range.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Krepaw, I¡¯m Angus. I think I¡¯ll go for basic right now, I¡¯m probably going to stay fairly near the city for a while.¡± ¡°No problem. I can kit you out in a basic set for 50 silver. That¡¯ll include head, chest, legs, belt and gloves.¡± ¡°Great, I¡¯ll take them.¡± I said, and received a small bundle. It was nothing special, but it would work against the level of creatures I expected to be meeting for a while.
Basic leather armor Basic armor built to be worn on the chest. Defense: 25 Durability: 100/100
Basic leather pants Basic armor worn for leg protection. Defense: 5 Durability: 100/100
Basic belt This belt provides minimal protection but contains 8 slots to hold potions for easy access. Defense: 2 Durability: 30/30
Basic modified gloves These gloves have the fingertips removed to allow for claw usage. Defense: 3 Durability: 30/30
Basic leather skullcap Basic leather armor designed to protect the head Defense: 10 Durability: 50/50
Well, this was about as basic as it could get. Heading out, I wanted to see about some potions for my belt. While solo adventuring didn¡¯t really lead to being able to disengage long enough to drink a healing potion in battle, having a healing potion ready to counter things like broken bones and severed muscles was a must. Without a cleric class to cleanse any debuffs, I would also need a wide variety of potions eventually to take care of most of that. Since consumable potions were the second biggest money drain for adventurers I was giving serious consideration to becoming an alchemist. I saw a store with a mortar and pestle on the sign out front, so decided to head in. ¡°Welcome to Djarleen¡¯s Droughts, how can I help you today?¡± A grey and white kobold asked me as I walked in. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Angus and I was hoping to buy a few minor healing potions and possibly see if I could get some training in alchemy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t do any minor potions right now, I¡¯m out of reagents. Hmmm, how about this, I teach you what reagents to look for, and teach you how to brew the potions properly if you go out and gather them. How does that sound?¡±
Quest alert Djarleen has offered to teach you basic alchemy if you gather the reagents.
Conditions Pass rewards Failure
Gather enough reagents to make ten minor potions of mana and health. Ten minor potions of mana and health. Possible training in alchemy Lowered relationship with Djarleen. Prices increased by 5%
¡°I would be happy to help out. You¡¯ll have to show me what to gather and how much would be required for each potion though.¡± ¡°Come over here then. See these mushrooms? These are what you will need to harvest, and for minor potions you will only need three mushrooms per potion.¡± I walked over to the counter to inspect the mushrooms. Both were similar, they had a wide white cap with either blue or red circles of varying size dotted randomly over the top. ¡°OK, so can I assume the red mushroom makes a health potion and blue makes mana? What about stamina, shouldn¡¯t there be one for those as well?¡± ¡°Yes to the first question, and there is a mushroom for stamina but it makes a much weaker potion. It will have a yellowish green dot along the cap. Feel free to grab some of them as well if you want, just know that they are basically useless for alchemy. They do taste pretty well though.¡± ¡°OK, thanks. Any hints on where I can find these?¡± ¡°Seriously? Ok, head out through the south gate. You¡¯ll eventually come to the mushroom groves. If you start seeing giant crystals coming out of the wall you¡¯ve gone too far. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have a lot of potions to prepare.¡± ¡°Thanks for the advice, I¡¯ll be back in a few hours.¡± I headed out, not wanting to irritate anyone who could possibly be my future teacher. Since I had everything I needed, I headed first to the training grounds to see if Khaliss had any quests or advice as I headed out as well. When I got there, he was in the midst of training a group with the spear, so I headed over to the targets off to the side and started sighting in my Windless Trajectory with my new crossbow. ¡°Thanks for waiting on me Angus, do you need anything?¡± ¡°Hey Khaliss, was looking for a bit of advice and to see if you needed me to do anything. I¡¯m heading out to collect a few mushrooms and practice alchemy with Djarleen, but don¡¯t know what I¡¯m going to run into out there.¡± ¡°Ah, heading out the south gate then? Hmm, the mushroom groves don¡¯t have much for someone of your level to fear, mostly cave rats that eat the mushrooms. They are only level four at maximum, so they should ignore you. If you see any of the Vicious Cave Rat variants, you could cull them if you want. Their fangs can make a nice augment for the spearheads, so in addition to a bit of money for killing them I can buy them off you as well. If you wander a little farther though, you might meet some things that we could use, but your crossbow won¡¯t do as much damage.¡± ¡°Really? Why not?¡± ¡°Well you will first start meeting cave hounds, they aren¡¯t too bad. More aggressive and stronger than the rats, they are also pack hunters so you¡¯ll have to deal with that. The variants that arise though will give you trouble. Rock hounds will take half damage from your iron bolts, and the rare crystal variant will shrug them off completely. I can definitely offer a quest for those, what do you say?¡±
Quest alert Khaliss has offered to have you cull some of the Vicious Cave Rats in the mushroom groves.
Conditions Rewards
Slay 10 Vicious Cave Rats 10 silverTaken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Collect Vicious Cave Rat fangs (no limit) 50 copper per fang
Quest alert Khaliss has asked that you cull some of the cave hounds beyond the mushroom groves
Conditions Rewards
Slay 10 hounds 50 silver
Slay 10 rock hounds (optional) 1 gold
Slay the Crystal Alpha (optional) ???
Question marks as a reward? It must be something good, I¡¯ll have to look into killing this Crystal Alpha. It most likely is a boss of some type, so it should be fun. ¡°I¡¯ll take both of those quests Khaliss. I¡¯m sure by the time I make it over to the Crystal Alpha I will have a plan to take care of it. Thanks for the advice.¡± Waving goodbye, I headed towards the south gate and into the Underdark for the first time. The south gate must have to deal with some serious monsters. The gate opened to a tunnel that was large enough to drive a three double decker busses through side by side, and the gate consisted of five feet thick obsidian blocks that slid into the walls of the tunnel for who knew how far. Anything that tried to stop these from closing was going to be in for a bad time. Nodding at the guards as I headed out, I activated darkvision so that I could improve the skill as much as I could. The tunnel narrowed for a bit before splitting, and a quick consult of my map showed a quest icon down the right fork. Following it, I started to see a slight glow ahead. I turned a final corner and sucked in my breath. The tunnel opened into a spacious cavern, with several stone pillars going clear to the ceiling. Water dripped from several stalactites to pool around the stalagmite bases, and formed the base of the ecosystem. Fluorescent moss gave the entire cavern a light bluish glow, and allowed mushrooms to flourish. I could see groups of rats scurrying between fungus groupings, with an occasional fight between groups. Most of the rats were about knee height, but there were occasional ones that came up to my waist. These were always individual, and sometimes took out the groups of smaller rats. I made my way around the edges of the cavern, not wanting to get too far in. I made it far enough to identify one of the larger rats.
Vicious Cave Rat Level 10 These large variants of the cave rats are more aggressive, and much stronger than their lesser brethren. Caution is advised when dealing with them.
Well, that¡¯s interesting. At least all of these fights will be solo unless I manage to do something stupid. Looking around to make sure I wasn¡¯t within aggro range of a second rat, I took aim at the first one. Hmm, but where to hit it? Its movements were fairly simple. Take a few steps, sniff a few times, a few more steps. I had about a two second window where it would stop, lower its head to sniff, and then lift it to resume. I could try and hit it in that window, but I wasn¡¯t too familiar with how a rat¡¯s skull was constructed. I decided to wait for it to be facing me, then try and hit it just to the side of where the neck hit the body. Hopefully with that angle I could increase my odds of hitting it in the heart. It took a few rotations, but I eventually got my opportunity. *Thwack* The iron bolt impacted exactly where I wanted it to, but I missed the heart. The scream of rage from the rat was rather impressive, but I had already shaved off 2/3 of its hitpoints with that first attack. I pulled out my hammer as it bounded over to me, spittle flying with each small pounce. I was resting my hammer on my shoulder, waiting for the right time. As it got within five feet of me, I noticed it hunkering down a little farther than it had when it was rushing over. Knowing this was it, I unleashed an overhand smash right as it vaulted towards my throat. My blow was enough to knock it off course, but it had a lot of momentum behind it and barreled into my chest, knocking me onto my back. It seemed to be a little stunned as it was slow to capitalize on its position. It came around and lunged at my face right as I got my hammer handle in front of it. We struggled like that, as both my health and stamina bars dropped at a steady pace. In addition to trying to gnaw on my face, my legs were in agony as its back legs tried to power forward and ended up slicing at them. With a shove and slight roll, I managed to get a little bit to the side. Now that it wasn¡¯t going straight for my face, I let go with one hand and slashed its throat with mana enhanced claws, finally slaying the beast and spraying my face in its blood. I took a minute to collect myself, then squirmed to get out from under the body. It was a decent learning experience, as I ended up only losing around half of my health. I definitely needed a better strategy for the next one. Touching the body, I thought ¡°loot¡± and got a window of what I could recover from the beast.
Loot menu (Vicious Cave Rat) Iron bolt x 1 Cave rat pelt (high quality) x 1 Vicious cave rat claws x 2 Loot all Y/N?
I was happy to recover the bolt I had fired at the start of the battle, the rest was merely crafting supplies. I hit loot all since I had plenty of space in my inventory, and started looking around as the body dissipated into motes of light. I managed to gather six of the stamina mushrooms, and two each of the mana and health. Looking around, I found my next target nearby. Since I had obviously missed the heart on my last target, I needed to modify my attack pattern. I still didn¡¯t know exactly where the rat brain was, and didn¡¯t want to run the risk of a glancing blow deflected by the skull. This time, before I attacked I activated sneak and crept around to the opposite side of a pillar from where I started. I noticed a small closed eye icon in the bottom of my vision, indicating I was successfully hidden. I took aim again, this time looking to hit just inside of the rat¡¯s left forelimb. *Thwack* Damn, still missed the heart. The rat screeched in agony again, but this time I saw a pair of dark sunglasses appear over its head. At least I got a lucky activation of blinded. Since I was still stealthed, I reloaded my crossbow and aimed for the base of the rat¡¯s neck. My second bolt dropped the beast, and I went forward to collect my loot, disappointed that it was the same as the previous rat except for the number of bolts recovered. After collecting my winnings, I checked the flashing icon in my display to see what else I got from the battle.
Skill up! Ambush has increased to beginner level 2. Attack damage and Critical hit chance both increased by 2%
Skill obtained! You have obtained the skill Crossbow Mastery (passive). Range increased by 1 m, chance to hit increased by 1%
Well, that was a nice bonus. I guess activating sneak helped to level my ambush skill, and killing things with a crossbow definitely helped obtain that skill. That makes two rats killed, eight more to go. I kept working away from the city, as I wanted to find higher level monsters to build up my skills faster. Looking at the next rat, I pondered how to eliminate it. I couldn¡¯t find the heart; it was most likely buried deep enough in the chest that I couldn¡¯t hit it from a frontal attack. Before I started firing at the head trying to pinpoint the brain, I needed a way to slow it down so that I could keep attacking it from range. I wonder if I could paralyze it? Sneaking beside another pillar, I took aim at a rat from a side view. I waited until it started to raise its head up before firing, aiming for the spine as it came out the back of the skull. *Thwack* I saw the bolt bury itself right where I wanted it to, and the rat dropped to the ground with no control over its limbs. I saw it still had some life left, so I abandoned stealth and rushed over to deliver a blow to the head and finish it off. I looted it, glad that I now had a working plan for taking them out. This one even gave me a high quality pelt and two fangs! Armed with a new battle plan, my pace rapidly increased. Eventually I started seeing crystal growths start appearing among the mushrooms, and I figured I would be getting close to the hound area. Hmm, to turn back now since I had long ago finished the rat and mushroom quest, or should I push on and see what I can do with the dogs? I kept going, and eventually came across two of the hounds laying in an open area. These were not small Chihuahuas, but rather seemed to be a cross between a Pit and a Great Dane. They had the blocky head with short jaws for crushing like a pit, but were the size of a Great Dane.
Cave hound Level 12 These hounds patrol the deeper part of cave systems. They have adapted to the lack of light by heightening their other senses to an extreme degree.
Well, these were at least my level and came in pairs. It should be a good fight, so let¡¯s see what their battle tactics are like. I took aim at the closer one, as it was laying on its side with its back facing me. My target was the spine right between the shoulder blades, hoping for another paralysis. Unfortunately, I forgot about their heightened senses, because as soon as the bowstring twanged with the release of the bolt, both dogs shifted so that they were laying with all four feet under them and their heads swiveled to face me with their ears erect. While I didn¡¯t get a paralyzing shot, the dog had unwittingly shifted so that the bolt buried itself in its heart. With a soft whimper, it passed as its partner stood and started growling. Before I could finish reloading my weapon, it charged, forcing me to switch to the war hammer instead of my crossbow. Bracing myself, I completely missed it with my first swing as I expected a lunge towards my chest and he went straight for my legs. ¡°Ow damnit! Let go of my leg!¡± I cried out as he viciously shook my leg back and forth. I managed to get a swing in on the side of his head forcing it to let go and back off for a bit. I hobbled backward, only able to put about 20% of my weight on my right leg before the pain began. Damn, this wasn¡¯t a very good spot. With my newly limited mobility, I squared myself off against the dog, with the hammer raised above my head in a two handed grip. Seeing his muscles quiver just before he attacked, I launched my own at the same time and smashed my hammer down between his shoulder blades in a truly massive blow, and ending the battle. The loot was nothing special, some meat and claws. I had lost only a quarter of my life in the battle, but that was against one. If I was going to survive against multiples, I would need a trap or something to keep them from teaming up against me. I looked at the next group, and it was three of the dogs. I looked at the surroundings, and there was a pair of stalagmites between me and the dogs. I tied two loops in the rope I had purchased earlier, and made a lovely tripwire between them. Taking a stance a few feet behind the rope, I took aim at the dogs. They were looking in my direction, but didn¡¯t seem to be too alarmed by the noises I was making. This time I was aiming for one of the back legs, hoping to disable any lunging attacks. Firing, I nailed one right in the meat of the thigh. It yelped as the other two leaped into action, growling as they rapidly closed the distance. Pulling out my hammer, I didn¡¯t even bother trying to reload my crossbow. Both dogs hit the tripwire at the same time, and fell down in a snarling tangle of limbs. Not wasting my chance, I smashed the hammer down on one of their bodies, hearing the ribs crack under the pressure. The other managed to disentangle itself, but before it could launch forward I had caught it in the side of the head with a side swing of my hammer. The blow disoriented it enough for me to whip the hammer around in a tight circle and deliver another blow, this time aiming at crippling the forepaw. Before I could finish it off, the one with broken ribs plowed right into my back, sending us both tumbling. I missed with a wild backhanded swing as I was getting my feet under me, and the dog must have sensed my attack miss. Thinking I was wide open, it lunged forward with a snarl, spittle flying from its open jaws. I crouched a bit, then thrust forward with mana infused claws, straight into the beast¡¯s chest. It died with its jaws snapping shut inches from my face. Swirling in place, my had was stuck in the corpse with no easy way to get it out. I used it for a shield, as the second dog savaged its limp body. It must have been the blood, because the dog was close to a berserker state. A smack from the hammer to the side of its body finished it off, and I looked to where the third one was caught on the rope trap I had used earlier. I reloaded my crossbow and finished it off from a distance, not wanting to give it a chance to do any damage. The loot was slightly disappointing, a poor quality pelt and several claws. Regaining my rope, I headed out to see what else I could find, still gathering mushrooms when I could even though I had long passed the minimum I would need for the potions. The next group was another three hounds, and I was still no closer to finding out the best way to take them out. The rope trick would work for slowing them down, but it wasn¡¯t perfect. I started out with the rope tripwire again, but about ten feet back I first cut a wide trench about six inches deep. Perhaps I would get lucky and they would break a leg or a neck with a bad fall. I took position behind my rope, aimed, and maimed one of the dogs. Turning, I sprinted back to a few feet behind my trench. As the rope did what it was supposed to and slowed the dogs, I turned to watch them while I reloaded. I had just gotten a second bolt prepared when the two lead dogs disentangled themselves and started sprinting in my direction again. Kneeling down, I took aim so that I was shooting slightly upward into the lead dogs chest. With a dull thunk, the bolt buried itself to the fletching in the dog¡¯s chest, killing it. The second dog swerved around its friend, and lost just enough speed that the trench I had dug was effective. I heard the front leg snap as its gait was thrown off, and it went into a tumble. I swiftly finished the stunned dog before it could regain its senses, and turned to see the third animal just getting up after the rope. I didn¡¯t think I had enough time to reload, so instead I waited until after the trench and finished it just like the second dog. It looked like the rewards were going to be more of the same. Meat, fangs, and claws for the most part, and pelts with the quality depending on how many bladed strikes hit the animal. After looting the bodies, I pressed onward, confident in my new battle plan. Oddly, my next opponent was a lone dog. It was the same height as the others, but looked hairless and was much bulkier. As I dug my trench, I saw his ears twitch a bit. I crept closer, but before I could set up my rope tripwire, he turned and growled at me. I slowly backed away, not wanting to provoke it too soon. Settling a little bit farther back, I set up my tripwire. Taking aim with my crossbow, I let a bolt fly. All I got for my trouble was the bolt sparking as it completely failed to penetrate the dog¡¯s side. It did a marvelous job of infuriating the creature, which obviously was a rock hound variant and not a cave hound like I thought. I ran back and jumped my trench, turning with my hammer in hand. As the dog approached my tripwire, it easily leapt over it. Damnit, not only was its armor sturdy enough my crossbow was useless, but it could see too? That means my trench was also going to be useless. Knowing it would have to leap over the trench anyway, I crouched on the other side. As the dog leapt forward, I lunged as well, pushing my hammer into its throat. My plan was to negate its jump and force it straight up, landing awkwardly in the trench. Unfortunately, the dog was much more massive than anticipated, and while I slowed it down a bit, I was forced backward. His claws slammed into my chest, knocking me onto my back. I tried to recover and force my hammer into his mouth, thinking his next attack would be for my jugular, but instead he shifted his head to the side and clamped down on my forearm. ¡°Gyaaaaaaah!¡± I cried in agony as I felt my bones crush beneath his powerful jaws. My hammer fell from my unresponsive fingers, and I awkwardly tried to form a mana blade on my left hand. My nails kept glancing off the rocky armor that covered its throat and body, and I couldn¡¯t focus enough through the pain to get a proper blade formed. In the corner of my vision, I saw my stamina and health draining rapidly, both less than 1/3 at this point. In desperation, I tried to get my feet underneath the dog and force it away from my body. I managed to raise it up enough that it couldn¡¯t continue savaging my arm, then my feet slipped and his body came crashing down on me. His jaws were the last thing I saw before
You have died. As you are above level ten, death takes his toll. You¡¯ve lost 10% of the experience required for the next level and 3 gold. All equipped items have lost 10% of their maximum durability. Would you like to revive at Kobold Sanctuary? Y/N?
Chapter 16 I woke up in the courtyard outside of the arena in town. Damn, those hounds are tough. I¡¯ll have to think over how best to tackle them, especially if they can see my traps. Oh well, at least I¡¯m back in town with everything in my inventory. I had some time to kill, as the death miasma was still in effect. As a penalty for choosing to revive in a safe location, adventurers suffered the death miasma, which lasted for ten minutes and lowered all stats by 60%. This was to prevent people from needlessly throwing away their lives in an attempt to kill whatever took them out before it could heal. If you died before the death miasma went away, it would build. Threading my way through the crowds, I headed towards Dharkiss¡¯ shop. ¡°Yo Dharkiss, you in?¡± I called out as I walked into an empty front of the store. ¡°Well, well, well, if it isn¡¯t Angus back already. What happened? It seems your pants there are a little worse for wear.¡± Looking down, I could see massive tears where the hounds and rats had managed to slash them. ¡°Yeah, met up with somethin¡¯ that was a little tougher than I was. Rock hound sent me to respawn.¡± ¡°Heh, yeah, them are some right terrors if you aren¡¯t prepared. So I¡¯m guessing you need some repairing?¡± ¡°Yeah, can you go ahead and top everything off? How much do I owe you?¡± Walking closer, he started inspecting everything I was wearing. ¡°Fifty silver to fix everything.¡± Nodding at him, I handed over the money and was enveloped in a golden light. In order to balance between realism and expediency, the game had all repairs done at a blacksmith¡¯s shop at a vastly increased pace. Of course, you were always free to try and repair it on your own, but it had two downsides. It took a lot longer, and there was always a chance that you could lower the effectiveness and maximum durability of what you were repairing. Rumor was that a player that reached grandmaster rank in blacksmithing would be able to repair things like the shopkeepers did, but I had no idea if anyone had reached that level yet. Most likely those people were squirreled away among the top guilds, living an easy life so long as they repaired the clan¡¯s equipment. ¡°Thanks Dharkiss, I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Not a problem, I¡¯ll always be willing to make your purse just a little lighter, heh.¡± Nodding once again, I headed out to check in and hopefully learn alchemy. The crowd was a little lighter near Djarleen¡¯s shop, so I didn¡¯t have to rub as many shoulders as before. I walked in and saw her hunched over a vat, turning between a book and whatever she was brewing. I silently stood by as she muttered to herself, stirring in ingredients at a rapid pace. At one point she had a finger holding her place in the recipe, her other hand stretched out to grab an uncorked vial, and the spoon had enough energy from her stirring it was still swirling in the pot. After adding that last ingredient, she immediately heaved the pot higher on what was obviously a variable stand, then bent down and tapped the fire mana stone underneath it to shut off the heat. ¡°Thanks for waiting, if you had tried anything I had a rather nasty potion ready to throw at you. Congrats on passing the first test.¡± ¡°Umm, Thanks? Anyway, I have plenty of the reagents for making those potions. Can you show me how really quick? Or point me to a book that has the instructions?¡± She frowned. ¡°There¡¯s a practice lab in the back. Book is on the table, the first two pages are what you need if you want them for a reference. All of the lower level alchemy potions use purified spring water, there¡¯s a large vat of it on the bench. These are incredibly simple. Chop up the mushroom, put it in the beaker, and add 50 milliliters of water. Heat it until it turns red or blue, but don¡¯t boil it. After a few minutes, strain the mushrooms out as you transfer to an Erlenmeyer flask.¡± At my confused look she clarified, ¡°Erlenmeyer flask is the one that has a narrow neck and sloped sides. Once you get it in there, reduce it so that the liquid volume is halved. Once again, it is important that you DO NOT BOIL IT! Get it so the mixture is steaming only. Once it is reduced, you can cool it down and put it in vials. You should get three vials for each attempt.¡± ¡°Thanks, but how do I tell how well the potions turned out?¡± ¡°Make at least ten health and mana potions, and I¡¯ll show you. Start with the health potions, they are a little more forgiving than the mana potions. Now shoo, I¡¯ve got important things to do.¡± Knowing any more questions would probably end with me covered in that nasty potion from earlier, I headed into the back. The first thing I did was locate everything, and set it up for a dry run. Beaker over flame, strainer above funnel, funnel in Erlenmeyer flask. There was a lovely knob setup with the flasks that raised and lowered the entire apparatus to control the heat. Looking around, I decided I was going to add a small step to Djarleen¡¯s directions and got a glass rod for stirring. I had made far too many stews in my life where the bottom was scorched long before everything cooked because the cook didn¡¯t stir it often enough. I wasn¡¯t about to let that happen in an alchemical reaction. Once I was confident with everything, I measured out my water and began heating it while I chopped up the three of the health mushrooms. Skimming through the recipe, it didn¡¯t mention anything about what part of the mushroom I would need, so I ended up dicing everything and transferring it to the beaker. Keeping a steady stir going, I occasionally had to adjust the knob to keep it from boiling. The faintest of pink wisps started leeching from the mushrooms, and I kept stirring for at least five minutes. By that time, it was the color of an apple so I shut off the heat. I put on one of the overstuffed gloves and quickly transferred the mixture through the strainer. After about thirty seconds of draining and pressing the mushroom bits, I had the vast majority of the potion out. I removed the strainer and started to clean it and my beaker as the potion started reducing. It was much simpler keeping the second flask at the proper temperature as the adjuster had much finer gradations. After another five minutes of near boiling, it had changed from a bright red to a much darker, almost maroon potion. I stopped the heat and transferred it to the three vials with the aid of the funnel. I left them to cool for a bit, and started a marathon of potion making. It took about ten minutes per batch of three, slightly less as I was cleaning glassware as I went along. The mana potions ended up being the color of blueberry pie filling, and by the time I had started them my technique was fairly settled, and they all came out uniform in color. I finished ten batches of health and mana with no issues, but only ended up making one batch of stamina potions. Djarleen was right, something was weird about those mushrooms. The solution barely had any yellow coloring at all, and I didn¡¯t feel like wasting any more time on it. I had already spent over three hours at this point, and was starting to go cross-eyed. Walking in to the main area, I placed both sets of trays of vials on the counter in front of Djarleen. ¡°Finished, ten batches each of health and mana. Can you show me the way to determine how I did?¡± ¡°Color me impressed, most of you adventurers don¡¯t have the patience to spend a few hours brewing minor potions like that. First, have you figured out how to manipulate your mana yet?¡± ¡°Yes, I can form mana blades.¡± ¡°Great, that¡¯s the hardest part. What I need you to do is to put one hand on each side of the bottle, and send a mana stream from one hand to the other. Keep your mind blank, focus only on information. Your mana is going to travel through the object, and pick up that information for you. When you start to understand, you should get a tingle in your receiving hand. At that point you are done, and can identify the potion. Go ahead and try.¡± I closed my eyes, and concentrated on sending a stream of mana from my right hand to my left. Once I had that established, I started to try and feel what the potion was. After a while, I felt my left hand start tingling, and opened my eyes to a prompt.
New skill gained! Essence of Potions beginner lvl 1. For ten mana, can identify low level potions and poisons. Increasing this skill will increase the level of potions that can be identified and can sometimes include the ingredients of the potion.
Minor health potion (High quality) Though created by an amateur alchemist, care was taken during the brewing of this potion and has resulted in a slight increase in potency. Heals 55 hit points (50 + 5 quality)
¡°You ever been an alchemist before? Not many can say that they have made a high quality potion on their first try.¡± ¡°No, never been an alchemist but I am a cook. I used a few tricks I have picked up in the kitchen to prevent it from burning.¡± ¡°Well, either way I am going to have to reevaluate my impression of you. Congrats, I now name you my apprentice. I¡¯ll give you a bit of training in a few days, I have quite a large order to fill. Sadly, it is a rather complicated process and I won¡¯t have time to even show you what I am doing. So you have two days before it really begins. Until then, I want you to make as many health and mana potions as you can and use them to grind your new Essence of potions skill. I see you tried making one of the stamina ones, go ahead and identify it.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Minor stamina potion (Poor quality) Though care was taken during the brewing of this potion, there was an error somewhere along the way and drastically reduced the potency of the potion. Recover 5 stamina (50 ¨C 45 quality)
¡°Ouch, that took out a lot of the possible boost from that potion. Any idea what caused it?¡± ¡°No, and not many people are willing to research it for such a low tier potion. Now, come back tomorrow and grind your skills out.¡± ¡°OK, well thanks Djarleen. I can¡¯t wait for that training, but if you need anything from me let me know, ok? I¡¯m heading back to the inn and logging out for the night.¡± I looked at her, but she was already organizing for her next round of brewing. Shaking my head, I headed out and into the crowds one last time. It seemed like the city was winding down, as it was nearing dinner time. It took me twice as long to get back to my inn, just because of the foot traffic. ¡°Welcome back Angus! Dinner is running a bit late tonight, all my deliveries were a few hours behind.¡± ¡°Damnit, just what I didn¡¯t want to hear.¡± ¡°Hey now, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Unless you know of a way to make lamb roast cook faster? No? Then stop complaining.¡± ¡°Sorry Alnoss, just got frustrated with all the people around and the day I¡¯ve had.¡± ¡°Wanna talk about it? I think that¡¯s in the job description of inn keepers and barkeepers.¡± ¡°Tell you what, let me vent a bit of frustration in your kitchen? Do you have eggs, flour and some frying oil?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll set it out for you but whatever you make you gotta share. Remember our deal?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯ll fry up a whole plate. Just show me the way.¡± Following her back, I saw her pull out the requested ingredients. While she was heating the pan and the oil, I took out a handful of the stamina mushrooms and started cleaning them. I don¡¯t care how some people eat them, I will never eat the gills of mushrooms, and most of the time not the stems either. After cleaning them, I rinsed them rather well, then diced the caps on the cutting board into bite sized pieces. Scramble the eggs in a bowl, dredge the mushrooms in the flour in a separate bowl, egg dunk, then flour again to make a decently thick batter, then into the oil. The whole process took about thirty minutes, and about six separate batches of mushroom chunks, but we filled up a large platter. ¡°Hey Alnoss, why don¡¯t you head in before me for a second, I just got a notification that I want to check. I¡¯ll only be a minute.¡± ¡°Sure thing, hopefully it puts you in a better mood.¡± As she walked off, I was rather surprised by the notification that popped up.
New skill gained! Cooking Advanced lvl 3. You take the time to properly clean and prepare all ingredients. Increasing your skill will increase the bonuses from your food as well as the chance for creating superior dishes.
Well, I guess the game thought frying mushrooms was an advanced technique. Not only that, but tough enough to do properly to completely skip the beginner and intermediate levels. I had no problems with that, as it would take far less grinding to get to where I can make decent dishes. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I headed into the main area. ¡°Hey Alnoss, guess who just unlocked the cooking skill at advanced level 3?¡± ¡°Seriously? This is the first thing you¡¯ve cooked? I hate to admit it, but that¡¯s somewhat impressive.¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯m a cook in the adventurer¡¯s world, so it really isn¡¯t that impressive. I¡¯ve actually had years of practice.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense then. So what do you call this dish? And when would you serve it Mr. Chef?¡± ¡°Ha! I¡¯m no chef, just a cook. This would be a great appetizer, fried mushrooms. Let¡¯s dig in, see how they taste.¡± I popped the first one into my mouth right after Alnoss did, and we both closed our eyes in pleasure as the juices flooded our mouths. Nobody said a word for the next few minutes, until the entire platter was gone. ¡°Oh god, I ate way too much.¡± ¡°Me too. Damn, those are delicious. What mushrooms were those? And how did you prepare them? I am totally using this recipe in the future.¡± ¡°Stamina mushrooms, remove the stems and gills. Then chop ¡®em up, batter ¡®em, and fry ¡®em.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Care to make some for our customers? I¡¯ll give you half of what they bring in, I¡¯ll sell them at 20 silver a plate.¡± ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ve got a bunch in my inventory. I¡¯ll prepare about 100 mushrooms, and you can flour and fry them to order. If you do anything else, they will get soggy.¡± ¡°Deal. That should make about fifty plates or so, I¡¯m not going to overload them. Does that sound like the right amount?¡± ¡°Yep, sounds perfect. Ok, I¡¯m going to go and set this up, good luck with your sales tonight.¡± I went back into the kitchen as Alnoss went to set up a sign with the special. Midway through preparing my mushrooms, I noticed I had a buff icon above my status bars. Mentally clicking it, I got a rather impossible message.
Food buff You have eaten a high quality meal, Fried Mushrooms (stamina). For the next 8 hours you will recover stamina 75% faster while outside combat.
How the Hell? The mushrooms didn¡¯t do anything for making the potion, what caused them to give me that buff when I made food? Damnit, I was too tired for this. I headed up to my room and laid down on the bed. ¡°Logout.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * I left the game and decided to swing by the caf¨¦ to chat with the others. It had been a few days, and I needed a few fresh brains to pick for some ideas that were percolating in my head. Walking in, I saw all of them at our usual table. ¡°Hey guys, how was your first day outta the dungeons?¡± ¡°He lives! Missed you yesterday. You feeling a little better today?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°A little better, but I¡¯ve got a few issues from today I¡¯m still trying to work out.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hear ¡®em.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Perhaps the group will succeed where the individual fails.¡± ¡°Sure. First is something you guys won¡¯t be able to help with, I got my first death today at the jaws of a rock hound.¡± ¡°The hell is a rock hound?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Think of the biggest dog you¡¯ve ever seen. Then triple his muscles, and give him a set of rock armor thick enough that a crossbow couldn¡¯t pierce.¡± I shuddered at the memories. ¡°I underestimated how much momentum one could generate, and he made me pay. I think Derrick¡¯s character is the only one strong enough to face it in straight up strength.¡± ¡®Wheeeeew.¡± Derrick whistle in appreciation. ¡°That¡¯s one tough dog if it has the strength of a troll. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure something out about how to take it down, they can¡¯t have armor everywhere.¡± The others were nodding in agreement, so I decided to keep the conversation moving. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got a few irons in the fire on that point. My other issue is alchemy related.¡± ¡°Got your job, eh?¡± Phoebe smiled. ¡°Yeah, made a few potions, and got someone to agree to take me as an apprentice. I¡¯m having an issue with a minor stamina potion though.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s because there aren¡¯t any minor stamina potions.¡± Phoebe said matter of factly. ¡°I¡¯ve known several alchemists, and everyone agrees. There¡¯s no way to make a minor stamina pot.¡± ¡°I would agree if not for something weird that happened. I made the potion like I would a mana or health one, and ended up with something that only gave about 5 stamina recovery.¡± Phoebe was nodding, this information was apparently nothing new to her. ¡°Well, I took those same mushrooms later and cooked ¡®em up. Diced, battered, and fried. They were honestly delicious, and gave me cooking skill advanced level 3. Nothing too spectacular, until I noticed the buff I received.¡± ¡°Wait, you got a buff for eating fried mushrooms?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Seriously Jon? You never splurged on food have you?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°If you get someone to make it right, and use quality ingredients you can get a decent buff that lasts up to 24 hours. High quality chefs can basically name their price and guilds would be more than willing to pay. There¡¯s always a slot open for long raids as most of the drops can be cooked into helpful dishes.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that last bit? Drops on a raid?¡± ¡°Ok, say you are going on a raid through a volcanic wasteland, and the majority of the monsters are fire breathing salamanders. If you cook the meat they drop properly, it will give you a good boost to fire resistance without having to change any of your equipment. So, Marty, what buff did you get from those stamina mushrooms?¡± ¡°Boost to out of combat stamina recovery, 75% for 8 hours.¡± Jaws collectively dropped. ¡°Seventy five? That¡¯s. . . that¡¯s HUGE!¡± Phoebe shrieked when she found her voice. ¡°Seriously, what did you do to get that bonus?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was wondering myself. I didn¡¯t do anything weird to them, just diced them up, battered in flour and fried them. No special ingredients other than the mushrooms themselves.¡± ¡°Ok, walk us through both preps.¡± Derrick said. ¡°We will find something different, you just have to tell us exactly how you did it.¡± ¡°OK. Potion prep first. Dice up the mushrooms, put them into hot water, stirring occasionally as you keep it just under boiling temperature. Anything beyond that wouldn¡¯t have mattered because the potion never really changed colors. For the fried mushrooms, I cleaned them and diced them.¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Derrick interrupted. ¡°Cleaned them how?¡± ¡°Oh, cut off the stems and removed the gills.¡± ¡°Thought gills were only on fish?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Naw, they are also those little brown flaky things on the underside of a mushroom¡¯s cap.¡± Derrick clarified. ¡°So you removed the gills and stems. There¡¯s the difference, and I¡¯m willing to bet that is the issue with the potion.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying make a potion with just the cap tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yeah, you can do a lot. I would also bet that you could find a stamina potion recipe from those gills and stems. Just gotta find the right solvent.¡± ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s a thought. What solvents am I going to get in a medieval setting though?¡± ¡°Pretty much going to be limited to alcohol and water to be honest.¡± ¡°Yeah, I figured as much on that point. How come you know so much about this anyhow? You a chemist or something?¡± ¡°No, nothing like that. I¡¯ve just had my share of Wiki benders.¡± ¡°What the heck is a Wiki bender?¡± Phoebe asked the question on everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Simple. Sometimes I like looking at things on Wikipedia. You¡¯ll get half way through an article on say beer, a wonderful topic I like to look up. You notice something about old friars brewing it way back in the day. So you click on the link, and get half way through that article before you find another tangent to go down. Soon enough, what started out as a history of beer has you looking at the evolution of the seals for British nobility and what the heraldry stands for. That, my friends, is a Wiki bender.¡± Staring at him for a bit, we all broke down into laughter at the absurdity of tangents that are possible. The rest of the night went pleasantly, without any more serious topics coming up. Chapter 17 I woke up grumpy after a night of odd dreams. Something about fish and giant dogs chasing me. I stumbled into the kitchen and ordered a pot of coffee. Logically I knew that digital coffee wouldn¡¯t do anything to help me wake up, but damn if it didn¡¯t do it anyway. I didn¡¯t want to bother with breakfast, I had a long day ahead of me in the game. I wasn¡¯t going to be any closer to killing those rock hounds, but I was going to fully exploit all the help Derrick gave me last night. I headed towards the door, and entered Oblivion Online. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I walked downstairs and saw an extremely happy Alnoss fluttering around and cleaning tables that already gleamed. ¡°Hey Alnoss, what¡¯s got you in such a great mood?¡± ¡°ANGUS!¡± She was across the room so fast I swore there had to be a movement skill involved. ¡°Those mushrooms were a huge hit! Keep coming up with those hit recipes, we¡¯re going to be rich!¡± She said while hugging the life out of me. ¡°I plan on it, but could you please loosen up a bit? I¡¯m suffocating over here.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry about that. By the way, here¡¯s your pay for last night.¡± As she pulled away from the hug, she dropped 5 gold coins into my hand. ¡°We sold out insanely fast. Once the first table tried them, the rest had to see what they got that was inhaled so fast.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad for that. I won¡¯t have anything new for a few days though. I¡¯m going to be doing some alchemy experiments today and tomorrow Djarleen is going to be officially training me. After that I¡¯ll be heading out to settle the score with some rock hounds.¡± ¡°Rock hounds? Oh, you have to be careful with them but they make great steaks. Try and get me some, will you? I¡¯ll even show you how I prepare them.¡±
New quest alert! Alnoss has requested you collect rock hound steaks for her.
Conditions Rewards Failure
Collect at least 20 pieces of rock hound meat New recipe, increased relationship with Alnoss Decreased relationship with Alnoss
¡°Sure Alnoss, a new recipe sounds great. I¡¯ll make sure to bring back plenty.¡± ¡°Thanks Angus, you¡¯re great.¡± ¡°I know!¡± I replied in a smug manner, taking a fake superhero pose. ¡°Just kidding. Hey, before I go can I get some breakfast?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go grab a bowl of porridge for you.¡± I sat down at the counter as she ran back into the kitchen and quickly returned with a steaming bowl. I hurriedly ate it, and headed down through the oddly empty streets to Djarleen¡¯s shop. I must be up earlier than most kobolds, but that was fine with me. Luckily Djarleen was up as well, as I walked right into her shop. Although, up might be a strong word for what she was. Standing behind the counter, she was staring off into space with glassy eyes. I¡¯m sure she was a few seconds from completely passing out. ¡°Morning Djarleen, sleep well?¡± *Snort* ¡°Gahg, Huh? Whazza? Angus? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to try some experiments in the back room if you don¡¯t mind?¡± ¡°Sure, sure, just don¡¯t blow yourself up. And thanks for cleaning up after yourself properly, I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t have to beat that into you. There¡¯s nothing worse than using glassware you thought was clean and having an expensive potion ruined because some stupid apprentice ¡®forgot¡¯ to clean things properly. If you do hat, I¡¯ll make you pay for it.¡± ¡°No worries, where adventurers come from I¡¯m a cook, and I know all the dangers of cross contamination. Oh, before I go, do you have any alcohol solution and can I possibly use a bit of it today?¡± ¡°It¡¯s what time in the morning and you want to drink already?¡± She glared at me. ¡°No, no it¡¯s nothing. . .¡± I stammered out. ¡°Hah, your face! Sorry, but I needed a laugh for a bit. Yes, we have it, look for the container labeled Aqua Forte. There¡¯s a few things you need to know first. It¡¯s expensive, so use it sparingly. Start out with ten mL aliquots for your potions. It¡¯s also very flammable so watch your heat.¡± ¡°Will do, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll let you know how much I end up using. Hopefully I¡¯ll have a couple new potions by the end of the day.¡± ¡°Hah, good luck with that! Tell you what, you get me the information on two perfected potions by the end of the day, and I¡¯ll pay for your admission to the alchemist¡¯s guild, potion registration, and a field lab setup for you.¡±
New quest alert! Your boasting about making two new potions has intrigued Djarleen. She has offered you a quest to back up your boast.
Conditions Rewards
Create two new potions by the end of the day Djarleen will pay your entrance fee to the alchemist guild, registration for both potions, and a field alchemy set.
¡°I¡¯ll definitely take that quest Djarleen, thanks for the offer. I¡¯m sure that stuff would be rather expensive otherwise.¡± ¡°Sure thing, now go ahead and get going. You only have a little bit of time.¡± Smiling, I quickly walked to the back room. Remembering something, I poked my head back to ask Djarleen, ¡°Hey, do we have anything to take notes on?¡± ¡°There¡¯s notebooks in the back cabinet. Take one for yourself, every good alchemist needs notes.¡± ¡°Thanks again!¡± I waved and headed to the back cabinet to grab a notebook and pen to write with. I started out at my normal station, and grabbed two extra bowls. I started out with a quarter of my supply of stamina mushrooms, and got to prepping. Stems went into one bowl, gills went into the second bowl, and caps into the third one. Halfway through this prep, I had another idea. The caps were multicolored, what if whatever boosted stamina was concentrated in the colored areas? I pulled the caps back out, and got another bowl. The colored areas ended up being a conic shape, which was rather easy to cut out of the caps. One bowl got the removed colored cones, the other got the rest of the cap. Once I had everything separated, I started mincing up the reagents, making sure to clean my knife between ingredients. The gills were the only thing I didn¡¯t need to further reduce in size. That done, I started with what I assumed was going to be a failure. I measured out ten grams of the minced stems, and went through the heating process in water. Not surprisingly I got no color change. The resulting potion after straining and reducing was clearly disappointing, but a good way to grind a bit of experience for [Essence of potions].
Failed potion This potion is a failure and will provide no benefits if consumed, other than to ease your thirst.
Not unexpected, as the stems were the least likely place to have whatever stamina poisons were in the mushroom. I cleaned the glassware properly after everything was done, not wanting to do it while things were running so I wouldn¡¯t be distracted. I could have saved a little bit of time by cleaning as I went, but the chances of an unknown potion accident would have increased to unacceptable levels. Before I started the next experiment, I needed to do some thinking. The gills were a much smaller portion of the mushroom by weight, and if they contained enough poison to neutralize what was in the caps, then it had to be much more concentrated. I decided to start out with three grams of gills, and slowly heated that. As the solution started to steam a bit, I noticed it was starting to turn a burnt orange color. Excellent, this was evidence Derrick was right with his guess last night. I finished the procedure, and had three vials of a new potion. I labeled them TB1G, for Test Batch 1 Gills, marked in my book what initial ingredients went into it, and identified it.
Minor stamina poison Depending on how it is introduced, this potion will deplete an enemy¡¯s stamina. If consumed orally: Drains 30 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 10 minutes If injected: Drains 60 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 5 minutes
Oh, this was amazing! It wouldn¡¯t do much immediate damage to stamina, but preventing stamina regen for even a minute in a close fight would be devastating. I assumed injection would include if you coated your weapon in it and managed to break the skin. I was ecstatic with even these results, but I had told Djarleen that the potion would be perfected and the chances of that on the first try were next to nil. For my next test, I stayed with the gills, but changed the solute. Measuring out three grams of gills, and added it to ten milliliters of Aqua Forte. Before I even started heating it, the solution rapidly changed to the burnt orange color. Hmm, this was interesting. I swirled it without heating for five minutes, and strained it into a vial. Labelling it TB2G, I noted my changes to procedure in the notebook and looked over the changes.
Stamina poison Depending on how it is introduced, this poison will rapidly drain an opponent¡¯s stamina. If consumed orally: Drains 90 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 30 minutes If injected: Drains 180 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 15 minutes
Good God! This stamina poison is brutal and obviously prefers to be in alcohol. OK, time for experimenting. My next run was with three grams in alcohol, but I heated it this time and got no change in potency, which was great. Heating an alcohol solution was nerve wracking, and was going to be a step I enjoyed skipping. I made a table in my notebook, and did several runs at varying starting amounts for the gills, to see if I could hit the maximum the alcohol could hold.
Starting amount Potion results (oral only)
1 gram Drains 30 stamina, no regen 10 minutes
3 grams Drains 90 stamina, no regen 30 minutes
5 grams Drains 150 stamina, no regen 50 minutes
7 grams Drains 180 stamina, no regen 1 hour
10 grams Drains 180 stamina, no regen 1 hour
Looking at my results, I was happy. I was confident that I had a fully optimized potion. Everything scaled linearly, up until 6 grams. After that it plateaued, showing that anything above 6 grams would be leaving some poison in the gills. Just to prove that point, I took the strained gills from the ten-gram potion, and made another one that drained 120 stamina and stopped regeneration for 40 minutes. Exactly what I would be expecting. The system must have agreed with me, because I got a new description from my last run of six grams.
Elixir of stamina poison This poison was brewed for maximum effectiveness of ingredients, and will have different effects based on how it is introduced. Oral consumption: Drains 180 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for one hour If injected: Drains 360 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 30 minutes.
Elixirs were incredible. If you got one, you knew that it was the absolute top of the line for what could be produced using the ingredients involved. For common ingredients like the mushrooms I was using, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad but when you got into expensive ingredients like Phoenix Breath or Unicorn Hair, making an elixir out of the ingredients was priority number one. Recipe¡¯s for top tier elixirs were either jealously guarded, or sold for exorbitant sums. Think small country GDP type sums, and you would be in the low end. Distracted from my musings, I noticed a flashing icon.
Due to a special action, you have unlocked an achievement
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
New Frontiers I Create a new potion or poison +1% increased loot quality Create 5 new potions or poisons
Perfectionist I Create an elixir +1% potion effectiveness, -1% poison effectiveness Create 5 unique elixirs
Seeker of Knowledge I Be the first to create a unique elixir recipe +10% chance to find hidden objects Create 3 unique elixir recipes
Three new achievements? Wow, this could be a great way to get some great bonuses. If nobody bothered to optimize some of the lower level alchemy potions, I could grind out some great bonuses for Seeker of Knowledge. Plus, anything that triggered Seeker of Knowledge would also fall under Perfectionist. With renewed energy, I set out to do my next set of experiments. I started with water and ten grams of the minced mushroom cap, and got the disappointing result of not having a true potion. Oh well, that just meant that the colored parts of the mushrooms would be what contained the properties I needed. Taking ten grams of the colored cones, I minced them up and added them to 50 mL of water. Heating it to just under boiling, I stirred and watched with growing excitement as the solution gradually grew more colorful, taking on a yellow tinge. After five minutes, I transferred and reduced it, excitedly checking with the [Essence of potion] skill.
Minor stamina potion This potion will invigorate whoever drinks it, restoring a portion of their stamina. Recover 50 stamina
Success! I knew that there had to be a way for low level characters to recover stamina, and it felt great to be proven right. Next was the repetitive task of optimizing the potion, but knowing that I could get some bonuses from it helped keep me focused. Before going on a series run using different amounts of mushroom, I made one using ten grams of the mushroom cap in ten mL of alcohol, but the resulting potion only recovered 35 stamina. That ruled out using alcohol as the base, since it wasn¡¯t as efficient as water was. Once again I filled a page in the notebook with a table.
Initial amount Potion amounts
10 g 50 stamina
12 g 60 stamina
14 g 70 stamina
16 g 75 stamina
18 g 75 stamina
Well, it looked like the perfect amount would be 15 grams of mushroom per potion. Hoping I was correct, I prepared the last test batch and created my final stamina potion.
Elixir of minor stamina This potion has been fully optimized to give the best results for the ingredients used. Recovers 75 stamina
Now that I had definitively completed Djarleen¡¯s test, I wanted to see just how much I could squeeze out of these low level elixirs. I was willing to bet that nobody had gone through the process to optimize the minor elixirs for mana and health, so I set out to do that as well. After another two hours of testing, I had finished. All three of the elixirs topped out at 15 grams of the colored portions of the mushrooms and recovered 75 of each attribute. I was more excited about the upgrade to the Seeker of Knowledge achievement.
Achievement upgraded!
Achievement Bonus Requirements for next level
Seeker of Knowledge II +15% chance to find hidden objects Create 5 unique elixir recipes
Potions and elixirs in hand, I headed in to the main area of the shop to talk with Djarleen. ¡°Giving up already? It¡¯s barely been five hours, I thought you were tough enough to at least give it a full day.¡± ¡°I would have if I needed to, but I managed to complete your quest. I might have gone a bit above and beyond to be honest.¡± ¡°You finished two recipes? Impossible, I know what reagents you have access to. There¡¯s no possible potion you could have made with any of those combinations.¡± I slapped myself in the forehead. ¡°Damn, I forgot to try if I could get any combination potions! Let me go back.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, stop! What are you blabbering about? If you didn¡¯t get it by mixing potion ingredients, what did you do?¡± ¡°Perfected a stamina poison, stamina potion, and figured out the elixir recipes for the health and mana potions while I was at it. Here, take a look if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± I handed her the tray that contained all my elixirs and watched as she put her hands on them to check them. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it, you actually figured it out. What was the secret for the stamina potion? I know people who have been pondering that for years.¡± ¡°The gills of the mushroom contain a poison that was interfering with the recovery compounds in the colored part of the caps.¡± ¡°Was it seriously that simple? Damn, we just figured it was part of nature not following logic. Ok, now you said something about not making a compound potion? Before we go back there, explain to me what you want to do.¡± ¡°Well, all these potions are fine by themselves, but what would happen if we used all three types of mushrooms when we made the potions?¡± ¡°That¡¯s been tried before. You can get a decent return, but everything drops by a little bit. Although, nobody has a stamina component to theirs, let¡¯s go ahead and try it. Show me what you got, little alchemist!¡± Smiling, Djarleen shooed me into the back, and locked her door to indicate she was closed for a while. Heading back into my prep area, I pulled out my notebook, and a handful of each mushroom. I started slicing into each mushroom, removing the colored portions. I also took the time to collect the gills from the stamina mushrooms, and put them in their own separate vial in my inventory to keep them for a new date. Mincing up each color in its own bowl, I started once again with the experiments. I intentionally started low, and increased it each time.
Amount of each mushroom used Recovery from potion
5 grams 23 health, mana, and stamina
10 grams 45 health, mana, and stamina
12 grams 54 health, mana, and stamina
15 grams 68 health, mana, and stamina
17 grams 70 health, mana, and stamina
19 grams 70 health, mana, and stamina
Looking at the results, it seems that a mixture type potion could only recover a maximum of 70 for each attribute. I really wanted that elixir recipe, so I made a two potions at 16 grams each, one using water and one using alcohol. The alcohol one failed miserably, most likely because that amount of mushroom absorbed the alcohol instead of the alcohol leeching out the compounds in the mushrooms. The water potion was a smashing success.
Elixir of minor recoveryThis story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. This elixir has been brewed to perfection, resulting in the greatest return on the components involved. Recovers 70 health, 70 mana, and 70 stamina
Achievements have increased
Achievement Bonus Next level
Perfectionist II +2% to potion effectiveness, -2% to poison effectiveness Create 10 unique elixirs
Seeker of Knowledge III +20% chance to find hidden objects Create 10 unique elixir recipes
¡°Bravo. You are going to make a great alchemist if you keep up that work ethic. Now, you ready to make it official?¡± ¡°Make what official?¡± ¡°Becoming an alchemist. You¡¯ve passed my test, spectacularly I might add. So let¡¯s go to the guild and get you registered.¡± Waving at me to follow, she headed to a door in the back. Holding her necklace up to it, there was a flash of magic and the door opened. Inside was an empty room with an incredibly intricate design etched onto the floor. At five points on the edge of the circular design were indentations in the floor. ¡°Come in and stand in the middle of the array. We will be going in a minute.¡± ¡°Going where though?¡± ¡°The guild headquarters of course. Each of the main guilds maintains a branch in the territories of the dark races to keep access to hard to obtain materials. Those of us that run the branches often get special orders, you saw me rushing on one yesterday. We also have these teleportation arrays hidden in our shops. Now, I just need to put these mana stones in the slots, and they will power the array and send us both to headquarters.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the headquarters in the major human city though? Won¡¯t we be arrested immediately and probably executed?¡± ¡°No, that would be idiotic. That is just a front, the real headquarters are hidden on a remote island. That way if there is an accident it is already isolated and can be contained. Now, no more questions, this is going to feel weird. Don¡¯t throw up on the other side, and let me do most of the talking, got it?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Feel weird? Feel weird was a damn understatement. It felt like my organs were rising in my chest as my body was sent through a ringer. I immediately stumbled to my knees as we finished our transition, chest heaving so I could get enough air. ¡°Back again Djarleen? And with a new traveler to boot?¡± ¡°Hello Markus. Yes, I¡¯m back and I¡¯ll need a few things. This is my new apprentice, I need him evaluated by at least three masters, I¡¯m paying his registration fee, we have several recipes to register, and I need the platinum level field alchemy kit.¡± ¡°Hmm, we can do the kit and registration easily, but I¡¯m not sure about the masters. Faraldo went out to see what he could harvest from the dragon plains, and Hersch will want to fail your apprentice merely on the grounds that he is a kobold. That leaves Bruno and Octavian for sure.¡± As they were talking, I used the opportunity to look around. The guy, Markus, was sitting behind a reception desk with several stacks of papers on it. Behind him were aisles of glassware of all shapes and sizes. Behind us were several different arrays, each slightly different. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what was going on, as not only did certain parts start blurring the more I looked at them but a headache was also forming right between my eyes the longer I looked. I turned to the side, not wanting to exacerbate it, and was stunned. Three levels of a massive library, with books crammed in and secured from falling. Several pedestals at the end of the aisles even had a few books chained down and secured with glowing wards. It was a rather impressive setup. The high security continued behind me. The walls were brick, and had four doors along its length. Each of these doors was magically reinforced, and had several reinforcing bands going across the width of the door. Beside each door was a colored placard. Three of them were green and one was red. ¡°That¡¯s to let you know if someone is in the middle of a delicate experiment in the room. If you see the red placard, under no circumstances are you to enter or even knock on the door. With some of these experiments, a moments distraction could result in disaster.¡± Djarleen informed me, obviously noticing the direction of my gaze. ¡°We will have you in one of them shortly, you will have to demonstrate your new recipes with guild supplied reagents.¡± ¡°Oh? Why guild supplied?¡± ¡°To ensure that you haven¡¯t spiked your reagents with anything in order to pass off a fake recipe. I know you would never do it, but if you get caught trying something that stupid just know that you will be permanently barred from all guilds, and a ban on buying any potion brewed by you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very good reason not to try and cheat. So, what happens when my recipes are verified?¡± ¡°They get registered by the guild, and you have a choice. Keep the recipes to yourself, for your or your clans exclusive use, let the guild sell the recipe as training among its members for a portion of the profits, you can lease the recipe to certain clans under binding agreements, or lease it to the guild itself. If you do the last one, all alchemists will be trained in the recipes for free, and you will receive a small portion of all the proceeds from selling any potions derived from them.¡± ¡°What do you mean, derived from my recipes?¡± ¡°Well, take your elixir of stamina poison. You have a recipe that is easier to follow, but produces a slightly inferior potion, right? Many of the younger alchemists will be producing this version so they can boost their skills, and most of these will be sold in shops. You would get a percentage of those proceeds.¡± ¡°Ah, that makes sense then. I¡¯ll go with that option then, for all of them. They are low level potions anyway, and will probably sell a lot with the low level players.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it young man, but we need to verify your abilities first.¡± I turned to see who was speaking, and met the only elf I had ever seen that appeared old. Tall and almost impossibly thin, his skin was a light tan color. His head had wrinkles that gave him a look almost like bark, and he was completely bald. ¡°Angus, this is Guildmaster Willow. If elves ever forgot anything, you could easily say he forgot more about alchemy than most masters that are in this place.¡± Djarleen said in introduction. ¡°Honored to meet you, Guildmaster.¡± I said with a bow. There was no way in any of the religious hells that I was going to be anything but exceedingly polite with someone at the guildmaster level. ¡°Pleasure to meet you as well, adventurer Angus. Djarleen peaked my interest when she mentioned that you had solved our little stamina potion issue? Masters Bruno and Octavian are on their way, so let¡¯s head into the far left room over there and you can get familiar with the setup.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan, Guildmaster. While we are waiting for the other masters to arrive, would you like to see my notes on the procedure? That way you can verify the notes as well as the procedure.¡± ¡°I was hoping you would ask that, Djarleen I approve of your apprentice already. Now, let¡¯s get this underway, shall we?¡± With that, we all headed into the assigned room. I was rather shocked at the intricacy of the setup. There was a massive table island in the center of the room, with enough room for a work station on each side of the rectangular table. Each of the three walls without a door contained a distillation apparatus, and the wall on the far side even had what looked to be a fume hood complete with exterior vent system. They spared no expense for merely this room, and to think they had three more was mind boggling. ¡°Here apprentice, you dropped your jaw on the floor.¡± Djarleen joked as she saw my reaction. ¡°I know, there¡¯s a lot of very expensive glassware here. I¡¯m glad you don¡¯t have to use it, because it would be incredibly expensive if you went ahead and broke it.¡± ¡°No doubt about that.¡± I replied, heading to the far side of the table so that I could see who entered. I familiarized myself with the layout and tried my best to get things set up how Djarleen¡¯s shop was. Five bowls to my left for ingredients, small cutting and material prep area right in front of me, beaker heating apparatus behind that. I took a minute to get acquainted with the control knob for beaker height, it seemed to have about twice the gradations that I was used to. To the right of that was the Erlenmeyer flask with a funnel, but I couldn¡¯t find any strainer baskets like Djarleen had. ¡°Hey guys, sorry to bother you but where¡¯s the strainer?¡± Djarleen looked down a little sheepishly and replied, ¡°They have actual filter paper here, I just don¡¯t stock it because it is quite expensive. Look in the second drawer from the top.¡± I looked and found several round filter papers that were a bit bigger around than the provided filter. Without thinking about it, I used a trick from my college chemistry class and folded the paper into fourths. I pushed the point of the paper into the funnel from the top, and pulled the first flap of the folds. This opened up the filter so that it sat snugly in the funnel, and wetting it just a little ensured it stayed put. ¡°Interesting technique young one. Would you care to explain why you did it like that?¡± Oh god, I did something weird and now the Guildmaster is paying attention to me again. ¡°Um, sure sir. If you just take a flat piece of paper and try and get it to sit in the funnel properly, you will have some wrinkling no matter how well it is set up. Those wrinkles are places where bits you are trying to strain out can fall through, ruining your work. If you set it up like this, then you can completely filter out everything.¡± ¡°I see, now where did you learn such a technique? I¡¯ve not seen it in any of our recruits, though I¡¯ll admit I don¡¯t see many of them nowadays.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s from the other world inhabited by adventurers. In my schooling there, I had to take a basic course very similar to alchemy. In fact, it is also where I got the procedure to rapidly find the elixir recipes.¡± ¡°A procedure to rapidly find an elixir recipe? Preposterous. Trial and error is the only way!¡± Huffed an older human as he entered. His beard was bound into a tight tail, and disappeared into the thick leather apron he wore. There was a gnome behind him, roughly half his height and sporting some rather eccentric glasses. Five different colored lenses were on hinges for each eye, and her face was covered in small pock marks from some tragedy in her past. ¡°Sure, trial and error will eventually work, but it might take you a long time to get there, and you probably don¡¯t want to do that with expensive reagents.¡± ¡°Bah, reagent costs don¡¯t matter! Only results.¡± ¡°Now Octavian, I¡¯m sure people from rich families such as yourself don¡¯t care about reagent costs, but most of our alchemists are very stingy. Anyway, how is your method performed then Angus?¡± ¡°Well, first you have to understand that a certain amount of liquid acts like a bucket when you are trying to extract compounds from reagents. It can only hold so much, and depending on the reagent a different solvent might be better bucket for the same amount of liquid.¡± ¡°Explain further please¡± the gnome asked. ¡°Ok, sure. Take salt as an example. Salt rapidly dissolves in water. However, if you switch from water to alcohol, the same amount of alcohol will dissolve a much smaller amount of salt. Water makes a better bucket than alcohol, for salt.¡± ¡°Hmm, that does make some sort of sense from what I¡¯ve seen, thank you for clarifying.¡± The gnome said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. So, the first thing I do is see what is the better bucket, water or alcohol. I¡¯ll take the same amount of reagent, and heat it in a solution for the same amount of time. Whichever potion comes out stronger is the better one to use in further testing. I then test a range of different weights of reagent with the same amount of water, looking for the point where the final potion strength levels off.¡± ¡°I think I see!¡± The gnome was getting excited and I could see the Guildmaster smiling. ¡°At some point, the amount of liquid reaches its maximum capacity, so adding more reagent won¡¯t produce any stronger of a potion!¡± ¡°Exactly. Then you just look back through your work and find where that point is. It might take a few extra runs to get it exact, depending on how big your steps were in the initial runs.¡± ¡°Guildmaster, I think we should be teaching this to all our students.¡± ¡°Bah, ridiculous. How great could it be? I¡¯m not convinced.¡± It seems that Octavian would never budge on the procedural aspects of alchemy. ¡°I like the idea of it, but I¡¯m not one hundred percent. Tell me Angus, can you give us an idea of how this might help us?¡± ¡°Well, more complex procedures would obviously have much more steps to optimize, but if you did it one step at a time you could quickly eliminate a lot of possible paths that would be dead ends. As for lesser potions, I optimized all five of my potion recipes earlier today.¡± ¡°FIVE?¡± All three masters exclaimed at the same time. Octavian continued, ¡°Bullshit. Nobody can make five elixir recipes in a day.¡± ¡°Take a seat and watch as I make them all for you then. I¡¯ll have fun proving you wrong. For reagents, I¡¯ll need ten each of the health, mana, and stamina mushrooms.¡± Master Bruno went and got the reagents, and placed them on my table for me. Picking up one of the stamina mushrooms, I pulled two bowls over. ¡°First, I¡¯m taking the gills off the stamina mushrooms. They contain a stamina poison that was ruining the batches when you used the entire mushroom.¡± Not wanting to distract myself with inane conversation, I decided that I would only briefly describe what I was doing then focus on that task. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all realize it, but make sure your knife is thoroughly cleaned after scraping off the gills so you don¡¯t contaminate your potions. For all of these mushrooms, the most important part is the colored portions of the caps. They make a nice cone shape, so you can stick a thin knife in and swirl it around to pop out what you need. The finer you dice the mushroom pars, the quicker your solution will be able to extract things.¡± Once I had everything diced how I needed it, I measured out the required amount of water and added 15 grams of stamina mushroom. ¡°Guildmaster Willow has my notes and can confirm that 15 grams will produce the elixir quality potion. As you are heating it, keep a slow stir so that the pieces don¡¯t settle on the bottom and start to burn. You are looking to maintain a steaming mixture without boiling for at least five minutes. After that, strain and transfer the potion to your Erlenmeyer flask, and reduce it by half. And last, bottle it and you have three Elixirs of minor stamina, one for each of you to examine.¡± I handed each of the masters their own potion, and went about cleaning my glassware in preparation for the next run. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned, it actually is an elixir quality potion.¡± Octavian begrudgingly admitted. ¡°Am I to assume the health and mana elixirs are prepared in the same manner?¡± ¡°Yes sir, 15 grams mushroom in each elixir. There is also an elixir of recovery, that takes 16 grams of each of the three types of mushroom and only restores 70 of each attribute.¡± ¡°You got a trifecta recovery potion? That¡¯s going to be very popular among the adventurers, they¡¯re always griping about how to save space in their inventories.¡± Bruno said. I went ahead and prepared each of the other recovery potions per instructions, and tried to keep from gloating as Octavian got more and more annoyed. ¡°OK, the last one is a poison instead of a recovery potion. It is prepared in 10 mL of Aqua Forte instead of water. It also doesn¡¯t require heating, which is good so there are no accidental fires.¡± I started walking them through the preparation, making sure to stir the solution a few times to speed up the process. As I was working, the guildmaster asked a question. ¡°Angus, why did you make potion runs with the stems and the leftover caps of the mushrooms?¡± ¡°Just in case. I had them there and they were going to be thrown out anyway, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to do a quick run on them just to make sure they didn¡¯t have any surprises hiding inside like the stamina mushroom gills. Oh, here we go, elixir of minor stamina poison is finished.¡± I handed over the vials to the three masters and waited for their comments. ¡°Hmm, this is quite the unique poison. Rather potent too.¡± Willow said. ¡°Yes, and it should dry on a weapon fairly swiftly too. Have you tested its longevity?¡± Bruno asked. ¡°No ma¡¯am. I just finished the elixir today. I know poisons in the adventurer world often have delicate structures, I would suggest doing several tests. Make several doses, and put half in clear bottles and half in dark bottles to block sunlight. Leave some outside, keep some inside but in a warm area such as the kitchen, and some in a temperature controlled area like a wine cellar and check them all periodically. That should tell you if it is stable in the three easiest to control variables: sunlight, temperature, and time.¡± ¡°Perhaps we made a mistake in not taking a closer look at some of these adventurers, eh Octavian?¡± Bruno asked while elbowing him in the, well with their height difference it was his thigh instead of his ribs. Octavian surprisingly didn¡¯t go on a tirade, merely grunting at the gnome. ¡°We will that under advisement, thank you Angus. Now, masters. I vote that all these recipes be accepted and registered under Angus¡¯ name. Objections?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°None.¡± ¡°Excellent. Now, Djarleen, he has been registered, yes?¡± ¡°I finished it before you came down Guildmaster.¡± ¡°Perfect. Angus, as you have contributed to five elixir recipes in your time as an official alchemist, you are eligible for promotion. Unfortunately, we have a slight problem. You don¡¯t have the seniority to be promoted to what your accomplishments demand. Normally anyone with multiple elixir contributions is a senior alchemist at a minimum, often they are promoted to masters. We can¡¯t do that to someone who has been an alchemist for a day, but I have an offer instead. Logia, Goddess of Puzzles, is our patron. She has a test that may be administered to our best and brightest, and depending on your results you may be rewarded. Would you like to take this test?¡±
New quest alert! You are being offered to take the test of Logia, Goddess of Puzzles.
Conditions Rewards Failure
You will be given a puzzle to solve by logic only. Guessing wrong will be heavily penalized. The rules of the test will be explained after acceptance Increased status in the Alchemist Guild, boost to alchemy skill, possible boost to stats. Decreased status in the Alchemist Guild, all alchemy skills will increase at half speed.
This was tough. Accept a test that I had no idea what to expect other than it was a logic puzzle for a boost in the alchemist guild? Normally I would immediately hit yes, but the failure conditions were brutal. Alchemy skill would only increase at half normal speed? That could cripple the character build I was trying to start. ¡°Is there a time limit on the test?¡± ¡°No, but the faster you do it the better the rewards will be.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll take it. I just hope I¡¯m up for the challenge.¡± ¡°I am too. First we need to go to a privacy room.¡± Leading the way, we headed through the reception area and up to the third floor of the library. Walking down the aisle, I reveled in the smell of old books. Technology had advanced in the real world to the point where bookmaking was almost extinct, but they somehow managed to capture that delightful aroma in this game. Willow lead us to a secluded section, and opened a door into a barren room. Only a candle, table and chair was in there, and no windows. ¡°Here¡¯s where you will take your test. I wish you the best of luck.¡± With that, Willow shut the door and I heard it lock. Once the lock clicked shut, the entire room lit up in privacy wards, obviously to ensure that I didn¡¯t cheat. I walked up to the table and sat down. A blue screen popped up into my vision.
Welcome to the trial of Logia. Let logic be your guide on this trial. The test you will soon see before you can be solved entirely with logic, there is no need for guesses. Your results will be based on your speed and how many mistakes you make. Be warned, in this trial a simple mistake can cascade downwards and ruin your results! Rules: This test is a variation of Sudoku. Each 9 x 9 grid has been color coded for your convenience. The 3 x 3 purple boxes belong to BOTH the red 9 x 9 squares and the blue 9 x 9 squares. Each 9 x 9 square will have the numbers 1 ¨C 9 used once in each row, column, and 3 x 3 square. Your task is to fill out the missing portions of the board. Several grid locations have been filled in to get you started. Good luck adventurer!
9 7 5 6
6 3
4 3 9
5 1 8 6 3
1 6 3 4 5
2 5 4 9 3 4
3 2 4 6 7 9
7 9 5 2 5 8 6 3 2
1 5 1 8 4 7
8 6 8 4
3 1 6 5 9 8
1 6 2 8 1 7 9 4 9 6 5 3 8 4
5 6 5 1 3 4 8 2 6
3 7 6 1 7 6 8 4 6 5 8 1 3
7 2 8 9 5 8 2
9 2 4 6 3 5 4 5
3 6 1 2 2 1 4
7 5 8 6 3 9 8 9 3 8 9 5 3 2
3 1 3 6 7 6 7 5 8 1
6 9 1 5 7 1 6 7 3 6 2 6 5
9 4 8 1 3 6
1 4 2 5 9 2
8 1 7 6 8 9
7 8 6 4 1 6 5 2 9 4
3 5 1 9 3 1 2 8 1
9 1 8 3 7 6 2
8 5 4
6 7 5 8
9 2 3
3 9
1 6 7 8
9 4 6
Chapter 18 It took me a little over an hour, and a massive headache later, but I finally finished that Sudoku puzzle. Whoever came up with such a test must have been just a little sadistic.
9 1 3 7 8 5 2 4 6
8 6 2 9 4 1 7 3 5
5 7 4 2 3 6 9 8 1
4 5 7 1 9 8 6 2 3
3 9 8 5 6 2 1 7 4
1 2 6 3 7 4 8 5 9
2 1 9 4 7 3 6 8 5 4 2 9 3 1 7 2 9 8 6 5 4
5 3 6 8 2 1 7 4 9 8 1 3 5 6 2 4 7 1 3 9 8
8 4 7 9 6 5 2 3 1 6 5 7 4 9 8 6 5 3 2 1 7
4 7 1 6 3 8 5 9 2 9 5 1 8 3 4 7 6 2
9 8 5 7 1 2 4 6 3 2 8 3 1 6 7 9 4 5
6 2 3 5 9 4 1 7 8 7 4 6 5 2 9 8 3 1
1 9 6 4 2 7 3 5 8 1 4 7 9 2 6 5 8 3 1 7 4 9 8 6 5 2 3 7 6 1 8 9 4
4 5 8 1 3 9 7 6 2 3 5 9Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. 8 1 4 9 2 7 6 3 5 7 4 2 1 8 9 4 2 3 5 6 7
3 2 7 5 6 8 1 9 4 2 8 6 3 5 7 4 6 1 8 2 9 3 1 5 4 7 6 5 9 8 1 2 3
5 6 3 7 4 2 9 8 1 7 6 1 8 5 9 2 4 3 9 1 5 8 7 2 4 3 6
9 7 2 8 5 1 4 3 6 2 9 3 6 7 4 5 1 8 8 4 7 6 3 9 2 5 1
8 4 1 3 9 6 2 7 5 4 8 5 1 3 2 7 9 6 6 3 2 1 5 4 9 7 8
7 1 5 9 8 4 6 2 3 7 9 5 1 4 8 7 9 6 3 5 2 1 9 4 7 6 8 9 1 5 3 4 2
2 3 4 6 7 5 8 1 9 3 4 6 5 7 2 3 4 8 9 6 1 8 7 2 3 5 4 2 8 6 7 1 9
6 8 9 2 1 3 5 4 7 8 1 2 6 3 9 2 1 5 4 8 7 3 5 6 2 9 1 3 4 7 6 8 5
2 9 6 4 5 8 7 1 3 1 4 3 9 2 7 6 8 5
1 7 4 6 3 9 2 8 5 5 9 6 4 3 8 1 2 7
3 8 5 1 2 7 9 6 4 2 7 8 5 6 1 9 4 3
7 5 8 9 6 3 4 2 1 7 6 9 8 3 5 2 1 9 4 7 6
4 3 2 5 7 1 8 9 6 3 5 1 7 2 4 6 8 3 5 1 9
9 6 1 2 8 4 3 5 7 4 2 8 6 1 9 7 4 5 8 3 2
1 3 8 5 7 6 4 9 2
6 7 2 9 3 4 1 5 8
5 4 9 8 1 2 3 6 7
7 6 3 2 8 5 9 4 1
2 1 4 6 9 7 5 8 3
9 8 5 1 4 3 2 7 6
As I hit the last bit and submitted my answers, I got a blue popup screen.
Quest complete! You have successfully finished the Trial of Logia. Your final time was one hour, four minutes and 23 seconds with zero mistakes. For completing the puzzle, you have earned the following: +10 wisdom +10 intelligence Logia¡¯s Blessing Alchemy skill increased to Advanced Lvl 1
Logia¡¯s Blessing You have been blessed by the Goddess of puzzles. While you maintain her favor, intelligence and wisdom requirements to use equipment will be lowered by 20%
Alchemy skill increase! Your alchemy skill has increased to Advanced lvl 1. You now have a +40% chance to brew a higher quality potion or poison.
Well, the boost to wisdom and intelligence was great, as was the increase to my alchemy skill. As for Logia¡¯s Blessing, while I was glad to have it I didn¡¯t see how it would help me that much. Most equipment that would require intelligence and wisdom to equip tended to be staves, wands and robes for the mage type classes. I suppose I might stumble across a few rings that might need the bonus. I turned to the door and touched the handle, watching as the wards all disappeared and the door clicked open. Three people were staring at me with anxious looks on their faces. ¡°Hey guys, I finished!¡± ¡°I see you succeeded young man. Congratulations, and let me be the first to welcome you as an official alchemist.¡± Willow was the first to speak. ¡°Thanks, sorry if I seem a little out of sorts. That test was brutal, and my brain is a little fuzzy.¡± ¡°Understandably so. Logia isn¡¯t one to slack on the difficulty. Now, before we call it quits, I need to see you in my office for a few things. Nothing terrible, but we do need to figure out how to disperse your new recipes.¡± Turning after he stopped speaking, Willow headed towards a balcony crosswalk to reach the rooms that were above the testing laboratories. I stumbled after him after casting a bewildered look at Djarleen. She simply made a shooing motion and made no offer to help. We entered a door marked Willow and into a spacious office. There were multiple desks, each with its own unique reagent and several scattered pages of notes. The guildmaster went around his main desk, and sat underneath what had to be his crowning achievement. Blood vials of different colors, each clearly labeled and from a different raid tier monster. Blue blood from a frost giant, ashes that seemed to be suspended in a fiery red from a balrog, deep purple from a leviathan, and a black ichor with virulent greens from an undead plague dragon. ¡°They never fail to make an impression.¡± He chuckled as I hadn¡¯t moved for a few seconds. ¡°How did you ever obtain them? They must be worth a fortune!¡± ¡°I could probably bankrupt a kingdom or two if I were to offer these on the market. As to obtaining them? Well, high level alchemists are almost always welcomed in a raid, especially if they specialize like I did in antidotes. It was especially tough taking down that undead plague dragon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet. How many poisons did it actually have?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. We needed two priests constantly dispelling miasma debuffs from the beast, not to mention everything it could do with its virulent plague breath. It was my first time coming up against a cursed disease, and I really hope I would never come up against one again. Any melee hits also dislodged bursts of gasses filled with diseases.¡± As he was describing the battle, his eyes unfocused as he stared off into the distance, growing paler with each word. ¡°Either way, I¡¯m glad you prevailed. Things like that could spell the end of the world.¡± I interrupted his musings, not wanting him to go into some form of PTSD episode. ¡°Indeed. Now, we do have some business to take care of, yes? First, here is your guild card.¡± He said as he pulled a silvered card from some drawer in his desk and placed it next to a needle. ¡°Like most things, you will need to bleed on it. It will then be soul bound, and you won¡¯t ever have to worry about losing it. You are entering at the journeyman level instead of novice, and after a few months. You will earn adept status when you can successfully brew 15 potions with 90% accuracy, at least five of which need to require a distillation. You will get a 15% discount on recipes and reagents bought from the guild, but need to remember that materials you gather will inherently be stronger.¡± ¡°Why is that exactly?¡± ¡°That they¡¯re stronger? Nobody really knows. Make sure you don¡¯t leave without having your own blood collecting supplies though. The Underdark has a lot of unique creatures that have magical properties to their blood. If you can¡¯t figure out a recipe for them, many of the alchemists here would be more than happy to trade reagents for recipes. Now, speaking of recipes, what are we going to do with yours?¡± ¡°Well, for the stamina recovery recipe, I think we should keep it within the guild. Only let non adventurer apprentices make it so the recipe won¡¯t get out. I think that should prevent the poison from making its way to the market.¡± ¡°Excellent, I was hoping you would say that. As for price, the health and mana potions are only sold for 20 copper apiece, can we keep the stamina the same?¡± ¡°Perfect. I don¡¯t want to ruin starting adventurers, and the money won¡¯t be that important to me. Now for the poison, what are my options there?¡± ¡°Well, that is the more difficult one. I normally don¡¯t do this, but due to the ease of abusing this and the simplicity of the recipe, I am going to prevent you from releasing this recipe. Only higher tier alchemists will be allowed to know it, and again it will be denied to any adventurers. What would you like to see done with this potion? We will make and distribute it if you wish.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not exactly sure. Can you outline some of my choices?¡± ¡°Of course. We can offer an exclusive contract with several guilds, notably the thieves and assassins guilds. I think the thieves would prefer it, since they can incapacitate a guard without killing using this. Assassins tend to kill their targets, and wouldn¡¯t find much use in something that disables.¡± ¡°Hmm, that makes sense. Could we play both sides on this?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, wouldn¡¯t guards love a way to quickly incapacitate someone they wish to arrest? Instead of exclusivity, lets offer the poison to both the thieves guild and city guards. That would make arrests much safer, what do you think? Let both sides know so that they can be expecting it.¡± ¡°Hmmm, well if you are okay with that it seems to be workable. Do we want this to be available or fairly restricted though?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try and make it available. It should cut down on unnecessary deaths, so we should make it available.¡± ¡°Excellent, I¡¯ll have the proper papers drawn up and we can send them to get it signed, thank you for understanding.¡± Standing up, he shook my hand and started walking towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m glad Djarleen decided to take you on Angus, I think you¡¯ll be a fine alchemist. I¡¯m sure she wants to get back to her lab so I won¡¯t keep you any longer.¡± As the door shut behind me, I saw Djarleen pacing back and forth down the hall. I couldn¡¯t help but give her a little grief, so I said, ¡°Calm down, you¡¯ll wear out the carpets.¡± ¡°Angus! Good, you¡¯re done. He didn¡¯t make you drink anything did he? No pastes or salves? You didn¡¯t notice the chair you sat in was a little wet?¡± ¡°No, none of that. You seem a little paranoid, did the guildmaster do that a lot in the past?¡± ¡°Every few days. He also wouldn¡¯t tell you anything because he wanted to know what your symptoms were without any prompting.¡± Grabbing my hand, she started dragging me down the stairs on her way out, continuing her rant. ¡°If you start feeling odd, have any strange status effects, let me know immediately. I have a fairly strong cleanse potion that I always keep on hand whenever I have to deal with him. Is there anything we need before heading back? No? Great.¡± ¡°Wait! Wait! I still need a blood collection set¡± I managed to mutter as I was being dragged down the stairs. Djarleen finally let go of my wrist at the bottom of the stairs, and I was so thankful that I hadn¡¯t tripped and broke my neck on the way down. ¡°Markus!¡± Djarleen snapped. ¡°I need a basic blood collection kit. With a few extra sets of vials, I have a feeling my apprentice is going to be collecting a lot of blood in the Underdark. At least he better be planning on it.¡± She muttered the last line, and I felt a little strange. Ever been alone in a dark room, and felt like something was watching you? That it didn¡¯t have good intentions, as the hair on the back of your neck rises? Yeah, I was getting a little bit of that. Like there was something out there just waiting for the opportune moment to take my life, and that it wouldn¡¯t mind one bit if it was a swift end or not. I fought the feeling, not quite sure what had caused it.
Skill unlocked! Mental fortitude beginner level 1 You have successfully fought off the effects of minor bloodlust. Doing so in the future will be easier. Fear effects reduced by 1%
Note to self: never annoy my alchemy teacher. I have a feeling that she could hold her own in the Underdark with just her bloodlust. Shaking her head, she paid for the sampling kit. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to use it tomorrow, we¡¯ve spent far too long here anyway.¡± Shoving it into my hands, I quickly stumbled after Djarleen as she made a beeline for the transporter. One uncomfortable transition and we were back in her store. ¡°Angus, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to take my anger out on you in the end there, I just had to get out of there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok Djarleen, what got you so upset though?¡± ¡°That damn testing. He always gives it to the promising new students, then takes them in to have negotiations about how to share their recipes. He knows damn well how mentally draining that test is, and the last thing you want to be doing afterwards is thinking through negotiations. He does it so that he has an upper hand, and it pisses me off every time.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think of that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, why don¡¯t you head on home and sleep all of this off? I¡¯ll show you tomorrow how to use your blood collecting apparatus, and it is rather important for most of the distilled potions. Stop thinking about it, go and get something to eat and then sleep. I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡± Nodding at her, I headed back to the inn for a quick meal and logged out for the night. * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°MARTYYYYYY!¡± Jon yelled as I walked in to the caf¨¦ after logging off. ¡°Hey guys, what¡¯s new with you?¡± ¡°We all got our classes. Phoebe is a hunter, I got backstabber, and Derrick got the intimidator class.¡± ¡°Congrats guys, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of an intimidator before. What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°Well, I get a fear aura and bonuses to damage when I do something that causes a fear status in my enemies. Not hard to do when you¡¯re a troll that likes to play darts with tanks.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of darts with tanks, that a new game?¡± I chuckled at him. ¡°Ha ha, yeah it is. See the tank is the dart, and his friends are different parts of the dartboard. The healer is the triple twenty, the highest scoring part on the board. Any mages are bulls-eyes, fairly hard to hit but worth it in the end. I haven¡¯t rightly decided what the rogue types are yet, but they keep flipping around so they aren¡¯t that important. So we¡¯ve already discussed our classes among ourselves, what about you? What¡¯s your class?¡± ¡°Ambusher. Bonus to traps and surprise attacks. Now I just need to figure out how to make some traps that I can deploy while exploring a dungeon.¡± ¡°We will probably be no good for helping on this end, sorry Marty. How did your alchemy go today? You were trying those new options for potions, right?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Oh yeah, I owe you guys a ton. I ended up getting all the potions to work, and actually came out of it with five elixir recipes. Shops are soon going to have potions and elixirs for health, mana, stamina, and a combination of all three for low level players.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome! Guess we need a party then, right?¡± Derrick was quick to jump on the party excuse. ¡°I¡¯m for it, but let¡¯s hold off for a day or so. If we are going to celebrate, I¡¯m first going to see if we can get them to simulate a slight buzz while offline. Heck, what do you guys say to setting a few goals to work towards and throwing parties when we hit them?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Phoebe stated. ¡°I even have one I¡¯m started on. I can upgrade my class eventually to Huntsmaster. It lets me take a group of NPC¡¯s into my party and lead them.¡± ¡°Nice! Any idea what the requirements are to get you that far?¡± ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m assuming that I have to master at least one weapon, probably two. Then see if I can build up enough reputation to get a few followers and lead them on successful missions.¡± ¡°Sounds good enough. Anyone else got ideas for parties? Perhaps when we get an evolution?¡± ¡°I like the evolution option. Speaking of that, any ideas as to what we would need to evolve besides max level?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Not really. For lower level evolutions I would expect something like a large mana stone or some rare reagent. You will probably need a few achievements to get a better one.¡± ¡°Damn. Well, shall we make a pact then? If anyone discovers a possible evolution material, they let the rest of us know so we can see what the possibilities are?¡± We all gave simultaneous agreements, then broke out laughing. ¡°Ok, that¡¯s settled. Anything else?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Derrick said. Phoebe just gave a quick nod. ¡°Well, I could use help with something if you guys don¡¯t mind. I¡¯m having issues with these rock hounds. The first one killed me rather easily, and I have no idea how to hurt them.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the issue? It¡¯s just a dog. Hit it hard enough and it¡¯ll go down.¡± Derrick said matter of factly. ¡°I would do that if it didn¡¯t have insanely thick armor on it. I shot it with a crossbow, and the bolt literally sparked off the side of the thing. Did absolutely no damage.¡± ¡°Hmm, that could make it a bit tougher to take out I guess. It can¡¯t have armor everywhere, most creatures tend to follow the dragon example so we should be able to find a weak spot.¡± ¡°Dragon example?¡± ¡°Yep. Traditionally, dragons have weaker armor on their bellies. I¡¯m sure this hound is the same, just good luck getting a solid hit on it. What do you have for weapons?¡± ¡°Hammer and crossbow. I can also form mana blades, but they aren¡¯t very effective in close combat. I can¡¯t focus enough to make them useful.¡± ¡°Ok, well you don¡¯t have a great weapon for that. I¡¯m assuming the thing is too fast for you to cripple with your hammer, which would be your best option. How does it attack? Circle you like a wolf would?¡± ¡°No, it just charged straight in and lunged for my throat.¡± ¡°Perfect! That¡¯s how we will take it down! It¡¯s just like a heavy cavalry charge.¡± ¡°So how does that help?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t study any historical battles did you? Heavy cavalry generate an absolutely massive amount of momentum. So much, in fact, that they are pretty much locked into a head on charge and can¡¯t turn until they slow down. The best counter to the charge is infantry armed with pikes.¡± At my uncomprehending look he kept explaining. ¡°Basically a pike is a spear that is about 15 feet long. You let the enemy get up to speed, and when they pass the point of no return, you put your back foot on the pike and lift it up so that it spears into the charging horse¡¯s chest. It turns their own momentum against them and they impale themselves. Your pike will most likely snap in the middle, but it will have done two things: Broken their momentum and caused massive wounds. Usually you would have a line of pikes facing the charge, but with a one on one battle you will have to have better than average aim and hit it the first time.¡± ¡°That. . . is so simple it¡¯s brilliant. Thanks Derrick. I owe you big man. First the potions and now this, if you ever need anything just let me know. I¡¯ll try my best to make it happen.¡± ¡°You get them to let us have a semblance of a buzz and I¡¯ll call it good. Now, I gotta get going. Lot to do tomorrow, and I need to figure out what I can do for a profession.¡± With that, he got up and waved as he walked off. Everyone soon followed, and headed off to their own apartments for the night. Chapter 19 Emily walked in to work and logged in. While her computer was booting up, she walked down the hall to the break room. Thanking the gods of computers and conscientious co-workers, she proceeded to pour herself a large mug of coffee. Mondays were terrible, but at least she didn¡¯t have any emergencies over the weekend. She made her way back to her cubicle and logged in, sipping the piping hot heavenly beverage in her oversized mug. Checking her email, she was mildly surprised to see one from Marty. ¡°No way in hell he has found another bug.¡± She muttered as she pulled it up, then read it a few times as it was just odd enough that things didn¡¯t quite penetrate her brain the first time. Emily, First, this isn¡¯t a bug report. I¡¯m not sure if you have any control over this or not, but several of us were wondering if you could pass this request to whoever would be in charge of it. While we enjoy the Caf¨¦ Oblivion when we are logged off the game, it seems lacking. We were wondering if someone could enable us to feel mildly inebriated while we drink. We don¡¯t want to be falling down drunk, but you really can¡¯t beat the lassitude of a long day better than having a few beers and letting your cares float away. Thanks, Marty, Jon, Phoebe, and Derrick Huh. The more she thought about it, the more his request made sense, she just didn¡¯t quite know who would be in charge of that. Would it be a separate additive for the nutrient packs, or would they simulate it via the pod. Either way, she had no idea how to pass it along, so she did what every good minion did, and forwarded the email to her boss. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up and stretched away the last lingering bit of sleep. I had forgotten to set an alarm, but still managed to wake up by 9 am. I should probably feel bad for sleeping in on a Monday, but since I had theoretically been working all week I didn¡¯t. Besides, I wasn¡¯t anywhere near feeling burnt out as the game was rather engaging. Before logging in, he made a simple breakfast of a few basted eggs and some toast with jelly. ¡°Mmhmm¡± I mumbled as I took a bite, ¡°Nothing beats dunking your toast in runny egg yolks.¡± Smiling at the childhood memories of doing this, I savored my breakfast before brushing the crumbs from my hands and walking to the Oblivion door. ¡°Time for work.¡± Sitting up in my bed in my inn room, I took a quick inventory before heading downstairs. I still had a handful of mushrooms to turn into potions, but I could do that after Djarleen showed me how to use the blood extraction kit. Hmm, I should probably check to see if there is a book of useful alchemy bits that can be obtained from low level creatures. I could head up and see if Dharkiss had some pikes for cheap, but if Derrick was right then buying them would be a waste. I could probably just make some from stone anyway. I also needed to head to the military compound to check in with Khaliss and turn in the rat quests. Introspection done, I headed downstairs. ¡°Good morning Alnoss, what¡¯ve we got for breakfast today?¡± ¡°Morning Angus! How does eggs, sausage and toast sound?¡± ¡°Like a perfect start to the day.¡± She disappeared, and left me to drum my fingers on her tabletop for a few minutes. She came back with a plate heaping with food. Three eggs sunny side up, two sausage patties the size of my palm, and two pieces of toast. It smelled divine, and I dug right in. ¡°Delicious.¡± I said between bites. ¡°What is the sausage made of? It tastes a bit gamier than what I¡¯m used to.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a mix. Rock hound is the gamey part, and the fatty part that holds it all together is rat meat. I made the recipe myself.¡± ¡°Hmm, never would have thought that rat meat would taste so good. Is it regular rat meat or monster rats like the vicious cave rats?¡± ¡°Regular rats. I can never get a good supply of the monster rat meat, but it would be nice to experiment with.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m heading down to the barracks later today, want me to talk with Khaliss for you? He gave me a quest to kill some of the rats, and it seems like something they constantly work on, and they might be willing to send the rat meat your way for cheap.¡± ¡°I. . . I never thought of that before. Would you be willing to do that for me?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have asked if I wasn¡¯t. In fact, I happen to have 19 vicious cave rat meat from my outing the other day, why don¡¯t you start experimenting with it? If you get it to work with your recipe, share it with me?¡± ¡°That recipe was going to be the reward for your other quest though. I don¡¯t want to give you a substandard reward, that wouldn¡¯t be right.¡± ¡°Well, you could give me both. That way I could see how monster meat compares with regular food animals. Having that knowledge would be worth it so that I could modify recipes easier.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure. Hopefully you will have some luck with the monster meat, and might even get a dish to give some stat bonuses.¡± Leaning back in my chair, I patted my belly. ¡°That was a fantastic breakfast. Thanks a bunch Alnoss.¡± ¡°No, thank you Angus. I¡¯ll get you that second recipe.¡± Groaning a bit as I got up, I headed out to get my errands done for the day. The first stop was see Djarleen for some training. Blood always makes a great reagent for alchemy, and properly harvesting it will let you maximize the amount you are able to collect. While the easiest method would be to obviously hang the creature by its feet, put a bucket under the head and slit the throat, you would also be exposing the blood to a lot of air. More often than not, anything reactive in the blood you harvested would have already reacted before you could bottle it, making it useless. I was the only one in Djarleen¡¯s shop, which wasn¡¯t surprising at this time of day. ¡°Morning Djarleen, how are you today?¡± ¡°Angus, just the kobold I wanted to see. Ready for your blood drawing lessons?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± ¡°Excellent. Follow me back here. So I have an eel to practice on, but first we need to go over your equipment. First, we have the syringe. It has a large bore needle, since you are presumably taking blood from something already dead. It won¡¯t complain. You will be able to get enough in this syringe to fill five vials of blood. Next we have the vials. Since we are looking to fill about 2/3 of the vial with blood, we can¡¯t have a sealed vial. The pressure would destroy something. Instead we have these rubberized caps. You will peel back a small portion, that will let the air be expelled as you put in the blood. Speed is key here, as soon as you get it filled to the proper level, pull the syringe back and reseal the vial. Any questions so far?¡± ¡°No ma¡¯am. Seems simple enough. Before we go farther, how do you recommend cleaning it? I can¡¯t begin to think what would happen if you tried making a potion from contaminated blood.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I like having you as an apprentice Angus. You ask good questions. Water rinse several times to clear it out, you can do it one of two ways. Draw up into the syringe from a bucket of water, and spray it into the disposal is the easiest. You can also remove the plunger, fill it with water, and put the plunger back on to force everything out. I don¡¯t like this because you can¡¯t get the bottom of the plunger very well. Another trick is to draw up half a syringe of water, fill a bit more with air, and hold it needle up and swirl it around to clean the barrel. After you have cleaned it with water, you can wait for it to dry. If you are like me and get a little impatient, use an alcohol rinse. It¡¯ll dry faster.¡± ¡°Huh, that tip about alcohol will help a lot. Ok, I think I have everything so far. Now, how do I draw the actual blood?¡± ¡°The easiest way is to find an artery. There¡¯s almost always going to be a large one in the neck. When you draw the blood out, it will fight you a bit. You will have to draw at a slow and steady pace to prevent the artery from collapsing. If it does start, push the needle a little further into the artery. Unless you are trying to draw from a creature that has been dead for a while you shouldn¡¯t have issues with thick blood. Now, let¡¯s test it on this eel.¡± ¡°Um, not that I¡¯m questioning your methods, but why an eel?¡± She smiled deviously. ¡°Because it is going to be tough. They have a tough skin to punch through, their skin has a bit of slime on it to make it hard to hold, and their bodies resemble an elongated neck. If you can find a shallow artery, it will be like taking from the neck of most creatures.¡± Finishing her explanation, she whipped out a dagger from somewhere and slammed it through the top of the skull of the creature. ¡°Ok, its dead. We are going to give it 30 seconds for the heart to realize this and stop beating. When that is done, we are going to feel along the neck for an artery.¡± ¡°Great, and what exactly does an artery feel like?¡± ¡°You will feel a slightly squishy tubelike structure. If it feels taut and won¡¯t compress at all, you most likely have a tendon.¡± As she explained, she was feeling around the base of the jaw. ¡°Here, feel where my fingers end. Can you find the artery?¡± I reached out and started feeling where her fingers had just been. It took a few minutes, but I finally found it. ¡°Ok, now that you have it, the next step is to trace the artery back towards the heart. You won¡¯t get any blood if your needle punches through the artery.¡± Slowly feeling around some more, I traced the artery back for about an inch. Grabbing the needle, I placed it at a shallow angle and slowly added pressure until I felt the tip start to pierce through. Of course, as soon as the skin broke my needle immediately pushed in half an inch. I managed to stop it before it went in too far, but lost track of the artery when I was doing it. ¡°Nice save. You managed better than I thought. Remember, when you are working on something with tough skin that the underlying muscle has a lot less resistance. You won¡¯t have that problem with creatures with thin skins like humans or elves. Now, another trick if you find yourself in the same situation, pull the needle almost all the way out, leaving the tip just inside the skin. Find your target again, and then push the needle into it.¡± Following her instructions, I found the artery again and slid the needle in. Or at least tried. I kept feeling the needle tip slide off the arterial walls. Djarleen noticed my struggle. ¡°Needle sliding off? You need a deeper angle so the tip can bite into the artery.¡± I increased the angle by about five degrees, and felt the needle slip into the artery. After I felt it pass through the slight resistance, I immediately lowered the angle again so that I was traveling along the artery and not puncturing through it. ¡°Excellent, you managed to correct your angle without blowing out the other side. Go ahead and slowly pull back the plunger, going deeper into the vein as you do.¡± I started to pull the plunger back, shocked at the initial restraint. With shaking hands, I managed to draw it back about halfway before I started feeling resistance. Slowing down wasn¡¯t helping, so I stopped drawing and slid the needle closer towards the heart. That fixed the issue, and I finished with a syringe full of eel blood. I wiped the sweat off my brow as I saw a new popup.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
New Skill Acquired! You struggled, and managed to successfully draw a syringe of blood. Further practice will increase your mastery. Blood extraction beginner level 1 Extraction speed increased by 1%
¡°Did you get the skill? Great. Time to practice bottling.¡± Djarleen handed me a bottle, and I looked it over before trying. It was simply a large test tube with an odd rubber cap. The lower part of the cap fit inside the tube with a small amount of room to spare, while there was a raised lip on top that folded down over the edge of the tube. This had to be stretched just enough that it would seal around the vial and hold the seal in place. It was tricky getting only part of the lip to flip up and still having a hand free to use the syringe, but I managed after a bit. Once I had my system down, the rest of them weren¡¯t too hard to fill up. ¡°Well done. Now, you get to practice cleaning up ahahahahaha!¡± ¡°The joys of being an apprentice¡± I mumbled as I spent about twenty minutes cleaning up. Once everything was cleaned and dried properly, I placed it all into my inventory. The nice thing about the sets from the alchemist guild was that everything only took up one inventory slot. I had 500 empty vials, so I wouldn¡¯t run out of them anytime soon. ¡°Thanks Djarleen, before I go do you have any books on magical monsters that I should be collecting blood from?¡± ¡°Sorry Angus, there isn¡¯t any book like that to my knowledge. Most monsters I wouldn¡¯t bother with, but if you come across any variants their blood will be worth it.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s ok. Do you have anything for low level regents to collect from monsters?¡± ¡°There is one for the Overworld, but the Underdark doesn¡¯t¡¯ really have anything. You will most likely need to see what drops from the monsters. You are going to have the best luck with variants. Another thing to look for would be if the variant matches somehow with local flora. Another good one is bright colors or anything flamboyant. The Assassins¡¯ Guild also has a standing order for venom from certain creatures, and will pay rather handsomely. Keep that in mind if you find something venomous.¡± ¡°Roger that. Last thing then, where can I go to learn more about creature anatomy?¡± ¡°Creature anatomy? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Hmm, anatomy is the study of structures in the body. Part of it would be knowing the bones and muscles of a creature.¡± ¡°Why would you need to know that?¡± ¡°Well, you would also know where the venom sacs of a scorpion are located. If you know where the major arteries are, a simple cut can kill the creature in seconds.¡± ¡°I suppose it could be useful, but I have no idea. Try either the assassins or the military. Both put a lot of stock on where to hit something to do the most damage.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks again Djarleen. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Waving, I headed out the door. I made my way to the lower levels, after deciding to skip going to the weapon shop. It would be better in the long run to make the temporary pikes out of stone and boost my mana excavation skill rather than buy weapons. The barracks seemed to be business as usual when I got down there. There was a squad practicing spear works off in one corner, while some of the archers were taking aim across the way. I looked around but couldn¡¯t pick out where Khaliss had gone to. ¡°Friend Angus, how are you?¡± A familiar voice shouted at me. I turned and saw Shrik waving at me from next to the archers. ¡°Shrik! Good to see you again.¡± I said while heading over his way. ¡°I was looking for Khaliss, have you seen him around?¡± ¡°He is home with his family. Even the captain gets a day off once in a while. I¡¯m in charge when he¡¯s gone, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°Well, I have a few things if you don¡¯t mind. I have two quests to turn in for starters.¡± ¡°Already? Wonderful! What have you done for our city?¡± ¡°Slew 10 vicious cave rats. I also happened to collect 18 of their fangs to turn in.¡± ¡°Ah, the standard starter quest. I can give you your rewards for those, one second.¡± Reaching into a bag he had strapped to his waist, he pulled out a rock tablet. ¡°Touch this, it will register your completed quest and let me know what you get for your rewards.¡±
Quest Completed! You have slain ten vicious cave rats for Khaliss. Reward: 10 silver
Quest Completed! You have turned in 18 cave rat fangs. This quest is always open, and will remain in your quest journal until you manually remove it. Reward: 50 copper per fang (9 silver)
¡°Perfect, your rewards are 19 silver.¡± He handed me my money and called over his shoulder, ¡°DRAKIEN! Run these fangs up to Dharkiss for new spears.¡± Turning back to me, he continued, ¡°Those fangs make spears with superior piercing, there isn¡¯t much a rat¡¯s fang won¡¯t go through. Anyway, was that all?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m in a little bit of a bind. I¡¯ve got a weird request, and I hope you don¡¯t think less of me for it.¡± ¡°Come over here then, if it is sensitive we shouldn¡¯t talk about it in the open.¡± He led me to a small office next to several weapon racks. Heading inside revealed a Spartan desk with a chair in front of it for a single guest and an armor rack in one corner with some well used armor. Though it was scuffed and had some minor dents, it was still in great shape. ¡°Ok, now, what is your odd request?¡± ¡°I need a way to study dead bodies.¡± ¡°Careful. I need to know why, and if you answer wrong there could be serious repercussions. I consider you a friend, but there are some serious taboos that one can come across in dealing with the dead.¡± Nodding at how serious he had gotten, I continued. ¡°I want to study them. Hopefully to gain a skill called Anatomy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anatomy before, what is it?¡± ¡°The study of how bodies are put together. If I learn enough, I will be able to determine where to strike a creature to deal the most damage. Where can I cut to slash through a ligament to disable a limb, can I strike a point in the neck to cut through the artery supplying the brain with blood, things like that.¡± ¡°And what will you do with the bodies afterward?¡± ¡°Honestly I haven¡¯t thought about it that much. Am I doing anything taboo if I cremate everything?¡± ¡°No, cremation should be fine. I¡¯m glad that¡¯s all it was for, and that you didn¡¯t lie to me.¡± Shrik said as he placed a stone on the desk, he had palmed it sometime during our conversation. ¡°If you had lied about anything, this stone would be glowing. Since it isn¡¯t a taboo like necromancy, there are two places you can go. The first is the Assassins¡¯ Guild, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend that. They tend to focus on sapient targets, and from your description I take it you are looking to perform this on monsters as well, right?¡± ¡°Yes, monsters as well.¡± ¡°Ok, then I would suggest the temple of Thanatos, God of death. They have greater latitude with things that may be. . . distasteful, to some. Especially since this seems like a way to become more proficient at dealing death, they will probably be interested.¡± ¡°That sounds great, thanks Shrik.¡± I smiled. ¡°Now I just need to figure out where the temple is. Got some directions for a friend?¡± ¡°Ha! Of course I do. The temples are located in the third tier. Take the main staircase up, and to the left is the majority of the populace. The temples and royal palace are to the right. You can tell the temples apart by the color of the flames by the gate. Thanatos has a deep purple flame.¡± ¡°Thanks Shrik, you¡¯ve been a wonderful help. Before I go, is there anything I can do to help you out some?¡± ¡°Well, if you do manage to get your Atanomy skill, come train us sometime?¡± ¡°Heh, its Anatomy not Atanomy. But yes, I would be more than happy to drop by and give you guys some pointers. OK, I¡¯m off to the temples. See you later.¡± I headed straight up to the temple district, only stopping at the top of the stairs to catch my breath. I didn¡¯t know how they managed it, but each temple had a different flame in front of it. The purple flame of Thanatos was off to one side, all by itself. Carved out of a dusky stone, it was rather intimidating. The gate was flanked by two incredibly lifelike carvings of robed figures. The hands furthest from the gate held lanterns of purple flames in skeletal fingers, while the archway was made from massive scythes carried in their other hands. The courtyard was barren of all life, but several stone shrubs seemed to be growing. Somehow, probably due to the flickering light from torches set into the wall of the church itself, the shrubs seemed to be hands breaking through the ground and reaching upwards in agony. Steeling my nerves, I headed through the archway and into the church itself. The inside was even creepier than the outside. There were no pews, only a large open space with a drain in the middle of the floor. A stone altar was maybe ten feet in front of the far wall. The base of the altar had several depictions of the hells that awaited the ancient Greeks. Hands thrust out of waves toward a robed figure in a boat, desperate for him to help. Others showed the dead pushing stones up a hill, but none ever reached the top. The last panel I could see on the front had bodies frozen in place, nearly horizontal icicles coming off their bodies from the frigid winds. The worst part of these were the eyes frozen open in panic. Above the altar, a grinning skeleton was coming out from the wall. Purple flames danced in its eyes as the subtle play of light lead you to believe he was grinning manically at you. One hand held a scythe and the other held a heart. ¡°Mmmmmmm, welcome adventurer. I can tell, you have been steeped in death, and have even had the pleasure of tasting our lord¡¯s embrace. How can the servants of Thanatos help you today?¡± I nearly jumped out of my skin as a pitch black kobold materialized from the shadows. Even his eyes were black, save for gold irises. ¡°Hello, I was referred here by Shrik, he thought you would be the best to help me with an issue.¡± Before I could explain, I felt a cold wind sweep through the church. The purple eyes gained sickly green flames, and the atmosphere felt like an abandoned graveyard on a moonless night. Even though the flames seemed to have grown, and gained immense depth, the amount of actual light they were giving off seemed to dim as time went on. The kobold beside me immediately bowed. Not wanting to piss off a God of death, I turned towards the altar and gave a deep bow as well, keeping my eyes averted. The priest¡¯s voice changed to a raspy voice, almost a whisper. ¡°Welcome adventurer, to the house of death. I¡¯m intrigued by your plans. You wish to study dead bodies, to improve your killing abilities?¡± ¡°Yes. That is one of the things I hope to improve.¡± ¡°Tell me, then. Of all the things you wish to improve, and tell me how allowing your study will improve your killing abilities.¡± ¡°Of course my lord. From anatomy in the world where adventurers come from, I know that a human¡¯s heart is located slightly to the left of midline. A three-inch blade is long enough to pierce the heart, provided that it finds the gap between ribs. The blade needs to be aimed left of the midline as well, so it avoids the sternum. As to other uses, I am an alchemist. If I study the bodies of variant animals, I can see where their mutations have changed them. If I come across similar mutations, I can infer what will have changed. Say a mutation caused a monster to grow a mana stone in the chest below the heart, allowing for the use of magic. I could target that location in a similar creature and possibly break the stone, crippling its magic capabilities. Venomous and toxic animals also need a way to keep their poisons from killing themselves. If I can find the sacs containing these poisons, I can use them to craft my own potions and poisons.¡± ¡°Very well. I approve of your plan, you have a week to show me results. First though, you must pledge yourself to my church.¡±
Divine Mandate Accepted! You have been given a mandate from Thanatos: Join my church and further your plans to study the art of death. This quest can¡¯t be turned down.
Requirements Rewards Failure
Become a neophyte in the church of Thanatos. In order to do so, you must slay a champion type creature or stronger, and present its heart to the High Priest Entrance to the ranks of the church of Thanatos Materials needed to create Anatomy skill ???? Banishment from the church of Thanatos Death penalties will be doubled
¡°Do not disappoint me. Though I am tough on failure, I am equally giving with success. Climb high enough in my church, and the blessings you may obtain will make others pale at your strength.¡± With that final sentence, the priest started to collapse. I caught him before he could completely fall, and he started blinking at me. ¡°Congratulations, adventurer. Not many draw the personal eye of our lord, time will tell if it is for your good or ill. I would hurry on your way, time is fleeting.¡± ¡°Thanks, I think I¡¯ll head out now. I know just the creature who will be giving me its heart.¡± With a final look to make sure the priest was ok, I headed out the door and down towards the Underdark. I had a rematch scheduled with some hounds. Chapter 20 ¡°Damnit, I forgot to make my poisons. Oh well, I can do it after gathering a few reagents.¡± I muttered as soon as I walked into the Underdark. I made my way through the rat area, slaughtering as I went. They really weren¡¯t a challenge anymore since I figured out the counter to their initial lunge. I was only collecting the rat meat and fangs, along with a handful of the stamina mushrooms. I ended up with another ten fangs and 20 meat. Not a bad haul, but it wasn¡¯t rare equipment either. Before I went and fought the first set of cave hounds, I pulled out my portable alchemy set. I had limited reagents, but it did come with enough alcohol solution to make ten stamina poisons. I spent about 20 minutes prepping and making the potions, then identified the poison once again to see how I could apply it to my crossbow bolts.
Elixir of stamina poison This poison was brewed for maximum effectiveness of ingredients, and will have different effects based on how it is introduced. Oral consumption: Drains 180 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for one hour If injected: Drains 360 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 30 minutes.
I pulled out a bolt and dunked the tip in the poison, then identified both again to see what I was dealing with.
Poisoned crossbow bolt A potent stamina poison has been applied to this bolt. If the arrow pierces the flesh, the poison will attack the stamina of the victim. Drains 360 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 30 minutes 1 use, must pierce flesh
Elixir of stamina poison (used) This poison was brewed for maximum effectiveness of ingredients, and will have different effects based on how it is introduced. Oral consumption: Drains 180 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for one hour If injected: Drains 360 stamina, prevents stamina regeneration for 30 minutes. Doses: 4/5 remaining
Well, that¡¯s a nice surprise. I went ahead and used nine of the poison vials to make poisoned bolts, leaving me with 45 bolts and one reserve vial if I wanted to poison a different weapon. My next step was to prepare a few pikes. I started with a large slash in the ground at my feet. I turned perpendicular to this, took three long steps forward, and made another slash. That would put them at over 15 feet long, and I kept the design simple. Perfectly round at the base, I made them so they would fit comfortably in my hand. The cross section was the size of my palm. I kept this straight , then the last foot of the weapon tapered to a conic point. About 2/3 of the way down the length, I cut a groove so that I could loop some rope and raise the pike swiftly.
Stone pike Crafted with care, this weapon prioritizes ease of use and piercing ability over durability. Damage: 35-50 piercing Durability: 15/15
Satisfied that they would do what I needed them to, I went ahead and copied the design 20 times. That ended up taking two stacks in my inventory, but I still hadn¡¯t even taken up a tenth of what I was able to. I also ended up adding a level to Mana Excavation and Sculpting, taking them up to Intermediate 5 and Beginner 10 respectively. Now, let¡¯s get started on rock hound round 2. I still took my time cutting through the cave hounds, but I saved my poisoned bolts. I seemed to be on a lucky streak when it came to meat, getting one meat for almost every hound and the occasional two. After a half hour of hound genocide, I saw my first rock hound. Time to set up my traps. I took out one pike, and settled it in a trench that I had quietly dug while just outside of the aggro range of the rock hound. I tied the rope around the groove, and stepped on the back end of the pike. I reached out to one side of me and scooped up a chunk of rock. I knew my crossbow was probably going to be useless at first, I carved out a rough sphere and dropped mana into it until I felt it cross into overload. Rearing back, I flung it at the unsuspecting dog. It clicked against its side and dropped to the ground. Before it could explode, the dog crunched down on it, and I saw the glow of mana die down into nothing. Finished with his treat, the bastard looked at me and gave me a doggy grin. ¡°All right ya bastard, so you can eat mana. I¡¯ll fix ya up real good.¡± Growling at him, I took out my crossbow and lined up a shot between his eyes. The bolt sparked off some armor, and he gave a slight whine before snarling and charging. ¡°C¡¯mon then pup, I¡¯m gonna win this time.¡± I yelled at him, taunting him as he charged. Timing was everything, and I pulled the cord on the pike when he was about a body length away from where the tip was. Oh, it was a thing of beauty. The pike rose smoothly, and the dog¡¯s eyes widened in terror, but he had already started his next bound. I leaned back to slow the tip¡¯s rise, and watched as it took it straight in the chest. Once I felt the tip pierce through, I gave a much stronger tug on the rope, pulling the pike higher through the chest. The momentum of the dog kept impaling it, and the rising pike redirected a bit of its charge vertically, slowing it down until the pike snapped in the middle. As the dog was dropping back to all fours, I prepared a massive horizontal swing of my hammer. ¡°[Skull Crusher]¡± I sneered at the beast, smashing a vicious blow to the side of its head. Like a perfectly choreographed dance, I was able to fully extend my arm to increase the force of my blow, and it caught the monster right where the jaw hinged. A whimper was all that it could do, as the force snapped its neck and dropped the corpse at my feet.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Not bothering to loot just yet, I bent down and felt around for the artery in the side of the neck to try and get as much blood as I could. It took a minute, but I finally found it. Carefully inserting the needle from my collection kit, I ended up with three vials of blood. Once that was done, I did a visual inspection to see where I could hurt these bastards in the future. The top portion of the head was encased in a thin layer of quartz, which explained why bolts fired at the head simply sparked off. The neck and legs were lacking in armor, giving the dog some mobility. The sides and back were heavily armored, nearly an inch of stone. There were three points along the body that would allow for slight turning, but these dogs seemed to be almost locked into straight charges. That would be useful, as they had less chance to evade my pikes. They had no armor on their bellies, which explained the effectiveness of the pike. I looted the body and received a piece of meat and two armor plates, along with a level up!
Stone armor plate This piece of armor from a rock hound seems to be a compressed form of granite. While strong, it is incredibly heavy. Crafting material
Standing up, I started searching for my next target. I decided to do another test while I was at it, and loaded my crossbow with one of the poisoned bolts. The unprotected neck was about the only place I could get a shot in, but with windless trajectory I would have a much better chance of landing a blow. I didn¡¯t have to wait long to test out my weapon, as there was another hound in a clearing less than a minute¡¯s walk away. Once again it was laying on its belly, side profile facing me. I set up a new pike, but didn¡¯t bother with the trench this time. Knowing it would perk its head up at the twang of the crossbow, I aimed just above where its resting neck was. The bolt buried itself in the neck exactly as planned, and the dog stood and immediately charged. Three bounds into its charge, it did a marvelous face plant and skidded just a little bit. That¡¯s odd, it still has a good 2/3 of its life still. Cautiously approaching, I kept my hammer at the ready. Are these dogs intelligent enough to set up a trap? I got within arm¡¯s length, constantly looking around. Seeing nothing that would attack, I looked down to see the dog feebly try and get up. It would try and gather its legs underneath, but anytime it tried to stand, the most it would get is some shaking legs before flopping back down. ¡°Out of stamina? Damn, that¡¯s an effective poison for heavily armored opponents.¡± Taking pity on the creature, I raised my hammer over my head and dealt it a massive [Skull Crusher]. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t realize that when the skull being crushed has nowhere to move to, all that downward force tends to make the skull of your enemy explode like that old comedian with a mallet and some watermelons. ¡°Ugh, damnit. I got brain bits all over my feet.¡± Note to self: Next time don¡¯t crush the skull of something with their head on the ground. Cleanup is a bitch. At least I had multiple ways of dealing with these hounds, as I was sure the game wouldn¡¯t let me keep finding them in singles. I searched around the area the dog was guarding, but there wasn¡¯t anything of interest to loot. I was seeing more crystalline formations in the rock though, but I didn¡¯t have anything that would help me excavate it. Besides, knowing my luck with things I would be more apt to bring the ceiling down on my head. Continuing on with my exploration, it was a few battles later that I came across the first outcropping of actual crystal, and not just some extra sparkle in the granite matrix. I got close to examine it, and it was a pinkish crystal about the size of my thumb. There were a few cracks in it, and the center was heavily clouded. It would never be something that someone would put on a ring, but who knows what alchemical uses it could possibly have. With nothing to lose and no enemies around, I activated mana excavation along one of my claws, and tried to trace a circle around the base of the crystal.
You lack the required skill level to extract this resource.
Well, whatever it is it seems to have some value. I tried cutting down into the rock around it, and got the same error message. Well, time to go for overkill. Taking my hammer, I gave the lightest tap I was capable of to the side of the crystal. It immediately crumbled into dust. Shaking my head, I headed off to find the next rock hound to vent my frustrations on. I took care of the next several hounds with a combination of crossbow to anger it and a pike to the chest. I almost bit it when I misjudged a dog¡¯s speed. Instead of a clean shot to the chest, the pike penetrated and dragged along the stomach, disemboweling the monster. Rather than a hammer, I used a mana blade to decapitate it. It worked a lot better than the first time I tried that on a hound, and I got an idea. Before I looted it, I formed a mana blade again and slashed along the side of the creature. The rock dispelled my construct, flashing blue for a second. No wonder, their rock shields can absorb mana. ¡°So very glad I didn¡¯t go with a mage type class. I think the only spell that would be effective would be conjuring a stone spike from beneath it.¡± Looting the corpse and moving on, I came to my first obstacle. There were two rock hounds, and both were staring at something with a faint pink glow between them. Now, how do you take out two rock hounds? I first removed a pike from my inventory and prepped it, dropping my total of them down to 8. I also loaded a poisoned bolt into my crossbow. I couldn¡¯t tell just what had their rapt attention, but I didn¡¯t want a falling dog to crush whatever it was. Hedging my bets, I took aim at the nearer of the two creatures, and watched as the bolt sunk into its neck. It got up and charged, but dropped after a few steps. The other dog had already passed the first, and was lined up perfectly with my pike. I took care of him, and went and ended the second dog, and was amazed when I saw what had them enraptured. A crystal flower, pale pink and radiating a gentle light. The stem was delicate, and it had a trio of leaves at the base. The flower itself formed a deep cone and gently curled at the tips of the petals, much like a trumpet vine. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I had no idea how to properly collect it. I tried cutting it out with the roots intact, going for the rock a few inches away from the stem to no avail. I really needed to improve mana excavation. Sighing in defeat, I gently snapped the stem off just above the leaves. Hopefully I left enough that it could grow back. Wanting to know what I had, I examined it.
Pink crystal flower This rare type of living crystal has an unknown life cycle. It absorbs ambient mana and releases a gentle glow.
Well, whatever it was I¡¯m sure Djarleen would have some ideas on how to utilize it. I wonder if all the crystals around here are sensitive to mana? If I could get a few of them to experiment on, it could be useful. I¡¯ll have to ask Djarleen sometime about crystal extraction techniques. Perhaps see if Dharkiss could make me a small rock hammer. No matter, that was something I¡¯ll have to come back to. Right now I needed to find the crystal alpha. Fighting through doubles of rock hounds wasn¡¯t too bad, and I quickly honed my anticipation of their lunges. I didn¡¯t make it through unscathed, there were several times I got slashed by a claw or got a fang slicing along my arm. Most fights ended with my life above 2/3, so I wasn¡¯t too worried about it. I lost track of the number of fights I had gone through, but knew I had to be getting close by the amount of crystals sticking out from the walls. I rounded the corner of a stalagmite, and finally found the alpha. It was half again as big as the other rock hounds, and its armor was made from the glowing pink crystals instead of granite. It was sitting up and facing me, flanked by two large crystal protrusions. Laying by its feet were two more rock hounds. Outnumbered three to one, facing either a champion or miniboss monster, and down to two spare pikes. There was enough crystal in the ground by this point that I couldn¡¯t craft any more pikes either. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the challenge. Chapter 21 The key to winning any battle where you are outnumbered is to have a superior plan. I could use poisoned bolts, but I would only have enough time to launch one before the dogs were upon us. I couldn¡¯t deploy my pikes, there wasn¡¯t enough rock that I could dig through to hold them at the proper angle. My hammer was too slow to take out the dogs, as they would most likely split when they got near to circle me. My only other weapon was mana blades, so that would have to do. The first portion of my plan would involve a trap, a part of my build that I had been neglecting for a while. I walked away from the crystals enough that I could dig just a bit. I made a rectangular pit just big enough to fit in my crossbow. Behind it, I had a thin shaft that I connected to the original pit. Threading some rope down the shaft, I brought it up and tied it to my crossbow, giving me a way to fire it remotely. Loading a poisoned bolt, I gently lowered it into the hole. The only thing sticking up was the tip of the bolt, and the trailing rope that went about 20 feet away, stopping next to a rather large stalagmite. I pulled out one of the pikes from my bag, and lopped off the back 2/3, giving me a makeshift spear, although it was a bit thick. Preparations complete, I crept forward and looked at my foes. I took aim at the rock hound on the right, hoping that attacking it might not aggro the entire group. Backing up a few steps, I did my best to copy an Olympic javelin thrower in form. I must need practice, because I failed horribly. Instead of whistling through the air like an arrow fired from a powerful bow, my attempt had it flipping end over end. It landed three feet short of the target in a clatter, and all three hounds turned and stared at me. ¡°AAAHWWWWOOOOOOOOO!¡± The alpha gave a howl, and I couldn¡¯t help but cringe as I was saddled with a fear debuff. For the next minute, my attacks would cause 10% less damage and come 10% slower. Turning, I ran back towards my trap. I made it to the end of the rope just as the first two beasts split the hidden crossbow between them, and the alpha was a step behind them. As its head came even with the bolt, I gave a tug on the rope. The crossbow shifted just a bit, enough that the bolt ended up in the stomach instead of the chest, but the poison still took effect and dropped the creature after a few steps. Meanwhile, I made two C shapes with my hands, and had a blade form on the inside, from the tip of my middle claw to tip of my thumb. The dogs and I all crouched at the same time, and we all launched at each other. I aimed a little lower than they did, and tried to come up from under their jaws. I got a hold of each neck as their front paws battered my shoulders, and I managed to redirect their momentum enough that I was holding them on their back legs, despite the strain it was putting on my arms. I was shocked though, as the moment my mana blades hit their necks, they shattered into blue shards. Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit! This was not good, I was barely holding a few hundred pounds of pissed off dog in each hand at bay and I had no useable weapons. It was desperation time. ¡°[Skull crusher]¡± I cried as I slammed the dogs¡¯ heads into each other, managing to daze them for a half second. I turned and bolted off to the side, rounding the giant stalagmite. I pulled my last pike and quickly lopped off a good chunk to give me a weapon. The first hound rounded the pillar and was surprised to see me waiting to counterattack. I was crouched down, and had the base of the pike in my palm. Thrusting forward, I took it in the center of the chest. It must have hit the heart, as I got a fatal blow from it. The second hound was on its heels, and got tangled up with the first when it fell down. I pulled my hammer just as it got back to its feet. I backed up a bit, and we started circling each other. We would exchange feints, mine aiming at its snout as it would go for my legs. Knowing I had limited time before the alpha would regain its stamina, I charged in with a crazy idea. I used my hammer to force the dog to my left, and ran past it. I twirled my wrist to generate a bit of momentum and used another of my underutilized skills. ¡°[Crushing Blow]¡± I cried as my hammer smashed into the back knee joint of the dog, crippling it. I kept moving though, as only taking out one leg on a dog wouldn¡¯t completely hobble it. Turning, I saw its eyes glowing with hatred as it tried to keep weight off of its back leg. I had the momentum, but time was against me so I made the choice to sacrifice my left arm in my next attack. I charged straight in, holding my arm in front of me like a shield. The dog couldn¡¯t leave such a target alone, and latched on, jaws crushing down hard enough that my hand opened when I lost control of my muscles. While the dog managed to land a crippling blow to my arm, I also hit it with another [Crushing blow] to its right front paw. With both right legs disabled, it fell over to its side and ripped open my arm. I took a step back, and downed a recovery elixir, as my mana was gone and my health and stamina were both below 25%. It didn¡¯t take me to full on anything, and I still had a bleeding effect from my arm, but it got me out of danger. I stepped up and proceeded to put the hound out of its misery with a few well-placed hammer blows to the head. After dispatching the last hound, I ran back to where the alpha was and saw it feebly trying to get to its feet. While it could get its legs under it, they would merely shake before it would flop down on its belly again. I circled to its side, keeping well away from its jaws, and pulled a poisoned bolt from my pack. I leapt onto its back and plunged the bolt into its neck, rolling off as soon as I knew it had broken skin. With my stamina poison safely administered again, it was a simple matter to rain [Crushing Blow]s upon the beast¡¯s head until it expired. I had to take a few stamina and mana potions in order to do it, but it was worth it. As the creature died, I flopped onto the ground and let the adrenaline drain from my system with heaving gasps. That was too damn close, but at least I managed another level. I still needed to wait for my health, mana, and stamina to refill as I found out monster level ups don¡¯t provide you with the free refill that light races enjoyed. I was also going to have to send Emily a message to see what the Hell was up with my mana blades; I know they had formed properly before the dogs hit them. Shit! I forgot the blood! Grabbing my kit, I crawled over to the fallen alpha and desperately searched for an artery. Rushing made my hands shaky, and I ended up blowing through the target artery and only got one vial worth of average grade blood. Shaking my head at the missed opportunity, I went ahead and looted the body.
Crystal Alpha Loot Crystal claw x 2 Pristine crystal armor plate x2 Pristine crystal heart
Not bad, I can sell the claws and armor plates for a decent profit and the crystal heart will help with the quest from Thanatos. From the guards I managed to loot another armor piece and three pieces of meat. Looting bodies done, I headed over to where the alpha had claimed a lair. The first thing I tried doing was tapping the base of the crystals that had flanked him with my hammer. I ended up breaking the crystals, but they were large enough this time that I actually managed to collect a few pieces. The system identified them as slightly cloudy small rose crystal shards. I only had six of them between two pillars, but that should be enough to run a few experiments if Djarleen didn¡¯t know what they did. I found nothing else of value in the nest, and that was starting to get annoying. What kind of boss type creature doesn¡¯t drop any magical loot? On my way back to the city, I grabbed my crossbow and avoided as many battles as I could. I was sick of the dogs, and had more than enough loot from them to complete the quests that I had open. As soon as I got within the city gates, my inbox pinged with a message. I opened it up to a message from the corporation.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Dear player, Per your contract, we have been reviewing your gameplay. This letter is to address the issue of your mana blade ability. Currently, we believe it to be overpowered, and have thus reduced its effectiveness. It will no longer work on living creatures, except as a Coup de Grace strike after taking the opponent into the red portion of its health bar, or less than approximately 20% of its life. As a clarification on the word ¡°living,¡± that is meant to encompass all forms of enemies that have not been destroyed. Thank you for your continued playing of Oblivion Online, and for your efforts to help us maintain game balance. Thanks, Oblivion Online team Well, damnit there goes one of my trump cards. Figures, once someone gets an awesome ability it gets nerfed before I can use it too much. Game breaking mechanics my ass. Oh well, on to turn in some of my quests. I avoided Shrik and the barracks when I got back, as I didn¡¯t think he would be able to give me the rewards for the quests Khaliss had given me. Instead, I headed straight to the temple of Thanatos. I entered the quiet temple, and got startled once again as the High Priest snuck up on me. ¡°Back already adventurer?¡± ¡°Yes, I believe I have a heart suitable for our lord.¡± ¡°Oh really? Let¡¯s come to the altar and see then, shall we?¡± ¡°Sure. By the way, I never got your name. I¡¯m Angus.¡± ¡°Just call me the High Priest for the time being. Now, place the heart on the altar and step back.¡± I followed the priest¡¯s directions, placing the crystal heart on the altar. As soon as I had taken my third step back, I felt a chilling wind sweep through the room. The purple flames of the eyes gained their greenish tinge, and started pulsing in time with my heartbeat. The heart on the altar started to shake, then slowly lifted into the air so that it was between the skeletons outstretched hands. The flames grew brighter, then a piece broke off from each eye, seeming to be more green flame than purple, and started orbiting the heart. Each pass brought them closer and closer, and the heart started spinning opposite to the flames rotation. With a blinding flash, the flames and heart collided, and the heart slowly lowered back onto the altar. As I approached, I was awed by the new beauty of the heart. It maintained its crystal facets, but deep inside you could see green flames dancing. As I touched it, a massive pulse of energy raced up my arm and seared into my chest. ¡°Gyaaaaah!¡± I cried in agony as I saw green flames burst from my own chest. ¡°Congratulations on starting your journey to become a neophyte of Death adventurer.¡± The priest said when the fire on my chest had died out. ¡°Lord Thanatos has accepted your offering, and is pleased that you brought him a pristine heart as offering. The skeleton tattoo on your chest is your mark of initiation. Should you come across others of our order, you will be able to tell their rank based on the completeness of the tattoo.¡± Wondering what he was talking about, I looked down and saw the tattoo was the same as the skeleton reaper above the altar, or it would be once everything was added. The hands were empty and it had no cloak and no flames in its eyes. ¡°Now that your offering has been blessed, we need to head to the crafting section and commission you a weapon. Follow silently.¡± Nodding in acceptance, I let the priest guide me through the crowd towards the crafting section. Well, I say that but in reality the crowd left us a five foot margin and just got out of our way. I wasn¡¯t surprised when we entered Dharkiss¡¯ shop, I figured he was the best smith in the city. The poor apprentice looked like he was seconds from passing out when he saw who had walked into the shop. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll j j j just ga ga go get D Dharkiss.¡± He managed to stutter before fleeing as if his life depended on it. Seconds later, Dharkiss himself came out from behind the curtain. ¡°Welcome, High Priest of Thanatos. How may this one serve?¡± The priest said nothing for a second, before indicating me with a jerk of his head. ¡°This one wishes to join our order. He has an ingredient taken from a foe and blessed by our lord, he now needs to sacrifice of himself to elevate that of this world, then choose a weapon for you to forge.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Dharkiss said with a slight bow of his head. He reached behind a counter and placed a large bowl on top. ¡°Place your ingredients here, what metal are you buying Angus?¡± Thinking about it, I had a feeling that this was going to be a major deal. One of those moments that can completely alter your gameplay for the rest of the character¡¯s life. ¡°How much for mithril?¡± Dharkiss flinched. ¡°Four platinum.¡± Damn, I was going to be too short. Wincing, I asked, ¡°I don¡¯t have that much. I do have some crafting materials from rock hounds, would you be willing to take them as partial payment?¡± ¡°Possibly. Let¡¯s see what you have.¡± Taking things out of my inventory, I placed 20 pieces of the armor plating on the counter, along with 7 teeth and 14 claws. As Dharkiss examined what I had offered, I figured I should go ahead and place the pieces from the crystal alpha as well. When I set them down, he merely raised an eyebrow and kept going over things. ¡°You are close. All told, you have about 68 gold worth of items here.¡± ¡°Damn, I had just under three platinum before, I think this puts me at 50 gold shy of my goal.¡± ¡°Thanatos will cover the rest.¡± The priest unexpectedly said. ¡°Well, then we are set.¡± Dharkiss said as he placed two ingots of mithril in the bowl he had gotten out earlier. The priest added a few sheaves of dried herbs, then they both turned to look at me. ¡°Now, we need you to sacrifice of yourself.¡± The priest said, and placed a wicked looking Kris blade on the counter. ¡°The strongest sacrifices are of blood and pain. You must stab yourself with this dagger, and let the blood into the bowl. If you can¡¯t tell, there is an enchantment on the dagger. It will cause you growing pain, until you are in agony. As soon as you remove the knife from the wound, the bleeding will stop.¡± Damn, this was going to suck. Well, if this was one of those test the resolve of the new initiate, I was going to do my best to go above and beyond. I took the knife in my right hand, and held my neck over the bowl as I felt for my pulse with my left. Finding it just below my jaw, I jabbed myself with the knife as both kobolds sucked in their breath. It started out as a slight stinging. Then progressed to an ache, as my health and mana bars started flashing in my vision as they steadily lowered. The ache started to burn, and burn, and BURN. As my health dropped below ?, it started feeling like someone had placed salt underneath my skin. At half health, I was standing inside a campfire. At ? health, my resolve started to waver as it felt like I was standing inside a blast furnace. Ten percent health had people scrubbing my skin inside the furnace with wire brushes, and at five percent health I could take no more and let out a scream as I removed the dagger and slammed it on the counter. My body was shaking as I heaved in breath after breath, health bar flashing angrily at me. Looking into the shocked eyes of both kobolds and said, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± The bowl was filled to the brim with dark blood, that was gradually getting darker as something happened with the herbs. ¡°Oh oh oh kaaaaay.¡± Dharkiss stammered as the reality of what I had just done sank in. ¡°Weapon. We need a weapon design. Something that speaks to you, but also links you to Lord Thanatos.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking on that. Right now my best weapon mastery is hammers. Can we give it a hammer on one side, and on the other something from the world of adventurers called a kama or hand scythe. It has a slight curve to it, and let¡¯s make it about a foot long.¡± ¡°I can do that; it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Dharkiss said. ¡°Excellent, we will be by tomorrow for this project.¡± The priest said. ¡°Angus, pay the smith, and place the heart on the counter as well. Farewell Dharkiss.¡± I dropped my money on the counter and headed outside with the priest. ¡°Where are you staying?¡± ¡°Huh? Staying? Dragon¡¯s Roost.¡± ¡°Good, it isn¡¯t too far away. I¡¯m impressed that you were willing to go that far to create your personal weapon, but now you need to rest. Come.¡± Grabbing my arm, he dragged me through the crowd as I constantly stumbled. Maybe I had lost a bit too much blood? Naw, it¡¯s just a game. Next thing I knew I was sitting at a table in a silent inn, everyone staring at me. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine, just a little over eager to serve our Lord. Miss, he needs a plate of meat. Whatever you have, and no ale. Let him drink water.¡± ¡°Coming right up.¡± A familiar voice said, but I just couldn¡¯t place it. Then something wonderful was under my nose, and I couldn¡¯t resist. I dug in with surprising voracity, forgoing silverware in favor of my claws. A big glass was sitting in front of my plate, and I downed most of it before coming back up for air. Of course this gluttonous eating did have its drawbacks, as I leaned back and let out a massive belch that went on for almost seven seconds. That expulsion of air seemed to bring me back to some of my senses, and I looked around to see all the patrons staring at me with their mouths hanging open. ¡°Eh, sorry. Y¡¯all should try this stuff, it¡¯s delicious!¡± Turning back to my plate, I polished it off and downed the last of my water. I managed to stifle the next belch, although it did lead to a bit of a burning sensation in my chest. ¡°High Priest, I want to thank you for getting me back here. If you don¡¯t mind, I need to go to bed.¡± ¡°Until tomorrow then, Angus.¡± He said as he got up and walked out without any farewell gestures. I could feel the rapidly approaching food coma from eating so much, so I quickly headed up to my room and went to bed. ¡°Logout.¡± Chapter 22 I stumbled in to Caf¨¦ Oblivion in a terrible mood. I still felt lingering pains from that stunt with the high priest¡¯s dagger, and I was pissed that my character had gotten nerfed. Fuming as I was over what had happened, I accidentally bumped into someone. ¡°Sorry¡± I muttered, before flinching when I realized I had no idea who it was. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Was the curt response from the guy, as he moved around me and to a table with a teenage boy. Looking around, I could see about half of the tables were taken up with people, and it was almost always an older person or two with someone in the 8 to 14 year range. What the hell was going on? I plopped down at our usual table and asked Jon, who tended to be the most outgoing of our group. ¡°So, what¡¯s up with all the new people?¡± ¡°Medical testing finally got underway.¡± Was his simple response. Nodding, I went through the menu and decided it was a wings and beer kinda night. The best part of this virtual caf¨¦ was the instant service. You typed in your order, and it went through a transporter animation like those old shows with the Enterprise. I¡¯m talking about the good ones, with trigger happy Kirk. I just could never get behind a captain that drank tea and permitted a whiny little brat on his bridge. Either way, I got my food and dug in. By the time I had polished off the first half of my wings I was starting to pick up on the melancholy mood floating around. ¡°So, how did things go with you guys today?¡± ¡°Shitty.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind Derrick, he¡¯s just a little mad that he got nerfed today.¡± Phoebe tried to lighten his response a bit. ¡°Him too, huh? Did the bastards at least let you know before you went out of the city?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, if you can call what trolls have a city. I can¡¯t bite people¡¯s heads off anymore. Something about it being a traumatic experience or some shit. Sounds like you got the short end of the nerf stick as well?¡± ¡°Yeah. Left the city before I got the mail notification that I can¡¯t use mana blades on living things anymore.¡± ¡°Oh no, sounds like there¡¯s a story there.¡± Phoebe cut in. ¡°Heh. Yep. Was fighting two rock hounds at once, and watched my lovely blades shatter against their unarmored necks. Cue the panic.¡± The others winced in sympathy. ¡°So I got it, Derrick got it, what about you two?¡± ¡°Jon was fine, I got the same as you on the mana infused claws and bite. Nothing living, it isn¡¯t fair you can shear through a joint in one bite. Didn¡¯t even count it as a bug, so we don¡¯t get paid for it.¡± ¡°Seriously? I didn¡¯t even catch that part. Fuck.¡± ¡°Oh relax ya bunch of Debbie Downers.¡± Jon practically hissed at us. ¡°Every class gets nerfed at some point or other. Deal with it.¡± ¡°Are you. . . jealous you didn¡¯t get nerfed Jon?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Hell no, it¡¯s hard enough being a goblin as it is. I¡¯m just sick of you three moping around while we are surrounded by these depressed people.¡± Jon said as he leveled a glare at each of us in particular. ¡°Well what do you expect hun, these people probably got told they are in some terrible medical condition today and this is how they are stuck interacting with the world for a while.¡± ¡°I know Phoebe, I know. It¡¯s just kinda infectious.¡± We all sat for a while after Jon¡¯s latest observation. I was staring at the last few uneaten wings when Jon suddenly started in his seat and got a huge smile on his face. He pulled up his interface and started furiously typing, looking around the room as he did. Derrick looked at Phoebe and me, one eyebrow lifted in confusion as we all waited for Jon to finish whatever had possessed him. ¡°It might. . . just. . . work! Ok, guys I need some minions. Are you willing to be the bad guy muscle to my evil overlord for a bit?¡± We all uncertainly agreed, not sure just what Jon had for us. ¡°Great, head over to that clearing by the lake, I¡¯ll join you shortly. * * * * * * * * * * * * Jon¡¯s POV This idea was madness, but it might just be what all these depressed kids needed before their funk ruined my drinking spot. I sent the group off with some vague directions, and looked around for what I needed. Off to the side I saw her, an adorable 8 year old girl with golden curls. I walked over and kneeled down next to her at the table. ¡°Excuse me miss, but I was wondering if you would be willing to help me and my friends out.¡± ¡°Me? What can I do?¡± The poor little thing said, then looked down into her lap as she twiddled her thumbs. ¡°Well, see my friends and I want to get everyone to play with us, but they would probably be scared of us. See the three over there? We are so much older, we look a little mean too.¡± ¡°Yeah, the girl is pretty but the grumpy guy is scary.¡± ¡°He is, isn¡¯t he? Shh, I won¡¯t tell him you said it if you don¡¯t, Kay?¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Okay. So what are we going to play?¡± ¡°Well, if your parent here?¡± I said as I looked at her chaperone. ¡°Doctor.¡± ¡°Doctor then. If your doctor agrees, we want to play rescue the princess. Do you know how to play that?¡± At her shaking head I continued. ¡°Well, see my friends and I would be the bad guys, and we would have Nerf guns. We are going to put up a little castle, and have you on a balcony inside the castle.¡± ¡°Me?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but interrupt. ¡°Well, obviously you are the adorable princess we need. So you will need to be in a pink dress, with a glowing tiara.¡± I said, as I sent a picture of the outfit I had found to her doctor and her. When she saw the absurd amount of ruffles on the pink dress, her eyes got as big as saucers. ¡°Then, after we have you in our fortress, we will challenge everyone else here to come rescue you with their own Nerf guns.¡± ¡°Oooooooo.¡± I guess that last part didn¡¯t sink in, as she was still staring at that dress while her doctor had an amused grin growing. ¡°Well Doc, is it something you approve of?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. . .¡± He hedged. At his voice, her head spun to lock him in her sights. ¡°I. Want. To. Be. A. Princess.¡± She said, as if each word was its own sentence. ¡°I suppose it would be ok then.¡± The doctor said with a smile. ¡°Excellent! Come on over, let¡¯s set everything up, ok?¡± I stood up and was slightly shocked to find a little hand gripping my fingertips. Looking down I saw the girl practically vibrating in excitement. So we headed off to the others, but the doctor stayed behind at the edge of the tables. ¡°So what is your name, princess?¡± I asked her. ¡°Rosalie.¡± She said. ¡°What a beautiful name, Princess Rosalie.¡± We finally arrived and I introduced everyone to our new princess, then hit execute on a small diagram I had built earlier. Four half walls appeared, with a slightly higher tower in the middle. There was a staircase winding up the side of the small tower, and I pointed it out to Rosalie. ¡°Ok Rosalie, before you head up there, I need you to hit accept on that outfit, okay?¡± Nodding, she did and a golden light rose from her feet to her head, changing her outfit as it went. When she had ascended to her ¡°prison,¡± I sent the others their outfits. ¡°Trust me guys, this¡¯ll be fun.¡± Instead of golden light, a deep purple changed my friends into three black knights in plate mail. They each had a hand cannon sized nerf gun in each hand, with bandoliers of ammunition crossing their chests. For myself, I had similar armor although mine had a few spikes and each plate was edged in red. I activated a bullhorn feature, and issued our challenge. ¡°Greetings! I am Emperor Cao Cao! As you can see, I have kidnapped your Princess Rosalie and there¡¯s nothing you can do about it! MUAHAHAHAHA!¡± I did my best impression of a villainous speech, and was saved by Rosalie. ¡°Please, isn¡¯t there someone who can save me from this fiend?¡± She cried, adorable atop her tower. ¡°There are no heroes here, princess. Nobody would dare accept my challenge!¡± I cried, and sent everyone still here a quick challenge. It was simple, do you wish to take up arms and save the princess? Still, everyone must have been shocked from the absurdity of it all until her doctor stepped forward and pressed a button. Green light enveloped him, and he cut a regal figure in his helmless armor. ¡°FOR THE PRINCESS!¡± He screamed, holding his Nerf gun in the air before he charged. That opened the floodgates, as flashes of light started appearing all through the caf¨¦ as everyone agreed to go save the princess. * * * * * * * * * * * Marty POV I was kinda shocked when Jon laid down his challenge, but then someone stepped forward and accepted. Then the fury of a bunch of child heroes proceeded to swarm over our pathetic army. I was firing as fast as I could, but got hit within seconds and my armor and weapons shattered into light, and I was transferred off to the side of the slaughter. Derrick, Phoebe, and Emperor Cao Cao soon joined me as a small army of children celebrated the freedom of their princess. ¡°Not bad, Jon, not bad.¡± Phoebe said while bumping his shoulder with hers. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had such a way with the little ones.¡± Jon just stood there with a melancholic smile on his face, and nobody wanted to press him any more. We had only stood by for a minute before a pink streak slammed into Jon¡¯s chest, squealing in happiness. ¡°That was SO MUCH FUN! LET¡¯S DO ANOTHER GAME!¡± Jon had reflexively caught Rosalie in a hug, and was now grinning from ear to ear. ¡°Ok, I think I have an idea for another game, just give Uncle Jon a few minutes to set it up, ok?¡± ¡°YAY!¡± She yelled, bouncing in excitement as Jon started furiously typing. A few minutes later, and he was ready to go. ¡°Excuse me everyone! EXCUSE ME!¡± Jon yelled with his megaphone. ¡°Let¡¯s get ready for the next game, the Royal Rumble! Every man and woman for themselves! Hit accept if you dare, and move so that the green ring around you doesn¡¯t have anybody in it!¡± Chaos ensued as kids spread out, checking all around them. Even a few of the doctors and parents had joined in the game, and as Jon gave the countdown, madness descended as Nerf darts were flying around in all directions. The rest of the group and I just sat back and watched as Jon and Rosalie were running around, having the time of their lives. ¡°I gotta go guys, catch you tomorrow.¡± I said to nods from Phoebe and Derrick. Jon was in the middle of the chaos he had unleashed, so I figured he wouldn¡¯t mind. I walked in to my digital apartment, and got a notification ding for an email. Seeing that I was from the company, I figured it would be fairly important. I went ahead and opened it. To all beta testers: We want to congratulate you so far on your exemplary conduct. Your hard work and dedication has led to several bugs being fixed and unforeseen game imbalances being corrected before being released to the general public. As of right now, we believe that there is enough data from everyone¡¯s gameplay to determine a standard baseline of vitals and psychological soundness. Our next step in the testing progress is to determine what effects, if any, will occur should someone decide to spend an extended amount of time logged in to the game. To that end, we are asking that you refrain from logging out for the next seven days at minimum. If you feel comfortable staying in the game longer, feel free to send your manager an email stating your intentions. We realize that this is uncharted territory, but feel that it is something that must be looked at considering the capabilities of the pods. We want you to know that we are prioritizing your health, and for the next several days will be performing twice the number of health checks. Should we find anything amiss, rest assured that we will perform an emergency logout. If at any point you feel uncomfortable during this extended session, feel free to send your concerns to your game manager and logout as well. Should it be needed, we have several staff psychiatrists available for counseling. Sincerely Andrew Lansing Project lead Well, I guess that I won¡¯t get any more of my relaxing days at Caf¨¦ Oblivion after logging off for the night for a while. I headed to bed for one last night before my weeklong marathon gaming session. Chapter 23
You are suffering from Anemia Due to massive blood loss, you are suffering from the anemic condition for the next 24 hours. Maximum stamina reduced by 25% Stamina consumption +150% Bleeding effect damage x2
What a lovely status effect to log in to see. I guess exploring will be put on hold today. Looking at my stamina bar, the last quarter was covered with what looked like a grey rock. Yeah, I wasn¡¯t about to go into battle without a full quarter of my stamina, that was just asking to get killed. I stood up a little fast and had to grab the edge of the bed for a second as I got incredibly dizzy.
Warning! Due to your anemic condition, you are more susceptible to bouts of dizziness by standing or sitting rapidly.
Well, that was unpleasant but another reason to not go out adventuring. I slowly headed downstairs, and plopped down in an empty chair. ¡°Morning Alnoss, what do we have for breakfast today?¡± I called out when I didn¡¯t see her for a second. ¡°Oh, Angus! You¡¯re awake! I¡¯ve got some of that sausage you wanted me to try making, is that ok?¡± ¡°Sounds wonderful. Can I get that with a large glass of water?¡± ¡°Comin¡¯ right up!¡± She disappeared and left me to my own thoughts. I guess my plan for the day would be to check in with the head priest and see if we can get my weapon first, then figure out what my joining the temple of Thanatos would entail. After that I could either explore the city for a bit or check in with Djarleen and see if she had anything for me to learn. I gave a quick check through my bag, and didn¡¯t have nearly enough ingredients to bother Djarleen. I did have enough rock hound meat to see if Alnoss would teach me her recipe though, so maybe my afternoon wouldn¡¯t be too boring. ¡°Here you go!¡± Speak of the devil, Alnoss had just appeared with my breakfast as I was off daydreaming. She dropped a plate full of steaming sausage patties right in front of me. ¡°Enjoy! I think I got the recipe pretty close to perfected, what do you think?¡± I took a bite and my mouth exploded with flavor. She had gone with a spicy mix, but it wasn¡¯t an in your face spicy. Instead it built up to it with each bite, and by the third one I was sweating just a bit. I took a few gulps of water to calm my mouth down, and answered, ¡°This is fantastic. I love how you have a subtle heat, and it isn¡¯t very greasy. What ratio did you finally end up with?¡± ¡°Sixty-five rock hound, thirty-five rat. Anything higher in rat ended up being so greasy it had a tendency to catch fire in the pan if I wasn¡¯t careful.¡± ¡°I hear that. While it¡¯s true that fat equals flavor, if you have too much it can burst into flame and leave you with a charred mess. Where did you come up with the seasonings for it?¡± ¡°Oh, that was fairly simple. I started off with some salt and pepper, and added some dried garlic in there as well. The secret is the dracken seed and just a bit of the dried dracken pepper. That¡¯s where it gets the spiciness from.¡± ¡°Well, this is delightful.¡± I said as I ate the last bite. ¡°I have enough of that rock hound meat to finish off the quest you gave me, would you like me to bring it back to the kitchen for you?¡± ¡°You have it already? Yes, I¡¯ll make some more of the sausage for you as well as have some stew for dinner tonight. Oh, before I forget here is that recipe I promised you.¡± She said with a smile, handing me a piece of paper with the rock hound and rat sausage recipe.
Quest Complete! You have given Alnoss the promised rock hound meat. Rewards: Recipe: rock hound and rat sausage Alnoss considers you ¡°friendly¡±
¡°So, heading out to another exciting adventure today Angus?¡± ¡°Ah, not today Alnoss. I¡¯ve got a rather nasty debuff that¡¯ll last for the rest of today, so I can¡¯t really go out like I wanted to. Instead I have some running to do around town, and probably see whatever sights I can. I never got to truly explore the city.¡± ¡°Oh, okay then.¡± Was that a slightly disappointed look on her face? No matter, I headed out and looked at the stairs to the third level with trepidation. This was going to suck. I started up the stairs, and noticed that even walking up them was draining my stamina. Trying to regulate my breathing didn¡¯t help at all, and I was rather nervous I wouldn¡¯t make it before my stamina gave out. Passing out in public wouldn¡¯t end well for me, but my meager luck held out and I finished with less than 10% of my stamina. I sidestepped once I made it to the top, and took a deep breath as I looked around. Hopefully people would think I was just getting my bearings instead of hoping my stamina would recharge. Threading my way through the crowds, I headed towards the Temple of Thanatos. Image crumpling once I was inside, I noticed the head priest smiling at me from the altar. ¡°Still feeling the effects of your sacrifice? Our lord and I are glad to see your resolve to make it through this trial without any outside aid.¡± Nodding, I wanted nothing more than to let him keep talking so I could recover, but he must have sensed that. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go see Dharkiss about your weapon, shall we?¡± Giving me a predatory smile, he lead the way back down the stairs I just walked up. Once again the crowd seemed to unconsciously part around us, and I really wanted to know how he did it. ¡°EEP!¡± Dharkiss¡¯ assistant let out a squeak when he saw us walk into the store, and made a mad dash for the curtain to get his master. Dharkiss came around the curtain, and he looked horrible. His back was hunched, and his scales had started to turn grey around the edges. He was struggling with an oddly shaped bundle, and barely managed to heave it onto the counter. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± He stated, no hint of the usual humor in his voice. Flipping open the cover without any flourish, he revealed the weapon that he must have spent most of the night crafting. It was a dark bluish black, almost ? the length of my arm. At the top of the haft was the crystal heart, although it had deepened to a burgundy red from the original light pink. Veins branched out from the heart throughout the weapon. The hammer side was fashioned into the likeness of a clawed hand holding a stone, with five crystal claws pointing about a half inch past the stone portion. The slight hook to the claws would catch and shred through whatever armor it punctured. The scythe side had a foot long slightly curved blade, and the only crystal vein ran along the top edge to the tip.
Blooded Mithril Hammerscythe (Soulbound, Scalable) This weapon was specially commissioned for a neophyte of Thanatos. Infusing the mithril with his blood and certain herbs, along with the heart of a creature slain by his own hand has inexorably linked the two. It will grow with its owner, and has branching potential trees that can be unlocked depending on its usage. Living Weapon: Durability can be repaired by sacrificing the life force of either the wielder or enemies. Souldbound: Can¡¯t be stolen or dropped upon death Scalable: Stats dependent upon the level of the wielder Damage: 150-185 Crushing, 125-145 Slashing Durability: 5000/50000
¡°Well done, blacksmith. I hope our neophyte will prove worthy of such a weapon. Pick it up and let¡¯s go Neophyte, we have much to do yet.¡± The high priest shook me from the stupor of admiring my new hammer. I can¡¯t believe I found a scalable weapon, let alone a soulbound one! The only possible thing that could replace this in my mind would be a set weapon, and even that wouldn¡¯t last forever. The weapon was much lighter than what Dharkiss made it seem, but that must have been his exhaustion. I put my old hammer into the inventory, and equipped my new one heading out the door, and followed the high priest up the stairs once more and into the temple. ¡°From this point on is your initiation, and unless you want to feel the wrath of our Lord you will not let any outside of our order know what you went through. Understood?¡± He practically barked at me after closing the door to the temple behind us. ¡°Of course. I will not speak of it outside our order.¡± ¡°Very well, place your weapon on the right side of the altar as you face our Lord¡¯s sculpture.¡± I went to comply as the high priest made his way around the room, grabbing different things from alcoves hidden in the deep shadows. Once he had completed a counterclockwise circuit of the room, he walked to the opposite side of the altar so that he was between the sculpture¡¯s hands. The stone crucible held a variety of powders and several dried twigs, which he proceeded to crush with a pestle. Several deft twists of his wrist later, and he stopped to look me in the eye. ¡°Today we welcome another brother to our order. Our ranks are as varied as the many faces of our Lord Thanatos. From the uncaring face that steals the last breath of a child in the crib to the blessed face that gives those suffering their sweetest release, all have their roles.¡± As he was speaking, he reached a hand behind him to grab a bit of the green and purple flames that were within the eyes of the skeleton and flicked it into the bowl. The contents flashed, and he shoved the smoking remains into my face, forcing me to take a deep breath of the fumes. ¡°Breathe in his essence brother, and walk the line between our world and his. Find the face that you are meant to follow, and learn from our lord.¡± Furiously blinking my eyes from the smoke, my nostrils were burning from the acridity. It was akin to someone mixing burning autumn leaves, tobacco, and food spilled into the bottom of a hot oven. I tried to shake my head and clear it, but whatever I had inhaled started to take effect. I first lost sight of all my status bars, and my gaze was caught by the statue in the wall. Part of me noticed that the heart seemed to be beating in its hand, but my focus was completely on the flames in the eye sockets. As they flickered, my vision would telescope in and out rapidly, and they would alternately send out shockwaves in my vision, as if reality were reflected in a pond. These quickly matched my racing heartbeat and surpassed it, until they merged into one black ripple and I was. . . elsewhere. A desolate plain, covered in slight hillocks, none of which went above knee height. Broken spear shafts and rusted swords were scattered about, and the tattered remains of a few flags fluttered in the slight breeze. I finished turning a circle, taking in the devastation around me before I found myself standing before Thanatos. ¡°My Lord.¡± I said, bowing to him. ¡°You adventurers are a rather interesting bunch. You throw yourselves headlong into battles that you have small chances of succeeding time and time again. Why?¡± ¡°Glory.¡± ¡°Glory?¡± ¡°Yes Lord, glory. To obtain proof of being the best, the first to accomplish something. Bragging rights.¡± ¡°Interesting. That might explain why though I barely get to sample your souls before they are taken from my grasp, they leave such an enticing taste. Thank you, mortal, for indulging my curiosity. Now, on to business. You wish to join my church, to study death. I¡¯m intrigued by your idea, and am willing to indulge you for now. You will have a year to show results. Judging by your actions thus far in our world, I am also adding you to the martial branch of my followers. Neophytes such as yourselves have the easiest demands. Every week, you must kill at least 7 monsters or sentients at or higher than your level. You may also offer a worthy kill to me by saying ¡®for Thanatos¡¯ before striking the killing blow. Be warned though, if your kill isn¡¯t worthy or you slay it using something other than a scythe you will be punished. Do you accept these restrictions?¡± ¡°I do, Lord.¡± ¡°Very well. I, Thanatos, God of Death, hereby accept you into my church. You shall study the art of death, and also be part of my martial branch. In order to fulfill your duties, you shall be granted the ability [Reaper¡¯s Edge], along with this bag. Take both, and advance in my order to gain further abilities.¡± Finished with his speech, Thanatos placed one hand on my forehead and new knowledge unfolded in my mind. His other hand reached into his robe and pulled out an ordinary looking bag and handed it to me. Once I had gripped it, the hand on my head gave a shove, and I found myself back in the temple where I started, the flames returned to their original purple state.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Welcome back brother, I see our Lord has given you your gifts. He also wishes to pass this along: Grow swiftly in strength, for the Underdark is a haven for those who foolishly try to avoid my touch.¡± I blinked at the head priest a few times before nodding, ¡°Of course, brother. Do you know what my minimum strength must reach before I can do our Lord¡¯s bidding?¡± ¡°Come back at level 20 brother. Until then, familiarize yourself with your gifts.¡± Knowing the high priest was right, I opened the descriptions of my new acquisitions.
Reaper¡¯s Edge (Death¡¯s Raiment 1 of 4) Fill your blade with the power of Thanatos to give your next strike additional power. Cost: 50 mana Cooldown: 1 hour Requirements: Member of church of Thanatos, must have a bladed weapon Effect 1: +50% damage to your next attack Effect 2: +75% chance to remove opponent¡¯s limb
Thanatos¡¯ Body Bag Crafted from the skin of an unknown creature of the void, this bag was created to hold the body of slain enemies in stasis until they can be studied. Restrictions: Only useable by Angus MacG. Can only hold one type of body at a time Different sized bodies will take up different amount of space in the bag. The bag contains a 4 x 4 grid for holding bodies.
Divine mandate completed! You have successfully joined the church of Thanatos within the required time. Use your gifts to further your study of death.
Divine mandate accepted! You have learned that there are enemies lurking in the Underdark that are hiding from the God of Death. Grow your strength so that you may teach them the error of their ways. Reach level 20 to learn more about this quest.
Divine mandate accepted! As part of your duties as a Neophyte of Thanatos, you must kill 7 creatures at or higher than your level per week. Kills: 0/7 Days remaining: 7
Opening the body bag revealed a standard 4 x 4 set of boxes like a normal inventory, but I couldn¡¯t put anything in it when I tried with my weapon. Guess it was bodies only. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s Edge]¡± I said to activate my new skill, and watched as my mana dropped. In exchange, the scythe edge of my weapon started glowing white. Not having anything to use it against, I cancelled the skill and asked the high priest, ¡°So brother, is there anything I can do to aid the church today?¡± ¡°No brother. All is well, for now. Return when you meet the requirements for our Lord. Until then.¡± ¡°Until then.¡± I headed out into the street and looked around. I still had a few quests to turn in to Khaliss, but then I would be trapped at the bottom tier of the city for the rest of the day. Instead, I decided to look around the middle tier some. Choice set, I headed down. No matter what I had gotten from Thanatos, the repelling aura of the high priest wasn¡¯t it. It wasn¡¯t hard to keep the jostling to a minimum, but it was still a minor annoyance. Either way I kept walking past most of the stores on the level, as I was still out of coins and reagents. The end of the main street had a side street branching off of it, and it headed through an archway. Intrigued at this new possibility, I followed the road. The exit of the arch led into a gigantic cavern, with sparkly minerals liberally spread through the rock bed. A few large, crystal lights were hanging from the ceiling, making the cavern sparkle like a starry night. I walked around a few pillars before I came to a pen that was filled with a pig like animal. There were several kobolds working around the pigs, and beyond the were fields of mushrooms being tended to by children. ¡°Not supposed to be here.¡± A voice from my side said. I turned to see a scarred kobold with vicious looking club with several nails sticking out. ¡°Not supposed to be here.¡± She repeated, stepping forward threateningly. ¡°Ok, sorry.¡± I said raising my hands in surrender. I headed back where I came from, obviously access was restricted around the next generation. I noticed a raised walkway on my way back, the only way to get there was climbing a seven foot high wall. Hmm, nothing that would be too terrible, especially if I could create a few handholds. It would have to be some other time though, when the guardian wasn¡¯t watching. Striking out on exploring the second level, I headed down to the bottom for a talk with Khaliss. I wouldn¡¯t get a lot of money from him, but the two quests I had outstanding would give me a bit of gold and possibly lead to more. I would need something to boost me up six levels.
First evolution obtained! Congratulations to character JohnnyBGood on being the first to obtain the evolution of a monster character. While there are still some issues that need to be addressed, Arctic Storm Entertainment is proud to announce that the option of choosing a monster race is now open for everyone. Since the first slots were only opened to selected testers, we have prepared a limited time offer for those who were excluded. For the next ten days or until reaching level 15, you can keep your light character in stasis in order to see what the monster race entails. Keep in mind, once the limit has been reached one of the characters must be deleted in accordance with game rules.
JohnnyBGood? Wonder if that was Jon the goblin? Good for him if it was. ¡°Hey Khaliss, you busy?¡± I yelled as I walked into the barracks area. Across the way, the door to the office opened and Khaliss walked out. ¡°Angus? What are you yelling for in my barracks?¡± ¡°Just needed to see you to turn in some quests. You got a minute?¡± ¡°Hmm, make it quick. Did you get the rock hounds?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got them and killed the crystal alpha as well.¡± To confirm, he simply held out the quest tablet that Shrik had done the other day. After confirming it, he handed me a bag with one gold and 50 silver. ¡°Well, thank you for that. It is one of the harder extermination quests we have. Now, I had promised you a bonus for taking out the alpha. Here, this ring should help you out a bit.¡± He said while handing me a plain black band. ¡°It isn¡¯t in nearly the same league as your bag, but it will definitely help out for a while.¡± Turning away, I blurted out a question before he could go. ¡°Before you go, are there any other quests you can give me?¡± He turned to look at me over his shoulder for a second before facing me once again. ¡°Since you are so eager, I have two. There¡¯s a goblin raid encampment nearby as well as a camp of mycofiends. Slaughter them both.¡±
New Quest alert! Khaliss has told you of a goblin encampment that has become a problem. Slaughter them, leaving none alive.
Conditions Rewards
Slaughter all the goblins in the camp 15 gold, piece of equipment
New Quest alert! Khaliss has told you of a camp of mycofiends that have become a problem. Slaughter them, leaving none alive
Conditions Rewards
Slaughter all the mycofiends 15 gold, piece of equipment
By the time I had read the two quest descriptions, Khaliss had gone back to his office. Damnit, I could use some directions to the camps he was talking about! And what the Hell was a Mycofiend? That just sounded all sorts of wrong. Before I got too distracted I decided to check out my new ring.
Ring of the Squire A simple ring that boosts the wearer¡¯s health and defense. +20 HP +20 defense
Well, that ring wasn¡¯t going to be a game changer but just might change the outcome of a close battle. Putting it on, I wondered if Djarleen would have something she needed me to do. Once again I had to take my time heading up a level, but at least my stamina never dropped below a quarter. Threading my way through the crowds, I headed in to Djarleen¡¯s shop. ¡°Oh, hello there Ang. . .WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?¡± Her slightly cheerful greeting turned into an accusing scream at the end. ¡°Damnit Angus, just when it was looking like I would finally have a decent apprentice you go and, and, and do whatever the hell you did!¡± ¡°Whoah, whoah there Djarleen! Why are you yelling at me? I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± I yelled back. ¡°Then why is your aura filled with necrotic energy! I swear to the gods that if you went and became a necromancer I will do everything in my power to end you!¡± ¡°Necrotic energy? Wait, you can see auras?¡± ¡°Of course I can see auras, and don¡¯t try and change the subject. Where. Did. The. Necrotic. Energy. Come. From?¡± ¡°Ok, I think we need to take a calming breath. The only important thing I¡¯ve done today was join the church of Thanatos.¡± ¡°Thanatos?¡± She questioned, narrowing her eyes at me. ¡°Prove it.¡± I pulled the chest armor I was wearing to the side so that she could see my tattoo. ¡°Damnit, stupid. Stupid, idiot apprentice. Did you even think about what that would do?¡± ¡°I needed to join it for some reasons, but I still don¡¯t see why it is such a big deal.¡± ¡°Not a big deal? You incorporated energy from the GOD OF DEATH INTO YOUR AURA! What do you think that energy will be doing to any sensitive potions you try brewing?¡± I opened and closed my mouth several times, but nothing would come out. Who would have known that joining a member of the pantheon could affect your job?
New effect discovered! Congratulations, you are coming to realize that all actions can have far reaching consequences. This time it is merely a small chain of events. Joining Thanatos has added death energy into your aura, which will now affect anything you brew with alchemy. All potions will have their effectiveness reduced by 10%, all poisons will have their effectiveness increased by 10% Note: This is subject to change depending on your rank in the church.
Damnit system, don¡¯t you think you could warn me of that before I go and join a church? Ten percent isn¡¯t going to kill me at this level, but will definitely hurt going forward. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Djarleen. I had no idea that it would do any of this. I just got a notification about it though, seems like all potions lose 10% strength and poisons gain the same amount.¡± ¡°Shit. I¡¯m sorry too Angus. I should have warned you, but I had no idea that you were leaning towards joining with Thanatos. You had no way of knowing that him and Gaia were the only two of the pantheon that would alter your alchemy. Well, how do you feel about specializing in poisons? Because that¡¯s pretty much what you are stuck with. Unless you want to forsake Thanatos?¡± ¡°Poisons will have to be fine, as I¡¯m not about to even contemplate forsaking a god on the same day I joined his church.¡± I said with a sigh. I looked up to see a dejected look on Djarleen as well. ¡°Ok, we are both a little too high strung right now Angus. Go home for now, I¡¯ll head to the guild tomorrow to brush up on poison recipes that I think you¡¯ll be able to handle.¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen.¡± I flopped against the side of the building right after I left. Damn, I really messed up this one. Poisons, huh? This is going to be a pain, poisons work great up until level 40 or so. By that time monsters had such a massive health pool that they are just going to shrug off a little DoT (damage over time). My low level stamina poison wouldn¡¯t work either, as health and stamina often go hand in hand. The other side wouldn¡¯t help either, if it were a magical creature they would have a massive mana pool to go with it, and would laugh at a mana poison. ¡°D dd did you na na need anything ell ll lse today?¡± I looked up to see the stuttering apprentice of Dharkiss. Must have walked over to his shop while I was pondering potions. ¡°You know, I just might. Would Dharkiss be willing to take another commission?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll g go see¡± he blurted out and vanished behind the curtain. I took the time to peruse several of the high quality blades of all shapes and sizes. ¡°Now I know you don¡¯t need another blade, what can I do for ya Angus?¡± Dharkiss asked as he came around the curtain. ¡°I was wondering about making a new type of trap, but it would require your apprentice too.¡± ¡°Him? His blades usually don¡¯t make the cut for most of what I do around here, what possible use could you have for those?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s it exactly. I want, no need, a bunch of blades that aren¡¯t fit for making into proper weapons. They just need to be good enough to hold an edge. Actually, double edged like a dagger would be better. Would it be possible to get your apprentice a lot of practice making iron daggers with no hilts?¡± ¡°He could use a little practice, but he won¡¯t ever make master smith just making iron daggers. It be possible to get him practice with some of the mold techniques though. I don¡¯t get those types of orders often enough he can practice on them.¡± ¡°Perfect! Can we add a few alterations to the molds though?¡± ¡°I¡¯ld say within reason, but if other adventurers are as crazy as you then you might not know what reason really is.¡± ¡°Hah, good one. What I want to do is have a series of three or four holes going through the middle of the dagger, just wide enough to send some wire through. We can also lose the tips of the daggers, they won¡¯t be needed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible to do, just need a few clay rods. It¡¯s a good thing you asked about my apprentice to do this, because I still haven¡¯t heard a good reason for putting holes in my work.¡± ¡°Imagine this. We take several of those daggers, get them nice and sharp on both sides. Weave a thumb width metal wire through all of them, and weld it to the blades so they stay locked in place. Now we stretch this across a dark hall at stomach or shin height, and let a bunch of people run into it.¡± I tried my best to describe a razorwire trap to the smith. ¡°You wanting to cut people with this and do some damage, or just cause a mild inconvenience?¡± ¡°Huh? Damage, why?¡± ¡°Well, you picked the wrong type of blade then. See, a nice polished blade like you wanted is only good for a few things. You want that if you need control, like skinning a monster. You aren¡¯t doing that, your wanting to cut the tough hide on something that is squishy underneath. Ask Alnoss about cutting things like that, and she¡¯ll slap you silly for trying to use a blade like that. No, you want serrated edges on them daggers. We can do it, it¡¯ll be good practice for the boy. How long of a wire do you think you¡¯ll be needin¡¯?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do about 20 feet. Give an anchor bolt on each end, and can we do a third eye bolt to anchor so that I can adjust the length?¡± ¡°What the hell is an eye bolt?¡± ¡°Damnit, sorry. I want a bolt that I can drive into rock. At the end of the bolt, make a circular hole, and cut a way into it so that I can slip the wire. It¡¯ll look something like this when you are done.¡± I describe the best as I could, then made a C shape with my hand and slowly brought my fingers closer together, leaving a slight gap. ¡°The gap needs to be big enough that the wire can pass through it, and if I set it up so that the gap is facing whatever is going to run into my wire the backside will hold it in place.¡± ¡°Ok, I can do that. It will probably take three or four days for us to finish it, that work for you?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯ll be just fine. How much are you going to need for it?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do a gold down and another five when it¡¯s done?¡± ¡°Deal. Thanks a bunch Dharkiss.¡± I handed over the coin and headed out, intent on just heading back to the inn for a rest. I must have gotten back just in time for dinner, as the inn was jam packed with customers. Not really needing a table, I headed to the bar and sat down on the end. ¡°Welcome back Angus, what¡¯cha want for dinner?¡± ¡°Something with a lot of meat and some water will probably be best Alnoss, thanks.¡± She quickly got me a tankard of water and headed back into the kitchen. Taking a sip, I just let the dull roar of multiple conversations flow over me as I closed my eyes. Smiling, as usually when I heard a mob of different conversations like this I would be inundated with tickets for food. Just before I started to nod off, I smelled something divine. ¡°Here ya go Angus, some of the youngsters managed to catch a bunch of trout, so we have fresh fish tonight.¡± The fish was on a platter, and had been gutted, stuffed with herbs, and roasted. A tap with the fork had it flaking off the bones but still held together by the crispy skin. She had gotten it cooked to absolute perfection. Flavor simply exploded with that first bite as I closed my eyes in bliss. ¡°My god Alnoss, this is possibly the best fish I¡¯ve ever eaten.¡± She smiled and twirled away to serve other customers, as I practically inhaled my dinner. I left her a silver as a tip under the plate, and headed up for a well deserved rest. Chapter 24 Jon¡¯s POV, two days prior ¡°Uncle Jon¡¯s back! Uncle Jon¡¯s back!¡± Several of the goblin children shouted as one of them managed to spy me as I came across the hidden cave system. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at their infectious enthusiasm. The got excited over anything too, just like. Stop! Best not to go down those roads again Jon. ¡°Hey guys, I got something special for you!¡± I yelled out, knowing it would get all their attention. A chorus of ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya get us?¡± came from every direction as he was mobbed. He had enough strength to stay upright, but just barely. ¡°Calm down, calm down. It just so happens that I came across a sweetberry bush today. Picked it clean too. So, do we want to see if they can bake it into a pie or should we eat them now?¡± ¡°NOW! NOW! NOW!¡± Chuckling at what I knew they would say, I started handing out sprigs of the orange berries. Each sprig had five to seven of the super sweet berries, and would probably sate the kids for the rest of the afternoon. ¡°Ok, so now that we have treats, how did you guys spend the afternoon?¡± ¡°Balan and the others practiced their teamwork, but Varias and the girls only worked on their hiding.¡± ¡°It was sneak, not hiding doofus!¡± One of the aforementioned girls ¡®gently¡¯ corrected the speaker. ¡°Same thing!¡± ¡°Is not¡± ¡°Is TOO!¡± ¡°Stop! Stop! It¡¯s ok, I know the difference between the two, you don¡¯t have to fight over it.¡± I interjected, stopping what I knew from past experience would be a fifteen minute brawl of tiny bodies that couldn¡¯t be separated. Well, you could, but they would just dive right back in. ¡°So Balan, how did the hunt end?¡± ¡°Good. We gots five and five rats.¡± A goblin stepped forward that was a slightly darker green and much bulkier than the other children said. ¡°Doran and them gooder shots.¡± He gave a slight nod to four goblins behind him, each armed with a sling. ¡°Nice, very nice. Ten rats is a very good haul, the village cooks will be very happy with you.¡± ¡°Balan, Balan lookie! Another rats is over there!¡± One of the children pointed to a level two rat that had unwittingly entered sight range. ¡°Good eyes Arlen. C¡¯mon, we kills it.¡± Balan said, serious all of a sudden. He took the lead, with two of each of the ranged attackers on each side in a slight arc behind him. Once they were within range, Balan raised one arm and looked to his slingers as they each loaded a smooth stone and nodded at him. Once he got all of them to nod their readiness, he turned to the rat and waited a second before dropping his arm. Four stones shot out nearly simultaneously, slamming into the unfortunate rat broadside. They did it smart, aiming for the main body instead of a critical headshot, and the rat squealed in rage and made a bounding charge. Balan nodded, took a half step forward, and readied his weapon. His weapon of choice was a vicious axe, well child¡¯s axe. I had taken a rail fence that had split on one end and jammed a piece of shale into it. A bit of rope to ensure it stayed together, and a few hours chipping it into a serviceable blade finished it off. Holding his axe slightly behind him at waist height, he let it do one last bound to bring it into range. As soon as it launched forward with its back paws, he raised his axe and brought it forward into a brutal, well-practiced slam right into the top of the rat¡¯s skull. His timing was impeccable, landing at the same time as the front paws. The skull split open in a gory shower, and Balan raised his axe in victory as the crowd and I cheered him and his warriors. ¡°Fantastic Balan, absolutely fantastic! How long did it take you to get that timing down to where it had no chance to evade?¡± ¡°Meh, a hand of days? Two hands?¡± He was going to make a fantastic goblin warrior someday, but definitely not chief material. Of course, while this was going on and Balan was enjoying his victory cheers, I saw a dark shadow disappear with the body of the rat. Varias had gotten pretty good at her stealth, and her timing was just as good as Balan¡¯s. I mentally shuddered at the image of what she could become with practice. She already had the stealth and timing to be a decent assassin, and she wasn¡¯t even full grown yet! ¡°Pretty slick Varias, although you need to work on blending back into the crowd a little better.¡± I mentioned as the girl was hovering on the edge of the crowd. I saw her confusion, and almost believed it for a second. ¡°You have to be more careful with a kill like that, the body bled on your leg a bit.¡± I pointed out to help her. ¡°But you almost convinced me with that confused look, well done.¡± The poor girl looked down at her legs, then scowled in anger. ¡°Damnit. How did you see that one splash of blood from way over there?¡± While she was mentally berating herself, Balan finally realized that something happened to their kill. ¡°Huh? Whazza? Thiefs! Gives us back our rat Varias!¡± He bellowed. ¡°Calm down Balan, she¡¯ll be giving it back, won¡¯t you Varias?¡± ¡°Yes Uncle Jon.¡± She said dejectedly. ¡°I¡¯ll get away with it next time, Balan.¡± She swore and I just chuckled. ¡°Ok guys, Uncle Jon has to go and talk to the Chief now. You all behave, and I¡¯ll see if I can keep finding treats for when I come back.¡± I left to a chorus of okays and promises to be good, but I knew better. If those kids found something interesting no amount of rules or threats of punishment were going to stop them. I still ended up chuckling to myself as I headed towards the main living area of Home Cave. Home Cave was a cavernous room in a medium sized cave system where all the goblins lived in mud huts. They were arranged in three concentric rings around a gigantic firepit. Inside the three rings were two huts facing the mouth of the cave, one for the chief and one for the shaman. It was a simple setup, with single warriors around the outside and families towards the center. The weakest warriors would be cannon fodder, giving the stronger ones a chance to mount a defense. It was a brutal system, but it worked well for preserving the goblins.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Waiting by the fire were two Hobgoblins. The heavily muscled one with the twin battleaxes was Chief Volick and the one wrapped in animal skins with the deer skull staff was Shaman Norikk. ¡°Greetings Chief, Shaman. You asked for me?¡± ¡°Jon, good you¡¯re here. What level are you at?¡± The chief asked. ¡°Nineteen. Halfway to twenty, why?¡± ¡°Damn, we hoped you were ready to evolve. Norikk here came across something disturbing. We were hoping you would be willing to evolve and go check it out.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be willing to go check it out even before evolving, what happened?¡± ¡°Norikk?¡± ¡°A few days ago I felt a tremor run through the ley lines. I tried to see what it was, but my sight was blocked. All I can see is a sphere of black.¡± ¡°Sounds ominous. Is it growing?¡± ¡°If it is, it isn¡¯t doing it fast enough for me to notice. The only thing I can tell is that it is a concentration of dark energies. Will you still check it out?¡±
New Quest alert! Shaman Norikk has detected a large amount of dark energy appearing near the Home Cave and has asked you to investigate. Will you do this for the clan?
Quest Rewards Failure
Investigate the cause of the dark energy Increased relationship with Shaman Norikk and Chief Volick, rare piece of equipment Decreased relationship with entire clan
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be more than happy to find out what is the cause. Is there any clues you can give me on where to start my journey?¡± ¡°The caves to the east were home to some large battles in the distant past. I would start there.¡± Obviously dismissed, I headed towards one of our prepping caves. ¡°Good afternoon Grelda, how are things at the cooking fire today?¡± I asked the head cook, hoping to sweeten her up before asking for supplies. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you Jon. What you wantin¡¯ today?¡± ¡°Well, I got a quest from the chief and shaman. I think it will probably take a few days, and was hoping you could give me some supplies.¡± ¡°Always wantin¡¯ supplies. What you got for trades? The more I gives you now, the less we gots for dinner.¡± ¡°How about these two stone deer haunches?¡± ¡°You no hunter, how you get stone deer meats?¡± She asked while jabbing a bony finger in my chest. ¡°Well, they were too busy attacking a lone wolf to notice me. I think it worked out rather well.¡± ¡°Then why there not stone deer meats and lone wolf hide, hmmmm?¡± ¡°Yeah, well. . . see the deer, sorta tore up the wolf too bad¡­¡± ¡°This why you no good as hunter. Can¡¯t kill deers before deers ruin wolf. Volick would have deer meats AND wolf pelts.¡± She said as a dreamy look came over her. ¡°Volick real goblin.. .¡± ¡°Yes, yes, of course I can¡¯t compare to the Chief. He chief for reason.¡± Damnit, the longer you end up talking with goblins the more likely you are to start dropping words in sentences like they are. Gotta watch that Jon! ¡°Anyway, he wants me to scout out for something dangerous, and I¡¯ll probably need food for a few days. So, will you give me some food for the deer meat?¡± ¡°Ya ya, you gets your food. HURD! BRINGS JON RATIONS!¡± ¡°HOW MUCH RATIONS? . . . AND WHAT IS RATIONS?¡± ¡°RATIONS IS. . . IS. . . JUST BRING RAT JERKY! FOUR DAYS WORTH!¡± ¡°CAN¡¯T CARRY THAT MUCH JERKY. YOU KNOWS HOW MUCH RAT JERKY WE MAKE IN FOUR DAYS?¡± ¡°NOT WHAT WE MAKES! ENOUGH FOR EATING FOR FOUR DAYS!¡± Dear lord, hearing them argue back and forth was painful. Couldn¡¯t they just walk over and talk? ¡°Where you goings Jon? You still need to gives meats.¡± ¡°Oh fine, here you go Grelda. Two stone deer meat.¡± I tossed the meat at her in a surly manner, not looking forward to eating rat meat for the next for days. Marty gets to stay at an inn and have them cook for him, how the hell come the goblin starter city can¡¯t have an inn? At least I wasn¡¯t as bad off as Derrick, poor bastard was living in a cave and forced to eat raw meat. Trolls fear fire so much that the one time the unlucky bastard lit one to cook dinner they beat him to death. Grabbing my lovely rations for the next few days, I went ahead and grabbed a few canteens of water as well. I would have loved to grab a few silver or enchanted daggers, but goblins can¡¯t produce them at all. I did manage to grab a few spare steel daggers and a short sword. I hadn¡¯t explored the eastern cave area yet, but knew of the two major predators that lived there from the community hunters. The lower caves tended to house bears, while above the treeline belonged to the griffins. I also grabbed a single tent, and headed out. I exited out of the cave at sunset, nodding at several of the returning hunters. ¡°I¡¯m heading east, anything I need to be overly worried about fellas?¡± Several just shrugged, but nobody gave me a direct answer. I guess the goblin hunters were just a bit insular. Oh well, they would have told me about anything too dangerous. I silently headed through the forest, darkvision and the small stature of goblins giving me an advantage. Two hours of swift travel left me at the foothills of some of the greater mountains, and I decided to eat dinner before exploring. One of the greatest things I had discovered about goblins was that instead of claws, they had fingers like a gecko. This let me silently and swiftly climb a tree without leaving any traces. Once up there I took a fifteen-minute breather, eating a bit of my rat jerky with a few swigs of water. Refreshed once again, I headed down and started searching for caves. What I wouldn¡¯t give to be adventuring with Phoebe again. She almost always had a magic caster, and would have been incredibly helpful finding dark magic. Instead I was searching cave by cave under the assumption that the dark energy would drive whatever lived there out. Most of them had some rather grumpy bears hiding in the back of most of them, which was absolutely fun to run when I messed up my stealth. The bears were only a few levels above me, so I could probably end up killing them but I was on what I assumed was a time sensitive mission. Six hours of fruitless searching was frustrating to no end. I was midway up the mountain, just below the tree line. I really needed the cave to be found first, as I had absolutely no desire to try and sneak around the nests of creatures that were 10 levels or more above me. The current cave seemed to have a dried spring somewhere in it, and I was using the dried bed to sneak past a level 25 bear, the biggest I had seen the entire night. I had just gotten past him when the side of the waterway collapsed beneath me. I dropped a few feet, nothing that would have injured me except I didn¡¯t land on flat ground. The steep incline of what had been an underground waterway was incredibly smooth, and I inadvertently rolled and started a wild slide. My first instinct to slam a dagger into the rock to slow myself ended up with the dagger getting jarred out of my hand and lost. I picked up a lovely array of bruises from hitting the walls as the bed drifted back and forth before it hit a rather steep corkscrew. I had no idea how far I had slid down, but I was travelling at an incredible speed when the bottom finally spat me out into a pool of water a few feet deep. Soaked and sore, I clambered out of the pool to see just where I was. Lovely. A bridge spanning a dark abyss, far too deep for my darkvision to penetrate. With no choice but to move forward, I headed across the bridge. Chapter 25 I walked for about a half mile before I moved across the silver seal in the middle of the bridge. It was written in some runic language that I had absolutely no reference for, but it was ten feet in diameter and had several blackened and cracked crystals embedded in a regular pattern. As soon as I crossed the entirety of it, I must have passed through the wall that was blocking Norikk¡¯s sight. The rest of the bridge was lined with fire pots that burned a creepy blue. The bridge continued for another half mile or so, and the path wound up a cliff with several different temple looking buildings on it. Exhausted from my adventures so far, I decided to pitch my tent and sleep for a bit before trying to tackle the temples. As I went to take it out, I finally realized I had a flashing notification on my screen.
Alert! You are the first to discover an unknown instance. Due to the nature of the quest you are on, your respawn point has been forcibly relocated to the silver seal you crossed. Once you have completed the instance you will be free to relocate it once again. Should you determine that you are unable to complete this instance, you can abandon your quest and ask an admin to return you to your previous respawn point.
Damn, why do they have to drop a trap like that on me? Well, can¡¯t fix that so I¡¯m going to head to bed. Let¡¯s see what those temples have in store for me tomorrow. * * * * * * * * * * * * Rat jerky is a shitty breakfast. It was filling though, and that was all that mattered. I headed into the first temple, and stopped for a second to admire the carvings on the door. The centerpiece was a light of some sort, sending out rays that had several races fleeing from it. Opening the doors was underwhelming. The temple was simply four plain columns surrounding an altar with a set of knives on it. I got a strange popup when I entered.
Challenge the curses I You have found the daggers of the goblin heretic Tal¡¯Valen. Long ago, when the races of this world were in a constant state of war, Tal¡¯Valen emerged as a champion of goblinkind. His stealth unmatched, he would unleash devastation among the enemy in the night. Supplies would be poisoned, leaders assassinated, and weapons rendered useless. Despite his actions, the goblins were losing to the elves. After a particularly devastating loss, the goblin army had lost far too much ground and the gathering place of their families was threatened. The tattered remnants of the army prepared to hold as long as they could so the civilians could escape, and were counting on Tal¡¯Valen to eliminate the elven leadership in the battle. However, fear for his own life lead Tal¡¯Valen to abandon his duties in favor of his own life. He never attempted his assassination, the army was routed and the majority of the civilians slaughtered and survivors scattered. Thirteen of the remaining shamans banded together to see what happened, and collectively cursed TalValen and his cherished daggers to feel fear unending, until his final days. After his death, cold and alone, his daggers passed into history, where they have since been forgotten.
Challenge Reward
Take up the daggers of Tal¡¯Valen, and feel the fear that he did through his life. The time limit is one hour, and the fear will increase at specific intervals. This challenge is repeatable ???
What the heck? All I have to do is feel fear for an hour? Piece of cake. I grabbed ahold of the daggers, and found myself on a hill surrounded by gray fog. A bell rang in the distance, and I immediately felt eyes watching me from the mists. I tried swiping the daggers through the mist, but it simply parted around it. Whatever, this was simply slightly uncomfortable. I tried to see how much time was left, but all timekeeping devices had been disabled. I hate this curse. I don¡¯t know when it happened, but there were noises that started in the mists. Not loud, identifiable noises. Oh no, these were whispers of echoes. Never coming from the same point, or at a definite interval. The first of the growls came from close enough I leapt back into the middle of the clearing, crouching down with the daggers brandished in a fighting pose. Bastards. Did they drop the temperature as well? Or is that just my imagination? ¡°What the? You wanna touch me ya bastards! Come on then, come touch me when I can see ya, I¡¯ll give you a nice little cut with my knife here!¡± Bastards think it¡¯s fun to sneak up on me and slash at my back and legs? I¡¯ll get them. Wait, I though the clearing was larger than this? It can¡¯t be shrinking, can it? I stretched my arms out, and sure enough both dagger tips were pressing into the mists. As soon as I noticed it, the clearing disappeared and I was surrounded by mists. I couldn¡¯t even see past my waist, everything was swirling around me, thicker and thicker. Then it appeared. A large shadow, indistinct shape. I was staring at it, and knew it was staring back at me somehow. Not only that, it could see me. I couldn¡¯t move, this terrible pressure was locking me in place. My knees couldn¡¯t even shake, everything was paralyzed. Heart racing, I could imagine it coming closer, taking its sweet time. Savoring my terror, knowing I could never escape. If Oblivion would let you, I would have long ago needed a new change of pants. I was helpless before it, as it raised up above me, higher and higher.
Congratulations! You have passed the trial of Tal¡¯Valen. You know the multitude of fears and how it can affect people. From false bravado to paralyzing terror, know those feelings. Remember them going forward.
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Seriously? I went through all that and got no DAMN REWARD? Just as I thought that, a black glow emanated from the daggers, and coalesced above them before firing into my chest. I felt nothing, no pain, lost no health, no marks left on me. What the bloody hell is wrong with this temple? The doors opposite opened of their own accord, and I hurried to leave. The temples path continued on, a simple switchback and a long set of stairs lead straight to the next temple. I was getting worried about the lack of enemies, but I was sure they would appear at some point. The doors contained more artwork, this time it was all out war. Instead of a single orb of rays, each combatant¡¯s eyes seemed to glow with their own inner fire. Once again I entered to a plain church, this time the weapon was a vicious axe. Single blade, the back side had a hook shaped like an eagle¡¯s beak, perfect for ripping out armor. The steel seemed to somehow hold a bloody tinge. Once again I got an alert as soon as I walked into the temple.
Challenge the Curses II Behold the glory of the Axe of Bardzuuk. Bardzuuk was an orc berserker, feared throughout the land. Gleefully taking part in any battle, his rage quickly overtook his sanity. Lost in his rage, friend and foe fell to his blade in equal measure. There are reports of his blood literally boiling from his wounds sustained in battle, stories that blood splashed upon him from his foes would move to seal his wounds. Most historians believe these to be poetic exaggerations, but cannot truly be discounted. Come, adventurer! Can you navigate the rivers of bloodlust loosed by this blade?
Conditions Rewards
Battle for glory! Slay your foes, slay your friends, slay all who come before you! Healing is for the weak, and orcs are not weak! Only by embracing the bloodlust shall you emerge victorious. This challenge may only be attempted three times. ????
Confident in my abilities, I grabbed the axe and found myself in a massive arena. It seems I automatically took the body of an orc, as I was now much taller and able to wield the axe normally. Bellowing as loud as I could, I headed toward the center of the arena and made a beckoning motion with my fingers. Several fighters stepped forward to my challenge, and we started a whirlwind of death. I made no motion to dodge, as my armor was strong. Where others managed to give me shallow wounds, my retribution was swift and lethal. ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Oh, what glorious battle! Lost in the flow, I paid no heed to anything in my display. All who came forward would fall to my blade. ¡°Come then little elf, test your flimsy sword against my axe!¡± I taunted the newest challenger. His grim smile only fueled me further, and his weak slash against my forearm would result in my taking his hand! What? What trickery is this? ¡°Using magic to boost your speed will not help you, for my axe¡¯s hunger won¡¯t be sated ¡®til it has tasted your blood!¡± I charged forward, unleashing a flurry of strikes. Overhand, backhand, figure eight followed by a straight thrust to take his heart! Only to watch as all of my attacks were easily evaded, and his counter rode along my weapons haft and bit deep into my neck.
Attempt failed You have two attempts remaining.
How did I fail? I was. . . not paying attention to anything. Damnit, I¡¯m not going to lose this. Steeling myself, I grabbed the axe once again and entered the arena. I stayed out of the center this time, working my way slowly between fights. Jumping in on fights when someone had their back turned, taking them down in a 2 on 1. Immediately turning on those I had just helped, watching the shock and realization in their eyes as I went from ally to executioner. I still took wounding blows, but they weren¡¯t important. I was whittling down the competition. I would win this! Gaining confidence as I took down another elf from behind, I turned to the dwarf he was fighting. His reflexes saved him, as he dove out of the way of my attack, only taking a glancing blow. Towering over him, I kicked away his weapon as he feebly tried to fend me off. Raising my axe above my head, I prepared a killing blow only to find twin swords erupting from my stomach, crossing over each other somewhere inside me. The blades scissored as they disemboweled me, my spine and a bit of skin the only thing holding me together as I crashed down.
Attempt failed One attempt remaining.
Damnit! I was so close! What the hell am I missing? Frustrated, I pulled the quest description up once again.
Challenge the Curses II Behold the glory of the Axe of Bardzuuk. Bardzuuk was an orc berserker, feared throughout the land. Gleefully taking part in any battle, his rage quickly overtook his sanity. Lost in his rage, friend and foe fell to his blade in equal measure. There are reports of his blood literally boiling from his wounds sustained in battle, stories that blood splashed upon him from his foes would move to seal his wounds. Most historians believe these to be poetic exaggerations, but cannot truly be discounted. Come, adventurer! Can you navigate the rivers of bloodlust loosed by this blade?
Conditions Rewards
Battle for glory! Slay your foes, slay your friends, slay all who come before you! Healing is for the weak, and orcs are not weak! Only by embracing the bloodlust shall you emerge victorious. This challenge may only be attempted three times. ????
Embracing bloodlust? You want me to rage through this one? Alright system, I¡¯ll show you rage. Time to remember her Jon. All of it. The tests. The waiting, the uncertainty. Them. The insurance. Denials over stupid shit. You hit your deductible? Let¡¯s delay so that expensive item she needs can get approved next year. Oh, we won¡¯t flat out deny it, that¡¯ld be too easy to spot. We¡¯ll approve all the parts of the wheelchair except the seat. That¡¯s fine, right? What? You can¡¯t use it without the expensive seat? Ok, now that it is a new year we can approve it, just pay your deductible again. What do you mean, you won¡¯t cover a pre-existing condition? This is the only plan she has ever had, she can¡¯t have a pre-existing condition, you covered her when she started existing! No, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I AM RATIONAL! GIVE ME THAT GODDAMN AXE! I appeared once again in the arena, and immediately swung at a body to my left, cleaving deep into the chest. Snarling as I ripped it free, I found target after target. There were no edges to my vision, it was simply a tunnel between me and the next target. Move enough to ensure their attack isn¡¯t lethal, and strike them down. Rage, kill, slaughter. Somehow feel that blow coming from behind, swirling around and striking in retribution. Why? Why did it have to be like that? More come for slaughter, broken beneath my axe. Shields splinter under my fury, armor splits and dents. What¡¯s this? You aren¡¯t allowed to run you little shit! I hurl my axe at his back, burying it in his spine. Oh, you think I am harmless without my weapon? I charge into the bastards swing, slamming my armored fist into his face. Ripping his sword from his hands, I bury it in his chest. Weak sword, where¡¯s my axe? WHERE¡¯S MY DAMN AXE? Yank it from the body, find the last two opponents. See their knees shake? Good, that¡¯s right. Fear me, for I am wrath. I charge the one on the right, spinning around his overhand strike to give me enough torque to cleave him in two. Dropping beneath the horizontal cut of the survivor. Surge forward, taking his heart with the spike of my axe. I grab him by the throat before he can fall, and ask, ¡°Why? What do you mean she has hit her lifetime coverage? We can¡¯t afford her medicine; she¡¯ll die without it. Why? WHY DID MY DAUGHTER HAVE TO DIE?¡± I¡¯m back in the temple, sobbing on my knees. Whispering to myself now. ¡°Why did she have to die? Her smile could light the world.¡± Chapter 26 I have no idea how long I laid there and cried. Long enough that my hip and shoulder to develop an ache from the stone floor. I splashed a bit of water on my face to take care of the dried tear streaks, and checked the popup I had received.
Congratulations You have passed the trial of Bardzuuk. You have mastered the beast that is your rage, it now waits patiently in its cage. Confident that when necessary, it will be freed once again.
Yeah, lovely. God, I hope that none of the other trials are as emotionally draining as that one was. If they are, I¡¯m going to be sending off a complaint to the developers.
You have garnered Divine Attention! Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Ira, god of rage and patron of barbarians. To learn more, enter one of his temples.
You have garnered Divine Attention! Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Nemesis, goddess of vengeance. To learn more, enter one of her temples
You have garnered Divine Attention! Due to your recent actions, you have come to the attention of Maniae, the goddess of madness. To learn more, enter one of her temples
What? Divine attention? Oh no, I am not about to join up with one of those, especially Maniae. What could I have done to get her attention anyway? Mechanically chewing some rat jerky, I headed out to the next temple. I took time to study the door once again, as they had proven to provide at least a hint towards what to expect, but this one had me confused. Once again it was a battle scene, but each weapon that was piercing a body was also piercing the wielder. Pushing open the door, I was greeted with a black bow covered in red streaks.
Challenge the Curses III Congratulations on finding the bow of Valentious. Holy guardian of the world tree, the elf Valentious was said to hold all life in such high regard that he felt the pain of each injury he inflicted. Take up this bow, adventurer, and learn how empathy can become a curse.
Conditions Rewards
Protect the world tree. This may be repeated 5 times ???
Getting really sick of these questionable rewards. I grabbed the bow and opened my eyes as an elf. At my back, an enormous tree, while a small group of goblins were arranged against me. Drawing an arrow, I was mildly surprised when my vision telescoped in to view the five goblins, and that I had a vague idea of where the arrow would hit. Targeting the leader, I fired and took him with a solid gutshot. Staggering back, I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Not only that, but a small portion of my health bar had dropped as well. So, that¡¯s what the double weapons on the door meant. Steeling myself, I took aim and started loosing arrows as the goblins charged. By the time all the goblins had dropped, I was down to a third of my health. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± I shouted at the tree, as I quickly learned I had no inventory here, and no potions on quick slots on my belt. ¡°So every hit drains my life, and I have no way to replace it?¡± Clinking metallic sounds interrupted my rant at the tree, and I saw three armored hobgoblins with three goblins entering the clearing. ¡°This is going to suck.¡± I murmured to myself as I launched an arrow again. Five arrows later, and I was back in the temple.
Attempt failed Four attempts remaining.
Blasted curses and their damned challenges. How the hell are you supposed to beat a level where you can¡¯t heal and every attack causes you damage? I grabbed the bow again, not really having a plan. Once again I was faced with the five goblins. This time, instead of killing them, I tried disabling them. Targeting feet and knees, I missed more often than not, but eventually got them stopped. I stared back at them as they glared at me, hatred apparent in their eyes. This went on for ten minutes or so before I realized that I had to kill them before the next wave would appear. Walking up to the first one, I tried hitting it with my bow in the hopes that only injuries caused by arrows would injure me. When that didn¡¯t work, I took an arrow and stabbed the bastard. Still losing life, I just started firing at all of them. Once the last one was dead, I looked up to see the next wave facing me with only a third of my health. This time I let the group pass me. They sneered in derision, and started attacking the world tree. I felt every blow, and watched as I started losing health once again. Damnit, how the hell? I fired an arrow into the back of a goblin¡¯s head, fully expecting my death. Instead, I lost no health as the creature fell dead. Seconds later I was cast back into the temple.
Attempt failed Three attempts remaining
I may have lost, but I know your secret this time, you bastards. I took a swig of water before grabbing the bow one more time. Once in the clearing again, I crossed half the distance to the goblins before taking aim. On a whim, I tried using an archer skill. ¡°[Snipe shot]¡± I murmured while aiming at the lead goblin¡¯s heart. The arrow streaked out of my hands, bursting straight through the chest of the goblin and narrowly missing the one behind it. The goblins froze in terror, and I smiled as I had lost no life. I would still have to manage my mana, but this fight just got a lot easier. Putting my emotions aside, I started mechanically targeting vital points on the goblins. Eyes, forehead, and hearts. Five shots, five deaths. The goblins with the next wave fared no better, but I couldn¡¯t get one shot kills on the hobgoblins. However, I noticed that a critical hit took away the same amount of health as a normal hit. The third wave came, and I was hovering at 85% health. This time it was a heavily armored orc, two hobgoblins and two goblins. A [Snipe shot] took the ork in the face, ending it and giving me a slight health boost. Noting that a one shot kill would refill a portion of health, I started gaining confidence on this trial. The goblins fell next, and I took damage from the hobgoblins. It seemed the health restore was based on the initial health of the creature, as the orc gave more in return than both goblins combined. Wave four was three orcs and four hobgoblin archers. This was the first time I had to move around, and I took out the orcs first as they were rapidly approaching me and the tree. Taking out one of the archers helped immensely, as they didn¡¯t have the discipline to volley. The last fell before long, and I was down to about half health and two thirds mana. Arrayed before me were three orcs with tower shields, an orc on each edge with recurve bows, and two orcs behind the shields with halberds. The first orc bowman managed to hit me in the hip, dropping my health to a quarter. I had no choice, I started firing [Snipe shots] as fast as I could and still be accurate. The archers died first, taking my health back up to an acceptable level. The center of the shield wall was the next target, and after he fell I started picking shots of convenience. I lost the last of my mana with one shield bearer and one halberdier left, and started taking a good bit of damage. When the last one fell, I was a little worse for wear and had a paltry 10% of my health left.
Congratulations! You have learned the error of Valentious, how caring can weigh you down and destroy you.
It seems the fifth wave was the last, thank my lucky stars. As I read my notification, a green glow arose from the bow and gently moved into my chest. I headed out through the back of the temple, and went up once again to the next temple in line. This door¡¯s battle scene was another odd one. Each weapon seemed to be either moving at an insane speed, or had several mirages surrounding it. Opening the door revealed a massive hammer of silver etched with golden runes.
Challenge the Curses IV Behold the legendary hammer of Durkhan. Though a dwarf, Durkhan was born with a constitution that rivaled goblins. Though others mocked him, Durkhan wasn¡¯t dismayed. Day and night, he worked on his strength until he far surpassed any challenger. He became known as the Glass Dragon in the arena, as he either smashed his opposition in one blow or was defeated swiftly. Come then, adventurer, and know the epitome of strength.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Challenge Rewards
Survival challenge. Waves of enemies shall challenge you until you are defeated. How long will you stand at the peak? ???
Oh, this should be fun. I grabbed the hammer on the altar, and breathed in the clean air of the arena. A goblin with a spear was my first opponent. He charged, and dodged my overhand swing. ¡°GYAAAAH!¡± I cried in agony as his spear struck a solid blow to my side, knocking off almost half of my life in one blow. Thinking he had won, I used the distraction to strike a backhanded blow with my hammer, catapaulting the goblin to the other side of the arena and his death. It shattered into sparks, that coalesced into a wolf. Snarling, it leapt across the sands towards me. I let it come charging, and slammed the hammer into its side as it leapt at me. The body flew away again, shattering and reforming into a kobold. Smiling, I beckoned it to come at me with its sword. It didn¡¯t bother charging me this time, taking its time trying to figure out how to get at me in the safest manner possible. I kept adjusting the hammer, so the head was on whatever side the sword was. Getting frustrated with the lack of action, I feinted a lunge, and whipped the hammer in an arc over my head at the kobold¡¯s off side. Though it fell for the feint and slashed at where I should have been, it was still spry enough to dodge under my hammer blow and drive the blade into my side, killing me.
Congratulations! You have seen through the eyes of Durkhan how swiftly death can come when everything is given over to damaging your opponent.
Damn, I should have done better than level three. I¡¯m going to blame it on the weapon, as hammers are just unwieldy. Give me a good dagger any day and I¡¯ll slice ¡®em apart. A pale orange glow exited the weapon and the doors opened. Before I left, I tried to grab the legendary hammer of Durkhan. As I approached, a small lightning bolt blasted my palm. Taking the hint, I left the temple and the hammer behind me. Wondering how many temples there were, I looked at the door of the next temple in line. This showed an army being laid waste to by an army of elementals. Though I didn¡¯t always play mages, this could be a fun little challenge. I opened the door and saw a bone white staff with four stones in the top. Emerald, topaz, sapphire and ruby. It looks like this was definitely an elemental staff, let¡¯s check out the challenge.
Challenge the Curses V Gul¡¯veth was a drow elementalist whose name struck fear in the hearts of those who serve the light. He is one of the few who may claim to surviving through drow society by pure strength, instead of subtlety and guile used by most servants of Lloth. Unhappy with mere mastery of the elements, he created his ultimate weapon: a staff carved from the thigh of an elemental mithril drake, inset with precious stones of the highest clarity. Armed with his greatest weapon and the ability to see the elemental weaknesses of his foes, he moved beyond a simple battlefield terror into the realm of legendary horror. In the end, it took the combined armies of several human kingdoms, elves, dwarves, and gnomes to finish him, though the majority of those armies still lie beneath the sands of the Duskaven Dessert
Challenge Rewards
Take up the staff of Gul¡¯veth and unleash the wrath of the elements upon waves of enemies. You will have endless mana, and the waves won¡¯t stop until you die. ???
Endless mana and a staff of a master elementalist? Dear lord, Phoebe will kill me just because I have this chance instead of her. I activated a remote recording for Phoebe, grabbed the staff and welcomed the chaos to come. I found myself on a castle rampart, looking out over a flat plain leading up to the castle walls. The first thing to start appearing were groups of elementals of all kinds. I smiled, as the air elementals took the first flight to try and assault my position. Pointing with the staff, I calmly said, ¡°[Sandstorm]¡± and watched as a massive cone of sand burst forth and shredded the elementals. The water elementals were slightly in front of the flame ones, so I cast [Thunderstorm] followed quickly by [Deluge]. The slow earth elementals eventually got into range, and I unleashed one of my all-time favorites, [Firestorm]. Eventually I started wearing down, I think around round 60 or so. They had progressed from basic elementals, to rare ones like ice, magical creatures, and finally all the races of light. My downfall was an elven sniper mounted on a griffin. I came back into the temple laughing at the challenge.
Congratulations! You have seen how elemental weaknesses can change the flow of battle thanks to Gul¡¯veth.
This time it was a multicolored light that left the weapon and entered me. Once again the temple opened up, only this time there were no other temples to enter. Simply a staircase heading over the lip of the cliff. I ate one more ration of my lovely jerky with some water, and decided to use my tent at the base of the stairs. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rolling up my tent, I prepared for the end of this quest. I wanted to get back to Home Cave and see the kids again just to see how far they had progressed. Walking up over the cliff edge, I saw a slight depression with five miniature versions of the temples arranged in a pentagram. In the center of all this was a grayish altar with green veins running through it, and a swirling orb of multiple colors on it. I started walking towards everything, mindful of my surroundings but seeing nothing. Upon closer inspection, the orb was floating a few inches above the altar. The lines forming the pentagram were made of some red stone, and there was a circle inscribed inside the intersecting lines. Inadvertently I walked around the altar widdershins (counterclockwise) as I studied it. Once I had completed a circuit, I got a series of popups.
Quest complete! Shaman Norikk has given you the task of figuring out what was blocking his sight in the eastern caves. Your explorations have turned up a Necrotic Evolution Altar. Return to the shaman with your findings.
Level up! You have reached the maximum level of this species. Please find a suitable evolution material and evolve as soon as possible, you will not earn any experience until you do.
Evolution material found! You have come across a Necrotic Evolution Altar. This altar will allow for several possible evolutions of your current existence.
Evolution Option Description
Hobgoblin The most common evolution of goblin, hobgoblins are larger, stronger versions of goblins.
Ghastly goblin A rare evolutionary branch of goblins, the ghastly goblin has been infused with necrotic energy. Similar to a ghoul, these creatures are immune to poisons but take massive damage from light attacks.
Bugbear The largest of the goblinoid creatures, bugbears are hairy and heavily muscled creatures. Many an adventurer has underestimated their ability to move stealthily, to their own doom.
Orc Orcs are the mainstay of a dark lord¡¯s army. Strong and fearless, they make excellent shock troops when properly outfitted.
Oh? Lucky me, I¡¯m going to be the first to evolve! Hmm, now what to choose? I enjoyed stalking through the shadows, the only drawback to the goblin monster so far has been its lack of height. Obviously the only choice to me would be the bugbear. I tapped my choice and confirmed it, then was cast out of my body. I had a free roaming view of my goblin as he grew from three feet in height to seven and gained muscles to make a gym bro jealous. My green skin turned a dusty brown, and coarse black hair covered almost my entire body. The only things left hairless were my palms and face. I was drawn back into my new body, and smiled as I was now looking down on the altar that was at eye level earlier.
Quest completed! You have completed the Challenge the Curses questline. Having defeated all of the challenges arrayed before you, you are eligible for the highest rewards. You now have the option to change class and use these curses in battle!
Cursed swordsman The cursed swordsman infuses his blades with necrotic energy and curses his enemies as he draws their blood. Beware as their dual blades give them the ability to inflict two curses on opponents at the same time
Witch doctor Witch doctors are the necrotic version of shamans. Instead of blessing groups of allies in battle, witch doctors unleash devastating curses upon their enemies.
Well well well! Isn¡¯t this a fantastic turn of events! I take back my earlier words about question mark rewards system, I will definitely be taking this! Since I enjoy my daggers and have no intentions of going PvP, I think I¡¯ll upgrade to witch doctor. Once I chose my upgrade, I got another popup that had me smiling.
Welcome witch doctor! Your progress through the curses challenge has given you your first battle ready curses!
Curse Name Level Description Duration
Fear Advanced lvl 1 Creatures up to your level +5 have a chance to flee battle. While fleeing, they suffer a -50% defense and +25% chance to receive critical hits 15 second duration, 30 second cooldown. Creatures affected by fear gain +10% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes
Rage Advanced lvl 1 Creatures up to your level +5 will enter a battle rage, attacking anything within range. Affected creatures gain +300% attack, -150% defense 30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by rage gain a +15% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes
Mirrored damage Advanced lvl 1 Creatures up to your level +5 will receive 30% of their base damage in return for every attack that lands, excluding death blows. 1 minute duration, 30 second cooldown. Creatures affected by mirrored damage gain +50% resistance to secondary casts for 1 hour
Glass defense Beginner level 5 Creatures up to your level -5 will receive +50% damage from attacks 30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by glass defense gain +25% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes
Weaken resist Expert level 1 Creatures up to your level +10 will have their magical resistances lowered by 80% 30 second duration, 1 minute cooldown. Creatures affected by weaken resist gain +35% resistance to secondary casts for 30 minutes
As a tier 2 monster, your effective level will be calculated as Current Level + 20 goblin levels. Descriptions correspond to the level that will be affected by a curse with a 95% confidence. Actual results will vary based on multiple factors.
First evolution obtained! Congratulations to character JohnnyBGood on being the first to obtain the evolution of a monster character. While there are still some issues that need to be addressed, Arctic Storm Entertainment is proud to announce that the option of choosing a monster race is now open for everyone. Since the first slots were only opened to selected testers, we have prepared a limited time offer for those who were excluded. For the next ten days or until reaching level 15, you can keep your light character in stasis in order to see what the monster race entails. Keep in mind, once the limit has been reached one of the characters must be deleted in accordance with game rules.
Would you like to teleport back to Home Cave now?
Yes. Yes I would. Chapter 27 Marty¡¯s POV I woke up free of all status effects. Heading downstairs with a spring in my step, I called out when I saw Alnoss, ¡°Hey Alnoss! Can I get a few days-worth of food? Something that¡¯ll keep.¡± ¡°You want it cooked or not?¡± ¡°Cooked. I probably won¡¯t want to be cooking after exploring all day.¡± ¡°Ok, I can give you a few flatbreads stuffed with sausage and cheese. Three silver and I can give you enough for five days.¡± ¡°Sounds great. Can I get an order for breakfast too?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll have your food done by the time you¡¯ve finished eating.¡± She headed into her kitchen and came out with a plate of sausages. ¡°Here you go.¡± I tore into my food, excited about going out and getting some actual action today. Once I got everything packed into my bags, I waved at Alnoss and headed out. I headed towards the cave with the cave rats, only killing those that were in my way. Staying near the walls of the cavern, I came across a tunnel leading out. I took random turns through the tunnel system, making sure I marked the way back with a notch in the walls. Eventually I entered a large, mist filled cavern. Looking around, I found three different types of mushrooms that I started harvesting. The first had a red cap with purple edges, the second resembled a bunch of pure white grapes, and the final one resembled a sickly green morel. Once I had samples, I started looking around for enemies. The mists limited my vision to around 15 feet, which would hopefully be enough to get in a surprise attack if I was careful. Keeping a wall to my back, I started working clockwise around the room, thankful that most of the rocky formations ended up being like terraced hills. After a few minutes of slinking around, I saw an oddly shaped mushroom. It was bent so the top was facing me, and the cap was three concentric golden rings on a bluish cap. As I was observing it, it started shaking and stood up! At seven and a half feet tall, the stem was instead a lanky humanoid shape. I slowly took aim with my crossbow where a heart would be, and launched the bolt only to see the health drop by 10%. Glaring at me, it swiftly charged. I pulled my weapon, and decided that a hammer blow to the ribs would be the perfect opener. ¡°[Crushing blow]!¡± I cried with my attack, only to receive a grunt in return as a fist slammed into my snout with unexpected force. Staggering back turned the solar plexus combination into a glancing blow to my shoulder. Snarling at the unexpected strength of the monster, I tried dancing back into and out of range, using my scythe to try and wear him down with shallow slashing attacks. Though not always successful, I was still giving more damage than receiving. Until I noticed his eyes change at about 1/3 of his life, and his entire body started shaking. Sensing a special move, I retreated as fast as I could without falling over some of the hilly areas. Just in time, as the gills beneath his cap exploded in a golden spore shower. I took the time for the spores to disperse to regain a bit of stamina and plan how to attack. Looking at him, he didn¡¯t seem to have any joints, as his arms would bend in a constant curve instead of a sharp turn. Damn, it¡¯s going to come down to a slugfest. I drank a health potion to get me closer to full health, and charged in when the spore concentration had dropped to under half. Immediately a portion of my health bar turned green, but I ignored it to start swinging. My first target was going to be a vertical strike to the bastard¡¯s face, and to boost my attack even further I coupled it with [Reaper¡¯s Edge]. It dropped the health into the red, but opened me up to a few swings in retribution before I could remove my weapon. Tossing all technique to the side, I simply stood there and traded vicious blows until the walking mushroom expired. I touched the corpse to see what the heck I had been fighting was and see what I could do with it.
Mycofiend corpse level 14 This is the corpse of a Mycofiend. What would you like to do?
Loot Store body Nothing
So this was a mycofiend? I could see why Khaliss wanted them dead, they are tough bastards to kill. I didn¡¯t think I had even gotten a single critical hit that entire fight. No matter, this body would soon be giving me all its secrets as I choose to store it. As soon as I did that, my body locked up as my vision turned into golden sparkles. I felt a massive blow to the back of my head and a popup.
You have died. As you are above level 10, you have lost 10% of the experience required for the next level and all equipped items have lost 10% durability. Death forgoes the monetary penalty in favor of removing one kill towards your weekly quota. You now have 0/7 weekly kills. Reviving at Kobold Sanctuary.
I came to in the barracks area, pissed off. What the hell had attacked me? Opening up my damage log, I was determined to find out. Unknown hits you with disabling spores. Paralyzed for 3 seconds. Unknown¡¯s disabling spores have poisoned you (second stack). You will take 15 damage per stack every 10 seconds for one minute. Unknown hits you with unknown for a critical hit. You have died. So that spore attack is disabling spores? Guess I had another mycofiend sneak up on me when I wasn¡¯t looking. Looks like they had decent physical attributes, and their spore attack could paralyze and poison, but they had yet to use a mana based attack. Too bad I also lacked a mana based attack. Shaking my head, I started towards the temple of Thanatos. ¡°Greetings brother.¡± I said as I entered, once I noticed the head priest. ¡°Welcome brother. What brings you here smelling of the touch of our Lord?¡± ¡°Well, I was out earlier and managed to kill a mycofiend before one managed to get me in return. I did manage to bring back one of the bodies, and was wondering if there were a room where I could perform my examinations and dispose of the body after in a respectful manner.¡± ¡°There is, follow me.¡± He turned and headed down a tunnel hidden deep in shadow. We came to the circular chamber that I entered the game from. Before I took out the body, I looked to see what kind of space it took up. Because of the cap, it took up a T shaped space, three blocks across the top and two coming down as the stem. Looks like I will only be able to bring back two of them per trip. Putting the body on the altar, I took out a knife and got to work. ¡°Can you explain what you are doing? Lord Thanatos wishes to know some of your reasoning.¡± ¡°Sure. First thing I am going to do is look in this chest area for vital organs. Most creatures tend to hide them behind ribs, but when I shot him in the chest I got no extra damage.¡± Working slowly, I started by peeling back the odd skin. It was almost leathery, and came off like it was the bark of a birch tree. The tissue underneath was rather odd. It was all composed of bands of corded material, and there were absolutely no bones. The only organ I could find ended up being a stomach, as I found a few partially digested mushrooms. ¡°Ok, this is really odd. There is only a stomach here. I¡¯m going to look at the arms and legs next, see what is going on with these lack of bones.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. I made deep slashes in the meat of each arm and leg, and saw more of the corded material. ¡°Are all these cords bones and muscle in one? The thicker, vertical ones act like flexible bones. The cross ones must act like muscles, letting this guy move.¡± Heading to the face, I widened the gash left by my slash in the battle and tried to find the optic nerve. Having no luck, I simply started moving towards the cap, splitting the body as I went. ¡°This must be the brain.¡± I noted as I came upon a grey, spherical object. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too hard to hit, its right at the base of the cap.¡± I opened up the cap, and that¡¯s where I found the organs. The heart was a simple one chamber bulb, surrounded by thick cords to protect it. I had no idea what the other organs were, as they didn¡¯t seem to correspond in shape to anything I had seen before. Sighing in defeat, I told the high priest, ¡°Well, that¡¯s all I can figure out. I have no idea how this thing breathes, as there are no lungs. No bones mean a crushing blow is less than worthless in a fight, and that heart is in basically a fortress. The only weak spot would be the brain, but it looks like such a simple brain that I don¡¯t know if a direct hit will end up killing the thing.¡± ¡°How do you know it is a simple brain?¡± ¡°It is almost perfectly smooth. Brain space is usually limited, so in order to get a bigger brain in there you need to have folds. I can show you later when I kill a humanoid. I just wish I had a way to test this thing for elemental weaknesses.¡± ¡°Hmmm, that would be useful. Are you done with this body? We need to burn it soon.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡± Nodding at me, the high priest took a jar off of his belt, and sprinkled an oily substance all over the altar. Cupping his hand, he called forth a ball of green flame and dropped it onto the body, which immediately burst into flames that rapidly consumed everything. ¡°So, did you get your skill you were looking for?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Any ideas why?¡± ¡°Maybe I didn¡¯t learn enough, or maybe I need to use it in battle. It could be I haven¡¯t looked at enough bodies. Too many to narrow it down, but I did learn enough to know why I didn¡¯t get any critical hits last time. I¡¯m heading back out to test my strength against them again, is there anything you need when I¡¯m out there?¡± ¡°No, but thank you for asking brother.¡± ¡°Anytime brother.¡± I turned and headed back out, making my way swiftly through the streets. As I was storming past the barracks, I caught someone dismembering a training dummy with savage blows out of the corner of my eye. Slowing down, I felt myself drawn to watch. While his blows were taking down the training dummy, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how much he had to telegraph his attacks in order to get those results. I headed into the barracks, and sat off to one side of the training yard thinking. Removing a limb with a quick attack would give me a massive advantage in battle, but how could I do it? [Reaper¡¯s Edge] was great, but that hour cooldown was problematic. I activated it, watching as the grey energy lined the edge of the blade. Could I duplicate that with my own mana? It almost seemed as if the energy extended beyond the physical limitations of making a blade from metal. Cancelling the skill, I gave it a try. The first time, I saw my mana flow evenly throughout the weapon. Several failures later, and I managed to get the mana to flow only to the scythe end. ¡°Hey, mind if I take a few swings at a training dummy?¡± I asked the warrior who was still smashing away. ¡°Huh? Sure, go ahead.¡± I strolled up to an undamaged one, and took a regular swing at the extended arm. My scythe managed to bite about a quarter inch into the arm, and I had to rock it back and forth to get it unlodged. I tried adding my mana to the blade and swung at the same arm, slightly farther away from the body. The mana shattered on impact, but I still got the same penetration of my weapon. Several swings later and no progress had me incredibly frustrated. Damnit, I could almost feel that there was a skill there. What was I missing? Maybe swinging my blade was what the issue was. I tried a draw cut, where I placed the blade directly against the arm and slid it, slicing into the arm slightly less than half of what a swing would get. Placing the blade against it one more time, I concentrated on making my mana sharp and drew the blade along the dummy. The mana wavered a bit, but managed to remain intact. Progress. I tried checking the wounds left, but the seemed identical to my eyes. I kept trying this until I drained my mana several times, downing potions to recover quickly. I had slowly been making progress, but still no skill. This time I tried compressing the mana, and letting it only cover the edged half of the scythe. This made it noticeably darker in color, and the slice cut almost as deep as a full swing. Encouraged, I took a step back to collect myself and walk through the process in my head. Collect mana in my blade, compress it while sharpening it, and use it to extend past the blade itself. ¡°Hyaaaaah!¡± I let out a small cry as I swung, this time managing to cut nearly halfway through the arm of the training dummy, and finally getting the popup that I had been waiting for.
New skill acquired! Mana Edge Beginner lvl 1 This skill is an imitation of the Reaper¡¯s Edge that uses the wielder¡¯s mana to increase the slicing power of edged weapons. Cost: 30 mana Cooldown: 30 seconds Increases weapon damage by 10%. Slight increase to chance of amputation.
Smiling, I turned and left the training grounds and headed out to hunt some mycofiends. Glad that I had the foresight to mark my way, I rapidly came to the grotto where I had been killed earlier. I took my time to thoroughly scout, and found two mycofiends though there was a large gap between them. I took up position by a shallow pool, hopefully far enough away that my battle with one wouldn¡¯t draw the second one in. Before battle, I tried to get an analysis of the odd creature.
Mycofiend lvl 16 Barely possessing intelligence, these simple ambulatory fungal creatures were said to be created when a wizard experimented on mushrooms with infernal mana stones. They possess an incredibly powerful body that is resistant to damage. Some reports have mentioned minimal magic usage, but most experts agree that these creatures are too stupid to use it in anything more than an instinctive manner.
I took careful aim, hoping to hit the small brain of the creature. Firing, I watched as the bolt flew true and took off nearly ? of its life in one blow. Bellowing in rage, the walking mushroom turned to me and bent over. Confused, I watched as first one ring, then a second started glowing. Diving out of the way, I barely avoided a powerful stream of water the size of a baseball as it rocketed past where my head just was. I looked back at the smirking mushroom before charging. I used [Mana edge] as I leapt and dealt a massive overhand blow to the bastard¡¯s cap, trading what I hoped would be a killing blow for a solid punch to my stomach. ¡°Experts say no magic my ass.¡± I muttered to myself as I added the body to my bodybag. I kept a wary eye out this time, not wanting the other bastard to manage to sneak up on me again. I tracked it down, and disposed of it in much the same manner as the first one. It also fired a stream of water at me, but they didn¡¯t seem to take into account that their opponent would move. At least they were as simple as their brains implied. I cleared out a majority of the harvestable mushrooms and headed into the next room. Once again the cavern was covered in terraced hills of water reservoirs, except there were two mycofiends hanging out together near enough to the entrance that I couldn¡¯t go exploring. Well, time to see just how dumb these things are. I took aim at the one farthest away from me, but kept the other between us. Soon enough the middle one bent over for something, and I fired at the cap of the other. His health dropped by a quarter, and immediately turned to me and bent over to unleash his attack. I moved out of the way and observed as he blasted his partner point blank range, and was shocked at just how powerful that water jet was. It managed to drill straight through the body, and continued on to chip the stone wall by where I launched my attack from. While it didn¡¯t do a lot of damage, it did give me plenty of time to reload as mycofiend number two bellowed in rage and aimed its own water jet at the first. As it was charging, I decided to try for a tricky shot. Slipping back to my original position, I let my bolt loose just as the mycofiend fired at its partner. Aiming slightly above where the main body met the cap, I hoped to strike the small heart of the creature. Luck seemed to be with me, as it didn¡¯t receive a fatal blow but did get a strong enough critical hit to drop its health into the red. Rather than wade into the melee, I let them wear each other down and finished off the victor with another critical hit to the cap. Even without the skill, knowing where the organs were for monsters was doing wonders for my critical rate. Since I had filled my bodybag with the first two mycofiends, I simply looted their bodies only to receive a few copper coins and a bit of their spores. Always happy for another alchemy ingredient, I resumed my hunt. Soon enough I came across a single mycofiend. Hmm, I wonder if I could disrupt that magic attack? There was no way to reload a crossbow in time, so I went with one of my tricks from the Kobold Warrens. Sculpting a baseball sized chunk of rock was incredibly easy, but as soon as I started pushing mana into it I ran into problems. It almost immediately started shaking then crumbled to dust in my hands. What the? I tried it again only to get the same result. Damnit, did they effing nerf something again and not give me warning? Emily, Did someone nerf the mana infusion into granite spheres and not tell me? Because that¡¯s uncool. I am trying to use it in the start of a battle and it is really frustrating when my abilities don¡¯t work. Can you get back to me with what happened? Thanks, Marty Well, even if I can¡¯t charge them for a small explosion maybe a thrown rock will still get its attention. I carved one last rock and let it fly, taking aim at the mycofiend immediately. Sure enough, the thing turned to face me and bent over to attack. As soon as the outer ring charged, I fired at the center of their convenient target. The results were spectacular. A good third of the cap simply disappeared in a burst of gore as something inside exploded. Smiling at my success, I looted the body for a few more coppers. Rather than go for more exploring, I harvested from the room and started back towards the city. Time to find out just what causes a mushroom explosion. Chapter 28 ¡°Back so soon, brother?¡± The high priest asked as I entered the church. ¡°Indeed. I have two more bodies to study if you have the time.¡± I replied. Smiling, the high priest led me back to the altar. I pulled out the first body and immediately opened up the cap, taking care around the top. I paid particular attention to an odd organ that looked like an amalgamation of grey, slimy grapes. Several ligaments held it in position, and there was a large connection of the same material of the organ to the cap itself. Carefully slicing into it, it took several shallow slashes before the interior burst open and I saw a blue crystal. It looked like one of the rupees from those games where the swordsman likes to smash clay pots, and was long enough to go from my wrist to my fingertips. I carefully removed it and identified it.
Small mana crystal 0/50 mana This is the second smallest of the mana crystals. It is rechargeable and has many uses.
So, charged mana crystals can explode? That is very good to know. I tried opening up other organs, but didn¡¯t find anything important. Nodding at the high priest, I watched as he burned the body. Putting the second body on the altar, I opened it but stopped from cutting into organs. I started with anything attached to the outer ring, and tried running my mana through it. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stand by the top of the cap, these things absorb mana and fire it out of there.¡± I warned the high priest. Nothing happened until I touched a single grey blob, and the mana moved so rapidly through it that it was shaking. Straight to the main organ that held the crystal. Ok, experiment one worked and I knew what organs worked to absorb mana. I opened the mana condenser organ for lack of a better term, but kept the mana crystal inside. This time I directly touched the mana crystal and added mana, watching as the inner light gradually increased. It was interesting to watch as the empty crystal looked like clear blue glass, but adding mana seemed to birth a sun in the center of the crystal. Once it reached full charge, a wave from the bottom of the organ smoothly rolled towards the top, carrying the charge with it until it fired out the top in a stream of water.
New Skill acquired! Anatomy beginner lvl 3 Your study of dead bodies has revealed the most efficient way to do damage to creatures you have studied. Additional loot may be awarded based on knowledge. +3% damage, +3% critical hit chance Studied creatures: Mycofiends
¡°Finally!¡± I cried out in joy. Noticing the odd look from the high priest I explained, ¡°I got the skill.¡± ¡°Congratulations brother, I¡¯m sure our Lord will be pleased with the news. Are you off to put it into action?¡± ¡°Not yet brother. It¡¯s getting late enough that I probably shouldn¡¯t make another trip today. Instead I¡¯ll head out and try and learn what I can about these new mushrooms I¡¯ve found.¡± As I was talking, the high priest was busy burning the body, but not before I grabbed the mana crystal. After an awkward pause, I simply turned and left. Hoping that Djarleen had forgiven me, I headed into her shop to find her staring off into space. She started at the sound of the door opening, and I saw what looked like happiness, regret, and sadness flash across her face in the half second before it settled on resignation. ¡°Afternoon Djarleen, how are you today?¡± ¡°Not bad Angus, thanks for asking.¡± Damn, it seems we were going to be awkwardly formal for a bit. ¡°Here to use the equipment?¡± While not quite meant as an olive branch, I figured I could try and make the best of it. ¡°Actually I was hoping to pick your brain on a few things.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± She asked, posture straightening as her tone lightened. ¡°Yeah. I came across a few new ingredients and wanted to see what you would recommend doing with them. Can you help an apprentice out?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± She said with an exaggerated sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s see what piddling ingredients you managed to stumble across.¡± She added with a smile. I pulled out one of each of the mushrooms I had come across, but kept the mycofiend spores in reserve. ¡°Oh, interesting. You¡¯ve been over by the volcanic springs, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Probably? It was fairly steamy in through there, but I couldn¡¯t sightsee too much. The place is infested with mycofiends.¡± ¡°Ugh, those idiotic mushrooms? Too bad you aren¡¯t a mage, burning those things is the best way to get rid of them. I swear unless they are on fire they are too stupid to realize that you hit them.¡± ¡°Yeah, they are pretty tough unless you know where to hit them.¡± At her confused look I explained. ¡°The body is like a plant stalk, nothing in it. Hit them in the cap to get where their organs are at. Anyway, what can you tell me about these mushrooms?¡± I asked to bring her back to the topic. ¡°Well, they are decent enough. The white ones I can make into a cleanse potion of decent strength, it should last you up to the mid twenties for levels. The purple and red one can make either a bleeding potion or one that causes a distracting, burning pain. It just depends on how long you cook it for. The green one makes a lovely acidic potion that will corrode iron and steel. Which did you want to start with?¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with the cleanse potion so that I can get the recipe. I¡¯ll only brew a few so that I can get it, considering my new limitations with healing potions.¡± Face falling at the reminder of my aura, we headed to the back. ¡°Ok, first you need to trim off the stem. Be careful not to cut any of the bulbous parts, we need those intact. Now, add them to your flask and cover them with water. Heat the mix, making sure it doesn¡¯t boil. Good, keep going until the solution turns milky white. Go ahead and strain it, let¡¯s see how it turned out.¡±
Medium cleansing potion (Low quality)The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. This potion will remove status effects from creatures level 20 and below.
¡°Not too bad, all things considered.¡± ¡°Thanks. Is there an elixir recipe?¡± ¡°Yeah, but it is rather complex and isn¡¯t worth it. Are you looking to improve your little achievement?¡± ¡°That obvious?¡± ¡°Of course. Sadly, most of what I know already has an elixir recipe. I think next we should use the bleeder shrooms, you¡¯ll enjoy doing this part.¡± Once we had everything cleaned and set back up, she had me start by dicing up the cap without any of the gills. ¡°Ok, now we add both ethanol and water. This will be your first distillation. Give it a good stir, and we are going to slowly heat the solution until it turns bright red. Once that happens, put this condenser tube over the top and crank up the heat. We need it to reach a boil as fast as we can, but to immediately get it back to a gentle boil so that we don¡¯t burn up the mushroom residue.¡± Easier said than done. I got it to a much too vigorous boil, and that lovely red was slowly turning brownish. Of course, I overcompensated and lost the boil midway through. The result was a brown sludge in the first pot and a brownish red potion in the collector. ¡°So how badly did I mess this up?¡± ¡°You got a bit of potion out, not bad for your first distillation. This is a tricky one, so don¡¯t feel too bad.¡± She sounded sincere, but she was trying not to smile at my results. I looked at it and was disgusted with it. A shoddy potion, it barely did an extra 5 points of damage from bleeding. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s do the pain one. Same initial setup, only when you get the red color immediately strain the sample. Keep it just below boiling until the volume drops by about half, and it should gradually turn brown the entire time.¡± Following these directions was much easier, and I ended up with a fairly neat higher quality potion. It did no damage, but increased the chances of interrupting a skill by 50% and doubled backlash damage from spells. The last potion was incredibly simple. I just had to slice the mushroom in half and soak the thing in water until it turned yellow. Since it was a potion that would require throwing at someone, Djarleen gave me a thin clay gourd to keep it in. ¡°The clay is fragile and cheaper than glass.¡± She explained at my confused look. ¡°Now, go ahead and practice those potions. I¡¯ve got a few things to get back to.¡± ¡°Wait, before you go, can I ask you about mana crystals?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± She said while looking slightly annoyed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve found a few small ones, but I was wondering if there was a way to make them bigger.¡± ¡°There is, but you need a high alchemy and a lot of them. How many do you have?¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°Need at least ten. Come back when you have enough and I¡¯ll show you how to do it, ok?¡± ¡°Sure, thanks Djarleen.¡± As she left, I turned back to my potions. I went ahead and used half of my supply of the white mushrooms to make some cleanse potions, even though they were weaker than what they could be. I then spent the rest of a frustrating afternoon fighting to get a decent potion from the bleeding mushrooms. By the end I had managed one average potion, and was too frustrated to do anything else. I silently waved goodbye to Djarleen on my way out and headed to the inn for a night of sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up early the next morning and thought about what I had to do. I could go through and set up some potions, but if I was going to keep killing mycofiends I didn¡¯t think any would help. I could try and do something with their spores, but with the limited supply I had it wouldn¡¯t be worth it. I guess it was going to have to be a morning of slaughter. As I headed downstairs, I got a ping from an email. Opening it up, I was slightly surprised to find it was Emily getting back to me. Marty, Sorry it took so long to reply, but I had to do some digging to find out what went wrong. I also need to apologize about you not getting the full information about what had been adjusted. There are several departments involved in implementing game balance issues, and unfortunately at some point part of an email chain was either deleted or had an error. Either way, the development department had a longer list than the department responsible for announcements. So here is the full list of what has been altered ever since your mana blades were changed: I truly hope you didn¡¯t find this out mid battle, and I will be double checking all game balances from here on to ensure it doesn¡¯t happen again. Sorry for the inconvenience, Emily Damn, that¡¯s annoying. Oh well, at least it didn¡¯t cause me a death and Emily had my back going forward. Well, there goes the easy way of taking out groups of enemies. Good thing for me the mycofiends only group up in pairs. I finished heading downstairs, and was shocked that I had actually beaten Alnoss up for the day. I headed out while eating one of the rations I had bought the other day. It was a little unnerving to be heading through the city this early, as the lack of kobolds almost made it seem like I was walking through one of those pueblo cities out in Arizona. Following the marks was a good bit quicker today, and I was glad to see that some of the mycofiends had respawned. They still died fairly easily, although a few times I got complacent and took a shot from those water jets. At the distances they were firing from it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to blow a hole through me, but they easily drew blood. I was still only gaining a handful of coppers per opponent, but there were decidedly higher drop rates for the spores and quite a few of the mana crystals. I kept moving, clearing cavern after cavern. At some point there was a popup informing me of completing the weekly quest for Thanatos, and that I earned 7 standing within the church. Midway through my slaughter, I came across some odd formations in the walls of one of the caverns. It looked like the walls were actually rusting. IRON! It had to be an iron vein! Heh, Dharkiss would probably love to buy a bit of iron from me. Who needs to carry a pickaxe when you have mana blades? Not this guy! I went over and took a swipe at it with a mana blade extended.
This resource cannot be harvested with the skill you are using.
Say what? You bastards, are you seriously stopping me from using my skill that is supposed to cut rocks from cutting metal out of a rock? This is bovine excrement. No matter how I tried it, there was no way that I could use my mana blades within a foot of the ore vein. Emily, I don¡¯t know if this is a bug or just something that needs to be addressed, but you guys have effectively killed my mana blades. I understand not being able to use them against a living opponent, but as of right now I can¡¯t use them to cut through an iron ore vein. They are basically useless unless I want to dig. Honestly, I think they should be more than able to cut through an ore vein, and if you want to penalize me for not using a pickaxe go ahead and just give me a less pure ore if I use them. Can I also get a clarification on one thing? Say I come across a rock golem. Would mana blades be useful against it? Technically golems aren¡¯t alive, and it is just magically enchanted rock. Thanks, Marty Glaring at it, I just wished I could smash the rock apart. I wasn¡¯t about to use my weapon though. Wait a second, smash. . . explode? Placing my hand against the stone next to the vein, I tried just jamming in a bit of mana to see if I could get it to disintegrate.
This resource cannot be harvested with the skill you are using.
Bah, it was worth a try. At least I have a bunch of mycofiends to take my temper out on! ¡°Let the slaughter, RESUME MUAHAHAHAHA!¡± I cried with an evil cackle. Heading out, I did just that. Slaughtering my way through mycofiends with ruthless efficiency, I ended up leveling twice and gaining almost 70 mana stones. The final chamber I came to was absolutely gorgeous. Four thin waterfalls fell into a pool behind a stepped formation of stone tiers that had water flowing down parts like an elaborate fountain. The only thing ruining it was the bluish mycofiend sitting on a naturally formed throne in the middle of it all.
Mycofiend Hydro Champion lvl 17
Smiling, I got within range of my crossbow and prepared for a boss battle. Chapter 29 Walking into the boss chamber was like walking into a sauna. There was just enough water on the floor that grip would be suspect as well. Either way, I was ready to take this guy down. Sneaking in, I took aim at where his brain should be and fired, taking out two thirds of his health in one shot! Yeah, right. At the last second, the mushroom bent just enough that the arrow missed completely. Opening his eyes, he glared at me with his head cocked and gave me a ¡°no, no¡± shake with his index finger extended. Shit, this guy is a good bit smarter than his friends and I have lost the chance for a stealth attack. As I went to reload my crossbow, he turned his hand from the no gesture to a pistol, and fired a water bullet that struck me in my left bicep. Paying attention to him once again, I dodged the next several bullets as he fired at me. I couldn¡¯t quite zig zag, so I had to make do with alternating speed as best I could and adding in sliding stops. Damn, this water was going to be a pain in the ass. Especially if he keeps shooting from his throne. Charging forward, I managed to block one in four shots with my hammer, but was still down almost a quarter of my life before I got close enough to make him move. Slashing at his feet, I managed to get him to get down to my level. Smiling, I doused the end of my crossbow with a quick splash from my only pain potion, I slid forward in a kneel and fired blindly into the bastard¡¯s cap. That got his attention, as his next bullet failed to fire and gave me the opportunity to switch back to my hammer. Taking a chance, I used a jump to smash my hammer end right into his face, blocking his view as I came down to his side in another crouch. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge]¡± I snarled, swinging the scythe portion at one of his legs, and getting most of the way through before it got caught. Crap, that¡¯s not going to do it! Before I could activate a mana edge to take out the rest of his leg, he bent a bit and tossed me away. Rolling down the stairs didn¡¯t cause much damage, but it was jarring when my elbow connected with the corner of a step. Rolling to my feet, I glanced at him to take stock of how I was doing. I had dropped to around 60% health, while he was still above 80%. His mobility would be limited, but with those water bullets he didn¡¯t need it much. I ran around to the back side of the throne, giving me cover as he kept firing those bullets at me. Downing a health and stamina potion, I started channeling mana into the hammer portion of my weapon. Climbing up the back of the throne, I threw myself over the top at where I had seen him last, smiling at the shock in his eyes as he had yet to move. I unleashed a [Crushing Blow] into the bastard¡¯s cap, and my momentum sent both of us sprawling into the floor below. Keeping close, I started slashing and bashing at him, the water not giving me the best grip of my weapon. That is until he got a foot in my stomach and sent me flying. We both managed to stand up, and I smiled at having taken his health down to half and almost equal with mine. He made a show of brushing off his arms and cracking his neck, then instead of a pistol he flicked a wrist and generated a water whip from his right hand. From the slight motion on the floor, I guess his reach to be about three times mine. Before I could charge, he gave a mighty uppercut type of swing, and sent a narrow wave of water flashing into my eyes. I closed my eyes and darted forward in a duck as I felt his whip flash through where my head had just been. Rapidly blinking my eyes, I got in close to where his whip would be ineffective. Of course, his other hand crushed my ribs with a massive blow, taking most of the power out of my next swing. I saw him preparing to unleash a kick into my stomach from his injured leg, so I twisted sideways and held a [Mana edge] in the way, letting his momentum sever his foot for me. That got his attention, and he bashed the back of my head with the base of his whip before jumping back. I staggered a bit, health dropping down to a quarter. Before I could drink another potion, his whip darted out and shattered the bottle in my hand. ¡°I¡¯m getting real sick of that whip.¡± I muttered. Keeping an eye on his whip, I took stock of my situation. Quarter health, low mana, and down to about a third of my max stamina. I couldn¡¯t drink any potions with his whip, and he still had a third of his life. At least I had taken out his mobility, which basically stopped him from chaining combos with his whip. Knowing I probably wasn¡¯t going to win this battle, I did a juke step and intended to fake going to the left, but my foot gave out right as I planted it. I managed to catch myself with my hands and scramble forward, but it was in vain as that water whip slashed across my chest and knocked me down. Every time I tried to get up, I got knocked down. Inevitably, the popup occurred.
You have died. Death takes its toll of 10% of the experience required for the next level. You owe death one kill of a creature of equal or higher level before the end of one week.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Well that could have gone better, but it wasn¡¯t without some improvements. Hammer mastery leveled once and changed to hammerscythe mastery, I also gained two levels in windless trajectory and boosted mana edge to beginner level 5. All of that was great, but if I was going to kill that boss, I still needed a few things. I headed to Dharkiss first, to see what he could sell me. Entering the store, I saw his stuttering apprentice. ¡°Hey there, can you help me with something?¡± Head jerking when he recognized me, I was getting sick of him bolting right when he saw me. ¡°Stop!¡± I ordered, and he actually froze, eyes going wide. ¡°Look, you aren¡¯t going to be able to have your own shop if you need to keep running to Dharkiss whenever you see a customer who scares you. Now, take a deep breath in, count to three, and let it out slowly. Keep doing that until you can talk to me, I¡¯m not going anywhere and you aren¡¯t going to get Dharkiss to save you this time.¡± I was constantly getting closer, until I was inches from his face. I kept staring into his eyes as he did the breathing exercise, and it was pretty cool watching the panic drop out of his eyes. Closing his eyes with one last breath, he finally asked, ¡°Ha, how can I help you?¡± With barely any tremor in his voice. ¡°Much better. Now, I need enchanted crossbow bolts, preferably ice if you can.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, we don¡¯t have any enchanters capable of enchanting the arrows. I can get you a crossbow that adds some ice damage, but it is rather minimal.¡± ¡°Say I shoot a puddle of water, will that freeze?¡± ¡°No, not a chance. You might have a 5% chance of freezing a limb, but that¡¯s on a level 10 monster.¡± ¡°Damn. Do you have anything that could freeze water?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Damn. Ok, thanks for all your help.¡± I said, then added, ¡°Glad to finally hear you speak.¡± Nodding at him, I left to go see Djarleen. Unfortunately for me, she was busy brewing a rather complex looking potion as I walked in, so I quietly made my way to the back. While I waited for her to finish, I started going through my stock of acidic mushrooms, making around 30 caustic potions. I put one in a glass vial, but kept the rest in clay vials like Djarleen suggested. Realizing that I hadn¡¯t seen what they could do, I went ahead and used [Essence of Potions], and leveled it up to beginner 2.
Caustic potion This extremely acidic potion will do minor damage. Causes 50 damage to either health or durability of metal items over 10 seconds
Not too shabby. Of course it was going to work best in destroying the already poorly maintained equipment of certain monsters like undead, but I¡¯m sure it would work great to blind something. Acid to the face is generally debilitating. I looked into the other room, and Djarleen was still working hard on her potion. Bored, I started looking through my reagents and smiled when I remembered I had a few portions of the mycofiend spores. Hmmm, I wonder if an acidic potion could gain stunning properties from the spores? They already stunned and poisoned me, so let¡¯s give it a go. Dropping a single lot of the spores into the glass vial with the caustic potion, I gave it a slight swirl but didn¡¯t put the top on immediately. The potion was fizzing like a shaken cola, bubbles rising almost to the top of the glass. As soon as bubbles stopped, I put the cap back on to seal it. My formerly green potion had turned a lovely shade of orange, and I had a new popup.
Alternate recipe discovered! You have discovered an alternate recipe for the Pyrophoria potion. Please register this with the alchemists guild.
What the hell is a pyrophoria potion? Pyro obviously means fire, could this be Oblivion¡¯s version of the fabled Greek Fire? [Essence of Potions] answered my burning questions.
Pyrophoria potion This unstable concoction created from a caustic potion will burst into flame upon contact with air. Handle with care. Causes 100 fire damage over 10 seconds 5% chance to inflict minor burn status
Oh, hello my wonderful new friend, you and I are going to have so much fun! I can¡¯t wait to introduce you to a certain mushroom boss. ¡°What¡¯cha got there?¡± Djarleen interrupted my visions of burning bosses, causing me to jump and almost drop my new potion. ¡°Gods above, don¡¯t scare me like that!¡± I cried out, shaking at how close I had come to igniting the lab. ¡°Here, be careful with it. I found a new way to create a wonderful potion.¡± I said in a calmer manner, handing over my potion.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Hmmm, pyrophoria potion? Not bad, not bad. What did you use to create it? My recipe uses Dragon Tongue pollen and firemander blood.¡± ¡°I added mycofiend spores to a caustic potion. It foamed up a good bit and turned orange.¡± ¡°Nice, those ingredients sound a lot easier to obtain. As soon as we register this with the guild you¡¯ll get an achievement for it.¡± ¡°Oh really? Well, I would never turn down an achievement. While we¡¯re there, could you show me what you were talking about with the mana stones? I think I have around 70 or so.¡± ¡°Sure. Let me finish bottling the potion I just made, it should be cool enough then we can head out.¡± As she headed back into the other room, I made a few more pyrophoria potions. When she came back, we headed into the small closet for a transport to the guild headquarters. The trip was just as gut wrenching as the first time, and I asked Djarleen, ¡°Does this ever get any easier?¡± ¡°Not really, you just get a little better at ignoring it every time.¡± Before she walked off, I caught a glimpse of her grimacing as she saw who was at the front desk. Looking over, I saw an old man with a ring of hair going around the side of his head and thin glasses perched on his nose. ¡°Hello Montgomery, how have you been?¡± The man looked up, and sniffed in our direction before replying. ¡°Djarleen. I see you haven¡¯t managed to blow yourself up yet.¡± ¡°Rude as always Montgomery. We have two new recipes to register. Which masters are in?¡± Staring at her for a few seconds, he finally started looking through several of the papers on his desk. ¡°Hersch, want me to get him?¡± He said with a condescending smile. ¡°Not a chance. Who is the other master in residence? We both know there have to be two at a time, so stop wasting mine and my apprentice¡¯s. The sooner you stop acting like a dick the sooner we can leave you to your tiny kingdom.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll send a message to Faraldo. Head to room one.¡± ¡°Nope, tell him we will be in room four. I need the circle there.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Turning and pointing to one of the doors, Djarleen made a shooing motion. As soon as we were in the room with the door shut I asked her, ¡°So I guess there¡¯s some bad blood there?¡± ¡°You could say that. Let¡¯s just say Montgomery likes to play gatekeeper, thinking himself all high and mighty and I enjoy taking him down on occasion.¡± She said while chuckling. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t let him give you any grief, I¡¯ll back you on things.¡± Before we could go any further there was a gentle knock at the door and a dwarf with his beard braiding into two tails walked in. ¡°Djarleen, good to see ya again lass. How¡¯re things in the Underdark?¡± ¡°Calm as can be with an apprentice who doesn¡¯t think things through Master Faraldo.¡± ¡°Hah! Tis about time ya got yerself a lil¡¯ comeuppance!¡± Smiling, he turned his gaze to me. ¡°And I assume this be the one givin¡¯ ya grief? What¡¯s yer name laddy?¡± ¡°Angus MacG, Master Faraldo.¡± I replied, liking the amiable dwarf. ¡°Out of curiosity, just how do you keep your beard out of potions? It would be a shame if something that magnificent accidentally caught fire.¡± ¡°Aye, took me a few years to figger it out. The trick be in the end of the braids, see? I got these weights.¡± As he was showing them to me, he flicked each of them over a shoulder. ¡°And with a lil¡¯ flipperoo, my beard be safely tucked away behind me back. Now, before we get too distracted, what recipes do you have for me today lass?¡± He asked while turning back to Djarleen. ¡°Only one from me, but it¡¯s one you¡¯ll want to see. Here, check it out for yourself.¡± She said while handing over a purple potion. ¡°Is the crotchety bastard at the desk givin¡¯ ya hell again? I coulda swore he told me two recipes.¡± He mumbled while looking the potion over. ¡°Hmmm, well it¡¯s obviously yer own work, I could pick yer mana signature out anywhere. Let¡¯s see, drider silk, chameliguana blood, and . . . is that glass flower pollen?¡± ¡°You always had a knack for figuring out potions. Yeah, got it in one. There¡¯s a few tricky steps, but I finally finished it.¡± ¡°Well, what does it do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a combination potion. Invisibility with wall clinging.¡± ¡°Hmmm, that be a nifty combination for someone wantin¡¯ ta do some sneakin¡¯. Well done, very well done. I assume this book be the directions?¡± ¡°Yes indeed. It isn¡¯t elixir strength, but it should last for a couple hours.¡± ¡°Excellent, simply excellent. I¡¯ll be testing it out later today, and we¡¯ll get ya the credit ya deserve lass.¡± ¡°Thanks. Now, we also have another recipe for you to check out, one that you¡¯ll probably be swearing at us for not discovering last week. I take it you went to the dragon plains for firemander blood and Dragon Tongue pollen?¡± ¡°Aye, those be ¡®bout the only things worth the bloody feckin¡¯ trek out there. Are ya gonna tell me ya got a copycat recipe?¡± ¡°Yep. Ok Angus, you¡¯re up. Show Master Faraldo here the easy way to make a pyrophoria potion.¡± I went ahead and started the potion from scratch, starting with the green morel mushroom in a glass of water, waiting for it to turn yellow. ¡°You know, I never did find out what this type of mushroom was called?¡± I asked, looking at the other two alchemists. ¡°I just call it a caustic cap.¡± Djarleen answered. ¡°Until now, it really didn¡¯t have that many uses other than an acid potion.¡± ¡°Oh, ok then. Well, after you make that caustic potion, it is best to put it in a clay vial as the next part needs quick timing.¡± I explained, before taking out a packet with the spores. ¡°These are the spores of a mycofiend.¡± ¡°What be a mycofiend? Some type of demonic mushroom?¡± ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t know if it is demonic. They are ambulatory mushrooms I came across in the Underdark. Levels are around 15 to 20. The straight pollen will cause a short paralysis and poisoning. Anyway, this is one of the drops. Add it in with a gentle swirl to help it mix, and you need to wait for the fizzing to stop before immediately capping the vial.¡± Once the reaction had finished, I handed the new potion over to Master Faraldo. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned. It really is a pyrophoria potion, though it does a bit less damage than the one made with firemander blood. O¡¯ course, I would trade that wee bit o¡¯ damage for the ease of not fighting a firemander any day. You say these mycofiends are walking mushrooms, do they breathe fire? Please say they don¡¯t.¡± ¡°No. They actually shoot a jet of water at you. Simple creatures that they are, it is really easy to dodge.¡± ¡°Well, Djarleen looks like I¡¯ll have ta be visitin¡¯ soon. Although, wait a sec, do ya have any more of those spores boyo?¡± ¡°Yes sir, I have about five doses left.¡± ¡°Here, let¡¯s see what happens when you add them to this.¡± He said excitedly, while handing me a vial of bright red blood. ¡°Looks rather full, can I transfer it to a clay vial first?¡± ¡°Sure, sure, just hurry.¡± Smiling at the excitement in his voice, I transferred the blood and added the spores. The bubbling solution was a lot more vigorous, but the bubbles popped too rapidly for it to really come close to the edge of the vial. I quickly put the cap on the vial to seal it, thinking we had just found a third recipe for the pyrophoria potion. ¡°Hurry and identify it, then hand it over boyo!¡±
Burning pyrophoria potion The ingredients of this potion will react violently when exposed to air, releasing an intense but brief flame. Does 150 burning damage over 5 seconds 50% chance to inflict burned status
¡°Ha! I knew it those spores would make a good replacement for tha pollen.¡± The dwarf declared firmly. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll still have to fight them lizards though. Can I buy those four doses left off ya boyo?¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ve got enough of my other potions for what I¡¯ll be needing them for.¡± ¡°Great. How does a gold per dose sound?¡± ¡°Done!¡± I exclaimed, happy to have gotten such a great deal. Judging by the smile on the dwarf¡¯s face, he was more than happy to get a new reagent to play around with. ¡°So Master Faraldo,¡± Djarleen interrupted. ¡°Do we get credit for our recipes?¡± ¡°Of course lass, of course. I¡¯ll mark them in records. Open sale on all of them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± I replied, not seeing any reason to deny people a small burning potion. ¡°See if you can get the thieves guild a six month monopoly on mine, then free it up for everyone else.¡± Djarleen spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sure that they will pay handsomely for a potion like mine.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but reply. ¡°Invisible and lets you climb walls? That just screams thieves, assassins, and spys.¡± ¡°All right, that¡¯s all I need. Unless ya need me for somethin¡¯ else lass?¡± ¡°No, thank you Master Faraldo.¡± ¡°Okay then, I¡¯m off. Twas nice to meet ya boyo.¡± As the dwarf left, Djarleen motioned me over to one of the benches. As I walked up, I noticed an odd circular array etched into the stone in gold. It was three feet wide, with two pentagrams inscribe within the circle, one point up and one point down. There were several runes placed within it, but each of the triangular points that touched the circle was empty, as well as the shape in the exact center. ¡°Congratulations, this usually isn¡¯t revealed until much later in an alchemist¡¯s career. What we have here is called a transmutation circle. It is used to improve the quality of ingredients. There is a tradeoff though, as nothing in this world is free. In order to get one of a higher grade ingredient, you must sacrifice ten identical lesser ingredients. In addition, ten percent of the transmuter¡¯s mana pool is locked for four hours. I¡¯ll show you how to do it the first time, then you can run it yourself a few times. Any questions?¡± ¡°Do you have one of these in your shop?¡± ¡°HAHAHAHA! Oh, gods no. The cost of the materials alone runs into the platinum range. Not to mention the design, runic inscriptions and the enchanting pushes the cost into something that only kingdoms can truly afford. That all?¡± At my nod, she continued, ¡°Ok then, go ahead and place one of your mana stones in each of those triangles touching the circle edge. Make sure they are fully charged.¡± Once everything was in place and charged, Djarleen placed her hands on two sunbursts in gold that were barely touching the edges of the circle. I could tell when she started, as the gold turned white. Pressure built, and the crystals all stood on end and started slowly rotating. A few seconds later, they were all floating an inch above the table, with arcs of energy starting to flow clockwise through the circle. The random arcs rapidly grew to a constant circle of white energy, flowing through each stone. I could feel a vortex form, and the very center a small pinprick of white energy formed. It grew each time a stone fired an arc of energy to the middle, the time between arcs growing ever shorter. As more arcs fired, the stones themselves started moving clockwise through the circle, and the circle started shrinking soon after. Faster and faster, until it looked like a ten spoked wheel that was rapidly shrinking. With a massive blast of light, everything coalesced into an octagonal crystal the size of my fist and left Djarleen panting as she hovered over the table. ¡°Damn, I forgot how much that drains out of you.¡± She panted. Smiling, she continued, ¡°Well? What are you waiting for? Go ahead and check your prize.¡± Grabbing the crystal, I went ahead and identified it.
Intermediate mana crystal This is the most common type of mana crystal used for universal enchantments. Mana 0/250
Well, this was interesting. The space was obviously more efficient, but it held only half the mana of the stones required to make it. ¡°So what are the sizes of mana stones available?¡± ¡°Like most things, there are seven sizes of stones. Tiny is the smallest, grand is the largest. Intermediate is rank three.¡± Doing a quick bit of mental math, I asked, ¡°So a Grand mana stone can hold a little over 150,000 mana?¡± ¡°Yep. Each level holds five times the mana of the previous level. Are you ready to do this yourself? How many do you have to do?¡± ¡°I have 62 left, so six rounds. Let¡¯s get this started, shall we?¡± Smiling, I placed everything where it needed to go and placed my hands on the starbursts. Channeling mana was easy at first, then it felt like it was simply gushing out of me. The best I can describe it, is if I was holding a fishing rod with a five pound bass on the end of the line in each hand. All while a battery is intermittently giving you a shock. At the end of the process, I was as drained as Djarleen looked when she had done it. Slow clapping interrupted my panting for breath. ¡°Well done Angus. Well done.¡± Smiling sadistically, she kept going, ¡°Now, get going. You have five more rounds and I¡¯ve got shit to do tonight.¡± ¡°Slave driver. She¡¯s, ha, ha, a slave driver.¡± I panted to myself, trying to summon the fortitude to start round two. Two hours and several stamina potions later, I finally had my seven intermediate mana crystals. ¡°OK, are we ready to head back?¡± At Djarleen¡¯s nod, we started back and I looked at a popup I had received shortly after Master Faraldo had left, but I hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to look at yet.
Achievement unlocked!
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
More than one way to skin a cat I Create an alternate recipe for a potion. Must use different ingredients. +5% created potion strength Create 5 alternate recipes
Chapter 30 I immediately fell to the floor in dry heaves when we returned to Djarleen¡¯s shop. ¡°Clean up any messes you make, okay?¡± Djarleen asked in a sickly sweet voice. Gods, I wonder what she went through in her apprenticeship if she thought this was acceptable? Actually, nevermind. No, I don¡¯t need any Gods enlightening me on that subject, thank you very much. I took a few minutes to collect myself, then headed back to Dharkiss¡¯ shop to see if he could help me out with something. ¡°Welcome back sir!¡± The apprentice chipperly greeted me as I walked in. ¡°Hey, you seem to be making a lot of progress, you didn¡¯t even need to stutter that time.¡± I said, excited for the kid. ¡°Sadly though, I think I am going to need to talk to Dharkiss for a bit, get his opinion on if something is possible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯ll be right back with him.¡± He said, and disappeared behind the curtain. A few seconds later both came back. ¡°Angus, you¡¯re a few days early for your bladed wire I¡¯m sorry to say.¡± Dharkiss said immediately. ¡°Oh, no it isn¡¯t about that. I came up with a lovely new potion, and I think I¡¯ll need your help with a delivery method.¡± At my words, both he and the apprentice visibly perked up. You would almost think that they enjoyed challenging their skills to my crazy schemes or something. ¡°See, this potion bursts into flame when it contacts air, so I can¡¯t go the normal rout of soaking it into a weapon. I also don¡¯t want to start the fight with throwing a vial, as that would probably put the guy on guard that something was up. Is there any way to replace a portion of a crossbow bolt with a clay vial?¡± ¡°This is why you will always be welcome around here Angus, you keep thinking of oddball things to do with normal weapons. I¡¯m assuming this wouldn¡¯t do what you wanted?¡± He said while pulling out a bolt similar to what I was envisioning. It had a small bulge, almost an inch long right behind the needle of a tip instead of an arrowhead. ¡°Normally you would fill your bulge in this thing with whatever poison you preferred and only lose a slight bit of range. I don¡¯t think this would do the damage you were looking for, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s just not going to cut it. It needs to deliver a lot more potion, and preferably shatter the container it is in.¡± ¡°I will work on a few things overnight. Is tomorrow soon enough for you? And how many will you need?¡± ¡°Tomorrow is perfect. Is there any way to get me 50 bolts of your best design? That¡¯ll give me some to practice with before I head out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s doable. Come by in the morning and we¡¯ll get you set up.¡± ¡°Thanks Dharkiss, you are the best.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t you forget it!¡± He chuckled as I left the store. After I left, I needed something to do with my time. I was out of most of my ingredients, so alchemy was out. With over half of my mana tied up for three more hours I wouldn¡¯t be able to do much of anything with mana blades, and I still hadn¡¯t heard back from Emily on those. My skills were all rather low, so I decided to do some grinding at the barracks. For the next several hours, I alternated between using mana in skills that required it and practicing martial moves to let my mana recharge. In the end, I was exhausted but rather proud. I even figured out a way to get the screen to display my gains to feed my ego a bit.
Skill Previous Level New level Skill bonus
Hammerscythe mastery Beginner 7 Intermediate 2 Damage increased by 17%, attack speed increased by 6%
Crushing blow Beginner 7 Intermediate 1 Chance to inflict status effect +15%
Mana Shockwave Beginner 1 Beginner 3 Damage increased by 3%, Durability damage reduced by 3%
Crossbow mastery Beginner 1 Intermediate 5 Range increased by 15 m, Chance to hit increased by 15%, damage increased by 5%
Windless Trajectory Beginner 3 Intermediate 5 +15% critical hit chance, +25% chance to hit
Mana edge Beginner 5 Beginner 7 +17% damage, increased chance to amputate
Not a bad bit of afternoon training. Happy with my results, I headed back to the inn for some good food and rest. * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Mornin¡¯ Angus.¡± Dharkiss greeted me as I walked into his shop the next morning. ¡°I think you¡¯ll love this.¡± He said as he placed several crossbow bolts on the counter. Roughly a third of the length was replaced by a fired clay vial, and the tip had a conic iron tip jammed into a cork. ¡°What¡¯s with the tip? It looks like a practice bolt, being as blunt as it is.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you can¡¯t get good accuracy without it. Of course, with something like this you won¡¯t get the accuracy for a critical hit, but that¡¯s not the point now, is it?¡± ¡°Nope, I just need to be able to hit the broad side of a barn. So tell me about this baby.¡± ¡°Right, so I cut off a good portion of the bolt as you can see. I had a potter come in and help out, and we made a thin walled vial and formed it around the bolt itself. We fired it while it was attached to the bolt, so it should be secure. The cork and tip should seal whatever you fill it with, and the impact should shatter the walls.¡± ¡°Perfect, this is exactly what I need. How much for 50 of them?¡± ¡°How does 50 silver sound?¡± ¡°I can do that, here you go. I¡¯ll be back to let you know how it turned out.¡± ¡°I look forward to it!¡± Smiling, I headed out to the barracks area to test my new bolts. I started by filling 15 of them mostly full with water to simulate the potion. Taking aim, I fired the first bolt and was rather disappointed. The accuracy was lousy, but the worst part was that it had around a third of the range of a regular bolt. It took all of my 15 prepped bolts to get windless trajectory dialed in, and I found that firing at a slightly upward angle tended to have better accuracy. Must be the liquid throwing things off. Once I cleaned up my bolts, I headed out to do some hunting. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Once I reached the Mushroom Hot Springs, I started the slaughter of mycofiends once again. I swiftly slaughtered my way through, only pausing once I was outside the boss chamber. Here I took five arrows at a time, and split a caustic potion between them. I dropped a bit of spores in each one, leaving me just enough time to cap them as the foaming stopped. Perfect, the ingredients to create one potion was just enough for five arrows. Once I had all 35 of them set up, I looked at what I had created.
Fireburst bolt This bolt has been filled with a portion of a pyrophoria potion. While it will suffer accuracy issues, it has gained a small bit of splash damage, joining horseshoes and hand grenades for the close counts club. Impact damage: 1 Fireburst damage: 20 over 10 seconds Accuracy -25% Critical hit -95%
Heh, just what I needed. This¡¯ll surprise that smug mushroom bastard. Before heading in, I set up my quick access potions. The first three were pyrophoria potions, the next set of three were caustic potions, and the final two were health potions on the offhand chance that I needed them. With an evil grin, I walked in to the chamber without bothering with the stealth. Halfway across the room, the mycofiend cocked its head as it studied my confident demeanor. I stopped at the base of the stairway, just within the range of my new bolts. I took aim at the face of the mycofiend, trusting that when he dodges it will still strike the throne behind him. I let him start shaking his finger in a ¡°no, no¡± gesture again before firing. Predictably, he tried dodging. The look of panic on its face as it was splashed with burning potion was priceless. It shot straight up from its throne, but when it patted the flames on its back (handy not having bones, that) the fire merely transferred to its hand. As it started dancing there, I flung a pyrophoria potion at it, and it shattered against its body and lit the entire throne level on fire. In a bonus for me, the potion would float on the little bit of water, and simply kept burning. Extremely panicked now, the boss leapt from his level to the base level with me, a few feet to my left. As the fires died, I decided to remind him that I was still here and shattered a caustic potion against its left leg, the hissing as the acid ate into its body music to my ears. It let out a high pitched shriek, and started desperately splashing water against its leg, leaving its cap open to my second pyrophoria potion. I know I shouldn¡¯t be relaxing in a boss fight, but there¡¯s just something soothing about watching a mushroom that has killed you before run around with his head on fire, panic evident. I followed it over to one of the waterfalls, as it plunged its head underneath just as the fires started dying on their own. I took its distraction as permission to blast the back of its left leg with my second caustic potion, once again reveling in the panic on its face. Despite all my attacks, it still had only lost a quarter of its life. Once the acid had done its work, it turned to me with rage on its face. It had seen better days though. The left leg had a few support strands frayed open, it looked like a partially chewed through cable. The face and cap had burnt patches on its skin, and one blister had partially obstructed one of its eyes. I gave it a grin to enrage it, and hopefully have it forget about those annoying water bullets. Luck wasn¡¯t with me that time, as it immediately started firing at me. I managed to dodge 2 out of every five, but the water was working against my footing. Wait, there¡¯s stone under the water dummy! Drawing my hammerscythe, I charged at the mycofiend. It didn¡¯t expect my change in traction, as I was using [Mana excavation] on the claws in my feet. Once they cut down into stone a bit, I would cancel it. Once I was close enough, I saw the bastard lean back to give me a haymaker with its right hand. Grinning at it telegraphing its next move, I sped up just a bit. As it unleashed a massive swing, I moved to my own right, sliding past him in a crouch. I activated [Mana edge] and targeted his planted foot, right where I had thrown those two caustic potions earlier in the fight. My speed gave me enough power in my swing to slash straight through the weakened limb, and as overbalanced as it was it fell straight onto its shoulder. As it flailed about on the floor, desperately trying to keep me in its sight, I walked around to the cap and placed my hand on it to let it know where I was. ¡°You got me the first time, but it was a close one. This time I came prepared, and you stood no chance. I won¡¯t make you suffer, though a part of me wants to for the loss you gave me last time. Instead, I dedicate your death to Thanatos. [Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± As I finished speaking, I slammed the scythe into the cap and ripped it towards me, severing what the mycofiend used as a heart and killing it.
Thanatos finds your gift acceptable. You gain 10 favor from offering an acceptable death. You gain 10 favor for killing your offering with [Reaper¡¯s Edge]. Total favor: 27/100
Respawn rate reduced! You have killed the progenitor of the mycofiends infesting this area. As a result, their respawn rate will be drastically reduced until a new progenitor is created.
Oh, that¡¯s nice to know. I vaguely remember getting a notification about 7 favor for my weekly kills, glad I didn¡¯t have to wait 15 weeks to get the favor I needed. I also hoped that second notification would be enough to finish the quest for Khaliss. Walking up to the body, I tried to loot it.
Unable to loot This kill has been offered to a God and can¡¯t be looted.
Aaaand there¡¯s the catch. Oh well, he probably didn¡¯t have anything worth looting anyway. Instead, I headed towards the throne looking for loot. I didn¡¯t see much, but there was an odd crack running just underneath the seat portion. I used a thin mana blade and ran it along the inside, jumping back as the front fell forward with a splash to reveal an iron treasure chest. I slowly pulled it out, expecting it to be trapped but my luck held out. Inside was a bowling ball sized crystal I hadn¡¯t seen before and a skill book. I greedily identified both.
Medium mana crystal Prized for their beauty, medium mana crystals are the favored centers for powering building defenses. Mana: 1250/1250
Yeah, I could see the beauty in it. Not only did it look like a faceted bowling ball of bluish glass, the mana at the center looked like a spiral galaxy as it slowly turned on an axis.
Water mastery skill book Reading this book will advance the user¡¯s skill in a water based skill of their choice. The skill increase decreases the higher the user¡¯s skill is.
Holy shit, that¡¯s a badass skill book. Now I just wish I had a water based skill to use it on or access to the auction so I could sell it for a pretty penny. Either way, my time in this area was done. I still went through and picked up as many of the caustic mushrooms as I could, those potions were rather helpful. Finally finished with my mushroom revenge, I started wandering back towards the city. I hadn¡¯t gone too far when I was distracted by a crashing sound. Turning down the tunnel I thought I heard it from, I slowly made my way towards the thundering sound, having to wait for echoes. Eventually I came to a wide open cavern. My darkvision couldn¡¯t penetrate the entire cavern, but what I could see was a floor covered with shattered stone. Staying near the wall, I started creeping around but jumped at a blast that struck the wall 15 feet from me. ¡°What the hell?¡± I murmured, as I hadn¡¯t seen anything. The stone just shattered, and there was a small depression with cracks radiating out from it. I turned to where I thought the blast would have come from, and slowly crawled forward, hoping any future blasts would move over my head. The monsters I came across were absolutely gorgeous. Imagine a blue lobster as tall as a human, with one oversized orange claw much like a fiddler crab. It was doing battle with a toad of the same height, brown pebbled skin with two stubby horns coming off the top of its head. As I watched, the toad gave a mighty flipping leap, landing feet first onto the ceiling. In the moment before it fired back towards the ground, lightning was collecting on the horns. The force of his jump cracked the stone of the ceiling, and it came rocketing down horns first. Not idle, the lobster gave a flick of its tail and used an air pressure wave to jet backwards out of the area of effect of the toad¡¯s attack, just in time. With a tremendous explosion, rock shards went flying and lightning snaked out of the impact crater, and the toad rolled to its feet. The lobster¡¯s carapace was more than up to the task, as the stone shards simply shattered. It then snapped forward with its oversized claw almost faster than I could follow, but was well out of melee range. That didn¡¯t stop the toad from getting slammed by some invisible force that sent it tumbling. Dazed, it took just a bit too long to regain its senses. The lobster darted forward, and its oversized claw clamped down on the toad¡¯s throat. As it slowly strangled its prey, I identified both of them.
Thunder-ram toad Lvl 22 Though an earth based creature, the thunder-ram toad utilizes an electric ramming technique to stun difficult prey that it can then consume at its leisure. Many a foolish adventurer has underestimated the speed these creatures can produce with their overpowered back legs.
Cray-claw Lvl 25 A variant of the giant crayfish, the cray-claw has an oversized pincer that has several specialized uses. Instrumental in finding a mate, it also uses it to crush any enemy foolish enough to enter melee range. It also has adapted the ability to line the claw edges with mana and unleash a powerful ranged force bubble. With the high defense offered from its shell, this is not an enemy to be treated lightly. Overwhelming force from multiple party members is highly recommended.
Oh joy, two titans that out-level me by six levels are duking it out right in front of me. Yeah, I want no part of this fight, and quietly crept away in a strategic withdrawal. You are still allowed to be scared out of your mind in a strategic withdrawal, right? Either way, I quietly exited stage left and made haste back to the city. I just hope I don¡¯t meet up with a human sized centipede here in the Underdark, they have way too many legs to be giant sized. Chapter 31 Marty, I apologize that you feel we have broken your mana blades skill. Rest assured that we are trying to find a proper balance in the game, and several new skills are showing unintended consequences across the board. The developers are willing to offer this as a compromise. Please let us know if these changes seem fair, and if you see anything we are missing in our changes. As of now, it will be two weeks before we can implement another patch, and these changes will be instituted then. Thanks, Emily A message from Emily when I returned was nice. It seems that the developers were willing to meet me halfway on most of the issues with my mana blades, and I finally will get some utility from them back. Now, what to do with the rest of my day? ¡°Hey there Khaliss, got a second?¡± I asked as I walked in to the barracks and saw Khaliss studying several kobolds working on spear forms. ¡°It¡¯s too late to learn the spear Angus.¡± He replied. ¡°Funny. No, I¡¯m here to turn in the mycofiend quest.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He asked, voice rising. ¡°What did you think of your first variant monster?¡± ¡°The bastard flinging water? Took me by surprise the first time, but round two went to yours truly.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Not bad then, not bad at all. We might make a warrior out of you yet. So, let¡¯s see what we need for rewards. Fifteen gold and a bit of equipment, yes? Here you go, a definite upgrade to your ratty chest piece. You should probably get your equipment repaired, it might save your life someday.¡± What he handed me was a leather chest piece similar to what I had on, but the coloring was splotchy greys and browns instead of one single color.
Misdirecting chest armor This leather armor has been colored to better blend in with underground areas. Armor: 45 Durability: 150/150 Effect 1: 10% less likely to be detected while immobile in underground terrain.
¡°Thanks Khaliss, this is going to help a lot.¡± I said, happy to get an upgrade to my current equipment. He merely waved over his shoulder at me, back to inspecting his students practice spear forms. Switching out my equipment, I headed off to the second level. Wandering around, there wasn¡¯t really anything I had to get done today. Tomorrow I could pick up my new wire trap from Dharkiss, and I didn¡¯t have any new alchemy ingredients so visiting Djarleen would be pointless. Before I knew it, my feet had taken me around to that almost hidden hallway leading to the off limits area. Smiling, I activated sneak and crouched at the entrance to the cavern. Seeing nobody around, I made my way over to the Cliffside walkway I had seen the last time I was there. The number of handholds made the climb rather easy, but I still kept crouched down to avoid any eyes accidentally spotting me. I followed the path forward, slowing down when I saw a stream flowing over the path and falling into a pool below. It was only a few inches deep, but the path stopped on the other side. Looking down into the cavern, I saw what had to be the next generation of kobolds working to gain skills with a few adult overseers. Turning back to the stream, I followed it back into a tunnel. Picking my way through the rocks while bent over in a tunnel half my height was annoying beyond belief, especially as I would bump against the ceiling every so often. After about a hundred yards, the tunnel opened into an amazing cavern. Most of the floor was covered in water midway up my shin, but I could see a few deeper areas that seemed to have their own flow in the deeper channels. There were a scattering of kobolds spearfishing in these channels, and this was the first place I had seen a variety of plant life instead of fungus. There were grasses scattered around, with congregations of moss in the shallow areas that lacked high water flow. Walking around, I came upon a plant that was incredibly reminiscent of a cattail. I almost walked by it before my brain kicked me, and reminded me that cattails looked amazing when they went to seed, the fluffy white structures carrying the seeds away on the wind. Looking closer, there were subtle differences. It still had a long stalk, putting it at just over five feet tall. The top had a black cylinder instead of brown, and the exposed stalk tip at the top looked slightly barbed. As I cocked my head in confusion, the plant bent and fired the tip straight at my stomach. I grunted as the air was knocked out of me, the missile sticking out of my stomach. Drawing my weapon, I gave a slash with the scythe that nearly cut straight through the stalk. As it was flopping around from the lack of support, I saw the black portion start to swell and a few more spear tips appear. Scrambling backwards was just enough to get me out of the danger zone, but I still took a two more spears. I pulled them out before making sure to finish cutting the plant in half, and identifying the remains.
Spearflinger plant This plant will fire a spear towards any animal unlucky enough to enter its range, and gain needed nutrients from the spilled blood. When damaged, it will explode in an attempt to take its attacker to the grave with it.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Note to self: treat the Underdark like Australia. Everything is trying to kill you. Nearing the middle of the cavern, the shallows dropped off into a deep pool. At the edge of my darkvision, I could barely see a waterfall dropping down from the ceiling. Not wanting to see what lurked in the deeper water, I headed back to the shallows and started following a channel that didn¡¯t have any kobolds. Flashes of silver gave away the presence of fish, but I had no pole or spear to go fishing with. Wait, I¡¯ve made spears before. Using mana blade, I drove it down into some rock to start cutting, but stopped midway through. The blade had no effect on the water, at all. Pulling it back, I swirled it back and forth and saw it didn¡¯t even generate a current like a sword would passing through. Looking back at the fish, I rethought my entire fishing problem. First, I crouched and held still, letting the fish start to ignore my presence. I made a mana blade similar in size and shape to a jai alai sling, keeping my hand and wrist above the water. Once I had a fish lined up, a flick of my wrist and swing of the arm to add a little more power, and all of a sudden there was a fish flying through the air. I tried to catch it and failed miserably, the lucky fish swimming away in a hurry. This gave birth to my newest game: Flying fishing. The rules were simple. I have to say, ¡°Pull!¡± before flinging a fish in the air. On its way down, I get one swing with a mana blade to decapitate it. If I do, then I get to keep it. If I miss, the fish gets to swim away and I look for another channel. The limit is five fish per channel, after that I had to move to a new one. It was oddly relaxing, as there was no pressure. So what if I missed? There were plenty of fish around. It also felt good to get one over on the devs and find another use for my mana blades. Once I hit about thirty fish my game was starting to get boring, and I as I hit what I was going to call my last fish I got an interesting notification.
New ability acquired! Your weapon is linked to your own growth, and is eligible to obtain a new bonus every ten levels. Recent actions have unlocked your first bonus. For decapitating ten enemies with one blow, without missing you have unlocked the following: Executioner +10% increased chance for decapitation when striking the neck of an enemy.
Increased decapitation chance? I will definitely take that! Happy and refreshed, I headed back to the city. It was getting late enough that I just headed into the inn. ¡°Good afternoon Alnoss, how are things around here?¡± ¡°Well, I thought you were staying away for a few days Angus! I guess you just couldn¡¯t resist me, could ya?¡± ¡°Not at all, I even come with a few presents.¡± ¡°Hmph. And just what kind of present do you think I would enjoy?¡± She asked with a smirk. ¡°Well, I happen to have 30 silver trouts, beheaded and gutted. Do you think we could do something with them?¡± ¡°Do you have the heads?¡± ¡°Of course I do. Heads make the best stock.¡± ¡°At least you know that much. Too late for dinner tonight, but I can make a nice soup for tomorrow if you want.¡± ¡°Sounds delightful. What have we got tonight?¡± ¡°Roast boar sandwiches.¡± ¡°Can I have extra boar? It sounds delicious.¡± ¡°Sure thing, be right back.¡± She came back with a sandwich that was just crying out to be devoured by the carnivore in me. A full inch and a half of pulled pork on a six inch round sandwich, it just melted in my mouth. Then some sort of spicy bbq sauce hit, and I couldn¡¯t help but moan around that first bite. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the general reaction to it. I¡¯ll let you enjoy it.¡± She said with a smile, and headed off to tend her other customers as I relaxed in my heavenly sandwich. I headed up for bed, and did a double check of my calendar when I realized tomorrow was already day 5 for my immersion week. Hopefully I can take out those goblins before logging out. ¡°Damnit¡± I swore to myself, ¡°I forgot to ask Khaliss where those goblins were hiding at.¡± Shrugging at my forgetfulness, I tossed and turned a bit before eventually falling asleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I rolled out of bed in the morning and ate a quick breakfast of porridge before heading out. My first stop of the day was with Dharkiss. ¡°Hey there Dharkiss, everything well with the forge?¡± ¡°Mornin¡¯ Angus. Forge is runnin¡¯ hot, just like I like it. In fact, we just managed to finish your new specialty weapon, wanna check it out?¡± He asked with a grin. ¡°You know damn well I do!¡± I chuckled, and stared at the masterpiece him and his apprentice managed to make. The blades woven into it didn¡¯t lend to coiling it, so he had made a sort of rack for it with two crossed bars. Each blade on it was eight inches long, with a serrated point every inch. Rather than taper the blade like a dagger would, each one was like they had sharpened a billet that had been flattened. I tried pushing a flat portion of the blade off center, and watched as the wire rotated with the blade. The welds holding them to the wire were perfect, and I happily identified it.
Serrated wire trap This trap is designed to slow an enemy while causing as much damage as possible. The blades have been designed to puncture and cause bleeding, and the thick wire will be able to absorb a large amount of force without snapping. Damage: 25-50 Bleeding damage: 30 damage over 10 seconds, Stackable x5 Durability: 500/500
¡°Dharkiss, you and your apprentice have done a wonderful job. I can¡¯t wait to try this thing out.¡± ¡°Glad you like it. I even got a blueprint for it so I can make it again in the future.¡± ¡°Wonderful. Will it still take a few days to make?¡± ¡°Yeah, most likely. So let us know when and we will be more than happy to make you another. And don¡¯t forget to tell us how it worked out.¡± ¡°Will do. In fact, I¡¯m going to head out and test it as soon as I find the goblins.¡± ¡°Hah, perfect. Until next time.¡± With a wave I headed out the door and down into the Underdark. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I hate the Underdark. Having a map is nice, but it only really works in two dimensions. The Underdark tunnels are three dimensions, and twist back upon themselves regularly. I¡¯m still leaving trail markers, without those I¡¯ld be hopelessly lost. I don¡¯t care how easily you can find north, you would still get lost in these twisting tunnels. I hadn¡¯t even found any decent monsters to fight for the last few hours. Blast, another crossroads. As I walked up, I heard a faint tapping coming from one direction. Eh, something must be doing it, as it isn¡¯t rhythmic. Sneaking down the left hall, I was off in search of what could be a tapping. Thank all the gods of the Underdark, it¡¯s a damn goblin! The miner goblin was tapping away at an ore vein, glancing around nervously every so often. Lowering my crossbow before I took a hidden shot, I wanted two things. First, what the heck could make a goblin nervous in an empty hall? And maybe I can follow him back to his camp after all this and stop having to hunt. Suddenly a gigantic worm with armor plating on the front silently lurched from a side tunnel and ate the goblin and a large chunk of what it was trying to mine in one massive gulp! The blurb I got from identify was terrifying.
Juvenile tunneling worm lvl 35 These giant worms are terrifying and nigh indestructible. They can grow to up to 100 feet long, and the front is an armored slab created from the rocks and metals they inadvertently eat. Drawn to rhythmic vibrations, many a mine has been forced to shut down due to an infestation.
Oh, that¡¯s why he was nervous. Poor bastard probably knew they were nearby. Slowly sneaking away, I decided to start looking down a different tunnel. Perhaps I would be back to take on these worms someday, but that isn¡¯t for today. Chapter 32 After finding the tunneling worm, I headed back to the original crossroads and headed the opposite direction. At least I had confirmation I was getting close to the goblin raid camp, so I took extra precautions to be stealthy. Half an hour later I was glad that I took precautions. ¡°That what Gib saying! Searching here stupid. Too many worms.¡± ¡°Raid boss says search, we search. Dems the rules Gib.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Rules stupid sometimes.¡± Identifying them revealed two level 15 goblin scouts. I had crouched down by some tunnel rubble, and let them walk by. If it were just one I would probably try and follow it back to the camp, but with two there was just too high of a chance of being discovered. Time to see if my executioner adaption to my weapon will help. Activating [Keen edge], I lunged forward and took a backhanded swipe at the neck of the one on the left. ¡°Damnit.¡± I muttered as my blade lodged in its neck halfway through. A shove with my foot to the side of the goblin dislodged it, as his friend turned to me in shock. ¡°YOU KILL GIB! YOU DIE!¡± It screamed as it brought its spear around to attack. A hammer smash to the side of the face disoriented it that the thrust he tried missed. I stepped close and kneed him in the stomach, and smashed him in the middle of the back as he bent over in pain. As the second scout died, Gib stabbed me in the kidney with his spear. ¡°Gyah, that hurts you little bastard!¡± I yelled, spinning to face him as he pulled his spear back. I had lost a quarter of my health, while the goblin was down to 1/3 of his. As he thrust forward towards my stomach, I managed a reflexive deflection of his spear with my hammer head, getting a graze to my side in exchange for a backhand slice with the scythe across his stomach killing him. Their small bodies only took up a 2 x 2 square in my body bag, so I went in search of another pair. It took another hour of searching before I came across another pair. They had a carcass of some lizard stretched on both of their spears, and only the one in the back had a knife showing. Smiling at my luck, I let the first one go by and was almost even with the second before launching an upward swing at his neck with [Keen edge] activated. He only had enough reaction time to widen his eyes before my blade traveled just below his jaw and took his head off in one smooth strike. ¡°What you playin¡¯ at?¡± The other said as the pole jerked out of his hands without the support of the first goblin. As he turned to look, I smashed my hammer down on his head in a vicious, two-handed overhead chop. I managed to crack his head open, but didn¡¯t get the splatter that I was looking for. Either way, he still died and both bodies disappeared into my body bag. I left the lizard they were taking, not having any interest in it. I headed in their original direction, hoping they were on their way back to the camp. Ten minutes later and I started hearing faint noises. Chatter, too many conversations and too far away to recognize individual words, but I doubled up on my stealth knowing I had to be very close. Turning around a corner in the tunnel, I saw a sentry stationed behind a makeshift barricade. Luckily for me he was far more interested in using his knife to remove something underneath his nails. Time was of the essence, so I quickly aimed and fired a crossbow bolt at his face. It took him in the eye, instantly killing him. Looting his body netted me a silver and a low quality knife. I kept sneaking, and came to the chamber the sentry was guarding. Almost perfectly round, it was the length of a football field. The ground had a gradual slope towards the center, where there were plenty of tents arranged in a haphazard set of circles around a campfire. Off to one side was a butchering table, and almost opposite the fire from me was a chair with a large, seated hobgoblin in some patchwork plate armor. Two guards stood slightly behind him, each with formidable looking bone armor and halberds that were half again as tall as they were. There were a couple of other entrances, and all told there had to be around sixty or seventy goblins. I crept backwards, and started plotting out my assault. Direct action would be suicidal. Even if I could draw them back into the tunnels, the smaller goblins could easily fit three to four abreast. Numbers just weren¡¯t in my favor. I didn¡¯t have enough pyrophoria potions left to surprise the camp when they slept either. Up until now, my go to move for being outnumbered was explosions in tight places, but the devs wouldn¡¯t let me explode. . .plain . . . rock. Wait, I pulled up their letter and double checked something. Stones with less than 50 mana wouldn¡¯t explode, does that mean that stones with more than 50 will? Fifteen minutes later, I felt that I was far enough away from the camp that any noise I made would be minimal. I cut a small hole in the ground, and planted one of my two remaining small mana crystals and charged it with 50 mana. Just to make sure that I wasn¡¯t wasting my crystal, I overcharged it with one mana. I went ten feet away, and shot it with my crossbow. The flash vaporized my bolt and a small area of the ground around it, but it also confirmed that things could still go boom. Smirking, I went forth to implement my plan. I started fifteen feet back from the turn before the goblin camp. Here I strung the bladed wire trap at waist high for a goblin, double checking it with one of the bodies from my bag. Ten feet behind that, I put three stone posts in a triangular formation at chest height for a goblin. It took a half hour of muttered curses, but I finally had each of them secured. My next project was a stone sphere. Simple enough to carve in the wall thirty feet back from the posts, as I was also carving out a cubby for me to stand in. Turning back to the sphere, I started by cutting it in half. Taking the top half, I cut out a 90-degree wedge, and hollowed it out so that there was only a half in thick shell of rock left. The bottom half simply got hollowed out. I was planning on the two pieces becoming shrapnel, but I didn¡¯t want to rely on fickle luck. Instead I took the extra time to carefully carve out a repeating hexagon pattern turning it into a rock soccer ball, careful not to cut all the way through. I still didn¡¯t think that would be enough shrapnel, so I carved three cross lines in each hexagon, turning each of them into six equal sized triangles. I placed my medium mana crystal inside, and carefully arranged everything on the pedestals. I left the bottom half pointed down the hallway towards the goblin camp, aiming for maximum devastation. Double checking my work, I headed back to my cubby and made sure that I could enough of the mana crystal that I could shoot it. Happy, I crept towards the goblin camp. Peeking around the corner, I exhaled in relief to see that the sentry hadn¡¯t been replaced. I love it when an enemy is complacent. Making my way forward, I took a little time to watch the camp. The raid leader and his guards hadn¡¯t moved, while the rest seemed to be eating dinner from a massive stew pot. Pulling my crossbow, I figured that attacking the raid leader would draw the aggro of everyone present. Sadly, I just didn¡¯t have the range. I had to crawl forward about ten feet, but was able to eventually fire a looping shot in his general direction. Just before it hit, a halberd flashed forward from a guard and smashed into the bolt. Everything in the camp stopped immediately, and the hobgoblin leader stood up and stared at me. Smiling, I happily gave him the finger.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°KILL THE INTRUDER!¡± He screeched, and the camp erupted like a kicked bee hive. I scrambled away down my hallway, reloading my crossbow as I ran. I leapt over the wire trap, and didn¡¯t stop until I had reached my cubby hole. The angry yelling of goblins turned into pained screams as the first of them slammed into the trap, and they couldn¡¯t escape as the weight of the ones behind them pressed the unfortunate saps further onto the blades. I gave them thirty seconds to make sure that the entire camp was within what I hoped was the kill zone before aiming at the improvised claymore mine, firing, and diving into my cubbyhole. Though I had my back to the explosion, the flash was still blinding and my ears were left ringing. It took a minute to recover my eyesight, but it seemed like my hearing was going to be nothing but ringing for another few minutes. Walking out with my weapon handy, I dropped it in shock when I saw the results. The hallway was a charnel house. Bodies were mangled, and it was difficult telling them apart. The stone was pitted and scarred, missing chunks in some spots. My wire trap had been blown apart, but that would be a problem for Dharkiss. I went through the grisly task of looting the bodies, glad that they disappeared once looted. All told, I had plenty of junk weapons, mostly knives and spears, and came away with five gold coins in currency. The easiest to repair would be the two halberds, as they just needed new shafts. The blades were intact. Once everything was looted, I checked out a few of the notifications I had been neglecting. I gained two levels, putting me two levels shy of the 20 needed for Thanatos¡¯ quest.
Skill Previous level New level Bonuses
Sculpting Beginner lvl 10 Intermediate lvl 1 Sculpting speed increased by 16%
Ambush Beginner lvl 2 Intermediate lvl 6 Ambush damage increased by 21%, critical hit chance increased by 16%
Trap making Advanced lvl 1 Advanced lvl 3 Traps do 33% more damage, are deployed 17% faster, and 23% harder to detect
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
The bigger they are II Kill 50 creatures or players higher level than you +2% damage Kill over 500 creatures or players higher level than you
Is there no one else? I Kill a group of 25 or more with one attack +5% AoE damage, +5% AoE range Kill 5 groups of 25 or more with one attack
Army slayer I Kill a group of 50 or more with one attack AoE attacks ignore 5% of armor Kill 5 groups of 50 or more with one attack
Army of One Win a battle outnumbered 10 to one (must be even level) +1% damage when fighting outnumbered 3 to 1 or more Win 5 battles outnumbered 10 to one
Against all odds Win a battle outnumbered 50 to one (must be even level +20% damage when outnumbered 3 to 1 or more Win 5 battles outnumbered 50 to one
Skill gains and achievements were great, but I was missing the quest complete box. Damnit, someone must be missing. Heading down into the camp, I saw the raid leader standing in front of the camp, staring at me. ¡°What trickery did you use to win, kobold?¡± ¡°No trickery, just a simple trap. It¡¯s not my fault your group didn¡¯t think that chasing one opponent would be a bad idea.¡± ¡°Tsch. No matter, you will die soon anyway.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡± I said, pulling a pyrophoria potion from my pack. ¡°[The mountain stands tall]¡± he replied, pulling a battleaxe from his back as he was enveloped in a green glow. Something was odd about how he was standing, but I couldn¡¯t take the time to figure it out. I flung the potion at him, then moved to the left before dashing forward while he slashed through the potion in a smooth motion. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± He cried in pain and surprise as the burning potion rained down on him, slashing wildly in front of him expecting me to attack. Instead I waited for a few seconds to charge some mana into my hammer head before charging in and unleashing a [Mana shockwave] into his right knee. Unable to withstand the forces, his knee buckled in the wrong direction before he jerked it back and fell onto his remaining good knee and hands. I gave him a parting slam to the back of his head with my hammer before jumping back as he whirled his axe around in a rage. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that.¡± He growled before testing how much weight he could put on his injured leg. He had only dropped about 15% of his life, so I knew this was going to be a long battle. I kept circling him, not giving him time to set up a decent stance. As soon as he did a small hop turn to keep me in his sights, I would dart in with a slash or a feint, mixing them up to keep him guessing. Eventually his growing rage got the best of him and he gave a powerful slash expecting an attack, but it was a feint. As I sucked in my stomach to let the axe head pass by, the piercing spike on the top of the axe cut a burning line across my chest. Ignoring the pain as best I could, I lunged forward with the scythe edge aiming for his eye. He pivoted onto his weak leg, and the buckling of his knee was the only thing that saved his eye. Instead, I carved a furrow from his forehead down his cheek. He retaliated with a thrust of his axe, but it had little power as he couldn¡¯t push off with one leg. It still managed to gouge along my ribs, but he came out worse in the exchange as my hammer slammed into the side of his head, sending him stumbling. I took the time to down a health potion, as I was down to half my health. He was hovering at around 60%, but was missing any potions. I tossed my last pyrophoria potion at him, just to keep him from using any skills. As he was flailing about in panic with the flames, I tried to time my next attack carefully. Charging forward, I used [Keen edge] and aimed at the inside of his weapon arm¡¯s elbow, hoping the lack of bones would help with the amputation. Unfortunately for me, I badly misjudged everything. I took a solid whack with the axe to my stomach, and overextended my attack and hit him in the middle of the upper arm. My only saving grace was that my blade bit deep into the bone, severing his bicep in the process. I staggered back in pain, and watched as he kept trying to bring his arm up but failing. We were both down to a quarter health, so I downed another health potion before wading back into the fray. This time I tried to bait him into attacking, and being content to wear him down with weaker counterattacks. I also kept moving around him, so that he was constantly adjusting. We both knew how this battle would end, but through it all he never gave up. As he thrust forward with the axe one last time, I grabbed it in my offhand, and pulled him toward me. The sudden jerk pulled him off balance, and my [Reaper¡¯s edge] finished him with a decapitating blow. Panting, I finally got the notice that I had completed the quest. The raid leader gave me his axe for loot, which provided a nice five-point boost to strength. There wasn¡¯t much else in the raid camp, and from the empty carts I found I assumed that they had sent back their spoils not too long ago. Disappointed in the lack of loot, I headed back to the city to turn in my quest. Chapter 33 I staggered back into the city, exhausted from the trek back. The lack of enemies was a blessing though, as I had too long of a day already. I headed to the barracks, and just caught Khaliss as he was leaving. ¡°Hey there Khaliss, all done for the day?¡± I asked, trying for cheerful. ¡°Angus.¡± He nodded at me, then squinted at my gear. Looking down, I understood. My new chest armor had several noticeable gashes in it, and my leg armor had stitching coming undone. ¡°Rough day?¡± ¡°Heh, yeah. Turns out one person versus a goblin raiding party can be hell on your gear.¡± ¡°I see. I take it your shield was destroyed in the process?¡± ¡°Huh? No, I don¡¯t use a shield. Too hard to hide before an ambush.¡± ¡°Ah. So you were overwhelmed, and couldn¡¯t dodge enough blows? Or there were just too many to parry?¡± ¡°Neither. What¡¯s with the interrogation Khaliss?¡± ¡°You have had that piece of equipment from me for less than a week and it has been abused. Tell me, do you even have the dodge and parry skills?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t. And this piece of equipment has saved my life, I would never abuse it.¡± ¡°You are abusing it!¡± He said vehemently. ¡°Resources are hard to come by in the Underdark, and you take no care with your equipment. No shield is understandable, but to be lacking in dodge, parry, and counter is unforgiveable. It is a wonder you made it to whatever level you have. It is my failing, as I was in awe of your early successes. That will be rectified. First, you will pay to repair all of your armor. In three days, you will stop by the barracks for training. It just so happens that my newest batch of recruits has progressed to the point where mindless drilling will give them little benefits. You will become their target, and you will learn the skills you are desperately missing. They will have fun with a live target. Everyone benefits, no?¡± I was struck by his savageness in addressing my faults, fought my first angry retort down, and realized he was right. ¡°I¡¯ll be there. What will I need to bring?¡± I asked remorsefully. ¡°Just yourself. You will not be wearing equipment, and will have no recovery materials. Don¡¯t worry, we will make sure you don¡¯t die. Can¡¯t kill the recruits now, can we?¡± He said with a mischievous smile. ¡°Ok then.¡± I said, immediately uncomfortable with that smile. Nothing to worry about, right? ¡°Well, before we do that can I turn in this quest?¡± ¡°Very well, but I am holding on to the equipment portion of it until after your training.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine¡± I said, irked that I wouldn¡¯t get my gear just yet but knowing that Khaliss wouldn¡¯t budge. Instead I just took the fifteen gold and headed towards the inn. It was too late to get everything repaired, and all I really wanted was dinner, a hot bath, and some sleep. I just wished that the kobolds had hot water technology. Instead I had a few bowls of the kobold version of a seafood stew. I had no idea where Alnoss managed to get the variety of shellfish she did, but it was the highlight of my day. I ate until I was overly stuffed, and headed to bed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up the next morning and headed up to get my gear repaired first. While I was there I got to thinking about a possible trap, and headed in to talk with Dharkiss. Oddly, he was in the front of the store when I walked in for a change. ¡°Morning there Dharkiss!¡± ¡°Angus, it¡¯s never a good thing when you are back this soon. What¡¯ve ya done and how upset am I going to be?¡± ¡°Funny you should say that.¡± I said, drawing out the last word. ¡°Out with boy, I don¡¯t have all day.¡± ¡°Well, your wire trap performed splendidly.¡± I said to soften the blow, then placed the remnants on the table. ¡°You should be proud, it held against a full goblin raiding party.¡± ¡°One day. Some of my best work, and ya broke it in a day.¡± ¡°Now hold on there Dharkiss, it did what I needed it to. Not only did it hold back the goblin horde, most of it survived the explosion that took out all of the goblins.¡± His dejected look turned to a glare as he practically spat at me, ¡°And just how did you manage to get my trap caught in an explosion, eh? There aren¡¯t any patches of mine gas down here, so it had to be something you did. Tell me the story.¡± So I spent the next several minutes telling how I used his wire to group up the goblin horde, and how it held despite them pushing on it. I might have embellished just a wee bit, to make it seem like a few of the goblins actually got cut in half by the blades. Then how I detonated a medium mana crystal nearby and used the shrapnel from the explosion to take out all the remaining goblins. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard it before boy, but they say there¡¯s a fine line between genius and insanity. From where you are standing in the insanity portion, can you even see the line?¡± ¡°Who needs lines? Nothing wrong with a little insanity every now and again. Besides, some of the voices in my head have good ideas.¡± I said the last line with a little chuckle. ¡°But speaking of insanity, have you ever heard of a tunneling worm?¡± Dharkiss took a minute to glare at me, almost to the point where I was uncomfortable. ¡°Yeah, I know about tunneling worms. Why in the hells would you mention a beast like that?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Well, I saw a juvenile one the other day and was wondering what it took to kill them.¡± ¡°You saw one? What level and did you warn Khaliss?¡± ¡°Level 35, and no I didn¡¯t. It was almost an hour trek just to get to where I saw it.¡± ¡°Boy, listen here. You can do what you want challenging crazy creatures, I don¡¯t care. But if you come across a threat like a tunneling worm again, the first thing you do is let Khaliss know. That¡¯s one of the greatest threats to underground dwellers like ourselves. Now, leave your trap here and I¡¯ll return it in a few days good as new. You go and tell Khaliss exactly where you found it, and how you escaped. Understand?¡± ¡°Sure, and I¡¯m sorry Dharkiss. I didn¡¯t realize how big of a threat they were.¡± ¡°Lad, the juvenile is twice your level. What do you think the adults are like? Now go.¡± He said while shooing me out the door. After talking with Khaliss, I was glad that he wasn¡¯t holding my lack of knowledge about the worms against me. I did have to spend the rest of the morning taking two of his trainees down with me to where the worm was. I stopped well back from the wall the goblin was mining, pointing out the area where the worm had attacked. I was glad when the trainees agreed that we didn¡¯t need to get any closer, as the pyramidal shape the worm¡¯s bite left in the wall was proof enough for them. Once we got back to the city, the trainees left to report to Khaliss and I went back to talk with Dharkiss. ¡°Back again Dharkiss, I had a few more questions about those worms if you are up for it.¡± ¡°What¡¯re you wantin¡¯ to know?¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°How do most people go about killing them?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t. I¡¯m not sure if anyone has actually managed to kill them. People have tried, but the front shields them very well from magic, and does a damn fine job of blocking physical attacks. Their hides resist earth magic, so you can¡¯t crush them in a tunnel and their jaws are big enough they can take a healthy bite out of a cave troll.¡± ¡°Want to be the first to take one out then?¡± ¡°Did you not hear what I just said? Even if you tried one of your explosions, they would just shrug it off. How are you going to get past its defenses?¡± ¡°Simple. I¡¯m going to stab it. With a trap.¡± ¡°Simple he says. How are you going to stab it and stop it from running you over then? This¡¯ll be one of them crazy ideas, right?¡± ¡°Well, probably. Here, let me run a few things by you, see if we can get what I¡¯m planning reinforced enough.¡± Dharkiss and I spent the next few hours bent over a piece of paper, arguing about reinforcing, blade shape and position, and overall force. It was definitely some of the best time I had spent in the city, and Dharkiss promised me that he would have a working trap for me by the time Khaliss had finished my extra training. After discussing things with Dharkiss, I was at a loss with what to do with myself. My head was starting to get that fuzzy feeling like I had been taking tests all day, and I doubt Khaliss would be happy if I tried to go out and kill a few things to ease my frustrations. Instead I started wandering the upper levels, hoping to find a place to carve out a house. Alnoss was a great cook, especially since I had far less time for that than I really wanted, but it was the major drain on my resources right now. Wandering around, I was looking for a tunnel that didn¡¯t have any residences already. It took far longer than I really wanted, but I came across an empty tunnel. I started with a mana blade, and carve out a doorway, and kept going straight back in a slightly wider hallway for as long as my mana held out. Imagine my surprise when almost ten feet into the rock, the bottom half of the wall I was excavating burst open. I looked through the opening, and knew I would have to abandon this site. Twenty feet away from where my wall ended was a waterfall, but I was so high up that I couldn¡¯t see it striking the water down below. Carefully I stuck my head out and looked, seeing that I was part of a gently sloping ceiling. I guess in my wanderings I got too close to that swampish room with the trout. Cursing my bad luck, I decided to call it a night and headed back to the inn for dinner. I was looking forward to logging out of the game tomorrow. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Brother, what a pleasant surprise.¡± The high priest said as I walked in the next morning. ¡°Good morning brother, how are things at the temple?¡± ¡°All is well. I see you are close to reaching the goal Lord Thanatos laid upon you. Since you aren¡¯t here for the quest, are we to be doing more of your anatomy?¡± ¡°Yes, if you don¡¯t mind. And technically what we are about to do is an autopsy. Anatomy is, well it¡¯s not something you do. Are you ready?¡± The high priest once again led me back to the hidden altar, and I placed a goblin body on it. The first body I went with was the decapitated one, as it had the least amount of damage. Instead of the normal chest exam that you see in shows, I started with his neck as I wanted to see why I could get a decapitation on him but not on the first scout I had tried. ¡°Huh, would you look at that.¡± I muttered as I sliced open the back of the neck. ¡°What¡¯s so interesting?¡± ¡°Sorry, forgot you were watching for a second. When I first tried to take out a goblin, my blade got stuck halfway through its neck. Turns out that a goblin¡¯s neck only has one long bone in it, so if you are going to decapitate them you need to strike either the base of the skull on a downward strike or across the shoulders on an even plane.¡± I took my time examining the rest of the bodies, and honestly thought the only thing that kept goblins from being the ultimate monster was their lack of health. The sternum was longer and wider than a human¡¯s, completely protecting the heart. I would actually have an advantage in a swing from the scythe end of my weapon as it would curl around the bone to strike the heart. They also had far more ribs than a human, but the last several pairs were ¡®floating ribs.¡¯ Instead of connecting directly to the sternum, they were instead connected with cartilage, giving them the protection of bones while still letting them have flexibility. All their internal organs were hidden within the ribs, except for the stomachs. They had three, and a very small portion of intestines. They also had three lungs, with the smallest hidden behind the heart and it had its own trachea. If you wanted to slit their throats, you would have to damn near decapitate them to get both windpipes. Their racial resistance to poison was probably due to their abnormally large livers, which were almost the size of all three lungs combined. As intelligent and formidable as their torso¡¯s were, the goblin¡¯s extremities we idiotically designed. They lacked a kneecap and had a gap in their bones more than twice the width of my scythe. Instead of their upper arms having a shallow ball and socket joint for maximum mobility, they resembled the legs with a narrow neck leading to a ball. It wasn¡¯t even at an angle like the legs, instead it came out at a right angle. This prevented goblins from lifting their arms too far above the plane of their shoulders. The skull was thick along the top, which when combined with the large eye sockets severely limited the size their brains could grow to. They also had extremely thin bones along the sides and back of those eyes, almost guaranteeing that any piercing attack to the face would punch through to the brain. I made sure to point out my thoughts and notes to the high priest, thoroughly enjoying how my anatomy skill made a jump from beginner level 3 to beginner level 9. I had taken my time with the autopsies, and by the time I had finished returned to the inn for a leisurely dinner before logging out. Chapter 34 ¡°Oh god, sweet caffeinated bliss.¡± I moaned into my coffee mug. There are some things that you just don¡¯t realize you are missing until you can¡¯t have them for a week because lizard people living underground can¡¯t grow anything close. I spent at least a half hour relaxing on my sofa, savoring the aroma as the liquid warmed me from the inside. Eventually I sent off an email to Emily. Emily, Finally logged out after a week in the game. While I didn¡¯t really feel any discomfort during the game, there are a few issues that people should be warned about, especially those who drastically change their physiology. I kept my same height, so I have no issues with walking around. Since the kobold snout protrudes a small bit, I am having issues with eating and drinking. I¡¯m sure it will be finished within a few days, but I will keep an eye on it. I also noticed that I keep trying to pick up hot objects with claws that I no longer have, and have burnt my fingertips a few times. I haven¡¯t noticed anything with altered senses, although the only one that I would have that isn¡¯t human is darkvision. Since my digital apartment is well lit, I haven¡¯t had the urge to try and activate it. Let me know if there is anything else you want me to look out for. Thanks, Marty Hmmm, I wonder what the others are up to? * * * * * * * * * * * * * I walked in to Caf¨¦ Oblivion and was sad to see I was the first to arrive. Hoping the others wouldn¡¯t be too far behind, I figured I could indulge in a little craving and ordered a soda and the taco party platter. Thirty tacos, pared down to what I considered the essentials. Meat, cheese, shell, and hot sauce. ¡°Hey, look who got here early for a change!¡± Jon yelled as the others arrived when I was almost a third of the way through my feast. ¡°Oh damn, is that a pile of tacos? Please tell me you are sharing with the rest of us?¡± ¡°No way, my tacos.¡± I said, wrapping an arm protectively around my pile. ¡°Besides, they instantly make it for you. Get your own party platter.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Jon grumped, but still had a smile on her face. ¡°Boys and their competitions¡± Phoebe muttered. ¡°Well Derrick? Are you going to be joining the foolery?¡± ¡°Absolutely not. I¡¯m ordering 72 ounces of ribeye steak on the bone, medium rare. Before you ask, I shan¡¯t be needing silverware.¡± He said the last bit while smiling and turning up his nose. ¡°So after we feast, is a party in order JohnnyBGood?¡± Jon looked a bit embarrassed. ¡°What? I¡¯ve always used that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Jon, we should all probably tell each other our game names. I¡¯m sure we will all be making a few global announcements, you just happened to gain the first. I¡¯m Angus MacG.¡± ¡°Illyora¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m¡± Derrick muttered. ¡°Seriously?¡± Phoebe asked with a smirk on her face. ¡°Yeah. It sounded better in my head. At least I didn¡¯t try and use the catch phrase.¡± ¡°Oh hoh hoh? What would your catch phrase have been?¡± ¡°It¡¯s clobberin¡¯ time.¡± Derrick said while we all laughed. ¡°What? Our characters look pretty similar, except no troll in their right mind would ever choose to be orange.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth¡± I said when I got a hold of my laughter long enough to breathe. ¡°Nothing wrong with having a hero growing up.¡± Jon said. ¡°At least you picked a competent hero.¡± ¡°Thanks Jon. Shamelessly changing the subject here, but what did your little goblin manage to evolve into?¡± ¡°Well, before that I have to apologize to Phoebe and send you guys a video of one of the trials I went through.¡± ¡°Apologize for what?¡± She said while narrowing her eyes. ¡°Heh, well it¡¯s like this. There were a few trials with weapons that I had to take before I evolved. One of those was a legendary staff.¡± At the mention of a staff, Phoebe¡¯s face went from glaring to coveting. ¡°What kind of trial, Jon?¡± ¡°I got to live out the last bits of the life of some figures.¡± ¡°Jon, you know I¡¯ve done a lot of research into the game lore. Tell me you remember the name of the guy who owned the staff. The only way you could get back into my good graces if you forget is if you actually have the staff in your inventory somewhere and are going to give it to me.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t give it to you. It wouldn¡¯t let me keep any of the weapons. But I think the guy was named Ghoul Vest, or something like that.¡± Phoebe muttered the name a few times to herself before freezing. ¡°Jon¡± she said deliberately slowly. ¡°Are you telling us that you got to play around with the staff of the drow elementalist Gul¡¯veth?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it! That¡¯s the guy! Gul¡¯veth. What was he famous for?¡± ¡°He burned one of the ancient elven forests so thoroughly he created the Duskaven Desert. Do you have any idea how much mana it takes to burn an ancient elven forest that has been steeped in magic for centuries Jon? Please tell me how to get there!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t Phoebe, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s a weird location that most likely moved away.¡± While Phoebe looked crestfallen, we all convinced her to at least watch the video, and what a video it was. One of the best points was when Jon unleashed the highest combination tier spell I had ever seen. [Maelstrom] created a small pillar of safety in the middle of a raging storm of elemental fury. The winds were driving particles so quickly that orichalcum golems were visibly eroded. Blasts of lightning left smoking craters of glass, while shards of ice ripped anything flesh to shreds. Everyone was frozen, watching the devastation play out as wave after wave of foes fell to Jon¡¯s maniacal cackling. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jon. That was an amazing battle.¡± ¡°I know Phoebe, I know. Hey, at least you know what kind of magic is out there, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m not even playing a mage this time. Only gnoll shamans get the magic.¡± ¡°Well, enough moping around. Let¡¯s have a celebration!¡± I tried to get the party back on the right spot. ¡°Good idea Marty. Everyone get a drink ready, let¡¯s have a toast.¡± Derrick cheered. A few button pushes from each of us and we all had our favorite beverage in front of us. ¡°So, before we do this we gotta ask, what are you now instead of a goblin?¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Bugbear witch doctor.¡± Jon replied. ¡°To Jon! First of us to evolve, but definitely not the last. To the Bugbear witch doctor!¡± With Derrick¡¯s last words, we all clinked glasses together and took a deep drink. I slammed my drink back down onto the counter a little harder than I anticipated, sloshing it all over my tacos. Blinking repeatedly, I noticed Derrick had done the same, while Jon and Phoebe took extra care in setting down their wine glasses. My body felt almost detached, I knew it was there but it just wasn¡¯t important. ¡°¡¯S everyone feelings¡± I paused to blink a few times ¡°Zat?¡± Looking around, everyone seemed off. How the heck did we all get wasted on a gulp or two of alcohol? I tried to pull up my email screen, but ended up flipping back in my chair and slamming into the ground. ¡°Ouchkabibbles.¡± I said as everyone giggled a bit. ¡°Floor comfy¡± I said, mind floating a few inches above my body. ¡°Whazz¡¯ I up to?¡± Emily, Eeeeeeemily. Heh. Somthins wrong. Nine one one for the money! Mmmmarty ¡°Send!¡± I managed to push the button. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Emily POV Emily was just finishing up the last bit of work before heading home when her inbox pinged. ¡°Damnit, this better be important.¡± She muttered to herself, as she was planning to head home for some relaxation before going out dancing. All her plans were instantly dropped when she saw Marty¡¯s message. ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± She wondered as the locator was showing him at Caf¨¦ Oblivion. She grabbed her unwieldy headset and headed into the caf¨¦. ¡°Marty, what the hell is up with that message?¡± She demanded as she materialized right next to the group¡¯s table. It took a noticeable delay, but the three people still seated at the table flinched at her words. ¡°Eeeeeemily. You gots a nice butts from down here Eeeeeemily.¡± Marty slurred as he couldn¡¯t help but see up her skirt. His head immediately lolled to the side and he kept going, ¡°Oooooh, nice leggies too!¡± Emily looked down to see Marty trying to lift his hand and rub her legs, but she scampered back as his hand flopped on the ground nowhere near it¡¯s intended target. ¡°What the hell is going on with you guys?¡± She asked before noticing that everyone had a drink in front of them. Her eyes widened in shock. ¡°Leggies go byes.¡± Marty slurred. ¡°Damnit, this is just what I need.¡± Emily swore as her fingers flew over a digital keyboard. A ringing sound was heard before someone picked up. ¡°Emergency medical, what¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°I have four people displaying worrying symptoms, I believe it stems from the new alcohol patch in the digital caf¨¦. Emergency code purple protocols for Jon Tipper, Phoebe Tipper, Derrick Mason, and Martin Shellby.¡± ¡°Emergency code authorization please.¡± ¡°TK-421¡± ¡°Code authorized and executed. All patients will have two doctors and a crash team in their rooms within one minute. Is there anything else we need to know about?¡± ¡°Yes. I will most likely have to do an active data purge to bring them out of this. Please stay patched in to this call as I conference in others so that you may relay to the medical teams.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± Emily hurriedly called down to the server room, and they answered on the third ring. ¡°Server room, Bill speaking.¡± ¡°Bill, I have a code purple emergency. Are there at least two others in the room with you?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Excellent, conference them in to the call please.¡± ¡°This is Ted in the server room, conferenced in.¡± ¡°Mary in the server room, conferenced in.¡± ¡°This is Emily, I have initiated a code purple with four individuals. Emergency code authorization TK-421. Please acknowledge code.¡± ¡°Code acknowledged¡± came a chorus of replies. ¡°Excellent. For the record, this entire call is being recorded. Technicians, you should all have a USB drive in your desk sealed in break-away plastic. I need you all to break that plastic open and copy down the active code for the alcohol properties in Caf¨¦ Oblivion. Please confirm when you have all finished downloading.¡± Fifteen minutes later the technicians all responded that they had downloaded the proper data. ¡°Excellent. Bill, I need you to do an active data purge on all systems of the data you just downloaded. When you are ready give a five second countdown.¡± As Bill was doing his job, Emily temporarily muted her headset. ¡°I¡¯m sorry guys, this is going to hurt like Hell, but it¡¯s for your own good.¡± Then she unmuted her headset. ¡°Data queued, confirm that you want an active data purge on all systems for alcohol properties in Caf¨¦ Oblivion.¡± ¡°Request confirmed, proceed with active purge.¡± ¡°Roger that. Activating purge in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, purge.¡± At his last word, the entire group grabbed the sides of their heads in agony as they curled up in the fetal position. The pain was so great that none of them could even make a sound. ¡°Thank you Bill. Before we go any further, besides you three are there any others in the server room?¡± ¡°Just one, Stephanie is in here with us.¡± Bill replied. ¡°Scratch that Emily, I have five security guys entering the server room.¡± ¡°Roger that Bill.¡± Emily said with a relieved sigh. ¡°Ok, technicians. I need you to place that USB you used into a manila envelope and seal it. You are to label it in permanent marker with the following code: Papa, Oscar, Whiskey, Dash, Whiskey, Oscar, Whiskey. Please read that back.¡± ¡°Bill speaking. Envelope sealed, label Papa, Oscar, Whiskey, Dash, Whiskey, Oscar, Whiskey. POW-WOW.¡± ¡°Mary speaking. Envelope sealed, label Papa, Oscar, Whiskey, Dash, Whiskey, Oscar, Whiskey. POW-WOW.¡± ¡°Ted speaking. Envelope sealed, label Papa, Oscar, Whiskey, Dash, Whiskey, Oscar, Whiskey. POW-WOW.¡± ¡°Confirmed. Bill, you are to take your envelope and deliver it to Priscilla Dawson, Head of HR. She has been informed of your arrival. Remember to double check her identification, and that envelope is for her hands only. Mary, you are to take your envelope and deliver it to Jonathan McCoy, Head of Legal. He has been informed of your arrival, and your envelope is for his hands only. Ted, you are to give your envelope to Michael Montgomery, head of Game Management. Same instructions. Clear?¡± ¡°Roger.¡± Chorused into her ears one more time. ¡°Excellent. That concludes this conference call.¡± Emily said while hanging up. She looked down on the four testers, who by this point had all fallen onto the floor. With pity in her eyes, she put in a few more calls for some people to help the gamers back to their apartments. ¡°What happened to Uncle Jon?¡± A small voice asked. Turning, Emily saw a little girl with a head full of curls. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sweetie.¡± She said while dropping to a knee to be at the same height. ¡°Uncle Jon and his friends had something go wrong. In order to fix it, we had to do something that would hurt him, but he will be fine.¡± As she talked, the girl started to get tears in her eyes. ¡°Wha, What about story time though?¡± She asked with a sniff. ¡°What story time?¡± ¡°Every day at f-four Uncle Jon comes and r-reads us a story. If Uncle Jon is hurt, w-who will read us a s-s-story t-t-ta-tomorrow?¡± Anyone could tell that she was seconds away from an epic meltdown. ¡°It¡¯s ok sweetie, I will find someone to read you a story tomorrow. Where do you usually meet Uncle Jon?¡± ¡°Over by the l-lake¡± she said. ¡°Well, tell your friends that Uncle Jon won¡¯t be reading, but story time will still be on, ok?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After getting the little girl squared away, Emily made a few calls before heading over to Marty¡¯s apartment. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV ¡°Uhhhhnnn¡± I moaned, trying to curl farther into the fetal position. I was going to murder whoever drove the icepick into my forehead, and the two little bastards who were branding the back of my eyeballs were going to be slow roasted over an open flame as I poked them with a sharpened stick. ¡°You okay there Marty?¡± A feminine voice asked. ¡°Hnnnnnggg.¡± I replied with a whimper. ¡°Sorry you¡¯re going through this, it¡¯s a side effect of purging the drinking code.¡± ¡°Please, never mention drinking again.¡± I replied, struggling to unwind myself. Still shaking with exertion, I managed to look around to find Emily staring down on me as I laid in my bed. ¡°How did I get to my apartment?¡± ¡°We figured you would have a bit of amnesia. So what is the last thing you remember?¡± ¡°A toast. Jon evolved, but that¡¯s it. Ow!¡± I cried involuntarily, as a sharp spike of pain shot through my skull. ¡°Easy there, easy. I¡¯ll fill you in, you remember a bit more than the others. So after the toast, you all took a drink. As far as we know, the code for alcohol response was entered incorrectly. Instead of gradually building up a response depending on how much you drink how fast, it immediately went to nearly blackout drunk status.¡± ¡°That kinda sounds like a monumental fuck up.¡± ¡°It is. We already have code for drinking effects in the game, it should be a simple copy and paste with a few double checks. Rest assured, we are treating this seriously. Someone, most likely several someones are going to lose their jobs for this. We also have several doctors on hand for the next few days. No less than two will be on hand for all of your pods for the next week, monitoring all your vitals.¡± ¡°Thanks. Are the others okay?¡± ¡°As well as okay can be. You all have terrible headaches. The doctors are all recommending to avoid the game for at least a day. Other than that, nothing strenuous and no drinking alcohol. Any other questions?¡± ¡°No, thanks though Emily. I¡¯m sure the others also appreciate your timely reaction.¡± With a smile and a nod, she turned and left. I simply turned back toward my pillows and went to sleep, hoping that the headache would quit by the time I woke back up. Chapter 35 I woke up the next morning with a slight hangover and no motivation. I hovered around the kitchen, not really thinking of anything that would taste good. Instead I had several glasses of water and started plotting. The best thing about living in the digital world was that everything was delivered instantaneously. Soon enough I was heading out for my perfect afternoon. It only took ten minutes to get it set up to perfection. I set up a comfortable lawn chair with an extra-large cooler on wheels next to it in the shade of a large tree. I cast a line into the water, settled a hat covering my eyes and went to sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Marty? Is that you under that atrocious hat?¡± ¡°Huh? Wha? Oh, it¡¯s just you Emily. Yep, I¡¯ve been taking it easy all day. And what do you mean that this is an atrocious hat? I¡¯ll have you know fishermen have been wearing hats like this for decades!¡± ¡°I see. So you¡¯ve been fishing all afternoon?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°You do realize that they didn¡¯t code any fish into the lake, right?¡± ¡°That explains why I haven¡¯t gotten a bite all afternoon. Want a sandwich and a soda? I packed extra just in case I wasn¡¯t home by dinner.¡± I said while offering her half a submarine sandwich overloaded with three kinds of meat. ¡°Eh, that¡¯s ok. I¡¯m here for something else, I just wanted to see who the crazy person was fishing in a lake with no fish. Have a nice day Marty.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Jon POV Ugh, this headache was killer. I stumbled through the apartment, fighting nausea. God, I wish I could take some medicine for this but I knew it wouldn¡¯t work. At least Phoebe was still able to sleep. I checked on her once again, only to find her splayed out on my half of the bed with all the covers tangled up in her legs. Smiling, I headed out. The kids would be disappointed if I missed story time. Walking through the park next to the caf¨¦, I saw Emily talking with somebody with a fishing pole. They were wrapping up their conversation though, and she turned and waved to me. ¡°What¡¯s up Emily? I thought you hated coming in to the digital versions because of that helmet they make you wear.¡± I said while walking up to her. ¡°Jon, I hope you aren¡¯t trying to break doctor¡¯s orders and not relax today. By say, I don¡¯t know, forcing yourself to read to a bunch of children?¡± ¡°Eh, wait, how did you?¡± ¡°Relax Jon. One of your kids was asking about you yesterday, she was rather upset you were hurt and told me all about your daily reading. I decided that I would fill in for you today, so this time you get to relax with the kids as I read them a story.¡± ¡°Was her hair curly and gold colored?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Rosalie. She really has come out of her shell if she came up to a stranger to ask about me.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Speak of the devil, here she comes.¡± ¡°UNCLE JOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!¡± She cried, rocketing her head into my stomach as she wrapped me in her arms. ¡°Are you all better?¡± ¡°Not quite just yet, Rosalie. I¡¯m sure I will be by tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She said as her smile fell. ¡°Does this mean that there isn¡¯t going to be a story today?¡± ¡°Not at all. Emily here said she would do the story today, and that you could sit in my lap if you wanted.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± She turned to Emily. ¡°Thanks so much Miss Emily!¡± Grabbing my hand, she started pulling me along. ¡°Slow down, slow down. We¡¯ll get there in plenty of time, don¡¯t worry.¡± Though I did give in to the inevitable and followed a little faster. When we arrived, Emily took a cube out of her pocket and tapped a button on it before stepping back as a large stage popped out. Nodding, she turned to the gathered children and spoke. ¡°Good afternoon everyone, my name¡¯s Emily. Jon really wanted to read to you again today, but he is under doctor¡¯s orders to rest. Instead I¡¯ll be reading to you, and some of my friends in the development department agreed to help me out and set up a play for you all to enjoy while I read.¡± Her spiel done, Emily pulled out a book and started one of the best readings of Green Eggs and Ham that I was treated to. She had a way of reading that drew the kids in, and the digital renditions of the books illustrations really helped to bring the entire thing to life. As a bonus, at the end of the story everyone was treated to buffet tables full of green eggs and ham. After Rosalie ran off with her friends, I walked up to Emily with a slight tear in my eye. ¡°Thanks Emily. I was going to try and power through some book, but I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do a fraction of what you did for the kids today.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome Jon. They really look up to you, and it was a pleasure to be able to step in for you for a day. In fact, I have to pass on the thanks of several doctors to you, as several children that constantly attend your stories are showing marked improvement. Even more so than the rest of them.¡± ¡°Thanks, that really means a lot.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°In fact, they were so impressed that they want to have us help you out. Since you liked the show today, our departments want you to give us a list of slightly longer books. In two weeks, and once per week after that they will have an interactive play like the one I did today. How does that sound?¡± ¡°That sounds fantastic. Count me in.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but be elated. Smiling, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to think of stories that deserved their own plays. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV, one week later The day after the incident we were all cleared to re-enter the game if we wished. Knowing that Khaliss had something planned for me, I headed in to see what it was. I was completely unprepared for the sadistic training method that he put me through. I first had to dodge ten blows with my hands tied behind my back, just to earn the dodge skill. None of the weapons were blunted either, because they had a field safety setting that I immediately hated. It would automatically teleport someone out of there when their health dropped below 20%. Once I earned dodge, I was able to use my weapon and free hand for defense only. I had to deflect the same number of blows to earn the parry skill without any mistakes. Getting the counter skill sounded like it would be easier, but in order to get it I had to first dodge or parry an attack and immediately launch an attack of my own. By the end of the first day I had a few levels in each, and was incredibly sore from all the ¡°learning opportunities¡± Khaliss labeled when I got hurt. Any time I was forced out due to health reasons I had to use [Keen edge] on dummies as fast as possible. When my mana ran out, it was the kobold version of parkour.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The next several days had me facing off against increasing numbers of enemies, and Khaliss and Shrik were brutal in tearing apart my many mistakes. My footwork was horrible, I was predictable in my deflections, and my counters weren¡¯t targeting critical areas to name a few. Towards the middle of the time, they actually had everyone slow down to quarter speed, just to give me ideas for how to properly counter. Or how to control the battle by parrying enemy blows into the attacking lanes of the others. What would be my counter to the third, fourth, and fifth attacks that were going to land? Their battle training was like playing a combination of chess, dodgeball, and five finger fillet all at once. The last two days were the worst of all. I had to face off against both Khaliss and Shrik, at the same time. They called it survivalist, as I had to last for ten minutes. Then twenty. Then an hour. The last hour of the final day was Khaliss¡¯ favorite. He called it counter counter revolution. The whole point was to keep countering his counter attacks, the loser would be the one who either failed to counter or took a hit. Needless to say, I never won. Though his training was brutal, I did end up with several gains that I just couldn¡¯t argue with.
Dodge Advanced level 6 +36% chance to dodge a detected attack
Parry Advanced level 1 +31% chance to parry an attack, damage reduced by 35%
Counter attack Intermediate level 7 Counter attacks cause +77% extra damage, +27% critical hit chance
Battlefield control Beginner level 5 Damage received reduced by 5% when controlling the number of enemies attacking simultaneously
All the new skills were passive, but they had a huge potential. Battlefield control was what I obtained when trying to parry enemies into each other, and was something I was excited to level up. After all the training was said and done, Khaliss pronounced my performance acceptable and gave me a new ring as an equipment reward for the last quest that he was holding back. It was simply a rare quality, but the added 15% chance to dodge was more than welcome. I also informed him that since Dharkiss had finished my newest custom weapon that I was going to try and take down the juvenile tunneling worm, assuring him that it would be best if I did it alone and that I wouldn¡¯t bring it toward the city at any cost. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°So, it¡¯s been a week. Please tell me that it¡¯s ready Dharkiss.¡± I said as I walked in to his shop in the morning. ¡°Hehehehe, oh its done Angus. I¡¯m surprised you lived through the tender mercies of Khaliss to claim it though.¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°Ugh, I suppose you could say I was tenderized just by the amount of times I got hit with something. I swear at one point I had bruises on my bruises.¡± ¡°BWAHAHAHA! I warned you Khaliss doesn¡¯t mess around, not my fault that you didn¡¯t trust old Dharkiss.¡± ¡°You absolutely did not warn me!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain I did. Bah, why are we arguing about that when we can be unveiling a new weapon? Come on to the back, it¡¯s too heavy to put on any of the counters out here.¡± He said, leading the way. I followed him and saw a trap that was as monstrous as it was beautiful. The base was a block of steel one foot deep, eight feet wide and three feet tall. Sprouting out of it at one foot intervals were solid steel boar spears on steroids. The central four were twice the width of a normal boar spear, and the wings were all fused together to reinforce the structure. The blades were different than a normal boar spear, and were perpendicular to the wings and were sharpened all the way down to the wings themselves, giving it a solid foot and a half of edged weapon for slicing up whatever tried running over it. The spears on the end were slightly longer, and the shafts bent towards the center. The end result was the tips making a shallow U shape. ¡°Oh Dharkiss, you make the most vicious of weapons. It¡¯s perfect.¡± I said, fake wiping a tear from the corner of my eye and sniffling. ¡°Hah, you aren¡¯t getting it that easily. There¡¯s an awful lot of steel in there, I¡¯m gonna need 50 gold before you head out with it.¡± ¡°Oh, it can¡¯t be that much. How about 15 gold and ten percent of whatever I loot from the body.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t possibly let it go for less than 35 gold and half of what you loot.¡± ¡°Half? Is there mercury in this thing? You must have gone insane from breathing the fumes. I suppose I could spare 30 gold, a quarter of what it drops, and first choice in what you want to buy from the remaining loot.¡± ¡°Crazy? Hello kettle, I¡¯m pot and you¡¯re black!¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°That¡¯ll work though. Thirty gold up front, a quarter of the drops and first choice in buying the rest.¡± I smiled as I handed over the gold. ¡°Dharkiss, it¡¯s always a pleasure doing business with you.¡± ¡°Keep coming back Angus, your mad ideas are pushing my skills to the limit and I¡¯m finally gaining levels again.¡± ¡°Wonderful! I guess I should be insisting on a discount for every level you get then!¡± ¡°Discount? What is this gibberish of which you speak? I think those alchemy fumes are finally getting to you my friend, but fear not! I shall have a word with Djarleen on your behalf. We need you to be half crazy, that way you survive your ideas.¡± ¡°HA! Oh Dharkiss, that¡¯s priceless. I promise, that should Djarleen change you some odd color I shall do my best to find an antidote for you.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the smile from my face as I continued, ¡°Ah, but the time has come to go and test this baby out. Hopefully I am back by this afternoon, with plenty of loot!¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * An hour and a half later, I was in the same hallway that the worm had eaten the miner in. I ever so carefully walked down the corridor, stopping at 50 feet past the incident site. Finding no evidence of the worm, I went back just as carefully to set my trap. Ideally I would have the trap pop up from underground, impaling and immobilizing the passing worm on the wings of the spears. Even if it wasn¡¯t fully immobilized, the spears would slash through the hide as it moved forward. Since I had absolutely no idea how to make a raising platform, I would have to improvise. The first portion of the job would be to make a pit in the ground that the trap would sit upright in. The entire block of metal would be just below ground level, making sure that it wouldn¡¯t get ripped out. It would also provide a small bit of support if the spears started to bend. The next part of the trap was an inclined ramp leading down next to the pit, with the slightest of raised ledges at the base to hold the trap. The spear tips were just barely above ground level. I also tied a rope around one of the spears, as that was the trigger for the trap. I tested it several times, and the ledge at the base of the ramp gave me just enough leverage that pulling the rope would raise the spear tips. I left myself 50 feet of room, and then started rhythmically tapping on the floor. I would go in bursts of three or four. Tap, tap, TAP or tap, tap, tap, tap, listening after every four sets. Soon enough, I could barely make out the sound of something barreling down the corridor. Seeing the gaping maw of the beast as it came around a bend had me freeze for a few seconds. It had three jaws, and each one was lined with several sets of broad, flat teeth perfect for turning squishy lifeforms into red paste. Or whatever paste their blood was. It was almost enough for me to miss my window of opportunity. As the jaws passed over the spears, I gave a yank on the rope. The spears rose a bit, and quickly caught and pierced through the tough hide of the creature. From there it was absolute perfection. The creature¡¯s momentum forced the trap to smash through the lip holding it up while also forcing them further and further upright. With a mighty clang, the trap settled in to the pit, and section of the worm¡¯s body was bent into a hump. ¡°EEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!¡± For the first time, I believe this creature actually felt pain, and it wasn¡¯t enjoying the sensation. The screech it gave actually deafened me for 5 seconds. As I covered my bleeding ears, I watched it thrash around on the wings of the spears. It tried rolling, but the side spears would break through and it would immediately recoil from the new pain. Right back where it started from. I felt bad watching it die in agony, but I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to get closer and risk getting killed for some silly reason like honor.
Action unavailable The remains you are trying to put in your body bag are too large to fit.
Damn, guess I won¡¯t be able to autopsy this thing. Shrugging my shoulders, I looted the body, stored the trap, and read through my battle log and notifications. Chapter 36 You deployed boar spear trap. Critical success! Juvenile tunneling worm takes 400 damage every two seconds until escape. Juvenile tunneling worm is immobilized! Juvenile tunneling worm is impaled! Juvenile tunneling worm suffers massive internal injuries x4 (max 5). Deals 800 damage per second for 10 seconds. Juvenile tunneling worm uses [Agonized screech]. You are deafened for 5 seconds. Due to its struggles, juvenile tunneling worm suffers massive internal injuries x5. Deals 1000 damage per second for 10 seconds. Juvenile tunneling worm has died. Congratulations, you have gained 5 levels. ¡°God I love this trap!¡± I yelled after checking the damage log. Not only was it doing massive damage, the only way to get off the trap would be to back up. A hard thing to think of when you are impaled by several foot long blades. There was a slight bend in the shafts of the spears from the momentum of the worm, but Dharkiss would be able to fix that. Add in a five times level up and I was ready to head out on Thanatos¡¯ mission.
New Achievement unlocked
Just keep hitting it You have killed a creature many though unkillable. +5% total damage
Trap making Advanced lvl 3 Advanced lvl 6 Traps do 36% more damage, are deployed 18% faster, and are 20% harder to detect
Ambush (Passive) Intermediate lvl 6 Intermediate lvl 9 Attack damage increased by 29%, Critical hit chance increased by 19%
Loot from Juvenile tunneling worm Tunneling worm leather (pristine) x60 Tunneling worm leather (low quality) x5 Mineral hardened slab (pristine) x2 Tunneling worm blood (average) x20 Acid cleansed ore (?) x4
While I didn¡¯t get any equipment, the surplus of crafting materials was amazing. I couldn¡¯t wait to see just what the blood could be used for, but would definitely be consulting Djarleen before I did anything with it. Mission completed, I thought about heading back to the city but decided to do a little exploring. The tunnel the worm had come from to eat the goblin days ago went for a while but dead ended in a large, round cavern without anything notable in it. Heading back the other direction, the tunnel gradually straightened. As I walked along, I started to notice that the stone showed signs of being worked. Slight depressions in the stone walkway gave way to full on cobblestones with a wheel channel cut down the middle. The walls had empty recesses for torches, and the malformed heads of demonic creatures formed the keystone for the arches above. Eventually the walls turned into carved bones, and not necessarily humanoid bones. Thick leg bones, bones that ended in bladelike protrusions, and massive tusks were more and more predominant. The hallway ended in a door easily ten feet high. The archway was formed from two skeletal reapers with wings extended, their scythes defining the top of the door. Their other hands were by their sides, holding chains that extended to a seal at head height. The doors showed reliefs of demonic creatures forcing the light races into different areas. Awed by the detail in the artwork, I didn¡¯t notice my hand reaching forward and touching the door.
You lack the key to enter this instance.
Dear god, that could have been bad. Thankful that I didn¡¯t meet the requirements, I took several deep breaths to try and calm my heart that was thundering in my chest. After taking a few moments to collect myself, I stood up and took one last look at the amazing artwork before heading back to the city to inform Dharkiss about how well his trap worked. ¡°Khaliss!¡± I shouted as I entered the barracks. ¡°Khaliss! Where are you at?¡± ¡°Quit your shouting, I¡¯m right here. What do you need so badly?¡± He grumped as he exited his little building. ¡°I¡¯m proud to report a successful mission. The juvenile tunneling worm has been eliminated.¡± As I said that, all sounds in the training yard stopped. ¡°Truly? How?¡± Khaliss asked, hope on his face. I pulled out the boar spear trap I had used and explained how the encounter had gone, leaving nothing out. I caught several trainees shaking their heads as I talked about how I had to watch the worm come barreling down the tunnel right at me, maw gaping wide. By the end of the telling, everyone was silent for a few seconds, thinking over the story. I pulled out one of the mineral hardened slabs to show just how massive the juvenile worm was. It was a five foot tall triangle with a flattened top, and fully six inches thick. ¡°This covered one of the jaws of the beast, and it has three jaws.¡± Several of the trainees kept touching it, and Khaliss was looking at it with a strange intensity. ¡°If you are wanting it Khaliss, I¡¯m most likely going to be selling it to Dharkiss. I¡¯m sure he will be happy to make something out of it for you.¡± ¡°No doubt he will. Thank you for clearing that threat for us Angus, the city is safer now because of it. Are you going to explore that tunnel any further? And would you think your trap could hold up to an adult worm?¡± ¡°I already explored a bit. The side tunnel leads to an empty chamber, but you might want to send someone to check it out as I have no idea if anything in the walls would be worth mining. The other way leads to some sort of instanced dungeon. I didn¡¯t meet the requirements for entry thankfully, and since it has a sort of mausoleum motif I am going to check in with the high priest of Thanatos before heading back.¡± He was nodding along with my explanation, I felt a lot more comfortable with the plan I had. ¡°I highly doubt that trap would hold up to an adult worm though. If you look closely at the base of the spears, you can see that they are slightly bent. I think level 35 is the upper end of what this trap can handle, but if we come across one I¡¯m sure Dharkiss and I can figure something out.¡± ¡°Very well, hopefully we won¡¯t have to rely on that in the future.¡± Khaliss said, looking dejected as I explained why I wouldn¡¯t trust the trap against a larger worm. ¡°Was there anything else?¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯m off to see Dharkiss if you need anything?¡± As Khaliss shook his head, I stored the mineral slab and headed off to the blacksmiths. It was just late enough in the morning that I had to dodge several people, but was in too good of a mood to let it bother me. ¡°Dharkiss, you in here?¡± I practically shouted as I walked into the store. ¡°Angus? That you boy?¡± He popped up from behind one of the counters where he had been adding new inventory. ¡°I can¡¯t tell by the time, did the trap work? Tell me it worked! C¡¯mon and hurry!¡± ¡°Easy there, get your apprentice in here too, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll love hearing the story.¡± I gave him half a minute to get the boy out here, before pulling out the trap with some flair and launching into the story. ¡°Dharkiss, the trap worked perfectly.¡± I said with a smile, and had to wait some more as he let out a victory yell. ¡°The only damage the trap took was a slight bend in the spears near the base.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have that knocked out for you in a few hours boy, don¡¯t you worry about it.¡± He assured me. ¡°No need, Dharkiss. I was thinking of keeping it as is, let it be a trophy of sorts.¡± ¡°Heh, yeah. I could see that, ok then. So how did you deploy the trap?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. I went through the entire battle, describing how I used the trap and how the massive internal injuries were what killed it. As I told the story, the apprentice¡¯s eyes were gleaming as I assumed he was having daydreams about creating a weapon to kill some legendary monsters. ¡°So, what all did you get from the corpse? I remember something about a quarter of the haul being mine?¡± He said while elbowing me in the side at the end of my story. ¡°Of course, and you get first choice on buying what comes from my share. Let¡¯s head over to the counter there and I¡¯ll set out some of the stuff.¡± I walked over and placed one of each of the looted items, only leaning the mineral slab against the counter. ¡°So I have two of the mineral slabs of pristine quality, 60 of the pristine leather, 5 of the low quality leather, 20 of the blood all average, and 4 of the acid cleansed ore of unknown quality.¡± ¡°I see. That¡¯s quite the haul, though it doesn¡¯t really split well does it?¡± ¡°Not really. How about this then. I have no idea what to do with the ore or the slabs, so you take all of them and all the low quality leather. It shorts you in number of items, but I¡¯m willing to bet the cost of one of those slabs is substantially higher than the leather.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I can agree to that if you sell me 15 of the pristine leathers. That¡¯ll give me some stuff for my higher quality weapons, and the apprentice can use the low quality stuff to beef up the stats on his gear. Say three gold per leather?¡± ¡°Done deal, thanks for being easy to deal with on this.¡± ¡°Bah, you don¡¯t deal hard with friends, boy. Now you should take them leathers over to the Lizard¡¯s Leather, see what they can make for you.¡± ¡°Will do Dharkiss, thanks for everything.¡± I said as I waved and headed out the door. Dealing with the owners of the Lizard¡¯s Leather was fairly straightforward. They would make a leather set to maximize stealth, agility, and dexterity and would pay one gold for each leftover leather. They wanted to take their time, so it would be a few days before I could go back and pick it up. My next stop was the temple of Thanatos, as I knew Djarleen would take up most of my time. ¡°Good afternoon brother, how is the temple today?¡± I asked as I entered, and saw the high priest light up with a smile. ¡°Ah, back again brother? Perhaps with some more bodies for study?¡± ¡°No bodies today brother. Turns out there are some things that are too big to fit in my body bag.¡± ¡°Hoh? What did you manage to kill that was that large?¡± ¡°Juvenile tunneling worm.¡± ¡°I wish to call you a liar, but your aura never flickered. In fact, it seems much stronger than the last time I saw you. Have you¡­¡± ¡°Yep! I passed level 20 when I killed the worm and came to learn of the quest for Lord Thanatos.¡± ¡°Excellent! Head over to the altar, while I grab a few essentials.¡± I went over as directed, and made a bow in respect for Thanatos. The high priest stepped up with a bowl and a bunch of dried herbs. He lit the herbs and dropped them into the bowl, then took a deep inhale of the resulting smoke. When he looked at me again, his eyes were glowing green. ¡°You have met the minimum standards I set, and are now able to hear about the quests I will set before you. Through the years, mortals have always feared death, for I come for one and all eventually. However, there are some that have managed to defy the order of this world. Four of the most egregious ones have broken several taboos, and I am tasking you with retrieving them. Deep in a forgotten mausoleum the first has hidden. She has broken her vows as a spirit caller, and uses her power to enslave souls that have lost their way through the cycle. Stealing from their energy, countless souls have been drained unto oblivion to keep her alive. Hidden in the Underdark, the Citadel of Bones hides a necromancer. Somehow he has found a way to corrupt the bones and bodies of fallen heroes, creating abominations that must be destroyed. Once a mortal mage long ago, his soul bound to a phylactery. Ages have passed as the lich¡¯s foulness crept into the land. He now fuses both body and soul of creatures, threatening the cycle. A master vampire that history has forgotten, hiding in a place that has never seen the light of the sun. Enslaving priests of all the gods, forces his thralls to summon angels for him to feast upon. You are tasked with bringing them their final deaths. Should you be able to, use this dagger for the final blow. Each of the crystals embedded within have been treated to bind the soul of the targets.¡± As Thanatos finished speaking through the priest, he handed me an ornate dagger. The blade had a double curve, and was incredibly sharp. The crossguard was a black and silver design of a reaper with its cloak opened, that continued down the hilt. The blade of the scythe held by the reaper formed a D guard for my fingers, and there were four crystals embedded in the body of the reaper.
Divine Quest Death comes for all I Thanatos has given you the task of bringing death to those who would cheat him and break taboos. The first is a spirit caller who drains the power of spirits to fuel her immortality. Slay her before the balance of the worlds is sundered.
Quest Success Failure
Slay the spirit caller, bonus if the final blow is struck with the Dagger of Thanatos Increased standing within the church, experience, unique item, next quest in the series Decreased standing within the church, loss of the quest chain
Dagger of Thanatos This stylized dagger has been specially prepared to steal the souls of four individuals. The lower the health of the victim, the higher the likelihood of success. Victim must have health in the red zone to be effective. Damage: 1 Durability: Indestructible Souls contained: 0/4
I immediately accepted. How often are you handed a divine chain quest? Before I could celebrate too much, Thanatos continued talking through the high priest. ¡°A word of caution before you go. The first of your targets utilizes spirits as her weapon. You will need some way to both see and combat them.¡± With those final words, the green glow faded, and the high priest slumped in exhaustion. ¡°Woah, easy there.¡± I said as I reflexively darted forward to catch him. ¡°Thanks brother.¡± He said while panting. ¡°Channeling our lord like that can really take it out of you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it does. Speaking of Lord Thanatos, he suggested that I find a way to see and combat spirits. Do you have any way to do that?¡± ¡°No.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°At least, not without using the power of our Lord. I¡¯m sure if he wanted you to do it that way he would have offered though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right. Well, unless you need anything brother I¡¯m off to find a way to combat spirits.¡± ¡°I will be fine brother, good luck on your quest.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said before heading out. Once I was outside, I stopped to think about how I would go about hurting spirits. The easiest way would be with magic, but my only magic attacks had rather long cooldowns. Keen edge required 30 seconds between uses, which in a fight is an eternity. Mana shockwave would probably be devastating, but it required charging that wasn¡¯t always feasible in battle. If I remember right, pure physical attacks only did something like 5% damage. Yet another losing proposition. I started walking, mumbling and rejecting odder and odder scenarios in my mind. Eventually I found myself at Djarleen¡¯s shop, so I headed in. ¡°Good afternoon Djarleen, how is my favorite alchemy teacher?¡± ¡°Angus, unless you are cheating on me, I am your only alchemy teacher. You wouldn¡¯t be cheating, would you?¡± She asked, eyes narrowing. ¡°Ha, no I would never do that Djarleen. I¡¯m just in a good mood, I happened upon a new reagent, and wanted to see what you could teach me about it.¡± ¡°Oh really? Let¡¯s see what you got then.¡± I pulled out a vial of the blood and handed it to her. ¡°TUNNELING WORM BLOOD!¡± She shrieked. ¡°Where? How? How much?¡± She rapid fired questions at me. ¡°Easy. I simply killed a juvenile one. Dharkiss made a fantastic trap, and I got 20 vials of blood as loot. So, do you know what I can make with this?¡± ¡°Angus.¡± She said, taking a breath to calm herself down. ¡°You, are the most infuriating apprentice I have ever come across, and I did some crazy shit myself. In nearly a month you have created a new potion, ruined your chances with making healing potions, found a copycat recipe, and now you show up with a reagent that is so hard to get they keep the recipes under lock and key. In fact, that reagent is so rare it falls under a rarity clause. If you come across the reagent, you are highly encouraged to turn it over to the guild for future study.¡± ¡°Just highly encouraged? Well, they will keep. I¡¯ll take a day to think on what to do about it, how does that sound?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± She said, shoulders slumping. ¡°Just don¡¯t go experimenting with it without me, okay?¡± ¡°For sure. Now, I also need to pick your brain on something a little less controversial.¡± ¡°Something tells me not to believe you.¡± She said with a small smile. ¡°Uh huh, well unless needing a way to see and kill spirits is controversial I¡¯m not lying.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to have to be more specific on spirits. Are we talking elemental spirits, disembodied souls, or extra-planar entities?¡± She asked, suddenly all serious. ¡°I would guess disembodied souls and possibly extra-planar entities? All I know for sure is that I¡¯m eventually going to have to fight a spirit caller that has been using spirits to extend her own life.¡± ¡°Ok. I can work with this, and you¡¯re right. For once your request isn¡¯t anything controversial. We have two main routes we can go. The first, and most expensive, is potions. You would need potions of mystic vision, which lets you see the magical spectrum. They run about 5 gold apiece, and last an hour each. For attacking, do you have any magic attacks?¡± When I shook my head no she continued, ¡°Damn, that hurts. Ok, we can do potions of ethereal flame and combine it with an ethereal shift potion, each costing 50 silver.¡± ¡°What do those last two potions do?¡± ¡°Ethereal flame reacts with any spectral entities. Coating your weapon in it will add 100 fire damage per attack for 15 attacks or 1 hour, whichever runs out first. The ethereal shift potion temporarily makes your weapon partially ethereal. You will do 50% weapon damage to spectral entities, and 50% damage to physical entities. It only has the hour time limit.¡± ¡°Damn. That¡¯s going to get really expensive really quickly. Is there any way I could make the potions and just buy the reagents from you?¡± ¡°The price I quoted is with you making the potions. The reagents aren¡¯t ubiquitous. So, the other option depends on your knowledge. What do you know of variants?¡± When I revealed my negligible knowledge, Djarleen set out on a lecture to educate me. The normal way would be constant exposure to certain things. Her example was a burrowing vole monster. They often end up eating large amounts of ores in their burrowing. Eating enough over a long period of time can lead to their claws and teeth being slowly replaced with that metal. Of course, only around 5% to 10% actually survive the transformation. The other way was faster, guaranteed to work, but also incredibly painful. The Alchemists Guild had a larger transmutation array. The outer part of the array would be the parts that need to be changed. For the vole, ten metal claws with the vole in the center would change just one of its claws to that metal. It would also seal the mana of the transmuter and the transmutee for a day. The other limitation to variants was that they could only enhance one aspect, so I couldn¡¯t get a way to see into the magic spectrum and have mithril claws for myself. ¡°Ok, I think we should do a compromise between the two. I¡¯ll make the potions for ethereal shift and flame. How do we make me a variant that can see in the magical spectrum?¡± ¡°Well the easiest way is to gain a mana sensing organ, and luckily for you there are plenty of those around. The question is, how much work are you willing to put into this?¡± ¡°If I only get one shot at this, then I want the best there is.¡± Smiling sadistically, she answered, ¡°I had a feeling you would say that. Have you ever heard of a lovely creature called the Crayclaw?¡± Chapter 37 ¡°Those giant crawfish monsters? Yeah, I saw one strangling a gigantic toad. Please don¡¯t tell me what I think you¡¯re gonna tell me.¡± ¡°You asked for the best, and they have the best. I¡¯ll tell you a bit about them, and hopefully you can figure out the best way to kill them. First, they are blind, and the mana organ you want is located in the tip of their head. Second, their mana sense extends for 30 feet in every direction. Good luck!¡± She turned back to a book she had open on her counter and started reading, subtly telling me to get lost. Sighing in defeat, I headed out to the hidden swamp area, hoping that I could figure out a plan to take care of the crayclaws. I spent a half hour watching fish swimming about, but just couldn¡¯t come up with a good plan. Ranged attacks were out, my crossbow wouldn¡¯t be able to pierce the armor. Not to mention their incredibly powerful claw blast attack. Djarleen practically told me that they have completely spherical vision, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak close and attack them. Even if I got close, they could use their tail for a swift escape. Feeling dejected, I started heading back. As I got closer to the end of the raised path, I froze as I heard voices arguing. Slowly crouching down, I crawled as close as I could and looked down to find a group of five players arguing with each other. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter that we could hold this position against a horde damnit! Even if we somehow managed to drag all the kobolds here, we would be overwhelmed in minutes. We don¡¯t have the stamina to hold out!¡± The one arguing had to be a paladin, as his armor had a gentle silver glow and his shield bore a red cross. He was arguing with a rogue dressed in dark brown leathers with twin daggers hanging from his hips. ¡°Look, Lord Zephyr,¡± he couldn¡¯t have put more derision into the paladin¡¯s name if he tried, ¡°it¡¯s not like we are going to have to fight all of them at once. They will be trickling in.¡± ¡°And just how are you going to guarantee that, ShadowSlasher?¡± Wow, Mr. Paladin has some snark in him as well. Impressive for a class that is usually hoity toity. ¡°Unless they all move at different speeds, they won¡¯t arrive at the same time. Just keep killing them as they come and we will be fine. You bunch them up and Merlin here lays waste to them with a few AoE blasts.¡± ¡°My name is Albinion, not Merlin.¡± The wizard said, and man did he look the part. He had a gnarled staff with a ruby set in the tip, orange and red robes with a flame motif, and a pure white beard that fell down to his waist. ¡°Besides, we don¡¯t know how many kobolds are in this city. I can¡¯t guarantee my mana will hold out.¡± ¡°Albinion is right.¡± Lord Zephyr replied. ¡°Besides, I will need to break with my stamina on occasion.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what your ninja dude is for. Surely you could parry enough incoming blows to give the pally a break from tanking, right Bakuretsumaru?¡± ¡°God, why did I pick that name?¡± The ¡®ninja¡¯ was an elven rogue with twin wakizashi style blades. ¡°And no, I¡¯m not sure I could hold back a horde, no matter how good my parrying is. GreenThumb will be hard pressed to keep me alive with her healing.¡± GreenThumb must have been the elf druid in the flowing green robes. Hmm, not a bad group all things considered. Frontline tank, healer, mage for AoE, and two melee dps to take things down quickly. If I were going to have to fight them, the healer would have to die first. Without her, numbers could overwhelm the rest. While I was distracted with strategy, ShadowSlasher activated a skill that had me break out in cold sweat. Guardians of the air, flitting merrily along the winds. Grant me the grace to walk upon the air, To heights unknown. I beseech thee in the name of thy ruler, the queen of air. [Sylph¡¯s Grace] As he chanted, a green spell circle started slowly rotating around his feet, as mana so concentrated it was visible to all flowed around him before settling into his muscles. [Sylph¡¯s Grace] was an elemental spell that technically anyone could learn, provided they went through the ten quest chain that opens at level 25. He had to be at least level 30, and had just doubled his agility. ¡°GODDAMNIT SHADOW! WHY ARE YOU USING THAT SKILL!¡± The paladin roared. ¡°You realize that you can only use it once a day, right? And there¡¯s no guarantee we will make it to the Kobold King within the hour time limit of your skill!¡± Heh, guess he can channel some righteous anger. ¡°Oh, but I do have a way to guarantee he gets here, and you should all activate yours as well. I¡¯ll give you one minute.¡± The other members gave him the side eye, but ended up starting their own chants. Red, brown, and blue circles burst to life beneath the feet of the mage, paladin, and ninja respectively. Guardians of flame, I offer to sate your ceaseless hunger Guardians of earth, sentinels of time. Guardians of water, ever in motion. Grant me the power I desire, Grant unto me your determination. Flow past all obstructions, Lay waste to what stands before me. Weather all storms, fear no flames. Wear down all resistance. I call in the name of your lord, the king of flames. I ask in the name of your ruler, the eternal king of earth. I ask in the name of thy ruler, queen of the deep waters. [Salamander¡¯s Wrath] [Gnome¡¯s Resolve] [Undine¡¯s Flow] Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Four of them have finished the quest sets? Salamander¡¯s wrath, doubles magic damage and fire spells cost half mana. Gnome¡¯s resolve triples physical defense. Undine¡¯s flow doubles dexterity. Before I could soil myself any more, the druid started her chant. Instead of a solid circle, she actually had one of each of the previous colors divided into quadrants. Primordial Goddess, thy elements have been called. Here in their presence, I reach beyond the heavens, to call upon higher powers still. Grant this boon, heal all wounds and banish fatigue. [Gaia¡¯s Regrowth] No FUCKING way! The hardest path of all, Gaia¡¯s regrowth tripled recovery rates. The damned druid now has basically unlimited mana. ¡°I knew y¡¯all could do it, bravo, BRAVO!¡± The rogue who started it all was clapping. ¡°And now, let me show you how I¡¯m going to ensure everyone in this blasted city attacks at once.¡± He turned his back to the group, and everyone noticed at the same time as me that there was a kobold child staring at him. ¡°NO! DON¡¯T!¡± The rest of the group realized his plan at once, but the rogue shoved the child¡¯s minder aside and gave the child a savage kick, sending the poor thing flying but thankfully not killing it.
Mandatory Quest! Let your rage flow! Light races have attacked the children! Slay or capture them. Failure to respond to this quest will end in exile. Rewards will be based upon contribution. Until the transgressors have paid, you have been granted the Ritous Anger buff. Ritous Anger Skill cooldowns reduced by 50% Attack damage increased by 300% Attack speed increased by 50% Defense lowered by 75% Stamina consumption increased by 100%
¡°GODDAMNIT SHADOW! You just got blacklisted by our entire guild! Enjoy perpetual Kill on Sight status!¡± Zephyr was pissed, and I didn¡¯t blame him. He was sure to get a taboo out of this, and would most likely be excommunicated by whatever church he had already joined.Stolen story; please report. ¡°You should stop worrying about me, and start worrying about what is going to come through that hallway there.¡± Shadow said. ¡°I¡¯ll distract the child¡¯s minder so we aren¡¯t attacked from the back.¡± Their conversation had gone on while I read my prompt, and as I started charging mana into my hammer¡¯s head the paladin and ninja took position blocking the hallway. With the group spread apart, I had to take my chance. Charging forward and leaping from the edge, I aimed for the healer¡¯s head. I unleashed a savage [Mana shockwave] as my overhead strike slammed down, splattering her head like it was a watermelon. ¡°You¡¯re mine!¡± I snarled at the mage, who was in shock that the healer had died so swiftly. As I charged him, he pointed his staff at me. ¡°[Blazing inferno]¡± He shouted, but before he could channel his spell I had deflected the tip of his staff with my hammer. As his spell shot towards the ceiling, I let loose a slashing attack from 2 to 8. Fortunately for him, he stumbled backwards and avoided my slash. I didn¡¯t let it slow down my combo, as a turn of my wrist set me up for a horizontal slash determined to disembowel him. The surprisingly spry old man managed to suck in his stomach, but to do so had to stick his head forward. Smiling, I grabbed his beard and tugged him further off balance, while setting the shaft of my hammer across the back of his neck, scythe pointing down. ¡°For Thanatos! [Reaper¡¯s Edge].¡± I activated my skill, and with a vicious jerk decapitated the mage and threw his head behind me. By now the sounds of battle were coming from the hallway, but the tank was holding for the moment. I turned to see the rogue dancing and taunting the child¡¯s minder, as she desperately swung at him with a wooden club to no avail. While he was distracted, I crept forward and activated [Keen Edge]. He dodged one last time, and while his weight was on one foot, I took a swing with a slight upward curve to the back of his knee. ¡°GYAAAAAH!¡± He cried out as his leg from the knee down was amputated, the fall on his back temporarily stunning him. I took the time to smash both of his wrists with a [Mana Shockwave], ending his participation in the battle. ¡°Guard him, but don¡¯t kill him.¡± I ordered the woman kobold, waiting for her to nod and place her club at his throat before turning to see how the remaining two were holding up. It didn¡¯t look good for the kobolds, who were restricted to attacking two at a time. They couldn¡¯t evade nearly as much, and the defense boost the paladin had was letting his healing skills keep pace. I charged up another [Mana shockwave], using the last of my mana to do so. I waited for the paladin to get set to receive a blow, and smashed him in the back of the head, causing him to stumble and miss the block. As he was disoriented from the blows, I grabbed the neck rim of his armor, and jerked him over my outstretched leg to trip him. ¡°PILE ON HIM AND HOLD HIM DOWN!¡± I cried to the kobold swarm that was now pressing through the opening, as I staggered over behind the ninja. Confused, I looked to see I was dangerously low on stamina. As the ninja was hard pressed deflecting attacks from the three kobolds that had managed to get near him, I slipped up from the back and placed my scythe edge along his throat and whispered, ¡°Surrender or die.¡± Both him and the kobolds froze for a second, before the ninja dropped his blades in resignation. He backed up, and kobolds swarmed the chamber. Several were applying first aid, and I saw Djarleen handing out health potions. The crowd suddenly parted, and the King entered carrying a massive mace. He was flanked by four guards, two bearing sword and shield and two with crossbows and their own maces. ¡°Light-siders, you come to our home and attack our children. Even your gods refused to stoop so low. Have you prepared yourselves to receive the mark of taboo?¡± I saw the look of resignation on the paladin¡¯s face, and for some reason found myself speaking up. ¡°Pardon me, your majesty, but I would speak for some of these light-siders.¡± I had gone into a kneel, but imagined from the silence that everyone was staring at me with varying looks of shock on their faces. ¡°You are Angus, yes? Why would you speak for these light-siders?¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty. Before they attacked the children, I was watching the group from a ledge above. Their actions lead me to believe that four of them are a team, and the fifth one recently joined.¡± ¡°While that may be, I fail to see how this should lessen their fate.¡± ¡°That alone shouldn¡¯t, your majesty. However, I believe that it was this fifth member that was the sole driving force for attacking the child. From their reactions, the rest of the group was appalled by the actions of the rogue over there. The paladin has even sworn to place him perpetually on their kill on sight list.¡± ¡°Is this true?¡± The king turned to the paladin. ¡°It is, your majesty. My guild, the Ryu Knights, will endeavor to kill this rogue any time we come across him in areas where fighting is allowed.¡± ¡°Hmmm, is there anything else you would say in their defense, Angus?¡± I thought back for a second on how the rogue acted, and had another thought. ¡°Your majesty, I have an odd feeling about how the rogue was acting. I know there are skills that can be used to hide titles and achievements. Is there a way to forcefully read someone¡¯s achievements?¡± ¡°There is such a skill. All rulers have it, but why are you asking?¡± ¡°Despite the lack of a taboo mark, I believe that the rogue has done this before.¡± ¡°Hmm, there is a possibility.¡± The king said, a thoughtful look on his face. He walked over until he stood over the legless rogue. ¡°Do you wish to tell me now, or shall I go looking?¡± He said with no emotion. ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡± The rogue said, spitting at the king. ¡°[Absolute dominion].¡± The king said, voice thundering through the cavern. ¡°Display all of this one¡¯s achievements for all to see.¡±
Achievement Description Bonus Next level
Hidden Genocide II Kill all residents of 3 monster villages and leave no witnesses +3 to all stats every level Kill all residents of 5 monster villages and leave no witnesses
¡°Dear god, you¡¯ve done this before? How did I not see this?¡± The paladin muttered to himself. ¡°Oh piss off Zephyr, you sanctimonious prick. The gods tell us to slay monsters to earn power. Why should we limit who and what we kill? Besides, the bonuses to stats every level will make me unstoppable.¡± ¡°I call for [Divine judgement]!¡± The king bellowed. ¡°Gods of light, Gods of darkness, set aside your wars and judge this heretic!¡± At his words, flashes of light and darkness started strobing through the cavern, culminating two orbs, one white and one black appearing near the king. ¡°What would you have of us, Kobold King?¡± ¡°This one has slaughtered monster villages in the past, and tried to do so again today. As he shows no remorse, I ask for a soul curse be placed upon him.¡± ¡°Fuck off with your soul curses, I can always re-roll a new character.¡± The rogue said while chuckling. ¡°Agreed.¡± Both orbs thundered at the same time. ¡°The gods of light rebuke your actions.¡± The white orb said. ¡°The gods of darkness rebuke your actions.¡± The black orb said. ¡°Those of this plane rebuke your actions.¡± The king intoned. At the conclusion of the ritual lines, a massive pressure descended upon the cavern, forcing all save the king and orbs to their knees. Slowly, a multicolored globe appeared, and grew to the size of a softball. A bolt of lightning shot from the orb into the rogue¡¯s forehead, before the orb itself rocketed into his chest, burning a hole straight through his equipment. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!¡± The rogue shrieked and writhed on the ground, letting me see that there was a mark on his forehead and chest, but he was too far away to see the detail. A worldwide notification then went through the servers.
Divine Judgement has descended! Beware, those who would seek power without limits for how it is obtained. The player ShadowSlasher has been found guilty of attempted genocide, as well as having performed genocide in the past. This behavior is so far beyond taboo, that the gods have stepped in to punish the player. He has been struck with a soulbound curse, as will any who attempt to duplicate his works. Let this be the only warning you need. Soulbound curse: This curse is attached to the player¡¯s soul. As such, it will appear even if the player chooses another body. All factions start out as hated Faction gains are halved, faction losses are doubled Experience gained is halved Characters will gain 2 less stats per level
¡°What the hell do you mean it appears even if I choose another body?¡± ¡°It means that you will never have a strong character in Oblivion Online again, Shadow.¡± The paladin smiled. ¡°We will still keep you on our kill list, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve also taken a picture of your curse mark, and any character with that mark will also go on the list.¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± The king roared. ¡°We thank you for your judgement.¡± He said while bowing to the orbs, and they both immediately disappeared. ¡°We also have no more need of you.¡± He said to the rogue, before smashing his head with his mace. ¡°Now, what are we going to do with the rest of you?¡± The king turned to the two remaining members of the group. ¡°Either way, your friends won¡¯t be resurrected here. They will receive the traditional taboo mark. Depending on your punishment, we will extend the same to them.¡± The king moved over the body of the healer, and a white light shot out of his hand into her chest. He did the same with the mage. As he walked to the paladin, a thoughtful look crossed his face and he turned to me. ¡°You said you saw this group before the battle took place. Who was it who killed the druid?¡± ¡°I did, your majesty.¡± ¡°And the mage?¡± ¡°That was me as well, your majesty.¡± ¡°The rogue?¡± He spat, as if disgusted by referencing him. ¡°The caretaker distracted him, your majesty. That allowed me to come up behind him and take his leg off at the knee.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He said, turning to look at the caretaker, who was staring at her feet. ¡°And the paladin and this ninja, how were they subdued?¡± ¡°I struck a blow to the paladin¡¯s head, and several of our kin piled on him. The ninja surrendered when I was able to sneak up behind him and place my blade against his neck.¡± ¡°I see. As you were instrumental in defeating the group that came here, I will ask part of their punishment be gear for yourself. What are you in need of?¡± I was shocked. Free gear from each of them? ¡°Well your majesty, I still need three bags. Aside from that, rings or necklaces.¡± ¡°Very well. You, paladin and you, ninja. This is your choice. Hand over either a 200 slot bag, or a single piece of level 25 or higher equipment that is at least unique rarity or higher. Or you could receive the same taboo as your friends.¡± ¡°What is your class, Angus?¡± The ninja asked. ¡°Ambusher.¡± ¡°I see. Physical melee?¡± At my nod he continued. ¡°I have this unique ring that would be a good fit for you then. Here, it¡¯s yours.¡± He tossed me a silver band with a green stone in it. I did a quick identify on it.
Kantorus¡¯ ring of Precision Kantorus was an ancient elven marksman. His vision was so acute and his skill so great, it was said he could shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred yards. Some of his abilities have been imbued into this ring. Critical hit chance +50% Critical hit damage +100% +35% chance to find hidden stashes.
¡°This ring, are you sure about it?¡± ¡°Heh, judging by that reaction, you like it as much as I did. Yes, go on and take it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I take it the ring is acceptable?¡± The king asked. ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any unique equipment that would be worth it for you, Angus. Instead, I¡¯ll hand over one of my bags.¡± Zephyr said, handing over an empty 200 slot bag. ¡°Very well you two. The only other punishment I will place upon you is this: For the next five levels, you will earn 10% less experience. If your friends wish to remove the taboo mark the same way as you both did, then they will have three days to return and turn in the items. After that, they will need to do whatever the light gods decree as their punishment. Is there anything else you wish to say before you are killed?¡± When neither of the players made a move, the king smashed their heads with one blow each. ¡°Now that there are no more outsiders, we can give out proper rewards.¡± The king said with a smile. Chapter 38 ¡°First, have our caretaker step forward. What is your name?¡± ¡°D¡¯ronda, your majesty.¡± She said shyly. ¡°Excellent. Then, D¡¯ronda, for your unflinching defense of our next generation in the face of a vastly superior foe, I elevate you to the rank of Champion. Continue to be an example to us all.¡± With his words, a white light enveloped D¡¯ronda. After it had passed, her muscles had a little more tone and her body looked just a bit sleeker. ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± ¡°Now, Angus. You have shown once again that the light siders are no match for a determined kobold. For defending our home and young against a superior group, slaying several of them in the process, and ending the battle with minimal losses of our kin, I hereby elevate you from Elite rank to Heroic.¡± I saw the same glow envelope me, and the gathered crowd cheered wildly for a bit before the king calmed them down. ¡°Now, everyone please return to your lives.¡± He said, before being surrounded by his guards again and leaving. Several of the kobolds went to check on their kids before leaving, and many of them were congratulating D¡¯ronda. While they were doing that, I was checking my notifications. Level up x2
Mandatory Quest completed. You have completed the mandatory quest, and gone above expectations. For your contributions, you will be given the material forfeits of the adventurers that broke the taboo. Should the remaining two choose to not have the taboo broken, you will receive two more 200 slot bags as compensation.
Congratulations! For your deeds, you have been upgraded from Elite to Hero. From now on, every level up will increase all attributes by 2.
Skill Old Level New Level Bonus effects
Mana Shockwave Beginner lvl 3 Beginner lvl 4 Damage increased by 4%, durability damage reduced by 4%
Keen edge Beginner lvl 5 Beginner lvl 6 18% damage, increased amputation chance
Thanatos finds your gift acceptable. You gain 20 favor from offering a player with a higher levels death. You gain 10 favor for killing your offering with [Reaper¡¯s Edge]. You gain 10 favor for killing a player at full health with [Reaper¡¯s Edge]. Total favor: 67/100
I didn¡¯t make many skill gains, but being able to have extra attributes per level up was totally worth it. Wait a minute, I was already halfway to the maximum kobold level. What happens when I evolve? I had better ask Emily about this. Emily, I have a few issues that I need your help with. The first one is rather easy. I just got promoted from Elite to Hero. This comes with bonus attributes per level, but I was wondering what is going to happen when I evolve. Will I keep the hero title and the bonus attributes per level? Or will that all be reset? The other issue is going to be with a new trap I worked on. Looking at it from the outside, it allowed me to kill a level 35 creature while I was level 18 without taking any damage. This would normally be game breaking, but I feel there are a few points that need to be made. First, I have a title that negates level difference penalties. The trap was also designed to specifically counter this creature, and was incredibly effective. It would be much less effective against others. Part of the reason it was so effective was that the creature was stuck in the trap, amplifying the damage it was able to do. If you look at the damage log, each spear of the trap only did 100 damage every two seconds. With a human sized target, only two spears maximum could strike, and a smart player would be able to use the wings of the spears themselves to escape the trap. Had the worm moved in backwards, it would also have been able to escape the trap. One last thing to note, the trap had to be manually activated. If I had waited too long, I would have been eaten by the worm.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Thanks, Marty Yawning, I sent the email off and headed to the inn. There had been far too much excitement for today. I wrote myself a note on the hints that Djarleen had given me, just to make sure I hadn¡¯t forgotten them. I was far too brain drained at the moment to ponder riddles. I didn¡¯t even eat one of Alnoss¡¯ dinners, instead eating one of the rations I had bought earlier and logging out. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Well I¡¯ll be damned, he is still with us!¡± Jon exclaimed as I wandered in to Caf¨¦ Oblivion. ¡°Hey there guys, sorry I¡¯ve been incommunicado for a week.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there is a good reason for it, so let¡¯s hear it.¡± Phoebe said, slightly more curt than she normally was. ¡°Don¡¯t mind her, she¡¯s a little upset about her evolution scenario.¡± ¡°And I thought you weren¡¯t going to say anything about it ¡®til I was ready Jon.¡± ¡°Sorry hun, but we haven¡¯t seen him in a week and you practically bit his head off. I just didn¡¯t want him to think that we were all mad at him.¡± Through his explanation, Phoebe just crossed her arms and glared at him. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I would be slightly upset too if one of you guys disappeared without a say so. Especially since we all had that. . . incident.¡± We all shivered thinking back to the celebration. ¡°As for why I disappeared, I was selected by one of the guard captains of our city for ¡®advanced special training.¡¯ Sadistic bastards whacked me with spears for 10 hours a day.¡± I said, shuddering and rubbing absentmindedly at one of my shoulders that had taken quite a bit of trauma over my training week. ¡°You get the phantom pains too?¡± Derrick noticed. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked, before noticing that I was rubbing my arm. ¡°Damn, when did I start doing that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame ya man. I had no problems dealing with the supposed 10% pain we actually receive from the game when I was able to go to reality every day. Ever since we have been in here I have felt phantom pain while logged out after terrible injuries.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a slight relief. At least I¡¯m not alone in this. You send in a report to Emily about it?¡± ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re all here.¡± Emily said as she appeared next to me. ¡°Now, what are we reporting to Emily and is it in addition to what you just sent me?¡± ¡°Marty is getting the same phantom pain issues that I was.¡± Derrick said. ¡°Explain.¡± She ordered, turning to me. ¡°Training week in the kobold city. I didn¡¯t really think much of it until Derrick pointed it out, but that week I did feel sore when I woke up in my digital apartment. I was also just absentmindedly rubbing my arm in remembrance of the pain. That¡¯s when Derrick noticed and said something.¡± ¡°Damnit.¡± She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°I¡¯ll look into it, maybe the muscle stimulators were translating the extra exercise and increased from the baseline needed to maintain muscle mass. I¡¯ll have to compare the data, perhaps I can pawn it off on a few techs. Can you give me a few days to work on this?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± We all chorused. ¡°Great, thanks for understanding guys. And Phoebe.¡± She said, nodding at her. ¡°Before I go into the big reason I came here, I figured the question you just asked would be good to answer in front of everyone.¡± At the groups questioning looks, Emily continued. ¡°Marty asked about evolutions affecting monster titles. By the way, congrats on getting the Hero title. You are the first to get that. Anyway, titles will transfer over when you evolve.¡± ¡°Oh great, I was worried about that.¡± ¡°Wait a second, what does the Hero title gain you Marty? And how much better is it than Phoebe¡¯s Champion title?¡± ¡°Champion gives me two bonus attributes per level.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Hero gives me two bonus points to each attribute per level.¡± ¡°You lucky bastard, how the hell did you get that? Save the king from certain doom?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Not quite. I managed to take out a group of players after they kicked one of the monster children. You probably saw the global announcement about soul curses?¡± They all nodded. ¡°Yeah, that was the aftermath.¡± ¡°Before you get going on that story, I need you all to sit down so I can explain a few things.¡± Emily interrupted. She pulled up a chair from a different table, and continued, ¡°So we have spent the last week doing an intensive audit of everyone in the company. This all started with the alcohol code incident, and the company wants to apologize for everything you had to go through. We felt that just offering you money in compensation would be rather crass, and instead are offering to bring you on as employees permanently. We will also be matching anything you put up for retirement up to 10% of your pay, and the company will be paying to enroll you in our highest tier of health insurance at no cost to yourselves for the duration of your employment.¡± We all were gobsmacked at that announcement. Something huge must have gone down, if the company were willing to kiss our butts this much. ¡°Can we have a few days to think on this? It¡¯s kind of a huge offer you just hit us with, and we want to make sure we aren¡¯t missing anything.¡± Jon said, while Phoebe and the rest of us bobbleheaded along with his explanation. ¡°That¡¯s fine, we have left tablets with the offer in your apartments. Simply sign or send us an email with your questions. Now, about the explanation. It turns out, we have several people who have recently been fired for industrial espionage, and they are being prosecuted to the full extent possible. That includes charges for assault on the four of you, and we have several experts testifying to the pain you were all subjected to. You won¡¯t be required to testify, but we have turned over copies of the video of your reactions to the authorities. We started with the tech who installed the code for the alcohol consumption. Data logs show that a day after our QC department reviewed the codes, which should have matched the in game variables for alcohol, he changed it so that the alcohol variables were like a minor child drinking Dwarf Slammer spirit. We found a $50,000 deposit in one of his bank accounts, but it was wired in from a numbered off shore account, so we can¡¯t say for sure which of our competitors actually paid him. Since then, we have done a company-wide audit, including everyone from the C** officer level down to janitorial services. Ten more suspicious people were identified and terminated.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad that is taken care of, but how are you going to guarantee that it isn¡¯t going to happen again?¡± Derrick asked, noticeably angry. ¡°Random audits of employees to try and catch spies, but for more proactive examples we are adding a few security measures. Any code that is altered after QC signs off on it is immediately flagged and prevented from being implemented. Code not signed off by QC won¡¯t be implemented, and there has to be a minimum of three names signing off on code before implementation.¡± ¡°Seems like you have it covered then.¡± Derrick nodded, as did the rest of us. ¡°Whew.¡± Emily sighed in relief. ¡°Thanks for being understanding about this. Is there anything else I can do for you guys before I go?¡± ¡°Do all evolution scenarios have to be so emotionally draining?¡± Phoebe blurted. ¡°I¡¯ve seen your evolution and Jon¡¯s. I¡¯m sorry, you guys took some of the hardest paths but in return got some of the best rewards. I will see if the developers can build a few scenarios that don¡¯t rely on traumatic experiences.¡± Emily looked around, and though Phoebe was obviously unsatisfied, headed out. ¡°Damnit!¡± I cursed. ¡°I forgot to ask about them nerfing my trap. Ah well, I¡¯ll get her next time. So, can we hear about your evolution Phoebe? Or would you rather wait a few days.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon hun, it might help to get the story off your chest.¡± Jon cajoled her. ¡°Fine. It all started when I was selected to lead a field hunt. . .¡± Chapter 39 Phoebe¡¯s POV, in game Illyora I took in a deep breath, still amazed at the amount of scents I was able to discern. I sorted them rapidly, though this was more from practice than dire need. The coming storm, it would be strong but wouldn¡¯t hit until near midnight. The coppery tang of blood, from the wound Hidek had slashed in the antelope¡¯s side. The woodsy sent of sap, from the broken branch as the prey tore through the bushes. The deep scent of loam, as the forest was thriving. The sour stench of fear sweat from two sources. ¡°Huntsmaster.¡± Jojek, one of my scouts, returned. ¡°Report.¡± ¡°The younger took a bad fall and broke his neck, Hidek stayed with the body. The wounded one continued on, but was attacked. Killed.¡± Jojek wasn¡¯t one to hold back, so something was wrong with his report. ¡°What killed it?¡± ¡°Saberlion.¡± Damn, saberlions were tough. And exactly what I thought of when I heard the name. Fiercely territorial, with the strength to back it up, they were the apex predators of this forest. Heck, they even preyed on the grizzly bears that could give a hunting party a rough fight. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I tracked it a bit, being cautious. A half mile away is its lair. It dragged the carcass back with it.¡± ¡°Hmmm, describe the location and give options. I trust you.¡± Nodding, he continued, ¡°Open area in front, his cave is more just a shallow overhang from the hill behind. Opening will be upwind of us as we cross the clearing. No way to get close.¡± ¡°Can one of us sneak up onto that hill?¡± I asked, plan forming in my head. I was so close to maximum level I could taste it. I had held back most of this hunt, letting the others get the kills. I wanted blood, to feel flesh part beneath my short spear. ¡°Possible. Probable.¡± He corrected. ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll loop around and climb the hill. You¡¯re in charge, lead the team to the edge of the clearing. Let him smell you. When you see me signal from the hilltop, I want the pack to spread in a crescent and take two steps into the clearing. Maintain a safe distance, I just need you to draw him out for me.¡± ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll give you ten minutes before we start.¡± Orders given and received, I took off in the loping trot that the gnolls had adapted from their wolf ancestors. Nearly a month of practice had honed my reactions, and I easily bobbed and weaved through overhanging branches. My speed picked up just a bit as I found a game trail that ran in the direction I wanted, all the way to the cliff area that the cat had laired in. The clay cliffs were easily scaled, and I started taking care of my approach. I kept at least 15 feet between myself and the cliff, using the stalking stride to approach the area where the cave would be. Difficult to master, it required lightly putting your foot down and using the sensitive pads to determine if anything would crack or crinkle before you committed. A few minutes after Jojek and the others should have arrived, I saw the clearing he was talking about. I could smell the rot and old blood, as crushed bones littered the area. I crouched down, and tripled my caution. Crawling forward, each step I would gently wiggle my foot until it reached the soil beneath all the detritus. The last few feet were easier, as it transitioned to a rocky outcrop. Once I reached the edge, I stood and waved my spear. Six gnolls entered the clearing, and I heard a low growling coming from below me. They split up, but stayed at least 20 feet away from the cliff, forming more of a line than a crescent. I wasn¡¯t going to nitpick, as the beast they were taunting was likely eight to ten levels higher than Jojek, the highest level among them. ¡°rrrrrrrrRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA.¡± The growl grew in intensity, and I saw all the gnolls tense. Looking over the edge, I couldn¡¯t see the beast yet. Wincing, I knew my next order would test the resolve of my hunting group. I jabbed my spear high once, then waved towards me. Hopefully Jojek would realize I wanted him to take one more step forward. Yes! Jojek, you magnificent bastard, with complete trust in me took a large step forward. The rest of the group timidly crept forward with him, but that¡¯s even better. Let the beast see a little weakness, convince it that it can come out and attack. I heard a crunch as a paw the size of a welcome mat moved forward, and a much larger creature followed. Now or never. I gave a light hop forward, spear pointed downward at the beast¡¯s neck. At the last second, I activated [Savage thrust]. Hot blood splashed across my snout as the spear plunged halfway up the foot-long blade into the spine of the creature. I wrenched it back and forth in a desperate bid to sever the spine as the creature bellowed in rage and agony. As it was distracted, several of the gnolls split to each side and darted forward, slamming their own spears into the flanks. Yowling in outrage, it started bucking, trying to throw me off. Digging in with my claws, I grabbed its ruff with my left hand and started stabbing wildly into its neck. It¡¯s struggles slowed, and eventually the cat breathed its last. ¡°Status!¡± I yelled. ¡°Jojek, minor injuries. Claw swipe to the chest.¡± ¡°Hidek, uninjured.¡± ¡°Leila, uninjured.¡± ¡°Koren, minor injuries. Claw slash to the chest and arms.¡± ¡°Valen, uninjured.¡± ¡°Salden, that was EPIC!¡± The youngest of the hunting party yelled, before correcting himself. ¡°I mean, uninjured.¡± Smiling, I hopped off the neck of the creature. ¡°Perfectly executed. Salden, I know you¡¯re excited but you need to remember to keep your jubilation down. There could be other threats nearby, or someone could be in dire need of assistance. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, huntsmaster.¡± He said, ears lying flat in embarrassment. ¡°No need for embarrassment. My first hunt I tripped as I threw my spear and missed a deer ten feet away. Everyone has moments like this, just learn from them.¡± ¡°Yes, huntsmaster!¡± He repeated, visibly perking up. ¡°Huntsmaster.¡± Jojek spoke, seeing that the young gnoll had learned his lesson. ¡°Your trophy, huntsmaster.¡± He said handing over the two prominent fangs he had cut from the cat¡¯s mouth. I took them with a smile. ¡°Thanks, Jojek. Leila, Hidek, Koren. You are to dress the saberlion. We will cut a few saplings down to carry it back to camp with us. Jojek, Valen, Salden. Search the cave for our other antelope and anything of value we can take with us. Hopefully we can salvage something from it.¡± While the rest of the group went off to do their tasks, I started going through my popups.
Level up! You have reached the maximum level of this species. Please find a suitable evolution material and evolve as soon as possible, you will not earn any experience until you do.
Evolution material found! You have come across several evolution materials. Would you like to evolve to one of the following?
Evolution Option Evolution material Description
Dire gnoll Kill an apex predator Dire gnolls are to gnolls as dire wolves are to wolves. Stronger, better, faster. Though they can use weapons, their own claws are often stronger.
Feral beastman, wolf subspecies Lead a successful hunt with no lossesThis tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The feral wolfman is closer to human than a gnoll, but still lives like a classic barbarian. They have higher quality steel weapons, but life doesn¡¯t differ much from a gnoll.
Feral beastman, saberlion subspecies Saberlion fangs A different subspecies of beastman, the saberlion variant gains bonuses to strength every level in addition to regular gains.
I turned down the three options. The saberlion variant was tempting, but I figured I would be able to find something slightly better when I got back to the village. ¡°We salvaged what we could from the antelope, but it wasn¡¯t much. Everyone else is reporting ready to return to camp.¡± Jojek reported. ¡°Good work. Jojek, I want you and Salden running scouts all the way back. It¡¯ll definitely be dark by the time we get back, and I don¡¯t want a nocturnal predator sneaking up on us. The rest of us will take turns hauling the saberlion back with us. That¡¯ll give us two up front and one for rear guard. Everyone ready?¡± A chorus of affirmative responses came back, and I took the front half of the carcass while Hidek took the rear. The hike back was arduous, though nothing important happened. When we got within a half mile though, Salden and Jojek came crashing through the underbrush. ¡°Drop the carcass, defensive positions!¡± I immediately ordered, as I could see the panic on Salden¡¯s face thanks to the light of the moon. ¡°Attack on the camp. Unknown number of attackers.¡± Jojek reported. ¡°What did you see Jojek?¡± ¡°Two enemies standing as the camp was burning. One knight type and one mage. I couldn¡¯t see anyone, but heard sounds of battle coming from the far side of the camp.¡± ¡°Ok, we make best speed back to camp. Jojek, lead the others in a flanking maneuver from the west side. Your objective is to assist whoever is still alive and doing battle. The two you saw were probably higher level overseers, judging the actions of possible recruits. I¡¯ll head straight in and handle them. Give me one of the spare spears, and head out. Remember, if you don¡¯t think you will turn the tide of the battle you are to flee back to the home den. Let them know what happened.¡± Nodding, my brave hunters disappeared silently into the woods. I took off myself, covering the half mile in less than two minutes. I slowed down as I came to the end of the tree line, taking quick stock of the situation. Closest to me was the mage, with the knight slightly in front of him. Ten feet away from them was the start of the camp, and I could see the wooden huts we had thrown together burning merrily. I charged out of the trees, not bothering to be perfectly silent as the two players were distracted with their bonfire. I launched my first spear, taking the mage in the center of the back. ¡°Gyaaah!¡± He cried in pain. I smiled, as the force of my throw had sent the spear tip completely through the mage. ¡°[Piercing lunge].¡± I cried out the second I was within range. I launched myself forward, speartip aimed right at the mage¡¯s heart. ¡°[Intercept]!¡± The knight shouted, automatically inserting himself between me and my target. There was a resounding clang as my speartip was deflected off his kite shield. ¡°So there were a few hiding in the woods.¡± He murmured to himself, not realizing how good gnoll hearing was. He tried an overhand smash with his hammer, but I pulled one of my favorite moves. ¡°[Whirlwind deflection]!¡± I used the butt of my spear to deflect his hammer to the side, but kept spinning. At one full revolution, I had my spear extended to slash across his face. The knight¡¯s reflexive flinch saved his eyesight, but I still managed to tear a furrow across his face and through his nose. ¡°Who would hide from fools as weak as you?¡± I snarled. ¡°[Bladestorm flurry].¡± I activated another of my skills, this one increased the speed and accuracy of my jab attacks. He was good, I¡¯ll give him that. He stopped all the jabs that would cause major damage, and took the little bleeder cuts to his biceps and thighs. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the mage. In our dance, I had gotten turned around so that my back was to the burning buildings. ¡°[Shadow binding].¡± I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the knight¡¯s attack, and so the magic debuff landed. He must have been at a high level on it, as it nearly halved my speed. I felt like I was doing fighting forms in the middle of a swimming pool. ¡°Well, you must be one of the monster players. I don¡¯t know your level, but you put up quite the fight. Sad that you don¡¯t have any backup.¡± The knight said, and I couldn¡¯t tell if he was honest or taunting me. It didn¡¯t matter though. ¡°Soon your NPC¡¯s will all be dead, but you would be someone worth hunting. Come battle us again, we are the Sons of Ullr. [Hammer bash].¡± His last attack I couldn¡¯t dodge, and it smashed me through one of the walls of a burning hut. ¡°Was it really necessary to taunt it?¡± ¡°Yes. It gave me a challenge in battle. I want it to hunt me down and fight me again.¡± ¡°You going to finish it off? I still see a bit of a life bar over there.¡± ¡°Naw, either the fire will or it will use this as a motivational experience.¡± Kill him. I would hunt his ass down and kill him. Bastard wants to taunt me? I¡¯ll take him and his guild down, even if they think they are the sons of the hunter god. As I was fuming, I saw the moon peek out from behind the clouds through a hole in the roof. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t look away. It grew brighter as my vision telescoped in on it. The moon was all that mattered.
Checking requirements¡­. Maximum level¡­..check Near death¡­..check Secondary evolution material¡­¡­check Full moon¡­¡­check Cursed¡­..check Enraged¡­¡­check Conditions met.
Greetings, my wayward child. Do you wish for vengeance? The voice resounded in my head. ¡°Who are you?¡± I thought at it. I am the one who was cursed and sealed in the moon. I am Sin. What do you want? To help. Accept, and I will give you an evolution that will let you have your vengeance. You will become a cursed one like me, but eventually may come to control your curse. Will you accept me? Yessssss! I hissed in my mind. Suddenly I was looking down on my body. The moon formed a perfect pale circle of light around it, which suddenly turned blood red. The shadows started dancing, drawing ever closer. I might have seen bits of runes form and disappear in a flash. Circling faster and faster, the shadows swiftly crossed the bloody moonlight and started swarming through my now floating body. As it stood upright, it gained another two and a half feet in height, putting it at eight and a half feet tall. The muscles swelled, and the fur turned from a tawny brown to grey with black stripes. The claws turned jet black, and ended up being eight inches each, with the slightest bit of a curve to them. I also gained two jet black fangs like the saberlion. My eyes. My god, my eyes were a deep, burning red. Like you would expect if you just told a royal dragon he was descended from a lizard. I opened my eyes, and the shadows glowed. There was nothing I couldn¡¯t see. I flexed my hands a few times to get a feel for what I could do with those meat hook claws, before I heard a yelp from the distance. ¡°AAARRRRRRWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!¡± I howled my rage, my indignation, my promise of retribution to the heavens, and I swear for a half second even the flames were too terrified to move. The moment broke with a boom of thunder, the storm just starting to arrive. Snarling, I shot through the hole in the wall my body had made earlier, and saw the look of shock on both mage¡¯s and knight¡¯s faces as I closed the distance in the blink of an eye. My claws shredded the knight¡¯s armor with one strike, and my hand closed over his head and crushed it like a grape. ¡°[Shadow binding]!¡± The mage panicked as he cast his spell. I watched as the shadows climbed on my body again, only to be absorbed by my dark stripes. A backhand swipe took the head of the mage, and I hurled myself down the aisle between huts to where I still caught faint hints of battle. When I arrived, there were players battling on two fronts. There was a group of three healers standing back, keeping the four tanks alive. Only one rogue out of three was still standing, but my hunting party had lost two members and of the thirteen left at camp, only four remained. Red was creeping into my vision, and I charged forward with reckless abandon. Forming my hands into spear blades, two healers died after being impaled on them. ¡°What the?¡± The remaining one got out before a flurry of slashes from both hands shredded him. ¡°AT THE REAR!¡± One of the tanks had noticed the healers die, and screamed in panic. From there, the battle swiftly turned to our favor. None of their armor could stand up to my claws, and when they turned to face me my hunters made swift work of them. Precision strikes to the kidneys, livers, and hearts or stunning blasts to the back of the head that left openings for me to exploit, it didn¡¯t matter. We fought, they died. As the last one fell, I let loose a howl of victory. ¡°AaaahWOOOOOOOOO!¡± The remaining members of our hunting expedition joined me. As the adrenaline faded, the scent of fear became more prevalent. ¡°Illyora, is that you?¡± Jojek asked, trying to hide his slight trembling. ¡°Yes.¡± Talking around my gigantic fangs was hard, but once the battle fury left I shrunk down until I was my normal size. I kept the new coloring and saber fangs, however. ¡°What happened to you?¡± He asked the question that was obviously on everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°I evolved.¡± ¡°Into what?¡± ¡°Give me a second to check my notifications, and I¡¯ll let everyone know. While I¡¯m doing that, search for survivors and find the trail of the bastards who did this.¡± ¡°Yes, huntsmaster!¡± Everyone chorused, and gave me the time to think.
Congratulations, you have evolved! Loup Garoup, the cursed one Subspecies Saberlion Through the aid of Sin, the cursed one, you have evolved. As Sin is sealed within the moon, the strength of the curse is also tied to the moon. When it is full, your rage shall be unleashed. You will turn into a savage monster, the only way to tame it is through the slaughter of sentients. Blood is thicker, however, so you need not fear ever attacking any of your clan. Once per day you will have the ability to summon this form, the length of time dependent upon your mastery of the curse. Master the curse, and master your fate.
Loup Garoup Loup Garoup is the name given to the cursed form of beastmen. It is similar to the legends of werewolves, though it can¡¯t be transmitted through the bite. Animals and those sentients that are more in tune with their primal sides will instinctively know how dangerous you truly are. Priests and paladins will recognize you as cursed, even in your saberlion beastman form. Special attributes for Loup Garoup form: +300% attack speed +300% attack damage when unarmed +100% agility Curses other than divine in origin will heal you +100% dark magic resist -300% light magic resist (does not stack with Saberlion beastman form) +100% damage received from silver weapons Special attributes for Saberlion beastman form: Immunity to fear +100% dark magic resist -300% light magic resist (does not stack with Loup Garoup form) +100% damage received from silver weapons
Once my hunters returned with no extra survivors, I told them of my evolution. I also laid out my plan for revenge, for the sons of the hunter god were about to become our prey. Jojek and I headed out to backtrack the group that attacked us, while the rest of the hunters headed back to home den to inform them of what happened. The gnolls are going to war. Chapter 40 Marty¡¯s POV ¡°Phoebe, have I ever told you you¡¯re a badass?¡± I asked, stunned by her evolution. ¡°Because you are definitely a badass.¡± ¡°No, but I won¡¯t argue that point.¡± She said slightly glumly, obviously still upset about losing some of her NPC friends in the game. ¡°No, the important part is this, who wants to help me hunt those bastards down?¡± We all looked at each other before Derrick took the lead. ¡°I have no idea where I am, or else I would love to Phoebe. Trolls don¡¯t really make maps. Or anything, for that matter.¡± ¡°You know about my timed quest to find the bugbear encampment, I can try and find you and help after that¡¯s done.¡± Jon said. ¡°Think you can be back in a month?¡± Phoebe asked, hope written on her face. ¡°It¡¯s possible, I¡¯ll do what I can to make it there. Who knows, maybe the evolved monsters have some form of fast travel like the sun eagle towers the light guys get to enjoy. But why do I only have a month?¡± ¡°Because in a month I get my three nights of unlimited transformation time silly.¡± She said before turning to me, ¡°And you Marty? Want in on a little mayhem?¡± ¡°It warms my heart that you would ask Phoebe, but I honestly I haven¡¯t even found my way to the surface. I wasn¡¯t even aware we had a connection for a while, until that group of players showed up the other day. They were also a good bit higher level than me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it hun, can you imagine the trouble we can cause, just the two of us?¡± Jon interjected. ¡°Look at it this way, none of my curses are divine in origin, so I can both heal you and debuff the enemy at the same time. I imagine this is an outcome those developers never thought of.¡± ¡°*Sniff* You would exploit *sniff, sniff* a loophole for me?¡± She asked, fake sniffling and pouting at Jon. ¡°Every chance I get hun.¡± Jon smiled. ¡°*Hork* Get a room you two.¡± Derrick fake puked, while I watched smiling. ¡°Jealous Derrick?¡± Jon retorted. ¡°Not one bit.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t get started again you two.¡± Phoebe looked slightly embarrassed. ¡°They do this a lot?¡± I asked. ¡°If we don¡¯t stop them, there¡¯s a hundred percent chance of them taking things too far. Oh god, they are already at the one upper bedroom eyes stage.¡± Shaking her head, she grabbed Jon by the face and forcefully broke his staring contest. ¡°We are going home, sitting on the couch with a tub of virtual ice cream and watching bad sci fi movies for the rest of the night. Your only job is to make sure I never run out of the following: ice cream, chocolate sauce, maraschino cherries, and cuddles. Will you take this mission?¡± ¡°Consider it done. What is the lady¡¯s movie of choice?¡± ¡°Hmmm, since I am now an amalgamation of apex predator and beast, let¡¯s do this. Any movie that mixes an apex predator and some form of natural disaster. There¡¯s a plethora of ones to choose from, and they all have bad graphics.¡± Standing up, the two made a mad dash out of the caf¨¦, giggling like schoolchildren. ¡°They do that often?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s how they met. They were doing an all weekend marathon of that set of movies with tornadoes and sharks. I still can¡¯t believe they ended up making 15 of those things.¡± ¡°Heh, I think I saw a few of those. They had more cameos than an internet novel.¡± ¡°Ha! Brilliant. Between that and the casting of certain roles, I couldn¡¯t agree more. Namely mad scientist father Gary Busey. He is one of the few people that just seemed made for roles like that.¡± ¡°Probably the hair.¡± I nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not quite tired yet. What games can we introduce to this place?¡± ¡°Ever played pickleball?¡± ¡°Never even heard of it. What is it?¡± ¡°The greatest game ever!¡± He said, showing a bit of fanaticism in his eyes. ¡°So it¡¯s basically a cross between tennis and ping pong. The net is only knee height, and you use large paddles.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s set it up!¡± I said, fairly excited to see where this would go. We ended up playing for a few hours, before we both got tired enough to sleep. I had to admit, it was possibly one of the greatest games ever. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up in the morning, and spent an hour or so going over the offer the company had left. Seeing nothing wrong with it, I went ahead and signed it. As I sent it off, I noticed an email from Emily. Marty, The developers in charge of game management were extremely happy with your analysis of your newest trap. I¡¯ll start off by saying they agree that it doesn¡¯t need to be nerfed, but they are going to make some modifications to make it more realistic. The biggest issue is the massive block of steel that formed the base. One of the guys put it into a steel weight calculator, and got just under 12,000 pounds for the block alone. We realized you would indeed need a weight that substantial to counter the expected momentum you were going to face, so we have a workaround to be implemented in the next patch. We will be introducing one time use antigravity enchantments. These will be free to attach to the traps that would weigh over 100 pounds. Essentially, you get to carry around the traps until you place them. Once placed, the enchantment is destroyed. We also realize that there are potential loopholes, so please let us know what you think of this solution before implementation. The designers are also looking to add other monster type specific traps in the future. An example that is going to be introduced is the bladed net, loosely based on your bladed wire by the way. Any winged monster caught in the trap would take an extra 20% damage, and would lose the ability to fly for a half hour or until it received a major healing spell.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Thanks, Emily My eyes lit up at the thought of a bladed net. Hmmm, could I modify that somehow to take out those overgrown crayfish? Probably not, they had pretty good armor. Wait, they should know about that to keep a good balance. Emily, I am more than happy with the proposed changes to the trap I designed, but I already see an issue. What would happen if some enterprising gamer were to throw a trap and activate it mid-air? It would have a phenomenal amount of energy and would be too easy to abuse. I think you need something like a 30 second delay. Once the trap is placed and activated, the anti-gravity is shut off. For the next thirty seconds, the trap is unable to do any damage. I also love the idea of the bladed net, but want to point out an issue with it before it is deployed in game. I recently came across a monster called the crayclaw. A bladed net would be highly ineffective in doing damage to it, so you might need a damage reducer based upon the amount and type of armor whatever is being trapped is equipped with. Thanks, Marty Feeling better about how things were shaping up, I decided to head into the game and see what I could make of Djarleen¡¯s riddle. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Finally logged in, I looked over what I had written. Djarleen claimed they were blind, but mana sensed at 30 feet. Would they only see things with some form of mana in them then? I needed to test this. I ate a quick breakfast ration, bought a few of the special delivery bolts I had Dharkiss make for the pyrophoria potions, and headed out. Half an hour later, I was a safe distance away from a crayclaw. ¡°Ok, time for tests.¡± I muttered to myself, taking aim with a normal crossbow bolt. I fired it, completely missing the crayclaw. The bolt went a few feet in front of the head, and the creature gave absolutely no reaction. Perfect. It won¡¯t react to anything with no mana in it. Next experiment, load one of the specialized bolts with a mana potion. I took aim, but ran into a major problem. I didn¡¯t have the range to get it as close as the previous bolt. Shrugging, I took aim instead at the creature itself, knowing I would be several feet short in the attack. Then I remembered the power of that claw blast, and aimed in front of the creature. Exhaling, I fired. The bolt flew, and when it crossed what I assumed was the 30 foot detection radius, the crayclaw twitched one of its antennae, then gave a powerful flip of its tail and jetted away. I followed, and found it sixty feet away from where it started. ¡°Hmm, it blindly jets away from danger? I wonder how long it has to recharge?¡± For the next several minutes, I would fire a mana infused bolt at the crayclaw. The claw attack could be performed every thirty seconds, and the jet escape once every five minutes. Smiling, I came up with a plan. Time to see if I could get it to work. I walked around, making sure I didn¡¯t accidentally blunder into a different creature¡¯s aggro radius. Once I was behind and slightly to the left side of the crayclaw, I pulled out a mana potion. I threw it at an incredibly high arc, aiming for it to enter the detection radius and fall straight in front of the crayclaw. My biggest hope would be the falling mana potion would resemble the dropping attack of the giant toads that fought the crayclaws, and sure enough the crayclaw made a hasty retreat. ¡°BATTER UP!¡± I cried, swinging my hammer at the passing legs, shattering the back two, heavily cracking the third one, and missing the fourth and final leg on that side. Shaking my hand from the sting of the impact, I looked at the partially crippled creature. It was in bad shape on the left side, but it was taking aim at me with that overgrown right claw. Though I managed to hit the deck in time, I still took a bit of damage simply from the near miss of the attack. Jumping to my feet, I circled to the creatures left, smiling as that third leg shattered under its weight as it tried to keep me in a place where it could attack. As it fell, I charged in, shattering the last leg on the left side. After that, the crayclaw was helpless. The tail escape couldn¡¯t drag it far enough away, and as long as I stayed behind the shoulder joint of the claws it couldn¡¯t attack me. I didn¡¯t want to damage the magic sensing organ with a shockwave attack, so I used my hammer to physically crush a plate on its back and started slashing at the tender flesh underneath with my scythe. After a minute of this pummeling, the crayclaw died. I didn¡¯t want to study these creatures, as they weren¡¯t that prevalent. The loot wasn¡¯t too bad either. I ended up with a low quality carapace piece, a piece of tail meat, and a high quality magic sensing organ. The magic sensing organ was an odd piece. It was a sphere that would easily fit in the palm of my hand, covered in strange bands of an elastic material. Out of the top were three long antennae, each ending in a small, smooth orb. Two would face out the front of the crayclaw, while the third would face out the back and give it full 1080-degree coverage (spherical vision). Those designers sure did a good job on this, it really looked like an alien organ. Placing it in my inventory, I headed out for some more hunting. The next five crayclaws fell in a similar manner, though it was annoying to lose a mana potion for each kill. I suppose that it was a good exchange for killing a creature while taking no damage. The loot wasn¡¯t spectacular, and I knew it was going to be a grind for me to get what I needed to become a variant. Each kill gave either giant claw or tail meat, and more often than not a low quality carapace. I could probably increase the quality by not smashing through it, but it didn¡¯t bother me as I was going to sell them all anyway. I also came away with two egg pouches, and wondered what giant crawfish caviar would taste like. The most annoying part was that I only got one more high quality magic sensing organ. This grind is going to be annoying. If I wanted to use the best items, and I was going to use the best, I would need 1000 high quality magic sensing organs. For the final transformation, I would need ten perfect magic sensing organs. Each of which would be crafted from ten superior magic sensing organs, which come from, you guessed it, ten high quality magic sensing organs. At one magic sensing organ per five crayclaws, I was about to embark on a 5000 kill genocide. The next creature I came across was one of the thunder-ram toads. It was sideways to me, and I took a bit of time to study it. The eyes were raised above the head, and were mostly facing forward. Almost a mix of a predator and prey setup. Completely guessing, but it would be able to see just slightly past 180 degrees, and have issues with something close up. I had no idea on its range, so at roughly 40 feet I took aim and fired at one of the eyes. It saw the danger, and flinched enough that the bolt dug a furrow through its cheek instead of blinding it. As I was switching weapons, it did something I really should have expected and fired its tongue at me. The blow knocked me down, and also stuck my left arm across my chest. I¡¯ll admit, I started to panic for a bit as it was dragging me back, but I was a bit heavier than its usual prey and was able to calm myself. Halfway there, I used the same [Keen edge] technique that decapitated the mage and sliced through the tongue. Thinking myself out of danger, I started working on getting the tongue unstuck from my chest and arm. That is, until I saw sparks of electricity on the ceiling above me. ¡°Fuck me.¡± I managed to get out, before the toad rocketed down from the ceiling and smashed into me.
You have died Death takes his toll of 10% experience towards the next level and your equipment loses 10% durability. You have also lost one kill towards your weekly quota. Current kills: 6/7
I woke up in the barracks again, and was wondering about my kill count. Did they consider the kills from all of those players as part of my quota even if I didn¡¯t deliver the final blow? That could be useful, I wonder if I could use it to kill steal? Things to consider as I headed off to see Dharkiss and get my equipment repaired. At least I could channel my mana to repair my weapon. Chapter 41 ¡°C¡¯mon man, just cut me a discount this once. I¡¯ll pay you back in a few days.¡± I walked in to see a nearly completely black kobold trying to get a discount from Dharkiss. Good luck with that. ¡°And I told you already, I don¡¯t trust you. I don¡¯t give discounts.¡± ¡°But.¡± ¡°NO BUTS! I won¡¯t hear another word of it, Magic Mike. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°No.¡± He sulked, walking away to look at other stuff. ¡°Hey there Angus! Didn¡¯t see you walk in. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Hey Dharkiss. I need some equipment repaired, and to pick your brain on a few things again.¡± ¡°Wonderful! What do we have to kill this time? Manticores? Dragons? The world serpent?¡± ¡°Ha, nothing nearly as grand as that. Just a thunder-ram toad.¡± I replied. ¡°Oh? Those are good eating, if you can take ¡®em down. What have you tried so far?¡± ¡°Well, getting splattered by them as they do their ram from jumping off the ceiling didn¡¯t work, I figured I would try a weapon next time.¡± ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA! OH, that¡¯s fantastic. The easiest way is to buy some of the temporary paralytic poison from Djarleen. If they can¡¯t move, they can¡¯t smash you with their heads.¡± ¡°I should have known there was an easy answer. I¡¯ll think about it, but Khaliss will probably yell at me if I don¡¯t push myself with challenging opponents. It¡¯s too bad I won¡¯t have the time to leave a spear where it is ramming its head. That¡¯ld take it out fairly quick.¡± As I was talking, I felt the slightest tugging in one of the bags on my waist. ¡°But there is one other thing I need you to look at.¡± I said, keeping the conversation going while I pulled out my weapon. ¡°[Keen edge]!¡± I shouted, swiveling my hips and slashing just behind me. ¡°AAAAH!¡± I was rewarded with a cry of pain, and saw Magic Mike falling on his ass, blood spurting from the stump where his hand used to be. ¡°YOU CUT OFF MY HAND YOU BASTARD!¡± Sure enough, there was his hand on the ground, along with one of the magic sensing organs I had found. ¡°Well, that is what they used to do back in the day with thieves.¡± I calmly replied, picking up my property and placing it back in my bag along with Mike¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m a mage, not a thief.¡± He said. ¡°Really? That¡¯s probably why you got caught then.¡± Dharkiss commented. ¡°Give my hand back! And heal me before I die.¡± He demanded petulantly. Looking at him, I realized my attack had taken off almost two thirds of his life, and the bleeding wasn¡¯t helping him any. ¡°Wow, we should really do something about that.¡± I feigned concern, taking a rope out of my bag and tying it incredibly tightly around his arm. ¡°Dharkiss, do we have anything to cauterize this?¡± I asked innocently. ¡°Why I do believe we do Angus. Head on into the back with me.¡± To be honest, I¡¯m not entirely proud of what we did to the poor guy, and I have no idea exactly why I went through with it. Maybe I was still pissed that I died yet again, or that some low level shit thought he could steal from me. Either way, the apprentice looked on in horror as we held his bleeding stump to the forge, screaming the whole time. I even force fed him a health potion to make sure he didn¡¯t die. ¡°Bank the forge and watch the store, we need to see Khaliss.¡± Dharkiss ordered his apprentice, who still hadn¡¯t said a word. He forced Magic Mike to walk in front of him the whole time, keeping a solid grip on the back of his neck. Once we got down there, Khaliss held a swift trial. I told my side, Dharkiss filled in what he saw, and Magic Mike tried to lie. The most damning evidence was the severed hand with my property in it, and Khaliss was not amused. ¡°Magic Mike, I find you guilty. You tried to steal from a hero, in the presence of our most respected blacksmith. I truly wish I could exile you, but as you have barely been here long enough to finish your initial three day dungeon stint, my hands are tied in this. I¡¯m stripping you of all your experience, and forcing you to spend two more rounds in the dungeon. You will have to work in groups there, and in the downtime your assigned partners will be explaining how to be a proper kobold.¡± A flash of light later, and Magic Mike was sent away with two burly guards. ¡°Now, for you Angus. Next time, simply give him a healing potion. It will heal him enough that the bleeding won¡¯t kill him. Pull something like this again, and I will demote you, got it?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± I said, properly chastised. Dharkiss had made himself scarce, and I figured that would be a good idea. I headed out of the city, looking for a rematch with some frogs. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Some time later, I had slain a few more crayclaws and finally found another toad. This time, I wanted to get up close and personal. Sneaking up wasn¡¯t too hard to do, as they were fairly sedentary creatures. I did manage a [Keen edge] to sever the tendon to the foot, crippling the creature and taking out its strongest weapon. A few hammer blows to the other leg and it got ticked off enough to release an area lightning attack. It wasn¡¯t too damaging, but it did manage to stun me long enough for the toad to turn and face me. From there it was a simple battle, as I would dance in and out and side to side to avoid its ramming attack. It managed one more lightning blast and a solid headbutt, before finally dying. The loot was a pair of frog legs and one eye. I pulled out one of the frog legs, and the devs must have done some resizing. Instead of it being the size of my own leg, they had the drop end up being the size of a turkey leg. Smiling, I got a crazy idea and headed back to town. The first thing that I noticed when I got in to town was an email ping. I opened it up, slightly dreading what it said. Player Angus_MacG We have received a complaint that you have engaged in torture of another player. We take all these accusations seriously, and have reviewed the footage of the incident. While your actions would be reasonable in a real life scenario, there were several options you could have taken that didn¡¯t result in another player forcibly having a limb cauterized. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We have decided that this incident wasn¡¯t fully malicious, though we are going to add a note to your file. Should you engage in other behavior that borders on torture, this incident will weigh against you. As a reminder, players that engage in torture of other players will be punished, up to and including character deletion and permanent bans from the game. Please be mindful of further actions. Admin reviewer 7225. At least they were swift with weighing the evidence and decided not to punish me too badly. Slightly bummed, I headed to the inn to discuss some things. ¡°Alnoss, you around?¡± I asked hopefully, having come in to an empty dining room for a change. ¡°Coming!¡± I heard from the kitchen area. ¡°Angus, you haven¡¯t been avoiding me, have you?¡± She asked as she came through the doorway. ¡°Not at all, just been busy with some things. You know how life can sneak up and keep you busy.¡± ¡°Yeah, you have no idea on that. So, what can I do for ya?¡± As she leaned against the bar, I swear I smelled hickory smoke on her. I tried to do a few discreet sniffs, but she caught me at it. ¡°Think very carefully about what you are going to say after sniffing me Angus.¡± ¡°Alnoss, I thought I smelled hickory smoke, and was just trying to be sure. I meant no offense.¡± ¡°What is hickory smoke? And why wouldn¡¯t it be offensive?¡± ¡°Where I¡¯m from, hickory is a type of tree. The smoke from the wood is used to cook meat, and it is delicious.¡± ¡°Well it ain¡¯t wood. We have a dry moss that is used to give a bit of flavor to certain dishes.¡± ¡°How fast does it burn, and how much can you get? I have a crazy idea brewing and its changing as we talk here.¡± ¡°Slow burning, puts off a good bit of smoke. As for how much, you gotta give me a time frame. It takes a bit to dry it out.¡± ¡°Say a week.¡± ¡°I can get you a few pounds of the dry stuff. That should be enough to smoke for about five or six hours.¡± ¡°Perfect, absolutely perfect!¡± I said, getting excited. ¡°Can you get me a good bit of salt and pepper as well?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She said a little uncertainly. ¡°Relax, I have an idea for a, call it a joint venture. I¡¯ll pay for the supplies and cook the food, you decide how to sell it. Sound good?¡± ¡°Ok, fine. When are we going to do this?¡± ¡°A week from tomorrow.¡± I said, before heading out the door. I needed to talk to Dharkiss again. Running through the crowds as fast as I could without jostling everyone, I burst into his shop. ¡°Dharkiss! I need a custom order from you!¡± I practically yelled. ¡°Slow down, slow down. When do you need it?¡± ¡°A week from tomorrow at the earliest, and can you deliver it to just outside the inn that Alnoss owns?¡± ¡°I can probably do that, now show me what you need.¡± I spent the next few hours describing and drawing what I needed, and Dharkiss looked at me like I was only slightly insane. With a few gold as a down payment, I headed back to the inn and logged out for the night. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The next week flew by in a blur. I spent most of my days fighting crayclaws and those pain in the butt toads, keeping all the drops. Nights were spent relaxing at the caf¨¦ with the rest of the gang, listening to the madness that they ended up getting in to. Derrick was having a blast wandering around and taking out bandit camps, even if he couldn¡¯t use any of their equipment. I couldn¡¯t think of anything more terrifying than a night raid by a troll. Three days into grinding week, I met two different creatures that I assumed to be minibosses. The first was an albino crayclaw that was almost seven feet tall. Both of its claws were oversized, and I kept my distance. The second was a variant of the thunder-ram toad. Instead of a pair of bumps on its head that blasted out lightning, it was covered in them. I kept my distance from both, as they were a few levels above me.
Albino Kingclaw Level 28 The albino kingclaw is born once for every 10,000 crayclaws. It¡¯s a much larger specimen, and can fire their trademark blasts from both claws.
Stormlord toad Level 27 The stormlord toad is not one to underestimate. Capable of turning the area immediately surrounding it into a swirling mass of electricity, they are best dealt with at a distance.
I kept my distance from the two, wanting to come up with an alternative attack for each one. All the grinding did manage to get me a level, and by the end of the week I had to be close to getting to level 27. I also managed to get a make-up kill for my earlier death, completing my weekly quest for Thanatos and netting another 7 favor. I would also head to the alchemy headquarters and use their transmutation array at the end of the day. By the end of the week I had seventy superior quality mana sensing organs, with three hundred high quality ones sitting in my inventory. That was enough for my needs, which was luckily also the day before Dharkiss was going to deliver my order. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up the next morning to Alnoss pounding on my door, having decided to sleep in the game for one night. ¡°Damnit Angus, wake up. Dharkiss has an order for you, and I¡¯m telling him to leave if you aren¡¯t out in five minutes!¡± ¡°Relax, Alnoss. I¡¯m up.¡± I said sleepily, as I opened the door. ¡°Besides, that thing is going to bring in a boatload of money for us today.¡± I headed down, Alnoss following in curiosity. When we exited the inn, Dharkiss had my order sitting there. It was a beautiful barrel smoker, with multiple racks for holding meat. The firebox was low and to one side, and opposite it was a smokestack for ventilation. ¡°Well, what the heck is this infernal contraption you had me make boy?¡± Dharkiss asked, apparently irked that he had to get up early in the morning. ¡°It¡¯s called a smoker. We use it to cook meat. Come by around lunch time and I¡¯ll give you one for free, sound good?¡± ¡°But what are ya cookin¡¯?¡± ¡°These.¡± I said, pulling out one of the nearly 700 frog legs I had amassed in the previous week. ¡°You said you liked thunder-ram toad meat, right?¡± ¡°Well yeah, but how many you got?¡± ¡°Just under 700.¡± I replied. ¡°Dear lord!¡± Both Dharkiss and Alnoss cried out. ¡°Yep, but first we need to fire this bad boy up. Alnoss, can I get that box of charcoal out here?¡± ¡°Coming right up!¡± She said, much more excited now that she knew my plan. Dharkiss wandered away after watching me for a bit, and I spent the next several hours in meal prep. Getting the smoker heated up properly, trimming and seasoning the meat, things like that. I decided to go with the drumstick portion of the legs, as they had much more meat on them. Besides, who doesn¡¯t want to feel like a medieval king tearing into a massive drumstick of meat? It ended up taking nearly four hours to cook one batch of drumsticks, and my smoker could only hold 300 at a time. Heh, look at me complaining about cooking 300 pieces of meat at a time. Alnoss did great helping out, advertising to groups of kobolds as they walked around. Many were curious about the ¡®cooking contraption¡¯ as they referred to it, but promised to come back for a taste later. We sold them for two silver apiece, or three for five. Djarleen even stopped by for a bit, and I had her take some to the alchemy guild as a bribe to have people finish my transmutations for me. By the end of the day, I was happily exhausted and quite a bit richer. Alnoss even bought the portion of the legs I hadn¡¯t cooked, wanting to try out the smoker on her own over the next several days.
Skill Initial level New level Bonus
Hammerscythe mastery Intermediate lvl 2 Intermediate lvl 7 Damage increased by 22%, attack speed increased by 9%
Sneak Intermediate lvl 2 Intermediate lvl 5 Speed increased by 17%, Harder to detect by 8%
Ambush Intermediate lvl 9 Advanced lvl 2 Attack damage increased by 42%, Critical hit chance increased by 22%
Not a chapter, some news Hello everyone, I have some news that will affect the story going forward. I ended up getting a job today (Hooray!). This is going to cut into a bit of my time, but I still want to try and get this story to its conclusion. This means I''ll probably have far less bonus chapters, and possibly miss a Monday or Friday release. Hopefully I can find a balance that lets me do everything and still maintain a bit of sanity. As of right now, I do have a chapter release ready for Friday and am working on one for Monday, so at least there is that.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Thanks for understanding. Chapter 42 Finally, I had all my stuff set up for becoming a variant. I didn¡¯t really know for sure that having ten perfect mana organs for the transformation would be better than ten high quality mana organs, but my gut was telling me it was. The first thing I did after eating breakfast was heading over to Djarleen¡¯s shop. ¡°Good morning Djarleen, are you ready for today?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, yeah. You¡¯re entirely too chipper for this early in the morning Angus.¡± She grumped as a kettle went off nearby. ¡°Hand me that, will you? I need some tea to get going in the morning.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I replied, carefully handing it over. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the stuff.¡± She muttered after her first sip, eyes closing in bliss. We both simply relaxed in silence for a bit, letting her finish her tea in peace. Five minutes later and we were heading through that gut wrenching transport once again. ¡°Guh, how do you not have your tea coming back up after that?¡± I panted, mildly annoyed. ¡°Practice. And the tea has a little bit in it to settle your stomach.¡± She smiled as she explained. ¡°Damn cheating teachers.¡± I muttered. ¡°So, what do we need to do first?¡± ¡°Follow me to the headmaster¡¯s office.¡± She said, leading the way. We walked silently past a glaring Montgomery, I assume he heard what we were talking about and decided not to interfere. ¡°Come in¡± a voice called as we knocked on the guildmaster¡¯s office door. ¡°Ah, Djarleen and Angus, just the two I have been expecting.¡± Guildmaster Willow greeted us as we walked in. ¡°Still set on using the variant transmutation circle?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± We both replied. ¡°Good, good. Before we do, let¡¯s sit down for just a bit of business. Tea?¡± ¡°NO!¡± Djarleen practically yelled, before clearing her throat and trying again. ¡°I mean, we just had a cup of tea before coming over, thank you for offering.¡± I guess she was worried about side effects. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± He said, pouring himself a cup. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if I drink one?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± Djarleen responded, and I was happy to let her lead this conversation. Sadly, that wasn¡¯t to last. ¡°So, Angus. I hear you have come into possession of some tunneling worm blood. Have you decided what to do with it yet?¡± ¡°Not yet sir. I don¡¯t believe that I have the skill to properly utilize it yet, and would hate to waste such a valuable reagent. Knowing how hard it was just to get juvenile blood, I can only imagine the pain it is to get adult blood.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that. One of the hardest things about alchemy is knowing your own skill and your skills limits. It seems you are staying conservative in your estimations, which is what all the long lived alchemists tend to have. Would you be willing to trade a portion of it to the guild?¡± ¡°I would.¡± I carefully replied. ¡°Provided the benefits are comparable to the value of what is traded.¡± ¡°Of course, of course.¡± He responded with a smile. ¡°I have been thinking about this for a while, honestly expecting you a few days ago.¡± Before I could make an excuse he held up a hand. ¡°It¡¯s ok, I¡¯m well aware of what you would need to go through just to get all of those mana sensing organs. So I have this offer. We will use three of the vials of blood to brew you an earth resistance potion. This will boost your earth resistance by 30%, permanently. In addition, we will also provide an affinity resistance potion of your choosing, providing another permanent 30% resistance to one other element. I¡¯m sorry to say, but before you ask these resistance potions are one time effects, and can¡¯t be stacked. In return, you would give us ten vials of blood. How does that sound?¡± Thinking about it, I couldn¡¯t help but smile. They really wanted that blood, and getting boosts to resistances without the use of gear would be huge. ¡°I will gladly accept that offer. That also leaves us with seven vials unaccounted for.¡± When I revealed that, his eyes got wide and he looked at a smiling Djarleen. ¡°Now, I am preparing for a chain quest for Thanatos. Is there anything the guild could offer to help with this? I know for sure I will be fighting spirits soon, while I expect undead to be filling my near future.¡± ¡°Well, this is certainly unexpected! Djarleen, it seems you still like to keep a little something in reserve for negotiations, eh? Angus, I will put a request out to the masters in residence to see what they can come up with. Are you going to require us to use some of the blood in whatever we trade you for?¡± ¡°Oh, not at all. This would simply be seven vials of blood for their own use in exchange for whatever we can agree upon. Although I do have one stipulation.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen that there are certain, grudges, that could be formed and continue for a while. I have no wish to engage this or alienate any members of the guild, so would it be possible for all offers to be sent through you? When you offer them to me, forgo any identifying information and let everyone know that you are doing this. That way everyone gets a fair shot.¡± ¡°Blind offers are highly encouraged around here, for that exact reason young man. I¡¯m sure that there will be no objections to that.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Great, then I¡¯ll leave the details up to you if that¡¯s ok. I also wish to ask for my second resistance potion, could you make one for cold resistance?¡± ¡°Covering for a racial weakness? Not a bad idea, and one we have already prepared for. Now, as you might assume, we rarely get the option to use the variant transmutation circle. Would you object to anyone who wants to view it? It really is a fascinating process.¡± ¡°If at all possible, let¡¯s limit it to masters only. I don¡¯t want too many people knowing about what my variant is.¡± ¡°Very well, I assure you nobody will hold that against you. Are you sure you won¡¯t try a cup of tea to settle any nerves before we do this?¡± ¡°I, I¡¯m ok.¡± I stuttered a bit, keeping Djarleen¡¯s words about him experimenting on people in mind. Who knows what an unknown potion would do in an interaction with transmutation? ¡°Oh, before I go, here is thirteen of the vials of blood. For payment and creation of the promised earth resistance potion.¡± I added, carefully placing the vials in a rack he was holding for me. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll let the masters know and we can get this started!¡± He said, rubbing his hands together. As we were leaving, he rang a few different bells on his desk. We headed downstairs, and to my surprise entered a slightly hidden staircase, having to make our way almost directly behind the front desk to get there. Contrary to what the rest of the building was, the stairs and walls down were roughly hewn directly from the rock, though it was much drier than what you would imagine from some stories. I guess they did some waterproofing to make sure the stairs didn¡¯t get slick and mossy. Either way, at the bottom of the stairs was a large room. There was a set of bleachers off to the left, only three risers high. The central portion of the room was a massive array, much larger than what I had seen earlier. It was a circle within a circle, with several different shapes and runes cut directly into the rock and filled with gold. Barely touching the outside of the second circle were two stone pillars with silver hand holds sticking up from them, and heading down the front of the pillars to connect to the circular array. Encircling all of that was a circle-triangle-circle arrangement. The inner circle touched each of the three sides of the triangle once, and the outer circle touched each of the vertexes of the triangle. They were made of a greenish hued metal, and I bent over to study it for a bit.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Orichalcum.¡± Djarleen said when she saw me studying it. ¡°Used for its resistance to magical effects.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t something like lead be better?¡± I asked, thinking of the most inert to magic metal I could think of. ¡°Works too well.¡± The guildmaster said, having snuck up on us. ¡°Lead in such an array would completely isolate the interior, and you wouldn¡¯t have enough ambient mana to complete the ritual. They only did it once, seeing someone turned into a husk as all the mana is sucked out of their cells was horrible.¡± On that gruesome news, walked over to the final portion of the room only to find a rather mundane work bench. ¡°For final preparations?¡± I asked. ¡°Indeed.¡± The guildmaster nodded, before heading over to take a seat in the bleachers. ¡°You know what all you need to do, right Djarleen?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± She responded, and smiled as several alchemical masters walked in. ¡°Angus! I shoulda known you¡¯ld be tha one bringing us down here. Good to see ya again lad.¡± Master Faraldo bellowed out as he hit the bottom of the stairs. ¡°Good to see you too, Master Faraldo.¡± I said, unable to stop from smiling. Feeling better, I gave Djarleen a look that I hoped asked what I should be doing. ¡°See those empty spots with a single rune in the center around the edge? Place one of your mana sensing organs in each one, then sit cross legged in the central circle facing me. Ok everyone, this should be interesting.¡± She continued, turning to face the crowd. ¡°Angus here is going for a magic sensing variant. To that end, he harvested mana sensing organs from crayclaws, and transmuted them until he has ten perfect mana sensing organs for his final transmutation. We will try and answer questions you have, but it might take a while to get back to you. We might also entertain certain experiments when we have a better idea about any abilities that are gained, but ask you have patience for those also. Thank you.¡± She finished, and several of the masters were already jotting down notes. Guildmaster Willow and Master Faraldo were both sitting back with smiles. ¡°Ok, now that we have everything placed, are you ready Angus?¡± ¡°I am, Djarleen.¡± ¡°Great. Here we go.¡± She said, while grabbing both silver handles. They immediately started glowing white, and I got a popup.
Warning! Player is attempting heavy avatar modification via magical means. Since there is no known analogue for this procedure in the real world, Arctic Storm insists that this process will be done via remote session for the player. You will be able to control a floating camera and must maintain at least a five foot distance between the camera and your avatar at all times. Feel free to record this and post to your streaming account if you wish.
I suddenly found myself looking at my own character¡¯s back from a few feet above him. I started the recording, and panned back so that I could see the start. Hidden runes started glowing underneath me, as my mana flowed from my body into them. They charged and showed up moving counterclockwise, as other runes started reacting in a clockwise manner to Djarleen¡¯s mana. Mine went in a spiral out from my body to the circle, and were much smaller and packed much more tightly than the ones on the outside circle. As the runes surrounded the mana sensing organs, the floor underneath them lit up with a white glow and they levitated. I started moving the camera around so that I was looking into my avatar¡¯s face, and the eyes were glowing pure white. Flashes of electricity started, firing between each of the mana sensing organs and myself. The organs started glowing, and the electricity was firing faster and faster. With a deep thump, the glowing organs all flew down one last bolt of electricity and into my avatar¡¯s body. I blinked my eyes, finding myself back in the middle of the circle with a bit of smoke rising from my body. My entire mana bar was blocked out with a 24:00:00 timer counting down next to it, and I saw Djarleen looking pale and using the pillars as support.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed a ritual designed to create a variant. You are now a Mystic Vision Kobold, and your eyes will glow with a silver white light when you use your abilities. Due to using such high quality reagents for your ritual, you have been given a choice for enhanced vision. Please choose below.
Enhanced distance Your mana vision extends to twice the normal range. Enhanced acuity Your vision is so sharp that you can discern the mana channels that lie below the skin of creatures.
I blinked a few times before choosing enhanced acuity, wondering if I could strike certain places and destroy a creature¡¯s ability to use mana.
New skill acquired! Mystic vision level maxed When active, concentrations of mana can be seen. Due to increased acuity, barriers like skin are half as effective. Distance: 30 feet
¡°Well, did it work?¡± Someone shouted. ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied, voice barely a whisper. Coughing a few times, I tried again. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And we will answer questions, ha, ha, when we feel comfortable with it.¡± Djarleen panted, glaring at the questioner. I nodded my thanks at her, and took my time stretching my muscles that had all cramped up despite the relatively short amount of time the ritual had taken. Several of the masters made some disapproving glances, but I caught the guildmaster mumbling to them and herding them off the stage. I gave him a smile as he turned back to wave at us. ¡°Ugh, feels like I just ran a marathon.¡± I mumbled. ¡°How you holdin¡¯ up Djarleen?¡± ¡°Like I¡¯ve been crushed in an avalanche.¡± ¡°Sorry. Thanks for doing this for me, I want you to know I truly appreciate it.¡± I said, offering to help her stand. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Although I fully expect you to take my spot when and if I ever attempt this.¡± ¡°Done deal, done deal. Heck, I¡¯ll even help gather reagents if I¡¯m in an area. Were you thinking of anything special?¡± ¡°Oh not really. Maybe something with fire manipulation to help with brewing potions.¡± ¡°That would be cool. Can I give you a bit of advice?¡± ¡°And you are suddenly a font of information?¡± She chuckled. ¡°For this little bit, yes. Don¡¯t let the light races know, but it is definitely worth it to use the highest quality materials possible.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She asked, pitch rising to show interest. ¡°Yep. I got a choice when I did it, to either enhance the distance or the precision. If you can stand on your own for a second, I¡¯ll test it out. I chose the precision by the way.¡± Taking a few steps back, I activated [Mystic vision], and blinked a few times merely taking in the view. The circle we had just left and the silver handles glowed a whitish gold. Djarleen had a brown and red aura, with lines extending from her heart to her head and down both arms. Oddly, she only had brown lines heading down her legs and splitting off into her own claws. There were also some faint lines swirling through her torso, with a concentration near what I assumed was a womb. ¡°Whoah, that is freaky.¡± I said, losing concentration and cancelling the skill. ¡°You can say that again, your eyes were white. Like pure white orbs, it was very, what was your word? Freaky? Yeah, very freaky.¡± ¡°I can imagine; it did say something about that. What I was looking at was you though. You have fire and earth mana, but you can only use fire through your hands.¡± ¡°How can you know that?¡± She asked. ¡°There are red and brown lines heading into your hands, but only brown lines heading down to your feet.¡± ¡°Fascinating. Can you watch a few potions I make in the future? I always wondered how the different mana interacts as it brews.¡± ¡°I can try, but let¡¯s keep it simple to start.¡± I pleaded, just knowing she would want to start off with some master level potion right away in her excitement. ¡°Shall we head for home? I have a few things I still want to do today, as well as see if Dharkiss wants to make another, I don¡¯t really know if it is more trap or weapon, but if he wants to make it for me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said, sighing in exhaustion. We took our time heading up the stairs, taking a break halfway through. Of course, Montgomery was sitting at the desk doing his best to ignore us as we walked by. ¡°Mr. Montgomery, sir?¡± I asked, hoping that stroking his ego would get me a slightly less frosty response. ¡°What?¡± He grumped, obviously not swayed. ¡°I was wondering if you would pass on a message to the guildmaster for me.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± He said, obviously not happy to do his job for a kobold. ¡°I will be back tomorrow for the potions, and will probably have some basic answers for the masters. Thanks for passing that on.¡± I said, giving the man a pained smile. ¡°Very well, tomorrow then.¡± He replied, before turning right back to whatever paper shuffling he was up to. Not wasting any time, Djarleen and I headed back through to the transport before realizing that neither one of us could use the mana required to activate it. We had to go back and practically beg Montgomery to help us, but eventually he got up and did it. Once we made it back, I headed out to see Dharkiss. Chapter 43 ¡°Yo, Dharkiss, you want to get creative again?¡± I called out as soon as I entered his shop. ¡°Angus, I thought you and Djarleen had some important alchemy stuff to do today?¡± ¡°Finished already, and now I¡¯m 24 hours without the use of any mana.¡± I replied. ¡°But I do have an idea for a newish weapon or a trap, kinda a mix of both to be honest.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s get to it! What manner of beastie are we killing today?¡± ¡°Ever heard of a stormlord toad?¡± ¡°Sounds like a variant of those thunder ram toads you¡¯ve been fightin¡¯ recently.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what it is, though it is a bit higher level than the normal toads.¡± ¡°Gotcha. So, what do you have in mind?¡± ¡°Well, I need a few things. My plan is to send a giant pot of potion right down his throat, but I can¡¯t get too close because they like to blast out lightning. I was thinking of getting a shield, but instead of a smooth surface, I want it rough. As many small bumps as you can get in there.¡± ¡°Now why in the hells would I make a shield like that? You want it smooth to deflect blows easier.¡± ¡°Whoever said I was deflecting a blow? I want the toad to stick the shield with his tongue and bring it back to his mouth for a chomp. I¡¯m going to put either a large potion pot on the back, or possibly two slightly smaller ones.¡± ¡°Hmmmm, that might work. You¡¯ll need it strong enough to withstand that initial impact, so even reinforced wood is right out. I think we could just use iron, to make it a bit cheaper. Even if it gets deformed a bit, that¡¯ll be fine, right?¡± At my nod, he kept pondering. ¡°Since you¡¯ll wanna be lettin¡¯ it go fairly quick I¡¯ll only put one handle on the back, you¡¯ll have to brace it with your off hand. I think a few leather straps threaded through a clay handle jug should do for your potion, but one big one wouldn¡¯t do. Can you do three slightly smaller ones? Maybe a quart of liquid each?¡± ¡°Yep, I¡¯m heading out after this to gather the reagents I need.¡± ¡°Ok, then how does this sound. A square shield, with a handle in the top left of the back. Each of the other quadrants has a leather strap with a pot on it.¡± ¡°Perfect. How much for this?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be lettin¡¯ the apprentice get his hands dirty with the shield portion of it. I¡¯ll make sure the durability is high enough to take that first hit though, don¡¯t worry about that. We can call it his first commission, and can you do three silver?¡± ¡°Easily. Can he have it done by tomorrow?¡± ¡°For an extra silver, sure he can.¡± ¡°Done deal. I¡¯ll make it a little easier on him, and pick it up at noon tomorrow, sound good?¡± ¡°Yep, that¡¯s right about perfect. It¡¯ll push him just a bit. Now get on out of here, I don¡¯t want him to see who his first commission is from.¡± Nodding, I headed out the door. For the rest of the day I headed out and hunted mycofiends and harvested reagents from that area. I did find out some of the limitations of my new vision thanks to the thickness of the caps of the mycofiends. It seems I could see through about four to six inches of flesh, which was just enough to find their embedded mana cores. Unsurprisingly, the water element mana was a dark blue. Once I had all my experiments done and made it back to the inn for the night, I logged out. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The next morning I got up and headed to see Djarleen right away. ¡°Morning Djarleen, have you had your tea yet?¡± ¡°Hmmmm, trying to gauge my mood so soon?¡± She asked as she set her teacup down gently. ¡°Partially. I also need to brew a few potions, and need your expertise on something.¡± ¡°Questions about alchemy? I suppose I could try and help out. What¡¯cha got?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of my pyrophoria potion. Right now, it is, I don¡¯t know how to say this. Quite liquidy? Runny? Anyway, I want to know if there are any alchemically neutral thickeners.¡± ¡°Thickeners?¡± ¡°Yeah. I really want to make it more like a gel. Have it cling to what I get it splashed on.¡± ¡°Hmmmm. There¡¯s a few things I could try, but if you want the best answers you would probably have to check with Master Faraldo. He specializes in mixtures like that. Luckily we are heading out to headquarters today, so we can ask him. We have what, an hour until our mana returns? Do you have any other things you want to try?¡± ¡°Not really. Would you mind teaching me how to make that tea while we wait?¡± ¡°Not a fan of the upset stomach? No worries, come over here and watch.¡± The tea wasn¡¯t anything super special, I just needed to lightly crack some seeds in a mortar and pestle and let them steep with whatever brew I had ready. Eventually I felt a tingle, almost like a subdued version of those pinpricks you get when a limb that has fallen asleep wakes up. Sure enough, my mana bar was now unblocked and slowly filling back up. I looked up to see Djarleen drinking a mana potion, so I assumed she was free as well and drank my own potion. ¡°Blegh, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever get used to that taste.¡± She grimaced. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done.¡± Heading back to the transport circle, I was noticeably less nauseous after the transport. ¡°That tea is fantastic.¡± I said, happy to not feel sick. ¡°You do realize that I¡¯m going to have to find something else to pester you with, right?¡± She asked. ¡°Probably not much longer. You keep finding new and interesting things.¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess.¡± By this time we had reached the front desk, this time manned by Marcus, the nice man we met on our first trip over. Surprisingly, Guildmaster Willow was also there. ¡°Welcome back you two!¡± The guildmaster smiled. ¡°Guildmaster, Marcus, I hope we haven¡¯t kept you waiting too long.¡± Djarleen and I both nodded to them. ¡°Not at all, not at all. Let¡¯s head to the conference room over here, and we can discuss those final vials, okay?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I replied, smiling inside at the guildmaster¡¯s enthusiasm. He lead us to a small conference room, just a few chairs and a round table in the middle. Sitting down, he slid two rounded flasks towards me, one brown and one whitish. ¡°Here you go Angus, your two potions for the tunneling worm blood.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, picking them up and examining them. Both had shimmering flecks floating in them, and I activated [Mystic vision] to inspect them. Suddenly the flecks were more than small slivers floating in solution, they became incredibly complex knots of colored lights. I was mesmerized watching them slowly rotate through the solutions, but started when the guildmaster whispered.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Fascinating. Can you actually see the magic in the bottles?¡± Damn ancient elves and their damned perception. I was mentally smacking the back of my head before deciding that he had seen enough, and would probably never let it go. ¡°Can I trust you that this won¡¯t leave the room?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get just mystic vision. I got an enhanced version that lets me see mana flows in precise detail. Normal vision just reveals shimmering flecks in the solution. My mystic vision changed those into three dimensional loops of different kinds of mana. I¡¯ve never seen anything so complex before.¡± ¡°Fascinating. Have you determined the limits of this yet?¡± ¡°Some. I can see through about six inches of flesh.¡± ¡°Would you. . .¡± His eyes got incredibly wide. ¡°Would you be willing to help map mana flows? This is unprecedented.¡± ¡°Possibly, but it will have to be a while. I have far too much on my plate right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, elves can be patient.¡± ¡°Thanks for understanding.¡± ¡°No worries. Now, let¡¯s get on to some of these offers.¡± He pulled out a packet of papers, and handed them over. I took my time going over them, not wanting to miss any possible exploits in the potions.
Potion Effect
Potion of Holy Strike Permanently enhance a weapon to deliver a percentage of damage as holy damage
Potion of Necrotic Rebuke Damage inflicted by undead creatures reduced by 15%, permanently
Potion of Spiritual Devouring Permanently enhance a weapon to drain mana from any spiritual creatures upon damage. After enough mana has been accumulated, the next strike will unleash a mana shockwave upon impact
Potion of Lightning Attunement Permanently increase affinity for lightning magics by 50%
Oh now these were fantastic potions. Permanent enhancements were always great, and since my weapon was scaling it would hopefully be relevant for a long time. While the damage reduction was tempting, and I mean very tempting, I opted to go with the potion of holy strike. Added damage was always good, and my playstyle was evolving into a ¡®do max damage while taking none.¡¯ ¡°I have a quick question before I decide. Would the holy damage work on specters without an ethereal shift potion?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Well, not how I think you are hoping it would work. Say you do 100 damage every strike, and the holy strike potion would add 20 damage to that. If you were to strike a specter, you are hoping for the weapon to do 5 damage but still do 20 holy, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it exactly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it does a percentage damage based on what you actually do. So you would do 5 damage from the weapon and get 1 bonus holy damage.¡± ¡°Say I use ethereal shift, would that change the damage to 50 normal and 10 holy?¡± ¡°Yes, there are no limitations to that. I also believe you can combine it with an ethereal flame potion to get added fire damage if you wish.¡± ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll go with that then. Here¡¯s the vials for the trade, do you know if they have the potion ready?¡± ¡°Excellent, and I do. Several of the master¡¯s had their offered potions on hand, it makes negotiating easier. I¡¯m sure Master Hersch will be very happy you ended up choosing him.¡± At the mention of which master¡¯s potion I had picked, Djarleen grimaced. ¡°Now that that¡¯s done, I¡¯ll tell you a bit of my new ability that you can share with the masters. I can see mana within thirty feet, and can tell people¡¯s auras. Monster auras don¡¯t extend nearly as far, but that might be due to lack of mana capacity. The only people I have studied under this so far have been yourself and Djarleen.¡± ¡°I think that should pacify them for now, especially since I can describe how it looks to them in detail. Oh, you might want this before you go.¡± Reaching into a bag next to him, he slid over a golden yellow potion that seemed to be glowing. ¡°And with that, I do believe our business is concluded. Thank you for your time, Angus and Djarleen.¡± With that, he stood and shook our hands before ushering us out the door. We walked by the front desk, simply nodding at Marcus as he moved at an insane speed filing papers. Once we made it back to the store, I headed over to the workbench and cleared an area. ¡°Want to see me apply the potions?¡± I asked Djarleen. ¡°Yeah, this should be interesting.¡± I placed my weapon on its side, and popped the cork of the glowing potion. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± I said, and slowly started pouring the potion onto the crystal heart embedded in the weapon. Contrary to my expectations, the liquid never splattered. Instead the crystal heart shimmered as if it were a liquid, immediately absorbing everything. The golden glow flowed through the crystal veins in the weapon, moving further and further with each beat of the heart. As the last of the potion dropped, the heart gave a deep thrum that I felt in my chest, and glowed brightly before settling back down.
Bloodsteel Hammerscythe (Soulbound, Scalable) This weapon was specially commissioned for a neophyte of Thanatos. Infusing the steel with his blood and certain herbs, along with the heart of a creature slain by his own hand has inexorably linked the two. It will grow with its owner, and has branching potential trees that can be unlocked depending on its usage. Living Weapon: Durability can be repaired by sacrificing the life force of either the wielder or enemies. Souldbound: Can¡¯t be stolen or dropped upon death Scalable: Stats dependent upon the level of the wielder Executioner: +10% increased chance for decapitation when striking the neck of an enemy. Holy Strike: 20% of damage done will be added as holy damage Damage: 260-295 Crushing, 235-255 Slashing Durability: 50000/50000
Thankfully the glow died down, so it wouldn¡¯t be giving me away when I was sneaking up on an enemy. ¡°Well that was quite the sight.¡± Djarleen said. ¡°You going to down your other potions now?¡± ¡°Yeah, it makes no sense to wait.¡± I said, pulling out each potion and drinking them. I wonder if the permanent potions were supposed to taste that much different, as the ice potion felt like I was drinking supercooled water and the earth potion tasted like the smell of fresh turned soil. Oddly enough, it was a pleasant taste, and made me think of walking through a garden in spring. ¡°Ok, ready for some experimenting?¡± I asked Djarleen. ¡°What are you experimenting with?¡± ¡°Well, I was going to make a few of those acidic potions and one of the pyrophoria potions. Shit! We forgot to ask Master Faraldo about the thickening agents!¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯m sorry Angus. I guess we will have to go with my ideas and hope for the best. As an apology, I¡¯ll let you use my reagents for free until we determine the best reagent.¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen.¡± ¡°Oh, and for experiments like this I highly suggest these vials.¡± She said, pulling out a few racks of clay jars the size of the additions I had put on the special bolts. ¡°Split the potion among these, one should fill up five of them. Then we will get a lot less damage when something goes wrong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you mean ¡®if¡¯ something goes wrong?¡± I asked, slightly worried. ¡°Nope!¡± She happily chirped. ¡°Something will inevitably go wrong, better to prepare for it right now.¡± We spent the next few hours trying several options. Flour caused the potions to geyser up like dropping a stream of water into hot oil. Several types of powdered soil only lessened the potions strength and did nothing to make it thicker. We had several powdered bones from low level creatures as well, and although they did thicken the mixture they reduced the flame aspect to nearly nothing. ¡°Damnit, I was hoping for some better results.¡± I cursed, smacking my fist in the table. ¡°Relax, this is part of the process. I do have one last thing to check, but saved it since it was the most expensive one. Here, try this, don¡¯t use the acidic potion.¡± She handed me a green vial, and under [Mystic vision] glowed a vibrant green. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, not quite willing to use an unknown reagent. ¡°Slime from an acid slime. It does minor acid damage, but I think it¡¯ll be a nice substitute for a potion base and it is already gelatinous.¡± Shrugging my shoulders, I dropped in the mycofiend spores and watched as the top started slowly bubbling before stopping. I quickly capped it and looked, only to see about a quarter inch of orange gel on the top. ¡°Try shaking, but remember to vent so the bottle doesn¡¯t explode.¡± Following Djarleen¡¯s advice, I gently shook the vial, and when it started bubbling again I would remove the cap until the bubbles stopped. Five stop and starts later and it was completely orange.
Gelatinous pyrophoria potion The base of this unstable potion has been substituted for gel from an acid slime. This has caused the potion to be far more clingy, thus increasing its efficacy. Causes 130 fire damage over 10 seconds 35% chance to inflict minor burn status (stackable x5)
¡°Ha! We did it!¡± I cried out, ecstatic. I might have even hugged Djarleen and twirled her around for a second. ¡°Put me down! Angus!¡± She yelled at me, but was smiling the whole time. ¡°Thank you. Now, I can honestly say I¡¯m proud of you for not blowing us up with the repeated venting.¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen. I need to go see a few people, but I¡¯ll be back for a bit. I¡¯m going to need quite a bit of that acid slime.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep it, just hurry back, okay?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I said, then headed out to see what Dharkiss¡¯ apprentice had whipped up. Chapter 44 ¡°Dharkiss, how are things going with you today?¡± I asked as I walked in to his shop. ¡°Doin¡¯ well, Angus. Are you ready for your commission?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± I said with a smile. Dharkiss disappeared into the back, and came back with the apprentice in tow. He froze for a second when he saw me, but immediately closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Continuing forward, he placed a veiled item on the counter and spoke. ¡°Here¡¯s your commission sir, please check it over to make sure it meets your satisfaction.¡± With a flick of his wrist, the blanket covering it was removed and I finally saw my shield. It was only three feet tall and two feet wide, so it wouldn¡¯t completely cover me but that was fine. It was also flat instead of curved to deflect blows, which was perfect for my needs. The front had no work done on it whatsoever, covered in hammer marks and slight divots, it was exactly what I had in mind. I flipped it over, and it was exactly how Dharkiss had described it. Three clay containers were hanging from leather straps, and there was a handle for my left hand only.
Modified iron shield This shield has been heavily modified, and will not provide as much protection from force. There are places for three potions to be attached. Defense: 10 Block chance: 5% Durability: 500/500
¡°It looks exactly like I imagined, thank you. The durability looks like it will hold up for what I need it to. Well done.¡± I said, smiling at the apprentice. ¡°Thank you sir, and please come back again for any special commissions you need.¡± Nodding at him, I stored the shield in my inventory and started to head out, before skidding to a stop. ¡°Before I go, would you guys happen to have a few armor piercing bolts?¡± Dharkiss nodded, and for a silver per bolt I ended up buying 20. ¡°Thanks again guys. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± This time I really headed over to the leatherworkers. I had completely forgotten about my new armor set, though they forgave me once I offered a few extra silver for them holding it for me.
Wormskin leather body armor Set (1/5) Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this thick leather armor retains some of the original creature¡¯s resistances, and has been enchanted to aid in stealth. Defense: 150 Durability: 1500/1500 Slashing damage reduced by +15% 20% harder to detect while in stealth
Wormskin leather gauntlets Set (1/5) Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this thick leather armor retains some of the original creature¡¯s resistances, and has been enchanted to increase the damage done by critical strikes. Defense: 20 Durability: 750/750 Adds 30 earth damage to unarmed attacks Critical hit damage increased by 50%
Wormskin leather belt Set (1/5) Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this belt retains some of the original creature¡¯s resistances. It has been enchanted to increase evasion. Defense: 10 Durability: 100/100 Resist earth +10% Chance to dodge increased by 10%
Wormskin leather pants Set (1/5) Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, these pants retain some of the original creature¡¯s abilities. It has been enchanted to give the wearer longer staying power. Defense: 30 Durability: 1000/1000 Increases chance of discovering moving enemies by 25% Stamina consumption decreased by 10%
Wormskin leather skullcap Set (1/5) Created from the skin of a single tunneling worm, this head armor retains some of the original creature¡¯s resistances. It has been enchanted to aid in striking true. Defense: 60 Durability: 500/500 Earth resistance +25% Critical hit chance +25%
Wormskin leather set completed! Wearing pieces of this set will provide the following bonuses:If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Earth attack bonus applies to weapons (3 of 5) Doubles earth attack bonus (4 of 5) Maximum earth resistance increased by 15% (5 of 5) Resist earth +15% (5 of 5)
This armor set was spectacular. To make physical damage reduction believable, the game limited you to a combined maximum of 30%. This could be split however you wanted among piercing, crushing, or slashing. Magic resistances were capped at 75% per element, since there were so many elements to protect against it was impossible to max all your resistances. Raising the resistance cap was incredibly rare, and when I finally outgrew this set it would fetch a hefty price on the market. Right now I was looking good with an earth resistance of 80% when everything was equipped. Fully equipped, I had just enough time to head back and finish up my potions for the plans I had. Each of the clay jars attached to the shield were carefully filled with the gelatinous pyrophoria potion. Djarleen tried not to pry, but I caught her several times checking out my shield from the corner of her eye. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know how it works when I get back Djarleen.¡± I said without looking directly at her, smiling as she flinched before shaking her head at me. Preparations complete, I headed out to hunt a frog and a crawfish. Though they were lower level than I was, I still killed most of the monsters I came across. The experience was less important than just having an escape route for when things went wonky. The first boss I came across was the stormlord toad, and I smiled as I snuck up behind him. Once I was close enough, I activated [Mystic vision] in the hopes that it would have an obvious mana core somewhere, but I was out of luck. I did see a fairly straightforward network of purple mana lines that would spiral up each of the protrusions on its back and head, as well as several brown lines. Disheartened, I canceled my skill and backed away slowly. Thirty feet was just a little too close for comfort when the toad was around. Once I had doubled the distance, I pulled out my shield, and gently set it on the ground. Taking aim with my crossbow, I decided on attempting a crippling shot to the lower part of the leg instead of going for an eye. Unlike the thunder ram variant, this toad had eye ridges that looked like a cloud blowing along a wind. Not knowing how strong they were was too much of a risk. *Thwack* The bolt buried itself into the back of the toad¡¯s knee, and it grunted in annoyance. Turning to look at me, I had just gotten my shield raised before *thunk* the tongue shot out and slammed into it. The bottom of the shield screeched as it slid back a few inches, but I managed to keep it upright. Once I felt a tug on it, I gave it a slight shove to ensure it fell forward and didn¡¯t crush the jars prematurely. The toad drew its tongue back in, and immediately started chomping down on what it thought was the small creature that dared to hurt it. ¡°EEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!¡± I didn¡¯t know that toads could scream, but this one did once the jars were crushed. It was a beautiful sight, the toad opened its mouth to crush down one more time only to have everything burst into bright flames. Flames that clung to the tongue and dribbled down the boss¡¯ throat. Flapping its mouth and tongue, it started launching massive arcs of electricity as its health rapidly dwindled. Once it hit half health, it leapt to the ceiling and did the mother of all lightning infused headbutts into the ground. Even as far away as I was, I had to take a second to stabilize myself from the shaking of the impact. Unfortunately for the toad, it didn¡¯t have enough time to flip down, and its stomach was exposed to me, so I fired a quick bolt into it, happy with a center of mass shot. I took the risk to charge in, as I noticed a lack of those electrical protrusions on the stomach. Pulling out my hammerscythe, I put everything into a leaping attack. ¡°FOR THANATOS! [REAPER¡¯S EDGE]!¡± My body slammed into the toad¡¯s, and gravity helped me disembowel it as I slid down.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For sacrificing an acceptable offering, you gain 10 favor. For sacrificing a miniboss type monster, you gain 25 extra favor. For slaying a miniboss type offering with [Reaper¡¯s edge], you gain 20 favor. You have gained the requisite favor required, stop by the church for your rewards.
I sat back on my heels, and exhaled in relief. Damn, but that was kinda fun. Smiling, I reached out and almost looted the body before remembering that deaths offered to a god couldn¡¯t be looted. Shrugging, I relaxed and let my stamina recover instead. Once I recovered, the hunt resumed. There it was. I was just out of its viewing radius, but I was also unable to get close enough to use my own magical sight. Sighing, I headed out to hunt one more crayclaw. The strategy was simple, but this time I varied it slightly. I started out like normal, taking out the legs on one side with an ambush strike as it ran away from a falling mana potion. Instead of immediately taking out the armor on the back and attacking its vitals, I circled around and used a [Keen edge] to disable the larger claw. It could still close it, but the arm couldn¡¯t move. I walked around to face it head on, activating [Mystic vision]. Sure enough, two inches below the peak of its head was a concentration of mana, that had to be where the sensory organ was. As I was studying the face of the creature, I noticed a slight glow from that massive claw. Looking over, the edges were lined in a light blue mana, and once it concentrated enough the claw slammed shut and a blue bubble shot off into the distance. Huh, so that¡¯s how they did it, by manipulating air mana and effectively firing an air bullet. Turning back, I finished the downed creature with two mana shockwave enhanced blasts to the head. Once that was done, I headed back for the final round with the albino kingclaw. This time, I wasn¡¯t nearly as worried as I was. I loaded one of my armor piercing bolts, and waited for my opportunity. ¡°KREEEEEEEE!¡± an earsplitting wail from the creature indicated a successful shot, and it blindly started firing off air bullets, which were much easier to dodge with the aid of [Mystic vision]. I was really starting to enjoy that skill. Keeping low, as the monster tended to fire off air bullets at about my head height, I got in close enough that a [Keen edge] could disable one of the arms. Smiling, I simply kept dancing back and forth out of its immediate reach to prevent trampling as I systematically disabled all the legs on one side. Once that was done, I disabled the other major claw. From there it was a simple matter to crush its head. Once it fell, I gained a level and looked to the loot. Two pieces of claw and tail meat, two oversized claw blades, and one piece of albino carapace. On a whim, I looked at the carapace with [Mystic vision], surprised to see hexagonal earth mana lines regularly repeating throughout the piece. I would see what Dharkiss could make of it, and see if those lines translated into enhanced earth resistance.
New ability acquired! Your weapon is linked to your own growth, and is eligible to obtain a new bonus every ten levels. Recent actions have unlocked your second bonus. For systematically dismantling armored opponents and their champion, you have unlocked the following: Heavy Armor Bane Ignore 10% of opponent¡¯s armor if heavily armored, Enemy heavy armor takes 50% more durability damage
* * * * * * * * * * * * * By the time I got back to the city, I only had enough time for one stop before I would need to log out. Instead of heading to see Dharkiss, I went over to the temple of Thanatos, as I was curious about those notifications. ¡°AAAARRGH!¡± I cried out in pain, covering my eyes. I had gotten used to walking around with [Mystic vision] activated, but the sheer magnitude of the mana coming off the temple torches blinded me. I made sure the skill was deactivated, and gently opened my eyes. Things were only slightly blurry, and should clear up in two minutes according to the debuff notification. I was incredibly glad that I had this happen in town, as this would have been a death sentence out in battle. Hell, I didn¡¯t even think that it could be overwhelmed, which in hindsight was rather stupid. Shaking my head, I walked through the door. ¡°Greetings brother, are you busy?¡± I asked, finally seeing the high priest before he could sneak up on me. ¡°I can always help out a fellow member of the church. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Well, today I got a notification that I had passed over 100 favor with the church. I was wondering what that means?¡± ¡°So soon? Thanatos must have been pleased with your offerings. Come, brother. Place your hands on the altar.¡± I walked up and did as he asked. The flames started dancing faster, and I felt a familiar burning in my chest.
Church rank upgraded! You have progressed in the church of Thanatos. Congratulations, you are now an Initiate. As an initiate, you have been granted deeper insight into the mysteries of death. Check your skills section for your new ability. Nothing is for free, however. You will need to provide more suitable offerings per week, and more favor is required to unlock higher positions within the church. Current favor: 29/250 Champion level monsters sacrificed: 1/3 Current weekly kills: 1/10
New skill acquired! Unflinching Gaze of Death (Death¡¯s gaze) Death¡¯s Raiment (2 of 4) It is said that once the reaper has a target in his sight, he will never blink until the final blow is struck. His gaze reveals the perfect place to strike, and he never misses. You have been granted a lesser form of this ability. Once activated, you will be able to see the best place to strike for a critical attack. This will be enhanced by your anatomy knowledge, to the point that having it mastered will show not only the location but proper angle with which to strike in order to do maximum damage. This effect lasts until either you strike your target or blink your eyes. Activation cost: 100 mana Cooldown: 5 minutes
¡°Congratulations on your advancement, brother. You will find that when checking your tattoo, it has merely gained depth and shading.¡± ¡°Thank you brother, but what is this notification about champion level monsters sacrificed?¡± ¡°In order to progress to becoming a priest, you not only have to gain the proper favor, but sacrifice three champion level monsters. In case you aren¡¯t aware, they generate far more favor than a regular sacrifice.¡± ¡°Thanks for the tip, but I had figured that out. Probably something about them being a more fitting sacrifice?¡± ¡°Indeed. Now, how are you progressing in your ability to start the quest for Thanatos?¡± ¡°I leave for that tomorrow. I have gained mystic vision, and have a general idea of where to start.¡± ¡°Excellent. I wish you luck, and speed on your endeavors. Remember, things need the cycle of death in order to maintain balance.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I have to go now. Thank you for your assistance.¡± Walking out of the temple, I headed back to the inn to logout. Chapter 45 The next morning, I headed down to Djarleen¡¯s shop first and stocked up on potions. Ten each of the ethereal flame and ethereal shift. I went to Dharkiss next, and sold him the albino carapace with the promise that he would let me see the final product. Preparations complete, I headed down to the only thing that I had come across that looked like it was related to death in any way shape or form. An hour and a half later, and I was standing in front of the locked door of demonic subjugation I had come across after fighting the tunneling worm. The artistic detail was still fantastic, and I still saw no way to get it unlocked. Knowing that there would have to be a way in, I activated [Mystic vision], and was shocked. The entire relief seemed to reverse itself. Instead of the light races being subjugated by demons, they were pouring out of portals and fighting back with weapons made of pure mana. The portals were numbered, so I tried pressing them sequentially.
Congratulations Mortal! You have unlocked the heroic dungeon: Catacumba Daemonica. It is not recommended to fight in this place alone. As a heroic dungeon, all creatures within will be heroic rank and be three levels higher than you. Pay close attention to the seal just inside the dungeon, as this marks safe places where you may rest. Good luck, for you shall need it.
¡°HOLY SHIT!¡± I yelled as I read the popup. A heroic dungeon all to myself? This could be an experience farming machine! Shaking my head, I looked at the seal, and it wasn¡¯t subtle at all. A 100-foot diameter circle of silver with a golden inlaid sunburst, it would be rather hard to miss. I figured that it would have some massive magic to keep monsters at bay, so I kept mystic vision deactivated. Looking around, I was in a large corridor. I walked up to one of the walls, as I couldn¡¯t tell if it was intricately carved art or really constructed out of ancient bones. Even touching them couldn¡¯t tell, so I just went with the assumption that they were made of bones that had ended up becoming petrified together. The hallway was lined with two rows of knights, each one having either a massive greatsword resting on its point, or a massive two headed battleaxe with the blades resting by their feet. I¡¯ll be honest, they would be very intimidating, with their solid black armor that had cruel spikes in various locations. I walked to the edge of the seal, and felt safe in activating [Mystic vision], hoping I could keep it up for most of the dungeon. Luckily none of the knights within my vision changed, so I felt confident they weren¡¯t a trap. I did take the time to look down, holding my hand by my face to block any accidental sight of the actual seal. Surrounding the seal was an incredibly complex series of runes, it almost looked like there were three separate lines that had been interwoven to create the spell effect.
You lack the proper skills to study this enchantment Enchantment: 0% Rune language: 0% Heavenly runic script: 0% Rune weaving: 0%
Heh, guess I won¡¯t be recreating this in any form anytime soon. Shrugging, I headed down the hall. I wasn¡¯t simply running down it, as mystic vision would do nothing to show mundane trap triggers. The floor was carved stone, and was wonderfully flat, so any pressure plate traps were rather obvious. What was insidious was the use of the corners of the pressure plate as an anchor for tripwire traps that were at an angle to the perfectly square sides of the tiles on the floor. After the third one, I finally saw the first of the enemies of the dungeon.
Heroic enslaved spectral imp Lvl 30 This ghost of an imp has been enslaved and will carry out its orders with no hesitation. Though imps are usually prone to pranks, expect this one to use ones decidedly more dangerous in nature.
Just effing great, not only are they ghosts, but demon ghosts. I used one of my vials of ethereal shift potion, saving the blaze ones for deeper in the dungeon when doing as much damage as possible was a necessity. The imp was a light purplish color, a hunchbacked little thing with vicious talons and wings keeping it aloft. It noticed me at twenty feet, and gave a shriek and chittered in a language that felt slimy somehow. It threw a blob of purplish fire at me that I easily dodged, but when I rolled back to my feet it was gone. Instead I noticed one of the armor suits was slowly creaking as it started moving. I could also barely see the two purple lights inside the eyes of the helm.
Heroic haunted armor Lvl 30 A suit of armor being animated by a malevolent spirit. Did you really expect anything different?
Cheeky devs. I pulled out my crossbow and plugged it right in the face, knocking the head off the armor. Sadly, that barely took a chunk out of the health bar. Instead, the armor reached down and placed the head in the crook of its arm. Cocking my head, the name changed and its health bar grew.
Heroic dullahan Lvl 30 An evolved form of the haunted armor, the Dullahan is surprisingly apt at combat despite the limited field of vision. You aren¡¯t going to lose to someone with literally one arm tied to their side, are you?
Seriously? I shot him in the face and he evolved? By the time I had read the notification, the monster was halfway to me and was twirling the battleaxe one handed. I slowly backed up as I reloaded, and shot at his face again. Charging in behind the bolt, I drew my hammerscythe, doubly glad for its new ability against armored foes. Despite the fact that it had twisted its body to avoid the bolt, its battle instincts were on point as the business end of that axe was headed straight for my neck in a classic decapitation swing. I dropped into a slide and used my momentum and a [Mana shockwave] to unleash as much devastation on one of the knees as I could. As it dropped to a knee and used its spare arm to balance itself, I used the recoil of my blow to increase my speed and deliver a spinning smash to its back. Once there, it was simple to keep it on the ground with well-placed blows to the arm, and use my spare attacks to whittle down its health. Once the health had dropped to a quarter, I noticed that the purple glow was starting to look a little . . . patchy. Any attacks to non-glowing parts did minimal damage, and I guess that I was slowly wearing down the imp. Focusing my attacks on the remnants of its body, I quickly dispatched the ghost. Hmm, I wonder what you call it when a ghost gives up the ghost? Bah, not important. My loot was disappointing, I only got a vial of ectoplasm. Heading deeper, I finally came to the first branch of the tunnels. I slowly turned the corner, keeping low in the hopes that I would go unnoticed.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. It was a simple room, with a stone sarcophagus in it. I noticed some mana glowing from inside the sarcophagus, and prepared myself for a fight. Inching my way into the room, I kept on high alert for ambushes, making sure to look near the ceiling. Finding nothing, I circled the sarcophagus looking for tripwires, and instead found a magical trap. There were runes hidden on the backside of the edge of the lid, impossible to see from above. Did I have any option to disarm the trap? Not many of my skills would interact with mana, the only one I could think of to use at any type of distance was [Mana blade]. Forming a long spike, I could extend it almost three feet. I slowly brought it in, and started scratching at the runes. Once I had one starting to flicker in my vision, the trap went off. A slightly blinding flash of mana sent the lid flipping over to slam down forcefully where someone less cautious would have been standing. Rapidly blinking my eyes didn¡¯t help, but luckily the debuff only lasted ten seconds. Standing up, I looked over and into the sarcophagus to find it filled with some bluish green fern. There were three plants, apparently called Ghost Ferns, and they gave me some spores to use. They had an odd bluish glow sitting in my inventory, and I vowed to keep my eyes out to see what I could make with them. Heading deeper, I immediately charged the next spectral imp I came across, hoping I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it in an armor form. ¡°[Mana shockwave]!¡± I shouted, slamming my hammer into the creature. In my head, I expected the hammer to slam into the creature, and the shockwave sending it rocketing into the ground. Reality had a different result. My hammer did some damage as it traveled through the imp, but it wasn¡¯t solid enough to trigger the shockwave to detonate. Instead it felt like I was swinging through water for a second, and once it was through I slammed my hammer into the ground sending rock shards in all directions. I took some slight damage from the shards, but the worst part was the disorientation from my attack not moving as planned. This of course gave the imp plenty of time to slash my face with some flame enhanced claws, though they felt frigidly cold instead of burning hot. Staggering back, my flailing weapon managed to catch a thrown fireball through luck more than skill. Shaking my head to regroup, I at least saw that the imp would engage in combat once I attacked rather than dive into the nearest armor. I set my stance, studying my enemy. Though the wings flapped, they seemed to do so more out of habit than necessity. The imp didn¡¯t gain or lose any height while flapping. There was a slightly darker spot in the center of the imp, and as I watched I saw the dark color flow to the hands and form another fireball that it threw at me. Sensing a possible weakness, I charged in once again. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I snarled, slashing through the heart of the colored spot. ¡°GYEAHAHAhahahaha.¡± With a fading wail, the imp was torn asunder and dissipated. A pile of gray dust was left of the body, and I looted some ectoplasm and continued on. The walls didn¡¯t change much, and any intersection with different halls were rather simplistic, one branch always ending in a dead end after a few turns. I found several of the ghostly ferns, and was rather surprised that they didn¡¯t show up when I deactivated mystic vision. I vowed to keep it on even outside the dungeon as often as possible, who knows what most people had been inadvertently passing by? Eventually the imps started showing up in pairs and trios. The core, as I started calling it, was always located in the same spot, making it trivial to take out the initial imp with one attack. Liberal use of [Keen edge] boosted my damage, and by the time I came to the floor boss I had boosted it from beginner level 6 to intermediate level 3. The damage boost jumped to 39%, but the chance of amputation remained the same. The boss room had no door, but it was easy to determine that it would be a tougher battle. There were three imps floating around with several suits of armor lining the walls. Seated in a throne was an impressive suit of armor, jet black in color. The helmet had three sets of wavy horns coming out each side and pointing upward, while the knuckles had some vicious looking short spikes reminiscent of brass knuckles. It also had a massive warhammer on one hand. Floating above it was a bloated imp, unlike the others it actually had a small trident in its hand. I wasn¡¯t close enough to use identify it, so I reapplied the ethereal shift potion and also used the ethereal flame potion. Stepping into the room caused sconces along the circular chamber to erupt with a green flame.
Heroic imp lord Lvl 30 Do not underestimate this lowest evolution of imp, as it is far more powerful than it looks.
¡°Fleeeeessssshhhhh, give usssss your fleeesssssshhh!¡± The ghostly spirits cried, before the three imps combined their flames into one massive fireball. There would be no dodging this, so I had to grit my teeth and charge into the freezing flame as I closed in on one and slew it with a [Keen edge]. Seeing the bonus damage from the ethereal flame potion was an amazing effect, as blue white flames erupted along the blade as it came in contact with the spirit. They transferred over, and aided in the rapid dissolution of the corpse. Of course, as I was slightly transfixed with the effects, I felt an icy pain erupt in my left shoulder, and looking down showed the tines of the pitchfork sticking out from my chest before being ripped back. Spinning around, I traded blows with the imp lord as the other two kept their distance, occasionally firing a spell at me to disrupt my attacks. Once the imp lord had dropped to half health, the two remaining imps sacrificed their own health to create fireballs that healed the boss. ¡°Damn healing bastards, I shoulda known.¡± I muttered before daring around the fully healed boss and taking out one of the imps. I had to defend myself once again, as the boss seemed to be slightly enraged when I took out its minion. Once again I had to wear down the boss for a while before I could get around to taking out the final imp, but I got it down before it could heal the boss again. ¡°KREEEEEEE!¡± The boss screamed at me, then surprisingly made a beeline towards the chest of the armor on the throne. While it was getting its possession skill going, I topped off my health with some potions. Squaring off, I tried to find any place where the mana was concentrated in the possession, but couldn¡¯t find any. Well, let¡¯s see if this helps. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze].¡± I said quietly, staring at the boss. The only red spot was an oval across the face, so I decided to make the eyes my targets. Charging in, I saw mana flowing up into the head of that massive hammer, and had to cancel my skill in order to strike the hammer on its downswing just to deflect it enough to miss me. The spray of shattered stone cost me a bit of health, but far less than what I would have had that connected. Shuddering, I placed my foot on the shaft of the weapon, but had to dance back as I saw some pointed spikes leading a fist towards my shin. Swinging an uppercut with my scythe leading, I aimed for the face but must not have gotten the eyes. I backed off, slightly worse for the exchange. I squared off with the boss again, trying to figure out his stance. That massive hammer was cocked back and resting on his shoulder, and I fully expected him to unleash a massive downward swipe. Once he started his cross motion, I would dart out to his weapon side, aiding his swing with my hammer, leaving me in a great position for a counterattack. Plan set, there was nothing left to do but charge in. Ever heard the saying, ¡°And that¡¯s where it all went wrong?¡± Well, that¡¯s what happened with my plan. Sure, the first move was to bring that hammer up and over his shoulder, then he brought it laterally across the top of his head and gave it a backhand travelling right at my face. I managed to duck under it, and gave it a slight deflection with my hammer. This left me wide open for his off hand to smash straight into my stomach, steel spikes leading the way. As I was bent over in pain, I got a lovely face full of upswinging hammer. Slamming a hammer into the sensitive snout of a kobold is a great way to get his eyes to water, much like what happens when you manage to do that to a human. With my vision blurry, slightly disoriented, and off balance, I was easy pickings for the combination unleashed by the boss. Face, thigh, shaft thrust to the chest, uppercut with the hammer head to knock me flat on my back and finally a two handed overhand slam into my exposed chest finished me off.
You have died! Death in a heroic dungeon has different penalties than elsewhere. All equipment suffers 10% durability loss. You lose neither experience nor coin, and the only monsters that will respawn will be in unconquered boss chambers. As a member of the church of Thanatos, you will not lose any kills towards your weekly quota.
Chapter 46 Emily, I recently entered and died in a Heroic Dungeon, and I have some questions about the mechanics. With the number of monsters that were higher leveled than I am slain, why have I not leveled up yet? This should have happened already. If this is one of those dungeons where I get all experience at the end, I want to ask the developers to rethink that plan. I assume they don¡¯t want someone on the verge of leveling up to come in and gain an advantage by leveling immediately and closing the gap between the monsters and player. This could be solved by simply locking only the levels of the monsters on the same level as the player, and letting lower levels grow to again be three levels higher than the player. As it stands, by finishing the dungeon with all creatures at the same level I am losing out on total experience, and people WILL complain about that. I do appreciate the death mechanics. Having the boss chamber respawn everything will prevent kamikaze runs to wear down the boss. The only question I have is if I have to leave the dungeon for some reason. Will this reset everything, or will my progress be saved? I understand if you can¡¯t answer, but will I get some form of achievement if I manage to defeat a heroic dungeon without leaving to have equipment repaired? This would limit me to less than ten deaths. Thanks, Marty Sighing in frustration, I sent the email off to Emily. I really hope they decided to revamp a few of the things with the dungeon, namely the experience. Oh well, but that¡¯s not going to help me defeat this dungeon. Shaking off my frustrations, I headed straight back to the boss chamber, and camped outside it for a while as I planned my next foray into battle. One of the things I had noticed was that the imps lost a bit of their health in order to heal the boss. They also didn¡¯t attack too swiftly, so I could practically ignore them. My plan was going to be fairly simple. Slay two of the healing imps and take one down to very low life, hopefully near a quarter health. I would then switch to the boss, and hopefully draw him away from the armor in the chair. Since he didn¡¯t try and enter it until the last imp died, I could hopefully take him out before he could enter it. I was also hoping the last imp wouldn¡¯t sacrifice its own life to heal the boss, but those things are never certain. The other observation that was going to be vastly important was the difference in cores between the imp and the imp lord. Each imp had a small core in the stomach area, while the imp lord had several cores spread throughout the body, most likely to stop someone like me from getting a one shot kill on the boss. I first double checked all my equipment, and used another ethereal shift and ethereal flame potion on my weapon, both effects having disappeared upon death. I waited until two of the imps were in a line before charging in. Once again, the imps started creating a massive fireball. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I said calmly, slashing through and dispatching one imp. I headed to the next one, easily slashing through it as it suffered from the backlash of having their combined spell backfire. The third imp only got a hammer blow to the face, taking off a chunk of health but not killing it. It was only down to about half life, but I switched to the boss and managed to barely avoid his thrust that would have taken me mid back. ¡°Not this time ya sneaky bastard.¡± I slowly retreated a bit, getting the imp lord to follow me. Keeping him between the imp and the imp lord wasn¡¯t too hard, and once all my cooldowns had recovered I launched an attack. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I yelled while darting forward, and saw the imp lord¡¯s eyes widen in terror for a second. I went with a diagonal slash through his stomach, catching three of the core areas that were highlighted red in my vision and just barely missing a fourth. Continuing my combo, I immediately moved into a horizontal slash that only cut one core, but left me with three in a line for a final strike. ¡°[Keen edge]!¡± I snarled, slicing through the three cores as the imp lord howled in agony. It retreated for once, and I noticed the remaining imp creating a ball of healing energy. I ducked under the imp lord and stood up between the two, and used my hammer to smash the healing orb as it flew towards the imp lord. Maybe it was something to do with the ethereal shift, but the orb shattered, sprinkling me in blue shards. I turned my attention back to the main boss, as the healing imp had dropped to a quarter health, while the boss had recovered from my attack and was sitting at a third of his health. I gave a predatory smile, at last having the upper hand in the battle. The rest was anticlimactic, as I took slight damage from the occasional fireball from the imp as I worked on taking out the boss. I couldn¡¯t avoid all damage, as his jabs with that annoying trident were rather rapid. It was also taking much more care to avoid getting its cores slashed, so it was normal attack damage instead of critical hits for the rest of the battle. I still lost just under half my health, but it was much easier than fighting that oversized suit of armor. ¡°For Thanatos!¡± I yelled before trading the final blow, kicking myself for using [Reaper¡¯s edge] so early in the battle.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 10 favor. For slaying a heroic monster, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a miniboss type monster, you gain 25 favor. Current favor: 84/250 Champion type monsters sacrificed: 2/3 Weekly kills: 10/10
Why sacrifice a miniboss? It probably wouldn¡¯t give much in the way of loot, and I would need to sacrifice them at some point anyway. It would be better to get that requirement out of the way as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of this dungeon. Wait, could I do that? I¡¯m sure there would be another floor boss at some point, which could gain another 50 favor minimum. That would leave another 120 favor, ten of which would come from turning in my weekly quota quest. I¡¯ll have to see what happens when a regular heroic monster is destroyed. Smiling, I looked through the boss room for hidden treasure but didn¡¯t find anything. That was disappointing, but nothing too bad. Search complete, I headed towards the back of the room and into the staircase leading down. The second level was slightly more worn looking than the previous. There were alcoves with bones of all types, and puddles along the wall from some unknown water source, most likely the cause of the stone wearing down. The first chamber at the bottom of the stairs had the same seal as the beginning of the dungeon, and I got a popup asking if I wanted to set this as my bind point for the dungeon. I hit yes to save some time after resurrection, and continued down the hall. After thirty feet or so I came to an open chamber with some lights floating around. Closer examination showed them to be oriental type lanterns with a bit of bluish flame coming out the top, and a gruesome face inside the lantern. Huh, must be something like a will-o-wisp. I turned my attention to the creature squatting in the center. Every few minutes it would face a new direction, and its body was completely made of flame. The face had no features other than four slanted eyes that burned a deep purple color. The arms were long and lanky, and had no hands, merely ending in spikes. There magic core of the creature was moving constantly, which would make critical hits a pain in the butt.
Heroic spectral pit fiendThis story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Lvl 30 Pit fiends are imps that have evolved through contact with a shard from the Heart of Flame. They are part of the core of many demonic armies, as their immunity to fire magics severely limit the array of battle magics that can be used by opponents.
Well, this sucks. I went ahead and cancelled the effect of the ethereal flame potion, annoyed at myself for wasting the potion. I waited for it to turn its back to me before sneaking in. There were five of the lights floating in the room, clustered near the exit. Perfect. I leapt forward with [Keen edge] activated, slashing down through the head and back of the pit fiend. As it stood up and arched its back in pain, I kept going with a combination, rotating counterclockwise through an asterisk style slash. If it were on the face of the clock, the initial strike would go 12 to 6, then 7:30 to 1:30, 3 to 9, and finally 10:30 to 4:30. After the last strike the pit fiend stumbled forward, health heavily into the red. Then my world got rocked. Quite literally. All of the floating lanterns had gravitated towards us, and the closest one squinted at me before changing to a glare. Then it exploded, knocking me into some pinballesque series of explosions as each lantern exploded in series. When it was all said and done, I was at half health and the pit fiend was fully restored. I did the only sensible thing, and turned and fled. I took two burning slashes across my back, but I managed to maintain a bit of speed by stumbling and not falling down. I kept running back to the seal, not looking back lest I trip and fall. Panting and out of breath, I flopped onto my back and let everything recover. What the hell were those lanterns? And why did I not read the effing monster description before going into battle? Damnit, I got complacent with the ease of the first level and assumed level two would be just as easy. Twenty minutes later everything was full, and I headed back down to the room to observe. The flying lanterns were back, and I focused in on them to see what they actually are.
Heroic onidoro Lvl 30 The onidoro is a Japanese demon that takes the form of a burning lantern. Though they have terrible sight and low health, their kamikaze attacks are terrifying to behold. The force of the explosion will break almost any guard, and they are often accompanied by stronger demons with an affinity for fire that are more than happy to exploit any openings generated by their deaths. Entering into melee range is not recommended.
No shit, melee isn¡¯t recommended with things that go boom. I pulled out my crossbow and used another ethereal shift potion. Luckily the onidoro weren¡¯t constantly in motion. Instead they would move around a little bit, then stop and hang in the same spot for five seconds or so before moving again. Taking aim, I shot one as it finished moving, thanking Khaliss once again for giving me the [Windless trajectory] skill, as this shot would be impossible without it. As the bolt hit and passed through the thing, it started vibrating and swelling before finally exploding. Once again there was a chain reaction, as each of the remaining lanterns flew to the general area and started exploding. The noise covered my approach as the pit fiend tilted its head in confusion at the explosions. I once again opened with [Keen edge], hoping this time for a decapitation. After that initial slash, I dropped the head and gave a rising slash back across my body, turning a complete circle to keep up momentum and giving a diagonal slash forming an X shape. The pit fiend stumbled forward, eyes glaring at me as I smirked at it. My opening combo had taken down its health to just under half, and taken out its healing option. We traded a few attacks, both landing glancing blows as I was taken aback by its flexibility. Instead of straight dodging, it would flow with the attack as it moved out of the way. As it gave ground after our third exchange, it suddenly jumped back and placed its hands on its chest. I saw mana congregating in its chest, and knew something bad was about to happen. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I shouted, slashing straight through the accumulated mana. Apparently I disrupted whatever spell or skill it was trying to use, as five jets of flame erupted out of its chest and singed my face. Stepping back and waving my weapon defensively, I saw that the pit fiend had finally died, and left a pile of ghostly ashes on the ground. Looting it gave me spectral ashes as well as a ghostly flame shard. The remains of the onidoro gave me a silver coin apiece. Heading down, I came upon another chamber after another thirty feet, populated with the same creatures. Similar tactics led to another victory, only this time I decided to end the battle with [Death¡¯s gaze] and dedicating the kill to Thanatos.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 10 favor. For slaying a heroic monster, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a monster while using Death¡¯s Gaze, you gain 10 favor. Current favor: 124/250
Nice, getting closer to that upgrade. Heading down, I didn¡¯t sacrifice any other pit fiends as I wanted to see what those shards could be combined into. The dungeon was rather simple, ten chambers set every thirty feet or so. The tenth one had the exit to the right instead of straight ahead, but was still a simple matter. Turning the corner, I headed down another thirty feet before examining the next room. It seemed that there was going to be something different after all, as the monster was nothing more than a loose group of small insectoids.
Heroic vile swarm Demonic insects that are incredibly weak individually, but group together in a loose alliance to overpower other creatures. Their bite contains a mild poison that swiftly stacks with others to kill their opponents. Once the group has dropped down to less than ten percent of the original number, it will disband in order to protect the surviving members.
Oh great, a horde of poisonous demon mosquitoes. Looking through my options for weapons, I really had nothing for area of effect attacks except for mana shockwave. Unfortunately for me, mana shockwave wouldn¡¯t trigger on ethereal bodies. Time to head back to the seal and test out a few things. The first thing I did when I got back to the seal was to pull out some vials to try some alchemical concoctions. Subbing ectoplasm for water in the pyrophoria potion worked, though the damage was split between ethereal and physical damage. Slightly grinding the ghostly spores from the ferns I had come across and combining it with the ectoplasm worked wonders, and was probably going to be the potion I would use against the swarms. The best part of it was that I got three attack vials out of what one normal potion would make. I also went back upstairs to the boss room and grabbed an axe from one of the statues, one that was light enough for use one handed.
Bi-phasic blaze potion Created from ectoplasm and mycofiend spores, this potion will ignite upon contact with air and cause damage to both spiritual and physical enemies. Does 50 physical damage over 10 seconds Does 50 ethereal damage over 10 seconds
Spectral blast potion Created from ghostly ferns and ectoplasm, shaking this potion will destabilize it and cause an explosion after three seconds. Anything within range will take spectral lighting damage. Does 250 spectral lighting damage to everything within three feet of explosion.
Potions made, I returned to where the vile swarm was waiting. Standing in the hallway, I leaned the axe against the wall. As a safety net, I charged my hammer up for a shockwave. I pulled a spectral blast potion from my inventory and gave it a hard shake. One. Two. Throw! I hurled the vial at the swarm, but I had waited too long. A wave of cackling energy blasted out in a sphere, barely touching some of the insects. As the swarm charged at me, buzzing in anger, I pulled the axe from the wall and waited until they were just out of range. ¡°[Mana shockwave].¡± I spoke calmly, slamming the axe against the hammer to cause the skill to erupt. The results were devastating. The swarm had no chance to dodge, and simply ran into the wave of energy and died. A few were far enough away that they could escape. I bent down to loot the pile of corpses and obtained a venomous shard. The rest of the level was fairly simple after that. Use a spectral blast potion or a mana shockwave to take out the vile swarms and collect venomous shards, or use a bolt from the crossbow to take out the onidoro before moving on to the pit fiends. There was one time I was slow, and the mana surge to the pit fiend¡¯s chest was actually them giving birth to five more onidoro at once. Monsters aside, the layout of the level was fairly simple. Ten pit fiends in a line to start, turn right and head straight for 8 vile swarms followed by a pit fiend. Again turn right, and get 9 more pit fiends. The level slowly rotated down a square for three lines. The fourth line that would have gone parallel with the initial hallway stopped after one room, and the hallway off the last of the right hand turns led straight into the boss¡¯ chamber. Chapter 47 The boss¡¯ chamber was hidden behind a gold door, where once again the devs had created a masterpiece. There was a massive demon staring down at me. It had goat legs, a spade tail, two massively muscled arms in the normal spot and two spindly arms coming out of its stomach area. Several horns curled from its head to form a crown, and each was topped with a dancing flame. If this was going to be the boss, I was going to be prepared. I started with making as many explosive potions as I had ingredients for, assuming something that literally crowned itself in fire would be immune to flame attacks. I reapplied my ethereal shift potions and opened the door and slipped inside, trying to remain quiet. My precautions were useless, as the boss had immediately noticed me. He had piercing greenish eyes, and the bluish flames on his crown danced in a nonexistent breeze. Shrugging, I walked forward as sconces in the walls lit to reveal a chamber empty except for me and the miniboss.
En¡¯kazaar Heroic pit king Lvl 30 Pit kings are the lowest echelon of the nobility of the hells. Be warned, this does not make them weak by any means. Masters of both melee and magic, they are absolutely devastating in battle.
The whole time I was reading the description, the pit king hadn¡¯t made a single move. I don¡¯t know why, but it seems like all the bosses in this dungeon had something sitting on a throne. Well, knowing that it is almost always better to make the first move, I pulled out my only vial of bi-phasic blaze potion and threw it hard enough that it shattered on the back of the throne and ignited. The king looked down to his chest, then back at me and grinned. ¡°Fire? I was born of this!¡± It chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll have to do better than that.¡± ¡°If one potion won¡¯t do it, maybe a few more will.¡± I said, only I pulled out a rack of 15 spectral blast potions. I gave it a hard shake and immediately threw it, and just like I hoped the boss simply stood up and shook his head at me. The rack bounced off the back of the throne and landed on the seat, before the combined explosion destroyed it. I could vaguely see through the boss, and saw the epic release of a massive lightning bolt that walked its way up his spine before arcing around his crown horns and through his head. Back arching in agony, I charged forward to take advantage of his predicament. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I activated both skills, and had to jump into the air to reach the boss¡¯ shoulders. I carved a curved path from his left shoulder to his right ribs and back to his left hip before continuing my spin. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I activated the skill and gave a backhanded spinning slash from the boss¡¯ right hip up to his left shoulder. At that point I drew back a bit, holding my weapon low and by my hip. En¡¯kazaar¡¯s eyes were blazing in rage, his health having dropped into critical levels by the ferocious combination. ¡°[Hellfire inferno]!¡± He snarled, as his two smaller hands from his stomach closed together in a circle and thrust forward. I tried my best to dodge the reddish purple flames that erupted forth, but he simply shifted his body to keep me within the cone of the attack. Three seconds in an inferno like that feels like hours. I still had the advantage, as I was still at half health, though slightly smoldering. He shifted into a fighting stance, keeping his body bladed towards me. We traded a few probing attacks, and I switched to the hammer side of my weapon to attack his wrists as he punched at me. Getting fed up, his swings started getting wilder. After a particularly telegraphed haymaker, I ducked inside his guard. A flick of my wrist spun the scythe into the attacking side, and I used it to pierce through the palm of one of his smaller hands, before turning it sideways and ripping out as much of a hole as I could. ¡°AAAAAAHHHHH!¡± He screamed in rage, smaller arms crossing to protect the remains of his mangled hand as his other arms swung forward, hoping to smash me between his fists. I ducked forward again, and brought the scythe in an uppercut movement with as much strength as I could bring to bear. The rage was swiftly replaced by shock, as that blow finally managed to take out the last bit of life from the boss. I stepped back, and watched as flames started flowing out from the cuts in his body, and slowly expanded to consume him. Sighing in relief, I searched the body for loot. I received five ghostly flame shards, five ghostly ashes, and most importantly a depleted heart of ghostly flame. It looked like someone had cast a fireball in glass, and emptied it.
Depleted heart of ghostly flame The power that once filled this artifact has been completely drained. In order to use it, you must first find a way to restore it to its former glory. Durability: 5/5
Talk about an obvious hint. I held one of the flame shards near the heart and got a popup asking if I wanted to use it to charge the heart. Clicking yes, I began using all fifty of my shards to recharge the heart. Each one added more color to the sphere, increasing the internal light. By the time I had added the last one, the center was a mesmerizing dance of blues, greens, and purples constantly in motion. I spent five minutes before looking at the description.
Heart of ghostly flame Taken from the remains of a pit king, this material once again shines with power. Contained within is the strength to alter the future potential of creatures. Durability: 500/500 You don¡¯t meet the requirements to use this item. Level 68%
Well, that was disappointing. Into the inventory with you, I¡¯ll deal with you later. Looking around I did manage to find a treasure chest behind a secret panel in the wall. Inside was a platinum coin and a ring made out of red crystal.
Infernal dweller¡¯s ring Crafted from a crystal only found on the infernal planes, this ring protects the wearer from fire damage. It is mainly used to ensure new slaves can adapt to their new home. Fire resist +45%
A useful ring in the right circumstances, but not worth replacing my squire¡¯s ring with. I stored it in my inventory in case I came across a fire dungeon. I wonder if it would automatically resize to fit all wearers, as I knew Derrick would love to have that. Heading towards the back of the room, I went down to the next level of the dungeon. The bottom of the stairs opened up right in the middle of the level¡¯s protective seal, and walking out revealed the staircase was in the middle of a hollowed out column. A light layer of mist obscured my view, but did nothing to inhibit mystic vision. I walked the circle of the seal, and opposite the exit from the staircase saw a large animal print glowing in my mystic vision. Whatever made this had to be huge, as I could fit my entire foot inside the footpad of the mark. I slowly followed the prints through the mists, body thrumming with tension. Ten agonizing minutes later the mists were getting thinner, and I could barely make out a few blobs in the distance. Slowing down even further, I practically crawled along in the hopes that they wouldn¡¯t see me. The blobs resolved themselves into three things. The smallest was a woman with the features of an elf but the size of a gnome. Onyx black hair was pulled back revealing pointed ears, and her face was free of any and all blemishes. Beside her was an enormous white tiger. It had a black spiked collar ringing its neck, and a square gem lodged in its forehead. The stripes on its chest circled around a similar gem that was much larger and shaped like a teardrop. Behind both of these was a deformed tree devoid of any leaves. It truly was a weeping willow, as the bark had grown into faces of horrendous pain, each one seeping a pale green sap from the eyes of the faces as well as splits in the bark.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Deviniella Heroic fallen spirit caller lvl 30 Formerly a spirit caller, Deviniella has lost her way and has turned to syphoning lost souls she has trapped of their energy. Spare her no mercy.
Acongua Heroic enslaved beast spirit lvl 30 Acongua once entered a contract with a spirit caller whose strength was only seen once in a generation. Deviniella has since betrayed everything she once held dear, and in the process enslaved Acongua. This once noble beast spirit still holds out hope of one day being freed from his bonds, but cannot disobey his mistress.
Corrupted heroic tree of souls Lvl 30 This sapling cut from Yggdrasil itself has been corrupted by the foul magics of Deviniella. Instead of connecting the planes of existence and allowing their energies to intertwine, it is now a reservoir of souls that Deviniella can call upon at will to bolster her attacks.
I slowly backed away and headed towards the seal. It was getting late enough in the day that I felt logging out would be better than trying to take on the final boss. Once back at the seal, I set up a tent and ate some rations before finally logging out. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Brain numb, I cruised into Caf¨¦ Oblivion and was shocked to see I was the first to arrive for a change. Plopping down at our normal table, I must have mindlessly thumbed through the menu several times before I noticed a hand waving in my face. ¡°Huh, Wha?¡± I started in my chair. ¡°Ha! Man, you musta had a rough one today Marty.¡± Jon snorted. ¡°Care to tell us about it?¡± ¡°In a bit, I guess I still need to recharge. How are things on the bugbear front?¡± ¡°Oh not too shabby. Finding the village wasn¡¯t too bad. You get general directions once you evolve, and at least in my case I was found by some others from my new village.¡± ¡°You make friends with all the kids again?¡± ¡°Heh, no. Not this time. I had half the village kids wanting to follow me. It woulda been rough getting past all of them without tears so I snuck off in the middle of the night. I won¡¯t make that mistake again. At least, not until I¡¯m sure I am at the end of my evolutionary branch.¡± ¡°Bugbears can evolve?¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve seen at least one. The village chief is something called a Simiking. It looks a lot like a gorilla.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool. So what are you up to now? I don¡¯t know about you, but finding quests isn¡¯t as simple as those old school games with the yellow exclamation point above the NPC.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth? The evolved village is a lot more insular than the beginner village. I have a feeling that I would have to grind reputation to get anywhere near a quest.¡± ¡°Not gonna do that?¡± ¡°Nope. I learned what I needed to, got my location. I¡¯m on my way to help Phoebe out. I promised her I would sit back and launch curses while filming for posterity.¡± ¡°And you are going to share the slaughter with your friends, yes?¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Ha, don¡¯t you know it!¡± ¡°Know what, hun?¡± Phoebe asked, having snuck in when we were talking. ¡°Oh, just talking about your revenge dear.¡± ¡°You are going to make it on time, yes?¡± ¡°I should. I didn¡¯t pick up any new skills though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯m going to be the one in the thick of it.¡± ¡°So Phoebe, how¡¯s life as a cursed existence? Enjoying your evolution?¡± I asked. ¡°It gets rough at times. I try to use my transformation once per day to get some control over it. It¡¯s tricky though, the simplest things can set off the rage. I was chasing a deer, and my increased height caused me to hit my head on a low hanging branch my other form would have easily gone under. Next thing I know, the entire tree has been reduced to kindling and the deer is long gone.¡± ¡°Wow. They give you any clues on how to get your curse under control?¡± ¡°Yeah, I have a starting point for what they call the Moonlit Path. I can seek out some of the shrines to Sin in the world, and gain a little more power over my curse with each one. There¡¯s also some strong hints with the game lore about different beasts I¡¯m going to check out.¡± ¡°Any ideas on getting the information? It isn¡¯t like you can just walk into a library and ask, no?¡± ¡°Well, they kinda expected this I think. The farther along the Moonlit Path you are, the harder it is to detect your curse. Once it is completed, nobody can detect it unless you are in your other state. At that point I¡¯m going to have to chase down some bards.¡± ¡°Bards? Gonna have some music calm the savage beast?¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°No, you ass.¡± Phoebe said with a smile. ¡°Bards are like walking libraries. I¡¯m going to see if any can fill me in on the stories I¡¯ve heard. Maybe meet some more of my kind.¡± ¡°There are other?¡± I asked. ¡°I assume so. The leader of the village congratulated me on becoming a Full Moon King. You could practically hear the capitalization in the title, and there has to be some legends about them. I just gotta find them.¡± ¡°Sounds about right. Maybe you¡¯ll start hearing stories about me.¡± Derrick said, having come in halfway through Phoebe¡¯s updates. ¡°Oh, and just what have you been doing that will inspire stories?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Night raiding bandits. It really is fun, and I¡¯m probably the only troll in the game with the sneak skill.¡± ¡°You got sneak? That is so not fair.¡± Jon laughed. ¡°Swear to god.¡± ¡°So what do you use as a weapon?¡± ¡°Oh I found an ironwood tree not too long ago, makes a really good club. With the bonus damage from strength I am a terror up close. Of course, nobody expects the troll to have a ranged weapon, so mine is pretty devastating when they turn to run.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid to ask, but what have you done?¡± Phoebe asked, hiding her face in her hands. ¡°Well, you know my love of Frisbee golf in college?¡± ¡°Oh god, no. Nononononono!¡± Jon started muttering while shaking his head. ¡°Oh yes my friend, oh yes! See, I found a shale bed near a small stream. Nice, chippable, shale. It took a day to get the technique right, but I now have an inventory full of shale Frisbees the size of manhole covers. Each one with a near razor edge.¡± ¡°They made that into a weapon for you?¡± ¡°Yep. I guess some cities have used stone disks in the past as weapons, though they used launchers that looked like a sideways catapult. I just throw it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m leery of asking this, but what sort of damage does it do?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, it depends on how they get hit. Edge on, which is more common now that I am getting back some of my technique, it usually bisects them. I¡¯ve actually gotten five in one throw before. If it starts flipping, or hits them blunt style, well let¡¯s just say ¡®pulp¡¯ and leave it at that.¡± We all cringed at that last description. ¡°Any issues with armor?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Nah, most of these bandits have shoddy leather at best, a few of the leaders have higher quality stuff. Nobody has plate so far, but I wouldn¡¯t be too worried about it.¡± ¡°People don¡¯t do too well in dented armor, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± He said, pointing a finger at me. ¡°So, how about you Marty?¡± ¡°Well, to be honest I could use a bit of help from you guys.¡± ¡°Oho? This should be good.¡± Jon said, sitting forward. ¡°Well, I got myself into a heroic dungeon, and the last boss is more like a three in one.¡± ¡°Hold up a second, what is a heroic dungeon?¡± Phoebe asked, leaning in. ¡°From what I can gather, you gain experience at the end of the dungeon, everything in there is heroic, and three levels above what you are. You really have to grind your way through, as each battle has a chance to kill you. Now, the final boss is supposed to be a spirit caller that has lost her way. There¡¯s also a rather large white tiger and some form of warped tree of souls that is probably going to heal the caller.¡± ¡°Does the tiger have some jewels on it?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Yes, one on the forehead and one on the chest. Why?¡± ¡°Ok, that¡¯s good. It has to be her spirit attendant. Basically the caller¡¯s pet. Those jewels are going to be massive weak points. She should be able to mentally command it, so even if you silence her it will still attack.¡± ¡°Makes sense, what about the collar on it?¡± ¡°What collar?¡± ¡°Did I not mention it? It has a black spiky collar on it.¡± ¡°Ok, and this is very important. How black is it? Like a lighter black mixed with some grey, or is it ¡®straight from the pit of hell¡¯ black?¡± ¡°The latter, why?¡± ¡°Because that means she has a complete submission collar on it. There is no way that a pet should ever need one of those, they are incapable of going against their contractor!¡± ¡°Wait, in their descriptions it said that the caller had lost her way. Could she have committed a taboo so great that her companion would turn on her, and consider their contract broken?¡± ¡°Only if she did something stupid like consigning a soul to oblivion. Nobody would do that though. That¡¯s a great way to bring down the wrath of the gods.¡± ¡°Well, this is a divine quest from Thanatos.¡± ¡°Marty.¡± She stared at me, leaning forward. ¡°Have you ever heard of something called ¡®pertinent information?¡¯ Because the divine portion of this quest and dungeon would firmly fall into the ¡®pertinent fucking information¡¯ category.¡± She practically snarled at me. ¡°Sorry about that. According to Thanatos, she has been draining souls to fuel her life force and prolong her life. I¡¯m sure she has drained a few to oblivion.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°That would definitely break the contract. So you have a fun fight ahead of you. Do you draw off and fight the tiger, hoping you can somehow take out his collar? Or do you take on the caller, hoping to silence her before she can order her slave pet to kill you? What of that tree, looming in the background?¡± ¡°Well, you paint a lovely picture there, Phoebe. Can you tell me more about this submission collar? Is it physical or ethereal?¡± ¡°Physical. They aren¡¯t very durable, but good luck getting close enough to take one out. Spirit tigers are some of the strongest pets, and the white variety are the strongest variants. There¡¯s a reason they are one of the most feared hunters on our planet.¡± ¡°You would think that they would make it incredibly durable so that your slave doesn¡¯t get it knocked off in battle.¡± ¡°Perhaps I misspoke. You¡¯re right, most of it is incredibly durable. But the latch isn¡¯t. Good luck hitting a latch when several hundred pounds of pissed off tiger are wanting to shred you to bits.¡± ¡°Thanks Phoebe, I think you have given me a semblance of a plan.¡± ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re going to go for the latch?¡± ¡°Yep. I have an acid potion I can launch with a crossbow bolt. Once the latch is cut, the collar should pop right off, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Keep us informed about how it goes, I want to hear more of those heroic dungeons.¡± ¡°Thinking of grinding them?¡± At everyone¡¯s nod, I continued, ¡°Yeah, it seems like a great loophole to be exploiting. Let¡¯s hope the devs overlooked it, but I will probably have to report it if they did.¡± ¡°Yeah, it sucks that our jobs require us to tell about any loopholes we find in the rules.¡± Derrick muttered. We all agreed with his sentiment, and the conversation drifted from there to more mundane topics. After an hour or so of decompression, I excused myself and headed off to bed. Chapter 48 I started the next day in the game with a quick breakfast ration and checked my potion supply. I crafted a pyrophoria potion in the hopes of using it to weaken the tree, as well as a spectral blaze potion. One acid potion went into the special bolts with a canister on the end, I just hoped that the latch wasn¡¯t on the underside of the tiger¡¯s throat. I also had one armor piercing bolt left, and loaded that up. Preparations complete, I headed out. Once again I stalked through the mists, following the footprints. As I got to the clearing, not much had changed. Acongua was sitting with all four feet together, tail wrapped around them. Deviniella had moved so that she was sitting with her back against the corrupted tree. I crept as close as I dared, and moved around so that Acongua was between myself and the caller. Straining my eyes, I could barely make out the collar around his neck. Crawling closer, I could see his ears twitching on occasion, and he kept one trained on me the whole time. I had hope that he wasn¡¯t going to attack, as he had to have noticed me. Once I had covered half the distance, I could see the latch on the collar. It wasn¡¯t directly under his jaw, more to the side I was sitting on. I pulled out my crossbow and loaded an acid bolt, taking careful aim. I fired, and the bolt shattered against the latch exactly like it was designed to. The hissing of the acid trying to eat through the collar was far too loud for my liking, and I guess Deviniella heard it. ¡°What¡¯s that noise?¡± She asked, and I managed to completely reload my crossbow before she realized that she wasn¡¯t specific enough. ¡°Acongua, what is that noise?¡± ¡°I am unsure mistress. What noise are you referring to?¡± ¡°That hissing noise. What is it?¡± ¡°I am not positive, mistress. Perhaps there is a snake nearby.¡± As they kept going in conversation, I took the time to slowly back away. Once I was far enough away in the mists, I listened in again. ¡°Damn smartass cat. Useless. Go find out what was making that noise and report back. Wait! How much longer until our other guards return?¡± ¡°I am unsure mistress. It could be there is something else in the dungeon that is preventing their return.¡± ¡°Whatever. Go find the snake or whatever it was.¡± ¡°As you command, mistress.¡± I crept farther back, knowing that the tiger would have no trouble tracking me. Sure enough, it padded out of the mists. ¡°We far enough away to have a chat?¡± I asked in as low a voice as I could muster. He simply shook his head and kept walking, so I followed him. Eventually we got to where he felt safe, and he turned to sit and stare at me. ¡°Are you a snake?¡± ¡°No, sorry to disappoint. Your mistress was rather foolish, sending you away on such open ended orders.¡± ¡°She has become much more complacent with none to challenge her power lately. Why have you come here, traveler?¡± ¡°Oh there¡¯s plenty of reasons. Travelers enjoy challenging dungeons, and the only bigger challenge than a heroic dungeon is a raid dungeon.¡± ¡°Indeed. I am glad that your reason isn¡¯t to challenge my mistress, as I would be forced by her previous orders to defend her until my death.¡± ¡°Understandable. Say, your neck there looks like it is getting a bit itchy. Would it be too much to offer to scratch it for you?¡± I swear to god the cat almost gave a smile. ¡°That sounds absolutely delightful.¡± He replied with a purr. ¡°My left side here, right along the neck.¡± Walking up close, I reached up with my left hand and started scratching, angling my body so that he couldn¡¯t see the weapon in my right hand. As carefully as I could, I slid the edge of the scythe between the collar and his skin, then activated [Keen edge] while giving as hard of a pull as I could. The previously weakened latch couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure, and snapped like a twig. I quickly removed the last of the collar, and let the slimy feeling thing fall to the ground. ¡°Ohhhhh, that¡¯s mucccchhhhhh betterrrrrrrr.¡± He intensified his purring, and I actually felt my bones rattling in my chest. ¡°Any chance Deviniella will know what just happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I would ask your help in dispatching her, mortal.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my mission here. I do have a plan, but before we do it I need to request that the last blow be mine.¡± ¡°ABSOLUTELY NOT!¡± He snarled. ¡°That insufferable bitch enslaved me for thousands of years, and I will savor crushing her skull in my jaws after I rend her with my claws!¡± ¡°Peace, friend. There is a reason. I have been tasked with slaying her using this dagger by Thanatos. Her soul will be trapped within one of the gems if I do, and she will be delivered to him for judgement.¡± ¡°Hmmm, truly?¡± He asked, squinting at the dagger I held in my hand. ¡°I suppose that could work. Very well mortal. I shall accept your offer. What is your plan?¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hang this collar back on your neck, and have you walk back to your former mistress. That should let you get close enough to launch a surprise attack. Will she be able to force you to accept another contract?¡± ¡°No, she no longer has the ability to form a contract. She will try and force me into submission, and with the tree providing her power I don¡¯t know how long I can withstand her strength.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the tree, I will be burning and slashing that down as swiftly as possible. Does it have any offensive abilities, or is it limited to healing and boosting her power?¡± ¡°It is a pure healer class, so there is nothing to fear on that part.¡± ¡°Very well then. I¡¯ll sneak around back and throw one of my pyrophoria potions onto the tree. When she is distracted by that, launch your attack. I¡¯ll take down that tree as swiftly as possible and join you.¡± ¡°Agreed then. Let¡¯s go.¡± Acongua led me back, then gave a flick of his tail as he sat down to wait for me to get into position. I took a looping path around, and crept close enough to see the back of the tree and hear the muttering of Deviniella. ¡°Where is that blasted cat? I swear he hasn¡¯t been able to do anything right for the last century. It¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to order around a little kid.¡± I pulled out the pyrophoria potion, but also loaded my crossbow with my last armor piercing bolt. ¡°Took you long enough cat, some hunter you are.¡± She sneered. ¡°So, what was it that was making that noise?¡± Before Acongua could reply, I threw the potion as hard as I could at the base of the tree. Once the potion caught fire, the tree let out a shriek that would have made a banshee proud. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Deviniella turned around the side of the tree to see me right as Acongua launched a ferocious attack. Eyes wide in disbelief, Deviniella turned to block the tiger with her magic. As she was distracted, I launched a bolt into the back of her knee. ¡°TREACHEROUS BASTARDS! YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE! I WILL TORMENT THEM FOR ETERNITY!!!!¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! As she was rambling about her revenge, I charged in and unleashed a [Keen edge] against the faces of the tree, slashing through several of them. If possible the shrieking got louder, and I felt something wet dripping down out of my ears. I couldn¡¯t hear the battle anymore, though still caught flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes. Knowing Acongua was battling with everything he had, I would use [Mana shockwave] on each face I could reach as often as I could. After my fifth attack with it, the bark started splitting, and several of the faces fell off after they lost the light within their eyes. By this point my ears must have repaired themselves, as I could hear roars of pain and screams of terror coming from behind me. Two more shockwaves, and the tree finally lost enough support that it toppled with a splintering groan. ¡°NOOOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!¡± I turned to see Deviniella launch a magic bolt that took me in my chest and knocked me on my ass. Acongua, with slightly singed hair and several bleeding wounds, took advantage of her distraction to clamp down on her right arm, shearing it off at the elbow. ¡°INSOLENT CAT! I WILL TURN YOU INTO A PAIR OF MITTENS!¡± Flinging blood from her severed arm into his eyes, she slammed a fist glowing blue with magic right into his chest jewel, cracking it. I pulled out the dagger, and charged in, thankful that Acongua¡¯s last attack had taken enough of her life to send her into critical levels. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I yelled, staring at the small red circle just left of center on her back. She turned however, fear in her eyes and I saw another red circle on her temple. I altered my blow, slamming the dagger home into the side of her head. As I did so, all four jewels lit up. Body held up by some invisible force, she floated a few inches off the ground with her arms limp by her sides. ¡°nononononononono.¡± She kept muttering, as the glow from the jewels expanded through the dagger and until it covered her body. ¡°NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¡± With a final scream, the glowing white aura was sucked into the first crystal, turning it black. Her body disintegrated, dagger clattering to the ground. The big cat drew closer, sniffing the dagger as it laid there. ¡°Well, a most interesting artifact.¡± ¡°Are you going to be ok? That last attack seems to have cracked your crystal.¡± ¡°Oh, this? I would be fine in a few hundred years or so on this plane, but thanks to you, traveler, I can now return to the spirit realm. I should have this fixed in about a month or so there, so it is really nothing to worry about. Now, hold out your left hand, palm down.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I asked, though my arm raised almost of its own volition. Acongua put his paw gently on it, then a flash of magic and when he removed it, there was a pawprint mark. ¡°You have saved me from eternal slavery. When you need it, you may call upon me to return the favor.¡±
Summoning acquired! As payment for his freedom, the mighty Acongua has vowed to come to your aid. Use the mark on your hand to summon him to your side. Once time use only.
As I was reading the popup, a massive pulse fired off from the tree, and the return pulse brought all the fog back from the dungeon floor. It coalesced in front of a pillar of light that had erupted from the remains of the tree, and turned into a golden treasure chest, decorated with winged figures. ¡°Until we meet again, traveler.¡± I turned to see Acongua fade out, waving at him before he was finally gone. With the mists and Acongua gone, the bottom chamber of the dungeon was exposed as a simple flat room. I turned to the pillar of light and went to gain my loot. The treasure chest more than made up for the lack of loot earlier in the dungeon. I gained ten platinum coins, a heart of the seas crystal, and a necklace that I was definitely going to be using.
Necklace of banishing spirit This necklace was made to assist in combat against spirits held to this plane against their will. Doubles damage against spectral and undead type enemies.
Of course, it would have been a wonderful item to use during this dungeon. I also received twenty shards of warped spectral bark from the remains of the tree, as well as a pristine spectral warped branch and twenty vials of corrupted sap. Hopefully the alchemist guild would be able to help me figure out what to brew with them, and maybe have a solution that I could brew myself. Lost in thought, I walked into the light and received another popup.
Congratulations on conquering Catacumba Daemonica You have finished a heroic dungeon, and have earned your rewards. Be aware, that this dungeon will no longer be heroic for you or any group you are a part of. Instead you will find a champion level dungeon. You have earned the following rewards: Level up x5 A hero stands alone achievement Ten platinum
Achievement Effects Next level
A hero stands alone +10% damage when alone in dungeons N/A
Once I stepped out of the light, I found myself in front of the dungeon door. I decided to first look through my combat log, as I was wondering about that fear reaction in a boss. Angus MacG used Death¡¯s gaze. Critical hit locations marked. Angus MacG used Reaper¡¯s edge. Attack boosted. Death¡¯s gaze and Reaper¡¯s edge synergistic effect activated. Aura of death. Target has 30% chance to be affected by fear. Target will see a billowing reaper¡¯s cloak surrounding the user. If seen, target has 75% chance to be affected by fear. Deviniella is affected by fear. So, activating multiple death¡¯s raiments at once can cause new effects? That is definitely something to play around with in the future. I headed back to the city, hoping to turn in a few quests and getting a lead on the next location for the divine quest line. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The first thing that happened when I returned to the city was getting a ping for an email from Emily. Marty, I received your email about the heroic dungeon. As you are the first of our beta testers to have encountered one, my boss and some others would like to have a meeting for some discussion. Would you have time later today to talk with us? Thanks, Emily I sent her an email in response, agreeing to the meeting and that she could ping me whenever they were ready. While I waited, I headed out to do some errands. First stop was with Djarleen to set up a trip to see the alchemists guild, then I headed out to Dharkiss to get all my equipment repaired. ¡°Good afternoon brother, how are things today?¡± ¡°Very well brother, very well indeed. And how are things with yourself?¡± ¡°I have some important news.¡± I said, walking up to the altar and giving it a bow. ¡°Lord Thanatos, I have completed the first part of your quest. The spirit caller Deviniella has been slain, and her soul now resides in the dagger you gave me.¡± I placed the dagger on the altar, and watched as the flames changed colors. ¡°You have done well, Angus.¡± We both heard the disembodied voice of Thanatos. ¡°As a reward, I have given you the location of the next enemy. Good luck.¡±
Divine quest completed Death comes for all I You have slain the spirit caller, Deviniella, using the dagger of Thanatos to do so.
Quest Reward Bonus
Slay the spirit caller Deviniella +100 favor, level up x2, Cloak of Wandering Eyes, Death comes for all II Double favor gains
Cloak of Wandering Eyes This cloak has been designed to break up the outline of the wearer, greatly enhancing their ability to hide. +30% to stealth skills effectiveness -15% chance to receive critical hits
Divine Quest Death comes for all II Deep within his Citadel of Bone, a necromancer has broken the rules and has corrupted the bodies of fallen heroes. Go forth and slay him.
Quest Success Failure
Slay the necromancer. Bonus if you complete the following: Slay the necromancer with the Dagger of Thanatos. Learn how the bodies have been corrupted Experience, favor in the church of Thanatos, Next quest in the chain. Loss of quest chain, decreased standing in the church of Thanatos.
¡°Thank you, Lord. I will make sure to end the necromancer and his experiments.¡± Bowing to the altar, I left the church to plan some things. Before I got too far into anything, I got a ping from Emily about the meeting. Changing direction to the inn, I headed to my room and logged out. Chapter 49 I headed to Caf¨¦ Oblivion, which is where Emily wanted to meet. When I got there, I could see her along with two men sitting at a table. ¡°Marty, over here.¡± She waved me over, and sitting down introduced me to the others. ¡°This is Mike, my boss, and this guy is Frank, the lead developer.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you both. I¡¯m Marty.¡± I said, shaking each hand. ¡°So.¡± Frank started. ¡°I hear you have some issues with the heroic dungeons?¡± ¡°Yeah. Just finished the first one, and I love the idea but hated some of the execution if that makes sense? That aside, I know when I did my initial week as a monster they changed my dungeon to a champion one. How long have heroic dungeons been around? I don¡¯t think I ever came across any when I was just a regular player.¡± "Do you not read the patch notes?¡± Frank asked, quite tersely. ¡°Heroic dungeons were added in to give a bigger challenge for those players who didn¡¯t want to switch to the monster classes. We haven¡¯t had any issues with them so far, so what could you possibly have against them?¡± ¡°First, I think people are going to complain about the level locking, as they are going to be losing experience.¡± ¡°How do you figure that?¡± ¡°Look, calm it down a bit, ok Frank? I¡¯m here to talk about what people will complain about, I¡¯m not attacking your system. Let me ask you this, experience gained is based on the level of the monster, right?¡± ¡°Among many other things, yes.¡± ¡°So when you lock the player level until after the dungeon, they can¡¯t get extra experience if they level up in the dungeon. And let¡¯s be honest, if you are fighting in a dungeon with heroic monsters three levels higher than you, you will be leveling up.¡± ¡°So what would you have us do? We can¡¯t just lock the monster level, then when people enter and level up after one monster, they will have that much easier of a time clearing the dungeon. That pretty much defeats the heroic portion of the dungeon.¡± ¡°I agree, which is why I put a possibility to Emily. What if you just locked the monster levels by floor? If they level up of the first floor, no big deal if they are two levels lower than the creatures they are fighting instead of three. The first floor is the easy one anyway. Then when they go to the second floor, they have to fight creatures three levels higher. The players are going to be happy because they are leveling up faster while still fighting in a challenging dungeon. You are going to be happy because you put out a challenge to players that they enjoy.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got a good point there, Frank.¡± Mike interjected before Frank could speak. ¡°Besides, his fix is what, change three lines or so of code?¡± ¡°Mike, it will be a bit more than three lines of code.¡± Sighing, Frank continued, ¡°But you do have a point, I¡¯ll admit. Ok, so what else?¡± ¡°Well, I liked the fact that you only get one clear on the heroic level. I fully intended to go back and farm it for experience several times if you didn¡¯t. I was also glad for the lowered death penalties.¡± ¡°No more complaints? I thought that¡¯s what you guys were getting paid to do.¡± ¡°I told you already Frank, we pay them to judge how the game feels. Sometimes it is complaints, sometimes it is what we are doing right.¡± Mike answered. ¡°So what else, Marty?¡± ¡°The low numbers in the groups were great for individuals, are those numbers set?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, for individuals it is going to be a challenge. Small groups are going to steamroll your dungeon though. You might want to change that a bit, especially if there is a reward for beating heroic dungeons in a group like the one for going solo.¡± ¡°Frank?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯ll think about it. We can¡¯t have too many monsters though.¡± ¡°Well, what about limiting group sizes and levels then?¡± ¡°I can see group sized, and I guess you are worried about power leveling?¡± ¡°Exactly. People are going to do it anyway, might as well limit what you can. I think three levels between the highest and lowest at the start of a dungeon?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a six level gap between a heroic monster and a player be a little much?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Solo? Yes. But if you have good equipment and a good group, it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to fight above your level.¡± ¡°Ok, I think I see your point. So we have leveling issues, group caps and level compatibility. Anything else we need to address?¡± ¡°Not that I can remember. Emily, anything I missed in that email?¡± She pulled up her email and started looking through it really quick, before saying, ¡°Dungeon resets. Is progress saved?¡± ¡°No. You leave the dungeon and everything resets. I hope you have no issues with that?¡± Frank said. ¡°No, I like it, but it brings up another loophole. Do we have a limited number of chances to enter the dungeon on heroic mode?¡± ¡°How the hell would that be a loophole?¡± ¡°Because if I have infinite chances at a heroic dungeon, what¡¯s stopping me from making it to the final boss, exiting, and doing it again and again?¡± As I spoke, I thought I saw the light go off in Frank¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re getting it now, I think. You could theoretically get to max level on a heroic level 20 dungeon if you do it like that. Sure, it¡¯ll be a long grind, but with no limits you could do it.¡± ¡°Yeah, that could be an issue. Damnit. We¡¯re going to have to lock the reward levels too.¡± ¡°Reward levels?¡± I asked.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Yeah. Right now, those dungeon drops are set to drop level appropriate items. You just happened to come along at the right level range for what we wanted. I¡¯m going to have to go back and enter level appropriate ranges for things. Heck, maybe make a minimum level for some of these so that low level people can¡¯t get escorted to a high level dungeon and clean house.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little confused over the last part.¡± I said, brows furrowed. ¡°Think of it like this. Get a guild to escort a group of level 20s through a level 80 area to a heroic dungeon. The low level group clears the dungeon, getting high level heroic drops from fighting mid-level 20 monsters. In this case, I would set the minimum monster level to 83 in the dungeon, so even if a group of level 20s comes in they can¡¯t clear the dungeon.¡± ¡°Oh, I can see it now, and I guarantee you just ruined a lot of guilds days with that change.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°God no, I love it! I would much rather have people get strong through their own merits than get built up by guilds.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°Oh, ok then.¡± Frank really seemed disappointed for some reason. Did he really want to just argue? ¡°Do we have any other issues to address?¡± Mike asked. ¡°Marty, you look a little unsure?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if it is an issue or not.¡± ¡°Jesus, seriously?¡± Frank spat out. ¡°What is it now?¡± ¡°Calm down, nobody gets anything perfect the first time through Frank, and I¡¯m trying to help here!¡± I was shouting at the end, but I think Frank got the point. ¡°Now, what I was saying, I think there might have been an issue in the amount of experience I obtained from the dungeon.¡± ¡°Why do you think that?¡± ¡°I gained five levels from the dungeon.¡± ¡°Five? You¡¯re sure about that?¡± ¡°Yep. Five levels from the dungeon and another two for completing the Thanatos quest.¡± ¡°That. . . does seem a little much.¡± Frank admitted. ¡°I didn¡¯t even kill everything, either. I managed to save the enslaved spirit tiger.¡± I pointed out. ¡°I think this is more of our department than yours for now, Frank.¡± Mike said. ¡°We will see what happened, and let you know where it went wrong. Marty, you know we can¡¯t lower your level, right?¡± ¡°Nope. Had no idea. What do you do when things like that come up?¡± ¡°Well, normally people just don¡¯t report it. In the cases where someone does, we have to institute an experience debt. Basically you keep your level, but the amount of extra experience you gained is subtracted from your total. So you will take a while longer to gain another few levels, but in the end it all evens out.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to suck. Nothing we can do about it, just keep me informed so it isn¡¯t too big of a surprise.¡± ¡°Will do. Now, I think we need to call this meeting. Thank you Marty, for your hard work. If you think of anything else, just send Emily an email.¡± After a round of handshakes, everyone left. I didn¡¯t have much to do, and didn¡¯t feel like logging back in, so I headed over to the lake and laid down to rest. * * * * * * * * * * * * * An hour or so later, I was woken up by Phoebe yelling. ¡°Annoying ass devs with their hippy dippy clues.¡± I sat up from my spot near the base of a tree to see her storm through the caf¨¦ to our table and plop down in a seat. I saw Jon and Derrick both trying to remain invisible while simultaneously making her feel slightly less annoyed. Wandering over, I had to see what got her going. ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Phoebe?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, hey there Marty, didn¡¯t see you. I¡¯m trying to figure out this Moonlit Path stuff, but the first clue is killing me. Don¡¯t they know how much actual folklore there is with the moon? It¡¯s the biggest object in the night sky for fuck¡¯s sake!¡± ¡°Well, four minds are better than one, right? We¡¯ve all helped each other out, so lay the clues on us and see what we can come up with.¡± Sighing, she started talking while Jon and Derrick were giving me thankful stares with their eyes. ¡°So the first clue has me trying to find a shrine in the heart of the forest. The heart of the great forest, which just so happens to be the forest we do most of our hunting in. Three days of hunting and I found about where the clues led, only to find several hundred different altars.¡± ¡°Ok, I can see how that would be frustrating, but are all the altars identical? You might just have to find the one that is different.¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re all different. So here¡¯s what I have for the clues: In the dark heart of the great forest, A place the sun never sees, The altar to the moon of new beginnings, Lies waiting for thee. So now I need to find the altar to the moon of new beginnings.¡± ¡°Phoebe, that¡¯s an easy one.¡± Derrick said. ¡°The new moon is always supposed to be the one of new beginnings.¡± ¡°And just how do you know that?¡± ¡°Remember Karla?¡± ¡°That girl you dated in college for a while?¡± ¡°Yep! Karla was big into being a Wiccan. Said she knew it would be a good idea to date me because I asked her at a party during the new moon. She was looking for new beginnings, and apparently the moon was right for it.¡± ¡°See? See!? How the hell am I supposed to figure stuff out like that! I¡¯m not a Wiccan, I don¡¯t believe in crystals or pyramids or essential oils. Unless I want my house to smell pretty, then a little lavender and orange works great.¡± ¡°Well, just don¡¯t¡¯ get upset over things like that.¡± I said. ¡°You have to remember, the devs are taking stories and beliefs from all over the world to get some of the lore of the game. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if at some point we come across things from anywhere you can imagine. Trickster Coyotes and Ravens, One-eyed men hanging on trees with a spear that can¡¯t miss, the circles of the elements from Chinese myth, anything really.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I just like scientific things, that¡¯s how my brain works.¡± ¡°I hear ya there.¡± Jon muttered. ¡°But speaking of weird things, why do the Chinese have two circles of elements? Shouldn¡¯t there only be one?¡± ¡°Nope. They have the circle of destruction and the circle of enhancement. Destruction goes: water, fire, metal, wood, earth. Enhancement goes: wood, fire, earth, metal, water.¡± ¡°Huh, learn somethin¡¯ new every day.¡± With that, we all fell into a companionable silence, everyone simply relaxing and eating dinner. Even after all this time, I noticed none of us had tried the alcohol after the previous incident. After everyone had eaten, I decided to start off the conversation again. ¡°Well, met with the lead developer today about that heroic dungeon stuff.¡± ¡°How¡¯d that go?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Not too bad. We got a few things hashed out. Hopefully they will change it so that you can level up in the dungeon. They already have it so you can only run it once before it reverts down to a champion dungeon.¡± ¡°Smart, that.¡± Derrick said, before turning back to a massive slice of cheesecake smothered in a red sauce. ¡°Good god, what is that sauce and how can I order my own?¡± I asked. ¡°White chocolate cheesecake with a red raspberry sauce. It might be better than sex. Definitely better than digital sex.¡± ¡°CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!¡± Jon yelled, mashing buttons in a frenzy until he had his own piece in front of him. ¡°Be very careful how you rule the winner of this ¡®challenge¡¯, Jon.¡± Phoebe said, in a dire voice but with a smile on her face. Jon took a bite, and hammed it up. Eyes rolling, moaning, he pulled out all the stops. ¡°Oh GOD! You¡¯re right, it is so much better than you are in bed Derrick. It¡¯s got a bit to go before it comes close to Phoebe though.¡± ¡°Ha, I shoulda seen that one coming. Well played Jon, well played.¡± Derrick said, shaking his head. I just sat back snickering at the interactions. ¡°Ok, we better get off this topic before Jon reveals more of Derrick¡¯s secrets.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, look at that, the perfect topic! I¡¯m getting ready for a new dungeon, this one called the Bone Citadel.¡± ¡°Ooooh, sounds sexy.¡± Jon cooed. ¡°Phoebe, can my Boner Citadel spend some time in you?¡± He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. ¡°Dear lord.¡± She muttered. ¡°Baby, I ain¡¯t even started ye OOF!¡± He was chuckling, but that oof sounded pained. ¡°Whoah, what did you find hidden in that menu Marty?¡± Derrick asked as my dessert appeared in front of me. He was referring to the six inch high piece of cake drizzeled with chocolate. ¡°Well, it¡¯s an orange cake with a hidden layer of limoncello cream, drizzled in a dark chocolate sauce. I¡¯m amazed how much orange they actually got into the cake.¡± ¡°Oh, what I wouldn¡¯t do for some limoncello cream.¡± Phoebe muttered in a daze, before shaking her head and ordering herself a piece of the same cake I did. ¡°Oh bless whoever thought to code these, they need to offer this to people on a diet. Come break your diet with digital delights, you can have anything sinfully delicious and not gain a pound. Go back to reality and eat healthy food.¡± ¡°You should send that in to the devs, hun. That really is a brilliant market.¡± Jon said. We all sat back after that, and just enjoyed the decadent desserts on offer. Chapter 50 Marty, I had a small team go through your logs for your dungeon dive, and I think we found the problem. As we discussed, you will have an experience debt applied, so you won¡¯t gain any experience until you have earned two and a half levels worth of experience. You will still remain at level 34. Thanks, Mike Well, that was going to be annoying. Expected, but still annoying. Instead of heading straight to the Bone Citadel, I did some grinding. I got enough materials to make 200 acid potions and 200 pyrophoria potions, even if they didn¡¯t grant me any extra experience at this point. I also took a few turns through the champion dungeon, sacrificing the final boss to Thanatos to fill out my third required champion level sacrifice. All the monsters in the dungeon were my level or higher by two, so I managed to refill my weekly kill quota and reach the required favor to increase my standing in the church. My fourth run finally had me gaining experience again, as at the end of it I managed to hit level 35. The five days it took to complete all of that had given Dharkiss enough time to work through two of my new commissions, and Djarleen to set up another trade meeting with the alchemists guild. Phoebe was also a lot easier to deal with, as Derrick was right about the new moon altar. She just had to find the one with a sphere of obsidian. Jon had managed to meet back up with her, and their raid on the Sons of Ullr was being talked about all over the message boards. Nobody had seen Jon, due to his stealth and how far he had to stay away from Phoebe to not get attacked. Instead people were losing their minds at how a mid level clan stronghold got razed to the ground by a vicious creature that had a cursed aura. Part of their success was their fantastic plan, as the compound had four longhouses. Phoebe first sealed the exits, then jumped up and sealed the chimneys with wet sacks. On the fourth one the alert was raised by sentries changing shifts, but by then a good 2/3 of the players had succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. The rest were disoriented and out of armor when they came tumbling from the longhouses, and she went through them like a hot knife through butter. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Good morning Dharkiss, how are those commissions coming?¡± ¡°Had them done yesterday, the apprentice spent a bit of the night polishing them right up. Care to take a look?¡± ¡°Why, I would love to!¡± I said, heading over to the counter where he had two lumpy shapes hidden under covers. ¡°So here¡¯s the first one, and it can be used with your armor as it counts as an off hand weapon.¡± Dharkiss was talking as he walked over as well, and uncovered a beautiful masterpiece. Polished steel, it was a wonderful replica of the spiked gauntlet from one of the armored suits in the Catacumba Daemonica dungeon. The spikes were only an inch long, but that would be perfect for wearing down a bones durability.
Sanctified steel spiked fist Designed using brass knuckles as a base, this heavily modified fist weapon can be used in the off hand to give the wielder an unexpected attack route. The spikes are designed to pierce what is struck, and have been blessed and etched with holy symbols to deliver additional holy damage. The plating on the back of the hand also offers some protection should the wearer decide to deflect a blow. Damage: 250-275 piercing +150 holy damage +5 defense Durability: 3000/3000 *stats doubled if used by monk class*
¡°Fantastic work as always Dharkiss. This¡¯ll provide a lovely surprise at the Bone Citadel.¡± ¡°No doubt about that, but I don¡¯t know why you gotta go to a place with such an ominous name.¡± ¡°Ha! Because people who break taboos don¡¯t create strongholds with names like ¡®Fields of comforting, cuddly animals.¡¯ Not everything can be rainbows and unicorns.¡± ¡°What? Who would have thought unicorns would be fluffy, cuddly beasties? That horn is there for one reason, and that¡¯s spearing enemies.¡± ¡°I believe that, but a lot of travelers like me have forgotten that a lot of stories like that were meant as warnings.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame. Well, at least here they are relatively immortal.¡± ¡°True enough. Now, let¡¯s see what¡¯s under that other tarp, shall we?¡± ¡°Heh, always about the weapons aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You would be excited too, if you were upgrading from your original crossbow to one suitable for a level 35.¡± I said, rubbing my hands together in glee. Shaking his head at my antics, he flipped the tarp off to reveal my new crossbow. The string was made with the leg tendons of the thunderram toad, and the stock was carved from ironwood that Dharkiss had gotten smuggled in somehow. The dark grey of the ironwood was broken by some patches of light brown paint, making it easier to keep concealed with it equipped.
Savage ironwood crossbow of destruction A tried and true design for a crossbow, superior construction ingredients have elevated this to a class of its own. Damage: 300-350 piercing Range x2 of normal crossbows Critical hit damage +50% Reload time +50% Durability: 1500/1500
¡°My god, it¡¯s a beauty.¡± I breathed softly as I read the description. ¡°That damage seems a little inflated though, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Normally I would say yes, but that leg tendon you gave me can take an incredible amount of pressure without deforming. That¡¯s why it can shoot so far, the draw strength is incredible. Give it a pull and you¡¯ll see, I would have it loaded before battle any time you can.¡± Believing Dharkiss, I had to really strain to get it pulled back enough to load. ¡°Gah, you weren¡¯t kidding about that pull. Dharkiss, once again you¡¯ve outdone yourself. I can¡¯t thank you enough for these.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Well, ya could just hand over the five platinum for the weapons you still owe and we could call it even.¡± He said with a smile, and I chuckled too as I handed over the coins. ¡°Now come on back whenever you need things repaired, and I¡¯ll be happy to help you out.¡± ¡°Thanks Dharkiss, now I get to go deal with some alchemists before finding my way over to raid a citadel.¡± Walking out of the blacksmith¡¯s shop, I decided to head over to the temple to upgrade my standing. ¡°Welcome back, brother. I see you are ready to advance, yes?¡± ¡°Indeed I am brother, but how could you tell?¡± ¡°All followers of Thanatos have an aura of death surrounding them. As we reach the pinnacle of the tier we are in, the aura grows, and once it eclipses the limit then it starts to grow ragged around the edges. You put this off for a day or two, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Indeed, brother, and thank you for explaining that. Do I just need to place my hands upon the altar again?¡± At his smiling nod, I figured I would get a bit of pain again. Sure enough, placing my hands on the altar sent a shock through my arms, and a cold burn on my chest.
Congratulations! You have advanced from initiate to Priest in the church of Thanatos. You can feel death in those nearing their natural end, though you will never be able to feel your own end. In addition to this, your skill [Death¡¯s gaze] has grown more powerful. You may now blink once without cancelling the skill, and the area highlighted is now smaller. Your required offerings to Thanatos have also increased. Weekly kills: 10/15 Current favor: 64/500 Champions sacrificed: 0/5
I pulled my armor to the side, and saw my tattoo had evolved to having robes now, though they looked rather flat compared to the fine detail in the bones that were still visible. ¡°So I need to kill five more creatures per week, and to advance I need five champions sacrificed?¡± ¡°Yes, and there is another stipulation brother. Your sacrificed champions can¡¯t be from the same type of creature.¡± ¡°Just so I know, what do you classify as types of creatures?¡± ¡°A good question. Sacrificing a resurrected skeleton from an elf and a dwarf would be the same type, humanoid resurrected skeleton. However, you could sacrifice a resurrected bear skeleton and gain a sacrifice for animal resurrected skeleton.¡± ¡°Thank you brother, that makes it much easier. Is there anything else I need to be aware of before I head out for another meeting?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t dally with your upgrading within the church again. You were very close to the point where your excess favor would start to decay.¡± Nodding, I headed out, happy to know that you couldn¡¯t hoard favor for too long. Two stops down, one to go. ¡°Yo, Djarleen. How¡¯s life treatin¡¯ ya?¡± I asked as I entered. ¡°Same as the other day Angus. You ready to talk to the guildmaster?¡± ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡± I said, following her to the transportation circle. * * * * * * * * * * * * * We came out, and headed straight to the guildmaster¡¯s office. We did nod at Montgomery on the way, and for once he didn¡¯t have any snide remarks for Djarleen, for which we were both thankful. ¡°Come in!¡± The headmaster called after we knocked on his door. ¡°Greetings, guildmaster Willow.¡± We both said, as we entered and sat in his chairs. ¡°Ah, Angus and Djarleen, so good to see you again. Can I offer you some tea?¡± ¡°No thanks.¡± I said, and I guess Djarleen was content to let me lead the discussion. ¡°So, what brings you here for a visit?¡± ¡°Well, I have a new reagent that I was wondering if the guild had any possible recipes for them. I have some shards of warped spectral bark, as well as some vials of corrupted sap.¡± ¡°Interesting, very interesting. Now where did you come across those?¡± ¡°A heroic dungeon. Catacumba Daemonica.¡± I replied, and watched as the guildmaster¡¯s face grew pale. ¡°You broke the seal and ventured inside?¡± ¡°Not only that, I cleared the dungeon. How do you know of that?¡± ¡°Not many know this, as I haven¡¯t had to use it for a long while, but I am a spirit caller. I know who dwelled in that dungeon, Angus, and you have done those who work with the spirit world a massive favor. Can you tell me of her demise?¡± ¡°Sure. I was given a task by Thanatos to kill four people who are defying death and breaking taboos. Devin.¡± ¡°DON¡¯T SAY HER NAME!¡± He shouted, standing up. ¡°Sorry.¡± He said, visibly shaking as he collected himself. ¡°Her name, it is. . . almost a taboo in itself around us spirit callers. Call her the Lost.¡± ¡°My apologies. The Lost was to be my first target. I made my way through two levels of enslaved demonic spirits. The bottom level was D, I mean the Lost, her spirit tiger, and a corrupted world tree.¡± ¡°Did she have no shame at the end!¡± He snarled, and I was terrified of him in that moment. An aura of power billowed out, and both Djarleen and I sunk into our chairs, unable to move. After a few seconds he noticed, and stopped his rage. The ability to go from calm, to rage, and back again within a few seconds was somehow far scarier than the power his rage had released. ¡°A. ..anyway.¡± I stuttered. ¡°I could tell from his demeanor that Acongua was fighting every order she gave him. Back where I come from, we call it malicious compliance.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°You carry out the order to the last letter, knowing full well that your boss wanted something different and was just sloppy with their words. Anyway, I shot the latch of the complete submission collar with an acid potion, and she ordered Acongua to investigate. So he came out into the mists to investigate, and we managed to have a small conversation. While talking, I was able to finish breaking the latch for the collar. We then circled around and attacked the Lost. My job was to take out the tree, as she was using it as a reservoir of souls for her power. Acongua would distract her, and if possible I would strike the final blow.¡± ¡°And Acongua, what of him?¡± Willow was at the edge of his seat during my recounting, obviously concerned about the spirit beast. ¡°He took a strong blow to the jewel in his chest, but it gave me the opening to strike the final blow. He told me that he would need about a month to recover in the spirit world, and that was almost a week ago.¡± ¡°Thank the gods.¡± He said with a sigh of relief. ¡°So, these shards and sap are from a corrupted world tree?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Hmmm, we have several recipes that call for world tree sap, but the corruption would negate any of them. I will have to have several of the masters search through the restricted section to see what we can figure out. Now, go ahead and show me what else you have, I know you have something else up your sleeve.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is for alchemists or enchanters, but I have a pristine spectral warped branch from the tree as well.¡± I said, while pulling out the ash grey branch from my inventory. It was slightly twisted, the bark had fallen off leaving it smooth to the touch. At the tip, several strands of wood left an empty space for a large crystal. ¡°Can you feel it?¡± Willow asked reverently. ¡°This, this has been attuned to the spirit world. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen anything so perfect. May I hold it, for a second?¡± Not seeing any downside, I handed it to him and watched as he ran his hands lovingly over every inch. Certain spots he would bring to his ears, as if he were listening to something the rest of us were oblivious to. ¡°Oh, this will make a grand staff. What are you looking to do with it?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t use staves, so it won¡¯t do me any good. I guess I would have to trade it. Oh, I almost forgot, I also have a heart of the seas and a heart of ghostly flame. What can those be used for?¡± ¡°Hmm, those are used as evolution materials mostly, though some may work with a staff if properly affixed.¡± He said, thoughtful look on his face. ¡°You should try and get all four.¡± ¡°Four? What am I missing? Air and earth?¡± ¡°Yep. The air should be the hardest for you to come across, how close are you to reaching your evolution level?¡± ¡°Five levels away. Shouldn¡¯t be too much longer.¡± ¡°Tell ya what. You¡¯ve done well for the guild, I don¡¯t mind loaning you this.¡± He said, reaching into a safe in the wall behind him. ¡°Here, if you do end up using it to evolve, you can pay me back somehow. If you don¡¯t, for the loan all I ask is that you tell me what the evolutionary options it unlocks is. Does that work for you?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± I said excitedly, as I took the blue and white orb from his hands. Identify called it the heart of clear skies, and I quickly put it in my inventory. ¡°Ok, back to the staff. This is going to be a very niche item, as the spirit caller community that would benefit from it the most isn¡¯t very large. I¡¯ll put some feelers out for you, if you allow me 30% commission on it.¡± ¡°Twenty.¡± ¡°Thirty.¡± ¡°Twenty five. It¡¯s going to be a large sale, do you really need the extra five percent?¡± ¡°I suppose not. Very well, 25% commission. Payable in coin or equivalent item value. Deal?¡± ¡°Deal.¡± I said, leaning forward to shake his hand. ¡°Ok, so what kind of items are you looking for? I assume since you don¡¯t have access to the markets that you don¡¯t really care too much about money?¡± ¡°True enough. I could use another good ring or a necklace. I just upgraded my crossbow, but it is still only a rare item. Anything more powerful would be fine with me. As for potions, Any of the resistances would be good, or something of that caliber.¡± ¡°Angus, you are underestimating how powerful this staff could become. You could get several potions for what this could become.¡± ¡°Wow. Yeah, that¡¯s, that¡¯s a lot.¡± I said, kinda shocked that something from a level 30 dungeon would be worth that much. ¡°Ok, go ahead and see what offers you can get for it. Send a message when you need me, ok?¡± ¡°Sure, and thank you for trusting me with this Angus.¡± With that set up, Djarleen and I headed back to the kobold city and I decided to log out for the night. Chapter 51 The next morning, I double checked everything I had prepared for my trip. I had several meals worth of a smoked fish dish, Alnoss having perfected a few recipes on the smoker while I was dealing with dungeons. For alchemy supplies, I had 200 acid potions and 200 of the pyrophoria potion. I also had ten large clay jugs filled with pyrophoria potion as well, each one equivalent to 20 individual potions. Several lengths of rope as well as a few of the eyebolts, and a fully repaired bladed tripwire trap that had worked so well against the goblins. I had 500 armor piercing bolts, 300 of the ones with a cartridge for a potion on the end, as well as 300 of what I called smasher bolts. These had a heavy lead weight within a harder, blunted steel case. I hoped they would be able to do some blunt damage from a distance. With all my equipped gear fully repaired, I headed out. The path to the Bone Citadel was back through the cavern with the lake and waterfall, I had to walk on a ridge past nearly a half a mile of lake just to reach the opposite shore. There were some crablike creatures there, but they were low enough level that they gave me a wide berth. I made my way through a winding set of caverns, each one oddly devoid of life. Well, life other than ubiquitous cave moss. Seven or eight caverns later, and I found one that had a random assortment of roughly carved humanoids. Several of them had stalagmites coming from their heads, so I couldn¡¯t tell if they were just poorly carved or if a millennia or two of water had worn away any features they originally had. I was about ten feet away from the first one when it suddenly started grinding to life.
Ancient golem Lvl 34 The origins of these golems have been lost to time, and any clues based on their bodily markings have been erased by the elements. Incredibly strong, but ponderously slow, these should be no challenge for a spry adventurer.
I backed up slowly, hoping to see if it had a minimum radius that it was sworn to defend. Once I had drawn it another twenty feet from its original position, I figured they would plod along until they caught whatever disturbed them. I slowly started jogging forward, and when it wound up an arm to attack I dashed past it as fast as I could. Skidding to a stop as the fist slammed into the ground behind me, I checked the back of the golem for any type of vulnerability. Unfortunately, there was no colored crystal or runic text that screamed ¡°Hit me to kill the golem,¡± So I started dancing in and out while unleashing mana shockwaves upon the joints of the construct. Three solid blows to the knee, and the joint crumbled. After that, it was a simple matter to get in and crush the head, which killed the construct. Loot was an enchanted core. Not anything I would be using, but possibly good for selling. I wonder if Dharkiss could use it to make some sort of automated crossbow? Oh, now that would be something worth looking into. I suddenly looked into the cavern of golems with a new gleam in my eye. Automated crossbows with minor decision making ability, rapid firing to take out infantry. Siege crossbows, bolts so big that they need a pair of golems to load, firing into hordes of light siders, smashing them into paste. How could I possibly sell these cores? Imagine the havoc those massive bolts could cause if they were loaded with potions that would explode on impact? I gleefully slaughtered my way through the golems, collecting almost 40 cores in my rampage. The last golem having fallen, I headed towards the end of the cavern. The rock shifted, from what I assumed was limestone to a white with blue veins marble. The exit was guarded by two golems, each one almost eight feet tall. They were much more defined, giving off an almost Egyptian vibe with their chin beards and striped head guards. They had no shirts, and those strange skirt looking things. The most dangerous parts were the dual khopesh¡¯s each one wielded.
Ancient marble golems Lvl 38 A cut above the normal golems, the marble golem was made to withstand the test of time. They are still slow, but their dual weapons and large reach make strides in overcoming their deficiency.
Heh, so a pair of minibosses? This could be fun. I started off by making a rough field, roughly twenty feet by twenty feet, where there wasn¡¯t a level surface in sight. Safely in the back of it, I took aim at the right hand golem with an armor piercing bolt and fired it right into the bastard¡¯s face. Unfortunately for me, the bolt shattered against the face, doing minor damage. It did, however, succeed wildly in pissing them off. Both golems stood, and gave a silent shout of rage before advancing. The one I had shot first led the way, and never noticed the slanted ground as I managed to nail it in the eye with one of my smasher bolts. That actually had an effect, sending a crack through the face and left eye of the construct. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Chip? I think that last blow made you lose some face. Your peers are all going to look down on you.¡± I taunted, and it sped up a bit. Three steps later, and its leading foot slipped sideways. Gravity took over, and it wasn¡¯t pretty for the golem. The right side of its body slammed into the ground hard, smashing the khopesh, arm, and knee on that side. With one golem effectively immobilized, I saw the other had stopped for a bit to evaluate the floor. Well, if it wasn¡¯t going to attack right away, I would. ¡°[Mana shockwave]!¡± I shouted, leaping forward and smashing my hammer into the back of the construct¡¯s head. Two more overhand strikes were enough to take out the downed golem, and I smiled as the other one somehow managed to look unsure. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that. I¡¯ll reunite you guys, wherever it is golems go after being destroyed.¡± It backed up a bit, but I stayed with one foot on the back of the rubble and loaded an acid bolt into my crossbow. It hadn¡¯t seen one of these yet, but I was counting on it assuming everything I did was dangerous. Sure enough, it blocked the bolt with crossed blades, seeming confused at the hissing noise. I took my time reloading twice more, hitting nearly the same spot on the khopesh. It was visibly cracking at this point, and I chose a smasher bolt to finish it off. The golem stared at its broken sword for a second, before it turned to me and threw it. I couldn¡¯t quite dodge all of it, and took a nasty slash along my left arm. The golem charged in with the khopesh in a two handed grip over its head, waiting to smash it down into me. I backed up as fast as I could, and was well out of range when he slammed the weapon down, hitting so hard it shattered as well. I took the chance to close in, bobbing and weaving to make myself a difficult target. He tried to spear me, and suddenly dropped the broken sword and tried to grab me, but my hammer was already impacting his arm with a [Mana shockwave], knocking it away. I gave as much room as I could, while darting past the golem to flat ground. The unevenness was only hampering me, as I couldn¡¯t lure him into it. Keeping my distance wasn¡¯t too hard, and I started throwing acid vials at his knees. Three to each one, and they started crackling with every step. He stopped, and glared at me, staying as still as possible to avoid further damaging himself. I circled around, and crept in behind him, staying in his blind spot as he swiveled his hips to try and keep me in his sight. One more [Mana shockwave] to the knees, and he crumpled to the ground. In a bit of desperation, he tried to fall and crush me beneath him, but it wasn¡¯t too hard to avoid him. Once he lost mobility, the result of the battle was determined. I looted both bodies, and couldn¡¯t help but smile. Two enchanted marble cores, and each one gave me a half of a heart of the mountain. Combining them was as simple as bringing them close together, and they fused automatically. I headed into the next set of caverns, and after several of them with the occasional golem, I came to a vast chasm. A stone bridge, wide enough for two wagons to pass side by side, arched across the gap and to the gates of the Bone Citadel. Walls extended straight up from the cliffs, and they were somehow still a gleaming white. As I got closer, I could see that it was speckled with colors instead of veins, so I assumed the walls were made of granite instead of marble like the golems I had previously dispatched. Facing me on the walls were six guard towers. Four of the smallest ones made a trapezoid shape around the gate, with the smallest side being within the fort itself. The two tall towers were built into the rounded corners of the walls, and had a crenelated path in front of them. Though they lacked a drawbridge, the towers were set in a way to maximize the amount of airborne weaponry they could bring to bear on the lone path from this side. Rising behind the towers in a leveled pyramid shape was the keep, the corner of each visible level having its own minaret. The front gate was a plain slab of metal covered in several layers of spikes. There were long, thick spikes set every ten feet or so, while they were bracketed by two levels of shorter, thinner spikes. The different rows were offset from each other, making it incredibly difficult to bring any battering rams to bear without several someones getting poked. I was glad the devs took pity on poor adventurers, as there was a small port on one of the leaves that was left ajar. As soon as I touched the door, I got the option to enter the dungeon.
Congratulations! You have discovered the heroic dungeon, The Bone Citadel. Who knows what awaits you in its hidden depths? Will you emerge victorious, or shall your corpse join the legions enslaved within?
Selecting yes, I was treated to an unusual cutscene. I was suddenly looking at a silver seal inside of a staging area inside the gate. Motes of light started swirling and rising, before a column formed. As the column rapidly shrank in diameter, I saw my avatar standing there. My point of view swirled around behind and closed in, before slowing down and moving through the back of my head. When that was done, I was back in control of my avatar. While I appreciated the showmanship, I wished there was either a warning that this was going to happen or a way to opt out. Taking stock of my surroundings, I was in a large empty chamber with the silver seal that promised safety in the middle. Murder holes criss crossed the ceiling, but were unmanned at this time. A lowered portcullis prevented access to the courtyard beyond, and my only way out was a doorway off to my left. I stealthily crept close to the door and peeked my head in, but at waist height just in case. The room opened up into a guardroom, though dilapidated. Half rotten armor racks lined the walls, next to spear cases that had long since fallen apart. There were a few barrels that looked like a strong wind could end them, as they spilled arrows that had long since lost any guide feathers. Across the way was a magic fire, with a blackened skeleton warming his fleshless hands on it. It had rusted chainmail and a short sword for gear, but as it was sheathed I couldn¡¯t guess as to its shape.
Heroic skeleton guard Lvl 38 Through some unknown process, the bones of a humanoid hero have been corrupted and resurrected. Though it has lost a bit of its original power, it is still far more dangerous than a normal skeleton.
Yeah, yeah. I hear ya devs, be careful with the heroic monsters. Slowly making my way through the room, avoiding spilt arrows and spearheads, I smashed the back of the skeleton¡¯s head with a [Mana Shockwave]. Staggering, I was rather shocked when the skeleton shook its head and gave a silent scream at me, the blue flames in its head and chest changing to a vivid purple. I tried an overhand blow as it pulled out its sword, and that¡¯s when everything fell apart. The skeleton caught my blow at my wrist, its strength stopping my swing cold. ¡°Ugh.¡± I grunted as it stabbed me in the stomach with its blade, followed quickly with an agonized, ¡°GYAAAAAAAAH!¡± The bastard had twisted his blade and slashed it out through my side. I barely gave the heavily bleeding icon any notice as I frantically grappled with his sword, all the while trying to free my own weapon so that I could retaliate. I had already lost over half of my stamina in my futile struggles before the stalemate broke.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Two crossed blades erupted from my chest, and as I looked down at them in surprise I swear the skeleton I was battling managed to grin. That was just before the blades were viciously ripped out sideways, ripping my body in two.
You have died! Death in a heroic dungeon has different penalties than elsewhere. All equipment suffers 10% durability loss. You lose neither experience nor coin, and the only monsters that will respawn will be in unconquered boss chambers. As a member of the church of Thanatos, you will not lose any kills towards your weekly quota.
¡°What the ever loving fuck!¡± I yelled as I respawned. What the hell killed me, and where the hell did it come from? I pulled up my battle log and checked. Angus MacG used Mana Shockwave. Heroic skeleton guard is resistant to blunt attacks. Heroic skeleton guard uses Iron Grasp. Heroic skeleton guard uses Vicious Thrust. Heroic skeleton guard uses Rending Blade. Critical hit. You are heavily bleeding. You have massive internal injuries. Stamina consumption x2 for three minutes. Unknown uses Double Backstab. Critical hit. Unknown uses Eviscerate. Critical hit. You have died. ¡°What the? Skeletons that are resistant to blunt attacks? What the shit!¡± I railed. ¡°Damn devs, taking out traditional weaknesses. If they are resistant to holy magic too I¡¯m gonna be pissed.¡± I muttered. ¡°Ack, back so shoon?¡± I heard from a voice behind me. ¡°Boy¡¯s got no chance.¡± I turned to look at who was speaking, and was stunned into silence. It was a ghost, wearing a weird open shirt with a second shirt underneath. He had some fancy gloves, and his wide brimmed hat had a massive feather on the left side. His swashbuckler style outfit gave of a fairly Spanish vibe that clashed with his Scottish accent. ¡°Who and what the hell are you?¡± I asked. ¡°You can shee me?¡± He asked, eyes widening. ¡°Bloody ¡®ell, he can shee me! Finally! Ha Haaaa!¡± He cried out, dancing in a circle. He tried to take my hands, but his ghostly form passed straight through them. ¡°Ah, well I guess that would be too good to be true. Allow me to introduce myshelf. The name¡¯s Ramirez.¡± He said, flourishing his hat in a bow. ¡°So, Ramirez. What are you doing here? I didn¡¯t think ghosts would do well in a dungeon home to a necromancer.¡± ¡°Curse that vile bastard, he¡¯s the reason I¡¯m stuck here. He is using the bones of heroes, and he shtole mine and my sword.¡± ¡°You were a hero?¡± I asked incredulously. ¡°Aye. And if ya know whats good for ya, you won¡¯t be laughin¡¯.¡± ¡°Sorry. So, what do you want me to do?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Go get my sword! Only then can I be freed.¡± ¡°Fine, what kind of sword is it? How will I recognize it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an ivory handled katana.¡± ¡°Wait a second, wait a second.¡± I said. ¡°Let me get this straight. You are a Spanish hero, who talks with a Scottish accent and wields a Japanese sword? What, are you secretly royalty too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m no Spaniard, I¡¯m Egyptian. And I shupposze you could say I have the blood of kings in me.¡± ¡°Ha! . . .HAHAHAHAHA! Go ahead, pull the other one!¡± I laughed, turning and sticking out my leg at him. ¡°I¡¯M FECKIN¡¯ SHERIOUS!¡± He yelled, and I stopped laughing as I actually got a popup.
New Quest Alert The disembodied spirit of Ramirez has asked for your aid in the return of his sword. His origins seem odd, but his need is real. Will you help the guy come out ahead?
Quest Success Failure
Find and return Ramirez¡¯ sword, an ivory handled katana. ??? ???
¡°Holy shit, he¡¯s tellin¡¯ the truth.¡± I muttered to myself, a little louder than anticipated. ¡°Of course I¡¯m tellin¡¯ the truth, why would I lie?¡± He practically snarled. ¡°Calm down old man, calm down. I¡¯m gonna help you, but what¡¯s in it for me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have you know, I¡¯m a master swordsman. I¡¯ll teach you any technique you want.¡± I simply pulled out my weapon and asked, ¡°Does it look like I would need a sword technique?¡± ¡°WHAT is that abomination of a weapon!¡± He yelled, shocked. ¡°My god, man. That, is a right bastard of a weapon. I¡¯ll not help you wielding somethin¡¯ as ¡®orrid as that.¡± His face scrunched up as he started thinking of a possible reward. ¡°Tell ya what, Ramirez. I¡¯ll just go and get your sword, and kill whatever is wielding it. While I¡¯m doin¡¯ all the work, you sit back here and think about what you want to give me for a reward. Do I have to come back here with it?¡± ¡°Just yell my name, I¡¯ll find you.¡± He said. ¡°That¡¯ll do. I guess I¡¯m off then. Catch ya later.¡± I waved, then headed over to the door. This time I wasn¡¯t going to get surprised, and loaded my crossbow with an armor piercing bolt. I also used mana excavation to add an eyebolt with a rope tied to it at shin height across the door, but left the rope loose. If I needed to, I would pull the rope taut and trip the skeleton as it came through the door. I took aim, and shot the skeleton in the base of the skull at a slightly upward angle. It might be able to resist blunt trauma, but the bolt shattered the bone that it struck, as well as the bone of the forehead, effectively splitting the skull. I smiled as the remains of eldritch fire burned out on the way down and the rest of the body collapsed into a pile of bones. Rather than rushing in and getting ganked by the unknown monster again, I sat in the doorway and looked around. No matter how hard I stared at darkened corners and possible hiding places, I couldn¡¯t find him. Or her. Do resurrected skeletons have genders? STOP! Back to the issue at hand, finding the assassin. Nearly slapping myself for my stupidity, I activated [Mystic vision] and immediately caught the magic reanimating the assassin on the ceiling. It was using its hands and feet to hold itself up between two rafters, midway through the room. Deactivating my skill, I lost sight of it. The fires animating it must have somehow been turned black or been hidden somehow. Reactivating my skill brought it back into sight. No movement gave it away, though the flames in the eyes would shift ever so slightly on occasion. It was armed with dual wrist blades, hinting at a probable hand to hand combat mastery. I still hadn¡¯t gotten a popup with the information on it, but that could be from a skill in the assassin tree. I tried mapping the flows of mana through it, but it was hard as there were strands of darkness that seemed to be holding it together, flowing through bones and joints, while there was a network of blueish lines that appeared to flow outside of the bones and terminate in fingertips and palms. I traced the big line back from the arm, and instead of heading to the heart, it went down to the bottom right of the ribcage where it met several other blue and black lines. The resulting mass was an odd blue-black combination that gave slow, steady pulses. On a whim, I chose that as my target instead of the head, though I was aiming slightly more towards the center of mass so that a miss would still hit something. Sure enough, the assassin must have had a danger sense, as it started dropping almost as soon as I fired it started to look at me while dropping. The new power of my crossbow saved me, as the bolt flew far faster than most and grazed through the mass in the creature, and tore open a rent that started spraying mana in rhythmic pulses. It also managed to sever the line leading to the left leg, and the entire limb dropped off. As it crumpled form the landing, I slowly moved forward, maintaining enough distance that it couldn¡¯t leap strait toward me without having some bit of reaction time on my part. The initial attack had taken off a third of its life, and it was slowly lowering with each pulse of whatever I had cut, so I charged a [Mana shockwave] and waited. ¡°We both know how this ends. You can¡¯t heal your wound, and I¡¯m not going to come in close to your range. The question is, how long will you wait around, growing weaker by the second?¡± The fire in the eyes seemed to condense into a far more intense flame, I guess he was glaring at me. ¡°That¡¯s right, come attack so I can send you back to your rest.¡± I said, as I saw a pulse of mana surge down its last working leg. I started an overhead swing right as I saw that, and was glad I did as the assassin launched itself forward at a speed that rivaled my crossbow bolts. My hammer crashed into the back of the head as each of the wrist blades dug into my sides, the downward force of my blow keeping them from biting too deep. That was a good thing, as the blades had been crossed and I was sure were seconds away from ripping my stomach open and disemboweling me. I followed through with my blow, however, and the skull got caught between the stone floor and my descending hammer, which finally gave enough resistance to trigger the shockwave that blew it apart. Finally dead, I looted the body to see what they would drop. I got a high quality steel wrist blade, and a low quality mana reanimation core. The core was the torn piece I had shot, and looked like an incredibly complex knot with several different strands of string coming out of it. I really wanted to toss it, having always been of the thought that necromancers almost always ended with an army of weak minions that could never truly survive in battle. Sure, eventually they got to the good summons like Death Knights, but I wasn¡¯t ever going to have the patience to follow that path. The more pragmatic part of me, however, pointed out that these were probably at least as valuable as the golem cores I had gotten. Hell, some enterprising necromancer might even be able to fuse several within a body to make a bone golem. The guard corpse gave me several silver. I turned back to the door I had entered from, and saw a ladder leading up to the next level. I headed towards it, but stopped as I had climbed halfway up. Tilting my head, I heard a slight rustle of chain and the click of bone on stone. There was no light in the room above, so I couldn¡¯t use shadows to see where my ambusher was waiting. I climbed slowly back down to the floor, and pondered how to get up to the next level in a way that wouldn¡¯t lead to my imminent demise. Taking another look around the room, there wasn¡¯t much that was useful. There was one spear that wasn¡¯t completely useless. I thought of using it to spear through a hole in the ceiling I drilled, taking the skeleton from below. That would work, if I could get close enough to the ceiling to do any good. I could easily extend my mana to make the hole, but the spear wouldn¡¯t reach. Circling around the ladder wasn¡¯t an option, as it was set against the wall. My mind kept coming up blank until I saw a flicker of light out of the corner of my eye. Looking over, it was the fireplace. The fireplace, with a large chimney. I walked over, and with mystic vision the activation controls for the magical flame were easy to find and shut off. I gave it a few minutes to cool down, before sticking my head into the chimney and looking up. There was no flue, and it was more than big enough to shimmy up. Of course, I used mana excavation to cut hand and footholds, slowly moving my way up one at a time. I had to hunch down as I got closer to the second floor fireplace, as I didn¡¯t want my head to pop up prematurely. Once I had everything set, I slowly lifted my head and looked around a large, mostly empty room. There was a chair by the door, one that was right above the one in the room below. Standing and staring at the ladder, spear at the ready was a skeleton spearman, back to me. I was content to wait for a while, as there was still no explanation for those footsteps I had heard earlier. I checked the room thoroughly, but saw no hidden assassins. After about ten minutes, when my stamina had slowly drained to half and my arms were aching something fierce, I saw another guard coming in through the door. I hunched down, but it simply gave the room a cursory scan before nodding and heading back out the door. I have it another minute after I couldn¡¯t hear footsteps anymore, then pulled out my crossbow and shot the still guardsman in the back of the head. While this one¡¯s head didn¡¯t split, the bolt had enough energy while getting caught in the skull that it tore it right off the body and with a series of thunks, hit the wall and bounced down the ladder. I scrambled inside the room, and looted the body for another few silver and again pocketed the reanimation core. As I looked around, I could see the beginnings of a curved staircase on one of the walls, midway down the length of the room. Not letting myself get distracted, I tried to think of a creative way to take out the guard that was going to be returning soon. I thought of using an eyebolt or two on the ceiling and some rope to snag his foot and flip him upside down, but that would take too long and be too obvious. Before I could come up with anything, I heard the clacking of his approach. With nothing else, I slipped up next to the wall, and softly spoke, ¡°For Thanatos. [Keen edge].¡± As soon as I saw the foot enter the door, I started torqueing my body for as strong of a backhanded slash at the neck as I could. The spin, along with the surprise of the move caught the guard completely by surprise, and the added upward trajectory smoothly separated the head from the body. I guess even skeletons needed a head to function, as the decapitation killed him.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For sacrificing an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. For sacrificing a heroic monster, you gain 40 favor. For sacrificing a monster at full health, gain 20 favor. Total favor: 144/500
Instead of heading out along the curtain wall the guard was patrolling, I decided to head up the stairs. I did mentally tip my hat to the devs, as they followed medieval design and had the stairs climbing clockwise, forcing me to either use my left hand for assaults or risk having the central pillar disrupt my attacks. I slowed as I saw the top of the stairs, it had an open slot in the floor of the top of the tower I was in. The top was empty of everything save two dilapidated ballistae, the cords and several of the load bearing wooden parts having long since given way. I finished entering the top of the tower, and finally got a nice, bird¡¯s eye view of the compound I was attacking. Chapter 52 Looking around, I found myself on the southwest tower of the trapezoid of towers that bracketed the gate. All of the towers I could see were unmanned, so I took my time to get the lay of the land. The bridge I had come from lead up to the gates from the south, and the two towers north of me were at least one story taller than the one I was on. I assumed each one would have two ballistae like this tower, and if they all fired a five foot long bolt like these apparently did, the amount of firepower they could bring to bear on an assaulting army would be devastating. Eight bolts firing almost parallel down the bridge you are forced to walk along, with no room to dodge? No thank you. Some time in the past, the corner tower to the west of mine had partially collapsed, allowing me to see a few the ruins within. The portion that had fallen had taken out what must have been the stables, judging from the few stalls I could see that had survived. Following the wall north of that was what I assumed to be a large smithy, as it had three separate chimneys in a line. Continuing to spin clockwise, I saw the three tiers of the main keep. Each one got progressively smaller, and had six minarets on each of the corners. I could vaguely make out some form of crystal at the top of the minarets, but couldn¡¯t figure out anything else as they had no mana flowing to them or stored within. Looking almost straight down, I could see the walkway the guard was patrolling, that had to cover the room I originally started in. Immediately north of that gigantic portcullis was a staging area that could also double as a killing field, as behind it was another portcullis. The enclosed courtyard could easily come under fire from the four towers and their connecting crenelated walkways. I was beginning to think the only way this citadel would ever fall would be to treachery from within. I could barely see the eastern corner tower from my perch, but looking between the two eastern gate towers I could see another building. The door to it was slightly sunk into the ground, and I assumed there would be several levels underground. I couldn¡¯t see any other guards patrolling, or anything else of interest, so I headed back down the tower and started walking along the wall towards the western tower. Walking up, I craned my neck to see if there was anything inside the tower, but couldn¡¯t due to the angles involved. Feeling like it would be better safe than sorry, I entered stealth before walking in the door. The inside was fairly simple. A circular room, filled with weapon racks that had seen better days, while the central pillar was partially hollow, and contained a spiral staircase. Each full revolution of the staircase opened up into a new level, most of them being living style quarters. I thoroughly explored each one, but the soldiers that lived here either took everything with them when they abandoned it or were incredibly poor. There were several books that were so aged that a simple touch disintegrated the pages, spare utensils that had started as wood but the ravages of time had petrified, and rusted caps from steel toed shoes. Seven levels of the same before I finally came to the base of the gash in the tower. I saw a few strands of spiderweb here and there, but for the most part the level was more of the same. At least, until I got closer to the destruction. What looked like something had smashed through from a distance was very wrong, as the stone appeared to have been melted in places. There was no residual magic energy, so whatever had done this was either a purely physical process or had long since been completed. Eight more levels had holes in the wall, and the way it tapered to a point at the top gave the massive gash a somewhat teardrop shape. I looked out the hole in the wall at the top of the gash, by now far enough above the compound to see how it looked, but couldn¡¯t make out much detail. The biggest structure was the keep itself, and from this angle looked like two hexagons sharing the same center, with a large blob of something in the exact center. Definitely worth checking out once I made it all the way back down. I slowly crept up one more flight of stairs, and saw that I had reached the top level. Through the doorway in the core, I could see it was open air and had several support columns for the roof. I didn¡¯t get much further, as the door was covered in a gigantic spiderweb, with cords as thick as my fingers. Like most sane people, I wasn¡¯t thrilled with spiders. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I won¡¯t go out of my way to do anything to them so long as they stay outside and leave me the inside. I think it is a very fair division of the world, they get theirs and I get mine. Anyway, I needed a way to deal with the two outcomes this could entail. First possibility: There is a giant broodmother up here and she will release a swarm of tiny creepy crawlies who will kill me with a thousand little bites. Simple counter, take two of the large jugs of pyrophoria potion, and hang them from an eyebolt in the ceiling. Send the rope down a few steps to another eyebolt, just waiting for me to run by and cut it. Second possibility: There is a queen and several royal guard type spiders up there. Best case scenario, I manage to draw several of the guards off into the staircase. I would then burn them like the smaller horde, but I would need to hold them at bay for a while. In order to do that, I put two eyebolts on the left side of the wall as you are ascending, one at the top and one near the bottom. I put a third one midway between them on the right side. I loosened the ends of the bladed wire trap I had used with the goblins, and hooked those to the eyebolts on the left. The rest of the coiled wire I left around the frame it came on, unspooling just enough to reach the opposite eyebolt. That put two bladed wires across the hallway, and there was enough of a gap on the left that I could hop through without slowing down too much. Hopefully I would then be able to turn and hold the guards off as they burned. Traps set, I headed up to the doorway and burned the webbing away with some liberal splashes of pyrophoria potion. I had to use three just to get enough out of the way to be useful, but I figured a secure line of retreat would be worth it. ¡°Odd.¡± I thought to myself when I didn¡¯t find any other webbing on the other side of the door. ¡°I figured whatever made this would use it as an alarm system of some sort.¡± Slowly stepping forward, I checked above me and to the sides as rapidly as I could, finding nothing. No webbing, no signs of mana, no traps. Moving counterclockwise, as I didn¡¯t want the wall to get in the way of any of my swings, I slowly circled the pillar. At a quarter of a turn, I started seeing webbing between the columns at the edge of the floor. At halfway around, I found the source.
Heroic skeletal drider abomination Lvl 38 A fusion of a dark elf hero and her lifelong pet spider, this abomination is the stuff of nightmares. The hairy carapace left by the gigantic tarantula is so sensitive it can feel the breath of enemies from 30 feet away. The upper body of the dark elf hero has been fused to the head of her former pet, and now uses the two front legs as a spare set of arms with a spike on each end formed from her former leg bones. Kill this with extreme prejudice.
I was frozen in terror. The entire time I was reading the description, she merely sat still and stared at me, green flames in both the eyes of the dark elf and the spider. I couldn¡¯t see the mana core, it was most likely hidden somewhere in the spider. The head of the spider was at my chest height, and in some macabre parody of life it started rubbing its mandibles together as they stared at me. She reached down to affectionately pet the side of her spider¡¯s head, startling me out of my stupor and letting me notice the two blades at her hips. Since I had no chance of surprising her, I figured I might as well try some diplomacy. ¡°He, he, hellllllo there.¡± I stuttered. ¡°Do you ha, have fa fa free wwwilll?¡± At my question, she tilted her head, then gave a ¡®so-so¡¯ gesture with her hand. Ok, I could work with that. Exhaling in relief, I continued. ¡°Do you want me to destroy this existence?¡± Nodding yes. ¡°Will you be force to attack me if I attack you?¡± More nods. Damn. ¡°Did you cause the destruction of this tower?¡± Yes. ¡°Magic?¡± No. ¡°Venom from your spider?¡± Yes. Shiiiiit. As I thought of what else to add, the spider started rapidly tapping its legs. ¡°Is, it getting ready to attack?¡± Yes. I backed off, maintaining eye contact, and as soon as that broke I booked it towards the exit as fast as I could. I could hear the skittering of feet behind me, and redoubled my effort. My feet slipped out from underneath me as I tried to corner into the stairwell, and I felt the swish of air right where my neck used to be. I rolled away, hearing a double thunk as those front legs of the spider slammed into the floor where I used to stand. Blindly pulling a potion from my inventory, I flung what I hoped was a pyrophoria potion at her face only to realize that it was acid when a sword cleaved it neatly in two. It did buy me some time to grab an actual pyrophoria potion, and fling that at the face of the spider. It niftily caught the potion in its mandibles, but I was already diving into the stairwell and scrambling down it as fast as I could. I was slow, as I felt a burning line cut down my back as a hairy leg caught me with a slash. I stopped just out of reach of the legs, as it flailed trying to catch me.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Breathing heavily, I downed a health potion. That one slash had taken about 15% of my health, and I wasn¡¯t going to risk dying here. As I was trying to formulate a plan of attack, the drow head of the abomination poked her head into the stairwell and stared at me, before trying to force her way in there. The spider head would easily fit, but it was a struggle to get the abdomen in. I pulled out my crossbow, and aimed right at her face. She immediately crossed her swords, and I raised my weapon and fired at one of the jugs suspended above her body. The pot shattered, drenching her body in burning liquid right were her drow half met the spider. ¡°SKREEEEEEEEE!!!¡± Slapping my hands on my ears, I had no idea spiders could scream like that. The intensity of the flames caused the second pot to fall, but it bounced off a leg and shattered on a wall, only getting a little bit of liquid to splash onto the creature. Of course, added flames caused it to immediately panic, and I noticed that the hairs on its head and legs were burning merrily. The upper body was trying to put out fires, and I darted in with my hammer scythe looking to do as much damage as possible. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I cried, slashing at one of the weaponized legs. Still being ignored in favor of putting out the flames, I cut straight through it and managed to knick the second one. Some foul smelling green liquid burst from the severed limb, and between the rotten meat smell of the liquid and the burning hair of the spider, I had to back off to prevent me from vomiting. As I was taking deep breaths of blessedly clean air, the spider¡¯s thrashing finally paid off. Smashing the drow skeleton on the top of the doorway, it managed to back its bulk out of the flame and escape. I moved so that I was halfway between the levels, and started making some hand holds so that I could eventually start working on removing the wall. I had zero intentions of walking straight into a trap, as I knew the drider would be waiting to ambush me as soon as I came waltzing through the only entrance. I took my time, making sure that the mana blades I used only cut through the masonry between the stones, and as soon as I had one free I would immediately put it in my inventory. I pulled out alternating rows of three bricks, then four, and back to three. By the time I had a hole big enough for me to slide through, I had 21 bricks in my inventory. Slipping into the level, I slowly crept forward to see if I had been noticed. Coming around the bend in the pillar, I saw something that made me so very happy that I had decided to make my own entrance. The spider was in the strike position, front legs high in the air ready to spear downward. The drow had both blades drawn, and was also ready with weapons high ready to use the force of gravity to add extra power to her strike. Now time for tough decisions. Do I leap onto the back of the spider now that it is lowered, attacking the elf portion? Or do I take out some of the legs in the hopes of crippling it?It was at least down a leg on one side, making things just slightly easier. Not wanting to test the flexibility of elves, I opted for the legs along the already damaged right side. I started with an overhand angled slash, and the first strike cut cleanly through the still target. As the drider started turning, I yelled out, ¡°[Keen edge]!¡± and used a backhanded slash to shorten the second leg on the side. That was all I had time for, as the spider let out a squeal of rage and slammed me with a backhand of its own, using its weaponized front leg. I flew backward, sliding for a few feet on my back. As I struggled to catch my breath and got to my feet, the drider started an attack that had me worried. The spider had lifted its one mandible and remaining front leg, and they were pointing immediately in front of and above its head. The drow portion also had her blades pointing at the same spot, and a roiling ball of black mana was growing. As soon as the drow head popped up to look at me, I threw myself to the side as hard as I could, barely missing the blob of dark energy that struck right where I had just been standing. I watched in awe for a second as the stone simply liquefied. There was no acidic hiss, no grinding sounds, it just liquefied and splattered down a level. I looked back in awe at the drider, and took a spider headbutt to the chest as she had charged me in my moment of distraction. I stumbled backwards, managing to keep my feet, and a flail of my weapon deflected the leg that was aiming to spear me in the forehead just enough that it drew a painful line across the side of my head instead. Snarling in anger, I let out a wordless cry as I started exchanging slashes with the creature. I dodged just enough to take glancing blows, and focused all my fury on the spider head, which soon gave way under the barrage of attacks. As the drider slumped down, unable to control its remaining legs, I backed off a bit to drink several health potions. Getting lost in battle like that was incredibly dangerous, as I had dropped down to under a third of my health. Panting to let my stamina recover, I had a stare down with the much calmer drow. ¡°You follow Lolth, right?¡± At her nod, I continued. ¡°Well, if she is watching, then she should know how well you battled. Out of respect, I am not going to give you an honorable death.¡± At her head tilt, I kept explaining. ¡°You are a warrior of Lolth, who is well known for her trickery. Even with half of your resurrected body disabled, I am assuming you have multiple ways to lure me in and kill me. So I am going to attack from blind spots, and not give you any chance to turn the tides.¡± My little spiel seemed to revitalize the drow, as she straightened up and took as much of a battle stance as she could. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. Never give up, never surrender.¡± I started circling, and once I got almost directly behind her she started spinning in a desperate bid to keep me in her sight. That was my clue to pull out my crossbow and shoot her in the base of the spine with a smasher bolt, repeating that five times before the vertebrae cracked enough that she couldn¡¯t turn anymore. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I said, before rushing in and decapitating her body in a smooth strike.
Divine attention garnered! Congratulations and condolences mortal, for you have garnered the attention of Lolth, Queen of Spiders and Goddess of the Drow. Not many draw her eye, and even fewer enjoy her attentions once they have done so. For giving one of her fallen heroes a death worthy of a drow, and reminding her of her heritage, Lolth smiles on you. She has also charged you with drawing out the death of the necromancer who dared to corrupt her hero for as long as possible.
Quest Success Failure
Draw out the death of the necromancer to show them the error of their ways. Minimum time is ten minutes. ??? Reputation with Lolth and dark elves will drop to hatred. Reputation gains with dark elf faction will be halved.
Shit! Seriously? Damn meddling gods. At least it was something I was already going to be partly doing. At least it is only a prolong the battle quest, and I don¡¯t have to torture him like I know Lolth would truly want. Shaking my head, I looted the body. I was surprised to have received her twin blades.
Herald of the Coming Night¡¯s Blades These twin orichalcum and mithril scimitars were the visual representation of the Herald of the Coming Night, a hero of Lolth who disappeared mysteriously centuries ago. In a fit of mad genius, the blacksmith who created these used a San Mai technique to give it an orichalcum edge with a mithril backing.. As orichalcum can¡¯t conduct mana, these made the perfect mage slaying weapons, as the swords can be used to literally slice through magic attacks. The mithril backbone has been enchanted to both increase durability as well as transfer some of the lifeforce of the victim to the wielder. The cruel barbs along the spine enhance bleeding damage. Lifeforce vampire: 40% of damage done returned to wielder as healing. 90% chance to cause bleeding damage +75% damage to mages Spell killer: Can be used to cut through spell forms. Damage: 1000-1250 Slashing Bleed damage: 75 per second for ten seconds, stackable x10 Durability: 74,192/100,000 Dexterity 65% Dual wield 0%
Holy shit, these were legendary swords. Oh, how I wish I were a swordsman with the dual wield skill, these would go into a vault until I was strong enough to use them. Into the inventory with you my beauties, we will find something special to do with you eventually. Walking over to the webbing where I initially found the drider, I saw a chest buried within. Popping a few pyrophoria potions to burn away the webbing, and I opened it up to see what else I had gotten. Several pristinely cut jewels, including three diamonds the size of my fist. There was a skill book for a dual wield skill called Bloody Harvest, which just sounded like a fantastic move. The book I was most interested in, however, was called A treatise on poison immunity. It wasn¡¯t a skill book, but it looked like it described a painful way to gain full poison immunity. You had to have a partner, and the work would take about a week. You gradually increased the dose of poison in the blood, starting with a weak paralytic poison and working your way up to something called Death¡¯s Knell. I looked around for anything else, but the rest of the room was empty. I looked out the window, trying to get a better view of the rest of the compound. To the north of me, the wall passed just beyond the tower I was in until it merged into the side of the cavern. There was a large circle in the courtyard beyond the blacksmiths, which I assumed would be a well. The eastern side of the courtyard seemed to be taken up by that building I could barely see from my first attempt, but it looked like it was a few floors in height and took up the entire length of the cavern wall. Spying done, I headed down to the base level of the tower, intending to finish exploring this half of the compound before I called it quits for the night. Chapter 53 So, the stables were rather underwhelming. Any hay or feed for the mounts had long since rotted away, and over half of them were smashed in the fall of part of the tower wall. I found some bits of metal from what I assumed were saddles, but even the leather that it was originally attached to was long gone. They didn¡¯t even have the decency to have an escape tunnel hidden under a trapdoor. Isn¡¯t the stable where it¡¯s always located? Slightly disappointed, I headed over to the blacksmith. I couldn¡¯t hear how many monsters were in there, but there was a rhythmic clanking letting me know something was working in there. I stuck my head in, and saw a dwarf skeleton pounding out a sword. It was odd, though, seeing a skeletal dwarf that still had a beard.
Grumblespark Stonefist Heroic skeletal blacksmith Lvl 39 Grumblespark was a genius blacksmith, credited with creating several legendary artifacts. It is said that he spent so much time in the forge that the sparks of miniscule bits of metal replaced all the hair in his beard. Years ago, his family tomb was plundered and his body stolen. Though the majority of his skill has been lost, it still retains the immunity to fire that all dwarven forgemasters possess.
Well, that definitely explained the metallic sheen to the beard that the skeleton had. As it turned back to the forge to reheat the metal, I crept closer and looked at the guy. I¡¯m sure he wouldn¡¯t want to continue serving the necromancer. I stealthily crept to the far side of the smithy, hoping that he would always turn his back to the same wall as he worked, and I wasn¡¯t disappointed. Once he started working the metal again, I whispered, ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± There was a large red spot just under his right arm, and I darted in to slash at it when he raised his hammer to strike again. I felt my attack catch on something, and gave a two handed tug as hard as I could. Stumbling away after the sudden release, I saw that the dwarf was down to critical levels of health already. He was also heading towards me, hammer head glowing bright red with what I assumed would be some sort of skill designed to smash whatever body part it happened to land on. As the hammer descended, I thanked Khaliss for his training that allowed me to strike the head of the descending hammer and knock it off course. I took a decent bit of damage as the shockwave released when it hit the floor, but it was much better than taking that blow head on. As the dwarf struggled with getting his hammer out of the ground, I gave him a spiked uppercut to the face in the hopes of at least knocking him back a little bit, but I severely underestimated the weight of a dwarf skeleton. The head barely rocked, so I gave up on that entirely and stepped back just out of range as the now freed hammer swung through where my knees were mere seconds ago. Ok, no more closing in. I¡¯ve got the reach on the guy as well as an edge in speed, so I just kept my distance and struck glancing blows. Another few minutes later, and the dwarf had once more passed from this world. The loot from the body wasn¡¯t the greatest, just his corrupted alloy beard. I still don¡¯t know why, but I tried to store his bones in the body bag, and was surprised when it actually worked! Looking around the forge, I started pocketing all the ingots I came across. I had plenty of room in my inventory, and part of dungeon diving is taking everything that isn¡¯t nailed down, right? Two hundred iron ingots and three hundred of steel was quite a haul, but something seemed off. This seemed like a very rich fortress, even if at only one point in time. That means somewhere they have to have some wealth, so I started looking around with mystic vision. I tried everything, including tapping along the walls looking for voids behind them, to no avail. In a bit of desperation, I checked the anvil itself and was somewhat surprised at the popup.
Adamantite anvil Crafted out of one of the hardest metals known, this anvil will last for centuries with proper care. Durability: 42,000/500,000
That, was a tough anvil. Into the inventory with you! Wait a second, there¡¯s something in the floor under the anvil. Reaching in, I pulled out a small box with an intricate key inside. The portion you held on to was in the shape of a hammer, and the shaft of the hammer had prongs sticking out in multiple directions. Next to the box was a lever, which I pulled. There was a grinding sound, and a plume of dust fell off a portion of the wall next to the forge. Heading over, I saw that it was part of a hidden door. After much swearing, and a little bit of sweat, I finally managed to force open the jammed door, revealing a metal vault behind it. The key was a perfect fit, and the vault itself opened much easier than the door hiding it. Inside was the mother lode. The lower shelves were loaded with high quality ingots. Elementum, adamantite, silver, a few gold, and the best of the best, twenty ingots of mithril. It all went into the inventory, and I moved on to the three chests that were resting on the shelf in a place of honor in the vault. The first one was full of uncut jewels, and the whole thing fit inside the inventory. In a bid to make it more realistic, the chest required six inventory slots, which was a nice touch and would prevent people from stacking bags inside of bags. The next chest was filled with books on smelting and extracting ores. The final one, that was the greatest. It was the personal notes on the techniques used by Grumblespark Stonefist. There was a volume on every metal, including a separate one on which enchantments worked best with what metals. I reverently closed the lid on that, and put it into my inventory. Heading out of the smithy, I headed towards the well. Everything above the stone lip had been destroyed, or rotted away, leaving no trace. The stones had a bit of grey, dried moss that crumbled to the touch, and one in three of the capstones that formed the lip for people to rest things on had cracked or crumbled. I picked up one of these pieces, and dropped it over the edge as I listened. A few seconds later I heard the stone strike solid ground. On the side opposite of where I was standing, was a steel ladder leading down. It glowed slightly in my mystic vision, and I hoped like hell that it was because of a preservation spell. I slowly made my way down, testing each step before committing my full weight to it. Fifteen harrowing minutes later, and I was at the bottom. Looking up, I figured it was roughly a hundred or so feet to the surface, and I could barely see a bit of light up there. As I was turning to look around, I noticed a strange symbol carved into the wall. It was a circle with a cat¡¯s eye slit inside it, with three short arrows along the top and a handle underneath. Weird. Turning around, the entirety of the well had dried out. There was a tunnel leading off into the darkness, and I headed down it with mystic vision and darkvision activated. It was a little disorienting seeing splotches of color on the monochromatic background of darkvision, but as long as I wasn¡¯t moving fast it wasn¡¯t too big of an issue. The tunnel was straight, and unless I had gotten turned around led away from the keep. Perhaps this was their secret escape route? If they had something like a lizard mount, that could climb rough walls, they might be able to escape this way. As I was pondering these issues, I noticed a slight blob of darkness in my mana vision and immediately froze. Dropping mana vision and I lost sight of it entirely. Bringing it back, and I could see it. After a few seconds of observation, it scuttled to the side a few inches and settled back down. The sound it made, though, set my skin crawling. It was like sharp nails tapping their way across a blackboard.
Skitterling Lvl 22 Skitterlings are small amalgamations of darkness that thrive on fear. Usually docile, they rely on the sounds of their nails to create the fear they feed upon. They are not defenseless, however, and will definitely attack when provoked.
What the? Why is it such a low level, and why is it not heroic? This was weird, but some weird things led to great rewards. Would this be one of those? I had to find out, and started by shooting the skitterling. The close range and difference in levels let me kill it in one shot. As I traveled farther down the tunnel, it seemed like it was widening slightly, and I came across more and more of the skitterlings. Though numerous, none of them gave me any loot. Following the straight path was starting to become an exercise in mind numbing tedium when I saw some things flitting in the air at the edges of my perception. I crouched down, instantly on high alert. Creeping forward, I got close enough to see something that would give those people who are afraid of oceans nightmares for a while. The top portion of it was a balloon type structure reminiscent of a man ¡®o¡¯ war. Below that were several arms, each ending in an obsidian claw and connected with a thin membrane that would billow out and contract to give it propulsion. There were also four longer tentacles dropping down from inside the membrane, that each ended in a bulb with another obsidian tip. That was nice, until the creature detected a skitterling, and the bulb opened up into a four jawed mouth, and the tip was merely a portion of some vicious looking barbed hooks that were hidden within. It flashed out and impaled the now shrieking skitterling, wrapping it up like a snake. All four tentacles wrapped it, and withdrew inside the membrane that surrounded it and didn¡¯t do much to dampen the crunching sounds from within.
Champion shadow floater Lvl 27 The origins of this monster are unknown, but the speed of its strike is comparable to that of a diving falcon and the strength of the tentacles is fearsome. Lesser creatures have found their bones crushed and flesh ripped apart with little to no warning. Luckily, it displays little to no intelligence, but that means it will attack anything living it detects. Certain variants have been known to contain different types of poisons, so some caution is recommended.
I have a bad feeling about this. Start out with a shadowy crab creature, now we move on to the champion version and it¡¯s a floating jellyfish. At least there weren¡¯t any stalacmites here to hide darkmantles. Ok, let¡¯s see how well these things do when grounded. It seems like they can only move once every three seconds, so I¡¯m going to have to aim fast. These also look rather weak, so I¡¯m not going to waste an armor piercing bolt on them. I shot a normal bolt, and the balloon at the top had no resistance as the bolt tore through it. The new holes provided some limited jet thrust, but that only sent it careening a few feet away from me, where it proceeded to start flopping tentacles impotently along the ground. ¡°Thanatos, I¡¯ve never come across one of these before, so you get the first one.¡± I said, shuddering as I felt the body of the creature squish beneath my hammer. Have you ever taken out garbage with old foodstuff in the bottom, and heavier things on top, and accidentally plopped it on the ground harder than you intended? That noise, sound, and feeling were what I went through as I crushed the creature.
Thanatos is divided on your offering. For offering an unacceptable sacrifice, -20 favor. For sacrificing a champion monster, +20 favor. As you failed to gain favor with this sacrifice, it will not count towards your champion sacrifices requirements to advance in the church. Future sacrifices like this are not encouraged.
Damn, I forgot that the level really needs to be higher than my own to be counted as a proper sacrifice. At least I came out with a wash, as I don¡¯t want to start falling negative. As I continued down the hallway, the stonework started getting rougher and the number of shadow floaters increased. Unsurprisingly, they displayed no inhibitions towards cannibalism, almost immediately turning upon their downed fellows and ripping off as large of chunks as they could manage. Once they had a full mantle, they became incredibly lethargic and I was able to get close and examine one. I could see shadows dropping down into their meal and chomping on it, and I assumed they had a beak like a squid. The membrane surrounding their arms was surprisingly tough, as it actually deflected a swing from the scythe portion of my weapon. Once I dealt a glancing blow, the top portion started wiggling and growing alarmingly fast, and I used my hammer side like a baseball bat to send it crashing into a group of its fellows, where the first detonation caused several others nearby to also detonate.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The loot was going to be an alchemists dream. The most common drop was a large tentacle, and I saw that each one was covered in cups like grippers that also had a barbed needle to help grab and injure whatever it caught. The rare drop was a vial of ichor, and would probably make a great base for some poisons. Every so often, maybe one in twenty, I would come across one with some greenish highlights on the ends of the tentacles. These invariably dropped a weak chaotic movements potion. According to the description, creatures below level 25 would have a 95% chance to have their movements randomized for five seconds. They gave the example of instead of swinging the right arm, they might flex their left big toe. At level 30 the chance of being affected was 66%, and at 35 it was down to 5%. After a few hundred feet of dealing with floating monsters, they started to thin out, and I came across a new enemy. I never would have noticed it either, until I saw one shoot down one of the floating creatures and several others got up and lumberingly charged in to partake of the bounty. I really should have known that the sudden appearance of rocks on the ground weren¡¯t rocks. They were a round rock looking creature, with a hollow protrusion coming out of their head. The protrusion was able to fire a bullet of compressed air, which tore through the membrane of the floaters and made them easy prey. The rock armor of the creatures was actual rock, shaped by mana but having none flowing through it. They would curl their legs beneath themselves, and the rock armor would rest on the floor with a minimal gap.
Champion armored sharpshooter Lvl 28 Covered in mana less rock, these creatures are hidden from the keenest of senses. Though slow, their bullets of air can cause massive damage to soft targets.
Damn, I never would have thought that there was a type of creature that would be immune to my mystic vision, and the reality that it only took a few inches of rock to hide was discomforting. At least I was able to walk around these creatures fairly easily, and destroy them at my leisure. I tried using mana excavation on the rock armor, but wasn¡¯t surprised the first time that failed. Smashing it with the hammer was also a no go, as it would repair once some major cracking was starting to form. The easiest way to kill them was to flip them over and smash the softer underbelly. The loot wasn¡¯t very good, as the only thing that would drop would be a piece of rock armor. As I continued on, my surroundings stopped looking like a nice tunnel and started looking more and more like something was clawing its way through the stone. After a while, I got worried as the armored sharpshooters had disappeared. The irregularities in the tunnel could be hiding anything, and my nerves were shot. So when something shot out of the darkness aiming for my heart, I most definitely didn¡¯t let out a girlish scream. I did manage to avoid a lethal blow, but both my side and my arm took a slash. As whatever had attacked me had left a long limb conveniently by my armpit, ¡°[Keen edge]!¡± I cried, as I latched on with my arm to hold it still and used my scythe to cut through the offending limb. There was virtually no resistance, and the severed portion of the limb disappeared in a puff of black smoke as it hit the ground. Walking into my field of view, was a shifting form that made my eyes hurt. The main body would sprout eyes, mouth, and limbs at random, although the main body stayed in a roughly spheroid shape.
Elite amalgamation of shadow Lvl 33 An incredibly rare creature, the amalgamation of shadow can change its form at will. Prolonged battle is not recommended, as its fighting prowess gains a massive boost from its adaptability, and it can and will gain the advantage in a fight swiftly. The magic academy has a standing bounty for parts and loot dropped from this enemy.
Damn, a highly adaptable enemy. I fired a crossbow bolt into the center of mass, and swiftly changed my weapon to melee as I charged in. As expected, it made several large, spindly limbs to attack me from a distance. As the limbs shot outward, I dodged between them and started slashing , twice through a figure eight attack and after the last cut I spun and slammed my hammer into the creature. ¡°[Mana shockwave]!¡± I shouted, and the power of my attack sent the creature careening into the side of the cavern. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I calmly said, striking one last time as it bounced off the wall of the cavern, disoriented. Breathing out in relief, I looted the body for a shadow touched ichor. Luckily for me, the amalgamations of shadow were rare. Far more often I came across a shadow aberration, which were equally as disturbing. They looked like nothing more than a crocodile head on two legs, with a long tail for balance and three hands coming out of the top of the head. Two near the sides, and one right on top. They were also level 33 elite monsters, but didn¡¯t have the combat ability of the amalgamations. They used powerful chomping attacks, and used their arms to funnel food towards their mouths. They also had a powerful jumping attack, and could tail whip you if you weren¡¯t careful. Fighting them from a distance was the way to go, though the few times they got close I learned they had the same weakness as a crocodile. The muscles that opened their mouths were much weaker than the ones that closed them, and an arm around their snout holding it closed was more than enough to render them mostly harmless. Their fangs were the main drop, but occasionally would drop a shadow touched ichor as well. The elites were far rarer than the more common monsters I had been fighting, so I wasn¡¯t surprised when I only had to fight through fifty of the amalgamations and eighteen of the aberrations before the surroundings changed again. It opened up into a magnificent cavern, chock full of stalagmites and stalactites. ¡°Damn devs, damn them all.¡± I muttered, expecting this to be filled to the brim with darkmantles. As I kept my eyes peeled for ambushes from above, the stalagmites started getting larger, some large enough that they had been turned into abodes. Looking inside, the only thing I saw were shattered shells. How in the world did seashells get down here? Still moving carefully, I saw a pinprick of light in the distance. Getting closer revealed a glowing blue-white stone, surrounded by eight creatures. Slightly taller than myself if they stood straight, all were hunched over and had tails for balance. Webbing on the tails and between the fingers told me they spent as much time in the water as on land, which explained the shells, but still didn¡¯t explain how in the heck they were here at the bottom of a well. Especially since the shells were seashells. Instead of scales, each one had a desiccated leathery skin, and they were all differing shades of black. They had crude forked weapons with barbs cut in the prongs, and elongated faces with heads that reminded me of a shark.
Heroic sahuagin of the dark depths Lvl 38 Unparalleled hunters when in water, the sahuagin of the dark depths have been mutated by prolonged exposure to concentrated dark mana. These now have the ability to ¡°swim¡± through the shadows. Show them no mercy, for they shall surely show you none.
Great, eight on one and they can use these dark caves as if they are underwater. As I was thinking on how to take them out, I heard a low horn blow through the cavern. The sahuagin all looked in one direction, before turning back and glaring at each other. After some unknown communication, one of them lowered its head and headed off in the direction they had looked earlier. ¡°SKRAAAAaaaaah aaah aah aaah.¡± A series of screams shortly sounded out, fading into nothing. Looks like he came to some sort of cruel end. The rest of his companions never moved, simply kept staring at their rock. Something wasn¡¯t right here. Seven adult sahuagin, just let one of their own head off to what sounded like its doom. They almost seem resigned to their fate. I pulled out my crossbow, loaded an armor piercing bolt, and whispered, ¡°Thanatos, these seven seem to be waiting for your embrace. I¡¯ll send them all to you.¡± Taking aim, I shot the one on the far side of the stone right between the eyes. As I was busy reloading, the other six looked at their fallen companion, then back at each other, stunned for a second. When they all finally turned towards me, the two nearest charged straight in while the remaining four stepped back into the shadows and took to the air. I shot the nearest one straight through the chest, taking off two thirds of his life, and sending it stumbling. I charged in to the remaining one, and saw it widen its eyes in surprise. That¡¯s right, I¡¯m not prey. Your friends are probably circling around to ambush me as I flee, and won¡¯t be in time to save you. As it recovered and stabbed forward with its fork, I brushed its attack aside with my hammer and smashed it right in the snout with my spiked fist. The results were incredible. The faces resembled a sharks, and I guess they suffered from the same snout sensitivity. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I spoke calmly before disemboweling it as it reeled backwards in pain. As it grabbed the entrails now outside of its stomach, I smashed it in the side of the head with my hammer, which knocked it into the now recovered first creature I had shot and ruining its attack. Giving my weapon a half spin, I smashed this one in the face with the point of my scythe, ending his participation in the fight. Turning, I saw the remaining four rapidly approaching. I left the bleeding one, and started weaving my way back and forth through the stalagmites. I ducked into one of the houses, and cut an exit door through the back. As the new door slammed to the ground, two of the remaining four entered the doorway only to immediately slash at the large jug of pyrophoria potion I threw at them. Man, do I love instinct reactions. The sahuagins immediately smashed the jar with their forked spears, covering themselves in burning potion. I left them to roast, and circled around back to the front of the house I was just in. Sure enough, the remaining sahuagin had split up to come at me from both directions, but moving into their path had foiled their plan. I slid on my knees under a jab from that spear that would have absolutely crushed my throat, and slashed deep into the base of the tail. With a cry of pain, whatever magic it was using to swim through the darkness around us was cancelled and it fell to the ground. As it was on its hands and knees, I cut deep into its back, angling my scythe so that it was hooked under the spine, and started tugging as hard as I could. Before the spine would sever, the remaining sahuagin finished its flight around the building and body tackled me off of its partner. I managed to keep my scythe, but the sahuagin I was working on hadn¡¯t gotten the spine severing I was trying for. Rolling over, I tried to find where the one that had hit me had gone. Not seeing it, I charged forward and finished off the sahuagin I had crippled earlier, then felt the twin tips of a spear smash into my left shoulder. They were ripped out, and the barbs had done their job and had taken enough of my shoulder that it was disabled. Snarling, I turned around but couldn¡¯t see where the sahuagin that had attacked me had gone. Great, pack hunters that have weapons and like hit and run tactics. As I was backing slowly towards the house nearby, I felt a something wet drop down on me from above. Eyes widening, I took a half jump forward, spinning as fast as I could and swinging for all I was worth. ¡°[Mana shockwave]!¡± I screamed, as the diving sahuagin missed his attack from above, and my uppercut style strike smashed right into its descending jaws. The combined forces tore the weapon from my hand, but also annihilated the lower half of the creature¡¯s face. I picked up my fallen weapon as it lay there in a daze, and smashed my hammer down on the back part of its head, killing it. I made sure the ones I had set on fire were finished, and found two burnt corpses. Before I headed back down to check on the two I had battled earlier, I downed a few health potions to deal with my shoulder. I still had to worry about heavy bleeding for another minute, but my arm was back into a position where I could at least move it. I took my time to reload and let the bleeding finish out before drinking one more health potion, then I went back and found the other two had ended up dying. I wasn¡¯t too surprised the one that took a scythe to the face didn¡¯t make it, but the other one had died of blood loss, as I saw it had managed to crawl a few feet before expiring. Checking my notifications, I saw that the battle had given me a level up and had gotten ambush to increase to advanced level 3.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For sacrificing a group of acceptable monsters, you gain 175 favor. (7 monsters x (20 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a group of heroic monsters, you gain 315 favor. (7 monsters x (40 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a monster at full health, gain 60 favor. (3 monsters x 20 favor each). Total favor: 694/500 Champions sacrificed: 2/5
Fantastic, I was at maximum favor but still needed to sacrifice three more types of champion monsters. My count was up to one humanoid skeleton and one sahuagin. Oh well, I¡¯m sure I can find a few more in this dungeon. Now, time to find out what ended up killing that first sahuagin. I followed the direction all the sahuagin looked in, and ended up following a worn path in the stone. How many had followed this path to their deaths? As I neared the end of the path, I saw some steps leading up into an ornately carved doorway. A coral reef, teeming with life, with a swirling portal above it. I took a minute to admire the detail, once again impressed by the developer¡¯s abilities. Shaking myself away from the artistry, I slowly crept through the doorway and entered a room of nightmares. There was a clear path leading straight from the door I was in to a coral throne, upon which sat an ancient sahuagin. Skin drooping from its limbs, it actually had barnacles growing on it in patches. A bleached white crown of shark¡¯s teeth sat on its head, but from the size of the teeth they had to be from a prehistoric beast. Megalodon? That sounds about right. It had a trident leaning against the throne to its right, and a bronze shield on its left. The coral that was somehow attached to the shield looked razor sharp, and would be the first thing I would have to attack should the withered creature be able to lift it. Though the creature on the throne was bad, the room was covered in bones. Ancient bones, yellowed with age, were closer to me, and as they approached the throne they were more. . . complete, and much whiter. They also had teeth marks on them, and there was only one creature in this room that had the ability to gnaw on things.
Glurbleblurblsnack Shadow warped heroic sahuagin king Lvl 38 Long ago, the shadow ley line running through this chamber altered Glurbleblurblsnack due to the amount of time he spent on his throne. When it dried up, his body became mana starved, and he has taken to draining the mana of his subjects to prolong his life. Somewhere along the way, he began to consume their flesh as well.
Looking along the back wall, I noticed some yellow orbs floating in a jellylike substance, and everything clicked. This bastard would automatically imprint on the next generation of sahuagins, letting them grow as they obeyed his every order. He then had a steady supply of food and mana to keep himself alive. Well, let¡¯s see how he fares against an opponent that has no problems fighting back. Chapter 54 Taking an armor piercing bolt, I started to take aim when the ancient being on the throne started to speak, ¡°You would dare raise arms against your king?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not my king, nor worthy of the title.¡± I said, before firing and pinning his left shoulder to the throne he was sitting on. ¡°YAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!¡± He screamed, trying to pull the bolt out. I started throwing pyrophoria potions on him, letting him burn as he struggled to free himself. After five potions, I stopped for a second to reload. Just as I finished, he tore the bolt from the throne and stood to free himself. The standing was the only thing that saved him from a bolt through the chest, as it instead struck through his stomach, and only staggered him for a second. Wincing at my unlucky moment, I pulled out my weapon and prepared to get within striking distance. Voracious appetite, Never sated. Consume all nearby. Mana vortex! Shouting out a quick incantation, a deep blue aura billowed out from the king. As it washed over me, I saw my mana dropping steadily and his health bar recovering. I backed off, lowering the drain on my mana as I reloaded my crossbow again. I decided that this battle was going to be one without mana, and used as wide of mana blades as I could to start slashing holes in the ground. ¡°What are you doing to my throne room? You will pay for that!¡± He screamed, and picked up his trident. As he bent over to pick up his shield, I fired a bolt that pierced through the shield and stuck in the throne. He tsked in annoyance, and started heading down the stairs to the floor to come and attack me. Once he reached the halfway point, I finally managed to get rid of all of my mana. Smiling, I stood and closed the distance. The king gave a feeble thrust with his trident, one that I caught with my left hand and forced upward, priming the king for a smash to the side. Though I couldn¡¯t use a mana shockwave, I could still feel his ancient bones cracking under the assault. ¡°Not enough milk in your diet, your travesty?¡± I taunted, sending him even deeper into a rage. He threw the trident to the side, and started swiping at me with his claws and trying to bite down on my shoulder. I kept dancing back, smashing and slashing as I stayed out of his reach. Once the king reached a quarter health, he backed off and screamed, ¡°TO ME, MY GUARDS! YOUR KING NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE!¡± For some reason, we both froze in anticipation, but nothing ended up coming through the door. ¡°My guards! What have you done with my guards?¡± He cried, going into a frenzy. I had no chance to deflect all of his strikes or even dodge half of them, it devolved into a slugfest. Knowing I wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand a boss level creature in combat like that, I took a deep slash along my left arm in exchange for a crippling blow to the king¡¯s leg. Once he fell to the ground, I backed off and immediately downed two health potions. ¡°If you guards were the ones by the stone out there.¡± I said, huffing a bit, ¡°Then I killed all of them before I came in here for you.¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± He cried. ¡°I have over a hundred guards out there! A veritable army! No mere kobold could take them out!¡± ¡°I hate to break it to you, but you seem to have been eating your guards to prolong your life. I only had to kill seven.¡± At my words, his face fell. ¡°But. . .No. . . LIES!¡± ¡°Look around you. These bones are the bones of your guard. You killed them to prolong your own life.¡± ¡°And what was I supposed to do?¡± He snarled. ¡°Our ocean portal shut down when the ley line died! What are we supposed to eat down here? There¡¯s nothing. NOTHING!¡± ¡°There are a million things you could have done. Move. Grow your own food. Trade. You chose to eat your own. You¡¯ll get no sympathy from me.¡± ¡°Move? Never. We have ruled the seas from this throne for millennia! We don¡¯t grow food, we take it.¡± ¡°From the looks of things, you haven¡¯t ruled anything in ages. And now, your reign will come to an end. Perhaps the next generation will figure out what to do, perhaps they will die here. Either way, you will have no say in it.¡± I said, voice flat. Walking forward, I kicked the king¡¯s hands out so that he couldn¡¯t regain his feet, knocking the crown from his head in the process. I then repeatedly smashed the back of his head until he died. Once he was dead, my mana thankfully started recovering.
Prehistoric shark¡¯s tooth crown Fitting, that the lord of the depths wears a crown made from the teeth of a creature that ruled the prehistoric seas. The wearer of this crown gains both a fear aura, and the option to have others swear fealty to them. Defense: 55 Durability: 1,000/1,000 Grants waterbreathing Grants primal fear aura: Prey creatures and creatures under the characters level feel a fear aura within 30 feet of the wearer. Wearer gains the ability to have others swear fealty, and can claim their own territory.
Not a bad drop for a battle that wouldn¡¯t be too bad for a warrior type. That mana drain would be brutal on anyone who brought a mage or a healer in their group. I searched near the throne, but couldn¡¯t find anything. As I turned to look at the room again, I noticed something in the wall in my mystic vision. It was a perfectly circular portion of the stone, around three feet in diameter, that glowed with ambient mana. Across the way, passing straight through the throne, was another spot. It shattered the first mana blade that I tried to use on it, leading me to believe that I had found exactly where the ley line used to run. I tried thinking back to what the devs had said about mana excavation and how I would need to use it differently to actually mine some resources. I bet they are going to require me to use it like I do in my keen edge skill, and keeping it limited to the inside of my claws. Putting that thought to the test, I formed a blade lining my claws, and tried to make it as dense as I could. This time, when I slashed through the stone it actually cut, though it did drop my mana levels rapidly. Fifteen mana potions later, and I had taken out six inches of shadow fused stone. I got a popup warning me that I wouldn¡¯t be able to mine any more of that resource from this location, so I headed to the opposite side of the throne room and did the same. All of that excavation had pushed my skill up to advanced level 7, and it was much easier to carve it by the time I was done. Searching through the rest of the throne room left me with nothing useable, so I started the long walk back to the beginning of the well, jogging whenever my stamina allowed it.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I flopped onto the ground once I managed to haul myself over the edge of the well, panting in exhaustion. ¡°God, I am so out of shape.¡± I muttered to myself, before forcing myself to stand up. Making the executive decision to call it a day, I headed back to the room I started the dungeon in as it was the only one that had a safety seal. Ramirez perked up when I walked in, but I simply shook my head at him and he sat back down. ¡°Half of the dungeon is cleared, but I didn¡¯t come across your sword. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find it tomorrow, but I need a break right now.¡± I said, somehow feeling the need to justify my decision. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°God, dungeons can be a pain in the ass sometimes.¡± I complained as I flopped into a seat at Caf¨¦ Oblivion. ¡°You on the assaulting team or the defending team?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Assault. Guys, if you get a divine quest chain, be prepared for a lot of heroic dungeons.¡± ¡°They that bad?¡± ¡°I spent a day clearing half of it. And most of that wasn¡¯t waiting on health to recharge, either.¡± I said, taking a sip of my drink. ¡°It¡¯s the variety of stuff I¡¯ve come across.¡± ¡°I thought dungeons were supposed to have a theme?¡± Jon asked. ¡°They do.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Or at least, all the game lore I¡¯ve ever come across says they do.¡± ¡°Think it¡¯s a bug?¡± I asked. ¡°Cuz I just spent the day clearing part of a skeleton dungeon, only at the bottom of the well in the keep there were a bunch of ¡®shadow warped¡¯ creatures.¡± I said, emphasizing with air quotes. ¡°The hell is a shadow warped creature?¡± Phoebe asked, leaning in. ¡°Well, the first one I came across was a combination of a jellyfish, squid, and octopus that flew in the air. Then there was the alligator head on legs, and the shapeshifting ball of shadow. The boss of the area was a sahuagin.¡± ¡°Ok, that is weird stuff.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Have you figured out where in the continent you are? There¡¯s only one mountain range near enough to the ocean to have sahuagins in it.¡± ¡°Sorry, and I could still be anywhere. They supposedly had a portal that let them access the ocean, but the ley line powering it dried up.¡± At my explanation, they all stared at me. ¡°What?¡± I asked, defensively. ¡°That¡¯s what the king said before I killed him.¡± ¡°Marty, ley lines don¡¯t ¡®dry up.¡¯¡± Phoebe pointed out. ¡°They might shift, but they don¡¯t dry up and they can¡¯t be blocked. The mana would simply move through whatever was blocking it, changing it as it did so.¡± ¡°I understand the mana changing it, I got a good bit of shadow infused stone. Any idea what it¡¯s good for?¡± ¡°How the hell did you find where the ley line used to run? It¡¯s damn near impossible to get that lucky.¡± ¡°Ever heard of mystic vision?¡± ¡°Yessssss.¡± Phoebe practically hissed. ¡°And if you know how to obtain a legendary skill like that, you will be telling all of us, right?¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Just. . . calm down for a bit. You¡¯re kinda scary right now.¡± ¡°He¡¯s got a point hun, you look like you are ready to vivisect him.¡± Jon said nonchalantly. ¡°Sorry Marty, it¡¯s just one of those things that everyone wants to get. God, do you know how easy magic would be if my sorcerer could have seen the flows of mana?¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind grinding for a bit, you need to find a creature that drops a mana sensing organ. Get enough that you can transmute ten perfect mana sensing organs, and use self-transmutation to turn yourself into a variant.¡± ¡°Where the hell do you transmute things?¡± Phoebe asked, and I was wondering if I had opened a can of worms. ¡°Well, the alchemist¡¯s guild headquarters has a few transmutation circles set up. I guess the cost is crazy high, so the top guilds might have one or two as well.¡± ¡°Damn, that won¡¯t work then. So what¡¯s it like?¡± ¡°Pretty. I see mana as splashes of color, and can see it as an aura around truly strong mages. I can even see the mana veins in people, so long as there isn¡¯t more than a few inches of flesh to look through.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome.¡± Jon said. ¡°It helps a bit. But anything too strong in magic can blind you. Don¡¯t look at the seals that guarantee safety in the dungeons, or the flames along the temples. It hurts.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°Hey guys, I got a far more important topic to ask you if you don¡¯t mind.¡± I said, and at their interested expressions continued. ¡°What all loot did you and Phoebe get when you raided that clan?¡± ¡°Nothing too valuable. A good bit of rare equipment, some uniques. Nothing above that. Why?¡± ¡°Damn. I was hoping to trade you for some stuff. I came across this staff that was a drop from a corrupted world tree that had been forced to hold souls. It was incomplete, but Guildmaster Willow said it had the potential to become a legendary item.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Guildmaster Willow?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Head of the alchemist guild. Pretty nice, for an elf, just don¡¯t drink anything you get offered. I¡¯ve heard he likes to experiment on people.¡± ¡°Jon. JON! Wake up Jon.¡± Phoebe was waving her hand in front of his face. ¡°Spirit. . . legendary . . . staff.¡± He muttered. ¡°Marty, I think you broke Jon just talking about your legendary staff.¡± Derrick said with a chortle. ¡°Looks like it. What about you Phoebe? Are you not fazed by talk of a legendary staff?¡± I said with a smile as she just shook her head. ¡°Marty, do you have any offers on that staff yet?¡± ¡°No, but the guildmaster is sending out feelers for a small fee. Do you have anything worth trading for it?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± He said with a dejected sigh. ¡°I was just thinking of how epic of a fetish I could have made with it. How in the world did you come across it?¡± ¡°A demonic dungeon that was taken over by a spirit caller who had turned to taboo to extend her life. Quite the nasty place.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, even if we could get great items for each other, we can¡¯t really trade unless we do it in person.¡± Jon said, sounding even more depressed. ¡°There might be a workaround.¡± Phoebe said, staring off into space as she got an idea. ¡°Marty, you can contact through the alchemist guild, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve been to the headquarters a few times already.¡± ¡°If I get this curse under control enough, I should be able to enter cities. Once I can do that, I wonder if they would be willing to pass along some messages, and facilitate us trading?¡± ¡°That. . . could work.¡± I said as I though on her words. ¡°They would probably want a ten percent fee for each transaction, so we couldn¡¯t do it all the time, but it is definitely something we could do for emergencies. Want me to hold on to that staff for you Jon?¡± ¡°Thanks Marty, just the fact that you would offer it is enough. I just don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get enough to make it worth your while anytime soon. Go ahead and sell it.¡± Poor guy, I hope he gets to find something great soon. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s go ahead and agree right now, if we find something the others can use we give them first crack at buying it. Being a monster race is hard enough, right?¡± Everyone rapidly agreed with that, and we started talking about what all we needed. I emphasized any strange alchemy compounds or recipes, while Derrick obviously went with anything to help him resist fire. Though in his case, it had to be oversized gear. He was currently using a bandit¡¯s greatsword, but it registered as a short sword due to his sheer size. Phoebe wanted leather armors or short spears, it seemed like she was really enjoying the versatility of the weapon. Jon needed strange items for his gear. For some reason the devs required that witch doctors craft all of their own gear save their weapons, though they could buy some things and make modifications. Their version of a shield required the head of a champion level monster they killed along with an enchantable piece of wood. They would then shrink and preserve the head, and impale it on the stick to create something to boost their curse potential and gain an attack bonus to whatever type of creature they ended up using. We spent the next several hours relaxing and discussing what would be best for Jon to use. Derrick was arguing for using one of the light races, but the one witchdoctor in the village Jon had visited warned him that there was a large price if he did that. He would immediately aggro any light race who saw it, and it couldn¡¯t be transferred. Since he was still somewhat squishy, he wanted to avoid that. Phoebe wanted him to go with a magical beast, while I didn¡¯t really have anything noteworthy to add. Eventually we all got tired, and decided that it was time to call it a night. Chapter 55 The next morning, I logged into the game early as I wanted enough time to finish the dungeon if I could. Ramirez was still sulking in a corner, and without a word to him I set off to see about clearing everything. The last gasp of the king in the well had cemented the idea that I really needed to clear everything, as it would mean instant death if the boss of a dungeon was able to recall all creatures still alive in it to their defense. So the first order of business would be the two larger towers near the back of the courtyard. Hopefully the towers themselves were empty, but I had a feeling that there would be a few guards hiding in the building that ran between them. Sure enough, sticking my head in revealed three guards. One was by the doorway leading to each tower, and hiding in the rafters was another assassin. The assassin wasn¡¯t on guard this time, simply sitting on top of one of the beams and whittling, allowing me to identify all of them. Unsurprisingly, they were all level 40 heroic. The species, however, ended up working in my favor. The assassin was a goblin, and one of the other guards was a skeletal sahuagin. The other was going to be a problem in the confines of the room, as it was a minotaur. Not only that, but it had a wide set of horns that were incredibly thick. Size of my thigh thick. I also only came up to its stomach, so it was going to have a good bit of reach on me even without a weapon of its own. To make matters worse, they weren¡¯t evenly distributed around the room. The goblin was closer to the sahuagin, so close in fact that attacking one would be sure to aggro the other. There were a few tables between me and the minotaur, and it was standing guard by both the eastern tower and a ladder heading to the lower level. I backed out quietly, and started planning. Judging by the thickness of the skull, there is no way I would be able to one shot the minotaur. That left the sahuagin, as the assassin wouldn¡¯t be able to stealth if I was looking right at it. Assuming the assassin was much faster, I would then try and dispatch it before heading out the door and trying to lure the minotaur into some form of trap, where I can start assaulting it. I had already used three of my pyrophoria pots, and I didn¡¯t think I could really kill this creature without using another one. My initial thought was to bait it into a charge, slipping a rope along its chin as I vaulted over it while spinning to make an impromptu noose. Then it would hopefully fall over the edge and the rope would be enough to decapitate it. I liked the plan, except for two things. I couldn¡¯t spread my arms wide enough to clear the horns, and the sheer difference in mass meant I was probably going to be hauled over the edge with the minotaur. Instead, I had to carefully climb the outside of the wall to reach the roof. Once up there, I used a bit of rope to hang the jug over the doorway, securing it around a crenellation. ¡°Ok Thanatos, I¡¯m probably not going to be able to do the proper dedication while in battle, but I want you to know the heroic monsters in there are yours.¡± Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I inched in the doorway and fired an armor piercing bolt straight through the head of the sahaugin. The skull was pinned to the wall as the rest of the body crumpled, the assassin immediately jumping into action. As it charged, I saw the mana flow down into its legs, and I activated my own skill. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I said, maintaining calm, and caught the smaller body in an upward swing of my scythe. Keeping the momentum going, I did a half spin while it was stuck on my blade before slamming the body into the ground. I saw the minotaur smashing a portion of the table to get through it, and managed to trade a double slash against my stomach in exchange for reaching into the ribcage and ripping out the reanimation core of the goblin. Ducking back out of the door, I barely dodged a chair that the minotaur had thrown at my head. Reloading as fast as I could, I had just enough time to take aim when the creature walked out the doorway, moving sideways to get his horns out of the way. When it was halfway, I shot the jug above its head, showering it in flaming potions. I really wasn¡¯t expecting the sheer panic that ensued, as the green flames of its eyes flared wide and it opened its mouth in a silent bellow. The horn it hadn¡¯t finished extricating caught on the doorway, increasing its panic as it now thought it was being attacked from two sides. Using an amazing display of brute force, it tore out the doorway and a large chunk of stone nearby, before blindly running straight ahead and over the crenellations. When I looked down on it, the bindings holding the skeleton together had shattered, most likely from the minotaur landing in the worst possible way. Both horns were stuck in the ground, and the forward momentum of the rest of its body must have snapped its neck, killing it. Before I could check all my notifications, I felt a burning line trace along my back, staggering me. Turning around brought me face to face with a four-armed lamia, traces of burning potion still clinging to its tail. Damnit, they must have somehow called one from down below to assist, I should have planned for that. I fell back in a defensive stance, having to use both the head of the hammer as well as my gauntlet to deflect flurries of blows. Any move I made toward my inventory was met with retaliation, as if this one knew that a potion or two would be needed to turn the odds back in my favor. As it was, I had already dropped below half of my health, and was rapidly running out of options. In the end, it was desperation that forced my hand. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I snarled, hoping that somehow the skeleton would feel fear, even though traditionally undead don¡¯t. My gaze locked onto the reanimation core, located just above the lowest rib on the creatures left side. I darted in, holding my left arm in a blocking motion as I opened myself up to attack on the right side, slashing into the resurrection core as I felt three swords skewer me as the last one was blocked. As the skeleton crumbled around me, I hurriedly downed a health potion to keep the bleeding effects I was under from killing me. I was able to remove one of the swords I was skewered with, but two others were stuck in my back in a way that I just couldn¡¯t reach. Three health potions later, and I finally had a plan for removing them. I cut a notch in a crenellation, and used that to leverage the sword out of my back. Once both of them were removed, I breathed a sigh of relief, and started checking my popups.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For sacrificing four acceptable offerings, you gain 80 favor. For sacrificing four heroic monsters, you gain 160 favor. For sacrificing two monsters at full health, gain 40 favor. Total favor: 974/500 Champions sacrificed: 6/5
Well, I guess Thanatos counted the lamia as a sacrifice as well. That was fine with me, it put me over the limit for everything I needed to advance in the church. I headed up the eastern tower, excited to finally get a view of the final building in this complex. The top of the tower was empty like the rest, and I was able to see that the final building ran the length of the wall, but had slits for windows. The far north end had a chimney spewing some greenish colored fog, and would definitely be on my list for possible places to find how they are corrupting the skeletons. I was also wondering just where this necromancer was keeping all of his minions, as there really weren¡¯t that many hanging around. The next stop on my clearing plan was the far western tower. It had the same build as the other tower, only this one hadn¡¯t had a drider knock a massive hole in it. There was also a funky looking statue at the base of the stairs. It was only slightly taller than a dwarf, a robed figure with a crook in one hand and a peaked hat. There were faint wisps of blue paint on the robes, and the hat was pulled down so low that you could only see two topaz eyes, which I promptly popped out and pocketed.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The rest of the tower was as empty as the first one, and I decided to start collecting some of the scrap iron and steel. I had the inventory slots, they would stack with each other, and Dharkiss could probably use it for some things. Finally reaching the top, I slowed down as I figured this would contain another boss, and I wasn¡¯t wrong. This time the stone had sets of four claw marks, and judging from the spread whatever did it had a paw the width of my chest. Yeah, whatever it was is huge, probably just as big as the drider from the other tower. I headed down to the bottom level, and entered the courtyard. My plan was simple. Make a large jug with thin stone, and fill it with acid potions. Fire would work on most undead, but the skeletons that make up most of this dungeon so far didn¡¯t have anything that would catch on fire, so I was going to use something to weaken their bones. I got lucky with the drider, as the spider had a carapace that could burn. Putting my new trap in the inventory I headed up and set up the same type of trap I did for the drider. One large acid potion pot above the stairway where I will hopefully trap whatever is in the top, and I set up several more crossings of the bladed wire trap, with a bit underneath for me to slip through. Finally happy with the setup, I started making small portholes in the central pillar to look through and try and find the boss. In the exact same spot as where I found the drider, I saw another amalgamation of creatures that was just odd. It looked like an elf was fused at the shoulders of a giant panther, and someone replaced the panther¡¯s tail with a snake. Everything was fused bone, and there were four separate cores in the thing.
Heroic luminanthrake Lvl 40 This former light elf hero has been defiled and his body fused with his former companions, a forest panther and a silent asp. Valiant defenders of the elven forests for centuries, the stories of this trio disappeared around the same time as the Herald of the Coming Night. End their torment if you can, adventurer.
Wow, whoever this necromancer is, they really know how to make enemies. So far they have defiled heroes from the light and dark elves, humans, minotaurs, goblins, lamia, and sahuagins. Focusing on the boss creature, I took note of the four cores were located. The one in the snake¡¯s head was moving far too much to get shot right now. There was another one where the heart should be on an elf if they had similar anatomy to a human, but again he was far too aware to attack it. The elf¡¯s leg bones had been fused into a cage surrounding a much larger one where the panther¡¯s heart was, not really giving me a clean shot. That left the one at the base of the panther¡¯s tail. As carefully and quietly as I could, I widened the hole I was looking for so that it wouldn¡¯t alter the flight of the bolt, and shot it straight through the reanimation core in the base of the cat¡¯s tail, instantly taking off a quarter of its life. The panther immediately lunged to its feet, and started rapidly circling to try and bite the bolt. Though he recovered quickly, the elf was slightly taken unaware, letting me know that they didn¡¯t function as a single unit. After three revolutions, the elf used his sword to cut through the bolt. Unlike the drider, who dual wielded her blades, this elf used a kukri and a triangular bladed shield. The long portion of the shield followed his forearm and extended past his hand, doubling as a large wristblade type of weapon. Once the cat portion had calmed down, the elf started slowly surveying the room. It didn¡¯t take him long to spot me, and I dropped down and started reloading my crossbow as I made my way to the top of the stairwell. I heard the clacking of the panther¡¯s claws on the stone, and smiled as it started pulling ahead of me instead of trying to knock a hole in the wall to get to me. By the time my hanging jug was in view, the head of the panther was starting to enter the stairs. Wasting no time, I aimed and fired right at the jug. The results were beautiful, from my point of view. The elf body had just entered the area, still slightly hunched over to avoid hitting his head on the top of the doorway. The bolt shattered the pot, drenching the elf and panther in a shower of falling acid potion, and judging by how fast gouts of health dropped off the health bar, must have gotten both of the reanimation cores with a good dose. The elf arched his back in agony, as the panther tried to lunge towards me only to be met with a webbing of bladed wires. They strained under the assault, but the wire was up to the task for the moment. I reloaded as fast as I could, and as the first of the eyebolts pulled out of the wall from the strain, I dropped to a knee and fired point blank into the chest area of the panther. Two more of the eyebolts gave way, and the panther¡¯s snarling face dropped down to my level, where I promptly punched it in the nose. I reflexively flinched as the elf swung his kukri at me, though it got caught on the wires separating us. I took a few seconds, letting my weapon overcharge with mana. Once I felt it vibrating strongly in my hands, I unleashed a two handed blow to the face of the cat while bellowing, ¡°[MANA SHOCKWAVE]!¡±¡± The explosion of mana knocked me on my ass and sent me tumbling down several steps, when I finally stopped I was dazed for a full thirty seconds. When the timer for my debuff finally ended, I downed two health potions to top myself off, and stumbled up the stairs again. I don¡¯t know if it was just from the recent tumble I took, but my mind was wandering a bit, amazed at how the devs implemented the health potions. Though you could be at full health, your muscles still felt like they had been bruised if you were in the middle of battle, though it would fade rapidly. Of course, more powerful potions and spells could even get rid of this, but I didn¡¯t have access to any of that right now. I got to the top of the stairs, and saw the results of my attack. The head of the panther was completely shattered, and the elf was having trouble balancing himself as well as trying to control the front paws. I quietly tried loading my crossbow again, as the main reanimation core was now exposed, but he heard the click of the string and immediately went on guard in my direction. ¡°You do realize that you can¡¯t beat me now, right?¡± I asked, and the flames in his eyes narrowed. ¡°Idiotic luminow. I¡¯m trying to free your soul, and you still fight me just because I¡¯m not one of your precious ¡®light races¡¯?¡± I asked, giving him air quotes. He simply nodded and maintained a defensive stance. Growling in frustration, I decided it was time for some trickery. I flipped a pyrophoria potion at the elves face, while leaving my crossbow faintly pointing at the main core. As I thought, he slashed the potion, and as soon as he did I moved my aim from the core to his face. Thinking I would attack the core while his vision was blocked by the flame, he went to cover the area with his shield, only to have the flames in his eyes brighten right before the bolt smashed its way through his skull, killing off that portion as well. It still had a sliver of life left, and I noticed the tail was twitching. I carefully climbed my way over the front half of the soon to be corpse, and started smashing the snake¡¯s body as I worked my way towards its head. Halfway there, it ended up dying for the final time. I ended up with some fantastic gains from the battle. Not only did I level to 38, but I also advanced my blunted weapons and hammerscythe masteries to intermediate level 8, ambush to advanced level 4, and overcharge to intermediate level 3. For loot, I gained some lovely snake fangs, I also got five claws from the panther. But the best must have been a ring from the elf.
Forerunner of the Impending Dawn¡¯s insignia ring Carved with the insignia of the elven Forerunner of the Impending Dawn, the light elves counter to the Herald of the Coming Twilight, it has been enchanted with some of his power. You may lay claim to this, but be warned that the reactions will vary wildly between the races of those who recognize the crest. Light races will immediately turn hostile, while the dark races shall show respect for slaying a mighty foe. Grants the skill Dawn¡¯s breaking light: Once per day you may blind a foe with a blast of pure light. This may damage certain light sensitive creatures. Endurance +50 All recoveries increased by 15% Durability: Indestructible
¡°Well, hello replacement for the Ring of the Squire, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± I chuckled to myself as I switched rings. The only thing I really had to be careful of was to take it off before heading to the alchemists guild. Finally done with the body, I headed over to where it was nesting in the hopes of finding a treasure chest. Instead I found the tattered insignia of several companies. A bloody blade on a field of black, a black griffon rampant on a field of green, and a pair of crossed axes below a skull impaled on a pike were some of the easier ones to determine. Identify gave me a bunch of question marks for them, and I assumed they would be part of a quest I hadn¡¯t unlocked yet, so I kept them all in my inventory. Once I had all fifteen stored away, I looked over the area one last time with mystic vision, but failing to see anything headed back down the tower. The next stop was that long building and hopefully the place where I would find Ramirez¡¯ sword. Chapter 56 Once I reached the wall level, I followed it around as far as I could, but it didn¡¯t last but a couple hundred feet before meeting the walls of the cavern. I noticed an odd winch system on that side, so I headed over to investigate. Looking over the wall, there was a clearing area leading to a path along the cliff. It looked like the former owners occasionally went down, and used a large platform to move people up and down. Heh, medieval freight elevator, who¡¯lda thunk it? With nothing else to see, I headed down to ground level inside the courtyard and walked around the final building. The more I looked at it, the odder it was. There was only the one door, and it was partially sunk into the ground for some reason. At most, two people could get by. There were no other points of entrance, even windows. There were three smoke stacks at the north end of the building, all of them pushing out a green smog. So, my newest dilemma. Do I enter through the front door, that is guaranteed to be guarded? Or pick a random spot to enter and hope for the best. I started my climb by making hand holds along both sides of the southwest corner of the building. I climbed up it, not having hardly any trouble. Once to the top, I pulled myself onto the flat roof and rested to recover my stamina. As I did, I felt a chill pass along the scales of my arm. I dropped flat to the ground as fast as I could, thinking that feeling would have my hair standing on end if I were still a mammal. I swiftly shut off my mystic vision, as something was happening to the minarets on the keep. The outer ones were pulsing with a dark light, gaining more power every three seconds or so. Once they were fully charged, the second ring of minarets started pulsing in the same way. After the third and final ring of minarets reached full power, the outer ones started passing energy in massive bolts of darkness moving counterclockwise. It started as random sparks, gradually building up until it was a complete hexagon. The same thing happened to the two inner rings, before the swirling energy started firing off towards the center. Once everything had reached its height, a massive wave of energy moved from the lowest outer ring, to the highest middle ring before crashing back down into the inner ring. It was then funneled down into a massive vortex, right before there was a pulse through the air that made my ears pop. Feeling light of breath, I activated mystic vision to see what happened, and was stunned. There was no ambient mana. Whatever ritual they had just performed, had taken that entire pulse of mana and soaked up every last iota of it. That was terrifying. ¡°Thanatos.¡± I muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you saw what I just saw, but I believe that part of the ritual to corrupt the bodies of fallen heroes requires, no demands, and absolutely absurd amount of mana.¡±
Thanatos agrees with your assessment. However, your task is not done. The ritual is important, but find out what preparations are required beforehand. You have done well so far, and I trust you will finish your mission. Good luck, Angus.
Did, did I just get a direct message from Thanatos? Wow. I thought he would only do that for the high priest. This is probably something that I should only do on rare occasions. I wouldn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of a divine smiting for being annoying. Ok, back to the issue at hand. I started along the eastern side of the building, and five feet north of the corner I cut a small square out and carefully lifted it off to the side. Looking down, I could see a support beam I could drop down onto with a large enough hole to wiggle through. Slightly below the rafter was a cage. Three levels of cages to be honest. I dropped down, trying to be as silent as possible, and found myself in a massive prison. There were bare bones cages, with slats for floors to give something slightly more substantial to walk on other than steel bars. Each cage had skeletons in them, though not of the resurrected variety. I slowly circled the room, and it was the same. The south end had the larger cages for things like minotaurs, while the north end was positively crammed with a double layer of goblin sized cages. As I was hiding in the northeast corner of the room, the main door slammed open. Two skeletons were manhandling a third, that was fighting it with everything it could. The chains shackling it, glowing with a green energy, were doing a fine job of sapping the undead of its strength. Behind it came two figures. One was an incredibly tall humanoid skeleton, with spiked leather armor in strategic places. The other was a robed figure, its gnarled hand clutching a smooth ebony staff. Since he was the only one still with flesh on his bones, I assumed this was the necromancer. ¡°Keep him in the cage. He was strong in life, but none have managed to last longer than three days. Well, none other than you, Kurgan.¡± The praise seemed to make the tall skeleton laugh. ¡°Now, have you discovered the group who killed the luminanthrake and the drider?¡± The skeleton¡¯s jaw moved, but as he was lacking lungs and other necessities, no sound came out. That apparently didn¡¯t stop the necromancer from understanding. ¡°Pity. I¡¯m sure their bones would make excellent replacements. Guard our new recruit, I need a few hours to recover from the ritual. Then we can have some fun breaking him.¡± I watched silently, mulling over all the implications. The ritual was powerful, but it looks like the necromancer was mostly working on his own. The ritual also wasn¡¯t perfected, as summoned undead are almost always completely under the control of their summoner. Maybe I could recruit an ally? As I was thinking over the implications, the necromancer left and took the two other guards with him. Watching him go, I saw the back of the Kurgan and noticed two things. The first was the absolutely massive greatsword he had on his back. He also had Ramirez¡¯ sword strapped right next to it. The Kurgan looked in the cage for a second, possibly going through more of that silent communication, before turning and striding off through a door in the northern wall. Unsure how much time I had, I swiftly descended and saw that there were stairs at each of the corners that allowed me to descend. Once on the ground floor, I made my way to the cage. ¡°Hey, if I help you out of those chains, will you help me?¡± I asked, and noticed that the skeleton had blue flames in his skull instead of the necromancer¡¯s green flames. ¡°C¡¯mon, gonna need an answer here, the sooner the better.¡± I pleaded, and got the skeleton to nod vigorously. The gate was latched with a simple deadbolt and secured with a drop pin, and a massive metal plate prevented the prisoners from freeing themselves. I pulled up the pin, undid the deadbolt, and opened the door. ¡°Ok, loop those chains around your wrists a few times, I need you to hold the taut while I try and slash through them.¡± As he obeyed, I took a few moments to try and create the sharpest [Keen edge] I had done yet. An edge sharp enough to cut not only metal, but the magic that no doubt bound the chain as well. Bracing itself, the skeleton prepared for my strike. It didn¡¯t have the strength. Either that or my visualization of the skill just wasn¡¯t strong enough. Either way, I got my attack to bite a little bit into the metal, but then the force of my strike sent the chain downward, robbing me of all the power in my strike. ¡°Damn, this isn¡¯t going to work.¡± I tried working the tip of the scythe inside the chain loops to pry it open like that, but they were far too resistant to the little bit of leverage I could generate. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we are going to need a key to free you. Is it on the necromancer?¡± Shaking head no. ¡°The Kurgan?¡± Vigorous yes. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I need to kill that bastard anyway. I¡¯m going to need a distraction though. I want you to stand just outside of the cage and stare the Kurgan down when he returns. I¡¯ll attack him from behind, and take him down. I know those chains weaken you, so just be the distraction, don¡¯t join the fight, okay?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. At his agreement, I headed up to the north eastern corner of the room, and hid underneath the stairs. I double checked everything in my inventory. Crossbow loaded with armor piercing bolts. Hammerscythe at the ready. I had gone through almost half of my supply of pyrophoria potions, so I grabbed a few of the acid ones instead. A crinkling of the chains warned me that the Kurgan had returned, and I finally was close enough for an analysis.
Kurgan, the Jailor Lvl 41 heroic One of the cruelest existences ever, the Kurgan lives to cause pain. Wielding a greatsword, he toys with his opponents. The necromancer who raised him has embraced and encouraged this side of his minion, and the Kurgan willingly serves. For now.
Sounds like a real class act. It took a few strides into the room, and unlimbered the greatsword from his back. Rather than dealing with a scabbard, the guard of his sword had a vicious hook that allowed him to ¡®sheath¡¯ it on a ring just over his shoulder. This brilliant setup let him draw the sword after only moving it a few inches. As he was staring down the prisoner, I was sneaking up behind him. I was quite impressed by the fact that he was holding his greatsword out to the side with one hand. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I whispered, right before slashing through his elbow. The sword dropped to the ground with a clang, but Kurgan immediately spun and smashed his fist into my face, sending me reeling. By the time I had recovered, I had to start frantically dodge sweeping blows of the greatsword. It readily became apparent that I was being toyed with, as he kept attacking just fast enough that I could partially dodge his strikes, taking slight slashes to my limbs. As I was losing hope, the skeleton from earlier came through in a big way. He looped his chains over the Kurgan¡¯s head, gave it a twist, then turned and bent over so that Kurgan was standing on his tip toes, unable to get any leverage. I close in and started slashing and smashing with abandon, trying my best to cave in the chest. Once we had taken him down to about a quarter health, the Kurgan managed to get sideways just enough that he could extricate himself, so we separated to keep him from being able to attack both of us at once. ¡°Time to end this.¡± I muttered to myself, and hoed that the other skeleton would be able to read my intentions. I started to dart in, feinting. The other skeleton started his own charge as the Kurgan started to stab at me. Seeing me hesitate, he brought his blade in a massive overhand swing that would probably cleave anyone trying to block it in half. I continued my charge, knowing that he couldn¡¯t possibly counterattack me in time. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± The only spot that lit up was a thin red line across the throat, and as he bent over from the force of his own blow, I slashed through his neck, and finally finished him. Panting, I checked the other skeleton. ¡°So. Ha. Ha. Thanks, for the save there. Got a name?¡± He moved his mouth for a few seconds before I spoke up again, ¡°Sorry, I forgot I can¡¯t hear you. Here, let me loot this guy and we¡¯ll see about getting you out of those chains.¡± Touching the body, the only things I got were a bone key, a handful of gold coins, and Ramirez¡¯ sword. Once I used the key, the skeleton slumped back in relief. ¡°Well, you¡¯re free to do wha you want I guess. I¡¯m going to go around and kill that necromancer, but I don¡¯t¡¯ know how well you¡¯ll be able to sneak what with the glowing flames and all.¡± It seemed quite depressed at that, and I really wanted to just leave it be, but found myself talking again. ¡°Of course, there is still the main keep to clear out, I might need help with that. Tell you what, grab that sword there, I¡¯ll see how we can work together. Most likely I will kite a bunch of them into a trap that you engage. Will that work?¡± Seeing his excited face, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how in the hell a skeleton managed to convey feelings with facial expression. Was it a subtle shading of the flames that lit their eyes? ¡°Ok, before we go through there, we need to figure out just what in the hell is going on in the other room. I¡¯ll check it out first, you stay here, ok?¡± At his nod, I poked my head around the corner of the doorframe to see just what was going on. Inside looked like a recreation from the Dahmer Cookbook. There was a heroic skeletal butcher that was removing as much flesh as possible from corpses on one table. When he got it mostly removed, he would toss the bone over his shoulder into a pot, occasionally stopping to stir it. Next to it was another table, where a heroic skeletal alchemist was prepping each of the now pristinely white bones, drying them off and adding powders and reagents to them. Once things were dried, the bones were tossed into another bubbling pot and stirred, and after a few minutes were fished out with a massive strainer. He would then place them on a rack over a drain to dry out once again. The final table was where the operation slowed down. Three heroic enchanters were hunched over the table, each one carving things into the bones of a meticulously reassembled skeleton. They didn¡¯t throw the bones into the final pot until they were at least four bones away from the finished ones, and I assumed that they were carving a massively linked runic array into the bones. I headed back to plan with my new ally. ¡°Ok, so there are five heroic skeletons in there, all of them at level 41. None of them should be as troublesome as the Kurgan was, so I think we can do it. There are three enchanters, an alchemist, and a butcher. I think the enchanters would be the most dangerous, but they are also engrossed in their work. I¡¯ll take the alchemist out first with a bolt to the head, then reload and take out an enchanter as you engage the butcher. You will have reach with that greatsword, and after I take out the other enchanters I¡¯ll head over and help you out if you need it. Sound good?¡± At his nod, I loaded an armor piercing bolt, and we got to work. The plan went off without a hitch. I started by the left hand side of the door, and took out the unsuspecting alchemist with one shot to the forehead. As soon as I shot, the skeleton ally dashed through and engaged the butcher, who was stunned for a second but recovered in time to not take a free blow. The clash of metal alerted the three enchanters, just as I finished reloading. As they looked on, confused as to why two skeletons were fighting, I shot the furthest one from me in the skull, killing him. Charging in, I made it halfway to them before they both turned and started chanting some magic spells. I used a simple body check to interrupt the closest one, and used his body to shield me from the bolt of darkness that flew out of the other enchanter¡¯s hand. Unsurprisingly it didn¡¯t do any damage, but my shoving my hand into its chest cavity and ripping out the resurrection core caused quite a bit of panicked flailing before death. For a mostly insubstantial organ connected with flows of mana, it was rather hard to rip out. I vaulted over the table, scattering the bones and taking a dark bolt in the process. Once I got into melee range, the fight was swift. The enchanter fell for every feint, and when I wasn¡¯t giving them it completely ignored my left hand, despite taking several punches to the face and side of the head. Once the final enchanter was dead, I looked over to see that the butcher had also fallen, though my ally was sitting at a quarter health. ¡°Well, this will be the last time you go into battle my friend.¡± I said, and interrupted his flare of anger. ¡°You have no way to heal yourself, and I don¡¯t know any dark magics. That just means you will have to help me with traps.¡± When he finally looked like it wasn¡¯t in the mood to argue anymore, I set about inspecting everything and looting bodies. Since I didn¡¯t do any damage to the butcher, I couldn¡¯t claim any loot from him, but the others all gave up several silver and a resurrection core each. According to identification, the bubbling pot that the butcher was tossing things into was a lye solution. It smelled particularly foul, and I didn¡¯t spend hardly any time in the near vicinity. The next set up seemed to be a way to neutralize all the lye and somehow strengthen the now brittle bones. I had no idea what was going on in the last station, aside from writing the runes. There were three books of notes, but I was lacking several skills to even make sense of them. ¡°Thanatos, I¡¯m not sure if this will work, but if it doesn¡¯t the worst that happens is this knowledge is lost from this world. I offer to you these books as sacrifice, and all the knowledge within. I believe it to be another integral part of the ritual.¡± After I spoke, I tossed the three books into the flames at the base of the final cauldron, and a familiar purple hue.
Thanatos accepts your sacrifice. You continue to do well, mortal. This is indeed the knowledge required for the ritual, and I thank you for removing it from this world. I count your mission fulfilled, though I will grant you a bonus if you find the source of the mana the necromancer is using.
¡°Thank you, Lord. I will find the source.¡± I vowed. Out of curiosity, I pulled a bone out of the final cauldron. It looked pristine. I had to practically put it right next to my nose to see the indentations from the carving had been filled in, and activating mystic vision allowed me to see that it was filled with a very mana rich compound. Tossing the bone aside, I started looking around this kitchen of horrors. There were two things that I was incredibly interested in. For some reason there were several large sacks of flour, near fifty pounds apiece. I immediately put them in my inventory, as well as several jugs of cooking oil. Smiling, I left the kitchen, ready to finally take on the main keep. Chapter 57 ¡°You ready for this first part?¡± I asked my companion, but he just shrugged his shoulders. We had walked back into the jail portion, and the headless body of the Kurgan reminded me of a previous quest. ¡°Oh, shit. Almost forgot. RRRRRAAAAAAMMMMIIIIIIRRRREEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZ!¡± I shouted at the top of my lungs, and almost instantly his ghost was beside us. ¡°Ack, I can hear ya just fine, what¡¯d¡¯ya want?¡± ¡°I think this is yours.¡± I said, handing over his sword. As he reverently took it, the sword took on a blue ethereal glow. ¡°Oh, my schweet. Together again at last. Thank you, Angus. You kept your word, and I think I have the right reward for you. Despite your hammer, you tend to be more focused on precision attacks, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Very good. Then take this earring, and know that precision strikes will take down your enemy better than brute force.¡± He pulled off the pearl bob that was in his left ear, and handed it to me.
Ramirez¡¯ pearl bob A pearl earring worn by the swordsman Ramirez. It contains his dedication to precise strikes. +25% critical hit chance +30% critical hit damage +10% attack speed
¡°Thanks Ramirez. Hopefully you get to enjoy the rest of your afterlife.¡± I said, and smiled as he faded away. In addition to the earring I received, I also got enough experience to level up. ¡°So close to evolving. Let¡¯s go, I¡¯m going to enjoy finishing this dungeon.¡± We headed outside, and started circling the main keep to see what we were working with. The first level had a set of stairs at the north end that cut through the material of the pyramid, while the south end had an open air doorway that entered into a room of unknown size. I could see some mana forms moving around inside, so I knew there were some skeletons in there. As they hadn¡¯t seen me yet, I climbed up the stairs, but slowed near the top. The second level of the pyramid was an inverse of the first, with an open air doorway on this side. Once again I could see some movement inside. I pulled back, and thought about how to take care of things. I might have let out a dark chuckle as I came up with a plan. ¡°OK, I¡¯m first going to create some stone barricades. It¡¯ll just be a slab with some pikes sticking out to slow them down. We are going to put that at the base of the first set of stairs, and will be coating the stairs in the cooking oil. The time for stealth is over. You are going to have the most important job. I want you to start out above the little alcove in the first level. When I fire into the room to draw out all the enemies, I want you to take one of the opened bags of flour, and fling it around in the air for a second. Your task is to create as big of a cloud in the small area as possible, then get out of there. Climb up to the third level, and get ready with another bag of flour. This time you will simply be cutting a smaller hole in it and throwing the bag as far as you can.¡± Plan set, I went to the side of the pyramid and cut a simple ladder to climb to the second and third levels. The third level was really interesting. It appeared to be a large cabin type structure with a massive crystal sitting on the top. The stone doors to it were shut, which only helped my plans. Getting my skeleton minion set up, I went down and started by liberally coating the stairs with the oil while staying out of sight of the skeletons that were hiding inside the chamber. Once that was done, I formed a very rough barricade and had to have the skeleton help me drag it over. I then put a large amount of heavy rocks at the base, just to make sure the press of skeletons didn¡¯t push it out of the way with numbers. Traps set, I went around to the entrance to the first level. Taking aim, I fired blindly inside while aiming in the general area of a group of mana signatures. As soon as I fired, my skeleton helper performed his tasks to perfection. There was a very fine cloud of flour hanging in the air, and I could see a stampede of skeletons coming my direction. My helper had already vacated, and as soon as the first skeleton was almost out of the cloud, I threw a pyrophoria potion at its face. It slashed the vial, and the resulting explosion was spectacular. It almost seemed like the very world took a breath, as an invisible blue wave of flame spread through the flour cloud, then everything came crashing back in a massive explosion that sent shards of bone flying. I quickly charged around to the backside of the pyramid, making as much noise as possible.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. When I got there, there was a rather comical display of skeletons falling all over each other as a handful remained at the top of the stairs. Well, that was until they saw me and their eyes flashed to red. They carefully picked their way down the stairs, and I loaded a smasher bolt and waited until all of them were on there before throwing another pyrophoria potion on them. As soon as the fire caught the oil on fire, I saw the bag of flour arching its way over the skeletons. I punched it with the smasher bolt, cancelling a good bit of its forward momentum and also shredding the bag open. Once again the flour rained down, and another massive fireball erupted, shattering the skeletons and knocking me on my ass. ¡°That, was a thing of beauty.¡± I said while I knocked the dust off my backside. I downed a health potion, just in case something survived I would be at full health. I backtracked to loot the skeletons, thankful that after I looted them they would disappear. It really made things easier. Out of curiosity I checked the chamber they were lounging in, but it was barren save for several pillars to hold the upper levels. The same thing with the second level, and I smiled as I saw my helpful skeleton hadn¡¯t taken any damage. ¡°We make a great team, and I¡¯m glad you made it unscathed. Are you ready to take out the necromancer?¡± At his nod, I had to address the one thing that was bothering me. ¡°Will you be ok in his presence? He might try and take over your will.¡± At that, the skeleton stopped and seemed to be thinking hard on what to do. ¡°Tell you what, let me go in and distract him this time. You come in as we are battling and attack from behind.¡± That plan seemed to be a lot more appealing. What¡¯s that saying about best laid plans? As soon as we had hashed that out, the doors opened and the two skeletal body guards emerged, likely to see what the ruckus was. No time for plans, I charged in. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± I yelled, knowing that two higher level skeletons on one and an injured assistant wouldn¡¯t be good. To their credit, the bodyguards reacted immediately. One dropped back and started to cast, as the other launched itself forward in an attempt to skewer me with its oversized spear. Speeding up, I punched the side of the spear, turning it into a spin as I came up behind the skeleton and slammed my scythe into the base of its skull. Not quite dead, the skeleton started slamming the butt of its spear into my ribs as its companion fired a bolt of dark energy into my chest. The force from the magic blast was enough to knock me backwards, and my scythe that was stuck in the spearman¡¯s head ended up twisting and ripping out a massive chunk of the skull, compromising it enough that it ended up being a decapitation. ¡°Ugh, well, that¡¯s one down.¡± I muttered as I climbed back to my feet, keeping an eye on the mana of the mage. I held an arm sideways to stop my ally from charging in, seeing that the mage had scattered a few magical land mines around himself. ¡°Careful, if you are going to follow me in you need to step exactly where I step.¡± I took a few hops on one foot, trying to distract the mage who was busy conjuring a multiple bolt spell, as seven orbs were hovering in a semicircle above his head. Right before he finished, I darted into action. Instead of straight ahead, which would have netted me a double bolt of darkness to the chest, I moved three feet to my left with one hop, then changed direction and started closing the distance. Three more bolts came my way, but the mage lacked the precision to hit a target that was changing directions so many times, and I managed to completely dodge two while only taking a glancing blow to my left bicep from the third one. Smiling at my luck, I figured I had the mage, as I was almost within striking distance. Then he fired the last two bolts not at me, but at the two mines I was just about to pass between. The explosions literally rocked my world. Reeling from the concussive forces, I ended up tripping a third explosion that sent me skidding on my stomach at the feet of the mage. It walked around to my side and flipped me over with a foot, so that I could see the massive spike of darkness that it had conjured over its head. The jaws opened in silent, mocking laughter, and just when I thought my number was punched my companion came through and smashed a full body blow into the face of the mage with its greatsword. I rolled as soon as I saw the sword entering in an arc, and between my movement and the attack only got caught in the area effect of the spell instead of having it explode within my stomach. Coughing as I climbed to my feet, I rushed in to help my skeletal friend, catching a blow from the mages staff he had pulled from somewhere in the nook between the scythe and shaft of my weapon. For a split second, we were in a stalemate. The mage had his magic forcing my partner¡¯s weapon into the ground, while I had to use both hands to keep his staff from smashing in to my partner¡¯s head. Then my partner surged forward with a shoulder check, and the lack of leverage let me fling the mage¡¯s weapon up, letting my partner slide around behind him after dropping his greatsword. I had no idea my partner knew grappling, but he swiftly had the mage in a full nelson hold, allowing me to slash at the animating magic in the mage¡¯s stomach with abandon. I couldn¡¯t locate the reanimation core, as the mage¡¯s magic was flowing throughout his body and was doing an effective job at hiding it. I grew frantic with my attacks, as I saw the mage overcharging a massive orb of darkness above our heads, most likely in some sort of suicide attack. Before it could finish it, I slammed an uppercut of a strike into the chest cavity with my scythe, finally taking the enemy out. I breathed a massive sigh of relief as I saw the threads of darkness surging outward like a ball of skittering bugs instead of exploding in destruction. ¡°Ha. Ha ha, hahahahaha!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let out a series of nervous chuckles as I patted the skeleton on the shoulder. ¡°Thanks. You really saved my bacon.¡± I said before popping a few health potions and looting two reanimation cores from the bodies. Sighing in resignation, I said, ¡°And then there was one. You ready?¡± At the skeleton¡¯s nod, I entered the boss¡¯ chamber. Chapter 58 I walked into the main chamber, mystic vision active. I wasn¡¯t about to get taken by surprise by a mage. The first impression was awe inspiring. The entire floor was covered in rune inscribed circles that made the transmutation circles in the alchemy guild look like a child¡¯s doodles. There was a massive crystal tapering to a point entering from the ceiling, centered above a stone altar. The images on the altar were that of Thanatos bound in chains, as a crypt discharged an unending line of skeletons. The pictures were an illusion though, as they were truly a wildly complex calligraphic amalgamation of runic script. This room must have been the result of centuries of magical research. I couldn¡¯t see what was on the altar, but there was a figure that practically glowed with mana working on something. ¡°Well? Don¡¯t keep me waiting. What was the disturbance and did you fix it?¡± The figure barked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be too worried about it.¡± I said calmly, ¡°Your guards tried their best but in the end, well, they just went to pieces.¡± The figure twirled around at the sound of my voice. ¡°Who are you?¡± It snarled. ¡°Nothing to worry about really. Unless, of course, you have been breaking taboos. Have you been? Breaking taboos that is?¡± I asked, seeming curious as I looked around the room. As I did so, I casually aimed my crossbow at the center of a blob of magic off to my left, while still talking to the illusion in front of me. ¡°Well? Are you the one who is desecrating the bodies of heroes?¡± ¡°And if I am? What will you be doing about it?¡± it sneered. ¡°This.¡± I said calmly, firing the bolt and getting a pained wheeze in return. I quickly drew my melee weapon and ran towards the now visible body of the necromancer, who had a bolt buried in his stomach. With a twitch of his hand, several bone shards flew in my direction. I smashed the one that would have taken me in the chest with my hammer, but the others buried themselves into my shoulders. Grunting, I still managed to slash the necromancer across the chest as he stumbled backward, eyes wide that I would take a portion of his attack in order to come in close. ¡°What, never actually had to fight for your life before?¡± I asked, taunting him. At his glare, I telegraphed a massive backhanded swing at his head, happy that he ducked the blow and lowered his guard. ¡°Some warrior, I can see your attacks from miles awooof.¡± ¡°[Mana shockwave].¡± I interrupted him, as I channeled a mana blast from my left fist into his ribcage, feeling at least two of the bones break. As he was sucking his breath in pain, I lowered my scythe behind his left leg, and bracing his body against my shoulder, slashed across his hamstring. ¡°Aaaah, you bastard!¡± He cried, stumbling. Before I could charge in again, he instant cast a spell. ¡°[Prison of Bone]!¡± Spears of rib bones encased me, and I quickly started working on one with an acid potion and smashes from my hammer. As I was making my bid to escape, he pointed a palm at the crystal above us. Forces of shadow, Bound by my soul. Recharge now this flesh, To make me whole. [Invigorating Darkness]! Once I managed to smash my way free, I saw a massive torrent of dark energy leaving the crystal and flowing into the necromancer¡¯s hand, refilling his life bar. Well, since he wasn¡¯t paying attention, ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I murmured, trying not to distract him, before removing his hand at the wrist. ¡°AAAAaaaaaaahhh, my hand! I¡¯ll kill you! You will serve for eterniaaaaagh.¡± As he was cradling his wrist and yelling at me, I punched him in the throat. It was oddly satisfying, seeing him stopped mid tirade. Distracted by the pain in his wrist and his struggle to breathe, he didn¡¯t even try and move out of the way of the [Mana shockwave] I unleashed into his knee, dropping him to the ground in agony. I had to be careful now, as his life was already under a third. ¡°Ma, My minions, to me. Ya, Your mas, master is in, in danger!¡± He managed to croak out, then kept his eyes trained on the doorway. I saw the light of hope in his eyes, and figured Lolth would enjoy me crushing it as I realized it was the skeleton who had been helping me this whole time. ¡°Too bad, little necromancer. That one isn¡¯t yours, you haven¡¯t broken him yet.¡± As he turned his eyes to me, widening in panic, I added a little more salt to his wound. ¡°Did you really think I wouldn¡¯t take the time to clear out all of your minions before fighting you? Those disturbances you felt earlier were me and my friend there destroying your army.¡± As I finished taunting him, the skeleton leaned over and punched the necromancer in the jaw. As he started to raise his greatsword, I interrupted him.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Wait for a second, friend. This one here has angered a lot of people, gods included. Lolth has asked that I prolong his death for at least ten minutes. The last blow also needs to be struck with this dagger.¡± I said, pulling it out of my inventory. My ally nodded his acceptance, and I poured a bit of healing potion on his stump of an arm to stop his bleeding. ¡°Wait, wait, WAIT! You don¡¯t have to do this! I can give you anything you want! I know ancient magics that those curmudgeons in the mages guild can only dream about!¡± ¡°You should stop now. Your babbling is pathetic. You work with death all the time, at least meet yours with some dignity.¡± I said, and as he opened his mouth to reply the skeleton kicked him in the jaw. ¡°Feel better?¡± I asked, and he nodded in return. A short while later, and I had the feeling that it had been long enough. ¡°Ok friend, I think it¡¯s been long enough. I do hope you have enjoyed feeling helpless, your life in the hands of someone else. I imagine it is a fraction of what those souls you have enslaved upon reanimation felt.¡± Nodding to the skeleton, I watched as he impaled the necromancer through the stomach, and slowly twisted the blade. I let his life bleed well into the critical territory, before slamming the dagger through his heart and ending his life. Once again, there was a light show as the blue soul of the necromancer was torn screaming silently from his body and consumed by another of the gems on the dagger. ¡°Well, you have been avenged my friend. Once again I thank you for all your help. Is there anything I can do for you?¡± At the shake of his head, I asked, ¡°Well, if you want you can accompany me to the temple of Thanatos in the kobold city. Maybe they will know of a way to return your soul and purify your remains.¡± His head perked up at that, and I could see the flames of hope rekindled in his eyes. ¡°Of course it¡¯s fine. Thanatos is the god of death after all. I¡¯m sure he will be able to send your soul back to whatever afterlife you have earned for yourself.¡± Patting him on the shoulder, I bent down and looted the necromancer. He was surprisingly loaded, giving me a book of shadow bolt, a book of bone javelin, and a cloak of darkness that boosted mana regen and shadow magic damage. It was just too bad that he didn¡¯t have anything Jon could have used for a staff for his fetish. I also got a popup from Lolth.
Divine quest completed! Lolth is pleased with your dedication to drawing out the death of the necromancer, especially since you let him know that it was by her request. She finds your healing of his wounds to prevent premature death well in line with the finest of her torturers, and applauds your crushing of his spirit. It takes a truly sadistic soul to dangle the promise of aid and freedom, and crush it ruthlessly with the truth in such a bland manner. Letting slip that Thanatos himself was looking forward to his death? Perfection. Should you wish it, Lolth will allow you to join her church. She won¡¯t even require you to abandon Thanatos.
Quest Reward
Draw out the death of the necromancer, making it last a minimum of ten minutes Standing offer to join the ranks of Lolth¡¯s church. Respected Foe status with all drow. Should a contract be taken out on your life, you will be warned that they are coming and how many times you will have to die. Experience.
After reading the prompt, I leveled up. FINALLY! I hit max level! Though I was excited for that, and the prospect of evolving, I was practically shitting myself from the offer from Lolth. On the one hand, getting a personal invitation into a church by a deity was HUGE. Of course, I would be one of the few non drow in the church, and I had no doubt that I would be sorely lacking in the political acumen to maintain a position within the church. Drow practically invented political games, and there was no way I could perform on that level. Now, how do you kindly turn down the Queen of Spiders on her offer? Definitely not straight flattery, but perhaps a flattering truth. ¡°This is such an unexpected offer, Lolth. Please forgive me, but I am afraid that I would be unsuitable for your church. Though I truly appreciate your offer, I¡¯m sure you would swiftly find me lacking, especially in the political webs that your drow so effortlessly weave.¡± Fully expecting a divine smiting, I was glad when nothing happened. ¡°Ok, friend. We need to do one last thing before heading home.¡± I said to the skeleton. ¡°There should be something hidden here, the source of all the mana to run this. Thanatos has said that the necromancer didn¡¯t have enough to run the ritual, and after seeing part of it I agree. See if you can find anything out of place.¡± As we both started looking around, the search seemed futile. There were no hidden caches, no mana flowing into anything. The altar had a residual glow, but it wasn¡¯t directed anywhere, just sort of hanging out. When I deactivated mystic vision, one of the glyphs that was on the walls disappeared. Tilting my head, I reactivated it, and saw it reappear. Turning around, I saw five glyphs. Two were on the north wall, bracketing the entrance. One was in the middle of the south wall, and the remaining two were almost ? of the way to the south end of the east and west walls. I walked around, touching each one and sending a little mana into each. The first one that reacted was the one to the west of the door. I went to the one on the other side, wanting to complete a clockwise circle, but when I added mana I got a gentle shock and both glyphs deactivated. Oh, so it is a certain pattern? Moving clockwise, the southern glyph was the first one to stay activated. Ok, it looks like if you go clockwise three glyphs, or counterclockwise every other glyph, you get the pattern. Northwest glyph, south, northeast, west, and finally the eastern glyph to finish. Thinking through my head, viewed from above it would form a pentagram. Once all the glyphs were glowing, lines extended forming the pentagram, the altar in the middle. The glow spread down from the altar, and a spiral staircase descended, circling the altar. ¡°I think I found it.¡± I said, and my skeletal companion stared at me like I was an idiot for stating the obvious, before making an ¡®after you¡¯ gesture. Chapter 59 We spent nearly an hour spiraling down. Incredibly, the walls never showed any signs of decay. There were regular mage lights so that we never lost our sight, which was rather nice of the developers. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we found ourselves in an ancient cavern. There were benches carved into the sides, and several glyphs in a strange arrangement around a hole in the ground, that had a shimmering field capping it. I immediately got a popup that did wonders to explain things.
Congratulations! You have discovered an ancient mana well. Long ago, when the magics in the air were far more abundant, war descended upon the planet. As ancient magi used power beyond even the most powerful archmages of this age, the forces unleashed threatened to rip apart the very fabric of reality. Sacrificing themselves, an ancient civilization whose name has been lost to the ravages of time, risked everything to seal several of the mana wells across the world. The ley lines that were supplied by these wells dried up, and the ambient mana levels drastically fell. It now falls to you, adventurer. Will you unseal the well? Or leave it and pray that no others manage to find what you found.
Where¡¯s the button to unseal the well? Where is, THERE IT IS. MASH IT, MASH YES, YES I WILL UNSEAL IT!
You have chosen to unseal the well. Prepare yourself, and once you are ready seat yourself in the sunburst seal. Be warned, this process will take three days. The chamber you are currently in will fill with mana, and it will seep into whatever is not protected from it. The mana will also sustain your body. You will require no food or sleep. You are free to log out, and can set your body simple directives to keep it occupied. Mana regeneration will also be infinite for the duration. At the end of the three days, you will be transported back to your home city before the seal is broken.
  1. . . MY. . . GOD! Unlimited mana for three days? It will be flowing through anything in this chamber? ¡°My friend, did you get the notices?¡± At his nod yes, I continued, ¡°Well, I am going to unseal this. You are free to stay or go, the choice is yours. Will you stay?¡± He nodded yes. ¡°Ok, well I am going to start unloading my inventory, then we can get started.¡±
I had a lot of stuff that I had somehow acquired. I kept any of the food that was already cooked, as I didn¡¯t think rations would benefit from being exposed to mana for that long. On second thought, I might just be wrong about that. Let¡¯s risk half of them. I still had quite a bit of carapaces from the crayclaws, those can sit by one of the benches. Let¡¯s stack the loose scrap metal bits underneath the bench, and the metallic ingots that I got from the smithy on top. I placed my hammerscythe on top of the mithril ingots, and leaned the crossbow against the exposed side of the bench. Following the room around clockwise, I piled up the ores that were waiting to be smelted, but kept the books hidden in my inventory. I even pulled out the shadow infused stone that the old ley line had ran through, figuring adding a good bit more concentrated mana might end up changing it even further. ¡°Whoah, this takes me back.¡± I muttered, as I pulled out a crystal flower from my inventory. ¡°Damn, this is from when I killed that crystal alpha, barely over a week into the game.¡± I went to set it on its side on a bench, when the base of it actually bent and attached itself to the stone. ¡°HOLY CRAP, ITS STILL ALIVE!¡± I yelped. Pointing it out to my skeletal friend, ¡°Do not touch this. I have no idea how it is still alive after all this time, but we are keeping it, got it?¡± When the last bit of my inventory had finally emptied, I sat down on a bench to plan out what I was going to do for the next three days. Practice magic? I just didn¡¯t know enough. Plus, what I did know was rather detrimental to stone. Now that I think about it, I didn¡¯t really have many skills that weren¡¯t combat skills. Sure, I had alchemy and sculpting, but I wasn¡¯t that creative and spending three days sculpting would drive me bonkers. As I was sitting there, twirling one of the few mana stones I had left, inspiration struck. I could try and make a mana stone. They were nothing but condensed mana anyway, and I would have three days of infinite mana to work with. Plan set, I sat cross legged on the sunburst rune and agreed to the prompt when it asked if I wanted to start the process of unsealing the mana well. When it asked what kind of mana I wanted to use, I selected shadow mana. If my feelings were right, I would probably come out of this with a crazy attunement to that type of mana, and it would be a great asset for setting ambushes. Once everything was selected, a tiny ray of deep blackness shot out of the center of the seal. It flowed along the top and sides of the chamber, before everything was eventually covered. Despite the darkness, if anything my darkvision seemed to be enhanced just by using it. Shrugging, I looked and saw that my mana bar had turned the same black color, and was outlined in flashing silver. Assuming that it had started, I began cycling my mana down my arms and into a sphere in my hand. An hour later, and I wasn¡¯t making much progress. I kept at it, the sphere of mana I was holding had condensed from the size of an apple to the size of a grape. I could see it roiling within, and it almost seemed as if I had gotten it down to a liquid stage. Wait, what¡¯s the difference between solids and liquids? Phoebe always pointed out that magic got an excellent boost from mental images, something I had been lacking up til now. Instead of simply trying to condense it with willpower, I imagined a latticework of mana, well let¡¯s call them mana units. Each unit is a sphere, at the corner of a cube. Connecting to its neighbors, they are locked into position. They can shake and vibrate, maybe even move slightly back and forth along the bonds, but that¡¯s it. No bending allowed, no other movement. I spent the next half hour focusing on that, and that image only. At some point I had even closed my eyes, and when I opened them after hearing a soft pop sound, I found there was a mana crystal the size of a grain of salt floating where the liquid used to be. Smiling, I changed my image slightly. Now my crystal was growing, adding more and more mana units around it. Growing in a repeating pattern, no mistakes allowed. This crystal will be perfect. No voids, no shifts, nothing to mar the perfection. I kept that up for several hours, before realizing it was getting to the point where I needed to log out for the night. Selecting the prompt to continue growing the crystal, I logged out and headed to the caf¨¦. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°You all right there Marty? You look a little exhausted.¡± Jon pointed out as I stumbled by some chairs at the caf¨¦. ¡°Brain is dead. Give caffeine. Lace it with sugar.¡± As I was fumbling with the menu, Phoebe slid a fresh soda in front of me. ¡°Oh, sweet nectar of life, thank you Phoebe.¡± I mumbled as I chugged half the drink in one go. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s better.¡± ¡°So, maybe a little explanation is in order?¡± Phoebe prodded. ¡°Sure, sure. No Derrick yet?¡± I asked. ¡°He went to bed early. I guess he was wanting to do another night raid on a large group of bandits. Most of the smaller outfits have started consolidating as he has been wiping them out.¡± ¡°Ok. Well, we can fill him in tomorrow. Something big ¡®s going to go down in three days, you guys should find some way to keep training magic.¡± ¡°What do you know?¡± Phoebe asked, always interested in magic. ¡°Ever heard of a mana well?¡± ¡°Sure, all good mages have. They are the source of ley lines, and usually guarded by incredibly strong creatures. As in, dragons tend to plop their hoards on top of them.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m in the process of unsealing one. So any guesses as to what¡¯s gonna happen?¡± ¡°Un. . .seal?¡± Phoebe hesitated, eyes going wide. ¡°I think you see it. Wonder how it¡¯s going to affect everyone?¡± ¡°Marty, it¡¯s going to cause chaos.¡± ¡°Human sacrifice? Dogs and cats living together? Mass hysteria?¡± ¡°Nice one Venkman. All jokes aside, yes. This is going to throw magic usage into absolute chaos. I¡¯m really looking forward to it. Three days you said?¡± ¡°Yep. Probably around midday.¡± ¡°So, have you been doing puzzles or something to break the seal?¡± ¡°No, just have to go and sit there for three days. I¡¯ve been doing some endlessly repetitive task that requires a lot of mental imagery.¡± ¡°Ouch, those are the worst.¡± Jon commiserated, before launching into a story of how the most boring job he ever had was working on a line in a factory. All poor high school Jon had to do was pack boxes in the same direction as fast as he could go. We lost the thread there, commiserating over all the stupid things we had done in high school. Eventually I called it an early night, and set an alarm to make sure I was in the game as early as I could be. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Three days later I could feel it. The seal was on its last legs, spider webbed with cracks throughout. The small pieces near the original column that had broken through were starting to disintegrate. I had made a lot of progress on my kobold made mana stone. The auto function of my avatar could do a decent job, but I still thought I did better when I was running it, which had led to 14 hour days in the game and a jet black crystal that was slightly smaller than my torso. It was a faceted sphere, and I could only imagine what I could do with it. Hell, I could probably run the magical needs of a small country off it.
Unsealing complete. Hopefully your three days have been well spent. You will now have five minutes to remove everything you wish to take with you before you will be forcibly teleported to your home city.
¡°Oh, oh god it hurts.¡± I groaned, as I straightened out my knees after three days of sitting idle. Once I had spent a minute stretching and getting feeling back, I started madly packing everything. I didn¡¯t even look at a lot of the notifications, just frantic stuffing things into my inventory. I could have sworn I had left more metal on that bench, but oh well. All of the ingots were streaked with blackness, but that¡¯s all the time I could spare.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Where is it?¡± I looked at my skeletal friend, who was now also shrouded in darkness. Even the flames within his chest and eyes had turned black. ¡°Where¡¯s the crystal flower?¡± I practically shouted, knowing we had less than two minutes to find it and get ready. He pointed to the bench, and I saw several crystal petals on the seat, though they now started out as pink and had veins of darkness encroaching from the edges. I swept them into the inventory, and looked at the stalk of the former flower. There at the end was a massive seed compared to the original flower, almost the size of a racquetball. I picked it and shoved it in before making one last sweep of the room.
Time is up. Transporting.
A cocoon of darkness spun itself around me and the skeleton, and when it unfurled I was in the middle of the barracks training grounds, being stared at by Khaliss and several trainees. They immediately lowered their spears and started advancing on the skeleton. ¡°WAIT! HE¡¯S WITH ME!¡± I shouted, and they stopped. Before I could explain further, the entire city was shaken by a massive quake. As we all regained our footing, there was an incredibly loud trumpet fanfare, complete with confetti shooting out of the corners of a world wide notification.
World Event Initiated! Heroes of this world, heed the call! Player Angus MacG has unsealed one of the ancient mana wells, unleashing a new source of shadow mana upon us. For the next seven days, be prepared for magical chaos! Effects will vary as the forces of magic fight to reach a new equilibrium. Spells may be cast for free, they may cost 3x as much. Some will experience the addition of shadow mana to their spells, creating new ones. Astute mages may even be able to recreate these spells! Warriors and rogues, you may also experience this with your own skills. Pay attention, for other creatures in this world will also experience this shift.
For unleashing a magical chaos, you gain +10,000 fame with every faction. Whether the factions treat you as a hero or a villain is dependent upon many factors.
Global Calling! Grab your staves and wands, apprentices and magi the world over! The magic council has offered several quests for the magical upheaval, as well as spell bounties. Quests Any mage who learns a new spell in the coming week may turn it in for a bounty. Rewards depend upon spell tier and personal mastery. Extra rewards will be provided for those who can create spell books and scrolls. Map out the distubances! Areas of highly concentrated dark mana will emerge. The mages guild will provide sensitive probes to measure the ambient mana. Protect these probes in the concentrated areas for a reward.
Global Culling! To arms, adventurers! Any who can swing a sword or fire an arrow, the adventurers guild requests your assistance. The mana fluctuations have given rise to new variants of aggressive monsters. Slaughter them, and bring proof to the guild for your rewards. Quests Rewards for the first person or group to return with the body of an unknown variant. Rewards for high level variant kills, bring the body back as proof. Special spatial bags have been developed for this. Several field type dungeons have sprouted. Clear them for rewards.
Global Collecting! The alchemists guild is placing a standing order for any and all shadow warped variants caused by the fluctuating magical fields. This is for both animal, vegetable, and mineral variants. Quests Collect shadow warped variants. Rewards based on rarity. Bonus rewards for collecting and cultivating seeds for plants, or for breeding and raising animals. Prospectors, stop by the guild before exploring. You will be given a claim stake, that will hold your ore vein claims for 24 hours. Return within that time with a sample of the ore and the guild will finance a teleport back to your vein to determine your rewards.
¡°So Angus, been up to anything interesting recently?¡± Khaliss chuckled. ¡°Saw those notifications, did you Khaliss?¡± ¡°Indeed. Now, perhaps you should take care of your skeleton friend. There are several people eyeing him with worry. SHRIK! GODAN! Escort Angus and his friend wherever they need to be.¡± ¡°SIR, YES SIR!¡± Shrik and Godan shouted and saluted, before falling in slightly behind my skeleton companion. ¡°Ok, I guess we should head to the temple of Thanatos first, then I need to check out my evolution options.¡± I said, more to myself than anyone else. We made swift time to the temple, as people seemed to be reacting to me a lot more than usual. ¡°Welcome back brother, you¡¯ve been rather busy.¡± The high priest said as we walked in. ¡°Thank you brother. I have several things to take care of, but first this. My friend here¡± ¡°Say no more, brother. Our Lord has filled me in on the situation. Say your goodbyes, and when your friend follows me I will open a portal back to his heaven. Simply walk through it, and your heavenly body will reform around your bones to ensure your rest isn¡¯t disturbed again.¡± ¡°Thank you brother, and thank you Thanatos.¡± I said, bowing to both the priest and the altar before turning back to the skeleton and offering him my hand. ¡°Thank you again for all your help, I truly appreciate it. I¡¯ll miss you, but you have earned your rest. Return and enjoy it, my friend.¡± He pulled me into a hug, before turning and following the high priest. As I watched them go, I walked up to the altar. ¡°Lord Thanatos, I have slain the necromancer with the dagger, but ask that you delay the rewards until after I have evolved. At that time, I will also advance my ranking within the church, if that is acceptable.¡± I felt a slightly cool breeze run across my back, and assumed that was fine with him. Following Shrik and Godan back to the training grounds, I looked over several of my notifications.
Achievement Requirements Bonus To next level
Group Discount II Kill 5 groups of 3 or more with one attack +3% AoE attack radius Kill 10 groups of 3 or more with one attack
The More the Merrier II Kill 5 groups of 5 or more with one attack +3% AoE attack radius, +4% AoE attack damage Kill 10 groups of 5 or more with one attack
New skill gained! Mana manipulation Grandmaster 10 You have spent three days doing nothing but manipulating your own mana. You even managed the amazing feat of condensing it into a solid state, and as such have completely mastered this skill. Mana costs halved. Mana regen doubled.
Darkvision mastered! Skill level: Grandmaster 10 You have exposed your eyes to pure dark mana, and have mastered darkvision. You now realize that in this world, darkness has its own counter particle to light¡¯s photon, and that is what grants darkvision. Your range is now limited to distances your eyes can see unassisted.
New weapon ability! Your weapon has unlocked its level 40 ability: Voracious When in prolonged contact with materials that may improve your weapon, it will consume them. Currently it has consumed the following: Shadow infused mithril. Bonus: Increased damage and durability, can absorb magic attacks that are blocked or parried.
Achievement unlocked: Master of Magic By reaching master or higher in mana manipulation, you have achieved the master of magic feat. Magic resistance cap increased by 10%
Wow, talk about fantastic! Now, let¡¯s see about evolutions.
Congratulations, you are at maximum level. You will not gain any experience in this avatar until you evolve to the next level. You have several path options due to the materials you have collected, would you like to evolve now?
Material Rarity Evolution Description
Heart of ghostly flame Rare Lava Wyvernling A cousin branch to the one that gave rise to the dragon, the lava wyvernling¡¯s attunement to fire is second only to that of an elemental. Has the highest magical attack of the wyvernling variants.
Heart of the seas Rare Ocean Wyvernling A cousin branch to the one that gave rise to the dragon, the ocean wyvernling¡¯s attunement to water is second only to that of an elemental. Their power also waxes and wanes with the tides.
Heart of clear skies Rare Zephyr wyvernling A cousin branch to the one that gave rise to the dragon, the zephyr wyvernling¡¯s attunement to air is second only to that of an elemental. Their agility is the highest among the wyvernling variants.
Heart of the mountain Rare Diamond wyvernling A cousin branch to the one that gave rise to the dragon, the diamond wyvernling¡¯s attunement to earth is second only to that of an elemental. They also enjoy the strongest physical resistance of the wyvernling variants.
4 Hearts of the elements Unique Resplendent Wyvernling This wyvernling variant is blessed by all the elements. They enjoy a +10% increase to the magical resistance cap.
Divine shadow mana stone Divine ???? ??????
Wait, what the fuck is that last one? Divine rarity? There is no divine rarity, it caps out at legendary. What is this divine shadow. . . what did I end up creating? Pulling the stone out of my inventory, I looked at its description.
Divine shadow mana stone Created from pure shadow mana, there are no imperfections, occlusions, or flaws to mar this perfection of a crystal. Once it has been used, the divine tier rarity will be unlocked across the world. Mana: 15 trillion/ 15 trillion Durability: indestructible
By the gods, I was holding a stone with 15 TRILLION MANA IN IT! No wonder it took me three days of constant channeling to create the damn thing. Well, obviously I was going to choose the highest tier evolution material, even with the unknown end product. Once I chose it, my view went grey and a popup filled my vision.
Congratulations player! You have chosen a divine tier evolution. Unfortunately, we haven¡¯t finished the final coding of this type of evolution. As you are a beta tester for our long term immersion, we are altering your testing. After one minute, you will be logged out of both the game and VR immersion. The CEO and several high level corporate officers wish to have a meeting with you to discuss things. Due to health concerns, you will have to remain logged out of the game for at least a week. No harm will come to your character during this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Wait, what? I get to meet with the big wigs? Oh, this isn¡¯t going to be fun. Before I could get too worked up, I heard once more the trumpeting fanfare I was starting to loathe.
World Event unlocked! Player Angus MacG has become the first to use a divine tier artifact. The energies unleashed have awoken other artifacts across the world. Who else will find these artifacts? Will you or your guild have the wherewithal to hunt down and slay new divine and semidivine beasts? Craftsmen and women, do you have the skill required to turn divine tier reagents into a corresponding level of equipment?
Logging out in 3. . .2. . .1. . . Book 1 epilogue I came to in my pod, feeling the last bit of liquid as it drained down past my feet. The top popped open, and I could barely see two indistinct grey blobs come into my view. ¡°Wa. Water.¡± I managed to croak through the pain in my throat and parched mouth. ¡°Easy Marty, we will get to that in a second. I¡¯m Dr. Kay. You no doubt are feeling some throat pain from the extensive time under tubing. That is normal, and we have given you some mild pain killers to help with that. We will give you some water, please just little sips for now through the straw.¡± I felt a thin tube pressing against my lips, and managed to suck a little bit of blessedly cold liquid before it was taken away again. After a few minutes of recovery time, I tried to get up only to find my arms shaking like a bowl full of Jello. ¡°Um, Doc? Having some problems here.¡± ¡°Yes, sorry, I was about to explain that. Well, the immersion pods are great at keeping muscle tone going, so you don¡¯t have to worry about atrophy. What we have found is that there is a temporary loss of fine motor control. Over the next week, you will get some intensive therapy, but everyone has recovered from this.¡± ¡°Ok, that¡¯s good. Think you can help me out then? I¡¯m supposed to have a meeting with the higher ups soon?¡± ¡°Yes. We can definitely get you ready for that.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * A half hour later, I was heading up an elevator while sitting in a wheelchair and relaxing in an incredibly comfortable fluffy robe. We entered a meeting room, where there was a large U shaped table full of people in power suits.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Greetings Marty, I¡¯m Glen Matthews, CEO of Arctic Storm, and I want to thank you for kicking off a wonderful series of world events.¡± He said, coming around and shaking my hand. ¡°Now, I want to offer you a few things. First, we are going to bump you into the top level of beta testers for pay, and we are also offering you a streaming option. We will go through and professionally edit your adventures, releasing them once a week. Are you okay with that?¡± ¡°Sure? I haven¡¯t really thought about that, but can I ask that we don¡¯t put anything out there where I am currently located? I¡¯m sure I just earned a lot of players¡¯ ire, and they would love nothing more than to hunt me down and kill me several times over.¡± ¡°Sure. We have plenty of footage so far for at least a month¡¯s worth I believe?¡± He asked, looking at one of the other execs. They nodded, and he continued, ¡°Great. Now, on to your evolution. Almost two years ago now, we had added the divine tier objects in a patch, but never announced it. There were five objects hidden in the world, and the option for creating others based on incredibly rare circumstances. Well, after a while, when nobody found any, we lost track of them and the development department forgot there was another tier of things waiting to be unlocked. So while you are going through your week of physical therapy, our developers will be working their butts off to finish a patch with your new evolution. I¡¯m sorry you are going to have to miss the world events you just kickstarted, but I have assurances that your eventual evolution will more than make up for what you are missing. Is that ok with you?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. It sounds fine. Besides, I already managed to obtain some of the collection materials for the global quest. Is it going to run past the week deadline?¡± ¡°Originally no, but I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t extend it for a few days past. Any objections?¡± He said, looking at everyone gathered at the table. When nobody did, he said, ¡°Well. That settles it. We are good to go, and you will get a chance to turn in the quest reward as well. Thank you for all your hard work Marty.¡± He said, shaking my hand once again. The attendant in charge of my wheelchair turned me around, and we headed back down to start my physical therapy. Not a chapter, my working notes Skills acquired so far
Level 40
Skill gained Skill level Skill bonuses
Darkvision Grandmaster 10 Range increased to normal vision range
Mana Excavation Advanced lvl 7 Cost decreased by 37%
Blunted weapons mastery (Passive) Intermediate lvl 8 Damage increased by 18%, attack speed increased by 9%
Hammerscythe Mastery (Passive) Intermediate lvl 8 Damage increased by 23%, attack speed increased by 10%
Sculpting Intermediate lvl 1 Sculpting speed increased by 16%
Sneak Intermediate lvl 5 Speed increased by 17%, Harder to detect by 8%
Ambush (Passive) Advanced lvl 4 Attack damage increased by 46%, Critical hit chance increased by 24%
Crushing Blow Intermediate lvl 1 Chance to inflict status effect increased by 15%
Throat tear Beginner lvl 9 Chance of fatal blow increased by 9%
Skull Crusher Beginner lvl 7 Stun chance increased by 10%, Fatal blow chance increased by 3%
Earth Mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 5 Earth spells and manipulation cost 5% less mana
Trap making Advanced lvl 6 Traps do 36% more damage, are deployed 18% faster, and are 20% harder to detect
Mana manipulation Intermediate lvl 2 Manipulation speed increased by 17%
Mana infusion Beginner lvl 8 Infusion speed increased by 4%, maximum mana infused increased by 4%
Overcharge Intermediate lvl 3 Overcharge maximum increased by 6%, Damage increased by 31%
Lethal Blow (Passive) Beginner lvl 8 Chance of instant kill increased by 4%
Mana Blade Beginner lvl 2 Damage increased by 2%, mana cost reduced by 1%
Mana shockwave Beginner lvl 4 Damage increased by 4%, durability damage reduced by 4%
Throw weapon Beginner lvl 6 Chance to hit increased by 3%
Spear mastery (Passive) Beginner lvl 1 Damage increased by 1%
Crossbow mastery (passive) Intermediate lvl 5 Range increased by 15 m, chance to hit increased by 15%, damage increased 5%
Vicious thrust Beginner lvl 1This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Damage increased by 10%, chance to cause bleeding status increased by 1%
Hide in shadows Beginner lvl 1 Chance to be detected lowered by 5%
Windless Trajectory Beginner lvl 3 +3% to critical hit, +8% chance to hit
Essence of potions Beginner lvl 2 Identify minor potions
Alchemy Advanced lvl 1 40% chance to brew a higher quality potion or poison
Cooking Advanced lvl 3 33% chance to create a higher quality product from recipe.
Mental fortitude Beginner lvl 1 1% resist fear effects
Keen edge Intermediate lvl 3 39% damage, increased amputation chance
Anatomy Beginner lvl 9 9% damage, 9% critical
Dodge Advanced level 6 +36% chance to dodge a detected attack
Parry Advanced level 1 +31% chance to parry an attack, damage reduced by 35%
Counter attack Intermediate level 7 Counter attacks cause +77% extra damage, +27% critical hit chance
Battlefield control Beginner level 5 Damage received reduced by 5% when controlling the number of enemies attacking simultaneously
Mana manipulation Grandmaster 10 Mana cost halved, mana regen doubled
Characters Phoebe- gnoll Illyora Jon ¨C goblin JohnnyBGood Derrick ¨C troll Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m Emily ¨C game manager Mike ¨C Emily¡¯s boss Frank ¨C lead developer Steele ¨C leader of Steele Legion Dharkiss ¨C kobold master smith Alnoss ¨C innkeeper Djarleen ¨C Alchemist Khaliss - Captain Equipment ranks: Common < Uncommon < Rare < Unique < Legendary < Epic Crafting ranks: failed < Poor < Shoddy Due to a special action, you have unlocked an achievement Achievement Action Bonus Next level Total Slayer II Kill over 10 players +2% damage to other players, -2% damage received from other players Slay over 50 players 24 Group Discount II Kill 5 groups of 3 or more with one attack +3% AoE attack radius Kill 10 groups of 3 or more with one attack 6 The More the Merrier II Kill 5 groups of 5 or more with one attack +3% AoE attack radius, +4% AoE attack damage Kill 10 groups of 5 or more with one attack 5 Hellen Keller I Spend over a minute silenced, deafened, and blinded at the same time +1% status effect resistance Spend over 5 minutes silenced, deafened, and blinded at the same time 3 min The bigger they are II Kill a creature or player higher level than you +2% damage Kill over 500 creatures or players higher level than you 300 You don¡¯t look so tough I Kill a creature or player 5 levels higher than you +1% damage Kill 10 creatures or players 5 levels higher than you 5 Don¡¯t look down on me I Kill a creature or player 10 levels higher than you +5% damage, -5% damage received Kill 10 creatures or players 10 levels higher than you 2 Ant beats the elephant I Kill a creature or player 25 levels higher than you +10% damage to creatures or players higher level than you Kill 10 creatures or players 25 levels higher than you 1 David and Goliath I Kill a creature or player 50 levels higher than you -10% damage received from creatures or players higher level than you Kill 5 creatures or players 50 levels higher than you 1 Even Gods may fall Kill a creature or player 75 levels higher than you Ignore level difference penalties N/A New Frontiers I Create a new potion or poison +1% increased loot quality Create 5 new potions or poisons 1 Perfectionist II Create an elixir +2% potion effectiveness, -2% poison effectiveness Create 10 unique elixirs 5 Master of magic Mana manipulation of master or higher Resistance cap +10% N/A Seeker of Knowledge III Be the first to create a unique elixir recipe +20% chance to find hidden objects Create 10 unique elixir recipes 5 More than one way to skin a cat I Create an alternate potion recipe +5% created potion strength Create 5 alternate recipes 2 Is there no one else? I Kill a group of 25 or more with one attack +5% AoE damage, +5% AoE range Kill 5 groups of 25 or more with one attack 1 Army slayer I Kill a group of 50 or more with one attack AoE attacks ignore 5% of armor Kill 5 groups of 50 or more with one attack 1 Army of One Win a battle outnumbered 10 to one (must be even level) +1% damage when fighting outnumbered 3 to 1 or more Win 5 battles outnumbered 10 to one 2
Open Quests
Giver Quest Reward
Khaliss Collect Vicious Cave Rat fangs (no limit) 50 copper per fang
Thanatos Favor: 694/500 Weekly kills 15/15 Champions killed: 2/5
Bloodsteel and Shadow mithril Hammerscythe (Soulbound, Scalable) lvl 40 This weapon was specially commissioned for a neophyte of Thanatos. Infusing the steel with his blood and certain herbs, along with the heart of a creature slain by his own hand has inexorably linked the two. It will grow with its owner, and has branching potential trees that can be unlocked depending on its usage. Living Weapon: Durability can be repaired by sacrificing the life force of either the wielder or enemies. Souldbound: Can¡¯t be stolen or dropped upon death Scalable: Stats dependent upon the level of the wielder Executioner: +10% increased chance for decapitation when striking the neck of an enemy. Holy Strike: 20% of damage done will be added as holy damage Heavy Armor Bane: Ignore 10% of opponent¡¯s armor if heavily armored, Enemy heavy armor takes 50% more durability damage Undead bane: +15% damage to undead, +15% critical chance vs undead. Voracious: Can absorb materials to improve itself. Damage: 600-615 Crushing, 565-585 Slashing Durability: 500000/500000
Book 2 Prologue Marty was a cook for Arctic Storm entertainment, creators of the game Oblivion Online. When asked, he agreed to become a beta tester for two of their new initiatives. He is one of the first to be able to play as a monster character, choosing to become a kobold ambusher. He has also been selected to participate in the first trials of long term immersion. After many trials, Marty, or in the game as Angus MacG, has joined and climbed in the ranks of the church of Thanatos as well as gained entrance and some infamy in the alchemy guild. He underwent a transformation to change himself into a variant, and gaining the skill mystic vision that allows him to see the flows of mana. Through his journey, he has come to know three other testers, all of whom have helped each other out whenever possible. Phoebe, who started the game as a gnoll and has since evolved into the terrifying loup garoup, finally managed to enact her vengeance upon the guild that slaughtered her NPC friends as they were hunting. She has since started her journey to master her curse, given hints by the being who helped with her evolution, the chained god Sin. Jon, once a goblin, has now become a bugbear witchdoctor. Though his trials brought up a painful past, he has embraced the curses he has acquired. Having met up with Phoebe in the game, With no further obligations, he has agreed to join and aid Phoebe in her journey, to see where the game will take them. Derrick, in game the troll Rock¡¯m¡¯Sock¡¯m, is the only member of their group that has yet to evolve. Currently waging a campaign of nocturnal extermination against bandit groups, he is close to reaching the maximum level. In his journeys, Marty was tasked with slaying four creatures that have avoided death. The first, a spirit caller who ended up draining spirits to prolong her life, was dispatched after Marty cleared the demonic dungeon she was hiding in. While moving on to the second target, a necromancer who was resurrecting the bodies of fallen heroes, Marty managed to stumble across a sealed mana well. As he was unsealing it, he channeled shadow mana for three days while condensing it into a solid crystal. Teleported back to the city he was living in seconds before the seal broke, he was stunned to learn he had kick started several world events.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. For the next seven days the world will suffer through upheaval as the tides of mana seek to establish a new equilibrium. The mages guild has sent adventurers out to map the distortions and eruptions of shadow mana, and sent an open call to any who manage to learn a new spell as the ambient mana changes things randomly. Not to be outdone, the adventurers guild has placed bounties for shadow warped variants of creatures to add to their extensive beastiary, while the alchemists guild is offering rewards for anything and everything that can be used in a potion. Upon seeing the messages naming him the player that brought about the magical mayhem, Marty decided it was time to evolve his character. When he unleashed the power of the mana stone he had created, he learned that it was a divine tier artifact and yet again he was named as the person responsible for unlocking a world event, this time as several divine artifacts that had previously been seeded across the world gained in strength. Craftspeople could hone their skills to the degree that they could even develop their own divine tier artifacts. As the developers had not foreseen using a divine artifact to evolve a monster character, Marty was logged out of immersion for a week of intensive physical therapy in order to relearn the coordination needed for his gross muscle control. During this time, the developers were challenged by the CEO himself to create a suitable evolution for Marty. As Marty was finishing up his eighth day of physical therapy, being just shy of the goals set by his physical therapist before allowing him back into the game, he got a message from Frank, the lead developer, asking him to meet with his game manager Emily and her boss Mike. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this.¡± Marty muttered as he read the note. Book 2 Chapter 1 ¡°Marty! Thanks for coming on such short notice!¡± Though I had only met him a few times, Frank was as boisterous as ever. ¡°How goes the rehab? Pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable.¡± ¡°Pretty well, Frank. I¡¯m anxious to get back into the game and got the go ahead for tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Great. So you are probably wondering why you are here, right?¡± ¡°Partly. Knowing upper management¡¯s love of meetings, there is probably some good news and some bad news. Because y¡¯all can¡¯t ever just let us have good news, right?¡± I said with a slight smile. ¡°Bwahahahaha, he got you pegged Frank.¡± Mike said, and he actually slapped his knee a few times. I didn¡¯t think people did that. ¡°Ahem. Anyway. Yes, as you guessed we do have some good and some bad news. What would you like to start with?¡± ¡°Always hit the bad first. At least we can end on a good note, unless what you have is going to ruin my day?¡± I asked, raising my eyebrow at the end of that. ¡°No, nothing that bad. Just some minor alterations.¡± Letting out a massive sigh, I gave in to the inevitable. ¡°So, what have I done that needs nerfing?¡± ¡°You pull off the put upon act so well, Marty.¡± Mike said before Frank could respond. ¡°You knew this was beta testing, and that things would get balanced. Are you really that surprised?¡± When I shook my head no, Frank continued. ¡°Well, it¡¯s your crossbow. The use of the monster parts in it was a fantastic idea, one that many of the higher ranked guilds have been doing for a long while. The game tried to balance it with a longer load time, as it was doing similar damage to your scaling weapon. Basically, we want any weapon that powerful from range to be either a trump card or something that opens the fight with a devastating blow.¡± ¡°That, makes sense. You are thinking that being able to reload it while in combat is too much?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. The thing is, you have managed several times to reload it while moving around. We thought about forcing you to stay still in order to reload, but that would interfere too much with gameplay. Instead of that, we found a workaround. Ever hear of an arbalest?¡± Shaking my head no, he continued, ¡°Well, pretty much it is a crossbow that has such a high draw strength it needs an assist mechanism. So in order to load it, you need to wind a wheel near the stock. It will take about two seconds, but you might be able to do it while moving. With enough practice.¡± ¡°Well.¡± I said with another sigh, ¡°That was much less troublesome than what I was anticipating. What else have you got for me?¡± ¡°Beer?¡± He asked, reaching down into a mini fridge he had behind his desk. ¡°No thanks. Ever since the incident, none of us have really felt the desire to drink.¡± ¡°Oh god, I¡¯m so sorry! I had forgotten completely about that!¡± Waving off his concerns, Emily decided to speak up. ¡°Frank, just drop it. Marty and his group are dealing with it just fine, so let¡¯s move on to the movie.¡± ¡°Movie?¡± I said, perking up a bit. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have popcorn, would you? And what flavor? The flavor is the most important part.¡± Emily started immediately chuckling. ¡°Ha, you and Mike are too much alike sometimes. Don¡¯t worry, we have Kettle Korn. Extra butter.¡± ¡°Your popcorn offerings are acceptable.¡± I said with mock seriousness, taking a large bowl from her. ¡°So, what¡¯ve we got queued up?¡± ¡°Well, we are going to use it for a promo video, but it¡¯ll get you up to speed with some of the changes that have been happening. Ready?¡± When we all nodded yes, Frank hit a few buttons on his desk to kill the lights and highlight a screen on the wall. The movie started as a high aerial view of the entire main continent, with a light melody of woodwinds. As the view started to descend, closing in on one of the southwestern mountain ranges, the brass and percussive sections started in with an ominous undercurrent, swelling to overwhelm the woodwinds. With a resounding clash of cymbals, an entire mountain disappeared in a large pillar of darkness, that we could see flattening out on top as we descended off to the side. From the corners of our vision, spots across the land started resonating with a dark glow. ¡°Peace has been shattered. Magic, thrown in upheaval.¡± A deep voiced narrator broke in. ¡°Divine objects, long since lost to the memories of even the elves, have been tainted. Drained of their holy energy, forced to aid the foul evolution of a monster instead of helping civilization. A new race, long since exiled from our peaceful plane, has now made their way back. Will the Shadow-Walker Drakelings come in peace? Or do they come as conquerors?¡± While he had been speaking, the massive pillar of darkness had retracted, revealing he drastically changed landscape. Where there once was a mountain, base covered in forest, now there was a glimmering city of white and black stone. It rose up and covered all the sides of the mountain, and an enormous wall surrounded it. Standing at attention at regular intervals along the wall were gigantic statues, tall enough that they carried ballistae as crossbows. Carved of some jet black material, it had exquisitely carved scales. Mostly humanoid, there was a row of spikes leading down the spine and following onto a spear tipped tail. There were the beginnings of horns on its head, sloped backwards from the forehead and it split into three small nubs. The eye even had a slit pupil, and I jumped in my seat when the head suddenly swiveled and stared straight into the camera. ¡°Holy shit, that¡¯s a golem!¡± I shouted, much to the delight of the others in the room. ¡°Plus one to perception.¡± Emily said stoically, as the view moved past the golems and onto a gorgeous city of soaring spires.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Should the former be their goal, then they shall be welcomed.¡± The narrator continued, ¡°But. Should they wish for conquest, they shall meet the new might of our heroes, who have used the upheaval to enhance their own spells.¡± The view shifted, and started following different adventurers. A female mage with blazing red hair was standing in front of a group of trolls. ¡°Consuming flames, ever hungry. Twisted by shadows most foul. Feast upon the flesh of my foes, and render them to ashes. [Hellfire Inferno]!¡± As she finished her chant, twin jets of reddish black flames shot forth from her hands, and in seconds reduced the five trolls to piles of ash, blowing away in the breeze. A barbarian, decked out in a kilt made of pelts and a horned helm, intricately carved gauntlets on his wrists sat in the middle of a clearing of goblins, axe pointed forward and sword pointed back. As the goblins geared themselves up to attack, he somehow knew just when to start his chant so it would be finished in time to slaughter the first to arrive. ¡°Ignore armor, cleave flesh and shatter bone. Cut through the very fabric of reality. [Rending shadows]!¡± Both blades were lined with a crackling dark energy, and left rapidly fading black slashes in their wake. As he became a whirling demon amid the goblins, nothing could stop nor even parry his blades. They simply slashed through everything, and the goblins looked like they went through a Cuisinart. Heaving for breath, the barbarian smiled as he wiped a bit of blood off his face, only ending up smearing it a bit. A blue cloaked figure with a staff. Facing a training dummy decked out in plate armor. ¡°Dark water¡¯s corruption, consume the metal but touch not the flesh. [Disintegrating blast].¡± A sphere of nearly black water shot from his hand and swirled around the armor, and my eyes opened in shock at the speed that it rusted and fell off in useless chunks. Three kobolds faced another mage, striking sparks from his shield that kept them at bay. Nonplussed, he calmly chanted. ¡°Split and strike only to split and strike again, numbers mean nothing against your overwhelming might. Spasm muscles and poison the blood. [Black chain lightning].¡± Forking out from his hand, a jet black strand of lightning shot out, hitting the middle kobold before forking off and hitting his two friends. Bodies locking up under the electrical assault, you could see the necrosis spreading from the contact points. A flock of griffons flew over a caravan, deftly avoiding arrows as they made bombing runs, trying to pick off guards. Jumping out of one of the middle wagons, a female mage with golden hair and light blue robe stared up at the sky. ¡°Rend the day and split the skies. Faster than a diving falcon, mercilessly seeking your targets. [Air shadow slicer barrage]!¡± Rapidly slashing with her hands, blades of dark energy shot out at fantastic speed and split through the circling griffons. Standing outside of a bandit compound with a wooden palisade, surrounded by knights in armor. ¡°Sir, are you sure? We can assault this wall with no issues.¡± One of the knights asked a man with brown leathers. ¡°No need to risk it, I¡¯ve been needing a suitable target for this spell.¡± He replied, before raising a hand and chanting. ¡°Spirits of earth infused with darkest shadow, reduce this barrier to kindling. [Cursed stone shotgun].¡± Firing from his hand and spreading into scattered cluster, dark stones embedded themselves deep within the wood of the barricade, seeming to do little damage. When the bandits started laughing and taunting the mage, revealing themselves from the barricades once again, he simply opened his hand and the stones detonated. When the dust cleared, the barricade and a good portion of the walls were gone, and the soldiers were pale faced and slack jawed. ¡°Sir paladin! The mostly dead are advancing!¡± ¡°Mostly dead?¡± The warrior with glistening armor asked the out of breath scout. ¡°So, they sent abominations to try and limit my effectiveness? It won¡¯t avail them.¡± He said confidently, as shambling creatures erupted from the treeline and started their lumbering charge. Each of them covered in weeping sores and open wounds that leaked a black ichor, those with high perception could see the agony in their eyes as dark magics ravaged their bodies. Slamming his shield into the ground as he leapt from the wall, the paladin unlimbered a massive greatsword from his back. One side of the hand guard was a feathered wing, while the other was a leathery one. ¡°Purity of light, seduction of shadow. Opposite faces on the same coin, ever in strife to emerge on top. As mortals, we straddle the chasm separating you, one foot on each side. I call forth both sides of my heritage, and unleash your chaotic dance of destruction to free these tormented souls from their agonizing bondage. [Annihilating smite]!¡± He shouted, thrusting his blade towards the heavens before letting it fall down and cleaving into the ground. A pillar of purest white parted the clouds while twisting shadows shot forth from the end of his blade. Where they met, a swirling chaotic orb rapidly grew before exploding in arcs of twirling energy, each one made of light and shadow. Whatever these touched, turned to ash instantly. ¡°May you find the peace in death that was denied you in life.¡± The paladin said softly to the now empty field. A line of archers facing a horde of orcs laying siege to a city. As the orc leader bellowed to start a charge, the captain on the wall looked nonplussed. ¡°Adventurers, we thank you for your defense of our city. As such, first blood shall be yours. Let them know of our might.¡± Stepping forward by his side, a ranger with some form of dual winged guild crest barked at them. ¡°Begin chant!¡± As one, twenty archers drew back and spoke, ¡°As the storm rages, so our arrows shall fall down without mercy upon the field. Pierce armor and cleave the flesh beneath, shadows wreak havoc with no opposition. [Exploding arrow rain].¡± Streaks of darkness left the archers bows at the same time, splitting into multiple arrows at the apex of their flight. As they fell back down, shadow tendrils exploded out of the flesh of whatever they pierced, tearing open gruesome wounds. The narrator continued once more, ¡°Let them come, for we shall drive them back to whatever shadows spawned them. Come, join the heroes. Wielding bow, blade, and mystical energies, claim your path to glory!¡± The clip ended on an army of adventurers of all classes, charging across a barren field. I hadn¡¯t moved through the entire commercial, and Mike reached over and scooped a generous portion of popcorn from my bowl. ¡°You weren¡¯t eatin¡¯ it.¡± He said as a simple explanation as I turned to stare at him. ¡°So, what¡¯d¡¯ya think?¡± ¡°That. Was. Awesome.¡± I said, excited and anxious. ¡°Though, did you really have to make what I assume is my new race the bad guys?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have another commercial in production calling for people to join the monstrous side. I hear you guys have cookies and bacon.¡± He said, chuckling at the last part. ¡°So, what did you think of your new city?¡± ¡°You did a fantastic job. It looks gorgeous, and those golems look like they could take on an army. Do they look like I do now?¡± ¡°Pretty much. You¡¯ll get a good bit of racial abilities, including all the skills you had previously. There¡¯s another surprise in there for you, but you¡¯ll have to wait to log in to see it.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Any way I can get the breakdown of abilities and such of my new race?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be there when you log in.¡± Emily said. ¡°I think I speak for everyone when I say that we look forward to what you can do with this.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t hardly wait. Now, if that¡¯s all I think I¡¯m going to try and get some sleep before tomorrow comes.¡± Shaking everyone¡¯s hands, I headed off to my meager tester apartment for the last time. Book 2 Chapter 2 Chapter 2 I woke up in the same decrepit church that I chose my character in. Sure enough, the old priest was there. ¡°How¡¯s it going, old man?¡± ¡°Oh? So you¡¯re the one who went and upset the natural order. Good for you.¡± He said, smiling. ¡°Sometimes you need to flip the table over to even the game, no?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯ld do it.¡± I said, slightly unnerved by his smile. ¡°So, you here to give me info on my new race?¡± ¡°Nope. Still wanting to take the easy road. No, I¡¯m here to change you to your new race. Have fun!¡± He said before smashing me in the forehead with a cane he pulled out of nowhere. It musta been goin¡¯ pretty fast, judging by the flames painted on the bottom. I was shoved out of my kobold body, and I watched as it was wracked with black bands of energy. Swarming around it, pulsing through it at random angles, some of them eventually trapped within and making the skin swarm. Eventually it was completely coated, and the blackness receded. Razor sharp claws tipped each finger, and black pentagonal scales covered my body. I had the same set of short spines travelling down my back to my tail tip, and also small growths that looked like my claws on the back side of my elbow, pointing away from my forearm. I had the same horns as what the golems had in the video, and my eyes practically glowed with a golden light. I flashed into my body, and found myself elsewhere. * * * * * * * * * * * * * When I came to, I was in the courtyard of a barracks. Several people noticed me right away, but went back to their spear drills. I opened my status screen to see what I could about my new race.
Shadow-Walker Dragonling An extraplanar relative of the dragons, they were exiled from this world with the sealing of the mana wells. Masters of shadow and earth, their might was impressive. Their full scales provide resistance to physical and magical attacks, though not nearly to the extent of true dragons. Though monsters, they suffer no experience penalty nor technological restrictions, and can reach a maximum level of 80. Bring overwhelming force should you decide to fight one, as the weakest of them are elite ranked.
Species abilities: Shadow magic resist 75% Light magic resist -15% Negate 15% of physical and magical damage
Congratulations! Due to your choice of evolution material, your rank has changed. You are now a demigod rank monster, and as such will gain 5 points in each attribute per level in addition to your normal gains.
As I was checking out my new race, I got a ping letting me know I had mail. Player Angus, Through review of your game logs, it seems that several of your skills were not gaining the experience they should have. This bug has been fixed, and changes have retroactively been added. You will receive a popup with the new skill ranks, as well as racial skills you have been granted. Thank you for your understanding in this matter, and please enjoy the game. Arctic Storm representative 57208
Skill Previous level New Level Effects
Lethal Blow (Passive) Beginner lvl 8 Advanced lvl 8 Chance of instant kill increased by 24%
Mana shockwave Beginner lvl 4 Advanced lvl 9 Damage increased by 49%, durability damage reduced by 49%
Crossbow mastery (passive) Intermediate lvl 5 Advanced lvl 9 Range increased by 29 m, chance to hit increased by 29%, damage increased 10%
Windless Trajectory Beginner lvl 3 Intermediate lvl 7 +17% to critical hit, +30% chance to hit
Keen edge Intermediate lvl 3 Master lvl 1 75% damage, increased amputation chance
Battlefield control Beginner level 5 Intermediate lvl 1 Damage received reduced by 16% when controlling the number of enemies attacking simultaneously
Mana infusion Beginner lvl 8 Grandmaster 10 Infusion speed increased by 75%, maximum mana infused increased by 75%
Racial Skill Level Effects
Earth mastery (passive) Grandmaster lvl 10 Mana costs 50% less, damage increased by 100%. Earth resist +15%
Shadow mastery (passive) Grandmaster lvl 10 Mana costs 50% less, damage increased by 100%. Shadow resist +15%
Stone manipulation (replaces Mana excavation) Advanced lvl 1 Can shape stone up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 15%
Shadow manipulation Advanced lvl 1 Can shape shadows up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 15%
That, was a lot of upgrades. I had completely forgotten most of those passive skills, but it was nice to see some of the ones that I used a lot got a boost. I also had a few ideas to try out after seeing that movie. Wanting to test some things, I reached out and imagined a stone fist rising from the ground in front of me. To my surprise, one immediately raised itself up, mimicking my hand motions, and barely took any mana. I didn¡¯t get a skill for it, although I knew that most geomancers learn the skill [Stone grasp] fairly early on in the game. I guess I could now cast any and all spells in the earth and shadow spell tree as long as I had knowledge of what they did. Or maybe this was just using stone manipulation? I would have to check it out. ¡°It¡¯s somewhat rude to use a skill in a common area like that, Angus. You should return it to how it was.¡± A stern looking drakeling was walking towards me, leaving his pupils to keep spear training. ¡°Sorry.¡± I said while fixing what I had changed. ¡°But how do you know my name?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You forgot? Well, when we first met in the dungeon I was a kobold.¡± ¡°Khaliss?¡± I said uncertainly. ¡°None other.¡± He said with a feral grin. ¡°But, how?¡± ¡°Well, I guess when a crazy adventurer uses a divine tier object to fuel his evolution in the middle of town, every kobold in the vicinity will be evolved with him. Which reminds me, I am instituting a new rule, and it¡¯s all your fault. When you bring a divine tier item into the city limits, you must inform the Captain of the Guard. Namely, me. Think you can do that?¡± ¡°Heh, yeah. Sorry about that, I just wasn¡¯t thinking with the game announcements and all.¡± ¡°Understandable, just try not to do crazy stuff in town. I know Djarleen is training you as an alchemist, and it takes a special kind of crazy to do that, but just, try. It¡¯s all I ask.¡± ¡°Sure thing. I can do that.¡± I said, glad he wasn¡¯t ripping into me like I probably would have in his place. ¡°So, have we had any visitors from the light side?¡± I asked, hoping the answer would be no. ¡°That, is an unfortunate yes. We had several adventurers try, as well as a few emissaries from the other races. The emissaries are worried, but seem neutral so far. The adventurers seem to be a mixed lot. Several of them have been killed outright, those golems are able to sense intentions and their bolts really don¡¯t leave much left of the bodies.¡± ¡°I see. And our stance?¡± ¡°Neutral for now, but tensions are high. Try not to start anything?¡± He asked hopefully. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to swing by the temple and also check in with Djarleen.¡± Shaking his hand, I continued, ¡°Khaliss, I¡¯m. I¡¯m glad everyone evolved with me. I would have missed you.¡± ¡°As am I Angus, as am I.¡± He said with a smile, before turning back to see to his recruits. ¡°DRAGAN! YOU CALL THAT A THRUST! MY MOTHER COULD DO BETTER AND SHE¡¯S MISSING HER RIGHT ARM!¡± Smiling as I walked away, I headed towards the temple. Time to see what I got when I upgraded my standing. ¡°Greetings brother!¡± I said, happy to see another familiar face as I entered. ¡°Oh? So you finally returned. Lord Thanatos said you would be gone for a while. Ready for your rewards?¡± ¡°Yes, yes I am. But first, I need to advance my rank.¡± ¡°Most impressive, brother. Place your hands upon the altar, let us see your new rank.¡± Following his instructions, I once more felt the burning in my chest as my tattoo changed.
Congratulations! You have advanced to the rank of High Priest. Those in tune with the spirit world will be able to feel the aura of death that clings to you. Some will fear you, some will welcome you. You have also gained one more skill towards your repertoire, use it well. With increased rank comes increased responsibilities. Weekly kills: 0/25 Church favor: 194/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 or Elites killed: 0/1
New skill acquired! Cold grasp of death Death¡¯s Raiments (1 of 4) Most people believe that certain animals will become paralyzed with fear when death approaches. These people cannot see the spiritual world. Those that could will see spectral hands of bone holding the victim in place. Skill paralyzes target for five seconds or until one blow is struck. The strike will automatically be a critical hit. Critical damage increased by 100%. Cooldown is one hour.
Oh, this was going to be so much fun! A crowd control spell that guarantees a critical hit? I already had several bits of equipment that added to critical damage, and as far as I knew there wasn¡¯t a physical damage cap in the game. Though if there was, I would be ecstatic to be the one to find it, then spend my time trying to find a way to blast through it. Pulling my armor aside, I checked out the new tattoo. Where they were flat before, the robes now seemed to be billowing in an unseen breeze, hinting at the bony skeleton beneath. ¡°Congratulations brother, you are now the same rank I was when we first met.¡± ¡°You ranked up too? Congratulations! That is fantastic news, brother. Is there some form of celebration for reaching the upper ranks?¡± ¡°No, though I thank you for thinking of me. Now, I heard you dispatched that necromancer? Place the dagger on the altar.¡± Following his directions, I got one more popup.
Divine quest completed! You have slain the necromancer, and trapped his soul within the Dagger of Thanatos. In addition, you discovered the method by which he was raising the bones of fallen heroes. Using a linked runic array of startling complexity as well as harnessing mana from a sealed mana well, the necromancer managed to fuel his ritual with no danger to his own life. Until you arrived, of course.
Quest Rewards Next quest
Slay the necromancer. Determine the requirements of his ritual (optional, completed) Enough experience to raise your level from 40 to 45 Bonus: Death moves unseen through even the most crowded rooms. He has given you a portion of his knowledge of stealth, increasing your skill from intermediate 5 to Master 1. Death comes for all III: Once a mortal, an ancient magician bound his soul to a phylactery. Through countless years, his corruption has spread across the land. Go, find him, and make his next death permanent.
I got a popup congratulating me on reaching level 10, answering whether the leveling requirements dropped. Oh, I was going to enjoy running into PvPers. I looked like a noobie, but had a level 50 weapon and most likely stats in the 70s. Before I went too far down that road, I asked the new Cardinal, ¡°So, brother, do we have any leads on this lich? I¡¯m sure his domain was resonating with the shadow mana well I unleashed last week.¡± ¡°We actually do. In the desert to the west, a place the locals call the Deadlands, is where you will find him. It will be at least a week traveling by foot.¡± ¡°Thank you, brother. That is most helpful information. Now, if there¡¯s nothing I can do for the church, I need to see several others today if I can.¡± ¡°We are fine, Angus. Thank you for always asking.¡± He said, while making a shooing motion with his hands. I noticed his hand had a ring that was a skull and the band itself was fashioned into a scythe. Must be his proof of office. Heading out, I made my way over to where Dharkiss¡¯ smithy was. As I went, I noticed little nods of deference in my direction from people I never knew. Guess they must have recognized I was the source of the evolution. ¡°Angus! Yer¡¯ back!¡± Dharkiss shouted as soon as I got there, rushing to envelop me in a hug. ¡°Good to see you too Dharkiss. How was the week I was gone?¡± ¡°It went crazily. The craftsman¡¯s guild came out, seeing what they can learn from us.¡± ¡°Oh? How did that go?¡± ¡°Well, aside from some of the blueprints for the weapons and traps we worked together to make, terribly. As we could only access and work steel earlier, they were most disappointed. When asked if they were willing to send someone out to teach, they practically wanted to bleed us dry.¡± ¡°Figures. They get a monopoly of something, and want to charge you out the nose to get in on it.¡± ¡°Aye, that be the truth of it. I could get some training in exchange for the blueprints, but only enough to make me a journeyman in one type of metal, and they refused any mithril trainin¡¯.¡± He snarled, shaking his head. ¡°I hope you turned that shit down, right?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t said anything yet. I really want to, but it would be incredibly difficult to learn any one new metal on my own, let alone all the ones I don¡¯t know. I just can¡¯t see doing that. You¡¯ll be needing new armors and things, and I¡¯ll feel like a failure if I can¡¯t help you out.¡± ¡°Well, I have something for you. Before I give it to you, I want you to let me be there when you tell them to go fornicate themselves with a metal cactus.¡± ¡°HA! HAHAHAHAAAAA! And just, why would I be tellin¡¯ them to do that?¡± ¡°Well, because I have the blacksmithing and smelting notes of a legendary dwarven blacksmith and I¡¯m going to be giving it to you?¡± I said, pulling out one of the notebooks, this one on steel smithing and handing it over. Dharkiss thumbed through it for a second, stopping midway through the book. ¡°Angus, do you know how much this book alone is worth? I would give ya my firstborn, and probably the second and third as well. How many of these do you have?¡± ¡°Well, you have the steel there, then there¡¯s orichalcum, adamantine, mithril, and bronze. Add one for each to smelt it, as well as a general smithing and preparing for enchanting techniques, that¡¯s another eleven.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t acc¡± ¡°You can, I insist. I wouldn¡¯t have made it nearly as far as I have without you and your equipment. If it makes you feel better, we can call it a loan. Learn what you can from them, and when you have mastered them you can return them to me. In exchange, give me a small discount.¡± I said with a smile, though he continued to look conflicted. ¡°Aye.¡± He said at last. ¡°I can do that. I¡¯ll be making all your custom orders, and everything will be 75% off while I¡¯m learning from these books. Can the apprentice look at them too?¡± ¡°Of course, but are you sure at 75%? That¡¯s awful high.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worth it, just for giving me a reason to thumb my nose at those stingy bastards.¡± We heard a tinkling from the bell above his door, and he winked at me. ¡°Speak o¡¯ the devils.¡± I turned to see three dwarves walk in. One was decked out in fine merchant clothes, while the other two were in full plate mail that covered every inch of their bodies. The masks were cut into glaring visages, and I could even see tiny strands of wire crossing the eye slits to prevent people from trying to thread an arrow or dagger in there for an instant kill. These body guards were serious, as they kept the oversized axes on their backs but had hands on dagger pommels for close in fighting. They had small buckler type shields forged into the forearm parts of their gauntlets, freeing them from needing a shield. ¡°Think those shields are forged that way? Or welded on later?¡± I asked Dharkiss, quickly putting the book into my inventory so they couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°Trade secrets.¡± The well-dressed dwarf grumbled. ¡°So, have you come to a decision on our generous offer, blacksmith?¡± ¡°Indeed I have.¡± He said, leaning on the counter. ¡°You can go fornicate yourself with a large, metal cactus.¡± Smiling, Dharkiss leaned back as I tried to fight off the giggles. The dwarf¡¯s face scrunched in, and with his beard it seriously resembled a cat walking away. ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore, and the dwarf glared daggers at me. ¡°Is this some sort of joke? We came with a good faith offer, hoping for mutual aid.¡± ¡°Bullshit.¡± Dharkiss interrupted. ¡°You came here, looking to line your pockets. You offer a paltry sum for innovative blueprints, and charge an arm and a leg for information you already have. No, I¡¯ll not be doin¡¯ business with the likes of you. Now, get gone from my store.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be regretting this, blacksmith. With the fall of the Stonefists, the Mountain Crusher clan be the best blacksmiths around!¡± Hearing of the Stonefists, I perked up. Wasn¡¯t that the name of that dwarf blacksmith I killed in the Bone Citadel? Once the dwarf and his attendants had left, I turned to Dharkiss. ¡°Hey, Dharkiss. Got an important question for you.¡± ¡°Go right ahead Angus.¡± ¡°Those books I showed you were written by a Stonefist dwarf. I ended up saving his remains on a whim, and I think we should invite a representative of them over here to learn with you. Help them put the Mountain Crusher clan back in their place, what¡¯d¡¯ya say?¡± ¡°I think that sounds like a fine proposition, a very fine proposition indeed.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°We will have to get an okay with this from Khaliss, but I¡¯m sure he would be fine with it. I just wonder what they could offer us?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything for our other craftsmen. Maybe we could have them bring in trainers for that?¡± ¡°Tis perfect! We aid in taking down those cocksure bastards, they get their clans secrets back, and we get caught up in techniques for advanced materials. The dwarves will even be happy that they can offer us something near to the same value in return, and not be in our debt.¡± ¡°Great! Now, before I go, I have two things I want to run by you. See what you think.¡± ¡°Ha! Of course you do! Let me get the pencil and paper, one second.¡± We spent the next half hour going over things, shooting holes in each other¡¯s designs. It was nice to be back in the swing of things with a friend. I ended up leaving him all the books except the one on steel, as well as a portion of the ingots that I had from the Bone Citadel. Once we had everything hashed out, I headed out to see Djarleen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°DAMNIT! DON¡¯T COME ANY CLOSER IDIOT APPRENTICE!¡± Djarleen screeched at me when I entered the store. I took two steps to my right so that I wasn¡¯t in the doorway, and sat down so I wouldn¡¯t get in trouble. Not really how I wanted her to greet me, but I did disappear on her for a week with no notice. ¡°Good to see you too, Djarleen.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that, idiot. You went and increased the potency of your death aura, and I¡¯m sitting here trying to brew a top tier rejuvenation potion. If you come any closer, you risk ruining my work.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry about that.¡± I said, feeling a bit glum. ¡°Stop moping. You didn¡¯t mess it up, and I¡¯ll be done in a minute. Then we can talk about important things. Like not disappearing when you have the head of the alchemy guild selling things on your behalf.¡± ¡°Oh shit!¡± I thought to myself. How awesome would that staff have become after sitting in a room filled with mana for three days? Damnit, I could have been the first with a divine tier item for sale! I could probably buy a country or two for that! ¡°There we are, all finished.¡± She said, putting the vibrant red liquid vial into a secure rack. ¡°Now, the last I heard of you, there was a world announcement about you playing with forces well outside your hand. What do you have to say for yourself?¡± ¡°Ummm, I regret nothing?¡± I said, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°HA! That¡¯s the right attitude! You¡¯ll make a fine alchemist if you keep that in mind. We push the boundaries and we try new things. So what kept you away for a week?¡± ¡°Adventurer business. I couldn¡¯t come back before today, believe me I tried.¡± ¡°Very well, you haven¡¯t lied to me yet. Now, let¡¯s head over to talk with the guildmaster, he¡¯s been getting impatient.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Book 2 Chapter 3 We walked into a madhouse. Marcus, Montgomery, and a female dwarf I hadn¡¯t met before were all being run ragged at the front desk. The dwarf was doing paperwork, stamping and collating things while Marcus and Montgomery were running packages back to storage shelves. We waited our turn in line, and the dwarf gave us a terse greeting. ¡°Name¡¯s Julia. What¡¯cha got?¡± ¡°Meeting with the guildmaster. Djarleen and her apprentice.¡± She flipped through a book for a few seconds, before glaring at her. ¡°Says here yer supposed to be a kobold. I ain¡¯t seen whatever race you are, but ye sure as hell ain¡¯t no kobold.¡± By this point, Marcus and Montgomery were sucking in deep breaths at the unexpected break. ¡°I assure you, I am Djarleen and this is my apprentice. We just happened to have evolved.¡± ¡°Sure ya are. Don¡¯t make me call security.¡± ¡°Marcus, want to set your little assistant here straight?¡± ¡°WHO YOU CALLIN¡¯ LITTLE? SECURITY!!!¡± The dwarf screeched as Marcus looked up and smiled. ¡°Djarleen! Why are you making Julia¡¯s life even more difficult? And Julia, cancel the security call. This is Djarleen, we¡¯ve just been too busy to update the rolls.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care who she be, she insulted me and now gets to leave.¡± ¡°Lemme guess, you were trained by Montgomery over there.¡± I interjected. ¡°He built you up as a gatekeeper to the system, with all the power of your petty little kingdom. Now, the question is, are you going to perpetuate that type, or are you going to be the bigger person?¡± ¡°Ye be wantin¡¯ a thrashin¡¯, don¡¯t¡¯cha boyo?¡± She said in a dangerous tone, as Marcus was sitting back trying not to laugh. ¡°Well, you can try. Though I doubt the guildmaster would like a brawl in the main area. Besides, though I¡¯ve only fought one dwarf in my life, he didn¡¯t really measure up.¡± ¡°*Snort* BWAHAHAHAHA!¡± Marcus couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore and earned himself a glare from Julia. ¡°Now, the guildmaster is already going to be mad because I had to disappear for a week with no notice, and when he asks why we are late today I am pointing him straight at you. Are we clear to go up or do you wish to delay us more?¡± I asked, having lost all patience. She stared at me for another few seconds before speaking, ¡°Get outta here. What¡¯s yer name so that I can just pass you through next time.¡± ¡°Angus MacG.¡± I said, turning and walking away as fast as I could when she started pondering where she had heard that name before. When we made it up to the guildmaster¡¯s office, we entered and were slightly shocked to see that even he was disheveled. ¡°Huh? Who?¡± He seemed a bit lost. ¡°Angus finally made it back guildmaster. We¡¯re here to finish up that issue with the staff.¡± ¡°Oh. Great. Wonderful, something simple I can cross off my list. Here, the list of offered items.¡± He said, sliding something out of a stack of papers, knocking half of them to the floor. With a muttered curse, and incredible control of wind magic, he got the stack to rise back up in a swirl and restack itself. Looking over the list, I handed a second copy to Djarleen to get her opinion as well.
Offering Description
Greater permanent resistance Grants +25% resistance to all elements, including shadow and light. Stacks with individual elemental resist potions
Potion of blurred strikes When fighting in low light conditions, your form blurs. Increases your own dodge chance, and decreases your opponent¡¯s ability to dodge and parry your own strikes.
Quicksilver essence potion Increases your own attack speed by 15% permanently.
¡°Damn, they went all out with this, didn¡¯t they?¡± I muttered after reading the list. The permanent resistance was tempting, but I ultimately ruled it out. I would probably be able to find equipment to do the same thing in the future. The other two, well. If I was still going to be guaranteed to be fighting underground that blurred strikes potion would be incredible, but with the move above ground I didn¡¯t think it would be quite as useful as a guaranteed attack boost. ¡°Djarleen, I¡¯m thinking the quicksilver potion, what about you?¡± ¡°Agreed. Even if they aren¡¯t permanent, we can make resistance potions fairly easily.¡± ¡°Right, ok then guildmaster.¡± I said, sliding back the papers. ¡°I think I¡¯ll take the quicksilver essence potion. Please thank the others for their offerings, though.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Here¡¯s your potion.¡± He said, pulling it out of a bag and handing it to me. ¡°Before I forget about it, is the guild still offering to buy up shadow infused materials?¡± I asked, trying to seem innocent. ¡°Yes, why do. . .you. Of course, it was you. You¡¯re the one who set this whole blasted event in motion, so of course you have materials infused with shadow. I don¡¯t suppose you could let me see whatever divine artifact you used to evolve, would you?¡± ¡°Sorry, it was consumed in the event. I can tell you that it was a mana stone with 15 trillion mana infused in it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I must have been hearing something crazy. Did you say FIFTEEN TRILLION MANA?!¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Yep, you heard that right. I had to channel mana for three days to make it.¡± ¡°Ok, I have an important meeting, and it¡¯s going to be quite volatile. Why don¡¯t you two come with me, and we can discuss your stuff after.¡± He said, grabbing a small stack of papers and ushering us out of his office. We went down one flight of stairs, and entered a conference room where you could feel the tension. Master Faraldo was seated between a drow and a luminow, who were busy staring daggers at each other. ¡°And here¡¯s the guildmaster. With that, I¡¯ll be leavin¡¯ ya in his capable hands.¡± Master Faraldo said while standing up. ¡°Master Faraldo.¡± I quickly said, ¡°Would you be able to meet with me for an important matter later on today?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say that I recognize ya, laddie.¡± ¡°After we had so much fun with those pyrophoria potions?¡± I asked innocently. ¡°Play your games later, fool. I have limited time.¡± The light elf said. ¡°I just might have some time, come find me.¡± Faraldo said, glaring at the elf. ¡°I¡¯ll be waitin¡¯ patiently, something a few of us could work on.¡± When he heard that, the elf looked like he was sucking on a lemon but Faraldo had already walked out the door and shut it rather forcefully. ¡°As amusing as it is to see my counterpart lose some face, I must admit to being rushed myself.¡± The drow said. ¡°As such, here is our issue Guildmaster Willow. We have heard through reputable sources that the Herald of the Coming Night¡¯s blades have been found. We will pay 100 platinum for any useful information about them.¡± The whole time he was sitting there, the light elf was fuming. ¡°We have also heard that the Forerunner of the Impending Dawn¡¯s ring has been found. We offer 200 platinum for information.¡± He gave a smug filled look at his counterpart, obviously for offering more money. ¡°Great. I¡¯ll pass that down along the line. Hope something turns up.¡± Guildmaster Willow said, ushering the two out the door. Once they were gone, he turned to me. ¡°Ok, you always have something interesting. Lay out everything you are willing to part with on the table there and go find Master Faraldo. I¡¯ll want his help anyway, and you can ask him whatever you needed to in the meantime.¡± Before I could head towards the door Faraldo had exited from, the dwarf himself entered. ¡°Heh, figured you¡¯d get rid of them idiots in record time guildmaster.¡± He said chuckling. ¡°So, what can I be doin¡¯ for ya, Angus?¡± ¡°Well, I need to get in touch with the Stonefist clan. I have two things of great importance to them.¡± ¡°Well, I do know a few Stonefists. You¡¯lll have to give me more than that, to get ¡®m interested. Unless it be incredibly rare ingredients, you¡¯re lookin¡¯ at fifty platinum, minimum.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± I muttered, not wanting to show my hand. I couldn¡¯t show the body, as Master Faraldo wouldn¡¯t have any way of verifying what I had. Wait, maybe I could use it. ¡°How about this. Tell them I know of Grumblespark¡¯s whereabouts. Along with his notes. That should get them more than interested.¡± I didn¡¯t notice that the dwarf had frozen, as I was busy unloading items from my inventory. ¡°Angus.¡± He said with a flat tone. ¡°I sincerely hope you aren¡¯t lying, and that you had no hand in their disappearance. Dwarves have gone to war over less.¡± ¡°I had nothing to do with their disappearance, that was due to a necromancer I dispatched. I wish to facilitate the return of his body, and allow those of his clan to learn from his notes.¡± ¡°What are ya askin¡¯ in return?¡± ¡°Training in return for training. We have hidden techniques of the Stonefist clan, and so we can learn blacksmithing. The rest of our craftsmen are stuck in the steel stage of technology though. They¡¯ll need whatever help the Stonefists can bring. It doesn¡¯t have to be exactly on the level of what the blacksmiths will be learning, but should at the least be whatever mithril analogues are for the other professions.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I think they could work with that. And of the body?¡± ¡°Gratitude? I am a High Priest of Thanatos, and this is a body that I could return to its proper rest. But if they need more for the training, tell them we were rather rude with a refusal to accept the aid of the Mountain Crusher clan.¡± ¡°Oh, now, I¡¯m not sure if ye be knowin¡¯ this, boyo, but there be an art to bein¡¯ rude in dwarven culture. Just how did you phrase yer refusal?¡± ¡°Well, we told them to go fornicate themselves with a large metal cactus.¡± ¡°Just so we be on the same page, what ye call a cactus. It be a desert plant covered in thorns, ya?¡± ¡°Yes indeed.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°HA! Oh, that¡¯s a new one by me, but it fits tha bill. Well done lad, well done indeed. I¡¯ll be gettin¡¯ in touch with the Stonefists, can ya meet back here in two days?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°If you two are quite done, I have some questions for Angus.¡± The guildmaster said, obviously reaching the end of his patience. ¡°Sorry guildmaster.¡± We said in unison. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Now, what is this seed from, I can¡¯t seem to identify it.¡± ¡°Damn. I was hoping you would be able to grow it, or at least someone here could. It started out as a crystal flower, but it went to seed after three days in a high concentration of shadow mana.¡± ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yep. Normally I would be all for giving it a try, but when it comes to plants. . . you¡¯ve heard of people with green thumbs, yes?¡± I asked and everyone nodded. ¡°Well, I have what I like to call a black thumb. I¡¯m far more likely to kill it in a record number of days than keep it living.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very glad you brought it here as soon as you could then. We have several arrays that can be adapted to filling the growing area with concentrated mana, and I¡¯m sure our wood elves would love a chance to grow a new type of plant. Unfortunately this is the only bit you have that would interest the guild. I suggest you take the rest back with you and try and talk to the emissary from the adventurers guild. Either them or the merchants guild. That¡¯ll net you the best profit.¡± ¡°Thanks, guildmaster. I can tell your people that the original crystal flower grew out of granite, so you might want to try planting the seed in some of this shadow infused stone.¡± ¡°Wait, where did you get that stone? This wasn¡¯t just done over a three day period.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you actually haven¡¯t heard the full story. In the dungeon I was in, I found a dried up well. At the very back of it, through some caves, was a sahuagin throne room that had a ley line running through it. When the mana well that was the source of the line got sealed, the line dried up leaving this stone.¡± ¡°Fascinating. Can I have you leave all of it? We might be able to find some potions it can be used in.¡± ¡°Well, since I don¡¯t have the time to be experimenting, how about this. Whatever you make from the seed and the stone, I get first rights to at a 75% discount?¡± ¡°Forty percent.¡± ¡°Sixty. I¡¯m taking a fairly large risk with a rare ingredient here.¡± ¡°Very well, sixty it is. If you pass on the potion, then you only get 40% of the profit.¡± ¡°Done.¡± I said, happy with the results. I double checked my inventory, but decided not to show the golem cores. It would take an enchanter working with a blacksmith to make use of them, and I didn¡¯t want the guild to know everything I had. ¡°So, there are two things we need to sort out while I¡¯m here, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± I asked. ¡°Putting it like that sounds slightly ominous.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Well, nobody in upper management that I¡¯ve ever met has liked talking about giving more money to the underlings, so maybe?¡± I said with a grin. ¡°But seriously, what about my money from the potions I¡¯ve created?¡± Pulling some papers out of somewhere, probably a storage ring or something, he started rifling through them for a second, mumbling to himself. ¡°Ok, here we are! Looks like you¡¯ve earned about 70 gold per week, so we owe you about 4 platinum. The front desk will pay you up whenever you stop by if you just ask them. Now, what was the other part?¡± ¡°Oh, well I need some poisons and venoms and was wondering if the guild sold them.¡± ¡°Sure. Just leave a list at the desk, and if you want they will take it out of what¡¯s owed to you.¡± ¡°Thanks, that makes it much easier.¡± I said, grabbing a blank sheet of paper that had fallen out of his stack and jotting down what I needed. ¡°So I can just pick this up in a few days?¡± ¡°Unless you are asking for unique items, yes. It might take longer depending.¡± As we were turning to leave, the guildmaster spoke up, ¡°Oh, and Angus, one more thing before you go?¡± When I turned back, he pointed to my finger. ¡°I won¡¯t be saying anything, but you might not want to wear that ring around the guild. I mean, they are offering a rather substantial reward for information on it. Can you tell us how you obtained it, and whatever the drow fellow was looking for as well?¡± So I spent the next forty-five minutes regaling the guildmaster of the exploits in the Bone Citadel. He was shocked that I could actually converse with the ghost of Ramirez, and that the resurrected drow was able to fight off her commands for as long as she did. I think he knew I was leaving certain details out, as I glossed over seeing portions of the resurrection ritual, but we were both okay with that. Once I had finished, he thanked me for the story and let us return to the new city. Book 2 Chapter 4 ¡°So, are you hoping the guildmaster forgets about the materials he lent you before you evolved?¡± Djarleen asked with a smirk as we got back to her shop. ¡°Because I can tell you, he will remember eventually. The longer you wait, the worse your punishment will be.¡± ¡°Oh shit!¡± I froze, staring at Djarleen like a deer in the headlights. ¡°Relax. Forgetting once isn¡¯t a big deal, especially considering the type of day, no week, that he¡¯s been having.¡± She said, looking at the ceiling while she was thinking. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but I¡¯m proud of the havoc you¡¯ve caused Angus. You really kicked the Steel Bee¡¯s nest.¡± ¡°Thanks?¡± I replied, wondering why the guild needed to be thrown into disarray like that. ¡°Oh relax, if something big didn¡¯t happen every so often those old curmudgeons would start pestering me. This gives them something to do other than look over my shoulder.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re welcome, I guess.¡± I said, rubbing the back of my head. ¡°Hey, just a thought, but is there a potion that will improve memory? No matter how high my stats must be by now, I still forget important things on occasion.¡± ¡°There is, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah. The Eternal Memories potion. Legendary grade, oddly enough needs water from the river Lethe as its base. Anyway, you will never forget anything. Ever. It¡¯ll take a while, but the sheer amount of inane details you remember in striking detail will drive you mad.¡± ¡°Is there a slightly less, potent potion?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure there is. Using the sap of a Forget Me Not, you can make a common potion that¡¯ll help you memorize stuff for an hour. Great for cram sessions. Of course, the guild trainers all knew about that potion as well, and if you are forced to drink a cleansing potion all that information you crammed will be flushed right out. So we all had to drink a cleanse potion before any of the tests, making the potion useless to us. I¡¯m assuming you want something in the middle of those two potions?¡± She grinned at my exasperated expression. ¡°Well, no. I just have this habit of forgetting to do stuff, like give the guildmaster back his things. I don¡¯t think a cram session potion will help with that.¡± ¡°Nope. Nothing can help you with that, sorry.¡± ¡°Ah well, was worth a shot. Thanks anyway Djarleen, I¡¯m off to the inn to head out for the night. Say, are you going back to the guild with me in a few days?¡± ¡°No. Contrary to what you are thinking, this store does need to be open on occasion so that I can have enough money to live.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. Last question then, and I¡¯m off for the night. Is there any chance you would be willing to help me with this ritual?¡± I asked, pulling out the book on how to acquire the highest grade of poison resistance. Eyes growing, Djarleen reverently took the book and started lightly turning through the pages, careful not to damage it in any way. ¡°This is incredible.¡± She muttered, reading through the procedure. After a few ¡°Of course¡± and ¡°brilliants¡± she looked back at me. ¡°This isn¡¯t that complicated, but it will need a deft touch. I¡¯ll do it, but it¡¯ll cost you.¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Normally, I would say enough so that I could go through the ritual as well, but it is level dependent. I¡¯m level 65 now, and they say that at level 35 the chance of death crosses the 50% threshold. So, I¡¯m going to charge you ten platinum.¡± ¡°Done.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°How long will it be taking?¡± ¡°Two days for every five levels. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll set everything up. I assume that the list of poisons you left at the front desk were for this?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Very well then, we can start on it the day after the meeting with your dwarves. Can I keep the book until then so that I can practice on the procedure? I might also make a copy of this for myself.¡± ¡°If you want a copy, then I¡¯m only going to pay you three platinum, with the stipulation that I get half of any proceeds you make performing the ritual on anyone else.¡± ¡°Seven platinum, and ten percent.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be getting anything without my book, five platinum and 50% of the profit.¡± ¡°Grrr, fine. Five platinum and fifty percent. That is for the ritual only, not if I end up selling the client the ingredients.¡± ¡°Very well, but don¡¯t let any adventurers gather all the ingredients. They will keep trying until they kill themselves to get the recipe, and we will be left with nothing.¡± ¡°Do you think me an idiot? Of course I wouldn¡¯t do that. Now, get out of here, I¡¯ve got studying to do.¡± She made a shooing motion with her hands, and I took off. Heading to the inn, I was still weirded out that all the drakelings on the street seemed to give me a bit of a respectful berth. As I entered the inn, I caught Alnoss with her back to me. The weirdest part was how her tail was sliding up and down the customer¡¯s tail as she dropped a plate of food in front of him. I couldn¡¯t quite make out the customer, as her body was in the way. ¡°Evening Alnoss.¡± I said, smiling as I saw her jump a bit. ¡°ANGUS! WELCOME BACK!¡± She said, while flying across the room to give me a massive hug. ¡°Don¡¯t go disappearing for a week at a time again. Things just aren¡¯t as interesting without ya.¡± ¡°Sorry, I had no choice in that.¡± I apologized, then looked up to see Khaliss staring at me. ¡°Hey there Khaliss, sorry to interrupt your meal like that.¡± ¡°No need for apologies, I was actually hoping you would be by before long. Can you get him a plate dear?¡± He asked, looking at Alnoss. ¡°Sure thing.¡± She said, sauntering over and kissing his snout before heading back to the kitchens. ¡°Sit.¡± He said, sliding out the chair across from him. Once I had, he started back up, ¡°Well. First thing¡¯s first, what level are you?¡± ¡°Ten, why?¡± ¡°Excellent! We can begin training.¡± ¡°Wait, what training? Why?¡± ¡°For heading back to the dungeon of course! We only have to spend three days there now, but since you helped evolve the entire city the king has decided that you should have the honor of being in the first of the dungeon teams. We will be given an entire day to get the lay of our dungeon, and adding whatever we need to it.¡± ¡°ALL O¡¯ THA SCHITTY EXCSHEPT ONE!¡± Someone slurred from a corner. ¡°I shoulda knowed you¡¯ld fuck me ovar given tha chanshe.¡± We both turned to see a kobold, drunk as a skunk, stumbling his way towards our table. It took a second, but I recognized him as the player that had tried stealing from me. ¡°And why would I help a thief like you?¡± I asked in an icy tone. ¡°B¡¯cuz. *hic* B¡¯cuz. You revolved all the oth¡¯r kobolds. But nots tha adv¡¯nt¡¯rersh. B¡¯cuz yer a DICK!¡± ¡°Wow, such a compelling argument makes me just want to jump out of my seat and rush to your aid.¡± I retorted. ¡°That much sarcasm in a single sentence should be outlawed.¡± Khaliss muttered, shaking his head. ¡°And just why should we be helping you?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°B¡¯cuz I shaid sho.¡± ¡°No.¡± Khaliss said, before I could reply. ¡°You are weak. How long have you been among us, and you¡¯re only what level?¡± ¡°Threeve.¡± ¡°Three? Or was that supposed to be five? Doesn¡¯t matter, both are weak. You haven¡¯t tried to make yourself stronger. You haven¡¯t tried to seek out quests.¡± ¡°NOBODY WOULD GIV¡¯M TO ME!¡± He screamed. ¡°BECAUSE YOU¡¯RE A DAMN DRUNK! You come through here, acting entitled, expecting everything to be handed to you. I gave you the same rodent extermination quest I gave Angus, and you STILL haven¡¯t completed it. What, do you expect us to just hand you quests?¡± ¡°Yesh.¡± Holy shit, he actually said that with a straight face. ¡°Then you joined the wrong side. Look around you, find something worth doing, and make something of yourself. You won¡¯t get any sympathy from any of our citizens, and if you keep going on like this I¡¯ll see to it that you are exiled.¡± ¡°Ya can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Yes, he really can.¡± I interrupted before the poor guy could dig himself deeper. ¡°Listen, I think I have a way to help you.¡± I said, pulling him along to a quiet corner of the room, where I angrily whispered, ¡°Have you sent in a support ticket?¡± He gave me a blank look, so I continued, ¡°Nevermind, just go sit in your corner and don¡¯t talk to anyone, I¡¯ll see what I can do to get this figured out.¡± Hopefully he listens, because I just don¡¯t want this guy around anymore. Emily, There¡¯s an issue with one player in the city here. He wasn¡¯t at max level, so remained a kobold while everything else evolved. Since this isn¡¯t a starter city anymore, can we get him sent to the new kobold starter city? Thanks, Marty Sending off the email, I saw the player sitting and staring at the bottom of his empty cup, I guess trying to refill it by force of will. I caught Alnoss¡¯ eye as she was checking customers, pointed at the player and shook my head no. When she gave me a head nod of acknowledgement, I headed over to resume my conversation with Khaliss. ¡°Sorry about that, hopefully we get an answer soon as to what to do with him.¡± ¡°Not your fault, you don¡¯t control the actions of all adventurers.¡± He said, before taking another bite of his food. I looked down at the plate Alnoss had just set in front of me, breathing in a fantastic aroma. ¡°Some of the merchant guild brought a lot of seafood, and sold me the recipe as well. Called it a cioppino, whatever that is. Seems like it is almost whatever you caught that day in the harbor was. Tasty though.¡± ¡°You got the description down pat, and the recipe is fantastic as always.¡± I said after taking a bite. Khaliss and I ate our fill in general silence. Once we were done, he got back to his point. ¡°Now, back to the dungeon training. This time we will head out fully expecting to demolish those light siders who challenge us. The king liked having you as a wandering challenge, so you will be fulfilling that role again. So we have a few days where you will learn to harness and control your new abilities.¡± ¡°I understand the practice, but is it really going to be that difficult? The manipulations are already at advanced level 1.¡± ¡°I guess we need a demonstration. Follow me back to the barracks.¡± Getting up, I followed him out the door. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Just dark enough, this will be perfect.¡± Khaliss said as we arrived. I looked around, surprised how dark it got when the sun started dipping. We would normally have an hour or so of sunlight left, but the next mountain over was in the perfect position to drop the new city into deep shade. The backlighting of the mountain did make a fantastic visage, as high winds carried bits of snow that glinted in the fading glow. ¡°Pay attention!¡± Khaliss barked, and I turned to see him in an attack position, only he was at least fifty feet away from me. ¡°Now, you will unlock this at level 25, but I¡¯m showing it to you early. [Dancing shadow steps].¡± With the activation of his skill, his body seemed to seep into the shadows, and he performed a series of small teleportation steps that covered the distance to me in less than two seconds and had his spear tip dimpling my throat ever so slightly. ¡°An incredibly useful ability for closing distances. Each step can cover ten feet, and you gain an extra step every five levels.¡± ¡°Damn, that was cool. Any limitations?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He replied with a snort. ¡°After your initial activation, you have a minute before it can be used again. You can also only move through shadows. Now this next one is similar to something you already do, and I expect you to master it swiftly.¡± Walking over to a training dummy, he demonstrated that his training spear would be useless as the blunt tip did nothing but make a dull thunk against the iron armor of the dummy. ¡°[Shadow strike].¡± Thrusting forward, his spear now sheathed with a shadowy, leaf shaped blade, he cut straight through the dummy as if it were nothing. ¡°This is available at level 1, and it just feels incomplete. I wonder what you adventurers can do with it?¡± He said with a grin, before continuing. ¡°And finally, the ability you just unlocked.¡± At this he turned and pointed to three dummies across the yard. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± Eight chains launched out from different shadows and pierced through the dummies, the points incredibly sharp. As the spear tips of the chains reconnected with the shadows, they merged into them again, leaving a chain pierced through the body that was anchored in two separate shadows. The chains also had wicked barbs on them, to better shred any struggling flesh they went through. ¡°Holy shit.¡± I breathed in awe. ¡°You won¡¯t get the same results as me, of course. At level ten you get one chain, and it takes a lot to maintain the barbs and any other alterations you make. Every ten levels you get to add a chain.¡± ¡°How long does it last?¡± I asked one of the most important questions, internally excited that I was getting a crowd control skill. ¡°Until the target receives damage from a source other than the chains.¡± He said with a grin that I mirrored, glad that we could root someone with a damage over time skill that wouldn¡¯t dispel itself. ¡°Once you get skilled enough, you can begin making hybrid skills. Observe. [Piercing shadow dance].¡± Fully coated in shadow, he started a lunge with a shadow strike, but used the dancing shadow steps skill to cover the distance instead, smashing through the chest of the central dummy. The shadow step allowed him to bring his weapon with him without removing it from the body of the first dummy, and by chaining together these steps he managed to hit the combined three dummies five times. The first strike was a simple thrust through the chest of the central dummy. The second was a spinning jab with the base of the spear to the stomach of the dummy on the left, shadows turning the flat portion into a piercing point. Stepping forward only to blink back and diagonally, he unleashed a wicked upward slash from 4 to 10 across the spine of the right hand dummy. Spinning into his step, he generated enough power to bisect the left hand dummy from 2 to 7 while facing the front of the dummy. His final slash was completely horizontal, and from where he stood midway between the remaining dummies, managed a double decapitation and dropped panting into a defensive crouch. ¡°That. Hah. Takes a bit. Hah. Out of you. Hah.¡± He explained, still trying to catch his breath. ¡°That was epic!¡± I finally managed to say something. ¡°Now you see what can happen when you have skills that work together. Still not wanting to do that training?¡± ¡°Ok, you win. I¡¯ll do your training regimen. Just in two days I need to head back to the alchemists guild for a meeting with some dwarves. After that, Djarleen will have to be on hand to poison me a few times.¡± ¡°Ha! You¡¯ve been back for a day, and already got voluntold for my training and now Djarleen is going to poison you repeatedly? You have some rotten luck my friend.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. Sadly, the poisoning is all self-inflicted. I found a ritual that should make me immune to any poison that isn¡¯t divine in origin, and I¡¯m fairly certain those are quite rare.¡± ¡°So why are you going to be attempting both at once?¡± ¡°Well, the poisoning should only take four days, but I want to increase the difficulty as much as I can. If there¡¯s one thing I learned in my time here, it¡¯s that things go wrong in battle. If I can fight through the agony of my blood being on fire while training, I can do it in real battle.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about damn time.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Shrik and I were wondering when you would start getting serious about this. Unfortunately I now owe him a gold coin, and he¡¯s going to be smug for at least a week. Know what the best part of this is?¡± ¡°I¡¯m dreading this, but no, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Well, you knew instinctively that it would be bad. You can manipulate shadows and earth even while paralyzed, so there will always be something to practice. Isn¡¯t that great?¡± ¡°Oh, joy of joys.¡± I said, completely deadpan and received mocking laughter in return. ¡°How about this then.¡± He said when he got his laughter under control. ¡°Survive the training, and do well enough in the dungeon and I¡¯ll teach you this move.¡± Standing once more, he took his spear and trained it on a group of five undamaged training dummies, the group set up as a square protecting a central dummy in mage gear mock up. Eternal night, Rise once more to claim the dying light. Pierce and scatter, Their blood to spatter. [Shadow eruption]! With the final words of his incantation, Khaliss sunk into the shadow, his spear immediately piercing through the swell of shadow that had formed beneath the group. Shooting skyward, his spear impaled the head of the training dummy, savagely ripping it off while spikes of shadow launched outward to impale the remaining dummies in several places. As he came to rest, the dummies that had been impaled were slowly corrupted by the shadows that had drained away as if they were a liquid, and within ten seconds had fallen to the courtyard as useless scraps. ¡°Dear god, that move is. Is. Completely badass.¡± I finally managed to mutter through my shock. ¡°Thanks, I have only gotten it to Intermediate level three. I can only imagine how awesome it will be when I finally master it, but it takes a toll. Half my mana and stamina at my current levels.¡± ¡°Understandable. Definitely a way to demoralize a group if you want to use it as your opening salvo. Or a great trump card for when they are almost finished.¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly. But, in order for you to learn it you will need to have almost mastered shadow manipulation, as well as be level 25 as it incorporates bits from dancing shadow steps and shadow strike.¡± ¡°Consider me sufficiently motivated.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Now, do you mind if I head back to the inn and get some sleep?¡± ¡°Sounds like a good plan.¡± He said, and as we made our way back I couldn¡¯t help but gently rib him a bit. ¡°So, you and Alnoss, huh?¡± ¡°Of course. Do you think I would send a promising recruit anywhere but to my mate for watching?¡± Book 2 Chapter 5 ¡°HE¡¯S ALIIIIIIIVE!¡± Jon cried when I walked into the caf¨¦ after logging off. ¡°Missed you guys too.¡± I said, chuckling. ¡°Sorry you couldn¡¯t partake in your world events.¡± Derrick said. ¡°We, however, have been having a blast picking off unsuspecting groups of adventurers.¡± ¡°They head out into the wilds and not bring enough protection?¡± I tried to ask innocently, but was grinning like the Cheshire Cat at the end. ¡°Ha. Don¡¯t you know it. I don¡¯t care how specced out you are as a tank, when a troll throws a stone disk twice your weight at you, the only thing you can do is go ¡®SPLAT!¡¯¡± He emphasized the splat by smashing one palm into the other and grinding it back and forth. ¡°After that, mopping up the wizards and collectors is a piece of cake. I, I just love squishies.¡± He said, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye. ¡°Hahahaha, oh god we¡¯ve got a sentimental troll.¡± We all chuckled at Jon¡¯s quip. ¡°God, it¡¯s good to be back in the group.¡± I said. ¡°E-mailing just doesn¡¯t do it justice.¡± ¡°Hear, hear!¡± Jon said, raising a glass. We all clinked and took a sip of the impromptu toast. ¡°So, how¡¯s the new city?¡± ¡°Absolutely gorgeous. The buildings have no corners, everything is curved. Gives it a very smooth look, and several buildings are polished to a glass like reflection. I haven¡¯t made it into the upper tiers though. Had to spend most of the day either at the alchemists guild or catching up with the main quest givers before I went and evolved. Any of you guys got plans to come a visiting soon?¡± ¡°I might, but I want to evolve first.¡± Derrick said. ¡°I¡¯m also one of the closest, only a few mountains over. Heck, I was close enough to get a bonus for seeing the tower of energy you unleased with my eyes.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep. Glimpse of the Divine, gives me a boost to perception and luck. Nothing to sneeze at.¡± ¡°Yeah, I would be complaining if I got a boost to two of the hardest attributes to increase.¡± Jon mocked. ¡°Says the guy who managed to add blinding effects to his favorite curses.¡± ¡°Heh, I did come out fairly well in the spell area, didn¡¯t I?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Oh hun, blinding your foes is fun, but it pales to my claws.¡± As I made a circular ¡®keep going¡¯ motion, Phoebe continued, ¡°See, my claws were already sheathed in shadow energy and had a ten percent armor ignore. Well, when I activate [Reaping Darkness] I ignore all armor and gain a frenzy boost for every enemy killed. Double boost for a heart strike, triple it for any decapitations. I¡¯m stronger fighting an army than I am in PvP.¡± She said with a self-satisfied smile. ¡°Damn, I really missed out.¡± I lamented. ¡°Bullshit.¡± Derrick pointed out. ¡°You got incredible fame gains, the devs made a unique monster race for your evolution, and you have to be basically a god now.¡± ¡°Almost true. I¡¯m a demigod, not a god.¡± ¡°Well excuUUse me!¡± He replied with an incredible amount of sass before I could keep going. ¡°As I was saying, I missed out on the skill alterations.¡± ¡°And just which of your skills would benefit from a shadow infusion?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Well, shadow mana causes things to break down. I would love to have something like Death¡¯s Necrotic Gaze and be able to add a poison with a glare that outlines critical areas.¡± ¡°Why though?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Sure, it sounds good, but you do massive damage as it is. How many times have you actually hit something with all of your death skills active and not killed it? Uh huh, exactly.¡± He pointed at me as my mouth gaped like a fish out of water. ¡°Damnit, that¡¯s a good point.¡± I laid back in my seat and sipped my drink, everyone else relaxing for a while as well. ¡°So, how¡¯s city life going?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Well, I get to do training with the guard captain as I slowly poison myself for the next few days.¡± ¡°Sounds like a blast.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Going for a boosted poison resist?¡± ¡°The book I got the process from says it will give poison immunity.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Phoebe said, leaning forward. ¡°You uh, you gonna share that wealth there?¡± ¡°Heh, sure. I¡¯ll even be the guinea pig for it. But you gotta do it right after an evolution, as the length it requires is level dependent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s disappointing.¡± She said, flopping back into her seat. ¡°Still, let us know, yeah?¡± ¡°For sure. Hey, speaking of city life, got a question for ya Jon. You made it to the bugbear encampment, did they seem. . . different? From the goblins.¡± ¡°Definitely. A loot more aloof. Pretty much any goblin would interact with you, but the bugbears kept their distance. You seeing the same thing?¡± ¡°Eh, I can¡¯t really tell. Everyone seems to be putting me on a pillar because of all the fame. But there was another player that was in the city, and he kept complaining about not getting any quests. I was trying to figure out if he was just an idiot or if they are upping the difficulty after evolutions.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, they could be. My home camp seemed a lot more like a human starter city than what a camp full of gnolls should really be.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Hmm, I could say the same of the goblins. I think Derrick is the odd man out, but then again trolls don¡¯t have much of a culture.¡± Jon added. ¡°I can¡¯t really check it out though, as I¡¯m out with Phoebe wandering in the wilderness. I¡¯ll send an email to Emily, copying everyone on it. See if it is a bug or what.¡± ¡°You know devs.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°We call it a bug, they are gonna come back and say, ¡®It¡¯s a feature, not a bug.¡¯ Hahahahaha!¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth?¡± Phoebe laughed. ¡°Oh, speaking of the devils, I mean devs, log off early tomorrow Marty.¡± I raised my eyebrow in silent question, so she answered, ¡°They are going to have the counter video ad for what they released with the light siders. I have a feeling we are all going to be on there.¡± ¡°Well, if it is half as inspiring as what they threw together for the light side, I¡¯ll be here with popcorn. Actually, screw the popcorn, we¡¯ve been thinking too small. Let¡¯s treat it like a Superbowl party. We shall have a large buffet, full of foods that are more fat than nutrients. Heck, let¡¯s see if Jon can swing getting the medical testers to come over for the party and liven things up.¡± Jon¡¯s eyes got big at the possibilities. ¡°NOW YOU¡¯RE TALKING!¡± He practically shouted. ¡°I¡¯ve got a fort coded, that we can defend. I even convinced the devs to allow us to use our game avatars out here for it. The kids get to storm our fort, using water guns and water balloons. I¡¯ve even gotten them to make trebuchets.¡± ¡°That sounds like a blast.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I suppose we are going to lose to the invading horde again?¡± ¡°Of course we are.¡± Jon said with a smile. ¡°But we are going to lose in style.¡± Chuckling, we spent the rest of the night coming up with more and more absurd scenarios to play out with the kids. Derrick wanted to offer rock troll climbing, but took a kick to the shins when he offered the winner got to play fetch with Phoebe. I was just happy to be back in virtual reality, where visiting friends was so much easier and cheaper than going out in real life. Glad I could interact with my friends in person again, I headed to bed. Khaliss was going to do his best to run me ragged tomorrow, and I wanted to be up for the challenge. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I don¡¯t know why I thought that Khaliss¡¯ training would be any easier. If anything, he expected me to multitask even more. Oh, it started out simple, use earth magic to make a few gears. No hands allowed, I had to make a handle coming out of the top to turn with my magic. Once I had two gears going, I had to create a third one. But this one had to be connected with shadows. I spent nearly three hours trying to figure out how to connect them without constantly recreating a shadow link. In the end, I had to make a fourth gear on the same axle as a previous one, and create a belt of shadow that could be gripped by the previous gear and the new one. I had to sit incredibly still, concentrating on that shadow so that it wouldn¡¯t dissipate, as well as the handle that I had to keep turning.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Not too shabby.¡± Khaliss said, slapping me on the back and completely disrupting my concentration. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad. Looks like you need more training.¡± He chuckled. ¡°OH COME ON!¡± I yelled. ¡°You did that on purpose!¡± ¡°Of course I did. What good will magic do you in battle if you can¡¯t cast it without maintaining perception of everything around you?¡± ¡°Khaliss, I would really hate you a lot more by now if you didn¡¯t always have a logical response to all my complaints.¡± I muttered. ¡°Alright then Mr. Miyagi, how do I train my concentration.¡± ¡°Are you sure you want to know?¡± At my reluctant nod, he gave me an answer that I had been dreading. ¡°Good. First, add one more gear that is connected to a bar that swings in a circle. Give it a good bit of room.¡± When I had finally created this terrible looking bar, Khaliss effortlessly created a hooked pole that he hung a small bell from, close enough that the arm would ring it on every revolution. ¡°Excellent! Now, you are to keep this bell ringing thirty times per minute. All the while, Shrik and I will be testing how well you remember our little game of counters. For now, we will go at snail pace while you get accustomed to maintaining your manipulations.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I said, taking a centering breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Khaliss started with an exaggerated overhand slash, and I slowly started dodging to one side. *WHACK!* ¡°GODDAMNIT!¡± I yelled in pain as Khaliss suddenly sped up and cracked his spear against my collar bone. ¡°Pay attention. You stopped ringing the bell. Did I forget to mention that every time it stops you get hit?¡± ¡°No, you just happened to neglect that bit of information.¡± I replied in a surly tone. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± Once again the bell started ringing, once every other second. We restarted, and the constant ringing of the bell slowly faded into the background, becoming a rather soothing noise. I still took several slow speed blows in the meantime, but they had no force behind them. At some point, everything blurred together. The bell was keeping time, one ring per attack. I was starting to get flashes of what Khaliss¡¯ next attack was going to be, and caught his eyes widening while he smiled as I moved to counter at the same time as he started his attack. He started adding in variations at that point, just enough that I had to modify my counters unless I wanted to get hit. Khaliss was a master of controlling the tempo, increasing it so slowly that I had no idea we were even moving into full speed combat, three and four attacks per ring of the bell. ¡°Speed up the bell, one ring per attack.¡± He commanded and I instantly responded, slipping easily into the groove of combat. I was hyperaware of every twitch of his muscles, waiting for them to betray whatever move he was plotting. The tightening of his thing to indicate a spin, a dip of a shoulder to prelude a strike, tightening his hands to betray his need for a better grip for a powerful thrust. Once again we reached an equilibrium, until I felt it. His will, intruding upon the construct I was using to keep the bell ringing. Hissing in displeasure, my mind reaching out to ruthlessly crush his weak probes. Shoring up my defenses, a web of energies invisible to all but me encasing my construct, thick bands creating a diamond scaffolding. Gossamer threads interlinked between the rigid structure, ready to swell at the slightest brush to cut off any attempt to bypass them. I even spread the construct through the ground to prevent attacks from all sides. Reveling in the constant thwarting of Khaliss¡¯ probing attacks. Reacting on instinct to weave support through the webbing as he switched from finesse to brute force, construct flexing under the pressure before launching it back at him in a massive rebound, both of us panting with effort now, yet ecstatic with the challenge, the thrill of the fight. Nothing more exciting than finding an opponent who instantly counters your evolved fighting, forcing you to an even higher level. Khaliss somehow found a way to speed up once more, and it was all I could do to keep up. Three blows. Eight blows. Twenty blows. All countered, flowing through a dance that would have been deadly had we made a mistake with a sharpened weapon. I saw my doom. The butt of his spear would push my hammer across my body, out of position to counter the overhead diagonal slash that would follow, striking me in the head. Without thinking, I leaned forward, tilting my head to catch his spear on the budding horns coming out of my head, a quick spin of my training weapon to leave the scythe poised to disembowel on a backhand slash. Unsure if the horns could take the blow, I reinforced them with the essence of stone. Not the marble golems I had defeated, nor the glittering walls of the Bone Citadel. Even the massive golems that now guard the walls of our city, I needed something impossible to smash. A gleaming block of enchanted obsidian, glowing with silver runes to reinforce the already strong material. Shadows reaching out to embrace his spear tip, thickening even as it cleaves through them, becoming a molasses like consistency to rob him of his momentum. Eyes widening in shock, I hissed in annoyance as I felt his spear attempt to move out of its path, using my own shadows to guide it back where I needed it to go. Satisfaction as his strength and reaction speed wasn¡¯t up to the task, the fraction of a second it took to respond to the changing forces not enough before his spear clicked impotently against my reinforced horn. Smiling in victory as I finally landed a hit on his stomach. ¡°Victory is mine.¡± I said, barely containing my glee as we both froze. ¡°Hmph. You finally show improvement. We will take five minutes, and then I will start the serious fighting.¡± As I was cursing myself for getting cocky, I started sifting through a slew of notifications from the game.
Skill Previous level New level Bonus
Stone manipulation Advanced level 1 Advanced level 6 Can shape stone up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 20%
Shadow manipulation Advanced level 1 Advanced level 6 Can shape shadow up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 20%
Hammerscythe mastery Intermediate level 8 Advanced level 5 Damage increased by 35%, attack speed increased by 20%
Blunted weapons mastery* Intermediate level 8 Intermediate level 10 Damage increased by 20%, attack speed increased by 10%
Parry Advanced level 1 Advanced level 6 +36% chance to parry an attack, damage reduced by 35%
Dodge Advanced level 6 Advanced level 9 +39% chance to dodge a detected attack
Counter attack Intermediate level 7 Advanced level 2 Counter attacks cause +82% extra damage, +32% critical hit chance
* - In order to advance blunted weapons mastery any further, reach advanced skill with a different blunted weapon.
New skill acquired! Battle trance Intermediate lvl 2 Fighting for long enough with the same opponent can begin to give you insight into their fighting style. Predicting their moves becomes easier. In order to enter the trance, must maintain a constant battle tempo within 20% for at least five minutes. Once the trance has been entered, gain boosts to damage, parry, dodge, and critical hit chance.
New skill acquired! Mental domination Advanced level 8 You successfully detected and defended a continuous spell from a much more skilled opponent, though they weren¡¯t trying hard at the beginning. Defense of spell forms from outside interference increases with increased skill level, increased chance of disrupting or taking over enemy spell forms. Current level: +48% chance to successfully defend spell +30% chance to disrupt enemy casters
New skill acquired! Essence assimilation Advanced level 6 You have successfully transformed parts of your body to resemble elements that you have a mastery of. Bonuses from skill dependent on element used and mastery level of said element. Current elements and properties: Stone: Grandmaster 10. Increases defense and mass. Shadow: Grandmaster 10. Increases stealth. Can foul enemy attacks.
¡°Uh, anyone know what time it is?¡± I asked after going through the notifications. ¡°Just past three in the afternoon.¡± A trainee that I didn¡¯t recognize said, shocking me. Khaliss and I had been battling for hours, and it honestly felt like only one or two. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, giving the trainee a nod before heading out of the courtyard and eating some lunch from my inventory. I sat there for a while, thinking back through our fight. Trying to analyze the feelings, wondering if I could ever recreate them again. Before I could head back in, I got a ping for an email. Marty, Hey man, it¡¯s Jon. We finally figured out that if you knew someone¡¯s in game name you could contact them even if you haven¡¯t met before, you just have to both have evolved to a second tier monster. Phoebe tried ranting at Emily about it, but she was adamant that it was in place to prevent power leveling, which I tend to agree with. Anyway, that¡¯s not the important part. We just heard that they are planning to release the monster commercial tonight, and wanted to give you a head¡¯s up. We are all planning to head to the caf¨¦ in an hour or so, hopefully meet you there. Jon As soon as I got done reading that, I felt a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Everything all right?¡± Khaliss asked. ¡°Yep. I have to be heading out in an hour or so though, sorry to cut training short.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯ve made some fantastic strides today. Tomorrow you meet your dwarves, yes?¡± I nodded so he continued, ¡°Good. Then we start the poisoning and training. Reflect on what you felt today, and how you overcame my assaults. We¡¯ll make a great warrior out of you yet.¡± Patting my shoulder in farewell, he went back to training some of the other drakelings. It still felt weird calling them that, having been a kobold with them for so long. Shrugging my shoulders, I sat down cross legged and started going over the training for today once again. Book 2 Chapter 6 I swung by my digital apartment before heading to the caf¨¦ after logging out. One of the greatest advancements was that if you had a recipe and didn¡¯t have the time, you could input it and it would be replicated. Wanting to split between filling food and fattening snacks, I loaded three of my favorite recipes. One dip with cream cheese, softened and covered with chili and an obscene amount of shredded cheddar for dipping tortilla chips in as well as a crock pot full of melted cheese with a can of those spicy Rotel tomatoes would be the snacks. In another crock pot, shredded Italian beef with a bunch of those incredibly soft rolls to make sliders with. ¡°Yo Jon, where you want the foodstuffs?¡± I said as I brought my offerings into the caf¨¦ thanks to a digital food cart. ¡°To your right, wherever it¡¯ll fit.¡± Jon said. ¡°We don¡¯t really have any type of system going.¡± Heading over to the table in question, I would be surprised if we didn¡¯t all have a food coma by the end of it. Swedish meatballs, cocktail wieners in a spicy sauce, potato salad and a beef brisket were just some of the offerings that looked good. ¡°Oooh, crock pot offerings are the best.¡± Jon said, having snuck up on me as I was finding room on the loaded table. ¡°Mind if I make up a slider real quick?¡± ¡°Not at all. Hit it with a bit of ketchup and mustard, that¡¯s what I always do.¡± As he was crafting his slider, I was busy filling a plate for myself. ¡°Any idea when the commercial starts?¡± ¡°About five minutes. C¡¯mon, we don¡¯t want to miss this.¡± He said, hurrying off to where the others had set up a large viewing screen. I followed behind, happy to get a table near the back with a clear view, letting all the kids get the front row seats. Halfway through my plate of food, they dimmed the lights and started the commercial. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The scene opened with the old man who walks everyone through the character setup, sitting on a decrepit altar. ¡°Good evening. It seems those that embrace the light have crafted quite the bit of propaganda, riling up their followers in preparation of some sort of war. Oh, they¡¯ll claim that we started it, of that I have no doubt. Wouldn¡¯t be the first time, won¡¯t be the last. Unfortunately for them, it will be the first time that we have the power to fight back, fight back and win.¡± He said, practically hissing the last word. ¡°But, you won¡¯t be taking the word of an old man, living in the soft embrace of the lies you never question. So come, peer into the darkness, and see what it truly holds.¡± Holding out his hand, an orb that seemed to suck in all light was formed, the view slowly zooming in until it took up the entire field of vision. Flying over a fiery wasteland, shards of rock just waiting to cleave through exposed flesh, two massive beasts battled. One was a stereotypical devil, complete with goat legs, tail, red flesh and curled horns. It had a loincloth on, and two leather straps formed an X across his chest. He had a greatsword in each hand, coated in red and black flames. His opponent, a squat winged demon with rocky skin and red light leaking from between the plates. Their speeds roughly equal, you could almost feel the impact of the swords on the beasts forearms in your chest. ¡°Growth and death comes fast in the Infernal Isles, where the Infernal Planes encroach upon your world. Strongest of the gargoyles that roam free, the onyx version has incredible defenses, strong melee attacks, and a speed that most would be hard pressed to match. However, even the toughest defenses crumble before the onslaught of the Infernus Knight.¡± The voice of the old man overlaid the battle. As they battled, the knight was obviously concentrating blows into the same area of the creature¡¯s chest. With a massive roar, the knight knocked aside the gargoyle¡¯s arms, and plunged a sword straight through the middle of the creature. ¡°[Hellfire eruption]!¡± The intensity of the flames on the sword grew, and the gargoyle¡¯s chest swelled as it cried out in agony, before being silenced as the body was torn asunder by the expanding flames. ¡°Heh heh heh, powerful, yes? Of course, by now you light siders are probably rationalizing it away somehow. Sure, and Infernus Knight is powerful, but a sole monster can¡¯t stand against our legions of heroes. Well, let me show you just how wrong you are.¡± A swirl of darkness changed scenes, this time a guard on a wall was scanning the empty night. He turned, and got a notification of his death. This happened several times for each of the guards on the wall, none of them even catching a glimpse of what had slain them. Until the view switched to someone walking through a courtyard, and they grunted and looked down to see several claws dripping with blood sticking out from their chest. As the claws were removed, the view turned to see a wolfish grin as the screen shook with terror before a blurry flash showed the death notification. Panning back, several of us recognized Phoebe¡¯s assault on the hunter guild, only the production department had outdone themselves. Blurs streaked through the camp as she slew players left and right, unable to catch sight of what was killing them. Then the mass curses descended, and players were yelling in panic as clerics tried to dispel them as fast as possible, though the golden glow of their spells betrayed them, marking them as high priority targets. ¡°This guild made the mistake of angering a Loup Garoup evolution, and paid in blood. The entire headquarters taken out in the night by one attacker and one supporter.¡± Switching once more, a caravan circled up to camp for the night. Though the guards had gone outside the circle of firelight, they were still visible in the heat vision of whatever was watching. At some unknown signal, several arrows pierced each of the sentries, as lithe figures darted out to catch the bodies before they hit the ground. Silent figures crept through the camp, until there was one above each sleeping figure. As one, daggers plunged through hearts as the firelight revealed the culprits. ¡°Slaying a caravan of humans is child¡¯s play to the drow, still as comfortable in the forests they were exiled from as they are in their new underground homes.¡± ¡°Though not all monsters need an evolution in order to wreak havoc.¡± This time the view was of a wooden palisade, defended by several bandits. There was an off screen roar, and the bandits had time to widen their eyes in surprise before a stone smashed through the ramshackle barricade. A troll strolled through the breach, attempting to whistle a jaunty tune as it dragged a tree club behind it. The view rose to give an overhead view of the troll laying waste to all that tried to attack it, in an almost bored manner. That is, until a mage launched a fireball at it. Bellowing with rage, it picked up a nearby bandit and threw the body like a dart. Charging behind its projectile, the club smashed the mage into a bloody paste before he could extricate himself from the tangle of bodies. The rest of the group had watched in horror, before they finally turned to flee the troll¡¯s wrath. None made it far, as the troll went into a frenzy and started smashing everything in sight. Derrick leaned over to whisper in my ear, ¡°Not my finest moment.¡± And got a chuckle out of me and a few glares from the surrounding people. This time the view shifted to inside of a castle. An incredibly handsome face looked into the screen from incredibly close, as his hand caressed the side of whoever¡¯s face we were borrowing the view from. ¡°Words can¡¯t tell you how incredibly happy you have made me, my love. Before we do this, I have something for you.¡± Pulling back, he pulled a long box from inside a bag on his hip. Opening it revealed a gorgeous necklace, crafted of silver set with amethysts. The silver lace grew from the wire at the back into an incredibly intricate interweave that expanded into a triangular shape in the front, where a gemstone the size of someone¡¯s thumb knuckle sat. ¡°Oh Corey, it¡¯s gorgeous! How did you ever?¡± ¡°Shhh.¡± He shushed her, ¡°Let¡¯s just put it on, shall we?¡± He asked with a smile. The view nodded, and Corey went off screen for a second before we saw the back of the necklace flash through our view. As it clicked, we heard Corey whisper, ¡°Now be silent as your master instructs you, slave.¡± Spinning in a circle, we saw the loving grin Corey used to have was now one of malicious glee. His skin darkened to take a reddish hue, and small horns poked from his head. His eyes turned from a bright blue to golden with a slit pupil, and he let out a dark chuckle. ¡°You are forbidden from bringing undue attention to your actions. You are forbidden from removing the necklace, or allowing another to remove it in your stead. When asked about it, it is a family heirloom that you recently rediscovered. You will not change any of your personality traits in public, and take the greatest care to let no others know that you are now my slave. Your loyalty to me shall supersede all other vows or obligations, but you will go through any motions to maintain your image to others. Do you understand these orders?¡± The view nodded, and a purple glow started from below screen. As the lady gasped in pain, Corey¡¯s smile grew. ¡°When in private, you must answer all my questions out loud, and call me master. In public you must treat me as you normally do. Understand?¡± ¡°Y, Yes ma ma master.¡± She stuttered. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need to cry my dear.¡± He said, wiping something from the corner of the screen. ¡°As an incubus, you will soon feel nothing but pleasure so long as you obey my orders.¡± Once again the view faded, this time the old man was back. ¡°We are strong. We are smart. We are everywhere.¡± Smiling, he tilted his head just slightly. ¡°Could we be living within you? Join us, and find out.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Oh thank god above that this taste is muted, and I can¡¯t gain any weight by eating digital food.¡± Emily said as she plopped down into a seat between Derrick and I. ¡°Otherwise this dip would go straight to my ass.¡± I looked over to see that she had a large dollop of the chili cheese dip I had made.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Well, you know there¡¯s only three ingredients and.¡± ¡°LA LA LA, I CAN¡¯T HEAR YOU BUT MY THIGHS THANK YOU FOR NOT TELLING ME THE RECIPE LALALALA!¡± She said, sticking her fingers in her ears and getting a chuckle from both of us. Once she had settled down, and convinced herself I wasn¡¯t going to share the recipe, she unplugged her ears and let me talk again. ¡°So what brings you to your neck of the woods?¡± ¡°That lovely email you dumped on me the other day. ¡®Member ¡®bout the kobold player?¡± She said around a mouthful of chips. Swallowing, she continued, ¡°We had a lovely series of meetings about that. Meetings that should have been emails, truth be told. Just so you know, we decided to give him a one-time port to a different kobold starter city, so he is out of your hair. But, the devs have no faith that you people won¡¯t be evolving whole cities together in the future, so I¡¯ve been sent to pick your brains on how to deal with it next time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I haven¡¯t even evolved yet.¡± Derrick said, sitting back and looking accusingly at me. ¡°Oh sure, blame it on me. Not my fault I found an item tier that the devs had forgotten about and used it to break the game.¡± I said laughingly. ¡°Yeah, the camp is pretty split on that. Half of them are glad that they finally get to use the code that they worked hard on, and the rest are upset that a monster player got the fame for it all and not one of the big guilds. Though the bean counters and lawyer types are just happy that it has brought in a slew of new players and nobody from development spilled the beans and broke NDAs about what was in the game.¡± ¡°Well, at least I¡¯m not a persona non grata in that department.¡± I said. ¡°Actually, some of the developers and game artists are incredibly excited about what you are going to do next. Trying to predict how you will evolve next time, how you are going to break the game again. Your little group of four has several new evolution options based on what might happen.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying we can evolve a third time?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Yep. Most evolution paths cap out at three, exceptions being some of the goblin and imp paths. Anyway, got some ideas on how to deal with evolutions in the future?¡± ¡°Well, first let¡¯s give people an option.¡± I started. ¡°If they aren¡¯t at the level cap, give them a portal to another starter city if they want. Other than that, we could just let them get caught up in the evolution.¡± ¡°Hmm, seems a little plain but I¡¯ll take it to the devs. Anything else you guys think of, or the other two come up with just send it along with an email. We¡¯ll do what we can.¡± ¡°Hey Emily, mind if we steal these two for some epic battling?¡± Phoebe said coming up to our group. ¡°Not at all. Have fun guys, and remember I¡¯m just an email away.¡± She said before waving and logging out. We spent the rest of the night getting our fort swarmed by an army of small children with squirt guns, and I¡¯ll be damned if I didn¡¯t get some of the soundest sleep of my life afterwards. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Logged in to Monstro-city chatroom as First_of_his_kind. Current occupants: WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, HolyDungeonDiver, RycranSeacrest, and FirestarterOzai First_of_his_kind: Anyone else as disappointed as I was at the monster commercial? TheUnrustable: Yeah, it seemed kinda bland. Though I do want to know where that incubus was and who he managed to enslave. WarriorPrincess: Gonna show him how to use a gloryhole Unrustable? TheUnrustable: G*******T! HOW DO YOU STILL REMEMBER THAT? WarriorPrincess: I have a list of funny chatroom moments, you took first place. First_of_his_kind: Care to fill the rest of us in? WarriorPrincess: He stuck his head through a hole in the Kobold Warrens and got a broken neck. PSA kiddies: Gloryholes are bad for your health. First_of_his_kind: Hahahaha! Sorry Unrustable, but I honestly never thought that anyone would ever fall for that trap. Thank you for proving me wrong. TheUnrustable: Yeah yeah, wait. You were the one in the Kobold Warrens?! Dude, some of your stuff was legendary! WarriorPrincess: Hey, he could be a woman. RycranSeacrest: Chill out warriorprincess, depending on where unrustable¡¯s from, dude is a pronoun that has no gender and can even refer to inanimate objects. FirestarterOzai: Truth. Hell, just this morning I called my showerhead dude because it wasn¡¯t putting out the right pressure. Dude shaped up with the threat of percussive maintenance. First_of_his_kind: Percussive maintenance has fixed many an issue. Rycranseacrest: Indeed. So, First, I assume you have evolved and are possibly going into more dungeons? First_of_his_kind: Thinking about it, have we run into each other before? RycranSeacrest: Yep. I¡¯m probably the highest level player you managed to kill, and I¡¯ve been dying to test you out again. First_of_his_kind: Lookin¡¯ forward to it myself. I¡¯ve got a few new tricks to try on competent players. WarriorPrincess: On the next episode of Throwdown, RycranSeacrest comes to First_of_his_kind¡¯s house to see who¡¯s got the best techniques! FirestarterOzai: Can we get a video of that battle? I don¡¯t even care if we have to wait for the dungeon week to end, I¡¯ld watch it. First_of_his_kind: It¡¯s only three days this time FirestarterOzai: EVEN BETTER! RycranSeacrest: I would be up for that. First_of_his_kind: I don¡¯t know what dungeon I¡¯ll be in, but if you want I can send you a message before I head out there. Meet on day three? RycranSeacrest: Done. Who should I expect the mail from? First_of_his_kind: I¡¯ll put something in the header so you will know. Don¡¯t want to give my game name out on here. HolyDungeonDiver: Afraid of the forces of light coming and ending you? First_of_his_kind: Not at all. But I do have an incredibly important question for you. HolyDungeonDiver: And? First_of_his_kind: Are you the star of the masquerade? HolyDungeonDiver: What? WarriorPrincess: *Sings* Holy Diver! You¡¯re the star of the masquerade! No need to look so afraid! First_of_his_kind: She gets it, HAHAHA! WarriorPrincess: God, that¡¯s a song I¡¯ve not heard in a long time. FirestarterOzai: Just how old is that song? First_of_his_kind: Early 1980¡¯s FirestarterOzai: That¡¯s madness! HolyDungeonDiver: No wonder nobody gets your references. Not that it matters, soon the light will crush the forces of darkness. RycranSeacrest: Seriously? It¡¯s just a game, not like they are offering contracts for your immortal soul. Chill out with that stuff. HolyDungeonDiver: It starts in the game, but soon enough will be real life. Evil must be stamped out. First_of_his_kind: And just what have I done that is so evil, hmmm? TheUnrustable: Well, you did wage a psychological war against people testing your dungeon. And made a fake gloryhole. First_of_his_kind: . . . WarriorPrincess: Unrustable¡¯s technically correct. The best kind of correct. First_of_his_kind: I suppose. BlazingBlackFlames has entered the chat BlazingBlackFlames: OMG! DID YOU GUYS SEE THE COMMERCIAL?! I CAN¡¯T WAIT TO FIGHT SOME EVOLVED MONSTERS! HolyDungeonDiver: Yes! That¡¯s the spirit! TheUnrustable: Black flames, eh? You wouldn¡¯t happen to be the one who mastered that hellfire spell from the light commercial, would ya? BlazingBlackFlames: Yes! I want to put it to the test so badly. First_of_his_kind: Well, we are waiting. I¡¯m sure there will be a few dungeons popping up in the future. BlazingBlackFlames: Fantastic! RycranSeacrest: I think I know you in game. I¡¯ll send you a message when I hear where the dungeon will be. BlazingBlackFlames: Thanks Rycran, you¡¯re the best. Sorry about your brother though, you still close with him? RycranSeacrest: Yeah. He learned a good lesson that dad can¡¯t fix everything. I think it finally did him some good, thanks. First_of_his_kind: Glad he got something good out of that fiasco, but it sucks how it had to go down. RycranSeacrest: Water under the bridge. Though I am looking for payback for you dropping the literal ceiling on my head. BlazingBlackFlames: Well, now that we have hugged it out and all that, what¡¯d y¡¯all think of that commercial? First_of_his_kind: I was slightly disappointed. It seems like you guys got the better commercial. HolyDungeonDiver: That¡¯s right, the light will always emerge victorious! RycranSeacrest: Considering you guys have had what, two months tops to work on everything? I think you got some good press. Seeing that werewolf creature tear through players was oddly satisfying. What did they do to piss him off? WarriorPrincess: Not all good players are guys! First_of_his_kind: Chill out warriorprincess, it¡¯s normal to use the male pronoun in English when you don¡¯t know. But in this particular case, the guild hunted down the NPC party she was working with and used them for training. RycranSeacrest: Oh no¡­. First_of_his_kind: Yeah. Not only that, they had two high level players overseeing the battle so that none on their side would get hurt. Well, she evolved mid battle and proceeded to take them out with a vengeance. RycranSeacrest: I don¡¯t think she stopped with the battle there. First_of_his_kind: Well, no. But they did taunt her, claiming to be the guild from some Norse god of hunters. She wanted them to feel like prey for a bit. RycranSeacrest: Heh, I think she succeeded. And the rest of the monsters showcased got some great examples of evolutions. I liked that troll player. First_of_his_kind: He hasn¡¯t gotten his evolution yet. TheUnrustable: Really? D**n, I¡¯m not looking forward to meeting him when he does. Any reason? First_of_his_kind: Yeah. Devs wanted to balance the trolls, so they get a -40% to experience earned. Takes a long time to hit level 40 that way. TheUnrustable: Wheeeeeew. That¡¯s rough, but I think they¡¯ll get some great evolution options. WarriorPrincess: I wonder why they didn¡¯t showcase the new city. HolyDungeonDiver: I wish they would have, so we could figure out how to get in and destroy it. BlazingBlackFlames: Dude, you would get smoked so quickly. RycranSeacrest: They still don¡¯t know if the city will be peaceful or not. I would bet until the powers that be in the game have hammered out whatever treaties they can, there will be a player ban. BlazingBlackFlames: Why do you say that? RycranSeacrest: So that nobody pulls a kamikaze and destroys whatever chance the talks have of succeeding. HolyDungeonDiver: DON¡¯T NEGOTIATE WITH EVIL! RycranSeacrest: I rest my case. First_of_his_kind: Well, it¡¯s been fun guys and gals, but I¡¯m wiped. Headin out. TheUnrustable: Later RycranSeacrest: C-ya WarriorPrincess: Adios First_of_his_kind has left the chat. Book 2 Chapter 7 Ever wake up, and know that you didn¡¯t get the recommended amount of sleep, but the sleep you get is so deep and so refreshing that it doesn¡¯t matter? I had one of those nights, and it was glorious. Popping out of bed, I skipped breakfast and went straight to email Emily, as I had a thought before I went to bed and wanted to see her opinions on things. Emily, Had a few ideas for the dungeons last night and wanted to see what you guys thought of them. First, I am fairly certain I ran into Rycran on one of the messaging boards, and we are both excited about meeting up for another battle in a dungeon. I think this would be a great opportunity for streaming, we could make an event or something out of it. Possibly have it live streaming, but ban all outside communication. Let people see through my view and Rycran and his teams side by side. Another issue I think will come up is resurrections. When we had the low level dungeon runs, no players had the resurrect spell or would waste an expensive scroll on it. Now that I assume the dungeons are going to be aimed at the level 50-70 range, I think there should be an option. Do a regular dungeon run with unlimited resurrections and not have to fight a monster player, or accept the higher difficulty and only have two resurrections per party member. This could be limited to each person, or could be spread out. So if you have five members, the party gets 10 total resurrections. In the second option, it could be the tank needs resurrecting five times, and that would be fine but would consume half of the team¡¯s resurrections. Thoughts? Will monster characters be able to be resurrected as well? Thanks, Marty P.S. Sorry it is such short notice before we head back into the dungeons. Email sent, I headed straight for the Oblivion Door in my digital apartment, the nerd in me smiling every time I referred to it as that. It just sounded epic. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Morning Alnoss, Khaliss.¡± I said as I came into the main area of the inn. ¡°Angus? You¡¯re up awfully early.¡± Khaliss remarked, as it was the first time I had actually caught him at the inn before he headed out for the day. ¡°Yep. Got a lot to do today, and a small favor that I think you will enjoy.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He said, chuckling. ¡°And what, pray tell, do you think you can ask for a favor that would make me happy?¡± ¡°Well, I want to step up the intensity of our training if possible.¡± As I said that, Khaliss¡¯ fork dropped to his plate and he stared at me. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he turned to look right at me. ¡°What could possibly have spawned such a desire in you? Not that I¡¯m going to let you back out of it, as far as I¡¯m concerned you have already committed to the advanced training regimen.¡± ¡°Remember that light sider that brought in his level 70 something partner while we were in the dungeon the first time?¡± At his nod I continued. ¡°Well, I met him the other day, and he wants to challenge us again. I¡¯m sure he has leveled a good bit, and will have a proper team with him. I¡¯m not going to lose to him, at least not if I haven¡¯t given it my best.¡± ¡°Yesss!¡± Khaliss practically hissed. ¡°It¡¯s about time you found someone to be a rival! Challenges are good for you, but you needed someone to push you to be your absolute best. Shrik and I were debating how we could find something like that to challenge you, but it is always better if you find one on your own. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me I need to go revamp our course.¡± He stood up and gave Alnoss a kiss as she dropped a plate in front of me. It looked fantastic, but I doubted they were the regular steak and eggs that I was used to. ¡°What¡¯s on the menu this morning Alnoss?¡± I asked. ¡°Quillbear steaks and cockatrice eggs.¡± ¡°What in the ever loving hells is a quillbear?¡± I asked, not quite familiar with the creature. I assumed it was some porcupine with a terrible attitude, possibly as large as a collie. ¡°Oh, vicious creatures. Slightly smaller than a dire bear, they have tough spines over their back and sides for protection. They can¡¯t fire them, thank the gods, but they do regrow if they get lodged in something. The spines also contain a mild poison that lowers agility. The main problem is the shoulder harpoons.¡± ¡°Shoulder harpoons? That sounds ominous.¡± ¡°Oh it is. The spines are only as thick as most ropes at the widest. The harpoons start as thick as your forearm. They can fire out to about ten feet, and sinew connected allows them to reel whatever gets caught back in.¡± ¡°Good god, who thinks to make a creature like that? And how do you kill it?¡± ¡°Well, they say a crazy warlock thought them up, but who knows, right? The warlocks always get the blame for things we don¡¯t understand. As for killing it, you almost have to lure it into a trap and blast it from range. Or get somewhere to safely attack it from below.¡± ¡°Huh, I guess someone would have to have balls of steel to sit in a pit underneath a cage to attack one of those.¡± ¡°Indeed. Now, eat up.¡± Smiling, I dug in to the surprisingly flavorful steak. I got a buff to regeneration rates for the next eight hours from the steak, and it looks like the eggs gave me a petrification resistance as well. ¡°Alnoss, how many of those steaks do you have left?¡± ¡°Oh, about fifteen, why?¡± ¡°Well, I think the regeneration boost is going to be incredibly helpful with my training, so I want to buy them from you. I¡¯ll pay a fifty gold.¡± ¡°Angus, I could only sell them for a tenth of that price!¡± ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t want your customers to feel bad.¡± ¡°Fine, leave the money on the counter.¡± She said in a huff, and disappeared back into her kitchen, leaving me to wonder what went wrong with that. Shrugging my shoulders, I went back to eating my breakfast and headed out. Figuring it was too early for the alchemists guild, I headed to see Dharkiss. Walking in to his shop, I saw him gazing down on some bolts as they sat on the counter. He looked up when he heard the sound of the door closing, and smiled. ¡°Angus! Come see what we managed to create! They, well to be honest I think they are some of my best work to date.¡± ¡°Even better than this?¡± I asked, holding up my weapon. ¡°Fine, some of my best work then. I doubt I¡¯ll make something better than that in a long while.¡± Smiling, I looked down to see just what he had created. The first was a bolt that had a wide adamantine head, and looked like someone had sharpened the backside of a crescent moon and affixed it to the bolt. The second only had a steel head, but there were two bulges in the shaft an inch behind the head of the bolt. I gave one of them a gentle pull and it started to swing out, revealing a wicked looking hook. The final one looked like a regular bolt, but the head was made of a dark metal I didn¡¯t recognize. Not wanting to waste time, I identified all of them.
Decapitator bolt This bolt head was designed to cleave a wide path through soft flesh. The metal tip is made to be enhanced with mana, widening the blade portion without adding extra weight. Normal use (no mana): Damage 50-75 Has a 30% chance to decapitate if striking an unsuspecting target in the neck. Target must be human sized or smaller. Mana enhanced (costs 25 mana): Damage: 100-125 Has 75% chance to decapitate if striking an unsuspecting target in the neck. Target must be human sized or smaller.
Flesh ravager A sadistic bolt, the force of impacting into a body causes two swivel hooks to flare out and lock into place, and pulling out the resultant bolt will rip out a large swath of flesh. Leaving it in provides its own issues, as the hooks will tear soft tissue as the victim moves. Damage boosts depend on where the victim is struck. Base damage: 50-75 If left in a muscle: Causes 25% loss of muscle group function every three seconds of minimal activity, up to complete loss. Speed increased with increased vigor. If left in soft tissue (abdomen): Causes 100 bleed damage every other second for 15 seconds. If still in wound after 15 seconds, causes status Massive Organ Trauma. Victim takes 150 damage per second until receiving a greater healing potion or equivalent. If removed backwards: Causes status Gaping Wound. Victim takes 100 bleeding damage per second until wound is treated. Magic treatments require greater healing potion or equivalent. If pushed forward out of wound: No status effects incurred.
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Corruption bolt Crafted from shadow infused steel, this insidious bolt seems innocuous at first, but rapidly grows in effects. Best if removed immediately. Not recommended for hunting, as meat will be contaminated. Base damage: 25-35 If left in wound for 5 seconds: Causes Minor Corruption. Victim takes 15 damage until cleansed. If left in wound for 10 seconds: Causes Blood Toxicity. Victim takes 50 damage every other second until cleansed. Can only be cleansed by medium cleanse potion or equivalent. If left in wound for 15 seconds: Causes Toxic Shock. Victim takes 100 damage every other second until cleansed. Can only be cleansed by greater cleanse potion or equivalent. If left in wound for 20 seconds: Causes Greater Corruption. Victim takes 100 damage per second and loses 1% of all stats per 10 seconds until cleansed. Requires Greater Cleansing Elixir or equivalent to remove. Stats recover at 1% per 10 seconds. If a player is killed by Greater Corruption, will suffer Corruption¡¯s Touch for 24 hours. *Doesn¡¯t work on ethereal or undead targets*
Corruption¡¯s touch An effect of Greater Corruption, for 24 hours player will suffer -10% to all stats. Can¡¯t be cleansed.
¡°Dharkiss, these are fantastic! How many do you have?¡± ¡°Just the prototype for each one so far. I wanted to get each one finished to show you.¡± ¡°Can you have a bunch of these made up in three days for when I head out to the dungeon?¡± ¡°Depends on how many you think a bunch is. I could probably do 200 of the first to, but I only have enough material left to do 100 of the corruption bolts.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take what you can give me, we need to have some surprises for the adventurers.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Oh, can I take these with me today? I¡¯m meeting some dwarves to talk about training, and it would help to be able to show off some of your work.¡± ¡°By all means, go right ahead. I¡¯ve got the blueprints for each one in the back.¡± ¡°Great! This will knock their socks off I bet. Out of curiosity, how does the flesh ravager lock into place?¡± ¡°Like this.¡± He said, pulling out two different hook shapes. One curved into two small holes, while the other curved into two sloped pegs. ¡°There are one of each of these in the bolt. The impact force is enough that the slope on the pegs can force it into the holes.¡± He demonstrated, and they audibly clicked into place. ¡°When you want to undo it, you simply have to squeeze the proper side, and you can slide the pegs right out of the holes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s brilliantly simple.¡± I commented, getting a large smile from the smith. ¡°Thanks, but I still feel bad about the lack of killing power. Aside from the decapitator, none of the others will kill right away.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but sometimes it is good to have something as a distraction, and those others will cause havoc in battle. How many times will a warrior snap off the shaft of a bolt without removing it in order to keep battling? Now imagine the poor cleric who has to keep him healed, and cleansed. He will be casting a cleanse every five seconds, burning through his mana on that.¡± ¡°I suppose. I just think it is usually better to kill someone swiftly.¡± ¡°Well, if you want the flesh ravager could be lethal if you got it between the ribs. Those hooks would shred a heart. But if you really want something to kill right away, I do have another commission for you. That is, if you can get it done before I have to head out to the dungeon.¡± ¡°What are you needing? I¡¯m always up for a challenge.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! I need something similar to my scythe, only instead of a blade on the end of the arm I need a square spike. In addition to the slight curve of the spike, I want a few barbs pointing backwards on each of the square faces.¡± ¡°I thought you said this would kill right away, that doesn¡¯t sound like it would do the job.¡± ¡°It will if you are aiming for the top of the skull. That should be the only place that gets hit by it. Oh, and it will be swinging under its own weight to add force, so let¡¯s use orichalcum to make it.¡± ¡°Aye, I can do that. Three platinum.¡± ¡°Here you go.¡± I said, handing him the money. ¡°Now, I¡¯m off with these bolts to see if I can get some help with training for you.¡± Waving as I swept the new weapons into my inventory, I headed out to see if Djarleen was awake for the day. Easily making my way through the empty streets, I walked right into her shop to find her sitting behind her counter staring at a steaming cup of tea. After staring for half a minute, I broke the silence. ¡°Djarleen, everything ok?¡± She jerked backwards and snorted herself out of whatever daze she was in, reflexively answering, ¡°I¡¯m awake Master Faraldo.¡± Shaking her head to collect herself, she turned to glare at me. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just my apprentice awake at.¡± Making a show of checking around for a clock, then shading her eyes to see if there was a sun, she continued, ¡°Ungodly thirty in the morning. Now, since I know you aren¡¯t here for training, how may I help you?¡± She said this last part with a sadistic looking grin, and I found myself inadvertently backing away. ¡°Um, well. Funny you should mention Master Faraldo.¡± ¡°Spit it out, apprentice. Why are you here so early to see my old master?¡± ¡°He was going to help me get in contact with the Stonefist clan.¡± ¡°I see. And you were just hoping to use my portal? What am I getting out of this?¡± ¡°Well, I was also hoping to pick up the items I had requested from the guild. So, I guess you could spend half of the day poisoning your apprentice at his request?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°Hmm, yes. I suppose that¡¯ll do. Off you go then, have fun!¡± She said rather cheerily, yet somehow sent chills up my spine. I crept past her creepy smile, never letting her out of my sight as she tried to innocently sip her tea. Once I was in the guild headquarters, I headed straight towards the front desk to wait in the line that was only slightly less busy than two days ago. Eventually I made it to the front, only to be met with a grumpy Julia. ¡°Oh feckin¡¯ great, it¡¯s you again. What¡¯cha need this time?¡± ¡°And good morning to you too. Hopefully I won¡¯t take up too much of your time today. First, I have this for the guildmaster.¡± I said, handing over a package with the possible evolutionary materials I had borrowed from him, along with a list of what my evolution options were and what caused them. ¡°I¡¯m required to ask what is in there. Safety reasons.¡± ¡°A wise precaution. It¡¯s a crystal called a Heart of Clear Skies, along with a list of the evolutionary options I had.¡± ¡°Thanks for not fightin¡¯ me on that. Ya wouldn¡¯t believe tha nerve of some o¡¯ these folks.¡± ¡°Heh, lemme guess. Rules are important, but I¡¯m too important for the rules to apply to me?¡± ¡°Bingo. It almost seems like you have done this a time or two.¡± ¡°No, but there are entitled people everywhere. Now, I also should have a package of poisons to pick up, as well as a meeting with Master Faraldo.¡± ¡°Gimme a sec.¡± She said, before turning and rummaging through a pile of papers at the back of the desk. ¡°Still ain¡¯t gonna get used to people askin¡¯ fer poisons so nonchalantly.¡± I heard her grumble despite the distance between us, and silently chuckled. I supposed that would be something that would take getting used to. A few minutes later, she returned with a rack of ten vials, four red, three blue, two yellow, and one a tar-like black. ¡°Careful with that last one, you know what it is, right?¡± ¡°Death¡¯s Knell, right?¡± ¡°Yep. Ok, that¡¯s what you asked for, now I gotta give ya the safety spiel. Don¡¯t touch it without gloves, preferably two pairs. Have a cleansing elixir on hand in case of accidental poisoning, which can be via ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact. Keep your experiments in a well ventilated area, away from wildlife and far away from anything that is edible, be it plant or animal. Do you understand these restrictions?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Very well then, any accidents will be your responsibility. Good luck. As for meeting Master Faraldo, I¡¯m sorry but he is in an important meeting for the rest of the day and is unavailable.¡± ¡°Great, can you show me the way?¡± ¡°Did¡¯ya not just hear me? He¡¯s got an important dwarf clan meeting with him right now, and he¡¯s not to be bothered.¡± ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t clear. Master Faraldo invited the Stonefist clan here to meet with me. Now, where are they?¡± ¡°And just what would one o¡¯ the most influential clans be needin¡¯ to meet with you fer?¡± ¡°You mean Master Faraldo didn¡¯t tell you?¡± As she shook her head no, I continued, ¡°Then it must not be any of your business. Now, where are they?¡± ¡°Hmph, ya don¡¯t gotta be an asshole about it. Second floor meetin¡¯ room, it¡¯s the first one on the right.¡± ¡°Thank you Julia, you have been a great help. Have a nice day.¡± I said as I walked away. I heard her grumbling a bit, but couldn¡¯t make out the words. I didn¡¯t really care, simply heading up the stairs to the conference room. I saw a red hand print prominently glowing on the door, even without mystic vision active, which must be their system for ¡®No Entry.¡¯ I gave the door three solid knocks and stepped back to wait. A few seconds later, the light flashed green and the door opened to reveal Master Faraldo. ¡°Angus! Good, ya got here early. Come in, come in. The Stonefists are already inside, I hope you can hold up to your promises.¡± Stepping back, I followed him in to see five dwarves arranged in a semicircle on the other side of the table facing the door. Four of them were obviously old, while the last was positively ancient. The one thing they had in common was the grumpiness apparent in their faces. ¡°This is the creature that asked ta meet with us?¡± The central one barked. ¡°Indeed, Grand Elder. Allow me to introduce.¡± Master Faraldo started before being interrupted. ¡°And just what makes ye think that ye have anything of value to us?¡± ¡°Well obviously manners aren¡¯t important, but maybe you respect the bones of your ancestors. Do you have a way to verify what I have?¡± ¡°Ya be claimin¡¯ ya have the bones of our ancestor, Grumblespark. Hand ¡®em over.¡± ¡°Turn around and bend over. I¡¯ll give ¡®em to ya one at a time.¡± I snarled, adopting their tone. ¡°What¡¯d ya say to us, boy?¡± ¡°Here.¡± I said, sliding a sheathed dagger across the table. ¡°Use this to clear out the hair from your ears so you can hear me this time. I said, bend over. I¡¯ll shove the bones right up your ass, one at a time.¡± As I practically shouted the last part, all the dwarves eyes got large and they stared at the Grand Elder. ¡°Just who do ya think ya are, talkin¡¯ to me like that?¡± ¡°Just who do you think you are, talking down to me like that?¡± I hissed back at him. ¡°Our city turned down another dwarf clan the other day for the insulting offer they made to trade with us. I had hoped it was just the one clan that was entitled and greedy. I was wrong, it seems that all dwarves save a select few like Master Faraldo can be described as entitled and greedy.¡± ¡°Now you listen here.¡± He started, before I interrupted him this time. ¡°No, you will be the one listening. Master Faraldo knows what I have in my possession, and he obviously passed it along to you since you are all here. I thought to be nice, and attempt to return your ancestors bones and give you access to his working notes. Most people would go to war for that opportunity. But I can tell you this, I sure as shit didn¡¯t brave the lair of a necromancer that was raising dead heroes, slay him and all his abominations, and bring out the skeleton of a legendary dwarf blacksmith to be talked down to in such a manner.¡± ¡°I think we should all calm down just a bit, and try this again. Maybe get off on the right foot this time.¡± Master Faraldo tried to interject, but I was already pissed. ¡°Sorry Master Faraldo, I think the time for pleasantries has passed. I have no intention of holding you accountable for their rudeness. Perhaps at some point we can discuss a trip to return Grumblespark¡¯s bones to a proper dwarven grave. Until then, they can rest in the temple of Thanatos.¡± ¡°Now wait just a minute!¡± The Grand Elder tried to bargain. ¡°Too late. I came to you with a very beneficial offer, but you were condescending and rude. And don¡¯t think I missed the greedy gleam in your eye when I mentioned the necromancer raising heroes. Tell me, honestly. If I were to return the bones to you right now, would you return them to their rest, or would you study them to see if you could replicate the necromancer¡¯s feat?¡± ¡°Listen boy. We could learn so much from.¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± I yelled. ¡°You will never see these bones again, just as you will never see the notes he made on his blacksmithing techniques. And the works of the necromancer? I sacrificed them all to Thanatos, not looking at them.¡± When I dropped that little bomb, all save Master Faraldo looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°Worthless, the lot of you. Crawl back to your holes, worms. I¡¯ll have nothing to do with you.¡± Spinning on my heels, I exited the door to a clamor of dwarven voices pleading with me. Storming down the stairs, I caught Julia¡¯s eyes and spoke as I walked past, ¡°You aren¡¯t as bad as them yet. I would emulate Master Faraldo more if you are going to be interacting with more than just dwarves for the rest of your life.¡± Not slowing down, I headed out through the portal to Djarleen¡¯s shop, looking forward to trying some new things for training with Khaliss. Book 2 Chapter 7.1 ¡°Thank you Julia, you have been a great help. Have a nice day.¡± I said as I walked away. I heard her grumbling a bit, but couldn¡¯t make out the words. I didn¡¯t really care, simply heading up the stairs to the conference room. I saw a red hand print prominently glowing on the door, even without mystic vision active, which must be their system for ¡®No Entry.¡¯ I gave the door three solid knocks and stepped back to wait. A few seconds later, the light flashed green and the door opened to reveal Master Faraldo. ¡°Angus! Good, ya got here early. Come in, come in. The Stonefists are already inside, I hope you can hold up to your promises.¡± Judging by the amount of white in their beards, the three dwarves sitting at the table facing me were fairly old, while the six standing in the back of the room were younger bodyguards. They weren¡¯t threatening with full plate, but they did have decent looking scale type mail on and sheathed swords strapped to their waists. ¡°I suppose some introductions are in order.¡± Master Faraldo started. ¡°This here drakeling is Angus. And these are.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, sometimes it is better to see if the meeting holds promise before everyone needs be introduced.¡± The central dwarf interrupted, and I was slightly shocked to see Master Faraldo backing down. I started to frown, as I rather liked the affable dwarf, and hadn¡¯t expected these dwarves to be quite so rude right out of the gate. As I took a seat unbidden, I caught a flash of a frown on the dwarf on the right¡¯s face, but it was quickly hidden. My assumption apparently caused a nervous tick in the middle dwarf, as he was slowly rotating a ring around his finger. ¡°We represent the Stonefist clan. You called this meeting, what is it you think would interest us.¡± Shaking off an initial impulse to reveal everything, I remembered when the guildmaster would chuckle at Djarleen¡¯s habit of always hiding something in reserve. Starting with something that I hoped would only generate goodwill, I spoke. ¡°In my recent adventures, I believe I came across the resurrected remains of one of your legendary ancesters. Does the name Grumblespark Stonefist mean anything to you?¡± While I was talking, I was focusing on the upper part of the central dwarf¡¯s head. I knew anyone they sent would be adept at hiding their glee, but was hoping the bodyguards weren¡¯t as well versed. I almost swore I caught some tell-tale signs, but was distracted by that twisting ring before I could recognize anything. ¡°That would be impossible, I¡¯m afraid to say.¡± The central dwarf spoke, his voice oddly cool. ¡°See, Grumblespark was elevated to a Dwarf Hero in his lifetime, which prevents his remains from being utilized in a necromantic ritual.¡± ¡°That¡¯s normally the case, but I was sent by Thanatos to kill the necromancer precisely because he had found a way to resurrect the remains of heroes. Thanatos wasn¡¯t too thrilled by him breaking that taboo.¡± As I merrily babbled things I had wanted to keep secret, I noticed all three of the seated dwarfs sit straight up. ¡°Truly? You know this way to resurrect fallen heroes?¡± As he asked that, and kept spinning that damned ring, I had to bite down on my tongue and clench my claws into my palms to keep from immediately answering. Catching Master Faraldo out of the corner of my eye frowning was all the confirmation that I needed.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Everyone I knew as a child practiced talking without moving our mouths once we learned what puppeteers did. I attempted to do the same thing, only kept my voice as quiet as possible, ¡°[Mystic vision].¡± The world burst into colors of magic, and I could see violet bands emanating from that rotating ring and forming some sort of cocoon around my head. The bastard was using some form of charm magic! One of the bodyguards must have detected something, as their hand dropped to sword hilt as my anger swelled. Slight twitches of my fingers sent streams of magic into the construct, and my lip curled just a bit as I tugged it apart. The sudden cessation of pressure that had been building so subtly was amazing. ¡°You FUCKING DARE!¡± I yelled, shocking all of the dwarves at the table. ¡°I come to you with the body of your ancestor, looking to return him to his rest, and explore an alliance between the drakelings and the Stonefist clan, and you try and charm me?!¡± When I mentioned charming, the ring stopped twirling and Master Faraldo¡¯s face drained of color. ¡°Just who do ya think ya are, talkin¡¯ ta me like that?¡± ¡°Just who do you think you are, talking to me like that? You try and charm an emissary on their first meeting? Not only that, but dig to get information on a taboo ritual in the hopes that, what, you¡¯ll be able to resurrect heroic blacksmiths of dwarven history?¡± When he didn¡¯t reply, I knew I had hit the nail on the head. ¡°That¡¯s it, you greedy bastards. We already turned down the offer of one greedy clan, in the hopes that we could bargain with you for training.¡± ¡°And just what could a pathetic drakeling have that could be worth the training ya be askin¡¯ of the Stonefist clan, eh?¡± Leaning forward, I stared right into his eyes and let him know just how badly he had fucked up. ¡°I have the working notes of Grumblespark Stonefist, for each and every metal he was a master of. Everything. From smelting the ore to working the metal and how to best prepare it for enchanting.¡± ¡°THOSE ARE LEGACIES OF THE STONEFIST CLAN AND YOU WILL RETURN THEM TO US!¡± ¡°THOSE ARE SPOILS OF WAR I TOOK FROM THE RESURRECTED BODY OF YOUR ANCESTOR! THE BODY THAT YOU COULDN¡¯T EVEN GUARD IN DEATH!¡± I screamed over the dwarf¡¯s voice, slamming my fists on the table and standing. ¡°You greedy bastards will never get the bones of your ancestor, as you can¡¯t be trusted to return them to what rest they deserve. I know you will want to study them, and see if you can figure out the ritual.¡± ¡°We could learn so much.¡± ¡°IDIOTS!¡± I interrupted. ¡°There was a reason I destroyed all his research without looking at it, for it doesn¡¯t belong in this world!¡± When I dropped that bomb, everyone save Master Faraldo looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°Worms, the lot of you. Crawl back into whatever holes you came from. You¡¯ll never have the bones of your ancestor, nor will you receive the knowledge he dedicated his life to.¡± Turning to Master Faraldo, I said, ¡°Master Faraldo, I do hope we can remain friends. I just want you to know that I will never hold you responsible for the actions of others.¡± At his smile, I turned back to the table and said with as much derision as I could, ¡°As for the rest of you, I will have nothing to do with you or your clan. Never catch yourselves in my sight again.¡± Spinning on my heels, I strode out the door to the grumbling of dwarf voices behind me, not bothering to pay attention to any of them. Storming down the stairs, I caught Julia¡¯s eyes and spoke as I walked past, ¡°You aren¡¯t as bad as them yet. I would emulate Master Faraldo more if you are going to be interacting with more than just dwarves for the rest of your life.¡± Not slowing down, I headed out through the portal to Djarleen¡¯s shop, trying not to lash out in anger and destroy random stuff. Book 2 Chapter 8 Faraldo¡¯s POV, immediately after the meeting with Angus ¡°What was. . . Do you have any idea what in the hells you¡¯ve done?!¡± I yelled at the envoys. ¡°What does it matter if we have annoyed a monster? He has things that will bring our clan back to the top. We just need to have certain guilds reacquire them for us. If he ends up perishing in the transaction, so much the better.¡± Furrowing my brows, I started rubbing my nose in a useless attempt to reduce my stress. ¡°Just a monster he says. That wasn¡¯t just a monster you imbecile!¡± ¡°Watch your tone, edgeling.¡± The leader of the emissaries near growled at me. ¡°You were nearly exiled for not wanting to become a smith like a true dwarf, the only thing saving you is your high position in this guild. That will change if you don¡¯t start respecting your elders.¡± ¡°What have you done recently to deserve respect?¡± I snidely remarked. ¡°I am an elder, you must respect me.¡± He said smugly, as if that answered everything. Already on edge from the disastrous meeting, I couldn¡¯t take any more of that backwards mindset. ¡°Living a long time doesn¡¯t automatically mean you deserve respect, fool, only your actions do. And after that performance, I doubt you will ever earn my respect. Even now, you sit there, smug in your conclusions despite the fact that you know nothing of what you just unleashed. You might have even spelled doom for our clan.¡± ¡°Oh get off your soapbox. All we did was remind the monster that they don¡¯t deserve to bargain with us as if they are equals. If they won¡¯t take the hint, then they will reap the consequences when we annihilate them to take back what is ours.¡± ¡°Let me go ahead and enlighten you fools, and perhaps your bodyguards can learn from your massive mistakes. Angus is one of two of the monster races who has been accepted into this guild. He has created elixir recipes, found alternate formulations for potions, and has met with the guildmaster more in his first year here than I did in my first ten. He is the one who unlocked the mana well, and practically crafted a divine tier item and used it to fuel his evolution from a kobold. That evolution created the city that every kingdom and clan of the light races with any sense are rushing to feel out for alliances, and you, in your infinite arrogance, just pissed away any chance our clan had of that.¡± Through my entire rant, the bastard had a dismissive look on his face, and was tapping a single finger on the table. ¡°You done, edgeling?¡± He smugly asked. ¡°We were once at the height of the dwarven society, and we will be again. The monsters will once again know their place, and hopefully the two that think they are good enough for common society will be slain as examples.¡± Shaking my head, I simply turned and left. It was infuriating to be instantly dismissed due to being an edgeling, one who is close to being outcast in our culture. Of course, that meant that no matter how logical my argument, no matter how compelling my point, it could instantly be dismissed just by bringing up that one word. Idiots. Idiots that perpetuated the foolish notions of the past, as if struggling to advance our culture would threaten the power they had managed to amass. Sighing, I leaned against a wall and took a selfish minute to envy the humans. At least with them, their elders died off in a manner of decades, so they could at least get leaders in who wouldn¡¯t be beaten into submitting to the old order of things by the previous generation. Dwarves and elves, living as long as we did, had no chance of that. It didn¡¯t help that dwarves were as stubborn as the stone Moradin had carved us from. Indulgence in flights of fancy over, it was time to get serious. After decades of being shat upon by my clan, I had enough. I could also use this one last act to help Angus get ahead of the political machinations that were no doubt running through the idiot emissary¡¯s head. Years of frustration coming to a head, I finally resolved myself to follow through with plans that I had gone over thousands of times in my mind. Striding through the halls, I took the transportation circle to Dol¡¯Amana, capital city of the dwarves. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Nodding at the guards that were always stationed at the transition point, I headed first to my home. There wasn¡¯t much of value there, but the clan elders could still cause a bit of a headache if they wished. My first order of business was to change the access to the wards on my home, excluding all of the clan I had previously been forced into allowing access. It had cost a bit of money, and a few high level alchemy potions, but I had long ago found out how to alter the enchantment to do this one thing. Otherwise, I would be forced to wait weeks until a proper enchanter could get the job done. Fifteen minutes of intense concentration later, and I was finished. I washed up as quickly as I could, then dressed in my best formal war gear. Scale armor inlaid with intricate designs of silver and gold, with twin bandoliers crossing my chest for easy access to battle potions along with a double bandolier acting as a belt, I cut a fine figure. Though the bandoliers were empty, any who had faced a potionmaster in battle would know just how quickly things could become dire when we were angered. A properly trained master could turn the tide of near any battle, and easily snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Despite my clan¡¯s symbol of a massive maul, I placed twin war axes on each hip. A potionmaster would never take a two handed weapon into battle, another sore point between myself and my clan. The last bit was the trickiest. I undid the braids of my beard, and placed the clan symbols that had been woven into them in a bag on my belt. In its stead, I made three simple braids of my beard, then interwove them into one larger braid, all of them tied off with small grey ribbons. Preparations complete, I headed out the door and strode down the middle of the main thoroughfare, head high and shoulders squared. The clanking of war boots down the road drew attention, and when my fellow dwarves noticed my attire, a path was quickly cleared. I ignored glimpses of runners heading off down the street, keeping my pace even to give them time to spread the word. Soon enough, all notables would either be in attendance or have a representative. Ten minutes later, I clanked to a stop fifteen feet from the gates of the royal palace, slamming my arms to my side in a note of finality. Three royal guards were arrayed in front of me, armed to the teeth and clad in their signature red and gold enchanted armor. The handle of a massive battleaxe poked above their heads, and they each had a sword on their left hip and axe on the right, rigged for a cross draw. I also knew from experience they would have several knives secreted away in various places on their armor. The two guards on each side of the gate remained at attention, while the middle one with the fare more elaborate armor stepped forward. ¡°Potionmaster, why do you come here dressed for battle, but without your most dangerous weapons?¡± He asked in a ritual manner. ¡°They would be useless for this battle, sir. For I come not to destroy the body, but the ties of the blood today.¡± ¡°Very well. In accordance with traditions, your grievances will be heard. Be warned, a full quorum has assembled, so that none may bury the truth this day. May Moradin fill you with his will, that you may finish what must be done.¡± Greetings given, he spun on his heel and started marching forward as I matched him step for step. Just before I passed through the gate, two more royal guards came into step just ahead of me, while two more finished a box around me after I had passed through. It had been centuries since someone had tried to eliminate the petitioner, but nobody took chances anymore.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. We strode down the hallways, steps echoing strangely through the empty corridors. None of us spared any glances for the masterwork that had gone into creating the palace, our mission simple. Soon enough we entered the royal audience chamber, packed with high ranking dwarves of every clan. Heading down a central path left purposely clear, the captain stopped in the middle of a gigantic U shaped table, the heads of each of the twelve clans seated beneath their banners. In the center of the table was the king, and behind him and to his left was one last dwarf, dressed in drab grey robes. ¡°Potionmaster Faraldo Stonefist seeks audience to air grievances. Grievances heavy enough to break the ties of dwarven blood.¡± He announced, all conversation instantly ceased. Turning, he left and allowed me to step forward. Previously hidden by the captain was a pulpit with twin blades sticking out the top. I walked up to it without fear, though my palms were covered in a nervous sweat. I looked each dwarf leader in the eye, not flinching at the hatred from my own clan head as I noticed the emissary in the shadows behind him. I kept the smile from my face, knowing that I would be able to get ahead of any lies he was about to spread. ¡°I come today to sever my ties to the Stonefist clan, as their transgressions have become so great as to be unbearable. I can no longer stay with a clan so devoid of honor.¡± This was the largest gauntlet that someone could throw, but I wasn¡¯t done. Most of the time, there was another clan willing to take in someone. I was sure the Mountain Crusher clan would take me in a heartbeat so they could claim whatever knowledge I had as an alchemist, as would the craft oriented Seker clan. ¡°I petition the Duergar Clan for asylum.¡± Several of the clan heads visibly flinched, shocked at what I just said. The Duergar clan, originally founded by an exile from the variant race of dwarves, would take in anyone. They were far less specist than other dwarves, and based their evaluations of you on your own accolades rather than who you were related to. The robed figure in the back stepped to the side and forward into the light, smiling. ¡°The Duergar clan would be thrilled to accept one as accomplished as you to our clan. Be welcome under the grey cloak, brother.¡± I nodded, then removed my gauntlets and gently hung them from my belt before slamming my hands down upon the blades in the podium in front of me. ¡°May Moradrin witness the truth of my words, and strike me down should I try to misrepresent what drove me to this point, even by omitting facts.¡± The Duergar clan leader¡¯s eyes widened in shock as several gasps were heard behind me. This was one of the strongest oaths a dwarf could ever take, and having my hands pierced by blades blessed by the Pontiff of Moradrin¡¯s church would surely kill me if I violated it in any way. ¡°Earlier today, I watched my former clan lose what honor they had left in front of my eyes. As many may know, I am an alchemist that took a kobold as an apprentice. In order to prevent my clan from losing face, only the guildmaster himself knew what clan I was descended from. So imagine my surprise, when my apprentice¡¯s own apprentice came to me, asking to facilitate a meeting with the Stonefist clan. Having dealt with him before, I was happy to be able to help one I consider a friend, though our interactions have been somewhat limited. He is a promising alchemist, one who is also favored by the guildmaster. Through his own hard work, he has become a rare variant, and was more than willing to give the guild information on his abilities to further our knowledge on variants, which as many of you know is sorely lacking. I say this so that you may gain insight into his character and motivations. As assurance that his request was legitimate, he told me he had the bones of Grumblespark Stonefist and some of his knowledge. That meeting was held today, and the one who led it is standing by the clan leader.¡± Taking a small breath to center myself, I continued. ¡°When the meeting started, he was openly rude and dismissive of the drakeling. He then proceeded to extract information by using a charm ring, pressing especially hard to gain any information on a necromancer that had managed to resurrect the body of our ancestor. Once the drakeling broke the mental coercion, he adamantly refused to do any more business with the clan, promising to never hand over the remains and knowledge of our ancestor, and left in a storm of fury.¡± As I finished the tale, all eyes were on the head of the Stonefist clan, who was trembling in rage. I waited patiently, as the former head was entitled to ask questions of the one cutting ties. ¡°What did this drakeling demand in order to hand over the body and knowledge?¡± He finally managed to ask. ¡°In his original offer, before the meeting, he wanted training for the craftsmen in their new city. They had already turned down overtures from the Mountain Crusher clan.¡± ¡°So they were returning everything for that? What was the exact wording of his offer?¡± ¡°To the best of my knowledge: Bring trainers for our non-blacksmith craftsmen, so they may elevate their skills to be able to use their crafts equivalent of mithril. In exchange, your smiths could learn from the materials left by Grumblespark alongside the drakeling smiths. The body was to be returned with no strings attached, as the one in possession of it is a member of the Church of Thanatos.¡± I saw several dwarves rubbing their beards in contemplation, and saw several more nodding along as these were extremely favorable terms. ¡°And how are we to trust the terms of a monster? Most likely he was the necromancer that managed to steal the body of our ancestor and his knowledge.¡± At his dismissive words, several of the other clan leaders froze in disbelief. ¡°A magically binding contract would be sufficient.¡± The head of the Seker clan muttered loud enough for all to hear. ¡°It matters not.¡± I said clearly. ¡°Your clan entered open negotiations in bad faith, and expressed greed at the chance to study the defiled bones of an ancestor rather than return them to their rightful rest. I will no longer be associated with you.¡± I looked straight at my new possible clan head, and he nodded at me. ¡°I find this reason compelling, more than enough to sever ties considering Moradrin has witnessed the truthfulness of his testimony. We welcome our newest brother with open arms.¡± With that, I was officially no longer a Stonefist. I removed my hands from the blades, where they immediately healed and left only a small white line on each palm. I took off the bag with the Stonefist crests, and tossed them onto the table in front of the clan head. ¡°I, Faraldo Drueger, hereby repudiate and renounce my former clan. You are no longer kin of mine.¡± With the truth out and witnessed by Moradrin, there was no way that the Stonefists could openly go after Angus now. Judging by the looks of several other clan heads, the Stonefists were likely going to suffer a massive drop in status after what they pulled, and any negotiations would be redone with anti-charm gear brazenly displayed. Having done what I could, I turned and headed out the door. ¡°Pardon me, but could I have a moment to speak with you Master Faraldo?¡± I hadn¡¯t gone but ten feet when I heard someone calling for me. I turned to see a dwarf I didn¡¯t recognize, dressed in a hodgepodge of mismatched armors. ¡°Thanks for stopping. I heard your story there, and received a quest regarding some of it. Could you help me to meet this drakeling you were speaking of?¡± ¡°It highly depends upon your reasoning and clan.¡± I said, clenching a fist in anticipation of his answer. ¡°Sorry, I forget my manners sometimes. I¡¯m Grimlet, no clan name as I am an adventurer.¡± I relaxed a bit when I heard that, wondering what he was up to. ¡°Anyway, I received a quest for my guild to assist in building a proper resting place for Grumblespark¡¯s remains, away from the clan that has dishonored his memory. Do you think this would be something your friend would like?¡± ¡°It is probably the only request that I would be happy to pass along.¡± I said with a smile, thankful and saddened that though there was at least one dwarf who would act properly when it came to the ancestors, that dwarf was an adventurer. ¡°Thanks, so much. My guild would, of course, cover all costs and place it wherever your friend chose. Would that be sufficient, do you think?¡± ¡°Most likely, yes. I¡¯ll see what I can, and leave you a note at the Processed Potion shop. Thank you, Grimlet, for being a proper dwarf.¡± I said, then left as he looked at the ground in embarrassment. Book 2 Chapter 9 Marty POV, after transferring back to Djarleen¡¯s shop. ¡°Damn those arrogant bastards.¡± I muttered to myself as I walked through the shop, oblivious to the look Djarleen was giving me. ¡°I¡¯ve got to get out in front of this, if there¡¯s one thing politicians hate it¡¯s getting called on their bullshit. Oh, hey there Djarleen.¡± ¡°Hey yourself kiddo. Things go poorly?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Your fault or theirs?¡± ¡°Theirs.¡± ¡°Kay. First, did you get the poisons to start your four days of ritual? Second, what are you going to do about retribution?¡± ¡°Yes to the first, and for the second. . . I think I¡¯ll head to church.¡± I said the last part with a grin. I had advanced far enough in the church that they would surely intervene, especially considering this issue arose out of an issue from a church quest. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll head down to the training yard then, don¡¯t take too long.¡± She said as she stood, grabbing a set of keys and a hard shelled briefcase that was most likely a traveling alchemy kit. I left her to lock up the shop while I took care of things at the church. ¡°Hello brother, I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of an issue.¡± I said as soon as I saw the Cardinal. He didn¡¯t look too shocked for some reason, but I soon found out why. ¡°Thanatos informed me. He took personal interest in that meeting, and was glad He did. You didn¡¯t handle yourself too badly, but next time someone shows interest in a taboo like that, He wants you to channel some of your abilities. Namely Death¡¯s Gaze. A part of Him always knows when his priests activate their abilities, and he will descend and either communicate with you or ask if you will allow a temporary possession.¡± ¡°Thank you, brother, and you as well Thanatos. I will keep that in mind, though hopefully there won¡¯t be a next time. I was rather taken aback by the lack of respect for their ancestor¡¯s body, something I assumed the dwarves would be most interested in.¡± ¡°And you would be right, though sometimes greed gets the best of people.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth?¡± I said with a grin, before getting serious again. ¡°Speaking of greedy, I highly doubt that the envoy is done trying for the bones. What should we be doing about that?¡± ¡°Relax brother, it is being handled.¡± The Cardinal said with a smile. ¡°Thanatos has followers in every city. Some are paying visits to the thieves and assassins guilds, while others are waiting to meet with the head of the clan. Should any of them attempt anything untoward, the entire clan shall receive a Divine Retribution.¡± I could practically hear the capitalizations on divine retribution, and didn¡¯t want to think about what sort of retribution a god of death could visit upon a clan. Forget just the firstborns, he might take out an entire generation. ¡°As it is, your friend Faraldo has taken some rather drastic steps to protect you as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked, oddly touched that the dwarf would stick up for me like that. ¡°How drastic are we talking?¡± ¡°That is not my story to tell, you will have to ask him when you see him. Now, we understand that you have much to do before traveling to the dungeon yet again, and want to reassure you that until you return from the dungeon, your weekly quotas are suspended.¡± ¡°Thank you Thanatos. And thank you, brother. That is something that had slipped my mind in the thick of things, but is reassuring that I don¡¯t have to worry about that as well.¡± ¡°You are most welcome. Now, go and start your training. Thanatos is eager to see how your fighting style will improve with your additional magics.¡± With a smile, I nodded at the Cardinal and started to head out the door before slapping my forehead. ¡°Oh, is there a place we can store the remains? I don¡¯t like walking around with them on my person.¡± ¡°Of course, can you give me the bag for the moment? You can retrieve it after your dungeon tour.¡± ¡°Perfect, thank you once again brother.¡± I said, handing over the bag and finally taking off. I easily slipped into what little foot traffic there was, and swiftly headed down to the training grounds. ¡°Khaliss! Angus just arrived!¡± Shrik shouted, taking a break from his conversation with Djarleen. As I walked up to the group, Khaliss gave a few more directions to the spearmen he was training before heading our way. ¡°Excellent, we have at least half a day to practice. Did your meetings go well?¡± ¡°Absolutely horrible.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°But that¡¯s taken care of, so let¡¯s focus on this training, shall we?¡± ¡°Perfect. Come, we aren¡¯t going to be training here though.¡± ¡°Oh? Why is that?¡± Djarleen asked. ¡°Prying eyes who would love to steal secrets.¡± Khaliss said. When Djarleen and I both gave him a confused look, he clarified. ¡°We received a human delegation today. They have poorly hidden people trying to figure out everything they can about our abilities.¡± As we walked, we came upon a drab stone structure built seamlessly into the wall of the barracks. ¡°As it turns out, our abilities with stone imbue a portion of it with just enough mana to scramble scrying attempts. You¡¯ll also have to shape your own entry and exit, unless one of you has the flight spell?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, and I¡¯m fairly certain my apprentice only recently came into enough magical might to cast such a spell, so you should be fine. Why did you ask?¡± Djarleen inquired. ¡°Well, we needed ventilation so the only permanent exits are in the ceiling. This way only a powerful earth mage could get in, and we would surely detect something on that scale.¡± ¡°I understand the secrecy, but have you taken countermeasures to familiars?¡± I asked. ¡°We have a different solution here than other places, but yes. You¡¯ll meet her soon.¡± While we were concentrating on Dharkiss, Shrik gave an elaborate flourish with his wrist and made it look like he was pulling back a curtain for everyone. As his claw tips brushed against the stone, it seemed to melt and pull back just like a curtain, drawing a smile from Djarleen as he bent at the waist. Walking in, there were several pools of light from the aforementioned holes in the ceiling, but the rest of the building was cast in darkness. Once the light from the door closed, Dharkiss gave an odd call. ¡°Pss Pssss.¡± Two silvered eyes flashed from one of the upper corners of the room, startling Djarleen and I.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I immediately switched to darkvision, but got absolutely no indication that something was there. Switching to Mystic Vision, I saw a silvery feline shape flow through the air to start rubbing against the scales of Dharkiss¡¯ shins. Whatever it was, it came up to mid-thigh on Khaliss. I couldn¡¯t quite get a fix on any other features, as they kept flowing. Even the edges were indistinct in mystic vision. ¡°What the hell is a nightliger doing here?¡± Djarleen hissed, but I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was awe or fury. ¡°This, is Inkler. Inkler, these two are Djarleen and Angus. They have clearance to use this room as they need. Understand?¡± ¡°Mrowwwww.¡± The cat thing replied before flowing over to us and sniffed our legs before making a chuffing noise. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s as tame as nightligers get. Alnoss managed to find one when she was a wee kid, and managed to raise it somehow. While not quite at the monster tamer bond level, Inkler is highly intelligent and incredibly protective.¡± ¡°I think I get it.¡± I said. ¡°She guards this room, and her ability to flow through shadows makes this the perfect hunting ground for her. So she instantly takes out any familiars that might make it in, and some poor mage gets a bit of a backlash for his troubles.¡± ¡°Mostly. She can recognize magic scents, for lack of a better word. So if she kills a familiar, she will know the mage if they ever cross paths again. Now, can you explain this bit of ritual you two are going to go through?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Djarleen cut me off before I could say anything. ¡°Angus is attempting to get a drastic boost to his poison resistance. First we are going to be doing small doses of Khaeling¡¯s Immobilizer, keeping the effect going until he eventually starts drinking it instead of getting it injected. That should take about a day. Then we switch to different concentrations of Ravishing Gluttony for a day. The last two days will be taken up by building an immunity to Death¡¯s Knell.¡± ¡°What does the second one do?¡± Shrik asked. ¡°The first and third are rather obvious.¡± ¡°A curious one? I like that. The second one drains you of all three attribute pools: health, mana, and stamina.¡± ¡°Huh, now I get it. Thanks.¡± Shrik said. ¡°Thanks Djarleen. Now, for the first day I will be mostly paralyzed. While I can¡¯t physically move, I will be able to use mental abilities. So to start, I¡¯m going to try and finally perfect silent cast, as well as work on something new for the dungeon.¡± ¡°I see, and the second day?¡± ¡°That I haven¡¯t put much thought to. The best I can think of is to borrow a few of your trainees and work on battlefield control. Other than intensive sparring, I can¡¯t think of much else that would push my limits.¡± ¡°Are you looking to use the resources the poisons are affecting?¡± Khaliss asked with a smirk. ¡°Yes. That way I have some experience trying to manage debuffs while mid battle.¡± ¡°Very well, I will have a program for you to endure come tomorrow. That gluttony poison, you said it attacks health, mana and stamina Djarleen?¡± He asked while turning, and I immediately started panicking. The last time I had seen that smirk, I spent a very sore week as I got to practice parrying. ¡°Yes, but Angus needs to stay within ten feet of me so I can keep applying it as needed.¡± ¡°Hmmmm, I¡¯ll see what I can do with that then, but it might have to limit things.¡± While he was pondering, I was mentally thanking Djarleen for saving my bacon. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you two to get your stuff done. Good luck to you both.¡± He tapped Shrik on the shoulder, and they both left as I turned to figure out how we were going to do this. ¡°So, what¡¯s the first step?¡± ¡°Take a seat. I¡¯ll walk you through the first hour, then we start with your own training.¡± I started to conjure up a stone seat when she interrupted me, ¡°No. Cross legged on the ground if you please. Do you have the meditation skill?¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t something I have acquired yet.¡± ¡°Tsch. This will be that much harder then, but you will likely get it by the end. Alright, now that you¡¯re seated we can begin. Close your eyes, and follow along with my voice.¡± As I did what she asked, I felt her hands rest on my shoulders from behind. ¡°Clear your mind as best as you can. Let go of all thoughts, instead start with feeling your body. Starting with your toes, imagine that relaxation is an energy, and you can manipulate it right now. It starts at your toes, small waves flowing through your muscles. Feel it, as it washes away all tension. Slowly moving up your body.¡± As she described it, I could actually feel the ghost of a sensation, elusive as it was. Any time I tried focusing on it, it would disappear. I stopped, content to do the mental equivalent of watching it from the corner of my eyes. Constantly flowing up my body in waves, whatever it was eroding flowed out and downward. Once it hit my waist, I was relaxed to the point where things started to get weird. Djarleen¡¯s voice was a background murmur that was swiftly ignored. I had unknowingly timed my breathing to coinside with the waves. Breath in for three waves, hold for a wave, and out for four waves. Tension, angst, worry, all disappeared under that cleansing wave as I hovered on the edge of sleep. Once the waves had covered my entire body, I got a popup notification.
Ritual started! You are attempting to begin the Greater Poison Immunity Ritual. This will take several game days, and you must work on the ritual for at least 8 hours of game time per day to be successful. All notifications (barring emergencies) will be blocked, though you will still be able to gain skills. The results will depend on how well you followed the ritual instructions. Do you wish to begin the ritual?
Yes No
I clicked yes, and the box disappeared, as well as everything from my screen display. It was like I was truly living in the game world. ¡°Good, very good. For now, feel your body. Memorize it. Learn how it is connected, feel your magic flow. Feel the interplay of everything, and memorize it. Understanding will come, but you need to be able to find your way back to this, your normal.¡± I did what she said, feeling everything. It had gotten so quiet I could hear not only my heart beating, but my blood flowing through my veins. The soft susurration of my breathing along with the occasional creak as my joints moved slightly under miniscule contractions of my muscles. Eventually I could feel my mana, a small core of it inside my heart, pulsing in time with the beat, sending mana out to my body through the blood. I lost track of time, until I felt a needle pierce my neck. I could feel something within it flow rapidly through my body. ¡°Good luck, it has started.¡± Djarleen whispered, and I felt her presence back away. I could almost see the poison with my mental eye, attacking the connections between nerves. No, not attacking, simply invading. They would block it, like detritus blocking a storm drain. Unlike most storm sewers, I didn¡¯t have alternate routes for the nerve signals to go through. How in the world was I supposed to gain a resistance to this? I couldn¡¯t move. Wait, I couldn¡¯t move the major muscles. Other things, like my heart kept beating. Ok, that was one part. How do I counter it? I can still have bodily functions, but needed to clear the jams. Shadow mana! I started manipulating the mana inside me, having it move out from the blood to hunt through my body, finding and destroying the blockages. And so began the fight. I would clear it, and as I fought Djarleen would add more and more. Eventually I got to the point where I didn¡¯t have to actively fight the potion, and opened my eyes. ¡°Well, well, well, look who¡¯s showing progress!¡± Djarleen cackled evilly. ¡°It only took you four hours to get here, and now we get to do the fun stuff! Start with those lovely clockworks Shrik was describing to me. I will be slowly adding more poison, increasing as you are able to make more and more complex things.¡± Smilling, she jabbed me in the neck once again with a large needle. I got to work, and eventually had one entire wall covered in an intricate array of gears and belts, formed of only stone and shadow. Once I had that going, I started my own personal project. It took me the rest of the day, but what started out as a misshapen ambulatory blob eventually had resolved itself into a copy of me, down to the last detail. I had it going through forms, practicing my fighting style. By this point, Djarleen was almost constantly hitting me with new doses of the poison. ¡°Djarleen, I got this.¡± I said, reaching out and grabbing the last of the flask she had been dipping her needle in and chugging it down. ¡°Aaah.¡± I said, smacking my lips as I handed her the flask and standing to do battle with my shadow. Unfortunately, this proved too much. I just couldn¡¯t split my mind enough to attack and defend. Instead, I stood back and had the shadow mirror my movements, slowly walking through all the katas I knew. When Djarleen called time for the day, I let the shadow go with a massive sigh of relief. I logged out for the day, sending my apologies to the group via email that I wouldn¡¯t be making our normal dinner at the caf¨¦, instead heading home and dropping right to sleep. Book 2 Chapter 10 ¡°How goes the training Angus?¡± Alnoss asked as I walked in to the inn the next morning. ¡°Pretty well. The best part was meeting your little friend though. Has she been hiding around the inn the entire time?¡± ¡°Hehe, yep. She loves to hang out in the rafters and people watch. Most of the regulars know that I have a guardian up there, and they don¡¯t start anything. Those few that do end up with a set of slashes across the back ended any shenanigans very quickly.¡± ¡°After seeing the size of her? Hell yeah, I can understand quitting after one slash.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m surprised she doesn¡¯t try and curl up against the chimney in your kitchen.¡± ¡°Heh, she tried that as a kitten. The key to training them is to let ¡®em know early on what is and isn¡¯t acceptable.¡± ¡°So how did you do it? I haven¡¯t had to train pets yet.¡± ¡°We started putting her favorite food in the rafters in the main room, along with a nice soft bed for her. Soon enough she started waiting there for it.¡± ¡°Heh, sounds like you got some practice training a mate as well.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± She asked, head tilted. ¡°There¡¯s a saying where I¡¯m from. ¡®The way to a man¡¯s heart is through his stomach.¡¯ Pretty much if you want him to do what you want, feed him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s. . . I like that! And it really does fit. Though it took a bit for Khaliss to fall for it.¡± She said, staring off into space as she reminisced about something. ¡°Now, you should probably eat up so you can head out. We have a few people making wagers on your training.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Hah, yeah we do. Don¡¯t underestimate what bored people will bet on Angus.¡± ¡°And you gently encourage it, as I assume the House gets a small cut of the action?¡± ¡°Well, we do facilitate things.¡± She said with a grin, before patting me on my shoulder. ¡°Now, get to eating, I have money to make off you!¡± Chuckling, I started in on my food, sausage and eggs. I finished, and headed out to make sure Djarleen was ready, and we headed to the training grounds. I had mystic vision activated, so I noticed the magical emanations from the squirrel on top of one of the buildings, but didn¡¯t react. I wanted to see how Inkler would react to some spying. ¡°Angus, glad to see you have drastically improved the company you keep!¡± I heard Shrik taunt as I walked into the barracks training area. ¡°Heh, considering I usually end up with you or Khaliss, I would say I had nowhere to go but up!¡± ¡°Ah, but you wound me!¡± He fake cried, clutching at his heart. ¡°You keep some interesting company, apprentice.¡± Djarleen said with a smile. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that some guards received bardic training, but here stands one with a silver tongue.¡± Winking at Shrik, she sauntered past his gobsmacked expression, putting a little extra swing in her step. Stepping up to him, I patted him on the shoulder and gave him a bit of advice. ¡°You¡¯re already caught, man. You know it, I know it, and most importantly, she knows it. The one thing I wouldn¡¯t do is piss her off. From what I hear, there are still stories told about her training days in the alchemist guild.¡± He turned to stare at me, but I was already following Djarleen. ¡°Dragan! Codo! Podo! You three are training with Angus today!¡± Shrik yelled as he chased after us, and three drakelings split off and followed us with their spears. Once we got to the building, I opened a doorway but with much less skill than what Shrik did yesterday. ¡°Inkler.¡± I whispered as Shrik shut the door behind us. ¡°Saw a squirrel taking an inordinate amount of interest in us, you might have some visitors.¡± From across the room, I saw two silver eyes blink a few times before a Cheshire grin formed in the darkness. ¡°Okay everyone, here¡¯s how training is going to go.¡± I spoke louder. ¡°I¡¯ll start off doing some meditation while Djarleen poisons me. You three can practice your forms while I do that. I¡¯m sure Khaliss would particularly enjoy you practicing at the edges of the light, as switching from shadow to light and back can mess with depth perception. After I get a handle on countering the poison, we will start sparring, first one on one and hopefully by the end of the day it¡¯ll be three on one. Djarleen will have to stay close, so mind your blows if she calls a ¡®clear.¡¯ That¡¯ll be her cue to dart in and poison me again.¡± ¡°Everyone clear?¡± Shrik asked, and got nods all around. ¡°Great, then I¡¯ll just leave with one last bit of instruction from Khaliss himself. He feels that Angus here is missing a critical sense. In order to build his danger sense, Inkler will attack randomly from the shadows. Keep going until he dodges at least ten in a row. Oh, and you will need to remove your armor Angus. We wouldn¡¯t want Inkler to feel bad if he shreds it, would we?¡± He asked with a sadistic smile. ¡°No, it would be terrible if Inkler felt bad about anything.¡± I said, putting as much sarcasm into my voice as possible. As Shrik was chuckling, we saw some sparks flash near one of the lights. Walking underneath, we noticed four long slashes in the stone. A few feet away were two silver eyes, and though we couldn¡¯t see any of his face he still managed to convey smugness. ¡°Did¡¯ya get ¡®em?¡± Shrik asked, and the eyes nodded. ¡°Great job. I¡¯ll just tidy this up a bit.¡± He muttered, raising a hand and fixing the claw marks in the stone. ¡°Shrik.¡± I spoke, voice oddly calm. ¡°Were those inch deep gashes in the stone?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± ¡°From Inkler? And he is going to slash me like that?¡± He stopped and turned to look me right in the eyes, putting his hands on my shoulders. ¡°Only if you don¡¯t dodge it. I highly recommend dodging Angus.¡± Laughing like a madman, he headed out to do whatever he had planned for the day. ¡°Ok, you three have fun practicing for a bit, you know what you need to work on more than I do. I¡¯m heading over to this corner to meditate for a bit.¡± I sat in the corner with my eyes closed, focusing on my breathing. I quickly managed to tone out the scratching of the footwork of the three spearmen, and it seemed like the relaxation technique that Djarleen had me run through yesterday went much quicker today. I felt a needle pierce my neck again, and this time the poison acted a lot different. Instead of congregating around the nerves, this was a much more free flowing poison. Some would settle in to the large muscle groups, but didn¡¯t actually go into the muscles themselves. Instead, it formed a sort of sheath around the blood vessels. From there, it would drain a bit of everything passing through. Huh, that must be the stamina draining portion. It acted like a massive leech, causing you to burn through more resources for the same effect. The rest of the poison settled in my heart, where part of it was eating at my mana supply and the rest was consuming blood. I couldn¡¯t just swamp it with mana like the previous poison, as it was eating the mana. It also seemed to be immune to the destructive forces, or at least able to regenerate itself enough to counteract the problem. Not surprising, since this was a much higher tier poison. Well, if they were going to increase the power of the poison, I would have to increase the power of my mana. With my mind and shadow manipulation, I forced half of the mana that was in my core to concentrate, letting much less out per pulse. The poison surprised me, and actively pursued the less concentrated mana, letting me know I was on the right track. Once I had all my mana concentrated, I went to work. I started at the stuff concentrated in my heart, ripping it to shreds. I let small bits of it flow off in the blood, concentrating on breaking up the larger concentrations first. Once that was done, I went hunting. It was a bit complicated, keeping the new concentrated mana circulating through my body as I directed it to hunt the lingering bits of poison in my blood. I felt Djarleen apply new poison every so often, and found it much easier to attack it before it could get a foothold in places. Once I thought I had a good bit of control, I stood up and looked at the three drakelings. ¡°So, can I assume from the names Codo and Podo, you two are closely related?¡± ¡°Twins.¡± They replied in unison. ¡°Perfect. Do you two work well together?¡± ¡°The best. We often know what the other is thinking, and can plan attack routines accordingly.¡± ¡°Great, you two practice together for a bit, Dragan here is going to battle me first.¡± The largest of the three nodded, and stepped into the middle of the area. We both took slightly defensive stances, and I nodded at him. Within a half a second, he exploded into action, unleashing a flurry of blows designed to test my speed with my weapon as well as my mobility. I parried where appropriate, angling my body to take the power out of his strikes where I couldn¡¯t. Due to his reach, I didn¡¯t even try and approach at first, content to learn his fighting style. Unfortunately, he revealed very little, settling in to wear me out with shallow jabs that barely drew blood. Death from a Thousand Cuts. It wasn¡¯t flashy, but it was a tried and true way to take out your enemy with as little danger to yourself as possible. Well, I couldn¡¯t let things go any further like this, so I tried a little trickery. Charging forward, I crafted a buckler type shield to intercept his decending spear and deflect it safely away from me. His eyes widened in shock at first, before narrowing in concentration as he smiled. Looks like Khaliss gave me trainees that enjoyed a challenge. ¡°Clear!¡± Djarleen called, and we both froze while she stabbed me in the neck once again. A second later, we heard her say, ¡°Resume.¡± We immediately started battling, only this time Dragan was on the defensive. He was incredibly proficient at deflecting my strikes, though I wasn¡¯t quite going full speed. I threw a slow attack from the right, easily blocked. Once he started moving to block it, I stepped forward and slammed my left fist into his ribs, but was disappointed to only get a grunt. Of course, he retaliated by slamming his tail into my ankles, and bringing the butt of his spear into an overhead strike that I had to commit both hands on my weapon to stop, and even then it was a close thing. Disengaging, we looked each other up and down, both having been surprised at some point in the battle. Smiling, I started to move forward once again only to feel a burning slash across my back, surprise causing me to stumble and take a vicious jab from Dragan right into my solar plexus. Just like Khaliss probably taught him, his assault didn¡¯t end there as he stepped forward and swung his spear butt in a sweep from the right side aimed straight at my head.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. This was going to hurt quite a bit if I did nothing, and I had a feeling that he was expecting my shadow shield to reappear. Instead I flung a glob of darkness at his spear, changing it into a chain that locked it to the ground as swiftly as possible. The spear stopped short, and he quickly took mental control of it as I smacked his elbow with my hammer, not having the mental ability to fight off the poison, maintain control of the shadow, and keep attacking physically. He backed away this time, shaking his hand to get feeling back. I would have pursued, but that loss of the chain had left me with a bit of a backlash, manifesting in a spiking pain behind an eye. It left swiftly, but still was one more distraction in battle that I just couldn¡¯t afford. Just before we resumed, I got a sensation like the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end, and I dove to the side in a roll without thinking. Turning back, I saw silver eyes looking disappointingly between myself and the four claws that were still unsheathed. Inkler narrowed his eyes at me in annoyance, then disappeared back into the shadows. ¡°How? I didn¡¯t even sense his attack until his claws unsheathed, and you were moving before that.¡± Podo asked from across the room. ¡°Ever had that feeling, that something was watching you? You feel slight tingles on the back of your neck? That¡¯s what I felt, and I moved before I thought.¡± The three trainees all nodded, and Dragan beckoned me to return to the fight. Battle resumed, and we both must have decided that the probing attacks were done as we went at it with abandon. It seemed that Dragan was holding back his speed as well, as he had no issues with my increase. We managed to battle through two more reapplications of poison before I called a break, having burned through a good bit of my energy. I was still fighting the poison, but it had taken the upper hand and I needed to meditate to get it back under control. I took the better part of an hour, wanting to have my health regenerate a bit. Once I had recovered, I stood once more. ¡°Alright you guys, time to test out the twins.¡± Dragan backed away to watch, as the twins stepped forward, leaving a decent gap between themselves. ¡°BEGIN!¡± I shouted, and they immediately moved to flank me, something that I had assumed would happen. To prevent it, I had a stone hand reach up from the floor and grab at one of them. Though it didn¡¯t manage to grab anything, it did destroy his footwork splendidly and allow me to charge in and smash his chest with a hammer blow before I was spinning and defending from a furious onslaught from his twin. I kept my momentum, and used it to circle around so that both twins were in my field of vision, using lessons learned from battlefield control to the fullest. Something told me that those two would cover each other¡¯s openings nearly flawlessly, and that unless I wanted to be in pain I needed to keep them from attacking in tandem. They made me work for it, but I managed to keep them apart for the majority of the fight. The issues usually arrived when Inkler decided to take a swipe or two at me, not always going for the back either. I took a large gash on the thigh as I was weapon locked with one of the twins, and the loss of mobility really put me in a bind as I kept taking jabs from the remaining twin. I actually had to make my shadow copy in order to escape from them, but I was kinda proud of how it went down. I dove to my left, the same side as the spare twin and left a shadow where I was previously. The nearer twin stabbed the clone in the chest, and I transformed the clingy shadows into solid stone and locked his weapon. Then it was simple to defend against the free weapon as the first twin took precious seconds to free his weapon. We all took a bit to recover after that exchange. ¡°You have quite a few surprising secrets Angus.¡± Dragan said. ¡°I had no idea we could convert shadow to stone.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t either, but I needed to bind that weapon if I was going to get out of that predicament. It helps if you start the conversion on the shadow immediately around the shaft, as then you can expand it to whatever you need and don¡¯t run the risk of them removing the spear from the shadow before you can catch it.¡± I explained while panting. ¡°Now, I¡¯m sorry to say this but I need a bit of a breather. I¡¯ve almost mastered fighting this annoying poison, but it has effectively cut my regeneration in half.¡± ¡°What would you say if some of us wanted to go through this ritual?¡± One of the twins, Podo I think, asked. ¡°Let¡¯s see how I end up, and you can see if you can pay Djarleen to do it for you. Remember, it takes two days for every five levels you have. I would also suggest talking with Khaliss for some intensive training like what we are doing, as it helps to have something to fill your time.¡± I ended up taking almost half an hour, spending that time using my shadow to battle with Dragan while Codo and Podo fought. When Dragan and I took small breaks, I was busy checking out the battle between the twins. They were so in tuned with each other that they could react to the slightest muscle twitch, and most of their battle was subtle shifting of position for a minute followed by an incredibly rapid exchange of blows that usually came out in a draw. ¡°Ok, switch partners.¡± I said, and got all three people looking at me weirdly. ¡°What, do you two.¡± I pointed at the twins. ¡°Seriously think that your only opponents in life will be those who fight with the same style as your twin? Or that you will know them well enough to adjust based on the slightest twitch? Dragan now gets to fight with Codo, and my shadow will spar with Podo.¡± Switching partners did a number on the poor twins, as they found themselves falling for all but the most obvious of feints. I would have felt slightly bad about things, but I was sure Khaliss would have done far worse to them if they didn¡¯t take steps to remedy the situation. I called a break after fifteen minutes, as they had both taken some rather serious blows in the meantime. ¡°So, what did we learn?¡± I asked through the glares of the twins. ¡°That you are just as sadistic as Khaliss.¡± ¡°Dragan hits harder than Podo.¡± ¡°Flexibility in your style is key.¡± ¡°Good points, but I want you two to listen to Dragan¡¯s reasoning. Can you explain that?¡± ¡°I can try. Um. It¡¯s like how we started, you do small probing attacks to figure out what your opponent is capable of. Find any habits you can exploit. Angus prefers sweeping parries, which would leave him open to a follow through from the spear butt if he didn¡¯t have that shadow shield he can summon.¡± ¡°Right. It will also be obvious in those initial blows if there is a large skill disparity. If you are much stronger skill wise, it is fine to overpower your foe with skillful blows. If not, you will need something to bridge that gap. Ideas for those?¡± ¡°Tricks.¡± The twins replied in unison while Dragan thought for a bit, then shrugged. ¡°Tricks will work, but another thing you can do is delay.¡± ¡°Delay?¡± Dragan asked, confused. ¡°Yes. If you can¡¯t beat your opponent, but you can delay them until help arrives, go ahead and do so.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be, I dunno, weak?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. Take the twins here. I can probably beat them one on one, with a bit of work. But if one is fighting defensively while waiting on his brother to arrive, I am at a severe disadvantage. First, I am needlessly expending energy in a fruitless endeavor. Sure, I might injure him a bit but my chances of a decisive blow are minimal. So his brother arrives, and now they can bring their combined might to bear. This puts us at equal skill, if not slightly in their favor, as well as fighting an enemy that is already tired and frustrated, both of which will lead to mistakes on my part.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that, not very honorable?¡± One of the twins asked. ¡°So? At the end of the day, would you rather be honorable or dead? If it really bothers you, think of it like this. Honor is for duels; pragmatism is for battle. In battle all that really matters is the other guy is dead. Nobody will care if you blinded him with mud or your brother stabbed him in the back as you had him in a weapon lock. Now, are you guys ready for the best part of the day?¡± ¡°Oh god, he¡¯s got that look that Khaliss gets.¡± Dragan muttered. ¡°Perfect! No objections, so now we get to battle. Three on one!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little, one sided?¡± Codo asked. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right. Djarleen, hand me the rest of that vial of poison. I need to even the odds for these guys a bit, so I¡¯ll be drinking it before battle.¡± Chugging the last third of the bottle, I quickly turned and charged at the still seated trainees. ¡°FIGHT!¡± I screamed, and took great pleasure at their astonished faces as they scrambled to get into a fighting posture. Each one took a pulled blow from my scythe end, hard enough to emphasize that I hit a vital area like the neck or a kidney, but light enough that it wouldn¡¯t interfere with the fight. ¡°Always be prepared! Lesson one failed!¡± I cackled, as I started lashing out in all directions. I did the opposite of my battle with the twins, and let them surround me. I wasn¡¯t really at any detriment, as I could read the telegraphing blows from the eyes of the two I could see, and also spinning let me switch focus rapidly between opponents. After a half a minute where they couldn¡¯t land a blow, I started fighting really dirty. Grabbing Podo¡¯s spear, I jerked him into the path of Dragan¡¯s blow, snickering at the thud of the impact. ¡°Know what your allies are doing at all times. Lesson two failed!¡± I shoved Podo, further throwing him and Dragan into disarray. Dragan was shocked that he had actually hit Podo, so I got him back into the fight with a punch to the jaw. ¡°If you strike an ally, keep your head in the game. Lesson two point five failed!¡± I said, dropping to the ground and sweeping with a stone enhanced tail to both dodge the spear thrust from Codo and knock him off balance. The tail mace was rather effective, but I didn¡¯t have the strength to hold it more than an inch off the ground. ¡°All parts of a monster are a weapon. Lesson three failed!¡± I said as I used a spinning overhand blow to help Codo head towards the ground. Smiling at the next feeling, I created a blob of taffy like shadow on my back, before spinning to grab the paw of a rather surprised Inkler and spinning him into the Podo Dragan mix. ¡°Never be predictable, especially from ambush. Lesson four failed!¡± I chuckled, watching as the three tried to extricate themselves but kept getting tangled from a panicked Inkler. I circled around them and hit Dragan in the kidneys, sending him stumbling but finally breaking up the tangle. ¡°Never lose sight of your opponent. Lesson five failed!¡± I said, sliding my hand up the shaft of my weapon and using it as a weight to add force to my punches. Poor Podo was only able to partially block the first one before a flurry had him tripping over his feet in a mad scramble to get away. ¡°Some weapons can be wielded in strange manners, completely changing their attack range and patterns. Lesson six, failed!¡± I said after a particularly vicious punch to Podo¡¯s snout. I turned to see that in the meantime, Codo and Dragan had separated themselves, and taken the time to reset their stances. ¡°Sacrificing a comrade might be necessary. Use the most of it. Lesson seven, passed.¡± I said with a smile, stepping away from Podo so that he couldn¡¯t tangle my footing. We were all breathing heavily at this point, and I thought I caught a gleam of inspiration in Dragan¡¯s eyes before he did something completely unexpected. Tossing his spear crosswise at me, he charged in right behind it. As I dealt with the unexpected weapon, he grabbed my arm and slid around behind me, putting me into a very competent full nelson. ¡°He¡¯s wide open, finish it!¡± Dragan shouted at Codo, who only hesitated for a fraction of a second before pulling a blow that struck right where my heart was. I noticed that even as the blow was landing, Dragan had spun and let go with his left hand, so that should the spear pierce through he wouldn¡¯t be sacrificed as well. ¡°Being unexpected can lead to opportunities, if properly exploited. Lesson eight, passed.¡± I said chuckling before collapsing onto my butt. ¡°Sacrificing your weapon to bind a superior opponent, you allowed an ally the killing blow while leaving yourself an exit. Quite impressive teamwork everyone.¡± We all started and turned to see Khaliss had come in at some point, and we had all missed it. ¡°But you failed to keep track of your surroundings. Lesson nine, was it? Lesson nine failed. That includes you too, Angus.¡± ¡°But when? How?¡± I stammered. ¡°Dancing shadow steps. I thought for sure one of you would notice that one of the lights is now blocked. I used the shadow from that to drop down into the room here. Which brings us to lesson ten: attacks may come from all directions, don¡¯t limit yourself to two dimensions. Overall, I would give that battle lesson a 7 out of 10. You are all improving, but we still have a ways to go. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I think our time is up for the day. Thank you Angus, for the impromptu lessons.¡± ¡°Hey, thanks for loaning them to me for the day. I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t break them, so can I borrow your trainees again in the future?¡± ¡°If need be, probably. What about tomorrow?¡± ¡°No, tomorrow it will need to be just him.¡± Djarleen interrupted, and explained further when we all stared at her. ¡°Tomorrow we start the application of Death¡¯s Knell. It is far and away the most destructive poison crafted by alchemy. He will need to devote the entire day without distraction to countering it, and even that might not be enough.¡± ¡°Very well. See you the day after tomorrow then Angus. Djarleen.¡± He said, nodding at each of us before creating an opening in the wall and leading his trainees out. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± I asked, though judging by the name it was going to be pretty horrible. ¡°Yes. I hope you prepare yourself, as the time between applications is triple, and we are supposed to start with your non dominant hand instead of the neck.¡± She said in an incredibly serious tone. ¡°The first dose, I am supposed to just barely break the surface with the needle. That is enough to kill things, so please be careful. I can probably count on one hand the number of natural poisons that even come close, and the only ones that are more powerful are semi divine in nature.¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen.¡± I said, with just as much gravity as she just gave me. ¡°I will take this seriously, and I appreciate everything you have done so far. I won¡¯t let you kill your apprentice.¡± ¡°You better not. Now go and get some sleep, tomorrow you descend into hell.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± I said with a mock salute, then headed to the inn to log out for the night. I kept murmuring to myself that I would make my own house one of these days, but it always ended up as a low priority. Book 2 Chapter 11 ¡°Be thankful mortals, for I have deigned to grace you with my presence once again!¡± I joked as I strode into Caf¨¦ Oblivion and headed towards our table. Derrick made a show of swinging at something by his ear, before finally slapping it and muttering, ¡°Damned mosquitoes, always buzzing around where they, OH HEY MARTY! Didn¡¯t see ya there.¡± ¡°Touche.¡± I chuckled as I plopped down into a seat. ¡°Ugh, I think I deserve a nice bit of cake after poisoning myself for two days. Any recommendations?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I thought I heard something crazy. Are you poisoning yourself in game?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°And if so, you want the triple death by chocolate.¡± ¡°Yeah, found a nice little ritual to make me almost immune to poison. Two days per five levels, and tomorrow starts the poisoning via Death¡¯s Knell.¡± I said, looking through the menu before coming up to Phoebe¡¯s recommendation. ¡°That¡¯s some.¡± Jon started before I interrupted. ¡°One second Jon, there¡¯s description of chocolate here that I have to put my full attention to.¡± I said, before looking back at the menu. ¡°Just like Phoebe. Oof!¡± Jon muttered. The description looked perfect. Three layers of chocolate cake, separated by an orange flavor enhanced chocolate frosting. The top was covered with shavings of dark chocolate as well as orange zest. ¡°Lord have mercy, and please don¡¯t judge me for what I¡¯m about to do to this cake.¡± I muttered as I ordered it, and dug right in. ¡°I really hope I haven¡¯t walked in to someone doing things that need to be censored with a cake.¡± We all turned to see Emily standing there with her hands on her hips. I guiltily wiped chocolate frosting from my mouth, before shrugging and turning back to my cake. Emily could wait. ¡°Hah! Don¡¯t bother just yet Em, Phoebe is the same way when she gets that kind of cake. Last time I tried to get a forkful of it, she ended up stabbing me.¡± ¡°Shush.¡± Phoebe said, elbowing Jon. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt cake time, you know how important it can be.¡± ¡°So, what brings our illustrious game manager down here in the trenches with the rest of us?¡± Derrick asked her. ¡°Some clarification of an email from Marty here. We got in contact with Rycran, and he is all for publicizing the rematch between the two of them. Do you want to do it on the first day or the last day?¡± ¡°Last.¡± I said between bites. ¡°I will keep a few tricks up my sleeve for him, but he can get some hints from the message boards. That¡¯ll make it fair.¡± ¡°Very well, we will put out a game wide announcement for the new dungeons. Which reminds me, are the rest of you wanting to go back into your own dungeons? They lowered the limit to three days instead of seven.¡± ¡°I probably would, but I need to evolve first.¡± Derrick said. ¡°I¡¯m out.¡± Phoebe answered. ¡°I¡¯m already on a long quest chain, and though I don¡¯t have a time limit on it I still want to finish it as swiftly as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Jon said simply. ¡°Great. How soon should we start?¡± ¡°I need at least two more days of training before I can go in.¡± I said. ¡°I will need that long to make it back to my village, I assume I need to be there to be transported to the dungeon?¡± ¡°Yes Jon, that¡¯s a requirement. And I¡¯m glad that you two can go at the same time. So, in three days the dungeons will open. You will get one day to prepare, but the light siders will also get their own day¡¯s warning. After that, three days of battle. For you, Marty, Rycran¡¯s party will be the first one allowed in on the last day. We will be doing a live stream of it, and placing bets all over the game world.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Wil they have all communication cut off? Not that I think Rycran would cheat, he seems like a stand up kinda guy, but I don¡¯t know about his fellows.¡± ¡°Yes. All communication except party chat will be cut off, and once they enter the dungeon they will have one minute to get their entire party there. Anyone outside of the dungeon after that initial minute gets kicked from the party to prevent cheating through that avenue. Anything else?¡± ¡°Not that I can think of, I¡¯m just excited to get this going again. We are still allowed to play psychological games, right?¡± ¡°Of course. Since it is also a second tier dungeon, you will have a blacksmith on hand to forge additions to your traps and any gear you will need. Your food won¡¯t give any bonuses, but any gear you bring will give you boosts. Players, should they manage to kill you, will get drops from you but you won¡¯t lose your equipment.¡± She said, all business. ¡°Oh, and make sure you sell your first death as hard as you can, as there will be a special drop for whoever manages to kill you.¡± ¡°Sounds like fun.¡± Derrick said. ¡°Any idea what these special drops will entail?¡± ¡°I do, but am bound not to tell you. Just say, that it will be fantastic and something everyone will want.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Ok, my work here is done, unless you guys have noticed anything you need addressed? Great, I will be around should you need me, and I¡¯m always just an email away.¡± Once she was gone, we all relaxed just a little bit. ¡°Huh.¡± Jon said, commenting on our relaxation. ¡°Guess she still comes across as a boss, no matter how friendly.¡± ¡°God, that¡¯s what it is. I like her, she¡¯s friendly but you¡¯re right. It¡¯s the boss aura.¡± Derrick said. ¡°So, how goes your quest Phoebe? I heard you mention it to Emily.¡± ¡°Pretty well Marty. I¡¯ve gained a few levels, but more importantly got a clue to the first of the Full Moon Kings that was referenced. Unfortunately, I have to head up north.¡± ¡°Too cold? And why are you sure it¡¯s the north?¡± ¡°Yeah. I hate the cold. But the clue was this: Fur as pale as the full moon¡¯s glow, this stellar creature points to the directional star you need to follow to find him.¡± ¡°Sounds like a lovely riddle, but I¡¯m not quite sure how you get head north out of that.¡± ¡°Ah, not a fan of constellations?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Ok, stargazing one oh one. There are a lot of creatures that are named in the stars, but one of my favorites has always been Ursa Major, which means Greater Bear. Two stars in that constellation point to Polaris, the North Star. So, basically head north to find the bear with pale fur. I¡¯m heading up there to find a shapeshifting polar bear.¡± ¡°Huh, that makes sense. Any other things it could be? Is there a South Star?¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s no South Star.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Just the North Star.¡± ¡°Ok then. Sounds like you are in for some fun times. Good luck staying warm. So what about you Derrick, still exterminating bandits?¡± ¡°Pretty much. I have half a mind to try and boost my level by exterminating a small town or two, but it would be too much of a hassle. I¡¯ll have to stick with the bandits and wild animals.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad. You got the worst of the experience detriments, and you can¡¯t even get a major quest line. Have you tried emailing the devs about that?¡± ¡°Yep. They said they were working on some quest lines, and making the trolls a little more interactive, but there¡¯s nothing they can do to fix my situation.¡± We all lifted a glass to his misery, and just relaxed for the rest of the night. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The next morning, I headed out after settling for a ration instead of a meal from Alnoss. I didn¡¯t want to waste the good meal if I ended up vomiting, as I had no idea what the poison would do to my body. Djarleen wasn¡¯t at her store, so I headed down to the barracks and saw her loitering near our training building, keeping company with Shrik. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not interrupting anything.¡± I said as I sauntered up, chuckling as Shrik jumped away just a bit. ¡°Watch yourself apprentice.¡± Djarleen warned, narrowing her eyes at me. ¡°I hold your life in my hands for the next few days.¡± ¡°Sorry Djarleen, I just couldn¡¯t help getting under Shrik¡¯s skin just a bit.¡± ¡°Oh, feel free to do that, just don¡¯t use me to do it. Do you know how long I had to work just to get him this far?¡± ¡°You have my word, I¡¯ll leave your relationship out of it.¡± I said, hand on my heart. ¡°Sorry Shrik, but I need to borrow her for the day. She is the only one with the skill to keep me on the verge of death, without actually killing me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine Angus, I just wish that keeping people on the edge of death wasn¡¯t in her skill set.¡± ¡°Why does that worry you dear? You aren¡¯t thinking of straying, are you? Because you know what will happen if you do.¡± She smiled sweetly, and both Shrik and I visibly shivered. ¡°Shrik, I hope you never had any harem fantasies growing up, because if you did you might want to let them go. Yesterday.¡± ¡°Nope. Never. Not gonna happen.¡± He replied, then turned and left at a rather brisk pace. ¡°Do you really have to terrify him so much?¡± I asked Djarleen as I made a hole for us to enter, slightly better than the one from the previous day. ¡°Yep. If he doesn¡¯t fear my wrath more than the enjoyment he gets from straying, then he is going to stray. We can¡¯t have that.¡± ¡°I, guess that sounds logical? I dunno, something just seems off but I can¡¯t put my finger on it.¡± ¡°Either way it isn¡¯t your problem. Now, sit down here in the middle and enter your meditative state. When you are ready, I will apply the first dose. You must start to counter it immediately; I can¡¯t stress that enough.¡± So once more I found myself meditating before being poisoned. It must have been the practice, as I easily slipped into the trance required this time. Something had changed from those first days though, something hard to put a finger on. My mana was still denser, as that had become an automatic response by this point, but still that wasn¡¯t quite it. Did my mana seem to. . .hunger? It almost seemed like a predator, patrolling its area and just waiting to pounce. Then there was an intruder. On the backside of my left hand, I felt it launch a terrible assault. This was far different from other poisons, and I scrambled to counter it. Hunt it down and destroy it before it could do the same to me. Other poisons had specifics they acted on, but those specifics tended to be clustered in certain areas. This poison ripped through whatever it came in contact with. My mana was on a desperate hunt through a forests floor littered with detritus, trying to find ants that were constantly scurrying about. Once I had the idea to form something akin to a fire break, and completely encircle the affected area, I was able to slowly move forward and study what the poison was doing. ¡°It¡¯s ripping apart the cell membranes!¡± I murmured in shock. The little basic biology and chemistry I recalled from high school finally good for something, I watched in fascination as part of me battled to keep it from spreading. The poison was a catalyst, moving from membrane to membrane and literally ripping it apart, but it wasn¡¯t consumed in the process. This left it free to move on to the next membrane, leaving devastation in its wake. The inner portions of the now dead cells served to hide the poisonous agent, but that wasn¡¯t all. It also served as raw materials for a second set of compounds, that were salvaging what they needed to make more of the catalyst that started it all. Dear god, this poison was the stuff of nightmares. It would exponentially grow stronger the longer it was allowed to act, and even if you managed to cure the part that was slaughtering cells with reckless abandon, it would only come back as the second portion recreated more of the first. No wonder this didn¡¯t have a cure, you would actually need two cures to fix it! Marshalling all my concentration, I used a portion of my mana to hold the line and prevent further infection while I sent little bits behind the line to ¡®assassinate¡¯ the production compounds. Once the factories were disabled, I was able to slaughter through the rest of the problem and gain ground. Eventually I managed to clear my system. I came out of my trance panting, feeling drained. Looking at the back of my hand was a mistake, as several scales had fallen off and I was left with a seeping wound. ¡°Just under three hours, not bad.¡± Djarleen commented with clinical detachment. ¡°Three hours? It seemed like ten minutes!¡± ¡°Seriously apprentice? You just survived a fatal dose of the world¡¯s most potent poison, and you complain about how long it took?¡± Just for good measure she smacked the back of my head. ¡°We are supposed to take a half hour break while you recover, and there is no training to be done during this time. Instead, you will tell me how the poison worked, and what exactly you did to counter it. I can only imagine the fame that would come from finally discovering the cure for this terrifying poison.¡± ¡°Poisons.¡± I corrected, still feeling too worn out to reply in more than a few words. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Poisons. Heh. Heh. There are. Heh. Two. Heh. Poisons.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s, not possible?¡± She asked, confused. I held up a finger to stall her, flopping onto my back so that I could rest for a bit, before switching almost immediately to my side for comfort. Damn tail. After a five-minute breather, where Djarleen got increasingly agitated, I continued, ¡°There are two poisons. The first rips through the cell membranes, leaving the innards of the cells alone. That doesn¡¯t matter, as the cell is already dead at that point. The second one sifts through what the first left, and makes more of it.¡± Eyes wide, Djarleen must have seen what I saw earlier. ¡°No wonder we could only stall the poison!¡± Standing and pacing, she was murmuring to herself about how to go about killing the second poison. I tuned her out, happily taking the distraction as time to recover as best as I could. I used a bit of water from a canteen to wash out what I could, grimacing at the stinging sensation. The result was worth it. My wound went from some blackened charcoal ash to a perfect circle of clean, red flesh. ¡°Ok, ready for round two?¡± ¡°I suppose. You aren¡¯t putting it in the same spot, are you?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll be working my way up your arm. I was expecting a lot more damage to be honest. You did well, Angus.¡± She said the last bit with a soft smile. ¡°Are you ready?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied after taking a breath to center myself. ¡°Go ahead.¡± The time it took for me to clear the poison was dropping, as I had a plan of attack and was able to rapidly neutralize the factory part of the poison before returning to mop up the rest. The rest of the day left me with gradually smaller craters moving up a line in my arm, and we had barely gone through any of the poison in the bottle. ¡°So I¡¯m a little worried here Djarleen.¡± I mentioned, pointing to the bottles. ¡°Did you order extra poison?¡± ¡°No. We will be using both vials of poison tomorrow. You should probably go straight to bed.¡± She said while staring at me. After it got uncomfortable, I finally capitulated. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go straight to bed after this.¡± She just smiled a victorious smile, and I headed over to the inn. I kept a cloak over my arm so that Alnoss wouldn¡¯t fuss over it, and decided that it would be easiest to just sleep in the game for tonight. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°ANGUS! RISE AND SHINE!¡± Shouting accompanied a godawful racket at my inn door the next morning. I rolled out of the bed with a groan. Having slept rather horridly the night before, I fell flat on my face as my legs got tangled in the blankets. Luckily for me, whoever was at the door heard my spate of cursing. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re up at last. From that thunk, you need to boost your agility. Fear not! Today¡¯s your lucky day!¡± Fed up, I flung open the door to see Khaliss smiling at me. ¡°I¡¯ll be down for breakfast in a minute, let a guy wake up.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± He said, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me out of the room. ¡°No breakfast, straight to training.¡± ¡°Damnit, today is really gonna suck.¡± ¡°You have no idea.¡± He muttered, not realizing that I caught it. I followed him through an empty dining room and out into the barracks. Something about the lack of sound made them entirely too creepy, and I found myself babbling to him to break the silence. ¡°So what¡¯s in store for me today?¡± ¡°Training.¡± He replied, unwilling to give me a detailed answer. Soon enough though we were into the training room, though it had gone through some annoying renovations. Instead of one large room, we were sectioned off into a corner barely the size of a prison cell. The only things of note were a stone stool and table, Djarleen, and a stone pole with an odd contraption on it. ¡°Sit down, and I¡¯ll explain things. Merely getting scratches aren¡¯t the only ways to poison someone. All of the food on this table here has been poisoned with Death¡¯s Knell. I will put a plate in front of you, and over the course of ten minutes you are to eat it. While that is going, I am hanging this half full poison vial on that stand to your right. The poison will drip down through this sand, before it will flow into your veins. You will have to fight off both avenues of poison at once, and after three hours we will move on to the last part of your training. No time for questions, here we go.¡± Khaliss forced me into a seat, which wasn¡¯t too hard considering I was too confused to offer resistance. I got a plate of bread and a glass of water, and started eating mechanically as I struggled to drop into a meditative state. Between my stomach almost immediately cramping and the liquid fire slowly pouring into my arm, I almost didn¡¯t make it. The only saving grace was how the three days of practice I had earlier had trained my system to automatically fight invaders. It was still doing it in a stupid manner, simply throwing itself at the invaders with no strategy, but it was at least able to localize the damage. I had to let my body fight the injections from Djarleen on autopilot, as my stomach was rapidly deteriorating. I was counting my lucky stars that I hadn¡¯t developed ulcers, as these rapidly developing sores were bleeding and agonizing. I could feel the acid bubbling, and knew belching would come up with far more than just gas. I had to stop eating, as I was retching globs of blood. This, of course, spread the poison up my esophagus, and now my throat and stomach were on fire. I desperately tried to line both with mana to slow the attack, but there was just too much to do. Panic set in. I was holding my stomach in the fetal position, dry heaving unproductively. At this point, I wasn¡¯t going to survive and I think everyone knew it. I concentrated as much shadow mana in the base of my stomach as I could, held it for half a second, and let it fire up and out in a mad gambit to destroy everything I had eaten. ¡°Aaaaaggggh!¡± Coughing and spluttering, shadowy wisps of mana blasted out of my mouth and almost immediately dissipated. I laid there for a bit, trying to marshal my mana to fight the poison still in my system. While I was doing that, I took stock of what my shadow vomit had done. The lining of my esophagus was absolutely shredded. And though you couldn¡¯t be hurt by your own mana, there was nothing saying that a poison forced upwards and to the sides of your shadow mana burst wouldn¡¯t viciously erode anything it came in contact with. ¡°That was most unpleasant.¡± I joked with a groan. ¡°Holy shit, he¡¯s still alive.¡± Djarleen muttered. ¡°Are you?¡± ¡°Give me a little bit.¡± I said as I sat back in the chair. Taking several deep breaths, I tried to get an idea of how to combat poisoning via food intake. I couldn¡¯t just nuke everything I ate with mana, as it would rot it and destroy any benefit I got out of it. Instead I created several half bubbles of shadow mana in my stomach, and let them float freely. I needed something else though, some way to trigger the mana into attacking. ¡°Djarleen, which one is the most poisonous?¡± ¡°The fish.¡± She immediately replied, but I could tell she wanted to ask why. ¡°If it works, I¡¯ll fill you in.¡± Holding my hand over the plate, I started moving it around with my eyes closed. Once I felt a tingle, I stopped and focused on it. What was I feeling? Tingles along my neck. Why? It must be the poisoned fish, as I had finally intentionally set off that danger sense Khaliss was trying to get Inkler to instill in me. I worked hard to clear my mind, leaving only the tingle on my neck and what exactly was causing it. Sometime later, I felt it. Hard to pinpoint, but I felt an all-consuming hunger. The gluttonous kind, that would never be satisfied. It wasn¡¯t even wanting to eat, just to rip things apart. Destroy everything it came in contact with. Confident I had it, I switched to a different plate, feeling for that resonance. It was fainter, but I found it. Tricky Djarleen, she didn¡¯t put it soup, but I felt it on the spoon on the side of the bowl. I moved along the dishes, finding exactly where the poison was hidden. Each one harder to find, but sharpening my sense of things as I went along. Now that I had the feeling, how was I supposed to counter everything? Could I imprint this feeling into my mana and have it actively seek and destroy it anytime it entered my body? ¡°I¡¯m going to try something, please don¡¯t start stabbing me with poison until I ask.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I interrupted her. ¡°But I think I have what the ritual was wanting to confer on people.¡± Eyes closed, I focused on the feeling of the poison and that I wanted my mana to hunt that down and destroy it utterly. I started eating the bread, slowly chewing it. As I went along, I felt the reaction from my mana. Any that was flowing through my head started swarming towards my mouth, though it was too slow to get the poison as I swallowed. The mana in my stomach reacted almost immediately, and all the poison was swiftly destroyed, and the rest of the food was left untouched. ¡°I think I have it, feel free to poison me as much as you want.¡± I told Djarleen before I really started tearing into the food. Gradually I let myself drift away from focusing on the feeling of the poison. My mana kept up the fight, and I smiled as I felt it start responding to the needle even before it would come into contact with me. I was only part of the way through the poisoned food, but I immediately went to the fish dish. I tilted my head to the side in confusion before I could take a bite. Setting it back down, I scraped off a bit of the breading and examined my food. The more I thought about it, the more that what I was seeing started to make sense. The poison was concentrated in the breading of the fish. The portion of the fish that had touched the breading had started to develop a slightly greyish film, while the body of the fish that I had cut was a gorgeous flaky white. ¡°Djarleen, Khaliss. Look at this, and tell me whether you guys see a grey film on the top of this fish.¡± I asked, and both leaned over my shoulder to examine it. ¡°I do see it. What does it mean?¡± Khaliss asked. ¡°Djarleen?¡± ¡°Yeah, I see it too. So?¡± ¡°So it is important. Think about it, what¡¯s the main difference between plant and animal cells?¡± ¡°Their source?¡± Djarleen suggested with a bit of sarcasm. ¡°Ugh. No. Plants have a cell wall, animals have a cell membrane. They are completely different. When you poisoned all of these foods, you always injected it into the vegetables or put it on metal, didn¡¯t you? If you had put it on meat, it would have started reacting. Remember, it reproduces itself, but only if it can get to the membrane. The plant walls protect their cells, preventing it from expanding. The fish doesn¡¯t have that protection, and you can see it starting to produce more. I bet if we put a drop of that poison on a bit of meat, it would eventually turn it all into poison.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯ve never heard of these cell walls, but you aren¡¯t the first to put forth the claim that Death¡¯s Knell can only go into plants if you want someone to ingest it. Let¡¯s put your idea to the test.¡± She pulled out a bottle, dropped a bit of raw meat into it and handed me the vial and one with the poison. ¡°Since you can resist the poison, I¡¯ll let you put that drop into the new vial and cap it. Then we keep it for a week and check it out.¡± Nodding at her, I did as she asked and carefully transferred a small bit of poison to the new container. Popping a cap on I handed it back to her. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll monitor it, and keep notes. Now, are we ready to go back to training?¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll take the plunge.¡± I said, and drained the rest of the vial of poison right in front of them, confident that my mana would protect me. About twenty seconds later, I let out a massive belch. Perhaps I had overestimated my mana¡¯s ability to deal with that much poison right away, but it did a fantastic job fighting it off. I only earned one extra ulcer from it, and it wasn¡¯t even bleeding. ¡°Damned crazy adventurers.¡± Khaliss muttered, before waving at the wall and revealing the rest of the training space. Parkour hell was the only way I could describe it. ¡°Since you need some help with agility, you get to run this course. To start, we have the staggered balance beams.¡± As we got closer, I finally saw what he meant. There were seven balance beams, each only ten feet long. The back of one was even with the end of the previous one, only the first four dogged to the right leaving the last three to dog left, forming a v shape. ¡°You will run along the beams, jumping to the next one while losing as little speed as possible. Fall off, and you get to try it again. Every five times you fall off, you get hit with a spear.¡± Walking along, we came to a small tower situated right by the edge of the room. ¡°Part two is the shadow swing. Climb the tower and turn right. See those small rings in the ceiling?¡± I could see several spaced out through the entire length of the room, and nodded. ¡°Great. You have to take these two stone rings and use them to swing between the ceiling rings until you get to the opposite tower.¡± ¡°And just how in the hell am I supposed to do that? There¡¯s nothing connecting them!¡± ¡°Like so.¡± Khaliss pointed a ring in his hand at one in the ceiling, and fired a shadow tendril that connected them. Using that as a rope, he swung out and dazzled me and Djarleen with a fantastic show of coordination. Just before the apex of his swing, he would cancel one tendril and extend the other stone ring to fire another, keeping his momentum and travelling along. Six switches later and he was standing on the new platform. ¡°And that is how it¡¯s done.¡± He said with a mocking bow. ¡°Once again, every five failures get you hit with a spear. The next portion you will be competing directly against me in willpower. There are ten pillars with tops angled to the middle. You must stabilize them and jump back and forth across them before reaching the next platform. I will be trying to shift the pillars on you. After that, turn to the right one more time.¡± Looking at the next obstacle, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. There was a sea of pillars of differing heights, and Dragan was standing three quarters of the way across. ¡°The objective is simple. Get past Dragan. Almost anything goes, just pull any lethal blows. Now, you get to try this twice without penalties. After that, the next two completions are going to be with penalties for failure. After that, I will be sitting here with these blunted crossbow bolts that Dharkiss made for us. I will be firing at you randomly. Good luck.¡± ¡°Erhrmmm.¡± Djarleen cleared her throat and gave Khaliss a grin. ¡°I happen to know my way around a crossbow. Mind if I join you on those last runs shooting at Angus?¡± ¡°Heh, why I do believe that would be perfect. Angus and I thank you, Djarleen.¡± ¡°Why you are quite welcome. Oh, and Angus?¡± When I glared at her, she smiled sweetly. ¡°I also took the liberty of spreading poison coated needles randomly around the course. Different poisons, different strengths, but none lethal.¡± ¡°Why, I¡¯m ever so glad you didn¡¯t choose any lethal ones.¡± I grumped. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you cared.¡± As I turned, I felt a thunk in the middle of my back that sent me sprawling on my face. Rolling over, I saw Djarleen grinning. ¡°Had to make sure I still have the touch. Good luck, apprentice!¡± The rest of the day was absolute hell. After the first two runs through, of which I fell almost constantly on the shadow ring swing, I finally thought that I had a safe course planned. Khaliss couldn¡¯t have that, and the second to last balance beam grew random needles on the walkway as I was midair. I landed on a paralysis poison that locked my muscles for only a fraction of a second before I could neutralize it. Though it only locked up my foot and ankle, it was enough to throw off my balance and send me crashing to the ground. ¡°Did you honestly think I wouldn¡¯t notice you memorizing the course?¡± Khaliss asked with resignation in his voice. ¡°Seriously, better lay-a-bouts have tried much better plans. I have needles and poisons spread throughout the course, waiting for me to change them at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± Chastised, I headed back to the beginning to try again. Now I actively fought Khaliss for control of the course, or at least to keep certain areas needle free. While juggling all of this, I also had tried to sense any of the poisoned needles in the course, but wasn¡¯t able to make any headway on that by the end of the day. After my fifth harrowing time battling Dragan while dodging crossbow bolts, I finished the course and finally noticed the return of my display. ¡°Ok guys, I think the four days have run their course. Mind if I take a break and look at the results?¡± They all agreed to wait, so I pulled up the notifications.
Ritual Complete! You have finished the ritual described in the Treatise on Poison Immunity successfully. Though the Drow who originally wrote the books intentionally left out specific steps and information, you managed to persevere and emerge victorious. Your skill gains are summarized below.
Skill Previous Level New Level Bonus
Greater poison immunity N/A Mastered Immune to certain poisons, detailed description below
Essense of Poisons N/A Mastered Can determine if reagents may be used in poisons, can detect and identify poisons you have been exposed to.
Hammerscythe Mastery Advanced level 5 Expert level 1 Damage increased by 40%, attack speed increased by 25%
Stone manipulation Advanced level 6 Advanced level 8 Can shape stone up to 30 meters. Mana cost reduced by 20%
Shadow manipulation Advanced level 6 Expert level 1 Can shape shadow up to 40 meters. Mana cost reduced by 30%
Essence of potions Beginner lvl 2 Intermediate level 8 Identify major potions
Dodge Advanced level 6 Advanced level 9 +39% chance to dodge a detected attack
Parry Advanced level 1 Advanced level 6 +39% chance to parry an attack, damage reduced by 35%
Counter attack Advanced level 2 Advanced level 6 Counter attacks cause +86% extra damage, +36% critical hit chance
Battlefield control Intermediate lvl 1 Advanced level 2 Damage received reduced by 32% when controlling the number of enemies attacking simultaneously
Shadowgheist N/A Intermediate level 1 Gheist has 50% of your health pool, can independently fight with 10% of your combat skills.
Greater poison immunity Through rigorous trials, you have trained your body to immediately recognize and counter poisons. This effect is greatest with poisons you have already come in contact with, but you will counter unknown poisons as well. Nothing short of a poison with a divine origin can hurt you.
Essence of Poison A subskill of Essense of Potions, you are able to identify and isolate poisonous compounds based on the feel of their aura. As an identification subskill, intensive training and knowledge has granted you the opportunity to advance your skill level beyond that of a parent skill. You may also identify any poison you have been exposed to, no matter how it may have been hidden.
Shadowgheist Intermediate level 1 By solidifying your shadow and overlaying it with an intricate illusion, you have created a ghost of yourself. You must control it directly, but at advanced level and beyond it gains a bit of autonomy. It only has half of your health pool, and at the current level only gains 10% of your skills bonus. Cost: 250 mana Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 30 minutes
¡°Well? Did it work?¡± Djarleen asked impatiently. ¡°Yes. Yes it did. I am now mostly immune to poisons.¡± ¡°Mostly?¡± She asked incredulously. ¡°Well, anything short of divine poison won¡¯t kill me. The reason I said mostly is because I need to be exposed to a lot more poisons in order to recognize them faster. How much would it cost to get a sample of every poison the alchemists guild has? Oh, might as well try and get venom included in that.¡± ¡°Hrmph, way to bury the lead on that one apprentice. As to the poisons and venoms, you are probably looking at over 100 platinum for each one.¡± ¡°Ouch, that¡¯ll set me back a bit. Do you think it is worth it?¡± ¡°Probably not. You don¡¯t interact with any of the nobility, and they are the only ones who really like to use obscure poisons. The lower classes tend to settle things with fists and blades.¡± Khaliss offered his opinion. ¡°Can I ask though, would you recommend doing this for anyone else?¡± ¡°If they do want to go through with it, they need a few things first. Incredible control over their mana, the ability to work through pain, and essence of potions would be a good start. Otherwise they won¡¯t survive the Death¡¯s Knell.¡± ¡°Interesting. So, what are your plans now?¡± Djarleen asked. ¡°I¡¯m off to bed, then I think I am finally ready to head to the dungeon tomorrow. What do you think Khaliss?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about time you. I¡¯ve been itching to try out these new skills against live opponents for a while.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s get to it!¡± I said, turning and leading the way out. I had a few things I wanted to look up online before entering, the better to mess with player¡¯s heads. Book 2 Chapter 12 I headed into Dharkiss¡¯ shop the next day exhausted and excited. We had an impromptu pizza party the night before, and between that and the excitement for the upcoming dungeon I didn¡¯t get much sleep. ¡°Mornin¡¯ Angus. You look like you were rode hard and put away wet. Was it worth it?¡± Dharkiss chuckled. ¡°Huh? Wha? Oh, no. Nothing that fun sadly. Just couldn¡¯t wind down and get to sleep.¡± ¡°Well you need to find yourself a nice mate then. She¡¯ll wind ya up, then help ya wind back down if ya know what I mean.¡± I swear he actually leaned on the counter and winked at me as he said this. ¡°No doubt.¡± I agreed. ¡°Alas, I¡¯m stuck here needin¡¯ supplies before we head out. Got my order ready?¡± ¡°Aye, here ya go.¡± He said, dropping four quivers on the counter. ¡°Put ¡®em to good use.¡± ¡°Oh I will, don¡¯t worry about that. Though I am keeping two of them in reserve.¡± ¡°Holding back? Whatever for?¡± ¡°Well I need a few nasty surprises for one of the guys who challenged me. I plan on making their dungeon dive pretty awful.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re afraid of someone spoiling the surprise? Not a bad plan.¡± He said while nodding his head. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get goin¡¯ then. I¡¯m sure Khaliss wants to get there early and stake things out.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going with?¡± I asked, not quite proud of how high my voice got at the end of that question. ¡°Hahaha, yep. Y¡¯all will be needin¡¯ a blacksmith, and it¡¯ll give the apprentice some practice for when he has his own shop. Besides, he is far enough along that this shouldn¡¯t be too hard on him. If he can¡¯t handle this, then he needs to think about what he¡¯s gonna do with his life.¡± ¡°Sink or swim time?¡± Khaliss asked, having snuck into the shop. ¡°While I feel bad for the people who are staying here with an apprentice smith, I¡¯ll be more than happy to have you along with us Dharkiss.¡± ¡°Well, I am the only one qualified to repair your new armor. Here to try it on?¡± ¡°Yep. That and make sure Angus here doesn¡¯t get left behind.¡± While Khaliss walked up and slapped me on the back, Dharkiss was behind the counter pulling out cloth covered bits of armor. True to his more mobile fighting style, it was mostly leather, but reinforced in specific areas with shadow infused steel, the dark grey color wouldn¡¯t glint in the light. It was purely functional, with very little embellishments. The only additions were spikes on the elbows as well as sharpened blades extending to the sides of the tail. ¡°No helm?¡± I asked, slightly confused as to why Khaliss wouldn¡¯t protect his head. ¡°Too limiting for peripheral vision.¡± Was his simple reply. ¡°We ready to go?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± We both agreed. Khaliss gathered his gear while Dharkiss got a bag of what I assumed was his tools. We headed down to the barracks, where a double row of soldiers waited for us. In front of them were two priests, who nodded to Khaliss then used their staves to form an arch. Similar to the first time this happened, a large portal formed between them. ¡°Let¡¯s head on out!¡± Khaliss called, then led the soldiers through the portal. Dharkiss and I followed, entering into a strange room. The back wall we entered from was curved, and the ends angled down before forming a square end around a set of stairs leading up. Looking at the ceiling, the shape of the room resembled a Chinese hand fan, only the hand part was squared and had the stairs. There were two columns near our end of the room, and a single desk between them. Before I could examine the room further, a system wide announcement popped up.
New Challenges have appeared! In order to ensure the best quality of gameplay, Arctic Storm is working to always bring new and exciting challenges for the players. Today we announce the arrival of the first Tier 2 monster dungeons with enemy players! Both sides have 24 hours to prepare for these new challenges! In the essence of fair play, we have instituted the following rules: Resurrections will be limited in player dungeons. Parties of 3 or less will have two resurrections per player on the team, to be kept in a pool to be used for the entire team. Parties of 4-5 will have one resurrection per player, subject to the same restrictions as above. Parties of 6 or more will have but one life to give. Drops will be better for smaller groups. Drops from dungeons that have a player in them will increase in both rarity and rate. The first to clear these challenges will receive a boost to rewards. The first to slay a player in the dungeon will also receive a special item. Depending on the kill streak of the monster player, a special title may be earned as well.
Rise of the Shadow Outpost! The Shadow drakelings have rediscovered one of their outposts from before their expulsion from our plane! They have a small force stationed there while they search for lost secrets. Stop them, before it¡¯s too late! Grudge Match! As a special bonus, Rycran and Angus_MacG have agreed to a challenge. Players may head to the nearest inn and place bets on the outcome of the fight, as Angus strives to prevent Rycran¡¯s team from completing the dungeon. There are several things to bet on, from the number of deaths to how many traps are triggered. Watch the view from both sides in three days!
¡°Seems we came out on the lowest floor. This will be my location, as the king has designated me the boss of the dungeon. From the plans I received, we will do the following. Dharkiss, you will set up shop in the hidden smithy behind the portal. Don¡¯t worry, it is an inaccessible area, so no players will ever enter.¡± He laid a hand on the smith¡¯s shoulder to calm his shaking. Turning him around, he showed him to the hidden smithy. When he came back, he resumed his orders. ¡°The stairs lead to a rectangular room above us, followed by a hall that opens to a barracks. The rest of you will be stationed there, to prevent any from gaining access to this room. There is another hallway leading to the stairs up from there. Codo and Podo will set up their post at the top of these as a team miniboss. The rest of the dungeon is yours Angus.¡± He said, finally turning to me. ¡°I convinced the king to leave the first two floors almost completely empty, giving you free reign to set up traps and ambushes as you see fit.¡± ¡°Wow. Uh, thanks Khaliss. I¡¯ll try not to let you down.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t. We won¡¯t get through this undefeated, as the players are strong enough to have resurrections, but we won¡¯t make it easy on them, WILL WE?!¡± He shouted the last at the group of soldiers. ¡°NEVER!¡± A chorus shouted back at him as they slammed the butts of their spears into the ground. On closer look, some of them had arbalests like I did. They turned and split off into three groups, each containing one arbalest along with three spearmen. ¡°Well, while they do that I¡¯m going to head up and start on my traps. That work for you?¡± I asked Khaliss. ¡°Sounds good.¡± He said, dismissing me with a wave. I headed up the stairs, wanting to go through at least a walkthrough of the dungeon from the player¡¯s perspective before I started laying my traps. I wasn¡¯t paying much attention on the way up, so that I wouldn¡¯t spoil the surprise. Once I came to the golden wall of light that denoted the area I couldn¡¯t cross, I turned and surveyed the dungeon. I was in a tunnel with smoothed stone hallways. It went straight for nearly the length of a football field, before expanding into a circular room with three exits. I took the left door to start, and almost immediately the path turned to the right before continuing straight to a set of stairs that I was sure I hadn¡¯t climbed up before. Huh, time to head down to floor two and see what was up with these stairs. I came out of the stairs facing north, while in the middle of another circular room. This one only had exits to the north, east and west. I started by heading west, but it was a fairly short hallway that ended in a circular room with nothing to note. Heading back, I moved to the north and found a similar hallway with a circular room, only there was a treasure chest on a pedestal on the back wall. The eastern hallway curved into a large u shape before returning to a dead end wall. ¡°That can¡¯t be all to this, can it?¡± I mumbled to myself, before placing a hand on the wall and trying to see how deep the earth went behind it. Shockingly, it was only a foot thick! Making a hole, I stuck my head through to find myself in another empty hallway. Oh, this was going to be a prankster¡¯s wet dream! A maze type dungeon! Finding a new spring in my step, I headed back to the first set of stairs and back to the central room on the first floor. From there, I headed into the north hallway. It was a straight shot down a much wider hallway to yet another stairwell. Descending, I came to a circular room with the exit to the southwest. I followed the hallway, and where it took a turn to go due south I found the initial hole in the wall from the stair one. The new hallway went on for about fifteen feet before coming to an angled dead end. Making a hole in this wall on a hunch, I found it opened up into the room where Codo and Podo were waiting. ¡°Ahoy there fellas!¡± I shouted at them, enjoying watching them jump. ¡°Angus! What are you doing with your head in the wall?¡± Codo asked. ¡°Just checking things out. Seems we only have four floors for the dungeon, but there are plenty of dead ends to exploit. I think it¡¯ll be fun!¡± ¡°Well, you sure seem optimistic enough.¡± Podo joked. ¡°Can you help us set up some traps in these columns? When you get a chance, of course.¡± ¡°Why, that would be a fantastically devious plan.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit, I¡¯m still mapping this place out.¡± Pulling my head back, I closed the hole up. Heading back to the central room in floor one, I headed east through the only hallway that was left. This headed down to floor two, opening up into an oblong room with an opening to the southwest. There was no hallway, as this room immediately opened into a droplet shaped room with the twins, several columns, and the stairs leading down. Nodding to them on my way past, I went back to check out how the players would see the third floor.Stolen novel; please report. The third floor was much more finished than the upper two, as the rooms were square here. Heading north from the stairs, there was a long hallway with several circular alcoves for statues. This opened into a rectangular barracks room, long edge heading north. This was where Khaliss had stationed his men, close enough that an unlucky group could draw aggro from multiple batches if they weren¡¯t careful. The spearmen had shadow enhanced plate armor to boost their defenses. The archers had those brutal flesh ravager bolts that I had Dharkiss make, and I was glad of that. That was the bolt I was planning on using for most of these battles anyway, the other two were going to be very unpleasant surprises for Rycran and his team. Continuing on, was another hallway with a final room containing the stairs to Khaliss¡¯ area. Finally having the options mapped out, I started back to begin setting up my traps. The first thing I did was craft some hidden paths so that I could get around adventurers. In the first level, I made an arching path from the entrance to the eastern path, as well as a path connecting the other two rooms with stairs in that level. Heading down to the second level, the only hidden path I needed was connecting the two arms of the U shaped hallway. I then went down to the hidden smithy to enlist some professional help. ¡°YO! DHARKISS!¡± I yelled over the sound of him working on a spearhead. ¡°Angus? What¡¯cha needin¡¯?¡± He asked, seeming surprised to see me so soon. ¡°Well, I need your help setting up some traps. Grab some spears and some wires if you would?¡± ¡°Aye, gimme a second to bank the fire here.¡± He said, quickly working to save materials. Once he was done, we made our way to the top. ¡°So, what are we gonna be settin¡¯ up?¡± ¡°I have an idea for some pitfalls, tripwires, and that pick weapon you helped make.¡± ¡°Ok, well I have a bit of experience with stuff like that. Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± We started in the northern hallway, directly across from the room you would initially enter in the dungeon. Off to the left side, I made a large closet type of space. Keeping the top half of that wall intact, I attached the pick so that it would swing down and pierce through any head foolish enough to stick through a random hole in the wall. ¡°So, you want their head to push the wire, which will trigger the trap?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s about the best way I can do it. Hopefully they forgot torches and won¡¯t see the wire, but in all honesty I¡¯m not expecting a lot out of this trap other than some humor.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah, the last time I had a hole like this, I actually got someone to stick their head in while I was on the other side. Smashed ¡®em with a hammer.¡± ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that¡¯s good. So ya think he¡¯ll be coming around to visit again?¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± I said. Once Dharkiss backed away from the wall, I finished up my work. Returning the wall to its original shape, I left a head sized hole in an awkward position. Off to the side, I decided to write a little note. The Unrustable¡¯s Hole of Glory (Totally not a guillotine!) (I promise) Smiling, I headed back to the central room of level one. Hmmm, this was an incredibly open space, but knowing that it was a player dungeon they would be on guard. In the center of the room, I used stone manipulation to sculpt a life sized drakeling aiming an arbalest towards the entrance. ¡°So what¡¯s special about that statue?¡± ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Nothing. No traps, no hidden switches. Just something to catch them off guard, mess with their heads a little bit. Make them think twice about every possible statue they come across.¡± ¡°Nice. I like it.¡± He commented with a smile, as we headed to the eastern walkway. I stopped midway down, and crafted a little plaque sticking out with some raised bumps on it. ?????????????????????????????????????????? ¡°Just what in the Hell is that?¡± Dharkiss asked. ¡°More psychological games. Where we come from, these bumps form letters that can be read by people who can¡¯t see. Of course, not many people know how to read this that aren¡¯t blind, so they will assume it is some form of warning. Especially when I put it in several different places on the way down to Khaliss.¡± ¡°Ah. I assume it is nothing important? Maybe something like ¡®Welcome to the dungeon¡¯?¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯ll fill you in later tonight.¡± ¡°Alright, I suppose Khaliss will want in on the joke as well.¡± We headed down to the second level, to the room with the twins. ¡°Dharkiss? And Angus too! Codo, I think they¡¯re here to set up our traps!¡± ¡°That we are Podo, that we are.¡± Dharkiss chuckled at the enthusiasm. ¡°Know what you are wanting?¡± ¡°Somethin¡¯ with fire!¡± Their eyes got wide, and seemed to light with an inner fire. ¡°I ain¡¯t got nothing that¡¯ll burn, I¡¯m a blacksmith ya dolts!¡± ¡°Sorry fellas, I¡¯m out of pyrophoria potions.¡± I said sadly. ¡°Can¡¯t you make some more? Pleeeeeease?¡± ¡°I would love to, but I don¡¯t have the ingredients. But how about this. Dharkiss, let¡¯s get a few spears over here by the torch.¡± I said, walking over to the torch that was by the entryway. ¡°Can we rig a few spears to shoot downward to anyone wanting to pull on the torch here?¡± ¡°Aye, that¡¯ll be something I can do.¡± He said, getting to work. ¡°Now, for you two. How about we take a few of these tiles up, and place some spear heads underneath. When the adventurers walk on them, you can use stone manipulation to spear them through the foot.¡± ¡°Yeah! That¡¯ll be great!¡± The agreed, happy to have something they could activate at will in the fight. ¡°It¡¯s just too bad we can¡¯t jump out at them like you will get to.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± They looked at each other, eyes getting big. ¡°We could.¡± ¡°Have one hide in a pillar.¡± ¡°While the other distracts the group!¡± ¡°Pincer attack.¡± ¡°The unsuspecting squishies!¡± ¡°Bah, you brats give me a headache every time you start finishing each other¡¯s sentences.¡± Dharkiss grumped, and I was inclined to agree. For some reason, I bounced back and forth as they bantered. Surprisingly I didn¡¯t pull a neck muscle. ¡°Ok guys, you have fun working on that pillar. Just don¡¯t bring the ceiling down on us, ya?¡± ¡°Fine!¡± ¡°Spoilsport!¡± Dharkiss and I simply made a hole in the wall and headed toward the rest of level two, covering it back up behind us. ¡°That makes a nifty shortcut.¡± He remarked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it though? I am really going to enjoy exploiting that. Now, here¡¯s another place I wanted to make a trap.¡± I said, stopping at the bend in the hallway. ¡°Can we place a pressure plate here, hopefully to catch a rogue not paying attention?¡± ¡°Sure, but what do you want it to trigger?¡± ¡°Back here.¡± I said, having moved to just inside the hallway from the room with a stairwell. ¡°The rest of his party will be hanging back, let¡¯s see if they enjoy some spears to the head.¡± Dharkiss stood for a second, finger on his chin in thought. ¡°Yep. I think we can do it. Have to thread a long bit of wire to hold up those spears, but we can have them all connected via a thin stone plate. That¡¯ll drop ¡®em all at once.¡± We got to work, and I must admit that threading wire through walls was a lot easier when you could manipulate the stone the walls were made of. The intricacy of the trap still made it take us the better part of an hour and a half, but we got it done. ¡°Alright, step back. I¡¯m triggering the trap now.¡± He said, stepping on the plate when he saw that I had gotten out of the way. Smooth as butter, the spears dropped down and would have pierced me to the middle of my chest. ¡°Perfect. That¡¯ll kill any elves and humans, though the dwarves might just get a scratch on the head.¡± ¡°Aye, but I don¡¯t have enough springs to launch spears upward with enough force to impale them.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. The point of all this is to make them use up their resurrections before they get to take out a lot of us. Khaliss¡¯ training on the groups will do the rest.¡± With that, we headed into the last section of level two. Rather than waste time going up and around, we went through the wall again. ¡°Ok, this one¡¯s going to be a bit tricky.¡± I said, stopping just out of view of the stairs up to the first level. ¡°I¡¯m going to use a shadow tripwire at waist height here to trigger spears from above again. Think we can get that rigged?¡± ¡°Hmm. You¡¯ll lose the ability to summon chains when you do this won¡¯t ya?¡± ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t plan on using those for most groups anyway.¡± ¡°Another surprise fer that one fella?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Can never have too many surprises.¡± We went to work, setting up enough spears to kill anyone within a span of ten feet. Once everything was set, Dharkiss held on to the tripwire and stepped aside for a second. ¡°Ok, go ahead and connect your shadow chain to the end here, and send it across the hallway to that loop in the stone. Once you do that and we test it, I¡¯ll reform the stone to hide this wire and we can head back.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± I replied, doing as he asked. Once we were both out of the danger zone, I asked him, ¡°So, just how are we going to remotely trigger this without getting a few holes punched in us?¡± ¡°Cancel your skill.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, that¡¯d do it.¡± I said, slightly ashamed I didn¡¯t think of such a simple solution. Once I cancelled it, the spears dropped down silently. ¡°They¡¯ll never see that one coming, will they?¡± I muttered. ¡°Well, they sure as heck won¡¯t be hearing it coming. C¡¯mon, we don¡¯t have a lot of time left. Let¡¯s get this reset and move on.¡± Once all the spears were reset, we headed towards the last bit of the area we hadn¡¯t trapped yet. Looking at the two rooms, I got a crazy idea. ¡°Hey Dharkiss, we aren¡¯t allowed to trap that chest, are we?¡± ¡°No. Khaliss explicitly stated that any treasure chests that need to be trapped will be done so by the system. We can¡¯t even open the chests and make offerings.¡± ¡°Perfect. So, here¡¯s what I want to do.¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s make a pitfall into several boar spears wrapping around the pedestal that the chest is sitting on. Can you bend the tines on the boar spears so that they are angled toward the ground?¡± ¡°I can, but that¡¯ll defeat the purpose of stopping the bodies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want. Let the bodies slide down past the crossbar, and now the crossbar acts like barbs on an arrow.¡± ¡°Okay, I can do that. What are we going to do as a trap?¡± ¡°Let me get to that in a bit, while you modify the boar spears can I have a bunch of small planks of metal?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± He said, handing me over a small sack. Opening it up, it was stuffed with bits of metal the size and shape of a popsicle stick. Perfect! I didn¡¯t notice Dharkiss staring at me, as I slowly bent the metal into a flattened bracket, then took a bit right in the middle and bowed it downward. ¡°Just what have you created there?¡± ¡°A clicker.¡± I replied, showing him what I meant. Placing my thumb on the bowed part, I bent it upward quickly and heard a solid *click* sound. ¡°Just what is that going to do?¡± ¡°Annoy people. Scare a bunch of ¡®em. Make them paranoid. It¡¯s another thing to where adventurers come from. People who don¡¯t realize how traps would work thought that the click would be a warning. The first click armed an explosive trap, and the second click that came when you moved would cause it to explode.¡± ¡°That¡¯s.¡± He started, hesitating a second in his speech. ¡°That¡¯s idiotic. Why would they give someone a warning that they just armed a trap? Just have the first click arm and set it off.¡± ¡°Oh, in reality they did do that, but in plays they needed a way to make it more suspenseful for the audience. So they came up with this idea. Now most people blindly believe it.¡± I explained. ¡°So what are you going to do with those?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to head into the other hallway and place them in random spots all throughout that dead end. Any trap detection skills won¡¯t trigger, because there is no danger. Rogues will doubt their skills, making other traps more effective.¡± Leaving Dharkiss to his work, I spent the next hour and a half painstakingly crafting and installing the clickers. It was backbreaking work, having to bend over and install that bit of metal on the bottom of each pressure plate, positioning them so that stepping on them would cause everything to sink just enough that the bulge in the stone underneath would press up just enough on the metal¡¯s bulge to cause it to click. ¡°Angus, ya done yet?¡± Dharkiss hollered at me. ¡°Yeah, be right there.¡± I shouted, placing the last of the plates that I was going to use. Just to ensure that someone would travel all the way to the back of this dead end chamber I crafted a small alcove with a sliding stone door. On the back wall, I drew a smiling mushroom with the phrase, ¡°Thank you adventurer, but your treasure is in another niche.¡± Chuckling darkly at the swearing that little bit would bring about, I headed back to see Dharkiss. ¡°¡¯Bout time.¡± He said, and I was excited to see the work he had done. There were enough spears in the pit that it would take an incredibly lucky adventurer to miss them all, and the pit extended in an arch five feet away from the treasure chest. ¡°So, how are we going to trap this?¡± ¡°In the most obvious way possible. What I want to do is have a tension wire crossing back and forth, holding the stone up for the pit below. The last bit of this wire will come up along the side of the treasure chest here, and attach to a clamp hidden in the stone. If you leave the wire alone, nothing will happen. If you ¡®disarm¡¯ the trap by removing the wire, then you release the tension on all the stone and it comes crashing down into the pit.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t be able to trust anyone again.¡± Dharkiss chuckled, finally getting into the spirit of things. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s the idea of all this. Make them distrust their skills. Get them to lose trust in each other, destroy their teamwork.¡± We took Dharkiss¡¯ longest piece of wire, and started treading it back and forth. It took a lot of trial and error, but we eventually got to the point where we could slowly grow the stone atop the wires until it was thick enough to hold weight, but still thin enough to collapse with the removal of the wire. Standing up and cracking my back, I slapped my hands together a few times to knock the nonexistent dust off of them and said, ¡°Weeeell, I think that¡¯ll do it for traps. Thanks so much for all your help Dharkiss.¡± ¡°Anytime Angus. Are you good to reset them by yourself?¡± ¡°Yep. That won¡¯t be any problem.¡± We headed back down to the barracks area to rest for the night, but before turning in I went to the hallway that would lead to Khaliss¡¯ room if I were diving as an adventurer, and put that same raised series of bumps on both sides of the wall, repeating it with a gap of two feet in between. I explained the meaning of the bumps to Khaliss and Dharkiss, and they both got a good chuckle out of it. Book 2 Chapter 13 The next morning, I woke up and ate a breakfast of rations with everyone. A mostly silent affair, we were all preparing for what the first day would bring us. Once that was taken care of, I headed up to the first floor, keeping to my hidden path and waiting for the first wave of adventurers to enter.
Dungeon protocol activated! Players will arrive to challenge the dungeon in five minutes. For the next three days, the following applies: Experience will be deferred until after the dungeon is finished. While no players are in the dungeon, all regeneration rates are increased by 1000% There will be a 30 minute gap between dungeon attempts. Any traps previously placed and triggered can be reset automatically.
Finally! As I sat there impatiently waiting those last five minutes, I filled a little bit of time double checking my equipment. The only really variable part of my gear was the bolts, and I made sure that the only ones in the bag I habitually used were the flesh ravagers. Bored again, I sat down on a stone chair to wait. Soon enough, I got the notification I had been waiting for.
Intruders have entered the dungeon!
Smiling, I opened a small peephole so that I could spy on the group. Seconds later, three elves walked into view. Two were geared out as rogues and there was one healer. An odd grouping, but it could work if the rogues could isolate and bounce an opponent back and forth with critical backstabs. ¡°Pretty bland so far.¡± ¡°We are literally five feet into the dungeon proper Chuck. Give it some time.¡± The healer spoke. ¡°Lilak¡¯s right Chuck. Though it wouldn¡¯t have killed them to put some torches out, would it?¡± ¡°Contact.¡± The lead rogue hissed, immediately freezing and staring ahead. Seems the elves had some form of darkvision, or maybe there was just enough light from the entrance to let them use low light vision. Either way, I kept my eyes off of him, just in case he tried to stealth. Sure enough, I heard him whisper, ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out.¡± Giving him a few seconds, I turned to look and he was gone. Activating [Mystic vision], I could easily see the mana that cloaked him from sight, and judging by the lack of reaction of his comrades it wouldn¡¯t break stealth. That was something that would be incredibly useful in this dungeon. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s impressive. IT¡¯S JUST A STATUE!¡± He called, I assumed slipping back into view. ¡°So, this is what those drakelings look like?¡± His friends were nonchalantly strolling forward, and I decided to let them go for a bit. ¡°Damn, look at the size of that crossbow!¡± The healer mentioned. ¡°That¡¯ll ruin someone¡¯s day.¡± ¡°Alright, everyone got their fill? Dorian, you¡¯ve got the most skill in finding critical points, anything stand out to you?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t really different than most humanoids. Watch the tail, that is probably good for tripping people up. Claws for hand to hand fighting if you disarm ¡®em. Hrmmm. Other than that, go with the age old philosophy: If they have a head, they have a weak point. Still haven¡¯t met anything that enjoys getting shot in the face.¡± ¡°Alright. Lilak, go ahead and keep our lovely statue here company. I¡¯ll scout the path to the left, Dorian take the right. Meet back and we can both check the center.¡± Making a hole in the wall, I couldn¡¯t believe them. I was going to let them get further in before engaging, but having a defenseless healer was just too much. Once I stuck my head into the hallway, I froze. [Mystic vision] showed that one of the assassins was crouched and waiting, so I slowly returned to my hiding spot. I even went around to the other side, so that I was closer to what I was calling stair 3, the ones that would lead into the room with Codo and Podo. Making a listening hole, I continued eavesdropping. ¡°Well, looks like the first floor is completely empty. Don¡¯t know what¡¯s up with that, but there was something funny.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yeah. They put in a gloryhole sized for a minotaur. Probably about the same height, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re shittin¡¯ me.¡± ¡°Go check it out. Straight ahead of where we came in.¡± ¡°Holy shit, you weren¡¯t kiddin¡¯!¡± The rogue who had left shouted a few seconds later. ¡°Lilak, what¡¯d ya give me if I fill the hole?¡± ¡°Never gonna happen Chuck!¡± She yelled. ¡°Besides, from what I heard you couldn¡¯t fill it even if it was a fraction of the size of what Dorian said it was.¡± ¡°Hehe, she¡¯s got ya there Chuck.¡± ¡°Oh come on, are you afraid of losing a little bet?¡± ¡°Fine. If I win, no more innuendos when we are in a dungeon.¡± ¡°Aw, come on, that¡¯s too harsh. How about a month of no innuendo?¡± ¡°Instead of that, 30 dungeon dives, including raids, with no innuendo.¡± ¡°Done! And when I win, you have to do the fan dance to distract a group of goblins, and we get to film it.¡± ¡°What? What in the hell is the fan dance?¡± ¡°Seriously? Look, they may be a little old but the Star Trek movies are fantastic! Provided you stick with the odd numbers.¡± He muttered the last part. ¡°Anyway, you get two giant fans, and I¡¯ll let you keep on a bikini for modesty. Then you start dancing on a ridge overlooking the goblin camp, distracting them. The rest of the guild will clear out the distracted camp.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing! HELL NO!¡± ¡°Chicken? Bwak bwak bwak bwak BWAAAAAK!¡± ¡°Alright, fine. It¡¯s not like you can fill it with your needle dick. I accept.¡± ¡°Heh, get¡¯s ¡®em every time. Anyway, when did I say that I was going to use my dick? I said fill the hole.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s bullshit!¡± ¡°Come on Chuck.¡± Dorian interjected. ¡°You know damn well what you were doing.¡± ¡°Fine. How about this then, the bet is the same if I can fill the hole with my head.¡± ¡°Grrrr, fine. Whatever. But this will be the last time I ever make a bet with you. Slimy weasel.¡± I had to mentally agree with Lilak. Chuck sounded like a dick, and I would hate to be any female character that played with him. ¡°What the? How is he greyed out?¡± Dorian yelled. Heh, idiot actually stuck his head in. Guess that¡¯s one death out of their six taken care of. If I could help it, Chuck would be burning through all their resurrections. While they were busy going through the resurrection process, I silently snuck around to the second hidden tunnel so that I could figure out what set of stairs they were going to go down first. As I traveled, I realized I needed one more hidden tunnel, going from the tunnel the players were currently in to the one leading to stair 3. When I finally managed to make it to my hidden tunnel, I managed to catch the tail end of a rather heated argument. ¡°AND I DON¡¯T CARE! He knew we had limited resurrections in this dungeon, and he fucking burned one on the FIRST GODDAMN FLOOR! And for what? He wanted to make a fool of me with a bet.¡± ¡°I said I was sorry.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m done with you Chuck. Look, Dorian. I won¡¯t leave the guild over this, y¡¯all are too much fun. But I¡¯m dead serious when I say that I won¡¯t go on any dungeon runs with Chuck.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine Lilak. I¡¯m sorry too, I shoulda stepped in to stop it, and let things get way out of hand. Let¡¯s finish this dungeon, and we won¡¯t have any other mistakes like this. Before you say anything about not getting healing in retribution Chuck, I¡¯ll go ahead and say Lilak is far too professional for that. She won¡¯t let you die in here if she can help it.¡± ¡°Alright. So, three sets of stairs, three people. Do we split up? Or what?¡± ¡°Absolutely not. I have a feeling that this isn¡¯t the only trap, so we are going to have to stay on our toes. Let¡¯s head to the steps to the left first, then come back if we need to and work clockwise. And no splitting up.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lilak butted in. ¡°I bet this is the guy who wreaked havoc in the Kobold Warrens. He loves traps and attacking from unexpected directions, and his first target is always the healer. So I want one of you next to me at all times, got it?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Chuck said. ¡°Not you, Chuck. Dorian can stay by me while you set off all the traps.¡± ¡°Sorry Lilak, but you know I have the higher perception skill. I gotta be the one to check everything.¡± I couldn¡¯t hear the rest of the conversation, as I had already started heading towards the stairs they were going to take so that I could get ahead of them. I darted down the stairs, heading to my hidden hallway on level 2. I made a peephole in the wall, and had just enough range to see the group come down. By this point I was running mystic vision constantly, as I didn¡¯t want one of those rogues to slip off unnoticed. ¡°Alright, remember the plan. Hmmm, looks like three directions again. Clockwise or counterclockwise?¡± ¡°Go clockwise. Better to keep the same path so we can retrace it later.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off then. [Detect traps].¡± The rogue I assumed was Dorian snuck away, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he would enjoy my clicker traps. ¡°What the? Guys, I need help over here!¡± A panicked cry came quickly. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Heard a click like a landmine. Chuck, see if you can disarm it.¡± ¡°Uh, sure Dorian. Gimme a second.¡± ¡°Dorian, what about your trap detect skill? Shouldn¡¯t it have gone off?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t remember the last time I didn¡¯t detect a pressure plate. I have no idea what is going on with this.¡± ¡°Dorian, we got an issue.¡± ¡°What now, Chuck?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see anything to pick. The stone sunk in a fraction, but there is literally nothing I can do. The lip is solid, the plate is flush with the stone. I can possibly get something in there, but it¡¯ll be stuck.¡± ¡°Alright, everyone back. Looks like we are gonna lose another res.¡± ¡°Damnit. Hope it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± After a few seconds, I saw the other two return to my field of view. ¡°Let us get around the corner here, we don¡¯t know how powerful the explosion will be.¡± Chuck called over his shoulder. They were passing my spot without a care, and my eyes widened as I realized Chuck didn¡¯t cast his detect tap skill! Widening my view, I watched with satisfaction as both players were impaled with spears from the ceiling. Not wanting to ruin my spot, I walked out and remade the wall behind me. Crouching down, I aimed my arbalest down the hallway where Dorian would walk out. ¡°Chuck! Lilak! Hold on, I¡¯m coming!¡± He cried, panicked. As he came storming past the stairs, I fired a shot straight into his gut. ¡°Oof!¡± The impact doubled him over, and he fell to his knees. ¡°[Stone grasp].¡± I said, using my manipulation to have two stone hands reach up from the ground and grab at his arms, though I only managed to grab one of them. Walking up to him, I circled around the side of his captured arm, and he couldn¡¯t do anything but frantically try and keep me in view. ¡°Congratulations. Your death will be the first I dedicate to Thanatos in this evolution. [Reaper¡¯s Edge].¡± Grabbing his hair and pulling his head back, I decapitated him with one blow.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
Error! When in dungeons playing as a monster, sacrificing players to the Gods is not allowed (except as part of a quest line). Your sacrifice to Thanatos cannot be completed.
Damn, there goes my plan to farm players for favor in the church. Of course, that probably would have been something I would need to email the devs as a loophole. Speaking of loopholes, I pulled up my email and started writing. Emily, First batch of players through the tier two dungeon went fairly well. I like that when they get a total party wipe they lose the chance to resurrect. Does that come with a lockout timer on retrying a player dungeon? That also brings me to my second question. What happens if someone tries to take on the dungeon solo? There will be people who try it, will they get a title or something similar? If they die, do they get a chance to respawn at the beginning? Just some things that have been going through my head for the last bit. Oh, and please thank whoever made the dungeon traps self-resetting, it will save a lot of time and effort. Marty Well, time to head up to the first level and cut out my third hidden pathway. Whatever dev came up with the stone manipulation and decided to give it to the drakeling race deserves a plate of cookies, it is just far too helpful. Carving out a curved hallway would have taken the better part of the day with mana excavation, and here I did it in less than ten minutes. I spent the last portion of the time I had sitting in the hallway waiting on the next group, practicing my juggling. The next group to attempt a run hit at exactly the half hour mark.
Invaders have entered the dungeon!
As I watched, a large group of people entered the dungeon. The human in the lead turned around and started counting, before speaking. ¡°Ok, looks like ten is the max for player dungeons. I want us divided up into three groups, make sure each one has a healer. Doug, can you hit everyone with as many buffs as possible? Specifically look into dark resist. Cathy, how long does your weapon buff last?¡± ¡°It¡¯s up to thirty minutes.¡± ¡°Perfect. If your weapon doesn¡¯t do elemental damage already, see Cathy. She¡¯ll give you an ice boost.¡± ¡°Why ice?¡± Someone called out. ¡°These things look reptilian. Hopefully they are weak to cold, even if they aren¡¯t they will get slowed a little from a solid hit. Never underestimate the power of slowing a creature.¡± ¡°Hey Corey, I can buff three people max with light damage, think that¡¯ll be worth it? They are shadow drakelings.¡± The speaker trailed off as he asked the last bit, obviously uncomfortable with the attention of the entire group. ¡°Jim? Thank you for speaking up. That¡¯s something we will have to check later, I want to see what cold does to them first. Nothing against you, just that Cathy has the stronger buff.¡± I had heard enough, these guys were well organized but planning to just rush the dungeon. I ran down the hallway, heading down to the second floor. I took the nearest set of stairs, but made my way back to where I had finished off the previous set of adventurers. I would take out whatever group headed down that way first, then make my way back to take out the group at the other dead end. Codo and Podo would have to hold off whatever group found them by themselves. Book 2 Chapter 14 JimboJonsies POV ¡°You¡¯re Jim, right?¡± I heard someone behind me ask. ¡°Huh? Uh, yea. Yes, I¡¯m Jim.¡± Damn stammer. I loved gaming, but meeting new people, even online, was always tough for me. I figured being a healer would be great, I could stand back and help out. ¡°Relax.¡± The girl said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m Cathy, nice to meet you. Want to be in our group for the dive?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I don¡¯t know why, that one word reply seemed to cause her smile to brighten. ¡°Perfect! I love a healer with brains.¡± ¡°What?¡± Great, question her when she implies you were smart. Way to go, idiot. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get down on yourself.¡± She replied, rubbing my arm a bit. ¡°Once you get to know everyone, it¡¯ll be easier. And I know you aren¡¯t an idiot. Did you see anyone else coming up with ideas to ask Corey? Especially ones he thought were good enough to try later? I¡¯ll let you in on a secret, he doesn¡¯t do that for just everyone.¡± ¡°How did?¡± ¡°Look. I always have a bit of anxiety too. That little voice, nagging at the back of your head? Somehow always seems to know the best way to kill your enthusiasm? It¡¯ll always be there, but if you let a few people in, they can show you that it doesn¡¯t know what it¡¯s talking about. You aren¡¯t an idiot, and I guarantee in an hour nobody will remember anything about what just happened other than you had a good idea. Now, take a deep breath, and come meet our tank for the trip down.¡± How was she so perfect? She read everything that was going through my head, she even knew I would obsess over what just happened for hours. That pat on the arm? Just like that, I could feel my anxiety melting away. My steps were much lighter as I walked over to a barbarian with intimidating armor. ¡°Lars, this is Jim. He¡¯ll be our healer this trip down.¡± ¡°Cleric of Lux? Nice! Now I won¡¯t have to hold a torch in my off hand so I can see.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°As Cathy said, I¡¯m Lars. Pleasure to meet the guy who¡¯ll be keepin¡¯ me alive.¡± His massive hand engulfed mine, and I tried to subtly brace for the crushing grip that never came. When I looked back at him, his face had softened somehow. ¡°No worries about macho stuff like hand crushing. Now, this is going to sound a little odd, but I have the Barbarian Rage perk. Ever healed when someone has that?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said, struggling not to feel ashamed. ¡°Alright, glad we got to talk first then. I get a boost to damage when I am lower on health. So unless we are in a boss fight, don¡¯t keep me topped up. Let me drop to about a quarter health, and only try and get me up to half if you can. That¡¯s the sweet spot.¡± ¡°O. Okay.¡± ¡°Alright everyone, split into your groups and head out. Boris scouted ahead a bit and the path splits into three. Cathy, your group is heading down the left split. Boris is going to the right, and my group is down the middle. Watch yourselves, it seems everyone gets their own set of stairs. Explore the next level a bit, but check your fire to make sure we don¡¯t shoot our allies. Meet back here in ten minutes, don¡¯t go down any more floors if you get the option.¡± ¡°That¡¯s our cue. Come on Jim, follow the big lug.¡± ¡°Wait, let me give you guys a buff first.¡± I said. Concentrating on the skill, I tried to feel the light welling up from inside like I was supposed to. ¡°Ever light the path that lay at our feet. [Lantern¡¯s glow].¡± As I finished, the bodies of Cathy and Lars started glowing enough to see five feet around themselves. ¡°Sweet, I¡¯m a night light!¡± Lars chuckled. ¡°Now I gotta up my game though, Jim¡¯s much more useful than I am.¡± He turned and strode forward, and I struggled to keep up with his stride. That is, until we turned at one of the most intricate statues I had seen in a dungeon. Not intricate, lifelike! That¡¯s it, I almost felt like that massive crossbow was ready to send a bolt flying down the tunnel. We turned and headed down our assigned corridor, finding the stairs rather quickly. ¡°Any chance of traps on the stairs?¡± I asked, suddenly nervous. ¡°Nope. Stairs and the dungeon entrance are inviolate. No monsters can set up to attack you there, but if you kite them in they can follow.¡± Cathy explained. ¡°But it¡¯s good to remind ourselves of the limits every now and again, especially against players.¡± We headed down the stairs, and came out to a room with three exits. ¡°Let¡¯s head down this one first.¡± Lars said, pointing straight ahead to the middle exit. Following behind him, I readjusted my grip on my wand. Blasted sweaty palms, I frantically dried them while following. ¡°Score one for us! Treasure chest right off the bat!¡± Lars was excited. ¡°Careful, there¡¯s a trap on it.¡± Cathy warned. ¡°Thanks Captain Obvious, even I saw that. You have the higher dex, care to try to disarm it? Looks like just a wire on a hook.¡± Both players were studying the wire, debating what to do. While they were distracted, I turned and watched the way we came in. ¡°I knew we picked the right one, look at that Lars. Watching our back while we are distracted, didn¡¯t even say anything about it. We¡¯ll have to see you in combat, but you just jumped to the head of our dedicated healer list Jim. Congrats.¡± ¡°Yep. Now, I think I got it, heeeeere.¡± Lars grunted with a bit of effort, and gave a jubilant cry. ¡°GOT IT! BOOYAH! Who says barbariaAAAAAAAH!¡± Spinning I turned to see in horror both Cathy and Lars were dead, having fallen into a pit trap full of spears. I was frozen, starting to hyperventilate. ¡°Twofer. Niiiiiccccccce.¡± A sibilant voice hissed in my ear, and I spun to see a reptilian grin inches from my face. ¡°Gah! Get away!¡± I backed away frantically, waving my wand in front of me. I was so screwed, I had no offensive spells at all, and at best I could poke him in the eye with my wand. ¡°H¡¯yah!¡± He cried, slamming something into my chest and sending me stumbling over backwards.
You have died
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV I felt a little bad for the skittish healer, scaring him like that. Well, for at least a fraction of a second. Turning, I headed across the level to where the second set of stairs would have led, making a small hole in the wall for spying. Smiling, I heard a good bit of arguing. ¡°WHAT KIND OF A ROGUE INTENTIONALLY TRIGGERS A TRAP?¡± ¡°HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT WOULD SEND SPEARS BACK HERE TO ATTACK!¡± ¡°YOU¡¯RE SUPPOSED TO DISARM THE TRAPS YOU IDIOT! NOW WE DON¡¯T HAVE A HEALER OR A TANK!¡± Oh, so this was the group of four? Perfect! Stepping through and closing the wall behind me, I turned and looked to see two rogues in torchlight arguing. Well, a rogue and a ranger, judging by the bow and arrows on the back. Looks like I had my first target. Crouching, I fired a bolt right into the chest of the ranger. It took off a large chunk of his health, and I wasted no time in charging in.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°What the?¡± The rogue managed to get out before his eyes widened in surprise seeing me emerge from the shadows and smash the ranger¡¯s head with my hammer, ending him. He recovered quickly, slashing at my chest and forcing me back a bit. ¡°Now, where did you come from? I know there wasn¡¯t anyone in that hallway, so perhaps you were guarding a secret?¡± He muttered with a grin. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure to take great care of whatever treasures you are guarding.¡± Since he wanted to intentionally trigger the trap, I assumed he would be adept at evading and countering, something I didn¡¯t want to have to deal with as long as there were three other players walking around in the dungeon. ¡°[Cold Grasp of Death].¡± I spoke, enjoying his shock for a partial second as I lashed out. ¡°AAAAHHHH!¡± He cried in pain from the hammer blow to the bridge of his nose that he couldn¡¯t avoid. While he was distracted, I conjured my shadowgheist as I stepped around behind the rogue. ¡°That hurt you bastard! Take this, [Blade Tempest]!¡± His attack was so fast that it left afterimages, giving him the appearance of six arms. With little fanfare, my clone was dispatched, but it had done its job. I smashed a charged hammer into the back of the rogue¡¯s head, sending him sprawling onto his face. Taking advantage of the stun, I slammed an overhead strike with my scythe into his back, killing him. ¡°That¡¯s two groups down, time to find that last group.¡± Muttering to myself, I headed up the stairs and swiftly darted into my newest hidden hallway and around to the final staircase. I waited a few minutes, then breathed a sigh of relief when I heard talking coming up the stairs. ¡°Still don¡¯t understand where that other one came from. I swear I scouted that entire room and there was only the one guarding the stairs.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok Carlos. These things happen, which is why we brought so many healers. At least we managed to take them down, though from the difficulty I would assume we hit the minibosses.¡± ¡°Still, I just feel like a failure.¡± Hmmm, sounds like they managed to take down Codo and Podo, but not without losing their healer. I smiled, as that would make this much easier. The first thing I did was spend the minute it took to reload my arbalest, as it was just too powerful of an opening gambit to ignore. Sneaking out into the hallway, I came around the corner and took aim at the neck of the armored human. I wanted to take that tank out soon, as I didn¡¯t feel like prying him out of his armor. Silent as I could be, I fired a bolt into the base of his skull. He started to react to the twang of the string, but it was too late to do more than raise his head a bit. With a slight spark, the bolt struck true and dropped the tank in one shot. ¡°Corey!¡± Spinning on his heels, the rogue started flinging knives in my direction. Six out of the eight he threw managed to hit me, the surprise of the move catching me off guard. ¡°Slow. I¡¯m gonna enjoy taking you apart.¡± Plucking a knife out of my arm, I smiled at him and beckoned him with an open hand. ¡°[Toxic blade][Assassin¡¯s edge].¡± I let my weapon slide down in my hand so that I was holding it just below the head. Speed would be what I needed, and I knew that I was going to take at least one vicious thrust. I ran forward, using the head of my weapon to sweep aside the thrust from the right hand weapon of the assassin. I let his left hand weapon strike me in the side, trading that for the opportunity to hit him in the eye with the bottom of the handle of my weapon. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I activated my skill and slashed through his throat as he was reeling in pain from the blow to the eye. I didn¡¯t get an instant kill, but I did cause some massive bleeding. I readjusted my grip and attacked almost immediately, not giving him the chance to drink any health potions. I took several cuts, but each one was accompanied by a return blow to the assassin. He was getting desperate pretty fast, as I think he noticed that only one of us was subjected to a DoT affliction. I feigned a lunge forward, hoping he would extend for a heart strike. Instead he went for a stab into my gut, but it worked out the same for me as I grabbed his wrist and twisted. This gave me the perfect chance to slam the scythe into his chest, and that was all she wrote.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
I headed down to the second floor to check on Codo and Podo, see how they were doing with their first death. ¡°Angus! We got one!¡± Codo yelled happily, while Podo was looking a little depressed. ¡°Congrats guys! I was just coming down to check on you, see how you were holding up.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Podo replied, but I could hear the depression in his voice. Pulling him aside, I was thankful that Codo stepped away to give us space. ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like it. Care to tell me what¡¯s bothering you?¡± ¡°I forgot almost all of my training. I didn¡¯t even manage to kill anyone, Codo did that when he jumped out of the pillar and laid into the healer.¡± ¡°I see. Well, let¡¯s go through it. Why do you think you forgot all your training?¡± ¡°I kept attacking the metal guy! Any time I started in on the slippery rogue he would bang his shield and. And.¡± ¡°Ah. Did Khaliss ever tell you about taunting skills?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± I saw his eyes light up in recognition. ¡°No way! That¡¯s what those do?¡± ¡°Yep. Let me guess, the knight seemed to grow just a bit bigger, and the rogue disappeared?¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Friend of mine complained about the same thing.¡± ¡°So how do you fight them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. I would talk with Khaliss, perhaps he has some tricks or training to boost your resistance to it. Other than that? Make the most of it when you can break the taunt. Your attack on the rogue must be immediate, swift, and vicious. Now, you complained Codo got the kill. Aren¡¯t you two a team?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He said, hanging his head. ¡°You just wanted the bragging rights, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeaaaah.¡± ¡°Well, switch it up next time. Codo draws their attention and you pop out of the pillar. Though that trick probably won¡¯t work as well tomorrow, adventurers tend to talk about surprising things a lot.¡± ¡°What can we do to keep them off guard?¡± ¡°Try a divide and conquer technique. See if you guys can isolate a few of the attackers into stone cages. Leave the healer free so you can hunt him down.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± I was glad to see him regain his energy. ¡°Codo! We have some things to practice!¡± Chuckling, I headed off to let the twins work on their attacks.
Intruders have entered the dungeon!
Picking up the pace, I headed up the stairs and into my hidden path. Just in time, as I heard them advancing as I shut the wall behind me. Oh, three human paladins? This¡¯ll be fun. ¡°This is the greatest, isn¡¯t it? Driving back the forces of darkness.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. For the glory of the light and all that crap.¡± ¡°At least try and act like a paladin! No wonder you couldn¡¯t get into the Lightbringer¡¯s guild with me.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t want to. Who wants to roleplay as a goody two shoes anyway?¡± ¡°Then why did you become a paladin for cryin¡¯ out loud?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of the best classes for solo adventuring. I get the armor of a tank and enough heals to get me through the really tough fights.¡± From their pace, they were heading straight through the first room, so I headed down to Codo and Podo¡¯s room to get ahead of them. I had a wicked idea and just couldn¡¯t wait to try it. Soon enough I was in position, just behind the pressure plate that would trigger the trap. Less than a minute later, I saw all three of them stop just short of the trap. Damn, I needed them to move forward about three feet. Pretending I didn¡¯t see them, I let them slowly creep forward. That¡¯s it, I¡¯m just a dumb old NPC with a set aggro radius. Come a little closer. Closer. And NOW! Spinning to face them, I stepped on the trap but kept moving forward so they wouldn¡¯t notice. As all their attention was on me, none of them had a chance when the spears pierced them from above. I stopped my charge and watched as the bodies dropped, shaking my head. Too easy.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
The rest of the first day was similar to that, as the majority of groups entered with only three members. My pitfall trap that was triggered by disarming it was actually the biggest killer of the day, as almost always the entire group was within the five feet of the chest. Judging by how easy these groups seemed, and the lack of coordinated effort with some of them, I decided that the major guilds were waiting for a day. Most likely scrounging the message boards looking to see what popped up or sending in their lower level groups to get the most information on the dungeon before a major attempt. Or they could have just been unlucky, as I was sure the devs had several instances of this dungeon running at once.
Dungeon day concluded! Thank you for serving your first day in the dungeon. The day is at an end, so you are free to make any further modifications you would like. Stats: Groups defeated: 12 Total dungeon kills: 49 Individual kills: 45
Well, that was new! Kinda nice too. From the looks of it, all my traps gave me the kills, and probably Dharkiss too. Codo and Podo ended up with four kills on the day, the healer from the one group and they managed to wipe out a party of three on their own. I involuntarily shuddered in memory of that half hour, as they recreated the entire battle several times. I couldn¡¯t fault their happiness though, as they were trying to pick my brain for boosting their combat prowess. Exhausted from a long day of slaughter, I didn¡¯t feel like messing with the dungeon and simply ate my rations and headed to bed. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and judging by the speed with which parties entered, we were going to have challengers exactly a half hour after each previous group was defeated. Book 2 Chapter 15 The next morning was brutal. I had slept fairly well, but it just didn¡¯t seem like it was restful for some reason. I slogged through a silent breakfast. The only people who seemed chipper this morning were Codo and Podo, though I thought that was how they acted normally. Sighing as I sat back, I was trying to find some way to one up what I had managed to pull off yesterday. Unfortunately everything was blank. I did have one that was worth pursuing, and I pulled Khaliss aside to ask if it was ok. ¡°Hey Khaliss, got a question for ya.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Would it be allowable for some of the dungeon runs to have me mixed in with Codo and Podo? Or are boss fights things that I can¡¯t alter.¡± ¡°Since it is a miniboss, and you are only asking to add yourself I assume?¡± At my nod he continued. ¡°That is acceptable. But at least one person has to be visible before the fight starts, and I don¡¯t mean immediately before. To make it fair, you need to have someone visible when the intruders make it down the stairs.¡± ¡°Perfect. I was planning on that anyway, but it is good to know.¡± ¡°Hey fellas.¡± I said as I approached the twins. ¡°Would you two like to team up with me on occasion for fighting the intruders?¡± ¡°Serious?¡± ¡°Hell Yeah!¡± ¡°Great! I talked with Khaliss and cleared it. The only restriction we have is that someone must be visible when the group makes it down the stairs, but I have a plan for that.¡± I leaned in to whisper how I imagined things going, and both were practically bouncing in their seats by the end. * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dungeon day initiating! Intruders will be allowed in to the dungeon in five minutes. Please finish all preparations and ensure you are in active dungeon areas.
Intruders have entered the dungeon
Thank God, those last five minutes were always killer. I wondered how long it would take the group to find us on the second floor, and how badly they would be freaking out from the traps and lack of enemies. Currently I was in the far corner of the room with Codo and Podo, while the twins themselves were hiding inside the pillars. I had cloaked myself with shadow manipulation, and my shadowgheist was on full display. It took the better part of forty-five minutes, but I eventually heard the clomp of feet on the stairs. ¡°This is such bullshit. Three sets of stairs on the first floor and not a single enemy? What kind of dungeon are they throwing at us?¡± ¡°Relax Ben, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find something for you to bash soon enough.¡± ¡°I see light! Thank God, a torch!¡± ¡°LEAVE IT BE!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°Why?¡± The quiet response came after a few seconds of delay. ¡°We have already had to use three resurrects on this damned place because of traps. Do you really think that the first torch in here wouldn¡¯t be trapped? They didn¡¯t even give us loot in the hidden alcove.¡± ¡°That old game quote was pretty funny though.¡± ¡°No, it really wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Quiet, I see something up ahead.¡± ¡°Trap?¡± ¡°No, monster.¡± ¡°Description?¡± ¡°Alone. Has some sort of hammer. It¡¯s just standing there, smiling at us. Judging by the armor it must be a rogue type.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this done. You all know your roles. Ben, mark him whenever you are ready and Alan will pick him up.¡± Watching from the corner, they had a rather eclectic group. Ranger, knight, cleric, and a summoner druid. Not a bad build, as the druid¡¯s bear could be an off tank. The ranger stepped forward and activated one of his skills. ¡°[Marked for Death].¡± A bullseye appeared above my clone¡¯s head, doubling his chance for receiving critical hits when he dropped into low health. The tank then stepped forward to start the fight. ¡°[Shield rush]!¡± He surged forward, but I knew something like that would be the opening gambit and was already dodging to the opposite side of the ranger. Backing up, the group passed the pillars, oblivious to the surprise it would hold. ¡°Grrrr, fuck this. [Attack stance].¡± The knight growled, shifting his posture into a more aggressive one. They traded some blows, and when the knight unleashed a cleave attack the rest of the group joined in. ¡°[Heartseeker].¡± The ranger launched an arrow as the bear moved to block an escape route. ¡°[Bramblethorn].¡± The druid¡¯s spell went off at the same time as the ranger¡¯s skill, forming a wall of brambles behind the shadowgheist, cutting off any retreat. The arrow struck home in the chest of my clone, dissipating it into wisps of shadow. ¡°What the?¡± The knight managed to mutter before chaos descended as Codo and Podo burst from their pillars. ¡°[Triple thrust]!¡± Both twins shouted, stabbing the squishier members of the party in the back with their fastest attacking skill. Looks like it was time for me to enter the fray as well. I let my shadows drop, and fired a bolt from my arbalest. The ranger had unknowingly shown me his side, and I took him just below the ribs, through all those lovely organs. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± ¡°Ben!¡± The knight shouted, torn between protecting the ranger or the others. He wisely decided on the others, but I was already running as fast as I could to intercept him. The split second of indecision proved to be incredibly costly, as I smashed into him just before he could use a taunt skill to protect his friends. Before I could take advantage of his positon on the ground, a furry freight train ran me over in his rush to get to his druid. As I was being battered about by his stampede, he suddenly vanished. One of the twins must have finally taken out the druid. ¡°[Multishot]!¡± The archer unleashed his skill, but my unpredictable motion must have saved me from taking massive critical damage. Instead, I took an arrow to the thigh and one in the tail. Growling, I launched myself in his direction on all fours. It wasn¡¯t any special, planned out attack. I just wanted to catch him off guard before he could launch more of those annoying arrows at me. ¡°Ungh.¡± He grunted as I slammed into his knees, wrapping them up as I torqued my body. He fell to the ground with a satisfying thud, and I heard the sounds of battle resume from behind me as someone engaged the knight. With that worry off my mind, I tried to stand up while keeping the archer from getting his feet. While I was on my knees, he had gotten scrambled just to the edge of my weapon¡¯s reach. With nothing better to do, I hooked the scythe around his ankle and yanked, toppling him once again. Regaining my feet, I rushed over and smashed him in the back with my hammer. He abandoned his bow, and drew a rather wicked looking kukri style knife as he rolled onto his back. I admired his fighting spirit, but I had him in a disadvantageous positon and took full advantage of it. I rained several heavy overhand blows on him. Blows that his positioning and lack of a shield couldn¡¯t really do anything to temper. Once he was done for, I turned to see Codo and Podo dancing back and forth as they harried the knight. ¡°Stop this dancing and fight me like men!¡± He bellowed, slamming his sword into his shield to activate a taunt. Unfortunately for him, they were already focused on him so his taunt was worthless. Did he really think they would change their fighting style to make it easier on him? Since they had it well in hand, I pulled out my arbalest and spent the time to reload it. I waved it at Codo when the knight¡¯s back was turned to try and communicate my desire, and he backed off and made a subtle hand motion to Podo. As they closed the gap between each other a bit, the knight took a step back and tried to catch his breath. I took aim with a simple armor piercing bolt and unleashed it right as he tried to drink a health potion. The bolt slammed into his back right between the shoulder blades. As he spilled a good bit of his potion, Codo and Podo both launched forward with thrusting skills, though he got his shield up in time to completely block Codo and deflect the majority of Podo¡¯s strike. ¡°[Cleave]!¡± He practically screamed. ¡°Fight with honor damn you!¡± ¡°What use have monsters for honor?¡± I hissed, having crept up behind the knight. ¡°[Lacerating blow]!¡± He twirled and unleashed a strike from 2 to 8 at me. Unfortunately for him, I was expecting some form of retaliatory strike. I was back far enough that he wouldn¡¯t be able to reach my body with his blade. I was also aiming for his wrist with an uppercut type swing of my hammer. *Crack*! ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± His sword clattered to the ground as his obviously broken wrist flopped about. Luckily for him, Codo and Podo weren¡¯t idle. ¡°[Triple thrust].¡± ¡°[Savage thrust].¡± They both unleashed their skills into his back, and finally ended the fight.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
¡°That was awesome!¡± They both cried, giving each other high fives. ¡°What do you think Angus?¡± ¡°I think that group would have torn me apart without you two helping.¡± I answered honestly. ¡°Really? They didn¡¯t seem too tough.¡± Codo remarked. ¡°Think about it. My clone distracted them for one set of blows, that let you two take out their healer and druid. That got rid of the bear, which would have made a great tank in case the knight went down. With only one tank and one ranged damage dealer, they weren¡¯t going to last long. Even those two could have taken out one of us in a two on one situation. Even a two on two they could have won about half the time.¡± ¡°How do you figure on that?¡± ¡°Depends entirely on the tanks skills. You two managed to split around him, which hurt him. But if he could keep you two to the front, and make good use of his taunts, that ranger would have picked you two apart from a safe distance. After one falls, the ranger kites the other while the tank downs some healing, they switch you off and finish you.¡± ¡°I almost understood that.¡± Podo said somewhat excitedly. ¡°What¡¯s kiting?¡± ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s what adventurers call it when you get someone¡¯s attention and simply distract them. They will do minimal attacking so you have to pay attention, but they will retreat around the room so you can¡¯t hit them.¡± ¡°Oh, I hate it when they do that!¡± Codo growled. ¡°Course, once we master [Dancing shadow steps] we won¡¯t have to worry about any of that.¡± ¡°Heh, are you so sure about that? What are you going to do if the enemy has a similar skill? Mages can use [Blink] while warriors could use [Lunge].¡± He opened his mouth and closed it several times, each time holding up a finger like he had an answer only to drop it and look down. ¡°Damnit.¡± He muttered. ¡°WAIT! What if we forced them to use their skill first? Then we could just follow with our own skills, and surprise them!¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what you should do.¡± I said with a smile. Closing my eyes, I stretched and tried to pop my back. ¡°Ugh, anyway. I think I¡¯m going to head up a level for the next group. We wouldn¡¯t want to get them used to all three of us being in this room now, would we?¡± ¡°Alright. But you gotta fight with us again sometime!¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I promised, then got an idea. This last group had apparently found my empty alcove, and I didn¡¯t want every group to come away empty handed. That would just mean everyone ignored it. Heading through the wall, I pulled a chunk of stone from a place it wouldn¡¯t be missed. Grateful for the stone manipulation and sculpting skills, I crafted a little keepsake for the next group to find it. The knight that had just been killed was on his knees, hands at his sides as his head hung in defeat. Behind him, both of the twins had their spears thrust through his chest with vicious grins on their face. Sure, it was a novelty, but crazy people would pay through the nose for certain unique oddities like this. Once that was done, I headed up to my favorite hallway, the one by the entrance so I could figure out how large the incoming group was.
Intruders have entered the dungeon.
Surprisingly it was three mages. Two humans and an elf. ¡°Think it¡¯ll be a challenge?¡± ¡°Yeah. Message boards are already blowing up about how nobody has gotten the player in here yet. I¡¯m excited to see what lovely bit of trinket he drops.¡± ¡°Besides.¡± The third voice added. ¡°We have six resurrects to use. As long as the party doesn¡¯t wipe, we¡¯ll be good. Nothing short of a boss can get through our combined dps. At least, not fast enough that it can kill us.¡± ¡°Enough. Let¡¯s make sure we are boosted. [Arcane enhancement: lightning].¡± ¡°[Arcane enhancement: flames].¡± ¡°[Arcane enhancement: ice].¡± Great, three mages that spec for destroying things, each with a different elemental specialization. On top of that, they have finished the enhancement side quest. This lovely level 50 quest chain rewarded people with an option. Permanent boost to mana pool, mana regen, or the option that these three took and add 50% damage to the elemental spells of their choice. I let them get their boosts in, and make it to the central room before I stepped out into the hallway. Time to start chipping away at those resurrections. Taking aim with an armor piercing bolt, I fired it into the back of the head of one of the mages. Immediately diving into the hidden hallway and closing the wall behind me, I left a little hole to listen to the aftermath. ¡°What the? How did Sam die already?¡± ¡°Damnit, stand back. Wait, take that arrow out first. Ok. Here goes. Comrade gone beyond the veil, There are tasks left undone. Return once again to our sides, Fight once more for the light. [Resurrection]. ¡°Ugh, what the hell happened? We were walking and I got the death notice.¡± ¡°Check your damage logs.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just effing great. Unknown hits you for unknown damage. Critical hit. Fatal blow. You have died.¡± ¡°Damn, forgot about that annoying feature. If you don¡¯t see what hits you then it will show up as unknown.¡± ¡°Fuck, I gotta wait another 28 minutes to use the enhancement again. What a waste.¡± Well, isn¡¯t that interesting? All those lovely buffs get cancelled with a death. Looks like I have two more that need killing. Heading off, I saw them making their way straight ahead. Instead of following them down, I let them go first and headed to the first staircase. Walking through the hallway, I got to the dead end that would lead to where the three mages were. Opening a peephole, I caught them arguing over by where the trap would activate. Stepping through the wall, I took aim at the one I thought wasn¡¯t in the trap area and blasted him in the stomach with a flesh ravager bolt. Right after I fired, I stepped on the trap plate and sent the spears crashing into the two remaining mages, killing one outright and grazing the other along his arm.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Wrath of winter cut you down. [Glacial spike]!¡± The one who was grazed launched a spear of ice in my direction, gouging out a groove from my hip as I desperately tried to avoid it. I hobbled forward as fast as I could, hoping to interrupt him before he could cast again. ¡°Rage of the north wind, freeze him to his soul. [Blizzard blast].¡± Calm as a cucumber, he cast a cone of frost in my direction, those damnable quick chants giving him a 30% boost to his damage. When he started kiting me, I knew I would be in trouble if I didn¡¯t do anything. ¡°Crackling flames, herald his doom. [Flame jet].¡± Inches from my face, a jet of roaring flame erupted. The only thing that saved me from becoming bar-b-que was the slowing effect from the blizzard throwing off the other mage¡¯s aim. I stumbled sideways, brushing up against the wall. The stone wall, that could help me cast a spell. Looking back to the first mage, I saw him silently muttering a spell. Most likely he would blast me with something strong enough to kill, so I switched to him as a target. Using stone manipulation, I caused a spike to erupt from the wall, piercing through his cloth armor with ease. Knowing that wouldn¡¯t take him down, I caused it to grow a forest of spikes in random directions. ¡°AAAAAAHHHH!¡± Concentration broken, I broke the spike off from the wall so that the weight dropping around would rip things out and cause massive bleeding damage. The fire mage was busy chugging a health potion, so I hobbled at him. Getting close just as he finished his potion, I smashed his arm with my hammer. He stumbled a bit, and drew a wand that was rapidly blasting me with small bursts of force. Annoying, but as I was moving back and forth he couldn¡¯t hit me more than one out of every three blasts, allowing me to close the distance. Slashing the back of his hand with the scythe caused him to drop the wand. The pain of it caused him to mess up his spell, and the backlash gave me the opening to finish him off. ¡°Damn, you¡¯re persistant.¡± I said to the last player, having turned to see him finishing off the last of a healing potion. I thought for sure that the bleed damage would have done him in. As he lifted a hand to take aim at me with a spell, I split off a shadowgheist. Though combat with two bodies was beyond me, I could have both of us split up enough that an area spell would miss and charge at him. ¡°[Black frost bolt].¡± He sneered, firing a bolt that took me in the stomach, and I could feel the shadow energy trying to rot the wound. My body thought the mana was a poison, and automatically rendered it inert. The pain of the wound had made me forget about my clone, and it slammed into the mage first and then the wall. Both were slightly stunned by the impact, so I closed in and started slashing at the mage as he blasted my clone into oblivion with a final spell.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
¡°Damn. I. Need. Better. Plan.¡± I panted, frustrated with myself. Underestimating players would eventually lead to my death, and I got incredibly lucky this time. New rule: Unless you can take out all but one of a group, hit and run tactics only. Heading back up to my hallway, I was going to try and relax for as long as possible before the next group arrived.
Intruders have entered the dungeon.
Ugh, that wasn¡¯t nearly long enough of a break. I didn¡¯t bother getting up, the stone chair I had crafted was close enough to the wall that I could listen. Sounded like a small group approaching. ¡°Gnumble, what you got for us?¡± ¡°No traps nearby. But, there¡¯s a void behind that wall there.¡± I felt something probing at the stone wall, and immediately started fighting against it. ¡°Gimme a sec.¡± The voice grunted, and I realized it was a dwarf. So, the bastard wanted to use stone manipulation against me? We¡¯ll just see about that. I peeked through the listening hole I had used. The dwarf was standing in front of a group, right in the middle of the false door. Kneeling so I was at his height, I gradually reduced my resistance right in front of his face. All at once a hole half a foot in diameter opened up. The surprised dwarf opened his eyes just in time to take a crossbow bolt to the face. Before anyone could retaliate, I shut the hole and smiled. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Taking my time to study the group, there was the dead dwarf, with two humans kneeling by his corpse. A disinterested mage was standing in the background. ¡°Ten feet into the dungeon and we suffered the first casualty. You do recall you are supposed to be protecting me, yes?¡± ¡°What the? Yeah, we will protect you. Gnumble already gave his life once to protect you. Head on down that way a bit, my group needs to have a conversation.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± As the mage sauntered away, examining whatever happened to catch his fancy, I listened to the humans. ¡°Why do we have to protect that insufferable prick again?¡± ¡°Because, they are paying us a lot of gold and enchanting all of our weapons if we manage to finish this job. Need I remind you just how well the Loremasters pay? So when you sense danger, you activate your intercept skill and do your best to soak up as much damage as you possibly can.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it. If I ever run into him again outside of contract though.¡± He let the tail end of that threat hang. This looked like a fun group. The grumpy human was a knight, the leader a paladin, and the unfortunate dwarf was a knight as well it seemed. The group made sense when you factored in the Loremaster. A guild devoted to finding all the hidden secrets in Oblivion Online, the rumor was that they put all their stat points into intelligence and wisdom. They would take a spell to the utmost limit, and their enchanting was unmatched. The funding from said enchanting let them pay lavishly for protection in dungeons as they searched for secrets. ¡°[Resurrection].¡± The paladin finished the chant as I was lost in thought, bringing the dwarf back to life. ¡°Bastard shot me in the effing face! I¡¯m gonna enjoy ending him.¡± He swore as he sat up. ¡°Never thought they would have stone manipulation though.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± The mage had returned. ¡°You said they have stone manipulation? How do you know?¡± ¡°He was fightin¡¯ me for control. I thought I was getting the better of ¡®im too. Guess he was just lettin¡¯ me think so and dropping the resistance in that circle. I opened it up and he shot me right in the face.¡± I really felt bad about what I was going to do, but I had finished reloading my arbalest as the group was discussing my skills. Opening another hole, I saw the dwarf¡¯s eyes widen in shock again as I fired another bolt into his face, getting my second kill of the day. I slammed the hole shut, and expected the mage to retaliate so I doubled the thickness of the wall as swiftly as I could. I was really glad I did, as I felt a massive shockwave travel through the stone. Turning, I fled down the hallway and crossed as swiftly as I could. Two kills, with four players that was half of their resurrections right there. I bet that dwarf wouldn¡¯t be trying to get into any of my hallways though. ¡°What are these markings?¡± I heard the mage ask himself. ¡°Careful everyone. I sense a void in the stone on each side of the hallway.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry through then. I don¡¯t want to get caught in an ambush.¡± The team leader was speaking. ¡°Absolutely not! There is some form of writing on this wall, and I don¡¯t recognize it. So I¡¯m going to study it for a bit, and make a few different copies of it. Do your jobs and protect me.¡± ¡°Right. Gnumble, keep an eye on both of those stone voids. Anything starts changing on the walls, you yell out a direction. I¡¯ll stay with the client. Lance, you go on ahead for a bit and see what you can find. Don¡¯t engage anything.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Oh, splitting the party. Too bad I couldn¡¯t take advantage of it, not with that dwarf watching the stone like a hawk. If I went around and attacked from the side, I don¡¯t think I can make it back to a hiding spot in time, so that is out. Guess I¡¯ll have to head down to the next level and wait for them there. ¡°Nothing over this way, just a stairway leading down.¡± ¡°Another one? Great, we are stuck in a maze dungeon.¡± ¡°And we will be mapping every portion of that maze. Dwarf. You noticed the voids in the stone. Mark them on this map.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He said in a sweet voice, then muttered as he turned. ¡°Your majesty.¡± As I was leaving, I heard the mage muttering about known languages and how it wasn¡¯t quite runes that was on the wall. Well, they were probably going to spend a lot of time on that, so I headed to the area with my shadow tripwire trap, but left openings so that I could have advance notice of anything coming down the way. Nearly an hour later, I heard the clanking of metal boots on stairs, it seemed like they had taken the second set of stairs. ¡°Don¡¯t care. I am here to study the dungeon, and anything that might indicate hidden lore. Hidden lore often leads to hidden quests, and should we find them I guarantee that I won¡¯t be taking you fools along on it.¡± ¡°Whatever, I¡¯m not about to spend another hour looking at bumps on a damn wall. If you didn¡¯t know it off the top of your head, you should have just taken a screen capture and gone back to your no doubt extensive library and searched at your leisure!¡± ¡°Easy now Pat. We¡¯re still in the dungeon, so keep your voice down.¡± Ah, the peacekeeper. Every good leader knew how and when to step in and deescalate a situation. ¡°SHUSH!¡± I heard the dwarf hiss. ¡°I see a creature just ahead, but it¡¯s facing away from us. I think I can sneak up on it, but it would help if you could cast [Muffled steps] on me.¡± After a few seconds, the dwarf continued. ¡°Thanks.¡± Here¡¯s where I simply smiled. I was relaxing in my hidden hallway, using a speaking tube to connect to the area where the spears would trip down. What Gnumble was hunting, was my shadowgheist. Right behind the clone was the pressure trap. I felt the clone die right as I heard the trap fall. ¡°Ah, shit. Shit, shit shit. Damnit Gnumble, what did you do?¡± Panicked screeching from the human knight. ¡°I killed the enemy, what¡¯re you talking about?¡± ¡°You triggered something, and now the client got killed! As did the captain!¡± ¡°What about you? You¡¯re supposed to be watching! Why didn¡¯t you knock the insufferable mage down and take the hit like you are supposed to?¡± As they were arguing, I figured it would be a perfect time for an ambush. Heading over, I slowly dissolved a hole in the wall, trying not to alert the frustrated dwarf to my actions. ¡°Quick you dolt! Get out the resurrection scrolls and bring ¡®em both back to life!¡± As soon as the dwarf said that, he took a crossbow bolt through the temple from point blank range. As his lifeless body clanged to the ground, I closed up the hole and went back to my spying. ¡°What in the world happened? A trap?¡± I heard the mage ask, seething with rage. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy dying. I enjoy it far less when the people who are supposed to be protecting me don¡¯t die first.¡± ¡°Sorry sir, it was just too quick. Had I tried, we both would have ended up dead.¡± ¡°Oh, so you didn¡¯t even try and save me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I said! There was no time!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of your attitude. Captain.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I heard the resignation in his voice, and I¡¯m sure the mage did too. ¡°There will be no bonus for this dive, and your player there has officially been blacklisted with our guild. The only reason your group hasn¡¯t been is because of how you have helped in the past, but know this. I am sending a report to the higher ups, this will be a black mark on your relationship with our guild.¡± ¡°I understand. Don¡¯t worry, Pat here will undergo extensive training before we allow him to join in further dives. Should he reach the point where we feel he can be more help than hindrance in the future, would your guild be amenable to a few free protection dives to test?¡± ¡°Hmm, we shall see. But it will be no less than three dives if he wants off the blacklist.¡± ¡°Like hell will I go on three dives with people like you and not get paid for it!¡± ¡°GODDAMNIT PAT!¡± The leader roared before the mage could respond. ¡°You just wasted everything I just did to cover your ass. It¡¯s a good thing I can¡¯t kick you from the party mid dungeon. After this, you are gone from the guild. We won¡¯t blacklist you, but you won¡¯t be asked back and don¡¯t even think of using us for references. Now, shut your mouth for the rest of the dive. Unless it is to warn of trouble or treasure, I don¡¯t want to hear a peep out of you. Got it?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He hissed. ¡°Now, where¡¯s Gnumble? Wait, why is his name greyed out?¡± There was a short search for the dwarf, and more testy conversation I gladly eavesdropped on. ¡°Great. Just fucking great. We blow all our rez¡¯s on the first two floors, and our stone sensing dwarf is killed. New plan. Pat? You stick to that mage like saltwater taffy sticks to teeth. I¡¯ll scout ahead on spots.¡± ¡°Uh, not the greatest metaphor there, boss.¡± ¡°Technically, it¡¯s a simile.¡± The mage corrected. ¡°Whatever. Just do what I said, and hopefully we can finish this dungeon without any more mishaps. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s head up and take one of those other stairs down.¡± Fifteen minutes later, I heard clunking coming down the stairs. Good thing too, as I was just about to go hunting for them. ¡°Great, three ways to go. Well loremaster, your choice. Ahead, left or right.¡± ¡°Go left first.¡± A few seconds later and I heard a distinctive *click*. ¡°Awwwww DAMNIT! I hate these effing traps. Everyone back up, no sense in everyone else dying with me.¡± Looking through the hole in the wall, I saw the mage and the knight walking towards me. *Click* ¡°HA! HAHAHA! HAHAHAHAAAAAA!¡± Maniacal laughter echoed strangely through the hallways. ¡°Devious pain in the ass, it¡¯s not a trap. Just something to keep us on edge.¡± As the mage and knight gave each other a strange look, the leader continued. ¡°Sorry guys, looks like this entire hallway is a bunch of clickers hidden in the floor. It seems safe, so come on.¡± As they went exploring, I carefully followed along behind. ¡°Hmmm, interesting. Captain, there¡¯s a hidden panel on that back wall there, would one of you care to open it?¡± ¡°Pat, you¡¯re up. Try not to die.¡± I couldn¡¯t quite hear what he said, but I was sure there was grumbling going on. While everyone was focused on that, I decided it was time to test one of my decapitator bolts. Taking aim, I gently fed the bolt my mana. As soon as the knight slid out the panel, I fired. The bolt flew true, and the captain had no idea what killed him as his head took flight. I started to back away, then swiftly ran when I heard the mage getting frustrated. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Patrickery¡¯s POV Damn Orick and damn the mage. Who are they to make me open up a hidden panel in a dungeon full of traps? Muttering curses, I stepped forward and placed my hand on the wall. ¡°Here?¡± ¡°To your left six inches.¡± The mage corrected me. Rolling my eyes, I moved my hand over and felt the stone click backwards a fraction of an inch. Sliding it to the side showed a remarkably lifelike statue with something scrawled on the back wall. ¡°Whoah.¡± I whispered, right as I heard some clanging sound from the Orick¡¯s direction. Turning, I saw his headless body on the floor. ¡°Damnit, someone has been stalking us. Pat? Stay behind me and don¡¯t move. Unless you want to die.¡± With that warning, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rising as the mage channeled mana. His voice changed, and I felt it reverberating in my chest as he chanted his spell. Storm clouds. Fire and Steel Death from above, bound by my will. Raging, power unleashed. Erupt from my hands, Destruction complete. [Thundering annihilation]! With the final cry of the spell, I froze in terror. A massive lightning bolt flashed down the hallway, big enough that it would cover my entire torso and have some room to spare. Smaller bolts crackled off at random bits, but I couldn¡¯t think that anything would survive a spell of that caliber. Hands shaking, I tried to move. To speak. Anything. ¡°I hate having to resort to such measures.¡± The mage muttered as he downed a mana potion. Then another. And finally a third one. ¡°It¡¯ll take me a few days to get rid of all the static in my hair.¡± Once he brought my mind to it, I could see some of his hair poking out from his hood. Turning, he looked in the alcove that I had already forgotten about. ¡°Oh, look at the detail of that statue! You can even see drops of blood rolling down those speartips. Absolutely fascinating.¡± ¡°Jesus Christ.¡± I managed to finally speak as he pocketed the statue. ¡°What the Hell kind of spell is that?¡± ¡°That? Just [Thundering annihilation]. You can get it if you go on a level 90 mage unique questline. It¡¯s powerful, but I can¡¯t wait to upgrade it at level 125.¡± ¡°It upgrades?!¡± I practically screamed. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s no need to shout. Most choose mass devastation and upgrade it to [Army killer], but I¡¯m going to go with [Titan slayer].¡± ¡°Can. Can you tell me what they do?¡± ¡°Oh sure. Army killer creates a massive ball of lightning, that you send into the middle of what you are attacking. It explodes, and 6-10 arms of lightning like what I just conjured blast out at random. Titan slayer creates a coiled snake of lightning around you, the body is six feet tall. Channel enough mana into it, and the lightning turns blue. It then strikes, and nothing survives.¡± ¡°Sounds. . . terrifying. Why go with the titan slayer though? Seems that an area attack would be much better.¡± ¡°Oh it is terrifying. But the titan slayer costs far less mana. To really be able to use army killer, you need several mages channeling mana to you. Well, unless you limit your chants.¡± ¡°Limit the chants? I thought spells only have one chant.¡± ¡°They do, but the upgrades each have a minute cast time. In that minute, the more times you repeat the chant, the stronger the spell. Ever seen the Shattered Plains?¡± ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s roughly a two-mile diameter area chock full of fissures. Why?¡± ¡°That is how powerful the army killer can get. Our guild leader and her second in command twin cast that spell, each had twenty mages funneling mana to them. There were representatives from every kingdom to see just what we could do with it.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus¡¯ POV I was cowering in the stairwell, the safest place I could think of when I heard that mage start chanting. That bolt of lightning was immense, and left pretty much zero chance that I would have survived it. I did take a small shock from one of the branching bits, and that nearly did me in. As it was, I still had pins and needles running through my leg. I heard them talking about upgrading the spell. Knowing they were coming closer, I cloaked my body in shadow, as that was the best I could do. They stopped for a second at the bottom of the stairs, and I noticed that the knight was a lot more deferential to the mage. I didn¡¯t blame him, after that display of power. There were major bosses that would be hard pressed to take that attack and live. No matter what, my next attack needs to be to take out that glass cannon. Hopefully, the cooldown on that skill is something in the ten-minute range. Watching them go, I was silently cursing as they were heading away from the treasure chest room. I really wanted them to meet their end in there. Loading my crossbow with a flesh ravager, I had to limp slowly after them. ¡°Hold on a second.¡± The mage spoke, and I mentally swore. I was just about to step off the bottom step, if they detected me I was toast. ¡°This is interesting. Hold your torch up higher, but don¡¯t move forward. Do you see that?¡± ¡°See what? All I see is the floor.¡± ¡°Just about to the edge of your torchlight, do you see that line?¡± ¡°See wha? Huh. Yeah, I do see it. The hell is it? And how did you see it?¡± ¡°Mana sight. It appears to be shadow mana. Now, I should be able to do this. Bringer of life, cleave through the shadows. [Blade of light].¡± ¡°HOLY SHIT!¡± I heard the knight swear. ¡°Fascinating. The shadows formed a tripwire. Unless you were incredibly observant you wouldn¡¯t notice an extra shadow at your feet. I think this confirms they have shadow manipulation in addition to stone.¡± I heard their steps moving away, and let out a breath I forgot I had been holding. Damn, I didn¡¯t expect them to figure out my trap like that. At least the loremasters were known for hoarding their knowledge of most things. A few minutes passed where I finally regained full use of my leg. When they returned, they were much more relaxed and headed in to see what the treasure chest room held. Here is where either I would die or they would. As they walked in, I created a shadowgheist. What was this feeling in my chest? I feel, airy. It feels good though, is it nervousness? Anticipation? Yes! I was anticipating this, like no other fight before it. To see an enemy that can take me down with one blast, I have to do this perfectly. ¡°See that line there? Coming up from the floor?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t touch it. From the angle, it would be connected to the base of the chest at best. Go ahead and just open it, no need to fear a trap.¡± The mage confidently got close, but not quite close enough for the trap to get him. Not that the knight was going to set it off, but that was ok. I let him open it, as I took aim with my arbalest after switching it out to an armor piercing bolt. Taking aim not at the players, but at the wire of the trap, I let the bolt fly and gave my shadowgheist an order. Things seemed to unfold in slow motion. Both players were mid-turn when the bolt cut through the wire and activated the trap. I saw the knight¡¯s arm start to flail as the floor dropped out from under him, but the mage was unfazed. Completing his turn, he had his arm raised to cast a spell when my clone speared him in the midsection. Unable to brace for the impact, both disappeared over the edge and into the pit.
All invaders have been killed. There will be a half hour rest period for the dungeon to reset.
I promptly collapsed. Dear God, but that felt good. That was incredible, but I felt that I barely scraped by on that one. I was feeling pretty bad for tomorrow, as I expected Rycran¡¯s group would be much tougher than what I just managed to take down. Shrugging my shoulders, there wasn¡¯t much I could do with my skills and experience sealed while in the dungeon. I did have a few changes to make, but that would have to wait until the end of the day so that nobody could give them a heads up. The rest of the day was anticlimactic, as I tended to play conservatively. There were a lot more dwarves coming through today, and I treated them to the same thing that Gnumble got when they noticed my hiding spots. Sure, it was slightly mean to lead them on, letting them think they had the upper hand and then shooting them in the face, but not a single one of them was doing anything other than trying to manipulate the stone with their eyes closed. Seriously, did they not think that closing your eyes and falling that deep into concentration wouldn¡¯t end up badly in the middle of a dungeon? The best part of the day was that the group with the loremaster had spent a lot of time exploring, so I didn¡¯t have nearly as many groups to deal with today as I did yesterday.
Dungeon day concluded! Thank you for serving your second day in the dungeon. The day is at an end, so you are free to make any further modifications you would like. Stats: Groups defeated: 7 Total dungeon kills: 47 Individual kills: 40
Looking over the kill sheets for a second, I was slightly shocked. Today was mostly smaller groups, but I had nearly the same amount of dungeon kills since I let them use their resurrections. Definitely something to think on in the future. Happy, I started whistling as I went about making changes to the dungeon. Book 2 Chapter 16 Shadow outpost dungeon chatroom Current members: Likes2lurk, WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, HolyDungeonDiver, RycranSeacrest, FirestarterOzai, First_of_his_kind, JimboJonsies, ThePatman, GrumbleGnumbleMonster, Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies, WhatsUpChuck, and 16 anonymous people. TheUnrustable: So Rycran, have you been strolling through the boards looking at the tactics for tomorrow? RycranSeacrest: Very little. WarriorPrincess: Why not? Seems like it would be good to prepare. RycranSeacrest: Or a great way to skew expectations. First_of_his_kind has access to the message boards as well, and I¡¯m sure he would love for me to plan around what he¡¯s already done. Knowing him, he probably has several tricks he hasn¡¯t shown yet. First_of_his_kind: Now what makes you think I have something up my sleeve? *Cackles maniacally* RycranSeacrest: See what I mean? He¡¯s devious. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Devious? I¡¯ld call him sadistic. First_of_his_kind: The middle part of your name sounds familiar. Have I killed you recently? GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Yes! ThePatman: How did he off you? Traps? GrumbleGnumbleMonster: No. The b****** shot me in the f****** face! Twice! *I am a bot. Please refrain from swearing in chat. You have been flagged. Repeated flagging before the timer expires will result in silencing and eventually expulsion.* First_of_his_kind: I REMEMBER YOU! In my defense, you were just sitting there after getting resurrected, kinda like you were asking for it. WarriorPrincess: ¡°They were asking for it¡± isn¡¯t really a good defense. First_of_his_kind: Fine, maybe I thought his name was McShootyFace? TheUnrustable: Still not the most ignoble death in the dungeon. WhatsUpChuck: Who has that honor? TheUnrustable: I do. Stuck my head in a hole looking for enlightenment. WhatsUpChuck: . . . Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: HAHAHAHAHA! NOT ANYMORE! TheUnrustable: Say what now? WhatsUpChuck: Oh, please don¡¯t. Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: You have been immortalized. There is a giant hole in one of the walls, called The Unrustable Hole of Glory, or something like that. WhatsUpChuck: Please don¡¯t say it. Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: Chuck here decided to stick his head in a ¡°Glory hole sized for a minotaur.¡± TheUnrustable: AHAHAHAHAHAHA WarriorPrincess: Too funny First_of_his_kind: Don¡¯t worry Chuck. You weren¡¯t the only one. Last time I checked, that hole had claimed four victims.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. LoremasterEddy has entered the chat. LoremasterEddy: Putting a call out for everyone, a quest from the loremasters. FirestarterOzai: Go on LoremasterEddy: Anyone who can decipher this text, and tell the Loremaster clan what language it is in will receive 100 platinum in game as well as an enchantment of their choosing. WhatsUpChuck: Holy Shooooooot! TheUnrustable: Lay it on us! LoremasterEddy: ?????????????????????????????????????????? First_of_his_kind: Hehehe, that looks familiar. Shockingly familiar. LoremasterEddy: You know it?! First_of_his_kind: Eyuuuuup. Likes2Lurk: *chuckles* Likes2Lurk: Nice one First. LoremasterEddy: What does it say? Likes2Lurk: The offer still stands even if you don¡¯t like what it says, right? LoremasterEddy: The loremasters clan doesn¡¯t go back on their word. Likes2Lurk: Very well. It is written in braille, and says, ¡°Like a blind man reading, I¡¯m feeling it.¡± LoremasterEddy: I¡¯ve never seen that language in the game. Where did you find it? WarriorPrincess: I get it! HAHAHAHAHA WhatsUpChuck: That gets a groan from me LoremasterEddy: THE LANGUAGE! WHERE! FirestarterOzai: Calm your tits Ed. Braille isn¡¯t in the game, it¡¯s a real life form of writing. The bumps provide something for blind people so they can read. LoremasterEddy: But. But it¡¯s in the game. Why would they? RycranSeacrest: I think First¡¯s prank just broke him. First_of_his_kind: Not my fault he wasn¡¯t compatible with puns. LoremasterEddy: I won¡¯t stand for this! (¨s¡ã¡õ¡ã)¨s¦à ©ß©¥©ß TableBot: ©Ð©¤©Ð ¥Î( ©b-©b¥Î) Please don¡¯t flip tables. I am a bot that rights flipped tables. Likes2Lurk: Now that¡¯s a bot I haven¡¯t seen in a while. BettingBot: Greetings! I am a bot here to remind you about the grudge match tomorrow! The battle will be played live in all local inns and arenas. In addition, you may bet on all sorts of things. Who will die first? How many times will people die? Will the dungeon be completed? There are even bets on how long until the first death. Currently people have placed 9,175,554,444 bets. RycranSeacrest: That¡¯s a lot of bets. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Yeah, a lot of the betting places have been running 24 hours a day and there are still lines out the door. Dairy_Airman has logged on Dairy_Airman: Heya everybody! WarriorPrincess: Hey Airman WhatsUpChuck: hi RycranSeacrest: Hey Airman. FirestarterOzai: I suddenly see a fleet of airplanes piloted by cows. Thanks for that. First_of_his_kind: I bet he was going for something a little more crude than that. Dairy_Airman: You know it! Gotta get around those filters somehow. Just takes a bit of creativity. Dairy_Airman: So, I hear the guy who is playing the monster in the fort is here, that true? First_of_his_kind: It is. Dairy_Airman: Sweet! Can you tell me how to get one of those awesome statues? WhatsUpChuck: What statues? The one in the main chamber? Dairy_Airman: Naw dude, there¡¯s this hidden alcove thingy. A buddy found a gnarly statue in there. WarriorPrincess: I thought that alcove was empty? Something about treasure being in another location. First_of_his_kind: Luck of the draw. I put a statue in after a few groups go through with the thing empty. LoremasterEddy: Wait, you crafted that? First_of_his_kind: You got one? LoremasterEddy: I got two drakelings piercing a knight¡¯s chest with spears. The detail on that is fantastic. I could see the blood droplets on the spear tip. Dairy_Airman: Wait, there are different ones? My buddy got a drakeling smith working in a forge. WhatsUpChuck: I want one too! First_of_his_kind: Sorry guys, I¡¯m far too busy to take commissions. So I wish you luck on getting into the dungeon tomorrow and finding one. Dairy_Airman: Don¡¯t do me like that bro! First_of_his_kind: It¡¯s not you bro. It¡¯s me. Likes2Lurk: Savage. WarriorPrincess: Wow, our little lurker has spoken a lot today. What¡¯s the occasion? Likes2Lurk: . . . GrumbleGnumbleMonster: And he¡¯s back to being silent. First_of_his_kind: Alright everyone, it¡¯s been fun but I gotta go. Lot to do for tomorrow. WarriorPrincess: Later RycranSeacrest: See you soon First_of_his_kind has logged off. RycranSeacrest: Alright, didn¡¯t want to ask with him still here, but rumor has it nobody has made it past the second floor. Truth? GrumbleGnumbleMonster: True as far as I know. LoremasterEddy: that¡¯s what we have found out as well. Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: Second floor only. RycranSeacrest: Ok, thanks everyone. I¡¯m out. Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: Good luck tomorrow GrumbleGnumbleMonser: Give ¡®em hell RycranSeacrest has logged off. Book 2 Chapter 17 Today was the day. I woke up, incredibly excited. ¡°Hey Khaliss, got a second?¡± I asked as I placed my breakfast down next to him. ¡°Sure Angus, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°The first dungeon group today is going to be a challenge. Remember how in that first dungeon they managed to bring in the high level character?¡± He nodded so I continued. ¡°Well, we issued a challenge to him earlier. His group will challenge our dungeon, and the world will be watching.¡± ¡°Interesting. This should be fun, do you think they will make it down to challenge me?¡± ¡°Honestly? Yes. I¡¯m sure they have a general knowledge of my traps, but I¡¯ve kept a few things back. Depending on how many people they bring down here they might make it tough.¡± ¡°Very well. Any guess on how many they¡¯ll bring?¡± ¡°Five. With three they will have more resurrections, but they run the risk of a wipe. Six or more and they don¡¯t get resurrections, which would make it too easy to take out the healers.¡± ¡°Very well. We will be prepared, are you going to battle them with the twins?¡± ¡°Most likely. I won¡¯t be able to take out an entire group of competent adventurers by myself.¡± Plan set, we ate our breakfasts in companionable silence. ¡°Well, good luck Angus. Try and kill enough that they can¡¯t use any more resurrections.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll try.¡± I said, heading out to start the dungeon run.
Grudge match starting! Rycran and his party have entered the Shadow Outpost Dungeon to challenge the Drakelings! Head to the nearest tavern or arena to watch a live stream of this dive. Place your bets and cheer on our adventurers! Or cheer on the denizens of the dungeon!
From my spot, I watched nervously to see Rycran and his party enter. Sure enough, he had five member team. Rycran took lead as the paladin tank. Of course, he threw together a party full of redundancy. A cleric for healing, druid for crowd control and added healing, a barbarian for off tanking and damage, and a rogue for detecting traps. ¡°Ok, everyone have their buffs up? Great. This guy loves to attack when we aren¡¯t looking. Oh, but I see he left us something familiar to start.¡± Rycran was talking, finally pointing to a pillar that I had crafted last night. ¡°Corrigan, smash that pillar from a distance please.¡± ¡°Sure thing boss.¡± The rogue stepped forward. ¡°Magic energy, bend to my will. [Arcane missile].¡± With his chant, a blue bolt of energy shot out and smashed the pillar. How the, did he bring an arcane rogue? Of course he did, because he couldn¡¯t stick with traditional classes. As the dust was clearing, and everyone was expecting a hammer to swing down, I fired my arbalest. ¡°Huh, I would have thought he brought back the ceiling hammer for me, guess not.¡± ¡°AGAGGH!¡± The cleric managed to gargle out as my decapitator bolt removed his head. I didn¡¯t stick around, abandoning the spot that the original statue had held. One kill, and they didn¡¯t get a chance for retribution. I didn¡¯t head to the second floor yet, instead waiting to do a little spying. A few minutes later and I heard them as they made their way to the stairs. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe that he took off your head with one shot.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t just the bolt head either. It wasn¡¯t wide enough to cut all my neck. He had to have added mana to it somehow.¡± ¡°Do you think we can duplicate it?¡± ¡°Probably. The shape isn¡¯t that hard. We can put the smiths on it, they¡¯ll love the challenge.¡± ¡°I got a flash of something.¡± The druid said, and I immediately closed the hole I was looking through. Damnable druids and their sense life ability. Luckily a thick enough stone will block it. I stayed where I was, giving them five minutes before I opened a smaller hole to see if they were still there. ¡°Sorry guys. It was just a quick flash, and then it disappeared. Let¡¯s get going.¡± ¡°Ok, Garret, you¡¯re tail end. I don¡¯t want him popping out to take pot shots at us again.¡± I heard Rycran say, and smiled. Putting the barbarian at the back wouldn¡¯t save you guys. After the group had passed, I stepped out of the wall. Taking aim, I took out the druid this time, using another decapitator bolt as half the group had started down the stairs. ¡°Damnit!¡± I heard, just before I closed the door to my hallway and moved on to the next area. I headed downstairs, content that I had taken out two of their revives. I cut through the wall so that I was on the same area as they were, and left a shadowgheist in the hallway, just inside the shadow tripwire. They took almost fifteen minutes to make it to where we were, and I heard them grumbling. ¡°Who in their right mind crafts a trap that goes off when it is disarmed?¡± ¡°I warned you guys that he was devious.¡± ¡°Yeah, but these annoying hit and run tactics are really getting on my nerves.¡± ¡°I know Corrigan. At least you know what it¡¯s like now to spar against you in the guild arena area.¡± ¡°At least I have the decency to strike with blades. Hold up, there¡¯s a good bit of mana up ahead there.¡± Oh? Looks like that arcane rogue managed to obtain an analogue to mystic sight. I wonder if my shadowgheist looked different in the magic spectrum? Probably should have looked into that. Too late now, I closed the listening hole I was using and sat cross legged on the ground. Concentrating, I was able to see through my clone¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s one on one, let me test this guy out solo. You guys be ready with the heals.¡± I saw Rycran step forward, and grinned. Crouching down slightly, I licked my lips and beckoned him closer. Once he was within range, I rang a light blow against his shield. He returned a thrust at my stomach, which I let pierce through me. Grabbing his wrist, I swung my weapon behind me, snapping the shadow tendril. ¡°Gotcha.¡± I grinned through the clone at him, watching his eyes widen as we were both impaled from above. Suddenly back in my body, I grabbed my head and dropped to the side in agony. ¡°Uuuuuhhhnnn.¡± I groaned through the pain of the backlash. Note to self, when using the clone for a suicide mission disconnect beforehand. I really wanted to open up and fire another bolt at them, but my head was aching too much. It took nearly ten minutes, but the pain finally dropped to a level where I could use my skills again. Opening a listening hole, I couldn¡¯t detect anything. Sighing in frustration, I headed to the next area, listening. I faintly heard clunking, so I opened a peephole. I saw them just finishing descending the stairs, but the short hallway wouldn¡¯t let me get away if I attacked. Not wanting to do a final stand, I headed over to the area with the twins, sealing the passage behind me. ¡°Angus! Khaliss said we were gonna fight together, but we were worried when you didn¡¯t show.¡± ¡°Sorry guys, I¡¯ve been chipping away at the invaders. Wanna do the same plan for when they come down here?¡± ¡°Both of us in the pillars? Hell yeah we do!¡± They both cried, then ran to hide. I chuckled at their energy, glad there would be backup for this next part. Of course, they would take their sweet time making it over to our area. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed, and I was standing in the middle of the room waiting. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go first and engage, you guys watch for attacks from different directions. This is probably another one of those shadow clones.¡± As Rycran prepped his team, I decided to ruin his day. I took quick aim and shot him in the shoulder with a corruption bolt before he could react. To his credit, he merely grunted before reaching over and snapping off the shaft. I smiled and wiggled my eyebrows at him. Well, as much as lizardlike beings have eyebrows. Charging ahead, I unleashed a charged blast against his shield, sacrificing power in the blow to get past him and attack the barbarian. ¡°[Thunderclap].¡± He calmly said before smashing the sides of his twin axes together. The shockwave unleashed staggered me, letting Rycran get a cut in as the barbarian unleashed a flurry of strikes. ¡°KIIIEEEEYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!¡± I screeched, slashing around in all directions. ¡°[Binding shadow chains]!¡± I yelled, targeting the stomach of the rogue. I wanted all their attention on me, as Codo and Podo had finally left their hiding spots and double teamed the cleric. ¡°[Triple thrust].¡± They both unleashed their skills, but the three in combat hadn¡¯t heard them. Of course, the cleric did, but he didn¡¯t last much under their onslaught. ¡°Two to pick up over here! Garret¡¯s down!¡± The druid cried a warning as the twins attacked. ¡°Not so fast big boy!¡± I snarled as the barbarian turned to help out, and slammed my scythe into his calf. ¡°Damnit, when did I get poisoned? [Purifying light][Mending hands].¡± I guess he found out about my corruption bolt¡¯s properties. We were fifteen seconds into the fight, and I heard his frustration when his purifying light didn¡¯t fix the corruption. ¡°[Greater purification].¡± ¡°Pierce armor and rend flesh. [Arcane lance].¡± The rogues spell tore through my stomach, leaving me with a heavy bleeding debuff. It sucks when they can attack from a distance like that. The barbarian took advantage of the opening by unleashing his own attack. ¡°[Berserk retribution].¡± A red glow enveloped him and his weapons, and three slashes later I got a popup.
You have died. As there are still players in the dungeon, you may follow along as a ghost entity to watch their progress if you wish. Follow along? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrigan¡¯s POV We did it! We finally got that sneaky bastard and took him down! I breathed out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, we had already lost Leslie and Corinne, and only had one resurrection to use. ¡°God I feel like such a failure.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Relax Corrigan, none of us suspected that they would use the player as a decoy and have minibosses hiding in ambush.¡± Rycran said, putting a hand on my shoulder. ¡°I just feel like it should have set off my trap sense. There¡¯s a reason I leveled it that high. Between that and perception. . .¡± ¡°Stop. These guys have stone manipulation, so it isn¡¯t like you missed a door. It was literally solid stone they stepped out of. No way you could detect that, and it¡¯s my fault for not bringing a dwarf with us.¡± ¡°Besides.¡± Garret spoke up. ¡°This dungeon is designed to mess with you. The clickers that weren¡¯t a trap. The wire that was only a trap if you disabled it. Those glowing stones that he used as grenades in the first dungeon, but were simple lights this time around.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to apologize to Leslie later, we can¡¯t go on without a pure healer.¡± Rycran said. ¡°Go ahead and see what he dropped, I think this is the first time so it should be good.¡± As Rycran went over to resurrect Corinne, I placed a hand on the player to see what he dropped, freezing at what I saw.
Do you wish to loot Angus_MacG¡¯s corpse? Ring of Shadowgheist Belt of the Shadow Blessed Arbalest blueprints 10 platinum
Ring of Shadowgheist Allows the wearer to summon a shadow copy of themselves once per hour. Ring must be worn for one hour before use. Shadow has half the health and stats of the user, and can be remotely piloted if the user is still.
Belt of the Shadow Blessed Crafted from the hide of an unknown creature of the Underdark, this belt has been further enhanced by being steeped in concentrated shadow mana. Defense: 15 Durability: 125/125 50% harder to detect when in shadow Shadow spells cost 30% less mana and do 15% more damage. Critical hit damage from shadows increased by 50%
¡°Good God, this is amazing. A legendary ring, a unique belt, blueprints for his ranged weapon and ten platinum.¡± ¡°What classes for the ring and belt?¡± Garret asked. ¡°No restrictions. The belt is geared towards a rogue, but any scouting type class would love the ring.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°It lets you do a copy like he did earlier.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Rycran said, looking at the belt and ring. ¡°The ring¡¯s useless to me and Garret. We would need to pilot it. Let¡¯s do this. Corrigan, which do you want more?¡± ¡°I really, really, want both, but you got that look like you have a crazy idea. I¡¯ll take the belt.¡± ¡°Thanks. I was wondering if we gave the ring to Corinne, could the copy cast healing spells? We would essentially get a free healer even if it only has half her mana reserves.¡± ¡°That would be a handy thing to have for tough boss fights.¡± Corinne said, walking up and taking the ring. ¡°Especially if it gets a lesser version of my own skills.¡± ¡°Alright, now that we have the loot settled, everyone ready to head down? This¡¯ll be unknown territory, and I want to advance like we still have to worry about Angus here ambushing us.¡± We all nodded, and headed down to the third floor of the dungeon. ¡°Talk about an upgrade.¡± I muttered as we entered. The walls had gone from rough hewn to worked stone. ¡°Ok Corrigan, you¡¯re up. Sneak ahead and see what we got.¡± Nodding, I activated my [Stealth] skill, and started exploring. The first corridor had four alcoves on each side, but they were all empty. I could only imagine the fun Angus would have if there were statues here for him to hide among. Though he would probably have made a sniper¡¯s nest or something just above the door here and used that overpowered arbalest to take out vulnerable members of any group that made it this far. Keeping [Detect trap] and [Mana sight] active was giving me a slight headache, but needed. Seeing nothing, even when I checked the ceiling, I headed to the doorway of the next room. There were three groups of drakelings, each with five members. Four spearmen and one armed with those arbalests. Of course, it looked like they were close enough to aggro everything in the room if you got into melee range. I turned and headed back to report to Rycran. ¡°Alright, we got a short hallway with no traps or enemies. Beyond that is a room with three groups of five. Four spearmen and one with an arbalest.¡± ¡°Chance of pulling one group at a time?¡± Rycran asked. ¡°Zero from melee, but it could work from range. Depends on if they will let us take pot shots at them or will come running.¡± ¡°Alright, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. Corinne, you are obviously in the back here. Make sure to stay to one side of the doorway so that you can avoid getting shot. Corrigan, you are to draw the closest group with an arcane lance, and retreat back into the hallway. Garret and I will be waiting just inside the doorway, ready to lay into whatever comes through. We hold the bottleneck, and you can use whatever magic attacks you deem appropriate. Ready?¡± Heading forward, I checked to make sure everyone was in position. As the one with the quickest reflexes, I would be standing straight down the hallway from the room. That should give me the time to dodge any bolts fired my way. Rycran was standing to the left of the door, so that he could swing his dominant hand without worry of hitting a wall. Garret was on the opposite side, using two weapons added to his flexibility. Corinne was on Garret¡¯s side, since the barbarian had far less armor than Rycran, and couldn¡¯t heal himself. With a confident grin, I took a step into the room. ¡°Burning flames, bound by my will. Condense by my order, to unleash devastation upon my foes. [Orb of destruction].¡± Channeling the magic between my hands, I formed an orb of flames burning bright blue. With a flick of mental energy, it rocketed forward and exploded in the middle of the nearest group, catching two of them on fire. ¡°Toodle loo!¡± I said, waving at their rage filled faces before turning and running out the door. ¡°One group incoming, slightly scorched.¡± I relayed as I passed, stopping halfway down the hall to turn and survey the fight I was already hearing. Rycran had stepped away from the wall a bit and used a shield bash to stun the first drakeling through while Garret rapidly reduced its life with critical hits from the back. Stepping to the side of the body, Rycran and Garret were forced to act slightly defensively, as the second drakeling wouldn¡¯t come through the door. Instead it was using the reach of its weapon to poke at the warriors. Looks like it was my turn again. ¡°Pierce armor and rend flesh. [Arcane lance].¡± The bolt of magic energy took the creature high in the chest, and it screamed at me as it started to charge. Rycran went for a blow to the legs as it came through, but Garret ended it with a double axe chop to the chest. ¡°Incoming archer!¡± I yelled, seeing the one with the arbalest take aim. Garret and Rycran slipped out of view, and my sphincter tightened a bit as that massive bolt was pointed at me. As soon as that finger started tightening on the trigger, I was moving to the side, spinning to make a thinner target. Faster than I realized it would happen, there was a burning line of pain across my abdomen, but I had successfully dodged the bolt. Standing back up after falling on my ass, I saw Rycran and Garrett dealing with the last of the remaining spearmen. I stood back up, and saw the archer had abandoned his weapon and was charging in with a dagger drawn. Right as he entered the doorway, I hit him in the stomach with an arcane lance, and Garret decapitated him as he bent over in pain. ¡°Well, that went fairly well, what do you guys think?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Garret said. ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya think Rycran? Keep the same plan?¡± ¡°Sure. Corrine didn¡¯t even need to heal anyone, did she?¡± ¡°Not once. You guys make this job easy sometimes.¡± Corrine topped everyone off with her smaller heals, and we took care of the other two groups without any problems. We searched through the room, finding several stashes of mid-level gear and a lot of cash, but none of the gear was enchanted. That was fine though, as the guild enchanters could probably get some decent bonuses into it. ¡°Looks like the next room is another hallway with that Braille writing repeated over and over. Beyond that is an empty room with the stairs leading down.¡± ¡°Almost makes you wish that loremaster had made it down here, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Garret chuckled. ¡°I can imagine him freaking out at the repeated writings, paranoid they were going to unleash some ancient evil or the like.¡± ¡°Ha! I would almost pay money to see that.¡± Rycran chuckled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head on down.¡± Leading the way, we entered floor five of the dungeon. The bottom of the stairs opened up into a widening room with two columns. Flames on torches high up gave the room a creepy feeling, as shadows danced along the floor. Looking up, a drakeling stood from behind the desk he was doing paperwork on to stare at us. Decked out in dark grey armor with spikes in places that would make them viable weapons, like his elbows, he cut an imposing figure. Two other heavily armored spearmen were waiting at attention at each side of the desk. ¡°It appears you managed to defeat Angus. Commendable.¡± He actually spoke while standing. ¡°Though there is one less of you than he predicted. Could it be you have used all your resurrections?¡± I know my poker face was passable, and Rycran and Garret wouldn¡¯t flinch when confronted like this, but Corrine wouldn¡¯t be able to. ¡°Ah, judging by the flinch of your healer, that was spot on.¡± ¡°Can we assume that you are the boss, since you are speaking to us?¡± Rycran asked. ¡°Indeed young paladin. Have you formulated your plans for battle? There is still time yet.¡± ¡°Garret, tank the guards. Corrine, Garret is your primary for now, but keep an eye on me just in case. Corrigan, waste the guards as fast as you can. Technique is up to you. I¡¯ll hold the boss. GO!¡± Garret used the barbarian¡¯s [Into the fray] skill to rush between the guards at a speed that rivaled teleportation. ¡°[Thunderclap]!¡± He roared, the shockwave just wide enough to hit both guards and draw their aggro. ¡°[Shield rush].¡± Rycran was always calmer in battle, angling his attack to separate the boss from his minions. Their fight rapidly devolved into a whirlwind of steel and sparks, their skills with their favored weapons nearly on par. The length of the boss¡¯ spear was countered by the defense of Rycran¡¯s shield, so I was free to stealth and sneak up on the guards. Once I figured Garret had gained enough hatred from the guards, I unleashed one of my favorite combinations. ¡°[Tempest blades].¡± Attacking from stealth with a six strike combination from each weapon would be devastating enough, even before you added in the bonus wind damage. The boosted damage from the belt I got from Angus pushed me into insane levels of damage, and I ended up slaughtering the drakeling before the skill even finished. ¡°Heh, looks like that belt agrees with ya!¡± Garret chuckled before turning and roaring at the remaining drakeling. Though he didn¡¯t actually use any words, the sheer power of his [Intimidating shout] was enough to shake the bones in my chest. The drakeling was stunned and frightened, giving me the time to sneak around behind him. ¡°[Dirty tactics: Kidny rupture].¡± I didn¡¯t use this much, only when tempest blades was on cooldown, but it was an older mainstay of the rogue tree. Plunging both daggers into the kidneys before savagely twisting them, the pain often lowered the attack speed of the opponent. ¡°[Vicious chops].¡± Garret gave a one, two overhand combo of his axes right into the chest of the drakeling as it arched its back in pain from my attack. That spelled the end of the second guard, and we both turned to help out Rycran. ¡°[Repelling wave]!¡± The boss cried, unleashing a wave of shadow energy that sent Rycran hurtling back near us. ¡°Hrmph. You are strong, but it was a mistake to kill my underlings. Now, feel my true strength. [Shadow eruption]!¡± He sunk into the floor, only to surge upwards from within the triangle formed by myself, Garret and Rycran. His spear tip tore out Garret¡¯s throat, and a swing of it as I was sent flying ripped through my stomach.
You have died. As your party has no revives remaining, you have the option to watch the battle in ghost mode. Watch? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corinne¡¯s POV Things were going so well. Corrigan and Garret had wasted the guards so quickly I didn¡¯t even need to heal them. Then the boss did some crazy move, and his attack had Garret bleeding out and Corrigan killed outright faster than I could cast a spell. I turned to see Rycran getting up from his knees, his life having dropped to a third. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I hit him with the biggest heal I could, forgoing the boost from the chant for speed. ¡°Thanks Corrine.¡± He said, before turning back to the boss. I couldn¡¯t see his face because of his helm, but from the sudden stiffness in his shoulders, he was shocked at having lost both of our companions. I smiled as I saw him reset his shoulders. No matter the odds, Rycran never gave up. Who wouldn¡¯t love fighting alongside someone like that? ¡°Get ¡®m Rycran, I¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± ¡°Never doubted you, Corrine.¡± With that, he charged forward once again. ¡°[Avenger¡¯s aura]! [Holy smite]!¡± Pulling out all the stops, the battle resumed. Well, if he was going to burn his higher powered attacks, I should as well. ¡°My mana for comrades, I willingly sacrifice. [Boosted regeneration]. [Slow heal]. [Minor heal].¡± Rycran was hovering at three quarters life, but I couldn¡¯t do more without drawing aggro. ¡°[Devastating blow]. [Light wave].¡± Rycran was hanging in there, though his life was starting to yo-yo a bit more than I was comfortable with. I hoped that their battle speed wouldn¡¯t increase, as I was burning healing spells as soon as the cooldown ended as it was. When they disengaged for some reason, I took the time to down a few mana potions. ¡°I can see why Angus would consider you a rival. You do well with your sword, and your team is incredibly competent. Sorry to say though, this is your end. Farewell adventurer. [Dancing shadow steps].¡± The boss started teleporting around Rycran, stabbing and slashing from different angles. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I cried in desperation, but the onslaught was too much. Overwhelmed, Rycran fell swiftly, leaving me standing there shaking. ¡°You have no offensive capability, do you?¡± The boss asked as he walked towards me. I shook my head no, and he continued, ¡°It brings me no joy to do this, and I hope you will forgive me for this young lady. [Triple thrust].¡± I only felt the first of the strikes hit my chest, before I got the popup.
You have died. Your party has wiped in the dungeon. Respawning at your last spawn point in 5¡­¡­4¡­..3¡­.2¡­.1¡­.
Book 2 Chapter 17.1 (rewrite) Today was the day. I woke up, incredibly excited. ¡°Hey Khaliss, got a second?¡± I asked as I placed my breakfast down next to him. ¡°Sure Angus, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°The first dungeon group today is going to be a challenge. Remember how that first dungeon they managed to bring in the high level character?¡± He nodded so I continued. ¡°Well, we issued a challenge to him earlier. His group will challenge our dungeon, and the world will be watching.¡± ¡°Interesting. This should be fun, do you think they will make it down to challenge me?¡± ¡°Honestly? Yes. I¡¯m sure they have a general knowledge of my traps, but I¡¯ve kept a few things back. Depending on how many people they bring down here they might make it tough.¡± ¡°Very well. Any guess on how many they¡¯ll bring?¡± ¡°Five. With three they will have more resurrections, but they run the risk of a wipe. Six or more and they don¡¯t get resurrections, which would make it too easy to take out the healers.¡± ¡°Very well. We will be prepared, are you going to battle them with the twins?¡± ¡°Probably not. This will be a good thing for them, fighting a competent group.¡± Plan set, we ate our breakfasts in companionable silence. ¡°Well, good luck Angus. Try and kill enough that they can¡¯t use any more resurrections.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll try.¡± I said, heading out to start the dungeon run.
Grudge match starting! Rycran and his party have entered the Shadow Outpost Dungeon to challenge the Drakelings! Head to the nearest tavern or arena to watch a live stream of this dive. Place your bets and cheer on our adventurers! Or cheer on the denizens of the dungeon!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Rycran¡¯s POV ¡°Everyone got their buffs up?¡± I asked, looking around at our group. Knowing how Angus liked to ambush people, we had decided on a redundant group. ¡°I¡¯m good, but this added defense instead of mana regen is gonna come back to bite us I think.¡± Corrine, our healer said. She was the only person who didn¡¯t have a hybrid class. ¡°Lookin¡¯ forward to this. Think he¡¯ll go toe to toe with us?¡± Garret asked. Wielding twin axes, our resident barbarian had a massive health pool to help with tanking should the need arise, but he was really here for the physical DPS. ¡°Unlikely. The guy likes to ambush. Why would you expect an assassin type attach scheme to go toe to toe with you ya brute?¡± Corrigan loved to nettle Garret, brothers in real life. His was one of our finest hidden classes. Not many people had the ability to pull off an arcane rogue, but he was one of the best. He got the drop on a lot of unprepared people with his ranged attacks, as most expected him to need a bow or massive amounts of throwing knives to do that. ¡°Leslie? You good?¡± I asked. ¡°I hate my healer build. Are you sure we even need an off healer? From what I¡¯ve seen on the boards, there aren¡¯t a lot of monsters in this dungeon.¡± Normally a master of crowd control, she had picked up a wide variety of low level heals early in her character build. The guild was more than happy to help her level them in between major raids, on the rare occasion where she would be needed. ¡°Trust me, we¡¯ll probably need you. Remember, this is a player we will be facing. Sneak attacks from the shadows are his go to move, and he loves to take out the squishier members first. Alright, let¡¯s get this thing on the road. And remember, we¡¯re being broadcast so let¡¯s give ¡®em a good show.¡± Turning, I headed through the golden light into the dungeon proper. ¡°Hello old friend.¡± I said, noticing a pillar nobody had described before along with a long hole in the ceiling behind it. ¡°Ok guys, first throwback is right here. The obvious one is the pillar, last dungeon he would be hiding in the ceiling ready to have a massive stone hammer swing down and obliterate people. Leslie, can you use [Detect life]? Corrigan, after she¡¯s done I need you to take down that pillar from a distance.¡± ¡°Got one ping, distant enough I can only tell it comes from straight ahead somewhere.¡± ¡°Alright, my turn then. Magic energy, bend to my will. [Arcane missile].¡± Corrigan¡¯s blue bolt flew forward and reduced a large chunk of the pillar to dust, but nothing swung down. ¡°No hammer? How disa [Intercept]!¡± I tried to shout as a bolt few past me. My skill activated, I was just a fraction of a second too slow. I turned to see the headless body of Corrine drop to the ground. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV After the destruction of the pillar, I used the moment of the group¡¯s distraction to strike. I had replaced the statue with myself, and one of the decapitator bolts made short work of the group¡¯s healer. After firing, I made my escape. One death down, nine to go for complete victory. I headed to the secret hallway between the first and second stairs, and made a listening hole in each end for spying. I heard them coming down what would have been their left hallway, and smiled. Knowing that the druid had life sense, I hid so that there was always going to be enough stone between us to stop the sense from detecting me. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe he took her head off with one shot.¡± ¡°Pity we couldn¡¯t recover the bolt. I¡¯m going to have to have our smiths start researching to see if we can duplicate it somehow.¡± ¡°Think they¡¯ll be useful? Let¡¯s be honest here, we mostly fight monsters.¡± ¡°There are plenty of humanoid monsters out there Cor. Infuse ¡®em with light and blast the undead to pieces.¡± ¡°Ugh, I hate undead. The skeletons are ok, but the zombies smell.¡± As soon as I felt they were far enough away, I opened the wall and peeked out. Once they had started down the stairs, I took aim at the druid. One more decapitator bolt, and the group had one less resurrection to work with. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrigan¡¯s POV I was just getting ready to follow Garret down to the second floor when I felt something hit me in the back. ¡°AAaah!¡± I yelled, surprised to see Leslie¡¯s headless body leaning against me. Stunned for only a second, I recovered enough to look around, but the player had already disappeared without a trace. ¡°Damned hit and run tactics.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on up there?¡± Rycran called from the stairwell. ¡°We got hit, Leslie needs a rez.¡± I replied. ¡°Serious?¡± He asked as they all trooped back up. ¡°Corrine, can you do the honors? I want to save our scrolls as much as I can.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She said with resignation, swiftly chanting the spell and bringing Leslie back to life. ¡°Anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?¡± She quipped, though we could all tell that it was bothering her to have died already. ¡°Alright, I guess we are going to have to have a tank front and back. Garret, you got the rear detail, that ok with you?¡± ¡°Yeah. Go on Cor, you head down behind Rycran. Hopefully you can detect the traps before we have an issue.¡± I followed Rycran down the stairs, all of us slightly morose for having two deaths without even sighting what had killed us. At the bottom, I asked, ¡°So, left, right, or straight ahead?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get straight ahead out of the way first.¡± Following him, we entered a hallway that opened almost immediately into a round room. Straight across was a treasure chest, with a very obvious tripwire coming out of the pedestal. ¡°Alright Corrigan, you¡¯re up. I¡¯ve heard weird stuff about this trap, so let¡¯s go with a remote trigger of it.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I said, carefully checking the floor for any hidden tripwires or pressure plates. The wire itself was oddly inert to my [Detect trap], which confused the hell out of me. ¡°Hey Rycran? The wire isn¡¯t registering as a trap.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, we still need to take care of it. I don¡¯t trust anything down here.¡± Shrugging my shoulders, I kneeled down and tied off the rope to the wire, careful not to jostle it too much. I was just standing back up, when a voice came out of the wall. ¡°BOO!¡± Startled, I jumped a bit and gave the rope a tug. That was enough to dislodge the wire, which caused the floor to fall out from under my feet.
You have died. Player Corrine is attempting to revive you. Your party has two revives left for this dungeon.
¡°AW DAMNIT!¡± I swore as soon as I came back. ¡°Bastard was waiting for me, yelled at me through the wall. Startled me just enough that the rope triggered the wire trap.¡± ¡°Looks like he did one of those old time speaking tubes. I have no idea where this one leads.¡± ¡°You could just ask, ya¡¯know?¡± The voice spoke from the wall. ¡°I¡¯m gonna carve out your liver for that you bastard!¡± I swore at him, only to hear his laughter drifting away. ¡°So, did someone get what was in the chest?¡± ¡°Just some coin and a rare quality greatsword.¡± ¡°Damn, hardly seems worth it.¡± Shaking my head, I headed out into the hallway and turned to the right, swearing when I saw what [Detect trap] was showing me. ¡°Hey guys, almost all of these tiles are traps. This¡¯ll take a while.¡± Kneeling down, I got to work disarming trap after trap. Even though I took breaks every ten minutes, my knees were aching at the hour and a half mark, and I had barely gone through a third of the traps. ¡°This is bullshit!¡± I swore, slamming the plate I had just disarmed on the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s just remote trigger the traps.¡± Pulling out a rope, I tied several of the stone tiles together. ¡°Here we go!¡± Standing about ten feet away, I tossed the stone bundle onto the closest trap tile. A banner dropped from the ceiling, the only thing it said was ¡°Bang.¡± The scene repeated over and over. Bang. Death from Above. Duck. ¡°I feel like a Looney Toon. That¡¯s it, I¡¯m just walking through.¡± Storming through, I didn¡¯t pay any attention to the clicking beneath my feet, nor the group getting upset behind me. We got to the next room, and it was empty. There was a cache I detected across the way, but that was it. ¡°What¡¯ve we got?¡± Rycran asked, hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down. ¡°Nothing. There¡¯s a cache over there, no traps detected.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll check on it.¡± Garret said, starting to head over. ¡°Hey, nice little statue.¡± He said, holding it up for us to see. Before I could figure out what it was, I heard the sound of stone grating. ¡°RUN!¡± I screamed, seeing a large stone ball descending from the ceiling. Turning and sprinting down the way, we all made it out easily save Garret. ¡°GARRET!¡± I screamed, suddenly petrified to lose my brother. It was irrational, I knew it was just a game, that nothing bad would actually happen. It didn¡¯t matter, I started frantically pushing against the stone. ¡°Coriggan. Corrigan! CORRIGAN!¡± Rycran¡¯s voice finally penetrated. ¡°Take a deep breath man, I just got a message over the party chat from Garret. He¡¯s fine, just took a minor crossbow bolt.¡± ¡°We gotta get him!¡± I was still on the edge of panic. ¡°We will, but we need you calm to do it. Blast the stone with arcane lances. We¡¯ll get to him soon, just relax.¡± Slapping my face a few times, I tried to get ahold of myself. I blasted away with several lances, and after three of them the stone split right down the middle. As the dust cleared, we walked in to see the dead body of my brother. ¡°Just a minor bolt wound, huh?¡± I mocked Rycran, and got slapped upside the head. ¡°Corrine, if you would?¡± ¡°Guh.¡± Garret said, as he sat up. Was it me, or did he look gray? ¡°So what happened?¡± Leslie asked. ¡°Got shot with an arrow, and that was it. Between the shoulder blades, no matter what I couldn¡¯t reach it. Next thing I know, I got a string of progressively worse debuffs. I took a cleanse potion, but I only had three on me. Eventually I died, and now I have this Corruption¡¯s Touch to deal with.¡± ¡°Never heard of that one.¡± Leslie said. ¡°Lose ten percent of my stats for a day. Can¡¯t be cleansed.¡± All our eyes widened at those implications. ¡°Damn. We¡¯re down to one resurrection, and still not even halfway through this dungeon. I¡¯m making the call, we head back up to the first floor and over to the stairs that will eventually lead to level three.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV I had to stifle some mad cackling as I heard their plan. That poor rogue was cracking under the strain, and he was going to go absolutely nuts with the hallway on the first floor they were heading to. I had placed small stone needles beneath flimsy tiles, just enough that it would trigger his detect trap skill. The ¡°safe¡± pathway had tripwires riddled throughout it, most of them at foot height that dropped more banners. The one at head height didn¡¯t do anything, but would fluster him. ¡°Hey guys, you got some friends coming in a bit.¡± I told the twins. ¡°Really? You gonna stay and play with us?¡± Codo asked. ¡°No, I think you two will do just fine. I¡¯m going to head a bit further in and set up another trap. Leaving the disappointed twins, I headed down to the area with the statue alcoves. I had filled them all with replicas of me, but my favorite part was the hidden alcove behind the second one on each side. It bent around in a U shape so that the pesky druid wouldn¡¯t find me with her life sense, and the shadowgheist was at the other end with a large mana infused stone. I knew it wouldn¡¯t do anything, but I smiled when I realized Rycran wouldn¡¯t know that. I made sure that there was a stone box with a lid to hide the telltale glow, and settled in to wait. Half an hour later, and I heard them coming. ¡°Thank god that was a normal type of boss. I¡¯m starting to hate this damn dungeon.¡± Poor rogue, if only he knew what was in store. ¡°Ok, this is unexplored area as far as we know. Corrigan, go ahead and scout ahead. We will wait here for you.¡± It was mostly silent as the rogue scouted ahead, and I was going to enjoy this next part immensely. ¡°Alright, seems simple enough. There¡¯s a hallway of statues, followed by a room with three sets of enemies. Four spearmen and an archer with one of those arbalests.¡± ¡°Chances of bringing them one group at a time?¡± ¡°With melee? Zero. With ranged? Almost guaranteed.¡± ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the plan. I¡¯ll take one side of the doorway, Garret the other. Corrigan, you up for drawing them through?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Great. You bring them through, and stand back but in front of the doorway. You¡¯ve got the best chance of dodging that arbalest. Leslie? Split their group with a bramblethorn in the doorway when two of those spearmen make it through, then you are my healer. Corrine is Garret¡¯s.¡± Listening to the echoes of their feet on the ground, I let them make it to the door before I had my shadowgheist take the glowing stone out of his bock and come running around the statue right as Rycran started to speak. ¡°Everyone ready? GRENADE AT THE REAR!¡± He panicked, pointing a finger at the druid and casting a spell. ¡°[Barrier of light]!¡± While they were panicking about, I took aim and used a decapitator bolt on Rycran. I didn¡¯t get a full decapitation, but I did get a massive gash in his throat. ¡°[Major mending wounds]!¡± The healer managed to stop Rycran¡¯s bleeding, but still had her back to me. At this point, Rycran looked confused as the shadowgheist bounced off the barrier, and the stone crumbled to dust instead of explodint. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I quietly spoke, slashing deep into the neck of the healer. Unluckily for me, the decapitation didn¡¯t trigger, but the massive wound had to have been causing massive bleed damage. Since she had just used her only healing spell that would cure a wound like that to save Rycran I pulled out my weapon and smashed her with the hammer end to take her life down even more and let the bleed damage finish her off. ¡°[Holy smite]!¡± Rycran cried, smashing the shadowgheist that I had sent in a beeline towards him. The barbarian was headed towards me, but I was already too close to the druid for them to save. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I slashed across her torso, followed that up with a punch to the face, then an uppercut with my scythe underneath her jaw. That last one must have been a critical, as she went down right as that barbarian got within range and punished me. ¡°[X strike]! [Cross slash]!¡± I arced my back in agony as his axes cut an X shape in my back to start with, and he used a double horizontal backslash across my lower back. Spinning, I was aiming a backhanded hammer blow towards his face. ¡°[Arcane lance]!¡± The blow took me right in the heart, and my time came to an end.
You have died. As there are still players in the dungeon, you may follow along as a ghost entity to watch their progress if you wish. Follow along? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrigan¡¯s POV We did it! We finally got that sneaky bastard and took him down! I breathed out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, we had already lost Leslie and Corrine, and only had one resurrection to use. ¡°What the hell Rycran? What were you talking about grenades for?¡± ¡°One of his tricks from the first dungeon. He would overload something with mana, and then throw it and the explosion would be devastating at low levels. I figured the devs had nerfed it when we hadn¡¯t seen any of it so far, but panicked when I saw such a large stone glowing like that.¡± ¡°Bastard played us one last time.¡± Garret commented. ¡°Yeah, but we finally got his ass!¡± ¡°Yeah, but we lost both of our healers, and we can only resurrect one of them. Thank god you were just a little slow on drawing that group. We would have been toast.¡± Rycran pointed out ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± ¡°As much as I hate to say it, but we are going to have to rez Corrine. We¡¯ll make it up to Leslie later, but we can¡¯t finish this dungeon without a healer.¡± As Rycran went over to resurrect Corrine, I placed a hand on the player to see what he dropped, freezing at what I saw.
Do you wish to loot Angus_MacG¡¯s corpse? Ring of Shadowgheist Belt of the Shadow Blessed
Ring of Shadowgheist Allows the wearer to summon a shadow copy of themselves once per hour. Ring must be worn for one hour before use. Shadow has half the health and stats of the user, and can be remotely piloted if the user is still.
Belt of the Shadow Blessed Crafted from the hide of an unknown creature of the Underdark, this belt has been further enhanced by being steeped in concentrated shadow mana. Defense: 15 Durability: 125/125 50% harder to detect when in shadow Shadow spells cost 30% less mana and do 15% more damage. Critical hit damage from shadows increased by 50%
¡°Good God, this is amazing. A legendary ring and a unique belt. Doesn¡¯t that sound a bit, over the top?¡± I asked. ¡°Depends. They said at the beginning of this entire tier two dungeon fiasco that there would be bonuses for the first team to kill a monster player and another one if they were on a large kill streak.¡± Rycran pointed out. ¡°You think he went two days of combat without dying?¡± ¡°Who cares about that, what classes for the ring and belt?¡± Garret interrupted. ¡°No restrictions. The belt is geared towards a rogue, but any scouting type class would love the ring.¡± I snapped at him. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°It lets you do a copy like he did earlier.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Rycran said, looking at the belt and ring. ¡°The ring¡¯s useless to me and Garret. We would need to pilot it. Let¡¯s do this. Corrigan, which do you want more?¡± ¡°I really, really, want both, but you got that look like you have a crazy idea. I¡¯ll take the belt?¡± I asked, hoping that I had guessed the right one for his crazy plan. ¡°Thanks.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I was wondering if we gave the ring to Corrine, could the copy cast healing spells? We would essentially get a free healer even if it only has half her mana reserves.¡± ¡°That would be a handy thing to have for tough boss fights.¡± Corrine said, walking up and taking the ring. ¡°Especially if it gets a lesser version of my own skills.¡± ¡°Alright, now that we have the loot settled, everyone ready to take out that room over there? We still have a dungeon to finish clearing.¡± Rycran said, getting down to business. Heading forward, I checked to make sure everyone was in position. Rycran was standing to the left of the door, so that he could swing his dominant hand without worry of hitting a wall. Garret was on the opposite side, using two weapons added to his flexibility. Corrine was on Garret¡¯s side, since the barbarian had far less armor than Rycran, and couldn¡¯t heal himself. With a confident grin, I took a step into the room. ¡°Burning flames, bound by my will. Condense by my order, to unleash devastation upon my foes. [Orb of destruction].¡± Channeling the magic between my hands, I formed an orb of flames burning bright blue. With a flick of mental energy, it rocketed forward and exploded in the middle of the nearest group, catching two of them on fire. ¡°Toodle loo!¡± I said, waving at their rage filled faces before turning and running out the door. ¡°One group incoming, slightly scorched.¡± I relayed as I passed, stopping halfway down the hall to turn and survey the fight I was already hearing. Rycran had stepped away from the wall a bit and used a shield bash to stun the first drakeling through while Garret rapidly reduced its life with critical hits from the back. Stepping to the side of the body, Rycran and Garret were forced to act slightly defensively, as the second drakeling wouldn¡¯t come through the door. Instead it was using the reach of its weapon to poke at the warriors. Looks like it was my turn again. ¡°Pierce armor and rend flesh. [Arcane lance].¡± The bolt of magic energy took the creature high in the chest, and it screamed at me as it started to charge. Rycran went for a blow to the legs as it came through, but Garret ended it with a double axe chop to the chest. ¡°Incoming archer!¡± I yelled, seeing the one with the arbalest take aim. Garret and Rycran slipped out of view, and my sphincter tightened a bit as that massive bolt was pointed at me. As soon as that finger started tightening on the trigger, I was moving to the side, spinning to make a thinner target. Faster than I realized it would happen, there was a burning line of pain across my abdomen, but I had successfully dodged the bolt. Standing back up after falling on my ass, I saw Rycran and Garrett dealing with the last of the remaining spearmen. I stood back up, and saw the archer had abandoned his weapon and was charging in with a dagger drawn. Right as he entered the doorway, I hit him in the stomach with an arcane lance, and Garret decapitated him as he bent over in pain. ¡°About damn time something went to plan in this dungeon¡± ¡°I hear that.¡± Garret said. ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya think Rycran? Keep the same plan?¡± ¡°Sure. Corrine didn¡¯t even need to heal anyone, did she?¡± ¡°Not once. You guys make this job easy sometimes.¡± She said with a sad smile. Corrine topped everyone off with her smaller heals, and we took care of the other two groups without any problems. We searched through the room, finding several stashes of mid-level gear and a lot of cash, but none of the gear was enchanted. That was fine though, as the guild enchanters could probably get some decent bonuses into it. ¡°Looks like the next room is another hallway with that Braille writing repeated over and over. Beyond that is an empty room with the stairs leading down.¡± I said, having returned from another scouting mission. ¡°Almost makes you wish that loremaster had made it down here, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Garret chuckled. ¡°I can imagine him freaking out at the repeated writings, paranoid they were going to unleash some ancient evil or the like.¡± ¡°Ha! I would almost pay money to see that.¡± Rycran chuckled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head on down.¡± Leading the way, we entered floor five of the dungeon. The bottom floor of the dungeon was rather odd. The walls spread away from the stairs as we got down there, and there was an armored drakeling doing paperwork of all things while two guards stood nearby. In front of the desk was a maze of stone barricades set up like you were going to the bank. ¡°Well, don¡¯t just stand there, queue up so we can get this over with!¡± The drakeling barked. We all looked at each other to make sure we heard him right, and he continued when we didn¡¯t step forward. ¡°You do have the proper forms, yes?¡± ¡°Er, hrm.¡± Rycran cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, forms?¡± ¡°Oh hell, of course you aren¡¯t prepared. Look, you are wanting a boss fight, yeah? YEAH?!¡± He practically shouted the last word after a pause when nobody answered. We all started frantically nodding our heads. ¡°Then you need form 874E. Blue on top, pink middle, and yellow on bottom.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°Why what? Why three colors? Because everything needs to be in triplicate. Why do I need the form? Liability purposes. You all seem rather confused. I don¡¯t have time for this. Do you have the forms?¡± ¡°No. We weren¡¯t informed that there were forms.¡± Rycran tried. ¡°Well that¡¯s not my problem now, is it? Ignorance of the law isn¡¯t an excuse young man, you should really know that by now. If not, it¡¯s going to be a rude awakening one day.¡± ¡°Could ya make an exception?¡± Garret asked, and the drakeling froze as he stared at him. ¡°Exception? Hmmm, Interesting proposal. From a barbarian no less! A group rather renowned for being absent when they handed out the brains. Very well, we shall have an exception, since I don¡¯t want to wait for you to do all that paperwork.¡± With a wave of his hand, the barricades disappeared and the desk and all its paperwork sunk into the ground. Only now, as he stood up and put his helmet on, did we see that he was decked out in a dusky suit of armor. Spikes protruded from strategic locations like his elbows, ready for some dirty fighting. ¡°Well young paladin, have you formulated your plans for battle? Of course not, someone who doesn¡¯t even do the proper paperwork would never come prepared for a battle like this. I will give you one minute, use it wisely.¡± ¡°Garret, tank the guards. Corrine, Garret is your primary for now, but keep an eye on me just in case. Corrigan, waste the guards as fast as you can. Technique is up to you. I¡¯ll hold the boss. GO!¡± Garret used the barbarian¡¯s [Into the fray] skill to rush between the guards at a speed that rivaled teleportation. ¡°[Thunderclap]!¡± He roared, the shockwave just wide enough to hit both guards and draw their aggro. ¡°[Shield rush].¡± Rycran was always calmer in battle, angling his attack to separate the boss from his minions. Their fight rapidly devolved into a whirlwind of steel and sparks, their skills with their favored weapons nearly on par. The length of the boss¡¯ spear was countered by the defense of Rycran¡¯s shield, so I was free to stealth and sneak up on the guards. Once I figured Garret had gained enough hatred from the guards, I unleashed one of my favorite combinations. ¡°[Tempest blades].¡± Attacking from stealth with a six strike combination from each weapon would be devastating enough, even before you added in the bonus wind damage. The boosted damage from the belt I got from Angus pushed me into insane levels of damage, and I ended up slaughtering the drakeling before the skill even finished. ¡°Heh, looks like that belt agrees with ya!¡± Garret chuckled before turning and roaring at the remaining drakeling. Though he didn¡¯t actually use any words, the sheer power of his [Intimidating shout] was enough to shake the bones in my chest. The drakeling was stunned and frightened, giving me the time to sneak around behind him. ¡°[Dirty tactics: Kidny rupture].¡± I didn¡¯t use this much, only when tempest blades was on cooldown, but it was an older mainstay of the rogue tree. Plunging both daggers into the kidneys before savagely twisting them, the pain often lowered the attack speed of the opponent. ¡°[Vicious chops].¡± Garret gave a one, two overhand combo of his axes right into the chest of the drakeling as it arched its back in pain from my attack. That spelled the end of the second guard, and we both turned to help out Rycran. ¡°[Repelling wave]!¡± The boss cried, unleashing a wave of shadow energy that sent Rycran hurtling back near us. ¡°Hrmph. You are strong, but it was a mistake to kill my underlings. Now, feel my true strength. [Shadow eruption]!¡± He sunk into the floor, only to surge upwards from within the triangle formed by myself, Garret and Rycran. His spear tip tore out Garret¡¯s throat, and a swing of it as I was sent flying ripped through my stomach.
You have died. As your party has no revives remaining, you have the option to watch the battle in ghost mode. Watch? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrine¡¯s POV Things were going so well. Corrigan and Garret had wasted the guards so quickly I didn¡¯t even need to heal them. Then the boss did some crazy move, and his attack had Garret bleeding out and Corrigan killed outright faster than I could cast a spell. I turned to see Rycran getting up from his knees, his life having dropped to a third. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I hit him with the biggest heal I could, forgoing the boost from the chant for speed. ¡°Thanks Corrine.¡± He said, before turning back to the boss. I couldn¡¯t see his face because of his helm, but from the sudden stiffness in his shoulders, he was shocked at having lost both of our companions. I smiled as I saw him reset his shoulders. No matter the odds, Rycran never gave up. Who wouldn¡¯t love fighting alongside someone like that? ¡°Get ¡®m Rycran, I¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± ¡°Never doubted you, Corrine.¡± With that, he charged forward once again. ¡°[Avenger¡¯s aura]! [Holy smite]!¡± Pulling out all the stops, the battle resumed. Well, if he was going to burn his higher powered attacks, I should as well. ¡°My mana for comrades, I willingly sacrifice. [Boosted regeneration]. [Slow heal]. [Minor heal].¡± Rycran was hovering at three quarters life, but I couldn¡¯t do more without drawing aggro. ¡°[Devastating blow]. [Light wave].¡± Rycran was hanging in there, though his life was starting to yo-yo a bit more than I was comfortable with. I hoped that their battle speed wouldn¡¯t increase, as I was burning healing spells as soon as the cooldown ended as it was. When they disengaged for some reason, I took the time to down a few mana potions. ¡°I can see why Angus would consider you a rival. You do well with your sword, and your team is incredibly competent. Sorry to say though, this is your end. Farewell adventurer. [Dancing shadow steps].¡± The boss started teleporting around Rycran, stabbing and slashing from different angles. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I cried in desperation, but the onslaught was too much. Overwhelmed, Rycran fell swiftly, leaving me standing there shaking. ¡°You have no offensive capability, do you?¡± The boss asked as he walked towards me. I shook my head no, and he continued, ¡°It brings me no joy to do this, and I hope you will forgive me for this young lady. [Triple thrust].¡± I only felt the first of the strikes hit my chest, before I got the popup.
You have died. Your party has wiped in the dungeon. Respawning at your last spawn point in 5¡­¡­4¡­..3¡­.2¡­.1¡­.
Book 2 Chapter 17 final version Today was the day. I woke up, incredibly excited. ¡°Hey Khaliss, got a second?¡± I asked as I placed my breakfast down next to him. ¡°Sure Angus, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°The first dungeon group today is going to be a challenge. Remember how that first dungeon they managed to bring in the high level character?¡± He nodded so I continued. ¡°Well, we issued a challenge to him earlier. His group will challenge our dungeon, and the world will be watching.¡± ¡°Interesting. This should be fun, do you think they will make it down to challenge me?¡± ¡°Honestly? Yes. I¡¯m sure they have a general knowledge of my traps, but I¡¯ve kept a few things back. Depending on how many people they bring down here they might make it tough.¡± ¡°Very well. Any guess on how many they¡¯ll bring?¡± ¡°Five. With three they will have more resurrections, but they run the risk of a wipe. Six or more and they don¡¯t get resurrections, which would make it too easy to take out the healers.¡± ¡°Very well. We will be prepared, are you going to battle them with the twins?¡± ¡°Probably not. This will be a good thing for them, fighting a competent group.¡± Plan set, we ate our breakfasts in companionable silence. ¡°Well, good luck Angus. Try and kill enough that they can¡¯t use any more resurrections.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll try.¡± I said, heading out to start the dungeon run.
Grudge match starting! Rycran and his party have entered the Shadow Outpost Dungeon to challenge the Drakelings! Head to the nearest tavern or arena to watch a live stream of this dive. Place your bets and cheer on our adventurers! Or cheer on the denizens of the dungeon!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Rycran¡¯s POV ¡°Everyone got their buffs up?¡± I asked, looking around at our group. Knowing how Angus liked to ambush people, we had decided on a redundant group. ¡°I¡¯m good, but this added defense instead of mana regen is gonna come back to bite us I think.¡± Corrine, our healer said. She was the only person who didn¡¯t have a hybrid class. ¡°Lookin¡¯ forward to this. Think he¡¯ll go toe to toe with us?¡± Garret asked. Wielding twin axes, our resident barbarian had a massive health pool to help with tanking should the need arise, but he was really here for the physical DPS. ¡°Unlikely. The guy likes to ambush. Why would you expect an assassin type attach scheme to go toe to toe with you ya brute?¡± Corrigan loved to nettle Garret, brothers in real life. His was one of our finest hidden classes. Not many people had the ability to pull off an arcane rogue, but he was one of the best. He got the drop on a lot of unprepared people with his ranged attacks, as most expected him to need a bow or massive amounts of throwing knives to do that. ¡°Leslie? You good?¡± I asked. ¡°I hate my healer build. Are you sure we even need an off healer? From what I¡¯ve seen on the boards, there aren¡¯t a lot of monsters in this dungeon.¡± Normally a master of crowd control, she had picked up a wide variety of low level heals early in her character build. The guild was more than happy to help her level them in between major raids, on the rare occasion where she would be needed. ¡°Trust me, we¡¯ll probably need you. Remember, this is a player we will be facing. Sneak attacks from the shadows are his go to move, and he loves to take out the squishier members first. Alright, let¡¯s get this thing on the road. And remember, we¡¯re being broadcast so let¡¯s give ¡®em a good show.¡± Turning, I headed through the golden light into the dungeon proper. ¡°Hello old friend.¡± I said, noticing a pillar nobody had described before along with a long hole in the ceiling behind it. ¡°Ok guys, first throwback is right here. The obvious one is the pillar, last dungeon he would be hiding in the ceiling ready to have a massive stone hammer swing down and obliterate people. Leslie, can you use [Detect life]? Corrigan, after she¡¯s done I need you to take down that pillar from a distance.¡± ¡°Got one ping, distant enough I can only tell it comes from straight ahead somewhere.¡± ¡°Alright, my turn then. Magic energy, bend to my will. [Arcane missile].¡± Corrigan¡¯s blue bolt flew forward and reduced a large chunk of the pillar to dust, but nothing swung down. ¡°No hammer? How disa [Intercept]!¡± I tried to shout as a bolt few past me. My skill activated, I was just a fraction of a second too slow. I turned to see the headless body of Corrine drop to the ground. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV After the destruction of the pillar, I used the moment of the group¡¯s distraction to strike. I had replaced the statue with myself, and one of the decapitator bolts made short work of the group¡¯s healer. After firing, I made my escape. One death down, nine to go for complete victory. I headed to the secret hallway between the first and second stairs, and made a listening hole in each end for spying. I heard them coming down what would have been their left hallway, and smiled. Knowing that the druid had life sense, I hid so that there was always going to be enough stone between us to stop the sense from detecting me. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe he took her head off with one shot.¡± ¡°Pity we couldn¡¯t recover the bolt. I¡¯m going to have to have our smiths start researching to see if we can duplicate it somehow.¡± ¡°Think they¡¯ll be useful? Let¡¯s be honest here, we mostly fight monsters.¡± ¡°There are plenty of humanoid monsters out there Cor. Infuse ¡®em with light and blast the undead to pieces.¡± ¡°Ugh, I hate undead. The skeletons are ok, but the zombies smell.¡± As soon as I felt they were far enough away, I opened the wall and peeked out. Once they had started down the stairs, I took aim at the druid. One more decapitator bolt, and the group had one less resurrection to work with. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrigan¡¯s POV I was just getting ready to follow Garret down to the second floor when I felt something hit me in the back. ¡°AAaah!¡± I yelled, surprised to see Leslie¡¯s headless body leaning against me. Stunned for only a second, I recovered enough to look around, but the player had already disappeared without a trace. ¡°Damned hit and run tactics.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on up there?¡± Rycran called from the stairwell. ¡°We got hit, Leslie needs a rez.¡± I replied. ¡°Serious?¡± He asked as they all trooped back up. ¡°Corrine, can you do the honors? I want to save our scrolls as much as I can.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She said with resignation, swiftly chanting the spell and bringing Leslie back to life. ¡°Anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?¡± She quipped, though we could all tell that it was bothering her to have died already. ¡°Hey Rycran, you dwarves all have stone sense right? How come you can¡¯t find out where he¡¯s hiding?¡± Sighing, Rycran took a moment to study the ceiling before answering. ¡°When I became a Paladin of Moradin, I was given a choice for a blessing. I could obtain enhanced stone manipulation, or I could sacrifice my stone sense to gain something more focused. The options were metal and gems, and I went with metal.¡± ¡°So, can¡¯t you detect his weapons then?¡± Leslie asked. ¡°Normally yes, but something is muddling his weapons. And before you ask, it isn¡¯t just shadow. Paladins are able to sense that as well, but this entire dungeon is full of shadow mana. It¡¯s like trying to find a dark stain on an already dark shirt. I could do it if I really concentrated, but then I would be worthless for other things.¡± ¡°Huh. Sorry for assuming.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± He said, waving off her apology. ¡°Guess we are going to have to have a tank front and back. Garret, you got the rear detail, that ok with you?¡± ¡°Yeah. Go on Cor, you head down behind Rycran. Hopefully you can detect the traps before we have an issue.¡± I followed Rycran down the stairs, all of us slightly morose for having two deaths without even sighting what had killed us. At the bottom, I asked, ¡°So, left, right, or straight ahead?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get straight ahead out of the way first.¡± Following him, we entered a hallway that opened almost immediately into a round room. Straight across was a treasure chest, with a very obvious tripwire coming out of the pedestal. ¡°Alright Corrigan, you¡¯re up. I¡¯ve heard weird stuff about this trap, so let¡¯s go with a remote trigger of it.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I said, carefully checking the floor for any hidden tripwires or pressure plates. The wire itself was oddly inert to my [Detect trap], which confused the hell out of me. ¡°Hey Rycran? The wire isn¡¯t registering as a trap.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, we still need to take care of it. I don¡¯t trust anything down here.¡± Shrugging my shoulders, I kneeled down and tied off the rope to the wire, careful not to jostle it too much. I was just standing back up, when a voice came out of the wall. ¡°BOO!¡± Startled, I jumped a bit and gave the rope a tug. That was enough to dislodge the wire, which caused the floor to fall out from under my feet.
You have died. Player Corrine is attempting to revive you. Your party has two revives left for this dungeon.
¡°AW DAMNIT!¡± I swore as soon as I came back. ¡°Bastard was waiting for me, yelled at me through the wall. Startled me just enough that the rope triggered the wire trap.¡± ¡°Looks like he did one of those old time speaking tubes. I have no idea where this one leads.¡± ¡°You could just ask, ya¡¯know?¡± The voice spoke from the wall. ¡°I¡¯m gonna carve out your liver for that you bastard!¡± I swore at him, only to hear his laughter drifting away. ¡°So, did someone get what was in the chest?¡± ¡°Just some coin and a rare quality greatsword.¡± ¡°Damn, hardly seems worth it.¡± Shaking my head, I headed out into the hallway and turned to the right, swearing when I saw what [Detect trap] was showing me. ¡°Hey guys, almost all of these tiles are traps. This¡¯ll take a while.¡± Kneeling down, I got to work disarming trap after trap. Even though I took breaks every ten minutes, my knees were aching at the hour and a half mark, and I had barely gone through a third of the traps. ¡°This is bullshit!¡± I swore, slamming the plate I had just disarmed on the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s just remote trigger the traps.¡± Pulling out a rope, I tied several of the stone tiles together. ¡°Here we go!¡± Standing about ten feet away, I tossed the stone bundle onto the closest trap tile. A banner dropped from the ceiling, the only thing it said was ¡°Bang.¡± The scene repeated over and over. Bang. Death from Above. Duck. ¡°I feel like a Looney Toon. That¡¯s it, I¡¯m just walking through.¡± Storming through, I didn¡¯t pay any attention to the clicking beneath my feet, nor the group getting upset behind me. We got to the next room, and it was empty. There was a cache I detected across the way, but that was it. ¡°What¡¯ve we got?¡± Rycran asked, hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down. ¡°Nothing. There¡¯s a cache over there, no traps detected.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll check on it.¡± Garret said, starting to head over. ¡°Hey, nice little statue.¡± He said, holding it up for us to see. Before I could figure out what it was, I heard the sound of stone grating. ¡°RUN!¡± I screamed, seeing a large stone ball descending from the ceiling. Turning and sprinting down the way, we all made it out easily save Garret. ¡°GARRET!¡± I screamed, suddenly petrified to lose my brother. It was irrational, I knew it was just a game, that nothing bad would actually happen. It didn¡¯t matter, I started frantically pushing against the stone. ¡°Coriggan. Corrigan! CORRIGAN!¡± Rycran¡¯s voice finally penetrated. ¡°Take a deep breath man, I just got a message over the party chat from Garret. He¡¯s fine, just took a minor crossbow bolt.¡± ¡°We gotta get him!¡± I was still on the edge of panic. ¡°We will, but we need you calm to do it. Blast the stone with arcane lances. We¡¯ll get to him soon, just relax.¡± Slapping my face a few times, I tried to get ahold of myself. I blasted away with several lances, and after three of them the stone split right down the middle. As the dust cleared, we walked in to see the dead body of my brother.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Just a minor bolt wound, huh?¡± I mocked Rycran, and got slapped upside the head. ¡°Corrine, if you would?¡± ¡°Guh.¡± Garret said, as he sat up. Was it me, or did he look gray? ¡°So what happened?¡± Leslie asked. ¡°Got shot with an arrow, and that was it. Between the shoulder blades, no matter what I couldn¡¯t reach it. Next thing I know, I got a string of progressively worse debuffs. I took a cleanse potion, but I only had three on me. Eventually I died, and now I have this Corruption¡¯s Touch to deal with.¡± ¡°Never heard of that one.¡± Leslie said. ¡°Lose ten percent of my stats for a day. Can¡¯t be cleansed.¡± All our eyes widened at those implications. ¡°Damn. We¡¯re down to one resurrection, and still not even halfway through this dungeon. I¡¯m making the call, we head back up to the first floor and over to the stairs that will eventually lead to level three.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV I had to stifle some mad cackling as I heard their plan. That poor rogue was cracking under the strain, and he was going to go absolutely nuts with the hallway on the first floor they were heading to. I had placed small stone needles beneath flimsy tiles, just enough that it would trigger his detect trap skill. The ¡°safe¡± pathway had tripwires riddled throughout it, most of them at foot height that dropped more banners. The one at head height didn¡¯t do anything, but would fluster him. ¡°Hey guys, you got some friends coming in a bit.¡± I told the twins. ¡°Really? You gonna stay and play with us?¡± Codo asked. ¡°No, I think you two will do just fine. I¡¯m going to head a bit further in and set up another trap. Leaving the disappointed twins, I headed down to the area with the statue alcoves. I had filled them all with replicas of me, but my favorite part was the hidden alcove behind the second one on each side. It bent around in a U shape so that the pesky druid wouldn¡¯t find me with her life sense, and the shadowgheist was at the other end with a large mana infused stone. I knew it wouldn¡¯t do anything, but I smiled when I realized Rycran wouldn¡¯t know that. I made sure that there was a stone box with a lid to hide the telltale glow, and settled in to wait. Half an hour later, and I heard them coming. ¡°Thank god that was a normal type of boss. I¡¯m starting to hate this damn dungeon.¡± Poor rogue, if only he knew what was in store. ¡°Ok, this is unexplored area as far as we know. Corrigan, go ahead and scout ahead. We will wait here for you.¡± It was mostly silent as the rogue scouted ahead, and I was going to enjoy this next part immensely. ¡°Alright, seems simple enough. There¡¯s a hallway of statues, followed by a room with three sets of enemies. Four spearmen and an archer with one of those arbalests.¡± ¡°Chances of bringing them one group at a time?¡± ¡°With melee? Zero. With ranged? Almost guaranteed.¡± ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the plan. I¡¯ll take one side of the doorway, Garret the other. Corrigan, you up for drawing them through?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Great. You bring them through, and stand back but in front of the doorway. You¡¯ve got the best chance of dodging that arbalest. Leslie? Split their group with a bramblethorn in the doorway when two of those spearmen make it through, then you are my healer. Corrine is Garret¡¯s.¡± Listening to the echoes of their feet on the ground, I let them make it to the door before I had my shadowgheist take the glowing stone out of his bock and come running around the statue right as Rycran started to speak. ¡°Everyone ready? GRENADE AT THE REAR!¡± He panicked, pointing a finger at the druid and casting a spell. ¡°[Barrier of light]!¡± While they were panicking about took aim and used a decapitator bolt on Rycran. I didn¡¯t get a full decapitation, but I did get a massive gash in his throat. ¡°[Major mending wounds]!¡± The healer managed to stop Rycran¡¯s bleeding, but still had her back to me. At this point, Rycran looked confused as the shadowgheist bounced off the barrier, and the stone crumbled to dust instead of explodint. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I quietly spoke, slashing deep into the neck of the healer. Unluckily for me, the decapitation didn¡¯t trigger, but the massive wound had to have been causing massive bleed damage. Since she had just used her only healing spell that would cure a wound like that to save Rycran I pulled out my weapon and smashed her with the hammer end to take her life down even more and let the bleed damage finish her off. ¡°[Holy smite]!¡± Rycran cried, smashing the shadowgheist that I had sent in a beeline towards him. The barbarian was headed towards me, but I was already too close to the druid for them to save. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I slashed across her torso, followed that up with a punch to the face, then an uppercut with my scythe underneath her jaw. That last one must have been a critical, as she went down right as that barbarian got within range and punished me. ¡°[X strike]! [Cross slash]!¡± I arced my back in agony as his axes cut an X shape in my back to start with, and he used a double horizontal backslash across my lower back. Spinning, I was aiming a backhanded hammer blow towards his face. ¡°[Arcane lance]!¡± The blow took me right in the heart, and my time came to an end.
You have died. As there are still players in the dungeon, you may follow along as a ghost entity to watch their progress if you wish. Follow along? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrigan¡¯s POV We did it! We finally got that sneaky bastard and took him down! I breathed out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, we had already lost Leslie and Corrine, and only had one resurrection to use. ¡°What the hell Rycran? What were you talking about grenades for?¡± ¡°One of his tricks from the first dungeon. He would overload something with mana, and then throw it and the explosion would be devastating at low levels. I figured the devs had nerfed it when we hadn¡¯t seen any of it so far, but panicked when I saw such a large stone glowing like that.¡± ¡°Bastard played us one last time.¡± Garret commented. ¡°Yeah, but we finally got his ass!¡± ¡°Yeah, but we lost both of our healers, and we can only resurrect one of them. Thank god you were just a little slow on drawing that group. We would have been toast.¡± Rycran pointed out ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± ¡°As much as I hate to say it, but we are going to have to rez Corrine. We¡¯ll make it up to Leslie later, but we can¡¯t finish this dungeon without a healer.¡± As Rycran went over to resurrect Corrine, I placed a hand on the player to see what he dropped, freezing at what I saw.
Do you wish to loot Angus_MacG¡¯s corpse? Ring of Shadowgheist Belt of the Shadow Blessed
Ring of Shadowgheist Allows the wearer to summon a shadow copy of themselves once per hour. Ring must be worn for one hour before use. Shadow has half the health and stats of the user, and can be remotely piloted if the user is still.
Belt of the Shadow Blessed Crafted from the hide of an unknown creature of the Underdark, this belt has been further enhanced by being steeped in concentrated shadow mana. Defense: 15 Durability: 125/125 50% harder to detect when in shadow Shadow spells cost 30% less mana and do 15% more damage. Critical hit damage from shadows increased by 50%
¡°Good God, this is amazing. A legendary ring and a unique belt. Doesn¡¯t that sound a bit, over the top?¡± I asked. ¡°Depends. They said at the beginning of this entire tier two dungeon fiasco that there would be bonuses for the first team to kill a monster player and another one if they were on a large kill streak.¡± Rycran pointed out. ¡°You think he went two days of combat without dying?¡± ¡°Who cares about that, what classes for the ring and belt?¡± Garret interrupted. ¡°No restrictions. The belt is geared towards a rogue, but any scouting type class would love the ring.¡± I snapped at him. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°It lets you do a copy like he did earlier.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Rycran said, looking at the belt and ring. ¡°The ring¡¯s useless to me and Garret. We would need to pilot it. Let¡¯s do this. Corrigan, which do you want more?¡± ¡°I really, really, want both, but you got that look like you have a crazy idea. I¡¯ll take the belt?¡± I asked, hoping that I had guessed the right one for his crazy plan. ¡°Thanks.¡± He chuckled. ¡°I was wondering if we gave the ring to Corrine, could the copy cast healing spells? We would essentially get a free healer even if it only has half her mana reserves.¡± ¡°That would be a handy thing to have for tough boss fights.¡± Corrine said, walking up and taking the ring. ¡°Especially if it gets a lesser version of my own skills.¡± ¡°Alright, now that we have the loot settled, everyone ready to take out that room over there? We still have a dungeon to finish clearing.¡± Rycran said, getting down to business. Heading forward, I checked to make sure everyone was in position. Rycran was standing to the left of the door, so that he could swing his dominant hand without worry of hitting a wall. Garret was on the opposite side, using two weapons added to his flexibility. Corrine was on Garret¡¯s side, since the barbarian had far less armor than Rycran, and couldn¡¯t heal himself. With a confident grin, I took a step into the room. ¡°Burning flames, bound by my will. Condense by my order, to unleash devastation upon my foes. [Orb of destruction].¡± Channeling the magic between my hands, I formed an orb of flames burning bright blue. With a flick of mental energy, it rocketed forward and exploded in the middle of the nearest group, catching two of them on fire. ¡°Toodle loo!¡± I said, waving at their rage filled faces before turning and running out the door. ¡°One group incoming, slightly scorched.¡± I relayed as I passed, stopping halfway down the hall to turn and survey the fight I was already hearing. Rycran had stepped away from the wall a bit and used a shield bash to stun the first drakeling through while Garret rapidly reduced its life with critical hits from the back. Stepping to the side of the body, Rycran and Garret were forced to act slightly defensively, as the second drakeling wouldn¡¯t come through the door. Instead it was using the reach of its weapon to poke at the warriors. Looks like it was my turn again. ¡°Pierce armor and rend flesh. [Arcane lance].¡± The bolt of magic energy took the creature high in the chest, and it screamed at me as it started to charge. Rycran went for a blow to the legs as it came through, but Garret ended it with a double axe chop to the chest. ¡°Incoming archer!¡± I yelled, seeing the one with the arbalest take aim. Garret and Rycran slipped out of view, and my sphincter tightened a bit as that massive bolt was pointed at me. As soon as that finger started tightening on the trigger, I was moving to the side, spinning to make a thinner target. Faster than I realized it would happen, there was a burning line of pain across my abdomen, but I had successfully dodged the bolt. Standing back up after falling on my ass, I saw Rycran and Garrett dealing with the last of the remaining spearmen. I stood back up, and saw the archer had abandoned his weapon and was charging in with a dagger drawn. Right as he entered the doorway, I hit him in the stomach with an arcane lance, and Garret decapitated him as he bent over in pain. ¡°About damn time something went to plan in this dungeon¡± ¡°I hear that.¡± Garret said. ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya think Rycran? Keep the same plan?¡± ¡°Sure. Corrine didn¡¯t even need to heal anyone, did she?¡± ¡°Not once. You guys make this job easy sometimes.¡± She said with a sad smile. Corrine topped everyone off with her smaller heals, and we took care of the other two groups without any problems. We searched through the room, finding several stashes of mid-level gear and a lot of cash, but none of the gear was enchanted. That was fine though, as the guild enchanters could probably get some decent bonuses into it. ¡°Looks like the next room is another hallway with that Braille writing repeated over and over. Beyond that is an empty room with the stairs leading down.¡± I said, having returned from another scouting mission. ¡°Almost makes you wish that loremaster had made it down here, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Garret chuckled. ¡°I can imagine him freaking out at the repeated writings, paranoid they were going to unleash some ancient evil or the like.¡± ¡°Ha! I would almost pay money to see that.¡± Rycran chuckled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head on down.¡± Leading the way, we entered floor five of the dungeon. The bottom of the stairs opened up into a widening room with two columns. Flames on torches high up gave the room a creepy feeling, as shadows danced along the floor. Looking up, a drakeling stood from behind the desk he was doing paperwork on to stare at us. Decked out in dark grey armor with spikes in places that would make them viable weapons, like his elbows, he cut an imposing figure. Two other heavily armored spearmen were waiting at attention at each side of the desk. ¡°It appears you managed to defeat Angus. Commendable.¡± He actually spoke while standing. ¡°Though there is one less of you than he predicted. Could it be you have used all your resurrections?¡± I know my poker face was passable, and Rycran and Garret wouldn¡¯t flinch when confronted like this, but Corrine wouldn¡¯t be able to. ¡°Ah, judging by the flinch of your healer, that was spot on.¡± ¡°Can we assume that you are the boss, since you are speaking to us?¡± Rycran asked. ¡°Indeed young paladin. Have you formulated your plans for battle? There is still time yet.¡± ¡°Garret, tank the guards. Corrine, Garret is your primary for now, but keep an eye on me just in case. Corrigan, waste the guards as fast as you can. Technique is up to you. I¡¯ll hold the boss. GO!¡± Garret used the barbarian¡¯s [Into the fray] skill to rush between the guards at a speed that rivaled teleportation. ¡°[Thunderclap]!¡± He roared, the shockwave just wide enough to hit both guards and draw their aggro. ¡°[Shield rush].¡± Rycran was always calmer in battle, angling his attack to separate the boss from his minions. Their fight rapidly devolved into a whirlwind of steel and sparks, their skills with their favored weapons nearly on par. The length of the boss¡¯ spear was countered by the defense of Rycran¡¯s shield, so I was free to stealth and sneak up on the guards. Once I figured Garret had gained enough hatred from the guards, I unleashed one of my favorite combinations. ¡°[Tempest blades].¡± Attacking from stealth with a six strike combination from each weapon would be devastating enough, even before you added in the bonus wind damage. The boosted damage from the belt I got from Angus pushed me into insane levels of damage, and I ended up slaughtering the drakeling before the skill even finished. ¡°Heh, looks like that belt agrees with ya!¡± Garret chuckled before turning and roaring at the remaining drakeling. Though he didn¡¯t actually use any words, the sheer power of his [Intimidating shout] was enough to shake the bones in my chest. The drakeling was stunned and frightened, giving me the time to sneak around behind him. ¡°[Dirty tactics: Kidny rupture].¡± I didn¡¯t use this much, only when tempest blades was on cooldown, but it was an older mainstay of the rogue tree. Plunging both daggers into the kidneys before savagely twisting them, the pain often lowered the attack speed of the opponent. ¡°[Vicious chops].¡± Garret gave a one, two overhand combo of his axes right into the chest of the drakeling as it arched its back in pain from my attack. That spelled the end of the second guard, and we both turned to help out Rycran. ¡°[Repelling wave]!¡± The boss cried, unleashing a wave of shadow energy that sent Rycran hurtling back near us. ¡°Hrmph. You are strong, but it was a mistake to kill my underlings. Now, feel my true strength. [Shadow eruption]!¡± He sunk into the floor, only to surge upwards from within the triangle formed by myself, Garret and Rycran. His spear tip tore out Garret¡¯s throat, and a swing of it as I was sent flying ripped through my stomach.
You have died. As your party has no revives remaining, you have the option to watch the battle in ghost mode. Watch? Yes/No
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Corrine¡¯s POV Things were going so well. Corrigan and Garret had wasted the guards so quickly I didn¡¯t even need to heal them. Then the boss did some crazy move, and his attack had Garret bleeding out and Corrigan killed outright faster than I could cast a spell. I turned to see Rycran getting up from his knees, his life having dropped to a third. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I hit him with the biggest heal I could, forgoing the boost from the chant for speed. ¡°Thanks Corrine.¡± He said, before turning back to the boss. I couldn¡¯t see his face because of his helm, but from the sudden stiffness in his shoulders, he was shocked at having lost both of our companions. I smiled as I saw him reset his shoulders. No matter the odds, Rycran never gave up. Who wouldn¡¯t love fighting alongside someone like that? ¡°Get ¡®m Rycran, I¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± ¡°Never doubted you, Corrine.¡± With that, he charged forward once again. ¡°[Avenger¡¯s aura]! [Holy smite]!¡± Pulling out all the stops, the battle resumed. Well, if he was going to burn his higher powered attacks, I should as well. ¡°My mana for comrades, I willingly sacrifice. [Boosted regeneration]. [Slow heal]. [Minor heal].¡± Rycran was hovering at three quarters life, but I couldn¡¯t do more without drawing aggro. ¡°[Devastating blow]. [Light wave].¡± Rycran was hanging in there, though his life was starting to yo-yo a bit more than I was comfortable with. I hoped that their battle speed wouldn¡¯t increase, as I was burning healing spells as soon as the cooldown ended as it was. When they disengaged for some reason, I took the time to down a few mana potions. ¡°I can see why Angus would consider you a rival. You do well with your sword, and your team is incredibly competent. Sorry to say though, this is your end. Farewell adventurer. [Dancing shadow steps].¡± The boss started teleporting around Rycran, stabbing and slashing from different angles. ¡°[Grand healing]!¡± I cried in desperation, but the onslaught was too much. Overwhelmed, Rycran fell swiftly, leaving me standing there shaking. ¡°You have no offensive capability, do you?¡± The boss asked as he walked towards me. I shook my head no, and he continued, ¡°It brings me no joy to do this, and I hope you will forgive me for this young lady. [Triple thrust].¡± I only felt the first of the strikes hit my chest, before I got the popup.
You have died. Your party has wiped in the dungeon. Respawning at your last spawn point in 5¡­¡­4¡­..3¡­.2¡­.1¡­.
Book 2 Chapter 18 Gates of Oblivion Gambling House chatroom Occupants: House_bot, SnakeEyes, BoxcarBilly, DrawingRivers, BetsOnRed, All_in_Jim, Turn¡¯n¡¯Burn, and BigWinner BigWinner: Woo! Call me Roomba, cuz I just cleaned house! SnakeEyes: Say what now? BigWinner: I hit me the jackpot on that dungeon dive! BetsOnRed: Say what now? How could you do that, nobody won. Can I get an explanation? House_bot: BigWinner has been confirmed to be one of 18 people who placed a bet that the monster player would be killed, but also that the light players would not be able to complete the dungeon. BoxcarBilly: Only 18? Man, that must be a hell of a jackpot. BigWinner: It is. BoxcarBilly: So, where you at? I think I should buy you a drink or two. BigWinner: Sure, I¡¯ll just let everyone here know exactly where I am so that y¡¯all can pickpocket me. Not falling for that one. BoxcarBilly: Eh, worth a shot. Never underestimate the stupidity of people. All_in_Jim: Congrats BigWinner. Turn¡¯n¡¯Burn: I don¡¯t know how, but you made plain text sound depressing. What happened Jim? All_in_Jim: Well, like my name says. I went all in on the light side players. That they would get first kill and that they would clear the dungeon. DrawingRivers: Ouch. How much is all in? House_bot: Bet amounts are not to be discussed. All_in_Jim: Let¡¯s just say that it was substantial enough to get me a title and a permanent VIP status in any gambling hall in the world. BigWinner: What¡¯s the title, if you don¡¯t mind us asking? All_in_Jim: ¡°A Fool and his Money.¡± The only bonus it confers is the permanent VIP status. SnakeEyes: HAHAHAHA, gotta love the devs sense of humor. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Shadow Outpost Dungeon chatroom Current members: Likes2lurk, WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, HolyDungeonDiver, RycranSeacrest, FirestarterOzai, First_of_his_kind, JimboJonsies, ThePatman, GrumbleGnumbleMonster, Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies, WhatsUpChuck, and 16 anonymous people. JimboJonsies: Wow. How did you manage to change the dungeon that much in one night? First_of_his_kind: Magic. ThePatman: No need to be a. . . meanie, he just asked a question. First_of_his_kind: Not mean. A bonus for monsters is that regen rates gain a massive boost when there are no players in the dungeon. It only took a few hours when you have magic that can make stone flow like clay. WhatsUpChuck: Serious on the regen boost? First_of_his_kind: Yep. WhatsUpChuck: So, could you make another one of those divine mana stones? First_of_his_kind: Even if I could, the devs have it set up so that you can¡¯t bring most things out of the dungeon with you, probably for that reason. The only thing you can bring out is hand crafted weapons. WhatsUpChuck: Pity. WarriorPrincess: So how did the rest of the day go? First_of_his_kind: Terrible. RycranSeacrest: Sorry about that. First_of_his_kind: Not your fault. I actually enjoyed getting to set off some of my many traps with you guys. The poachers for the rest of the day knew where everything was located though. FirestarterOzai: Yeah, when you have a cheat sheet for the traps, they become worthless. Couldn¡¯t you change a few though? First_of_his_kind: Not really. We get a half hour break between dive teams. Not a lot of time to work with. RycranSeacrest: Not that I¡¯m complaining, but why did you do that last suicide attack? First_of_his_kind: You were close enough to the end that I had to make a stand, and I goofed the timing. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Lemme guess, you were gonna burst out and do a pincer attack when they kited the first group, weren¡¯t you? First_of_his_kind: Yep. Corrigan delayed just enough in his pull that it wouldn¡¯t work. Anon712: So why not join the boss at the end? First_of_his_kind: Not allowed. I can battle with any monsters, or join the minibosses like the twins, but the main boss fight is fixed. RycranSeacrest: Good god, that would be a nightmare. Anon712: What would? RycranSeacrest: That boss fight is tough enough as it is. Throw in the unpredictability of a player? No thanks. First_of_his_kind: That was the devs argument, almost word for word. WarriorPrincess: So, is the dungeon still unbeaten? First_of_his_kind: Yep. Nobody has managed to crack the final fight just yet. HolyDungeonDiver: That will soon change. First_of_his_kind: Yeah? Going to be a while, I finished my last required day of dungeoning. HolyDungeonDiver: Bah, there are other ways. If there are no drakelings to populate the dungeon, then it won¡¯t matter. TheUnrustable: Seriously? Did you not see what happened to that one guy? HolyDungeonDiver: Our God will protect us as we go about with the cleansing. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Here I thought that troll wasn¡¯t that popular of a race. TheUnrustable: They have to be a troll though, I didn¡¯t see zealot as an option for a race. Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: So First, did you happen to gain anything good for three days of servitude? First_of_his_kind: Don¡¯t know yet. Tomorrow we return to the city for our rewards. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Just wondering, how big of a kill streak did ya manage? First_of_his_kind: 91 Anon218: So close to triple digits¡­. RycranSeacrest: Ya know? I¡¯m almost sorry we broke that streak before you got 9 more kills. RycranSeacrest: By the way, any chance we can get that specialty bolt you used or that poison? WhatsUpChuck: Poison? What poison? RycranSeacrest: He put something on a bolt and shot our barbarian with it. Kept corrupting him, and when he died he was resurrected with a -10% penalty to all stats for 24 hours. RycranSeacrest: Garret wasn¡¯t very happy with you for that. First_of_his_kind: Sorry, those are going to be trade secrets for now. First_of_his_kind: Wow, would you look at the time? I gotta get going. Catch ya later everyone. GrumbleGnumbleMonster: WAIT! First_of_his_kind: Yesssss? GrumbleGnumbleMonster: Sorry, I just had to ask. Do you lose the gear you drop on death? That would be a dealbreaker for me. First_of_his_kind: No, that¡¯s simply system generated loot. Now, for realsies. I¡¯m off like a prom dress. TheUnrustable: Later WarriorPrincess: Bye Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies: Ciao. First_of_his_kind has left the chat. * * * * * * * * * * * * *A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Screaming Eagles guild chat, crafters chatroom Rycran: Ok guys, two questions for you. First, those arbalests are absolutely devastating. Any chance we can get them? Second, I sent the highlighted portions of the fight and I want to know if we can duplicate the decapitation bolt that Angus used. TinkerTaylor: First one is both easy and hard. We have historical arbalest designs, and they work in the game. Rycran: Go on. TinkerTaylor: The issue is the bonuses you can get from different materials. Without knowing what they used, it¡¯s impossible to duplicate their efficiency. SpySoldier: Can¡¯t you go off of visuals? TinkerTaylor: If only it was that simple. The devs were annoyingly smart. All items look exactly the same when in use. Unless you use a worthless skin. If I could see it in a trade window I could possibly make some guesses. TinkerTaylor: Another issue is the exact mechanism. All we can see is a crank on the side. All the internals are hidden, probably to prevent us doing exactly what we want to do. Rycran: Don¡¯t stress it then. Give us a list of materials you would want, and try out on three of your best designs. Even if we get within 80% of what the drakelings can do, I¡¯ll be happy. SpySoldier: So, what about the bolts? I would really like some of them. TinkerTaylor: Look closely at the vid Rycran sent. See that black glow? Not only does it hide the shape of the bolt head, but it also means that it is mana infused. SpySoldier: I get the shape issue, but does mana infusion bring up any other issues? TinkerTaylor: Yup. It limits the metals we can use to the more expensive ones. Plus, we don¡¯t know how much mana his costs. If we make one that takes 300 mana to do what his can do for 5, it would be worthless. Rycran: Damn. I really wanted a few of ours to have their tech. Rycran: Was there anything else you saw in the broadcast that was worth copying? TinkerTaylor: Not particularly. His weapon is unique, but a hybrid weapon like that is probably pretty niche. I can¡¯t see any of ours switching out for that. Rycran: What about that trap by the treasure chest? Figure it out? TinkerTaylor: From what Corrigan described, it is more of an anti trap. SpySoldier: Anti trap? TinkerTaylor: Yes. The wire isn¡¯t a trap in and of itself. I think the wire was tensioned and used to hold up the floor. Removing the wire removed the tension and the floor fell. SpySoldier: You can have a floor held up by wires? TinkerTaylor: For the non-engineers among us, yes. They do it all the time in parking garages and the like. Pour a concrete slab with wires running through it, then tighten the wires to give it extra support. SpySoldier: Hmmm. So we can get around trap detection skills if the trap is safe enough? The floor would support weight until they altered the wire. Rycran: And if you made it so the trap didn¡¯t do anything. That hall with all the banners that bothered Corrigan was previously just tiles with clickers underneath. Those didn¡¯t trigger trap detection either. SpySoldier: Ooooo. I like that, it would be a great way to catch someone sneaking around. TinkerTaylor: Rycran, you seem to be friendsly with this Angus fellow. Think he would tell you how to make those clickers? Rycran: I¡¯ll ask. He might, since it isn¡¯t vital tech and he won¡¯t have to go to the dungeon anymore. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°EVERYBODY UP!¡± Khaliss yelled, startling me from my sleep. I wasn¡¯t the only one who fell out of bed in a tangle of sheets, but only one out of three of us had a weapon grabbed and were frantically trying to find the enemy. ¡°For those of you with weapons in your hand: Good job. When in an unknown location and being unexpectedly woken up it is best to assume the worst. Those that fell out of bed in a tangle of sheets: Work to fix that. If this were an ambush situation, you would be adding to the enemy¡¯s advantages. Now, head to the boss room and prepare to return to the city.¡± ¡°SIR, YES SIR!¡± Was chorused about. Packing up was easy, as all of it was simply equipment. Lining up was a bit nostalgic, as we had done that in our first dungeon defense what seemed like so long ago now. Dharkiss was looking a little lost, and right before I asked him to come stand by me Khaliss whispered in his ear. I don¡¯t know what was said, but he happily trotted to the back of the line. ¡°Alright!¡± Khaliss shouted, taking his place at the head of the line. ¡°Let¡¯s head home!¡± We all cheered at that. Coming through the portal, the streets were packed. Cheering crowds were everywhere, throwing flowers and confetti. I felt it was a little overmuch for a three-day stint in the dungeon, but the soldiers with us seemed to eat it up. We headed down to the barracks area, and noticing the king I figured that it was here instead of an arena that we didn¡¯t have to my knowledge. ¡°Welcome back!¡± The king shouted once everyone had quieted down, eliciting another round of applause. He let it go on for a half a minute, before holding his arms in the air to get people to one it down. ¡°Khaliss, Captain of our Guards, has returned from leading our forces against the light. Yet again, he and his men return undefeated! To show our appreciation for repeating such a feat, each shall receive a piece of equipment from our own armory to fit their style of battle!¡± After some more cheering, the king went to a table behind him, and we each went up individually to receive our prizes. ¡°We hear that far and away the majority of kills were yours Angus. As a reward for such a feat, we have increased the quality of the reward you were to receive. May this necklace serve you well in your travels.¡± ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± I replied, bowing over the necklace as he handed it to me. Heading back into line, I couldn¡¯t help but identify the necklace and try not to drool.
Karlion the Merciless'' necklace Karlion obtained the nickname for never showing his enemies quarter. Not only did he slay them at almost every opportunity, but in delaying and retreating actions would order his soldiers to aim to injure not kill. When pressed for reasons by his superiors, he simply replied, ¡°Casualties slow armies down.¡± His philosophy for duels was to simply overwhelm his opponent with skillful strikes. Increases attack speed by 15% Increases movement speed by 20% Critical damage increased by 30% Chance to inflict status ailments increased by 75% when retreating from battle.
Wow. Definitely an upgrade, though for the quests for Thanatos I might have to keep my old necklace. Double damage against undead was something that was hard to beat. I noticed many of the others received breastplates or weapons, though there was a ring or two thrown in. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it one last time for our returning champions! The Twice Unbeaten! Drinks are on us tonight, so have fun!¡± Massive roaring and a near stampede toward the bars accompanied that announcement, and I got a slew of popups from the dungeon dive.
Processing deferred experience. . . Processing. . . Congratulations! The following are the results of your three days in the dungeon:
Level up x 32! You are now level 42!
Skill Previous level New level Bonuses
Stone manipulation Advanced level 8 Expert level 3 Can shape stone up to 40 meters. Mana cost reduced by 30%
Shadow manipulation Expert level 1 Expert level 3 Can shape shadow up to 40 meters. Mana cost reduced by 30%
Sculpting Intermediate level 1 Advanced level 9 Sculpting speed increased by 39%
Ambush (passive) Advanced level 4 Expert level 2 Attack damage increased by 62%, Critical hit chance increased by 32%
Trap making Advanced level 6 Expert level 5 Traps do 45% more damage, are deployed 27% faster, and are 30% harder to detect
Lethal Blow (Passive) Advanced level 8 Expert level 1 Chance of instant kill increased by 31%
Crossbow mastery (passive) Advanced lvl 9 Expert level 3 Range increased by 35 m, chance to hit increased by 35%, damage increased 15%
Shadowgheist Intermediate level 1 Intermediate level 5 Gheist has 50% of your health pool, can independently fight with 10% of your combat skills.
Class evolution available! Due to your fighting style as observed in the dungeon, you are eligible for a class evolution.
New class Description
Mystic Ambusher Fusing the mundane and magical, the mystic ambusher uses both in his application of traps and triggers. There are no new skills inherent to this class, but mana use will become easier.
Due to a special action, you have unlocked an achievement
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
Slayer III Kill over 50 players +3% damage to other players, -3% damage received from other players Slay over 500 players
The bigger they are III Kill 50 creatures or players higher level than you +3% damage Kill over 500 creatures or players higher level than you
You don¡¯t look so tough III Kill 50 creatures or players 5 levels higher than you +6% damage Kill 500 creatures or players 5 levels higher than you
Don¡¯t look down on me III Kill 50 creatures or players 10 levels higher than you +15% damage, -15% damage received Kill 500 creatures or players 10 levels higher than you
Ant beats the elephant III Kill 50 creatures or players 25 levels higher than you +30% damage to creatures or players higher level than you Kill 500 creatures or players 25 levels higher than you
David and Goliath III Kill 50 creatures or players 50 levels higher than you -30% damage received from creatures or players higher level than you Kill 500 creatures or players 50 levels higher than you
Wow, those bonuses from the dive were impressive, but probably something I need to warn the devs about. Emily, Just got my rewards for the dungeon dive, and noticed a possibly broken mechanic. After evolution, my level was reset to 1, and I entered the dungeon at level 10. When calculating my rewards, it was using 10 as my level, though if you were going by actual levels it should be 50. I only point this out because all the enemies I faced in the dungeon were over level 60, and there are some massive bonuses for that. Thanks, Marty ¡°So.¡± Khaliss said, trying to get my attention. ¡°Any plans for the next few days?¡± ¡°Not really. I need to prepare for that next dungeon for the Thanatos questline, and I was hoping for a day or two to go exploring in the general area. See what kind of creatures that we have around our city. Besides, my weapon needs some things to fuel its growth. I am above level 40 now, which means I have four new abilities it can earn.¡± ¡°Hmm, that sounds good. It¡¯s always nice to relax for a bit after an excursion like what we had. The city could use some new sources of food as well, so I have a quest for you.¡±
New Quest alert! The newly created city has need of food sources. Slay at least ten of each edible creature you come across in the nearby area, bringing back the bodies to see if they are edible. You have been given a temporary storage bag for this task. The slots are unlimited, but you may only hold ten of each species. You have also been loaned a Hunter¡¯s Map. Locations may be marked, but the map has to be physically removed from inventory and activated, and at least 75% of the animal¡¯s territory must be covered to count. Rewards: One gold per species, doubled if species is edible. Increased rewards are possible if the location of hunting grounds are marked.
¡°Sounds like a fun few days. Thanks Khaliss. Now, shouldn¡¯t we be celebrating?¡± ¡°A wise answer!¡± He said, slapping me on the back and leading the way to the inn. Even though I avoided the alcohol for the rest of the night, the atmosphere was contagious. I didn¡¯t even bother to log off, simply content to fall into my bed in exhaustion. Book 2 Chapter 19 I woke up the next morning, stretching out in bed. Rolling out of bed, I headed towards the door and jammed my fingers against the door itself as I missed the doorknob. What the hell was that? I managed to open the door on my second try, though the first miss still bothered me. Moving down the hallway and downstairs, I almost tripped over my own feet several times. ¡°Gonna stay for breakfast today?¡± Alnoss asked me as I flopped down into a chair by the counter. ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied in a distracted tone. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re serving will be fine.¡± I missed the odd look Alnoss gave me before she went into the kitchen, as I was busy composing an email to Emily with an emergency request. Emily, Woke up this morning and I seem to be just slightly off with motor functions. Is this something like the alcohol episode? Marty Midway through my breakfast of steak and eggs, I got a reply. Marty, I looked into it and everything seems to be normal in regards to your character. Please head to your room so that I can join you virtually, email will be too slow for this. Emily I inhaled the rest of breakfast, though I had to pay special attention to my movements as everything still felt off. ¡°Thanks Alnoss, and sorry I¡¯ve been so distracted. I¡¯ll fill you in on it when I figure it out.¡± ¡°You better Angus, or I will have Khaliss decide you need special training. Perhaps you wish to learn physical damage resistance?¡± ¡°No need for that!¡± I squeaked, carefully retreating back to my room. ¡°Hey Marty, go ahead and sit on the bed and explain what¡¯s going on.¡± Emily said, her avatar a simple robed figure with the cowl darkening the face enough that I couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Well, I started out this morning and missed the doorknob. Walking down the hall and stairs I almost fell three times, and breakfast was a chore. I had to pay extra attention so that I didn¡¯t miss with my fork.¡± ¡°I see. You finished the dungeon yesterday? How many levels did you gain?¡± ¡°Just over thirty, why would that be important?¡± ¡°Ok, that explains it. Congrats, you are one of the very few who have ever gained so many levels at once that you are actually experiencing power ataxia.¡± ¡°Can you explain just what that is? It sounds, kinda bad.¡± I asked when she paused to stare at me. ¡°First, I have to explain how things work a little bit with stats. Strength is the easiest. Tell me, have you ever seen anyone crush rocks with their bare hands?¡± ¡°Not really sure where this is going, but no I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°Good. The reason is that stats aren¡¯t increasing your bodily functions for the most part. Strength doesn¡¯t make you stronger, either here or in real life. What happens is things have a minimum strength to lift. If you have enough strength, the game will let you lift the object. If two people are arm wrestling, the one with the higher strength gets a boost.¡± ¡°Ok, that actually makes a bit of sense. Still doesn¡¯t explain everything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting there, be patient.¡± She snapped. ¡°Your demigod status gives you five points per level to each stat, so you just gained over a hundred fifty points to each one. The issue is that you boosted agility and dexterity. Agility slightly increases your speed, and a few points here or there isn¡¯t noticeable. You gained enough for it to be noticeable. So until you spend a day or two adjusting, you are going to have some small issues.¡± ¡°So what is ataxia? And what do the other stats do if you don¡¯t mind explaining?¡± ¡°Ataxia is simply a disconnect in muscle movement. Your brain expects your body to move at its slower speed, but since it is moving faster your movements are uncoordinated. And I don¡¯t see the harm in explaining the rest, most of it is well known anyway. Dexterity boosts your fine motor skills, so you are less likely to drop things in your hand. Intelligence boosts skill learning, and wisdom increases your ability to notice clues.¡± ¡°Huh, seems normal enough. How does wisdom work though?¡± ¡°The AI will cause things to flash in the corner of your vision that you need. Not enough to be visual, but a subliminal hint.¡± ¡°I thought subliminal messages were outlawed though?¡± ¡°Well, we found a loophole in the legislation. The government regularly audits us, and have since closed the loophole. Anyway, what we do isn¡¯t a message, just something highlighted for a fraction of a second. You are free to notice or ignore it as you wish.¡± ¡°I see. Can I also assume that there is something buried in the terms of service? For the lawyerly types?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± She said with a cheerful tone. ¡°Oh, and I brought up your question to the developers. They are leaving in the experience boost. Since the second dungeon dive is optional, they are using it as a way to boost past the early levels for those that aren¡¯t keen on evolving and restarting at level 1. While it is doubtful someone will boost through thirty levels like you did, even one kill will give them several levels. Now that all that is taken care of, I have other things I need to do. Call me if you have any other issues.¡± ¡°Thanks Em, I was really worried we had another incident on our hands. I really appreciate the quick response.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± She said after a moments hesitation, then disappeared as she logged out. ¡°Wonder what she was hesitating about?¡± I muttered, before heading carefully back downstairs. ¡°I¡¯m back Alnoss.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And I¡¯m sorry.¡± I said, picking up a fork and twirling it around my fingers like it was a pen. Half a second later it went flying out of my hand. ¡°Oops.¡± I sheepishly said before grabbing it and trying again. ¡°Anyway. It turns out since I gained so many levels in one go I need a little bit to adjust. I was worried since I couldn¡¯t keep control of my body very well.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Hmmm. Ok.¡± She said, before turning and starting to walk away. ¡°Ok? That¡¯s it?¡± I asked, flabbergasted. ¡°Yep. Losing control of your body is a perfectly fine reason to be distracted and rude.¡± ¡°Alright then.¡± I muttered, before perking back up. ¡°Hey Alnoss, I think I have a great idea!¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Well, I need to go hunting for Khaliss in the near area. Care to try out some recipes with me when I get back?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. Now, good luck hunting.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, heading out. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Heading south out of the city with a full quiver of normal bolts, I pulled out my Hunter¡¯s Map and activated it. Now whatever animals I started hunting would have their territories mapped, so long as I could spot them. I started out with small game, as that was the simplest to find and stuck to level ranges from 20 to 35. Aerosquirrels were abundant, though they were fairly docile unless provoked. They relied on air magic to attack with blades from a distance, but the strongest could only fire two or three at a time. Instead of rabbits, there was a plethora of al-miraj. These light based creatures were a mix of rabbit and unicorn, though they kept the size of a rabbit on steroids. Specializing in speed, their initial lunge attack was a minor annoyance if you could dodge it. Dealing with power ataxia, I didn¡¯t have the coordination for that. Instead, I was forced to improvise. Turning my weapon so the head of the hammer faced the incoming lunge worked wonders, though I was constantly burning my own life to repair the damage it was receiving. Slaughtering ten of the creatures wasn¡¯t that hard with their aggression, and I even earned a new ability for my weapon.
New weapon ability! While not a conventional shield, your weapon has learned from its use as a defensive piece of equipment. Piercing intercept ¨C Your weapon has a chance to intercept and negate damage from a piercing attack. In exchange, it will lose 10% durability.
A few minutes walk from the city, if you weren¡¯t stopping to slaughter the wildlife, I came across a lake. Mostly rectangular, it was roughly an acre in size and had a small island in the middle. I managed to finish several water based creatures¡¯ habitats, though several of them extended south following the river that exited the lake. The most annoying was a highly aggressive snake, the shadow moccasin. Steel feathered swans, needlemouth bass, vermillion frogs, and spotted beavers were the more mundane forms of wildlife. I decided to follow the river south, and the fish switched from a bass to a trout variant, this one the bladefin trout. Although I wasn¡¯t really trying to hunt the predators of the area, a few of them took exception to my intruding. The most aggressive were the adolescent hydrocs, which were basically crocodiles with a small bit of water magic. I did see a smaller pack of dire wolves, but they were on the trail of something and paid me no mind. Hmmm, an interesting split here. To the west is an area obviously full of spiders and things that like the gloom, judging by the number of webs there. Or I could follow the river south. Smiling, I went in search of poisons to add to my immunity. Unfortunately for me, only the webwidow spiders were poisonous, while the wolfen spiders and drop spiders were not. Wolfen spiders hunted in packs and were nearly the same size as the canines they were named after, while the drop spiders were slightly smaller and preferred to drop on their prey from above and try and break its neck. The teardrop valley that the spiders inhabited was easily explored, and I was excited to see three creature areas show up as explored on my map. At the back of the valley, instead of a large lair stuffed full of spiders guarding their mother, I found a strange graveyard. There were no spider webs whatsoever, and none of the grave markers had any form of writing. Creeped out, I marked it for exploration when it was night out, and headed back to the river. Another hour of travel later, and I came across a beach. Rather than explore another area, I headed back to the forest and started methodically mapping everything I could. Getting away from the river, the smaller game gave way to larger creatures, and I happily started tracking a sounder of swine, though they had two sets of tusks instead of one. Called tuskers by the system, I decided that bacon was in order. These seemed rather small, so I held off taking them down and instead kept hunting. After passing up several groups of smaller pigs, I came across a massive beast. It was large enough to make dire wolves look small.
Hogzilla Race: Ham Elemental Level 38 elite This massive beast has achieved the second tier of monster growth, and is one of the largest of its kind ever recorded. Good hunting!
Chuckling in my head at that description, I needed to prepare a trap for this beast. A pitfall seemed in order, so I made a long one between me and the hog, leaving a thin shell of earth so that it looked safe. I let fly with a bolt, and it slammed home into the side of the beast. With a squeal of rage, it turned and charged at me, plunging straight down into the trap I had laid for it. The fall shattered its front legs, but the rage filled swine wouldn¡¯t let that stop it. Still trying to slide forward with its back legs, I started raining blows on its head to end its misery. Despite using several charged blows, it still took almost twenty strikes to take down its health. Instead of looting it, I went ahead and added its body to the bag that Khaliss had given me to transport game, happy that it would fit. I went ahead and filled up the rest of the spot with nine other pigs, and decided to call it a day. I had thoroughly mapped the ranges for the spiders, tuskers, all seven varieties of aquatic wildlife, and the al-miraj. Not bad for a day of work. ¡°Yo, Khaliss. Got some creatures for your quest to take a look at.¡± I said as I ran into him at the barracks. ¡°Excellent! Come with me then, we have some of the butchers on standby.¡± Leading the way, we came almost to the wall of the city before an open air market type area emerged. Several people were at different tables, skinning and dressing what several hunters brought in. We headed to a stone table at the far side, this one had several drakelings with smaller knives. ¡°Khaliss? When did you start hunting again?¡± One of them asked, flinching when they saw the captain. ¡°I haven¡¯t Dravin. Angus here has spent the day trying to find out some ranges for our hunters, and we thought that you would want to see what he had first.¡± ¡°Well, these youngsters seem to have the smaller game figured out fairly well. Let¡¯s see what¡¯cha got for them to work on.¡± He said to me. ¡°Well, for the smaller stuff let¡¯s go with these aerosquirrels and the al-miraj.¡± I said, dropping ten of each one on the table. ¡°We might want to save the horns on the al-miraj, they could be useful for piercing weapons.¡± I mentioned. ¡°You would think so, but not really. Grind ¡®em up and use them in an enchantment ink can boost light type enchantments though, so we will be keeping them.¡± Dravin said, walking us to the next table. We followed this routine several times, until the last two tables where I placed the first nine of the pigs. ¡°Dravin, where¡¯s your strongest table? I think this last one deserves a place of honor.¡± ¡°Right over there.¡± He said, pointing to a stone table twice as thick as the rest and having three rows of eight legs. I sauntered over, and pulled the corpse of Hogzilla out onto the table. The dull thunk caused the entire area to fall into silence. ¡°What in the hell is that?¡± ¡°Hogzilla. Description called it a ham elemental. Tier two beast, and I was wondering if you guys would let me have the belly area.¡± ¡°Sure, we can let you have that. I¡¯ll be carving this beastie up myself, and get you the cuts tomorrow.¡± ¡°Come along Angus, Dravin is the best at what he does. Now, if you¡¯ll let me get a copy of your map, I can get your rewards for you.¡± Khaliss said. Leading me off to the side, he nodded a few times while looking things over, then handed me a coin pouch. ¡°Thirteen gold for each species, it¡¯ll take a day or two to determine which ones are edible. You managed to map out eleven of those species, so I can give you another 22 gold.¡± ¡°Thanks a lot Khaliss. I think I¡¯m gonna call it a day and head on out. Before I go, warn your hunters about that graveyard I marked. It¡¯s got a creepy vibe, and I plan on exploring it after dark in another day or two.¡± ¡°Sure thing, but what¡¯s the delay for?¡± He asked, confused. ¡°Power ataxia. I worked through most of it today, but my critical hit rate was next to nothing. Even bashing against the head of that massive pig, and it had two broken legs at the time.¡± ¡°Heh, and you didn¡¯t come to me, why?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t want to bother you. Besides, this let me hone my skills in actual combat, which seemed like a better option.¡± ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow Angus.¡± He said, before heading back towards the barracks. I headed straight to the inn to head out for the night. Book 2 Chapter 20 Emily¡¯s POV ¡°Thanks for meeting with me about this guys.¡± I said as Frank and Mike took seats in the conference room. ¡°No problem.¡± Mike said. ¡°So, what has our favorite group of dungeon denizens uncovered today?¡± ¡°Not them, or at least they haven¡¯t complained about it, but I¡¯m afraid we might have to retool our leveling system.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t go small with the issues, do ya Emily?¡± Larry asked chuckling. ¡°Ok, convince me.¡± ¡°Here goes.¡± I said, taking a sigh to center myself. ¡°Right now, monster evolutions are going to break the game. Though he¡¯s an extreme example, I¡¯m still going to use Marty to make my point. He gained 30 levels in the dungeon, which isn¡¯t the issue. Since he became a demigod ranked monster, he just boosted himself 150 stat points in every single attribute.¡± ¡°Yes, that is how the monster rankings are supposed to work.¡± Larry pointed out as I hesitated for a second. ¡°I¡¯m aware, but have you thought it out? That many stat points is equivalent to a regular player gaining 180 levels. So we now have a monster player that can take out top tier players, which I know we wanted as a bonus to draw players to that side. However, he also has the stats of a level 80 monster even before he gained these, plus whatever he gained from his class. Right now, you are looking at a level 40 second tier monster that has higher stats than any level capped player.¡± ¡°Hmmmm.¡± Larry said, thinking about the implications. ¡°I assume you are worried about what happens when he evolves yet again?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I replied with a sigh, mentally thanking god that he got the implications right away. ¡°Ok, what¡¯s your fix?¡± ¡°Well, there are two main ones. The first is to keep the level after evolution, but I think this is not the way we should go. The other one, is to not give class attribute points after each level until they reach a higher level than what they evolved at.¡± ¡°And the bonus for the demigod ranking?¡± ¡°That¡¯s harder. Would it be possible to code it so that they get the points if they have increased their monster rank? Marty achieved demigod rank at evolution, so he would get his bonus points every level. But say that there was a monster player that achieved elite rank at level 8 and evolved at level twenty. Could we give them the bonus points for levels 1 through 8, then say they have already earned them for levels 9 through 20, and start giving them again at level 21?¡± ¡°Could be tricky to code, but I think we could do it with enough if then statements. I assume if they rank up to heroic at level 10, then they would earn all the bonus points that the champion rank would earn?¡± ¡°Yes. It seems like a good reward for that.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve made a good argument. I can see it, but there are some sticklers that are always wanting more. Is there anything you can say so that I have something to shut ¡®em up with?¡± ¡°Power ataxia.¡± ¡°We had one of those?¡± His eyes widened as he sat forward in his chair. ¡°Yep. Marty. He was pretty freaked out about it too, sent me an emergency email. I calmed him down and convinced him to take a few days to get it under control, but if we are going to do it, we should do this before more people get enough boosted stats that it becomes a major issue.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get some people started on the coding, hopefully we can just hot patch it in and send a warning on the update to all monster players. While we are at it, I¡¯ll see if we can get a popup for any player that gains over ten levels in one go to warn them about power ataxia.¡± ¡°Thanks Larry.¡± ¡°No problem. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and for having a solution.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV ¡°Hey Derrick, just you tonight?¡± I asked as I sat down in the caf¨¦. It was odd to not have Jon¡¯s jovial greetings. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s an anniversary for Jon and Phoebe.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll have to congratulate them.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not a happy anniversary.¡± ¡°Ohhhh.¡± I said, drawing out the word. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Not your fault, but don¡¯t be surprised if they are a little glum for a week or so. Losing a little girl is rough.¡± We both sat in silence after that, slightly uncomfortable in the somber mood. Several times each of us started to speak, only to stop with a sigh and go back to staring at our drinks. ¡°How¡¯s things in the game with you?¡± I finally managed to ask. ¡°Eh. Not too bad. Getting close to maxing out my level, I think a few more days outta do it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. You found any evolution materials yet?¡± ¡°Not a one. Hell, I don¡¯t even know what a troll would use to evolve. I suppose I could try eating an absolutely disgusting amount in the hopes that I become a giant, but that¡¯s all I¡¯ve really got.¡± ¡°That, could work.¡± I said hesitantly. ¡°I wonder though. Do you think the game has a way to boost our chances of finding evolution materials when we start getting close to the level cap?¡± ¡°I¡¯m. I dunno. It would seem crazy, but I think you might be on to something. You found that dungeon when you were a level out, Jon got his quest when he maxed out, and Phoebe said that the saber cat she killed would have worked as an evolution material as well.¡± ¡°Once lucky, twice is coincidence, three is a conspiracy?¡± I asked, getting a slight chuckle out of Derrick. ¡°Heh, yep. Of course, it isn¡¯t paranoia if they really are after you.¡± ¡°True, true.¡± I nodded sagely. ¡°You got a favorite conspiracy theory?¡± Mussing his hair a bit and holding his hands apart, he simply replied with one word. ¡°Aliens.¡± ¡°PPFFFFFTTTHAHAHA *COUGH, COUGH*.¡± I spluttered my drink at his impersonation. ¡°Oh god, don¡¯t do that when I¡¯m drinking.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Hah, I didn¡¯t think you would have gotten the reference. What about you? Favorite conspiracy theory?¡± ¡°These full immersion tanks are taking advantage of our brains. Everyone who is connected and in the game is having stock market simulations run through using their brains as computing power. The company execs are using that to predict market trends, and are making a killing off of it.¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯d think the government would step in and stop that.¡± ¡°Bah, they get paid to look the other way. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it were buried in the Terms we all signed in order to play the game.¡± ¡°Yeah, you could probably sell your soul with those and nobody would catch it. I still miss those companies that would play the joke timer on you.¡± ¡°Joke timer?¡± ¡°Yeah. They would have the popup to see if you would agree to the terms, along with the terms themselves. Then there would be some snarky comment about how impressed they were that you read the terms of service in 0.85 seconds or something like that.¡± ¡°Ha! Yeah, that would be pretty funny if they did that again.¡± ¡°So, seriously though. Do you really think they are using us as computing power?¡± ¡°No. It just seemed like the most logical one. Heh, a logical conspiracy theory, sounds like a contradiction in terms, no?¡± ¡°Yep. Like a laid back soccer fan.¡± ¡°Exactly! Anyway. Think about how hard it would be to run a program on the human brain. Half of us gamers are going to ignore what they ask anyway because we like to be contrary.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give you that one. Good theory. Have you heard the one about how Australia is a lie?¡± ¡°Get out!¡± I practically shouted. ¡°How in the world do you get enough people to go along with something like making up an entire continent?¡± ¡°Dunno man. It¡¯s a global conspiracy involving actors, pilots and governments.¡± ¡°Wow. Just, wow.¡± I shook my head. ¡°The best I can come up with is the faked moon landing.¡± ¡°Yeah, heard that one before. Did you ever get a good reasoning behind it?¡± ¡°Actually, yeah. I did once. Guy swore up and down that it had to have been faked, not because we didn¡¯t have the tech to send ¡®em there and back, but because he didn¡¯t think we could build a suit that would keep them safe from all the radiation in space.¡± ¡°Damn. I never thought I would have heard something that could be probable.¡± He replied, shaking his head. We both relaxed after that, having tapped out the depth of the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories we were familiar with. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off to bed I think. See ya tomorrow Marty.¡± ¡°G¡¯night.¡± With nothing else to do, I headed off to sleep myself. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Bleary eyed, I stumbled down the stairs at the inn. Morning was not my friend on the best of days, and today was far from the best. I slumped down at the counter, ready to get whatever Alnoss could fix in a hurry when I heard a chipper voice come from the room behind me. ¡°It¡¯s about time ya got up ya lazybones!¡± ¡°Alnoss, there appears to be an invasion of surly dwarves in your inn!¡± I feigned outrage. ¡°Quick, let¡¯s pacify him with an ale!¡± ¡®Bah, how did ye know my weakness? I¡¯ll have ta have words with your alchemy teacher.¡± He said, plopping into a chair next to me where Alnoss slid him a drink. ¡°Not that I¡¯m not glad to see you, but how are you in the city here?¡± I asked Master Faraldo. ¡°Young pups over there be needin¡¯ someone ta supervise their quest.¡± He said, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. I might have scowled a bit when I saw it was a bunch of players, mostly made of dwarves but with a few humans thrown into the mix. ¡°They be alright for adventurers, at least that Grimlet fellow.¡± He said, seeing my face. ¡°I didn¡¯t think we were allowing adventurers in?¡± ¡°Aye, but they got special dispensation from the dwarven council of elders. Grimlet has a quest related to those bones ya found, I guess they are gonna put ¡®em to rest here by the city.¡± ¡°How did that all turn about? I thought dwarves were big on being interred with their families.¡± ¡°Aye, but it was right shameful how me old clan treated ya. So I went and cut ties with them, baring their shame for everyone on the council to know.¡± ¡°Wait, you threw away your clan? Why would you do that over someone like me?¡± I asked, appalled at his actions. ¡°Ye went in there, open and honest boyo. Not only that, but ye had ¡®em by the short and curlies and didn¡¯t try and leverage near what you could have. In return, they tried ta charm ya and steal from ya, then were gonna further defile me ancestor. Tis a sad day, when one of the so called ¡®monster¡¯ races acts more like a dwarf than me own kin. Don¡¯t worry, I joined up with the Duergar clan, so I be a gray dwarf now.¡± ¡°Wow. I, thanks. I had no idea all that happened.¡± I said, stunned by his admission. ¡°It was worth it. The clan didn¡¯t value me anyway, and me new clan is a delight. Anyways, somehow during the hullabaloo Grimlet there got a quest to lay me ancestor¡¯s bones to rest, in a place away from me former clan. I was gonna ask ya about how ya wanted to go about it, but runnin¡¯ into ya at the guild wasn¡¯t reliable enough. So we went through the Church of Thanatos, and got their approval.¡± ¡°Sorry about all the trouble, but I¡¯m glad that Grumblespark¡¯s bones are finally getting the rest they deserve. Is there anything I can do to help out?¡± ¡°Nah, this be a quest for their guild. It¡¯s up ta them ta pass or fail it.¡± ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but are you going to go hunting again today Angus?¡± Alnoss asked. ¡°That was the plan, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Khaliss wanted me to pass on a warning that they have had several light races stalking our hunters, and that you should take care out there.¡± ¡°Thanks, I appreciate the heads up.¡± ¡°They givin¡¯ ya troubles?¡± Faraldo asked. ¡°Not yet, according to Khaliss. But he doesn¡¯t think someone hunts others without a reason, they just weren¡¯t sure of their victory.¡± ¡°I be likin¡¯ this Khaliss. If ya always expect the worst out of others, the worst that can happen is getting¡¯ pleasantly surprised.¡±
System update for monster players! Arctic Storm wants to remind players that we are constantly trying to better our game, and sometimes this requires major issues to be addressed. Currently, the system of leveling monster players is out of balance, and to prevent breaking of the game we have altered the attributes earned. New class attributes will not be given for leveling up until a higher level than was needed for evolution is reached. In addition, bonus attributes from monster ranks have also been changed. Each level will give the full bonus for the highest monster rank obtained at that level up. Any previous bonuses will be halved. Example: A player is a heroic goblin level 20 that evolves into a demigod hobgoblin. The hobgoblin won¡¯t gain any regular attribute points until they reach 21. However, each level will give them 5 bonus points to each attribute per level for being a demigod rank. For levels where they were previously a heroic goblin and received 2 points per attribute, they would lose 1 point per attribute (half of the previous rank) and still gain 5 attribute points for being a demigod rank. So in total they would gain 6 attribute points per level for anything coinciding instead of 7.
¡°Ya ok there lad? You spaced out for a while there.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I asked, shaking my head a bit. ¡°Sorry Master Faraldo, I was reading a notification about some changes they made.¡± ¡°Nothing bad I hope?¡± ¡°Eh, nothing we can do about it so no need to worry, right?¡± I asked with a smile. ¡°So, how long are you planning on staying in town here? I have some things I want to make that I¡¯m sure you would enjoy.¡± ¡°Oh? Would it happen to be a potion?¡± ¡°Food actually. Ever had bacon made from a tier 2 beast?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say that I have, but you had me interested at bacon. How long will ya be needin¡¯ on this bacon o¡¯ yers?¡± ¡°Roundabouts of a week I think. A few days to cure it, a day to smoke it.¡± ¡°Perfect! I¡¯ll head to me home and grab some o¡¯ the best dwarven ale I got.¡± When he mentioned ale, I couldn¡¯t suppress a shiver. The joviality dropped from his voice, and in a serious tone he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter boyo? I¡¯ve not seen someone shudder at the mere mention of ale before.¡± ¡°Just some inner demons.¡± I said, then steeled myself and explained. For all he went through on my behalf, he deserved the truth. ¡°A while ago, a group of friends and I went drinking. The best way I can explain it is that we were inadvertently poisoned, and one sip instantly made us as drunk as if we had drank an entire keg of dwarven stout. That incident left its mark on us, and I don¡¯t think any of us has had a drink since.¡± ¡°Ah, that be a terrible story lad. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll leave the ale be then and find us something suitable to drink. One that won¡¯t be alcoholic.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, blinking rapidly a bit. ¡°Sorry, but I think I¡¯m going to have to be going. Khaliss wants me to go out and check some of the ranges of the nearby game.¡± ¡°Tis fine. Good hunting my friend.¡± He said, slapping me on the back and giving me a gentle push towards the door. On my way out, I caught Alnoss and whispered to her, ¡°I¡¯ll handle the dwarf¡¯s tab, just let me know.¡± At her nod, I headed outside and made my way to the gate. Yesterday I had gone south, so today I was going north. There was a large meadow I had to pass through before I came to a pass between the mountains that surrounded most of the city. On the other side, I had a choice. Straight north would skirt the edge of a pine forest. West would lead to the foothills and eventual plains, or I could head east and deeper into mountainous terrain. Taking a deep breath, I smiled at the smell of the pines. I always enjoyed it, so due north it was. Book 2 Chapter 21 The forest smells were refreshing. I already had the aerosquirrels catalogued, so they were basically ignored. I did start hunting the wolves, though the groups recognized my strength and would leave the weakest to delay me while the rest of the pack escaped. Surprisingly one of the stronger beasts in this area were the lightning elk, and they had an annoying stun attack as well. Between their antlers they would form a ball of electricity, and blast you with it. Direct strikes resulted in a 3 to 5 second stun. If you hadn¡¯t damaged them before that, they would simply flee so I had to make sure that each one got shot before I started to close in on it. Hiding behind trees wasn¡¯t an option either, as they could hold the charged electricity for at least 30 seconds. I had just finished my tenth kill of the elk, when I heard a twig snap behind me. Turning on my heels as fast as I could from my crouched position, I heard someone activating skills. ¡°[Piercing arrow][Heartseeker].¡± I barely had the time to get my weapon centered over my chest before it got hit hard by an arrow, and I saw the elven archer seemingly melt out of the trees ¡°Lucky for you it survived Alyonna. You know Goliath wants us to bring back one of them alive.¡± A second elf emerged from hiding. This one was also an archer. Cursing in my head, I got back into a crouch and ready to attack. I had no ranged weapon handy as I hadn¡¯t reloaded my arbalest yet. ¡°[Nature¡¯s grasp].¡± An elf druid caused vines to explode out of the ground and bind me before I could get into a position to attack. ¡°He almost got you two when you managed to distract yourselves.¡± Sneering, I let them think they had me. I had four uses of it, and I was going to make them pay for being so lax. ¡°Who cares what Goliath wants? I want experience for killing one of these drakelings. Capturing him for study gets me a whopping zero xp.¡± ¡°These three are for you, Thanatos.¡± I muttered. ¡°[Cold grasp of Death][Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge][Dancing shadow steps].¡± I burned through my mana, but it was well worth it. One of the archer¡¯s got targeted with the grasping spell, while I stepped through the shadows in the forest and appeared in front of the druid. She had just enough time to widen her eyes in shock before a backhanded slash with my scythe opened up her throat. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I spoke as I used my second step, appearing behind the archer that wasn¡¯t bound. Again I targeted her neck, as she started to turn to try and locate me. I got lucky with this one, as decapitation activated. Using my third step, I was crouched to the side of the bound archer, and smashed the hammer into her knee as hard as I could. ¡°AAAAAAhhhhh!¡± Her scream of pain distracted me just enough that I couldn¡¯t continue with my last step, instead kicking her off her feet and turning to finish off the druid. She had just finished downing a health potion, which was rather annoying of her. I used the last of my mana to do a charged strike against the side of her head, the vial of her own potion blocking her view enough that she couldn¡¯t react in time to get a defense up. Stunned and disoriented, a few more hammer blows were all that was required to finish her. ¡°[Toxic barrage]!¡± The downed archer had managed to roll onto her back, and activated a skill that launched five poisoned arrows at my back. As soon as I heard her words, I started to hunch over, but it only saved me from one of her arrows. ¡°That hurt damnit.¡± I swore at her as I turned and charged. ¡°YOU!¡± She managed to exclaim before I started hacking and slashing at her. ¡°Me.¡± I answered mid barrage with a smile, as she was futilely trying to block everything with her bow. As she tried one last time, I hooked the bow with my scythe and nearly yanked it out of her hand as I leaned forward and punched her in the face. The unexpected strike and watering of her eyes let me smash her in the chest with my scythe, ending the fight. ¡°Not bad.¡± I muttered, putting their bodies into my body bag. It had been far too long since I had practiced my anatomy skill, I wasn¡¯t about to let three perfectly good elven bodies go to waste. Besides I had already given them to Thanatos, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to loot them.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For sacrificing a group of higher level players, you gain 375 favor. (3 players x (120 favor per player + 5 group bonus)) For sacrificing a player at full health, gain 20 favor. Total favor: 589/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 0/1 Weekly kills: 3/25
Damn, I forgot I still had to get weekly kills! The local wildlife wasn¡¯t going to cut it, I would definitely need to find a dungeon soon. Or a higher level area. In addition to boosting my reputation with Thanatos, I also gained a level from killing the trio. Though the damn nerf from the devs probably cost me a better kill. First I get hit with the power ataxia from gaining so many levels, and then they go and take half of my kobold stats away and I¡¯m left feeling sluggish. I was glad for the battle though, as it seemed to really boost my recovery from the yo-yoing stats. I spent the next few hours thoroughly exploring the forest, but nothing of interest really jumped out. I managed to get the ranges for the elk and the wolves, and started my return journey along the eastern edge of the forest. This brought me to the foothills of the mountains, where I met the occasional bear. Most were lower leveled cave bears, but there was the occasional granite claw variant.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Greetings brother.¡± I spoke as I entered the temple of Thanatos. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve managed to make it here.¡± ¡°Hello brother, how was your time in the dungeon?¡± ¡°It was a lot of fun until that last day.¡± ¡°Oh? I heard you were still an undefeated team, what happened that last day?¡± ¡°A battle with an old foe. It was broadcast to everyone, so people learned most of my ambush and trap locations. I was forced to fight in open battle after that.¡± ¡°Ah, that makes sense then. Taking away your class bonuses would cripple your fighting ability. Though I assume from just stats you would be their equal?¡± ¡°For the most part. But even if you are on an even footing with one person, you will still lost most of the time in a 5 on 1 situation.¡± ¡°Ah. And being competitive, you hate losing?¡± ¡°Yeah. I guess I got used to winning from the early days of the dungeons. Back when people didn¡¯t have a great idea of my abilities.¡± ¡°Understandable. So, what brings you here today?¡± ¡°I have three bodies to examine, and figured you might enjoy watching. Adventurers like myself, and elves.¡± Seeing his eyes light up, I chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s go, this should be fun.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Leading me back to the same stone table, I started on the examination. I took a lot more care this time around than I had with the goblins, as I was sure I would be facing more of them in the future and any possible bonuses would be incredibly important. Besides, how many times was I going to come across the body of a sentient light sider without starting a war? ¡°I¡¯m going to start by completely skinning the body, so that I can try and see the muscle groups and where they attach.¡± I explained, though my job was much easier since all their gear had disappeared once I placed them in my bag. Convenient. I had a bit of trouble identifying everything, but some of the easier ones like the calf muscle were a good starting point. ¡°You seem troubled.¡± The Cardinal spoke. It was near the end of the first body, and I didn¡¯t really see anything that would be giving the elves their boosted agility and dexterity. ¡°Yeah. From what I vaguely remember from other sources, this body doesn¡¯t really differ from humans. Minor things like slightly longer bones in the legs and arms, but that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Racial abilities. Elves are more dexterous by far. There has to be some fundamental difference. I thought it would be in the muscles, but the groupings that I remember are all the same. Perhaps the connecting tissues are a bit springier, but that would just let them bend more without injuring themselves.¡± ¡°Well, what have you noticed? Perhaps if we start from there we can figure this out.¡± ¡°Some longer bones, and the body is a bit lighter than you would expect from a human. The heart and lungs seem a bit larger as well. How did they lose the weight though?¡± We both sat there, trying to figure it out. While the elves had much smaller fat reserves, they had just as much muscle as a human, perhaps even more if you considered the added bit of height. That would extra muscle would wash away any gains from the fat loss. As I sat there staring at the remains, I looked at the thigh bone. ¡°BONES!¡± I slapped my forehead as I exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s gotta be the bones. Those are by far the heaviest portions of a body. I¡¯ll bet that the longer bones are thinner.¡± Taking out my weapon, I held up the thigh bone. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± Slashing through it, we both peered inside it. ¡°Holy crap, it¡¯s like a birds.¡± I mumbled, stunned. ¡°Birds?¡± ¡°Yeah. Birds and apparently elves have hollow bones to lighten them. Birds become light enough that flight is possible, and this must be how the elves get the boost to agility. I would be willing to bet that if we tried this on a dwarf bone, it would be much denser than a human.¡± ¡°Denser would make it stronger then?¡± ¡°That, and give them much more mass. That extra mass would definitely explain the [Roots of the Mountain] skill of theirs.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really familiar with that ability.¡± ¡°It lets them absorb a blow without getting knocked back.¡±
Skill increased! Your insights into the bone structures of different bodies and your study of how the muscles are connected has gained you a great boost to your anatomy skill. Anatomy skill is now Advanced level 5. Gain 35% damage and +35% critical chance against enemies you have studied. Studied enemies: Goblins, elves, humans*, dwarves* * - partial conjectures. Half of bonuses applied until these races are studied.
Linking skill acquired! You have unlocked a linking skill, Physiology. Linking skills allow you to apply learned knowledge about species to species you haven¡¯t studied yet. There are no levels for these skills. Currently you may apply half of your bonuses from your Anatomy skill to races you haven¡¯t studied yet, provided you demonstrate a probable linkage to a race you have studied.
¡°Wow, that was unexpected. I just got a linkage skill from guessing about the anatomy of dwarves and humans.¡± ¡°Interesting. What does it manage to do?¡± ¡°Gives me half the bonus I would get from anatomy to any creatures I can theoretically link to a species I have already studied. So right now I have a half bonus to humans and dwarves.¡± ¡°Very nice. Shall we see if there are others we can link?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me, I¡¯m not about to turn down bonuses. Though from my quest line from Thanatos, it sounds like I¡¯m going to be seeing a lot of undead. Do you mind if we focus on them for now?¡± ¡°Bah, abominations. I¡¯m rather glad you took the quests to exterminate the creatures you have. Unfortunately, there are so many variations of undead that you won¡¯t be able to glean much insight into it.¡± ¡°Damn, so much for that idea. Though on creatures that were converted to undead from a base form, I should still benefit a little bit, right?¡± ¡°You thinking of vampires? I would think so, though you have to realize their organs will differ greatly.¡± ¡°Yeah. Basically I have to hit the heart or decapitate them to put ¡®em down for good.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget the stomach.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yep. They often store blood in their stomachs to fuel their high speed regeneration. Breaking that open will cripple a huge advantage.¡± ¡°Wow. I, I never would have thought of that.¡± I said, stunned at the glaring weakness. It made perfect sense now that someone pointed it out. ¡°Not a lot of people outside of dedicated hunters know about that.¡± ¡°Yeah, it seems so obvious now.¡± I said with a yawn. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s been a long day and studying this body has really worn me down. Is there a way I can store these other two so that I can study them some other day?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry brother, that won¡¯t be allowed. We have to dispose of them.¡± ¡°Ok, I think we are going to have to do that then. I don¡¯t have enough awareness to really learn anything else from them. Thanks again for all your help on this.¡± I said, placing the other two bodies on the table where the Cardinal lit a flame to burn them. ¡°Anytime brother. Have a good night.¡± ¡°You too.¡± As I turned to go, I cursed myself for forgetting to study those bodies with [mystic vision] activated. If I could find a way to sever the mana lines inside a person I might be able to prevent a mage from casting spells. Too late now, as the bodies were merrily burning. Instead I headed out to turn in my catch of the day and log out for the night. Perhaps Derrick would be able to give me some tips for switching from days to nights. I had one last day I could spare before I needed to go out and start hunting for my weekly quotas. Book 2 Chapter 22 ¡°Hey there Marty.¡± Derrick said as I walked into the caf¨¦, and Jon and Phoebe gave much more subdued greetings than usual. ¡°Hey guys.¡± I said, then awkwardly sat down. I really wanted to ask how everyone¡¯s day had gone, but had to bite my tongue when I remembered what Derrick told me yesterday. So there was the terrible few seconds that seemed like an eternity as I stood there with my mouth open, before finally sitting down. ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± Phoebe said, finally noticing my discomfort. ¡°Derrick told us he told you. Thanks for being circumspect, but we will be fine. How are things in your new city?¡± ¡°Not too bad. I¡¯ve been scouting the local wildlife looking for things that are edible. Lot of mouths to feed, and drakelings and kobolds were never much for farming.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll bet they weren¡¯t.¡± Jon said with a halfhearted chuckle. ¡°So how about you guys? Any big plans?¡± ¡°Heading towards your city after Phoebe finishes up her quest line.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°It seems like a lovely meeting spot for monsters. It¡¯ll be nice to finally have a city to go to. Well, one that isn¡¯t full of Drow. I¡¯m never going into one of those cities again if I can help it. Damned elitist bastards.¡± ¡°Afraid they won¡¯t respect you because your magic is limited Phoebe?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Damn straight! Never mind the fact that I could literally rip them limb from limb, and that¡¯s even before I transform.¡± ¡°Yeah, but go ahead and try and point it out to them. They¡¯ll just deflect and say you¡¯ll never get close enough to do it, their magic will put you down.¡± I pointed out. ¡°I hate those types of arguments, because none of them are willing to step into a ring and prove it.¡± ¡°I know right? And as soon as you do it in the arena, they come back with, ¡®but it was in an arena with limited space. In real life you would never get close to a true drow.¡¯ Bah, as if that would ever matter. If they didn¡¯t know they were being hunted, I could kill them before they could even form a magic shield.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to show them that overwhelming physical might can trump magic on occasion.¡± Derrick said, grinning. ¡°Is there anything as satisfying as finally getting your hands on a squishy mage in battle?¡± I smiled as I asked. ¡°Epic loot.¡± Jon replied, to which we all nodded and saluted with whatever we had for drinks. ¡°Finally getting that awesome evolution.¡± Derrick said, and we all froze to look at his grin. ¡°Yep! I finally managed to evolve, and God, does it feel good.¡± ¡°Tell us, tell us everything!¡± Phoebe hissed the last part, and Derrick started in on his tale. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Derrick¡¯s POV Damnable troll race. Why in the ever loving hell did I decide to pick a race with such a huge experience penalty? The health regen barely made it all worth it. I was basically unstoppable in a fight unless swarmed, vastly out-leveled, or the enemy had a fire based attack. I wondered if Phoebe would be proud of my magic armor though. Using basic stone manipulation, I had given myself stone plate mail in certain locations. Chest, thigh, shin, and forearm, it wasn¡¯t a complete set but it got the job done for blocking most fire attacks. And the intimidation factor was through the roof. My left forearm had basically a stone disc with wicked spikes sticking out at different angles. Who needs a pimp slap when you have a spiked shield? Not this guy! Sneaking through the forest, I knew I was nearing a middling sized town when I heard voices up ahead. I still had no idea how a troll manages to earn the sneak skill, but it was incredibly helpful. ¡°We got the town surrounded, why does the boss want us out here as scouts? Ain¡¯t nobody getting out, and we cut off all contact days ago.¡± ¡°He just does, so we do! Now stop asking questions.¡± A curt voice answered, and I saw two bandits standing at the edge of a clearing. Town surrounded by bandits? This outta be good. Sneaking up to the two ¡°scouts,¡± I grabbed the sides of their heads and pulped them together. Bending down to the ground, I wiped my hands clean and left the bodies. Heading toward the town, I was slightly shocked at what I found. The walls around the town were simple wooden palisades, though it was a fairly widely spaced out town judging by the length of the walls. Standing in the road was a massive group of bandits, with two absolutely massive ballistae behind them. Tall enough to shoot over the bandits in front of them, the bolts would be enough to give even me problems should they hit. I¡¯m sure they would absolutely demolish the town¡¯s walls in fairly short order. ¡°Last chance Dorian!¡± One of the bandits shouted. Considerably better armored than the rest, it was obvious who was in charge. ¡°Like we would ever surrender to a bunch of cowardly deserters like you!¡± Came the answering reply from town. Interesting, looks like Mr. Bandit Leader might have some army training. Smiling, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a discus. I was rather proud of that pack. Trolls don¡¯t have access to the inventory, and most of what we find as loot isn¡¯t really sized appropriately. When you are large enough that a greatsword looks like a knife, borrowing armor isn¡¯t a possibility. To get around this, I had taken a massive net I found in one of the bandit camps I had cleaned out and fashioned it into a pack. It currently had three treasure chests and two of the stone discus. ¡°I really want the town with walls intact, but you leave me no choice here. I¡¯m gonna have to smash ¡®em and kill everyone inside. Unless one of you opens the gate and lets us in. Then everyone can go peaceful like.¡± A chorus of unkind words met that statement, and the leader turned to face his troops. I let fly with my discus, having perfected the technique from countless hours of Frisbee golf. Silent in flight, the devastation when it smashed the ballistae was phenomenal. The first one disintegrated under the force, and the stone started toppling end over end. It flew mostly over the second one, but just enough caught the drawstring that it snapped, whipping around from the force it had built up and cleaving through several of the bandits. Which all served as a fantastic distraction for my second disc to plow through their ramshackle lines, pulping bodies as it too started flipping end over end. Screams of agony and terror filled the air as everyone had turned to see me charging out of the forest. ¡°RRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± I bellowed as I got close to their lines, the unexpected sound causing several to freeze in fear. ¡°Stand together! It¡¯s just a damn troll!¡± The leader cried out to try and rally his men as I laid into them, but my onslaught was too much for most of them. My initial attack had taken out their ballistae and over half of their number, and between my shield and spiked fist I was gleefully smashing through any defense they tried. It probably didn¡¯t help that there were several severed limbs stuck to my shield. I grabbed one nearby bandit, and purposely impaled him on a spike in a way that wasn¡¯t immediately fatal, and his screams and flailing broke whatever will the remaining bandits had. ¡°GODS DAMN YOU BASTARD! I¡¯LL HANDLE YOU MYSELF!¡± The leader bellowed, and a few bandits formed up behind him as he stepped forward, unsheathing his blade. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you slowly for what you did to my men. Slowly. Letting you almost regenerate as I constantly lop off limbs, before eventually cauterizing them off and leaving you a torso. I wonder how long you¡¯ll last?¡± As he taunted me, his blade started glowing red. Hmm, some form of heated blade. Not necessarily fire attacks, but I should be wary just in case.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Smiling at him, I beckoned him on. ¡°Come get some.¡± I couldn¡¯t remember what exact character used that in the past, but I always thought it was badass. There was another one about gum, but I couldn¡¯t quite remember it. I hunkered down behind my shield as the leader charged, and used my stone manipulation to thin out one of the spikes and extend it in his direction. Damn, I barely missed impaling him through the stomach, but did manage to carve a furrow through his hip as he spun. As he stumbled from the blow, I reached out and grabbed his weapon wrist. ¡°Let go, LET GO LET GO LET GO!¡± He cried, panicking as I added pressure until I felt a pop and his sword clattered to the ground. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!¡± His wails were annoying, so I smashed him on the ground a few times to get him quiet. I broke both of his legs with one smack of my shield, then picked him up and flung him into the town. ¡°Flee.¡± I said, watching as the rest of the bandits either passed out or fled, depending on how much fight they had left in them. I chuckled watching them go, taking my time to pick up my two discus and repairing any damage before storing them again. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Guard Captain Dorian¡¯s POV Just what the hell was going on out there? I wish I could have put someone up on the wall to take a look, but with the amount of archers Morrigan had out there it would be suicide. After his last set of demands, there were terrified screams and loud crashes. If he was looking to drum up some psychological attack, he was doing a damn fine job of it. ¡°What¡¯s going on out there sir?¡± John asked. One of the newer guards, he hadn¡¯t even been here a month. ¡°I¡¯m not sure kid, but whatever it is, hopefully is taking out those bandits.¡± Just as I finished, I saw something fly over the wall. ¡°TAKE COVER!¡± I bellowed at the top of my lungs, shoving the frozen John towards an alleyway as whatever it was crashed to the ground. ¡°Uuuuuunnnnnnggghhhhh.¡± A low moaning came from it, and as I looked closer I saw it was a body. Walking up to it, I was stunned to find a mangled Morrigan barely hanging on to life. ¡°Kkkkiillll. Meeeee.¡± He begged, as I took stock of his injuries. Broken arm and wrist, shattered legs, dislocated joints. Whoever, no whatever had done this, was absolutely vicious in taking him out. ¡°Health potion!¡± I yelled. ¡°Not today Morrigan. You will have to face the King¡¯s Justice for your crimes. You¡¯ll live to see the hangman¡¯s noose. I¡¯ll guarantee you that.¡± Turning towards the wall, I yelled at my second in command. ¡°Edward! I need you on the wall! What¡¯s going on out there?¡± Using a leap skill, he jumped to the walkway rather than take the stairs. At the top, he froze for a second. He whispered something a few times before I finally heard him yell ¡°Troll!¡± Fuck. This was a mining town before the mines had to be closed. Since then the crown cut our defenses nearly to nothing, and we definitely didn¡¯t have a mage capable of taking on a troll anymore. With a troll sitting on our only way out, I sure as hell hoped those adventurers we sent for make it here soon. ¡°I¡¯m on my way.¡± I yelled, before turning to three of our greenest guards. ¡°Strip him, down to everything. Have him shackled hand and foot, I don¡¯t want him getting away.¡± That task done, I headed to take a look at what was going on. Sure enough, there was a troll out there, but it wasn¡¯t acting like any troll I had seen before. It was surrounded by dead bodies, but hadn¡¯t started feasting. Instead, it was cleaning some stone discs and putting it. Wait, does it have a strange backpack? No, that¡¯s a damn net. What the hell is going on here? ¡°Edward, I¡¯m heading down there. This isn¡¯t a normal troll.¡± ¡°You sure sir? I¡¯ll have a few men go with you. Even if it isn¡¯t acting normally.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ok.¡± I interrupted. ¡°No need to risk them.¡± ¡°But sir!¡± ¡°Relax, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I said, jumping over the wall and carefully walking towards the troll. Gods, I hoped my intuition was right about this. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Derrick¡¯s POV I was just finishing up with my weapons, and removing the body parts from my shield when I heard a commotion from the wall. Turning, I saw someone in full plate walking my way slowly. I turned and sat down, hoping to be non-threatening. ¡°You aren¡¯t a normal troll, are you?¡± He calmly asked. Impressive, considering the carnage around. I looked around before pointing at myself, just to mess with him a bit. Seeing his confusion, I smiled and smacked my knee a few times. ¡°I adventurer.¡± I spoke, just to relieve the confusion on his face. Seeing the tension leave his body, I chuckled a bit. ¡°Why did you save us? You had no reason to.¡± ¡°Bandits. Bad.¡± Though I was speaking normally, it was annoying that my words were translated into a three-year old¡¯s vocabulary. ¡°I kill.¡± ¡°Well, either way you have our thanks adventurer. I didn¡¯t realize that the guild was taking in monster races, though in this case your strength is impressive.¡± At that point, we heard a commotion coming down the road, and we both turned to look as four horses came running down the lane at top speed. ¡°Hang in there sir! We¡¯ll save you from the troll!¡± Someone shouted, and I scratched my head in confusion. ¡°Gina! Light ¡®em up!¡± The lead knight shouted, and the mage in the group pulled out her staff and pointed it in my direction. ¡°[Fireball]!¡± She yelled, not using the chant in order to get off a quick spell. ¡°[Intercept][Shield wall]!¡± The captain cried from behind me, stepping in front and taking the hit from the mage on his shield, to everyone¡¯s surprise. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± He yelled as the adventurers pulled up. ¡°Saving you from a troll? Though I thought your request to the guild was for a bandit siege?¡± The leader answered. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar. ¡°And that was what the request was for. Unfortunately for you, the troll here broke the siege for us. I will let that first attack go, as you obviously had my health in mind. But if you attack us again I will mark you for breaking the law.¡± ¡°Dart. San.¡± I finally placed where I saw him. This was the knight I used as a dart to kill his friends! As I said those words, I saw him freeze in panic as the captain looked at me. ¡°You, uh, you guys know each other?¡± The captain asked. ¡°No way.¡± The leader whispered. ¡°How could you?¡± ¡°Hahaha.¡± I gave a rumbling laugh. ¡°Throw dart san. Go splat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just take that as a yes.¡± The captain said uncomfortably. ¡°Anyway, the troll finished off the bandits. I was just going to offer him a reward, you can consider your quest cancelled. I will give you half the promised gold though, as you would have been here in time to help out, but they would have at least breached the walls before you arrived.¡± At the news the adventurers looked crestfallen, but too bad for them. The captain tossed a bag at them, and then dismissed them as he turned to me. They took their leave, and it was just me and the captain. ¡°So, would you be willing to help us out with another problem?¡± He asked, and I shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head. Why not? This could be the first system quest I got. ¡°Do you know the history of the town you just saved?¡± Shaking my head no, he continued with a story. ¡°Long ago, we used to be the prime producer of orichalcum ore for the kingdom. Unfortunately for us, two incredibly powerful beasts took their battle into the mines. Nobody can withstand the aura, and there are much easier places for the mines to reopen. The kingdom decided against clearing the mine and left us to our fate.¡± ¡°Me. Clear?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. We do have something I think you would like. Come with me.¡± He said, turning and leading into the town. I followed, though tried to do it as casually as I could. ¡°A while ago, we had an adventurer come to us with a commission. Idiot had plenty of money and the ego to go along with it, so we went ahead and made it. Fool forgot to figure in just how much a greatsword made of orichalcum would actually weigh, and had to leave it. I figure it might just be big enough for you to actually use, and the ability to cut through spells is something that should appeal to you.¡± As we walked through the town, people were openly staring at me as I followed the captain. Or maybe they were staring at the captain who was talking to a troll like they were friends. Who knows? Opening up a storage shed, I followed him in and gawked as he flipped the cover off the sword with a flourish. The blade itself was nearly six and a half feet long, and the oversized handle fit my hand perfectly. Picking it up, I was shocked that I actually got a notification.
Spellrender Oversized orichalcum greatsword (unique) Commissioned by an adventurer that overestimated his abilities by an incredible margin, this beautiful orichalcum sword has been gathering dust as it awaits one who can actually wield it. May it serve you well. Damage: 1200 ¨C 1500 Durability: 1,000,000/1,000,000 Orichalcum blade: made of pure orichalcum, the edge may be used to slice through spell forms and the flat of the blade may be used to block incoming spells.
¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± I started laughing maniacally. Oh, this sword was fantastic! ¡°I clear mountain.¡± I rumbled between laughs, walking past the captain to take a few practice swings with my new sword out in the city square. Who needs to fear magical fire when you can block it with a sword? Not this troll! Another bonus from slaughtering those bandits, I had finally achieved max level! The only thing I was lacking was an evolution material, but hopefully this mine would have something for me. Looking at my sword, I couldn¡¯t help but fantasize about becoming an orichalcum giant. If they could make a fire or ice giant, surely there would be a metal one? Good luck blasting me with spells then! Book 2 Chapter 23 Heading out the back of the town with my new sword, I walked up the switchback trail into the mine. The well-traveled path was much nicer to walk through than the rough forest. Peering into the mine, I could barely feel a pressure against my skin. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed inside. The entrance of the mine had plenty of headspace for me, but just to test things out I held my sword straight up. Before I could even get my arm halfway raised, it struck the ceiling. Looks like only thrusts and short slashes were on order for my attacks, along with my spiked shield. Nodding, I headed in. It was a simple plan, but those tend to work best when things inevitably go FUBAR. I kept my eyes open for enemies, but it was oddly silent. In fact, I was fifteen minutes into my descent before I saw the first set of eyes staring at me. All eight of them blinked in a wave, causing me to shudder a bit. Lovely, spider infestation. The jet black creature the size of a German shepherd scuttled forward on the ceiling, though a swift thrust with my sword had its legs curling inward. I shook it off and checked out what it actually was.
Manawarped funnel spider juvenile corpse Mutated by massive amounts of mana found in the orichalcum mine, this once small creature has grown to sizes that can threaten grown men.
Great, looks like the ambient mana was changing things into monsters. Oh well, poisons don¡¯t work too well versus a troll¡¯s regeneration, and they don¡¯t usually use fire so I wouldn¡¯t have to worry that much about it. I continued down the main hallway, merrily slaughtering and splattering whatever came to investigate my movements. Three levels of the mine later, and I finally saw the first thing that could give me some issues.
Manawarped hive guard Lvl 38 The basic guard of an unusual hive type of spider, it has been bred to die for others. Powerful axe arms are used as offense, while chitin plates are used for defensive purposes. The armor is fairly resistant to slashing and piercing attacks, though magic and smashing attacks will work wonders.
Ok, it¡¯s lower level and alone, time to check some things. I walked up to it, and let it attack me. No technique, it simply started slashing at me with its bladed forearms. As long as I didn¡¯t take a strike on a joint, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to deal with. Catching the blades mid strike, I twisted the joints and snapped them off as the creature hissed in pain. It rushed forward and bit me on the thigh, trying to savage my leg. I simply speared it through the back with my sword, ending it. I had a minor poison debuff, but it wasn¡¯t nearly strong enough to overwhelm my regeneration. Heading forward, I didn¡¯t bother clearing everything in the mine. I¡¯m sure the humans wouldn¡¯t mind sending another quest for the guild to take care of. I could have gone into some of the larger side passages, but it would have been a tight fit and pointless for me. The guards soon gave way to soldiers and lieutenants, always in groups of three or five. These would actually deploy some fighting tactics. Though basic, they always first went to surround me. I would pierce one, and use its body as a club as I swung horizontally across the hallway. That was usually enough to end the majority of the group, and I could focus on the leader. These had venom that could noticeably slow my regen, but it still wasn¡¯t enough to stop it. Two more levels of this, and I reached what I hoped was the bottom. By now the pressure was a physical force. It wasn¡¯t quite as bad as trying to move through water, but I know I wasn¡¯t moving as fast as I was through air. This level was one massive room, with an opening on the other side. Egg sacks lay scattered about, and I figured I had found the queen. Knowing that it had to be a spider, I looked up and sure enough, it was hanging from the ceiling.
Manawarped hive matriarch Lvl 40 The ruler and mother of the spider hive, do not underestimate her. Her poison is vastly stronger than any of her subordinates, and her agility is unmatched.
Manawarped royal guards Lvl 40 The best warriors of the hive not only guard the queen, but also are allowed to procreate with her. Their armor is thicker than any counterpart, and they will never quit once there is a threat to the queen.
Oh fun, four guards and their queen. They all seemed to be my level as well, and the queen was definitely a boss type. I stepped back into the hallway and carefully took off my net of loot, stepping back into the room to check my options. I fully expected at some point the matriarch was going to summon a swarm of little spiderlings, and I didn¡¯t have anything to deal with the little shits. The easiest way to do that would be to smash them with aoe fire attacks, but that was obviously out. My shiny new sword would be less than useless against them, so the best thing I could come up with was to roll around on the ground and smash ¡®em that way. Hopefully my body weight would be enough and my skin would prevent most damage from their fangs.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Stepping back into the room, I leaned my sword against the wall. Taking aim, I launched my first discus at the matriarch, though the pressure in the room threw my aim off just a bit. Instead of smashing into her face, it only clipped it a bit and sheared off two of the legs on one side of her body. Screaming in rage, the four guards dropped as one to the ground to take out whatever would dare to harm their queen. Unfortunately for them, the second discus was already on its way. She saw it coming, and had crouched to get enough power to leap out of its way. That saved her from taking it to her face, but her move caused it to smash into her abdomen. The chitin armor wasn¡¯t near strong enough to take the amount of force that flying stone disc had generated, and made a rather satisfying splat as green ichor sprayed everywhere. The four guards froze for a half second, before their joints and eyes started glowing with a reddish light. I guess killing their queen caused them to enter a rage. No matter, in here I could swing my sword around however I liked, and as the first one leapt at me I used the flat of the blade to knock it away, taking the second one with it. The backhanded strike from my sword let me hunch down and charge at the remaining two. As they started to separate, I turned slightly and plowed through the one to my left, punching it with my shield hard enough that the shorter, wider spikes caught it in the chest area and sent it flying. The last guard slashed into my back, and the one I had sent flying had grabbed onto my shield with a strand of silk, pulling me off balance. The flying spider, however, failed to take into account brute strength. Wrapping his strand of silk around my arm, I flung him around like a whip. The initial two that had gotten smacked around by my first attack nimbly dodged the flying spider, and it ended its life in a splatter on the wall. As the nearest spider came back in to attack, I stabbed it from beneath my shield. Judging by the way it was gnashing its mandibles at me, it didn¡¯t enjoy being impaled. I twisted the blade and whipped it out sideways, carving a massive wound. The ichor deluge threatened my footing, so I carefully retreated as the remaining two stalked me. My health was at 75% and climbing, and they were down to two threats. Once I hit roughly 90%, I charged back in and feinted at the spider on the right. As the other one attacked, I reached out and grabbed one of its weapons. Powerless to escape, I cleaved it in half with a blow from my sword. The remaining spider jumped on my back and started biting at me, so I simply jumped and landed on my back. Three more attempts and the cracking chitin finally gave out, leaving me at half health but victorious. I didn¡¯t bother searching the room, simply going back for my net of loot. On my way back through, I grabbed my two discs from near the smashed body of the matriarch. The pressure increased noticeably with every step, and by the time I had reached the doorway on the edge of the room I was forced to create handholds in the floor and pull myself forward. Dragging myself through the doorway, the next room was noticeably smaller than the previous one. In it were two pedestals, one with a yellowish egg and the other with a deep blue, nearly purple block. Each was sending out pulses that would smash against each other, and to my surprise I got a popup prompting my evolution.
Evolution materials found! You have found two powerful relics, capable of fueling your evolution. Touch one to fuel your evolution, and choose wisely.
Material Evolves to Description
Phoenix egg Fire giant Fire giants are masters of war and blacksmithing. Far more intelligent than many initially give them credit for, their tactics have spelled doom for many unwary adventurers.
Winterwraith essence Ice giant Ice giants are terrifying foes. Though susceptible to fire, it takes a lot of it to cut through their chilling auras.
Good night, those were some powerful materials. Looking at everything, I was conflicted though. It said to choose wisely, obviously meaning something bad would happen if I didn¡¯t. Looking at the materials, they were obviously preventing the other from regenerating. I assumed what the devs expected was that I would choose one, then enter into an epic battle with the remaining material as it reformed. So, do I go the route of ice and battle a newly born phoenix? Or choose flames and fight one of the most dangerous undead out there. Forcing myself forward, I stopped between the two pedestals. The waves of magic were slowly chipping away at my health, so I didn¡¯t have much time. Reaching out, I grabbed both materials.
Evolution materials selected! You have chosen to combine two disparate elements to fuel your evolution, seeing the trap that was laid before you. As the energies fight within and change you, your body grows.
I felt power coursing through me, and saw the floor dropping away slightly. I started out fairly tall, roughly seven feet. By the time I stopped growing, I guessed I had added another three feet. Enough so that my great sword felt more like a regular sword. My hands were violet, and I had swirls running up my arms and the back of my hands in strange patterns.
Evolution complete! You have evolved into an Eldritch Giant! These massive creatures are masters of the arcane, and highly intelligent. Due to your circumstances, you gain a minor boost to earth spells, and major boosts to fire, ice, and storm spells. Due to your vastly increased intelligence, you now have access to the inventory system. Conversations with others will also sound normal, provided that they don¡¯t run screaming from your presence. You will retain one trait from your time as a troll, either stone skin or regeneration.
Spell list
Earth Fire Ice Storm
Shape stone Fire blade Frost blade Lightning bolt
Earth lance Fireball Glacial spike Thunder javelin
Inferno Blizzard Chain lightning
Circle of destruction Ice prison Storm aura
Flame cloak Frost cloak Thunderstorm barrage
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. It was going to be incredibly fun playing as a giant mage with the regeneration of a troll that could wield a greatsword of orichalcum. Book 2 Chapter 24 Marty¡¯s POV ¡°Holy cow, that¡¯s one hell of an evolution.¡± Jon replied, and the rest of us were sitting there silently agreeing. ¡°Yeah, I thought so too. Honestly though, I¡¯m most excited about two things. I can earn experience at the normal rate, and I don¡¯t talk with little kid speech patterns. It was fun doing that in those games where intelligence contributed to your dialogue options, but when you are immersed in the game it is annoying as fuck.¡± We all got a good chuckle out of that. ¡°Og. Smash.¡± Jon said, standing up and pounding on his chest. ¡°No. Grub. Smash.¡± I said, deepening my voice and pounding my chest as well. We both furrowed our brows to try and seem like we had larger, sloping foreheads before we both broke out into giggles. ¡°Look what you did Derrick.¡± Phoebe muttered while shaking her head. ¡°Me not do.¡± ¡°Seriously? Weren¡¯t you just complaining about those speech patterns not even a minute ago?¡± ¡°Pretty lady mad.¡± Jon stage whispered to me. ¡°Pretty lady is gonna make you sleep on the couch tonight if you don¡¯t stop!¡± ¡°I. Feeel. Faculties returning rapidly.¡± Jon drug the first few words out before talking normally. ¡°Sorry hun, I have no idea what came over me. Musta been temporary insanity.¡± ¡°Uh huh. Sure. Aaaaanyway, what¡¯s your next move Derrick?¡± ¡°Well, I need a few levels first. Then I need to head to a really remote area in the north to meet with a few of my kind and learn some stuff for a quest.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± I added. ¡°Did you bump up to elite?¡± ¡°Yeah, it looks like that is pretty much normal. Though when I came back to the village and reported what happened, they actually hailed me as a hero. I even got bumped up because of it, so now I¡¯m a level one heroic giant.¡± ¡°If you ever run into a group of players they are gonna have a hard time figuring out how to take you down.¡± Jon pointed out. ¡°I know, it¡¯s gonna be great! Besides, I¡¯m a little taller which means I can toss people that much further.¡± ¡°Oh god, are you going to try and get a skill for throwing people?¡± Phoebe asked, holding her head in her palm. ¡°HA! Gimme a sec, I¡¯m gonna send that off to Emily as a suggestion. Thanks Phoebe!¡± ¡°See if they will add a portion of the dart¡¯s armor class to the damage.¡± Jon pointed out. ¡°This is gonna be great if I get this skill.¡± Derrick was chuckling like a madman. ¡°Anything else we need to ask about? No? Alright, I¡¯m sending it off.¡± ¡°So, have you guys thought about teaming up in game?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°We have a decent team if you think about it. I¡¯ve got physical dps, Jon for debuffing the enemy, Marty for ranged dps, and Derrick would make one hell of a tank. I¡¯ve never had a spell casting tank before, that¡¯ll definitely throw people for a loop.¡± ¡°I would be next to useless in an arena situation.¡± I pointed out. ¡°But if you guys were to draw aggro I could do some major damage from a flanking position.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s just too bad that monsters can¡¯t form a party.¡± Jon lamented. ¡°Serious? Damn that sucks. So how does it work for you and Phoebe travelling together?¡± Derrick asked the same question I was thinking. ¡°Whoever does the most damage gets the experience.¡± ¡°Do you even have a damaging skill?¡± I asked. ¡°Last I knew all your stuff was debuffing the enemy.¡± ¡°Bastard got a fantastic one.¡± Phoebe muttered under her breath as Jon smiled. ¡°Damn right I did. I managed to link a few skills to create my own. Anytime I cast [Consuming spirits], I automatically use [Body conversion].¡± ¡°Not too shabby.¡± Derrick nodded. ¡°Still a little confused here. Can I get an explanation?¡± ¡°[Body conversion] trades his health for mana.¡± Phoebe interrupted Jon. ¡°Sorry hun, but you tend to get a little long winded on these. Anyway, [Consuming spirits] drain his enemy¡¯s health and returns a portion of it to him. It also gets a boost from [Weaken resist], so he can effectively refill all his pools while simultaneously killing his enemies. ¡°Heh, always nice when you get a rotation of skills that build off each other.¡± ¡°I know, right? Phoebe likes to complain, but she forgets about her [Bloodfury] ability.¡± ¡°Let me guess, recover health based on damage dealt during melee?¡± I asked. ¡°Bingo.¡± Jon replied. ¡°Plus it¡¯s a passive, so she doesn¡¯t even have to activate it.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, but no girl likes getting bathed in blood.¡± Phoebe pointed out. ¡°Well, none that you want to keep around for longer than a night.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°Sometimes crazy can be fun.¡± ¡°Aaaaand here we go again. You boys enjoy talking about crazy women, I¡¯m heading to bed.¡± Phoebe declared. ¡°I¡¯m heading off too.¡± Jon said. ¡°Phoebe likes to start early in the morning.¡± ¡°Later guys.¡± Derrick and I said our goodbyes, and he turned in his chair to stretch his legs out onto Jon¡¯s former chair. ¡°So what about you Marty? Big plans for the next few days?¡± ¡°Gonna suck, but I need to do at least one night hunt. See what comes out at night, plus there¡¯s a graveyard that looks interesting. After that? Somehow get to the Barren Lands.¡± ¡°Barren Lands? That¡¯s a pretty long hike from where you are. You really gonna spend a week traipsing through the wilderness?¡± ¡°God I hope not. Are there any big cities over that way?¡± ¡°You look kinda devious. What are you thinking?¡± ¡°Well, the alchemy guild has some teleports. Maybe I could teleport into the general vicinity and save a week or two of travel. Use a traveler¡¯s illusion ring to get out of the city.¡± ¡°That could work, but all guards now have something that allows them to see through illusion, so just save your money on that.¡± Derrick leaned onto the table to think. ¡°Think you could trust the drow? They are only a day away by foot.¡± ¡°Ugh, not high on my list of things I really want to do, but I could try it I guess. I just hope they don¡¯t try and double cross me.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Hah! Good luck with that one.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t know anyone the drow wouldn¡¯t double cross given a chance.¡± Plans settled, we kicked back and played a few hands of cards. He completely demolished me at Rummy, though we seemed to be fairly even when we switched to Texas Hold¡¯em. After several hours, I just couldn¡¯t keep going anymore and headed off to bed. The next day I spent lazing around outside of the game, killing time before I went in for a night session. I even managed a small nap in the middle of the afternoon, much to my surprise. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Angus! Where¡¯ve ya been all day ya lazy bum?¡± Alnoss called out to me as I made my way down into the dining area. ¡°Sleeping a bit, being lazy.¡± I said to her when she came over with a steaming plate for me. ¡°Now how in the hell did you know that pork chops and gravy is my favorite meal?¡± I asked, digging in to the tender meat. I didn¡¯t really need the knife, as the side of my fork was more than enough to cut through the meat. ¡°You¡¯re just like Khaliss. According to him, all my meals are his favorite.¡± She chuckled. ¡°If all your meals taste like this, I really don¡¯t blame him.¡± I retorted. ¡°Hey, before you run off.¡± I said, quickly shoveling another bite into my mouth and chewing it as fast as I could. ¡°I¡¯m gonna be out hunting tonight, definitely not going to be back until late. How do you want to handle things like that?¡± ¡°Since Khaliss and I both trust you, I¡¯ll only let you do this.¡± She said, leaning in and whispering the next part. ¡°Stone manipulation to let yourself in when you are done. Don¡¯t let anyone know about that.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± I promised. Damn, I didn¡¯t realize just how much they trusted me. ¡°Thanks. Good luck with your hunting tonight. Where you headed?¡± ¡°Creepy looking graveyard.¡± I said between bites. ¡°If it¡¯s that creepy during the day, I really want to check it out at night.¡± ¡°Ugh, just be careful.¡± She said with a shudder. ¡°Spooks and haunts always get me. Give me a solid enemy any day of the week.¡± ¡°I hear that. Unfortunately, I¡¯m the only one strong enough to head out there that is guaranteed to return if I am slain. Even if I¡¯m not victorious, we will still have information on what is out there.¡± ¡°And that attitude right there is why Khaliss values you.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Somehow he knew, even back when you first met, that you are the type to always do what needs to be done.¡± I don¡¯t know what exactly a blushing drakeling looks like, but I¡¯m sure I was a fantastic example. Alnoss just chuckled as she walked away. I finished my dinner and left some coin, then headed out. Just outside the door, I spotted Khaliss walking my way. ¡°Evenin¡¯ Khaliss.¡± I said in greeting. ¡°I talked to Alnoss, but figured you would want to know as well. I¡¯m heading out to explore that creepy graveyard if you need anything that way.¡± ¡°That was to the south, yes?¡± I nodded, and he continued, ¡°That¡¯s fine. Thanks for being willing to check that out for us. I really wasn¡¯t looking forward to sending a squad.¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said, then turned to head out. I headed straight to the graveyard, I arrived at that perfect time. The sun was just getting ready to drop below the horizon, and the sky was lit up with a fantastic array of colors. I had startled a rabbit into the clearing, and it was oddly huddling in fear next to one of the tombstones. As the sun dropped below the horizon at last, I found out why. Several swirling purple portals appeared, and tall humanoids emerged. Seven and a half feet tall at the least, they were emaciated to the point where a human would be considered anorexic. They were entirely black, save for their white head and hands. Fingers as long as bananas, they had an extra joint as well. The heads though. They were lacking, everything. Just pure white egg shapes on top of bodies. The one nearest the rabbit cocked its head for a second, then flashed down and caught the petrified creature before it could even think to move. Slowly standing back up while holding the poor thing by the neck, it smiled. Oversized flat teeth in a mouth that would have gone from ear to ear on a human head, it opened incredibly wide. A string of drool going from top to bottom jaw broke, flinging liquid everywhere, as the thing slowly put half the rabbit in, head first. With a crunch, the suffering ended, but the chewing. I shuddered as it savored its meal, and identified it.
The Faceless Men Lvl 50 Demons from an unknown plane, not much is known about these creatures. Delighting in the torment of innocence, they are cruel existences that will surely never show mercy. It is unknown how they detect their prey, but it is nearly impossible to sneak up on them. Should you encounter them, pray you are either stronger or faster. Preferably both.
That, was not something I was expecting. Ghosts? Specters? Hell, even ghouls would be normal for a graveyard and here I was facing demons and a portal to whatever plane they happened to come from. At the back of the graveyard, where two one winged statues stood forming an arch between them was an active portal. I had originally thought it was simply two timeworn statues, but now everything was making sense. The faces of the statues hadn¡¯t been worn away in time, they were never there in the first place. Well, that didn¡¯t matter to me. They obviously eat things, let¡¯s just see if they bleed? They stood stock still, only moving when prey got close. Taking a regular bolt out of my pack, I didn¡¯t trust any of the ones crafted with shadow infused material. That just seemed like something that would call to a demon. Taking aim at the one that ate the bunny, I noticed it still had several lines of blood running down from its mouth. Since most things tended to need a head, I aimed right between where the eyes would be on a human and fired. The bolt flew true, rocking the head of the creature back with the force it carried. It only took off a third of its life, and the creature screamed. The sonic wail caught the attention of the others, which all dropped into hunting crouches, fingers shifting into blades. The one I shot sheared the shaft of the bolt in half with a casual swipe, and started flailing about looking for whatever hurt it. I took the time to reload, this time aiming for the center of the chest. Before I fired, I activated [Mystic vision] to see just how the magic flowed, and adjusted my aim. There was a small spiral of magic in the head, but a much larger one centered just about where the solar plexus would be. The shape of the body made the swirl more rectangular. As it finally calmed down, I fired again and this time got immediate results. The demon dropped to the ground, instantly killed. I reloaded again, and looked at some of the other demons. They hadn¡¯t sensed the death of their compatriot, or at least didn¡¯t care, but all were still on guard. Judging by the swirls in their heads, I had shot about an inch and a half too high on my initial attack. The second demon to get targeted took a bolt through the chest, and again died immediately. Once again reloading, I fired at the swirl in the head of one of the demons. It started to react, but a small flinch wasn¡¯t enough to save it. Again, it seemed like central portion of the mana swirls were the weaknesses. Luckily for me, I had one last demon to deal with and one experiment I needed to do. This time I loaded a decapitator bolt, and charged it with shadow mana. I fired, and the bolt was completely blocked by a backhand from the demon as it spun to face me. I could only get a rough estimate, but it seemed like they had a detection radius of about ten to fifteen feet. As long as I was outside of that window, I was fine. Of course, as soon as it batted away my bolt it charged back along the trajectory it came from, leaping through the graveyard with ease. Time for a little divine action. ¡°[Cold grasp of death][Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge]. Thanatos, I don¡¯t know how you feel about demons, but this one¡¯s all yours.¡± Charging in to the immobilized demon, I chose to bisect its head instead of decapitating it. With a glorious spray of mana and ichor, the head split straight through the swirling center of mana. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the body dropped bonelessly to the ground.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an offering at full health, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a monster while using Death¡¯s Gaze, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a monster with Reaper¡¯s Edge, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a monster with Cold Hand of Death, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an extraplanar entity, you gain 50 favor. Total favor: 739/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 0/1 Weekly kills: 8/25
Well, this could be quite lucrative. I just hoped that I could find a few champions or elites through the other side of the portal. Before I went though, I tried to do a down and dirty autopsy for the faceless men. The head was a mess of organs I had no idea what they did. The only thing I did notice was a large mass in the center of where the swirl was. This was obviously an important organ, and oddly was the end point from the mouth. Did these things rip apart matter into mana? No, that would release all sorts of energies, it would be like having a nuclear powered stomach. The rest of the body was just as crazy. There were no bones, or even muscles from what I could tell. Bundles of a spindly fiber were throughout the body, and running mana through them caused them to contract. So, these things were completely dependent on mana? Too bad I was out of my mana burn potions, I had a feeling those would be incredibly effective. The rest of the bodies were the same, without a frame of reference I was completely useless at guessing their anatomy. The only parallel I could come up with was that the one in the head was some sort of brain slash stomach combination and the one in the chest was like a heart. Critical targets, and they needed both intact to function. Standing up, I cracked my back and turned to the portal. ¡°Be vewy, vewy, quiet. I¡¯m demon hunting.¡± Sure, he wasn¡¯t the mightiest hunter around, but he had a good time doing it. Besides, they killed the wascally wabbit. They deserved what would come. Book 2 Chapter 25
Warning! You have entered a negative energy plane. All regeneration is halved.
Yeah, I can see how the devs would want this to be a negative plane. The sky was a burnt orange, from the reddish looking sun. A fine coppery dust coated the jagged rocks, and the only vegetation I could see was sickly and covered with thorns that were weeping something. I went to swipe a bit of the fluid and ended up getting a thorn in the side of my hand. My poison resistance kicked into overdrive, and I have never been more grateful that I had gone through that ritual. I got the feeling that poison was on par with Death¡¯s Knell, and I cleared out a few potions from my inventory to use the vials to scoop up some of the poison. Perhaps I could use it to leverage the guild into letting me use them as a transport hub. Poison acquired, I saw something that I hoped was seed pods, and grabbed several of them. There seemed to be a well traveled path leading away from the portal, and as I followed it with my eyes it led to a massive black spire. Unlike buildings in the normal game world, this spire was bent like a scorpion¡¯s tail. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed in that general direction. I kept my guard up, hoping to find the faceless men before they could sense me. In this bleak land, I decided to keep [Mystic vision] activated, as I had no idea what could be dangerous. That turned out to be a good move. As I topped a small ridge, I saw the remains of a battle. At least three of the faceless men had been dismembered, but one was victorious over the bloody remains of some type of hound. I watched as it ripped off the limbs of the carcass, and started eating. Then it got weird, as a lower mouth opened across the torso, and started chewing on the corpse of the dog. I shuddered at the double crunching and slurping sounds, something about it just grating on my nerves. The head kept eating at a sedate pace, but the body seemed to be scarfing as much food down as it could. It almost looked like a small child stealing a treat, that could get caught at any time. Wait, is the body? Yes, the body was swelling as it ate. I felt as though I could see a puzzle with all the edge pieces in place, but the middle was still a mystery. Either way, my next move was clear. I blasted the creature in the back of the head with a bolt, killing it. I moved towards the remains, but the only one salvageable was the one I had just killed. I put it into my body bag, afraid to waste the body. I was still kicking myself for getting greedy with that first set of bodies. Assuming they were far more human like than what they were, I figured that a quick look over would let them fall under my autopsy skill and I could gain a boost to damage against them before clearing out a den of the creatures. Looting the bodies that remained, I came away with what I hoped were either alchemy or enchanting ingredients. With a few more kills, I could have a goodly supply of vials of extra planar ichor. I was getting closer to the obelisk I had seen earlier, though it was bigger than I anticipated. It seems what I had seen was merely the portion above the plane, as the base was in a crater. This was the first place where the trail I was following deviated, as it switched back and forth to make the climb up and down the slopes much easier. I tried to keep as low of a profile as possible as I made my way down, as the exposure on the trail was making me very nervous. Just because the faceless men didn¡¯t have eyes, didn¡¯t mean that other things inhabiting this plane didn¡¯t. Twenty nervous minutes later, I was at the bottom, walking towards the base of the obelisk. There were two faceless men standing guard by an entrance, and a fat one sitting on some sort of throne inside. I got close enough for identify to be of use, but still remain out of their detection range.
Faceless Glutton Lvl 57 elite Faceless gluttons are the progenitor enslavers of the faceless men. They can control up to fifteen servants with a mental bond indicated by the red diamonds arranged in a crown across their forehead. They send out their minions to claim food for themselves, transporting it back along some magical connection. When a faceless glutton is killed the bond is severed, freeing the servants. Their only other means of escaping enslavement is to sneak enough food to become strong enough to break the connection on their own, becoming a new faceless glutton.
All of a sudden those missing pieces clicked into place. Those weird structures in the head must be the organic equivalent of the teleportation arrays. One must be a back linkage to allow for the mental enslavement, and the lower mouths are how the faceless men must feed if they wish to break their bonds. I took a look at the glutton with [mystic vision], and saw why it was sitting in the obelisk. Two rust colored lines extended to the faceless men standing guard, while several others were boosted by the obelisk and went off in several different directions. Aside from that, there was really no difference between the creatures. I took aim at the glutton, not sure if they could force a recall of any slaves should they be in danger. Unsure of the strength of the excess tissue, I chose a piercing bolt and took aim. ¡°Thanatos, this kill is for you.¡± I said, and fired straight into the swirl in its stomach. Several things happened at once. First, and most reassuring to me, those rust colored lines snapped. The two guards stiffened as their threads were cut, then they both turned and made a mad dash to consume their former master. When they realized their food was threatened, they started viciously laying into each other. I simply sat back and reloaded, content to let them duke it out and kill the winner. Once that was taken care of, I looted their bodies and took a look at the popup I had gotten.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an offering at full health, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an elite monster, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an extraplanar entity, you gain 50 favor. Total favor: 849/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 1/1 Weekly kills: 11/25
I walked away from the battle with two more bottles of ichor, slightly depressed that the amount of enemies was lacking. Though if the poison or the ichor were valuable, it would become a very important resource for the city. I double timed it on the way back, hopefully I would be able to fill Khaliss in on the details so that he could make preparations to start farming things. The trip back was uneventful, but coming through the portal I was surprised at how late it was at night. I didn¡¯t feel like there was any time dilation, and as far as I knew there wasn¡¯t any in the game, but who knows what secrets were still undiscovered.
Achievement unlocked: Astral traveler I You have successfully explored a portion of a separate plane and returned to tell the tale. Gain +1% more experience Explore 5 more planes to unlock Astral traveler II
Well, that was interesting. I got astral traveler instead of explorer, so I wasn¡¯t the first to have ever visited that plane, but a bonus to experience is always nice, no matter how small. The forest at night was a lot different than during the day, though in my state I didn¡¯t pay it any attention. The only things I cared about were getting back as fast as possible and making sure that I wasn¡¯t followed. I nodded to the guards at the gate as I slipped past them, heading for the inn. The clock said it was nearing 2 in the morning. Would they be up? I hadn¡¯t stayed up this late in a while, and never in game so I didn¡¯t really know when Alnoss closed the inn.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. There was no light coming from under the door, and the place seemed silent, so I used stone shaping as Alnoss had asked to just open the door and silently shut it behind me as fast as I could. I froze as I saw what was going on in the room. ¡°The lord of light has demanded your deaths, abominations. As we are his hand, so shall rivers of blood flow this night.¡± One of the humans whispered harshly in Alnoss¡¯ ear, as two dagger tips were barely visible piercing through her chest. With a savage twist, he ripped them out sideways, leaving gaping wounds. My eyes locked with hers as she desperately tried to breathe, before silently crumpling to the ground. I noticed the two other humans that had been holding her arms, and saw red as they started chuckling while looking down on her corpse. ¡°[Binding shadow chains][Cold hand of death][Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I snarled, snaring the two who had held her with the shadow chains while the one who slew her got the full force of my rage. ¡°Thanatos will be too kind to you murderers. Lolth take your souls! [Dancing shadow steps].¡± In a flash I was across the room, pouring everything I had into my weapon. I saw the blade extend in silvery white light. ¡°HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Everything I had, I unleashed with one massive slash that took all three heads. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up in the temple of Thanatos, with Khaliss and the Cardinal there. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Khaliss.¡± I immediately blurted. ¡°I had just walked in when they stabbed her, I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°He knows, brother.¡± The Cardinal said. ¡°It was soon enough that I could give him a few minutes with her spirit before our Lord took her to the other side. Let him grieve for now.¡± I looked over to Khaliss, but he was simply staring ahead with a slightly vacant look. His body, though, was vibrating with rage. ¡°Now, what happened after her death?¡± I shuddered as I recalled that pleading look in her eyes, and desperately fought tears as I recounted the events. ¡°The assassins were sent by the god of Light, and were going to go on a rampage through the city. I saw her die, and I lost it. I chained two of them, and activated every part of the Death¡¯s Raiments that I could. I shadow stepped to them, and then.¡± Stopping, I had to think of how to describe it. ¡°I poured everything I could into the weapon. It, grew, and glowed silver. It was big enough to decapitate all three.¡± ¡°And did you sacrifice them to someone?¡± ¡°Yessss!¡± I hissed, eyes widening with the memory. ¡°Those bastards have gone to Lolth, may she give them their just rewards.¡± ¡°Well, that explains things.¡± ¡°Am I not allowed to sacrifice to other dieties?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I happen to agree wholeheartedly with your choice, as Alnoss was a kind soul. No, when you poured your essence into the weapon, you inadvertently drew upon Thanatos¡¯ power in a way you weren¡¯t supposed to be able to yet. You performed the last of the Raiments, [Soul cleaver]. The force of it knocked you out.¡± ¡°Ah, shit. That probably explains the 12 hour debuffs I¡¯m looking at?¡± ¡°Yes, basically all your church skills will be sealed for half a day, and you won¡¯t have any regeneration for the same amount of time. I suggest you go sleep it off.¡± ¡°Kill them all.¡± We both heard Khaliss mutter. ¡°Huh?¡± The Cardinal tilted his head. ¡°I¡¯ll kill them all. Every last one that is in the city.¡± ¡°Hold on there Khaliss.¡± He turned to stare at me, and I flinched from the intensity of his eyes. ¡°Look, not everyone is to blame for her death. As much as it pains me to bring this up to you right now, but would she approve of you going on a murderous rage on those who don¡¯t deserve it?¡± ¡°All deserve to die.¡± ¡°Even Master Faraldo? Or Grimlet? The two dwarves here to help lay the bones of their ancestor to rest? They didn¡¯t kill her.¡± ¡°Then what shall we do, Angus?¡± ¡°Gain strength. Make a plan. Hurt them so badly they can¡¯t do this to anyone again.¡± I snarled. ¡°I need to be at maximum level, if we are to have our vengeance on the Lord of Light. I have a few favors I could pull so we can truly cripple them.¡± ¡°So long as you swear that I will be included in these plans, I can stay my vengeance. No longer than a month though.¡± ¡°I do so swear.¡± At my proclamation, he nodded and turned to go. Turning back, he spoke, ¡°I will stay my hand for now, but all non drakelings will be exiled from the city for now. As those who slew her were adventurers, I have ordered Grimlet taken into custody. We shall see what he knows of this.¡± After he had gone, I turned to the Cardinal. ¡°So, brother, what happened with her body?¡± ¡°It has been cremated. Sorry that you couldn¡¯t say goodbye, but we weren¡¯t aware how long you would be out for.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± I said, blinking away tears. ¡°Does she know how sorry I am? That I couldn¡¯t be there in time?¡± ¡°She knew, brother. You couldn¡¯t hear her, but she was trying to warn you to run, there at the end. She wanted you and Khaliss to live.¡± I could only nod at that, eyes burning as I fought tears. To distract myself, I pulled up a notification I had been ignoring for some time.
Divine attention garnered! Nothing like sacrificing souls pledged to her sworn enemies to gain the full attention of Lolth! She is incredibly pleased with her new toys, and invites you to come to Menzoberrazan and meet with her priestess there. She personally guarantees your safety both to and from the city. Simply speak, ¡°Lolth, take me to your city.¡± For a personal portal.
Well, I would need to put that off for at least a day, but when the Goddess of the drow summons you, you go and see what she wants. At least she seemed happy. * * * * * * * * * * * * * BCorgan¡¯s POV What the hell? I got a death notification after that drakeling used a crazy skill, but why am I not respawning in the guild hall? Goliath gave us specific orders to never change our bind location, and as far as we all knew there was no way to force a change on someone else. ¡°Corgan, Mikey, you guys there?¡± I heard Adam ask. ¡°Here, but I can¡¯t see a thing.¡± I answered. ¡°Same.¡± Mikey responded. Well, whatever happened, we were together. ¡°At least it is all the same for us. I¡¯m not showing any debuffs either, so we haven¡¯t been blinded.¡± ¡°Oh? My new toys are awake? How wonderful!¡± A decidedly feminine voice spoke from the darkness. ¡°Who are you?¡± Adam demanded, and Mikey and I were content to let him have the lead. He usually took charge of field operations anyway. ¡°Why, I am Lolth my pet. Did you not hear who you were sacrificed to?¡± ¡°Pelor favors us, so you had best not delay our return!¡± Great, way to jump right to threats Adam. ¡°Oh my, how terrifying!¡± She mocked with a tinkling laugh. Several violet flames lit up the chamber we were in at the snap of her fingers, and that¡¯s where my rational thoughts stopped. Good god, she was gorgeous. Raven hair in a ponytail to her waist. She had the elfin grace, but the dusky grey tone of her skin somehow seemed more appealing than the golden hues of the light elves. Her features hinted at a possible Asian ancestry in the face, and she was clad in strategically placed spiderwebs. Was that a bit of nip? A dark areola? Or just black spiderwebbing? I didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t care, as they jiggled with her laugh and I couldn¡¯t look away. Her tone stomach hinted that she was incredibly flexible, and I could only imagine the trouble we could get into. And those legs, they went on for days. Until tonight, right now, I had no idea that fishnets could be so amazing. My eyes traveled back up her magnificence, and I saw a twinkle in her eye. She knew, and didn¡¯t care if I knew she knew. I was well and truly her toy. ¡°Now, unfortunately I have been limited in what I am allowed to inflict upon adventurers that find themselves before me. I saw your recent memories, and I would dearly love to inflict torments that would break your psyches and shatter your souls. Alas, the only thing I can do is drain you.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t fear death at your hands, wench.¡± Goddamnit Alan, stop antagonizing perfection! Though to hear her voice some more, I would willingly stick around. Play along with them my toy, and I shall give you some personal attention Wait, did I just hear her in my head as she was trading barbs with Alan? I caught a subtle nod, a flicker of upturned lips. Closing my eyes, I acted as if I didn¡¯t care about anything she said. ¡°Well, it seems that you are determined to follow your pathetic Pelos. No matter, not even he can return what my pets will drain from you.¡± As she spoke, a spider crawled up each of our backs, and bit into our necks. ¡°For twenty four hours, you will feel the strength flee from your bodies. At each hour, you will lose an attribute point to my pets here. Fear not, none will drop below the minimum of ten.¡± ¡°Whatever woman. Mike, Corgan, let¡¯s go. Logout.¡± Mike¡¯s and Adam¡¯s avatars heads dropped down as they greyed out, indicating they had logged off. ¡°Corgan, do you like what you see?¡± My goddess asked, cocking out a hip and smiling at me. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can sense just how you are driving my body wild, M¡¯lady.¡± I answered with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t care that you are supposed to be a trickster. I am yours.¡± ¡°Oh? Ready to forsake your friends? Your guild? Your god? I haven¡¯t even drained anything from you.¡± ¡°I would give it willingly.¡± I honestly replied. ¡°Though I do believe you have already tricked my former friends there.¡± ¡°Ah, though smitten you do see through my ruse already? Yes. The timer of their punishment only turns when they are in the game, though the draining will continue.¡± She smiled. ¡°I will savor their anguish upon their return. But enough of that, how far are you willing to go in your betrayal of all you used to hold dear?¡± She asked, running her finger along my jaw. ¡°Ask, and the knowledge shall be yours.¡± What else could I answer? ¡°Why did you kill the innkeeper?¡± ¡°She was to be the first death of many this night. Goliath, our guild leader, ranks fairly highly with the church of Pelos. They give us unique quests, as most of our members are also part of the church.¡± ¡°And what is the name of your former guild?¡± ¡°Breaking Dawn.¡± ¡°Simple slaughter seems a bit much for such a risky situation. What else were you supposed to do this night?¡± ¡°The bones of the dwarf. Supposedly they have rare and powerful runes written on them. We were supposed to head to the temple of Thanatos, kill the priests, and retrieve the bones.¡± "Better. Do you have plans for the main church of Pelos?¡± ¡°I do. I can draw them from you, or I can offer you to peer into my mind.¡± ¡°Excellent. Drawing will be fine. I will also request your guild headquarters, and any stash or vault locations you have.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any access to the treasuries, though I know where some of the more hidden ones are.¡± I replied. ¡°That is fine. Here.¡± She snapped her fingers, and my arms were suddenly free. I crawled to the papers that had appeared by her feet, and started drawing everything I could remember. Vaults to hidden hallways, passwords, patrols, I held nothing back. Book 2 Chapter 26 Grimlet¡¯s POV
You have been arrested!
Thanks Mr. Popup! I had no idea, what with the dressed in rags. The chains on my wrists were a clue, as were the door made of bars. Just what in the hell did I do while logged off to get arrested? ¡°OI! WHAT IN THE HELL¡¯S GOIN¡¯ ON?!¡± I yelled, and almost immediately a drakeling showed up at the cell doors. ¡°Quit yer yelling.¡± He snarled. ¡°Just what did I do while asleep that caused y¡¯all to arrest me? If I ate something, I¡¯ll gladly pay for it.¡± ¡°Enough. I¡¯m supposed to take you to the actin¡¯ captain for questionin¡¯ as soon as ya woke up. Stand away from the door and turn around.¡± I did what he said, and felt something click to a metal collar I hadn¡¯t noticed around my neck. The door clanged open, and he gave me more directions. ¡°Back out slowly. We¡¯re going down the hall, and it¡¯ll be the last door on the right.¡± I headed down the hallway as directed, not that there was a lot to see. The stone walls all seemed to be made of one solid block, with the occasional torch to give light for those who didn¡¯t have a version of darkvision. The door opened on its own when we arrived, and there was a slightly frazzled looking drakeling organizing piles of papers behind the desk. Paperwork, the bane of those who get stuff done in every world. ¡°Sit.¡± The captain said tersely, pointing to the lone chair in the middle of the room. As soon as I sat down, the guard behind me clapped a golden bracer on my forearm. It was fairly plain, save for the massive clear stone on the side of it. I could tell that it wasn¡¯t a diamond, but that was about it. ¡°Just enchanted glass.¡± The captain spoke, seeing me eye the gem. ¡°Enchanted to do, what exactly?¡± This was getting weird. Really weird. ¡°It reacts to how much you tell the truth. Flat out lie, and it glows red. Bend the truth, purposely omit things, or use vague language and it¡¯ll glow yellow. Truth gets you the green.¡± ¡°Heh, there¡¯s a big weakness to yer enchantment then.¡± I said, remembering all the stories of truth spells in the past games I had played. ¡°What if I tell it what I believe to be truth, but I just so happen to be wrong?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we don¡¯t rely solely on the stone, but thank you for pointing that out nonetheless. Now, before we get sidetracked any further, I am acting guard captain Shrik. You are the adventurer known as Grimlet, yes?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I said to a green glow. ¡°But why are you the acting captain, and what happened to the regular captAAAAGH!¡± I gargled the last of that as a small shock was delivered to my neck. ¡°Grimlet. You seem to be under the impression that you get to ask questions. That was a little reminder that you don¡¯t. What are you in the city for?¡± ¡°Building a tomb for the bones of a dwarf to rest in.¡± I answered immediately, getting a completely green glow. The captain furrowed his brow at this, and I wondered just what in the hell was going on. ¡°What do you know of the plans of the three humans that accompanied you?¡± ¡°They are supposed to be my bodyguards, nothing more.¡± ¡°How do you know them?¡± ¡°They¡¯re in the same guild as me, Breaking Dawn.¡± Just what in the hells had those idiots done? Bodyguards my ass, Goliath had to be up to something. I hope it was just a little wandering in a restricted area. ¡°You had nothing to do with the innkeeper¡¯s death?¡± ¡°Death? What? No. Nononononono. I did nothing and had no idea of any plans to kill anyone, I swear!¡± Counting my lucky stars, the gem glowed green. ¡°You are very lucky then, master dwarf.¡± The captain nodded to someone behind me, and I felt the release of the collar around my neck. ¡°We will remove the shackles momentarily, but I have some words of warning for you. And you as well, Master Faraldo.¡± Turning in panic, I saw the dwarf master alchemist sitting where I couldn¡¯t see him when I walked in, sadly looking at the floor. ¡°Your guildmembers, people who you had vouched for, were seen killing the innkeeper Alnoss in cold blood. Despite his grief, Captain Khaliss recognized that he was in no position to investigate the murder of his mate. He put me in charge, and on the recommendation of a fellow drakeling, you were given this chance. I see now that Angus was right at least about you, Master Faraldo, but you being innocent in this makes me very glad I took his advice. Now, I find you innocent on the count of murder. However, your party has broken trust with the drakelings. As such, I am banishing you from entering our city. You will be teleported to the alchemists guild, with all of your possessions. Take them away, gently.¡± I stood up, and walked side by side with Master Faraldo down the hallway. As we were marched through the city, nearly every person gave us a wide berth and glared daggers at us. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about all this Master Faraldo.¡± ¡°Tis not yer fault, lad. Remember, it wasn¡¯t that long ago that I was put into a precarious positon by me own guildmates. How can I possibly hold something like that against ya?¡± We walked the rest of the way in silence, though I was fuming as I sent a message off to Goliath demanding an explanation. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV After I had gotten the notification from Lolth, I wandered the city for a bit. Finding an empty corner, I threw up a simple, one-room building with stone manipulation. There were a few windows for ventilation, and the simple door was on a swivel and simply molded back into the wall to hold it shut. Aside from that, I didn¡¯t have the energy or drive to make anything else. I entered my new hovel and logged out, unable to even think of going back to the inn. I tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible. I spent nearly an hour sobbing, thinking of Alnoss. No matter what happened, I could always count on her to be happy when she saw me. Even when she pretended to be angry, there was always a hint of mischief about it. Once my tears dried, I tossed and turned for another few hours. Every time I got comfortable, I would see her face with those daggers poking out from her chest. Eventually I gave up, and wandered my digital apartment for a while. I settled for a bowl of cold cereal, and decided to get back in the game. I was really in no condition to be talking with a goddess, but what the hell. I needed a good distraction. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Lolth, take me to your city.¡± I spoke clearly, and a bluish portal appeared in front of me. Stepping through, I found myself in a large city lit by multiple colors of fae fires. Facing me were two gigantic statues of spiders, and between them a gate into a complex with three large buildings. Two male drow were guarding the gate, and as I walked closer, they barred the way with their halberds. ¡°No entrance for filthy slaves.¡± One sneered, and I snapped. With a glare, four spears of rock speared the drow. Each one received a spear per shoulder, and the stone lifted them and curled back into the wall, forming a seamless hoop that held their screaming bodies.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I spoke, and dark chains wrapped around the one who called me a slave. With but a thought, blades formed on the chains, severing several important tendons and ligaments. ¡°Reflect on this moment for the rest of your hopefully long life as a cripple.¡± I snarled. ¡°Perhaps you will learn to recognize those that are your betters. I¡¯ll even give you a clue: when you see someone arrive in the city of Lolth through a portal, they are your better.¡± As I neared the gate, I activated [Mystic vision]. Stopping a few feet away, I pointedly stared at the two invisible drow who were in an attack pose, rear arms parallel to their shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m already in a bad mood, are you really going to delay me further? Besides, should you harm me you will cause Lolth to be forsworn. That seems to be a rather, poor, idea.¡± At the mention of their diety, the two drow dropped their invisibility and gave the slightest incline of their heads. ¡°Pardon sir, but we were not informed of your arrival. The screaming of the guards caused us to assume the worst.¡± ¡°Your ignorance is not an excuse, though as you didn¡¯t deign to demean me you won¡¯t suffer the same fate as those fools. I am here on invitation from Lolth, perhaps I should be speaking to her priestess?¡± ¡°Indeed. If you will follow us, we shall guide you.¡± Turning, they led the way to a building absolutely covered in spider motifs and webs. They only opened one side of the massive double doors, but that was fine with me. Instead of heading down the aisle in what was obviously a church, we turned to the side and entered a hallway. Around the corner, we entered a rather lavish reception room. ¡°Please make yourself comfortable, the priestess is no doubt on her way.¡± Just like that, I was left alone. I flopped onto the couch, and pointedly ignored the selection of mushrooms and wines on the table. Ten minutes later, and a scantily clad priestess entered the room without knocking. ¡°Why have you come to the temple of Lolth, drakeling?¡± ¡°Mind your tone, Lolth herself invited me to meet with her priestess. Something about thanking me for sending her some new toys.¡± At my words, her eyes flared almost imperceptibly. ¡°Bold, to name our lady in her temple here. That she hasn¡¯t struck you down leads me to believe you.¡± Suddenly, her body went rigid and her eyes widened in horror. A half second later and she was actually bowing slightly to me. Her head never dropped below her shoulders, but she was a drow and I wasn¡¯t. Unless I managed to enslave her somehow, anything beyond what she was doing now was never going to happen. ¡°Apologies, Angus. Lolth has asked to meet with you personally, if you would come with me.¡± Turning, she checked over her shoulder to see if I was following before walking off. We returned to the main chamber, walking down the aisle to a most peculiar altar. It was shaped like a spider on its back, with legs poised to clamp down on the offering. ¡°Please, take a drink of this and lay on the altar.¡± She asked, handing me a silver goblet with a greenish liquid. ¡°Poison?¡± I asked. ¡°Diluted from certain spider venoms. It will put you in communion with Lolth, so take a sip and lay on the table.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid it w-.¡± ¡°Just do it, drakeling.¡± She interrupted, flustered. Shrugging my shoulders, I downed the entire glass and felt my body react swiftly to neutralize it. As her eyes widened in horror, I let out a rather large belch that had a tinge of green to it, and smelled atrocious. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I said, waving away the smell. ¡°As I was saying, I have poison immunity. Nothing short of one with divine origins will work.¡± Smirking, she looked me up and down for a second. ¡°My, aren¡¯t you full of surprises? I would be interested in how a drakeling becomes immune to poison, but for now we can¡¯t keep my Lady waiting any longer. Take your spot on the table, and we shall do this the old way.¡± As I followed her directions, the spider legs moved to clamp down on my body. What I though was a stalactite above me unfolded to reveal a gigantic spider, and it slowly climbed down and gently nicked my arm with one fang. A drop of liquid fire spread rapidly through my body, and I arched my back with the agony of it, fighting against the restraining arachnid legs before my body gave out. I blinked my eyes open a few times, finding myself in a throne room. Lazing in the throne was a drow that put the first priestess to shame with her looks. Of course she would, that must be Lolth herself. I felt a flash of rage as I saw one of the players that had killed Alnoss trapped in a web above a purple flame, and before I knew it I was stalking forward with my weapon in my hand. ¡°Slow down Angus, this here is my toy for the next, thirteen hours or so.¡± She said, hesitating halfway through her sentence. ¡°Very well, you have my apologies.¡± I said, sheathing my weapon with shaking hands. ¡°Completely understandable, but this one was more than willing to trade in his friends and guild. I do believe that part of your reward for gifting me him shall be the sharing of information.¡± ¡°Information?¡± ¡°About our enemies.¡± She said, leaning forward and giving me a fantastic view of her cleavage. I barely glanced at it, tempting as it was. By her frown, I think I disappointed her. ¡°Yes. See, the guild Breaking Dawn has been subverted by Pelor and his church.¡± ¡°Pelor?¡± ¡°Yes. He is the God of Light. They take offense to the shadow drakelings, and would love to exterminate every last one of you. Last night, they were supposed to start, killing as many as they could. In addition, they were to steal the bones of some dwarf.¡± ¡°Again with the bones? That¡¯s it, I don¡¯t care if dwarves are against it or not. I¡¯m personally going to see those bones and the runes on them destroyed!¡± I swore to myself. ¡°Was the one who was building the crypt in on the plan?¡± ¡°No, just the three you slew. So, now that you know your enemies and what they wanted, what are you planning to do?¡± I thought about it for a second, and saw Alnoss¡¯ grinning face morph into one of agony as I once again relived her death. ¡°I will use them to become stronger, and shatter the order of this world.¡± ¡°Fantastic!¡± She exclaimed, clapping. ¡°I do so love it when people aim high with their revenge! So tell me, do you have plans to exact vengeance?¡± ¡°Nebulous so far. I still feel like there is an evolution beyond this one. Last time I evolved I used a divine tier material, perhaps I shall use something of this Pelor¡¯s to evolve.¡± I said with an evil grin. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be able to tell me where anything of his is located, can you?¡± ¡°Hmm, not directly. Though what do you know of churches?¡± ¡°Very little I¡¯m afraid.¡± I answered shaking my head at how the conversation had turned. ¡°Ah, then let me educate you a bit. The lowest connection we gods get are shrines and altars. These need only to be dedicated in some manner to us, and have some of our symbols carved into them. The next tier is small chapels, which need a ceremony performed by actual clergy. At least a high priest. Then you have churches. In order to be a full-fledged church, it needs to be sanctified by clergy as well as have a holy object in the altar somewhere. The main church is special though. Not only is the god¡¯s presence greatest there, they also need a divine object in their altar. Should this altar be destroyed and the object stolen, well. It would be a grievous blow.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± I said. ¡°Before we go further, can you make sure your toy can¡¯t hear us?¡± ¡°Done.¡± She said with a snap of her fingers, and he was transported elsewhere. ¡°I need to reach maximum level first, but would you be willing to entertain a joint raid on the main church of Pelor? This would also give them time to relax, thinking their ruse has gone unnoticed.¡± ¡°Perhaps, though we would need compensation comparable to a divine object.¡± This would be difficult. Divine tier artifacts were obviously the highest out there, and they didn¡¯t just grow on World Trees. Well, maybe they did. Anyway, bad puns aside, what could I offer? ¡°As a place where their god¡¯s power is greatest, is probably the most secure in their mind. Would this place have a vault worth raiding?¡± Her smile told me everything. ¡°Interesting postulation. Yes, I do believe they have a vault there. Are you offering it to the drow for their aid?¡± ¡°Not nearly.¡± I said, chuckling. ¡°But a split, 60/40 in the drow¡¯s favor? That I could do.¡± ¡°Hmmm, not much there for incentive if you are gaining a divine tier item.¡± ¡°Would these sweeten the pot a bit?¡± I asked, pulling out a matched set of sabers. ¡°Oh? To think, a drakeling would come across the Herald¡¯s Blades. May I ask how you managed to acquire them?¡± ¡°The necromancer I dispatched for you and Thanatos had slain both your herald and the one for the light elves. When he raised them, he turned them into a chimera with their pets. I have both the blades and the insignia ring.¡± As I spoke, I turned the ring so that she could see it. ¡°To be fair, the drow resisted the necromancer¡¯s will, even up until I battled her. Not even the light elves may claim as much.¡± ¡°I thank you then, and will gladly accept the blades and your offer. Simply leave them on the altar when you go. We will make further plans when you return from reaching your maximum level.¡± ¡°Thank you for the information Lolth.¡± Nodding at her, I found myself back upon the altar with the eight eyes of the spider staring at me. Before I could do anything, it reached down and again bit me on the neck, though this time it was ice flowing through my veins.
Poison immunity boosted! You are ever surprising to the Mistress of Spiders, and she thanks you for the information on her previous Herald. As thanks, she has boosted your immunity. Now even divine poisons will have no effect upon you.
As the spider climbed back up to his perch, I got up from the table and smirked at the gobsmacked priestess. ¡°Be amusing to her.¡± Was my advice as I placed the blades on the altar and walked away. At the end of the aisle was another portal waiting to take me home. Book 2 Chapter 27 Once I made it home, I headed straight to the church of Thanatos. There was no way that I was going to let those bones exist for a second longer than necessary! I stormed inside, still seething about what happened to poor Alnoss. ¡°Brother, I have some terrible news.¡± I went on to fill him in on the situation with the bones, and he agreed that they must be destroyed. ¡°Thanatos and I thank you for bringing this to our attention, brother.¡± The Cardinal said after we had brought all the bones out to the main altar. ¡°My magic can easily reduce a body to ashes, but will not touch the altered bones. Instead, we will have to call out to Thanatos, and have his power destroy them.¡± He explained. ¡°Place your hands on the altar by the feet, and I shall stand by the head. Then pray, in whatever manner you find appropriate, and see if Thanatos answers.¡± Bowing my head, I called out to Thanatos in my mind. I went through the important parts that Lolth had passed on, especially how I believed Goliath and his guild would never give up so long as the bones existed. After all, what was the worst we could do to adventurers? Kill them? I opened my eyes when I felt heat on my face, to see the bones being consumed by a greenish flame. ¡°Thank you, Lord Thanatos.¡± The Cardinal spoke, and I mentally echoed his sentiment. It took over ten minutes, but I watched the entire time until the last of the bones was consumed. ¡°Thank you again brother.¡± I said. ¡°For making sure this was done as soon as possible. Sadly, I have to go and do a bit of running around.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok brother. Each deals with grief in their own way. Just make sure you are dealing with it, and not hiding from it, ok?¡± He asked the last bit with surprising tenderness, until I realized that he dealt with people who have lost friends and family all the time. ¡°I will, don¡¯t worry brother.¡± Turning, I headed out and down to the barracks. I was conflicted, but had to do this. Though I hoped he wasn¡¯t working, I would still need to be able to get along with Khaliss. This information couldn¡¯t really wait. At the door to the office, I found myself procrastinating, reaching for the door handle several times before I finally gathering my courage enough to walk in. ¡°Khaliss, I.¡± ¡°Khaliss isn¡¯t here.¡± Shrik answered, staring at me. ¡°Do you absolutely need him right now Angus?¡± ¡°Sorry Shrik, I assumed. No, I just need whoever is in charge while he is dealing with his loss. I guess that is you?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I said, closing the door behind me and taking a seat. ¡°Earlier today I went to the drow at the invitation of Lolth. She gave me some information about the group that attacked us last night. I guess she got one of them to turn on the others, but here is the summary. Those adventurers last night were after two things: the bones of the dwarf that I returned from the necromancer, and killing as many of us as possible.¡± ¡°A suicide mission? Why? And what can we do about these bones? Even if we seal them in the ground, they will keep returning, no?¡± ¡°The bones have already been destroyed, thanks to Thanatos. As for the rest? I have no idea. It looks like the church of Pelor is going to be against us no matter what, so we should be prepared for attacks. The adventurer guild Breaking Dawn can pretty much be considered an arm of the church.¡± ¡°Alright, at least one of the issues is taken care of. I¡¯ll put the guards on alert, and we will be checking to make sure none of these Breaking Dawn make their way back in. Anything else?¡± ¡°No, but with Khaliss out of action I¡¯m glad to see you stepping into his shoes. Thanks Shrik, I¡¯ll see you later.¡± As I was almost to the door, I turned to look back, ¡°Oh, and I threw up a little shack on the east side of town. If you need me for something head over there. I just, I can¡¯t stay at the inn right now.¡± ¡°I understand. Thanks for the update.¡± He replied, and I headed out. Going through my mental checklist, I was in a decent spot. Lolth was taken care of for now, and the city had been warned about any possible issues that would be coming. The bones had been taken care of, and in a permanent manner. Now I just needed to head to the alchemists guild and, DAMNIT! I forgot to warn Shrik about the portal! ¡°Hey Shrik, I almost forgot about this.¡± I said as I headed back into his office. ¡°Knocking?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, sorry about that. Did Khaliss leave some notes about an odd graveyard south of town?¡± ¡°Graveyard. Graveyard.¡± He muttered to himself a few times as he was sorting through a stack of papers. ¡°Here we go! Graveyard. Says you were going to investigate it and report back. I take it you found something?¡± ¡°Yes. At night, a portal opens to a negative plane. It¡¯s guarded by something called the faceless men. Don¡¯t use magic against them, and attacking from range is best as they are fast, but they drop an ichor that might be useful. I¡¯m on my way to the alchemist guild to check that out, as well as this possible poison. It might be a good place to generate some revenue for the city as well as get our people some combat experience.¡± ¡°Did you explore this plane at all?¡± ¡°Very little. It seems pretty barren, and watch the plant life. They have some thorns capable of piercing our scales.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll send a squad to check it out, but what can you tell us about the enemies?¡± ¡°Weaknesses in the center of the head and near the solar plexus, detection range around fifteen feet is my best guess. They can sense mana so use regular bolts from the arbalests and they¡¯ll never see it coming. Minor shapeshifting to weaponized their bodies.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be good enough. Thanks again Angus.¡± Job done, I headed out to see Djarleen. As soon as I entered the store, she flew across the room and nearly tackled me in a hug. ¡°Angus, I heard about Alnoss I¡¯m so sorry!¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen.¡± I said, hugging her back. I seemed to be cried out, as I didn¡¯t immediately start crying, but I did feel a heaviness in my heart. ¡°What are we going to do about it?¡± She asked, scared. ¡°Shrik is on it.¡± I said, patting her back. ¡°We know the who and the why, and will be on guard against letting them into the city. I didn¡¯t say anything about the teleporter from the guild, but it might be something we need to secure somehow.¡± ¡°You think the guild?¡± She asked in a horrified voice. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think the guild would sanction anything. But there is a chance that someone would use it without the guilds permission isn¡¯t there? I mean, we just walk around and are trusted to use the transporter appropriately.¡± ¡°Damn, I never thought of that. Master Faraldo came through earlier with another dwarf, do you think?¡± ¡°No, no. Master Faraldo and that dwarf were innocent.¡± I reassured her, as losing her mentor like that would be devastating. ¡°Ok, alright. I¡¯m ok now.¡± She said, collecting herself. Taking a deep breath, she asked me, ¡°So, what can I do for you, apprentice?¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Well, a few things. First, do you have any recipes for extraplanar ichor? Second, I have a bit of what I think is a poison from an extraplanar plant, and could use some help identifying it. I also think I got one of its seeds.¡± ¡°Oh? Excellent, excellent. Yes, we can do some amazing things with the ichor. As a potion base, the inherent magic in it can boost the effects of potions.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that affect the elixir recipe?¡± I asked, thinking back to that first set of elixirs I had made. Could I boost it, get a new elixir recipe and add to my achievements? ¡°Nope.¡± She crushed my short lived dreams with a ruthless reply. ¡°Any potion brewed will have boosted in its name somewhere, and you can¡¯t get an elixir recipe from a boosted potion. At least, nobody has found one yet. Probably because of all the different things you can add to boost a potion.¡± ¡°Damn. There goes that idea. Alright, well I have about ten vials, can you think about what we can do with them? I¡¯ll be back, I need to see Master Faraldo and Guildmaster Willow. I¡¯ll see if they can secure their end of teleporter.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see what fun stuff I can come up with will be. See you soon.¡± I headed through the transporter to the alchemists guild, and I swear I was starting to develop a bit of a resistance to the stomach churning portion of the trip. Or at least, I hoped so. Maybe it was just in my head. Walking up to the front desk, I was glad to see Markus. The other two just irked me. ¡°Hey Markus, how¡¯re things with you?¡± I asked as I strolled up to the desk. ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t Djarleen¡¯s miniature terror, Angus. It¡¯s been fairly nice since that week of magical instability has calmed down. I do hope you aren¡¯t going to ruin it for me?¡± ¡°I hope not. I do need to see Master Faraldo and the guildmaster, if they aren¡¯t busy. Not at the same time.¡± ¡°Hmmm, the guildmaster is in a meeting, but should be done in about a half hour. Master Faraldo was hoping you would be dropping by. Him and another dwarf are in the first conference room on the second floor.¡± ¡°Thanks Markus. And I hope they gave you guys a bit of a vacation after that hellacious week you went through.¡± ¡°Hah! Good one Angus. You know what they say about the reward for good work though.¡± ¡°Yep. More work!¡± ¡°Amen.¡± ¡°At least they are recognizing the good work you guys did. They could be of the mindset that the beatings will continue until morale improves.¡± ¡°Heh, yeah. Can you imagine what Montgomery would do if they threatened to beat him?¡± ¡°Eh, what people enjoy behind closed doors is none of my business.¡± ¡°AH! AAAAAAAHHHH!!! DAMNIT MAN, WHY DID YOU GIVE ME THAT VISUAL?! GET THEE GONE!¡± He dramatically waved me on, acting as if his eyes were burning. I was laughing gleefully as I went upstairs. Three steps up and I imagined Alnoss¡¯ reaction to that joke, suddenly it wasn¡¯t as funny. That damn weight in my chest was back too. Knocking on the door, I entered when I heard a gruff voice said something indecipherable. ¡°Hey there Master Faraldo, how are you holding up?¡± I asked as I entered. ¡°Angus? Didn¡¯t expect to see ya so soon lad. I just want ya ta know, me an¡¯ Grimlet here had nothing to do with the nasty business last night.¡± ¡°I know. It never even crossed my mind that you would be, but it is good to know that there are still decent players out there.¡± I said, nodding to the dwarf. ¡°Do you happen to know what they were hoping to do?¡± ¡°Yeah. I sent a rather pissed off email to our guildmaster demanding an explanation.¡± Grimlet said. ¡°I guess he thought he could have them claim the bones and earn a lot of standing within the church of Light. It hasn¡¯t come out yet, but Pelor has called for a crusade against the shadows, and there are a bunch of zealots chomping at the bit.¡± ¡°A crusade already? We haven¡¯t even done anything!¡± ¡°Yeah. I was shocked too, but when you are a god of Light and a new monster race with shadow in its name comes around, well. You can see what the followers would expect, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I understand but I don¡¯t have to like it. Just like spiders. No matter how many insects they kill, people still are scared of them.¡± ¡°Yup. Must be all those extra legs, or in your case, the scales. People have always been scared of reptiles.¡± ¡°Either way, at least we have taken care of one thing. Sorry to tell you, but the bones have been completely destroyed by Thanatos himself. I know you dwarves are big on letting them rest beneath the ground, but it became clear to us that people wouldn¡¯t ever stop coming after them.¡± ¡°Aye, tis a sad thing but we understand. I¡¯ll pass the word along to me people, ya have my word.¡± Master Faraldo said. ¡°Aw shit, I had been ignoring my notifications. I got the quest updated to failed.¡± ¡°Sorry it had to end this way. Anyhow, I just wanted to pass along to you two the news about the bones and that the city doesn¡¯t hold you responsible for the actions of your bodyguards. Though you might not want to head over there for a while.¡± ¡°Understood, and thanks for tha warnin¡¯.¡± Faraldo replied. Before we could talk further, there was a knock at the door and Markus stuck his head in. ¡°Hey Angus, the guildmaster is up in his office but says he can spare five minutes. I¡¯ld take it, as this looks like the only break he is going to have for a few hours.¡± ¡°Thanks Markus.¡± I said, turning to Master Faraldo and Grimlet. ¡°Sorry for the situation guys, but I need to go. Take care.¡± They replied in kind, and I followed Markus up. He opened the door and announced me, and I heard the guildmaster telling him to go ahead and let me in. As I walked in, Guildmaster Willow was behind his desk as normal. However, there was an absolutely massive human sitting in a chair off to the side. Dark hair, muscles on top of muscles, and a set of scars that any warrior would be proud of had me immediately wondering who he could possibly be. ¡°Hi guildmaster, thanks for seeing me on such short notice.¡± ¡°Angus, always happy to have you drop by. Especially since you bring such interesting stuff. This guy here is Vice Guildmaster Mardigan.¡± The man stood and shook my hand, saying, ¡°Drop the Vice Guildmaster title. Just call me Mad Mardigan.¡± ¡°Angus, pleasure to meet you. Any, uh, particular reason for that nickname?¡± ¡°Ha! I¡¯m always up for crazy stuff. I think I hold the record for the most number of experimental potions tried.¡± ¡°By a long shot.¡± The guildmaster added. ¡°Most stop at one or two. You¡¯re up to, what now, 153?¡± ¡°One fifty-five.¡± He corrected, sitting down. ¡°But I doubt that¡¯s why our friend is here. What¡¯cha need?¡± ¡°Two things. First, we have had some issues with the church of Pelor and the guild Breaking Dawn. While we haven¡¯t revealed that the alchemist guild has the ability to teleport people into the city, we will need you to secure that somehow. Djarleen is probably going to have extra security installed as well, but it is better to have too much security than not enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry that we have to do this, but we do have the means. May I ask what brought this on?¡± ¡°A murder, and most recently the revelation that a crusade has been issued to members, but not the general public.¡± ¡°Sorry for your loss, but it doesn¡¯t make sense about the crusade. Those usually have widespread support.¡± The guildmaster answered. ¡°Willow, you¡¯re forgetting politics. The new drakeling city is a massive opportunity for trade, among other things. Who knows what materials they have access to? Doing it this way, they can paint the drakelings as untrustworthy and unwilling to make treaties.¡± ¡°Eh, a fair point Mardigan. That¡¯s why I always preferred potions, they react the same way every time.¡± Waving away the conversation, he continued. ¡°Anyway, you asked for two things? What is the other?¡± ¡°I was wondering if I could use the teleportation arrays in the guild to travel across the continent. I would be willing to pay, of course, but right now it isn¡¯t really safe for a drakeling to be out exploring on their own. Even if they come back from death, it isn¡¯t a pleasant experience.¡± ¡°Hmm, we would need something like a badge for you to wear so the guards don¡¯t arrest you.¡± Mardigan spoke. ¡°But I think it is doable. I¡¯m sure you had something you were willing to trade for this?¡± ¡°Yep. Though I have no idea of its utility. I recently found myself on a negative plane, and managed to get the seed of a thorny plant that had some rather dangerous sap. I also have some of the sap, if that is helpful.¡± ¡°What type of plane?¡± Willow asked, immediately moving to the edge of his seat. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how they are described. This one was mostly barren, with a dry, rocky countryside.¡± ¡°Enemies?¡± ¡°Faceless men, faceless gluttons, and some form of hound were all that I saw.¡± ¡°I know the plane, though the name escapes me at the moment.¡± Mardigan said. ¡°Yellowish green plant with thorns?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Deal. We will also see if we can get you some of the potions produced, especially if we manage to get the plant to grow. Since you won¡¯t stop pestering me until I tell you, the plant is a thorny blood siphon Willow.¡± The guildmaster shrank back into his seat, slightly embarrassed. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to pester you.¡± He muttered. ¡°But that should be a fine deal. It will take us a few days to put it together, is that ok?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I wasn¡¯t expecting it even that soon to be honest. I was more concerned with Djarleen¡¯s safety.¡± I said as I placed the vials of sap and the seed on the guildmaster¡¯s desk. ¡°Thank you both for seeing me again on such short notice, but I do have to get going.¡± ¡°Pleasure meeting you Angus, and I look forward to hearing of more of your exploits.¡± Mardigan said, and I cocked my head at him in confusion. ¡°The magical instability? The broadcasted dungeon? You¡¯re fairly famous considering the small number of people who have actually met you. By the way, you need more alchemy in your dungeon traps. It¡¯ll open up a whole world of new ideas.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, shocked that he recognized me from my name. I would have to look into something to hide my name from people in towns, as I didn¡¯t want a crowd of players surrounding and pestering me. Or even worse, waiting for me to leave a city so they could attack me. I made my way back to Djarleen¡¯s shop, waving to Markus on my way. Just when you think you are getting to the end of your list of things to do, more things just keep popping up. Book 2 Chapter 28 After searching fruitlessly throughout the city for a charm to hide my name from others, I finally managed to commission one from an enchanter. At thirty gold, it wasn¡¯t cheap, but it was on a ring to remind me to switch out the elven ring I had on my finger. I really needed to get into the habit of just taking it off anytime I wasn¡¯t in combat or our city, but it was just so easy to forget stuff. After all my meetings and running around the city, I had enough. It was still fairly early in the afternoon, but everything was taken care of and the marathon session had left me exhausted. I stopped by a general store on my way back to my new home, and ordered the basic dwelling kit. It wouldn¡¯t be delivered for another day, but I didn¡¯t actually have to sleep in the game so I logged out and headed to the caf¨¦. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°No offense Marty, but you look like death warmed over.¡± Jon spoke. ¡°Huh? Wah?¡± I woke up with a snort, wiping the drool from the corner of my mouth. ¡°Oh, hey there Jon.¡± ¡°Rough night? I know you were wanting to pull a late night session to see something about a graveyard, how did that go?¡± Just like that, the effing weight was back. ¡°Gimme. Sec.¡± I said, fighting tears. ¡°Whoah there, what¡¯s all this?¡± He asked, sitting down next to me and looking concerned. ¡°Lost an NPC, a friend.¡± I managed to get out, and caught his face falling. ¡°Sorry to hear that, man. Anything we can do for you? In game or out, you¡¯re one of us know, ya know that right?¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said with a sniffle. ¡°I¡¯ll be ok, it just hits you when everything reminds you of them, ya know?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He said, sitting up with a wistful look. ¡°I would lie and say it gets better, but it doesn¡¯t. You just start remembering the good more than how much you miss them. That helps.¡± ¡°It was so unexpected. I came back from my wandering, excited. I come around the corner, and these three human players have the innkeeper, and one of them has just buried his daggers into her chest from behind. The last thing she tried to do? Warn me to run.¡± ¡°Oh shit.¡± Jon said, and we dropped into an uncomfortable silence. I saw him give a panicked shake of his head no, and figured someone else had gotten here. ¡°Everything ok?¡± I heard Phoebe ask, and let Jon answer. ¡°The innkeeper where Marty¡¯s been staying was killed by players.¡± ¡°Oh hun, that¡¯s awful.¡± She immediately gave me a hug. I couldn¡¯t quite speak yet, so I just patted her arm. ¡°Thanks.¡± I managed to choke out, fighting shuddering sobs. ¡°I¡¯ll be ok in a minute.¡± I said, blowing my nose several times. After a few minutes where I tuned out their conversation, I managed to turn back to them. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok hun, we know it¡¯s hard. Except for Derrick, we all made attachments to the NPCs. They are who we spend a good bit of our day with.¡± ¡°Just so you know, we are down to help you if you want to track these guys down. I can put out some feelers with some good guys I know on the message boards.¡± Jon said. ¡°Oh, I know who did it already. Ever heard of the Breaking Dawn guild?¡± ¡°Not that I can recall, Phoebe?¡± ¡°Not ringing any bells. But we can find ¡®em, no worries on that.¡± ¡°Eh, revenge is on the backburner for now. I want us all at or near max level, as they are going to help us all evolve.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jon asked, intrigued. ¡°That should be fun, we won¡¯t have to hunt down materials. Will we be able to do it if we can¡¯t form a party though?¡± ¡°Eh, I think I¡¯ll just have to have you guys in the city. I¡¯ve already sent off an email to Emily asking to meet with some of the devs for what I have in mind, we¡¯ll see what they say about things.¡± ¡°Oh dear, I do believe he is plotting some world changing shenanigans Jon.¡± Phoebe chuckled. ¡°Marty, are you wanting to do this in a way you don¡¯t have to sit out for a week?¡± ¡°Yes, and I really hope everything goes according to plans. How is your special quest coming along?¡± ¡°One left to finish!¡± She said with a grin. ¡°It¡¯s been weird, as most things that involve a god are. I had to imbibe a bit of flesh and magic from four different loup garoup like me. A massive polar bear in the north, a wolf in the east, a lion out west, and I¡¯m off to the southern swamps next for the snake.¡± ¡°Good luck hunting a snake in the swamp.¡± I said with a snort. ¡°What about you?¡± I asked, turning to Jon. ¡°I¡¯m managing. I don¡¯t really want any special quests right now. I know, I know, it¡¯s almost blasphemous to not want unique quests, but I¡¯m just having fun finding out the utility of all my curses. I just want to have fun this time around.¡± ¡°Nobody¡¯s judging you hun.¡± Phoebe said, patting his hand. ¡°If they do, I¡¯ll rip out their entrails.¡± ¡°Aw, you say the sweetest things.¡± ¡°Anyhow, I think I¡¯m gonna go head to bed. I think I¡¯ve been up for, oh twenty hours or so right now. Just head to the drakeling city when you get your stuff done, ok?¡± ¡°Sure thing, and goodnight.¡± They both replied, and I stumbled off to bed. Collapsing on top of the covers, I was out in seconds. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Grimlet¡¯s POV, shortly after Marty left the meeting ¡°Master Faraldo, I have a question if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Sure laddie.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a clan, as I am an adventurer. We do have guilds, that sort of act like our clans. Do you think it would be possible for me to go through that ceremony you did, only so that I may split from my guild?¡± ¡°These be weighty things lad. I know ya feel slighted about yer quest, but.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°It¡¯s not just that.¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°They murdered an innkeeper, a noncombatant. And would have done far more. I can¡¯t be associated with people like that.¡± ¡°Aye. That be a proper dwarf answer. Ye be leavin¡¯ ¡®em, not for what they did to you, but what they did ta others. The council will be meetin¡¯ in a few hours, have the leader of yer guild meet us there. I¡¯ll send ahead a note explainin¡¯ things to the head of me new clan, and we¡¯ll get everything set up.¡± ¡°Thanks, I really appreciate it.¡± ¡°No, thank you lad. You are actin¡¯ like a dwarf should, and givin¡¯ me hope that there be other adventurers out there like you and Angus. Don¡¯t go anywhere, I¡¯ll be back in a half hour.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Several hours later ¡°Thanks for the loan of the impressive armor, but you don¡¯t have to do this with me.¡± ¡°Nay, I do have to.¡± Master Faraldo replied. ¡°I witnessed the aftermath, and can attest to it. So I¡¯ll be shadowin¡¯ ya through the whole walk, don¡¯t you worry.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, incredibly grateful that he would be with me. It took a while to get the ritual replies just right, but with dwarves you were expected to be exact. He opened the door and ushered me through, closing it behind him. ¡°Go ahead lad.¡± I heard him whisper, and started my walk. It only took a half a minute, but we were soon in lockstep like we had been marching together for years. Straight down the main road, people¡¯s eyes were widening in shock. I figured it was more because of Master Faraldo making this walk a second time, as doing it once was nearly unheard of. Twice? Must be unprecedented. I held my head high though, and ignored their whispering at the edge of my hearing. With my heart thundering in my chest, we reached the gates of the royal palace. Instead of the three that I knew Master Faraldo met the first time, there were nine royal guards this time. Three waited at attention on each side of the gate in a triangular formation, while three others stepped forward. Hot damn, but they cut an impressive figure. ¡°I know not your position, though you are definitely a dwarf. How do you come here dressed for battle, though without your most potent weapons? Accompanied by a potionmaster who has recently gone through with the same?¡± ¡°They would be useless for this battle, sir. For I come not to destroy the body, but the ties of clan today. The potionmaster has seen with his own eyes the reason why I have come today, to bear witness and lend credence to my words.¡± ¡°Very well. In accordance with traditions, your grievances will be heard. Be warned, a full quorum has assembled, so that none may bury the truth this day. May Moradin fill you with his will, that you may finish what must be done.¡± The entire triad spun on their heels, and we all started marching in together. The speaker was in the lead, followed by myself. Slightly behind and to my right was Faraldo, and the two who hadn¡¯t spoken were behind us all, again forming a triangular shape with the leader. I didn¡¯t gawk, but my eyes were wide in wonder as we moved down the ornate hallways. The epitome of dwarven craftsmanship was on display, and it did not disappoint. The captain walked up to the middle of the table, twelve dwarves sat facing us. Off to the side sat Goliath, confusion easy to see on his face. He was at the very end of the table, with a simple chair to sit in. ¡°The Adventurer Grimlet seeks audience to air grievances. Grievances heavy enough that he felt the need for our rarest of customs. Though he has no clan of dwarves, he has likened the guilds of the adventurers to clans of their own choosing. Do any here object to this conclusion?¡± The captain pointedly looked at each of the clan heads and the king, none of which even moved a muscle. Stepping forward, I nervously eyed the blades I knew would soon be piercing my palms. Copying the captain¡¯s move, I looked at each of the dwarves in turn, even sparing a glance for the nervous looking Goliath. ¡°I come here today to sever my ties with the Breaking Dawn guild, as their transgressions have become unbearable.¡± Just like Master Faraldo did, I used the most serious of dwarven accusations. I slammed my palms through the blades, and declared, ¡°May Moradrin witness the truth of my words, and strike me down should I try to misrepresent what drove me to this point, even by omitting facts.¡± Several of the dwarves gasped, and I saw a few nodding their heads at me from the corner of my eye. Even the king bowed his head slightly. ¡°You may or may not know, but I was tasked with going to the drakeling city in order to create a fitting resting place for the bones of Grumblespark Stonefist. My guild leader, Goliath, insisted that I take several members of our guild with me. Some were to help, as I am not the most talented when it comes to these things. The rest were to be our guards in case of anything unfortunate happening, in his own words. I thought nothing of it at the time, as the drakelings are newly returned to this plane and little is known about them. What I did not know, was that those guards were given different orders.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous!¡± Goliath managed to shout, before he was slammed in the stomach by a royal guard, and almost instantly bound and gagged. ¡°Interruptions will not be tolerated.¡± The king said. Turning to me, he made a continue gesture. ¡°Unknown to Master Faraldo and myself, last night these three guards slew the innkeeper where we were staying. They were under orders to retrieve the bones of Grumblespark for study, as well as go through and murder as many drakelings as possible before being caught. The only thing that saved the drakelings from a night of slaughter was the unexpected return of a warrior. He was too late to save the innkeeper, much to his sorrow, but did slay the three members of the Breaking Dawn.¡± Eyes all around the table widened, and the king actually held up his hand. I nodded to him, and he asked what I guessed the rest were wondering. ¡°You accuse them of breaking hospitality? Even though you weren¡¯t there to see it?¡± ¡°I do. The next morning, I awoke in a cell, and was questioned under a band enchanted to react to the user¡¯s knowledge of the truth. Later this morning, Master Faraldo and I spoke with the warrior who discovered the innkeeper.¡± ¡°Master Faraldo, you have dressed to add your weight to this one¡¯s words. What have you to say on this matter?¡± I removed my hands from the blades, and was shocked that they healed themselves immediately as Master Faraldo walked up to the pulpit. ¡°I too, was questioned about the death of the innkeeper. They detected no guile in my words, and trusted in the warrior who vouched for me. Upon return to the alchemists guild, the warrior who caught them in the act spoke to us about what he had learned. This guild, the Breaking Dawn, was acting on orders from the Church of Pelor.¡± ¡°Very well. Moradrin has seen your truth, and shown it to us as well. As the accused has lost the rights to talk in this forum, I will ask one question in his stead. What happened to the bones of Grumblespark Stonefist?¡± I stepped forward and placed a hand on Master Faraldo¡¯s shoulder, letting him know I would deliver the worst news. ¡°The warrior who spoke with us also happened to be the warrior who found his remains in the first place. He realized that no matter what, there would never be a place secure enough for Grumblespark to rest peacefully. The lust for knowledge is powerful, and who knows what knowledge was locked within those runes? I do not blame him for his actions, and ask that you also recognize that he did what must ultimately be done. He made a petition to Thanatos, and the bones and the runes inscribed upon them have been destroyed.¡± ¡°And the quest you were on?¡± One of the elders asked. ¡°Failed. Failed in such a way that it may never be completed, and for that I will accept any punishment that is deemed appropriate.¡± ¡°I see now why an adventurer would come before us in this manner.¡± The king said, standing up. ¡°This, then, is my answer to your petition. I see more than enough reason to allow you to sever your ties to the Breaking Dawn, and ask that after this meeting you meet with the heads of any clan that is willing so that you may learn what you may offer each other. As for you.¡± He turned to Goliath, and his voice dripped with derision. ¡°I banish you, your clan, and any who would associate with you after this day. Before this day is done, the clerics of Pelor will also be brought before this chamber to answer for these charges. Goliath, should any members of your guild be caught in dwarven lands at any time after sundown today, you will be immediately executed. Is the quorum in agreement?¡± Twelve ¡°Ayes¡± circled around the table. ¡°Then it is unanimous. Escort him to the edge of the city, but leave him gagged until he is there.¡± Turning once again to me, the king nodded so that I could finish with the ritual words. ¡°I, Grimlet of no clan, hereby repudiate and renounce my former guild. You are no longer kin of mine.¡± The next few hours were a blur of meeting with different clan heads, after Goliath was escorted out rather forcefully by the royal guard. In the end, I decided to go with the Seker clan. Perhaps one day I would be skilled enough to craft a masterpiece that would grace the royal halls. Smiling, I thought longingly of the day when things produced by Grimlet Seker would be sought after. First though, I had to learn to make iron nails. Lots of iron nails. Book 2 Chapter 29 Marty¡¯s POV After a depressing breakfast of cold cereal, I logged into the game to find myself suffering from a hunger debuff. Of course, I didn¡¯t bother eating before I logged off, so I wandered around for a bit looking for a restaurant. Instead of a sit down place, I found a food cart of all things selling sausages on a stick. Three of the greasy sticks later, and I was finally full. Now that I had a moment to myself, I decided to head to the barracks to get some practice in. It wasn¡¯t like any of my skills were lacking, I just felt like I didn¡¯t have enough of them. While mine were powerful, the cooldown required by them meant that I couldn¡¯t string together multiple chains of skills, and that would be deadly against the upper tier opponents. Once at the barracks, I went to a secluded corner and thought about what I actually needed. My initial barrage was usually from range, and the sneaky devs had limited me to one initial shot. Well, that would be my first attempt: create a skill that is useful from range. I started out with shadow manipulation. Was there a limit to how much shadow I could compress into an area? I drew in the darkness surrounding me, adding my own mana to the mix. The form I required was simple, it was a crossbow bolt. Closing my eyes, I mentally pictured everything it would need. Starting with the tip, I gave it a piercing tip. I modeled it after a bodkin tip, which was a simple square that is filed down to a point. Behind that was a shaft, along with some fletching. In the end, I dropped the fletching as superfluous. It was there to give arrows stability in flight, not something that I needed to be worried about with a magical projectile. Taking my foot-long shadow bolt, I pointed it at a stone target I conjured a few feet away and willed it to fly forward. Instead of a bolt shooting forward and piercing through the target, I ended up with a bolt that sauntered forward before dropping to the ground point first and shattering. Time and time again, I went through the same thing. I tried targeting different areas, but that didn¡¯t work. I forced more and more mana into it, but it kept shattering. Each failure gnawed at me, and I was growing rather frustrated. With my next attempt, I let my frustrations out and changed things slightly. I wanted a bolt that could pierce damn near anything, and by golly I was going to get it. Pointing my finger at where the bolt would go, I imagined a bolt of pure darkness cutting through the air, slicing though the stone target, and burying itself in the ground behind. To my surprise, it actually worked, though it left an odd trail of darkness behind it.
New skill created! Arrows that pierce the day Beginner level 1 By giving shape to shadow and infusing it with your will, you have created a potent attack. This bolt has a range of fifty feet, and will fly in a straight line instead of a ballistic trajectory. The dark trail left behind will give away your position, but it¡¯s piercing power is worth the tradeoff. Higher mastery will increase the number of bolts that can be fired at once, as well as their damage. Mana cost: 40 Range: 50 feet Damage: 75-100 Cooldown: 3 seconds Chant (doubles damage, increases mana cost by 1.5x): Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of Arrows that pierce the day.
I smiled at my new skill, and test fired it. Once it had clicked into place and the system generated the skill, everything became much easier. Looking up, I was surprised to see that I had spent over half of the day on this one skill. Without the amount of time necessary to generate another skill, I settled in for grinding this one. By the time it was too dark to see, I had raised the skill level to beginner level 9, and could fire it within two seconds of a shot from my arbalest. Mentally drained, I returned to my deplorable little house and set up the basic kit I had ordered. I was now the proud owner of a basic bed, table, and two chairs. I was no Martha Stewart, but I could always create my own stoneware with my skills so I was fine with it. Maybe tomorrow I would do some hunting, until then I simply ate one of my dwindling rations and went to bed. Maybe tomorrow I would check in with the gang, and see how close we were to getting together in game. * * * * * * * * * * * * * The next morning I woke up and thought about the next skill. Some type of magical blade, that I could use in close range or fire off at a distance. Flexibility was going to be key. Once again I claimed a deserted area of the training grounds, but had to sit and think about how to properly go around it. I already had a way to enhance blades, so the skill would have to copy those skills. I also needed it to be free formed, and able to move away like the bolts I had created yesterday. In a perfect world, it would form a crescent moon shape that would fire off until it sliced the target. Shadows just wouldn¡¯t to the job, and something as heavy as earth wouldn¡¯t have the range option I needed. So, how do you boost shadow magic? Shadow corrupts. That¡¯s it¡¯s nature. I needed something that would rend. I wanted it powerful enough to slice through anything. So, Marty, what is powerful, intangible, and malleable? I started poking and prodding around with my shadow magic, having it form a blade on the outside of my left hand. Concentrating the shadows didn¡¯t seem like the way to go. I started exploring the feelings I got from shadow mana. It was endless, ever changing. In a constant cycle of construction and destruction. For a second I felt a flash, something almost, empty. Chasing that feeling, I looked for the hunger. It too, was endless, but the hunger was sharp. It didn¡¯t care what it consumed, so long as there was something for it to consume. This endless drive, the voracious appetite, that was what I took and infused into my blade. Opening my eyes, I saw a violet tinged black along the edge of my arm. Pulling it to my opposite shoulder, I swiped it and let the magic flare off my hand. A blade so thin it was nearly two dimensional rocketed off, striking the stone target. I saw the blade slide right through the stone, and leave a line along the ground. When nothing else happened, I got curious. Perhaps it was something that would only cut mana? No, there was definitely a mark on the ground. Pushing on the stone, I saw the top slide off the bottom, leaving a perfectly clean cut.
Boosted element discovered! Each element in this world has a boosted form. Congratulations on finding the void that hides within the shadows! This terrifying power endlessly hungers, so take care that your ambitions don¡¯t exceed your skills, lest you find yourself on the menu.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
New skill created! Reality slash Beginner level 1 Create an incredibly thin blade of void energy, and watch as it sunders the very fabric of reality. Beware, as the void cares not who summoned it, only that it can consume. There is no friend, there is no foe, there is only food. Mana cost: 100 Range: 30 feet Damage: 500-650, ignores armor Cooldown: 1 minute.
Well shit. I ended up with a fantastic skill that had a long enough cooldown that I was only going to get one use in a normal fight. Looking around, it was strangely silent. Huh, it was already dark out. Had I truly sat there for an entire day? Heading back to my house, I decided to see what the gang could help out with. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Evenin¡¯ guys.¡± I said, strolling up to the table. ¡°Sorry I missed out yesterday, had a crazy day.¡± ¡°It happens.¡± Derrick said. ¡°Heard about the innkeeper, sorry about the loss.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I replied, plopping down into a seat. ¡°You seem a bit better.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Find something to take up your time?¡± ¡°Yeah, trying to create some skills so I can chain combos. I got one skill that¡¯ll help, and one that will be a one off in a fight.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jon said, sitting up. ¡°Sounds like this could be fun. Come on, tell us. Gimme gimme gimme.¡± He even made grabbing motions with his hands on the last part, and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°You¡¯re incorrigible.¡± Phoebe said, smacking him in the arm. ¡°At least let him have a chance to answer.¡± ¡°Naw, it¡¯s fine. One shoots a bolt of shadow energy, has a three second cooldown. The other sends a wave of void energy that cuts whatever it hits, one minute cooldown.¡± ¡°Void energy? You managed to boost an element?¡± Phoebe asked, shocked. ¡°Yeah, you seem like you¡¯ve come across this before?¡± ¡°Everyone who runs a mage has. Usually either an intensive meditation session after seeing a grandmaster cast the spell or a ten quest chain is required to unlock them.¡± ¡°So what are the boosted elements?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°And can I still cut them with my fancy new sword? By the way, I really love that fancy new sword.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Gimme a second. Violet lightning, it paralyses and drains stamina. Clear ice freezes and drains mana. Azure flame will cause massive burns and lower durability. Earth gets boosted to metal. You can sense it as well control it so long as it is unowned. I¡¯m not sure if anyone has managed to boost air yet, but if they have it is probably that knowledge guild.¡± ¡°Shadow gets boosted to void, but what about light?¡± I asked. ¡°Light becomes blessed. This is different from divine, as that comes from the gods themselves. Paladins use divine light. A mage uses blessed light. Both will do massive damage to undead and unnatural things.¡± ¡°So these just do extra damage?¡± ¡°Well, yes. But they also have a much higher chance for status effects. The mana costs are higher, but it is worth it.¡± ¡°Alright, well it might be something I can look into. But do you guys have any skills that I can learn quickly? I really need something here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really think you should.¡± Derrick said, holding up a hand before anyone else could talk. ¡°Hear me out. Marty, your class focuses on dealing massive initial damage, so much so that you effectively eliminate the enemy¡¯s ability to fight, correct?¡± ¡°Um, yeah?¡± ¡°So why would you want skills to prolong a battle? That¡¯s not your class strength, and not what has gotten you so much success so far. You always go for a decapitating shot and hide, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I see where you¡¯re going with this.¡± I said. ¡°It makes sense, so what else do you think I need?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see. You¡¯ve got a long range killer with your arbalest. Assuming the initial attack causes a bit of confusion, you will likely get a second critical from your new bolt spell. That¡¯s two attackers down, then you can get two more with your crowd control. At this point, everyone knows they are under attack, and can probably tell where you are, right?¡± ¡°Definitely. The bolt spell leaves a dark trail, so unless it is used at night it will give away my position.¡± ¡°That¡¯s even better. You still have a mid-range spell to catch them by surprise with, and you should aim for limbs with it. So that is three down, two controlled. Most players tend to go in groups of five anyway, so you can relax at this point. Kill the closest one, or reload your arbalest to get another shot at one of the bound ones. They will be in a hurry to close, as you already have shown strong ranged attacks.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s when he unleashes his close range strikes, ending the fight.¡± Jon finished. ¡°Though, you only have two edged attacks, right Marty?¡± ¡°Yeah, that and only one for the hammer side. I¡¯m starting to feel like that portion of the weapon is being neglected.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your skill?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Mana shockwave. Charge the head of the hammer, and let the force explode out with the next strike.¡± ¡°Ever tried it in reverse?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Say what now?¡± ¡°Yeah, instead of releasing it on the swing with the hammer, use the explosion to add force to your slashing strike. Or use your slash attack, have the explosion trigger giving them a bit of a hit while you use it to spin around and bury the scythe portion into their side again.¡± ¡°Not bad hun.¡± Phoebe said, ¡°but I got one better. Store up earth mana in your hammer, and when you have it hit the ground you can see if it will unleash spikes in a circle around you. Always good to have a close AoE attack.¡± ¡°Derrick? You got anything to add?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°We can see whose idea does the most damage.¡± ¡°Alright. If you want damage, I want you to practice an overhead swing. When you get to the top of your swing, start conjuring as much stone on top of your weapon as possible. You¡¯ll have the momentum from the lighter swing, and the bonus mass to multiply your force when it connects.¡± ¡°Ooooh, I like that one.¡± Jon said, eyes lighting up. ¡°Too bad you don¡¯t have access to fire mana, you could have a fire boost from the scythe end and conjure magma. MAGMA SMASHER!¡± He yelled, as we all chuckled. ¡°Sorry, he¡¯s a bit of a skills nerd sometimes.¡± Phoebe said, shaking her head. ¡°No worries, if I could pull off that move it would be amazing.¡± I said. ¡°Almost like an up close and personal meteor attack.¡± ¡°Oh meteor, such wanton destruction.¡± Derrick said wistfully. ¡°Can¡¯t you learn it?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°You seem to be the more magically inclined since this evolution.¡± ¡°I might be able to eventually. It would fit with my projected build. Before you go nuts Jon, I¡¯m planning distance magical mayhem with up close swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Yeah, even if you can¡¯t get the boosts from enchanting it, having a massive orichalcum blade will make you almost unmatched for physical damage. How are you going to learn it though?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Quests. I have a peace brokering one that I chose, and I get to go see the fire giants soon.¡± ¡°They have a city here?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t recall that in any of the lore.¡± ¡°No, the most all types of giants have is a large village with the occasional hermit roaming about on the mountains. But each village is attached to a plane, and I get to visit Muspelheim.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯ll be fun!¡± I said. ¡°Yep. They are the masters of weapons for giants. I¡¯m also looking to see if they can craft a mithril gauntlet to channel magic through for my left hand.¡± ¡°Dear god, you are gonna wreck some shit.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°So you are going for meteor with your fire spell, what about your other elements?¡± ¡°Tough call. I¡¯m not too sure what I can get to be honest.¡± ¡°See if you can get what that bastard used on me.¡± I said, and everyone looked at me a bit confused. ¡°The guy from the knowledge guild.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t see that fight hun.¡± Phoebe reminded me. ¡°Oh.¡± I said, slightly embarrassed. ¡°What did he call it? Thundering something. Blast? Oblivion? AHNILLATION! That¡¯s it, thundering ahnillation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good one. I¡¯ve seen the videos of them using the upgraded army killer to create the Shattered Plains.¡± Jon said. ¡°Ok, that¡¯s fire and lightning taken care of. Anyone know a good ice spell?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never known anyone with the mana capacity to use it, but there is a legendary spell out there you should look into.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Instead of attacking directly, it causes an incredibly large area to change, as if you were transported to another plane. The one for ice is Descent of Cocytus.¡± ¡°Oooh, that just sounds epic. Are there ones for other elements?¡± Derrick asked, thoroughly intrigued. ¡°Ugh, of course you would ask me that.¡± Phoebe said, then sat for a second. ¡°Gimme a bit, it¡¯s been a long time. Abbadon for fire, Eversea for water. I can¡¯t really remember the rest, sorry.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± Jon said, rubbing her arm. ¡°We now have a lead on them, and just knowing the names can give him a boost.¡± ¡°Haaaaaaah.¡± Derrick let out a long yawn. ¡°Sorry all, you aren¡¯t boring me, I¡¯m just exhausted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, we should be heading off as well. Goodnight all.¡± Phoebe said, getting up with Jon. ¡°Later guys.¡± I said, and headed home for the night after getting a goodbye from Derrick as well. I had some idea of where to take my skills for tomorrow, and was looking forward to it. Book 2 Chapter 30 I woke up in game, and couldn¡¯t move because of the massive weight on my chest. I tried, and it simply shifted a bit before kneading my chest a bit with just a hint of claw at the end. ¡°Finally awake? Sorry to let myself in to your, house, Angus.¡± Khaliss said from my table, hesitating noticeably on the word house. ¡°But we needed to talk and you¡¯ve been avoiding the inn. Any particular reason?¡± ¡°Um, not really. Shame that I didn¡¯t get back soon enough to save Alnoss, fear that you would blame me somehow, and to let you grieve? By the way, just what in the world is holding me on the bed?¡± ¡°Forgot that you don¡¯t know all the minutia of our culture. Death is always near for us, so we don¡¯t spend too much time on things. A day or two for grieving a mate is normal, but then we have to get back to life. We will meet soon enough in the life beyond this. And how could I blame you, when I had taken Inkler there out hunting? I never thought that the adventurers would attack, which was foolish looking back.¡± ¡°Life beyond this?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± He asked, rather shocked. ¡°You are a part of the church of Thanatos.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in more of a martial branch.¡± I explained with a shrug. Apparently that movement was the signal to Inkler to go ahead and start a rumbling purr that shook my chest. Without even thinking of it, I reached up and started scratching the bottom of his chin. He intensified the purr and stretched out his neck so that I could reach even more of it. I guess even digital nightmare inducing cats are still cats. ¡°Ah. We believe that after our deaths, we move on to a world of unlimited resources. We will of course have to fight to live there, but it is as close to a paradise as we can get. Especially considering that there are no light siders.¡± ¡°Sounds amazing. A place with no worries, where you can live your life.¡± ¡°And strong beasts to challenge if you wish. I heard you have been training, what are your results?¡± ¡°Two new attacks. A bolt of darkness that acts like an arrow, and a blade of void that slashes through things. It is a mid-ranged attack.¡±
Beast contract offered! The nightliger known as Inkler wishes to form a contract with you. Accept? Y/N
¡°Um, Khaliss?¡± I asked, slightly panicked. ¡°Inkler just offered me a contract.¡± ¡°I wondered. He needs someone to bond with, and he never really got along with me. Are you gonna accept?¡± ¡°What all does it OW! Require?¡± I asked, wincing as Inkler dug his claws in just a bit. I guess he wanted an instant answer. ¡°Let him hunt a bit, take care of him. Provide him a place to relax at night. Or in the day. If you form the contract, you can summon him instantly to your side, and if he is killed in battle you can resurrect him once per week. Try not to let him die though, as he loses a lot of levels.¡± I hit accept, excited to finally have a battle pet. Inkler¡¯s abilities were oddly complementary to my own, and I was looking forward to seeing us in battle together.
Congratulations! You have formed a contract with the nightliger Inkler. He is currently level 12, and may accept one beginner level skill from you. His level may not exceed your own, and he will only gain experience in battles he is by your side in. Take care of your pet, he may save your life in the future.
¡°Hey buddy.¡± I said, scratching his neck some more. ¡°I think I have just the skill for you. How would you like to have a blade you can use to lash at a distance?¡± ¡°Mrow.¡± ¡°If we get stronger, you might be able to learn one to enhance your claws up close, but I want you to have a ranged attack first.¡± ¡°Mrow.¡± He flopped his head down with a huff, and I took that as permission.
Skill transfer: Reality slash Beginner level 1 Do you wish to train Inkler to use reality slash? Y/N
I chose yes, and we were both enveloped in a reddish glow. ¡°Oh? Skill transfer? I didn¡¯t realize that he was strong enough for that. What¡¯d you go with?¡± ¡°Reality slash. Gives him a mid-ranged slash attack.¡± ¡°Good. He will work nicely as an ambusher with you. I suggest you go out on a few hunts. See how well you guys work together.¡± He said, standing up. ¡°And you¡¯re going to need a much bigger house if you aren¡¯t going to stay at the inn anymore. Do keep stopping by for food though, I managed to find a halfway decent cook to run the place.¡± ¡°Hey, speaking of houses, how did you two get in here?¡± ¡°Guard captain. I have access damn near anywhere in the city. You should hurry and get strong, I heard about your arrangements. Lolth isn¡¯t known to wait.¡± I knew he was right, and as he left I tried to move Inkler from my chest. I think he found it amusing, especially since I had to resort to [Dancing shadow steps] to get out from under him. ¡°Alright buddy, let¡¯s get out and go hunting. What¡¯re you hungry for?¡± He seemed slightly indifferent, so I just shrugged my shoulders and headed towards the door. Once there, he followed me out. We headed north of the city, into the same forest I had been hunting in earlier when I ran into the group of elves. ¡°Alright buddy, I was wanting to work out a plan. For these lower level beasts, I¡¯ll distract them without attacking. See if you can decapitate them with your reality slash as they run beneath you.¡± He chuffed in annoyance at me, before sliding up into the trees without disturbing a single leaf. I was quite impressed. I was stalking a lightning elk, taking my time so that Inkler could get into position. Damn, should have figured out something to indicate when to attack. Just as I was thinking that, four lines of darkness shot down from the canopy, cleanly slicing the head off the elk. As the body dropped, a shadow shot down and started gnawing on it as I walked up. ¡°Huh, that was incredible Inkler.¡± I said, rubbing between his ears. Ever since we had formed the contract, it was easier for me to see him. I let him eat his fill of his kill, keeping an eye out for anything we could do. Once he was done eating, we left the carcass as there wasn¡¯t anything worth looting. We carried on the rest of the afternoon, and Inkler managed to gain quite a few levels. As we were heading back, I heard the sounds of battle coming from afar. We looked at each other, nodding. Sneaking up on the place, we found a group of five battling against a much larger pack of wolves. I placed a calming hand on Inkler, as he had started to stalk forward at the sight of the wolves. ¡°Easy bud, let¡¯s see how this plays out.¡± I calmed him. ¡°Those players seem strong, so I think they¡¯ll be fine. What do you say to us taking out the winners?¡± At that, he gave me a grin. ¡°Heh, thought you would like that. Here¡¯s the plan. I¡¯ll use a bolt to take out the caster. My magical bolt will punch through the tank¡¯s head. Once they are focused on me, I¡¯ll let them close and take out their rogue. You hang back on the other side, and when I take the rogue you go ahead and take out the healer. Once that is done, come on up and we can work together to take out the remaining tank.¡± Inkler melded into the shadows and went off, apparently happy with the plan. I saw one of the wolves get distracted by a stray scent, but the caster took advantage and reduced it to ashes with a spell. Personally I would have avoided using fire in a forest, but there wasn¡¯t a lot of dried leaves so the threat of forest fire was low. The healer was good, keeping everyone above half health. Soon enough, the pack was dead.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! As they started to catch their breath, I started my chant. ¡°Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of [Arrows that pierce the day].¡± As I started the name of the skill, I fired an armor piercing bolt. I didn¡¯t go with the decapitator because I lacked the skill to channel mana into both my spell and the bolt. Luck must have been smiling on me today, as my bolt was originally going to strike in the temple until the caster turned to look at me. He got shot in the eye instead, and dropped instantly. Right as that hit, my magic bolt fired off and hit the back of the tank¡¯s head, as he turned to look at his fallen comrade. ¡°Ambush! This way!¡± The rogue started charging along the visible back trail of my bolt, and as he and the other tank started charging, I saw Inkler drop and deliver a fatal blow to the healer. His technique was nearly silent, and any sound he made was covered by the two who were charging at me. Once they were within range, I started the chanting as the rogue was flinging poisoned knives at me. ¡°Hungering void, my will binds you to this plane. A blade fit to sunder the very fabric of this world. Rend and feast, [Reality slash].¡± I aimed at the rogue¡¯s waist, but he must have sensed the danger and tried to do a diving roll over the top. Unfortunately for him, my blade caught him just above the knees, leaving him legless on the ground. ¡°The last one is for Thanatos. [Cold hand of death][Death¡¯s gaze][Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± My skills caught him with his right arm raised, ready to smash me with his mace. Instead I used [Dancing shadow steps] along with the last of my mana to get behind him. Of course that was when my run of good luck ended, as with his shoulder raised I had no angle to get around his armor for a decapitation. Instead I aimed just under his arm, bypassing his armor. Freed from my bindings, he smashed me in the face with his elbow. As I staggered backwards, he reset his stance so that I faced a rather large kite shield. ¡°Not a bad series of blows, not bad at all. You must be that Angus fellow, right?¡± I simply nodded in return. ¡°Cool. Cool. Name¡¯s Darkstar, and I¡¯ll be the one killing you.¡± While he was talking with me, I was circling so that his back was facing the rogue who had fallen earlier. I made it look like I was searching for an opening to attack, but I needed to buy time for Inkler. He had just walked up the rogues back and snapped his neck with a vicious shake, and was starting to stalk the tank. ¡°I really hope you don¡¯t expect me to remember that name.¡± I said, watching as his eyes narrowed. ¡°The list of people I¡¯ve killed is already long enough.¡± ¡°Bastard!¡± He cried, and just before he started forward, Inkler savaged his hamstring. With his momentum running forward, but pulled off balance without the use of his leg, He really had no choice but to fall and try and catch himself with his shield. Just to help things along, I kicked the base of it so it wouldn¡¯t gain purchase, and smashed the back of his head with my hammer, ending the fight.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable. For slaying a higher level player, you gain 120 favor. Total favor: 969/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 1/1 Weekly kills: 19/25
I hadn¡¯t realized in the battle that those players were above my level, though it couldn¡¯t have been much as I only gained one level. Inkler, on the other hand, managed to jump from level 17 to level 28. Not a bad jump for only five kills, but that would have put them around thirty levels higher than my pet. ¡°Alright Inkler, let¡¯s head on back. I have a few skills that I want to try and learn, and have a good lead on them. Tomorrow we are heading out to start on the next of the Thanatos quests.¡± I got a simple chuff in response, and started petting him between the ears as we walked. ¡°By the way, you did absolutely fantastic. I know that healer never saw you coming, and I assume the rogue and final tank didn¡¯t either. I forgot to tell you, but if you kill a player before they see you they won¡¯t be able to figure out what attacked them, so good job.¡± He started purring, happy with the praise and I decided to up the offer a bit. ¡°I need to pick up the meat, but I¡¯ll make a deal with you. If you can get through five fights with enemy players, I¡¯ll let you eat an entire pound of the bacon I¡¯m going to make with the tier two hog I killed the other day.¡± I could feel the excitement thrumming through his body at the offer, as bacon had a way of disappearing from the careless back at the inn. Little did he know that I was going to do it anyway, but it was good to keep him excited. We made it back to the city and the training yard without incident, and I figured we would need to get Inkler some training too. ¡°Hey buddy.¡± I said, patting him on the side. ¡°I know it isn¡¯t going to be fun, but can you spend a bit of time practicing your reality slash? I¡¯ll make a bunch of targets for you, and at the end give you a reward for your hard work. How does that sound?¡± He flicked me with his tail, letting me know that he wasn¡¯t thrilled with the prospect of work, but that he would do it anyway. I created a few stone enemies for him, with varying armors and poses, and let him get to work. For my own practice, I started with my hammer pointing over my shoulder, and tried to get a mana explosion out of it that would boost my swing. It only took an hour, but I finally managed to get the hang of it. Next up was Phoebe¡¯s skill, but I just didn¡¯t like the idea of a circle of spikes. That would imply that I was surrounded, and that should only happen if things went horribly wrong. Well, come to think of it, if things went horribly wrong I would need something to keep the enemy at bay, so I decided to go with it. Charging up the hammer with earth mana, I smashed it on the ground envisioning it forming a circle of spikes around me. I got a circle of bumps. Great for if I had to defend myself against an ant sized opponent. Time for the grind! An hour and a half later, and I had the basics down enough to gain a skill for it, and decided to go ahead and move on to the next skill. Conjuring stone that wasn¡¯t there was a lot harder than molding something that existed, and it was a pain in the rear to get anything substantial in a small amount of time. In the end, I decided to nix the idea of a massive hammer smash for now, as the day was starting to get close to the end. Inkler had decided to lay down in a shadow beam, I guess it was his version of a sun beam for normal cats. He would lazily send out a slash at the targets on occasion, flipping the tip of his tail in annoyance. Feeling prankish, I wondered what he would do if everything around him suddenly changed? Drawing in some of the nearby darkness was easy, and sending it out as a small ball that would rapidly expand to cover Inkler was nearly child¡¯s play with my level of shadow manipulation. Just to increase the size of the sphere, I only had it form a shell around him. It was going to push out any light within it anyway, right? Instead of panic, worry, or even curiosity about what was going on, I sort of felt a bit of relaxation come through the bond I had focused on between Inkler and I. Dropping the skill as I walked over, I rubbed him along the side. ¡°Guess you just love staying in darkness, don¡¯t ya?¡± He actually rolled onto his back for a second, but I could tell what he was up to. ¡°Nope. I¡¯ve had cats in the past, and that pose is always a trap. Since your claws are several times bigger than theirs were, I¡¯m not about to fall for it and have you slashing up my arms. Instead, why don¡¯t you try your reality slash a few times on my shadowgheist over there? See if you can hit a moving target.¡± Immediately flipping over, he started circling the clone I had summoned as if it were a mouse for him to play with. I kept the movements normal, and didn¡¯t use my knowledge of his skills or location to track him. Instead of using it at a distance, he waited until he was within striking range, and buried his claws into the clones back. Once he had lost momentum from his strike, he activated the skill and shredded the clone. I whistled in admiration. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s some impressive use of the skill. What do you say we head on over to the butcher¡¯s area and pick up some meat for dinner? We can also drop off all the kills we got for today.¡± The mention of meat got a purr going, and we quickly took care of errands. I also picked up a fire enchanted hot plate for cooking. It wouldn¡¯t be a perfect stove top, but it would be good enough for us. Once we made it back to the house I had originally made, I winced and placed a hand on Inkler¡¯s back to stop him. ¡°Khaliss was right buddy. We can¡¯t live in a place like this. Gimme a minute to fix it up, ok?¡± Walking ahead, I quadrupled the size of the previous house, and added a second floor. It got a slightly sloped roof, as I wasn¡¯t sure just how much snow this area would ever get. The windows didn¡¯t have glass, but a thin sheet of quartz on the lower levels. On the second floor, I left an area for a large window and pondered for a second. Smiling, I started practicing summoning different colored bits of stone. I downed several mana potions before it was done, but I had made a copy of the intricate statue Garret had gotten when Rycran¡¯s group was clearing the dungeon. They had gotten the most intricate one by far, and I felt it needed to be recreated. The background was Tiamat, the dragon who gave birth to the ancestors of the kobold race. Her wings were curved protectively over three eggs that she was bending down to sniff. One was hatched, and a kobold was gnawing on the remnant of its shell. The second egg had its top removed, and a shadow drakeling was crawling over the top of it. The third one had yet to emerge, but was instead riddled with cracks. I hurried inside with Inkler, as several people had stopped to stare at what I had created. The first floor was rather simple. The initial room and the one to its left as you walked in had been fused into one rectangular room with a half wall between. The first half would have the table and chairs, while the second area was going to be my kitchen. I placed the hot plate on the counter, and generally left the area alone. Behind the kitchen was my bedroom, and moving the bed was the easiest thing ever. The devs had changed it so that you had a colored wire diagram of what furniture you were moving, green meant you could place it and red showed an issue. The final room in the first floor, and the entire second floor I dedicated for Inkler¡¯s amusement. There were tubes leading up and down, skywalks for stalking whatever he wanted, and several posts of different stone for him to scratch. The second floor was a veritable jungle of stone branches, and as soon as he saw it his eyes widened and he shot off to explore. ¡°Have fun buddy, I¡¯ll have lightning elk steaks for us in a bit. I¡¯ll assume you want yours rare.¡± Chuckling, I headed back downstairs to cook and finally review all the popups I had acquired after training.
Skill acquired: Rocket slash Beginner level 1 Use an explosion of mana to increase your slashing attack. Adds 50% damage to attack Costs: 75 mana Cooldown: 15 seconds
Skill acquired: Earthen spikes Beginner level 1 Smash your weapon into the ground to create a circle of earth spikes surrounding you, knocking back enemies. Cost: 50 mana Spike damage: 30 Cooldown: 20 seconds
Skill acquired: Darkness ball Beginner level 1 Send a sphere of darkness that expands to blind an enemy. Will not work on enemies that don¡¯t use light to see. Cost: 15 mana Duration: 10 seconds Cooldown: 30 seconds
Book 2 Chapter 31 Entering the game the next day, I yelled out to Inkler, ¡°Hey buddy, breakfast time!¡± I had just gotten some more of the elk meat searing when I felt him rubbing against my hip. I just barely let both sides of his sear before tossing it to him, which he happily devoured. I spent a full hour and a half just constantly searing elk meat, as I wanted a lot on hand for my trip to the next dungeon. After that, I placed the boar belly I had gotten yesterday and started the process of curing it. Seven days in a cool, dark place with seasoning and curing salts outta do it, then I was wanting to smoke it. Once that was done, and the minor battle with Inkler who wanted to sample it already, I managed to make it out and towards Djarleen¡¯s shop. On the way I picked up my commission from the enchanter¡¯s and it turned out to be a cloak that would hide my name from identity as well as give the illusion that I was human. I was warned about it not working on any city guards, and I thanked them and paid three platinum for it. Expensive, but worth it. Just outside of Djarleen¡¯s shop, I remembered to pocket my ring. ¡°Angus! What is that slinking around behind you?¡± ¡°Morning Djarleen. This is Inkler. He chose me after we lost Alnoss, and now is rapidly growing as a battle pet.¡± ¡°Oh? I can see how a wonderful nightliger like that would make a fantastic companion for yourself. Are you going to make him a variant as well?¡± ¡°I would like to, do you have any ideas on what to do with him?¡± ¡°Oh my, yes I do. If you can get him enough fairy magic cores, you could give him illusion magic. Who needs a displacer beast when you can have several copies of your pet? Hmmm, adamantine claws would be fantastic, but that¡¯s a lot of claws to find. Venom from some of the southern desert beasts would do wonders, though if he attacks as savagely as I heard you do then it would be wasted. No point in damage over time if the enemy doesn¡¯t live for a long time.¡± By this point she was more muttering to herself, but both Inkler and I seemed fascinated. ¡°Steelpelt bears would toughen his hide, but he shouldn¡¯t be getting hit anyway. I¡¯VE GOT IT!¡± We both jumped when she yelled. ¡°Phase beasts. Find some dimensional cores from phase beasts, and you¡¯ve got the perfect upgrade.¡± Coming around from behind her counter, she got in Inkler¡¯s face and started scratching at his chin. ¡°How about it cutie? Do you want to be a terror that attacks and phases away before anyone can hit you? Of course you do, that¡¯s how you survive fights now isn¡¯t it? That and instilling terror in your foes. Yes, we love instilling terror, don¡¯t we?¡± By the end there I could sense a bit of discomfort at the bloodlust that Djarleen seemed to be automatically releasing. ¡°Anyway, we do need to be going. Do you know how much those dimensional cores would cost? Or where I could find them?¡± ¡°The most likely place to get them is off plane. For someone Inkler¡¯s size you would need at least a medium sized core as well, and those are going to cost you about five platinum per core.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± I muttered, thinking about what it would cost. If I were going for the weakest possibility, that would be 50 platinum. To boost him with a perfect dimensional core, that would be 50,000 platinum! ¡°That¡¯s an awful lot of coin.¡± ¡°Oh? Thinking of going with ten perfect dimensional cores?¡± ¡°Yep. If he can get a boost like I did out of it, it would be well worth it.¡± ¡°True, it probably would be. By the way if you are heading to the desert, I do have a few things to collect if you have the time.¡± ¡°Sure, what do you need?¡± ¡°Giant scorpion venom and desiccated bone dust. Both are fairly common drops, so I can¡¯t give a lot for them. Tell you what, for every set of ten, I¡¯ll give you 50 silver. Deal?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I said, quickly accepting the quest generated popup. It would only be a little bit, but it would be a start. Heading to the back of the store, I almost activated the transport before asking Djarleen. ¡°Hey, they aren¡¯t going to be upset with Inkler following me, will they?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, so long as he doesn¡¯t get into anything it should be fine. Just don¡¯t let the guildmaster experiment on him and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Thanks Djarleen, see you later.¡± She simply waved at us as we teleported to the alchemy guild. I hadn¡¯t warned Inkler about the transition, and to my dismay he handled it with ease. Smug bastard. Great, let¡¯s add insult to injury and have the front desk manned by Montgomery. ¡°Hello Montgomery, how are you today?¡± I asked as pleasantly as I could after waiting in the short line. ¡°What is that?¡± He asked with a sneer directed at Inkler. ¡°Why, that¡¯s my battle pet.¡± I said in a dark tone. Bastard didn¡¯t even want to pretend to be nice? Fine with me. ¡°And if you keep looking at him like that, you might just lose your head. See, feline companions are known for being headstrong about certain things. Even disobeying direct orders, because cats, ya know?¡± ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± He asked, in a tone that made sure that he thought himself untouchable. ¡°Whyever would I need to threaten a cheap bastard like you who has done nothing but be a pain in the ass ever since I met him? No, if I were threatening you I wouldn¡¯t be pointing out that while we have been talking, Inkler has crept around behind you and is holding his claws right next to your so very fragile neck.¡± Sure enough, Inkler let his claws just barely prick his neck. ¡°Now, there are two ways this can really go. You can apologize to Inkler, hoping he forgives you and lets you try and be nicer to me in the future. Or you can keep being a dick and I can see what it looks like when he uses [reality slash] on a living being.¡± Leaning in close, I whispered in his ear, ¡°I missed it in battle last time, and am kinda curious.¡± Stepping back, I was surprised to realize I missed Inkler¡¯s growth. After 11 levels, he went from waist high to just below my chest with paws the size of my face. No wonder Montgomery had quickly gone pale. ¡°I do apologize for my tone earlier, Inkler, was it? I shouldn¡¯t have taken out my mood on such a fine specimen of a nightliger as yourself.¡± I nodded to Inkler, but the damn cat let his claws prick just a bit harder to draw some blood, before he dropped back and sauntered to my side. Keeping Montgomery in his sight, he flicked out the same claws that he had used and started cleaning them with gusto. ¡°So.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°I was supposed to be getting a badge to let me roam in cities.¡± ¡°Ah. Master Faraldo has it, he will meet you in conference room 2.¡± ¡°Thanks Montgomery.¡± I said, and headed up. The conference room was empty, so I settled in for a wait. Soon enough he walked in with Grimlet, and sat down. ¡°Hey there Angus, and what lovely beastie do ya got there?¡± ¡°This is Inkler, he¡¯s a nightliger.¡± I said, and watched as the cat walked over and carefully sniffed the back of the outstretched dwarf¡¯s hand. Always a good judge of character, it didn¡¯t take him long to bump the hand on top of his head in a demand for scratches. ¡°Looks like you made a new friend.¡± ¡°Aye, and glad I am too. Nightliger¡¯s be fearsome, and I hear they enjoy tormenting secretaries.¡± ¡°Sorry about that, but Montgomery always gets on my nerves. I just didn¡¯t have the patience for it today.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°No worries lad. We all know he can be a bit, prickly. Nobody¡¯s gonna hold his accusations against ya. We do have this badge for ya ta wear, and all the major cities have been warned not to be messin¡¯ around with ya.¡± He slid the badge across the table. Looking it over, it was a silver mortar and pestle with a gold edging around the octagonal shape. ¡°Just clip it to whatever yer wearin¡¯, and should a guard give you trouble tap it three times quickly. That¡¯ll send a signal to the nearest guild member, who¡¯ll be more than happy to set ¡®em straight. I hear that yer goin¡¯ to the southern desert next?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the plan. Anything I should look out for when I¡¯m gone?¡± ¡°Yah. There be an armored lizard you should look into. Their scales can shift position, and reflect magical attacks. I doubt anyone¡¯ll ever be able to get a physical attack to hit this beauty, but magic attacks tend to home in on their target and you¡¯ll want some defense against that.¡± ¡°Huh, I hadn¡¯t thought of that. What do you say Inkler? Do you want to become a phase shifting variant? One that can create magical illusions about yourself? Or one that can deflect magic?¡± He stayed fairly still for the first two, and his tail started flicking in excitement for the last one. ¡°Phase shifting? Dear lord boyo, I already know some nightmare creatures. Why would you want to create something that would add to ¡®em?¡± ¡°Because I want Inkler to be the strongest, most dangerous battle pet out there?¡± ¡°Ah, fair enough I suppose. Now, if ya don¡¯t mind I need to get going. Grimlet here is trying out as an apprentice alchemist for a bit.¡± ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t know you could try out for those things.¡± ¡°Well, after everything went down I made a rather public split with my clan.¡± Grimlet spoke up from behind Faraldo. ¡°I ended up joining the crafters clan, and they are letting me try several professions before I join up so that I can see what I like.¡± ¡°Rather public! Ha!¡± Faraldo chuckled. ¡°You¡¯lda been proud o¡¯ him Angus. He went in there in front o¡¯ the king and council, and laid out what all his clan had done. Was granted the split per dwarf custom, and his old clan be kicked out o¡¯ the entire kingdom on pain of death.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You always seemed like a straight shooter, and I¡¯m glad you found a clan that will help you grow.¡± ¡°Thanks. If there¡¯s ever anything I can do for you, send me a PM, ok?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try. Not sure monster races can communicate with light siders like that, but if nothing else I¡¯ll send something through Master Faraldo here, as long as you two don¡¯t mind?¡± ¡°Fine by me.¡± Both dwarves declared, and Master Faraldo stood up and offered his hand. ¡°Angus, I¡¯ll be here too if you ever need anything. Though the closest when you travel will be Mad Mardigan, and I sincerely hope that nobody tries messing with you. He¡¯s liable to level a portion of the city.¡± He said the last bit with a shudder, and headed out with Grimlet. They headed upstairs, while I headed downstairs to the area with the transport circles. I was happy to see a golem in the wall by the one we would normally take back home. Its eyes flashed red, then turned green as we neared, another good sign. Instead of heading home, we went three doors down to the one marked Al Paranda. * * * * * * * * * * * * * We exited the transport circle into the back room of a shop that was set up almost identically to Djarleen¡¯s. ¡°Just know, if you¡¯re here to steal stuff I will find you!¡± I recognized the voice of Mardigan from the front, he must be doing something that prevented him from coming back here. I flicked the hood up and activated the enchantment, adding the button from the guild. Sure enough, after a minute Mardigan came storming through the blanket that separated rooms and froze in confusion. ¡°I know damn near everyone in the guild, but I don¡¯t recognize you. You have five seconds to say something before you get randomly potioned. Five.¡± ¡°Greetings, Vice guildmaster.¡± I said almost immediately. I didn¡¯t want to find out what a random potion from an alchemical master could do. ¡°I¡¯m glad my disguise worked, if you didn¡¯t recognize me then the players wouldn¡¯t either. It¡¯s me, Angus.¡± I dropped the hood to reveal my face, and he immediately relaxed. ¡°Angus! Wow, Faraldo really put that badge through quick, didn¡¯t he? I know you have some business here, but I do have some words of warning if you want.¡± ¡°From a local? Damn straight I want some words of warning.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Right, just had to be sure. Some of you adventurer¡¯s are rather stubborn about advice. Anyway, the deeper into the desert you go the stronger the enemies you¡¯ll find. Bring three times the amount of water you think you¡¯ll need, you are going to go through it a lot quicker than you thought. Also, the stronger monsters come out at night. Any undead you see will pretty much double in strength at night as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know about the undead, as that¡¯s what I¡¯m hunting. Ever heard of a lich in these parts?¡± ¡°Lich? Oh, you poor bastard, are you talking about Zandkazaar?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, all I have to go on is a lich that is fusing the bodies of living creatures and crafting undead. Sound like your guy?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s Zandkazaar. You really need to be properly prepared when you go against him. He lives in the deepest part of the desert, and uses a mix of undead and flesh golems. The worst part is that you can only access his hideout at night.¡± ¡°Well, can you point me in the direction of something that would work?¡± ¡°Sunburst potions to start with, I can show you how to brew ¡®em. Bone dust from the desiccated dead, as well as pollen from the sunlight flowers you¡¯ll see growing along the edge of the desert are the easiest ingredients to get.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the hardest thing to get?¡± ¡°Caught that, did ya? Pristine oasis water. There are a few places I can mark on your map to get it. Here you go.¡± Taking my map, he quickly jotted down three locations and handed it back. ¡°Good luck, and don¡¯t forget your hood.¡± ¡°Thanks, I appreciate it.¡± I said, heading out after flipping up my hood. The city was vastly different than the drakeling¡¯s. People dressed in light, flowing robes and showed an impressive amount of skin. They also avoided the midday heat by basically shutting down the marketplace and hiding under awnings when they could. The few guards I saw patrolling went with minimal leather armor and at least one scimitar. Several dropped the buckler of their fellows in order to have a second blade. I meandered about, looking for an inn to stay at. Mardigan had steered me well, and answered most of my questions. I was planning on heading out at night, as I figured I would consume much less water and the darkness would help Inkler with his hiding. Eventually I found something worthwhile, and just in time as several passing guards had given me side glances. Each time I made sure that my badge was on display, but that still didn¡¯t stop them from walking around with their hands on the pommels of their swords. Walking inside, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. I was hopefully going to be staying at the Djinn¡¯s Inn. ¡°Greetings!¡± A jovial fat man rounded the counter, freezing at the sight of Inkler and me. ¡°Customers?¡± ¡°If you¡¯ll have us.¡± I said, trying to be nonthreatening. ¡°Sure sure, come back here for a second.¡± He led us back to a small, private room with pillows on the ground for sitting. ¡°Inkler, don¡¯t destroy the pillows.¡± I said, glaring at him as he was already shaking his rump back and forth in preparation to pounce. Instead, he returned my glare and walked over and plopped down to groom his paw, as if that were his intention all along. ¡°Not fooling me.¡± ¡°So.¡± The innkeeper said, shutting the door. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to put this out there right now. I know you are one of the drakelings, and likely every shopkeeper here will know as well.¡± At my confused expression he added, ¡°We all have the same identify skills the guards have. Do you have permission to be here?¡± ¡°Got it through the alchemist guild.¡± I said, pointing to my badge. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be spending most of my time here exploring the desert and killing things.¡± ¡°Oh good.¡± He said, visibly relaxing. ¡°Then welcome, customer! I am Abdurab, and it will be one silver per night. That¡¯ll be for food for yourself and your nightliger. Judging by his size, he seems to be around level 30? 35?¡± ¡°Just hit 28, do you know about them?¡± ¡°Not much, they tend to be from further west than what we are now. But they grow as they level. Waist high at 10, chest at 30, and shoulder above 50. If they should reach level 100, then you¡¯ll be the one coming up to their chest.¡± ¡°Wow, I had no idea you were gonna get that big buddy.¡± I said, patting Inkler¡¯s sides. ¡°Soon enough you¡¯ll be eatin¡¯ the whole elk, right?¡± Standing back up, I held out a hand for the innkeeper to shake. ¡°I think we will be accepting your offer, thank you.¡± We shook hands, and I handed over five silver. ¡°I figure we¡¯ll be here a few days for sure, so here.¡± ¡°Paying ahead? Oh what wonderful customers. Here, your key good sir. Second floor, room three. Would you be insulted if we had the food delivered for you? It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, but that your Inkler would make several of our guests rather nervous.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. If you don¡¯t mind, I have a few things I need to be doing. Will my key work if I come back late at night?¡± ¡°Night? You¡¯re going out to the desert at night? That¡¯s madness good sir! The undead, they get stronger at night, and several of the stronger predators come out as well!¡± He seemed rather panicked. ¡°Inkler and I will show them what true predators are.¡± I said with confidence, while Inkler gave an extended yawn to show off his teeth. ¡°Of course sir.¡± Abdurab said as the color drained from his face. ¡°Yes, your key will let you in no matter the hour. Gggooood luck.¡± He stuttered the last bit, opening the door for us. ¡°I¡¯ll have some dinner delivered in a bit.¡± We headed up to our room, and killed a few minutes just relaxing. Soon enough there was a knock at the door, and the owner was there with a dish that resembled a gyro for me and what looked like an entire goat leg for Inkler. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said to his retreating back, as he fled the moment the food was securely on the bedside table. ¡°I think you are getting rather terrifying Inkler. I can only imagine what you can do when full sized.¡± Dropping the leg in front of him, he went at it with gusto. I ate rather quickly, and told him, ¡°Listen. I¡¯m going to relax for a bit, then we can head out hunting tonight.¡± He seemed to be ignoring me for the food, so I laid down on the bed and logged out. Book 2 Chapter 32 Several hours after I had logged back into the game, I finished killing yet another one of those infernal lizards. ¡°Oh, just an armored lizard Angus. No need to worry, you and Inkler will be able to handle it.¡± I mocked Master Faraldo¡¯s voice. Those lizards that he made out to be little ended up being taller than me. The males would work alone, but the females always had two or three adolescents with them. Bastards ended up being around level 65, with the younger ones being in the 50s. The only good part of this whole ordeal was that I had finished my weekly kill list and had started gaining levels like mad. I didn¡¯t devote any of the deaths to Thanatos, as I needed to get scales for Inkler. I sat down and started to do the math. Each adult lizard dropped three to five scales, but I wondered what would be required for turning him into a variant. I decided to assume ten sets of ten scales. If they were dropping average scales, I would have given up. Luckily I had found a work around. If you let them charge up to you, their initial move would be to spit poison at you. If you timed it right, you could fire a bolt through the soft palate of the mouth and into their brain, killing or gravely injuring them. That let them drop almost exclusively superior scales, cutting the necessary number from 100,000 down to a manageable 1,000. I couldn¡¯t use the ones from the younger ones, but had still managed to collect 146 so far. So why was I being grumpy about killing the lizards? Well, they didn¡¯t exactly stop when you shot them in the mouth, and I was sick of getting bowled over. As large as they were, they were surprisingly agile on the sands and I only managed to use [Dancing shadow steps] to get out of the way one out of every three lizards. Inkler was happy to sit back and watch me struggle beneath the bodies. Luckily looting them destroyed the body, so I wasn¡¯t trapped for good. ¡°Sure, sit there and be smug. I would too if I only had to take out the little ones.¡± I snarked at him. ¡°Mrow.¡± Agile as the younger ones were, they were no match for Inkler. He quickly figured out that their armor worked best at deflecting attacks from the front and sides, but were practically worthless when the magic attack came from the rear. Thanks to his efforts, we also were amassing a rather large amount of lizard tail meat, which I really hoped ended up tasting like alligator. I just needed to find a way to deep fry it. As much killing as we had done, we still had only barely breached the edge of the desert. From what I could tell the sunlight flowers formed the basis of the ecosystem here, and they really looked a lot like sunflowers in real life. The pollen was easy to obtain, and I had nearly 200 vials already. Hopefully that would be enough for my assault. Eating the sunlight flowers, and whatever else they could find, were large click beetles. With levels in the low 50s, they were the next rung, and probably the main food for the lizards. They weren¡¯t the only thing that had a taste for beetle though. Giant, flightless birds that would make the Australian army run in fear called cassowacks roamed the sands as well. I assumed there would be much deadlier creatures deeper in. Every so often we would encounter a desiccated dead. Think of a mummy without the bandages, and you¡¯ve got yourself a fine desert undead creature. They had a nasty habit of hiding in the sand and erupting in an ambush attack, like they were some sort of antlion. Burying themselves also had the unfortunate effect of hiding them from my [Mystic vision], and I had to resort to tripping their traps with my shadowgheist. Their drops were odd too. I understood what the desiccated bone dust would be good for, but who would ever want a tendon that looked like beef jerkey? Even with the boost to their stats, a level 50 undead was no real match for the speed of myself and Inkler. I would often draw their attention while he circled around and crippled their legs. A few swings of the hammer later, and one less undead wandering the sands. We had just cleared the nearest of the oasis marked on my map when the first false light of dawn appeared, and I made the call to head back. ¡°Hey bud, what do you say to heading back and sleeping away the day? I¡¯ll see if the kitchen will prepare you one of those gigantic cassowack legs, and you can tell me if they taste like chicken, deal?¡± Note to self: when your battle pet is tall enough to rest their head on most tables, make sure you have stable footing when you do something to make them happy. Inkler went for a head butt to the chest with some purring, but I slipped in the sand and ended up with a nightliger rolling around on top of me. A few minutes of wrestling later, and we were headed back toward the city. By the time we reached the gates, things were looking pretty good for one night of work. I had jumped up to level 55, Inkler was at 42, and we had 170 plates and 30 vials of the bone dust. The kitchen was more than happy to slightly sear the cassowack leg for Inkler, and promised it would be up in about 20 minutes. I waited for them to deliver it before logging off and heading home for some well-deserved sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mike¡¯s POV ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± I asked Frank as I plopped into a seat in his office. ¡°That kid¡¯s got us running like a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest.¡± He replied with a sigh. ¡°There¡¯s some great ideas in there, but we are running on the assumption that he will take a week to get what he wants done in game. After looking at his progress, I doubt it¡¯ll be that long.¡± ¡°Really? Anything I can do?¡± ¡°Yeah. Give me your overtime budget for the quarter, and I¡¯ll sleep easier. Well, sleep once we get this stuff done.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be that hard to come up with a backstory?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°That¡¯s not all of it though. We have five people dedicated to that, along with three artists drawing things like mad. But we want to have the monster party system installed in a few days as well, and somehow it got hard coded in that monsters can¡¯t form parties with other races.¡± ¡°Oh shit.¡± ¡°Oh shit is right. I got a few people trying a workaround, but it¡¯s another pain in the ass that shouldn¡¯t have been an issue.¡± ¡°Well, I have the cure for that!¡± I said, pulling out a cold one. ¡°Ice cold brewski?¡± ¡°Your offering to the gods of programming is accepted.¡± He said, happily taking the beer. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s perfect. Is it Friday already?¡± ¡°Almost six on Friday. You and your crew should have been done an hour ago.¡± I pointed out.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Damn. Tell ya what, can you go and grab a thirty pack of those? Use my card.¡± He said, sliding said card across his desk. ¡°My team deserves it after what I¡¯ve put them through this week. Oh, grab a few sodas as well, would ya? There¡¯s a few non-drinkers on the team.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why they¡¯re always willing to do the crazy hours for you.¡± I said with a chuckle. I headed toward the door, stopping in the frame and turning back to him. ¡°Do you think he can pull it off?¡± ¡°If he does manage it, there¡¯s gonna be shockwaves through the game community. People will go through a lot to get a divine tier object, especially the monster races.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll be pure chaos.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°And chaos brings in new players.¡± Frank said with a grin. ¡°Now, go forth servant, and return with our drinks!¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± I said with a mocking salute. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV ¡°You look like you have sand in unmentionable places.¡± Derrick chuckled as I meandered in to the caf¨¦ the next afternoon. I stopped to stare at him for a bit, before deciding that it didn¡¯t warrant a return volley and simply sat down. Perhaps some sugar would help? Combing through the menu, I saw the customization option and set about giving myself virtual diabetes. ¡°Dear god, what in the world is all that?¡± Phoebe asked, horror on her face. ¡°Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry jam and maple syrup.¡± I replied, before taking a massive bite. They were fluffy, syrupy, and stacked three high. ¡°God, I would give my left leg for these in real life.¡± I muttered, eyes rolling in ecstasy. ¡°That much sugar and they might take both of your legs if you aren¡¯t careful.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m eating it in here?¡± ¡°Ah, digital immersion.¡± Jon said with a sigh. ¡°The land where you can eat what you want, not gain a pound, and never need to worry about sunblock.¡± ¡°Here, here!¡± I lifted my glass of orange juice in salute. ¡°That¡¯s it, I¡¯m emailing the devs.¡± Phoebe declared. ¡°Your teeth should be rotting out of your face right now.¡± ¡°Please, no!¡± I mock cried. ¡°Leave me my simple pleasures. Tis all I¡¯ve got left!¡± ¡°Here hun, your favorite.¡± Jon finished tapping on his own menu, and a stack of pancakes appeared that he slid over to Phoebe. ¡°Bananas foster pancakes.¡± ¡°THE BEAST HAS BEEN PACIFIED, PRAISE THE SUN!¡± Derrick said, standing up with his arms raised. Phoebe glared at him with her mouth full, pointing an empty fork in his direction. ¡°Never gonna apologize for that.¡± Derrick said with a smile, causing Jon and I to finally lose the laughter we had been suppressing. ¡°Aaaaah, I needed that.¡± Jon said when we could finally get control of ourselves. ¡°So how¡¯s the desert?¡± ¡°Hot and dry. Little sandy. Other than that, it¡¯s fairly nice.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Phoebe asked, disbelieving. ¡°Oh yeah. Giant lizards that spit poison, undead that hid themselves in the sand, what more could a guy ask for?¡± ¡°Hah, you¡¯ve barely scratched the surface!¡± Derrick laughed at me. ¡°Wait until you start finding the djinni.¡± ¡°Those are nothing.¡± Jon said shaking his head. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear the complaints about the hydrorpions.¡± ¡°Just what in the hell is a hydrorpion?¡± I asked, voice tinged with horror. ¡°The devs love combining creatures it seems. Imagine a scorpion with a varying number of tails, like a hydra has heads. Each tail gets a different poison, and they can have up to nine tails.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you guys are forgetting one very important thing.¡± Phoebe broke in. ¡°Marty here has poison immunity, so he doesn¡¯t really have to worry about those tails.¡± ¡°Speaking of that poison immunity.¡± I started, ¡°Have you guys thought about variants?¡± ¡°Not really, I figured that players would get to become variants on their evolution.¡± Jon said. ¡°Well, it just so happens that there is a way if you gather enough materials. I can see if my contacts at the alchemy guild will let me turn you guys into variants. All you have to do is gather the materials.¡± ¡°Hold up, what all are we talking about here?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°I can see the benefit to us, but what about you? What are you getting out of it that I¡¯m missing?¡± ¡°Paranoid Derrick?¡± I asked with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to boost my alchemy skills. But you guys can choose your own items and what you want boosted, I just think you should try and use perfect materials. They gave me a bonus, and it¡¯ll take 10 of the previous tier to boost up. If all you find are average items, it¡¯ll take 1,000 of them to reach one perfect item.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an awful lot of grinding.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Is it really worth it?¡± ¡°I think so. I can see mana, even inside a body. The other option was to increase the distance I could see it.¡± ¡°Any drawbacks to becoming a variant?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Well, you will lose mana for 24 hours. It can get overwhelmed if you choose a sensory variant. I¡¯ve been blinded by intense magic before, and that hurts.¡± ¡°Are there any limits to what you can choose?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°You can only have one, so choose wisely. Other than that, I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Well, what all are we looking for? I can only imagine the havoc Derrick could cause if his mana regenerated as fast as his health.¡± Jon pointed out. ¡°Oh god, I want. I WANT!¡± Derrick shouted. ¡°Give me massive mana regen, my health regen, and a mana shield spell and I will. Be. UNSTOPPABLE!!!!¡± ¡°There goes his inner warlord.¡± Phoebe said, shaking her head. ¡°Thankfully for anyone who might run across Derrick in game mana regen boosts are usually limited to locations. What about you hun?¡± ¡°You know, I could probably go for some troll regeneration.¡± Jon said thoughtfully. ¡°It would take out some of my squishiness. You?¡± ¡°I want a speed boost, but I¡¯m not sure how to get it.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Speed does win most fights.¡± Derrick nodded sagely, or tried to. ¡°Sage advice, from the lumbering troll.¡± Phoebe chuckled. ¡°Instead of speed, why don¡¯t you try and get some stealth? You already do massive physical damage, can you imagine what you can do with some crits from stealth?¡± Jon asked, and Phoebe¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s only a one off thing.¡± ¡°Unless you can break line of sight.¡± Derrick pointed out. ¡°Hell, imagine the havoc the two of you could cause if Jon learned to make illusions of you and you could teleport around the battlefield.¡± We all froze at the implications of that. Jon already healed her when he cast his curses, add in some distractions and that would be a nightmare of a fight for any group. ¡°Can we do that hun? Pleeeeeeease?¡± Phoebe practically begged. ¡°Oh alright. What do I need? Magic cores from fairies? That shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Looks like we will be trying to find a portal to some of the lower planes for you though Phoebe.¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s finish up this quest first, then we can use the planes to reach our max level. What about Derrick though? He¡¯s got that sword to cut through spells, attacks with his own spells, and has a troll¡¯s regeneration. What more could you really need?¡± ¡°Heh, the only thing he can¡¯t do is revive himself.¡± I chuckled, but stopped when everyone started staring at me. ¡°Think of the horror. You just spent a boatload of resources wearing down and finally slaying the giant who keeps pummeling you with magic. Your mage was particularly useless, as any distance spell got cut down with an anti-magic blade. After you finally manage to overcome his insane regeneration and slay the creature, it revives a few feet away at half health and climbing, ready for more. Guess who¡¯s going to start hunting phoenix hearts? This guy!¡± Derrick had developed a rather manic gleam in his eyes, and I was starting to fear what I had unleashed with an off-hand comment. ¡°And on that note, I have to head out to the game. Wouldn¡¯t want my cat to think I¡¯m dead and would make a good dinner.¡± Standing up, I waved to everyone before heading back to my apartment. I didn¡¯t really know why I felt the need to go there, as everything was digital, but I did notice that all of us did it. Shrugging, I headed through the Oblivion door and entered the game for another night of battle. Book 2 Chapter 33 ¡°This is going to happen every time I wake up, isn¡¯t it?¡± I grumbled as I tried to remove a larger Inkler from my chest. He didn¡¯t seem too keen on the idea, shifting and rolling in that way only cats seem to manage and getting even more of his bulk on my chest. ¡°Ooof! Come on bud, time to get up.¡± I managed to weeze. He cracked an eye to look at me, then closed it again. Getting fed up a bit, I grabbed ahold of him and practically threw the both of us off the bed. Finally free of the beast, I was able to head to the door and see that there was a covered tray of food for me and another cassowack leg for Inkler. Once he had polished off his food, and I mine, we headed out for some more hunting. Once again we hit the lizards fairly hard, but tried to avoid other fights. We easily cleared the first oasis, and harvested ten canteens of water from it. I tried for more, as there was plenty of water, but I got a popup informing me that I had reached the limit for that oasis for 24 hours. Annoying, but probably a good thing.
Scorprican Lvl 70 Those who live with the desert know to fear these armored creatures. You can accurately judge their strength based on the number of tails, at least one of which will always have a paralytic poison. They have a tendency to strike their victim in the legs, preventing them from fleeing.
Annoying pests. The tops of the tails of the smaller ones came up to mid-thigh, and there were never less than three at a time. The stronger ones did tend to gather in smaller groups, but that was their only redeeming feature. I was guaranteed at least two kills right off the bat, as piercing their armor with my arbalest and the [Arrows that pierce the day] was child¡¯s play. Inkler made himself known by severing the legs along one side, crippling one. We made a good team, though I was frustrated with my stone manipulation. Sand just didn¡¯t respond the same way, and stone grasp just didn¡¯t work. The hand would form, but it would burst apart with ease. Instead of that, I made a whirlpool of sand. The shifting caused whatever was in it to bog down, at least until they unburied themselves. The experience was rolling in, and I ended up sacrificing any scorprican that had more than three tails to Thanatos, as they counted as champion monsters. They only dropped varying poisons along with some armor plates anyway, and none of it was any stronger than what the weaker ones dropped. The second oasis we came to was actually the one furthest from town, and we really only wandered this way because it was so far off the beaten path. As we crested the last dune before it, I stopped with Inkler to admire the view. Lush grass covered the area of two football fields, and in the middle was a lake of crystal blue water. There were palm trees as well as some red and blue flowers that I was interested in. Perhaps this desert was concealing some hidden alchemy reagents? Just outside the oasis, was the largest scorprican we had seen all day.
Malignatalis Scorprican king Level 85 This king of beasts rules a large portion of the desert. The strongest of the scorpricans, retreat should be both plan A and plan B should you encounter him, especially if you lack a detoxify spell.
¡°Awesome, boss fight!¡± It was looking to be a good fight too. His pincers were at my head level, and his black and red armor gleamed in the moonlight. ¡°Ok Inkler, here¡¯s how we¡¯re gonna play it. I¡¯ll distract, I want you underneath his body. Stay near the edge, just in case he drops and tries to crush you. As soon as you can, I want you to keep using your [Reality slash] on his joints, taking out the legs on one side.¡± He headbutted me in the hand, giving me a raspy lick from his tongue before trotting off to one side. I lined up a shot with my arbalest, and fired a bolt right into the creature¡¯s mouth. ¡°SKRRRREEEEEEEEEE!!!¡± It shrieked and clicked it¡¯s pincers in annoyance, appalled that a creature smaller than itself would dare to cause it pain. ¡°I got more where that came from! Come and get it!¡± Changing my aim to the joint in one of his pincers, I chanted, ¡°Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of [Arrows that pierce the day].¡± The bolt sheared through a portion of the claw, damaging it horrendously. It wasn¡¯t shorn completely off, but it was closing much slower than the other one. That didn¡¯t do anything to slow down those tails though! ¡°[Dancing shadow steps]!¡± I hurriedly activated the skill, as all nine tails came down in a roughly square formation. Had I not had a movement skill, at least one of them would have skewered me instead of a shower of sand. Instead I had an up close and personal view of the injured pincer as it headed towards my neck. Unfortunately for the creature, I was hoping for just that reaction. ¡°[Overcharge].¡± I calmly activated my skill, unleashing the blow onto the already weakened joint. With a loud crack and an accompanying screech from the scorprican, the pincer lost the mobile part. I tried to move away from the injured beast, but it had much better traction on the sand and sent me flying with a backhand from its injured claw. Rolling with the landing as much as I could, I saw the creature had turned from attacking me and was trying to get to where it could attack Inkler. He was holding on to one of the back legs. ¡°Hold on Inkler, I¡¯m coming!¡± I charged in again, and somehow amid all the twirling of the creature ended up on the same side as Inkler. As I saw a leg coming to plant itself near me, I wound up for the mother of all home run swings. ¡°[Keen edge][Rocket slash]!¡± I had no idea if those skills would stack together, but it was worth a try. As the leg hit the ground, my scythe shattered the armor it hit so hard. Without the armor to support the weight, the leg buckled. This happily coincided with Inkler finally managing to savage his way through a second leg, further weakening support on that side. ¡°Clear out Inkler, he¡¯s dropping!¡± I shouted, though I didn¡¯t have to worry. Inkler was already clear of the leg, but had instead leapt onto the base of the tails. It would have been a brilliant idea, as they couldn¡¯t strike near their base, but he forgot about the lack of grip on the armor. Damnit, as the creature started to right itself, Inkler fell off and bogged down in the sand. I had to do something fast. ¡°[Arrows that pierce the day]!¡± I fired another bolt into the creature¡¯s face to get his attention, distracting it enough for Inkler to get away. It tried to smash me with an overhand blast from one of its pincers, and though I managed to dive out of the way it still knocked me on my face. ¡°Gyaaaaaahhh!¡± I cried out in pain as my back was pierced by one of the stingers. Thinking me out for a while, the scorprican started looking around for Inkler once again. I downed one of my few remaining health potions, cursing myself for not stocking back up on them and mana potions. Inkler had hooked his claws into one of the joints, and was hanging on for dear life. ¡°Hold on buddy, I¡¯m coming.¡± I said, reloading my arbalest. Once again the scorprican took a bolt to the face, dropping its health into critical range. This triggered a rage, and it started slamming its tails and pincers into the ground in front of it.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps]!¡± Desperation tinged my voice as I made it underneath the creature where Inkler soon joined me. ¡°Let¡¯s let this pass for a bit, then we can take out the remaining legs, ok bud?¡± I asked, patting his head. He rubbed against me, and as the blows slowed we darted out from underneath the boss and started on the remaining two legs. I let Inkler have the one near the back, and used another [Overcharge] with the last of my mana on the front leg. We didn¡¯t manage to get through both legs, but we damaged them enough that as soon as it started to move, the weight was too much and it toppled onto its side. ¡°Hang back Inkler, those tails are nasty.¡± I shouted at him, happy to see him dart out of range. Meanwhile, I charged in and started attacking the arm joint of the working pincer. With a few well-placed blows from my hammer, the joint was locked in an unusable position. ¡°That, was a fun battle.¡± I said while panting. The scorprican tried to stab me with its tails, but I was too close in for them to be effective. It couldn¡¯t move, only gnash its mandibles in annoyance at me. Not wanting to prolong its suffering, I managed to make my way on top of the head and smash down with my hammer until the armor plating cracked. Once I had it starting to flake off, I flipped my weapon around and started blows with the point of the scythe, and soon enough the boss perished. The results of the battle were fantastic. I had jumped up to level 58 from the battles with the smaller scorpricans, and fighting a level 85 boss monster solo brought me up to 62. Inkler was rapidly closing the gap, having jumped up to level 54. At some point I had crossed the 500 mark for higher level enemies killed, adding another percent to my damage and unlocking the next tier at 5,000 kills. But the high point was the loot drops.
Scorprican king¡¯s hardened cuirass Set item (1/4) Crafted from the armor plates of Malignatalis, this sleek black armor will instill fear in any foe. Defense: 375 Durability: 10,000/10,000 Self repairing: recovers 100 durability/min outside of combat Fear aura: Generates a fear aura around user. Adds 15% poison resistance
Scorprican king¡¯s chitin bracers Set item (1/4) Crafted from the armor plates of Malignatalis, the spines on these bracers add to both offense and defense. Defense: 70 Durability: 6,000/6,000 Self repairing: recovers 100 durability/min outside of combat Poison booster: poisons used last 45% longer Thorned defense: Melee attackers take 8% reflected damage
Weapon skills evolved! Your living weapon has evolved new skills! Limb Lopper: When using an edge enhancing skill, increased chance to remove limbs when striking a joint Poison infusion: Your weapon has consumed the venom glands of a king scorprican. Increased chance to inflict random poisons on strike. Boss bane: Deals an additional 15% damage to boss type monsters Auto repair: Weapon will automatically initiate repairs. Essence taken from health regeneration when out of combat, from damage inflicted when in combat.
Bloodsteel and Shadow mithril Hammerscythe (Soulbound, Scalable) lvl 102 (40 kobold +62) This weapon was specially commissioned for a neophyte of Thanatos. Infusing the steel with his blood and certain herbs, along with the heart of a creature slain by his own hand has inexorably linked the two. It will grow with its owner, and has branching potential trees that can be unlocked depending on its usage. Living Weapon: Durability can be repaired by sacrificing the life force of either the wielder or enemies. Soulbound: Can¡¯t be stolen or dropped upon death Scalable: Stats dependent upon the level of the wielder Executioner: +10% increased chance for decapitation when striking the neck of an enemy. Holy Strike: 20% of damage done will be added as holy damage Heavy Armor Bane: Ignore 10% of opponent¡¯s armor if heavily armored, Enemy heavy armor takes 50% more durability damage Undead bane: +15% damage to undead, +15% critical chance vs undead. Voracious: Can absorb materials to improve itself. Piercing intercept ¨C Your weapon has a chance to intercept and negate damage from a piercing attack. In exchange, it will lose 10% durability. Limb Lopper: When using an edge enhancing skill, increased chance to remove limbs when striking a joint Poison infusion: Your weapon has consumed the venom glands of a king scorprican. Increased chance to inflict random poisons on strike. Boss bane: Deals an additional 15% damage to boss type monsters Auto repair: Weapon will automatically initiate repairs. Essence taken from health regeneration when out of combat, from damage inflicted when in combat. Damage: 992-1007 Crushing, 957-997 Slashing Durability: 500000/500000
Achievement Action Bonus Next level
Who¡¯s the boss now? Solo a boss 25 levels higher than you -10% damage received from boss fights Solo 3 bosses 25 levels higher than you
I wasn¡¯t even that mad that my weapon ate one of my rewards. As it stands, I still had one more ability it could achieve. It was just a pity that the armor set I received was plate armor. Between that and the fear aura, I wouldn¡¯t be doing much ambushing if I equipped it. Instead I hoped to trade it in for a high end armor set that I could actually use, the ones made from the tunneling worm hide was starting to get a bit outleveled. ¡°Pity it didn¡¯t drop any meat, right Inkler?¡± I asked as I plopped onto the sands. ¡°I bet it would be great dipped in butter. Scorpions are just like desert crabs, right?¡± Poor cat had no idea what I was talking about, but took the initiative to knock me over with his head. ¡°Gah, blasted cat. You¡¯re going to do a bit of growing tonight, aren¡¯t you? We should probably hit up the oasis and head back.¡± There were no enemies as we entered the oasis, which was good since I was exhausted. I grabbed our ten vials of water and started collecting flowers. Sunlight flowers, blue moon blossoms, and dripping heart¡¯s blood. Interesting names. The blue ones actually had a silvery white core with blue tinges on the edge of the petals, and resembled a lilac with clusters of smaller flowers. The dripping heart¡¯s blood opened up like a lily, and the petal tips formed a bright red drop. The palm trees we had seen didn¡¯t have anything worth harvesting, and the grass was useless. ¡°You about ready bud?¡± I asked with a yawn. We had spent nearly half an hour relaxing around the oasis. Well, I did. Inkler was pouncing and rubbing among the flowers, apparently having the time of his life. Reluctantly he headed over, and we slaughtered our way back to the city. The scorpricans seemed a bit more scarce, something I wasn¡¯t about to complain about or bring attention to. Bad luck to notice things like that. As we walked into the city, I took a look at our gains. I was at level 63, Inkler was at 55. We had nearly 200 armor plates, 150 various poison vials, 350 sunlight flower pollen, 225 lizard plates, 103 dripping heart¡¯s blood flowers and 78 of the blue moon blossoms. In addition to all that, arrows that pierce the day had jumped to beginner level 8 and reality slash was up to beginner 4. ¡°Inkler, tomorrow I¡¯m going to have to do a bit of alchemy brewing in the afternoon, do you want me to let you sleep at the inn? It¡¯s going to be boring when I head out.¡± He seemed to ponder it for a bit, then gave a single nod before plodding on. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll leave you a cassowack leg to enjoy.¡± That got some purring, and a happy nightliger plastered to my hip. Entering the inn, we silently made our way to the room to log out for the night. Book 2 Chapter 34 The next afternoon I got up and exited the inn, making sure that my guild button was prominently displayed and that I had my disguise hood up. The players ran about their merry lives, never suspecting a thing about the cloaked figure walking the streets. Probably because I saw no less than twelve other players hiding behind hoods despite the heat of the day. As I neared the bazaar, there were a lot more guard patrols but I paid it no mind. More people meant more crimes of opportunity, so it made sense to me. Unfortunately, the vast majority of merchants weren¡¯t too thrilled with my presence. I didn¡¯t even have to ask a question most times, as they would sit up immediately upon seeing my shadow, see my face, and slump back down and grimace. I just shrugged and moved on, not interested in dealing with anyone who behaved like that. Bastards would probably try and fleece me. Towards one of the edges of the crowd, I saw a group of old men taking turns smoking a hookah. Walking up, I was surprised that none of them gave me a second glance. ¡°Excuse me sirs, would one of you happen to sell armor?¡± I asked. They all looked me up and down, casually blowing smoke. ¡°Salmahim. He¡¯s got the look of a rogue, you¡¯re up.¡± A balding, portly fellow lumbered to his feet, obviously this Salmahim fellow. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you got on.¡± Peering at me, his brow furrowed. ¡°Tunneling worm leather, eh? How did you manage to take one of them down? They¡¯re as notorious as the colossal sandsharks you can find in the deepest desert.¡± Hoping that the truth of the story would help out, I told him, ¡°Built a trap. As it came at me, spikes came up and spitted it. The thrashing just hastened its death.¡± ¡°Heh, can only do that in the rocky tunnels though, a sandshark¡¯ll just swim right around traps like that. Might even tap it with his fin outta boredom.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± I agreed with a nod. ¡°The biggest part of my traps success was that the worm could only come at me in one direction.¡± ¡°Alright, what level range are you looking for?¡± ¡°Level 100 leather set if you have it. Pay by trade and coin, whatever you¡¯ll take.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll be takin¡¯ it all if you keep talking like that. Now, I got some leathers, that part¡¯s easy. What I don¡¯t have is the set to go with it.¡± Pulling out a few samples, I saw some lightly enchanted leathers made from the hide of the lizards. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize the lizards dropped leathers. All I get is a bit of meat and some of their armor plates.¡± I mentioned in an offhand manner. ¡°Ah, you lack the skill. Get skinning and butchery up to at least advanced and you¡¯ll start getting the skins of most beasts. Or have someone in the party with the skill.¡± ¡°That makes sense. And let me guess.¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s a lizard equivalent to Malignatalis out there.¡± ¡°MIND YOUR TONGUE!¡± Salmahim hissed, as he and several others made some sort of sign against evil. ¡°Lest the nine tails come and hunt you!¡± ¡°I fear no scorpion of these sands.¡± I said, pulling one of the bracers I had taken from Malignatalis out of my inventory for a second. All their eyes widened at the sight, and the hookah was forgotten as they sat upright. ¡°I¡¯ve not heard of any teams heading to the deep desert, how did you come across that?¡± ¡°Why, I took it from his corpse. Right after my nightliger and I slew the beast.¡± Seems these people respect feats of strength. ¡°Hold the stone and say that again.¡± One of the men asked, tossing me a blue stone. There was a golden etching of some flowing script on it, similar to Arabic. ¡°No problem. My nightliger and I slew Malignatalis.¡± The stone glowed blue in my hand, and I saw some of the men start to tremble. ¡°Unbelieveable. To think, one person could go toe to toe with such a creature. Then, I don¡¯t think you are an ordinary adventurer, are you Angus?¡± ¡°Not at all. So, is there a lizard equivalent?¡± I prodded, hoping there was. ¡°There is, but finding him is the difficult part. You need a special potion, made from three dripping heart¡¯s and five blue moon blossoms. Combine them with two parts of oil from the desert beetles, and five blasted winds harvested from the djinni. In the center of the three oasis, there is a depression in the dunes. Spread the potion on the sands there, and you will summon Einlorkis.¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll have to find some of the oil and the djinni, but that doesn¡¯t sound too bad. Can you tell me more about this Einlorkis?¡± ¡°You intend to hunt him?¡± ¡°I do.¡± I said with a feral grin. ¡°I¡¯ve already taken out one king of the desert, one more wouldn¡¯t hurt. Besides, if he gives me some leather drops like what the scorprican did, my next quest will be that much easier.¡± ¡°I shudder to think what your quest is, that hunting the desert kings is considered easy young man.¡± One of the other men said. "I¡¯ll not name him, as you seem scared enough of the desert kings. But I hunt the lich that calls this place home.¡± All the men froze, before frantically signing against evil again. ¡°Thank you for not uttering his accursed name. Should that truly be your quest, we must help as we may. Slay Einlorkis, and return here with what he gives you. I will trade one for one, parts of his set for those of Malignatalis. After, if you still wish, I can point you to the last of the desert kings.¡±
New quest alert! Your past feats have impressed Salmahim, and he offers you a quest. Slay Einlorkis. When that is done, trade the parts of the Malignatalis set you have for the missing pieces of the Einlorkis set, and learn of the final desert king. Accept? Y/N
¡°I will definitely be back then, after slaying Einlorkis.¡± I said, accepting the quest. ¡°May the gods of the sands give you strength and show the way.¡± He made another sign with his strange blessing, and I wondered if there was a response. I went with my gut. ¡°May your walls stand tall and your wells never dry.¡± Hoping that was close to what they would wish for in a desert, instead I got a few chuckles. ¡°Not a bad return, friend, but not what is traditional. We say, ¡®May the winds be at your back, and good fortune within your grasp.¡¯¡± ¡°Then may the winds be at your back, and good fortune within your grasp.¡± I said with a small bow to all of them. ¡°I must head out now, I have to see about learning to brew some potions.¡± The men nodded in farewell, and I headed towards Mad Mardigan¡¯s shop. Everything was going too well for me, which is why I wasn¡¯t that surprised to find a group of three guards blocking my path only a few streets down from Mardigan¡¯s shop. Well, one seemed confident while the two behind him were shifting their weight nervously. Indecision in the ranks? ¡°Halt, and state your business.¡± The leader demanded in an imperious tone. ¡°Just an adventurer headed to the potion shop to learn some things.¡± I replied, hoping they would let me go. ¡°As if we would trust the word of a monster.¡± He sneered. Great, guard on a power trip. ¡°The alchemists guild trusts me, in fact I¡¯m a member in good standing.¡± I said, tapping my badge three times. Hopefully Mardigan will get here soon, but I wasn¡¯t going to get jerked around by these three. The leader sauntered forward, drawing his scimitar. ¡°Bah, I can tell that¡¯s a fake trinket from here. Looks like I¡¯ll have to place you under arrest.¡± As he said that, I saw him angling his blade for a strike. Without thinking about it, I had two stone hands come up from the cobblestones and grab his ankles, just as he started his swing. Without the ability to step forward, his blade swung up impotently, missing me by several inches. ¡°You dare assault a noble? I¡¯ll have your head for this!¡± That¡¯s it, my patience was gone. From the shadows of a nearby alley, a chain shot out and speared him in the wrist. ¡°So, any idea what the punishment is for murder in these parts Mardigan?¡± I asked the figure hulking behind the two guards. ¡°Normally death. Unfortunately, your assailant is both a guard and a noble, so we can¡¯t go killing him. Bad for business.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± I replied. ¡°Just how big is the family? Can they go toe to toe with the guild? Or are we talking calling in favors just to make this area uncomfortable for a while.¡± ¡°The second one, why?¡± ¡°Just wondering out loud. They would probably retaliate somehow with their son losing a hand, but would they for a finger?¡± Turning to the guard, I poked him in the chest. ¡°What about it? Are you willing to lose a finger instead of your head, with the condition that this doesn¡¯t come back on the guild or myself?¡± ¡°YES! YES! PLEASE DON¡¯T KILL ME!¡± Figured, the damn bully would want to keep his head. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just swear a binding magic oath on the subject, and I¡¯ll let you off and only take one of your fingers.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°O-o-oath?¡± He stammered, and I grinned. ¡°You just tried to kill me. Of course I¡¯ll have your oath on this, I don¡¯t trust you. So, here we go. I, Angus_MacG, swear by bonds of magic that in reparation for the attempt on my life will only take one finger from this guard, and not involve any other form of punishment for him or his family.¡± Blue light swirled around me, and strands of it wrapped around my torso while pointing towards the guard, awaiting his end of the oath. ¡°I, Nahir ibn Nazeem, swear by the bonds of magic that I shall not attempt any form of retribution for the punishment of losing one of my fingers. I shall hold Angus_MacG and the alchemists guild blameless, and shall impress upon my family that this was the end results of my own action.¡± Light swirled around him as well, and linked together with the strands from my body before fading away. ¡°Drop your sword.¡± I ordered, and it fell with a clatter to the street below. ¡°Which finger are you taking?¡± He asked with a shaky voice. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I drew my weapon and sliced off his thumb in one swift motion, not wanting to give him time to worry about it. I walked away from his cries of pain, passing between the remaining guards who rapidly got out of my way. ¡°He¡¯ll never hold a sword again in that hand.¡± Mardigan commented as he fell in step beside me. ¡°Especially since they can¡¯t graft the old one back on. I saw you pocket it.¡± ¡°He should have thought of that before negotiating his contract.¡± I replied. ¡°That seems to be the deal around here, right?¡± ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!¡± He bellowed out. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you had picked up on that so fast. Yes, everyone here sticks to the exact wording of each contract. Some are as bad as the drow when it comes to exploiting loopholes.¡± By this time we had entered his shop, and there was one adventurer who looked like they were perusing things. When we walked by, however, I noticed his hand was stuck clutching a potion. ¡°Are you, uh, gonna leave him like that?¡± I asked. ¡°Hmm? Oh, yeah. He¡¯ll spend about an hour stuck there before the enchantment lets him go. Keeps me from having to do a bunch of paperwork for petty thieves.¡± Waving off the adventurer, we entered the back room. ¡°So, I assume you need something from me?¡± ¡°I have the reagents for several of those potions you were talking about, and I was wondering if you had some rare ingredients.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the vice guildmaster! Of course I have rare ingredients!¡± He replied indignantly. ¡°Sorry, I meant rare as they come from here and I haven¡¯t seen them yet. I need two drams of oil from the desert beetles, and if you have any of the blasted winds.¡± ¡°Oh? Going after Einlorkis? Didn¡¯t expect you to tease out the recipe for that one so soon. You haven¡¯t even been here a week. I have the oil, but you¡¯ll want to get the winds fresh. They tend to decay, even in enchanted jars.¡± ¡°Pity. Oh well, I¡¯ll have them soon. Can I use the potion room after hours?¡± ¡°Sure, five silver and I¡¯ll give you a temporary key. That¡¯ll cover the room usage and the oil from the beetles.¡± ¡°Done.¡± I said, handing over the coins and receiving a copper key in return. ¡°So, what do I have to do for this potion that¡¯ll help with the lich?¡± ¡°Sunburst potion. Ok, start with one portion of your pristine oasis water. Add in three measures of sunlight flower pollen and one dessicated bone dust. Heat until the potion turns a deep purple, and pull it off. DON¡¯T LET IT BOIL!¡± He stressed the last part. ¡°If it heats up to boiling, there will be a cascading reaction and the thing will explode. Strain and bottle the resulting mixture.¡± I started off with his directions, adding in a bit of my own as I went along. When I first dropped everything in there, I gave it a swirl without heating until everything was dissolved. Once per minute, I would swirl it as well, just to make sure it was heating up evenly. As the potion cooked, I kept a close eye on it, though it ended up not being needed. The purple color came gradually, and once I felt it was deep enough I pulled it off the heat and swirled it for a minute straight.
Sunburst potion (elixir) When given a kinetic shock, this potion will release a blinding flash of light that will disorient and damage nearby undead. Damage will only occur in undead that have their reanimating magics exposed, though the disorientation will occur in all undead. Disorient: -75% accuracy, -30% defense for 15 seconds (double if undead) Damage: 300-500 if undead with reanimation magics exposed.
¡°Can you clarify something?¡± I asked, and when Mardigan turned to me after finishing whatever he was doing on his own potion I continued, ¡°What¡¯s this about not damaging all undead?¡± ¡°Good question. I¡¯ll assume you¡¯ve seen skeletons before. They don¡¯t have anything protecting their magics, and would take full damage from this type of potion. However, flesh golems are also classified as undead. The magics reanimating them are covered by the flesh, so they take no damage.¡± ¡°Any options for damaging them?¡± ¡°Fire works well. They tend to be on the greasier side, and go up like a torch. Other than that, go with holy damage.¡± ¡°Damn, and I¡¯m all out of my pyrophoria potions.¡± I muttered as I looked through my backpack. ¡°You can do a burst potion if you want. Beetle oil and those blasted winds. Anything flammable in the immediate area has a 75% chance to catch fire.¡± He pointed out. ¡°Thanks, I guess I¡¯ll be buying up a good bit of your beetle oil stock if you don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ve killed a good bit of those things and still haven¡¯t seen any oil drop from them. Is it another skill I¡¯m lacking?¡± ¡°Yep. Animal harvesting, it¡¯s a subskill of butchery. Not many of you adventurers have it, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Shit. Who knows how much stuff I have missed because I don¡¯t have any of those skills? And I¡¯m too busy to really learn them now.¡± ¡°Are there any skills you have built up you would be willing to lose?¡± He asked, and when I shook my head no he continued, ¡°There¡¯s your answer then. You didn¡¯t need them to get where you are, and you aren¡¯t willing to go back and build them up so it isn¡¯t an issue. You¡¯ll be fine without them.¡± ¡°Just how is it that someone who seems as crazy as you can make such a sound argument?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Because I¡¯ve been there before. Soon you¡¯ll realize that there are things that you wouldn¡¯t change and will start looking forward instead of back.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Speaking of looking forward, any tips on Einlorkis?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve not fought him, but I¡¯ve heard from those who have. Bring poison clearing potions, and a lot of them. As big as he is, he doesn¡¯t move around a lot. He does like to spin, so there¡¯s that to watch out for.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I said, drawing out the word. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t move much, I wonder if there¡¯s a way to bury his legs and keep them there.¡± ¡°Bog him down in the sands? Could work. Course, he buries himself regularly, so that wouldn¡¯t work for long.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think of something. Right now, I need to get going and hunt down some of those djinni.¡± As I was leaving, I made sure I took all of my new potions. Spending an hour and a half, I ended up with only five potions. If I was going to spend 20 minutes per potion making them, I would need at least one whole night before assaulting the lich¡¯s lair. One night of djinni hunting, one for the giant lizard, and one for the final king. Hopefully by then I would be at the level cap for the drakelings and be able to avenge Alnoss. I headed out of the city, and once I was out of eyesight of everyone I summoned Inkler and removed my concealing hood. The summoning was rather lackluster, as a ball of mana exited my chest before expanding and turning into Inkler with a flash. ¡°Hey buddy, sorry to do it like that but I wanted to see how the summoning worked.¡± I said, patting his head. The summoning scared him, as he had his back arched and fur poofed up, but my words calmed him down fairly quickly. Once again we headed into the desert, stopping only to kill lizards. As we traveled, any scorprican we met scurried away from us, even if it had the advantage in levels. We skirted around the area where Einlorkis was summoned, as the closer we got the more abundant the lizards became. Eventually we came to a spot where the dunes died out and gave way to a large plain of endless sand. Small clouds of dust could be seen flittering to and fro, and as we got close to one I saw it was what we were hunting.
Djinni Level 78 A spirit of air and fire that inhabits the desert, these formerly neutral creatures now attack humanoids on sight. The animosity stems from the habit of enslaving these spirits and forcing them into small containers, forcing them to use their magic to grant small wishes. These enslaved spirits soon learned to take advantage of every loophole they could in a poorly worded contract, influencing the culture of the humans around them.
The djinni was an odd creature, well elemental if you wanted to get technical. Where it should have had legs, there was instead a small tornado that supported the body and caused the cloud that was so visible. The body started with a golden belt, and it had an incredibly muscled physique. The skin was the dark brown of wet sand, but there were cracks everywhere that glowed with an internal red light. Each of the four arms ended in a golden bracer, and a ruby choker was the only other bit of adornment it had. The head was completely hairless, and four slanted eyes kept watch around it. Instead of normal eyes, these were the same color as the inner fire, slanted with two pairs stacked on top of each other. A fiery topknot was the last thing of note. ¡°Any ideas for weaknesses on this thing?¡± I asked Inkler, who just looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°Come on, I have no idea what you have hunted in the past, and it would be stupid to assume you never had any ideas.¡± His reply was to chuff in my face and study the creature some more. ¡°Let¡¯s see then, it says it is a creature of air and fire. Which means it should be weak to earth and water. Alas, I have no actual spells of earth, just manipulation which is rather pointless on sand here. Can¡¯t bog down something that flies, and I highly doubt it actually has bones and muscles to sever.¡± I groaned a bit as I stood up from the kneeling position I had taken to study the creature, and prepared for a slugfest. Loading my arbalest, I went with a decapitator bolt. ¡°Urk!¡± I groaned and immediately covered my eyes, staggering back a few steps. I had tried looking at the thing with [Mystic vision], and the amount of magic in the thing was incredible. Blinking my eyes, I had to wait about ten seconds for the blue afterimages to dissipate. ¡°Note to self, do not look at elementals with mystic vision.¡± I muttered. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I decided to start off with immobilization, but unfortunately I could only grab three of the arms. This enraged the elemental, as it gave a roar in my direction that sounded and felt like air leaving a blast furnace. I charged the decapitator bolt and fired it directly into the body, as it used its free hand to try and shatter the chains binding it. To my surprise, it was actually making a bit of headway until it got hit. ¡°Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of arrows that pierce the day. [Dark bolt].¡± The bolt of darkness tore through where a human heart would be, but didn¡¯t seem to do much extra damage if any. Chains broken, the djinni charged at me. Just before it entered my range, it flexed its stomach so that the tornado was blasting sand up into my face. I staggered back, rapidly blinking my eyes as I got hit with the equivalent of a magically fueled sandblaster. Blinded, I took a double punch to my chin that left me reeling, but Inkler saved me from further pain by leaping onto the djinni¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m good, clear out.¡± I called when I had recovered, and Inkler used the spinning djinni to add momentum to his jump. I don¡¯t know if it was dumb luck or he was just good, but his leap staggered the djinni right in my direction. Perfect for me, I smashed the djinni on the chin with a hammer blow, the force of it shattering the skin on its head. A blast of furnace air seared my face, and the djinni was no more. ¡°Ugh, that was a pain.¡± I said as I looted the body. No blasted wind, but I did get a set of djinni bracers and a small desert mana core. ¡°That was some dismount.¡± I said to Inkler as I patted his head. ¡°You sent him crashing right into my hammer, which was what did him in. Think we should make that our plan of attack?¡± I was knocked down by a happy nightliger, who took great pleasure in keeping me off balance for a bit as I tried to get back up. ¡°Alright, alright I yield!¡± I laughed. ¡°Just stop knocking me over.¡± At that admission, Inkler went off a few steps and sat down smugly. Plan in hand, we started in on the djinni population. I stopped using any specialty bolts with my arbalest, as they didn¡¯t do any extra damage and had an annoying habit of shooting through the elementals and getting lost. Those blasted winds were blasted hard to find, and it took twelve djinni deaths before I finally got one. It was beautiful though, resembling a blue and red elongated S. I had imagined a vial, but these were actually crystals. It also took us almost an hour just to get those twelve djinni, as they were spaced deceivingly far apart. Resolving to a long grind, Inkler and I kept it up for another five and a half hours before heading back to the city with our prizes. Book 2 Chapter 35 ¡°Am I really that comfortable? And just how big are you going to get?¡± I groaned as I pushed Inkler off of me the next night. Poor guy was getting even bigger, and I felt the bed groaning with the shifting of his weight. ¡°Seriously bud, you feel that? We are too much for the bed, it¡¯s going to break and then I won¡¯t have as much money to pay for our food.¡± Whenever possible, negotiate with the stomach. ¡°Grrrrrmmm.¡± ¡°Was that a growl, an acknowledgement or a purr?¡± I asked with a chuckle, and got a raspy tongue to the face before Inkler casually stepped off the bed. Yeah, he was definitely mid chest now and closing in. I had managed one level to his three last night, putting us at 64 and 58. The level difference helped, but hunting djinni was not a fast way to grind. Damn solitary critters. After he downed a whopping three cassowack legs for breakfast, we headed out to see Mardigan. ¡°There he is! Didn¡¯t look like you used the shop last night, everything ok?¡± Mardigan asked as we entered. ¡°Yeah, I was just a bit exhausted from running all over to hunt those annoying djinni.¡± ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re a pain. But the important question, did you get the ingredients?¡± ¡°I did. Took hours since it¡¯s such a rare drop. Mind if I look through your stock before we make this?¡± ¡°Take your time.¡± He said, as I was already wandering around. Some of it seemed like it was geared toward other areas, but one of his most popular judging by stock was the venom of those annoying scorpricans. I grabbed several upgrades to my health and mana potions, but nothing really jumped out as useful. Burning sands potion to unleash a localized firestorm would be useful for the lich, but I might be able to learn that one from Mardigan so I passed on it for now. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s this floating phantom steps potion?¡± I asked, curious. ¡°You¡¯ll need that eventually. The desert sharks hunt with vibrations on the sands, so you either have to be faster than them or larger if you don¡¯t want to be attacked. This gives you a third option. Basically you get a few hours of a float spell, so you aren¡¯t causing vibrations in the ground. In addition, it causes phantom footsteps to hit the ground thirty feet away from you. Very helpful in distracting those annoying things.¡± Nodding, I kept browsing. Limb regrowth, hypershock, he even had one to boost your regen to that of a troll¡¯s for half an hour. Oh? Pulling a crystal off the shelf, I asked about it. ¡°What¡¯s this deluge crystal?¡± ¡°Instantly summon 500 gallons of water in an area. Doesn¡¯t really do any damage, but they are great for putting out forest fires and the like.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± I said, adding it to my growing pile. Once I had paid for everything, we headed to the back to brew the potion to summon Einlorkis. ¡°So, what do we have to do for this potion?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll walk you through it. Start with the blue moon blossoms in oil, and wait for the potion to turn blue.¡± It only took a minute, but the vibrant blue was rather nice to look at. ¡°Alright, go ahead and crush the dripping heart¡¯s blood flowers one at a time. Wait at least a minute between flowers.¡± After adding the flowers, the potion slowly turned a deep purple. ¡°Alright, the last part is the trickiest. Lower the blasted winds in slow enough that you disturb the surface as little as possible, and don¡¯t splash it. You also have less than two minutes to get all of them entered, so you know. Hurry up and be careful.¡± The next two minutes were some of the most nerve wracking I had ever spent in the game. If I messed it up, it would set me back another day. Four in, and my hand started to develop a cramp from holding the tweezers so tightly. Grimacing through the pain, I managed to finish the potion, though my hand was shaking a good bit at the end. With the last bit, Mardigan popped a cork on immediately and the potion turned a bright pink. ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all.¡± He commented, and I examined the popup I had gotten.
Summon Einlorkis potion (Average) Potion used to summon the Lizard King, Einlorkis.
Alchemy skill increased! For finishing an expert potion with at least an average strength, your alchemy skill has increased from advanced level 9.
¡°Wow, one potion jumped me up 8 levels in alchemy?¡± I wondered out loud, looking at the new potion. ¡°Heh, you were hitting above your weight class and came out on top. That¡¯s when you make the best gains.¡± Mardigan said, slapping me on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I had enough stocked reagents to give you a second try if you failed. I just wanted, no, needed to see how you would react under the pressure.¡± ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence.¡± I said. ¡°So, before we head out to take on the king of lizards, do you have any helpful hints?¡± ¡°Naw, you¡¯ll be fine. Good luck.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Stupid blasted lizards and this stupid blasted sand! Why are we even here again Saren?¡± The angry human mage flailing and complaining explained the ease with which we had arrived. It seems they had been hunting lizards as well. ¡°The lizard king should spawn somewhere around here, and I want to take him down. We¡¯ll be the first guild to take down every single boss in the game.¡± A dwarf tank answered. There was a third member of their group, but I couldn¡¯t tell their race under their cloak. I left them to their area, moving around to start clearing out some of the remaining lizards. I still needed 548 superior plates to finish what I needed to make Inkler a variant. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± I heard a shout from across the way. I watched as the group walked towards me. They tried to swagger, but it didn¡¯t really work with the sand. Ignoring them, I started toward the next lizard before a fireball cut me off. ¡°I asked what the hell you were doing?¡± ¡°Cleaning up the small fry.¡± I replied, subtly signaling to Inkler to spread out a bit. No need to let them get both of us with one shot. ¡°Yeah? Too bad, this is our area.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± I said, making a show of looking around. ¡°I don¡¯t see your names on it. Are you sure you aren¡¯t lost? Perhaps suffering from heat stroke?¡± ¡°Smartass, I¡¯ll burn you to a crisp.¡± The mage started to conjure a fireball when the dwarf knocked him off his feet, interrupting the cast. ¡°What the hell Saren?¡± ¡°Let me talk.¡± He ordered, before stepping forward a bit. ¡°Sorry for my friend, he gets a little hotheaded sometimes.¡± ¡°No worries, happens to the best of us.¡± ¡°So, are you out here for a reason?¡± ¡°Probably. I think we are hunting the same thing. You after Einlorkis?¡± Wincing, the dwarf nodded. ¡°I was afraid of that. How are we going to go about this then? You¡¯ve got pretty much the same chance as us as finally spawning the bastard.¡± ¡°If it were a normal boss, I would agree. Killing lizards just makes the fight easier, it won¡¯t summon him.¡± ¡°Damnit, I told you!¡± The mage yelled. ¡°We wasted three days out here already, and doing it at night isn¡¯t going to help!¡± ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m sorry. He¡¯s a little frustrated.¡± ¡°No problem, it¡¯s understandable.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°What do you say to making a deal?¡± ¡°Sure. What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°Help me clear out these lizards, and let me have enough of their plates to finish what I¡¯m up to, and I¡¯ll show you what you need to spawn him. I¡¯ll even let you watch the battle so you can take him down tomorrow night.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Take the deal.¡± The rogue materialized right behind the dwarf and said in a raspy voice. ¡°Gah!¡± Jumping, Saren looked like he was ready to use his axe on the rogue, before he calmed down. ¡°I guess it¡¯s settled. We¡¯ll give you the plates, they¡¯re pretty worthless anyway. How do you want to do the exchange?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s kill the lizards, then give me the plates. I¡¯ll summon the boss after that and kill it, and show you what I use right before the summoning so you know it isn¡¯t a trick.¡± Shaking hands, the group set off to do their bit of clearing. It still took the better part of an hour, but in the end they managed to kill quite a few more lizards than I did. ¡°Ugh, so just how many of these worthless plates do you need again?¡± The mage complained as they approached. ¡°About 550 of them if they are superior. Much more if they are less than that.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see here, we only have 60 of the superior. How many of the high quality would you need with that many superior?¡± ¡°With the 60 of the superior, I would need 4,900 of the high quality ones.¡± ¡°Oh goodie, we have more than enough.¡± The mage said, ¡°Go ahead Saren, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± ¡°Here, trade window.¡± The dwarf said, initiating the trade. There were enough of the plates, so I dropped the potion in the window for a second. ¡°I¡¯m not trading the potion, just showing you what you¡¯ll need to get in order to summon him. After the battle, I¡¯ll tell you how to go about it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a good monster Angus.¡± The dwarf replied, getting my name from the trade window. I removed the potion and accepted the trade, nodding to him. ¡°Thanks. You guys are better than some of the other light siders I¡¯ve come across. Make sure you¡¯re at the top of the dunes there, we don¡¯t want you accidentally drawn into the fight.¡± As the group walked up to the dune to observe, I spoke to Inkler. ¡°Let¡¯s try not to let them see reality slash, but if you are in physical contact feel free to use it. They¡¯ve played it straight up so far, but we don¡¯t have to show all our cards, no?¡± I said, rubbing his head. ¡°When it starts getting out of the sand, I¡¯m going to try and slow him down and let you get on top. Do what you do best, ok?¡± Once everyone was in place, I uncorked the bottle and dropped it on the sand, backing away. Pink smoke started shooting out, far more than what the potion could have possibly contained. As the smoke swirled around, the ground started rumbling. Einlorkis¡¯ head emerged, swallowing the potion vial.
Einlorkis Armored lizard king Level 85 This creature fears nothing upon the sands, especially not some morsel that dares to summon it! Beware his poisons and his fangs, though don¡¯t believe for a second that those are his only weapons.
Swiftly reading through popup, I threw the deluge crystal at the beast. Once the crystal shattered, a rather impressive amount of water soaked the surrounding grounds. Once the sands were wet, they behaved much more like the earth I was used to. ¡°[Stone grasp].¡± I snarled, using the weighted wet sand to form a hand around the back of the creature. It was right at the edge of my ability, but the three seconds I managed to hold the beast let Inkler scamper up its tail and weave his way among the waving plates up to the neck. ¡°Time for an eye exam.¡± I muttered. ¡°Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of arrows that pierce the day. [Dark bolt].¡± The bolt of darkness flew true, piercing the left eye of the boss and enraging him. Inkler managed to hang on for dear life, as Einlorkis¡¯ violent shaking sent sand and blood flying everywhere. It¡¯s roar of anger vibrated within my chest, bringing a smile to my face. ¡°That¡¯s it, show me what you got.¡± I snarled, thoroughly enjoying his reaction. Fighting an armored beast who could eat me in two bites, this is what gamer¡¯s loved. I charged in, trying to circle in his blind spot. His massive size let him turn and keep me in his sights, and he exhaled a cloud of poison in my direction. Just what I was waiting for, I fired a bolt straight into the roof of his mouth. It didn¡¯t have the power to pierce it like the smaller lizards, but it pissed him off! Turning to give me a glare with its good eye, Einlorkis swiped at me with a paw, ignoring Inkler savaging his neck. The blow sent me tumbling, shaving off a quarter of my health. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I cast the spell, sending the chains circling around Einlorkis¡¯ snout, muzzling him and distracting him from Inkler. As he was clawing at the chains, I reloaded my arbalest. I saw Enlorkis¡¯ health drop as Inkler activated [reality slash] inside his neck. I¡¯ll never know if it was that or breaking his chains, but Einlorkis gave a massive bellow. One so loud the sands were dancing from its force. Glowing red veins creeped into his eye. Pissed. We had one pissed off boss, and he only had Inkler in range to vent his rage upon. I charged in frantically, as all the armor plates in a row at the bottom of his legs suddenly stood at attention. ¡°Inkler! Get outta there!¡± I frantically called, as a green miasma came pouring out. Einlorkis was also pumping a poisonous fog out of his mouth. If Inkler hadn¡¯t been in such danger I might have stopped to admire it. Green gas would geyser up on occasion, and between bursts tendrils of fog would drift from the corners of his mouth to merge with the growing cloud by his feet. Once I was within throwing range, I started launching the last three crystallized blasted winds I had taken from the djinni. They shattered against his scales, and just as I hoped released a blast of heated wind in all directions, clearing the miasma. ¡°Front left leg! Escape route!¡± I yelled, and smiled as Inkler saw what I had done and scampered for his life. I dashed in and stopped below the boss¡¯ neck. Wanna poison my friend? Let¡¯s see you do it without a throat! The sands by Einlorkis¡¯ feet were still wet enough to launch me skyward with a pillar, but I didn¡¯t quite think the physics through in my rage. I stopped the rapidly rising pillar when I was next to the side of his neck, but I kept going when the pillar stopped. The top of my arch gave me a great view, but I could tell I wouldn¡¯t be able to hit the boss. Time for chains. Firing one that was wrapped around my wrist, watching as it blasted into the hole that Inkler had torn. Smiling in anticipation, I used shadow manipulation to drastically shorten the chain, pulling myself into the wound. A savage smile lit my face. Whipping up manipulations on the fly, I loosed a second chain that fired into the shadow directly below the neck. Balancing the chains pull, I lowered the shadow from my arms to my torso. One final strand of shadow bound my blade to my hands, as I didn¡¯t think that they would be able to withstand the forces. ¡°[Cold grasp of death][Reaper¡¯s edge][Rocket slash]!¡± Just before I struck, I activated all three skills with the last of my mana. I would have to get the video from the people watching, as this was going to be epic. Poor Einlorkis. Not even your skin can hold against such a combination of skills. Momentum from the pulling chains, guiding me along the side of your neck. Cold grasp of death holding you in place so you can¡¯t evade. Reaper¡¯s edge getting a boost from rocket slash to effortlessly part skin and flesh. The blade was buried to the shaft in his neck. As I finally cut through his neck, I landed in a three-point pose as hot blood showered the sands around me. Finally released from my skill, Einlorkis backed away from me but the damage was done. Blood gouted out with every beat of his heart. Six beats later and he was done. Falling to the sand with his tongue hanging out, the force dispersing the last of the miasma that had stuck around. Inkler had snuck up behind me as the boss died, and pushed his head under my hand. I took a few relaxing breaths while scratching behind his ears. ¡°Glad you¡¯re ok bud.¡± Rubbing one last time, I headed forward and looted the body.
Leather plated pants of the Armored Lizard King Set item (1 of 5) Crafted from the skin of Einlorkis, the armored plates have been arranged to give proper coverage while still maintaining maximum mobility. Defense: 45 Durability: 7,500/7,500 +15% resist magic Increased defense
Leather armor of the Armored Lizard King Set item (1 of 5) Crafted from the skin of Einlorkis, this armor has retained some of his essence. The wearer gains a sense of invulnerability, and knows no fear. Defense: 300 Durability: 10,000/10,000 Immune to fear effects +50% resist to taunt effects
Fanged helm of the Armored Lizard King Set item (1 of 5) Crafted to resemble Einlorkis, none who gaze upon it will doubt the skill required in obtaining such a piece. Defense: 120 Durability: 6,000/6,000 +20% chance to cause fear (doubled if insectoid) Decreases chance of lower level creatures or NPCs attacking
In addition to the three set pieces, which I immediately put on, I also received ten platinum coins and two perfect armor plates. My level jumped up by three, and Inkler gained five. Slowly closing the gap. ¡°Holy crap, that was spectacular!¡± I heard the mage yell as the group walked up. ¡°You guys didn¡¯t happen to vid capture that fight, did ya?¡± ¡°I did.¡± The rogue replied. ¡°Do you mind if we post it?¡± ¡°Sorry guys, but I am getting paid as a streamer. Tell ya what, let me send in to my contact your info, and have her reply to you directly. That way you guys can get credit for the camera angles, and the people who run the stuff for me can add it in to what I¡¯ve got. You can negotiate for whatever you want.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± SilentSteps replied. Not a bad name for a rogue, I guess. Taking all their info, I fired off a quick email to Emily. Hopefully these guys will get a good bit of compensation. ¡°So, any tips for handling the beast? I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I¡¯m not in a hurry to try and tank that.¡± Saren chuckled. ¡°Yeah, did you guys notice that green fog? Poison miasma, so you best have something to blow it away with.¡± ¡°Speaking of that, I noticed you threw something to get the job done. Some type of special potion?¡± Pyrospark asked. It was nice to finally get a name for the mage. ¡°Just some of the blasted winds the djinni deeper in the desert drop. You¡¯ll need to farm at least five of those, but definitely grab a few more. Do you guys have someone with the butchery skill? Or animal harvesting?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got animal harvesting.¡± Saren replied. ¡°Really helpful when you want to craft your own weapons and armor.¡± ¡°I see. Well, then you can grab all the reagents you¡¯ll need for the potion to summon Einlorkis. Two vials of oil from the beetles, five blue moon blossoms, three dripping hearts flowers, and five of the blasted winds. If you see Mardigan the alchemist, he might brew the potion for you. Especially if you have all the ingredients.¡± ¡°Thanks Angus.¡± Saren said. ¡°I appreciate all the help. I feel bad that we only gave you a few worthless plates. You don¡¯t even wear plate armor, what could you be using them for?¡± ¡°You saved me from a day or two of farming lizards. Inkler here is going to become a variant with those plates. I can¡¯t tell you how I¡¯m going about with that, but thanks. I actually really hate grinding, and two days of killing lizards would have bored me to death.¡± ¡°Variant? Sounds cool. Anyway, we¡¯re heading out to gather some water from the oasis around here. Catch you later.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad they¡¯re leaving.¡± I whispered to Inkler as we turned and headed back to the city. ¡°They¡¯re going to be hurting pretty bad in that fight with no healer.¡± Inkler chuffed his agreement. The aftereffects of the battle were already subtly making themselves known, as any armored lizard scuttled off as swiftly as their legs could carry them. We spent a leisurely hour making our way back, stopping to fill up with some more cassowack legs. Book 2 Chapter 36 ¡°By the gods, he did it!¡± Salmahim exclaimed as I neared their group the next day. ¡°Most impressive Angus, most impressive indeed. How was the battle?¡± ¡°Easier than the scorprican king.¡± I replied. ¡°Being immune to poison really helped.¡± ¡°No wonder you haven¡¯t had issues with the kings. The last one doesn¡¯t rely on poison though, so I suggest you prepare carefully.¡± ¡°I fully intend to. But first, I believe we had a deal? It just so happens that I have two pieces of the scorprican king¡¯s set, and I¡¯m missing two pieces of the armored lizard king set.¡± I said, pulling out the two pieces I had. ¡°Ah, perfect. Let¡¯s see, you have the armor, pants, and helm, correct? Then let¡¯s make the trade, and after you don the set in all its glory I will tell you of the final king.¡±
Armored Lizard King¡¯s surefooted greaves Set item (1 of 5) Crafted from the body of Einlorkis, these greaves will give you solid footing on almost any terrain. Defense: 40 Durability: 7,500/7,500 Surefooted: Wearer can maintain balance and normal motion on almost every terrain up to a 75% grade. +30% resist poison
Armored Lizard King¡¯s greedy gloves Set item (1 of 5) Like the dragons that were possibly his ancestors, Einlorkis enjoyed hoarding treasure. That trait has been passed on to these gloves. Defense: 40 Durability: 5,000/5,000 Greedy: +25% money in loot drops +15% chance of finding magic items
Armored Lizard King¡¯s set complete! For equipping the entire set of the Armored Lizard King, you gain the following bonuses: 3 of 5 set items: +15% resist magic 4 of 5 set items: Beam reflection: Magic effects that fire a beam have a 20% chance of being reflected back at the caster or caster¡¯s allies +15% defense 5 of 5 set items: +25% increase to poison damage and duration Miasmatic retribution: 10% chance to deploy a poisonous fog when taking damage. Poison does 100-125 damage per second for 5 seconds to all pools (health, stamina, mana). Does not affect constructs or undead.
¡°Wow, talk about an impressive set.¡± I muttered, bending and flexing to examine it. ¡°Why does it not cover my forearms though?¡± ¡°That brings us to the third king. Long ago, this land was a paradise. The central portion was neutral ground between three kingdoms, kept specifically for meetings between them. Peace lasted for generations, and the land thrived. Then the lich came. Nobody knows when he arrived, just that he took up residence in the neutral ground and slowly spread his poison through the land. Biding his time. Letting weak willed advisors be taken over by shades he dispatched in the darkest of nights. A small squabble here. Holding a grudge. Petty things really. Poisoned words and passive aggressive comments said with smiling faces. Einlorkis, land famed for their flexible army. Lightly armored and trained as cavalry, archer and swordsman, there were very few that could gain the upper hand in battle against them. Each soldier was granted a shield enchanted to parry magics. Though the second kingdoms name has been lost, their dreaded scorprican soldiers lived on. Bearing heavy armor and a multitude of weapons, few dared take the field against them. Those that chose to wage shadow wars fared even worse. The scorprican assassins owned the night, employing a multitude of poisons to finish their dark deeds. Last was a kingdom of magic might, ruled by Bael. A shining example of a kingdom, they embraced their elementals and flourished. Content with their lives, they rarely ventured out on campaigns of conquest. Choosing instead to live in harmony, one would be sadly mistaken to think them easy pickings. For what city life has made men forget is this: nature unleashed is primal fury. Several armies in the past had tried their borders, only to find the land itself rising in revolt against their trespass. As the lich¡¯s machinations wore on, the peace gradually failed. Soon each ruler felt that the others were coveting their kingdoms. Laws were changed, and the free exchange of people and ideas dried up. People from Einlorkis became second class citizens in the other kingdoms, and in turn reduced rights of foreigners. Hatred and envy flourished, and the lich laughed in his hidden crypt. Resentment was born, and it all came to a head the day of the renewing of the vow. See, the three kingdoms had together crafted a contract, a binding magic to encompass all. So long as all three remained, they would come to the aid of the others. This magic was enchanted into a tablet, and split among the three kings so that none may alter it. Every fifty years, the tablet was restored with the magic of the neutral ground, the vows reaffirmed. In their ignorance, the kings were convinced to bring a fake to the ceremony. On the surface, each piece of the fake would place their kingdom as ruling the others. But, the lich. He was ever so subtle, and nobody thought to check how each magic would combine. Instead of one kingdom controlling the other two, disaster befell all three. For the altered runes combined into a magic circle, funneling the power of the kings down. Deep below where they all met, to the throne room of the Lich Zandkazaar. Reveling in the betrayal, he flexed his new powers. Einlorkis, king and country, were transformed into the armored lizards. The forgotten king and his army were combined with their assassins, becoming the dreaded scorpricans. And Bael? The burning hatred that he had infused throughout his land and elementals warped everyone into the djinni. Not caring, Zandkazaar let the blasted lands of Bael spread, creating a desert kingdom ruled by him and him alone.¡± We all sat in silence, contemplating the loss of three kingdoms. All men made signs against evil, and I sat down with a sigh. I even took a puff of the hookah, passing it on. I had expected some backstory, but this? How in the world had some guild not stumbled upon this quest? ¡°So.¡± I broke the silence. ¡°What do we do now? There must be a reason why you have asked me to help. Whatever it takes, I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°You still wish to help?¡± Salmahim asked, surprised. ¡°I have issues with the lich anyway, but I can¡¯t stand by and let this stand. I just don¡¯t know why you waited for me.¡± ¡°We seek a hero.¡± Salmahim answered. ¡°One who doesn¡¯t shy from a challenge. Not for the glory, or for the rewards, but to test his limits and surpass them. He must also possess the fortitude to shoulder monumental tasks alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not alone though.¡± I pointed out. ¡°My nightliger companion has been indispensable. Without him, I would be dead several times over.¡± ¡°And when he reaches the end of his strength, trusts in nature¡¯s companion.¡± One of the other men answered. ¡°Not only that, he must care for his companion more than himself. We¡¯ve seen your battles Angus. Without any thought but for Inkler, you burned through your entire supply of blasted winds, didn¡¯t you? All to ensure that he wasn¡¯t poisoned.¡± I sat there, gob smacked. They had been watching me? Not that I minded, but it was a little disconcerting. ¡°I. What else could I do? He was raised by a dear friend, and I couldn¡¯t let him come to harm. I¡¯d never forgive myself.¡± ¡°Of course. And so the citizens of Bael felt about their elementals. My people would see a kindred spirit in yourself, and so we are all in agreement. As the last representative of Bael, I ask that you free our king from his cursed existence.¡±
Hidden quest unlocked! Deliverance of the three kings You have heard the stories of three fallen kingdoms. Led to ruin by Zandkazaar, will you free the final king from his tormented existence?
¡°Where can I find him?¡± I asked, accepting the quest. ¡°In the far side of the deep desert, beyond where the sand sharks hunt, you shall find him and his queen. Ever the matched pair, beware their combined magics.¡± ¡°Before you go, we wish to see your nightliger. Will you allow us to gift him our aid?¡± Salmahim asked. ¡°Of course. Come to me, Inkler.¡± With a flash of magic, he was by my side. Handling the transition much better, he was still on his guard. ¡°Relax buddy. These are friends.¡± Extending his nose and carefully sniffing each man, he soon started purring and rubbing against them. The one from Bael seemed to be his favorite, and it was nice seeing the look of genuine happiness on his face at the cat¡¯s antics.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Follow us inside.¡± Salmahim said, once everyone had settled a bit. We entered through a cloth door, surprisingly heading deep underground almost instantly. By the time we had descended three stories or so, the stairs ended in a large cafeteria style room. Salmahim led us straight through, pulling a key from somewhere in his robes and unlocking several different locks on a solid iron door. Once that was done, another walked up and did the same with a different set of keys. Finally, the one from Bael stepped forward and placed a hand glowing with mana upon the door. Through [Mystic vision] I saw one of the most intricate spell circles circle rapidly before flashing back down into his hand. After the third of the locks were undone, the door opened and we went through. Inside I froze, as they had a full sized transmutation circle like the alchemist guild. ¡°You¡¯ve seen one of these before, yes?¡± The representative from Bael asked. ¡°Then you know what we are going to do. We will transmute your plates, freeing you to turn Inkler into a variant. This will save you several days.¡± And so we began. I would go around placing plates to be transmuted, and someone would be there sacrificing their mana. The original group of five went through, and then others started filtering in from somewhere. I didn¡¯t ask, but it made my heart swell with pride to be a part of this. I didn¡¯t care that some developer probably scripted this. Here, peoples from three fallen kingdoms were coming together as they once did. I wanted, no. I was determined to see a future where they didn¡¯t have to fear the lich that destroyed their lives. After nearly an hour of transmutations, we were done. ¡°Inkler.¡± I said, kneeling down by him and scratching along his jaw. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you are nervous about this, but I want to reassure you that this will be fine. I went through it. It¡¯ll be slightly scary with all the flashing lights, but you saw what that did, right? The stacks of plates will circle, and eventually combine with you to make you stronger. Afterwards, we won¡¯t have mana for 24 hours. So I guess we¡¯ll have to sit in the inn and eat cassowack legs, right?¡± At the mention of his favorite food, he shoved past me and sat in the middle of the circle. Tail wrapped around his feet, he simply looked at me licking his lips. ¡°Hurry up, I¡¯m hungry.¡± He seemed to be saying, so I chuckled as I got up and double checked everything was in order. I activated the vid recorder, as I¡¯m sure Jon and the others would enjoy seeing this. ¡°Ready bud?¡± I asked, before grabbing the protruding rods.
You are about to start a variation ritual. You have initialized a ritual to turn the nightliger known as Inkler into a variant. Each creature may undergo this only once, no matter how many evolutions they obtain. Are you sure you wish to continue with these reagents?
Hitting yes, I felt the mana flow out of me. Something this large must have been computer assisted, as I didn¡¯t have any troubles keeping the flow even. Each of the ten stacks of perfect armor plates started glowing, then levitated. As the light show progressed, Inkler¡¯s fur started to puff out from the electricity in the air. I didn¡¯t let it distract me, as I could always watch it later. With a blinding flash of light, the ritual finished.
Inkler Nightliger, magebane variant Level 63 A new variant of nightliger, this one has been infused with the perfected armor plating of the desert armored lizard. Each plate can be moved independently, and is incredibly resistant to magic attacks. Any magic attack of a beam nature can be reflected, and those that explode on contact will experience a deteriorated effect. As a bonus from using perfect tier armor plating, the nightliger has obtained the following skill: Energized retribution: Once per hour, Inkler may absorb all spells of a specific element. When three spells of the same element have been absorbed, they will be redirected at the caster with as much mana as Inkler wishes to add to it. Should he choose, the redirected spell may also be converted to an opposite element. Limitations: When absorbing, spells of a different element may not be reflected. If struck with a different element than was absorbed, the new spell will do critical damage boosted by the amount of mana in the absorbed spells. If the absorbed spell is not released within five minutes, Inkler will release the mana in an AoE attack with him at the center. Damage based on the amount of mana absorbed + 1/3 of Inkler¡¯s mana reserves.
Inkler looked badass. He was already hard to see in the dark, but now different plates would flash randomly with light. Instead of giving him away, they tended to destroy what you thought his body looked like. There was just the slightest bit of a gap between the scales, keeping them from clicking together as he moved. Breathing heavily from exhaustion, he limped over to where I was and let me start rubbing between his ears. ¡°You did awesome buddy. And woe be to any mage who tries to take you down.¡± While he was laying there, enjoying the rubbing, I looked at the other popup I had gotten.
Alchemy rank up! You have performed a complicated alchemical ritual, using the highest quality of components available. Your alchemy skill has increased from Advanced level 9 to Master level 1. 60% chance to brew a higher quality potion or poison
Crafting quest alert! You have advanced to master level with your alchemy skill. Please return to a guild representative for verification of your master quality creation and your reward.
¡°We¡¯ll have to see Mardigan tomorrow bud. Whatever he¡¯s going to give us can wait for a day. Come on, let¡¯s go back to the inn and rest.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°How¡¯s the desert treating you, night ranger?¡± Derrick chuckled as I strolled to a seat at the caf¨¦. ¡°Not too bad. Need to kill at least a day out of game.¡± ¡°Oh? What could keep you out? You¡¯re in there more than Derrick is.¡± Jon asked, sitting up in curiosity. ¡°Mana locked for a day. Got Inkler to become a variant.¡± Jon started bouncing in his seat a bit, so I continued. ¡°Give me a second to eat, and I¡¯ll tell you all about it. What have you guys been up to?¡± Working through the menu, I ordered some heart clogging goodness since it was all digital. Phoebe¡¯s eyes got huge when she saw my burger. Two patties with three glorious slices of cheese, grilled onions and pickles. I had a side of fries, nacho sauce to dip them in, and half a pound of bacon. ¡°I was going to tell you about finally catching up to that reptile shifter, but now I¡¯m oddly amazed by that burger. How can you eat it with no lettuce? Or tomato?¡± ¡°Tomato is in the ketchup. And I wouldn¡¯t desecrate a burger with a leafy green vegetable. Sacrilege.¡± I mumbled around another juicy bite. ¡°Aaaanyway.¡± Derrick interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ve been going planes hopping, visiting all the different types of giants. Hoping to earn each of their field spells.¡± ¡°Oooh, that¡¯ll be grand.¡± Jon said. ¡°You earned any of them yet?¡± ¡°Not yet. It¡¯s looking like its part questline, part reputation grind. I¡¯ve found hints about there being a secret one though.¡± ¡°Secret?¡± Phoebe sat straight up and stared at Derrick. ¡°What¡¯s the secret?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, hence the secret part.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Something about knowing the spells will grant you knowledge, should you learn to read between the lines. It referenced the oldest of giants, and only his descendants can channel the power.¡± ¡°Hmmm. Looks like a long grind for you. How are you going to keep getting around and grinding rep?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Simple. After visiting five planes, I got the astral walker title. I can now form an anchor on each plane for a teleport. It¡¯s one way, but makes getting around sooooo much easier.¡± ¡°Ah, how I wish there were a monster teleportation network.¡± Phoebe lamented. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have had to spend five days slogging through the mud to find a damn snake shapeshifter.¡± ¡°Please tell me the devs gave him a punny name. Wades nBoggs would be great.¡± Derrick chuckled, until he got slapped in the arm by Phoebe. ¡°Not funny.¡± ¡°It was a little funny hun.¡± Jon said, getting a glare in return. ¡°Just saying.¡± ¡°Whatever. All I know is that I¡¯m never heading into those blasted swamps again. I know they like their realism, but mosquito swarms are ridiculous.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they level one monsters though?¡± I asked, trying to think what exactly the devs did to make the mosquitoes so annoying. ¡°Level zero.¡± Phoebe corrected. ¡°They ignore armor and levels, and drain stamina only. So when you get drained, you have a very long, incredibly annoying journey back to civilization.¡± ¡°Or you could try holding your breath underwater.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t do brackish swamp water.¡± Phoebe deadpanned at me. Thankfully Jon rescued me from the uncomfortable stare afterwards. ¡°So, now that you¡¯ve eaten, what kind of variant did you make?¡± ¡°Inkler¡¯s now a magekiller variant. He can deflect beam magics, and if he absorbs three of the same element attacks he can reflect it where he wants and add his mana to boost damage.¡± ¡°Wheeeeew.¡± Derrick whistled. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good boost. With his natural agility, he¡¯s going to be a pain in the butt for anyone attacking you.¡± ¡°Oh I can¡¯t wait to see him in action. He¡¯s growing too. Ever seen a nightliger whose head is level with your chest?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Jon said matter of factly. ¡°When they get that big, they are skilled enough you don¡¯t see them. You just die.¡± ¡°Horribly, with a lot of clawing and biting.¡± Phoebe added. ¡°So what are you going to unleash him on first? Aren¡¯t you lich hunting?¡± ¡°That was the original plan.¡± I said, nodding. ¡°I might¡¯ve gotten sidetracked when I stumbled upon a hidden quest. Ever heard of the three desert kings?¡± ¡°Old news.¡± Jon said, deflating. When I mentioned hidden quest, his eyes had lit up for a second. ¡°Scorpion, lizard, and djinni along with his wife. God, how I hated that fight.¡± ¡°That bad?¡± I asked. ¡°You still have the djinni and his wife, right?¡± Phoebe asked, and continued at my nod. ¡°Well, they are a matched pair. The king resists physical and fire, and will intercept any ranged attack on his wife. The wife is a marid.¡± When she saw my confused face, she explained a bit more. ¡°Marids are basically the water version of the djinn. She resists magic attacks, and heals the king. Any ranged magics automatically change their target to her. Not only that, but they are soul linked. That lets them instantly change places once per minute on the battlefield. I can¡¯t tell you how many dps we lost in that fight when the king and queen changed places and he unleashed his fiery tornado skill.¡± ¡°That sounds like it would hurt.¡± ¡°Understatement.¡± Jon took over. ¡°It stacks burning damage up to 5 times, and creates a vortex so you can¡¯t run away until the skill is over. All the while he is slashing at you with his sword.¡± ¡°Good god!¡± ¡°An unblockable counterattack? Yeah, it¡¯s a pain.¡± Derrick joined in. ¡°I think we managed one interrupt, but that was blind luck. Was it Jimmy who had mistimed his shield bash, and ended up hitting the king right as they switched?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Phoebe answered. ¡°Of course, we were so mixed up in that fight it¡¯s hard to remember everything.¡± ¡°I remember Paulie tried using his leap skill right as the king started spinning. The tornado shot him at least 30 feet in the air.¡± Jon said while chuckling. ¡°Best part was on the way down. TALLY HOOOOOOOOOOO! SPLAT!¡± He used his hands to mime the falling, and the splat at the end. ¡°I think he even got an achievement for that.¡± ¡°Airman.¡± Derrick said with a nod. ¡°Lessen fall damage by 1%. He only had to have a boss send him airborne for three seconds with one blow.¡± ¡°Too bad the boss wasn¡¯t there when he landed.¡± I said. ¡°That could have been a massive damage multiplier.¡± ¡°Yeah, especially if he used one of his skills. It wasn¡¯t a true spellsword class, but his temp enchantments were pretty good.¡± Phoebe said, before turning back to me. ¡°Not that it¡¯ll help you at all. You and Inkler are going to have a tough time of it.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I said, dreading the encounter. ¡°I guess Inkler will have to focus on the wife first, and as soon as they switch I¡¯ll have Inkler use his reality slash and get out of there. That should do some decent damage to the king, and I¡¯ll have to rush over and start hacking away.¡± ¡°You could possibly root the king if you have the right spells.¡± Jon started, then cursed himself. ¡°Damnit, forgot about the queen¡¯s ability. That magic attack would automatically target her.¡± ¡°Just so I get this right though, I can use melee ranged magic attacks and target the king?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what we ended up having to do. Let the rogues get their blades enchanted by the mages and turned them loose. We had several mages sit back and use rotating silences on the queen to keep her from healing.¡± Phoebe explained. ¡°Would silence work on that tornado skill?¡± I asked, hoping for a yes. ¡°Nope.¡± Derrick crushed my hopes. ¡°It isn¡¯t a spell, so silence wouldn¡¯t work on it. You need something to interrupt a skill.¡± ¡°Damn. Alright, I guess I¡¯ll have to think some things through. Would a temp ice enchant be the way to go for the king?¡± ¡°Yes, I think we determined that does the most damage. Water works pretty much the same, it just depends what is cheaper.¡± Jon said. ¡°Alright, thanks guys. And Jon, I¡¯ll send you the backstory I got when I found this quest. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find it enjoyable. You just have to do it solo to get the quest apparently.¡± ¡°Have you gotten anything good out of it?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I got an upgraded set armor. Full armored lizard king set.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good rogue set.¡± Derrick said. ¡°Never could get all the pieces at the same time, but even piecemeal it isn¡¯t too shabby.¡± ¡°I hear that. It¡¯s a hell of an upgrade to what I had been using. I think it¡¯s a bit weird that it doesn¡¯t come with bracers. What¡¯s up with that?¡± ¡°No idea. Some sets are just like that though.¡± Derrick said with a nod. ¡°There¡¯s a heavy armor set that doesn¡¯t have a helm. Lots of druid sets that skip out on boots. I guess the devs wanted people to be able to mix and match multiple sets if they wanted.¡± He started yawning on the last words, shaking his head. ¡°Ugh, I guess that¡¯s my cue guys. I¡¯ll catch you tomorrow. Let us know how the fight goes Marty.¡± With a wave, he headed out and the rest of us were swiftly following him. Book 2 Chapter 37 ¡°You know, this isn¡¯t any better than waking up with you on top of me.¡± I said from the floor. Sometime during the night, Inkler had usurped my bed and was chuffing at my reaction. ¡°I think you should have been called prankster, not Inkler.¡± I muttered, standing up and stretching. Inkler copied me, doing that odd stretch cats do with their hind paws on the furniture and his front paws on the ground. I just shook my head at his antics, and checked outside the door to find five of the cassowack legs for him and sausage and eggs for myself. ¡°Are you really gonna eat all five of them?¡± I asked the beast, as he licked his lips in anticipation. ¡°Alright, here you go. Just don¡¯t expect any of mine.¡± I said, digging in to my breakfast. Who says you can¡¯t have breakfast in the early afternoon? As far as I¡¯m concerned, it¡¯s an any time of the day meal. I had just polished off the last of my food when I noticed Inkler had been staring at my plate. ¡°You ate five cassowack legs, you don¡¯t need any more!¡± I tried reason. It wasn¡¯t very effective, as he darted forward and spent nearly half a minute licking away what I had to assume was even the slightest bit of leftover smell from my food. ¡°Alright, alright. Enough! You do that anymore and there won¡¯t be a plate left. Come on, we need to go see Mardigan before we go hunting today.¡± Heading downstairs, we were almost to the door when I heard the innkeeper speaking to me. ¡°Um, excuse me good sir.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I asked, turning around. ¡°If you wish to keep using the room, I¡¯m going to have to ask you to pay.¡± ¡°Oh, terribly sorry.¡± I said, patting my pants. ¡°I lost track of time. Here¡¯s for another week, though I doubt I¡¯ll be here that long. In addition, can you give these three gold to your cooks? Inkler has truly enjoyed their cassowack legs and I wanted to thank them for going out of their way to make sure he¡¯s been fed.¡± ¡°Of course sir!¡± His eyes lit up at the praise. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to tell them. Thank you for the kindness.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I really must be going. I¡¯ve got a good ways to travel today.¡± ¡°No, no. That¡¯s everything. Good luck with your adventures, kind sir!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I replied, heading out. The streets were bustling, as it was only around three in the afternoon. Luckily I had a crowd parting plow in the form of Inkler. I think he had a lot of fun giving a toothy grin to those who started turning in anger to find out who bumped them and immediately freezing when looking into the eyes of a very large cat. The other half of the reactions were people oohing and aahing over him and asking where they could get one. I ignored those. ¡°Hey, can I try something?¡± Trying to ignore the voice that kept repeating the question, I made my way through the crowd. Unfortunately, she kept following me, eventually catching up and grabbing my arm. ¡°Please? I want to try something with your nightliger, I swear he won¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°What is it? I¡¯m rather busy today?¡± I asked in an annoyed tone. Turning, I found myself staring at a rather well-endowed elf archer. ¡°I was. Um. Just wondering.¡± As she tried to stutter her way through a request, Inkler came over and sat down to look at her for a bit. Completely dismissing me, she bent over to talk directly to his face. ¡°Whose such an adorable kitty? I have a little one at home just like you only a tenth your size. I do. He thinks he¡¯s just as ferocious as you are, but we know better. I just wonder if you like to kill the red dot as much as he does? Do you like to hunt red dots?¡± What the hell? Did I just find the crazed cat lady? ¡°Sorry, but we.¡± ¡°[Snipe shot].¡± She activated a skill, but had no weapons in her hand? All of a sudden, I saw Inkler¡¯s eyes get big and he tensed up. Looking down, I finally figured it out, slapping my face at the absurdity. Pointing her finger like an aiming device, there was a red dot. Snipe shot let an archer see where their arrow would likely impact with a small red dot, and she was using it like a laser pointer. Until a platter sized paw slammed over the top of it. ¡°Hehehe! Kitty does like to play!¡± Oh god, she giggled. In public. Waving her finger back and forth, Inkler started chasing the red dot with his paws, slamming them down one after the other. She only had the time to lead him a few steps away before her skill ran out, and this seemed to totally confuse Inkler. He would slowly lift one side of his paw to look underneath before slamming it back down in the hopes that he had finally killed the red dot. ¡°Are you done Inkler?¡± I asked, thoroughly annoyed. ¡°As for you, please don¡¯t ever do that again.¡± I said turning to the player. ¡°I get it, he reminded you of your own cat. And I thank you for letting him play a little bit, but we are busy today. Maybe some other time you and him could play.¡± ¡°Reeeeallly?¡± She asked with a squee, before slamming into Inkler¡¯s side with a hug. ¡°Yay! Ok kitty cat, you go with the grumpy guy and I¡¯ll see you some other time.¡± Turning to me, she asked, ¡°Um. Would it be ok to get your. Um. Name?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I said, annoyed that she couldn¡¯t seem to string together a complete sentence without talking to a cat. ¡°Angus_MacG.¡± I said, watching as her eyes got big. ¡°Wait. Wait. That¡¯s.¡± ¡°Shhhhhh!¡± I hissed at her. ¡°Don¡¯t say it out loud. There¡¯s a reason I¡¯m in disguise in the city.¡± ¡°But, how can I play with kitty? We won¡¯t be able to meet up again.¡± She asked the ground in a forlorn voice. ¡°Light siders have been banned from there.¡± ¡°Ugh. Try heading to the city, you know the one I¡¯m talking about. Give it, say, three or four days. I¡¯ll talk to the guards and see if we can let you into the city. Ok?¡± I knew I had to give up at this point. Inkler was practically plastered to her side as she absentmindedly stroked between his ears. ¡°Really?¡± God, I couldn¡¯t take her roller coaster emotions and didn¡¯t know how she did it either. ¡°Really.¡± I answered. ¡°Besides, Inkler likes you and he¡¯s been a good judge of character so far.¡± The traitor. I added mentally as I saw his smug look. Honestly, what kind of battle pet gets excited over a magical laser pointer? Better not let Derrick know, I¡¯d never hear the end of it. Having gotten enough attention, Inkler padded over to me and we entered the shop. ¡°New armor set?¡± Mardigan asked, looking me up and down. ¡°Not bad. And what have you done with that nightliger?¡± Walking over, he circled Inkler a few times, checking him over. ¡°So, am I right in assuming this was what promoted you to master alchemist?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I agreed. ¡°I see. I was expecting you almost immediately. What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing. We had just gotten back from exploring and weren¡¯t going to have mana for a day. I figured we could at least sleep it off. We still can¡¯t really go exploring today, though I am going to have to raid some of your supplies if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°As long as you have the coin, that¡¯s fine. Before we do any of that, we have to address the issue of the alchemist guild.¡± ¡°Issue?¡± ¡°Yes. See, you still haven¡¯t been promoted within the guild yet. Last I checked, you were still listed at apprentice. Usually there is a journeyman rank somewhere in there.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± I groaned in annoyance. ¡°Let me guess, people are going to be jealous, right?¡± ¡°Weeeeeell, in a nutshell, yes.¡± He said, dragging out the first word. ¡°We do have.¡± ¡°Stop.¡± I said, holding a hand out and interrupting him. ¡°Just stop with the excuses. I agreed not to get promoted when I figured out the elixir recipes. That was fine. But now I have several elixir recipes and have successfully created a variant creature. Not only that, but you must admit it¡¯s a useful variant species. Tell me, how many of your journeymen have a list of accomplishments like that?¡± ¡°None.¡± He said after a moment of reluctance. ¡°So, in order to pacify the jealous people who may or may not exist, and save you and Guildmaster Willow the headache of dealing with their yapping, you are going to deny me promotion to master rank. Again.¡± ¡°Damnit, I hate it when people use my own thoughts of politics against me.¡± He said with a sigh, confusing the hell out of me. ¡°What?¡± He asked with a laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t care about those idiots who can¡¯t seem to advance. I was just ordered to try and get you to see reason.¡± ¡°Oh, okay then.¡± I said in a near whisper. ¡°I thought for a second it was partially because I¡¯m a monster race.¡± ¡°Fuck that. You¡¯ve got more spunk than three quarters of the guild, no matter what races they are. And try not to hold it against Willow, eh? He¡¯s been getting pressure for years because of Djarleen, and it tripled when you joined up.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I said in a put upon tone. ¡°I suppose I can forgive him, on one condition.¡± ¡°Name it, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± ¡°Tell him to find a potion that¡¯ll let him regrow his spine. If he keeps negotiating with those idiots, they¡¯re just going to keep pushing him around.¡± ¡°HA! HAHAHAHAHA! Regrow his spine, oh that¡¯s glorious kid. I¡¯ll pass it along, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± After a few moments of chuckling at my request, he placed a large hand on my shoulder. ¡°Ok, here we go. I now confer on you the rank of master alchemist. You will receive a 75% discount at all guild stores, and have the option of issuing quests for rare ingredients. The guild will set the requirements for the quest and the cost. You will receive a percentage of gathered materials commensurate with the amount you paid towards the quest rewards. You may also enter the restricted sections of the first and second floor libraries.¡± After his explanation, the badge on my cloak glowed as it changed. Where it was a silver mortar and pestle, it now changed to gold. In addition, the solid gold border changed to a striped gold and platinum. ¡°Huh, are there any ranks above master? And how do I get them?¡± ¡°Yep. They¡¯re pretty easy to get too. Just gather the reagents and craft a legendary potion and you can become a grandmaster, with the option to become guildmaster after fifty years or so.¡± ¡°Yep, piece of cake. I don¡¯t have the fifty years to wait, so I¡¯ll just have to settle for grandmaster then.¡± I said with a sarcastic chuckle. ¡°You¡¯re a piece of work kid. So what are we outfitting you for today? Eliminating a minor noble house? Regicide? Your path to ruling the world?¡± ¡°Oddly enough, you aren¡¯t far off with those guesses.¡± I chuckled as he lost his amusement for a bit. ¡°I¡¯m going after the last of the desert kings, and am going to need some elemental resistances and boosts.¡± ¡°Oh thank the gods it¡¯s that kind of regicide, as I would have had to start a fight here in the store if it were something else.¡± He said, exhaling in relief. ¡°So which one is it?¡± ¡°Djinni king. I¡¯ll need that phantom steps potion for myself and Inkler, as well as a few deluge crystals. Anything you have that¡¯ll give Inkler some elemental protection.¡± He smiled as I rattled off the list, then something came over me as I saw the blasted winds in his case. Crystalized elements. ¡°Hey, Mardigan? Is there a lightning version of the blasted winds?¡± ¡°Crystalized lightning mana? Of course, what are you thinking of doing with it?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to throw it at the marid queen. If the king intercepts it, he gets blasted by lightning magic and takes a good bit of damage. If not, I¡¯m sure even a magic resistant water elemental will take a lot of damage from magical lightning.¡± After my explanation, he stared at me for a few minutes, tapping his chin with his finger. ¡°Devious. How in the world are you so devious? You could start off the battle with that, and I¡¯ll definitely sell you the charged fulgurite. But I want you to go to the exotic weapons shop down the street, and tell them you want to see Winter¡¯s Advent. If Abdaul doesn¡¯t recognize me sending you, remind him.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I said, confused a little. It was obviously something ice based, but what kind of weapon I would have to wait to find out. ¡°So, what does all of this come out to?¡± ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s call it 5 platinum after your discount. If you can manage to kill some, try and harvest the teeth of the sand sharks. Abdaul will probably buy them from you.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± I said, paying for my items and dropping them into my bag. ¡°Where did you say his store was again?¡± ¡°Head out and to the left, it¡¯s three doors down. Giant bird creature on the sign, you can¡¯t miss it.¡± ¡°Thanks. Any reagents you will be needing while I¡¯m out?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Alright, take ¡®er easy.¡± I said with a wave. ¡°If she¡¯s easy, take ¡®er twice!¡± Mardigan yelled after me. People gave me an odd look as I walked out of the store guffawing. Even Inkler was giving me the side eye as we walked down the street. Three doors down, and I saw what had to be the sign Mardigan was talking about.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°The Red Garuda¡¯s Exotic Weapons.¡± I muttered, looking over the creature on the sign. Mostly humanoid but with a bird¡¯s head, it was certainly not a creature I had come across yet. As we entered, a string of bells across the doorway started tinkling. ¡°Good day! Welcome to the Red Garuda!¡± The guy greeting me looked like he could hang with Mardigan in an arm wrestling contest, and had no qualms leaving his robe open enough to expose the majority of his chest. ¡°Hello. I was sent down here by Mardigan, he said I should ask you about Winter¡¯s Advent? Still not quite sure what that was.¡± ¡°Oho, now that¡¯s quite the request. Come on to the back, I keep the specials locked up there.¡± Walking around me, he actually closed the store. Following him back, I looked around a bit at his wares. A lot of it followed an eastern theme, with throwing weapons of all kinds. Not that it was all bladed throwing weapons. One weapon looked like someone had taken a massive club, trimmed it to look like a baseball bat, and put rivets on it to smash armor. There were several varieties of sickle and chain weapons, some bolo type throwing weapons, as well as what looked like a spiked gauntlet welded to the end of a lance. Not quite sure how well that last one would do in combat, but it would surely make a fearsome charging weapon. ¡°So, how did you happen to get mixed up with Mardigan?¡± Abdaul asked, leading me through a curtain. ¡°Met him through the alchemist¡¯s guild.¡± I answered. ¡°What about you? It seems like there should be a funny backstory there somewhere.¡± ¡°We have had our share of misadventures. Most of them were his fault though. Word of advice: never, ever, get in a drinking contest with a Minotaur.¡± He said with a shudder. ¡°They only drink a fermented milk drink, and insist all challenges do it as well.¡± ¡°Ugh, that sounds horrid.¡± I said, cringing in horror. For some reason, I imagined drinking something like a liquid blue cheese. ¡°Oh, it actually tastes pretty good.¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°Mardigan thought so too, until I pointed out to him that Minotaurs don¡¯t raise any livestock.¡± ¡°Hurk.¡± I gagged at the implications as Abdaul laughed. ¡°Ha! I see you get it, wonderful!¡± Pulling a key from some hidden storage, he opened up a blue chest that was sitting on a shelf. Muttering some words, there was a flash and the chest opened. He withdrew a weapon covered in cloth, and placed it with some reverence on a table. Uncovering it, he said, ¡°Behold, Winter¡¯s Advent.¡± On the table, was a crossbow bolt. I was five feet away from it, and could feel the waves of cold radiating from the weapon. It was a pale blue, almost white.
Winter¡¯s Advent Bolt This specialty bolt was crafted by Abdaul Garudabane for use against fiery enemies. The shaft is made from the bones of an ice dragon. The tip of the bolt was harvested from the tip of an ice wraith¡¯s claws. The feathers for the fletching came from the flight feathers of a Cocytus Harpy Queen. You would need to venture into the realm of legendary weapons to find one that will deal more ice damage than this. Damage: 150-175 Adds 700-775 ice damage (triple against fire elementals) Freezing flames: If piercing a fire elemental, has a 20% chance to freeze their internal flames. All skills requiring fire will be sealed for three minutes or until dispelled. Can only be dispelled by a Greater Dispelling or stronger.
¡°Gorgeous.¡± I whispered in awe. This. This would absolutely devastate the djinni king. ¡°There¡¯s only one issue with it.¡± Abdaul lamented. ¡°It¡¯s got such a strong aura, unless you have it in a bag of holding fire elementals will flee in terror.¡± ¡°So, you haven¡¯t seen it in action?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Not against what it was truly made for.¡± He said, shaking his head. ¡°Would you like to?¡± I asked, getting a crazy idea. If I could visit the mages guild here, they had a way to transfer video recordings from players into a stone that NPC¡¯s could view. It cost a pretty penny, but in this case it might be worth it. ¡°I would love to, but just how are you going to guarantee it?¡± He asked. ¡°See, I¡¯m on a quest to kill the djinni king of the desert. I figure, I could transfer the fight to a memory crystal at the mages guild for you, and you could see it for yourself without putting yourself in danger.¡± ¡°I see. And just how would you prevent his wife from swapping with him?¡± ¡°By using it immediately after they swap places. They have to wait a certain amount of time after they use it, right? That means I have an entire minute to swap targets, immobilize the king, and blast him with the bolt.¡± Abdaul pondered this for a while, staring at me. ¡°You know it won¡¯t be that easy in real life, right?¡± ¡°Nothing ever is.¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°We have a saying: No plan survives first contact with the enemy. I¡¯ll have to be flexible, but that is easier when you only have the barebones requirement for plans.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I like that saying. Let¡¯s assume I go along with your plan. I assume you were just about to offer an outrageous sum for me to pay?¡± ¡°Before we discuss cash, may I ask about the crafting of the weapon? Did you harvest the reagents yourself?¡± ¡°I did. Crafted it myself as well.¡± ¡°Excellent. In lieu of cash for the battle, would you be willing to train me? I recently found myself lacking in several skills.¡± ¡°What skills?¡± He asked, eyes narrowing. ¡°Butchery, animal harvesting, and anything related to those. I never realized that they could be that important for monster drops, and am kicking myself over how many possible reagents I could have used for my alchemy.¡± ¡°Yep. Definitely an alchemist like Mardigan.¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°I don¡¯t really have the time or materials to train you, but I can call in a favor. Provided you don¡¯t mind working this afternoon and evening for it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s absolutely perfect. I just so happen to be under a status that seals my mana for the rest of the day.¡± I didn¡¯t elaborate when he raised an eyebrow, simply stared at him and let the uncomfortable silence drag on for a bit. Though I did have to bite my tongue a bit, the urge to fill that silence was strong. ¡°Right. Come along this way.¡± He led me to a side door, and once we headed through the alley we came to a large open courtyard right next to the walls. Several tables were set up, and people were working their way through several different creatures. ¡°Heya Butch! Got a recruit for you for a day, says he needs some skills.¡± Abdaul said, grabbing the attention of someone whose clothes were stained with so much blood it was hard to determine their original color. ¡°Abdaul? ¡®Bout time someone dragged you out of your cave and into a place you belong. Come on, hop in. Between us we could triple production.¡± ¡°Still not listening. Butch, this here is Angus. He needs several skills in a hurry, and you are the best I know who can get it for him.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I wasn¡¯t listening, I just wanted your help old friend.¡± He said, turning to me. ¡°Hmm, lose the cloak and armor or it¡¯ll never get clean again. Trust ol¡¯ Butch on that. There¡¯s some old clothes and an apron over there, just leave ¡®em in a pile when we are done.¡± ¡°Thanks Butch.¡± ¡°Eh? None necessary, that¡¯s what friends do.¡± He said, clasping Abdaul¡¯s hand in a shake. ¡°So, Angus? What¡¯re you lookin¡¯ to pick up?¡± ¡°Anything I can to help out with monster drops. Butchery and animal harvesting are the only two I know of, but I trust you to guide me.¡± I answered, watching as his eyes lit up. ¡°Oh, Abdaul. I believe I may still owe you one after this. Let¡¯s see what the boy can do.¡± He chuckled slightly evilly as I finished changing out my gear. ¡°Firsts things first, shut off your notifications. I know the gods tell you adventurers when you¡¯ve learned something, but I prefer to do it myself. Now, come over here and learn what knives you need for what, and how to hold all of ¡®em.¡± The next eight hours had me going through the wringer. We started off easy, plucking the feathers from the cassowacks. After I got the hang of it with my hands, I tried to use shadow manipulation to create several extra hands to speed up the process. I ended up with a spike of pain through my skull. Never try and use mana abilities when your mana is sealed, it will only end badly. Lamenting my lack of extra hands, I got back to work. Thankfully we only spent an hour on the birds, as plucking wasn¡¯t going to do much for skills. After the birds, we went through and gutted the fresh creatures. Butch got incredibly excited when I revealed my mystic vision skill, and pointed out how I could use it to find mana cores in certain beasts as well as what organs and glands could be useful in crafting. The trick was how fresh the kill had to be, as anything over an hour or so had the magic dispersed. I was doubly thankful for the clothes they lent me, as I was covered in goop up to my elbows. After digging through what Butch deemed was enough creatures, he had me thoroughly wash before heading over to a different station. ¡°Alright, now this is slightly different.¡± He pointed out. ¡°We are skinning and butchering here. The best way to go about that is to let the blood drain out after gutting it for a day or two. There¡¯s a few cold rooms beneath us that we get it done in, and we have several people whose only job is to rotate the stock and keep everything fresh.¡± I¡¯ll admit, having extra hands would have been a godsend with the skinning. They could pull the skin and keep it taut while I worked the knife in long, smooth strokes. Instead, I was forced to do it with only two hands and try not to mangle them when my knife slipped. I¡¯m fairly certain the beginning ones I did would be worth nothing but scraps, but eventually I improved to the point where I could get the majority of the pelt off intact. They started me out on the lizards, as they had the thickest skin and let me work my way up. The incredibly thin skin of the cassowack didn¡¯t have any uses, but it was great for building skill. After that came the butchery. The lack of blood was a huge boost, as it let you see the grains of the muscles. Proper butchery was an art and a science. Tougher cuts kept the fat cap. Things like the tenderloin got trimmed. Always remove the entire muscle in one piece. Follow the grains to determine the muscles. And never forget the prime rule: the more the muscle is used in life, the tougher the meat will be. Once the major groups were removed, I was given two extra knives and told to strip the meat to the bone. The miscellaneous bits would be combined and used for ground meats like sausages and burgers. ¡°Alright, use your mystic vision again.¡± Butch ordered, and had me sift through the bones. ¡°Unlike the muscles, the bones are often steeped in magic and hold it much longer.¡± He explained. ¡°Different creatures use them differently as well. Dragons, well. They have so much mana to spare they just soak everything in it. You¡¯d be hard pressed to find a non magical part of them. The cassowacks use the magic to strengthen their leg bones. It lessens the chance of them breaking when attacking. Beetles use it to boost their shell¡¯s properties.¡± ¡°So basically, find the bone or structure the creature uses the most, and that¡¯s the most likely culprit?¡± I asked. ¡°Yep. After you¡¯re done with that pile, head on over to the clerics. They should remove any traces of curse on you and then come see me. We¡¯ll go over what you¡¯ve learned.¡± He said before walking away. Wondering why the clerics would need to see me, I hurried through the pile of bones. The non-magical ones were sent off to be crushed for some reason, while the magic ones went to the various crafters. Following a line of people with baskets of meat on their hips, we came to a table of rotating priests. Three were on duty at all times, while six more rested to recover their mana. Handing over the meat, I stopped by one of the resting ones and hoped he would answer some of my questions. ¡°Greetings brother.¡± I said, sitting down next to him in a stone chair I conjured. ¡°Would you be willing to answer some questions for me?¡± ¡°Brother?¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s how we greet each other in the Church of Thanatos. I guess it¡¯s become a habit. Names Angus.¡± ¡°Charles. It¡¯s nice to meet you Angus. Forgive me, but I wasn¡¯t aware Thanatos had sent an envoy.¡± ¡°No worries there Charles.¡± I answered. ¡°I am here on an unrelated reason, and was just curious about blessing the meat.¡± ¡°Oh, that. I suppose it does seem weird. Do you know the history of the desert?¡± ¡°The three fallen kingdoms? Yes, I¡¯ve recently heard the story.¡± ¡°That saves a lot of time then. See, the orchestrator of the fall of the kingdoms has corrupted the land. Even the creatures that walk upon it are being affected by his curse. We bless the meat to remove the curse.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I said. Looking through my inventory, I pulled out a bit of meat from a lizard tail. ¡°Is this cursed then? I¡¯ve eaten meat from the desert several times and am worried a bit.¡± ¡°Ah, I see the confusion. This is dropped from a monster you killed, yes?¡± He continued as I nodded. ¡°Those drops are never cursed. If you had a skill that let you harvest from animals, you would get some cursed pieces and some that were clean.¡± He walked up to the table and came back with a piece of meat, holding them side by side. ¡°The one on the left is yours, a nice healthy red. See this other one? It has faint streaks of black, and the meat itself is paler in color.¡± Sure enough, his description was spot on. The black streaks glowed in mystic vision, as well as some that were spread throughout the meat that I couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Wow, it literally infests every portion of the meat it can.¡± I said, cancelling my sight skill. ¡°Infestation. An apt description. Hmmm, I wonder. Do you have any cleansing skills from your order?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m more of a paladin type than a cleric.¡± ¡°I see. Well, let¡¯s try something. Picture your god, and how you envision his power.¡± He said, handing me the cursed meat. ¡°However it appears to you, know that it flows through you and you are always connected to it.¡± In my head, I saw the green flame of Thanatos. Calm and gentle, it burned cold. ¡°Take a small portion of that power, and send it out against the curse. However you serve your god, you need to make a connection between that and the curse. Paladins fight, so your power should see the curse as an enemy. Drive it back, corner it and destroy it.¡± Interesting. Try as I might, it wouldn¡¯t move. The longer I tried, the more I tried to force it, the stronger my headache got. Eventually I had to give up with a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, hardly anyone gets it on their first try. It¡¯s a bit tricky to mix your own mana with the divine and not let it get overwhelmed.¡± ¡°Mix the mana?¡± I asked, slapping myself in the forehead. ¡°Of course it didn¡¯t work, I won¡¯t have mana usage until tomorrow. Thank you, though, for trying. If I may, can I come in the morning to try some cleansing?¡± ¡°That will be fine. It was nice meeting you, Angus.¡± He said while sticking his hand out to shake. ¡°You as well Charles.¡± I answered, shaking his hand. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I do believe I¡¯ve kept Butch there waiting long enough.¡± Leaving the kind priest behind, I headed toward the table where Butch was while Inkler fell into step beside me. ¡°Sorry buddy, I¡¯m sure this has been tough being around all this meat all day, hasn¡¯t it?¡± I asked while rubbing his favorite spot, right between his ears. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can whip up for us in the kitchen tonight, ok?¡± That got him purring right as we arrived at Butch¡¯s table. ¡°We appreciate all the help you¡¯ve done today. Did the priest answer all your questions?¡± ¡°Not a problem, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve gained a few skills out of the deal. I just hope I didn¡¯t ruin too many of the pelts. And yes, he did thanks.¡± ¡°No worries on that, we get apprentices comin¡¯ through here all the time. They¡¯ll just cut it into strips and use it where its¡¯ needed. Now, you¡¯ve completed one of the most vigorous days I¡¯ve ever stuck a new guy into, and I¡¯m as excited as you are to see what you¡¯ve gained. Why don¡¯t you pull up your notifications.¡±
New skill Level Bonus
Skinning Beginner level 7 +7% chance to obtain pelts or leathers as extra drops. Quality limited to Average
Butchery Intermediate level 1 +15% chance to obtain edible cuts of meat from slain enemies.
Animal harvesting Intermediate level 1 +15% chance to obtain crafting components from slain enemies
Skill synergy detected! The skills Skinning, Butchery, and Animal Harvesting all synergize with Anatomy. As long as you have done a field inspection of three bodies of a creature type, your bonuses from these skills will increase. At current anatomy level: Double chance for drops, maximum tier drop increased by 2 (average becomes superior), +30% chance to increase tier drop by 1, +3% chance to increase tier drop by 2.
¡°All three skills? Excellent! We will welcome you back here any time.¡± As he was reading the notifications I got and talking, I went through and changed out of my borrowed clothes. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what¡¯s this anatomy skill though?¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, I got it for studying the dead bodies of enemies looking for weaknesses. Organs, joints, how the muscles and bones fit together. It gives me a boost to certain combat abilities, and now increases the drops I¡¯ll be getting.¡± ¡°I see. Any idea how I can get it?¡± ¡°Stop by the church of Thanatos. They¡¯ll put you in the right direction.¡± I answered. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me. I do need to get this beast here some treats for being so well behaved today.¡± ¡°By all means. Tell Abdaul that if he keeps sending people with your work ethic out to me, I¡¯ll never be able to pay him back.¡± ¡°I will.¡± I said with a chuckle, before heading away. I stopped by Abdaul¡¯s store, where I convinced him to sell me Winter¡¯s Advent for the low, low price of 20 platinum. After that, it was back to the inn where we enjoyed several varieties of lizard tail. The cooks all tried to outdo each other, especially when they saw the sheer amount of meat I was able to provide. Stuffed to the brim, we headed upstairs to sleep. Book 2 Chapter 38 Private chatroom, Broken Dawn. Restricted to former members of the guild Breaking Dawn. Current members: Apollo¡¯sApprentice, CardboardBoxCamo, MadTinkerer. Grimlet has joined the chat. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: Hey Grim. How¡¯s life under the mountain? Grimlet: Hey Apollo. It¡¯s fun, but I¡¯ve had a string of frustrations. How¡¯re the elves doing? Apollo¡¯sApprentice: They still doubt everything I try and tell ¡®em. I¡¯m about to turn Tinkerer loose so they can see the power of some of the stuff that she comes up with. MadTinkerer: Hehehehe! I¡¯ll set ¡®em straight. Longbows are so outdated. CardboardBoxCamo: What have you managed to make this time? MadTinkerer: Not finished yet. I need some of their incredibly strong wood, shaped to certain specifications. The mithril wires for the compound bow let it get too strong of a draw. I don¡¯t have anything that can take the stress. Grimlet: Does it really need to be wood? MadTinkerer: Are you doubting me? Because I can drop that potion slinger you wanted straight to the bottom of R&D. Grimlet: Please don¡¯t! I was just asking for curiosity. Surely metal can take the stress better? MadTinkerer: Very well. And yes, it can. But metal doesn¡¯t spring back to original as fast as wood does, so the bow would lose power. MadTinkerer: But since you are here and asking about things, perhaps you can tell me you¡¯ve gotten your hands on some divine tier crafting mats? Grimlet: That¡¯s part of the frustrations. Turns out, you can¡¯t improve something to divine tier with alchemy transmutations. CardboardBoxCamo: That sux. Grimlet: Tell me about it. I even tried fusing 100 perfect materials instead of the usual 10. Same error message. Transmutations beyond this rank are not possible with this equipment. MadTinkerer: So it is possible Grimlet: Huh? No, it isn¡¯t. I keep getting an error message. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: I see what you¡¯re getting at Mad. We just need the right transmutation circle. MadTinkerer: Exactly. Knowing the devs, it probably has one time use and requires divine tier ingredients. MadTinkerer: Why do they torment me so? CardboardBoxCamo: Because they can. They don¡¯t appreciate your genius. Small minded fools, you should rule the world! MadTinkerer: . . . not funny. Grimlet: It was a little funny. Grimlet: Putting Tinkerer¡¯s aspirations for world domination aside for a moment, what¡¯s the news with the old guild? CardboardBoxCamo: Word¡¯s getting around about what happened. A lot of the middle to upper tier people left after what they pulled with you. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: Only to be replaced by zealous idiots. CardboardBoxCamo: True. The human kingdoms are content to look the other way. Grimlet: Serious? How are they rationalizing that? CardboardBoxCamo: I guess Goliath spun it that monster races are monsters, and therefore don¡¯t have any hospitality laws. It helps that the guild is about 75% human now. Grimlet: And the elves? Apollo¡¯sApprentice: Trying to be Sweden. They¡¯ll tie things up in committees for decades at least. Hoping that by then everything will have blown over or that all parties involved have died off. CardboardBoxCamo: Idiots. Grimlet: At least the dwarves took action. CardboardBoxCamo: Yeah, speaking of the dwarves. CardboardBoxCamo: You might want to stay there for a week or so. Goliath was royally pissed at what you did. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: So? You don¡¯t mess with a guildmate¡¯s quests like that. CardboardBoxCamo: And Goliath is a narcissist that can do no wrong. He¡¯s blaming Grimlet for everything, and even put out a ten platinum bounty on your head. Grimlet: Great. At least I can get plenty of quests in the city now. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: Did you ever decide on a profession? Grimlet: Yeah, I¡¯m going with alchemy. Who knows, there might be a title for obtaining the potionmaster class. CardboardBoxCamo: Never heard of it. Grimlet: Dwarf only most likely. They fling potions in battle as their weapons, acting as linebreakers. CardboardBoxCamo: Magic grenadiers. Gotcha. MadTinkerer: Grenades? Apollo¡¯sApprentice: No Tinkerer. You aren¡¯t allowed around explosives. Not after last time. MadTinkerer: but it wasn¡¯t my fault. Apollo¡¯sApprentice: Don¡¯t care. Not allowed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV ¡°You ready buddy? Drink all the potion now.¡± I said, setting a small bowl filled with phantom steps potion in front of Inkler. We had practically sped through the desert so far, as everything shied away from us. Whether they could sense that I had slain two of the kings or just saw that I was wearing Einlorkis¡¯ armor set didn¡¯t matter. We had just arrived at the area where the djinni roamed along with the sand sharks. We had stopped by the skinning areas earlier, but I had absolutely no luck with learning the cleanse spell. The only positive about it was that I had gotten skinning up to intermediate 1, thanks to the extra shadow hands I was able to conjure. Packing up the bowl, we headed into the sands. It was shaping up to be a long day of travel, so we were planning to avoid combat as much as possible. A fairly simple plan, it was easy to avoid the wandering djinni. The dust trails they kicked up made them visible for miles. It was fifteen minutes in that we came across the first sand shark, and damn was I glad the potion made our footsteps appear five feet away from us. The only warning we received was a swooshing sound. Out of the sands behind us a creature that looked like a manta ray with a shark tail erupted from the sands behind us. As the mouth opened, the body contracted forming an O shape with small wings on the side, before it plunged back into the sand. Had we been where the steps were, that mouth would have sheared off my body from the waist up. It was over so fast, I didn¡¯t have time to identify the creature. ¡°Alright bud.¡± I whispered to Inkler. ¡°Get on the other side of me, so I¡¯m closer to the phantom steps. I¡¯m going to draw it out and try and flip it with a strike. I want you to see if you can cut off the tail with reality slash.¡± Cringing, Inkler got on the other side of me, though he was still plastered to my side. I guess the guy didn¡¯t like being on the receiving end of an ambush. I started stomping, slowly walking sideways to keep an eye on the steps being formed. There had to be something to indicate an attack. There! Just for a second, I saw the tip of a tail crest through the sands. It gave a few swipes before diving down below. Using the hammer end of my weapon, I got ready. As soon as the sand erupted, I darted forward and swung. My uppercut caught it just below the wing, causing mayhem. The shark¡¯s momentum was disrupted, going from mostly forward to mostly vertical. It also put just enough spin on it that it landed and flopped onto its back, thrashing around. I buried the bladed end of my weapon into the belly, watching as Inkler leapt on top of the creature. Chomping down on the creature¡¯s shoulder, he started savaging the underbelly with his hind claws. ¡°Easy buddy, easy. You¡¯ve done killed it.¡± I said, patting him on the shoulders. He gave a small shake of his head to verify, before climbing off and using the sand to help clean his paws. While he was at work doing that, I identified the body and got to work skinning and butchering it.
Sand Shark (corpse) Level 80 Ambush predators of the deep desert, these creatures are feared by any who travel the sands. They give very little warning before their strikes, and after a meal will retreat deep within the sands to digest. Young adults are able to kill a humanoid with one bite, while the legends tell of elder sharks capable of eating a camel with one bite.
¡°Wow, this one isn¡¯t even full grown. Hopefully we will avoid the elders, eh buddy?¡± I chuckled at Inkler. He gave me a glare and returned to cleaning blood from his paws. Guess he didn¡¯t appreciate my humor. Going back to my work, I started skinning the creature as best I could. The underbelly skin was ruined, but the topside looked like it could be used for crafting. Leathery to resist moving through the sands, it really did resemble a shark¡¯s skin. The hide was rough, and any gloves made from them would have incredible grip. The organs were shredded, and beyond salvage. Inkler had managed to get into one of the intestines, so I wouldn¡¯t even be saving the meat from my butchery. That didn¡¯t stop me from examining what I could. The skeletal system was simply a skull and backbone. Discs of cartilage in the tail let it have anchor points for the muscles, giving it more flexibility than I thought it should have. The bones near the base of the tail were small, and could probably be easily severed. The tail looked like it came straight off a reef shark, a sharp V shape with end above the shark body being much larger than the other side. It also had some sort of sharp crystal along the edge. Getting hit by that would be a Bad Thing. Mystic vision let me find a small earth mana core in the brain stem area, but that was the most valuable thing I found. I managed to collect four teeth roughly the size of my palm, along with the pelt. Looting the body gave me a bit of tail meat, but that was all. ¡°Well, they are fairly easy to kill. Think we should keep it up?¡± Inkler chuffed in agreement. Maybe we¡¯ll have fish for dinner soon. We continued on our journey, glad that most things in the deep desert seemed to be solo hunters. The sharks also had large areas, as it was at least ten minutes of walking between finding a shark. We took the time to hone our abilities on the younger, smaller sharks. Inkler got really adept at severing the tail, after which we would back off. The sharks couldn¡¯t enter the sands at will, they would always flip themselves over and sort of wiggle back and forth until they could bury themselves again. After that, it was slow going until they built up momentum. Their lack of offensive weaponry outside of ambush made them easy pickings for us. I didn¡¯t even bother using most of my skills. Once Inkler had severed the tail, I could use my scythe to cut deep into the brain. The base of the jaw was the perfect place to strike, as there was only a thin layer of bone separating what it ate from the brain. One blow there, and the shark was toast. After our third kill and examination, I started to see the fruits of having skill synergies. Each shark gave an underpelt and an overpelt, as the textures of the underside was so different from the top. About one in every six or seven of the underpelts were high quality as well. Tail meat and wing meat were among the high frequency drops, both cursed and uncursed. Teeth seemed to be a somewhat rare drop, and I wondered what they would be used for in crafting. Too large for arrows, too wide for daggers. Much too small for a sword. Hmm, maybe as additions to give a club some bite?Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Once routine set in, life became a grind. Kill a shark, loot and move on. Repeat every ten minutes or so. Take a water break every three sharks. Several hours later we came upon what I had been waiting for. A one-hundred-foot wide strip of golden sand. According to Salmahim, this was the barrier for the djinni kingdom. We rushed across, being warned not to linger. I was cursing myself for not asking why we couldn¡¯t linger on it, probably a guardian of some sort. Thankfully the phantom steps potion gave us great traction on the sands, and we covered the distance in a matter of seconds. No unknown guardians this time! After crossing the barrier sands, we kept on moving. Just barely visible on the horizon were three peaks, all that was left of the castle of the former nation. We did see less sharks along the way, but the amount of djinni we were forced to fight was increasing rapidly. We both grew three levels with the battles, but I was getting annoyed with the slower pace. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t any cover to hide from them in such a barren landscape. Even the scrub trees lacked any leaves. Finally! We had just crested the last of the sand dunes, and at the bottom were the three spires we had been chasing for hours. We still had to be cautious making our way down the slope, but there were no djinni near us. In fact, I was rather surprised that they didn¡¯t have any guards nearby. At the bottom, we paused for a water break and some food. ¡°Alright, this is probably going to be a tough fight.¡± I spoke to Inkler as he was finishing his cassowack legs. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to help each other much. We have to keep them separated, and you¡¯ll have to take the blue one. She¡¯s weak to physical attacks, so you¡¯ll have to rely on fangs and claws.¡± He gave me a look that conveyed his annoyance, but I wanted to be sure. ¡°Relax, I know you know. I just want to go over it again. After their first switch, we are going to have to use that bolt I got from Abdaul. Just remember to get away from him as fast as you can when they swap. I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡± ¡°Mrow.¡± ¡°Ok, fine. We both know the plan. Let¡¯s get to it then.¡± Finished, we turned to where there were two creatures seated on thrones. They looked like normal djinni, except one was blue.
Solomon, the Djinni King Level 85 Once a wise king in touch with his land¡¯s needs, he has fallen to an evil curse. Now a warped existence, he lives in torment watching what his beloved land has become. Embodiment of the land: Highly attuned to this world, Solomon has gained high physical resistances in exchange for a magical vulnerability. Soul linked: The bond with his wife, Lillith, runs so deep that they may switch places in times of danger.
Lillith, the Marid Queen Level 85 Wife of Solomon, she chose to remain by her husband¡¯s side despite the curse. She uses her healing arts to protect him in battle, as well as call all magic attacks to herself. Gentle Spirit: Lillith has forsaken her physical body in order to strengthen her spirit. Her magic resistances rival that of dragons, though her frail physique leaves her vulnerable. Soul linked: The bond with her husband, Solomon, runs so deep that they may switch places in times of danger.
Taking our time, we started using potions for the upcoming battle. We both got water, fire and air resistance potions. Hopefully the battle would be over before the ten-minute buff wore off. I also poured an electrifying potion on Inkler¡¯s paws, hoping that it would give him a bit of an electric attack against Lillith. My weapon got coated in an ice potion for dealing with Solomon. Inkler also got the most expensive of the potions, a temporary boost to his agility. ¡°Alright, you ready to kill the king?¡± I said with a grin, and got a growl out of Inkler. ¡°Stay behind me, and when I draw their attack do what you do best. Take out that queen as fast as possible, right?¡± Standing up, I gave him one last pat on the head before turning and walking towards the two rulers. Can¡¯t forget to activate the recording for Abdaul. ¡°Oh? You come before the ruler of these lands bearing the armor of Einlorkis?¡± Solomon asked as I got closer. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this insult, peasant!¡± Standing the king drew four scimitars that glowed with an inner flame. ¡°You¡¯ll meet the same end as your two counterparts, Solomon. Your reign is over. Take this!¡± Rearing back, I launched a pair of charged fulgurite crystals at the queen. ¡°YOU DARE!!!!!¡± Charging to intercept, the sabers slashed through the crystals, releasing their charges in a blast of lightning. Unfortunately for Solomon, it traveled straight down the scimitars and through his body. ¡°My king! [Healing waters]!¡± Lillith cried, healing the bit of damage that the crystals did. ¡°Come my love, I will AAAAAAHHHH¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Inkler¡¯s POV As Angus threw the crystals to start the fight, I circled around to get to my prey. Foolish prey, to keep all eyes on the first attack. The red prey roared, attacking. Idiot, get zapped for your trouble. Before I could strike the blue prey, she cried out. A blue orb shot from her to the red prey. Tsk. Prey that undoes damage. Annoying. Leaping silently, I buried my fangs in prey¡¯s arm. Savage slashes with my hind claws tore strips from her back, as she cried out in agony. Warm blood splashed into my mouth. Breathing in deep, I scented it. Terror. Prey was weak and scared. Her flesh parted easily, her bones crushing beneath my bite. Prey started spinning, trying to dislodge me. Fool. PAIN! Leap back, check my side. Ah, prey has hidden claws too. Small claw, pierced my side. Prey is watchful now, glowing her injury blue. Tsk. How many can she undo? Smile, show fangs. Let¡¯s see. Yessss, prey is trembling now. Three circles on hands, one hand grows a tail? *Crack* Tail shoots out and snaps at my face, I snarl in reply. Lunge back and forth. Unpredictable, avoid the snapping tail. It ends with a fang. Snarling, I am thrown back. Circles are like turtle shells, cannot pierce. Tsk. Turtle that snaps at cat? Fool. Prey cannot be hunter. Only hunter is hunter. I am hunter, Angus is hunter. Prey will understand soon. Charge in. Dart. Left. Left. Duck. NOW! Fling sand towards eyes, prey hides behind shells. Foolish. Cannot see through shells, dart under. Clamp on leg, savage back and forth and retreat. Prey tried hidden claw again, but Inkler too fast. Prey crippled. Undo bite. Hiss. Smile with fang again. Prey shaking. Prey knows fear now. Backing up, prey wants to run. Typical prey. Play with prey? Yessssss. Dart in, side, side, snap jaws and back away. Prey stumbles backward. Dart in and bite hand, shake head. Can¡¯t sever, pushed back by shells. Partial retreat, dart back in as prey regains feet. Foolish prey, let guard down. DANGER! * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV After the king was healed, I saw Inkler make his move. Ruthless, he almost managed to sever the queen¡¯s arm with the opening salvo. Just before he could, she stabbed him with a dagger and healed herself. ¡°LILLITH! YOU DARE HURT MY BELOVED!¡± Solomon bellowed in rage, as his inner fires started glowing. Seems he is entering some berserk stage. Time to distract him. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about me! [Rocket slash]!¡± I gave a massive blow from 2 to 7 across the king¡¯s back, using the rocket power to boost the strike. Arching his back in pain, retaliation was swift. Spinning, he tried two horizontal slashes. Ducking under his counter, I continued my spin. ¡°[Keen edge]!¡± This time the slash was from 4 to 10. Staggering under the pain of the blow, I continued the assault. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± A horizontal blade of black energy cut through the abdomen of the king. As he bent over, I charged up my hammer, preparing to smash him in the face. ¡°[Soul switch].¡± Suddenly, the queen was standing in front of my oncoming hammer. Too late to pull back, not that I would, she took the hit right in her face. ¡°Inkler, back off!¡± I yelled a warning as the queen staggered under my blow. Stunned, I knew this was our chance. ¡°[Binding shadow chains]!¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Inkler¡¯s POV DANGER! Leap back, avoid the swirling fangs of the red prey. Tricky prey, switched places. Angus warned, didn¡¯t believe. ¡°Inkler, back off!¡± Tsk. Think I would let prey hit me like that? Foolish. Send reality slash, get prey¡¯s attention. Show fangs, this prey die soon. Angus claw up prey, send to Inkler for more clawing. Circle, distract. Prey pay attention to near threat, forget Angus already. Turn back to Angus. Angus coming to ambush, smart hunter. ¡°[Cold grasp of death].¡± Angus use strange skill. Prey freezes, accepting death. Why freeze? This prey have claws, fight back. Should not freeze! Prey fearful. Cold aura blow, but in hot sand place? Ah, yes! Prey frozen from fear of icy claw. Angus fire icy death from behind, pierce chest of red prey. Confusion? Red prey glowing blue inside? No matter, find blue prey. Blue prey bound in black ropes. Charge, savage blue prey¡¯s neck. Angus fight red turned blue prey. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV As they swapped places, I cried a warning to Inkler. Smart cat that he is, he was already dodging the attack. I charged in, binding Lillith behind me. Oh, Inkler was getting extra treats when we get back to civilization. He slashed at the king, distracting him and getting him to turn his back to me. I couldn¡¯t let this go. ¡°[Cold grasp of death].¡± As it technically wasn¡¯t a magic skill, it wasn¡¯t forced onto Lillith and bound Solomon. Swapping to my arbalest, I loaded Winter¡¯s Advent from my inventory and saw the muscles in Solomon¡¯s back clench in fear. Aiming, I shot him right between the shoulder blades. His health plummeted into the red, as his inner flame froze with the secondary ability of the bolt. The king turned to face me, rage on his face. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for your insolence.¡± Dropping his swords, his arms started moving in a strange pattern. ¡°Persistent foe, your time has come. Spells and skills will avail you not. My flames shall drag you to eternal suffering. NOW PERISH, IN A PILLAR OF FLAME! [HELL¡¯S MAW]!¡± With a flourish, he flung all four arms in my direction. The hands of each arm formed a picture frame around my charging body. His face fell open in shock as nothing happened. ¡°My turn. [Reaper¡¯s edge]!¡± Leaping toward him, I brought my weapon down in an overhand strike that split his head, killing him. ¡°HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± An agonized wail came from behind me, as Lillith sensed Solomon¡¯s death. Spinning and knocking Inkler away from her, I saw her eyes blazing with cold fury. ¡°You killed my Solomon. Now you shall pay.¡± She said, in a voice all the more terrifying for its lack of emotion. ¡°[Winter¡¯s wrath].¡± A barrage of icicles fired from her hands, and I did the best I could to deflect and dodge them. Anything to minimize the damage they were doing, but I could feel myself slowing down with each hit. Before she could launch another spell, Inkler was in front of me, using his ability to absorb the spell. ¡°Thanks bud.¡± I said, seeing that his health bar was still above 75%. With him on guard, I downed a few health potions. ¡°Bird of prey, freeze your heart. Strike down my foes. Show no care nor mercy. [Frigid Falcon].¡± A blue bird of ice shot forward, getting absorbed again by Inkler¡¯s ability. Two down, I just hope she chose one more ice attack. I had a bad feeling though. ¡°Inkler, get ready to run. I can take a few hits, but she isn¡¯t going to use ice right away. Wait for your opening, okay?¡± ¡°Uncaring currents, tear these fools from their embrace of land. Let the waters of the deep become their tomb. [Riptide].¡± Inkler darted off as she started her incantation, and I took a torrent of water to the chest. Tumbling backward with the force, I got up and charged back in so that she would keep attacking me. ¡°You still refuse to die? Then suffer.¡± Clapping her sets of hands together, they pulled apart to form a diamond shape. Swirling in the middle, was a massive ball of magic. ¡°Freeze your blood. Freeze your bones. Freeze your very soul. Spend eternity lamenting taking my love from me. [Cocytus blast]!¡± As she fired the last spell, Inkler charged in and took the hit. Glowing blue swirled with black energy, before firing back at Lillith. As the spear of magic came closer, she spread her arms and closed her eyes. ¡°Soon, my love.¡± She whispered, as Inkler¡¯s magic tore through her chest. She had to have removed her resistances, as that blow ended her. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± I said, walking up to Inkler and patting him on the side. I plopped onto the ground, pulling out a bowl for him. He first got a health potion, followed by two bowls of water. ¡°Don¡¯t know why I was worried about that fight. You¡¯re the perfect partner.¡± I said, listening to him purr. ¡°Just relax there for a bit, I¡¯ve got some things to take care of.¡± Looting both of the bodies, I took a look at all the notifications that had come up after the battle.
Level up x5!
Hidden Quest complete! Little did you know, but the lich Zandkazaar had turned the three kings into phylacteries for his soul. By defeating all of them, you have greatly weakened the lich.
Djinni King¡¯s Bracers Set item (1 of 3) Golden bracers worn by the king of the Djinni, they have been enchanted to boost your magical might. Defense: 40 Durability: 7,000/7,000 All spells cost 50% less mana 40% chance to ignore cooldown for spells
Djinni King¡¯s Gilded Torque Set item (1 of 3) A golden necklace worn by Solomon, it was said to boost his wisdom. +15% wisdom, +15% intelligence All cooldowns reduced by 10%
From the corpse of Lillith, I got the following.
Djinni King¡¯s Golden Belt Set item (1 of 3) This magical belt was gifted to Solomon by the elementals of his lands. Their strength has been imbued within. Defense: 30 Durability: 5,000/5,000 Out of combat regeneration doubled +50% damage for elemental spells
Djinni King¡¯s set complete! For equipping the entire set of the Djinni King, you receive the following bonuses: 2 of 3 set items: +30% magic resist 3 of 3 set items: Resistance cap increased by 5% Once per day, may select one element to boost damage by 500% for 1 minute
Searching through the bases of the spires and the thrones yielded nothing valuable, much to my dismay. Oh well, at least I got the complete set in one go. ¡°You okay with camping out here Inkler?¡± I asked, turning to find him already napping in the shadow of one of the spires. ¡°I guess so.¡± Pulling a tent and a camp stone from my inventory, I secured our site for the night. Book 2 Chapter 39 Our trip back to town was almost uneventful, and boy was I glad that we avoided meeting trouble. We saw a lone armored lizard travelling the sands, big enough that the sand sharks were leaving it alone. Were. Inkler and I both froze as the largest shark I had ever seen leapt from the sands and ate it in one bite! I had the presence of mind to identify it, and then we hightailed it out of there.
The Maw Elder Sand Shark (legendary) Level 150 The oldest and largest of their kind always adopts the mantle of ¡°The Maw.¡± The Maw fears nothing, and consumes all. Beware drawing his attention, mortal. For you are but a snack.
Yeah, not going to fight the legendary sand shark. Even the phantom steps potion would be useless, as his mouth was wider than the effect. So we did what every smart adventurer does when massively outclassed, we retreated as fast as monsterly possible. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°How are you and the others, Salmahim?¡± I asked as Inkler and I sauntered up to the group. ¡°Better. We felt the curse weaken when you finished Solomon and Lillith. Thank you, Angus.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± I answered, before dropping into a serious tone. ¡°Were you aware that the kings were being used as phylacteries for the lich?¡± Eyes blazed in anger as they all hissed. ¡°Never! That, that abomination!¡± Salmahim growled, at a loss for words. ¡°We must end him, and now!¡± ¡°Calm yourselves.¡± I said, grabbing his arm. ¡°The lich will meet his end soon, for that is my mission. But I need to know about this curse and how to dispel it. If it is being used to empower the lich.¡± ¡°Very well. The curse is tied into the stone artifact that our people attempted to rewrite. In order to break the curse, you must destroy the artifact. The lich keeps it hidden in his dungeon, no doubt guarded by some of his best troops. We also ask, should you come across the originals, would you return them to us?¡±
New quest alert! Break the curse You¡¯ve discovered the source of the curse that haunts these lands. Will you destroy it, to help them recover? Y/N
New quest alert! The ties that bind Salmahim asks that you find and recover the ancient tablets that originally united the three kingdoms. Accept? Y/N
¡°I will do all that is in my power to.¡± I replied, accepting both quests. ¡°Though, without kings, how are you to reform your kingdoms?¡± ¡°It is all we have left.¡± Annoyed by their answer, I moved the conversation along. ¡°So, do any of you know how to access the lich¡¯s lair? I assume it will be hidden in the middle of where I fought the three kings.¡± ¡°The way will open to you when you arrive. That is all the help we can give.¡± ¡°Very well then, I¡¯ll be back. Until next time.¡± I said. Leaving the group of men behind, I patted Inkler¡¯s side. ¡°We need to stock up a bit on alchemy reagents, and I think I¡¯ll donate this cursed meat if they can let me try my hand at dispelling again.¡± Heading to the meat processing area, I nodded at Butch but didn¡¯t change my clothes. ¡°Back again?¡± ¡°Was thinking about donating some meat if you guys don¡¯t mind trying to teach me how to cleanse it.¡± ¡°Fine by me! Head on over to the clerics, Charles has been hoping you¡¯d be back for another go ¡®round.¡± ¡°Thanks Butch.¡± I said, heading over to the table. I saw Charles give a wave from his bench, and sat down next to him again. ¡°Welcome back. You going to give it another go?¡± ¡°Yeah, hopefully I can get this down before the end of today.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to have goals, but if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what¡¯s the rush?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going up against some undead in the very near future, and being able to dispel them from a distance would be a boon.¡± ¡°Ah, well this won¡¯t work against skeletons you know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, from what I hear this guy prefers to manipulate flesh. I already have a way to easily handle skeletons.¡± Eyes wide, he started to ask in terror, ¡°Flesh? You don¡¯t mean ¨C¡° ¡°Yep. The lich will die. Permanently.¡± Pulling my cloak back, I let him see parts of the two sets of armor I was currently wearing. ¡°I¡¯ve already destroyed three phylacteries; he can¡¯t have many more.¡± ¡°By Justice¡¯s Sword, you¡¯ve truly done it? You slew the three kings?¡± He whispered, though I saw several of the other clerics heads swivel in our direction. ¡°At the request of Salmahim, I did. Tomorrow I head to battle against the lich.¡± ¡°Charles, this is too important to leave to chance.¡± One of the clerics said, having come over to our conversation. ¡°I am Neira, high priestess in service to Justice. What church are you affiliated with?¡± ¡°Thanatos.¡± I answered her as I looked her over. Tall, shoulder length brown hair and eyes. She wasn¡¯t overly pretty either, which was a nice change. Certain games had a way of making every female character drop dead gorgeous, and it got on my nerves after a bit. ¡°Hmm. A neutral god. It should be close enough. Will you accept a knowledge transfer from me? If you are suitable, you will gain beginner level 1 knowledge of each spell.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the cost?¡± ¡°No cost. Justice recognizes the evil the lich has caused over his unnatural life, and seeks to return to balance. Doing this will give you the tools to help, but it will be up to you in their use. Starting out with the lowest proficiency will also limit our interaction, helping the world recover to balance.¡± ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Nodding, she placed her hands on each side of my head and started murmuring a prayer to both Thanatos and Justice. From the corner of my eyes, I could see green and golden motes of light start collecting, before I got a notification.
New Skills Acquired! Neira, high priestess of Justice has petitioned her diety and yours to aid in giving you clerical spells. You will receive those you are compatible with at beginner level 1. Thanatos has altered some of them for your use.
New skill LevelIf you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Description
Purging flames Beginner lvl 1 Remove small to medium curses from items or people
Detect unlife Beginner lvl 1 Detect any raised bodies, or unnatural forms of life up to 50 feet away
Consuming flame Beginner lvl 1 Summon the green flames of Thanatos to consume dead bodies
Undeath smite Beginner lvl 1 Green flames coat your hammer, boosting damage to undead. High chance to stagger foes.
Looking over my new skills, I didn¡¯t see Neira slump over in exhaustion. All would be incredibly useful, but I could really only boost purging flames right now. Wait, I could boost consuming flame as well if I didn¡¯t mind losing items! ¡°Thank you Neira, for your gift of knowledge.¡± I said, shaking her hand. ¡°It worked? What did you gain?¡± ¡°Purging flames, detect unlife, consuming flame, and undeath smite.¡± I answered. ¡°Flames? Why flames?¡± She asked, confused. ¡°Thanatos manifests as green flames.¡± I answered. ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I have some skills to grind.¡± I said the last bit with a smile, and got to work. Just as I thought, the purging flames didn¡¯t damage the meat that it was cleansing at all. I did use it on myself, and felt a sharp sting of pain as it went through my body. That was good to know, as it could be a deadly distraction in battle. I used it on Inkler too, much to his annoyance. After those experiments, I got down to cleansing as much meat as I could. I didn¡¯t bother with breaks, simply using mana potions to recover. I got some practice in with [Consuming flames] as well. The leftover piles of bones that had no magic power were consumed, not even leaving ashes behind. I couldn¡¯t help but think that it would be a perfect skill for a killer to use. Three hours later, I was forced to stop. Not because my mana wouldn¡¯t recover, but because my mind was spent. You know the feeling you get after you take a series of incredibly hard tests? Your brain just feels fuzzy, and everything is a little bit slower? That¡¯s what I was running into. I knew then it was time to call it quits, and why the priests didn¡¯t use mana potions. ¡°Neira, thank you and Justice for the spells, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m at the end of my rope here. These skills will be more than useful in the upcoming battle.¡± ¡°No thanks are necessary, just end the Lich. We will pray for your success.¡± Leaving the group, I cursed myself for forgetting to get directions to the mage¡¯s guild. Seeing the sign for Abdaul¡¯s shop reminded me. Needing alchemy reagents anyway, I headed in to see Mardigan. ¡°Welcome back Angus!¡± He said, slapping me on the back. ¡°How¡¯s our desert treating you?¡± ¡°Not too shabby. Finally starting to get some better drops thanks to Abdaul and Butch. Just need to restock before heading in to fight the lich and hopefully end this curse.¡± ¡°Oh? You managed to take down Solomon and LIllith? That¡¯s a pretty good feat for only you and Inkler. How did you pull it off?¡± ¡°Well, if you can tell me how to get to the mage¡¯s guild, I can show you. I need a memory stone for Abdaul so he can see how Winter¡¯s Advent worked in combat.¡± ¡°He let you use it? Oh, man am I excited to see this. I¡¯ll have someone down to craft the stone, gimme a second.¡± Sticking his head out the door, he yelled for one of the street urchins that seemed to be in every town. ¡°Listen kid, go to the mage¡¯s guild with this note. Come back with Erin, and I¡¯ll give you another silver. Deal?¡± The kid didn¡¯t even reply, simply taking off at a run. ¡°So, while we wait for Erin to drop by, let¡¯s see what you got for gearing up for this fight.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got a cleansing spell at last, and one that will hopefully destroy undead. It would be nice if I had some pyrophoria potions, but I don¡¯t have the ingredients for them.¡± ¡°Bah, pyrophoria potions are weak. Lich¡¯s tend to make hordes of undead, you want something that can burn an area. Tell me, how many of those blasted winds did you manage to get?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I have about 50, why?¡± ¡°Because we are gonna brew some shit up!¡± He said with a maniacal cackle. Leading me to the back, he started rummaging around for ingredients. ¡°Alright! Sit down, and let¡¯s get cracking. Starting off with beetle oil, we need five parts for the base potion. Set up the cryogen apparatus.¡± ¡°Ummm, I¡¯ve not done that before.¡± ¡°Ah, no worries. Sub out the fire mana stone for an ice stone. We can¡¯t let this potion get too hot while it¡¯s brewing, or it¡¯ll burst. Alright, now that you have the setup, you need to add the following items as fast as you can while not disturbing the potion too much. Two drams firemander saliva, one blasted wind, and one dragontongue pollen. Cap it as soon as you can.¡± I¡¯ll be honest, if I was thinking straight I probably would have worried about what I was doing. They didn¡¯t call him Mad Mardigan for nothing, and every reagent involved spoke of either burning or being burned. Looking over things, I pulled out a clear glass rod and used that to guide the firemander saliva into the potion so that it wouldn¡¯t plop in. Taking out the tweezers, I added the blasted wind like I did for the potion to summon Einlorkis. Last was to sprinkle on the pollen and cap the potion. I thought for sure the pollen would float and that I would have to swirl it a bit, but instead it dissolved instantly. The black oil almost instantly turned a vibrant orange. ¡°Congrats on not blowing yourself up!¡± Mardigan called, and I turned to find him petting Inkler across the room. There was a small mana shield protecting the two of them, as well as all the reagents behind him. ¡°Just how dangerous is this potion?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°Identify it.¡± He replied, and I looked at the popup for the potion.
Inferno potion This potion will explode and ignite anything within a radius of three feet. This includes any users or allies. Damage: 300-500 fire damage Burn damage: Target will receive 150 burn damage every second for three seconds (doubles if undead)
¡°HOLY SHIT!¡± I panicked. ¡°This could kill me if it blew up!¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s the point!¡± He chuckled. ¡°You wanted a potion good against undead, yeah? These will reduce them to cinders in no time.¡± ¡°What is so blasted important that you sent a kid to bring me down here Mardigan?¡± An annoyed voice came from the front of the store, saving him from a further dressing down from me. ¡°Ah, Erin. Beautiful as always.¡± ¡°Can the cheesy lines, I¡¯m busy.¡± ¡°Fine. Angus here needs a memory stone created.¡± ¡°You called me down here for an apprentice task?¡± She asked shocked, and I came through the door to see her letting inadvertent sparks of lightning erupt from her clenched fist. ¡°Please don¡¯t destroy the place with me in it.¡± I asked, lowering my hood. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of explosive ingredients in here, and I doubt he has everything protected properly.¡± ¡°Huh? Wards are a hassle.¡± Mardigan replied, and I saw Erin shaking her head. ¡°Sorry kid, he¡¯s just infuriating sometimes.¡± ¡°Of course he is. He just had me brew an inferno potion and didn¡¯t give me any warnings.¡± I said, commiserating with the mage. ¡°At least he isn¡¯t constantly hitting on you. Despite being rejected.¡± ¡°Alright, you win.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°So, since you are here, would you be willing to make a memory stone for Abdaul?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°What¡¯s the memory of?¡± ¡°The death of Solomon and Lillith. Can we get the whole battle in there?¡± She froze at the mention of the memory. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I think I misheard you. Did you say that it was the death of Solomon and Lillith? The Djinni king and queen?¡± ¡°Yeah. I killed them yesterday and just got back into town.¡± I explained, and saw her eyes get excited. ¡°Mardigan? You¡¯re forgiven.¡± She said as she sauntered up and lightly smacked his cheek a few times. ¡°Just next time, let me know if it is something like this.¡± Turning to me, she asked, ¡°Do you mind if I make a copy for the guild? It¡¯s so very rare for someone to take them on anymore, and we always want to study their tactics.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just don¡¯t let the adventurers see it.¡± ¡°Oh? Not that we would, but why not?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want them knowing my abilities.¡± I answered. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Come over here, and I need to place one hand on your forehead. Think of the battle, replay it in your mind and I¡¯ll do everything else. Since you are giving the guild a copy, there¡¯s no charge for this.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, before accessing the video I had recorded and playing it. I could see Mardigan dancing back and forth in anticipation out of the corner of my eye. The video seemed to slow down and play at two thirds the speed of how it really happened, a side effect of the transferring magic. I watched it again, especially the part where Inkler mixed shadow and ice magic to finish off Lillith. ¡°That bolt? Where did you get such a weapon?¡± Erin asked after the transfer was complete. ¡°And how did it stop the king¡¯s magic? I¡¯ve seen the result of that spell before, it is so hot that a thirty-foot circle of desert becomes glass.¡± ¡°Abdaul made it.¡± I said, pulling the recovered bolt from my inventory and showing her. ¡°I recovered it, but it seems to have lost a good bit of it¡¯s magic.¡± It really was sad. The secondary effect was completely gone, as well as the aura effects. It had also lost 50 points of damage to each category. ¡°Wow. It still has incredible power, and you say its weaker?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I answered. ¡°Well, it seems I need to go see if he has ever crafted a wand.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Thank you for the memory Angus. Should you need anything, let the mage¡¯s guild know.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. She turned to look at Mardigan, and very pointedly said nothing as she left. ¡°So, what are we doing for the rest of the potions?¡± I asked, causing him to chuckle. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to gang up on me like that.¡± He said. ¡°Sure I did. Otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have helped me out. What did you ever do to get under her skin so badly?¡± ¡°We used to adventure a little bit back in the day. She said no matter how many baths I took, I couldn¡¯t get rid of the potion smell. We were always placed in the back row together, and she never let it go.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s all?¡± I asked in a disbelieving tone. ¡°Girls don¡¯t hold a grudge like that over smell. Lemme guess, you might have played a few harmless pranks on her?¡± ¡°Weeeeeell, there was the one time I added something to her health potions to turn her hair bright pink.¡± ¡°Say no more, I understand now.¡± I said. ¡°But it probably would have been hilarious.¡± I chuckled at the end. ¡°Damn right it was! Just too bad that it fell out after a week and had to regrow.¡± And there it is! The real reason she hated him. We ended up making another twenty batches of potion, Mardigan only having me pay for reagents. While I worked, he regaled Inkler with stories of his misadventures. Most of which were brought on by himself, but some of it was because of Abdaul or Erin. It was a relaxing afternoon, and we topped it off by watching the fight against the Djinni king with Abdaul later. It was nearing nightfall by the time we got back to the inn, and I had the cooks prepare a feast for Inkler. We decided to stay in the main dining area this time, where Inkler¡¯s antics as he anticipated his food amused several people. Especially when he finished his early and would lick his lips as he eyed my food. By the time we headed up for bed, we were both exhausted. Finally able to take off the disguise cloak I had on for several hours, I flopped down onto the floor. ¡°You¡¯ve earned the bed tonight buddy. Enjoy oof!¡± I couldn¡¯t finish my sentence before Inkler walked across my stomach to reach his bed. Purring loudly, I chuckled at his flicking tail as I logged off for the night. Book 2 Chapter 40 ¡°Hey guys!¡± I greeted Jon and Phoebe as they entered the caf¨¦. ¡°How are you doing in the game?¡± ¡°Jon hit max level a few days ago, and I¡¯m only two levels away.¡± Phoebe replied. ¡°About one day left of travelling to reach your city. Did you guys ever name it?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Not to my knowledge. Are they saying anything on the forums?¡± ¡°Eh. You guys seem to have dropped off the map for a while. There was that little hiccup with the Breaking Dawn, but that died down quickly.¡± ¡°Bastards.¡± I muttered, still ticked off that they had killed Alnoss. ¡°How long until your revenge?¡± ¡°Not sure. I¡¯ve got at least one more day over in the desert to get the lich. Then planning with Lolth¡¯s forces.¡± ¡°Alright, we can chill at the city for a few days. That¡¯s no biggie.¡± Jon said. ¡°Are you going to switch back to days?¡± ¡°After the revenge. From what I am expecting, night will be the best time to strike.¡± ¡°Anything we can start planning?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Sure. Basically, it¡¯ll be a smash and grab. But, I assume that Pelor can talk through his priests in the main cathedral. So, we¡¯ll have to kill them before we start with the smashing. I want to leave the place a smoking hole in the ground. Ideas for that would be great.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the name of your alchemist?¡± ¡°Djarleen. She can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but just tell her I¡¯m footing the bill. That¡¯ll make her happy.¡± ¡°Alright, sounds good. I assume the drow can get us disguise cloaks, so you can at least count on Jon and I being there. Derrick, probably not.¡± ¡°Hard not to notice a giant on the streets. No matter how casual he is.¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°Excuse me, sir! Sir! You¡¯ve gone and stepped on my cart!¡± I spoke in a mock falsetto. ¡°Ha! Man, he would be panicking about that. What if they put me in jail? Can I even fit in jail?¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°Alright, hopefully Derrick will be able to make the party. I¡¯m heading into the game, you guys take it easy.¡± Standing up, I gave a farewell nod to each of them before logging back in. Time to hunt down a lich. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Well, here we are.¡± I said to Inkler as I surveyed the dried oasis ahead of us. The trip out was incredibly easy, as no desert creature dared to attack us. Toward the far side of the dried pool of water, there was an entrance carved into a hill. As we got closer, I could see the simplistic runes carved into the side. Skulls and bones. Smiling, we walked inside.
Zandkazaar¡¯s True Tomb Heroic dungeon For slaying all three of the desert kings, you have unlocked the entrance to the true tomb of Zandkazaar. Beware the monstrosities within, for the careless shall become one.
The entrance hall had a double row of pillars in an Egyptian style, with shambling abominations shuffling between them.
Patchwork Flesh Golem Heroic level 90 Crafted from bits of different creatures, the sight of these abominations is enough to weaken the resolve of lesser adventurers.
¡°What do you think bud? Take out the legs, then let you rip the head off?¡± Inkler growled his displeasure. ¡°Yeah, good point. They probably taste as bad as they smell.¡± I activated [Mystic vision], and took a look at the golem. Unfortunately, the flesh prevented me from seeing the magical workings inside. ¡°Damn, we¡¯re gonna have to do this the hard way. Let me try one solo first Inkler.¡± Activating stealth, I moved around so that there was a pillar between me the golem. This one resembled a man, but it had scorpion claws for arms and a lizard leg. I took the time while behind the pillar and activated the skills I thought I would need. ¡°Thanatos, first kill is yours. [Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I silently crept close, one swing enough to take the head off the golem. ¡°Gaaahg.¡± I nearly vomited from the smell. As the golem fell over in death, the putrefied insides spilled out along the floor. It smelled of garbage left in the heat for a week. After a swift retreat to where Inkler was chuffing in amusement at me, I checked the popup I had gotten.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. For slaying an offering at full health, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a heroic monster, you gain 40 favor For slaying a monster with Reaper¡¯s Edge, you gain 20 favor. Total favor: 1069/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 1/1 Weekly kills: 25/25
¡°At least a hundred favor for each kill? This should be good.¡± I chuckled darkly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry bud, you can use distance attacks to cripple them if we get multiples. Until then, I should be good fighting them on my own.¡± He growled a little at that. ¡°Look, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want you fighting. But these things smell terrible, and that¡¯s with my horrible sense of smell. I dread what the smell will do to you.¡± That seemed to placate him a bit. I stored all my gear, and walked over to the body. If this was just a golem, why did it stop when I decapitated it? Opening the head, I found an empty mana core there. In the body there was a golem reanimation core. Ah, that was it. The mana gem provided power while the reanimation core operated everything. Without power, the golem died. That seemed like a terrible design flaw, but I would never complain about the idiocy of my enemies. These cores were different from the skeletal reanimation cores I had come across, but the magic within had a similar feel. Probably just the difference between reanimating bone and flesh. I stepped back and equipped my gear again. ¡°Alright buddy, let¡¯s destroy this one and move on.¡± As I placed a hand on the body, and activated [Consuming flames]. The green flames greedily consumed the body, and we headed on to the second golem. This one was walking on four legs, all of them insectoid. Two lizard arms came out of its back, and the neck was replaced with a scorprican¡¯s tail. ¡°Damn, that one is fugly isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s see what these new skills do. [Consuming flames].¡± A bolt of green fire struck the creature in the chest, igniting it. ¡°EEEEYYYYYYOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHH!¡± The golem gave a groaning roar that sent shivers down my back and set Inkler¡¯s armor plates to flapping. It spun around, lashing out with its legs. Stone shattered under the force as the golem hit a pillar. When the flames had finally died down, it had lost about a quarter of its life. ¡°Huh, scorched him a bit. I guess the animation magics fought off the flames.¡± I said, thinking out loud. ¡°Let¡¯s try this then. [Binding shadow chains].¡± Wrapped in the magical chains, the golem couldn¡¯t escape as I charged in, hammer raised. ¡°[Undeath smite]!¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Green flames wreathed my hammer¡¯s head as I swung down with as much force as I could muster. I heard something crack inside the creature, as the flames seemed to pass through the golem. As it fell to my feet, I wondered just how powerful that strike could become. ¡°Huh. Was the golem that weak? Or did I strike the core with that attack and get lucky?¡± I opened up this body as well, doing another quick autopsy while breathing as little as possible. The core had shattered and was worthless, but it did answer my question from earlier. I paid particular attention to the joints of this one. How in the hell did he create joints in a creature in places that normally wouldn¡¯t have them? The answer was obvious once the flesh was peeled back. Brute force. The leg joints of an armored lizard had been thrown in where the shoulder blades had been removed. A cage of bones secured the new joints to the rest of the skeleton. Looking everything over, I shook my head. No way in hell these joints moved as fluidly as the real things. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if their range of motion was severely curtailed as well. For the insect legs, the internal organs had been removed and replaced with extra-long tendons that connected the legs to different bones. The body only gave a vial of putrefied ichor. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s at least see if this stuff is flammable.¡± Tossing the vial at the nearest pillar with a torch, I watched as it shattered and dripped down. Sure enough, as soon as the ichor hit the torch it burst into flames. Foul smelling flames that released an oily black smoke. Inkler and I retreated in a hurry, coughing and hacking at the smell. ¡°Sorry bud, I promise it¡¯ll be a last resort.¡± Inkler flicked me with a tail, as if to say I had better not need a last resort. The beetle oil was also flammable, but it burned a lot cleaner. ¡°Ok. I think that¡¯ll do it. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in the next room.¡± As we neared the doorway, we both looked through.
Armored Scorpricalan Heroic level 90 Fusion of human, scorprican and armored lizard, these foot soldiers form the basis of Zandkazaar¡¯s army.
Standing in a square formation were 25 of the newest enemy. They maintained a humanoid shape, mostly. Four insect legs spread out from a human waist. The torso was human, but covered with armored plates. The right arm was that of the scorprican pincer, while the left arm ended in a shield of plates from the armored lizard. They also had a scorprican tail rising up from behind them. ¡°We need a distraction. [Shadowgheist].¡± Summoning my clone, I sent him charging in. While he distracted them, I used [Dancing shadow steps] to get around and behind the formation without being seen. The clone ended up dying without doing any damage, but it had done its job. ¡°Thanatos, the entire group is yours.¡± I whispered, taking out one of the inferno potions from my inventory. It shattered against the back of one of the central scorpricalans, unleashing fiery mayhem. The central portion of the formation took the brunt of the damage, most of them dying outright. The back two rows survived slightly better, as they had partial coverage from their shields. They still lost three from the closest row and one from the back row. The front two rows only had two badly mangled survivors. Inkler swept into the place and slashed through the neck of one almost immediately. He played cat and mouse with the second one as I started finishing off the six injured that were closest to me. ¡°[Binding shadow chains][Consuming fire][Undeath smite].¡± I didn¡¯t hold back, binding one of the middle enemies while targeting the two closest with my other attacks. To my happy surprise, consuming fire ended up taking over the flames from the explosive attack, rapidly killing the monster. Once I had hit the closest enemy with an undeath smite, the remaining three tried to form a defensive wall with their shields. As they did so, I decapitated the one bound with chains. The one Inkler was toying with also ended up succumbing to the burning damage. ¡°Let¡¯s see how they handle this!¡± I said, pulling out my arbalest and pointing it in the general direction of their heads. As expected, they hunkered down behind their shields, instinctively protecting a vital point. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± Using the misdirection, I instead took the three down by targeting their legs. The middle one¡¯s knees were completely severed, while the outer two only lost the majority of function in them. As they stumbled from the attack, I shot the one on the left in the middle of the body with an armor piercing bolt. That was enough damage to finish it. Inkler ended the fight by looping around behind the flesh golems and smacking the back of their heads with his paws.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For sacrificing a group of acceptable monsters, you gain 625 favor. (25 monsters x (20 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a group of heroic monsters, you gain 1125 favor. (25 monsters x (40 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a monster at full health, gain 340 favor. (17 monsters x 20 favor each). Total favor: 3159/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 1/1 Weekly kills: 25/25
¡°Well, looks like taking out groups is the way to go.¡± I mumbled after the notification. Another group sacrifice like that and I should be ready to advance in the church once more. ¡°Now, which way should we go?¡± I asked, taking stock of the room. Straight through from the entrance was a stairway marked with a dish that had a flame on it. To the left of that was a stairway marked with a well, while the stairway to the right had a giant fang. Inkler sniffed at each passage, sneezing at the one marked with the flames and fang. ¡°Alright, the well it is. Lead on.¡± Following Inkler, we headed down stairwell number 2. It was odd for a dungeon, dropping half a level before continuing on for a bit and dropping again. We repeated this several times, circling counterclockwise after a while. We were on our guard, the lack of enemies unnerving. As we travelled along, the flat areas got shorter and shorter. Eventually we were in a spiral staircase. As we got lower, the walls started glistening with moisture. How far down did we have to go to cross the water table in a desert? Eventually we reached the bottom, and the reason for the well became much clearer. In an open room, there was a massive lake. Dangling from the ceiling were several cocoons, they looked to be about Halfling sized. In the center of the lake was a tree with silver leaves, but that was all I could tell about it from this distance. Far closer was the oddest fairy I had ever seen. He was sitting in the lotus position, butterfly wings spread behind him. They were an ugly grey laced with streaks of purple for about three fourths of the length, and the top portion were a dulled silver.
Oberon Corrupted Fairy King (84%) Heroic level 100 The ruler of the Summer Court, Oberon was betrayed and has been fighting the corruption of Zandkazaar by himself in order to save what¡¯s left of his people. In his current state, he only has access to 16% of his stats.
¡°I¡¯ll not yield to you, lich.¡± Oberon stated in a calm voice. ¡°Not while there¡¯s breath in my body.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good attitude to have. Of course, he¡¯s probably more interested in your dead body than a living one.¡± I replied, watching Oberon¡¯s eyes flash open. ¡°You have the aura of death, but not necromancy. Odd. Who are you?¡± ¡°One who is hopefully going to end the lich. Permanently.¡± ¡°A hero? But you are a monster race.¡± ¡°Adventurers come in all varieties. I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t heard, since you have been busy saving your court.¡± ¡°True. It takes all my concentration to fight a losing battle. Though it has gotten easier of late. Since you wear the armors of my fellow kings, can I assume you are to blame?¡± ¡°Probably. I did destroy three of his phylacteries. That probably weakened him a good bit.¡± ¡°I see. Since you freed them, would you do an old fairy one last request?¡± ¡°If it is within my power, of course.¡± ¡°Free my people and kill me.¡± ¡°How?¡± I asked, getting leery of vague statements like that. Especially from a race of notorious tricksters. ¡°I¡¯ll explain.¡± He replied in a gentle voice. ¡°You know the story of the tablets? Well. The source of magic that powers the binding is behind me. I felt the disturbance as the lich tried to substitute his own altered stones during the binding ceremony, but I couldn¡¯t sever the connection. A spy in my court betrayed us, and we couldn¡¯t break the ritual. In desperation, I substituted myself as the source in lieu of the tree, severing my own connection to it. Dooming my people.¡± ¡°How are they doomed? Are they not in the cocoons?¡± ¡°They are, to conserve what mana they have. The king acts as a conduit to the tree, as I am the only one strong enough to handle the torrents of power. Without that, they would waste away. And my children could not find it in their hearts to slay me, nor would I ask it of them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, terrible.¡± I said. ¡°So, I need to slay you so that a new king can be crowned? And how do we prevent the curse from passing along with the mantle?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to break the curse and renew the original tablet. But it won¡¯t be an easy task.¡± ¡°Of course it won¡¯t.¡± I muttered. ¡°The lich has split the original tablet among his three generals. You will need to destroy them and reclaim the pieces. The hardest part will be the fake stone. His fiercest guardian protects it, and it doesn¡¯t take kindly to intruders.¡± ¡°What kind of guardians are we talking about?¡± I asked, concerned that he hadn¡¯t mentioned them before. I grew even more concerned when his wings started drooping. ¡°The generals are all soul sworn servants. Boulder is a former half giant. He willingly let Zandkazaar experiment on him, and now his proportions are absolutely massive. He is their siegebreaker. Drul¡¯kaath was a former drow, and now walks the path of necromancy, learning from the lich. He commands the hordes. Endrian is the general to truly fear. A corrupted air elemental, he acts as spymaster for the lich. There is no doubt he knows you are here, and is likely studying you to find your weaknesses. I pray you haven¡¯t revealed all your trump cards yet.¡± ¡°Despite all this information, I know you are holding something back.¡± I said, some bit of intuition about how he was holding his body. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You will have to fight his generals in the order I described them, as they bar the way to the final guardian. In order to retrieve the cursed tablet, you must face Abbadon, the undead dragon.¡± ¡°Damnit, it had to be a dragon. Is it a real dragon, or is it a facsimile made from different body parts?¡± ¡°While it is not a true dragon, it still has their power. You¡¯ll need an army to take him down.¡± ¡°Well, sorry to say but I¡¯m fresh out of armies. Looks like you¡¯ll have to live with just me. Is there anything else I should know?¡± ¡°You still are going to fight? Despite the odds?¡± He asked, eyes widening. No doubt he thought me crazy. ¡°Of course. I¡¯m going to end the lich. It only seems appropriate that I end everything he created here. Now, how do I find this dragon?¡± ¡°The path of the fang. Oh, how I wish one of your caliber had come decades ago. I could have spared the mana to give you a powerful blessing.¡± ¡°Well, no time like the present to get started.¡± I said, standing up and cracking my back. ¡°You¡¯ll have to hold on, I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can.¡± I said, turning and beckoning Inkler to head up the stairs. I felt bad that there was nothing I could do but leave the fairy king alone in the dark, but at least he had some hope. Book 2 Chapter 41 After backtracking, Inkler and I headed down the path marked with a fang. ¡°At least we know there¡¯s some enemies this way, eh buddy?¡± I asked, giving him a pet. He rubbed against my leg, and clicked his armor plates a bit in anticipation. We went down almost four stories worth of stairs, before it leveled off. A short distance away was a doorway, and a well-lit room beyond. There was an odd grating sound coming from within, causing both Inkler and I to look at each other in a confused manner. We both activated sneak skills, creeping along the outside wall and trying to stay in shadow. The room we entered was completely circular, nearly a football field length across. Thirteen columns encircled a massive arena area, at the center of which was a truly massive creature. The foot of the creature was nearly as tall as I was. Truly, this would a siege breaker, especially if armored. The grating sounds that had put Inkler and I on our toes were its snores.
Boulder Heroic level 95 Siege Breaker. Altered half giant. Boulder has willingly thrown his life in with that of Zandkazaar, allowing himself to become an experimental abomination for promises of power. An incredibly powerful foe, you would do well to not take a direct blow from him. His armored fists have reduced enchanted walls to rubble, and men to pulp.
¡°Don¡¯t let him hit you. If you can, cling to his back where his hands can¡¯t reach.¡± I whispered, and Inkler gave me a look as if I were an idiot. Shrugging, I summoned a shadowgheist and gave it an inferno potion. Sending it running forward, it used a shadow chain to lift itself to eye level with Boulder and throw the potion into its maw. ¡°RRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!¡± Bellowing in rage, Boulder woke up swinging. The shadowgheist managed to miss the initial blow, but he landed at the same time as Boulder¡¯s descending fist, immediately getting killed. As Boulder smashed his fists into the ground where the shadowgheist met its end until they bled, Inkler and I sat back and debated how to attack. I had my arbalest armed, and decided to go with an armor piercing bolt. After he calmed down, I noticed that initial attack only took down ten percent of the creature¡¯s life. ¡°Shit, this is going to be a grind.¡± I muttered, before taking aim. The giant must have heard something, for it tilted its head. Blinking, it made an easy target. Again the giant bellowed in rage, this time covering an eye. I saw Inkler had started his move as well, circling around behind the giant. I used shadow chains to shoot myself towards the ceiling. The beast tracked my movements, and as it started moving Inkler leapt from the shadows and used his reality slash to sever a tendon. The damage to its health was minimal, but a crippled giant is an easy target. Hanging from shadow chains, I reloaded another bolt. This time, I went with a corruption bolt. I didn¡¯t really care where it hit, and ended up getting a shot in between the collar bones of the giant. Boulder ignored the arrow, but I got an annoying popup.
Boulder is immune to corruption effects
¡°Damnit!¡± I swore, and dropped down to the ground again. Not only had the corruption bolt not worked, but his health bar was slowly ticking upward as his giant regeneration kicked in. As the cooldown was over, I summoned another shadowgheist to act as a distraction. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I appeared behind the ear of the giant as his hand slammed down where I was just at. Grabbing some hair to steady myself, I watched as my shadowgheist met another swift end. I opted to use some of my swiftly depleting mana, and started a chant. ¡°Arrow of darkness, cleave your way. Beware the danger, of Arrows that pierce the day. [Dark bolt].¡± I fired this down the ear canal of the giant, eliciting another howl of pain. I pulled a Tarzan to swing away from the hand that slapped against the ear in reflex. Looking down, I saw Inkler making his way up to where I was. He was already at the shoulderblades, steadily climbing. I let him reach the opposite shoulder before renewing my attack. Savage slashes from my scythe on one side coupled with Inkler ripping out chunks of flesh. Boulder started twisting his shoulders in an attempt to dislodge us. Inkler managed to stay on. I didn¡¯t. Slamming against a wall hurt, and stunned me for ten seconds. I watched helplessly as Inkler inched his way over to the nape of the neck. Genius cat! With his overdeveloped muscles, Boulder has lost much of his flexibility! Safe from prying hands, I took the time to down a health potion. With an opponent like this, anything less than full health was folly. ¡°How the hell are we supposed to take him down?¡± I muttered. He still had 2/3 of his life, and the Achilles tendon on his foot had already healed. Looking around, the entire arena was barren. Nothing helpful there. ¡°Slugfest it is.¡± I cursed. Running in, I buried my scythe in the same location Inkler had cut earlier. The tendon severed again, dropping the giant to a knee. Men everywhere, please forgive me for what I am about to do! I yelled in my head, before slashing at the giant¡¯s future children. It¡¯s outraged bellow swiftly gained an octave, and Immediately stopped trying to grab Inkler. Bent over, grabbing his gianthood, Inkler did what any self-respecting adventurer would do. Severed his spine with a reality slash. The paralyzed body flopped forward, and I made my way around to the side of the neck. Opening up the tissue, I stood back as gouts of blood gushed out. Inkler kept savaging the neck, and between us the boss only took another ten minutes to die. ¡°Inkler. INKLER!¡± I had to shout to get his attention, so focused was he on stopping that neck from regenerating. ¡°He¡¯s dead bud, you can relax.¡± Turning back to the neck, he batted it a few times with his paws before being satisfied. Sitting down, he started cleaning his paws. Cats. ¡°Are you going to get down off of there so I can loot this thing? Or you gonna chance it and fall down when the body disappears?¡± Pausing to glare at me with his claws unsheathed, Inkler gave them one last lick before padding down to ground level. Looting the body, I dealt with several popups.
Level up x5!If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. You have reached the maximum level for your species. Would you like to evolve now? Y/N
No, I don¡¯t want to evolve right now. Checking my logs, Inkler had reached level 80 as well. Time for some loot!
Loot Worn wyvern armor Giant abomination blood x 25 Giant skin x50 Giant mountain oyster x 2 30 platinum, 80 gold, 25 silver Magical tablet x1 (quest item)
Worn wyvern armor This armor has seen better days. Though made from a superior material, the ravages of time have greatly depreciated its utility. Defense: 20 Durability: 48/500
Shrugging my shoulders, I looted everything except the ¡®oysters.¡¯ Not even going to mess with that one. ¡°What do you say to a thirty-minute nap?¡± I asked Inkler, and he started purring and searching for a place to lie down. After our rest, we continued down another flight of stairs. Hearing clanking at the bottom, we cautiously approached. The bottom of the stairwell opened up into a large chamber with another group of the scorpricalans. We opted to wait for a few minutes, as the group was perfectly still. Sure enough, five minutes later two scorpricalans came marching by. Perfect. Patrolling guards meant the drow in charge couldn¡¯t be aware of everything at once. Summoning a shadowgheist, I gave it an inferno potion and a mission. ¡°Thanatos, this group¡¯s for you as well.¡± I said, sending forth my suicide clone. It ran down the steps, charging in as fast as it could. The unit tightened formation, the front two lines forming a stepped wall with their tails acting as protruding pikes. Undaunted, my clone launched itself into the upper portion of the wall, throwing the inferno potion at the ground in the middle of the formation. The results were spectacular. Bodies flying, limbs burning. The slight clustering worked against them, ensuring their destruction.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For sacrificing a group of acceptable monsters, you gain 625 favor. (25 monsters x (20 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a group of heroic monsters, you gain 1125 favor. (25 monsters x (40 favor +5 group bonus)). For sacrificing a monster at full health, gain 500 favor. (25 monsters x 20 favor each). Total favor: 5409/5000 Champions killed: 0/10 Elites killed: 1/1 Weekly kills: 25/25
You have reached maximum favor! To advance your rank in the church, and prevent favor loss, head to a church and initiate a rank up as soon as possible.
¡°Come on bud, let¡¯s follow the direction of the patrols.¡± I said, heading to the right. We entered a corridor, and as we travelled down it started hearing metallic sounds. Rhythmic clanking. ¡°Sounds like a smithy.¡± I muttered, torn. We could easily enter the area and start taking out the less martially inclined constructs, but a patrol could come up behind us and leave before we noticed them. ¡°Alright, do we stay here for a bit and take out the next patrol? Or forge on and hope we can clear the next area before a patrol catches up to us? They¡¯ll be on guard after seeing the empty room behind us. Aw hell, we gotta go back and go against the flow of patrols, don¡¯t we?¡± Inkler gave me a confused look through that entire little speech. ¡°Shit, you¡¯re right.¡± I convinced myself. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for that, and the alarm will go off when the patrols stop showing up. Speedrun it is. Leave it be unless you can kill it in one strike or it is attacking us.¡± He at least nodded his head at that, and we moved on with a growing sense of urgency. Past the smithing shops where metal golems crafted shield backings. Past the armorsmith¡¯s area. Ghastly creations with multiple insect legs ended in humanoid hands, the better to attach magic reflective plates to the shields. Past the grisly harvesting areas. Where creatures from Lovecraft¡¯s nightmares used their dexterous limbs to harvest sinew from bodies for crafting. We caught up to the previous patrol at some point, a single reality slash cleaving their heads from their shoulders. The bodies looted on the fly, no need to see what they dropped. Into the bag it goes. At this point, a distraction would be needed. Grabbing some torches from the walls, I threw them into rooms where spare skin was being tanned. Speeding as fast as we could in a desperate dash to stay ahead of the choking smoke. Stumbling into an open area, we found ourselves facing three equally stunned guards. Two were normal scorpricalans, but one resembled a humanoid toad.
Lieutenant Croaker Heroic level 93 flesh golem A disgusting fusion of human and desert toad, Lieutenant Croaker acts as Drul¡¯kaath¡¯s right hand. Whether spearheading assaults or holding the line, he is an apt disciple of war.
Battle. Furious battle. Deflected blow from the right. Allowed the tail to strike from the left, minimal damage. Grab and pulled the tail. Deflected another blow. [Undeath strike] to the scorpricalan whose tail I have. Critical blow from the other scorpricalan, caught me in the back. Croaker¡¯s tongue shot out and grabbed my weapon wrist, leaving my back exposed for further attacks. Inkler saved me with a reality slash, killing the second scorpricalan. Croaker released me, inflating his lungs for unknown plan. Chantless [Dark bolt] blew a hole in his chest, soundlessly releasing the air. Not enough to kill him. Charge in, duck under the tongue as it lashed out. Attempted to hammer his leg joint, but an unexpected leap cleared Croaker of my attack. Inkler saw it coming, and used me as a launching board. Stunned from a bad landing, I can finally end the lieutenant with a hammer blow to the head. Looted all bodies and kept moving. Entered the next room, and the door slammed shut behind us. Trap! ¡°I must say, that was a rather hectic dash to make it here before being swarmed by my minions.¡± A sultry voice spoke from across the way, several sets of hands clapping. Looking up, I saw an inordinately tall drow. He had several sets of insect arms that ended in human hands, and four scorpion tails poised behind his back. A central tail hovered over his head, but I couldn¡¯t place what the ending of the tail was.
General Drul¡¯kaath Drow (artificial venomnoid variant) Heroic level 95 Hordemaster General Drul¡¯kaath. Mentioning his name strikes fear into any familiar with the history of warfare. His brilliant strategies led Lolth¡¯s armies to many victories, until he disappeared with his entourage in a dangerous expedition. The bodies were never recovered. With an army that knows no pain, has no fear, and unflinchingly obeys orders, he is poised to take over whatever his master bids.
¡°Former general of Lolth?¡± I asked, panting. I needed to buy some time for my stamina to recover. ¡°I wonder if she will reward me for bringing back your head?¡± ¡°Bah. Such a fickle goddess. In favor one minute, out of favor the next. Zandkazaar though. Now that is someone you should serve. With the focus only the undead may achieve, he will rule this world one day. Join us, adventurer. He can bestow upon you and your. Pet.¡± He gave a pause mid sentence, saying pet with such disdain. ¡°The same sort of blessings I enjoy. And I didn¡¯t have to beg and grovel at the feet of that whore of a goddess to obtain the blessings of the spider! No warrior can match me now!¡± By the end of his rant, he was practically screaming. ¡°I! AM! UNSTOPPABLE!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just see about that, shall we?¡± Book 2 Chapter 42 ¡°Foolish mortal. Know that your body will join the others in our army after your death.¡± He said, drawing four blades. The two hands by his shoulders drew scimitars. The set immediately below that picked up two small buckler shields. The bottom set had daggers dripping with poison. Not good. Oh, I didn¡¯t care about the poison, that wasn¡¯t an issue. But between his tails and arms, he had eight pointy objects to my one. Plus that additional tail that I didn¡¯t know about. ¡°Oh? You aren¡¯t trembling? Perhaps you shall give me a good fight then. It has been far too long since I¡¯ve been able to test myself.¡± Shrugging his shoulders, he prepared to battle. I pulled out my hammerscythe, as the arbalest would just be a hindrance. Let¡¯s see what he does with a ranged opening. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± I spoke calmly, avoiding the chant for now. I can always do that when there is a greater chance of doing damage. With a casual grace, he parried the bolt with one of his shields. ¡°I do hope that you have better skills than that.¡± He taunted, taking an odd stance. Body angled so I was facing his side to minimize my target area, he had one foot forward. The dagger arms were held at a low angle, ready to pierce my sides with a pincer type strike. One shield was forward, with his sword arm outside of it to provide either extra parrying or carry out a strike. The final sword was behind and above his head. ¡°[Ice spike][Earthen wave].¡± He took the initiative, launching a bolt at my chest while causing a rippling wave of earth to move beneath me. I parryied the bolt, but stumbled with the earth wave. As I frantically parried strikes from his scimitars, while trying to avoid getting poked by his daggers and tails. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I was forced to use my skill to escape, and followed it with a low and horizontal [Reality slash] to keep him from following me. It looked like my avoidance technique needed work, as I guessed I had gotten stabbed at least twelve times in the brief exchange. ¡°Interesting.¡± He gloated, running a scimitar blade across his tongue to taste my blood. ¡°You seem to have a poison immunity.¡± I kept my eyes on him, waiting for an opening. I desperately needed to reduce the number of attack avenues he had, or else he was going to overwhelm me. As I was thinking this, Inkler decided it was time for him to attack. He seemed to materialize from the darkness behind the drow, claws extended to grip him by the shoulder. I thought for sure it would work. It should have worked. There was no sound, and I kept my eyes glued to the drow¡¯s the entire time. Faster than should be possible, Drul¡¯kaath spun on his heels and raised his arms in defense. The shields blocked Inkler¡¯s claws, while the scimitars crossed at his neck. Using his superior positioning, and Inkler¡¯s own momentum, Drul¡¯kaath slashed sideways with his scimitars and decapitated Inkler. Eyes wide, I froze at the impossibility of what just happened. ¡°Naughty kitty! Thinking to sneak up on a drow.¡± He tsked. ¡°That¡¯s no way to get ahead in life.¡± He chuckled darkly at the end, and that snapped me from my stupor. ¡°You kill my friend, and make a pun?¡± I growled. ¡°I¡¯m going to end you slowly.¡± I promised. ¡°[Dark bolt]!¡± ¡°Not this again.¡± He muttered, casually deflecting the bolt. Unfortunately for him, he had taken the same movements as last time. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I had launched my second attack right as he parried the bolt, and he had no way to evade. Charging in, I severed his left hand with the dagger by striking at the wrist joint. ¡°[Reality slash]!¡± I snarled as I spun around behind him, targeting where his right arms connected to his body. I didn¡¯t fully manage to sever them, but I know I had to have hit some tendons by the way they flopped a bit. ¡°[Rocket slash][Keen edge].¡± This time I used a downward angled slash through his him. Luck was smiling on me, as it completely severed his leg. Forced to use a trump card, he shot a string from the central tail and launched himself across the room. ¡°Aw, that was inspired!¡± He laughed. ¡°You nearly crippled my entire right side! Unfortunately for you, I can do this.¡± With a sick cracking noise, two tails on his right side twisted around to form a pseudo leg. The central tail bound them together with webbing to reinforce them. While he was doing that, I started pulling out vials of beetle oil and throwing them at him. He casually blocked them with a shield or sword. ¡°That¡¯s it? Vials of beetle oil? I thought you better than that!¡± ¡°[Cold grasp of death].¡± I said emotionlessly, smiling darkly as his eyes widened in fear. ¡°I¡¯m going to watch you burn.¡± I threw an inferno potion, watching him flail about in agony. After thirty seconds of screeching, the fires had died down to where I could see and walk closer to the drow. It wasn¡¯t a pretty sight. He was lying on his back, all his tails and extra arms having burned off in the inferno. His skin was charred, and all his hair was gone. ¡°E. E. En. End. End it. Pa. Please.¡± He gasped, health in the red. ¡°As you wish.¡± Rearing back, I unleashed a mana shockwave from my hammer right in the middle of his face. That done, I looted his body and walked away a bit to deal with notifications.
Your pet has died! Your pet has died in battle. If you wish, you may resurrect him now for a loss of three of his character levels. For every hour you wait, the cost will drop by one level. Resurrect? Y/N?
¡°Take a rest Inkler. I¡¯ll see you in a few hours.¡± I said, choosing the no option. There was no rush.
Loot Worn leather pants Worn leather boots Drul¡¯kaath family scimitars x2 35 platinum, 17 gold, 22 silver Magical tablet x1 (quest item)
What the hell? The worn leather pants and boots were the same quality as the armor I had gotten from Boulder. The scimitars were items to build reputation no doubt, which might be useful for the upcoming raid. Now that I think about it, perhaps I was a bit premature in smashing his head. It would have made a lovely drow trophy. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed deeper into the area.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Once again, there were stairs leading down. And down. Eventually it did level off, opening into a large round room. ¡°I heeeeeaaaarrr, a whissssper on the wiiiinnnd.¡± A breathy voice said. ¡°It speaaaaaaks, of deathhhhhh.¡± The speaker was a twisting vortex of winds, resembling a four pointed star. Two green eyes peeked out at me.
Endrian Heroic corrupted air elemental Level 95 Corrupted by Zandkazaar¡¯s magic when the Solomon¡¯s kingdom fell, Endrian was forced to serve as spymaster for the lich. His ability to see and hear the faintest whispers on the wind make him the ultimate spy.
¡°Endrian, I presume?¡± ¡°Yesssss. Aaaare you heeere. To killlll me? Sssslayer of Ssssolomon?¡± ¡°Not if I don¡¯t have to.¡± I answered. ¡°I assume that was the point of you talking to me?¡± ¡°Yesssss.¡± ¡°Any plans for that?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°With Ssssolomon¡¯s death, Sssandkasssarr¡¯s hold on meeee, hasss weakened.¡± ¡°I think I see it. Solomon was connected to all the land¡¯s elementals, so he managed to corrupt you through Solomon. With no direct connection, we can hopefully break his hold on you. Sounds like a good plan, any idea on how to do it?¡± ¡°Cleaaaaanse meeeee.¡± ¡°Sure thing. [Purging flames].¡± Throwing a green fireball at the elemental, I watched as it flickered within him for a second, before guttering out. Watching the status of Endrian, I saw his corruption level drop down to 98%, before returning. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s a potent curse.¡± ¡°I fellllt it weaaaaken, aaaand return.¡± ¡°Yeah, we have to break it all in one go. Is there a way for you to dampen your internal magic for a minute? I have an idea, but would prefer not going blind.¡± As the elemental complied with my request, seeming to shrink in upon himself, I activated [Mystic vision]. With his natural essence tamped down it was easy to view the black cage of magic that corrupted him. Each node was interconnected, no less than three and no more than five. ¡°[Purging flames].¡± I tried again, targeting one of the nodes and receiving a hiss of pain from the elemental. This time I watched as the flames consumed the node and started along the net of connections. Halfway to the adjacent nodes, the flames stopped, guttering as the magic of the net fought back. As the green flame flickered under the assault, it was driven back and overwhelmed. The node reformed, and the corruption count that had dropped to 93% rose back to 100%. ¡°Thaaat, was mooooossst paaaainful.¡± ¡°Sorry. We had a little more progress though.¡± ¡°And youuuuuuu, caaaaan breeeaak the curssssse?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Not without a breakthrough. The cooldown for my skill takes too long, the curse will have fully regenerated before I can use it again.¡± ¡°Weeeeaaaaakkk.¡± ¡°Yes, I am weak. But, if you are able to hold up through some pain, I have a mad plan that just might work.¡± ¡°Proceeeeeeed.¡± ¡°Dampen your magic again, please.¡± Once more I activated [Mystic vision], targeting the web of vile energies. This time, I actively tried to alter a spell as I was using it. I had some slight practice overcharging spells, so hopefully this would work. At the exact moment I felt the mana of the spell start to cut off, I started channeling more into it. Making it stronger. Extending it. I managed. For an entire half a second. I let my mana recover, and tried again. And again. And again. Each time causing pain for Endrian, and apologizing. But it was working! Each repetition got longer and longer. Each time, I became more proficient. ¡°Pleeeeeaaase. Hurrrry.¡± Endrian¡¯s pained whisper came to me. Steeling myself, I tried one last time. With a flash of green, I found myself on a barren plain.
Etherscape Battle Commenced! Congratulations Adventurer! You have managed to bind your will into an etherscape battle with a living curse! Whether luck or folly remains to be seen. Here are the rules: 1) Your life here is based upon your mana reserves. 2) Damage accrued will be deducted from your mana 3) Mana is required to be projected here. You will be deducted 3 mana for every 5 seconds. 4) Defeat the curse¡¯s avatar before you run out of mana.
After reading the popup, a blue bar appeared at the top of my vision and slowly started ticking down. In front of me, an entirely black approximation of Endrian formed. I charged in, not wasting any time. It responded by firing blades of air at me. The first hit, taking a small chunk out of my mana. Dodging the rest, I slashed at him. Minimal damage. His winds almost seemed to part around my blade, as if they could do anything they could to avoid a strike. Sensing danger, I leapt backwards. The curse had spread its wind and tried to envelope me! ¡°Nice try.¡± I muttered, resting my weapon on the ground. ¡°But you¡¯ll have to be faster than that.¡± With an ear piercing screech, it lunged toward me with its hands extended. I smiled as it grasped my throat, as it couldn¡¯t escape while trying to kill me. I swung my hammer end into the middle of the creature, using mana to detonate the small parcel of earth I had collected on the end of it. Rage turned to agony, as the small particles of mana charged dirt tore through the core of the creature. I had lost half of my mana, but the end result was worth it. Massive rents had appeared in the form of the creature, and its labored breathing encouraged me. Time to end this. With a flurry of blows, I started dismantling the creature. It tried to flee, but I was faster. It tried to retaliate, but I could move better. In the end, no matter what it tried, it could only die. Gasping, I found myself back in front of Endrian. ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°Sssssoooooo clooooose.¡± Looking with [Mystic vision], I could see that the curse net was gone. The natural magic of Endrian was fighting, desperately trying to prevent a thin cord of darkness from regaining a foothold. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I used the last of my mana, and sliced through the cord. The freed force caused Endrian to stumble backward, and a wail drifted in from some place in the complex. ¡°Freeeeee. After sooooo llooooonnnng.¡± He spun in circles a few times, reveling in his freedom. Checking his information, I saw that his race was simply air elemental, no mention of corruption. ¡°Maaaany thannnnnks, adventurerrrrrrr.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± I replied, and got a popup.
Hidden quest completed! You have saved Endrian from a fate of eternal slavery. In return, he is gifting you with the things he was ordered to protect. Rewards: Worn leather bracers Worn leather gloves Large wind mana crystal 15 platinum, 7 gold, 3 copper Magic tablet x1 (quest item)
As I was looking over my gains, Endrian had disappeared. Checking the time, I saw that I had half an hour before I could summon Inkler again without penalty. I decided to sit down and have a small meal while I waited. It would also give my massively depleted mana time to recharge. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again buddy.¡± I said, scratching Inkler¡¯s neck. He started purring, and practically tackled me simply by walking forward. That devolved into us playing around for a while, in the chamber of a recently freed air elemental. Eventually we had to stop. We still had a dungeon to finish after all. ¡°Alright bud. Three generals down. You ready to help me slay a dragon?¡± Inkler gave me a toothy grin, and dug some furrows into the ground with his claws. ¡°Heh, I¡¯ll take that as a yes. Come on then, let¡¯s go see what this lich has conjured up, eh?¡± Simply having him back at my side had restored a lot of the pep in my step, and I felt as close to invincible as I could. Ten minutes later, I was rapidly rethinking that feeling. We had snuck into an absolutely massive treasure room, and the dragon¡¯s skull was as tall as me. His entire body was covered in the same type of plates from the armored lizards, and the stench of foulness was overpowering.
Plaguedeath Legendary Undead Dragon Level 100 Fused from the bodies of thousands of creatures, Plaguedeath is a blight upon this world. Technically not a true dragon, do not underestimate his strength. Do you dare to step forward and challenge this menace?
Book 2 Chapter 43 ¡°That. Is a very. Big. Dragon.¡± I muttered to Inkler, who rubbed against me in agreement. ¡°Got any bright ideas? Or even one that is only mildly insane?¡± Inkler gave me a worried look. ¡°Hey, my only idea is just this side of batshit insane. No? Nothing? Damn. I guess we are going with batshit insane then. [Shadowgheist].¡± Once I summoned my clone, I whispered the plan to both of them. Inkler wasn¡¯t amused. The clone did what they all did and showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever. Using some shadow chains, I raised myself up to the ceiling and got started on the plan. Stepping from behind the pillar we had been hiding behind, the shadowgheist started walking towards Plaguedeath. Once he crossed inside the ring of pillars, the dragon cracked open an eye. Shaking itself from its slumber, it slammed a paw where the clone had been but moments before. A cat and mouse game ensued, as the clone used [Dancing shadow steps] to stay just ahead of the slamming paws of the dragon. Just as the clone used the last of the steps abilities, the dragon got fed up. Raising its head slightly, it took a massive breath, before straightening out and unleashing a torrent of black and purple flames. The clone was obliterated, but it had done its job admirably. The dragon had its neck stretched out, perfectly in position. ¡°Let¡¯s hope this works. [Cold grasp of death].¡± Freezing the dragon, I used shadow chains to loop around the massive blade of stone I had just made with stone manipulation. As I started pulling down with the chains, hoping to have this thing moving far faster than just a gravity assisted drop, I broke the last connection to the ceiling. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I tried a mad gambit, hoping that the skill would recognize it as a blade and activate. Success! Of course, I was now plunging down from a vaulted ceiling, riding a massive stone blade so that I could keep the reaper¡¯s edge skill active, aiming for an undead dragon¡¯s neck. ¡°Jeronimooooooo!¡± I screamed with exhilaration as I plunged downward. Sadly, I didn¡¯t think through the ramifications of my plan.
Heavily injured! You have broken both of your legs. Movement speed reduced by 85% until corrected. Stunned ¨C can¡¯t take any actions for 30 seconds
¡°Gyaaaaaah!¡± I cried out in pain as I was thrown from the back of the blade. As I laid on the ground staring at the ceiling, movement in the bottom of my vision caught my eye. Inkler¡¯s head came into view, grabbing me by the shoulder and dragging me away. ¡°YOU GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!¡± I yelled after my stun wore off. ¡°HOW THE HELL DOES A DECAPITATED UNDEAD DRAGON STILL LIVE?!¡± The reason Inkler had pulled me away was the snapping jaws of the dragon¡¯s head was still trying to come and bite me. I reached into my emergency stash for a Major Mending potion. Grimacing at the taste, and the snapping of my legs as the bones were immediately healed, I got up. I had to drink a health potion as well, since the mending potion only fixed broken bones. Standing up, I absentmindedly patted Inkler¡¯s head. ¡°Thanks bud. Probably saved me from a gruesome death there.¡± Sighing, I used stone manipulation to climb up onto the shattered remains of the ceiling blade. The body of the dragon was still writhing around as well, and the lifebar indicated that it still had almost half of its life left. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see if we can just put this thing down for good, eh?¡± I threw seven of my remaining inferno potions into a cluster right between the wings of the dragon. ¡°[Purging flames].¡± I added more fire to the burning bonfire, watching as it flared with green energy. I downed a mana potion to keep the channeled flame going, spraying it back and forth like a flamethrower. Three mana potions later, and one mana headache from channeling a spell for so long, and the dragon finally dropped in death.
Titles earned! Dragonslayer Legend killer You may choose which title to display in public. Beware, reactions to titles may vary wildly!
¡°Well, that¡¯s finally done.¡¯ I said, dropping onto the floor and sitting down. I decided to go with the Legend Killer title for the moment, as drakelings were supposedly descended from dragons. That title might not go over so well back at home. Inkler came up to rub against me, before trotting off to clean his paws. Typical cat. Oh well, I had looting to do.
Loot Worn wyvern belt Jeweled torque Grand golem cores x5 Grand mana gems (empty) x5 100 platinum, 99 gold, 99 silver, 99 copper Altered Magical Contract x1 (quest item)
¡°Oh you gotta be shitting me! I didn¡¯t even get something magical from killing a legendary creature? This is bullshit!¡± I yelled, shaking my fists at the developers. Sure, I wasn¡¯t ever going to need money again, but worthless gear was ridiculous. Muttering a string of obscenities that would make a sailor blush, I started looking around for any other items I could use. Nothing. What kind of a dragon doesn¡¯t have a hoard to plunder! They¡¯re breaking all sorts of tropes here! ¡°Damnit. I guess we should head back to Oberon. See what he has to say about how to destroy this tablet.¡± We started our long trek back to Oberon¡¯s area. The only issue we truly ran into was the area where Drul¡¯kaath had kept his hoard. It seemed that flesh golems were different from normal necromantic monsters, as killing the one who raised them didn¡¯t kill the golems. It must have something to do with having a golem core as well as a mana core. So we did what we had to on our trek back. We snuck by where possible. Patrols we had to battle. Two hours. It took two entire hours to make our way past what originally was a ten-minute harrowing run. A handful of shields and some vials of ichor were our rewards. By the time we reached Oberon, we were exhausted. Mentally and physically. ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± He said upon noticing us. ¡°Have you succeeded?¡± A small bit of hope crept into his voice. His corruption had increased to 90%, and he was looking much worse for wear. Pulsating purple veins had crept up his neck, and were threatening to move onto his face. ¡°We were. All three of the original tablets, as well as the altered tablet are ours. Is there anything special we need to do to destroy the fake tablet?¡± ¡°No, just smash it into pieces. You must at least obliterate half of the writing.¡± At his words, I took out the tablet and started swinging away with my hammer. It resisted my attacks, but I quickly fell into a rhythm. Starting on the outside, I would move around the circumference of the circular tablet, gradually moving inward. Lost in my work, I didn¡¯t realize when I had completed the task. I kept going until the last bit of it had been reduced to a fine powder. ¡°Thank you, adventurer. Now, I have one last request. Kill me, and refuse the mantle of Fairy King. It will then pass on to my son, and he will know the reward I have planned for you. This will also break the curse¡¯s hold on my kind, and allow us to reunite the original tablet. Will you do this?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I said. ¡°Are you prepared?¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I have been longing for this moment for centuries.¡± He replied, holding his head back and closing his eyes. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge].¡± I said, slashing through his neck.
You have slain the Fairy King, Oberon! The mantle of the power wielded by the fairy king must have an owner. Having bested the previous king in single combat, you are the prime heir. Will you accept the mantle of fairy king? Y/N
You have rejected the mantle! You have turned down the power of the mantle of the fairy king, something that has only happened three times in recorded history. As is tradition, the first male heir of Oberon¡¯s line is offered the mantle. All hail King Zephire! Long live the King!
A large cocoon of green with swirls of silver and gold slowly opened up. Standing and stretching was a fairy that I assumed to be Zephire. His hair was pale yellow, and his green wings had silver swirls patterned on them. Once he was done stretching, he glided down to where Inkler and I awaited. ¡°Greetings and our thanks, adventurer.¡± He said, giving me a slight bow. ¡°I am Zephire, the new king of the fairies.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, your majesty.¡± I answered with a bow. ¡°I am Angus, and this is my companion Inkler.¡± ¡°We find ourselves in your debt, for freeing not only ourselves, but also our people. Time and the lich have stolen much from us, but upon seeing you our father devised a worthy reward for your trials. If you would, please loot his body.¡±
Loot Worn wyvern helm
¡°We notice your confusion. You have come across other items with this description, yes?¡± ¡°Yes. I had room to spare, and have kept the items despite their lack of value.¡± ¡°Excellent. Before we can get to the rewards, we have noticed that the sets of equipment you have are not suited to you.¡± ¡°How can you tell that?¡± I asked, intrigued. ¡°Fairies are very much in tune with the essence of items and people. From your aura, you deal in death. Swift, and before the target knows death approaches. Your armor feels like a wolf. Ferocious, deadly up close. But nimble, it would dodge blows rather than trade them. The other set, ah. That¡¯s it. Magical mayhem. The archmages of old would have fought wars over such a set.¡± All of this was said with his eyes closed. Opening them, he continued, ¡°So, Angus. We come to the reward my father promised you. Like all things, though, it requires a sacrifice. Are you willing to sacrifice the two sets you currently wear, in order to use their magic to forge a set that truly suits you?¡± ¡°I.¡± Damn, I wasn¡¯t sure. Even if these sets didn¡¯t suit me, I had thought of passing them on. If Derrick could equip the Djinni King¡¯s set, he would be equivalent to a raid boss. Likewise, Phoebe would be devastating with the Armored Lizard King¡¯s set. ¡°Know this. The only time this set may be forged is with the magical energies released when the fairies are reawakened.¡± Screw it. This was a chance for a unique set of armor, they would understand. ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s craft the set.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± Zephire replied with a smile. ¡°Place your old sets on the altar to your left, and the worn wyvern set on the altar to your right. The three tablets go in the center, and when we both combine the pieces, the magic will be unleashed. Are you ready?¡± ¡°I am.¡± I answered, setting everything up. As one, we pushed the three magical pieces together, and in the very center of it Zephire placed a round cut emerald of startling quality. Everything clicked together, and I felt waves of magic passing through me. The two armor sets started glowing, and the magic from the old sets flowed into the wyvern armor. Where once there was ancient looking leather, scuffed and brown, now sat a masterpiece. Blacks and browns chased each other, breaking the outlines of the outfit. The arms and legs had small spines traveling down their length, and the wider areas had triple the thickness of the joints to boost defense. Joints in the plates allowed for a full range of motion, and I was in awe as I identified the new set.
Unseen King¡¯s Fanged Helm Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 160 Durability: 10,000/10,000 Keen sight: All visual skills range increased by 25% +30% chance for critical hit
Unseen King¡¯s Leather Gambeson Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 400 Durability: 20,000/20,000 +15% chance to dodge blows +15% harder to detect while in stealth
Unseen King¡¯s Spiked Bracers Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 55 Durability: 10,000/10,000 Retribution: 10% of melee damage reflected back onto attackers +50% poison damage
Unseen King¡¯s Unyielding Grip Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 55 Durability: 9,000/9,000 +20% melee damage +20% critical hit damage
Unseen King¡¯s Grace (belt) Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 40 Durability: 7,500/7,500 +50% ranged damage +100% damage from stealth
Unseen King¡¯s Leather Pants Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 60 Durability: 9,000/9,000 +20% critical hit damage +10% chance to parry
Unseen King¡¯s Boots of Seven Leagues Set item (1 of 8) Crafted from the hide of a legendary wyvern and restored thanks to the rebirth of the fairies, this armor set is perfect for those who strike down their enemies from the darkness. Defense: 55 Durability: 10,000/10,000 Stamina consumption reduced by half Muffled: Walking sounds reduced by 50%
Unseen King¡¯s Jeweled Necklace Set item (1 of 8) Worn by the Unseen King as a symbol of his authority, it has been restored through the magical rebirth of the fairies. All cooldowns reduced by 10% Movement speed increased by 10%
Unseen King¡¯s set complete! For equipping the entire set of the Unseen King, you receive the following bonuses: 3 of 8 set items: +15% critical damage 5 of 8 set items: Out of combat regeneration increased by 75% +25% damage 7 of 8 set items: AoE attacks gain a poison component. Can choose between mana, stamina, or health poison +100% poison damage Eagle Eyes: All visual skill ranges increased by 50% (stacks with Keen sight) 8 of 8 set items: +50% chance for critical hit +5 to all stealth skill levels +15% dexterity +15% agility
My hands were shaking as I looked over the set bonuses. I might have drooled a little as well. This set was a rogue¡¯s wet dream, and it actually had better defenses than the Armored Lizard King¡¯s set. ¡°We take it you are happy with your armor?¡± Startled out of my musings, I looked up to see Zephire smiling at me. ¡°Indeed, this is a most gracious gift.¡± I said with a bow. I came back up, and inadvertently let out a long yawn. Behind the king, several of the newly woken fairies were fluttering around the tree, and landing on the island in the middle that it grew out of. Odd, they seem much smaller than Zephire and Oberon. ¡°We sense you are distracted by the rebirth of our brethren. Come, relax on the island with us.¡± He said, conjuring a boat in the shape of a large leaf. ¡°We promise that no harm from the dungeon shall come to you here.¡± ¡°Many thanks, your majesty.¡± I said as Inkler and I climbed into the boat. With a gentle push, and a flap of his wings, a calm wind carried us across to the island. Once there, Inkler and I got out. After a quick dinner, we both laid down and fell sound asleep. Book 2 Chapter 44 I had some of the greatest sleep of my life underneath that tree. I woke up to see several of the fairies napping on top of a purring Inkler, and I really hated to spoil the scene. We really had to though, so I made us breakfast. The smells of cooking woke Inkler up, and after breakfast we started back toward the shore. Several of the fairies had to take pity on us and assist with their magic, but we eventually made the crossing. ¡°Angus, Inkler. We assume you are preparing to destroy the lich?¡± Zephire asked. ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± I answered. ¡°Though sleeping under your tree was wonderfully refreshing, we have duties that must be seen to. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± ¡°Indeed we do. Alas, we cannot send you off with a normal blessing until we have had our mantle for a year and a day. The best we can do is wish you good luck, and pray for your success.¡± ¡°Thank you, for your generosity. The equipment is more than thanks enough, and I think I speak for both of us when we wish you and your kin well. Hopefully by the end of the day, there will be one less scourge in the desert.¡± Without further ado, Inkler and I headed towards the dungeon once again. We put on a serious air, as an ancient lich was no laughing matter. As we approached the entrance to the lich¡¯s area of the dungeon, some instinct made Inkler pause and growl. I immediately stopped as well, looking around. Seeing nothing, I checked the magical spectrum and sucked in a breath. There was a wall over the entrance, energy shooting through it at random intervals. To the side, I noticed a branch of mana leading to a completely mundane brick. Pushing it, the force field deactivated. ¡°Well, looks like this guy likes some traps. Thanks for the heads up Inkler, I¡¯ll keep [Mystic vision] activated. Just watch where you step.¡± He chuffed in agreement, and we started moving down the stairs. I was rather surprised that it had taken us until this point to find a trap, but that was fine with me. Unless you are setting them, they are annoying. Three sets of stairs later, and I stopped Inkler from moving forward. Down the entire length of hallway, I could see magical tripwires crisscrossing the hall. ¡°Well, we have two ways of disarming this. Make that three.¡± I told Inkler. ¡°I could try my hand at disarming obviously advanced magical traps. You could follow after me, hoping not to set off any of the traps. Or we could send a shadowgheist in and purposely set off all the traps.¡± Chuffing at the last one, I chuckled a bit as well. ¡°You¡¯re right, setting them all off is the way to go. [Shadowgheist].¡± My summoned clone took one look at me before turning and sprinting down the hallway at top speed. We watched as it made it five traps in before he couldn¡¯t outrun the effect, dissipating into a cloud of darkness as an axe swung down from the ceiling and cleaved into his chest. ¡°This. This might take a while.¡± I spoke, and Inkler sat down to watch the show. Every twenty-seven minutes, thanks to the cooldown shortening of my new set, a new shadowgheist attempted to run the gauntlet. ¡°This is taking way too long.¡± I muttered after the third clone died. ¡°If only you could. See.¡± My eyes widened with a new plan. The issue was Inkler couldn¡¯t see the beams of magic. I could fix that. Stone manipulation on the walls created tubes of stone around the beams of magic. That way, even if he wasn¡¯t watching Inkler couldn¡¯t accidentally trip one of them. ¡°Alright bud, I think we got this. Before we head through though, see that suspiciously empty area off to the left?¡± He nodded at me. ¡°If I was a devious sort, I would leave an area empty of magic traps and leave a mundane trigger there, like a pressure plate. So we are going to move around through the right side of the hallway. Got it?¡± Snorting in derision, Inkler took off and easily wormed his way through the gauntlet, smugly looking back at me. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Smug damn cat.¡± I muttered as I looked things over. I could probably do what Inkler did, but with far less grace. Smiling, I looked him dead in the eye and spoke three words. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± ¡°You were saying about how easy it was?¡± I asked as he chuffed at me. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh a bit as we continued on. There were occasional traps along the way, though the lich was incredibly lazy about their distribution. All of the pressure plates had a slightly different elevation than the rest of the floor, making them stand out to the wary adventurer. The higher ones seemed newer because there was slightly less dust on them. The ones that were slightly depressed were even easier, as the thicker dust was obvious. Twice more there were gauntlets of magical tripwires. Stone manipulation made them trivial. Half an hour of travel later, and we were standing in front of some truly ostentatious doors. Twice my height, they looked to be solid gold. There was a stylized figure made from a mosaic of gems, radiating magic from a staff topped with a massive sapphire, while three figures knelt at his feet. Unimpressed, I pushed open the doors and entered a grand receiving hall. Two rows of pillars lined the sides of the 300 foot space. Each pillar had a ring of gems at the top and bottom, different from the ones before it. At the end of the room sat the lich upon a gilded throne. Typical mage dress, with a black robe and a scepter adorned with a massive ruby, his skin was dried from the desert air. At his side sat two massive hounds. Obviously built for strength, they each had bone armor.
Zandkazaar Heroic Lich level 100 Zandkazaar. Once a renowned mage, his name now strikes fear into the hearts of those knowledgeable about magical histories. He set up his seat of power in the midst of three fallen kingdoms, draining their kings and citizens to empower himself. Thanatos has decreed that his time is at an end.
Undead Guardian Hound Heroic level 95 Crafted from unknown components and gifted a pseudo life from the necromantic arts of Zandkazaar, these hounds are unflinchingly loyal and incredibly dangerous. Who knows what weapons he managed to imbue within their hideous forms?
¡°Impossible. One single intruder besting my three generals and my dragon?¡± A raspy voice croaked out of the lich¡¯s throat, as the dogs started growling. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not all I¡¯ve done.¡± I taunted him. ¡°I freed Oberon, and broke the curse upon the kingdoms. By the way, how much does it hurt when a lich loses a phylactery? You probably shouldn¡¯t place them within fallen kings.¡± ¡°KILLLL HIM!!!¡± The lich stood and screeched in rage. The hounds took off at an impressive pace, while Inkler and I spread just a bit. The hounds each took a target, and I got into a defensive stance. Body bladed towards the charging hound, I held my weapon low waiting for it to get within range. When it was about ten feet from me, it launched itself into the air while I activated my plan. ¡°[Stone pike].¡± I calmly said, using stone manipulation to create a thick spear from the ground. Already in the air, the hound had no chance to avoid it, impaling itself through the chest. As it kept snarling and trying to get to me, I calmly walked forward and shoved the hammer into its jaws. Head back and unable to bite down, I put my hand inside its mouth and channeled a skill. ¡°[Purging flames].¡± Eyes wide in fright, the creature finally knew fear. It didn¡¯t last long, as the green flames consumed it from the inside out, leaving a charred husk crumbling to the ground under its own weight. Turning, I saw Inkler was in the process of dismantling his opponent using his superior agility. The hound was already missing a hind leg and a good chunk of the bone armor it originally had. Inkler let the hound pounce at him one more time before unleashing a reality slash that cut through its unarmored belly, leaving it in two swiftly dying pieces.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Tsk. If you cannot be overpowered with brute force, perhaps numbers shall do the job.¡± The lich rasped as we continued down the aisle towards him. ¡°Souls of my slaves, arise once again. Your master demands the death of intruders. Rise. Rise and destroy. [Legion summoning]!¡± As he chanted the spell, green orbs swirled around him faster and faster. Reaching a crescendo above his head, they slammed into the ground. Seconds later, bodies erupted, and a wall of shambling mummies approached us. Before they could attack, Inkler spun and snarled behind us. ¡°Damn. Sneaky bastard will resurrect the fallen bodies?¡± I muttered, watching as Inkler once again battled the undead hound. Time to get serious. With the lich out of sight, I summoned a shadowgheist and went through the last of my stash of inferno potions, liberally spreading them through the crowd of mummies. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I used the skill several times. First to get out of the line of sight of the lich, and then to move swiftly and silently through the hall so that I was behind where the lich was. Once there, I observed as my clone easily dealt with the mummies. Rather than fight them outright, he would kite them around for a bit and then use a counterattack to send them stumbling into the still burning bodies of their brethren. In the meantime, Inkler had once again killed the hound. Smart cat that he is, he carried the head of the beast over to one of the burning piles and tossed it in. ¡°Annoying pests. Let¡¯s see you handle this! [Necromantic barrage]!¡± Ten discs of dark energy formed around the lich, and started firing bolts of energy at Inkler and my clone. While he was distracted, I had to take this opportunity. ¡°[Reaper¡¯s edge][Rocket slash].¡± I tried a combo to decapitate the lich, but he must have sense the mana somehow and turned just enough that it wasn¡¯t a fatal blow. Staggering under the force of the strike, he teleported a short distance away, losing his grasp on the skill that he was using to keep my clone and Inkler away. ¡°So you wish to use clones? Two can play at that game! [Multiplicity]!¡± Instead of one lich, there were now five that kept teleporting around until we couldn¡¯t tell which one was the real lich. They all had the same health bars, and what seemed to be linked health as well. My clone managed to strike one, and though it did minimal damage it spread that damage among every lich copy. ¡°[Death ray].¡± One of the lich¡¯s targeted Inkler, but his armor was able to disperse most of the energy. He even had the presence of mind to ensure that the reflected ray didn¡¯t strike any of the nearby lich¡¯s. I had to do something, but what? How the hell do I ensure that I am hitting the right lich? While I desperately sought a solution, Inkler and I started trading blows with the nearest copy. The other three liches had destroyed my clone. Though we did manage to take off quite a bit of health, things were deteriorating for us far too quickly for comfort. In a flash, the lich reappeared by his throne with all five copies. ¡°You have taken my loyal servants, my slaves, and far more seriously my health. For this, you shall pay with your own. [Death spiral].¡± A vortex of dark energy swirled around the liches, spreading out to cover the room. As the energy passed me, a horrid stench of death and decay filled my nostrils and I watched as my health bar started slowly draining. Coughing, I chugged a healing potion and placed one in a bowl for Inkler. ¡°Potions will not save you mortal!¡± The lich taunted as I rapidly scanned my inventory for some desperate plan. Some saving grace. There has to be THERE! Standing back up, I palmed the potion I had taken from my inventory. ¡°I¡¯m an alchemist. Potions will always save me.¡± I snarled, throwing the sunburst potion so that it landed at the feet of the lich. With a burst of light and wail of agony, I saw our chance. The lich on the front left of the formation was the only one to cast a shadow. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps][Keen edge].¡± I snarled, closing the distance in an instant and slashing the chest of the lich. As he stumbled back in pain, I saw the damage reflected in all the copies. Their health bars also took a large hit. ¡°[Undeath smite]!¡± Reversing the blow, my hammer shattered the jaws of the lich, disrupting whatever spell he was hoping to cast. He desperately tried to catch me with a backswing of his own scepter, but I simply leaned back and watched his arm swing right into the waiting jaws of Inkler. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± Inkler had already kept his arm extended, and I used the opportunity to sever it at the elbow. ¡°AAAAAAAA!¡± As the lich screamed in rage, the clones all had their right arms dissolve into motes of light to match the damage done to the original. Damn, but that was a great copycat spell. Admiration for the spell aside, I kept up the pressure with constant attacks. While I worked on the main body, Inkler was moving between the clones and distracting them. Suddenly, I found myself alone with Inkler near the throne. ¡°Never have I been so injured in battle before. You shall suffer eternal torment for what you¡¯ve done!¡± The lich rasped from across the hall at us. His health had dropped into the red, and he had recalled all of his clones. My stomach dropped as he started prepping a massive spell. ¡°Inkler, behind a column!¡± I ordered, making sure that I was the only target. Surely the lich didn¡¯t have a spell that could one shot someone with my stats, right? ¡°An eternal cage, from which nothing can escape. Darkness bind you, nether consume you. Your tattered soul shall long for oblivion! [Prison of eternal shadow]!¡± Around me, fingers of darkness erupted from the ground to curve over my head, creating a cage. Then they widened to completely seal me within a sphere of darkness, and started pressing in on me. I could see nothing. Absolutely no light whatsoever. Total darkness. Pressing. I wasn¡¯t losing health, of that I was sure. But it was disorienting. I had to escape. Escape! How? I couldn¡¯t pull up my inventory. No popups. Even the flames of [Undeath smite] couldn¡¯t pierce the darkness. Before panic could set in, I smiled as a realization struck me. He had cast a spell of shadow around me. Shadow I could manipulate! Back in the room, I saw Inkler vainly trying to close the distance with Zandkazaar. He would let Inkler close, and teleport away. Each time he would use distance attacks, usually firing bolts of necromantic energy. Inkler¡¯s armor would deflect nine out of ten bolts, but that last bolt was slowly wearing him down. Concentrating, I changed the ball of concentrated darkness into an elongated bolt, and added a bit of earth mana into it to give it some substance. The lich teleported with his back to me, right in the middle of the room. As I prepared to throw my spell, Inkler leapt to the side so that he was out of the way in case it pierced completely through the lich. He disguised the move as a dodge from one of the necromantic bolts, so Zandkazaar had no idea what was going to happen. I silently launched the lance, and it nailed the unsuspecting lich right in the middle of the back. ¡°W. What?¡± He asked, spinning partially to see me standing there. Before I could get closer, his health dropped and his body shattered. Switching to [Mystic vision], I saw his spirit rapidly being drawn toward me. Ducking out of the way, I expected it to either move into the throne or the scepter. Instead it went through the back wall. ¡°Did? Did he hide his phylactery in the wall?¡± I asked, walking back there. Taking my hammer, I started tapping where his soul disappeared. There was a square area, around two feet by two feet, that rang as hollow. To my surprise, I couldn¡¯t use stone manipulation. Well, that¡¯s why we have hammers! A few blows later, and the false stone had shattered enough that I could start pulling it out. Inside was a set of canopic jars, three of which had shattered. The only one standing had a falcon head and was practically glowing with magic. ¡°There¡¯s no escape Zandkazaar. Thanatos is waiting for you.¡± I said, pulling the special dagger from my inventory. I stabbed it straight into the only jar remaining, and watched as the blue glow was sucked down the blade and into one of the four diamonds on the handle. Inkler had padded up to me while I was doing this, and chuffed at the dagger that now held the soul of the lich. ¡°What do you say we loot the body and head out of here?¡± He seemed to like that idea, so I walked up to the body of the lich and looted it.
Loot Ring of rapid cursing Scepter of dark rituals 1 platinum
Ring of rapid cursing Cooldown for all curses reduced by 50% Curses cost 20% less mana
Scepter of dark rituals +1 to shadow magic skills Shadow magic skills advance to Advanced at 2x speed
¡°Well, looks like Jon¡¯s the big winner on the drops.¡± I said to Inkler, who just looked at me blankly. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. You haven¡¯t met everyone just yet. What do you say we head back to the city to see Salmahim and the others, then head back home?¡± Inkler seemed much happier with that suggestion, and so we headed out. I was looking forward to finishing up with the desert and getting rid of all the sand that got everywhere. Book 2 Chapter 45 Climbing out of the dungeon, the air seemed lighter somehow. The heat wasn¡¯t as oppressive, the wind a gentle caress. I took a deep breath of the clean air. ¡°Much better, isn¡¯t it?¡± Instinctively I leapt away, going into a defensive crouch while half pulling my weapon. ¡°Sorry Zephire, you startled me.¡± I apologized to the fairy, squinting to try and see his wings. ¡°What brings you up here and away from your tree?¡± ¡°This.¡± He said, handing me the magical tablet we had reforged together. ¡°You will need it to truly finish off the curse.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°That would have been embarrassing.¡± I placed the tablet into my inventory, and asked, ¡°So. Where are your people going to live now?¡± ¡°Here. When the curse is finally broken, the oasis will regrow and our mana reserves will multiply. With this, we can conceal the entrance to our home as we have done for centuries.¡± ¡°I see. Well, good luck with that. If you¡¯re ever near our city, feel free to drop by.¡± ¡°I will.¡± He said with a smile. Waving, I turned and headed towards the city. In addition to the atmosphere changing, I noticed that the monsters were less prevalent as well. All of them kept avoiding me, which was fine. I wasn¡¯t going to gain any experience from them anyhow. Once back in the city, I headed straight to where Salmahim and his friends were usually found. To my surprise, they weren¡¯t smoking the hookah. ¡°Everything all right gentlemen?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°You seem to be missing your hookah today.¡± ¡°Angus!¡± Salmahim froze when he saw my armor. ¡°Wha. Wha?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, shall we? Some things are best kept private.¡± I received a chorus of head nods, and noticed the breeze switch directions for a second. Confused, I activated [Mystic vision] and looked around, spotting a near invisible coil of wind. ¡°You coming in too Endrian?¡± I asked. ¡°Yesssssss.¡± ¡°Who? What?¡± ¡°Relax Salmahim. He¡¯s a recently freed friend.¡± Shrugging, Salmahim lead us all downstairs. As the light dimmed, Endrian became more visible. I noticed one of the men walking down with us kept giving him strange glances, but as he made no other moves it was fine. At the bottom, we all headed to a nearby table and sat down. ¡°So, what news of the lich?¡± Salmahim asked, hands shaking. ¡°Dead.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Permanently dead, and I am personally delivering his soul to Thanatos.¡± Cheering greeted my proclamation, the relief on their faces evident. ¡°There¡¯s more.¡± I interrupted their celebration. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the restored stone. ¡°I may have managed to come across this while down in the tombs. Figured you guys would enjoy having it back.¡± ¡°It. It¡¯s whole!¡± Salmahim managed to stutter while everyone else was staring. Tentatively reaching out, as if it were some wild animal ready to flee at a moment¡¯s notice, he slowly ran his fingers over the writing. ¡°May I?¡± ¡°Of course. It rightfully belongs to you, the descendents of the kingdoms, right?¡± Smiling at me, he pulled it closer.
Congratulations! Your group¡¯s actions have altered the path of a region! Before the world announcement goes out, please enter the name of your group: The Fuckest Uppest
Error! The name you have chosen will not pass the language filters. Please enter the name of your group: Notice me Senpai!
Attention Players! Congratulations to the group ¡°Notice me Senpai!¡±! Against all odds, they entered the true tomb of Zandkazaar the lich and broke his curse upon the desert! A call now goes out to all willing and able: Will you join the three fallen kingdoms and aid their recovery? Will you help them regain their prosperity?
¡°Thank you Angus. With this we can.¡± He was interrupted with a rumbling sound from above ground. We all rushed upstairs, to see something incredible. A storm had blown in, and it was raining! ¡°HA! HAHAHAHAHA! THE LAND BEGINS TO RECOVER!¡± Joyous shouts arose from all the populace, as everyone basked in the cooling rain. ¡°Angus, thank you. For all that you have done for us. We shall never forget your deeds, and name the drakelings our allies. Should you ever be in need, you have but to ask.¡±
Deliverance of the Three Kings Complete! You have freed the former kings and broken the curse upon the land. In addition, you slew the major threats from Zandkazaar. As a reward, the desert peoples shall forever consider the drakeling race as friends and allies. All desert people now hold you in Revered status.
¡°You¡¯re welcome Salmahim. Thank you for helping me along the way, as I wouldn¡¯t have even known how to break the curse without all of your help.¡± ¡°A reward, from the elementalssssss.¡± Hissed Endrian.
Additional Reward Acquired! Endrian and the elementals wish to thank you for freeing the land. As they spread word of you, you will have +50% interactions with elementals.
¡°Thank you as well, Endrian. Now, if you guys don¡¯t mind, I have to head back to my home city to finish some things there. Farewell.¡± Waving, I left them to enjoy their celebration. Despite the rain, the streets were crowded with people celebrating. Food vendors were giving away their wares for free, adding to the atmosphere. Down the main thoroughfare, people had cleared the road and turned it into a gigantic mudslide. There was even a friendly competition for who could slide the furthest. I swung by the inn, turning in my key as quickly as I could. The cooks took pity on poor Inkler, who was absolutely miserable in the rain. While I finalized everything with the innkeeper, he was getting pampered with spicy sausages and toweled dry. I ended up relaxing with the innkeeper a bit, just so Inkler could enjoy a bit of pampering. Lord knows he deserved it. As we finished things up, I had to practically drag Inkler out of the inn, much to the delight of everyone. Let me tell you, trying to drag a nightliger who can lick you in the face while on all fours is a losing proposition. When I threatened to leave him here in the desert with all the sand, he finally decided to follow. The normal three-minute trip to Mardigan¡¯s shop took fifteen as we had to snake our way through the crowds. ¡°Avoiding the festivities?¡± Mardigan yelled at me as I got closer. ¡°Yeah. I have some time sensitive things that need taking care of.¡± I answered.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Too bad. Anything I can do before you head out?¡± ¡°Actually. I was hoping to empty your stock of inferno potions. I was forced to use all of mine up.¡± ¡°That, and nothing in the desert will attack you anymore, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that too.¡± I said with a laugh. We went through his shop, and I remembered to replace my major mending potion as well. Once that was finished, Inkler and I headed through the teleportation array to the alchemists guild, and then again to find ourselves back home. ¡°Who are you and why shouldn¡¯t I kill you?¡± Djarleen demanded as soon as we appeared in her shop. ¡°Djarleen? Don¡¯t you recog. Oh. Sorry, it¡¯s the disguise. One moment.¡± I said, removing my disguise cloak. ¡°Recognize me now?¡± ¡°ANGUS! Welcome back! How was the desert and what have you done to poor Inkler?¡± ¡°Desert was fun, a bit sandy though. As to Inkler, he can now reflect magic beams.¡± ¡°Oh, you went with a combat variant. Of course you did.¡± ¡°What other variants are there?¡± I asked with a laugh. ¡°Besides, I find myself in combat daily. Of course I¡¯m going to do whatever I can to help him out. So how are things here?¡± ¡°Fairly bland to start. Khaliss exiled most of the adventurers, especially those from the light races. Then someone decided to send an obnoxious elf our way. Khaliss was so very happy to drop her in my shop to wait for you, and she was infatuated. With. Everything. Inkler.¡± ¡°Oh god, I¡¯m so sorry!¡± I said, mortified. ¡°She was only here for a day though, right?¡± ¡°One day was more than enough! Then you have the drow ¡®perusing¡¯ my poison section. I don¡¯t mind a good poison, but discussing the best way to get your target to imbibe them was a little much. Though their discussion about how to hide the taste while not lowering the efficicacy of the poison was a bit enlightening.¡± ¡°Ok, I get it. I get it. I have a lot of stuff to take care of and to keep people out of your hair. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m on it.¡± Heading out, I immediately heard something I knew I was going to dread. ¡°Kitttyyyyyyyyyy!¡± ¡°Inkler. I¡¯m probably going to be going through a bunch of boring meetings. Would you care to stay with me, or spend the afternoon playing with Miss Elf here?¡± I looked, and he already had an elf necklace draped around his neck, and he was loving the attention. ¡°Ok, you have all afternoon to do whatever you want with him miss elf. After that, you¡¯ll have to leave the city. Is that?¡± I never got to finish. She was so excited that she had already activated her snipe shot skill and was leading Inkler away. Inkler was having a blast trying to catch the red dot that kept evading him. The only thing he took care to do was avoid the children wandering around, most adults either got out of his way or got bumped out of it. Sighing, I headed over to the barracks. Khaliss needed to know a few things. To say the barracks were in a state of disarray, would be an understatement. Khaliss was talking to a giant, who would wave a hand and change the ground everyone was practicing on. ¡°Hey Khaliss, Rock¡¯em.¡± I said as I walked up. ¡°Welcome back Angus. Anything I need to know?¡± ¡°Who? How do I know you?¡± ¡°Yeah, about my trip. I kinda sorta made us some allies by breaking a curse.¡± ¡°I saw the notification.¡± Khaliss chuckled. ¡°You really don¡¯t know how to keep a low profile, do you?¡± ¡°Not really. So how long has this big lug been here?¡± ¡°Wait, Angus. Angus. Marty?¡± Derrick asked, bewilderment on his face. ¡°Took ya long enough.¡± I laughed. ¡°What are you going by here?¡± ¡°Rocky. The rest is too long.¡± ¡°So, how long ya been in the city? And where are the other two?¡± ¡°Been here a day or two. Khaliss here offered to help me practice my field magic spells.¡± He said, nodding to the training yard. ¡°Maintaining multiple fields at the same time is a pain in the but, though the gains are immense.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why a third of the field is icy, and somehow holding its own right next to near volcanic conditions. What all fields do you have?¡± ¡°Niflheim, Muspelheim, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim. Before you ask, the first one summons the icy field, the second is the fire field. Vanaheim boosts all magic effects, and Svaralfheim boosts earth and dark magics. I¡¯m missing Alfheim to boost light effects, Jotunheim to summon a massive forest, and Helheim to create a sense of impending doom.¡± ¡°Wait a second, that¡¯s only seven worlds. I thought the mythology those came from had nine?¡± ¡°Yeah. It would be pointless to summon Midgard, as we are technically in Midgard. I can¡¯t get to Asgard, as they managed to prevent unauthorized planes walkers from getting there. So unless I¡¯m invited, it¡¯ll be off limits to me.¡± ¡°That sucks. Any idea what it boosts?¡± ¡°Divine skills.¡± ¡°Bah. Worthless then, unless you are going for an achievement.¡± I waved off the last two worlds. ¡°Hey, do you ever get a headache from channeling a spell for so long?¡± ¡°Yeah. You start to learn signs after a bit. Nothing you can really do about it but avoid magic for a bit.¡± ¡°Damn. Was hoping you had a cure all for it or something.¡± ¡°Nope. Some things you just have to deal with. Oh, and just so you know. If you do start feeling it, try and wait at least four hours before using a lot more magic. If you don¡¯t, it¡¯ll just come back quicker.¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± I said. ¡°Hey, got a quick question for ya.¡± I said, snapping my fingers. ¡°Can you use ice manipulation?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He said, dragging out the word. ¡°Perfect. I think I have a way to use you in the assault coming up, and hopefully all my plans will work out.¡± ¡°Speaking of plans.¡± Khaliss interrupted. ¡°The drow have been asking about you for days. When do we start the assault?¡± ¡°Damn.¡± I muttered with a sigh. ¡°I need to drop by the church of Thanatos first. Can we meet them in ten minutes or so?¡± ¡°Fine with me.¡± Khaliss answered. ¡°Meet at the inn.¡± ¡°Sorry Rocky. I gotta go.¡± ¡°No worries. Life happens, just try and see if we can get in on the party aspect of it. I¡¯m fifteen levels from max right now, and this sounds like a great way to boost me up so we can all evolve at once.¡± ¡°Wow, so close already? What have you been doing, hunting legendary creatures?¡± ¡°Yep. They don¡¯t drop gear in my size, but between this sword and my mana, I hold my own.¡± ¡°Wait, seriously? You can go toe to toe with legendary creatures? Without any special gear?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m saving up for a special set commissioned from the fire giants. I¡¯ll tell you about it when you get back at the caf¨¦.¡± ¡°Alright. Take it easy then.¡± ¡°Later.¡± Heading off, I went straight to the church. Walking in, it was as deserted as always. ¡°Greetings brother Angus.¡± The Cardinal walked up to me, freezing with his eyes wide. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯ve been very busy in your absence, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I have. Shall we rank up in the church first?¡± ¡°By all means.¡± He said. Once again I headed and placed both hands on the altar, and felt the icy touch of the green flames as they flared through my body.
Congratulations! You have advanced to the rank of Cardinal. When you wish, you may exude an aura of death palpable to even those with no spiritual talent whatsoever. You have also gained one more skill towards your repertoire, use it well. With increased rank comes increased responsibilities. Weekly kills: 0/50 Church favor: 409/25,000 Elites killed: 0/25 or Heroics killed: 0/10
New Skill Acquired! Soul Strike Death¡¯s Raiments (1 of 4) Death strikes effect not only the body, but the soul. This skill gives you the same ability, and when properly wielded can even cleave a soul free from it¡¯s body. This blow is also automatically considered a supercritical strike. Supercritical strike: Critical strikes can do from 2x to 10x damage. Supercritical strikes can do from 5x to 25x damage. 1% chance to cleave soul from body, resulting in instant death Cooldown: 4 hours
Death¡¯s Raiments (4 of 4) Acquired! You have learned all four skills that set Death apart. Upon activating all four of them upon the same target, you become Death Incarnate. A spectral reaper will strike at the same point you do, massively increasing your damage. Effects: Target is paralyzed for 5 seconds, or until blow is struck Soul well is highlighted. The soul well is where the soul and body merge. Striking this will result in limit break damage. A properly aligned strike at the precise location of the soul well will kill any target, regardless of health pool. Warning: This attack will not work on creatures that have no souls, such as constructs, golems, and certain undead. If Death Incarnate is used, skills from the church of Thanatos will be sealed for 24 hours.
¡°Wow.¡± I said as I read over the notifications. ¡°Death Incarnate sounds amazingly powerful.¡± ¡°It is. But know, that delivering a proper blow is incredibly difficult.¡± The Cardinal spoke, startling me. ¡°It isn¡¯t just the location. You need the precise angle of attack and power as well. Be careful how you use it.¡± ¡°I will, don¡¯t worry.¡± I said. Curious, I looked at the tattoo upon my chest. It was a fully realized Reaper, robes billowing in an unseen wind. ¡°Just out of curiosity, what else is there to this tattoo? There¡¯s what, two more levels to attain?¡± ¡°Yes. When you reach Bishop rank, the left hand and eyes will be lit with green flame. And should you attain Pontiff, then a crown of blue spiritual flames will ring the head.¡± I nodded, thinking how awesome that tattoo would be if I could reach the Pontiff rank. Of course, it would probably take something crazy like 100,000 favor just to reach it. ¡°Thanatos, I also have to turn in the quest for the lich. Zandkazaar¡¯s soul is now trapped within the dagger.¡± I said, placing the dagger upon the altar.
Divine quest completed! You have slain the lich Zandkazaar. As you are already at maximum level, Thanatos asks that you return after your evolution so that your rewards are not wasted.
¡°Whew.¡± I said, thankful for the reprieve. I had debated for a long while about whether to turn this in or not, and decided that I had to. The rewards were usually fantastic, and could give me a huge edge when dealing with the next bit of unpleasantness. ¡°Brother, a question if I may?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Was Thanatos upset when I sacrificed those three adventurers to Lolth? I ask, because I did come across a previous general of hers in the desert, and was torn. Do I sacrifice him to Lolth, as she would want that soul?¡± ¡°You are not the first to have this issue. Thanatos forgave you for the first one, as you didn¡¯t know. He also knows of the soul of which you speak, and already passed that soul into her care. Going forward, his rules are simple. The majority of souls go to him. If there is a reason to sacrifice to another god, it must be substantial. The general would have easily qualified as a special case. We are also aware of your impending plans. Thanatos has instructed me to tell you this: Anyone of higher rank than High Priest may be sacrificed to Lolth by you for no penalty. Her and Pelor are at war with each other, as the gods of the light and dark pantheons often are.¡± ¡°Thanks for the clarification.¡± ¡°You are welcome. Now go, as the drow are getting anxious for your return.¡± He said, giving me a shooing motion. Laughing, I left and headed toward¡¯s Alnoss¡¯, no. Khaliss¡¯ inn. Book 2 Chapter 46 ¡°You¡¯ve been giving us the runaround for nearly a week! Where is Angus?¡± That was the first thing I heard as I entered the inn. Walking into the dining area, I saw they had done some renovations. There was a single large table, with Khaliss at the far end. Arranged facing him were four drow, but that¡¯s all I could tell from the back. Damn androgynous elves. ¡°I¡¯m right here, so relax.¡± I said, before Khaliss could answer. The elves all turned to look at me, and surprisingly I recognized the high priestess of Lolth from my short time in Menzoberrazan. ¡°Apologies for keeping you waiting, priestess.¡± I said, giving her a small bow and getting a smirk in return. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She waved away my apology, and the three males with her seemed less than amused. ¡°Just where have you been?¡± Demanded the one whose voice I had heard earlier. ¡°Busy doing things that don¡¯t concern you. Now sit down and stop acting like a petulant child.¡± I ordered. ¡°Like a what?¡± He demanded, starting to rise. Before he could get halfway out of his chair, chains of shadow had shot out and bound him. ¡°Like a petulant child. I was busy, it was important, and that¡¯s all you need to know.¡± I said, walking around to sit next to Khaliss. ¡°We are here to plot our attack on Pelor. Not to fight amongst ourselves.¡± ¡°Angus has a point.¡± The priestess said, before the other drow could speak. ¡°And you should know that I am in charge of this, not you. Remember your place, clanless.¡± She said, voice getting darker. Clanless? As a drow? This could be interesting. ¡°Forgive my ignorance, but I thought drow that didn¡¯t have a clan had a rather, short life expectancy?¡± I asked in a curious tone. ¡°Indeed.¡± The priestess answered. ¡°Very rarely there is a house that excels in a certain aspect. So great is their talent and knowledge, that eradication would be harmful to Menzoberrazan as a whole. When such a thing occurs, the family is spared, though they become clanless. They are allowed to live a life above that of a slave, but below those of noble families until they may remove the stain upon their history.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you, for enlightening us.¡± I replied. ¡°May we know what his family is skilled at?¡± ¡°Enchantments.¡± The sulking drow replied. ¡°We specialize in enchantments.¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± Turning back to the priestess, I continued, ¡°So, have you worked out any portion of the plan?¡± ¡°A bit. We will start in our embassy in Ascencion. As a concession to us, we were allowed a building that is both near the gate and faces the church of Pelor. From there, we will infiltrate the church. One of the men you sacrificed has sworn himself to Lolth, and is assigned guard duty that night. We shall only need to kill one of them. I have others who are set up to circle the building with special enchantments from our clanless here. These will be placed in such a way to ensure that all noise from within is cancelled. As we leave, the embassy will provide travel via spider.¡± ¡°Ok, I like the blocking of sound, that will be incredibly useful. Can I hear more about this exit strategy? We are just going to ride out on giant spiders?¡± ¡°Yes. It is well known to the humans that daylight is too harsh for our sensitive eyes. We often have trade caravans coming and going at all hours of the night. One more will not draw undue attention. It¡¯s just a pity that we cannot raze the building behind us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually working on a way to go about that, but first I need to know a few things. How can Pelor talk to his people?¡± ¡°There are a few ways. The Pontiff can always hear him, as well as any priest in his main church.¡± ¡°And if we break the consecration on the church?¡± ¡°He will immediately know, as will any priest on location.¡± ¡°Alright. So it sounds like we need to kill every priest, then break the consecration, and destroy it after we leave.¡± ¡°Psh. As if it would be that easy.¡± The clanless snarked at me. ¡°You¡¯re just like the general, may he rot in whatever hell he finds himself in.¡± ¡°I never assumed this would be easy at all. I always assume my enemies are competent. And I¡¯m sure Lolth is taking her pleasure in pointing out to Drul¡¯kaath exactly why it was folly to abandon her for a lich.¡± The drow contigent hissed at my words. ¡°Hold.¡± The priestess said, raising a hand. The three bodyguards had started to draw weapons. ¡°Lolth herself favors this one, and I won¡¯t be responsible for alienating a possible ally of hers before she has had her fun. Angus, perhaps you could explain to the rest of our party here why you know the betrayer¡¯s name and that he is in our goddess¡¯ unmerciful embrace.¡± ¡°Simple. He was a general serving under a lich I recently killed in the desert. The Cardinal over at the temple of Thanatos told me that his soul has been passed on to Lolth.¡± ¡°Lies!¡± The clanless hissed. ¡°I¡¯m sick of you. Here, call this a lie.¡± I said, sliding one of the scimitars I had gotten from the general¡¯s body across the table. ¡°I took this from his corpse, and still have the other.¡± ¡°Interesting. The first time we met, you gifted the drow with the Herald of the Coming Twilight¡¯s blades. Now you have the Drul¡¯kaath family scimitars.¡± Her voice had gone sultry, and she was looking at me with half lidded eyes. ¡°I see that advice you gave me wasn¡¯t just for show.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± I said with a smirk. ¡°What is your price?¡± The clanless asked desperately. ¡°Name it, and I will make sure my family pays it!¡± ¡°I assume this is his family¡¯s only way back to Lolth¡¯s good graces?¡± ¡°Indeed. And you have them in quite the bind it seems. Normally any means would be excused when obtaining the family symbols. Yet, they can¡¯t move against you. You hold not only Lolth¡¯s favor, but were also instrumental in the destruction of the betrayer.¡± ¡°I see. So, this family must deal with me in good faith, at least until they get the scimitars. Are you able to represent your family in negotiations?¡± I asked. ¡°I am not.¡± He said, hanging his head. ¡°Very well. We may come to an agreement for services after this issue with Pelor. Now, back to our assault. Do you have someone capable of casting silence spells upon a high level priest?¡± ¡°We do.¡± ¡°Excellent. Our first objective upon entering should be silencing whatever priest is on duty and slaying him. After that, send your drow assassins through the building to kill any remaining priests.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Does it matter how they die?¡± ¡°So long as it is silent, I don¡¯t care. Why?¡± ¡°Because, we shall be giving much tribute to Lolth that night. These daggers are what we shall use.¡± She slid one down the table for me to examine.
Sacrificial spider dagger Rare item A truly vicious dagger, the eight legs that act as a hand guard will flip around to form a cage around the heart of the sacrifice, ripping it out. Victim souls are automatically given to Lolth¡¯s care so long as the heart is within the cage.
¡°Mind if I keep this?¡± I asked, surprising the priestess. ¡°Not at all. You don¡¯t care that we are sacrificing them?¡± ¡°Nope. Thanatos has said I will be fine if I sacrifice a high priest or higher rank in the church, and you are at war with Pelor. What you do to his followers is your own concern.¡± That statement got a vicious smile from the priestess. ¡°Ok, so we sacrifice the priests. Once everyone is dead, we break the consecration. What will happen with Pelor?¡± ¡°One moment.¡± The priestess said, bending her head in prayer. Seconds later, her head flipped up and she stared at me with incredible intensity. ¡°Ah, my darling Angus. I haven¡¯t had time to thank you properly for my last gift, and already you plot to sacrifice enemy priests to me? In their god¡¯s main church? If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would call this a marvelous courtship gift.¡± ¡°Greetings Lolth.¡± I said with a bow. ¡°May I assume the general is getting a proper reeducation?¡± ¡°Indeed. There were two things he truly feared, his own mortality and my wrath. And now he must deal with both. I must say, his terror is. Hmmmm. Excuisite.¡± She said, licking her lips. ¡°Ah, but we have more important matters to discuss. Dark matters, don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Indeed. I was wondering what actions Pelor would be able to take, should all his priests in his main church die right before its consecration is shattered?¡± ¡°Oh my, you do know how to get a girl¡¯s heart racing. I¡¯m sure he would be addled for a few hours from a backlash that large. When he comes to, he will be impotent. He might be able to reach a few preists if they are asleep, but dream messages tend to be garbled.¡± ¡°That is fantastic. Is there any chance of another god stepping in and helping out?¡± ¡°Hmmm. It is unlikely.¡± ¡°Thanks. One last question. What would be the best way to destroy the altar?¡± ¡°That is why my priestess is here. She has the blood of one of my pets, which is more than strong enough to get the job done. After the consecration is broken, the altar is just another stone table. Though this one happens to hide the stairs to their vault.¡± ¡°Oh? Thank you very much for the reminder. I had nearly forgotten about the vault underneath. Shall we split the contents, say sixty-forty our majority?¡± ¡°Perhaps 70-30, we get the majority of course. For all of our efforts.¡± ¡°Ah, but you are forgetting all those tasty priest sacrifices.¡± ¡°Hrmph. We are covering the escape. Sixty-forty ours.¡± ¡°Yes, but this is striking quite the major blow in your war against you enemy. Has there ever been such a blow struck? I¡¯m sure even gods enjoy having bragging rights. Fifty-fifty split, right down the middle. We are taking the same risks, after all.¡± ¡°Very well mortal. I wish you luck on your assault. I suggest doing it the night after tomorrow. It is the winter solstice, and Pelor will already be at his weakest.¡± ¡°Perfect. Thank you for gracing us with your presence Lolth.¡± I said with a deep bow. Slumping in her chair, the priestess took a few heaving breaths to recover. ¡°Did. You get. What you needed?¡± ¡°We did, and thank you for calling your goddess. She was most helpful.¡± ¡°Good. Now, I must get some rest. When is the assault?¡± ¡°The night after tomorrow. I would suggest emptying your embassy in that city as well, as they will be looking for someone to blame.¡± ¡°Actually, we will be leaving it fully manned.¡± She said. ¡°And the new ambassador will be able to answer under truth compulsion that he and his employees had absolutely no hand in what transpired.¡± ¡°Devious. I like it!¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°And I think the priestess has a great idea. Let¡¯s all get some sleep, and we can make major preparations tomorrow.¡± Khaliss had placed his hand on my arm before I got up, so we watched as the drow headed upstairs and to bed. ¡°We need to make sure there are no possible spies in the city.¡± ¡°I know. I told Inkler to amuse the elf, and that she had to leave at sundown. Perhaps the captain of the guard should be there to enforce this?¡± ¡°A good idea.¡± Getting up, we headed outside. I had a general sense of where Inkler was, and we followed it around a few times before ending up in the market area. The glutton was sniffing at each stall, begging for treats at any one that smelled good. ¡°Inkler, I do believe you¡¯ve had enough for one day.¡± I said as we walked up. ¡°Thank miss elf for entertaining you for the afternoon.¡± ¡°Oh, it was no trouble at all!¡± She replied chipperly. ¡°He¡¯s just so adorable when he chases that red dot. Just like my own cats.¡± ¡°Well, either way thank you for entertaining him. He deserved a reward for all his hard work recently. Though I am sad to say, we are going to have to part ways. Due to some dignitaries arriving shortly, we are requiring all non monster adventurers to leave the city and surrounding areas.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine. Inkler, I hope we get to play again sometime soon.¡± She said, giving him one last hug before bouncing away down the street. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I will ever understand you adventurers.¡± Khaliss said while shaking his head. ¡°She treats one of the most feared ambush hunters as a common housecat.¡± ¡°You must remember that most of our lives don¡¯t have nearly the same amount of danger as what we face out in the wilds here.¡± ¡°It must be nice.¡± I could hear the longing in his voice. ¡°Now, you really should tell me what you have done with Inkler, and how did he end up with armored plates?¡± ¡°Tell you what. Let¡¯s head back to my house, and on the way I¡¯ll fill you in on our adventures in the desert.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Ahoyhoy!¡± Jon cheered as I made my way through the caf¨¦. ¡°Y¡¯all got a nice city going on there.¡± ¡°Thanks. I wish I had some hand in the design of it, but all I did was provide an evolution material.¡± ¡°So, Derrick informed us that you had a plan?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Yeah. Tomorrow, we are going to do a massive day of prep. At the end of the day, anyone who is going on the mission will need to ride three hours via spiderback to Ascencion before logging off. The night after that is when we strike.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think monsters will be noticeable?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a disguise cloak for myself, so I¡¯ll be fine. I think we might be able to get you guys something as well if you want.¡± ¡°Naw. I¡¯m not big on assaulting churches.¡± Jon said. ¡°Any chance we could be added to the party? If nothing else, party chat could be incredibly useful.¡± ¡°I hope we can do it, depends on what the devs have set up for us. I thought you were at max level?¡± ¡°Three low. Phoebe is the only one who is at max, but she hasn¡¯t found an evolution material yet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ok. Hopefully when we finish this it¡¯ll let everyone use the same material.¡± ¡°So how are you holding up?¡± Phoebe asked. She clarified when I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You just went on a fairly long quest, and haven¡¯t really had time to process the loss of your innkeeper.¡± ¡°It¡¯s still a bit rough.¡± I said honestly. ¡°Never thought that I would connect with an NPC like I did. I never did with my previous characters.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the lack of other players.¡± Derrick pointed out. ¡°I¡¯ve even made a few good friends with the giants.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Jon said thoughtfully. ¡°I think they might have given the NPCs a better AI. Even the children have unique personalities. I think a lot of the NPCs that have higher interaction with multiple adventurers also tend to be a little flat.¡± ¡°You would too, if everyone you saw kept asking for the same quests day after day. That has to be mind numbingly boring.¡± Phoebe pointed out. ¡°Which is perfect for a lower level AI.¡± Jon countered. ¡°Seriously, if six different responses can get you through 95% of encounters, you need a minimal program to do what it needs to finish.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± I said around a mouthful of chicken. I dug back in to the bucket of fried deliciousness. ¡°Seriously? Your last meal is gonna be fried chicken?¡± Derrick asked incredulously. ¡°Nope. This ain¡¯t gonna be my last meal. We¡¯re gonna come out on top after this.¡± ¡°Gotta love the confidence.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°Of course. Look, we¡¯ve been unstoppable ever since we hit our evolutions. And that was fighting alone. It would almost take a raid to take us down as we are in a group. Now add in that this is going to be a surprise attack, while everyone is distracted by the new desert quests.¡± ¡°I forgot about that.¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°Did you by chance name a group recently Marty? Something along the lines of ¡®Notice me Senpai!¡¯?¡± ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t just say that I did it alone.¡± After that admission, the talk devolved into mad capers we had gotten into in the past. Phoebe had gone from town to town selling a hair product that turned the user¡¯s hair bright pink after three days. Jon had gotten stuck in a slime dungeon, but was massively underleveled. By the time he finally figured out all of the attack patterns, his gear had all been destroyed. Imagine the horror a group saw as they came to a normal dungeon, only to have a nearly naked man come running out of it screaming about freedom. Though Derrick¡¯s took the cake. One of his more famous pranks when he was running a thief was to break into wherever the city¡¯s ruler was living, steal their underwear, and fly it from the flagpoles in town. With a much lighter heart, I headed off to bed. Tomorrow would make or break our preparations. Book 2 Chapter 47 I logged in to the game, and for once didn¡¯t have to push Inkler off of my sleeping form. Of course, he was napping on his absolutely massive bed that I had made for him. ¡°Hey bud, I¡¯ll leave a cassowack leg or two on the table for you. Unless you want to go out and run boring errands with me?¡± He cracked an eye to look at me as if I had lost my marbles, then closed it again. Oh well, probably better that I go solo for most of the day. Once his breakfast was prepared, I headed down to the barracks where we were supposed to meet. It really was the only place that Derrick could fit. ¡°Hey guys.¡± I said, jogging up. ¡°Sorry for being the last one here.¡± Looking at the group, there would be no easy solution for fighting them together. Derrick was massive, most of us only coming up to his thigh. He had on some bits of armor, but most people would focus on the greatsword that was larger than most characters, and peg him for a physical tank. Jon bore a striking resemblance to sasquatch. Phoebe just looked ferocious with those massive canines from her evolution. Each one was nearly the size of my forearm, and the stripes on her coat reminded me of a tiger. ¡°Angus, good to see ya.¡± Jon, or JonnyBGood, said. ¡°How are we calling each other? Just to avoid confusion.¡± I asked. ¡°Jon or Jonny for me, Illyora for Phoebe, and Derrick is just Rocky.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks. Now, before we get going on all our grand plans, I need to see if we can pull this off.¡± Reaching into my inventory, I pulled out the crown I had gotten from the Saguahin king. Putting it on, I got a popup I was hoping for.
Leadership item acquired! You have donned a leadership item! These items allow monster players to form parties based upon their tier. The tiers are as follows, from lowest to highest: Peasant tier. Can group up to 3 players or NPCs Soldier tier. Can group up to 10 players or NPCs General tier. Can group up to 10 players or NPCs. Can form minor guild up to 30 players. Noble tier. Can group up to one raid group (30 players or NPCs). Can form medium guilds up to 75 players. Royal tier. Can form two raid groups, provided second group has a noble tier leadership item. Can form large guilds, up to 150 players.
Congratulations! You have donned a Royal tier leadership item! You may form a group of up to 30 players and NPCs, and link it with a secondary group if you wish. As leader, you may choose loot and experience splitting options. You may also give out quests to specific members of your raid, and reward them based upon their results. You need not equip the item at all times, so long as it is in your inventory it will be effective. You only need to wear it when you are adding members to your raid.
¡°Holy shit, we can party up?¡± Rocky asked when I sent them the invites. ¡°Yep. Leadership items. Different tiers let you make different sized groups. They are fairly rare so far, but will probably grow rather common when the devs see what use we make of them. If you guys don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll set some quests for you to get done today. That¡¯ll give you some experience, and I can set my share of the experience to go to Rocky and Illyora¡¯s to go to Jonny if that¡¯s ok with everyone.¡± ¡°Fine by us.¡± Illyora said. ¡°Me too.¡± Rocky answered. Getting their consent, I went through and started making custom quests. The first went to Illyora and Jonny.
New quest alert! Your raid leader, Angus_MacG, has requested you to scout the immediate area around the city. Your tasks are to determine probable attacking routes and how to minimize the danger.
Task Reward (tailored) Failure
Scout the surrounding area. Identify probable routes from adventurers assaulting the city, and plan out the most likely places to plant traps. Jonny: ring and scepter, or 2 commissioned pieces of gear Illyora: 2 commissioned pieces of gear. None. Though I will be disappointed in you.
New quest alert! Your raid leader, Angus_MacG, has requested your assistance in developing a remote trigger device. He has already figured out the proper height, he needs you to determine how to craft ice of the proper thickness.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Task Reward Failure
Create ice of varying thicknesses, that will drop the potion after a half hour has elapsed. 2 commissioned pieces of gear None. Though I will be disappointed in you.
¡°Disappointed?¡± Illyora asked with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Hey, nothing crushed me harder as a kid than having my parents say they were disappointed.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go scouting Jonny. What do we do if we come across any light siders?¡± ¡°Discourage their presence. Try not to attack them, but if they won¡¯t take a hint feel free to kill them.¡± ¡°Perfect. Thanks Angus, catch ya later.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s this about a trigger?¡± ¡°So the plan is this.¡± I said, pulling the prototype out of my inventory. It was rather simple. A rectangular base, with a small spike protruding up from the center. Each corner had a support pillar, two feet tall. At the top was another rectangle, though this one had a large hole in the middle. ¡°Putting a potion in from the bottom here, your ice will hold it in place above the spike. Ice melts at a set rate, so if we have several of these with ice of identical thickness, they should all drop the potion at the same time. The potion falls and is cracked open by the spike, exploding. I¡¯m going to hedge my bets on setting things on fire by placing a half keg of oil nearby, probably have whoever is dropping the thing to split the keg and splash it around a bit.¡± ¡°And you want the potion to drop after a half hour?¡± ¡°Yep. That¡¯ll give us enough of a head start that we will be well on our way, but not enough time for someone to stumble in to the church. Hopefully that many fires going off at once will discourage people from rushing in.¡± ¡°Alright. This should be fun! Can I get a helper? Giant fingers aren¡¯t really skilled enough to handle your empty potion vials.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll have Khaliss send someone over. I need to add him to the group anyway.¡± Once I had the group on their missions, I started adding people to the raid. Khaliss of course, and he also insisted Shrik be added. The drow ended up taking twelve of the slots. When I pressed the priestess, she insisted that many of them were only doing minor parts like placing silence stones. Those didn¡¯t need to be in the raid itself, as this was a punishment for transgressions that she wouldn¡¯t explain. I guess that they had been actively placing the stones for a while, as they wouldn¡¯t activate until all of them were in the proper placement. I then had to go through and barter with the general store manager, as he wasn¡¯t keen on selling me his entire stock of lamp oil in half kegs without explanation. Well, he wasn¡¯t until Khaliss came in and practically ordered him. I think his options were to sell it to me, or have Khaliss confiscate it. He sold. Then it was off to Dharkiss. I gave him a down payment for whatever Illyora ended up ordering, as well as having him and his apprentice craft at least twenty of the prototype detonators. He tried to get me to boost up the materials to steel, but I insisted on the cheapest iron. These weren¡¯t going to be re-used, and the iron would melt leaving no trace. ¡°You¡¯ve been a busy bee.¡± I heard as I walked out of Dharkiss¡¯ shop, and I turned to see the priestess of Lolth there. ¡°Hello priestess. Can I help you with anything?¡± ¡°Actually, I think I need to be helping you. Have you gotten all your preparations completed?¡± ¡°They are, or are being completed by others. Why?¡± ¡°Because you have forgotten something of great importance. Unless you have the riding skill?¡± ¡°Aw shit. No, I don¡¯t have that. Do you have anyone capable of teaching us?¡± ¡°Well, turns out it is just you. Khaliss already has it. I can transfer to you beginner level one, but you¡¯ll need to grind up the skill on your own.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any tips for grinding?¡± ¡°Trust me, I have all the best techniques for grinding.¡± She said, dropping her voice a bit. ¡°In fact, if you have someone tutor you while you are learning, you can gain skills much faster.¡± ¡°And you wish to tutor me?¡± I asked, rather shocked. ¡°Well, if you insist then I shall. You are rather, interesting.¡± ¡°My thanks. Lead on?¡± Reaching out, she grabbed my hand and dragged me away. Once we were down at the barracks, she informed Khaliss that she was going to work on my riding skills. In those exact words. I barely stopped myself from yelling something about phrasing at her, as Khaliss was already giving me a look. ¡°Wonderful. I love a man who knows his place in things.¡± She said, before placing a thumb on my forehead. I felt a tingle, then got a popup.
New skill acquired! Riding, beginner level 1
¡°Excellent. Now, the spiders are much different from horses or whatever the lightsiders are using these days. They can maneuver over any incline, but you must make sure that your leg straps are secured. If not, well. Imagine what would happen if you had to go inverted for a while with loose leg straps.¡± After our brief introduction on how to sit, the priestess nimbly climbed up behind me and strapped in to the saddle. Leaning forward, she whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be gentle. It is your first time after all.¡± I had gone my whole life without hearing a priestess of Lolth giggle, and I really wanted to keep that streak going. It was just disturbing. Halfway through our riding training, I figured she was giggling because I believed her lie about being gentle. We started off simple, walking along the ground. I learned all about how the spiders were decent at distance, and could truly sprint at need, but that wasn¡¯t their strength. And so we then started scaling the sides of mountains. We went places that billy goats would find inaccessible. The worst part was when we crossed a canyon midway down. The spider shot a silk strand across, then used that to cross while dangling upside down. By the time we got back, I had stopped trying to figure out physics. It helped to just assume that the spider was constantly in the down direction and focus on that. The rest was gravity manipulation. ¡°Angus, you¡¯re looking a little green there.¡± Rocky chuckled as we finally made it back to the city. ¡°Yup.¡± I replied. I didn¡¯t have enough mental fortitude to muster anything better. ¡°He did wonderful though.¡± The priestess purred into my ear. ¡°Not a single complaint. If only he were a drow, the perfect man just might exist.¡± ¡°So, how much did you improve his riding skills?¡± ¡°He should be near advanced.¡± ¡°Advanced rank in just one afternoon? I envy your stamina Angus.¡± ¡°Enough.¡± She said curtly. ¡°He did work hard this afternoon. If there were a spider large enough for you to ride that wasn¡¯t the personal pet of our goddess, I might be inclined to put you through the same torment just to see how you fared.¡± ¡°Relax priestess. He¡¯s too mentally drained to be snarky in return, and that¡¯s half the fun.¡± ¡°Ugh. What do we have left to do?¡± I asked. ¡°Traps. Here, I¡¯ve finally gotten the ice down pat.¡± ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll head to Dharkiss¡¯ shop, pick up the traps, and then you can set them. They won¡¯t melt in the inventory. After that, we need to head to Ascencion.¡± The rest of the afternoon was annoying. Pick up the traps, return to have Rocky set them with his ice spell, then put them in my inventory. I ended up giving Rocky five platinum as a down payment for his commissions, telling him to get top tier gear. Once that was done, I had to rouse Inkler. He ended up fighting me on it, determined to sleep in a sunbeam. I had my revenge, summoning him in the middle of a pool of water that Rocky conjured. Maybe next time the cat will listen. Team rounded up, we started the long trek to Ascencion. Inkler was easily able to keep up with the spiders, who traveled at a near jogging pace. The priestess insisted on riding on the same spider as me, though she pouted when I said I was keeping my armor on. No need to tempt bandits. Our arrival at the city was subdued. We walked past the gate guards, who didn¡¯t even bother to try and interrogate us. Three blocks into the city and we were at the embassy, where everyone did their best to completely ignore our presence. I figured that was for the best, though I wasn¡¯t too happy to be sleeping in the stable with the spiders. I guess they were serious about not giving us anything, as even the priestess was out in the stable, roughing it. I decided to stay in the game, falling asleep as soon as I could. Book 2 Chapter 48 I ended up sleeping the day away, and woke up around 8 at night. ¡°Hey buddy.¡± I spoke softly to Inkler. ¡°I¡¯m going to be heading out, but you can¡¯t come with us this time. You¡¯re just too noticeable in a city setting. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to be counting on you to have our backs on the way home. Think you can handle that?¡± Inkler started purring in reply, and rubbed his head against my chest. I gave him the last plate of the cookoff contests the chefs in the desert had, much to his delight. ¡°For a ferocious battle companion, you sure do dote on him.¡± The priestess noted. ¡°He¡¯s the best ally I could ever ask for. We have the same fighting style, and he seems to know my plan of attack most days. When I need to be the one sneaking up on the enemy, he provides a distraction. Add in the magic resistances his variant gives him, and he is devastating.¡± ¡°I see. How did you manage to make him a variant? Those transmutation circles are rather hard to come by.¡± ¡°We all need some secrets.¡± I said with a wink, getting a chuckle out of her. ¡°Ah, but I would be a poor priestess indeed if I didn¡¯t try and figure yours out.¡± ¡°My lady, it is time.¡± Someone said, sticking their head in the door. ¡°Until another time.¡± She said, standing up. ¡°Listen up. You know our target tonight. Angus is the leader. His orders, are my orders.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°Our priority is stealth. Quick, unseen kills. If the alarm is raised, we are all in trouble. I¡¯ll lead us in with my disguise cloak, though it will likely be seen through immediately. Who are the silencers?¡± Two drow raised their hands. ¡°Good. You two will enter right behind me. As soon as whoever is in charge starts talking, silence him. You.¡± I said, arbitrarily picking one of them. ¡°You will cast your spell first. If it doesn¡¯t work, I want that second spell hitting within a second. I¡¯ll make sure whoever it is dies. After that, it¡¯s the dirty work of finding and slaying priests. Khaliss and I will remain in the main chapel. Once all the priests are dead, we will smash the altar, raid the vault, and leave fiery presents behind. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Everyone hissed. ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s begin.¡± Turning, I led us out of the barn and towards the street. ¡°We have agents distracting the guards in this district.¡± The priestess whispered. ¡°Stealth won¡¯t be necessary for now, but we must be swift.¡± Nodding, I broke into a light jog. Sadly, I was making the most noise. Damn elves and their damned quick feet. As we neared the church grounds, two whistles flew by my ears and both of the gate guards died. ¡°Easier for our ally to remain undetected.¡± The priestess whispered. Four drow picked up the bodies, while two replaced the guards and activated quite detailed illusions. ¡°Impressive.¡± I whispered, heading towards the front door. I waited for all the drow to arrive, finding my two silencers. I pushed open the ornate double doors and strode in like I owned the place. ¡°Who comes to the temple of Light?¡± An older man in rather ornate robes asked. Roughly fiftyish, he had a grey goatee and short cropped hair. His robes were red and yellow, with an emblazoned sun stitched onto them, as dawn broke over a plain. He tried speaking in my silence, only to have his eyes widen in panick. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I hissed, securing his arms and legs. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± Suddenly I was in his face, with the dagger of Lolth buried in his chest. ¡°Urh.¡± Was all he managed as the power of my strike forced the air from his lungs. ¡°Your god declared a crusade against us. Now your soul will go to his enemy. May Lolth give you all the rewards you earned.¡± I hissed in his ear, watching as the light in his eyes died. Once they did, a quick twist of the wrist and a tug freed the heart from his chest. ¡°Quickly, silently.¡± The priestess ordered, and the drow split off into teams of two to finish their dark deeds. While they were working, I looked at the popup I had gotten.
Cleric Slain! In this war between gods, you have dealt a mighty blow! Aaron Lightbrand, Pontiff of Pelor, has not only died at your hands, but has been sacrificed to Lolth! Return his heart to a priestess or temple of Lolth to complete this quest.
Darkest Deeds on the Darkest Night event started! You have started a war. Unsuspecting Pelor has no idea, and without a Pontiff cannot give orders to his followers. There is no going back from this, the die has been cast. Should you be discovered, the realm shall rise up against you. This event is timed, variable based upon too many factors to list. Good luck.
I opted to hold on to the heart until the opportune time. While the drow were out, I was studying the chapel with [Mystic vision]. Lines of angelic rune script flowed acros everything, centered on the altar that was radiating power. Odd. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked myself, wandering over to an area seemingly devoid of magic. I held off on tapping on the wall, lest I wake an errant priest. ¡°Khaliss. Can you mark this area with something? Once the altar is destroyed, we need to inspect it.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He replied, walking over and mentally selecting the wall section I indicated. I started walking back to the priestess, only to stop midway as I heard a scuffle. Soon enough, two drow brought in a bound and blindfolded priest who was struggling in vain to free himself. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± I hissed as the priest was forced on the altar. ¡°We are breaking the sanctity in the most efficient manner possible.¡± The priestess said, before driving a sacrificial dagger into the chest of the preist. As his blindfold fell off, I saw his game tag flash. Goliath. With a gong that reverberated through my chest, I felt the sanctity of the church break. ¡°Shit, he was an adventurer. We¡¯re now on a time limit, one hour.¡± I said, stepping to the altar and shoving his body off. ¡°Move.¡± I said, and started smashing blows as hard as I could with my hammer. It took more than I wanted, but in the end the altar was still only stone. As it split down the middle, I saw two topaz gems glistening in the wreckage.
Eyes of Justice Divine object Upon her ascencion to goddesshood, Justice removed her eyes lest they tempt her with what she wanted to see. As she would never require a temple in her honor, she gifted them to Pelor so that he might use them to sanctify his main church. 100% chance to drop upon death
I quickly pocketed the eyes, and helped the drow clear the rubble away to reveal a staircase leading down. ¡°Alright. The priestess and I will head down to the vault and strip it of everything valuable. The rest of you are to scatter around, covering as much of the building as possible. Break open the half keg of oil I will give you, and spread it liberally around. After that, leave this trap behind in the middle of the spill.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the trap do?¡± ¡°In a half hour, the inferno potion will drop and split open, igniting everything around it. Time starts now.¡± I said, pulling out items and distributing them. ¡°You trust me in the vault with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more a reassurance for you. This way you can see what all is contained in there and know we aren¡¯t cheating you.¡± ¡°Lead on then.¡± She said with a smirk. I nodded, and headed down into the darkness with a torch that Khaliss handed to me. The stairs wrapped around a central pillar, and went down maybe five stories worth of steps before levelling off into a rough hewn cave. ¡°Idiots. Trusting to one line of defense for their artifacts.¡± The priestess hissed, and I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°Gah, what is this?¡± She cried, releasing the handle of a sword she had tried to pick up. Odd, her hand was smoking a little.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Durandal Legendary two handed sword Durandal. Only the riteous may wield this blade, whose edge may cleave through anything. Damage: 1600-2000 Durability: Indestructible Every tenth strike with this blade will ignore armor Honed to perfection: Cannot be sharpened by any skills Critical cleave: Once per day, may unleash a cleaving blow that ignores all armor and is a guaranteed critical hit. *Can only be wielded by Lawful Good characters*
¡°Next time I suggest identifying a sword before you try and claim it. That one can only be wielded by a lawful good person.¡± ¡°Bah, pity we will have to leave it behind then.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be too sure about that.¡± I said. Using stone manipulation, I encased the entire thing in stone. Picking it up, I turned to the priestess. ¡°See? I¡¯m only grabbing stone. And putting it in my pack.¡± ¡°Lolth will.¡± ¡°We can divide the spoils later, we are on a time crunch here.¡± I said, rapidly moving through the vault and placing things into my inventory. Ten vials of dragon blood. A tiara. A topaz the size of both of my fists. A bow of black wood that gave me the heebie jeebies. A set of armor that looked like it was straight out of feudal Japan, complete with red demonic mask. All of it went into my inventory. Plus the five chests of assorted gemstones, several books that were encased in lead, and a few scrolls that were bound with magic. The entire trip down and back up took only five minutes, but I was still feeling the pressure. ¡°Alright, everyone got everything set?¡± ¡°Angus.¡± Khaliss said, pointing to the wall. ¡°Right.¡± I said, heading over. ¡°What¡¯s so special about a bit of wall that wasn¡¯t even protected with magic?¡± One of the drow sneered as I started carving into the wall around it. Eventually I ripped off the panel that had hidden an alcove to reveal a twig encased within a clear tube. ¡°It was the only place not protected. As in they used such strong concealing magics that they hid the protective spells.¡± I spoke to the flabbergasted drow as I placed it in my inventory. ¡°That¡¯s it, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°The priest you slew. You should loot him.¡± The priestess said, and I nodded to her. Not even looking, I simply hit the ¡®Loot all¡± button and headed out. ¡°Time to go. The further we are when things go boom the better.¡± ¡°The rest of you, stealth on our way back to the embassy.¡± The priestess said as she trotted up and grabbed my arm. ¡°You¡¯ll escort a poor, defenseless lady home tonight, won¡¯t you good sir?¡± She asked with a giggle. ¡°Why I would be delighted to. Perhaps we could go on a moonlit ride.¡± We kept the charade up the entire way back to the embassy, and once we were out of sight of the street the priestess dropped my arm. ¡°Spiders are prepped and ready M¡¯lady.¡± The stablehand said with a bow. We blew by him, saddling up and making our way to the city gate. Once again, we passed by the guards unmolested. We had to follow the road for five minutes before we could pass a hill that was out of sight of the city, and then immediately turned and started a cross country journey. Fifteen minutes later, and everyone got a server wide popup.
Server event in progress! Darkest Deeds on Darkest Night! The temple of Pelor in Ascencion burns merrily on the longest night of the year! Save what you can of the church, and hope that you may find clues as to the identities of the culprits. Or toss away your morals and join them! Tonight is rife with opportunities. This is a timed event, and a half hour warning will be sent when it nears the end.
¡°At least they didn¡¯t give anything away with that. Let¡¯s push the spiders a bit, but nothing too hard.¡± I suggested. ¡°No. They are traveling at their optimum speed. Let us set the pace, we know our transport.¡± The priestess ordered. ¡°My apologies. I yield to your expertise.¡± I said, before turning to the party chat. JonnyBGood: I take it you guys are responsible for the server event? Angus_MacG: You know it. Are the traps prepped? Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m: Yes mother. Illyora: Traps are set and marked on your map. Shrik has the city on alert, we will increase it when you get close. Angus_MacG: I knew I could trust you guys. Illyora: Of course. Just make sure we get some of that sweet, sweet loot. Angus_MacG: Any of you guys end up as lawful good? JonnyBGood: Nope. Chaotic neutral. Illyora: Lawful evil. Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m: Chaotic neutral as well. Why? Angus_MacG: Well, there was a legendary sword in there that requires a lawful good wielder. Pity. Illyora: Oh, I can¡¯t wait to see what you bring us. Have I mentioned that I¡¯m the kind of girl that loves jewelry? Angus_MacG: We¡¯ve still got a long way to go tonight. Gotta jet, I¡¯ll update as I can. I came out of the party chat to see one of the drow arguing with the priestess. ¡°And I¡¯m telling you, this wood is cursed. We can¡¯t cross it.¡± ¡°This will cut nearly a half hour of travel off our course.¡± While they kept arguing, I looked around with [Mystic vision]. Odd, is that a forest elemental? One of the trees was glowing in my sight. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I said to the tree, ignoring the odd looks from everyone. ¡°Would you permit us to travel through the forest?¡± ¡°No.¡± That I got a reply at all probably did more to shock everyone than the answer. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Not allowed. All you creatures just use the land. None of you respect the elementals that live there.¡± ¡°Why you.¡± One of the drow started before the priestess raised her hand to stop him. I nodded my thanks for letting me handle this. ¡°We would offer tribute if that¡¯s what you require.¡± ¡°Fuck off human.¡± Oh really? I thought to myself as I dropped my cloak and activated my death aura. ¡°Insolent elemental, I am no human. Though one as ignorant as you could be forgiven for not seeing through my disguise, I¡¯ll not tolerate you anymore. Allow me to introduce myself in a way that your pathetic mind can understand, and realize that we are going to move through this forest and should anything attack or hinder us in our travels, I will raze this place to the ground and salt the earth behind me. I am Angus_MacG. Slayer of Solomon and Lillith, the one who freed Endrian. I slew a legendary undead dragon with nothing but my skills and my trusty companion Inkler. Pass my words and warning to all in this forest, and hide our passing after we leave. Should any attempt to track us, you may do with them as you please.¡± He had frozen at my aura, but my words left the creature shaking. ¡°As you wish.¡± He said with a bow, and I finally relaxed my aura. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I ordered, and everyone continued on. ¡°My, my. So authoritative. I didn¡¯t realize that you had that in you my dear Angus. And what was that, hmmmm, magnificent aura? So terrifying, even I was shaking from it.¡± ¡°Not important right now. Let¡¯s focus on returning in one piece, shall we?¡± ¡°Very well. But you owe me the cost of some new pants.¡± She said with a smile, before dropping back into line. I had to fight very hard with myself about taking her up on the blatant offers. It wasn¡¯t really anything against the drow, it was more her personality. My friends and I always joked that the one rule was to never put your dick in crazy, and priestesses of Lolth that get turned on by a death aura and sacrifice enemy priests on the altars of their own gods rank beyond batshit on the crazy meter. Half an hour after the initial server warning, and we got a popup I had been dreading.
Server event update! Darkest Deeds on Darkest Night! One of the priests of Pelor who was sacrificed this night has returned. The adventurer Goliath confirms the culprits after spending an hour in the tender mercies of Lolth, goddess of the Drow. Though the drow sacrificed him, within their party was a shadow drakeling! Swiftly adventurers, journey to determine the source of the attack, and find the culprits. Do they travel to Menzoberrazan, capital of the drow? Or are they making towards the Unnamed shadow drakeling city? Grand rewards will no doubt be offered for verifiable information.
¡°Shit. Well, that¡¯s that. No more easy trip.¡± I muttered. ¡°How?¡± One of the drow asked. ¡°Simple. Adventurers come back to life when you kill them. Sacrificing him to Lolth bought us an hour before he could respawn in this world. And now he has broadcast to everyone who was in on the deed.¡± JonnyBGood: Hey Marty, been watching some of the boards. How far out are you guys? Angus_MacG: We managed to find a half hour shortcut, so figure about another hour and a half. What¡¯s the bad news? JonnyBGood: Shit. JonnyBGood: There¡¯s some groups that will be cutting it awfully close to you. The ones in the lead are Breaking Dawn. Angus_MacG: How? JonnyBGood: Not sure. Goliath probably logged off for a second and warned his guild somehow. Angus_MacG: Cheating bastard. JonnyBGood: Anything we can do? Angus_MacG: Sit tight for now and keep monitoring. I¡¯ll warn everyone and will keep you updated. Angus_MacG: Make sure Shrik upgrades to high alert. We¡¯re gonna be coming in hot I believe. JonnyBGood: Roger that. ¡°Well, our lives just got a lot more complicated. It seems that Goliath managed to get the word out to his guild somehow, and they are probably close enough that they can intercept us on our way.¡± ¡°What guild?¡± Khaliss asked. ¡°Breaking Dawn. Anyway, priestess? Can you have your men keep watch? I think they have keener eyesight than Khaliss or I do.¡± ¡°Of course Angus.¡± She said, and we continued our ride into the night. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Pursuers spotted.¡± One of the drow reported fifteen minutes later. We had just finished cutting through the cursed woods, and were coming up on some rocky terrain. ¡°Angus.¡± Khaliss spoke. ¡°Breaking Dawn. They were the ones who killed my Alnoss, weren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Huh? Yeah. Not helping right now Khaliss. We need a way to keep them off our tails, and nobody thought to bring bows.¡± ¡°Bows won¡¯t turn them away. They will simply throw their lives away to slow us down.¡± Khaliss pointed out. ¡°I know!¡± I hissed at him. ¡°I¡¯m wracking my brain, but I just can¡¯t come up with any ideas. They¡¯re too close for us to create a stone chasm. Rock slides are out since we don¡¯t know what mounts they have.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. Someone needs to stay back and fight them. The rest will move on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s suicide.¡± One of the drow pointed out. ¡°And my path to vengeance.¡± I turned to look at Khaliss when he said that, and my heart dropped. ¡°You had a feeling all along, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t live long past our mates.¡± He said. ¡°This trip gives me a chance for my own payback. I know you can¡¯t stop, because of what you carry.¡± ¡°I. There¡¯s gotta be another way.¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Bastard. You¡¯ve been planning. Making sure I was off at the desert. Training Shrik to be your replacement. That¡¯s why you insisted he be in the raid, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You always made those crazy leaps of logic.¡± He said with a sad smile. ¡°I leave the future of our race to you. Take us to new heights. Alnoss and I will be watching from beyond the veil.¡± ¡°Though I can¡¯t stay, you¡¯ll not go into this fight alone. Inkler.¡± I said, turning to the cat. ¡°This will be your chance to avenge Alnoss as well. Will you fight alongside Khaliss in my stead?¡± He answered with a roar. ¡°Thanks bud. Make sure he stays up as long as possible, ya? I¡¯ll even give you free access to my mana pool while we are still in range.¡± ¡°Stay strong Angus. I know it¡¯s too late to hope for you to pick up the spear, but keep the rest of my lessons close.¡± He said before he leapt from the saddle. ¡°I will, my friend.¡± I said, before turning and riding away. It was suddenly a lot harder to see where I was going, but I felt the priestess settle in behind me on the spider and take the reins. Book 2 Chapter 49 Khaliss¡¯ POV I looked around, seeing what we had to work with. The land sloped and formed a natural funnel, with a fair smattering of trees for cover. Oh, it was no forest, but there would be plenty of cover. Perfect. ¡°Inkler. I want you to let them get past you, and attack from the back. I have a way to force them to dismount.¡± I said, striding into the trees. I started randomly making shadow tripwires, with a lovely field of caltrops just beyond them. Just to be different, some areas got caltrops only. I didn¡¯t have the time to fully hide them, but it was dark enough that unless they had vision enhancement they wouldn¡¯t notice. The blades of shadow at shin height would be much more effective. Traps set, I settled in to wait. Less than three minutes later, and I heard the lovely chorus of pained screams. I used cover where I could, conserving mana. Dwarves, elves, and humans. All fell to a swift spear from the shadows, the silent death unnerving them further. ¡°What the hell? Where are those attacks coming from?¡± ¡°Connie¡¯s down, they¡¯re at the rear!¡± ¡°Impossible! Dorian just got killed, he was leading the charge!¡± ¡°How many are there?¡± Ah, panic. These fools were too focused on the hunt, and they paid with their lives. Our fun was just beginning this night though, as I saw a much larger group approaching. Once again the fools were riding pell mell, and would pay. As the group was just entering the trees, I saw a massive paw come down and blast a passing mage in the face. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at Inkler¡¯s antics. ¡°Donna? What happened to AAAAAhhh!¡± Someone wasn¡¯t paying attention and got flipped from the saddle onto their face. Too late for many of them, the traps started to become effective. I headed towards the leader, not liking his shiny armor. ¡°Light our path through the endless night. [Guiding radiance]!¡± I hissed in annoyance as the paladin released a glowing orb that hovered above his head. It destroyed most of my shadow wires, but they had done their job. A jab to the throat should have ended the paladin, but he flinched at the last moment. ¡°What the? Enemy front! [Shield wall]!¡± What an annoying skill. An ethereal shield doubled his shield¡¯s size, though it still managed to stop the flurry of blows I tried to use. As others started my way, I knew I had to take him down fast. I picked the five most annoying targets: the paladin, two hunters, and two healers who got separated from the rest of the mages. ¡°[Piercing shadow dance].¡± I started moving through the enemy lines, each teleport taking another target in the throat. A barrage of ranged skills tried to follow my movements, but they were far too slow. ¡°What the hell? Are we fighting a displacer beast or something?¡± Someone yelled. I tsked in annoyance, as the death of the paladin didn¡¯t stop his light spell. ¡°We need more light! Quickly.¡± Several mage spells activated, further depriving me of concealing shadows. Surprisingly, I wasn¡¯t the only one capable of detecting flashes of Inkler¡¯s movements. He was doing a wonderful job of sowing chaos in the ranks. Smoothly moving among them, I lashed out with blade and butt of my spear. ¡°Watch what you¡¯re targeting!¡± ¡°Not my fault!¡± I smiled as I dealt death, the multiple lights playing havoc with the lightsiders depth perception. ¡°[Miring swamp]!¡± Suddenly I was caught in a massive mudpit, along with several of the adventurers I was attacking. ¡°Got him locked down! Quick, everyone blast him!¡± The same voice shouted, and anyone with a ranged attack unleashed it. I saw several skills that I knew would be area effects, I guess they didn¡¯t care about their comrades. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I escaped, though not without a few arrows striking me. The explosions of arcane power didn¡¯t end any of the adventurers, but they sure as hell weren¡¯t happy. I slew the one who summoned the swamp, but took several more arrows in the process. ¡°He¡¯s over by Andrew! I managed a [Hunter¡¯s mark], let¡¯s get him.¡± Ah, that was how they found me so swiftly. Targeting the hunter, I charged through the woods, spinning my spear to deflect his panicked arrows. ¡°[Shadow strike].¡± I said, lunging forward with my blade enhanced with shadow. ¡°[Intercept]!¡± A knight appeared between me and the hunter, saving the latter¡¯s life. A twist of my spear that was piercing his shield removed it from his hand, and I dropped into a combat trance as I systematically disabled differing parts of his body. A part of me heard their frustrations as I barely dodged spells and arrows, but they got intelligent right as I took the knight in the throat. ¡°[Fireball]!¡± Instead of targeting me, the mage cast an explosive fireball right at my feet. The spell disrupted my trance, and I took several direct attacks from differnet directions. ¡°That¡¯s got him! [Freezing ray]!¡± Time slowed as the mage had me dead to rights. My footwork disrupted, my teleport unuseable, I watched as the blue ray that would limit my movements even further inexorably crawled closer. And then a black blur stepped in front, deflecting the ray away with his armor plates. ¡°Let¡¯s do this Inkler.¡± I snarled, having gotten my feet back underneath me. With renewed vigor, we crashed into the enemy. Inkler¡¯s gambit had not only saved me, but smashed their morale as well. Hunter¡¯s tried to protect the mages by slaying the armored nightliger, while I danced among their ranks. Rogues fell at random as Inkler would strike at them despite their stealth. The mages tried to focus on me, but lacked the skill to cast while running away from Inkler. I matched Inkler¡¯s savage growl as the group was slowly whittled down. And then my world was tossed upside down in a burst of light. I rolled over to see another group had arrived, and a second volley of arcane power heading towards me as well as Inkler. ¡°[Last stand]!¡± I cried, activating my skill and letting Inkler know of the danger at the same time. Last stand was a double edged sword. My movement speed increased drastically, though I would gradually lose power as my muscles were torn apart. It was named because the user had a less than 1% chance of surviving the encounter. ¡°[Shadow eruption]!¡± I burned a large chunk of my mana so that I could disrupt this one last group. Emerging from their feet with a flurry of blows, I used the last of my mana to combine several skills. ¡°[Shadow strike][Whirlwind of blades][Vital explosion]!¡± With an enhanced blade, I slashed around me in a flurry of blows too fast for the eye to see. Fueled by what little health I had remaining, vital explosion doubled my damage while constantly draining my life. Landing on my feet, I was pierced several times by weapons. As the world went grey, I saw a cloaked figure standing before me, with his hand out. I smiled, as for the first time in my life I willingly dropped my spear and took his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve kept her waiting long enough.¡± I said.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV
Your pet has died! Your pet has died in battle. If you wish, you may resurrect him now for a loss of three of his character levels. For every hour you wait, the cost will drop by one level. Resurrect? Y/N?
¡°They¡¯re done.¡± I said twenty minutes later, as I got the notification I had been dreading. I dropped into the party chat to warn the city. Angus_MacG: Ok guys. Khaliss and Inkler held off pursuers for twenty minutes. Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m: . . .Does that mean? Angus_MacG: Please inform Shrik that he is now Captain of the Guard. Angus_MacG: We¡¯ll be there in an hour. Illyora: I¡¯m so sorry Marty. JonnyBGood: We all are. Angus_MacG: I know, thanks guys. Let¡¯s get through this, I can grieve later. ¡°Simply incredible. To last twenty minutes against waves of enemies? Even the Do¡¯urden savants would be hard pressed to manage such a feat.¡± The priestess muttered, unsure of if I was paying attention or not. ¡°All the more reason that this must succeed.¡± I said in a dark voice. * * * * * * * * * * * * An hour later, and we finally crossed into the city. We had a few times where single players would get close, but a well placed [Dark bolt] was enough to scare them off or end them outright. Pursuit dropped off when we crossed a canyon via spidersilk, as the adventurers were forced to go the long way around. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Shrik asked as we entered. ¡°We hold off all assaults. I¡¯m sure we will get a notification soon.¡± I said. Sure enough, seconds after our entire party entered the city there was another server announcement.
Server event update! Darkest Deeds on Darkest Night! New information has come to light! The party that raided the main church of Pelor has safely arrived in the drakeling city. The divine artifact that granted the main church it¡¯s sanctity was stolen. Will you journey to the city and retrieve it for the church of Pelor? Or will you steal it for yourself? Whatever your choice, time is against you. Once the object is held within a controlled stronghold for half an hour, ownership will change. At fifteen minutes, a mass teleport will leave from Ascencion to as near the city as possible. Time remaining: 29:59
¡°SEAL THE GATE! DEPLOY FIELD LIGHTING!¡± Shrik yelled. ¡°Double and triple check the automaton charge. Mages should have ten mana potions. Archers should have no less than three full quivers.¡± ¡°Khali-. I mean Shrik has this well in hand.¡± I said to the group. ¡°I think we should hold off until that fifteen-minute timer hits. Think you could target their landing point with something big Rocky?¡± ¡°Think they will be dumb enough to only have one landing point?¡± ¡°This is a rushed venture. They won¡¯t be thinking strategically, they just want everyone here.¡± ¡°Good point. Hey Jonny, got a curse that will lessen lightning resistance?¡± He asked with a grin. ¡°I do. Are you being devious? Because I love devious.¡± ¡°While you guys are plotting, I¡¯m heading out.¡± Illyora declared. ¡°They¡¯ll never expect a rear assault, and my changed form can wreak plenty of havoc among the mages.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Jonny said. ¡°Angus, you¡¯re going to have to sit this one out, ya¡¯know?¡± ¡°Much as I hate it, I agree. If I die, the item is a guaranteed drop.¡± ¡°We shall protect you.¡± The priestess declared. ¡°There are no rogues alive that can sneak past the watchful eyes of the drow.¡± ¡°You have my thanks.¡± I said. ¡°And mine as well.¡± Shrik said as he walked up. ¡°Head to the palace. The royal guard will assist.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± I said, and headed out to follow orders. It was going to be a very dull half hour. I just hoped I didn¡¯t develop an ulcer from the stress of waiting. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m POV ¡°Incoming teleport!¡± I bellowed, sensing the massive influx of mana. ¡°By that lone tree Jonny.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± He said. As the glow of incoming mana intensified, he started his chant. ¡°Powers of shadow. Powers of night. Weaken their souls, their will to fight. [Weaken resist]!¡± His spell hit with perfect timing, seconds after their teleport. ¡°Lord of storms, unleash your fury. I call down destruction upon my foes. [Lightning obliteration]!¡± I loved this spell. An upgrade of thunderstorm, the amount of lightning strikes increased with the amount of mana you could put into it. In addition, each bolt had a 20% chance of chaining to other targets. At nearly a thousand mana, there were 130 lightning bolts dropped within a circle a hundred and fifty feet wide, in a ten second window. The chaos was amazing. The only thing that could be improved was the lack of screams. That many lightning bolts, the only thing you can hear is continuous thunder. Before I could cast a second spell, Jonny interrupted me. ¡°If you do that, Illyora will never forgive you for taking away her fun.¡± ¡°Good point. I already hit max level with that anyway. If they get close, they¡¯re fair game though.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Angus POV The final half hour was as mind numbingly boring as I assumed it would be. The priestess and I made small talk, and I smiled in the middle of it when I saw Rocky¡¯s level jump up to maximum immediately after the fifteen-minute transport happened. I heard some distant sounds of battle, but nothing ever got close.
Server event concluded! Darkest Deeds in Darkest Night! For having the divine artifact in their possession for over a half an hour inside their stronghold, possession of the item has now been transferred to the raiders. Congratulations to Angus_MacG, JonnyBGood, Rock¡¯mSock¡¯m, and Illyora for being the first monster players to successfully launch a raid upon a stronghold of light siders!
Congratulations! You have come into possession of a divine tier material, and are available for evolution! Would you like to evolve now? Y/N? (All party members will be evolved as well.
After confirming with our group in the party chat, I hit yes. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Unknown POV, outside of drakeling city. We all got the message about the failure of the server event. I was glad I hadn¡¯t taken the teleport option, as those fools ended up on the receiving end of some massive lightning magic. To add insult to injury, a dark shadow started laying into the survivors, showing no mercy. Before we could form up and make one last push to retake the artifact, a gigantic pillar of light rose up from the city. We had lost. Book 2 Epilogue Location unknown Inside a ring of marble pillars, there is a circle divided into thirds. One part is white, one part black, and one part grey. Surrounding this circle are nine chairs, perfectly tailored for whoever wishes to claim them. Beyond the chairs lie rings of stadium seating, for those who wish to view the proceedings. Or for those who are too massive to get closer. ¡°I¡¯LL SMITE THE ENTIRE CITY! GET OUT OF MY WAY!¡± Bellowed an aging man with a sun breaking over a plain upon his robes. In his rage, he glowed with an internal fury. He immediately froze as a skeletal hand slammed the butt of a scythe upon the ground three times. ¡°You will not interfere. Or my scythe will claim another divine life.¡± Green flames flared from within the hood of the figure, and the burning light of the angry man immediately died. A willowy feminine figure and a stout dwarf managed to drag him back to his seat. Satisfied, Thanatos took his seat in one of the three chairs on the grey portion of the circle. ¡°Calm yourself Pelor. This behavior is unbecoming of the divine.¡± The speaker was a woman with golden hair cut short. The result was incredibly tight curls that allowed her to keep a blindfold tied across her eyes. She was seated in the middle chair of the grey arch. ¡°And why are you not outraged Justice? He stole your eyes and used them to evolve!¡± ¡°I discarded them long ago, you know this. Besides, there is a difference between the spoils of war and common thievery.¡± ¡°War? WAR! NO WAR WAS DECLARED!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± A laughing voice from the side of Justice pealed out. A youthful looking man, possibly early in his twenties sat forward from his previously lounging pose. ¡°Did you not privately declare a crusade amongst your followers, Pelor? Before you answer, remember my domain.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Why would the lord of Light do such a thing?¡± The elf asked. ¡°Because, Gaia, he is blinded about certain things.¡± The dwarf replied in a gruff voice. ¡°You knew of this?¡± The youth asked. ¡°Aye, I did Truth. After the innkeeper was slain in violation of hospitality laws.¡± ¡°Broke hospitality?!¡± Justice thundered, standing and summoning a fiery blade. ¡°Not on my orders!¡± Pelor hastily replied. ¡°Close.¡± Truth said. ¡°You left ambiguity in your words on purpose, Pelor. The adventurers walked through the door you left open.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m still going to smite them.¡± He replied. Before anyone could react, a deep chuckling came from the depths of the black area. ¡°Oh? And what makes you think that I will allow such folly?¡± A massive draconic head ringed with curved horns came into the light of the central clearing. ¡°Of all my humanoid children, they are the closest to true dragons.¡± ¡°Tiamat.¡± The dwarf nodded to her respectfully. ¡°You would defend them?¡± ¡°I know it isn¡¯t normally my thing, but he intrigues me. He is bold. Lucky. He brings forth the chaos which I do so love. Plus, he still reaches higher.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not done?¡± Pelor asked with wide eyes. ¡°Of course not. Though I don¡¯t know his plans, anyone who has talked with him can see the fire burning within his eyes.¡± Lolth spoke up. She was the only one in the three black chairs. ¡°And truly Pelor, do you believe yourself strong enough to battle both Tiamat and myself? Especially after your most recent blow.¡± She chuckled seductively. ¡°I¡¯ll wipe you and your foul creations from this world.¡± He replied with a voice full of venom. ¡°Of course you will darling. Save your empty promises for your followers. All here can sense your weakened state. It must truly be hard, losing your main church, your pontiff, and that many priests all in the same night.¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Justice interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ll have words with you later about breaking hospitality, Pelor. As of now, I remind all here about the rules of interference. There will be no divine smiting.¡± A grumbling chorus of agreement accompanied her pronouncement, before the group moved on to other things. Not a chapter, just a summary of some things Characters and their evolutions: Marty => Angus_G, started as a kobold and evolved into shadow drakeling. evolved class is mystic ambusher. Jon => JonnyBGood, started as a goblin and evolved into a bugbear. evolved class is witch doctor Phoebe => Illyora, started as a gnoll and evolved into Loup Garoup, saberlion subspecies. This is basically a monster version of a werewolf. evolved class isn''t listed. Derrick => Rock''mSock''m, started as a troll and evolved into eldritch giant. Evolved class isn''t listed. Guilds so far, only light siders. Steele Legion: forcibly disbanded in book 1 by the game managers. Screaming Eagles: Medium to upper range guild. Members include Rycran (dwarf paladin), Corinne (elf healer), Garret (barbarian, can''t remember his race), Corrigan (Garret''s brother, arcane rogue), Leslie (druid focusing on crowd control, but has options for healer build). Breaking Dawn: membership in flux. Highly linked to the Church of Pelor. Guild leader is Goliath, unknown rank in the church. Minimum of Priest. Legendary monsters we have seen: The Maw. legendary sand shark from the desert. Plaguedeath. Legendary undead dragon found in the true tombs of Zandkazaar. Godly PantheonIf you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Light: Pelor, god of light. Patron of humans. Main church is in Ascencion, a human capital city. Moradrin, god of crafting. Patron of dwarves. Gaia. Earth goddess. Patron of elves and druids. Grey: Thanatos, god of death. Justice, goddess of justice. Truth, god of truth. no others are named, but they tend to be concept based, like truth and justice. They refuse to claim a race and be their patron. Dark: Lolth. Goddess of lies and betrayals, patron of the drow. main church is in Mezoberrazan. Tiamat. Dragon goddess of chaos. Possibilites that haven''t been added yet for the dark pantheon: Kevin. Source of all evil. Fucking Kevin man. God of Torture. Cities of note: Mezoberrazan. Capital city of the drow. Ascencion. Human capital city. Drakeling city will receive a name in the prologue of Book 3. Magical elements and their boosted versions. Cost more mana, do more damage, higher chance of status effects. Shadow (darkness) and void. Greater chance for removing limbs. lightning and violet lightning. Drains stamina and paralyzes. fire and azure flame. Massive boost to burn chance and lowers durability. earth and metal. can sense and move unowned metals. air and aether (hasn''t been used yet.) speed massively boosted. light and blessed light. Massive damage to undead, not required to be from a divine source. ice and clear ice. Freeze chance and drains mana. Water (forgot about this, sorry) and healing essence. Gives a boost to healing spells. Class differences Light players have traditional classes, but a lot of options to specialize. Example: Rogues can split into hunters, assassins, trappers, or in special cases hybrid to arcane rogue. Monster players have equivalent classes, but they can also get unique classes based on playstyle. Marty has mystic ambusher. Similar to arcane rogue fused with a trapper. Protracted battles are terrible for him, since he doesn''t have a proper rotation of skills, and all of his have at least a three second cooldown. I''m also going to have the monster classes tend towards high burst damage, while the light will go with sustainability in fights. As of right now, there are zero monsters that have a healing skill. There are skills available to cleanse debuffs. Book 3 Prologue Far out to sea, barely in view, lies a golden dome. As the view draws closer, the dome encases an entire island. Waves crash against sheer cliffs, sending salty spray everywhere. The view climbs the cliffs, showing a massive walled city build around a mountain with a flat top. Patrolling the walls are automatons with massive ballistae for arms. The buildings are simple affairs, crafted of stone. Not much thought has been devoted to artwork, save for one large building with a statue of a draconic soldier holding his wife in a hug, spinning her around. The same type of creatures walk the streets, scales black but maintaining a shimmering golden flare when they move. The viewer flies along the avenue, people oblivious to its passage. Past shops and houses, through a gated checkpoint, and up a switchbacked staircase. At the top of the mountain, lies a grand palace. As the viewer moves through the front doors, everything goes dark. There is still the sensation of movement, but no details emerge until ornate double doors open at the approach. The new room is a throne room, empty save the lone person sitting on the throne itself. Green tiles line the floor, with white columns at regular intervals. Oddly enough, the walls are entirely bare. As the view closes in on the occupant, he is turning a black crown around in his hands, staring at it. His leather armor is well worn, with scratches and scuffs from battles long past. Up close, his black scales have a golden border. He has no horns, though a small tendril of hair on his chin is braided into a three-inch-long rope. With a sigh, he looks straight into the viewer. Those with particularly keen eyesight might notice the smallest of shimmers to the side of the throne, but they would be very few indeed. ¡°Welcome, to the city formerly controlled by the drakelings. Forgive me, I was thinking of old friends. An innkeeper. She found joy in the smallest of things. A new recipe. A successful hunt. Children. Like many in this violent world, she left us too soon.¡± ¡°A mentor. A friend. He showed me the basics of this life, then watched as I lived it. He laid down his life for the mission. I hope he is happy, reunited with his wife. Some of you may wonder why I am telling you of this. Some will believe me, some won¡¯t. I can only lay out their story with the proof of things that I know.¡± Sitting up, the speaker takes a more lecturing tone. ¡°There are gods in this world. Gods of Light, and Gods of Darkness. Constantly at war. This is the way of things. Light will always struggle against the dark, though neither will ever achieve a complete victory over the other. Their gains are always fleeting. Recently, a new race came to the world. The Shadow Drakelings. Many of the kings and rulers were uncertain, and sent out feelers. Would this new race be friendly? Or a foe? Sadly, everything was cut short before that question could be answered.¡± Moving on to a more commanding tone, the speaker continued. ¡°The God of light, Pelor, heard of this new race and that they had shadow in their name. In his folly, he came to the conclusion that they were a threat. So he declared war upon them. Not out loud, or with missives declaring his intent. Oh no. The god of light turned to his flock, and commanded them to enter a crusade against the drakelings. Compounding his folly, he simply gave this order. Slay them. No rules, no limits, no mercy. For zealots, this was perfect. Black and white. Us and them. They are monsters, undeserving of life. So, they hatched their plan. Disguised as guards for a poor dwarf, whose only sin was to want to help lay an ancestors bones to rest, they entered the city. And in the dark of the night, the set about their task.¡± ¡°Alnoss was her name. The first casualty of this war. I returned from a late night quest to find two of the guards holding her arms, while a third stabbed her in the back with his blades. Even as she was dying, I¡¯ll never forget her words to me. Run. She wanted me to be safe. But I knew what she didn¡¯t. That with people who would kill civilians in the night, there was no place to run to. No shelter sturdy enough. No sanctuary secluded enough. And I unleashed my rage, cutting down those cowards.¡± ¡°But.¡± He continued with a sigh. ¡°What use is breaking a weapon when you do nothing to the wielder? He will only wait to find new weapons to unleash upon you. He has time, and patience. All that he needs is one moment of weakness. One second when your guard drops. And then BAM!¡± He clapped his hands to emphasize his point. ¡°It¡¯s all over.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°So I gathered allies. Those who were overlooked. Those who society rejected. I put out a call, and the drow answered. Lolth was already battling Pelor. The enemy of her enemy? She welcomed us with open arms. Offered aid to help with our plans. And plan we did.¡± ¡°We wouldn¡¯t leave anything to chance. There would be no civilian deaths on our hands. We are monsters, not monstrous. We guard the darkness, fighting against both the hatred of the light, and that which must remain in darkness. We can handle a war on two fronts. We have no choice. But don¡¯t pity us, my friend. For this has forged us stronger. We are tested in the fires of combat, and come out better.¡± ¡°And so, we come to the fateful night which you must have heard of recently. Darkest Deeds in the Darkest Night. Into Ascencion we snuck, past guards unaware of our intentions. Into the chapel of Pelor.¡± At this point, the speaker gave a manic grin. ¡°The first casualty of our counterattack, was Pelor¡¯s Pontiff. Aaron Lightbrand.¡± Pulling a dagger from his inventory, he held it up so the viewers could see the heart trapped within. ¡°With this dagger, I sacrificed him to Lolth. Feel free to check with the church. Demand he show up in person. Watch them squirm.¡± ¡°But that wasn¡¯t all. For you light siders may be content with an eye for an eye. I am not. We slew all the priests there. We sacrificed one upon his own altar to Lolth, then shattered the altar itself. Inside, I took the divine artifact that all main churches must have. And down, below the altar, we looted the vault of Pelor. Funny, the God of Light kept an incredible amount of wealth in the dark. Hypocrite.¡± He spat. ¡°And behind us, we left timed explosives. A half hour after our raid, the building was burning merrily from our presents. We were already on our way home. For when the monsters strike back, we only strike down those deserving of it.¡± ¡°In our retreat, the servants of Pelor found us. With faster mounts, it was only a matter of time before we were caught. With heroism only found in legend, Khaliss stood forward. He knew the only outcome would be his being reunited with his beloved Alnoss, but he vowed that we would succeed. And so it was, that a lone drakeling and a pet nightliger, held the pass against waves of adventurers. For five. For ten. For twenty minutes, they battled with a fury unmatched against hopeless odds. Their spirits never wavered.¡± ¡°But there is no happily ever after in this story. For in the end, the numbers will always win out. I¡¯ll never know the number of light siders my mentor took to the grave with him, but I will always know that his sacrifice wasn¡¯t in vain. For we were able to evolve using the divine artifact, and come to this island fortress. Here we will tell the tales of Khaliss¡¯ Last Stand, and remember that one spear may turn the tide of any battle.¡± ¡°You are probably wondering who I am and why I am telling you this story. That¡¯s easy enough to answer. I am an adventurer. Angus_MacG. I sent this world into a magical upheaval. I brought back an exiled race. And now, I stand before you, evolved. Once again I usher a new race into this world. You may whisper my title in fear, for I am the Progenitor Tyrant. Pelor started a shadow war with us. I will drag it into the light. Like the tyrants of old, I claim leadership in this time of war. Pelor thought to pluck us before we could take root. Pelor failed.¡± Standing, he exuded an aura of confidence. ¡°So I will now do what I must to protect my people. Not just the shadow drakelings, now the oblivion draconians. I extend my protection to all monsters of this world. Those who rule in the darkness, unite! Together, we shall tear down the order of this world and create our own! We are strong, we are unbeatable, WE ARE MONSTERS! We will not scurry about with our plans, for we don¡¯t fear you lightsiders.¡± ¡°This dome that protects us, will expire in one month. That¡¯s when our preparations will be complete. But our plan needs souls, and so we will take them from your best. The gods of this world have raised the limits of you pathetic light siders. So reach your new limits, and send against me your best! I will slay them all and use them to power my ritual. But be warned. Under no circumstances will you raise your hand against our civilians. For if you do, I will raze your cities for the souls I need. I will salt the earth with their tears, poison the wells with their discarded bodies. I will make your homes unlivable.¡± ¡°So it comes to this. The ultimate showdown. And a showdown, must have a proper location. So it is time to name this city. A city of monsters. A city that stands tall, and fights against the light. A. Nemesis. Remember adventurers. You have one month. Do not, disappoint me.¡± Not a chapter, ideas Summoning Shenanigans Spoiler: Spoiler A circular room. Walls, floor, and ceiling are all white, with golden script flowing across every surface. Surrounding the table in the middle are three figures. A short man, bulging with muscles. His red hair cut short in a military style, his beard given free reign. Several intricate braids are scattered throughout, glints of metal barely seen. His face is scarred from battle, left eye milky white from whatever wound bisected his eyebrow. A tall woman, thin and graceful. Deep green hair falls in a cascade behind her, reaching the small of her back. Her adornments are minimal. A white robe with a thin silver belt and matching cuff on one wrist. She looks up, revealing piercing green eyes that seem to see through to your soul. The third member of the group is a girl, just out of her teenage years. Curly dark hair frames her face, while her dark brown eyes contain a surprising depth. Despite her looks, those eyes have seen centuries. ¡°Everything ready?¡± The gruff dwarf speaks. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve chosen my hero.¡± The girl responds. ¡°Wards set?¡± ¡°My strongest.¡± ¡°Excellent. Then let us begin.¡± The elf says. Lifting their hands in tandem, they form a circle. Those who can sense power, would see it flowing in a circle, faster and faster. As they proceed, the writing starts pulsing in time with the revolutions of power. Everything is according to plan. ¡°AAAAARRRRIIIIIIIII!!!!¡± A whiny voice cuts through the ritual. ¡°I¡¯m booooooored. Come play with me.¡± Appearing out of nothingness, a wiry figure appears. Nearly six feet tall, he is dressed in leather armor. Short blond hair is cut just below his jawline. ¡°Lokir! What? How did you get in here?¡± The girl stammers, partially dropping her stance. ¡°Pay attention Ariana! You¡¯re losing the targeting! Unless you want your hero¡¯s soul to be lost to the void forever.¡± The dwarf barks at her. ¡°You didn¡¯t make it easy! I had to go sideways through the sixth dimension, and invert myself through the fourteenth nexus.¡± The newcomer whines. ¡°Lokir, we are busy here.¡± Ariana grits out through her teeth. ¡°Come back some other time.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m boooooored. Ooh, what are you up to?¡± ¡°Nothing that needs concern you. Begone!¡± The dwarf grunts. ¡°You¡¯re overcompensating Bruin.¡± The elf warns. ¡°Targeting a church is hopeless. We can at best narrow down to a continent.¡± ¡°Summoning a hero? I wanna play too!¡± Lokir cackles gleefully, placing his hands upon the table. ¡°Lokir! No!¡± Ariana warns, but it is far too late. A chaotic swirl of energy flows into the ritual, seeping into the unfortunate soul trapped within. ¡°Make this lots of fun for me, kay?¡± Lokir smiles as he backs away from the glare of the other three. ¡°Byesies!¡± With a wave, he is gone. ¡°I¡¯ll throttle that-¡° ¡°Enough Bruin.¡± Ariana admonishes him. ¡°Where is our hero going to land?¡± ¡°Southern forests.¡± The elf laments. ¡°The southern forests? That covers a third of the continent!¡± Ariana wails. As the three godly beings watch helplessly, a blue streak shoots through and collides with a hologram of a planet. ¡°Where did he land? I¡¯ll send my priests out immediately!¡± ¡°You know as well as I do lass, that we can¡¯t track godly heroes. We¡¯ll have to hope that someone kind stumbles upon him.¡± Magic''s Beginning Spoiler: Spoiler Normally the raven haired child would be asleep at this time of night. It was midnight after all. However, tonight he was bouncing around inside the carriage in excitement. After nearly a month, he would be able to see his father and step-mother again. That¡¯s why instead of stopping in the town, the guardsman allowed the giddy child to convince him to keep going through the night. The roads around the barony were well patrolled, and there hadn¡¯t been any bandit incidents in years. Besides, Baron Locklan had splurged and paid extra for the magical lights that lit a good twenty-foot circle around the coach. It would be a shame to not use them. The child was the oldest bastard of the Baron, though that didn¡¯t keep him from being loved. Always unconventional, the Baron had explained from an early age exactly where little Eric was in the grand scheme of things. He would never be able to inherit any titles from his father, but would always be counted as family. Even should Eric not wish to live within the family means, his step-mother assured him that he could apprentice wherever he wished. If an apprenticeship didn¡¯t appeal, there was always the University at the capital. Whether he showed an aptitude for wielding magic or special promise with a blade, he was promised nearly every advantage towards realizing his future. Of medium height though skinny, Eric had a deep tan from his love of outdoor adventures. There was hardly any tree at the manor that hadn¡¯t been climbed at some point in his six years. The most unsettling point about him was his stare. Whether it was the intensity, as if he were judging your soul, or the fact that his left eye was a blue so deep as to be nearly purple while his right eye was hazel with a ring of gold encircling the outer part of his iris, people tended to keep their distance. Those that managed to overcome their insecurities found a boundless enthusiasm for new things. Even rarer were those that managed to earn his trust, though once given was unshakeable. Though the family manor was only a twenty-minute trip outside of town under normal conditions, the coachman was taking his time to ensure the safety of the horses. Nearly an hour of travel later, everyone was more than happy to finally see the peaks of the manor appearing just over the hill, backlit by the half moon. ¡°Eric, I see the tops of the house in the distance. Not too much longer and we will be home,¡± the guard captain called out.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Hooray! Thanks Captain Eckert, dad¡¯s going to be so excited we got home early don¡¯t you think?¡± Chuckling, the captain responded, ¡°Of that I have no doubt young lord. None at all.¡± ¡°How many times do I have to tell you Captain, I¡¯m no lord and you know it.¡± ¡°At least once more young lord, as I keep telling you to stop calling me captain and simply call me Miles.¡± The captain continued the longstanding game between the two. ¡°Though not the heir, you have earned my respect. Always remember, being noble has nothing to do with who your parents are and everything to do with your own character.¡± ¡°I know I know. You also taught me to respect my elders, but you will always be elder than me. I guess that means I won¡¯t ever be able to stop calling you Captain.¡± Guffawing loudly, even the usually surly coachman cracked a smile at the impish behavior of the two traveling with him. Shaking his head, the coachman asked, ¡°Sir, are you sure you aren¡¯t expected? Seems that there¡¯s an awful lot of light in the windows up ahead for this time of night.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, probably just the Baron finishing up some business. I¡¯m sure he fell behind a little bit with the family meeting.¡± ¡°Family meeting?¡± ¡°The reason we are out here with little Eric. Apparently some of the more powerful summons that are passed down family lines require a yearly ceremony. This week was when the Baron decided to do it. Since Eric isn¡¯t in the line of succession, he couldn¡¯t be on the grounds.¡± Continuing on, the coach passed through the gate, the stopped at the stairs leading to the main entrance. Launching from inside, Eric tore towards the front doors like a hawk swooping down upon a rabbit. Skipping every other step, the laughter of the two men followed him inside. ¡°MOM! DAD! GUESS WHAT? I¡¯M HOME!¡± The exuberant child bellowed while slamming the door closed behind him. Crossing the foyer, he wondered what was taking so long for his parents to reply. ¡°Mom? Dad? Anyone awake?¡± At his last question, a dark silhouette filled the door leading to his father¡¯s study, tilting its head to the side as if pondering what this little bundle of energy was. ¡°What could this possibly be?¡± A dark, melodious voice that was most definitely not his father¡¯s responded. Moving forward in a jerky manner that displayed none of the Baron¡¯s natural grace, the light revealed something that would haunt Eric for years to come. His father, drenched in blood from a massive hole where his heart should be, stood there with several dark bands attached to his extremities. The inky blackness of the bands sent shivers of revulsion up the boy¡¯s spine. Coming off the bands were ropes made of the same substance, that appeared to drink any light foolish enough to shine upon them. The bands culminated in the hand of some eldritch horror. Four arms covered in a shiny black chitin were attached to a hunched body covered with the same material. The chest and stomach were covered in hundreds of tiny protrusions containing small proto-hands that were swaying in a manic dance. The creature¡¯s two desiccated legs dangled beneath it as it floated a few feet above the floor using some unseen force. The face was shockingly white compared to the body, with several flexible stalks with an eye on the end of each one surrounding the head. Two antennae were also perched on the forehead of the creature. Again the melodious voice came, straight from the creature that was behind his father, ¡°The orders of the contract have been fulfilled, the Locklan family lies dead in this house. Yet this little one calls for his father, frozen at the sight of me with a trail of urine running down his leg. Does this mean I can play with you little one?¡± Screaming in utter horror, Eric turned and raced towards the door as fast as his little legs could carry him. Chuckling, the creature waved its free hand and a massive red arcane seal covered the door. As the child slammed into the door and bounced off, the creature spoke, ¡°Now, now little one, you can¡¯t go leaving just yet. We have hours of fun ahead of us.¡± ¡°ERIC! WHAT¡¯S GOING ON IN THERE?¡± The faint voice of Captain Eckert could be heard as the door rattled in panic. ¡°ERIC, OPEN THE DOOR!¡± Tears freely flowing, Eric turned and looked at the creature. Gathering what little courage he had left, he confronted it, ¡°Wh, Why did you d d do this?¡± Though his voice quivered, his stance remained firm. ¡°Why, because I was ordered to. Summoned by my master, I had no choice to obey.¡± ¡°Who is your master?¡± ¡°Ah, that would be telling little one. Can¡¯t do that.¡± Just then the sound of shattering glass reached their ears, followed by a muffled exclamation. ¡°Eric! What the hell is this? What¡¯s blocking the windows? ERIIIIIC!¡± The panicked voice of Captain Eckert could be easily heard. ¡°He he he, can¡¯t have any uninvited guests. You¡¯ll find all the doors and windows have been sealed so that we can truly enjoy our time here.¡± The monstrosity chuckled. ¡°Oh, but where are my manners? You can call me the Corpse Puppeteer. Now, how about a little game of tag?¡± As he finished saying it, Eric noticed the long object in his father¡¯s hand as he staggered forward. A sword covered in congealed blood. ¡°Oh, but one on one isn¡¯t going to be enough. I think a second person would really enhance our fun. Come on out m¡¯lady, your son wishes to play.¡± Beckoning with his empty hand, strands of blackness shot forward into the study. Immediately thereafter, Lady Locklan¡¯s ravaged body shambled out. Multiple stabs and slashes marred her body, and the sheer volume of blood left the original color of her clothes unknowable. The terror of seeing his step mom, her head flopping about grotesquely from the massive slash though her throat, finally broke the little boy. Fleeing deeper into the manor, little did he know his night of horrors was just beginning. Sliding to a stop in the dining hall, his brain took a moment to process the sheer horror. Walls coated in blood, the slain bodies of all his cousins, aunts, and uncles littered the floor in various poses. The worst was the attempted statue of limbs something had started in the corner. Each room had been desecrated in some manner, no matter where he turned some new horror awaited. Bodies of servants that had watched as the young boy grew hung by their entrails. Maids that had helped him clean his messes lay dismembered. Several harrowing hours later, the boy found him cornered in his father¡¯s favorite room. A massive glass window overlooked the prized apple orchards. ¡°Ah, such a fine room that I haven¡¯t corrupted yet. You will help me with that, won¡¯t you?¡± The Corpse Puppeteer asked while hovering behind the Baron and Baroness. Back plastered against the seal covering the glass, the boy finally gave in to the inevitable and slid down into a seated position. As the people who raised him finally shambled in front of him, the bloody sword fell to the ground with a clatter. ¡°NNNNOOOOOOOO!¡± Crying out in frustration, Eric looked up just in time to see the bodies of his parents fall to the ground, finally freed from the vile clutches of the summoned monster. ¡°Damn you, seconds away from the end of my fun and the sun rises!¡± With a final curse, the monster returned to its original plane of existence with a pop of foul smelling smoke. Seconds later, a door shattered under a mighty blow as Captain Eckert was finally successful in gaining entry, the seals keeping him out having vanished with their maker. Rushing from room to room, Eckert finally found the boy sobbing silently over his parents. ¡°Oh Eric, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Gathering the boy in his arms, he held Eric¡¯s head buried in his shoulder so he wouldn¡¯t have to see the carnage again as they left. Settling him in the coach, he looked straight into the boy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Listen Eric, I don¡¯t know what happened but it is obvious this was an attack on your family. Something strong enough to block every entrance to the manor like that has to be a major summons, which means that there is another noble family involved. Though you don¡¯t have any claims to inheritance, I doubt someone that would be this ruthless will let you live.¡± At the boys mute nodding, he continued. ¡°I have a brother, his wife is barren. They will take you in, and you can claim to be my bastard. I¡¯ll go back into the army and look for answers there. Before we go, I¡¯m going to go back in there and grab some of your clothes and the emergency stash of coins your father left. We will also need to find a charm to hide your eyes, not many people have unique colors like yours.¡± Hurrying back inside at the boy¡¯s nod, Eckert quickly grabbed some needed items and headed back out. ¡°Take these and try and get some rest. The coachman fled hours ago, so it¡¯ll just be me and you for now. It¡¯s been a long while since I¡¯ve driven something like this, but I¡¯m sure we will make it eventually. Rest now as best you can Eric, you will get through this.¡± With those final words, Eckert took up the reins and guided the horses back onto the road. They never looked back as the sun continued to rise on the carnage left within the manor. Book 3 Chapter 1 ¡°And that, is how you do a monster commercial!¡± Jon shouted at the screen where we were watching my commercial. ¡°God, the way you told that story just sucked me in. I was trembling in rage about the Pelor stuff.¡± ¡°Speaking of Pelor, do we know anything about what happened to the church members?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Message boards are lighting up.¡± Derrick chuckled. ¡°Some people are trying to claim it is all lies, but in the traditions of the internet they are getting shouted into oblivion. Good call leaving just enough verifiable information in your speech, you seem to be getting a ton of credit for it.¡± ¡°Lemme see!¡± Jon said, pulling up a browser of his own. ¡°Let¡¯s see, let¡¯s see. Confirmations of no pontiff are gaining traction. Several dwarf characters have pointed out Breaking Dawn being mysteriously exiled from their kingdom. Rumors about breaking hospitality and their connection to Pelor.¡± ¡°You guys see the demands for video of Khaliss¡¯ Last Stand? It¡¯s growing incredibly fast.¡± Phoebe pointed out. ¡°OOOH! Mods posted a sticky comment! Tomorrow at noon the entire last stand will be posted to your streaming account Marty!¡± ¡°Want to have a party for it?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°I only knew the guy for a day, but he was incredible. Didn¡¯t care that I wasn¡¯t a drakeling, just sat me down and started training me.¡± ¡°I think I would like that. Wait, email from Emily. One second guys.¡± Marty, Not sure if you are following the message boards after your commercial, but things are blowing up in a good way. We¡¯ve already seen a spike in new monster characters, and have promised the video of Khaliss¡¯ stand. Since I know from watching your feeds what he meant to you, I managed to get them to make it into a memory crystal in game. Indestructible, it will appear in your inventory in three hours. Emily ¡°Hey guys, Emily says we get an in game memory crystal of Khaliss¡¯ fight.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got that ¡®I have a crazy idea¡¯ look going on.¡± Derrick noted. ¡°Need any help with it?¡± ¡°Yeah. Can you implant memory stones in a sculpture?¡± ¡°Yes. Anyone can come up and view the memory though.¡± Phoebe pointed out. ¡°You thinking of a memorial?¡± ¡°Yep. A statue with a spear, facing down the street where the light siders will be coming from. At the base is the crystal, letting everyone watch his final memory.¡± ¡°You should have his wife behind him in the statue. Show what he was willing to protect.¡± Derrick added. ¡°Uh oh. Getting some push back about the level cap. Probably shouldn¡¯t have mentioned that.¡± Jon said, still stuck in his message boards. ¡°That¡¯ll change in an hour when we can log back in.¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see all the evolutions.¡± ¡°You already know them, right?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°You sure you can¡¯t just tell us?¡± ¡°I could, but it¡¯s better to wait.¡± Settling back into my chair, I started going through the message boards as well. I did make sure to keep a timer displayed counting down to when we could log back in the game. When we did, there were a flurry of new messages awaiting us. * * * * * * * * * * * * *
System announcement! Due to the events of Darkest Deeds in Darkest Night event, several changes have been added to the game. Four entirely new species of monster have emerged, as well as a monster seat of power in the city of Nemesis. Dismayed by the changes and shift in power, the gods of the light pantheon have pooled their powers to affect the following changes: The level cap has been raised from 200 to 250 Experience gains in dungeons are doubled for the next month New characters have a rush option for growth, details in the next prompt
Character Rush! For those that wish to join in the assault upon the Progenitor Tyrant, but are unhappy with their current character, we are introducing a rush option. When starting a new character, you may have it start at the highest maximum level achieved by any of your previous characters in your account history. Your character will start with a level appropriate, uncommon rarity set that takes up all inventory slots. Be aware, that this is only available for one character, and it must be a light side character.
Oblivion draconian Witness the birth of a new species. The oblivion draconians are equally comfortable using shadow as well as light magics. When in dire straits, they may mix the two magics to form the formidable oblivion magic. Their scales are second only to true dragonscale in terms of defense.
Species abilities: Shadow magic resist 75% Light magic resist 75% Negate 20% of physical and magical damage
Congratulations! Due to your choice of evolution material, your rank has changed. You are now a divine rank monster, and as such will gain 10 points in each attribute per level in addition to your normal gains.
Simian king A special evolution of bugbear, Simian kings resemble the ancient Chinese myth of the monkey king. Possessing incredible agility and strong magic, they are fierce opponents.
Species abilities: Maximum magic resist +10% Out of combat mana regeneration +20% Agility bonuses from equipment are 50% stronger
Congratulations! Due to your choice of evolution material, your rank has changed. You are now a demigod rank monster, and as such will gain 5 points in each attribute per level in addition to your normal gains.
Chimera Lord Chimera lords are terrifying existences. Able to freely mix and match body parts from their shapeshifting animals, these highly adaptable creatures are nearly impossible to predict. In addition to physical abilities, they absorb 10% of magical attacks.
Species abilities: 10% of magic damage received converted to mana Can gain stat boosts based on creatures formshifted into Immune to fear effects
Congratulations! Due to your choice of evolution material, your rank has changed. You are now a demigod rank monster, and as such will gain 5 points in each attribute per level in addition to your normal gains.
Son of Ymir Ymir was the giant whose body was used to create everything. His offspring are some of the most powerful magic wielders in existence. All giants immediately recognize and defer to them. In addition to this, they also obtain the field spell Ginnungagap, which negates all magical effects.
Species abilities: Spells cost 10% less mana Spell cast time reduced by 10% Obtained Ginnungagap spell.
Congratulations! Due to your choice of evolution material, your rank has changed. You are now a demigod rank monster, and as such will gain 5 points in each attribute per level in addition to your normal gains.
Monster player update An unexpected gap in power has become apparent when allowing monsters to group together. In order to balance the game, we have instituted the following changes: Evolved monsters may only group with first tier monsters Evolved monsters are limited to five in their party, and only one other player First tier monsters may group with up to ten monsters, including up to two other players. Groups must stay within a one-mile radius of the group leader. Depending on further game development, these changes may or may not be permanent.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°See what I mean about the level cap option?¡± I asked the group as we logged in. I had skimmed through the notifications, having gotten a heads up from Emily about most of them. Instead, I looked at the changes in people. Derrick hadn¡¯t grown any, but his skin was a deeper color and the swirling pattern on his skin was slightly raised. According to Emily, the amount of mana he was currently channeling into a spell would cause the edges of this pattern to glow slightly. Phoebe looked almost the same, though her body was slightly bulkier. That was the most terrifying aspect though, unless you were able to identify her you would have no idea she was a tier three monster until she shifted an arm into that of a bear and ripped your head off. Jon had changed the most. He lost most of the hair on his face, and it went from having a greenish hue to a more golden brown. He had also shrunk a bit, and his bulky muscles had become more toned. As I was looking over everyone, something slammed into my chest and knocked me on my back. ¡°Oof!¡± I cried as I landed and felt a weight on me. I was starting to launch a [Dark bolt], but cancelled my spell as Inkler materialized on me. ¡°How the hell did you manage that?¡± I asked, rubbing along his neck as I identified him.
Inkler Mirage stalker (magebane variant) Level 1 Mirage stalkers are a light evolution of nightligers. Their inherent skill with light magic has combined with the reflective properties of their armor plates to make them nearly invisible when not moving. At higher levels, they may even create a mirage of themselves to distract enemies, allowing them to deal devastating strikes.
¡°Oh, we are going to have so much fun with you in battle.¡± I chuckled darkly as I read his description. Looks like he was also going to be jumping aboard the shadow and light magic train. He simply sat back and preened at the attention, until I heard an uncomfortable cough. ¡°Shrik? What can I do for you?¡± I asked, turning my head to look at him. ¡°Ahem. Well, there¡¯s a few people who need to be meeting with you, if you can?¡± ¡°Sure, who are we meeting?¡± I asked as I struggled to get out from under Inkler. Not an easy task. ¡°Oh, you know. The king, his queen, and the priestess of Lolth.¡± ¡°Shrik, are you nervous?¡± ¡°Petrified.¡± ¡°Relax. What¡¯s got you so nervous?¡± I asked as we started walking. ¡°I don¡¯t do well with people who can order me relieved of my head.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s a very good point. From what I know these types of people don¡¯t do that willy nilly.¡± ¡°Willy nilly?¡± ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s an idiom from my homeland. Basically it means for no reason. Rulers who do that tend to have people rise up against them before too long.¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± ¡°Which means you would have to be incredibly rude to them before they would do such a thing. Are you going to be rude to them?¡± ¡°GODS NO!¡± He said, looking at me like I had lost my mind. ¡°Then relax. You have nothing to worry about. If it helps, keep everything strictly formal. They are going to be just as nervous with their new guard captain, and it¡¯ll take a while to get their measure of you. Now, where are you leading me?¡± ¡°I suppose I can do that. Oh, and we¡¯re headed to the Final Homecoming.¡± ¡°Never heard of it.¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°Khaliss¡¯ and Alnoss¡¯ Inn. That¡¯s what the new owner decided to rename it. You¡¯ll see why when we get there.¡± We spent a few minutes in companionable silence, and I could tell that he was slowly working through his terror. As we approached the inn, I could see the statue from the commercial we had done. The fleeting view in motion didn¡¯t do it the justice it deserved. Up close, you could see the rough patches in the soldier¡¯s armor, and how he was discarding his spear to catch his wife as she leapt at him. ¡°Final Homecoming indeed.¡± I said with a smile. We took a few seconds just to admire the work on the statue, before heading inside. The main dining area had been cleared of most tables. Sitting at one was the priestess of Lolth, flanked behind her by two drow. Opposite her was a male oblivion draconian, but a female shadow drakeling. I had noticed that not everyone had evolved, but didn¡¯t expect the queen of all people to be passed over. Behind them, and in the corner, were several guards. Walking up to the table with Shrik, I bowed slightly lower than he did. ¡°Your majesties, may I present the adventurer Angus_MacG.¡± ¡°Ah, so this is the one then. Have a seat, adventurer. We have some things to discuss.¡± ¡°Of course, your majesty.¡± I said, sitting down. ¡°Priestess.¡± I nodded in her direction, getting a smile in return. ¡°Let us start with the most important issue. What do you mean by declaring yourself tyrant? We know the general consensus of the word, but wish to hear your own ideas before making judgement.¡± ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± I said. ¡°First, please accept my apologies for using the word tyrant. I needed a word that would incite the light siders, and get them to focus solely upon myself. I wanted to limit their destructive tendencies. In reality, the best comparison to my plan would be akin to adventurer histories in the Roman Dictators. These were men given complete control during a military emergency. After the emergency was dealt with, or six months had passed, they relinquished their power.¡± ¡°So, you expect us to put you in control of our military, and hand it back in six months? Seems rather foolish.¡± ¡°I expect nothing of the sort. I only ask for the autonomy to do what I need to complete my goals. One of which is protecting all the monster races of this world. To do that, I need to harness a truly massive amount of energy. The easiest source of which would be death energy. As adventurers will return from death, harnessing it from them seemed the best way to go about this. The best way to guarantee their cooperation is to issue them a challenge.¡± ¡°Why are you so certain that they will accept your challenge?¡± The queen asked. ¡°Because I know adventurers, your majesty. They crave new things. They feel a burning desire to push their limits, to overcome what others say is impossible. And I have given them that. I limited their time, challenged their ego, and told them that I am better than them.¡± ¡°We are glad to hear that you feel you have succeeded.¡± The king spoke. ¡°So what can we expect to change in city life?¡± ¡°In city life? Nothing. I will be placing orders with shopkeepers, but that¡¯s all. I intend to turn that palace on the plateau into a dungeon. We will have the city guard escort the adventurers straight to the entrance, so that they do not get lost or threaten the citizens. I do have some plans for the drow to assist, but that will mostly be the enchanting clan.¡± ¡°So, you basically just installed yourself as a sacrificial figurehead to save our citizens?¡± The queen asked. ¡°I did.¡± I answered her, trying to put as much honesty into my words as possible. ¡°I recently lost two of my closest friends in this city, and I wish to put an end to that. Permanently. If I manage to do this, then I will succeed. If I am defeated, then it will all be for naught.¡± ¡°Very well. We are satisfied with your words.¡± The king said. ¡°We are willing to overlook it this time, especially in light of our new desert allies. However, you will be explaining your plan to us in the very near future. You will also refrain from making such bold statements that affect the city and its people without consulting us first. Understood?¡± ¡°Of course your majesty.¡± I said with a bow. Satisfied, the royalty and their guard left us. ¡°Impressive bullshitting. I didn¡¯t detect any outright lies in any of that.¡± The priestess said as she switched seats so she was across from me. ¡°It was true. That¡¯s what saved me.¡± ¡°Oh dear, and here I thought you could have a future with the drow should things go badly. Alas, the truth will be your death there.¡± ¡°I assure you, I have no intention of joining the upper echelons of drow society. I¡¯m well aware that the skills required to successfully navigate those arenas are far beyond my abilities. So, what can I do far you today, priestess?¡± ¡°What every girl truly wants. Money. Gems. Loot.¡± ¡°I see. I do believe we had agreed to sixty forty split in favor of the drow? The gems and coins are easy to split, the legendary items are going to give us trouble.¡± ¡°Indeed. Let¡¯s see just what you managed to loot, shall we?¡± Nodding, I started pulling the items out of my bag. The sword, Durandal. Ten vials of dragon blood. The Sunfire Topaz. Six books bound in lead. Morgan¡¯s Tiara. Soul Piercer. The Oni¡¯s Essence. ¡°I can identify the items, though the books and scrolls are beyond me at the moment. Can you tell me what they are?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you forgetting that twig you got from the wall?¡± ¡°That? No. That was found by me, outside of the vault. No drow had a hand in finding or retrieving it. The deal with Lolth was splitting the contents of the vault. This was not in the vault, and not subject to the deal.¡± ¡°Will you at least let us know what it is?¡± ¡°Sure. Here are the descriptions of the items.¡±
Sunfire Topaz Legendary gem This gem is the largest of it¡¯s kind, and of the highest quality. It can be used to boost light magic within a magical array, add fire and light damage to weapons, or boost the magical defenses of armor.
Morgan¡¯s Tiara Legendary helm Once worn by Morgan Le Fay, this tiara has been sought for centuries by those who would travel the planes of existence. Defense: 150 Durability: 5,000/5,000 Increases Intelligence by 150 Increases mana regen by 125% Contains a map of portals to different planes of existence.
Soul Piercer Legendary Bow Crafted from an elderwood tree that was grown in the spiritual realm, this bow damages not only the body but the soul as well. Damage: 500-750 piercing Soulfire arrow: By feeding the bow 100 mana, can fire a soulfire arrow. This will drain the target¡¯s Wis at a rate of 1 per second for 24 seconds. Attribute damage will recover 1 per hour. Shredded soul: Adventurers killed with this weapon will be affected by shredded soul debuff. For 24 hours, all skills will lose 5 levels and all stats will be lowered by 10.
Oni¡¯s Essence Set Armor (6 of 6) Demon only This armor is possessed by the spirit of a powerful demonic warrior. Equipping it unlocks the Infernal Samurai class, as well as provides boosts to learning class skills. Further information is locked to demonic races only.
Branch of Yggdrasil Legendary item A branch from the world tree. It¡¯s uses are myriad. Durability: Indestructible.
¡°And what are you wanting to claim?¡± ¡°Sunfire topaz, dragon blood, and Morgan¡¯s Tiara.¡± I immediately replied. ¡°And just how would the drow use a sword like Durandal?¡± She asked pointedly. ¡°Very few of us are considered lawful. And none of us are good.¡± ¡°Ah, but think of all the slaves that will try and take it from you once they know the location.¡± ¡°Slaves?¡± ¡°Oh, pardon me. I meant adventurers that will become slaves. The drow prefer capable fighters for their slaves, yes? Imagine catching adventurers. I know you can¡¯t enslave them with collars, but there is no rule against having them sign a magical contract, is there?¡± ¡°A magical contract?¡± ¡°Yes, a binding magical contract. The magics of that work on adventurers. So long as you word it right, they will sign their lives away. Surely the drow of all races can weave unintended consequences into a contract.¡± I said, giving her a look. ¡°Oh you are adorable! Playing to our vanity and throwing a challenge all in one, just look at you. And just how do you plan on letting these adventurers know where to come looking for the sword?¡± ¡°We have communication abilities outside of this world. I will simply leave a list of what we liberated from the vault of Pelor out for everyone to see, letting them know that the drow have these items. They won¡¯t be able to help themselves.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still not entirely sure that this is a good idea.¡± ¡°Hmmm, well. Since everyone loves a challenge, do you think the drow would be able to corrupt the sword? An indestructible blade, corrupted so that it can only be wielded by chaotic evil would be wonderful in the hands of the drow, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°A double challenge. Lure the adventurers in with a promise of a legendary sword, all the while we have corrupted it for our own use. So that¡¯s one. I do admit, we would have several houses vying for that bow as well. Surely you aren¡¯t going to suggest we corrupt a demonic suit of armor though, are you?¡± ¡°Not at all. But, there are adventurers that are demons out there. Perhaps you could strike a deal with one. Let him or her use the suit, and have them teach the drow applicable techniques while serving for a set period of time.¡± ¡°Hrmph. No, I don¡¯t think we can agree to that. What I want is the tiara.¡± ¡°I see. I can let you have that, and I will take the demon armor, on one condition.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°You share the planes map with Rocky. He is already a planes traveler, adding more planes only helps him grow. With the map, he will have no need of the tiara itself. Plus, I doubt it would fit him as a giant.¡± ¡°No maps, and we only take him to half the planes in the tiara.¡± ¡°Half the planes, but the ones you take him to must be ones he has not visited before.¡± ¡°Done.¡± She said with a grin. ¡°Now, we need to take a look at these books. May I?¡± ¡°Be my guest.¡± I said, sliding the books and scrolls in her direction. I watched silently as she ran her fingers around each box, tracing runes as she went. It ended up taking around five minutes per book, but I had the time. When messing around with books that people felt the need to lock up in lead, you want to make sure you get everything right. ¡°Well. It seems we have found quite the trove of forbidden knowledge. Each of these contains a spell. Once read, the spell will disappear from the pages for a year and a day. You won¡¯t be able to teach this spell, only the book may. The first one is chaos magic. Heizenberg¡¯s Uncertainty Ray. Your target will be formshifted into something different, permanently. It could be a harmless squirrel. It could be a shoggoth. The second is light magic. Whiteness. The third is shadow magic. Deo Noct. It simply gives a translation, Lord in the Night. Fourth we have the ice magic Absolute Zero. Fifth, a summoning magic. Dread Juggernaut. Figures Pelor would hide that, they are creatures of the deep void. And last, we have Amalgamation. It forcefully fuses up to five targets together.¡± I shuddered at what could be made with that spell. ¡°I see. And the scrolls?¡± ¡°An assorted collection. Several meteors, a few designs for exotic weapons, and some more summoning spells. Though none quite as powerful as the Dread Juggernaut.¡± ¡°I see. Would you be ok with my claiming the spells Whiteness, Deo Noct, and Absolute Zero? As payment for the even split of the spells, you may have all the scrolls.¡± ¡°Hmm, on one condition.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The drow keep the chained books. In a year and a day, we will learn the spells ourselves.¡± ¡°If you are keeping the books, then I want my party to look over the summonings and I want a meteor for each of them. That¡¯d be three.¡± I clarified before she could ask. ¡°One summoning for the three of them.¡± ¡°Two. What is a year and a day compared to the long life of a drow?¡± ¡°Very well.¡± She said with a sigh. Like she was getting put upon with this deal. ¡°Clanless, it¡¯s time.¡± She spat over her shoulder, kicking a chair out next to me. The bodyguard who was closest to the chair sat down, and I finally recognized him as the Drul¡¯kaath. ¡°So, have you been cleared by your kin to negotiate?¡± ¡°I have.¡± He said, a lot more subdued this time. ¡°And what are the penalties for failure?¡± I asked, just to see him squirm. ¡°Enslavement.¡± He said, and I caught the slightest tremor in his hand. Damn, enslavement is bad, but to shake a drow? They must treat their slaves horribly. ¡°Very well. What does your clan offer?¡± ¡°Our services as top notch enchanters. There is a reason we have survived being clanless in Menzoberrazan.¡± ¡°I see. How long?¡± ¡°A year and a day we will have our top three enchanters available to you. Should you need something outside of their expertise, we will ensure that it is done.¡± ¡°Can you enchant certain effects into portions of rooms?¡± ¡°You are thinking of your palace dungeon? Yes, we have that ability. It is where we tend to specialize, as it brings in far more money than enchanting pieces of gear.¡± ¡°Very well. That is an acceptable offer.¡± I replied, much to his relief. I wasn¡¯t going to screw this clan, as drow had very good memories. ¡°At the conclusion of our contract, your clan and their allies will not hold any grudges against me or mine, and we have a deal. As soon as the contract is drawn up and signed, you will have your family scimitars.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He said, pulling out a stack of papers. Flipping through them, he stopped at the fifth page and slid it across the table. I took my time to scan the paper, then read it through line by line. Twice. After he was certain of everything, he signed it and watched as it magically doubled itself. ¡°Everything seems to be in order. Here are your scimitars.¡± I said, placing the contract in my inventory and sliding the copy and the scimitars to a very excited drow. ¡°Does this mean you can be referred to as Drul¡¯kaath now?¡± ¡°Yes, though I would insist on you using my first name. Call me Andross.¡± ¡°Pleasure doing business with your clan, Andross.¡± I said, shaking his hand. ¡°Now, if everyone will excuse me, I do have to go back to my friends and let them in on the split. Priestess, if you would have someone contact Rocky within three days for his tour with the tiara, I¡¯m sure he would be most grateful.¡± ¡°Three days?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. It takes a large amount of mana to set an anchor from what I¡¯m told, and I do believe he will be unable to do that for at least 24 hours. This gives your people time to find suitable locations.¡± ¡°Hmmm, you¡¯re up to something, that¡¯s as plain as day. I¡¯ll let it go for now.¡± She said. Standing, I gave her a slight bow and watched as they headed upstairs to rest. Now I just had to figure out how to tell Jon that we didn¡¯t come away with any gear that was fit for a Simian King. Book 3 Chapter 2 ¡°Hey guys, sorry about that.¡± I apologized as I came back to the group. ¡°Does this mean we get paid now?¡± Illyora asked. ¡°Cuz I could use some gems and things.¡± ¡°Yes, we get paid. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t get everything I wanted from the vault. I¡¯ve got some legendary items, some forbidden spells, and some scrolls for each of you. First up, a legendary gem.¡± I said, holding up the topaz and sending the description to everyone. ¡°We also have ten vials of dragon¡¯s blood and a set of demonic armor. The bonuses require the race to be a demon, so we are going to be hurting there. For the spells, we have three that are forbidden. Whiteness, Deo Noct, and Absolute Zero. You all get a scroll of meteor, as a group we get to choose two summon scrolls.¡± ¡°May I see Deo Noct?¡± Jon asked. I reluctantly handed it over, as that was one that I was hoping to learn. ¡°Damn. Who would have thought that a third tier monster wouldn¡¯t have the required intelligence to learn this spell?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked. ¡°How short are you?¡± ¡°Not sure exactly, but it says I only meet 25% of the requirements.¡± Rocky whistled at that. ¡°Let me see Absolute Zero, if you guys don¡¯t mind.¡± Nobody objected, so I handed the book to Rocky. ¡°After you learn the spell, the writing will disappear for a year and a day. The drow get to keep the books.¡± I mentioned. Shrugging, Rocky picked up the book and looked at it. As soon as he opened it, the temperature plummeted and a ray of blue light shot out of the book and focused on his eyes. Without any movement on his part, the pages started flipping faster and faster until the book slammed shut. ¡°Whoah, that¡¯s a rush.¡± Rocky muttered, blinking repeatedly. ¡°So, what¡¯s the spell do?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Here.¡± He answered, sending us the sheet.
Absolute Zero Forbidden Ice Magic Drop the local temperature to absolute zero for a period of 30 seconds in a circle with a radius of ten feet. Everything within the spell takes freezing damage, as well as increased chance for shattering. Damage: 1600 freezing Frostbite: Organic enemies take 150 frostbite damage per second for 30 seconds Shatter: Enemies that receive a blow that delivers enough blunt damage may shatter entirely or lose limbs. Cooldown: 72 hours Mana cost: 750
¡°Wow.¡± Jon said, summing up all of our feelings. ¡°So, Rocky gets the spell, Illyora has her gem. How were you planning to split the rest?¡± ¡°I was hoping to take the other two spells if you guys don¡¯t mind. I managed to get the drow to bring Rocky along to some planes he hasn¡¯t visited yet, so he can drop a few anchors there. I figured the majority of the scrolls would go to you and Illyora.¡± ¡°And the dragon¡¯s blood?¡± ¡°Turn someone into a variant. I¡¯m hoping it would give a massive boost to mana regen.¡± ¡°Sounds like fun. I¡¯ll volunteer for that if you don¡¯t mind hun?¡± Jon asked while looking at Illyora, who was still staring into her gem. ¡°She¡¯s fine with that. Why don¡¯t you learn those spells before she changes her mind?¡± Nodding, I pulled out the spells, and learned Whiteness and Deo Noct.
Whiteness Forbidden Light Magic Create a sphere of pure white light, that encompasses an enemy. The light is so powerful that it burns away all identity, turning everything white. Damage: 1600 light Does 3x damage to undead All equipped gear loses 75% durability, or 7,500. Whichever is higher. Cooldown: 48 hours Mana cost: 750
Deo Noct Forbidden Shadow Magic Banish all sight from an area for 5 minutes. Only the caster and their allies can see in the spell effects. Damage: None Light elementals are obliterated. No sight of any variety unless an ally of the caster. Cooldown: 48 hours Mana cost: 500
System announcement! Return of the forbidden spells! Two players have recently learned forbidden spells! These incredibly powerful magics can turn the tides of battle, so beware! Simply by learning these spells, a massive pulse of magic has traveled through the ether. The other forbidden spells have released a resonant pulse! Those who are sensitive to the pulse now know the general vicinity of several spells. Certain trusted individuals may be tasked with retrieving these spells. Be aware, should you be lucky enough to be chosen, that these spells are well hidden and well-guarded.
¡°Leave it to Angus and Rocky to kick a hornet¡¯s nest.¡± Jon chuckled as we read the notifications. ¡°I¡¯m sure the light side guilds are scrambling to check with magical leaders right about now.¡± ¡°At least they didn¡¯t name us this time.¡± Rocky chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll bet the boards are blowing up with speculation.¡± ¡°Alright, so we have the spells and scrolls figured out. You guys want to split up the money? I¡¯ll take a smaller share, I¡¯ve already got a good amount of money on hand.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Yeah. You guys use it to upgrade your gear. I know custom made stuff is rather expensive. While you guys do that, I need to finish up a quest with Thanatos. Jon, you want to become a variant after that? It¡¯ll seal your mana for 24 hours.¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds good. Meet you where?¡± ¡°Alchemist shop. Portals in there.¡± Nodding at Jon, I headed off with Inkler in tow. It was odd, knowing that he was close to me but not being able to see him. Sure, there was a shimmer, like heat waves over hot asphalt, but that was all that gave him away. ¡°Greetings brother.¡± I heard as I entered the church. ¡°And your pet. I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve been introduced.¡± ¡°You can sense him?¡± I asked, rather shocked. ¡°Yes. My branch can sense souls, and I sense him burning brightly.¡± ¡°I see. Inkler, drop your camouflage. Meet the Cardinal of Thanatos. Cardinal, this is Inkler, my mirage stalker companion.¡± ¡°Welcome to both of you. Are you ready to turn in your quest?¡± ¡°I am.¡± I nodded, heading to the altar and placing the dagger on it.
Divine quest completed! The lich of the desert has met his final death at your hands. You even managed to set free several beings enslaved by the lich. Congratulations.
Quest Rewards Next quest
Slay the lich, Zandkazaar Ten levels of experience. Death¡¯s Shroud Death comes for all IV: Deep in the depths of the Underdark, a vampire commits atrocities against the gods. Forcing his enslaved priests to summon angels for him to feast upon, you are charged with ending his life.
Death¡¯s Shroud Legendary Cape Death is only seen when he wishes it, and with this cape your abilities will come close. +50% harder to detect +15% chance to dodge Stealth skills accrue experience twice as fast
Equipping the cape, I slid the fabric through my fingers. It was silky, and the color was more a deep green than a black. No matter the color, looking at it draped over my arm definitely broke up the outline. It wouldn¡¯t stand up in direct sunlight of course, but if I were relying on it like that the situation was dire indeed. ¡°You like it?¡± ¡°I do. Do we know anything about the location of the vampire other than the Underdark?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t. You¡¯ll probably have to consult with the drow, possibly head out from Menzoberrazan.¡± ¡°Thank you brother.¡± I said with a nod, as I picked up the dagger. ¡°I¡¯ll have to check in with them before they head back.¡± Business concluded, Inkler and I headed out to meet with Jon at Djarleen¡¯s shop. ¡°Are you sure? With a possibly prehensile tail, some of the more intricate potions would be a lot easier. Tiamat knows how many times I¡¯ve wished for a third hand when stirring things.¡± Djarleen was talking with Jon when I walked in. ¡°Taking on a new apprentice?¡± I asked. ¡°Ever since my last one went and made master alchemist without talking with me, I¡¯ve been looking.¡± Djarleen said with a glare. ¡°Sorry, I was in the desert and had the opportunity to evolve Inkler. I couldn¡¯t pass it up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you if you manage to convince your friend here to join up. That tail could be useful.¡± Said friends tail was twitching behind him, obviously nervous. ¡°Say Jon, how are you controlling your tail?¡± I asked, as I had never gotten mine to truly do anything that was outside of instinct.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Later Angus. Let¡¯s get this ritual done first, kay?¡± ¡°Sure. Sorry Djarleen, we¡¯re off to the guild.¡± ¡°No you aren¡¯t.¡± She said with a smug smile. ¡°Huh? Sure we are, just have to use the transport in the back.¡± ¡°And you aren¡¯t listening to me. You declared war on the light siders. The guild has forbidden us access.¡± ¡°Damnit. That puts a cramp in my plans.¡± ¡°Luckily, Mardigan happens to like you. He knows about the desert transmutation circle, and switched the locations of our transport. I would hurry back though, you have a lot of things that need to be done if you are going to be ready within a month.¡± ¡°Point. Thanks Djarleen.¡± I said, dragging Jon behind me to the transportation circle. ¡°This will leave you a bit nauseous, sorry in advance.¡± Sure enough, once on the other side Jon flopped onto his knees and started dry heaving. ¡°Like I said, you can¡¯t really get rid of that issue. Take your time, we should -.¡± ¡°Angus! That better be you!¡± Mardigan stormed into the back of the store. ¡°Oh, you brought a friend. Cool. Angus¡¯ friend, I¡¯m stealing this guy for a minute.¡± He said, dragging me by the arm. Once we were in the front of the store, he forced me into a chair and stared right into my eyes. ¡°You ballsy son of a bitch, you went and declared war on the world without me!¡± Bursting into laughter, he backed off a bit. ¡°Oh you should see your face right about now. You¡¯ll have to do better ya know.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that, but I had to take drastic steps to prevent retaliation from Pelor.¡± ¡°Seriously? Oh man, you¡¯ve got them on the run my friend! He¡¯s probably at his weakest in centuries.¡± ¡°How so? And how do you know?¡± ¡°Look, the guild keeps track of all the major powers. Pelor was one of the stronger light churches, being the patron of most humans. But in one night you took out his pontiff, his main church, and sowed a lot of doubt among his faithful. Not only that, but word is spreading about that innkeeper, and the other light churches aren¡¯t too happy with him, not to mention the entire grey pantheon. You would be hard pressed to find someone to have stepped in a larger pile of dragon dung.¡± ¡°I see. Any info you can pass on about the other players? How are they taking the news of my threat?¡± ¡°Well, that is a different matter entirely.¡± He said, pulling up another chair and getting far more serious. ¡°You¡¯ve left your threat vague enough that people have no idea what you have planned. So a lot of kingdoms are running scared. They don¡¯t want to pay assassins to hunt you down, especially since they have no idea the abilities of that dome of yours. So they are putting all their power behind the adventurer guilds.¡± ¡°Any guild a favorite?¡± ¡°To the contrary, they actually got the Big Three to band together.¡± I sat back, shocked at the thought. The Big Three. Common name for the three strongest of the guilds. Magical Mayhem only accepted magic classes, though hybrid classes were accepted. They had far and away the highest DPS ever recorded on a single raid, and managed to nuke a three boss golem raid in under ten minutes. Dukes of Destruction had a more balanced build, though they went with beefed up heavy tanks as their frontline. With some of the most adept healers in the game, they had defeated nearly every raid boss they set their mind to. Thread the Needle was the last guild, and they kept a much smaller, core group. Their specialty was tactics. If there was a weakness, they exploited it. If there wasn¡¯t, they made one. While the other two groups had won more than their share of battles against monsters, Thread the Needle was the undisputed champion of PVP group combat. ¡°The Needlers have been impressed watching your assault on Pelor.¡± ¡°Serious? Well, that means I¡¯ll have to find entirely new ways of combat then, as anything I have used in that battle will be obsolete. How are they managing to work together?¡± ¡°From what I have heard, they took three of the Needlers for tactics, twelve from Mayhem, and the rest of the raid will be Dukes. Needlers are in charge, and they are practicing on the toughest raid bosses out there.¡± ¡°Glad they are taking me seriously, but a small part wanted them to underestimate me.¡± ¡°So you have to think up entirely new battle strategies and master them in a month? Piece of cake.¡± Jon said with a manic chuckle as he came out of the back. ¡°WE.¡± I corrected him. ¡°I was hoping to have the three of you all join in the dungeon as minibosses.¡± ¡°Oh? Well, that could be amusing. I¡¯d love to see what those guys have when it comes to Rocky. He¡¯s not even max level and he¡¯s going to be a tough nut to crack.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s this Rocky fella?¡± Mardigan asked, gleam of battle in his eye. ¡°He started as a troll. Evolved to eldritch giant and now is a Son of Ymir.¡± ¡°Oh I so have to fight him!¡± ¡°NO!¡± Jon and I both shouted, then started laughing. I continued, ¡°Maybe after the big showdown. We have a lot to do to get ready, and little time to do it in. You ready Jon?¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get going.¡± We headed into the streets, not bothering with disguises. It was rather nice to have most crowds part around us when they recognized me, and I declined several requests for duels. We arrived in record time, Salmahim greeting us with open arms. ¡°Friend Angus! Welcome, Welcome!¡± ¡°Salmahim! Good to see you again.¡± I answered. ¡°This is my friend, JonnyBGood. Jonny, this is Salmahim.¡± ¡°A friend of Angus is a friend of mine. Greetings JonnyBGood.¡± ¡°Please, just call me Jon.¡± He said, shaking hands. ¡°Of course. So, Jon, Angus. What brings you out our way so soon? Coming to make us all famous?¡± ¡°We need to borrow the circle, if that¡¯s ok with you.¡± I said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to not be our best at the showdown, now would we?¡± ¡°Of course, come right this way.¡± He said, leading us down into the basement. ¡°How are Endrian and the others getting along?¡± I asked on our trip. ¡°Excellent! Endrian has been instrumental in helping the other elementals recover, and with each one the land heals even faster.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that. If there¡¯s anything we can do to help, send word through Mardigan.¡± ¡°You have done more than enough my friend. Besides, these other adventurers have come in droves to aid us. We will be fine, don¡¯t worry.¡± By this time, we had passed through the dining area where almost everyone bowed to us. ¡°And here we go.¡± Salmahim said with a flourish, presenting the transmutation circle. ¡°So how does this work?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Simply sit in the middle of the circle. I¡¯ll add the dragon¡¯s blood around at certain points, and grab the two probes sticking out of the pedestal there. You¡¯ll get a third person view that you can move freely, and afterwards we won¡¯t have any mana for a day.¡± He nodded, and sat down in the middle cross legged. His tail wrapped around his waist automatically, and we got started. Once again the lightshow proceeded, and while it was fun the first few times I saw myself getting bored with it. Soon enough it was done, and I received a notification that my alchemy had increased one rank. I guess the gaps once you reached master rank in a skill were huge. ¡°So, how do you feel Jon?¡± I asked, and he sent me a view of his new stats.
Simian king, dragonblood variant A special evolution of bugbear, Simian kings resemble the ancient Chinese myth of the monkey king. Enhanced by the blood of dragons, this variant enjoys a massive boost to magical abilities. Curses are 30% more likely to take effect Curses are 15% stronger for the same mana cost Mana regeneration increased by 10%
¡°Not bad. I know we were going for a better boost to regen, but this is pretty close. Now I just need some gear to boost my AoE range, and I¡¯ll be set.¡± Jon said. ¡°Not a bad idea.¡± I said as we started heading back. ¡°You know, there¡¯s going to be a family of Drow enchanters at Nemesis for the next month, you might be able to get them to enchant your gear. That way you aren¡¯t looking at tracking down a decent set.¡± ¡°I like that.¡± Jon said with a nod. ¡°Speaking of at Nemesis, any idea what you want to do with the guild?¡± ¡°Guild?¡± ¡°Yeah. That crown of yours, it lets you start a guild, right? You should found one. The first monster guild.¡± ¡°I hate guilds though.¡± ¡°Guilds aren¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°Oh, sure. When they are small, and only good friends. I don¡¯t think I could do it outside of you, Phoebe, and Derrick. If I was in charge, people would start getting kicked. Then there¡¯s the planned raids and such.¡± ¡°Well, at least as monsters we don¡¯t have to worry about raids once we evolve. Can¡¯t form parties with - .¡± ¡°IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT, I WILL SMITE THEE!¡± We were almost to Mardigan¡¯s shop when some adventurer with a spear yelled at us. Of course, I caught a glimpse of Pelor¡¯s symbol on his armor. Jon and I both dropped into combat crouches and separated, but this was going to be annoying without mana. ¡°NOW DIE! [PIERCING LUNGE]!¡± As he started lunging forward, I saw a black line of mana go slicing through his lead foot. As he was mid lunge, he could do nothing to stop his fall flat onto his face. Strolling forward, I kicked his spear away from him. ¡°As you attacked first, without provocation, I really have no qualms about this. Count your blessings that I am sacrificing you to Thanatos, and not Lolth.¡± I spoke calmly, keeping a foot in the middle of his back to prevent him from getting up. Winding up, I let loose an overhead swing, easily piercing his helm with the scythe.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. For slaying a higher level player, you gain 120 favor. Total favor: 549/25000 Elites killed: 0/25 Heroic killed: 0/10 Weekly kills: 1/50
Jon and I continued walking, keeping quiet. Several spectators were commenting about how they hadn¡¯t even seen me move at first, and wondering about penalties for being sacrificed to a god in game. We kept silent and simply headed through the streets and Mardigan¡¯s shop. ¡°Ugh, we need to make sure that our training is away from light siders.¡± Jon said once we were back in Nemesis. ¡°Yeah, I hear that. Perhaps we can get Rocky to open portals for you guys. I have to go back to the Underdark with the drow.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be fun. Before we go and get leveling areas settled, have you thought about the guild?¡± ¡°Look Jon, I¡¯m going to level with you. I have no interest in starting a guild. I don¡¯t have the patience to deal with politics from it, I won¡¯t be willing to go out partnering with other guild members, I¡¯m a lone gamer. If you want to start a guild, go for it. I¡¯ll give you the crown.¡± ¡°Will you join?¡± ¡°No.¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°Nothing against you guys, it¡¯s all the people who will join after. If you need me, you can always just ask and I¡¯ll come running.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll talk it over with Phoebe, see if she wants to start one up. We can talk about the miniboss thing at the caf¨¦ tonight. You up for that?¡± ¡°Sure, sounds good. Before you go, here.¡± I opened up a trade window, offering Jon the crown in exchange for one copper. ¡°One copper? Seriously?¡± He said with a chuckle before accepting the trade. ¡°Hey, can¡¯t have a trade without the other side giving up something. Alright, I¡¯m off to speak to the drow, see you guys at the caf¨¦ tonight.¡± I said with a wave, turning towards Final Homecoming. Once there, I had to spend a few silver to convince the innkeeper to go and see if the priestess would be willing to meet with a visitor. ¡°Back to visit so soon?¡± She asked with a purr as she came into the dining area. Her bodyguard glanced around for threats before walking around behind her and taking up a guard position. ¡°Well, it seems I need to be making another deal with the drow.¡± ¡°And what can we do for you this time?¡± ¡°I need to head deep into the Underdark for a hunt. I was hoping to use Menzoberrazan as a base while I was down there.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I would need to know more about this hunt, as the drow do not welcome outsiders. If it is something that threatens our might, I could work with that.¡± ¡°Know of any rogue vampires down there?¡± ¡°Plenty. They often make decent trading partners.¡± ¡°I see. Any of them feeding exclusively on summoned angels?¡± She hissed at that and the guard instantly had a blade pointed at my throat. ¡°You would hunt Lucifer?¡± ¡°Is that his name? All I know is that Thanatos has decreed his death for enslaving priests and having them summon angels for his feeding.¡± ¡°Yes, that is Lucifer.¡± She said, gently pushing on her guard¡¯s sword. He took the hint and removed it from my throat, but refused to sheath it. ¡°Do you wish to know what you will be going up against?¡± ¡°I can guess. Probably abominations from him trying to turn angelic beings into undead. A brood of other vampires that he keeps under his thumb. Probably ghouls and other failed experiments.¡± ¡°At least you aren¡¯t ignorant of most things. Have you given any thought as to how you are going to destroy a master vampire that is immune to light?¡± ¡°I have something to take care of him, don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°Very well then. What do you think you could offer to the drow to make us willing to tolerate the presence of an outsider in our city?¡± In response, I showed her a trade window that I felt she would be incredibly interested in. Judging by her boisterous laughter, I was right.
Pontiff of Pelor Robes Legendary unique These robes mark the office of Pontiff for Pelor and his followers. There can only ever be one of this item, and it is invested with a significant portion of Pelor¡¯s power. This allows the pontiff to perform one major miracle per week.
Pelor¡¯s Signet ring Legendary unique This ring is used by the church of Pelor as veracity for urgent messages. The bearer of this ring will receive the full cooperation of anyone associated with the church, and his words will be taken as the words of the pontiff.
¡°Oh, this is absolutely beautiful!¡± She cried. ¡°To think that you took the time to loot the body of the Pontiff while we were there. Yes, this would be more than enough to guarantee your acceptance by the drow.¡± ¡°Excellent. I am going to need you to spell out exactly what I am getting for these two items, and sign a magical contract with it.¡± ¡°That caution will do you well in the city. Very well. One week of unfettered access to the city.¡± ¡°Oh, how sweet that you think I would trade two legendary items for a week of city life. A month unfettered access to the city, food, lodging, a training space, and a guarantee that I will not be enslaved, arrested or detained from my mission in any manner.¡± ¡°Access to the city until your mission is complete, training space, and the guarantee that the drow will not hinder you without reason.¡± ¡°Access to the city until my mission is complete and I have passed through on my return to Nemesis, a training space, a recommendation for food and lodging, and a guarantee that the drow will not hinder me. Should there be a dispute, we will let Thanatos determine reparations.¡± ¡°Not Lolth?¡± ¡°As much as she seems to like me, no.¡± ¡°Very well. I shall have the contract drawn up tonight, and we may sign it in the morning. Acceptable?¡± I nodded, and we shook hands. Deal done, I headed back to my house and logged out for the day. Book 3 Chapter 3 Chatroom: The Gauntlet has been thrown! Current members: Likes2lurk, WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, HolyDungeonDiver, RycranSeacrest, FirestarterOzai, First_of_his_kind, JimboJonsies, ThePatman, GrumbleGnumbleMonster, Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies, WhatsUpChuck, and 16 anonymous people. TheUnrustable: So, First. Decided that you needed to do your own commercial? First_of_his_kind: The company tried, but it was just . . . lackluster. Something had to be done. ThePatman: I¡¯ll say. Love the challenge and how you threw it down, but are you gonna be ready for the world of hurt the guilds are gonna rain down upon you? First_of_his_kind: I¡¯ll be fine. The Needlers are gonna have to be at the top of their game if they want to lead the way to victory. HolyDungeonDiver: The forces of light will prevail! TheUnrustable: Not this guy again. First_of_his_kind: Pelor is toast. HolyDungeonDiver: We will have our vengeance for your cowardly attack! ThePatman: Says the group that launched their ¡®assault¡¯ by killing an innkeeper. HolyDungeonDiver: Lies! First_of_his_kind: Not gonna work this time. These aren¡¯t mindless followers of your in game god. TheUnrustable: Besides, I¡¯ve seen the video of Khaliss¡¯ last stand. You don¡¯t do something like that without a very good reason. ThePatman: I¡¯ve heard the church of Pelor is hurtin pretty bad after that raid. First_of_his_kind: They lost quite a bit of stuff. No more pontiff, no main church, and no vault of hidden legendary items to pay for everything. JimboJonsies: Vault you say? RycranSeacrest: First there¡¯s a raid, now mention of a vault of legendary items on the same day that the system announces forbidden spells. FirestarterOzai: Coincidence? I THINK NOT! ThePatman: How did you learn of the vault? First_of_his_kind: Lolth is very adept at learning secrets. HolyDungeonDiver: He admits it! He consorts with the dark pantheon! First_of_his_kind: We have a working relationship. But all the adventurers who have met me outside of the dungeon can attest that I am firmly aligned with Thanatos. HolyDungeonDiver: Human sacrifice! We must destroy him! Hidden_Admin: Due to several complaints, HolyDungeonDiver has been silenced for five minutes. Please try and be civil in chat, and avoid calling for interference in others gameplay. TheUnrustable: Nice. So, what all might have been in this vault? First_of_his_kind: Well, I suppose I could tell you what we liberated. I mean, what the drow took as their share. First_of_his_kind: A legendary sword, Durandal, that can only be wielded by a lawful good character. Three of the forbidden spells. A legendary tiara with a map of the planes. And a handful of scrolls. ThePatman: I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this. TheUnrustable: ? ThePatman: *shakes head* You guys need to watch the classic movies. JimboJonsies: If I may? Paging Admiral Akbar! JimboJonsies: IT¡¯S A TRAP! ThePatman: Thank you Jimbo. JimboJonsies: Anytime. TheUnrustable: Moving on then. So the drow have all these lovely new toys, and you think it¡¯s a trap to try and get them back. ThePatman: You are dealing with Drow. Everything¡¯s a trap. JimboJonsies: That innocent chest? Trap. Avoiding the chest? Trap. Going back the way you came? Trap. First_of_his_kind: Sounds like someone has dealt with the drow before. JimboJonsies: Never again! *GnomesRule has entered the chat* GnomesRule: GNOMES RULE! *GnomesRule has left the chat* First_of_his_kind: Thanks for the info. First_of_his_kind: Oh drat, he¡¯s already gone. Likes2Lurk: He¡¯s a speedy one. Sign in, ctrl + v, enter, sign out. WarriorPrincess: Rumor has it there was a draconian walking openly with a simian king over in the new desert areas. Are those going to be your new stomping grounds? First_of_his_kind: Sadly no. Everything in the desert avoids me now. Well, I could probably challenge The Maw, but that¡¯s about it. WarriorPrincess: What¡¯s The Maw? And how did you get immunity to stuff in the desert? First_of_his_kind: The Maw is a legendary sand shark. And immunity is trade secret.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. RycranSeacrest: Any hints about this dungeon that you¡¯re putting together? First_of_his_kind: It¡¯ll be deadly. ThePatman: Heh. I¡¯m looking forward to see what you can throw together. TheUnrustable: Please. No gloryholes. Or holes of glory. Or any combination of the words glory and hole. First_of_his_kind: lol but they worked so well. First_of_his_kind: Sorry all, but I gotta go. There are shenanigans to plot. Likes2Lurk: Later RycranSeacrest: Later WarriorPrincess: Ciao. *First_of_his_kind has left the chat* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV, Oblivion Caf¨¦ ¡°Sorry about that guys. Was distracted by a chatroom.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± Phoebe answered. ¡°How are things?¡± ¡°Not too bad actually. There¡¯s a lot of people upset with Pelor, and they aren¡¯t letting up.¡± ¡°Bastard deserves it.¡± Derrick mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes. ¡°Can you hand me the maple syrup?¡± ¡°Seriously Derrick, how are you eating that?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°You¡¯ve got strawberry jam, butter, and maple syrup on those. I can hear your teeth rotting from here.¡± ¡°Jealous?¡± ¡°Absolutely!¡± She said as she started tapping through menus to order her own. ¡°Hey Jon, while they are feasting on pancakes, do you mind telling me how you are controlling your tail?¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird. Right now everyone has a basic program that monitors the tail for us. It does things that any tailed creature would do by instinct, so basically it helps us balance. Since my evolution should have the most adaptable tail, I get to beta test their newest toy. Instead of limiting it to instinctual actions, I have to train my tail. The better I am at visualizing what I want it to do, the quicker it will respond. Right now I can have it pick up medium sized objects.¡± ¡°So what does the training accomplish?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Training increases the speed of the response. Eventually they want it to start associating certain actions with words. If I do it enough, all I have to do is think ¡®helping left¡¯ and the tail should grab what is in my left hand to steady it.¡± ¡°How¡¯s it going so far?¡± Derrick asked, pancakes forgotten. ¡°Slow. It takes almost a minute of visualization to pick something up, and I can¡¯t do it with my eyes open.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the endgame of the training? Are we all going to get the same thing?¡± I asked. ¡°No. Phoebe might, because of her shapeshifting. Your tail is too thick for the fine motor control that I need to develop. Hopefully I can train mine up to be an extra arm in combat, calling out skills.¡± ¡°That sucks. Mine would be a great clubbing weapon, especially if I could get it to disrupt backstab attempts.¡± ¡°Ask Emily some time. They might give you a few command skills that you could work with.¡± ¡°Not a bad idea.¡± I started. ¡°Speaking of working with things, I was hoping you would agree to be minibosses in the final dungeon. That means you would have a month to reach the level cap.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in. Always wanted to test myself against a group of adventurers.¡± Derrick replied immediately. ¡°How are you going to use us?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Derrick by himself in one room. I was thinking of having you and Phoebe be the first actual monsters the players run into. You work well together already, and if we enchant the room to boost Phoebe it won¡¯t affect you.¡± "Enchant the room?¡± Phoebe perked up. ¡°And what else will be in the dungeon?¡± ¡°Traps. I want the entire dungeon to be traps, with us as the only monsters.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯ll be fun. You going to have more of those non damaging traps that won¡¯t set off trap detect skills?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Yep. If you guys have any ideas for traps, I¡¯m all for it too. Can never have too many traps.¡± ¡°Hold on, back up a second. How are you going to enchant the room?¡± ¡°Well, you get bonuses based on the phase of the moon, right? What if we enchanted the room to give off the light of the full moon? You would always be at maximum power.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s devious. I like that!¡± Phoebe chuckled. ¡°Count me in. Jon too.¡± ¡°What do you think for my room?¡± Derrick asked. ¡°Do you have a favorite spell? Any type of terrain that would give you an advantage?¡± ¡°Not particularly. I can always use my field spells to change up the landscape. I GOT IT! The field spells, they basically swap planes for a bit. What if we did something to loosen space? It might make it easier to activate field spells.¡± ¡°I like it!¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°See if there¡¯s a way to limit it to Derrick only though, otherwise someone will try and counter it.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Derrick said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for this to be finished.¡± ¡°We have a long way to go first.¡± I reminded them. ¡°We all need to hit max level, and I¡¯m going to need your guys¡¯ help with something else as well.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± Derrick said. ¡°I am going to need phase crystals. A lot of phase crystals.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna hate myself for this.¡± Phoebe said, shaking her head. ¡°But just how many is ¡®a lot¡¯ of phase crystals?¡± "At least a hundred perfect crystals for my final plan. Derrick¡¯s room will probably take ten perfect ones, but I would double check with the Drul¡¯kaath enchanters to be sure.¡± Everyone stared at me for a full five seconds after my statement. Derrick was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. ¡°A hundred perfect phase crystals. Please say that we don¡¯t need to acquire all of them through combat.¡± ¡°Not at all, I don¡¯t care how you get them. I am just going to need them.¡± ¡°Ok, that makes things a little easier.¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°Still, what are you up to that you need a hundred phase crystals?¡± ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t let you guys know the plan.¡± I answered. ¡°If we win, you will get to see with everyone what happens. If we fail, the update gets scrapped. They made me promise not to tell.¡± ¡°So. Just to recap.¡± Phoebe said, staring at me. ¡°We need to reach max level and obtain over a hundred perfect phase crystals for a plan that you can¡¯t tell us about, in just under a month. I¡¯m assuming we also should perfect our battle tactics with four entirely new races with skill combinations never seen before.¡± ¡°Sounds about right.¡± ¡°God I love a challenge. Let¡¯s do it!¡± Derrick shouted. ¡°Any restrictions on how we go about it?¡± Jon asked. ¡°None.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in, as long as you let me start a guild.¡± He nodded. ¡°Fine by me, just as long as you don¡¯t expect me to join.¡± ¡°No worries. Hopefully you can come to me in game and make the phase crystals thing an actual quest.¡± ¡°I never thought of that, but I don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t wooooork.¡± I answered with a yawn. ¡°Sorry guys.¡± ¡°Heh, don¡¯t apologize. We should all probably go to bed. It¡¯s going to be a rough month.¡± Jon said, standing and holding a hand out to Phoebe. We all stood up and said or goodbyes before heading back to our apartments. An hour later, and I was frustrated and unable to go to bed. For some reason, I just couldn¡¯t stop thinking about inane things, and it was driving me mad. Could we finish what we needed before the month ended? Would I be strong enough? Speaking of strong, I pulled up my email client and sent Emily a message. Emily, Having trouble sleeping and got to thinking about the bonuses of my new race. With how it is set up, I currently resist 80% of shadow and light magic. Seventy-five percent from straight shadow or light resist, plus the 20% of the remainder from physical and magical resist. This seems like something that isn¡¯t going to go over well when I fight the raid group. Can you have someone take a look at it? Does that resistance count towards my maximum resistances? Also, tails. Is there any way I can get my tail to do basic attacks? Even just a simple swipe side to side would work so long as I had an armored club or something on it. Thanks, Marty I sighed as I sent the email. Hopefully they would get back to me before I went with the drow, as balancing resistances while fighting in the Underdark just didn¡¯t seem like a great idea. Rolling onto my side, I tried once again to get back to sleep. Eventually I managed it, but when I woke up the next morning it didn¡¯t seem like I got a lot of restful sleep. Feeling like I needed a pick me up, I decided to order cinnamon rolls with orange icing, one of my favorite breakfasts when I was a kid. I savored it, trying to relax and let out a lot of the tension I had been carrying before walking over and logging in for the day. Book 3 Chapter 4 Marty, I forwarded your concerns about balance to the dev team, they should be getting back to you by the end of the day. If not, let me know, and thanks for pointing out the balance issues. As for your tail, I am holding on to the request until I get a reply from this email. I could upgrade you to the combat training tail, but you would have to immediately train it. This is at least three days, sometimes more, and you would lose all the instinctual balancing that you have so far. Let me know what you wish, Emily That, was disappointing. While the tail could really help, I didn¡¯t have the time to train it. Emily, Forget about the tail, I don¡¯t have the time. Thanks, Marty ¡°Hey bud, you ready for breakfast?¡± I called out, heading to the kitchen. I felt something brush past me. ¡°You really like that light bending, don¡¯t you?¡± I chuckled as I started fixing breakfast. Simple sausages and eggs today, as I was getting sick of oversized chicken legs. Once that was done, I checked and saw I still had an hour to kill before I could use magic again. ¡°If you release your invisibility, I can play with you for a bit.¡± I said, and Inkler was suddenly there, staring at me. ¡°Give me a second, I have an idea.¡± Pulling some items out of my inventory, I tied several cassowack feathers together at the end of a length of rope. When I was done, I started twirling it around and laughed as Inkler¡¯s pupils got incredibly wide. Flipping it away, I told him, ¡°Well? Go get it!¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * After a long play session that ended with Inkler shredding the rope as well as the feathers tied to the end, we headed towards the barracks. Some things never change, only this time it was Shrik who was berating trainees instead of Khaliss. ¡°You call that a thrust? You couldn¡¯t pierce a wet clay jug with a thrust that weak!¡± Someone must have mouthed off, as Shrik used [Dancing shadow steps] to appear right behind him and continued yelling. ¡°You think I can¡¯t hear you? Ten lunging laps around the training yard, with a spear thrust at the end of each lunge! Maybe then you¡¯ll be too tired to run your dam mouth! CODO! Accompany this trainee and point out every single flaw in his technique! Podo, you have the rest of the squad for blocking drills!¡± ¡°Hard to believe that we were ever that weak, huh?¡± I asked as Shrik came over. ¡°I dunno about you, but I was never that weak. Didn¡¯t I tell you that I was born with a spear skill of three?¡± ¡°Fairly certain you haven¡¯t told me that before, not that I believe it.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You really freaked the kid out there with your shadow steps. I thought I saw a trail of yellow running down his legs.¡± ¡°Ha! Oh that would be a feat worth bragging about! Though I doubt you came all the way down here to talk about my training methods. What can we do for you?¡± ¡°Well, I wanted your input on something I was going to make to honor Khaliss. I was thinking a statue in the main road with an implanted memory crystal so that anyone can see his last battle.¡± ¡°I think that would be a great way to honor him. I think I know just the place.¡± Leading the way, we eventually made it to the center of an open market area. ¡°Khaliss started out patrolling here, and all the shopkeepers knew him. I¡¯ll keep people back and let you work.¡± Nodding at him, I got started. I had thought about how to portray him, and decided on a stance he had taken in battle. I had to go about the statue in a different way than most, and simply started raising stone from the ground. To someone looking from a distance, it probably seemed like a statue was simply rising out of the street. I took my time, using an hour just to get his expression and face right. That was the most important part, as he had to look exhausted but still defiant. His stance was next, body sideways to the oncoming enemies. Legs bent just a little too far, as nobody at the end of battle has the stamina to keep a perfect stance. Spear pointed forward, slightly downward. Rents at key places in his armor, I even had small streaks of a rusty colored stone I was able to use as blood. At the base of the statue, I made a notch for the memory crystal the devs had put in my inventory. I etched ¡°Khaliss¡¯ Last Stand. May he enjoy his rewards with Alnoss, while his memory never fades.¡± Stepping back, I looked at my work only to feel something was off. Looking around, the entire marketplace was at a standstill, and the silence was unnerving. Everyone was walking around, staring at the statue. ¡°Got his attitude perfect.¡± ¡°Never did have an ounce of quit in him.¡± ¡°How many times did he give me that look when I tried to pull a fast one on him?¡± All the shopkeepers were muttering to each other, and a few had tears in their eyes. I saw a small drakeling walk up, staring at the blue stone. ¡°What¡¯s this stone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a memory crystal.¡± I explained. ¡°If you touch it, you can watch the entire final battle.¡± He turned to look at me and asked, ¡°Does Khaliss win?¡± ¡°He does, but not in the way you are thinking of.¡± I said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you watch it?¡± We all waited, as the child placed a hand on the stone. It glowed blue for about a minute, the memory playing out much faster than it actually unfolded. As the glow faded, the child slowly removed his hand. ¡°How did he beat so many adventurers? They always win against us monsters.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°He trained hard, and used the surroundings to outsmart them.¡± Shrik spoke. ¡°Do you think I could beat adventurers someday too?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Shrik answered, dropping down to a knee. ¡°But it is a long and difficult road. You¡¯ll have to train every day, just like Khaliss did. If you want, really want, join the guard in a few years. We will train you so that you can defeat adventurers.¡± Eyes lighting up with joy, he took off running while shouting, ¡°I¡¯m gonna be a guard someday! Wooooo!¡± While everyone was laughing at that, several of the shopkeepers started taking turns watching the memory. I pulled Shrik aside, so that we wouldn¡¯t mess up the queue. ¡°Thanks for this. I missed patrolling around with him on this area, though we never really had any issues. Everyone knew that he would get to the bottom of any issue, and do it fairly. I think the merchants will be happy to have him watching over them.¡± ¡°I think you found the perfect spot for it. Just so you know, I¡¯m getting ready to head deep into the Underdark, and I have no idea how long I¡¯ll be gone. If you need anything, send word through the other adventurers here. Okay?¡± ¡°Sure. Sure. Don¡¯t worry Angus, we¡¯ll be fine. Be careful in the Underdark, you¡¯re going deep enough that you will meet up with the true powers.¡± ¡°I will. And if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯m heading off to meet with the drow. That¡¯s going to be fun.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Are you ready to head down to Menzoberrazzan?¡± The priestess asked me as I walked up to the drow. They were already packing up several spiders, the tarantula types that I had ridden before were used for cargo. I did notice several rogue types riding ones with thinner legs, they looked like a supersized version of a black widow. ¡°I am. I take it you have the contract?¡± She smiled as she handed me a rolled up parchment, which I skimmed through twice then read verbatim forwards and backwards. Everything seemed to be in order, there were no added clauses. They were even kind enough to name the city that I could use as a base, something which I had expected to be left off intentionally. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any issues, which means I¡¯m most likely missing five or six, but everything seems to be in order.¡± ¡°Relax. Not all contracts with the drow have hidden clauses and loopholes.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± I said, signing the paper and handing her the contract and the two items. ¡°Better to have payment up front, so that none can argue that I am in breach, no?¡± ¡°Very wise.¡± She replied, then pointed out a spider. ¡°That¡¯s the one you rode previously, I figured you would want something familiar.¡± ¡°Thanks for your consideration. Will it mind if Inkler rides with me?¡± ¡°Inkler? I don¡¯t see your cat anywhere.¡± ¡°Go ahead bud, show her.¡± I said, and watched her eyes widen when he appeared right next to me. ¡°He¡¯s learned a few tricks.¡± I chuckled, scratching between his ears and getting a purr in return. ¡°Let¡¯s load up, wouldn¡¯t want everyone to be waiting on us.¡± I¡¯ll give the drow this, that spider they loaned me was unflappable. It barely moved when Inkler pounced on its back, settling down in an amazing bit of enchantment. He had a travel basket with a nice blanket in it, and as soon as he settled in a blue mana shield rose around him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him falling out or anything. The mana shield negates external gravity, while under the blanket is a normal gravity enchantment.¡± The Drul¡¯kaath explained. ¡°No matter what angle the spider is climbing, your pet will only feel a normal pull towards the spider.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a rather genius solution. How strong is that shield though?¡± ¡°Strong enough to take several powerful blows. Don¡¯t worry, we are rather adept at traveling through the Underdark, even if it is with a convoy.¡± Having said his piece, he wandered off to start checking some of the loads on other spiders. It was a new feeling to be in the game with not a lot to do, and having to wait on other people. It was rather annoying, no matter that the drow were working in an incredibly efficient manner. Luckily I only had to wait for about fifteen minutes, before the priestess strolled up to me on a black widow spider of her own. ¡°Ready to head out?¡± ¡°Yes. How long of a trip are we looking at?¡± ¡°We will camp after six hours of travel. Tomorrow we will have another eight to go before the gates of the city, depending on what we encounter.¡± As we were talking, the spiders lined up in two rows side by side, and the black widow troops headed out to scout our path. ¡°Expecting trouble this close to the city?¡± ¡°Oh no, but it pays to always be alert. Until we reach Menzoberrazan, we will be on high alert. So scouts forward and back. I ask that you leave any and all fighting to them, unless clearing it with me first.¡± ¡°Not a problem. Unless I¡¯m in imminent danger, I¡¯ll leave the fighting to you guys.¡± I easily agreed. We settled into a companionable silence, moving through the forest that surrounded the city and coming up to the cliffs that surrounded the plateau my final dungeon would be on. After a five minute or so trip we came up to a normal looking cave. The only standouts were the two drow guards, who nodded when they saw us and headed inside. We followed them in, to the back of the cave where we oddly went up a chimney at the back of the cave. Climbing nearly fifty feet straight up, we leveled off and started down a fairly steep, smooth spiral. ¡°I would have loved sledding down this as a kid.¡± I muttered to myself, as we had been forced into single file by the narrowness of the path. It took us another twenty minutes of constant travel to reach the bottom, where the group was gathering up in a large cavern. Before we could start on our next spot, I noticed a nervous scout waiting for the priestess. ¡°My lady, that, creature, is still there.¡± He said, hesitating on the word creature. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just kill the thing again?¡± ¡°We won¡¯t know what will be unleashed upon whoever kills such a cursed existence.¡± ¡°Then we will have to placate it somehow.¡± ¡°Pardon me, but what is the issue and can I help in any way?¡± I asked as I got closer. ¡°Some half breed goblin type creature is up ahead, and the guards refuse to kill it. Show him.¡± She ordered the scout who was glaring at my interruption. Tsking in annoyance, he beckoned me to follow. As we got closer, I could faintly hear muttering, but couldn¡¯t make out the words. Next to a natural stone column, was a hunchbacked green creature with overly large eyes. It had long fingers, that were frozen into a curve, with slightly bulbous tips. I could see cracked yellow teeth, and thought I heard it mention a spoon. We headed back to converse with the priestess before it could notice us. ¡°Well?¡± She asked as we returned. ¡°I do have an idea, but we¡¯ll have to be fast.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m going to try out one of my legendary spells, it¡¯ll take out all of the creatures senses for thirty seconds, and prevent all sight for five minutes.¡± ¡°Good enough. We will form four lines, two on the ground with Angus and two on the ceiling. Once he casts his spell, we move as fast as possible. I don¡¯t want this creature following us and pestering us about his spoons.¡± She announced to the group. Everyone immediately moved to comply, dividing up without any need for communication. They stayed close as we neared the creature, and it saw us at the last moment. I froze for a second as it started talking. ¡°Why, hello there.¡± It spoke in a higher pitched voice than expected, smiling at me. ¡°I would like to inquire about your spoons. Would you happen to have any rusty spoons? I must find the perfect spoon. The feeling of rust on my fingers, it¡¯s almost orgasmic.¡± Shaking myself out of my stupor, I started the chant that was required for all legendary spells. ¡°Confound the thousand senses, and leave them adrift in the timeless void. Stumble in the deepest darkness, that no vision may penetrate. [Deo Noct]!¡± As I chanted, I formed a circle with my hands that gathered more shadow with each word. At the culmination of my chant, the orb shot out and struck the creature, expanding to a size of twenty feet. Every spider immediately took off, skirting the orb and trying to put as much distance as they could with the thirty second window. With the horrified screams of the creature behind us, we continued on into the Underdark. Book 3 Chapter 5 The rest of our journey that day was uneventful, at least for the main convoy. I did notice some scouts would return with new gashes on their armor, but whatever they found was dispatched without loss of life or limb. It made for a wonderfully relaxing time, and for once I was free to sit back and watch the sights. I had originally planned to do some training with light magic, but was swiftly admonished by the priestess. ¡°Are you crazy? Or just plain oblivious to the danger?¡± She yelled at me the first time I conjured a ball of light. At my confused expression, she shook her head. ¡°Light attracts things in the Underdark. Things that we won¡¯t always be able to fight. No training on the way, though if you can guarantee no light will escape when we camp for the night I might be willing to let you practice then.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± I replied, immediately cancelling the light. I felt her glaring at me several times after that, but she relented fairly quickly when she realized I hadn¡¯t been practicing any form of magic, let alone light. Almost an hour after our little chat, we came across a sight that I had to record to send to the others. We entered what looked like a massive geode. The walls had crystals of incredible colors, though they tended to keep towards the blue-green range. Some even shimmered like an oil slick on water depending on how you looked at them. Right in the middle of this was a waterfall plunging down into a heated pool. The steam in the air left a magical aura, as if this vision would disappear with the fog as soon as the sun rose. Adding to the beauty was the incredible amount of mana in the air. A swirling mix of water, fire, and shadow, the crystals would glow as mana particles made contact. Even Inkler was stirred from his slumbering to watch the sights. ¡°The Mistcrystal Caverns. Something in the air here seems to dampen the aggression of most monsters, and any caravan that can will take advantage of this.¡± ¡°Do you know what the cause is?¡± I asked the priestess, turning to find her staring around at the scene like I was. ¡°We aren¡¯t sure. Alchemists have checked every variety of crystal, samples of the mists, the water fall and pool, all to no avail. Everything seems normal.¡± ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s the combinations and abundance of mana in the air.¡± I mentioned. ¡°You can see it too?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Back when I was a kobold, I turned myself into a variant that could see mana. It¡¯s incredibly helpful when fighting spirits.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± She said with a wistful sigh. ¡°Do you not have the ability? I figured priestesses of Lolth would know gain that ability.¡± ¡°Some do, but I have a different gift.¡± She said, though her facial expression warned me to find a different topic. A warning I was absolutely going to take. ¡°So how long until we reach our campsite? I would think this place would be a great spot to camp for the night.¡± ¡°An hour and a half or so. And if we were camping during a blue cycle, I would agree with you. It¡¯ll switch to a red cycle here eventually, and we will definitely want to be out of here before that happens.¡± ¡°Blue cycle?¡± I asked, looking around. ¡°You see the predominant color in the crystals? That switches roughly every twelve hours. The mana balance will switch to more fire instead of water, and the aggression levels of all monsters here will roughly quadruple from normal.¡± ¡°Oh wow, that would be terrible to be caught in. Any idea for the causes?¡± ¡°None for sure. I favor the theory of semi sentient crystals. The crystals grow by harvesting the energy released with the death of creatures in the cavern. In order to draw them in, they use a blue period to calm them and give a sense of security. When it switches, they gain the power they need.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± I said, sitting back and thinking about the crystals. If the theory was correct, it was an incredible creation of the devs. Of course, I also started plotting if we could alter the crystals. Could we import plenty of monsters and slaughter them, forcing them to evolve? Would the crystals make an evolution option for monsters? Turn a golem into a crystal golem? As I thought about all the possibilities of the crystal cavern, the caravan travelled on. We followed a river leading out of the geode, the spiders opting to walk along the ceiling rather than getting their feet wet. Wait, do spiders have feet? Eh, not important. I did notice some small shadows darting around in the water below, but nothing that was large enough to be a threat. Eventually the tunnel we were in opened up into a large cave. The river slowed down, and meandered along the left side of the cave, leaving a large area on the right side for our campsite. Getting to the river would still be difficult, as it was lacking a beach. The water had worn the rock to a glass like consistency. The ceiling had stalactites, but the ground was oddly devoid of their counterparts. ¡°Why no stalagmites?¡± I asked the priestess. ¡°Easier to defend. The river took care of most of them, we simply used a small bit of earth magic to remove most of the lumps.¡± Nodding, I hopped down and let Inkler free and watched as the drow set about making camp. Several herded the spiders toward the back wall, while others were setting down tents that erected themselves. Three drow with elaborate robes were circling a good distance from the camp, and judging from the amount of magic flowing from them they were setting some serious wards. ¡°Do you really think they will need guards with the strength of those wards?¡± I asked as I noticed several drow taking up guard positions inside the perimeter. ¡°Yes. No wards are perfect, and some enemies are attracted to repelling wards. Don¡¯t worry, you will be safe tonight.¡± ¡°Never doubted it for a second. Do you care if I set up a small training area by the spiders?¡± ¡°Just make sure no light can escape, and make the wall thick enough to protect our mounts.¡± She said, then headed to oversee a different part of the camp. It was nice having their trust, so I headed over and made a nearly foot thick dome of stone to practice in. To make sure I didn¡¯t suffocate from a lack of air, I made some holes. To keep the light from escaping, I had to craft some odd shapes. Think of a lowercase n and u, and square off both of them. Now slightly raise the u shape, and merge the left arm of the u with the right arm of the n. The resulting shape should prevent any light from escaping while still letting me get some fresh air. I put in three of these shapes for safety¡¯s sake, and sat down to plan. First, I needed to create a light spell. Light manipulation was an inborn trait of my new species, and generating an orb of light was incredibly easy. I overcharged it, pouring in the mana while limiting the size of the sphere. Once I felt like I had hit maximum capacity, I launched it toward one of the walls. Complete failure. At least, complete failure for an attack spell. The orb of light stuck to the wall and I did receive a popup.
Spell acquired: Overcharged Magelight Beginner level 1 A beginner spell that is a staple for every aspiring mage, it simply brings light to darkness. It is not strong enough to cut through a magical darkness, but the mundane form stands no chance. Mana: Variable Damage: 0 Duration: Variable, depending upon mana used and intensity Cooldown: 1 second
I really don¡¯t know why I expected anything different. It¡¯s an orb of light, no matter how much mana you put into it you will still only have an orb of light. Cancelling the spell, I moved on. Making different shapes was simple. Swords, daggers, lances, pikes, maces. I tried every form of Medieval weapon I could conceive. Each and every one failed. They would strike the wall, and stick just like the orb. I spent an hour or so in frustration, before throwing my hands up.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Damn intractable light!¡± I swore, deciding to switch magics before I grew too frustrated. ¡°I¡¯ll be back, and I¡¯ll win damnit.¡± I pulled up my menu, and opened the system spell book. There was one spell that was given to my race, and I was dying to try it out.
Oblivion sphere Beginner level 1 A spell inherent to the Oblivion Draconians, it combines shadow and light magic to create a highly destructive orb. Mana: 50 Damage: 150-200 Cooldown: 2 seconds Chant: Shadow and light, unite in annihilation. Oblivion sphere.
¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I spoke calmly after cancelling all light in my dome, making sure that I was aiming at a blank section of wall and not one of my vents. A small ball formed in my hands, roughly three inches across. Half was shadow, half was light, with a light blue line of unaligned mana separating the two. The orb shot across to the target area, where the separation disappeared and the orb exploded with a flash of light. Blinking my eyes, it took ten seconds to lose the ¡®blinded¡¯ debuff. I moved closer to examine the damage, and saw a six-inch-deep perfect half sphere taken out of the stone. It was glassy smooth to the touch, and I smiled. ¡°Impressive.¡± I muttered, thinking about the devs delivery system. Light and shadow mana annihilate each other, apparently in a destructive manner. The devs created the spell with a barrier between the two that had a durability of one. Any impact was enough to dissolve the barrier, and the void left behind facilitated the mixing of the two manas. Rather than keep blasting my walls and having to repair them, I would make small targets and blast them to grind up the skill level. A half hour of constant usage brought it up to Intermediate level 1, and a 5% boost to the damage done. I could have spent longer grinding that skill, but it was getting boring. I went back to my light issue. How could I make it an attack and not a support spell? I started out with a ball of light, and slowly tried to add in shadow mana. The result was a simple flare of the current orb, and it dimmed slightly afterward. That wasn¡¯t going to work, the shadow would simply annihilate and weaken the light. ¡°Man, a bit of fire magic would be awesome right about now.¡± I muttered, frustrated with my lack of choices. Instead I added just a bit of stone mana and flung the orb at the wall. To my surprise, it actually shattered instead of sticking. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± I wondered, and tried a bit of stone mana that I added light to. This time, the experiment bounced off even though I kept the ratio roughly the same. Bending down, I picked up a small pebble that was still glowing, though it was fading fast. ¡°Huh, so order of mana matters in spells.¡± Keeping that in mind, I tried adding stone and light mana in equal measure at the same time. Instead of an orb, I modeled it after the dark bolt spell. Once it was six inches long, I fired it at the wall and chuckled at my success.
Lightstone Lance Beginner level 1 A unique fusion of light and stone, this piercing attack gives a physical component to light attacks. Mana: 20 Damage: 25-35 *Double damage to shadow and ethereal opponents* Cooldown: 1.5 seconds
¡°HAHAHAHA! YEEAAAAHHHH!¡± I shouted at the popup. This was a skill I could spam, peppering an opponent as they tried to close the distance. Elated with my success, I decided to try one more attempt at a light spell. This time, I was channeling the same power that I used with my cleanse spell, hoping to make a holy type spell. The results were instantaneous, and much better than I anticipated.
Light of the Grave Beginner level 1 The power of Thanatos infuses this light, reminding all who feel it¡¯s touch that behind every corner, death waits patiently. The power of this spell is boosted by level within the church of Thanatos as well as the amount of mana used. Mana: Variable Damage: 5/second (undead only) Damage per second doubles with each increase in church rank (80/second for Cardinal rank) Chance of inflicting fear. Chance arises once every 30 seconds of exposure. Targets already affected by fear, or targets more than ten levels below caster have a chance to receive terrified status. Targets affected by fear, or more than 50 levels below caster have a chance to receive Unrelenting Terror status (ticks every five minutes of exposure).
I looked away from the popup to the small orb of green light in my hand. It was a solid sphere of light, but somehow managed to pulse and cast dancing shadows as if it were a flame from the temple. I somehow felt that if I watched long enough, my shadows would morph into claws that would rake my sides or drag me away. Shuddering, I dismissed the orb and removed the dome covering me. ¡°All done for the night?¡± I jumped as the priestess spoke to me. ¡°Gah! Sorry, you scared the bejeesus out of me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re scared of poor little me?¡± She asked with a pout, causing me to chuckle. ¡°Perhaps not scared, but I have a healthy respect for any and all priestesses of Lolth.¡± ¡°As you should.¡± She replied with a grin. ¡°Your tent has been set up next to mine, and it already has your rations for dinner. Was your training fruitful?¡± ¡°Thank you, and it was. I have three new spells that promise to be wonderfully useful, and one support spell that will be useless to me.¡± ¡°Excellent. I want to thank you for preventing light from your training to escape, but throttle you for your yelling. Should we ever travel together again, you will refrain from yelling in the middle of camp unless you are in an extraordinary amount of pain. Am I clear?¡± ¡°Of course, and my deepest apologies.¡± I said with a small bow. That seemed to pacify her, and she led me to my tent where I walked in to find Inkler licking the last vestiges of my rations from my plate. ¡°Seriously?¡± I muttered, plopping down onto my bedroll. I pulled a cassowack leg from my inventory for dinner, and had to give another one to distract the insatiable appetite of my pet before I could get to sleep. Once dinner was done, I curled up to sleep with the purring engine with his head resting on my hip. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Several hours later I woke up to the sounds of battle. ¡°Off!¡± I ordered Inkler with a shove, fighting with my bedroll to exit the tent. Stumbling into the camp, I stopped to take a survey of what was going on. To my right, and our path to Menzoberrazan, was the sound of coordinated battle. Spells were being called at a rapid, though measured pace. To the left, guards were placed at regular intervals, making sure that there were no flanking attacks. Satisfied that everything was in order, I moved towards the sound of battle and the figure I recognized as the priestess. Just as I arrived, two of the mages stepped forward into a gap and started a dual chant. Burning blaze of brilliant blue Churning air of emerald Sate your hunger upon my endless foes Carry forth the flames of war Combination magic, [Azure tempest]! Both mages spoke the final phrase at the same time, and a swirling vortex of blue green flames shot forth to greedily consume . . . nothing? Activating [Mystic vision], I finally saw what was engaging the drow. Ethereal bugs of varying levels, most of them in the mid to upper thirties. ¡°What in the world is a hordling?¡± I asked the priestess as I got next to her. ¡°A rather annoying and dangerous group of foes.¡± She explained. ¡°Somewhere out of our range is the Ghastly Hivemind, a much higher level spirit that enslaves these pests. Each time we kill one, the hivemind will resurrect it at a cost of one level. They kill lone adventurers and small groups by sending wave upon wave of minions until their stamina and mana are depleted.¡± ¡°That sounds like a pain in the ass. Why aren¡¯t the wards repelling them? And shouldn¡¯t your mages be saving their mana?¡± ¡°These are one of the foes that are attracted by our wards.¡± She explained. ¡°And normally yes, we would be saving mana. However, when using a boosted element, the death penalty for resurrection is increased to five levels.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. So your non mages are using their magics to contain and group up the waves, and your mages will use boosted spells to rapidly lower the hordes effectiveness.¡± I nodded in understanding, impressed with their plan. ¡°These are undead, right?¡± ¡°Yes, why?¡± She asked, turning to me. ¡°You realize that we won¡¯t allow you to fight them, no matter how proficient you are with spirits.¡± ¡°No worries, I was wanting to try one of my new spells. Do you have a dagger I could try and enchant for you?¡± As I asked, she reached into her cleavage and pulled out a dagger. Shaking my head to clear any images, I placed a hand on the blade and slowly fed it mana until I felt it was ready. ¡°[Enchant: Light of the Grave].¡± Her dagger glowed with a flickering green light, and I saw her eyes widen as she read through a notification. ¡°HA! HAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is wonderful! Guards, rotate through for weapon enchanting! We have a hivemind to slay!¡± At her words, the drow lined up. I burned through my mana rapidly, but I eventually managed to enchant nine of the scimitars they favored before getting a notification that I had reached the maximum number of weapons I could enchant with my level of skill. Once the last one was done, I turned to watch the slaughter. And it truly was a slaughter. The hordlings would rush toward the drow, only to flinch in fear as they neared the light from the blades. The merciless drow would cut them down, the normally ineffective physical attacks gaining a massive damage boost from the enchantment. While three of the dual wielding guards held the line against the onslaught, I noticed two following the priestess as she crept around in the darkness to attack the source of the creatures. I turned back after only sparing them a glance, not wanting to draw attention to them. I needn¡¯t have worried though, as the attacking insects showed no signs of intelligence. Minutes later, and a piercing psychic scream resonated through the cavern, and all of the bugs exploded. ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± The priestess gave a grim smile as she and her two guards came back into camp. Strolling right up to me, she bent over to whisper in my ear, ¡°My thanks for such a wonderful time. Any girl would go crazy for an enchantment perfectly tailored to slaughter her enemies, even if it is only temporary.¡± She gave my ear the tiniest nibble, and sauntered away. I turned to watch her go, surprised that she could put that much swing in her hips without breaking her back. ¡°Watch yourself, draconian. Seems she has taken a liking to you.¡± One of the mages chuckled as he slapped me on the back. ¡°Apparently so. But is it a good thing, or a bad thing for a long and healthy life?¡± I asked, much to his delight. Shaking my head to get rid of any images, I headed back to my tent and ordered Inkler to not let anyone in. I still found myself waking up every so often to the slightest rustle of fabric, only to find that nobody had infiltrated the tent. Book 3 Chapter 6 After several fruitless hours, I gave up on sleep. Before I got up for the day, I noticed a notification that I hadn¡¯t addressed yet.
New skill acquired Imbue Beginner level 4 Similar to charging a weapon with mana, you have managed to charge a weapon with a skill. Effects will vary based upon your imbue skill level, mastery of the skill you wish to imbue, and type of weapon. Mana cost: 5x imbued skill cost, 5% item durability Duration: 5 minutes Cooldown: 1 second Limitations: maximum 10 weapons One imbued spell per weapon
Not a bad skill, though there was already a major loophole in their description of it. Sighing, I started writing out an email to Emily so that they could address the issue. Emily, Two issues I have come across recently that should be addressed. First is the Imbue skill. There needs to be a limitation to it when it comes to attack spells. As it is, I could imbue my weapon with Reality Slash, and absolutely destroy anyone I came across. I suggest limiting attack spells to imbuing only elemental effects, so Reality Slash and Dark Bolt would both only imbue shadow damage. You might make it so that the stronger spell will impart more damage, but that¡¯s up to you guys. The other issue is with one of my new legendary spells, Deo Noct. I used it on a NPC, and it terrified him. I¡¯m mostly worried about the total sensory deprivation, as even a small time spent under that could be terrifying. Would it be possible to give targets a window explaining what is going on, along with a timer counting down their time left? That would give them an anchor and hopefully prevent panic. Thanks, Marty ¡°I¡¯m gonna hate myself for not using five minutes of reality slash in battle, but it¡¯s probably better this way.¡± I muttered before steeling myself to remove Inkler¡¯s head from my stomach. He opened one eye to glare at me when I was futilely pushing against his head, before blowing a blast of air in my face and letting me get up. ¡°Ya know, my parents had an entitled cat like you when I was growing up. I used to threaten to turn him into a pair of mittens, but your armor wouldn¡¯t make a very good pair. I suppose I could always turn you into some scale mail. Would you like that?¡± He stared at me for a second, before walking around me and claiming my entire bedroll as his own. ¡°Seriously, at least keep your tail off my damn pillow.¡± I muttered, picking up the pillow and placing it into my inventory. Once out of the tent, I stretched until I felt a glorious string of pops run up my back. I knew it did absolutely nothing for me, popping my back in a digital body, but the attention to some of the little things really helped set this game apart. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I walked over to the cooking fire. ¡°Got anything good for breakfast?¡± I asked the guard who had drawn the short straw for cooking. ¡°Sorry sir, trail rations only. The priestess is concerned that the smell might attract something from Mistcrystal Caverns, and they would be enraged at this time of day.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± I said, taking the offered rations. ¡°I¡¯ll not be complaining about sensible precautions that keep me and others alive.¡± He smiled at that, though I caught a lot of tension leave his body. ¡°So, are there any portions of the trip today that are going to be an issue?¡± ¡°Not particularly. The closer we get to the city, the less chance of meeting something unpleasant. Most of the really bad stuff tends to be deeper in the ground. Don¡¯t worry though. Even if we run into something we can¡¯t handle, the guards will hold it off while you and the priestess make it back to the city.¡± ¡°I appreciate that.¡± I said, knowing that any other reply would be met with hostility. ¡°By the way, were you one of the ones whose weapons I imbued last night?¡± ¡°No, I was positioned away from the action. Any reason?¡± ¡°Yeah, I used a new skill and wasn¡¯t aware of some of the consequences. Can you let the guards know that their weapons lost 5% durability? I would hate to have my actions cause one of their weapons to fail in combat.¡± ¡°I can do that, and thank you on their behalf. Before any excursion we have to make sure durability is maxed, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. But if they have to face extended combat it¡¯s always good to know your equipment¡¯s status.¡± After that, we dropped into a relaxing silence and let the camp slowly wake up. I saw the guard pull a few people off to the side for a quick conversation, and assumed that he was passing on word about the durability issue. ¡°I loathe trail rations.¡± The priestess muttered as she plopped down next to me. ¡°Almost as much as I hate mornings.¡± ¡°You would think that people could make something at least taste decent, but that would probably make them last a few weeks shy of forever, and we couldn¡¯t have that.¡± ¡°Ha! Caaah!¡± My quip came right as the priestess took a bite, and her laughter quickly changed to a fit of coughing as she inhaled a bit of the ration. After a few tense seconds that felt like minutes, she managed to regain control. ¡°Don¡¯t do that while I¡¯m eating!¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Sorry, couldn¡¯t help myself. You ok?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She said after a long draw on her flask. ¡°You almost ready to go? We should be on the road in ten minutes or so.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I answered, getting up to make sure my tent was packed and Inkler was fed. He gave me the stink eye for a bit, but when it became obvious that the trail rations were all he was getting, he ate them. ¡°Need any help sir?¡± The guard from earlier asked as he walked up. ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks. Did you pass on the word?¡± ¡°I did, and the guards all know as well in case we need it for the future.¡± Nodding in acknowledgement, I watched as he trotted away to help others in packing up the last bits of camp. By the time I had turned back, Inkler had jumped into his spot on the spider and was already getting himself comfortable. Taking one last look around, I too loaded up onto the spider and strapped in my legs. Less than five minutes later, and the convoy was on the move once again. We followed the river through a series of caverns and tunnels for another hour or so, and I was glad the trip was boring. The scenery didn¡¯t change much, and everyone was more than happy to travel in silence. The most noise we heard was the occasional sound of battle from up ahead, but it was always over swiftly and none of the guards even looked winded when they switched out with other scouts. We kept moving through the cave system, and everyone seemed just a little bit nervous after abandoning the river. I chalked it up to the silence, as the dark seemed a bit more oppressive without the sounds of moving water coming from nearby. After another hour of travel, we came to a vast chasm with no way across. ¡°Five minute break to stretch!¡± The priestess called, and almost everyone sighed in relief to be unclasping from the leg restraints. When I jumped down to get the blood flowing again, I almost dropped to the ground as one of my legs gave out. ¡°Got one of your fasteners a little too tight there, sir, but that¡¯s a better mistake than a little too loose. Especially considering our next bit.¡± ¡°Oh? And what is our next bit of travel? I see that the cave system ends here at the cliffs.¡± ¡°We travel along the cliff face for a few miles, then we cross the chasm to a lower cave system.¡± ¡°I see. I¡¯ll make doubly sure that my restraints are up to par.¡± I said, not relishing what would happen if I fell out of the saddle. ¡°How long is the drop?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t sure. The farthest anyone has traveled is one mile. They started seeing signs of dangerous creatures, and smartly chose to head back.¡± I gave him a raised eyebrow look, and he kept explaining. ¡°Something strong enough to smash out bits of the wall, and whatever it was fighting had claws that could dig through stone. It looked like some areas were melted, so either strong magic or equally strong acid.¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds like they made a good call. I don¡¯t suppose we will be using a bridge to reach this lower cave system?¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will make a temporary bridge with spider silk. Those almost never fail.¡± ¡°Had to say it. He had to fucking say it.¡± I muttered while shaking my head. ¡°Y¡¯all don¡¯t believe in jinxing yourselves, do you?¡± ¡°Of course not sir. We drow make our own luck, and it always turns in our favor. Oh, looks like the priestess is ready to go. Take care.¡± He said, and moved off to secure himself to his mount. I glared for only a second before turning to do the same. It wouldn¡¯t do to keep the priestess waiting. Once again we started moving, this time half the scouts were sent ahead while the rest move behind the convoy. It felt odd, to be moving so smoothly along the side of a cliff. If it weren¡¯t for the pull of gravity, I really wouldn¡¯t know that we were sideways. The sounds of battle stopped, as nothing really lived on the edges of the cliffs. The scouts would mark openings, and we gave them all a wide berth. The slight tapping of spider''s legs were the only noise around. This leg of our trip only took a half an hour, before I noticed that the scouts were travelling back and forth through the chasm. They would fire several strands of silk, before climbing across and thickening the strands as they went. It was a thing of beauty, watching the spiders rapidly work together to build a bridge. The end result was two thick strands held together by a multitude of crisscrossing smaller strands. The first person to cross was the priestess, her spider expertly moving across the bridge and barely causing it to sway. Several others passed as well, with no issues whatsoever. I was one of the last to go, and my spider moved slightly slower across the gap. Halfway across, and I was cursing the fucking guard who had to make the comment about the bridges stability. From out of the depths, a group of panicked cave bats came shooting up. Their wings and closeness to the bridge were causing it to buck about like this were the Tacoma Narrows, and I wasn¡¯t thrilled with the ride. Especially when I noticed the strands to my right starting to come unraveled. ¡°Move to the left strand, NOW!¡± I screamed at the spider, and thank all the gods that were paying attention that it actually listened. As soon as the spider switched, the right strand snapped, and we swung around to hang upside down. The last of the bats fluttered past, and in the silence I tried to calm my racing heart. Not an easy thing to do when you are hanging by a string, upside down, over an endless chasm. As I was looking down, I noticed something roiling in the darkness. Unable to make it out, I was nonetheless terrified. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you understand me, but there¡¯s something down there.¡± I muttered to the spider. ¡°As soon as I fire off a distraction, you need to double time it across this bridge, understand?¡± The spider froze with one leg in the air, and I saw it twitching in anticipation. ¡°[Magelight].¡± I said, firing off an orb of light out into the chasm. As soon as the light was away, the spider took off like the there was a horde of demons on its tail. The arch of the orb was intercepted by a black tendril, which easily swallowed the orb before falling back into the darkness below. I felt a discordant bump on our journey, turning back to see a similar tendril slashing through the webbing where I had originally fired the light. ¡°Jump! JUMP OR WE DIE!¡± I screamed, and the spider obeyed without question. Launching itself with the last of the tension on the webbing, we crossed the last bit of the gap to slam into the wall of the cliff. Scrambling in panic, we managed to enter the tunnel just as several other tentacles started waving through the air where we were. Not looking back, the spider scurried forward into the tunnel past the pale faces of the drow who had already made the trip across. ¡°Make. Your. Own. Luck. My. Ass.¡± I panted as I glared at the guard. Flinching, he at least looked slightly ashamed for a second. ¡°Well, this was unexpected. Hopefully the rest of the convoy is smart enough to retreat, but we must move on. There are still several hours to go until we are safe, and we are not camping out again.¡± The priestess took charge, her calm orders shaking the drow out of their fearful paralysis. ¡°When we reach the city, we will send back an armed company to search for survivors. Now move!¡± Several scouts took off down the tunnel, and we moved after them in a swift but safe manner. Anything to get some distance between whatever lived in the chasm and us, as I noticed some of those tentacles were thin enough to snake their way down a tunnel. Without seeing enough of the creature to get an identification, we had no idea how big it was. ¡°I don¡¯t know what spider¡¯s get as a treat, but I¡¯m paying for you to get at least a week¡¯s worth when we get back to the city.¡± I said as I patted the side of the spider¡¯s head. There was no doubt that I had escaped by the skin of my teeth, and it was all due to the spider¡¯s quick reactions. Book 3 Chapter 7 The rest of our journey to the city was uneventful. I blame the creature, whatever it was. Even the monsters of the Underdark knew that something far more dangerous than normal was on the prowl, and had taken cover. Despite the lack of monsters, the entire convoy was on high alert. I¡¯m sure we passed through some interesting marvels, but everyone was far too busy watching for danger to sight see. After five hours of exhausting travel, we came across a drow patrol. ¡°Priestess? I thought your escort was much larger.¡± The captain said as he came closer. ¡°We ran into an issue in the Chasm and were forced to split up.¡± ¡°Then allow us to guide you back to the city. It shouldn¡¯t take more than two hours at a normal pace.¡± ¡°Much appreciated, captain. If you would, replace our scouts. We¡¯ve all been on edge for the past five hours, and everyone could use a bit of rest.¡± Nodding, the captain scuttled off on his spider to set out guard patrols, and give our guards a much needed break. The priestess surprised me, going to each of them personally and thanking them for their vigilance on our trip. It worked, and each one seemed to perk back up a bit after each personal message. As we travelled along at a much faster pace, I started to let my vigilance drop a bit. It wouldn¡¯t be needed, since we had doubled our guard contingent. Twenty minutes into our trip, and I found that there is always a surprise lurking in the Underdark. We had just entered a narrower tunnel from a large cavern, and were forced to string out the convoy single file, with Inkler and I following behind the priestess. Suddenly, the side of tunnel burst apart next to the priestess and a massive creature stepped out, shaking the dust off its shoulders. Its head was an armored dome with slits for eyes, and two antennae sticking out. Its body was smooth armor as well, with four arms and two legs. Each elbow had a round armor joint, preventing it from straightening its arms, though the shoulder joints allowed for free movement. One upper hand was shaped like a spade, the other a pickaxe for crushing through rock, while the lower two were three fingered pincers.
Antican Tunneler Level 106 Anticans are an odd species. They live in colonies like ants, all serving under a mother queen. The others will gladly sacrifice themselves to protect her. When a drone completes certain conditions, they undergo a metamorphosis. Consuming as many minerals and as much food as possible, they spin a cocoon around themselves for their transformation. What emerges is the Antican Tunneler variant. Heavily armored, these juggernauts are luckily incredibly passive for creatures of the Underdark. Their armor protects nearly every part of their body, including covering their mouths. With no way to eat and no need for sleep, the tunneler will work ceaselessly to expand the hive before returning to be consumed alive by the next generation after six or seven days has passed.
Unfortunately for the antican, the priestess was no slouch when it came to battle, and she barely hesitated at the surprise entrance. ¡°[Head dissolver].¡± She calmly spoke with a flourish of her wrist, sending a sphere of green acid that completely encapsulated the head of the creature. The eyes winked out almost instantly, and the massive creature barely had time to take a step forward before its head was entirely dissolved. The priestess didn¡¯t even watch the creature die, having already turned and headed down the tunnel. ¡°Don¡¯t let your spider eat the remains.¡± She called over her shoulder. ¡°Thank Lolth.¡± Someone behind me said with a relieved sigh when we finally came within view of the gates. Even with our spider¡¯s ability to cross nearly any terrain imaginable, the approach to the city took some time. We were forced to skirt puddles of oil, cross several areas of no man¡¯s land with absolutely no cover, and fields of caltrops. Midway across, we climbed to the top of a ten-feet tall wall, the top of which was covered with guard shacks. I managed a glimpse inside as we passed, and saw they were absolutely brimming with arrows. Hundreds, perhaps thousands per shack. ¡°What¡¯s the point of this wall?¡± I asked the priestess, curious. ¡°To slow and break up an army.¡± She answered, pointing to the lone path through the wall. ¡°Without a way to scale this wall, that path is the only way through. Should an invading army reach this far, they will have to move through the path a handful at a time. As they come through the end, they are within range of the city walls. It will be a slaughter.¡± After her explanation, we dropped back into silence for the last portion of the trip. As we approached, the massive gates were already open, though the small portion I could see were decorated with spider web motifs. The other side caught me off guard. Instead of elegant buildings, there were shacks that looked minutes from falling down. Just past the shacks, were pens of animals that were needed to feed a large city. ¡°Another defense.¡± The priestess explained. ¡°Should the walls ever be breached, the slaves will buy us time to organize a counterattack, and their buildings will be set alight to further slow the enemy.¡± I blinked several times, wondering why I was so surprised by the ruthlessness of the plan. It really was right up the drow way of thinking. Slaves were expendable. We easily moved through the crowded streets, as everyone immediately made way for the large spiders. ¡°Captain.¡± The priestess called out. When he reached her side, she continued, ¡°I want you to organize and send out a search party for the rest of the caravan. Make sure you are well armed.¡± ¡°Yes, priestess.¡± He said with a salute, and sped off. By this time, we had passed all of the slave quarters, as well as the majority of the pens. The caravan approached one of the last stables, this one of a much higher quality construction. I unbuckled my legs and followed Inkler down off the side of the spider, nearly falling down as I landed. I wasn¡¯t the only one walking stiffly, about the only ones unaffected were the guards. As I walked off the stiffness, one of the oddest drow I had ever seen walked up to our group. I couldn¡¯t help but stare at him as he went over some things with the priestess.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The first part, was his hair. It was cut short, and seemed to have just hints of blond mixed in with the silver hair of a traditional drow. It looked like he had just gotten up, and hadn¡¯t managed to find his comb recently. One eye was ever so slightly lower than the other, and he had the male version of resting bitch face, whatever you want to call that. ¡°What the fuck are you staring at?¡± He snarled as he came up to me. ¡°Nothing. Just trying to think of who you. . . Gary Busey!¡± It finally clicked as he was talking. He looked exactly like a pissed off Gary Busey. ¡°By Lolth, your pronunciation is terrible. It¡¯s Ga¡¯Rree Bushee.¡± He replied, trilling the R in his first name and making his last name rhyme with shea butter. ¡°You have one minute to get everything of yours offa that spider, before it becomes mine.¡± ¡°Already done, but I want to give this spider some treats. How much to ensure it gets their favorite food for a week?¡± ¡°Not happening. I ain¡¯t gonna spoil any of my spiders because some soft surface brat thinks doing their job deserves a fuckin treat. Now get lost before I urk-¡° I cut off his rant mid sentence by activating my aura. The stress of the last day of travel finally got to me, and I¡¯ll admit I snapped a bit. Several of the guards immediately dropped their hands to swords at the feel of my aura, but the priestess simply raised a hand and smiled. ¡°Mind your tongue, peasant, or I¡¯ll rip it from your mouth.¡± I snarled, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him down so that I was in his face. ¡°If I was interested in the opinion of a shit stain like yourself, I would ask for it. This spider¡¯s fast reactions to orders saved my life from some abomination coming from a deep chasm, and that deserves a fucking reward. So you are going to upgrade its food to the best quality, and keep it there for a week. If you don¡¯t, then it will get to find out what drow tastes like as I feed her your entire family, saving you for last. Do you understand me?¡± Panicked nodding answered me, and he managed to stutter, ¡°B, But what abbbbout paying for it?¡± ¡°That just got upgraded to your problem. Figure it out.¡± I gave him a slight shove, watching as he stumbled back. ¡°Relax Inkler, no need to cripple him.¡± I said, much calmer. Inkler had stalked around behind the stablemaster, and was seconds away from pouncing. He kept the pose for a few seconds, delighting in the terror of the drow who immediately froze when he saw what was behind him. ¡°Oh my, that lovely aura is back. Please tell me you are keeping it around for a bit?¡± The priestess asked as she sauntered up and wrapped an arm around my waist. ¡°It makes all my bits, hmmmmm, tingle.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll stick around for a bit.¡± I said, trying not to stare at her obviously erect nipples. ¡°It will stop me from having to kill several stuck up drow as examples.¡± ¡°Hmmmm, or we could do both?¡± She whispered in my ear. ¡°I almost wish I had set up someone so that I could watch you in action and let you ravish me afterward.¡± ¡°As fun as that would be, it isn¡¯t happening.¡± I said, extricating myself from her grip. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I think it would be best if I headed to bed for the night. Alone.¡± I added the alone bit as an afterthought, to prevent any ¡®misunderstandings¡¯ from the priestess. It was getting harder to resist her advances, especially since I was in a dry spell that could rival the Atacama Desert. ¡°Such a tease, letting me bask in that aura that just promises death and violence. Very well. Spider¡¯s know how to wait, and lay the proper trap.¡± She said while staring into my eyes. ¡°Follow me, we are heading to the temple. There are guest quarters that have been reserved for you.¡± The guards formed up, and we wound our way through the city streets. It took nearly a half hour of walking through the crowds to get to the same temple that I visited on my previous trip down here. Instead of walking through the front of it, however, we detoured around to one of the sides. We approached a series of cabins that sat next to a practice yard where several drow practiced. Some with weapons, others with magic. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the practice noise, the cabins are enchanted. The only outside sound allowed within are alarms and using the door knocker.¡± She explained, motioning to me to place my hand on a plate to the side of the door. Once I did, the door clicked open and she lead me inside. It was rather spacious, if simple. There was a couch and several chairs in the receiving room, surrounding a low table. ¡°Through the door to the left is the dining area, food has already been prepared and left for you and Inkler. The door to the back of this room leads to the bedroom and attached bathroom. Is there anything I can do before I go?¡± She asked, eyebrow raised. ¡°I¡¯m ok for now, thank you.¡± I answered politely. ¡°Might I ask who has access to these quarters?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± She answered with a wry grin. At the continued silence, I snorted and shook my head. Idiot, you have to be specific with questions like that. ¡°What I meant, is to ask who has access to these quarters while I will be staying here?¡± ¡°Better. There is a housekeeper, though you shouldn¡¯t ever see her. Brownies are rather adept at hiding, and if a slave doesn¡¯t see the master they can¡¯t receive orders. Aside from yourself, the Mistress of Lolth is the only other person who may enter without invitation.¡± I nodded, realizing that such a prominent figure would have access to whatever she wanted within the city. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°What are your plans, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± ¡°Eat then sleep for tonight. Tomorrow and probably the next day I need to work on my skills, especially with this light magic. After that, I¡¯ll be heading out to hunt for Lucifer.¡± ¡°Very well. I will have a guard waiting to guide you through the city should you need it.¡± She said, before turning and heading out. ¡°Have a pleasant night.¡± She called over her shoulder, closing the door before I could respond. ¡°Well buddy, what do you say we see what they have cooked up for us?¡± I asked Inkler, adding, ¡°Oh, and if you see someone cleaning the house, don¡¯t attack them, got it? I¡¯m not sure how hard it is to catch a brownie, but we don¡¯t want to have to pay the drow for killing or injuring a slave. Got it?¡± He chuffed his agreement, and we entered the kitchen to find a magnificent spread. The table was rectangular, six feet by four feet, and covered with food. Fresh fruits, several varieties of vegetables, and an impressive array of meats with and without sauces. There was a smaller table for Inkler, much lower to the ground. It had only meat dishes, and he immediately brushed past me to get at the delightful aromas. We ate our fill, barely putting a dent in the sheer volume of food left for us. Well, I did. Inkler polished off everything from his table, and a few dishes from mine as well. After that, we stumbled into the bedroom and dropped off to sleep. I startled awake several times in the night, to dreams of tentacles and darkness. A few times, I would get a falling sensation just before I fell asleep and would kick out and wake myself back up. Sleep did win through at some point, and I finally got a good night¡¯s sleep. Book 3 Chapter 8 I woke up the next morning to find Inkler curled up next to me on the bed. ¡°Got some training to do today buddy. You up for it or you just gonna laze about in bed?¡± He simply moved his head off my chest, going right back to sleep. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll leave you a bit of breakfast.¡± I said, heading out to the kitchen area. Sure enough, the mess from last night had been cleaned and a breakfast spread replaced it. I settled in for some ham with cubed potatoes and onions, with a little fresh juice to wash it down. When I was finished, I poured some of the milk out into a little bowl and left it on the counter by itself. ¡°I know you are a slave little brownie, but this is for you. Thank you for taking care of us.¡± Turning, I headed out to the training yard to work on some light magic. Walking out into the courtyard, I headed over to the nearby yard with a drow shadow. There were several people training, most up this early were using the close range dummies, but there were two using long range magic. Odd, there was one woman pacing back and forth. ¡°Who is she?¡± I asked my guard. ¡°Wife of one of the guards that was left behind.¡± He explained. Nodding, I looked everything over with [Mystic vision]. No traps or hidden wards, at least not in the combat area. There were some surrounding it, I assumed to prevent errant spells from causing havoc. I walked around until I had found a clear spot, then made a small dome of stone to prevent interfering with others. It was only about half height, and I simply put my hand inside instead of completely enclosing myself. My first attempt was at modulating the intensity of a mage light spell. I spent at least an hour on it, trying to change the skill. The first bits, I could only increase the mana in it. Instead of a flashing light, I got one that would flash brighter and brighter. Withdrawing mana would simply cancel the spell. No matter how slowly I tried it, the spell would unravel before dimming. I had just decided to take a break when the commotion started. ¡°Is there any news? Where is he?¡± The nervous woman from earlier asked frantically of the captain who escorted us back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there was no sign of the rest of the caravan.¡± He said, stepping away from her. ¡°NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¡± She let out an agonized wail, darting forward and stealing his blade. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°GET BACK! BACK!¡± She flailed the weapon around, clearing space around her. The captain complied, as she really showed no skill whatsoever with the blade. I understood, as I had heard from others that those with no training are dangerous because of their upredictability. When she turned the blade toward herself I acted. ¡°[BINDING SHADOW CHAINS]!¡± I roared out, stopping the blade mere inches from her chest. ¡°DON¡¯T STOP ME!!!!!¡± She wailed, struggling to move the blade those last few inches. Seeing she wasn¡¯t getting anywhere, she dropped the sword only for it to be grabbed by a shadow hand that extended from her. Moving back, it tried to skewer her through the heart. *CLANG* Panting, I struggled to hold my weapon between me and the blade. ¡°Just what the hell do you think you are doing?!¡± I snarled. ¡°He¡¯s gone. I¡¯m going to join him.¡± She whispered. I looked around, and all the other drow were surreptitiously watching the interchange. ¡°And do you think he would want that? To meet his wife and child in such a manner?¡± At the word child, the pressure on the blade stopped. ¡°Child?¡± ¡°Yes, child.¡± I said, sliding the blade toward the captain before turning towards her. ¡°I noticed it when I was looking around with mystic vision earlier. There¡¯s a knot of intense mana right here.¡± I said, holding my hand just below her belly button. ¡°Our child? I don¡¯t know. It just hurts. How can I raise a child when I¡¯m in this much pain?¡± ¡°Of course it hurts. Life hurts. Especially when those we love move on. And I won¡¯t lie and say it hurts less. You just get better at dealing with it, day after day. Raise your child. Let them know of their father, who gave his life to hold a far greater foe. Even if it was only for a second. He did his duty, without complaint. Many would wish to have his resolve.¡± ¡°You saw what he fought?¡± ¡°Only for moments. I and the rest of the convoy fled. Its tentacles were thicker than my wingspan, and it moved like lightning.¡± ¡°So how. How do I explain it to my child?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about the drow afterlife. Though I¡¯m sure that Lolth would reward those who gave their life in defense of one of her priestesses. Tell them of his sacrifice, and of the good memories of him. Don¡¯t lay off his failures, and how he worked to overcome them. And when they ask to meet him, tell them that they will have to wait. You will all meet again someday, you two just have to take the long way around.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°The, long way, around?¡± She asked, almost to herself. Head lowered, she took a few moments to collect herself. ¡°Lolth confirmed to me that she has a few new guards in her service.¡± The priestess said as she sauntered up. ¡°Come, follow me. Lolth wishes you and your child to be trained in the temple.¡± She gathered up the distraught drow and escorted her away. ¡°Thank you. Her husband was a good soldier; it would be a shame to lose his child like that.¡± The captain said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°No problem. I¡¯ve lost someone close recently as well. If you don¡¯t mind, I have some practice to do.¡± I said, heading over to where my stone dome still stood. I clenched my fist to stop it from shaking. Damn, but I had gotten incredibly lucky with that [Dancing shadow step]. A half second later, and that sword would have already killed her. ¡°Damnit. So, how do I make this blasted spell flash?¡± I muttered as I sat down and stared at my palm. Wait a second, what if I just blocked the light? I conjured a magelight, and surrounded it with a thick cage of shadow. ¡°Ok, looks good so far.¡± I said, noticing that the light didn¡¯t break through the condensed shadow. Spinning the shadow with my manipulation skill, I got the result I was looking for. I increased the intensity and speed of the shadow until I had my own version of a magical strobe light.
New skill acquired! Disco Strobe Beginner level 1 This spinning light causes a strobe effect, messing with perception in those who aren¡¯t expecting it. Mana cost: 20 Duration: 1 minute
¡°Excuse me.¡± I called out to the five drow who were practicing against target dummies. When I had their attention, I continued, ¡°I was wondering if you would be willing to test something for me.¡± ¡°Depends.¡± One of them answered. ¡°Just a spell. It won¡¯t cause any damage, honestly it¡¯s just flashing light. I want to see how it affects your sparring.¡± The drow looked back and forth among themselves a few times, before the speaker replied. ¡°Go ahead. Shouldn¡¯t be an issue with us.¡± ¡°Alright, here goes. [Disco strobe].¡± I cast the spell over the central training dummy, and watched as each of the drow moved in for their attack. The alternating light was playing havoc with them, every last one overshot their target and ended up slamming their sword handles into them instead of their blades. I switched to [Mystic vision], and smiled as that was unaffected. The drow swiftly adapted, and within five more attacks had settled into a pattern that was uninterrupted by the light effects. Just to test them, I started playing with the speed of the flashes. Just as I thought, they were unaffected. ¡°Did you all switch to another form of vision?¡± ¡°Thermal.¡± One responded. ¡°That flashing is unexpectedly efficient.¡± ¡°Thanks. Do you happen to have any other forms of vision we could test it against?¡± ¡°Sorry, no.¡± ¡°Impressive spell. Do you have any more?¡± One of the mages asked. ¡°Of light magic? Just Mage light. What about you two?¡± ¡°Sorry, neither one of us are adept at that. I¡¯m fire and lighting, and he is earth and ice.¡± ¡°Damn. Pity, none of our abilities overlap.¡± I said, before sitting back down and trying to think of another light spell to use. Lasers were out, I just didn¡¯t have the skill to get them working right. I don¡¯t know what exactly I was missing, because I knew I had the intensity. ¡°Hey, anyone have the trap detect skill?¡± I asked. ¡°I do.¡± My guard said. ¡°Back to your training, I¡¯ll handle it.¡± He interrupted one of the mages, who shrugged and got back to work. ¡°Wonderful. Let me make a quick trap.¡± I said, creating a small spiked pitfall beneath the dome. ¡°Can you tell me what it looks like under there with trap detect activated?¡± ¡°Sure. I see a red square where you made your trap.¡± ¡°Excellent. I¡¯m going to flash a light here on the ground, let me know when it matches.¡± I said, concentrating until the magelight I was using turned a dull red color. ¡°Brighter, less intensity.¡± He said, and we spent the next couple hours or so changing my light spell until it perfectly matched the skill he was using. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure how useful this skill will be sir.¡± He said when we finished it. ¡°Oh? Watch this.¡± I said, removing my trap and the dome it was protected under. I created a walkway of light, and turned back to him. ¡°See that red corridor? Activate your trap skill and avoid the three pitfalls I placed in it.¡± His eyes got incredibly wide as the implications sunk in. ¡°You just nullified our skill!¡± He whispered in awe. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s the plan.¡± I said with a smug grin. I had just gotten a popup indicating my new skill.
New skill acquired False Traplight Rankless spell. This spell is a perfect replica of the detect trap skill. Congratulations of becoming the bane of rogues everywhere! Don¡¯t worry, the creator of this spell won¡¯t be listed. This spell has no rank, and cannot be improved. Cost: 30 mana Duration: 1 hour
¡°Nice, it¡¯ll work for one hour.¡± ¡°Do you think you could impart this skill to the academy?¡± The fire mage had wandered over when he noticed the spell. ¡°What do they need for it?¡± ¡°Minimum adept rank to create a beginner scroll.¡± ¡°And if it is a rankless spell?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no rank for it? Then you can create a spellbook for it with the proper scribe! You need to see the headmaster, he will transfer it and set you up with the mage guild. They can set the price, what royalties you will get, and any exclusivity contracts.¡± ¡°Hmm, that could work. I¡¯m sure the drow would love such a spell, especially if they could adapt it to an enchantment?¡± ¡°You would have every noble house wanting to install such an enchantment.¡± My guard said. ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m no good with enchantments, but I do have some contacts. Tell you what, I¡¯m heading back to my guest house to eat some lunch. Can you see if the headmaster will meet with me afterwards to discuss this spell?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The mage replied. ¡°Excellent. Can you send someone to the Drul¡¯kaath? If possible, I would deal with them. See if they would be willing to meet with the headmaster as well.¡± I asked the guard. ¡°It will be done.¡± He said, giving me a salute. Smiling, I headed back to the apartment to fill up and make sure Inkler hadn¡¯t destroyed the place. Book 3 Chapter 9 ¡°God damnit Inkler!¡± I swore as I walked into chaos. Chairs were knocked over, plates were shattered, food was everywhere. Inkler was in the kitchen, staring at a specific spot on the wall and licking his lips. He didn¡¯t even turn in my direction, until I thumped him in the forehead. ¡°We are guests here, and look what you did! I swear, I will do something most unpleasant to you if you hurt that brownie that was supposed to be cleaning for us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ok sir, thank you for your concern.¡± A high pitched voice from the wall called out. Inkler immediately started tracking the source, getting another thump in the forehead from me. ¡°That¡¯s it, no more lazing about for you. You will be attached to my hip for the rest of this trip, just so that you keep out of trouble. I¡¯m sorry for all the trouble he has caused, rest assured you will have the entire afternoon free of him.¡± I spoke to the wall. Shrugging at the lack of an answer, I headed to the table to see what could be salvaged. There wasn¡¯t much, but I did manage to cobble together a decent snack for myself. Inkler got another thump on the head when he tried to muscle in on my food. ¡°Nope. You knocked plenty of it on the ground, you can eat some of that. Better hurry, we have an important meeting in a little while." Tucking back into my food, I kept an eye on Inkler as he batted around some different dishes before settling on what looked like a fish at some point. Just as I finished up, I heard a gong sound through the apartment. ¡°The headmaster is ready to see you know sir.¡± The guard from earlier said. ¡°One moment.¡± I replied, turning to shout back into the apartment, ¡°Inkler! Time to go. Don¡¯t give me that look, you¡¯ve had plenty of time to eat. Time to go.¡± Eventually he slunk towards us, and the guard¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°I think we are good to go.¡± I said, and he turned and led us past the training yard to the towering academy on the other side. The guard strode through the main greeting hall, and groups of drow wearing different colored robes cleared the way for us. I didn¡¯t pick up most of what they were whispering, but I wasn¡¯t particularly paying attention either. I simply kept my head high and eyes straight, easily keeping pace with the guard as we made our way over to a magic elevator. Once inside, he pushed a series of buttons and we started moving. The ride was incredibly smooth, and in far less time than I would have thought we reached our destination. ¡°The Adventurer Angus MacG, here to see the headmaster.¡± The guard said to a receptionist, who oddly enough was wearing leather armor. While he was talking to her, I kept my eyes on the hidden guard in the corner under some form of invisibilty. ¡°What are you looking at Angus?¡± The receptionist asked after a bit of silence. ¡°Hmm? Sorry, I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡± ¡°I asked what you were looking at?¡± ¡°Oh, just the invisible guard in the corner there. Is the headmaster ready for us?¡± As I asked the question, the guard dropped her invisibility. ¡°Follow me please. Might I ask how you managed to pierce my stealth? Professional reasons.¡± She explained, leading us down a hallway filled with motifs of magic and spiders. ¡°Mystic vision allows me to see concentrations of mana. While normal and dark vision would probably be fooled by your skill, it still takes mana to use it. That¡¯s what I was seeing.¡± ¡°Ah. Thank you, I will look into this vulnerability.¡± She said, holding the door open for us. We walked in, and there was the oldest looking drow I had ever seen. Black robes with gold trim hung off his frame, his face covered in wrinkles and his head shaved. Despite all this, his eyes were still incredibly alert as he looked me up and down. Dismissing me, his brow furrowed as he inspected Inkler despite the fact that Inkler was using his optical camouflage. ¡°An interesting specimen. His invisibility is inferior to our enchantments, though he doesn¡¯t seem to be requiring mana for it. How did you acquire him?¡± ¡°He evolved from a nightliger.¡± I explained, taking a seat. ¡°This is Inkler, and I¡¯m Angus.¡± I said, extending my hand as Inkler dropped his invisibility and sat down next to my chair. ¡°Headmaster Zalban.¡± He said, shaking my hand. ¡°Oh? He¡¯s a variant as well? I¡¯ll pay 500 platinum for him.¡± ¡°Sorry, not for sale. Inkler is more than just a battle pet to me.¡± I was saved from further discussion by another drow entering, who seemed to be rather nervous. ¡°Apologies for being late.¡± ¡°What are you doing here, clanless?¡± The headmaster practically growled. ¡°Are you the Drul¡¯kaath representative?¡± I asked, getting a hiss from the headmaster and a nod from the new drow. I turned to explain to the headmaster. ¡°It¡¯s ok, I asked for him. They recently purged the stain upon their family honor, and are eligible to be a clan again.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Indeed. Our clan owes much to Angus, and are very much looking forward to his dungeon. I am Catod Drul¡¯kaath, representing the Drul¡¯kaath for this meeting.¡± He said, taking a seat across from me. ¡°Very well. If you aren¡¯t selling me the beast, what are we here for?¡± The headmaster asked, getting annoyed. ¡°Well, I have two new spells to register. I was hoping to craft a spellbook for them, and see if the Drul¡¯kaath could turn them into an enchantment. I also wish to set up limited exclusivity.¡± ¡°Harumph.¡± He grunted, staring at me for a few uncomfortable seconds. ¡°Display the spells, tell me their ranks.¡± ¡°Very well. Before I show the first one, could you stand and start throwing some punch combinations Catod? It¡¯ll be relevant in a minute.¡± Once he complied, I let him go for a few seconds so that Zalban could get an idea for his motions. ¡°[Disco strobe].¡± I said calmly, setting the spell above the middle of the table. Catod kept his movements the same, though the strobing light was making everything seem incredibly disjointed. I let him go for about ten seconds before cancelling the skill. ¡°Right now it is at beginner level one, and switching vision modes will render it useless.¡± I explained. ¡°I see. I can set that up, what did you have in mind for exclusivity on it?¡± ¡°Well, I plan to use it at select points in my dungeon. Best scenario? Let the Drul¡¯kaath turn it into an enchantment and allow them to use it in areas where there won¡¯t be any adventurers for the next month. After that, we can set it free on the market. Same for this next one. Before I activate it, do you have the trap detect skill by chance?¡± Both drow nodded, and activated their skills. ¡°Thank you. Now, if you check, the table here is obviously free of traps. Now, for my new spell. [False traplight].¡± A wave of my hand, and a rectangle of red light appeared on the table. ¡°Devious. Your light will show up and make a rogue doubt their skills. Can you tell me how you want it set up?¡± ¡°Sure. This one is rankless, and again I would like to set up exclusivity with the Drul¡¯kaath for the next month. I¡¯m hoping for them to develop two enchantments. One with a toggle trigger, activated by a phrase. For the other, could you set a conditional trigger based upon skill usage?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Catod furrowed his brow for a second. ¡°It would have to be limited to one skill, but we could do it.¡± ¡°Excellent. Then I would love it if you could set it to activate with the use of detect trap.¡± I answered with a smile. ¡°That is a very drow usage.¡± The headmaster replied with a chuckle. ¡°May we also have this installed in areas we aren¡¯t expecting adventurers?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that. And when the adventurers are through with my dungeon, you are free to release the spell on the market.¡± ¡°Excellent. What would the Drul¡¯kaath require for creating these enchantments?¡± ¡°It would be best if we have at least three enchanters with access to the skills. Other than that, nothing.¡± ¡°Very well. Standard compensation, ten percent royalties for the first six months on both spells. These are support spells, and are often overlooked for battle. The guild will pay ten gold for each spell.¡± ¡°Those royalties start after the spells go to market, correct?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± He said with a chuckle. ¡°And what will you be charging us?¡± Catod asked. ¡°Sixty percent royalties for six months. You can set the price for the enchantment and determine who you sell it to after the initial month.¡± ¡°Any requirements to share this enchantment with the enchanter¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Since you will be doing the adaption, if you wish to maintain a monopoly on it for as long as possible that¡¯s fine with me. Just know that as soon as they are able, you will likely have adventurers creating their own enchantments. It would probably be best to register it as soon as you can.¡± ¡°Then we have a deal.¡± Catod said, shaking my hand. ¡°I find myself in agreement as well.¡± The headmaster said. ¡°If you want, we can start with transferring the spells to me. I¡¯ll make the copies for the Drul¡¯kaath, and also commission their first enchantments once figure it out.¡± I nodded, and he walked around behind me. Placing one hand on the top of my head, and one hand on top of my right hand, he said, ¡°Go ahead and activate one of them.¡± ¡°Very well. [False traplight].¡± As I activated the skill, I could feel the headmaster¡¯s mana sampling mine. The skill seemed to take a slight bit longer to activate. ¡°Excellent. Now the other one.¡± The headmaster ordered, and I quickly complied. Again the skill took a little bit longer to activate, and the headmaster grunted when it was done. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that was simply a modified magelight spell. Impressive. If you¡¯ll give me a minute, I will write out orders for the receptionist to pay you. As for the Drul¡¯kaath, I¡¯ll have three skill books delivered by the end the day tomorrow. Is that acceptable?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± I answered. ¡°We are as well.¡± ¡°Perfect. Here you go.¡± The headmaster said, handing me a sheet of paper that he had scribbled something down on. ¡°Present that to the receptionist, and she will get you your twenty gold. The mage guild thanks you for your contribution, and looks forward to working with you in the future.¡± Shaking his hand and taking the sheet, we headed out and back towards the receptionist. ¡°All finished?¡± She asked with a chipper voice. ¡°With the headmaster. He gave us this, but I was also wondering if I could purchase a few low level light spells. Preferably some with attack capabilities.¡± She nodded, and started looking rummaging around in her desk. ¡°These are all we have, I¡¯ll take their cost out of your twenty gold.¡± I looked them over really quick, then nodded at her. I left with seventeen gold, and headed down to the training yard to practice the two new skills I had bought. By the end of the afternoon, I was fairly happy with my progress.
Light bolt Beginner level 4 A weaker spell, it makes up for the lack of damage with its ability to be spammed. Damage: 15-30 Cost: 5 mana Cooldown: 1 second
Lance of light Beginner level 3 An upgrade of the light bolt spell, it does more damage though it does have a longer cooldown. Damage: 75-100 Cost: 10 mana Cooldown: 5 seconds
Book 3 Chapter 10 ¡°Ugh, I love the food in the game but sometimes you just need a big, greasy cheeseburger.¡± I said when I sat down at the caf¨¦ and ordered. ¡°I hear that.¡± Derrick said, tapping through the menu as well. Soon enough we both had a burger with a massive plate of fries, though Derrick had gone and added a nacho cheese dipping sauce for his fries. ¡°What all have you smothered your fries with?¡± ¡°Mixed cheese, scallions, and bacon.¡± ¡°Mmmm, bacon.¡± Jon muttered, then faked wiping drool from his chin. ¡°So I take it you are sick of rations in the game?¡± ¡°Actually, we made it to the city and the drow have been feeding me. Almost every meat has its own gravy or sauce. It¡¯s good, but I need a break from that.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± Jon nodded. ¡°I think we are all wondering how many assassination attempts you have foiled already.¡± ¡°None as of yet. Which is good, considering the only drow I know are the priestess of Lolth and some passing acquaintances. I think most of them assume I¡¯m not a threat, which is absolutely fine by me!¡± ¡°Ugh, if only everyone would underestimate us.¡± Derrick lamented. ¡°Any time I find a new giant settlement, some idiot is always wanting to challenge me to a duel.¡± ¡°And then you go and obliterate them?¡± Phoebe asked with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Yep!¡± Derrick said with a grin. ¡°I have at least three spells of each element that can get a constant rotation going, and they just can¡¯t keep up.¡± ¡°Sounds like you are a force of nature.¡± I chuckled. ¡°How do you like not having that massive experience penalty the trolls start with?¡± ¡°Oh god, it¡¯s almost better than sex. I level multiple times a day, its glorious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what she said.¡± Jon chuckled, before getting smacked by Phoebe. ¡°Perve.¡± ¡°True, but I¡¯m your perve baby.¡± ¡°Quick, someone change the topic before I get a mental image I can¡¯t get rid of!¡± I mock yelled. ¡°I need three doses of eyebleach, stat! Loading kitten videos!¡± Derrick yelled, punching madly at a keyboard. Soon enough there were several windows open with cats and puppies doing crazy things. We did the collective ¡°ooing¡± and ¡°aahing¡± that the videos required, settling back into our chairs to relax. ¡°Crisis successfully averted.¡± Derrick declared solemnly. ¡°Thanks Derrick, I owe ya one.¡± I said. ¡°Hey, speaking of owing people, how would you guys like to help design the dungeon? If you want, I can give you each a floor to go crazy with.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Any limitations?¡± ¡°Not really. I even have a few new toys to play with. I¡¯ve got the drow working on creating a trap version of a strobe light spell, as well as one that fakes the result of trap detect.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, hold on.¡± Derrick said, holding up a hand. ¡°You¡¯re telling me you have a way to fake out a rogue¡¯s trap detect skill?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in. I am so in. If these two don¡¯t want to design their own levels, I volunteer as architect! Can you have them design a trap that will basically act like a confetti cannon? I have ideas. So many cruel and unusual. . . ideas.¡± He hesitated on the last word for a fraction of a second. ¡°Derrick, we are monsters in the game. We can have all the cruel and unusual punishments we want.¡± Jon pointed out, getting a nod from Derrick. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering what Marty¡¯s plan is to get up to max level? It¡¯s gonna look awful weird when our boss is a lower level than the minibosses.¡± ¡°I, don¡¯t really have anything for that. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll gain them rapidly in the Underdark, I just have to make sure I don¡¯t wander into an area that outlevels me too badly. Though from your tone and smug grin, I am willing to bet you have a plan?¡± ¡°Glad you asked, indeed I do!¡± He answered with an announcer flair to his voice. ¡°Oh god, here we go.¡± Phoebe muttered, putting her head in her hands. ¡°Please, no comments from the peanut gallery! Anyway, back to leveling up. Have you thought of going to the Descent into Madness?¡± ¡°I have no idea what that is, and even if I did it doesn¡¯t have a nice sounding name.¡± ¡°Bah, who cares about a name? This is the drow controlled training dungeon. I¡¯ve not done it, but a buddy told me about it. It¡¯s a massive inverted tower type dungeon. You start at the top, fighting arena type battles. It gets progressively harder, and after 50 floors you start getting into actual dungeon style levels.¡± ¡°How do they do bosses if it is arena battles?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°Every five levels you get a miniboss type fight. At multiples of ten you will get a major boss fight. You can leave any time you have finished a floor, but the best part is the experience gain. It¡¯s a nice little diverted system. If you leave, you get all your gained experience. If you die before conquering the miniboss, you lose everything since the last boss. Kill the miniboss, but not the boss and gain half experience for everything from the last boss. Killing a tenth floor boss guarantees you will gain whatever experience you have amassed.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°How deep does it go?¡± ¡°Nobody knows. The most you can bring in is a ten-person party, and not even the drow have conquered the dungeon. I think the Needlers hold the current record at clearing 302 floors. Well, player record, at least. Pretty sure the drow have them beat.¡± ¡°How the hell did they do 300 floors in a day?¡± I asked, shocked. ¡°Oh they didn¡¯t. After multiples of 25 floors, you are given a rest area. I think they were battling for five or six days to get that far.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s better then. How far do you have to go before you really start bringing in the experience?¡± ¡°Once you clear the arena levels the difficulty starts ramping up. You shouldn¡¯t have too many issues, and you might pick up a few trap ideas.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan, thanks Jon. How are you and Phoebe doing in game?¡± ¡°We are doing just fine, thanks.¡± Phoebe spoke up before Jon could. ¡°Found some good hunting grounds thanks to Derrick, and are leveling nicely. At this rate, we should hit max level with a week or two to spare. After that, we just have to work on our skill sets.¡± ¡°Excellent. And the stones?¡± ¡°Got ten so far.¡± Derrick said. ¡°Should have plenty, and we will be aiming to get 20 extra or so in case of accidents. Don¡¯t worry, we will get this plan of yours off. Now, I think we all need a break. Anyone up for a game of Euchre?¡± ¡°Play with 9¡¯s or ten and up only? Dirty Spades? Farmer¡¯s hand? Stick the dealer?¡± I rapid fired questions at Derrick. ¡°Play with 9¡¯s, yes to Dirty Spades and stick the dealer. Farmer¡¯s hand I play modified. You can only call it if you have three 9¡¯s or three 10¡¯s, no combinations.¡± ¡°Hey hun? Are they speaking English?¡± Jon asked in a teasing way. ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain I recognized some of those words. Hell, I even recognized some of those combinations of words. Yet I¡¯m completely lost.¡± ¡°Sorry guys, we didn¡¯t realize you haven¡¯t played before.¡± Derrick answered. ¡°Let¡¯s play a few hands face up, that¡¯s the best way to learn. Otherwise it¡¯ll just be confusing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s also play out all hands.¡± I added. ¡°Any lay ¡®em down hands will just confuse everyone.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Derrick said, sorting through the deck. ¡°Got a pen and paper for score?¡± ¡°No need.¡± I answered. ¡°Pull out the six and four of hearts and spades. When you score a point, simply reveal a picture on the card. First to ten wins.¡± Derrick and I decided that we would be the keepers of the score, and we played several hands to get Phoebe and Jon some experience. Things devolved quickly after that, as Jon had a bad habit of not paying attention. When he was last to throw, he would trump his partner¡¯s ace, much to my dismay. Derrick chuckled every time, as we both refused to remind Jon who had played what card. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Needlers guild headquarters, Mr. Whiskers POV ¡°Hey King, got a minute?¡± I asked my second in command, Crimson King. ¡°I want your opinion on the group for the dungeon challenge.¡± Grunting, he sat in the oversized chair across from me and started looking over the list the other two guilds had sent. ¡°Need more from our group. Dark Queen would be best.¡± ¡°I know, but they insisted on ¡®equitable representation¡¯ based on guild size. Never mind that we have more first clears. And I can¡¯t go with Dark Queen without losing Citadel. I can¡¯t lose Citadel, I just don¡¯t trust the Dukes to hold the line.¡± ¡°Good to have paladins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about though. These guys evolved from the shadow drakelings, so they will have access to dark attacks. Sure, they can give themselves a heal here and there, but they might have issues holding aggro if they can¡¯t do much damage.¡± ¡°Three tank skill progression. Taunt around the world. Citadel hold strong.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah I know. But this is also a player, so we can¡¯t go with straight dungeon tactics. The other idiots don¡¯t seem to realize this. Did you know they were complaining about bringing twenty resurrection scrolls per person?¡± ¡°Cheapskates.¡± ¡°Yeah. Because who would need scrolls when tackling an unknown dungeon? What, are they going to wait for the half hour cooldown every damn time?¡± ¡°Fools.¡± I nodded in agreement with King¡¯s last statement. I let out a long sigh. ¡°They want to limit healers as well. I had to put my foot down and force them to include four pure healer builds and at least two more druids.¡± ¡°What else?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only arcane assassin, though Mayhem is bringing their big elementalists. We have a photomancer, cryomancer, pyromancer, and geomancer. Three sages and two elemental rangers finishes their offerings. Dukes are sending berserkers.¡± ¡°Idiots.¡± ¡°Dukes? Of course they are. We have four main tanks, and they are sending 4 berserkers and 4 guardians. How are they going to fit that many melee against one target?¡± ¡°Hmm. Have guardians as bodyguards for squishies.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m leaning towards as well. Each healer gets a guardian.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°What are we going to do without Queen to feel out the elemental resistances?¡± I muttered. ¡°I got.¡± King answered with a smile, swiping and showing me a skill I had never heard of before.
Elemental barrage Beginner level 4 Create up to ten bolts of differing elemental makeups and unleash them upon your target. Presets must be made before battle, or else the default of element spread will be used. Default spread: 2 air, 2 fire, 2 ice, 2 earth, 1 light, 1 darkness. Damage: 75-100 per bolt Cost: 3 mana/bolt Cooldown: 10 minutes
¡°King, this is amazing! How in the world did you get this?¡± ¡°Created. Need all elements at master 1. Fired progression of bolts as fast as possible.¡± ¡°Alright, we keep this skill under wraps for now. See if you can get Queen a copy from the mage¡¯s guild. Have you turned it in yet?¡± ¡°No. Will do tomorrow.¡± ¡°Perfect. Does the damage log differentiate between bolt types?¡± At his nod, I continued, ¡°Excellent. Life just got a lot easier. You¡¯ll start off the boss fights after Citadel has gathered enough aggro, and determine any elemental weaknesses. I¡¯ll have one healer on each tank, plus the three druids will help when the bosses use skills. Let the berserkers do what they want, maybe a few of them will have the throw weapon skill.¡± ¡°Long grinds.¡± ¡°Yeah, it really will be. See what you can find in the vaults, I¡¯m going to need you to be our damage dealer I think. I still only give us even odds to beat the dungeon, but we will do what we have to. At least things are starting to look up.¡± Book 3 Chapter 11 I woke up the next morning excited for the coming trial. ¡°Come on Inkler, we have a dungeon to tackle today.¡± I said, shoving his head off my hip. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s see just how far we can get shall we?¡± Heading in to the kitchen, I opted for a smaller breakfast today. A few eggs, some toast, and some sausage patties. Inkler got one plate, and glared at me when I placed it on his own little table. ¡°Oh no sir, you are not going to overeat and then try sleeping in the dungeon on me. We are on a time limit, and I still have to oversee the final bits of our own dungeon. So eat your breakfast and no complaining!¡± After a tense few seconds, he chuffed and started in on his food. I nodded and finished what I was working on. Just as I was taking the last bite, the gong alarm went off to let me know someone was at the door. ¡°Oh hey there.¡± I said as I answered, noting that it was the guard from yesterday. ¡°I didn¡¯t catch your name, what can I call you?¡± ¡°Jo¡¯ren sir.¡± ¡°Excellent Jo¡¯ren. Come on in and tell me what brings you by today.¡± ¡°Well, sir. I was wondering what your plans were so that I could have a proper escort set up. Are you just planning to do some training in the yard again?¡± ¡°Ah, not this time Jo¡¯ren. I¡¯m more interested in heading over to the Descent into Madness dungeon and testing myself there.¡± Jo¡¯ren immediately paled and started stammering. ¡°D descent into ma ma madnesss, sir?¡± ¡°Yes. I heard about it from a friend, and was wondering if you could tell me about it.¡± ¡°I, of course sir. Give me a moment, we will need at least four more guards.¡± ¡°Just remember, I¡¯m heading into the dungeon solo.¡± I called after his retreating back, getting a wave from him. ¡°All done Inkler?¡± I asked, catching him eyeing several plates that were close to the edge of the table. ¡°Come on, we can wait outside. Away from all the temptations for you.¡± I managed to resist the piteous look Inkler gave me, and ushered him outside where we were just in time for Jo¡¯ren to return. Odd, he had a strange badge on the left breast of his uniform. It was a solid blue hexagon with the number 81 written on it. ¡°Ok sir, follow me please. I¡¯ll answer any questions you have along the way.¡± ¡°Sounds good. I guess I¡¯ll start with your new badge. Is that something from the dungeon?¡± ¡°This? Oh, yes. Looking at the badge you can tell someone¡¯s accomplishments in the dungeon. Solid colors denote a maximum party level. If you have six to nine members, you get a bronze border. Two to five members gets a silver border, and solo challengers get a gold border. The number in the middle is the maximum level you have cleared.¡± ¡°Interesting. I take it these act as bragging rights?¡± ¡°Correct. It is impossible to fake them, as they are bestowed by the dungeon.¡± ¡°What happens if you go with two different groups. Do you have two different tags?¡± ¡°Yes. You can have up to four different badges, they will organize into a diamond shape with the topmost being your solo score.¡± ¡°Alright. I suppose you don¡¯t know how deep the tower goes, do you?¡± ¡°No. The furthest a group has ever made it was clearing level 335. We assume that to be only a third of the dungeon proper.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± I whistled, impressed. ¡°Did they survive?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t aware? Of course you aren¡¯t, my bad. This is one of two unique dungeons. It isn¡¯t populated by the monster races, and anyone who dies in it is transported back to the beginning after receiving the experience penalties. If you do die, then you are blocked out for at least three days. If your entire group dies, then it is a week.¡± ¡°No wonder the drow control it. Sounds like the perfect place to work on small group tactics. Are the levels the same every time you visit?¡± ¡°Yes and no. Level one will always be a level 5 slime. Sometimes it is a normal slime, sometimes a variant. Oh, and here we are.¡± Motioning forward, I saw a line of drow waiting to enter an incredibly ornate gazebo structure. It looked like it was made of several bone white trees with their branches entangled, and there was a blue orb on a platform in the middle of the structure. As I watched, ten drow moved around until they were all within the structure. When they were ready, the leader touched the orb with a palm and everyone disappeared with a flash of mana. ¡°Instanced dungeon?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. We haven¡¯t hit the upper limit yet, though we aren¡¯t truly trying. It can handle over five hundred groups at once.¡± I nodded at him, and we waited patiently in line. It seemed like a new group could enter once per minute, so the line was moving rather rapidly. As we neared, there were two guards that noted everyone¡¯s names as they got ready to enter. ¡°Name?¡± The female on the left asked. ¡°Angus MacG.¡± I replied. ¡°First time?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Follow me for a second, we have to go over some rules.¡± She pulled me off to the side, but inside the gate that people had to pass through to get to the gazebo. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make this quick. First time divers only have to pay half the fee, 25 gold. On top of that, 5% of the loot you pick up instead of the normal 10%. This can be done in a money transaction, or you can give us the equivalent in materials picked up in the dungeon. Would you like to place a bet on how far you will go today?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be stopping after clearing level 50.¡± ¡°Solo? You sure about that? You are only level ten.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Though I¡¯m not going to be placing bets myself, you can let others who want to bet know.¡± ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s get you back in line then.¡± She said, noting something down on a clipboard. We walked back up to the line, and the other guard held back the group that was next in line. ¡°LISTEN UP! WE GOT A NEW CHALLENGER! Level ten Angus MacG claims he will be clearing level 50 today, and solo to boot! I give him 5 to 1 odds against, place your bets as you come through.¡± While there was murmuring in the line, she turned to me and said, ¡°Head on up and place your hands on the pedestal whenever you¡¯re ready. See you when you get back.¡± Nodding to her, I followed her directions, feeling Inkler moving along at my side. Once we were on the pedestal, I touched the orb. That¡¯s when everything went to Hell. The gazebo lit up in red light, a force field forming to prevent others from accessing the gazebo.
Welcome, divinity! Are you here to challenge the dungeon? You will be transported to the Divine Monster challenge, where the rules are slightly different. 1) You may not leave until clearing level 50, or unless death takes you. 2) All monsters will be of divine rank. 3) Experience will be awarded on an all or none basis. If you are defeated, you get no experience but may keep the loot. 4) For every 50 levels you clear, you may access and alter the dungeon menu for those floors. Clear floor 1,000 to become the dungeon master. Entering dungeon in 3 2 1
After reading through the message, I was transported to a large arena with a flash of light. ¡°It¡¯s ok buddy, we¡¯ll get through this.¡± I said, patting Inkler¡¯s side. He had plastered himself to my leg in fright, not that I blamed him. ¡°Who would have thought that someone would have a crazy rule for divine monsters? This is ridiculous.¡± Across the empty arena from us, a green summoning circle appeared, and a slime that easily reached my chest was summoned. I could see bubbles trapped within it, and it seemed like a very viscous form of slime.
Divine poison slimeDid you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Level 5 Feared across the planes, divine poison slimes kill swiftly but painfully. Often they will allow their kills to rot for at least a week or two before consuming them, incorporating any toxins that have accumulated into their bodies.
¡°Inkler, you should probably stay back on this one. I don¡¯t want you getting poisoned. [Dark bolt].¡± Knowing slimes were generally weak to magic, I fired off a dark spell and watched as a small portion was blasted off. The main body shook and quickly fixed the oozing wound, while all of the slime that had been blasted away started smoking on the sand. In retaliation, it fired two globs of acid in my direction. I only dodged one, wanting to see if Lolth¡¯s gift would work. Sure enough, the poison splashed against me to no effect aside from a small loss of health from the impact itself. I even took a good whiff of the green smoke that was curling up from the impact site. ¡°Well, that¡¯ll make things a lot easier.¡± I said with a smile, charging in to the slime. I wanted to get in close so that I could take out the core faster. Simple creature that it was, the core was in the exact center of the slime mass. While I shoved my hand in up to the elbow, I weathered a few slaps from poisoned tentacles. Pins and needles shot up and down my arm the entire time I was inside the slime. After a few seconds of running my hand through something the consistency of honey, I felt a stone the size of my fist. Yanking it out, I watched as the slime desperately tried to keep the core within it¡¯s liquid. Unfortunately for the slime, I was faster and could change direction on a whim. With a feint to one side, I yanked the core down and out of the tentacle that had formed, and watched as the slime lost all cohesion.
Divine poison slime defeated! Loot: Pristine poison core x1 Weak divine poison x1
I placed the core and vial of the slime essence into my bag, shocked that my health had dropped by ten percent. I guess I was immune to slime poison, but not the acidic properties of the slime body. ¡°Stay away from that!¡± I ordered Inkler, as he was already starting to walk up to the puddles of slime that were rapidly steaming away into nothingness. Once they were gone, I got a notification that round 2 was starting. Instead of one slime, I was now facing two level five slimes. ¡°[Lance of light].¡± I fired once through the slime on the left, the spell unimpeded by the slime consistency as it easily pierced the core. As it splattered, the second one fired a few poison bolts at me as a distraction. As it slid over the decomposing body of the previous slime, it grew slightly larger as it absorbed the remains. ¡°Rude.¡± I said, before blasting away at the body with alternating dark and light bolts. I spread them around, watching as the slime struggled to contain the damage. While it had an incredibly flexible membrane to contain the interior, it still took a while to seal itself up when a magic blast tore a hole in it. Seven bolts later, and I had enough removed that one last bolt was able to strike the core and destroy it. ¡°You been watching Inkler? You¡¯ll have to attack from a distance, and try and get the core to take these guys down.¡± I gave him a slight lecture as I collected some slime cores and more of the weak poison. Once I had my loot, I got another notification for round three. This time I was facing a slime that burned with a bluish flame, a level 6 divine flame slime. This time defense was a much higher priority, as I didn¡¯t want to get burned. Especially after seeing that the flaming globs of slime the creature fired burned for at least another minute upon impact. This battle, I was the distraction as Inkler closed in and shattered the core with his reality slash skill. I was disappointed to find out that the slime cores were not differentiated based on the variety of slime. Once Inkler and I had our method down for the slimes, it was incredibly simple. Round three was a level 6 divine flame and a level 6 divine water slime. The water slime was the harder one to dispatch, simply because the core was constantly in motion. We had to basically remove all the slime before we could get a decent strike on it. Round four was a level 7 stone slime, which had bits of stone armor enmeshed in its membrane. While its attacks were much slower, we had to attack from a distance because of an instinctual reaction. Any time the membrane was pierced, hundreds of small spikes elongated in every direction, making it look like a sea urchin. Anyone foolish enough to get close would be perforated. ¡°Miniboss fight, get ready.¡± I warned Inkler, as round five was beginning. This time we were fighting a level 10 divine black cube, that was at least eight feet tall. We could see slight swirls in the dark material, but the core was well hidden. ¡°Stay at a distance bud. I doubt our darkness attacks will be effective.¡± The entire battle was a pain in the ass. I had to keep my distance, and fire off a combination of light bolt, lance of light, followed by another light bolt. By the time the three spells had been cast, the cube was within attack range. Its main attack was smashing with a massive slime hammer, and I was forced to use dancing shadow steps to avoid the incredible speed of the attack. The other attack the creature liked to do was to speed across the arena and attempt to body slam me. There was one bit that was making the battle easier on my end. The slime blasted off immediately dissipated, so the slime couldn¡¯t heal itself. Once I noticed this, I started targeting the first blast to take off a corner of the cube, causing just a bit more damage. ¡°Ugh, that was a pain.¡± I complained after finally taking out the cube. The battle had raged for nearly ten minutes, and the notification I received let me know I would have a five-minute rest before the second set of battles began. I downed a mana potion, as that was the only one of my pools that was not going to recover in time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry bud, I¡¯m sure after round ten we will have some opponents you can sink your teeth into.¡± I comforted Inkler, who was obviously frustrated that he couldn¡¯t help out with most of them. The second round started, and Inkler was happy to be able to assist with more slimes. Round six was three divine armor eaters, two at level 8 and one at level 10. Small, fast little critters, they didn¡¯t have any core whatsoever. We had to avoid them and slash at them from a distance, which was much easier said than done. I nearly shat myself when one launched itself at my face from a few feet away, and an instinct smash with my hammer splattered the offending slime all over the place. Though it did kill the slime, I was in a good bit of agony from all the little splatters that got on me. I even lost 25% durability on my weapon from just that one hit, another reason to keep them at a distance. Round seven was three more level 8 slimes, and they were the most annoying yet. I had never heard of a sand slime, but these ones would slither around under the sands and try and erupt at your feet. They couldn¡¯t immediately dive back in the ground, which gave us a window of about a minute to kill them. Their other attack was a ranged one. They basically turned themselves into a sand blaster, sending a stream of sand in our direction. It didn¡¯t do much damage, but if you were facing them you were guaranteed to get grit in your eyes and lose a bit of visibility for a while. The eighth round was four level 9 slimes. Three were stone slimes, while the last one was a healing slime. It had no offense, but was adept at hiding within the triangle formed by the three stone slimes and keeping their health topped off. Inkler was the one who finally managed to nail the little pink bastard, darting in while invisible and shredding it with a reality slash. Once that was down, the rest fell swiftly. Round 9 had three water slimes and one typhoon slime. It seemed to be a combination of air and water, firing both air blades and high powered water jets at us. The jets were hard to dodge, but didn¡¯t do much damage once you were about half the arena width away. Once again I kited the slimes, and left Inkler to slash at them. As they turned to attack him while he was retreating, I could finally counter with a few magic blasts. Once they were down, I had to quickly drink another mana potion as well as a health potion. We were only given a one-minute timer before the boss fight would begin. ¡°Whoever made this recovery time limit is a right bastard.¡± I muttered to Inkler just before the last boss appeared. I was stunned for a second when it did, as it wasn¡¯t anything like what we had fought before.
Divine Hydratail beast slime Level 15 A variant of a beast slime, treat this creature as an extreme danger. Each of its six tails contains its own core, and can use powers from each of them. The main body is controlled by a seventh core, and the slime takes the form of the favorite prey. In this case, it is a planar growler. These cat-like creatures prowl the different planes, attacking from ambush.
¡°Oh shit, this is gonna hurt.¡± I swore, before giving quick instructions to Inkler. ¡°Attack what you can, each tail has its own core. Beware retaliation from every part of the body.¡± With that, the fight was on. We split to each side of the beast, Inkler using a horizontal reality slash as I tried a vertical one in an attempt to split it in half. There was a small detonation as the skills collided, but I couldn¡¯t do much more as I was busy dodging what I could from the tails. The stone spike and fireball were easy to move around, but the lightning bolt caught me right in the chest. Inkler must have done just slightly more damage, as the beast slime turned to face him. ¡°Fuck, this is a bad idea.¡± I muttered, as I charged in. I didn¡¯t want them to concentrate on Inkler, as he had much lower stats than I did. The tails immediately reoriented on me, but it was too late for them. ¡°Shadow and light, unite in annihilation. [Oblivion sphere][Dancing shadow steps].¡± I shot the sphere right at the base of the tails, teleporting away as six elemental attacks tore through the space I was recently occupying. ¡°You okay bud.¡± I panted as I appeared right next to Inkler, who had a smoking line along his right flank. He gave out a growling mewl, obviously annoyed by the slime creature. Looking back at it, my attack had been fantastic. All the tails were gone, removed by the explosion. Its health had dropped to a third of the maximum, and it was hissing at us. Instead of raising the hairs on its back, it was flashing its slime in hundreds of small spikes. The closest I could think to describe it would be a cornstarch slurry dancing on top of a speaker. ¡°Well, the tails are gone. Shall we blast it from a distance?¡± I asked with a grin, and Inkler head butted me in agreement. Several magic bolts later, and the boss was done. Once I had collected the seven cores, a small treasure chest popped up in the middle of the arena. Opening it, I received 15 platinum coins as well as five health and mana potions strong enough to completely refill my pools.
Congratulations! You have defeated the first floor guardian! You may progress to the next stage at any time, or wait until the half hour timer has finished. Advance? Y/N
Experience awarded! For finishing a boss level, you have earned the total experience from your previous fights. Level up x3
¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and take the full half hour break, what do you say bud?¡± I asked Inkler as I took out a small snack for us. The rest was most welcome, and something I would be looking forward to after each boss. The thing that concerned me was the level progression. If it kept up like it did, the boss of the final arena floor would be level 55. Something was telling me that it was going to start growing faster though, and I might have to fight something closer to level 100. While my effective level was 130 right now, it still wasn¡¯t something I was going to be looking forward to. I couldn¡¯t compare damage, as I hadn¡¯t fought a slime before, but something was telling me that these divine creatures enjoyed a damage boost. Not a chapter, Dungeon trap discussion Hey everyone, @Runner suggested posting a chapter for fans to post trap ideas. I won''t use all of them, but will definitely be using some. Try not to get too elaborate. All the human players will be minibosses or bosses, but that doesn''t mean I can''t have a trap in that room as well. Keeping that in mind, here are a few of their major skills to play around with. First miniboss will be Derrick. Giant with spellcasting abilities. His weapon is immune to magic, so he must cast with off hand only. Boss stage abilities will be changing the landscape by summoning other worlds. Right now I am leaning toward summoning Musspelheim at 60% health, Jotunheim at 30% health, and Ginnungagap at 5% health. These boost fire damage, cold damage, and eliminate magic respectively. Second miniboss will be a combo of Phoebe and Jon. Room will have an enchantment so that it is a full moon, boosting Phoebe as she is a chimera evolved from a werewolf. She goes into frenzy in hand to hand combat, the more opponents the better. She can change portions of her body to fit either a wolf, snake, or bear. Jon curses people, which can also heal Phoebe. I''m open to seeing what curses you want Jon to have. Right now, he has weaken armor, reflect melee damage, and one for increasing the mana cost of skills.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Marty has a decent variety of skills. Shadowgheist to create a clone. Shadow magic to include binding, dark bolt, reality slash. Light magic includes light bolt and lance of light. He can stock up on potions, but whatever ones he makes should be tailored towards offense. The skills from Thanatos are really only good for one attack in the battle due to long cooldowns. He also has the forbidden spells Whiteness (thinking about changing this to Whiteout) and Deo Noct. Whiteness does damage, while Deo Noct is sensory deprivation for a while. Again, each one is a one off. Inkler is battling with Marty. He has his own version of reality slash, and limited invisibility. He will also have a skill like a displacer beast, creating an illusion nearby to trick others. Dungeon traps: We have a strobe light and a false light for trap detect. I am going to allow one gravity well and one antigravity well per room. Feel free to go nuts, but there has to be a safe path through the trap. Not fair to instantly flood the room and drown people. The body must be recoverable as well, though you can make it difficult. Fall off a balance beam into a dark oblivion? The dead body materializes at the beginning of the obstacle course. There is also a drow clan enchanting for us, so we aren''t limited to what spells the party knows. Book 3 Chapter 12 ¡°Alright bud, time¡¯s up.¡± I told Inkler as I hauled myself to my feet. The rest was nice, but I was honestly getting a bit bored at the end of it. Ten seconds later, and there were several summoning circles appearing on the opposite side of the arena. Four divine goblins, each at level ten appeared alongside a level 12 divine hobgoblin group leader. Two of the goblins were armed with spears, two had bows, and the hobgoblin had a vicious looking axe. ¡°Archers are yours.¡± I muttered just loud enough for Inkler to hear, and I saw his paw prints appear out of the corner of my eye. I resisted the urge to look at him, knowing that it would give away his position. Instead I decided to open the fight. ¡°Hey fugly, I¡¯m gonna take you down with one shot! [Oblivion sphere].¡± I launched the skill at the hobgoblin, trusting that he would try and smash my attack aside with his axe. Sure enough, my taunt got rid of most of his sense. I laughed when the explosion shattered the haft of his axe, dropping the smoking head of it on the ground. ¡°GGGRRRAAAAAA!!¡± The hobgoblin screamed, charging ahead after drawing a dagger. The spear goblins tried to follow, but their short legs couldn¡¯t propel them through the sand as fast as their leader. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± I used a horizontal cut once the hobgoblin got close enough to start his attack. With the dagger raised over his head, he really had no defense against the blade of darkness that split his stomach. As he bent over in pain, my hammer smashed him in the face with a massive uppercut. Stunned from the blow, he staggered back. I slashed at his throat without using any skills, as his health was low enough from the exchange that it would just be overkill. Several things happened at once right after that. The body toppled backwards, right as the two archers let loose in my direction. I ducked to avoid the arrows, causing the goblin spearmen to smile, thinking they had me trapped. Inkler appeared right behind one of the archers, the crush of his jaws swift enough that the creature never even got a chance to scream. His partner noticed though, shrieking in terror. As the spearmen stopped to turn and look at the commotion behind them, I charged forward to take advantage of their moment of distraction. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I targeted the base of the skull, remembering my time as a kobold dissecting a goblin. Their neck only contained one vertebrae, and I didn¡¯t want to test my luck in cutting through it. I hit the joint with enough force to decapitate the spearman, using a backhanded swing to deflect the hurried thrust of the remaining spear user as he realized that danger was much closer than the giant cat that just crushed his buddy¡¯s skull. A quick left handed jab to the face brought tears to his oversized eyes, and I gave a home run swing with my hammer to end his life. Turning, I saw Inkler savaging the body of the remaining archer, a single broken arrow in the sand the only evidence that the goblin had managed any form of attack. ¡°Excellent job Inkler.¡± I said, patting his head as I went around looting the bodies. Each one dropped a handful of coins, nothing more than a silver, and some crude weapons that I accepted only because of the abundance of room in my inventory. Rounds 12 through 14 followed the same pattern, slightly increasing in level but differing in weapon varieties. I was forced to bring out my arbalest to open the fights, but kept to ordinary bolts. Level 15 was a major pain. The enemies had dropped to three, but they were much higher quality than the previous waves. Two level 18 hobgoblin soldiers were decked out in iron armor that did a decent job of covering their weaknesses. They each carried a sword and wooden buckler, moving in step as they slowly maneuvered closer to me. Behind them was a level 20 hobgoblin shaman, already starting to cast dark magics at me. To make things even worse for me, the soldiers knew what spells were being chanted and would widen the gap between them to allow the spell to pass through, closing it immediately afterward to prevent me from countering. ¡°Annoying bastards, working together in a team.¡± I snarled, annoyed that I had taken a bit of damage from a weird bolt of darkness that had writhing tendrils trailing after it. Just as I was about to target the shaman, Inkler appeared and crushed his leg before yanking on it hard enough to topple the shrieking bastard. As the soldiers whirled to see what the issue was, I took one of them in the back of the head with a bolt from the arbalest. ¡°Try your teamwork now you bastards. [Dark bolt].¡± I was running toward the last soldier, pausing to fire off my spell as he whirled around to face me. He raised his shield to block the attack, but it wasn¡¯t up to the task and shattered. ¡°Go ahead and finish him Inkler, I got this guy.¡± I yelled, reminding the soldier that his shaman was pinned beneath a cat that had bitten down with crushing force on the hobgoblin¡¯s head. Pained and panicked screams ensued, again causing hesitation in the soldier, just enough for me smash him in the chest with the scythe portion of my weapon. It took out a good chunk of his life, but wasn¡¯t enough to kill him. ¡°Graaaa!¡± It yelled in my face, spittle flying as it started swinging his sword wildly at me. I gave ground, not wanting to meet his ferocity head on. Its swings were wild and uncontrolled, and I flashed back to something I had read in a book a long time ago. If someone is swinging a weapon, it takes twice the amount of energy to swing and miss as it does to have the blow blocked or parried. I was content to wait him out, or wait until Inkler could get a clear shot at his back. Either way I would come out on top. After nearly thirty seconds of kiting him around the arena, he slowed down and glared at me. He wasn¡¯t totally drained of stamina, but he was hurting as his nostrils flared with each inhale. I smiled and made a ¡®come here¡¯ motion with my free hand, sending him back into a rage. One he was incapable of capitalizing on. Right as he was starting to move forward, Inkler landed on his back and shredded him with a reality slash. ¡°God I¡¯m glad they give us the experience after every ten levels.¡± I said to Inkler as I plopped down onto the sand for a five-minute breather. ¡°Even if it was only 3 levels, that still made this fight a good bit easier. Between that and an awesome stealth cat that knows how to take down mages, I¡¯m just a distraction.¡± Inkler started purring at the praise and dropped his head in my lap for scratches. I indulged him for a few minutes, then went and looted the bodies. A handful of silver coins, poor quality iron armor, and a deer horn headdress. Probably worth a few coppers. Once again Inkler and I started in on the grind for rounds 16 through 19. My opening gambit for each round was to send a bolt into the face of the hobgoblin soldier that came with each round. It didn¡¯t always kill them, but seeing your strongest warrior lose the majority of his life before you can even find out where the enemy is attacking from is terrible on morale. Then the leader gets mauled just as he orders a charge, and the goblins that accompanied the hobgoblins didn¡¯t last long. Even if there were five enemies instead of four, we pretty well steamrolled the floors.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Get ready bud, boss fight incoming.¡± I said as we were waiting for round 20 to begin.
Boss round! This boss round will be fought in two waves. You have five minutes to clear the first wave before the second wave is summoned. Good luck!
¡°Two waves on this one buddy, we gotta clear this first one fast.¡± As I was speaking, four summoning circles appeared and identical hobgoblins emerged. Their armor was uniform, and they all had tower shields. The most worrisome part was their coordinated movements, immediately forming a shield wall facing me with blades that resembled a Roman gladius in their hands.
Hobgoblin royal guard Level 23 Each generation of royal guards is split into units of four, and raised together. A lifetime of training and living together have forged them into a terrifyingly competent unit, instinctively covering each other¡¯s actions.
Shit, four competent enemies that have a decent set of armor and a five-minute time limit. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± I calmly fired at the face of the one to the right of center, despite the nervousness I was feeling. As I hoped, it simply raised a shield to protect its face, letting my arbalest bolt pierce the shin guard and hobble the creature. The two to its sides immediately stepped forward to protect it, letting Inkler get a free shot at the one on the far left. ¡°[Lance of light].¡± I fired off another attack that got past the shields, but only dealt a glancing blow to the shoulder of one of the uninjured guards. The two that were still standing decided that I was the more dangerous opponent, and that they couldn¡¯t sit back and defend their fallen friends. Roaring in unison, they both charged at me, hunkered behind their shields. They really didn¡¯t leave me much in the way of openings, forcing me to make my own. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I teleported to the shield side of the right hand guard, dropping into a crouch as I let loose a haymaker shot with my hammer to his knee. ¡°AAAIIIEEEYYYY!¡± The hobgoblin screamed in agony as the force nearly tore the weapon out of my hand. His partner skidded to a stop and tried to get around to attack me, but his crippled friend was in the way. The one on the ground tried to slash at me, but his attack had no power. I finished him with a dark bolt to the face, as I stood up to face the last of the uninjured creatures. I slowly backed away, looking for an opening as he kept the majority of his body behind that massive slab of metal. The original one that had been injured tried to scream a warning, but it was far too late as Inkler materialized behind the guard and pounced on him. The force knocked him on his stomach and I smashed his head with my hammer to end his participation. Once that was done, Inkler and I headed over and harried the injured one, that had managed to regain his feet. After a few feints, I battered away his feeble swing as the hatred in his eyes turned to surprise. The backhanded swing of my scythe tore open his throat, killing him. ¡°I guess we don¡¯t get a rest, boss incoming in three seconds.¡± I warned Inkler, having gotten a notification about wave two beginning soon. Teleporting in was an absolutely massive hobgoblin. Slightly taller than me, his biceps were larger around than my thighs. He easily twirled around the twin axes that he was carrying, taking in the carnage left behind from his guards.
Hobgoblin king Level 25 Thankfully rare, hobgoblin kings are dangerous opponents. With strength comparable to an orc berserker, and a savageness in battle that is unmatched, few are crazy enough to go toe to toe with these monsters.
¡°So. Were you the one to kill my guards?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Alone? Impressive.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°I do hope you live long enough to be entertaining.¡± As I watched, his spinning axes got faster as a red glow started emanating from his body. His eyes dilated until they seemed to be entirely pupil, and I instinctively reacted as he dashed forward. ¡°[Magelight]!¡± I sent a flash of light right into his face. He wailed in pain, charge faltering as he crashed into the sands. I was having the same problem with my earth magic as I was having in the desert, and was forced to subdue him with [Binding shadow chains]. ¡°Cheating bastard! I¡¯ll rip you limb from limb!¡± He screamed, arms bulging as he tried to brute force his way out from my binding. ¡°I¡¯m sure you would. [Keen edge].¡± My attack decapitated him, much to my relief. ¡°Let the looting begin.¡± I chuckled, glad I had avoided a tough fight. ¡°Decent loot at last, it¡¯s about time.¡± I muttered as I collected items from the bodies. Each of the royal guard gave me a piece of their armor set. It wasn¡¯t a true set, giving bonuses and the like, simply a superior version of steel armor. I collected two shields, a chest plate, and a set of greaves from them as well as a handful of silver coins per monster. The king actually had enchanted gear, and was rather generous with his drops. Five gold for coins, along with both axes that came as an actual set as well as his belt.
Berserk King¡¯s Savage Left Set item (1 of 2) Created for the Hobgoblin King, this is one of a pair of war axes whose sight imbues fear into whoever sees it. Damage: 80-120 Durability: 1,500/1,500 +5 to strength Fear aura: Creatures lower level than the wielder will be inflicted with fear. Ability can be toggled. When paired with Berserk King¡¯s Wrath: Attack speed increased by 35%
Berserk King¡¯s Wrath Set item (1 of 2) The favored weapon of the Hobgoblin King, this weapon is made for damage. Damage: 100-125 Durability: 1,250/1,250 +5 to dexterity Searing wrath: Adds 15% of damage taken as fire damage When paired with Berserk King¡¯s Savage Left: Damage increased by 35%
Congratulations! You have defeated the second floor guardian! You may advance to the next set of floors or wait a half hour to recover. If you advance now, half of all your resource bars will be filled. Advance? Y/N
Experience awarded! For defeating a boss level, you have earned the total experience of your previous fights. Level up x 8! You and your pet are now level 21.
¡°Hey bud, what do you think? Go ahead and advance to the next round?¡± Inkler simply looked at me, then went back to whatever he was doing. Apparently he was knocking around one of the helmets from the dead guards, using it as a macabre ball. Oh, from the looks of it, there¡¯s still a head inside. Time to move on. Hitting the button, I started the next set of challenges. Book 3 Chapter 13 Inkler glared at me as his toy disappeared, though he quickly got ready for battle as the summoning circles appeared across the sands. Three hunchbacked horrors appeared. Roughly three feet tall, they were covered in a grey, stringy fur. DREADLOCKS! It came to me in a flash, their hair reminded me of dreadlocks that hadn¡¯t been washed in ages. This fur covered their entire bodies save their whipcord tails, and just below their wrists and above the ankles. Pinkish white skin covered elongated fingers and toes. They stood on the first two knuckles of each toe, and the rest of their feet hovered a few inches above the ground. Bobbing and sniffing, it wasn¡¯t until one raised its head up that I finally recognized it for what it was.
Divine Beastman, rat variant Level 30 Like their smaller brethren, the beady eyed rat beastman has poor eyesight. It relies on its acute sense of smell to locate prey, and their teeth can tear through steel. They rely on swift hit and run tactics, letting the diseases passed along by their bites wear down enemies. Rage has been known to take them when injured.
Shit. Would the system recognize a disease as a poison or not? Best not try and find out, and just assume that I am not immune. Luckily these three didn¡¯t carry any weapons, but I couldn¡¯t guarantee that would always be the case. ¡°Inkler, don¡¯t bother with invisibility, and don¡¯t let them bite you.¡± Though I hissed, three heads immediately swiveled in my direction as Inkler chuffed at me in annoyance. I could almost hear him mutter that rats were always prey to cats, especially this one. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get this party started. [Oblivion sphere][Lance of light][Light bolt][Dark bolt].¡± I spoke calmly as I straightened up, blasting the central ratman with the first spell, and splitting the remaining spells at the other two. They had just started to move towards the sound of my voice when the first spell hit, destroying the head of the first rat. Its friends froze as they were showered in gore, only to swiftly take spells to their chest area. The one on the left took both light spells, getting knocked backwards by the impact. I saw Inkler pounce on it, so I focused on the enraged one that took the dark bolt spell. ¡°RRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!¡± It screamed at me as its eyes changed from black to a burning red. Its muscles swelled, and the hair wrapped around the body as some form of woven armor. Dropping down to all fours, it moved across the sands at a speed that rivalled the hobgoblin king. That was the last thought I had, as I was forced to defend from a flurry of strikes that were coming from all directions. Desperately blocking and parrying, I was no match for the onslaught. Even with me backing away, blood was flying from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a strand of hair flick out to absorb my blood. Damnit, the bastard was recovering while draining mine. ¡°Inkler! Little help!¡± Health rapidly draining, it took a few seconds but Inkler managed to get there in time. Just as he dug claws into the back of the ratman, it snapped forward and bit down on my forearm. ¡°Hyaaaaaaa!!!¡± I screamed as his teeth punctured my armor. It seemed even with Inkler savaging his back, this guy was determined to take a portion of me with him. Shoving my left forearm against its throat, I tried to simply hold it in place as pushing back caused me a good bit of pain. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± I grit out the words to the spell, slashing through the beast¡¯s neck. ¡°Oof.¡± I grunted, as the combined weight of Inkler and the body fell onto me. ¡°Get off bud, he¡¯s dead.¡± I groaned, as Inkler was still tearing into the creature. While he did that, I worked on prying the jaws out of my arm. Once I did, I shoved the body off and staggered to my feet. I felt odd, my hands clammy. Once I had the head removed from my arm, I noticed a popup flashing in my vision.
Divine disease contracted! You have contracted a divine disease. This condition is stackable up to five times, and has a 75% chance of transferring to allies of the same species that are within ten feet of you. Symptoms: Stamina bar reduced by ? All skills cost 2x mana or stamina Duration: 1 stack: 10 minutes 2 stacks: 20 minutes 3 stacks: 40 minutes 4 stacks: 80 minutes 5 or more stacks: 160 minutes
¡°Just great, I¡¯ve got the divine flu.¡± I muttered, looting the bodies in search of a divine cure disease potion. Each rat dropped a mangy pelt in varieties of quality, as well as a vial of diseased saliva. ¡°Damn. Let¡¯s try this. [Purging flames].¡± I cast the remove curse spell, as that was the only one I had that could possibly be relevant. Of course, I got a notification that my attempt had no effect, and that purging flames wouldn¡¯t work on a disease. ¡°Alright, new plan. Don¡¯t get bit.¡± I told Inkler, adding, ¡°Because that worked so well the first time.¡± I downed a health potion just as the timer for the next level finished counting down. The next battle had four rats. My opening volley was slightly different, and the outcome was much better for myself. The first rat died to an oblivion sphere to the face, a spell that was rapidly becoming one of my favorites. The second one caught the same combination of light bolt and lance of light, weakening it enough that I left it to Inkler. The third one got blasted by a dark bolt, and while it was starting to rage I used [Death¡¯s gaze] to give me a target for my arbalest. The bolt struck true, causing enough critical damage to end the creature. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I spoke calmly, catching the last one. ¡°Leave it for now Inkler, I need to buy time to get rid of this disease.¡± I used a bit of shadow manipulation to create some barbs on the chains, giving the thrashing creature a few stacks of slow bleeding damage. It wasn¡¯t enough to really damage it, but you wouldn¡¯t believe that from the reaction. The rat screamed and clawed at the chains, tearing its skin open more and more with each movement.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Hang back a second.¡± I ordered Inkler as the thirty second spell was wearing off. As soon as the chains disappeared, the ratman went into an incredibly frenzy. Sand was flung in every direction as the creature single mindedly searched for whatever had caused it pain. It was so focused on finding the chains that it ignored the spells I was throwing at it, allowing me to finish it off at our leisure. ¡°[Lance of light].¡± That spell took it in the back, dropping its health down to under half. I waited a full minute before launching another spell, choosing [Light bolt] as my next option. This dropped the ratman into critical health, and it finally turned to face us. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± I finished it with one last spell as it bounded in our direction. ¡°Ugh, this disease sucks.¡± I said to Inkler as I downed a mana potion. I was down to a quarter of my maximum stamina from just that one battle, but I had lowered the duration of my disease to under five minutes. The bodies only yielded pelts, no saliva or cure disease potions this time. Round 23 was another set of four rats, these ones increasing to level 34. Everything was going as planned. The first one fell to the oblivion sphere; the second one was finished off by Inkler. I got complacent, and the arbalest bolt didn¡¯t trigger a critical hit. ¡°[Binding shadow chains]!¡± I tangled up the fourth ratman, not wanting to deal with two at once. The third one was bounding towards me, enraged. Feet set, hammer parallel to the ground. I waited until it took one final leap in the air towards me, hoping to crush me under a pounce. ¡°[Rocket smash]!¡± I cried, torqueing my body in the mother of all swings. My hammer smashed into the shoulder of the creature, knocking it off of its attack. Bones shattered, and the follow through of my swing smashed the creature into the ground, killing it. ¡°Last one¡¯s all yours buddy.¡± I said through pants, having spent nearly all of my stamina in that attack. While the last of the ratmen was trying to get out of the chains and attack me, Inkler pounced on its back and savaged its neck with his jaws. A few savage jerks, and the creature dropped in death. Round 24 was a much simpler matter, as they increased in level again to 35 but dropped to only three ratmen. Because of the level difference, I changed up the rotation slightly. The first took an oblivion sphere and a dark bolt, while the second got both of the light spells as well as an arrow to the chest. The third was Inkler¡¯s prey, after getting wrapped up in shadow chains. ¡°Oh? Come take a little breather bud.¡± I hollered to Inkler after he killed the last of the ratmen. ¡°Looks like we get an extra minute to rest before the miniboss. How kind of them.¡± I took the time to ensure that my health, mana, and stamina were at maximum, glad to finally be rid of that pesky disease. The next boss threw me for a loop. I was expecting a hulked out ratman, or something similar. Instead, I got a creature covered in brown fur with a white belly. Its body was long and lean, and its eyes were focused on me. The paws were covered with a version of iron knuckles, and it gave me a grin full of sharp fangs.
Divine Weaselkin Striker Level 37 miniboss Often employed as rogues and assassins, their speed is unmatched among the beastkin races. Access to steel weapons has only increased their effectiveness in battle.
I had barely finished reading through the description when the weasel rocketed into action. I tried to move my weapon to parry, but it easily slid around my feeble attempt and slammed a fist into my chest, following up with an immediate cross punch to my face. As I staggered back, the weasel retreated back to his initial position and grinned at me. It casually licked a bit of blood off one of his weapons, grinning at me. ¡°Alright bastard, ya wanna play that game? Let¡¯s play that game. [Binding shadow chains]!¡± The weasel flowed around the spell with contemptuous ease, dumbfounding me. He even flicked Inkler on the nose as he tried to intercept, before smashing my left shoulder and right ribcage with two more strikes and flowing back to his starting spot. ¡°Damn, he¡¯s just going to wear us down at this rate. I hate agile opponents.¡± I muttered, looking at my health bar that had dropped down to three quarters of maximum. ¡°Alright, new plan. [Dark bolt][Oblivion sphere][Lance of light][Light bolt][Dark bolt]!¡± I fired off my series of spells, spreading them out a bit to obscure his vision. Charging in behind the spells, I grinned as I saw a look of panic on the weasel¡¯s face as he realized that I had moved. Then my hammer made his acquaintance, knocking out a fang. ¡°Chtchtchtch!¡± It chittered at me as it tried to line up a strike, only for Inkler to latch on to its back leg. While it was distracted, I smashed it in the face again with my hammer. ¡°Taunt me ya little bastard? I¡¯ll show you why that¡¯s a bad idea!¡± Ok, so I might have been harboring a little rage as I kept hitting the boss in the face. I blame the lackluster loot along with not having a choice in boosting the difficulty of the dungeon. Either way, the health bar rapidly dropped as it feebly tried to block my strikes. It didn¡¯t help that this only resulted in him hitting his own face with his iron knuckles. Several strikes later, and I was panting over the corpse while Inkler slunk back a few steps. ¡°Sorry bud, I¡¯m good now.¡± I said, immediately putting my weapon away. He walked closer, flicking his tail a bit. I simply crouched down and stuck out my hand, letting him move closer at his own speed. After hesitating for a second, he darted forward and flipped my hand onto the top of his head in that practiced motion all pets seem to know how to do. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to get that out of control again, okay?¡± I chuckled as I scratched right between his ears. While one hand was occupied with that, I looted the body.
Iron knuckles of Striking Rare Monk only A set of knuckles formed to protect the fists from powerful impacts, these have been enchanted to interrupt an enemy¡¯s attack patterns. Damage: 75-100 Durability: 5,000/5,000 Interrupting impact: 50% chance to interrupt an enemy attack if the blow lands in the middle of the attack or spell.
Congratulations! You have beaten the first 25 levels of the dungeon! This entitles you to a rest floor before continuing on your journey. What would you like to do? Rest: 8.5 hours without any enemies. Will receive warning prompts at 8, 8.25, and 8.5 hours Visit the dungeon store Continue on your journey Leave the dungeon
¡°Looks like we can¡¯t be leaving the dungeon just yet bud. Let¡¯s take a look at the store, and then continue on.¡±
Item Cost Stock Cart
Full health potion: recovers all health 50 gold 0 10
Full mana potion: recovers all mana 50 gold 0 10
Full stamina potion: recovers all stamina 50 gold 10 0
Full recovery elixir: recovers all health, mana, and stamina 1 platinum 0 1
Divine cure disease: cures all diseases 5 platinum 0 5
Satiety pill: fully recovers from hunger and dehydration 50 gold 9 1
¡°I wish I could buy the recipe for this divine cure disease potion.¡± I lamented as I hit confirm. I ended up spending twenty-seven platinum and 50 gold, but it would be worth it to make sure I could replenish everything several more times. With that taken care of, we moved on to the next floor of the dungeon. Book 3 Chapter 14 The next series of rounds were absolutely brutal for me. Variations of groupings of ratmen being led by weasels really tested the teamwork between Inkler and me. The weasels would order the ratmen around, using them for cover for their attacks. Inkler would do his best to interrupt the weasel¡¯s attack and retreat patterns, but the slippery creatures were hard to pin down. The dungeon again changed things up for the boss battle, just when Inkler and I were getting into a groove. This time it was a massive minotaur with several ratmen attendants. Luckily the minotaur didn¡¯t have any weapons, and only used charging attacks. They were easily avoided, and Inkler even managed to get the minotaur to trample one of the ratmen. Loot was disappointing, a few pelts and a horn from the minotaur. At least I managed to jump up from level 21 to level 33 afterwards. ¡°What the hell?!¡± I cried out, as the newest level came with a massive tremor in the arena. Inkler had spread his feet out and had his tail straight into the air, as I stumbled down onto a knee. Several rocky pillars of varying heights shot up, the shortest one being ten feet tall while the highest was roughly five times that. Crawling around on the columns were lizards. Well, the dungeon equivalent of lizards. They had independent eyes and pebbled skin like a chameleon, but lacked the color changing. I was rather amazed that something the size of a saint Bernard could climb the walls so easily.
Divine Necrotail Gecko Level 40 An odd evolution, the necrotail gecko has no natural predators thanks to its tail. The first third is living, as well as the skin that encompasses it. The rest is sealed off by a thick layer of fat and kerotin, and the resultant tail is left to rot.
¡°Don¡¯t bite the tail Inkler, it¡¯s poison.¡± I warned, and proceeded to start picking off the monsters from the walls. They would fall and splatter, tail releasing a noxious cloud that would kill the lizard as well as ruin any of the meat that the system was offering as loot. I kept it, but put it off into a separate area of my inventory. Paranoia? Probably, but it¡¯s not paranoia if you are right. ¡°These things are a not what I expected in a higher level dungeon.¡± I mentioned to Inkler as we were on the fourth level of lizards. Of course, a screech of anger from a new enemy on level 35 had me cursing my big mouth. Looking up, flashes of light made it hard to track the creature fluttering above me. I lurched to the side as I saw a flare of mana, luckily for me as several metal feathers pierced the sand right where I was just standing. Finally getting a nice look at the creature, I got an identification.
Divine Stymphalian Harpy Level 45 Evolved from the stymphalian birds of legend, these harpy¡¯s are the things of nightmare. Their steel feathers allow for both attack and defense, while they can use powerful screeches to disorient their foes. Razor sharp talons defend it should you be foolish enough to enter melee range.
¡°Wonderful. Mixing myths. Well, Hercules shot ¡®em down, why can¡¯t I?¡± I muttered, taking aim and firing. With a single flap, it avoided my bolt and retaliated with a discordant screech. My vision wavered, and I took several metal feathers before I knew what was happening. ¡°Ah, these bastards hurt!¡± I screamed, pulling them out and receiving a bleeding debuff. I stumbled around one of the pillars to break line of sight and hopefully avoid another volley of feathers. ¡°Damn, these feathers are a real pain.¡± I muttered once I had everything back under control. It seems that the disorientation only lasts for a few seconds, but that could be more than enough to turn a fight. I immediately prepared to fight when a few pebbles dropped down onto my head, only to find Inkler looking at me from the top of the pillar he had climbed. ¡°Alright bud, I¡¯ll distract her while you get around and take her down. Just mind the feathers, okay?¡± He chuffed at me before moving to start jumping between pillars. ¡°Alright you feathered hussy, let¡¯s see what you can do to someone who is ready for your tricks!¡± I shouted as I ran around the pillar. The harpy stopped circling her pillar, immediately targeting me with another scream. I was able to dodge the majority of it, as she was telegraphing her attack with a massive inhale. Instead of blurred vision, I only had a fraction of a second¡¯s worth of tinnitus and dizziness. This time I was able to parry three of the four feathers she shot, and smiled as I retaliated. ¡°[Dark bolt][Lance of light][Light bolt].¡± The three spells were evenly spaced, and came far closer to hitting than the arbalest bolt. Before the harpy could retaliate, Inkler appeared on the pillar above her. She was just outside of his reach, much to his frustration. ¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I launched this one while not actually targeting her, instead aiming just below her left wing. Predictably, she dodged upwards and to the right, allowing Inkler to hook a paw under her chin. ¡°Kreeeeee!¡± She shrieked in panic, to no avail. Inkler¡¯s attack had tilted her head so the sonic blast struck nobody. She flailed at him, but her arms couldn¡¯t reach above her head and she wasn¡¯t flexible enough to get her talons into positon. While he held her down, I blasted her with another series of spells, causing massive damage. ¡°Looks like the harpies are glass cannons.¡± I said as I walked over to where her body had fallen. Inkler remained on his perch, cleaning his paws. ¡°Good idea bud, just be ready to be attacked if they spawn near you.¡± I called out to him as I looted the body. I got five steel feathers as well as a harpy wing. I guess harpies are edible, I wonder how close they taste to chicken. The next series of levels were just another grind at this point. Increasing the number of harpies with a few geckos thrown in for variety. It wasn¡¯t anything we couldn¡¯t handle, though at some point I learned that the harpy screech had an almost exponential growth when multiple monsters were shrieking at you. I actually had to down one of the full health potions at that point, as three of the creatures decided to turn me into a steel feathered pincushion. The boss level was a Harpy Matriarch and her ten harpy brood. There were enough harpies that I ended up using stone manipulation to create a netting of overhead stone branches for cover. ¡°I hate birds. Any bird type monster.¡± I muttered to Inkler after the battle with the matriarch was over. ¡°Here, you earned this.¡± I said, giving him one of the harpy wings. He batted and threw it around for a bit before digging in, giving me a much needed chuckle. ¡°Hello, what¡¯s this?¡± I asked myself, as I pulled up the loot for the matriarch. It seems the dungeon was finally going to start handing out items.
Eye of the Matriarch Necklace The keen sight of the Harpy Matriarch has been imbued into this necklace. Telescopic sight: Vision can be zoomed in, up to 10x zoom.
Not a bad item for a scout, but it was lacking when compared to the gear that I already had. I was grateful for the number of higher level enemies through these rounds, as they really boosted my level. Inkler and I both jumped from 33 at dungeon level 30 to 43 at dungeon level 40. Once the looting and pop ups were taken care of, I used a few of the lesser recovery potions I had in my inventory and started level 41.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Underdark Abyss Hunter Level 55 One of the true horrors of the Underdark, the Abyssal society consists of two tiers. Abyssals and food. Their only dilemma is whether to eat you raw or roasted with a fireball.
The Abyssal looked like some horror from the deep sea. It had lean muscles highlighted with spots of bioluminescence. The folds in its abdomen meant it could overstuff itself with whatever it was eating, and the wide mouth with plenty of needle like teeth would help with that. From its back arched a limb with a glowing orb on the end, much like an anglerfish. It resembled a velociraptor in bodily shape, one with several sets of eyes. One set was large, nearly twice the size of a humans with an enormous pupil for low light vision. One glowed to my [Mystic vision], so it probably had some form of vision in the magical spectra as well. The main limbs had a line of yellow luminous bulbs on them, that would flash at random intervals. The rest of the creature was covered in swirling patterns of blue that appeared to swirl around in a distracting pattern. On the back of each heel were three yellow spikes, while a row of curved spikes ran down the creatures back. They started out as yellow, changing to a dark red at the tips. ¡°Fresh meat. Come, scream for me meat.¡± It taunted, molding an orb of shadow magic in its hands. Taking a deep breath in, it cocked its head at me. ¡°Strange. You don¡¯t stink of fear. We will fix that.¡± It launched the shadow orb at me, charging in behind it. I focused on the orb at first, using a lot more mana than I wanted to in order to deflect the spell with shadow manipulation. Hissing in annoyance, we clashed. After exchanging several lightning fast blows, we both backed off for a second to evaluate. My blade barely scratched through his scales, though his claws had the same trouble against my armor. ¡°Ah, you will taste so good meat. You don¡¯t fear, you don¡¯t retreat.¡± He said, licking his lips. ¡°Come, let¡¯s GAAAAAAAH!¡± While he was talking to me, Inkler slashed through his hamstring with a reality slash. ¡°[Rocket slash][Keen edge].¡± I darted forward while he was distracted, slamming my blade into the side of his neck and ripping a massive hole. The blow took off around half of its health, and caused massive bleed damage as well. ¡°Tricky meat, you will pay for that. [Descent of darkness]!¡± It cast an unknown spell, and my vision was completely gone. Not even darkvision could pierce the magical effects, but [Mystic vision] was able to see much to my delight. I saw him starting to circle me, and I played along by backing away and keeping my body facing his original location. ¡°[Lance of light]!¡± I cried out, firing a lance right as the creature leapt towards me. The lance took him right in the middle of the chest, pain disrupting his attack. A follow up blow with my hammer to his snout ended the creature and the magical darkness. ¡°Thanks for the timely attack there, buddy.¡± I said to Inkler as I scratched between his ears. ¡°Just don¡¯t think that they can¡¯t see you, they do have a magical vision.¡± Each level after that was a single Abyssal that increased in level. The fights were always short and brutal, and I wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance if I didn¡¯t have Inkler to harass them. We did learn that the yellow spikes had a paralyzing poison in them, as Inkler took a kick to the chest at level 48. He was immobilized for 30 seconds, and would have been easily killed if I hadn¡¯t launched myself forward and intercepted the creature. I had never thought I would be glad for a boss, but I was really looking forward to level 50. That is, until I met the boss.
Manawarped Abyssal Hunter Level 65 Scholars have long since known that the magic field is far more intense underground than it is at the surface. This leads to much more powerful monsters, with few exceptions. It also leads to far more mutations and variants. While most of these weaken the creature enough that it becomes food for its brethren, the occasional mutation is beneficial.
The creature had two smaller sets of hands with a small arm coming out of its chest, as if some mad scientist had taken a limb from the elbow down and attached it. Instead of blue bioluminescence, the creature was leaking clouds of mana. The worst part about it was the intelligent gleam in its eyes. ¡°Impressed?¡± It asked after giving me a moment to study its form. ¡°I must say, I have a hard time believing you could have defeated my fellows if I couldn¡¯t see your little cat there. Have you fully recovered yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I said, keeping an eye out for any tricks that the creature was going to pull. ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s begin. [Binding shadows].¡± With a wave of one of his smaller hands, shadow tendrils leapt out and wrapped me up. ¡°And now that you are immobilized, [Flame lance] times three!¡± While I initially was concerned, I was now panicking as his three remaining hands each fired a lance of flame so intense it was blue. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I teleported forward, intending to close the distance with one move only to find myself stumbling at half the distance as the three flame lances howled through the air where I used to be. ¡°What the?¡± ¡°Fool! You think you can teleport with all the ambient mana in here? Die. [Infernus wave].¡± His four hands combined to form a circle, which sent out a rapidly ballooning fireball. I had no choice but to weather the blast, crossing my arms in front of my body to try and mitigate the damage. The blast knocked me backward, taking off a large chunk of my health. ¡°[Chilling wind].¡± Turning, the creature targeted an invisible Inkler, catching him in a cone of icy winds that slowed him. ¡°[Oblivion sphere]!¡± I launched a counter attack to distract him and allow Inkler to escape further harm. He responded to my attack with a flick of a wrist, sending a small bit of mana to intercept the orb and detonate it early. ¡°You¡¯ll have to do much better than that.¡± He said with a sneer, launching a series of spells at bot me and Inkler. It was impossible to avoid them all, and though they did minimal damage it was still piling up without giving either of us a chance to retaliate. ¡°[Shadowgheist]!¡± I created a clone, and followed it in with a charge. It wouldn¡¯t make a perfect meat shield, but hopefully it would get me close enough to do what I had planned. Sure enough, we barely reached the halfway point when the clone bit the dust. ¡°Damnit, this¡¯ll have to work.¡± I muttered, closing the gap just a bit more. My health dropped down below half, as I cried, ¡°[Death¡¯s Raiments]!¡± All four skills activated at once, and I saw the terror and surprise come across the creatures face as he was held immobile. Staring at the creature, I saw a red outline where I could use a strike to pierce his heart, coming in from under one of his arms. The spot I chose was just below his ribcage, where I saw a small, silver flame. I assumed this would be the soul well, and struck it with the blade of my weapon. ¡°Ungh.¡± Eyes wide, the creature only managed a pained grunt as I struck, his health bar instantly emptying. The body dropped, and it almost seemed as if it was, less, somehow, than the others that I had killed. I couldn¡¯t quite place my finger on it, but the subtle feeling nagged at me until I looted the corpse. Instead of the normal claws I got as drops from the previous creatures, the manawarped creature dropped two overlarge mana charged claws.
Congratulations! You are the first to have cleared the divine portion of the test levels! You have the ability to access the dungeon proper on future visits, and may choose to skip these first 50 levels so long as everyone in your party has completed them. In addition, you now have access to the dungeon alteration menu, allowing you to increase or decrease the difficulty in any set of 50 levels you have completed on divine difficulty. Rewards will be scaled with the set difficulty. For clearing the first testing levels, you will receive a legendary weapon as a reward!
After I read the slightly confusing pop up, I noticed a swirling light that coalesced into an intricate treasure chest. Silver and gold, it was sized more like a display case than the traditional treasure chest, but that was probably because it only held a weapon. I opened it to see a two handed sword made of mithril, the hilt was simple wrapped leather with a diamond shape in the metal between where the hands would rest. The sheath next to it was solid black, with silver trim at both ends.
Kindness Legendary greatsword (2 handed) This sword is nothing like its name. The creator was a sadistic creature, and his weapons all reflect his values. Any who recognize this weapon have a much higher chance of having lowered relations with the wielder. Damage: 1-1 Durability: Indestructible Painful: Blows struck by this weapon cause 10%*(number of blows) more pain, resetting after 30 minutes of not striking. Critless: Blows by this weapon will never do critical damage. Should a skill that guarantees a critical hit be used, the damage will change to 2-2 for that one blow. Fateless strike: Many are the weapon designed to strike a fateful blow, saving their wielder from certain doom. This blade is one of the few opposites, enchanted that it will never perform a killing blow. Should the target be below 10 health, this sword will heal them for 50% of their maximum health.
What do you wish to do? Enter the dungeon proper Rest for 8 hours Leave the dungeon
Book 3 Chapter 15 Draconian challenge chatroom Current members: Likes2lurk, WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, RycranSeacrest and JimboJonsies Likes2lurk: It¡¯s quiet. Too quiet. TheUnrustable: Everyone is out trying to hit the level cap, thinking they will be joining the raid. Likes2lurk: Good luck with that. The only person who would possibly have a chance is Rycran RycranSeacrest: I¡¯ve already declined. There¡¯s no way I can jump up over a hundred levels in a month and be good with my character. JimboJonsies: *Gasp* You mean, someone recognizes the pitfalls to power leveling? RycranSeacrest: Hah! TheUnrustable: Are they at least picking your brain on possible traps? You do have the most experience with Angus. RycranSeacrest: Yeah, I¡¯m heading out to visit the Needlers in a half hour. Mr. Whiskers wanted to meet and pick my brain. WarriorPrincess: Just the Needlers? RycranSeacrest: Yeah. They are in charge of strategy. TheUnrustable: Can you leave out any mention of glory holes? See if any of the top guilds fall for that trap. RycranSeacrest: I¡¯ll think about it. They are paying me generously though, so I doubt it. JimboJonsies: Equipment? RycranSeacrest: Cash, and helping grind out a few dungeons. I get up to ten runs, for a combined ten drops. WarriorPrincess: Wow, that¡¯s a heck of a deal. Likes2lurk: Seriously? Ten drops, no questions asked? Likes2lurk: So jealous RycranSeacrest: Sorry all, I¡¯m out. Gotta go meet with the Needlers TheUnrustable: Later WarriorPrincess: Ciao Likes2lurk: later RycranSeacrest has left the chat TheUnrustable: So. Anyone found anything amusing? WarriorPrincess: Not really. JimboJonsies: Wish they would start giving us more quests to challenge the monster players. JimboJonsies: They¡¯ve had it out for long enough, but most of it is limited interactions. Likes2lurk: I hear ya. Likes2lurk: But the monster players really need a kingdom before we can really go through and attack, no? Hold a second. Likes2lurk: Wasn¡¯t there a commercial about a kingdom taken over by an incubus a while back? Anyone got a lead on that? JimboJonsies: I know of a few guilds searching, but he covered his trails fairly well. TheUnrustable: How so? JimboJonsies: The NPC in the commercial was found a few days later with her throat slit. Likes2lurk: Well that¡¯s convenient. And since the commercial never showed the face of the demon, we have no leads. JimboJonsies: Not a one. Her friends all know of her mysterious paramour, who insisted on remaining hidden away from company. He was securing safety from political enemies. TheUnrustable: Oy vey. What about the others from the commercial? I remember a demon training, as well as someone assaulting a guild headquarters. JimboJonsies: Not sure. I guess the demon army is on the far side of the desert area, and the other one dropped off the radar. WarriorPrincess: Speaking of the desert, any idea when they are going to switch away from rebuilding quests? TheUnrustable: Great for building reputation, but the sand gets everywhere WarriorPrincess: Hear, hear. TheUnrustable: At least we all get to watch the dungeon dive for free. Wonder how they are going to get everyone into taverns. Likes2lurk: Open up the arenas? JimboJonsies: Not enough room to make money. I hear that the taverns are going to have instances. TheUnrustable: That¡¯ll be fun. Some idiot starts annoying you, just hop over to a different instance JimboJonsies: Should cut down on bar fights. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rycran¡¯s POV ¡°Rycran?¡± I turned at my name to find a character with an odd ensemble. Only around five and a half feet, he wore high level rogue leathers but his weapon was odd. A white bone bow, with gemstones set along the arms. ¡°Crimson King?¡± ¡°The one and only, but just call me King. First, you have our thanks for helping us out with this. Go ahead and join my party, and I¡¯ll teleport us to headquarters.¡± As he spoke, he invited me to join his party, which I readily agreed. Almost immediately came a notification that the leader had instituted a party teleport, and three seconds later we left the city square where we had met and were in a perfectly circular room. Smokeless torches lined the walls at regular intervals, and just at the edge of my perception I thought I saw some sort of grate set within the wall. ¡°Crimson King escorting Rycran of the Screaming Eagles to see Mr. Whiskers.¡± King called out. I heard several bolts being slid and heavy locks being undone from the opposite side of the room as the door. ¡°I thought teleports had to come out in a courtyard?¡± I asked, looking at King. ¡°Heh, it¡¯s an open secret now so I don¡¯t see the harm. The Mad Emperor raid has a special base drop if you find it. If more than 40% of a teleporting group is not part of the guild or an allied guild, the teleport gets shunted away to a secondary teleport pad. It was fantastic the first time we used it, we were in a war with the Lionhearts. You remember them?¡± ¡°Not particularly. Probably before my time.¡± ¡°Eh, no worries. Back in the day, they were neck and neck with us for the longest time. They even cleared the Mad Emperor first, but we got lucky with the drop conditions and ended up getting it first.¡± As he spoke, we headed out through an illusory door and down a hallway, picking up two nameless and silent rear guards. ¡°Whiskers noticed right away the importance of the item, and immediately prioritized our little trap room back there. It¡¯s still the fastest we have ever had a room or building go up, even with all the traps. So Whiskers, he gets his room all set up and ready, and starts pokin¡¯ the bear. Little taunts here and there, camping their newbies. Minor annoyances, especially since we made sure to guard whatever the newbies dropped until they could reclaim it. Some of ¡®em even got a bit of gold added, as thanks. Well, that was the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back, and the leader, RegalRich, he gets fed up. So Whiskers orchestrates a ¡®betrayal,¡¯¡± making quotation marks around betrayal, King continued, ¡°and gets someone to leak our teleport codes and coordinates.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t they suspect?¡± I interrupted as we started heading up a flight of stairs. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure they did. But Whiskers had set up a massive public fight with Fingers, ending up with Fingers making a dramatic exit. Rich thought they could get in quick, and organizes a group of his best. Max party, they pulled out all the stops. They needed to take the gate quickly and let the rest of their guild in. So Fingers and the party of Lionhearts teleport in, only instead of a courtyard in the middle of the night, they are back in that room. They start immediately hammering away on the fake door, only to have our alchemists and rogues start peppering them with sleepy time potions.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Sleepy time? I would have thought they would go for the kill.¡± ¡°Ah, but we didn¡¯t want to kill them. See, after the mages burned up their mana pots, they had no recourse. Eventually everyone dropped off to sleep. That¡¯s when the best part of Whiskers¡¯ plan kicked in. The rogues, all with gas masks, headed into the room and robbed ¡®em blind.¡± He burst into laughter at that point, and I heard one of the guards chuckling behind me as well. ¡°Wait, robbed them? Of what?¡± ¡°Eh. Eh. Everything!¡± He stutter laughed, continuing. ¡°Picked their pockets, and took all their equipped gear! Thirty max level players with all their expensive gear, and the only stuff they kept was soulbound! So they come to in our dungeon, where we can hold ¡®em for four hours. Except they are down their best people, so we left a skeleton crew here to guard the walls and went and raided their place! It took two hours to break the door to their vault, but without the top players in their clan our raid had really nothing to fear.¡± ¡°Good god they must have been pissed!¡± I said, rather awed with their audacity. ¡°Oh they raised hell, you better believe it. The mods came down in our favor though, and as a concession they made it so that you can only remove one piece of equipped gear from someone, and even then it¡¯s a random draw. If you happen to get a soulbound item, tough luck.¡± ¡°Heh, I¡¯m rather glad for that.¡± I said with a relieved chuckle. ¡°So what happened afterwards?¡± ¡°The Lionhearts broke. They lost their best gear, and we took everything that wasn¡¯t nailed down in the vault as well. They couldn¡¯t ransom their raid party, and had to take a level penalty. With all that, people just left. Most blamed Rich for not seeing the red flags, and rightfully so.¡± As he was finishing the story, he knocked on a door and opened it almost immediately. ¡°Rycran? Welcome to the Needlers headquarters. I¡¯m Mr. Whiskers, pleasure to meet you.¡± Another rogue was behind the desk, standing and offering his hand. As he stood, I saw that he wore two Kris instead of traditional daggers. The bone handles were shaped like dragon heads gripping a gemstone, each eye a different color. The dragon with a topaz in its mouth had an emerald and a ruby as eyes. The other head was gripping an opal, while the eyes were a sapphire and some sort of brown gemstone. ¡°I hope King wasn¡¯t boring you too much with the tale of the Lionhearts. He really enjoys it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I said, shaking his hand. ¡°I¡¯m rather glad that I heard it. I know that what I tell you won¡¯t go to waste.¡± ¡°Glad to hear that. So, what can you tell me about his traps?¡± ¡°They are annoying.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°He likes misdirection, and he will play with your rogues¡¯ minds. You know that, right?¡± ¡°I had assumed as much, but if you have some examples I would love to hear about it.¡± ¡°Sure. The annoying part. Imagine a hallway filled with tiles. Every single tile has a metal clicker under it. So no matter where you step, you hear a click. These wouldn¡¯t do any damage, so they don¡¯t show up to a detect trap skill. Three out of every four tiles have a small needle designed to do one damage.¡± ¡°Ah. So the tiles that look safe hide traps, and the ones that are showing as traps are just there to herd people or cause them to lose their minds with disarming so many useless traps.¡± ¡°Exactly. Keep in mind, this is also going down like a PvP match, and he will be taking shots at your healers.¡± ¡°Unfortunate.¡± Whiskers answered with a sigh. ¡°The rest of the groups are thinking this is going to be a simple jaunt into a dungeon, and are prepping for a slightly tougher PvE dive. King, can you make a note to have everyone bring triple the resurrection scrolls?¡± ¡°They¡¯re gonna fight that.¡± He warned. ¡°Of course they are. Tell them if we use less than half of the total, the Needlers will reimburse for cost.¡± Once King nodded, Whiskers looked back at me. ¡°Alright, so he¡¯s going to take down the healers first. Any specific warnings?¡± ¡°Yeah. That arbalest of his is incredibly powerful. Plus he has some special bolts, so go heavy on the ranged defense when wandering around. Luckily it takes a while to reload, so expect hit and runs.¡± ¡°I saw as much, but it¡¯s good to get that confirmed. What do you know of specialty bolts?¡± ¡°Well, he had one that gave one of our guys a pretty vicious curse. If you die from the bolt, you lose ten percent of your stats for the day, and it can¡¯t be removed.¡± ¡°Brutal. That could easily be the difference between winning and losing. I¡¯ll have to let everyone know to remove bolts immediately. King, can you make a note to have everyone bring along a full stack of cleanse potions? That should hopefully take care of all the bolts he has.¡± ¡°I would hope so.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°So expect attacks from the walls, and misleading traps. You saw the wire trap we ran into, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Still not a hundred percent sure on how it worked though. Ideas?¡± ¡°From what we could tell, the wire was attached beneath the chest, and threaded through the ground. When the tension was removed from the wire, the ground lost its support.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just, King. Get our defense people prepping traps like that in the castle.¡± ¡°Heh, good idea. You also have to beware the mind games. You saw the holes that people were sticking their heads in?¡± At his nod, I continued, ¡°Yeah. Expect things like that. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there was a big red button with a sign that says not to push it.¡± ¡°And we will have that idiot that just has to push it.¡± King said, shaking his head. ¡°Yep.¡± I agreed readily. ¡°He will split you up and wear you down. We got lucky when he finally decided to go all out against us as he missed the timing.¡± They both perked up a bit at that, so I kept explaining, ¡°We were just about to pull a monster from a different room. Had he waited a second or two more, we would have had to deal with him, his clone, and a third monster all at once. I don¡¯t know what his stats are, but he will definitely be able to hold his own against at least two, possibly three people.¡± ¡°You think he will be that strong?¡± King asked with a questioning tone. ¡°I do. Be expecting poisons as well, I heard he was an alchemist.¡± ¡°We know about that. Do you know of his specialty?¡± Whiskers asked. ¡°No, sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. Anything special about his fighting style?¡± ¡°Physical melee mostly, though he does have some augmenting skills for damage. I don¡¯t know about any movement skills though. He did have a binding skill as well.¡± I added at the end, remembering how he bound us with chains. ¡°Ok, thanks. So we are going up against someone who will chip away at us and likes to think outside of the box. He¡¯ll probably have a few monsters here and there, but he mostly stuck to traps right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Right. And we have a group that doesn¡¯t think this will be a vastly different dungeon than something we have done before. Are you sure you don¡¯t want us to power level your group and join us? I would gladly kick out two of each of the other guilds just to have someone with experience.¡± ¡°Sorry, I talked with everyone already and they are against it. We like progressing at our own pace, and feel like we would be more of a hindrance at the upper levels since we won¡¯t have the skill progressions down.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± Whiskers said with another sigh. ¡°I¡¯m glad you answered that way, you¡¯ve really helped me out with this dive. In addition to everything we have offered for the information, I would also like to offer an alliance invitation to your Screaming Eagles. No defense pacts or anything like that, I don¡¯t want you guys to get targeted. Just information transfer and priority trade agreements.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t accept right away, but can I ask about the trade agreements?¡± ¡°Sure. We go through a lot of ingredients, more so than what we can honestly expect our newer members to collect. If you find you have spare reagents of a certain level range, we will give you market rate plus 10% for the trouble if you trade with us. In return, if you need some high level reagents we can either sell them to you, or provide information on where to locate them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, well that¡¯s damn generous of you. I¡¯ll pitch it to the guild, and have an answer to you in a few days if that¡¯s ok.¡± ¡°Take your time, we are in no rush for it. I do hope this is the start to a profitable alliance though.¡± He said, standing and offering a hand. While I was shaking his hand, King stepped forward and held out a sealed scroll. ¡°A copy of the normal agreement we offer.¡± He explained as I took it. ¡°Well, good luck with your leveling Rycran, and thanks again for the information. King will return with you to the teleport room, and you can head to wherever you need.¡± ¡°Thanks Mr. Whiskers, and good luck with the dungeon dive. I have a feeling you¡¯ll need it.¡± As I turned to leave, I remembered the ring that Corrigan had picked up off of Angus¡¯ corpse. ¡°Wait, there is an ability that I know he has. When we killed him, our rogue got a ring that let him create a shadow copy with slightly less stats. The flavor text said that it was based on an ability of the monster it was looted from, so that¡¯s something to be worried about. I don¡¯t know if he can give his clone abilities or not.¡± I drew out the last word, hoping they would understand my uncertainty. ¡°But it is better to assume that he can and not be surprised, right?¡± Mr. Whiskers asked with a smile, picking up exactly what I was hoping he would. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will work on countermeasures. I¡¯m sure a sufficiently strong dispelling could stop the clone.¡± Satisfied, I nodded and followed King as he lead me back to the teleporter room. Book 3 Chapter 16 Angus POV I reluctantly hit the option to leave the dungeon as I didn¡¯t want to press my luck. How often can you say you spent a few hours fighting things and managed to level from the teens to 53? After making my selection, I felt a slight disorientation from the transfer and found myself in the gazebo structure with Inkler by my side. The red lights had gone, and I turned to see a group of drow waiting on me. The priestess I recognized immediately, tapping her foot and visibly restraining herself from further action. Behind her in an arch were eight scantily clad drowesses, though each one managed to have a family crest on a bit of cloth big enough to make it out. Most had slight aging lines around their eyes, and I assumed they would be the heads of clans. Behind them was another arch of drow. Each of the matriarchs had a younger drowess behind at her left hand, while an armored escort was behind at her right hand. ¡°Hello matriarchs.¡± I said with a slight bow. That got several raised eyebrows at my audacity. ¡°Care to explain what this was all about, Angus?¡± The priestess asked, barely hiding the fury in her voice. I craned my neck just a bit and saw that the entire line had been disbanded, but almost all of the guards were standing in such a way that they had an ear pointed toward the conversation. ¡°That¡¯s not a problem, though are you sure we should do so out here? Where anyone could listen?¡± ¡°Heh. A man that actually uses his head for thinking.¡± One of the matriarchs snickered. ¡°And where would you have us go?¡± ¡°Surely there is a room large enough for your entourages nearby? I have no requirements save that the room be secured.¡± ¡°Follow me then.¡± The priestess ordered, turning and storming off towards a building I hadn¡¯t noticed before. I fell in line behind her, while the matriarchs worked out their own pecking order. I was a bit nervous with all of those semi hostile drow behind me, but focusing on walking with a straight back helped. Entering the building, we walked straight past two staircases leading up, and entered an unlabeled door. Inside was an odd table setup. Imagine a round table cut in half. Extending from the flat portion are two arms that would be the original edge of the circle, only they don¡¯t quite connect, leaving a gap to walk through. At the head of the table is another round portion, with one seat. Each side of the round table had four chairs for the matriarchs. ¡°Take a seat in the middle of the table.¡± The priestess ordered as she moved around to the head of the table. The matriarchs filed in, and it hit me. Each matriarch was a leg of the spider that the table would resemble when viewed from above. The priestess was the head, while I would be in the middle of the stomach. ¡°So, care to explain just what happened to our dungeon?¡± ¡°Sure. I guess the dungeon wanted to test a demigod monster by upping the difficulty level. Did you know that the first fifty floors are merely a test?¡± I answered in a relaxed manner. ¡°Of course we knew of the test.¡± One of the matriarchs near the foot of the table snapped. ¡°What are you planning to do to our dungeon? ANSWER ME!¡± She shouted when she realized I hadn¡¯t even turned my head to look at her. I answered when the priestess nodded at me. ¡°Nothing.¡± I answered curtly. Before anyone else could speak, and the matriarch who had just yelled looked nearly apoplectic, the matriarch just to the right of the priestess raised a hand. ¡°Perhaps a step back is in order. Do you prefer to be called Angus?¡± ¡°That¡¯s perfectly fine matriarch.¡± I answered with a slight nod of my head. She simply smiled, probably for scoring a point in a game I had no idea about. ¡°Thank you. So, Angus, what did you know about the dungeon before you entered it today?¡± ¡°I knew that it hasn¡¯t been conquered, and that it supported multiple instances. I was also made aware of the badge ranking system.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± At my nod, the much calmer matriarch continued. ¡°I see. Then we need to catch you up on what occurred. When you entered, alarms blared and nobody was allowed to enter afterwards. Any who tried were informed that testing was underway and that the dungeon would open up again after the test. May I ask how the test went?¡± ¡°It was incredibly difficult. I fought a series of monsters, starting with a low level slime and culminating in a level 65 manawarped abyssal hunter.¡± At the mention of the last monster, all the matriarchs reacted. Several stiffened, a few sucked in a deep breath, and almost all of their eyes widened. ¡°After defeating him, I received a notification that I could alter the difficulty of the dungeon, up to any level I had cleared in divine difficulty.¡± ¡°And what would happen if you altered the difficulty?¡± ¡°The rewards would increase or decrease accordingly.¡± ¡°May we see anything you have earned as rewards?¡± The priestess asked, so I put an example of each item I had taken out of the dungeon. As I did, there were a few notifications that I quickly read.
Potion degradation! You have taken divine tier potions outside of the dungeon. Sadly, the ambient mana is insufficient to maintain their potency. They have been downgraded to the following: Greater health potion x 9 Greater mana potion x 10 Greater recovery elixir x 1 Saintly cure disease potion x 5 Satiety pill x 1
The ¡®nice¡¯ matriarch, who I no doubt has ordered atrocities that would be unthinkable, lit up when she saw Kindness. ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t realize that DeSade had created a sword. Most of his things are more, bedroom friendly.¡± ¡°DeSade?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°A nobility of some sort, I forget his actual rank. A rather gifted enchanter and blacksmith, most of his creations are renowned for their ability to inflict pain without killing or crippling the victim, be they willing or not.¡± She explained. ¡°Though he was very careful that most of his creations could serve a more mundane purpose. To keep those prudes who worship Pelor at bay, you see.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Of course.¡± I said, pretending to understand. Several smirks let me know that they would allow me this polite fiction. Then the angry one opened her mouth again. ¡°We¡¯ll be taking the rest of this as well, I¡¯m sure our craftsmen will enjoy -.¡± Her words cut off as a feeling of death and rage filled the air. My priestess smiled, as did several of the matriarchs, though Angry and two others relegated to the ends of the table looked confused. I did notice that every single bodyguard had a hand on weapon hilt, and oddly enough that the drowess behind Angry was subtly leaning forward with a predatory look to her eyes. ¡°Should you try and take my items.¡± I spoke in a cold voice, turning slowly to stare her down. ¡°I will end you. Not only that, but any time I need to walk through the streets of your city I will drag your severed head behind me. I¡¯ll charge a copper a turn for anyone who wants to use your head for a few moments of enjoyment, until your jaw rots off. Do I make myself clear?¡± She sneered, and was starting to rise when a yowling growl from next to her chair caused her to freeze. Inkler decided to reveal just his head, fangs bared as he was ready to attack at a moment¡¯s notice. I turned back to the priestess, content to let the bitch sit in fear for a while. Though she had a scowl on her face, I could see the glee in the priestess¡¯ eyes as she watched this unfold. ¡°Of course, your winnings are your own.¡± The priestess said, imperiously dismissing my items with a wave of her hand. ¡°Would you mind showing us your badge?¡± ¡°Badge?¡± ¡°The dungeon should have placed a badge in your inventory when you left.¡± The nice matriarch explained. ¡°Huh, how did I miss that?¡± I said as I pulled it out and showed everyone. It was hexagonal like the ones they were expecting, but that was about it. Silvery white with a gold and black border, there was a golden 50 in the middle of it. ¡°I thought they were all blue?¡± I heard one of the matriarch¡¯s heirs mutter, earning her a few subtle glares. ¡°I assume blue is for normal difficulty. Would you like me to increase the dungeon difficulty on our way out?¡± I asked. ¡°Not at this time.¡± The priestess waved off my offer. ¡°Perhaps you could see if you could designate someone as a caretaker of sorts?¡± ¡°I will try.¡± I promised. ¡°Who would you prefer?¡± ¡°I doubt you would survive the negotiations.¡± The nice matriarch answered. ¡°Perhaps we should hold off on doing this for right now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine with me.¡± I quickly answered. ¡°I do have some things I need to take care of, that are a priority right now. If you have finished your discussions by then I will be more than happy to try. If not, that is fine too.¡± ¡°Very well. I will escort Angus back to his abode. In the meantime, I will say that should the matriarchs fail to reach a consensus before Angus is ready to leave, we will have him attempt to set up one of the priestesses of Lolth as caretaker of the dungeon.¡± I stood at the same time as the priestess, holding the door and following her out without saying anything else to the matriarchs. She was quiet as she stormed through the streets. Her guards were incredibly agitated, and every time I tried to talk to her she silenced me with a glare. Shrugging, I fell into silent step with her. People hurried to clear a path. I was even surprised to see people halt for a second at the practice yard near where I was staying, only to immediately go back to what they were doing. I opened the door and entered the cottage, and the priestess followed me in. ¡°Wait outside, and hear nothing.¡± She ordered her guards before shutting the door in their faces. ¡°Do you realize the shit-storm you just summoned?¡± ¡°You say that as if I knew it would happen and did it anyway. It¡¯s not like I had a choice about the dungeon.¡± I fired right back. ¡°Choice? You always have a choice. That dungeon doesn¡¯t even kill the natives of this world, they just get banned from entering for a week! You could have simply died and come right back out!¡± ¡°And how the hell am I supposed to know that? It¡¯s not like I got a guide to your dungeon before going in there!¡± ¡°You adventurers always come back to life! It should be obvious!¡± ¡°And what am I to do if I keep coming back inside the dungeon? Keep dying forever? Fuck that shit.¡± ¡°Too late to change things now. We just have to keep you safe.¡± ¡°What do you mean keep me safe? What about that contract?¡± ¡°Oh you sweet summer child, do you think that contract infallible? There are loopholes in every contract, no matter how tight it is, and the matriarchs will find a way around it.¡± ¡°Why would they be after me though?¡± ¡°You seriously don¡¯t get it? Fine. You went and gained fifty levels in a day. A Day! Not only that, but you admitted to everyone there that you could increase the difficulty for everyone who enters, and increase their rewards! So now all the matriarchs see you as a key to increasing the power of their armies, letting their soldiers train in the dungeon. And every time they come out, they will be bringing in more than enough treasure to pay their salaries. A key they absolutely must control in some way. Then you go and offer to let someone be caretaker for you. Had I not stepped in and said that the church would take control if they couldn¡¯t agree within a week then you would have singlehandedly plunged the entire city into a civil war. Oh sure, most of it would be assassins in the shadows, but that has a way to bleed into the city when only two major families are going at it. Can you even imagine if all eight families went to war?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I said in a subdued voice. I didn¡¯t realize all the implications until they were spelled out, but now it seemed rather obvious. ¡°Oh, he says.¡± She mocked, throwing her hands up. ¡°As if the possibility of a shadow war with you as the prize can be summed up with a two letter word. Idiot. You¡¯re damn lucky to have made it out of there without being chained in a dungeon and forced into being a stud horse for noble women.¡± She stared at me for a second before continuing. ¡°What do you need before heading out?¡± ¡°Huh? Just a bit of rations and a direction towards Lucifer¡¯s area. Other than that, I¡¯m good to go.¡± ¡°Fine. Brownie! I know you can hear me. Head out and gather enough rations for a week. Bring it out within a half hour or face punishment.¡± She ordered, turning back to me. ¡°We will sneak you out of the city, but I want you to summon your shadowgheist and send it out with the guards. Does it have any distance limitations?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I¡¯ve never tried.¡± ¡°Seriously? Damnit, you are practically useless. We¡¯ll just have to hope for the best then. I¡¯ll show you the tunnels and you¡¯ll have to travel them alone. Don¡¯t worry, as long as you carry this then you won¡¯t have any issues with traps.¡± As she spoke, she tied an armband to me with the symbol of Lolth on it. ¡°After you exit the tunnels, head south. Lucifer¡¯s territory is a two-day hike; you¡¯ll know it when you hit the graveyards. Good luck.¡± ¡°Is there anything between the tunnel exit? How am I going to return to the city?¡± ¡°This is the Underdark, of course there are dangers between the tunnel and the graveyard. Try not to kill them all, we do actively cultivate many of them.¡± She added, still somewhat upset with me. ¡°As for returning, use the armband. Put it on, and say, ¡®Lolth, I require transport to the city.¡¯ She will take you and Inkler back, though it will be taxing for her.¡± ¡°Wait, why do I have to rely on Lolth¡¯s magic? Don¡¯t you have return stones like the above ground cities?¡± ¡°By Lolth, you are insatiable! Last questions. No, we don¡¯t have those trinkets. The magic field is too strong down here to use most personal portals. Divine energy is almost always needed. Now, I think I heard the brownie drop off your rations. Follow me.¡± She ordered, heading into the kitchen. Sure enough, there were seven packages sitting on the counter waiting for me. I quietly picked them up and put them in my inventory, turning to find the priestess looking around in the pantry for something. Reaching up, she grabbed a bag off the top shelf and pulled on it. ¡°Careful!¡± I started forward to help her, as she was tugging with only one hand, when the bag slid forward a foot and a click sounded. The ceiling dropped down and her spare hand reached up and caught a ladder that was descending. ¡°Relax, I¡¯ve got this.¡± She said, backing up and dropping the ladder all the way down. ¡°Summon your gheist, then head up the ladder. It should only take you three hours to travel through the tunnels. Good luck.¡± She ordered, stepping out of the way. ¡°Thank you for the help priestess.¡± I said, stepping towards the ladder. Before I could do anything else, she placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Be careful, Lucifer has been feasting on summoned creatures for long enough that he is likely a demigod ranked monster at the least. He also mastered fire magic, so watch for that.¡± ¡°I thought undead would be afraid of fire magics?¡± I said. ¡°They are. That¡¯s why he learned it, so he could stop any burn effects. Now go, and hurry back.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will. [Shadowgheist].¡± I summoned a clone, then watched as Inkler flowed up the ladder. Following him, I turned back to see the priestess already closing the ladder behind me. Facing down the tunnels again, I followed Inkler, looking forward to finishing this divine quest. Book 3 Chapter 17 ¡°Ugh. What¡¯s the meatiest, most unhealthy comfort food you guys can think of?¡± I moaned as I fell into a chair at the table. ¡°That bad, huh?¡± Phoebe chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s got you in such a mood.¡± ¡°Drow and their infernal politics.¡± ¡°Drow? I think we need the big guns here. Gimme a second.¡± Derrick muttered. ¡°Jon, I¡¯ll need your input.¡± I heard them whispering back and forth, but didn¡¯t bother looking up. The table was comfortable. ¡°So how did you get in the middle of drow politics and what are they trying to do?¡± ¡°Oh you know, unlocked a new mode for the dungeon under their control and gained the ability to set the difficulty and rewards levels. The usual.¡± ¡°DONE!¡± Derrick cried, and I picked my head up to smell something absolutely divine. ¡°Behold! The carne asada nacho del mar spectacular! Juicy carne asada and succulent shrimp cover crunchy nacho chips. Smothered in a white cheese sauce, we topped this surf and turf decadence with jalapeno rings, green onion slivers, refried beans, petite diced tomatoes, and shredded hearts of romaine! Guaranteed to cure whatever ails you and revitalize your will to live!¡± The platter of nachos was as wide as a laptop, and piled at least 8 inches high. They even did layers, so that everything was mixed properly and you didn¡¯t have half of the nachos missing cheese and toppings. ¡°Dear god.¡± I said, wiping away a fake tear. ¡°It¡¯s. It¡¯s culinary perfection. Please, everyone dig in.¡± ¡°Hah! I knew it would fix whatever was bothering you.¡± Derrick laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s all take a moment and just enjoy the nachos. No worries about drow, phase crystals, or contracting monsters.¡± ¡°Contracting mon-¡° I started, only to be interrupted. ¡°Shshshshhhhh.¡± Derrick actually put a finger to my lips. ¡°Nachos. Eat, drink and be merry first, all that other stuff can wait.¡± I nodded, and used a spatula to scoop out a decent serving for myself, waiting for everyone to have their own plate before digging in. The next ten minutes of eating was silent save for the crunching of chips and slurping of soda. There might have been some moans of orgasmic bliss thrown in, but that¡¯s only to be expected. ¡°Buurrrrrrrp!¡± Derrick let out a massive belch as he laid back in his chair, groaning in relief. ¡°Oh god, that feels so much better.¡± ¡°I would hope so.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I give it an 8.5 outta 10.¡± Jon said with a grin. ¡°You had the volume, but it was lacking crunchiness.¡± ¡°Y¡¯all are messed up.¡± Phoebe said with disgust. ¡°So Derrick, you were complaining of contracting monsters? What¡¯s that all about?¡± ¡°Well, we had this crazy idea for the dungeon. You wouldn¡¯t mind if we had several different areas, and specific monsters contracted to battle within would you?¡± ¡°Like a lake of fire filled with lava monsters?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something we could add to the list, but similar.¡± He answered with a nod. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it, but what brought this on?¡± ¡°Difficulty.¡± Jon said, taking over. ¡°This is supposed to be the epic dungeon, so bad that they had to boost the level cap right? So we are going to give them a little bit of everything. There won¡¯t be a single set of gear that will be perfect for this dungeon, hell if they can make it through using only two or three I¡¯m going to be disappointed.¡± ¡°We have a few ideas, and I¡¯ve been visiting trading centers in the various planes trying to set up contracts. Since it is a dungeon, no NPCs are going to die, and they only have the one dive to worry about. There¡¯s a lot of interest, especially to see just what kind of exotics we will be able to bring in.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in, what¡¯s your thoughts Phoebe?¡± ¡°I¡¯m helping design the floors. My old pack is perfect for simulating a raid party, and a lot of monsters are getting great experience in picking apart team tactics. They take special delight in finding those with robes and cloth armors, since they are the easiest to get a claw through.¡± ¡°Wow, you guys are really pulling out all the stops. How¡¯s the enchanting going? That clan helping out like they should?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°They¡¯ve managed enchantments I¡¯ve never heard of, and are working with each of us to make our boss rooms the strongest we can. I even get the light of a full moon in mine.¡± She grinned at that last comment, obviously happy with whatever boosts it was giving her. ¡°So the monster recruiting is going very well, and we are already at 75 phase crystals, so that won¡¯t be an issue. So what are the drow trying to do?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Protect me.¡± ¡°Prot-, they¡¯re drow. Why are they protecting you?¡± Derrick asked, confused. ¡°Well, their big unconquered dungeon revealed that it has a divine difficulty with higher rewards. And once you conquer a certain number of floors, you can then control the difficulty. Since I control the difficulty for the first 50 floors now, they want me to increase the difficulty and rewards for whatever house can control, I mean protect, me.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Ah, that makes sense.¡± Phoebe said, nodding her head. ¡°You still in the city?¡± ¡°No, luckily the priestess snuck me out and paraded my clone around the city for a few hours, but I¡¯m sure that won¡¯t last long.¡± ¡°You got at most a day dude.¡± Derrick nodded sagely. ¡°I would say that you need to seal yourself and Inkler up in a cave you make, but I¡¯m sure every drow search party will have a geomancer along just in case.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right.¡± I agreed. ¡°How far do you have to go?¡± Jon asked. ¡°They say it¡¯s a two-day hike, and I got a few hours into it already. I¡¯m probably going to end up burning a lot of stamina potions and trying to finish it in a day.¡± ¡°Not a bad idea.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°I assume the drow know where you are going?¡± ¡°Yeaaaaah.¡± I said, drawing out the word. ¡°Figures. You absolutely must make that trip in a day, and hope that they don¡¯t know what escape tunnel you used. In fact, you should probably head back in right after we finish up here. I¡¯m sure the smarter matriarchs are sending several squads your way at their fastest riding speed, hoping to cut you off.¡± ¡°Fuck. Damnit, your right. Sorry guys, I gotta ¨C¡° ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± Jon said with a grin. ¡°Go, and remember. Run Forrest, Run!¡± ¡°Hah! Alright, I¡¯m off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget! In the zone, the stalkers will be after you! Who will be first? Subzero? Dynamo? Buzz Saw?¡± Though I didn¡¯t get Derricks crazy reference, I still chuckled as I logged back in to the game. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Hey bud, I know you most likely just got comfy, but we gotta get going.¡± I spoke to an irritated Inkler. When he didn¡¯t move, I continued, ¡°Unless you want to be a captive for drow experiments for the rest of our lives. Didn¡¯t you notice how the eyes of that nice matriarch kept trying to track you? And her predatory grin when you showed just your head right next to a rival?¡± That got him to at least let me get up and get things ready. I hurriedly threw everything into my inventory and used stone manipulation to open a door back out of the small hillock we had been hiding in. A quick check revealed nothing in our area, so we headed out at maximum speed while maintaining some semblance of stealth. We appeared to be in a massive cave, though the floor was littered with hilly areas. The ceiling was high enough that I couldn¡¯t see it, though the occasional massive stone column headed upwards to what I assumed was to provide support. Running to a height of around 50 feet or so was luminescent blue algae. It didn¡¯t provide much light, but it did seem to be abundant enough to provide a basis for an ecosystem. Most of the monsters we encountered were normal variety of bugs, beetles being the most common. Well, normal for a game. They were a minimum of level 40 and came up to my hip. They were oddly docile, and we moved through hordes of them with no difficulty. In order to try and throw off any tracking parties, we would occasionally use them as stepping stones. There were a few bugs that we were forced to either go around or battle. Scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, and certain types of beetles as well. The aggressive beetles were easy to spot, as they had absolutely massive mandibles that they would use to crush the heads or all the legs on one side of the docile beetles. Spiders were abundant, but would let us pass, probably the only help Lolth would be giving us. After several hours of travel, we came to a stone bridge crossing a river nearly a mile wide. ¡°Lair of the Magical Leopluridon. To head to Candy Mountain, take the left fork of the bridge. To find the Weeping Graveyard, follow the right fork. Bridge toll is 3 silver, 50 copper per party. Please deposit toll in the bowl below.¡± I read off a sign crudely carved into rock. They had done it in what I assumed was multiple languages, though I could only recognize what the game called Common. The flowing script was probably elven, while the ones completely composed of straight lines intersecting would be dwarven runes. ¡°Well bud, let¡¯s pay the tolls so that they can eat their rolls.¡± I chuckled as I dropped the required amount into the bowl. Inkler looked at me like I was slightly crazy as the coins disappeared in a flash of light. ¡°Of course you don¡¯t get it. Come on, let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll bet the Weeping Graveyard is our destination.¡± The bridge was boring. What I thought was the far shore was merely a small island in the middle of the river, and the bridge dropped down onto it. Ten feet or so away were the starts of the other two bridges, and we took the right fork. ¡°Wonder what happens if you finally make it to Candy Mountain? Eh, nothing good I¡¯m sure. There¡¯s probably a miniboss with a white panel van.¡± I looked to see Inkler still staring at me. ¡°What? It¡¯s funny, if you get the reference. Oh stop judging, I¡¯m just as exhausted as you bud. Tell me your mind doesn¡¯t wander when you are sleep deprived.¡± I grumped at him, turning back and heading down the ungodly boring bridge. Every three feet was a spoke for the railing, set at right angles. There was no decoration, no flair, nothing to break the monotony. The waters below sped by without a care, and nothing bothered breaking the surface. At the other side of the bridge, I was hurting. We had been traveling for nearly eight hours, on top of the time spent in the dungeon. I even noticed that Inkler was starting to limp along, favoring one of his paws. ¡°Let¡¯s start searching for some place to rest for a few hours. There has to be a spot nearby.¡± Looking around, there wasn¡¯t much. The land had flattened out, so there were no hills to burrow into. A good distance away was a faint blue glow, probably another of the stone columns. We could head there, but who knows just how far away it was? Instead I turned around, looking back towards the river. ¡°I got an idea bud, just stay there. Following the river upstream for a bit, I saw what I had been hoping for. There was a slight bulge in the bank, just high enough that I could burrow down inside and not worry about getting wet. I went around to the far side, and cut a sloped ramp down into the small hill. Inside I made an area just big enough for Inkler and me to stretch out, and went back to get him. ¡°I got us a place to stay bud, come on. We¡¯ll take a long nap, and get going again when we are recovered.¡± Following me back to the hideout, I could tell Inkler wasn¡¯t impressed at all but he was willing to tolerate anything for a good rest. Sealing ourselves inside, but remembering to leave several air holes, we both collapsed in exhaustion. Hopefully a set of rations in the morning would be enough to get us to the Weeping Graveyard. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up to a weight on my chest. Sometime in the night Inkler had twisted himself around, and was now laying on his back. His legs were splayed and resting on the walls of our shelter, and his tail was twitching around. His front paws were hanging in the air, occasionally flipping forward as if he were batting something in his sleep. I was just about to wake him up when I heard something. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, there¡¯s no way he made it this far, especially after a dungeon dive!¡± ¡°The tracks ¨C¡° ¡°Damn the tracks, they have to be a fake. Just like the fake they had wandering the city. My decision is final, we turn back.¡± It sounded like the female in charge of whatever group nearly caught up with us had underestimated our abilities. I wasn¡¯t going to move, let alone complain. Let her take whatever group she had back. I used my interface to set a half hour alarm, after which Inkler and I would resume our journey. Besides, from this angle I could see the pads of one of his paws, and the right front paw pads were entirely pink. How could a ferocious cat have pink paws? I relaxed with a smile on my face, hand idly stroking the side of Inkler¡¯s neck. Book 3 Chapter 18 ¡°Let¡¯s eat some rations before we head out.¡± I said, gently shaking Inkler. He cracked an eye at me at the mention of rations, and got off his back so that I could pull out the food. It was more of those compressed bars of food that we had during our initial trip into the Underdark, but that was fine. Stone sculpting let me create a bowl for Inkler to have some water, and I gave him a healing potion in it as well. He seemed a little leery of it at first, but once he lapped up a bit and felt the healing in his paws, drank the rest rather rapidly. ¡°While we rested I heard at least one drow group hunting nearby, so we will have to be careful. If they find us, throw caution to the wind and run, got it?¡± Inkler gave me a stare as if he didn¡¯t think I could keep up with him. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get going then.¡± I said, opening up our shelter and closing it again after we exited. We headed off in our original direction, travelling parallel to the road for a while. Nearly an hour of boring travel later, and we came across a forest. The trees that grew looked like weeping willows that never evolved leaves. Instead they had some of the same glowing algae that the pillars had, giving the entire forest a creepy blue glow. The oddest part was that the branches were swaying back and forth, though there was no breeze whatsoever.
Sweeping Willow This odd underground tree has formed a symbiotic relationship with the mana eater algae. The tree provides support, and sways slightly to increase the amount of mana the algae can collect, and in return receives nutrients from the algae. The wood naturally absorbs small amounts of mana, and makes an excellent material for beginner level wands.
¡°Creepy trees. Inkler, keep close. I don¡¯t think those branches are going to support you.¡± I mentioned as we entered. There was very little undergrowth, but we still altered course so that we would intersect the road before too long. Something about this forest just gave me the heebie jeebies. Like we were being watched. I think Inkler felt it too, as he was nearly plastered to my side, eyes constantly on the move. A sudden crunch from the left confirmed what we were feeling. We both turned to see a beetle being eaten by one of the oddest bugs I¡¯ve ever seen. The body was arched, with the tail and head in the air. Behind the head, it resembled a caterpillar, with a bulbous black body covered with glowing spots that did a fantastic job mimicking the algae. The head was narrow, and it had a long, slightly curved proboscis that it was repeatedly punching through the armor at the top of the beetle¡¯s head. The legs were long and thin, blending in perfectly with the hanging branches.
Giant Assassin Bug Level 55 Mana rich environments have encouraged this insect to grow to massive proportions. It prefers to wait in ambush for its prey to wander within striking distance, and will savagely stab with its sharp proboscis until the prey dies. The hardened tip easily pierces armor, and the injected saliva liquefies the insides to be sucked out later.
¡°That road¡¯s looking better and better.¡± I muttered to Inkler who chuffed in agreement. ¡°At least we know there was something watching us.¡± Ten agonizing minutes later and we were back on the road, breathing a sigh of relief. We kept our guard up, but it was much easier since there was a wide path with no cover for the assassin bugs. As we moved closer to where we hoped Lucifer¡¯s territory was, the forest was gradually shifting. Instead of weeping willows, the trees transformed into a more maple like build, but they still lacked leaves. Bats became far more common, feasting on the odd shaped fruits the trees grew. Bright pink, they looked like oversized raspberries and smelled sickly sweet. The devs got fairly lazy here, and simply imported a fantasy version of the flying fox. Huge, docile, and loving sweets, these bats simply watched us with oversized eyes as we passed. Of course, you can¡¯t have prey species without a predator, unless you count the capybara. Those get along with everything. I could see the drow influence on the ecosystem, as there was a tree version of the funnel web spider. They would hide and leap out at the unsuspecting bats, striking quickly and retreating as their venom did the work. Their front legs were modified, and had fangs on them, giving the spiders much longer reach than others. Once pierced, a bat took anywhere from three to seven seconds to become completely paralyzed. Unable to resist such a tempting poison, I claimed a few spiders with an arbalest bolt and the occasional light spell to back it up. The spiders were at level 65 to 70, and after several hours of intermittent harvesting I had jumped up to level 58. I also ended up with 28 vials of paralytic venom and 32 spools of spider silk. The forest ended, and it was too perfect to be anything but designed that way. Perfectly perpendicular to the road, it might as well have been a line on a map it was so straight. Fifty feet away was a wrought iron fence, topped with a sharpened fleur-de-lis. If mystic vision was anything to go by, then it was enchanted heavily enough that I wanted no part of touching it. Across the road was an arched gate, with the left side slightly open. On the other side the road stopped, replaced by a massive graveyard. We entered, and I got the popup I was expecting.
Welcome to the Weeping Graveyard! Hopefully you enjoy your stay so much that you never leave. Should you insist upon remaining alive, there are a few things to remember. The graveyard is divided into sections separated by a small, white fence. Each of the five sections is ruled by a champion. Should you defeat the champion, no other creatures of that section will attack you unless you initiate battle. Champions respawn after 18 hours. In order to enter Lord Lucifer¡¯s manor, you will need the emblems of at least four champions.
¡°I guess we have some hunting to do Inkler. The notice says we need four out of five emblems, but I¡¯m sure we will get a small bonus for getting the complete set. Sound good to you?¡± Inkler gave me a toothy smile and started swiping his tail back and forth. ¡°Excellent. Go ahead and go invisible, I¡¯ll draw them out. For the first battle, go ahead and start it off with your reality slash. At least until we know the enemy strength.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. While Inkler prepared, I took a look around the graveyard. The headstones were scattered about, but they were much different than what I was used to. The vast majority of them were pedestal types, with a wide variety of statues on them. There were angels, some with arms in supplication, some with weapons ready for battle, while others had weapons in some sort of parade rest. Gargoyles were another favorite, each more grotesque than the next. Then there were the demons. All clad in armor and carrying weapons designed to cause the maximum amount of carnage, they were the least popular of the statues. Still, roughly one in three pedestals were lacking statues, and they didn¡¯t have any rubble around the bases either. On high alert, I carefully made my way through the graves looking for an enemy. ¡°Gyah!¡± I cried out in pain as three lines of pain slashed down my back, dropping my health by a small portion. The more worrying part was the notification though.
Alert! Attribute stolen! You have been attacked with an attribute siphon. Your agility has dropped by one, and unless you slay the creature that stole it within ten minutes the loss will become permanent!
I spun around, but there were no enemies. The only thing in the graveyard that I could see were the statues. THE STATUES! Studying it from the corner of my eye, I realized that the gargoyle I had just passed was looking in a different direction. In addition, there was a drop of blood on the right claw. I drew my weapon, and slowly turned so that I could unleash the maximum amount of torque with my next attack. I focused the mana into the head of my hammer, concentrating it down into a point instead of just letting it flow into the head like normal. ¡°First one¡¯s yours Thanatos, [Mana shockwave]!¡± I cried out, spinning back and smashing the gargoyle in the face as it tried to evade. The blow knocked it off the pedestal, and let me get an identification on it.
Weeping gargoyle Elite level 68 Weeping gargoyles prefer to move when not being observed. They all are born with an attribute siphon attack, stealing from the very life force of their enemies. Their hard bodies are highly resistant to slashing attacks, and certain variants are resistant to magic attacks as well. Chaotic evil, these creatures are a blight upon the worlds. It is highly recommended to completely eradicate any infestation you come across.
Screeching in anger, the small creature leapt at my face, looking to claw out my eyes. I ducked under the overhand blow with ease, ready to smash it with a counterattack when I took a stone wing to the face. Stumbling backwards, I was wide open for when the little bastard started spinning and slashing, getting me three good slashes across my stomach before coming to a stop. Just before it could leap at me once again, Inkler came through and slashed through one of its wings. That attack gave me the opening I needed, allowing me to smash it in the face again, sending it reeling. One more charged attack shattered the creature¡¯s head, dropping its life down to critical levels. ¡°Oh you gotta be kidding me!¡± I groaned as it sat back up without a head. ¡°Damn constructs, gotta smash the core. At least their senses are dulled without their heads.¡± Smashing it a few more times with regular blows to conserve mana ended the creature, and I got a notification that my attribute point had been returned.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable! For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor. Total favor: 569/25000 Elites killed: 1/25 Heroic killed: 0/10 Weekly kills: 50/50
¡°Alright, time to find the weaknesses on these guys.¡± I muttered to myself, searching the body for anything I could exploit. There was nothing obvious on the back, and the head was out as well. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Lifting an arm, I noticed a hexagonal area. It was far too perfect, so I tapped at it with my blade. The thin stone easily shattered, revealing a dull core beneath with a crack through it. ¡°Ok, now we need to figure out if it is always here or if it moved around. ¡°See this shape Inkler? This is probably the weakness, but I don¡¯t know where it will be. We will have to check around on all the statues, but from a distance in case they try to attack.¡± Inkler stuck his head forward and sniffed a bit, before immediately sneezing several times. The next several hours were grueling. We tried to check every single gargoyle from a distance, and would be able to pierce the core with an arbalest bolt on nearly one in four. These were sacrificed to Thanatos, as I got a bonus 20 favor for killing them at full health. The rest had the cores hidden in some way, and we were forced to battle. I was able to loot the cores from these gargoyles, though they came up as magic cores and not golem cores. Smaller than the golem cores, they also lacked any of the runic writing that was meticulously etched on the golem cores. Personally I figured they were natural evolutions, and the golem cores were simply someone¡¯s attempt at recreating it in a way they could control. The attribute siphon attack seemed to require them attacking from stealth, so at least that wasn¡¯t an issue. Inkler couldn¡¯t do much damage, and couldn¡¯t really draw aggro as well so I was forced to battle one on one. The thing that was saving me all this time was that I could open with a magical attack from a distance. Dark and light magics did minimal damage, but the pressure wave from the explosion of the oblivion sphere caused massive damage to the stone beings. By the time the last one fell, I had gained four levels and had maxed out the elite kills requirement for Thanatos. I ended up sacrificing several that didn¡¯t fall in one shot, but I did take my total favor earned for Thanatos up to 1,209. ¡°You know, I knew something like this was going to happen, but it¡¯s still annoying.¡± I mentioned to Inkler. Once all of the gargoyles had died, each of the demons stepped down off of their pedestals and started patrolling. The only one that hadn¡¯t moved was the larger one inside a triple circle of angels. The inner circle faced the demon with weapons drawn. The middle circle also faced the demons, arms raised in supplication. The outer ring faced outward, weapons drawn. The animated demon statues did avoid the angelic statues, and I wondered if they were all alive at this point or not.
Stone-bound demon warrior Level 71 What could be better than battling a demon warrior with hundreds of years to hone their skills? How about battling one with the physical defenses of a gargoyle! The only good news is that the weight of the stone has slowed down the demon. Can you destroy the demons before they free their master?
New Quest! Destroy the ten stone-bound demon warriors before they destroy the angels sealing their master. Stone demons destroyed: 0/10 Stone angel sealers alive: 15/15
Victory Defeat
Aid of the stone angels in defeating the stone bound demon lord Battle the stone bound demon lord and all remaining minions at the same time
¡°We gotta take them down as fast as we can Inkler, and can¡¯t let the middle ring of angels die.¡± I hate timed quests. They go against everything that the class ambusher would do. Now I had to enter battle, taking out demons while hoping that I can stumble on their weaknesses in the middle of battle, and recognize exactly what I hit. Growling in frustration, I targeted the nearest demon and blasted the back of his knee with an oblivion sphere. Book 3 Chapter 19 The demon and the angel he was taunting both froze, as the lower half of the demon¡¯s leg crashed to the ground. The angel cocked his head in confusion, while the demon turned to level a glare at me. A red glow enveloped both the demon and his leg, and I cursed as the leg reattached itself to the body. The small bit of health he had lost didn¡¯t recover, but creatures that you can¡¯t cripple are damn annoying. ¡°Inkler! They¡¯ll heal crippling attacks!¡± I yelled out, hoping he would understand. ¡°[Hellfire bolt].¡± The demon spoke, sending a burning ball of black and red flames in my direction. I ducked behind a stone pedestal, glad for the cover. ¡°Just effing great. I can¡¯t cripple them, and their spells can track me.¡± I muttered as stone chips flew past my head. ¡°I officially hate this quest.¡± I rolled out of my hiding spot, charging in to see the demon harassing the angel again. Well, if they were going to ignore me that just makes my life easier. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± I again targeted his knee, taking some damage in return as I couldn¡¯t quite avoid the counter with the demon¡¯s blade. ¡°Foolish mortal. I will enjoy tormenting your soul for eternity.¡± The demon promised in a gravelly voice, again enveloping himself in the red glow. Unfortunately for the demon, I had mystic vision activated and could see the magics origin point, a familiar hexagon shape right where the heart would be on a normal human. ¡°[Mana shockwave].¡± Before the leg could completely reattach, I had closed the distance and smashed the crystal. A look of shock flashed through the demon¡¯s eyes, as his health bar immediately disappeared and his body crumpled to the ground. ¡°Why mortal?¡± I heard the angel ask. ¡°Not now, we have 9 more to kill! Get your brethren to fight defensively, I¡¯ll go through and take out the demons.¡± I ordered, already heading to the demon that Inkler was distracting. Once again, the demon ignored me. It was easily following Inkler, something the cat seemed to realize and dropped his invisibility. ¡°I¡¯ve not seen a beast like you before. Perhaps I¡¯ll just capture you and use you for breeding. Hellhounds that can turn invisible would be incredibly useful.¡± The demon taunted Inkler. ¡°[Stone cage].¡± With a twist of his wrist, curved spears of stone erupted from the ground surrounding Inkler. He used a reality slash to escape, surprising the demon. ¡°You can use shadow magic as well? I¡¯ll definitely be keeping yo-.¡± His words cut off with a grunt as my arbalest bolt took him in the chest. ¡°Nobody¡¯s taking my friend.¡± I snarled as his lifeless body dropped to the ground. ¡°You ok Inkler? It looks like they all have the same weak point. We¡¯ll alternate, taking out the leg joints. I can deliver the fatal blow as they reattach their limbs.¡± Inkler chuffed his agreement, and we continued moving around the circle. No matter how strong and durable the demons were, once their weakness was exposed they were simple to dispatch. When reattaching limbs, they were forced to remain immobile allowing me to strike their cores with impunity. They were also absorbed with their own battles, completely ignoring how swiftly we were cutting down their allies. ¡°Thank you, mortal, for your timely aid.¡± An injured angel spoke after the last demon fell, though it looked rather troubled. ¡°I must ask though, why a monster race would be helping out the light?¡± ¡°The simple answer is that I got a quest for it. The longer answer? I figure that you all are slaves down here. I know Lucifer has been feasting upon light beings for a while, and that if he hadn¡¯t eaten some light beings they would be trapped.¡± ¡°So you would free us?¡± ¡°You would be free soon anyway if I¡¯m successful. Thanatos has tasked me with killing Lucifer.¡± I shrugged. ¡°At long last, our prayers will be answered.¡± He sniffled, taking a moment to compose himself. ¡°If you seek to end Lucifer, then you will need our aid in taking down this demon lord. He holds one of the keys to accessing the manor.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll gladly take all the help I can get. What can you tell me about him?¡± *Crack* As I spoke, a massive crack appeared across the chest of the demon, and a panicked angel cried, ¡°Hurry Elatru, the seal weakens as we speak!¡± ¡°There¡¯s not time! Bifrons is his name. He can switch between stone and spirit, striking from either form for devastating effect. We can force him to remain in this world, allowing you to battle him.¡± ¡°Good enough. Make sure to keep the circle clear, and don¡¯t interfere. I¡¯ll take him down.¡± I promised, heading toward the statue. Taller than me, it had a zweihander and looked like it would be wielding it in one hand. Wonderful, that had to equate to an insane strength. Mystic vision revealed not one core, but five arranged in a pentagram around a sixth, central core. It didn¡¯t bother with armor, seemingly content with a pair of ragged pants and a belt. There were three horns in its head, and when I finally crossed the inner circle there was an explosion of stone shards. Standing for the first time in who knows how long, it took a second to crack its neck and shoulders a few times.
Bifrons Demon Duke Level 80 Bifrons. A powerful demon duke, he is known as the Two Faced. While most would focus on his incredible physical strength, Bifrons can also enter the spiritual plane and launch devastating attacks upon the soul.
¡°Oh, it is so good to be free of that cursed seal. And there are so many angels here waiting to sate my appetite. How very thoughtful of you.¡± ¡°Mortal.¡± One of the angels behind me hissed. ¡°Bifrons is far too strong for us, even weakened from being sealed. We can force him to remain in the physical realm, but it will only last for a half hour. You must destroy him within that time.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this? Have you angels finally realized you stand no chance against me and hope to appease me with a sacrifice?¡± As the demon smiled, I flipped up my arbalest and fired at one of the outer cores, shattering it and getting a grunt from the creature. ¡°HA! HAHAHAHA! The look on your face is priceless mortal! Did you really expect to take down a duke of Hell with a single shot?¡± The demon cackled at me, as I stared at the lack of damage. It took maybe ten percent health damage, but that was it. Magic from the other stones flowed back and filled the void, and the formation was repaired within seconds.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Not good.¡± I muttered as the demon dropped down off of his pedestal. ¡°And now for your punishment. I think I¡¯ll start with a few strikes to your soul.¡± Bifrons gave an evil smile as a light blue glow enveloped him. Just as an ethereal form started to shift out of his body, red chains fired out from each of the weaponless angels, binding the blue form to his physical form. ¡°EVEN NOW YOU DARE TO BIND ME!¡± He howled in rage, struggling against the chains. ¡°[Oblivion sphere][Dark bolt][Light bolt][Lance of light].¡± I fired the series of spells at him, aiming for the middle of his body. Distracted by the chains, each of the spells struck true, taking off another ten percent of his health. ¡°Insolent mortal! [Underworld strike].¡± The demon cried, slashing at me with his blade that now glowed a dark red. His blows were easily read, and parrying wasn¡¯t too hard, but the force of his blows and the length of his weapon kept me from properly counterattacking. ¡°I do hope you aren¡¯t waiting for my stamina to deplete.¡± He said, lunging forward and forcing me back. I felt my back strike a pedestal, and desperately tried to find a way to evade or parry that wouldn¡¯t involve taking a massive critical hit when a stone blade flashed over my head, deflecting the sword. ¡°Go mortal!¡± The angel hissed, as Bifrons retaliated with a hellfire bolt to his chest. ¡°Wait your turn ange ¨C AAAAH!¡± ¡°[Dancing shadow steps][Keen edge].¡± I immediately teleported behind the demon and delivered a slash down his spine, causing him to cry out in pain. He recovered swiftly, but his horizontal backhanded slice only cut the air where I used to be as I teleported away. ¡°You will pay for that.¡± He promised, eyes glowing red. ¡°[Demonic boost].¡± Wary of his skill, I was woefully unprepared as he sped forward and punched me in the chest, sending me flying across the circle and slamming into the pedestal he originally occupied. ¡°And now we end this.¡± He said, suddenly in front of me again. ¡°[Binding shadow chains]!¡± My spell caught him with both arms above his head, ready to split me in two with a massive overhead strike. Climbing to my feet in a hurry, I activated another skill. ¡°[Rocket slash].¡± I angled my attack so that two of the smaller cores were shattered, and whatever the massive source in the middle was took a portion of the attack as well. ¡°GYAAAAAAAH!¡± Bifrons screamed in agony, his health dropping from 75% down to 40% with that attack. ¡°[Vorpal slash]!¡± His attack slashed diagonally across my chest, taking out half my health with one attack. I stumbled away, rolling along the side of the pedestal as we both stared at each other. ¡°To think I would be so diminished by the seal that a mere mortal could hurt me to this extent.¡± He muttered, panting. ¡°The other dukes will never let me live this down. [Demon lord¡¯s essence][Vitality drain][Retaliation of the Nine Hells].¡± Activating several spells, I watched in horror as the demon¡¯s muscles swelled. His skin darkened, though several cracks glowed an ominous red. A thin ribbon of red flowed not only from my chest, but from the chests of all of the inner ring of angels as well, slowly healing Bifrons. His sword turned an ashen gray with a vibrant green glow coating the edge. ¡°[Death¡¯s Raiments].¡± I activated all of the skills of Thanatos, incredibly glad that Inkler and I had slept beneath the river the other night, giving me enough time for the cooldown to finish. Staring at the now paralyzed demon, I was confused as there was no soul well. With nothing else to go on, I struck as hard as I could at the swirl of mana at the center of the pentagram, burying my scythe blade in his body up to the weapon¡¯s shaft. Shoving with my shoulder, I gave a massive jerk downwards as he stumbled backward, slicing through his stomach. ¡°Wha? What is this?¡± He weakly asked, as mana poured out from the wound. The initial blow took his life down below ten percent, and I watched his health bar plummet as he desperately tried to hold in the mana leaking from his wound. ¡°[Undead attraction].¡± With his final act, he pointed a finger at me and launched a bolt of pure black that struck me in the chest.
Danger! As a final act of spite for his slayer, Bifrons has cursed you with Undead attraction! Any undead creature within 15 feet of you will immediately select you as priority target. Damage received from undead creatures increased by 50%. Stealth skills against undead creatures are 95% less effective. Duration: 24 hours
¡°By Pelor, he did it. He actually did it!¡± One of the angels cried, as they all started cheering. I walked forward and looted the demon, wondering what he had in store for me. Two normal cores and three cracked mana cores as well as something called cindered demon skin were less than useless to me, though there were two items that I did like.
Mansion Seal part (1 of 5) Quest item A portion of the key required to access the mansion of Lucifer.
Hungering vorpal blade Unique zweihander Forged in the depths of hell, this blade ignores armor as it seeks to devour the life of its foes. Damage: 1250-1750 Durability: 50,000/50,000 Vorpal strike: Once per hour can activate a vorpal strike. Attack does 175% damage and ignores all armor. Hungering: Boosts any drain abilities of the user by 50% Vorpal: 20% chance to ignore 75% armor per strike
The quest piece was rather simple. The bottom third of a shield, it was simply a field of green. The sword. The sword was beautiful. Two handed, it held a ruby in the pommel. The cross guard was unadorned, but the wave design of the blade looked absolutely vicious. The metal itself was a dark grey, with blue patterns of concentric circles. Between these circles that were randomly scattered were lines of the blue metal, giving the blade the look of rain on a lake. ¡°We thank you for freeing us, mortal. Before we return to Pelor¡¯s side, is there anything we may do to aid you?¡± One of the angels asked as it approached me. ¡°Pelor? I want nothing to do with that bastard.¡± I snarled, shocking the angel who immediately backpedaled. ¡°Apologies! We have been sealed here for far too long, and know nothing of what is happening in this world. Why do you hate Pelor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡± I said, not wanting to go through all the details. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that Pelor had some of his followers attack the city I live in. They were supposed to kill the city guard from the inside, but the only one they killed was an innkeeper. A friend of mine.¡± Several of the angels hissed at this, while others hid their faces in their hands. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. We all hear the truth of your words, though it is hard to reconcile with the god we served so long ago. For what it¡¯s worth, you have our sympathy.¡± He said, keeping his distance as he eyed my clenched fist. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said after a few seconds, releasing a breath I had been holding. ¡°A part of me realizes that you had no hand in what occurred, sealed here as you have been, but a much larger part of me doesn¡¯t care. If you can point me to the next creature that I¡¯ll have to kill to obtain the manor keys, I would appreciate it. After that, I think it would be best you left.¡± As I spoke, an invisible head knocked my hand up and onto the top of it, demanding attention. ¡°Yes.¡± The angel replied after a second. ¡°That building over there.¡± Pointing behind me, I turned to see a building the size of a small backyard shed. ¡°The entrance to Lucifer¡¯s mausoleum. In there you will find the next guardian, though we don¡¯t know what sort of monster it is.¡± ¡°Thanks. Farewell, and if at all possible I suggest you find another god or goddess to work for.¡± ¡°We have much to think about, thank you mortal.¡± As I started walking toward the mausoleum, I saw flashes of light behind me as I assumed the angels left. Five levels stronger from just the one fight, I crossed the white fence that encircled the building as I strode up to the door. Time to see what lurked below. Book 3 Chapter 20 ¡°EEEaaaRRRRRUUUUUHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± Twin guttural screams greeted me as I kicked open the dual doors to the mausoleum. Across a small square antechamber were two horridly misshapen creatures chained by their necks to opposite sides of the doorway down. Bulges of flesh at random locations covered the creatures that might have had a humanoid base, though now they moved in a quadrupedal manner. Their teeth were sharpened, and their fingernails had formed talons that leaked a gooey black substance.
Feral ghoul (frenzied) Level 70 When a vampire fails to completely turn its prey, it results in a ghoul. The lowest form of these hideous creatures are the ferals. Lacking all former thought processes, they live only to consume. Their menu consists of only one thing: fresh meat. Luckily for you that curse you just received makes you smell like a five star gourmet meal! Such a delectable aroma has caused these ghouls to enter a frenzy. Any such effect causes a 50% increase in attack speed and damage, as well as a loss of 50% armor and a complete loss of dodge attempts.
¡°Just fucking great. A mausoleum filled with things that will stop at nothing to kill me.¡± I muttered as I looked at the creatures with mystic vision. They were straining against the chains holding them to the wall, forcing themselves into a nearly upright position. Their bodies were interesting, having both a network of blue mana lines and black necrotic lines. Each of the bulges were concentrations of the black necrotic energy, slightly pulsing that was increasing in speed as I watched. ¡°Stay back a bit Inkler. I want to try a few things.¡± I said, pulling out my arbalest. For the first experiment, I shot the left ghoul in the heart with a bolt, killing it. As I watched over the next twenty seconds or so, the black necrotic energy displaced the blue mana. Once it was completely gone, the ghoul groaned and got back to its feet, though only at half of its maximum health. It immediately started trying for me again, though I noticed a slight strain on the chain holding it to the wall. The energy was slowly seeping into the muscles of the creatures, increasing its strength. ¡°Enough of that.¡± I said, stepping forward and smashing a scythe into its skull. That permanently dropped the creature. Turning to the other one, it was a bit closer than I anticipated. It seemed it had moved along the arc of the chain¡¯s allowance, trying to get close enough to strike me. This one got an arbalest bolt to the head, and I noticed that the creature didn¡¯t rise. ¡°Alright Inkler, looks like we have a battle plan. Headshots kill it permanently, anything else lets iit resurrect at half health. If you can¡¯t take out the brain, go for crippling blows. And use claws only, I don¡¯t want you biting this and picking up whatever they are carrying.¡± Inkler chuffed his agreement, and I looted the bodies for a vial of blackened blood each. Smiling a grim smile, I descended into the next level of the mausoleum. Mindless creatures ready to be slaughtered? Seems like the perfect remedy for releasing the rage that the mention of Pelor brought on. At the bottom of the stairs, I was forced to activate darkvision. The small landing room branched into three hallways, and I took the left one. After walking for nearly twenty feet, I heard a slight snuffling and a screech. Rapidly coming around the corner, and slamming into a wall before recovering, was another ghoul. Its scrambling saved its life, as my arbalest bolt buried itself into the creature¡¯s shoulder instead of its head. Switching weapons as fast as I could, I took the brunt of the creature¡¯s momentum in the chest, barely managing to get the shaft of my weapon in the creature¡¯s mouth as it tried to chew on my throat. Falling down, I was at a serious disadvantage. ¡°Inkler! Little. Help.¡± I managed to grunt out as I was scratched repeatedly by the creature. Three lines of darkness slashed through the top of the skull, killing the ghoul. ¡°Thanks bud.¡± I said, shoving the corpse off of me. I noticed an odd status notification, it looked like a gaunt face. Pulling it up, I groaned at the notification.
Ghoul¡¯s blood curse You have been scratched with a ghoul¡¯s blood, and have received a curse for it. Each stack of this curse lowers your damage and attack speed by 1%, stackable up to 30 times. Each stack adds one minute to the total duration of the curse, and any stack after the maximum allowance will reset the timer. Should you die while cursed, you will rise again as an undead. Resurrection penalties will be double, and any party resurrections will only be possible if they kill your resurrected form first. Current stacks: 5
¡°Great. Inkler, these things curse you with their strikes. Do not let them cut you, understand?¡± I asked. ¡°Let¡¯s rest here for just a bit, I want this curse to run its course before we move on.¡± While we waited, I started practicing some stone manipulation. If I wanted to move through this dungeon without waiting for five minutes after every battle, I needed some crowd control. Sure, I could use binding shadow chains, but that only affected one target. With the narrow hallways and stone floor, I had the perfect idea. Stone manipulation caused four pillars of stone to raise up from the ground, thick enough that they wouldn¡¯t allow the ghouls to break through and with enough of a gap that I could still attack through without letting a ghoul through. ¡°Ok bud, let¡¯s do this.¡± I said, patting Inkler¡¯s head. I had the stone pillars down well enough that it only took two seconds to complete, hopefully that was more than enough time. Getting my bearings, I took the only exit from the room, a right from my original direction. ¡°KREEEEEEEE!!!!!¡± I jumped a bit from the unexpected shriek, quickly raising up the stone pillars. I was almost too slow, but it ended up working for the best as the pillars impaled the body of the ghoul, trapping the thrashing creature near the ceiling. It completely ignored the pillar, swinging its arms and growling at me until it died. I removed the pillars and moved on, intent on fully mapping this floor. The layout was simple, a three by three grid of dots that would coincide with a square room holding a single ghoul. Each was connected by a hallway, and I originally entered in the middle south room. The ghouls never came to each other¡¯s aid, making my life much easier. Get close to a room, raise the pillars, and walk close enough for the curse to trigger and the ghouls to come running to their slaughter. Wanting to grind some of my skills, I would alternate between [Light bolt] and [Lance of light], targeting the heads. The first attack I used was an unchanted light bolt, and the energy must have had a horrendous reaction to the necrotic energy that fueled the ghouls. The creature lost ? of its health in one blow, but spent five seconds with its back arched in agony as it held its face, rolling on the ground. After that, I always used the chant to make sure it died immediately. The lance was strong enough to kill without the chant. Once the first floor was cleared, I headed down again.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The enemies upgraded from feral ghouls to ghouls, and their bodies were put together a lot better. They still lacked intelligence, and often came in groups of three. I kept up the same tactics, as they worked wonderfully. The rooms in this floor actually contained bones stuffed into alcoves by type. Some were strewn about on the ground, and to my disgust they all had teeth marks on them. They layout of the dungeon was different as well. The entrance was in a row of four rooms, with one to the right and two to the left. Looking down on my map, there were two wings that flared out and had to be traversed before you could come back and take the hallway splitting the wings to the stairs down. The third and final floor of the dungeon was going to be difficult. There was a small chamber at the bottom of the stairs, followed by a hallway that opened up into a massive chamber with piles of bones all around. Several bands of ghouls wandered around aimlessly, and sitting in the middle of the room was the largest ghoul I had ever seen.
Alpha Ghoul Level 80 Occasionally one ghoul will emerge far stronger than the rest. This one becomes an alpha, ruling by might. It will feast first, and once a month will resort to cannibalizing the weakest member of its pack. With limited intelligence, it can order its subordinates in pack tactics much like a wolf.
¡°Great. That thing has arm muscles as big as my thighs. We¡¯re going to have to take him down first. Wait behind the bars Inkler.¡± I ordered, and used stone manipulation to create several bars across the entrance to the grand hall. I left a gap in the middle, and cautiously stepped through. Taking a calming breath, I targeted the alpha. ¡°Shadow and light, unite in annihilation. [Oblivion sphere]!¡± I opted to chant the spell, and fired it at the head of the alpha. Turning immediately, I squeezed through the gap and raised one last pillar as an angry roar shook the cavern behind me. I looked to see the alpha missing half of its arm, having used it to block my attack. As I watched, it bounded over to a group and bit the head off one of the remaining ghouls, refilling its life. As it chewed, I started taking shots at the remaining ghouls. They immediately charged, and started trying to slash me through the bars. I wasn¡¯t really that surprised that the ghouls were crushing each other in their desire to get to me. They showed no real concern for others, and were rather easy pickings. Even when the alpha came over, the most I had to do was reinforce some of the bars and keep blasting away. Having a feast of dead ghoul flesh at its feet to eat when it was injured made for a long and boring battle. I couldn¡¯t use oblivion sphere either, as it would probably damage the bars enough to let the alpha through. Once it fell, I received 30 vials of blackened blood, as well as the second key piece. Rather bland, but then again it wasn¡¯t really a challenging boss. The best results were skill and level gains, I jumped up to level 70 from all the killing. Light bolt went from beginner 4 to intermediate 1, and lance of light went from beginner 3 to intermediate 1 as well. Hopefully I would get some new spells when I advanced them a bit more, but until then I had a main chamber to search. Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting. ¡°Sorry you didn¡¯t get to do much.¡± I said as I gave Inkler a scratch on the head. Note to self: Don¡¯t do that while walking. He will lean into it and promptly knock you on your ass. A few minutes later and we left the mausoleum, taking a moment to look around. ¡°Well, those angels went ahead and left.¡± I noted, sweeping through. The only thing I could see was a massive hedge. ¡°Of course. There has to be a hedge maze. Can¡¯t have a manor without a proper hedge maze.¡± I muttered as I walked closer. There was a golden gate that swung open at my approach, and we started our exploration. ¡°I will burn this mother to the ground. Why don¡¯t I have fire magic? This place really needs to burn.¡± An hour and a half of wandering, and saying I was frustrated was an understatement. The path was simple, but I could swear that there were some things going behind us and changing things. Occasionally we would be forced to battle a plant tentacle, but that was child¡¯s play at this point. The tentacles would fire poison thorns that did minimal damage, and couldn¡¯t pierce Inkler¡¯s armor plates. I would just take the hits, as I didn¡¯t fear poison. The worst part was that when defeated, it would immediately shrink into the ground and we couldn¡¯t loot it. Another hour later, and I was constantly growling. Even Inkler was annoyed, eyeing the walls as if he was pondering if his reality slash could cut through them fast enough. I was rather ashamed to admit, but at one point I lost it and started trying to slash my way through the hedge. I did some damage, but before I could make a noticeable dent the walls would repair themselves. I stopped when the leaves of the hedge started fluttering and turning red, fearing that it would take a more active deterrent. With nothing left to do, we kept exploring. Still fuming, I froze when Inkler chuffed at me, not realizing that I had wandered into a massive open area. In the four corners of the square, were four plants that resembled the different tentacles we had defeated earlier. One looked like a rose on steroids, the sap dripping from the thorns a bright orange. One was a black tube type flower with purple tips on the petals. The third looked like a hibiscus plant, only it had blue flowers. The last of the ones in the corner looked like a black eyed susan with white petals instead of yellow. In the center was a drooling sunflower with pink polka dots on white petals. Yes, drooling. It looked at me and opened its mouth, showing a lot of flattened teeth ready to grind me to a pulp. It also had two arms that ended in something like a pinecone ready to bash me with.
Burning Rose Level 85 The burning rose torments its prey, the thorns are coated in a toxin that makes you feel like your blood is on fire. It will keep victims alive for nearly a week, slowly bleeding them down and ingesting their blood.
Voidgazer Lily Level 85 The black petals of the voidgazer lily are a beautiful and deadly sight. It will use gravity magic to suck prey into its flower, closing around it and digesting it.
Madbiscus Level 85 The stamen of the madbiscus plant inject a potent toxin that causes hallucinations so potent that the few victims that survive often go mad. Testing on criminals has concluded that the toxin works slowly, building up over five minutes before raging for nearly a half hour afterwards. Experts think the slow ramping effect is what causes the madness later, but further experiments have been outlawed due to ethical reasons.
Black Eyed Bruiser Level 85 The black eyed bruiser plant smashes its prey with the hardened core of its flower. The saga of Eliondir has her summoning a bruiser to batter down the fortified gates of Mandalay, though the truth of this is highly suspect. Either way, letting it hit you is a Bad Idea.
Gnashing Halitoscium Level 90 Feared by adventurers everywhere, the halitoscium is a groups worst nightmare. Capable of inflicting several different status effects by exuding a noxious cloud, your best bet is to kill it with fire as swiftly as possible.
¡°Fuck.¡± Book 3 Chapter 21 ¡°Stay away from the middle one if you can Inkler. In fact, let¡¯s start with the white petals. It seems to be limited to physical attacks only.¡± I charged ahead as he dropped into invisibility. Just as I feared, the middle creature could attack any point within the square, and did so by exhaling a massive cloud of thick green gas. ¡°[Halitosis].¡± Great, the middle plant can speak. It didn¡¯t matter, I plowed through the poison gas, dodging the overhead strike of the bruiser. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± I slashed at the trunk of the plant, cutting a lot less than what I expected. As the monster raised its head again, I continued attacking. ¡°[Reality slash][Dark bolt].¡± One more slash and a blast of darkness against the trunk took off another fraction of the creature¡¯s health, and cutting through a few more strands of the tough fibers that made up the main stalk. I was forced to retreat as the flower came down again, smashing the ground where I was just standing. A sudden pain shot through my leg as I saw Inkler¡¯s reality slash cut some more of the gradually weakening portion of the stalk. ¡°What the hell?¡± I growled, wondering how I got injured. It wasn¡¯t the middle one, as it could only reach with its gas attack. Looking to one side, I saw the madbiscus pointing at me with some greenish goo dripping from the stamen. ¡°Inkler, the blue one can fire projectiles, don¡¯t get hit.¡± I shouted. As I did, I saw a large black orb arching through the air toward my position. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I was forced to use a skill to move out of the way, and was incredibly glad I did. The black orb exploded into a massive gravity wave, adding an incredible amount of power to the bruiser¡¯s attack. ¡°Fucking great, they have combo moves.¡± I muttered, determined to end this fight as soon as possible. At least how they were spread out I didn¡¯t have to worry about the rose plant. I charged forward again, taking a glancing blow from the bruiser, I decided to go for broke on this attack. ¡°[Reality slash][Keen edge].¡± After slashing through the trunk twice, I shoved my foot into the wound and pulled up the other side with my blade. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you like this. Shadow and light, unite in annihilation. [Oblivion sphere]!¡± At point blank range I fired right into the gap, jumping backwards to lessen my own damage from the explosion. I rolled on the landing, some sense of danger causing me to raise up my hammer. *Clang* An impact from the madbiscus would have pierced my heart had I not reacted in time. Though I was saved from one attack, I was knocked off balance and couldn¡¯t react when another gravity sphere landed and the bruiser smashed down right next to me. That blow sent me flying, taking off a third of my health! The bruiser wasn¡¯t doing much better, having had over half of its stem cut through by that combination. Another slash from Inkler tore off more of the insides, causing the plant to slow down and slump over. I guess the innards were more flexible and provided the movement. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± I calmly fired another blast at the same location, causing the bruiser to give a halfhearted flop. Before I closed again, I saw the madbiscus stamen start to swell. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I said with a grin, teleporting over and grabbing the end of the stamen before savagely twisting it. Do plants panic? This one must have been introduced to the feeling just before the base of the stamen exploded in green ichor, the flower flailing about in agony. ¡°Finish that one off Inkler, but don¡¯t take too long.¡± I ordered, as I started to go to town on the base of the flower. This one was a bit easier to cut into, I didn¡¯t even have to boost my attack to cut the stem. This one tried to evade me, but with its weapon out of commission and being rooted in place it didn¡¯t have much hope. It still took a while, and I got blasted by several gravity orbs and clouds of green gas, but they did no damage. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s two down, who¡¯s next?¡± I asked as I flicked off some green goo from the plant. The halitoscium was smashing the ground with his pine cones, and the rose was spinning around, but neither could come close. ¡°I think it¡¯ll be the ranged one.¡± Circling around past the corpse of the bruiser, I charged in against the voidgazer. Halfway there, the central plant decided to send another gas cloud my way. ¡°Getting real sick of that attack.¡± I muttered, flinging my last pyrophoria potion in its mouth. It shattered on a tooth, the mouth slamming shut just before it could enter, but that was fine with me. A pained wailing erupted from the plant as it burned, and the two other plants immediately stiffened. Flowers pointing towards the sky, they sent out a screeching noise. In front of the central plant, a summoning circle appeared and a garden gnome appeared, complete with red hat. ¡°[Refreshing rains].¡± It called out, creating a gentle rain that washed most of the potion off the monster, and started healing it of its burns. ¡°Inkler, you can chase that one. Have fun.¡± I said, as I got within range of the voidgazer plant. It immediately pointed at me, and I felt a bit of suction as it started to create a gravity sphere in the middle of the flower. ¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I said with a grin, firing the orb right at the flower. The blast blew apart the tubular section, taking off a major portion of the creature¡¯s life. The plant also seemed to be stunned, as it was just waving back and forth. Perfect for several slashes to the stalk, allowing me to finally kill it. I turned back to see how Inkler was doing, to see a panicked gnome flying through the air at my face. ¡°HIYAAAAH!¡± I screamed, reflexively smacking it away with my hammer. Inkler dropped the camouflage, leaping up and batting at the flying creature. I watched for half a second as Inkler was batting the poor creature around. He would let it almost get away, then slam a massive paw down on top of it and hold it in place. Tilting the paw to the side, he would check to see if the creature was still there before slapping the paw back down as it struggled to get free. I shrugged and left him to his games. ¡°Alright, which one of you dies first?¡± I asked the two remaining plants, both of which had limited ranges. If they had eyes, I swear they would both be glaring daggers at me. I decided the rose bush first, since it wasn¡¯t the main focus of the square. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± I fired a blast at the flower, surprised when it flicked one of its thorny tendrils to deflect the magic. I calmly walked closer, until I was just inside of what I figured was the creature¡¯s range. It sent out a probing attack, cracking one tentacle like a whip. I dodged to the side, only to be forced to take the next attack with my forearm. The whip wrapped around it, tightening and digging in several thorns. I took minimal damage, but I think I worried the plant a bit when I grabbed the rest of the tentacle and smiled. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± With one slash, I cut off a full foot of tentacle, causing minimal damage but the plant seemed intimidated. It was cradling its injured limb as it dribbled a yellowish green sap, but it didn¡¯t take any further action to attack me. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try this again. [Dark bolt].¡± Again the tentacle whipped out and destroyed the spell. I took a few steps forward, and on my third one the creature finally reacted. Instead of attacking, it tried to make a wall of flailing tentacles to prevent me from getting close. As if something that simple would stop me. I checked my mana levels to be safe, frowning to see the down to nearly a third of the max. While it was probably enough to finish the fight, I decided to err on the side of caution and down a potion to get it back up to better levels. Once that was done, I used a [Dancing shadow step] to get past the wall of thorns and used a [Reality slash] to deliver a massive blow to the flower. I aimed just above where the tentacles attached, and managed to get halfway through the stem before my attack lost momentum.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I again launched a point blank attack into the wound, this was slightly safer than the first time as the plant was arching in pain to get away from me. The slightly enclosed space gave the blast enough oomph to sever the majority of the stalk, only a few strands keeping the two halves together as the flower toppled over in death. ¡°You done over there Inkler?¡± I asked, looking to find the gnome trapped under a paw again. It had lost its hat and an eye, and reached out to me as if begging for death. ¡°You¡¯ve had your fun, and got to chase around a small creature. Kill it already, we still have to deal with the main boss.¡± I said. Inkler chuffed in annoyance before biting down and crushing the gnome¡¯s head. The body immediately disappeared in blue motes of light, and we both turned to look at a much subdued halitoscium. I couldn¡¯t help but revel a bit in the feeling that the boss seemed scared of Inkler and me. ¡°Let¡¯s hold off a bit Inkler, I want to work on something.¡± I said. I backed away so that I was out of the creature¡¯s attack range, glad to see that it didn¡¯t try and blast me with gas anymore. I sat down and summoned a dark bolt, but didn¡¯t fire it. While it was a good base spell, it really needed to be upgraded to something better. Using shadow manipulation, I started tweaking the shape. I elongated it, and started slowly adding more mana. The front gained a mouth full of teeth, an elongated snout, and a wicked set of horns that came out the side of the head before dropping down and travelling parallel to the jaw. A small way back were two limbs with claws. Once I had the shape down, I kept adding at a steady rate, making sure that it would evenly distribute. Once I felt the form had as much mana as it could handle, I added another dark bolt in its jaws. Once I had it finalized, I got a notification.
New Spell Acquired! Shadow dragon bolt Beginner level 1 Formed of shadow energy, this spell has been designed to strike fear into its targets. Casters with a high enough shadow manipulation will have a large amount of control over the flight of this spell, giving it a homing ability. Cost: 75 mana Damage: 250-500 Cooldown: 15 seconds Chant: Roaring darkness, assume the visage of the apex of all apex predators. Shadow dragon bolt.
I smiled at the notification, ecstatic with a new spell. Turning to the boss, I launched the dragon at it. I could feel the trajectory, and knew that when the monster completed its swing the dragon would get pulverized. With but a thought, I altered the trajectory so that it flowed out and over the pine cone that the boss was using to smash it, and watched as it smashed into the face of the creature, splattering dark magics on its face. ¡°Whaaaahahahahahaa!¡± The creature cried out in pain, trying to wipe the magic off as it smoked on its face. I guess there was a bit of a corrupting influence in the spell, something to keep in mind for future use. Sitting down again, I went through the same process only using a light bolt. This was a lot harder to do as I had a bit less of light manipulation, and I could only trickle the mana in at about half the speed of the shadow. For some reason, the light dragon just felt like it needed to be different. Instead of horns, it got a mane of flames, and the toes of the foot had three claws instead of four.
New Spell Acquired! Light dragon bolt Beginner level 1 Formed of light energy, this dragon will obliterate creatures of darkness. Casters with a high enough light manipulation will have a large amount of control over the flight of this spell, giving it a homing ability. Cost: 75 mana Damage: 250-500 Cooldown: 15 seconds Chant: Coalescing light, roar forth and strike true. Light dragon bolt.
¡°Perfect!¡± I shouted, launching the spell at the monster again. This time I let it hit the pinecone, as I had a feeling that a pure light spell would most likely heal the plant monster, something I wasn¡¯t about to do. ¡°Well, that¡¯s two spells finished. What do you say we end this?¡± I asked the monster as I got to my feet. Nodding to Inkler, I started my attack. ¡°[Light dragon bolt][Shadow dragon bolt][Oblivion sphere].¡± I summoned both dragons, and had them twist around each other, linking each tail to the oblivion sphere. Just before my spell launched, Inkler used his reality slash on the back of the creature. Arching in agony from the unexpected attack, it couldn¡¯t defend against my attempt at a spell. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s gotta hurt.¡± I muttered, as the spell form actually detonated inside of the creatures mouth, shattering all of its teeth. It must have counted as a critical hit as well, since the health dropped by a third. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps][Keen edge][Rocket slash][Reality slash]!¡± Each new skill came from a different direction as I finally managed to chain together several skills with the dancing shadow steps and used the last one as a retreat. ¡°[Shadowgheist].¡± I used the last remnants of my mana to summon a clone, and we all entered close range and started tearing into the boss. It tried to retaliate, but whoever was getting targeted would dance back and defend while the other two unloaded. It only lasted about a minute under our combined assault before finally wilting. ¡°That¡¯s the most beautiful thing I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± I said with a fake sniffle, as not only the boss, but the entire hedge maze withered and died right before my eyes. I gave Inkler a few scratches as I went around and started looting all the bodies.
Loot gained: Burning blood poison x15 Voidgazer petals x15 Greater madness toxin x15 Bruiser sap x15 Ring of rapid recovery x1 Mansion seal (1 of 5)
Ring of rapid recovery (rare) Reduces the time spent under status effects by 75%
New Spell Acquired! Twin oblivion dragons Beginner level 1 Forced together, shadow and light dragons unleash terrible energies when they impact the target. Cost: 175 mana Damage: 550-1100 Cooldown: 1 minute Chant: Shadow and light, twist in strife. Annihilation approaches in the wake of their titanic struggle. Twin oblivion dragons.
Level up x 7
Holding together the three pieces of the mansion seal I had already obtained, they fused together to form a shield shape. The bottom had a broad spade shape to it, while the top looked like someone had taken a curved bracket symbol and turned it so the point was facing up. The bottom third was solid green, while the top portion was blue. I guess the remaining pieces would fill in the heraldry. ¡°Well Inkler, we have two choices.¡± I said, interrupting his purring. ¡°Do we head over to that massive tree? Or do you think we would be better off by heading to the chapel?¡± He looked at both, looked at me, then flopped down onto his stomach. ¡°HAHAHAHAHA! Alright, we can take a bit of a break I guess. Half hour for food, but not until we leave the area of the hedge maze. I don¡¯t want to be in here when it comes back.¡± He let out a forlorn sigh, but eventually got up and followed me when I started walking away. Compared to the hours it took to reach the center of the maze, the straight shot was a much welcomed two minute hike. At the end, I flopped down and pulled out some rations for a quick meal. Book 3 Chapter 22 ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± I asked Inkler after we had eaten. ¡°It¡¯s almost midnight, do we head to the tree or to the chapel?¡± I looked over at the cat, who had flopped over on his side and was content to simply flick his tail about. ¡°You¡¯re right, nothing good happens at midnight in a chapel. There¡¯s probably some tiny critters you can stalk in the tree.¡± That got him to crack an eye, followed quickly by the elevator butt stretch. He started smacking his lips, excited to be chasing something. As we walked toward the tree, there was a deep thrumming sound that vibrated through my chest. Inkler¡¯s whine let me know that he felt it too, though what it signaled I had no idea. Shrugging, I turned back to the tree to see parts of it igniting with small green and blue flames. Curious, we got closer. There at the base was a wooden cart, with a man in the back. He was glowing the same light green as the flames in the tree, and a robed figure was tying a noose around his neck. ¡°Hello there!¡± I called out. ¡°Huh? Oh witnesses, how wonderful. It¡¯s been far too long since we¡¯ve had proper witnesses.¡± The robed figure replied cheerily. Flipping off his hood revealed a bald headed man that had a slightly blue glow about him. ¡°Witnesses to what, exactly?¡± I asked. ¡°Why the hanging of course!¡± ¡°Hanging? Of who?¡± I was getting more and more confused. ¡°The right bastard next to me of course. He killed three people. Murdered.¡± ¡°I did no such oof!¡± The man¡¯s protestations were cut off with a savage punch to the stomach. ¡°Now now, we¡¯ll have none o¡¯ that.¡± The executioner said. ¡°You¡¯ll go and scare off the witnesses again.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I talked a bit with the, um, condemned?¡± I asked, distaste coating the final word. ¡°Oh I suppose, just know that he¡¯s a liar along with a murd¡¯rer.¡± The executioner shrugged his shoulders and went about his business, making sure that the noose was properly secured to the tree. ¡°So, what¡¯s your side of the story?¡± I asked, climbing into the back of the wagon. ¡°Please, you have to help me. Please!¡± Desperate, he tried to grab at me, but his hands were bound behind his back. ¡°Calm down, and talk. I can at least promise to listen.¡± ¡°O. Ok.¡± He said, taking a few moments to settle himself. ¡°I started life as an adventurer, long ago. Our party was rather famous at the time, though I¡¯m sure our feats have been lost to time in the centuries that have passed. We were close, brothers and sisters in arms. I was our front line, and I fell in love with our cleric and she with me. As we grew older, we realized that we couldn¡¯t continue life as our skills were waning. Rather than go out in a blaze of glory, we decided to retire. We wandered into the Underdark, hoping for a place where we weren¡¯t as famous. We craved the simple life, you see?¡± I nodded, and he kept going with a sigh. ¡°We found this manor, and I hired on as a guard. Lord Lucifer was impressed with my strength, even if I was weakening with age. And we were happy, for the longest time. We thought we were working with a drow. How wrong we were.¡± ¡°I know what Lucifer is, you don¡¯t have to say it if you don¡¯t want to be heard.¡± I whispered as the man took a few seconds to compose himself. I saw his lip quiver a few times, but didn¡¯t mention it. ¡°Had we known, well. It doesn¡¯t matter now. He set me up somehow. Three guests were murdered, a family just passing through. A man and wife, and their small child. They used my sword and dagger, brutally hacking through the bodies. Even that small child. It was. Brutal. Such brutality. They found me guilty of course, and sentenced me to death. That night, I saw Lord Lucifer for what he truly was. And I cried out to my love, to have her flee. Run. Escape. The priestesses from the chapel swiftly caught her, and forced her within. And so I am forced to relive my death, in this cursed Hanging Tree every midnight. My soul will rise up to be caught in the branches, and from there I can hear the screams of my love as she is forced to do things. They keep her alive somehow, someway. Will you help us?¡±
New Quest Alert! Last request An adventurer, framed and killed before his lover, has asked for your help. Will you free them? Or choose not to believe his story?
¡°You said they took her to the chapel?¡± ¡°Yes. Are you?¡± ¡°Yes. I needed to head there anyway, and I will put an end to whatever is happening in there.¡± I said, hopping down out of the back of the wagon. I started walking down a well-traveled path, heading straight for the chapel, Inkler by my side. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what we¡¯re going to find in there, but most likely a bunch of enemies capable of healing themselves. I want you to go for decapitations with your reality slash.¡± He chuffed his agreement, and I pulled out my arbalest and loaded one of the decapitator bolts. Walking up to the doors, I noticed that whatever holy signs that used to be on the doors had been obliterated. The stone bowl that usually held blessed water was filled with dirt and chunks of stone. I opened the doors and strode in like I owned the place, noticing that Inkler had disappeared from my side. Inside was surprisingly well lit. The pews had been removed, and in the center was a massive summoning circle. Tending to a form wrapped in a shroud on the altar were five women.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Enthralled Priestess Level 85 Once priestesses of the gods and goddesses of the light pantheon, they have now sworn service to Lucifer. With their powers, they hold in chains one who has not forsaken their vows, forcing them to live on and summon beings of light for their master to feed upon.
Bridgette Fallen Mother Superior Level 90 The leader of the cult that worships Lucifer, she maintains the thralls and their prisoner.
¡°Good evening ladies!¡± I called out, causing all of them to jump and spin to face me. ¡°Nice night for a stroll, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Who dares to invade this sanctum?¡± The mother superior hissed. ¡°Sanctum? And what god or goddess do you worship in this sanctum, pray tell?¡± I asked with a sardonic grin on my face. ¡°Insolent. You are in the chapel of Lord Lucifer, Master of the Night and Ruler of the Beasts that Dwell Within!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a right fancy way of saying he¡¯s a vampire.¡± I chuckled, getting hisses from all the women. ¡°You will serve the master for eternity!¡± ¡°Or. Orrrrr. I have a better idea.¡± I interrupted what was sure to be an epic rant about the wonders of my soon to be new master to be a cheeky bastard. ¡°I could kill the lot of you, slay your master, and drag his soul before Thanatos himself. How¡¯s that sound?¡± I asked with arms spread and palms facing up. ¡°HAHAHAHA!¡± The ladies all cackled. ¡°And what makes you think that you have the power to do such a thing?¡± ¡°Well, there is that.¡± I said, pointing over one of the priestesses¡¯ shoulder. To my utter delight, all of them turned and gave me the perfect amount of time to line up a shot and take out one of the priestesses as they all turned back in confusion. ¡°Agatha!¡± The priestess on the far left shrieked, falling to her knees to cradle the head of her fellow. ¡°nonononoNONONONONOOOOOO!¡± ¡°Janice dear, pull yourself together. Death is a part of life.¡± The mother superior scolded. ¡°No, Lord Lucifer promised us life eternal! We aren¡¯t supposed to die!¡± She screeched, turning to glare at their leader. Just in time to see several lines of darkness take the head of the priestess to the far right. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps][Keen edge].¡± Before she could call out a warning, I closed the gap and took of the head of the last remaining priestess to the right, utter shock crossing her features as my blade separated her head from her shoulders. ¡°Jaimie! Johanna!¡± ¡°Calm yourself child, this is ridiculous. We will perform the dark rite later to bring them back. We can even use this one as a sacrifice. I think that will be fitting. [Corrupted light].¡± With a flick of her wrist she sent a beam of brownish grey light straight into my chest, knocking me back across the room. ¡°Gyaaaah!¡± I screamed, as the light kept burning despite its relatively short life. ¡°Ah, such a sweet sound.¡± She said, taking in a deep breath. ¡°Do sing some more for me, I wish to hear your final melody. [Corrupted lance of light].¡± She fired one of my own spells at me, piercing my thigh this time. I crumpled to the ground in agony, forcing myself to burn my palms as I removed the spell from my leg. Her skill level with that spell must be grandmaster to get it to remain like that. Looking at my health, it had already dropped by a quarter. ¡°[Shadow dragon bolt].¡± I snarled, sending a spell her way. She took the attack straight to the chest, laughing the whole time. ¡°Ooooh, tingles.¡± She giggled. ¡°Not nearly as strong as our lord¡¯s. You should thank us for this. Our master is so far above you, it¡¯s like a worm fighting a giant. Now, scream for me. [Corrupted light].¡± As the bolt of light shot towards me, a shimmer in the air in front of me let me know Inkler was helping. He had to drop his invisibility to properly angle his reflective plates, but it was worth it to see that bitch¡¯s spell pierce her thigh. ¡°AAAAAAHHHH!¡± She screamed in pain, clutching her leg. ¡°[Light dragon bolt].¡± If shadow wouldn¡¯t hurt her, perhaps light would. The dragon latched onto her shoulder, biting down hard before exploding in a burst of light. ¡°Youuuuuuu. You and your beast will pay for this.¡± She spat at us, clutching her ruined shoulder. ¡°Janice.¡± The wailing priestess looked up to the mother superior as she flung blood from her ruined shoulder into the priestess¡¯ face and mouth. ¡°Thank you dear. I¡¯ll be sure to resurrect you in time. [Dark healing].¡± To my horror, splits opened up in the priestess¡¯ skin, and her blood flew out in streams to swirl around and be absorbed by the mother superior. Within seconds, the desiccated remains of the priestess slumped to the ground and the mother superior¡¯s wounds were healed. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s much better, thank you dear.¡± She said, patting the side of the mummified face. ¡°Now. What am I going to do with you two?¡± ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± ¡°[Dark mirror].¡± To my surprise, a mirror of shadow coalesced in front of the mother superior, only it showed me bound in my own chains. I heard the snap of fingers, and what the mirror showed became reality! ¡°Inkler, slash at me quick.¡± Bastard of a cat didn¡¯t hesitate for a second, slashing my thigh. The damage caused the binding spell to shatter, much to the amusement of Bridgette. ¡°Such a terrible weakness for such a strong binding spell. No matter, you won¡¯t be alive much longer. Come to me, my children.¡± Several summoning circles appeared, on every flat place near the mother superior. From the small circles came terrible horrors. Dolls. Porcelain dolls of all shapes and sizes. Some in Victorian era dresses, some with shaved heads and cracked faces, and a few clowns scattered here and there. Faceless dolls for those of the Amish faith, and intricate dolls that could be used by a ventriloquist. They all focused on me, as Inkler had immediately disappeared. Creepy giggles from mouths that didn¡¯t move were not helping my nerves. ¡°Oh my darlings, thank you for coming to help mommy. That bad man over there wants to hurt mommy.¡± She pointed at me, and got a chorus of hisses. The eyes of all the dolls immediately locked on me, and glowed a vibrant red. Each doll was suddenly carrying some form of weapon, as varied as the dolls themselves. The oddest were the clowns with balloon weapons, though I had a feeling they would do just as much damage as the farmer¡¯s sickles carried by the Amish dolls. ¡°Oh fuck this.¡± I muttered, desperate plan forming in my head. ¡°[Shadowgheist][Dancing shadow steps].¡± I timed the moves so that the shadowgheist appeared near Bridgette, but I shifted to behind the altar, hidden from sight. A wave of dolls immediately started hacking and slashing at the clone, rapidly draining its life. As it desperately tried to retaliate against the dolls, it moved closer and closer to the inevitable death by a thousand cuts. Now was my chance. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I whispered the activation of the skill, leaping over the altar and pushing the head of the mother superior forward. ¡°Heal this. [Keen edge].¡± The dolls all screamed as they realized the danger to their owner, but it was too late. With one stroke, I decapitated Bridgette and all of the dolls fell like puppets with their strings cut. ¡°That takes care of that.¡± I said, panting. I decided to hold off on looting for just a moment, instead turning to see what was on the altar. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!¡± Shrugging, I realized I would probably scream too if the first thing I saw when I woke up was someone holding a severed head. Book 3 Chapter 23 ¡°Calm down, calm down!¡± I tried to calm her, accidentally holding the head towards her as I did so. ¡°Get away! Get away! GETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAY!¡± Panicked, she backed away until she fell off the altar as I dropped he head. I walked around the altar slowly, seeing her looking around with wide eyes as she frantically tried to disentangle her legs from the sheet she was covered with. ¡°Easy there.¡± I said in a calm voice, holding both my hands to my sides, palms facing her. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna hurt you.¡± ¡°Why? Why why why????¡± I started to creep forward a little but froze as she immediately started freaking out again. ¡°Look, what do you remember? Let¡¯s start with that.¡± I asked in a calm tone. ¡°I. I don¡¯t know. I DON¡¯T KNOW!¡± ¡°Easy now, easy. Take a deep breath. That¡¯s it.¡± I spoke calmly, as if I were trying to coax an injured wild animal into trusting me. As I did, I looked her over. She was thin and wispy like an elf, with long dexterous fingers. She had an emerald ring on one hand, and a green sleeveless dress trimmed in brown. She was barefoot, and I caught flashes from a small ankle chain. ¡°Feeling a little better?¡± ¡°I. I¡¯m not sure. Where¡¯s Charles?¡± Fuck. That wasn¡¯t the conversation I was wanting to have with her first, but from the glint of steel I caught in her green eyes I knew that she wouldn¡¯t budge about hearing it. ¡°Was Charles your husband?¡± ¡°Nothing official, though we were looking to make it official eventually. A few months more wage¡¯s from Lord Lucifer and we will have enough for the ceremony.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I said, at a loss at how to proceed. ¡°I¡¯ve met Charles, but what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Zoraya.¡± ¡°Zoraya. A lovely name. I¡¯m Angus, and my friend over there is Inkler.¡± I said, motioning to the cat before shaking my head. He had chosen that moment to tap at the balloon weapon of one of the clowns, leaping backward with his tail straight up as it popped. ¡°Adorable.¡± She giggled, covering her mouth for a second. At that moment, I could easily see why Charles fell for her. She just seemed so innocent. Which made this next part so hard to lay out for her. ¡°Zoraya.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have some bad news. Charles was framed by Lucifer for murder. They hanged him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Lord Lucifer would never betray those sworn to his service. He¡¯s a good, kind master.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a master vampire, and centuries ago framed your lover for murder and had him hanged.¡± I insisted, shaking my head. ¡°All the while, those five priestesses have been keeping you in some sort of suspended life, forcing you to summon creatures of light for Lucifer to feast upon.¡± ¡°That is not something you should be even joking about stranger.¡± ¡°I know, which is why I¡¯m not joking. If you don¡¯t believe me, take a look at the summoning circle over on the other side of the altar. You¡¯ll see that it has been there for a while, a long while indeed.¡± Wary of me, she walked around the opposite side of the altar. ¡°Inkler, come on over here for a bit buddy.¡± I said, wanting him out of her way. She did manage to give him a bit of a smile as he ended up throwing a Victorian era doll around by her dress. ¡°This? What is this?¡± She asked, as she looked at the circle. Covering up her horror with a hand to her mouth, she quickly paled. ¡°This is WRONG! Who would summon a light being into a binding circle like this?¡± ¡°Ones who wanted a slave for food rather than help.¡± I grimly answered as I stood up. ¡°You. You said you spoke with Charles.¡± She said, spinning to face me. ¡°Bring me to him!¡± ¡°One moment, I need to loot the bodies first.¡± I said, finally walking around the altar. They didn¡¯t have much, though each did have at least a gold coin. Some rare quality robes went into my inventory, increasing mana regeneration and decreasing spell costs. The mother superior dropped the fourth key to the mansion, a risen sun that was sending out seven rays. The largest and brightest of which was heading straight down from the sun, as if landing on the field. ¡°Thanks. Now, let¡¯s head outside and over to the large tree.¡± I went first, Zoraya following behind me. I smiled a bit as Inkler was by her side, getting his share of scratches between his ears. Traitorous cat. Once we left the chapel, we saw a much transformed Hanging Tree. All the leaves were gone, and its skeletal limbs were covered in green flames. As we neared, I saw the executioner standing beside a phantom steed that was hooked to the wagon. Charles was still standing in the back, noose around his neck. ¡°ZORAYA!¡± He cried out, and she burst past me with a surprising speed. She leapt over the sides of the cart in a move that would make any parkour practitioner proud, coming up to him and trying to put her hands around his face, only for them to move through him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my love, but I am no longer of this world. And yet I remain bound to it.¡± ¡°Oh my Charles, how long have you been tortured like this?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter my love, for you are finally free.¡± ¡°For what? How can I live without you in my life? What will I do, down here in the dark? Where the sun may never reach?¡± ¡°Can I see you smile, one last time?¡± He asked, and though I couldn¡¯t see it I could tell she gave him a sad smile. He returned it, saying, ¡°How could the sun compare to a smile like that?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°So, what¡¯s your story?¡± I asked the executioner, who all this time was simply standing there watching. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m trapped here, same as them.¡± He said, nodding at the back of his cart. ¡°Bound by my rage, and my desire for vengeance.¡± ¡°Vengeance?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°It started like that. I was the father of the family that man was accused of slaying. Lucifer bound my soul to the tree, offering me a chance to be the executioner for the man he said slew my family. I agreed, especially since he originally summoned me into the same room where my family¡¯s bodies still laid. Once I saw them, well, all rational thought went right out the window.¡± ¡°And now?¡± ¡°Over the long years, I¡¯ve lost the desire for vengeance and only wish to move on to the afterlife with them. I know Charles there didn¡¯t do it, as one of Lucifer¡¯s men came home drunk one night and was bragging of it.¡± ¡°Wait, when I first got here you called Charles a murderer. What happened?¡± ¡°Forced conversation from the binding. Once I get Charles set up to hang, then I am free to talk as I like.¡± ¡°Ok, that makes sense. And you haven¡¯t left, why exactly?¡± ¡°Did you not hear the part where I¡¯m bound to the tree? I¡¯m stuck here, same as Charles.¡± ¡°Angus!¡± Zoraya called from the back of the cart. ¡°Is there nothing we can do to free ourselves from these curses?¡± ¡°If someone were to kill the tree, that could probably do it.¡± The executioner said. ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to slay something like that.¡± Zoraya said, and Charles gave her a sad smile. ¡°What do I have to do to kill it?¡± I asked, knowing that I was the only one with the ability. ¡°Cut it down.¡± The executioner said with a shrug. ¡°There¡¯s a soul stone in there somewhere that¡¯ll need to be destroyed, but if you cut its contact through the trunk to the earth that¡¯ll kill the stone as well.¡± ¡°Soul stone? Hmmm.¡± I muttered, getting an idea. ¡°[Death¡¯s gaze].¡± Staring at the tree, I saw a red dot just below where the first branches split. ¡°I think I found it.¡± I said, hoping that the only way to deliver a critical strike to a tree like this one would be to strike it in the soul stone. Leaping into the back of the cart, I used dancing shadow steps to teleport up into the branches of the tree. Walking along the branch, I made it to the split with no issues. Staring back at me was a blackened, heart shaped stone. I started by trying to pry it out, but the wood of the tree would heal immediately after I tried. Even [Reality slash] couldn¡¯t do enough damage to let me pry out the stone. ¡°Alright, we smash it right here. [Mana shockwave].¡± I muttered, smashing the stone with my hammer. ¡®Hyaaaah!¡± I might have screamed a bit as the stone repelled my attack, sending me flying down and landing rather roughly in the back of the cart. ¡°Thought you were going to smash something in the tree?¡± Charles asked with a chuckle. ¡°Ugh, it had a slight disagreement with my methods. Did you know it can reflect mana?¡± I asked with a groan, content to just lay there for a bit. ¡°I could have told you that.¡± The executioner said from by his horse. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t ask.¡± ¡°Of course. So. Is there a way to actually damage this corrupted soul stone? Preferably in a way that doesn¡¯t injure me in the process?¡± ¡°Oh sure. You need to attack it from the spirit world. That¡¯s where it¡¯s anchored.¡± ¡°Lovely. Anyone got any spirit world attacks? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?¡± ¡°Who is Bueller?¡± Charles asked. ¡°Nobody. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I replied, sitting up. I looked up into the tree, and I swear the flames were flickering as if they were laughing at me. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± Once again I moved up into the top of the tree, and headed toward the trunk. ¡°For Thanatos. [Soul strike]!¡± The blade of my scythe turned grey, and started emitting tendrils of a whitish fog. I plunged the blade into the heart, and I swear I heard the tree screaming on some level. Charles and the executioner fell to their knees, well as much as Charles could with a noose still around his neck, and I saw my blade drawing in the magic of the tree. Green flames flickered and flowed through the branches and into the heart, and after a few minutes the heart lost its inner glow and split right down the middle. ¡°Everyone all right?¡± I called down, turning to see Charles laying down in the back of the cart with his head on Zoraya¡¯s lap. The executioner was leaning against the side of the cart, shoulders heaving as he breathed deeply. I jumped down out of the tree, rolling a bit at the end to bleed off momentum. ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t care what the movies say, that still hurts the knees a bit.¡± I muttered, heading over to the back of the cart. As I got closer, a swirling portal opened up and Thanatos walked out. ¡°Lord Thanatos?¡± I asked, frozen in place. ¡°Indeed. You have done a great service in destroying this abomination of a tree. I have come to personally collect these two remaining souls.¡± ¡°Two souls? No, I¡¯ll not be separated from my Charles again!¡± Zoraya cried. Thanatos looked at the two in the back of the cart for a second, before responding. ¡°I see you two souls have been bound, of your own volition. Very well, I shall take all three of you to the next life.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Thanatos.¡± Zoraya said, bowing her head. ¡°Before I go, might I give the one who freed me something for his troubles?¡± The executioner asked. At Thanatos¡¯ nod, he walked up to me hoding out his hand. ¡°I believe you would need this. The final piece of the key to the manor.¡± ¡°You knew?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Of course. Those of us who hold the keys can sense when they are gathered. You¡¯ve been shining brightly in my vision ever since I met you. Take this, and my thanks for freeing me to rejoin my family.¡± With a smile, he patted the back of my hand and walked into the portal that Thanatos came out of. ¡°Lord Thanatos, might I gift Angus something as well?¡± Zoraya asked. She jumped out of the back of the cart, walking over to me. ¡°Thank you, for everything you have done. You not only freed me, but reunited me with my love. I can¡¯t thank you enough for that, but I can gift you something that I won¡¯t be needing where I¡¯m going. I feel in my heart, that Belisama has long since been replaced. As such, I can¡¯t give you any of my cleric skills, and only her lower level summons remain. Though her domain was light and rivers, and my elven brethren preferred plants, my talents lay with the earth. A talent I detect within you, though it is withered and atrophied. Allow me to pass along the spells and training I have learned. To pass on a legacy, as I will never be allowed children with my love.¡± ¡°I would be honored.¡± I said, and she came forward and kissed me on the forehead. I felt the knowledge transfer in, but held off on the notifications for now. I watched, silent, as Zoraya and Charles walked hand in hand towards the portal. Eyes on each other, they stepped forward through the portal at the same time. Thanatos followed shortly after, and the portal closed.
Quest complete! Last request You have not only freed the hanged man¡¯s lover, but broke the chains on him and his executioner. In the process, you have freed hundreds of trapped souls and destroyed an abomination of a tree. Rewards: Final key to the manor 50 platinum Zoraya¡¯s knowledge of earth spells (all lowered to beginner level 1)
Hidden quest complete! You have broken a ritual that prevents souls from moving along in the cycle of life. Though you did it without expecting a reward, Thanatos has decided that you deserve one. For the next month, you are exempt from the sacrificial requirements for the church.
Book 3 Chapter 24 Once everyone was gone, I put together the final portion of the mansion key. Covering the field of green were figures bowing in reverence to an angelic figure descending the large ray of light. In its hand was a smaller orb of light, though the wings were oddly off. One was the feathered, angelic wing while the other was a bat-like wing reminiscent of demons. ¡°Hey bud, what do you say we take a little nap to recharge before storming the manor?¡± I asked Inkler, who was incredibly excited. Chuckling, we headed toward the manor entrance, crossing over the majority of the still dead hedge maze to do so. Once we were clear of it, I used some of my new spells to create a shelter for us. ¡°[Earth barricade][Condense stone][Strengthen wall].¡± Earth barricade made a one-foot-thick section of a wall, and condense stone turned it into a four-inch-thick section of stone. Strengthen wall increased its durability without changing any thickness, and we soon had a small shelter with a few air holes to rest in. The walls would last for eight hours, or until destroyed, which was perfect for us. I pulled us out a nice feast, deciding we deserved a double set of rations for dinner. Diving in, Inkler wasn¡¯t about to argue against that. ¡°Alright bud, we have eight hours to relax, then we¡¯ll take down Lucifer. Go ahead and head to bed, I¡¯ll be down shortly.¡± I said, pulling up the list of spells I had gotten.
New spells acquired! Due to the large number of spells, they will be listed in one table instead of individually. All are at beginner level 1. Stone shot Fire a round stone at an enemy. Cost: 25 mana Damage: 30-50 Cooldown: 5 seconds Earth barricade Summon a section of wall, 3 feet x 3 feet x 1 foot Cost: 50 mana Duration: 8 hours Durability: 500/500 Condense stone Compress a section of earth into stone Cost: 50 mana per 9 square feet Durability: 1000/1000 Strengthen wall Double the durability of a structure Cost: Variable Shard rain Unleash a rain of razor sharp stone shards on an area Cost: 50 mana Damage: 75-100 Area: circle 3 feet diameter Cooldown: 5 seconds Stoneskin Buff yourself or an ally, increasing defense. Cost: 50 mana reserved Effect: Adds 100 defense Duration: until cancelled, max 2 Entomb Summon a stone coffin around a humanoid opponent, limiting movement Cost: 100 mana Durability: 1,500/1,500 Duration: 1 minute Cooldown: 1.5 minutes Quake Summon a minor tremor beneath opponent. Damage only occurs if opponent is a construct made of earth or stone. High chance of interrupting skills or chants, can cause environmental effects depending on terrain. Cost: 150 mana Duration: 3 seconds Area: 15 feet diameter Cooldown: 1 minute Banish stone Remove a section of stone Cost: variable Cooldown: 5 seconds Summon construct Summon a stone construct to aid you in battle. Size and shape depending on skill level. Beginner levels summon a small humanoid helper Cost: 250 mana reserved Duration: Until cancelled Durability: 5,000/5,000 Limit: 1 unit
I nodded at the gains, rather happy with the rewards. I went ahead and cast the stoneskin buff on myself and Inkler, wondering if it gained experience just by being active or if it had to take damage to grow. Thinking about it, I wondered what I could get as a buff if I could gain some training in oblivion magic. Either way, I now had some offensive, some defensive, and some nice crowd control spells. This should greatly improve my options in battle. I curled up and went to sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * I woke up a bit early, only to find Inkler draped across my stomach. With a sigh, I tried to shove him off, only to get a tail flick to the face for my efforts. ¡°Come on Inkler, time to get up.¡± I tried pleading with him. He ignored me. Damn cat. Five minutes of wiggling later, and I had managed to extricate myself. ¡°You ready to go?¡± I asked the smug looking cat, who opted to take a big stretch first before padding over to one of the walls and batting at it with a paw. ¡°Uh huh, fine. [Banish stone].¡± I made us an exit, then turned around and destroyed the entire structure we had taken shelter in. Turning back to the gates, I placed the finished key in the depression in the middle of the gates, watching as it and the entire gate structure slowly lit up before splitting down the middle and opening. Once the doors were open, a drow appeared via teleportation. ¡°Good evening sir, I am Cavendish, the butler.¡± The impeccably dressed butler full on bowed to me, seriously making a right angle at his waist before swinging back upright. ¡°Angus.¡± I said, confused as to what in the hell was going on. ¡°Lord Lucifer wishes to extend his congratulations to you Angus. You not only provided fantastic entertainment, but managed to put together the entire key of the manor. You are the first to accomplish such a feat in 572 years. As a reward, Lord Lucifer has instructed me to take you on a tour of the mansion before returning to the ball.¡± ¡°Ball?¡± I asked, still not sure exactly what was going on. ¡°Indeed. Master has set up a ball in the grand gallery, and his children are waiting to welcome you. We will also have a feast prepared, the likes of which you have never tasted before. While all that is taking place, are you ready for the tour?¡± Turning on his heels, Cavendish lead the way. Instead of the main house, we headed around the side to some stables.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°On our way to the stables, we will be passing through the Lord¡¯s favored gardens. Don¡¯t worry, they aren¡¯t nearly as, hostile, as the hedge maze is. Instead he breeds his flowers for their deadly beauty. I¡¯m sure the grandmaster of your alchemy guild would be willing to spend several months here.¡± Looking around, I had to admit that the flowers were indeed beautiful. They tended towards the darker colors, deep violets and blacks were present in nearly every flower. There were occasional mushrooms as well, though the caps wound about latticework in a beautiful lace pattern. ¡°Ah, I see you¡¯ve noticed the Lace Bindingcaps. A curious mushroom, it is one of my personal favorites. Don¡¯t get too close, the yellows and oranges of the cap draw in the unwary. Once they get close enough, the paralytic they constantly pump into the air seizes all muscles. You would die slowly, completely aware as you starved for air. Once your body rots away, they use your bones as their scaffolding.¡± Contrasting with the beauty and danger of the flowers was the ugliness of the statues. Scenes of torment and pain were scattered throughout the garden. All of the fountains had water flowing from wounds placed in both angels and demons, some even depicted decapitated cherubs. Thankfully the winding path we were on didn¡¯t take too long to get through and we came to the stables. ¡°Master Lucifer is rather proud of his creations; he calls them Night Mares.¡± The butler explained as we entered. Inside were rows of stalls, and animals that were obviously based upon a horse. Completely black, they had a horn growing out of their forehead that had two spiraling rows of opalescent teeth running its length. Their eyes were oversized, slit pupiled like a cats, and had a slight glow to them when viewed with mystic vision letting me know that they could see into some strange spectrums. They had two sets of wings on their backs, the larger ones forward and smaller ones behind. Their legs ended in claws like a lizard, and each leg split at the lower portion into two feet. ¡°Absolutely beautiful.¡± I muttered, taken aback by their looks. They had rippling muscles, looking to be the perfect balance between speed and strength. ¡°Carnivorous?¡± ¡°Omnivores actually. They use their horns and claws when hunting, but when game is scarce they can eat almost anything. If an army marches on their stomach, an army mounted on Night Mares need never slow down.¡± Cavendish explained. ¡°Color me impressed.¡± I said, noticing that the one I was examining was judging the distance between us in a most uncomfortable way. Backing away slowly, I grinned at the disappointed creature. ¡°Is this the only mount he breeds?¡± ¡°Not at all, we have several varieties of lizards and beetles, but the Night Mares are his pride. I see several of them eyeing your invisible friend, perhaps we should continue on with the tour?¡± ¡°Probably for the best. Come along Inkler.¡± I ordered, and he reluctantly followed. ¡°I was wondering about the second claw they had per leg.¡± ¡°Many do. It has multiple uses, something Lord Lucifer always encourages. Aiding in finding footing, dealing extra damage, even helping wrangle more elusive foes.¡± As he went on about the virtues bred into the line, we came upon quite possibly the most shocking thing I had ever seen in the Underdark. A forest. An entire deciduous forest. It almost felt like we were above ground it was so massive. ¡°Ah, and here we come to the Master¡¯s favorite hunting grounds. Roughly a mile square, it was painstakingly grown from altered seeds from above. When we have a condemned, the Master gives them a choice. Face the Hanging Tree, or survive twenty-four hours in the forest. To be sporting, the condemned is given a two-hour head start. After that, the Master hunts.¡± ¡°Are the condemned given any weapons?¡± ¡°Only what they may fashion with their own skills.¡± ¡°Any survivors?¡± ¡°None.¡± Cavendish answered with a smug smile. ¡°None have managed to last even six hours. If you don¡¯t mind sir, we should head in through the back door here. The other side of the manor is guest housing.¡± Leading toward the manor, he pulled open the door and ushered me in. ¡°Perfect! Through here, if you don¡¯t mind sir. Lord Lucifer has instructed me to show you the laboratories next.¡± Cavendish walked over to a nondescript door between two bookshelves. The stairway down was a typical stone staircase, with light stones instead of torches every so often. After descending almost twenty feet, we came to a large landing room. ¡°Alas, at this time we don¡¯t have anyone in the dungeon worthy of torture.¡± ¡°Pity that.¡± I said, loading as much sarcasm into the words as I could. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be such a prude. It really is such a stress reliever. Frustrated? Annoyed? Bored? Take up a few instruments and have your way with a prisoner. We have tools of all imaginations.¡± ¡°Right, moving on then.¡± He said with a sigh, seeing my annoyed face. ¡°Lest you get the idea of putting me in the torture chair. Hmmm, perhaps the alchemy wing?¡± Gesturing, he headed to the left, down a long hallway. Taking the first door on the right, I froze for a second before slowly walking forward and looking at everything in amazement. ¡°Possibly the most expensive alchemist set ever put together. Volumetric flasks made of glass, mithril, and orichalcum. Dials that are far more accurate than those pathetic stands the guild is using.¡± I picked up a small red stone, and I could hear the smile in Cavendish¡¯s voice. ¡°I see you found them. We employ an expert gem cutter, who has mastered turning traditional rubies and garnets into faux mana stones. This gives us an even greater control over a much wider range of temperatures.¡± ¡°What are these plated in?¡± I asked, looking at several sets of tools. ¡°Not plated, that¡¯s far too difficult to do. We have sets of pure orichalcum, silver, and gold.¡± ¡°Why gold and not mithril?¡± ¡°Ah, well gold has a slightly lower mana conductivity, but it can also act as a catalyst for certain reactions. When stirred with the gold rod, what would normally take a few hours to react can be done in minutes.¡± I nodded along with his explanation, but got incredibly excited for what he did next. ¡°I can see that you and your companion are both variants. Would you like to see our transmutation circle?¡± ¡°You have one?¡± ¡°Indeed. When one becomes as long lived as Lord Lucifer, its amazing the wealth one may amass. Especially if you can carve out and hold on to a territory as rich in resources as the Underdark.¡± Leading me down the hallway, we passed several doors to enter the lone door at the end. The room was immaculate. Shiny black stone, obsidian maybe, covered the walls and the floor. Set in the middle of the room was the same circle that the alchemists guild used, only it was quite a bit larger. So large, that I could probably fit Derrick in his giant form in it. ¡°Yooooowwwwww.¡± A pained groan came from one of the corners of the room that I had completely moved past in my adoration of the setup. Spinning, we both stared at some horrid creature as it cowered in the corner. The body was odd, almost catlike. The limbs were far too long, and the paws almost looked like fingers. The body was mostly hairless, though it had a long, brown haired mane around the head. ¡°Huuuurrrrrtttttssssss.¡± The creature wailed again. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± I recoiled in horror. ¡°The Master¡¯s latest success!¡± ¡°Success? That?¡± ¡°Indeed. Cross species alchemy is always possible, though the results are often less than stellar. One of his greatest challenges is transplanting a human intelligence into a dangerous creature. Imagine battle steeds with the cunning of the commanders. Even if the leader dies or gets knocked unconscious, the steed can make tactical decisions.¡± ¡°How did you manage to make this, this, this thing?¡± ¡°See, that¡¯s the problem. Lord Lucifer was running into a problem using more feral animals and the humans he had acquired. During the transformation, the human mind, even elven minds, were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the animals. Only the most rudimentary parts remained. And so he decided to try something different. He used an animal that had a link, a familial bond almost, with the human. This little girl and her cat became his first success. The first experiment to retain higher thought processes.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I said, walking closer to Cavendish, who was looking on with almost fanatical glee. ¡°Could it be that the human mind was shutting down during the transformation, allowing the animal to overwhelm the consciousness? But the bond between child and pet allowed for the animal to wish to preserve the human.¡± ¡°Exactly my Lord¡¯s thoughts as well! Truly, you two are a pair.¡± ¡°And how have you kept these experiments from the eyes of the gods?¡± ¡°Obsidian. This room is completely surrounded by three feet of obsidian, and another several layers of anti-scrying and anti-divine wards.¡± ¡°Clever. Very clever. Now, what do you think would happen if [Reality slash].¡± Maintaining a straight face through the rage I felt during that conversation was the hardest thing I had done my life, but it was worth it to take the head of Cavendish with one swing. ¡°Wheeeere¡¯s Dadddddy?¡± The pitiful creature asked. ¡°I¡¯ll go find him soon sweet one. You just hold on a second, okay?¡± ¡°Dooooon¡¯t leeeeeave innnnnn daaaaark.¡± She mewled, and my heart broke at that. Falling to my knees, I gave her a hug. ¡°I have to step outside for just a second sweetie, I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.¡± I spoke through my tears, before standing up and walking outside of the room. Emily, I know people wish to push the envelope with certain aspects of the game, but this is crossing too many lines. See attached video. I¡¯m in the mansion of Lucifer, master vampire living in the Underdark near Menzoberrazan. Marty I fired off a quick email to Emily, hands shaking in rage. ¡°Thanatos, I need you to look through my eyes for a minute. I¡¯m hoping if we establish a connection outside the wards, we can maintain it through the wards. And if the gods aren¡¯t outraged by what you are about to see, I will make it my mission to end the lot of you and replace you myself.¡± I felt a pressure at the back of my eyes, and assumed Thanatos was watching. ¡°Diddddd you finnnnnd dadddddy?¡± The creature asked as soon as I walked back into the room. ¡°Not yet sweetie, I didn¡¯t want you to be alone too long.¡±
Wait one moment. I need to summon others.
I walked over to the creature and sat down next to it, getting between her and the body. She had been stretching her neck towards the pool of blood, and sniffing at it rather intently. I absentmindedly patted her head while Inkler came over to her other side and was cautiously sniffing at her. ¡°Prettttty Kitttty.¡± She said, trying to give Inkler a smile.
We have seen enough. Thanatos: Guilty. Sentence is death. Pelor: Be kind to the abomination, killing her without her realizing. Destroy everything else. Moradin: I concur with Pelor¡¯s plan. Gaia: speak ¡°By Gaia¡¯s will, let this barren land remain a reminder of lines not crossed¡± after you destroy everything. Justice: Inheritor of my eyes, become my blade. Leave none living Truth: None remain innocent. Death for all Lolth: Slaughter them all, raze the lands and salt the earth. Tiamat: Unleash chaos my child. Evil: Abstain, as this was done in my name Thanatos: Eight agree and one abstains. The dark, light, and grey pantheons stand as one. Angus shall act as our punisher. You are charged with destroying all who dwell within. Show mercy to the abomination, if possible.
I felt power flow into me. Cold flames from Thanatos, burning desire from Lolth, and unbridled rage from Justice were all that I could make out before being swamped. My scythe glowed with iridescent colors, bursting into heatless flames. New shadows extended in front of me as I felt glowing wings extend from behind my back. I knelt to the ground, and summoned an [Oblivion sphere]. Looking at it, I knew I needed to alter it. Fueling my will with rage at what had been done, I compressed the sphere until it was the size of a walnut. ¡°Hurrrrtsss!!!!¡± ¡°I know little one, but I have a special medicine here that will take away all the pain. If you open your mouth and close your eyes, I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± She did as I asked, and I slowly moved the compressed sphere into her mouth. ¡°That¡¯s it. Now close your mouth little one, and the medicine will take effect.¡± As soon as she did as I asked, I detonated the sphere inside her head. The explosion instantly vaporized it, killing her with no pain. ¡°Thanatos, take care of her soul.¡± I whispered, before standing and turning.
System warning! A divine avenger has descended.
Book 3 Chapter 25
Divine avenger You have been temporarily upgraded to become the dealer of divine justice. Your charge is to kill every being within the manor house of Lucifer, and raze the building and lands to the ground. Temporary boosts: All cooldowns reduced to 1 second (except legendary spells) Mana regeneration increased by 1000% Divine power added to all spells and skills. Increases damage to divine targets by 100%
Rage. Rage and power. That is what was flowing through me, and I welcomed it. Let it run rampant. Methodically, I moved through the different rooms in the basement. Each had several failed experiments, all were destroyed in bursts of spells. I stuck with stone spells, as I didn¡¯t want to burn down the manor too soon. There would be time for that. Wolfmen that were more beastly than men, bat hybrids to give the most stalwart warriors nightmares, they all fell before my wrath. After a few uses, I unknowingly altered the stone shot spell into a stone lance spell, much better for destroying enemies. Entomb was changed to Stone Maiden, a play on the iron maiden of old. Against single beasts it was devastating. Cavendish had been true to his word, as the prison I explored was completely empty. Iron bars separated the cells, each with a drain in the floor. There was no room for rats and no dripping water, so at least there was that. The final room in the basement was a massive storeroom, full of rare ingredients and materials. I closed the door behind me, ignoring the tempting treasures. I felt a pulse of approval through the powers that I was borrowing, and headed upstairs. The first room I made it to in the manor was the kitchen, full of bustling servants. ¡°[Shard rain].¡± I channeled mana into the spell, spraying the inside of the room with lances of stone. The unarmored servants fell swiftly to the onslaught, most not even getting a chance to see the person who struck them down. I moved through the kitched quickly, checking the nearby storerooms to make sure a servant or two hadn¡¯t escaped. Clear, I moved back through the manor towards the faintest sounds of music. I was no music major, but it sounded like a repetitious three beat pattern. Waltz? No matter, I arrived shortly and kicked open the doors. I might have overdone it just a bit, as the doors exploded apart, peppering those near me with shards of wood. ¡°Ah, our guest of honor has arrived my children. Though with rather poor manners. Tsk, tsk.¡± A tall elf dressed in a fancy suit stood from his throne at the end of the room. The rest of the guests all turned to face me, anger written on their faces. They were all misshapen in some way. Some mockery of life. All with a gleam of madness in their eye. They all registered as unstable hybrids, levels ranging from 50 to 95.
Lucifer Master vampire Level 130 Lucifer has lived for centuries, extending his life by draining it from others. He has also greatly limited his vulnerabilities by enthralling a priestess and having her summon light beings for him to feast upon. Once he had acquired an immunity to blessed light and sunlight, he started experimenting on these captive beings. Forced breedings with himself resulted in unstable hybrids, all of which are mentally unsound. Though the conception rate is incredibly low, with hundreds of years he has managed to grow quite a large family. A large family that is utterly loyal and fanatical in their devotion to him.
¡°My children, what should we do with this unruly guest?¡± Not wanting to give them a chance to attack, I started chanting, ¡°Raging light, obliterate all before me. Blur away all form, leave nothing behind. Save [Whiteness].¡± I saw several eyes widen in fear at the chant, but most were grinning, anticipating ripping me limb from limb. Too bad for them. A small white ball shot out into the middle of the group before suddenly expanding into a massive white sphere. Even without mystic vision active, I could see the torrents of raging magic energy swirling and rampaging inside. Ten seconds later, and the sphere broke apart to reveal small piles of dropped gear. ¡°What have you DONE?!¡± Lucifer screamed, as his form expanded. Bulging muscles shredded his suit, while two bat wings exploded from his back. His nose shrunk and turned upwards, and his canines elongated. ¡°My children! I¡¯ll make you pay!¡± ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± While he was busy ranting, I calmly bound him in chains. It would be a start, but it wasn¡¯t enough for what I had planned for the bastard. ¡°Confound the thousand senses, and leave them adrift in the timeless void. Stumble in the deepest darkness, that no vision may penetrate. [Deo Noct]!¡± Immediately after the spell hit, his ranting was cut off, though his mouth kept moving. The chains dropped, and though he was free he didn¡¯t try and move at all, which was perfectly fine by me. ¡°[Twin oblivion dragons]. [Twin oblivion dragons]. [Twin oblivion dragons]. [Twin oblivion dragons].¡± I sent a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god or gods had allowed me to only have a one second cooldown on my skills, as I fully abused this. Each spell went and made a complete circle around a limb of Lucifer before exploding. Once Lucifer had been reduced to a limbless torso, I picked him up and bound him to the chair using stone manipulation. ¡°What? How? What did you do?¡± He cried in horror as Deo Noct wore off, allowing him to see his predicament. ¡°Shut your mouth.¡± I snarled, glaring at him. ¡°There are so many things I wish to do to you right now, to prolong your agony. I want you to feel all the horror that little girl felt as you fused her with her own pet.¡± Taking a deep breath, I forcibly calmed myself. ¡°However, I fear that is far beyond my power.¡± ¡°Heh, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m a lord of the Underdark-¡° ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished.¡± I interrupted him, smashing his face with a backhanded slap. ¡°While it is beyond my abilities, it isn¡¯t beyond the gods.¡± Smiling, I drew the dagger Thanatos had given me so long ago. I reveled in the horror that crossed his face, as he looked at the dagger. ¡°That¡¯s right, this dagger will not only kill you but seal your soul within. Afterwards I¡¯m going to go and deliver it to Thanatos.¡± ¡°No. NO. WAIT! I CAN GIVE YOU THINGS! I CAN MAKE YOU UGH!¡± I interrupted another of his tirades by slamming the dagger into his chest, and twisting it. With but a thought, stone crept forward and covered his mouth so that he couldn¡¯t try and tempt me with any further offers. His life bar was already below a quarter, and twenty seconds later it was nearly depleted. Panicked, he struggled futilely as the last of his life bled away and the final diamond on the dagger turned black. I wiped it clean on his clothes, and turned and walked away through the silent ballroom. A quick run of the manor revealed nothing living inside, so I headed out the front door and towards the hedge maze that still hadn¡¯t recovered. Crossing that and then the graveyard, I saw a large group of drow standing on the other side of the gate. A female dropped down off the largest of the spiders they had, and stalked forward.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Angus, we are here to return you to Menzoberrazan.¡± ¡°On whose orders?¡± I asked with a glare. ¡°The council-¡° ¡°Fuck the council, I¡¯m busy.¡± I snarled, turning back to face the manor while releasing my aura of impending doom. ¡°Time to make a big impact everyone.¡± I whispered in prayer. Breathing in deep, I channeled everything I could. All the divine power that was at my disposal. With at least eight major gods, it was a lot. ¡°Light, dark and gray. All pantheons bound in unity. Combine your might, unleash your anger. Raze the fruits of those who usurp the laws of this world. Burn to ash, burn the ash to nothingness. Cleanse this blight with fire and fury. [CONSUMING DIVINE WRATH].¡± Flinging my hands forward, waves of chaotic energies from all the gods burst forth, sweeping across the holdings of Lucifer. For ten minutes I channeled the spell, my mind focused on that poor little girl and her twisted fate. Suddenly the divine power cut off, leaving me panting. I could still feel one last bit, and thought back to Gaia¡¯s words. ¡°By Gaia¡¯s will, let this barren land remain a reminder of lines not crossed.¡± A new light left me, this one a mixture of dark green and violet. Wherever it touched, the land died. Fertile ground dried, cracked, and finally turned to blackened sand. This wave of destruction continued on, sweeping far past where I could see. I felt the divine power leave me, and the wings and my weapon returned to normal.
Boosted element discovered! Rampaging through Lucifer¡¯s compound with divine energy coursing through you has given you insight into the power behind light. You¡¯ve learned the void is empty and seeks to consume. The light is opposite. Instead it focuses on certain aspects, and utterly rejects them. It seeks to completely remove it from this world. You now have access to Blessed Light.
Ignoring the notification for now, I turned to see a much subdued group of drow behind me. I smirked as they all refused to meet my gaze. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll not be holding the arrogance of the council against you.¡± I said, chuckling at the relieved sighs from the entire group. Who knew that channeling enough divine power to completely obliterate the holdings of a lord of the Underdark in minutes would be intimidating? ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, sir, we would be honored to escort you back to the city. That is, if your business is concluded here.¡± The much subdued leader managed, though there was a slight tremor in her voice. ¡°Do you happen to have a ride for myself and Inkler here?¡± I asked, said cat appearing at my side with a purr. ¡°Of course.¡± She replied, snapping her fingers. The stablemaster I had berated earlier appeared, leading the same spider that brought us down here in the first place. ¡°So good to see you again, have they been treating you well?¡± I asked the spider, coming up and scratching his head. It preened under the attention, rubbing its head against my chest. ¡°Come along Inkler, we can relax on the way back.¡± I said, getting him settled before climbing up myself. I made sure to secure all the leg straps, as I could feel exhaustion rapidly approaching. ¡°Wake me when we are a half hour away from the city, I need a nap.¡± I ordered, getting several quick replies. Before long, I was fast asleep at the gentle rhythm of the spider. * * * * * * * * * * * * Frank¡¯s POV I stopped reading yet another banal report to look at whoever was knocking on my doorframe. ¡°Come on in.¡± I said to the pale faced tech, waving to a chair. Hopefully it will be something interesting. ¡°Um, sir? You remember the list of five things that we¡¯re supposed to inform you of immediately?¡± He stammered out. ¡°Yes.¡± I drawled out the word, wishing he would get to the point. ¡°We have a situation 2.¡± I stared at him. He stared back. Of the two of us, he was rapidly losing his composure. ¡°And what exactly is a situation 2 again?¡± ¡°Ummmm, divine avenger?¡± He squeaked. ¡°Divine avenger? What about it? Nearly impossible to trigger.¡± ¡°There was a system wide announcement that one had descended. Sir.¡± He belatedly added. ¡°What are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go figure it out!¡± I cried, nearly leaping out of my chair in my excitement. Something new! Something different! Something FUN! I practically skipped around the side of my desk, grabbing the stunned technician and dragging them behind me to the main floor. There I saw all six of my employees staring at their screens, hoping their fellow would return unharmed. I smiled as I realized there was no sounds of keys being pressed on keyboards and all the mice were sitting untouched. ¡°Alright everyone, relax. For those that don¡¯t know, a divine avenger can only descend if a supermajority of the 9 gods agree something needs intervention. Our job is to find out what happened, and if we need to take steps to prevent it from happening again.¡± ¡°Um, sir?¡± Julee, one of my most experienced techs, turned in her chair to look at me. ¡°How are we supposed to do that? We don¡¯t have the name or location of the avatar.¡± ¡°We need to find a general location and work from there. The avatar will never be revealed to us, and often is simply a summoned creature from the gods. We need to know what got at least 7 gods from three pantheons to agree deserved smiting. Since you volunteered with your question, you get the easy job. Search for localized spikes in ambient mana. Thomas, a divine avatar almost always salts the earth after they leave. Look for mass death events. Similar to if someone were crazy enough to summon a meteor spell in the middle of a city. The rest of you-¡° ¡°Got it!¡± Julee shouted. ¡°Looks like there was a massive spike in the Underdark.¡± ¡°Excellent. Keep narrowing down the location, there¡¯s a lot of powers down there. Billy, Mandy, I need you two to search the monsters list. See if any major monsters have awakened recently and cross check their times with the spike that Julee found. Once you guys have the location down, everyone start going through the data logs for major events in that area, let¡¯s see what we can ferret out.¡± I smiled as I watched them buckle down. New emergencies often scared the group, but give them a general direction to focus on and they went at it with gusto. ¡°Sir, should we put something out onto the message boards?¡± Amanda asked. Though the newest tech, she was showing a great head on her shoulders. ¡°Thanks for volunteering. Just a general admission for now, say we are looking into the incident and have no concrete data. We will update as we know more.¡± She nodded and turned back to her terminal, and I felt a slight tapping on my shoulder. ¡°Hey Frank, can I see you in your office for a second?¡± I turned to see a concerned Emily refusing to make eye contact. ¡°Sure. Can I get five minutes to get a better handle on this situation?¡± ¡°I think I know what the situation is about. One of my beta testers sent me a disturbing email.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone, I¡¯ll be back in a while. Julee, you¡¯re in charge for now. No major releases of information unless I give the green light.¡± I said, turning and following Emily into my office. I walked around to my chair, and plopped down into it. ¡°So, what¡¯s our favorite beta tester gotten us into this time?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s Mar-. Wait, how did you know it was Marty?¡± She asked, shocked at my guess. ¡°Because he has boosted the life of this department more since he started testing for us than some of the major releases?¡± ¡°Right. Anyway, I got a disturbing email from him. In game. I. I¡¯ll just forward it, attachment and all.¡± Obviously uncomfortable, I got a ping of a new email a few seconds later. It took seconds for me to read the email, and with growing dread I clicked on the attachment. I watched the clip several times in silence, growing more and more irate with each viewing. ¡°Thank you, Emily. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll be taking it from here.¡± I said, holding out a hand for her to shake. ¡°I¡¯ll be putting in a word for a small bonus for both you and Marty, for your actions to rapidly fix this issue.¡± That got a massive sigh of relief from her, as the tension drained from her shoulders. ¡°Thanks Frank. I knew you wouldn¡¯t be upset with us, but. Well, that¡¯s. Yeah.¡± She said, still lost at words for the video. ¡°I understand. Why don¡¯t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off? I¡¯ll clear it with Mike.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She replied with a bit of a sniffle. ¡°I might-.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll explain it, and you just let us know when you can come back. If you feel like counseling will help, send an email to HR. They¡¯ll keep everything confidential while keeping Mike informed.¡± Unable to speak, she just nodded and headed out. I sat back down and sent off an email to Mike explaining that Emily would be out for at least a day, and that he should approve all requests off from her for the next few days. That got a grim smile at least, as I knew Mike valued his empoyee¡¯s health and would have no problem approving the time. A slightly more sanitized email went to HR, reporting that a traumatic experience might require some therapy sessions so that they could get the ball rolling on that. ¡°Alright everyone, please stop what you¡¯re doing.¡± I announced as I made my way back into the pit. ¡°I received word of what happened and that it is being taken care of. Julee, in a half hour I want you to look at the estate of Lucifer in the Underdark. If it is anything other than a barren wasteland I want you to inform me immediately. Amanda, if you could prepare a release that an NPC performed an experiment so heinous that the gods themselves demanded his death and that was the reason for the divine avenger. Release it only when Julee confirms that the estate is absolutely destroyed. Make no mention anywhere of the location or cause other than an experiment.¡± I got nods of acknowledgement from everyone and slowly made my way back to my desk. I sat down with a sigh, energy draining out of me at the thought of what I had to do. After taking a minute for myself, I started looking through the designer logs on who made what. Someone was about to lose their job, and I wanted all my ducks in a row. Book 3 Chapter 26 ¡°Excuse me sir, but we are a half hour away from the city. Sir?¡± An annoying voice kept yelling at me. Why was a stone wall talking to me? At least it was respectful, calling me sir and all. Probably to save itself from imminent destruction. I smiled for a second before I felt something smack the back of my head. Snorting, I shook my head as I woke up. ¡°Huh? Whazzat?¡± ¡°I said we are about a half hour away from the city sir. Your companion woke you up, he wouldn¡¯t let anyone else close.¡± ¡°Thanks Inkler.¡± I said, tossing a bit of meat from my inventory over my shoulder. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan when we get back?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s ok with you we will send a rider ahead and have your priestess meet you in the temple of Lolth. We will of course be taking the most direct route there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. No plans or demands from the council?¡± I managed to ask with an innocent air, getting a grimace from the guard next to me. ¡°Calendra, our leader, has decided that new information obtained on our trip is enough to overrule any orders the council may have given before our group managed to come into contact with you.¡± ¡°Calendra sounds smart. Was it really that scary?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a devout drow, sir. I recognized the power that you were wielding in part came from Lolth. In fact, I¡¯m sure everyone there realized that the power you were wielding from Lolth was only a fraction of the total power that was unleashed. I¡¯ll be very, very blunt. You scared us shitless. In the grand order of scaring people shitless, at the top is Lolth. You are a close second, the priestesses a distant third and the council is a fraction of the priestess¡¯s power. If you were a female drow, I would be congratulating you on you securing your position as the ruler of drow society.¡± ¡°Thank you for being honest. If it makes you feel better, I¡¯ll be heading to the surface soon anyway.¡± I said with a chuckled. ¡°It truly does. Thank you, sir.¡± He said, before nodding at me and riding forward for a bit. While they were debating whatever was going to happen, I started thinking about stone. I already found two boosted elements, I wondered what I would have to do to find a third. Phoebe said stone gets boosted to metal. I conjured a stone shot, but had nothing to really compare it to. ¡°Anyone have a basic iron dagger or something I could borrow for a bit?¡± I called out. The drow looked among themselves in panic for a second. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be a dagger. I just need a bit of iron.¡± I said. Soon enough a guard was tossing a chunk of iron ore to me. I easily caught the baseball sized chunk, holding it in my left hand while I had the conjured stone in my right. I tried feeling the differences between them. Why was one stone and one metal? Was there an emotion associated with metal that wasn¡¯t there in stone? I sent mana through each one, trying to find any differences. In the end, it was a complete failure. ¡°Thanks for the loan.¡± I said as I tossed the chunk of iron back to the drow guard who had loaned it to me. ¡°No problem.¡± He said. Cautiously, he asked, ¡°Um. If you don¡¯t mind. What were you trying to do?¡± ¡°Not at all. I was just trying to find a boosted element for stone.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± He said, nodding his head. ¡°Sorry you couldn¡¯t figure it out. I¡¯m no mage, or I would see if I could give you any advice.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± I said, waving off his offer. I¡¯m sure there would be some strings attached. We approached the gates of the city, completely bypassing the line of people waiting to enter. The guards simply nodded at our presence, and nobody dared to mutter about having to wait. As soon as we moved through the gates, things changed. Several soldiers fell into line with us, clustered around the leader of the group. I smiled as she animatedly gestured about herself in a mad bid to explain to everyone why the plans changed. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t hear a word of it as someone had erected a privacy barrier. It was rather easy to tell when they realized I was the divine avenger everyone had gotten a notice about. They all turned to stare at me for a second, before turning and scuttling off to report to their higher ups. ¡°Sir, if you don¡¯t mind, we are going to double time it to the temple.¡± The leader said, relaxing when I nodded in agreement. Pulling out a whistle, she blew two long blasts and one short one. It was nearly magical as the center of the road emptied in seconds, and we formed a spider stampede. She would occasionally blow the warning again, but I didn¡¯t care. It was incredibly thrilling to be a part of the charge. It was almost like being a part of a cavalry charge, though without the danger of running into a row of pikes at the end. What normally would have taken nearly an hour to cross at a sedate pace, we managed in ten minutes. Still, despite our speed through the city there was a hastily assembled welcoming committee for us. ¡°Halt!¡± The leader ordered. ¡°By order of the council, Angus is to be detained-.¡± Her speech cut off immediately when I used [Dancing shadow steps] to appear behind her with my blade at her throat. ¡°Let me make myself very clear. I neither want nor appreciate the protection of the council. In fact, it¡¯s become rather bothersome. Now, I have business with a priestess of Lolth. Anyone who wants to stand in my way is welcome to meet the same fate as any who were recently at the compound of Lucifer.¡± ¡°For those unaware, we witnessed Angus channel the power of a divine avenger to destroy the complete holdings of Lucifer. His domain is now barren sand.¡± Calendra called out from behind me. That got the slight twitching of hands towards weapons to freeze completely. Ever so slowly they raised their hands and moved away from blocking the way. ¡°You¡¯ve saved a lot of lives Calendra. Well done.¡± I said, nodding my thanks at her. ¡°Come on Inkler, we have stuff to do.¡± I don¡¯t know how the cat managed to convey reluctant acceptance as he flowed out of his carrier, but he managed it. He sauntered past, flipping his tail at me as he did so. ¡°Right then. Calendra, thanks for the escort back.¡± I removed my weapon from the neck of the drowess, and followed Inkler into the temple area. As we entered the gates, they shut behind us as several guards wearing Lolth¡¯s insignia fell into step with us. We entered the church, and as soon as the doors shut the priestess moved so fast she damn near teleported right next to me.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. *CRACK* ¡°IMBECILE!¡± She screeched as she slapped me across the face. ¡°Gah, what the hell was that for?¡± ¡°What took you so long to get back, hmmm?¡± She asked, hand on her hip. ¡°Oh no. Oh no, I¡¯ve seen that look before on far too many women. I am not about to implicate myself. You will tell me what exactly has you so entirely pissed off at me, and then I will tell you why I didn¡¯t do what you expected me to do.¡± I fired right back. ¡°What exactly do you remember about the last time we were in a room together?¡± She asked, voice getting dark. ¡°Wear the symbol of Lolth down the tunnels, once you exit make your way to Lucifer¡¯s area as fast as possible. Once you kill him, come back.¡± ¡°Figures, you missed the MOST IMPORTANT PART!¡± ¡°And what was that?¡± ¡°How were you supposed to get back?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t sayyyyyy, oh crap. The symbol.¡± ¡°Mmhmm. The symbol. Why didn¡¯t you use the symbol to teleport you here immediately?¡± ¡°Would you believe two very good reasons?¡± I asked, feeling the guards behind me trying to suppress their mirth at the situation. ¡°Probably not, but let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Well, I distinctly recall you saying it would take some of Lolth¡¯s power. As I had just finished channeling an absolutely insane amount of power from several deities, I didn¡¯t want to add further strain to Lolth.¡± ¡°That at least has a small bit of logic behind it. What is your second excuse?¡± ¡°I forgot.¡± Everyone froze at that. Even Inkler turned his head to stare at me. ¡°Forgot.¡± ¡°Completely forgot.¡± ¡°Forgot. Forgot that you had a way to teleport back to the city.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Stupid. Worthess. Idiotic. MAN!¡± She screeched. ¡°Ugh! Follow me. Lolth wishes to speak with us.¡± Turning, she sped off down the main aisle in the temple, headed straight for the altar. ¡°Um, not to be a bore, but I distinctly recall needing some poison induced coma to speak to Lolth. In case you have forgotten, I¡¯m rather immune to poison now.¡± ¡°We know. Just come on.¡± The priestess hissed, not even slowing down. As we approached the altar, I saw a drowess so absolutely gorgeous she even put the priestess to shame. Well, that was until her lower half raised above the altar. Turns out the beautiful drowess was a drider. ¡°Hello Angus.¡± She said in a sultry voice. ¡°Greetings Lolth.¡± I answered with a bow. ¡°And thanks for the assistance with Lucifer.¡± ¡°It was a pleasure. Especially feeling Justice squirm when you were threatening him on his throne. Excellent use of skills to remove his limbs, so that he was helpless before you.¡± She said with a grin, before getting serious. ¡°Alas, I can¡¯t keep reminiscing about good times. We are having some, hmmmm, issues, with your contract.¡± ¡°I assume it has to do with the city council wanting to detain me?¡± ¡°I see why you find him so frustrating, priestess. He picks up so much, yet sometimes the obvious remains oblivious to him. Yes, them detaining you would interfere with your contract.¡± ¡°I see. So, what can I do to help your plan?¡± ¡°A little known fact about the divine, we have limited resources to spend in this world. Oh, we can do intangible things all the time, that¡¯s unlimited. However, pouring divine power into an avenger and leveling portions of the world take up vast amounts of our limited power. In fact, almost all the gods will have severely limited power to directly intervene for the next three days as our power rebuilds.¡± I nodded at her explanation, patiently waiting. ¡°So we come to you. I can¡¯t have the city matriarchs holding you and breaking our contract, that would have dire consequences. I am also prevented from intervening with them, as the concessions I would have to give would weaken the church too much. So I¡¯m stuck with a conundrum: How to intervene and teleport you to Nemesis, without a pool of power to draw upon.¡± ¡°That is rough. I don¡¯t suppose there is a way to refill your power early?¡± ¡°Funny you should mention that.¡± She said with a growing grin. ¡°There is indeed a way. If someone wishing for a divine intervention were to perform a powerful act that would speak directly to one of my aspects, well. I could then theoretically intervene despite my depleted pool.¡± ¡°Interesting. I just so happen to be someone wishing for divine intervention, what would you need me to do in order to receive said intervention? Hopefully nothing too bad.¡± ¡°Not at all. In fact, I think you would find it quite enjoyable. I want you to impregnate my priestess here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The priestess froze, staring at her goddess. ¡°Pardon?¡± I asked, equally stunned. ¡°Oh don¡¯t give me that. I am the master of secrets, and queen of temptresses. It¡¯s painfully obvious that you two have strong feelings, and the fact that you have resisted so far only strengthens the inevitable power you will give to me when you succumb to your desires. There¡¯s a rite my priestess knows to ensure she conceives, and we all win. You two finally get carnal knowledge of each other, and by dedicating the act to me you guarantee that I will be able to teleport you and Inkler back to Nemesis.¡± ¡°And what of the child?¡± I asked, growing suspicious. ¡°They will be raised by the drow of course. I¡¯m very interested to see just how powerful your joining can become.¡± ¡°I have enough difficulty with the morals of the drow, what makes you think that I would allow my child-.¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Lolth interrupted, holding up a hand. ¡°I¡¯ve seen glimpses of your character through your actions, and have talked with Thanatos about it as well. For a fleeting mortal life, you have managed to impress several of the gods. Not to mention being one of six divine avengers in history, you are a rather remarkable specimen. So several of us got together, and came up with this. Moradin, Gaia, and Pelor all have their paladins. Tiamat, Evil, and Myself have our own versions as well. The Grey pantheon is lacking, and seeing what Lucifer had amassed was an eye opener. Your child would be the first of a new order, a Balancer. They will be raised in Menzoberrazan, but with trainers and teachers from the grey pantheon to watch over their growth. They will then have the choice to wander this world, searching for those that would break taboo in order to gain power. A sort of semi-permanent divine avenger.¡± ¡°That. Wow. I wasn¡¯t expecting something like that.¡± I said, rather stunned. Before I could think about what it all implied, I turned to watch with growing horror as Inkler got low to the ground and stretched his neck out. *Hnnnk* *Hnnnk* *Hnnnnk* Slowly but gradually increasing in speed, he kept making this noise. ¡°What is your pet doing Angus?¡± Lolth asked. ¡°Umm. He means no disrespect. I¡¯m apologizing in advance for anything he is about to do, and promise to clean it up.¡± I managed to stammer out, as I desperately tried to lift him up and carry him out of the temple. ¡°Armored gloves. I¡¯m going to skin you and turn you into a set of mana reflecting armored gloves.¡± I kept muttering as I tried lifting him. Unfortunately, when your cat can head butt you in the chest they are big enough to cough up a hairball wherever they damn well please. After a few agonizing minutes that felt like an eternity, Inkler sat back up and licked his lips a bit as he turned to stare at me. ¡°So what was this noise supposed to do?¡± ¡°Well.¡± I said with a defeated sigh. ¡°Cats often make that sound when they are trying to cough up a hairball. It seems Inkler wanted to see if he could induce a heart attack.¡± ¡°I see. I think I know what to do here.¡± Lolth said as she sauntered over to where Inkler was. Bending over, she placed a spider leg beneath his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. ¡°Should you ever get such an urge in a holy place of mine, you would be wise to immediately remove yourself before continuing. Unless you believe your time in this world is at an end, understand?¡± Judging from the new size of Inkler¡¯s eyes, he understood the threat perfectly. ¡°So, back to the topic at hand.¡± Lolth continued. ¡°We were discussing you two having a child?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not -.¡± I was interrupted by a gentle hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw the priestess staring into my eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve desired for a while now. After seeing your power. Your drive to always improve, never accepting that there is something that is beyond you.¡± Before I could try and answer her, she leaned forward and gave me a kiss. Rather awkward with the shape of a draconic mouth, but the sentiment was there. ¡°Alright.¡± I agreed. ¡°What do we need to do?¡± Book 3 Chapter 27 Spoiler: Spoiler I was lead through several dark passages, and ordered to wear the symbol of Lolth that I had received before heading to destroy Lucifer. I followed my guards deep under the cathedral, through several labyrinthine passages. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking, we came to a plain wooden door. How they managed to differentiate it between the hundreds of others, but they seemed sure of it. They ushered me in, and I was rather struck at the difference between the room and the halls we had traversed. The major focal point was the large bed, covered in red silken sheets. The four posts had a spider silk canopy, and were made of some blackened wood oiled to an incredible sheen. There was a chair at a standard writing desk, and a small armoire. Several notches in the wall had half candles. I wandered over to one corner that caught my attention, as there were several instruments of a personal nature. A cat-o-nine-tails with small barbs of leather was hanging on the wall next to an X shaped piece of padded wood with several straps. I jumped and turned around as I heard a voice behind me. ¡°Find something interesting?¡± The priestess asked. ¡°Priestess?¡± I asked, struck dumb by her appearance. She had gotten rid of most of her clothes, and was instead clad in spiderwebs much like the first time I met Lolth. There was a strange brand on her stomach, possibly due to the ritual. ¡°Shh, call me Vicda.¡± She said as she sauntered up to me, running her hand down my chest. Pouting, she continued, ¡°Why are you still in armor? Do you not trust me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be just a moment. Perhaps you should also remove those vestments that look strikingly like Lolth¡¯s? I would hate to tear them off you and inadvertently anger her by their destruction.¡± I spoke quietly into her ear, running my fingers along the back of her arms as she shuddered. ¡°Mmmm, that¡¯s the reaction I was hoping for.¡± She said, licking her lips as she backed away. I got out of my armor, watching as she slowly slid out of each bit of the spiderwebs. I fumbled with the buttons as she slid them up her breasts, freeing them to drop and bounce free of any restraint. Disappointed when she turned around, I couldn¡¯t help but stare as she slowly bent down and removed the thong she was wearing. Deciding to take the initiative, I bound her lightly in shadow chains. Slipping in behind her, I ran my fingertips across her stomach. ¡°So smooth.¡± I whispered in her ear as shadow fingers started stroking her legs and up her sides. ¡°Wha. What are you up to?¡± ¡°Shhh, relax. You¡¯ll enjoy this, I guarantee.¡± I said, manipulating the shadow so that they carried her over to the bed, laying her on her back. With her arms pinned over her head and her legs spread, I simply enjoyed the view for a second. The shadow fingers moved on to her fantastic breasts, slowly stroking and kneading them, yet being careful to stay away from her erect nipples. Stalking forward, I took a foot in each hand and started massaging them with slow, firm strokes. ¡°Oh goddess.¡± She moaned, as I slowly worked my way up her legs. Kissing along her inner thighs as I lightly ran my clawtips along the back of her knees, eliciting the most delicious of moans as the shadows caressing her breasts were allowed to move on to her neglected nipples. ¡°Oh? It seems you are enjoying this. Vicda.¡± She shuddered as I spoke her name. I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was from me whispering it or from the feeling of my breath on the inside of her hip, but I didn¡¯t care. I started licking around the outer lips, teasing her with just the tip of my tongue. Back arching, she started wimpering as she tried in vain to get more contact with my tongue. ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked. ¡°More. Please, more.¡± She moaned, and I decided to reward her honesty. Just like an ice cream cone, I gave a long, slow lick with my flattened tongue, flicking the tip at the end as it brushed across her clit. I kept pace with her breathing, occasionally switching to a figure eight motion that circled her clit. A few minutes in, and I could feel her starting to breathe a little faster. Deciding I was done playing around, I had two shadow tendrils pull back her lips to give me better access, and plunged my tongue as deep inside her as I could. ¡°Ah!¡± She cried out at the unexpected intrusion, and I gave her a few circles before backing out. I replaced it with a finger, searching around until I found a slightly rough spot. Grinning, I started circling that in one direction while circling her clit in the other direction with my tongue. As I felt her tensing up, I removed my finger and went in for the kill. Alternating sides of her clit, I used forceful downstrokes with my tongue in a V shape. She kept panting with each stroke, and I could feel the tension building in her legs. Once I felt her reach that edge, I started flicking my tongue up and down as fast as I could across her clit as I slipped in two fingers and started moving them rapidly back and forth. She lost her mind then. At some point the chains holding her hands had disappeared, and she dropped them down to grab the top of my head and hold it in place as her thighs squeezed and spasmed around me. ¡°Oh goddess. Oh goddess. Sta. Stahp. I can¡¯t.¡± She muttered, and I slowly ramped down my ministrations as her body relaxed. I would give the occasional stronger flick, just to see her shudder in pleasure again, before finally letting her calm down to a normal breathing pattern. Kissing my way up her stomach, I sucked on each breast in turn for a little bit, gently kneading the other with a free hand. ¡°Where did you?¡± ¡°Shhhh. Don¡¯t think about that.¡± I whispered into her ear, before dropping back down and nipping at her neck. She wrapped her arms around my neck. ¡°I need you inside.¡± And I obliged, slowly slipping inside her wetness. I gave a few half strokes, working my way in. She pouted a bit at the pace, but I was persistent and soon was slipping in as deep as I could go. ¡°Oh god.¡± I groaned, as she locked her legs behind me and started squeezing my cock. Giving her a kiss, I pulled back enough that I could take her legs and put them on my shoulders. Her eyes widened, as I loomed over her and started pounding her at a much faster pace. The sensations of diving deep into her wetness, and how it wrapped around my cock combined with the little squeaks she would give as I bottomed out quickly drove me over the edge.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Please. Come in me.¡± She wimpered, and I lost it. ¡°YAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!¡± I let out a combination groan and yell, as I emptied myself as deep inside her as I could. She was pressing her legs against me, wiggling as much as she could to increase the sensations I was feeling. I could feel her, flexing her inner muscles to milk as much out of me as she could. Panting, I let her legs drop to my sides as I rolled myself off of her. ¡°That. Was. Intense.¡± She panted, as I had the occasional spasm flow through my body. ¡°A. Agreed.¡± I managed to get out, as my legs refused to stay still. ¡°Problem?¡± She asked, running a hand along my thigh. ¡°Not at all. Just. Aftershocks.¡± I said as another spasm took me. ¡°Good aftershocks.¡± That got a wonderful giggle out of her, and she rolled onto her side while resting her head on my shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Angus. I had been wondering about that for quite a while, and you didn¡¯t disappoint.¡± She said, idly tracing patterns on my chest. ¡°I had plenty of fun too.¡± I said with a chuckle. We laid there, content for a while as I rubbed circles on her back. Eventually I nodded off to sleep, not bothering with any covers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * ¡°Mmm.¡± I groggily groaned. Something was idly stroking me. Blinking myself awake, I found my arms bound above my head and my legs bound to each bedpost. ¡°Vicda?¡± I asked, looking down to see her playing with my cock. She would slowly lick around it, playing with the tip a bit before dropping back down and licking my balls. Occasionally her hand would stroke me, and I went from a semi flaccid state to immediately hard when I saw her staring at me. ¡°Finally awake? I¡¯ve been bored here waiting for you.¡± She said, before completely engulfing my member in her mouth. I laid my head back and groaned as she started licking my sack with my cock buried in her throat. I must have blanked out for a second, because the next thing I knew she was straddling me with my cock slipping against her wet folds. ¡°Let¡¯s get you properly lubricated.¡± She said with an evil grin, as she slid up and down my shaft, keeping it trapped between her slits and my stomach. ¡°I love the look of a captive audience.¡± She said with a mocking grin. ¡°Captive yes, but not helpless.¡± I replied in kind, summoning shadows to wrap around her breasts again. Since I had access to her back, I created swirling bits of shadows with small spikes to drag light lines across her skin. ¡°Upping the ante?¡± Giving me a smoldering look, she did some kind of witchcraft move with her hips and suddenly I was completely inside her as she started riding me with gusto. ¡°Mmmm, you rub such wonderful spots like this.¡± She moaned. The sensations caused me to lose control of the spikes, so I went with something simpler. A small bit of darkness slipped between her cheeks, covering her back door. ¡°What are you up to?¡± ¡°Nothing to worry about.¡± I said, as the darkness gained a bulge like a thumbprint. I made it slowly circle her entrance, though never adding enough pressure to actually push through. Grinning at her shivers, I made one appear over her clit, though this one had three bulges that would circle it. Her movements started getting more determined and faster, and I felt whatever was holding me in place start to slip. I intensified the shadows circling her nipples, occasionally causing them to flick to the other side before circling again. ¡°You. Are. Dangerous.¡± She panted, growling at me. I nodded, and felt her concentration slip enough that the bindings broke. My hands immediately dropped to her hips, as I bent my legs and started thrusting into her from below. ¡°My turn.¡± I growled, dropping all the shadows except those around her clit. I did my best to speed them up as each thrust buried myself to the hilt, feeling her nails digging in to my scales as her body started shuddering on top of me. I slowed down for half a second, grinning as her eyes got wide just before I started hammering her as hard and as fast as I could. ¡°Aaaaaahhhh!¡± She cried out as her legs started convulsing around me, head dropping. I didn¡¯t let up, keeping the same pace. I felt a stream of liquid shoot onto my pubic area, and her walls around my cock were flooded with her own wetness. The added slickness drove me over the edge, and I lost myself soon after. ¡°Ba. Ba. Bastard.¡± She panted, having collapsed on top of me. I couldn¡¯t speak as I was heaving for breath myself, instead flexing just enough to cause my cock to rise for a half second while still inside her before flopping back down. ¡°I can to that too.¡± She growled, flexing her walls around my still sensitive member. ¡°Oh god. Oh god. I¡¯m sorry, gotta stop. Stop. Stoooooop.¡± I moaned, nearly blacking out from the overload of sensations. ¡°Forgiven.¡± She said, happy to start nuzzling into my neck. One arm rose and idly started rubbing her back. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you had bindings as well.¡± I said. ¡°Hmm, all followers of Lolth can summon webs when needed. I just haven¡¯t needed around you before.¡± She said with laughter in her voice. ¡°Though I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll insist that I need more training on it, since I lost them while in the middle of our, activities.¡± She hesitated a bit on the last word. ¡°Mmhmmm, and who is going to be telling her?¡± I asked. ¡°Heh. She¡¯s been watching the whole night.¡± I could hear the grin in her voice, and cocked my head. ¡°There¡¯s a spider hiding in one of the ceiling corners.¡± She explained, and I relaxed. ¡°Hope she enjoyed the show.¡± I chuckled. I hadn¡¯t realized that the thought of being watched would turn me on, but I felt myself stirring again. ¡°I have an idea.¡± I said, sliding out of her. ¡°Mouuuu.¡± She moaned at the lack of contact, until I positioned her face down on the bed with a pillow under her stomach. Her annoyed moans soon turned to ones of pleasure, as I started massaging her feet. I worked my way up her calves and the backs of her thighs, not spending as much time on these as they weren¡¯t that sensitive. With her legs closed together and inside mine, I started rubbing her back with my cock between the cheeks of her ass. ¡°And what are you doing with that, hmmm?¡± She asked, wiggling her ass as she spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± I whispered in her ear. Slipping down, I started barely entering her before removing the tip of my cock. ¡°Tease.¡± She said after a few times, and I slid deep inside her while running my nails up her spine. ¡°Hmmm? You were saying?¡± I chuckled, before grabbing her shoulders and holding her down as I barely moved back and forth. The tip of my dick was barely brushing against her cervix, and she would shudder each time. I was a lot gentler this time, as I assumed she would be sore after our vigorous night. The bottom of my shaft was rubbing agaist something in here that was sending thrills through me, and we were both rapidly approaching a third climax. ¡°What are you doing!¡± She cried as I slowed down. ¡°Savoring this.¡± I replied, smiling as she tried to get more motion going. I sped back up after a few seconds, not being able to resist. As I started getting more vigorous, I felt her starting to dry a little. I slowed down and pulled out, flopping onto my back on the bed next to her. ¡°Why did you stop?¡± She asked, voice laced with a bit of hurt. ¡°Because at that point I don¡¯t think I had anything left in me. I only kept going to make you feel good, and I could tell you were nearing the point where it would switch to pain.¡± ¡°Honestly, we had passed that point a few minutes ago. I¡¯m just glad you weren¡¯t disappointed.¡± ¡°In what? The best night of sex I¡¯ve had in years? Yeah, nothing disappointing there.¡± I said, pulling her close. She ended up playing little spoon for the rest of the night, as we both drifted off to sleep rather quickly. Book 3 Chapter 28 ¡°Angus, time to get up.¡± Someone whispered in my ear. ¡°Five more minutes.¡± I groaned, trying to roll away from the one who would wake me. ¡°Do you really wish to make Lolth wait?¡± That got me to bolt upright in bed. Looking around frantically, I realized that Vicda was laying there with her hand covering a smile. Laying there very naked. ¡°Relax, she doesn¡¯t expect us for a half hour.¡± ¡°Uh huh. And you know this how?¡± She pointed over my shoulder, where there was a spider hanging between the bedposts. It had very clearly written ¡®Half hour¡¯ in silk, and was tapping it with a foreleg. ¡°Ah. Apologies Lolth, we will of course be on time.¡± I spoke to the spider, giving it a half bow. It snuck off to some hidden corner and I turned back to Vicda. ¡°She leave messages like that a lot?¡± ¡°When it suits her.¡± She answered with a shrug. I flopped back onto the bed and she started rubbing my chest. ¡°While I do enjoy lounging in bed, we have some important things to do today.¡± ¡°Ugh, fine. I guess I can tear myself away from this comfortable bed and pleasant company.¡± I joked in a put upon manner. Vicda giggled, slapping me on the arm before getting out of bed and starting to get dressed. ¡°Is that a different mark?¡± I asked, pointing to her stomach. ¡°Hmm? IT WORKED!¡± She screamed, running over and throwing her arms around my neck before attacking it with kisses. ¡°You¡¯re pregnant?¡± I stuttered out. ¡°Yes! Oh, to think that it would work the first time.¡± She said, rubbing over her smooth skin. ¡°Hybrids are so rare. I wonder how powerful he will be?¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure it¡¯ll be a he?¡± ¡°No, just hoping. While drow are civilized enough to live in a matriarchal society, most of the world wouldn¡¯t respect her enough and she would end up smiting many.¡± ¡°You¡¯re opposed to the smiting?¡± I asked, rather confused. ¡°Oh not at all. It just wears on someone, when they have to keep killing for stupid reasons. Then of course she would have to live with the reputation as a murderess, while those who forced her hand spread lies about her. Would they blame the men who earned their fate? Of course not.¡± She was growling by the end, until I placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°No matter what, they will be strong. That¡¯s all we really need.¡± I whispered in her ear, pulling her into a hug so I could rub her stomach as well. For the first time, I was starting to have regrets about the plan. Sighing, I followed Vicda out and through the labyrinth of halls to the cathedral of Lolth. Inkler was sitting there, glaring at the both of us. ¡°I hope he wasn¡¯t too much of a hassle.¡± I spoke to the guards, indicating Inkler. ¡°Not at all. There was some mischief when some of the brownie slaves tried to get in here to clean, but other than that was fine.¡± She replied with a grin, and I heard a velvety chuckle coming from above. ¡°Once he was reminded of his manners, he was very well behaved. Having something besides my guards to threaten the slaves with was nice. Funny, they don¡¯t mind being punished but the thought of becoming playthings to a cat is terrifying to them.¡± ¡°Wonder if it is a racial instinct.¡± I pondered as the drider dropped down to inspect myself and the priestess. ¡°Could be. Though I¡¯m far more interested in your successes last night.¡± Leaning in, Vicda turned to proudly display her stomach. ¡°Simply marvelous. Not only did you manage to provide me a truly fantastic amount of energy, you managed to impregnate our Vicda here as well.¡± We both reacted a bit uncomfortably to the praise, getting a chuckle from Lolth. ¡°Oh no need for that. I¡¯m glad you went those extra rounds, though the first was more than enough to give me the energy to open a portal for you Angus.¡± ¡°Yes, well, I aim to please.¡± I answered. ¡°I¡¯m sure someone was very pleased.¡± Lolth giggled, sending shivers up my back. ¡°Are you ready to head back?¡± ¡°I suppose I am.¡± I said, looking at Vicda. She seemed torn, before quickly darting forward and giving me a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Hurry back.¡± She said, and I gave her a smile. ¡°Alright, since you aren¡¯t my follower I need your explicit permission. Angus, do I have your permission to transport you and your pet Inkler to the city of Nemesis?¡± ¡°You do Lolth.¡± I answered. As soon as I agreed, a blue magic circle appeared beneath Inkler and myself. I waved goodbye to Vicda, and the blue circle rose and I found myself in the central square in Nemesis with a squad of guards pointing spears at me. ¡°Damnit Angus, what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing teleporting in like that with no warning?¡± Shrik yelled at me. ¡°Sorry Shrik, I didn¡¯t really get any choice in the matter. I was expecting Lolth to drop me in the temple of Thanatos.¡± I apologized as the guards lowered their spears and relaxed. ¡°Look, I¡¯d love to stay and chat but I¡¯ve got a lot that needs doing. If you need me, leave a message at my house.¡± I interrupted him, before heading off down the streets. I avoided most people, heading in to my house and dropping exhausted into a chair. ¡°Sorry Inkler, but I¡¯ve gotta go for a bit. Need a break. I¡¯ll leave you several meals worth, feel free to relax the rest of the day.¡± I said, patting his head. Once I felt he had enough food and water to last a day, I laid down on my bed and logged out. * * * * * * * * * * * * * There¡¯s truly nothing better than a sugary sweet carbonated beverage after a few days of water in a magical world. It was early afternoon, and I was the only one sitting at the Oblivion Caf¨¦. That was fine, as I just needed to relax and unwind a bit. I had an email from Derrick asking to meet sometime, that for some reason didn¡¯t get sent to me in game. I sent him a response, saying I was out of the game for the day. ¡°Marty?¡± I turned to see an older man I vaguely recognized strolling through the caf¨¦ towards me.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Yes? Sorry, you seem familiar but I can¡¯t quite place you.¡± ¡°No need to get up. I¡¯m Frank, in charge of development. I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened in Lucifer¡¯s Mansion.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I said, instantly cold. ¡°First, my deepest condolences. The developers who were in charge of the Underdark were told to go a little bit darker than normal, in order to push the envelope of what people were expecting. We had instituted a review process, hoping to catch and prevent anything even close to what you went through from occurring. Sadly, that failed.¡± He said with a sigh, staring off to the side for a bit. I let him sit in silence, having nothing to say. ¡°I know that this is a case of too little too late, but the two people who were supposed to review the scenarios and the person who created that have all been fired. I also want to offer you counseling services to deal with any trauma you have gone through because of this incident.¡± ¡°All for my silence, I presume?¡± I asked in a snarky tone. ¡°No. I only ask that if you go public with what you know, and what you went through, you include the company response to what happened.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t going to try and bury this?¡± I asked, shocked. ¡°No. This was a massive fuckup. We deserve to take a lot of heat for it. I just want people to know that this company is taking the proper steps when it happens. That¡¯s from the top too. We don¡¯t mind making mistakes, we just correct them immediately and don¡¯t try to cover it up.¡± I sat and stared at him for a while, before rolling my eyes. ¡°Damnit. How can I be mad at an evil corporation that refuses to act like evil entitled brats? I¡¯ll be honest, it was disturbing. And I will definitely be taking you up on that therapy for a while, but after we get this dungeon dive done. I don¡¯t really want to go public with anything, I just want to know that something like this isn¡¯t going to happen again.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it. Very glad. As to making sure this doesn¡¯t happen again, I think we have something for that. We are starting a new department, completely separate so that designers can¡¯t make friends with their reviewers. They¡¯re going over every single quest ever generated, and covering everything that could come close. This includes looking at the results of every single crafting recipe and ingredient.¡± ¡°That sounds like a good start. Are you making sure that they can¡¯t use their positions to copy the recipes? I¡¯m sure there are secret recipes that are guild controlled that would be worth a pretty penny.¡± ¡°We had thought of that. The lists are separate, and in alphabetical order so they can¡¯t be cross linked. We are also highly recommending that these people not have characters in game.¡± ¡°Recommending?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°A silent requirement. We just can¡¯t come out and say it.¡± I nodded in understanding, and we dropped into a nice quiet. One where you don¡¯t feel pressure to talk, just relax. ¡°How¡¯s Emily taking it?¡± I asked after a few minutes. ¡°I felt bad sending her the video, but you guys would need the proof.¡± ¡°Hard. We offered her the same therapy deal, and she¡¯s taken a week off. I let Mike in on the issue so he would know the severity. That¡¯s her boss.¡± He added at my confused look. ¡°Anyway, Mike gave her a week off with pay and isn¡¯t taking any of it from her PTO.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. I was starting to worry when I hadn¡¯t gotten an email back from her about things.¡± ¡°Sorry about that. After she came to me with the video, I told her to take the rest of the day off.¡± ¡°Do you have anyone checking on her?¡± I asked. ¡°Not at this time. She¡¯s in contact with Mike fairly regularly, so we aren¡¯t too worried just yet. If she goes longer than a day with no contact we will contact the police for wellness, but Mike says from the tone of her messages she isn¡¯t getting any worse.¡± Frank stuck around for another ten minutes or so, relaxing in silence with me. ¡°Ugh. Much as I like relaxing here, I gotta get back and make sure things are running smoothly. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re doing ok after that issue. If anything changes, let us know. Use the contact email Emily gave you, while she¡¯s gone everything of hers is being routed to Mike, but you¡¯ll hear from him almost immediately.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks for fixing it and taking steps to stop it from happening in the future. That could really ruin someone¡¯s game.¡± After Frank logged out, I sat there sipping my soda. One of the best parts about it was that the ice never melted, ruining the soda. Chuckling at the simple things, I browsed through the menu of items until I came to the perfect chair. That¡¯s how Derrick found me, sprawled in an overstuffed recliner with an empty soda in a cup holder. ¡°Fucking brilliant. Where¡¯d you find the chair?¡± ¡°Miscellaneous menu. You can customize if you want.¡± I said, not even bothering to open my eyes. ¡°Oh, oh where have you been all my life?¡± He asked, and I assumed he was talking to the chair and not me. I let him have a few minutes of bliss before getting down to business. ¡°So you said you needed to meet with me?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s about the dungeon. First, have you finished all your quests?¡± ¡°Just have to turn it in tomorrow. After that I should be free, so long as I get a chance to work on skills and level up.¡± ¡°What are you sitting at? What I have in mind should be able to help.¡± ¡°High 70s. Almost 80.¡± ¡°Hmm, yeah we can get you up to max level with the remaining time. Shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± ¡°So what are going to be the issues?¡± I asked with a chuckle. ¡°I need you to battle some of the creatures that want to join the dungeon. Hear me out.¡± He said, holding up a hand as I opened my mouth to interrupt. ¡°They know I¡¯m strong. They need to see your strength. So if you want them to fight in the dungeon, you¡¯ll have to best their chief in battle.¡± ¡°Alright. I suppose I can do that, how many are we talking about?¡± ¡°Six or seven. I¡¯ll bring you around with my planeswalking.¡± ¡°Sounds good. What else is bothering you.¡± He sat still for a minute, and I didn¡¯t press. After nearly a silent minute, he spoke, ¡°I¡¯ve been offered a job at the company. They plan on instituting a player controlled raid boss encounter once a month, and they want me to be the first one.¡± ¡°Congrats man! Sounds like it¡¯ll be a ton of fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m hoping so. The only thing is they want me to be undefeated with my equipment.¡± ¡°So no sword for the dungeon?¡± ¡°No sword and no gear. They want those to be a complete surprise for the first raid, as they¡¯ll leak that the first battle will be with the giant from your dungeon.¡± I sat and thought for a while. No sword and gear, that would drastically reduce the effectiveness of Derrick in the dungeon. Then again, depending on how strong his gear was he might be a match for me, and it would be odd to have a dungeon boss weaker than a mini boss. ¡°I think you should do it.¡± I finally spoke. ¡°If you had your gear, what do you think the chances of the raid taking you on would be?¡± ¡°With no tactics or previous knowledge? About five percent. With my gear my magic resistances shoot up to where you almost need pure physical to take me down.¡± ¡°Yeah, you would make the raid wipe several times with armor. How are Jon and Phoebe looking?¡± ¡°They¡¯re going to have a lot of fun. They really helped with a lot of the mind puzzles, but the best has got to be their boss room. Your enchanter clan really pulled through with a lot of stuff, and I think even some of the devs are going to be creating characters just to see what might be possible.¡± ¡°That good?¡± I asked, impressed. ¡°Wait until the group gets past Phoebe and Jon.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait to see it.¡± After that, conversation just dropped into normal bits. Jon and Phoebe eventually joined us, and we spent the night just relaxing. Derrick and Jon even got into a ¡®dad-off,¡¯ apparently who could tell the worst dad joke without laughing. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between a piano, a tuna, and superglue?¡± Jon asked. ¡°No idea.¡± Derrick said, shaking his head. ¡°You can tune a piano, but you can¡¯t piano a tuna.¡± ¡°But what about the superglue?¡± Derrick asked, shaking his head. ¡°I knew you¡¯d get stuck there.¡± Jon delivered with a straight face, and Derrick lost it. ¡°That¡¯s it, I can¡¯t take any more. Jon wins.¡± Phoebe said, ending the run. ¡°And you are both banned from puns for a few days.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a paper punishment.¡± Derrick said between chuckles. ¡°Absolutely tearable.¡± ¡°Done. Get back here and take your punishment!¡± Phoebe yelled as she chased Derrick around the tables. ¡°And no jokes about punnishment!¡± She yelled as Derrick opened his mouth. ¡°God I missed you guys. Sadly, I gotta get going. I¡¯ll catch you in game tomorrow?¡± I asked Jon. ¡°Yeah man. Have a good night.¡± ¡°You guys too.¡± Book 3 Chapter 29 Chatroom: Divine Avenger? Current members: Likes2lurk, WarriorPrincess, TheUnrustable, HolyDungeonDiver, RycranSeacrest, FirestarterOzai, JimboJonsies, ThePatman, GrumbleGnumbleMonster, Lilak¡¯n¡¯Lillies, WhatsUpChuck, and 25 anonymous people. First_of_his_kind has entered the chat Chatbot2.0: Welcome to the divine avenger chatroom. This automated message is sent to every new member once upon entering. Divine avengers are sent by the gods of Oblivion Online to deal with egregious issues that could be highly traumatic to players. They are tasked with removing the content from the game permanently. If you wish to know more about this recent issue, there is a press release sticky post on the main forum website. TheUnrustable: Yo! First is back! ThePatman: Long time no see first JimboJonsies: How¡¯s it hangin first? First_of_his_kind: Like a horse. WarriorPrincess: Oh god. Likes2lurk: HA! I just snorted soda through my nose RycranSeacrest: Wow. Just¡­.wow. RycranSeacrest: I am so stealing that. First_of_his_kind: Go with my blessing. WhatsUpChuck: So, what was it like being a Divine Avenger First? First_of_his_kind: What makes you think it was me? ThePatman: Yeah. The guy who is constantly in the middle of everything somehow missed the last part. WarriorPrincess: Plus nobody knows where it occurred. Which means it was probably in monster territory. First_of_his_kind: Fair enough. I admit, it was me. FirestarterOzai: I knew it! Bake ¡®em away, toys! First_of_his_kind: Right. Anyway, you guys know those disaster movies where the dam breaks? Imagine you are in control, but only have three curves to change the direction of the water. WarriorPrincess: Sounds like a rush. First_of_his_kind: It is, so long as you realize that the power will do what it wants. You just get to direct it a little bit. TheUnrustable: Can you give us more info than what is on the official release? First_of_his_kind: Depends. What¡¯s on the release? WarriorPrincess: Developer went too far, safety checks missed it and traumatic content made it into the game. Company is installing new checks to make sure it never happens again. First_of_his_kind: Bare bones, but correct. I will add that the company is offering free counseling for everyone involved. Anything else you wanna know? RycranSeacrest: What did you have to do to become an avenger? First_of_his_kind: Simple. Find incredibly traumatic content, think taboo breaking. Use a connection to a god to send proof of content to them. Then have at least 7 of the 9 major gods agree that a good smiting is in order. FirestarterOzai: Can you tell us what the content was? First_of_his_kind: I won¡¯t put it all out there, I¡¯ll just say they used a child in an alchemy experiment. WarriorPrincess: Oh no¡­. ThePatman: Terrible. TheUnrustable: Glad it wasn¡¯t me that found it. You doing ok? First_of_his_kind: Having some bad dreams that I can¡¯t remember, going to take them up for the counseling after the dungeon dive. Having the power to kill everyone, level the place, and salt the earth afterwards helped a good bit. ThePatman: Damn, the gods don¡¯t mess around! What did Gaia say about killing the earth? First_of_his_kind: It was her idea. WhatsUpChuck: Oh shit. You know you done f*cked up when the goddess of the earth is willing to make sure nothing will grow there ever again. RycranSeacrest: Yeah, that¡¯s about as brutal as you can get. Did you get anything out of it? First_of_his_kind: No loot or experience, which is fine. I did manage to earn a boosted element from it. Anon6224: How many boosted elements to you have? First_of_his_kind: At least one ThePatman: Boom RycranSeacrest: Nice try FBI TheUnrustable: No way CIA WarriorPrincess: So easily distracted¡­. WarriorPrincess: Can you tell us what¡¯s next on your to do list? First_of_his_kind: Get max level, finish the final touches in the dungeon, make the raid a total wipe. RycranSeacrest: Good luck with that! They have the top players from the top three guilds. Likes2lurk: I¡¯m sure he would be more worried if it were all from one guild. ThePatman: Likes2lurk, the chatroom¡¯s hidden sage First_of_his_kind: He¡¯s right though. A month isn¡¯t long enough to get a lot of team synergy, something I¡¯m looking forward to. FirestarterOzai: And after the raid? First_of_his_kind: That¡¯s a secret. First_of_his_kind: And I need to head to bed. Lot to do, and very little time to do it. First_of_his_kind: Later all! RycranSeacrest: Later WarriorPrincess: Bye WhatsUpChuck: Adios First_of_his_kind has left the chat * * * * * * * * * * * * * Waking up the next morning was difficult. I wasn¡¯t really tired, I just had no drive to get things done. Plus the bed was warm. And had fluffy pillows. The game did a decent job with pillows, but they didn¡¯t have any that wouldn¡¯t eventually go flat on you. After two hours of being lazy, I finally forced myself out of bed and into the game. ¡°Inkler, what the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± I asked as soon as I logged in. He cracked an eye, and huffed right in my face. While my game body had been laying in bed, he had crawled on top of me and fallen asleep with his face inches from mine. ¡°Oh god, and what have you been eating? That is some nasty breath.¡± I had to keep wiggling to make him uncomfortable enough to get off of me, which he was incredibly reluctant to do. Eventually I was able to get him breakfast and head out for the day. ¡°Greetings brother.¡± I spoke to the Cardinal as I walked in to the church of Thanatos. ¡°How have things been?¡± ¡°Very well, very well indeed brother. Though you absolutely reek of divine power. I take it your time as a divine avenger was used well?¡± ¡°As well as it could be, all things considered.¡± I said, getting slightly melancholy. ¡°That was something I hope to never see again.¡± ¡°It usually is. Sad, that it takes something truly horrific to unify the gods.¡± We both took a minute to reflect on that in silence. ¡°So, what can we do for you today?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I need to turn in a divine quest.¡± ¡°Truly? Oh, this will be a most welcome thing indeed. Please, go right ahead.¡± The Cardinal ushered me over to the altar, and I took out the dagger that Thanatos had given me so very long ago. The only difference was that now the four diamonds in the hilt were filled with a swirling blackness. I heard the Cardinal¡¯s breath hiss at the sight of the stones, but didn¡¯t look over as I reverently placed the dagger on the altar. ¡°Lord Thanatos, I have completed your quest. I present to you your dagger, with the souls of the four who would avoid death at all costs.¡± The green flames in the statue of Thanatos grew much brighter, and his voice thundered through the temple. ¡°You have done well Angus. Far better than what I had hoped, as you managed to deliver all four souls into the dagger. Now I will be able to personally see to their punishments. Thank you. As promised, you will receive rewards above and beyond what was originally promised.¡± As he spoke, a flame appeared in the statue¡¯s open hand, and the blackness in each of the diamonds was sucked into the flame. I could faintly hear the wailing of the souls as the flame would flare with each new entrant, and then a screen popped up in front of me.
Divine questline completed! Death comes for all I ¨C IV You have slain the four that have defied Death Himself for countless years. Not only that, you managed to force their souls into a dagger enchanted by Thanatos himself and delivered them for punishment. For going above and beyond the minimum requirements, you shall be aptly rewarded. Base reward (Death comes for all IV): When summoning Death Incarnate, Cooldown is lowered from 24 hours to 6 hours Death ignores armor. Once per hour, your blade may use Vorpal Strike Boosted rewards: Experience awarded will increase you to max level All cooldowns with Death¡¯s Raiment are halved (not including Death Incarnate) Thanatos and several other gods will enhance your dungeon
Level up x 53! Congratulations on reaching the level cap of 130 for Oblivion Draconians. There are no more evolutions available for your race.
¡°The gods have been watching your dungeon, and several are interested in providing bonuses to it. For my part, I will reduce the amount of death energy you will need to harness by half. In addition, I will add a special aura for your final boss room.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Thanatos.¡± I managed to stammer out, completely surprised by the offers. The gods themselves were going to add to portions of our dungeon? I know that paladins often get tested in dungeons of their patron, but those were all dedicated to a single god or goddess. What would happen when several of them worked together? As I was pondering this, the statue went back to its normal state. * * * * * * * * * * * * The rest of my week was a whirlwind tour of planes and battles that Derrick dragged me through. To my surprise, not all creatures went with a test of strength. There were several tests of intelligence and puzzles. The day before the final dungeon, I went on a tour through what the raid would be going through, and was quite impressed. * * * * * * * * * * * * Chatroom: Draconian Raid Central BettingBot: Welcome to all! As we prepare for the Draconian raid tomorrow, remember that you may bet on anything that tickles your fancy! Who will die first? How many times will people die? What spell or skill will be used most often? All this and more await you. AnnouncerBot: All taverns will be open, and all will have multiple instances. For the low cost of 1 silver per person per hour, you can even rent out your favorite establishment! There will also be contests held in several cities. In order to enter, you must have a cooking or brewing skill of at least master to enter. There are multitudes of prizes, feel free to enter as many contests as you can! LoneRanger: Do we have any knowledge of the dungeon? InformationBot: The dungeon has been designed by players. There are two miniboss rooms and one major boss. I can also say that several divine beings have altered portions of the dungeon. BettingBot: New bets have opened up! Which divine beings have aided in this dungeon? How many? All this and more! Head to any information broker in your city to place bets. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Private Chatroom, Raid leaders Current members: Mr. Whiskers, Crimson King, Citadel, RaiderDave, DarkmoonLucy Mr. Whiskers: Just so we are in agreement, I¡¯m in charge of the raid. That includes the ability to kick people if they constantly screw up. RaiderDave: I can agree to that. I¡¯ll make sure the rest of the Dukes are on board as well. DarkmoonLucy: Mayhem agrees as well. With two stipulations. One, no healers are kicked if someone dies for doing something stupid. And two, anyone kicked forfeits all rewards. Mr. Whiskers: Agree with the second one. I will kick someone on a case by case basis. If we have healers not following orders, they will be kicked. Citadel: Healers need to be ready to let people die if Whiskers orders it. He¡¯s done it on nearly every raid. RaiderDave: That¡¯s cold. Crimson King: No, it¡¯s practical. If a rogue keeps drawing aggro, we aren¡¯t going to sacrifice a tank¡¯s dedicated healer¡¯s mana to save him. DarkmoonLucy: I¡¯ll let my healers know then. DarkmoonLucy: No disbanding the raid at the very end to keep all the spoils for yourself then. RaiderDave: Paranoid much? Mr. Whiskers: Relax Dave, it¡¯s understandable. How about this then. You are eligible for whatever drops up until you get kicked. If I kick someone with less than three levels left in the dungeon, they are eligible for any and all rewards. DarkmoonLucy: That¡¯s fine. RaiderDave: Looks like we have an agreement. Anything else we need to hash out? Mr. Whiskers: One last thing. I¡¯m sending you a chart. It has everyone¡¯s name, description, and their raid obligations. Any issues, let me know before tomorrow. RaiderDave: Alright. DarkmoonLucy: Go ahead and send it.
Name Class/ description Duties
Mr. Whiskers Elemental assassin. Dark grey cloak and armor, twin daggers Raid leader. Calls strategy, ranged DPS
Crimson King Arcane ranger. Green and brown leather armor with red highlights, black and red bow Raid second. Opens boss battles with varied elemental attacks to determine weakness. Trap detection
Citadel Sentinel. White armor with gold accent, tower shield and sword Tertiary tank in lineup. Set to guard healer group.
Raider Dave Paladin. Gold and silver armor, kite shield and sword Primary tank. Holds aggro, keeps boss¡¯ back to raid if possible (unlikely)
Darkmoon Lucy Druid. Armor made of plants. Staff topped with nightliger skull. Tertiary leader. Debuff boss, maximize DoT
TisButAScratch Guardian. Black armor with white highlights, shield and mace. Secondary tank for healer group.
Cinderfy Pyromancer. Red and black robes, dual wands. DPS. Enchant group with fire damage if necessary
Ice Queen Cryomancer. Blue and white robes, bone wand with sapphire DPS. Enchant group with ice damage if necessary
Brock Onyx Geomancer. Black leather armor and hammer DPS. Enchant group with earth damage or defense.
Brosef Brostar Photomancer. Gold robes with silver trim, white staff with diamond. DPS. Enchant group with light damage
Blackthumb Druid (Plaguebringer). Black and green robes, throws vials Boost DoT of each member. Poison boss.
SirMixALalalot Druid (Botanist). Green robes with blue trim, silver plant wand Brews potions for raid. Plant binding spells and boss debuff
Grandelf Sage (fire, lightning, water). Red robes with white and blue trim, mithril wand DPS.
SpiceMix Sage (Earth, water, fire). Brown robes with blue and red trim. Silver wand with sapphire. DPS.
PeppermintYork Sage (Ice, water, fire) Black robes DPS.
NotABandaid Priestess of Gaia. Brown and green leather, one handed hammer Keep Raider Dave alive.
Dr. HealYaButt Priest of Moradin. Mithril armor with gold trim. Warhammer Keep GoldGuard alive.
HolyDungeonDiver Priest of Pelor. White robes with sunburst and mace Assist healing Raider Dave. Focus on others after AoE
NaughtyNurseJess Priestess of Pelor. White robes with sunburst and staff. Assist healing GoldGuard. Focus on others after AoE
ShockerSnipe Elemental Ranger. Black leather armor. White bone bow. Trap detection. Ranged DPS.
DeathFromAbove Elemental ranger. Green and black armor set, black bow with gold runes. Trap detection, ranged DPS
GoldGuard Paladin of Moradin. Golden armor with Warhammer. Rearguard. Secondary tank against boss.
OhMightySmiter Paladin of Pelor. White plate armor with longsword and shield. Rearguard. Pick up boss add ons.
LadyFisticuffs Berserker (Amazon). Brown and red leather armor. Oversized spear. Damage. Help Smiter with add ons
EricDaRad Berserker (Bloodfury). Animal fur pants with leather bandoliers. Twin axes. Damage. Help Smiter with add ons.
PlayWithMe Berserker. Red leather armor with black accents. Sword and hand axe combo. Damage.
ChaosBringer Berserker. Silver chain armor, greatsword Damage.
GotYerBack Guardian. Chainmail with red accents. Greatsword. Intercept attacks against NotABandaid
Shieldwall Guardian. Silver plate with short sword. Intercept attacks against Dr. HealYaButt.
HitMe Guardian. Black and white armor with axe Secondary add on groups, protect anyone falling into critical if possible
Book 3 Chapter 30 Mr. Whiskers POV I stood in a clearing just outside of a massively walled city, if what I could see between the open doors was to be believed. Behind me were some rocky cliffs and a quick drop to the raging ocean below, and in the distance I could see the giant golden dome that prevented almost all forms of travel through it. Good to know the scroll the devs promised would be delivered to raid members was working correctly. As I turned back to see the city, a lone draconian was walking towards me. He had a spear and grey leather armor. ¡°Greetings adventurer. I am guard captain Shrik. Are you here for the raid?¡± ¡°I am the raid leader, Mr. Whiskers. I know I am a few minutes early, but I felt the need to scout before the rest joined me. I hope that isn¡¯t too inconvenient?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be let into the city until the rest of the raid arrives, after which I will lead you to the dungeon so that nobody gets, lost.¡± He answered, hesitating on the last word. ¡°Understandable.¡± I said, and waited for the rest of the raid. A little under five minutes later, and 29 golden pillars appeared and retracted to reveal the members of the raid. ¡°Hello everyone, and welcome to the raid!¡± I yelled out, getting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Whiskers, raid leader. Before we start, I want to reiterate a few things. First, follow orders. You all have the progression for boss fights, and I expect it to be followed unless ordered otherwise. Second, stay together. The main opponent of this dungeon is known for his love of traps and hit and run tactics. Make sure you save all special abilities with multiple hour cooldowns for boss fights. And last, remember that I have no problem kicking someone. There are backups in each position for a reason. That said, this is guard captain Shrik, and he will be leading us to the dungeon.¡± There was some grumbling, but that was fine. I would much rather be a hated tyrant leader who was obeyed than have the raid wipe over something stupid. We were a varied crew, but I really wanted to have a few more rogues in the mix. Unfortunately, Darkmoon and Raider Dave had overruled me, agreeing with King that the crazy high burst damage by Angus would be better taken on with berserkers instead of rogues. I guess they didn¡¯t mind burning through resurrections as people fell to traps. Once we went through the gates, the road widened and we got our first good view of the city. Several guards slipped in around us, but they seemed relaxed enough that I knew it wasn¡¯t a threat. Stone buildings were prevalent, all of which looked sturdy enough to withstand an invading force. The analytical part of my mind noticed that the lower windows were few and far between, and far too small for a humanoid to enter. There were more upper windows, which would provide excellent cover for archers to harry the invaders. The streets were clean, and oddly empty. ¡°Did you clear the streets because we were coming?¡± I asked Shrik, secretly hoping the answer was yes. ¡°Yes. No need to tempt any adventurers who are lacking in willpower.¡± He answered. We soon approached a central plaza, with an oversized statue of a draconian pointing a spear at us. The artistry was phenomenal. Not only could you see rents in his armor, but it seemed like portions were bleeding. The look of defiance in his eyes was what really got me. As I paused for a second to admire it, I saw disaster waiting to happen. From one of the cross streets, a small child with a stick came running up and pointed it at the raid group. ¡°RAAAAA! I¡¯m the Mighty Khaliss, you won¡¯t get past me!¡± He cried out. It would have been adorable if that idiot paladin of Pelor didn¡¯t step forward and draw his sword. ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± He mocked, pointing his blade at the now terrified child. Despite his fears, the child actually managed a halfway decent battle stance, feet spread and knees bent. The only thing that betrayed his fear was the way the tip of his spear was jumping around. ¡°Make a move, and you¡¯ll be dead before you can even come close to hurting the child.¡± I hissed in Smiter¡¯s ear, one dagger pricking beneath his chin while the other was working its way between the back plates in his armor, one thrust away from piercing a kidney. ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit what your god has ordered, I¡¯m not about to sit back and watch as you saddle the entire raid with a taboo. So sheathe your weapon, and leave the kid alone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not worth it.¡± He muttered, sheathing his blade. The guard contingent that had been following us visibly relaxed, minor crisis averted. I had half a mind to kick him right then, but decided against it as we hadn¡¯t even entered the dungeon yet. I could cut him a little slack. ¡°Who was Khaliss? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard of him.¡± NotABandaid asked. ¡°The statue.¡± I explained. ¡°Khaliss helped delay the adventurers after the raid on Pelor¡¯s temple. If we had time, I would suggest watching the video on the forums about it. Seeing him use his teleporting to move between targets and sow chaos was quite impressive.¡± I stepped around Smiter as I talked, indicating that he should follow Shrik. Behind the statue was an open area, most likely for some form of bazaar. Most of the buildings we passed lacked any sort of decoration, save a pictorial sign outside to give you an idea of what to find inside. The lone exception was some sort of inn, with a soldier getting a hug from his wife as he returned home. Ten minutes of walking later, and we came to a massive cliff with a staircase climbing it in a switchback pattern. It was easily seven stories tall, and had three tiers of siege weapons for defense.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Wheeeew.¡± Someone behind me whistled. ¡°Sure am glad we don¡¯t have to fight our way in here. That cliff alone would be a nightmare to assault.¡± I chuckled, completely in agreement. Especially if they had advance warning and could evacuate to the top of the cliffs. If they all had limited teleporting, they could easily move from rooftop to rooftop in a harassing manner, then teleport to the cliffs and the safety of siege weapons. After working through three gates, each just below the siege weapons, we finally came to the top of the plateau. It was completely flat, and in the middle was a massive ornate building. Grand columns with dragon motifs lined the road to the entrance, and two massive stone draconians stood guard at the doors, halberds crossed over the opening. ¡°Heh, that¡¯s not intimidating or anything.¡± Someone muttered, getting a few chuckles. ¡°At least there are no defenses.¡± ¡°Shrik, thank you for guiding us.¡± I said, with a small bow to the guard captain. He simply grunted before turning and walking away. Wasting no more time, I went ahead and officially formed the raid, and we headed in to the dungeon. The first room was a massive hallway, with several pillars again displaying the dragon motif. It was well lit, and the floors seemed to be entirely marble. We were standing on the silver seal of safety that all dungeons had, and probably a hundred yards away was the doorway to the next room. Standing in our way was a statue of a normal sized draconian midway between two oversized ballistae, each one of the massive bolts trailed something from just behind the head of the bolt. ¡°Alright, everyone take a minute to set up all your buffs. I suggest holding off on potions, but that¡¯s up to you.¡± I called out, and everyone started muttering spells and buffs. I was happy to note that the guardians for each healer went and used their bodyguard skills. That would hopefully intercept any chance of sneak attacks instantly killing our healing. ¡°Rogues, head forward and trap detect.¡± ¡°GREETINGS!¡± a loud voice thundered forward as soon as the first member crossed into the dungeon proper. ¡°AND WELCOME TO THE DUNGEON OF THE PROGENITOR TYRANT! I DO HOPE YOU WILL MANAGE TO ENTERTAIN ME.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be entertained when I have your head on the end of my spear!¡± LadyFisticuffs shouted, shaking said spear in his direction. The raid chuckled, and started forward. I was shaking my head, already getting frustrated. The rogues hadn¡¯t gotten all the way across, and the raid was already complacent. Once King reached three quarters of the way across, my eyes widened in fear as everything slowed down. ¡°EVERYONE DOWN!¡± I screamed, seeing the statue reach forward and pull the lever that was right in front of him. It wasn¡¯t a statue; it was the damned boss! This was where the lack of familiarity with the raid members became glaringly apparent. King and Sentinel, the two members from my guild, immediately dropped. Ten others did as well, and I noted both guild leaders among them. Several other members froze, while the majority of the rest just started looking around wondering what the issue was. Except for GoldGuard. That idiot dwarf stepped forward and raised his shield as the ballistae fired. What I thought was a cord tethering the bolts like a harpoon was instead a barbed chain connecting the two, and from the angles it looked like it was ready to decapitate the entire raid. ¡°[Roots of the Mountain][Divine Aegis]!¡± The idiot cried out, activating not only a racial 24 hour ability, but a max level daily paladin skill that negated all incoming damage that wasn¡¯t divine in nature for 30 seconds. The chain caught on his shield, and instead of throwing the dwarf backward his skills caused the bolts to start swinging around him. While we would have lost probably 12 to 15 members of the raid before, the devastation was remarkable. Off center, there were two arcs of destruction where the bolts tore up the ground. Bodies were obliterated, as those who had dropped were now dragged behind the chains and bisected when they met. One bolt crashed to a halt at the base of a pillar, while the other made almost a complete circuit and ended up directly in front of GoldGuard.
GoldGuard has been kicked from the raid.
¡°What the?¡± The idiot dwarf yelled, freezing when he found out he couldn¡¯t move because of the chains around him. ¡°You utterly incompetent idiot!¡± I screamed, marching up and getting in his face. ¡°I gave an order, a simple order. Get. Down. And what did you do? Popped two of your daily skills, in the first goddamn room of the goddamn dungeon! I explicitly said to save those for the boss fights! That¡¯s dungeon raiding 101! And because you didn¡¯t listen, we now have nineteen people dead from a trap that should have only killed ten!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this bullshit about kicking me from the rai-?¡± His question cut off as I slit his throat. I didn¡¯t really have time for that, as I walked back and called over my shoulder to the three rogues. ¡°Everyone pick a healer, looks like we need to use some rez scrolls early. We¡¯ll wait for the five minute cooldown for the rest of the raid. I take it the boss ran away after triggering that trap?¡± ¡°Are you sure we should be kicking our secondary tank?¡± King asked as he walked up to me. ¡°Damnit. Go ahead and rez him, I¡¯ll add him back in after he uses all his rez scrolls to bring back the people who died thanks to his idiotic stunt. And he just lost 20% of his raid share.¡± I grumped. ¡°Nineteen people with one damn trap. Did you guys even get a warning about it?¡± ¡°No.¡± ShockerSnipe shook his head at me. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a trap, more a weapons system manually triggered. Having his voice come out from magical speakers while he was actually standing there threw all of us off our game.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Shocker, I¡¯m not holding it against you. We¡¯re going to see a lot of new problems with this dungeon, and it¡¯s going to be a rough ride. Maybe this will be the wake-up call the rest of the raid needs.¡± I used one of my own rez scrolls to bring back GoldGuard, and we went through and started reviving the raid. Once that was done, I used a raid leader ability to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°LISTEN UP! This should be a wake-up call for most of you. This isn¡¯t a traditional dungeon, it¡¯s a massive PvP run. There are going to be strange traps, and a lot of death. GoldGuard here gets the one and only pass. He didn¡¯t follow my orders, causing seven extra members of the raid to die. Had the boss decided to press the issue, we wouldn¡¯t have made it past the first room. A pathetic showing for the top players of the top guilds, no? So here¡¯s the deal. Protect your healers. GoldGuard is penalized 20% of his rewards for the raid, to be divided evenly between everyone else. The next people blatantly breaking my orders are gone. No more second chances. Gold, since you idiotically blew two major skills and don¡¯t have them available for our dungeon run anymore, you are no longer second tank. OhMightySmiter, you just got bumped up to secondary tank. Gold, you are still rearguard but will be in charge of add ons against bosses. Questions? No? Good. Now, let¡¯s go ahead and move out into the rest of the dungeon, and see if we can¡¯t come out on top.¡± Book 3 Chapter 31 ¡°Whiskers!¡± I turned to see King and the other two rogues entering from the next room. ¡°Did a little scouting while the raid was getting back on their feet. Next room is free of traps, but Angus is waiting on the other side.¡± ¡°Did he see you?¡± ¡°We were stealthed, but he followed us no problems. We opted not to get close. He¡¯s just standing there next to a lever.¡± ¡°Great, probably another trap. ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!¡± I yelled to get the attention of everyone else. ¡°Looks like the boss is going to keep tormenting us in the next room. Get in there, spread out, and slowly advance. Watch for when he pulls the lever. Guardians, I want you slightly in front of your charges, but not in direct line of sight to the boss.¡± Everyone nodded, and I walked in to the next room. I heard the raid spread out behind me while I took stock. A long, straight room with nothing inside it, I was worried. No cover, no traps detected, just what the hell surprise was waiting for us? ¡°It¡¯s about time! I thought that I had broken my new toys already!¡± The smug bastard called out to us from across the way, and I could hear it getting to a few of the members. ¡°Especially since I wouldn¡¯t be able to showcase my new rogue¡¯s challenge course! Without further ado, heeeeere weeeee GOOOOOOOOO!¡± He shouted the last bit in an announcer voice, pulling the lever. A giant split formed through the middle two thirds of the room, and the floor dropped away to reveal a swirling purple and black void. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this one isn¡¯t lethal. Though there are some penalties for failure, heh. Heh. Heh.¡± As he was chuckling, an obstacle course lowered itself into place. ¡°I¡¯ll be watching from my boss room, hope to see you soon!¡± He called, before turning and heading deeper into the dungeon. ¡°Got to be fucking kidding me.¡± I heard someone mutter, and turned to study the obstacle course. Eight steps leading down to start, with no railing. Surrounding the steps was a hollow spinning cylinder. Inside it was splatter paint, leaving strips of multiple colors. I didn¡¯t trust it. At the bottom was a small jump to a balance beam, that curved off to the right. Following along, it rotated it up and rose about a foot, with a series of swirling black orbs along the bottom that regularly faded and reappeared. ¡°Someone shoot an arrow above those orbs please.¡± I asked, and DeathFromAbove stepped forward and complied. Like I thought, the arrow immediately bent downward and was sucked into one of the orbs to be crushed. ¡°Looks like the black orbs are gravity wells.¡± I noted. At the end of the sideways balance beam, it looked like you were supposed to leap off and grab onto the series of hanging rings to make your way across. Only above and below were orbs moving in circles, changing from white to black. ¡°Anyone wanna bet that the white orbs are antigravity?¡± ¡°Not a chance.¡± DeathFromAbove chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s only logical. Besides, look at how the chains are moving. They follow the black orbs and are repelled by the white ones.¡± ¡°So much for making some easy money.¡± I chuckled, getting a laugh from the rogue. Hanging by his tail in the middle of the ring field was a monkey demon, and it looked like it would be impossible to avoid battle in midair. Should you advance beyond that, a platform would allow you to rest for a bit, before you had to cross a series of monkey bars with progressively stronger gravity wells beneath you. Along the far side were ten goblin archers with barrels of arrows to pester you. Beyond the monkey bars was a series of rope swings, requiring you to slingshot yourself around several gravity and antigravity wells. ¡°That¡¯s going to be such a pain.¡± King commented, shaking his head. ¡°He even set up the lever so that a magic blast wouldn¡¯t undo it.¡± ¡°I got this. [Snipe shot]!¡± ShockerSnipe said, firing an arrow with a thin rope tied to it at the lever. Unfortunately, the multitude of gravity wells easily disrupted the flight of the arrow. ¡°OW! WHAT THE HELL? WHY¡¯S THERE AN ARROW IN MY ASS!¡± ChaosBringer yelled. We all turned to see that there was a portal in the side of the wall, with a thin string connecting it to the arrow that ShockerSnipe had fired. ¡°Well, that answers where the portals go.¡± King muttered, stifling a laugh. ¡°S-s-s-sorry Chaos! I had no idea!¡± Shocker quickly apologized. ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, get your arrow out!¡± He yelled, and one of the healers quickly performed some first aid. ¡°Thanks BandAid.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She answered with a giggle. ¡°Just. How often do you have to have help pulling stuff out of your ass?¡± ¡°Ha ha, very funny.¡± Chaos grumbled, but he was at least smiling when he did it. ¡°Better to just own it dude.¡± EricDaRad said as he flung an arm around his shoulders. ¡°The more you deny it, the more people will think it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Well, looks like we¡¯re going to have a fun time with this course. I¡¯m first!¡± DeathFromAbove shouted, heading down into the stairs. ¡°Eyaaaaaa!¡± Three steps in and disaster struck. For some reason, he threw himself to the left, slamming into the rotating cylinder and getting tossed around as he was flung down and into the swirling abyss. We all turned to see him get unceremoniously dumped on his ass from the portal, sliding on his back for a few feet. ¡°Ow. Ow. Fucking hell, what happened?¡± He groaned, getting to his feet. ¡°What do you mean what happened? When you threw yourself off to one side?¡± Someone asked. ¡°I thought rogues were supposed to be agile. Can¡¯t even handle a staircase with no railing.¡± ¡°What? No I didn¡¯t, there must be some form of gravity trap!¡± He denied. ¡°No traps.¡± King said. ¡°And no gravity wells around the cylinder. Or antigrav.¡± He said, walking back and forth. ¡°What¡¯s the penalty?¡± Shocker asked. ¡°Penalty? Oh. Oh crap!¡± DeathFromAbove yelled. ¡°Three minute debuff. Lose five agility. Can¡¯t be purged or cleansed, and stacks up to twenty times. Each stack adds an extra minute to the timer.¡± ¡°Brutal.¡± Several people muttered roughly the same things. I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°Well, we can do this how he wants, or we could do it the easy way. King? Wanna show everyone the easy way?¡± ¡°Heh, thought you would never ask. Oh, and just so you know Death, it¡¯s just an optical illusion. Watch.¡± Closing his eyes, King easily stepped down to the bottom before opening them and looking across the way. ¡°[Telekinesis].¡± A blue glow enveloped his arm, and over a hundred feet away the same glow enveloped the lever. With a simple swing of his arm, King disarmed the trap and quickly backed up the steps as the entire contraption rewound itself and the floor appeared again.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Seriously? Telekinesis? What level do you have it at to effect something that far away?¡± Cinderfry yelled. ¡°Master 7.¡± King shrugged, before walking forward across the floor. ¡°Cheating. He¡¯s fucking cheating.¡± ¡°If you ain¡¯t cheating, you ain¡¯t trying.¡± Someone answered. ¡°Work smarter, not harder.¡± ¡°Wish I could see the bastard¡¯s face when King disarmed the trap like that.¡± I smiled, glad that the raid was back up into good spirits. We all trooped across the floor, following our newly stealthed rogues as they went ahead and scouted the room ahead. ¡°GODFUCKINGDAMNIT! IMMA RIP THAT SADISTIC FREAKS HEAD OFF!¡± We all froze for a second as someone ranted ahead, before charging in. We found a room with a weirdly red coloration, hexagonal tiles covering the floor with four pillars in the middle of each quadrant. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked as I walked up to King, who was standing there shaking his head. ¡°We entered just fine, but as soon as I activated the [Detect trap] skill, this happened.¡± He answered, waving his hand at the rest of the room. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The light here is the same color that traps show up as under detect trap. I caught a few flashes before the light initiated, but I can¡¯t pinpoint them. All I can say is there are some traps here.¡± ¡°Fuck, this is only the first floor.¡± Darkmoon Lucy shuddered as she spoke. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s hitting us with his best traps right off the bat.¡± ¡°I can only hope.¡± King replied. ¡°Alright everyone, we got another fun one. There¡¯s traps here, but the light has negated the detect trap skill, so we get to do this the old fashioned way. Three rows of people, leave a gap between you. Try and step where the person in front of you stepped. Rogues, lead the way.¡± I stayed back to watch, as we formed three general lines. There were a few feet between people to minimize AoE traps, and it seemed like we were making progress. ¡°Damnit!¡± Shocker yelled as the tile beneath his foot clicked, causing him to jump to the side in a defensive posture. When nothing happened, he just growled and came back to where he was and started forward again. ¡°Bastard. Fucking click traps that just set your nerves on end, I hate psychological games.¡± He kept muttering. ¡°OHDAMN!¡± A scream startled me, looking up to see a row of people mysteriously gone. We had about a third of the raid across, and two of the missing people were healers. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked Grandelf, the sage who had cried out earlier. ¡°I saw a grey blur, and they were just gone.¡± He said, eyes wide. ¡°Which way was the blur moving?¡± I asked, shaking his shoulders. He pointed to the left, and I turned to look but saw nothing. The entire raid was standing still, staring at me. ¡°Don¡¯t move, I¡¯ll check it out.¡± I said. Stepping forward, I felt a tile beneath my feet sink just a bit. Eyes wide, I watched as a grey blur shot back across the space that the three missing members were in. ¡°Ok, everyone be ready. If you feel a tile sink beneath your feet, yell out. If you are in that middle section and hear someone yell, move. As fast as you can. Got it? Now get crossing again while King and I check things out.¡± The raid kept moving, and King and I started searching along the wall for a clue. ¡°Nothing at the base. No blood, no dropped equipment. What happened to the bodies?¡± He asked. ¡°Think that hole in the wall up there has anything to do with it?¡± I asked, pointing above me. ¡°Brock! Need you and HealYaButt over here!¡± I called, smiling as the three people in the middle of the room immediately dove to the ground at the first sound of a shout. ¡°Sorry about that, false alarm!¡± As the two I had called over were on their way, I heard someone else shout, ¡°DOWN!¡± Two managed to avoid it, but Brosef got smashed by what I could tell from this direction was a truly massive hammer. It was moving so fast that the body was plastered to the head, and it swung up above us into the alcove before clicking into place. ¡°Alright, looks like the trap is a giant hammer coming from the side, and it is low enough that just hitting the deck isn¡¯t going to cut it.¡± I shouted to the raid. ¡°I want everyone who hasn¡¯t crossed the room yet to move to the sides of the room. The hammer¡¯s trajectory is such that you won¡¯t get hit if you are next to the walls, but keep an eye out for more traps. I doubt there is a safe path across the room.¡± As the raid group scrambled to obey, I turned to the geomancer and healer that had arrived. ¡°Brock, I want you to create us a platform and raise it to the height of the gap in that wall there. We can¡¯t do it until the group is across, unless you want to take a massive hammer to the face.¡± ¡°What am I here for?¡± Heal asked. ¡°There are bodies on the other side of the wall.¡± I said, pointing to the wall behind me with my thumb. ¡°We¡¯re going to have you rez them.¡±
Warning! Raid leader, we have detected that one of your raid members has been dead for five minutes. If that body is not recovered and resurrected within ten minutes of death, the body will be respawned either at the entrance of the dungeon or at the room of the last defeated boss. Should this be required, the resurrected person will suffer a penalty for the duration of the dive and the raid will incur a morale penalty.
¡°Aw fuck me. EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!¡± I yelled, getting everyone to freeze. ¡°Looks like we have a new issue. If you die and aren¡¯t resurrected within ten minutes, your body will be transported to the beginning of the dungeon or last boss defeated, and we all get a penalty. I need everyone to stay where they are, we have less than five minutes to rez four people.¡± Turning back to Brock, I said, ¡°Get going on that platform.¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± He saluted, then placed both palms on the ground, and with a gentle shake I felt us rising. ¡°Nice control. I barely felt any tremors.¡± I complimented him, getting a grin from the rapidly sweating geomancer. We reached the top of the wall within thirty seconds, and looked over to see a pit with four bodies in it. ¡°Save Brosef for last. Use your skill and a scroll, I¡¯ll use another scroll.¡± I ordered Heal, pulling a rez scroll from my inventory. Comrade gone beyond the veil, There are tasks left undone. Return once again to our sides, Fight once more for the light. [Resurrection]. Though it was through a scroll, I still had to do the chant and ended up my spell as the same time as Dr. HealYaButts. LadyFisticuffs and HolyDungeonDiver both stood up immediately, took a step towards us and fell down as they died once again. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± Brock asked, staring as the same thing happened to SirMixaLalalot. ¡°What the? Why are they dead again?¡± Heal snarled, looking like he was getting ready to drop down in there. ¡°Hold on a second. There¡¯s gotta be a reason, and I¡¯m not going to risk a healer. Brock, can you raise the floor underneath the bodies so that they are at our level?¡± ¡°Yeah. Probably?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need probably, I need you to do it.¡± With a sigh, he got to work. As he was taking a break with his first mana potion, I used a resurrection scroll on Brosef. He died as well, even being halfway up the pit. By the time Brock managed to get all four bodies up to the same level as us, we were pushing the limits for recovering the bodies of the first three. ¡°Brock, use a rez scroll on Diver. I¡¯ve got Fisticuffs, Heal you take SirMixaLalalot.¡± I ordered, pulling another scroll from my inventory. We all got our people resurrected, and they didn¡¯t die immediately. ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± I shouted as they started looking around. ¡°Brock¡¯s going to get you a bridge out of here. I¡¯ll rez Brosef in just a minute.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± LadyFisticuffs asked. ¡°Giant hammer. Carried your bodies into a pit filled with poison gas.¡± I answered, holding up a clear vial that I had taken the time to dip into the area while Brock was bringing up the bodies. ¡°Looks like he managed to create an airborne version of Death¡¯s Knell, and keep it denser than air so that it won¡¯t escape this pit.¡± ¡°Damn. We could have burnt up so many resurrection scrolls.¡± Heal said, voice soft with respect. ¡°Finally seeing that this isn¡¯t a normal dungeon run?¡± I asked, giving him a sideways glance. ¡°Anyway, keep to the edge of the room and we can move along.¡± Ten minutes later and the entire raid was at the end of the room, looking at the stairs leading down. We had lost another one when someone got too close to the pillars and whirling blades blasted out. They spun just above waist level on a human, which just happened to be about neck height on the poor dwarf who lost his head. ¡°Well, ain¡¯t we off to a great start.¡± HolyDungeonDiver muttered. ¡°Three rooms in the first floor, and we have 28 deaths on record. Best. Raid. Everrrrrr.¡± ¡°Maybe now everyone can get their heads out of their asses and treat it like the hardest raid the game¡¯s ever had?¡± I snarked back at him. ¡°I want King heading out first, then Shocker and finally Death at two minute intervals. See what¡¯s on the next floor and check for traps.¡± ¡°One second.¡± King said, pulling a rope from his inventory. ¡°Keep it slack. If it starts pulling swiftly, I¡¯ve fallen victim to a trap on the stairs. Two tugs from me in quick succession means I safely made it to the bottom.¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Diver asked. ¡°Seems a little over the top.¡± ¡°Because of the raid mechanics.¡± RaiderDave answered. ¡°I had forgotten until just now, but unless someone sees them die the raid doesn¡¯t get a notification. Up until now, nobody had been completely out of sight while still alive.¡± Book 3 Chapter 32.1 ¡°Double tug.¡± RaiderDave said, not even a minute after King disappeared. ¡°What? Triple tug afterward?¡± ¡°Something from our raids. He can¡¯t advance, needs everyone down there. Come on.¡± I said, leading the raid down. King was lounging against the wall in a square room, pointing to the sign in the middle.
Welcome friends! Monkey see, Monkey do! Divide the raid into three branches of challenges. There will be enemies and puzzles for you to defeat along the way. As a benevolent overlord, I¡¯ll allow you to divide the raid how you see fit. Just know that at least one person must travel down each path. There are dire penalties for breaking the rules, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure that out on your own. Good luck!
¡°Damn. I didn¡¯t think we would have to split the raid so quickly, but at least he¡¯s letting us do it our own way. What have we got to give us clues to these rules?¡± ¡°Markings by each doorway.¡± King said, pointing to his right. ¡°That way has a flexing arm, obviously brawn. Middle path has a staff and wizard hat. Last path has a brain.¡± ¡°Lucy, Dave, got any suggestions?¡± ¡°Physical fighters with the brawn side, magic the middle path. I think the last path will be fun puzzles.¡± Lucy said immediately, and Dave nodded. ¡°Sounds about right. Send a healer with each group, but which one gets two healers?¡± ¡°Magic path.¡± Lucy called. At my raised eyebrow, she explained, ¡°Squishier. They¡¯ll need the healing, especially without a tank.¡± ¡°Should we send a tank just in case?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Probably for the best. I don¡¯t like the name of the floor. Make sure the tank is defending only.¡± I answered. ¡°What if we send the paladins with the mages? Think divine attacks would count as magic?¡± Lucy asked the question I had been dreading. ¡°I don¡¯t know. If they are, then that is fine. If not? I think we shouldn¡¯t risk it, and send them down the brain path with me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on the puzzle path?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fairly confident in my abilities there.¡± ¡°What am I supposed to do then?¡± Dave asked, and I slapped my head. I had forgotten he was a paladin. ¡°Exactly.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ll take the paladins down the puzzle path, but send the scouts with me as well. I¡¯ll feel better if I had King to consult with on a few things.¡± ¡°Alright, just make sure you guys make it through.¡± Turning to the raid, I called out, ¡°Everyone, attention please! We are being forced to split our group. Physical fighters will go with me down the might path, and for a healer we will be taking NotABandaid. Paladins and rogues, you¡¯re with RaiderDave. Dr. HealYaButts will be your healer. Magic people will be with Lucy down the middle path, Citadel will be your tank. He will be defense only. We¡¯ll see you all on the other side, good luck.¡± The raid efficiently split up, and I led my group down a four-person wide hallway. The group was as silent as can be with several people wearing plate and chain mail, and after about a hundred feet the hall turned to the right before immediately opening up into a massive cave. I walked up to the sign, behind which was a massive red line.
Test your might! Beyond the red line, your group will face a series of physical battles. You will have five minutes to defeat each wave, before the platform you are on moves to join the next. The raid leader, or duly elected battle leader should the raid leader be on a different path, can start the next battle early at their discretion. Six battles, and victory will be yours. Good luck!
¡°Alright everyone, looks like we get a straight up brawl. Physical attacks only, looks like things will start when we all cross the big red line.¡± I said, moving around the sign and stepping into the active area. There was a fifty-foot gap between each thirty-foot wide platform, and it looked like each battle would increase our fighting area. Once everyone was in place, several summoning circles appeared. I only paid attention to the three in our area, which revealed three groups of five orcs, with a war leader. ¡°Shield wall, rangers focus fire on the big guy in the back. Berserkers take the wings, rotate in and out depending on your health.¡± I ordered, and heard chuckles as everyone took positions. The orc leader roared, pointing his oversized maul at us with one hand, and his subordinates charged. Arrows started appearing in pairs, but the massive orc just ignored them. There was a massive crash as the two lines smashed together, but the tanks held. The wings of berserkers folded around the orcs, and havoc ensued. The orcs all wanted individual battles, but the players were more than happy to slip back and forth between targets, exploiting turned backs for vicious critical hits. As the war leader looked on with a frown on his face, I snuck around behind him. While I didn¡¯t activate stealth, it didn¡¯t matter as his entire focus was on the battle raging in front of him. That was until I used both daggers to shred his right calf. ¡°Rrrrrooooaaaaaahhhhhh!¡± His roar of agony caused several of the orcs to hesitate, an error swiftly capitalized on by the players. The war leader also threw his head back, and two arrows sprouted from his throat before he tried a massive backhanded swing with his maul. I stayed in close, ducking under his hand, and slashing at the thigh on his good leg as he unbalanced himself with that poor swing. He toppled over, crashing down with a grunt. I stepped onto his chest, and double slashed across his throat before plunging a dagger into his eye and killing him. After his death, the slight red glow that I hadn¡¯t noticed the regular orcs had faded, and their ferocity and the rapidly growing numbers advantage made the fight an easy one. ¡°Yaaaaaah!¡± Several of the tanks yelled in elation, rattling their blades in the air. I just chuckled, and turned to see what else we were up against. I was going to use the majority of the time left for recovery, and to plan out our next attack. The next group was a mixture. Three orcs with two hobgoblins, all heavily armored and backed by six hobgoblin archers was our next wave. To make things even better, the archers were on raised platforms with no entrance from the front side. Wave three was ten minotaurs, all wandering around. Wave four looked to be trolls, luckily only four. Wave five was too obscure to see clearly, but I could easily see the massive golem for wave six. Fighting that without magic was going to suck. ¡°Listen up, GotYerBack, Shieldwall, and HitMe will all take an orc. Berserkers will split up and take the hobgoblins down for GotYerBack and Shieldwall. HitMe, I¡¯ll be with you and the elemental rangers, we¡¯ll try and take them down quick but you might have to do a bit more of a defensive battle. We¡¯ll try and stay out of range of the archers for now. After the groups are down, we can split up and get around behind the platforms to climb them and take the archers down.¡± Everyone nodded with the plan, though HitMe looked a little glum. The time ran down, and our platform slowly creaked forward until it clanged into position with the next one. The orcs wasted no time, charging forward. They split exactly how we planned it, and I was able to peel off one of the hobgoblins targeting HitMe. His slow axe attacks were easy to avoid, and I would dart in and out harrying him while the archers peppered him in the back with arrows. He fell quickly, and I switched to the other hobgoblin that was taking turns smashing HitMe¡¯s shield. One of my skills procced, and I was able to get a decapitation on the unsuspecting monster. Just in time too, as when the final orc fell HitMe had dropped down to about a third health. ¡°Heh, just in time.¡± He said, giving me a slightly manic grin. ¡°[Greater heal].¡± I turned to watch in horror as NotABandaid healed him up to full health.
Disqualified! For using magic on the might path, you have incurred a penalty. Monster damage +500% Monster attack rate +500% Monster health +500% All waves automatically started.
I turned back to see the archers and the rest of the monsters all had eyes lit up with blazing red, and all the platforms were moving to combine. ¡°Fuck, take out as many as we can. Use all skills but try and save your daily skills. I¡¯m sure someone will be along to revive us eventually.¡± I said, just before chaos descended. The minotaurs charged and smashed people over the edge, shattering what little remained of our formation. Several of the berserkers turned to whirlwinds of death, spinning and lashing out in all directions. ¡°Poor bastards have us surrounded! I can¡¯t possibly miss no matter where I swing!¡± At least someone had a sense of humor about the situation, as I tried to stealth into a more favorable position. Getting smashed by a troll let me know stealth wasn¡¯t working, and I quickly got a popup I was expecting.
You have died. If someone fails to resurrect you in ten minutes, your body will be respawned at the beginning of the dungeon. If you haven¡¯t been resurrected twenty minutes after being transported to the beginning of the dungeon, you will have the option to quit the dungeon or respawn for additional penalties. If all members of the raid are killed at the same time, the dungeon dive will be considered a failure. Total raid deaths: 39
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Darkmoon Lucy¡¯s POV Our group took the middle path, and Brosef immediately cast a magelight as we entered a tunnel. It was wide enough for four people, and we spread out with Citadel leading the way. ¡°I doubt there are traps, but keep a few feet between groups just in case. And make sure our healers aren¡¯t walking side by side.¡± I called over my shoulder, not wanting to lose both of them in a freak accident. A few minutes later and I looked across a long cave. There were four platforms separated by gaps, and I walked up to read the sign that Citadel was standing next to.
Test your magic! Beyond the red line, your group will face a series of magical battles. You will have five minutes to defeat each wave, before the platform you are on moves to join the next. The raid leader, or duly elected battle leader should the raid leader be on a different path, can start the next battle early at their discretion. Six battles, and victory will be yours. Good luck!
¡°Thoughts?¡¯ I asked the oddly quiet Citadel. ¡°Cut loose. I¡¯ll hold back any that try and close.¡± ¡°Good enough.¡± I said with a sigh. I turned to the rest of the raid and spoke, ¡°just like we thought, magic attacks only. That goes for summoned creatures as well, so it might be best if we switched to ones that only buff ourselves. Try not to use the really big moves, but there¡¯s no rules against mana potions so feel free to go all out. Once we cross the line, battle will begin.¡± Several people started swapping equipment, most likely going for additional mana regen or magic damage. I dismissed my currently summoned beasts, going for buffing to the raid instead of damaging on their own. ¡°[Summon: Mana wisp][Summon: Arcane sprite][Special summon: Sprite Queen]¡± Losing over three quarters of my mana was worth it. Mana wisps boosted mana regen within her sphere of influence, while the arcane sprite boosted spell damage. But the sprite queen was the best. She boosted all sprite and wisp effects, and could cast her own spells as well. ¡°Queen Meridia, thank you for answering my summons.¡± I said with a bow. ¡°Twas my pleasure Miss Darkmoon. Oh my, are we where I think we are?¡± She asked, placing a hand on her chest. ¡°To think I would be summoned to the dungeon of the Progenitor King.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve heard of him?¡± I asked, quite surprised. The sprites inhabited a rather remote plane.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Oh my yes dear. He and a giant friend of his dropped by to enlist our aid. Not as denizens of course, but we did send a few enchanters. While they mostly did the mana absorption to power the unique enchants, they did manage to learn a few things.¡± ¡°Soooo, I don¡¯t suppose?¡± ¡°Oh my, we could never reveal information about a client, I¡¯m sure you understand. Just,¡± She spoke, pausing to take a deep breath. ¡°Ah, the path of magic? Just make sure you follow the rules and you¡¯ll be fine. Hmmm, your group seems well managed enough, but I think I¡¯ll help out your fellow. [Courtly summon: Amethyst guard].¡± She made a sweeping motion, and two sprites in purple crystal plate appeared. ¡°My Queen!¡± They spoke in unison, clasping hands to their chests. ¡°My guards. I have summoned you to assist in defense. You will not attack, and will follow direct orders from myself and Miss Darkmoon here.¡± She ordered, motioning to me. ¡°Your will!¡± They said, and moved off to flank around Citadel. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see here. Cryomancer, photomancer, geomancer, oh what a lovely array. You even have a pyromancer. One moment dear.¡± She said, smiling at me. I couldn¡¯t help but smile back, as she was easily distracted by things outside of combat. I think she secretly enjoyed being pulled away from court, where she could let her mask drop. ¡°Yoo hoo! Mr. Flame lord!¡± She called to Cinderfy. ¡°Hmm? Me?¡± He asked. ¡°Of course dear. Could you come over here for just a minute? I need your assistance with something.¡± Shrugging, he walked over. ¡°Cinderfy, may I present the sprite queen Meridia. Queen Meridia, the pyromancer Cinderfy.¡± I made a quick introduction so Cinder would know who he was talking to. ¡°A pleasure.¡± He said with a regal bow that impressed me with its fluidness. ¡°Indeed. Now, I have a combination I wish to show you. First, [Vulcan hedge].¡± Meridia cast a spell, and a thorny vine with massive closed flower buds erupted from the ground. ¡°If you would be so kind, when the flowers bloom hit it with your weakest fire attack.¡± She said, and I noticed we were gathering quite the interested crowd. Five seconds later, the buds opened to reveal orange flowers with a white core. ¡°[Firebolt].¡± Cinder spoke calmly, forgoing the chant to weaken the spell as much as he could. A fireball the size of a baseball rocketed across to strike the opened flower, which had been exuding a light purple gas. The entire floor rumbled as the gas ignited, turning the small fireball into a raging pillar of flame. ¡°GOOD GOD!¡± several people shouted, quickly shielding their faces from the intense heat. ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!¡± Cinder burst into laughter. ¡°Oh, M¡¯lady, that is the most wonderful crowd control spell I have ever come across. Thank you for the opportunity to work with this.¡± He said, giving her another deep bow. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± I asked, getting nods from everyone. ¡°Then let¡¯s go. Cross the line, let¡¯s get this shindig started.¡± Leading the way, I moved behind Citadel and the two guards. Once everyone was across, three summoning circles appeared. Each one had three hobgoblin shamans, and one hobgoblin warlock. ¡°[Earth wave].¡± ¡°[Ice lotus].¡± ¡°[Prismatic blast].¡± ¡°[Ignis potens].¡± Each of the specialized mages unleashed their spells, obliterating the enemies. Brock¡¯s earth wave actually sent the entire targeted group plummeting to their doom. Ice Queen froze her enemies solid, and Brosef¡¯s multicolored lights blasted into them, getting boosts from the crystals of ice. Cinder changed one of his spells to Latin, but the explosion of flame sent most of the enemies plummeting to their doom and left a single singed shaman on his face. ¡°[Lightning].¡± Grandelf sent a bolt of normal lightning to finish the monster off. ¡°Well, that went rather splendidly. Let¡¯s see what else we have to deal with.¡± We all walked toward the edge of the platform to see what awaited us. The next platform was filled with imps floating around, occasionally shooting a fireball at each other. The third wave looked to be ghosts or spirits, the fourth was some sort of robed figures, and the fifth and sixth waves were too far away too make out. ¡°Well, are we ready for round two? Or do we want to wait another four minutes for mana regen?¡± After getting a round of affirmative responses, I went ahead and activated the early wave option. As we slowly moved forward, Brosef started blasting away with light since he had the longest range. I smiled when I saw that he was gradually herding the imps into more or less a single corridor for the others to blast away. ¡°I¡¯ll line ¡®em up, y¡¯all knock ¡®em down.¡± He drawled, and as soon as the platforms combined our sages got to work. ¡°We got this.¡± SpiceMix said, and all three sages grabbed each other¡¯s hands and formed an open ended triangle pointing at the line of imps. ¡°Purple lightning dances amongst the shards of clear is in the watery destruction. [Elemental linkage: Thundering Frozen Deluge]!¡± An absolute torrent of water burst forth, and clear shards of razor sharp ice reflected the terrifying visage of multiple purple lightning serpents within it. Every single imp was caught within the spell, and they were all destroyed instantly. ¡°Alright everyone, I know we all want to show off but remember we are in a dungeon. We can take the five minutes to let our sages recover, but unless things start turning dire I want you to rest for the next fight. Druids take the lead and mages back us up. Brosef, go ahead and blast from a distance as your light will be effective against the spirits.¡± People grumbled a bit, but it was more good natured grumping and not actual complaints. I pulled the three sages aside and asked, ¡°That spell was quite impressive. Do you have any other combinations that you can use?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± SpiceMix answered. ¡°Three waters, three fires, and an earth and two fires all make rather spectacular combinations. That¡¯s all we¡¯ve really worked out.¡± ¡°Great. If need be, we might have to use them against the bosses, so I want you to talk to Whiskers when we meet back up and let him know. He¡¯ll know how best to use it.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± I settled in to wait, making sure my mana wisp was hovering near the sages. To my delight, they all sat down and started meditating to boost their mana regen. Looking out, I still couldn¡¯t make out the fifth wave, but I could tell that the platform was shrouded in mist. There was time yet, so I didn¡¯t worry too much. After five minutes, the platform moved on to the next one and the battle went smoothly. Brosef was picking off lone spirits from a distance, and had taken down almost a third of them by the time we arrived. The rest were crowded around the back edge of the platform, afraid of his light attacks. ¡°You sure the druids are going to be ok against ghosts?¡± Ice Queen asked. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll give them a good reason to use some of our lesser known spells. Brosef¡¯s gathering them like that is going to help, as [Purging rain] doesn¡¯t have the widest of areas.¡± ¡°Purging rain? Thought that only got rid of group curses?¡± ¡°That and negative spirits. Get enough druids and a long enough time, you might even be able to break some minor curses on equipment.¡± I explained. Most people didn¡¯t realize that druid spells covered a wide array of afflictions, they just worked over time instead of immediately like cleric¡¯s spells. After the purging rain eliminated the ghostly enemies, I called the raid over. ¡°Ok, looks like robed mystery figures. Druids are on crowd control. Sages and mages, try and limit your mana expenditures as I¡¯m worried about that misty platform up ahead.¡± Plan set, I went ahead and activated the wave early. ¡°[Prismatic bolt].¡± Brosef again started us off early, targeting a lone figure. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± The creature fired back at Brosef, who easily dodged the return projectile. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s mages. I always wanted a good old fashioned wizard¡¯s duel.¡± I heard PeppermintYork say. ¡°Let¡¯s see if their elements are set. [Lightning bolt].¡± She fired at the same wizard Brosef had initially targeted. ¡°[Stone shot].¡± It fired right back. ¡°Listen up everyone, these things counterattack with the opposing element of what you used, so be prepared.¡± I called out loudly. Looking back, I saw several members of the raid nodding at my words as they chanted spells for boosted damage. As soon as the platforms got within range, chaos was unleashed. Each druid had at least one fire expert with them, taking advantage of the plants that were used to limit movements. Ice Queen would lock enemies inside a frozen coffin where Brosef would use the crystals to turn his light blasts into multicolored shotgun blasts to the chest. SpiceMix and Grandelf used a water and electricity combination, and the multiple elements seemed to confuse the enemy so much that they couldn¡¯t decide on what element to counter with. ¡°Keep going with combinations! Multiple elements confuse the enemy!¡± I shouted. It was a busy three minutes, but we managed to clear out the platform. ¡°Anyone find out what those enemies were exactly?¡± SpiceMix asked. ¡°Mystic inverters.¡± Meridia answered when none of the raid did. ¡°Simple constructs that attack with the opposing element of what initially attacked them. They depend on a high magic defense and the hope that using the opposing element will guarantee critical hits. Annoying, but manageable if you know their tricks.¡± ¡°Well, what do you think the chances are that the next platform is going to be a major annoyance?¡± I asked. ¡°Almost guaranteed.¡± PeppermintYork replied. ¡°I still can¡¯t see anything in that mist. Anyone got any ideas?¡± ¡°I think Queen Meridia and I should handle this.¡± Cinderfy said. ¡°My lady, do you think you could cover the next platform with those wonderful flower hedges?¡± ¡°I think I could. Are you thinking what I am?¡± ¡°That enough hedges will blow away all the mist on the platform, along with anything alive on there?¡± ¡°So bloodthirsty, I love it. Miss Darkmoon, is this plan acceptable?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. Will you be ok with the blast from an explosion that big?¡± ¡°The guards will step in front to protect us. I can even cast the spell from here, giving us enough time to retreat a bit.¡± ¡°Then do it. Everyone else, I want you three quarters back. Brock, a quick earthen shelter if you would. Leave them a small one up here to shelter in as well.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± He responded, making a quick domed shield they could hide behind. The rest of the raid got a much larger one. ¡°Ready when you guys are!¡± I called out. ¡°[Royal summoning: Grand Vulcan hedge maze]!¡± Meridia¡¯s spell was so powerful that several of us shivered as the wave of magic passed us. ¡°Damn, she cast a spell that powerful without an incantation? I do NOT want to get on her bad side.¡± NaughtyNurseJess said. ¡°I almost wish we could film this explosion though. Cinderfy¡¯s going to absolutely love it.¡± As she spoke, we heard a shout from said pyromancer, ¡°[Pyroclasm]!¡± Several of us managed to widen our eyes in horror just before the entire dungeon shuddered under the massive explosion. Even with the distance between the raid and the explosion, I still saw several cracks form in the defensive shell Brock had raised. ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA! OOOHHHHH YEAAAAAAAH THAT WAS AMAZING!¡± ¡°Looks like he survived just fine, shall we check the damage?¡± Brock asked with a chuckle. With a snap of his fingers, the shield in front of us crumbled and allowed us to see the devastation. The next platform was completely empty. The entire thing had been reduced to scorch marks, and we all started laughing as Cinder was dancing around in joy looking at the aftermath. ¡°Hey, Ice Queen and anyone who has water spells. Mind launching a few? I can feel the heat from all the way over here, I can only imagine what it would feel like if we had to cross the wasteland.¡± ¡°WAIT!¡± Cinder called out, stopping the four mages who had stepped forward. ¡°Hold on a second, we can use this to our advantage. Look over there!¡± Pointing across the way, I could barely make out what was on the other side. ¡°What is it Cinder? I can¡¯t tell through the heat waves.¡± ¡°The last wave. It¡¯s a manabane swarm.¡± Everyone deflated at that. ¡°Calm down everyone. Yes, they are immune to magic but can still be damaged by indirect effects. And we have a thirty-foot field of indirect heat. So hit the next wave button, and we can watch them fry as they try to get us. Maybe have a few hedges summoned in the middle to light up and slow them down?¡± ¡°Idiot savant. He¡¯s gotta be an idiot savant.¡± Brock muttered. ¡°But it just might work. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Shrugging my shoulders, I hit the next wave button and watched as we moved closer to the swarm. The small insects used their incredibly limited flight to try and get across, but most dropped into the chasm below. It seemed the heat was having an effect, as their fragile wings burnt away rapidly. Once the platform clicked into place, the swarm surged forward. Screaming in agony as they burned, they nonetheless carried on over the backs of their fallen comrades as they attempted to get to the concentration of magical energies our group was throwing out. ¡°HEDGE ROWS, NOW! SPACE THEM OUT EVERY THREE FEET!¡± I yelled, stepping forward to work together with my fellow druids. ¡°START NEAR THE HORDE, AND GRADUALLY SUMMON CLOSER TO US!¡± Rows of hedges started going up, immediately bursting into flames under the intense heat. Each one would burn for about two minutes. Two minutes that the horde would burn to death within. Still they pressed on. ¡°START CASTING IT IN THE SWARM ITSELF!¡± While the druids were busy slowing down the inexorable advance of the swarm, those who had access to fire magics were busy building up our heat sink. Flamethrowers, fireballs, and flame pillars. Anything they had that wasn¡¯t on cooldown was used. I swear the raid went through mana potions like water jugs at a rave. We even had the lightshow to match, only needed a thumping beat. For nearly ten minutes we battled, constantly draining our mana. As with all battles of attrition, something had to give eventually and luckily for the raid it was the swarm. The screeching went from an angry constant to a more subdued drone. After another five minutes it cut off entirely, and the panting and exhausted mages collapsed where they were. I cheated, and grew a small sapling right next to me to lean on, watching as the smoke cleared to reveal several inches of charred husks and blackened hedges. ¡°Everyone ok? I need a clear path forward. Ice Queen, you¡¯re up.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± She asked, looking drained herself. ¡°What if the trap resets if we don¡¯t cross it in a specific amount of time?¡± Her eyes got big at the implications, and she downed a mana potion, gagging a bit. ¡°Ugh, still tastes like crap. Ok, one corridor through hell, coming right up. [Ice beam].¡± While she conjured her beam of ice, blasting through the heat with the sustained spell, Cinderfy came up and whispered to me. ¡°Poor thing. She was channeling mana to at least three of us, while trying to meditate.¡± ¡°Serious? No wonder she¡¯s so drained. I sincerely hope when we get through this that there is a rest area.¡± ¡°You and me both.¡± Five minutes of steam blasting later, and Ice Queen had cleared a path three feet wide. The raid members darted through one by one as Meridia pulled me aside. ¡°Congratulations on clearing the path, but this is where my summoning must end for now.¡± ¡°Is it time already?¡± I asked, confused. I could swear I had at least another hour with her. ¡°The massive expenditure of mana for the hedge maze lowered our time.¡± She reminded me, and I nodded at her. ¡°That¡¯s understandable. Queen Meridia, thank you for your impeccable service. I do believe your legend will grow, as the majority of the adventurers in this world were watching your performance.¡± I said, giving her a deep bow of gratitude. ¡°And I thank you as well, Miss Darkmoon. To see such magics unleashed has been a wonder. Do call on me again should you go on any more interesting adventures.¡± With that, she and her guards disappeared in a transport circle. I turned and followed the raid, trying not to cough at the swirling ash as I crossed the platform. Once everyone was accounted for on the other side, we entered another tunnel the same width as the one we originally entered from. Book 3 Chapter 32.2 Crimson King¡¯s POV Why do I always get the short end of the stick? Not only do I have to lead a group, but I get the paladins. Dave wasn¡¯t too bad, but the other two didn¡¯t take direction well. So I get to babysit the idiots on the path with the least likelihood of combat, on top of their constant clanking with each movement. I headed out first, moving down a tunnel. It took a hard left and opened into a smaller room, with two pitchers and a large pool of water. There were three pedestals arranged in a triangle. The one with handprints was nearest the entrance, and two had flat bases with empty containers on them. While I waited on the others, I read the plaque.
Welcome to the Puzzling Path! You will be tested with a series of puzzles. Should you pass them all on the first try, a reward shall be bestowed upon your group by Logia, goddess of puzzles. There are a few rules. Wrong answers will result in death. There are no resurrections allowed until the puzzle has been cleared. First puzzle: Here¡¯s your first puzzle! Before you sit two containers. The lines on each represent three gallons and five gallons. Your task is to add exactly 4 gallons to the platform on the left (as viewed from the handprints) and add exactly seven gallons to the container on the right. When you have your answers, place unarmored hands on the prints.
¡°So, what do we have here?¡± Smiter practically shouted as he sauntered into the room. ¡°Get four and seven gallons in each container, we only have a three and five gallon containers though.¡± I answered, plotting out how to do it. The seven gallons would be easy, but I was getting hung up on the four gallons. Shrugging, I went and did that one first. ¡°I¡¯ll get the seven gallons quickly.¡± Filling up the five gallon container, I dumped it in to the right hand container. Filling up the five gallon one again, I used it to fill the three gallon container and added the remaining two gallons to the seven gallon container. ¡°That¡¯s one done. Seven gallons. I need a bit to work out the four gallon one though.¡± ¡°I got this.¡± Smiter said, grabbing the container out of my hand. He poured the three gallons back in, and made some quick measurements using the widths of his fingers. He made a quick mark with his dagger, and filled up the three gallon container. Adding a little at a time, he kept going until he got to the mark. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to work.¡± I said, feeling uncomfortable. ¡°Relax, I got this. All we have to do is get exactly the difference between three and five gallons inside this container. Piece of cake.¡± Completely ignoring my trepidations, he dumped the water into the container on the left, spilling a bit in the process. ¡°You spilled ¨C¡° I started to point out. ¡°Relax, it¡¯s on the pedestal so it still counts.¡± He interrupted. ¡°Now, how do we test this?¡± ¡°Put your hands in the prints.¡± I said, fed up and hoping a death would take away some of his arrogance. ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t have armor on them, it has to be bare hands.¡± He placed his hands on the pedestal, and clamps arose and held them in place. As a blue light lit up the containers, he spoke, ¡°See? I knew AAAAAH! BASTARDS THAT HURTS!!!¡± He screamed as the light turned red, and his health started dropping rapidly while the clamps held his hands in place. ¡°[Greater healing][Cleanse][Detoxify][Healing light]!¡± Dr. HealYaButts tried desperately to save him, but the poisons kept stacking far faster than he could cast spells and it was incredibly fast acting. Seconds later he was dead, and the clamps released. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have saved him, and don¡¯t try and rez him just yet.¡± I said, placing a hand on Heal¡¯s shoulder. ¡°His arrogance killed him, and the room won¡¯t let you rez him until we solve the puzzle.¡± That said, I walked over and started the process for getting seven gallons again. The water in and on the pedestals had conveniently dried up. ¡°I¡¯ve got the four gallons if you don¡¯t mind?¡± Dave asked, and I made a go ahead gesture, wondering how he would do it. He started out by taking three gallons from the five, and dumping the three back into the pool. The remaining two gallons went into the pedestal. He did it again and placed his hands on the altar. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± He said, and this time the pillars glowed blue then green instead of red. A door in the back of the room opened up, and he turned to Heal, ¡°Go ahead and revive the idiot.¡± Seconds later and Smiter was back on his feet. ¡°Shut it and listen.¡± Dave snarled when he looked around and was about to complain. ¡°This is a challenge, and we could have gotten a bonus from a goddess if we did it with zero errors. You cost us that bonus, so you don¡¯t get to add in answers. You first have to talk it over with the group. In fact, I¡¯m adding this rule to everyone. No answers are entered unless we talk it over. Got it?¡± Everyone nodded, and he continued, ¡°Good. Now let¡¯s go on to the next challenge.¡± Clanking over to the door, he led us into the next room. This one had a mural on the wall, with several figures on it. I read the rules instead of further studying the design.
Trial 2: Crossing the River There exists an uneasy truce between the peaceful Halflings and the brutal Split-tooth tribe. The group consists of three Split-tooth and five Halflings, and they desperately need to cross the river. The rules are as follows: 1) Everyone must end on the other side of the river 2) Each crossing in the boat must have at least one passenger 3) The Split-tooth must never equal or outnumber the Halflings, or the Halflings will be slaughtered 4) No fighting can occur in the boat 5) For counting purposes, once the boat reaches the shore assume that all disembark before returning. 6) The maximum occupants of the boat: 3 Halflings, One Split-tooth and two halflings, or two Split-tooth.
¡°Oh, I¡¯ve seen this before.¡± Heal spoke up. ¡°Give me a minute, it¡¯s been a few years.¡± After that he started murmuring to himself, pointing back and forth. There were occasional grunts of annoyance, and a few ¡°no, no that won¡¯t work¡± but after about ten minutes he stood up and shouted, ¡°Got it!¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then.¡± Dave said. ¡°Ok, first trip is two Split-tooth. Send one back. Repeat so that there¡¯s now one on the left and two on the right. Send three Halflings across, and one Halfling and one Split-tooth back. That leaves two Split-tooth and three Halflings on the left, and one and two on the right. Send three Halflings across, and the Split tooth back. Since we now have all five Halflings on the opposite side, we just need to keep going back and forth to get all three Split-tooth across and we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Looks good to me, how about you King?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Probably not the most efficient, but there¡¯s no requirements for efficiency. Do it.¡± I replied, and Heal started forward until Smiter put his hand out. ¡°Hold on a second. Let me go through this, and let Heals talk me through it. I don¡¯t think we should risk our healer on this.¡± I looked at Dave and shrugged my shoulders, leaving the decision up to him. I was slightly impressed that Smiter wanted to make up for his previous mistake, though I wasn¡¯t about to tell him that. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Dave nodded, and Smiter walked up to the wall. Following Heal¡¯s directions, he moved the figures across the river, until all were on the other side. Once that was done, the entire wall glowed green and split down the middle of the river, opening our path to the next room. ¡°Well done, both of you.¡± Dave said, patting Heal on the shoulder. I moved past everyone, more comfortable in the point position even without the threat of enemies. As I walked down a short hallway, I slowed down. There was some clattering noises from the next room, and I didn¡¯t want to aggro a massive group of enemies. As I peered in through the doorway, keeping to the shadows, I was confused as to what was going on. There were two elevated platforms on opposite sides of the room. Each had a set of stairs leading up to them, but one set of stairs was facing us while the other was facing the room¡¯s exit. Between the platforms the floor was slightly elevated, and it looked like a massive chessboard. There was a group of goblins on the other side of the room was a group of goblins with one ornately armored hobgoblin. ¡°Enter. We no attack. Follow rules.¡± The hobgoblin shouted, motioning me in and pointing to another sign. With nothing to lose as he had somehow seen through my stealth, I walked up to the sign and read it.
Trial 3: Check, check, checkers! Pick a leader and duel against the Hobgoblin General in a normal game of checkers! Wait, that¡¯s not fun. Magic checkers is though! Everyone gets a spear, and that is your only weapon. Your only skill is a diagonal lunge. Instead of leaping over enemy checkers to ¡°kill¡± them, you perform a lunging thrust, piercing through them and carrying yourself to the next square. Rules: 1) Your thrust must stop on an unoccupied square 2) Multiple kills are allowed as long as there are empty squares 3) One of your team must act as general, directing his forces below 4) Fill your back line with the remaining players of your group. Deaths will need to be resurrected. 5) Normal checkers rules apply, though you are not required to take a kill if you don¡¯t wish to. 6) The players move first 7) If the players team loses, the general dies
¡°Dave, you any good at checkers?¡± I asked, turning to look at our group. ¡°It looks like we get one shot at this, so if anyone is any good they need to speak up now.¡± When nobody spoke up, I sighed in annoyance. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll be up top, telling you when to move. Don¡¯t mess this up, we only have one shot at it.¡± Everyone agreed, and I placed them all as my back row. The most important set of checkers in the game, but for the adventurers it would be the most annoying part because I wouldn¡¯t be moving them unless absolutely necessary. As we took our places, the goblins moved in to their own formation as their general ascended to the platform. ¡°Good luck human. You¡¯ll need it.¡± ¡°Good luck to you as well general.¡± I said with a smile. Cracking my neck, I took the first move and implemented my strategy. It was simple, but that was the best part of it. Keep to the edges where possible. When possible, make sure that exchanges are either equivalent or weighed in my favor. And the most important rule, never move your back row. Since you must move them eventually, start with the piece in the corner and don¡¯t move any other pieces. This will delay the opponent getting a kinged piece for as long as possible. Angus¡¯ rules really helped me out here, as I wasn¡¯t forced to take a jump. The game was progressing to plan, and I smiled as the general was forced to move his back line first. I was getting ready to move to get a piece kinged, when what I had been dreading happened. ¡°God I¡¯m bored. Let me kill this guy who¡¯s been staring at me for so many turns.¡± It was Smiter, and he had already lowered his spear to make a move. ¡°SMITER DON¡¯T YOU DARE MOVE!¡± I bellowed, causing him to flinch. ¡°This disgusting bastard has been flicking boogers at me for five turns! You gotta let me kill him!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if you end up covered in boogers by the end, so long as we win. If you kill him, then you open up your spot to get a kinged piece. Which can then exit and cause havoc on the board. If you move without my say so, I¡¯ll make sure that you get kicked from the raid.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll back him on this Smiter. Just stand there and take it.¡± Dave said, getting agreements from Goldguard and Dr. HealYaButts. ¡°Damnit, well hurry up and win then.¡± He grumped, trying to cross his arms without dropping his spear. Minor rebellion successfully quelled, I moved and got a piece kinged as the general across the way frowned. From there on, it was a slaughter. With one piece kinged, the only thing that could stop me would be if they made it to a place where they couldn¡¯t move. As my king played merry havoc among his remaining pieces, I got him down to where he had six pieces left, four of which were right in front of my back row. ¡°Alright Smiter, here¡¯s your chance. Pierce through the bastard to your left.¡± ¡°Hells yeah!¡± He cried, lowering his spear. With a massive lunge, he shot through the goblin and ended it. The general smiled as he finally got his piece kinged. ¡°Here¡¯s the plan guys. For now, Smiter moves across the board until he gets kinged. The only change to this is if that enemy king moves, then Dave or GoldGuard gets to kill it immediately. Smiter, I¡¯ll call your name if you are good to move.¡± I saw the general grin, which was fine. I wanted him to think I would let him get into a tie game. We continued, and he waltzed right into my trap. In order to get his king safe, he had to walk into a double jump situation. ¡°GoldGuard, kill the piece to your left, then turn and kill the piece that will be to your right for a double kill.¡± I ordered, smiling as the general growled his displeasure. I was more than willing to take out two of his pieces in exchange for a king. ¡°Heal, kill the guy to your right.¡± I ordered, leaving the hobgoblin with two kings and no other pieces. ¡°New orders, Gold will dash across the board in a zig-zag pattern to get kinged. After that, Smiter gets kinged.¡± I smiled as the hobgoblin growled. He knew what I was up to. Growing up, I had played countless hours of checkers with my brothers. We were too young for the intricacies of chess, but you can become nigh invincible in checkers if you have three kings. If you outnumber the enemy, it really is only a matter of time before you end them. And so began a half hour game of cat and mouse, as I slowly backed the hobgoblin into a corner. Once I had managed that, it was simple to keep him pinned in until I could move in and overtake his position. ¡°Well done human. Well done indeed.¡± He conceded, as he was forced to move his kings into vulnerable positions. As he lost his last king, the general also fell over dead. ¡°Nicely played King.¡± Dave called from below, as I headed down the stairs. ¡°Thanks. I was a bit rusty at first, but getting to three kings is key. Smiter, you nearly cost us again. You¡¯re on thin ice already, I wouldn¡¯t push it.¡± I said, before heading into the next hallway. To my surprise, after a short trip the hallway turned to the left. As I made the turn, I heard voices ahead. Familiar voices. Walking in to the open room, I found the mage portion of the raid chatting. ¡°Yo! Looks like King¡¯s group made it!¡± Someone shouted as we entered the room. ¡°How was it?¡± ¡°My head hurts from thinking.¡± I answered with a chuckle, and got a popup.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed the puzzle portion of the raid. Though you didn¡¯t succeed at Logia¡¯s challenge, you still have earned a reward.
While I read the popup, a silver chest materialized next to our group. ¡°Open the chest! We ended up with several scrolls as well as a plethora of mana potions, more than enough to boost us through the rest of this dive.¡± Lucy said. ¡°I think the honor is yours, General.¡± Dave said with a chuckle, nudging me toward the chest. ¡°I¡¯m never getting out of that nickname, am I?¡± I muttered, opening the chest. ¡°Oh? Someone was very generous. Enough minor and major luck potions for the entire raid to have one. Minor grants 5% luck, major grants 25%.¡± I called out to cheers from everyone, which were swiftly silenced by the popup everyone got.
Warning! Several members of your raid have fallen, and their initial resurrection timer has elapsed. If you return to the beginning of the dungeon or the last cleared boss room, you will find their bodies awaiting resurrection. Should you not resurrect them within 20 minutes, an additional penalty will be assessed.
¡°Damnit, healers and rogues, best speed to the front of the dungeon. Burn scrolls if you have to, I¡¯m not looking forward to more penalties.¡± Book 3 Chapter 33.1 Marty¡¯s POV ¡°AHAHAHAHAHA! Run back to the beginning!¡± Derrick laughed as we watched the feed from the dungeon core room. ¡°God, that¡¯s effing awesome. Too bad you couldn¡¯t do that no matter where they died.¡± ¡°Eh, pretty sure the devs would nix that. Besides, you need checkpoints in a game.¡± I replied. ¡°Mind passing the plate o¡¯ bacon?¡± ¡°Playdough bacon? The fuck you talking about?¡± ¡°Not playdough, plate o¡¯ bacon.¡± Jon corrected handing me the plate. ¡°You men and your carnivorous tendencies. Better enjoy it now Jon, we aren¡¯t switching our diet to bacon when the testing is done.¡± Phoebe said with a glare, one that was a lot scarier when she was a werecreature. ¡°Maybe once a week?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Month.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the penalty for resurrection in the dungeon?¡± Derrick nudged me, stealing a handful of bacon. Bastard forgot he had giant sized hands. ¡°Well, the body getting moved back to the previous spot gets a lovely debuff for the duration of the dungeon. An extra 5% damage received. The raid leader gets a choice the first time, defense or attack. Whatever one he chooses, the entire raid loses 0.5% per body returned in that manner. If they miss both timers, they lose 1%, along with the initial 0.5%.¡± ¡°Damn. So no matter what, they are going to lose 6% to either attack or defense?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It seems harsh, but there are only a few areas where the body can be completely lost. Having a portion of the split raid die to the last man was one of those areas, so they haven¡¯t been doing too bad.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they would agree.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Hey, not my fault they didn¡¯t go with an even split along the paths. They could have sent one person down two of the paths, and only lost 1% to the raid.¡± ¡°True, true. Have we seen the last of the nastiness?¡± ¡°Good lord no! I even added a few to the middle group of levels that I think you¡¯ll enjoy.¡± I answered. ¡°Oh, here we go. Looks like the group is back.¡± ¡°Quick question Marty.¡± Phoebe nudged my shoulder. ¡°How did they fail the water jugs test? Did you have some insanely tight limits on how accurate you had to be?¡± ¡°Nope. They just didn¡¯t pay attention. The insides of the jugs were different shapes. The three gallon was square, while the five gallon had a rounded interior. Plus, the five gallon one was slightly wider at the bottom than at the top.¡± Everyone still looked confused, so I kept explaining. ¡°Three gallons in the five-gallon pitcher would be above the line of the three-gallon pitcher because the insides are slightly smaller and shaped different.¡± That got a few confused nods, I guess they were just going to take me at my word. Which was good, because I didn¡¯t have a better way to explain it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV
Choose your fate Raid leader, you have had bodies of your raid not recovered before being transported to the last safe spot. You now have a choice to make as to your punishment. This choice is permanent, and will affect the entire group. Defense or Attack?
Defense You have chosen defense! As your raid¡¯s punishment, every body that is recovered due to transportation will lower the defense of the raid by 0.5% up to a maximum of 35%. Should you reach this maximum, the penalty will start accumulating on the attack power as well. Beware: Should you not resurrect a body that has transported within the 20 minute timer, the raid will suffer an additional 1% penalty to defense. Total penalty: 6%
¡°YO! What the hell is this debuff?¡± Cinderfy yelled as soon as we returned. It was a lot quicker since we could skip the path nonsense, looks like it was a one and done deal. ¡°Penalty for each one of us being resurrected at the beginning of the dungeon. Half a percent for each body, up to a max of 35%. So healers, make sure that we keep people rezzed. If we are in battle, and you can¡¯t get a chance, call out to the mages and they can burn a scroll. Oh, and if you are one of the bodies that is sent back, you also receive 5% more damage for the duration of the dungeon. Not sure how high it stacks, but keep that in mind healers. Almost all of our guardians are going to be taking more damage. I¡¯m actually glad that our tanks were with King and Dave.¡± ¡°Jesus this dungeon fucking sucks.¡± GoldGuard muttered, and several people nearby agreed with him. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get back on track. King, are you ready to lead us down to the next level?¡± ¡°Yeah. Same rope trick as last time.¡± He said, handing RaiderDave the end of the rope. A few minutes in we heard a slight commotion, but the rope didn¡¯t jerk out of Dave¡¯s hand so I assumed King survived. ¡°Double tug.¡± Dave reported. ¡°Rope went slack?¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably coming back up. Give him a minute.¡± I replied. Five agonizing minutes later and King appeared at the top of the stairs. ¡°One convoluted trap midway down. There¡¯s a step that triggers a series of blades to swing down in front of you as a hammer swings down from behind. Not only that, but if you take more than two minutes on the same step then it will turn into a slide. Just the one step, but if you don¡¯t have enough agility it could easily send you tumbling down.¡± ¡°How did you mark the step?¡± I asked. ¡°Nailed a red ribbon into both sides of the wall right above the step. Just avoid that one and you should be fine.¡± ¡°Still space the raid out?¡± ¡°Yeah. Ten seconds between people just in case.¡± ¡°You guys agree with that?¡± I asked Lucy and Dave, getting nods from both of them. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go with the tanks and guardians first, then anyone with leather armor and finally healers and mages. That way if someone falls down they are less likely to crush whoever is beneath them.¡± The raid got into order, and made our way down the steps. Thankfully there were no incidents. When we entered the next floor, a popup distracted me from the odd looking forest floor we were on.
Welcome to the Miasma Forest!
¡°Fuck Smokey the Bear, I hereby request permission to burn this bitch to the ground!¡± Cinderfy shouted when he saw the forest. ¡°Good adventurers, please hear me out.¡± Half the raid jumped and readied weapons as a tall elven lady with plant armor appeared. ¡°Nice spear.¡± EricDaRad noted, admiring the weapon. Two branches were tightly wound together and fused, splitting right at the end to form two leaf shaped blades parallel to each other, with maybe a two-inch gap between. ¡°Lady Gaia!¡± NotABandAid yelled, rushing forward and kneeling at the feet of the avatar. ¡°How may we assist you?¡± ¡°Rise my priestess, and listen to my tale. Long ago, seeds of evil were planted in this world. Knowing what they would spawn, I worked to mitigate their powers. I created vast forests that would surround the evil and drain its power. Alas, my work was but a stopgap. As you can see from the trees behind me, the forests are slowly becoming corrupted and have reached a dangerous point. The slightest of nudges will determine whether the forest recovers, or falls forever. The forest and I need your help. Destroy the five evils I have marked on your map, as swiftly as possible. Save as much of my beloved forest as you can, and you shall be rewarded.¡±
Divine Quest! Gaia has sent a full avatar to plead for your assistance in saving a forest. This is a timed event. Once the quest is accepted, a bar will appear noting the makeup of the forest. Should the red overtake the blue completely, you will fail the quest.
Success Failure Reward
Destroy the five evils before the forest is completely corrupted Fail to kill one or more of the evils. Let the forest be completely corrupted. Destroy the forest. Success: Increased reputation with all factions related to Gaia, boon for the duration of the raid. Failure: Decreased reputation with Gaia. Destroying the forest will result in hatred from all factions related to Gaia as well as Divine Retribution.
¡°Of course we will help Lady Gaia.¡± I answered. Turning to Cinder, I said, ¡°Request to burn it to the ground denied. Try and limit your flames. I assume they will be incredibly effective, but there is a major risk of destroying the forest by accident.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be the one to call down Divine Retribution on the raid. It¡¯s hard enough without shooting ourselves in the foot.¡± He promised. ¡°I thank you adventurers. I have marked the positions on your maps. Beware the central position, it is the strongest evil. You should attack it in full force, and destroying the other evils will weaken it slightly.¡± ¡°Alright, time to split into four hunting groups. Everyone gets a healer and a tank. Ice Queen, you will be in Cinderfy¡¯s group just in case a fire breaks out. Cinder, can you grant all the tanks a fire buff to their weapons? Sages, you will be split among the remaining groups since you can all use boosted water. Guardians, protect your healers. I¡¯ll take the group with Cinder, Dave, Lucy and King will take the remaining groups. Dave, you have the southeast target. Lucy southwest. King is northeast, and I¡¯ll take the northwest. Once your target is down, meet up north of the final boss.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Finally, I saw smiles on the entirety of the raid. This was something familiar, and they were going to take out a lot of frustrations upon the enemy. I almost pitied them. Almost. Once everything was set, the raid split and took off into the forest. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Darkmoon Lucy¡¯s POV Something was very wrong with this forest. Not just with how it looked, but something in it sent my druid senses tingling. The trees were splitting, the rents in the bark leaking a yellow and purple streaked pus. The leaves were green near the edges of the limbs, but as you got closer to the core rapidly gained the purple hue. Oaks and maples were growing thorns, a concerning development. But the worst? The silence. A forest should have loads of sounds. Bugs, birds, animals rustling in the undergrowth. Something! I¡¯d give a gold coin just to have a mosquito buzz in my damned ear so that I could swat at it. Anything to make it more normal. ¡°This place gives me the heebie jeebies.¡± Band Aid muttered. ¡°I hear ya. The whole forest feels, wrong.¡± ¡°Like we¡¯re being watched.¡± She agreed. ¡°I can almost hear the trees screaming.¡± I stayed silent, but I agreed with her. ¡°Slow down everyone, we are nearing the target.¡± I said. ¡°We don¡¯t have a scout, so we¡¯re going to have to go in almost blind. I want Smiter and PlayWithMe in the lead. Smiter¡¯s main, Play takes add ons. HitMe, you¡¯ll be off tank since we have a spare. Scratch bodyguard Band Aid. Spice, I want you to start with a berm of earth behind the enemy, in case of a miss, and switch to fire. Brosef, you know your skills best. Choose your targets, hopefully they aren¡¯t plants that get a boost from your light. I¡¯ll start out on CC, then summon helpers when we know what we¡¯re dealing with.¡± Everyone nodded, and we headed into a clearing. Each step kicked up clouds of purple dust, and we all gained a minor miasmatic poison debuff. ¡°Let¡¯s make this quick, I can¡¯t cleanse the debuff.¡± Band Aid spoke. ¡°Looks like it will progress the longer the fight takes.¡± As soon as she finished, we heard a growl from a cave across the way. Lumbering out was a massive bear with a minor red glow around it.
Rabid bear guardian Level 200 There aren¡¯t many things that can paralyze a forester with fear, but a rabid bear is one of them. It is always enraged, and will become more so as it loses life. Should your health drop below half, your chances of contracting rabies is drastically increased.
¡°Fuck me running.¡± Band Aid swore, and I couldn¡¯t help but agree. The bear was oozing the same purple pus the trees were, and its eyes were a bright red. White foam at the corners of its mouth completed the horrendous visage, and it reared back and roared, freezing us in place as spittle flew. ¡°[Shield rush].¡± Smiter activated his skill to close the distance, and bashed the creature in the snout right as it dropped back to all fours. He took a wallop from an oversized paw in return, but rolled with the blow enough that it didn¡¯t send him sprawling. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, have at the bastard!¡± I shouted, trying to figure out my plan of attack. ¡°[Binding vines].¡± While this spell normally targeted both feet, I went ahead and used the modification that let me double up on one of the bears paws, hoping that it could withstand the strength of the beast. ¡°Hide yer eyes Smiter! [Blinding burst]!¡± Brosef shouted a warning, and blinded the bear with a burst of light right in front of its eyes. It strained against the vines holding it in place, but they held and prevented it from rearing. Smiter moved to the bound side, and started slashing at the beast¡¯s face. ¡°[Summon: Turtle Defender]. [Summon: Sprite of Might]. [Summon: Lightning wisp].¡± The turtle defender boosted defense, and could swap and take a few blows if things got dire, while the sprite of might would boost physical attacks. The lightning wisp would float above the bear and blast it with lightning every five to seven seconds. ¡°[Battle rhythm]. [Crippling blow].¡± PlayWithMe had snuck around behind the bear, and was focusing all of his attacks on the back of one of the bears legs. Bellows of rage and agony came from the bear, but it had to focus on Smiter as he kept bashing it in the head and trying to pierce one of the creature¡¯s eyes. ¡°[Circle of healing].¡± Band aid used an area heal over time spell, that covered both Smiter and Play. ¡°[Mudpit].¡± SpiceMix created a small area of mud right underneath the bear, and it started sinking in. ¡°[Desiccate].¡± Once the bear was sunk into the ground a bit, he removed all the water and managed to trap three of the four paws. ¡°ROOOAAAAAAA!!!!!!¡± With a massive bellow, the bear went into the first of its frenzies. ¡°[Spearing roots].¡± My spell pierced the bear from below, interrupting its roar. Smiter shook his head a bit, trying to throw off whatever debuff he had acquired from being so close. ¡°[Immolate].¡± SpiceMix got its attention with a burst of flames that ignited the creature¡¯s back, adding some damage over time. After that attack, we fell into a rhythm. Every other second, someone would use a spell or skill that had a chance to interrupt the bear, keeping it off its game. When the creature dropped into critical health, it reared up onto its back legs, where Play¡¯s work paid off. The added weight broke something in the leg, and the bear toppled over. ¡°Tiiiiimmmmmbbbeeeerrrrrrrrr!¡± Play shouted, laughing as he moved up to start slashing on the bear¡¯s back. Brosef and SpiceMix moved and started attacking the belly, and Smiter kept assaulting the head. Even though it was at its highest rage level, it couldn¡¯t get to its feet and the added critical chances kept piling up. Within two minutes, the bear was dead. ¡°Loot the cave?¡± Smiter asked. ¡°Skip it for now, this is a timed event. Go ahead and loot the body, but we need to head to the meeting place and prep for the final boss.¡± I answered. ¡°And everyone, nicely done. That was an excellent battle.¡± That cheered everyone up, and we headed toward the meeting place with a much better attitude. * * * * * * * * * * * * * RaiderDave¡¯s POV ¡°Fuck me with a metal cactus.¡± DeathFromAbove swore as he got back to the group. I had sent him ahead to scout the area, see what we were dealing with. ¡°That¡¯s, well that¡¯s an image I can¡¯t burn out of my mind. Thanks.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Any particular reason? Just get straight to the. . . point.¡± He stared at me for an uncomfortable three seconds after my bad pun, then just shook his head and got into the problem. ¡°Found our enemy. It¡¯s a moose.¡± ¡°A moose? Heh, they made a moose a guardian? Why¡¯s that a big deal?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± He asked incredulously. ¡°There¡¯s two animals Canadians don¡¯t mess with, that you Americans always forget about. One is a polar bear, because they will eat you. The other is a moose.¡± ¡°Why though? Isn¡¯t it just a big deer?¡± ¡°A big? NO! No, it isn¡¯t just a big deer.¡± He said, mocking my words. ¡°Moose have been known to pick fights with vehicles, and they usually win. They can kick in any direction, charge and trample you, and have massive horns to smash you with. Just a big deer. This big deer is so badass that wolves think twice about hunting them. Tell me, can Bambi scare a wolf pack?¡± ¡°Wow, damn man, chill out. Sorry, I didn¡¯t realize they were that difficult. Since you¡¯re the expert, what would you suggest?¡± ¡°In real life? Run. As fast and as far as you can, they usually don¡¯t follow too far. Here? We¡¯re fucked. That moose is chilling in a massive pond. A pond so polluted with miasma or whatever is in this damn place that it looks like a massive oil spill on top.¡± ¡°Ok, so we are going to have an issue. Everyone, here¡¯s the plans. First one, see if we can draw the moose away from the lake and lay into it. This is the harder plan, though probably the safer one. Once it is out of the water, we surround it and wear it down. Peppermint will focus on ice attacks to slow it down, Brock will try and lock down one or two legs. Our moose expert has informed me they can kick in any direction, so those of you without heavy armor need to be watching for that. Stick and move, make Jess¡¯ life easier. If you drop below half health, use potions to recover and stay out for a while.¡± ¡°I have a few poisons we can apply to weapons that¡¯ll slow it down and cause a bit of DoT.¡± Blackthumb added. ¡°But first I want to hear this other plan.¡± ¡°The moose is in a lake, with what looks like an oil slick. If we can get Brock to create a massive wall around the lake, we can set the lake on fire and prevent it from spreading to the forest.¡± ¡°For the record, I¡¯m all in favor of the second plan.¡± Death chimed in. ¡°You don¡¯t want to mess with a moose, let alone one that has been altered by a dungeon.¡± ¡°While you guys start with the first plan, I¡¯ll start making the earth berms. Since it doesn¡¯t have to be packed, it shouldn¡¯t take more than twenty minutes or so.¡± Brock said, and I saw Death shaking his head as he led the way. After following him for a few minutes, we came to a clearing. The land gently sloped down into a barren patch of hoof marked earth, obviously the favorite access to the lake for the moose. The beast was nearly thirty feet away, half submerged. Occasionally his head would dip down, and reemerge chewing whatever underwater plants it was feasting on. The only difference between it and a normal moose was the purple horns, though I couldn¡¯t see much of the body. Death¡¯s description of the lake was spot on, as it had rainbow patches across the entirety of the surface.
Steelhide Moose Guardian Level 200 An evil miasma has altered this creature in unknown ways. Beware, as the massive concentrations of miasma in the waters of the lake strengthen and heal the creature.
¡°[Earth wall].¡± Brock started making his walls, casting his spells a few feet from the edge of the lake. Peppermint let him get a few casts in before attempting to pull the moose. ¡°[Glacial spike].¡± A large spear of ice shot forward, only to shatter against the hide of the creature. ¡°What? Damn that¡¯s a tough hide. Let¡¯s see how you like this. [Boosted arctic javelin].¡± This was a smaller spear of ice, though it was much more refined and was made of the clear ice from the boosted element. This managed to take a sliver of health off the creature, which was swiftly healed. The moose looked over at us for a second before leaning down for another bite of food. ¡°Seriously?¡± Peppermint asked. ¡°Let me try. [Piercing shot][Snipe shot].¡± Death combined skills, firing an arrow at the moose¡¯s head. It was going for the eye, but a wave of purple energy was released from the horns of the creature, deflecting the arrow. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s happy to sit there thinking itself invulnerable.¡± I said, turning to Brock. ¡°Go ahead and go with the second plan. We¡¯ll keep an eye on the moose from here.¡± Turning back to Death, I asked him, ¡°Not that I expect it, but is there any type of wind? I think we¡¯ll all want to be upwind of what we are going to release with the burning lake.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel any, but let¡¯s check.¡± He reached down and pulled up a tuft of grass, throwing it in the air. Three repetitions from different places and with him facing different directions all had the grass moving northwest. ¡°Ok, now we need to think this over again. The winds are going to blow whatever we release right towards the central guardian.¡± Death said, concerned. ¡°I know, but we still don¡¯t have a way to draw the moose out of the lake, so our hands are tied. Unless you want to fight in the water?¡± ¡°Any particular reason you haven¡¯t tried a taunt from the shoreline? Kite it backwards so it is out of the water?¡± Citadel asked. ¡°Not particularly. We still have about ten minutes before Brock gets back. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try it.¡± I grumped. I really didn¡¯t want to step into that water. ¡°Everyone, listen up! I¡¯m gonna try and pull the moose out of the lake. Take positions and prepare to attack.¡± I walked up to the lake, and winced as I realized the moose was out of range of my taunt skill. Stepping forward, I got a nasty popup.
Warning! You have entered a highly toxic environment! You have been poisoned! Metal instruments suffer constant durability damage! Greater miasmatic poison: Take 25 poison damage per second for 3 minutes, stacks up to three times (30 second delay between each stack) Durability drain: Metal armors exposed to the water lose 25 durability per second until removed
Damnit, I need to hurry. I splashed forward until I was knee deep in water, and clanged my sword against my shield to taunt the moose. Again the bastard looked at me before lowering its head to eat some more. I didn¡¯t waste any more time and immediately got out of the water. ¡°[Greater cleanse].¡± ¡°Thanks Jess. Death, you win. We can¡¯t fight in the water; the poison damage would kill us. Not only that, but anything metal would be corroded during the fight and we would lose our equipment.¡± He shrugged, unconcerned and we sat down to wait for Brock to get back. While we waited, a welcome popup informed us of the raid progress.
Congratulations! The southwestern guardian has been defeated. Guardians remaining: 3 of 4 Boss remaining: 1 of 1
Everyone cheered at that announcement, and a few minutes later Brock rejoined us. ¡°Let me drink one more mana potion, and we can get this underway.¡± He panted, covered in sweat from his efforts. ¡°I¡¯ll launch a boosted fireball, and you close off your ring?¡± Peppermint asked, getting a nod in return. ¡°Gah, I hate those potions. Sounds like a plan Peppermint, I¡¯m ready when you are.¡± Brock replied. ¡°[Blue fireball].¡± ¡°[Earth wall].¡± Right after the blue fireball streaked through the gap, Brock sealed it inside. We heard the explosive impact, then a massive WHOOSH as the rest of the lake caught fire. I thought I heard a faint lowing from the moose, but it was swiftly drowned out as the fire spread and started billowing purplish black smoke into the air. Luckily for us the clouds drifted toward the center of the forest. Or unluckily, because I had no idea what would happen to the cloud and it would go through the main boss before striking another group of the raid. Hopefully it would be slightly dispersed by then. Everyone was tense for a while, listening for sounds of the moose trying to escape, but twenty minutes later our fears were unfounded.
Congratulations! The southeastern guardian has been defeated. Guardians remaining: 2 of 4 Boss remaining: 1 of 1
Quest update! A large miasmatic cloud has been released and has corrupted a large portion of the forest! Take care not to destroy much more. Forest status: Corrupted: 1/8 Salvageable: 7/8 Destroyed: 0/16
Book 3 Chapter 33.2 Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV ¡°What have we got?¡± I asked ShockerSnipe as he returned from scouting the clearing. ¡°Corrupted grove. I counted ten treant saplings, four treants, two elder treant, and one ancient grove guardian.¡± ¡°They grouped up?¡± I asked, hoping for a yes. That would make it much easier. ¡°Not really. Grove guardian is right in the middle of the clearing, both elders nearby. The rest are more spread out.¡± ¡°Levels?¡± ¡°Saplings clock in at 140, regulars at 165. Elders are both 190 and the ancient guardian is at 225.¡± ¡°I think we could work with that. Ice Queen, do you have a spell to create a ring of ice around a target?¡± ¡°Yes. It won¡¯t hold all three of them long though.¡± ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the plan. Ice Queen leads us off with an ice ring around the three big enemies. Cinder and ShockerSnipe, target the closest sapling and unload on it. As it gets closer, Eric and GotYerBack will intercept and finish it off. I¡¯ll be on the other side, damaging what I can and bringing them around. When they break out of the ice ring is when it¡¯s going to get hairy.¡± ¡°Plans for when that happens?¡± Dr. HealYaButts asked. ¡°Back will take the Ancient and hold it. Eric and I will each pick up an elder and kite them around the clearing, while Shocker, Cinder, and Ice Queen blast kill the saplings and regulars. Then we¡¯ll switch out, gradually working our way up to the guardian. Heal, you focus on Back, he¡¯s going to be taking the most damage.¡± ¡°I assume you want me blasting saplings as well?¡± Ice Queen asked. ¡°That would be great. Especially if you could spread the love around, keeping them slowed. Give me three minutes to get into position before you start the fun.¡± Once everyone had the plan down, I headed around to the opposite side of the grove. Looking things over, I had three saplings on my side and only one of the regulars. The saplings were around six feet tall, while the regulars were pushing ten. My first target would be the one wandering around by his lonesome. ¡°[Grand ice ring]!¡± I heard Ice Queen cast her spell, creating a barrier ten feet tall and nearly thirty across, easily trapping the three we were worried about as well as one of the saplings inside. ¡°[Keen edge][Assassinate].¡± I activated one of my favorite combinations, instantly teleporting behind the unsuspecting sapling and driving my blades deep into its back. It would count as a critical attack, but it wouldn¡¯t cause the massive bleeding damage it would normally if I had hit both kidneys. Once the blades were buried in the bark, I ripped both downward to open massive wounds. ¡°[Burning blades].¡± Another skill to add fire to my attack, as the sapling groaned and started to turn to face me. Ex slash with the blade, double backhanded slash followed by a stab, stab, overhand slash and a mule kick to get some distance, and the sapling I was working on was already in critical health. The other nearby enemies finally noticed me, but it was too late. I charged in and finished off the sapling, easily avoiding its telegraphed limb bash. As it died, I heard a massive shattering sound, and saw the ice ring had crumbled. ¡°Ok, here we go. [Blink].¡± I activated the teleportation skill after sheathing one blade, grabbing on to one of the branches of the elder treant and hanging on. ¡°Special delivery.¡± I chuckled as I shattered a pyrophoria potion right where the main split was for the branches. Dropping down, I rolled away as the creature thrashed about in panic. Taking stock while it was distracted, Cindrfy was having a blast. The only saplings that were left were the two that started on my side, and they were headed my way. Ice Queen had a regular treant bound in an ice coffin, though from the cracks that were forming it wouldn¡¯t last too much longer. Eric and Back were taking turns cutting into the back of another treant, while Shocker and Cinder were both firing blasts at the remaining treant. ¡°Shocker, Cinder, switch to Eric¡¯s treant. Eric, Back, pick up your primaries!¡± I yelled, but it wasn¡¯t required. Back had already disengaged and was heading toward the ancient guardian, while Eric unleashed a massive combo to get the treant¡¯s attention. It turned to him, catching a fireball to the back from Cinder, and falling over in death. The distraction cost me, as a the elder treant had figured out where the fire that was tormenting it came from, and punched me in the chest. I got to my feet, missing a third of my health, and grunted in annoyance as I started circling the clearing, staying close enough the elder kept trying to reach me. ¡°[Creeping frost].¡± Ice Queen targeted the legs of the treant following me, slowing it down. I nodded my thanks, and hit it with a few throwing knives to keep it mad at me. I downed a health potion as I played keep away from the treants that were following me, trying to get them to move in a direct line towards or away from Cinder so that he had less chance to miss. A few minutes of this, and we had a nice little rotation going. The elder treants were on opposite sides of the ancient guardian, which was happily whaling on GotYerBack as Dr. HealYaButts kept him topped off in health. ¡°Whiskers, I¡¯m switching to your treant!¡± I heard Cinder yell, glad he informed me. ¡°Ready when you are! [Burning blades].¡± ¡°[Creeping frost].¡± Ice Queen slowed down the creature, again targeting the legs. ¡°Release the spark to light your pyre. Perish, in a [pillar of flame].¡± A blue spark shot across the gap, striking the elder treant in the back and erupting into a pillar of blue flame as the plant screamed in agony. The other two treants froze for a second, but GotYerBack was able to reclaim aggro. Eric wasn¡¯t able to, and I intercepted the charging treant with a flurry of blows. ¡°[Crippling blow][assassinate][rending blades].¡± The second elder ent lost a major portion of its health from the blows, and backhanded me with a blow strong enough to send me flying. ¡°[Greater mend].¡± Heal was right on time, fixing the broken ribs I had gotten. ¡°[Immolate].¡± Cinder put an end to the treant with a fire spell, though it sent the ancient guardian into a rage. ¡°They were my oldest friends! You¡¯ll pay for this! [Miasmatic pollen].¡± Shaking his limbs, clouds of purple dust descended and sent the three of us closest to the tree into coughing fits. ¡°[Elemental flame arrow storm].¡± Instead of targeting the trunk, ShockerSnipe fired a volley of burning arrows into the upper leaves of the guardian, catching them on fire. This luckily stopped the dusting we were getting, but definitely gained aggro from Back. Heal was trying his best to purge us from the debilitating pollen, but it was so thick he could only keep casting as it came off of cooldown and keep Back from falling over. I stumbled out of the range of the pollen, and was soon joined by Eric. As I turned back to look, Cinder let the guardian get halfway to Shocker before trying to pull aggro back. ¡°[Blue fireball][Clinging flames].¡± ¡°AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!¡± Bellowing in pain, the guardian turned and stomped toward Cinder. While Cinder was smart and had placed himself across the clearing from Shocker, he forgot about GotYerBack who was on his knees from the coughing. The guardian stomped on him, killing his already weakened body.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Fuck, tank¡¯s down.¡± I heard Ice Queen say. ¡°Shocker, let him get close and pull him back. I¡¯ll slow him down and we can try and whittle him down.¡± ¡°[Piercing explosive arrow].¡± I was impressed with the result of the spell. Not only did he manage to pierce through the bark, but the resulting explosion exposed a large portion of the back of the guardian to further attack. Again it started stomping across the way, and Ice Queen started her chant. ¡°Descend from the ends of the world, freezing all in your path. [Polar storm].¡± I hadn¡¯t seen this spell in action, and it was impressive. Shards of ice and snow fell in a fifty foot clearing, rapidly building up. The treant not only slowed down, but kept slowing the longer it stayed in the spell area. ¡°Stay out of the area if possible, it affects friends and foes.¡± ¡°Thanks for the warning. How long will it last?¡± ¡°Thirty seconds.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get his attention next. Eric I need you to head in as well and we can bounce it back and forth. It¡¯s already at half health, with everyone pouring on damage we should be able to take it down. Make sure you target the open area of the back if possible.¡± Plan in place, the assault on the guardian kicked up a notch. We were absolutely vicious in our attacks, and each blast into that unarmored part benefitted from a critical damage bonus. Within three minutes, the creature was down into critical health and went with another area attack. Instead of pollen, it was explosive seeds that released clouds of miasma. They weren¡¯t targeted, and the spread would arc out as if we were playing in some of those older ¡°bullet hell¡± style games. It would have been a better strategy against the entire raid, but with only two people gaining quick stacks of poison Heal was more than able to keep up with it. It only took another minute to take out the last bit of the guardian¡¯s health, and with a creaking groan it fell over. ¡°Sorry for the delayed resurrection.¡± I patted GotYerBack on the back after Heal brought him back to life. ¡°No worries. I was watching the battle, and you never really got any chances. Can you guys do me a favor?¡± After getting a nod from everyone, he continued, ¡°Don¡¯t tell the raid I got killed by being stepped on by a tree. That¡¯s just embarrassing.¡± We all had a good laugh at that, and started heading towards the meeting point.
Congratulations! The northwestern guardian has been defeated. Guardians remaining: 1 of 4 Boss remaining: 1 of 1
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Crimson King¡¯s POV This didn¡¯t make sense. I know I was at the right spot, there was a large clearing. But no matter what vision modes I used, I couldn¡¯t see the guardian. The only thing I could see were vine covered rocks spread out across the meadow. I backed away and went back to the group. ¡°Well, we have the right area, but no sign of the guardian.¡± ¡°Any chance the guardian was stealthed?¡± HolyDungeonDiver asked. ¡°Unlikely. I¡¯ve got a high perception, and looked through both darkvision, manavision, and heat sense. Still didn¡¯t sense anything.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to need someone to draw it out of hiding then.¡± Shieldwall spoke up. ¡°I guess that¡¯s my job?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± I said. ¡°Diver will be ready to heal immediately in case you get a sneak attack, but I highly doubt that¡¯ll work.¡± ¡°Well, no time like the present.¡± He said with a defeated voice, and started stomping through the undergrowth to reach the clearing. Three feet in, and he stopped as the boss started to make an appearance. It started with a soft rustle. Leaves moving without any wind. Then the vines started contracting, slowly pulsing to life and getting faster each second. A tight coil of vines rose up, swiftly being covered in more layers as the rocks were pulled closer. A large golem formed, with three overly long arms that ended in rocks. It had multiple legs like a spider, and four rocks added additional armor to where the vine heart had disappeared to.
Miasmatic liana golem Level 200 Corrupted vines that have gained sentience, they pulp their enemies with massive rocks. The resulting mess is then absorbed for the nutrients it can provide. Able to lay dormant for months at a time, this creature is nothing if not patient.
¡°Shield! Get in close so it can¡¯t use those rocks properly!¡± I shouted, worried as he delayed just a second. However, he was simply baiting the creature. As it raised two rocks and started swinging them down to crush the tank, he used [Shield rush] to get well within the damage area and start slashing at the construct. ¡°No time like the present. [Elemental barrage: flame arrows].¡± I joined the fight after Shield drew aggro, sending twelve burning arrows into the creature. ¡°[Blue fireburst].¡± Grandelf was right on my heels, sending a boosted spell that would explode on contact and add some burn over time. In a perfect world. Our spells impacted at the same time, and the blue flames did cling for a second. They fizzled out far too quickly. Something weird was going on. ¡°Wax.¡± SirMixaLalalot spoke up as he stepped forward. LadyFisticuffs and GoldGuard had both engaged. GoldGuard was going for close range with his hammer, targeting the stones instead of the vines, while LadyFisticuffs was using her spear to target the vines forming the arms, trying to sever them. ¡°Say what?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°The vines. They¡¯re covered in a waxy layer that prevents them from burning.¡± ¡°Anything you can do about it?¡± ¡°Not really. We don¡¯t have the best build to take on this boss, but there is a chance. Do you guys trust me?¡± ¡°Hurry with the plan, it looks like our melee isn¡¯t making much progress.¡± I snapped. ¡°That¡¯s because it is able to move the vines freely, so they can¡¯t wear down a single area. What we need is for Grandelf to constantly blast it with water. I¡¯ll be weakening the wooden skin of the vines. Once they¡¯ve swollen, we need to use several of these frost bombs as well as any freezing spells that you have.¡± ¡°I see. Freeze the water in the creature, let its own weight crush it.¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡± I said. ¡°[Hydro blast][water whips].¡± ¡°[Plant manipulation: Wood to pulp].¡± Mix started his spell, having to channel it the entire time to make any headway. Grandelf was blasting away with water spells, while the rest of us used attacks to damage as much of the woody exterior as possible. We settled into a routine, and Diver was more than able to keep up with the healing. After five minutes of battle, the boss switched up his attack pattern. ¡°Everyone on the defensive!¡± I yelled as the arms were brought in and the boss hunkered down. It spun in a circle, gradually opening up and smashing those nearby with the rocks. GoldGuard and Shieldwall managed to weather it with skills, but LadyFisticuffs ended up stunned and in critical health. Before Diver could get around to her, she was immediately targeted by the boss and smashed with an overhand blow. ¡°Huh. Looks like it gets an altered table after that spin attack, and targets the weakest member. Have to keep watch for things like that. Diver, get them back up to full health first, then bring back Fisticuffs. We¡¯ll be needing her.¡± I said, getting a nod from the healer. Once everyone was back in the battle, we settled into a combat routine. I was impressed with Lady Fisticuffs ability to keep from drawing aggro, even as the tanks split it between them. The ranged crew wasn¡¯t doing nearly enough damage to have to worry about that. ¡°New plan everyone, once the boss releases another AoE, we will implement Mix¡¯s plan. Fisticuffs, I want you to bail before the attack lands, you won¡¯t be able to survive it. Shieldwall and Goldguard will keep close together, and hopefully weather the follow up if Diver deploys an area heal before the attack lands.¡± The routine was working. The vines were nearly three times their original size, and several patches of wood armor had been reduced down to a normal plant stalk. It was also looking incredibly frayed from our harassing attacks. ¡°Everyone ready, HERE IT COMES!¡± ¡°[Blessed circle of light]!¡± ¡°[Lunge].¡± Lady Fisticuffs used a lunge attack to propel her out of the range of the attack, an inspired move. As the boss used its area attack, Grandelf started to chant, ¡°The north wind descends, caring not for your hopes and dreams. All fall before its merciless onslaught. Run. Hide. Stand and fight. Nothing shall avail you, for all roads lead to death. [Arctic gale].¡± I involuntarily shivered. Most people got excited when unleashing massive moves, often nearly yelling the name of the skill. Grandelf was cold and detached through the entire thing, his voice never wavering. A frigid wind blew in, carrying shards of clear ice and snow. The coldest portion formed a horizontal vortex, extending from Grandelf¡¯s hand and hitting the back half of the boss, sparing our tanks as much as possible. Several locations started freezing from the outside of the boss, but I could also see frayed portions exploding outward as the water in the vines froze, barely able to provide structure to the plant as it had two of its stones raised to pummel our tanks. The sound of cracking ice got both tanks moving, as they turned and ran for their lives. As they fled at top speed, the legs gave out first and the entire thing came crashing down. Ice shards flew, and the raised rock smashed even more on its way down. ¡°Damn. Took out over 80% of its life.¡± Diver muttered in awe, seeing the boss had dropped down into critical health. ¡°So close.¡± Grandelf said, stumbling a bit. ¡°Whew, that one takes it out of ya.¡± ¡°Looks like the core is barely intact. Let¡¯s take it out boys.¡± Lady Fisticuffs called, having headed in to check out the damage. The two tanks approached as well, and they started attacking in turn. Unlike before, the health of the construct was visibly dropping with each attack. Soon enough it was done, and we got a very welcome popup.
Congratulations! The northeastern guardian has been defeated. Guardians remaining: 0 of 4 Boss remaining: 1 of 1
¡°Looks like we are the last to finish things up. Let¡¯s hurry and meet with the others, we still have a big boss to take care of. We¡¯ll save the looting for later.¡± Turning, I led the group towards the meeting place. Book 3 Chapter 34 Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV ¡°You¡¯re late King, last to arrive.¡± I called out when I saw their group approaching. ¡°Eh, had a bad group for the boss we faced. Couldn¡¯t be helped. What about losing part of the forest? What happened there?¡± ¡°Dave¡¯s group found a boss that couldn¡¯t be damaged while in a flammable lake, and couldn¡¯t draw it out of the lake.¡± ¡°Unlucky.¡± He lamented. ¡°So I take it burning spread to the forest?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Dave said, coming over. ¡°The lake burned, releasing miasma that drifted towards the center of the forest. Fucking moose. What did you guys face? Any sort of theme?¡± ¡°Vine golem.¡± ¡°Treant grove.¡± ¡°Rabid bear.¡± Lucy said as she strolled over. ¡°No real pattern, except they¡¯re all found in a forest. Plan?¡± ¡°King, Shocker, and Death will head out to scout, hopefully get back to us without being seen. That¡¯s about all we can do without more information.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. C¡¯mon Death, Shocker. We got some exploring to do.¡± King called out, leaving with the two scouts. ¡°What do you think we¡¯re going to find?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°The unexpected of course.¡± Dave said with a chuckle. I left them to their conversation, wanting to check in with everyone in the raid. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Crimson King¡¯s POV We weren¡¯t too far away, so the trip to the final clearing was quick. I had sent the other two farther west, thinking that the guardian would be expecting people to come from where the last guardian fell. Sure enough, when I arrived there were three creatures facing the northeast. They immediately turned to me, then the other two in turn, nostrils flaring. The nose flaring let me know my stealth wasn¡¯t broken, but they had my scent. They were odd, having the heads of dogs with the bodies of humans. That is, if humans had reddish purple skin. Two had golden collars around their necks, along with leather pants and a greatsword. The one in the middle had a platinum collar, and had two metallic gloves on its hands. I started with the two who had gold collars, and my stomach dropped.
Mortax Deathtouch Corrupted hound archon, level 200 Once a holy guardian, Mortax was one of three high ranking volunteers to contain a portion of one of the seeds of evil. Once a renowned healer, the miasma has corrupted and inverted most of his skills, including the immunity to mundane weapons.
Redguard Emberfang Corrupted hound archon, level 200 Once a holy guardian, Redguard was one of three high ranking volunteers to contain a portion of one of the seeds of evil. Wielder of a holy flame, his skills have been corrupted over centuries of influence. He longs for the day when a righteous warrior steps forward to end his cursed existence.
Orion Thunderclaw Corrupted hound archon, level 225 One of the highest of the archons, Orion took the largest portion of the seed of evil into himself. Confident that his skills would hold back the corruption long enough for him to find a warrior able to slay him. Though weakened by slaying the four forest guardians, a miasmatic release has returned him and his subordinates back to their full power.
I silently backed away, hoping the other two would do the same. This battle was going to be a pain. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV When I saw King and the others return, I knew it was going to be bad news. All of them had an ashen pallor, and King¡¯s hand was subtly shaking. I motioned to the side with my head, getting a nod in return. He changed direction, and we met over by where Lucy and Dave were standing. ¡°That bad?¡± ¡°Three corrupted hound archons. Can¡¯t pierce stealth, but they have keen senses of smell.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve heard of them.¡± Dave replied. ¡°Level?¡± ¡°Two at 200, one at 225. The lower level ones have greatswords, the main guy has armored claws. Looks like one will use poison, one fire, and the main guy lightning.¡± King answered. ¡°How are we gonna play it?¡± ¡°Three options. Smoke the big guy first, ignore the smaller two. Smoke the smaller two and wait on the big guy, or we can bring them all down equally. I¡¯ll say straight out, I¡¯m not a fan of smoking the big guy first.¡± ¡°Me either.¡± Lucy agreed. ¡°It often takes too long, and usually one of the smaller ones has some form of heal.¡± ¡°Ok, well that¡¯s one situation eliminated. I vote we take them all down together. That way if the big boss decides to rage, we can take him down much quicker.¡± Dave spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll take the big guy¡¯s group and monitor the life of all three. Dave takes the poison one, and Lucy can handle the fire one. Sound good?¡± They both readily agreed, and we set about getting a decent split for the group.
Orion Thunderclaw Mortax Deathtouch Redguard Emberfang
Mr. Whiskers Goldguard HolyDungeonDiver DeathFromAbove Blackthumb Chaosbringer SpiceMix Brock Onyx HitMe Brosef Brostar Raider Dave NotABandaid Dr. HealYaButt Crimson King SirMixALalalot EricDaRad Grandelf Shieldwall Cinderfy GotYerBack Darkmoon Lucy OhMightySmiter NaughtyNurseJess ShockerSnipe LadyFisticuffs PlayWithMe Peppermint York Ice Queen Citadel TisButAScratch
¡°Ok everyone, listen up. We have a three opponent boss battle coming up. Raider Dave is leading the group against what we believe to be a poisonous opponent, so his group will have two healers. SirMixALalalot, do you have any potions for resisting poison you can pass out to the group? Lucy¡¯s group will be fighting the fire opponent, while my group will take on the highest level opponent. Listen carefully, because we are going to try and take their health down at about the same speed. If I call out to your group, slow down with the damage for a bit. Once our tanks have picked up their targets, King will use a skill to try and determine elemental weaknesses. I¡¯ll leave battle plans to your individual leaders, my group please come over here.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As we split up, I looked at my group. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a simple slugfest I think. From the name, ours probably has a lightning element. Brock, try and keep an earth blessing on the group. Blackthumb, try and keep him slowed if you have a poison for it. Everyone else, feel free to hit it as hard as you can. Any questions? If not, let¡¯s check with the other groups and head out.¡± Seeing the other groups finishing up, we headed towards the clearing. Because of their sense of smell, we didn¡¯t bother with stealth. ¡°I knew those three from earlier couldn¡¯t kill all the guardians that swiftly. Just as we hoped, they brought the rest of their group that reeks of the light.¡± Orion spoke as the raid entered the clearing. ¡°Though there are some of you who are worse than others. From the looks of it, we each get our own paladin. Aren¡¯t they considerate, brothers?¡± ¡°Hehehehe, looks like I got the lucky roll today brothers. The paladin glaring at me stinks of Pelor. Come little paladin, let the strongest of the Emberfang clan show you the joys of the darkness.¡± ¡°I thank you for your sacrifice in containing the evil, but your suffering is at an end. With Pelor¡¯s might, and my friends at my back, we shall not fail.¡± Smiter retorted, getting a chuckle from the three archons. Without further ado, the three tanks charged in and shield bashed each of their targets. ¡°[Elemental barrage][Dark arrow][light arrow].¡± Splitting the barrage so that each of the lower level archons took at least one of each type of bolt, battle started. I checked the damage, and saw to no surprise that the Emberfang was taking more damage from the ice, while Deathtouch was taking more damage from fire. ¡°Ice against Emberfang, fire against Deathtouch.¡± I ordered the raid, and the specialized mages set about buffing their teammates with elemental damage. ¡°King, focus on your group. Death, I want one of each elemental bolt against Orion.¡± ¡°[Ice arrow][fire arrow][stone arrow][gale arrow][light arrow][dark arrow].¡± Watching, it seemed that all of them did about the same damage, but I could tell that GoldGuard was taking some lightning damage from the claws of the creature. ¡°No elemental bonus on ours. Brock, give us a boosted defense against his lightning. We¡¯ll just have to hit him faster than the others.¡± ¡°Brothers, howl with me!¡± Orion ordered, rearing his head back. ¡°ahWOOOOOOOH!¡± The three howls combined to form a discomforting dissonance, sending shivers up all our backs. In addition, they all gained a high resistance to light attacks as well as increased damage to anything considered lawful or neutral. ¡°Healers, mind your tanks. They just boosted their damage.¡± Lucy called out. ¡°[Summon: Winter¡¯s heart][Summon: Armor spirit][Summon: Obsidian guard].¡± I smiled as I saw Lucy¡¯s plan. Armor spirit to boost her team¡¯s defense, Winter¡¯s heart to boost ice damage, and an obsidian guard to give them a flame resistant off tank that could step in and help out. ¡°Keep those binding plants coming!¡± Dave yelled out as he hacked and slashed at his opponent. He was looking a little green from the light purple cloud around his enemy, but that¡¯s why I had multiple healers on that group. ¡°[Keen edge][assassinate][crippling blows].¡± I got into the fray as well, targeting between the shoulder blades of Orion to hopefully slow down his attack speed. Dancing back, I couldn¡¯t escape the extended range from his claws as he spun to attack both me and GoldGuard. ¡°[Thundering retribution].¡± The archon snarled, unleashing a burst of lightning that paralyzed both of us for one second, allowing a massive follow up punch to GoldGuard. ¡°[Shocking overhand].¡± As GoldGuard stumbled from the blow, I had to act. ¡°[Hamstring].¡± Cutting across the back of Orion¡¯s legs slowed him just enough that he couldn¡¯t follow up with the uppercut he was winding up for. ¡°That the best you gut, mutt?¡± Gold taunted as Orion started to turn to me, only to freeze at the insult. ¡°I¡¯ll show you a mutt.¡± He unleashed a series of attacks that Gold weathered, calmly deflecting each attack with an angled shield. Much to the boss¡¯ frustrations. With everyone settling in to their attack patterns, we started wearing down the bosses as fast as we could. ¡°INSOLENT PESTS! FEEL MY WRATH!¡± I turned to look as Emberfang threw his greatsword at NurseJess, only to have it intercepted by the shield of Citadel. With a massive roar that froze all people in the near vicinity, as well as reflected away any magic attack, the archon changed into a massive dog. It¡¯s shoulders were up to the chest of the obsidian guard, and each foot as well as its tail ended in flames. The drool from its mouth ignited on contact with metal, and instead of fur it had small spikes. ¡°Beware, those spikes are poisonous!¡± Smiter shouted. ¡°Lucy¡¯s group, hold back on damage for a bit until we force these other two to change.¡± I called out, getting acknowledgements from everyone in their group. ¡°Transformation gives them an elemental aura.¡± LadyFisticuffs shouted, having gotten burned by the fire aura of the new dog. I noted it, and focused on taking down our target. Transformations seemed to occur at around 2/3 life, and we were falling behind at 75% health. ¡°Lucy, we need a boost over here! You got any summons to up the attack speed?¡± I called out. ¡°One second. [Dismiss: Winter¡¯s heart]. Give me a minute cooldown, and I¡¯ll get you something!¡± She called. Exactly a minute later, she was true to her word. ¡°[Summon: Blitz Spirit].¡± As the yellow spirit neared our group, I felt lighter. Everyone¡¯s attack speed increased, and I heard Orion growl. ¡°Traitorous spirit! How dare you betray your betters! FORCES OF NATURE, OBEY MY ORDER! RAIN DOWN BLINDING VENGEANCE UPON THE TRAITOR AND HIS ALLIES! [THUNDER GOD¡¯S WRATH]!¡± A massive spike of mana shot above us, turning into a roiling cloud bank. I tried to cover my eyes, as did some of the other members of the raid when they saw the enemy doing the same, but it made no difference. Blinding flashes of light struck so close together that the thunder was a continuous five second boom. I saw my health bar drop by over half, and immediately drank a health potion as I had to wait ten seconds for the blind and deafened debuffs to wear off. When it cleared, I was glad I had a resurrection scroll in my hands and ready. All the healers, mages, and the berserkers from my group and Dave¡¯s were dead, and Dave was barely hanging on with his paladin heals. Lucy¡¯s group was far enough out that their berserkers survived, but NurseJess was in critical health and they had lost Ice Queen as well. One massive AoE attack had killed one shy of half the raid. ¡°Everyone go defensive! Keep the tanks alive! Guardians, resurrect your healers first. We can still win this. Once everyone is back to full we can start rezzing the DPS.¡± I shouted above the fray of battle, before resurrecting HolyDungeonDiver. The only really tough spot we ran into was with the poisoning bastard, but ShieldWall and GotYerBack rotated aggro with Dave almost perfectly. It took ten minutes with cooldowns to get the raid back on their feet, and another five minutes to get all the buffs back up and running, but we were back on track. ¡°My group and Dave¡¯s group, back to max damage output. Lucy¡¯s hold back just a bit longer.¡± I ordered, and we got back into the groove. Soon Mortax shifted into his canine form, releasing a draining aura to go along with his miasmatic breath. ¡°ShockerSnipe and LadyFisticuffs, switch over to Thunderclaw until we get him to the same health level as the others.¡± The extra damage was more than welcome, as we were starting to lag pretty far behind the other groups. Less than five minutes later, and I felt Thunderclaw was nearing his transformation stage. ¡°[Barrier].¡± He snarled, leaping away to get some room. Surveying the clearing, his eyes focused on me. ¡°Leader. It¡¯s obvious that you are the reason that my brothers and I have been pushed this far. Let¡¯s see how they fare without you. Prepare yourself, for the [Touch of Evil]!¡± In a flash the boss was standing in front of me, both of his hands covered in a purpleish black aura. He pierced both of my sides before I could even think of reacting, and my vision flashed several times. When it was done, everything in the clearing was a hound archon, and my vision was tinted red. ¡°Bastard brought in healers?¡± I snarled, focusing on the nearest hound that was keeping the smaller ones alive. I ignored the barking laughter from behind, as I launched a blistering offensive. ¡°[Keen edge][Storm of blades][Midnight¡¯s kiss].¡± Unfortunately, a guardian hound interposed itself between me and my target, blocking nearly half of my attacks while returning a slow slash that was easily dodged. ¡°[Savage counter]!¡± I growled, leaning back so the sword passed within a hair¡¯s breadth of me, using my return to position and jamming one dagger into his side while the other swung towards his throat. ¡°[Bloodletting].¡± Exacerbated by my skill, the hound¡¯s lifeblood started pouring out as the healer frantically worked to save him. ¡°[Ice coffin]!¡± Before I could capitalize on the defenseless healer, someone had the audacity to freeze me! ¡°Whiskers! What the hell¡¯s gotten into you?¡± The hound shouted, but a part of me only heard a savage cackling. ¡°You can¡¯t hold me. [Shadow form].¡± Using my ultimate assassin skill, I turned to shadow and slipped out of the ice. Enveloping the healer, the only part of me that became physical were my blades as they carved into his flesh. As it fell, my time in shadows came to an end and I appeared over the bloody body. ¡°Sorry. [Snipe shot].¡± I looked up just as someone released an arrow that took me in the eye.
You have died. NaughtyNurseJess is attempting to revive you. Revive? Y/N
¡°What the hell was that?¡± I asked as I came to, only to find several blades poised to pierce several of my vital points. ¡°You went completely ape shit, attacking the raid.¡± A grim King replied. ¡°What? Nonsense. I was killing the. . . extra. . . hounds.¡± I slowed down as the implications sunk in. I wasn¡¯t attacking more hound archons, they didn¡¯t have time to summon that many. Plus the entirety of the raid had disappeared. ¡°Damnit, that¡¯s an intense spell. Berserks you, and covers all allies in the illusion of enemies. How many did I kill?¡± ¡°Only two before Shocker got you, though you did burn you daily skill.¡± ¡°Damnit, that hurts worse than the deaths. Where are we at with the battle?¡± I asked as they let me get to my feet. All the enemies had reverted to canine forms, and had closed in so that there were areas that were covered by multiple auras. Emberclaw was rapidly approaching critical health, and they had pared down the opponents on it to Smighter, NurseJess, Lucy, Ice Queen and Citadel. TisButAScratch had moved to help in the rotation against Deathtouch, while the rest had moved to Orion to bring him down as he had the largest remaining health pool. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s pile on the main guy, get him into critical as fast as we can before returning to take down the other two. Anyone hear the use of a skill called Touch of Evil, immediately waste the target. That¡¯s what got me.¡± ¡°Already warned the raid, we just needed to wait and make sure it didn¡¯t linger after death.¡± King said. ¡°Well quit standing around! Let¡¯s show these hounds what the best guilds are capable of.¡± With renewed vigor, we threw ourselves into battle once again. Most of the melee DPS against Orion was forced to rotate in and out, waiting to heal. Its aura was a retribution one, sending a shock through any metallic weapon that struck the boss. This was fine though, as it allowed people to move into the limited space around the boss and helped keep them from dragging aggro away from our tanks. I did feel bad for the tanks, as each of the dogs would use a savage mauling skill every five minutes, chomping down on the shoulder and shaking them like a rag doll before throwing them away. I had a feeling we would be needing a break to repair equipment after this battle judging by the dents in some of the plate. ¡°Everyone back to your original targets! Lucy¡¯s group go at half speed! Dave and my group lay on the damage!¡± I yelled out, seeing Orion on the cusp of going into critical health. I could feel the morale of the raid rising by the second, and let myself grin as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Someone should have warned me about freight trains. Just as the third boss dropped into critical health, all three hounds gave another discordant howl and an impenetrable barrier surrounded all three, forcing the raid members back. As we regrouped, the hounds closed together, and fused in a flash of light. The resulting creature was a thing of nightmares.
Miasmatic Cerberus Level 225 Three hound archons split a seed of evil to weaken it. As they were nearing death, the latent power of the seeds grew and overwhelmed the spirits of the once noble creatures. Fusing their bodies and powers, you now face the might of the seed of evil at full power. No good remains in this beast, and Gaia requests you put an end to this blight upon the world.
The central head was that of Orion, while the Deathtouch head was to the left and the Emberclaw to the right. Muscles bulging, sparks of electricity ran along the hide letting us know that touching it wasn¡¯t advised. The paws had flames erupting from the claws and ankles, and there was one tail for each element. The worst part was the creature was back to full health, and was glaring at us with rage filled eyes. Book 3 Chapter 35 ¡°Alright everyone, we got this. Tanks, split up and take the same heads you were working on before. Those on the side heads, try and force them to face as far away from the middle as possible. Melee DPS, I want you to focus on the flanks and rotate in and out so you can heal on your own. Try and use potions as much as you can. Ranged DPS, target the eyes and see if we can blind the bastards. Mages, pick a side head and blast away at it. Left side is weak to fire, right side weak to ice. We can save the middle head for last.¡± I called out. Having a plan is the best way to get people motivated. ¡°[Shield rush]!¡± GoldGuard took the lead, charging in and bashing the central head. Unfortunately, the other tanks were slightly slower, and the left head exhaled a stream of poison miasma that caught all three tanks and a good portion of the raid behind them. The Emberclaw head grinned, and hesitated for just a second to allow the poison to catch everyone. It then spat a stream of fire that ignited the poison, burning the raid members. ¡°Pelor, bless this group and purge their ailments. [Grand healing circle]!¡± HolyDungeonDiver was on his game, and triggered a massive area heal and status clearing effect. Burns and poison effects disappeared, negating the majority of the enemy attack. Thanks to his quick thinking, everyone managed to spread out and start the assault. LadyFisticuffs surprised me, sliding into the gap between the tanks and using her spear skills to harry the necks of the dogs, switching between heads to minimize aggro. ¡°Capital idea Fisticuffs! MixALot! If you got any poisons to boost bleed damage give ¡®em to the Lady. See if she can¡¯t hit something important in that neck.¡± I called out, before darting in myself to try and attack the same points. Cinderfy and Ice Queen split up, and the sages followed them, working together to boost their skills. Several of the druids started summoning vines to bind the left head, letting them catch on fire to do boosted damage. The central head was doing its best to get GoldGuard in its grip, something he was very keen on avoiding as the chance a second head would bite down on him was far too high for comfort. Ten minutes into the battle, and I saw the middle head raise up. ¡°Watch for an AoE attack!¡± I cried in warning, and those in range scattered as much as possible. The main head let out a piercing howl, and called down a massive bolt of lightning onto itself. The bolt did a small bit of healing before splitting and electrifying the air in a thirty-foot radius centered on the boss. Static sparks stayed nearby, gradually decreasing. ¡°Notice there ain¡¯t any lightning underneath the boss?¡± Eric asked with a grin. ¡°So close to that soft underbelly, too.¡± I replied, matching his grin. ¡°Race ya. [Blink].¡± ¡°[Beastly rage][Wildlands fury]!¡± Eric activated skills to boost his attack speed and damage against animals, meeting me beneath the creature and started gleefully swinging his axes above his head. I had to bow out a lot faster, as his skills also stole health from the damage he did, but before I went I decided to leave it with a small present. ¡°[Storm of blades].¡± I summoned small blades that would spin in place, sawing at the back leg of the Cerberus. As I escaped and took a health potion, I surveyed the damage done. The heads had lost all cohesion and sense of strategy, mindlessly attacking whatever was nearest. Sometimes one head¡¯s lunge would even cause the other two to miss. They were also looking a lot worse for wear, the Emberfang head even had an eye dangling out of its socket. The smartest head was the Deathtouch one, as it would lean low over a flaming paw to ignite the poison breath attack. Overall our strategy was working, as we had carved away over a third of the creature¡¯s health and it was dropping steadily. At half health, I noticed the tails started speeding up. ¡°Watch the tails, probably a spinning attack. Tanks, bunker down.¡± Sure enough, the dog started spinning and slashing with its tails and claws, only to meet three shields time and again. The spin must have taken a bit out of it, as it lowered its heads in exhaustion, which turned out to be a very costly mistake. ¡°[Savage thrust].¡± Lady Fisticuffs darted in, and used the proximity to pierce one of the eyes of the central head, twisting the spear on the way out to ensure the eye¡¯s destruction. Everyone had to quickly cover their ears and back away, as an agonized howl from all three heads dazed and disoriented us. The raid recovered, but not before GoldGuard took another one of those poison and burn combination attacks. While the healers were fixing what happened, the main head was getting ready to chomp down and savage him. ¡°[Fists of the stone giant].¡± Looking over, I saw massive stone fists form over Brock, which he unleashed on the middle head. The first was a quick jab to the snout to stop his attack, while the follow through was a massive haymaker that hit so hard the fist shattered to pieces. ¡°Thanks Brock!¡± GoldGuard yelled over a shoulder, able to reset himself while the main head worked off the stunning blow. While that was going on, Ice Queen was unleashing massive ice spells against the Emberfang head, and it was reduced to whimpering and trying to cover itself with a paw for protection. ¡°Ready Peppermint?¡± She asked. ¡°Whenever you are.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s end it then. [Glacial pillar].¡± ¡°[Frozen hammer].¡± As Ice Queen summoned a growing spear of ice beneath the head, forcing it upwards, Peppermint dropped a massive hammer of ice from above, smashing the head down onto the ice from below, spearing through it. The body tensed for a second, before the head went completely limp. ¡°aaaaWHOOOOOOO!¡± The two remaining heads howled in mourning, before snarling at the raid. The Deathtouch head inhaled, but before it could breathe out poison Cinderfy stepped up. ¡°[Dragonbolt].¡± A small, incredibly intense bolt of flame shot across the gap between them and down the dog¡¯s throat, igniting the poison within the head itself. ¡°We¡¯ll have none of that.¡± The eyes of the head got wide as it tried to breathe in, but something must have been horribly damaged as it too went limp. The main head backed up a bit, looking at its other dead heads and started growling. It¡¯s health had fallen into critical range, and I got an incredibly bad feeling. ¡°aaaWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± Extending the howl as it sat down on its haunches, a massive ball of lightning formed above its snout before firing off into the clouds above us. When the dog started another howl, generating another sphere, I realized its plan. ¡°It¡¯s going to destroy the forest in spite! Take it down!¡± I yelled out, and everyone redoubled their efforts. I charged forward, swapping weapons and leaping into the air. Trailing a bit of wire behind me, I twisted around as the wire dropped around the hound¡¯s throat. Planting my feet on the back of the neck, I pulled the wire as taut as I could, using my entire body to hold it in place. ¡°[Garrote].¡± I groaned out as electricity coursed through my body, but I held on as the silencing abilities of the skill prevented more howling. ¡°Healers, keep Mr. Whiskers alive and forget the tanks!¡± Lucy called out, recognizing that I was keeping the boss from unleashing whatever spell would destroy the forest and ruin our quest. I saw my health bar yo-yoing back and forth as the healers fell into a rhythm, while the main head tried to channel as much electricity into its aura as possible. As my fingers started going numb, and my legs lost feeling from the knee down, I felt the body beneath go slack and fall down. ¡°You all right?¡± I looked up to see Lucy and Raider Dave standing over me. ¡°Fantastic. Did we get ¡®em?¡± ¡°Yep. Thanks to that silencing garrote of yours. Didn¡¯t even have any lightning blast down on the forest. There is a goddess waiting to talk with you if you can walk?¡± I groaned as I rolled to my feet, but everything seemed to be in working order as I headed towards Gaia who was waiting with a smile on her face. ¡°Thank you, brave adventurers. Your efforts have saved not only this forest, but prevented an invasion this world was ill prepared for. Though a small portion of the forest was lost, with time the rest should recover. You have my thanks and my blessing, as well as this.¡± With a wave behind her, four golden treasure chests appeared. ¡°Within these chests are the items you would have received had you looted the bodies of the slain creatures. Rest and recover, and may my blessing help you in your quest through the dungeon.¡±
Divine quest complete! You battled the five seeds of evil, and defeated them while minimizing damage to the forest.
Rewards: +1000 reputation with all factions affiliated with Gaia Dungeon boon: +25% defense while in the dungeon
¡°Thank you lady Gaia, this boon is most welcome.¡± I said with a bow, as the other two leaders bowed with me. When we straightened, the goddess was gone. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s take twenty minutes before heading on. Rest, relax, and repair equipment. Lady Gaia was kind enough to bring us our loot from the other bosses. We¡¯ll lottery it off at the end of the raid, that way people will be able to enter for what they want.¡± With that, the raid broke down into small groups. GoldGuard set up a portable forge and anvil, setting out to repair armor. Several of the druids set up areas for repairing leather and cloth armor, while a Smiter set up a small fire and started roasting some meat. While they were doing that, I took a look at some of the loot from the bosses.
Loot table
Rabid bear guardian: 15x bear pelt 5x vial of rabies infected saliva 20x bear claws 1x corrupted guardian core Bracers of Grizzly Strength Moose Guardian: 2x Large guardian antlers (charred) 1x corrupted guardian core
Treant Grove guardian: 50x Treant wood 20x Elder treant wood 5x Ancient treant wood 1x corrupted guardian core Liana guardian: 1x corrupted guardian core 150x liana vine sections 100x liana wax
Corrupted hound archon guardians: 3x corrupted guardian cores 1x platinum archon torque 2x golden archon torques Hound Archon leather armor set (4 of 4) Plaguetouch (greatsword) Everflame (greatsword)
Along with all the goodies, there was a decent bit of money as well, though that was less important to members of the raid. ¡°Everyone! Looks like we have plenty of crafting materials, but the big things are the guardian cores and equipment. Seven corrupted guardian cores, a legendary necklace for mages, two unique tier mage necklaces, two legendary greatswords, and a rogue armor set that is legendary. Contains four pieces. Not a bad haul, not bad at all.¡± I chuckled as the raid cheered the rewards. * * * * * * * * * * * * * After the rest, we set out once again. A quick trip through the forest and we came to the stairs leading down, once again going with the rope trick. Once again there was no issues with the stairs. ¡°Two tugs followed by three tugs. I gotta say, I¡¯m surprised there hasn¡¯t been a trap on the stairs yet.¡± Dave reported.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it ya idiot!¡± Lucy growled at him, smacking him upside the head. Leading the way with a huff, I shrugged and followed her down. At the bottom we found a large receiving area with a sign, behind which was an opaque wall of magic. While the raid arrived, I moved to read the sign King was nodding toward.
New challenge! The next challenge is a timed one, ten minutes should be plenty of time. The challenge will start when someone who has read this sign touches the magic wall to disperse it. The road forward is ever changing. Though comforting, none may truly walk in the footsteps of those who came before. Friends may come and go, but some paths in life must be walked alone. Like all things worthy, there are no shortcuts. Make sure to touch everything on your way.
¡°Well, that is cryptic. I guess we won¡¯t know what most of this means until we see the challenge.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± King agreed, and I turned to address the raid. ¡°Alright everyone, looks like it¡¯s another challenge floor. Again we aren¡¯t given outright rules, so it¡¯s going to be a try as we go. I think everyone should read the sign here so we¡¯re all on the same page, and can I get a handful of volunteers to go first?¡± Everyone filed through, and all the rogues and sages volunteered to help test our way through. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to go ahead and start this. Ready?¡± Not hearing any negatives, I turned and touched the wall. It immediately disappeared, revealing three corridors separated by pillars topped with dragon heads. The corridors were divided into four sections, each with four rows of tiles with four icon plates in each row. The layout of the icons was random within the rows, but each one contained the same four symbols: a flexing arm, a brain, a tree, and a shield. Behind the raid, a wall of purple flames appeared as well as a popup informing us that time had started. ¡°Screw these mind games, I¡¯ll go first. Grandelf, care to help me with a really long jump?¡± Shocker asked. ¡°Heh, sounds like fun.¡± Grandelf chuckled. ¡°Clear him a path. [Haste].¡± Shocker had walked back toward the flames, stopping just shy of them. Once he got the boost from Grandelf, he dropped into the starting position for a sprint, and took off. Just before he reached the first tile, Grandelf hit him with another spell as he leaped forward. ¡°[Featherlight].¡± Pin wheeling his arms as he flew through the air, we all watched nervously as he flew down the course. Once he passed the first set of dragon heads, all the eyes of the statues glowed an ominous red and they started tracking him. The second set locked on first, and spat twin purple fireballs that immediately engulfed Shocker, leaving nothing behind. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± We all turned to see Shocker ejected from a portal off to one of the sides and just in front of the fires that seemed to be slowly moving forward. ¡°That didn¡¯t work too well.¡± He muttered after coming to a rest from sliding on his ass for a few feet. He must have noticed something as he brushed himself off, because he started swearing up a storm. ¡°SHUTUP AND TELL US WHAT¡¯S THE MATTER!¡± I yelled, interrupting his tirade. ¡°Blasted fire. Not only did it remove any and all buffs I had going, but the effect lingers. I can¡¯t be buffed for twenty minutes, and it can stack up to five times!¡± He moaned. ¡°Alright, guess we need to avoid that as much as possible. Spice, you wanna give it a go next?¡± ¡°Any ideas on what I¡¯m supposed to do?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try crossing by stepping on the tiles that work with your class. Brains all the way.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± He said, moving and stepping cautiously on the first brain tile. It lit up, but the dragon eyes stayed green and he let out a massive sigh of relief and stepped onto the second brain tile. The eyes of the dragons immediately turned red, targeted him, and blasted him with purple fireballs. ¡°Well, we know the first one is a brain at least. This is going to suck if it¡¯s going to be trial and error all the way across.¡± Grandelf said, stepping up to the corridor. He stepped on the brain, and immediately got blasted by the dragons. ¡°WHAT THE HELL?¡± ¡°Perhaps that rambling at the bottom is a clue.¡± King said, stepping forward. Looking over things, he stepped onto the tree first, then the brain, shield, and flexing arm. Once he made it to the first gap, he hesitated before stepping onto the tree again and getting blasted by the fireballs. ¡°Damn, so close.¡± Someone muttered, and I heard grumbling from the rest of the raid. ¡°What have you figured out King?¡± I asked as he walked back up. ¡°About not walking in the footsteps of those who came before, you can¡¯t step in the same pattern as the person who just went. That¡¯s why Grandelf got blasted. Touch everything means you have to hit each type of tile. Four rows, four tiles. Ever changing means the second, third and fourth sets probably have to be different than the one previous. Might be easiest to say start each new set of four with a different tile, and we can get across.¡± ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll take the next run then, no sense in letting the debuffs pile up on people.¡± I said, stepping up to the run. The first four were quickly crossed, moving from shield to tree to brain to arm. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± I muttered to myself, stepping on to the tree next. Cracking my eyes open, I saw the dragon heads still looking at me with green eyes. Exhaling in relief, I kept the same procession to make things easier to remember. The third set I started with the brain, and the last set was the arm. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s split into three groups and each group use a corridor! Make sure that you don¡¯t follow the same series as the person who goes before you, and start each new set of rows with a different icon than what you initially started with! Hurry up, we are still on a timer!¡± I called back. The raid quickly sorted themselves and started crossing, and I let out another sigh of relief as nobody was penalized for using different corridors at the same time. I guess it was just so that you didn¡¯t have two people using the same corridor at the same time. We were going to cut it close, as everyone was taking close to thirty seconds to cross the field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * HolyDungeonDiver¡¯s POV God this dungeon was annoying! First runs always have issues, but this was ridiculous. I¡¯m sure that bastard was sitting somewhere watching us, laughing his ass off. If it weren¡¯t for the promises from Pelor¡¯s church, I wouldn¡¯t even have tried this. They were really looking forward to taking down the draconians, and should I bring back the head of the player who led that devastating raid on our main church I was promised promotion to the next pontiff. Just take this ridiculous test. How the Hell did King and Whiskers figure out that rambling on the damn sign was the rules for crossing? And the punishment? Ridiculous! Banning buffs for twenty minutes? I honestly hope that the devs ban anything like that from happening in the future. At least the bastard of a player designed the dungeon with an eye for aesthetics. Oh sure, the major statues and things were awe inspiring, but they went and did a lot with the little things. The bricks weren¡¯t a repeating pattern, there were random wear patterns on them. Anyplace that had a traditional torch also had scorch marks on the walls, and the previous level even smelled like a forest. Interrupting my musings was a strange pattern. Looking closer, it almost resembled the symbol of Pelor spread over the corner of four bricks. I touched it, but nothing happened. Tracing it didn¡¯t help. Looking over my shoulder, only about half of the raid had made it across, so I shrugged my shoulders and channeled the tiniest bit of mana into it. That got the outline to light up, and a panel silently slid downward to reveal a red button. ¡°Push for bonus¡± was written above it, so I shrugged my shoulders and pressed the button.
Wheel of Misfortune! Congratulations for discovering the Wheel of Misfortune, and thanks for pressing your luck! Below is the table of opportunities and what is required for obtaining them. You managed to roll a 4!
1 Individual space hijinks: Entire raid is randomly teleported throughout the dungeon individually.
2 Small group space hijinks: Entire raid is randomly teleported throughout the dungeon in groups of 2-4.
3 Status effect mania: For the rest of the dungeon, random status effects that can¡¯t be dispelled are added to members of the raid.
4 Time Warp: Go back to the beginning. Requires secondary roll.
5 Clean slate: Removes all positive buffs and bonuses.
6 Thank you, your neutralness!: Nothing happens. Can press button again.
7 Equipment bonus: Drops a loot crate for every member of the raid, guaranteeing at least one unique or higher tier item.
8 Hit me with your best shot: All damage done by the raid is doubled, but aggro generation is normal.
9 Double down: All positive buffs are doubled and last twice as long.
10 Free Pass: Raid moves to the room before the final boss
Time Warp! Go back to the beginning! But which beginning? Roll to find out! You¡¯ve rolled a 3!
1 Restart the dungeon. All traps and enemies have been reset, but death count and death penalties remain.
2 Restart the dungeon, but current progress is saved.
3 Raid must restart this room. Time is not reset.
4 Raid must restart this room only. Time is reset.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV With a flash of light, we found ourselves back at the start of the puzzle. ¡°WHAT THE HELL DIVER!¡± I yelled, rounding on the sheepish looking healer. ¡°Everyone, double time it across the paths, I¡¯ve got a bone to pick with a healer.¡± I snarled, and people started rushing across. It wasn¡¯t bad yet, I just hoped that mistakes would be minimal. ¡°And you! Why in the hell would you push something labeled the Wheel of Misfortune?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t! It said to push for bonus!¡± ¡°Oh, excuuuuse me! You are in a dungeon created by a bastard that is known for horrible puns as traps! Let me guess, the button was large and red?¡± At his embarrassed look, I continued, ¡°For fucks sake! You pressed the big red button. In a dungeon. How stupid are the followers of Pelor? Seriously, I¡¯m wondering if anyone in this raid outside of my guild, Dave, and Lucy has a functioning brain. As a reward, you get to cross to the other side last, and you¡¯ve lost half of your raid rewards. I¡¯ll be informing Dave and Lucy of this, so don¡¯t think you¡¯ll get out of it. You¡¯re just damn lucky I can¡¯t justify tossing a healer mid raid, or you would be gone so fast.¡± ¡°Oh screw you! It¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t made mistakes, and did we bust your balls over it?¡± He snarled at me, and I took a few seconds to clench my fists and try and calm myself down. ¡°And I¡¯ll be damned if you force me to wait and get scorched by those purple flames. I¡¯m heading across.¡± He said, turning and trying to brush past me to cross before we ran out of time and the encroaching flames did, whatever they were going to do. That was about the point I lost it. Grabbing him by his shoulders, I twisted and flipped him over my hip and into the flames behind me. ¡°AAAAAAH! YOU BASTARD YOU¡¯VE KILLED. . . What?¡± He started screaming, causing everyone to look. Looking at a popup, he started frantically scrambling to get out of the flames. ¡°GO! GOGOGOGOGOGO! The flames burn your durability and every ten seconds add another stack of debuff!¡± While everyone was frozen, he darted forward and tried to scramble across the way, not letting Lucy finish her own crossing. Both were blasted by angry dragon heads, and both landed in the flames as they were teleported back. What sealed the deal for my next actions was when Diver pushed Lucy down to get past her and out of the flames. ¡°[Garrote].¡± Slipping a wire into place, I activated my skill and turned so that Diver was partially on my back as I was bent over. Twenty seconds later and he was dead, and I was glad nobody made any move to help him. ¡°We¡¯ll rez him when almost everyone has finished crossing. How bad is the debuff Lucy?¡± ¡°I get no buffs for an hour. Twenty minutes for the dragon heads and forty minutes for the flames.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, odd.¡± I said, confused. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they stack?¡± ¡°Oh no, they are in different stacks. Since it is the same effect, the second stack won¡¯t start counting down until the first stack is discharged.¡± ¡°Fucking hell. Alright, anyone who has gotten a debuff, you get first crossing. Don¡¯t mess up, as the flames cause a separate stack that won¡¯t start until the first clears.¡± I called out, getting nervous looks from some people. The raid was moving forward, though it was obvious at least six people would be stuck getting burns from the flames. ¡°I need four volunteers to stay and brave the flames with me and Diver here. If you are willing to, go ahead and place all your equipment in your inventory to prevent decay. I also ask that we not use any tanks, just so that they don¡¯t face the upcoming challenges without buffs. We are getting ready to head to the fifth floor.¡± Blackthumb, Brosef, Spicemix, and LadyFisticuffs all volunteered to stay, and I noticed the rest of the raid who was waiting trying to pick up their speed as much as possible. ¡°Blackthumb, wanna give me a hand? We should probably drag Diver¡¯s body as close to the start as possible so he spends less time in the flames.¡± Brosef asked, and the two got to work moving the body. I really should have done that myself, but I was rather irate with the cocky bastard. ¡°Blackthumb, do you mind waiting for the last dash across?¡± I asked. ¡°Not a problem.¡± He agreed, giving me a nod. There wasn¡¯t much to do but wait, and eventually we were all encompassed by the flames. It was odd, as they gave off no heat. It was almost as if we were standing in an illusion of fire, something I was quite thankful for. Being forced to stand in flames calmly as you burned waiting to cross would be terrible. ¡°As soon as you guys start, I¡¯ll burn up a rez scroll on Diver here.¡± I said, nodding to the others. ¡°Bastards! What about my equipment!¡± He immediately started yelling, trying to get in my face. ¡°Put it in your inventory and shut your mouth. You got us into this mess, the least you could do is pay the highest punishment.¡± I snapped back at him. A few minutes later, and the entire raid was on the other side. I had taken a look at the description for each tier of the debuff, and it was even worse than what I was expecting. The first three stacks added twenty minutes apiece, while stacks four and five added thirty minutes. So we had three members of the raid with no buffs for two hours. ¡°Before we go on, we need to make a few changes. Jess, you are on backup for Raider Dave, Diver you are switching to GoldGuard. Blackthumb, Diver, and myself are not able to be buffed for two hours minimum, so we will have to switch to more support. We are burning through rez scrolls at a horrific pace, so try and be smarter about things. Absolutely do not touch any red buttons, don¡¯t stick any body parts in holes in the wall. Basically knock off the stupid shit. Now, let¡¯s head on down to the next floor.¡± ¡°Already did a pre scout.¡± King spoke up. ¡°No traps on the stairs or the landing. There¡¯s another wall and a sign saying that the wall will fall when the entire raid is ready.¡± ¡°Thanks King. Could you see through the wall?¡± He shook his head no, so I continued, ¡°Alright. Into the unknown again. Tanks up front, scouts on the wings and guardians surrounding the healers. Let¡¯s hope for a normal floor.¡± Raider Dave took the lead, heading down the stairs with the clatter of armor. At the bottom, the raid spread out into formation, ready for battle. As soon as Shieldwall stepped off the stairs, a massive glyph lit up under the raid party. It only glowed for a second before fading, and taking the wall in front of us with it. Beyond the wall was a sparse forest. Leafless trees raised skeletal limbs to the darkened sky, and a thin mist hung near knee height. The entire floor was silent, which only added to the creepy vibe. No birds. No bugs. Nothing. ¡°Undead?¡± Someone asked. ¡°With the boss in the church of Thanatos? Highly unlikely.¡± Smiter knelt to the ground, brushing something off. ¡°You ever danced with the devil, in the pale moonlight?¡± ¡°aaaaaaaWWWWWHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± As soon as he finished, a full moon appeared above the trees and a throaty howl reverberated through the forest. Even the trees were scared of that howl, as their branches swayed in the still air. ¡°Sorry guys.¡± Smiter whispered amid the groans from the raid. ¡°Scouts, stealth and spread. I want you to stay close though, who knows what detection skills whatever howled has. Let¡¯s move.¡± I gave orders, and the raid moved out. Book 3 Chapter 36 We entered the forest, and immediately the disconnects started. I snapped a twig off a tree to check, and it was exactly as expected. Dead and dry. There should be something on the ground, snapping as we moved. Instead it was smooth. No cracks, no snaps, nobody even stumbling over a stray root. We inadvertently spread out as we moved forward, walking two abreast between the trees. ¡°What do you think howled at us? Gotta be a wolf or something, right?¡± ¡°Probably at least a Dire wolf, though where was the pack?¡± ¡°Lone wolf? Those happen.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to be tougher than regular wolves? I mean, they can live alone.¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± I hissed. ¡°You¡¯re going to let it know exactly where we are.¡± Settling back into a slow advance, all of our nerves were on edge. Well, mine were. The healers were acting nonchalant, while I noticed the druids were all incredibly nervous. ¡°Lucy, what¡¯s the deal?¡± I asked as quietly as I could. ¡°This forest is wrong.¡± She replied. ¡°Wrong?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s only trees. No animals, no other plants. Not even grass. And it¡¯s all dead.¡± *CRACK* Everyone spun to the right, looking for the source of the noise. Nothing. No movement, no shadows, we didn¡¯t even see a fallen limb. ¡°Should we split up?¡± Dave asked from the front. ¡°No. Something¡¯s different here. Stay close, and keep your eyes and ears peeled.¡± I ordered, and we kept moving forward. The next five minutes were absolutely nerve wracking. We found nothing at all. Not even a trail through the woods. No sign of any enemy. No strange attacks, and no traps. ¡°[Icebolt]!¡± Ice Queen shouted suddenly, firing a small spear of ice off to the raid¡¯s left. ¡°Damn, must have been my imagination.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Thought I saw movement in the trees. Could have sworn I did.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, just a false alarm. Cinderfy, there¡¯s a lot of dead wood around here so limit the fires, ok?¡± ¡°You¡¯re no fun.¡± He grumped, but he did give me a nod. At least he wasn¡¯t about to burn the forest down around us. We got started again, heading straight north through the forest. ¡°Hey Shield, think we could head down to the next level without fighting whatever is in here with us?¡± HitMe asked from his rearguard position. ¡°Shield? What? Hey guys, Shieldwall¡¯s gone!¡± He panicked, and we all turned to stare. Sure enough, we were missing a guardian. ¡°Scouts, unstealth and return immediately!¡± I shouted, wanting to get everyone back in. Only Shocker and King returned. ¡°So Death is gone as well. Everyone keep an eye out, we have no idea what this enemy even looks like. King, Shocker, stay in the middle of the formation and try and spot them.¡± *CRACK* I couldn¡¯t help it, I instinctively spun to the right with the rest of the raid to see what the sound was, before spinning back only to see Blackthumb¡¯s body being carried away over a black striped body. ¡°[Marked for death].¡± I managed to activate a tracking skill, only for it to fail. ¡°You get ¡®em?¡± Lucy asked hopefully. ¡°Skill failed. Never had that happen before.¡± ¡°Was Blackthumb alive?¡± ¡°No.¡± I answered, shaking my head. ¡°Blood trail.¡± King pointed out. ¡°Follow?¡± ¡°Yes. At the least we can get his body back.¡± I nodded, and King took the lead while we followed. ¡°Citadel, Hitme, keep an eye out behind and to the sides. Don¡¯t turn even if you hear a distraction.¡± I ordered, trying to help them out and keep an eye behind us.
Warning! Raid leader, one of your members has been dead for ten minutes and will respawn at the beginning of the dungeon. You have twenty minutes to get there and revive them before additional penalties are incurred. Current penalties: -6.5% defense Current boosts: +25% defense Effective result: +18.5% defense
¡°Shit. Everyone, we¡¯re going to have to abandon Blackthumb. Looks like the first death was ten minutes ago. We¡¯re heading back to the stairs and sending Jess back to the beginning to rez whoever falls here. Citadel will go with her as a guard.¡± We abandoned the pursuit, and double timed it through the forest. We didn¡¯t hear any more distracting noises, but we did hear a few howls from different directions. ¡°Are they herding us?¡± Someone asked, fear easily discernable through their voice. ¡°It feels like we¡¯re being herded. How many of them are out there?¡± ¡°Shut it!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°We¡¯ll find out, and we¡¯ll kill them all.¡± I thought it highly unlikely, but wasn¡¯t about to say so. ¡°Yeah right. They got three of us before we managed to get a lucky sighting.¡± Fucking HolyDungeonDiver! ¡°You really think we¡¯re going to outsmart them? Pack tactics man, we are so toast.¡± ¡°Everyone quiet!¡± I growled out. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to hear them coming.¡± ¡°As if we could over the sound of clanking.¡± ¡°Diver, I swear to Moradin if you keep being a Debbie Downer, I¡¯m going to hamstring you and leave you behind so they can chew on you instead of the raid!¡± GoldGuard yelled. ¡°Just saying.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit! If one of our healers is already giving up we are doomed, and I am not going to raid wipe against some sort of sasquaAAAAACH!¡± As he was distracted, a furred arm reached out from behind a tree and clotheslined the tank. ¡°Nnnnnot Sssasssssssquaaaaatttch.¡± The horror said as it stepped out and planted a foot on the tank¡¯s chest. ¡°Keep moving! Guardians stay with the healers! Tanks and scouts, let¡¯s see what damage we can do!¡± I shouted. ¡°Lucy, you¡¯re in charge of the second group!¡± As I was giving orders, the beast casually reached down and speared its claws into GoldGuard¡¯s face. A lucky jerk to the side saved him, though it didn¡¯t cause a total miss. ¡°Gaaaah! MY EYE!!!!!¡± He screamed, as Dave rushed forward in a shield bash. ¡°Notttt todayyyyyy, little mannnnn.¡± The beast smiled as it punched the middle of his shield, stopping his charge cold. It followed with an overhand blast from the other hand, sending the tank flying. ¡°[Magelight].¡± Grandelf created a light above the creature so we could get a good look, and I almost wished he hadn¡¯t. Over eight feet tall, its limbs were thick with corded muscle. Black and grey colored stripes wove through its hair, helping to hide it in the beams of moonlight. Long, black claws matched a set of oversized fangs, but the most disconcerting were the burning red eyes. Rage coursed through them. At what, I didn¡¯t really know, but it was directed at us for the moment. ¡°Ttttooooo sssshhhhrrrrrrrreeeeeddddsssssss.¡± It growled out. Faster than I could react, it lifted its foot and pierced through Gold¡¯s chest plate with a single shot. His eyes widened in pain just before he died. Pulling its hand back out, it smiled as it licked the blood dripping from its claws. ¡°Heartssssblooood. Sssssoooo sweeeeet.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Take him!¡± I shouted, starting forward. It darted past me, my blades barely nicking its hide in passing as it went after the mages left in the group. ¡°[Hamstring]!¡± I activated the skill, spinning to attack only to come up empty. The beast had passed me, slashing four gaping wounds into Grandelf¡¯s chest before backhanding him away. Its left hand had grabbed SpiceMix by the head, and was swinging his body around to prevent anyone from getting closer. Judging by the flailing limbs, SpiceMix had died to a broken neck in the initial assault. ¡°[Stunning blow]!¡± Eric attacked from the back, smashing one of his axes towards the creature¡¯s head only to have it deflected by a shoulder. The creature reached back and pierced his shoulders with his claws, holding one finger up in his face and shaking it in a ¡°no¡± gesture. It then slit his throat with the same finger and threw the body at Dave. ¡°[Rainbow barrage: elemental spread].¡± King attacked, firing a mix of elemental bolts at the creature. ¡°Hit it with light attacks!¡± I called out, having noticed the wince of pain when the light bolt struck. As we closed in on it, the creature leaned back and howled. ¡°aaWHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!¡± The howl forced us all to freeze, that one second was a costly opening. Dave and Smiter got their heads bashed together, before being thrown into myself and Brosef. As I tried to shove a groaning Dave off of myself, I felt a pain in my chest as the creature¡¯s smiling face appeared above me. ¡°I seeeee youuuuuu.¡± It growled, before its other hand decended.
You have died. If you are not revived within ten minutes, you will be transported to the beginning of the dungeon.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * JohhnyBGood¡¯s POV I sedately paced the panicked raid, easily sliding along the trees as they stumbled toward the start of the level. Phoebe must have scared them to the core. ¡°What do we do? That thing¡¯s gonna kill us all!¡± One of the healer¡¯s whined. A priest of Pelor, judging by the sun on his robes. ¡°Shut it! We head back to the beginning of the level.¡± A druid ordered, keeping calm despite the shaking of her hands. ¡°If it attacks again, druids and mages will hold it off. Guardians will escort the healers back to the entrance of the dungeon and wait for everyone to respawn.¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s a massive debuff we will get slapped with!¡± The healer cried. ¡°Better a small debuff than a total wipe!¡± The druid snarled, rounding on the healer and poking him in the chest. ¡°You need to remember, you aren¡¯t in charge Diver. Now shut up and follow directions.¡± I watched in silence as the grouchy healer isolated himself. Not only was he off to the side, but he was at the back of the formation as well! Phoebe would surely forgive me for this, so long as I wasn¡¯t seen. I let the group pass, before dropping down behind the healer and covering his mouth so he couldn¡¯t scream. My left arm held his up, allowing my tail to stab a dagger repeatedly into his armpit. With a powerful leap, I made my escape back into the trees with the body, moving away so that he wouldn¡¯t be found immediately. I made my way back as quickly as I could, smiling as I heard the complaints. ¡°Don¡¯t care! How in the Hell are you going to hold it off when you couldn¡¯t even stop it from taking Diver right out from under our noses!¡± ¡°Just keep moving then you idiot! If we make it back, it won¡¯t follow us up to the previous level.¡± ¡°Oh and you can guarantee that? In this dungeon?¡± Checking my surroundings, I saw we were near the edge of the forest. If I was lucky, I might be able to catch one more. But who? The druid and a guardian were arguing, but they weren¡¯t the best targets. Angus wanted us to target healers, to force the use of scrolls. Unfortunate. The three remaining healers were clustered together with two armored guards and a handful of mages. ¡°ahWHOOOO!¡± I heard Phoebe¡¯s howl, and took my chance as everyone turned to look back in her direction. Pouncing down from above, I slammed into the red robed mage and plunged my daggers into his neck, savagely twisting them on the way out before leaping back into the trees. Silent casting was such a wonderful thing. Being able to hit someone with an amplify damage curse and then get the stealth attack bonus was impossible to defend. ¡°Cinderfy!¡± Someone shouted, adding to their panic. ¡°How? He was right behind me!¡± ¡°And that howl was so far away.¡± ¡°Screw this, I¡¯m outta here!¡± One of the mages freaked, sprinting off into the forest in a random direction. ¡°Wrong way! Ice Queen! YOU¡¯RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!¡± The druid called after her, but to no avail. ¡°Fuck! Follow me, we¡¯re outta here.¡± ¡°What about-?¡± ¡°Too late. She ran off, her death is on her head. If we follow her, the group will fall.¡± The druid cut off the guardian. Leading the way, the group headed towards the entrance. With nothing else I could do, I followed the mage who ran off. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Darkmoon Lucy¡¯s POV Finally! We made it back to the floor entrance, though the raid was in a sad state. ¡°Ok, healers and guardians, head back all the way to the dungeon entrance. You have less than fifteen minutes to get there and start resurrecting people before we start getting hit with major penalties. The rest of us will wait here for survivors for five minutes before following. Citadel is in charge, use skills to rez people and save on scrolls.¡± ¡°What are we waiting for?¡± Peppermint asked. ¡°We should go with them too!¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a democracy! Go! We¡¯ll be along in five minutes! We have to make sure that the boss isn¡¯t going to follow them up the stairs.¡± I shouted, and the group split further. Six went up the stairs towards the dungeon entrance, while a paltry three remained with me. ¡°Brock, how fast can you raise walls?¡± ¡°That¡¯s one of the slower spells. As fast as that creature moves, I would be useless.¡± ¡°Damn. What if we make a tunnel? Could you close that off any faster?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a little too late for that.¡± He answered, pointing over my shoulder. ¡°Get your spells ready, but don¡¯t attack just yet.¡± I ordered quietly, but the chuckling from across the clearing let me know the beast had heard me clearly. Wondering why it was standing there, I tried to identify it.
Chimera Lord Demigod level 130 Chimera lords are able to mix and match parts from different beasts. Resistant to magic and possessing a tough hide, dealing damage to them is incredibly difficult. Little is known about their origins. Though capable of speech, most who attempt to talk with these creatures end up dead.
¡°You gotta be shitting me, we got our asses handed to us by a level 130 creature?¡± Peppermint muttered. ¡°Come play.¡± The creature beckoned, stepping forward a little. ¡°I¡¯ll show you play! [Earth cof-¡° ¡°Brock, STOP!¡± I yelled, interrupting his spell. ¡°Look, it can¡¯t come any closer.¡± I said, pointing. Sure enough, it was walking along the edge of the glyph that appeared when we arrived, trying to entice us into attacking. ¡°Prrrrrrreeettttiiieeessss.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s head on back. I¡¯m sure that if it is here then the rest of the party is already done for.¡± Turning around, I started to head up the stairs only to hear Peppermint promise to be back and take them down. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ice Queen¡¯s POV Where am I? Where¡¯s the damn raid? I¡¯ve been running through these woods, but I haven¡¯t seen hide nor hair of anyone. The trees all look the same! There¡¯s no path! Every so often I hear things, but there¡¯s nothing alive in the forest. The wood creaks in an unseen breeze. Branches snap while nothing moves. And this fucking fog! I can¡¯t see my feet, and no matter what spells I try nothing works to dispel it. ¡°Queeeeeeeeen.¡± A voice groans from my right. ¡°He, he, helloo?¡± I stutter, only nothing answers. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise, as if something is right behind me. ¡°[Ice lotus]!¡± I screech, centering the spell around myself. Shards of razor sharp ice explode outward, shredding the nearest trees but getting nothing else. Panting, I see my breath escape in bursts of fog. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I scream, but hear nothing. Dismissing the ice, I keep moving on, though I change direction on occasion. The sounds seem to be herding me, driving me to the left more than the right. I try and move towards them, but they get stranger and more persistant. Occasional moans of some strange creature call out, chasing me. How long have I been running? Ten minutes? Twenty? It¡¯s hard telling. This thing following me isn¡¯t howling, but it is definitely out there. I don¡¯t hear any howls, but what are the chances of two beasts being down here? It was happy enough taking out members of the raid, why hasn¡¯t it killed me? ¡°ENOUGH YOU BASTARD!¡± I scream as loud as I can. ¡°COME OUT AND FACE ME!¡± ¡°Sssssoooooon.¡± I hear a deep voice growl from behind me, as a black claw gently brushes through my hair. Run. Run. RUUUNNNNNNNN! I bolt, desperation and terror giving me a boost that I¡¯ve never felt before. I¡¯m practically flying through the forest, until my shoulder glances off a tree. As I stumble, I cry in fear. Using pure ice manipulation, I catch myself and start shooting through the forest on a block of ice, creating more beneath me to move forward. Hyperventilating, I dodge trees with no sense of direction. All my concentration is on moving forward, I hear nothing and only see a tunnel ahead of me filled with trees to dodge. An open clearing breaks me from my mental state. Skidding to a stop, I try and catch my breath as I stare into the black maw of a cave. Crushed bones litter the entrance, long since picked clean of any meat and marrow. I frantically destroy the ice behind me, though it is of little use as my mana is depleted. Half my health as well, I must have been burning life to fuel my flight. With no option to remove the obvious trail that is leading the boss to me, I headed toward the cave. Might as well see what this boss has in its cave. ¡°Nnnnnaaauuugggghhttyyyyy.¡± A growl sounded from behind me just as I reached the entrance to the cave. It was far too dark for my eyes to pierce the gloom, so I reluctantly turned to see a towering beast stalking through the clearing. It stopped, and sniffed a few times at the end of my ice trail. ¡°Nnnnno mana, llllittttllle maggggeeee?¡± It swiped a claw along the ground, showing me a bit of red. Brushing my nose, I saw a small trail of blood. ¡°The preeeyyyyy isssssss wwwwwweeeeaakkkkk.¡± It growled, lowering itself to the ground. Digging its massive claws into the ground, it gave me a manic grin as drool spilled from its jaws. Dirt flew as it launched itself towards me, far faster than I could hope to respond. I saw a flash of black claws, and then a popup.
You have died. If you are not revived within ten minutes, you will be transported to the beginning of the dungeon.
Book 3 Chapter 37 Game Announcer1: And there you have it folks! Five floors in and the first of the monster player bosses makes contact with the raid! Congratulations to the 115,788 of you who placed a bet on the fifth floor being the first player boss, your winnings will be in the game mail. Game Announcer2: An impressive showing for the monster races. Using superior hit and run tactics, a max level demigod player was able to take down twenty members of a thirty member raid. Who knows how many would have fallen had it not been for a lucky turn at just the right moment? Game Announcer1: That¡¯s right! Don¡¯t let the level fool you either. A maximum tier monster at max level has the same level cap as the players themselves. Don¡¯t forget the bonuses conferred by their advanced tier, though they are harder to advance the higher you go. For those at home thinking of joining up a monster character, at the highest tier they gain an additional ten points per attribute per level! Game Announcer2: Exciting news! I¡¯ve just been informed that a new betting pool has opened up for the next ten minutes! Place your bets on how the raid will tackle this new foe! At five hundred to one odds, you are primed to make plenty of money! See your waitress to place your bets, and you won¡¯t even have to leave your ale! Game Announcer1: We have been informed of an influx of complaints about a raid wipe. Sorry folks, we are going to have to be technical here. A raid wipe is every member of the raid being killed, not having a portion of the raid strategically retreat. For those upset, there hasn¡¯t been a wipe yet so bets on that are still open. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Twenty minutes later, Mr. Whiskers POV
Warning! Raid leader, one of your members has been dead for ten minutes and will respawn at the beginning of the dungeon. You have twenty minutes to get there and revive them before additional penalties are incurred. Current penalties: -17% defense Current boosts: +25% defense Effective result: +8% defense
¡°Welcome back Ice Queen. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh god, that, that THING!¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. We know. Judging by the level, it¡¯s probably one of the players.¡± I tried calming her, placing a hand on her shoulder. ¡°What did it do?¡± ¡°Brushed a claw through my hair.¡± She shuddered, grabbing my arm. ¡°Psychotic bastard.¡± I growled. ¡°Luckily for us, we don¡¯t need to save the forest this time, do we? CINDERFY!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I need someone to burn a forest to the ground. Are you the man I need?¡± ¡°SIR, HELL YEAH!¡± He shouted, and turned to start heading down into the dungeon immediately. ¡°Hold on a second, we need one last roll call.¡± I chuckled darkly. They wanted to hunt us in the forest? Stealth won¡¯t do you shit when there isn¡¯t a forest to hide in. Half an hour later we were back at the fifth floor. ¡°Alright Cinder, this is your time to shine.¡± ¡°Breath of Salamander, eternal flame. Take the form of thy greatest enemy, and lay waste to the world. Burn the trees to ash, the ash to dust, and the dust until nothing remains. Spread ruin and damnation, turn the countryside to wasteland. [Azureflame Tsunami]!¡± With a swing of his arm in an arc in front of him, a small blue arc of flame rapidly expanded into a towering inferno of flame, rushing forward to eagerly consume everything in its path. Thanks to Lucy¡¯s warning, I had made sure that Cinder was outside of where that invisible wall was before launching his attack. ¡°While we wait for Cinder¡¯s attack to level the field, we need to talk about deaths. We are going through resurrection scrolls at a prodigious rate and our supplies are limited. From now on, we need to have our healers bringing people back. That is going to limit us to eight resurrections every ten minutes. Lucy, you¡¯ve been great as a second so far. I¡¯m putting you in charge of deaths. Healers, listen to Lucy. She¡¯ll call out who resurrects who, and make sure that we don¡¯t have anyone else getting sent back to the beginning. This will become incredibly important the farther we go. I have a feeling there¡¯s going to be a player boss every five levels, and that sending a healer back to revive a lost body is going to take almost the entire twenty minutes. We have almost lost all of Gaia¡¯s blessing because of deaths, any more and we¡¯ll be toast.¡± ¡°How many scrolls do we have left?¡± Grandelf asked. ¡°Not nearly as much as I wanted. Originally we compromised on three per person, which would put us at 90. King, Citadel and I each brought an extra ten. Out of our original 120 scrolls, we have 80 left.¡± ¡°Seriously? We¡¯ve lost a third of them?¡± Several people expressed a lot of concern, especially considering that without our extra thirty scrolls, we would be hurting pretty badly. ¡°That said, here¡¯s our battle plan. I¡¯ll stealth and hamstring the boss, I want the tanks to surround and keep it contained. Ranged attack focus on damage, Brosef you¡¯re going to be the major dealer. Don¡¯t worry about aggro generation, if I¡¯m right and this is a player aggro won¡¯t matter.¡± Once we had the plan set, it took another ten minutes for the fires to die don enough that we could advance. Ice Queen and the three sages worked together to carve a corridor through the remnants, the ground shattering as they blasted their way forward with water and ice. Just as I hoped, the clearing that Ice Queen had inadvertently found was right in the middle of the dead forest, and the enemy was standing in the clearing, snarling at the flames. ¡°[Binding vines].¡± Several of the druids took the lead as Dave charged forward while I made my way towards the back. ¡°I¡¯ll get you this time beast!¡± Dave taunted as the beast shredded the vines. ¡°[Hamstring].¡± I slashed through the back of the beast¡¯s legs, crippling its movement as it howled in rage. I barely managed to dodge a series of blows, just as the tanks arrived and started locking down the boss¡¯ movement range with their shields. ¡°[Light arrow].¡± Brosef targeted the back of one of the knees, causing it to buckle and let the tanks get some blows in of their own. The sages and other mages started attacks of their own, and the health bar was slowly lowering. That¡¯s when the first wrench was thrown into our plans. Black lines erupted beneath the boss and the tanks, covering all of them with a light sheen. ¡°It¡¯s a weaken armor curse!¡± Dave yelled to the healers. While the tanks were taking more damage from attacks, the creature started to make an opening. ¡°[Pinning arrow].¡± Shocker fired into the gap, piercing the boss¡¯ foot and eliciting a howl of rage. Nearly doubling its attack speed, the boss redoubled its efforts to drive apart the tanks. ¡°Switch out.¡± Shieldwall replaced Dave, taking over while the other guardians lingered, ready to replace a tank at a moment¡¯s notice. Lady Fisticuffs was having fun circling the boss and jabbing her spear between tanks, trying to interrupt its attacks. A flash of black out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I backed away to see what was going on. Odd. Curse circles keep appearing behind the raid. Close enough to catch a few people in the grasp, but far enough back that nobody who wasn¡¯t paying attention would catch it. Was it the boss? Occasionally curses would center on the boss, but these are far too precisely targeted. The boss focused on melee attacks. Staring at it, I finally caught what had been bugging me the entire fight. The curses were healing the boss! There had to be something else in this battle. Can¡¯t be behind the raid somewhere, the forest ground was still incredibly hot except where the raid cut through. Anything in stealth would have lost it long ago. There was nothing in the clearing, which left the cave. Before heading in there, I needed backup. ¡°Cinder, need you and the sages for a second.¡± I said as I moved over their direction. ¡°Can all of you combine into a massive, concentrated fire attack?¡± ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Cinder asked. ¡°I think there¡¯s a helper hiding in the cave, and I¡¯m going to draw him out so you can blast him.¡± ¡°You have any flame control spells?¡± SpiceMix asked, looking at Cinder. ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°Cast it, and we will all add azure flames to your spell.¡± Eyes growing wide, Cinder got a manic grin. ¡°Oh, I have just the thing. Go ahead Whiskers, we got your back.¡± Letting them hash out their plan, I moved to where I was hidden from the cave mouth and activated stealth. Moving slowly, I slid into the cave as the raid continued to wear down the boss. It was slow going with the stealth healing. Twenty minutes of battle had only dropped the boss to 60% health, and the monkey looking monster standing in front of me was likely the culprit.
Simian King Demigod level 130 One of the terminal evolutions of bugbears, simian kings combine magic with the physical might of their lower evolution to devastating effect. Beware the prehensile tail, as it is often an unexpected source of strategic attacks.
Thankful I had silent casting, I activated one of my more powerful skills, [Assassin¡¯s edge]. It had a four-hour cooldown, but it tripled my attack before stealth bonuses. [Heartseeker][Bloodletting] both activated as I plunged a dagger into the monster¡¯s heart, savagely twisting it as I jerked it out to create as massive of a wound as possible. ¡°GAH!¡± The creature cried out as it stumbled, slashing randomly at me with its tail to keep me back. ¡°[Storm of blades].¡± Floating blades appeared, spinning in place shredded the musculature of the tail, causing it to drop the blade. ¡°[Curse of weakness].¡± It tried to target me, but I blinked behind the monsters back. ¡°[Garrote].¡± Silenced, and partially slung over my shoulder, I marched it out of the cave and flung it to the ground. ¡°CINDERFY! SPECIAL DELIVERY!¡± I yelled out, noticing the three sages were standing in a triangle formation with Cinder in the middle. ¡°Azure flames become the heart. Call to order your nearest kin. Rending talons, piercing fangs. Let them tremble before the beast of legend. [Azureflame dragon]!¡± A massive ball of blue flames formed above his head as he chanted, fed by streamers of blue flames from the sages. At the name of his skill, a massive dragon head formed. Streamers of flames gave it whiskers, and it had a distinctly oriental feel to the head. It rose for a second, before diving to skim the ground and pass slightly above the main boss, claws slashing both shoulders in passing before it opened its mouth and slammed through the simian king and into the ground around it. The length of the dragon sucked into itself, forming a massive egg of flame before exploding, forcing me to take several steps backward from the intense heat.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Hey Shield, rock and a hard place while it¡¯s distracted?¡± GotYerBack shouted, and my stomach sank. ¡°You got it bud!¡± Before I could stop it, they had started. ¡°Unstoppable momentum, force unending. Reduce mountains to plains, smashing through anything in your way. [Juggernaut drive]!¡± ¡®[Roots of the mountain]!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± I was far too late. Juggernaut drive. A skill that lets you plow through nearly anything in your path. Roots of the mountain. A skill that negates all knockback. Guilds had used that combination for a while against smaller, more problematic bosses. It required a third tank to hold aggro as the other two clashed from the side, but it could do massive damage. The boss¡¯ grin reminded me that we weren¡¯t dealing with an ordinary boss. As the red glow enveloped GotYerBack, he lowered his shoulder and charged toward the glowing yellow Shieldwall. Bending down, the boss easily leapt over Back¡¯s head, flipping around and immediately charging towards the healers. ¡°[Savage mauling].¡± ¡°[Intercept][Retribution strike].¡± Citadel stepped in front of the boss, taking its attack and returning the damage blocked to force it back a few steps. Just as they were about to continue, a bright light was rapidly growing. The raid and bosses all turned to see red and gold lightning encasing GotYerBack and Shieldwall, as a growing ball of energy formed between them. BOOM! With an incredible explosion, the two guardians were thrown from each other. GotYerBack smashed into Blackthumb, carrying both of them into the blazing oven that was the rest of the forest we had burned down. Shieldwall got lucky and smashed into the simian king, carrying it into the inferno. We heard agonized wails from both sides before they were cut off. ¡°Jjjjooooohhhhhnnnnnyyyy!¡± The boss cried out, and the black stripes on it expanded until the entire creature was a thing of jet black. The individual hairs reflected the dull orange glow surrounding us, contrasting with the bright red eyes of the boss. ¡°WWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!¡± It let out a long, mournful howl as three summoning circles appeared around it. What appeared were three dogs that looked like a Doberman on steroids. Easily the size of a great dane, they had two odd spikes coming out of their necks in an X shape, and they almost looked like they were made of semi-rigid rubber.
Flayhounds Level 200 Flayhounds are a magic evolution of hound that has been bred for powerful jaws in an agile body. Fast and vicious, they would be dangerous if that were their only weapons. Their namesake, however, was earned by the spines on their necks. They contain a magical hook that latches on to any exposed flesh as they pass their prey, tearing a strip away as they go. As an added bonus, the wound will continue to bleed for five minutes.
Crap. I looked around to see who we still had left. ¡°Dave on the boss. King, Death, Shocker keep it pinned as long as possible. Gold, Smiter, HitMe, all of you pick up one of the dogs. Druids, I want the main boss and Dave stuck in a hedge maze! Ice Queen, I want you and SpiceMix to escort Jess to find Shieldwall¡¯s body and bring him back. Grandelf and Peppermint, find the other idiot in the flames and have Diver bring him and Blackthumb back. Everyone else, stay alive and concentrate damage on the dog that HitMe is holding. Bandaid, keep Dave alive. HealYaButt, focus on HitMe but keep the other two alive as well. Hopefully their paladin heals and yours will be enough.¡± People started breaking away as soon as they got their orders, and the raid started pulling out unexpected tricks that I hadn¡¯t anticipated. SirMixALalalot started turning binding vines to stone, further slowing the boss down. ¡°I¡¯ve only got six of these potions, and they¡¯ll last for a minute each.¡± He shouted to Dave. ¡°[Stone grasp].¡± Brock waited for the hound attacking HitMe to get him down to about half health before binding it. ¡°Take a step back and heal, this¡¯ll hold for five seconds.¡± He shouted. ¡°[Cage of light].¡± Brosef did his part in binding up some of the flayhounds, helping the other tanks pull them away from groups and separating the dogs. Despite the shift in circumstances, we managed to weather the change without too much issue. Dave was having a hell of a time against the boss, those black claws seemed to shred right through armor. ¡°I¡¯m losing aggro!¡± HitMe yelled, as the hound turned towards the healers and started straight for them. ¡°[Pepper bomb].¡± With a flick of a wrist, MixALalalot tossed out a vial that burst into a red cloud against the dog¡¯s nose. Wimpering, the dog hunkered down and started sneezing in a desperate attempt to wipe the concentrated pepper from its nose. ¡°[Ice prison].¡± Just in time, Ice Queen returned with Shieldwall and SpiceMix. ¡°Do you need them all slowed? Our tanks will slow down as well.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hold off until we are down to the boss.¡± I answered. ¡°Unless you have one that is focused on the boss itself.¡± ¡°Sorry, most of mine are area effects.¡± She shrugged, before pointing at the imprisoned hound and spearing it from above with a massive icicle. That was enough to kill it, freeing up the raid considerably. The two free tanks went to help their fellow guardians, while Jess came up to me. ¡°Guardians or Dave?¡± ¡°Dave.¡± ¡°K.¡± Turning, she moved over to Bandaid and started talking, working her own healing into the rotation that was barely keeping Dave alive. ¡°I¡¯m losing aggro!¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Goldguard and Smiter¡¯s targets had both dropped into critical, something I should have noticed. ¡°Bind them, slow them down. At critical health they target the healers!¡± I called out, dashing as fast as I could across the clearing. ¡°[Pinning shot].¡± Calm as can be, King and Shocker each pinned a dog, allowing the rest of the raid to pile on the damage fast enough to kill them. ¡°Boss is raging again!¡± Jess shouted, and we all saw Dave fall under the brutal onslaught of swings. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it just happened so fast.¡± Jess was jabbering, as the boss leapt over the wall of hedges with little effort. Luckily HitMe and Shieldwall were nearby, taking defensive positions in front of the two healers. ¡°Tanks, get to surrounding the boss. Where¡¯s our other healers?¡± ¡°Sorry, just made it back.¡± HolyDungeonDiver was panting as they entered the clearing. ¡°Almost missed bringing back Blackthumb because of the cooldown.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust the boss, make sure the healers aren¡¯t bunched up.¡± I said, watching as the tanks slowly closed in. It was still hovering around half life, plenty of time for it to cause mischief. Looking over our raid, we were in good shape. Everyone was back up to near full health. The three paladins were nearing the boss in a triangle, with guardians filling the gaps. Berserkers were nearby, ready to pile on physical damage. Jess and Bandaid had two guardians by them, as added protection. HealYaButt was off by King and Shocker, a good enough gap between them and the rest of the healers that the boss shouldn¡¯t be able to cross the distance in one leap. It was grinning though. ¡°RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!¡± Panic! That roar. It spoke to the primal part of everyone¡¯s brains. The part that still insisted we were monkeys, and something bigger and stronger was stalking us. If you didn¡¯t move, it might not see you. For three seconds, the entire raid was frozen. The boss slipped out of the trap with ease, heading toward the cluster of mages and druids. A group with no tank, and only one healer. Just before arriving, the arms swelled to bear sized proportions, while the claws started dripping with poison. Like a living blender, the boss slashed and spun through the group, shredding leather armor and robes like tissue paper. Some were lucky enough to only get blasted by the arms, sending them flying with long gashes from claws through their bodies. ¡°Bind it somehow!¡± I shouted as soon as I was free, closing the gap as fast as I could. With contemptuous ease, it swatted the pinning arrows that the snipers were shooting. ¡°[Crippling blow].¡± I slashed through the back of the leg, only to have the boss turn to me and smash me with an overhanded hammer blow. Stunned, I couldn¡¯t do anything as a claw reached forward and slit my throat.
You have died.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * RaiderDave¡¯s POV I saw Whiskers go down, and knew we were in trouble. ¡°Box it in! Healers, start getting everyone back on their feet. Let the poisoned ones slowly die. Prioritize any tanks within range for heals. Get Diver back up in the first round of revives, but let us get the boss away first.¡± I tried to do the mental math on the revives, but doing that and pinning down this elusive boss was beyond me. ¡°King! Figure out if we can get everyone back up with healer revives only. It¡¯s your call if we need to use scrolls.¡± This boss was way too smart. It went after the group with the weakest defenses, ignoring the tanks with all their taunts and the aggro the healers had to have generated. ¡°Get Ice Queen back up, we need her.¡± I shouted, smashing toward the boss with my shield. To my surprise, I was sent stumbling backward as it overpowered my attack with a simple backhand. ¡°Watch it, it¡¯s a lot stronger than before!¡± I warned, rather shocked at the raw power. ¡°Queen¡¯s back!¡± Someone shouted thirty seconds later. ¡°Queen! I need you to use your area effect spell! Slow this sonofabitch down!¡± I yelled over my shoulder, knowing the boss would understand. It had to be a player. Way too smart not to be. ¡°It¡¯ll mana lock me for the duration!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care! Just get it done! HItMe, bodyguard Ice Queen.¡± I ordered. ¡°Anyone who can bless an elemental or ice resist, set about boosting the raid.¡± ¡°Howling north wind, heed my prayer. Bring with you the killing cold. Freeze their limbs. Freeze their tears. Freeze their blood. Freeze their bones. Freeze all that dares your wrath, leaving white oblivion in your wake. [Arctic gale].¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV
Crimson King is attempting to revive you. Revive? Y/N
I came to only to find the raid in a world of snow. Mist surrounded the clearing as the cold air fought with the remaining heat of the fire. Raider Dave and the boss both had frost covering parts of their bodies, and were moving much slower than before. ¡°Had to use three scrolls to get everyone up. Boss is too fast, Dave called for area suppression. Tanks and boss are slowed, ranged are still ok. Ice Queen is mana locked for the duration of the spell, but she says she can keep it centered on the boss.¡± ¡°Alright, are we recovered then?¡± I asked. ¡°Back to normal. Healers are sucking down mana potions as fast as they can though.¡± King cautioned. Damn, at this rate supplies are going to be a major issue. ¡°Tanks! Rotate in and out with guardians! Four in at a time. Keep the boss pinned. Healers, if a tank isn¡¯t in against the boss they can use potions to recover, focus on those in combat only to save mana. Mages and druids, you¡¯re going to be our damage dealers. Avoid using fire attacks if possible.¡± I hated coming off condescending like that, giving orders that everyone should know, but at this point I wasn¡¯t chancing it. The boss was down to a third of its life, and I was dreading what tricks it might still have. We settled into a routine, slowly wearing down the creature. Thirty percent. Twenty-five percent. Twenty percent health and still no tricks. I was incredibly worried. There had to be some ability coming up, and by now the majority of the boss¡¯ fur was covered in frost. ¡°ROOOOAAAARRRRR!¡± This was it. It wasn¡¯t the stunning roar from before, but it did sound vaguely bearlike. Incredibly bear like. The boss¡¯ body was morphing to match its arms. Shorter snout, wider body and thicker fur. It dropped to all fours, crushing Shieldwall beneath its bulk. It rumbled forward, only to find Lady Fisticuffs harassing its snout with her spear as EricDaRad started carving at its shoulder with his axes. ¡°Come on ya beastie! Daddy needs a new coat!¡± Eric shouted, glowing red with some sort of skill. ¡°Berserkers, your time to shine!¡± I shouted. ¡°Get in there and cut it up!¡± I called out, before blinking onto the creature¡¯s back. I sunk my daggers in, but it barely noticed. ¡°Piercing attacks! It¡¯s got a layer of fat protecting it!¡± I shouted out, blinking away. ¡°Mages, feel free to rain hell from above.¡± The raid buckled down and started pouring on the damage. Each back leg had a berserker carving into it with abandon, blood flowing freely now that Ice Queen had let her spell drop. Between the magic attacks from above, the physical attacks from the sides and Brock smashing earth projectiles up into the boss¡¯ stomach, it was only the work of ten minutes to wear down the final portion of the boss¡¯ life. Brock was also alert enough to use a wave of earth to bring Shieldwall¡¯s body to the side so the healers could resurrect him.
First boss defeated! Congratulations on beating the first of the player bosses! In addition to the rewards for this battle, the new respawn point for bodies recovered in the dungeon will be at the entrance to the stairs leading to the next level.
¡°WE DID IT!¡± While everyone was celebrating, I flopped onto the ground and relaxed. ¡°Fun.¡± King said, sitting down next to me. ¡°Fun? Yeah, I suppose. A lot of crazy skills.¡± I pointed out. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect it to go after the mage group.¡± ¡°Unexpected.¡± He agreed. ¡°Makes it fun. Interesting. Different.¡± ¡°Battle junkie.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± He agreed with a chuckle. ¡°Tanks, how¡¯s the durability on your armor?¡± I called out to nobody in particular. ¡°Down about half.¡± Dave said as he sat down. ¡°Ignore part of armor in attacking, claws do extra damage. Glad we went heavy on the heavy armor, or we might have lost some equipment in this battle.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked, rather shocked. ¡°Damn. And it¡¯s only going to get worse from here. I don¡¯t suppose you guys thought to bring extra armor sets?¡± ¡°Nope. Too easy to have someone try and lift it from your inventory. All the good stuff is either in use or locked in a vault.¡± ¡°Damn. Why do I have the sinking feeling that this will be an issue?¡± ¡°Because you can read the writing on the wall? Hopefully we can get something for the heavy armor sets. At least we have the leather armor set.¡± ¡°Not worried about cloth?¡± ¡°Eh, if they are losing durability then we haven¡¯t been doing our job properly. Can we get twenty minutes to repair armor and weapons?¡± ¡°Definitely. I¡¯ll send you the list of loot from the boss.¡± I said, groaning as I got to my feet. ¡°Half hour break for equipment repair!¡± I called out. Walking away from the chaos, I knelt down by the bear of a boss and looted it.
Loot table
Simian King Chimera Lord
Staff of the Monkey King (legendary) Prehensile tail ring (unique) Monkey King¡¯s Loincloth (legendary) 20x vial of Chimera venom Fanged daggers of the Chimera Lord (legendary) Helm of the Chimera Lord (legendary) 20x vial of Chimera Lord blood Beast King¡¯s necklace (Unique)
Book 3 Chapter 38
Greetings, test subjects! Welcome to the water portion of the dungeon! Don¡¯t worry, you are taking part in testing a brand new Drow enchantment. No potions of waterbreathing required! The enchantment should let you breath and communicate down here as if you are above water. You should be able to drink potions with no influx of seawater too, so don¡¯t worry. If you would be so kind as to report any issues with the enchanter¡¯s guild after your dungeon dive, it would be appreciated!
Floor six: The Sargasso Sea This area of the sea is surrounded by powerful currents, trapping the exceptionally large plant life. Natives have formed large roads using the seaweed found only in this area. What treasures will you find hiding within this massive kelp forest?
Ignoring the popup for a moment, I took a look at the beautiful vista. Strands of yellow, green and brown kelp floated in gentle currents of incredibly clear water. There was another magic wall preventing us from moving forward, but I recognized it now as a safe zone barrier. I looked up, and could barely make out a point of light that must be the sun. No way we were heading up. The platform we were on was an incredibly complex weave of plant leaves and stalks, strong enough to support all of us with ease. To my surprise, it was analyzable.
Kelp highway Formed by the intertwining of countless kelp strands, this highway is incredibly durable. Thirty feet wide and fifty feet long, each section has massive durability. It¡¯s light weight and flexibility means there will be some movement in strong currents, and it is highly vulnerable to poisons. Durability: 1,000,000/1,000,000
¡°Craaaaaap!¡± I groaned, finally reading the initial popup. Test subjects? I hate this dungeon. With a passion. ¡°Everyone gather round, we have some testing to do. Go ahead and sound off with your names.¡± I waited, mentally going through the raid. When everyone stopped, the list felt short. ¡°Are we missing people already?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shocker asked. ¡°That was everyone, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Let¡¯s go through it again. Rangers first.¡± ¡°King.¡± ¡°Shocker.¡± ¡°DeathFromAbove.¡± ¡°Alright, healers next.¡± ¡°Jess.¡± ¡°Bandaid.¡± I waited for a few seconds, then looked around. ¡°Diver, HealYaButts, where are you two?¡± I called out, only to have Citadel bring them forward. ¡°What¡¯s going on with you two?¡± ¡°Blurble?¡± ¡°Glurbleblurble?¡± ¡°Huh? Quit talking gibberish!¡± I growled out, getting annoyed. ¡°They aren¡¯t.¡± Citadel said. ¡°They asked what you wanted with them.¡± ¡°Greaaattt. Sounds like we found our first side effect. They can¡¯t hear me, and I can¡¯t hear them. Everyone gather round. Citadel is going to say something, and if you hear it come out as gibberish I want you to raise your hand.¡± Pointing at Citadel, I had him go. ¡°I hate being underwater.¡± GotYerBack and Blackthumb raised their hands. ¡°Can you two say something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m confused.¡± Back said. ¡°Can I get some of these plant trimmings?¡± I looked at Citadel, and he shrugged. ¡°I heard bubbles and gurgles.¡± ¡°Last one everyone, Lucy. Say something.¡± ¡°The curse of a thousand armpit hairs to whoever designed this dungeon.¡± That got a chuckle out of everyone except King and Raider Dave. ¡°What did she say?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Lucy, do you hear Dave as bubbles?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Crap. Ok, Citadel you get to repeat what I say for Diver and Heal. It looks like the first effect is miscommunication. Every member of the raid has two people who can¡¯t hear them. Those two people also can¡¯t be heard by the first person. So we will have to have a new chain. Citadel will repeat any orders from me for Heal and Diver. Jess, you will repeat any orders from Lucy for Dave and King. I want everyone to go around and figure out who their communications problems are with, and nominate someone as a workaround.¡± The raid took twenty minutes to get organized, but we settled on a formation. King would be center front, flanked by Dave and Smiter. Goldguard would be in the back with GotYerBack as rearguard, with Shocker and DeathFromAbove helping out to prevent ambushes. Healers in the center, with a cluster of mages, druids, guardians and berserkers spread around ready to respond to any threat. ¡°Before we get going, I want to see just how limited we are under here. Cinder, you¡¯re up first. Let¡¯s take this wall down and step out of the safe zone, and see how well your flames work.¡± ¡°UNDER DA SEA! DA SEA! -NDER DA SEA!¡± A chorus of irritating sounds assaulted us as soon as the wall fell, everyone immediately looking around for the source. A small red crab was crossing the road, occasionally stopping and raising its claws in the air.
Sebastian Singing Crab Level 1 A magical experiment that failed horribly. The original plan was to create a singing crab that would welcome new guests to a new life of wonder under the sea. Unfortunately, the meager brains of crabs weren¡¯t taken into account, and they can only repeat the first three words at varying volumes. The goddess of misfortune must have had a hand in things, as a batch scheduled for extermination was mis-labeled and accidentally released into the wild, where their prolific breeding rates made extermination impossible. They now found the base of the food chain, even if the denizens of the deep have yet to discover the joys of eating them soaked in a butter sauce.
¡°What in the everloving hells? SHUT THE HELL UP YOU ANNOYING CRAB! [FIREBALL]!¡± Cinderfy shouted, pointing a finger at the crab and attempting a skill. Instead of a fireball, a bubble of steam shot forward about a foot before buoyancy overcame its inertia and it started rising to the surface. ¡°[Azure firebolt]!¡± The boosted element fared little better, though it did double the range and cook the offending crab. ¡°Well, that is most unfortunate. You have any other spells?¡± ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m gonna be useless here. I went with damage, so my secondary element is lightning.¡± ¡°Hey look! I think I see the next level! I¡¯ll meet y¡¯all down there, TALLYHOOOOOOO!¡± The raid turned to see PlayWithMe running toward the edge of the platform and taking a massive leap. We all watched as a dark shape shot out from within the kelp, and smashed into him, knocking him upward with an oversized fin. Several other shapes appeared, and also joined in knocking the berserker around.
Largefin Porpoise Level 250 Playfully sadistic creatures, these marine mammals use their oversized fin to knock unsuspecting creatures around in a form of game combined with a mating ritual. Anything with lower agility in the water is fair game to be used in the game, and it won¡¯t stop until the ¡®ball¡¯ is dead. Creatures that have a high enough constitution to let the game play out for over five minutes will trigger mating instincts, with the two winners being the ones who controlled the ball the longest as well as the one that dealt the deathblow. These two males will be beset by females that watch the game from within the kelp beds.
¡°I¡¯ll at least get the bastards. [Lightning bolt]!¡± Cinder pointed a finger, and I was incredibly glad I blinked backwards to the edge of the platform. Instead of shooting out in a straight line, Cinder was surrounded by a crackling web of branched lighting. ¡°Goddamnit!¡± I shouted, losing my temper. ¡°We are in the ocean surrounded by salt water. CONDUCTIVE salt water! Nobody uses any spells until we have tested them in a controlled manner! Anyone else want to do stupid shit like Play just did, don¡¯t be surprised when we leave you to die. Now we are in the ocean, where we are most definitely not the top of the food chain anymore. Play just proved it, and I hope everyone was paying attention. First thing, we will go through all the mages and test every type of elemental spell. Everyone with a bladed weapon, lose anything that adds bleed damage. Skills, special effects, I don¡¯t care what it is, if it causes bleeding damage you aren¡¯t to use it.¡± ¡°Why no bleed? That¡¯s how I get a good portion of my damage!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°Because blood attracts predators! A shark can track blood at a concentration of one part per ten billion! The more bleed damage you cause, the higher that number gets. Do you want to fight off a feeding frenzy of dungeon sharks at the same time you are fighting whatever you were initially? Because I sure as hell don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh. Ok then.¡± Came the much subdued response. ¡°What element do you want to try next?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with earth and light, then move on to ice and some of the druid spells.¡± I took several calming breaths as Brock and Brosef came forward. ¡°What do you want first?¡± Brock asked. ¡°Try earth wall, then something with stone.¡± ¡°Alright. [Earth wall][Stone grasp][Stone lance].¡± The first spell drifted off in a cloud, slowly separating under the effects of the currents. The stone spells worked just fine though. ¡°Huh, ¡®bout what I figured. Good call testing it out of battle though.¡± He said, nodding and heading off. ¡°What y¡¯all want?¡± Brosef asked. ¡°Try a tight beam spell, then that binding spell you used.¡± ¡°Awlright.¡± He drawled. ¡°[Prismatic bolt][Cage of light].¡± The first bolt split into a rainbow of bolts, spreading out in a wave. The second spell held together longer, though it did develop an odd sheen of vibrating colors along the edges. I slashed at it with a dagger, cutting about a quarter of the way through one of the bars before my dagger was repelled.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That normal?¡± I asked. ¡°Naw. Shouldn¡¯ta been able to cut it at all. Prolly gonna turn most of my attacks into area spreads. Can still bind.¡± ¡°Alright. You know your skills best, think about how you can be effective.¡± I nodded. ¡°Expecting a boost to my skills?¡± Ice Queen asked. ¡°Possibly. Let¡¯s start with a simple spear, then that ice lotus of yours. Follow it up with the same using the boosted element, but watch your mana expenses closely if you would.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She said, giving me an odd look. ¡°[Ice spear][Ice lotus].¡± The ice lotus grew without any issues, but instead of firing forward like it should have the ice spear grew forward like an extending pole. ¡°That¡¯s, odd. [Clear ice spear][Clear lotus].¡± Again the results were the same, though the ice was clear. ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°That the spells would cost more mana? I spent nearly 20% more mana for the same results.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the ocean. Salt lowers the freezing point, so you need to use more mana to freeze it.¡± I answered with a shrug. Going through the druid spells, things were starting to look up. The spells took less mana, and actually covered a larger area than normal but ended up dying in half the time. Before starting to explore the level, I called Cinderfy over for one last experiment. ¡°Hey Cinder, can you give people a temporary electrical enchantment to electricity?¡± ¡°Yeah. It probably isn¡¯t as strong as one of the sages, but I can do it.¡± ¡°Go ahead and buff me then, let¡¯s see what happens.¡± ¡°Alright. Here goes, [Elemental blessing: electricity].¡± I saw a new icon pop up, and swung my daggers a few times. ¡°Oh, this is going to be great!¡± I said with a grin. The electricity didn¡¯t discharge, even on a missed attack. ¡°Your job is to keep everyone boosted with electrical attacks.¡± ¡°Oh thank God, I¡¯m not going to be bored out of my mind!¡± He relaxed, exhaling in relief. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s get going. Keep an eye out for dangers, and don¡¯t be afraid to call out issues. We are short on long range magic, and physical arrows tend to fly strangely so this is going to be an up close and personal floor.¡± We started off down the kelp highway, and I was immediately concerned as things were far too easy. HealYaButts had gone up a level and resurrected PlayWithMe once his body returned, and his sheepish apology to the raid kept me from absolutely tearing into him. He did apologize, but his mistake did lead me to some issues that I hadn¡¯t considered. All of our movements were slightly slowed down. Jumping depended on how much armor you were wearing, and the tanks sank a lot quicker than the mages did. Every so often I would go through some of my skills, but only about a third of the raid was doing it. The walk was distractingly beautiful. Schools of small fish would shimmer around us, and several people got a kick out of pointing and watching a hole appear through the middle of the school. There were several small varieties of seadragons as well. They looked like the seadragons in reality, hiding with leafy body parts, but unlike the real life version these were decidedly omnivores and had small fangs and claws. ¡°OH MY GOD, I HATE THESE EFFING CRABS!¡± Shocker shouted. Stomping around, he crushed several of the bastards, and I couldn¡¯t help but agree with him. They dulled the senses, and raised tempers. ¡°Hey, is that a treasure chest?¡± HolyDungeonDiver yelled out, pointing at a particularly thick stand of kelp. ¡°Death, come check this out with me.¡± He said, heading over. I just shook my head, this wasn¡¯t likely to be a good result. I was going to let them learn the hard lesson about letting a tank go first in case of enemies. They shoved aside some of the branches to reveal a hidden alcove with a coral treasure chest sitting in the middle. ¡°You see any traps?¡± ¡°[Detect trap].¡± Waiting a few seconds, Death made a full, slow circle of the chest. I was impressed with his thoroughness, as he was looking both above and below, as well as along the hinges. ¡°No traps detected. If you would be so kind?¡± ¡°With pleasure!¡± Diver responded, giddy. I thought for a half second I heard a click as he stepped in front of the chest, but must have been hearing things. ¡°Ugh, thing¡¯s gotta be rusted shut or something.¡± Grunting as he tugged at the latch holding it shut, it finally let go. When it did, the lid flew open and a cloud of pink exploded outward, painting the clothes of both members. ¡°What? Why am I pink? What the hell is this shit?¡± They immediately complained, trying to rub it off but only managing to smear it around. ¡°It won¡¯t come off!¡± They were frantically flailing about. ¡°Hey, calm it down! Do you guys have any odd status effects?¡± I shouted. ¡°Huh? I¡¯M PINK! OF COURSE IT¡¯S AN ODD STATUS EFFECT!¡± Diver shouted. ¡°No poisons or anything like that.¡± Death announced. ¡°Then don¡¯t worry about it. Call it a prank effect for everyone watching. Now on to important stuff, what was in the chest?¡± ¡°Um, looks like we have a unique saber and chest guard. Here¡¯s the stats.¡±
Coral Saber (unique) Made of living coral, this saber possesses a keen edge and a unique metallic core that allows for easily channeling lightning energy. Damage: 125-175 slashing Durability: 16,000/16,000 Adds 75-100 electrical damage per attack Bonus: Electrical buffs are twice as effective Regeneration: By consuming the blood of enemies or the wielder, this weapon can regenerate durability.
Coral chest guard (rare) Molded out of a softer coral, this light armor is a mainstay for water dwelling creatures. Adds a slight resistance to water attacks. Defense: 250 Durability: 15,000/15,000 Adds 10% water resist Regeneration: By consuming the blood of the wearer, this armor can regenerate durability. (Can¡¯t be used in combat)
¡°Not a bad weapon, though the armor kinda sucks.¡± Death lamented, returning to the raid. Going back on the kelp road, we headed deeper into the dungeon. Sporadic treasure chests with comparable armor and weapons were spotted on occasion, the vast preference for weapons being tridents. King used telekinesis to open each chest from a distance, as nobody trusted detect trap anymore. None triggered a blast of pink, though one in three had a pink cloud slowly disperse after opening. We also started getting into the occasional battle, as a marine predator would randomly attack. These were easily repelled, as a fish attacking a raid would get whittled down in no time. ¡°God, these blasted fish are disappointing.¡± Smiter griped after killing the tenth or eleventh barracuda. ¡°At least send a variant or something. Even a level 200 fish is just a fish after all.¡± Several groans accompanied his moaning, a couple people even threatening him for cursing the floor. ¡°Oh lighten up! Jinxing the dive is a bunch of superstitious nonsense!¡± ¡°Enemies ahead!¡± King yelled out, cutting through the arguments. Slowly moving closer were two humanoids with shark heads. Aside from the scales, they also had a tail running down between their legs, and moved forward by hopping up and propelling themselves with a flick or two of the tail.
Siyokoy Hunter Level 230 Part fish, part human, all horror, the Siyokoy is not something to trifle with. Do not be fooled by the animalistic features, as they have a society that could rival those of races who dwell on land. With the enhanced senses offered by their beast parts, they have risen to some of the top rungs of the marine food chain.
They wore coral armor like what the raid had found, and each was armed with a trident. Slung at one hip was a mesh bag, which they reached into and flung whatever they pulled out at King as soon as they were within range. *CLANG**CLANG* Dave and Smiter had stepped in front of King, and the clams that the creatures had thrown broke open when they struck the shields carried by the tanks. This caused the two to sneer, as they reached into their bags and started throwing something different at the two. They took no damage, but the clangs had a different sound and the hunters were more than happy to try and keep their distance. ¡°Let¡¯s close the distance. [Shield rush].¡± Dave activated his skill, only to grunt in annoyance. He launched forward about a foot, only to have the water disperse his momentum. ¡°Crap, we need a way to get closer!¡± He called out. ¡°[Elemental barrage: dark bolt].¡± King launched ten dark bolts at one of the creatures, taking out a large chunk of its life. That enraged it to the point where it shot forward, slamming through a clumsy attempt by Smiter to block it and biting down hard on King¡¯s shoulder. I don¡¯t know how King stopped from screaming, but he managed it as the barbarians surrounded him and started carving into the monster. Its physical defenses were better than its magical ones, but it still could only weather fifteen seconds of concentrated attacks. ¡°I¡¯ll bring the second one closer. [Riptide].¡± SpiceMix spoke calmly as she stepped to where she had a clear line on the second monster. All of a sudden there was an incredibly powerful current that sent the creature tumbling forward, to land disoriented at Dave¡¯s feet. ¡°Thanks Spice!¡± He said before plunging sword into the creature¡¯s chest. As he went to attack it again, it deflected his stab with its trident before scrambling to the side and dropping down. Dave and several others ran over, but returned shaking their heads. ¡°Blasted thing got away.¡± He muttered *SCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEuuuunnnnncccchhhhh* ¡°Gah, what the hell is that noise?¡± SpiceMix shouted, as the entirety of the raid bent over in pain from the sound. It started out like nails across metal, and ended with the sound of crumpling plate metal. ¡°I think it came from Smiter.¡± Someone behind me said. ¡°What the eff is this on my shield?¡± Smiter yelled.
Metallophage Barnacle Level 80 This unique species has evolved to consume and incorporate metals into its defense. One of the only types of barnacles that are not completely immobile after securing a location, they will actively seek out and consume nearby sources of metal. Their varied diets ensure that no two share the same markings on their shells.
¡°Kill it! The bastards are eating my shield!¡± Smiter yelled after reading the notification, impotently slamming his sword against the shell of the three creatures that had attached themselves. ¡°Let me. [Frozen touch].¡± Ice Queen stepped forward, and froze the three solid while Peppermint moved to help Dave out with his own barnacles. The creatures fell off to reveal a quarter sized divot in the front of each shield. ¡°Damn, it didn¡¯t lower the durability that much, but they could easily crunch through a shield given enough time.¡± Dave lamented. ¡°We¡¯ll have to keep an eye out, as those bastard monsters are likely raising them as living weapons.¡± Smiter said. ¡°What the hell were the other things they were throwing?¡± Bending down, he picked up a shattered shell.
Razorshell clam Level 55 The razorshell clam has a shell with a spiral pattern and incredibly sharp edges. Normally used to deter predators, these have been raised by the Siyokoy¡¯s to be easier to throw. Variants exist having been crossed with different types of jellyfish, lining the edges with stinging cells that can inject a multitude of venoms. Chain gloves are highly recommended for handling.
¡°Nasty.¡± King said, nodding at the description. ¡°Slice open and bleed target, let predators come and finish it off.¡± ¡°Yeah. At least they can¡¯t get through metal, so only the mages and rogues are really vulnerable.¡± I agreed. ¡°Well, we know what the big bad guys down here are, let¡¯s keep an eye out. I think it¡¯s safe to assume that one that ran away is going to be bringing back friends.¡± ¡°Is it just me, or is it getting darker?¡± Lucy asked ten minutes later. ¡°I feel like I can¡¯t see quite as far.¡± I looked up, and couldn¡¯t see the sun anymore. Looking around, the water had gone from crystal clear at the beginning of the level to ending in a deep blue color after about three hundred feet. ¡°I think you¡¯re right. I noticed the slightly clockwise curve to the road, but we must have been dropping slowly as well.¡± ¡°Holy crap, would you guys look at that current!¡± Blackthumb yelled from the left side of the road. ¡°Watch this!¡± Taking a leaf he had plucked from the kelp, he slipped it over the edge. Once it had extended nearly a foot and a half past the edge of the road, it was ripped out of his hands and sucked out of sight within seconds. ¡°Daaaaaaamn.¡± Diver said, tossing a leaf of his own just to watch it be sucked away. ¡°Stay away from the edge children!¡± Lucy chided in a motherly voice. ¡°If you get sucked off the edge, you¡¯ll die for sure.¡± ¡°Yes mom!¡± Blackthumb chuckled, heading back. ¡°Enemies ahead.¡± King called out, not even a minute later. The welcoming committee this time was six of the siyokoys. Four had sharks heads and were considered hunters, while two had marlin heads. These were retiarii, and had nets in one hand and tridents in the other. The hunters spread out, and opened with a volley of clams. ¡°[Riptide].¡± ¡°[Magic bolt barrage].¡± ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± ¡°Enemies at the reaAAAAAAAAH!¡± I turned to see GoldGuard being shoved by a siyokoy that had one of those old Japanese blunt pole weapons that priests always had in anime. The end was a crescent moon that fit snugly around the his neck, and he was rapidly closing in on the inner edge of the road. GotYerBack was tied down with a net from a retiarius, while another of the priest ones was heading toward HolyDungeonDiver. ¡°WATCH OUT!¡± Cinderfy yelled, shoving Diver out of the way and getting caught by the pole in his stead. The siyokoy wrenched him to the outside, and forced Cinder into the raging current. Just before he was dragged away, he grabbed the pole itself and managed to take his attacker with him. ¡°[Blink][Crippling blow].¡± I tried my best to save GoldGuard. What I didn¡¯t expect was the siyokoy to use its tail to launch forward, sending both itself and GoldGuard over the inner edge of the road. ¡°Ah!¡± I cried in pain, turning to see two hunters and another retiarius closing in on me. ¡°Still got some back here to take care of!¡± I called out, just as several thorn bushes erupted and tangled the creatures. A few of the berserkers came to help, and we showed them no mercy. Lady Fisticuffs was particularly adept at interrupting an attack or tangling an enemy weapon just enough that someone else could land a devastating blow. ¡°Thanks for the save.¡± I said, panting after taking out the last of the hunters. ¡°No problem.¡± Lady answered. ¡°Did we lose anyone?¡± ¡°Goldguard over the middle edge and Cinderfy to the currents.¡± I said. Walking up to Lucy, I asked her, ¡°How about this side? Lose anyone?¡± ¡°No. They were just a distraction. Only the net wielders engaged, while the others stayed back and took pot shots at us.¡± ¡°Alright, listen up everyone. It seems these bastards have a new annoying plan. Distractions from one direction while a few kamikaze try and take people over the edge or into the current. We¡¯ve been going for what, nearly 45 minutes or so? I need a small group to head back and pick up the bodies of GoldGuard and Cinderfy. The rest of us will wait here, and hope that these creatures will stay away from areas we have cleared. If the group isn¡¯t back in an hour and a half, we will head back. Volunteers?¡± Rather quickly the group was set. King, Citadel, Dave, SpiceMix and NotABandaid took off at a run, and I had faith they would easily make it back before we took the second hit to defense. The rest of the raid settled down to wait, keeping sentries posted watching all directions. The siyokoy wouldn¡¯t be climbing up from below without us knowing again. Book 3 Chapter 39 Cinderfy¡¯s POV ¡°Come on Cinder, hold on! If you lose grip on this pole who knows where you¡¯ll end up?¡± Despite the constant spinning and turning in the rough current, I mentally cheered myself on. It didn¡¯t matter that I had gotten separated from the rest of the raid, as death would eventually lead me back. I just didn¡¯t want to give these bastards the satisfaction without taking my own pound of flesh! Time had no meaning, everything revolved around the pole and the strange form of fishman on the other end of it. It had long since come away from around my neck, and the creature on the other end was very keen on getting it back where it thought it belonged. I disagreed. Without warning, we were ejected from the current. The pole was torn from my hand, and I was sent rolling across a sandy platform. As I struggled get oriented, I saw the creature approaching at a brisk pace. I managed to get my hands up, but momentum knocked me onto my back as I barely kept the pole away from my neck. It was a struggle we both knew I was going to lose, as the grin on the face made me realize. I also realized I was all alone, and there was no chance of hitting an ally. ¡°[Lightning bolt].¡± I channeled the spell into the coral weapon of the creature, and though I took some blowback he got the worst of it. As its muscles locked up in agony, I swung the pole away and got to my feet. ¡°Didn¡¯t like that much, did ya?¡± I taunted as he got his muscles back under control. It responded by charging at me with its mouth open, far too tempting of a target. ¡°[Azure firebolt].¡± I didn¡¯t know if sea creatures could scream, but it did let out an impressive amount of bubbles as it dug at its throat. I reached in and grabbed a knife off its belt, and started slashing wildly at the throat to help him get all that burned air out. Sure, I probably hit more fingers than throat, but eventually I got a good jab in and managed a rather jagged wound. It didn¡¯t take long after that for the creature to fall over in death. ¡°At least I got one of you.¡± I muttered as I looted the body. I got a knife and his boots, nothing too special. Turning, I took a look at where I was.
Sargasso Seafloor Dungeon level 7 Almost anything can be found on the Sargasso Seafloor. Located at the edge of a continental shelf and dropping off rapidly into the dark abyss, extreme care must be taken. The deep waters limit even darkvision.
After dismissing the popup, I sucked in a breath. I was in a sandy area designed for whatever the current spat out. Closing in on my position were three of the hunters. Beyond them was an underwater village, houses made from caves carved into coral reefs. I could see other fish people working there, but I was too far away for details. Holding my weapon like a kitchen knife, I watched the hunters close in. Hopefully they would assume that I was a melee fighter, and get within my limited range. Unfortunately, they pulled up short and pulled out a few needles from their nets. In my flailing, I managed to deflect one, but three others pierced my arms and one hit me in the chest.
Paralyzed! You have been struck by a potent paralytic poison. Unable to move for 1 minute.
I froze, and the hunters grinned as two came closer, the third running back towards the village. One would occasionally poke me with another needle, roughly every 45 seconds or so. The other had taken my knife and checked to make sure that I had no other weapons. At least they couldn¡¯t get into my inventory. A few minutes later, and the third hunter returned with a few others carrying a cross. My wrists and ankles were lashed to it, and I was carried into the village. At least I wouldn¡¯t be cooked over a fire, unless they somehow had a volcanic vent nearby. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV I sat down a slight distance away from most of the people in the raid, and looked things over. It wasn¡¯t good. Several were already laying down for a quick nap, and most of the rest had the sunken eye look of someone who had been pushed too hard for too long. ¡°Ya know, you can¡¯t be thinkin¡¯ this hard all the time. You¡¯ll go crazy.¡± Lucy said as she plopped down next to me. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth?¡± I chuckled. ¡°So what¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°How much longer before people start breaking. I think we have one, maybe two more hours to find an absolutely safe spot and bunker down before everything starts falling apart.¡± ¡°Glad you see the issue as well. Just, is there ever going to be a safe spot in this dungeon?¡± ¡°If I were designing it? Not a chance. But if the developers had some hidden rules that I had to follow? I¡¯m betting there¡¯s one coming up soon. Otherwise nobody would be able to clear a dungeon.¡± ¡°Point.¡± She responded, nodding. ¡°Wherever it is, it sure as hell ain¡¯t gonna be on this floor. Can you imagine trying to rest with all these blasted crabs?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget the ambushing fishmen and the currents should you get too close to an edge.¡± ¡°WHAT THE HELL?!¡± Diver shouted, frantically beating against his chest. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked as I ran over, people clearing around him. Now that I took a good look, his once white robes were nearly entirely pink. ¡°I¡¯m in critical durability!¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°My robes! I don¡¯t understand it!¡± I got a sinking feeling, especially when I saw a wisp of pink float away from his shoulder. I got a little closer, and used identify on his robes. Specifically, the pink portion of them.
Pink Tide A nasty algae bloom, it infests and consumes whatever it can get attached to. It will spread until the substrate is completely consumed, then small portions will detach and look for other hosts. Unlike more deadly blooms, the Pink Tide produces no toxins. Extreme heat is the best way to eradicate the infection, though care must be taken to ensure the colonies complete destruction.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
¡°Sly bastard. That isn¡¯t a pink dye that stains your clothes, it¡¯s an algae bloom that is eating your gear. Someone cast flame cloak on both Diver and DeathFromAbove. He¡¯s probably losing durability as well.¡± ¡°Holy crap, I am!¡± He shouted, as Grandelf stepped forward. ¡°[Flamecloak]. [Flamecloak].¡± He had to wait thirty seconds between casts, but soon both were surrounded by swirling bubble as the nearby water boiled. Grandelf gave them each a minute before cancelling the spells to reveal clothes with holes worn in them. ¡°Oh no. Nononononononooooooooo!¡± Diver cried, falling to his knees. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Grandelf asked, looking him over to make sure all the pink was gone. The only thing left to everyone¡¯s eyes were light brown stains that were breaking up and drifting off as the two unlucky players moved. ¡°The enchantments!¡± ¡°What about the enchantments?¡± ¡°Here, just read it.¡± Diver wailed, sending everyone a notification.
Warning! Robes disenchanted! Your robes have been eaten by a colony of algae! While this normally only lowers durability, the algae was particularly fond of eating the magical threads that enchanted your gear. As such, the enchantment has been completely destroyed. The only way to salvage it is to repair with the same magical threads used in its creation and reapplying the enchantments. Repairing in any other way will result in regular robes that provide no bonuses.
¡°Grandelf, go ahead and hit everyone in the raid with that flamecloak spell. Diver, do you have anything to replace your robes with?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not nearly as good but I do have acolyte robes.¡± ¡°Alright, go ahead and use that for now. If we find anything better in the dungeon, we¡¯ll go ahead and let you use it. Death, how¡¯s your stuff?¡± ¡°I lost half the enchantment strength, but it is repairable.¡± He answered. ¡°Seems it has a bit tougher time going through leather.¡± We settled back in to relax and wait for the resurrection group to return. Grandelf and Peppermint were moving between people, making sure that everyone spent at least a minute to destroy any algae blooms that they might have come in contact with. ¡°Did you miss us?¡± Dave called out, causing a few people to immediately jump with hands on weapon hilts. ¡°Welcome back!¡± Lucy replied, though she tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Aren¡¯t you one person short?¡± ¡°Cinderfy never showed up. When we got there, Goldguard was already waiting. We gave Cinder another ten minutes, then came back.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°Damn. That means Cinder is alive somewhere. Let¡¯s go ahead and press on, trying to speed things up.¡± I said, getting groans from a lot of people. We fell into formation fairly quickly, continuing our trek. It was rather obvious now that we were moving downhill, and the curve in the road was much more pronounced. The deeper we got, the thinner the seaweed forest became, but we were still losing light rapidly. ¡°Anyone else see that?¡± Peppermint asked, pointing upward and into one bit of the forest. ¡°What did you see?¡± Dave asked, squinting as he tried to see into the gloom. ¡°Long, dark shape. Couldn¡¯t quite make it out, but it seemed to be almost all tail.¡± ¡°Mages, if you have the magelight spell, please send it off into the forest. Let¡¯s see what we can flush out.¡± Several balls of light were immediately sent, followed a few seconds later by a second volley. ¡°Good God, would you look at that.¡± Someone muttered, as a sleek shark slipped easily between the lights. Nearing 40 feet, it was enormous. Nearly a third of that length was the upper portion of a tail. It would normally be just out of our visual range, and its movements made it easy to tell that it had been circling the raid for a while. ¡°How did we ever miss that?¡± ¡°It was just. . . sitting there? Watching us?¡± ¡°Fuck this dungeon man. This is why I don¡¯t do oceans. Too many things with too much teeth, just waiting to come and bite you. And you have no idea just how close they can come.¡± ¡°Calm down Chaos-.¡± ¡°DON¡¯T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN DAMNIT!¡± Chaosbringer shouted at Dave. ¡°I fucking hate the ocean, and this is exactly why. What else is out there hunting us? Huh? Tell me!¡± ¡°Chaos, take a deep breath.¡± I said, walking over. I put a hand on each shoulder, and got in his face so he could only see me. ¡°I know you¡¯re scared. It¡¯s a perfectly normal response. Take a deep breath. There you go, that¡¯s it. Another. Deep breath. Now remember. We are in a fantasy world. You¡¯re a badass berserker with a massive greatsword. Any shark that comes to take a bite out of you? It better have training as a sword swallower or its gonna have a bad day, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He said, nodding along. ¡°Yeah. Yeah, you¡¯re right. Gonna make the fucker choke on my blade.¡± ¡°THAT¡¯S THE SPIRIT!¡± Dave chuckled, slapping him on the back. ¡°Alright, we have a choice here. Anyone get an identification on it?¡± I asked. ¡°I got ya.¡± Shocker stepped forward, sending a notification to the rest of the raid.
Mithril Tail Thresher Shark Level 225 A variant of the thresher shark, the mithril tail has strands of metal flowing through its skin granting it extra defense. Usually solitary hunters, these sharks divide hunting depth based upon strength and size.
¡°If that ain¡¯t a floor boss, I¡¯m a monkey¡¯s uncle.¡± Brosef said after reading the description. ¡°Y¡¯all want me to try and pull it?¡± Everyone was in agreement, so Brosef started us off. ¡°[Prismatic blast].¡± Though it did minimal damage, with as wide of a spread from the diffraction the attack was a guaranteed hit. ¡°Imma turn you into sushi!¡± GoldGuard yelled as a taunt, diverting the shark¡¯s attack. After slamming into his shield and getting a slash to the snout in return, the ranged attackers started piling on. The shark stopped attacking GoldGuard, and started circling the raid. Then it did something none of us expected. Just like a whip, it cracked its tail above the group of healers, stunning them with the shockwave. ¡°No healing for a bit!¡± Someone called out, and I heard at least three other people repeat it to make sure that everyone knew. Turning, the shark cut through the raid group, using its metal skin as a weapon. The speed of the attack was incredible, and half of the attack skills missed completely. ¡°Damn, how are we going to slow this guy down?¡± I muttered, looking around. The druids couldn¡¯t conjure a plant binding fast enough, and the ice skills would shatter against that skin. ¡°I got this.¡± Brock said, keeping a close eye on the shark. Once again it turned to run through the raid. ¡°[Fists of the Stone Giant].¡± The shark shattered the first fist, but that was fine. Brock just needed it to slow down enough to get hit with the massive overhand blow from the other fist, knocking it nose first into the kelp highway. ¡°[Binding vines].¡± All the druids cast the spell at the same time, and managed to bind up the majority of the shark. ¡°[Shield rush]!¡± Dave tried to close the distance, but only moved forward one step as the resistance of the water was far too much to handle. ¡°[Blink][Crippling blows][Storm of blades][Midnight¡¯s Kiss].¡± While others were concentrating on the main body, I tried to shred the elongated upper portion of the tail so that it couldn¡¯t do that whip crack attack again. ¡°It¡¯s got physical melee reflect!¡± I called out a warning, grimacing as my health dropped a bit with each attack. With the raid warned and the healer¡¯s recovered from their stun, we fell into an easy pattern. The druids would rotate binding skills, keeping the shark pinned. People would rotate in and out, leaving the healers to keep up the tanks¡¯ health. That¡¯s not to say the shark didn¡¯t have a few tricks of its own. Every so often it would spin, shredding the vines holding it and causing horrid bleeding damage to anyone within range. Luckily the cooldown for that skill was the same as for Brock¡¯s giant hands skill, and he would use it to hold the shark still while the druids locked it down again. Eventually it started releasing lightning attacks, which really slowed down the damage we were able to inflict. Not only did it have a fairly high chance for a one second paralysis, but the extra damage forced the melee groups to rotate out faster so the healers weren¡¯t overburdened. We were persistent though, and ten minutes of battle saw the shark perishing.
Danger! One of the guardians has been slain. Denizens of the Depths grow bolder.
¡°Oh fuck me.¡± Someone groaned as we all received a notification, and I had to agree. What fun stuff had we unwittingly released? ¡°We¡¯ll deal with it when we have to, just like everything else. Loot the shark, and let¡¯s get going.¡± I ordered, and we set off once again. Twenty five units of metallic sharkskin, ten shark teeth, the artisans were going to be fighting over the drops. Book 3 Chapter 40 Cinderfy¡¯s POV They carried me through the village, giving me a limited view of everything. Smaller children would make nets, while the older ones practiced their skills. Any of the hunter species of fish would be attacking stands of coral and sandbags. There were some species that would herd smaller marine life into caves before dropping nets in front to trap them there. The main boulevard was lit with light crystals, and kept clear. The oddest part were the houses. They were made of coral, though they had doors that closed to completely seal in the residents. Whatever these creatures were, they were obsessed with defense. The houses weren¡¯t set in regular intervals, and the doors never opened onto the main street. Seeing one in cross section, it was at least inches thick. There was no sand kept by the houses, and just in case none of the doors touched the sea floor. Once through the village, things opened up. It was almost like a sandy beach, heading straight out to a cliff that was marked with a line of poles with more of the light crystals. Beyond the cliff? Black. Utterly devoid of everything black. Midway between the light posts and the village, I was placed into a rocky slot buried in the ground. They left me, facing that endless darkness. Tied up as a sacrifice. There were buckets of entrails left at the base of my pole to attract whatever came out of the deep. Surrounding me in the sands were leftovers from previous battles. Shards of shells that the Siyokoy hunters liked to use were scattered among shards of coral poles.
Danger! One of the guardians has been slain. Denizens of the Depths grow bolder.
Fuck that. I wasn¡¯t going to be a sacrifice to some Denizen of the Depths. Whatever that was. ¡°[Flamecloak].¡± Surrounded by bubbles, the bindings holding me to the cross broke, gently dropping me to the seafloor. I canceled the skill, and looked behind me. Of course, there was a line of hunters and fighters, all facing the cliff. Picking up one of the larger shells, I walked over to see what was going on with this cliff. ¡°Whoah.¡± I muttered. The drop off was nearly vertical, though there were plenty of hand holds from what little I could see. Channeling mana into the clam shell, I activated my [Remote lightning mine] skill. I didn¡¯t get to use it much with raids, but it was a nice one to have. It only took three seconds and fifty mana to fully charge, making it one of the medium sized bombs. I tossed it over the edge, letting it sink into the depths. At seventy-five feet, it automatically detonated, giving me a small flash of light. ¡°Well, it¡¯s over a hundred feet deep, that¡¯s for sure.¡± I muttered, before turning back and walking away. As I neared the line of hunters, they all tensed and pointed weapons at me. ¡°Easy, I¡¯m not making a mad dash for freedom.¡± I tried speaking but none of them moved. Perhaps they didn¡¯t understand English? Wouldn¡¯t be that surprising. First attempt at communication failing, I started miming. I pointed at the nets the hunters wore, then mimed taking it off and making it smaller and handing it to me. After the third or fourth frustrating reiteration of what I wanted, something changed. What are you playing at, landwalker? A strange voice echoed in my head. Telepathy? Yes, we communicate with your telepathy. What is it you want? ¡°Oh. Well, is there any chance that I can get some of your older, smaller nets? I¡¯m looking for ones that hold a handful of shells.¡± What for? ¡°I assume the Denizens of the Depths are going to come up the cliff and you are going to sacrifice me to them? They are going to be coming in a wave?¡± Yes and yes. They gather at the edge before attempting to move forward. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a willing sacrifice. If you give me what I need, I¡¯m going to kill a metric fuckton of the bastards.¡± A pathetic attempt. We won¡¯t be giving you the tools to escape. ¡°You think I¡¯m lying? Here, take a look into my mind then fuckwad. This is my plan.¡± I growled out, going over the plan in my head. ¡°Now get me what I need so that I can have everything prepared!¡± I shouted the last part, and saw his eyes widen at my madness. Turning back to the village, something happened but I didn¡¯t care. Hopefully it was them getting me what I needed. You¡¯ll have your nets. It usually takes a half hour before they arrive, though they might come earlier with the guardian¡¯s passing. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, pulling out the trident from my inventory. Spearing it into the ground, I channeled a spell through it. ¡°[Lightning bolt].¡± I picked up a shell and used my [Remote lightning mine] spell as I waited for a cooldown to end, stepping to the side so that it was clear of the first one. I¡¯m sure some of the people watching would realize what I was up to, but a lot would be confused. I kept this process up for six minutes, burning through my entire mana pool. ¡°Gah, these potions still taste like crap.¡± I grumbled, downing a mana potion to refill my bar. I was gonna have a terrible headache after this for sure, but by god it was gonna be fun. Once I had twenty-four of the remote mines, I changed things up. Here you go. Echoed in my head, and I turned to see the hunter sling a net in my direction. Picking it up, I found it full of smaller nets, just like I asked. ¡°Thanks. Now you guys get to sit back and enjoy the show.¡± Going back to where I was casting lightning, I started digging until I found what I had created. Fulgurite. Branching glass formed when lightning melts sand. I grinned when I managed to dig it all up, as mine were absolutely huge. Nearing five feet long, I pulled them up and set my makeshift spears in my inventory. I then started collecting shells like mad, and charging them up with a slightly different spell. Instead of remote activation, these were simple [Delayed lightning detonation traps] and were far easier to activate. Strike them with enough force, physical or mana based, and they would give a three second count before exploding. Just enough time for most monsters to believe they were safe. I lined the inside of the nets with these delayed traps, placing the remote trap in the middle. Boom. Instant lightning grenades with chain explosions. My first line was six fulgurite poles two feet from the edge of the chasm. I left almost five feet between the poles, and each one got its own bag of fun. Ten feet away, I did a triple line of six poles. Each line was separated by three feet, and the poles were staggered for maximum effect. Again, they all got their own bag of fun. I had three bags left over, and spent the remainder of my time filling them up. Two were the same as the rest of the fun bags, but the last one was all remote mines. Something had to be in charge of the incoming wave, and that something was going to have a very bad day if it got close enough. Preparations complete, I sat down to meditate and recover what I could while saving mana. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV After killing the shark, everyone took a few minutes to just relax and get something quick to eat. I didn¡¯t let anyone go through with the full meal, but premade rations and a drink were in order. ¡°Before we get going, make sure that all your buffs have been reapplied. Anything less than an hour gets reset.¡± I called out, getting everything in order. ¡°I don¡¯t like that Cinder¡¯s been missing this long.¡± I grumped as I sat down next to King and Citadel. ¡°Hiding or prisoner?¡± King asked. ¡°Prisoner.¡± Citadel said. ¡°Mages have no hiding skills, at least nothing that will hide them from those hunters. If he were found out, he would fight until killed. Somehow he must be incapacitated.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°I just wish we didn¡¯t have to have eyes on raid members to get updated statuses.¡± ¡°Challenge is good for us though.¡± King nodded. ¡°Keep pushing the limits.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Push the limits, grow beyond.¡± I chuckled. I had to admit, we were pushing our limits here. I really hoped the devs decided to unleash more of these underwater dungeons. Coming up with a breathing enchantment really opened up the varieties, as most everyone had done the traditional dungeons. ¡°I wonder if they¡¯ll have a space dungeon.¡± I muttered. ¡°Not likely.¡± Citadel replied, though it wasn¡¯t really directed at him. ¡°Though some more exotic planes could easily be brought in if you could put this breathing enchantment on a piece of equipment.¡± ¡°There¡¯s an idea. Mark it down in your journals. We will have to do some thought experiments with Dark Queen when we get done with this dungeon.¡± I said before getting to my feet. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s get going. Cinder¡¯s probably sitting around waiting for us to come save his ass.¡± Ominous message aside, the raid was in fairly good spirits after the battle and short break. I just hoped we got to a rest area soon, otherwise our pace would slow considerably. The breaks after battle would come much more often, and have to be longer. Shrugging at trying to plan for the unknown, we started off in the same formation we had been using. ¡°Let¡¯s try and pick up the pace just a bit.¡± I called out, not wanting to stay on this endless road much longer. Since it was now easily noticed that it wasn¡¯t flat, we had to be nearing the end. ¡°Hey, I think I see something up ahead!¡± Dave called out after we had been moving for fifteen minutes. ¡°I think the road is ending!¡± We all started forward at a jog, wanting to see what the brownish grey blur would resolve itself into. The road was taking a much steeper descent, almost as if we were coming off an overly large arched bridge. ¡°Hey, what is that?¡± Shocker asked, pointing off into the distance. ¡°What did you see?¡± I asked, immediately on edge. ¡°Looked like a big flash of light. A line of them actually, gone too quickly for me to get anything else.¡± As we all stared, another series of lights went off in succession. ¡°Anyone wanna bet that those are natural lights just going off while we are missing a mage?¡± Lucy asked.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Looks like Cinder¡¯s calling for backup everyone. This is the speedrun portion of the dungeon folks. Tanks, I want a V formation in front, plowing through anything in our way. King, you¡¯re on navigation. Any water mages in the middle of the V. Use riptide to force anything in our way to the sides. Everyone else follow as close as you can, guardians bring up the rear. We don¡¯t stop until we reunite with whatever Cinder¡¯s fighting, and then we cut loose. Ready?¡± ¡°YEAH!¡± The raid cheered, rapidly shifting into formation and taking off at a fast trot. At the bottom of the road, we got a notification about entering the seventh level of the dungeon, one that was ignored. We came up to a road through a coral reef, far too straight to be natural. The flashes of light were getting closer now, obviously arcs of lightning. At the end of the road was a line of the siyokoy, facing away from us. ¡°Mages, make us a hole!¡± I called out, and we dashed through the broken line to see just what they were watching. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Cinderfy¡¯s POV It was time. They came from the deep, tentacles and claws the first signs of their appearance. Each hideous in its own way. Strange lights lit up in entrancing patterns covered some. Others had orbs of light hanging from a fleshy tentacle in front of their mouth. Rubbery skin, chitin covered, some so thin you could see organs digesting previous meals. Oversized mouths full of needle teeth, hooking backward to entrap prey. They gathered at the edge of the line of fulgurite, waiting for an overwhelming numbers advantage.
Aboleth lesser slave Level 180 Enslaved by an Aboleth, these creatures have no will of their own anymore. They seek to go and bring back new fodder to increase their numbers, or anything else that will please their master. Lacking the ability to plan or react to unique situations they simply use numbers to overwhelm unsuspecting targets.
Time for bonus style points. ¡°LADIES AND GENTLEMEN PLEASE! WOULD YOU BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO ME!¡± I sang out, getting the attention of everything once enough of them had gathered. ¡°FOR A FEAST FOR YOUR EYES TO SEE, AN EXPLOSION OF CATASTROPHE!¡± Pointing to the the line of fulgurite closest to the edge, I smiled and said, ¡°Boom.¡± Oh it was wondrous! Bursts of lightning electrocuted everything within range, priming the shell shrapnel mines that went off seconds later. Purplish blood filled the water as body parts sprayed in all directions. I set off the secondary string of explosions that I had planted at the edge of the cliff, causing the edge to sink into the depths, taking whatever survived the initial assault down with it. Another few minutes, and they were back. They didn¡¯t show any extra caution, and I didn¡¯t expect any from their descriptions. Time to draw them in. ¡°LADIES AND GENTLEMEN GOOD EVENING, YOU¡¯VE SEEN AND SEEING IS BELIEVING. YOUR EARS AND YOUR EYES MAY BE BLEEDING, PLEASE CHECK, TO SEE IF YOU¡¯RE STILL BREATHING. HOLD TIGHT, ¡®CAUSE THE SHOW IS NOT OVER. IF YOU WILL, PLEASE MOVE IN CLOSER!¡± I kept singing, smiling that I knew the perfect song. ¡°YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE BOWLED OVER, BY THE WONDERS YOU¡¯RE ABOUT TO BEHOLD, HERE!¡± Following the sound of my voice, they moved forward, not recognizing the traps for what they were. I let the first few get just past the final line of fulgurite before detonating it. While that had to have sent some stumbling backward, I detonated the line furthest from me to create as large of a bunch in the middle as I could, before finishing it with the final set of explosions.
Danger! The large concentration of undiluted blood in the water has attracted the attention of the guardians.
¡°Lovely. I bet the chance of them actually getting here in time to do anything is about nil.¡± I muttered. I wonder how far out the raid is? Bastards are taking their sweet damn time getting here. Brace yourself. We will use currents to clear the blood away. I felt the slight drag as two currents swept past on either side of me, blowing away the blood. There were a few still moving around, but the majority of the field was covered in body parts. Then it appeared. A massive fish, just above the bodies of the fallen. Three eyes centered along the midline of its forehead, it had a matching set of three tentacles coming from behind its neck. It surveyed the battlefield for a second, before narrowing its eyes in my direction. SO, YOU ARE THE IMPUDENT ONE WHO SLAUGHTERED MY SERVENTS. YOU MIGHT MAKE A DECENT GREATER SERVANT. WE SHALL SEE. Instinctively I covered my ears as the imperious voice thundered inside my skull. Bending over from the pain, I shuddered as I felt it trying to go through my memories. ¡°[Li, li, lightning bolt].¡± I stammered out through the pain, but the creature was far out of range. PITIFUL. YOU LACK DISTANCE ATTACKS DOWN HERE. I CAN GIFT YOU MAGICS TO FIX THAT. ALL YOU MUST DO IS SURRENDER YOUR WILL TO ME. ¡°Psh. Nothing good ever came out of becoming something¡¯s slave. Hard pass.¡± I growled out, thinking of a plan. The voice lost a bit of its thunder in my skull, becoming more amused. IT MATTERS NOT. SOON YOU WILL HAVE NO CHOICE. THEN YOUR FRIENDS WILL JOIN AS WELL. ¡°[Immolate].¡± I cast a spell that instantly appeared around the target, something I should have realized I could do before. I saw the bubbles flash around the creature, but the health bar immediately disappeared and there was no cry of agony or surprise. While I was wondering where it went, I saw a massive form haul itself up over the edge of the cliff.
Aboleth greater slave Level 210 A much more powerful servant, the greater slave retains the abilities to think and plan. Often used as generals and relays to control the masses of troops below them, they are not to be underestimated. They also have the ability to channel the essence of their master, and can summon an illusion of them within one mile of their physical presence.
The creature was twice as tall as the rest of us. Its arms were incredibly long, and had a third joint. Armored, they ended in pincers like a crab. Its body was humanoid, though it had multiple incredibly thin legs. The head was shaped like a squid, complete with tentacles around the mouth and two extra-long grasping tentacles. Oversized eyes on each side of the head gave it an incredibly wide field of vision. I could see a jet black beak clicking in the mouth. Surrounding this oversized monstrosity were ten of the lesser slaves. The giant one pointed, and the others charged. General indeed. With a manic grin, I charged forward to meet them. I threw the two remote mines behind them, wanting to get the guards grouped up. As expected, they fell for it and increased their speed. ¡°Fools. [Chain lightning]!¡± One of my favorite spells for taking out large groups, not only would it branch out to strike multiple targets, but you could channel it as well. With one spell, I channeled half of my mana until all of them ended up falling to the spell. The flash blindness from the spell turned into my doom. As I was blinking away the temporary blindness, I got hit in the side by one of the tentacles. It wrapped me up, and immediately started bringing me closer to the head. From there, I could see the clacking beak ready to remove a limb or two while the rest of the tentacles were writhing in anticipation of holding me hostage and dragging me back to their master. ¡°Idiot. You think I need to move my hands to channel a spell?¡± I growled out, waiting as the smaller tentacles started grabbing on to me. ¡°[Cloak of storms][Lightning explosion] AAAAAAH!¡± I took some damage from the spells going wild, but the majority of it struck the tentacles, and froze the beak open. With a manic grin, I threw the final bag into the mouth of the creature. Ten remote electric mines exploded as one, shredding the inside of the mouth and severing most of the tentacles holding on to me. Alas, one last one managed to hold on to my left ankle, leaving me dangling upside down. ¡°Quite the light show. Mind if we join in? [Necrotic edge].¡± Fucking hell! I looked up to see Mr. Whiskers grinning like a madman as a sickly blue green glow enveloped his blade and severed the last tentacle holding on to me. He managed to grab my other leg and help me right myself somewhat, though I still had to roll a bit when I hit the ground. ¡°Took ya long enough.¡± I grinned as we retreated, the clangs of chitin on metal signaling that the tanks were preventing the monster from trampling us. ¡°Well, you know us. Gotta make a grand entrance. Besides, you were doing fairly well till you let yourself get caught.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it, and started laughing maniacally. That type of laughter that happens when you know you somehow avoided death, and have no idea how you did it. Panting, I bent over to catch my breath as we fell back behind a wall of guardians. ¡°Cinder, you started the party without us!¡± Lucy chided, before turning and helping the other druids cast binding spells on those odd shaped legs. Unfortunately, the chitin covering them was too smooth, and the vines simply slid off. ¡°My bad guys. Whiskers, that isn¡¯t the final boss though. It¡¯s just a slave, and the big boss has psychic powers.¡± ¡°What?¡± Growling, he identified the monster and I saw his face drain of color. ¡°Aboleth? Oh fuck me running. There¡¯s no way we are going to be able to take down an Aboleth.¡± ¡°Then we should finish this in a hurry, huh?¡± Brock asked, stepping forward. ¡°The best thing about squids, is that they don¡¯t have a hard shell. That makes them, squishy. [Fists of the Stone Giant].¡± With an exaggerated clapping motion, Brock smashed the remains of the head under a clap from the two massive sized hands. The rest of the body kept moving for a few seconds, before sinking down. ¡°Someone hurry up and loot whatever bodies are around, we can split it up later. We gotta get moving!¡± Whiskers called out, trying to hurry everyone along. I understood why he was hurrying, but the rest of the raid didn¡¯t realize the danger. They thought they had just defeated the boss. WHAT¡¯S THE RUSH? SURELY YOU WILL WANT TO STAY AROUND. . . FOREVER! That voice thundered inside the heads of the raid, dropping several. It was far more potent this time around, and I saw several people nearby had pink clouds leaving their ears and noses. Rising up from behind the cliff, there it was in all its glory. Green skin with orange accents highlighted its terrible beauty, as his piercing glare catalogued us in moments. The water surrounding him was cloudy, partially obstructing our view, which was proper. Lowly servants like ourselves should never behold the terrible beauty of the master. ABOLETH! BEGONE FROM THIS AREA! LEST YOU WISH TO CHALLENGE US? Just before I could kneel, a challenging roar came from behind, shattering the psychic hold on us. I turned to see what had to be the guardians from the earlier notification. Metallic sharks, sleek dolphins that blurred in my vision, and several multicolored octopi with vibrant colors faced off against the terrible power of the mast, no the Aboleth. Ugh, my head fucking hurts. I didn¡¯t realize how much that creature was holding back earlier, unless it was just that the inferior servant could only channel a fraction of its power. FOOLISH GUARDIANS. THOUGH YOU ARE MISSING ONE, I DON¡¯T WISH TO PRESS MY LUCK TODAY. ENJOY YOUR ¡®VICTORY¡¯. Movement was returned to us, as the Aboleth sunk backwards into the depths, never turning his back to the combined forces arrayed against him. YOU. WE SHALL REMEMBER YOU, FOR ALL OUR LIVES. [SOUL MARK]. VENTURE INTO OUR TERRITORY AGAIN, AND YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE! The voice thundered inside my head again, and I felt an insubstantial skill slam into my body and knew that I was forever marked. The only thing that could remove the mark would be to slay the entire line of the Aboleth that marked me. Shuddering in horror at the implications, I turned to see the guardians as they sank down towards our level. One of the siyokoy was walking forward, adorned with jewelry and carrying a coral staff.
Aboleth retreated! Greater slave defeated! The Denizens of the Depths flee in abject terror!
Achievement unlocked! Out of my league I You have faced a being far beyond your capabilities and survived. Those with the ability will see the mark left upon all members of your group. Luck +30 Increased gains with factions that can recognize the mark
Landwalkers. In your ignorance, you slew one of the guardians. Your folly will be forgiven once, and only once. However, one of your number shouldered the brunt of the Aboleth¡¯s attack. With the help of your group, you even managed to slay a greater slave, a substantial feat. Your care in ensuring that none were injured by their arrival has weighed heavily in your favor. The most telling part was your willingness to stand against a greater darkness than what your group would have been able to withstand. For that, you have earned the respect of the guardians and the Siyokoy tribes. We know of your journey, and offer you sanctuary. Return to the village, and one of the coral longhouses will be transformed into a base for yourselves. A safe place to rest, as well as respawn. Nearby you will find the portal leading to the next floor of the dungeon.
Title gained: Friend of the Siyokoy
Book 3 Chapter 41 Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV Oh thank god. Thank god and the wonderful devs that we found a safe zone. ¡°Guardians, we apologize for the misunderstanding earlier, and you have our promise not to do so again. If you don¡¯t mind, we shall retire to the safe zone and prepare for heading further unto the dungeon.¡± Most of the raid gave the guardians a bow or at least a nod of respect, and one of the Siyokoy waved us to follow him. He led us down the main thoroughfare, turning at the end of the reef. To the side was an arch of coral, with several mana stones embedded into it, though they were empty at the moment. The Siyokoy opened the door, hidden perfectly within the coral. ¡°Are all the handles made from the orange coral?¡± I asked, intrigued. It shook its head no, not willing to answer. I guess friend status only got you so far. Shrugging, I let the raid go through first. There were several steps carved into the coral, letting us drop down into a hidden cave protected by several inches of rock. There were plenty of hidden vents to get clean air, and more of those light stones embedded in the area.
Safe zone discovered! Congratulations raid leader, in discovering a safe zone in the dungeon. You cannot be attacked here. In order to maintain the raid, at least 5 members must be logged in at the same time. While in the safe zone, the secondary resurrection penalty is negated. Health and mana recover at twice the normal rate.
¡°Alright everyone, listen up. We¡¯ve had a hell of a time so far, and a few bumps in the road. That said, we¡¯re still here. We¡¯ve found a safe zone, a forward base for taking down this dungeon. As long as five of us are still logged in, we are still considered in a raid. So we get to take care of some things that are probably reaching urgent status right now. Dave, Lucy, Citadel, King and myself will stay to hold the raid for now. Everyone else take ten minutes to log out and take care of emergency items. Once everyone has finished with bathroom emergencies, we will start a longer rotation for food, and finally some sleep. Now, get going, you have ten minutes.¡± Once everyone was logged out, I looked at our much smaller group. ¡°Sorry, but I figured the leaders and members of my guild would be ok holding off on taking care of things.¡± ¡°No worries, I¡¯m sure we would have done the same thing.¡± Dave said, storing his armor and plopping down onto one of the hammocks. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a plan for the loot we just got?¡± ¡°I was hoping you would see the issues.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°The boss was a team effort, I say it gets divvied up by the agreed upon split, though we can give Cinder the option for a bonus as a commendation for incredible effort. The rest was his doing. I¡¯m up for letting him keep the spoils, or at most a tithe paid to the raid.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ok with the tithe, as long as Cinder gets to pick what goes to the raid and what he keeps.¡± Lucy spoke up. ¡°We can go by system chosen monetary value.¡± ¡°Let him keep it all.¡± King grunted. ¡°I¡¯m with King.¡± Citadel agreed. ¡°He took on incredible odds, especially for a mage. He deserves it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but if the raid was with him we could have made a difference.¡± Dave started. ¡°No.¡± King shook his head. ¡°The raid would have gotten in his way. He used all area lightning attacks. Impossible with the raid there.¡± ¡°King¡¯s right.¡± Lucy pointed out. ¡°He got to go all out, without worrying about collateral damage.¡± ¡°Fine, fine, I see your point. Let¡¯s just go with the tithe, he chooses what is paid out.¡± * * * * * * * * * * * * * Game Announcer1: Holy cow, what a fantastic finish! I never would have thought that an Aboleth would be waiting them! Game Announcer2: Indeed! For those that don¡¯t know, Aboleth¡¯s are incredibly dangerous. They can enslave and mutate people, and are born with a perfect ancestral memory! Game Announcer1: That¡¯s right! Melee won¡¯t save you, as that cloud of mucus around them is incredibly poisonous. Truly a fearsome opponent. We have word from some of the developers that this is the first confirmed sighting of an Aboleth where everyone survived. For those wanting to go out and challenge the creature, be warned. It is recommended that you bring at least a triple raid group of max level characters. We didn¡¯t see it, but the Aboleth is a level 275 legendary class creature. Game Announcer2: I didn¡¯t even see it face to face and I¡¯m shaking in my seat! We do have some great news to pass along. The raid is going to be resting for at least ten hours, so those of us watching are able to take care of bodily functions. Feel free to log out at any time. At nine and a half hours from now, a mass email reminder will be sent to everyone who signs up, simply ask your waiter or waitress. Game Announcer1: That¡¯s all for us, we will see you in ten hours folks. Be safe, and come back to enjoy the rest of the show! * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marty¡¯s POV, Oblivion Caf¨¦ ¡°Derrick, you outdid yourself man.¡± I chuckled, having logged out while the raid got their rest. ¡°Thanks.¡± He agreed, digging in to a plate of nachos. ¡°Was sho much fun.¡± He mumbled around a mouthful of chip. ¡°Manners.¡± Phoebe chided him, whapping his hand with a spoon. ¡°I just feel bad that we didn¡¯t get a raid wipe.¡± ¡°Not your fault hun.¡± Jon replied. ¡°Never thought they would burn down the forest to prevent our attacks.¡± ¡°Speaking of attacks, what was the deal with that explosion?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, the juggernaut drive meeting roots of the mountain?¡± Phoebe asked with a chuckle. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the traditional outcome. The AI gets conflicting information, and actually came up with a lovely solution. The juggernaut drive gets a damage cap of 15,000. Roots of the mountain can¡¯t be moved, so it also gets the same damage. The conflicting skills triggers a major backlash, and both tanks are sent backward. Whatever they hit takes the max damage as blunt damage. Bones and organs are shattered. The tanks also take the same damage, so they are basically toast no matter what.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Ouch. How did they figure out how much damage?¡± I asked with a cringe. ¡°Crazy bastards at that knowledge guild. Offered to repair all equipment for the two involved, and had them trigger the skill in front of a city wall. The wall lost 15k durability, and got a free upgrade from the guild.¡± Jon explained. ¡°Then they did it two more times, something about repeatability.¡± ¡°So You got obliterated by a human bullet, huh? That sucks.¡± ¡°Yeah. Broken ribs, internal bleeding, and landing in the remains of a forest fire did me in rather quickly. I just wish I could get another crack at that Mr. Whiskers. He figured me out entirely too fast.¡± ¡°I hear that. He¡¯s gonna be target number one when they reach my place.¡± Derrick agreed. ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t go out hunting. That bosses must stay in boss rooms rule is killing me.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I agreed. ¡°Imagine their faces if I appeared after they just beat one of you guys, only I had a resurrection scroll in my hands.¡± I chuckled darkly, and everyone joined me. ¡°Oh god, that would be so brutal.¡± Phoebe laughed. ¡°You just beat a boss, and before you can recover you have to do it all over again, but they know all your tricks!¡± ¡°I¡¯ld be done.¡± I shook my head. ¡°That¡¯s, well that¡¯s just cruel. Hell, I hate phoenix battles just because of the half-life revive.¡± ¡°That is annoying. I would love to have it all the time instead of the spread of chances I¡¯ve got.¡± Derrick acted sad. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. You¡¯ve been busy running around and didn¡¯t notice, did you? Jon pointed out the benefits of becoming a variant, and I did have a quest to hunt some phoenixes. Followed your directions on obtaining perfect hearts. Turns out, the eldritch giants have their own transmutation circle, and I became a variant. They call it semi-immortal, I call it a rude surprise.¡± He chuckled. ¡°No effing way! That¡¯s gonna be awesome!¡± I laughed. ¡°A giant boss that comes back to life. What are the chances?¡± ¡°Five percent for at full life. Sixty percent at half health and half mana. Thirty percent for quarter health and mana, and another five for failure.¡± ¡°God that¡¯s going to drive them nuts. Any chance we can boost your full health result?¡± ¡°I have the option to increase it, but the death chance has to be the same.¡± He answered, shaking his head. ¡°I could up it to fifty-fifty, but it¡¯s just not worth it. I like having the higher chance of resurrection even if it isn¡¯t at full health.¡± ¡°What happens to your regeneration after resurrection?¡± Jon asked. ¡°That¡¯s the downside. No health regen for five minutes, then it is at half speed for twenty minutes.¡± ¡°So it isn¡¯t all bad for the raid.¡± I muttered. ¡°Pity that. Is that how it works outside of the dungeon?¡± ¡°Close to it. They doubled the time limits for when I¡¯m a boss.¡± ¡°So, speaking of outside the dungeon.¡± Phoebe started. ¡°How in the world did you manage to get an Aboleth to join the dungeon?¡± ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t me.¡± Derrick answered. ¡°Turns out having Drow enchanters around can open up a lot of doors. They had an uneasy truce with the creature, and got us a meeting with one of its slaves.¡± ¡°It trusted a slave to negotiate?¡± Phoebe asked incredulously. ¡°Not at all. You have to know, these slaves are essentially blank minds that the Aboleth can control at will. It did send a greater slave as a go between for respect, but it didn¡¯t show up itself.¡± ¡°Ok, so it sent a slave to the table as a puppet it could possess. What could you have that would bribe such a powerful creature?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kinda wondering about that too.¡± Jon said. ¡°Slaves.¡± I answered. ¡°High level slaves. It knew the rules, and that it wouldn¡¯t actually lose any of its own slaves during the dungeon run. But if the guardians dropped enough, or the raid did something that warranted it to appear, it could try and take over any of them. It almost got lucky with that Cinderfy. Had he been tied up, the slaves would have taken the cross back and he would be enslaved.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t do that, can they?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°I mean, there¡¯s a reason enslavement collars only work on NPCs.¡± ¡°Relax, we talked it over with Emily.¡± Derrick answered her. ¡°What happens is that Cinder is forced to take a third person view of his character, and he gets an explanation prompt. If the raid manages to save him, he gets the body back and a pretty major debuff depending on how long he was enslaved. If the raid wipes before saving him, or ends up not being able to save him for whatever reason, then the character is lost. He would have to reroll and start over.¡± ¡°Holy shit, that¡¯s a brutal penalty.¡± Jon said, sitting back in his chair and staring off into space. After a moment, he continued, ¡°Ok, so you give the Aboleth a win-win situation. Come play in the dungeon. You won¡¯t lose any slaves, and have a chance for some incredibly powerful converts. What about the guardians? What¡¯s the story with them?¡± ¡°I handled that.¡± Derrick spoke up. ¡°They already battle the Aboleth. I knew they would see Marty had dealings with Lolth in the past, and wouldn¡¯t listen to anything he said. I offered them a chance to see new techniques for battle, in such a way that none of their number or the Siyokoy would lose any members. If nothing else, they get a few days reprieve.¡± ¡°Derrick, were you a used car salesman in a previous life?¡± Jon chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s some incredible dealing right there. You made them doing us a favor sound like the greatest thing in the world for both sides.¡± ¡°And I did it all without lying too!¡± He chuckled. ¡°Not something you want to do when one of them can read your mind.¡± ¡°Ok, so we have the legendary Aboleths¡¯ strength figured out. How strong are these guardians?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Well, pretty weak individually. You saw the raid take down one of them. Together? You would probably need 8 of the 10 to take down the Aboleth. The sharks run interference, while the dolphins do some vicious ranged attacks. But the killing would be done by the octopi.¡± ¡°I noticed the colors, that usually means poison. What¡¯s so special about octopus rogues?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Mages. They¡¯re mages, not rogues. And instead of dual cast, they have octo cast. Imagine trying to defend from 24 simultaneous spells while rogues harass you and tanks prevent you from using your slaves. Plus they are all highly resistant to its psionic assault. The raid got damn lucky they took out a shark. Had they gotten one of the octopi or a few more members, and they would all be slaves right now.¡± ¡°Good god, can you imagine the horror going through the chatboards if thirty top level people lost their characters?¡± Jon asked, shaking his head. ¡°There would be riots.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯d be great.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s always good to give the top a shake up every now and then. Plus you could run a special event. Imagine if you had the chance to go and defeat the mutated version of a rival guild leader. If you defeat it before his original guild does, you get his gear. If the original guild does, they get their player back.¡± ¡°Holy shit. Holy shit! That would be absolute madness!¡± Jon got more excited the more he talked. ¡°You could even have guilds trying to capture others and send them as sacrifices!¡± ¡°Any sacrifice that isn¡¯t satisfactory gets the people making the offering sacrificed instead.¡± Derrick got in on the planning. ¡°That could keep the offerings limited a bit.¡± ¡°If their offering is rejected, then you need to make those characters unsalvageable.¡± Phoebe offered. ¡°Do you think any players would be willing to use that as a start point as a monster race?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, the slave aspect is the downside. They would have a unique start with the aquatics bit. Definitely a chance for a unique experience. I think it should be worth a shot.¡± Jon pointed out. ¡°Phoebe, you¡¯re a bit better with wording than most of us, do you want to do the honors and write up the proposal?¡± Derrick asked her. ¡°I had a feeling you would ask, and I¡¯ve been doing it since the sacrifices.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Anything else you knuckleheads want to add?¡± ¡°Tiers?¡± I asked. ¡°I dunno. This seems like it should be end game content. Really up the challenge. If we let them do it at lower levels, it¡¯s just asking for abuse.¡± Derrick pointed out. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll think of something else that could work. Capture an enemy and give them a week long debuff or something. Not stackable, and makes them immune to capture like that again for a month or something.¡± ¡°I like the delay.¡± Jon said. ¡°Keeps someone from being targeted too hard and ruining gameplay.¡± ¡°Maybe make it a secondary class option?¡± Phoebe asked. ¡°Hunter of Travelers?¡± ¡°OOoooh, I like that!¡± Jon said, eyes growing big. ¡°Give them a slight PvP bonus when not in an arena, a few trapping and capture skills.¡± ¡°Counter them with a Liberator class. They get the same PvP boost, but only against Hunters. At least one skill to free others, maybe an aura to help those just freed to fight back.¡± Derrick tossed in. ¡°I like it.¡± Phoebe said. ¡°New class, counter class to balance, and nothing obviously game breaking. Anything else before I send it off? No? Going once, going twice, gone. Proposal sent off to Emily.¡± ¡°Nice, thanks Phoebe.¡± I said, looking at my watch. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m off to bed guys. I need to be online before the raid.¡± ¡°I¡¯m heading that way too.¡± Derrick said, standing up. ¡°Jon, Phoebe, see you tomorrow after everything is done.¡± ¡°Later guys, and kick their buts tomorrow.¡± The both replied, waving at us. Book 3 Chapter 42 Mr. Whiskers POV ¡°Who are we missing? We should be on the next stage by now.¡± I grumbled. ¡°HolyDungeonDiver needs five more minutes.¡± Lucy said as she walked up to me. ¡°Something about a clogged toilet. I wasn¡¯t about to ask for details.¡± ¡°Fine. I just want to get going, there¡¯s probably not another safe zone in this dungeon.¡± ¡°Hey, sorry guys. Had some things to finish up.¡± Diver said five minutes later when he logged in. ¡°Aw crap, it didn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, some things are -, wait a minute.¡± I interrupted. ¡°What didn¡¯t work?¡± ¡°I was trying to have a friend send me a robe equivalent to the one I lost earlier. You can¡¯t get mail in the dungeon though.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t take too kindly to lying, and even worse for cheating Diver.¡± I growled. ¡°Next time, run it by one of the leaders before you try and get outside help. That goes for everyone. Now, let¡¯s get this dungeon finished.¡± Leading the way, we all exited the safe house to find one of the Siyokoy waiting for us. ¡°Ready to move on? Excellent. Portal down is there. Three thousand mana will open it for five minutes.¡± Directions given, he swam away and left us to our devices. ¡°Blackthumb, SirMixALalalot, and myself will charge the portal.¡± Lucy offered. ¡°Shall we?¡± Stepping forward, the three druids each touched a mana stone and started charging it. Once full, a sheet of blue mana swirled into being, preventing anyone from seeing what was on the other side. ¡°Tanks, lead the way.¡± Dave shouted, charging through the portal. The rest of the raid followed more sedately, fully expecting the next area to be free of enemies like every landing was. Hot. Dry, blasting heat assaulted us as we stepped through the portal. The kind you feel when you open up a heated oven, and that initial blast of air escapes. We found ourselves in a massive forge area, carved out of black rock. Our landing area was a large metal grate, and there were steps leading down to the forge floor. ¡°Welcome adventurers! I¡¯ve been waiting to see you.¡± Turning as one, we all saw a metal golem standing up from the bench it was waiting on. ¡°By Moradin, would you look at that.¡± Dr. HealYaButt spoke in awe. ¡°Thin fingers with a flexible joint for dexterity, covered in obsidian to resist the heat. Fingertips have a mithril plate protected by quartz to enchant. The underbody must be mithril as well, to move so fluidly but the outer protections are orichalcum.¡± ¡°As expected of one of his priests, you gleaned a lot with your initial look.¡± The golem spoke. ¡°I can sense the air of a master smith about you.¡± While he was talking I froze as I identified him.
Andimitrion Demigod mithril golem, level 250 Crafted ages ago by Moradin himself, Andimitrion is in charge of the undersea forge.
While Heal was looking over the main portions of the body, I noticed a second set of arms that ended with clasps for tools. The vital portions of the golem were protected by the same orichalcum armor that Heal was admiring, though I was wondering how you would go about getting through it. I really hoped we wouldn¡¯t be fighting him. ¡°Excellent the entire group is here. Moradin has a challenge for you that will be of great help in the upcoming battles. May I see your group¡¯s blacksmith and enchanter?¡± Heal stepped forward for the blacksmith position, but nobody else joined him. ¡°Come now, who is the enchanter for your group?¡± After waiting a few minutes, he got a distraught look on his face. ¡°Oh no, this won¡¯t do. Moradin! MORADIN!¡± He turned and looked upward, shouting to the god of the dwarves and patron of blacksmiths. ¡°OF COURSE IT¡¯S AN EMERGENCY, NOW GET UP YA LAZY LOUT!¡± Everyone cringed at the thought of using language like that against a divine. We all stepped back, lest we get caught in a divine smite. ¡°THAT¡¯S WHAT I¡¯VE BEEN TRYIN¡¯ TA TELL YA! THEY DINNAE BRING AN ENCHANTER!¡± ¡°MY FAULT? MY FAULT?! HOW THE BLOODY ¡®ELL DO YA FIGGER THAT? TWAS YER PRIESTS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO SPREAD THE WORD!¡± ¡°HEEEEERE WE GO AGAIN! HOW COULD I POSSIBLY FORGET YOU MADE ME? YOU¡¯VE ONLY BEEN HOLDIN¡¯ IT OVER MY HEAD FOR THE LAST SIX HUNDRED YEARS! ¡°Yes, yes, thank you Tiamat. I understand you told your priests, and do thank you for that. It¡¯s not your fault that it would cause much more chaos if they told different members different things. No, I don¡¯t believe any of them are adept at underwater basket weaving.¡± ¡°DON¡¯T YOU BE DEFENDIN¡¯ HIM GAIA! THERE BE A FEW PRIESTESSES O¡¯ YERS DOWN HERE, AND THEY DINNAE BRING AN ENCHANTER EITHER!¡± Just as the golem started shaking a fist at what I assumed was the entire pantheon, there was a massive pulse of mana and another figure appeared next to the golem. She wasn¡¯t much shorter than the twelve-foot-tall golem, and was more concerned with brushing sparks of mana off the sleeves of her tight fitting robes than with the heat. ¡°Oh shut it ya short grump, you knew it had to be me to come down here anyway. I just saved us a few hours of tedious debate.¡± The newcomer spoke calmly, before turning to us. ¡°Greetings mortals! For those that don¡¯t immediately recognize me, prepare to be smote!¡± ¡°AHAHAHAHAHA! OH, THE LOOK ON YOUR FACES!¡± She immediately broke into gales of laughter as we all froze in terror. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll not be smiting anyone without cause. Name¡¯s Hecate, goddess of grey magic.¡± ¡°Pleasure to make your acquaintance-¡° I started, but was interrupted by her lifting a single finger. ¡°Excuse me a moment.¡± She turned to face upward, and spoke in the calmest, coldest voice I had ever heard in a woman. ¡°Say that again you old goat.¡± After that, we plastered ourselves against the wall. I, and probably every single man in the raid, knew that tone and were fervently praying that whoever that was directed at didn¡¯t say it again. With a swirl of magic, Hecate¡¯s outfit changed. Instead of grey, mostly form fitting robes, she was decked out in a skin tight black and red leather suit. A coiled whip was on her hip, and she seemed six inches taller with the stiletto heel on her boots. ¡°Black hearted shrew? YOU CALLED ME A BLACK. HEARTED. SHREW?¡± Panic. Oh shit. PANIC! Someone insulted a goddess in front of us, and we were helpless. So much for the raid, we¡¯re all gonna die here. ¡°ALLOW ME TO ENLIGHTEN YOU TO JUST WHAT A SHREW SUCH AS MYSELF CAN DO. MAY YOUR BEARD FALL OUT, AND YOUR FACE BE THAT OF AN ELF! [DIVINE CURSE]!¡± Yep. We are toast. I had so many debuffs flashing across the bottom of my screen, I couldn¡¯t even think to look at them all. Hearing was gone, and vision had gone hallucinogenic. Seconds later, and there was a kindly looking old man standing in front of us, leaning on a simple white staff. ¡°Apologies for that. Mab can get quite upset when she is insulted.¡± ¡°Um, could you explain what just happened? I¡¯m a little-¡° ¡°Confused? Sorry. Name¡¯s Merlin, god of white magic. Part of the triumvirate with Hecate of the grey and Mab the black. Mab does the cursing, I undo it, and Hecate handles the in between stuff. Anyhow, Moradin thought he could take out his morning grumpiness on Mab. I took pity on the fool and halved his curse, but he will have a pink beard for at least six months. At least she didn¡¯t spoil his ale again, those were dark times.¡± He stood back and shook his head. ¡°Very dark.¡± With another swirl of magic, Hecate was standing before us once again. ¡°Now that we have that little bit of unpleasantness out of our way, let¡¯s get things underway, shall we?¡± ¡°Pardon me.¡± Andimitrion spoke up. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± ¡°Just trust me, ¡®kay?¡±
Divine quest Moradin wishes to aid your quest, but nothing he does is without cost. Your challenge was to obtain the materials harvested from the golems, and craft a legendary weapon. As you are not able to, this quest has been modified. You must now craft a legendary weapon with the aid of Hecate, though instead of it being used by the raid it will be hidden within the world for someone to find. In lieu of a legendary weapon, you wil be granted two things: 1) Knowledge of the process for crafting legendary weapons 2) Moradin¡¯s boon: +25% attack for the rest of the raid
¡°I¡¯ll not be explaining all the steps, but surely just watching can be helpful, right?¡± Hecate asked with a smile. ¡°Of course we will be happy to assist with this quest.¡± I spoke for the raid. ¡°Which golems are we to be harvesting materials from?¡± ¡°Those ones.¡± She pointed to the three golems that now occupied the cleared floor of the forge. ¡°Good luck, adventurers!¡±
Orichalcum golem Level 200Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Forged out of orichalcum to increase the resistance against a golem¡¯s natural weakness, this foe will be slower than normal golems due to the magical resistances of its makeup. Good luck breaking it.
Mithril golem x2 Level 195 Mithril forging allows these two golems to move and attack in a far more efficient manner, though they are far more susceptible to magical attacks now.
¡°Dave, orichalcum. GoldGuard and Smiter each take a mithril golem. I want the rest of the guardians ready to rotate out with Dave. Berserkers are on the orichalcum guardian as well. Mages, blast those mithril golems first. Then we will pile on the main guy.¡± We charged down the steps and split up, letting the tanks gather aggro before laying into the golems. I stayed back, knowing that my assassin skills weren¡¯t going to be of much use against a golem. The druids each split to a different golem, though the extreme heat caused their binding vines to wilt rapidly. Lucy suddenly became the most useful of the lot, summoning creatures that gave defensive and offensive auras as well as one that boosted mana regeneration. ¡°Great, I¡¯m useless.¡± Blackthumb complained. ¡°Plants wilt too fast, and golems are immune to my poisons.¡± ¡°Well, relax and enjoy the show then.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I am. Golems don¡¯t have a lot of vital points for an assassin to exploit.¡± The mages were having a blast. Roughly split equally between the mithril golems, both life bars were dropping almost constantly. They were being cautious of the tanks and avoiding electrical attacks, rotating through and using strong attacks while still maintaining a good reservoir of mana. Dave and the berserkers were having a tough time. Most of the group was using edged weapons, which just didn¡¯t do much against a golem. By the time the mithril golems were under half health, the orichalcum golem was sitting at nearly 90%. I was at a loss to help them out as well. Less than five minutes later, and both mithril golems were dead. ¡°Damn, how are we going to take down that orichalcum monstrosity with its resistance to magic?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°About the only one doing actual damage is GoldGuard with his hammer. HitMe isn¡¯t too far behind with his axe, but we are barely chipping into that armor.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said, shrugging my shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s ignoring the magic attacks completely. There¡¯s gotta be a way to take it down. Nothing in this dungeon so far has been a slugfest, and I doubt that the gods are going to be the first to cause one.¡± Something strange started happening while I was talking with Lucy. All the mages that could had switched to fire attacks, and were concentrating on hitting the golem in the chest. They weren¡¯t going for damage, as at least three were simply using the level 40 flamethrower spell and just channeling away. ¡°I think the mages are up to something. Unless you ordered it?¡± I asked Lucy. ¡°Wasn¡¯t me. What are they up to?¡± While we were staring, the flamethrowers all cut off at once. While magic wouldn¡¯t hurt the golem, that chest was glowing a dull red after all that flame had raised the temperature. ¡°[Frostbite].¡± Peppermint York and Ice Queen both started blasting frigid air right at the chest of the golem, and it clicked. ¡°Brilliant. Flash cooling that chest plate just made the entire thing brittle, though it¡¯s going to resist piercing a lot more.¡± ¡°[Meteoric smash]!¡± GoldGuard took up a batter¡¯s stance in front of the golem, and unleashed an absolutely massive blow, aided by the flames jetting out the back of his hammer. The impact knocked him backwards by a good bit, and even the golem was staggered. The best part was the cracks radiating outward from the impact point, and the shards of metal that dropped off the golem. It had also lost about ten percent of its health. ¡°Think it¡¯ll let them do it again?¡± Lucy asked, but already we could tell that it wouldn¡¯t. The golem was guarding against any sustained magic attacks, trying to move away from the mages. ¡°FOCUS ON A LEG!¡± I called out, getting a strange look from some of the mages. ¡°TAKE OUT THE MOBILITY!¡± ¡°I think I have something that could help out.¡± Blackthumb said, running forward. He pulled a few vials out of his inventory and shouted, ¡°Hold the fire for a second! Hit it when the vials break!¡± Everyone pulled back just enough to give him some room, and he managed to get both legs with two vials each. As he backed away, Cinderfy hit both legs with a flamethrower spell and ignited the clear paste that was on the legs. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s some intense flames.¡± Lucy muttered, and I had to agree. It only took about thirty seconds of burning for the legs to start glowing a bit, and our two frost mages were happy to let the fires burn out before quenching them again. ¡°[Meteoric smash].¡± ¡°[Shattering strike].¡± GoldGuard and HItMe both took a leg each, and both shins of the golem splintered. Unable to hold up the weight, both legs exploded under the pressure and the golem fell onto its back. With no self-righting mechanism, it was easy pickings for the raid. They surrounded it and kept whittling away at the body, with GoldGuard and HitMe concentrating on the constructs head. ¡°Innovative. Using the indirect effects of magic against a magic resistant construct.¡± Hecate said as she walked up behind Lucy and me. ¡°Now, let¡¯s check your rewards, shall we?¡± We followed the goddess, walking up to the shattered remains of the orichalcum golem. ¡°Well, what did you get?¡± I asked Dave. ¡°Says I can¡¯t loot it. Needs a master blacksmith to do so.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s my cue.¡± Heal said, striding forward. ¡°Let¡¯s see, oh nice, I can loot all three at once. One greater golem core, sixteen ingots of orichalcum, and thirty ingots of mithril.¡± ¡°Just so you know, what isn¡¯t used in the forging process will be destroyed after you leave the dungeon.¡± Hecate said. ¡°Have you decided on what you want forged?¡± ¡°Somewhat. A sword of some type most likely. Will you be supplying handle material?¡± ¡°I can. What are you thinking for the metal to use?¡± ¡°Can we use both? I would love to have the orichalcum be the edge while the mithril backs it. It¡¯ll give us anti magic properties while still leaving room for enchantments.¡± ¡°Excellent choice.¡± Hecate said. ¡°Excuse me Lady Hecate.¡± Andimitrion spoke. ¡°Moradin and some others have asked me to remind you that you will need to lower your abilities during crafting.¡± ¡°What is that supposed to mean, exactly?¡± She asked coldly, slowly turning as her form flickered a bit. ¡°Knowing how you strive for excellence in all you attempt, they simply wanted to remind you that the product must be legendary and not divine. Also that while the enchantments will undoubtedly increase its rarity, the blacksmithing skill must be up to par as well. If the only thing allowing the product to be legendary is the enchantments, then the quest will be deemed a failure.¡± She stared. And stared. After what seemed like an uncomfortable five minutes, but was more than likely closer to one, she shrugged. ¡°Thank you for the reminder. I suppose I do let myself get carried away in the pursuit of perfection sometimes.¡± Turning back to Heal, she continued, ¡°So. What type of sword and what enchantments are you looking to use?¡± ¡°Well, it would be a shame to let this much material go to waste so it almost has to be a two handed sword. I think it would be great to make a nodachi.¡± ¡°Can you describe what a nodachi is?¡± ¡°Sure. Have you heard of a katana?¡± She shook her head, so he kept going. ¡°A nodachi is like a two handed katana. A long, slightly curved single edged blade. I think we should make the blade itself three feet long or so. Maybe a bit longer. Traditionally the handle is made with a ray skin.¡± ¡°Hmmm. What are the most common attacks from the weapon?¡± ¡°Downward slashes. You could probably get a few good horizontal attacks as well as a thrust.¡± ¡°I see. Would you be okay using a combination of water and lightning enchantments?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. What do you need me to do?¡± ¡°Just forge it like normal. We can have people from the raid doing other parts.¡± ¡°What do you need us to do to help?¡± I asked, interrupting their planning session. ¡°I¡¯ll need someone to channel me mana.¡± Heal said. ¡°I¡¯m going to heavy forge it, which takes a ton of mana and fuses extra materials into it.¡± ¡°Do you have any mages with boosted electricity or water elements?¡± Hecate asked. ¡°I have both boosted.¡± Grandelf answered. ¡°We have water boosted.¡± Spice Mix said, pointing at herself and Peppermint. ¡°Perfect!¡± Hecate clapped a bit. ¡°What I need you three to do is to open a channel of mana between yourselves and the mithril ingots. Focus on sending boosted elements, though I want you to focus on electricity only.¡± She directed the last bit to Grandelf. ¡°Hey Gold.¡± Heal called out. ¡°How often can you use your smash attack?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a two-minute cooldown, why?¡± ¡°I want you to use it every chance you get.¡± He answered. ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll help out in fusing the billets.¡± Gold shrugged and followed him to the forge. ¡°Alright, everyone else channel mana to Heal. I think the sages should have enough mana reservoirs to handle their portion.¡± I ordered. We all got as close as we could without getting in the way, and Heal started forging. Clean the ingots, then heat them up. Add a bit of some powder to them before placing two ingots together, and alternating blows with Gold. While that was going on, the sages were sending mana into the mithril ingots, slowly and steadily. Hecate was doing something with the greater golem core, which was smaller than I assumed it would be. Apparently the higher quality cores were simply denser and thus much smaller. Heal started lengthening the two billets he had formed, keeping them straight for the moment. The mithril billet was twice as wide as the orichalcum one, and slightly shorter. It also was the only one with a tang, though it was slightly offset from the middle. That made a lot more sense when he folded the mithril billet around the outside of the orichalcum one, like it was a taco shell. A bit more of that powder, and he started what he called forge welding. The end result was a long, straight blade shape that had the orichalcum edge sandwiched between mithril. A few tweaks, and some tapping and the sword now had a gentle curve to it, with the orichalcum on the longer edge. ¡°Brock, can you mold clay?¡± Heal asked as he let the sword slowly cool. ¡°I can, why?¡± ¡°I want you to mold a repeating pattern along the mithril side. Make it look like a series of cresting waves.¡± He said, wiping the sweat from his brow. Brock shrugged, and did as he asked. ¡°Andimitrion? Do you have a quench tank big enough?¡± ¡°Here you go.¡± He answered, pulling a lever. Rotating out from under a bench was a long tank filled with oil. ¡°Oil is preheated, so you won¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Heal replied, turning to check on Brock. ¡°Perfect, you kept the pattern on only half the mithril. Alright, let¡¯s get this going.¡± He put the blade back into the forge, flipping it every so often to make sure it was heating evenly. When he was happy, he pulled it out and dunked it in the tank. ¡°[Oil quench].¡± He muttered as he gently swirled it back and forth. Once that was done, he broke off the clay and brought it into the forge one last time. ¡°[Temper].¡± He spoke again, pulling the blade from the forge before it got too hot. ¡°This has to be embedded in the handle.¡± Hecate spoke up, handing Heal the golem core she had been working on. He just nodded, and pulled out some material from his inventory. Fiddling with a metal plate, he slid it on before placing the core in the middle of the tang. ¡°Ray skin?¡± ¡°Better.¡± Hecate answered, handing him a sheet of some type of yellowed skin. ¡°Skin of the thunder serpent.¡± I don¡¯t know what skill Heal activated next, but in a flash of light everything came together. The result was a thing of beauty. The yellow skin covered handle and sheath, capped at both ends by the silvery white color of mithril. The outer ring of the hand guard appeared to be clouds, with the inner ring being waves. Connecting the two were bolts of lightning. The blade edge was the black of orichalcum, with darker blue mithril just beyond it. The wave pattern followed along, with a lighter blue colored mithril along the back.
Storm Surge Legendary Nodachi This legendary blade was forged at the bottom of the ocean. The orichalcum edge can slash through any spell, while the mithril backing allows for enchantments that would normally be lacking. Using a heavy forging process, durability and damage have drastically increased, though the strength requirements to wield the blade have also. Damage: 5,000-5,750 Durability: 50,000/50,000 Spell breaker: slashing through a spell will disrupt it. Tidal surge: Thrust forward and unleash a deluge of water upon your foes. Cooldown 1 hour Call the thunder: Charged up an overhand strike, and release up to ten bolts of lightning upon your target. Two seconds to add a charge, ten charges maximum. Cooldown 1 hour Adds 500 water and 500 lightning damage per strike Strength requirements double
Divine quest complete! You have worked together to craft a legendary weapon. Moradin is pleased with the results, and has blessed the raid with his boon for the entirety of your dungeon run. Moradin¡¯s Boon: +25% attack
¡°Perfect! Truly a wonderful weapon.¡± Hecate said, examining the sword. ¡°I wish you all luck on your dungeon run. I¡¯ll have to come up with a suitable challenge for this weapon to be the reward. Farewell!¡± Before we could object, she disappeared in a flash of light. ¡°I will offer my congratulations as well.¡± Andimitrion spoke. Pointing just beyond where we fought the golems, a portal appeared. ¡°There is the way to the floor nine. This floor will remain after you leave, but there won¡¯t be any enemies. Good luck.¡± Book 3 Chapter 43 Mr. Whiskers POV ¡°King, you going to do the exploring honors again?¡± I asked. ¡°No problem.¡± He said, heading straight through the portal. ¡°You really think that there¡¯s going to be traps on the other side?¡± Shocker asked. ¡°Yes. Up until now has been safe to get us to lower our guard. It¡¯s what I would do.¡± I answered with a shrug as King popped back out of the portal. ¡°Empty room with a barrier. Still underwater.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what they have in store for us now.¡± Leading the way, weall headed through the portal. The other side was just how King described it. A room large enough for everyone to be comfortable, with a rounded door protected by a magic wall. Once we all made our way in, a stone glowed in front of the wall and a blue hologram appeared. ¡°Welcome to floor 9! In the interest of making things fair, it was agreed that I appear as a hologram to give you some explanations about this floor. If you look to your left, you will see a cloud of red inside a protective case. This, is a sample of the Red Tide. Unfortunately for your group, this is very different from the pink tide you met earlier. This one rapidly spreads, and produces toxins that will kill you swiftly. In order to get past this level, you will have to find and activate ten octagonal buttons. The buttons will glow green when pressed, and you will get a notification in the bottom of your screen letting everyone know how many buttons have been pressed. Pressing all ten will release a purging cloud that will kill the tide while leaving your group alone.¡± ¡°Other things to note. Buoyancy has been returned to normal for this floor, so you may remove your armor and swim around if you are so inclined. I do believe ten minutes to find ten buttons will be sufficient. Good luck!¡± When the hologram finished speaking, the magic wall disappeared to reveal a long, circular corridor covered in clams. Branching tunnels split off at random locations down the tunnel. ¡°Split up, find the buttons, and keep a map of where you go!¡± I shouted, taking the first step towards the tunnel. ¡°HWHAT?¡± ¡°YEEEAAAAHHHH!¡± ¡°OOOOKAAAAAYYY!¡± ¡°YEAAAAAH!¡± ¡°LUDA!¡± A cacophony of voices assaulted us as soon as I finished speaking. Good God, he made the clams talk too.
Lil¡¯ clam Level 1 These annoying creatures respond to noise, and respond in one word as loud as they can. Once started, they have been known to go on for hours.
A sheet of ice froze everything along the walls, and I turned to see an irate Ice Queen. ¡°I hate those annoying bastards.¡± She growled, stepping into the frozen tunnel. ¡°Dahahahahahaha!¡± We all started looking around for the source of that high pitched laughter. ¡°Just ignore it. We have more things to worry about.¡± I ordered, heading off as the laughter followed us down the hallway. I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t be the only distraction on this level. The raid darted forward, most people placing the majority of their armor in their inventories. I did the same, finding it much easier to swim than to try and walk along the bottom. I took the first right, and then immediately took the left branch that went slightly upward. I swam up for a few feet before it levelled off, and I could see through bits of quartz into the room below as Citadel and Peppermint explored down there. The room I was in widened to about ten feet, but kept the same tunnel shape. I slowed down a bit, looking everywhere for buttons. The place was oddly devoid of life, but I did find a few grated vents that were occasionally sending red puffs of algae into the main tunnels. I swam for nearly two minutes, before coming to a dead end. The room below was visible, and I saw Peppermint swim up to a pedestal in the middle of the room. ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t do it!¡± I tried shouting, knocking on the quartz. The button she was about to push was round, not octagonal! Sure enough, as soon as she pressed the button a cage of curved bones surrounded her, trapping her within. To add insult to injury, a panel slid open just out of her reach with one of the buttons!
Buttons pressed: 1
I looked back through the quartz, to see an ice stick extending from her cage to press the button. Not bad. I started to swim back the way I came, but it was taking a lot longer. I hadn¡¯t noticed it, but there was as subtle current moving towards the dead end. Along the bottom of the tunnel, a river of red was flowing, growing as the red tide started building up. I swam up to the top of the tunnel, wanting to avoid getting poisoned. ¡°Gah!¡± I grunted as I felt a shock run through me. Damnit! I was too focused on the red tide below! Several other shocks kept assaulting me, and I was paralyzed. I could only move my eyes, and I saw purple strands of something slowly wrapping around my body. Health draining, I couldn¡¯t do anything as more and more of the purple things tied me up.
Violet strangler An odd species of aquatic plant, the violet strangler first subdues its prey with electrical shocks. It then wraps and constricts until the creature dies. It then leaches nutrients from the body as it decomposes.
The last thing I saw before getting the death notification was a turtle skeleton wrapped in the same plants hidden behind a rock, two rusted swords at its feet. * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Raid has wiped! Raid leader, you have wiped while not in a boss battle. As punishment, the raid will be resurrected at the last safe spot with the maximum resurrection debuff. Each raid member has been given a number, and rolls have decided who gets resurrected. This will continue, using resurrection scrolls until a healer is resurrected. A second roll of the same number will resurrect the number above if even and the number below if odd first. If that spot is empty, then the next adjacent spot will be resurrected followed by two spots away until an unoccupied spot is found.
1 Mr. Whiskers 11 Blackthumb 21 DeathFromAbove
2 Crimson King 12 SirMixALalalot 22 GoldGuard
3 Citadel 13 Grandelf 23 OhMightySmiter
4 Raider Dave 14 SpiceMix 24 LadyFisticuffs
5Stolen story; please report. Darkmoon Lucy 15 PeppermintYork 25 EricDaRad
6 TisButAScratch 16 NotABandaid 26 PlayWithMe
7 Cinderfy 17 Dr. HealYaButt 27 ChaosBringer
8 Ice Queen 18 HolyDungeonDiver 28 GotYerBack
9 Brock Onyx 19 NaughtyNurseJess 29 Shieldwall
10 Brosef Brostar 20 ShockerSnipe 30 HitMe
Total resurrection scrolls used: 4
Debuffs: Resurrection penalties: -30% defense, -2.5% attack Gaia¡¯s blessing: +25% defense Moradin¡¯s blessing: +25% attack Total: -5% defense, +22.5% attack
Warning! Your raid has surpassed 100 deaths. Due to your callous disregard for life, Thanatos has become angered with your group. As punishment, further resurrections will consume 2 scrolls. Resurrections from healers will have double the cooldown.
¡°Well, that sucks.¡± I muttered, looking around to see that everyone else had the same angry face that I was expecting. ¡°I take it everyone got those notifications?¡± ¡°Seriously? Double the cost in resurrection scrolls? This is bullshit.¡± Diver grumped. ¡°Not like you care!¡± Ice Queen scoffed at him. ¡°You¡¯re a healer, you just have to wait a few more minutes before casting it.¡± ¡°Well I hope that five of you don¡¯t die within ten minutes then, or else we¡¯re going to start hitting a lot more problems with penalties!¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Dave shouted, stepping between them. ¡°No more fighting about this, we are just going to have to be extra cautious. Now, I think everyone should draw what they¡¯ve explored, and what traps they found. Let¡¯s see how much of that area we actually got.¡± ¡°Not just traps, but any dangers and any buttons you managed to find.¡± I said. ¡°I ended up getting killed by a seaweed that paralyzes and strangles you.¡± ¡°Heh, went the way of the turtle did ya?¡± Brosef asked. ¡°I saw a skeleton with two rusted sais that had been strangled by those same plants.¡± ¡°Sais? No, it was two short chains.¡± ¡°I saw one with a stick of coral.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, just know to avoid it.¡± I interrupted. ¡°Dave, would you mind combining all the maps that we have? We can go over it together.¡± ¡°I did find what caused all that annoying laughing.¡± Spice Mix said. ¡°It was a yellow sponge. I found a room of them circling starfish and laughing. A little whirlpool to gather them up and a stone coffin shut them up nicely though.¡± ¡°Next run, we send out scouts only. After fifteen minutes, we will send the healers through to resurrect you and see if we can cut down on deaths that way.¡± I said. ¡°Focus on exploration, it looks like there were at least two branches off that main tunnel that we didn¡¯t get to explore.¡± After studying the map for a few minutes, our three scouts headed out. Less than a minute later, and the portal sent all three of them back. ¡°No good.¡± King said, shaking his head. ¡°The wall will only lower when the entire raid is there, and the hologram guaranteed that the portal back would be sealed. Looks like it¡¯s an all in floor.¡± ¡°Damn. Alright, everyone have a copy of the map? I want this entire floor absolutely mapped this run, hopefully you find a few buttons as well. Peppermint, do you want to go ahead and hit that button you found?¡± ¡°I can do that, but how did you know I hit one?¡± ¡°I was above you looking through the glass ceiling.¡± I said. ¡°Ok everyone, that leaves nine buttons we have to find and press. Let¡¯s get going.¡± Once again the druids opened the portal, and we all filed through. Everyone again removed most of their equipment, and I dropped the wall with a touch when everyone was ready. Ice Queen froze all of those annoying clams before they could get going, and we set off once again. Most of the raid went through to the unexplored parts, but a few others and myself went down paths that had unexplored branches. Soon I found myself alone in a long, straight tunnel that seemed endless. After about a minute and a half, I felt the gossamer strands of a spiderweb on my face. Acting on instinct, I flailed about and felt a tug. Walls behind me started dropping down in series, and I frantically swam for my life. I was able to make it through one door before the closing series passed me, leaving me trapped in the tunnel. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± I growled, searching for anything that would help. There was nothing by the door in front of me, and I wasted nearly two minutes giving it a thorough search. The door leading backwards had an arrow on the ceiling pointing back the way I came. ¡°Damnit. Well, no way out and I¡¯m already stuck in a trap.¡± I grumbled, pressing the button. The door leading back opened up, and I traveled backward to the next door. Repeating myself six times, I was back at the beginning of the tunnel. Once I opened up the last door, the remaining doors opened as well. ¡°Oh you bastard. In order to move forward, you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the tunnel.¡± By this point, the water had taken on a light red hue, and I had a poison notification.
Buttons pressed: 4 You have died.
Raid has wiped! Respawning according to previous rules.
Resurrection scrolls used: 10 x 2 debuff = 20
¡°Goddamnit!¡± I growled out. ¡°We just spent 20 resurrection scrolls! We can¡¯t afford another wipe. Someone give me some good news.¡± ¡°We found three more buttons, but they¡¯re all trapped.¡± Lucy said. ¡°I found one hidden in a recess, but as soon as I pushed it the wall closed in and trapped my hand.¡± ¡°I had one where I had to snake my hand through an electrified cage.¡± Heal answered. ¡°One was behind four gates controlled by five levers. Each pull activates specific gates. I can do it again, it won¡¯t take me long.¡± Shocker said. ¡°Ok. That puts us at four total. Did we get eyes on any of the others?¡± Nobody answered, much to my dismay. ¡°Alright, did we at least plot out the entirety of the system?¡± ¡°Still working on that.¡± Dave said. ¡°Give me five minutes to compare maps, and I can let you know.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I replied, taking a calming breath. ¡°I found an annoying trap, but with another person there I think it won¡¯t be too big of a deal. I¡¯m almost positive there will be a button at the end of the tunnel.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go with you, what do I have to do?¡± Brock said. ¡°If you set off the trap, a series of doors shuts. You can backtrack, and the last door opens up all of them and resets everything. I want you to hang out by the entrance and reset it for me.¡± ¡°Easy enough.¡± ¡°Good news. Unless the tunnel you are in splits, we have the entire thing mapped.¡± Dave said, stepping closer. ¡°There¡¯s no rhyme or reason for locations, but here¡¯s what we have.¡± ¡°Good work everyone. Let¡¯s do this then. Known locations of buttons get a single person sent there. Preferably someone able to avoid the traps. Pair up for dead ends, and find those buttons.¡± Once again the druids charged the gate, and we ventured into the annoying level. ¡°Ice Queen.¡± I spoke before dropping the wall. ¡°Hold off on killing the clams right away. I want someone to check the length of the hallway there.¡± ¡°You think there¡¯s? Of course there is. Where else would you hide a button that you have to press but in the middle of the most annoying life forms in the dungeon. Fine, I¡¯ll leave the bastards alive.¡± I nodded at her and dropped the wall. Brosef followed me along to the tunnel I had found earlier. ¡°See that button there?¡± I asked pointing to the arrow. ¡°That¡¯s what you need to press, but give it a bit so that all the doors shut. Hopefully we won¡¯t need it.¡± He nodded, and I started down the tunnel once more. When I got to the place I thought I triggered the trap last time, I slowed down a bit and started looking for tripwires. I couldn¡¯t find the one I triggered, so I just sunk down towards the bottom. Holding my breath to avoid getting poisoned from the slowly building tide, I swam until I felt I was clear and headed up. At the three quarters point, I felt my foot tug on another wire and heard the doors start to shut. By the time I had untangled myself, the two doors between myself and the end of the tunnel had closed. Brosef waited ten seconds, and I started hearing all of the doors open once again. Slipping through, I turned and gave Brosef a wave. The room I found myself in was covered in coral, and I could see the button I needed to press. I was going to have to swim through a maze of razor sharp coral and hit the button.
Buttons pressed: 9
A very welcome notification came after the world¡¯s most painful maze. Some parts I almost had to be a human contortionist just to get through. By the time I had made it back out of the coral, I had lost half of my health. Closing my eyes, I accepted the inevitable. We had missed one button. We would have to do it all one more time.
Raid has wiped! Respawning according to previous rules.
Resurrection scrolls used: 2 x 2 debuff = 4 Maximum debuff reached: -5% attack, -5% defense
¡°This is a fucking disaster.¡± I grumbled, looking at the notice. ¡°Congrats everyone, we managed to max out the debuffs. We¡¯re still going to try and avoid getting any more penalties. Got it?¡± Nobody spoke, other than to head over to where Dave was updating his map. Once that was done, he walked back and showed it to me. ¡°Any idea where the last one is?¡± I asked. I noted my contribution, pointing out the issues I had found. Nobody answered. Nobody came forward. I studied the map, trying to figure out a pattern. Anything. It would take far too much work to be completely random. People always had a bias, a tendency towards repetition. ¡°Ummm.¡± I looked up to see a nervous Jess standing in front of me. ¡°Has anyone checked the first room we enter?¡± ¡°Ha! Ha ha! Of course, that¡¯s where it has to be. Distract us with an incredibly complex maze of things, full of traps and distractions, and leave something we need to press right under our noses.¡± Everyone took a few steps back at my maniacal laughter, but whatever. ¡°Jess, you get to search the starting room for that button. Everyone else, split up and hit the buttons you¡¯ve found. Brosef, you are with me getting the doors if I set off the trap again.¡± Though I seemed excited, nobody else in the raid had my enthusiasm. Probably having three wipes on one floor. Or maybe that we were already down to 49 resurrection scrolls. Didn¡¯t matter, we had to be nearing the end of the dungeon. As soon as we were in the floor entrance, Jess and some others started looking around for the hidden button. I gave them plenty of time to scour the entire room. ¡°Damnit! It¡¯s gotta be here!¡± Jess screamed in frustration. ¡°Relax. Check again after the wall is lowered. I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t want to give us a head start.¡± I tried to calm her down. ¡°Everyone ready? Let¡¯s do this.¡± Slapping the wall, I shot off down the corridor of shouting clams. For some reason, they didn¡¯t seem quite as annoying this time. The rest of the level went smoothly. I managed to get through the tunnel without triggering the door trap, and hit the button. Nervous as a turkey in November, I watched as the button count rose. Seven. Eight. Nine.
All buttons found! Congratulations! The purifying compound has been released and the red tide has been purged! This level will not have to be redone, and the entire raid will be teleported together to the next level.
With a flash, we all found ourselves together at a landing spot on the side of a mountain. Ice cold winds cut at our exposed skin, stealing away all heat in moments. As we frantically equipped our gear, the mages worked swiftly to set up wind blocks while Lucy summoned sprites to help us fight the cold. Shivering, I took stock of where we were. Across the clearing was a path leading up the side of the mountain, to a massive cave partially hidden by the swirling snow. ¡°From the bottom of the sea to the top of the mountains. What¡¯s next?¡± Book 3 Chapter 44 ¡°At least three large birds up above. Probably Rocs.¡± King said. ¡°Most likely going to attack as we cross the bridge.¡± The platform we were on was connected to the mountain by a bridge just wide enough for three people who don¡¯t mind rubbing shoulders. This of course wouldn¡¯t be recommended for several reasons. There were no side barriers to prevent people from falling off, and the high winds blowing perpendicular to the crossing. ¡°Brock, I don¡¯t like how smooth that bridge is. Can you cut us a few thin channels for grip?¡± ¡°Sure. I can probably get about ? of it before even setting foot on the bridge.¡± ¡°Great. Any chance of creating wind blocks on the sides too?¡± ¡°Let me try.¡± He said. We all watched as stone sides slowly rose, arching to turn it into a covered bridge. ¡°Should go a bit faster with the shape set.¡± He muttered, growing the protections along the bridge. ¡°Great work Brock.¡± I said, glad he thought of a cover. Spreading thirty people out on a long straight path was just asking for those Rocs to pick us off. Even if they missed the initial strike, someone was going to fall to their doom. Ten minutes later and we were crossing the covered bridge, listening to the wind moaning around the rock. Once we made it to the mountain itself, we had a troublesome climb. An open air switchback trail. At least ten turns, and no cover. Again the terrain was going to limit us to small groups of people. ¡°Scouts first, head through when stealthed. Once you reach the first turn, hold there and provide cover. We will go up in groups of four, everyone else keep an eye to the skies. I don¡¯t want anyone becoming bird food.¡± ¡°First leg is clear. No traps.¡± King called out as the three scouts appeared on the ledge above us. ¡°Birds seem to be getting a little lower.¡± We started the group advancement, and everything was going smoothly. Up until the third switchback. Three groups had made it up, and the birds were low enough that they were just out of attack range. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I heard someone ask, and managed to turn just in time to see a massive blast of wind send the upper group sprawling. Shocker and King, closest to the edge, were blasted off into space ¡°KREEEEEE!¡± With a shriek, all three birds dove at the group. ¡°Hit the birds!¡± I called out, watching as they deftly dove between spell effects to pick off the two falling rogues. There was nothing we could do. The bodies were gone, and we had lost two of our scouts. ¡°Damnit, who was it and what did they touch?¡± I shouted, irate. ¡°I swear to God, if it was a big red button someone¡¯s getting thrown over the edge and booted.¡± ¡°I did it.¡± Grandelf said sheepishly. ¡°Saw what looked like a glowing vein of ore, thought it could have been a rare dungeon material.¡± ¡°Goddamnit.¡± I muttered. ¡°We¡¯ll have to work with it. I assume you saw it with mystic vision?¡± ¡°Yeah. It was partially buried in snow.¡± ¡°Guys, I can¡¯t stress this enough. Don¡¯t touch obviously magical things in this dungeon. Don¡¯t touch things that look like they need to be pressed. At the very least, inform the raid so that we can get prepared for it. Waiting ten seconds might have saved us two scouts. Grandelf, as punishment you¡¯ve been promoted to scout. You¡¯re with the first group across, looking for more magical signs. If you find them, mark it somehow or seal it off so someone can¡¯t touch it. Wind traps that do no damage aren¡¯t going to show up to detect trap.¡± As the groups started advancing again, Lucy came up to me. ¡°Not your fault, but I¡¯m glad you realized that Grandelf shouldn¡¯t be kicked for that mistake.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I kinda feel like it is my failing. I¡¯m supposed to think of things that we need to watch out for. We¡¯ve already seen non-damaging traps, magic ones were the next step. I should have had a mage out there with every scout looking for exactly this sort of thing.¡± ¡°Coulda, woulda, shoulda.¡± She replied, patting my shoulder. ¡°Stop beating yourself up over it, and let¡¯s get through this dungeon. Come on.¡± She gave me a gentle shove, and I headed up with the last group. Thanks to Grandelf, we had three more traps marked out, all along the walkway. Anyone setting them off would have most definitely gone over the edge. The last two legs took another ten minutes, and we found ourselves standing at clear landing looking at a dark cave entrance. ¡°Anyone got eyes on that Roc?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s getting lower and lower, lookin¡¯ pretty hungry.¡± Death said. ¡°Keep alert everyone, it¡¯ll probably dive down when we head-.¡± ¡°FE! FI! FO! FUM!¡± A deep voice thundered out from the darkness, everyone dropping into a ready position. ¡°I smell the blood of [AIR BULLET BARRAGE]!¡± I barely managed to dodge, flinging myself to the side and falling on my back. I didn¡¯t even have time to think of calling out a warning as a string of compressed air bullets assaulted the raid. There were four clangs as the guardians all intercepted the ones aimed at the healers, and the mages were saved by an automatic barrier that shattered, but held out long enough to stop all the bullets. ¡°KREEEEEE!¡± Four black talons were seconds away from impaling me, the force likely to smash me against the rocks and kill me. ¡°[Blink].¡± I appeared six inches away, sucking air in a panic from my near death experience. ¡°[Stone grasp].¡± Brock was on it, having stone hands grab the giant bird by the ankles as it screeched its displeasure at having lost its target. ¡°Someone take out its wings, I can¡¯t hold it long.¡± He groaned. ¡°[Icefall].¡± Ice Queen conjured a massive ice chunk that fell and barely missed the bird¡¯s spine. It did crush one of the wings beneath it, permanently grounding the bird. ¡°Leave the bird for now, we¡¯re too exposed here.¡± I called out. ¡°Into the cave!¡± The raid turned as one and fell into a loose formation behind the tanks and guardians. We were halfway there when things got even worse. ¡°A gentle rumble, seemingly benign. Quiet precursor to the unstoppable torrent that is to come. All becomes fuel for your mad dash down the mountain. [Avalanche].¡± Bursting forth from the darkness, a raging river of white snow swept up the raid and the injured Roc, throwing all of them over the edge and into the dark oblivion below. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Blackthumb¡¯s POV Horror. I watched impotently from the side as the raid was swept off the side of the mountain. I couldn¡¯t help it, cowering under a ledge I had found. Heights I could deal with. It was just the thought of falling. Endlessly falling, with no end in sight. I was able to focus on the side of the mountain during the climb, but when they launched those air bullets? I broke. I ran to the side, slipping and sliding in my terror to get under this overhang. Safe from whatever was in the cave, and from that oversized bird.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Not that the bird was a threat anymore. From the speed of the snow, the only hope some of the raid had was to land on the bridge. The bridge, OH GOD! Brock gave the bridge a dome shape to reduce drag in the wind! They¡¯re doomed. The entire raid had to fall over the edge. Either that, or shatter their bodies on the dome and die that way. As I was quietly rocking back and forth, knees to chest, our enemy made itself known. A purple giant. A fucking purple giant walked out. It had a set of bracers, a bone necklace, and a loincloth on. Black swirling tattoos covered its skin, it strode over to the edge and looked over. ¡°Idiots.¡± It tried to mutter, but a giant¡¯s mutter is close to normal speaking volume for the rest of us. Panic resumed as I realized something horrible. The marks from my escape were still there! I had left an incredibly obvious trail in the snow, and the raid boss was sure to see it! Scrambling backwards, I fell flat on my back. Slightly warm stone beneath me, smooth carved stone above. What the? Turning around, I found myself in a hidden tunnel. I scrambled to my feet, but it was no use. There was no hiding. The tunnel was a straight shot, torch stones at regular intervals. To my right was an alcove with a ladder leading straight down. The giant finally noticed my tracks, and was heading my way. There was only one thing to do. I shifted into my animal form and made for the ladder. Never before had I been so happy to have picked the smallest option. Who expects to find a ferret hiding in a mountain? Especially a pure white one. I dropped down to the first rung below floor level, and plastered my body to it. My saving grace was going to be the giant¡¯s size. It couldn¡¯t get in. ¡°Hup!¡± I felt the floor shake a bit as the giant shoved his arm in up to its shoulder into the tunnel. It then started smashing its arm in a circle, and had I tried to hide up there I would be pulp by now. ¡°Didn¡¯t feel anything, time for the ladder.¡± It grumbled, and I saw a purple finger appear above me. The edges of the runes started glowing with a whitish blue. ¡°[Icefall].¡± A spear shaped icicle shot down the tunnel, shattering as it hit the ground within seconds. ¡°Heh, that had to have gotten ¡®em.¡± The purple finger withdrew, and I felt the ground rumble as the giant left. Shaking, I climbed back up and looked out to see it moving towards the cave. Shuddering, I turned and headed down the tunnel for some exploring. What most druids didn¡¯t realize about the ferret form was its incredibly useful skills. Not only did it have sneak, it also had the passive lightfoot that wouldn¡¯t set off pressure plates. Magical traps also caused it to feel like you were about to get shocked, so if you felt all the hair go on end, you best freeze. All of that was incredibly helpful as the hallway was littered with traps. Tripwires, pressure plates, magic circles. You couldn¡¯t go a foot without finding something. It took ten minutes to get around everything, and I stuck my nose into a massive circular room. The giant was sitting in a chair, shaking its head no while holding its forehead with two fingers. ¡°Idiots. Seriously? These were the best they could get together? They just brute fucking force it. Didn¡¯t even check for the hidden passages. Nope, I¡¯ll just take the nice, inviting climb up the fucking mountain and hope for the best. Maybe another wipe will teach ¡®em a lesson, but I doubt it.¡±
Son of Ymir Demigod level 130 Offspring of the giant whose body was used to create the worlds, the Sons of Ymir are terrifying opponents. Physical might coupled with a plethora of magical abilities provide a well-rounded offense, while a massive health pool with high regeneration makes any fight with them a drawn out affair at best.
Turning around, I silently crept away. Once I made it back to the ladder, I turned back into my normal form and headed down. Hopefully I would get there before the raid made it back. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Whisker¡¯s POV
Despite the previous warning, you have failed to curb your embrace of death. Thanatos is displeased. You have maxed out the initial death penalty, and have acquired over 200 deaths. Additional penalties are now being instituted. Deaths will require 2 resurrection scrolls to revive. For every six deaths, the raid will lose 1% of their attributes. Attributes affected: Str, Con, Agi, Dex, Wis, Int. Current death total: 217 Penalties acquired: -5% attack, -5% defense, -2% attributes
¡°I take it from your glare you got the newest death message?¡± King asked. ¡°Yeah. The count¡¯s off though, didn¡¯t we wipe?¡± ¡°Seems Blackthumb managed to survive somehow. That and possibly not dying at the same time saved us a few resurrection scrolls.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, intrigued. ¡°When Shocker and I resurrected, the raid was laid out and waiting. Four were used to raise us, and we were able to choose to raise Jess. After that, the auto revive was turned off. We just had to wait to bring everyone back.¡± ¡°How much time did that take?¡± ¡°Since we had a healer already up, the system gave us the option to resurrect everyone after ten minutes. I guess they don¡¯t want us waiting around all day.¡± ¡°Good, I don¡¯t want to be waiting all day either. Everyone, split into two groups. First group has five minutes for bodily functions. Once they¡¯re back in, second group goes. Lucy, Dave, you two are in the second group with King and I. We need to figure out how we are going to attack this mountain.¡± Ten minutes later, and we still had no ideas. The portal was a nice surprise, teleporting us straight to the tenth floor and bypassing floors 8 and 9. ¡°Before we head out, any ideas on how to make it up the mountain?¡± I asked, getting shaking heads in response. ¡°Damn. Ok, head out like normal then. Brock, can you double check the stone covering? I don¡¯t want one of those remaining Rocs busting through with a dive.¡± The mage in question moved forward, running his hand along the walls as he travelled down the bridge. The rest of the raid followed, coming out to look at the cursed switchback trail. ¡°OIIIIII!¡± We all turned at a voice yelling from behind us. Walking out of a solid wall of rock was Blackthumb. ¡°Y¡¯all don¡¯t wanna head up that way. There¡¯s a ladder hidden in a nice room here. We can then take a trapped tunnel into the boss room and avoid the cliff edge.¡± ¡°Illusion walls? Why am I not surprised?¡± I grumbled, getting a pat on the shoulder from Lucy. ¡°Everyone follow Blackthumb. Anyone with a trap disarm skill, and any with a magical sight head up first and start taking care of traps. Expect magic ones as well.¡± ¡°We do it quick and quiet.¡± King spoke up. ¡°Each rogue gets a mage assistant. Mages stay behind us, tap on the shoulder and point wherever you locate a trap.¡± ¡°Good point. The rest of us will stay down here. Blackthumb, did you get a look at the boss?¡± ¡°Yeah. Demigod again level 130. Son of Ymir, looks like some sort of giant mage. I know it has some ice magic, but I would be surprised if that was all it had.¡± ¡°What else is on your mind?¡± I asked, as he looked unsure of himself. ¡°I think it¡¯s a player.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. It was talking to itself, complaining about how we didn¡¯t even look for hidden passages.¡± ¡°Ok. Everyone, we¡¯re going with the assumption that this is a PvP battle. Spread out to avoid AoE, rotate through crowd control, and expect aggro to switch at random. I have no idea if the monster players are affected by taunts, so watch yourselves. Guardians, stay close to your healers. Ice Queen, I¡¯m assuming that since it lives on a snowy mountain it has a resistance to ice. I want you to focus on slowing it down and making sure everyone has resistance buffs up. Blackthumb, you are our linchpin here. I need you to spread out vials of poison to everyone, we need to keep as many poisons stacked as possible to prevent its regeneration. If you can overwhelm it, even better. Will your poisons interfere with elemental enchantments?¡± ¡°No fire or lightning enchantments. Those destroy the poisons. Everything else should be ok.¡± ¡°Perfect. Cinder, sages, no enchantments from you. Let¡¯s go ahead and stick with Brosef for the enchantments. Light might not do a lot, but it is less likely to be completely resisted. Fisticuffs, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to ask you to behave in a very unladylike manner.¡± ¡°What¡¯cha mean?¡± She asked, confused. ¡°Since it¡¯s a giant, we aren¡¯t going to have too many vitals to attack. With your spear, you have the best melee range. Attack the groin.¡± All the men in the raid simultaneously hissed, covering their crotches. ¡°Hehehe, caaaaan do!¡± She chuckled evilly and saluted. I shook my head at what I had unleashed. ¡°Blackthumb, make sure she has a bleed enhancing poison. If she can hit it in one of the femoral arteries it might get a boost.¡± I told him quietly. His eyes widened, realizing my plan. ¡°And here I thought you just wanted to cause him a bunch of pain.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s that too.¡± I smiled and shrugged. Before I could talk anymore, King slid down the ladder. ¡°Traps are almost done. Looks like the room is wide open, the only cover being the chair the giant is currently sitting in.¡± ¡°Alright, I think we have the plan pretty well set up. I want you guys to try and target the giant¡¯s eyes. Keep it blinded, or at least constantly moving its head so it can¡¯t target us as well.¡± ¡°We can do that.¡± ¡°Raid members, let¡¯s head on up and get ready. Unequip metal armor for now until we are up at the top of the ladder. Let¡¯s minimize the noise, and swarm in and take this giant down.¡± Book 3 Chapter 45 It was time. Everyone was ready, the plan was set. King, Shocker, and Death were ready with their [Snipe shot] skills. I dropped my arm, and their arrows flew towards the eyes of the giant. The tanks charged straight in, the mages and healers spread out. It should have been the perfect opening salvo. Except for that saying about plans not surviving first contact with the enemy. With a leisurely gesture, the giant waved a hand and blocked all three arrows. ¡°[Chain lightning].¡± As it rose from the chair, it caught the majority of the raid with its first spell. ¡°Idiots. Did you think your voices wouldn¡¯t carry down the tunnel?¡± It followed up the lightning blast with a flying chair, smashing into and killing Lucy and Spicemix. ¡°Time for some dwarf football!¡± It cried in glee, drawing a foot back like it was going to kick a field goal with GoldGuard. ¡°[Bash].¡± ¡°AAAAAAAHHHH! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!¡± The giant cried in agony after Gold¡¯s brilliant move. Though he only came up to the giant¡¯s knee, a quick sidestep allowed him to use his bash skill against the little toe of the giant. That got us enough time to get in place and start the assault, though the force did send Gold flying back a few feet. ¡°[Static field].¡± Bad news for the melee, as they would take electrical retribution damage from any attack. We ended up with a slightly different attack than planned. The four tanks took cardinal directions around the boss, keeping him in a circle filled out with the melee dps. The boss had enough room to take a step and cross the circle, but by the time he was ready for a second step they were able to close ranks enough to keep him hemmed in. ¡°I can¡¯t use my slowing spells on him.¡± Ice Queen had snuck next to me. ¡°He manipulates the ice after it has been there for a second, creating armor for himself.¡± ¡°Crap. Do what you can, keeping everyone buffed. If you can, channel mana to whoever needs it.¡± While Ice Queen stepped away, I took a look at our situation. We were slowly taking down the health, thanks to Blackthumb¡¯s multitude of poisons we were able to limit the regeneration. I was worried, as we were only doing about a percent damage per minute. With an hour and a half battle, there was far too much time for tricks. Coating my blades with a bleeding poison, I got ready to enter the fray. ¡°[Blink][Laceration].¡± I timed my assault for when he bent over to punch a tank, appearing on his shoulders and plunging both daggers into the sides of his neck. I gave them a savage jerk upward, hoping that I was in an artery, before leaping off and backing away. ¡°Damn, missed.¡± I muttered at the lack of blood spray. I dropped back beyond the circle of melee, and switched over to throwing knives. ¡°At least he has large kidneys to target.¡± ¡°[Lightning bolt].¡± Just as expected, he targeted the healers. The bodyguard skill was thwarting his plans, allowing the guardians to intercept a blow for their charges. I was unlucky though, as my throwing daggers didn¡¯t have a long enough blade to do bonus damage by striking a kidney. ¡°Oh this is gonna hurt.¡± I muttered to myself as I switched weapons. Instead of daggers, I had a claw on my left hand and a katar on my right. Taking a running leap, I buried my claw in the shoulder to hold myself to the boss, taking a strong shock in the process. ¡°[Triple strike].¡± I gritted out through clenched teeth, punching the giant three times in the kidney with my katar. As he arched his back in agony, I tried to get out before static field could proc again, but didn¡¯t quite make it. ¡°Sneaky bastard.¡± He growled out, spinning and kicking me as I was frozen with a half second paralysis. I managed to cross my arms for a bit of defense, but still lost half my health with one blow. ¡°[Fireball].¡± The spell exploded at my feet right as I landed, leaving me no way to escape. ¡°AAAAAAAAAHHHH!¡± I was confused. Instead of a killing follow up attack, the boss was howling in agony. Then I realized that Lady Fisticuffs had finally managed to land a blow to his crotch. The raid sort of froze for half a second to see what happened, as seeing a giant bent over in pain with a spear in his crotch wasn¡¯t a normal occurrence. ¡°Don¡¯t rub it, don¡¯t rub it, that never helps with the pain.¡± He growled out, before grabbing the spear and dislodging it. Fast as could be, he gave the spear a tug to the side, and when Fisticuffs was thrown off balance grabbed her around the chest. ¡°Just be glad I can¡¯t poke you with my spear.¡± He snarled. ¡°[Crushing grip].¡± ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Fisticuffs cried out in pain, as we heard bones creaking under the pressure. ¡°Dodgeball time!¡± He cried out gleefully, turning to point at Jess. Just before he threw Fisticuffs, he changed targets. Instead of Citadel intercepting a throw against Jess, GotYerBack was trying to block a thrown body with his greatsword and protect NotABandaid. ¡°Burn them all to ash, and consume the ash in your ever hungry flames. [Pyroclasm]!¡± ¡°[Drainspell]!¡± Cinderfy frantically cast his spell at the same time the giant started chanting his, trying to weaken it as much as possible. Instead of a massive explosion that would have taken out all three people, only Fisticuffs and GotYerBack were killed in the swirl of flames that appeared. ¡°Annoying gnats.¡± The boss growled at the melee that kept attacking his legs. ¡°Back off. [Earth stomp].¡± The force knocked back everyone, and allowed for a circle of stone shards to surround him. ¡°That¡¯s not gonna save you. [Stone manipulation: Stone grasp].¡± Holding a hand up, Brock clenched his fist and changed the spell the boss had just cast. Instead of spears facing out, they molded into two stone hands grasping his ankles. ¡°Annoying mages! Y¡¯all need to just. . . chill.¡± He hesitated for a second on the last word, and I knew something bad was about to happen. ¡°Bone chilling cold awaits all who dare to trespass in the land of the ice and mists. Planar descent, [Niflheim]!¡± A blast of magic energy extended outward, and our cave was replaced with a wide open space filled with fog. Cold. So damn cold! Within seconds, the two summons Lucy had that fought against frostbite had frozen and shattered.
Planar shift! A portion of the dungeon has been replaced with the realm of Niflheim. Woe to those who failed to prepare for the extreme cold. Cold resist > 50%: -5% attack speed 50% > cold resist > 25%: -10% attack speed, 50 frostbite damage every 10 seconds 25% > cold resist > 0%: -15% attack speed, 75 frostbite damage every 10 seconds 0% > cold resist: -25% attack speed, 100 frostbite damage every 10 seconds, 25% chance to freeze every 30 seconds All fire spells cost 50% more mana and are 25% less effective All ice spells cost 50% less mana and are 50% more effective
¡°[Mist stalker].¡± I watched as the boss turned white, and disappeared into the mists leaving two empty stone hands behind. ¡°Everyone partner up! Cinder, see if you and the sages can burn through this mist. Someone hit him with a hunter¡¯s mark or locating skill!¡± I ordered, straining my senses to the max to try and find out where the boss went. It was almost unfair that something that large could move about so silently. Four jets of flame shot into the air, clearing a bit of mist but not really doing an efficient job. ¡°Pelor, your children cry for your aid. Let your blessed light drive back the concealing mists, that we may see the way. [Guiding radiance]!¡± I looked over to see Diver praying on his knees. As he finished the prayer, a growing orb of light shot to about 20 feet in the air and started driving back the mists. The view wasn¡¯t pretty.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. With nearly a minute to make mayhem, the boss had done his best. Bandaid was dead, her body lying next to Fisticuffs and GotYerBack. Three of the melee group were silenced and had broken bones, limiting their movement. ¡°I¡¯m gonna pop some heads, only got 20 gold in my pocket!¡± The boss was singing as he held Cinderfy in his grip, arms pinned to his sides. ¡°[Crushing grip].¡± ¡°Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!¡± Cinder screamed, but it was cut short as the boss flicked him in the face hard enough to break his neck. Casually tossing aside the body, he looked around. ¡°Who turned on the lights?¡± ¡°[Lightning bolt].¡± ¡°[Cage of light].¡± ¡°[Marked for death].¡± Grandelf and Brosef both attacked almost immediately, while I went ahead and placed a mark to limit his stealth abilities. ¡°Healers, get everyone back up while the cage holds, melee surround the boss and keep him contained.¡± Lucy called out. ¡°Ice Queen, see if you can deal more damage with a boosted element.¡± While the raid got prepped, I noticed the boss sitting down to meditate. ¡°Blackthumb, see if you can set up a few manaburn potions. Changing the plane really took it out of the boss.¡± I spoke quietly. He wordlessly handed me a few vials of a purple liquid. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, coating my daggers in the new poison. I didn¡¯t think the boss would be kind enough to let me strike his kidney again. ¡°[Keen edge][Crippling blow].¡± Darting in, I tried to rip through the giant¡¯s Achilles tendon. Though I managed to cause some damage, the damn thing was far too thick to cut with a single dagger slice. Using blink to get myself out of danger, I barely avoided his stomp that was going to flatten me. ¡°Someone with an axe is gonna need to take out that tendon.¡± I called out, checking everyone. We had used all our resurrections without scrolls for the next ten minutes, and had burned three of our four greater healings. ¡°Fight smart everyone. We can¡¯t afford any deaths for a while.¡± ¡°Got a second?¡± I turned to see Fisticuffs standing next to me, eyes on the boss. ¡°Need a new plan for me. I got a warning about purposely targeting his crotch. Accidental blows are allowed, but the devs warned me against purposeful targeting. They also explained it took me so long because they have a gentle aim assist. It slightly deflects blows, but can be overcome with repeated targeting.¡± ¡°Damn. Ok, I guess you should try and target organs then. Do you still have bleeding poison? Great. Liver, spleen and kidneys if his back is turned. He¡¯s got thicker muscle walls than a human, so it¡¯s going to have to be a piercing strike to really get in there and get it.¡± ¡°Thanks Whiskers. I won¡¯t let you down.¡± Charging back in, she wasted no time. Looking at the battle, we were in a very bad spot. Losing ten percent attack speed didn¡¯t seem like it would be that much, but it really adds up. Add on to the loss of fire attacks from Cinderfy, and things weren¡¯t looking good. The boss was happily launching ice attacks, cloaking itself in a small blizzard to slow our melee even further. As of right now, we had only taken out a quarter of its life. ¡°[Blink][Assassinate].¡± I teleported to behind the boss¡¯ head, hoping to sever a portion of its spine. *CLANK* Damnit, he must have been waiting. The back of his neck was covered in a thick layer of ice, preventing me from targeting it. I kicked off his shoulders, putting distance between us. I dropped back to by King, hoping for some inspiration from him. ¡°Got any ideas?¡± ¡°Poisons are working the best, he seems to have fairly even magical resistances with the exception of ice. I¡¯ve switched to magic arrows and piercing attacks.¡± ¡°Fine. See if you can think of something, I¡¯m going to be hitting and retreating.¡± This was the most annoying type of fighting. I couldn¡¯t get many critical hits with only his legs exposed, and he seemed to be able to sense where my blink would come out. Ten agonizing minutes later, and I was getting frustrated. I could tell everyone else was as well, and we really needed a change of plans. The boss was sitting at almost two thirds health, calmly taking our attacks and letting his area attacks wear down our main damage dealers. They had fallen into a grinding melee pattern, dropping back every so often to deal with all the frostbite damage his storm was doing. ¡°We have a plan, but need you.¡± I turned to see Cinderfy standing next to me. ¡°You can use shadow mana, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, what you got?¡± ¡°Just come on.¡± Dragging me away, we headed to the cluster of mages. ¡°He can use shadow. Grandelf, your show.¡± ¡°Right, can I assume you are willing to sign off on a drastic new plan?¡± He asked, looking right at me. ¡°How drastic?¡± ¡°Massive damage, but our mana will be sealed for at least a minute and a half. We need six people.¡± ¡°Do it. No offense, but mages aren¡¯t doing the strongest attack at the moment.¡± ¡°Yeah. Well, this will change things. All I need you to do is stand at the point of a hexagon and channel shadow mana into the formation in a controlled manner. The other mages will help balance it, while I go ahead and shape the spell.¡± ¡°Just what spell do you have that needs six different mages?¡± I asked, worried. ¡°It¡¯ll take too long to explain. Basically we are combining the six major elements into a massive attack. You are shadow, Brosef is light, Peppermint is air, Cinderfy is fire, Brock is earth and I am water. It¡¯ll take 30 seconds to charge, but there isn¡¯t a chant for you.¡± ¡°Alright, let me know when to begin.¡± I said, as everyone got into position. I was closest to the boss. Going counterclockwise was Cinderfy, Peppermint, Brosef, Brock, and finally Grandelf. ¡°Go.¡± We all started channeling mana, and I found it to be similar to channeling it to another person. All I had to concentrate on was keeping the flow even with everyone else¡¯s, though they ended up matching my small fluctuations just to keep things smooth. ¡°The six manas, paired with their opposites. Balance your powers, and unleash untold destruction. [Hyperbeam]!¡± While Grandelf was chanting, our preparations weren¡¯t unknown. I could feel a massive magical pressure building behind me, and the boss turned with wide eyes when he saw whatever was forming behind me. ¡°Lose all sense of direction, for none exist. Lose yourself and all your dreams. Give all to the gap between dimensions. Planar descent, [Ginnungagap].¡± Several things happened simultaneously. A blackness spread out from the boss, moving over everyone and seeming to drain off the colors of everything. We all seemed, faded. From above me, a kaliedescope of color shot forward, only to shatter into glittering motes of light. ¡°No way! It destroyed a hyperbeam?¡± I heard from behind me, but I was more concerned about other things. ¡°[Glacial spear]!¡± Ice Queen¡¯s spell never even formed. Once again Lucy¡¯s summoned creatures let out an agonized wail as they disappeared.
Planar shift! You find yourselves in the gap between dimensions, the Ginnungagap! Here there are no directions, and dark things forgotten by time lurk. You should swiftly return to the planes to which humanoids belong. Magical mayhem: External magical effects are negated. Magical drain: Mana regeneration is reduced by 75%
That wasn¡¯t the most important part. The boss wasn¡¯t regenerating health! ¡°Everyone, pile on the physical damage! Magic abilities are useless, but the boss¡¯ regeneration is down!¡± It took a half second for everything to register, before the melee attacked with a massive battle cry. Without the power of his regeneration, our attacks were doing a lot more damage. The added on poisons still worked, and his lifebar was falling rapidly. Within five minutes, we had dealt nearly 40% damage! The boss was also limited in counter attacking, limited to physical assault that were easy to see coming. As the battle neared the ten-minute mark, I started getting antsy. ¡°Fisticuffs! We need a powerful attack before it switches planes on us again! Use one of your daily skills!¡± ¡°Right. Blackthumb, give me some of that Death¡¯s Knell you¡¯ve been hoarding!¡± He tossed her a vial, grumbling about it while Dave and GoldGuard made a wall to prevent him from ruining her plan. ¡°Now let me show you the best way to use this stuff.¡± She said, swapping out spears. This one was rather simple. It was the color of dried blood, and the long head had seven barbs on each side of the blade. She coated it liberally with the poison, and took up a stance facing the boss. ¡°Alright boys, let ¡®im through.¡± She called, and the two tanks let the boss through. Bracing herself, I saw the telltale glow of mana as it enhanced her muscles. ¡°My blade thirsts, for that sweetest of treats. Come, let him feast upon thy heart¡¯s blood. Strike fast, strike true. Drink till you are sated, then drink some more. Drink until you are carved out of my dead enemy¡¯s flesh. [Gae Bolg]!¡± Glowing brightly with red and yellow, shards of earth flew away from her feet as she launcher herself in an impossibly fast attack. In the instant she moved, her spear buried itself into the boss¡¯ chest, staggering him. Fisticuffs let go of her weapon, and backed away as he frantically tried to pull it out. The initial strike easily took out ten percent of his life, while the rest was rapidly draining away to the poison that she had applied. Within seconds, the boss died and we were returned to the cave it originally fought us in. ¡°Holy shit! That¡¯s an awesome spear!¡± Someone shouted, as Fisticuffs started cutting it out of the monster¡¯s chest with a knife. ¡°What the?¡± She shouted, as a magical force tore her spear out and flung her and it away from the boss. The force solidified into an egg with flaming wings inside it, and my eyes widened in horror. ¡°Is, is that a phoenix egg?¡± Dave asked, backing away from the heat being thrown off. Before anyone could respond, there came the piercing cry of an angry raptor from within the egg, before it exploded in shards of magical flames. The flaming wings retreated to reveal the enraged boss standing there, opening and closing his hands. ¡°Impressive spear. How are you going to win when you can¡¯t use that skill for another day?¡± He asked, smiling. Even though it only had half health, and was showing no regeneration, I could tell the raid was devastated. ¡°Now, who ordered seconds?¡± He asked with a manic grin, settling into a battle stance. Book 3 Chapter 46 ¡°Let¡¯s say we turn up the heat for round 2.¡± The boss taunted with a grin. ¡°A burning land of fire and flame. Blackened cinders lie beneath the sky. Planar descent, [Muspelheim].¡± Again a wave of magic exploded from the boss, this time changing the area into that of a volcanic plain. Shard of razor sharp black rock covered the land, while bubbling pools of lava and gently flowing rivers cut through the barren landscape.
Planar shift! Welcome to the land of fire, Muspelheim! Hope you brought heat resistant clothing, you¡¯re gonna need it! All ice spells cost 50% more mana and are 25% less effective All fire spells cost 50% less mana and are 50% more effective Every five minutes, any plate or chain armor gains one level of Heat Metal spell. Direct contact with lava will also gain one level of Heat Metal. Cloth and leather will suffer Dry Rot after 5 minutes. Durability will decay, and after ten minutes has a chance to spontaneously combust.
While I was reading over the new rules for the plane, the boss was busy setting himself up. Using stone manipulation, he covered one arm up to the elbow in fused shards of obsidian. He then dunked his hand into a pool of lava and pulled it up, grinning. ¡°Let¡¯s have some fun!¡± He chuckled, charging towards the scattering melee group. ¡°[Frostbite]!¡± Ice Queen tried to freeze the lava clinging to his hand, but her spell fizzled out long before it reached the boss. ¡°[Hydro cannon]!¡± Grandelf had the same thought, and his water spell actually made contact before exploding into a cloud of steam. When it had cleared, there was a small portion of lava that was solidified, but the majority of it remained red hot. ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it, struggle against my might!¡± The boss cried joyously, chasing down members of the raid. He would launch a punch at each of the melee, and even a glancing blow was enough to cause the heat metal debuff to activate. ¡°[Cleansing shower].¡± Spice Mix called forth one of the lesser used area spells, though it was perfect. After ten seconds in the rain, the heat metal debuff was removed! ¡°Nice one Spice!¡± Lucy called out. ¡°Keep it up!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t get close enough to do the damage we need to, can we?¡± Cinder asked from my side. ¡°No. And I don¡¯t think we will like the results after ten minutes.¡± ¡°Give me two minutes then. I didn¡¯t want to have to use it, but I¡¯ve got no choice. Besides, this bastard is taunting me in my house. I¡¯ve gotta show him why that¡¯s a bad idea.¡± ¡°Alright. You¡¯ve got two minutes. I assume we will notice your signal?¡± He nodded and started a normal chant. Guardians of flame, I offer to sate your ceaseless hunger Grant me the power I desire, Lay waste to what stands before me. I call in the name of your lord, the king of flames. [Salamander¡¯s Wrath] Turning away from the mage, I pulled over Citadel and GotYerBack. ¡°Hey, I need you two to keep an eye on Cinder. Make sure he doesn¡¯t get interrupted, got it?¡± They both nodded and headed back to guard the chanting mage. Even that little exchange had cost the raid. Dave was in critical health, barely hanging on while the cleansing shower kept ahead of the heat metal effect. It was also cooling the lava on the boss¡¯ hand. ¡°Here, catch!¡± The boss suddenly turned away from Dave and threw his stone gauntlet at Jess! Shieldwall intercepted the blow, but the force knocked both him and her into a lava pool. ¡°AAAAAAHHHH!¡± They screamed as their health rapidly depleted, King using telekinesis to pull them out of the lava. It was too late to save them, but he did manage to save the bodies. ¡°Spice, get them under the shower for a minute before we resurrect them.¡± I called out, charging toward the boss. ¡°[Keen edge][Blink][Assassinate].¡± I managed a deep slash into the neck of the giant, though my blades glanced off of some bones instead of severing the spinal cord. ¡°[Storm of blades][Midnight¡¯s kiss].¡± I didn¡¯t retreat this time, casting the blade skill so that it surrounded one of the legs and started shredding at the muscles. ¡°[Immolate].¡± My world was switched to fire, obstructing my vision. A crushing blow to my ribs didn¡¯t help, and I¡¯m fairly certain I was killed when I landed on a spearing shard of obsidian.
You have died.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Dr. HealYaButts is attempting to revive you. Revive? Y/N
Only about thirty seconds had passed, and the boss was still moving around a lot more that what he had been the first time. Turning to Dave, he gave another manic grin and stomped twice like he was a sumo wrestler. ¡°[Air palm][Flame geyser]!¡± Just before the air palm struck Dave, he summoned a geyser of flame just behind him. The unexpected heat caused Dave to flinch, losing just enough of his stance that the air palm knocked him fully into the flame. ¡°Time to die little tank! Hiyaaaaaaa!¡± Leaping forward, he smashed a fist down onto Dave, killing him. ¡°Damn, with Lady Fisticuffs down too that¡¯s all of our resurrections.¡± Heal muttered, shaking his head. In the entire time we had been fighting, we had only taken down about 5% of the boss¡¯ health. ¡°[Flame creation magic: Pyromancer¡¯s Pride]!¡± I froze when I looked over to see what Cinderfy had finally conjured with a two-minute chant. A majestic lion of flame, tall enough that Cinder only came up to his knees stood over him. His body was red, slowly morphing to orange flames, though his mane and tufts of hair on the back of his elbows and knees burned with a flowing blue flame. His eyes burned bright blue, and it had two purple horns with spiral patterns coming out from above its eyes. The horns went straight for a bit, before turning outward for a few inches and then returning to the original direction. ¡°Roar, Altorneau.¡± The lion gave a massive, magic-infused roar that rumbled in my chest.
Altorneau Majestic astral flame lion Level 250 Astral flame lions fear nothing. Their mastery of flame is on par with elementals, though their magics aren¡¯t limited to fire. Their roars strike fear in their enemies and bolster allies. Though the males are often perceived as the greatest threat, it is the females of the pride that do the most damage.
Stepping out from behind the male were two females, lacking the mane and the horns. They gave savage growls, and hunkered down awaiting the order to attack. ¡°Oh? Astral flame lions, isn¡¯t this a surprise. I hadn¡¯t realized that anyone had managed to strike a deal with such powerful creatures. This is gonna be fun.¡± He said, pointing the flat of his hand at Altorneau. ¡°I call you forth, from the land where the sun never reaches. Icy winds that freeze the very soul, [Cocytus blast]!¡± While the boss was chanting, the lions split up and Altorneau charged straight in, belching forth flames to counter the icy winds that erupted from the small portal in front of the boss¡¯ hand. ¡°[Obsidian spear].¡± The boss summoned a spear of obsidian to erupt from his feet toward the lion to his right. She missed taking it in the chest, instead getting a deep piercing blow to her shoulder. The final lion tried to tackle him from the back, latching on to his shoulder. ¡°[Stone manipulation].¡± Forming a stone blade reaching back from his elbow, the boss countered the mauling by stabbing the lioness in her belly. With a pained roar, she dropped back to reassess her opponent. ¡°You¡¯ll pay for striking my wives. [Electrocution].¡± The raid was stunned when the male smarled at the boss, and then he unleashed twin bolts of electricity from the horns on his forehead. The boss took the damage, charging forward. Ignoring the pain, his hand snaked out and grasped one of the horns, preventing the lion from escaping. ¡°[Shattering blow]!¡± With an overhand haymaker, the boss struck the immobilized horn with his skill. Unable to contain the forces, the horn shattered and the boss took the portion he had in his hand and stabbed Altorneau in the shoulder. ¡°[Repelling wave].¡± Standing back up and flinging his arms to the side, the boss used a wave of magic to send all three lions flying away from him. The females flew further, as they were in the middle of leaping at his exposed back when he did it. ¡°[Crystal spear]!¡± Brock timed his attack perfectly, in the single moment where the boss was exposed. The spear lodged midway through the left knee of the boss, though it looked odd to me. The back was open for some reason. ¡°Sound the death bell of the stars themselves. [Nova].¡± The three sages had formed a triangle, in the middle of which was an intense ball of blue flames. They shot this straight into the shaft in the middle of the crystal, and when it hit the end the resulting explosion shredded the left leg of the boss. ¡°GAAAAAHHH!¡± he cried, falling onto his side. The lions wasted no time, charging forward. ¡°[Binding chains of light]!¡± Brosef created several light chains that bound the boss¡¯ arms to his sides, giving the lions unrestricted access to his vitals. Altorneau used his remaining horn to pierce the giant¡¯s chest, channeling lightning into his body while one of the lionesses latched on to the side of his neck. The final one bit down on one of his hands, savaging it in an attempt to rip his arm off. Crippled, immobilized, and paralyzed, he went down swiftly under the assault. Sensing his death, Altorneau let out a victory roar as Cinderfy approached. ¡°Altorneau, thank you for answering my summons. Is there anything I can do to replace your horn?¡± ¡°Relax, flame born one. It was lost in a worthy battle, one that we shall enjoy telling the cubs. We shall take our leave for now, to recover from our wounds. Until next time.¡± Cinder gave a low bow to each of the lions, going lower for both of the females than what he did for Altorneau. With a nod in return, the lions each burst into a swirl of flame that seemed to suck into itself, disappearing into the blue flames that formed the hearts of the creatures. ¡°Talk about pulling a rabbit out of your hat. Where did you ever think you would need such a summon?¡± I asked, hugging Cinder as the fires of Muspelheim were replaced by the cold chamber of the boss. ¡°Honestly? I got it in case we ever came up against your guild in the Guild Wars.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Damn, I¡¯m kinda honored.¡± I chuckled, glad that he had such a trump card. ¡°What¡¯s the cooldown on a skill like that?¡± ¡°One week.¡± I froze at his answer. That was far and away the longest cooldown I had ever come across in the game. ¡°Well, thanks for using it. We would have been toast if you hadn¡¯t. Shall we check the loot?¡± He grinned and nodded, and we headed over to let him do the honors.
Loot table
Son of Ymir
Magic infused giant femur x2 Magic infused giant blood x20 Primordial mage¡¯s bracers (legendary) Boots of the Planeswalker (legendary)
Oh there would be fights over this. The bracers reduced all magic cost and increased casting speed, while the boots made travelling between planes much easier. In addition, once per month the boots allowed a potential summon creature to send out a quest to the wearer, the completion of which allowed for a summoning contract to be formed. ¡°Ok, half hour break for repairing equipment before we head on to the next area of the dungeon.¡± I called out. ¡°If you need a break for real life issues, talk with either myself, Lucy or Dave and we can work on a rotation. No more than five minutes if you can help it.¡± Book 3 Chapter 47 Larry¡¯s POV ¡°Come in!¡± I called to the knock on my office door. Mike poked his head in, followed quickly by Emily. ¡°Just in time! Come on and pop a seat, I think Derrick is about to begin his battle.¡± ¡°I still think you asked too much by having him remove his equipment.¡± Emily said, sitting down. ¡°Eh, he knows what we have planned and was all for it. You know he¡¯s going to have an absolute blast revealing that surprise later. Beer?¡± I asked, reaching in to my minifridge. ¡°Sure.¡± Emily and Mike both responded. ¡°So, hows the raid looking so far?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been watching?¡± Mike asked. ¡°They¡¯ve hit 200 deaths, and barely got by that Aboleth trap. That was smart on Derrick¡¯s setup. Having monsters that you can¡¯t kill.¡± ¡°Oooh, I can see how that would be effective.¡± Emily started. ¡°Hush! Here it is!¡± I called out. ¡°Love the ambiance. Climb the lonely mountain to beat the boss.¡± ¡°Hoh damn!¡± Mike yelled out a few minutes later when the wind spell went off. ¡°What the hell was that? Explosion?¡± ¡°Wind gust.¡± I said after looking some things up on my computer. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s pretty good. It¡¯s a no damage spell, just gives them a not so gentle push.¡± We continued watching the raid struggle their way up the mountain only to get blown off by an avalanche spell. ¡°Damn, that¡¯s disappointing.¡± Mike muttered. ¡°He didn¡¯t even get to use any of his really good spells. What¡¯re we going to do while we wait for the raid to get back?¡± ¡°Well, since I have you two here, there¡¯s a proposal from our group of beta testers. Wanna look it over?¡± ¡°Gimme gimme gimme!¡± I said, standing and practically trying to grab whatever was in her hands. ¡°Easy! I sent it in an email before I came over. Take a look.¡± Mike and I both pulled up the email in question, going over the proposal. It only took a minute or two to read the thing, as it was pretty bare bones at the moment. ¡°This has potential.¡± I muttered. Looking up at Mike, I raised a brow. ¡°You¡¯re the developer, do you think we could fold it in with the update?¡± ¡°I like the layout, but it feels. I dunno. Lacking something.¡± I replied. ¡°I just can¡¯t put my finger on it.¡± ¡°Balance.¡± Emily said after a minute. ¡°I think it¡¯s a balance issue.¡± ¡°How though?¡± Mike asked. ¡°They¡¯ve got both sides covered. Those for slavery, and those against.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you aren¡¯t looking at the bigger picture. Think. Why force them into two separate camps? How many games have done that, only to find out that one side rapidly overtakes the other. They get a boost somehow, and an influx of players. The boost snowballs out of control, and the game is done for. It¡¯s not fun.¡± ¡°I see what you¡¯re saying, but how do we balance that?¡± I asked. ¡°We have three pantheons; why don¡¯t we introduce a third side into this party?¡± Mike and I stared at each other for a second. ¡°Give her another raise.¡± I ordered. ¡°Genius idea my dear, but what are we going to do for it? Let¡¯s see how you handle the pressure.¡± ¡°Well.¡± She stammered, looking down into her beer for a second. ¡°Let¡¯s assume we can get some of the pantheon involved. The dark gods are obviously going to be all for the slavery aspect, while the light gods against it. I see the gray pantheon being one of two things. First, they can be absolutely neutral. They bind together to defend each other, but otherwise take no stance. Or, they can take the roll of mercenaries. Pay them enough, and they will either protect you or assist with the attack.¡± ¡°Ok. Quick answer, I like it.¡± I continued. ¡°Now, pros and cons of the true neutral.¡± ¡°Damn, always putting me on the spot. Alright. Pro. It will appeal to those who don¡¯t want to risk losing their character. Especially at end game levels, they have put in a lot of effort. Some would be absolutely crushed to have lost it. Cons. People will miss out on a good bit of content and challenges, especially if we offer specialty gear. Lack of actually balancing the opposing forces. Um. That¡¯s all I got.¡± ¡°Not bad, not bad. Change directions, pros and cons for the mercenary aspect.¡± ¡°Ok. Pros. There can be balance of forces, and they can choose how they balance. You could be sent to abduct a character or free a character. That¡¯ll appeal to a lot of people, especially if they can pick and choose their missions. Cons. There¡¯s no option to not partake. That¡¯s not going to sit well with a good bit of our players.¡± ¡°Mike, I think she just earned another raise, what¡¯d¡¯ya say?¡± ¡°Maybe just a bonus. What about this guys. Can we split the third part into two factions? One true neutral, and one that is pushing for interference? Internal strife always works to get people interested, especially if they can rise through the ranks with a well-timed takeover.¡± ¡°Could we have an espionage option?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Think of this. The mercenaries get a spy class. While a normal captured player has their gear locked to their inventory, the spy has a special slot to hide a dagger and an escape tool. Their job is to break out of the prison camp, wrecking things along the way.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Oh that would be so much fun.¡± I replied, thinking it through. ¡°Hell, they might be able to turn around the entire camp. Free themselves and enslave their captors.¡± ¡°Hold that thought, looks like the raid is back for round two.¡± Mike said. ¡°Oh, one of them found the hidden tunnels.¡± We watched the fight go on, making small notes about certain parts of the battle. ¡°Do you think we lowered him too much by taking away his gear?¡± Emily asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± I said, leaning forward. ¡°He¡¯s got a massive reach advantage, and that orichalcum sword would negate pretty much any magic attack. Without gear, he¡¯s holding his own while outnumbered 30 to 1. Give him the equipment he¡¯s managed to acquire? He¡¯s gonna be the first multi raid boss challenge.¡± ¡°Oh! Lookit!¡± Mike shouted, bouncing in his seat. ¡°They¡¯re gonna try a hyperbeam!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the deal with, oooo. It¡¯s pretty.¡± Emily said, watching the spear of multicolored light form. ¡°That¡¯s probably the only magic spell that could do any damage.¡± I said. ¡°It averages your two lowest elemental resistances and halves it to determine your resistance. How¡¯s he going to, THERE IT IS! YESSSS!¡± I jumped up when he summoned the Ginnungagap. ¡°What¡¯s up with that planar summoning?¡± Mike asked. ¡°It looks like they are standing on an invisible arena in the middle of space.¡± ¡°One of our hidden questlines. I knew he had started it, but I didn¡¯t think he would get all the planar summons. You have to get all 9 of the Norse planes before you can earn the gap between dimensions. All those mages are useless for the next ten minutes.¡± ¡°Why though? Surely we must have a reasoning.¡± Emily looked at me. ¡°Of course. The gap is a place with no magic. All the normal planes claimed the free mana, so spells don¡¯t really work there. That¡¯s the bad thing too, because Derrick has such a highly magical race. Without a suitable free mana level, he loses his racial abilities. The first to go is his regeneration. Then they lose any special vision modes.¡± ¡°And since the normal races aren¡¯t magical creatures, they can survive when the summoned creatures were dispersed.¡± Emily said, nodding. ¡°Ok that makes sense. Oh my, what is that spear?¡± We all turned back to the show, watching as Lady Fisticuffs pulled out a special spear. ¡°Oh man, I didn¡¯t realize someone had actually found that.¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s one of the spears from the Celtic legends if I remember right. So much history there to choose from.¡± ¡°Care to explain a bit for those of us not as well versed as you?¡± Mike chuckled. ¡°Fine, fine. They have a lot of legendary weapons, most of which have some pretty gnarly effects. We originally wanted to use the Spear of Lugh, which almost wielded itself it loved battle so much. That seemed a little too powerful, so we combined it with Gae Bolg. That has a few different stories in itself, but we went with the Notched Spear aspect. Those barbs? According to legend they would spread into all the joints in the body and have to literally be cut out after the enemy died. So we gave that to the spear, it can¡¯t be removed until the enemy is dead. Limits it enough that we can get it into the game.¡± ¡°Are there any others in there?¡± Emily asked, leaning forward. ¡°Well, the god of Truth wields Fragarach. Fitting, as you aren¡¯t able to lie when it is placed at your throat. Durandal is in the hands of the Drow right now. There¡¯s probably a hammer somewhere in the game world.¡± ¡°Here we go! Here we go!¡± Mike started bouncing in his seat. ¡°Finally get to see the phoenix rebirth animations!¡± I reached across the desk to snag some popcorn and watch as Derrick was reborn to the horror of the raid. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s brutal. Using obsidian to protect his hand from a makeshift lava gauntlet? I wonder if we¡¯re going to have anyone roasting in their armor.¡± Emily commented, leaning forward. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he focusing on one person though?¡± ¡°Probably so they don¡¯t trap him again.¡± I replied. ¡°This way everyone is off balance, and more likely to make a mistake. If he can keep up the heat metal penalties, the tanks are going to start dropping fairly quickly.¡± ¡°Or if he can get those healers to start tunnel visioning on the tanks, THERE!¡± Mike shouted, pointing. ¡°Just like that! She was so concerned about keeping her tank alive she forgot to watch the boss, and now her and her guardian are in a puddle of lava.¡± ¡°It¡¯s battles like this that I think a lot of players are happy we don¡¯t have full pain.¡± I said. ¡°Imagine how it would feel to be actually fighting in a volcano?¡± Both Mike and Emily shuddered at that. ¡°No thanks. I¡¯m gonna sit here and enjoy my nice, ice cold beer.¡± Mike said after a second. ¡°Oh, would ya look at that? He managed to get the raid leader at last. That¡¯ll make him feel a bit better about things.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I think Derrick was wanting to have at least one entire wipe.¡± ¡°Tall order with that many tanks and tank like builds. People really underestimate the pounding a proper guardian build can take.¡± Emily said. ¡°Plus the guardians are basically meat shields for the healers, you need a way to use the environment against them.¡± ¡°I hear that.¡± I replied. ¡°Oh. Oh my, they are bringing out the big guns.¡± I said, finally noticing what was floating around Cinderfy. Three intense orbs of blue flame, with that long of a cast time could only mean one thing. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Mike and Emily both asked as the lions appeared. ¡°One of the most potent fire summonings available. Not the most powerful individually, but the minimum is to summon three lions and combined with their teamwork is the strongest.¡± ¡°I like how they aren¡¯t limited to just fire.¡± Emily stated. ¡°That, and look how they automatically spread out and attack from three directions at once. I can really see why these are strong.¡± After a few seconds, she added, ¡°Any chance of meeting flame lion cubs?¡± ¡°Ha! Oh that would be a great draw, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± I laughed. ¡°We could have a petting zoo of summoned beings offspring. The little murder machines always look cute when they are babies.¡± ¡°You know.¡± Mike said after thinking about it for a few seconds. ¡°That might not be a bad idea. See if we can draw some people into the summoner classes. I know the Druid Hordemaster is one of our lowest in popularity.¡± ¡°Serious?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Emily spoke up. ¡°A lot of people are too worried about trying to min max their characters, they don¡¯t realize the flexibility that summoning can really give. Just look at how Lucy has been in this dungeon. There have been several floors where druids were almost useless, yet she always had some sort of summon that has been helpful. Maybe we could do a week for each of the lowest classes, see if we can boost their popularity somehow.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get my people on it.¡± I said. ¡°So we have the special week for low interest classes, and we have the mercenary option for the enslavement of characters. Anything else we can think of?¡± ¡°Nope. Two ideas is my limit, especially when the ideas have outnumbered the beers I¡¯ve been given.¡± Mike said, leaning back in his chair. ¡°Speaking of which, I do believe it¡¯s time for round 2.¡± ¡°Here ya go.¡± I said, handing him another one. ¡°Wait a second, are they getting more legendary items?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that seem a little, I dunno, excessive?¡± ¡°Yeah. The game gods are responsible for the loot.¡± I answered. ¡°Part of it is based on what they see the difficulty, and I¡¯m sure they are getting a bonus based on the first assault. I¡¯m just worried about what they are going to be facing in the last leg coming up.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± They both asked simultaneously. ¡°Not all of it. I¡¯ve seen some of the plans, and know what monsters they will be facing, but the gods didn¡¯t want any possibility of interference so we were kindly told to butt out.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Frankly, I can¡¯t wait.¡± Book 3 Chapter 48 Mr. Whiskers POV ¡°Before we press on, there are some things I want to discuss.¡± I called the raid over. ¡°I know we¡¯ve been slogging through this dungeon for five hours today, and did a full day yesterday. I really want to finish it today if we can, as I doubt there will be another safe zone. This could mean another five to seven hours depending on how things look. Is everyone able and up for finishing this?¡± I was glad the rest of the raid actually sat and thought about it for a bit instead of immediately voting for it. After a few minutes, everyone was agreed that we would finish the run today, and we headed into the portal waiting to take us to the next level. Will this dungeon ever stop with the surprises? Above us was the clearest view of a starlit sky I had ever had the pleasure of viewing. The only thing marring the view was a shifting ribbon of green and blue as a borealis danced along. In one direction a red and yellow streaked gas giant of a planet was rising, the plane of its rings allowing us to see the myriad of colors it contained. Turning, one could see a storm of comets as they slowly moved across the sky, but the most breathtaking view was the nebula behind them. It covered nearly a third of that portion of the sky, and had no real set shape. Several tiny lights had to be small stars lighting up halos of colored gasses. ¡°About time.¡± A gravelly voice interrupted our awed reaction to the view. ¡°Though it is pleasing that you adventurers appreciate my realm.¡± I froze as I took in the absolutely massive black dragon stretched out before us. Jet black with ten horns on its head, it had lazily cracked an eye as it looked us over while still laying down in a restful pose. The ground beneath it was, disorientingly odd. Bare rock turned to a flush golden grass before giving way to an ice sheet being crossed by silver ants the size of a small puppy. ¡°I¡¯ll not be swayed by your words, vile one!¡± We all turned to see HolyDungeonDiver striding forward, raising his mace. ¡°[Holy smite]!¡± Bringing down his mace, a bolt of light shot forward and shattered harmlessly against the side of the dragon who merely yawned. Relax, raid leader. A voice entered my head before I could step forward to stop Diver. Looking at the dragon, it gave me the slightest of nods. Eyes widening in fear, I really hoped I was wrong about what was about to go down. Indeed. I am Tiamat, goddess of chaos. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll not be holding you or your group accountable for the actions of this fool. I just wish to see how far he¡¯s willing to go. ¡°As expected, you are strong in your realm. But the light will always prevail. [Hammer of light]!¡± Again a hammer of light formed above Diver before smashing itself on the back of the dragon. ¡°Blunt force is so boring, and can¡¯t really get that itch of mine.¡± The dragon taunted. ¡°Got anything that can pierce?¡± It, no she, asked with a yawn. ¡°Pelor! In your name I call forth the power to smite this evil one! [Divine spears of light]!¡± Several spears of light appeared above the dragon, before crashing down at an absolutely insane speed. The force kicked up a massive dust cloud, obscuring our vision of what had happened. ¡°As I said.¡± Diver panted out, ¡°the light of Pelor will always prevail.¡± He froze in horror when clapping came from within the dust cloud. ¡°Oh bravo, you brave, ignorant mortal. Bravo.¡± A humanoid draconian came sauntering forth from the dust, her thin tail swishing behind her like a satisfied cat. Her scales enhanced her aura of danger, having gained some streaks of red. The ten horns were smaller, and formed a crown upon her head. ¡°We gods and goddesses are limited in the actions we can take, unless specific conditions are met. Like an unprovoked attack, repeated thrice without retribution.¡± Glaring at Diver, she grinned quite evilly. ¡°I had been thinking of remaining neutral in the struggle between Lolth and Pelor, but now I have quite the excuse to join in. And I think I know just how I¡¯m going to announce my entrance. Prepare yourself, little mortal, to feel what a true [Divine smite] should feel like!¡± As she spoke, a purplish black orb grew in her hand before shooting forward and striking Diver in the chest. ¡°Guh.¡± He managed to sputter out, but to our surprise didn¡¯t get blown backward by the spell. Instead, the light slowly spread until it had completely encased him, then sank into his character. ¡°I¡¯ll let you all see the results, as it will be impactful to your quest.¡±
Divine Smite! Foolish mortal, you have angered a god to the point they decided to make an example of you. Enjoy the results of the Chaotic Smite. For the next month, you will embody chaos. Every three days, your class, stats, and skills will be randomized. The totals will never be lowered, and any skill gains will not be transferred after the month has ended. Class force change: Beast tamer Attributes switched: INT and STR, AGI and CON, DEX and WIS
¡°For those wondering what it will take to remove those effects, nothing less than a divine intervention through a pontiff. Tell me, mortal, has Pelor managed to set himself up with another pontiff yet?¡± She asked with a chuckle. ¡°What? You can¡¯t do this!¡± Diver cried, shoving a hand forward. ¡°Divine smite! Divine smite!¡± Nothing worked as he tried to activate his priest skills. ¡°As expected of one of his idiotic followers.¡± Tiamat smirked. ¡°You allowed me to by attacking me three times fool.¡± ¡°And because you couldn¡¯t hold yourself back, you¡¯ve just earned yourself a free boot from the raid.¡± I interrupted before he could argue more with the goddess. ¡°Not only have we lost a healer, but we gained dead weight. A beast tamer with no experience and no tamed beasts? Nope.¡±
HolyDungeonDiver has been kicked from the raid.
¡°What the? You can¡¯t kick me out! You need me!¡± ¡°No, what we needed was a healer. Instead we have a weight dragging us down. Good luck Diver, but we will not be healing you nor resurrecting you. I suggest you exit the dungeon as fast as possible.¡± ¡°Seriously? Is nobody going to stand up? He¡¯ll do it to you too!¡± Diver pled, turning to the rest of the raid. ¡°I doubt that.¡± Dave spoke up. ¡°He¡¯s had the power all along, and been rather lenient with mistakes. You have to admit, that attacking a goddess in her own realm is the height of stupidity.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a creature of darkness!¡± ¡°Shut it.¡± Lucy ordered. ¡°Just be glad you aren¡¯t a member of my guild, because I would be booting you from that as well.¡± ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t blame me when you all get kicked for a minor mistake.¡± Diver finished his tantrum and left via portal. ¡°One of those whose mistakes are never their fault. I do so love the multitude of personalities you mortals produce.¡± Tiamat chuckled. ¡°And now for the rest of the raid. This floor is simple. Make it to the portal on the other side. However, none should cross the planes of chaos without a blessing from the goddess in charge, correct?¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite alright.¡± I spoke up. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t want to impose upon your goodwill.¡± ¡°Oh, but I insist.¡± She interrupted. ¡°Besides, you accepted the blessings of those two light gods. There needs to be a bit of a balance I believe. [Blessing of Chaos].¡±
Blessing of Chaos Tiamat believes that all that cross her plane should enjoy her personal blessing. That, and she wishes to balance the blessings of Gaia and Moradin. Effects: Damage mayhem: Skills and spells will now do a range of damage from -200% to 200% Chaotic spells: There is a chance that spells will be altered. Should a spell be altered, the only cooldown will be for the spell that was attempted. Possible changes: element change, damage reversal, tier increase or decrease. The only spell immune to these effects is resurrect.
¡°Oh, don¡¯t look like that.¡± She pouted. ¡°It¡¯s only for the next four floors of the dungeon. The blessing will disappear with the start of the next boss fight. Have fun!¡± With a wave, she disappeared in a pillar of black light. ¡°Well, this is gonna be fun.¡± Dave grumped. ¡°How in the world are we going to finish this dungeon down a healer and not being able to trust our skills?¡± ¡°Very carefully.¡± I answered. ¡°At least we can still trust our resurrection spell. Let¡¯s rely on that and potions for healing where we can. Anyone have an idea on what direction to head?¡± ¡°I see a pillar of light off that¡¯a¡¯way.¡± GotYerBack said, pointing to our left. ¡°Seems pretty stationary.¡± ¡°Any objections? No? Great. Scouts keep fairly close, and let¡¯s head out.¡± We started in the direction of the light, and right away the dungeon started playing tricks on us. While we were walking along hot sands, a cool breeze was keeping us cool above waist height. The sky had shifted to a massive red sun, but it seemed to only be sending out light and no heat. ¡°Something¡¯s coming.¡± King called out, and we all looked to the right a bit to see several dots moving closer. They would increase in size a bit, then the growth would slow, before increasing rapidly again. ¡°What the hell are they?¡± Someone asked as they got close enough to see. ¡°Is that a floating jellyfish?¡± When we could finally make out some details, it really looked like a flying jellyfish. There was a large sack of gas that would occasionally squeeze down, shooting the creature forward. It also had three tentacles dragging along the sands.
Floatsam Level 230 Floatsam generally glide along with the breeze, consuming whatever comes in contact with their tentacles. Occasionally they will actively hunt something, using a primitive form of jet propulsion to move.
¡°King, are they chasing anything on the ground?¡± I asked. ¡°Not that I can see.¡± ¡°Alright. Target the middle one when it gets within range, and hit it. Let¡¯s see what these things have in store. Raid members, avoid the tentacles.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°[Snipe shot].¡± King was the first to be struck by the mayhem of our blessing. Instead of a pure physical attack, he shot an electrical bolt at the creature. KABOOOM! The resulting explosion caused everyone to duck down, as the remaining floatsam turned and flew away as fast as they could. ¡°Lightning works.¡± King called over his shoulder, giving everyone a sheepish smile. ¡°I¡¯ll say!¡± Ice Queen chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry through here. I don¡¯t like it when spells don¡¯t work right.¡± ¡°Good call. Everyone keep your guard up, who knows what¡¯s lurking in the sands.¡± We set off again, only to find the land changed to cobblestones over the next dune. We could see roaming packs of dogs, moving between stands of blackened shrubbery. As we watched, one of the dogs lifted a leg to mark a bush only to find itself impaled by thorns that burst into flames. Before it could even yelp in pain, the dog was gone. ¡°Note to self, don¡¯t water the wildflowers.¡± Dave quipped before heading off into the new land. Most people chuckled as we followed the tank. When we were finally near enough, the dogs were revealed to be level 200 scalemail hounds, and unsurprisingly their coats were like armor. Unexpectedly, they were air enhancers and would send slashes of wind flying at the raid. Battling them was more an annoyance, as they really only had a speed advantage. Once a mage had slowed one down, the hounds barely lasted thirty seconds under the barrage of physical damage. ¡°Drops are crap.¡± Lucy commented, holding one of the scaled pelts. ¡°Probably only good enough to make rare items.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± I agreed. ¡°Then again, they¡¯re just regular mobs.¡± As an afterthought I added, ¡°Anyone ever check out those plants?¡± ¡°Useless. As soon as you damage them, they burn up. Do enough damage to kill them, and you already destroyed any drops.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I said, and we kept going. Eventually we came to a sign, and a fork in the path.
Choose your own adventure! Take the lower path through the canyon floor ¨C left fork Take the high ground and trust in the rope bridges ¨C right fork Bypass all of this ¨C bend space with the power of your mind
¡°Before someone tries it, please don¡¯t try and bend space with the power of your mind.¡± I immediately ordered. ¡°Aw, why not?¡± Grandelf asked. ¡°Because these are the planes of chaos. Who knows what we could summon if we tried it?¡± ¡°Fine, if you wanna be all logical about it.¡± He grumbled with a smile. ¡°That said, up or down?¡± The raid was fairly evenly divided, and we spent at least five minutes. ¡°Look, I just am never gonna trust a rope bridge. Especially one in the chaotic plane!¡± ¡°And locking ourselves into the bottom of a ravine is better? We¡¯ll be sitting ducks!¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± I roared. When everyone was silent, I continued, ¡°We¡¯ll take the ravine route. I don¡¯t trust the bridges either. Brock, I know you and Ice Queen could probably build a bridge, but there¡¯s too great of a chance that the gap will be too long. King, five-minute scout.¡± He nodded and led the other scouts into the ravine, and we sat down to wait. ¡°It¡¯s a simple area, but there¡¯s a lot of branching paths. No enemies we could see.¡± King said as they returned. ¡°Traps?¡± Dave asked. ¡°None that we found. Everything is rock down there, so there shouldn¡¯t be issues with footing. We marked our path so we can quickly travel.¡± ¡°Alright everyone, Two tanks in front and two in the rear. Call out if you see any enemies.¡± I said, and we all started forward. I decided to stay towards the front this time. Entering the canyon was, an odd sensation. The walls seemed to grow much faster than the slope of our trail indicated, probably something screwy with the instability of this plane. The way wasn¡¯t too bad, the path was at least six people wide and the walls were nearly vertical. Occasionally we would pass under the shadow of a bridge, but from the patches of light passing through they were missing occasional planks. ¡°This isn¡¯t right.¡± King said, freezing at the third intersection. ¡°What isn¡¯t?¡± Dave asked. ¡°This intersection. It should have one branch to the right and continue straight. This branch to the left is new.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Dave asked, and King pointed to his mark. It was a vertical line, with a slant splitting off to the right only. ¡°Nevermind.¡± Dave said with a shrug. ¡°Great. The paths change. Let¡¯s keep going with what you have traveled so far, and when we get to a strange intersection play it by ear.¡± I said. ¡°I take it you went straight last time? Then we go straight this time.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± Shocker snarled, turning and looking around. The raid froze, but we couldn¡¯t hear anything. ¡°Shocker?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°Thought I heard a pebble get kicked.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t, oh.¡± She replied. ¡°Think someone¡¯s watching us?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Keep an eye out. Death, you and Shocker keep eyes to the sky. If there are bridges up there, we can be attacked from that direction.¡± They nodded, and we kept moving. ¡°King, let¡¯s see if we can pick up the pace a bit.¡± We increased from a stroll to a fast walk, but didn¡¯t want to move any faster because of the chance of enemies. No need to exhaust ourselves before battle. I saw King¡¯s frustration growing, as the next three interchanges all had new splits, and the fourth one didn¡¯t even have a mark. ¡°You did get this far, right?¡± Dave asked. ¡°Yeah. Should be at least three more marked intersections. Damnit, let¡¯s just head to the right. That should put us closer to the original direction we were in.¡± He grumped, leading the way. Ahhhwwwooooooooooo As soon as we had cleared the intersection, we heard the wolf howl. It was answered by several others, some in front and some behind us. ¡°Looks like it¡¯ll be a pincer attack.¡± I called out. ¡°Jess, you are healing towards the front. Dr. HealYaButt, you got the rear. Bandaid, you have both sides. Let¡¯s set up some defenses here and wait. Brock, give us a double wall across the canyon to limit their attacking avenues. Druids, I want you to make a hedge maze for them to get trapped in, string them out. Keep it a good bit away from the walls, Cinder¡¯s gonna light it up when they enter it.¡± The raid broke down into groups, preparing for the assault. ¡°It won¡¯t let me cut all the way across.¡± Brock complained. ¡°I can¡¯t even block us off a small fortress. It must have an open area.¡± ¡°Do your best then.¡± I said, trying to figure out how we could add to our advantages. We had a partial fort with two openings that had to be defended, but they were only two people wide. Brock even had time to set up a raised platform behind his walls, letting the mages have a height advantage. Rough crenellations protected them in the chance there were archers among our hunters. We had just finished preparations when the first enemies came into view. ¡°Warg riders!¡± King called out. ¡°Level 200, goblins are all archers or javelins.¡± ¡°We got some coming from the back here as well. Same thing.¡± Death called. I saw several members smiling as they prepared for a normal encounter for a change. ¡°Looks like there are 10, 20, almost 30 of them back here.¡± ¡°I got the same up front, leader seems to be a shaman of sorts judging by his staff.¡± King called out. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Lucy grabbed my arm before I could go invisible. ¡°Wargs would smell you coming a mile away. Let them light the fires first, then blink behind their lines.¡± ¡°Damnit, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll wait a bit.¡± I said with a grin. I turned to look at the approaching enemies, and frowned a bit. While the enemies attacking from the rear were slowly picking their way through the maze, the shaman had moved to the front and was chanting something. Instead of having both force their way through a bottleneck, he sent out a black cloud that shriveled and killed the plants in a wide swath. Smiling, he pointed forward with his staff and the wargs darted forward with a howl of excitement. ¡°[Blizzard].¡± Ice Queen started off the battle for our side, sending frigid winds and small daggers of ice flying into the lead elements of the pack. The wargs thick fur shook off the magic, but the thin skinned goblins were far more affected. Several developed blue patches of frostbite, and their aim was drastically reduced as we could see the weapons shaking in their cold hands. ¡°[Immolate].¡± Cinder targeted the center of the front warg pack, but instead of a column of flame, summoned a spear of ice, sending four wargs and their goblins flying. ¡°Damnit, I want these bastards to burn! Weep, as the flames consume you with no end in sight. [Sea of flames]!¡± Instead of a swirl of flames that cooked the enemies, a toxic green cloud appeared, drifting towards our lines with a few gestures from the shaman. ¡°Watch the friendly fire with the poison gas!¡± One of the tanks yelled, as a healer went to work cleansing them of the poison. ¡°[Snipe shot].¡± All three rangers targeted the shaman, blasting him and disrupting his winds enough that the cloud dispersed. King turned to the other side, looking things over. ¡°[Rain of arrows].¡± He calmly fired a shot nearly vertically, and I expected a volley of arrows to plunge down into the enemy from above. Instead, we got a cleansing shower, that removed the burn effects they goblins had picked up in the hedge maze. ¡°Who¡¯s the asshole that¡¯s cleansing the enemy? Cancel your skill already!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t, its one hit by that chaos buff. Can¡¯t be cancelled.¡± King shouted back. I did see him switch from area attacks to specific enemies, which seemed to be a smart move. ¡°Let¡¯s do this Grandelf.¡± SpiceMix said, facing the enemies at the rear. ¡°Crush them beneath your unceasing flow. [Deluge].¡± ¡°[Chain lightning barrage].¡± Their combined spells worked wonders. Spice summoned a blast of water that Grandelf piggybacked off of, electrocuting and partially paralyzing a swath of the enemy. Blackthumb stepped forward as soon as the electricity ended. ¡°Thanks for the water, this should help out a bit.¡± With a flick of his wrist, he tossed several seeds in to the throng. ¡°Grow, and release your sickly sweet fragrance. [Emerald poppy field].¡± The seeds bloomed, and I knew from experience there would be a lot of goblin deaths from those flowers. Druids had modified the poppy, so that instead of a sleeping aroma they exuded one that had a potent poison in it as well. Anything falling asleep in that field would never wake up. Just as I was about to stealth and head out against the shaman, I heard something that made my blood freeze. ¡°For Uncle Jon!¡± Came a high pitched voice from above, and I looked up to see a small goblin toss a bag of something from a hidden ledge outside of most attack ranges. Several other bags joined it, and the tiny goblin might have stuck a tongue out before disappearing back over the edge. ¡°Danger from above!¡± I called out, but it was too late. The bags hit, and exploded. Not with fire and pain, but some sort of foul smelling liquid. The brownish gunk stuck to whatever it splattered on, and several of the mages bent over gagging from the smell. The wargs? They went crazy. Their attacks increased in speed and ferocity, sometimes getting them to snarl and attack each other or an unfortunate goblin rider in their rage. ¡°They¡¯re all going berserk! Hit ¡®em with everything you got!¡± I yelled out, but the shaman blew a horn on his belt and those that hadn¡¯t already entered their berserk rage started falling back. I blinked into the back line of those still attacking, hamstringing wargs and slitting goblin throats where I could to add to the chaos. Some of my spells switched bleeding and poison damage, but that didn¡¯t bother me much. I was never more glad to be fighting berserked enemies than when my hamstring skill reflected back onto myself. That one incident prevented me from trying to use assassinate, as I didn¡¯t want to kill myself. Three minutes that felt like thirty later, and the last of the wargs was down. Panting, I looked to our raid and asked, ¡°Casualties?¡± ¡°Damn warg took Ice Queen down when it jumped up and grabbed her wrist.¡± Lucy spoke, coming around. ¡°Other than that, we lost three to the melee when they went berserk.¡± ¡°Crap. Burn a scroll to rezz one and we¡¯ll get heading out. Someone want to start looting the bodies?¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± Dave said, heading to those who had attacked from the back. ¡°I¡¯ll get this side.¡± Fisticuffs said, heading towards the remaining bodies. ¡°Is everyone ok to finish pushing through this area? I don¡¯t want to stick around where they can ambush us again.¡± I called out. I got all affirmative replies, and prepared to go. ¡°Hey Blackthumb, what was in those bags that fell?¡± ¡°Monster bait.¡± He said, standing up from where he was examining something. ¡°There¡¯s a description in the notifications.¡± Looking at my list, I found the one he was talking about and started cursing.
Danger! You¡¯ve been marked with Monster Bait. This foul concoction of putrefied meat and monster mating pheromones will cause any nearby monsters to lose themselves to a blind rage and make them attack. Duration: 6 hours Effects: Beast type monsters go berserk (+50% attack speed, +50% attack, -50% defense)
¡°Fuck. Any way to get this off?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope. We¡¯re stuck with this for the next 6 hours.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Alright everyone, let¡¯s keep moving then. Everyone be aware that beast type monsters are going to go berserk whenever they smell us.¡± Warning given, we made our way along the canyon once more. Once again silence had descended, and it was getting eerie. It seemed that the branches were herding us back together, so no matter what route we had taken we would almost always reach the end if we could maintain a general direction. Ten minutes of travel and we were walking noticeably upwards, and soon had sky above us. Twenty feet away was the tower of light we had been heading towards, and a portal heading to the next level of the dungeon. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Jon¡¯s POV, Oblivion Caf¨¦ ¡°We did it Uncle Jon, we did it!¡± A small voice cried out as its owner shot across the caf¨¦. ¡°I saw Rosalie. You did such a fantastic job, I¡¯m so proud of you!¡± I answered, catching the curly haired child as she rocketed into my chest. ¡°Did you have fun?¡± ¡°I did! It was just like playing dodgeball, only I was on the winning team! I even stuck my tongue out at the bad guys, cuz they are meanies!¡± ¡°Did you? I¡¯m so happy I have such strong protectors.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Mmhmm!¡± She smiled. ¡°We splattered them with the stinky stuff! Then the doggies went crazy! It was fun! Are you going to come play with us again?¡± ¡°Of course I will, but not today. I¡¯m going to watch the bad guys try and make it through the rest of the dungeon.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She said, slightly disappointed. ¡°Doctor says I can¡¯t play anymore in the game today anyway.¡± ¡°Hey Rosalie!¡± We turned to see a small boy waving at us stepping away from a group of his friends. ¡°Wanna play goblins and adventurers with us? We need someone to kidnap the prince and hold him handsome.¡± ¡°You mean hold him ransom Tim.¡± I said with a chuckle as I set a squirming Rosalie down. ¡°Yay! I get to be a goblin, right?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± ¡°Ok, see you tomorrow Uncle Jon!¡± She waved and took off, growling as if she were really a goblin. I chuckled and watched them run off, feeling some arms slip around my waist from behind. ¡°Kinda nice seeing girls run off to kidnap their prince instead of waiting to be rescued from a tower.¡± Phoebe whispered in my ear. I nodded my head and was happy to just enjoy the moment. Book 3 Chapter 49 Mr. Whiskers POV The raid splashed down after coming through the portal, finding ourselves in a swamp. The air wasn¡¯t too warm, but the sheer humidity made it feel ten degrees warmer. Trees and reeds grew randomly, limiting our vision. The only saving grace was that most tree branches didn¡¯t start until about 20 feet in the air. The landing we were on was under about an inch of water, and the mud was sucking at our boots with every step. ¡°Oh this is just great.¡± Grandelf complained. ¡°First we get drenched in stuff that causes beasts to go berserk, then they drop us in the swamp? And just what the hell is up with the path? Everything is underwater!¡± ¡°You gonna try and see if we still have that breathing enchantment?¡± GotYerBack asked with a chuckle. ¡°Easy.¡± I cautioned. ¡°Only one path?¡± I asked King, who was standing at the edge of what we assumed would be the safe zone. ¡°Yep. Seems to be completely underwater.¡± ¡°Brock! Looks like you¡¯re up.¡± I called out. The mage walked over, sighing in annoyance. ¡°Let me guess. Raise the pathway?¡± ¡°Got it in one. If you run out of mana, can you still use earth sense to find the path?¡± ¡°Yeah, but it will slow down my regen a bit. Better to let me meditate for a few minutes. I¡¯m also going to need protection, as this is going to take a good bit of concentration.¡± ¡°King and Death will be right next to you, as will Dave for intercepting attacks. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± I said, patting him on the shoulder. As he got started on the path, I turned to everyone else. ¡°Alright, Brock is going to be raising the path so we aren¡¯t walking in water the whole time. Everyone else needs to keep an eye out for things that are hunting us. There are a lot of predators in the swamp, and they are likely all beasts.¡± Warnings given, our meandering path through the swamps began. And all the annoyances that came with it. Stonejaw crocodiles, spiritsucker leeches, swarms of bloodthirsty insects and a multitude of venomous snakes all came calling, wanting their share of the raid. Nobody died, but we couldn¡¯t go five feet without getting attacked by something. ¡°Goddamnit Ice Queen!¡± Brosef shouted. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to blast swarms of insects with a bit of cold, especially when they are swarming around your friends. Not incinerate the swarm in a ball of fire!¡± He patted his face a few times before continuing, ¡°You¡¯re lucky I still have my eyebrows after that.¡± ¡°Oh, like it¡¯s my fault that the chaos blessing decided to switch ice and fire? Fuck off.¡± She snarled back. *THUNK**THUNK**THUNK* ¡°AAAAAAAH!¡± Ice Queen screamed as three arrows appeared in the tree next to her, striking so close together it was almost one sound. The tail end of a snake that was perfectly hidden dropped down, only held up by the three arrows. ¡°Y¡¯all need ta respect da swamp moe.¡± A cajun accent drawled as a scantily clad man jumped between a few trees to land next to Ice Queen. He was incredibly toned, without hardly any fat on him. He had a set of bracers and a pair of torn shorts, with a quiver full of differently fletched arrows and a bag on his hip. ¡°Dis guy nearly got ¡®im a nibble o pretty lil¡¯ mage.¡± He said, pulling his arrows out of the tree and placing the snake body in his bag. ¡°Damn. Lost a head.¡± He muttered, looking at one of his arrows. ¡°Um, thanks for the rescue?¡± Ice Queen stammered. ¡°I¡¯m Ice Queen.¡± ¡°DeLandre. Tee Roy DeLandre.¡± He answered, shaking her hand. ¡°Pewwwwwiiieeee!¡± He cried, stepping back a bit. ¡°No wonda dis guy wanted ¡®im a bite, y¡¯all smell like grandmama¡¯s special croc bait!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose he comes with subtitles?¡± Lucy whispered next to me, making me fight to not snicker. ¡°So, what¡¯s y¡¯alls doin¡¯ in de swamp?¡± ¡°Just passing through.¡± I answered, stepping forward. ¡°Name¡¯s Mr. Whiskers, I¡¯m the raid leader.¡± ¡°Whiska¡¯s? Like de catfish? Heh, nice ta meet¡¯cha Mista Whiska¡¯s.¡± He shook my hand too. ¡°I don¡¯ mean ta be mean, but y¡¯all don¡¯ look like ya belongs in da swamp. Needin¡¯ a guide?¡± ¡°A guide would be wonderful if you don¡¯t mind. I don¡¯t know how we could repay you though.¡± ¡°Well, das not goan be a problem. We always help out in de swamp ya know?¡± He said. ¡°Tell ya what. Help me with da huntin¡¯, and I¡¯ll help ya tru de swamp.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯ve been getting a good bit of meat drops from the attacks so far. Tell me though, you mentioned earlier something about croc bait. What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Hehehehe, oh dat? Ol¡¯ granny came up wit dat. She take de guts o¡¯ de chicken and all dat juice and blood, an she put it in a bucket an leave it in de sun for a few days. Gotta let it get good and stinky, den you dunk your bait in dere before ya hang it, and dem ¡®gators dey just can¡¯ resist.¡± ¡°Sounds about like what we got blasted with.¡± Blackthumb chuckled. ¡°Now, step on back dere mista Earth man, an I¡¯ll have you stop changin¡¯ de level o de land in de swamp iffn ya can.¡± ¡°Sure, but why walk around in water when we don¡¯t have to?¡± ¡°De swamp, she be alive.¡± He said. ¡°We mark de paths as best we can, but we leave it be. If you block off de water, it like blockin¡¯ de blood o¡¯ a creature. Block enough blood, and de creature die. Block enough water, and de swamp die. Afore she die though, she get her revenge.¡± Walking while talking, our new guide led us on. It was a lot quieter, as almost everyone was hanging on to his words and trying to figure him out. ¡°How would the swamp get revenge? Breed a bunch of tough monsters?¡± Dave asked calmly as his shield blocked the lunge of a striking snake. ¡°Oh no, dese just da regula¡¯ animals. No, when de swamp get mad, she summon de Loa. You don¡¯ wanna mess with de Loa, dey¡¯s got some bad JuJu.¡± He said, shaking his head. ¡°De wily ones, dey lure you in ta de swamp with de witch lights. Y¡¯all see a blue flame a¡¯floatin¡¯? Doan go anywhere near it. Run de otha way.¡± ¡°Sounds like a Will-o-Wisp.¡± Lucy spoke up. ¡°Aye, some folks dey call it dat.¡± Tee Roy nodded. ¡°It lead you from de prop¡¯r paths, den when you good an lost, dey disappear.¡± ¡°[Icebolt]. Thanks for the warning, anything we can do to please the swamp if we manage to anger it?¡± Ice Queen asked. ¡°I¡¯s wond¡¯rin¡¯. Dere a reason why all y¡¯all¡¯s spell¡¯s be off? Doan get me wrong, but dat wasn¡¯t no icebolt lil missy.¡± Tee Roy asked, as Ice Queen¡¯s spell had switched to electricity. ¡°Long story short? It¡¯s a blessing from Tiamat.¡± I answered. ¡°Truly? A blessin¡¯ from de mistress o¡¯ chaos herself?¡± He turned to look at us, eyes wide. ¡°What she like?¡± ¡°She had no love for those who follow Pelor.¡± Shocker chuckled. ¡°Said she might even be ready to join in the fight against him.¡± ¡°Grandmama need ta hear dis.¡± He muttered. ¡°We hurry now.¡± Turning, he started moving much faster. He cast some sort of spell that gave him a red aura, and it was strong enough to overcome the smell of our raid group as several creatures simply turned and swam away. ¡°Uh oh.¡± He said, stopping suddenly. ¡°See dat log dere?¡± We all looked, only to see it drop below the water. ¡°Yup. Dat ¡®gator, him getting too big fer his britches. We goan have to take him down. Mista Earth, raise up a bit of a wall here, just above de water line. When he come out, he gonna lunge at you, so make sure you back a bit.¡± Tee Roy explained as he fashioned a noose from a vine he pulled from somewhere. ¡°When he snap dem jaws down, I¡¯ll get ¡®im all tied up. One of y¡¯all need to hit ¡®im with de killshot.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the killshot?¡± King asked. ¡°Back of de head, between de eyes. It about de size of a silver coin. Hit dat spot? Gator dies. Git ready now, here he come!¡± With a surge of water, the massive crock lunged at Brock. The nearby raid all shied back, as Tee Roy flicked his wrist and spun a lasso around the closing jaws of the gator. With a tug, it closed, holding the jaws shut as the gator started rolling. ¡°WHOOOOOIEEEEE!!!! LOOK AT ¡®IM GO, DERE IT IS!¡± Tee Roy yelled out, fighting the gator with everything he had. King and Shocker separated, keeping the gator between them so that one would eventually get the shot. Seconds later, the gator half reared up, pulling backwards on the line. ¡°CHOOT ¡®IM!¡± At Tee Roy¡¯s yell, King loosed a normal shot, not wanting the chaos curse to effect anything. I knew a blow from a bow at less than ten feet would be powerful, especially with the raid using top tier equipment. What nobody expected was an instant kill without the use of a skill against a level 203 Stonejaw alligator. The arrow buried itself in the back of the skull, and the body just, dropped. ¡°Whoo, dat a good shot dere yessir! Quick, help me pull ¡®im up outta de water.¡± Dave stepped forward and helped roll the gator onto the walkway we were using. ¡°Ho HO! Eleven foot if he¡¯s an inch, das a good gator right dere. Can y¡¯all carry ¡®im? We got the best skinners back at de village, dey goan love cuttin¡¯ up dis big boy.¡± ¡°I think we can handle it.¡± Eric spoke up. Before he could do anything, Ice Queen placed a hand on his chest.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Gimme a second, I have a better idea. [Ice manipulation].¡± Using her skills, she created a boat of ice around the gator, leaving a hole for it to be tied off to. ¡°There¡¯s water all the way there, right? Let¡¯s just float the body.¡± ¡°Das de way yessir.¡± Tee Roy chuckled. ¡°Work smarta¡¯, not harder.¡± Tying his vine to the boat, he led the way once again. Before we could move, I felt something on my arm. ¡°Something¡¯s not right here.¡± King said. ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯re in a dungeon, and find someone so very helpful? And you aren¡¯t suspecting a thing?¡± I blinked at him a few times, then shook my head. ¡°He seemed awfully interested in Tiamat too. We¡¯re just going to trust followers of the goddess of chaos?¡± ¡°I think we deserve a bit of good luck, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I could have sworn I¡¯ve heard some singing on occasion, I think we¡¯re all being charmed.¡± ¡°Seriously? What could charm a thirty-member raid?¡± ¡°Just. Here, put these in.¡± He said, handing me some enchanted earplugs. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything when things change, just be ready and see if you can work with the raid. I¡¯ll try and get a few more on our side.¡± Humoring him, I put in the plugs but didn¡¯t notice anything different. We kept up a rapid pace, though after a few minutes we slowed to a stop as Tee Roy held up a hand. I thought I saw a flash of webbed fingers, but shook my head when it was just a normal hand. ¡°Hold on now, ev¡¯rybody see dis?¡± He said, pointing to two sets of flowers. There was a clump of blue ones near us and a clump of red ones a few feet away. ¡°Dees mark jumps in de path. Between de blue and de red, is a giant hole. You step in dere, you get stung with the paralytic nettles growin¡¯ in de bottom, and de swamp she take ya. Just make sure ya jump all de way to de red flowers, and y¡¯all be fine.¡± Taking a step forward, he gave a half leap and easily cleared the distance before walking forward enough that the raid would be able to join him. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go first. If I can make it, everyone should.¡± Dave said, stepping forward and easily clearing the gap. ¡°Not that bad now that we know what to look for.¡± He said, and we all swiftly followed suit. This continued six or seven more times, the gaps roughly being the same size. ¡°Slow down now, we comin¡¯ up to de village.¡± Tee Roy said, holding up a hand. He gave an odd hooting sound, repeating it three times before getting one in return. ¡°Ok. De guards be warned, dey know not to attack.¡± He led us past a stand of trees, and we got our first view of the village. The entrance was two stone pillars set on each side of the path, marking a hole in an incredibly dense hedge that surrounded the village. The village was raised enough to not have to worry about water at the moment, but we did notice that the huts were all on stilts raising them ten to twelve inches off the ground. They were arranged in rings around a central bonfire, with a much more ornate hut immediately across the fire from the entrance to the village. Some villagers had spears, but most were unarmed as they walked around. ¡°Mistress Chloe.¡± Tee Roy gave a slight bow as a larger woman walked up to us. ¡°Tee Roy. Hunt go well?¡± ¡°Dat it did, dat it did. We got us a big gator!¡± He said with a grin, revealing the boat with the prize in it. ¡°O ho!¡± Chloe cried. ¡°Taken down with one shot too! Your work?¡± ¡°Naw. De one named King, he did it. Didn¡¯t use a skill neither.¡± ¡°Impressive.¡± She said, looking King over. ¡°I¡¯m sure the story of that will spread around while we clean it. Bring it to the dressing area, and we will start roasting it for the feast.¡± She kept talking, but I was starting to feel a very distracting headache, right between my eyes. Looking down as I rubbed my forehead, I immediately froze. The ground, it didn¡¯t look right. Sure, it was slightly muddy, but that was to be expected in a swamp. What was wrong was the tracks crossing through the road. The locals all went barefoot, but why were the tracks they left three toed? They were humans! Crushing my eyes closed, I took a few calming breaths before starting when someone patted my shoulder. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I said, we should take them up on the offer of food and a rest. An hour break wouldn¡¯t hurt, and this might actually be a safe spot.¡± Lucy was saying. ¡°Are you ok? You look a little pale.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I lied. The pressure was gone, but I could see through the illusion now. They weren¡¯t human, they were some sort of lizardman. They dressed in a loincloth, and each wrist had their own sort of bracer made of thicker scales. Running down the middle of the lower arm were three spikes, and from how Tee Roy had taken down the snake that must be how they use their ranged attack. The huts they were going to let us relax in? They were cages. Their own personal huts were simple nests of mud and reeds in the ground, though the massive fire was real. Behind the fire was a priestess sitting on a throne of mud and bones, while off to one side was another female singing. ¡°Let¡¯s take a few minutes to relax, we¡¯ll see about the feast. I don¡¯t want to impose on them.¡± ¡°Oh they insist! Swamp hospitality. A lot of the beasts we killed before meeting Tee Roy dropped meat, so we are paying our way with that.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I said, giving her a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll be over in a second, need to stretch my muscles a bit.¡± She smiled and skipped away, and I saw King looking at me. I nodded at him, and with my left hand gave a signal our guild had worked out long ago. When we couldn¡¯t discuss dangerous things, but knew we were in danger, the one who would start the attack extended the pinky, ring and middle fingers of their left hand three times in rapid succession. A double blink confirmed the response, and that they had a target as well.
Swamp hag Level 225 Swamp hags are masters of nature and charm magic. Related to sirens, they are content living a simple, pampered life in the swamp. Using their voice to pacify and enthrall unknowing victims, they are far more subtle than their oceangoing cousins.
Marsh dweller Level 215 Lizardlike humanoids that dwell in swamps. Experts at ambushing enemies, they prefer fights that are heavily weighted in their favor. If initially outnumbered, they will often trick their prey into walking into a trap where they can be easily overwhelmed.
Marsh dweller matriarch Level 225 Upon reaching puberty, the females born to the marsh dwellers will set out from their home in search of a new nesting ground. Six to ten of the males born in her clutch will join her, becoming her protectors and fathers of her future offspring. Well versed in poisons, they almost never enter outright battle.
I switched weapons to my garrote, and started walking around like I was simply admiring everything. When I got within range, I struck. ¡°[Blink][Garrote].¡± Appearing behind the swamp hag, she had no idea of the danger until the wire was cutting off her song. I didn¡¯t want to let this go on long, so I kicked out the back of her knees. When she dropped down, I placed my foot on the back of her neck to boost my leverage, and pulled for all I was worth. Within seconds, the hag lost her head and all hell broke loose. ¡°Whiskers, what the hell?!¡± Several raid members yelled. ¡°[Elemental barrage: Frostbolt arrow].¡± Just as I had hoped, King targeted the matriarch. Hopefully she would be weak to ice attacks like most reptiles. ¡°Protect the matriarch!¡± The swamp dwellers shouted, half going to try and intercept the attack from King. The rest pointed their arms toward the raid and started launching bolts at them. Not expecting the attack, several members dropped to varying status effects, while the rest shook off the illusion before starting to counterattack. ¡°Mages, area attacks on the matriarch! Prioritize ice attacks. Berserkers triple up against individuals! Rangers and Cinderfy, take out those ranged attackers!¡± I called out, also moving forward to engage the enemy. Chaos reigned. Wherever she was, I was sure Tiamat was having an absolute blast watching this fight. ¡°Bloom, the icy flower of winter. [Ice lotus].¡± ¡°Burst forth, unleashing frigid death. [Frost nova].¡± Ice Queen and PeppermintYork launched twin ice spells into the midst of the gathering marsh dwellers, slowing them down greatly. While that was happening, the berserkers were splitting up to blunt the charge of two marsh dwellers while King and the other rangers were attacking anyone using a ranged attack. King would call the target, and concentrated fire would slowly bring it down. They were avoiding using skills, something I wouldn¡¯t have the liberty of as three marsh dwellers charged me with murder in their eyes. ¡°[Storm of blades].¡± I called forth a skill to slow them and bunch them up just a bit, as I needed them close for maximum damage. While the blades were slowing them, I pulled a vial of poison from my inventory and coated both of my daggers with it. Grinning, I charged forward just as the spell ended. ¡°[Dance of death].¡± I didn¡¯t use the skill much while on raids, since it was basically an assassin¡¯s berserk skill. For the next five seconds, attack speed and damage were tripled. Afterwards I would have next to no stamina, but that was a trade I was willing to make under the circumstances. Until that fucking blessing happened.
Chaos blessing activated! [Dance of death] has been changed to [Winterlicht waltz]
Daggers glowing blue, my eyes widened as I moved at my normal speed towards the enemies. Blue guides appeared, showing me the best path for my daggers to take. With nothing else to go on, I followed the guides. Low belly slash as you move past the first target. Downslash then cross the second, spinning and raking daggers across the back of the first enemy. Plunge a dagger into a kidney, lowering my body and dodging a spear swipe towards my neck. Thrust forward into the second target, taking it in the heart as I pass and slash the throat of the third enemy. Miss! Duck under the grapple attempt and bury a dagger into the belly, savagely jerking it upward before twisting it and ripping it to the side. Kick the body away as the skill ends, gauging the enemy. First two enemies down, the third disemboweled and bleeding out swiftly. ¡°Light and sound herald thy doom, rain destruction upon my foes. [Thunderstorm]!¡± I heard Grandelf chanting, and put it out of my mind as I was downing a stamina potion. That quickly changed with his panicked warning. ¡°GET TO COVER! SPELL WAS CHANGED TO METEOR!¡± ¡°[Foxhole].¡± Brock slammed both palms to the ground, taking the majority of the raid underground. ¡°Ice Queen, freeze the sides so we don¡¯t drown. I¡¯ll cover the top.¡± I looked around, but there was no cover. The entire village was flat, open ground all the way to the giant hedge. I unequipped all my gear, and sat back to enjoy the show. The marsh dwellers had stopped to stare at me, and I simply smiled and pointed upward. Breaking through the clouds, a ball of burning death was hurtling towards us. Burning white flames gave way to reds and oranges, highlighting the ominous black clouds. It was absolutely beautiful, and everyone was simply watching it descend. It seemed we all were happy to just accept our fate.
You have died. NaughtyNurseJess is attempting to revive you. Revive? Y/N
¡°Welcome back to the land of the living.¡± Lucy said, giving me a hand up. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°What was our damage?¡± I asked as I took in the devastation. The crater was smaller than I imagined it would be, only about six feet deep. The entirety of the village, out past the hedge, was simply gone. The only thing left standing was a portal to the next floor. Swamp water was slowly trickling in from a few places, as the soil build up had broken under pressure. ¡°Counting you, we lost 7 with the blast. Had Brock not dropped that foxhole, and kept dropping it, we would have had a total wipe. Good thing for us it didn¡¯t reverse itself thanks to that chaos magic buff.¡± ¡°Seven lost? Damn, we just burned 8 scrolls to get everyone back up.¡± ¡°Yeah. We have 33 left.¡± She agreed. ¡°Damn. That¡¯s only 16 resurrections outside of healers and we still don¡¯t know how many floors we have left to go.¡± ¡°Judging by the pattern, two more floors before a boss fight.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s the final boss.¡± I muttered, before turning and heading toward the portal. ¡°Let¡¯s get going everyone!¡± I called out, ready to finish this dungeon dive. ¡°Hey, sorry about that spell.¡± Grandelf apologized as he jogged over. ¡°If I knew.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I interrupted. ¡°It could have happened to anyone. I just wish this blasted chaos boost was a little more predictable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the chaos part though, no?¡± Grandelf chuckled. ¡°Thanks for not holding it against me though.¡± He said, patting my shoulder before falling silent and heading toward the portal. Book 3 Chapter 50 The wind immediately assaulted us as we came through the portal. We found ourselves above the clouds, on a massive platform. The only way forward was to cross a rope bridge. ¡°Oh fuck me." Blackthumb muttered. I could understand after his fiasco on the mountain. Looking over the edge, we were on a series of floating islands. Some large, some small. The largest ones had waterfalls flowing off the edges, creating beautiful rainbow halos in the air. Each island was covered in incredibly dense jungle vegetation, and some of the vines even linked together several islands. Far below us, we could barely see the peaks of three mountains as they split the clouds. ¡°Did you read the note?¡± King asked, bringing my attention to a sign by tapping on it. ¡°I¡¯m almost afraid to.¡± I muttered, heading over to the sign. Let¡¯s see what they are trying to pull this time.
Welcome to floor 13! I hope y¡¯all don¡¯t believe in bad luck, because this would normally be the floor you would expect it on. The portal to the next floor is on the peak of the largest mountain. All you have to do is get down there. For your convenience, there are several varieties of animals you could possibly tame on the connected island to help your descent. Since there is a high chance for losing the body, this floor only has a special rule. By sacrificing a resurrection scroll, the body may be resurrected. This may be used in conjunction with a healer skill or the additional two resurrection scrolls. In order to prevent abuse, this will be limited to within one floating island of the death.
¡°Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!¡± I groaned. ¡°Tiamat is chaos, he couldn¡¯t have known. No way in hell he could have known!¡± I growled out, as a concerned Lucy and Dave headed over to see what the post was all about. ¡°Oh goddammnitalltohell!¡± Lucy swore so fast it all seemed like one word. ¡°At least we have some druids. Do we still have a few bits of meat from the swamp?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Dave said. ¡°We had three or four people not turning in their drops despite the charm. Not sure what all they have though. Nothing above rare, that¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°KREEEEEEEE!!!!¡± We all nervously ducked at the cry of the raptor, watching as a massive golden bird flew over our platform and headed toward the peak coming out of the middle of the connected platform. ¡°Guys! GUYS!¡± DeathFromAbove shouted. ¡°Did you see that? A Golden Gyreagle!¡± ¡°What¡¯s so special about that? It¡¯s a golden bird.¡± Someone snarked. ¡°Not just a golden bird, but the strongest flying bird mount available. It¡¯s got speed, power, attack, and agility.¡± ¡°So go and grab it! Make it give us a ride down.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t. They are incredibly proud, and you almost need a maxed out beast tamer skill just to get near one. Even then you only have one chance to tame it, and it maxes out at ten percent. It¡¯s one of the only mounts nobody has acquired yet.¡± ¡°Alright, enough of that. Let¡¯s head down to the next area and see what we can get for rides.¡± I said, leading the way. ¡°Bridge looks stable enough, but let¡¯s leave at least ten feet between people crossing it.¡± King started the raid across, followed soon by the other scouts. We had gotten about half of the raid across when I stepped up to Blackthumb. ¡°You ready to go next?¡± I asked, rubbing his back. ¡°What?¡± He asked, panicked. ¡°I can¡¯t go next, I¡¯ll freeze up! It¡¯ll slow everyone down!¡± ¡°Relax.¡± I said. ¡°You can do it. Would it help if you turned to your ferret form and rode on my shoulders?¡± ¡°You, would do that?¡± He slowly turned to look at me. ¡°Sure thing. Transform, I¡¯ll carry you across. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡± With a relieved sigh, he quickly transformed and scurried up my armor to grab onto my shoulders. I headed out, giving the trembling ferret a reassuring pat. It took about ten minutes, but the entire raid made it across with no issues. Now we had a tough choice to make. ¡°Lucy, you sure you don¡¯t have any summons that could let us get going?¡± Dave was asking. ¡°For the last time, none of my summons can grant flight. I don¡¯t have any that can be used as mounts either, so stop asking.¡± She snarled at him. ¡°So what are we gonna OW!¡± Dave cried out, holding his head. ¡°What the hell was that? An acorn?¡± Bending down, he picked up the offending nut. Chittering laughter came from the trees, as a few more nuts flew at the tank who immediately raised his shield in defense. The clanking raised more laughter, especially when they discovered that they could make different sounds by plinking different portions of his armor. Seconds later, and poor Dave was reduced to a walking drum set from the volleys of acorns, as his tormentors finally revealed themselves.
Aerosquirrel Level 175 Legends say these air variants of squirrels are descendants of Ratatoskr. Much as their forefather enjoyed travelling up and down Yggdrasil to deliver insults, his progeny enjoy nothing more than to cause mischief. Their limited ability with air magic gives them excellent gliding abilities, and when unencumbered may even fly up to different levels of the floating isles.
¡°Ha!¡± Lucy and the other druids started laughing. ¡°Well done Dave, well done! You¡¯ve managed to set us up with possible rides! They are loving the metal music man, and are offering services.¡± ¡°Oh joy. I¡¯m so thankful for their offer.¡± Dave deadpanned, and the largest of the squirrels darted up to stand in front of him. At that point, the size difference became quite apparent, as Dave only came up to the lower chest of the squirrel. ¡°Oh wow. Ratatoskrdottir says she will bear the musical one, as only she has the strength of her great, great grandfather. That¡¯s, well that¡¯s quite the offer Dave.¡± Standing for a second, Dave craned his head back to look at the squirrel before him. ¡°I would be proud to be carried by someone with such a legendary lineage.¡± Dave respectfully said, and the squirrel immediately started chittering in happiness before swirling around him several times and wrapping him with her tail. That seemed to be the signal the squirrels were looking for, as several descended into the raid and started chittering with whoever they found interesting. The druids were having a blast with their talking, answering questions. While several of the squirrels were happily examining the raid up close, I noticed several watching from in the trees. One in particular stood out, focusing on each individual for a few minutes to see how they moved before moving on to the next one. ¡°[Blink].¡± Though I appeared out of his sight, he immediately sensed me landing in the tree and turned to stare at me. ¡°Easy there, I just wanted to talk for a bit.¡± I spoke, holding my empty hands toward him palm up. ¡°I too like to study people where I can. Especially when I need to make a decision. I think we would be a good match.¡± He simply turned his head to stare at me, looking me up and down. Shrugging, I let him watch a little bit before I used my agility to drop down from branch to branch until I hit the ground. I hadn¡¯t taken but three steps when I got a notification.
Temporary contract offered! Rothgar Lightfoot wishes to offer a temporary mount contract with you. Duration: Until the end of the dungeon level, or end of the raid. Whichever comes first. Acceptance: Rothgar will become your mount. Decline: nothing.
Temporary mount acquired! You have a temporary mount! Due to special circumstances, should your mount be killed it will be available to resummons in one minute. You have also been granted two temporary skills while mounted. As this is not a full contract, Rothgar will retain much of his will while being ridden.
Vortex shield Summon a swirling cone of air in front of your mount to deflect incoming projectiles. Less effective on heavy or magic projectiles. Duration: 5 seconds Cooldown: 10 secondsThis tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Aero boost Create a boost of air to either increase your mount¡¯s air speed or altitude. Duration: 3 seconds Cooldown: 30 seconds
¡°Thank you Rothgar.¡± I said as the squirrel followed me down. Heading back to the raid, I saw everyone had a mount ready to go. ¡°Alright everyone, listen up!¡± I called, and was surprised when even the squirrels paid attention. ¡°Due to the revival rules, we are going to do a roll call every time we land on a new Isle. If we have to use two resurrection skills, we will wait at least five minutes afterward so that we don¡¯t lose a body. Everyone with me? Then let¡¯s get going.¡± ¡°The squirrels say the first jump will have to be a teamwork jump.¡± Lucy spoke up in the quiet just after I had finished. ¡°In order to safely make it, we need to use aero boost immediately. So make sure you hit it as soon as your mount leaves the ground, ok?¡± Everyone easily agreed, and we headed toward the first jump. To my surprise, a plain saddle had formed on every contracted squirrel, and it automatically latched on to our legs to hold us in place. It took a bit to get used to the odd gait of the squirrels, but the quick trip had at least a third of the raid sitting comfortably. King and the other scouts volunteered to go first, and we all watched as they took off at a run and leapt into the air. They activated the skills, and we watched as the squirrels glided to the next island. Glide being a very loose description of what they were doing. Sure, the flaps on their sides gave them a bit of air resistance, but when the squirrel is twice the size of a human it is more falling with an extended leap. The only one of the raid who wasn¡¯t watching was Blackthumb, who had buried his head in his mount¡¯s neck. I felt horrible, this entire level was his own personal version of hell. ¡°Oh that looks so fun! Let¡¯s go! [Aero boost]!¡± Cinderfy cried as his mount took off as well, hollering gleefully the entire way down. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna, I don¡¯t wanna, I don¡¯t wanna gogogogogo [Aero boost] AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!¡± To my surprise, Blackthumb was the next to go, screaming as he clung to his mount for dear life. Turning to look at everyone else, they all had identical stunned faces. ¡°Damn. I don¡¯t think I could face my fears like that.¡± Grandelf whispered in awe before shaking his head and joining Blackthumb in his leap. The rest of the raid followed in turn, and we started through the second island. The squirrels took us through a random route in the treetops, and we came again to a clearing at the edge of the island. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s a choice.¡± Lucy said as her mount chittered at her. ¡°The right route has mostly leaping transfers, but the gyrfalcons are a lot harder to dodge. The left route has more transfers along thickened vines, but there are more land based dangers and we will have to run the Monkey Gauntlet.¡± ¡°I think we need to take the left route.¡± I said before anyone could discuss it. ¡°Blackthumb did great on that first jump, but we can¡¯t hold him to that constantly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He whispered, head down in embarrassment. ¡°None of that.¡± Ice Queen said, slapping the back of his head. ¡°Everyone has fears. You¡¯ve faced yours twice now in this dungeon, and are still here. You¡¯ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.¡± He looked up to see smiles on everyone¡¯s faces, and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°So, to the left!¡± Lucy cried, letting King and the other scouts lead the way. There were several long, curving vines leading toward the next island, an island that dwarfed the first one we had come to. Our party naturally spread out a bit, leaving at least a tree between each squirrel. The squirrels were incredibly playful, darting around without much care. I was slightly worried, but aside from some annoying insects the jungle was oddly silent. Despite the fun they were having, the squirrels were deceptively fast when traveling through the trees. In only a few minutes, we had managed to cross the island, though there was a problem when we got there. Dave¡¯s mount was chittering animatedly, and Lucy was looking worried. She turned and started counting members of the raid, frowning. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked. ¡°I can¡¯t find Peppermint. She was towards the back, but nobody has seen her for a while.¡± ¡°Jess!¡± I called, and the healer came over. ¡°Jess, can you try and revive Peppermint? I have a bad feeling about things.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She said. Going through the chant, we were rather shocked when a white circle appeared and deposited Peppermint¡¯s body before she was revived. ¡°Oh you guys caught it! I died so suddenly I didn¡¯t think anyone would realize.¡± She said. ¡°Yeah. Can you tell us what happened?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We were travelling along, and all of a sudden I saw a massive paw in front of my face.¡± That got a bit of chitter from Lucy¡¯s mount, and she grimaced. ¡°Well. Sandy says it was probably a night liger. They can be found on some of the isles, and love to attack from ambush.¡± ¡°Great. Are there any other dangers we need to be worried about? It would be nice to know, before, ya¡¯know, we meet them.¡± I snarled. ¡°Nothing but night ligers on the next isle, but then we have the Monkey Gauntlet.¡± Lucy said. ¡°And just what the hell is the Monkey Gauntlet?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡¯ve mentioned it twice now.¡± ¡°I guess there are several smaller islands populated by monkeys that like to throw things at people crossing to the next big isle. As long as you don¡¯t enrage the monkeys you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I replied, rubbing the bridge of my nose in annoyance. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. I hate this level, and really want it to be done.¡± Peppermint summoned her mount again, and we had an uneventful crossing of the next island. That brought us to the gauntlet, and I was nervous. We would have to cross nearly three football fields of gauntlet territory, though nearly twenty yards at each end was empty of monkey islands. Our road? Seven trunks that twisted over and around each other as they sloped downward. There was no cover, and the monkeys already knew we were there. We could see them bouncing and jumping around on their islands, whipping themselves into a fury.
Gaia monkey Level 185 Gaia monkeys love to cause trouble, though it is more in the form of pranks than actually attacking other creatures. Should one be injured, it will enter a rage and use earth and plant magic to retaliate.
¡°How are we going to do this?¡± Dave asked, shifting in his saddle nervously. ¡°Put our heads down and hope for the best.¡± I said. ¡°We have to leave some distance between the squirrels so they can react, so the tanks can¡¯t cover others. We could have the mages attack, but unless the monkey is killed I have a bad feeling about how it will react. I guess we will have to use our vortex shield as much as possible.¡± ¡°Damn. I guess we should have the healers in the middle to try and protect them as much as possible.¡± Dave said. ¡°Probably.¡± I agreed. ¡°Listen up everyone! Unless you are sure you can kill the monkey, don¡¯t attack it! Healers will travel in the middle of the pack as much as possible, and we will all be using our vortex shields as much as possible. Good luck, and see you on the other side.¡± There was some grumbling, but we tried to organize ourselves as best we could. I took one of the rear positions, letting King and the other scouts head out first. Perhaps they could use some archery skills for protection. With a scream from the monkey audience, we took off as fast as our mounts could go. Contrary to my expectations, the squirrels didn¡¯t stay on one branch. They were leaping and weaving along, trying to sow as much confusion among the monkeys as possible. The monkeys? They didn¡¯t care. They simply reached behind themselves for ammunition and started flinging chunks of sod at us. The raid countered with vortex shields, that were incredibly effective at destroying the sod chunks and deflecting them. ¡°Oh god! It ain¡¯t soil, it¡¯s SHIT!¡± Grandelf shouted as he got splattered by a thrown chunk, and the horror in his voice caused the monkeys to get even more excited. The rate of incoming fire increased, and we were forced to take some attacks. The damage done was minimal, but the stench was distracting. We had nearly reached the halfway point when disaster struck. Blackthumb was travelling behind Lucy, when her squirrel had an accident. Instead of grabbing the vine they were travelling along, her hand landed on a pile of excrement. With no grip, they slid and lost their balance, tumbling off the side. ¡°[Aero boost]!¡± She frantically cried, but the angle of her mount caused her to shoot away and fall into the clouds below. Blackthumb saw the whole thing. And freaked the hell out. ¡°OhnononononononoNONONONONONOOOOOO [Binding vines]!¡± He screamed. I¡¯ll never know whether it was the terror from his fear of heights, or just a normal bonus from Tiamat, but what came out wasn¡¯t vines to bind the monkeys. Instead, dark portals appeared. Erupting from the portals were long, suckered, dark green tentacles that wrapped up every single monkey on that side. I was glad for the speed of Rothgar, as I didn¡¯t have to watch what the tentacles did to the poor monkeys for long. Just those few seconds was enough to give me nightmares for a while. I wasn¡¯t the only one affected by the horror. We ended up with nearly ten yards where all the monkeys were frozen in horror, before one screeched and the pelting resumed. ¡°Screw this, I¡¯m sick of this shit!¡± Cinderfy cried out. ¡°Let¡¯s see you handle this. [Lava bomb]!¡± Normally the highly explosive spell would have been highly effective against an earth based monster. If the fire didn¡¯t kill it outright, the blast most likely would have knocked them off the isles they were on, sending them plummeting to their doom. If. The lava bomb was a lava dud, and instead came out as a measly fireball. The monkey it hit froze for a second, eyes widening in rage before it started beating its chest. Each beat on the chest caused it to grow in size as its skin gradually turned red. Once it had nearly doubled in size, it reached behind and pulled up a massive rock, chucking it at the unsuspecting back of Cinderfy. It happened so fast I didn¡¯t have time to cry out, I could only watch as Cinder and his mount were blasted off the path and fell to their deaths. Luckily, those were the last of our deaths along the pathway. Grandelf had dismounted and was casting deluge spells as fast as he could to clean everyone from the monkey¡¯s ammunition, and I headed over to Heal and Jess. ¡°Hey guys, need you to each do a resurrection. Cinderfy and Lucy booth fell.¡± They nodded, pausing to rez the fallen members. ¡°Oh god, thank the devs for the falling death changes.¡± Lucy muttered as soon as we brought her back. Seeing our confused faces, she elaborated, ¡°Once it was certain I had no recovery option, it kicked me out of my avatar and gave me a notification that I was going to die and to wait for resurrection. It didn¡¯t make me fall the whole time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a nice relief.¡± I agreed. ¡°Do we know how many more islands we have to jump to?¡± ¡°This is the last major island.¡± Lucy said after some conversation with her mount. ¡°Also the last one with night ligers. After this, comes the drifting isles.¡± ¡°What in the hell are the drifting isles?¡± ¡°A bunch of smaller isles that move around the anchoring chain. They are the stepping stones to the end of the floor.¡± ¡°Any reason why we can¡¯t use the anchor chain to run down?¡± ¡°Yeah. I guess because it is connected to the massive mana stone that powers the flight of the isles, its highly charged. Consider it a gigantic bug zapper.¡± ¡°Well. Blackthumb is going to hate this. Let¡¯s go ahead and cross this island, we will go slow and take out any of the cats we see.¡± Plan in place, we headed out. It seemed the cats didn¡¯t like that we were far more wary this time around, as we made it across unmolested. The view down was concerning. Like Lucy had warned, the anchor chain was nearly vertical, and had bits of lightning sparking along its length. The islands we would have to jump down were circling the chain, and each was big enough for three, maybe four squirrels if everyone was very friendly. They were circling at different speeds, and none of them were connected. Some were barren of vegetation, and looked like they would be a pain in the ass to jump between. ¡°Lucy?¡± I asked. ¡°Trust your mounts is the only way down. If they chitter at you, use the boost skill. If you fall, don¡¯t worry about it too much. Once you pass the point of no recovery, you are ejected from your avatar and watch it fall from a floating position. After that, it¡¯s just waiting to be resurrected.¡± ¡°No time like the present.¡± I said to the raid. ¡°See you on the other side!¡± I quickly turned, and yelled in glee as Rothgar took off. This was the best part of the dungeon right here. The wind whipping through my hair, how Rothgar barely paused when he hit some isles. It was the greatest roller coaster I had ever been on. The entire trip barely took a minute before we found ourselves clearing out the landing pad in front of the portal to the next area. Turning to look, it seemed like it was invasion of the squirrel riders. The raid didn¡¯t leave much time between members, instead opting for a leaping chain of squirrels gradually making their way down the shifting path. To my surprise there were no issues with missed islands, and everyone landed safely. ¡°Thank you all for your assistance.¡± Lucy said as we all dismounted. The squirrels chittered something in reply, then turned and started flying back up the islands as their saddles disappeared with the finishing of the temporary contract. We watched them for a minute, before turning to head to the next level. Book 3 Chapter 51 ¡°Can I burn down this forest too?¡± Cinder asked as soon as we arrived on floor 14. ¡°Pretty please? With a cherry on top?¡± ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to go up fast if those cobwebs are flammable.¡± Dave said. The trees were absolutely covered in webs, and we could see small spiders moving around inside. Straight in front of us was a tunnel leading through the forest, with a canopy of webbing creating an arch above the path. ¡°Give it a go.¡± I said with a shrug, and Cinderfy cackled gleefully. ¡°[Lava bomb]!¡± He cried, launching the spell into the trees. To everyone¡¯s surprise, the spell exploded for no damage. The flames sputtered out quickly, with nothing to gain purchase on. ¡°Now, now, that¡¯s rather rude.¡± Came a sultry voice from deep within the forest. ¡°Come, you have the word of a goddess that her children will leave you be so that we may speak.¡± ¡°Lolth?¡± I asked Dave and Lucy, who both shrugged in reply. ¡°As far as I know, she misleads but never outright lies.¡± Dave said. ¡°So we can be sure that we won¡¯t be attacked until after talking with her.¡± Lucy didn¡¯t contradict him, so we all set off down the available path. It didn¡¯t take but a few minutes before we were in an oddly familiar location. A large open area in front of a cave, easily large enough to hold the raid with plenty of room to maneuver. ¡°Squishies to the middle.¡± I hissed, though we had already adopted that sort of formation. Once we had cleared half the area, we were all instantly encased in spiderwebs, far too tightly to even think of moving. A rumble of thunder accompanied this change in circumstance. ¡°Relax.¡± Came the sultry voice again, though this time it was a bit patronizing. ¡°I¡¯m simply preventing the same thing that Tiamat went through. I¡¯ll be releasing them with no harm coming soon.¡± As she spoke, the owner of the voice emerged. I blinked at the sight of a Drider. The spider half was covered in black chitin, spikes covering the legs to add to the difficulty of attacking. The drow portion was a dark grey, and incredibly toned. The kind of tone that gave the barest hint of ab muscles, and the skin was utterly flawless. Her B cup breasts were covered with a black webbing to match her chitin, and she gave the most unnerving smile when she caught us staring at her. ¡°Greetings, light siders. I am Lolth, Queen of Spiders and Goddess of the Drow. Apologies for the webbing, but I had to make sure you wouldn¡¯t immediately attack this form. I¡¯m not quite as forgiving as Tiamat can be when she chooses.¡± Snapping her fingers, the webbing holding us back was gone as if it never existed. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about what I can offer you.¡± ¡°Just make sure that you explain the offer thoroughly, we know how you enjoy misdirecting poor mortals like us.¡± Dave snarked. ¡°Oooh, the metal man bites back. I like that.¡± She smiled as she smoothly swooped in front of Dave, checking him out. Grimacing, she leaned back and said, ¡°Though I do prefer one to use his wits rather than stand still and bash his opponents into submission. No matter, here is my offer for the blessing. If you wish, I will make poisons five times more effective.¡± ¡°A question.¡± I said, before an incredibly excited Blackthumb could reply. ¡°You said poisons are five times more effective. Does this include poisons used against us?¡± ¡°Hmmmm, a thoughtful one. Yes, that would be correct. For the rest of the dungeon run, any poisons used against you would be five times more effective as well. Do you want to accept my blessing? I¡¯ll let you talk amongst yourselves.¡± ¡°Do it. Please do it, I have so many poisons that would be so very effective.¡± Blackthumb was practically pleading. ¡°I¡¯m leaning towards accepting.¡± I said to the group of myself, Dave, Lucy, and Blackthumb. ¡°Are detoxify potions still effective? If not, I think it needs to be a hard no.¡± Lucy said. ¡°We can¡¯t have poisons running rampant through the raid with no way to clear them.¡± ¡°Ask Lolth.¡± Dave shrugged. ¡°Though I¡¯m sure the tanks are able to withstand even the boosted poisons.¡± ¡°Pardon me Lolth.¡± Lucy turned. ¡°But for your offer, will detoxify still clear a poison even if it is boosted?¡± ¡°Cleansing potions and skills will still work normally.¡± Lolth agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s do it then.¡± Lucy agreed as she turned back. ¡°Alright Lolth, we will accept your offer.¡± I said, and she gave me that unnerving smile again. I somehow felt that this would be a big mistake, but I couldn¡¯t see the catch.
Blessing of Lolth Lolth has blessed the raid with Potent Poisons, though her blessings always have a catch. The catch this time is that poisons used against the raid will have the same bonus as poisons used by the raid. Effect: All poisons damage increased by +400% Bonus effect: Max stacks doubled
¡°Whiskers.¡± King said. ¡°We¡¯ve been surrounded. At least seven enemies.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t fret young man, we still have some dealings to work through.¡± Lolth chided King, sauntering over to where she was in front of Lucy. ¡°I have some individual offers to make, and I do believe I shall start with you. It is so very rare that the Amythest court is summoned to battle, let alone someone bold and powerful enough to summon their queen. How would you like to join my summoners core?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to pass, but how would that work?¡± ¡°You immediately quit the raid, and I change you into a drow. You would maintain all your current skills and skill levels, but would restart at level 1.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a tempting offer, but I¡¯m going to pass.¡± Lucy said. ¡°Oh? But you haven¡¯t heard the best part yet dear. See, the drow recently came into possession of a map of the planes. Imagine, all those unexplored planes just waiting for a powerful summoner to visit and form contracts.¡± ¡°And I would have to give up everything I have built so far, and my guild as well. No thank you.¡± ¡°No matter, I¡¯m sure several of those watching will be more than willing to join me. Though they won¡¯t get quite the same deal as what you were offered.¡± ¡°Why push for abandoning the raid?¡± Blackthumb asked. ¡°Do you fear us winning so much?¡± ¡°Hahahaha, oh my dear poisoner, of course I don¡¯t. Angus has helped me and mine, and I¡¯m just trying to repay the favor. Now, would you deal with me?¡± She asked, bending down to stare into his face. ¡°What¡¯s your offer?¡± He asked, and I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hmmm. Something unique. Would you like to be the first of my adventurer driders? You¡¯ll have to start out as a drow and evolve, but we know everything you would need for that. Before you turn me down, let me tell you about a special type of drider. The Venommaster. Any poison they survive, they can synthesize inside their bodies. Once per month, they can obtain a divine venom.¡± ¡°Can the divine venom be saved?¡± ¡°Of course. However, it is the only poison that the Venommaster can¡¯t synthesize on their own after surviving it.¡± ¡°Sorry guys.¡± He said to the raid. ¡°I¡¯m taking her offer. I assume my skills stay but my level is reset to 1?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. If you will, head off through this portal and you may visit whatever banks and vaults you will need to gather your belongings. When you are ready, say, ¡®Lolth, I have prepared.¡¯ And a portal shall appear to take you to your new life in Menzoberrazan.¡± As Blackthub left the group, Lolth stopped in front of her next prospect. ¡°Such a beautiful woman. Leave that old bastard, and come join a goddess that knows and values her priestesses.¡± ¡°I had a feeling you would be making me an offer.¡± Jess said. ¡°I¡¯ll save you time. You have nothing to offer me, and I¡¯ll not be tempted by your church. I dealt with enough backstabbing bitches in high school, there¡¯s no way I would subject myself to that again.¡± ¡°Ha! Oh, I love how direct you can be. Backstabbing bitches indeed. The offer for you will always stand dear.¡± She sauntered on, teasing Smiter by slowing down before smiling at him and moving on. The paladin of Pelor looked rather dejected. ¡°Lady Fisticuffs. How would you feel about switching weapons?¡± ¡°Depends on what I would be switching to and why.¡± She answered. ¡°Twin scimitars. I¡¯ve recently found myself back in possession of the twin scimitars carried by my herald so long ago. Learn to dual wield, prove to be the best, and you could be my herald. Leading the charge in the battle against Pelor. Bringing terror to those who dare to plot against me. Well?¡± ¡°Oh that sounds like a wonderful choice. Unfortunately, I am terrible with dual wielding. I tried it when I first started, and was never able to become proficient in it. So I¡¯ll have to stick with my spear.¡± She replied, patting her spear. ¡°Besides, I already have a legendary weapon.¡± ¡°No worries, that¡¯s why I had the second offer. While not quite as famous as our blademasters, our spearmasters are second to none. Care to put your skill against theirs? We have a few special techniques that you won¡¯t be finding elsewhere.¡± ¡°Special techniques? I¡¯m down with that. Let¡¯s go.¡± She agreed. Again Lolth opened a portal, and Lady Fisticuffs left the raid. Smiling like the cat that ate the cream, Lolth stepped around and stood in front of Cinderfy. ¡°There is one last position in Menzoberrazan that will always be filled by a male. My current archmage is nearing the end of his life. It is rare to see one strong enough in fire abilities to summon the astral flame lions. Care to bring your skills and learn a few new elements as you take the highest position available? Should you make it, you could even learn one of the forbidden spells.¡± ¡°Forbidden spells? Sorry guys, even if it¡¯s just a chance I have to take this.¡± Cinder said, stepping through the portal. I swore under my breath, hoping that they were out of offers. Losing a druid, a mage, and a berserker was putting a serious damper on our dps. Thankfully, she stepped back to the front of the raid and faced us again. As she stood there, seven driders stepped out of the woods surrounding us. Two stepped up to flank Lolth. ¡°Now, I do feel bad that three of your raid members were willing to abandon everyone for my offers of power. To that end, I suppose we can remove three of the five driders set against you. Defeat them, and the portal in the cave will power up and take you to the next floor. Do try and be entertaining!¡± She finished with a chuckle, stepping into a portal and followed quickly by five of the driders, leaving two to guard the cave. One female and one male. The male had twin scimitars, and his chitin was highlighted with a sickly green glow. The female had no weapon, while her chitin was highlitghted in red. They both grinned, lowering themselves just a bit. The male¡¯s legs glowed with light, before he leapt impossibly high. We couldn¡¯t help but follow the display, and the female took advantage. ¡°[Lolth¡¯s binding].¡± The entire raid was covered in webbing, making movement impossible. To make matters worse, it looked like the male was going to smash down into the middle of our formation, right where the healers and mages were. And we were helpless to resist. ¡°[Seismic shift]!¡± BROCK FOR THE SAVE! The ground shuddered and buckled, but the entirety of the raid was thrust backwards as the disc of earth we were on was forcefully moved by his spell. Instead of smashing the mages, the male drider smashed down onto an empty area a few feet in front of Dave. ¡°Sorry about this, but it¡¯s all I¡¯ve got. [Consuming flames].¡± SpiceMix apologized as the flames from her spell burned through the webbing binding us. She had targeted Dave first, which was perfect as he managed to take the charge of the male with his shield and sword, holding the drider¡¯s arms at bay. ¡°[Venomspray].¡± The drider said, before exhaling a cloud of yellowish green gas right into Dave¡¯s face, sending him reeling in agony. ¡°[Intercept][Retribution slash].¡± Citadel took the next blow to protect Dave, but I was focused on the female. She was preparing to cast something, and I needed to stop her. ¡°[Blink][Midnight¡¯s kiss][Assassinate].¡±
Midnight¡¯s kiss has been downgraded to Shadow¡¯s embrace
FUCK! I didn¡¯t need a paralyzing poison, I needed something to interrupt the mage! Somehow sensing danger, she leaned forward enough that I barely managed to deliver a slash to the back of her neck instead of plunging my daggers deep in for a powerful critical. Though she managed to resist the poison, dodging had managed to interrupt her spell. I took the chance to leap off her back, eyes widening in shock as she sent a streamer of webbing to grab my foot. Tugging it just before I landed, I was forced to slam down onto my back. ¡°[Piercing shot].¡± Instead of one bolt, King¡¯s skill upgraded at a wonderful time, sending five bolts of magic piercing into the backside of the female as she was standing over me. Scrambling to my feet as I slashed the webbing holding me, I opted to fall back rather than attack, as I didn¡¯t have much defense. ¡°I¡¯m going to tie you up, and drain you of EVERYTHING!¡± She snarled, advancing. ¡°[Storm of blades].¡± I was forced to dodge the stream of webbing she shot at me, as instead of blades I summoned a small lightning storm. King was doing his best to pepper her back with arrows, but with him avoiding using skills to make sure he didn¡¯t have a misfire, the damage just wasn¡¯t adding up fast enough. ¡°King, we are gonna have to take some risks. Use your skills.¡± I said. ¡°[Elemental barrage: light arrows].¡± ¡°AAAAAAHHHH!¡± While she was distracted by the attack from King, I took a quick peak to see what the rest of the raid was doing. The male had activated some skill that caused the spikes in his chitin to retaliate any damage with a cloudburst of poison. ¡°Damnit, I knew we shouldn¡¯t have taken Lolth¡¯s bargain.¡± I growled before turning back to look at our opponent. She had dropped about a quarter of her life, and had taken to firing different spells at King. I needed to wrap this up quickly. I charged in as silently as I could, stepping lightly around the webbing she had been dropping near her. ¡°[Hamstring].¡± I slashed the back two legs, before slashing at one of the spinnerets as I passed by. While I was beneath her, I started slashing at the right set of legs, hoping to damage them enough where they met her body to become useless. I got maybe one, before I was knocked aside by her body slamming into the ground. Rolling to my feet, I saw her glaring at me. ¡°You insolent bastard. I will take great pleasure in your death.¡± ¡°Bring it, bitch.¡± I smiled, as a barrage of poisoned arrows from King penetrated her body. Charging in, it was time for an all or nothing attack. ¡°[Dance of death].¡± This time the skill went off normally, and I started carving into the flesh where her spider body and drow body met. King helped by using a pinning shot on her legs, preventing her from getting away. A tangling shot fouled up the legs on her opposite side, again stopping her from raising up out of my range. I was burning through my stamina, but it was necessary. Instead of focusing on multiple enemies, I concentrated my attacks into a foot wide band across her waist, trying my best to slice the drow in half. Out of stamina, I fell to the ground panting as she stared down at me. ¡°How. Ruthless.¡± She sputtered, falling to the ground with barely any life left. ¡°[Pain reflection].¡± Just as she cast her spell, a final arrow from King took her in the heart. As she died, I got the full brunt of reflected damage I had just done to her, killing me.
You have died NotABandaid is trying to resurrect you. Accept? Y/N
¡°Ugh, what did I miss?¡± I asked, looking around. The ground was shattered, and the corpse of the male was missing several legs. ¡°Oh not too much ya slacker.¡± Dave said, stepping over. ¡°We lost five during the battle, that poison boost really bit us in the ass. But swapping through the tanks let the remaining mages blast him to smithereens. We ended up killing our guy about twenty seconds after King got the killing blow against your opponent.¡± ¡°Thanks for keeping her off us by the way.¡± Lucy said. ¡°He was a handful with just his scimitars, I can¡¯t imagine going against him with magical backup.¡± ¡°Loot?¡± ¡°Two unique sabers and a bunch of chitin for the craftsmen.¡± Lucy said. ¡°What do you say? Ready to head down to the next boss?¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get this dungeon finished.¡± I said with a grin, leading the way toward the cave, the entrance of which had turned into a massive portal. Book 3 Chapter 52 Angus¡¯ POV
Warning! Despite his warnings, you have ignored Thanatos. You are now in a floor controlled by a follower of Thanatos, and this is your final warning. Death here will have consequences.
I received the same popup that the raid did upon entering the level, letting me know they were here. About time, I hadn¡¯t been following their progress past floor nine, and I was getting bored out of my mind. ¡°You ready bud?¡± I asked Inkler, patting his side. ¡°Looks like they are finally here.¡± We were hidden well, or at least I thought so. The raid entered the level in a small antechamber, facing a door with a Thanatos motif. Once they entered, they would find themselves in a massive chamber absolutely full of draconian statues in various poses. Of course, some pedestals were empty, and there were plenty of traps strewn about. I heard the door creak open, and the raid enter. ¡°Someone¡¯s obsessed with himself.¡± ¡°I dunno, I kinda like all the statues. They¡¯re so lifelike.¡± ¡°Enough with the statues, remember we could be attacked at any moment.¡± The last voice must be that Whiskers guy, keeping the raid on track. I was going to have to figure out exactly which one he was, as he is definitely going to be a primary target. From the sounds, they were making their way down the aisle I had left them. It was wide enough for six people to walk side by side, and led straight to an ornate throne. ¡°Look at that throne, someone¡¯s definitely overcompensating.¡± One of the rangers said. I didn¡¯t move, letting the raid get just past me. Sitting in the throne was a shadowgheist, tapping his foot in boredom. I really wished that they had the ability to speak, but I was destined to be disappointed. It could, however, serve as a distraction. Slowly standing, it glared at the raid as they all immediately dropped into defensive stances. ¡°Confound the thousand senses, and leave them adrift in the timeless void. Stumble in the deepest darkness, that no vision may penetrate. [Deo Noct]!¡± I tried to chant as quietly as possible, but several members immediately heard me and started looking for me. The ranger in front wasted no time and fired at the shadowgheist. ¡°[Light arrow barrage].¡± Ten arrows peppered the gheist, and it dissipated in a cloud of shadow. Too late for the raid, my orb of shadow landed in the middle of the raid and expanded to include everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s do it Inkler!¡± I shouted, charging in. We had thirty seconds of free attacks, and were going to make the most of it. I knew the healers would probably be protected by some bodyguard skills, but they didn¡¯t have enough to protect the mages too. Inkler tackled a guy with golden robes from behind, biting down on the back of his neck and giving it a savage twist. With that down, he targeted the druid who was foolish enough to have a nightliger skull on her staff. He chomped down on her wrist, and severed her hand at the elbow with his [Reality slash]. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± I used my own slash to take down a mage with a hammer and brown robes, figuring that he would be an earth mage and possibly able to detect some of my traps. Running through the raid, I tried to decapitate druid with green robes using [Keen edge], but I didn¡¯t quite get enough of his throat in my hurry. ¡°Damnit. [Twin oblivion dragons].¡± I kept moving, needing to be out of visual range by the time the spell wore off, but I fired the spell targeting the already weakened neck to ensure my kill. That gave us three kills for sure, oddly matching the three who were obviously healers. Once I was three statue rows back, I used [Hide in shadows] to cloak myself. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH MY ARMMMMMM!!!!!!¡± The druid screamed, realizing that it was spurting blood at a prodigious rate. ¡°What the hell? Someone heal Lucy!¡± The leader yelled, spurring the healers into action. They didn¡¯t bring her arm back, but did manage to heal the bleeding and bring her back to full health. ¡°Damnit, what the fuck kind of spell was that?¡± One of the tanks swore. ¡°I¡¯ve never had my senses just gone like that.¡± ¡°At least they had the sense to give us a message about it and a timer.¡± A druid responded. ¡°Damn, lost three with that one attack. Whatever the boss is, they have some incredible burst damage.¡± ¡°Yeah, well they can¡¯t keep popping spells like that. It¡¯s gotta have a long cooldown. Let¡¯s get these guys back up and we can start hunting this bastard down.¡± The leader said. I sat back and let the raid do their thing. They were about to have a bad day, as each healer went and stood in front of a body before casting the resurrection spell. As the bodies were brought back to life, spectral reapers appeared behind each of the healers. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Someone shouted, but it was too late. Each reaper slashed through the neck of the healer, instantly killing them. As the bodies dropped, the reapers spoke as one in a ghostly voice, ¡°This is your warning. Death has a price on this floor. Should you wish to bring another back to life, you will take their place.¡± Warning given, the spectral reapers disappeared. ¡°Oh no. No. THIS IS A BULLSHIT RULE!¡± Someone yelled. ¡°Come out and fight like a man! Let¡¯s see just how tough you really are!¡± ¡°Calm down Grandelf.¡± Whiskers said. ¡°We¡¯ll get him, but first we need to figure out how we are going to bring our healers back.¡± ¡°Yeah, who¡¯s going to pull the short straw.¡± Someone chuckled. ¡°Not it!¡± He said, placing a finger on the side of his nose. ¡°Cut that shit out, we aren¡¯t doing it like that.¡± Whiskers snarled. ¡°Unless you think he¡¯s just going to sit back and let us discuss this without attacking? No? Good. Now, any volunteers?¡± Two raid members in heavy armor stepped forward. ¡°If we can¡¯t see him, we can¡¯t stop him.¡± ¡°Thanks Goldguard, Shieldwall.¡± Whiskers said, handing them each two scrolls. ¡°Anyone else? Thanks, Back.¡± He said, handing another of the armored folks two scrolls. ¡°Everyone spread out a bit, but I want the tanks around the edges. Try not to let him get through.¡± I pulled out my crossbow, and got ready to cause mayhem. As soon as the spectral reapers showed up, I pulled one of many hidden levers that would activate the strobe light enchantment. I had paired it with several sound enchants that simply blared loud horn noises. As everyone immediately ducked down, I shot one of the disoriented healers in the heart with one of the flesh ravager bolts. Ten seconds later and the alarms and flashing lights had stopped. ¡°Damnit, someone rip this bolt out of me!¡± The healer snarled. ¡°I got you.¡± One of the heavily armored folks said, kneeling next to the healer. ¡°I¡¯ll pull on three. One. Two. THREE!¡± The aftermath was absolutely beautiful. The bolt ended up ripping open a Gaping Wound, and it must have ripped out one of the important arteries near the heart as the healer had bled out within five seconds, far faster than anyone could react due to the shock. In fact, the tank was staring at a bit of artery still stuck on the hooks on the end of the bolt. ¡°What? OH GODDAMNITALLTOHELL!¡± The leader screamed, turning and kicking over one of the statues. ¡°What is that? An arrowhead that causes damage if you pull it out? New rule everyone, push any bolt you get shot with through the wound to the other side before you break off the head. Unless you want to die that is.¡± Once again a tank stepped forward to take a healer¡¯s place in death, and I slipped further backwards into the statues before I started circling the raid. I didn¡¯t want them to find me too easily. Not a bad opening assault, I had whittled the raid down to 22 members without even getting hit. That seemed like it was four deaths too high, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain. ¡°[Detect trap].¡± One of the scouts activated a skill, and I smiled as it caused the lighting to change to the red from earlier in the dungeon. ¡°Not this again!¡± Several people groaned, and they started hunting me through the labyrinth. Grinning, I got a crazy idea. I summoned a shadowgheist, and armed it with two of my corrupted bolts. It got sent to the opposite side of the raid to wait for an opportunity. It only took a minute for the opportunity to arrive. While searching, someone stepped on a trigger trap. This simply caused a statue to rotate and face the trap, but the raid was so high strung they immediately retaliated. ¡°[Shield bash]!¡± The nearest tank smashed it with a shield, crushing the statue. The statue then exploded outward, catching three raid members with a poison cloud. As they were coughing, the shadowgheist charged into the middle of the raid to cause a ruckus. ¡°I see him! [Hunter¡¯s mark]!¡± One of the rangers shouted, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. It was far too late for the berserker and paladin though, as each one took a downward stab with a corruption bolt through the shoulder, and the clone snapped off the head of the bolt within the wound. As a plethora of spells and skills descended upon the poor clone, one of the scouts at the edge of the formation took a mana enhanced decapitator bolt to the back of the neck, killing him. Unluckily it wasn¡¯t the one the leader constantly questioned, but a kill was a kill. I melted away again, not wanting to draw the attention of the raid just yet. ¡°Ugh, someone wanna cleanse this poison from me?¡± The tank who smashed the statue asked. ¡°I got you.¡± One of the healers said, walking over. I saw the other two tending the ones who were stabbed with the corruption bolts, and sat back to watch. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± A healer snarled. ¡°I cleansed the poison. Why the hell are you getting poisoned again?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! Just cleanse it and be done with it.¡± ¡°I ALREADY DID! FIVE SECONDS LATER AND IT¡¯S BACK!¡± The healer snapped, obviously losing patience. ¡°SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT IS POISONING YOU?!¡± ¡°I DON¡¯T KNOW!¡± ¡°ENOUGH!¡± The leader yelled. ¡°Smiter, where did the thing attack you?¡± ¡°Stabbed in the shoulder with something. Did the same to Eric.¡± ¡°I¡¯m constantly getting poisoned too.¡± Eric agreed. ¡°Alright, it must be something in the wound then. Let¡¯s check it out, healers keep cleansing as you can.¡± The leader said, walking up to the berserker. To my surprise, the ranger headed over to check out the paladin. Damn. Do it now? Or wait a while? Now, while they are distracted. ¡°Raging light, obliterate all before me. Blur away all form, leave nothing behind. Save [Whiteness].¡± Shooting a white sphere into the middle of the raid, it exploded outward into raging swirls of magic, enveloping most of the raid. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I targeted the druid who Inkler had removed the arm from earlier. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± She heard me, and twirled to try and find me but I was already teleporting behind her. Six attacks came from six different directions before the white sphere dissipated, and I used my final teleport to move away. ¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I sent one last magic attack at the druid, who had no idea where the attack was coming from. ¡°Not that damaging of a spell.¡± Someone commented. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not getting poisoned anymore!¡± The paladin noted. I smiled, glad that the spell had destroyed the bolts I had left in the members. Let them worry that every attack will cause poison like that. ¡°Why the hell am I getting durability notifications?¡± One of the berserkers shouted. Everyone started milling about, and I smiled as I felt Inkler get bored and decide he was going to have some fun. He snuck toward the raid, picking his target. One of the mages had drifted toward the side, and wasn¡¯t paying attention to her surroundings. ¡°Hey, what the hell happened to Lucy?¡± One question was all it took. Inkler darted forward, biting down on her leg and dragging her off. As she screamed, the raid turned to look before charging after them. Fools. Inkler was heading toward the heaviest concentration of traps, following the route only we knew that was untrapped. Once he reached the middle of the field, he left the mage and safely made his way out. ¡°Stop! There¡¯s going to be-.¡± The raid leader didn¡¯t yell fast enough, as traps started going off. Stone weapons from statues would try and crush whatever was setting them off. Stone tiles sunk to reveal poison tipped needles ready to impale feet. Though I didn¡¯t get any deaths, it slowed them down and let Inkler get away. ¡°What in the heck killed her?¡± A tank asked as he stood over the body of the mage. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Whiskers said. ¡°She only has the one wound on her leg, but that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Think whatever bit her had a poison bite?¡± The last of the druids asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Whiskers said, as I watched while people were milling around nervously. One of the tanky types was hanging by the healers, and I could tell that Inkler was interested in him. It must have been all that white and silver armor, it was just too shiny. Inkler felt it had to die. I gave him a slight rub, wanting him to hold off for a second. I couldn¡¯t talk to him, but I could make a small model of what I thought he should try. In front of him, a small armored man made of shadow as formed, along with a hunting cat behind him. The cat darts forward, between the legs of the tank and flipping him up and onto his back. I could feel his amusement, and he slunk off to take out a tank.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Normally, this wouldn¡¯t work. Simply slamming him onto his back would at best knock the wind out of him. Except for the hidden statues along the edges. As soon as the raid entered, they started pumping out the same aerosolized Death¡¯s Knell poison that they found earlier in the dungeon. Even with all 40 working together, they had only covered about a foot and a half from the floor with the deadly gas. Just enough that if someone were to be knocked down, they would inhale it. That¡¯s what got Ice Queen just now. Not Inkler¡¯s bite, but by dragging her around she had no choice but to inhale the poison. Gaining more poison levels would take time, as I had purposely designed the walls so that they resembled a funnel. The lower parts would fill up fairly quickly, slowing down as the gas levels climbed. If I really wanted to screw them over, I could always just play the waiting game, but that would take at least an hour and a half. Where¡¯s the fun in that? While Inkler was creeping forward, I was going to give him another distraction. The sharp ranger was my target, and I dipped a silencer bolt into a vial of Death¡¯s Knell. Bought from the drow, I had four left for use. From the angles, he would have most of his back towards me after Inkler attacked. I felt his anticipation through our link, and the exact moment that he launched himself forward. ¡°Wha- OOF!¡± With a clatter of metal, the tank was unceremoniously dumped on his ass. ¡°Citadel!¡± One of the healers cried out. ¡°[Hunters mark]!¡± The ranger¡¯s skill drowned out the sound of my crossbow firing, though I immediately moved away a bit. Damn, they managed to mark Inkler, though I managed to tag the hunter in the kidney. As he grunted in pain, he dropped to a knee. Too bad for him, he couldn¡¯t shout out a warning and the healers were concentrated around their tank. I smiled as the ranger died before he could down a potion. I don¡¯t know what they did, but poisons were absolutely brutal. ¡°Wait, is Citadel dead?¡± A healer asked, nudging him with a foot. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! He got knocked onto his back!¡± ¡°Any wounds on him?¡± Whiskers asked. ¡°No! That¡¯s the thing. He slammed into the ground, then his life just plummeted.¡± The healer responded. ¡°Hey guys, King is down as well.¡± A berserker said, holding up the bolt they pulled from his back. ¡°Looks like a silencer bolt that has been poisoned.¡± ¡°Damnit, I knew we never should have taken Lolth up on that offer.¡± The druid spoke up. ¡°Yeah, getting a poison boost is great, but what good is it if we can¡¯t even hit the son of a bitch? Has anyone even seen the text describing what we are fighting?¡± ¡°Calm down Mixalalalot, we¡¯ll get him.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t calm down damnit! We piddled away our chances when we took the boost from Lolth to our poison damage received! Do none of you remember that this guy was supposed to be an alchemist? He¡¯s probably got a bigger selection of poisons than Blackthumb had, the traitorous bastard.¡± ¡°I remembered, and made a judgement call.¡± Whiskers spoke, though I was intrigued. Weakness to poisons? ¡°We have enough poisons to nullify the regeneration of an evolved ice giant. If we get a few stacks on him, he stands no chance when they are this much more powerful. We just have to get him pinned down.¡± Oh bless Lolth! bless her mischievous, cruel heart! She cut a deal with them to boost their poison damage against someone immune to poison! I had to fight to keep from giggling at how they had shot themselves in the foot. Sixteen on one was still far too much for me to take on, but I felt a lot better about my chances. ¡°Hold on a second everyone, I want to check something.¡± Whiskers said, pulling an empty vial out of his pocket. He lowered it next to the floor before capping it. Clever bastard. ¡°Damn, just as I thought. If you get knocked down, don¡¯t breathe. This room is filling up with poison gas.¡± I activated the voice enchantment in the room, that let me sound like I was talking through the statues. ¡°Impressive that you figured it out so swiftly.¡± My booming voice caused a few people to jump, but not Whiskers. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be willing to tell us just how long we have, would you?¡± He asked. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt, as you won¡¯t be around long enough to see the end that way. Counting time we have already used, there¡¯s roughly an hour before the gas reaches the top of the statue heads. At that point, you will all die.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll be hiding in some hole? That¡¯s not very sporting of you.¡± ¡°Sporting? The only sporting going on is how it¡¯s open season on the raid, and I¡¯m aiming for the kill limit.¡± I ended the enchantment, not wanting to keep talking. With only one guardian and two tanks left, things were looking up. ¡°So. Here we are, sitting in a room slowly filling with poison gas. The boss is happy to sit back and watch us die, and we¡¯ve lost nearly half the raid. What¡¯s the plan, bossman? Sit still and die? Or do we go hunting and continue getting picked off one by one?¡± ¡°Chill out.¡± Whiskers growled at the druid. ¡°We¡¯ll hunt him down. Brosef, can you create a light bright enough that this damn strobe light is useless?¡± ¡°Sure. Call forth the light of day. [Sunlight].¡± A bright ball of radiance appeared above the raid, pretty well negating the strobe light effect. Damn bastards, they were going to make things hard. I bit my thumb, thinking. With that light, could I lose them fast enough? Yeah, I can. Loading a normal crossbow bolt, I looked over my targets. Maybe I could get one of the healers? Yeah. The guardian was hanging near the male, so I targeted one of the female healers. The shot took her in the shoulder, and I stood there waving at the raid just to get their blood going. ¡°There he is! [Stone coffin]!¡± I fought the spell with my own stone manipulation, giving me just enough time to avoid being trapped as I turned and started running. I was zig-zagging between the statues, letting them keep an eye on me but not long enough to target with skills. I turned and paused on a straightaway, wanting to see the next trap in action. One of the berserkers with axes stepped onto the magic circle, and a pulse of paralyzing magic hit him. Of course, with his momentum, he went sprawling forward into the poison gas. I took off once again, smiling at the easy death. Now the part to seal my escape. I couldn¡¯t use shadowgheist, the skill was still on cooldown. I could make a shadowy form with shadow manipulation and send it careening through the statues as I stood still on an empty platform. I put my normal weapon into my inventory and pulled out a stone spear, adopting the same pose as the statue of Khaliss back in town. The scream and grating of stone let me know another of the traps had activated. It was a simple one, it just tilted the floor a bit. Just enough to hopefully trip someone and let them fall to the ground, letting the poison finish them off. I smiled as the raid continued on past me, chasing shadows. ¡°Goddamnit! Where the hell did he go?¡± I could hear shouts of frustration, and I went back to the traps to see what I had gotten. The tilt trap had gotten the last ranger, a very pleasant surprise. Now to go back and start picking off squishies. I loaded a silencer bolt, dipped it in Death¡¯s Knell, and started stalking the raid once again. First up was the light mage. As they argued and tried to find me, I started off with a spell that I had learned while in Lucifer¡¯s mansion. ¡°[Iron maiden].¡± The healer from earlier was captured in the stone coffin filled with spikes, her screams of pain gathering immediate attention. Of course, when everyone looks at the distraction, even for just a second, it is a good distraction. The bolt took the mage in the lower back, and I melted away once again as he dropped in death. ¡°[Stone manipulation]!¡± The earth mage saved the healer, prying open the coffin while one of the tanks caught her to prevent her from falling to the ground. That was about the point they noticed the light mage was dead, as the light above everyone went out and we were left in the strobe lights. ¡°Brosef!¡± Someone shouted, but again they were far too late. The mage was dead. I saw the leader activate a stealth skill, but it wasn¡¯t about to hide him from my mystic vision. Through our link, I could feel Inkler getting annoyed. He wanted at least some sort of battle, and was getting antsy. Looking things over, it was 13 on 2 and we would have a surprise pincer attack bonus to our initial move. I reloaded and gave him the go ahead, and prepared my assault as well. Inkler launched himself at the tank with gold and silver armor, always wanting to take out shiny things. The unexpected assault took him in the back, knocking him face first into the dirt. At the same time, I charged in from the opposite side. ¡°[Twin oblivion dragons].¡± I wasn¡¯t going for a kill, just a gentle maiming. The dragons encircled the knee of a paladin in white armor, removing the lower portion of the limb in the explosion. ¡°AAAAH!¡± He managed to scream before I shoulder checked him and sent him sprawling for the poison to finish off. ¡°[Ice beam]!¡± One of the mages targeted Inkler, even though she couldn¡¯t quite see him. I felt his amusement as he redirected the beam towards the druid. ¡°Hey, watch the friendly fire!¡± He shouted, barely dodging the spell. I was still moving forward, closing in on a berserker with a greatsword. He tried to cut me in half with a rising swing from his hip. ¡°[Dancing shadow step][Keen edge].¡± Again I targeted the back of a knee, and the berserker actually helped by trying to swing all the way around and hit me with an overhand strike. He was left without a leg to stand on, and toppled over to his doom. ¡°[Midnight¡¯s kiss][Storm of blades].¡± ¡°Gah!¡± I rolled forward and out of the range of the attack, cursing myself for not keeping up with the teleporting of dancing shadow steps. I had several cuts from the poisoned blades of the assassin, and my eyes widened in surprise as I saw him charging me! ¡°[Marked for death]! You¡¯re mine!¡± He snarled, tackling me to the ground and holding me down. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Inkler running around, keeping the others of the raid off me. He apparently liked my limb removal method, and had taken out a berserker in the same manner. I winked at the assassin on top of me, before taking an exaggerated breath in. ¡°You made a bad bargain.¡± I smiled at the horror on his face, before I used stone manipulation to have to fists shoot out from the floor and punch him in the stomach. In pain and out of breath, I easily rolled him off of me and held him down until he was forced to breath in the poison. I rolled to my feet, checking out the situation. Inkler was making great use of the strobe light, dashing back and forth. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would assume he was teleporting in random directions. The druid and earth mage were closing in his escape routes, while the two remaining mages tried to slow him down so the last guardian could hit him. I guess they assumed that Mr. Whiskers would be able to take me out. My first target was the earth mage. I first raised a block of stone right next to his feet, then casually walked up behind him. While he was distracted with Inkler, I unleashed a haymaker into the side of his head with my hammer. The blow staggered him, and he tripped over the stone block. ¡°[Stone grasp].¡± I summoned a band of earth around his chest, holding him down just in case, but he stopped struggling fairly quickly. Inkler needed a distraction, as he was finally hemmed in. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I started to sing. ¡°All seven and we¡¯ll watch them fall. They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all.¡± Everyone froze to look at me, Inkler actually put a paw over his ears. Guess I just can¡¯t sing. ¡°[Ice lotus].¡± One of the mages targeted me, while Inkler tried to get around the guardian in front of him. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I barely avoided getting trapped, appearing next to one of the healers. ¡°[Rocket slash].¡± The flinch from my appearance saved them from a decapitation, but they did get a slash across the throat as I disappeared again, only to show up behind the female mage who tried to ice me. ¡°[Reality slash].¡± I took her across the back of the knees, and though I didn¡¯t manage to remove the limbs I did cause her to flail about as she fell down, though it caused me to lose the chain of jumps from shadow steps. Targeting the last mage, I shot her in the stomach with a silencer bolt. It wasn¡¯t fatal, but it would end her participation. Unfortunately, the distractions had let them whittle away at Inkler¡¯s health, and he was nearing critical. ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I wrapped up the guardian, just as he was about to deliver a finishing blow to the top of Inkler¡¯s head. He took the opportunity to escape, charging straight at the druid. He didn¡¯t have a skill to use, but when a cat tall enough to head butt you in the chest decides to tackle you at full speed, there isn¡¯t much you can do. It proved to be Inkler¡¯s final hurrah, as he got a whiff of the poison gas when he tripped over the druid¡¯s body. Not wanting a healer to get the bright idea to sacrifice themselves, I headed toward the nearest one. ¡°[Lance of light].¡± An attack to the stomach had them bending over in pain, and I ran the rest of the way and slammed into them, sending them reeling into a statue. As he rebounded off, a hammer to the knee finally did the job of tripping him up and sending him to his doom. ¡°[Arcane binding circle]!¡± I mentally swore as a column of blue light encased me. Turning around, I saw the smirk on the mage, as she held up the silencer bolt. ¡°This is a rather nasty piece of work. Course, now that we have you pinned down, you won¡¯t last long.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, laughter in my voice. ¡°You¡¯re going to take down the final boss in the dungeon with what, two healers, a mage and a guardian?¡± ¡°After this attack, you won¡¯t be laughing.¡± She snarled, and started chanting. ¡°[Dark bolt].¡± To my surprise, the bolt shattered against the inside of the binding circle. It repelled any physical attacks as well, and I caught the smile of the mage as the guardian sauntered over. ¡°No attacks can cross the barrier. You¡¯re trapped until we come in to get you.¡± He said, and it finally clicked about my predicament. There was only one way to break the circle, and that was to attack it from the outside. Nothing could pass outside from inside. Unless you could manipulate something already outside of the barrier. ¡°[Cloying darkness].¡± The spell caused a sphere of shadow to wrap around the mage¡¯s head, blocking her sight. While it was completely intangible, if you can¡¯t see you can¡¯t cast a line of sight spell. ¡°What? Get this off of me!¡± The mage went into a rage, and I chuckled at the confused expression of the guardian. ¡°So what¡¯s it gonna be Mr. Guardian? Hope my spell runs out before hers does? Or are you going to take the initiative and attack me while I¡¯m pinned down?¡± ¡°Get him Scratch, we¡¯ll keep you topped up.¡± One of the healers said, and I saw the clan click into place for the guardian. ¡°[Shield rush][Bone smasher].¡± His initial attack knocked me onto my back, and I saw him winding up for an overhand smash with his mace. That wasn¡¯t going to be fun, so I had to do something to interrupt him. ¡°[Light bolt][Stone grasp].¡± I fired my spell at his face, but he dodged it. It was enough though, as he had to abort his attack and I was able to roll a bit. I made it to my feet as he smashed the hand holding him with his mace. He turned to face me, and I flung a pyrophoria potion at his face. He blocked with a shield, but that¡¯s all the opening I needed. ¡°[Twin oblivion dragons].¡± Wanting to avoid the shield entirely, I targeted his ankle. I let the spell strike, then charged in as he was stumbling and tackled him, sending us both sprawling. ¡°Hold him down Scratch! We¡¯ll keep you alive!¡± I heard the healer shouting, but it was going to be too late for them. We tussled for a few seconds, but he was breathing heavily and they couldn¡¯t purge the poison fast enough. ¡°[Incinerating bolt]!¡± Just as the guardian succumbed, I got blasted by the mage. I stumbled to my feet as she kept a barrage of different spells coming in my direction. Dodging between statues, I finally got to a point where I could counterattack. Only I wasn¡¯t going for the mage. ¡°[Dancing shadow steps].¡± I appeared behind one of the remaining healers, and used three of the steps to attack from different directions. Then I switched targets, heading over to the other healer. ¡°[Keen edge].¡± Again I targeted the legs, but didn¡¯t get an amputation. As the healer dropped to a knee, I teleported in front of them and hit them in the face with my hammer, knocking them backward. Sure, by this point I was blatantly abusing the poison in the area but I didn¡¯t really care. If they couldn¡¯t adapt, that was on them. ¡°[Stone coffin]!¡± The mage got me before I could escape, but it was with a non-damaging spell. ¡°Why won¡¯t you just die already!¡± She screamed. I chuckled as I used stone manipulation to force open the spell holding me, slowly stepping out. ¡°Because I have something worth fighting for. Can you say the same?¡± I asked. ¡°[Cage of light].¡± I caught the mage inside of a cage, letting me close the distance. ¡°[Oblivion sphere].¡± I launched a sphere at her, breaking the cage around her and hitting her in the stomach. As she went to counter what she thought was another tackling charge, I veered off towards a surprised healer. ¡°[Repelling wave].¡± The mage spent a spell, but I was nowhere nearby. The healer tried to dodge me, but I needed no special techniques or spells. I wrapped her up in my arms and dove to the side, taking us both to the ground. I could see the panic in her eyes as she held her breath, but I could finally hold her down. ¡°[Stone manipulation].¡± I couldn¡¯t form the nice stone hands to hold her down, but a crude stone circle around her waist was possible. ¡°And then there was one.¡± I said, looking at the mage as she downed a mana potion. ¡°One mage versus the final boss. Think you can handle this?¡± ¡°[Hydro armor].¡± She didn¡¯t want to banter, instead summoning a sphere of water to protect herself that quickly reshaped itself into a suit of armor. ¡°[Stone skin].¡± Well, this was shaping up to be a brawl. Good thing I had wasted enough time that I could cheat again. The half hour cooldown was finished for shadowgheist, but I didn¡¯t have enough mana to use it! ¡°[Binding shadow chains].¡± I used the majority of my mana to prevent her from escaping, rushing in as I sent the rest of it into the head of my hammer. ¡°[Mana shockwave].¡± I smashed her in the face with my hammer, sending her stumbling backward into a statue. As the stunned mage stumbled forward, I hit her in the solar plexus with the hammer. As she doubled over, a gentle shove sent her sprawling to the ground, where her gasping for breath let the poison take her down swiftly.
Failure! Lament, Light siders. For the raid has fallen. Keep watching, and we shall see what the Progenitor Tyrant has in store for this world.
Book 3 Chapter 53 ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere. I¡¯ve got something very important to show all of you.¡± I spoke into the floating camera that I could see after the final raid member died. Turning, I led it back to the throne, where I sat down with a tired sigh. ¡°Gotta get rid of this poison first.¡± I said, pressing a few buttons. While I waited for it to clear out, I downed a few mana potions and summoned Inkler back to my side. ¡°Hey bud, you were fantastic.¡± I said, scratching his jaw how he liked. I pulled a cassowack leg out of my inventory for him. While he was enjoying his treat, I pressed a few more buttons on the throne and stood up. ¡°Now, let¡¯s head down to the workroom where I have everything prepared.¡± As I spoke to the camera, the throne split down the middle and separated, revealing a hidden staircase beneath it. I started down, and heard Inkler padding along behind me. ¡°Behold, the entire purpose of this dungeon.¡± I spread my arms as I reached the bottom of the stairs, revealing the room at the bottom. The ceiling was twice the height as normal, and contained a truly massive array of phase crystals that my friends had been tasked with collecting. The crystals on the floor mirrored the ceiling, forming a gigantic circle with two intersecting inner areas. Arcane runes covered the circles, far beyond my comprehension. The crystals all glowed with a blue inner light, making the entire setup somewhat eerie. ¡°My friends, come, and witness the fruits of your labors.¡± I called out, and I was joined by the three bosses from earlier in the dungeon. I had warned them earlier, so they were all ready for my call. ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s one hell of a magic array.¡± Rocky immediately said. ¡°Hey Johnny, I have a request for you.¡± I said. ¡°Sure Angus, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I want you to take over the contract with Inkler here. He deserves a relaxing life, and I think he would love hanging out and playing with the kids.¡± ¡°Hold the phone there, what¡¯s this all about? You make it sound like this is the end.¡± He said, immediately concerned. The others also stopped their examinations and looked at me. ¡°You guys know this is quite possibly one of the biggest magical workings this world has ever seen, right? Magical workings this large often need a sacrifice to power them. The bigger the sacrifice, the better the result.¡± I said. ¡°Yeah, I thought that¡¯s why we were collecting all that death energy from the raid group.¡± Illyora growled at me. ¡°You telling me that over a hundred deaths isn¡¯t enough to power your plan? Just what are you trying to do?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t the amount of deaths that matters.¡± I said, trying to calm them down. ¡°But the biggest part must be a significant sacrifice. Can you think of a bigger sacrifice than a willing divine tier monster at maximum level?¡± They shifted nervously for a second, trying to figure out what was going on. ¡°Alright man. I¡¯ll watch over him for you.¡± Johnny finally agreed. ¡°Inkler, I¡¯m not going to be around much longer.¡± I told him, gently rubbing behind his ear. ¡°You were the best partner a guy like me could hope for, even if you liked to pull more pranks than most.¡± I barely got that bit out, trying not to cry. He dropped his cassowack leg and shoved his head into my chest, nearly knocking me over. ¡°Thanks bud.¡± I said, laughing through the tears. ¡°So. Do you think you can help Johnny out?¡± He chuffed in my face and I pulled up the contract.
Are you sure you wish to dissolve your familiar contract with Inkler? Y/N
Hitting yes was one of the hardest things I had ever done. Of course, Inkler could never do things as planned. Instead of heading over to Johnny, he yawned and strolled over to Illyora and sat down to stare at her. ¡°Um, Inkler? Weren¡¯t you supposed to contract with Johnny?¡± She asked, looking around in panic. I couldn¡¯t help it and started laughing. ¡°Looks like the mighty Chimera Lord is going to have a mirage stalker in her pack. You might as well accept; he can be incredibly stubborn once his mind is made up.¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t have any cat parts!¡± She said, looking right at me. ¡°Wolf and bear and reptile, none of those are cat friendly!¡± As she complained, Inkler slammed his head into her stomach and started purring. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± She said, and they were both enveloped in light for a second. ¡°Take good care of her Inkler, she gets into almost as much trouble as I do.¡± I said, getting a chuff from my former partner. Standing up, I walked to the ritual area. ¡°I guess it¡¯s about time to get this show on the road.¡± Pulling it out of my inventory, I placed the twig of Yggdrasil I had stolen from Pelor¡¯s church into the intersecting area of the circle. ¡°In the middle, the branches that connect us all.¡± I walked to one of the singular areas, and pulled a ring from my inventory. ¡°Representing those of the light, this ring. The Forerunner of the Impending Dawn¡¯s insignia ring. Apologies to the light elves, but not only must sacrifices be made, but they must be in balance.¡± I placed it in the circle, and walked around to the other side, stepping in to the circle. ¡°And as counterbalance, for the races of the dark, myself. Angus MacG. Divine tier Oblivion Draconian.¡± I paused for a second before continuing. ¡°I suppose I should be giving some sort of farewell speech, to get everyone¡¯s blood pumping. I just don¡¯t hink I have it in me, so let¡¯s just do this.¡± I pulled out my weapon, pointed the scythe right at my heart, and prepared to end my character for good. With inches to spare, a scaled hand reached around me and caught my weapon. With two fingers and a thumb, I couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Sorry dear, but I just couldn¡¯t let one of my most promising descendants go and make such a tremendous error.¡± I turned to see Tiamat herself standing behind me, smiling. ¡°Tiamat?¡± I asked, stunned. ¡°Oh, look at this ritual. Mortals. HECATE!¡± She shouted at the ceiling. ¡°GET DOWN HERE, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO DO ALL THE MODIFICATIONS MYSELF!¡± ¡°Stop already!¡± We all turned to see Hecate standing on the other side of the circle looking down. ¡°Oh damn. Silly mortals. Always trying to brute force things, you people have no finesse. No sense of style. Damn.¡± Looking at the circle, she started muttering as she walked around it. ¡°This might take a while, why don¡¯t you head over by your friends.¡± Tiamat said, giving me a gentle push. ¡°Alright. I think I know the changes we need to make, but I¡¯m going to need some more power for this. Two from each pantheon should suffice.¡± Hecate spoke while staring at the ceiling, tapping her foot. Suddenly, there were a lot more people in the room. ¡°Always the fun one.¡± A sultry voice whispered in my ear. I turned my head to see Lolth had draped herself over my shoulders. ¡°Really is too bad you decided to go with Thanatos. We could have had so much fun.¡± She stood up and sauntered away, as I looked around to see who else had joined us. The lady with a bandage over her eyes and a sword on her back had to be Justice. She opted for white plate mail instead of robes today. Next to her was Thanatos, keeping mostly shrouded in his gray hood. Gaia and Moradin were there for the light gods, standing between Thanatos and Hecate. ¡°Alright, this should do it.¡± Hecate clapped her hands three times, and everything shifted around. The inside of the circle was rearranged into a triquetra. The writing was also changed, though I had no idea what the new parts did. It ended up being up about four times as dense as what we had originally started with. ¡°Hmmm. No, no, no this won¡¯t do.¡± Hecate mumbled. She glowed for just a second, before splitting into three. ¡°You two will behave.¡± She ordered the older man and the other woman, glaring at them. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll behave.¡± The woman in leather sighed. ¡°At least this is a magic spell worthy of us.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The old man agreed. ¡°When was the last time the three of us blended all our magics?¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Hecate ordered. ¡°Let¡¯s get things set up. Branch of Yggdrasil, that can stay in the middle. Hmmm, interesting ring. Leave it in the lobe of light. You.¡± She pointed at me. Squinting her eyes, it felt as if she were reading into my soul. ¡°You are so very lucky we intervened, you would have royally mucked up that spell. You aren¡¯t darkness, and you aren¡¯t light. You are both, and you should go into the gray lobe. Over there next to Justice. That¡¯s two, we need an object of darkness.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll volunteer something.¡± Tiamat said, stepping forward. ¡°One who brought the races closest to becoming my dear dragons deserves nothing less, especially since this is going to cause so much fun.¡± She giggled a bit at the end, before reaching up and snapping off one of her horns. Even Gaia widened her eyes as the Goddess of Chaos placed it in the third lobe. ¡°Thank you Tiamat.¡± Hecate actually gave her a slight bow. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve called you all here for a purpose, and I¡¯ll be explaining the ritual for the mortals. We have three members of each of the three pantheons, for repetition of the numbers will amplify the power exponentially. Moradin, you will be the base of the world, and your power shall help build it. Stand next to Angus in the dark lobe, but remain outside of the circle. I will be next, and we will add on moving clockwise. Lolth here next to me, followed by Merlin. Justice is next, then Tiamat. Gaia then Thanatos and finally Mab closes the circle.¡± Around the circle, the gods went from light to gray to dark and back to light. Again this was repeated three times, each lobe getting a god or goddess of magic. ¡°Angus. Now is the time for the lifeblood of the ritual, make sure that you use it to water the tree in the middle. The ring shall provide light to all, and the horn shall add darkness and chaos to balance everything. Ready?¡± ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡± I said. Stepping forward, nobody stopped me this time as I stabbed myself in the heart, and let my blood flow over the branch in the middle of the circle. I could feel the magic building in the air, the mana was so thick that crackles of electricity were sparking in the air. The runes and lines of the ritual were glowing and fading with my heartbeat, growing in intensity as I felt my character dying.
Warning! Finishing this ritual will result in permanent deletion of this character. Are you sure you wish to proceed? Y/N
I hit yes and was moved out to a third person view, watching as mana flowed among all the gods and the ritual, building to a violent crescendo. Seconds later, the multicolored ball of mana exploded outward, passing through each of the phase crystals that were pulsing in time with the ritual. I thought the manaquakes from the unsealing of the well were strong, but this put them to shame. The only people in the room unaffected were the gods, though that should be expected. As the wave passed, a system notification popped up.
System notice! Due to a massive ritual performed by the Progenitor Tyrant and overseen by the gods of this world, massive changes are coming. Any characters not logged out within five minutes will be forcefully logged out while system updates are applied. For more information on this update, watch the live broadcast of the upcoming interview with David Argentus, owner of Arctic Storm. This will be available from your home area.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. David Argentus POV I relaxed in my chair, smiling at the cameras as they counted down to the live show. The cameraman pointed to us as the red light came on, and the interview was underway. ¡°Welcome fans, I¡¯m Elaine Torix for Inside Gamer Today here with an exclusive live interview with the owner of Arctic Storm, David Argentus. David, thank you so much for joining us today.¡± ¡°My pleasure Elaine.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯ll forgive me, but I¡¯m going to get right down to it, as I¡¯m sure our fans are just as impatient to learn just what in the world happened after that dungeon raid. What can you tell us?¡± ¡°Well, first our developers have created a small animation of what exactly happened, only if you were able to view the world from space. Let¡¯s watch.¡± As I turned in my chair slightly, the screen between us lit up and the movie started. Slowly growing larger until it took up the majority of the central portion of the screen, was the world of Oblivion Online. ¡°Now, at the exact central point there is where the dungeon was located.¡± I informed everyone. Seconds later, there was a spike of multicolored energy that blasted outward in a massive circle, moving so that it covered the entire globe. Once that had finished, the world shook. Three primary shades appeared of the world, all moving slightly apart. One dark, one grey, and one light. They slowly settled back together, but you could see they didn¡¯t line up exactly. ¡°Wow. That was some ritual.¡± Elaine said, turning back to face me. ¡°So, what can you tell us about it?¡± ¡°Well, this is the start of the next major expansion of Oblivion Online. And just so that everyone knows, anyone with a current subscription will receive the expansion at no extra cost. So let me welcome all of our current players to Oblivion Online: Sundered Worlds.¡± ¡°Sundered Worlds? Did a player actually split the world?¡± Elain asked, leaning forward in her chair. ¡°Hahaha, no nothing like that.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°What they did was create three different worlds, all in a slightly different phase.¡± ¡°Hold the phone.¡± Elaine nearly started bouncing in her seat. ¡°Are you telling me that you just tripled the size of Oblivion Online?¡± ¡°In a nutshell? Yes. Players will note that certain locations do line up between all three worlds, but nothing will be exactly the same. In one world might be the human capital, while another phase might have some ancient ruins. The explorer¡¯s guild is going to be incredibly busy.¡± ¡°I want to get back to that in a second, but I have to ask because if I¡¯m dying to know, I know a lot of our viewers are as well. What was the reasoning behind splitting the worlds? Surely a player wasn¡¯t just interested in a bigger place to explore.¡± ¡°No, he had much more familiar reasons. See, he was rather upset when two NPCs who had given him a great bit of help over the course of his game were killed. As you and everyone knows, NPC deaths are permanent.¡± ¡°So how does this fix NPC death?¡± ¡°Well, each NPC will have a home phase. If they are killed in their home phase, they will have the option to resurrect in ten minutes, unless there is a special event going on.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She said, though I could tell gears were turning in her head. ¡°You said in their home phase, does that mean there is travel between phases?¡± I smiled, loving being interviewed by someone with such a sharp mind. ¡°Exactly. There will be regular gateways that are guarded. Most will go from the dark or light phase to the gray phase, though direct travel is possible. The best part is thanks to Tiamat though. Since she used a portion of herself, there will also be random portals that show up unexpectedly between any of the phases, and possibly other areas as well.¡± ¡°So what happens if an NPC dies on a different phase?¡± ¡°If they had left of their own free will, or were ordered by their master, then the old rules apply. If someone were to kidnap an NPC and travel through a portal and kill them, then they will still have the option to resurrect.¡± ¡°Ok, I think everyone can be on board with saving the NPCs. What else can you tell us about things?¡± ¡°Well, there is going to be a lot more room that¡¯s for sure. Monster players won¡¯t have to face light players that have already reached max level and compete with them for resources. Or compete with light siders of the same level but with greater backing.¡± ¡°Oh, so light players and dark players are each going to start on their own phase? What about the gray phase?¡± ¡°Well, the gray phase is going to be sort of a wild phase. There will be a few outposts, but the vast majority of that world will be areas absolutely filled with monsters and resources. Actually, I think the plan is for each phase to have one major outpost and at other permanent portals they can maintain a fort but that¡¯s it. And these are by no means guaranteed, there are monsters on that world fully capable of reducing a fort to a crater in a matter of time.¡± ¡°Oh that sounds like a challenge. Any chance that the guilds can claim areas?¡± ¡°No. They are of course welcome to try, but the two major outposts are in special locations. For the others, they will constantly be challenged by monsters at random intervals. Sometimes they will easily repel the wave, sometimes it will be difficult, and sometimes it will be nigh impossible.¡± ¡°Ooooh, I¡¯m getting so excited! Can you tell us if there is any way for players to spawn on the gray phase?¡± ¡°That¡¯s another one of our major expansion points. For those that wish to forgo the dark and the light side, we offer the gray side. This is a special type of challenge. Players will set out into the world, and look for a place to establish their own dungeon. Lure in and kill or contract monsters to grow stronger. Build up your own traps to punish players that try and conquer you. It¡¯s an entirely new style of gameplay, and I¡¯m extremely excited to try it.¡± ¡°Wait, we can be our own dungeon master?¡± ¡°Yes you can Elaine.¡± ¡°You heard it folks, come design your own dungeon.¡± ¡°Once your dungeon gets large enough, you can also earn an exception to the one-character rule.¡± I added. ¡°Grow it deep enough, and you can set a sort of auto control. But that¡¯s all I can say about the dungeons, the rest the players will have to figure out.¡± ¡°Something I¡¯m sure several are going to be chomping at the bit to do.¡± Elaine chuckled. ¡°Ok, so we have covered the NPCs and the new player option, but I somehow feel that the light side is getting left behind. Is there anything you have to balance that? Something to stem the hiatus that I see coming?¡± ¡°Indeed. We realized with the dungeon run that the evolved monsters can be incredibly powerful. I mean, we had two that were able to hold their own against a thirty-person raid. That needed to be addressed, and so we are offering evolutions to the light races as well. However, we aren¡¯t going to be doing it in the same manner.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± She asked, eyes pleading with me to continue. ¡°Indeed. We don¡¯t want to saturate the worlds with divine artifacts, that¡¯s just asking for someone to collect and abuse that. What we decided on was this. When you create your character, you will determine just how difficult you want things to be. The hardest will be divine difficulty. You will first have to reach at least champion rank, but it would better to be heroic before your first evolution. Your second evolution to become a demigod rank will require you to finish a highly difficult questline with a chosen god or goddess. This must be done solo. The same will be required to reach divine rank on your third evolution.¡± ¡°And this is the same for monsters and light siders?¡± ¡°Yes, this will be the same for both.¡± I agreed. ¡°Any chance that we can do this for characters that are already established?¡± ¡°Of course. If you wish to, all your gear can be sealed in a vault at any of the capital banks. Your character will be reset to level 1, and you can move through the game once again. You will have eight months to reach divine rank or your third evolution, whichever path you decide to take. If you fail, you will be given the option to keep your character as is and sell all your old gear, or to revert back. Be warned, you only get one attempt.¡± ¡°Do you have an idea how difficult this will be?¡± ¡°I do incidentally. We don¡¯t want to be drowning in a sea of divine creatures, so I think the results are going to be maybe 1 in 100 or worse for actually completing the divine quests. Now, that is harsh but it is going to come with an exciting set of rewards. See, at that point your character will be able to steamroll just about any dungeon currently out there. We don¡¯t want players to reach a stagnation point, and just throw away all the hard work they went to. So we have a deal for those who reach the divine ranks, and we actually have the first of these coming up soon. Remember the giant in the dungeon?¡± ¡°The one that very nearly took out the raid by throwing them off the mountain?¡± ¡°Exactly. While he wasn¡¯t technically a divine rank, we have decided to upgrade his character based on his performance and the things he has managed to accomplish. He will be the first of the Roving Raids.¡± ¡°Roving Raids? Why does that sound like it should be capitalized?¡± ¡°Because it is.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Basically, when you max out a divine creature you have the option to have it enshrined as a Roving Raid boss. Once per month, the boss will appear out of a special portal. At that point, there will be six hours to kill the boss. First come, first served. The boss will appear in the same location at random times for three consecutive days before disappearing.¡± ¡°Ooooh, that¡¯s an exciting prospect. Will the players be able to be the boss during battles?¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s the challenge. Pit your divine character and all their skills against a raid or more. See who comes out on top. If you aren¡¯t able to do it for three days, we will work with you to train a limited AI to run your character according to your playstyle. And before you ask, no this will not prevent you from starting new characters. If you do manage to make a divine ranked creature, you will have several bonuses including getting a new character slot.¡± ¡°So we are doing away with the one-character limit?¡± Elaine asked, scooting forward in her seat. ¡°In very limited instances. Like I said, your spare slot will be your maxed divine character. Should you create a second character, the divine one will be locked unless you are doing the monthly battle. I know how gamers think, and if we didn¡¯t do this then there would be people trying to give their new character equipment gained from their divine character. However, any new characters will come with a trait called Divine Echo. While it won¡¯t produce any combat boosts, all NPCs will know that you have at one point been divine and will have certain interactions boosted.¡± ¡°Will this effect stack if you manage multiple divine evolutions?¡± ¡°Yes, though that would be incredibly difficult to do. Should someone actually manage it, then we will probably give them some sort of bonus, but it will have to be on a case by case basis.¡± ¡°Wow. Lot to unpack, and a lot to look forward to. New evolutions, new areas, new races, is there anything we are missing?¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure there is Elaine, but that¡¯s the limit I have been given on details that I can reveal. There¡¯s plenty more to be found, if you search diligently enough.¡± ¡°Well, David, thank you so much for your time and for giving us such an exciting preview into the new expansion.¡± ¡°Thanks for having me Elaine, and thanks to all our players out there who have supported the game for so long. We hope that you enjoy all the new content, and rest assured that we are always working to keep the game moving in a positive direction.¡± Book 3 Epilogue Marty¡¯s POV I smiled as I relived the battle in the dungeon, watching it from my new desk. It had been two months, and the Sundered Worlds expansion was a massive hit. New subscriptions had increased by 20%, and accounts that had been idle for at least 6 months had dropped by nearly 75%. I hoped people enjoyed the new content, but I was far too busy with my new job to play. After sacrificing my character, my time as a beta tester came to an end. Having worked hand in hand with the developers for quite a while, I was pulled in to help create new storylines for players to discover. A lot of that included researching world mythologies, and I was having the time of my life. It helped that Frank was a very relaxed boss. I did miss having a beer with the crew on Friday¡¯s but they were understanding and I was making some progress with the therapist. I did like her favorite saying. ¡°Even if you are only taking baby steps forward, you will still reach your goal. The time it takes doesn¡¯t matter, so do what is comfortable for you.¡± As soon as I was in a different department, Emily and I gave dating a try. She was holding herself back because of rules involving same department dating. While it didn¡¯t work out, we are still great friends. We just weren¡¯t cut out to be more than that. Derrick is having a blast with his Roving Raid boss status. His favorite picture is an oil painting of multiple raids running away in terror the first time he pulled out his equipment. So far he is undefeated, but the light siders are getting stronger and will eventually overcome him. He has a running bet with Frank that he won¡¯t lose unless they bring multiple raids at the same time, one I am confident he will win. Jon entered a special program with permission from both Arctic Storm and the medical agency that was overseeing the children¡¯s growth. The confidence boost the children got just from their brief stint in the dungeon is something the doctors are wanting to explore, and Jon is at the heart of it. They have a sandbox server to play around in, and Jon is one of the caretakers in their game. His and Phoebe¡¯s Christmas card this year was them in their characters. Jon¡¯s character was doing curls, only instead of weights he had six goblin children on each side of his staff, giggling uncontrollably. Inkler was in the background, eyeing Jon¡¯s tail while several other children were trying their best to tackle Phoebe.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Phoebe still played her character as normal, and was trying to become the second Roving Raid boss. I didn¡¯t know it, but the seal on the god Sin who gave her power had greatly weakened, and she was trying to free him. The quest the devs thought up was incredible, and part of it included her sneaking deep within the Gray Phase to find some hidden ruins. If she can manage it, Inkler will become a companion animal for Sin. While the original dungeon is no more, the outcry from light siders wanting to test themselves caused the devs to go back and recreate the dungeon. The bosses aren¡¯t quite as hard, and the divine boosts are not there anymore, but people still love challenging the Shadow of the Progenitor. The Needler¡¯s guild, led by Mr. Whiskers, was unsurprisingly the first to finish the raid. They received a special statue for their guildhall of my character. It is the first thing to greet people when they enter, and has a plaque challenging their members to always strive to improve. The drow loved the attention they got for their help in the raid, especially the challenges from Lolth. Of all the monster races to choose from, nearly one in three start out as drow despite the difficulties. Cinder still hasn¡¯t ascended to the title of archmage, but he hasn¡¯t given up. He is taking the slow route, working hard to be one of the few who has managed to obtain all boosted elements before challenging the current archmage. Lady Fisticuffs became the first traveler to become a drow General, and has been gleefully leading raids through portals to the Light Phase. Blackthumb has accepted his quest for evolution, though he hasn¡¯t managed to finish it yet. He is the Master of Poisons in the Dark Alchemist¡¯s Guild. There is some trade of knowledge between phases, but for the most part the Dark and Light Guild counterparts keep each other at arms distance. Book 3 Epilogue reworked Marty¡¯s POV, 2 months later Two months. A lot can happen in two months. The new expansion was a huge hit, the draw of tripling the game world too much for most to resist. New subscriptions had increased by 20%, while inactive game memberships had been reduced by nearly 75%. The original dungeon was scrapped, but the outcry from people who had watched the show and wanted to test their skills was so high that the developers brought it back. The bosses aren¡¯t quite as hard, and the divine boosts are not there anymore, but people still love challenging the Shadow of the Progenitor. The Needler¡¯s guild, led by Mr. Whiskers, was unsurprisingly the first to finish the raid. They received a special statue for their guildhall of my character. It is the first thing to greet people when they enter, and has a plaque challenging their members to always strive to improve. The drow loved the attention they got for their help in the raid, especially the challenges from Lolth. Of all the monster races to choose from, nearly one in three start out as drow despite the difficulties. Cinder still hasn¡¯t ascended to the title of archmage, but he hasn¡¯t given up. He is taking the slow route, working hard to be one of the few who has managed to obtain all boosted elements before challenging the current archmage. Lady Fisticuffs became the first traveler to become a drow General, and has been gleefully leading raids through portals to the Light Phase. Blackthumb has accepted his quest for evolution, though he hasn¡¯t managed to finish it yet. He is the Master of Poisons in the Dark Alchemist¡¯s Guild. There is some trade of knowledge between phases, but for the most part the Dark and Light Guild counterparts keep each other at arms distance. Vicda was just barely starting to show her pregnancy, though you had to look pretty hard to see the bump. Derrick is having a blast with his Roving Raid boss status. His favorite picture is an oil painting of multiple raids running away in terror the first time he pulled out his equipment. So far he is undefeated, but the light siders are getting stronger and will eventually overcome him. He has a running bet with Frank that he won¡¯t lose unless they bring multiple raids at the same time, one I am confident he will win. Jon entered a special program with permission from both Arctic Storm and the medical agency that was overseeing the children¡¯s growth. The confidence boost the children got just from their brief stint in the dungeon is something the doctors are wanting to explore, and Jon is at the heart of it. They have a sandbox server to play around in, and Jon is one of the caretakers in their game. His and Phoebe¡¯s Christmas card this year was them in their characters. Jon¡¯s character was doing curls, only instead of weights he had six goblin children on each side of his staff, giggling uncontrollably. Inkler was in the background, eyeing Jon¡¯s tail while several other children were trying their best to tackle Phoebe. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Phoebe still played her character as normal, and was trying to become the second Roving Raid boss. I didn¡¯t know it, but the seal on the god Sin who gave her power had greatly weakened, and she was trying to free him. The quest the devs thought up was incredible, and part of it included her sneaking deep within the Gray Phase to find some hidden ruins. If she can manage it, Inkler will become a companion animal for Sin. The divine realms have no idea what¡¯s in store for them if they finish the quests. Especially if there is a version of catnip in the game. Hmmm, that could be something to work in somehow now that I think of it. After losing my character in spectacular fashion, my time as a beta tester came to an end. Frank and several higher ups were impressed with the idea for the Sundered Worlds, and opted to transfer me over to the development department. As soon as I was out of her department, Emily and I tried out dating for a while. Though it didn¡¯t really work out, we still remain friends. She even convinced someone to make me a paperweight of Angus for my desk, the scythe doubling as a letter opener. Life as a developer is interesting, especially with Frank at the helm. He still loves to have his Friday afternoon parties, but the department is great about not pushing me. I¡¯m working through my troubles from the alcohol incident, but it¡¯s slow going. Instead of tracking down epic plot lines in game, I now get to set up the quests and figure out what enemies will be found along the way. ¡°Done daydreaming?¡± My partner Tom asked as he plopped down in his own chair nearby. ¡°Yeah, sorry.¡± I replied, moving back to the computer. ¡°Any luck with your idea?¡± ¡°Not particularly. Most of the really fun Native American myths revolve around Coyote and the other tricksters. How about you?¡± ¡°Almost the opposite. Too much to go through, though there is sure to be something in there somewhere.¡± ¡°Oh, woe is me!¡± He mocked, placing a hand to his forehead. ¡°I¡¯ve got too many sea myths from the Pacific Island mythologies! Whatever shall I do?¡± ¡°I hear ya, there¡¯s no such thing as too much source materials.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Maybe we should nix the American mythos for the sea creatures update, and go someplace else.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the look of a newbie with an idea. Whatcha got?¡± ¡°Prehistoric.¡± I said smugly. ¡°Before the drow enchantment, people couldn¡¯t explore the seas. Who says there can¡¯t be some massive prehistoric beasts lurking in the deep, dark places?¡± ¡°I like it.¡± He nodded. ¡°Now, we¡¯re a pretty tight knit bunch but this is something you always need to be doing. New idea gets sent via email to your own folder, your partner, and up the chain so that you get credit for it. You remember the three best letters in the alphabet?¡± ¡°C.Y.A.¡± I answered with a groan, tabbing over to my email. Time to get back to work. New story out! Hey everyone, Editing is incredibly boring for those of you who don''t know. So boring in fact that I''m only finished with the first 7 chapters so far. But there is good news! I just posted chapter 1 of a new story on this site, with hopefully fairly regular updates. Come check it out:You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/22186/summoning-shenanigans Or if the link isn''t working, search my fictions or look up Summoning Shenanigans. I might seem kinda rambly at the end here because I need to hit the 500 character limit to post this.