by Hugo Huesca
Ed covered his mouth the same way Lavy did. “I’m kinda new at this. The Evil Eye and this stick are my entire arsenal.”
“Alita’s tits,” she groaned. “Are you telling the truth? Fine, listen up…I’ll handle it if you offer me a pact, under the condition that you aren’t lying. That you really are a new Dungeon Lord, and that you don’t have ill intentions towards me, or my underling.”
The batblins looked at them expectantly, more like an audience waiting to see some fireworks and less like an angry mob.
“Fine by me. Now—” Ed felt like that one time he had shown up at a surprise quiz back in college without having studied. “—how do I make a pact with you? Do I just ask or—?”
“I accept,” declared Lavy. She flashed a triumphant smile like she had just won the lottery.
Black and purple mist surrounded Ed out of nowhere and filled his limbs with a tingling sensation as if his skin was crawling with fireflies. His heart fluttered.
The batblins ooh’ed and aah’ed as the mist gracefully extended itself as tendrils crossed the air until they reached Lavy’s chest, then passed through the wool of her dress as well as her skin.
Ed’s Evil Eye suddenly was keenly aware of her stats, without an effort on his part, and in a much clearer way than the batblin’s had been.
Lavina Odessa Trevil of Devon
Species: Human
Total Exp: 250
Unused Exp: 0
Claims: None
Attributes
Brawn: 6
Agility: 9
Endurance: 7
Mind: 12
Spirit: 12(+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)=13
Charm: 11(+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)=12
Skills
Combat Casting: Basic (II) - Pertains to the speed and efficiency of spells cast during combat or life-threatening situations.
-Basic status allows the caster to use spells every 20 seconds - 1 second per extra rank. The caster must say their names aloud and perform the appropriate hand gestures.
Knowledge (Witchcraft): Improved (I) - Pertains to the owner’s knowledge of a specialized, secret topic. This skill allows access to the Hex subdomain’s spells.
Talents
Spellcasting: Basic (I) - Domains: Rend(Hex), Sight.
Forbidden: Healing - Represents the owner’s magical ability.
-Basic status allows the caster to use and learn all basic related spells of their domain. Extra ranks improve each individual spell’s characteristics, such as range or damage.
-Allowed spells: 1 basic per day + 1 basic spell due to Dungeon Allegiance.
Energy Drain: Active. Varies per Spell.
Resist Sickness: Basic - Allows its owner to resist disease and sickness.
-Basic status grants resistance to non-magical sickness as if the owner had Endurance of 15 in optimal conditions (clean, well-fed, rested)
Energy Drain: Constant. Very low
Dungeon Minion - The owner is a Minion under the command of a Dungeon Lord. The Minion receives bonuses according to the Lord’s power and is recognized by all the Lord’s dungeons as an allowed entity (unless otherwise specified).
Spell List
Blazing Whip - Rending(Hex). Creates a whip made of arcane fire.
Duration: 5 seconds per spellcraft rank.
Range: 5 feet + 1 feet per spellcraft rank to a max of 20.
Witch Spray - Targeted spheres that curse their target with minor burning damage and cause hallucinations (resisted by Endurance or Spirit).
Duration of sickness: 1 minute.
Spheres: 3 + 1 per spellcraft rank to a max of 15.
Crow Familiar - The user creates a number of magical crows from a drop of the user’s blood. The crow has the intellect of a non-magical crow and follows the user’s instructions to the best of its ability, with little sense of self-preservation.
Duration: 1 minute per basic skill rank.
Number of crows: 1 per skill rank, to a maximum of 20.
“Excellent,” Lavy said. “What a great day to be a witch!”
She pointed a bony finger at Unk. The batblin’s grin turned to fear when he realized his rabble had taken a step away from him. “Dungeon Lord Wright has shared his power with me…He’s far too powerful to bother unleashing magical doom upon the likes of you, so I’ll do it for him! Behold! Witch spray!”
The air trembled for half a second around Lavy’s finger, and then a string of violet fireflies blazed out of her fingertip and darted toward a terrified Unk.
At that point, the batblins turned tail and ran, screaming for their lives, while Lavy cackled madly.
The fireflies reached Unk as he turned his back to Ed and tried to evade the magic attack. Half a dozen violet sparks erupted against his fur as the fireflies reached him and exploded, leaving small, smoking patches of burnt hair. The batblin fell-face first to the ground, smacked his head against a rock, and started convulsing and frothing at the mouth.
Ed saw how Drusb, the former batblin cloudmaster, ran at full speed in his cloud’s direction, and how he stopped for a second to kick Unk in the belly and kept running.
Unk didn’t convulse for long. He managed to crawl his way in the direction of the other batblins, still foaming at the mouth, groaning and crying all the while.
The screams of the batblins could be heard long after they were out of sight, but soon the forest was silent.
“Cowardly little creatures,” Lavy said, “that witch spray was the only extra spell I got from the pact. If they had called our bluff, we would’ve been in trouble.”
“That was your last spell?” Ed asked her.
“Indeed.”
Ed sighed and threw his broken stick to the ground.
A part of himself had hoped he’d arrive at Ivalis already a powerful being, capable of making short work of critters like the batblins. It seemed that the so-called customs of this world involved making him start from the very beginning. He would have to grind his way into relevance while trying to survive all the dangers this place had to offer.
All of it in only one life. There was no respawning in the real world, if Ivalis could be called that.
7
Chapter Seven
The Bard and the Batblin
The blond guy got up and strutted over to them with a friendly smile. Ed couldn’t fail to notice that his supposeddly sprained ankle gave the guy no signs of pain.
“Well done, you two. I would’ve helped, of course, but my ankle was too bruised.”
“I can see that,” Ed told him sarcastically.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have sprained my ankle if you wouldn’t have stolen my stick,” the guy said, more in jest than in reproach. “By the way, your entrance had excellent heroic timing. Reminds me of when the hero, Dasius, arrived in the nick of time to break the siege of Castle Aptera. In other words, it’s nice to meet you, my Lord. My name is Alder the Bard, at your service.”
He extended Ed an open palm that Ed shook more out of instinct than anything else. There was something about Alder’s careless expression that made it hard to dislike him, even if the Bard had left both Ed and Lavy to fend for themselves.
“Same, Alder. I’m Edward,” said Ed. Having his heart replaced and being transported to Ivalis gave him, in his mind, no excuse to forget his manners. “I don’t know who Dasius is, but I’m glad I arrived in time.”
“You should have him flayed for his insolence.” Apparently Lavy was immune to the Bard’s charisma. She told Alder, “How do you dare imply a Dungeon Lord can be heroic? And to compare him to Dasius, the Scourge of Lotia!”
“Ah, don’t be like that. In Heiliges, it’s a compliment.”
Okay, thought Ed, those are a lot of new names and places I don’t know anything about. Things were moving too fast. He needed time to process it all.
“That’s the problem!” Lavy said. “Lord Wright, if you desire, I’ll end my association with this Heiligian…roaming minstre
l at once.”
Alder’s smile became a bit strained. “Trust me, Lavy, sometimes it’s hard to stand you. If you weren’t busy sucking up to the new Dungeon Lord, you would’ve realized that he came from the ruin’s tunnels. The tunnels where all other entrances are caved in. You know what that means?”
The young woman’s eyebrows shot up. “The Portal? But we couldn’t get it to open…did the Dark hear my summons?”
The last question was directed at Ed. He raised his hands and sighed. “I really don’t have enough information to answer that question, Lavy. A man…thing—he called himself the Boatman—transplanted me from another world, called Earth, and dropped me here not even an hour ago. This is all quite new for me. He said that if I saved you, I’d be able to win my first minions.”
“You met Kharon?” asked Alder. “Awesome. I’ve always wanted to see what he looks like. It would make my poems more realistic.”
“Another world,” Lavy muttered. She scratched her temple. “So, they sent you to save us? But you only have a hundred experience points…I asked for someone powerful. Someone capable of avenging my Lord Kael.”
At hearing the name of the Dungeon Lord he had killed, Ed started coughing. Was it suddenly getting hotter in the forest?
“It’s another of the Dark’s skewed deals, I bet,” offered Alder. “See, whichever Dark entity answered your pleas, Lavy, they did bring a Dungeon Lord capable of saving us…even if he needed a bit of help.”
“I hate it when you are right,” Lavy said. “And the price of the deal is that we get to cast our lot with an inexperienced Lord. One who will probably get himself killed, soon enough. No offense.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Ed. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with Lavy’s assessment of his chances, but he hadn’t come to another world to complain about having to risk death. That part had been very clear in the deal he had made with Kharon. “I plan on doing my best, if that’s any consolation.”
Alder placed his open palm upon his own chest. “It’s enough for me. A deal is a deal, my Lord. I offer you my services, for whatever they’re worth, on the conditions that what you’re saying be true, that you are who you say you are, and that you do not harbor any ill intentions towards me or my associate.”
Ed made a mental note to ask them about pact-making, since both of them had made similar demands. Then he nodded and said, “That’s fine.”
“Then I accept your offer,” Alder said, although Ed wasn’t actually sure he had extended one. In any case, the tendrils of mist soon appeared and connected the Bard to him.
Alder Loom
Species: Human
Total Exp: 200
Unused Exp: 0
Claims: Bardic School of Elaitra - Journeyman.
Attributes
Brawn: 7
Agility: 9
Endurance: 8
Mind: 10
Spirit: 9(+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)=10
Charm: 12 (+1 Minion of Dungeon Lord Edward Wright)=13
Skills
Knowledge (Bardship): Improved (I) - Pertains to the owner’s knowledge of a specialized, secret topic. This skill allows access to the Bardic subdomain’s utterances.
Bardic Performance: Basic (IX) - Represents the Bard’s capacity for performing under the pressure of an audience without penalization to the Bard’s magic.
-Basic status allows the Bard to suffer no penalty to performing an utterance in the presence of a crowd if there’s no danger involved.
-If danger is involved, each extra rank of Basic allows the Bard faster utterance casting and to maintain the casting better if they suffer damage or are attacked.
Survival: Basic (VII) - Represents the owner’s capability to survive when far from civilization. Basic ranks imply they can survive in a non-lethal environment and situations. They can build a standard campsite, know that some berries are dangerous, how to start a fire, and how to hunt small prey.
Talents
Bardic Utterances: Basic (III) - Allows the Bard to use utterances, the magical variant of the Illusion and Control hybrid subdomain: Bardic.
-Basic ranks allow the Bard to perform any basic utterance that they know.
-Allowed utterances: 3 basic per day + 1 basic utterance due to Dungeon Allegiance.
Energy Drain: Active. Varies per utterance.
Empathy: Basic - Allows the owner to sense emotions in humanoid creatures familiar to the owner.
-Basic status lets the owner sense strong emotions that their targets are not actively trying to hide.
Energy Drain: Active. Low.
Dungeon Minion - The owner is a Minion under the command of a Dungeon Lord. The Minion receives bonuses according to the Lord’s power and is recognized by all the Lord’s dungeons as an allowed entity (unless otherwise specified).
Utterance List
Nimble Feet - Creates an area of effect around the Bard that allows them and their friends to retreat as if they possessed an Agility of 15. This effect ends if the users enter combat.
Duration: 5 minutes.
He had already recruited his first two minions. Not too shabby, he guessed, for a first day at work.
I really need to stop and take a good look at all these new mechanics, thought Ed. For the most part, they worked more or less like they did in Ivalis Online, only without Health Points and other specific details. For example, damage was only implied and never specifically stated. Skills and talents like the Bard-related ones that Alder had, Ed had never seen before.
He discovered that by focusing on a certain aspect of someone’s character sheet—he knew no other way to think of the information as—he could get an expanded look at what it did. That would come in handy.
“Ah,” Alder sighed with satisfaction once the mist had disappeared. “The bonus to my Charm will come in handy later.”
Ed nodded wisely. He didn’t need to be an Ivalis’ expert to guess that Charm and Bards were naturally tied together.
“Well done, Lord Edward,” said Lavy with a courteous smile. “You’ve secured yourself the services of the powerful Witch Lavina as your first minion. As you surely have noticed, I specialize in both Spirit and Mind attributes, which makes me an exceptional advisor as well as a spellcaster. My suggestion is that you keep me out of harm’s way, in a position where I can rain magical ruin upon your enemies. I can also handle the boring aspects of dungeon management when you are away or otherwise indisposed. Finally, as you surely have already noticed, I’m an attractive young woman. I’m sure you don’t need suggestions regarding that.”
She batted her eyelids at Ed while Alder groaned audibly.
Almost everyone who has dated a crazy ex at some point in their lives had an internal radar about said craziness. Ed’s own radar issued him a formal warning, declared a red alert, and set itself at DEFCON 2.
“Ahem,” he said noncommittally.
“Before we start dispensing nobility titles,” said Alder, “shouldn’t we take care of our short-term survival? My Lord, you should get started on your dungeon before nightfall, otherwise we may get stuck with Hoia’s more…nasty inhabitants.”
“Good idea,” said Ed, grateful for Alder’s assistance. “What kind of monsters are we talking about?”
“Spiders and snakes,” Lavy shuddered. “A lady’s worst nightmare.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Ed said. “Giant spiders and snakes are low-level critters even weaker than batblins, aren’t they?” When playing Ivalis Online, he sometimes didn’t even bother auto-attacking the spiders while crossing a forest. They couldn’t get through his Wizard’s armor.
“Well, then you can deal with them,” said Lavy, then she remembered her manners, “—my Lord.”
“The altar should be a good place to start a dungeon,” said Alder. He gestured back at the rock’s rise that hid the entrance to the tunnels. “Shall we go?”
Ed nodded, and the three of them turned to leave. A whimpering sound behind them st
artled them.
Ed saw a small figure still sprawled in the mud, too terrified to run like his cloudmates had. The batblin was looking at him with scared, pleading mouse-eyes.
“Um,” said Klek, “could I become your minion? My cloud is a bunch of assholes.”
The batblin looked very small and pathetic, covered in mud and shivering in fear. Ed’s Evil Eye had little trouble prying a statline from Klek, and it wasn’t very impressive.
Klek, batblin. Exp: 10. Brawn: 4, Agility and Spirit: 6, Endurance, Mind, and Charm: 5. Skills: Brawling: Basic II, Knowledge(Hoia Forest): Improved II, Survival: Basic IV. Talents: Cloud Swarm.
“A stinky batblin?” asked Lavy during the couple seconds that Ed was busy reading the stats. “No way I’m letting a batblin sully the reputation of my—I mean, Lord Wright’s dungeon. Best to put it out of its misery.”
She grabbed a rock with both hands and made her way towards the batblin, who started to plead for his life in too quick a voice to be understood.
“Wait,” Ed told her. Lavy didn’t hear him, or pretended not to. She reached the batblin and raised her rock. Klek covered his face with his twig-like hands.
“I said, stop.” This time it was an order, and it was as if his voice was frosted with ice. A flash of black-and-purple mist passed through both his and Lavy’s bodies for an instant before disappearing again.
Lavy stopped, the rock still high above her head. She looked back at Ed. “What?”
Ed remembered what the batblins had said about Klek. “Let’s send first someone we don’t like!” “Yes, let’s send Klek!”
