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

by J. A. Cipriano

  Quite a few Summon Gems summoned spirits of various elements that aligned with player Classes but a bit weaker for their level. Naturally, their big limitation was their limited Spell and Skill sets. Summons didn’t get Gem arrays or anything like that. Each one had a very specific set of abilities at their disposal. Still, a Light Element Sprite? That was super rare and probably super potent.

  I tapped my shield with my standard and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep us all safe. That’s my job, right?”

  With a twinkle of light, Loi bobbed his head appreciatively, his four wings fluttering like a hummingbird to keep him aloft. Crysta nocked an arrow and settled into a ready stance, a serious cast coming over her features. “That’s just what Vanni would say.” She gave me a short nod. “Good to go, Shale!”

  With a deep breath, I moved forward into the darkness, lit by Loi’s glow and the spells wrapped around us, the rest of the group falling into a tense formation behind me. The tunnel was wide enough to take us three abreast and the ceiling stayed arched a good dozen feet up. The walls and floors were perfectly smooth and all I could imagine was some immense heat melting straight through the metal mountain.

  Though the Iron Needle did eventually taper to a thin point, even this high up, the mountain was immense. What sunlight reflected off the iron and down the tunnel disappeared after a few minutes so all we had to both sides was featureless metal. The only thing I had to offer was a shrug before moving onward, my armored boots clanking hard on the floor.

  Any natural sense of distance was gone by the time the tunnel opened into a much larger chamber and the only way I knew how far we had come was from the waypoints of Crysta’s mod. I wasn’t kidding about the ‘much larger’ part. The domed ceiling rose what had to be a good thirty feet or more above our heads, and the room was at least that far from one side to the other. It was devoid of any other exits, tunnels, or niches as far as I could see from the limited light, but I could just make out extensive etching in the walls while a pedestal shaped out of the mountain itself stood alone in the center. Minute shafts of light escaped a tightly woven cage mounted atop the pedestal.

  Burndall conjured up a small flame in his palm, a neat bit of racial fluff that Embers could do, and gazed at the inscriptions on the wall nearest to our entrance. “Galoshes! This is Elohjin script, I think. Can’t make it out worth a periwinkle, though.”

  “That means this is definitely the right place,” Kayla added only to be interrupted by:

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ updated!

  New objective: Recover the Light from its cage!

  She grumbled in response. “Yes, that was obvious, devs.”

  I grinned at that and started to slowly advance, Loi flying up a few feet above us to better shine his light. “The only thing I’m wondering is if this is a puzzle or the lead-in to a boss.”

  “A boss, I hope!” The kid’s love of blowing stuff up was showed in his bounce of excitement, and I could hear the grin of anticipation in his voice.

  With the tension in the air, Crysta had gone silent directly behind me, answering only with a creak from her bow and a whine of pulleys as she drew her arrow back to full pull, ready to launch.

  To my right, Kayla whispered almost too softly to hear, going through spells and strategies. On the left, the leather of Burndall’s sword grips creaked as his grip tightened, the large black blade raised and ready.

  I had the same bad feeling and was thinking more boss at this point, not a puzzle. It was just too damned quiet. We moved forward slowly and carefully in case there was a trap sitting around that we didn’t see. No one blew up, the roof didn’t collapse, and we weren’t teleported to another part of the Needle. Yup, definitely a boss.

  When we got within about ten paces of the pedestal, light burst from the dome as the inscriptions emblazoned across it cast out a warm, golden radiance. Behind us, the unmistakable sound of metal screeching against metal cut the air as a gate slammed down, sealing us in the dome.

  A carefully modulated male voice cut past the screech, speaking some lyrical tongue that I didn’t know. As I was about to look to the others in a vain hope that either of the two lore monkeys might recognize it, that voice echoed straight into my brain, this time in English.

  “We sense purity in your spirits, or else you would never have been let through to this chamber. Yet purity alone is insufficient to allow the Light to be freed into your custody. The stakes are now too great, and the Darkness grows too strong.”

  We weren’t in the NPC dialogue or Quest interfaces. This was good old-fashioned preamble before a big encounter. I shot a quick glance behind me as the glow continued to increase, now almost as bright as the morning sun.

  “Get ready.” Following my own advice, I tightened the grip on my banner and prepared myself. With no clue what we were about to face, all I could do was be loose and ready to adapt to any situation the game could throw at us.

  The voice continued onward, stern yet warm at the same time. “Your strength must be tested. Know that this is not something we would do lightly and that your spirits will be safe if you fall. May the sun guide you to victory, champions.”

  The light coalesced into a floating translucent form that reminded more of a jellyfish than anything else. Well, if that jellyfish was also a bizarre, shape-shifting robotic death machine.

  The main body of the beast was vaguely ovoid but never stayed the same shape or size, with a brilliantly glowing ring of silver around the approximate midsection. Bits of silver light snuck out from runes in its surface, curving lines that matched the Elohjin script on the dome. Four immense tentacles protruded out from it, two from the top half and two from the bottom, each easily long enough to reach across the entire length and height of the dome. Smooth but still segmented, with more silver glow leaking through the cracks, the tendrils writhed with minds of their own.

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ updated!

  New objective: Prove your worth by defeating the Solar Guardian!

  I took it all in over a split-second, and I was the first to react as the party UI flared up and the entire Light construct was rimmed in red. It wasn’t raid experience or endless practice that gave me the edge here; it was all those years of therapy and living in the deep dive all that time.

  We had no idea of this thing’s capabilities and my biggest fears were that the tentacles and body were each their own MOBs, meaning a lot of things to hold aggro on.

  With that thought in mind combined with the huge reach of the tendrils, I raised my immense shield as I stepped forward, the obsidian Gem on it flaring with light as I activated Walking Wall.

  “Cover’s up!” I cried. “I’ll use my Threat Transfer Gem on whoever gets the most attention after the initial attack!”

  The creature flew into action, bringing its tentacles in as it spun in place. The central silver stripe went blinding white before immediately emitting a concentrated beam like a laser that raked across the entire room.

  Solar Guardian’s Solar Sweep hits (blocked)! 272 (-272 blocked) Light Damage taken! HP 3053/3280

  Loi takes 50 (-450 resisted) Light Damage! HP 2682/2732

  Kayla is Behind the Wall and takes 0 Damage!

  Burndall is Behind the Wall and takes 0 Damage!

  Crysta is Behind the Wall and takes 0 Damage!

  I winced as the beam tore across my shield, the heat intense enough I could feel it through the stone and my armor. I wouldn’t want to hold the line for long, I had a feeling I’d need plenty of Elemental Power for this fight, but it was worth it to give everyone a moment to prep. The Guardian’s tentacles extended as its spin slowed but the group was already moving.

  “Loi, Aegis,” Crysta commanded as she stayed behind the Walking Wall and launched an arrow over my head. The barely singed Sprite dove down towards me, landing on my shoulder as his radiance surrounded me. Crysta’s arrow burrowed into the sphere’s side for a whopping 1% damage, but it did tell us the thing had some Ph
ysical resistance but it was hard to gauge how much with the mystery the scaling system injected into the fight.

  Loi casts Primal Aegis! You gain 25% Light and Darkness Resistance!

  Kayla opened with a spray of Ice Spears, aiming for the center of ‘mass’. “Now I wish I had a Darkness Gem,” she growled as the icicles burrowed into the Guardian’s shell, leaving small holes in it before the heat burned the spears to steam. Though it didn’t do much either, it did seem to push back the Guardian slightly, gouging out a few percentage points of Health from the thing.

  With the cover of Loi’s Aegis, I figured I could safely swap out of Wall stance, but before I could do so, the kid caught up to us, still adjusting to his state of immersion. I had to credit him for not giving into the impulse to jump ahead and start swinging as was his want. Instead, Burndall raised his free hand, chanting slowly, a ball of pulsing flame starting to build in his open palm. “Gonna take a couple of seconds for this to build, yo!”

  Threat management was in order but not quite yet. The Guardian was a scaler so if Burndall did his usual best at overdoing it, the Guardian would want to eat him alive. Fortunately, he didn’t have any of that attention quite yet. Best to start by bolstering the defenses; this thing looked like an AoE beast!

  “We don’t need luck, Guardian! We have courage!” I called out as I held my banner up, activating Entrenching Call. A faint green aura gathered around the party. The Physical resistance boost might not help much, but I was hoping the Block and Dodge bonuses help us defend ourselves from those lasers.

  Burndall’s fireball was still building as tentacles shot out, two lashing out at me while one snaked out toward Burndall and Kayla. Things were a blur of activity as Kayla threw up an Ice Shield of her own that shattered upon impact with the tentacle.

  As she tried to throw herself sideways, the tentacle caught her in the side with a wide swipe, flinging her to the ground before arcing toward Burndall. The kid, eyes wide at the impending smackdown, ducked low at the very last moment, pushed along by my Entrenchment boon.

  Then my two tentacles were on me. I threw an icicle-laden shield in the way of one, piercing that tendril even as the other cuffed me upside the head. Much to my surprise, the touch didn’t burn or cut, but it hurt all the same.

  Solar Guardian’s Tendril Barrage assaults the area!

  2 tendrils attack you! One hits, one hits (blocked)! 95 (95 blocked), 172 Physical Damage taken! HP 2786/3280

  1 tendril attacks Kayla! 37 (-200 absorbed) Physical Damage taken! HP 2073/2110

  1 tendril attacks Burndall! Burndall dodges!

  I gritted my teeth. The incoming damage was manageable so far, but we were only plinking the Guardian’s sides. The Thorn hits from the Ice Shields only scraped another percentage point off the tendril-laden monster’s big Health pool. It was down to 95% and going strong.

  As the lashing appendages retreated, Loi let out a trill cry, showering me with sparkles of soothing light as his mistress cut right, no doubt looking to make it harder for the creature to blast us all at once. She nocked a vial-tipped arrow and let fly in a parabolic arc. The Sprite’s Renewing Light tended to the worst of my wounds as the arrow exploded over the Guardian’s head, showering it with sticky, caustic fluid. Though made of light, the thing was certainly solid enough and the green goo stuck to it, hissing and burning into its egg-shaped shell.

  Crysta’s Dissolving Cloud hits Solar Guardian! It takes .5% Air Damage and gains the ‘Compromised Armor’ Bane!

  “Resistance debuff,” she cried, most likely for Burndall's benefit. While he was fully immersed now, it was probably too much sensory input for him to constantly track the combat log like I could. She drew another arrow and continued, “I’ve got heals coming up next!”

  “Gimme a few more seconds, and I’ll blow this dude to the Fire Kingdom,” Burndall shot back and his fireball kept building. Now, I’m no expert on Offensive Gems, especially Spells, but I wasn’t aware of any that took that long to cast … unless he linked a couple of Builder Gems to it.

  Generally, Builders of any Grade increased casting time or slowed attack speed and added an effect multiplier to the actual ability when it finally went off. To prevent exploitation, though, they had an interesting interaction with one another. The speed penalties were multiplicative but the effect bonus was only additive. Basically, no one in their right mind stacked them and few enough used them. Maneuverability and speed were too important most of the time.

  The kid didn’t get that memo, and I was kind of glad he didn’t.

  With Loi clinging desperately to my shoulder, I charged right, going the opposite direction of Crysta. “Kay, if you have an Ice Wall or any Walls at all, block off the kid! Going to try to pull most of the heat my way!” I waved the Banner of Two Nations as I swung into position, activating my Defiant Display. “Come on now! I bet you can’t even take down one of us, let along all of us!”

  Bosses might be immune to most crowd control but not taunts, thank the developers! The Guardian spun to track my movements while Kayla followed my direction without question, shrugging off the hit she’d taken and beginning to chant a protective spell.

  Once again, I admired the utter professionalism of the Sisters, following my lead as the tank even though I was probably nothing compared to their guildmates. Too bad I wasn’t a girl myself, or I’d drop an application.

  The silver slit around the egg surged with light again, this time along a point that tracked my every move. The only plus side was that it made it easy to get my shield in the way before that surge turned into an intense, focused beam that likely would have drilled right through my head if I had let it. There was almost a physical force to the beam, wholly unrealistic scientifically, but I was more concerned with the impact of my shield being driven into my body as it heated up to a white-hot glow to debate the physics of it. Even through the block, the pain was intense. If I hadn’t blocked or had Loi’s Aegis on me …

  Solar Guardian’s Concentrated Laser hits (blocked)! 459 (-765 blocked/resisted) Light Damage taken! HP 2527/3280

  Bane ‘Overheated Gear: Shield’ gained! You will take 210 (+10 vulnerability) Fire Damage per second while you continue to wield the affected item or until it is cooled off by Water effects. HP 2317/3280

  Oh, that was dirty pool! I sure as heck couldn’t drop my shield, not with what this thing was capable of but my Fire vulnerability wasn’t going to do me any favors here.

  My compatriots were fairing somewhat better. Kayla had indeed conjured up a barrier of solid ice, a half circle around Burndall as he continued to chant and cast. I was glad she was sticking to my requests instead of cutting away to cool off my shield instead. The Sprite sang comforts in my ear as he tried to stem the worst of the hurt with another bout of Renewing Light but it wasn’t going to keep up with the incoming damage. Not that I had to worry about that, though.

  I couldn’t see Crysta outside of her green outline on the opposite side of the Guardian, but I did hear the resounding echo of her bow firing, along with the whistle of her arrow flying up, over the Guardian’s head, and striking me dead in the shoulder. This time, I didn’t flinch, and I wasn’t surprised as the Greenlife Arrow exploded into sparkles, healing burns and soothing sprains.

  Crysta uses Greenlife Arrow on you! You heal 525 Health Points! HP 2832/3280

  Now, I don’t speak Elohjin and this time when the Guardian spoke, we didn’t get a handy translation. All the same, I know ‘intense frustration’ when I hear it and Loi certainly did, the Sprite’s eyes going wide as the glowing sphere’s tentacles began to glow intensely as it rose up higher, making thunderous proclamations in that song-like tongue. Ignoring the burning pain in my arm, I hazarded a glance at Burndall’s green silhouette behind the icy barrier. Still casting but he had to be almost ready. He had to be because I was pretty sure we were all about to get squashed.

  One last trick to try. The Guardian rose higher, its tendrils growing in response to the light buil
ding in them. Kayla and Crysta had the same inkling I did and each unloaded in their own way, just as I intended to do.

  Kayla slammed her staff into the ground, raising her orb up high to summon a storm of razor-sharp ice shards, whirling around the thing and cutting into its tentacles and body while Crysta sang the Aurum song of the Air spirits, wrapping all of our bodies in a cloak of cushioning air, like a suit made of bubble wrap.

  As for me, it was finally time to use Strength of the Mountain. With two damage shields up and the extra resistances, we might just live through what was about to happen.

  Kayla’s Storm of Shards hits (critical) Solar Guardian! It takes 20% (+10% critical, +3% vulnerability) Water Damage and 6% (+3% critical, +1% vulnerability) Physical Damage!

  Crysta casts Wind Barrier! All group members gain a 324 point damage barrier!

  You give the Order to use Strength of the Mountains! All group and raid members increase their Physical and Earth Resistances by 27%, Block Rate by 18%, and gain a damage barrier equal to 18% of their maximum Health Points!

  Then the Guardian unleashed its full power on us. Two more slits opened along the underside of the egg for only a split second before unleashing crisscrossing, room-filling laser beams, raking across the four of us out in the open and the ice wall protecting the kid. They tore through our barriers save for Loi’s with his natural resistance to Light and shattered Burndall’s ice wall. If that were it, we would have been okay.

  Of course, it wasn’t.

  As soon as the beams cut through, the Guardian’s tentacles, still surging with power, extended out in the blink of an eye as the creature crashed down like a comet, accelerating from zero to warp 1 before I could think. Instincts and stacked buffs brought my still-white-hot shield up but it helped as much as a shield would realistically save you from a building dropping on you.

  Solar Guardian unleashes Vengeance of the Sun!

  You take 28 (-300 resisted, -914 absorbed) Light Damage and 401 (-401 blocked) Physical Damage! HP 2403/3280