Auger & Augment

by Wilson A Bateman

  Almost immediately a notification flashed in front of me.

  Namara has invited you to her party. Do you wish to join?

  Just as suddenly, the notification disappeared. New HUD elements indicating the HP, MP, and SP of my party members popped into existence. I guessed I must have thought something the game took as a “yes.” Everyone’s stat bars were filling, taking back the ground The Mayor’s Curse had taken from them, now that Huth’Ga had released us.

  ”Well, that was easy," Mac continued. “Okay, all, Me’Almah’s got point. Varba’s on heals. Zen, you’re on recon. Casters, let Zen know if you need mana. Melee, keep back until we know what we’re up against.”

  It had all been part of the debrief the night before: Me’Almah, the orc, would serve as our party’s “tank,” keeping enemies’ attention and shielding the group; Varba, the goblin, would heal any damage done to the party using her Light spells; Slynx and Katz would do melee damage. Though they had Wind and Dark seeds respectively, spellcasting wouldn’t be their focus. That role would fall primarily to Mac. Between the six of us, we had five of the six elements covered, with only Water missing. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but at that moment I would have killed for a Mana Seed of Water.

  Mac took a breath, and then let it out slowly. “Did I miss anything?”

  As Mac spoke, Varba began casting. Her cheeks and nose glowed as if she were shining a flashlight into her mouth, and as she intoned the words, light came flashing out from inside. Her eyes took on a glow all their own that, in the grayscale of Dark Vision, was reminiscent of staring into an LED. The spell completed with Varba standing tall and serene. Just looking at her made me feel… energized.

  I checked my notifications.

  …

  You are affected by a party member’s Aura. Stamina Point, Mana Point, and Hit Point Regeneration is increased.

  ...

  Looking to my stat bars, I saw a small icon signifying the buff. As I focused it provided more information.

  Aura II (2 min 38 sec) — Varba

  +6/4/2% Stamina/Mana/Health Regeneration

  Varba didn’t bother giving me time to thank her. “I’ve got something to say," she began, scowling as she spoke. “Everyone remember that we’re Level 4 at the most. If you get hit the only thing I have to heal you with is Slow Heal. It’ll restore 11 HP—over 30 seconds. ‘Almah, that means it’d take me 5 minutes to heal you to full. Those are heals for fighting bunnies. Don’t be idiots! We don’t know the dungeon’s level, but everything here is as likely to one-shot us as anything, so let’s keep pulls small, and let’s do whatever we can not to take hits.”

  “I can Bind incoming mobs, if I can see them. That might give range more time to do damage. Lasts 3 seconds," Me’Almah offered.

  “Do it,” Mac concurred. ”Everyone with range, go all out if it lands; otherwise, you know what to do.” She blew out another deep breath.

  “Okay," she continued, “maze rules: Zen, scout down the left hallway and follow the left wall. We want the smallest group possible for our first pull, or we need somewhere defensible.” She shivered. “Centerstage at a crossroads is not where I want to be.”

  Settling my ethereal form to the floor, I felt my way down the hallway, thankful that my fourth-ranked Ether spell expanded my ethereal presence to feel both walls simultaneously. It didn’t take me long to find the first gap, but it was on the right, so I flowed past. The width suggested it was a doorway. A similar doorway appeared on the left not long after, and I made my way through, still following the left wall. There was something there, but it felt so indistinct... rectangular, but barely there. It didn’t have the more substantial feel of something living, so I moved on. More indistinct shapes, and then something… sticky.

  It was an experience I’d never had before in my ethereal form. Mostly I just moved through and around things. This object required that I actively pull away. Curious, I wafted closer and began probing the object, searching for clues as to what it was. When it stirred, I became even more determined to “see” it.

  When it bit me, all thoughts of seeing it fled. I shied away and raced back to my body, ignoring the walls in my way.

  I had cried out physically at the unexpected attack, so I opened my eyes to see Mac and Varba crouched by me, concerned, while Me’Almah, Slynx, and Katz faced the dark hallway, weapons drawn. The space behind my eyes throbbed, but I struggled to my feet with Mac’s help. “There’s something in the first room on the left!” I reported. “It bit me!”

  The others turned to face the left hallway, down which I could just see the creature moving into view, resolving itself against the uniform background, and hurling itself toward us. I loaded Varba’s mana back up as the entire party cast as one. Bind, Thin, Weaken, Poison, Ignite. I saw each debuff land. Holy crap, I thought, what chance does this sucker stand?

  Since I was the only one not doing anything, I looked at the monster’s information. I had celebrated too soon.

  Void Kraken — Level 12

  Hit Points: 99/99

  The party reordered itself as Mac continued slinging spells, Me’Almah placing herself at the entrance to the hall to keep the monster penned, Slynx and Katz flanking her. Three seconds had never passed so quickly. Even though she was expecting it, Me’Almah had just enough time to raise her new buckler as a large, taloned foot raked down at her. As big as she was, Me’Almah was still only Level 3, and the clawed toes caught the top of the shield and pulled it down easily, powered by wiry muscles and the weight of the creature behind them. A thick beak darted into the gap, looking to take advantage of the opening.

  Stunned by the speed of the attack, I had frozen in place. The others had no such problem. Me’Almah shifted the blow she’d been preparing for a strike at the leg, and aimed for the beak instead. It darted back out of range of her mace, and the clawed foot slipped off the buckler and to the floor, scoring Me’Almah’s thigh as it fell. Almost immediately Me’Almah was surrounded by light, Mac and Varba calling out as one. The burst of fire that hit the beak cast the hideous face in sharp relief, throwing writhing shadows on the hallway walls.

  “Zen, fill me up!” Mac shouted, breaking my stupor. I did so, careful not to supply too much.

  The beak was surrounded by a nest of tentacles that were grasping wildly for something to pull in close enough to bite. Aghast, I watched as one of them whipped out wide around Me’Almah to grab her from the side, wrapping itself around a hastily raised forearm. “Slynx!” she shouted, pulling the tentacle tight while simultaneously using her buckler to fend off another attack by the grasping talons.

  Already at her side, Slynx whipped his hand axe overhead in a swift arc, drawing a deep gash on the tentacle and forcing it to release the tank. The damage had been done, however, and as the tentacle released her, Me’Almah collapsed backward.

  “Melee, keep it occupied!” Mac shouted and dove forward to drag Me’Almah clear. Seeing she’d need help, I grabbed hold of the orc as well, my Strength gains hauling game for Mjorn helping to pull Me’Almah clear.

  “She’s got health!” Mac called to Varba. “So what’s wrong with her?”

  We left Me’Almah to Varba, and I continued pumping Mac full of mana. She was doing the most damage, after all. Watching with exhilaration, I noticed she was casting something I hadn’t seen before. It had to be Fireball! Just as she finished casting though, I remembered: Fireball had an area-of-effect component, and Mac was ready to catch fire herself from the Playing with Fire spell effect! Neither Mac nor I had put any extra points into Constitution, which meant she was about to take a huge hit! She must have figured it was worth doing to end the fight.

  “Shiii—” I bellowed, darting forward to grab the back of her tunic just as she finished casting. Fire gathering in her hands before arcing through the air toward the squid-faced monstrosity. Yanking with all my might, I pulled her with me as I threw myself back. “—iiiiiit!” We tumbled to the ground together, chased by a blast
of fire.

  “Ah! Haaah!” Mac gasped, as she realized her legs were very much on fire. I joined her in beating out the flames. Her health was dented, and she hissed as she moved her legs to stand. It wasn’t happening.

  “Zen!” Varba shouted. “It’s Almah’s mana; she’s stuck at zero! Get it up!” Katz and Slynx had placed themselves firmly in front of Mac while she waited for healing, their weapons raised in anticipation of the beast leaving the fireball’s radius. A glance showed Varba’s glowing eyes locked onto Mac’s burned legs, so I left them to it and focused on our tank.

  Varba was right that Me’Almah’s mana was gone, but it was a matter of a moment to restore it from zero. Me-Almah’s eyes shot open, and after seeing the look on her face, I felt sorry for the beastie! She grabbed my proffered hand, then vaulted to her feet. The sudden weight threw me off balance as she charged forward, chasing the fireball’s petering flames and racing over the blistering stone to close with the monster. She joined the kraken in a frenzy just after Mac’s latest cast of Distant Flame landed.

  Katz and Slynx parted to allow Me’Almah through, and then they rushed at the creature right on her tail. Katz slid between its two long legs, daggers ablur, while Slynx grabbed its left tentacle again and hacked with his axe. The kraken stomped wildly against the gnome savaging its legs, leaving Me’Almah an opening. She took it. Shifting away for a moment, she then lunged forward with all her weight and drove her buckler hard into Cthulhu Jr.’s face. The over-sized chicken legs scrambled to find purchase, but Katz’s onslaught had weakened them enough to make the effort a bridge too far.

  “Back!” Mac shouted as the creature collapsed to the ground. It began kicking wildly at the wall, struggling to stand in the narrow hallway. Katz took a glancing slice from a taloned foot, cried out in pain, and then stumbled. Not missing a beat, Me’Almah bent to scoop the gnome up and then bolted with Slynx for the casters. With a triumphant shout, Mac completed her final cast of Fireball, and the hallway again erupted into a hellish inferno.

  A high, rattling squeal broke from the creature as it burned.

  You have slain a Void Kraken — Level 12 for 240 (base 360) Experience Points!

  Congratulations—you have reached Level 5!

  You have 12 Attribute Points to allocate.

  Me’Almah has reached Level 4!

  Slynx has reached Level 4!

  Varba has reached Level 4!

  Katz has reached Level 4!

  Me’Almah has reached Level 5!

  Slynx has reached Level 5!

  Varba has reached Level 5!

  Namara has reached Level 5!

  Katz has reached Level 5!

  We all stood watching as the fire burned itself out, and then Varba began casting to make sure everyone’s health was topped off.

  Mac turned to me. “Ze-en!” she sang. Her eyes glittered, and her face broke into an evil grin. “I heard you cu-uss!”

  Pointedly, I glanced down at her blackened breeches. “Liar, liar," I responded.

  Me’Almah chuckled weakly and then crumpled to the ground.

  Chapter 20

  ...

  Me’Almah is suffering from Mana Bleed!

  ...

  Mana Bleed — Void Kraken

  You have been attacked by a creature of the void. Your mana will drain at a rate of 1 Mana Point every 3 seconds until it is healed.

  We had all gathered around our fallen tank to help, but it was clear that Varba was taking point. Scowling, she examined Me’Almah’s arm. “Zen, wake her up at least, and keep her up! If this debuff acts like your mana transfer spells, I don’t want her turning grey!” She took a step back and began casting, then swore under her breath when nothing came of it. Me’Almah woke, but lay still, sensing Varba’s growing foul mood. “Aura is still active, and Close Wound didn’t work," the healer muttered. “She still has Slow Heal on her. It’s probably a curse. Damnit! Anyone else have any ideas?” Her face continued to darken as the realization that there was nothing to do sank in. “Pheh!” she finally spat, throwing up her hands in disgust and storming away.

  Mac gave Slynx a look, and he nodded, following Varba. The goblin and dwarf began talking quietly while Mac got down to business.

  “Almah, you and Zen are going to be best buddies for a while, but you’re going to have to give him a hand and expand your mana pool. Just a couple of points. If we have to fight anymore of those things I don’t want anyone fainting.” She was in full raid leader mode, raising her voice to be heard by the whole team. “Otherwise, everyone allocate your Attribute Points from leveling. It looks like we’re not too far under-leveled for this dungeon, but we’ll need everyone on their A-game.”

  Nodding in agreement, I excitedly opened my Character Sheet. 12 Attribute Points to distribute! There was really only one thing for it though. I began dumping points into my Intellect.

  Intellect

  Your ability to understand the world. Learn faster. Be smarter.

  +310 Mana Points (+10 to Mana Capacity/point)

  +31% to Spell Damage (+1% spell damage/point)

  +.31% to Experience Point gain (+.01% exp/point)

  310 mana! With Ether active that brought my regen to...

  Mana Regen: 60 = ((12 base + 62 from Ether) * 9% from gear)-20 from Mana Bleed

  -20 from Mana Bleed?! “Uh, guys?”

  ***

  Given that I was likely to alert monsters to my presence and suffer further mana damage besides, it was decided that having me scout wasn’t the safest option. That job fell to Katz instead. He hadn’t yet acquired the Stealth skill, but he had the highest Dexterity of the group, and so would best be able to escape incoming mobs. He’d simply have to learn Stealth on the fly. And so, with one of Varba’s Slow Heals and a spell of his own called Wind at Your Back that increased running speed, he crept down the left hallway to make our next pull.

  Since our stats had nearly doubled from the first fight, the second pull went much more smoothly. Mac began casting as soon as Katz entered our field of view, and had a target by the time her spell was complete. As she shouted out the spell, Varba’s voice rang in counterpoint, and flames burst among the tentacled mass that comprised the “face” of the second kraken. Riding high on new stats and not wanting to be outdone, the others unloaded their opening spells in tandem with a second Distant Flame from Mac. Me’Almah repeated her shield rush while the kraken was still bound, knocking it to the floor with ease since it was unable to move its legs to compensate. Katz and Slynx fell onto the exposed legs and brutalized them within seconds. I just sat back and topped everyone up until I heard that rattling death cry a second time. I couldn’t help but grin at the sound.

  Screeches answered from all sides, cutting my grinning time short.

  Mac took no more than a second to recover, and I was beginning to see why the others were so comfortable with her leadership. “Left hallway—now!“ she shouted. “We hold the first clear room. Katz, get us there! Me’Almah, cover our backs!” As a unit we sprang into action, Katz’s agile form bolting ahead of us down the hallway and toward what we all hoped against hope was a safe haven—or at least somewhere defensible.

  “Somewhere defensible” ended up being the very room where I’d scouted the first kraken, though getting everyone there was a close thing. Slynx reached the doorway first and began hurriedly pulling the casters into the room. Mac found herself manhandled for the second time that day as his tug lifted her off her feet—just as a beak gnashed into view in the doorway and was met by Me’Almah’s shield rush from the opposite direction. The resulting impact knocked both participants to the floor. Slynx placed himself between the casters and the kraken, straddling Me’Almah’s legs to swing his axe at the monster. He aimed to take out the longer flailing arms while Varba and I grabbed at Me’Almah to help her into the room and onto her feet.

  “Got ‘im!” the tank called as soon as she had her feet under her. Slynx moved his bulky form to grant her the doorway, which she f
illed. Katz wasted no time in ducking through her legs to stick the writhing mass, using his Dexterity to keep himself out from underfoot as he plied his trade.

  Mac had also regained her footing and had sized up our surroundings. Seeing Slynx free, she barked over to him. “Help me with this table!” As the kraken scrambled to its feet and the melee retreated, Slynx and Mac raced to flip the table on its side and shove it across the doorway. It wasn’t an insurmountable barrier—it only covered two-thirds of the doorway—but it was enough of one to slow the krakens and provide protection from those scrabbling claws.

  With our position fortified, Varba and Mac began casting in earnest. Poison and Slow Heal from Varba and Distant Flame from Mac—a weaker spell than Fireball, since space was so tight and mana was so low. Katz and I were relegated to simply bracing the table with our backs as Slynx and Me’Almah met the attackers hand-to-claw overhead, prodding with their weapons where they couldn’t swing. I couldn’t risk my mana, and Katz was simply too short. I glanced beside me, sure that being pushed to the sidelines would frustrate the gnome, but he just grinned at me and began cleaning under his fingernails, a picture of nonchalance.

  Not nearly so confident of having earned my keep within the group, my mind raced through scenarios in which I might be more helpful, but came up empty. It was too crucial that I keep my mana up, something that became more and more difficult as Me’Almah took one, then two more Mana Bleed attacks and Slynx acquired one of his own. Within a short amount of time I was no longer able to spare any mana for the casters. My priority was keeping our tank conscious, and I was already worrying over the decisions I might have to make if Slynx took too many more stacks of the debuff.