“Ooo eee, ah ah ah! Ding dang walla walla zing zang!”
While the words were surprisingly familiar from somewhere, the sound was still cringe-worthy. Leesha and I endured it with gritted teeth. After a solid forty-five seconds, he stopped, eyes snapping open.
“I have totally divined that this Skynord Frode totem is from the Temple of Hoarfrost,” Raza said.
Leesha snorted involuntarily. “Seriously?” she whispered to me.
I would have made fun of her, but she beat me to it by only a split second. I couldn’t comprehend how a name like that slipped through the cracks. Germaine Studios had tons of meetings and assets built for the thing, and that was the name they settled on?
“You’ll want the Frostfang Clan — they’re the guardians of the temple,” Raza continued, clearly not hearing our snorts. “Awesome, dudes. I gotta say, my Urok man — they are not gonna be happy about somebody stealing this. You will have to get their permission before visiting the temple.”
“You got all that from…” Leesha waved her hands in front of her, mimicking Raza’s woo-woo movements.
“No way, I got all that from decades of studying the arcane and supernatural,” Raza said with a straight face. His face split into a big dumb grin, but I got the impression he was a lot brighter than he was letting on. “I did that because it looks freakin’ sick.”
He erupted into a raspy laugh that left him hacking and coughing.
“Well, thanks for all that,” I said, unsure of how to end this incredibly awkward interaction.
“Wait.” Raza held up a hand, struggling for breath.
I paused and Leesha and I exchanged glances as Raza hacked up his lungs for about twenty more seconds.
The witch doctor stood up and wiped the stringy spit from his beard. “I’m totally down if you want to let the voice of the Mountain Goat Goddess direct you, but otherwise you’re gonna need directions, brethrenites. Head…uh…east from here, to the Ice Spears.”
I waited for more specific instructions. As it was, if we headed east from our current location, we couldn’t help but reach the Ice Spears mountain range. Fortunately, when I pulled up my map, a general area in the mountains was circled in yellow over a blank spot. Sadly, it wasn’t a specific point in the mountains, but a circle with a relatively wide radius I was sure we’d have to explore. It was also about three times as far as anywhere we’d traveled to yet.
Quest Updated: Frosty Relations
Raza, the Horuk Witch Doctor, identified the totem you found as a sacred relic from the Temple of Hoarfrost. The Frostfang Jotuns are the protectors of the temple. Find them, explain how you came to possess the totem, and see what must be done to make amends for its theft by the Blue Hands.
Objective: Return the stone totem to the Frostfang Clan.
+2 Exploring Skill Points
Oh, cool. It looked like Raza simply giving me directions somewhere in uncharted territory was enough to get me some more Skill Points. In all honesty, with all of the fighting we’d been doing, I’d completely forgotten about the Exploring Pursuit. As we made our way out into the unknown, this would definitely be one to keep an eye on. I went to the Pursuits Menu and opened up the Exploring Pursuit Sphere.
Backtrack — Set an anchor point that allows you to trace your trail back to it like breadcrumbs. Area of effect: One half of a mile. Requires 3 Skill Points.
Dungeon Diver Level 1 — Can’t find the exit? This special skill will allow you to map the safest route from entrance to exit of any level in a dungeon classified as Level 1 — though “safest” doesn’t always mean safe! Requires 5 Skill Points.
Pathfinder Level 1 — It ain’t easy being green in the world of exploring. While “as the crow flies” is the quickest way to get from point A to B, the terrain of any landscape sometimes makes that impossible. Based on your skill level, you will be able to search out hidden paths of varying difficulty. Requires 3 Skill Points.
What’s That? — This skill will allow you to better notice items hidden off the beaten path, or even ones hidden in plain sight! Requires 6 Skill Points.
My eyes glanced to the Pathfinder skill. This would be perfect. And as it turned out, I just happened to have taken in enough Skill Points to unlock it. Given the unexplored nature of the territory we were heading toward, anything would help.
You Have Learned Pathfinder Level 1!
“And don’t forget, my young brethrenites,” Raza continued, waving his hands in front of him mysteriously — or at least what he must have thought looked mysterious and not asinine, “if you ever find yourselves diving into the arcan — arcanan — arcanananane —”
“Arcane?” Leesha suggested.
“Arcanonical,” Raza ignored her before succumbing to another coughing fit. “If you’re of the arcanonical persuasion, I’m just the witch doctor to help you.”
Just then, a text title popped up above Raza’s head that said Pursuit Trainer.
“Oh, great,” Leesha said. “We have to rely on the stoner to teach us all about magic.”
“Hey, man! You’d be lucky to have me as a Pursuit Trainer,” Raza said. “But right now, the two of you don’t even have an inch of the arcanonical within your bodies —”
Leesha blanched. “That’s an awful way of phrasing it.”
“— so come back when your powers have awakened. I’ll totally help you understand the change from within your nethers.”
“Once again, awful phrasing, dude.”
Deciding it was time to end this cringe-worthy chat, I held out my hand to shake Raza’s before realizing my mistake. The witch doctor enveloped me in a rib-breaking, woolly-rhino-piss-smelling bear hug. When he finally let me go, my eyes were watering from the stench and he appeared to be tearing up, as if we’d known each other for years.
Upon seeing my fate, Leesha settled for a forced wave goodbye from several feet away. Smelling like a psychedelic billy goat, I made for Frank as fast as I could, lest Raza decide we needed a second hug. My poor ostrasaur let out a distressed bleat when he caught my scent, but luckily I managed to swing up into the saddle before he ran away.
Raza shouted farewells as we headed east. “So long, beautiful brethrenites! May the earth mother suckle you with dirty —”
Fortunately, a hill blocked the rest of his blessing before it could be made manifest.
On the move once more, I mapped a route from our location to the general area Raza had given us. While it wasn’t perfect, the Pathfinder skill actually did help quite a bit, outlining a route to take that was the safest and fastest my skill level could produce. When all was said and done, we were looking at a day-and-a-half-long journey — easily the longest I’d gone anywhere in MythRune since beta.
A journey like that meant we’d need to off-load all of our loot, see what other equipment upgrades we could get in the Horuk camp, and check out these Pursuit Trainers we’d unlocked. But before all that, as soon as we got back to camp, it was nap time.
27
Rest Mode
Z: Hey
Z: Hey
Z: Brandon
Z: Unc?
Z: Hey
Z: Yo, is anybody there?
…
…
…
Z: You’re seriously not going to make me sit here with my own thoughts for twenty damn minutes, are you?
Z: Hey
Z: Hey
Z: What time is it in the real world, anyway?
Z: Never mind, I can see the time here in the corner.
Z: I’ll shut up now.
Z: Glad you’re sleeping.
Z: Or hope you’re sleeping and not dead.
Z: You’d let me know if you were dead, wouldn’t you?
B: Oh my god, Z! I’m here!
Z: Sorry, bro, I’d shut up, but I needed to get an update on all the stuff about the tokens.
B: There isn’t any update apart from what you’ve already heard
Z: Leesha has a theory. She thinks that as you
make your way through the game, based on a number of factors, you can increase your chances of getting a token generated along your quest threads. We don’t know who generated the token. It could have been me, her, or that douchebag who stole the token from us.
B: You guys had a token?!
Z: Oh, you didn’t know that, did you? Man, it’s been a bit since we’ve talked.
B: What happened?
Z: Let’s just say we should have gotten a token, but some guy managed to snatch it from us while we were busy with the bandits.
B: Dammit.
B: Well, it sounds like Leesha’s at least helping you figure this out. That’s worth something.
Z: I have to make sure she never hears either of us say that. She’d never let it go.
B: Ha!
B: look, okay, now that I’m awake, I may as well dig into the logic behind the token drops, but I can’t promise anything. I think people are starting to clam up with all their token info.
Z: they don’t want to share
B: There’s a prize at stake. it only makes sense, doesn’t it?
B: So I know you don’t want us to get caught, but it may be worth looking into digging into the game’s source code.
Z: You can do that?
B: Do you know who you’re talking to?
Z: When did you become so smart?
B: I’ve *always* been smarter than you
B: Seriously though, I’m going to poke around. I can’t promise I’ll be able to give you anything else to work with, but we’ll see.
B: But are we good? I know you hate losing
Z: Damn right I do.
Z: We’re good though. we have, what, fifteen days left or something? We’re golden. We got this. We GOT this.
28
Torgul the Weaponmaster
After waking from rest mode, Leesha suggested we head to Hurka’s shop, where we could sell everything we’d picked up on both of our bandit fights. The merchant Horuk wasn’t too happy to have us unload all of our crap in his shop, but when all was said and done, he still agreed to take everything off our hands for over 3,000 RuneCoins between the two of us.
That brought my total dinero to 1,893. It was far from the most I’d had from my flush beta-playing days, but it would do. Since we were going to be on the road for a few days, next up was seeing how much I could spend on upgrading my gear and skills.
Leesha assured me she’d be able to nab us some meat in the form of rabbit along the way, but once we got to the Spears, food promised to become scarcer. You didn’t get debuffs for hunger — luckily — but you did get a few small bonuses for staying well-fed, so it was worth the investment. I bought several sacks of jerky and dried fruit (which thankfully fit easily into my Bag of Holding), a tent for us, a couple of bedrolls, and blankets. At first, Leesha wanted to just rough it on the ground, but when I reminded her about the debuffs based on sleep quality, she changed her mind. I also purchased some flint and steel to ease my fire-making capabilities in snowy terrain. At least we weren’t forced to buy winter clothes, too — I gave silent thanks to the devs at the thought of not having to wear a parka into battle.
All in all, our shopping trip cost me 645 coins, but the expenses didn’t end there. Seventy-five more coins immediately went to armor repairs from the local smith. Given the fact that I’d almost died (again), certain pieces of my equipment, like my cuirass, needed some love.
This left me with 1,173 coins, which was a nice buffer. The entire exchange with Hurka and the armorer also rewarded me with two Mercantile Skill Points, which was a nice little bonus. That only left the Pursuit Trainers. Fortunately, a Pursuits submenu listed the ones we’d unlocked nearby:
Horuk Pursuit Trainers:
Torgul — Weapons
Izra — Healing
Raza — Arcana
Sunnuk — Underground
For me, it was a no-brainer to head straight for Torgul, the tribe weaponmaster. Leesha went in search of Sunnuk on the other end of town, and the two of us parted ways. As I headed to the northern side of camp, I couldn’t believe how much had changed since my first visit. The collection of tents remained, but now numerous crates and bundles surrounded each tribe member’s abode. Although the merchants had yet to leave as negotiations continued, there was a definite feel of excitement and prosperity in the air. I couldn’t help but smile at the upbeat attitude of the tribe members, who’d once been so unwelcoming and…well, run-down. They might have been nothing more than lines of code, but I appreciated the opportunity to help them nonetheless.
I found Torgul on the edge of camp, inside a circular perimeter of wooden posts pounded into the ground. Within the borders, the dirt was flat and cleared of any vegetation or rocks.
The weaponmaster was easily a head shorter than me, but the surprise of finding a katana in his hands gave me pause. He looked to be performing a kata of sorts. With a quick movement, Torgul made a vertical slice through the air, then pulled the hilt to his stomach and pushed forward in a stabbing motion.
In spite of his bulky, square figure — the dude was built like a bulldog — he moved with unexpected grace. When he finished, he sheathed the blade and bowed.
“Can I help you?” He never opened his eyes but seemed to know exactly where I was.
“You Torgul?”
“You have come to learn the way of the warrior, I take it?”
“I heard you were a master,” I said.
“Ha!” Torgul’s eyes snapped open — hard, piercing green. “Hardly a master. But I do practice more weapons than I can possibly count. A few skills in each, but no master. Still, there is much I could teach you about the battle axe.”
Before I could say anything, the Pursuit Sphere for Two-Handed Battle Axe popped up in front of me.
Tier 1:
Hook and Hack — Hook your enemies with your axe and hack at them once they’re down. Requires 3 Skill Points.
Lock and Twist — Hook your enemy’s weapon with your battle axe and twist it away. Requires 5 Skill Points.
Cyclone (Unlocked) — Spin around in circles with your axe in hand, taking your ferocious enemies down in style.
Swing Speed Increased by 5% (Unlocked)
Tier 2: Must meet with a Pursuits Trainer to unlock
“If you want to excel any further within this Pursuit, I could help you,” Torgul said.
“How much?” I cut straight to the chase. We had places to be.
Torgul smiled, as if appreciating my forwardness. “It’ll be 50 RuneCoins to unlock the tier, and if I can help unlock any specific skills within the tier, it will likely be an additional cost, depending on the skill and how much training is required.”
“Deal.”
Torgul waved his hand again.
Tier 2 of the Two-Handed Battle Axe Pursuit has been unlocked!
The lock that hovered above the leftmost node of the sphere unlocked, and with a flash that spread across the entire tier, the next four skills were revealed.
Tier 2:
Overpowering Blow (Accomplish a task from a Pursuit Trainer) — With a mighty two-handed swing, you break through an enemy’s defense. 12% chance for Critical Hit.
Axemaster (Accomplish a task from a Pursuit Trainer) — A passive skill that will increase your proficiency with axes. (+5% damage, +2% chance for critical hit.)
Axe-Throw — If you catch yourself in a bind, you may find throwing your axe is the only option. Without this skill, you are guaranteed an 85% chance of missing if the enemy is farther than five feet away. Requires 5 Skill Points.
Blockers — When blocking, this increases your chances of absorbing 100% of the blow by 10%. Requires 8 Skill Points.
+1 Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point
Wow, just unlocking the Pursuit Sphere gave me a Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point, bringing the total number to six. That meant I had enough for the Hook and Hack move. Without wasting any further time, I dragged my points into the move.
You have learned
the skill Hook and Hack!
“I see you’re all too eager to learn,” Torgul said, nodding in appreciation. While I’d been checking out my Pursuit Sphere, he’d traded his katana for a bo staff. “After looking over your skills, I’d say you’re in for roughly one hour of training and 150 coins to advance.”
“That much?” I said, not doing a great job of hiding my shock. “It cost fifty just to unlock the tier!”
“Yet you stand before me, still having learned nothing.” Torgul stepped back into a fighting stance. He didn’t look like he expected me to turn him down. And he was right.
“Touché,” I said, pulling the axe from its oddly magnetic home on my back.
“Good, now, I want you to hit me as hard as you can,” Torgul said.
The next hour went buy in a rush of axe swings, sweat, and plenty of whacks from Torgul’s freaking staff that found my head all too often. At full pain sensitivity, it was as bad as the worst football practice I could every remember, and I felt like I’d be just as sore afterward, if not for the quick recovery function in the game. Still, no pain, no gain. My beating unlocked Overpowering Blow.
This was an especially great move to deal with a heavily armored opponent. To execute the attack, I swung right to left diagonally, then let the momentum carry the swing a second time in the opposite angle and direction. From there, I used the momentum I’d built to spin like throwing a shot put before bringing my weapon down with one final bone-rattling swing. Additionally, it was possible to trigger the attack with a single swing, but it wasn’t quite as effective as when you built up to it. I doubted the move would have much effect in a real-world combat setting, but in a game it was pretty sweet.
God Mode: A LitRPG Adventure (Mythrune Online Book 1) Page 19
