“I meant help the dwarves!” he almost screamed.
I remained in place, absentmindedly picking at my nose, staring straight into the eyes of a wolf that paused as it considered me for his next target. Realizing they were probably an easier prey, it pounced on another dwarf.
Oh right, I almost forgot. In that case… With an offhand flick of my mind, I froze the three wolves who were rampaging unopposed among the defenseless dwarves. For some reason, these demons were infused with Dark Mana. Combined with the bonuses I’d received from wielding my magic in a dark environment, that made them especially susceptible to my control.
I thought about using my daggers to sacrifice the frozen wolves, but with the dwarves being pressed so tightly, I risked hitting them as well. So instead, I simply left the dwarves to dish out the damage and finish off their immobile enemies with kicks and punches.
Two seconds later, Malkyr dispatched the last of his three opponents, sustaining only a minor bite mark on his forearm. Hoshisu and Kuzai seemed uninjured. Both had also downed their opponents.
Hoshisu made her way toward me. “What was that?” she demanded, glaring at me.
I shrugged. “I like them about as much as they like us. That said, I would like to point out that I did help.”
“Three of the dwarves are dead,” she hissed. “Lucky for us, Kuzai and the others were too busy to notice your behavior.”
I winked at her, “Luck is what I do.”
Lucky Bastard skill level increased to 27.
Right on time.
A growl sounded farther down the hallway. A large wolf twice the size of the others stepped out of the darkness. It was black as night with glowing red eyes. Two long horns curled back from its skull. I could sense it teeming with Dark Mana. It was a beautiful creature.
Tempest, Demon Wolf Alpha
Level: 16
HP: 154/154
Attributes: P: 15, M: 0, S: 1
Traits: Demonic
Skills: Powerful Bite 22, Alpha Aura 11, Sprinter 25
Resistances: Fire 100%, Armor 27, Holy -50%
Description: Demon wolves roam the open plains of hell. The alphas are among the strongest of their kind. Strong, fast, and smart, an alpha can use his aura to increase his pack’s strength, allowing them to hunt prey much tougher than they normally could.
Raising his Axe, Malkyr prepared to strike the magnificent beast.
“Wait!” I shouted. “He’s mine!”
I moved forward, putting myself between the man and the beast.
Giving me a weird look, Malkyr relented and stepped back. The alpha approached me carefully, as if not comprehending why the powerful enemy was replaced by one seemingly weaker. I could almost smell dark energy coming off him with every step he made. It drew close, snarling and baring his fangs. He was nearly two meters away, tensing his muscles, ready to pounce.
What I was about to do wasn’t supposed to work, not on a named mob, but the dark essence of the wolf resonated with me. I knew it would work. I held up one hand, channeled my mana into the beast’s mind and commanded, “Stop.”
The wolf stood still.
I took a step closer. My mana was absorbed easily, taking control of muscles and mind alike. By the time my hand reached its head, the domination was complete. He was mine.
You have successfully dominated a free-roaming demon.
You may choose to banish Tempest to his home plane or assume permanent control.
Note: Assuming control will require a continuous draw of mana to keep the demon anchored on this plane, resulting in a permanent 5% reduction of your maximum MP.
Well, with all the recent level-ups, I now had over a thousand MP. Losing five percent wasn’t such a big deal.
I grabbed at the data stream that said ‘control,’ wrapping my thoughts around it, pulling it to me.
You have gained a new Companion: Tempest, demon wolf alpha
Tempest knelt obediently, maintaining eye contact. I reached out my hand, and he licked it. I grabbed his mane and climbed onto his back, projecting my intentions at him. The great demon wolf rose up and took a few measured steps down the hallway.
I looked back at the gaping mouths and astonished faces and simply asked, “Coming?”
We made it to the bottom of the pit with no further encounters.
Tempest climbed out with ease, his claws grabbing at the sloping walls. Once back in the main hall, I fed the rope in my inventory to the party below.
Hoshisu came up first. Malkyr stayed behind, helping the dwarves by lifting them halfway through the pit. Though they were on their last legs, they were still dwarves, and with a bit of assistance, they all made the climb.
Kuzai climbed last and looked around the hall full of debris with distaste. “That what you be getting after a thousand years if it ain’t built by dwarven builders!” he grunted.
That gave me pause. So, a dwarf builder would be superior to a goblin builder, hmm … So I only need to find a clan of dwarves, eradicate them, then I’d be able to summon their workers.
Just thinking a little out of the box here, Vic, no need to get all worked up. Yet.
“This way,” Malkyr motioned, leading the dwarves toward the exit.
We arrived at the outer courtyard and a few moments later came out into the open mountain land.
“We made it,” Kuzai said softly. Looking at the three dead dwarves his people carried with them, he added bitterly, “At least most of us did.”
“Now what?” Malkyr asked.
“Now me people be finding another tunnel and be on their way home. Meself, I have an obligation to our dead. I’m gonna find whoever summoned the sons of bitches and make sure his head won’t ever again be anywhere near the rest of him. Will ye help me, lads?”
Quest updated: The Holy Dwarf 3
You helped Kuzai rescue his men, although a few were lost. Follow Kuzai down to the depths of the fort and help him vanquish the source of evil that permeates the ancient place.
Quest Type: Advanced, chain
Reward received: 1,500 XP (100 XP per surviving dwarf), Kuzai joined your party.
Reward pending: Improve reputation rank with the BoulderBelly clan, open trade options.
The XP boost was nice. It was almost enough to push me to the next level. Cascading streams of information surrounded Bek. The small goblin had gained another level. He was level 16 already, same as Rhynorn. By the time we got back, he might very well be twice that Ogre’s level. I snickered at the mental image of Bek kicking the brute’s ass, riding him around like his own personal pony.
“‘Course we’ll help,” Malkyr responded for all of us, breaking me away from my reverie.
I wasn’t so sure I wanted to party up with a stinkin’ dwarf, but I kept my mouth shut. If my vision was any indication, we were heading into a large pile of trouble. Come to think of it, it might not be such a bad idea to bring along some dwarven fodder. I gave the dwarf a big, ear-to-ear smile. “Sure, sure, glad to have you with us, Kuzai.”
He eyed me suspiciously.
The other dwarves picked up their meager possessions and their dead. After exchanging a few words with their leader, they started walking away. They soon crossed a mountain ridge and were out of sight.
We went back into the ruins. I rode Tempest and the others walked. We encountered no further enemies on our way to the pit.
“Where to now?” I asked as we stood at the main basement hallway.
“Let’s head to the prison cell again,” Hoshisu suggested. “We skipped a few doors on our way there. Better check we didn’t miss anything important.”
“Yeah, like more loot,” her brother added.
“Precisely. Then we can check out the other side of the hallway.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed.
M
alkyr and Kuzai took point, followed by Bek and Hoshisu, while I brought up the rear. Halfway down the hall, we found another closed door that I hadn’t noticed before.
“I’ll check it,” Hoshisu volunteered. She inspected the lock carefully, tapping it a few times with one of her daggers, then nodded. “All clear.”
The door opened into another large storeroom. The place looked like a storm had come through it. Crushed boxes and pieces of broken items littered the floor. Two Ogre zombies rose to engage us.
With Malkyr and Kuzai, each tanking a different opponent, the fight was easy. Boring almost. I cast drilling arrows over and over again until the two were down. Kuzai displayed some interesting powers during the fight, at one point raising his pendant and showering a zombie with golden light that melted away half his torso. Priests were well-suited to battle the undead.
I managed to get a killing strike with my dagger on one Ogre, adding 14 FP to my total and gaining another level 14 void crystal.
Searching the dropped loot, we recovered three more Viridium ingots and one heavy maul.
Kuzai belted his hand axe and hefted the maul instead, holding it with both hands, testing its balance. The thing must have been considered a light weapon for an Ogre, but at ten kilos, it looked quite intimidating in the dwarf’s hands. “That be a good knee buster,” Kuzai declared, shouldering the weapon. “What do ye plan on doing with those?” he asked as I put the Viridium in my inventory.
“Malkyr can forge them into something useful,” I said nonchalantly. “Then I’ll see how good those things are at holding enchantment.”
The dwarf shook his head. “That metal be damn hard to work. Only Master Smiths can make something worth a half-damn out of it. There be other, better metals ter use fer weapons or armor. But what can ye expect of metal borne by magic?”
“Borne by magic?” I raised a brow.
“Aye, it be normal metal at first, then transmuted by some magic user with too much time on ‘em hands, usually hob shamans. Hard ter make, too. My people don’t waste their time on such trivials.”
“I think I’ll keep it all the same. Maybe I’ll find some other use for it later.”
The dwarf shrugged. “Suit yerself, don’t say I did’na warn ya.”
“Man, there’s nothing valuable in here,” Malkyr complained, getting up after rummaging through broken boxes. “What a colossal waste of time.”
“I dunno,” Kuzai said. “That secret panel behind ya looks promisin’.”
“What?” The big man turned to inspect the wall with bewilderment.
The dwarf chuckled. “Here, lad.” He walked next to Malkyr and tapped his maul lightly on a small brick in the wall. An audible click sounded and a piece of the wall in front of Malkyr opened up to reveal a hidden compartment.
Malkyr carefully emptied its contents, laying them out on the ground for all of us to see: a pair of exquisite boots, a couple of parchments, and a stack of gold coins.
Boots of Swiftness
Description: Made from blue dragon leather, the fastest of their kind. There’s a saying that whoever wears these boots will be quick enough to dodge lightning.
Type: Armor [feet]
Rank: Magical
Effect I: +10% speed
Effect II: 20% electricity resistant
Base price: 4,500
Scroll: Teleport of Fate
Description: An old, crumbling piece of parchment with arcane writings.
Effect: Using this scroll will teleport the user and all his party’s members to a seemingly random location, as determined by the winds of fate.
Construction Blueprints: Pens
Description: Pens are used to grow a variety of domesticated animals and produce meat and other livestock products.
Rank: Novice
Requirements: 30 stone, 30 wood. 250 BP
I wanted everything. Alas, I had party members to consider.
“These boots seem nice,” Hoshisu said with a casual air.
“Roll you for it?” I asked halfheartedly.
She gave me a sly smile. “So you don’t want the two scrolls?”
“Fine,” I muttered and collected the two parchments.
Hoshisu removed the boots she was wearing and put on her latest acquisition. They fit her perfectly. She made a few runs across the room. She was visibly faster than before.
“Congratulations, sis. They suit you,” Malkyr complimented her.
“You still owe me a better weapon,” she reminded him. She eyed her new boots and her face softened. “But yes, yes they do.”
Women!
We exited the room and continued walking down the hallway. We found only one more door, and it was partially blocked. Kuzai bashed it with his maul, ripping it off the hinges. There was one Ogre zombie inside, accompanied by two Pyroliths.
Kuzai engaged the Ogre, easily dodging its clumsy attacks. Malkyr intercepted the fireballs, then, aided by his sister, dispatched the two demons and the remaining Ogre without difficulty.
We looted the bodies. Kuzai claimed a Potion of Ogre Might and I added another Pyrolith scale and two void crystals to my growing collection. As a side bonus, this fight netted me an extra 27 FP.
“I think we’ve cleared this side of the basement,” Hoshisu said once we finished looting the corpses. “Let’s check out the other side.”
The trap was sprung with barely a warning. We’d passed the pit, and after only a few meters there was a single ‘click.’ A large section of the floor sank by a centimeter. A pressure plate.
“Duck!” Hoshisu shouted an instant before circular saw blades came out of the walls around us.
Only Hoshisu and Tempest managed to duck in time. Malkyr and Kuzai both got sliced by the jagged blades, each receiving nearly 150 points of damage. Luckily for them, they were both robust enough to withstand the injuries.
Bek, who wasn’t nearly as tough, couldn’t hope to survive such a hit, but fortunately, that wasn’t an issue. Whoever built the trap was obviously targeting playable races, and the saw blades whirled over the small goblin’s head. Tempest’s quick reaction spared me damage as well, though with 331 HP, I was even sturdier than Malkyr.
Bek immediately got to work, casting Heals over Malkyr and specifically ignoring the bleeding dwarf. Muttering to himself, Kuzai used his own magic to close his wounds.
Bek’s healing ability had improved significantly. He’d been practicing that spell a lot lately and the amount of health restored with each cast was impressive. For a goblin.
It had been a while since I inspected the little adept’s stats, so I used this delay to check his character sheet.
Bek, Goblin Adept
Level: 16 (25%)
HP: 105; MP: 160
Attributes: P: 2, M: 15, S: -1
Skills: Heal 22, Lucky Bastard 15, Drilling Arrow 15, Mana Drain 12, Inscribe 10
Trait: Deformed; max HP +10
Resist: Mental 20%
Wait, what? His Drilling Arrow spell is already at the Apprentice rank? I frowned. When did that happen?
That was encouraging. It also looked like turning the goblin into a mobile infirmary had contributed significantly to his Heal spell progression. I mentally clicked the skill to view its description.
Heal (M)
Heal wounded creature. Cannot regrow lost limbs. Speed 5. Cost 10
Level 22: Apprentice: can heal allies up to 11 meters away.
Effect: 32 HP healed.
That was pretty good. It explained how he managed to keep us all alive during the tougher fights. I should find some way to reward him, I reflected. Maybe I’ll buy him some new abilities using Faith Points once we get back to the clan.
“Sorry, guys.” Hoshisu grimaced as she looked at her brother’s gruesome wounds. “That trap was an Expert level one; I detected it only a
second before it went off.”
“Nay yer fault, lass.” Kuzai was quick to forgive her. “Traps were meant to go unfound. Ye’ did well enough back with ‘em door traps.”
There was another door to our right, just beyond the trap area. This one was made of sturdy granite and reinforced with straps of metal bindings.
“This looks promising,” Malkyr said. “Sis?”
Hoshisu went to the door and bent down, checking the lock. She took longer than usual, probably trying to avoid another blunder. After several long minutes, she finally got up, brushing off her legs. “I can’t detect any trap, but it’s locked. I don’t think we’ll be able to bash this door like the previous ones. I’m going to have to try to pick the lock. You might want to stand back in case there’s a trap I missed.
We heeded her advice and moved away, giving her plenty of space. Hoshisu breathed steadily and started poking the lock with her tools. A few more minutes passed before we heard an audible snap.
“Damn it!” Hoshisu seethed. “I broke my only lockpick. The lock on this door is too advanced. Sorry, guys.”
“It’s okay, sis.” Malkyr patted her back. “We’ll get you a new one.”
“I can see a little of the room through the keyhole. There’s a structure inside, but I can’t tell what it is. Damn!” she cursed again, looking at her broken lockpick.
Well, if she can catch a glimpse through the keyhole …
“Let me have a look.” I moved next to the disheveled woman. Not needing to bend down, I peeked inside the keyhole. It was dark inside, but I had no trouble seeing through it. There was a large block of stone just beyond the door. It looked to be made from granite as well. I couldn’t get more details from this limited viewpoint. Since I had a line of sight anyway, I simply used Shadow Teleport.
I appeared inside the locked room and heard the exclamation of surprise from my party members beyond the door. This was a smithy! The large block in the middle was a granite-made forge. A dusty, yet sturdy-looking anvil was standing next to it along with a stack of metal ingots. A neat row of smith’s tools was hanging on a nearby wall. There was also a rack with several finished weapons and pieces of armor. Everything here was too big for a goblin to use. This place was obviously meant for players to find. Damn.
Life Reset_EvP_Environment vs. Player Page 23
