“No worries,” Rodger said.
Baby sighed, “Yeah, no worries.”
“Alright, next up,” Olaf said, producing a scroll. “Dark Wave,” he read. “I’m guessing it’s that explosion spell Xan used. Any takers?”
Sin stepped up once again. “I kind of feel bad getting all this dark magic stuff.”
Olaf shrugged before saying, “Better it goes to someone who can use it. Plus, this is basically an undead raid dungeon. We were bound to get a lot of dark related items. I’m more surprised Pwn hasn’t been going after them.”
“I happen to be very selective,” Pwn insisted, crossing his arms.
Olaf shrugged again, “If you say so.” He was already pulling out the next item. “What the devil is this?” He pulled out a giant rib bone that had one end wrapped in leather like some kind of curved club, and asked, “And who is Kāne and why am I holding his rib?”
“That would be my God, brother,” Teak said, raising his hand. “I think this one’s for me.”
Olaf didn’t argue. He just handed over the giant rib club thing. Shaking his head, I heard Olaf grumble, “Now gods are giving away their ribs. What’s next? Their children? Wives?” He shook his head again.
The next item that came out was a bone white ring. “Ring of Bone Mending. Looks like a healing ring but it doesn’t seem to have an attributed element.”
Duncan quickly stepped up, “I would like that one. Should work quite nicely for me.”
“Baby? Arch? Any objections?” Olaf asked, looking to the two healers.
“No, I’m better with Holy items,” Arch said.
Baby added, “Nature for me.”
Olaf pulled another scroll, “Magic Bullet: Death.”
Dixie finally put her hand up. Something she could use finally dropped. Seeing as she hadn’t gotten anything yet, he begrudgingly handed it over to her.
“I’m afraid that’s all,” Olaf announced, he was about to continue when Trinico waved to him.
Trinico spoke up. “I think now is the time. I will cast my spell. I will lead us to the Phylactery. And when we find it, we will finally destroy Xan’s evil.” Trinico then carved her own, much smaller arcane circle into the ground. She then filled that circle with black powder and what looked like bone chips. It took me a second to recognize them as the materials we’d been bringing her.
Trinico brushed her hands clean when she finished. She then moved into the center of the circle and began to chant. Within seconds she began to glow with a turquoise light. All of a sudden, she floated up off the ground a few inches. And when she spoke, I knew Trinico was no longer at the wheel. In a voice that reminded me strongly of my Goddess, she ordered, “Follow, mortals.”
Olaf was quick to lead the others down the stairs behind the rapidly moving Trinico. I was about to follow as well when I took note of a different green glow from the corner of my eye. It made me pause as the other players rapidly followed inside.
Instead of following, my eyes were drawn to the light. The sickly green light from before still permeated the plateau. If the lich was defeated, how was that possible?
Reksoni’s skeleton still glowed green. The arcane symbols were no longer growing across the bones, but the glow remained, nonetheless. There were no cultists left, so shouldn’t the spell have failed by now? Shouldn’t Reksoni be at rest? And did dirt just shake free near that shoulder? And were those eyes always dimly glowing? And why did it feel like those eyes were looking at me?
A soft rumbling growl filled the plateau as the dragon started to slowly move.
Class Quest Alert: Holy Dragoon vs. Unholy Dragon
The unholiest of magics has been used to raise the Ancient Dragon Reksoni from the grave, tainting his soul with darkness and unleashing a rage unlike anything seen in the World Tree since the time of the Primals. Be brave hero, luck is on your side. The incomplete ritual has left him weak. Destroy him and put his soul back to rest before it is too late.
Reward: Experience, Hidden, Ancient Dragon Claw
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
I let out an uncomfortable giggle. Was this a joke? And why couldn’t I just say no?
The
I risked glancing back toward the stairs but there didn’t appear to be any help coming.
The bones creaked, cracked, and rattled, drawing my eyes back to it as the undead dragon stretched out his wings. As he did so, a dark foggy smoke formed into a leathery membrane to complete them. Reksoni gave a few tentative flaps to test them and nearly sent me flying off the side of the plateau. If not for my ‘Zephyr of the Open Field’, he just might have succeeded.
I wondered once again how I was supposed to kill something like that. Trying to calm down, I focused on the quest text telling me Reksoni was weak. How weak? Could I even see his HP given his level? His health bar was black to me.
Reksoni started sucking in air. I have no idea how that was possible as there were no organs to speak of, yet it happened all the same. Fortunately, I recognized the action for what it was. He was getting ready to breathe fire.
I quickly leaped as high into the air as I could. I didn’t want to get close enough to really find out how much damage the fiery breath of an ancient dragon could do.
Reksoni unleashed a wave of black fire that engulfed the plateau and himself, charring his own bones in the process. When Reksoni finally stopped, his bones glowed red hot, some of them even seemed to be melting.
“I. Am. Become. Death!” Reksoni roared, spreading his wings once again, blowing out the fires that raged around him. With a few mighty flaps of his wings, he was starting to gain some lift.
“No,” I whispered. I couldn’t let Reksoni take flight. He could destroy everything. I glanced at my SP and MP. I had burned quite a bit trying to stay in the air above Reksoni, lest I get caught up in his attempts to see what he was able to do. But now . . . now, I needed to act. More, I knew I wouldn’t be able to duke it out with him. One hit and I was as good as dead.
I pushed off a bit of hardened air. I pushed myself higher. Then higher still. I jumped off one air step then another. I jumped so high I could see the massive World Tree, and even from here it looked unreal. I could see this World. The massive expanse of provinces and the multitude of terrains. I saw not one sun but many and just as many moons. All of them circling the World Tree, as if it were the center of the universe . . . because that was exactly what it was. The World Tree was the center of this universe.
I looked down. Reksoni was just a speck. A small dot, though I could still see his wings slowly flapping, slowly gaining altitude. I jumped up higher and this time I was met with a damage notification. I had reached my limit, there was no oxygen left for me to breathe and I was now suffocating.
Here goes everything, I thought. I flipped and pushed off. I formed multiple steps on my way back down, using each one to push myself just a little faster. I had an insane all or nothing plan. I just needed to make sure I hit. Reksoni was a big target, I really hoped my aim would be good enough. I really didn’t know how I could miss such a large target. Then I felt my ears pop followed by a small boom from somewhere above . . . behind me.
With my spear in front of me, the tip glowing white hot, I dumped every last point of MP and SP I had left into my ‘Holy Meteor’. It was barely a few hundred of each by that point. But it was more than enough.
Spell: Holy Meteor
Level: 3
Experience: 0.00%
Description: Fall from the heavens, pierce, and shatter the world with your divine might.
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: 50-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Deal -2-HP damage per point of MP and SP used plus weap
on damage. Jumping or falling from height multiplies your damage by 1 per 15-feet. Ignores armor, cannot be blocked. Damage in excess of targets remaining health will explode, spreading any remaining damage equally to all targets within 50-yards of impact.
Mana Cost: All
Stamina Cost: All
I hit true, a glowing weak spot at the base of the dragon’s skull. A white burst of light and energy filled the sky. I would later learn the flash of holy light had been seen from as far away as Root City. I wished I could have seen it myself from outside the tower. I imagined it was quite the show.
When the light faded from my vision and the spots vanished, I finally saw the damage notification. I dealt -7,423,541-HP damage. I don’t think I could have repeated that feat if I tried. It was pure luck I managed to hit the unbelievably large undead thing, let alone hit that weak spot so perfectly. For a moment, I wondered if my Goddess had interfered or perhaps another God or Goddess. I was also certain my ability to do what I just did would be removed by the time I logged back into the game next month.
I was laying down in some kind of powder and barely had enough SP to even lift my head. It looked like it was snowing or had snowed. There was white powder everywhere. I had a few notifications flashing in my periphery, ‘Zephyr of the Open Field’ gained several levels. ‘Holy Meteor’ gained one level. And then there was the quest update.
Class Quest Alert: Holy Dragoon vs. Unholy Dragon – Completed!
The unholiest of magics has been used to raise the Ancient Dragon Reksoni from the grave, tainting his soul with darkness and unleashing a rage unlike anything seen in the World Tree since the time of the Primals. Be brave hero, luck is on your side. The incomplete ritual has left him weak. Destroy him and put his soul back to rest before it is too late.
Reward: +500,000-Experience, Title: Legendary Dragonslayer, Ancient Dragon Claw, Soul of Reksoni
I was curious what a ‘Legendary Dragonslayer’ title gave me, so I pulled it up.
Legendary Dragonslayer (Increase damage against dragons and those related to Dragons by 40%. When you slay a dragon or one related to dragons, you have a 1.00% chance to receive rewards unique to your race or class.
Well, that was indeed interesting. I closed the messages and relaxed. I was sure whatever Olaf and the others were dealing with back inside the tower, could be handled without me.
Eventually, I mustered what little strength I had left, and sat up. The dragon was gone. Sitting near my feet was all that remained of the legendary creature. There was part of a claw, maybe a foot to a foot and a half long, a scroll, and a disk that looked a lot like the trophies the Order collected.
Finally, I scooped up a handful of the powder and rubbed it between my fingers. It wasn’t snow but dust. Grittier and with little black motes of dust mixed in here and there. Was this . . . bone? Did I really just hit that dragon so hard that all that remained was bone dust? I snorted a laugh at first, then I broke down into a fit of laughter. My friends were never going to believe just how much overkill I just delivered. “Go big,” I laughed, “Or go home.”
I don’t know how long I laughed or laid in the bone dust, but at some point, I saw Olaf standing over me. He looked around in confusion before looking down at me and asking, “What the bloody hell happened up here?”
I just started laughing again.
Chapter 36
“I hate you. Like, I really, really hate you,” Pwn complained, glaring at me.
While grinning, I laughed. “And I hate you too, Pwn.”
“So, what did you get?” Micaela asked, eyeing the small pile of loot.
I crouched down to pick up my rewards. First was an Ancient Dragon Claw. “Marie is going to be very happy about this,” I said, sliding the claw into my bag.
“Why? Is that one of the pieces you needed?” Micaela asked.
“It is,” I said.
“Hate you even more,” Pwn commented, though it was completely ignored.
“What about that little disk looking fellow?” Micaela asked, trying to subtly direct the conversation, something that wasn’t her strong suit. “It looks an awful lot like a collectible trophy.”
I picked up the disk and held it out to her, “It is. It’s called the Soul of Reksoni.”
Micaela smiled brightly, snatching the disk from my hand, and dropping it into her bag. “Thank you very much.”
“And the scroll?” Rose asked, picking it up to look for herself. Holding it out for me to see, she asked, “Why can’t I even read the description?”
If it was like the cloak Olaf found earlier, then it was a unique skill or spell for me alone. I took the scroll and smiled. ‘Holy Dragon’s Breath’. I quickly accepted when it asked if I wanted to learn the spell.
Spell: Holy Dragon’s Breath
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Description: Unleash holy dragon fire to burn anything in your path.
Spell Damage: -1,000-1,500-HP per second
Spell Damage (additional): -150-200-HP per second for 30-seconds
Spell Cast Speed: Channeled
Spell Damage Radius: 45⁰ Cone
Spell Duration: 5-seconds
Cooldown: 24-Hours
Range: 8-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Breathe holy dragon fire in a 45⁰ Cone in front of you dealing direct damage for as long as your target or targets are caught within the flames. Additionally, will afflict ‘Holy Burning’ on any target caught in the flames to a maximum of 5 times.
Mana Cost: -1,500-MP
“Oh my,” I said, rereading the description.
“What? What is it?” Olaf asked.
Grinning, I said, “I can breathe fire.”
“So much hate,” Pwn said, still being ignored.
“Now this, I have got to see,” Rose said with an excited grin.
“Later,” I promised. “Right now, while Baby has everyone else helping her collect as much of that bone powder as possible, I want to know what happened to all of you down below?”
“Found a vault hidden within one of the empty vaults. The Phylactery was hidden there. Trinico cleansed it while we fought the undead guardians and a couple of shadow creatures the phylactery spawned. It really wasn’t a big thing,” Olaf said nonchalantly. “Well, not big compared to your ancient undead dragon.”
“Get anything good?” I asked.
“Not much from the phylactery event but Trinico asked us to come see her back in Hurligville after she had a chance to recover,” Olaf answered. He shook his head as if he were lost in thought for a moment. “I’ve never seen her look so . . . exhausted. I hope she’ll be okay.”
I hoped so as well.
Olaf shook off the memory and started speaking again, “Anyway, the hidden treasure vault had more gold, silver, and copper as well as a couple more treasure chests. I managed to snag a couple more engineering blueprints. One for Dragon Bullets and another for Dragon Hand-Cannons. Why a dragon would need those things, I have no idea. Duncan got a blueprint for a Dragon Long Rifle. Rose picked up a pair of gauntlets. Mic got a block of something called Dragonstone, whatever that is. What else,” Olaf paused to think. “Oh, Arch finally got something, a new bow. If Elara had survived it probably would have gone to her instead, but Arch was more than happy for the upgrade. That means everyone got at least one piece of gear. More importantly, we’ll all get one more upgrade when we turn in the completed tower quest with Mack.”
I looked around for the citizen rogue but didn’t see him. “Where is Mack anyway?”
Olaf answered quickly, “Mack went with the Sergeant and Trinico back to the Flatlands Camp. I think the Sergeant was then going to return with Trinico to Hurligville. Eagle is doing one more sweep of the trap floors, looking for any sign of another hidden vault that we may have missed before. As soon as he’s back, we’ll call the raid done and get out of here.”
I breathed a small sigh of relief. I was ready for this raid to be done. I would even go as far a
s to say I was ready for the month to be done. How had it only been three weeks? I gave Olaf a nod of acceptance and wandered off to have a seat and wait for Olaf to officially announce the raid was completed.
Rose sat next to me to wait. “So, you’re going to show me the footage later, right?”
I nodded. There was no reason not to. There would be a lot of questions if I published the video, maybe even some outrage and threats from other players demanding to know how I had done it or demands that I delete my hacked character. Some might go as far as to bother Seed Inc. over it. No, in this situation it was best to keep it private. Especially as I expected the skill to be changed in some way to make sure no one could ever do it again. There was no way the developers could let such an overpowered skill remain in the game. At least, not without limiting it somehow.
I must have missed Eagle’s return because Olaf started speaking. “Well done everyone. I know we struggled a bit here and there with this raid, but all in all, I would say we did pretty darn well. We’re going to make our way back to the Flatlands Camp to turn in the quest. From there, we’ll head back to Hurligville to turn in the other quest. As soon as we’ve turned in everything there is to turn in, I will officially call the raid completed. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Pwn spoke up. “When do we get paid?”
Olaf answered, “I’ll be mailing out your share along with the details of what we earned, what we spent, and what everyone consumed and the cost of those consumables. As much as this is a game, this is also a business, I want everything to remain above board.”
Heavy was quick to ask, “Are you taking out the cost of what we consumed?”
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 61
