by Andrew Lynch
‘Severo,’ Ixly growled, not in his usual booming voice, but in a low, threatening snarl. ‘Get up. Command your defences. Don’t fail at your first true test of being a leader. Your men need you.’
I looked past him toward my cultists. The ones that were still alive were recovering, joining up with Ixly’s Stagodon to form ranks and attack the Child of Light.
‘What are they doing?’ I mumbled. ‘It can’t be beaten. They need to run.’
Ixly shook me. ‘Then tell them. It’s your job.’
‘My job to what?’
‘Save them!’
He dropped me and ran back to his men, ready to join the futile battle.
What was the point? Hursh and his entire army couldn’t beat one of these elite creatures. When they finally got through its first Life bar, it had multiplied.
But… I had left that Situation early. I didn’t see the end of the fight. I sprung to my feet, my senses suddenly returning. It wasn’t lost. Not yet.
‘Horace! Ixly!’ I was just close enough for them to hear me over the gestating, moist sounds of the Child of Light. ‘Do not engage. Run! Get everyone to hide!’
I turned and ran through the light honour guard who were still standing impassive. I passed Koif, who refused to look at me. I went back in through the window of the lumber mill and knocked on the hatch.
‘Hello?’ The old woman’s voice answered.
‘The Child of Light. Did you ever manage to kill one? For real kill one?’
‘No.’
I held back tears that wanted to flood forward at this. My last hope, suddenly crushed. ‘Okay. Thank you. I’m going to surrender to Koif. Try and bargain to save as many of my men as I can.’
‘Now don’t go doing anything foolish, boy!’
This damn old woman! ‘Foolish? You just said it’s hopeless!’
‘Listen to what I’m saying, not what I’m not saying! Damn young kids jumping to conclusions. Our master’s skill with magic was entirely water based. Water magic has no effect on light.’
I thought back to the fight. ‘But your magic was dealing damage. It doesn’t have a light shield, so the magic type doesn’t matter.’
She muttered a word I didn’t understand but knew exactly what she was calling me. ‘The hydra respawn ability it uses when it dies is similar to your Shadow Clone. If the majority of damage that is inflicted, and then the final blow, is caused by the opposing class, then the defensive spell is negated. Didn’t anyone teach you the basics of magical point defence theory?’
‘And all my mages are now using Shadow magic because of the minor shadow gems I gave them all.’
‘Exactly. You may be young and foolish, no doubt about that, but you have managed to collect, quite possibly, one of the largest concentrations of Shadow mages in a very long time. It’s an Elite, so all you need is some sort of Elite level shadow spell or shadow weapon for the killing blow, and you’ll be fine. Now off with you. We’re busy!’
‘Busy with what?’
‘Old people things. Like hiding. Go away.’
I stood up and headed back to the window, to see how the fight was going – even though calling it a fight at this point was too generous. It was a full on retreat. Everyone outside the walls had scattered. It was chaos and they were under constant assault.
Or were they? The Child of Light wasn’t actually landing any hits. My cultists had it surrounded and were darting in for feinting attacks when they could. Distracting it, using their high agility defence to allow the slower Stagodon to return to the walls.
I glanced back at the floor hatch. An epic level shadow spell or an epic level shadow weapon? All my spells were standard, I was only level 12. Oh, nope, 13 now. Being involved in battle really boosted that xp, but also was so distracting I kept missing it. I needed to get to Ixly and ask how I could earn an Elite level spell. Maybe I could upgrade my Jailor’s Manacle to an Elite weapon? Too many questions, not enough time. I vaulted out the window and ran toward the Child of Light.
Chapter 50: Regroup, Replan, ReElite
Koif had taken his honour guard off to the side and they were all sat cross legged in meditation. They looked in perfect peace, their white robes still unmarked by the battlefield. The serene Pristine Guard.
I, however, was looking a bit worse for wear. A scattering of dead earth was strewn across me, turning my black robes into a grey and brown mess. All of my cultists were in a similar or worse situation. If they were still alive at all. Ixly was looking less albino and more dead-earth-camouflaged by the minute.
Ixly was the only non-cultist left in the fight. He ducked under the swinging attack of the Child of Light, lifted his war drum above his head, and brought it down with all the force he could muster. 3 damage.
My cultists, experts at precision knife work, were still occupying the monster by darting in and out of range while those in its blind spot ran in for fast and rapid hits. Horace was out of the fight, struggling to drag a now unconscious Teint back to safety. I watched as one of my cultists went for the attack, got in close and let out a flurry of six stabs. 1 damage.
Those were bad numbers.
‘Ixly!’ I shouted, almost in range to start my own attacks. ‘Get back to the walls!’
As he was reeling back from his almost ineffectual attack, he looked at me and for the first time I saw him truly flustered. He had never faced an elite like this before. The man that had been steadfast and willing to die when facing down a Moonbeast now looked lost. He nodded, and retreated.
I skidded to a halt and charged up my Soulburn. Even at twenty metres away, it was impossible to miss. The screaming purple bolt charged, aimed, and fired. It had been freakishly powerful in this battle, so maybe…
As the Child of Light was swiping at a too nimble cultist, my spell hit its flank. Threads of darkness snaked out from where my shot landed, but faded away after a metre. Almost nothing on the giant monster. I looked up at the nameplate to check the damage that pinged off. “32”.
Balls!.
When facing a monster with tens of thousands of Life, just because I did the most damage by far did not make me feel good when that damage was a mere 32.
I looked to the walls to try and order some artillery, but no mages were up there. Or even my ranged units. Eyes above, where was everyone! I needed to know if that extra damage was because of my unexplained extra power, or shadow magic in general.
I needed to focus. I needed to get to Ixly and find out about elite spells and weapons. How to cast them, where to get them and how to do it all within the next five minutes before that giant son of a bitch killed everyone.
But what to do about my cultists? They were doing an amazing job of tying the Child of Light up, distracting it from the rest of Thanis. But I could see their Stamina draining. They couldn’t keep this up forever.
‘Keep at it!’ I shouted encouragement.
I gave the dashing cultists plenty of room as I ran around the boss fight.
I passed through the breach to see Ixly tending to his wounded Stagodon. Horace was clutching the hand of Teint, whispering in a dark tongue. I joined them.
‘How is he?’
‘He always takes these things hard,’ Teint said, ‘But I think he’ll pull through.’
‘Oh, Teint, you’re awake? I couldn’t see under that hood.’
Teint patted Horace’s hand with his spare one. ‘The molten light cauterised the wound, so there was no bleed damage. Aside from the fact I’ve lost my legs below the knee… I’m pretty okay, master.’
‘Phenomenal. Horace, a word?’
‘Master, please!’ Horace snapped. ‘I must tend to my congregation.’
‘No! Damn it, Horace, get your head in the game.’ He needed what Ixly had given me earlier. A slap to snap me back to reality. ‘Don’t waste your time on Teint, who is fine, when you could be saving other lives.’ I grabbed him by the robe and pulled him to his feet. ‘Horace, I need you now. The rest of my cultists are out ther
e holding off a beast of incomprehensible power. Get your shit together, and follow my Eyes-damned orders!’
He looked at Teint, then back to me. ‘Master. What are your orders?’
‘Where are my mages? I wanted to call artillery in on the Child of Light, but no one was there.’
‘They were sent to help at the main gate, master.’
‘Oh shit! The main gate! Right, good decision. We’re holding?’
‘We’re holding for now.’
‘All right. I’ll get to that. For now, I need you to find every single troop that is Agility based and fast. I know there’s at least the war dancers, but find anyone else too. Send them all out against the Child of Light and rotate the units whenever the engaged troops get down to 50% Stamina.’
He nodded and ran off. I turned to find Ixly drumming a slow beat on his, now slightly bent, war drum.
‘Ixly. Elite spells and weapons. What do you know?’
He continued his drumming and looked at me. ‘Why?’
‘Hursh’s mage council. The Child of Light hydra respawn is because of a light based defence spell when it dies. It’s an elite, so we need an elite spell or weapon that counters light to break through it.’
He nodded slowly. ‘A hydra-respawn light defence? All elites have some sort of death ability, but that one sounds particularly nasty. I know a little, but… not enough.’
I shrugged. ‘Well, I need to know what you know.’
‘Elite enemies will drop craftable items that can be forged into an elite weapon, or a scroll for an elite spell. An elite spell can be channeled without a crafted scroll if you have enough casters all casting at once and at least 100 levels above the spell requirement.’
‘I didn’t know anything had a level requirement.’
He grumbled to himself a bit. ‘It’s a soft requirement. You’re right, they can be used at any level, but the lowest level elite in the game is a 100, so…’
‘Ugh. Fine. Channelling an elite spell or crafting a scroll is out. What about weapons?’
A group of five men sprinted past us, their black cloaks flowing behind them. Their faces were hooded, but aside from a leather breastplate, they wore only cloth. On the outside of both arms and legs, almost acting like thin strips of armour, were multiple blackened blades – straight, serrated, hooked, you name it they had it. Damn, they looked cool. And I hadn’t seen them before now, so clearly they’d been doing their job as assassins well! Hopefully Horace would find more.
‘Elite weapons vary hugely. Scraps that you can craft, as I mentioned. If the elite is humanoid and wearing gear, then all of that gear will be elite. Of course, that means they’ll be extremely tough because their gear adds to their toughness. Elites are more commonly monsters, like that Child of Light, or the Moonbeasts. Crafting weapons from their remains is usual. But there is a low chance that they will have a useable item on their body. Or, if you know where their hideout is, many elites like to hoard treasure.’
‘Or have treasure stuck in their feet,’ I added.
‘Not typically… no.’
I waved that away. ‘Never mind.’
A group of nine tall, lithe males and females ran past us. The wardancers from earlier. Sadly, down a member.
‘There was a thing in the Moonbeast den. When I went down there, there was a weapon holding the Moonbeast in place. It was called a Dark Thorn.’
Ixly held up a long, taloned finger. ‘Just Dark Thorn. Not a. Also, that den was several hours travel. The Child of Light will have done its work by then.’
I turned to look out the breach, where the elite monster was still working hard to try and hit anyone that came close. Two more troops left the walls. They both floated on glowing discs and wore long flowing robes. I had no idea how they were going to help, but Horace knew what he was doing.
‘Then what do we do?’ I asked.
Ixly looked at his wounded Stagodon, and the Geeko that were now swarming over them, trying to fix broken bones. ‘I do not know, Severo.’
‘Then we have to hide. We’ll keep it too busy to be useful. And I will return to the Moonbeast den and find Dark Thorn.’
‘We won’t survive,’ Ixly stated flatly.
‘There’s no other option!’ I shouted at him.
The frantic movement from everyone halted for a split second as they stared at me and my outburst. A moment of silence in chaos. Then a Stagodon, too hurt to be lucid, growled in pain, and everyone sprung back into life.
‘I saw you out there, Severo,’ Ixly said in a low voice, for my ears only. ‘What’s happened to you? Your spells were like elite versions. And twice now, you’ve lost yourself to some sort of battle rage. You’re no berserker. What’s going on?’
‘I was going to ask you the same thing,’ I whispered. ‘I wasn’t doing anything different. At first I thought maybe it was because I was out of my tutorial levels, but I was out of them when we encountered the skeletons.’
‘Then I don’t know what’s happening. There are a lot of unknown events occurring here. I’ve never seen anyone gather so many mercenaries under their banner. And no one knows what the shadowgems might really be doing. Perhaps every time you distill them with your magic, although it drains you, they retain a link that you draw upon, and all of the mages are feeding you.’
‘The little wizard Geeko say that?’
‘He’s been having some thoughts, yes.’
‘It could be that. I’ve also been having weird visions when I’m fighting. And I can’t log out.’
‘Can’t log out? What do you mean?’
Another group of lithe, tall elves, all geared in… oh wow, I had to stop and look. Geared in the tiniest of leaves to cover their unmentionables… nice.
‘Sorry, uhh, logging out. I mean I tried to log out and I couldn’t.’
‘That’s not too surprising. We’re probably in combat this whole time. You can only log out while in combat if you’re in your altar, or it’s an emergency evac.’
I slapped myself. Of course I couldn’t log out when I was in combat! ‘Eyes damn my balls with athlete’s foot! Koif was screwing with me. Some weird mind game. He’d been trying to get me to surrender and… shit. I’d doubted everything.’
‘He seems to be a smart one. Perhaps he is the cause of your visions too?’
I thought back to the flashes of white light, the too bright ceiling, and the people stood over me. And the corridor filled with… I tensed and froze as a searing heat lanced up my spine.
‘I don’t know.’ I winced at the pain as whatever I’d been thinking of vanished. ‘It doesn’t really matter. I know he’s playing mind games now, so I won’t fall for them.’
‘Are you… okay, Severo?’
‘Hmm? Yeah, of course. Why?’
‘You just looked like you were in pain, but you didn't lose any Life.’
‘Nope. I wasn’t in pain, when?’
‘Just then.’
‘I think I’d know if I was in pain, Ixly.’
‘Of course. My mistake. So, we hide?’
‘That’s right, in Bri’s tunnels. Get as many people in there as you can while the Child of Light is too busy to notice.’
Ixly cleared his throat. ‘You want us to hide underground from a creature that travels underground?’
‘No, Ixly, I don’t. But there’s no other choice. It’s there, or on top of the walls. There’s nowhere else to hide. Okay?’
‘As you wish.’
Chapter 51: Cast Regrowth
‘What do you mean you don’t want to?’ I asked Ixly.
‘They… scare me.’
I nodded in agreement. ‘I can’t argue with that. All right, I’ll do it.’
I stepped onto the soft grass of Bri’s quarter. The light artillery had left several ugly scars in the otherwise pristine grove, but the cobblestones lining the path from the entrance to the ancient tree remained unbroken.
A lone Spriggan was standing amongst the massive tree’s roots, block
ing the entrance to the underground cave. I had Ixly and a horde of hastily gathered troops at my back. We had to hide so I could find an elite weapon to kill this Child of Light before the Agility troops’ luck finally gave out.
I marched forward, and as I closed on the Spriggan, its nameplate appeared.
Eyes. I’d have rather been dealing with the scarred, insect-like Stagatha than this.
She Who Slays kept her brown, wood knot eyes on me as I approached.
I raised a hand in greeting. ‘We need to get into your tunnels.’ I quickly thought better of that and rephrased. ‘We require your aid, and would like to enter the caverns beneath Thanis. May we enter?’
She let out a piercing screech and shook a branch at me. Unfortunately that didn’t come with subtitles.
‘Does that mean… yes?’
She screeched and shook. I took a step forward to see if she would step aside to let me pass, but she took a step forward to meet me. We were now nose to knot.
She let out a low creak and a whistle of wind through her dead branches.
I cleared my throat awkwardly. ‘Umm, I’m going to come back in a moment. With a translator.’
I wobbled back down the cobblestones until I reached the group of grizzled veterans, all refusing to tangle with She Who Slays.
‘Fetch Horace. And make sure he brings Teint.’
A minute later, Horace arrived carrying a legless Teint on his back.
‘We can get a stretcher, Horace, there’s no need to carry him around like that.’
‘No, master. This is my cross to bear.’
‘Right. Teint, how are you feeling?’
‘My feet are killing me, master.’
I almost laughed, but managed it into a groan of disapproval before I gave myself away. ‘All right. Let’s do this. I just want you to know, Horace, that if she kills me, it isn’t your fault.’
Teint cut in. ‘She won’t kill you, master. She’s got real softwood at her core.’
‘Yeah… it’s the spiky, gnarled, vicious, stabby exterior that I’m concerned about, if I’m honest.’
