Everyone looked at Vidja to see if she had an answer. Michael’s question hung in the air. ‘How could they not afford to buy protection against the dragon?’
She sighed and put her hand over her eyes briefly before removing it and smiled and all to fake smile. The false cheer radiated off her.“While we’re alive, there’s hope.”
“We’ve got weeks to figure it out,” Everlyn said sympathetically. “And we’re a team. We’ll solve it together. This is not just about you. As for Keikain’s initial interest, this detour was worthwhile. We’ve worked out extra information on the dragon. Including an important fact about its breath attack that needs to be included in our plan.” She smiled bitterly. “A potentially expensive discovery, but that’s much better than death. Now this zone is annoying. Let’s get the treasure and get out of here.”
She led them forward. Despite the fact she was trying to avoid combat, they were continuously under attack. There were just too many of the monsters carrying out random patrols in ones or twos for them all to be avoided. The enemies were the same, but at the same felt varied. Their magic missiles moved through the air at different paces, and their reactions and tactics varied.
“Are we fighting different species?” Toni asked finally.
“This is the eighth variant,” Everlyn told her. “Nothing has been different enough to warn you explicitly.”
They continued.
A creature constructed of fifteen blades in a spinning funnel attacked them. The blades were kind of like swords but instead of hilt they had a wire grip like the primary school musical triangle.
A barrage of magic overwhelmed the two monsters, and then they continued travelling.. She led them around a castle structure and then she froze and pointed.
The remains of what must have been a suit of wyvern armour had crashed into the dirt next to the castle wall. A single wing and the head was all that was left of it and it was huge. The head could have swallowed Tom whole and they could see the signs of where the dragon had evaporated the central armour and presumably the other wing. The dragon’s breath attack had made short work of the creature.
“We would have struggled against that,” Everlyn said after a moment’s thought. “And I’m certain the weapon swarms are more deadly.”
“Like what we just fought?” Michael asked.
“Similar, but giant. We just experienced how dangerous they were. Those smaller versions were what two or maybe three times harder to fight than similarly sized armour. Because of how we needed to defeat each blade separately, the difficulty will scale with size and not reduce like it would have for the wyvern and the flying weapon clouds are massive. On the tile they were painted as being two or three times as big as that thing. ”
Tom pictured that for a moment and whistled. He definitely didn’t want to run into one of those.
“Is there really a concern here?” Gerald asked. “They might be bigger, but they’re limited to rank thirty.”
Everyone ignored him. They all knew that size mattered, and the wyvern had been massive.
They kept going until Everlyn led them to a building that looked no different from any of the others. The window doors might have been slightly larger, the rock possibly contained a slight blue tint, which was unusual but for all intents it was the same as many other structures that they had passed.
Like all of them, it was guarded.
Usko took point and shouted to force them to attack him. More monsters came from the structure than they were used to fighting.
Tom watched from afar as he waited for the right moment to strike with his earth magic. He had learnt that waiting maximised his impact.
Usko took their ferocious attacks head on. Fangs punctured his calf, his body was peppered with energy bolts that tore through his crappy armour and ripped strips of flesh off. The healers’ magic closed the wounds moments after they were formed. The next volley of magical missiles struck. They still ripped into his armour like it wasn’t there, but this time instead of ripping out a chunk of tissue they left a bruise and occasionally a bit of torn skin. It was like weaker versions of the attacks had started to be launched.
It was the skill Everlyn had mentioned and now that Usko had suffered sufficient wounds that ability had kicked in. Practically it had transformed his durability into something probably dozens of ranks above his current level. Eight of the cursed animated creatures were attacking him simultaneously, all of them rank thirty verses his twenty-four in physical attributes and Usko was surviving the onslaught. Two he was grappling close in. His axes swinging hard to batter away claw swipes before they landed. The other six stayed back, launching attacks from the structure’s doors.
There was a whoosh and an explosion of energy as a chaos bolt took on a life of its own. What looked like a series of dimensional tears radiated from where the missile had struck. Those dimensional blades cut straight through the hard metal the monsters were made of. Three were destroyed outright and two others were severely damaged. After that, they were able to quickly defeat the remaining enemies.
They walked into the building ready to search for a loot portal but there was no need because in the centre of the room was a very conspicuous white stone. It was the size of a car and embedded into the otherwise polished dark grey marble floor. Keikain stepped forward and with a wave the join between the two different types of rocks fractured on one side of the white stone. Then the earth mage’s magic rippled over the rock, and it peeled back like you would when opening a soup can to reveal a hidden basement. “And there we have it a treasure room.”
Below them, they could all see the flickering flames of the loot portal.
Rahmat moved to the edge of the hole that had been created. His weapon was out and ready for anything, and he studied the room below them. It was a four metre drop, but without hesitation Rahmat jumped into the hole unconcerned about the fall and the hard cobblestones that made up the floor below. He crouched as he landed like an acrobat unbothered by a fall that would have broken a leg on Earth. “Clear,” he called back to them and then, without wavering he plunged his hand into the flickering flames.
He pulled his arm out with a clenched fist, and then he opened it to show them all. It was a tiny vial of a deep purple liquid that seemed to drain all the light from around it. With the portal gone and what he held they could barely see anything down in the basement even though a moment before it had been well lit.
There was a slight flicker as, for just an instant his entire body briefly looked soulless. Then a broad grin flashed over his face. “It’s a high tiered evolution potion.”
Tom felt a pang of jealousy. Why had Rahmat gotten something so perfect when he had been forced to sell his reward? Yes, in the end, thanks to Thor he had gotten something that was arguably on par with what Rahmat held or possibly even better. It had been a perfect trait for him. One that boosted an existing strength. No, he was kidding himself. That potion below him was better. That was something he would have loved to have found, and there were so many skills it could have been applied to. Black dodge, his stone golem spell or something out of left field like Spark. What would Spark look like at tier five or six? Tom guessed it would be some form of domain and despite that not being on his development plan he longed for it. He could easily imagine what it would be like to be permanently existing in his own field of crackling lightning. Against most monsters, he would be like a god.
“It’s a good one.” Rahmat continued. “Incredible to be honest. It will evolve any ability up to tier five and depending on the starting skill that it’s used on it could theoretically boost something up to tier eight or if is more suitable cause some sideways evolves.”
The vial disappeared, and the spearman faced them, his neck tilted backward to stare up at them. He was clearly considering how to get out of the hole he had jumped into. Thor threw a rope, and he clambered up. “What are you using it on?” Michael asked immediately. “One of your scouting skills?”
“Spear domain.” Rahmat answered instantly.
“You don’t have a spear domain.” the healer argued.
“Yet,”
“I think it’s dangerous to wait. Powerful tools like this should be used as immediately as possible.”
“No Michael. I’m going to get the spear domain soon or buy one and then I’m using this on it.”
“Your role is…”
“I get what you’re saying, but I’m a better spear commander than scout, and we know for a fact my spear domain is required against the dragon. I’m leaning into my strengths. End of story.”
There was an awkward silence, and Michael shrugged. “Everyone is in charge of their own build. I just know there are some amazing high tiered stealth skills.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Rahmat shook his head. “My domain skill in the tutorial was unusual. I’m sure whether I buy or develop my own it will have missing functionality. This is my chance to fix that.”
The debate died down, and Everlyn decided that their current location was probably the best they were going to find. The hole in the floor was a bonus, not a negative. It was a bolt hole with a smaller defendable space that they could retreat into if they got swarmed by too many monsters.
“Tom you up for cards?” Thor asked him.
He shook his head. “I’ve got a wador to hunt.”
They all laughed and with a smile on his face he settled down to sleep with a clear image in his mind of what he wanted.
The directed true dream worked immediately.
He arrived in a familiar mind but with white static all around him immediately. There was no easing into the scenario.
Tom smiled. His gut was right they were continuing to try to plot and plan behind his back. The wador had agreed to cooperate with Jenny, so they were the enemy. Each time he had done this the impact on the wador blocking them had increased. He hoped this would be the scenario where the damage became more permanent. Being stuck in static was boring and annoying. But he consoled himself with the knowledge that his skill was attacking the other wador. Wearing them down. Last time they had been left unconscious, and he wondered what the result would be this time.
The white static disappeared. It had only been a count of ninety.
Tom could see again the scene similar to last time, with the one blocking him collapsed on the ground. But something was different… Shock was running through Maher’s mind. He was staring at the wador that had crumpled next to Jenny and the alien’s packs leader. Tom took a moment to understand why the reaction was so extreme after all it had collapsed unconscious last time.
A memory was replayed in Maher’s mind. It captured the moment the shielding had broken. The wador had made a keening sound. A paw had jerked toward its face and then one of its eyes had exploded. A spray of blood and tissue. It was… Tom struggled to interpret his feelings. Disgusting, joyous… unexpected.
“Heal him now!” the leader of the wador demanded.
Jenny hadn’t waited for the order. She was already kneeling down next to the wador magic flowing. She looked up, chewing on her bottom lip. “What the hell! The eye’s gone. It’s like it was exploded from the inside. I can’t do anything about that… my skill won’t allow me to reconstruct it.”
“You can. I saw you do it yesterday.”
“That spell’s human specific.”
“Then buy a new one. Fix him. I want him restored to normal.”
She appeared to be furious at the way he was talking. “I’m not a member of your pack. As I see it you want something. The question is how are you going to compensate me?”
“You want to be paid? This is your fault, Jenny. Your stupid game caused this. How about I let you live as payment?”
“Don’t level empty threats.”
Maher didn’t think it was so empty. He was already moving back into position with the others. There was no way they would defeat the wador but they might be able to drive them off or failing that kill one or two before they were all taken down.
“Anyway, it’s a moot point. I don’t have the experience to buy anything capable of fixing this. My best spell will leave scar tissue …” she shuddered slightly. “How about your guy.”
The wador leader shook his head. “He can patch wounds, but if we lose a limb, the expectation is we buy the potion to fix it.”
Jenny glared up at the much bigger wador. “Well, get him a potion.”
“They don’t work like that. They won’t fix eyes, hearing, or.” He tapped his chest that gave them the fine motor control to wield tools, “the malor.”
“So we can’t save his eyesight?” She asked. “Should I heal the wound, then? It will leave scaring, which will make it harder to reconstruct in the future.”
The leader nodded. “Yes, but Jenny, this business of scheming it’s over. Toowold is not going to block precognition anymore. If you have anything to say to me, assume the other humans will find out about it.”
The dream faded away and Tom fell into his normal dreams with a massive grin on his face. If you come for me, then I’ll come for you; he thought gleefully to himself.
Morning came and despite being woken up from deep sleep he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. True Dreaming had blown up an enemy’s eye. It was a good day.
He told everyone what had happened, and they were as excited as he was.
With a prep in their step, they traced their way to the zone exit and three hours before dark they reached a large building. From the outside, it was identical to the safe room they had originally arrived at from and when they entered it had the same long tunnel leading downwards.
When it was his turn, he checked the outcome from the zone.
Zone completed. You are ready to exit
Your contribution is 6%
Experience awarded 320,000.
Tom initially frowned at the numbers. Then he calculated what the relative gains were. They had not completed a quest and had been in the zone for less than two days, yet his experience per day was more than the previous zone and his contribution had been nine percent then instead of the current six. If he had a better result, despite the drop in contribution, it meant everyone else had probably earned between fifty and a hundred percent more per day than they had in the last zone.
It was, how they had forecasted the progression would go. The difficulty rapidly increasing with the rewards scaling accordingly.
A loot portal bloomed into existence. As always, it was set to a single item for the entire group and Thor reached in, grabbed something, and pulled it out. His hands seized something, and he stepped back once and twice as he extracted a full sized spear from the portal. When he had it fully out, he placed the butt down on the floor next to him. The size of the weapon was revealed with the point rising a head and a half above him.
It was the perfect size for him, and Tom wanted it instantly. So often, even weapons that came out of loot portals were not suitable for humans. This one however, looked to be perfectly balanced for them.
Thor spun it in his hands. The blade on the end seemed to cut through the very air. It had a heavy presence. “Guys, can you believe it? Look at this beauty.” he almost cooeed as he put it through its paces. He specialised in his hammer, but like most of them he was also an expert in other weapons. “This is quite a find. Let me check exactly what we’ve got.” His face went inanimate but it was so quick that it was hardly noticeable. “Well, I can guarantee we’re not going to sell you.”
“What is it?” Michael demanded.
While Thor held it, none of them could use identification on the weapon, but just knowing approximately how much it was supposed to be worth allowed Tom to predict its strength. It was powerful and should be a clear upgrade for all of them.
“I think the answer to that is…” Thor looked straight at Michael. “Is that it is a spear which is an item of war that is usually used to stab things. But in the hands of an expert it can be used as a defensive bulwark.”
“Enough. I know what a spear is. I was asking what trait does it have?”
A lop-sided smile appeared on Thor’s face in response to the healer’s annoyance. “It’s tier six and has the property of containing the essence of the spear.”
Gerald’s face scrunched up. “What on Existentia does property of the essence of the spear mean.”
“Improves spear skills,” Tom said
“It’s a domain enhancement.” Rahmat stated at the same time. “Kind of…” he clarified. “Theoretically, any skill or spell that resonates with the concept of the spear should be more powerful when used through it.”
Michael whistled, impressed.
Thor spun it once more and then, without hesitation passed it to Rahmat. “Your new spear, Sir.”
“Wait, you’re just handing it to him?” Vidja interrupted. He just gets gifted it?
“He does,” the big man said. “I’m more than happy to credit you guys with your share of the value. We can estimate pretty accurately what it would have gone for. Bao can check my numbers.”
“No, that’s not necessary.” She waved her hands dismissively. “I agree on need before greed, but why him? Tom uses the spear and would probably appreciate an upgrade.”
‘My spear’s living wood. It will evolve as I do.’ Is what he tried to say, but the words were choked out before they could emerge. For a moment, he struggled to understand why social silence had taken that moment to react. What was so confidential or wrong about that line?
Everlyn smirked at him having picked up on the skills activation. But what he said was innocent… unless… understanding bloomed in him. This was not about him. Vidja used a glaive. While it was not a spear, it was a close cousin, and she probably utilised the spear family of skills from the shop to boost its damage. She wasn’t just talking about him she had ulterior motives. Now that he understood that he could see that him thrusting himself into the conversation, where he was not needed, wasn’t the best play.
He did as the ability suggested and held his silence. This was not something for him to solve.
“True, but Rahmat specialised in spears. It’s his main skill and source of damage in fights. Both you and Tom have the spear as a primary weapon but it’s more a complementary piece in your build while for Rahmat it’s the central axiom of his existence.”
“I understand,” Vidja said hurriedly. “It wasn’t like I was angling to get it myself or anything like that and now I’ve heard your reasoning. I agree completely with your choice. I was surprised by how quickly you made the decision. I kind of expected more consulting.”
“Vidja, our team has been fighting life and death battles together for a significant amount of time before we entered this trial. We understand each other back and front. I haven’t been with your group for as long, but I think I’ve got a good understanding of your capabilities. This was…”
“I know, it was a no brainer,” she agreed.
“Exactly, and if there was something I hadn’t thought of I’m sure you or Keikain or Michael would intercede pretty quickly to correct my mistake.”
With the decision made, they descended the tunnel and at the bottom after a long walk there was a portal rather than a direct passage upward. They didn’t blink at its presence. They had been warned about this; the land was filled with earth worms and if there was a connection to the outside, the chosen believed the other zones would be overrun. The earth worms apparently would have no natural predators elsewhere and if they escaped, they would unbalance other zones. That risk been solved by creating an impenetrable shell that had no gaps for them to escape out of.
They stepped through and emerged into another safe room. It was made of a hard crystal presumably to make it warm proof and had narrow slits that would barely be large enough for a human to slide through. A chosen would have had no chance of using them and if any of them had been here, then they would have to have used an alternative method to escape. Tom looked upward and there was a different colour stone that covered a section of the roof with crystal surrounding it. The chosen if they wanted to get in or out of the safe room would have had to blow up that plug.
Next, his eyes went to those slits, and he could hear the whistling wind. It sounded harsh and terrifying. A wind that carried sand that stung if it hit unprotected skin was how Harry had described it. That was with someone with the vitality of rank twenty. On earth, that wind would have scoured away all the flesh from the bone in minutes. The zone’s main challenge was apparently the environment.
Harry had already told them what quest to expect, but he still checked it the moment his window to do so became available.
Quest: Gather Wild Earth Shards.
Collectively collect and redeem 5000 Wild Earth Shards to open all exits from the zone.
Wild Earth shards are a regular drop from the earth worms that are in plague proportion in the environment. Mountainside caches may also contain Wild Earth Shards and can be harvested to meet the target.
1910 of the required 5000 have been redeemed.
The chosen had been in the zone for almost a week, so progress on the quest was expected. The fact it was only two-thirds done was a bigger surprise.
“Why are they going so slowly?” Michael asked, putting his fears into words.