Frank’s grin widened into a gleeful smile. He glanced at Riley. “See? You just have to wear him down.” This earned him a chuckle from Riley.
The barbarian approached the body, resting his hand on the Roc’s torso. Before Jason and Riley could ask him what he was doing, his hands rippled and transformed back into claws, and he tore into the bird’s skin. Blood gushed from the wound, staining Frank’s arms. With a final massive heave, the barbarian ripped something from the Roc’s chest.
Jason could see that his friend now held the bird’s heart in his hand, the organ nearly the size of a human head and purple veins riddling the flesh. Frank took a deep breath before closing his eyes and taking a huge bite out of the fleshy heart. Riley and Jason recoiled in horror, disgusted looks on their faces as they saw the bird’s blood run down Frank’s chin.
Then the massive eagle’s body began to twitch and shake. Multi-colored streamers of energy coiled around its torso and wings, swiftly disintegrating its feathers, skin, muscles, and bones in layers. The energy streaked toward Frank’s hand – coiling up his arm and his body before rushing into his open mouth. His eyes shifted through a kaleidoscope of colors, and he groaned under the strain of channeling the energy.
After only a few moments, there was little left of the Roc other than blood-stained rocks. “Is that how you consume a creature?” Jason asked quietly, a mixture of disgust and curiosity tinging his voice. “I thought you didn’t have to eat it.” Looking back on it, Frank had always been rather secretive when he consumed an animal.
The barbarian had slumped to the ground, and his eyes were distant, reviewing some notification Jason couldn’t see. He shook himself and turned to Jason. “Basically. Also, I might have lied about that part. I wasn’t looking forward to the expression you all are wearing right now.”
“You mean disgust?” Riley asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Exactly,” Frank replied. “Anyway, it took some practice to get the hang of it. Every time I consume an animal-type monster I receive a random shapeshifting ability related to that animal. The stat bonuses from the transformation also increase as I consume more of the same type of creature.”
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t make it very far with your class,” Riley replied with a shake of her head.
Frank nodded in understanding. “It isn’t as bad as it looks. The game mutes your sense of taste, so it’s easier if you just don’t look at what you’re eating.”
“I just don’t think I could do it,” Riley murmured. Jason couldn’t help but agree, but he supposed raising decaying, undead minions using the dismembered corpses of his enemies wasn’t much better.
“So what shapeshifting ability did you get that time?” Riley asked Frank. “Let me guess. Bird legs. You’ll be our little chicken barbarian.”
Frank glared at her. “Actually, I managed to get the wings thank you very much. It looks like the shift offers flight for a brief period.” He whistled as he reviewed a set of invisible notifications. “50 stamina per second? I won’t be able to keep that up for very long.”
“At least we can push you over ledges without having to listen to you complain now,” Jason said, slapping Frank on the back. This earned him a pained grimace from his burly friend.
Jason shifted his attention to Riley as she picked through the rubble and tried to loot the fallen players – their bodies crushed by the massive blocks of stone. “You have some explaining to do yourself. What was that red energy you were channeling?” he inquired, curiosity tinging his voice. “I didn’t realize you had a new healing spell.”
Riley glanced at him as she lifted a rock and threw it aside, revealing the corpse of one of the player mages. She plucked distastefully at the man’s belt, retrieving a pouch. “Well, you remember that I mentioned visiting Vaerwald south of the Twilight Throne? I ended up completing the quest for my bow – which unlocked its special ability and granted me a new class.”
“That’s news to me!” Frank said in an accusing tone.
Riley shrugged. “I guess it just didn’t come up.”
“So, what’s your new class?” Jason asked.
“I’m now a Fury,” Riley explained. “It’s apparently a hidden class and allows me to manipulate my own blood. I basically gained a health-drain and a health-transfer ability. On top of that, my spells now cost health to cast, and my mana pool was added to health.”
Jason’s eyes widened in shock. That was a pretty dramatic change. It essentially meant that Riley had been converted into some sort of support-assassin hybrid. Assuming she could keep her health drain up on a few targets, she could now provide spot healing for Jason and Frank at a distance. That was on top of her standard Blood Mist spell.
Frank snorted. “And here I only got some silly wings. Speaking of which, you want to see them?”
“Definitely,” Jason replied, turning back to his friend.
Fleshy tendrils suddenly erupted from Frank’s shoulder blades, splitting his skin and racing into the air. Feathers began sprouting from the growths, and the wings rapidly filled out. Frank’s body contorted, and he hunched over in pain as a groan escaped his lips. After only a few seconds, he straightened, extending his new wings and giving them an experimental flap. Air rushed through the ravine, blowing dust toward Jason and Riley.
“Impressive,” Jason said, covering his face with the edge of his cloak. “But can you actually take off?”
“I guess…” Frank replied uncertainly, rolling his shoulders. “Damn the shift hurts the first time. Now let’s see if I can fly with these bad boys.”
The barbarian scrunched his face up, appearing to concentrate on lifting off. The wings beat in an unsteady rhythm, but after a few moments he figured out how to beat them in a rhythm, and he rose shakily from the ground. He drifted nearly twenty feet into the air, his expression triumphant.
Then Frank made the mistake of looking down, and he suddenly realized that the ground was shrinking below him. A look of panic flitted across his face, the cadence of his wings shifting awkwardly. He began listing to the side, and a wing scraped against the wall of the ravine, throwing him completely off balance. He promptly tumbled to the ground, landing heavily in a heap of feathers.
Riley was laughing hard, leaning against the wall of the ravine to support herself. “I think you might need some practice,” she managed to say between gasping breaths.
Jason couldn’t help but smile as Frank pushed himself from the ground – the wings suddenly shuddering and shrinking as the shift ended. “It’s harder than it looks,” he muttered.
“Sure it is, killer,” Riley replied, still laughing.
“Anyway, what’s our next step?” Frank asked, trying to change the subject as he regained his feet and rubbed at his shoulders.
Jason tapped his lips with his fingers as he pondered this question. The presence of the players indicated that they were getting close to a populated area. A glance at his map confirmed that they were only a few miles away from Falcon’s Hook. He had sent a mental message to his undead as they made their way down to the ravine and they now stood idly around him. Their rotten flesh and bleached white bones stood out in the bright sunlight that shone down into the canyon. He wasn’t certain he would be able to hide their true nature during the day. There was a limit to what a tattered cloak could conceal.
As though reading his mind, Frank spoke up, “I’m not sure we’re going to be able to bring the undead with us into town.”
“That’s what I was just thinking,” Jason replied. His gaze shifted to the cave entrance beside them. “We might have to leave them all here and come back for them later. Maybe we can leave them inside this cave?”
“It might help to scout it first,” Riley suggested. “Just give me a couple minutes, and I’ll be right back.” With that, she started toward the cave at a light jog, activating Sneak. She soon disappeared inside.
“Have you noticed that Riley seems a bit different?” Frank asked, his eyes lingering on th
e tunnel entrance where the Fury had disappeared. “She’s been a lot more assertive since she tackled her bow quest.”
Jason had noticed. He couldn’t quite place his finger on the change, but she did seem much more confident – like she had made peace with herself. Not for the first time, Jason wondered what exactly had happened while he had been gone.
After a few seconds passed, Jason realized he hadn’t responded to Frank’s question. “This game has a strange effect on people,” he offered. “Or maybe she’s finally getting over Alex.”
“I guess so,” Frank replied, shaking his head. “I need to check my notifications for a second.”
Jason realized that he also had a few notifications lingering in the corner of his vision. As he focused on the prompts, a series of notifications appeared in his field of view.
x1 Level Up!
You have (5) undistributed stat points.
x1 Skill Rank Up: Mana Mastery
Skill Level: Intermediate Level 1
Effect 1: -6.0% to mana cost.
Effect 2: +1% faster casting rate.
x1 Skill Rank Up: Curse of Silence
Skill Level: Beginner Level 6
Effect: You silence your target for 5.5 seconds, preventing speech and spell casting.
x1 Skill Rank Up: Curse of Weakness
Skill Level: Beginner Level 5
Effect: Increased effect of slow and reduction to strength, dexterity, and vitality.
This wasn’t a bad reward for taking out a few players and some sort of giant eagle. However, it was only minor progress. He needed to grow more quickly if he wanted to maintain his lead in-game – assuming he was even still counted among the top-level players.
Riley chose that moment to drop out of Sneak, interrupting his thoughts. “Find anything interesting?” Jason asked.
“Not really. There is a small group of adjoining caves inside. They are completely cleaned out. It looks like a bunch of mole creatures had taken up residence inside. Maybe the players were resting after clearing the caves.”
“Here, bring up your map,” Jason directed. With a quick flick of her wrist, Riley pulled up her map. “You should be able to update my map information now that I’m at Intermediate Level 1 in Tactician. Is there a button or something?”
“Ahh, yeah. Right here,” Riley replied, tapping at the air in front of her.
As soon as she made the gesture, Jason’s map began to populate with new information. It appeared that the entrance tunnel continued into the side of the cliff for some distance, heading downward at a steep angle. It eventually dead-ended into a cave complex made up of five large caverns. It was a decent-sized warren but couldn’t really be considered a full-fledged dungeon.
Jason’s eyes moved back to the undead milling around him. “This may be a good place to set up a base of operations. We’re only an hour away from the town on foot, but this seems to be a reasonably high-level area, so player traffic will probably be minimal.”
“That seems like the best option,” Riley agreed. “But what happens if players discover them while we’re gone?”
“Fair point.” Jason’s attention shifted to the rubble littering the ravine. “Maybe they could use some of this rock to blockade the entrance during the day...” he trailed off, lost in thought.
“It’s like he’s going into some sort of tactical coma,” Frank joked as he watched Jason.
Jason ignored the teasing, focusing on issuing a set of commands for his undead. They immediately began moving. The skeletal wolves trotted into the cave and took up residence inside. Riley spared a parting pat on Lucy’s nose before the wolf took off for the cave. Meanwhile, the remaining cultist zombies set to work moving the rubble in front of the cave. The debris was heavy, but, working together, the cultists were able to lift and roll the rocks into position.
While his minions set to work, Jason gave some thought to their long-term situation. Riley was right. They might be camped in or around Falcon’s Hook for a while, and his minions would be too far away for him to micromanage. Sighing, he began casting Lieutenant Zombie on one of the nearby cultists. The sustained mana cost of the spell was a burden, but he needed to leave behind at least one minion with some measure of intelligence.
“What are your orders, Master?” the zombie lieutenant croaked a moment later.
“I’m going to leave you and the skeleton wolves here for a few days,” Jason began. “I want you all to stay inside the caves unless you’re attacked, or there is some other emergency. Stagger the undead within the cave complex so that you can easily kill any of the mole creatures that might respawn.”
“Of course, Master.”
“Each night, I want you to remove the rubble from the cave entrance and go hunting. Shore up the entrance to the cavern when you leave and take the entire group with you. Kill any players and other creatures you find and bring their bodies back to this cave. Use one of the caverns in back to hold the corpses.”
Jason hesitated, his eyes lingering on Frank and the massive bloodstain that still marred the floor of the canyon – the only remaining evidence of the Roc’s death. “I also want you to scout the ridge along the coast. If you find the Rocs’ nesting place, I want you to slay them. Don’t attack if you will attract the attention of more than two of the creatures at once. You should also try to approach them at night – while they may be sleeping. Use caution. A stealthy blow is preferable to a direct confrontation.”
The zombie nodded curtly and then stepped toward the cave, swiftly taking the lead in directing the other undead cultists to barricade the entrance. “Are you sure you want them to hunt creatures on their own?” Frank asked. “What if they get wiped out?
Jason shrugged. “They might die, but they will probably also stockpile some corpses from the moles and stray players before they do. I should be able to create new minions even if some are destroyed. Besides, I still want to get my hands on some of those Rocs.” His eyes gleamed as he considered what he could build with a few of those birds.
“Damn it. He has that look again…” Frank whispered to Riley.
“It seems like a good plan,” Riley interjected, ignoring Frank. “It’s not like we can take the undead into town and it’s more productive than just leaving them here to rot in the sun.”
“Exactly!” Jason replied. Then his gaze drifted to the road south toward Falcon’s Hook. “Speaking of which, we still have a long way to go. We better get started.”
“Great,” Frank grumbled as he stared at the road. “Back on foot again. I’m really going to miss my mount…”
Chapter 8 - Timid
Alexion shifted impatiently, adjusting the sheath at his waist as a light rain pattered against the hood of his cloak. He was leaning against one of the massive trees that grew in the region south of the Crystal Reach with Caerus standing patiently beside him. From this vantage point, Alexion had an unobstructed view of the valley below and the mage city looming in the sky. It was certainly impressive, or at least it had been when he had first witnessed Vaerwald nearly an hour ago.
The city was comprised of twelve floating rings which hovered over the basin in a column. Alexion could only assume that magic was responsible for keeping the discs afloat. Bronze tubing stretched between the rings, creating a patchwork system of pipes that gleamed in the gloomy, gray light that managed to filter through the dense cloud cover.
A nephilim guard suddenly dropped from a nearby tree, his wings beat hard as he approached the ground and kicked up a fine mist of dirt and water. Alexion had made sure to keep his men in the trees and out of sight. There was no sense alerting the players and NPCs to their presence.
Caerus spoke with the guard in hushed tones before turning to Alexion. “The fire guild master is approaching,” the noble reported.
“About damn time,” Alexion said. The void in the back of his mind throbbed and pulsed in irritation at being made to wait. He forcefully suppressed the sensation. The goal of this meeting was to endear him
self to the fire guild master – not cause a scene.
A few moments later, a small group of red-robed men and women emerged along the path that wound down towards the valley below. Leading the pack was a large-set man, his legs making long, purposeful strides as he approached. His robes were higher-caliber than the others, the material emblazoned with embroidered flames. The mage also held a staff crafted from a rich mahogany in one hand. A crystal pulsed at the top of the staff, fire tumbling and swirling within its depths.
“Master Gracien,” Caerus spoke first, approaching the man leading the fire mages. “It is a pleasure to meet you again. It has been too long.”
The fire guild master snorted abrasively, waving at the other fire mages to take up defensive positions nearby but out of earshot. “Not long enough. After hiking through the woods, I’m in no mood to exchange pleasantries. What is it you want this time, Caerus?”
It was clear that the pair knew each other, but Alexion could only wonder at their history. Given Gracien’s blunt manner, perhaps Alexion should be direct. “Let me introduce myself,” he said, stepping forward. “My name is Alexion, and I am the Regent of the Crystal Reach.”
The fire mage master inspected him with a bored expression, not bothering to offer his hand in greeting. “Interesting. You must be the whelp that claimed the Lady’s city. I was expecting someone more… imposing,” Gracien commented.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Alexion replied calmly, ignoring the man’s posturing. “But let us get down to business. We have heard rumors that a member of the Twilight Throne recently visited Vaerwald. Is this true?”
Gracien grimaced, anger flashing in his eyes. “It is. A traveler by the name of Riley,” he offered. “She and a group of low-street trash blew up part of the tube system and set fire to the Great Library. They also assaulted members of my guild – putting several dozen men and women in the infirmary.”
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