“Ioaniss,” Alburet called out, using Jones’ name instead of title in his haste to speak, “what about the King?”
“His Highness Tyr Justiceson the Third will be with us the entire way,” Ioaniss replied. “I tried to get him to wait, but he says that he will stand by his men. I wasn’t able to convince him otherwise. I pray that the Queen will be able to change his mind, but I’m doubtful that even she’ll be able to.”
“I offer Alpha Company to keep him safe,” Gerald offered.
“I shall let him know of your offer, Lord Stoutheart.”
“What do you want Delvers to be doing?” Blaze asked.
“I don’t know how the Commander will be dividing the forces yet,” Ioaniss apologized.
“We’ll be ready,” Blaze said. “I’m going to see about grinding as many as I can to max level. I’ll field as many Delvers as I can.”
“Thank you,” Ioaniss replied. “That is all I had to relay. May the gods smile upon us and this endeavor.”
“If you’ll all follow me,” Berk said, opening the door, “I shall escort you out.”
“Rolland,” Alburet said, motioning the mage over. “Dinner tonight?”
“I’d be happy to,” Rolland said, the dark circles under his eyes more apparent now that he was closer to them.
“Gerald?”
“We’ll be there, Al.”
“We still going to test out the new gear?” Karen asked.
“We should,” Marysue said.
“I was wondering about that,” Blaze said, coming alongside the group. “Who gave you yours?”
“Peace and the Dark Lord,” Gerald said. “What about you?”
“Hunter,” Blaze chuckled. “Talk about being surprised by the High Priest turning up at the Keep last night. What was even more surprising was that he brought gear for my entire group.”
“Justice,” Benedict said when they looked over at him. “That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.”
“I didn’t think the gods got involved,” Blaze said.
“They are constrained by rules,” Ambassador Woodbinder said. “As long as they don’t break those rules, they can do a few things.”
“Which of your group is Hunter’s Champion?” Alburet asked.
“Booth, believe it or not. We found a quest chain during the attack on our Keep and we finished it last week. Champions are overpowered.”
“We know,” Alburet chuckled.
“I guess you would,” Blaze laughed. “We’ll see you for the raid.”
“See you then,” Alburet said. “Which zone do you want to hit to test the gear, Gerald?”
“How about we revisit an old favorite?” Gerald chuckled. “Gnolls?”
“Oh, yeah,” Karen laughed. “That would be great.”
“It’s been so long,” Alburet chuckled. “Let’s go see our old friends.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
It didn’t take them long to make it to the Gnoll cave, though they did stop and help the Keep with the undead coming out of the graveyard when they appeared in the zone. During the fight, Alburet Copied Tiny, Bob, and Stacia, bringing two Copies of each Infernal into being.
When the fight at the graveyard came to an end, Gerald talked briefly with the few Defenders left at the Keep. As they moved into the forest, Gerald looked thoughtful.
“Problems?” Marysue asked.
“Mindblown is cutting this close... most of them are tired of the event going on.”
“It’s been a bit over three weeks from them holding the Keeps and three more since the undead started attacking the graveyards,” Karen said. “Sounds about right compared to other… events.”
“Fair. It’s mostly those of us here all the time that have really been worn down the worst,” Gerald sighed. “That might be the real issue. Compared to those who are here for a few hours a day, we’ve been dedicating most of the past month to this.”
“Well, that’s about to change,” Alburet said.
“Aye, as long as we be successful, then the guards will again take over the Keeps,” Stacia added.
“What are you going to name the second Copy of each minion?” Fluff asked.
“Good question,” Alburet said, looking at the new Infernal Copies. “I find it odd that while Bob and Tiny’s third forms are solid black and white, Stacia’s is grayscale like Kitten should have been.”
“Which is still odd by itself,” Gerald commented.
“I’m going to call Bob’s third Bob Black, or BB. Tiny’s will be Tiny White, or TW, and Kitten’s Copy will be KJ for Kitten Junior.”
“You suck at names,” Karen laughed.
“Bob, BJ, and BB, go clear our path for us,” Alburet said, ignoring Karen.
“No reason to kill the Gnolls on our own,” Gerald shrugged. “That will make it faster for us to get to the cave.”
“What were the fights?” Marysue asked. “It’s been months since we’ve been here.”
“Stone Beast, Plant Tentacles with poison, and then the Gnoll with adds,” Alburet replied.
“Oh, now I remember,” Marysue nodded.
“The Stone Boss had incredible physical damage resistance,” Karen added.
“The Plant was weak to fire,” Tiny rumbled.
“Stacia did well with the adds,” Alburet said, giving her a wink.
“Have the Imps burn the fuck out of that hallway on the way to the Plant Boss,” Karen said. “All those tentacles.”
“If I’m ahead of you all, I can Fire Burst along there and help clear it faster, too,” Alburet added.
Gerald nodded, “Sounds like we’re good to go. Let’s loot the bodies on our way, though. We can hand off the items to any new members we pick up later.”
“Rewarding the recruits keeps them happy,” Marysue nodded.
They were quiet on the walk to the cave. The three Imps easily cleared the way for them, including the two Gnolls that stood to either side of the cave. “Well done, guys,” Alburet praised the Imps when they caught up to them.
“It was sad,” Bob shrugged. “We going to go in the same order we did last time?”
“Stone, Plant, Shaman,” Gerald nodded. “Al, remember to dismiss your minions before we engage, then resummon them.”
“I remember,” Alburet replied. “It’s a major downside to being a Summoner. A small army in open world, but the bosses get a metric ton of health in dungeons.”
“Umm,” Fluff said, looking worried, “do you think the raid bosses will scale, too?”
“Oh dear fucking gods, I hope not,” Karen said fervently.
“I’ll just tap a friend and ask,” Alburet said, sending a short message to Victoria.
“Well, we’re here. Let’s go try out this new armor,” Gerald said.
As they entered the dungeon, they each chose to let their levels scale down. Alburet rolled his shoulders when he appeared. “Man, it feels weird being scaled down this far.”
“Yeah, it does feel different having our stats reduced like this,” Gerald agreed. “Funny that our armor looks the same even though no Defender can wear plate this early.”
“After Gnasher first,” Karen said as she went into stealth.
“There are adds on the way,” Gerald reminded her.
“I’m waiting,” Karen replied.
“We’re good for the minions until we get to the boss, right?” Alburet asked.
“Sure, but the tunnels are tight, so not sure we can use all of them,” Gerald said, leading them toward the tunnel that would take them to Gnasher.
“Point,” Alburet said, dismissing Stacia’s Copies. “No reason for multiple Succubi at the moment.”
“I can be thinkin’ of reasons later, though,” Stacia whispered to him. “One of me for each of ya.”
Alburet felt a shiver run down his spine as that image popped up, fully fleshed in his mind. “Oh gods…”
“Nay, just me,” Stacia giggled, kissing his neck. “I promise to nay distract ya more… fo
r now.”
“I wish you had suggested that last night,” Alburet whispered back to her. “Oh well... there’s always tonight.”
“Aye.”
The fight with the trash and Gnasher went quicker than it had the first time. They had access to more Abilities than before, even with their levels reduced. Fluff’s Piercing Strike was one of the biggest turning points for them, letting her ignore half of the target’s armor value. That, along with the three Copies of Tiny that were spread around the room taunting Gnasher to them in turn, made sure that none of the tanks took anywhere near enough damage to cause an issue for Marysue.
“That went well,” Gerald said. “I like the first Ability the armor gives me. Splitting damage with a party member means I can help cushion any damage one of you takes.”
“The second piece of mine gives me an extra three seconds on all my timed Abilities and makes Piercing Strike even better,” Fluff smiled.
“I didn’t get to use either of mine yet,” Marysue sighed. “There was so little damage to worry about with Gnasher going from person to person.”
“I like the fact the poisons on my daggers stay on with my first armor bonus,” Karen said. “It’ll make Dagger Cloud even better.”
“What about your armor, Al?” Marysue asked.
“The first one just gives me a ten percent bonus to the duration of my buffs,” Alburet shrugged. “Haven’t even needed to use them for so long that I rarely apply them outside of boss fights.”
“What about the second bonus?” Marysue asked as they walked back down the tunnel to the entrance.
“It says any Ability or spell I use has a chance of being used twice,” Alburet said. “If that procs during Demonic Inspiration or Imp Storm, it’ll be a bit overpowered.”
“Hmm... did it proc during the last fight?” Fluff asked.
“One of my Fire Blasts did fire twice,” Alburet nodded. “Hasn’t happened for an Ability yet, but I don’t have many that are on use. Flame Weapon, Copy, Demonic Inspiration, and Imp Storm are the only four that aren’t passive or minion upgrades.”
“Unlike most of ours, which are on use,” Karen added.
“I could have had more if I’d gone with different choices,” Alburet shrugged.
“Okay, Bob, are you and the others ready to go burn this tunnel clean for us?” Gerald asked, pausing short of the vine covered tunnel.
“I got it,” Bob nodded.
“We’ve got it,” Alburet corrected his minion. “Just give me at least twenty-five feet so you’ll be outside the radius. Since the number of vines are based on people in the hall... Tiny, I’ll call you back once we get there.”
“Understood, master,” Tiny said, vanishing along with his Copies.
“You too, dear,” Alburet said, giving Stacia a quick kiss.
“Tha’ be fine. Since I be havin’ a moment, mayhap I should check with Loralee and see if she be ready for dinner tonight.”
“Good idea,” Alburet said.
Karen and Fluff snagged kisses before Stacia vanished. “Seems like a much smaller group now,” Karen murmured.
“Almost half of our party is gone,” Fluff said.
“Okay, let’s do this, Bob. Let me go in front of you. This way, you can turn around to help if the vines bypass us for them.”
“Got it,” Bob said as BJ and BB drifted a foot off the floor, their wings barely beating.
When the first attack came, it was only two vines that attacked Alburet and Gerald. Burning them to the ground, Alburet looked puzzled. “Why was it only two? It should have been four.”
“Maybe because Bob is flying and not touching the vines?” Fluff suggested.
“It’s counting them based on who all is touching it,” Gerald nodded. “Alburet, can you hover?”
“Yeah.”
“Summon Stacia back with her Copies and have them fly with you. Marysue, use your wings too, please,” Gerald said.
“That is the easiest way to test the theory,” Karen snickered.
Once everyone was ready, Alburet glided down the hall. A cry from behind him revealed that only Karen got attacked by a vine. It died quickly, and the others all chuckled at having figured out the trick for the hallway.
“This isn’t possible at level,” Alburet commented as they started down the hall again. “It’s nice to find a way to cheese this mechanic, though.”
“Have you gotten a reply on the raid question?” Gerald asked.
“Not yet, but they could be busy,” Alburet hedged, though he was wondering why Victoria hadn’t replied yet.
It wasn’t long before they were just outside the Passionate Constrictor’s room. “Okay, everyone is being dismissed until we start the fight, but when you come back, head right in and help out anyone caught. Anyone who can fly should,” Alburet said.
“My wings are on cooldown,” Marysue sighed. “I wish I had flight all the time like you.”
“Maybe in Delta World,” Alburet said.
“I can only wish,” Marysue sighed.
“Once you’re ready, Al,” Gerald said.
“Okay guys, see you in a few,” Al said to Bob and Tiny. “See you in a moment too, dear.”
“Aye,” Stacia said, kissing him before vanishing.
“Ready,” Alburet said.
“Let’s do this,” Gerald said, leading them into the room.
The fight was just as easy as Gnasher had been. Anyone flying wasn’t counted into the encounter, leaving them with only three vines to deal with at a time. With three Imps, the vines withered under the massed fire damage in no time. Their poison was simply ignored as Marysue was able to remove it with her Party Remove Poison Ability. The pollen clouds were troublesome, but not as bad as it could have been because all the Imps and Alburet were able to cast without speaking. Stacia, Kitten, and KJ were able to use Comforting Touch to heal Gerald the one time Marysue got caught in the pollen.
With that boss defeated, the group was going after the Gnoll Shaman. The trash was easily controlled by the abundant tanks and Succubi. They paused for a moment just outside the boss’ room to work out their plan of attack.
“Stacia, Mind Control both Acolytes and one of the Warriors. We’ll kill the other three, then turn on them one-by-one with Kitten Dazing the extras. Once they’re all dead, we jump on the Shield and then the Shaman.”
“Works,” Gerald said.
“I’ll be able to pull the sickness off all of you in one go, so we won’t have that problem this time,” Marysue said.
“I’ll burn the ice debuff off anyone who gets it,” Bob added, “if you’re okay with that, Marysue.”
“The small hit to their health will be fine,” Marysue nodded.
“Tiny, stagger yourselves across the room so when he tries to run, you can stun him,” Alburet said. “Bob, if any of us get entangled, make sure to burn them off us fast.”
“Got it.”
“Everyone ready?” Gerald asked. When everyone nodded, he led them into the room.
The fight was even simpler than they recalled. With all their Abilities, the Shaman barely got to run from them before Gerald was there with a Charge, or Fluff with a Leap or Wild Charge. When the Shaman fell dead, they shared a laugh at how much easier it had been than at level.
“Everyone got an idea how to use their new armor set bonus?” Gerald asked.
“Yup,” Karen nodded.
“Yes,” Fluff smiled.
“I even got to use my second bonus. My healing spells were able to do damage to a target instead of healing them,” Marysue smiled. “It will work out well when we’re fighting bosses during the raid that aren’t undead.”
“I’m looking forward to when one of my two major Abilities triggers, one day,” Alburet shrugged.
“Okay, we’ll head back for the day. Sundown for dinner?” Gerald asked Alburet.
“Yeah. We’ll see you then.”
Saying goodbye, they all used their Homestones to go to their respective homes.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Freshly cleaned and dressed in their best clothes, they waited in the small sitting room by the front door, sipping glasses of wine. The sound of horses came from outside, and they all set aside their glasses and made their way out the door.
Gamer for Love (Alpha World Book 8) Page 26
