‘Your efforts in studious activities and ability to be mentally flexible have led to you becoming a scholar of some regard. By focusing on what to learn next, you have opened the door into a world where you find yourself able to understand foreign languages with relative ease, and, with that, convince people to do as you please.’
“Well… that was tiring.” I muttered after reading through the massive blocks of text, before turning to face Vilor and Lyrias with a somewhat stern expression, “Were you aware that Gulk was going to be in here?”
I’d hoped not to sound too accusatory, but the tone had come through anyway, and had clearly insulted Vilor to quite a large degree.
“Are you implying that we hid information from you?” Vilor spat venomously, “What purpose would that ser-”
“Calm yourself,” Lyrias interjected, “she has every right to be suspicious. We… I should have known that there was more than one powerful mage in here.”
To be perfectly honest, it kind of upset me that Lyrias had jumped in to protect me and justify my concerns.
It took away my chance to rage-quit.
“What now?” I asked with a sigh, “Should we recuperate, or should we attack Aldok while we still have the element of surprise?”
“I think we should attack,” Lyrias replied, “now that Gulk has been freed, I believe Aldok will quickly find a new way to bolster his defences.”
“Then we attack,” I said boldly, “let’s kill ourselves a necromancer.”
Armelia: Chapter 2
Progress made in mission: Back From the Dead.
Objective completed: Find a Way into Aldok Dethrisr’s Hideout.
Objective added: Kill Aldok Dethrisr.
As we left Gulk’s cavern and entered what looked to be some sort of throne room built into the heart of the mountain I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
That quickly faded though as I remembered who was missing out on the green jewel encrusted cave and the twenty-foot high throne in the centre of the room, and turned to the far more useful toxic ambivalence that would probably keep me alive.
Or not.
I wasn’t really fussed.
“Ah, Lyrias,” a voice rumbled through the cavern, “I see you’ve brought your little… shame with you. Tell me, how does it feel to be used by a filthy druid?”
“Aldok,” Lyrias called back derisively, “the years have not been kind.”
Progress made in mission: The Necromancer’s Fate.
Objective completed: Enter Aldok Dethrisr’s Hideout and Find Him.
Objective added: Kill Aldok Dethrisr.
“Oh, you wound me,” Aldok mocked as he rose from his throne, surprising me as I’d genuinely not seen him what with his long, ornate black robes blending in with his chair, “years it has been since we laid eyes on each other, and you choose to insult me? That explains why no one at the Ministry bids you welcome anymore.”
A rogue smile played across my lips as I listened to the bitter back-and-forth between Aldok and Lyrias, but their voices quickly became little more than odd tones and snipes in my ears.
I was focused on my goal, and I would not be deterred from it.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Aldok snapped once I was within a stone’s throw from him and his throne, “Do you really think that you, some… druid who happened to be in the right place at the right time has any hope in defeating me?”
Frozen in place, I struggled to choose how I was going to react.
On the one hand, I could go on the offensive, really insult and degrade him before laying into him with a barrage of spells, but on the other I could choose the option that would be less infuriating, and therefore not send him into a state of pure rage.
“An ancient, if not entirely out of practice human in a cave?” I scoffed, having made my decision, “You weren’t even smart enough to bring your army here to defend you.”
My insult had the opposite effect than what I’d been expecting as instead of boiling and bubbling over with unadulterated fury, he smiled, revealing a set of pristine white teeth.
“I am no fool, bringing the other necromancers here would’ve left me open to assassination, we aren’t exactly known for our trustworthiness after all.” Aldok practically laughed, “No, no it is you who has failed to have any foresight. Did you really think that that small detachment of fighters was all I had?”
And that’s when a realisation dawned on me, “You’re attacking the college…”
“Well, not I, but my army, yes.” Aldok replied slyly, “And to think you left it completely undefended.”
I immediately felt responsible, I should’ve told Lyrias to stay behind, but I had been so sure that I would need her in the fight to come.
Then another wave of depression crashed over me and I stopped caring, my mind being pulled from the brief immersion that I’d experienced.
‘Eh, she was going to die either way,’ I rationalised, knowing that her death was the only outcome possible, ‘at least you’ll be able to see some cool rubble.’
“So, what is your plan now?” Aldok scoffed, “Lyrias and Vilor have led you down a path of destruction and failure, and now you’re face-to-face with me, a being that not even the Grand Master had any hope in defeating.”
I was stuck, I’d been so gung-ho about killing Aldok, thinking that it was the way to go as a person pursuing the path of light, but suddenly I had a new option, a diversion from the path that I had been going down with Gerry.
“Well? Druid? What will yo-”
“Allow me to join you.”
The cavern fell silent, my heartbeat slowed, everything had changed.
“What was that?” Aldok asked, clearly thrown by my bold request.
“Allow me to join you.” I repeated more confidently, “You’re right, Lyrias, Vilor, and their ilk have done nothing but forced me to live in their regime while insulting and belittling me. Let me serve you, and allow me to destroy these pathetic toads.”
I had no idea what I was saying, but I was loving it.
Suddenly I had a new purpose, become the antithesis of what I had been and do my part to rip the world asunder.
If I couldn’t have a world with Gerry, the world was going to pay.
“Very well,” Aldok finally said after a long while of contemplative silence, “bring me their heads and you may serve as part of my army, where you will find untold magical power.”
“Gladly.” I replied before turning to face my former allies, both of whom seemed, in a word, horrified.
“What are you doing?” Vilor snarled, “We must defeat him!”
I should’ve felt ashamed, or guilty, or something, but instead I only felt excitement.
“I’m doing whatever the Hel I want.”
Mission Failed: The Necromancer’s Fate.
Mission Started: Path of the Necromancer.
Objective added: Kill Vilor and Lyrias.
Armelia Fireheart has challenged Vilor and Lyrias Rew.
2x Level 19 Master Mages, HP: 9000/9000.
Armelia: Chapter 3
I couldn’t help but smirk at their low level, before realising that it was because I didn’t have someone there to forcibly scale them up.
Gerry was quickly pushed from my mind though, as without saying a word, Lyrias launched a brilliant beam of light at me.
She was too slow though, and I managed to dive out of the way and cast a lightning bolt in her direction that, with a satisfying thunderclap, sent her flying backwards into the cavern’s far wall.
To my dismay, I discovered my second opponent was quicker, and before I could react he’d sent a transparent ball of energy at me and knocked me clean off my feet and into Aldok’s massive throne.
Vilor cast Cacophonous Blast.
Chest injured.
Stomach injured.
150 damage inflicted.
-35 crushing damage per minute.
HP: 6850/7000.
“That…” I c
hoked out after tumbling to the ground in a heap, “that was a good one.”
Equipped Sparky McStabby-Stab.
“But I reckon I can do better.”
Dodging another blast from Lyrias, I managed to sprint my way over to Vilor in a few large strides before taking a swing at him, catching him in his leg and causing his entire body to tense up as the electricity from my blade stunned him.
The fight wasn’t won though, and as I prepared to launch another strike, Vilor produced his own blade and blocked, allowing me to get close enough to him to see his snarling face.
I was right about to break free of our locked blades when I saw something just out the corner of my eye.
Lyrias had fired another, more precise beam of light, but as I prepared to take the full force of it I realised that her aim was off by a mile, and instead of hitting me the burning light smashed into Vilor’s exposed side, filling the throne room with the unmistakable smell of burning flesh.
Vilor, in his moment of pain, let out a shriek and jumped back, giving me the opportunity to take another swing at him, a swing that, in a mess of blood and sparks, took Vilor’s sword-wielding arm clean off.
Critical Hit!
I swear I heard Lyrias scream as Vilor fell to his knees, to the point where when I finally cut off my former tutor’s head I couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved that it turned into a blood-curdling roar.
“I’ll kill you!” Lyrias shrieked as she charged me while her hands formed some kind of massive ball of energy.
“Well, that’s not very druidic of you, is it?” I chuckled with a smirk before getting into a fighting stance.
-35 crushing damage.
HP: 6815/7000.
I went to duck under the ball as she cast it in my direction but, to my dismay, rolled backwards instead, meaning I ended up standing back up just in time to catch the full brunt of the powerful spell which seemed to briefly encapsulate me, electrocute me, then launched me straight up in the air.
Lyrias Rew cast Cacophonous Blast.
Head injured.
500 damage inflicted.
HP: 6315/7000.
As I crashed into the ground, I discovered that my vision was blurred and I was having trouble standing, proving that my head injury was going to to be quite the problem.
I wasn’t going down without a fight though.
“That all you got?” I goaded at the fuzzy splotch in my field of view that I was only pretty sure was Lyrias, “Come on, you can do better than that.”
The splotch made a run at me and I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d gotten it right before dropping to a knee and pulling my sword to my chest in preparation for what I hoped would at least slow Lyrias down.
Critical Hit!
+1 Singlehanded Blade Skill.
Progress: 35/100.
+10 XP.
Progress: 5460/7000.
I’d done it, and with my eyes closed too.
At first I didn’t know the extent of the damage that I’d done to Lyrias, but when I turned and saw that my blind swing had managed to slice through a good deal of her mid-section I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of pride.
Lyrias’ wound sparked as I rose to my feet and she turned to face me, her hands wrapped in a fire as she undoubtedly prepared to launch another magical assault on me.
But I wasn’t having it.
I let her cast her fire at me, but rolled under it just in time, bridging the distance between us in an instant before slicing up through her previously unwounded side.
Critical Hit!
As I watched her stunned expression, I felt something that I suppose could be mistaken for guilt, but the feeling disappeared as she fell to her knees and I properly realised that I had won.
It was a hollow victory though, because as I stood there I knew within myself that there was no going back. I’d killed my closest link to the Ministry, to my people, and I’d gone full dark side.
That being said, the dark side did have cookies.
After a few more seconds of gasps and gurgles, the two wounds finally tore the rest of the way through Lyrias’ body, and the Grand Master was left to fall in half, leaving behind a gory stump that was once her hips.
End of Conflict Report:
2x Level 19 Master Mages.
+3250 XP.
Level 19 Completed!
Level Up!
Level 20 Progress: 1710/7500.
5 Skill Points awarded.
HP upgraded!
HP: 7500/7500.
Attributes upgraded!
52 Strength
51 Dexterity
51 Intelligence
63(+10) Wisdom
Progress made in mission: Path of the Necromancer.
Objective completed: Kill Vilor and Lyrias.
Objective added: Talk to Aldok Dethrisr.
Armelia: Chapter 4
“You did well,” Aldok said as I approached him, having left my dismembered and bloody former friends to rot where they were, “surprisingly so.”
“I said I’d kill them, so I killed them.” I replied disinterestedly as I quickly scrolled through my quest log and saw that there was one in particular still there despite recent events, “But I do so crave your approval.”
“You will keep your smart-mouth to yourself or I’ll take your head off, reanimate it, and use it to clean my arse.” Aldok snapped, surprising me with his vulgar, descriptive language, “Kneel before me, or suffer my eternal wrath.”
There was a brief moment where I considered poking my tongue out at him and walking away, but saner heads prevailed and I did as I was told, to which Aldok rose from his throne and placed his hand upon my head.
“Do you swear to forsake your holy ones?”
“I swear.” I said as genuinely as I could.
“Do you swear to serve me, and only me, as you would your former holy ones?”
“I swear.”
“And do you, former mage of light, swear to burn this world and reform it into my image?”
I wasn’t sure that he’d said what he’d wanted to say, and I actually let out a little giggle at the idea of a person-shaped world, but I quickly got passed it and regained my composure.
“I swear.”
“Then rise,” Aldok said proudly, “rise as my second-in-command, and help me to take the world.”
Joined Guild: Aldok Dethrisr’s Necromancer Order.
Guild Rank: Lieutenant.
Progress made in mission: Path of the Necromancer.
Objective completed: Talk to Aldok Dethrisr.
Objective added: Receive your first mission.
I was briefly taken aback by how quickly I reached the second highest rank in the Necromancer Order, a guild that I’d never joined before, but I accepted it once I took into consideration the fact that there were probably a few different ways to reach Aldok, and that one of them was probably a set of tedious tasks in the base level of the Necromancer Order.
“Now, as my second-in-command, I have a task for you.” Aldok started ominously, “I need you to kill a potential usurper to my rightful throne as Supreme Necromancer.”
I wanted to pretend I was stunned by that revelation, but the fact of the matter was I’d be more surprised if anyone didn’t want to kill and replace him.
“I take it that there are a lot of people who would vie for your position of power.” I replied curiously.
“There are, but few possess the… charisma of Ailren Qock, he’s rather good at using his lackeys to do his bidding and silence those who oppose him.”
I missed the last part of that, instead getting lost with that name, “Did you just say Cock?”
“Ailren Qock, yes.” the Supreme Necromancer somehow said with a straight face, “I require you to dispose of him and his followers, of which he has many.”
With great difficulty, and no small amount of smirking, I managed to pull together a straight face and nodded, “Thy will be done.” I practically snorted out,
“Now, how am I supposed to kill him if he’s so powerful?”
“With this,” Aldok replied before producing a serrated red-bladed dagger, “her name is Necromancer’s Bane, and she will kill any of us who are so unlucky as to meet her sharp edge.”
Received Necromancer’s Bane: Weight 10(-10), Damage: 250, Durability: 100/100, Enchantment: Necromancer’s Bane.
Equipped Necromancer’s Bane.
Now, for obvious reasons, I was sceptical about Aldok giving me a weapon that could kill him instantly, but as I looked over the weapon, its enchantment, and took extra care to ensure that I hadn’t overlooked any potential embarrassing details, I accepted that it was genuine.
“So, where is this Qock?” I asked with a little smirk, “Hidden away in some fort I presume?”
“You would presume correctly,” Aldok replied while looking nervously between my face and the blade that I was holding with the concerning carelessness of a toddler with a shotgun, “along with several of his closest allies, all of which are loyal to a fault.”
“And where would this fort be?”
The Supreme Necromancer snapped his fingers, summoning my map, before marking it with a little green skull in the top right corner in a place that seemed to be a million miles from everywhere.
I caught the map automatically as it fell, and stuffed it back into my knapsack with a grin, “Alright then, looks like I know where I’m going. Is there anything else I need to know about the quest?”
“Only that you shouldn’t underestimate Qock, he’s donned the title of ‘Father’ and uses the false power of that title to rally dozens to his cause.”
“Then I shall be on my way.” I replied with a nod that got me out of the conversation.
Progress made in mission: Path of the Necromancer.
Objective completed: Receive your first mission.
Objective added: Find and Kill Ailren Qock.
“Brilliant, now that that’s out of the way…” I said as I flipped the knife in my hand so the blade ran parallel to my forearm and sliced Aldok right down the chest.
Legends of Tarthirious: The Complete Collection Page 54
