by J. J. Lorden
“Seriously? With what tools? Did you start with a knife? Cause that would be some bullshit,” Carson looked to Erramir for confirmation of the perceived injustice.
“No,” Val responded, shaking her head. “I have a racial ability called Wood Weaver. It lets me communicate with trees to make things.” She proudly held up Virginwood. “This turned out to be a named weapon that scales with me as I level. Best starting weapon I’ve ever had by a mile. I even got an achievement for weaving it.”
“Damn, that’s amazing, Val,” Carson said with a nod of appreciation. “You are a proper badass.” He took a step back and stood a touch taller. “For my part, I discovered an Elven city and managed to befriend one of their elite warriors. He set me up with this armor. It’s got stat boosts that are tailored for a highly mobile caster, which is perfect for me.”
They both looked at Erramir as if it was his turn to boast about his incredible stuff. Erramir didn’t have anything. “Yep, nothing cool to brag about yet, just the amazing avatar.” He stood straight, arms lifted, palms up, displaying himself.
Valerie smiled mischievously, “Oh, Err, you’re too modest. Look.” She pointed toward the hole. “Our fearless leader has managed to collect a fancy new purse.” Carson bent his head to look around Erramir and saw the ragged bag.
“Ha!—Woah.” Carson cut himself short and pushed between them. “What’s with the big square hole?” They followed, and the three friends stood in a line looking into the opening.
“We’re not sure yet,” Erramir explained. “We just found it accidentally on our way to find you. There was a stone slab there. When I stepped on the edge of it, the whole thing collapsed into the hole.”
“No kidding. Well, hell, looks like we’ve found our first dungeon!” Carson looked between them for agreement.
“Erramir says it’s full of magic,” Val said. “The cover stones glow in his True Vision. We were about to discuss what to do next, and since we don’t need to search for you, I think that’s a short conversation.” She looked at Erramir. “We’re going in, right?”
Erramir gently patted his hands at the air. “Hold up. Before we go rushing into this dungeon, let’s work out a rough plan of how we’ll fight. I don’t want to go charging in and just die, especially since pain isn’t dulled out here. I think Elle allowed for an increased adrenaline override, which lets you fight through it, but still, the pain is no joke.”
“Yeah, that’s no joke,” Carson agreed, and his eyes got distant.
For the next thirty minutes, they went over character builds, skills, abilities, and talents. Carson filled them in on his discovery of the Elven city, which fascinated both Erramir and Valerie, and they asked a ton of questions.
He described his elemental awakening in the heart of the sacred Elven tree with awe and reverence. The solemnity of his tone was out of place for his irreverent personality. But it fits him, Erramir thought.
Carson spoke bitterly about Nero’s pitching him off the tree to train his flight magic, then pulled his spellbook from the hidden pouch in the small of his back. At the top of the first page was a large glyph. Below it, were several paragraphs of blocky writing and a diagram that resembled something out of an instruction book on knots.
Nobody could read the instructions, but Carson wasn’t bothered by that. Holding the spellbook in one hand, he pulled open his doublet and showed them a matching glyph that glowed dimly against the green leather. Carson explained that the spellbook held the detailed instructions for the spell while the doublet sigil acted as a focus, allowing him to cast without having the book in his hand.
“It’s not really casting,” Carson explained. “It’s more like braiding a rope of energy or maybe some kind of fancy sailor’s knot. Technically it’s called spell weaving.” He shrugged. “I think calling it casting is fine, though.”
Carson admitted he didn’t have any offensive magic yet. But assured them his strong affinities, especially for air and water, would allow him to improvise and create an offensive spell when the fighting started. Erramir prodded him to improvise something now instead of waiting, but Carson shook his head at the suggestion.
“It just doesn’t work that way. I need the immediacy created by a real threat to do it. Maybe as I get better, it’ll change, but for now, I need a hostile enemy to get agreement from the resonances to work destructively. Casting spells is a lot more like a conversation than I expected, but it also allows for tons of creativity.”
The other two looked unconvinced. “Okay, let me try something,” Carson said, then closed his eyes and lifted his hands. A breeze began to blow.
“This isn’t even a weave. I’m just encouraging the air to move. That’s what it does, what it is, and out here this belongs in this moment.”
He attempted to concentrate the breeze into a lance of air, and it just dissipated. Seeing the demonstration, his friends nodded, beginning to understand the truth of what Carson was trying to explain.
Racheal described her run-in with the deaver and her discovery of Scout Pathfinding, which unlocked the mapping interface.
The other two pushed her for more details on how she’d learned the skill, and after many questions, they resolved to try and replicate her efforts. They’d pay close attention to their surroundings and work to build a mental map as they moved about. This seemed to match the method by which Kuora granted skills and was likely their best bet.
She spoke only briefly of bonding with Entiarch and her Wood Weaver ability before moving on to talk about the weapon itself. Erramir noted she’d truncated the story before as well and wondered about her reluctance. He figured Val would explain when she was ready.
Val demonstrated her connection to the staff by calling it off the ground into her hand. Carson was riveted by the display. He exclaimed that air essence was being activated and made her repeat it at further and further distances while he watched.
“Let’s try something a bit longer,” Val said, and she threw Virg overhand like a spear. The weapon arced out about 20 yards.
“Woahhh! Did you see that?” Carson exclaimed and looked wide-eyed at his friends, but they hadn’t noticed anything unique or different. It was a decent throw, especially given that Val hadn’t even tried very hard. But the throw itself was not what interested Carson.
“The weave reverses when you throw it like that!” Carson said, getting excited. “I think you can propel it like a missile. The essence gathered when you cocked it over your shoulder but just dissipated when you released it, so you’ll need to activate the weave.” He took a minute to consider that.
“And how exactly would I do that?” Val asked.
Carson nodded. “Right, that’s what I’m trying to figure. You’re weaving this spell instinctively based upon your soul connection to Virg. So, I’m pretty sure it’s based on your intention.” When you call it back, is it like you’re pulling on a phantom connection?”
“Yeah. That’s about right. It’s a bit like I have a string running down my arm on the inside that ends at a tickle in my palm. When I call Virg, it’s like the string goes taut.”
“Perfect.” Carson was nodding enthusiastically. “Activating the throwing weave should feel like the opposite of that, but I don’t think you need to worry about how it feels. Just intend to project it, almost like you’re drawing a flight path with your mind.”
With Carson’s explanation, Valerie had an idea of what he was describing. She gathered the staff back and threw it again as she exerted her focus on propelling the weapon away like a missile.
Virginwood blasted into the sky as if shot from a cannon.
In a heartbeat, it was hundreds of feet away and showing no sign of slowing.
Valerie yelped in panic as she watched her precious soulbound weapon sail away. She called it back urgently, finding an increased pressure was required before the weapon responded.
In the same heartbeat it took to cover hundreds of feet moving away, the white streak of wood hurled back to her, and she grabb
ed it out of the air with impossible ease.
Carson and Erramir stared at her, gaping–surprise and awe plain on both their faces. Neither spoke as Valerie quieted her hammering heart while gripping the staff to her chest and whispering quietly, seemingly to the weapon. Eventually, she calmed and looked up at the men.
“That scared the piss out of me.” She leveled a glare at Carson. “Why the hell didn’t you warn me it’d go so far, you dick!”
But the criticism just slid right off Carson, and slowly a smile spread across his face until he just stood there grinning in defiance of her furious stare.
“What the hell are you grinning at?” Valerie berated. “You look like a Cheshire freak.”
But her ire had no effect. If anything, it seemed to provoke Carson.
The mage relished his unrevealed secret for a long moment, before explaining. “Unless I’m missing something, you just unlocked a terrifying power with nearly limitless possibilities in a fight.”
He raised an eyebrow, and Valerie’s demeanor shifted from annoyed, to considering, to blank amazement, and finally to a wicked grin as she grasped the possibilities. Val held up Virg and beheld her staff in wonder. “This is hands down the most over-powered weapon and skill combo I’ve ever had.”
“You’re welcome,” Carson said and then turned to Erramir. It was his turn to detail abilities as a part of their pre-dungeon-dive planning.
Erramir displayed his razor-sharp obsidian nails and described how he used them in his near-fatal fight with Tallimur. He explained the Predator’s Steps skill he’d received from gaining the Honor Bound title and the associated quest to seek out the Blood River Tribe shaman.
Having been reminded of the quest, Valerie insisted they consider the merits of finding the shaman before entering the dungeon. In the end, though, they agreed that the dungeon was a higher priority.
Carson summed up their analysis. “Tons of different monsters and huge cats must have walked over this place and never knew it was here. But you opened it, bro, that’s got to mean something. Seems like an invitation to me.”
“Yeah, I’d thought of that too,” Erramir said.
“This place is clearly meant for you to find,” Carson continued. “It is your world, bro; we can’t really be that surprised by this. I’d be a bit offended if we didn’t find something awesome like a long-lost, magically-sealed dungeon.”
“We can’t really leave it open either,” Valerie added. “Anything might wander in there. If someone else finds something that’s meant for you or gets killed because we didn’t check it out–” She shook her head. “Unn-uh, no way. We can’t let that happen; this might be a big deal.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Erramir said.
“I know I brought this up,” Val said. “But that cat tried to kill you, Err. And you did kill it. Honor Bound or not, what makes you think this Blood River Tribe won’t just kill us all on sight?”
Erramir wasn’t actually sure about that. “Fair point, Val. The title is based on honor, so it seems logical that they’d respect me, but it could also be that honor is some function of battle prowess, like it was in my fight against Tallimur.” He shook his head slowly. “If I have to keep proving my honor by fighting…” He trailed off, and Carson jumped in.
“That’s not gonna work. I have no offensive spells. We need to level and give me the time to figure some out. Hell, we all need to level.” He motioned to Erramir and Val’s clothing. “And you two need something other than rags.”
Erramir nodded in agreement. His DrakkenWood skin was good armor, but it didn’t protect from surprise attacks or the elements, and he couldn’t keep it active all the time. They needed to find better clothing and hopefully a weapon for him.
“There’s no time requirement on going to visit this shaman, is there?” Carson asked.
“No, not explicitly,” Erramir replied. “Although she didn’t exactly seem the patient type.” He looked between his two friends. “Look, it doesn’t matter. This makes the most sense.”
With that finally settled, Erramir finished explaining his DrakkenWood skin, after which the group got down to assembling a general tactical plan for fighting together. Their strengths and weaknesses were clear, and their roles equally so. In very little time, they had a strategy.
Erramir summarized. “Okay, we’ll explore in single-file with Valerie leading, followed by Carson, and I’ll bring up the back as rear guard. If Val senses a threat, I’ll take the lead and use Predator’s Steps to scout out the mobs. If we think we can take them, we’ll work out a plan that uses the terrain to our advantage.”
He indicated himself and Val. “Until we find some better gear, we’ll focus on fighting tactics that play for distance while Val uses her staff to attack at range. I’ll be out in front, protecting her with my claws if anything does get too close. Our basic fighting formation is a wedge with me in the front, Val on my right, where she’ll have the most freedom with her staff, and Carson on my left.” He stopped and looked at the other two for confirmation.
Val nodded, as did Carson, although somewhat timidly. Having no way to fight back and being so dependent upon his friends made him nervous.
Erramir slapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. “Alright, let’s do this. I’ll go down first to inspect the magic seals.” Carson and Val nodded their assent, and he jumped back down into the opening, bare feet sinking into the pile of turned-up soil and grass
The space below the stone slabs was an awkward height, and he had to crouch and shuffle to the nearest glowing sigil. Settling onto one knee, he inspected the marking for any sign of danger or traps. This took several minutes as he considered it from every angle, focusing his mind on unraveling its meaning.
Eventually, Erramir got a clear sense that the central part was attuned to the energy of his Golden Equilibrium. When he did, the shape coalesced from just another part of the glyph to a crown. The shift felt like an image coalescing out of random clouds. After he saw it, the crown was impossible to ignore.
It was three-pointed, wherein the central point was the top of a teardrop-shaped jewel that filled the crown’s center. The fat lower part of the teardrop dipped below the crown’s headband as if it would cover a portion of the forehead.
Erramir wasn’t sure why he’d struggled as the image now stood out clearly. Focusing on the tear shape, he realized that it wasn’t a jewel at all. He got the distinct impression that the teardrop was, in fact, a drop of blood.
Not long after, he grasped the purpose of another element in the glyph. A corkscrewing line with narrow gaps, like a compressed spring, was the background for the three-point crown, extending above and below as well as out to the sides.
He got the distinct sense this element was a directional energy store. Erramir brought a finger close to the spiral and felt pressure push back.
Moving to hover by a different part shifted where he felt the pressure, at the top, above the crown, it was pushing up. Humm… that’s up then. It should flip the slab out, land it in the grass. Erramir rubbed his chin, considering. That’s quieter than slamming another one down into the stone platform. Safer, too, since I’m down here now.
Resolved but still cautious, he shuffled back to the opening and extended an arm, took a deep breath, lined up his finger, turned his face away, touched the spot, and jerked his hand back.
Whoomp!
The boom sounded with a flash of yellow light. He looked back over his shoulder. The stone slab was gone.
Erramir stood in the opening, then looked up and saw it. “Woooah.” The foot-thick, multi-ton slab was several stories up, careening through the air as it tumbled end-over-end away to his right. A green system indication flashed in the top right of his vision. He popped it open without even thinking; apparently, he’d wanted to read it.
New Skill learned (Atypical): Runecraft—It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. This is never truer than it is for a talented Runecrafter. One so gifted may inscrib
e symbols of power, imbuing them with essential energy, directed forces, and even higher energies. The medium inscribed need only be limited by a Runecrafter’s skill and creativity.
Experience gain: 1000
Experience for learning an Atypical skill without a trainer: 1500
Well done Erramir Darkfyre, you’ve reached level 4. Your 6 racial attribute points have been applied. Your experience-based attribute point gains are as follows: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +2 Intellect, and +1 Willpower. You have gained 4 free attribute points and have 16 total free points.
(Equilibrium bonus restriction: Free attribute points held in abeyance until level 10 or until additional requirements met.)
“What the hell, Err!” Carson shrieked.
He looked back at his friends. They both glared down at him angrily. In the nearby grass, the slab slammed into the ground, and they all felt the vibration.
“What? You’re fine,” He said, trying to placate them. “I knew what I was doing. And besides, I learned the skill Runecrafting and gained a level.” He smiled up at them.
Val’s face pinched with anger. “Right, I’m sure you knew exactly what you were doing. Because I know you made sure to pick up a copy of ‘Ancient Glowing Magical Symbols for Dummies’ at the bookstore back in the clearing under the tree, right? And I know you’ve had the time to read said imaginary guide.”
She glared, then pressed on. “Did you find instructions pasted to the underside of the slab? Maybe, a little quick-start guide to ensure you wouldn’t kill us?”
Erramir looked at her flatly. Valerie’s heated retort seemed hyperbolic and unnecessary to him, so he just shrugged. “None of that. I just knew how it would work.”
Val glared for a second more, but then she sighed. Her anger seemed to be partially ameliorated by his confidence. “You could have at least warned us,” she said, crossing her arms with Virg in the crook of an elbow. “What if it exploded instead of flying up?”
“Nah, it was clearly an activation point for an upward force. Besides, if I warned you, you’d have tried to talk me out of it, and I just didn’t want to argue.” He shrugged again and smiled. “Come on, it’s safe. You guys can’t activate them.” He waved for them to join him. “Let’s go check this place out.”
