Rebirth Online III
Michael James Ploof
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Book 4 coming Soon!
Other Books by Michael James Ploof
Special Thanks
Chapter 1
The Sands of Time spread out before us, the dunes rising like golden waves glimmering in the scorching sun. About three-hundred yards away, half of an ancient temple rose out of the sand. The other half was buried beneath the desert, and it was there in the deep chambers that our prize waited.
“Doesn’t look so bad to me,” said Tweak.
“It’s the hardest dungeon in the Sands of Time,” Trinity reminded him.
Anna, Ember, Kit, and Cecilia stood to my left, eyeing the ancient temple with deepening frowns. Said to be one of the first things designed for Rebirth Online, the temple had been carved into the only rock formation to be found for miles. Sandstone walls rose up one-hundred feet into the air. Dozens of rectangular pillars carved with strange runes loomed before us, and in the hollows created by the many alcoves, I thought that I could see faint movement. At the center of the temple’s southern face, half buried in sand, sat the massive statue of a lizard man on a tall throne. In his left hand was a long scepter, and in his right, held palm up, was a smooth crystal orb.
“That’s it,” said Kit with glee. “That’s what we’re looking for, the Orb of Hyssra.”
“That’s not the real orb, you dingbat,” Trinity told her.
“Well no shit, Sherlock,” Kit snapped back.
“How many guilds have finished this quest?” Ember asked Cecilia.
“Three,” said the foxy lady.
“Tweak needs this,” I reminded them. “He’s still got three levels to go before he reaches level 50. This quest should put the rest of us over the top as well, then we’ll all be level 50, and we’ll be in business.”
“Alright then, let’s get this shit over with.” Ember spit in the sand. “I’m sick of this heat, and I need a frigging beer.”
We headed toward the large statue, knowing that the door lay at the foot of the sandstone throne. Nothing came out to stop us, which didn’t settle well with me. It was too quiet, and the shadows that watched from the alcoves above were more menacing than anything I had yet seen in the vast expanse that was the Sands of Time.
For more than a week we had been grinding our asses off in the desert. I was now level 49 and had unlocked a powerful new spell called Hellfire. The cooldown was 15 minutes, and the spell only lasted for 30 seconds, but it was powerful enough to melt steel in about 15 seconds flat. Any opponent that I cast it on went up in terrible green flames that burned like the sun, and I was excited to use it against the temple boss. The girls were all level 48 or 49, and they too had unlocked some awesome new powers.
“Let’s buff up,” I said as I stopped at the door.
Trinity raised a fist, and as words appeared on my interface, we all began to glow.
Call of the Warrior
+ 25% Strength
Duration – 15 mins
I felt a surge of strength course through me as the buff washed over me, and Ember waved a hand toward us all.
Shadow Armor
+25% Armor
Duration – 30 mins
Cecilia was next, and she cast two buffs on us. As they washed over me, I felt like I had just been administered a shot of dilaudid.
Blessing of Gaia
+25% Pain Resistance
Duration 15 mins
Gift of Life
Regenerate 100 health per second
Duration – 10 mins
The initial effects of Cecilia’s spells wore off quickly, and Anna offered her newest and most powerful buff.
Holy Retribution
5% Chance Enemy Attack Will Rebound
Duration – 1 hour
Tweak cast a buff on the group with a 10% chance of inflicting our attackers with something called rotting flesh, and Kit cast a spell that left us all with a ring of vines on our heads that gave us a 25% increase in nature resistance. When the buff took effect, the sweltering heat of the desert dialed back to about 70 degrees, and I let out a contented sigh.
I tapped my interface and brought up the new tab for buffs and selected Blessing of the Flame Lord, which offered my friends a 50% resistance to heat and fire spells for five minutes. It had a cooldown of 30 minutes, but it worked well with my Scorched Earth ally buff.
Ember moved to the door and pressed herself up against the wall. She offered Trinity a nod, and the warrior in turn glanced back at me. I gave her a thumbs up, conjured a Magic Bolt, and prepared to face whatever came out of the door. Tweak and the girls took up offensive positions as well, and Trinity unsheathed her enchanted sword.
My badass blonde warrior yanked back on the door handle, and the door flew open. She brought up her shield and prepared herself for the attack, but no attack came.
We waited, but the only thing that greeted us was the slow moan of wind moving through the door and the darkness beyond. Trinity slowly entered through the temple door, and when nothing immediately happened to her, we all followed. Tweak went first behind Trinity with his hands gripped tight around the hilt of his own Underworld sword. Ember followed close on his heels, but immediately upon entering the temple moved to the right to slink along the shadows. I followed Ember, then came Kit, Cecilia, and Anna who took up the rear.
The temple was dimly lit by glowing crystals that sat in elliptical alcoves in the smooth sandstone walls. A fetid stench lingered there in the dark chamber, the stink reminding me of ripe compost on a hot summer day, with the fungal pungency of a basement on top of it.
There was only one way to go, so with a glance back at us Trinity moved toward the other end of the tubular chamber where only darkness lay. I scoured the darkness with Fire Sight but saw nothing in the dark tunnel aside from my guild mates. For their benefit, I cast Scorched Earth on the stone tunnel floor, illuminating the gloom and at the same time buffing my guildmates.
We slowly crept along the tunnel behind Trinity, and I couldn’t help but feel like we were walking right into a trap. I didn’t like being in such a small space with only one way out, but we needed to find the Orb of Hyssra if we were going to compete in the guild wars.
“Do you hear that?” I heard Kit say behind me. She had better hearing than most of us, given that she was a furry, and I looked to Cecilia for confirmation.
“It’s coming from behind us,” said the foxy lady.
As soon as she said it, a grinding rumble came from the temple entrance. The torches that had adorned the entrance winked out, and the sound drew closer. Then the patch of floor that was still burning from my Scorched Earth spell went dark, and I realized that something very large was coming toward us.
“Go, go, go!” I yelled, and my guild mates and I began sprinting down the tunnel.
I cast Scorched Earth to light the way and possibly inflict some damage at whatever the hell was following us. The monster rumbled and growled, and a sound like giant claws shearing the stone chased us in the dark.
“Something’s coming from the other direction as well!” Trinity yelled back at us, her voice sounding far away.<
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I glanced back the way we had come and enabled my Fire Sight. I didn’t see the heat signatures of any lifeforms, instead, I saw a circular outline of orange sparks. It took me a moment to realized what I was seeing, but then…
“The tunnel is closing on us from both ends!” I warned and whipped my head the other way. Trinity was running back toward us down the long corridor, and behind her came a sparking orange ring of friction.
“We’re going to be crushed!” Kit screamed.
I stopped, conjured a Magic Bolt, and shot it back at the cylindrical slab of stone that was coming to crush us. My spell erupted like a fireworks finale and I closed my eyes against the glare that would have been blinding had I watched the explosion with Fire Sight. When I opened my eyes, I saw the slab still rumbling down the tunnel, and I imagined being at the bottom of a French press. Soon both slabs would crash together in the tunnel, and we would all be instantly killed.
Fuck that!
We’ve got to bust through the wall!” I told the others, and swiftly began tapping at the tunnel wall with the hilt of my enchanted sword. “Look for a hollow spot!”
Trinity came skidding to a stop beside us and began tapping on the tunnel walls as frantically as the others. I kept getting a deep thud, but when Kit knocked on a spot on the tunnel wall, we all heard the hollow retort.
The slab barreling toward us to my right was less than fifty feet away, and the one to our left was even closer. I knew that we had precious few seconds, and I yelled for Kit to get back and unleashed a Magic Bolt at the hollow spot. The blast exploded with a deafening retort in the quickly shrinking tunnel, but it only managed to scorch the stone.
“Use your enchanted swords!” Trinity yelled and began hacking at the tunnel wall with her glowing blade.
We all unsheathed our own blades and stabbed, hacked and desperately chopped at the sandstone as the rumbling slabs bore down on us. I thought we were goners, but then Ember’s sword tore through the sandstone and a small chunk fell away.
“Back up!” Tweak warned us all, then he shouldered into the stone with his four-hundred-pound ape body and crashed right through.
“Go!” I urged the girls.
One after another the girls dove through the hole. The rumbling of the stone became deafening, and I screamed against the sound defiantly, sure that I was going to be crushed or chopped in half. I wasn’t going to make it, but I sprang for the hole with the slabs only three feet from each other.
My arms and head made it through the hole, them my shoulders, torso, waist, and legs.
But then.
BOOM!!!
“Faaahhhgggck!” I screamed as the two slabs collided, crushing my left foot like a vice.
The pain was so overwhelming that I found myself wishing that I had been crushed and killed instead. At least that would have been quick. But this…this pain was more than I could stand. I continued to scream as I swung downward from the skin that was still attaching me to my smooshed foot, and I hit the wall hard.
“Sam!” cried Anna from far below me.
The others began calling for me as well, and the sound of water found my ears. I fought through the hot tears that were flooding my eyes and looked down. The glow of my friends’ enchanted swords was floating away, and I realized that they had landed in an underground river.
I needed to free myself before I passed out and slowly bled to death, so I unsheathed my own enchanted blade and took aim at my mangled ankle. I knew that it was the only way, but I couldn’t bring myself to chop into my own leg.
“Come on Sam, you can do this!” I screamed through the pain, then I started a shaky countdown.
“Three… Two… One…FUCK!”
I swung the sword quickly before I lost my nerve, and the glowing blade cut right through my ankle and sparked against the stone. Then I was falling, and pain was shooting up through my leg as I tumbled through the air. I hit the water and sank deep, unable to swim with the destroyed meat hanging off my bones.
Warning!
You are Drowning!
Well no shit!
I willed myself to pump my arms and crossed my remaining foot around the other ankle, desperately trying to swim for the surface. But I must have sunk like a stone, because no matter how desperately I swam, I didn’t reach the surface.
Warning!
Death imminent!
10…
9…
My arms lost all strength, and rippling colors like the Northern Lights swam in my vision.
8…
7…
6…
My lungs burned, the searing pain in my leg began to recede, and peace washed over me.
5…
4…
3…
I resigned myself to my fate and closed my eyes. Then a strong hand grabbed me by the collar and pulled me hard. A spell exploded in my face, and the world came rushing back to me.
Blessing of Life
+ 1,000 Health per Second
Duration – 10 seconds
“I got you bro,” Tweak said as he pulled me to the surface.
The pain in my foot was replaced with a pleasant tingling sensation, and I knew that it was slowly growing back under water.
“Holy shit,” I groaned as we floated down the river in the faint glow of our enchanted swords. “Thanks Tweak.”
“You got it brother,” he replied.
“Are you alright?” Anna asked, the girls were all a few feet ahead of me and Tweak, and beyond them I saw the river open up into a cavern.
“I am now, look!”
We swam for the shore of the stalactite-filled cavern, and I collapsed on the smooth stone when Tweak let me go. I shakily sat up and looked at my foot and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was fully healed. My boot, however, hadn’t been so lucky.
“Create a defensive perimeter until Sam is ready,” Trinity told the others.
“I’m all good,” I told them. “Just need a second.”
I tapped on my interface and scrolled through my collection of spare boots. I chose my second-best pair, and a moment later they appeared on my feet.
Dragonscale Boots
Legendary Item
+ 20% Damage to Fire Spells
+ 25% Frost Resistance
+ 10% Armor
I pulled myself to my feet, and Kit gave me a big hug.
“Who healed me in the water?” I said as I returned her hug.
“It was Anna,” said Kit, sounding shaken.
“Thanks Babe,” I told the elf.
“Anytime,” she said as she scoured the cavern.
Trinity was already searching the perimeter, and it didn’t take long for her to call us over.
“What’d you find?” Ember asked as she appeared from the shadows.
“Stairs,” said Trinity. “You guys should hang back while I check it out.”
“Aye-aye,” said Kit with a cute salute.
I conjured a fireball and watched as Trinity climbed the stairs. We all waited for a few minutes, Tweak and I watched the staircase, while Cecilia, Anna, Ember, and Kit covered our backs and watched the water.
“All clear!” Trinity yelled down to us, and I sighed with relief.
We climbed the stone staircase, and it wound up about four stories before opening into a large square chamber. A tall statue immediately caught my attention. In a room made of cinnamon-colored sandstone bricks, the silver statue stood out like a sore thumb. The broad shoulders, chiseled back, leg, and arm muscles suggested a tall strong man, yet the head was that of a falcon.
I made a quick survey of the rest of the room, but found no doors, no windows, and no stairs leading out. The ceiling was at least a hundred feet high, but it too was made of sandstone bricks that curved up toward the only other feature, a silver dome.
“Why do I have the feeling that we’re going to have to fight that thing?” Tweak asked, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than the statue began to creak and stir.
“Nice,” said Ember with a scowl.
“Awe, come on,” said Tweak. “That shit was going to happen anyway.”
“Focus!” Trinity hissed.
I saw why her voice was so urgent. Above the statue’s head his stats appeared, and they weren’t good, not at all.
Amemnon
Guardian of the Sacred Temple of Okii
Level 72
The statue slowly turned around to face us, and Trinity stepped forward as the rest of us slunk back toward the walls. Ember was already moving around to the back, but the statue seemed to have no problem seeing the rogue despite her enchantments. The falcon man’s beady black eyes considered each of us, then he raised his silver staff.
“Thieves, grave robbers, intruders!” the silver statue bellowed in a voice that shook the chamber. “Prepare to pay the ultimate price!”
“Hey man, can’t we work something out?” Tweak asked, and in response, the falcon-headed statue swung its big silver staff at the purple ape.
“I guess that’s a no!” said Trinity as she rushed the guardian.
I unleashed a Magic Bolt that hit the statue right in his silver chest, and to my surprise, the spell ricocheted off it and zoomed right back at me.
“Shit!” I leapt to the side as my own spell struck the stone where I had been, and Tweak suddenly went flying into the wall.
He landed with a thud and a groan, and Trinity screamed as she swung at the statue’s legs. Sparks flew from the impact, and Trinity’s blade jerked back from the blow and flew right out of her hands.
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