Viridian Gate Online- Absolution

by N H Paxton

  “Could you use Darkshard?” Garret’s voice cut through my sudden focus.

  I hadn’t considered using Darkshard. I had a few ingots left that I had been carrying around.

  “Yes, could do. But do not have tools for hammering metal sheet.” I looked around the tunnel. There was definitely nowhere I could roll a sheet of metal out.

  “I happen to have seen a workshop on my way through the tunnels, trying to get back to you. I can show you if you want.” Garret hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the darkness of the tunnels in the direction he had come from.

  “Is not bad plan. How far?” I tucked the unfinished weapon into my inventory, along with all of my tools and spare items.

  I wasn’t going to leave any of my valuable equipment behind.

  “I was running pretty hard, so I don’t really know. Maybe a few minutes?” Garret turned quickly and started walking.

  I was on his heels in an instant. I didn’t wish to end up alone in the dark again.

  “Will follow then,” I said as we continued into the darkness, the torch our only guide.

  Play with Fire

  “ALRIGHT, HERE WE ARE.” We had been walking for about fifteen minutes. The sounds of shuffling and clanking bones periodically surrounded us from behind the tunnel walls.

  We were definitely inside the walls of the catacombs, but we were never directly attacked. Garret pointed at a random location in the continuous wall. It looked like more of the same wall we had been following.

  “Are sure? Looks like wall.” I waved a hand at the rest of the walls all around us. Then I waved toward the darkness behind and in front of us. I put my hands up and shrugged.

  “Yeah, this is it. I remember that shape on the ceiling.” Garret pointed at the ceiling.

  There was an inscription of a hammer and an anvil carved into the stone. That was convenient.

  “Okay, how to get in?” I asked.

  “There’s a switch on the wall here...” Garret trailed off as he poked and prodded the wall, his gloves making swishing sounds as he swept them over the stone. “Ah, got it.” There was an audible click, followed by the crunching of stone and the rumbling of something heavy moving somewhere unseen.

  “More hidden door.” I nodded in approval.

  The place was built like a secret maze. It reminded me of a story I once read about a boy who lived in a castle with a thousand secret passages. His family had been murdered, and he was using the passageways to escape an evil tyrant.

  “This place is a veritable hive of concealed random shit.” Garret stepped back as a large portion of the wall shifted into the tunnel, then pivoted on a hinge.

  It swung completely inward, resting flat against the interior wall.

  “You know great deal about tunnel.” I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, my suspicions about the truth of his story continuing to grow in my mind.

  “I just ran through here. Do you think I wouldn’t remember it?” Garret poked his head through the opening, then leaned back into the tunnel. “We’re clear. Let’s roll.” He disappeared behind the stone.

  “Information is convenient,” I muttered to myself as I followed him into the room.

  It was lit by a strange forge inset into the far wall. The embers within glowed a deep purple instead of red. Some kind of shadow magic, I presumed.

  The room itself was modeled after a standard smithy. A large anvil sat next to the forge, accompanied by a quenching trough and a series of racks that contained rusted tools. The room smelled of molten metal.

  “Bingo. Crafting central.” Garret pointed at me with his index finger while his thumb was up. It looked like a gun.

  “Good, can work here. Doors are sturdy?” I eyeballed the wooden-framed doors that sat at opposite ends of the room, one to my right and left.

  “Pretty sure they’re good.” Garret leaned against a wall, drumming his fingers on the stone.

  “Found new books in tunnel, want to read?” I started to pull one of the books out of my bag.

  “Nah, I’m good,” he said. “Reading is for sorcerers.”

  I wrinkled my eyebrows, confused as to what had just transpired.

  “Okay, will work then.” I needed two ingots of Darkshard metal to make this work.

  I retrieved them from my inventory and laid them on the anvil, the removed the axe and stood it against the wall. I collected a pair of tongs from the old racks that ran along the wall and fished a smelting bowl out of the shadow embers.

  I dropped the two ingots of metal into the bowl and placed it into the heart of the forge. I knew next to nothing about blacksmithing, but I had a feeling I was about to learn.

  The metal in the smelting bowl sat there, motionless. I side-eyed Garret, who was bobbing his head from side to side, whistling a gentle tune. It didn’t sound familiar.

  “Know anything about smelting in forge?” My voice was rough with frustration.

  “Huh?” He leaned forward. “Not really. Why not just use your cool ability, the one that super heats stuff? Doesn’t that make metals malleable and whatnot?”

  “Yes, is probably better choice.” I withdrew the smelting bowl from the forge with the nearby tongs, placed it on the anvil, and wrapped my hands around it.

  “Ack!” I snapped back, my Health points taking a small hit as my hands were burned by the heat of the bowl.

  Apparently, even a forge that isn’t blazing is intensely hot.

  “Should have warned you about that. You’re not fireproof.” Garret shook his head as he stepped over to the rack of tools.

  One of the tools was a large hammer with an enormous flat head. He handed it to me with relative ease. I took it and immediately fumbled it onto the floor. It landed with a metallic clang and cracked the stone.

  “Did not expect to be so heavy.” I bent over to pick it up, struggling.

  After a monumental effort, I picked it up and laid it on the anvil as well.

  “Perhaps will do this with ability instead of blacksmithing.” I raised an eyebrow as I tested the heat of the smelting bowl. It had cooled considerably.

  “I know anyone can do blacksmithing, but I really doubt you have the aptitude. Save that for warriors and whatnot.” Garret returned to his wall. He leaned there quietly.

  “Abilities seem like better choice. Less harm, better outcome, will test limits of power.”

  Thinking ahead this time, I quickly activated Alchemist’s Prayer to reduce my burn damage and protect myself from some of the damage molten metal might cause. While using Purifying Fire, I was resistant to the heat from the materials I was working with.

  I wrapped my hands around the smelting bowl and triggered Purifying Fire. A trickle of Spirit flowed through my hands, igniting a blazing flame all around the bowl. The metal started to glow, the Darkshard ingots within softening and shifting. It took almost two whole minutes for them to melt enough to pour.

  I deactivated Purifying Fire and lifted the bowl, pouring the contents onto the flat recess of the anvil. They settled down into a single, smooth sheet.

  I flung the smelting bowl into the forge. A plume of purple sparks flew out from where it had landed. I would worry about that later. I placed my hands on the edge of the anvil and prepared myself for pain.

  I knew I wanted the Darkshard metal, now fluid and extremely hot, to be formed into two separate sheets. I had another minute and a half left on Alchemist’s Prayer, giving me some protection from the heat.

  I closed my eyes, visualizing the outcome of the sheets of metal, placed my hand directly above the semi-molten Darkshard, and activated Reconstruction.

  The heat from the metal was intense. I could feel my skin beginning to burn and blister, even through my gloves. But that didn’t matter. I needed to complete this project. There was a slight flow of Spirit, the sound of cracking ice, then a loud snap. The heat was gone in an instant.

  I opened my eyes, and before me sat two perfectly hammered, identical sheets of Darkshard metal. They w
ere thin and the exact length I needed them to be. I grabbed the edge of one of them and tried to roll it. It wouldn’t budge.

  “B’lyad,” I whispered as I struggled with the solid piece of metal. It wouldn’t even bend.

  Form the sheets around the axe. Gamma’s voice blew through my mind like a dry wind in a desert.

  “Is good plan.” I grabbed the axe and placed it on top of the two sheets of Darkshard.

  I placed my hands on the project, one hand on the axe, another on the seam where the two sheets had originally been one, and envisioned the metal wrapping itself around the axe. It played out in my mind, the metal rolling and sealing itself without seam or weakness along its length. At the joining, I mentally placed a pair of sleeves so the axe could shift and rotate without fighting its own resistance.

  I triggered Reconstruction. It stole away an uncomfortable amount of Spirit, causing me to gasp. There was a loud metallic groaning, followed by the sound of metal on metal grinding. Another groan, more grinding, then the flow of Spirit stopped and there was silence.

  I opened my eyes to see that the axe was complete. There was a deep violet sheath of metal wrapped around the entire handle, complete with an elongated grip that was studded to improve control. I hadn’t planned that part out, it just happened. I picked up the axe, now a proper weapon, and gave it a quick look.

  <<<>>>

  Greataxe of the Severing Planes (Augmented)

  Weapon Type: Heavy Bladed/Two-handed

  Weapon Class: Epic/Transformable

  Base Damage: 89

  Primary Effects: +15 Strength

  -5 Vitality

  +25 shadow damage on hit

  +10 bleed damage on hit

  Secondary Effects: Transformable: Can be changed from a greataxe to a war pick at any time

  Altered Form: Stats for this weapon change when it is transformed

  +10% reduction in shadow damage taken by wielder

  Shift, shift, little spider, said the fly, knowing full well that his life was only moments from ending.

  <<<>>>

  It was a sight to behold. I smiled at the weapon, truly a great piece of work, up and down. I took a couple steps toward Garret, the axe lying across my arms like a gift.

  “Damn, that thing is awesome.” He took it from my arms with reverence, a look of awe plastered on his face.

  “Is extremely powerful, just be careful with—” I couldn’t finish my sentence.

  Garret twisted the handle of the axe, testing out the transformation.

  The weapon shifted so fast it was a blur. The steel head shifted backwards and bit into his arm.

  “Ow!” Garret yelped.

  “Yes, is to being careful with transformation. Very fast.” I chuckled a bit, turned from him as he took a few practice swings with the weapon, and opened my Keeper skill list.

  I wanted to spend some time putting points into it, and this seemed to be a good opportunity.

  <<<>>>

  <<<>>>

  I LOOKED OVER THE TREE for a while before deciding to put one point into Magical Education, solving one of my major problems: Magical Sickness.

  <<<>>>

  Ability Unlocked!

  Ability: Magical Education

  Through the knowledge and power of being a Keeper, you have learned to keep your head while casting spells that are beyond your capabilities. As a result, you have a much lower chance of developing Magical Sickness every time you cast a spell from one of the Sorcery trees. The cost for these spells will also be reduced as a whole.

  Ability Type/Level: Passive/Level 1

  Cost: None

  Effect 1: Reduces chance to develop the Magical Sickness debuff by 50% per level (Current: 50%)

  Effect 2: Reduces Spirit cost of all borrowed Sorcerer spells by 10% per level (Current: 10%)

  <<<>>>

  One problem partially solved, I moved on to other very interesting skills that begged for my attention.

  <<<>>>

  Skill Unlocked!

  Skill: Simultaneous Casting

  As a Keeper, your power to command the fabric of Eldgard is very high. As a result, you are capable of simultaneously casting two spells from your list of borrowed sorcerer spells at a time. This comes at a significant cost to both power and Spirit.

  Skill Type/Level: Augmentation/Initiate

  Cost: None

  Effect 1: Allows the casting of two spells from the borrowed spells list simultaneously

  Effect 2: Reduces power of spells by 25%

  Effect 3: Increases cost of spells by 25%

  <<<>>>

  Skill Unlocked!

  Skill: Keeper’s Last Rest

  There are places where a Keeper and his entourage must be able to get to quickly, efficiently, and sometimes instantly. As a Keeper, you are capable of marking a location that you have discovered previously for instant teleportation. This cannot be inside of a dungeon, lair, or other instanced location.

  Skill Type/Level: Spell/Initiate

  Cost: 800 Spirit

  Range: Limitless

  Cast Time: Instant

  Cooldown: 72 hours (from cast time)

  Effect: Teleport yourself and up to five other individuals to a location chosen by you on your map. The location must be known to you, and cannot be inside a building, dungeon, lair, or otherwise.

  <<<>>>

  Ability Unlocked!

  Ability: Broken Knowledge

  There are things that break, shatter, fall apart, or otherwise decay. Using your knowledge of things which should not be, you are capable of determining what the item once was, and how best to fix it. This periodically comes at a great cost but is almost always worthwhile.

  Ability Type/Level: Spell/Initiate

  Cost: 400 Spirit (1% Chance to cost 1,200 Spirit)

  Range: Touch

  Cast Time: Instant

  Cooldown: 35 seconds

  Effect 1: Peek into the knowledge of the unknown to discern the use and previous appearance of a damaged, broken, or decayed item.

  Effect 2: Learn what components are needed to repair the item in question.

  Effect 3: If the greater Spirit cost is incurred, the item is repaired by the great power invested into its discovery, warping the fabric of reality to return the item to its previous form.

  <<<>>>

  Broken Knowledge sounded like something straight out of a cultic thriller novel. Having four points left, I flipped through my general skill trees, considering what would be most effective. I had already invested a point into Magical Augmentation in the Keeper skill tree, but the improvement of it would easily outweigh the cost.

  <<<>>>

  Skill Improved!

  Skill: Magical Augmentation

  Using your knowledge as a Keeper, you are able to mold borrowed spells from the four classes of sorcerers. These spells may be augmented in any form, so long as they do not immediately violate the principles of their existences. A fire spell cannot create rain, as they say. Each time Magical Augmentation is used, the spell of choice is changed from its normal version to the format chosen by the Keeper. After six hours, the spell reverts to its original phase. The number of spells that may be augmented increases with rank in this ability.

  Skill Type/Level: Augmentation/Novice

  Cost: None

  Range: Chosen Spell

  Cast Time: Instant

  Cooldown: 6 hours (2 uses)

  Effect 1: Manipulate Aetheric current to change the outcome of a spell from your borrowed spell list

  Effect 2: Increases Spirit cost of the manipulated spell based on how drastic the change is, up to 300%

  Effect 3: Spell reverts to its normal phase after 6 hours

  Effect 4: May now augment 2 spells

  <<<>>>

  As I expected, the cost of putting a precious point into Magical Augmentation was well worth it. Seeing my ability to modify two spells at once, I was tempted to choose my other three spells to borrow.

  I
did not, however, desire to be caught in a situation where I was unable to be fluid and flexible. There were times when absolute rigid power was necessary, but it was important to be able to change your tactics depending on your foe. Such was the gambit of tactical superiority.

  Having three points left, I wanted to be careful about where I spent them. I looked over my Engineering skill tree first, considering the places that class kit had taken me and how it had started me on this incredible journey.

  <<<>>>

  <<<>>>

  I EVENTUALLY WANTED to achieve Deific Engineering, but I needed to be level forty-five to get there, and that required a lot of points spent in the Engineering tree. For today, I chose to not spend any points there. I would have plenty of time to work on becoming a Deific Engineer one day.

  I considered dumping all of my remaining points into my Alchemic Weaponeer skill tree. I tapped my forefinger on my chin as I stared at the ceiling.

  I am also a viable choice. Gamma’s skill tree exploded into my vision, unbidden.

  <<<>>>

  <<<>>>

  EVOLUTION, FATHER. Gamma’s voice was complacent, proud. It felt like he was trying hard to impress me. He had succeeded.

  “Can use my points for Gamma’s tree?” I didn’t think my points were available to him.

  Points from both sources, mine and yours, may be used to enhance my capabilities. Perhaps you forgot? A condescending tone from Gamma glided over the edge of my mind.

  “No, did not forget. Gamma is having suggestions?” I wanted to move from the topic before he realized I had lied.

  Given Gamma’s sentience, he likely had an opinion on what he wanted me to do.

  Recommendations based on current combat data are to apply a point to the following abilities to maximize efficiency: Shatter Spike, Annihilating Rupture, Damnation Corruptor.

  It seemed like he was driving the points toward opening Zeta Override. I was locked out of the skill information until I unlocked them, but he was the weapon, and if that’s where he wanted me to put points, that’s where I’d put them.