Battle Spire
Page 22
Ellie’s analysis was probably spot on, but I’d found the Crafting section that listed weapon attachments now and felt it could do no harm to check. For a scope, the core component was a lens. The ore I could manage easily. Then it hit me. I surely had access to a lens for I had a magnifying glass tool intended for jewel work and I hardly think I’d be worrying about that any time soon. I hadn’t thought about my tools as items I might be able to use for Breakdown before, but as Ellie said, if you can loot it…
To my great smugness, I found I could use Breakdown upon the magnifying glass and produced a lens by doing so.
“Huh,” Ellie said. “I didn’t think of that.”
“You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“I’ll chalk it up to human ingenuity again,” she grumbled. “Maybe I should get me some of that?”
“Watch and learn,” I said with a wink to the ceiling.
From beside his bubbling cauldron of slime, Kreeptic had taken to staring at me.
“To think I’ve placed my ambitions in your hands,” he said, shaking his head.
I ignored him and focused on selecting my scope. Interestingly, I found the text on several variations of the scope attachment were in green all the way up to a truesilver scope. This got me thinking. In most games, you could place high-level enchantments on low-level gear. It wasn’t regularly done because you’d often be replacing that gear quickly, but some people liked to deck out low-level characters in ludicrously enchanted gear to make killing players of an equal level a piece of cake in PvP events or battlegrounds. The main point was that it was possible. Attachments in my mind seemed a lot like enchantments.
“Ellie, can I make a higher level scope and attach that?”
“You can,” she said. “I’d recommend you make the truesilver scope as that is the highest you can create.”
I flicked down the list. I actually had the components for a more powerful version using mithril ore, of which I had one remaining piece from breaking down a level 35 set of plate gloves. Shame I didn’t have a higher Intelligence stat. I needed 75 Intelligence to make the mithril version. Tabetha had given me a potion to knock up my points when I’d needed it though, so maybe the same could be done again?
“Excuse me? Uhm, Mr Interrogator?”
Kreeptic gave no sign that he was listening.
“Any chance one of those potions you have up on the top shelf there will boost my brainpower for a bit?”
“Figures,” Kreeptic said absentmindedly. In one fluid motion, he reached up, grabbed the closest ice-blue bottle and threw it towards me. With a grace I certainly didn’t have in real life, I lunged to the side and caught it.
“Wow, thanks. Got any more of those?”
Kreeptic growled lowly. “I do not. The thieves, likely serving this Azrael took most of my store while I was unconscious. What little remains, I shall require if I am to brew you that poison. Now drink it before I change my mind.”
I hastened to pull the cork from the vial, bracing myself for the vile taste before downing the contents. With a stroke of good fortune, it turned out to be delicious; vanilla and caramel perfectly blended. High-level potions came with more rewards than just the effects.
Archmage’s Pick Me Up
+50 Intellect
Duration: 5 mins
I cracked a grin. Now my intelligence stat was temporarily at 95. Potions were like enchants, I guessed, and didn’t have a level requirement. If you wanted to waste a perfectly good level 50 potion on a level 15 character, go right ahead.
“Brilliant!” Ellie said. “That’s an endgame potion. I’m surprised he just handed one over. He must like you.”
“Sizing me up for a dissection more like,” I said.
Keeping one eye on the torturer, I went ahead and created my desired scope.
Success! Mithril Scope level 35 created
+33 Crafting EXP
+115 Engineering EXP
Mithril Scope
Item level 35
Can be attached to any ranged weapon.
+30 weapon damage
+10% chance to hit
My triumph could only go so far. Yes, I could make this powerful scope but there was no point making other high-level equipment that had level restrictions on equipping it. Still, the attachment would be a significant upgrade. Really significant. The plus damage it provided alone nearly doubled my base weapon damage and this was now reflected in my crossbow’s item description.
Precise Shot
Crossbow
Quality: rare
Item level 16
Requires level 11 to equip
Damage: 62-69 piercing
Durability: 45/45
Knockback Chance 10% on hit
Attachment slots 1/1 – Mithril Scope
+10% chance to hit
This item is upgradable, but Soul Bound to you.
I was starting to feel halfway threatening now, though the thought of taking on Azrael, a level 50 player, quelled the fire in me.
In terms of Crafting, I was running low on materials, especially ore. Without endless weapons from the armory to breakdown, I’d have to be more selective about what I made in the future. I still had a decent amount of leather left, enough to make headway into a superior set of armor. Out of a five-piece Nimble Armor set, I made the chest piece, leggings and boots.
Nimble Chest Guard
Quality: uncommon
Item level 10
Requires level 10 to equip
+55 Armor
+2 Constitution
+2 Might
Durability 55/55
This item is upgradable, but will become soul bound to you
Nimble Leg Guards
Quality: uncommon
Item level 10
Requires level 10 to equip
+48 Armor
+2 Reflexes
+1 Might
This item is upgradable, but will become soul bound to you
Nimble Boots
Quality: uncommon
Item level 10
Requires level 10 to equip
+40 Armor
+1 Might
This item is upgradable, but will become soul bound to you
I greatly welcomed the extra armor and stats from these items and my Leatherworking advanced to rank 2. I was overflowing with cloth so I sought some use for it. Two pieces stood out to me from the Tailoring section, a cowl that would aid me in being a stealthy bastard and frost spell enhancing gloves. Breaking down some dream silk into regular silk, I had more than enough materials and started with the cowl.
Cowl of Midnight
Quality: uncommon
Item level 10
Requires level 10 to equip
+15 Armor
+3 Reflexes
Increases effective sneak level by 1
Increases effective night vision level by 1
This item is upgradable, but will become Soul Bound to you
I was quite taken with the look of it too. A blue so deep it was nearly black, the cloth shimmered faintly in Kreeptic’s candlelight. Next, the gloves. These actually required me to use one of my frost runes to make, but I reckoned it would be well worth it. Those bad boys had come in useful twice now, and I’d definitely be relying on them again. Knitting needles clicking wildly, my character went about making my magical mitts.
Adept’s Arctic Muffs
Quality: uncommon
Item level 10
Requires level 10 to equip
+12 Armor
+2 Intelligence
+1% effectiveness to frost spells
This item is upgradable, but will become Soul Bound to you
With some upgrades, that extra percentage might get real useful if I needed to slow someone down. I took a final glance around the materials in my inventory and what I could make. I still had ore but without gunpowder, I couldn’t make any more grenades for the time being. Still, with my new gear on my character sheet, I was looking a bit he
althier.
Character
Zoran Human Scavenger Level 11
Attributes
Constitution 18 (+2) – Intelligence 48 (+2) – Reflexes 17 (+5) – Might 17 (+4) – Willpower 24
Combat
Health – 525 Mana - 825 Attack Power – 54 Spell Power – 97 Regen – 3.0 p/s
Feeling like there was little more I could do, I closed my inventory and Crafting windows. Grenades and traps I was low on, but slime I might be able to get. Kreeptic had just handed me a potion when I’d asked for it, so…
“Any chance I could get some of your slime? I mean your ‘Arch-solution’,” I hastened to add, remembering the official name that Ellie had mentioned.
Kreeptic turned around, real slow. Dangerously slowly. “How much do you desire?”
My jaw hung slack. I’d fully expected him to say ‘no’.
“As much of it as I can take, I suppose.”
He scanned his shelves. “I have twenty empty phials left. I thought I had more, but this is an odd day.”
Thankfully, he didn’t suspect me of the theft and I stepped closer to collect my slime jars.
“You’re just letting me have it?”
Kreeptic shrugged. “I can always brew some more, and I’m truly unsure what need you could have for it.”
“I hear it’s very slippery. Might be good for causing an enemy to lose their footing.”
“A banana peel might suffice. It would certainly be cheaper. Yet one must make do.”
“You’re being awfully helpful,” I said. “Not that I’m complaining! I just, well, I wasn’t expecting it, I suppose. So, thank you.”
The torturer hunched his shoulders, bending his tall frame so his face was right before my own.
“Make no mistake, boy. I do not do this out of charity. I want Highcross’ position, and so I need the Emperor alive and suitably indebted to me. Don’t fail me or you may yet find yourself upon my table.”
“Well, I shan’t fail you then,” I said. “Thanks for the slime.”
He growled lowly and then returned to his work.
Placing the phials of slime in my inventory, I tried to ready myself for what lay ahead. Azrael’s gruesome face appeared front and center, mocking me with his smile. I tried not to think of him and turned my mind to the immediate task at hand.
Get the herbs. Complete the quest. Get the poison.
One step at a time.
That’s how I’d get through this.
One step at a time.
All the same, I wasn’t exactly sprinting out the door. Perhaps Ellie could sense my hesitation.
“I think you’re looking quite menacing now. Very assassin like in that cowl.”
“Awk shucks,” I said. “How’s my health in the real world?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“On second thoughts, not really.”
I checked the time on my map. It was close to 7am now; I must have been down in Kreeptic’s chambers for quite a while. And each and every hour brought my body closer to the brink. With a new day dawning, the issue of heat in that squat room with busted air con would only worsen.
“Alright, no time left to dawdle,” I said. “What’s the best way to the archmage’s chambers on the fifth floor?”
“All the sneaky ways,” Ellie said. “Time to put that key you have to good use again. Follow my lead and we should avoid Azrael’s patrols.”
“Hey, I like the sound of that. I’ll return with those herbs, Kreeptic,” I called to the torturer as I left his chambers.
20
As Ellie guided me up the servant staircases and through secret passages, I felt like a creature of the night. The gloom of these windowless hallways made it easy to forget it was daytime in both the real world and the game. More than once, we had to reroute to avoid Azrael’s patrols, which meant it had gone half-past seven before I arrived on the fifth floor.
Ellie instructed me to wait before entering any corridor to give her time to properly scan for player activity. So, I now stood with bated breath in a passage behind a tapestry. As though to pass the time, I was greeted with a notification.
Night Vision Increased!
Level 4
You can now see well enough to not trip up anymore. Go you!
My time in the gloomy back corridors of the Spire had some benefit at least, always gratifying. With my cowl of midnight equipped, my effective night vision was actually at level 5. Even if the only advantage I gained from it was navigating around the Spire easier, I’d take it. Every boost right now would make a huge difference.
I consulted my map and found myself at the far end of a T-junction of hallways. To reach the archmage’s guest chambers, I should take a left at the intersection and follow it straight down to the end. Whoever this archmage was, he liked his luxury for the room appeared huge on the map, a spherical suite still marked in the green bubble that Ellie had placed there for my convenience.
Unfortunately, there was also a golden star marker on the move. A colleague of Azrael’s.
“How long has this guy been here?” I asked.
“I’ve been observing him since we left the dungeons,” Ellie said. “It looks like Azrael has men watching over some of the more valuable rooms, likely expecting you to show up. He’s a dwarf beserker, level thirty-one.”
“Any chance we can sneak around him?”
“I don’t think so. He enters the archmage’s chambers on each patrol.”
“How did they get in without a key? Was it unlocked?”
“Azrael brought several rogues with him. Presumably one of them has a high skill in lockpicking.”
“So, they’ve probably swiped all the good loot then?”
“Given that they ransacked Kreeptic’s chambers during their first assault, that is a reasonable conclusion.”
I sighed. “Can’t a guy catch a break? What about the herbs?”
“The herbs should be safe. As I said, without the quest, you cannot loot them.”
Frustrated, I stared at the player’s golden marker, willing him to turn to ash right there. Annoyingly, he kept on walking, currently heading towards the mage’s room. With the coast temporarily clear, I pushed on the tapestry to inspect the corridor beyond. There were plenty of gargoyle heads and other nooks higher up so I could attack from above. I still had my grappling hook after all.
“Beserkers don’t have any ranged abilities, right?”
“None at all.”
I cracked my knuckles, hope kindling. “Okay, so if I get above him I can just take shots until he dies.”
The moment I said it I knew it was stupid. Aside from the fact that I could miss more shots than I hit, my enemy would probably just run away or call for backup.
“Never mind,” I said, deflated.
“You’ll have to eject him from the game. Quickly.”
“It’s never easy, is it?” I said, bringing myself back into the safety of the hidden passage.
I contemplated my options. I lacked grenades and caltrops, and the true element of surprise this time. Whoever this player was they were alert to the fact that I was roaming the Spire. At least my opponent was a melee fighter, meaning he’d be forced to get in close.
“Any key abilities that Berserkers have I should be aware of? Something I could take advantage of?”
“I can think of one. To close the gap and go for a quick kill, he’ll likely activate a move called Brutal Charge. This will increase his speed and attack power, but also the amount of damage he’ll take during the charge.”
There was an obvious strategy for me in that. I checked my Crafting page to see if there was anything that might give me a helping hand. Under traps, I found this.
Recipe - Silk Wire
Intelligence required: 35
Associated Profession: Tailoring
Silk x 6
Required Tools: Knitting Needles, Scissors
Made from finer silk, this line will trip an enemy with the same
strength as a normal tripwire but it is less visible. Keener eyes will be required to spot it.
The recipe required 6 pieces of silk. I had 40 pieces left so I made 2 trip wires, leaving me with 28 spare for the future.
Success! Silk Wire level 20 x 2 created
+44 Crafting EXP
+140 Tailoring EXP
Tailoring Increased!
Rank 4
After running my plan by Ellie I waited until the player entered the archmage’s chambers, then snuck out to prepare my next ambush. When ready, I retreated to the tapestry, standing proudly and openly as far away from the corridor junction as I could.
The berserker was just about to turn down this way on his patrol route. To reach me, he’d have to get over my first trip wire, then a puddle of slime, another wire, and then more slime. I’d been conservative and only dropped two vials, not knowing when I’d next have a chance to stock up.
“Here he comes,” Ellie said.
“Bring it,” I said, setting a bolt onto my shiny new crossbow. I felt good about this one.
The player turned down the corridor and froze. Looking through the mithril scope I could see him as though he were only a few feet in front of me. He’d opted for a classic ginger dwarf avatar, his pale skin seemingly of a dweller dwarf. He had an ungodly amount of hair falling on all sides that was bound by ringlets. His name was some long contrived gamertag so I decided I’d call him something with a better ring to it.
“Morning, Gingey!”
Unsurprisingly, he drew his weapons – a sword and a dagger for fast attacks.
I took a pot shot, not attempting to use Desperate Shot at this range. Either I got lucky or this high-level scope was really working for me because I hit his shoulder, causing a respectable amount of damage considering our level difference. Berserkers would tear enemies to shreds in a melee but couldn’t wear the heavy armor of a warrior.