*** You cast Sunstrike at the Shamanic Vessel! Shamanic Vessel is burned by holy fire! ***
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Sunstrike spell! Rank 2 Achieved! ***
After our combined attack, its health dropped to forty percent and a large crack appeared down its center. Half of its body fell away, revealing a glowing green sphere at its core that remained floating in the air.
We both darted away and waited for it to focus its attention on one of us, but instead the sphere started to pulse, pulling the broken bits of its body towards it across the rocky ground.
“Shit! Next phase! Kill it quick before it heals!” she yelled.
We charged in, striking blows at the exposed core while dodging and blocking the wild swings of the constructs remaining arm.
It dropped to thirty percent, then twenty, and ten.
Its movements became slower and slower as we hacked away at it and any semblance of repair disappeared.
When it reached ten percent, the core began to slowly pulse and at five percent it seemed to become invulnerable to our hits.
“AHHHH! What the hell!” Kjara yelled in frustration as she chopped away at the glowing core, “Just die already!”
The pulsing became constant.
Pulse………. Pulse………. Pulse…. Pulse…. Pulse….
Something clicked in my gamer-lizard brain. “Bomb!” I yelled, “To the tunnel! Now!” and ran as fast as I could to the entrance to the cavern.
Kjara hesitated for a split second before a look of understanding came over her and she followed, quickly passing me by even with my head start.
The pulsing light followed us from the room, getting faster and faster. Pulse, Pulse, Pulse, Pulse... and then a bright flash.
A wave of light and heat washed over us and knocked us to the ground. Then all was quiet.
*** You have destroyed the Shamanic Vessel! Your party gains 600xp! ***
***Achievement Awarded: You’re not the boss of me! ***
*** You have defeated your first boss encounter! ***
*** You have gained 100xp! ***
*** Quest Update: Salty Infestation. ***
*** You have cleared the Derrington Salt mines of the infestation! ***
*** Return to the caravansary with proof of your deed for your rewards. ***
*** Congratulations you have reached Level 4! ***
*** 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. ***
*** Kjara has reached level 4! ***
I groaned and picked myself up off of the ground, trying not to breathe in the dust that was filling the air. “Kjara… you okay?” I asked.
“Hngggg,” she groaned in reply from further down the tunnel. “Can we just lay here for a while? Maybe a week. A week would be good.”
I laughed and said, “Sure, you rest there. I’m going to go see what kind of loot’s waiting for us.” and started walking back towards the boss room.
Three steps later she was at my side. I grinned at her and said, “Thought that might get you moving.”
As the dust settled in the boss room, I could see a large circle of obsidian where the rock had been liquified by the power of the explosion.
“Glad we got clear of that,” I said. “Looks like it was a one-way express ticket to the afterlife.”
The blast zone was still steaming when a chest faded into view in the middle of the crater. Kjara grinned and then danced across the hot ground and threw open the lid.
As my eyes focused on the chest, a popup filled my vision.
*** Congratulations! You have defeated your first boss encounter and found the Boss Loot Chest. This type of chest contains the treasure for the boss encounter. Each member of the party will receive a piece of loot appropriate to their race, class, and skillset. This loot may be traded but can only be removed from the chest by the player for which it was created. No Ninjas Allowed. Coin and other common goods will be divided evenly amongst the party. Enjoy! ***
“Perfect,” I said. “At least the developers have addressed the issue with the Fae-bios of the world. No ninjaing the really good loot.”
I gestured to the chest, “Would you care to do the honors?”
Kjara grinned and reached inside, pulling out a slightly curved sword with an intricately wrapped silver hilt. “Wow, this makes the blade golden boy stole look like a hunk of junk. Dungeon loot is where it’s at!” she exclaimed.
She reached back into the chest and brought out a small sack as well that she emptied next to the chest before tucking it into her bag, revealing a moderate healing potion, twenty four gold pieces, ten silver pieces, and twenty two copper pieces, a whetstone, a vial of lamp oil, and a small armor repair kit.
“Kheph! Come on down! You’re the next contestant on the ‘Loot is Right’!” she said, mimicking an old TV gameshow voice.
I reached into the chest and a loot window appeared in my view. It contained one icon with a question mark and another with the picture of a small sack.
I selected the question mark and a bronze and steel war shield took shape in my hand. I drew it out of the chest and looked it over.
The front of the shield was intricately carved with the head of a Jackal, an unlikely coincidence considering the Jackal was the symbol of my patron deity.
Examining the item caused its properties to appear.
Shield of the Jackal – A war shield used by the priests of old, this enchanted shield grants its bearer an additional bonus when channeling divine magic through it. Additionally, it provides an increased block chance and can absorb more damage than a standard shield of its type.
“Niiiiice,” I said, equipping it in place of my old shield and then removing the remaining loot from the chest. I’d received a similar random loot assortment as my moon elf companion: twenty four gold, ten silver, twenty two copper, a moderate stamina potion, a skinning knife, and a cast iron pot.
“So, what are we supposed to turn in as proof that we cleaned this place out?” I asked, looking around. Most of the room was decimated.
“What about the shaman?” Kjara replied. We headed over to where he had fallen before and looted the corpse.
Both of use were able to take a quest item called “Gib Shaman Regalia” which took the form of a necklace made out of bones, as well as whopping two copper pieces which we split.
We made our way back to the surface and into the midday air, finally breaking free from the stench we had somehow become acclimated to. We made a temporary camp nearby, taking the time to rest and repair our gear.
I offered to trade the skinning knife to Kjara in return for her armor repair kit, and she agreed.
Using the kit, I was able to do some field repairs to both of our armor, restoring its full effectiveness before the materials in the kit ran out.
As we waited for our pools to recover, I remembered that I wanted to ask Kjara about her seemingly endless stamina. “So how were you able to do all that running and dodging without running out of stamina in there?”
“Oh that?” she answered. “After running myself ragged in our fight with the wolves I found a trainer in Tael’va who was able to teach me the Endurance skill. It basically makes you into a marathon runner, decreasing stamina usage for almost everything except skill use. It’s a critical skill for warriors that I wish I had thought to take at character creation… But reading through every possible skill before starting to play was just not happening.”
Making a note to learn that skill as soon as possible, I responded “Okay. That one is next on my list of things to learn. I almost burned through all my stamina just dodging that thing’s laser hands in there. I don’t have any combat-based skills yet, but just being a
ble to move around without risking exhaustion would be quite a benefit. Plus, I have these skill points to spend, might as well use them.”
“Wait,” she said, “You haven’t been using them as soon as you level? Why wouldn’t you use them?”
I shrugged, “Normally in these types of games, when you can rank your skills up through use or through points, it’s much better to rank them up in the early levels by using them, when it’s easier. Once you get high enough level it gets very hard to do it that way. So, if I can save the points now, I can use them later when leveling via use will be hard. Or to pick up critical skills I didn’t even know I needed… like Endurance. Is it a combat skill or general skill?”
“Combat,” she answered.
“Awesome, one combat skill point reserved for that,” I replied with a grin.
By that point our pools were full, and the hottest part of the day was behind us, so it was time to move on to the oasis. As we stood to leave, another message flashed on my screen.
*** System Alert! You have spent over 8 hours total in a party with the character Kjara over multiple instances! Would you like to add Kjara to your friends list? Having another player on your friends list will allow you to see when each other are in the game, and even send personal messages to each other while within safe zones. ***
***Add Kjara as a friend (Y/N)? ***
I hit yes without any hesitation and grinned as I saw that Kjara had done the same.
*** You have added Kjara to your friends list! ***
*** Kjara has added you to her friends list! ***
I noticed a small icon near my inventory and other interface icons and when I focused on it, I could see a readout showing Kjara was online. “Now we should be able to find each other if we want to group up again. Speaking of which, remember when I told you about my patron?”
She nodded as we began our trek towards the oasis.
“When I was in the underworld, I got a quest to root out a necromancer who was setting up shop in Sehkem. My racial boon quest is also pointing me to that city, so I’m planning to head there with a caravan tomorrow morning, well, as long as the caravan will let me buy passage.”
She frowned a little. “You’re leaving Tael’va? Who’s going to not heal me in battle then?”
I chuckled, “I do heal you, but I get distracted. And that doesn’t have to change if you’re not too attached to Tael’va.”
“Oh, you want me to come to Sehkem with you?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said with a grin. “Who else am I going to leech xp off of?”
She was silent for a bit after that as we continued our trek towards the oasis. I could tell she was mulling something over and didn’t want to press, so I left it alone.
As we approached the oasis, she broke the silence. “How much is the passage to Sehkem, and why wouldn’t they take you as a passenger?”
I gave her the rundown on the caravan, the racial issues between Saa and dwarves, and the wager I had with the caravansary NPC. I even offered to split the cost with her if my bet came to fruition and I got the NPC to pay my way.
“Are you going to try and get more gold out of the quest, since it is open ended like you said?” she asked.
“Nah,” I answered. “I’m pretty sure it’s just an oversight on the dev’s side. There’re a lot of things that get into games because the dev’s never consider the loopholes players can think up. I’ll try for more gold as a proof of concept, but if the exploit works, I’ve already got the bug report written up. And if the dev’s don’t remove the gold from my inventory, I’ll just give it to an orphanage or something.”
She looked at me strangely and asked, “You a priest in real life or something?”
I laughed and said, “No, I just hate cheaters and exploiters. They ruin these games for everyone. Last game I played almost had the entire economy go tits up because one group of people figured out how to duplicate materials to sell on the auction house. I’d rather earn my way making the game a better place for everyone than game the system.”
Before I knew what was happening, I was wrapped in a hug. “Keep being a good guy Kheph, the world needs more of them”, and then she was gone, walking off towards the Oasis.
“Oh, and yes, I’ll come with you to Sehkem. We’ll make a healer out of you yet!” she laughed.
…
Chapter 13
We approached the oasis cautiously, constantly scanning the horizon for hostile desert creatures. My racial knowledge told me there were predators that hunted the desert that wouldn’t hesitate to take on a small group such as ours, but so far we had managed to stay off of their radar.
A wide path led the way through a wide swath of greenery towards the center of the oasis, the sand of the desert slowly transforming into packed clay and then dirt. It seemed to be well maintained and wide enough for a single wagon to travel.
Following the path was the logical approach, and seemed to be in line with the markers on my mini map. We followed the path to the end and spooked a small herd of antelope-like animals that had been drinking from the clear pool before us.
Taking advantage of the situation, I approached the water and refilled my water skins from the pool. As I finished filling the last skin, I began to have the distinct feeling that I was being watched.
I stood slowly, trying to act natural as I slung the now filled skins over my shoulder and backed away from the water.
Looking back towards Kjara, I could tell she had sensed something as well as she had her bow in hand and was actively scanning the tree line.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“No”, she replied. “I thought I saw something moving in the trees but now it’s gone.”
“Knowing our luck, it’s a ravenous pack of wolves” I joked.
“Or a swarm of gibs” she replied.
“Or an angry dryad” said a third voice and we both jumped and whipped around to see said dryad standing not five feet from us.
I raised my hands to show I meant no harm and Kjara did the same, although raising her hands also served to draw attention to her bow.
“I told your people to stay away Saa, why have you returned.” the dryad said angrily.
Trying to be as diplomatic as possible, I responded, “I was unaware of this, guardian. We were merely seeking someone who we were told had come here to obtain some rare herbs for our employer. We will happily be on our way if you can point us in the right direction. Her name is Reya. I...”
She interrupted before I could finish. “The one you seek cannot be disturbed. She is the reason that your people were told to stay away. Why all were told to stay away. Reya has entered a vision quest to connect with the spirit of this oasis.”
I must have looked confused because Kjara came to the rescue, “Kheph, it is a thing of nature. Moon elves, dryads, the bedjvain… Those closely tied with the world. When one hears the calling to become a druid, they can undergo a quest and bond with a spirit of the land. There’s no telling how long she will be.”
She nodded to the dryad, “Thank you for letting us know. We will leave now.” And then pulled me back towards the entrance of the oasis.
*** Quest Update: Broken supply chains. ***
***You have learned the whereabouts of the herbalist Reya. Return to the Crimson Vial and inform the proprietor of your discovery to complete the quest. ***
We left the oasis and headed back towards Tael’va, taking the most direct route until it joined up with the trade road. About halfway back to the city we paused when Kjara spotted a small group ahead of us, and as we got closer I could see some sort of conflict in progress.
A small wagon was being circled by several riders on camelback. One of the riders was shouting at someone seated in the front of the wagon while the other two circled.
Eventually the driver stepped down from the wagon and approached the mounted man, raising his hands in a pleading gesture and motioning to the wagon.
We were almost
in range to hear the words being exchanged, but the need for such quickly went out the window when the mounted man pulled a giant falchion from his back and lashed out, striking at the wagon driver who barely avoided being cut in two.
Pulling my shield from my back, I charged towards the conflict, a quest notification popping up as my intentions were made clear.
*** Quest Offering: Defeat the bandits! ***
*** Bandits have chosen to prey on the innocent. Teach them the error of their ways. ***
*** Rewards: xp, Coin, Reputation with the Free People of Tael’va, Appropriate Reward Item. ***
*** Accept Quest ? (Y/N) ***
Accepting the quest midstride, I began preparing a Sunstrike spell for the minute I got into range.
A bit of motion to my right revealed Kjara rushing in as well, her pace matching mine as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and raised her bow.
One of the bandits spotted our approach and raised the alarm before heading to intercept us, brandishing their blade and yelling, likely trying to scare us off.
The rider’s charge brought them close enough for my perception to activate, revealing their information.
*** Krek, Level 2 Bandit ***
*** HP:95%, SP:60%***
Stopping, I set my spear against the charge while Kjara slipped behind me and raised her bow.
Somehow I could hear her calm breath over the charging camel, in and out in a slow, almost meditative flow. The breath was punctuated by the twang of a bowstring and a flash of color as the arrow sailed past me.
The raider reared back and raised their sabre overhead to strike, and then tumbled to the ground with an arrow lodged in their throat.
Crimson Sands Page 18
