by A F Kay
Ruwen shrugged. “I’m not sure what else to do. I don’t see how we win against an army of skeletons.”
“What if that Mage is in the temple already?” Sift asked. “He needs to live somewhere.”
Ruwen had thought of this already and didn’t have a reassuring answer. “Then we fight him. The number of skeletons inside the temple will be limited, so that should be to our advantage.”
“What if there is more than one person?” Hamma asked.
“That’s possible,” Ruwen said. “But the way the Mage spoke, it sounded like he was alone. He seemed proud of it.”
“I don’t feel good about this,” Hamma said.
“None of us do,” Lylan said.
“Let’s look in those packs for anything useful,” Ruwen said. “Maybe there will be something that gives us a better plan.”
Ruwen set Whiskers to watch the city. They dumped out the packs and removed anything they thought might be useful for the fight, and then divided it based on who would benefit the most. Sift stood and leaned on the tree near them, keeping watch.
Lylan’s pile contained a large Potion of Sharpness, which she used on six different knives, doubling their damage. Ruwen watched as the blades appeared and disappeared as if by magic. Her small crossbow would be ineffective against the skeletons but would fare better against the Bone Sculptor Mage, and she used a Vial of Confusion Oil to coat the tips of five bolts.
The Shade also took ten Force Beads that would explode with the power of a bomb, without the sound or smoke, and two rings: one for haste and the other to increase her resistances. Lastly, after some convincing, she took a belt made of small black links. It added thirty to her Armor Class and a shield that absorbed two hundred fifty damage per day.
They found another Suffocation item, a thin leather vambrace, and it took Ruwen ten minutes to convince Sift to take it. But Sift refused to take anything else.
Hamma took a Ring of Spell Shield that, when activated, created five orbs of light that spun around her body. The tiny spheres reminded him of chaos orbs, probably because of their multicolor appearance. Each orb would cancel a harmful spell directed at her but would ignore area of effect spells.
Hamma kept glancing at a small figurine, and Ruwen picked up the thumb-sized statue. The weight surprised him.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Carnage Golem
Armor Class: Variable (10-1000)
Damage: Variable (1-200)
Quality: Special
Durability: 1000 of 1000
Weight: 12 lbs.
Effect (Passive): Paperweight.
Effect (Triggered): Increase in size and violently attack everything except its owner.
Restriction: One activation per day.
Restriction: Must be bound before activating.
Description: Small stone statue with oversized fists. Owner must bind golem by speaking the name written on its forehead and then damaging it for a minimum of 11 damage. If no name is visible, then the golem already possesses a master. Once activated the golem will increase in size and then decrease as it takes damage. The golem will deactivate once it reaches 1 Health Point or 24 hours have passed. Healing the golem increases its size.
Ruwen had read about golems. They resulted from Mages and Crafters collaborating. Many were created for a single purpose and were formidable opponents as they didn’t feel pain and resisted most magic.
Ruwen looked at the name written in tiny letters across the golem’s forehead and smiled. He looked at Hamma. “You should take this.”
Hamma shook her head. “I can’t even read its name.”
Ruwen placed the golem in Hamma’s hand and whispered in her ear. “His name is Smash.”
Hamma laughed. “Seriously?”
“That’s how I read it. Let’s find out,” Ruwen said.
Ruwen cast Retrieve, and a fifty flashed over his Mana bar. A rock thirty feet away, just at the max range of the spell, flew toward Ruwen’s hand. He caught it, his Dexterity now considerably higher than when he had first cast this spell.
“Showoff,” Sift said.
Ruwen winked at Sift and placed the rock in front of Hamma.
Hamma beamed a smile at Ruwen and then held the tiny golem up to her mouth. “Smash,” she whispered and then slammed the figure into the stone.
The tiny golem shattered into hundreds of pieces, and everyone gasped.
“Oh, no!” Hamma cried.
A moment later, the pieces vibrated and pulled themselves back together. In seconds the figure had reformed. It pushed itself off the ground, slammed its fists together three times, and then looked up at Hamma. Smash held up a tiny fist, and Hamma made a fist and bumped it against the golem’s. Smash bowed to her and then hardened back into stone. The letters on its forehead had disappeared.
“I love him,” Hamma said. She leaned over and hugged Ruwen. “Thank you.”
Ruwen’s chest tightened as he returned the hug. Then he looked at Sift and Lylan. “If she says his name, the description says he gets bigger. More importantly, only Hamma is safe. So stay out of Smash’s way until he reaches a safe size.”
Sift narrowed his eyes, and Ruwen pointed at him. “Don’t try and get her to say ‘Smash.’ This is serious. I think that thing might be dangerous.”
“Look how tiny it is,” Sift said.
“Golems are a big thing on the west coast,” Lylan said. “I’ve heard some can destroy cities.”
“It doesn’t look like it could smash my toe,” Sift said.
Hamma placed her hands over Smash’s ears. “Stop talking like that. What if he can hear you?”
Ruwen pointed at a gold diamond-shaped badge the size of his palm. “You should take that Badge of Authority too, Hamma. You get a plus two level advantage because of your Class.”
“Is that the item that controls the weak-minded?” Lylan asked.
Hamma placed Smash in a pocket and then picked up the badge. “It says I can use this three times a day to control anything with an Intelligence less than ten.”
“You better be careful, Sift,” Ruwen said.
“Very funny. You’re lucky it isn’t Charisma,” Sift replied.
Ruwen ignored the barb. “It’s less than eight for us,” Ruwen said. “And the two extra levels you get could make an enormous difference on those skeletons.”
“Lylan?” Hamma asked, holding the badge up.
“No, Ruwen’s right. The extra benefit makes you the obvious choice. Plus, I really prefer to stay out of sight, which makes using it difficult.”
“Okay, thank you,” Hamma said.
Ruwen waved his hands across the remaining jewelry. “Are you happy with the rings you have?”
Hamma nodded. “I have the two rings I earned in Blapy. One increases my Mana Regen, and the other stores a spell. Then, there’s the Jaga Wedding Band you gave me in front of Fractal.” Hamma’s cheeks turned a little pink.
“Stop,” Ruwen said to Sift before he could get a word out.
Hamma continued. “The Ring of Spell Shield I just took, and the six I picked in the Spirit Realm seem fine. I ended up with two Resistance rings, a Stamina one, a spell-storage one, a Regen booster, and one that buffs my Armor Class.”
Ruwen looked at the pile. Half his rings were the Coiled Lightning Rings, which each gave him a critical five Energy per second. He had added the Watcher’s Ring of Travel, the Suffocation Ring of Projection, and the Revolving Ring of Elemental Immunity. The remaining two rings he’d earned in Blapy: the Serpent Ring of Health and the Ring of Exploding Regeneration. The Health ring he should probably replace, but the ring’s plus twenty-five Health had saved his life before, and he didn’t want to part with it.
Cleverness had saved Ruwen more times than anything else, and it seemed logical that the more items he had to work with, the better the outcome. So he took a fog potion, a lubrication potion, and a pouch of seeds.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Flask of Sailors’ Tears
Quality: Uncommon
Volume: 100x100x100 feet
Duration: 3 minutes (minus 10 seconds for every mile per hour of wind)
Weight: 0.01 lbs.
Effect: Visibility decreased to three feet.
Effect: Sound reduced by 90%.
Effect: Those trapped in the fog have a 5% chance per ten seconds to suffer disorientation, panic, or paralyzing fear.
Description: A wispy grey fog that is slightly wet to the touch. The shadows of dead sailors move through the mist, and their cold hands occasionally graze the unwary.
This fog seemed really creepy, but if Ruwen needed to mask his movements, it would be perfect.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Lubrication Potion
Quality: Uncommon
Area: 3x3 feet
Weight: 0.50 lbs.
Effect: Friction reduced by 99%.
Description: A black liquid that smells like sulfur. Extraordinarily slippery and resistant to water. Removal requires flames or an alcohol-based solvent.
Another item that Ruwen knew would be super useful in the right situation.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Flash Seeds
Quality: Uncommon
Quantity: 7
Weight: 0.09 lbs.
Effect (Smashed): Produces an intense white light for 1 second, and causes blindness for 3-10 seconds.
Effect (Ingested): Produces light for six hours, causing the consumer’s bowels to glow brightly as the seed is digested.
Effect (Planted): If planted in a sunny area and watered daily will produce a Flash Seed Flower in 7 to 10 days.
Description: A tiny white seed. A favorite of children (possibly only surpassed by Thunder Seeds) most commonly used for celebrations.
Ruwen smiled and thought about his quest You’re Bacon Me Crazy. On the last day, one of these seeds would definitely make its way into Sift’s breakfast. It would be hilarious to see Sift glowing from the inside. He dumped the seeds out of their pouch and into his Void Band.
The amulets from the camping trip would have been useful, but the necklaces had a level ten restriction, which all of them had surpassed. Ruwen took off his Suffocation Ring of Projection, the Suffocation Gorget of Projection, and the War Marshal’s Suffocation Bracer from his right wrist and placed them in his Inventory. They wouldn’t benefit him if he needed to fight.
Searching through the remaining gear, he settled on three items.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Bracer of Freedom
Quality: Fine
Durability: 25 of 30
Weight: 1.75 lbs.
Effect: Duration of impairment magic such as stuns, roots, fear, poison, etc. is reduced by 50%.
Description: Brown leather bracer slick to the touch.
Ruwen loathed crowd control spells like those listed. He relied on his mobility to keep him safe.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Paranoia Loop
Quality: Fine
Durability: 15 of 20
Weight: 1.0 lbs.
Effect: Doubles the effectiveness of any spell, ability, or skill related to sensing harm or traps.
Description: Ring made of blood-red topaz. Paranoia keeps you safe.
The ring looked a little flashy with its dark red color, but the benefits were powerful, and Ruwen kept it anyway. It would benefit his Keen Senses ability, Find Trap spell, and Detect Trap skill.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Amulet of Leeches
Quality: Fine
Durability: 9 of 10
Weight: 1.20 lbs.
Effect: Each successful attack places a magical leech, which does 1-3 bleed damage to the target every 5 seconds for a total of 1 minute. Can stack up to ten times.
Description: Black chain connected to a swollen leech. If the amulet hasn’t fed by sunset, it attacks the wearer, feeding for 10-100 damage.
This amulet was incredibly powerful, but Ruwen knew exactly why the women had avoided it. He thought about finding something else as well. Leeches were disgusting and the thought of the amulet covering him in leeches once a day to feed really grossed him out. But if he could land ten punches on someone, they would bleed for twelve to thirty-six Health points per leech, making the total damage one hundred twenty to three hundred sixty Health per minute. He just couldn’t leave that kind of damage behind.
“It’s not even noon yet,” Ruwen said. “How about we spend an hour or so distributing spell and ability points, and then move–”
Ruwen stopped talking.
“What’s wrong?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen looked around at his friends. “Whiskers just saw the Mage leave through the front gate. We need to move now. This is our chance.”
“What do we do with all this?” Lylan said, waving her arm across the scattered items.
Ruwen opened his Void Band. “Throw it all in here for now.”
Everyone tossed items into the Void Band, although Sift “missed” twice, hitting Ruwen in the chest and head. Ruwen removed his coin from Blapy and dropped it into his Void Band, not wanting to lose it.
A notification appeared, and he quickly read it while the others finished loading.
Tring!
You have been gifted…
Name: Wyrm Coin of Summoning
Quality: Legendary
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 0.20 lbs.
Effect: Flipping this coin (must reach a height of five feet) summons an ancient wyrm and, if caught by the wyrm before striking the ground, entitles the owner to a single reasonable request (reasonableness decided by the wyrm). If the flipped coin strikes the ground, the wyrm is obligated to fulfill three requests, without ill intent or misconstrued meaning.
Description: A heavy coin with a centipede shaped like an infinity ring and biting its tail etched on one side, and a dragon coiled on itself with its wings forming the sides of a pyramid on the other, capped by a Divine Circle. Think thrice before attempting to interfere with the wyrm’s catch.
No wonder Blapy wanted everyone to use their coins. If she somehow missed catching the coin, it would result in three requests, and interestingly the second part said nothing about being reasonable. But Blapy seemed to be everywhere, and he doubted he could make her miss by accident. He needed to come up with a way to make her miss, without also making her angry, in case he ever needed an unreasonable request. Or three of them.
“Done,” Lylan said.
Ruwen refocused on his group, removed his Scarf of Freshness from his Inventory, and closed his Void Band. Wrapping the scarf around his nose and mouth, he watched the others do the same. “Okay, let’s buff up and head down.”
Chapter 55
Ruwen and the group stood in the trees fifty feet from the collapsed wall. He verified Whiskers still had the Mage in sight. The Bone Sculptor had walked to the lake, a half-mile from the city, and stood facing the water. The Mage’s cloak covered him completely, including his head, and Ruwen couldn’t see exactly where the Mage looked. Maybe he was waiting for someone, which gave them another reason to move quickly. The Bone Sculptor didn’t have his scythe this time, and Ruwen wondered why.
Toggling off Detect Temperature and activating Magnify, he studied the area inside the city one last time. Once past the wall, there were piles of bricks everywhere that used to be buildings, some heaps reaching thirty feet high. A few buildings still stood, probably made by Stone Mages, as their granite walls showed no signs of joints. The city wall here, on what Ruwen thought of as the backside of the city, only reached seventy feet high, and a couple of the Mage-built structures were almost that tall.
A thousand feet from them stood what had to be the temple. At two hundred feet, it was easily the tallest building Ruwen had ever seen. Smooth li
ke the Mage-constructed buildings, it didn’t have the look of stone, but the dull look of metal. Crumbling stone steps led to a dark square opening twenty feet on a side.
Bones littered the area, and Ruwen wondered if they acted like sentries. They should easily be able to make it into the temple before the Mage reappeared, taking the skeleton advantage away from him. The Guardians lay half-buried and encrusted with dirt. Hopefully, they would return to sentry duty once the temple came back online.
Sift had left Shelly in the stream that flowed from the lake down through the valley. Hamma had buffed them with Judgement and given them all Blessed Unleavened Bread and Blessed Spring Water.
Judgement: +5 damage
Blessed Unleavened Bread: +2 Stamina, +1 Strength
Blessed Spring Water: +2 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence
Ruwen cast Backstab, Charge Weapon, and Bleed on his Baton of a Thousand Uses and then placed it back on his belt. Backstab tripled the damage from behind, Charged Weapon added a one to three-second electrical stun, and Bleed would cause two times the weapon damage. He stopped channeling Energy to Find Trap as it had found no danger, and he wanted to save the Energy for his Void Band. Once again, he cursed that none of them had an ability or skill that would form a group for them. He hated not being able to see the status and location of his friends.
Keen Senses had screamed danger at Ruwen since the city had come into sight, but he couldn’t detect why. He looked at Hamma and whispered. “Has your Sense Harm triggered?”
Hamma nodded, and Ruwen looked at Lylan.
“My Keen Senses is going crazy,” Lylan said.
“I can’t find the source, and the Mage is still by the lake,” Ruwen said. He looked at Hamma. “At the first sign of danger, you cast your Light Guardian.”
Hamma nodded again.
Ruwen looked at each of his friends. “I’ll go first, Hamma second. Sift, you watch our rear and right flank. I’ll take the front and left. Lylan, I know you’re more effective on your own, so do your thing, but please keep an eye above us.”
