by Alyson Belle
TIER III Illusion Spells
[Phantasmal Assassin] Summon a phantasmal warrior with a physical form to serve as your servant for up to 4 hours. He can carry items, attack enemies for significant mental damage, and scout without your direct control. Players may only have one pet or servant at a time.
[Size Manipulation] This spell allows the caster to disperse or condense the very matter making up a player or NPC, causing them to become 1-2 sizes larger or smaller than they currently are. Their total mass remains the same, so their stats are unaffected. Hostile targets receive a save against this spell.
[Greater Invisibility] This spell allows the target to become completely invisible for a random period of time, and they become only partially visible when taking hostile actions.
[Major Glamour] This spell allows the caster to physically alter the features and body characteristics of a player or NPC, transforming them into another gender, race, or radically altering their physical features for the duration of spell, without changing their stats or size category. This provides an enormous bonus to disguise checks. Hostile targets receive a save against this spell.
[Lasting Illusion] Create any visual illusion over an area up to 10x10x10’ that will last for up to three weeks or until dispelled.
I was impressed. Erlix had called illusion spells mostly useless, and the tier I spells pretty much had been, but there were some really interesting options here. Phantasmal Assassin wouldn’t be too useful to me since I already had charm pets and couldn’t double up unless I wanted to release Fiero—and I was definitely not ready to say goodbye to that tail!—but my brain immediately spun into overdrive imagining what I could do with spells like Greater Invisibility or Lasting Illusion. I could go anywhere as stealthily as a rogue, conceal the entrance to secret bases, or make my side’s numbers look more intimidating than they actually were… and that was just what I could think about off the top of my head! There would be all kinds of applications. Even Major Glamour was interesting, since enemy mages of different races often had invisibility detection up, but wouldn’t think to detect magic on someone who looked like them (and was of their race, for all practical purposes). Hiding in plain sight could be an even better strategy than being invisible, depending on circumstances.
But then I shook my head and sighed. None of that would be of any use if I couldn’t actually save my friends. It was neat to get a smattering of rare spells served up on a silver platter, but I’d have time to collect rare spells later if I wanted them. The fey blessing was the real reward here. Right now I had to focus on getting past Wugduz, and there was only one spell on the queen’s offered list that would allow us to get past his huge ogre ass. I sighed and made my selection, annoyed that I was probably picking the least useful spell on the list.
The queen gave me a surprised expression. “Are you sure, my dear?”
“Yep. That’s the one I want.”
She shrugged and laid a hand on my forehead again as the selection dialog faded away from my HUD. “You know best.” Another brief tingle of magic shimmered through me, and I knew if I looked at my spellbook I’d now see Size Manipulation beside the spells I’d already chosen. “Now go on and please, please rescue our son!”
“And our crowns!” the King added, popping up and down beside his throne like an excited gerbil, his robe fluttering around him. “And my orb! Don’t forget my precious orb!”
I rolled my eyes and led the way back out into the hallway, Erlix trailing behind me as he stealthed from sight. There was no sense in giving the ogre a target to smash, and I appreciated Erlix’s moral support even if we were getting to the point where his DPS wasn’t that useful anymore. Something still seemed to be bothering the little guy, but I was too focused on Wugduz to worry about it right now. The shadowknight sat planted where I’d left him, plugging up the narrow hallway with his arms crossed and a dour expression on his face.
“Where’d you run off to?”
I shrugged and jerked my thumb back toward the room we’d just walked out of. “We just took a little tour of the floor. Have you been inside the throne room? It’s quite a spectacle.”
Wugduz grunted. “That’s a smarty-pants word for a dumb-looking chick like you. Nice try, ho-bag. I’m staying right where I am.”
“Sure, sure. You stay put. Too bad you won’t be able to block the way any more.”
Now he laughed at me. “What, do you have a ghostly form spell or something? My magic save is almost as high as my health regen. I’m a tank, remember? Idiot.”
I arched an eyebrow and spoke so sarcastically. “Wow, that’s so impressive. Have you tested it against someone with 27 points in their primary casting stat?”
The ogre’s eyes narrowed. “Whaaat? You don’t have a casting stat that high. You’re a sex-crazed whore class. You can’t even cast spells! No way.” He shook his big, black, helmeted head and yawned. “You’re not bluffing your way past me.”
“Let’s find out.” I raised my finger toward him and uttered, “ Size Manipulation ,” picturing a tiny little baby ogre two body sizes smaller than Wugduz was now. I watched with satisfaction as the spell landed, shock briefly registering in his eyes as he failed his magic save, and then began to shrink smaller and smaller until an ogre the size of Erlix was sitting in the hallway. For two beats he sat there staring at his hands in surprise. Then he leapt up, slamming his visor down over his newly halfling-sized face.
“You fucking twat! I’ll kill you!” He snatched his cute little two handed axe, which had shrunk in size along with the rest of his equipment and charged me, but I just laughed as the midget in black armor wore himself out with swing after swing that passed harmlessly through me. I shook my finger at him.
“No, no, no! That’s a bad widdle ogre. If you’re going to get all angry, mommy needs to put you down for a nap.”
He roared, which in his new high pitched voice was about as intimidating as one of my roars would be as Lacey the Courtesan, and stared at me with murder in his eyes. I was glad that my Charm on Vierdimin was still leaving me well-protected from Secret Order members, because even if he was tiny, my spell didn’t reduce his stats at all, and I wasn’t really prepared to face down the main tank of their guild by myself. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. He couldn’t touch me!
I smiled and patted him on the head, laughing as he leapt backwards sputtering. “When you see Vierdimin, say hi for me,” I said. “Now if you don’t mind, we’re headed to the final floor.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Wugduz cried.
He turned to run, and I realized that even though he couldn’t hurt me, I didn’t want him giving a heads up to Lefay or whatever else was waiting for us upstairs. Who knew what kind of stupid barricade they could get in place if I let him go? Right now she probably figured we wouldn’t be able to get past him, and might have gotten lax on her defenses.
I dove for the fleeing ogre, who fortunately could only move so fast on his stumpy legs, and as I made contact, I yanked him tightly to my chest and activated my last unused skill in my bag of tricks: “ Motorboat !”
I half-expected it to fail, since his saves were so high, but once again my 27 charisma prevailed and his helmeted face got sucked between my huge boobs like there was an electro-magnet stuck in my bra. It was sort of uncomfortable to feel the cool metal on my bare skin between my breasts, where the leather straps bared my skin, but the skill kicked in and my chest started wobbling rapidly back forth at high speed, knocking his head violently around and vibrating my whole body. I expected it to hurt, but I guess the skill protected me from any pain. I couldn’t say the same for Wugduz, though. His helmet almost seemed to make it worse, and when the motorboat ended he fell to the ground dazed and disoriented.
“Wh-what was that?” he grunted out, clutching his head and wobbling uncertainly on the ground. He tried to climb to his knees but kept falling over, and finally he gave up and laid there stunned. I checked his debuffs in my HUD and saw that the helmet had made it wo
rse… he’d gotten so banged around by my flailing breasts that he’d be stunned for a good ten minutes.
I motioned Erlix forward and ran past the stunned shadowknight, making good use of the time I’d bought us, and raced up the steps toward the final floor and Lefay.
Chapter 13
This time the ornate golden door at the top of the steps wasn’t any barrier at all, since we still had Nambla’s key. It swung open with the same sound of wind chimes that the earlier door had had, and I stepped quickly into a wide, open room. It was the smallest one I’d seen in the tower so far—hardly more than a chamber, and there were no more steps up. This was the end of the line. In the center of the chamber, a fiery red globe hovered a few inches above a four-foot pedestal, bobbing slightly in the air and rotating as it swirled and shimmered with shifting hues of crimson, yellow, and orange. It had to be the coveted Fabulous Orb of the Dragonkin Sorcerers that Fiero had wanted and the king was so very proud of.
I would have been entranced by the beauty of the levitating globe if my attention hadn’t immediately snapped to the other occupants of the room: Lefay, Lv. 70 Dark Elf Wizard , had her back turned to us, standing over a pair of unconscious bodies in a shimmering blue force cage similar to the ones that Jazzus and I had been trapped in when this whole mess started. I could see by the familiar armor and cloak that one of them was Topper, and if I squinted through the haze of the cage I could make out his character tag: Topper, Lv. 75 Human Paladin . The other occupant of the cage was small enough to be a child, which likely meant it was the fey prince. The wizard—wizardess? I wasn’t sure what the appropriate name for a female wizard was—had clearly been busy, finding time to gain a whole level while they’d guarded their prisoners. She’d probably been fighting the guardian specters out around the perimeter for easy levels. Any caster with illusion magic would be able to make short work of them, and they’d be scaled to her level and get progressively harder for even better gains.
I gulped and hesitated, suddenly feeling intimidated. Lefay would be smarter than either Nambla or Wugduz had been. I knew she couldn’t really hurt me, but magic users were tricky. In Fantasy Realms Online, because of how realistic and physics-based the game was in many ways, the only limits on most casters were how creative they could get with their spells. Wizards had every school of magic at their disposal, and Lefay was Vierdimin’s highest-level wizard, second only to the Lich himself. I was sure she had all kinds of crazy spells from raiding, and unlike Wugduz, she might be clever enough to use them in ways that could be annoying even if they didn’t directly hurt me.
“Back so soon, Wugduz?” Lefay asked over her shoulder. “Wow. The bitch got tired of bashing her head against your bulk even faster than I expected. Probably Krom just wants to get back to fucking dudes. What a homo.”
I’m a bitch? She’s the bitch! I thought angrily, annoyed at both her dismissive attitude and her casual homophobia. It didn’t matter if I fucked dudes. Get over it, you dark elf slag. I couldn’t believe Lefay had so little faith in me that she hadn’t even turned around on the off-chance it might be me and not Wugduz coming up with a report. I’ll show her what I can do…
Erlix spread out to the side of the room, daggers poised and ready to strike at her when and if I gave the word, and I quietly drew my bow, slithering an arrow out of my quiver with a leathery rasp. Together our DPS wouldn’t be great, but we could try the same strategy we’d tried on prior enemies, using me as an invincible tank while Erlix wore her down. He might be half her level, but those daggers were very pointy. Besides—all my special skills were on cooldown, and both of my charm slots were filled by Vierdimin and Fiero (not that charming Lefay would do anything different from charming Vierdimin). If we were going to beat her, it would have to be with wits, magic, or damage.
At the sound of my bowstring drawing back, her shoulders tightened, and she spun around just in time to fling up a translucent orange flame shield. My arrow flew through the air and made contact with the shield, but burned to a crisp before it ever touched Lefay. It was some kind of anti-projectile damage shield, and I could tell by the way Erlix was hesitating that it would probably be just as unfriendly to his hands and daggers as it had been to my arrow. We’d have to wait for an opening to do this the hard way.
Lefay stood posed with her legs spread wide, magnificent silver-white hair curling back around her head and one hand outstretched toward me. The wizard wore a suit of shimmering black skintight satin that complemented her bluish-grey skin, tantalizingly cut to reveal her feminine curves, and decorated with a spiderweb pattern that was popular with the nerdy D&D crowd who insisted that dark elf equaled drow elves even though the Dark Legion faction didn’t have any pet spider-centaurs or anything. A midnight-black cloak with the hood thrown back swirled behind her. She really went in on that “dark, sexy wizard” thing. But it was working for her. As she narrowed her pretty purple eyes at me, I couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated again. She was so beautiful… and she held herself with the dangerous, easy confidence of a hot girl who knew she was hot, as opposed to the reserved awkwardness I felt when I ran around playing at being a hot girl. I wished I could get over my hangups and hold myself like that, instead of being weirded out every time someone called me a cutesy nickname.
“Take a picture, lesbo. It’ll last you longer.” Her lips quirked into a sneering smile that twisted her pretty face into a mocking grimace, like the popular girls in my high school, and I flushed as I realized I had been staring… at her tits, at her legs, at her breasts. But Lefay was my enemy, not one of my fucktoys!
“Shut up, bitch,” I snapped, forcing my words to carry a level of confidence I didn’t feel. “I outsmarted your rogue, smacked down your main tank, and you’re not going to give me any problems either.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I admit I’m impressed you got past Wugduz, but outsmarting a guy who names his character Nambla isn’t exactly something to write home about. Anyway, your run stops here. You can’t get your pal out of this cage behind me unless you have the shield generator Vierdimin gave me, and I wasn’t dumb enough to prep offensive spells against someone I couldn’t hurt. It’s all defensive, Blondie. Good luck getting it away from me!”
I growled at her. It was bad enough that I had the halfling calling me Goldie all the time. I didn’t need extra nicknames from Vierdimin’s chief floozy.
“Tell me where you’re holding Jazzus.”
“Poor baby. Can’t figure it out? Better get a better wizard on your side. Oh wait, that bitch was your wizard. Or maybe Haxor can help you… oops, nope he can’t either. Too bad. You’re just fucked.”
“Fuck you.”
“As if, you Rupaul reject. I fry boys pretending to be girls, not fuck them.”
“You wanna dance? Let’s dance.”
“I don’t dance with girls, ho-bag.”
She sneered at me again and put her hands on her hips, satisfied that her retort had shut me up, but I’d just had enough of her banter. I knew arrows would be useless as long as she had her shield up, so I started flinging spells at her as quickly as I could, before she had time to prepare a defense.
My left hand shot out to illuminate the room in a bright flash as my Light spell fired off, while I used my right hand to cast Minor Glamour and turn my whole body the same, shimmering white color as the marble of the tower all around me. It was no camouflage, but if I was lucky it would make it a little harder for her to track. Light wasn’t much brighter than a torch, but if you’ve ever seen a torch you know they can be pretty damn bright, and I could control the shimmering ball of light with my mind up to 15 feet. I sent it hurtling toward Lefay, trying to keep it in her face, and raced after it, my breasts bouncing beneath the leather straps covering my chest as my boots slammed on the marble floor. If I can land a lucky stun, I can end this right away…
It was a good plan—a great plan, considering the tools I had—but Lefay was ready for my little stunt after all. I reached Dazzle
range and a rainbow shower of sparks exploded out of my hands toward her, but she made a bored gesture that raised some kind of anti-magic shield that coated her body and reflected the sparks away from her. Then she raised a finger and my Light spell simmered down to an angry glow, canceled out by an equivalent Darkness spell that left the room in a neutral, shadowy gray illuminated once more by the flaming dragonkin orb. I shot her with Dazzle again and again, blowing through half my mana in an attempt to pierce her shield. But every time the sparks bounced off her harmlessly. Finally, I stamped my foot in frustration and dropped my Minor Glamour spell too, returning to my usual shades of soft, pinkish skin and curly blonde hair. There was no point in looking like a white-faced circus clown if my Light spell wasn’t distracting her.
Lefay made a big show of yawning. “Is that all you got, you little perv? I expected better. Wugduz must be getting rusty if you beat him with these cheap parlor tricks. Try something higher than a tier I spell, noob.”
I fumed at her. I could deal with being called a bitch, blondie, a perv, or a ho-bag, but a noob? That was crossing the line.
Erlix still circled warily on the sidelines, looking for an opening, but she still had both shields up. She’d burn him to a crisp before he got close if he revealed himself, and my magic wasn’t going to be of any use. I racked my brain trying to figure out how I was going to wrestle the device away from her. Her attacks would pass through me harmlessly, but our bodies would still make contact if I tried to interact with her, and apparently her defenses worked just fine on my weapons and spells. Sadly, the game code wouldn’t let me go rooting around in her bags unless she was unconscious, stunned, or dead. Charm had to have some limitations to avoid being even more OP than it already was, I guessed.
