by K R Dimmick
Mikael sighed.
“Well, years ago, the Dragon Hunters swept through this zone and killed off all the high-ranked Alchemists and magic users they could find. Suri’s mother was the head Alchemist at the time, and she was a Grandmaster. Aliz was just an Apprentice back then, so she hadn’t learned everything her mother could teach her. So much knowledge died that day. There are potions Alchemists used to be able to create that are now lost. Aliz not only lost her mother, she lost her teacher and the ability to become even a Master Alchemist, let alone a Grandmaster.” Mikael said. “Is it any wonder that she won’t talk to you now you’ve joined the Dragon Hunters?”
“I guess not,” I didn’t really know what to say to that, so I changed the subject. “Do you know where I can get some gear appraised to know how much it would sell for?”
“I can probably help you with that. What do you have?” he asked.
I showed him the ring and he let out an appreciative whistle.
“Exotic quality. Don’t see one of those every day,” he turned it over in his hands. “I’d say you could get 30-40 florins for it.”
Wow. I had no idea where I was going to get 15-20 florins to give to the guild so I could keep it.
“Is there anything like a vault or place I could put this for safe keeping?”
“Why don’t you just put it on?” Mikael asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
“Because the Dragon Hunters have guild approved builds and this doesn’t meet them. Trouble is, everything I get as a drop, like this, is pushing me toward being a magic user. I’d love to start using magic, but I can’t. So what I want to do is keep this safe and use it after I leave the guild. Otherwise, they’ll insist I sell it.”
“You’re quite something, you know,” Mikael said, straightening up. “First, you ignore my warning and join them. Now you’ve been with them for less than a day and you’re already trying to steal from them and deceive them, while planning to leave. I’d say you deserve them because you fit right in.”
He turned his back on me and walked off.
I guess today was ‘lose your friends’ day. He did have a point, though. If I was going to be in this guild, I should at least follow their rules, I suppose. Time to make some coin. I headed to the quest board to see what I could find.
For some bizarre reason, the board was empty. That didn’t make sense. Someone must need some rats killed or some water ferried somewhere. Hoping there was something my interface would tell me, I thought hard about wanting information. I was rewarded with a pop-up message.
Your Karma value is negative, so you don’t qualify for any quests from this board.
“What? How did I get a negative Karma value?” Nothing popped up to answer me.
I focused on seeing my Karma value instead of the whole of my stats sheet and discovered I now had negative 100 Karma. Time to go back and see if the library had any ideas about what had happened.
I was clearly going to be on my own, as usual. That was fine. I’d had to rely on myself for as long as I could remember. It was no different now. ‘Toughen up and get on with it,’ I thought to myself. I didn’t need anyone else. I could do this. I would show everyone I was capable of solving this riddle without their help.
I brought up the guild menu and, thinking hard about the library, I ported back to the guildhall.
An hour later, having exhausted every single search I could think of, I was no closer to solving the riddle or finding out why the Dragon Hunters had killed off all the Alchemists. The only conclusion I could draw was that Andrew knew something I didn’t. That meant he almost certainly knew we were going in the wrong direction for a build.
If that was the case, and he’d killed off all the high-ranked Alchemists, then I needed to level up my Alchemy, fast. Maybe I could work out how the riddle and Alchemy were linked later, but until I was further along, it was simply time to grind.
I headed to the crafting hall.
After 30 minutes of crushing sets of 3 flux beans, I had ten little vials of them ready to start trying my hand at creating health potions. As an added bonus, my Herbalism skill had shot up to level 4. It turned out that, for every successful processing, I got 10% progress toward the next level.
Getting to the Alchemy bench, I pulled out an Alchemy flask and the tongs. The cress-rose flower tincture and the star bramble tincture were sitting on the bench, ready for me to start.
I poured a tiny bottle of water into the flask. Carefully adding three drops of the cress-rose flower tincture, I watched the red dissipate in the water. Next, I tipped one of the vials with three crushed flux beans in and they slowly sank to the bottom. Finally, I added a single drop of the star bramble tincture. I re-read the recipe instructions again to double check I was doing it all correctly. All I had to do was heat it on a molten heat until it turned a deep red.
Taking a deep breath, I powered up the torch and held the Alchemy flask over the searing yellow flames. Ten seconds later, the mixture started to turn a faint pink. Another ten seconds, and it was definitely a deeper color, but still only just reaching faint red. I held it over the heat, watching it go from the faint red to a bright red. Suddenly, the color deepened fast. Before it could explode again, I yanked the flask away from the torch. Hopefully, this was what the recipe meant by dark red.
I put the flask down on the bench to let the mixture cool for one minute, monitoring it with the help of the handy timer on my interface.
Success! You have created: Basic Healing Potion
Yes! I had this. Master Alchemist, here I come. I could do this without help. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of sharing any other discoveries I made again.
Ten basic healing potions later, my Alchemy skill hit level 2. Time to start on the stamina and mana potions.
Recipe: Basic Mana Potion
1 bottle of water
5 drops of Solomon’s Seal Berry tincture
3 crushed Lightning Bugs
1 drop of Star Bramble tincture
Combine the ingredients over molten heat until potion is deep blue.
Cool for 1 minute.
I went back to the Herbalism bench and pulled three lightning bugs out of the stasis box. Putting them in the mortar, I grabbed the pestle and started gently tapping away at them. Every time I tapped, I got a small shock as a spark of blue lightning wound itself around the pestle and went up into my hand. This was less than fun. Thankfully, by the time I started grinding up the cracked shells, all the lightning had gone.
Success! You have created: Crushed Lightning Bugs x 3
A further 30 minutes later saw me with ten sets of three crushed lightning bugs in little bottles and my Herbalism skill up to level 6. Unfortunately, as soon as I’d hit level 5, I started only getting 5% progress for a successful processing, so things were going to start slowing down.
Lastly, I needed the Solomon’s Seal berry tincture. I followed the tincture recipe again and put a bottle of water into a tincture creation flask. I grabbed three of the blue berries and toggled the torch to hot heat. Three minutes later, I had a successful tincture in front of me.
Success! You have created: Solomon’s Seal Berry tincture
I took all the ingredients I’d processed and moved them over to the Alchemy bench. Grabbing an Alchemy flask, I poured in a tiny bottle of water. Next, I added 3 drops of the Solomon’s Seal berry tincture, and once again, I watched as the blue color spread out in the water and the color disappeared. I tipped the crushed lightning bugs in, but unlike the flux beans, they floated on the surface. Lastly, I added a drop of the star bramble tincture.
I picked up the flask, toggled the torch to molten and held the mixture over the yellow flames. Ten seconds in, the faint blue color started to show. Another ten seconds and it was easily noticeable. I watched the potion very closely. Suddenly, it deepened to a rich, royal blue and I pulled the flask out of the flames. I carefully put the mixture down on the bench to cool. A minute later, I was rewarded with the notific
ation of success.
Success! You have created: Basic Mana Potion
Another ten mana potions later and my Alchemy skill was up to level 3. All I had left to do was the stamina potions.
Recipe: Basic Stamina Potion
1 bottle of water
5 drops of Wild Strawberry Leaf tincture
3 crushed Kudzu Seeds
1 drop of Star Bramble tincture
Combine the ingredients over molten heat until potion is bright yellow.
Cool for 1 minute.
I grabbed the kudzu seeds and crushed them into a powder.
Success! You have created: Crushed Kudzu Seeds x 3
A further nine sets of three seeds brought me up to level 7 in Herbalism, with 75% of the next level complete, too.
The wild strawberry leaf tincture was next. Weirdly enough, there wasn’t a place for wild strawberry leaves in the stasis box, so I pulled them out of my inventory without thinking about it too much. Thank goodness I’d picked some up or I wouldn’t be making these potions. I’d have to go and ask Suri who’d made the stamina potions that were in the kitchen cupboard. Maybe they’d know why there were no strawberry leaves. For that matter, hopefully they’d be able to give me the next set of recipes as well, since I clearly wasn’t going to get those from Aliz, the Milgate Alchemist.
I took all of the next set of ingredients to the Alchemy bench again to make the stamina potions. This time, the mixture went from a pale, golden color right through to a bright, vibrant yellow before I pulled it off the heat.
Success! You have created: Basic Stamina Potion
I brewed up the other nine that I had the ingredients for, getting my Alchemy skill up to level 4. I’d need another 109 potions to reach level 10, which is when I hoped I’d progress to the Apprentice rank. With the amount of processing of herbs I’d need, that would also take me to Apprentice rank for Herbalism. I buckled down for the evening, promising myself I’d go and get some food when I was done so I could chat to Suri about the kitchen potions.
Exhausted, but finally a level 10 Alchemist and Herbalist, I arrived at the kitchens.
“What can I get you to eat?” the motherly Chef asked as I stuck my head in through the kitchen door.
“Whatever you have, I’m just hungry. I don’t need any buffs at the moment, unless you have food with some kind of luck buff.”
“Well, all food here comes with a buff to something, but unfortunately, nothing you can eat will make you luckier. I have a pot of rabbit stew on the fire and some fresh baked bread that’s just come out of the ovens. Have a seat over there and I’ll bring them over.”
“Actually, I had another question, if you don’t mind. Who makes the potions for the potions cupboard?”
“We actually buy those. They’re made by the Alchemist in Milgate. Her name is Aliz Rynemann.”
17
A Goopy Mess
“We’re moving out, people,” Colt yelled.
He seemed to be moving up in the guild rapidly and was now in charge of a group of twelve of us. I’d woken up this morning to find that we were scheduled to go out and clear the Telemachus Dungeon. I’d emptied my inventory of all the crafting materials I had picked up the day before, then stocked up with two cheese soufflés, some bacon for the health buff and some of the beautiful fresh bread I’d had the night before that gave me a buff to Endurance. I could only have two buffs at once, one from the main dish and one from a side. I planned on using the Endurance buff unless I needed health regeneration very quickly, in which case I’d just pop a strip of bacon in.
“I want you organized in three groups of four people. One person will be the tank, one will be the melee damage dealer and the last two will provide ranged damage. I’ll tank for my party.” Colt said.
I ended up in a party with Saris as our melee damage dealer and Baynor as the other ranged fighter. Colt assigned himself as our tank.
“Port to the dungeon and we’ll regroup inside.” Colt disappeared as the rest of the people started blinking out of the guildhall.
I selected Telemachus Dungeon as my exit and arrived next to the marker stone outside the dungeon. I could see some other groups of guild members that weren’t in a party with us walking away from the entrance, off to do something else. I guess there was a huge guild event going on. We all entered the dungeon together.
“Set your respawn point here, and buff up,” Colt demanded. “We start out in one minute. My group will engage the first mob we see, the others will carry on further. Group two gets the second mob and so on. We’ll carry on this way until we’ve cleared the whole first floor, then we’ll come together for the boss room. Everyone clear? Good. Move out.”
We walked into the caverns and a brief flash of movement caught my eye as the first gladiator spider spotted us and started spinning its web.
“Incoming,” I said so Colt hopefully wouldn’t be taken by surprise.
The web flew at Colt who deftly stepped to the side and engaged the spider. A couple of hits later and a slimy looking venom sac lay in the place where the spider had been. I shoved it into my inventory, silently laughing at the look of utter disgust on Saris and Colt’s faces.
The group rapidly killed off all the spiders and bats without missing a beat. Along the way, I hit level 6.
Congratulations! You are now level 6.
You have 5 unassigned stat points to use.
You have also gained 5 HP, 5 MP and 5 SP.
All changes are final. Place your points mindfully.
You need 70,000 XP for your next level.
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at some huge iron doors. They looked like they were solid metal with some engraving around the edges. I moved closer for a better look. Sure enough, what looked like runes ran all the way around the edge of each door. I had no idea what the runes meant, but I mentally recorded several zoomed in pictures of them so I could research them later in the library.
“Gather around,” Colt shouted.
“Andrew told me what to expect from the first boss, so pay attention. It’s a large spider. Every 25% it spawns 10 smaller spiders and lays a further 10 eggs. It also crouches down and becomes invulnerable. We have to kill those eggs fast before they hatch, then take out the smaller spiders before we can continue. Ranged players, the eggs are your responsibility, don’t mess up.” Colt looked pointedly at me. “At 50%, it also does an AOE (area of effect attack) that will cover the entire room. If you want to survive, you’ll have to Dodge it. When it rears back and lifts its front legs, count to two and Dodge. Anyone who fails to do so will be cocooned in a poisonous web. We’ll try to get you out if we can, but no promises. If you die, respawn and run back to help.”
“To make sure we can all get back into the room, everyone needs to key themselves to these doors. Place your hand on this rune here by the handle as you enter and wait until you get the confirmation message.” Colt pointed at a rune that looked like an arrow pointing upward. “When you get inside, move immediately to the outer wall behind you and you’ll be out of the boss’s agro range. I don’t want anyone triggering the start of the fight until we’re all inside. Clear?”
Everyone nodded and, one by one, people started placing their hands on the rune and disappearing inside. As the last person left, I put my hand over the rune.
You are keyed for entry to Chilath’s Domain.
Do you want to enter? Yes / No
I thought yes, and instantly appeared inside a huge stone cavern. I quickly stepped back toward the outer wall so I wouldn’t start the boss fight.
There, in the center of the room, was a huge green spider. It easily measured ten feet from the floor to the top of its head. Its green skin was covered with what I could only imagine was armor plating that was going to make this monster very hard to kill. Each leg ended in razor-sharp blades that came down to a point that glowed a sickly looking green color. Venom, I thought. It had at least twenty jet black eyes atop its head so it could see in every direction a
t once. I looked downward from there and noticed its huge mouth. Two yellowed fangs, each with a drop of green venom at the ends, promised a horribly painful death to anyone that got within range.
With a quick thought, I equipped my new ring. There was a good chance I’d need the extra 20 HP to get through this fight.
“For glory!” Colt screamed, running at the giant spider.
“For glory!” echoed around the room as all the melee players ran in behind him.
The ranged players had already spread out around the wall as I’d been looking at the boss. I knelt down to start activating Snipe. As soon as the creature’s head came zooming toward me, I let the arrow fly. I hit it between its eyes. Five other arrows peppered the spider’s head. So far, even with 6 melee players wailing on the spider’s legs, Chilath’s health bar had yet to move. This was going to be one long fight.
I watched the party member’s health bars flicker up and down along with tiny icons showing a poisoned status come and go as we battled away with the boss.
Finally, we got its health down to 75% and it crouched down and became invulnerable. Ten smaller spiders appeared in a ring around the boss, trapping the melee players between them and it. Another ten large, gray eggs appeared a split second later, scattered randomly around the room. I leaned back and held onto my bowstring until five arrows materialized. I let loose over a collection of eggs nearby, triggering my Rain of Arrows skill after a quick glance at Baynor next to me to make sure we didn’t target the same egg. I Sniped the closest one to me. I hit it dead on. With the damage it had already taken from the Rain of Arrows, the egg split from top to bottom. I fired one more Basic Shot into the egg, and it fell open, spilling a goopy mess out onto the floor.
