“Panther, posssesssing coilss,” Rose hissed loudly as she smacked the flat of her shield-wall into the Pit Master, knocking him back a step. At the same time, Panther slipped out of Rose’s body. The blind black snake had grown significantly. It must have been fifteen or twenty feet long now. The snake shot forward around Rose’s shield-wall and began to rapidly coil around the boss’s limbs before sinking into the Pit Master’s body, a new debuff appeared by his nameplate, ‘Possessing Coils’.
Possessing Coils – Your familiar has partially possessed this body, slowing its movement and attack speed by 80% and its ability to inflict physical damage by 80% for 15-Second.
Now that was a nice new ability. I assumed it was new, anyway. Something like that would have been particularly useful the last few months against some of the opponents we’d faced. It was also nice to see that particular Vampiric Knight benefit bear fruit.
Unfortunately, the debuff was dispelled as soon as the boss crossed the 15% health marker, Panther was forcefully ejected as the Pit Master’s body began to glow red and gained the ‘Enraged’ buff, increasing damage and attack speed by 20%.
“Enraged, use any cooldowns you’ve got now,” Olaf said, unleashing both hand-cannons at the same time, chunking off 5% of his health instantly, no doubt a critical strike, probably to a vulnerable spot.
The Pit Master started to turn toward Olaf, but Rose was faster, shifting to put herself between the Minotaur and the undead thing, she used her ‘Taunt’ again, “Oh no you don’t, you’re all mine, ghoulie.”
It seemed to have worked as the Pit Master swung on her, hitting her shields with a clang and shriek of metal as the mining pick added another hole to the armor.
“Die already,” Pwn complained, throwing more black fireballs and adding more stacks of ‘Void Burns’.
“Keep going,” Olaf shouted, firing again, one hand-cannon then the other.
I watched as my friends poured on all the damage they could, slowly bringing the Pit Master’s health bar lower and lower. Even Heath moved into melee range and started swinging his ax between buff spells as the boss now seemed to be immune to negative status effects other than damage over time abilities.
“I’m out of mana,” Arch warned, switching to purely damage dealing and firing her bow as fast as she could. “Use a cooldown if you can Rose.”
“On it,” Rose said, clasping her two shields and hunkering down behind it. Her eyes glowed red making me wonder if she was trying to hypnotize the boss, but then a red mist began rising from her body. The buff that followed was . . . impressive.
Shroud of the Vampiric Knight – You shroud yourself in the blood mist of the Vampire race. For 30-Seconds all stats, spell and skill effects are doubled. Once the Shroud ends, all stats, spell and skill effects are halved for 1-hour.
A harsh penalty, 30-Seconds of overpowered nightmare fuel only to be reduced in all ways by half. Still, as cooldowns went, that was more than impressive. I also made a mental note to talk to Rose about these abilities I had never seen before. Was she holding out on me or was this all new?
With Rose’s buff, she easily withstood the thrashing of the enraged Pit Master. Each hit barely dented her HP. It turned it into a damage race, one that Pwn and Olaf were more than up to the challenge of winning.
With a final shot from Olaf’s hand-cannons the boss fell and didn’t rise again.
Olaf blew smoke from his hand-cannon and grinned. “Nice work everyone, even our man that gave up the ghost. Arch, get him up when you have the mana. Everyone else, replenish your HP, MP, and SP just in case something else decides to head this way.”
A minute later I was back among the living.
“Well, Jack, you did it again,” Rose said.
“Yeah, admittedly, that was a bit stupid on my part,” I said.
“It worked out this time,” Olaf said. “But next time, we might not be so lucky.”
He was right this time. What I did was not well thought out or planned. “I’m sorry.”
Olaf nodded. “Well, let’s see what the boss dropped for loot.”
Where the corpse of the
“Alright, got the Pit Master’s Picks,” Olaf said, lifting up the first item from the pile. “Anyone mind if I take these for Mic and me? We are miners after all.”
“All you, Ollie,” Heath said.
Olaf picked up a black ring next and tossed it toward Rose, “I do believe this is yours.”
“Ooh, Sanguine Ring, very nice,” Rose said, the ring quickly vanishing and presumably taking a place on one of her fingers. The only downside of rings was that you couldn’t see them below the armor unless the armor was fingerless, and even then, it was hit or miss.
“What’s it do?” I asked.
“Increases all Drain effects by 10%, like my drain spells and more importantly my ‘Exsanguination’ spell,” Rose answered.
I nodded in approval, “Very nice.” Ten percent might not seem like much, but as her levels increased, that ten percent could turn into quite a bit of additional damage or healing as the case may be.
“Let’s see, we got two scrolls and a charm of all things left,” Olaf said, holding up the pair of scrolls and a tiny black metallic skull hanging from a short chain. “Pwn, I think this one is for you,” he said, tossing the first of the two scrolls to the newest member of our troop.
“Nice,” Pwn said, activating the scroll and making it crumble away to dust.
“What was it?” Rose asked.
Not focusing on Rose, Pwn answered anyway, “A new spell, ‘Void Wrath’. Does damage and increases the damage of ‘Void Burns’ by 0.05% at level 1. Once I get it leveled it should provide a nice little boost to my damage.” I guessed he was looking at the spell description.
“And the charm, ‘From the Grave’,” Olaf read the description aloud. “Teaches ‘Grasping Hands’. I’m guessing that’s that illusion. Heath, you want it?”
“Yeah, I’ll take it,” Heath said, catching the charm when Olaf lobbed it over.
“Hey, Heath,” Rose started. “Whatever happened with that Werewolf charm?”
“I’ve still got it,” Heath replied. “Haven’t quite figured out how to charge it up yet.”
“You got a Werewolf charm?” Pwn asked, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Yeah,” Heath drawled lazily. “You know anything about it?”
Pwn replied, “Yeah, I knew this PK, Savage Garden, interesting guy, good with kids. Anyway, I don’t know where he got it or how, but he said he found the charm.”
“Did he happen to tell you how to charge it?” Heath asked, now somewhat interested.
Pwn grinned and answered, “Said something along the lines of unfettered savagery and mutilating the corpses of those he killed.”
Heath frowned. “Well, that’s no good. You guys think we should sell it? Or hold on to it?”
I didn’t like the idea of letting that charm get out into the wide world no matter how much we might make from it. “I say hold on to it.”
“It’s yours to do with as you please,” Olaf said. “However, I agree with Bye-bye on this one. I would prefer you hold on to it. At least for now.”
Rose just nodded along.
“I suppose I can hold on to it for now,” Heath finally said, the new skull shaped charm now hung from the head stock.
“And the last scroll, ‘Double Barrel Hand-Cannon’, an ‘Engineering’ pattern,” Olaf said, almost drooling. “I know I already claimed the picks, but would anyone mind if I grabbed this one up?”
“All you, big guy,” I said. I was happy to see Olaf got a couple of good upgrades. I wasn’t in desperate need of new gear, nor was Rose, Olaf or Heath really, but it was good when we got something. And despite not liking Pwn very much, I was glad to see he got something as well. I did wish Arch would have gotten something. That said, there was something I would be able to make for he
r later. On my very first adventure into the World Tree, and because I chose the ‘Lore’ profession, I came across the skill ‘Valkyrie Strike’. It was a skill that converted any physical damage, like a shot from a bow and arrow, into Holy damage, something that a priest like Arch could definitely use. I just needed to make the skill scroll for it.
“Thanks,” Olaf said, learning the pattern and destroying the scroll at the same time.
Everyone took a few minutes to recover and check their level and progress, myself included.
Level:
23
Experience:
91.65%
Class: Beginner Warrior Priest of Issara
HP (Health Points):
5,750/5,750
MP (Mana Points):
4,700/4,700
SP (Stamina Points):
3,500/3,500
Base
Total
Strength:
230
310
- Melee Damage Modifier
+230
+310
Dexterity:
230
306
- Melee Critical Strike Chance
23.00%
30.62%
- Hit Chance
71.50%
75.31%
- Dodge Chance
23.00%
30.62%
Endurance:
460
575
Stamina:
230
350
Intellect:
345
470
- Spell Critical Strike Chance
35.00%
35.00%
Wisdom:
226
271
Charisma:
326
342
Health Regeneration per 10-seconds:
288
288
Mana Regeneration per 10-seconds:
136
166
Stamina Regeneration per 10-seconds:
175
205
Holy Spell Damage Bonus:
235
604
Holy Spell Healing Bonus:
235
498
Carrying Capacity in Lbs.:
1550
A look around showed most of my party had leveled up after that fight. I was a little disappointed to have been left out. The other downside to death, you don’t get any of the experience. Still, I couldn’t complain, most of my stats were level capped and I was already close to my next level.
After everyone seemed to be ready to move again, Olaf spoke. “Alright everyone, we’re not done yet. We need to get those miners working and the wagon moving. We’ll need to split into two groups, one to guard the miners and one to guard the wagon. I’ll be helping the miners. Heath, do you think your Bard spells can help us mine?”
“If I play a ‘Presto’, the haste might help,” Heath replied.
“Good, you’re with me, you’re also going to be the lookout for any trouble,” Olaf said. He looked to Arch next, “Seeing as having a healer around can’t hurt, Arch, why don’t you stay here as well?”
Arch looked slightly disappointed but nodded anyway.
“That leaves Bye-bye, Rose, and Pwn to escort the wagon. Bye-bye can be your healer for that,” Olaf said.
I sighed. And I was enjoying being a damage dealer so much.
“If there are no objections, we should go find our work crew and get to it,” Olaf ordered with a clap of his hands. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner Mic can finish her Order House.”
The rest of the afternoon was rather easy compared to the capture of the quarry. We ran into the undead on every trip back to Hurligville and from Hurligville to the quarry. Thankfully, they weren’t large groups like we ran into further to the east of the city, and as such were dealt with easily. Still, every time we ran into one of the undead, we were required to deal with it, which delayed our trip. It made a long day even longer.
It was maybe 30-minutes before late bell when the last wagon rolled back into Hurligville.
“Time to call it a night,” Olaf announced loudly. “To the people of Hurligville, thank you for your hard work. I’m sure Micaela appreciates it dearly. To my friends, thank you for helping my wife with her endeavor . . . our endeavor. I’m sure she’ll have the Order House done within the next few days. For now, get some sleep and we’ll head back southeast tomorrow and see if we can finish with the undead condors.”
“Come on, Jack, let’s see if Kirlan is still up. I’ll need to get my armor and shields repaired before we head back out tomorrow,” Rose said, slipping one arm in with my own.
I let Rose guide me into the village.
“So, about today,” Rose started hesitantly. “I’m . . . sorry. I should have ignored Olaf’s orders when you got into trouble.”
“So why didn’t you?” I asked. I knew we would need to discuss the events of earlier, but I didn’t expect it to be bothering me so much even now.
Rose frowned. “Part of me thought he was right,” she answered honestly. “You do a lot of crazy, risky things. And with the situation in the real world right now . . . we can’t really afford to fail because of a stupid decision on your part. What happens if you lose? What happens to us in the real world?”
I was taken aback by her response. I instantly wanted to get angry. It was something of a slap in the face for her to say that. She was supposed to be on my side, wasn’t she? But I didn’t get angry. The fact was, she may have been right. One wipe at the wrong time and Epic would win. But was that the worst thing in the world? Would it really be so bad if I lost to Epic? Wouldn’t that satisfy him? Wouldn’t that force him to put people back the way they were? On the other side of that, there was our deal. So long as I won, he would set people free. I didn’t know what the right answer was.
I was silent for a long while as we walked. There was a lot to think through. “I don’t have all the answers. There is a chance that if I finally lose, it will be satisfied and that will be the end of it. On the other hand, we do have a deal in place that so long as I keep winning, people will be restored. I worry that if I don’t take risks like I have in the past, then we won’t be able to keep winning. But you’re also right, it will only take one stupid decision at the wrong time to cost us victory.”
Rose frowned.
“I suppose, one of the reasons I’ve been so comfortable taking risks is because you and the others are there to back me up. If I didn’t have you, I am sure I would be much more risk averse,” I said, thinking out loud. I wasn’t sure where I was going with this, but it made one thing perfectly clear to me. “I trust you. I trust Olaf and Micaela, Baby, even Heath. I trust all of you so much that when I take a risk like that, they don’t feel like risks because I know you’ll all be there to back me up. Just like I would be there to back you up if you were to do something risky.”
“You know, it’s kind of embarrassing when you talk about me like that,” Rose said blushing. “I guess, I can accept your reasoning, but I’m still going to worry.”
“I’ll do my best to turn down my risk taking,” I said with a grin.
Rose rolled her eyes. “Just . . . try to warn me before you do something crazy next time, or I might not be there to save your bacon.”
I smiled sincerely, “I will do my best.”
After that, we dropped off Rose’s armor and shields to be repaired. Due to the extensive damage, Kirlan said he would need at least a day, and maybe two days, to repair the shields completely. Needless to say, without our tank, our ability to quest was pretty much halted.
Chapter 16
The next morning we bumped into Olaf to catch him up on the status of Rose’s armor and shields, which Micaela was kind enough to have already informed him of. After that, Rose and I both left the Doghouse Inn only to go our separate ways. Rose wanted to spend some time on her ‘Enchanting’ skills and wanted to start at Malcolm’s to see if the Mage’s
Guild representative had gotten anything new in stock that she might find useful or interesting.
Meanwhile, I was kind of stuck. I had maxed out my stats for level 23 already . . . well, mostly maxed out. My Wisdom and Charisma were still a little short, but they could be brought up easily enough. No, I was feeling a little cooped up and frustrated after the previous day’s fight. My destination, therefore, was the back of the barracks and the training area. Hopefully, Sergeant Butters would be up for a little spar.
“Bye-bye Jacko, what brings you to my training ring?” Sergeant Butters asked upon seeing me.
I sighed softly. “I need to do something. Anything will do.”
Sergeant Butters snorted. “Well then, you came to the right place. If something is bothering you, you can work it out with me in the ring. So, care for a spar?”
“Sure, that sounds great,” I said, happily brandishing my spear with a little flourish.
The Sergeant’s grin widened. The man equipped a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, then with that same grin plastered on his face said, “Good, now show me what you have learned since I last saw you.”
I didn’t wait for any further invitation. I flipped back away from him and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I used my ‘Body Control’ subskill ‘Jump’ to close in on him again and strike from above with as much force as I could . . . within reason. My spear clanged loudly off of the Sergeant’s raised shield as he stopped my attack effortlessly. He countered immediately with a probing jab of his own spear, but I was already gone, rolling under his attack and countering with my own jab as I came back to my feet. My attack met nothing but air.
The Sergeant had anticipated my attack and shifted left then forward. His approach left him far too close to use his spear, which confused me. Expecting him to strike with his shield instead, I tried to leap back but something caught my foot and held me down. A quick glance showed me the Sergeant was standing on my foot, pinning it in place. I couldn’t escape the shield heading for my face. I took one hit, then a second before the Sergeant got off my foot. I staggered back, a new ‘Dazed’ debuff holding me in place for a few seconds. Thankfully, the Sergeant didn’t capitalize on my status and allowed me to recover.
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 26
