by Sean Oswald
It felt odd to Dave, breaking down a battle strategy in terms of special attacks. This was too much like guild raids back home, and he realized there was a danger in viewing Eloria like that. Yet there was an excitement to it. For once, he felt like he could quantify the variables in one of his battles, and it gave him a greater sense of control.
Ten minutes later, after everyone was covered in every protective magic that they could spare, Tode’s pet got a chance to really shine. It didn’t possess the mind or the finesse to dodge but was able to take two hits before its health once again bottomed out, and Tode instructed it to unleash the Wind shear attack (2205). As he released it, the air around him all condensed into a six-inch wide, two-inch thick blade which erupted from his body in a 120 degree arc. Four of the lesser thralls, including the one that Mira had charmed, were cut clean in half. As for the enemy boss, it was hit so hard by the blast that its entire chest cracked clean across and flung it to the wall at the back of its platform.
Tode’s minion was able to stumble forward on crumbling legs to land one more heavy swing of its axe (390). That was its last action in this world before the enemy released his own Wind shear attack (1298) and sent fragments of its attacker flying across the room.
“That’s it. Hit it with everything,” Tode called out as soon as the creature had activated its special attack. The other knight thralls had already been dealt with crossbow bolts, magic missiles, ice daggers, and a pair of lightning bolts struck the boss as it was staggering back to its feet. An instant later, a second round of spells which had been slightly slower went off: purplish black energy from the Essence Knight, a fire blast from Tode, and a lance of stygian blackness from Emily’s Wand of Shadow Spears. That dark energy struck the final blow, and a charging Rak’kar and Daichi never even reached the enemy before its head was literally blasted from the broken remains of its body. Even as the head struck the ground, everyone heard the last grating tones of the monster’s final battle cry fade into nothing. “Niiiii …”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Robert Frost was wrong. For not all that’s green can be considered gold. Some of the flora in Eloria is every bit as horrifying as the beasts.” — Excerpt from private journal of Emily Nelson, Daughter of Redemption
Dungeon: Bastion of Thralls – Sara and Jackson Nelson
Inside the dungeon, nearly six hours passed as the raid party made their slow and deliberate way through the newly formed tunnels, testing themselves against monsters never before seen on the continent of Talos, but due to the time dilation effect, it had only been a mere twenty minutes. Still, that was little encouragement to Sara. Twenty minutes in a place she didn’t want to be was a long time for an eight-year-old. She was a smart girl, but still a little girl. The words from her parents about how dangerous it was where they were going rang hollow. She reasoned that she wasn’t helpless. She had her friends Krinnk and Snowball. Oh and of course, Balayria. She was far from helpless, in her mind. Besides, if Jackson got to go, why shouldn’t she? She never got to go anywhere. It was frustrating and scary all at the same time. If it was dangerous, then why were they all going there?
Concepts of leveling or getting stronger for the future were not ideas Sara was equipped to deal with. She just wanted her family around her. She wanted to play and know that they were there. So, in her own mind, the twenty minutes dragged on. Everyone around her was kind, even the frowny face Eisuke was nice to her. Still, none of them did anything but keep her from her family. Anytime she got even close to the entrance, it was like they all swarmed around her and shooed her away.
Still, she kept staring at the entrance. Krinnk wanted to play catch, one of his favorite games, but Sara just couldn’t get into it. Her eyes always went back to the dungeon entrance. She was enticed and wanted nothing more than to sneak inside. It was a bad thought, but she was feeling petulant at being left alone again, even if she wouldn’t have known the meaning of the word. Then, as she sat there pouting, pushing off Krinnk’s attempts at play and steadfastly ignoring the guards who tried to discreetly place themselves between her and the dungeon entrance, she heard something. It was a keening cry, shrill, and apparently everyone else around her was oblivious to it. It kept repeating, and so she began walking around the hill looking for it. Something in her told her to keep this a secret. So, as she walked, she continually bent over and picked up this rock or that stick, pretending to inspect them for a few seconds before discarding them. Her ruse was simple but effective enough that the guards only perceived a child at play.
The better part of another hour was spent trying to find the source of the sound. Eventually though, she stumbled upon a small smoothly laid set of stairs which descended into the earth at the base of the hill almost on the opposite side from the dungeon entrance. It was covered in vines and moss, and without the lure of the sound to guide her, she would have never found this place. She sat on the ground, pretending to be distracted by a pretty piece of crystal she had found while her mind raced along trying to find a justification for exploring what lay at the bottom of the stairs.
Jackson looked around in awe at the rest of the raid. He felt so inadequate compared to them, well, other than Tabor, but didn’t care. It was just fun. He knew that if they could finish this dungeon, he would get crazy amounts of XP.
“That was so much easier than the first one,” he heard his friend say.
Turning to look at Tabor, he said, “I know, but that was so cool how it got blown apart at the end.”
“I know, for real. You have some seriously powerful people in your little village,” Tabor said as he bounced with excitement.
“Yeah, and your dad is no slouch either. I saw the way he was cutting up that knight thrall. He didn’t even leave anything for us to do,” Jackson replied.
“Since he was named General of the West, he would tell you that he is more of a leader than a fighter, and mom is always saying he isn’t as young as he likes to think he is, but yeah he is pretty great,” Tabor said.
The boys heard Ro’Billo’s gruff voice inviting them over to look at the loot. They both jumped and ran, understanding the value of being taught the best way to look for loot. The dwarf was a veritable font of knowledge and his method of teaching was so much less dry than their professors at the Royal Academy.
“Okay, shaw me whit ye learned lest time,” the dwarf instructed as the boys ran up to him.
They both dropped to their knees and started combing through the scraps, looking for anything of value. After a few minutes, they hadn’t found anything more than the coins. Jackson was hoping to be the one to find something of value as he looked through the remains and jumped for joy when he found a small wispy white sphere. It was about the size of a large apple, yet as Jackson grabbed it, he found it weighed almost nothing. As soon as he touched it, he got the notification:
Air Core
Quality: Excellent
Weight: 0.1
Passive Effect: Increase bearer’s movement rate by 20%
Active Effect: 3/sunrise Create a swirling wind shield 3’ in diameter which can deflect mundane projectiles with 50% chance or magical projectiles with 25% chance. Can take 200 points damage before being dissipated
“Master Ro’Billo, I found something,” Jackson said as he held it out to the dwarf.
“Nice fin' boyo. I’ve heard aboot elemental cores bit ne'er seen yin. Thay kin be used fur crafting magical items, bit even in thair base form, thay grant bonuses or even hae abilities whilk allegedly gie an indication o' thair optimal uses in enchanting.”
Jackson had noticed that, while the dwarf joked around all the time, when he wasn’t joking, he would be talking about drinking. That was except when he was talking about treasure. At that point, he would always get extremely serious.
“So why did I get a notification with this item? I thought that it required a spell to identify the properties of magical items.”
“Me class lets me dae it bi instinct, but ye say it revea
lit itself tae ye too. Hmm … maybe ye have the makings o a Treasure Hunter. Could live the guid life, huntin for aw the goodies o life.”
Flattered, Jackson grinned at the praise but then shook his head, “Thanks, Master Ro’Billo, but I don’t think that would be the life for me. I want to fight to defend the weak.”
Chuckling the dwarf said, “Aye ye dae ye, but leave the shinies for me.”
In that moment, Jackson couldn’t help but see the similarities between Krinnk and the dwarf, talking about shinies, but he had enough presence of mind not to say as much out loud.
Then Tabor brought over another item, this time a ring. “It looks like the same type of healing ring from before, but maybe you can tell me.”
The dwarf took it in hand and said, “Aye, this is anither health ring.” Then he projected the notification.
Epic Ring of Health
Quality: Epic
Weight: 0.1
Passive Effect: +300 Health
When no other loot was found after a few more minutes, Ro’Billo instructed him to share their findings with the rest of the group. Jackson couldn’t help but be intimidated by some of the faces, like the huge Essence Knight in his ebony armor and the minotaur, but bolstered his encouragement from his parent’s nods of encouragement and even from his sister’s snarky expression. After telling everyone what they found, Jackson felt like he became invisible as all the adults discussed what to do with the items. Since none of the tanks needed the health ring, it was decided that it would go to Tabor to replace one of his excellent quality rings and that since he was getting the one item, the other would go to Jackson.
Jackson was quickly pulled from examining his new loot by his sister saying that there was a hidden door at the back of the platform. He watched as Gunidar cast a spell to ensure it was magically warded. Then, Ro’Billo went up and checked for more mundane traps, but once it was declared trap free, it was the large man, War Monster, who opened the door.
Once the room inside had been cleared, Jackson was finally able to get a peek. He was used to it by now, but found it still chaffed him that he was treated like a child. The way he felt after his stat increases, he thought he should be considered more of a teammate than someone to be protected. It took him back to when he had first started baseball. He was nine when he started, and most of his friends had been playing since they were five or six. His mom and dad were too busy to get him onto a travel team, which would have meant spending twenty weekends a year in different cities around the Midwest. So, Jackson had to content himself with, first, little league and then his middle school baseball team once he was in seventh grade.
In the beginning, he had raw athletic ability, and so the coaches were glad to take him on, but they also quickly realized that he was behind the curve, so to speak, in his baseball skills. He didn’t know so many of the things that his teammates did instinctively at that point, and while he was a fast learner, the difference was still noticeable. It was in the countless hours he spent year-round practicing fundamentals, watching videos on every aspect of the game, and never missing an opportunity to watch more seasoned players that he learned the difference between raw ability and actual skill.
Jackson couldn’t help but think the same thing mattered here in Eloria. Sure, he could spend character points and quite literally feel his mind absorb knowledge about a technique like Counter Strike. Yet, without ever having actually applied the skill in combat, it was like saying he had good bat speed and a good eye for the ball, but only practice made a batter good. What he needed was the opportunity to practice his skills, to learn when and how to best apply them.
Now, though, everyone was abuzz. The room beyond was very much like the lobby at the very beginning of the dungeon. There were benches to rest upon, a small fountain in the middle of the room with clear bubbling water pouring out of it, and even an apple tree rising from the marble floor next to the fountain to a full thirty feet into the dome at the top of the room. It looked as though the dome was made of glass because the sun could be seen outside. Once they all walked into the room, they each got a pair of notifications:
Quest Update: Defeat Bastion of Thralls: Raid
1st Failed Attempt: 2 of 9
Must finish Raid Dungeon Knight Wing within 1 hour.
1st Failed Attempt: 3 of 9
Failed to find hidden cache- Knight Wing
* * *
Congratulations! You are the first to have completed Knight Wing of Bastion of Thralls Dungeon: Raid Mode.
* * *
Unique reward for initial completion:
* * *
Axe of the Wind
Quality: Epic
Base Dmg: 20
Attack Speed: 3
Weight: 1.0
Wind Dmg: 6
Passive Effect: Attack Speed +15%
Passive Effect: Armor Penetration +20
* * *
You may now leave the dungeon and collect your XP rewards. Raid Mode will reset in 72 hours.
* * *
Exit Dungeon or Continue to the next wing?
* * *
Warning: Once you move to the next wing, stopping before completion will result in loss of all XP rewards.
“So do we leave?” Emily asked. Jackson was used to his mom being the center of attention. What was new was the way that people were staring at her in what he guessed would be called a deferential manner.
“We can’t leave now. If we do, then we will be unable to come back for three whole days,” Tode protested.
Jackson watched his dad look back and forth between mom and the blue robed mage. “I have to agree. It would be better if we could get more XP before leaving.”
Baron Eikhorn, Daichi, and the other adventurers all chimed in, and ultimately, the group came to the conclusion that the risk of moving forward was worth it. Jackson and Tabor grinned at each other as they had both been holding their breath hoping for more action. Once the decision was made, as the raid leader, Tode selected the option to continue to the next wing.
Almost instantly, the back wall of the lobby slid upward, and a new section of the room was revealed. On the floor, there were four circles each four feet in diameter. From left the right, they were brown, white, red, and blue in color. The new back wall revealed, beyond the circles, an inscription carved into the stone in eight-inch high letters.
The building elements are numbered four: This is no wonder.
If pass you would none leave poor.
All four equally ponder.
“So now we get puzzles,” Jackson said, and his dad grinned back at him before beginning a discussion about what to do with the other adults.
Bummed to be left out again, he almost missed it when both Baron Eikhorn and his dad waved for the two boys to come over.
“Okay, it has been pointed out to me that the royal academy teaches critical thinking skills. That means that you two are up. What do you make of this?” Dave asked.
Looking over at his friend, Jackson was both nervous and excited for a chance to speak to the group. He started to feel his train of thought going off track when he heard a quiet voice in the back of his head. Find your center.
The voice was clearly not from his own thoughts, and he was so shocked that he jumped. “D’nae be worried boyo, we ain juist wanting tae hear yer thoughts oan th maiter,” Ro’Billo said, apparently thinking that Jackson was spooked.
Jackson stayed still for another second, waiting to see if the voice would repeat itself, and when it didn’t, he jumped into analyzing the problem on the wall. He read it out loud not just once but twice. Then he started looking at the circles on the floor. “So, Master Gunidar, would it be fair to say that the four building elements probably mean earth, air, fire, and water in some order?”
The royal mage raised an eyebrow as he answered, “That is the general consensus of the magical community, but how did you know that? Your course work at the academy hasn’t covered that yet.”
Caught up
in looking at the colored circles on the floor, Jackson bent down on one knee as he answered, “Oh, that. It’s just a common game trope.”
“Game? Trope?” the royal mage asked, but Jackson didn’t even seem to hear him.
Daichi answered for him, “Don’t worry his father is always saying things like that. It shouldn’t be surprising that the son sounds like the father.”
Tabor got down next to Jackson, who started to point out the small ring of runes along the edge of the colored circle. Tabor asked, “Is that a spell of some sort?”
Jackson replied, “Not sure, but I think that the brown circle equals earth, white is air, red is fire, and blue is water.”
Tabor stood up and said, “Can anyone tell us if these runes are a spell or just intricate markings?”
Dave, Gunidar, Mira, and Tode all crowded around trying to get a good look at the runes. The royal mage was the first to speak up. “This is definitely a spell. Give me a few minutes, not more than an hour, and I should be able to figure out what it does.”
