Ring of Promise: A LitRPG novel (Elements of Wrath Online Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  I didn’t grasp it myself and neither did Burndall, but the mention of the odd-ball vendor trash brought Crysta around. She smiled, a bit weaker than the last time, and laughed a little. “Oh, yeah, I haven’t seen those yet. It would make a nice addition to my collection … if you guys don’t mind?”

  The kid and I glanced at each other and shrugged. I might need all the cash I could lay my hands on but I wasn’t going to deprive anyone a bit of happiness when things weren’t looking up. “They’re all yours, Crysta.”

  With a return to some of her girlish glee, the Ranger danced around and merrily gathered up all the remaining loot orbs, vacuuming up all the little bits of vendor trash. Kayla flashed the two of us a small smile and mouthed a ‘Thank You’.

  Burndall grinned and nodded before glancing over at Crysta. "Now I gotta ask, why the coriander do you collect junk drops? That's gotta be a lot of bank space!"

  She looked up as she turned over a crude clay jug, likely the aforementioned Spent Pyrlin Mead Jug, with a huge smile on her lips. "I know it's silly but, well, I started doing after my first boss kill, all the way back in the Cloud Garden dungeon over in the Air Kingdom. We took down the Great Squall Eagle, back when he was still kind of bugged on drops, and all that dropped was a Tattered Eagle's Plume."

  The kid blinked. "I don't get it."

  Crysta giggled. "Have you ever stopped to read the descriptions or actually looked at most of the junk drops? I didn't before I was the 'lucky winner' of the loot roll for that Plume. There's actually a whole paragraph about the origins and mating habits of Squall Eagles in the description." She smiled as she tucked the Jug away into her inventory. "I did tons of tabletop gaming before the deep dive and I'm a huge lore nerd. From then on, I became a rabid collector!"

  To my surprise, Burndall matched that smile. "And to think I'd been selling all that junk when I could be reading it. I love to shove my face in the wiki and look up all sorts of stuff like that."

  As the two lore nerds had a chat on the finer points of bizarre junk drops, I glanced over at Kayla. “So no quest items or even a clue?”

  She shook her head. “Nope.”

  Burndall shrugged. “Ain’t no thing! Let’s just plunge on up and blow up those baddies at the fire wall. We can wipe them out and figure it out then, right?”

  While Crysta seemed focused on invisible inventory panes, occasionally making absent swipes with her finger, I nodded. “Sounds like the right idea to me. Maybe some Water Element abilities could clear out the flames?”

  Kayla held up her staff, showing the small-but-persistent glow of her Light Element Gem. “Or if it’s from the Flames of Conflict, a Water-Light combo-wombo might do it.”

  “Okay, all done!” Crysta rematerialized her bow as she walked up to our conclave. “No out-of-place movement up on the ridge or at the ‘door’ so we should get a move-on! Maybe I can get a Piece of Ogre Belly Lint at the next camp. I’ve been looking for that one for a year now.” She seemed back to her previous self but I could tell she was barely holding it together.

  I nodded and pointed up the path. “Let’s do it, then! Onward!”

  Our Ranger’s assessment was correct as noted by the glowing beacons on her tracking mod. We only had one other group to deal with in the shadow of the fiery gate itself and it was the same composition as the other.

  Frankly, it was even easier to take out than the first. It only took a few slight shifts to adapt our strategy to better tackle the next camp site and with Burndall starting to act with real speed, we mopped the Pyrlins and Ogres up, barely breaking a sweat or taking a few Health Points of damage in the process.

  The big problem was the gate of fire itself.

  The Iron Needle still loomed a good hundred feet over us and shadowed the otherwise open gateway ahead of us. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot as we stood in a semi-circle in front of the black-cored flames that filled the gate, the smoky pyre behind us still blazing and spreading its nasty scent across the campsite. Naturally, the wind decided to shift and blow the acrid smoke right across us as we mulled over what to do next.

  “Okay, the big downside of this immersion thing,” Burndall muttered, “is that I can really smell the dank stank of whatever these guys were burning!” He pinched his nose closed and waved his hand in front of his face in a desperate bid to banish the odor.

  Crysta ran a hand through her poufy hair and shook her head. “Sure, Burndall, but there’s plenty of good sides. Really good sides.” She blushed slightly before looking away and refocusing on the wall. “So this fire is definitely corrupted.” She pointed the end of her bow at the blackness at the heart of the guttering flames. “Kay, want to try that Light/Water spell?”

  Kayla nodded and raised her staff. “Sure, I’m good to give it a go!” The diamond in her staff flared brilliantly as she chanted slowly, reverently, causing the glowing, watery sphere of the Holy Rain spell to build at the tip of it.

  As the light grew to a blinding peak, she swung her staff, hurling the pure white liquid in an arc right at the wall of corrupted flames.

  At the height of the arc, it exploded into a rain of holy water, spraying across the entire width of the flame wall. There was a conflagration of hissing, sparking, and clashing elemental forces, sending out a furious cloud of stinking smoke billowing over us.

  Coughing, hacking, and sneezing from the irritating cloud ensued, and it was a good three or four minutes before any of us could breathe clearly or see straight. Wiping stinging tears from my eyes, I let out one last hacking cough as I turned to face the hopefully-cleared gateway.

  Yeah, no such luck. Through the last wisps of smoke, the fiery columns of sickening flames roared as strongly as they did before. Practically untouched, the heat seemed even more oppressive than before.

  Kayla let out a deep sigh and leaned on her staff. “Well, crabcakes.”

  “Okay, well, there has to be something we’re missing,” Crysta mused as she shook out her hair, a faint wind blowing about the Aurum girl as she looked around the clearing. “K-Pat is a clever guy but they never make these things too hard, right?”

  I chuckled as I turned away from the fire wall. “Well, this time there are millions of dollars on the line. Maybe they wanted to up the game so they wouldn’t be forced to pay out so much?” My nose was still stinging from the horrible smoke. I scratched at it, trying to figure out what seemed so damned familiar about that scent.

  Swinging his sword like a child stepping up to bat, Burndall wandered around the camp’s pyre. “Huh, maybe we need to wipe out the rest of the camps? Like there’s some quest condition or something that will trigger if they all go boom?”

  Crysta giggled at that. “I think you just want to blow up more MOBs!”

  “I can’t say that you’re exactly wrong about that,” he laughed back. “But it still might work!”

  Kayla dismissed her staff and orb, folding her arms under her chest. “That seems too obvious. Too easy. Nothing about this situation feels right to me.” She sneezed loudly. “Pollyanna smoke! So horrible!”

  “Tell me about it,” I grumbled. That’s when it started to worm into my brain. The smell was familiar for a very good reason. As the others spread out around the camp and looked around, I walked up to the sickly burning pyre at the center of the camp. Taking a big sniff of that greasy smoke, I almost threw up for my trouble.

  That sniff confirmed my suspicion, though, between the scent and the pitch-black coal I could see at the center of the flames.

  Kayla was by my side in a second, patting me on the back gently as I hunched over on my knees. “Hey, are you going to make it there, Shale?”

  I nodded weakly, still sputtering and coughing, while I pointed at the fire. “Fire,” I managed to get out between coughs.

  Crysta must have come up behind me as she wittily observed, “Yes, Shale, that is indeed fire.” It was a playful poke but it still made me groan slightly.

  Our Sorceress squeezed my shoulder a
nd helped me straighten up. She was about to say something comforting, I think, when her eyes sharpened and stared. “Hold on, I think you’re on to something.”

  Another giggle slipped out of Crysta’s lips. “Well, yes, I am. It is actually fire, I’m sure of it.”

  Burndall, who had finished his walk of the camp, wound up over by the pyre as well. “Heeeeey, no, I think I know what’s up!” He playfully punched me in the shoulder, hurting his knuckles in the process. “Ow, uh, good going, boss!”

  “You guys are kidding, right?” Crysta asked, shock and confusion flitting across her delicate features.

  I finally regained my speech. “No, Crysta. Look closer.” I gestured at the center of the pyre. “See the black coal? Doesn’t the smoke smell disgustingly familiar?”

  The Ranger blinked slowly, then palmed her face. “Oh wow, I am so dense tonight!” Dense wasn’t the right word; she was distracted big time, and I didn’t blame her one bit since she was worried about her friend. She spun towards the gate. “And look! I wondered what was up with that, but can’t you see? That’s not one big flame; it’s a bunch of columns!”

  I followed her gaze and saw the same thing. “One, two, three … six flames.”

  Kayla’s eyes flashed with that eureka moment. “And six camps with six pyres!”

  The kid snapped his fingers. “Sweet!” He pointed at Kayla. “Then do it, Kay!”

  She grinned and spun her staff. “Here goes nothing!”

  I crossed my fingers. The pyres weren’t much smaller than the immense flames blocking our way and we saw how effective her Holy Rain had been there. That could have simply been how they coded the quest. Still, I figured a quick prayer couldn't hurt our chances.

  The sparkling sphere of sacred water grew to full power atop Kayla’s staff before she flung it at the pyre. This time, when the sphere hit the pyre, there was no great elemental battle, no tremendous column of smoke. Instead, the orb exploded into dazzling light and a cascade of water that flooded the flame into cinders immediately, leaving behind only a sputter of stinking smoke and blackened chunks of wood and embers.

  We stood there staring at the debris in silence, shattered a second later by a dazzling flash of light from behind us, accompanied by a muffled whump of sound and a shockwave that staggered all of us forward.

  I was the first to regain my balance (praise the Elements for Craggar mass) and turned to see what happened. Where there had been six columns of flame, there were now five. Unfortunately, instead of leaving us a space we might be able to squeeze through without being incinerated, each column flattened out some, losing some height but filling in the gap.

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ updated!

  New objective: Cleanse the ritual pyres! 1/6 cleansed

  Well, in hindsight, it was obvious.

  Kayla leaned on her staff and smiled next to me. “Talk about busy work!” She glanced around the trails snaking the perimeter of the needle. “Well, at least it’s easy.”

  Crysta raised her bow and sighted down her Eagle Eye Gem. “Updating our paths and waypoints, everybody!”

  I nodded as I cracked my neck. “Thanks, Crys.” I glanced around at my groupmates. “Ready?”

  Burndall raised his sword. “Ready!”

  Crysta flashed me a smile and a nod while Kayla patted me on the shoulder. “Lead on, Shale. Let’s free that Light!”

  Well, I think what you’re hearing is caused by simple inertia and that’s our fault. After EO’s big initial success, we coasted in a sense, letting the strong fundamentals of the gameplay and setting carry forward development instead of thinking in a big picture sense. We wound up locked in a power creep and content spiral that we would never win, racing the player base. So ultimately, I think this content from Patch 2.0 might seem ‘hard’ now but in the long run, everyone will come around to really enjoy the constant challenge this mechanic will provide.

  Kyle Patruski, EO lead developer, addressing difficulty complaints post Patch 2.0

  Before the Sundering, when Elementalis was whole, there were beings of sublime grace and infused with the Prime Element of Light that served to maintain the delicate balance of the Elemental powers. No one knows their true name any longer and many doubt they existed at all, but those that have faith have dubbed them the Elohjin. Most of the Elohjin died in the Sundering, desperately trying to thwart the Elements of Conflict and preserve the balance, and it is thought the remainder died out in the chaotic aftermath, hunted down by corrupt forces or sacrificing the last of their power to preserve the pockets of civilization that gave birth to the Elemental Kingdoms we know today.

  From the Mythology of Elementalis page, EO Internal Wiki

  12

  Motivated and practiced now, to say we made short work of the remaining four camps would be underestimating the efficiency with which we tore through the poor buggers. In the back of my mind, I knew this was just the opening act before the main event. As Kayla doused another one of the Darkness-fueled fires, I tried not to let every quest update fill me with overconfidence.

  All the same, when the last one was reduced to a pile of blackened ash, I joined in the cheers.

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ updated!

  New objective: Enter the Needle!

  Crysta’s mod updated almost immediately as she turned back toward the mountain trail leading back to the opening in the Iron Needle’s side. Her mood had started to waver during this bit of busy work but was obviously spiking again as she began to practically skip up the way. “We have to be close, everyone! I can feel it!”

  Burndall ran after her, and it took me going into full Sprint mode to get back to the head of the group. “You’re probably right but don’t let that make us get sloppy.”

  Kayla laughed as she fell into the ranks behind us. “See, I told you Shale had the makings of a great tank, Crys!”

  The Ranger giggled along with that sentiment as she slowed to let me and my mobile slab of rock take the lead. “I can see that. Bossy and orderly.” She patted me on the shoulder as I passed by her. “No offense intended, though, right?”

  I shook my head and chuckled. “None taken. Somebody has to herd the cats.”

  “If we’re cats,” Burndall noted as we made hopefully our final round about the rusty, jagged iron of the Needle, “I better be the million-dollar purebred getting best of show, buddy!”

  Rolling my eyes, I didn’t even answer the kid, but I was smiling. It might surprise you to know that I've never really been involved in this kind of banter before. For how long I’d been playing EO and other games before the NSAF era, you’d think I’d have heard this plenty and sure, I likely have been on the periphery of it but this was different. These were friends or at least that’s how it felt to me.

  Maybe I was being a bit naïve. I had never been a really social person before the accident, and now I was practically a hermit. Who was I to judge who were friends and who were merely co-workers and employers? Well, either way, I was making that call; these were friends and I loved every joke, jibe, and friendly ribbing.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts as we stepped up onto the central ledge where the gateway stood. What had once been an immense wall of corrupted flame was now an open archway, the iron still faintly glowing from the intense heat they had been subjected to. It was a miracle that there wasn’t molten metal dripping down onto the metal floor below. On that floor, six etched runes were evenly spaced, somehow even blacker than the raw iron of the Needle itself.

  Crysta pointed up at the arch of the opening. “I don’t know about you but that looks too finished to be a natural cave. The floor too … see how it’s been smoothed out once you cross the threshold?”

  I nodded as Burndall knelt by the runes and ran his finger across the cooling metal. Being an Ember, the heat certainly didn’t bother him. “Dude, these are Darkness runes.” He glanced up at us and grinned. “Yeah, I read the wiki a lot … so?”

  Kayla and I both grinned as she
said, “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, kid.” She glanced up at me. “Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done but go in.”

  Stepping to the front of the group, I glanced back at everyone. “Okay, if there’s anything you want to buff up with now, this is the time.” As the others considered, I ran through my own list. I’d wanted to save Entrenching Call and Strength of the Mountains for actual combat with their relatively low durations.

  Kayla replied with a quick spin of her orb to reapply Ice Shield to me while Burndall slid his hand along his blade to summon up more Explosive Runes. Crysta glanced at me with a quirk of her head. “I suppose it is time to get serious, right?”

  “I’d say entering an almost lightless, black iron cave marked off by the sign of Primal Darkness is about the top of the serious scale, Crys,” I offered.

  She nodded with a smile and ran through a series of Skills and Spells back-to-back. First, a prayer to the Air surrounded us with a layer of buffeting winds to deflect ranged attacks, then another to the Earth that added a layer of thorn-wrapped vines protectively over my skin. The Ranger finished as she held up an open palm, two linked Gems on her bracer, one emerald and one diamond, flared with bright light, bringing into being a small, fluttering, four-winged Sacred Sprite into being.

  Crysta summons Wind Wall! All group members gain 30% resistance to ranged attacks and Air Elemental damage!

  Crysta casts Skin of Thorns! You gain 15% Physical and Earth Resistance and Earth Thorns!

  Crysta summons a Sacred Sprite!

  As my party UI added another smaller HP arc to account for the summon, Crysta patted the gold-and-silver garbed Sprite on the top of its head. “This is Loi. He’ll be helping with the healing, so please try to keep him safe, okay?”

  Loi, 60 Sprite Mystic, Support

  HP 2732/2732 EP 3200/3200

  Never say that the EO animation team didn’t think of everything. Loi let out a chiming sound like a little church bell, the Sprite equivalent of laughing as he wiggled under the attention of his mistress.