by Ryan DeBruyn
Weighing his options, he chose to drop an ‘alpha strike’ on the creature and end it if he could. He charged his Dark Blade with five charges and released it from about ten feet away. His Shadow Clone had the creature’s attention, and it attempted a two-handed clobasaurus slam on to the clone’s head. Committed to this action, the explosion of Rocky’s skill caught Thumper completely unaware and tore through both his Shadow Clone and the beast.
Smiling smugly, Rocky stood there as the dust settled, breathing hard. No notification window popped up? He was further surprised when from the cloud in front of him, he heard a hiss and snarl. Thumper was still alive?
Come on, that’s my most powerful skill!
He glanced at his Ether bar and realized he only had a third remaining, so he chugged an Ether Draught. The taste of electric blue, sickly-sweet energy was now just a regular companion for him. The dust finally fully settled and showed him a very different version of Thumper. Its skin now entirely black, and its eyes bloodshot and red. Where Rocky’s skill had hit it, a massive crisscrossing of open wounds mangled its once patchy fur.
Vines began to creep out of the walls and floor, encircling the creature before snapping tight as Sela, who must have shifted back to human, shouted, “It’s an Enrage skill, which means its very low on health! Attack it with everything, but don’t let it hit you!”
Glancing at his Ether bar, which hadn’t yet reached halfway, he knew he could repeat his previous five charges of Dark Blade, but that would bottom him out. Last time he had done that, he was unable to stand or fight for a good fifteen minutes because of Ether depletion. Instead, he chose to re-cast Shadow Clone and sprinted forwards, entering Stealth again. His clone also winked out of existence but not before it gave Rocky the finger.
Hmm, I guess it didn’t like me sacrificing it like that. Honestly, I am a little worried about how independent the thing is.
Changing course, Rocky approached the struggling Thumper from its side. Sela was sweating, trying to restrain the creature as it constantly snapped the new vines she summoned to attempt to hold it. All of that happened in a blink, and Rocky struck from Stealth, activating Dark Cloak and a single charge of Dark Blade as he swung. In a previous fight, against a fast healing troll, he had seen that using Dark Blade as a melee range option increased the damage of his Soul Blade and acted almost like a poison.
Simultaneously, his Shadow Clone sunk two daggers into the hind end of the creature, and together, they continued to hack and slash, furiously hoping to bleed away whatever remained of the massive beast’s health pool. Sela’s sarcastic voice broke them out of it, “Yeah I think you have killed it already. Stand down, tiger.”
Rocky felt his cheeks flush as he realized it hadn’t moved since their first attacks made from Stealth. The adrenaline and continued ionized fire of the MKZ Goblin Turrets were making him a little jumpy. Rocky let his sword turn into black liquid metal, shouting, “LFD, are you okay? Answer me!”
A small pulse of green light from the center pedestal was all he got, and he raised his eyebrow at the pulse of ominous red that preceded it. Looking at Sela he insisted, “We have to save his core or destroy it if it’s tainted.” Sela nodded and made a motion with her hand that seemed to indicate he should hurry.
Reforming his Soul Sword, he hacked at the pedestal until he found the crevice that LFD’s core resided in. His stone was a muted green, and it was surrounded by a pulsing thread of red that looked like a living artery. Rocky used Analyze, and as he read, he felt his face drain of blood.
Bathinda’s Heartstring
This tiny fragment of the Dragon Bathilda’s heart carries with it immense power—power to control or dominate nearly any will in existence. This string only remains powerful as long as the Dragon still lives. Each string taken from a Dragon reduces its magic significantly, and thus, it is one of the rarest items in the Etherverse to find a functioning part of.
Rocky motioned to his clone, who gave him a look that told him it didn’t like what he was thinking. Then the clone reached out and picked up the Dungeon core before unwrapping the Heartstring from it. Immediately, the Heartstring pulsed violently and attempted to coil on to his clone. Rocky felt something try to press into his mind, and he narrowed his eyes in concentration as his clone flung the string into his dimensional bag. His clone puffed out of existence after it accomplished the task, and Rocky felt his legs shudder.
“What the hell was that?” Sela asked, sounding worried.
It was LFD that answered, “That was a stolen piece of Bathinda’s Heart! It was really strong, and I couldn’t fight it. Honestly, whatever that explosion unleashed, it’s been attempting to subvert the Dragon ever since. It has managed to contain her to the ground and pry off a few Heartstrings, but she is still not under its control.” Rocky winced as LFD began rapid-firing answers at them the same way it had spoken to him last time.
Sela walked over, helped Rocky stand, and shouted at LFD, “Enough, we need to get out of here. We probably have four minutes left on those turrets with the increased rate of fire they have been exhibiting. Also, LFD, why were you so close to our Territory?”
“I was trying to escape the massive horde of Zombies! But no one was here to accept me into the safe area. I tried my best to dig deeper and hold them off but some sort of Necromancer–”
“You dare to interfere with the great Apep’s work!” a voice followed by a massive blast of red came from down the corridor, and the turret fire cut off very abruptly. LFD’s color paled, and he stopped talking, which Rocky found even more disturbing.
I thought it was impossible to shut LFD up.
“Back door, LFD! And close the entrance to this room?” he shouted at the stone. Two grating sounds started, and Rocky looked down the hallway to see a man walking calmly towards the room. He was covered in a blood-red robe so dark it was practically black. If it wasn’t for the glowing red staff, maybe it would have been black. However, the staff pulsed with a red light that mirrored the Heartstring. The staff’s focal point was what seemed to be a rod, and if Rocky’s gut was right, it was one of the nuclear rods from the plant. Down the length of the staff, someone had wrapped another Dragon Heartstring. Just before the door closed, he managed to use Analyze.
Devoted of Apothis
Level 26
Apprentice Irradiated Necromancer
Health Points 425/425
Perhaps by himself, the creature wouldn’t be a problem for the two of them, but with the army of undead it had behind it, this was a time to flee. They probably only had a small amount of time before that wall was going to come down. Rocky picked up LFD and sprinted for the back exit. Sela followed, and they ran through the tight, confined tunnel with reckless speed.
On the climb back to the surface, he desperately tried the radio over and over again. Until finally, a static response came through, “Rock, it’s Zippo. What’s going on?”
He felt a huge wave of relief wash over him, and he clicked his talk button. Then he shouted, “We need some fire support, buddy! I want this tunnel to be sealed tight once we get out of here!”
A moment later, Zippo queried, “Can you send up a signal or something? I don’t see an open tunnel from up here!”
They reached the surface, and Sela placed her hand on the ground to begin concentrating. Rocky could see Azoth circling in the sky and started crossing and uncrossing his arms above his head.
Note to self, get flares.
Zippo landed and started forming a massive Fireball between two hands as he slid off Azoth’s back. Azoth mentally asked Rocky, “What come?”
“Hopefully nothing–” Rocky started but was cut off by Sela.
In a strained voice, she cried, “Jason, just wait one moment. I have almost loosened enough stone to cause a cave-in from your blast.”
Then she flopped back on her butt and nodded to the young man. He released his skill, and the ensuing explosion, wave of heat, and clear sounds of a collapse was a beautiful chor
us to Rocky’s senses.
Sela, who was now sprawled on the ground, ruined his moment, “Yeah, I think this problem just got a lot larger.”
Chapter Seventeen
“You know leaving me behind was stupid! I could have helped,” Zippo continued to cook over an open fire as he complained to anyone who would listen.
Rocky had already told him they had chosen not to have him accompany them because they needed the people of the Territory to be told about LFD and them checking it out. He held back telling Zippo that his presence would have probably made rescuing LFD impossible. However, despite his tact, it seemed like the boy still wasn’t over it.
Chuckling to himself, he was currently moving around the folded-up Guild Tent and placing his hand on one massive stump after another. Each time he reached a stump, he would mentally call it into his bag of holding and then dump it back out a short walk later. It was a surprisingly efficient way to remove the stumps and entire root network of trees without much effort on his part. He kept leaving the large, eerie-looking tangle of roots in a massive pile near the Automated Sawmill. Later, he would change the settings and have it turn them into firewood or plywood.
When they had returned, Sela and Rocky had decided to put the conversation with LFD on hold and tackle putting up the Guild Tent before having a meeting with the A-Team. It was already in the waning hours of the day, and soon, the shelter would be helpful for people to sleep in. Not to mention that Sela believed that they would be able to set up and initiate everyone into the guild once they created it. Creating a guild was a pretty large priority for his Ancestral Guide, and she had a good reason for it.
It sounded useful to Rocky, and he also felt that having a roof over some of the people’s heads might help with morale issues. The people who stood watching on made him even more aware of their excitement at the prospect. After they had begun removing the stumps and roots, people had slowly made an area which they used to sit and watch the two. He would have been annoyed, but almost each person was eating stew while attempting to figure out what was happening.
At some point, someone put the massive fabric pile and the ground clearing together, and some real, genuine excitement had begun that he and Sela had paused to listen to.
Clearing the ground had taken an hour of walking back and forth, but he placed his hand on the last stump and whisked it into his bag of holding, seeing Sela do the same on the other side of the clearing. Looking at the torn-up and uneven ground, Rocky groaned audibly then shouted to Sela, “I don’t think this torn-up, uneven ground will make a good floor for the tent!”
Sela shook her head and knelt, placing her hands on the ground before donning a look of concentration. Rocky felt the ground under him buckle and shift, making him stumble a bit. Then he saw a wave of undulation begin at one edge of the large circle they had cleared and finish at the other. A moment later, the ground packed itself down as if a giant, invisible stamp had been lazily pressed into it. Sela fell on her butt, sweating but smiling.
The crowd cooed with excitement, and a few people shouted encouragement and praise in Sela’s direction. Rocky walked towards her, smiling as well at the antics of the crowd, who were all now sitting down but watching with rapt attention.
“That was impressive! You’re getting stronger with that ability,” Rocky exclaimed with surprise. She had just used it to cave in a tunnel, but he wasn’t able to physically see that act. Plus, this circle was massively more extensive, he thought. Instead of rushing her recovery, Rocky walked over to the sawmill and deposited both of their final stumps into the pile since Sela had been using the Territorial Inventory, and he had access to both of them.
As he walked back, Sela huffed out breathlessly, “If I had been stronger in this ability during the trip, that worm…” She faded off, and Rocky caught a glimpse of her own guilt for the deaths that night haunted them with. Sela then turned to him, and her face grew even more worried. “Apep is a name I hadn’t heard in a while. I feel like someone just told me the boogeyman is real, and I am a child again.” She shrugged to him at his raised eyebrows. “I was trying to remember everything I knew about him before I said anything.”
He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was close enough to be listening, then queried, “And?” a bit impatiently before sitting on the ground next to her. Zippo walked through the crowd that had formed, coming over with some meat and veggies on a clay plate for all of them. The crowd patted him on the back, and a few even stood up to move around at the signal that his appearance gave. It was time for a break, and everyone in the Grotto loved the kid. Zippo was getting even better at cooking, which people were beginning to know him for. Rocky felt his mouth water as soon as the smell reached his nose; somehow, the young chef had created a salad and even dressed it.
Sela smiled and accepted a plate, sniffing the salad openly. “Is this Ardon’s Vinaigrette dressing?” At Zippo’s chagrined nod, Sela’s smile widened. “Two things now that are a blast from my past.” Rocky smiled, realizing that Zippo had bought a mass-produced dressing from the shop, then tucked into his food like a barbarian. It was delicious and tasty, and to his surprise, a buff popped up into his top corner. A little focus later, it opened into a notification window.
Well Fed
You have eaten a meal that is particularly well cooked and designed.
+2 to Stamina and
+20% Satisfaction for the next four hours.
“You can get buffs from food!” Rocky exclaimed in confirmation of what he already knew. Zippo looked proud, and he deserved to be.
Sela smiled and nodded, too engaged with her food. The evidence was in front of all of them anyway. Instead, she just kept eating and reached the end of her plate before the other two. Once she was finished, she took a big swig of water before starting, “As your Cooking skill levels up, you will be able to create more impressive buffs with rarer ingredients. It’s the level of Ether the specific ingredient holds that can transfer some strength to the person who eats it. It’s the skill of the cook that doesn’t destroy it as he cooks and prepares it for consumption.”
She pointed to Rocky, emphasizing, “We have all seen what you do to food and the little care you put into preparing it. Now, look at the care Zippo gave the food and see how he manages to keep the food at a much higher grade, thanks to it.” She smiled, trying to take the sting out of the words. “Now, for who or what Apep is.”
Sela paused and looked off into the darkening sky. “Keep in mind that these are all stories I heard in passing from a time before I was born.” She shook her head sadly before continuing, “My mom used to tell me bedtime stories about him right along with those of Ether Storms. Apep was made out to be pure darkness. He was some sort of giant snake at other times, but every story made him out to be despicably evil.” She stopped again and looked at Rocky. “Actually, your ancestor Azrael was the one who beat him, supposedly. That’s how he got his famed title, General of the Darkest Night.” Seeing the two men’s confusion, she clicked her tongue. “I am doing a poor job of explaining this. Let me start at the beginning.”
She smiled sheepishly before beginning, “Apep was known for sending his minion Apothis to worlds through Dungeons. If his minion, who is reborn by the corrupted Dungeons on the new world, is able to subjugate the Planetary God, then they would use the conquered planet as a base to invade the other surrounding planetary gods of that galaxy through coercion or destruction. Apep uses a minute amount of his energy to conquer a Dungeon and give birth to his minions.” Sela pointed towards Chalk River. “Once Apothis or one of his minions successfully conquered the solar system, he would call Apep. Then Apep consumes the Star God of the weakened system, bringing that entire galaxy into the Darkness and his domain.”
She pointed at Rocky again before continuing, “The story has it that Azrael graduated the academy during a horrible time for our Planetary System. According to stories, it was on the verge of falling to Apep. Without going into the long campaign tha
t Azrael undertook, he was able to conquer Apep across every planet, across the entire system, pushing him out and stopping Apep from destroying Odin, our Star God. He destroyed him with the armies of the Cathodiem Guild. It is why Azrael became so renowned across the entire galaxy.”
He raised his eyebrow. “How is Apep so strong? I thought Gaia was insanely strong, but Apep definitely sounds like he’s on a different level.”
She nodded. “He isn’t a Planetary God but something more on par with a Star God. It is theorized that he is the reverse of a Star God. The name we used was Void God; he has no body but exists and draws his strength from the darkness of space. Because he is so spread out, his power is sometimes weaker or stronger depending on the conditions.”
Rocky blinked and asked, “How did Apothis and Apep return now then, if they were defeated?”
Sela shrugged and tried her best to answer the question, “My mother used to say that the evil in the hearts of mankind lets him in. She used it as a lesson for why to act honorably and pure of heart. So perhaps something to do with that explosion was a perversion, or could it have been a weapon that people would link to something terrible or evil?”
Rocky tilted his head, considering how best to answer that. “Not specifically, no. What exploded was an energy plant that was used to supply our world with electricity. However, the technology that is utilized has other much more menacing origins. It was originally created as a truly effective weapon. Would that count?”
Sela looked at Zippo and saw his grim look. “I am assuming if every human on the planet feels that way.” She pointed at Zippo’s blanched face. “Then perhaps that’s exactly why.”
