“Daniel,” he grunted. “Do you see an adjacent tunnel up ahead?”
“Yes, sir,” the AI chirped, painting a target another hundred or so feet above them.
Finn blasted apart two more of the creatures, fragments crashing against the stone canopy. “Show me the inflection point where our acceleration hits zero…”
A thin line appeared in his vision, just below the tunnel.
That’ll have to do.
Finn abruptly dropped his spells, and the two metal balls sped back down into the shaft below them. “You guys are going to have to hold them off us for a moment,” Finn barked at Kyyle and Julia. “When we stop, we’ll only have a few seconds to get off this damn thing. If we miss the window, we all die!”
They both nodded and turned their gaze upward. Kyyle’s mana surged as he tried to maintain the canopy, emerald tendrils winding through the air. However, without Finn blasting the creatures apart, their bodies smashed against the barrier with enough force to crack the rock. Chunks of stone broke away and fell into the inferno below them. There were just too many, and the barrier wouldn’t hold forever.
Meanwhile, Julia hovered above them, raising her shield, and slamming aside the beasts that made it through the stone barrier and sending them careening into the side of the chasm where they burst apart in a shower of glass.
Finn turned his focus to the metallic shell that coated the bottom of their platform. He cast Imbue Fire again, flames erupting along the disc even as the superheated air below them began to wane. He started ratcheting up the heat as fast as he could. The barrage of the glass creatures was getting worse. The canopy was starting to crumble and break apart. Blocks of stone and sharp, jagged-edged shrapnel were soon adding to the beasts already bombarding them. A shard cut through his sleeve, carving a bloody furrow down his shoulder, but Finn didn’t have time to dwell on the pain.
Even worse, to hold this much weight, Finn had to bring the metal up to heat rank 4. Which meant the metal layer along the bottom of the platform would soon melt and slough off into the shaft and begin eating into the stone disc – liquifying the rock. Already, he could feel the stone warming below him.
He spared an anxious glance at the line that Daniel had marked. They only had a few seconds. That line was approaching quickly.
Come on…
Finn squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for that singular moment of weightlessness – that point where their velocity hit zero, but they hadn’t quite yet begun to fall.
There it is!
Finn yanked at the heated metal, holding it steady. “Get off now!” Finn shouted, struggling to rise to his feet while maintaining the channel. He felt Julia physically lift him, half-carrying and half-shoving him off the platform. They all leapt from the stone disc, hitting the ground hard as they dove into the adjoining tunnel.
Glancing over his shoulder, Finn saw their makeshift platform hovering in the shaft for a fraction of a second – glowing red metal dripping away from the bottom as flames curled up and around the edges of the disc. Meanwhile, more and more crystalline creatures slammed against the stone canopy, completely breaking apart the rest of the barrier before smashing into the disc itself.
Then his mana finally bottomed out, and his spells failed.
What was left of the platform sank out of sight, picking up speed as it raced downward into the shaft with dozens of glassy forms rocketing after it.
Nearly twenty seconds later, they all felt and heard the impact. It was explosive, sending faint streamers of dust upward for hundreds of feet and causing the ground to tremble faintly even from this distance.
“Well, that was exciting,” Kyyle groaned from nearby, rolling onto his back. “You guys wanna go again?”
Chapter 36 - Legendary
Bilel’s Journal – Entry 137
[The lines of each letter are jagged and harsh, as though someone was stabbing at the page with each swipe of their pen, and droplets of long-dried blood stain the page.]
They killed him! The bastards killed him!
I entered the guild last night and made my way quickly to the library. That was when I saw my laboratory. The entire room had been burned clean, scorch marks marring the walls. All my research and notes were destroyed. The only item that was undamaged by the flames was the warded locker that stored our mana crystals. It is only by a small stroke of fortune that I was able to retrieve the remainder of the gems.
When I examined the room with my sight, I noticed faint remains – burnt bone fragments lingering along the edges of the chamber as though scattered by a blast of flames. The specifics may be unclear, but the conclusion is obvious. Several people died in that room. The acolytes must have assumed the fires would be enough to leave no evidence or make the remains impossible to identify.
But they were wrong…
I found Renquist’s signet ring among the ashes, the metal half-melted but still recognizable.
Those zealots fucking killed him…
***
Finn groaned and rolled over, pushing himself upright. They might be out of the frying pan… well, and the fire, but he suspected there were still plenty of other instruments in this particular kitchen that could do them in.
You know, like the flying glass creatures that had nearly destroyed their platform…
He took stock of himself and the group, glancing at the UI in the corner of his vision. They were all injured, but not badly. Scrapes and bruises, mostly. His mana was also swiftly regenerating, and he’d be topped off soon. And, most importantly, they were all alive. Once he saw they were all in decent shape, he spared a glance at the shaft they had just exited, checking for those strange glass creatures. A few more were still diving into the shaft, but they were ignoring the group.
It seemed they were safe. For the moment, at least.
“That was some crazy shit… even for us,” Kyyle muttered, dragging himself over to the tunnel wall and leaning against the surface. He spared a glance at Finn, shaking his head in awe. “That was quick thinking with the drill. And the platform. Actually, I’m surprised we made it out of there at all.”
“Some of us almost didn’t,” Finn groused, glaring pointedly at Julia. She was leaning against the opposite wall, elbow-deep in her pack as she rummaged around for something. “You almost got yourself fried back there with that stunt.”
“Yeah, yeah, but it was worth it,” she muttered distractedly before glancing up at him, finally noticing his expression. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. Weren’t you missing something important amid all that ridiculous planning and bullshit?”
“Like what?” Finn demanded, crossing his arms. “The queen is dead. We managed to get up the shaft. No one died. Mission accomplished.”
“Oh, I dunno. Typically, in most games, encountering a boss in a raid-level dungeon typically leads to something…” She trailed off, watching his face to see if he understood her implied message. Yet it was clear after a few seconds that her point wasn’t landing. She let out a frustrated sigh and gestured at Kyyle. “You want to help the crypt keeper here? Apparently, he’s so old, he’s forgotten how to play videogames.”
Finn looked at Kyyle. Had his daughter lost her mind? What the hell was she talking about?
“Loot,” Kyyle said simply, eyeing Julia with a curious gleam in his eye. “I’m pretty sure she’s talking about loot.”
“Shiny, shiny awesome loot from the pits of hell itself!” Julia crowed, pulling a bunch of items out of her bag. “You know one great thing about this place? It’s waaaay higher level than us, which means the loot is just that much sweeter.”
She tossed a flaming item at Finn, and he snatched it from the air before he realized what he was doing – almost dropping it as he realized it was on fire. Yet strangely, the flames didn’t hurt him, they only felt warm against his skin. He inspected the object closely and realized that beneath the flames was a metal circlet that was constructed from the same dark ore that the fire ants had been so fond of –
except this particular item appeared to be conjuring the aura of the flame itself.
Then it clicked.
He was holding the fire ant queen’s crown…
Crown of Sulphera
This crown is crafted from a hyper-dense metal that naturally responds to fire mana. However, the crown has spent so long underground, that it has become almost one with the flame, creating a perpetual crown of fire. This item can only be obtained by defeating a fire ant queen in combat… announcing her true successor to the world!
Quality: A
Durability: Indestructible
Requirements: 40% or more fire affinity.
+25 Intelligence
+25 Vitality
+5 Mana Regen/Second
Increases caster’s Control Range by 5 feet.
(Soulbound)
Unlocks the passive skill, Burning Frenzy, which increases the damage and effectiveness of every third fire spell cast by the user by 100%.
Cost: NA
Cooldown: NA
“Damn,” Finn murmured, staring at the notification in shock. The crown was ludicrous, at least compared to anything he had seen in the Mage Guild. Admittedly, he had only managed to visit Charlotte’s shop as a novice, and most of the gear that was available to him had been crap. “Is this normal loot for running dungeons?”
“Uh, no. It definitely isn’t,” Julia replied curtly. Finn looked up at her, and he was forced to do a double take, his brow furrowing in confusion.
In her hand was a metallic weapon about three feet long, the surface glimmering softly. He wouldn’t exactly call it a sword since he didn’t see a clear edge. If anything, it more closely resembled a rapier – except this one had ridges, concentric rings that ran the length of the weapon, and it was wider at the base, which seemed odd.
It actually… looked rather familiar…
“What is—?”
Finn was cut off as Julia snapped the weapon forward with a flick of her wrist. The rapier immediately telescoped outward, forming a thin lance nearly eight feet long that ended in a needle-like point. With the weapon fully extended, Finn could also see that a familiar glimmering, diamond-like substance coated its length.
“That’s… that’s one of Sulphera’s forelegs,” Finn murmured.
“Indeed,” Julia said, snapping her arm back and the lance retracting in a flash. “A.K.A., my new, sweet death baby,” she said, stroking her new lance fondly.
“It doesn’t look very rogue-like. Or much like a dagger,” Kyyle observed.
“Well, what can I say, I’m becoming more of a weapon slut… playing the field, you know,” she retorted with a grin. “More seriously though, ever since Finn told me about the effects of the purge, I’ve been thinking that daggers really aren’t my best choice. They don’t really give me the leverage I need to take advantage of my strength.
“Plus,” she added, hefting her shield on the other hand, “I’ve really grown quite fond of this shield, and my daggers are too short to use with it easily. But my new precious is just perfect,” she said, cooing at the retracted lance.
Finn couldn’t help but roll his eyes – even if he couldn’t refute her logic.
“What did you get?” he asked Kyyle.
The earth mage held up a set of robes, the surface a mixture of green and black. “The ant queen must have heard me bitching about my robes. I’m guessing she swallowed this or something?” he observed in a dry voice. “Otherwise, I don’t see how a gigantic flaming ant was carrying around a pristine robe.”
“Videogame logic,” Julia offered. “A chest also appeared after we killed her… that’s what I was fiddling with.” They stared at her incredulously. “Come on, it’s not like I somehow pried a flaming crown from her head, and it just so happened to fit Finn.” A pause. “Even if he does have an enormous head.”
“Hmph,” Finn grunted. That wasn’t entirely realistic, but he supposed he could see the point. How else would different classes gear themselves? “Is it any good?” Finn asked Kyyle, waving at the robe.
The earth mage grinned at him excitedly. “Uh, yeah. The stats are great, but the best effect is the increase to my control range. It adds 10 yards.”
Finn let out a low whistle. That was a big damn deal. It seemed that earth mages had an advantage with range. That seemed fitting. Kyyle had very few direct offensive abilities and was primarily relegated to crowd control and environmental manipulation – which were pretty damn useful in their own right.
“You going to put your crown on?” Julia asked, finally done caressing her new weapon, which was now swaying at her hip, her shield strapped across her back.
Finn looked down at the flaming circlet and shrugged. He supposed he might as well. He settled the crown on top of his brow and then looked at his companions… who were just staring at him blankly.
“Uh, what’s the matter?” Finn asked.
“It-it actually projects the crown above your head like Sulphera when you put it on,” Julia murmured. “That actually looks pretty badass…”
“So, it basically paints a giant target on my forehead?” Finn groused.
“Well, technically, it’s more like the crown of your head,” Kyyle offered, barely able to contain his own laughter.
This earned him a groan from both Finn and Julia. “Seriously? We can still push you over the ledge,” Finn pointed out, gesturing at the ledge behind him. This just made the earth mage laugh harder.
“Anyway,” Julia began, rolling her eyes, “I think you can disable the headgear in the menu. Again, not super realistic, but I guess they had to build that stuff into the game, or no one would wear this sort of gear. In major cities, I suspect wearing a flaming crown would get your ass mugged in about 30 seconds.”
Finn swiped at his UI and found the option a few seconds later, quickly toggling it off. While he appreciated how cool the crown might look, he didn’t want the ambient fire mana to draw any of the wildlife – at least, until they managed to get the hell out of the Abyss.
On that note, he quickly pulled up his map and projected it into the air in front of him so that his teammates could view the image. He could see their three green dots located directly east of the massive central shaft. His guess was that over time the mixture of the air mana and the heat from the queen had carved the narrower, adjacent shaft they had used to ascend the Abyss.
“Looks like we’re only about 100 feet below our target,” Kyyle murmured, tapping at the golden icon located to the west of them. “The problem is that the vault is on the other side of that main shaft.”
“Easy enough. Sounds like we just need to hoof it,” Julia offered, earning her an incredulous look from both Finn and Kyyle. “What? Can’t a girl be in a good mood? Shiny new lance, remember?”
Finn shook his head. “Nothing about this has been easy so far. It looks to be at least a mile horizontally – not accounting for finding a way across the Abyss. And you remember that place, right? Giant hole in the ground? Ton of ambient earth mana and crisscrossed with moving glass pillars?”
His daughter just snorted at him and continued petting her lance.
Finn’s gaze shifted back to the ledge behind them, noting a glimmering creature resting along the edge. “And that’s also ignoring whatever those translucent flying things were,” he murmured, cautiously approaching the pile of glass.
As he neared the creature, he toed it with his boot, flipping it over. Whatever it was, it looked dead now, its body half-melted, and its wings shorn off. An inspection didn’t provide any useful information – not even the creature’s name. Possibly, it was too severely damaged to obtain any information.
“Hey, Daniel,” Finn said aloud, and the AI flashed into existence beside him.
“Yes, sir? Congratulations on not dying, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Finn replied sarcastically. “Did you happen to scan those glass things that were diving down the shaft?”
“I did, indeed,” Daniel chirped, projecting a glowi
ng orange image beside him. “I have taken to scanning all potential aggressors immediately. So, basically everyone and everything you three encounter.”
“His sense of humor really is improving,” Kyyle murmured with a grin.
“Why, thank you!” Daniel replied, flashing brightly.
“Don’t encourage him,” Finn grumbled, and he saw the AI’s light dim. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Good job, Daniel. We appreciate the scan.”
“Thank you, sir,” the AI replied, sounding pleased with himself and brightening in response. Apparently, Daniel had developed a fondness for praise. Now they just had a sometimes moody and self-conscious AI assisting them. Perfect.
Finn and his companions gathered around the model, inspecting it closely.
“It looks a lot like an ant,” Kyyle murmured. His finger traced the creature’s wings. “Except these can fly. Females, maybe? And obviously the body is composed entirely of glass instead of the chitin and the dark metal like the others. Maybe those were males?”
Even as he spoke aloud, another prompt popped up in front of Finn. The others’ eyes went distant as well, which told him he wasn’t the only one who had received the notification.
Local-Area Notice
Adventurers have slain Sulphera, the Fire Ant Queen. The fire ant nest in the lowest levels of the Abyss is now without a ruler, and rival females shall fight for the honor of reclaiming the vacant colony.
With Sulphera’s death, permanent damage has also been done to the precarious ecological balance within the Abyss. Rival queens may now colonize other portions of the Abyss or may attempt to roam outside the dungeon, scouting the local region in search of new locations to establish a colony.
In other words, you should consider calling pest control immediately…
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