“Hold the door!” he shouted to Desmond before he reached for the glowing City Core. A City Core that had just lost its previous owner.
You have accessed: City Core (Nur-Gamash) (Level 20)
Do you wish to claim City Core (Nur-Gamash)? Y/N
“Yes!”
A timer began to run. Claiming a City Core, even one with no current ruler, was not an instantaneous process. He needed to hold the Core and concentrate for ten seconds. Hawke gripped the sphere with one hand and wielded Saturnyx with the other, using another Elemental Blast to finish off a Trogg warrior as it reeled from a savage slash from Desmond. A lot more Troggs were headed their way.
Desmond held them off, mostly on his own.
The Eternal had been a deadly combatant before leaving Orom, but the magical tattoos had turned him into something else. Magic erupted from the magical symbols on his skin, deflecting spells and physical attacks and healing injuries almost as fast as they were inflicted. He stood by the entrance to the Core room, blocking the way, his massive sword chopping at any Undead who got too close – and actually parrying spells with it! He bought all the time Hawke needed to finish the process.
Congratulations! You are the ruler of the City of Nur-Gamash!
A menu with over twenty items appeared in front of his eyes. Hawke scrolled down the list, hunting for the one he needed. The Engraved Warrior grunted; the Troggs were hitting him with everything they had, and they were finally making a dent. Unfortunately for them, it was too little, and far too late.
You have chosen to Disconnect the City Core.
Warning! Disconnecting the Core will terminate all ongoing City spells, effects, and enchantments. No City improvements will be possible, nor will any Structural Mana be gained or spent. Do you wish to proceed? Y/N
“Yes, I do,” Hawke said.
The ground shook. The Core’s glow dimmed down to nothing, and all the Troggs in the tower howled like the damned souls they were. For a second, Hawke expected a dramatic cut scene to appear in front of his eyes, with some wise-sounding narrator telling him about the momentous event. None of that happened, of course.
When the city of Nur-Gamash fell for the second and final time, all he got was a simple text notification:
EVENT COMPLETE
The City of Nur-Gamash is no more. The ancient ruins are now part of Akila, whose City Core has been restored. Hawke Lightseeker, Paladin of Lumina, struck the final blow that brought down the unholy city. For this, he has earned the Title of Knight of Order!
Note: Because the Event ended in under an hour, all rewards have been halved.
For your part in the Event, you have earned 11,040 Experience (+20% from the Triune Goddesses bonus, 1,380 diverted towards Leadership; 1,380 diverted towards Node Mastery).
You have received: 2 platinum, Cincture of the Holy Martyr (Legendary Item), 1 Mana Node Seed (Celestial Attuned), 1 Ancient City Node (level 20).
You have earned a new title: Knight of Order: When active, gain +20% to Order spells and effects, +40% when fighting Chaos-attuned foes. Chaos magic cannot be used while the title is active.
You have gained +100 Reputation with all Citizens of Akila, +100 Reputation with all followers of Life, Light, and Order. +100 Global Renown.
Quest Complete: Evil Lurks Beneath the Earth, Part II.
You have received 7,200 Experience (+20% from the Triune Goddesses bonus, 900 diverted towards Leadership; 900 diverted towards Node Mastery)
You have received 50 gold, +300 Reputation with the Triune Goddesses; +150 Reputation with the authorities of Akila, +25 Global Renown.
Current Global Renown: 700 (Famed)
Current XP/Next Level: 144,692/150,000. Leadership XP/Next Level: 61,086/75,000
Current Node Mastery XP/Next Level: 29,618/35,000. Current Guild XP/Next Level: 6,343/7,500
Every Undead within Akila’s lands – which now included the entire cavern complex – was struck by the reactivated wards protecting the human city. Desmond’s opponents began to burn, losing hundreds of Health every second. One by one, they dropped.
Hawke looked out of a window while he checked in with Tava. The area around the city seemed to be on fire as thousands of bodies burst into flames. Luckily, the blazing Undead produced less heat than normal fire, and Troggs built only with stone instead of more flammable materials, or the whole place would have turned into a raging inferno. It would be ironic to beat the Undead only to burn to death or suffocate, but he and his friends were spared that fate.
You did it! Tava shouted at him. We all saw your name celebrated by the Event notification. By the Arbiters themselves, in other words.
So everybody knows, Hawke replied, not entirely happy. Hard to be a stealthy Paladin Ninja if you became the idol of millions.
They certainly do! Legate Neron looked like he’d eaten some bad fish when he read the notification.
Everybody else all right? Hawke asked her.
He didn’t need to ask about his party; they were all on the interact in good health, although he’d seen them dip into the red zone a couple of time. All his guild members had leveled up at least once, in some cases two or three times. The lowest member in his team was now at level eight.
Nine dead, Tava reported. One temple guard, three Legionnaires, and five Special Cohort members, mostly when they panicked.
Considering the odds, the losses were surprisingly light, although having a bunch of high-level healers along had made a huge difference. Hawke told her where he was and went back to examining his earnings. He also took the time to loot the body of Urgah Thul, although her magical robes had burned to a crisp. Too bad, having a bathrobe that could cast spells could have come in handy.
There weren’t any other notifications for a change, and no other loot or XP. Events were like that; once they started, you stopped getting rewards for killing individual monsters. The Event rewards were impressive, though. Hawke looked at the Mana Node Seed in his inventory. That was the first time he’d gotten something like that as loot. He hadn’t expected to see another one for a long time, and it would be extremely useful, to him and his Domain. And it was sitting right next to the even more valuable Ancient City Core; he didn’t even know what he could do with that, but even his guesses were mind-boggling.
The platinum coins were pretty nice, too. He examined them briefly: unlike the Imperial coins, the platinum pieces had a square hole in the center. They weren’t denars, but were marked on one side with Latin letters proclaiming them to be one Wu Zhu, whatever that meant. The other side had Chinese ideograms that Saturnyx identified as belonging to the Wu-Shan Celestial Mint. Each coin was worth a hundred gold denars.
The Legendary belt that the Event had ‘dropped’ for him was nothing to sneeze at, either:
Cincture of the Holy Martyr (Level 25 Legendary Item)
Waist Armor Piece
Item Level: 25 (Minimum Level 20).
Usable only by Paladin, Priest, or Templar classes.
Damage Absorption: Adds 5% to all Resistance values.
Attribute Bonuses: +6 to all Attributes.
Martyr’s Blessing: Damage taken by Gift of the Martyr is halved.
Mana Storage: +250 Mana Capacity
Spell Focus: +20% to the damage, range, and effects of Life, Light or Celestial spells.
Holy smokes, Hawke thought as he equipped the belt. A rush of power coursed through him as he felt his mind and body grow stronger. The belt was white and gold, and it clashed badly with his Death-attuned armor, but his inner balance kept the opposing Elements from messing with him.
“That was impressive,” he told Desmond, who was leaning on the doorframe, examining his sword for nicks. He wanted to thank him, but he was in thrall to a Sidhe. Too risky to show gratitude.
“Just doing my job.”
“Where did you disappear off to?”
“I figured you’d try to hog all the glory for yourself, so I used a trick I learned to stay out of the way while I kept tab
s on you.”
“I didn’t know you could do that.” Or track me while I was invisible, he thought but didn’t say out loud. He didn’t like the idea that the big guy could get the drop on him. Not when he clearly blamed Hawke for all his problems.
Desmond shrugged. “It’s something I picked from Leara. I can sneak up on you now, Paladin Ninja.”
“You sure do,” Hawke said.
The big guy’s trick could be a Fae Glamour or some kind of magic. Hawke suspected a magic tattoo, or engraved scar was the source. Whatever it was, it was good enough to fool his Advanced Mana Sight. On the other hand, now that he knew of Desmond’s new trick, he might be able to come up with countermeasures. He had a feeling that the Engraved Warrior was itching for the chance to use his new abilities against Hawke.
“In any case, you saved a lot of people when you stopped the Trogg leader, Desmond.”
“Awesome. Do I get a medal?”
“I’m sure the City Prefect will be happy to give you one. And a few other goodies, on top of whatever you got from the Event.”
“Nah, I’m good. I really don’t care what the muggles think of me. Got a nice ring from the Event; that’s plenty good. Leara will reward me for keeping you alive, too. Although, I could use another drink. Her magic juice has about worn off.”
“Great. Guess we all came out winners.”
“For now. What next?”
“Well, I want to make sure the Revenant has been destroyed. After that, I’m taking on the Nerf Herders.”
“I guess I’ve got to stick around, then. You don’t get to die until Leara says it’s okay for you to die.”
Thirty-Five
“This bastard is driving me nuts.”
Hawke had spent close to an hour looking for the Revenant, but there was no sign of Laryn anywhere. The Fae-Undead hybrid, who had started three major crises so far, had disappeared. And he had somehow taken the Mana Node where the ritual had been conducted with him. The central plaza now had a circular patch of dirt in place of the Node and the melting quagmire where the Nerf herders had died.
“I guess. I really want to put that critter down once and for all.”
“No luck, huh?” Desmond asked.
The Engraved Warrior had stuck close to Hawke while he looked around the ruins. The crumbling ruins. Without the Trogg enchantments preserving the city, the buildings were beginning to fall apart, even the ones that hadn’t been damaged in the battle. Water was already seeping in from cracks forming in the vast cavern’s walls. The Imperials thought the cavern complex was stable enough not to come crashing down – incidentally turning a big chunk of the city above it into a giant sinkhole – but the Trogg-made structures were another matter altogether. Eventually the nearby river would fill the whole area, turning it into a great diving spot, assuming anybody around the Realms liked to dive for fun.
Tava walked up to him, along with Rabbit and Digger. The Dire Bear growled at Desmond, picking up the tension between them.
“I think I found the monster’s trail,” she said. “Nothing else has an aura like this, Fae energies mixed with the taint of Undeath.”
Teaching Mana Sight to a Ranger with magical tracking skills had turned her into a scouting machine. If she said she’d found the Revenant’s tracks, Hawke could take it to the bank.
“Where did he go?”
“He walked up to the edge of the cavern and activated some kind of portal spell or device. I know little of such things, but it used a lot of power.”
“Let’s take a look.”
Hawke was able to spot the place where Laryn had made his escape. Like Tava said, whatever he had used had burned through thousands of Mana, a lot more than what a short-range teleport cost. The Revenant had gotten far away, or maybe gone to a different Realm. He didn’t think he had a prayer of catching him, not until the bastard started some other mess.
I was a lot dumber then.
He had responsibilities now; to Tava, to the people of the Sunset Valley, and to his Guild. He would take risks when he had to, but Laryn had failed and was on the run. That would have to do; he had more immediate threats to deal with. Besides, he had barely escaped death multiple times in the past couple of days. He had probably hit his limit.
“Damnit,” Desmond muttered.
“Problem?”
“Leara won’t be happy,” the Engraved Warrior said before remembering who he was talking to, and clamming up. “She had hoped this would be the end of the Huntsman.”
“If she wanted the Revenant destroyed, she should have stuck around and helped out,” Hawke told him. “I’m curious about her interest in Greg’s science project, to be honest.”
“She has her reasons. If she wants you to know them, she’ll tell you,” Desmond said.
“Perhaps the Fae woman fears Laryn,” Tava suggested. From the way Desmond growled, she’d touched a nerve.
“She certainly was in a hurry to be somewhere else,” Hawke said. “I wonder why.”
“You don’t know a damn thing,” Desmond replied.
With a sigh, Hawke turned his back on the teleport site.
“Time to deal with the Nerf Herders.”
* * *
The Eternals’ compound had changed a lot since the last time Hawke had seen it, but he had expected the stone walls and the magic wards, thanks to Girl’s report. What he hadn’t expected was to find the small fortress inhabited only by slaves. Slaves who, a few months ago, had been normal Earthlings before arriving at the Realms and falling into the hands of Kaiser Wrecker and his bullyboys.
There were City Watch soldiers all over the compound, but they got out of Hawke’s way as he walked the grounds and entered the building the Guild had named ‘the Factory.’ It was like a combination of dungeon – the actual definition of the term, not the gaming one – and sweatshop where the inmates – over twenty Eternals, mostly under level 5 in their Class but well over level 10 in at least one Craft or Vocation – slept in cramped cells before being woken up to practice, learn or teach their trade. Enchanters, Smiths, Tailors, Alchemists, Jewelers, they were all represented. The poor bastards spent most of their waking hours working and, if they didn’t meet their quotas, they were beaten or tortured. Most of them had been subjected to that life for months, although the most recent captives had been abducted from another city two weeks ago.
The City authorities had wanted to hold and question the victims, but Hawke had earned enough credit with them to get them released into his care. When he spoke to the captives, he discovered that they couldn’t leave the compound, not unless a guild officer allowed them to do so. They all had sworn oaths of servitude to Kaiser Wrecker, and the fact that they had done so under duress didn’t matter. The only way to free their minds was to destroy the Nerf Herders. Hawke had every intention of doing that.
The cowards had run away, though.
“When Kaiser saw the Event notification saying you’d won, he flipped out,” one of the captives, a massive Ogre Smith by the name of Bones told him. “They were out of here a few minutes later. Left us here to rot.”
“It appears they left through the Marbled Gate,” a Watch officer said; the man had arrived with the bad news shortly after Hawke entered the compound. “Thirty-seven people, riding thirty magical beasts, all faster and more enduring than horses. The gate commander let them through, despite the fact that the guild had been proscribed. Claims that he didn’t get the news until after the miscreants were gone. Bribed, most likely.”
“Probably for the best,” Hawke replied, forcing himself to keep his cool. “Your guards might not have been able to stop them. Even if they had, a lot of innocent people would have died.”
The Marble
d Gate was on the southern quadrant of the city. It wasn’t used much because the immediate area consisted of largely uninhabited mountains and, further to the east, swamps. It wasn’t closely guarded, making it a good place to leave in the middle of the chaos that the short-lived zombie apocalypse had caused.
“They were seen headed west,” the guardsman added. “Moving fast. They are probably past the city limits by now.”
Hawke nodded and didn’t shout and curse, much as he wanted to. He knew where the Herders were going. That path would take them right to Legion’s Highway. If they turned south, they would be in Orom. How long? They’d have to travel a bit over a hundred miles of bad road, but with magical mounts, that could be a matter of hours rather than days.
“We have to ride after them,” Tava said.
He shook his head. “They have elite mounts, faster than anything we’ve got. The only people who might catch them are the City Watch flying patrolmen, but there are only six of them, and their balloon can only carry another four or five people. They can’t take on over thirty Eternals by themselves.”
“What are we going to do, then?” Grognard asked.
“Well, I’m going to head them off at the pass, sort of. I’ll use Node Recall to get back to the city. Unfortunately, I can’t take you along, but once I’m there I can get the guild and the local troops organized. We’ll stop them.”
Grognard didn’t look convinced. “Other than Nadia, the highest-level guild members are all here. Those bastards took out a wizard’s council. They’ve got guns, too.”
Hawke grinned. It was a nasty smiled, devoid of any humor. “All that is true. But I have a plan.”
Thirty-Six
“We don’t have much time,” Hawke told Olaf Goode as soon as he emerged into the town hall.
Hawke had told Blaze what was going on, and the Drakofox had warned Olaf. That had happened fifteen minutes ago, all the time Hawke had taken giving orders to the guild members in Akila before using Node Recall. There hadn’t been much to say; Tava, Grognard and Desmond would leave immediately, along with Jake Duchamp and some helpers from the City Watch. Everyone else would stay in the city until news arrived. Hopefully, it would be good news.
Guilds at War: The LitRPG Saga Continues Page 26
