Fjorgyn: A Rebel Rises

by RJ Castiglione

  Novice Staves 5 (1.5% increased damage, 2% increased chance to block). The ability to use a staff weapon to attack and block enemies.

  Novice Grappling 1 (1% increase damage): The ability to deal physical damage through hand-to-hand combat.

  Novice Light Armor 4 (.8% reduced damage/movement speed): Wearing light armor grants a bonus to damage reduction. Increase in rank improves movement speed and reduces damage taken.

  Novice Observation 6: You are keenly aware of your surroundings. You are able to glean useful information from those around you to aid in your understanding of your world.

  Novice Stalking 6 (1.5% chance of remaining hidden): The ability to stealth through the world. Increases fatigue. Increase in rank improves hiding, reduces fatigue increase and improves movement speed while moving silently.

  Novice Tailoring 1 (1% reduction in time to craft, quality of item): The craft of creating cloth armor and goods.

  Novice Tracking 1 (10% chance to find trails and tracks in nature): The art of finding your way through nature. Useful for hunting creatures or humanoids alike. Also aids in discovering new paths.

  Novice Leadership 5: The ability to effectively command others.

  Novice Herbalism 1: The ability to craft powerful potions, elixirs, and poisons. Increase in rank to make mixtures requiring more ingredients. Increase in rank to make mixtures of better quality.

  Spells:

  Novice Healing Seed II (rank 7): Cast this to plant a seed of natural magic in your target to heal them for 2hp per second for 10 seconds. Upon expiration, the target is healed for another 7hp. Mana cost: 23. Cast time: 2.5s

  Chapter 9

  “Here’s where things get interesting,” Clifford said as we left the tunnel to enter a constructed chamber. The room was more like a dungeon, with thick stones on the floors, walls, and ceiling. There was a large wooden door opposite us surrounded by four different pillars, each containing a different etching.

  “This place was designed to offer unique challenges based on party roles. I’ve gone through them all multiple times with friends and family. Take a look and pick what you want.”

  I stepped into the room with great care. Examining the first pillar, I ran my fingers across an impression of a shield.

  The next section of this dungeon will be attuned to the tanking role. Rewards will be more useable for tanks. Do you wish to proceed?

  I dismissed the prompt and moved onto the second and third pillars. One was for ranged damage and the other for melee. The last pillar had a green leaf engraved into the mossy stone.

  The next section of this dungeon will be attuned to the healing role. Rewards will be more useful for healers. Do you wish to proceed?

  “Jackpot.” Selecting the healing pillar caused the room to rumble. Dust fell from the ceiling into my eyes. The giant door in the back of the chamber shifted on its hinges, swinging open to reveal a brightly lit chamber full of lush plants, trees, vines, and flowers. I stood in awe for a minute to admire the scenery. It had only been a few weeks, but seeing even the illusion of daylight filled me with warmth. I hadn’t realized the amount of hope and comfort daylight brings.

  “That doesn’t look so bad,” I said to Clifford as I stepped into the doorway. He yelled for me to wait but was too late. The doors slammed shut, and the room began to shake. I launched backward and crashed into Clifford’s chest. Wrapping his arm around me, he pulled me around his body, placing himself in front of me with his shield and sword at the ready. Half of the torches in the room were extinguished, filling the chamber with a chill I hadn’t noticed before. A hissing noise reverberated throughout the room. An outline of a shadow appeared on the door. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but no amount of blinking prepared me for what would happen next.

  The black mass peeled itself off of the wall and joined us in three dimensions. The chill penetrated deeper. My sweat was freezing to my skin. The cold penetrated my skin and muscles and infused itself with my bones.

  Creature: Jefat

  Creature Type: Dark Spirit

  Level: 11

  Health: 225

  Mana: 215

  “What is that thing?”

  “It’s your challenge.” Clifford was clanking his sword and shield together to draw the creature's attention.

  “My challenge? My challenge is behind the door!” I had already started shivering from the cold and saw my health slowly declining 1 point every few seconds.

  “Your challenge IS the door. You have to,” Clifford was cut off when the creature attacked, swinging its broad arms into a bear hug. He caught one arm with his shield and ducked below the other.

  “Michael! Do something! You have to figure it out!”

  With my health still declining, down 5 points already, I cast healing seed on Clifford and myself. The green tendrils of the spell enveloped our breastbones before dissolving into our bodies. I felt the mana cost of the spells cloud my mind, causing me to shuffle backward. Catch my balance, I picked up my staff, sidestepped Clifford and struck the creature’s torso. The enchantment triggered but caused the creature no damage or push back. It had completely resisted my attack.

  For good measure, I tried to attack it with my dagger with the same result. It was immune to damage.

  “What are you doing? This is a healer challenge!” Clifford yelled above the sound of the now shrieking shadow. His health had dropped to 550/674. I would cast Healing Seed, but my puny spell wasn’t enough to heal him to full. He wasn’t about to die.

  Stepping back from the creature, I recalled the last boss I had battled. The golem couldn’t be killed by attacking it alone. It had to run out of mana. This creature enjoyed a similar defense: near immunity to damage. I cast healing seed on the black mass. It worked. The monster’s health began to decline, first by 2 health per second for ten seconds, blooming for 7hp. This wasn’t going to be enough. I couldn’t keep us alive, wait for my mana to regenerate, and kill the creature with kindness. But I had a little trick that Clifford didn’t know about. Raising both hands towards the creature, I chanted words of power, directing my mana into both hands instead of one. The strain of my first dual-cast triggered a cold sweat. My hands were trembling in resistance. Before my casting completed, I infused mana into the spell, enough to cover the dual-cast and then some. Despite my new body’s inexperience, knowledge trumped skill. The spell ignited in my hands—five green tendrils lashing out and honing in on the jefat, penetrating its torso in healing splendor. The drain left me wrecked, but functional. New notifications blinked in the corner of my eye just waiting to be read.

  Lunacy is the only word to describe what happened next. A shrill scream shook the room, knocking me out of my mental stupor. The jefat stopped attacking Clifford to break across the chamber. If it ever had a mission in life, it was to end mine. I sprinted away from the monster and ran laps around the room like a cat with its tail on fire, screaming all the way like a madman.

  I brought up the jefat’s health bar. Clifford was chasing after it, poking the shadow in a vain attempt earn back its attention. That wasn’t going to happen. The spell was stronger than I realized. Each healing pulse brought down its health by 15hp. Both the seconds and my stamina slipped away. The entire chamber seemed frozen in a slow motion caused by my own anticipation. When the ten seconds had expired, I slowed down to wait for the glorious explosion of natural healing magic. The creature only had 48 health left. I was rewarded when the green tendrils rushed out of the creature and encompassed its body for one final and glorious pulse. At this point, it looked more like a tree than a shadow monster. 52 beautiful healing points brought it to the ground, sliding across the floor in a broken heap. The jefat let out one final wail before fading to dust.

  With a beaming grin on my face, I stopped running. I collapsed into a column, sucking in air like an asthmatic in a cigar lounge.

  “So.” Gasp. “How.” Gasp. “Did I.” Gasp. “Do?”

  Clifford was hunched over with his h
ands propped on his knees for support.

  “How did you do-” He was angry. “How did you do that? What did you do! In all my life. I’ve never-”

  He raised his fists in frustration towards me, less angry now. Instead, he was flabbergasted.

  “What does your little monkey think of your fireworks display?”

  “Lemur. And I can’t tell. He’s rolling around laughing his ass off.”

  We reviewed the fight for two more minutes, Clifford still perplexed by my ability to transform a spell on the fly. I understood why he was dumbfounded. No person in Fjorygn could enjoy the “deus ex machina” knowledge I possessed in this realm. I may have only been level 4, but I had the insight and knowledge of someone far more advanced. I still couldn’t cast my old spells, though. I still had to learn those the hard way.

  We rested for a few minutes to give ourselves a chance to recuperate. I cast healing seed a few more times to bring Clifford and me back to full health. It was easier for me with my mutant healing boost. Clifford had to wait for his gashes to close and his bruises to fade with only a touch of low-level healing magic. We both had to wait for our fatigue to diminish. That required rest, food, and water. I took the chance to review my notifications:

  You are afflicted with death freeze. The presence of a jefat reduces your health by 1hp every 5 seconds.

  The jefat has resisted your staff attack.

  The jefat has resisted your staff enchantment.

  The jefat has resisted your dagger strike.

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill. Dual-casting (current rank 1). You may weave two spells into one for 2.5x the normal mana rate. This can backfire causing damage and a waste of mana. Spells of the same type will be 3x more effective. Spells of varying types will yield different results. Increase in rank to reduce the chance of spell backlash.

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill. Mana infusion (current rank 1). You may pour a percentage of your mana into a spell, amplifying its effects. At your current rank, you must use all remaining mana. Increase in rank to gain more control over how much mana you expel.

  Congratulations! You have gained rank 9 in Healing Seed II.

  You have killed a level 11 jefat. Bonus for creature over six levels above you. +177xp

  You have completed the quest: “Errands, Errands everywhere!”

  Reward: +145xp and disposition increase with Clifford Grey II

  Congratulations! You have reached level 5! You have 2 attribute points to assign. 511xp to next level.

  I did my little leveling dance as I committed my two free attribute points to Constitution. Clifford and Vindur were not impressed with my moves. Now rested, the two of us continued. The giant doors opened once again to reveal the beautiful garden within. I looked at Clifford with trepidation in my eyes. With a smug huff, he pushed me forward into the next chamber.

  The aroma of flowers filled my nostrils. It smelled like the inner ring of Elatha; only with more variety and sunlight. Wherever we were, we appeared to be beyond the barrier. My companion explained to me that it was outside of Elatha, but the verticle exits to the chamber were sealed by a powerful barrier spell well beyond any of our capabilities to dispel.

  Dismayed by his answer, we continued into the room, following a footpath for a few minutes. He had his weapons stored. It was a sign that there were no remaining enemies in this dungeon.

  “So that’s it? Rats and a shadow creature?”

  “What did you expect? This place was tamed ages ago. The only reason the creatures remain is for fodder. Parents bring their kids here to practice their skills. The tank room was always my favorite. It has a rock monster that can only be killed by pushing it off a cliff. The melee and range fighting rooms are more or less the same: an onslaught of goblins either close-up or at a distance.”

  He continued to explain the merits of each fight and the skills that were raised by them. I failed to care the moment I saw my prize: a glistening chest in a pool of water so still and clear that it could have been a mirror into another world.

  We jumped across a path of stones in the pond like children playing hop-scotch. The small island smelled like freshly cut grass. It was pillowy and soft, almost swallowing the chest completely. Almost. I popped it open to examine the contents within. Among a few minor healing and mana potions, each restoring 30 health or mana, it contained a pouch with three gold. At the bottom of the chest, the loot screamed to me:

  Herb pouch: a ten slot pouch that fits within your inventory for the storage of herbs. The pouch does not occupy an inventory spot.

  Ring of Lesser Magical Insight. Quality: Good. Class: Uncommon. +25mp.

  Necklace of Healer’s Might. Quality: Good. Class: Uncommon. Increases healing and damage of all spells by 1%.

  Spell Tome: Nature’s Grace I. This spell infuses the wounds of your target, healing for 3hp per second for 4 seconds. Mana cost: 10 Cast time: 1 second.

  Level requirement: 7

  I immediately placed the ring on my finger and the necklace around my neck. While disappointed at not being able to use the spell tome, I was happy to have my second healing spell. It was more appropriate for spot-healing my allies. Healing Seed was great but slow. You couldn’t often wait for the bloom.

  “Proud of your new trinkets? I thought you would be.” Clifford was laying on the grass looking up at the sun. I closed the chest and took my place next to him.

  “Thank you for bringing me here. It really made a difference.”

  “I thought it might. I still have questions. Like how you managed to kill that creature without my having to cast a single healing spell. Or how you gained two levels in less than a few hours. I’ve taken my cousins through here many times. It takes up to ten trips for them to even gain one level.”

  I turned my head to speak to him. Our eyes locked. I tried to form the words to tell him, but know Mannana’s curse would prevent me. I just shrugged and broke our gaze.

  “I want to tell you. I do. And I will. When the time is right, you can know everything there is to know about me.”

  “Well. Let’s start with something simple for now, assuming you can answer. What does your last name mean?”

  I smiled at him and sat up, brushing grass from my pants and shirt. Whispering a world of power, I cast healing seed on him, the drain of mana blurring my vision. “Healer. It means healer.”

  He punched me gently in the shoulder, an expression of blossoming friendship.

  “And now I have a question. This place is called Nott’s Sanctum. So. Where is Nott?”

  Clifford’s calm demeanor changed to fear when I said the name of the lord of the dungeon. He shot to his feet and backed away from me.

  “You shouldn’t have said his name! I forgot to warn you! He hates his name! Run!” He had to yell over the resonating roar that filled the chamber.

  The cavern began to boom and tremble. Clifford pushed me towards the water, and we skipped across the stone path with as much haste as we could muster. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling in front of and behind us.

  “Run! Keep moving!” It didn’t help. The size of the debris grew larger and larger—razor-sharp stalactite’s intent on joining their brother stalagmites. Clifford had already run in front of me, dragging me behind him by the hand. We were almost to the entrance of the cave, but we were too late. A large crack echoed across the room, and a boulder the size of a dog fell from the roof, heading right for Clifford. He looked up, frozen in fear. A bestial roar exploded from my throat when I lunged for my friend. I pushed him out of the way, too late to avoid the incoming deluge of rock and stone. I was only able to say one thing before the boulder crushed my skull. “One week.”

  Damage received: 1847.

  You have been killed. You will resurrect at Grey Estate in one week.

  Congratulations! Your self-sacrifice has earned eternal respect from your surviving comrade! Your relationship with Clifford Grey II has increased from Trusted to Ally. He will f
ollow you anywhere so long as you remain in good standing. Aside from death. He will not follow you here.

  ------

  Standing over my body was a new experience for me. It happened when I played the game, but it was never really my body. It was my avatar. This time was for real. Clifford was yelling now, tears forming in his eyes. I could tell he was screaming my name, but it sounded distant and far away, as though he were underwater.

  The rocks around us had stopped falling. Nott was apparently an asshole, placated enough by my death as a fitting punishment for saying his name. I made a mental note to get stronger, come back, and bash his head in with a rock. I was dismayed when a quest alert didn’t appear.

  The once lush and green chamber was now cloudy, cloaked in a brilliant silver-blue light—the haze of the spirit world. I knelt beside my body, watching Clifford now gripping my corpse in his arms. He was inconsolable, water pouring from his eyes. The tears softened his square features. He had stopped screaming, now resigned to his grief at losing his new friend.

  I felt a tug at my pant leg. Vindur had managed to cross over with me. He was sitting next to me, sorrow in his eyes.

  “I died.”

  “I know.”

  “It didn’t hurt.” The lemur didn’t respond. I lifted my hand and tried to place it on Clifford’s head. It passed right through him. I don’t know what I had expected. I’ve been in this spirit world before. Many times. Only I never had to wait a full week to resurrect. It usually only took a minute.