“Jeez! Jerk! I forgot you were there.”
“And this is my fault?”
“I dunno. Yes?”
“Right…Okay, bumble brain.”
All at once, the tension ran out of her body. Devon hadn’t realized how exhausting Hailey’s sour mood had made the day’s adventuring. In contrast, Bob’s obnoxious comments were almost pleasant. NPC friends, even jerky ones, were so much easier to deal with than people.
As Devon pushed off the wall and stretched, she rolled her shoulder, pretending to be working the stiffness from it.
“Hey! You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”
She laughed. “Okay fine.” She started to summon a Glowing Orb, intent on arming herself with a couple of lightning-based Shadow Puppets before opening the door but then noticed a barely there shadow at her feet. She grinned. Light cast by an arcane wisp. She’d never tried summoning a puppet with that before. And the same with the glowing mushrooms. This was either going to be really fun, or really disastrous depending on how effective the new puppet types were.
Chapter Nineteen
You have gained mastery in Shadow Puppet - Tier 3: +10% (Bonus for using a new form of light source in the casting.)
Nice! Devon curled her toes in anticipation as she looked at the formless shape in front of her. She felt the connection to her creation as a faint tugging at her nerves. Each type of Shadow Puppet felt a little different to her. In the case of the lightning-based minions, it was a sort of fizzing sensation, and the sun-based puppet was like a knife that lay just beyond her fingertips. This Shadow Puppet, cast by the light of a glowing shelf fungus, reminded her of the feeling of a helium balloon that was almost touching her, attracted by static charge.
She felt like sticking a pin into the shadow would pop it.
“What do you think it does?” she asked.
“Beats me. Right now, it appears to be standing there.”
Aside from the sun-based and lightning-empowered minions, Devon had created two other varieties. Those cast by fire let her Shadow Step, teleporting to the minion’s location. The moon-based shadows were the weakest by far, the creatures easily destroyed by even a glancing hit from an enemy, but they were able to flow like liquid into strange spaces, often without her needing to issue a command. They were particularly good at suffocating enemies by filling their nose and throat, provided they could avoid the enemy’s attacks.
Unfortunately, there were no enemies in range for her to try the new puppet on, so she focused on her other new shadow type, the faint pool of darkness cast by Bob’s glow, and activated her spell.
Ability failed. You need to target a shadow.
Devon’s brows drew together. But she had. She’d focused directly on the shadow beneath her feet. She tried again and was rewarded with the same message.
“I can’t use your light to create a puppet,” she said.
She glanced at her shoulder with Bob made the shimmery sort of sound that was the wisp’s version of a sigh. “Do you remember, back…oh, like a week, when we were in Zaa’s citadel? I believe I mentioned at the time that neither he nor Veia was aware of my kind. At least, not unless we make ourselves known.”
She sighed and nodded. “Yes, of course now that you mention it, of course, I remember. That’s why you were able to relocate the player captives to the arcane realm without Zaa being aware. So you’re saying the spell won’t work because Veia can’t see your light.”
“Unless I allow her to.”
She stifled the urge to grab the wisp and squeeze the light out of it. “Then will you kindly please permit Veia to see your illumination and the shadow it casts, Bob?”
“Sorry, can’t. Not if I ever want to end this miserable exile. Manifesting in a form visible to Veia or Zaa is strictly forbidden.”
Then why had the wisp even mentioned the possibility? “I seriously hate you sometimes,” she said.
“Likewise, princess. Now, shall we get on with the boss fight?”
She rolled her eyes.
***
After finishing her usual prep—summoning a pair of Glowing Orbs and matching Shadow Puppets, then casting Levitate to avoid ground currents—Devon slid to the wall next to the door and cast Fade. After taking a deep breath, she reached down and squeezed the latch on the door.
It swung open on silent hinges, and through the opening came a draft of wet-smelling air. Devon heard the drip of water into a pool and the crackle of at least one torch or campfire. She waited for the boss to come charging through the door.
Or rather, she hoped the boss would come charging through the door, allowing her to spring an ambush. Unfortunately, the game was a little too smart for that.
After maybe a minute of inaction, Devon slowly stuck her hand into the open space vacated by the door. She kept her movements gentle and fluid—anything quick or aggressive would break the Fade effect. After a good ten seconds had passed without some sort of attack taking her hand off, she decided it was safe enough to peek inside the chamber.
She leaned to the side, ever so slowly—not only was there the issue of Fade breaking, but also getting too far off-center would cause her to slip off the cushion of magic that held her suspended in the air.
When she peered into the cave, she shook her head. Seemed she needn’t have bothered with the Fade effect, because as far as she could tell, the boss was blind.
Also, it was almost naked.
Humanoid, with long limbs and flesh the same rubbery white as the scorpions, the boss crouched beside a central pool in the chamber. It dipped a hand in and brought water to its mouth to drink. Above the mouth, the creature had just a snub nose punctured by nostril holes, and where it should have had eyes, there was only the hint of sockets lined with more seamless white flesh. The thing appeared to be male, at least, judging by the loincloth and lack of breasts.
She used Combat Assessment.
Mistwalker Scorpion Keeper (Faction: Rovan) - Level 25
Health: 1341/1341
Mana: 651/651
Resists: Water-based Attacks
Immune to: Light-based Attacks
Wait. Mistwalker? Where had she heard that before? Devon rifled her memory but couldn’t recall. And what about the faction designation? She’d never seen that before.
As if anticipating a question, Bob slid closer to her ear.
“In case you’re wondering, I haven’t got a clue what the Rovan are.”
Some guide the wisp was… Anyway, she had a dungeon to finish.
One after the other, she sent her lightning shadows slipping into the room to take up positions on either side of the boss’s chamber. As for the other minion…what should she call it? Fungus shadow? Phosphorescent shadow? Either way, she held back with the Shadow Puppet of unknown capabilities, because with no idea what the puppet could do, she’d probably just end up screwing up this fight.
Her minions in position, Devon ducked through the doorway and floated into the room.
She yelped when the boss rose from its crouch and turned toward her, eyeless face somehow seeming to inspect her.
“Night’s Fang,” the creature laughed in a wheezing voice. “I see Drivan hands at work. Ones who walk where they ought not, who do not understand our history. Ones who would not even seek the birthright but would rather leave the Ironweight Key to a youngling stranger.”
What the hell? Devon looked down at the dagger in her grip. So this guy knew who had fashioned her blade? And who were the Drivan? As she glanced at the weapon, the rest of the boss’s words registered. The Ironweight Key. Of course. That’s where she’d heard of the Mistwalkers before. More formally known as the Esh, they were the race that populated the lost vassaldom that had once guarded the relic. Shavari had explained that, as the Noble Sea rose and drowned their home, they’d given the Key to her order of Veian clergy for safekeeping.
Of course, Shavari had also said they’d vanished. So what was this guy doing ca
ring for a harem of bugs under the savanna? And had the Esh always been a group of sightless creeps?
Bob is offering you a quest: Hey, maybe he knows how your knife got made.
Couldn’t hurt to ask, right? What’s the worst he’ll do? Attack you?
Objective: Find out who the Drivan are and what role they may have played in the crafting of your weapon.
Reward: You will satisfy Bob’s curiosity. Plus you’ll get some XP.
Accept? Y/N
Devon accepted the quest, partially to get it out of her face. Kinda clever on Bob’s part to offer her a quest rather than try to whisper in her ear and risk being overheard. But not the best timing to shove a window into her view.
“Hey, so what’s this about Night’s Fang?” she asked, twirling the dagger casually.
The Mistwalker curled his lip, exposing sharp teeth, then hissed. With a howl, the boss ran for her, bare feet slapping the water-smoothed stone of the cavern.
“Nice pull, Bob,” Devon said as she backpedaled. “I guess you knew exactly how to make him attack.”
“Hey! It did seem important,” the wisp said. “I mean, what are the chances you receive a mystery weapon and then a quest leads you to a dude who seems to know the answer. That’s like, quest-story-arc 101. Veia can’t help but try to create content with direction.”
Devon sighed as she dumped mana into casting Phoenix Fire to slow the boss. Given his resistance to water-based spells, trying to Freeze him would just waste mana. As the syrupy lava enveloped him, she sent in her lightning shadows, trusting her Levitation to protect her from the area of effect.
The Mistwalker shrieked as the electricity struck him, knocking off maybe 10% of his health. He snarled, raising his arms high. The surface of his creepy white flesh rippled, and then a swarm of finger-sized scorpions erupted from his skin. The creatures streamed off him and raced toward her.
“Oh, gross,” Devon said as she backpedaled. When the first of the scorpions drew within range, it leapt, tail raised, and landed on her pants. She yelped and shook her leg, but the thing clung, stabbing at the hardened leather over her shin.
Grimacing as another dozen creepy-crawlies jumped for her, Devon shoved mana into Downdraft. The swarm, minus those climbing her legs, went tumbling across the cavern, blown by her gale.
Planting his feet, the boss skidded backward but didn’t lose his balance. He looked up at her and bared those disgusting sharpened teeth as his hands began to glow a faint blue.
Neither of the lightning-based Shadow Puppets had respawned after death, an effect of the tier 3 spell that only happened 20% of the time. Devon searched the ground for shadows cast by Glowing Orbs, then realized they were stuck to the walls in the previous chamber. She raced through the mental motions to summon another and hurled it at the wall, then insta-cast a fresh Shadow Puppet. As her minion streaked toward the boss, the light in the Mistwalker’s hands flared, and a stream of blue shot toward her.
Sudden, brutal cold filled her veins. Frost formed on her skin. Panicked, Devon glanced at her health bar, but it had only dropped a few points. She focused on the new debuff icon.
Ability: Deep Chill
Slowly freezes the target, damage increasing with every tick. Applies a Slowed effect that stacks 6 times before being replaced by a two-minute paralysis.
Gah… Heart thudding as she felt the frost crystals burrow deeper into her flesh, Devon summoned a second orb and Shadow Puppet and sent that minion in as well. She called down a Flamestrike on the boss, knocking off more health. As the first shadow penetrated the boss’s body, lightning crackled across his flesh and rippled across the floor, sizzling most of the scorpions as they recovered from the Downdraft’s knockback.
The boss’s health dropped to around 50%. But then another tick of the Deep Chill spell shaved off 45 of Devon’s hitpoints and stacked a second Slowed debuff icon atop the first.
Crap.
Well, might as well try. Focusing on the boss, she sent a mental command to her mushroom Shadow Puppet, ordering it to attack.
Command failed: Invalid target.
But is it because the boss is immune to light-based attacks, or is there another reason? An exercise for the caster.
Damn it. Devon refreshed Phoenix Fire, once again trapping the boss’s feet in lava, then sidestepped to get a better angle on the chamber. Was there anything else she was missing here? Anything that could help?
Her second Shadow Puppet hit, sizzling along the boss’s body and removing another 5% health. This time, the puppet reappeared beside her, sparing her the need to spend mana on another cast. She immediately sent it arrowing toward the boss. Devon had more hitpoints still and would win if this were a war of attrition, but at this rate, she would be unable to kill him before the looming paralysis ruined her.
Something jabbed her behind the knee, sneaking in between the hardened sections of leather.
“Ow!” she squeaked, knocking off the scorpion with her dagger as a Weak Poison effect was added to her interface.
Furious now, she launched another Flamestrike, but the next tick of the Deep Chill stole any satisfaction from seeing the boss’s health drop.
Shaking her head, she felt along the connection to her fungus puppet and issued a command, this time ordering it to target her. The shadow obliged, streaking across the floor and sinking into her…eye sockets? Gah!
All at once, the world exploded with brilliant, swirling color. Every niche and cranny and slight undulation of the stone chamber was revealed in vivid, stunning detail. Devon, freaking out, waved her arms as if to banish the sight, and glowing trails followed her hands.
“Aghhh,” she choked out. Blinking furiously, she focused on the newest interface icon.
Ability: Mushroom Sight
The target is affected by visual hallucinations, granting a major bonus to Perception but rendering the target unable to discern which perceived things reflect reality and which are an illusion.
Seems pretty likely that this ability is intended for offense, doesn’t it?
Okay, shit. So the target had probably been invalid before because the boss was immune to light-based attacks. Grimacing, Devon dismissed her puppet and canceled the ability.
Deep Chill ticked again, this time causing what felt like a brain freeze. Devon groaned as she went, slowly, through the motions of calling down another Flamestrike.
Except at the last moment, she had a flash of either hope or idiocy, and she switched the target to herself. Flame spilled over her, tumbling like a waterfall from the top of her head and bringing lovely, delicious warmth to her body.
“OW!” Bob shrieked as the AoE effect splashed onto it.
Devon sighed in relief as the Deep Chill and Slowed effects dissipated in puffs of steam. She turned eyes on the boss and grinned.
And then, the Mistwalker vanished.
“Stronger than I anticipated…” The words hissed in the air, seeming to swirl around her. “The Rovan must hear of this.”
For a moment, scraps of fog lingered in the air above the quickly dissipating mass of Phoenix Fire. Then, as if blown by a breeze from outside, the tendrils of mist swirled toward the far edge of the room where they slipped into cracks in the stone.
Devon hung in the air, feet paddling at the cushion of magic as she blinked. She conjured a fresh lightning Shadow Puppet and adjusted her grip on her dagger. This kind of vanishing act was almost always a trick designed to lure a player into some sort of trap where the boss would respawn—usually with friends.
When a good thirty seconds had passed, she sent both lightning shadows through the cracks where the mist had disappeared. Nothing happened. Another thirty seconds later, she slowly edged forward toward the center of the chamber and looked around.
A natural cavern complete with flowstone pillars and delicate stalactites, the room was empty except for a ratty-looking bedroll in the corner. Near it, a small fire smoldered.
&n
bsp; She waited for the boss’s return. Still, she heard nothing but the drip of water.
“You sure you don’t want to tell me about my dagger?” she asked into the silence.
Nothing.
Finally, she canceled Levitate and stomped over to the cracks where the Mistwalker seemed to have vanished. Pressing her ear to the fissures, she closed her eyes and, when concentrating, thought she could hear distant echoes, far too quiet to interpret.
Quest Updated: Investigate the cave to the northeast.
It seems you’ve dealt with the immediate threat, but you’ve learned of a vaster system of caverns beneath the ground, holding any number of dangers. Yay?
Objective complete: Clear the cave of any threat to innocent travelers.
New Objective: Return to Jarleck.
Oh, and for defeating the boss even though you couldn’t quite finish him off, you receive 8333 experience!
Congratulations! You have reached level 24!
“Well, I guess we’re done here for now,” Devon said, dispelling her lightning-based shadows.
Bob whimpered. “Did I mention how that hurt?”
“Would you rather I’d fed you to the scorpions?”
The wisp snorted. “Just get me out of this cave. It’s even more unpleasant than the usual mortal-plane locales.”
Chapter Twenty
HAILEY REALLY HADN’T expected this to be so hard. After all, she’d been sick for most of her adult life. She’d never expected to have a normal existence, to get better, or even to wake up without pain once in a while. In the dark hours of the night, after gaming but before she managed to finally fall asleep, she’d even spent time thinking about the inevitable end. She’d known for years that either the disease or the treatment would kill her long before she’d lived a normal lifespan.
Vault of the Magi: A LitRPG Adventure (Stonehaven League Book 5) Page 13
