It was slow moving to get close enough and I took a few more hits for my trouble but the instant I was in range I tagged the archer with ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ causing a little damage but it was the stun I was looking for as it made him go rigid which had the added effect of throwing him off balance. He wobbled for the longest second ever before he tipped and went right over the edge of the roof, shooting into the ground head first like one of his arrows. I didn’t see him hit or hear a crunch from the impact but the +246-Experience from his death was plenty notification. I felt a little guilty, but in my defense, he was trying to kill me.
“Jack, a little help here,” called Rose, drawing my attention away from the man I had just killed. Rose was in bad shape, it appeared the guard had been beating on her pretty good. I began casting a few ‘Lesser Heal’ spells in her direction, inching her health upward until she was back above 50%. After that, I attacked with her, trying to bring the guard low enough to try ‘Order: Surrender’ again.
“Surrender,” I insisted, letting the spell work . . . hoping it would work.
The guard looked from Rose to me before he threw down his shield and ax. He dropped to his knees, a ‘Surrendered’ debuff now visible under his nameplate and a +234-Experience notification floated up from him. I didn’t hesitate to start casting ‘Holy Shackles’, binding his hands and feet.
With him captured, Rose and I turned to see if we could help Guard Rhyes only to see the man shoving the assassin forward, bound in thick black metal chains. Rhyes health was just below the 50% mark. “Thanks for that, Bye-bye. This guy probably would have ended my life if not for you spotting him when you did. Good work too in capturing that one, is the archer dead?”
I nodded solemnly. I had hoped the fall from the roof would have only broken a leg or two, I didn’t expect him to land on his head and die.
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 2 (Recommended Level 6-8) - Completed
You have followed the blood trail to a warehouse and found Patrolman Rhyes alive and healthy. Now, you need to eliminate the guards quietly so as not to draw additional danger down on you.
Reward: +1,000-Experience
“It happens, was not a good situation to begin with,” stated Rhyes. “Now, I am going to call for some back up to actually clear out whatever mess is inside.” The man pulled out a yellow tube from his bag with a long string dangling from the end of it. He held the tube high then pulled hard on the string causing a bright yellow flare to shoot into the sky above us.
“How long do we have before backup arrives?” Rose asked, sipping from a canteen.
“Not long, the trick is knowing how long to wait, do we give them 10 minutes and hope enough guards show up to help or wait 15 minutes and risk the criminals inside catching wind of what we are up to out here,” explained Rhyes.
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 3 (Recommended Level 6-8)
You have followed the blood trail to a warehouse and found Patrolman Rhyes alive and healthy. The exterior guards have been subdued. Patrolman Rhyes has called in backup. Once backup arrives, successfully storm the warehouse.
Reward: Experience
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes – Wait 10 minutes
Yes – Wait 15 minutes
No
“What do you want to do?” I asked, looking at Rose.
Rose sighed. “The smart move is to wait 15 minutes, these guys hit hard, and we don’t have a dedicated healer. But if we wait that long they might escape. I’m torn.”
I agreed with her completely for a change. If we go in too soon we might get overwhelmed by whatever is waiting for us inside. On the other hand, if we wait too long we risk them escaping.
“Any chance one of the guards will be a healer of some kind?” I asked, looking to Rhyes.
“Not many healers among the Patrol Corp,” replied Rhyes reluctantly. “Should not be too much of an issue though, we are all at least level 20.”
“Sounds like you’re healing then, Jack,” said Rose.
I frowned in annoyance, my healing wasn’t very strong, my magic, in general, wasn’t very strong. Looking at the levels of my spells told me I was way behind on leveling them up. With an average level of about 25 when they should be around 70 was very telling to how seriously I have procrastinated on doing the necessary grinding to level them appropriately.
“Without a dedicated healer, we can’t afford to risk rushing in. We’ll wait 15 minutes, try to get as many guards here as we can,” I said, the ‘Yes – Wait 15 minutes’ option flashed briefly, accepting the quest.
Rhyes nodded his acceptance.
The wait was nerve-racking. Rose had taken to pacing, drawing her sword at the slightest bit of noise. Luckily, it was barely 5-minutes before the first of the backup arrived. A
“Okay, we storm the building in 2 minutes. Orange flare is the signal,” ordered Corvo, he was the highest-level guard there and seemed to have rank over the others. “Rhyes, stay with your charges. Harrison, you are through the door first,” he continued.
Looking at Harrison, I guessed he was a tank based on the mix and matched chainmail and plate armor along with the large rectangular tower shield hanging from his back. I looked for a weapon on Harrison but didn’t see one. Then Harrison nodded his acknowledgment to Corvo, he pulled the tower shield from his back to reveal a second tower shield behind it. He was dual wielding tower shields, one for each arm. When I looked at the back of the shields, they had interlocking pins that would connect them together creating a literal shield wall.
“Jack, you have to introduce me to Harrison and convince him to train me,” said Rose, her eyes locked onto the dual shield setup.
I grinned a little, it was pretty awesome to look at and I was kind of excited to see how it worked.
“Malcolm and Meijer, you two will be right behind him. Rhyes, you and your guests can go next. I will cover the rear. Any questions gentleman?”
Corvo didn’t wait for an answer, “On you Harrison.”
The heavily armored, dual shield touting patrolman stepped toward the door, walking at first then steadily building up speed until he was pumping his legs up and down, rapidly building speed. I couldn’t help but think the clanking of his armor sounded a bit like an ancient steam locomotive. The man’s shields were held out in front of him like a battering ram, which is exactly what they were at that point. The shield wall crashed through the door just before an orange flare lit up the sky, the signal for the attack to begin.
I watched in morbid fascination as Harrison just kept going even after he busted through the door frame. He crashed through another wall before finally stopping when he crashed through a large crate on the other side of it.
His charge was more effective than I originally thought, I saw three members of the Ardentia Guild slowly picking themselves up from the ground, each of them with a dazed debuff.
Malcolm and Meijer were right behind, pouncing on the fallen guild members, their maces hammering down, dropping the enemies HP like a stone and adding a second debuff, ‘Unconscious’. In a second move, they rolled their targets over and shackled them.
I didn’t notice that Rhyes had moved and done the same thing to the third downed guild member. It was so smooth and well-practiced as if they had done the same thing hundreds of times before. They probably have or had at least trained for it.
Harrison backed out of the crate, making a ton of noise as he did s
o, his armor and shields scraping against the wood and whatever was inside the crate itself.
“Shockwave,” called Corvo loudly. Malcolm, Meijer, and Rhyes all pulled out shields and dropped to a knee, using them as cover. I looked back and saw Corvo doing the same. Looking back again at the other patrolman, Rhyes was motioning Rose and I to join him.
Not sure what was going on, I ran to take cover with him. I took a chance to peek over the top of the shields and saw Harrison crouched low with his shields in front of himself. When he started glowing I knew something big was about to happen. Without warning Harrison shot upwards, nearly reaching the roof of the warehouse fifty or sixty feet above us. Then he started coming back down, his shields held in front of him, also building up a glow. Just before impact, Rhyes yanked me down behind the shield so I couldn’t see what happened. In hindsight, I didn’t need to see it as I certainly felt it. Harrison’s impact created a shockwave of energy that rippled through the room, shoving us all backward, sliding only a few feet, the shields no doubt protected us from taking significant damage.
Eager to see the results, I peeked above the shields. The previously neatly stacked crates were either destroyed or tumbled end over end. More interesting was the dozen or so new arrivals, all of them
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 3 (Recommended Level 6-8) - Completed
You have followed the blood trail to a warehouse and found Patrolman Rhyes alive and healthy. The exterior guards have been subdued. Patrolman Rhyes has called in backup. Once backup arrives, successfully storm the warehouse.
Reward: +1,500-Experience
“Stop her,” called Corvo, pointing to an upper window where the familiar
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 4 (Recommended Level 6-8)
The warehouse has been successfully stormed, all that remains is for the guards to arrest the Ardentia Guild members. Alas, one is about to escape with an unknown scroll. Catch her before she can escape the area. Recover the scroll at any cost.
Reward: Experience, Evidence
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
“She’s ours,” called Rose, her fanged grin flashing briefly before she ran, charging up the broken and knocked over crates until she too was out the window and after the assassin.
I could only sigh and give chase.
Chapter 6
Of all the things I had planned to do while I was in Root City, chasing an assassin across the rooftops of the ninth ring was not on that list, least of all rooftops that were in as rough a shape as these were. I was afraid one misstep would send me crashing through the roof into some poor citizen’s living room.
“We need to slow her down,” called Rhyes from behind me.
“I’m open to suggestions,” I shouted back as I continued chasing just behind Rose, who didn’t slow or hesitate to run across the rickety rooftops.
“Hit her with that lightning spell of yours,” Rhyes shouted.
“She’s not in range yet,” I answered, glancing at my Stamina pool steadily depleting. “Rose, have you got anything?”
“Almost in range,” she shouted back. “Just three more yards.”
I nodded. Not sure why I nodded as she was well out in front of me and couldn’t see me, but I did. Finally, Rose leaped the gap between two buildings and before she even landed I saw her throw something. Whatever it was, it was tiny, like a dart, it hit the assassin and vanished. At first, I thought maybe it hit armor and fell to the ground, but then the assassin stumbled then tripped and fell face first, sliding off the rooftop. I could only watch as Rose dropped down after the assassin without slowing down or looking before she leapt.
I ran to the edge and looked down to see the assassin had landed in some trash bins and was already struggling to get out but kept tripping. I winced when Rose’s shield impacted with the assassin’s face.
“I suppose that is one way to handle it,” commented Rhyes, standing right next to me and looking down at the scene below.
“Don’t just stand there, get down here and shackle her before she comes to,” shouted Rose between gasps of breath.
Rhyes shrugged before he stepped off the ledge, dropping like a stone then impacting heavily with the cobblestone below. Managing to do a little damage himself, but not really causing injury.
It was my turn to shrug and take the same step. I started to step forward but stopped halfway as an idea made me grin. Instead, I stepped back a little to get a bit of a running start. I jumped from the building, coasting to the wall of the building opposite of me. My feet touched the wall first, I pushed off, flipping through the air back toward the other wall. Then I did it again, flipping and twisting such that I landed right next to Rose taking no damage at all.
“Show off,” said Rose, trying not to grin, but failing epically. Eventually, she just shook her head and laughed.
I grinned in triumph. ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ stunned the rousing assassin a moment later as she tried again to stand.
“Nice work,” said Rhyes, producing a pair of black shackles and binding the badly injured assassin. Apparently, the fall from the roof had given her a ‘Crippled’ debuff, both of her legs were at unnatural angles and she appeared to be struggling to breathe, probably from broken ribs.
I knelt down next to her and pried the scroll from her grip. Then I saw a small black snake slithering away from the assassin’s body and to Rose’s waiting hand. She hissed something to the snake, grinning proudly at the little guy. The snake seemed to puff up proudly before retaking his place around her neck.
I shuddered and looked away from the snake.
“What’s it say, Jack?” Rose asked.
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 4 (Recommended Level 6-8) - Completed
The warehouse has been successfully stormed, all that remains is for the guards to arrest the Ardentia Guild members. Alas, one is about to escape with an unknown scroll. Catch her before she can escape the area. Recover the scroll at any cost.
Reward: +1,500-Experience, Evidence
I opened the scroll and frowned. It was blank.
“Nothing,” I answered, showing her the blank scroll.
“But the quest says we got the ‘Evidence’,” protested Rose, frowning unhappily.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied, showing her the blank scroll. “I think we need to question her.”
“The city watch will be taking care of that,” said Rhyes. “I cannot let adventurers, such as yourselves, interrogate a prisoner. You just don’t have the authority.”
“But she might have information we need?” Rose protested hotly.
“I understand that, but there are laws,” defended Rhyes. “Now, just because I cannot allow you to interrogate her does not mean, I will not share whatever we learn from her. Bye-bye, here, especially needs to know as he was her initial target.”
Rose frowned but relented. “Fine, when?”
“When what?” Rhyes asked.
“When will you have the results of your interrogation?” she demanded, arms crossed defensively in front of her.
“Should only take a day or two,” he replied then added, “a week at most.”
“We don’t have a week, we need to know if the Duchess is in danger now,” Rose added, stressing the last word. Much as it worried me, I thought it was a good decision for her to mention the Duchess. Rhyes didn’t know about our current quest to guard the Duchess of Hammerton, knowing might well light a fire under him. We needed him to have a significant sense of urgency about this.
“The Duchess?” Rhyes asked, hi
s eyes widening in shock. Suddenly, the man lifted the assassin’s body from the ground and slammed her into the alley wall, causing the girl to gasp and spit blood, but successfully waking her.
“I . . . kill . . . you,” mumbled the girl, now glaring at us.
“Why was Bye-bye targeted?” Rhyes demanded, a little spittle flying from his mouth.
The girl tried to speak but could barely get a breath in, Rose clicked her tongue in annoyance. “She’s too injured to talk. She needs treatment first.”
Rhyes glared hard at the assassin for a moment before relenting, letting her drop to the ground. He then held the barely conscious girl’s head back and forced open her mouth. His fingers probing for something in her mouth, before clicking his tongue. “Rotten suicide teeth,” he grumbled, working his fingers slightly then yanking hard, pulling free an oddly shaped tooth. He then slung the girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “I think this warrants a trip back to the barrack to see the Lieu.”
Quest Alert: Blood Trail to Where? 5 (Recommended Level 6-8)
The assassin has been caught and the scroll recovered. Alas, the scroll is blank. Any information you wish to obtain will have to be gained directly from the assassin. Report back to the barracks with Patrolman Rhyes to speak with Lieutenant Saaya.
Reward: Experience, Access to Barracks Trainers and Training Equipment
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Rose gave me a questioning look.
“I think this one is a good guy,” I answered the unasked question. The last lieutenant we dealt with turned out to be a deranged priest with a fallen God imprisoned inside his body that also turned him into a werewolf, it just happened that he also wanted to kill us. So, a really bad guy.
World Tree Online: The Duchess of Hammers: 2nd Dive Begins Page 9
