by Aleron Kong
Quick as a flash, Richter grabbed it. It didn’t even struggle, not even when he put his hand on its neck. With a sharp twist, he broke the three-eyed ferret’s neck. Even though he’d felt a certain kind of way about using his magic to lure an innocent creature, he couldn’t argue that the method worked. Until the warning prompt appeared.
Woe and Bad Tidings! You have violated the essence of your Life magic! Life spells are unavailable for the next 1 hour! Repeated instances of anathema will lead to severe consequences! This is your only warning!!!
And like that, Richter lost his ability to cast Life spells. Blinking in disbelief, he tried to cast one anyway.
You have suffered Spell Backlash! Mana regeneration is frozen for 10 minutes! Spell casting is blocked for 5 minutes!
Pain exploded in his mind, intense enough to blur his vision. He staggered backward. That was not a good idea! While he squeezed his head with both hands, Richter remembered an old conversation with Hisako.
The chaos lord had asked about capturing the souls of summoned creatures. If it were possible, it’d be a great boon to his Enchanting Profession. Hisako had told him that summoned creatures would always disappear, along with their souls, except in certain special instances, like summoning a demon within a pentagram. Even then, there were serious consequences to attempting what he proposed. She hadn’t elaborated more, but he had just found out about at least one of the consequences she’d warned him of. Richter wondered if his reticence to use his Life magic like this had been because, at an unconscious level, his magic had been warning him off.
Richter looked at the dead body. He’d dropped it when the pain from the spell backlash had triggered. He wondered if the greater sin would be eating it now, or leaving the carcass alone and possibly letting it go to waste. He searched his feelings, and even though his rational mind said the damage was already done, the chaos lord ultimately decided not to eat the three-eyed ferret.
He placed it in his pouch, thinking he’d find a way to dispose of the body respectfully at some point. Getting an even stronger punishment from his Life magic was something he keenly wanted to avoid. A part of his mind wondered if this was another check and balance of The Land. Would the power he garnered always come with strings attached? The Deeper Magics had an immediate price to pay when he used them, but maybe the Basic Elements had a cost as well. Maybe it was just more subtle. It was something to think about.
Now that he had the debuffs, he didn’t dare leave the cavern yet. If he couldn’t heal, that was a serious detriment in a fight. If he couldn’t even cast spells or regenerate his mana, that was a death sentence. Instead, he waited for the spell backlash to elapse. Once that was done, and the pain in his head had faded, he started practicing his combat forms.
He started with Granite Breaker. Again, he was struck by how forceful the dwarven technique was. It was all about overpowering and overwhelming. Which wasn’t to say it lacked nuance, that wasn’t true. It didn’t just use powerful swings. The hilt of the weapon came into play as well. Controlling the power of blows was just as important as the strength behind them.
He moved on to Stinging Storm, which was more graceful. It was about never-ending movement and body positions as much as sword swings. Richter worked not only on refining both Combat Arts, but melding them together.
The hour passed fairly quickly and his debuff disappeared. Lesson learned, Richter moved out using Stealth. The golem used its Hidden Earth special ability to reduce its presence. When it wasn’t moving, it melded almost seamlessly with the rocky surroundings. The chaos lord started following the ravager wurm’s trail.
With his Tracking skill activated, the monster’s tracks lit up in his vision. Truth be told, he might have been able to follow it even without his skill, as it left a slimy residue behind. For the next hour, Richter followed the trail through the tunnels. The passage he was following got larger and larger, until it was the size of a subway. Small tributaries branched off it periodically.
After an hour, the trail finally deviated from the larger tunnel. The main artery continued on, but the monster’s trail turned to the left, through a large crack in the rock. The side passage was more than large enough to let him through. The entire time, Richter had been using Stealth, and he’d had to stop a couple times to regen his stamina. He’d also had to move a bit slowly, but that had let the golem keep up. Sloth had been able to go toe-to-toe with the Tier 2 creature, but there was no denying Richter could have moved faster without the golem.
Richter continued down this new tunnel; it got smaller and smaller until he was forced to crawl on his hands and knees. Like before, he was relying on Darkvision, so his line of sight was limited. He stopped and listened periodically. After another hour, he finally started hearing sounds. It wasn’t the hissing steam noises he’d heard from the ravager wurm. What he heard were voices crying out and screams of pain. Specifically, “Help! Help! Banished gods, they’re eating me! Help!”
There was more than one voice.
CHAPTER 44 – Day 155 – Juren 5, 0 AoC
Six months ago, Richter might have rushed forward. There were people screaming for help after all. Countless life-and-death experiences had cured him of his knight in shining armor complex. He was a warlord now. A nice one, he’d like to think, but a warlord and a killer nonetheless.
It wasn’t his job to save everyone. Not everyone even deserved saving. Before he inserted himself in this situation, he needed more information. What was more, the words weren’t being spoken in Common tongue. They were a language he hadn’t heard before, but that his Gift of Tongues ability translated and named. The words were in orcish.
He’d run into a great number of races since coming to The Land. Some of them had had classic fantasy names, and had fit the stereotypes they’d had on Earth. High elves, for instance, were pretty much pompous dicks. Even in the village, they were aloof and looked down on others.
The wood sprites, on the other hand, weren’t small, fairy-sized creatures. They were xenophobic samurais that loved killing anyone else that wandered into their territory. And their character was different from forest sprites or hill sprites. The point was, he didn’t know what to expect from orcs. Even if he’d met some before, he couldn’t assume the entire race was all the same. That certainly wasn’t true for humans, so why would he think it was true for anyone else? He needed more information. With screams echoing down the tunnels, he moved forward cautiously.
As he got closer, the sounds grew louder, and he finally heard the monsters themselves. He also started smelling blood. It had the coppery tang of blood, but also another more acrid scent mixed in. The chaos lord kept climbing through the tunnel until it ended in a cavern with swirling lines of brown crystal tracing through the grey stone walls. Unlike the scorpion cavern, it wasn’t a warren of interconnected smaller caves. It was one large amphitheater, with stalactites and stalagmites lining the ovoid space like monstrous teeth. In the center was what Richter could only call an orgy of blood and flesh.
Four humanoids with dusky green skin and sharp ears were facing off against a nest of monsters. Analyze showed him they were orcs, and were all levels twenty to twenty-five. The ones still on their feet were Professional Warriors. Five or six were lying on the ground, being eaten alive while they screamed. Twice that number were already dead and in pieces. Discarded torches lay on the ground, some already extinguished in puddles of blood, but enough were still lit to illuminate the scene. Richter dismissed Darkvision and saw the cave was bathed in orange flickering shadows. The firelight revealed a grim scene.
Worms were feasting on the bodies of fallen orcs. Some even crawled through ribcages of the fallen. Sounds of bestial pleasure filled the cavern as the worms in the lair gorged. The luckiest of the fallen orcs were already dead. The rest screamed in pure terror.
Richter looked at the beasts with a critical eye. Only a few were the size of the ravager wurm. Most of the others were smaller, measuring five to seven feet in length.
Analyze showed that they were called raider worms, and they were Tier 1. He realized these must be what the ravager worms had evolved from.
The raider worms seemed content to consume the bodies of the fallen. One orc woman, an orcess, Richter supposed she would be called, was trying to crawl away. Unfortunately, her left leg was snapped at an unnatural angle and the horde of beasts were between her and the four Warriors. She continued to cry out to them for help, but they just looked back grimly. They might not have feared the Tier 1 raider worms, but no less than three Tier 2 ravager wurms were slowly approaching the fighters. The Warriors had been backing up, but now their backs were literally against the wall.
Richter took in the scene. There was another large exit from the cavern, almost one hundred and eight degrees from his position. It was much larger than the small tunnel he was in. Clearly, the other exit was the main egress. He was tempted to just leave the orcs to their fate. He almost started to do just that. As soon as he stepped inside the cavern, however, the most peculiar sensation overtook him. The mist lord had only felt it a few times before, but it was unmistakable. Somewhere in the cavern, among all the blood and pain, was a source of Chaos.
He had no idea what the Higher Power was emanating from. Richter only knew of a few things that possessed Chaos, and all of them were interesting. The first, and potentially most dangerous, option was that one of the orcs might be a chaos seed. Alternatively, there might be a chaotic particle, or even a chaotic shard, somewhere in the cavern. The ironspine scorpions had built their nest around the iron plant and the stream. He could definitely see other monsters making a lair around a source of Chaos.
Either option was enough for him to get involved. One would let him talk to someone else from home. He might even be able to use his new status as a chaos lord to gain more power. A source of raw Chaos would give him some much needed Chaos Points. He couldn’t just walk away.
The question was, what to do now? He had to kill the monsters and save the orcs. Any of them could be from Earth. The ones on the ground were already a lost cause, but he could save the Warriors. Even if the chaos seed was one of the fallen, saving the fighters could still be helpful. He might gain some temporary allies that could lead him to civilization. That could lead to supplies, safety and maybe even a map that could lead him to Xuetrix’s damn flashing dot. If the orcs didn’t want to play nice after he saved them, well he had an answer for that too. His hand gripped the haft of his bone club tighter.
Richter used the Ghost function of his bloodline. Fourteen Bloodline Points tripled his Concealment for one minute. After adopting Stealth, he turned into a hazy shadow so far as anything else in the cavern was concerned. Once again, his Bloodline showed its power, but also that it had a high cost. He could only keep Ghost going for five minutes before his BPs were completely spent. It would take at least two to three minutes to get into position. There wasn’t time to waste.
He told the golem to use Hidden Earth. It concealed itself and started easing forward. As Richter moved closer, he started to come up with a plan. There were about thirty Tier 1 raider worms. Analyze showed they ranged in level from single digits to the low thirties. No monster could be taken lightly, but thankfully, the worms lacked the regenerative properties of the Tier 2 ravagers wurms. With their smaller bodies and lower attributes, they might not even be able to pierce the defenses of his golem. The real threat were the wurms.
Each of the Tier 2 monsters had a status window similar to the one he’d fought. They ranged from level forty-two to fifty-three. The big kahuna was his target. The last fight had shown that he didn’t have much in his arsenal that could take out a ravager wurm, much less three. That was especially true if the apex monsters could bring the entire lair of Tier 1 raider worms into the fight. He had to use the magic of Blood.
The two of them kept creeping into the cave. In a movie, there might have been ominous music slowly building, but in reality, his stealthy approach was only accompanied by the screams of the fallen orc woman and the slurping feeding noises of the worms. All the other fallen orcs had been killed. To him, that was good news. He could still feel the Chaos energy in the cavern.
Richter circled around to the left while the golem moved to the right. The three Tier two monsters continued to threaten the orcs, barely held at bay by raised shields. The orc woman was finally silenced when a worm clamped its mouth around her face. With a sharp jerk it tore her head off, and a gout of purple blood sprayed across the stone floor of the cavern.
The wurms finally made their move. The whistling sounds they’d been making the whole time rose to a fever pitch. All three shot forward, dagger-like talons extended from their bodies like horns. One of the orcs roared in response. He was the only one wearing plate armor and holding a tower shield. To Richter’s surprise, blue energy extended from the shield in all directions. It made a wall that blocked the attacks of the three ravager wurms. The shield bearer was forced backwards with a grunt, and large cracks extended out across the blue barrier, but he stayed on his feet. More importantly, the attacks of all three monsters were stopped cold.
The wurms recoiled and prepared to attack again. The other orcs didn’t remain idle, however. One swung a double-headed axe with a guttural shout and red light extended from his weapon. He triggered his Warrior Talent Savage Blow, and a blade made of angry ruby energy extended eight feet past the head of the weapon. At the same time, a third warrior swung his metal mace and the other sliced his sword through the air. Every strike was accompanied by the use of a Talent, and magical power shot toward their enemies.
Seeing all of this, the chaos lord stopped in spite of himself. This was his first time seeing a team of combat Professionals working together. The power they wielded put the fighters of the Mist Village to shame. Richter had no doubt that these four could carve through a platoon of his people. Even if they were taken down eventually, they would harvest a terrible number of lives. What was just as impressive though was the coordination between the four Warriors. The shield bearer dropped his force field at exactly the right time to not impede their attacks. All their blows also struck the same enemy in roughly the same spot.
The targeted wurm lost half of its health and flew back across the ground. The magical wounds carved deep into its body and its orange blood sprayed all around. The cumulative attack caused serious damage but, unfortunately, not enough to kill. The four Warriors attacked the other two wurms, praying they could kill them before the injured one rejoined the fray. Their original target writhed in pain, but was already regenerating. Richter could see its flesh was trying to push together to stop the blood flow. As impressive as the attack had been, it wasn’t enough.
The Warriors had significant powers, but they couldn’t contend with higher-tiered monsters. The strongest wurm shot three talons out in quick succession. The orcs were forced to abandon their attacks and defend themselves. Before the plate-wearing orc could position his shield, one of the whirling blades found its mark. Two were blocked, but the third cut deeply into the defender’s side. It sank completely into the man’s body and remained embedded. Purple blood flowed and the fighter wasn’t able to keep in a pained cry. Both sides had loosed their opening salvos and claimed blood. The three orcs and two ravager wurms started trading blows, but the monsters’ high health and regenerative properties showed what the outcome would ultimately be.
Richter was happy the monsters were occupied. It let him and the golem get closer. He hid behind a large stalactite that was within thirty yards of the ravager wurms, the maximum distance of Vitality Puppet. He’d made it into the fray without being detected, even though he’d had to spend another 14 Bloodline Points to keep his Concealment high. What he needed now was a distraction. A mental command to the golem was all it took to bring some chaos into the raider worms’ orderly little massacre.
Sloth dropped its Hidden Earth ability and used Hurl Rock. A boulder materialized in its hand a moment before it threw like a pitcher on the mound. The po
werful attack struck one of the Tier 1 worms and turned it into orange mist. The projectile hurtled through its first victim and wounded three more of the anaconda-sized worms. The rest of the monsters looked up from their bloody feast to see who would dare attack them in their own lair. The golem gave them an answer.
It ran into their midst and used Stone Punch. Its huge stone fist descended like the wrath of an angry god. It pushed through the body of another worm like it was made of jelly. The monster was pulped and an impact crater was left in the rocky ground. More than two dozen worms started whistling like tea kettles as they dove at the Earth creature. The raider worms weren’t nearly as powerful as the Tier 2 ravagers, but they still had large talons. The construct kept fighting, but its health immediately started to fall.
It had served its purpose. The only light in the cave was coming from the sputtering torches. As powerful as Blood magic was, it still showed a telltale glow when Richter summoned it. For those five seconds of cast time, he was like a beacon in the dark. If he was attacked, not only would the spell be disrupted, but he was risking a feedback with Deeper Magic. He couldn’t even imagine the consequences of that. At a minimum it would deprive him of his life, and with the curse still active, his soul as well. He needed to be able to finish the spell at all costs. Thankfully, the orcs did their part.
Richter was positioned behind the wurms, but in direct eyeline with the Warriors. They couldn’t see him behind the stalagmite, but they did see the blood-red glow. The fighters didn’t know what to make of it. The fact that a monster made out of clouded quartz was attacking the worms was even stranger. As insane as it sounded, help had come to them in the deep dark! They launched a ferocious attack on the wurms, thinking that salvation had somehow found them. They didn’t trust Sloth, of course, but anything that relieved the pressure on them was a tool that could be used to win.
