It was only a few days ago that I promised myself I’d never face-tank again, and already that promise was broken. I wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive the hopeful naivety of past-Liset thinking she could somehow pull this off.
Because current Liset, that is, me, was getting her ass kicked by these kobolds.
It was working so far, though. We made our way through narrow, winding tunnels of the underground hideout. There wasn’t a single trap not tripped, not one that didn’t have a pile of kobold corpses stacked together. So when Therion led us through the tunnels using his old Umbramarks to guide the way, it surprised me just how many kobolds remained. And it saddened me to see how many of his men we found. Therion made sure to tell me that there were more we hadn’t found. Travelers, like us, who disappeared in light upon death.
I wanted to tell him I understood. That I remembered the massacre of my hospital back in Manhattan, and that was after losing so many patients from lack of staff and supplies. I wanted to offer some comfort. But I also knew that look on his face. He felt responsible, and nothing I could say would make that feeling go away.
When we’d come upon a band of kobolds, I’d use my holy book as a shield, cowering behind it during the Sola Fide debuff that popped up in between casts of Lenity, my holy shield. Other times I’d go a bit more hands on and bash them with the good word of Gaia. Between Acuity, my HoTs and direct healing spells, and the SP-to-HP effect of my new golden bangles, I managed to keep myself alive.
Eating the damage like that hurt like nothing else though. No matter how many times a pickaxe scraped against my arm or a club knocked me off my feet, I never got used to it, even if the healing magic felt like a rush of endorphins and the greatest high I’d ever known, short of Affka. I felt like one of those clerics who were into self-flagellation and wondered how the hell Kismet managed to put up with it, let alone do this for me daily.
It let the rogues get their chance to get in backstabs, though. Their multipliers went from normal attack damage to two or sometimes eight times the damage. Kobolds were squished like ants under Matt’s hammer or fell over with a squeal from Therion’s axe or Robby’s crossbow. Kjen fussed about not being able to use his grenades but took comfort in the fact he could still poison with his twin daggers. I barely had to heal them, and seeing them alive, that was enough for me to suffer through the blows.
It wasn’t a technique I’d ever want to consider using again, but it worked. We were alive, and we found the [Kobold Shaman] that Rose had warned us about.
Speed, Silence, and Maximum Violence
The Kobold Shaman waited in the middle of a large cavern. In addition to a candle on his head, he held a lantern dangling off a staff, though he was blindfolded himself. Occasionally he’d tilt his muzzle to the faint winds in the cave system and sniff, his whiskers twitching, and he’d direct the multitude of kobolds around him, at least twenty, in their task of carrying away rocks.
“Are they turning our hideout into their new home?” asked Matt, taking a knee beside me as we squatted in stealth by the entrance. Robby reloaded his crossbow with a soft click
“Damn well looks like,” said Therion. “Alright. Liset, do you think if we—”
“I am squishy and soft and not doing that again,” I blurted out. I had been stabbed in the gut four times, and it hurt like it did after my gallbladder surgery back on Earth. Only this time without anesthesia. I didn’t think I’d be able to do a sit-up for a week.
Therion clicked his tongue and nodded. “Fair enough. I just want to get in there and get Rose free as soon as we can.”
The Kobold Shaman hunched over and touched his hand to the ground. His head swayed side to side as if scanning lines like an old printer to see what the world looked like. Acuity confirmed my suspicions.
<<<>>>
Casting Spell...
Seismic Sensing: Allows the user to detect the whereabouts of friends and enemies alike, highlighting them in orange in the area of effect. 40-meter range. Can be used while Blinded.
<<<>>>
Forty meters? Damn. That was the range of Acuity. If I saw him... he saw me. We didn’t have much time. “We’re not going to be able to do much stealth here,” I said, explaining what I learned to them.
Kjen rubbed his beard. “Vibrations you say, eh?” he said. “Oi, Matt, how’s your rhythm, boy?”
I picked up what he was thinking. “Right! Matt, if you use your hammer to hit the ground near him, that’ll disrupt his senses. Any attack on him would essentially be from stealth at that point.”
Matt nodded his understanding and held the shaft of his massive hammer with both hands. Kjen laughed and rubbed his hands together. “Does that mean I git to use my grenades ’ere, sister?”
“We’ll have Matt tank the shaman, and the cavern is large enough you and Robby can wreck it to your heart’s content to take care of the twenty or so adds. Just keep them off Matt. I can’t heal through burst damage very well if they’re all on him. And Therion—”
I looked around. “Where’d he go?”
The others shrugged.
Therion, axe raised high over his head, was already cutting down kobolds left and right on his way to the shaman.
“Goddammit all to hell,” I yelled, running after him. I managed to pop a shield of holy light on the man before any rat-men did some real damage. For a moment, up to half a minute at least until the damage of twenty angry fists popped it, he was the shiniest thing in the room, and had all their attention.
He wanted to fight kobolds? He could fight kobolds. Served him right.
The others joined us shortly, trying their best to stick to the plan.
Before Matt got within ten feet of the shaman, the kobold leader stomped his foot and sent a shock wave of rolling earth towards the Risi, knocking him flat on his back. I popped a HoT on him and cast a direct heal on Therion, who had learned his lesson and was leading the kobolds in a circle around the room. I couldn’t help but hear Yakety Sax playing in my head, though by the soft chuckle from Robby next to me, maybe Gaia was providing a soundtrack again.
Matt was on his feet again in one leap. I shielded him from further damage as he roared and smashed the ground with his hammer. The shaman stumbled back and shook his head. Kjen got him twice, once in each kidney, but was knocked back by a swirl of flame from the shaman’s lantern. I popped a HoT on him, too. Robby stayed back by me, firing bolts on the group of kobolds following Therion. Therion and Kjen switched places, tagging out with a quick slap of their hands, and the former swung his axe at the lantern’s staff, cracking it like a tree.
The shaman was not deterred. Despite Matt doing his best to slam the ground as often as possible, the light from the lantern still worked and kept most of the rogues from slipping into stealth, and the remaining ten kobolds were able to see everything.
A few kobolds noticed my healing. I blocked a club with my holy book and dodged a pickaxe aimed at my neck. Robby grabbed my arm with his good hand and pulled me out of range of a third kobold’s badger-like claws.
The rogue was back on his feet before me and picked me up by the scruff of my robes.
Then I saw the shaman casting. He didn’t need to see to cast, and the initial aggro had worn off Therion and Kjen. The critters only cared about the light from the lantern, which seemed oddly brighter.
Acuity let me see the AoE marker expand from the shaman’s feet, a glowing orange disc that indicated anyone within the range would regret it. I didn’t bother to finish reading the flavor text once I saw the word “Combustion.”
“Run to the edges!” I screamed, waving the men away from the shaman. Therion and Kjen were closest to the edge and made it out of range just fine, and I gave them a quick thumbs-up. Robby and I were already safe. But Matt got wrecked by the searing explosion. His Health bar was knocked to a sliver of angry, blinking red.
Robby ran in to drag the Risi by his arm. He didn’t have the strength to manage it on his own, so Therion ran in to help
while Kjen fought off the kobolds with a flurry of knives. I shielded the man to spare him more damage and threw the second level of Prosperity on him. It’d heal him for at least 50 HP since he was below 33% Health, and automatically threw a HoT to try to make up for it. I spammed my stronger heals to bring him up to full until my throat was parched from praying and my Spirit bar was low.
Once healed, Matt was back on his feet, and he ran in before the cooldown wore off on the shaman’s ability. He was met with another rockslide, but popped a skill that planted his feet so he wasn’t staggered again, and rushed the shaman with his hammer. He aimed for the lantern, extinguishing the flame and leaving us all in darkness.
I heard Robby laugh.
Kjen lit a fuse and aimed the grenade at the remaining group of kobolds. I covered my eyes with my sleeve before my Night-Eye ability got confused and I was blinded by the explosion. A shower of rocks and debris, mostly bits of kobold, rained over us. Robby finished off the rest with a volley of bolts, while Therion made short work of the shaman with Matt.
When it was all over, Matt stomped on the shaman’s head, snuffing out the candle there and crushing his skull with his beefy weight.
I sunk to my knees in a slump and felt the sweat dry on my skin as I caught my breath. They collected whatever loot they could from the kobolds, mostly common gear and bits of coin and chunks of half-burned candles, and we made our way through the remaining tunnel.
Rose, a Dawn Elf like me, was crouched in stealth, shaking on her heels, her eyes wide and unblinking in the black cavern.
“By the Seven, you’re alright...” said Therion.
I held my hand out to keep him from getting closer and took his spot instead. Acuity told me she was in shock, but unharmed. I took a knee beside her and coaxed her to look at me.
“Rose, you’re okay now. We have you,” I said gently.
Her eyes, overly large and eerily blue, glanced at me. Her chest heaved in deep gasps of air and she crawled back to the cave wall.
“Come on, gorgeous. Just breathe,” I told her.
“After what she’s seen, how can you tell her to calm down?” asked Therion.
“I didn’t tell her to calm down,” I corrected. “I told her to breathe.” I did so myself, hoping she’d mimic me. Gradually, she stopped hyperventilating and looked me over.
“Shiny?” she whispered finally.
I formed a small ball of light in my hand for her to see. She pounced on it like a cat playing with a laser toy, frustrated she couldn’t grasp it, but I grabbed her hand back and pretended we were both holding it. She settled in, nestling her back against me like a child and staring into the orb of light like a snow globe.
Kjen clicked some flint and steel together to light the pile of ashes that once was a campfire. I made sure to hold on to Rose when I felt her leap for the sparks. Therion jutted his thumb for us to switch places, so I did, and put on a pot of water to make tea while he cradled her. There happened to be some Mayweed hanging off a rope from the ceiling. I plucked a few tiny heads of white and yellow flowers, pocketed some for later, and popped the rest into the water to make a soothing tea. Herblore told me it’d help treat the shock and let the poor woman rest.
She kept staring at me, wide-eyed and unblinking. Sometimes she’d mutter “pretty?” and I’d blush, until she tried to snatch the bangles off my wrist. I caught her hand.
“You can’t have that.”
Kjen and Robby set up the traps again, while Matt compiled all the loot. I found some Fresh Hare hanging from the ceiling as well and roasted that over the fire and mashed some Rowanberries with sugar in a mortar and pestle to make a sweet, syrupy glaze for the barbeque. A few potatoes on the coals completed lunch.
We sat and ate. After coaxing Rose into drinking some tea, eventually she came around, at the cost of her mood. She’d prefer to rest her head against Therion’s shoulder and eat in small nibbles.
I ate myself, famished from all the work I’d put in since breakfast, and sent an update to Commissar Cecilia. As we were finishing up, she sent back a reply:
<<<>>>
Personal Message
Disciple Chen,
Thank you for taking care of that situation for my fools. The Inquisition sends their regards, and I’ll forward a promissory note you may turn in to any Imperial merchant.
As you well know, monsters roam, and we are quite busy with the Rebellion. The safety and security of the Empire is far more important than investigating a dungeon higher than your level. I advise you to not take unnecessary risks and focus on the tasks given to you.
Signed,
Commissar Cecilia, Imperial Inquisition
<<<>>>
I sighed and updated the others. I got notifications that my quests
“Can’t believe the commissar won’t look into it,” muttered Therion. “It’s just weird.”
“Maybe it’s not,” said Matt. “I don’t know when you got your lottery ticket, but we’ve only been here a week at most.”
“Dungeons don’t just go haywire, Matt.”
“Either way,” said Matt, “it’s out of our paygrade.”
“Speaking of payment,” I said, closing the pop-up windows, “heals are three gold each. I’ll give you a discount and not charge more for the higher-level heals.”
Therion and the others went oddly quiet. Finally, Robby, who hadn’t said a word so far, spoke up.
“But you healed yourself a lot, priestess,” he said in a soft whisper.
“And saved your lives by doing so. Now I stopped counting after twenty casts, but I’ll take fifty gold if you pay it all upfront.”
More awkward silence. In my head, I calculated the tithes. At 20% for a Disciple, at most I could hope to keep maybe forty gold, though that was before Justiciar Olivia took her cut. Plus, I hadn’t even considered the tax to the Ever-Victorious Viridian Empire, which by my estimate was at last half. That left me with fifteen gold to keep... before Olivia took her cut.
Matt pointed to the pile of loot. “I mean, you’re welcome to help yourself to it. Surely there’s something there you could sell.”
I inspected the equipment. It was mostly stuff I had no use for—Leather Bracers, Common Boots, Broken Candle, Pickaxe—plus one gold, twelve silver, and five copper. I took the coins, but even if I sold the rest, it wasn’t nearly enough to cover my bill. I couldn’t even equip the gear to use. My temple garb was much higher quality, with fairly decent stats, and I only wore Light Armor anyway.
“Seriously? Is that it?” I asked.
Kjen gestured to the hare carcass dripping fat into the fire. “And lunch!”
“And what else?”
Therion pulled a strand of blonde hair out of Rose’s face as she slept against his chest. “I’m sorry, sister. We just... don’t have it. If you see anything else stashed about, you’re welcome to that, too. I’m sure someone at the Broken Dagger could fence it for you.”
I rubbed my temples. At this rate, I’d end up in debt to the temple rather than retiring. “Look, you promised to pay me, and I expect you to make good on that. You don’t want the temple coming after you for this, because not even the Inquisition will be able to protect you. The leader is a hollow sack of humanity and will show no mercy,” I said. “Fence it yourself if you have to.”
Therion shook his head, still not believing the bill. “We have to repair the hideout—”
Kjen cleared his throat and hit his fist on his chest. “Sister, I already owe you a debt I cannot repay. On Edni’s grave, I promise, we will make this up to ye how we can.”
Rose opened her eyes and weakly smiled at me. She held out her pinky, her hands still shaking. I sighed and laced my pinky with hers. “Fine, it’s a promise. I’ll believe you, if only because the Commissar knows where you sleep.”
That got a chuckle out of Kjen, who paled when he saw I wasn’t joking.
They spoke
amongst themselves, discussing plans on what heists or targets they could hit that would be the most lucrative, but for my own sanity, not wanting to imagine others being the victims of crimes to pay the medical bill I insisted on, I ignored them and focused on the new notifications. I had hit level 11.
<<<>>>
x1 Level Up!
You have (5) undistributed stat points
You have (1) unassigned proficiency point
<<<>>>
I threw two points into Intelligence, to boost my spell power, and three more into Spirit to up my regen rate and Spirit pool. At this level, most people’s Health bars were in the 300-500 HP range, and with the first level of Charity healing at least 50 HP + spell power, and the second rank healing 100 HP + spell power, the high costs of the Hieromancer spells was my biggest worry. I could save someone, sure, but I’d be out of Spirit if I had to save the next person.
I pulled up my Hieromancer skill tree:
I pulled up my temple’s leveling guide. Technically, deviating from it would risk excommunication, but since they planned on doing so anyway, I didn’t see the harm in doing things my way.
Acuity was always useful. First tier let me inspect players to see stats like Health bars, and the second tier showed me raid mechanics as well as hidden debuffs on people. The third tier would let me see people in stealth and as outlines in the distance, even beyond walls, much like the shaman did. Another level of Lenity, my shield, would be good to have as well. Mitigating damage was always better than making up for it by healing.
In the end though, much to my chagrin, I ended up following Jericho’s guide and took a level in Divinity. I had wanted it since I saw it in the Hieromancer Specialization kit:
At level 10, they gain the ability Divinity, which enables them to cast Miracles. When in a party of 4 or more, or by performing daily quests or prayers, they are able to fill their Fealty gauge up to Level 1. Fealty gradually fills over the course of battle through the actions of the party and can be increased faster by performing feats of heroism, such as stunning an enemy or healing a party member who is below 10%.
Viridian Gate Online: Schism: A litRPG Adventure (The Heartfire Healer Series Book 2) Page 6
