by J D Astra
“Just die already!” I screamed at the beast with life hovering around 20%. I had enough Spirit for one more cast, but none of them would do 20% in one hit. I needed a way to inflict serious pain.
The baby squid monsters were beginning to pile onto Otto, and despite his strength, the many little bodies constricting his limbs were having an effect. Otto’s Health hit 15%, and a dread I’d been fighting filled my chest. I was going to lose him, my only companion in a world hell-bent on destroying me. I would have to fight Osmark and his court of nobles alone, and I would lose.
Otto roared, his skin seeming to pulse red in the green glow of the Lumalgae, and he tightened his grip on the sword. He dashed in at the Septillian and severed an incoming tentacle... in one slash. The boss went down to 10% and I knew I needed to focus on saving Otto, not finishing off the monster.
I hit two little squids one after the other with Drain, and when my Spirit bar was empty, I ran in with my staff. Otto’s life was flashing dangerously low at 10%, but I had to trust that he could kill the Septillian, and I would save him from a thousand baby sucker punches. Each time I swatted a spawn from Otto, I noticed his red aura pulse brighter, like my strike was feeding his fury.
Otto pulled away from me, diving at the Septillian with his sword poised to skewer the creature through its wide-open mouth. The Cave-Dwelling Septillian shrieked a final death cry as the steel pierced through its tongue and stuck out the bottom of its jaw. Otto slumped into the pool of Moorkin chunks, squid blood, and dead spawn, his life bar flashing a depleted red.
“Otto, no!” I ran to the edge and pulled at his shoulder armor, tugging with all my might. It was no use, he was just too heavy.
The Septillian Spawn lifelessly drifted away from an unconscious Otto, revealing a final potion on his bandolier. With a groan, I reached into the fetid water to grab it. The cork came free easily, and I dumped the liquid in Otto’s open mouth, then snapped it closed with my hand as his face went under the water.
“Otto, get up!” I cried, struggling fruitlessly to take off his armor as it pulled me down.
I took a breath before going into the filth, the liquid feeling like molasses as I kicked to stay above water. I tried desperately to lift him out of the pool, pushing, paddling, whatever I could, but we just kept sinking in the depths of the rank Septillian pond.
Something grabbed my waist and I screamed, letting half the air out of my lungs. Otto’s massive Risi arms pushed me up to the surface, and I took a breath. His hand continued pushing as he moved us to the edge of the pool.
Otto’s head breached the surface, and he gasped for air, then coughed, sounding as if he were trying not to vomit. He gripped the edge and wrenched himself out onto the cavern floor, then lifted me by the back of my robe and yanked me free of the nasty water.
“I thought,” I panted, “you were dead.”
“Me too.” He coughed a few more times, and finally leaned over to wretch, spewing well-digested barley meal on the cavern floor.
He lay back and took several deep breaths. The air was rancid, and the liquid of the pool burned my skin, but we’d freaking done it. I held my hand out to Otto as we lay on the ground, and he looked at it awkwardly.
“Gimme a high five, dude. We rocked it.”
Otto held his hand up similarly, and I gave it a wet smack with my own.
“Let’s loot this beast, get the Lumalgae, and GTFO.”
“Gee tee, eff, oh?” Otto seemed puzzled, and I remembered all my gamer speak wouldn’t be understood here.
“It means let us depart with haste,” I said with a fancy British accent, or my best attempt at one.
Otto sat up, brushing a bit of Moorkin debris from his breastplate, and grunted. “Indeed. Let’s geetee effoh.”
Before anything else, I wanted to check my notifications. I was sure all this dungeon crawling had awarded me nicely with some level ups. Sure enough, on opening my character screen, I was bombarded with a huge pop-up:
<<<>>>
x7 Level Up!
You have (35) undistributed stat points
You have (10) unassigned proficiency points
<<<>>>
I quickly dropped 10 stat points in Intelligence, 15 in Spirit, and 10 in Constitution. If I was going to go Stonewall, having hardy Con would be necessary. But, if I didn’t, it’d still be nice.
Feeling a bit better from all the stat points, I sat up and moved to a huge pile of the Lumalgae behind the Septillian. I ripped at the slimy mass with my hands, but it wouldn’t come free. I scratched at it, shivering as bits of goo collected under my nails. That wasn’t going to work...
“Here.” Otto came up beside me, pulling a small dagger from his waistband and offering it to me. The hilt was engraved with some text.
“Thanks.” I smiled and took the dagger. The words read “Òrdugh an Garda Anam.” I wanted to open up the item’s info sheet, but felt like that might be prying. It wasn’t my item, anyway. Then again, he was just an NPC.
“Anything good on it?” I tilted my head toward the massive, now only six-tentacled, monster.
Otto looked down, his lips pursed.
Great... I’d have to thank Naitee for sending us on such a loot-crappy quest later.
The blade was extremely effective in dislodging the algae from its hold on the wall, and soon I had six ounces of it. Better to get more than I needed and sell the excess than lose some and be totally boned.
I turned to walk back to Otto, who was kicking at the Septillian’s limbs and mumbling something rude, when a glint caught my eye. I held up a fireball and walked closer to the shimmer. Pure, childlike joy filled my being as I laid eyes on a sturdy, gold-trimmed chest.
“Otto, c’mere!” I walked closer and knelt before the box holding treasures untold, salivating at the thought of what could be inside such a huge, beautiful, high-level looking chest.
Otto whistled at the sight of it, and I could guess what was going through his mind, but I didn’t have to as he said, “Looks like this was a good idea after all.”
I fingered the latch, worried there might be some kind of curse on the chest. The lock fell away easily, and the lid popped open with a golden shower of sparkles.
“Oh, hell yes.” My eyes roved over the contents of the chest with greed. A new breastplate and boots for Otto, and almost a full set of gear for me. Boots, rings, bracers, and a belt. It was all awesome.
<<<>>>
Soft Tread Boots of Spirit
Armor Type: Light, Woven Cloth
Class: Uncommon
Base Defense: 25
Primary Effects:
● +5% Spirit regen
● +5 to Spirit
● Increase Carry Capacity by 15lbs
<<<>>>
Ring of Power
Armor Type: Jewelry
Class: Rare
Base Defense: N/A
Primary Effects:
● +2.5% Chance to Spell Critical Hit
● +3 to Intelligence
● +2% Bonus Damage to all Elemental Spells
It’s not the only one out there...
<<<>>>
Silver Ring of Stamina
Armor Type: Jewelry
Class: Common
Base Defense: N/A
Primary Effects:
● +30 to Stamina
<<<>>>
Caster’s Cuffs
Armor Type: Light, Cloth
Class: Uncommon
Base Defense: 5
Primary Effects:
● +2 to Intelligence
● +3 to Spirit
<<<>>>
Leader’s Bandolier
Armor Type: Light, Mixed Cloth/Leather Belt
Class: Rare
Base Defense: 10
Primary Effects:
● +5% Chance to Negotiate
● +5% Chance to Inspire
● +1 to Luck
A leader must be well dressed for any situation.
<<<>>>
> I’d never seen an item with stats like that. Increased chance to negotiate and inspire? So weird. I opened my character sheet and dropped all of the items on my avatar. Rejuvenating power surged through my limbs, and I shivered as I felt myself become stronger. I loved that feeling!
I looked over the avatar with satisfaction. I was a BAMF, and my stats were looking good too!
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
THE CHEST WASN’T DONE dishing out the goods yet. At the bottom was a hefty pile of silver and a few dozen gold coins. Otto and I split the change, earning me 195 silver and 16 gold. There was one last thing in the bottom of the chest, a simple scroll. I picked it up, and a quest alert appeared. My heart stopped as I read the text.
A New Quest
<<<>>>
Quest Alert: On the Edge of a Blade Hangs Balance
FORCES OF THE VIRIDIAN Empire are working to restore their control over all the lands. With few able to oppose these new would-be masters, it’s important to have champions of balance and order who will fight for the freedom of Eldgard. Go to Harrowick and investigate the Drunken Donkey to find clues about who may be plotting to rule the world.
Quest Class: Unique, Personal
Quest Difficulty: Moderate
Success: Go to the Drunken Donkey and discover any details about who is behind the takeover of Eldgard.
Failure: Fail to learn any information, or do not go to the Drunken Donkey.
Reward: Teleportation Scroll, CaCoCa_Scroll; 10,000 XP.
<<<>>>
CaCoCa_Scroll was what I’d named my copy of Carrera’s Scroll of Allegiance.
“What is it?” Otto placed a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped.
I accepted the quest and turned the rolled-up paper over in my hand, then inspected it.
<<<>>>
Simple Scroll
There doesn’t seem to be anything magical or interesting about this piece of blank parchment. Maybe you should wait to open it.
<<<>>>
I stowed the scroll in my inventory and looked to Otto. I’d talked about Osmark and his gang, their plans to take over Eldgard, and a few other tidbits, but this was different. This was Sophia, the Overmind. I knew her well, since I had to work with her codebase a lot. Her primary function was to generate quests to keep the players busy and progressing.
My mind raced to unravel the crazy mess that had just dropped into my lap, until a plausible explanation appeared. Sophia helped with inventory management as well, and so it was possible the scroll delivery in the message I’d sent to myself had been lost in transmission, but the Overmind recognized its destination was me. So, she created a quest to allow the scroll to be delivered.
But why hadn’t the Overmind just given it to me in the chest? Why did I have to go to the Drunken Donkey? Otto knew Harrowick well, and he’d know what kind of place the Drunken Donkey was, or more importantly, who would be there.
I took a deep breath. “It’s a quest.” I paused, unsure how to explain what we needed to do without explaining everything that was going on.
“Do you remember when I talked about Osmark wanting to take over Eldgard?”
Otto’s fists tightened. “How could I forget?”
“Before we, the Travelers, arrived here, I tried to...” I stopped. That wasn’t the right way to go about this. “I tried to get more information about a secret place in Eldgard, but unfortunately, I failed. I was supposed to get a message with a teleport scroll that would allow me”—I faltered at Otto’s glare—“allow us to investigate.”
Otto pointed at the chest. “And that scroll was?”
I pulled it from my inventory. “It’s blank, but the quest states that the reward will be the scroll that should allow us into the secret area. Once we know what Osmark is planning with those secret areas, we can stop him.”
Otto nodded like all of this was perfectly reasonable. “So, what do we need to do now?”
“Do you know the Drunken Donkey?” I asked.
Otto gave an affirmative grunt. “A sellsword haunt. Some of the best and worst people share drinks under that roof. I avoid it. Not the kind of business I’m usually interested in.”
Sellswords. If we needed to learn information about the secret area from hired muscle, it could be some kind of dungeon. I thought back to the stats I pulled on the region. There had been a vertical descent, but the area was completely devoid of NPC’s or monsters. It didn’t make any sense. All the more reason to see what we could learn from the sellswords.
“Well, are we going or not?” Otto asked.
I remembered what I’d said to him in the clearing, after killing the Balrigons. I wasn’t sure he still wanted to group up with me after I told him I wanted him out of my hair, but the question implied otherwise. He was just a series of code designed to be loyal to me, but should I apologize?
“Otto,” I started, my voice laden with remorse. He waved me off.
“Don’t bother trying to convince me not to come. This Osmark character needs to be taken care of,” he said, crossing his arms, “and so do you. I wouldn’t want the only one who knows a damn thing about this new Imperial threat getting squished into Wode jelly.”
I smiled. “That’s not what I was going to say.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Never mind.” I shook my head and stood from the empty chest. I wrinkled my nose, the smell of burnt squid and bile reminding me we were standing in a closed chamber full of nasty. “Let’s get outta here.”
He gave a quick jerk of his head. “Yes, let’s geetee effoh.”
I grabbed the return scroll and popped it open. A less extravagant, white-edged portal appeared before us, and I stepped through with Otto. White light overtook the dark, green-glowing cavern and with an audible pop, I felt the rocky cave floor below change to something flat and warm. The light dissipated, and Otto appeared next to me at the entry of the Boar’s Head.
“Ugh!” The voice of the barmaid from this morning was accosting. “You two reek. Get out of here, now!”
I opened my character sheet and checked my debuffs. Sure enough, level 4 Unwashed appeared. It would have to wait. There was serious business to attend to. I gave the barmaid a curt nod, saying, “We’ll be back for a bath,” and stepped out the door.
We were given a wide berth as Otto and I moved through the streets to Naitee’s shop. I knew I smelled bad, but was it really that bad? I shrugged it off as we pulled up to the blackened twisted building of my trainer. When I opened the door, the heat from inside mixed with my own putrid smell nauseated me. I choked back a gag and walked in.
“Who brings such filth into my place of business!” A shout of pure hatred boomed through the shop as Naitee stormed down the stairs to meet us.
Her eyes met mine, but they were different. Her whole body was different. The exposed skin on her face, neck, and hands was burnt and cracked, with a fiery red glow pulsing underneath. Her once sky blue eyes were now black as night, with tendrils of smoke rising up through her lashes. Her golden, Dawn Elf hair whipped about in an unseen wind, as did her crimson robes.
Otto backed out the door and closed it behind him. I gritted my teeth and mumbled, “Coward.”
Naitee stalked closer. “What are you doing here?” Her once feminine voice was now rich, smoky, and deep, with a hint of fury.
I fumbled to open my inventory and pull out the items she’d asked for, then held them out to her. “I got all the ingredients.”
Naitee lifted a glowing hand, the heat of her presence almost too intense to bear. Her fingers singed my palm as she took the collected materials.
“Wait here,” she ordered, retreating to the upstairs with the items. The quest didn’t update, but she’d taken everything from me. I checked the timer on my spell scroll, 2 more hours, and the timer on the deadline to turn in the quest, 8 hours 29 minutes 43 seconds. I didn’t understand, I’d done everything right.
Naitee returned, her skin the flawless pale color it had been wh
en we first met, and her eyes were once again the haunting blue of a wide-open sky. She smiled a wrinkle-nosed grin my way.
“You really need a bath, child, but you did well.” Her voice was pinched, as if she wasn’t breathing through her nose. The quest update finally appeared on screen.
<<<>>>
Quest Update: The Path of a Sorceress
You’ve successfully gathered all of the necessary ingredients to replenish Naitee’s energy potion, but what comes next is no small undertaking.
<<<>>>
What comes next? I dismissed the pop-up, and Naitee continued.
“Now, child, you must decide.”
I looked at her expectantly, waiting for the rest of the sentence. She stared back.
“Decide?” I prompted her back into action. It was apparent she wanted to speak and breathe as little as possible.
“Sorceric knowledge is powerful. So powerful you cannot survive the undertaking of learning all the schools. Hence the delicious potion you drank this morning.”
The flavor of broccoli returned to my mouth at the mention of the potion, and the nausea I’d held at bay nearly overtook me. I covered my mouth, just in case, and Naitee gave a gentle chuckle before her face went stern.
She went on. “You must pick only one, and that is the path you will follow for the rest of your life.”
For the rest of my life? That could be forever, technically, and I could never multi-class and never change my class kit. I thought of Otto. We’d worked really well together when I was using the Firebrand and Frostlock abilities, but I would definitely survive better on my own as a Hydromancer or Stonewall. The luck and evasion of Hydromancer would make up where Stonewall was hardy and armor heavy, and still be able to lay down the damage, but it wasn’t a group class, for sure.
I didn’t know what to do. If Jack joined and wanted to party up, I’d want to be able to work with him effectively. If he was a cleric, Stonewall might be a good pick so I could tank for him. But if he went some other class, Stonewall might be too gimp to help effectively.
Heck. I really wanted more data before making such a huge choice.
“It’s a tough decision, child, and you don’t need to pick this very moment. Take some time this evening to think it over in a nice hot bath, then visit me in the morning.” Naitee waved me off, her other hand coming up to cover her mouth.
