I instinctively maintained distance between us, knowing I had the advantage with my longer weapon as long as I didn’t allow the enemy to close. I drew deeply on the information flowing from the game and timed my first strike with the slaver’s next stride.
I raised my shield slightly and thrust my spear towards the lower edge of his shield, hoping to slip past for a quick finish, but he dropped his shield and pushed my spear aside, taking a step forward and advancing with an overhand slash at my head.
I ducked back, raising my shield to take his blow and then stepped forward and punched out with the edge of my shield, sending him stumbling back a step.
Taking advantage of his lack of balance, I thrust my spear forward landing a hit. The bronze spearhead sunk an inch or so into the Slaver’s hip before his momentum took him out of range.
*** You strike Saa Slaver with your bronze spear, inflicting a minor wound! ***
The slaver grunted and regained his balance, moving his sword into a more defensive position.
I thrust my spear out again, hoping to keep my momentum going but as soon as my spear cleared the edge of his shield he rushed me.
His shield pressed against my own, forcing it back against my body. I pressed back against his shield and fell into his trap.
His shield gave way before my own and I continued forward, leaving a small gap that the slaver exploited, the pommel of his sword slipping over the edge of my shield to connect with my face.
*** Saa Slaver strikes you with a pommel strike! ***
*** You are stunned! ***
I stumbled back, reeling in pain. Holly shit, the pain in this game was something else!
Ducking behind my shield to try and ward off any follow up attacks, I felt another searing pain cut through my side as the slaver took advantage of my stumble.
*** Saa Slaver strikes you with a bronze gladius, inflicting a minor wound! ***
The sound of metal striking the wood of my shield rang out twice as my blind blocking managed to intercept the next two attacks while I was still stunned. I slashed the tip of my spear across, gaining a little distance from the slaver.
I winced as each movement tugged at the edges of the wound in my side and glanced briefly at my health gauge. My hit points were just over fifty percent and my endurance wasn’t much better.
Focusing on the swordsman’s movements, things began to make more sense. Each step began to seem somehow familiar and each movement of his sword and shield was more predictable.
Now we’re talking, I thought, seeing a pattern where before I had seen nothing. Biding my time, I waited for the slaver to repeat his steps once again. Step, Step, raise the shield, feint forward, step, step, repeat. And there it was, an opening in his defenses. I attacked.
My spear darted right through the hole in his defenses and struck true. The point connected with the man’s leather armor, stopping for a brief second before the leather gave way and the bronze spearhead continued through flesh and bone and into the slaver’s lung.
His mouth opened in a silent gasp, blood staining the man’s lips as I drew my spear out with a twist.
*** You strike Saa Slaver with your bronze spear, inflicting a major wound! ***
As his shield began to droop, I thrust my spear in once again, this time taking him through the throat.
*** You critically strike Saa Slaver with your bronze spear, inflicting a mortal wound! ***
*** You have killed a Saa Slaver. You gain 150xp. ***
I pulled my spear free and turned to see how my companions were faring, finding them standing together off to the side, whispering to each other as they watched me.
“You couldn’t help?!” I yelled to them, wincing again as the pain in my wound flared.
The dwarf shrugged and Kejaa answered “We were waiting to see when you would use your magic, Priest.”
I grumbled to myself under my breath and called forth my magic to heal my own wounds before looting the slaver, adding some coins and some more trail rations to my pouch.
The others gathered loot from their own opponents and then we headed north towards where the battle had been the most intense.
We emerged from the rows of tents to the sight of Dvelgaan and his bedjvain warriors gathered around a kneeling Saa figure.
The bedjvain were arguing amongst themselves in their own language as we approached. Several of them readying their weapons as their eyes fell on me.
Dvelgaan followed their gaze and whispered something quickly to the rest that I couldn’t make out and they lowered their weapons.
As we reached the group, one of the smaller members came forward and embraced Kejaa, examining her injuries.
Dvelgaan turned to Kejaa and spoke to her at length in their own tongue. Once he was done, Kejaa gestured to the kneeling Saa, turned to me, and said, “Priest, this man was the leader of these Slavers. All of his men are now dead or fled. My tribe lays claim to all here as payment for the affront done to my people. The slaves are free to make their own way. You are to tell them they may have water, food, and robes, but all else is the property of our tribe.”
Kejaa nodded to Dvelgaan and continued to translate for the giant man. “You and the D’ev may keep your spoils and are welcome to travel with the tribe until we reach the trade camps”
She paused for a second and asked something else of Dvelgaan as if to clarify a point. She then continued translating. “Dvelgaan asks if you wish to question this one before he pays for his crimes?”
*** Unlocking: Lore (Saa Religion) …100% ***
*** Unlocking: Unknown Origins …100% ***
Another flashback washed over me:
I had discovered a letter left to me from my grandmother, instructing me to seek out the High Priest at the Temple of Heru-et in the city of Sehkem. Against my parents’ wishes, I had booked passage with a caravan from Khem’et to Sehkem, taking only my weapons and armor.
As we left the city, the guards hired to protect the caravan rode by on their camels, one of their number waving in greeting with a warm smile that failed to reach his eyes.
Snapping back to the present I recognized the man kneeling before me as the guard. The slaver captain had hired on to guard my caravan, and instead lead us into an ambush.
The world froze around me as more details began to fill in the gaps in my memory. I remembered waking up in chains, days of pain and exhaustion with the survivors of the caravan. I remembered the long trek across the desert, barely conscious except for the anger I felt at seeing that smug bastard ordering about his men.
I glanced down at the captive Saa; Bloody, bruised, and bound in the chains of his own profession. This man was responsible for all the suffering in this place.
“Yes,” I answered, my calm voice hiding the anger building inside. “I definitely want to have some words with him.”
Dvelgaan smiled and shoved the captive towards me, causing him to fall onto his face.
I rolled him over onto his back with my boot and kneeled down next to him, cupping his chin with my hand. “Well, hello again. Remember me?”
The slavers eyes were unfocused. He was oblivious to the world and was incapable of answering questions.
Well, I could do something about that. I was angry as I called up the glyphs for Soothing Touch. As the spell began to come together, I noticed the outline of another glyph beginning to take shape on the edge of the spell form, almost begging to be added to the whole.
The glyph resonated with all of the anger and passion bubbling inside me, and I recognized it as a component of two of my other spells: Sunstrike and Beacon of Life: The Glyph of Fire.
I willed it into existence and fed mana to the new spell construct, watching the normally golden energies of Soothing Touch become more jagged and hot as they flowed into the slaver.
His wounds began to close but my touch was anything but soothing.
*** Congratulations! You have learned a new spell: Purifying Touch (Rank 1)! You gain 100xp. ***
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*** NOTE: All spells in Sosaku Online are composed of component glyphs. By combining those glyphs in new and interesting ways you can unlock new spells or enhance the spells you already know. ***
*** You cast Purifying Touch, healing the Saa Slaver’s wounds and purifying his flesh. ***
*** You channel Purifying Touch, healing the Saa Slaver’s wounds and purifying his flesh. ***
The slaver’s body went rigid with agony as my magic healed his physical wounds while burning out any impurities from his blood.
When his eyes were no longer blank and regained their focus once more, I let the spell fade and released his chin, starting again.
“Hello there, remember me?”
The slaver glared up at me and squinted, “Should I? What is one more slave amongst the herd?”
“You were hired to guard our safety, and you sold us out. Who hired you?”, I replied, trying to keep my voice calm.
He started to shake, and I thought he might be having a seizure or something but then I realized he was laughing.
“No… No one hired me….” he continued, shoulders shaking. “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. A juicy fruit, ripe for the plucking, with a market ready and waiting in the north.”
His shoulders finally stopped shaking and he glanced over to the bedjvain before turning back to me. “Free me and I will make sure you are compensated for your pain and then some. Do not let these savages have me.”
*** Quest Offered: Free the Slaver? (Y/N) ***
“Hell no!” I answered, standing up. “You think I would help you after all you have done? After all the pain you have caused, not just to me but to all these people. I hope you are ready to face judgment, slaver, because I am sure the afterlife is not looking good for you!”
*** You have invoked a curse on the Saa Slaver! ***
“What?” I exclaimed and focused on the last message.
*** As a Priest, you possess the ability to apply both blessings and curses. These blessings may give minor bonuses, luck, or other effects. Curses do the opposite, inflicting penalties and misfortune upon the target. Be cautious, as this ability can have a direct bearing on your relationship to the divine from which your abilities flow. Blessing those who act counter to their will, or cursing the righteous will reflect upon your own soul. ***
Huh, well I guess his luck just got a bit worse, and he damned sure deserved it.
I laughed and walked away, letting Dvelgaan know Iwas done and ignoring the slaver’s pleading as the bedjvain approached. I did wince however when the pleading abruptly ended in the sound of Dvelgaan’s maul hitting flesh.
*** Quest Complete: Escape! ***
*** You have gained 500xp! ***
*** Congratulations you have reached Level 2! ***
*** You have gained 1 Combat Skill Point. ***
*** You have gained 1 General Skill Point. ***
*** You have gained 1 Divine Skill Point. ***
*** You have gained 13 maximum Hit Points. ***
*** You have gained 17 maximum Mana. ***
*** You have gained 7 maximum Stamina. ***
The world froze as the tutorial guide began to speak again:
“Congratulations! You have reached a new level of experience! With each level gain, your three basic pools will increase and be completely refreshed. With each level you will also gain additional skill points to improve your abilities. Skill points can be utilized to improve the ranks of already known skills, or to learn new skills when they become available. Skill points can be banked for any length of time and will never be lost. Skills can also be learned and increased without skill points, but it is much more difficult. The higher level the skill, the harder it is to advance.”
“Each skill has an associated progress bar that can be viewed in your character screen, or even pinned to your normal view for real time tracking. Alternatively, you can configure the system alert messages to show all increases in skills. This option is currently disabled.”
*** Would you like to be notified of all skill progress? (Y/N) ***
I decided to leave them disabled for now and opened my character stats to see my current progress.
Name: Kheph Sa’tep
Race: Human, Saa
Class: Priest
Level: 2
Experience: 900/1500
Hit Points: 67/67
Mana: 64/64
Stamina: 49/49
Divine Favor: 1
Attributes (Modifier):
--Strength: 13 (+2)
--Agility: 10 (+1)
--Constitution: 13 (+2)
--Intelligence: 12 (+2)
--Wisdom: 13 (+2)
--Presence: 17 (+4)
--Fortune: 12 (+2)
Racial Skills:
--Child of the Sun
--Martial Training
Class Skills:
--Blessing of the Gods
--Divine Blessing
--Temple Training
Boons and Blessings:
--Unknown Origins
Combat Skills: (Available: 1)
--Spear: 2 [26%]
--Shield: 1 [87%]
--Medium Armor: 2 [32%]
General Skills: (Available: 1)
--Armorer: 1 [1%]
--Cooking: 1 [1%]
--Discerning Eye : 1 [8%]
--First Aid: 1 [24%]
--Literacy (Saa): 1 [0%]
--Lore (Saa Religion): 1 [76%]
--Survival (Desert): 1 [33%]
--Weaponsmith: 1 [1%]
Divine: (Available: 1)
Skills:
--Combat Caster: 1 [0%]
Spells:
--Soothing Touch: 1 [43%]
--Sunstrike: 1 [10%]
--Jackal’s Tooth: 1 [10%]
--Beacon of Life: 1 [0%]
--Purifying Touch: 1 [2%]
Reading through everything, I saw that I had earned some small increases in a few of my skills, and some larger increases in others. With my current progress, I didn’t really see a need to use my newly acquired skill points.
There was a giant list of skills and spells that I had yet to discover and I’d rather bank some points so that I could learn new skills when the opportunity arose. Plus, if I could grind abilities at lower levels and save the points for later, why not!?
I closed out my character screen and time began to flow once again.
The bedjvain were quite a marvel to behold. They stripped the slaver’s camp with a quickness and efficiency that was awe inspiring. The other freed slaves began to emerge from the pens as they were liberated.
Someone told the newly freed slaves to seek me out for some reason. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, but I did my best to impress upon them the seriousness of their situation and help them to gather all of the food, water, and clothing that they would need to make the trip back to civilization.
Unfortunately, my words seemed to fall on deaf ears. I wondered if this was even part of this whole tutorial mission or if I was just wasting my time after the fifth time the NPCs ignored me to stare off into space.
I spoke with Kejaa about our destination and learned that there was a semi-permanent trading camp about two days travel to the northeast.
Most likely, the slavers had planned to send one or two riders to gather provisions for their trek to the northern coast while the caravan continued on, skirting the city.
With it being so close, I hoped we would all be able to make it there safely, even in our current condition, and once there I could find passage to Khem’et or Sehkem.
As we packed up, I finally managed to learn the name of my dwarven cellmate. Haegir Tel’vaar of the Tel’vaar clan of Dwarves.
He was an explorer by trade, and after some prodding I managed to get him to share a little of his background. He was a part of an expedition funded by his merchant clan to try and establish a land route across the continent, but one wrong turn landed his expedition in a bad spot, and the slavers
took advantage once the desert had done its work.
Once the heat of midday was over, it was time to move on. I convinced the bedjvain to allow the freed people to follow the main party until we reached the trading post, but beyond that they were going to be on their own. It was the best I could do for them.
We headed north and east, leaving behind the skeleton of the slaver’s camp, the blood soaked sand even now being erased by the wind. My view began to fade, and the narrator’s voice spoke into my mind once again.
“Congratulations! You have completed the tutorial instance. Hopefully by now you have become familiar with the basic interfaces of Sosaku Online and your own character."
"Running a final diagnostic on your character before loading the main game world."
*** LOADING ***
…
Chapter 4
My vision gradually returned, the afternoon sun shining above. I could see the desert in all directions, the bedjvain ahead of me climbing the side of a massive sand dune. I could feel the heat sapping the moisture from my body, and when I glanced back, I could see no evidence of tracks.
Crimson Sands Page 8
