The Vale of Three Wolves: A LitRPG Adventure (Elements of Wrath Online Book 2)

by J. A. Cipriano

  And naturally, as with so many other elements of this quest and everything attached to it, the tooltip ended there. Still, despite the vagaries, the thirty-minute cooldown between uses had to mean that this thing was powerful, really powerful. The thought of having, say, the durability of a tank and the healing power of a support almost had me salivating.

  “So, we’re obviously both immediately socketing Role Fusion, right?” I asked unnecessarily.

  “Absolutely,” Kayla replied as she did so. I followed suit as she continued, “The real big questions are what to slot in the other socket and then should I stay in Support or switch to Damage.”

  They were both prime questions and I certainly didn’t want to head into what was likely to be an extremely nasty battle without having every Gem socket loaded for action. “Well, I’m not sure what all you have in your inventory so I can’t answer the first.” I thought hard for a second about the second before answering. “As far as Roles, well, our Tank/Support dynamic is top notch and you still pack a nasty punch. With some nasty corrupted barbarian-monks and a poison-drooling wolf spirit on our dance card, I think we should focus on staying up long enough to win.” I chuckled. “But, well, ‘slow and steady’ has always been my gameplay style. I might be biased.”

  Kayla flashed a dazzling smile at me as she winked. “Hey, why upset a good thing? Besides, I think your ‘slow and steady’ is fast enough for me.” She crossed one arm across her stomach, her other elbow resting against it as she rubbed her chin, gaze focused at what I imagined was her inventory UI. “I don’t have much in the way of spare Gems, not on me.” The thoughtful wrinkle in her brow relaxed as something hit her. “I think I have an idea. It’s a different combination using my Light Elemental Gems than I’ve used before so I don’t know how practical it might be but …”

  I put a hand on her shoulder. It felt right and, as sappy as it sounded, it felt almost like my grip fit that curve perfectly. “Hey, you have a great instinct for this sort of thing. Considering this is as close to two versus two PvP I’ll ever get, you’re the expert here.”

  “All right, then,” she nodded. “As we’re dealing with one target, I’m going to swap the Ice Bomb Gem that’s the base for Celestial Comet and instead link Healing Rain to that Light Gem.” Kayla waved a hand before us and turned on tooltip sharing as she swapped the Gems around.

  Grade S Healing Rain modified into Grade S Tears of Heaven!

  800 Elemental Power to activate

  6 second channel, 30 second cooldown, Water and Light Elements

  Calling upon the mercy embodied by the Primal Light and the spirits of Water, you call down a rain of pure light in a 30 unit area. As long as you continue to channel the Spell, every ally in the area heals 720 Health Points every 2 seconds and is cured of one Bane at random. Every enemy in the area takes 360 Light Elemental Damage every 2 seconds and is weakened, causing all damage and healing from that enemy to be reduced by 40%.

  “See, I figure between that and the Ring’s Power of Love, I can give us one additional save from a wipe while I focus on Ice Spears and Holy Rain for whomping the wolf,” she explained.

  I nodded along with that explanation. “It makes perfect sense to me and you will still have room for basic Ice Bomb if we do get into an AoE situation. What about the extra socket?”

  “Oh, nothing fancy,” Kayla sighed, “all my best extra stuff is in the Vault and we can’t get at it here. Still, I did have a Grade B Soothe Bane Gem for condition-heavy encounters. You know, the usual ‘remove 1 to 2 Banes at random’ anti-debuff power.” She shrugged. “With Darkness Elemental stuff, it might come in handy.”

  “Makes sense to me. Now to figure out my own affairs.”

  I was in a similar boat as Kayla, except I didn’t have many ‘best stuff’ I didn’t already have slotted outside of one niche damage-type Gem (good old Meet the Charge, slayer of Scorchtusk) which could only slot in pole-type weapons and a Grade B Regenerative Pulse. I had considered slotting it the last time I considered extra slots but had turned it aside for better choices with Strength of the Mountain in my banner and Last Stand in my breastplate.

  Kayla was now miming what I had done a minute before, her hand on my shoulder and looking at what I was doing. I smiled and mentally nudged on UI sharing for her benefit.

  “So, I was either going to put Defiant Display into the Ring and put Meet the Charge back into my banner or just slap Regen Pulse into the ring,” I frowned.

  “Meet the Charge is super situational,” Kayla considered, “but you’ve gotten some great uses out of it in the past and the spirit I fought, the Breaker of Clans, was really fast. A lot of dynamic movement abilities, charges, and pounces. It might just save the day again.” She actually stuck her tongue out at the Regenerative Pulse emerald. “Considering I’m sticking Support for this, that’s just over healing and inefficient on your Elemental Power.”

  “Point taken.”

  Not one to shrug off good advice, I popped Defiant Display out of my banner and socketed it into the Ring, the larger stone shrinking down magically to fit into the much smaller physical space. I put the triangular-cut ruby of Meet the Charge in the hole it left behind in the pole of the banner, right by my thumb when I gripped it normally.

  My UI adjusted as soon as I did so, the newly socketed Abilities coming up as icons along the bottom of my vision. Taking a deep breath, I took a quiet moment to look around. I couldn’t quite tell if the singing and dancing Lykos were celebrating the rebirth of their totems or steeling themselves for the assault with revelry. Either way, it was an infectious enthusiasm, one that would cling to me both for the remainder of my night in the real world and the restless sleep that followed.

  Quote 13

  One reason we did the work to introduce scaling content for Patch 2.0 is the difficulty we ran into when it came to balancing content that was made for all levels. There are quests we devised that could be taken at and be challenging for any level, yet traditional methods of altering MOB levels didn't really work well, especially with the wild variety of Gem quality and combinations possible at any level. These new, intricate scaling formulas should do a much better job making challenging content available to all players.

  Kyle Patruski, EO's lead developer

  13

  With nothing else but Chrissy’s surgical appointment that evening, all my focus was directed towards the battle in Elementalis to come. In a way, it was as if no time had passed at all since I had logged out and returned that morning. Before I completely comprehended it, I was back in the Vale of the Three Wolves, Kayla by my side, amidst the gathered Lykos packs, now ready for war, spears, bows, and clubs shouldered for the battle to come.

  There was only one thing to say. I turned to Kayla and smiled, “Are you ready?”

  It was a simple question but it carried all the weight I could put behind it. After all, if we won this battle, we would be bonded in-game and out for, well, a long time. Hopefully, if we didn’t screw it up, forever.

  Without a word, Kayla stepped up close to me, cupped my face with her hands, and kissed me. I didn’t need any prompting to put my arms around her waist and kiss back. After a long moment, we parted and then she finally gave her answer.

  “Let’s go win a war.”

  The march north wasn’t a long one. No more than what would be a half-mile by normal measure into the lush greenery of the Vale, our little army hit a stark line of demarcation, the border of the Northern pack’s lands.

  On one side of that line, everything was pristine and harmonious. Across it, the plant life was twisted and dying, with thorny, black vines trying to choke the life out of Fire Fronds, Gem Flowers, Windpuffs, and Sea Kelp alike. Most of the larger trees had already been overtaken by the sickness of the Primal Darkness, leaving behind only dead, hollow husks that seemed to spread gloom under their boughs. The pall extended to the air itself, stale, still, and utterly silent save for the sounds of ourselves and the Lykos around us.


  Despite the chill creeping up my spine, I kept my cool as we continued the march forward. The warm, steady pulse of the Ring of Promise on my finger helped, that feeling that I wasn’t alone in this. I flashed what I hoped was a reassuring smile at Kayla, who really didn’t need my reassurance from the utter focus on her face.

  The deeper we went into this dark corner of the Vale, the more complete the corruption and the harsher the impact. It wasn’t long before all the vegetation was dead, fully choked with those dripping vines, and the cobblestones beneath our feet had crumbled into packed gravel. Through fallen trees and twisted briar patches, we could see what remained of the Northern pack’s temple in the distance.

  It was the first time I could see the entire expanse of this kind of combination monastery and town. The forest had so completely shrouded the walls of the Eastern temple when I had gone there, hiding most of the actual grounds. Seeing the Northern lands laid bare now, I was taken aback by how big the wall surrounding it actually was, easily the size of Kalmarkaat, no one road quest hub to be sure.

  What was even more impressive was how far gone that wall was. While every structure in the Vale showed signs of the thousands of years they had stood, they still stood proudly, and were well-maintained and meticulously kept by the Lykos. The Northern wall stood in stark contrast to that, a decrepit skeleton whose white stone bones gleamed in the pale sunlight that filtered through the gathering cloud cover.

  It was impossible to tell at that distance if the walls had fallen from some great siege or fallen victim to the entropic forces of the Primal Darkness, but either way, they were shattered in multiple places, so only the strongest support structures remained intact. The vines that had choked the forest climbed those few remaining pillars and spilled into the town proper.

  While the Lykos had kept their discipline through the rest of the blight, this sight sent a ripple of shock through the combined tribes. Gasps mingled with murmured whispers of disbelief as the troops stared at the ruined city.

  “This is horrible,” Kayla whispered to herself, just loud enough for me to hear. “I know this is only a game for us but …”

  I nodded slowly in reply. “That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hit you right in the feels.” I looked over at her, her hands gripping her staff until her knuckles turned even whiter than they already were. “Maybe if we do what we did for the other tribes, this can get fixed.”

  She nodded, her eyes narrowing. “We’ll do that and we’ll find a way to fix this.” Eyeing me sidelong, she smiled just a hair. “Together.”

  I matched that smile and looked around at the gathered tribes. They were regaining their nerve but a kick in the pants didn’t hurt. Raising my banner, I cried out, “Take heart, Lykos! While things look bleak, remember that today we will push back the Darkness, cleanse the Vale of the Three Wolves, and save your brothers and sisters!”

  Figuring it would make the most impact, I ended my little speech with my best wolf howl. It sounded pretty horrible but all the same, others took it up. First Kayla, followed by the two tribal Alphas, and then the rest of the Lykos. It was one titanic cry, a sign of unity of cause, and it rallied the hearts of everyone on the edge of Darkness.

  That howl forced a reply, though. As our collective yell faded into a reverberating echo, another answered it. Instead of the throaty, robust mingling of a hundred unified voices, this howl was piercing, haunting, consisting of only three mournful voices shrieking in unison. In pain.

  As the twin howls passed into silence once again, we all took a collective breath and did the only thing we could.

  We moved forward as our enemy was roused to defense.

  Beyond the shattered wall, a great fog rose as an immense cloud column before bursting outward in all directions. It was the same silver ghost mist that had surrounded me during my battle with the Eater of Hearts, obscuring everything it crept over.

  Even though we stuck in a tight formation, it became increasingly difficult to keep track of everyone outside of arm’s reach. Most of our little army became indistinct shadows in the fog even as dark shapes appeared before us. It wouldn’t be long before it would be near impossible to tell friend from foe as the targeting outlines faded away only a little further out than our normal vision. The only person I could keep track of was Kayla, always outlined in glowing golden light, an effect I could only assume was from the Rings of Promise.

  As the spectral mists became their thickest, the clammy coldness brought condensation on my armor and the echoes of battle cut short the silence. Individual howls broke out as weapons clashed and spells flared, the eerie quality of the mist adding to the sense of confusion and conflict. Sounds traveled weirdly, echoing and distorting, making it impossible to tell how close or far away they were and every time we thought some hostile Lykos was going to come screaming at us, they never came.

  The howls and battle cries would warble off to either side and after a few short moments of that confusion, I was completely lost. Even the ground, the one thing that should have been trusted, had become an even mix of broken stone, dead plants, and those ever-present black weeds. We could have been on the path, in the dead forest, or in the very heart of the Northern temple for all I knew.

  “This is insane,” Kayla growled above the din. “I can’t even tell if we’re in the middle of friends or behind enemy lines!”

  “Me neither,” I replied, constantly shifting my shield toward the next possible threat. “It’s almost like everyone is avoiding us on purpose.”

  “Well, I think it’s obvious to me that we need the spirit wolf thing to die and it needs us to die, so maybe we should save ourselves the walking and go back-to-back.” She spun as she spoke, putting her words into action. “At least they won’t take us by surprise and we can face whatever comes on our own terms.”

  There were worse ideas, so I followed suit, planting myself with my back toward Kayla’s. “To be completely honest, I really am not a fan of our options right now. What’s to stop whatever that howling thing is from just sending all the troops at us right now?”

  “To be honest right back, absolutely nothing except for good quest design.” She was confident, more confident than I was. “This entire thing has hit a lot closer to home, gotten a lot weirder than anyone could have expected, but at the end of the day, this is a quest and a boss like any other. If this was meant to be a mass melee, it would have happened by now.”

  Her argument was imminently logical but as she’d said herself this had been a bizarre experience. It is hard to immediately calm down because of some sage advice. “I know what you’re saying is reasonable and you are ninety-nine percent likely to be right but …”

  “Remember, Shale, this is a game, and we’re the best at it,” Kayla enthused, sounding like a half drill instructor, half cheerleader hybrid. “We’re Firsters for a reason, right?” Another staccato of howls erupted all around us in the mists, the same twisted howling that brought all this forth in the first place. “So, let’s act like it!”

  Huge, dark shapes, three loping giant wolves from my limited yet intimate experience, became distinct through the fog of war surrounding us. I was hoping against hope that two of those snuffling shapes were on our side but I had a sinking feeling that I was wrong. It didn’t take long for that feeling to be confirmed as they drew closer in their hunting circle, red outlines showing their shapes in sharp relief against the silver fog.

  “We smell the stink of the Elohjin on you,” the wolves growled in throaty unison. “After all these turns in this timeless valley, did they think sending the two of you would be enough to unseat our hold on their precious harmony?”

  This was no typical NPC interaction, but I had gotten used to that not being the case.

  Kayla: I’m tempted to open fire but …

  Shale: You want to know what’s going on as much as I do.

  “I don’t know exactly what you are,” I called back, “but we didn’t come for the Elohjin. We came for ourselves, for
the Rings of Promise!”

  At the very mention of the Rings, a chorus of howls and whimpers erupted, betraying an edge of concern before a stronger bark silenced them. “You have your precious Rings and yet you must know they cannot save you or these people. Take them and the power they have, leave here, and be thankful you will leave with the lives of you and your chosen!”

  Kayla scoffed behind me. “The only one who says we can’t stop you is you. We’ve faced worse than you; we can defeat your entire pack!” I could feel the deadly smile on her lips from the tone of her voice. “Even if we go down, we’ll be back. We always come back.”

  Maybe it was bad form to throw our advantage as players in the NPCs' faces but the Darkness deserved it. Besides, I knew how much Kayla cared for those poor souls that didn’t have access to the Crystals. In the end, it was a good move to show our strengths to the wolves waiting to eat us. The Eater had shown whatever part of the game that was in control of these MOBs wasn’t the mechanical enemy AI. These things could be taunted, thrown off balance. Kayla was right. Even if we were to go down, we would just respawn later at a Life Crystal and give it another go.

  “Foolish children!” The trio of wolves were the ones scoffing now. “If you fall, our tribe will sweep through and push on to the central plaza. Our Darkness will be injected into your precious Life Crystal well before you are reincarnated. What do you think happens when your wisp of a spirit is pulled through such a crystal?”

  Our collective silence spoke volumes. The idea that the Life Crystals were some constant incorruptible thing, a core game mechanic the developers would never let anything alter, seemed a safe thing to bet on. If what he said was true, we were wrong, and the thought of what might happen to us, well, our avatars if we were, uh, processed through something corrupted by the Darkness was disturbing to a degree that I didn’t think was possible.

  “What’s the matter? No taunt? Has the wolf gotten your tongue?” the growling voices mocked. “Everything you are, everything you hold dear, will be drowned in the entropy you so hate. So, we ask you again to go. Leave this valley and never return. Take what victories you have wrested from our hungry jaws and be content with that!”