Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2

by J. Arthur Klein

  His eyes seemed to pierce to my core as he continued, “I suggest that once you’ve completed your current task, you return here and work on improving those things you have neglected.”

  I nodded and suppressed a growl, annoyed at the fact I was getting crap for game mechanics that had never been explained to me until well into my play. “Yes, my lord.”

  As if reading my mind, he continued, “But, since I can sense that this neglect was due to ignorance and not your poor choice, I shall grant you a boon and teach you one skill before you must return to the land of the living. What do you wish to learn?”

  My brain started working overtime. What did I want to learn! More power? Better healing? Crowd control? What would be best long term… No. What would be best in this boss battle? What did I need?

  I grinned. “My lord, with the challenge I am about to face, I feel my greatest weakness is my mana pool. I just don’t have enough mana to both cleanse the corrupted and keep my companions alive, especially with all regeneration turned off. Is there a skill or ability that can increase my mana?”

  The god nodded and tapped my forehead. “Granted.”

  A rush of images flooded my mind in a psychedelic montage of meditation techniques and mental constructs vaguely reminiscent of mandalas.

  ***Congratulations! You have learned Divine Channel (Rank 1)! 1 Divine Skill Point used! ***

  When my mind cleared, I was standing before the Gates of Death, Anpu’s voice whispering in my mind. “Try not to return until you have that which I sent you to retrieve.”

  I shook my head to clear the remainder of the afterimages of my meditation montage and focused on the new skill.

  Divine Channel—You have conditioned your mind to act as a channel of your god’s divine power. However, this power comes at a cost. (+5% Maximum Mana per rank, -2.5% Maximum Hit Points per rank.)

  NOTE: This rank is limited by your station within the church. The cap for your current rank, Adept, is 3.

  I looked at my character sheet again. I’d gained thirty-six mana at the cost of fourteen hit points which seemed like a pretty good trade to me, especially with the fight that was coming.

  I considered the pros and cons. Having less overall hit points wasn’t something I really wanted for my more “in the mix” style of combat. But in my current party, my role was shifting more and more towards support where having that extra mana could be critical to our survival.

  Most of my early adventures had spoiled me mana-wise, and I’d rarely gotten so low that it was a problem. Until recently. But as the enemies got more and more powerful, having an extra mana reserve was becoming a necessity.

  With that in mind, I closed my eyes and put my remaining two divine points into the skill.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Divine Channel skill to 2! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Divine Channel skill to 3! ***

  I could almost feel myself physically deflating, but it was likely just my mind playing tricks on me as I said goodbye to another twenty-nine hit points in return for seventy-five mana. Surprisingly, there was no wave of vertigo at all with the skill increase. Huh, I thought. Probably because it’s a pure mechanical thing. No knowledge required.

  Numerically the bonus mana didn’t seem like a lot, but it would keep us fighting a little longer. I just hoped it would be enough.

  Hoping I didn’t live to regret my new acquisition, I watched my respawn timer run out and stepped into the gate.

  …

  28

  *** Weakened Spirit has been applied. -25% to all Attributes and Skills. Duration: 14 Minutes ***

  Kjara and Mika were waiting at the entrance when I spawned, each of them reclining against the wall, sipping on a water skin and nibbling on a piece of conjured bread. Kjara immediately stood and wrapped her arms around me, pressing herself into my chest.

  I returned the hug and held her until she started to pull away. “Miss me?” I asked with a grin.

  “Welcome back,” she said and gestured to the stone floor where Mika was still resting. “Care to join us?”

  I nodded weakly and took a seat, pulling out some food and water from my backpack. The memory of my death at the boss’ claws gradually faded from massive trauma to objective detachment via whatever technological sorcery the game employed to keep us sane.

  “So,” I said. “About that boss fight.”

  “That guy is pretty OP,” Mika replied. “How do they expect you to beat that monster? His DPS is insane.”

  Kjara nodded. “Yeah, that boss was a bit much. Not sure we can take him even with the extra levels. Not even sure we should try without our tank.”

  “We’ll have Amenhotep. I unsummoned him before the boss could kill him so no cooldown,” I said. “Made sure he was gone before I got my Leeroy on and stabbed the boss in his naughty bits.”

  Kjara just looked at me and chuckled. “You want to try again?”

  “I donno,” Mika whispered, looking down at his hands.

  I slapped him on the back. “Don’t worry man, I think I figured out the mechanic so we should be able to do it this time.”

  He looked up and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? What mechanic?”

  “Remember how that soulguard changed sides when the corruption was removed?” I asked with a grin.

  Mika shrugged. “Yeah, so what. That guy got taken out pretty quick after he stabbed Squidward.”

  Kjara smiled as she caught on, and I continued. “What if we didn’t have to battle our way through the bodyguards and soulguards, and instead, they were on our side against the big baddie?”

  His eyes widened and his frown disappeared. “That sounds like we might just have a chance.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, “You have enough mana to heal them all?”

  I grimaced. “That’s going to be the hard part. I’ve got a few potions, so if I time it right, I should be able to cleanse a few of the bodyguards and chug a potion, then get the rest. The hard part is going to be the soulguard. As soon as they’re taken care of one way or the other, the boss man’s going to slap us with that no regen debuff and that’s where things get dicey.”

  Kjara tilted her head. “Is losing the in-combat regen that big of a deal? I never really paid that much attention to it before.”

  I nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah. At least for spell casting. That little bit of mana can be critical. I was able to learn a skill that increased my mana pool, although it cost me some hit points in trade. I’ve realized that mana is way more critical for me in the long run than hit points.”

  “Glad to hear you’re finally coming to terms with your healer status,” she said with a playful nudge.

  I sighed. “So, what do you think? Try to cleanse all of the bodyguards, or aim for half of them and then try to get all of the soulguard?”

  Mika tapped his chin with a finger. “Personally, I think the soulguards should be the priority. Their elite status will probably be a bit better against the boss.”

  Kjara nodded her agreement. “I’d definitely try for more of the soulguards over the bodyguards, but we’ll have to play it by ear.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ve got two major and two moderate rejuvenation potions, so I should be able to keep my mana going for the cleansing part, but I’ll have to save one of the big ones for the main boss phase.”

  Mika grabbed a potion from his pack and handed it to me. “Here’s another major rejuvenation. Hopefully that’ll be enough.”

  I nodded my thanks. “If you guys can use your healing potions, that’ll help me conserve a bit too,” I said, and they both nodded.

  The death debuff icon next to Mika’s name faded and the dýrafólk seemed to stand a bit taller. He sighed. “Bye, bye, debuff. I’m going to see what I can do about the damage to my armor.”

  Kjara replied, “Definitely. I’ll be doing the same. That last fight really did a number on my gear.”

  “Ditto,” I replied, sighi
ng at the three minutes remaining on my debuff.

  Not wanting to waste any time, I unloaded my repair gear and took stock of what I had left in terms of food and supplies.

  My food supply was running low, at least for the buff variety. I had just enough for another run or two at the boss, but then we’d be reliant on rations and summoned grub.

  As I pulled out my cooking kit and set it to the side, a waft of foulness assaulted my senses. Some of my ingredients had started to rot.

  The pieces of beetle chitin had acted as a wall between the rotting food and the rest of my supplies, keeping my spices, cookbook and other more frequently accessed gear safe from the rotten mess.

  Rotting potatoes, onions, various bits of decaying dire beetle, and most of my newly acquired flour and other items needed for my newer recipes were all ruined. Cursing, I dug them out of my pack and tossed them into a sack for later disposal.

  Kjara wrinkled her nose at the sack of rotting food and gave me a look.

  “What? I didn’t know it was going bad,” I said and tossed the sack into the far corner of the entrance. “Remind me to burn that later. Ug!”

  When Kjara’s debuff wore off she stripped off her armor and got to work repairing the worst of the damage. I was a little jealous of both her and Mika in that moment. Under their armor they had actual clothes. My own under armor attire was a glorified loin cloth.

  As soon as the death debuff fell off I stripped down to my skivvies and got to work on repairs.

  Once or twice, I caught Kjara sneaking a peak at my buff avatar physique and blushed as I tried to focus on putting my ripped and battered armor back together again. Mika tried his best to ignore it, but I caught him muttering something about getting a room at one point, which he denied when asked.

  I completed my own repairs pretty quickly, gaining rank nine in Armorer as a result of my efforts. I offered to assist my companions as well, but they both wanted the skill progress.

  So instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs, I pulled the bloody, torn ringmail and hardened leather pants out of my bag to see if they were worth saving.

  The leather pants were in decent condition, so I dove back into repair mode. It didn’t take long. Unfortunately, the ringmail tunic was shot. The amount of materials and time it would take to get it back into usable shape was way more than I was willing to put in. Instead, I salvaged it, gaining a pile of bronze rings and a few pieces of both hard and soft leather for my efforts.

  Packing my newly recycled armor bits back into my bag, I turned back just in time to see my companions finishing up their repairs and slipping back into their armor.

  “Buff now or later?” I asked.

  Kjara tilted her head in thought. “Probably best to wait until we are back down there. Same for summoning the big guy.”

  Mika nodded in agreement, and we headed out.

  When we arrived at the initial guard room, I took a minute to bask in the warmth of the reflected sunlight to recharge my awakened skills and mentally prepare myself for another ride on Asah and Aset’s Supreme Death Punch Trivia Wet and Wild Water Slide.

  Kjara was actually bouncing with excitement by the time we reached the boat, and as we climbed in, she came back to the tiller with me.

  She looked at me playfully. “Don’t worry, James. I can hold your hand if you want.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh as she batted her eyelashes at me and flashed her best innocent smile. I slid over and raised my arm in invitation, and she sat next to me in the cramped end of the boat, snuggling in as much as our armors would allow.

  I will admit, after the third trip down the river it wasn’t so bad, although that may have had more to do with the beautiful woman pressed against me than any genuine enjoyment of almost being smashed into a pulp by a cavern wall.

  When we arrived at the entrance to the boss room, I handed out another round of my travel cakes and meat skewers and summoned Amenhotep back from the underworld.

  The guardian solidified from the swirling sands, turned towards me, and punched me right in the jaw. I fell backwards to the ground with blood trickling down my jaw from a split lip.

  He hadn’t held anything back, and the pain in my jaw and muffled debuff next to my gauges told me it was probably broken.

  I looked up at the tank in shock, seeing him standing there glaring down at me while Mika and Kjara stood to the side with weapons half drawn and equally shocked expressions.

  “If you ever dismiss me in that way again it will be the last that you ever see of me,” his voice drilled into my brain, laced with righteous anger. “I am not your servant, Adept. I assist you at the request of Lord Anpu, and out of the respect that you had earned.”

  My brain was frozen for an instant. What the hell was happening. It took a minute to process, but eventually the rusty gears in my head started turning again and I realized the major faux pas I had committed.

  Facing my certain death I’d leapt right into gamer logic and treated Amenhotep just like a pet from all the old school MMO’s. And like I’d seen time and time again in Sosaku Online, the NPCs here were anything but.

  I bowed my head and spoke through the pain. “Damn, man. I’m sorry. That was a complete dick thing to do. I should have talked to you first and asked your permission before dismissing you. I just wanted to make sure you could return immediately to fight the beast again and not have to wait a full day before gaining vengeance.”

  Amenhotep’s mental anger diminished slightly. “I understand your reasoning, but next time you will ask, or you will need to find another willing to serve as your ally.”

  “Understood,” I said, still a bit confused by the whole thing, but learning.

  He extended his hand and helped me to my feet before moving to the side to patiently wait for our next move.

  I cast Cure Wounds on myself to heal the rest of the damage his punch had inflicted and smiled as the pain and debuff went away.

  *** Congratulations! You have become more proficient with First Aid! Rank 14 Achieved! ***

  Kjara moved over to me and whispered, “What was that about?”

  “I was dumb. I’ll tell you more about it later,” I replied and proceeded to cast Jackal’s Tooth on our weapons and shields before round two vs the dungeon boss encounter.

  I filled Amenhotep in on our strategy, and he agreed that it was preferable to cleanse the afflicted souls than to destroy their vessels, so was willing to follow my lead.

  After that it was just a matter of waiting until my mana was full, and we were ready to rumble once again.

  …

  29

  When we entered the boss room for the second time, everything had been reset. The sarcophagi were intact, as was the network of corrupting veins reaching out from the central coffin, and Asah was nowhere to be seen. No piles of dust, no splatters of blood, no evidence at all of our initial try… or subsequent deaths.

  Kjara gestured to one side of the room. “If we form up over there after we trigger the first wave, we should have more time for you to work your mojo. How many are you going to try and cleanse?”

  “I’m going to aim for at least four,” I said. “Going to play this as conservative as possible so I’ll have as much as possible when the boss pops. We’ve only seen its initial phase so who knows what else it’s got up its sleeves.”

  Amenhotep raised his shield and readied his khopesh. “Let us get on with this, Adept. These souls have been tormented for too long.”

  I looked over at Mika and Kjara. “Which of you dashing young adventurers would like to do the honors?”

  Mika shrugged. “I’ll do it, you get ready to do your thing.”

  Kjara took out her blades and nodded while I turned on Aura of the Underworld and readied my first Cure Wounds spell.

  Mika shifted into his hybrid form as he jogged up to the first line of sarcophagi and stepped across the line. Like the first time, the darkness started to pulse and the Spirit of Asah appeared over the central
sarcophagus.

  Following the script, the spirit did its thing. “I cannot hold the corruption back any longer… be ready, for they rise,” he said, and the outer ring exploded.

  My Cure Wounds spell crashed into the first bodyguard before it could fully extricate itself from the rubble of its tomb, burning away a good chunk of the corrupting veins. The second spell hit home seconds later and I used Analyze to check my progress.

  *** Corrupted Bodyguard, Level 12 ***

  *** HP: 100%, SP: 100% ***

  *** Conditions: Corrupted (33%)

  *** Active Spells/Abilities: Voidtouched

  *** Weakness: Light, Fire

  *** Highest Statistics: Strength, Constitution

  Three spells a pop, I thought and looked at my mana. Cure Wounds was pretty mana efficient, so I still had over ninety percent in my mana pool before casting the third spell that splashed against the bodyguard and sent it stumbling backwards.

  The rest of the bodyguards had not been idle and were quickly closing the distance, weapons raised and shields ready.

  Amenhotep stepped forward to intercept the incoming enemies while I started on the next target, taking its corruption down to zero and dropping my mana to seventy-five percent.

  Wanting to maximize the cooldowns for the mana potions I chugged the first of the major rejuvenation potions and topped off my mana before moving on to the next.

  In the meantime, Kjara, Amenhotep, and Mika engaged the rest of the bodyguards. Kjara’s blades flashed past the raised shields of the corrupted warriors and sliced into their bandaged bodies. Amenhotep blocked and parried while occasionally using his shield to keep the enemies’ attention focused on him.

  Mika’s daggers added to the mayhem of the melee, slashing in to cut the bodyguard’s somehow still functional hamstrings, slowing the creatures down enough to lessen the press on Kjara and Amenhotep.

  I targeted the least damaged of the opponents and found myself in a very interesting situation. The initial two bodyguards I’d cleansed had regained their bearings and had entered the fray, cutting into their corrupted brothers with no regard for my plans.