by Sarah Lin
"There's likely a core of power somewhere. The biggest problem will be reaching it, since no doubt it's on the very lowest floor of the Ordeal."
Working together, they managed to clear the staircase down. Though there had been a secondary cave-in lower, that one wasn't large enough to impede them. Meara pulled out her usual mana torch and headed in front as they reached the first corridor.
As they walked down it, the natural light from the entrance behind them grew dimmer and dimmer. Danniah braced herself for traps or a fight, her eyes flickering around the small area that the torch could illuminate. They hadn't yet reached the first chamber when Gharavi raised a hand and spoke in a low whisper.
"There's something dangerous ahead, but I can't tell what. I'll start with lightning, but if it attacks too quickly... Danniah, I'll count on you to hold it off."
"You got it!" Danniah nodded and got a better grip on her shield. But before she was completely ready, Meara moved forward, torch expanding into the room.
Taking a deep breath, Danniah headed forward to face the monster...
Izzy sat on top of a pile of weapons, armor, and monster pieces. She had been picking her teeth with a bone, but when she saw them, she swallowed the bone whole and leapt up, waving her arms.
"Hello! I'm so glad you finally found me because I couldn't smell you at all and I had no idea where you were!"
Though a bit dumbfounded, Danniah moved forward and happily embraced Izzy. It soon became clear that the ghoul had appeared not far from the entrance. She had tried to find them, but when she couldn't even find their scents, she'd instead gravitated toward the smell of undead and monsters. After crawling through the narrow entrance, one thing had led to another and...
"Really?" Danniah couldn't help but stare at Izzy. "What about all the traps?"
"Dodged 'em!"
"And the monsters?"
"Ate 'em!"
Meara chuckled and Danniah realized that she must have known Izzy was there and intentionally said nothing. In any case, that abruptly made their job much easier. Izzy cheerfully led them down to the lowest level, showing them all the quickest paths. Unlike the Testing Dungeon, where the traps were powered by some alien force, here the traps had already spent themselves and lay on the floor harmlessly.
So in surprisingly short order, they all found themselves on the bottom level. There was some sort of treasure room, but whatever it contained had been looted a long time ago. That is... the physical treasure had been looted. Gharavi bent down and raised her staff, beginning the ritual to extract the Outsider magic from the dungeon.
When they'd done that in the past, there had always been undead attacks. This time there was nothing, either because Izzy had eaten everything in range or because it wasn't a summoning ritual like the others. In any case, it took them a shockingly short amount of time to finish, then they headed back up to the ground floor.
Instead of days underground, barely any time had passed. Though part of her had been looking forward to testing her new strength on the Governor's Ordeal, Danniah was glad that they had gotten through quickly and even more glad to be finally reunited with Izzy. Even if Marrin had attacked just then, she didn't think anything could ruin her good mood.
Yet as they neared Edsdam, Meara began to wince and hold her head. Izzy moved close and looked at her in concern, but Meara just shook her head. Gharavi frowned and began playing with her bone necklace the way she always did when there was Outsider magic involved. Her eyes widened, but she refused to say anything.
When they got within sight of Edsdam, Danniah immediately knew that something was wrong: some sort of blue crystal spider sat atop the tallest building on the highest hill. It was big, almost as big as a house, yet nobody seemed to notice it. Surely all the thieves would have gone and stolen the crystal...
"We shouldn't go back." Gharavi spoke in a very low voice. "I don't know what that thing is, but it's different than what we've seen before."
"A monster?" Izzy asked. Gharavi shook her head.
"No, it's not designed to fight. I think... I think it alters our world on a fundamental level. Just getting this close, my necklace is already reacting."
Danniah frowned up at the creature, wondering what it was doing to Edsdam. "Do we need to stop it?"
"No." Meara finally opened her eyes and turned to face all of them. "I think Marrin was cleaning up here in order to prepare for that thing. I agree with Gharavi - we don't want to get anywhere near it. It's warping the world terribly... maybe we'd be able to resist, but I don't want to risk it for no reason. We have our cure and all the magic we're likely to get from this place."
"Then do we go...?"
"Yes. Back to Cresthaven and the Forest of Beginnings."
Chapter 30
The bandits charged Bloodwraith from all sides, brandishing their weapons and attacking as one. They rushed him from every angle, some leaping from nearby rocks, others releasing crossbow bolts from their vantage points. Those on the ground thrust forward, intending to hit him evenly from every direction so there was no way he could defend.
This strategy was unwise.
Bloodwraith released a Shout of Rage that cascaded out from him, the dome of force smashing through all the bandits charging him. Some were sent tumbling over the ground while others crashed into the nearby rocks and crumpled. All of the bolts and arrows launched at him were knocked aside like leaves in a storm.
Several of the ranged attackers were outside the dome of his shout, though they were too shocked to release anything else at him. Bloodwraith raised a hand and began knocking them over with bursts of force, one after another.
The last of them ran with a terrified scream, but Bloodwraith was on him in an instant. Even when they tried to sprint, they seemed so slow. Though he could have easily drawn his sword and cut the man in half, Bloodwraith instead just tapped him in the back of the head, sending him tumbling to the ground. With that, the so-called battle was over.
[Victory! You received 17 EXP.]
That was essentially worthless to him, but Bloodwraith hadn't been fighting them for the sake of the EXP. There were multiple reasons he had been going after random bandits, but one of them was the box that appeared next in his vision.
[Shout of Rage skill reached level 10!
Damage dealt is increased by 5%!
Concussive force is increased by 10%!
Shockwave range is increased by 25%!]
Excellent. The slight improvement in the skill might not have a great benefit, but it gave him an extra edge, while more EXP would mean nothing until he reached the next Level. By pretending to be Cresthaven's savior, Bloodwraith had been taking opportunities to round out his skills. Two-Handed Weapons and Undead Companion were still stuck at 19, so he wasn't sure about the potential benefits for reaching 20.
The one skill he hadn't attempted to increase was Rage of Rage, even though it stood at a mere 8. Not only might using it lead him to make a mistake, it also might interfere with the other reason he was bothering with this tedium.
[Quest Complete!
Defeated the Cresthaven bandits.
Local Reputation +15
Governor Andinn Affection +5
EXP +250]
As the box appeared, he heard a cheer go up from the guards. They had only just arrived and found him amid all the strewn bodies. Bloodwraith turned and raised a hand to them, glad that his helm prevented him from having to fake an expression. So far he had done an excellent job establishing himself as a silent warrior, which saved him a lot of trouble.
It also seemed to do nothing to hurt his reputation. As he headed back to the city, leaving the guards to take care of all the bandits, he checked the relevant box again.
[Cresthaven Reputation: 965/1000]
Substantially closer to reaching the limit. He could have already reached 1000 if he hadn't been focusing on more important things. Though it was getting harder to find safe ways to increase his reputation, when he was painting
such a big target on his back.
While he headed back, Bloodwraith glanced at the fallen bandits one more time. He hadn't killed them mostly because that seemed to play better with the peasants, but he wondered what the correct choice would be. Now that he considered it carefully, there seemed to be far too many bandits around Cresthaven: was it because the people were poor, or because the box gods wanted bandits as enemies?
He wished Meara was there, as she would likely have insight into the matter. But it didn't really matter in the end, since he could just eliminate them to improve his reputation. With any luck he could bait Belkarin into making a mistake, but at minimum he was increasing his base of resources. So long as the balance between Earthian and Aesidh magic didn't break before the others arrived, he hoped it would go well. Maybe he could even make them believe his allies had been eliminated and thus underestimate him.
Though his allies didn't seem able to send messages as they'd planned, he knew they were alright because the boxes kept reminding him. He'd received a notification about Danniah increasing a level and Gharavi repairing her staff, both of which came with EXP bonuses that dwarfed the trivial rewards from his work. Nothing from Izzy except steady NP gains, which bothered him a bit, but so long as she was eating things she was clearly still alive.
The stranger thing was that his companions were apparently taking and completing quests. Why that would be their priority, he wasn't sure, but he could only assume they had their reasons. His own actions would have seemed strange without knowledge of the situation, after all.
So far their combined efforts had increased his EXP to 174,341/2,214,338. That was still far enough that he thought it wise to focus on individual skills and equipment rather than trying to gather more EXP, but he wondered how much all the Outsiders would be worth. If he managed to survive the battle, they could very well take him to the next Level, or perhaps even higher...
All of Bloodwraith's thoughts were swept aside as he realized that Elleane was standing in the center of the path, blocking his way back to Cresthaven. So it had finally happened.
"You've been avoiding me." Elleane drew her sword, but only placed it in the dirt in front of her and settled her hands around the guard. Bloodwraith decided to play the fool.
"I've been fighting for the people of Cresthaven!"
"Don't try that." Elleane's face, normally so pure-hearted, twisted in a sneer. "The Outsider told us that you aren't the real person chosen for this role. But I suppose there's no such thing, is there? It was all some joke by alien gods to mock us."
He had been planning for this meeting for some time, but Bloodwraith hadn't expected that. He found himself looking over Elleane again, trying to determine anything suspicious. But she seemed just as obnoxiously noble as she had in the very beginning, aside from her words. The only thing he learned was that the boxes classified her as Level 25, with everything else unknown.
"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"
"Why should I?" Bloodwraith unhooked his sword and pointed it in her direction, both to make a statement and to be prepared in case she decided to attack. "For all the words you shout on the streets, I know nothing of your true motivations. The last time I met you, you were working as the Outsiders' toy - why should I believe anything changed?"
"Because I saw the truth." Elleane scowled down at her sword. "They've been manipulating my memory for years... I don't know how long. But when the Outsiders began to fight one another, the scales over my eyes were lifted."
"And so you rebelled? What do you think you can do against your creators?"
"They did not create me!" Elleane let out a scream and raised her sword toward him. "I had a life! A family! They took all that from me!"
"Then you understand the real enemy." Bloodwraith lowered his sword to the ground, though he kept it ready because he didn't like the unhinged look in her eyes. "Why are you running around Cresthaven calling out vague warnings? How does that do anything to strike back at them?"
"Because the way to them is... warded. I tried to enter, but I can no longer pass. But there is a way... yes, there is a way..."
She seemed calmer, if not entirely stable. Bloodwraith wasn't sure what to make of it, but decided he needed to push this angle while he had a chance. "What way is that?"
"I cannot tell you here... too many ears are listening. You never can tell who they control." She shivered, then all at once sheathed her sword and looked every inch the noble knight. "If you wish to be Raigar in truth instead of a selfish fool, meet me at midnight at the hill a mile east of Cresthaven. There I will explain everything and perhaps we can be allies."
With that, she marched away. Bloodwraith slowly hooked his sword, surprised that the encounter had ended without a fight. Technically that was good, since information was more valuable than arbitrary points at this stage, but he had honestly been hoping that he could kill her, both to harvest the death energy and to give her equipment to his companions.
This meeting, however... attending it was more important than any trivial quests he could do around town, so there was no question that he would go. That didn't mean he would go unprepared.
Bloodwraith ran the rest of the way to Cresthaven, ignoring the cheering citizens, and got back into his robe disguise. It kept them off enough for him to visit Herena and Khassfhit, finally taking the magical artifacts from each of them. When the time came, he would be ready for whatever stood in his way.
~ ~ ~
As it drew closer to midnight, Bloodwraith walked toward the hill to meet Elleane. He had hoped that his companions would show up in time, but it seemed that he was going alone. For a brief moment he'd considered bringing Herena and Khassfhit as backup, but that seemed like it could potentially lead to bigger problems.
With every step he took, something tickled in the back of his mind that left him deeply uneasy. He didn't think he was missing a fact, it was some deeper part of him trying to say that it had noticed something. Normally he might dismiss such impressions, but it had been made clear that the box systems often worked on the level of intuition.
In any case, all his eyes could see was Elleane standing alone on top of the hill. Just in case, Bloodwraith drank one of the potions from Meara that he had remaining, then he trekked up the hill to meet her.
"You came." Elleane had been watching but now turned away from him, casting her eyes down. "I wondered... when you appeared in the Forest... I was sure you would be our savior. That you would go forth and change the world for the better..."
"Some of the Outsiders you led did." Not strictly true, but he needed more information from her and wanted to keep her stable. Unfortunately, Elleane immediately shook her head.
"I don't think they did... not equal to all the pain they caused... and it was all a lie, anyway..."
"You already knew that. Why did you ask me here?"
"I still thought... even if it was all corrupted... why couldn't you come and help us? Is it... wrong to hope for a better world? I..."
Her head dropped lower, almost as if she was drifting to sleep. Bloodwraith wondered if there was more wrong with her than he'd originally suspected and started to move closer, but at that moment there was a footstep behind him.
When he turned, he discovered Belkarin standing on the opposite side of the hill.
"I'm glad we finally get this chance to talk." The Aesidh glanced down at his fingernails idly, but there was tension all through his body. "Sorry for having her trick you here, but I assumed you wouldn't be willing to talk to me directly."
"What's wrong with her?" Even though a potential conversation with Belkarin was worth more than one with Elleane, he couldn't let go of his uneasiness.
"She's recovering from their control. There would have been no way she could have escaped them if I had not helped, but our help..." Belkarin gave a languid shrug. "I'm not very good at being gentle and I don't care enough to bother. All that matters is defeating our mutual enemy."
"So that's what
this is about." Bloodwraith began to walk to the side to get to a better position, though he set his hand on his Extra-dimensional Bag instead of reaching for his sword. "Give me a clear offer soon or I'll assume you're up to something."
"The Mirror Court believes we should cooperate with the Earthians, or at least the largest faction does. I've always considered this absurd. Making ourselves servants to such dull humans? It cannot be countenanced. This is a chance to strike back at them and seize back one of their worlds for our own."
"I'm not seeing an incentive for us."
"You must understand, now that I have decided to play this game... I would like to win. Your world is a piece on the board and I would gladly sacrifice it if necessary. Indeed, I have already sacrificed much to bind the Earthian here." Belkarin finally looked him in the eye, without any amusement in his expression. "If you work with us, using the Earthian system against them, we will be able to attack him in a less destructive way. This is far more convenient for me, and coincidentally it will not require us to ruin your world. So it seems we have something in common."
Bloodwraith kept walking slowly. "And what promise do we have that you won't turn on us as soon as you've gained control?"
Belkarin simply laughed. "Is my word not enough for you? This is not a negotiation - I will not give promises to lesser beings. But consider this: our amusements are much less cruel than theirs. All we want is to harvest a bit of magic from your world and maybe hunt some of the inhabitants for sport. We would not reshape it into a game and rob millions of their freedom. You don't interest us enough for that."
"I suppose if you were lying, you'd pick better lies. Alright, what is this plan to fight the Earthians?"
"Mmm, I'm afraid I can't tell you that quite so simply. We Aesidh have long ago learned that lesser beings can be rather treacherous. If we are to work together, I am going to need some insurance."
