Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2
Page 17
Its mouth was badly burned and its health had dropped slightly from the priestess’ protection.
We formed back up, putting a wall of flesh between the boss and its target while the casting bar filled.
The boss’ health was just over twenty percent, so we had to make every second its aura was down count. I popped a mana potion and sighed as a surge of energy flowed through me.
The next time the priestess’ attack was ready, we moved to the side and watched as she caught the mummified creature with a vicious upward attack with the nekhakha, sending it stumbling backwards with its shield once again suppressed.
*** Priestess of Asah uses Holy Smite on the Upuaut Alpha ***
*** Shield of Vengeance suppressed for ten seconds ***
We piled on the damage like a horde of Walmart shoppers on Black Friday battling for the ten seventy-two inch high def televisions for seventy-five percent off retail price.
Kjara’s blades left deep gashes along one side while Mika turned the other into a pin cushion.
My spear stabbed in multiple times, the last triggering a critical that filled me once again with power that I immediately used to cast a Sunstrike through my spear and into the Upuaut Alpha’s innards.
The damage was intense, but not quite enough to finish the job. I glared at its health bar and the two percent remaining that was taunting us all through the red glow of its newly restored aura.
In my haste to put the creature down I was out of position to stop its next attack as it lunged past Amenhotep and bit into the priestess, leaving her with only five percent of her health remaining.
It jumped back again, the negative consequences of taking a bite out of the spirit melting away another percent from its health, leaving it at one, single, solitary and frustrating percent.
The priestess’ spell casting had slowed by a significant amount, and I watched as the casting bar crept upwards just as slowly.
Mika stabbed the creature through its aura, dropping it to zero, but as its body started to collapse the wound was transferred to the dýrafólk and the boss monster was fine once again.
Mika grunted in pain as his health plummeted, and I hit him with a Cure Wounds. “Had to try and see if that’d work,” he said.
We pressed the creature back, guarding ourselves and parrying its attacks as it tried to reach its prey.
As the priestess’ spell neared completion once more, the beast lunged and sent me stumbling back. It dashed past Amenhotep and opened its maw to finally eliminate the priestess.
Another bite would mean failure, so I did the only thing I could think of. I dove through the spectral lady, using my body, which was decidedly thicker than hers, to take the blow.
Its jaws bit down on my shoulder and its fangs penetrated deep into my chest. It picked me up in its jaws and shook me like a rag doll before tossing me to the side. I lay in a pool of my own blood, wheezing with at least one punctured lung and the last nine percent of my hit points slowly bleeding into the dirt.
From the ground I heard the priestess finish her spell and the sound of the flail striking dried flesh.
*** Priestess of Asah uses Holy Smite on the Upuaut Alpha ***
*** Shield of Vengeance suppressed for ten seconds ***
And then it was dead as Mika, Kjara, and Amenhotep finished it off.
The notifications began to flow as I levered myself back into a standing position.
*** Your party has defeated the Upuaut Alpha (Boss)! Your party gains 3150xp. ***
*** You have gained 10 Divine Favor! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more proficient in Spear! Rank 12 Achieved! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more proficient in Shield! Rank 11 Achieved! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more proficient in Medium Armor! Rank 11 Achieved! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more proficient in Combat Caster! Rank 11 Achieved! ***
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Sunstrike spell! Rank 5 Achieved! Critical strikes now have a small chance of setting the target on fire. ***
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Soothing Touch spell! Rank 5 Achieved! Directed use of this skill now has a reduced mana and stamina cost. ***
*** Mika has reached level 11! ***
Blackness started to seep in at the edge of my vision as the last bits of my health drained away, but I had just enough left in the tank for one more Cure Wounds that kept me from taking a trip to the afterlife.
Amenhotep and Kjara pulled me to my feet, and I winced as the wounds that had not been healed by the spell reminded me of their presence. With combat over, my mana was starting to regenerate at a much quicker pace and as soon as I could I channeled Soothing Touch on myself, taking care of most of the wounds and then doing the same for the rest of the party as we moved.
We trotted after the priestess who had continued on her journey without us and reached her just as she cleared the wide open room and entered the normal looking tunnel leading back to the altar. The dungeon behind us morphed back into the original tunnel as we followed, once again presenting the potential for any stragglers to take an unplanned trip to the land of the dead.
We followed the spirit back to the altar where she bowed deeply to the statue of Aset and placed the nekhakha into its slot, an expression of bliss on her face as she dissolved into golden light and disappeared.
*** Quest Completed: Trial of the Nekhakha ***
*** Your party has gained 1000xp! ***
*** You have gained 10 Divine Favor! ***
With the heka and nekhakha returned to their places, a soft glow spread from the objects into the statue. It raised its head, gazing at us with eyes that were filled with the same stars as Anpu’s.
“Greetings, champions,” a distinctly female voice echoed throughout the chamber, seeming to come from all directions at once. “You have passed the trials that I laid before you and will be granted access to the tomb below. Be warned, that which is stored within this temple has… corrupted those charged with the defense of my husband’s remains and are no longer mine to command. Go with my blessing.”
With that, the statue returned to its previously inert state, the heka and nekhakha transforming with it.
A loud grinding sound drew my attention to the large stone door, which was in the process of sinking into the floor, and when I looked back to the altar, there was a large, gold banded chest sitting on its surface.
*** Quest Completed: Trials of Aset ***
*** Your party has gained 500xp! ***
“Hey guuuuys,” I said and heard Kjara woot as she laid her eyes on the box. “Loot!”
…
24
Since I’d picked last from the sphinx’s chest, I got first pick this time, not that order really mattered with how the dungeon loot system worked. We’d all get our own specialized loot and a small sack of random stuff regardless of order.
I reached in and pulled out my prize, grinning as I recognized it as a war skirt crafted of the same materials, and in the same style as the body armor I’d gotten from the first boss.
*** Enhanced Hard Leather War Skirt of Devotion—This armor provides protection to the wearer from both physical and arcane sources. While crafted of bronze and leather, the materials have been magically reinforced to be more resilient and protective than the materials themselves would indicate. In addition, this armor provides a small bonus to Presence and Constitution. [Devotion Set 2/3]. Current Set Bonus: -5% Spell Cost***
I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. I grabbed my sack of random loot from the chest and set it aside before slipping on the new armor and stuffing my old armor into my pack to keep my ruined ringmail company.
Kjara took her turn at the chest while I glanced through the sack, finding fifty gold coins and a pair of major rejuvenation potions which I tucked into my belt pouch.
“Have you guys seen armor sets before
this?” I asked.
“Not until this place,” Mika replied, slipping on a pair of soft leather pants made of the same material as his tunic.
“Must be new with the expansion, or maybe lower level sets just don’t exist,” I continued.
“Or specific to certain dungeons,” Kjara added, also sporting a new pair of pants.
When we were done sorting through our various loot, we headed through the door and deeper into the tomb, pausing at the top of a long staircase leading deeper into the darkness.
“What do you think the statue-lady meant about things being corrupted below?” Mika asked.
Kjara and I shared a look. We hadn’t been as forthcoming with our new companion as we should have been, but in the excitement of everything there really hadn’t been an opportunity to give him the full story.
“Okay. Where to begin… So, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” I said, only to be interrupted by a soft punch to the shoulder from Kjara.
I chuckled and rubbed where she had hit giving her a playful glare before turning back to Mika. “So back in the beginning of this world there were a bunch of super powerful beings called the Primordials who-”
Mika raised his hand to interrupt me. “I’m sure it’s a great story, but I don’t really care. Just give me the short version with any info that’s going to make a difference in beating the dungeon.”
Kjara laughed at my shocked expression and while I was still sputtering, she took up the tale. “Ok, here’s the TLDR version. Old gods called Primordials built the world, got bored, went to sleep. New gods rose up, created people. One of the Primordials, Kchil’ik the Devourer, was like, ‘Nuh-uh kids, get off my lawn.’ They had a war, the gods won, chopped up Kchil’ik Dexter style and handed the bits out as souvenirs to all the pantheons to keep safe. One of those bits is in this dungeon and we’ve been charged with getting it and bringing it to the Saa god of the Underworld.”
She looked over to me. “That about right?”
“But the-” I sputtered.
She patted me on my cheek and smiled. “Kheph here is quite a lore addict. It’s adorkable.”
I blushed and grumbled under my breath as she continued, “Oh yeah, the fish people that caused the tsunami and have been making everyone’s lives hell are servants of Kchil’ik and are trying to get his bits so they can Frankenstein him back together again.”
Mika nodded along. “And the corruption?”
*** Lore (Saa Religion) check… successful! ***
Still a bit flustered by the lack of interest in the story, I answered, “Kchil’ik is a void beast. So probably shadowy, cold, and slimy creatures. And tentacles, probably lots of tentacles.”
The dýrafólk nodded. “Okay. So, fire, light, and keep your holes covered. Got it.”
Groaning to myself, I gestured to the stairs. “Shall we?”
Mika snickered and dropped into stealth, scanning for traps as he led the way down the stairs.
Amenhotep followed, leaving Kjara and me standing at the top of the stairs. She wrapped an arm around me, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then whispered into my ear, “You’re wearing a skirt. Beware the tentacles,” leaving me in stunned silence.
I stood there stunned for a minute. Not because of what she said, but because she was right.
The traps had become less frequent the further we descended into the dungeon, but Mika maintained the same level of vigilance as we continued onwards. It would serve us right if we got complacent and ended up getting killed due to our own stupidity.
The stairs ended in a wide, stone hall lined with statues of massive ancient warriors. Instead of human heads, each of the statues bore the head of an animal: hawks, falcons, alligators, bulls, and even a jackal.
*** Lore (Saa Religion) check… successful! ***
I recognized the statues as the Saa version of ushtabi, the stone servants who were buried with the dead in ancient Egypt to act as servants in the afterlife. Normally the ushtabi would be simple statues, but since this was the tomb of a god, these were likewise impressive.
Each of the stone warriors was eight feet tall with massive stone weaponry appropriate to their stature. Most held massive two-handed khopeshes, but a few held long, double-ended war axes instead. The statues were coated in solid gold and bedazzled with lapis and emeralds.
On the other side of the room was another stone door blocking the way with a small pedestal in front of it, and I could barely make out something vaguely cube shaped resting on its surface.
I scanned the statues, looking for any signs of glyphs or other enchantments. “Be wary guys, who knows what surprises this place has in store for us.”
Mika moved forward carefully, searching the path ahead for traps. When he reached the base of one of the hawk-headed ushtabi he paused and looked up. “Hey Kheph, are these things supposed to have jet-black eyes?”
I opened my mouth to respond but the answer became moot as the ushtabi began to move. It raised its war axe and slashed at Mika who barely dodged out of the way.
Flecks of gold and shards of lapis fell to the floor as the statue flexed its stone muscles and turned towards us, its eyes showing endless pits of darkness.
*** Corrupted Ushtabi Vessel, Level 10 ***
*** HP: 100%, SP: 100% ***
Two more ushtabi started moving as well, raising their weapons and slowly heading our way. One had the head of a lion and one a hippo, and all had eyes that seemed to suck in the light they were so dark.
Amenhotep rushed forward and rammed the closest ushtabi, but instead of sending the stone man stumbling, he bounced, ending up a good three feet back. The ushtabi opened its beak in a silent scream as it swung its axe into the Temple Guardian’s shield, knocking him back another step and dropping his health by a small chunk.
Amenhotep struck back with his own khopesh, causing a network of cracks to appear on the statue’s thigh. Dark mist leaked from the cracks, evaporating as it was exposed to the ambient light of the dungeon.
The construct’s health decreased by five percent from the blow, but it was still coming on strong. And the two other animated statues were close behind.
Mika had disappeared at some point and was likely making his way to the back for some sweet backstab action, leaving Kjara and me to aid Amenhotep with our current opponents.
I hung back and extended my spear, thrusting around Amenhotep’s head towards the even bigger ushtabi. My spear tip scraped along the statue’s chest and past its shoulder, opening another network of mist-leaking cracks, but doing measurable damage. The solid stone of their bodies was very resistant to piercing and slashing weapons.
Kjara darted in, landing a three shot combo on the ushtabi’s knee with her blades, causing the creature to stumble as the joint gave way. Her follow up kick launched her backwards and out of range of its answering slash that smashed into one of the still inanimate statues lining the room.
Amenhotep didn’t waste the opening she’d provided. His shield seemed to shimmer with invisible force as he slammed it into the injured ushtabi’s chest. The shock wave from his attack ripped through the statue and shattered its torso.
The ushtabi crumbled to the ground, releasing a small cloud of black mist that flew off before we could react, seeping into another of the statues further into the room. Seconds later, the newly possessed statue joined its brethren in their attack.
Amenhotep’s Shockwave skill had caught the other two statues in its cone, drawing them to him.
Kjara and I moved up once again, engaging the lion headed ushtabi and his giant khopesh. I stepped out to the left flank, intercepting its downward slash and leaving an opening between myself and Amenhotep for the moon elf to slip through.
She darted forward and performed another flurry of attacks, each one building upon the next until that statue too dropped into a pile of rubble and released its dirty wisp to animate a new statue further into the room.
The hippo-headed ushtabi raised its blade hi
gh but then stumbled forwards with half of its health disappearing in an instant.
Glancing behind it, I spotted Mika as he dropped from its back and quickly rolled off to the side to avoid the blade of a freshly re-animated ushtabi.
Mika called out, “There are a lot of these statues in here guys, we need to figure out how to stop them from coming back.”
Kjara and Amenhotep moved forward and engaged the hippo-head, and between blows she said, “Can you kill their wispy things?”
I shrugged. “I can try,” I said, and readied Sunstrike, letting the spell sit on the verge of casting as they whittled down the target.
Holding the spell took more effort than I anticipated, and I could feel the mana of the spell yearning for release.
Amenhotep struck the final blow against the hungry, hungry hippo, smashing its physical form and releasing the dark mist inside.
I targeted the wisp and released my spell, feeling a rush of relief as the fiery magic burst out of my shield and enveloped the dark cloud in holy fire.
An ear-piercing shriek split the air, and I covered my ears as a stunned icon appeared next to all three of our names in the party window, leaving us vulnerable to the remaining Corrupted Ushtabi.
*** Corrupted Spirit uses Cry of the Damned! ***
*** You failed to resist its effects. You are stunned! ***
My vision flashed red as a giant Khopesh flashed past my shield and sank into my chest, shearing through my armor and sending me crashing to the ground with barely fifteen percent of my health remaining.
The ushtabi’s finishing blow was intercepted inches from my throat by Amenhotep’s blade, the long shot parry leaving him open to a vicious hit from the second construct who struck true and dropped the guardian’s heath into the red as well.
These things hit like trucks, I thought as the last second of the stun debuff ticked off and I was able to move again. Scurrying backwards, I pushed past the searing pain in my side and cast a pair of Cure Wounds on Amenhotep who was facing off against the enemies once again.
With our tank no longer inches from death, I targeted myself and sighed as the healing’s soothing effects took hold and closed the gaping wound in my chest.