and it had a debuff, ‘Mortal Plane’
Mortal Plane – Forced into the Mortal Plane, this malevolent spirit is now trapped here, making it vulnerable to attacks and even death.
“Fire!” Twill shouted, ballista bolts flew through the air, cutting through the spirit and stabbing into the chimera, both of them losing an equal amount of health.
“Watch out for the spirit,” Micaela warned, looking completely haggard but back in her body. “It if hits you, it can damage your spirit. For you non-Shamans, that means your experience.”
“Melee fighters, watch yourselves,” Twill called loudly, reinforcing Micaela’s warning.
Of course, as soon as he said that, a Hunter wielding two short swords jumped back, dodging a claw that jabbed through the chain net. The claw of the chimera missed but the ghostly claw of the spirit hit. I watched as the man suddenly had his level drop from 31 down to 30. Worse, the chimera and the spirit both went up to level 33. It didn’t regain any HP, thank the Gods and Goddesses, but it did seem to grow slightly bigger and stronger.
“Damnit,” Twill shouted. “Resuso, if you cannot dodge its attacks, then you have no business being that close!”
The Hunter that lost a level had his nameplate change from
Micaela suddenly collapsed, unable to hold herself up. “Stupid cat-bat-bull-thingy. All of my Spirit, gone. At least I have Palm and Kali to maintain my totems,” she mumbled to herself. “Bye-bye, Vision and I are done in this fight. Kill these abominations, would you?”
“You got it, Mic,” I promised. “Melee fighters focus your attacks to the hind quarters! It’s about the only way you’re going to avoid getting hit by that spirit!” I yelled, then I leaped, first to the side of the chimera and then toward its right hind leg. Once there, I hit the spirit with ‘Holy Fire’ The spell didn’t hit both of them. It was then, I saw there was a slight difference between the two HP bars.
I cast ‘Holy Blast’ next and saw two different damage notifications. Then I stabbed with my spear, making sure I pushed through the spirit and into the chimera. Two damage notifications again. I tried ‘Holy Shock’ but only the spirit was hit, and it resisted the Stun effect. I tried ‘Justice Strike’ next, aiming for the chimera and was rewarded with two damage notifications. As my ‘Holy Fire’ came off cooldown, I decided to try it on the chimera. It worked perfectly, and it added another stack to the spirit form. I smiled. I struck with ‘Ligament Rip’, aiming again for the chimera and again I was rewarded with the bleed effect on both targets.
“Focus damage on the chimera,” I yelled. “Anything the chimera suffers, the spirit suffers. But not everything the spirit suffers is suffered by the chimera.” I cast ‘Holy Shock’, targeting the chimera. Both were stunned this time. It was only a second, but in a fight like this, every second mattered.
“Charging!” Rose shouted as the chain net broke again.
“Charging!” Harrison echoed a few seconds later.
“Keep at it, boys and girls!” Twill shouted.
I didn’t pay him much mind at this point. I was more focused on dealing as much damage as I could.
A few minutes later, a shout called out, “New net incoming.”
Rose and Harrison disengaged again.
I was so engrossed in the fight, that I didn’t see when the spirit kind of turned around, still connected to the chimera but with the two heads facing opposite directions.
“All melee, fall back!” Twill shouted a second too late.
The claws swiped through me, dealing -5,112-HP damage, nearly killing me in that one blow. I backed away and got out of range quickly. I was relieved to see I didn’t lose a level. However, when I check my experience bar, I dropped from 30.97% of my next level to 20.75%. Estimating, based on my recent experience gains, I must have lost over fifty thousand experience from that one hit.
I looked toward Harrison and Rose, who’d been tanking while the Trappers got new nets. I hadn’t been paying attention but now that I looked, Harrison was down to level 25 and Rose was back down to Level 21.
“More damage!” Twill shouted. “I want this monster dead five minutes ago!”
“Melee, focus on the sides between the two heads!” I shouted, hoping the spirit wouldn’t turn to face us again.
Beyond being a monster with a lot of strength and HP, the chimera didn’t have any special abilities . . . not counting the spirit, but that was a separate entity, right? The fight was long and drawn out and the spirit could turn and face any direction so long as it remained centered on the chimera. As a melee fighter in this battle, I got very good, very quickly at jumping out of range of the duel threat. Even with that, I was still brought down to 0.23% of Level 22. One more hit and my level would have dropped.
I wasn’t even paying much attention to how much life either the chimera or the spirit had left when the spirit started bubbling, then oozing from its spectral orifices, until without a whimper or roar of indignation, the spirit collapse and slowly dispersed into motes of light.
And then only the chimera remained.
“Enrage!” Twill shouted in warning as the beast suddenly shredded the net that was holding it.
“Charging!” Rose shouted. “Hurry up and kill it!”
The chimera was still around 11% health and it wasn’t dropping very quickly.
“Give it everything you’ve got!” Twill shouted. “If you have a cooldown and have not used it yet, you are wrong!”
“You are wrong,” I mimicked softly, chuckling. I smiled at the typical raid leader Leet speak from Twill. I doubted he even knew what that was, but I still enjoyed it.
“You heard the man, attack!” Olaf shouted from somewhere on the other side of the chimera.
And that was what we did. Rose and Harrison frequently traded aggro, getting pounded for their effort along the way. Neither of them could take more than two hits, even if they blocked.
“Come on, give up the ghost already,” I complained as my SP and MP steadily drained with each attack.
Then at 1% something odd happened. The chimera looked like it was turning to flee into its den. That or it was charging at Olaf in an attempt to get just one more kill before it died.
“Olaf, look out!” I shouted, but the Minotaur just smirked.
Olaf had both hand-cannons cocked and aimed at the quickly approaching chimera. He pulled both triggers at pointblank range and the chimera’s HP hit zero. Happy to have finally killed the monster that hunted him at every turn, Olaf shouted, “Your turn!” Unfortunately, its momentum carried it right into Olaf and his HP bar hit zero again.
“Oh, Ollie is never going to live that down,” Micaela said, barely containing her laughter.
Rose didn’t restrain herself and neither did Baby, who giggled right along with her sister.
Through my friends’ laughter, I barely noticed the cheering of the Hunter’s Union. We’d done it. The chimera was dead. The malevolent spirit we didn’t even know was there, was dead.
Everything we wanted to accomplish in this province, and more, was done.
Hidden Quest Alert: Chaotic Spirit – Completed!
You have successfully slain a chaotic spirit. Congratulations on this impressive feat. Unfortunately, your actions have drawn further ire from Chaos. Be careful in the future as Chaos is not known to be merciful.
Reward: 150,000-Experience
I was surprised by the hidden quest. Chaos was behind the chimera. That meant there were two Chaos events in the same province. Were there other Chaos events we missed in other provinces? I know the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley was clean when we left. My ‘Lore’ subskill ‘Provincial Portal’ told me as much when I checked it as we were leaving. But what about Hurlig Ridge?
I made a mental note to check on Hurlig Ridge at the start of my next dive.
“Well, what do you think?” Twill asked.
“About what?” I asked
, not sure if I missed something.
“The Hunt, my good man, the Hunt. Was that not the most exhilarating experience of your life?” Twill asked.
I chortled and smiled. “It wasn’t bad,” I said.
“Well, I think that just about does it for us then. Our support staff are on the way to start parting out the chimera. I went ahead and increased the portion of the crafting materials you will receive. Due in part to increased difficulty due to the level of the beast. That and I figure it is the least I can do after . . . well, you know, when I killed you,” Twill said apologetically.
Yeah, that was still a sore spot. I mean, what if I couldn’t respawn? What if this was the real world? He would have just murdered me.
“Twill, I hope we never meet again,” I said. “I’m glad the hunt was successful, but I can’t trust you. I struggled to trust you with this hunt, but Olaf insisted on seeing it through. So, I’ll take our reward and then we’ll be leaving this province behind.”
“I . . . I understand,” Twill said, looking honestly ashamed. “I wish you and your companions all the luck in the world on any of your future hunts.”
I nodded. There was nothing more I needed or wanted to say to him.
Quest Alert: Chimera Hunt (Recommended Level 28-33) – Completed!
The hunt is on. A chimera has appeared in the Endless Savanna. When such a rare creature appears, Hunters and craftsmen are eager to obtain the very valuable materials that can be harvested upon its death. Hunt down this creature and reap your rewards.
Reward: +150,000-Experience, Chimera’s Visage, 60% of Crafting Materials Harvested
And with those two quests my Experience bar recovered everything I lost trying to fight that spirit creature and more. I really hoped I never needed to face anything like it again.
“I hate lions,” Olaf complained, leaning against a boulder near the dead chimera after being resurrected . . . again. “I hate chimeras. I hate cats. Spiteful animals, all of them.” Someone had resurrected him after his almost triumph over the chimera.
“Your turn,” I said, mimicking Olaf from earlier.
“Not you too, mate,” Olaf complained.
“I’m sorry, Olaf. It was just too funny. You finally kill it and it still managed to kill you one more time, even in death. Even you have to admit that was pretty amazing,” I said.
“You weren’t the one crushed to death by a flying cat the size of an air van,” Olaf persisted in his complaining.
“Your turn,” I repeated his words again.
Olaf had the good grace this time to at least look a little abashed. If not for getting crushed after saying it, it would have been awesome, legendary even. It was the perfect thing to say. And then he got pancaked.
“Sooty says it will take a couple hours to get all the materials sorted,” Rose said, joining Olaf and me. “He said he’ll let us know when the wagon is packed. Are we sure we want to start back to Root City today?”
“Yeah, we’ll be logging out in just two days. Leaving now gives us a little time in Root City. And some of us, myself included, have errands to run. For example, I need to pay a visit to my Goddess. I don’t even want to think about what kind of punishment she’ll give me this time if I don’t,” I said.
Rose blanched. “You might have a point, Jack.”
“Think we should use the same hotel?” Olaf asked.
“Sure, that should be find,” I said, glad to have that out of the way.
All that was left for the Endless Savanna was for Sooty to finish his work. And once that was done, our not quite two-day trip back to Root City began.
Two days later, we excited the portal back into Root City. And just to be sure we didn’t leave anything unfinished, I looked back to the portal to check its information.
Endless Savanna – Level 15-25 *Beware: higher level monsters have been known to appear*
Equal parts endless danger and endless adventure, the Endless Savanna is a nearly endless grassland filled with all manner of life and ways for it to end. Home to beasts native to warm Savanna Grasslands, this province is a favorite of the Hunter’s Guild who has a great many standing bounties. Unfortunately, members of the Hunter’s Union are not the only hunters that stalk this land.
With a sigh of relief, I followed my friends into the city.
Chapter 32
“Hmm, it is good to see you have learned your lesson,” the Goddess Issara in her child form said appraisingly.
Not only did I report immediately to the Goddess Issara upon returning to Root City, but I made sure to bring a wide variety of treats and snacks from the Bazaar of Beastkin, compliments of Zemira. I may have been banished from the Bazaar for a week, but she was kind enough to pay me a visit and do a small favor.
“Now, as to your time in the Endless Savanna. Not bad,” the Goddess Issara said indifferently.
That was it? After all her concern and anger at the beginning of the month, that was all she was going to say? No comments for a job well-done? Nothing for putting an end to the Slavers? Just . . . ‘Not bad’?
The Goddess Issara looked at me and cocked her head to the side, then with a knowing smirk, she asked, “Is hearing me sing your praises really that important? I suppose, if you would prefer that over my divine gifts, we could give it a try.”
“No,” I said quickly. I forgot about her ability to read minds, and clearly, she had just been listening to mine. “Sorry, I am very fortunate to receive your gifts. Please forgive me, I can’t always control my thoughts.”
The Goddess Issara’s smirk deepened and mirth danced in her eyes. “I thought as much. In the future, you may want to learn to mask your thoughts. Not all of the divine are as forgiving as I am. Now, is there anything you would like to purchase while you are here?” the Goddess Issara asked, the room shifting into that of her shop before I could even utter a reply.
Once the room reformed into the ‘Justice Shop’ as the Goddess Issara called it, I said, “I suppose I should purchase the ‘Divine Smite’ spell, unless you have something more specifically pertaining to my being a Warrior Priest? Something like a ‘Justice Smite’ maybe?”
“Nope. ‘Divine Smite’ is powered by your faith in your deity, me, a Goddess of Justice, which means it is already specific to you,” the Goddess Issara answered.
“So, it will give me a bonus to physical damage?” I asked.
“Correct,” the Goddess Issara answered.
“Question, is there any way to make this spell instant cast? Either by increasing the mana cost or . . . I don’t know, something?” I asked. I understood the importance of picking up the additional spell. I just didn’t like how long it took to cast the spell.
“I do not have a way to change the characteristics of a spell,” the Goddess Issara answered.
“If you can’t then who can?” I asked, curious if she would share that information with me.
“I cannot say. I would do some research into the matter,” the Goddess Issara answered with a wink.
That suggested it was possible. And possible was good. Requiring some research into the matter was easy enough, especially since I still needed to drop off the story about my spear with Sirac to complete the two quests he gave me.
“Okay, then I guess I’ll take the Charm for ‘Divine Smite’,” I said. It was true that my current charm was only 123 out of 250, but it was coming along nicely. I figured it would be better long term if I started learning spells only from Charms. The bonus stats I was awarded when I learned something from a Charm were just too good.
The Goddess Issara gushed, “Ooh! Is my little Warrior Priest learning?” A moment later the shelves vanished, leaving a small white charm on the counter. “One Divine Smite Charm. That will be 20-Sigils please.”
Despite the condescending tone, I placed 20-Sigils on the counter and accepted the softly glowing white Charm. That was one very good thing about my time in the Endless Savanna. I accumulated a lot of the Sigils of the Goddess Issara. Fifty-three o
f them to be exact. The largest portions from defeating Leonidas and then from the Slaver’s Fortress. The Slaver’s Fortress actually completed another quest chain when I reported to Zemira. The quest, Emancipation of the Stolen. I inadvertently completed quest 2 through 7 in one go, landing 2-Sigils each from quest 2 to quest 6 and quest 7 granted 10-Sigils in one go. The rest came from a lot of lesser quests, compliments of the Goddess Issara.
I was very happy for the Charm, even if I couldn’t use it yet. The Charm, a small hammer at the end of the chain was similar in size to other Charms I received in the past, though this one was white and glowing softly. The glowing was new.
Divine Charm (Unique) - +20-Intellect, +20-Wisdom – Equipping will teach you the skill ‘Divine Smite’ 0/100
“Thank you,” I said. Not only did the charm boost Intellect and Wisdom by a lot, but the charm only required 100 . . . somethings? “What does the charm require to be unlocked?”
“You only need to defeat opponents of the same or higher level using a spell that inflicts Holy damage,” the Goddess Issara answered, then added, “I am afraid our time is up for now. When you return in a week, and once you know where you and your friends plan to go, let me know. I will do what I can to advise you. For now, only one thing remains.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
The Goddess Issara smiled, then said clearly, “I hereby promote you to Beginner Warrior Priest. Congratulations!”
Class: Beginner Warrior Priest of Issara
Beginner Class Effects: +30% to holy or light bonus spell damage, -15% to bonus spell healing
“And with that, I will see you in a week,” the Goddess Issara stated with a finality.
Before I could even say ‘farewell’, I was staring at the door to the inner cloister within her temple.
From the temple, it wasn’t a long walk to return to Sirac’s Library. The Snakeman was right where I saw him last, quite possibly flipping through the pages of the same ancient tome.
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 56
