Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2

by J. Arthur Klein

  I tensed, expecting a violent outburst as some of the other priests nearby recoiled as they caught sight of my eyes.

  Shit, I thought. This is going to suck, and I’m bound here too.

  Surprisingly, instead of disgust the High Priest’s expression was one of relief. He held up a hand and ordered the other priests to stand down and gave me a weak smile. “I see your previous quest was a success.”

  Raising his voice, he turned to the assembled clergy and addressed them. “Heru-et has spoken to me in a vision. This Adept does the work of all the gods and is not to be harmed or hindered.”

  “But his eyes, Eminence! The Pharaoh will-” an Adept in the crowd gasped, dagger halfway drawn.

  The High Priest looked over at the man and seemed to radiate power. “I am well aware of his eyes, Adept. Our god’s direction was quite clear.”

  The Adept gulped and bowed his head. “Yes, your Eminence.”

  “Good,” the head of the temple continued. “Now that that is out of the way, let us attend to the matter at hand.”

  He looked to me once again. “Adept, Hierophant Kaluitep has approached us on your behalf seeking a means to traverse the great desert to the Vale of Dreams.”

  I nodded, “Yes, your Eminence. Lord Anpu has directed us to travel there to continue our mission.”

  He looked around at the gathered clergy who still seemed on the verge of violence and continued, “While I am the High Priest of this temple, I must also work with those in my charge to ensure the safety of this city, and as such I cannot grant your request immediately.”

  I opened my mouth to argue but a slight flare of his power silenced me.

  “The captain of my guard has informed me that the majority of the enemy forces have withdrawn, but there are still enough remaining that it is impossible for our current forces to deal with them unaided,” he said.

  I nodded along, seeing where this was going.

  “If you agree to stay and assist us in driving the enemy from the temple grounds and surrounding neighborhoods, tomorrow evening we will allow you to use our Moon-gate to travel to the city of Va’pu, which is a day’s ride from the Vale.”

  *** Quest Available: Light of the Moon ***

  *** Aid the Temple of Heru-et in cleansing the Temple grounds and surrounding city of the Kchil threat and gain access to a Moon-gate and transit to the city of Va’pu. ***

  *** Criteria: ***

  *** Assist the Temple and City Guard in Cleansing the Temple and Surrounding City [0/1] ***

  *** Rewards: xp, reputation with the Temple of Heru-et, Access to the Moon-gate.***

  *** Accept? (Y/N) ***

  I looked to Kjara for input. When she smiled and nodded her agreement, I accepted the quest. “Yes, of course.”

  “Good,” he said with obvious relief. “This city and its people need all the aid they can get. Kaluitep will bring you to the barracks where you can coordinate with Bomani Rei’a for the cleansing.”

  He started to turn away but turned back when I called out to him. “Your Eminence. Speaking of the people needing aid, I couldn’t help but notice that the workstations in the crafting hall are not freely available. I myself spent upwards of sixty gold pieces on my own repairs and assisting the city guardsmen in rental fees for the workstations alone.”

  He whipped around and glared at a nearby Hierophant who was doing her best to shrink back into the crowd. “What? I ordered the hall made available for all.”

  The woman was caught in his gaze and bowed her eyes. “The hall is available, your Eminence. But with the war, rebuilding will be expensive, and the temple must have gold to do so.”

  “Unacceptable!” the High Priest shouted. “You will remove the cost of using the stations immediately and refund those who have already paid the fee.”

  He turned back to me as I bowed. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” he said. “Now I must go and… rectify this situation. See if we can undo some of this and make sure that everyone is aware that this restriction has been lifted.”

  “Of course, your Eminence. Good day to you,” I said with a nod and turned to find Kaluitep watching me with a look of approval.

  …

  35

  Our meeting with Bomani Rei’a was underwhelming. I couldn’t tell if someone had phoned in the AI responsible for the head temple guard, or if she was just as boring as dry toast by design. She gave us our assigned zone with all of the excitement of Ben Stein reciting the chemical composition of drying paint.

  There were two other player groups who had stuck around to help with the retaking of the city, but from what I was able to get out of them, most of the player base had abandoned Sehkem after the city was taken over by the fish men, preferring to head south to Khem’et or try their luck in the dwarven lands to the east.

  Our first assignment was a manor house located a few blocks from the temple. Rei’a had provided a map showing the way, which conveniently added a marker to my minimap via the sorcery of game mechanics.

  Mika rejoined us as we left the war room and headed towards the gate, falling in behind us as if he hadn’t been MIA for the past several hours.

  Kjara looked over at him. “Welcome back.”

  The dýrafólk grunted without comment and followed along.

  The NPC forces had cleared the area immediately around the temple walls and a full block in either direction making our trip to our assigned area quite uneventful.

  I glanced over and Mika. “So, what were you up to in the temple? Get your stuff fixed up?”

  He looked back at me with a surly expression and nodded. “Yeah. All fixed.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the deal, man.” I said, stopping in the middle of the street. “You’ve been off since the boss fight.”

  He looked around at the vacant street. “You wanna talk about this now?”

  “About what?” I replied, still confused as to why he was pissed off. “I have no clue what’s got your underoos in a twist.”

  He stopped and glared at me. “Dude. You almost fucked us all with that flamestrike bullshit. Why would you throw away your mana? We could have survived that cloud DOT if you hadn’t been fucking around.”

  I was confused for a second then it hit me. I started laughing, which only made him angrier.

  Kjara was looking at both of us like we were both insane.

  Pulling myself together, I held out my hand towards the dýrafólk. “Hello, I’m James. I make my living off of streaming and hunting down bugs for their bounties.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” he replied, looking over at Kjara for some sign of understanding.

  I grinned. “That boss fight had a bug in it where you could kite the mobs indefinitely so you could regen all your pools before the final boss put the brakes on. Once I confirmed that the bug was real, I dumped the extra mana I’d gained from it to put things back in balance. Thus, the flamestrike to nowhere.”

  He looked more confused than angry at that point. “Why the hell would you do that? That boss was hard as hell. The more mana the better.”

  “Cheating is cheating, bro.” I said and shrugged. “I won’t take advantage of glitches, regardless of how much easier it makes things. It’s not in my nature.”

  Mika looked over to Kjara. “Really? He does this all the time?”

  She shrugged. “Not all the time, but often enough. I think its admirable.”

  The dýrafólk huffed a bit. “Can I get a little warning next time? I thought you were fucking around, and I’ve been pissed since.”

  I gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, man. My brain was focused on the math to make sure I got down to where I should have been without the extra regen.”

  He waved a hand. “Whatever. Just try not to get me killed again. Shit hurts, man.”

  I looked over to Kjara who gave me an encouraging smile before leading the way into the city to de-fishify some hoity toity estate.

  The entire experience w
as pretty boring after the excitement of the dungeon battles. A few score skreel, a handful of marcids with an arothrok leader had taken up residence in the building and made a mess of the place, breaking the furniture and tearing the fancy tapestries to shreds.

  When we left, it was even more of a mess. The broken piles of furniture and shredded tapestries were now coated in the blood and viscera of the Kchil invaders. The loot was alright, but the xp was miniscule since even the arothrok were lower level than our party at that point.

  We spent the rest of the day grinding away. Each completed assignment was rewarded with another. Another set of buildings, another set of streets, or another estate to cleanse.

  At least they treated us to a hearty dinner, a savory beef stew served over a heap of rice. The stew had the distinct taste of cilantro, which I absolutely loved. It was amazing, and as a bonus I got to devour Mika’s portion as well since he swore up and down that the dish tasted like soap. Must have been one of the hidden disadvantages of the dýrafólk race or something.

  The day’s efforts had resulted in increases to Sunstrike, Cure Wounds, First Aid, Create Food and Water, Endurance and two ranks in Jackal’s Touch. Everything was going splendidly until we received our last assignment.

  When I read the mission, I couldn’t help but laugh. Instead of another Kchil eviction, we were charged with removing a “pest” from the personal larder of one Lord Pah’tak. A giant crocodile.

  Our friend from the sewers had apparently moved on to greener pastures, much to its, and our, detriment.

  When we got to the estate in question, a massive hole had been smashed through the outer wall and a trail of broken stone and discarded scales led towards a large, squat building at the far end of the property.

  Before we headed in, I handed out the last of my meat skewers and travel cakes and cast Jackal’s Tooth on our weapons. We wouldn’t have Amenhotep for this fight, so it might get a bit hairy.

  Kjara enjoyed her role as tank even less than I did my role as healer, but we would both have to suffer through it for this last fight before the conditions set by the temple would be satisfied and we could be on our way.

  Mika faded into the shadows as Kjara stalked forward with an arrow ready. As we got closer, I could hear the sound of the giant reptile moving within and had no desire to fight it in the close confines of the building itself.

  I prepared a Flamestrike and held it ready, waiting for Kjara’s cue.

  The first sight we had of the monster was the tip of its tail thrashing back and forth in the detritus of the once well-stocked larder. Kjara must have had a better view as she turned to me with a nod and let her first arrow fly.

  I launched my flaming javelin immediately after and drew my spear. In the time it took my flaming missile to reach its target Kjara had already fired another three arrows.

  With a loud whoosh, my spell detonated within the ruined building. Fires burst out of the beast-made entrance, accompanied by a pained growl from the croc within.

  With a crash the beast burst out of the larder, taking out another large section of wall. The building collapsed with a rumble, scattering dust throughout the yard.

  As soon as the croc emerged, I activated Analyze and let out a sigh of relief when I saw the creature wasn’t a boss.

  *** Giant Saa’eth Crocodile, Level 20 ***

  *** HP: 92%, SP: 81% ***

  *** Conditions: Gorged

  *** Active Spells/Abilities: None

  *** Weakness: Cold

  *** Highest Statistics: Strength, Constitution

  “Level twenty normal mob, weak to cold.” I called out and readied my spear.

  Kjara let one more arrow fly before swapping her bow for her blades and rushing forward to meet the creature.

  The Crocodile must have been twenty feet long with a mouth big enough to swallow Mika in a single bite. Its scales looked incredibly thick. And from the lack of any noticeable burn wounds, they were also resistant to fire.

  In fact, the only sign of injury on the crocodile at all was a single bleeding wound where one of Kjara’s arrows had sunk into the softer skin of the creature’s underbelly.

  Kjara dodged the beast’s initial lunge, switching to her blades and slashing along the croc’s flank with a one-two combo. Chunks of thick scales went flying, but its health bar barely budged.

  A quick slash of the beast’s claw sent Kjara stumbling backwards, her own health dipping by a small amount as its natural weapons tore through her leather armor the flesh beneath.

  Her stumble left her open the creature’s primary attack, and it lunged once again with its maw open to take a bite.

  She twisted aside at the last minute, but still lost another chunk of her hit points and her flesh as the creature’s massive teeth ripped a gash along her thigh.

  I sent a bolt of healing her way and rushed to put myself between her and any follow up attacks, thrusting my spear into the side of the creature’s exposed neck and dropping its health a sliver. The tip skipped off one of the beast’s harder scales but managed to find brief purchase in the softer scales near where its forelimb met its torso.

  The croc whipped its head back in my direction and I braced myself, shoving my shield into its open maw just as it snapped down.

  The creature gripped my shield in its teeth and tugged. I stumbled forward, off balance and open to attack. The crocodile raked its claws down my chest, ripping through leather and flesh alike, and dropping my health by a third.

  I tightened my grip and stabbed my spear upwards into the beast’s throat, hoping to find the monster’s softer, gentler side. I felt a warm gush of blood splash onto my hand, dropping the massive croc’s health down to just over fifty percent as it tossed me to the side with a casual flick of its powerful neck.

  A popping sound filled my ears and a wave of pain shot through me, almost entirely drowning out the feeling of my body crashing to the ground a good fifteen feet from the monster.

  A fresh set of icons appeared next to my gauges: Dislocated Shoulder, Broken Limb, Stunned.

  The stun wore off almost immediately, but the rest were going to put quite a dampener on my gaming experience, at least for the time being.

  I glanced over just in time to see Mika appear and attack. Somehow he’d made his way onto the creature’s back and all the way to its head undetected, to line up a perfect opportunity to stab the giant crocodile right in the eye.

  His dagger sank to the hilt, and the creature’s health dropped down to a sliver as it began to thrash. A quick twist brought its massive tail to bear, smacking the small dýrafólk like a baseball and launching him across the yard where he collided with the wall and dropped to the ground in a daze, his own health slightly better than the massive reptile.

  I forced myself up to my knees and started channeling healing through my uninjured spear arm, pushing past the pain in my shoulder and arm. My first casting failed, but I gritted my teeth and forced the mana to do what I wanted, sending a bolt of healing through the spear and across the courtyard to the injured dýrafólk. Next, I did the same for Kjara, healing the rest of her wounds before focusing on myself.

  The moon elf stalked the wounded crocodile, blades ready to strike at any revealed weakness.

  With confidence that she had things well in hand, I shifted my focus to dealing with my own injuries. Cure Wounds got more bang for the buck, but didn’t have the necessary finesse needed to heal bones, so I fell back on my tried-and-true combo of Soothing Touch guided by the First Aid skill.

  No matter how well I focused, the concentration needed to fix my own broken arm was beyond me. Every time I let the magic so much as touch the wound, the wave of accompanying pain would instantly shatter the magic.

  Cursing to myself, I turned my focus back to Kjara and her hunt.

  The area was covered in splattered blood, and the giant crocodile had lost all but the barest fragment of its health. Blood continued to gush out of a wound in its neck where Kjara had turned the s
mall puncture wound my spear had made into a wide, gushing window into the creature’s throat.

  A minute more and the creature ceased moving at all, its remaining eye going dull as it lay still on the cold stone of the courtyard.

  *** Your party has killed a Giant Saa’eth Crocodile! Your party gains 1400xp! ***

  *** Mika has reached level 14! ***

  *** Congratulations you have reached Level 16! ***

  *** You have gained 2 Combat Skill Points. ***

  *** You have gained 2 Divine Skill Points. ***

  *** You have gained 2 General Skill Points. ***

  *** You have gained 16 maximum Hit Points. ***

  *** You have gained 20 maximum Mana Points. ***

  *** You have gained 8 maximum Stamina Points. ***

  *** Congratulations! You have become more proficient in Combat Caster! Rank 15 Achieved! Taking damage now has a chance to trigger a free, instant cast non-area of effect spell. The probability of triggering this effect increases with the severity of the damage suffered. ***

  The healing wave that accompanied the level washed through me and I felt my bones snap back into place and my shoulder slide back into the socket with a pop and a flash of pain.

  Next thing I knew I was looking up from the ground at a concerned Kjara. “You okay? What happened?”

  I grimaced and picked myself up, muttering under my breath. I looked to Kjara and said, “The crocodile broke my arm and dislocated my shoulder. When I leveled up… the healing magic was a bit rough. Guess no one thought to dim the pain of setting a bone and popping a joint back into place in the level up routines.”

  I zoned out for a second and entered a bug report on just that subject.

  “He’s writing it up now, isn’t he?” Mika said softly to Kjara, who just chuckled and nodded. “Well, let’s loot what we can while Bugman does his thing.”

  I waved them off and nodded absently, filling out the form and submitting everything.

  It hadn’t taken that long, but by the time I finished up Mika and Kjara had already thoroughly looted the beast. Kjara had even managed to peel off a large section of its hide for future use, and Mika had a handful of claws and teeth cupped in his hands.