Josh watched the map in the command center as it updated with information on all manner of threats, from rune traps to creatures.
Everyone watched as the scouts were cut down faster and faster. They had forty percent of the college mapped out.
“Where are you? Come on.” Josh held onto the side of the table that showed the college’s map.
Even Lucy had put down her book to watch the scouts’ progress.
They got to seventy percent when one of the scouts found the Lich. Its clothes and body were barely holding onto its bones, rotting off. The Lich let out a hellish scream and activated its Legendary attack.
The attack was like a wave of destruction. Shadows seemed to spread out from the Lich, flowing through the halls of the college and wiping out any of the scouts it saw.
“Well, mates, got some good news and bad news. Good news, we’re going to go and fight the Lich today because it doesn’t have that attack anymore and it should take quite awhile for it to get it back. Bad news, we’re going to go fight that Lich today. We, also, have no bloody idea where that soul box is. So, now, let’s pull a plan together to kill the creatures in the library, hold that Lich down in one place, and send people to find its damned “phylactery”.” Josh said doing air quotes in the air as if he was some super villain in flashy silver spandex.
For a moment, nothing happened and then people started to talk to one another and discuss what the hell they were going to do. Some of them shaking their heads at Josh’s antics.
“No? Nothing?” Josh said moving in his seat looking to everyone.
“Well there goes the two hundred times I’ve watched Austin powers,” He muttered to himself.
Just got to kill an Arch Lich—no problem, easy as pie! Josh thought to himself, finding that he was more perturbed that no one got his reference.
He shrugged giving up on it and started to help planning how they were going to kill an Arch Lich. Even if they died a dozen times, they’d clear out the college and grind the Lich down to nothing.
It was just a matter of time and planning.
***
“And that is the plan,” Josh said three hours later.
“Rush the college, kill anything in our way. Teams go off and try to find the phylactery while the rest kill creatures or pin down the Arch Lich,” Dave summarized.
“Quick version, yep.” Josh grinned.
Dave shook his head and cracked a smile.
“Sounds like a fine plan to me. Why did you ask me and mine to come in here for a private briefing?” Deia asked.
“You have some of the highest magical sensing skills out of any party. I want you to be spearheading the different groups that are going out to find that bloody box.”
“You do realize this is a college, right?” Suzy asked.
“I told him,” Lucy said from in the corner.
“What? So, it’s going to have a few magical objects in it.” Josh shrugged.
“The whole place is filled with magical objects, not including different runes and whatever traps and different magical items the Arch Lich has created,” Shard said through the command center’s speakers.
Josh scratched his head. “Okay, so it’s going to be a bit difficult, but it is the best shot we’ve got.”
“Sounds like fun! When do we leave?” Induca asked.
“Two hours and we start.”
“Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I have some things I need to do. Never killed me an Arch Lich before.” Dave sounded thoughtful before a big smile crossed his face. “First time for everything, right?”
***
“These are for you.” Dave pulled two blades from out behind his back and presented them to Deia.
Her eyes went wide as she covered her mouth, appraising them.
Firecracker’s Blades
Forged by Dave Grahslagg for his beloved, these blades hold the passion of the heart.
Quality: S
Abilities:
Increased Affinity for Fire (+10%)
Increased Agility (+20%)
Increased Willpower (+35%)
Forever sharp
Grows in power through use.
Fire Dancer
Charge: 20,000/20,000
Durability: 351/351
“Dave.” She smiled as she read the words and gave him a great big kiss.
A goofy smile spread across his face at her reaction.
“You shouldn’t be wearing yourself out before a battle, making all of these items.” She looked at him with concern, looking for signs for fatigue—scared that his fatigue might mean him dying again.
“It was worth it and your blades right now couldn’t take more than a half-dozen Fire-imbued slashes before falling apart. You’ve become too strong for them.” Dave held the blades behind her as they looked into each other’s eyes.
“Well, thank you, but next time, get some rest instead of being tired right before a battle.” Her concern was clear in her eyes and voice.
“I’ll do my best, babe.” Dave smiled and leaned forward.
She eagerly met his lips. “Now, what is this Fire Dancer ability?”
“Well, I kind of got something I wasn’t expecting with that one. I was trying to modify the blades so that they would be able to handle you imbuing them with your Mana, so that they would work together. The magical coding worked well, but the metal was not supposed to handle the kinds of heat that you usually use. So, I kept on heating it up as hot as it could go and reforming it to try to get the blade to temper the metal and strengthen it through its ability to grow with the user. I used the Master skill of Smithing. The metal gained the skill Fire-resistant. Combined with the magical coding, it should be able to take on your Fire-based sword attacks. The more you use it and use Fire Dancer attacks, the stronger it will become and you can use more powerful Fire attacks.” Dave’s pride was clear.
Deia pulled the blades out of their sheaths. They were curved slightly like a katana but without its hilt. Their razor-sharp edges glinted slightly in the light. They were the perfect blades for her. She moved with them, practicing her different forms, flowing from one through to the next.
She held them out, studying the magnificent weapons. “It looks like you were not just getting your ass beaten when you were fighting me.” She smiled.
“Hey, I only got my ass beat because my teacher’s beauty stole my attention the whole time.” Dave grinned and gave her a wink.
She laughed and wrapped her hands around his neck.
Others had been scared by her tendencies to fight and because of her desire to be a ranger. Men from Kufo’tel had said that she would calm down eventually to become a lovely wife, sitting at home. Dave never nursed those hopes and dreams. He might be an inventor and a man pulled by his curiosities, but Deia knew that he was a warrior as well.
She kissed him, looking into his eyes at the laugh lines around his eyes and the way those eyes looked at her. She kissed him again, pulling his head to hers, as if pulling him tighter would make the moment last longer.
“All right, Stone Raiders! Let’s raid!” Josh’s voice reverberated through the entire city as whistles and cheers responded, weapons held high in excitement for the coming battle.
***
Dave hotkeyed his armor, pulling his hood down so others couldn’t see his face. He moved in it, jumping up and down a few times to make sure that it was comfortable.
Deia added her blades to her outfit and then hotkeyed her armor as well. She, too, pulled down her hood, her hair pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head and tucked into her hood. “How are your one handed and two handed?”
Dave pulled up the skills.
Active Skill: Two Handed
Level: Expert Level 9
Effect: 38% armor penetration on target. Stamina costs reduced 15% while fighting
Cost: 35 Stamina
Active Skill: One Handed and Shield
Level: Master Level 1
Effe
ct: Weapons damage increased by 41%. Defense increased by 20%. Can use two-handed weapon in one hand with 50% speed penalty.
Cost: 20 Stamina
“Two handed at Expert nine, one handed just made it into Master. Almost got everything I need for Weapons Master.”
“I have a feeling you’ll be able to get that two handed in this next fight,” Deia said.
“Me too,” Dave said.
It wasn’t long until the rest of their party was gathered together.
“Well, this is bound to be interesting,” Suzy said.
“After that other Lich, I don’t think this will be anything as mundane as fun,” Malsour added.
“All right, everyone ready?” Josh’s voice came out over the guild’s chat. Everyone quieted down in their individual parties. Only once they found a big concentration of either enemies or the Arch Lich himself would they come together. Till then, it would be a mad dash toward the Arch Lich for the most part. The others would be heading into the areas that the scouts weren’t able to check.
“Fire up the teleport pads!” Josh said.
Different locations with the least amount of creatures waiting at them had been picked. As soon as the teleport pad connected, the Stone Raiders surged forward in a charge.
Dave entered the teleport pad and entered the Aleph College. At one time, it had been a place of beauty; now it was barely lit, with rabid stone-worms rushing the Stone Raiders.
The front melee fighters engaged; their weapons cut deep and the worms screamed out in pain.
“Forget the fight. They’ve got it handled. We need to go find that box!” Deia yelled in the party’s ears. “Dave, Anna, lead. Steve with me in the back. Let’s go!”
With that, they headed away from the fight, rushing past the worms, Anna’s wind blades cleaving a path through them. The following Stone Raiders opened the path out further before they spread out into the college.
The place was massive, easily half the size of the city but without the rotating abilities of the Aleph cities. They passed dormitories, parks, libraries, training areas, fighting arenas, and laboratories.
It wasn’t long until the other searching groups with them split off, heading for a different way to get to the area that the scouts weren’t able to reach.
Dave ran over scout guardians that had been attacked, their bodies torn apart by the different types of magical grenades that they had been carrying. They weren’t the only bodies on the ground.
“Looks like those grenades did work. Took out a few of the damn creatures ’round here,” Malsour said.
“You find anything with your spidey senses?” Suzy asked.
“Nothing yet. There is a whole lot of college here and I need to be within a few hundred meters instead of miles to tell most of this magical stuff apart. There’s just so much of it that it’s hard. I’m trying to look for purely soul magic items, which does make it a bit easier.” Dave made sure to keep his actual eyes open and looking for anything that might sneak up on them.
“Ah, shit. Looks like we’ve got a patrol of the Lich’s undead moving toward us.” Dave searched for a place to hide.
“There isn’t anywhere that would be big enough for Steve to hide in. We need to finish them off and quick,” Deia said, reading his mind.
“Saying I’m fat?” Steve sounded hurt.
Dave and Anna looked to each other, nodding as they rushed forward. Dave felt his buffs come into effect as they raced ahead.
The Lich’s creatures snarled as soon as they saw Dave and Anna. Inside their master’s domain, there was no hiding from them.
Dave conjured and threw spears that exploded as soon as they hit their targets.
Anna sent Wind blades high and low.
Wolves, night terrors, and harpies fell before they could do anything.
Deia fired an arrow between Dave and Anna, taking out the harpy.
One of the wolves, missing its rear leg, shambled toward them, its hollow and rotten eyes fixed on those who dared to come into its master’s realm.
The night terrors seemed to expand around the lights that they used to lure their prey, like a deadly flower tentacles opened up, revealing a mouthful of teeth directly behind the light source.
They used their barbed tentacles to drag themselves forward. Their mouths were between their tentacles, making crunching noises as they moved toward their prey as fast as they could drag themselves.
Anna got the wolf as Dave hit a night terror with a spear. It exploded but the creature kept coming, even after losing a half-dozen tentacles.
Deia’s arrows took out two more before the shadows lanced outward and killed the remaining four within seconds.
“Thanks, Malsour.” Dave had already started to run forward, sensing the Mana that had powered the undead dissipating.
“We’ve got more of the undead coming to try to find us. Most of the guild are moving toward where the Arch Lich was seen last. He’s still there—guess he likes whatever books he’s reading.” Dave shivered after using his Touch of the Land to study the Arch Lich.
He was able to sense his aura. The creature was a depraved soul that desired nothing more than death and pain. He had devoted his entire existence to finding new ways of making this possible. His corruption covered the creatures that he claimed as his servants. The magic and information of the Aleph had made him powerful.
“Induca, left side—weevils!” Dave said. A twister of fire landed in a hallway of laboratories. Massive weevils screamed out in pain as they were caught up in the inferno.
They were a mix between rats as big as a horse and beetles with a hard carapace. Dave had never seen or heard of weevils so big.
It didn’t really matter when the damn thing was trying to rip your head off!
Suzy’s creations started to range out as well. Malsour, Induca, and Deia dropped heavy magical attacks on everything that was trying to catch them. Dave barely saw any fighting as they rushed forward, entering the zone that the scouts weren’t able to get into.
“This must be the grand library,” Dave said as they ran up steps toward a massive building. Inside, Dave could sense all manner of magics and books.
“Can you find the soul box?” Deia asked.
Dave glanced back to see Deia sending fireballs into the skeletal creations, melting through them or causing them to explode from the impact.
“It’s going to be hard. There’s a lot of books here on soul magic!” Dave finished with the steps and started across the large open area before the library.
Harpies started their sorrowful singing that would make anyone listening want to go and comfort what looked like crying children. Bolts ripped through their thin bodies, cutting them short.
“Shut yer traps! Ain’t got no ears!”
Dave shook his head as the harpies fell to the ground. Their true form appeared as their wings opened, showing the vicious beak and claws that rested underneath, ready to rip armor and flesh to shreds.
None of the Stone Raiders had to worry about the harpies. All of them had earplugs in and they were using their party chats to talk to one another.
More creatures started to appear out of the library and the buildings surrounding it.
Dave entered the library’s door, Anna beside him, as they looked into a massive lobby with stairs curving up and unto the floors above. A creature jumped off the second-floor balcony and landed in the middle of the lobby. Its red eyes studied those who had dared to enter its domain.
Bone Lord
Level 234
It was a creation wholly formed from the bones of the Arch Lich’s victims. Dave felt nausea overtake him for a moment, nearly making him throw up. There was no smell from the creature, but the disgust and rot at the very core of it had a more visceral reaction than any of the decomposing creatures Dave had fought so far.
“We’ve got incoming from everywhere!” Steve said.
“Malsour, seal off this door. We need to deal with this thing as fast as possibl
e before those things get in here,” Deia said.
Is it locked in here with us, or are we locking ourselves in here with it? Dave didn’t like where his mind was going.
Chapter 14: Taking the Fight to the Enemy
With the Arch Lich and his forces knowing where the Stone Raiders were all the time, Josh and his stealth types were now acting like glorified bodyguards and supported the melee fighters as best as possible.
Josh weaved around Dwayne as he took aggro from a level 215 rock troll. Josh used his blade’s abilities, melting into the shadows behind the creature before he plunged his blades between its rocky armor and through its neck, cutting its spine. The undead troll dropped to the ground as Josh felt a swell of energy fill him.
The daggers in his hand demanded more, demanded to be fed and to claim the lives of those who wished to attack the one who wielded them, to defeat those who tried to attack Josh and the Stone Raiders. Josh reeled in his control as he moved across the battlefield.
Although the Arch Lich might know where they were at all times, his creatures weren’t as smart and they were liable to attack and focus on whatever had the most aggro. That left Josh plenty of openings to sate his daggers’ thirst.
“Forward!” Dwayne yelled. The Stone Raiders, from support to melee fighters, let out a roar as they rushed the creatures in their way.
So far, they hadn’t met anything that needed more than a party to dispatch. Most of the creatures were higher level than the Stone Raiders, but the Stone Raiders didn’t care, working the creatures’ Health down quickly and efficiently.
The parties had their roles down to a science, communicating with one another with just a few words. There were wounded, but no one had died so far.
The creatures were overwhelmed as the charging Stone Raiders smashed a path through them; their blades, spells, and chosen weapons claimed more of the creatures by the minute.
Josh found himself in an arena. Shambling mounds, three of them, rested in the arena.
“Throw the dead creatures into the arena! Once the shambling mounds have eaten, they go into hibernation!” Josh yelled over the guild chat.
Emerilia Series Box Set 2 Page 13
