“Yeah, that was probably part of a puzzle. Just like everything else in this stupid water level,” Crash said as he scuffed a foot along the deck boards. “We didn’t figure out that we were supposed to board the ship again, so the enemies spawned when we headed the right way as a penalty. That was a mechanic that came with the spec notes we got. We just never incorporated it into Titan Gate because it sucks.”
“Wait, what about Titan Gate?” Nova said, leaning forward slightly to look at Crash. “Spec notes for what?”
“Crash is a world champion player, but he was also on the development team for Titan Gate,” I said with an ironic smile. None of that really seemed to matter anymore, since everything was so different here. “They didn’t know it, but the developers got a crapload of notes about Ruul, which no one told them was an actual place. There was a lot of stuff they never used for the game. So, even people who kick ass in Titan Gate can end up struggling here.”
“Great. Thanks for that pathetic portrait of my life,” Crash said, laughing a little. “Let me just say that if we’d actually made it to the finals, I would’ve crushed you.”
I shot him a look that hopefully conveyed how much I didn’t want to tell Nova about the circumstances that brought us here, since I didn’t get the chance to mention that to him back at the entrance to the dungeon. “Anyway, he does know a few behind-the-scenes type things that the rest of us don’t.”
Crash let out a long breath. “Yeah, maybe. But it’s not even close to enough.”
“I was right,” Nova said, although she looked pretty unhappy about being right. “I tried to tell her. Terra, I mean. She was just so convinced that she could handle it because she’s been playing Titan Gate forever, but this isn’t Titan Gate. It’s real, and she could die.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she blinked them back as she went pale. “She might be dead …”
“She’s not dead, and we’re going to find her. I promise,” I said. That was probably a bad promise to make, but I could tell she was close to freaking out again. We were going to need her calm.
And then I thought of something that I probably should’ve considered when we started this dungeon.
“Listen. She actually can’t be dead,” I said as I took one of Nova’s hands. It was freezing. “You guys were already a party before we got here, and we’re playing the instance of the dungeon that she started. We wouldn’t be able to do that unless she was still alive. If she died, the mission would’ve failed, and you’d have gotten a system message about it, right? Even if it just said she’d left the party.”
“That’s right!” Crash said, suddenly grinning. “She has to be alive.”
Some of the color came back into Nova’s face. “Yes,” she said slowly. “I haven’t gotten anything at all since she came in here, so …”
Just then the torn sails drooped flat as the breeze died away, and the ship drifted slowly to a dead stop. George, who’d been curled up between me and Nova ‘resting his eyes,’ picked his head up and blinked a few times. “Whassup? Are we there yet?” he said, yawning.
“If by there you mean the boss battle, then yeah. I think we are,” I said as I got up and grabbed my sword. The dense fog had started to swirl in again, and the ship was almost completely surrounded already. “Maybe we should surround the hatch or something?”
Everyone was on their feet when a resounding metallic click sounded as the hatch unlocked itself. But it didn’t pop open, and nothing came out.
Then there was a loud, hooting cry from somewhere in the fog that sounded like a screech owl crossed with an elephant.
“Yeah, I don’t think the boss is in the hatch, boss,” George said as he doubled back to the railing. “It’s out there, and it is big.”
There was definitely a shape out there, a deeper shadow inside the white fog that looked about the size of a construction crane. The long top part of the shadow weaved back and forth a few times, and then rushed forward as it broke the fog, letting out another one of those awful shrieking cries as it came.
It was a sea monster. Only the massive head and the thick, dinosaur-like neck protruded from the fog, its huge face bobbing and weaving a few feet off the side of the ship. With glistening, scaly blue skin, multi-colored fins along the top and sides of its head, and a wide gaping mouth filled with fangs, the thing looked like that Pokemon sea serpent, but on a ton of monster steroids because it was like three times bigger than Gyarados.
“Kill it with fire!” George shouted. “I would, if I had any!”
“Yeah, good idea. Fireball!” I called, holding out a hand as a ball of fire formed above my palm. I drew back and whipped it at the sea monster, smacking it right in the middle of its giant face.
The monster sneezed, shook its head, and glared at me.
Well. That wasn’t exactly super effective.
Nova slammed it with a debuff, and Crash busted out Spectral Blades as George rocketed straight up and pumped a huge blast of ice into its open mouth. The sea monster crunched the ice like it was a nice little snack, then roared and bobbed its head as the glowing blue blades sliced at it. Trickles of black gunk dripped from a few cuts on its face and neck. As the Spectral Blades flickered out of existence, the monster’s head darted forward to stop above our heads, and it roared again.
Gallons of warm, thick, foul water jetted from the creature’s mouth and drenched us.
“Ewww, gross!” Nova cried as she desperately swiped the nasty stuff from her face. “Okay, I really hate this thing. Star Scream!” she yelled, pointing her staff at the monster. A beam of light blasted it between the eyes. It gave a bubbling shriek and reared back, but its head was still over the deck.
Fine. If I couldn’t kill it with fire, I’d cut it with steel.
I crouched and brought my sword back, preparing to jump. “Revering Vendetta!” I shouted, jumping straight up to swing the blade pulsing with brilliant green light around and slice it across the monster’s throat. The attack opened a gaping slit even as the sword’s fire proc went off again, and scalding hot black blood rained down to mix with the muck that already covered us. The creature wavered, and its head dropped lower.
“You know what? I really hate this thing too,” Crash growled as he wiped black gunk from his eyes and backed up a few steps. Shrugging his shield onto his back, he held his sword in both hands and ran at the monster, bringing the blade around as he jumped to hack at the side of its neck. Another deep slice gaped open, and the sea creature roared in outrage.
“Keep going! It’s working!” I called as I backed up for another run with the sword. “If we could just get it to lean down a little more…”
George bounded past me in a flash of black and white. “I’m on it, boss!” He hopped onto the elevated gate of the hatch and propelled himself up to land on the sea monster’s bent head, and then jumped again from there. “Wind Blast!”
The blast of air knocked the creature down to bounce its head on the deck boards, and George leapt away just in time. Without a word, Crash and I ran at the thing from opposite sides and swung our swords like axes, sparks flying as the blades crossed in the center. Metal sliced through scaly flesh, and the monster’s head was severed from its body.
As the long neck slithered back and thumped off the ship to splashing into the water, the head bounced and rolled a few times before exploding with a wet pop, spraying everything with an unspeakable mess.
“Ugh, that is disgusting!” George said. “This stuff is never gonna come out of my fur. And why is that stinky fish smell getting worse?”
He was right. The smell coming from the hatch had been elevated to a stench, strong enough to make me gag. “We really should check out what’s down there,” I said. “I mean, everything else in this area was a puzzle. Maybe this is, too.”
“No way. This thing is dead,” Crash said, his nose wrinkling as he wrung a bunch of slime from a sleeve. “Dude, we cut the fucking monster’s head off. Now we just … Um. Why isn’t the fog clearing?”
>
“We’re not moving, either. There’s no wind,” Nova said as she took a few steps toward the railing. “Do you guys hear that?”
George’s ears perked up. “I do. And you know what it sounds like? Something that’s not dead. Like, at all.”
There was a whistling cry from the fog, immediately followed by a second one. The long shadow appeared, weaving — and doubling. And two identical sea monster heads burst out of the mist with identical roars.
“Shit, it’s a hydra!” I said. “Okay, the head-slicing thing is out. New plan. Crash and I will hold these guys off, and Nova, you find out what’s in the hatch.”
She nodded and ran across the deck, and I faced off against one of the heads, blasting it with Star Scream as Crash threw Spectral Blades at the other one. At least the ranged attacks seemed to stun the creature for a few minutes. As we kept up the attacks, George rushed back and forth, blasting wind and ice.
Finally, Nova called out, “It’s fish!”
“What?” I shouted, glancing over my shoulder at her. “What’s fish?”
“The fishy smell is actual fish. There’s a whole bunch of dead fish down there!” She hustled toward us from the hatch she’d left open, her staff pointed for an attack. “And there’s two buckets tied to ropes hanging down from the inside.”
“Great. What are we supposed to do with dead fish?” Crash said as he ducked beneath a lunging hydra that was headed over the deck. “Goddamn it! Hit that thing before it pukes on us!”
But instead of vomiting out scalding bile water, the creature snapped at the hatch like it was trying to bite through it.
Trying to get to the fish.
“Holy shit. I think we’re supposed to feed it!” I ran across the slippery deck and dropped beside the hatch, casting Light down the hole so I could see for myself. At the bottom was a big wooden crate piled with large silvery fish, their milky dead eyes bulging, and two buckets hanging down on ropes. I slid forward and bent over the edge of the hatch, just barely managing to snag a fish from the top of the heap. I nearly dropped the slick, slimy thing as I crawled back, flipped over and tossed the fish at the nearest hydra head.
The hydra caught it neatly in its mouth, swallowed it whole, and made a sound that was half bubbling pleasure, half question.
And the other head roared and snapped, clearly demanding a fish for itself.
“Okay, that’s it. We feed the damned thing,” I said as I scrambled to my feet. “Only somebody has to go down there and fill the buckets so we can get the fish up here. Crash, you’re elected.”
“Oh, come on!” he said. “Why me?”
“Because you’re tall. Now go, before this thing decides to eat us instead,” I snapped back.
He rolled his eyes as he rushed for the hatch and vaulted down. “The next time somebody has to handle a bunch of dead fish, it’s your turn,” he called from the hole.
“Fine. Just hurry,” I said as I touched Nova’s arm and gestured toward the hatch. “Come on, we’ll each take a bucket,” I said. “Stay by the hatch. George, you too,” I called to him.
George was already headed that way. “You don’t have to tell me twice, boss. But I’m not touching any dead fish.”
Crash had the first bucket filled, and I hauled it up and started throwing fish at one of the hydra’s heads — the one that was jealous and hadn’t gotten a fish yet. It snatched them out of the air, one by one, never missing. I was down to the last two or three fish when Nova started chucking them at the other head.
Though it seemed like forever, it probably took us less than ten minutes to empty the crate. As the last fish went down the hydra’s throat, both heads drew together and roared. One of them ducked low and started to make a thick, choking sound.
Nova shuddered and scrambled backwards rapidly. “Don’t you dare puke dead fish all over me!”
At last, the hydra ejected a slime-covered lump about the size of a suitcase onto the deck with a barking cough. Both heads straightened and pulled back into the fog, and there was a gentle splashing sound as the mists started to unravel, and the ship began to move again.
“Did we win?” Crash’s unsteady voice called from inside the hatch.
“Yeah, we’re good. It’s gone,” I said, staring at the thing the hydra had spat out. The thick slime coating it oozed slowly onto the deck boards, revealing a small wooden treasure chest closed with a padlock.
If my lock picking skill didn’t work on that, I was going to fire Elizabeth. Maybe I’d replace her with Cate Blanchett.
Words appeared in my peripheral vision. System message: Your party has completed the Water level. You have earned 30 percent EXP. Your Amulet of Oblivion has grown in power. I grinned as my experience bar ticked full and Elizabeth informed me that I’d reached level 19, gained 18 health and 16 mana. I also saw a message that my pet had reached level 13. The blue glow from the hatch said Crash had just leveled again, too.
“Damn. I’m short like ten percent for another level,” Nova said as she looked at her HUD.
Crash boosted himself out of the hatch and flopped onto the deck, breathing hard. “I’m not sure that was worth it, level up or not,” he said. “Let me repeat. Water levels suck.”
“You can say that again,” I said, grinning. “At least it’s over. So, I guess we’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
20
Back in the main chamber of the dungeon, the blue crystal that the giant statue held was glowing along with the yellow one. Something was definitely going to happen in here when we finished all four areas, and it probably wasn’t going to be a shower of rainbows leading to the way out. But we’d handle whatever it was when it happened.
We’d already beat half of this place, and I was more determined than ever to win.
The portal from the water area had appeared where the trap door leading in from the puzzle room had been, so when the ship had docked at the shore, we’d washed up in the lake to get all the hydra gunk off before we went through. I’d also rinsed the slimy treasure chest off, figuring if it hadn’t been destroyed in a sea monster’s stomach, a little water wouldn’t hurt it any.
“So, are you gonna open that thing, or what?” Crash said as he gestured at the chest. We were sitting around the bonfire, attempting to dry out and pretend the water level never happened.
I dragged the wooden chest closer and looked at the padlock. It was big and old and rusted, and if I couldn’t pick the damned thing, I could probably grab one of the rocks piled up by the earth door and smash it open. But I wanted to use my skill as much as possible, so I could level it up. “Okay, Elizabeth. Let’s try this again,” I said as I accessed my skills window and called up the lock picking skill. “And I swear to God, if you give me any shit, you’re fired.”
“You have encountered a lock. Would you like to try unlocking it?” Elizabeth said as if that wasn’t what I’d been trying to do with the last three locks I’d encountered.
“No, I’d like to try buying it flowers and taking it out to dinner, so it’ll unlock itself,” I said, just because I was feeling sarcastic.
“There are no flowers available within your range,” Elizabeth said without missing a beat. “Would you like to try unlocking it?”
I laughed. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”
The lock’s stats appeared on my screen, and I grinned as I produced the red lock pick kit I’d bought in Silver Gables from my inventory. I had a ninety percent chance of success. I raised the pick and initiated the skill, and my roll succeeded on the first try. The lock glowed softly and clicked open.
“You have successfully picked the lock,” Elizabeth informed me as my skill increased and rolled over to level two. Considering how much it’d gone up the first time I’d used it successfully, other than the practice locks, I figured the skill must be way easier to raise at lower levels. But I wasn’t going to complain.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I told Elizabeth as I returned the lock picking kit to my inventory.
“I guess you’re not fired.”
“Okay, you did it. Good job. So, what’s in there?” George asked as he hopped closer to me. “Anything rabbit-sized?”
“Probably not,” I said as I opened the chest. Inside were three thousand Rhuvians, three potion vials filled with a glowing white substance, and a pair of gold-embroidered white leather arm gauntlets.
I lifted the items out and felt around the inside of the chest, just in case there was a hidden compartment or something. When I didn’t find anything, I pushed it aside. “We’ll split the Rhuvians,” I said as I deposited them in my inventory, and then transferred a thousand each to Crash and Nova. “Now, let’s see what these things are.”
First off, I took a glance at our newly improved amulets. As expected, a shiny, glowing blue crystal had been added to an indent in the gold disk. I pulled up its stats for a closer look:
* * *
AMULET OF OBLIVION
Material: Gold and Crystal
Durability: 200
Bonus: +10 Earth and Water Resistance
Bonus: +10% damage for all Earth and Water element attacks
* * *
I LOOKED like we were right so far. And considering there weren’t many items that I could remember from Titan Gate that protected and boosted the four main elemental types, well, this would be a powerful, long-lasting item. Next, I cast Identify on the vials, and text flashed onto my screen:
* * *
CURE POTION: This potion reduces the effects of poison on the user by +50
* * *
“OKAY, so those are Cure Potions. Here, let’s each take one of them,” I said as I passed them out, and then used Identify on the gauntlets.
Soulstone: Oblivion (World of Ruul Book 3) Page 13
