World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  “Nice,” said Olaf excitedly. “That makes things a lot easier. As long as we know what we need to get, it should make our stay in Root City a short one this time. Does everyone think they can be ready to leave by noon tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, that works,” I said.

  “Ah, sorry, mates,” said Heath. “Not me. I finally have my skills up enough. I can take the test for Jack of All. I don’t know how long it will take but it might be a few days or even a few weeks if there are additional quests.”

  I didn’t like that. I understood it, but I didn’t like it. Heath had proven himself an invaluable part of our team.

  “Well, the portal is in the Fourth Ring, Northeast 2,” Rose said. “Come join us when you can . . . and good luck.” She looked like she tasted something bitter when she said the last words, but they were sincere enough. Rose and Heath didn’t really get along well outside of combat. Heath made the mistake of assuming Baby was Rose’s daughter the first time they met, then proceeded to call her a gorilla when she knocked him out for it. Anyway, in combat, they worked together just fine. Out of combat . . . meh.

  “I’ll see you there,” Heath replied, vanishing from view. The only sign he actually left was when the doors opened and closed by themselves.

  “I will get Barkley on supplies as soon as he gets back. Hopefully, he will be able to get us some information on the province as well, just do not expect much with such a short amount of time to prepare,” Marie said. “Also, camping means I will not be able to repair armor or make armor as we will not have a forge.”

  Getting information on the province gave me a good idea, though the mention of not having access to a forge for Mardi . . . Marie was an issue. Anyway, I had a skill that was perfect for gathering information.

  Lore II

  Level: 24

  Experience: 91.47%

  Professional Skill: Lore is the study of the history of the World Tree and its denizens.

  Subskill: Provincial Portals I

  Your knowledge of World Tree portals magic, mythos, and science has granted you the ability to read the portals for destination information up to recommended levels 1-15. Chance to glean additional information: 12.40%

  The subskill ‘Provincial Portals I’ was perfect for it. I would probably just need to do a little research. Last month, I read a few books to gain the subskill. One of the books was called, ‘Provinces of the World Tree Volume I’. I was willing to bet there was a ‘Volume II’. I wanted to get some research material on Chaos anyway so it should work out.

  “Okay, shopping for supplies today, everything else tomorrow,” Olaf said. I think I missed some of the conversations around me. But I still agreed with that final statement.

  Chapter 5

  Rose and I kept our hands joined as we stepped out of the hotel, looking forward to shopping with our friends when my plans were forcefully changed.

  “My patience is worn. You will come to me immediately . . . or else!” the Goddess Issara’s voice boomed through my head, dropping me to my knees, and leaving me gasping for breath.

  When I regained control of my faculties, I was on my back, looking up at the thick branches of the World Tree miles above me. “Ow, that hurt,” I groaned, massaging my temples.

  “Bye-bye, what happened? What’s wrong?” Olaf asked quickly.

  I was slow to sit up. It took me a moment to put everything together. As my head cleared, I became keenly aware of what put me on the ground in the first place. The Goddess Issara just sent a rather insistent and painful summon, one I absolutely could not ignore.

  Then I heard a groan from next to me. “Oh, my head,” Rose complained, raising a forearm to cover her eyes.

  “What happened to you?” I asked, looking over to Rose.

  “Goddess . . . angry Goddess,” Rose grumbled.

  “You too, huh?” I asked, hoping the pain would fade quickly. How was it that the Goddess Issara could cause me real pain? Any pain I suffered was supposed to have been muted by the game. Then again, maybe that was muted. In which case, I can say with absolute certainty, that it probably would have fried my brain if it hadn’t been muted.

  “Sorry, everyone, I think shopping has just been canceled for Jack and me,” Rose said, slowly climbing back to her feet.

  I followed her up. “It shouldn’t affect your plans, Olaf. Rose and I will run our errands tonight and go shopping in the morning. We’ll still be ready to go by noon tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure you’re both alright?” Baby asked, fussing over her sister.

  “We’re fine. I have a headache . . . but I’m fine,” Rose replied.

  Baby looked less than okay with that statement.

  “Anyway,” Rose said before Baby could start fussing again. “Jack and I need to go. I can’t imagine my Goddess Lilith will tolerate any further delay.”

  Baby frowned and growled. “I don’t like it.”

  “I know, Sis, I’m sorry,” Rose said solemnly.

  “Just, be safe, okay?” Baby said, finally relenting.

  I felt for Baby. Between this summons and everything that happened in the outside world, the woman who was like a sister to Rose was undoubtedly under a lot of stress worrying for her.

  “We will,” Rose said, pulling Baby into a long hug.

  “I’m holding you to it,” Baby said, breaking the hug. “Alright everyone, we’ll catch up with them later. Let’s go!”

  “Since when is Fairy Overlord in charge?” Vision asked, getting everyone laughing again.

  With the group in good spirits as we split up, Rose and I started walking toward the Godly ring, the first Ring of Root City. We made it about a block before Rose stopped us, looking to make sure the others were out of sight before she spoke.

  “Mind if we do the ‘Temporary Vampiric Bond’ again?” Rose asked. “I really don’t want to make my Goddess wait. Even Panther is freaking out.”

  I frowned at that. I didn’t see Panther. He wasn’t around her neck like he usually was. “That’s fine, but now that you mentioned him, where is Panther? I haven’t seen him for a while.” Panther was a small black snake that had been given to Rose as a familiar when she became a Squire Vampiric Knight of the Vampire Goddess Lilith. He usually hung around Rose’s neck like a creepy necklace, however, at some point last month while we were in Hammerton, the little snake vanished.

  Rose tilted her head in confusion for a second before smiling. “I totally forgot to tell you. Panther learned this amazing skill, ‘Shadow Tattoo’. He becomes a tattoo and sinks into my body. Best of all, it frees up an accessory slot.”

  I might have shuddered . . . probably shuddered at the thought of having a living snake as part of my body, even in the form of a tattoo. “How . . . where . . . huh?”

  Rose giggled at my reaction. “Watch,” she said, tilting her head to the side, creating a small shadow on her neck and shoulder, a shadow that was suddenly getting darker before the head of a black snake with white eyes began to emerge.

  “You called, misstresss,” Panther hissed.

  “I wanted to sshow Jack how much you have grown. Sshow him how sstrong you are getting,” Rose hissed in reply.

  Panther’s tongue darted in and out a few times, tasting the air. “I am not a pet to sshow off to your mate. He will ssee me when the time to fight comess.” And just like that, Panther sunk back into her skin.

  “How big is he now?” I asked.

  “About four feet long,” Rose answered. “But we can talk about him later. We really should get going,” she said, holding out an empty vial.

  “You’re right,” I said, accepting the vial Rose was holding out. A little cut across my palm and I poured the blood into the vial, filling it up about halfway before casting a ‘Beginner Heal’ on my hand, restoring the few lost HP, then doing the same for Rose.

  Beginner Heal

  Level: 2

  Experience: 79.47%

  Spell Heal: 421-530

  Spell Cast Speed: 2.00 secon
ds

  Spell Mana Cost: 214

  Spell Effect (Active): Heal a single target.

  “Bottoms up,” Rose said, clinking her vial with mine.

  I drank her blood and she drank mine. Once I stopped coughing from the strong burning sensation the blood left behind, I saw the buff.

  Temporary Vampiric Bond – Allows for the bonded vampire to locate and teleport to you instantaneously. Duration: 12:00:00.00

  The timer immediately started counting down.

  “Thanks, Jack,” Rose said, giving me a quick kiss and vanishing into a pool of blood. It was still creepy.

  That left me a few miles from the Temple of the Goddess Issara. Thankfully, I had ‘Body Control’ and the subskill ‘Sprint’ to get me where I needed to be.

  Body Control

  Level: 100

  Experience: N/A

  Subskill: Sudden Boost

  Strength Boost: +2-Strength to a specific muscle group for 5 seconds (additional stacks reset the timer)

  Skill Stamina Cost: 20 per boost

  Subskill: Pacing

  Stamina Cost Reduced: 2% Reduced Stamina Cost to all skills (excluding Body Control Subskills)

  Subskill: Amped Up

  Strength Boost: +2-Strength for 5 seconds (additional stacks reset the timer)

  Skill Stamina Cost: 100 per boost

  Subskill: Sprint

  Run Speed Boost: Increase Running speed by 20% for 5-seconds.

  Skill Stamina Cost: 20 per boost

  Subskill: Jump

  Jump Height Boost: Increase your maximum jump height by 12.5-feet per boost

  Skill Stamina Cost: 100 per boost

  Subskill: Recoil

  Damage Reduction: Reduce all physical damage taken by 30.00% for 5-Seconds

  Skill Stamina Cost: 500 per boost

  I liberally applied a great deal of my SP using ‘Sprint’, getting me to the Temple in just under 5-minutes. The temple looked very similar to how it was the last time I was here. Once again, there was a long line of guards waiting their turn to enter. I could see bags of candy dangling from some of their hands, which gave me pause. I didn’t have a tribute. Then I saw the source of the bags of candy. There was a vending cart set up on the edge of the temple grounds.

  Twenty Gold later I had a hundred bags of the candy just waiting to be given to my Goddess Issara . . . assuming she didn’t break me like a twig or just shatter my mind. Either way, I would hope for the best.

  The doors to the inner cloister allowed me passage without any impediment. And yet, I couldn’t help feeling a sense of doom with each step I took forward.

  Stepping into the room, I saw the Goddess Issara in the form of an adult human, pacing from one side of the room to the other, her lips moving and barely audible words spewing forth, not that I could make out what she was muttering. Then she noticed me and froze.

  “Um, hi,” I said nervously, holding out a bag of candy.

  In the blink of an eye, the Goddess Issara was across the room and wrapping me in a hug. A hug that was getting progressively tighter. Tighter to the point I could feel my ribs starting to give way. When I heard the first of them snap, I tried to signal for my Goddess to let me go.

  “I have been so worried about you,” the Goddess Issara said, a slight waver in her voice.

  I ceased struggling against the bone-crushing hug. I could always heal myself later. Instead, I returned the hug, trying to ignore the crunching and snapping sounds and the numbness that was creeping into my lower body.

  Finally, she broke the hug and took a step back, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Do you know how worried I have been about you? Do you even care? Why did you not come to me before your return to the other world? Did you want to make me suffer? What have I ever done to deserve such treatment?” With each question she shook me rather vigorously, her hands crushing my shoulders further and further, not giving me a chance to reply.

  “Well? Are you going to answer me or not?” the Goddess Issara demanded, finally relinquishing her vice grip on my shoulders . . . broken shoulders, allowing me to sink to the floor. My legs weren’t really responding correctly anymore to keep me standing.

  “Pain,” I groaned, starting to cast my ‘Beginner Heal’ spell, trying to repair whatever damage she did.

  “Serves you right,” the Goddess Issara said, sniffing in disdain and looking away from me.

  Thankfully, it only took five casts of ‘Beginner Heal’ to repair the damage.

  “Well? I’m waiting,” the Goddess Issara said, her foot tapping angrily.

  “We were alive and succeeded in stopping Chaos. I assumed you knew we were successful. With God Ivaldi taking up so much of our time, I didn’t have enough time left before I would have been forced back to the other world. I am very sorry for worrying you,” I said, trying to explain and apologize.

  “From now on, I come first,” the Goddess Issara stated firmly. “Unless the World Tree is burning to the ground, if you have finished a quest from me, then you come to see me first before any other God or Goddess. Understood?”

  I thought that was a little extreme, but I didn’t think saying as much would have been a good idea. “I understand.”

  Seemingly satisfied, the Goddess Issara shifted her form into that of a child with a wooden sword, then asked, “Good, now, where is my tribute?”

  I looked around for the bag I had in hand when I entered only to find it was missing. Thankfully, there were more in my bag, all of which ended up in her possession.

  “I suppose I can accept this, but next time, I expect more variety and higher quality,” the childlike Goddess demanded, stuffing handfuls into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out wider with each bite. Talk about stress eating.

  “Yes ma’am,” I replied.

  Once the last bag of candy was poured into her never-ending gullet, she appeared to have calmed, shifting once more into her adult form. “I suppose I am satisfied with your tribute. Now, tell me about your quest to the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley.”

  I spent the next hour telling her the story of our adventure. Telling her about the Gremlins, the attack on Hammerton, securing the various resources, and the siege. I told her about my vision while using the ‘Meditation’ skill and how it led me to fake Mardi . . . Marie’s death.

  “My, that is quite the adventure,” the Goddess Issara said. “But there is something you are not telling me.”

  “I had an encounter with Chaos,” I said carefully. I wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t say to her and whether or not Chaos would hurt the Goddess Issara if I did.

  “Tell me,” the Goddess Issara ordered.

  I told her about my meeting with Chaos, leaving out a lot of details as I simply wasn’t sure how to explain what I knew.

  “That is troubling,” the Goddess Issara said, once more back in her adult form. “And you say Chaos is after you specifically?”

  “Mostly me, but there are others he is targeting as well,” I answered.

  “I shall consult the pantheon, maybe more than one,” the Goddess Issara mumbled the last part. “For now, you have done what I required, you survived.”

  Class Quest Alert: Survive! – Completed!

  The Goddess Issara has asked that you survive whatever is awaiting you in the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley. More than that, the Goddess Issara has asked you to win.

  Reward: +100,000-Experience, 10-Sigils of the Goddess Issara

  “Thank you, Goddess Issara,” I said gratefully. That put me up to 44-Sigils. I could only wonder what kind of goodies the Goddess Issara had stashed away, just waiting for me to pluck them off her shelves.

  “You are welcome, your rewards are well earned. However, I should bar your access to the Justice Shop for not reporting to me,” the Goddess Issara said, glowering at me, disapproval written on her face, from the crease in her forehead to the downturned corners of her mouth.

  I swallowed nervously. I was really wishing I had thought through the possib
le consequences of not visiting her last week. Hindsight, am I right? I didn’t know what to say, lowering my head in shame and not meeting her eyes. I didn’t like the way she was looking at me.

  Then I felt a hand on my cheek, lifting my head to meet the eyes of the adult version.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, seeing how much hurt was in her eyes. Hurt from my own negligence. Hurt because I took her for granted. “It will never happen again.”

  “See that it doesn’t,” the Goddess Issara said. “Now, seeing as you have a primordial targeting you specifically, it would be irresponsible of me as your patron to bar you from the spells and skills that might just help you survive your next encounter with It.”

  The Goddess Issara shifted one more time, this time into the thin and wiry clerk with the swordpen and notepad. All around me, the cloister had already shifted, filling with shelves that were littered with scrolls and charms. “Now, turn that frown upside down. Welcome back to the Justice Shop, may I take your order, sir?”

  For as serious and solemn as things had just been, I couldn’t help but smile at the sudden shift in character. I don’t know why I was still surprised when she did this. Still, I wouldn’t have her any other way.

  “So, I’ve maxed out ‘Holy Smite’ and need to see what spell or spells are available,” I said. ‘Holy Smite’ was my first attack spell and it was extremely weak. And apparently, the spell description now listed a range for the spell. I never really paid much attention to how far or close my opponents were when I was casting a spell. It made sense there would be a range and it was kind of nice to know what that range was.

  Holy Smite