Dale retrieved his longbow and fired an arrow.
Smith brought his hammer down.
+600XP
Killed: Karaelek, Level 6
Dropped: Water Magic Book
Dropped: Undead Arrows
Dale looked up to see a giant bear crashing down on his position.
The boss.
...........................
The Otso was a level 9 boss, and Dale rolled out of its path just in time to not be crushed.
Smith slammed his hammer into the bear, but the bear growled and hit the ape-man’s war hammer so hard that it went flying, and Smith stood in front of the bear unarmed for a moment.
Dale flung his adder shield at the bear. The snake bit the bear, which got its attention off of Smith, but then it merely swatted the snake into a tree. The tree cracked, the snake fell to the ground, and then it coiled back into a shield.
Dale backed up a meter and started a Fire Magic spell.
Smith had brought out a longsword and a very tall bronze shield. He and the bear traded blows. Jara and Yingtai fired healing enchantments at Smith and DPS spells at the bear.
The battle went back and forth, the bear’s health would lower; then Smith’s would get dangerously low, and the women would have to stop concentrating on DPS and heal Smith.
Dale decided to try the undead hammer.
...........................
Undead Hammer
Level 9
An excellent weapon against all living beings.
Magic: Drains life and mana with each hit.
Wiki: Lore Strengths Weaknesses Range
...........................
Dale moved toward the bear.
He brought the hammer down onto the back of the beast, and it growled out in pain, its health dropped, and Dale felt his mana increase.
A fortuitous weapon drop, this undead hammer, Dale thought as he lifted it again.
The bear spun and batted Dale away.
-1000HP
Dale lie on the ground dazed. The bear had tremendous power.
Smith had hit it in the head while it was concentrating on Dale, so the bear turned back to attack the ape-man.
Dale used his restored mana to imbue an arrow with as much Fire Magic as he could manage. He felt he was going to burst. His body burned hot, like he was being cooked alive, he let the imbued arrow fly.
The Otso shook. The arrow caught its fur on fire. The beast roared, turned, and rushed Dale. He exchanged the longbow for the undead hammer, he didn’t have time to loose another arrow.
The bear reached Dale as he brought down the undead hammer.
Smith had switched from a sword to a javelin spear, and he’d thrown it at the same time that Dale was swinging the hammer atop the bears head.
Jara and Yingtai, watching the action, had switched to DPS spells and hit the bear at the same moment.
It fell to the ground and twitched.
Dale brought the undead hammer down a second time, and the bear died.
+2500XP
Killed: Otso boss
Dropped: Earth Magic Book
Dropped: Water Magic Book
Dropped: Forest Lore Book
Dropped: Bear Tooth Protection Charm, 10% increase in vigor when fighting predators
Dropped: 1 carat Tanzanite, extremely rare
Dropped: 5 bars of gold
Dropped: Grizzly Bear Mount
Dale was about to tell everyone what a great drop he’d received when Jara screamed.
“Take cover.”
...........................
Amy was about to loose her arrow when Jara spotted her.
“We’re discovered, run!” she said.
Emi moved, and Amy followed.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
Jake Sully: Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream.
~ Avatar (2009)
Is love a duty? Is duty love?
~ Amy Lyang
...........................
Amy moved deeper into the brush and trees following closely behind Emi. They could hear Jara, Yingtai, Smith and Dale behind them. The assassins moved silently and swiftly, they found a pair of trees and climbed into a high, hidden perch.
Jara and Yingtai moved in one direction, Smith and Dale moved the opposite way; they were attempting to circle and flank the assassins. Amy used hand signals to tell Emi to stand down and observe. Besides the four that were directly seeking them out, she saw Declanian troops moving towards their position. She pointed them out to Emi and they both activated sneak and conceal skills to hide in the trees, invisible to anybody on the ground.
The Declanian soldiers were moving quickly and not attempting to remain silent. There were eight of them. With swords drawn, they approached Jara and Yingtai. Amy watched Jara throw a knife at the lead soldier, but it was a slow, looping throw, and the knife landed on the ground at his feet.
The knife contained a scroll in a hidden compartment.
The Declanian soldier picked up the knife, removed the scroll, and read it. He then spoke to his troops.
Next, they walked towards the Princess, reached her, bowed, and handed back her knife.
Amy watched as Princess Jara and Yingtai spoke to the Declanians. If only Dale and Smith could see this, the truth would be known. Instead, the Princess shouted out to Dale and Smith.
“Dale! Smith! Help! Please help!”
The Declanians hid while Jara and Yingtai ran away from the meadow and the ongoing battle. They were heading towards the river, the bridge, and the path to the Pierstone Castle.
Emi signaled to Amy. We must go!
Amy signaled back. Wait!
She did not want Dale to walk into an ambush.
...........................
Dale and Smith moved quickly towards Jara when they heard her shout for help. They walked directly into an ambush.
The enemy troops outnumbered them four to one, but Smith and Dale were two or three levels higher in rank, so Dale thought it might be an even fight. He pulled out his sword and engaged the first Declanian that approached.
Smith was smashing warriors with his war hammer.
“Where’re the women?” Smith asked.
“I don’t know…” Dale killed a soldier, but a second enemy crushed him with a huge blow from a club. Dale fell to his knees.
Then he felt a bolt of enchanting power. His health rose.
“They’re in the trees!”
“Good,” Smith said. “I was worried for a minute.”
Smith destroyed another Declanian. The fight waged on.
Dale used his adder shield with some effectiveness, but it wasn’t as strong after the destruction it had taken from the bear. He needed to work on upgrading his crafting skills so he could better restore his equipment, but there were only so many things he could do at once. Where to allocate time and resources as always a strategic issue, once a path was favored, it was hard to give it up. Case in point, Dale’s increased Fire Magic was proving very effective.
He slashed a soldier with his sword, switched to his longbow, imbued an arrow, fired at another soldier, and moved back to his sword. While he couldn’t see Jara and Yingtai, he knew they were helping to keep their health up and were range damaging enemies. What seemed like an unbalanced battle wasn’t, the women in the trees had an excellent position to fire into the fray without taking any damage themselves.
As soon as the last soldier died, Dale looked at the trees; he couldn’t see Jara or Yingtai, but he waved towards their position.
“Come down! We’ve got to get out of here.” Dale shouted and waved.
“Quiet!” Smith yelled. “There’s a whole platoon heading our direction.”
“Fuck.”
Dale signaled towards the tree top. He pointed towards the direction of the river and gave the sign to meet there asap.
“Come on,” Dale said. “We’ll meet them near the river o
r on the bridge, it’s time to head to the castle, we’re pushing our luck here.”
Smith followed Dale and they moved at a rapid pace away from the advancing platoon.
Once they were safely away, they mounted their beasts and rode off towards the river.
...........................
When Dale heard the sounds of the river, he dismounted and found a vantage point in which he and Smith could remain concealed, but still see into the distance. He had a clear view of the bridge that crossed the river. Declanians were guarding it.
“Shit.” Dale looked at Smith. “We need to rest. We aren’t going anywhere at the moment.”
“Agreed.”
“You think Jara and Yingtai are right behind us?”
“They can track.”
“Okay. Let’s eat and take turns getting some rest. It’s a bad time to try and sneak around.”
The sun was up high in the sky. The Declanians had several Draenen flying in circles above the bridge and the river. Bat-people scouts. At least it wasn’t night time, the Draenen were severely handicapped flying in the sun, their vision limited to seeing large moving shapes, not a couple of soldiers well camouflaged in the brush.
Dale ate. He drank a health potion, which brought his health up to 100% and increased his mana.
Dale read his Magic Books, the drops from the bear boss. He also put on the bear tooth charm.
His skill levels rose, his mana increased, and then he shut his eyes.
“I’m going to rest for a moment, Smith. Wake me if Jara shows up.”
Dale felt fuzzy. Perhaps it was caused by the potion, he wondered. He fell asleep before he could ask Erin or Smith about it.
He dreamt.
Amy approached him.
“Do you still believe in love?”
“No.”
“Don’t give into doubt.”
“I know what I saw.”
...........................
When Dale woke up, the sun had moved considerably.
“Why’d you let me sleep so long?”
“You needed the rest.” Smith looked Dale in the eyes. “You were talking in your sleep.”
“Shit. Embarrassing.” Dale blushed. “What did I say?”
“You said that you saw what you saw. You said you couldn’t forget. Then…” Smith looked at the ground.
“What?”
“You were crying in your sleep.” Smith looked up. “Don’t be embarrassed. I think you still love her.”
“How can I? She’s fighting for the Declanians. She fights for the forces that will destroy our world. My parents, my brother, my city, my school. My life. How can I ignore that?”
“You overthink this stuff, Dale. What’s the most important thing, ultimately?”
“What do you mean?” Dale asked. He felt confused again. He frowned. “What do you mean by most important? In what sense?”
“I mean in life.”
“Oh, that clarifies it. Totally.”
“I’m serious,” Smith said. “What’s the most important thing to you?”
“I don’t know.” Dale shut his eyes and thought about the question. “What’s the most important thing to you?”
“I have a girl back home,” Smith answered.
“Funny, you never mentioned her.” Dale looked into Smith’s eyes. He seemed to be revealing something personal about himself, so Dale wanted to listen. Smith was always so private. Private Smith, who didn’t even want people to use his first name, Jeffery. Private Jeffery Smith.
“We’re going to get married…” Smith rubbed his temple. “When I get home. We’re going to settle down, have two kids, live the life. That’s all I want. Nothing more, nothing less. So the most important thing to me? Her. That’s it. Do you really think the government gives a shit about us? We’re just soldiers Dale, ants. Less than ants, really, in the scheme of the universe.”
“I didn’t know you were such a deep thinker,” Dale said. He laughed and smiled at his friend. “Okay, I get your point. I did love Amy, but I realized that the middle of a war is not the place to find love. Too complicated. Too risky. I made a mistake.”
“Okay,” Smith said. “If you say so.”
“We should go,” Dale said. “It appears Jara and Yingtai aren’t such good trackers after all. Or maybe they’ve assumed we’re out of the action.”
“Or maybe…”
“What?”
“Nothing,” Smith said. “You’re right. We should go. We’ll have to head downstream and attempt a crossing, then head back up on the other side.”
“Alright, let’s move.”
Dale took the lead. They snuck and moved slowly, being down in number to a whole two people, they were going to have to act more like assassins than a platoon. If they were caught by a superior force, they’d be overpowered without a doubt. Without powerful healers behind them, it was pretty hard to tank and battle straight on. They walked for several kilometers downstream before they found a narrow place to cross the river.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Agent Smith: But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery.
~ The Matrix (1999)
What is wealth and riches when your daughters have perished?
~ King Cerion
...........................
Dale and Smith walked along an old worn path that had not been used recently. There were no tracks and brush grew so that they had to use swords to clear their way.
“Should we be on our mounts?” Dale asked.
“We’d be seen.” Smith was a better tactician. Maybe he should have been in charge Dale thought often.
“Where do you think Jara and Yingtai are?” Dale asked.
“Once they helped us escape they probably moved ahead,” Smith said. He didn’t sound confident. “They were in a hurry to get to the castle. Maybe we’ll just end up meeting them there.”
“I guess there is nothing else we can do but move forward.” Dale wasn’t confident, but he also knew the mission was to get to the castle, so that was the only smart plan. Continue.
They could hear the river flowing from the path they walked along, but they couldn’t see it. The brush and trees were too thick. This fact worked in reverse, nobody along the river would be able to see them, neither could the flying bat scouts. They were relatively safe from the main force of Declanians that had shown up in the Valley of Shadows.
“I wonder how Robur ended up doing…”
“Home field advantage, I’m sure he’s fine.” Smith didn’t sound confident to Dale, but he didn’t feel a reason to argue about it, there was nothing he could do in any case.
They walked in silence for an hour, rested, ate, drank, and then walked another hour.
“What’s that?” Smith asked. He pointed into the trees.
“What?” Dale couldn’t see anything.
“Look closely…” Smith moved a branch out of their line of sight.
“A rock?”
“Look closer…”
Dale thought he could make out the outline of a stone helmet, but the light in the forest often played tricks on the eyes.
“Come on,” Smith said. He moved off the trail into the brush.
Dale followed him. They had to take a circuitous path to get to the spot where Smith felt he saw something. When they reached a small clearing a stone statue was clearly visible, but it was covered in vines and brush.
“Help,” Smith said. He removed foliage from the figure.
It began to move. First it shook, then with a flash of light, the statue became a being and spoke.
“Thank you, travelers. What is it you seek? A vision? A dream? A quest? A mission?”
“We are on a mission to the Castle Pierstone,” Dale said. “Can you help us with that?”
“I wouldn’t mind a quest for some loot,” Smith added.
“Yes, well then. I believe I can offer you both what you seek. I offer you a ques
t through the mountain, and I give to you a Lore Book, a consideration for your graciousness towards me.”
...........................
Hidden Path to the Castle Pierstone Quest
Travelers: There is a secret way that leads to The Three Queens, a natural formation of rocks that marks the fork in the road towards the castle. Going to the right takes you to the castle, the path to the left takes you to the sea, although it is a most treacherous journey.
This quest offers you the chance to shorten your journey by one day’s march.
However, it has perils and challenges you must overcome.
The path will be revealed to you if you choose to accept the quest, and there will be but one challenge you must overcome, the nest of the Black Widow Queen. Your way must pass through her domain, kill her and the way will be open.
Accept quest: Y/N?
...........................
The 13 Unlucky Gems Quest
Congratulations! This Lore Book opens a quest for the worthy.
The King Rudra III of the Arogrodian Dynasty had thirteen knights seek for the legendary Gems of Sadness.
Each of these gemstones was worn by a lady, a princess, or a queen, at the time of her murder.
The thirteen gemstones are of great value; however, the legends claim that a king who possesses all thirteen stones will be able to wield unnatural powers over the undead and will rule for a thousand years.
When King Rudra III had gathered twelve of the thirteen gems, his kingdom fell under attack, he and his knights were burned alive, and the gems were scattered and hidden by order of his widow, Queen Ashtrain.
She decreed that the gems must never be controlled by one person.
Great honor and power will be granted to any who can collect them.
The stones are listed here:
The Tanzanite of Lady Westin: a four carat gemstone worn in a necklace by the Lady when her cousin, in a fit of jealousy, drowned the lady on the last day of her honeymoon.
The Taaffeite Stone: a three and a half carat stone that sits atop a scepter that was in the hand of Queen Regent when she was assassinated during the Great Fielding Fire Rebellion.
Nagant Wars: A LitRPG Novel (Nagant Wars Series Book 1) Page 37
