It’s not easy fighting creatures of Earth at the best of times – but when they’re brought to life by some powerful Dark magic with some truly medieval Gothic spells, you’ve got your work cut out for you. You blunt your swords on their stone wings which they use as shields while the Golems shower you with lumps of cliff. Had it not been for the game engine which regularly cleaned the area of all obstacles, the canyon would have already been completely filled with chunks of rock.
“Watch out!”
We stopped, studying our warriors.
They’d just attacked the golems and promptly retreated to a safe distance, dodging their blows which stripped you of stamina. This way they cleared the field for the wizards and allowed our battery of three glaive throwers to do their job. Whenever the Golems bent down to punch the ground with their fists, they exposed the tops of their heads which was the most vulnerable spot of every mob.
“Should we help them?” Enea asked, watching two gargoyles dive from the upper cliffs onto our orderly formations.
“You’d do them a disservice,” White replied. “They need to level up and get some tactical experience.”
“What a bunch of idiots!” Iskandar snapped, watching the wizards. He switched to the command chat, “Whose bright idea was it to use fireballs?”
“Mine,” replied Forlight, a level-70 Arch Mage.
“So you think rock can burn, do you?”
“Why not? Everything can burn if the fire’s hot enough.”
“Have you ever been to school? The Crystal Sphere is based on real-world physics! All that magic does, it allows you to use the laws of physics more efficiently!”
“Why, what have I done? When those wyverns were fighting the Ravens, the cliffs exploded with their breath!”
“That was water-logged lime over there! This is granite!”
“Okay, if you’re so smart you tell me!”
“Don’t you talk back!” Archie interfered. “You’ve got sixty seconds to get your brain in gear!”
Of course they were tired. The 100% authenticity had turned certain gaming experiences into hard going. Still, I had to agree with Iskandar. Forlight wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, that’s for sure.
“I’m not Platinus, am I?” he protested. “He’s the egghead!”
“You’ll be too if I make you learn your science!” Iskandar snapped, then switched his attention to the warriors, “Keep aggroing the golems so they stay in my line of sight! Don’t blunt your weapons for nothing!”
A glaive thrower went off, dispersing the canyon’s gloom. Five fiery glaives hit a gargoyle, stripping it of 50 hp.
Jesus. This was no way to fight.
I peered at the warriors and called up one of them, an Elf.
He came running.
“Why do you think I gave all of you Disintegration Potions?” I demanded.
“They don’t work! The moment we smear arrowheads with them, they start to bubble and lose all durability! This potion is worse than useless!”
“You have sixty seconds to think of a better way to use it.”
The Elf’s face fell. He stood sulking for a while. Then he perked up and said with a mischievous glint in his eye,
“I know!”
He rushed toward the raid’s master looter. “Gyll, do you remember we found that chest with all the glass stuff in it?”
“And?” the stingy dwarf frowned.
“There were those tiny scent bottles there, remember? With glass stoppers that are really hard to pull out!”
“Of course I remember. Absolute and utter trash. Why?”
“Can I have them, please?”
The dwarf cast a glance in our direction, then chose to accept the responsibility. “Very well. You can have them. But if you waste them for nothing, I’ll deduct them from your loot share.”
The Elf scooped the delicate little bottles up and hurried toward the glaive thrower. Clever boy! He poured some Disintegration Potion into each bottle and replaced the glaives’ tips with them.
A new gargoyle had just nose-dived off a cliff ledge. The creature spread its heavy stone wings. How did they manage to keep in the air at all? They must have had some Levitation added to their nature.
“One round!” he shouted.
The weapon’s torsion bar rebounded, loosing off the large spear-like glaive.
It hit the gargoyle in the wing. A recognizable glow spread around its stone surface as the bottle broke, releasing the Disintegration Potion.
The creature’s wing turned porous. A fine web of cracks ran across it. Then it broke off, crumbling to rubble.
The gargoyle went into a tailspin, then hit the ground, raising clouds of dust.
In the meantime, the sky had grown dark. Strange-shaped thunderclouds had gathered all along the canyon walls. A deluge flooded everything.
Still sulking, Forlight watched the unfolding show. I could tell by the sideways glances he cast at our great and terrible Arch Mage that he wished him to publicly fail in whatever he was up to.
No such luck. Soon the weird downpour stopped.
“Warriors step back!”
The golems growled their displeasure, unable to cross the invisible aggro line.
The rainwater had soaked their rock bodies. Quite ancient to begin with, they were now also covered with numerous micro cracks from all the fireball attacks.
The whirling spirals of Mortal Cold formed above each golem’s head.
The effect was impressive. The rainwater which filled the cracks in their bodies froze, tearing the rock apart. With a thunderous crash, these colossuses of old crumbled to the ground.
“Is that clear?” Iskandar asked, unwilling to reprimand the hapless wizard in front of everyone.
“Yeah. Sorry I snapped at you. You were right.”
“Forget it. What are their respawn times?”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Any risk of disturbing their boss?”
“Nah. We only need to walk another hundred and fifty feet. The canyon takes a turn there. That’s where this location ends.”
* * *
Soon we walked out to the isle’s precipitous shore.
Deep below raged the waters of the channel separating us from the neighboring island. A decrepit suspension bridge hung across the abyss, creaking and rocking in the wind.
“I’m gonna take a look,” Christa said.
She changed into her Infernal form and kicked off the edge of the precipice, spreading her leathery wings in the air. Having found an upward air current, she circled the narrow channel a couple of times, then landed on a narrow ledge on the other side and began studying the area.
“This side is packed with Ferrigan’s Guards,” she reported. “Both warriors and wizards.”
“Can you see their camp?” I asked.
“No. They’re just ambling about the bridge, either singly or in small groups.”
“What else can you see?”
“In the direction of the tower, it’s only the jungle and some overgrown ruins. All the mobs are undead,” she forwarded us the logs.
“Level 140,” White shook his head. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“The bridge is too narrow and unreliable,” Raoul touched the bridge’s time-worn cables made of plant fiber. “I just hope it doesn’t fall apart while we’re on it.”
“I could use Object Replication to strengthen it,” I offered.
“Can I try?” Enea asked.
“Very well. Go ahead. I didn’t know you knew the spell.”
She smiled. “I don’t. You shouldn’t forget I’m one with Nature now.”
Beautiful as life itself and mysterious as the forests’ subdued gloom, she still didn’t know the extent of her new powers. She’d been spending all her days experimenting, studying the resulting logs in the evenings.
I’d love to know how she was going to strengthen this bridge. There was no vegetation on our side at all, nothing but bare rock. The cables wer
e fixed to the cliffs with crude rusty hooks.
Enea looked around until she noticed a spring. Its water trickled down the ledges, dripping down in resonant miniature waterfalls which ran toward the edge of the precipice.
Enea offered her cupped hands to the dripping water. Whispering something, she splashed it over the dry vines which formed the bridge cables.
The long-dead plants exploded in a mass of new shoots. Before we knew what was happening, tenacious new tendrils clung tightly to the rusty hooks. The entire length of the bridge turned green, covered in new growth which ran toward its other end, covering the cliff opposite with a web of air roots.
The rotten footboards grew a layer of sturdy bark on top.
“All done,” Enea gasped.
White bared his sword and stepped fearlessly onto the bridge.
* * *
It didn’t take us long to cross. By the time we’d stepped onto the other side, two Guards in crystal armor were already waiting for us. Still, they couldn’t do much because of the vines which had wound tightly around them, immobilizing both.
We were entering a true kingdom of nature. A rather narrow trail led us into a shady jungle of exotic plants. A soft, springy layer of moss concealed a cobblestone road below. It was lined with milestones that used to support long-disintegrated road signs.
“Give me one moment,” Enea perched on a moss-covered rock. She appeared pale and ill at ease.
“Everything all right?”
“I feel sort of drained.”
“Is it because of the bridge?”
“Yes. My mana is down to zero.”
“You didn’t give the plants all of your energy, did you?”
“I had to. I didn’t have enough magic. It’s okay back in Rion where things just happen. I miscalculated it. I’ll be all right in a moment.”
“Why won’t you draw some energy from nature? It’s everywhere! You can do it, can’t you?”
“Don’t you remember what the Ancient Hydra said? By borrowing thoughtlessly from nature, I might cause the death of thousands of little creatures. This is a very fine line and I’m not good at it yet. I’d hate to work miracles by having to kill living things.”
“In that case, all you need to do is borrow small amounts of energy from strong creatures who have plenty to share with you.”
“True,” she cheered up a little. “If only I could use your Synergy ability!”
I gave it some thought. “We could try, I suppose.”
“Are you serious?” she looked up sharply at me. “How do you want us to do it? I’m not a Neuro, am I?”
“These days, we’ve all become Neuros to a degree. Why would Reapers possess ability-intercepting skills and not us? Surely we can teach each other how to do it!”
“Don’t know. I’m not sure the game engine will allow us to do it. Don’t you remember how it downleveled Platinus for testing those explosives?”
“I think it’s different now,” I said. “The Crystal Sphere has changed a lot since then. I’m pretty sure the game engine is desperately looking for something to counterbalance the Reapers with in order to restore the status quo. I suggest you sit on your available stat points for a while. Don’t rush to invest them into anything. Once we’re back in Rion, we’ll think of how best to do it. I’m pretty sure I can teach others. After all, any wizard or warrior can become a mentor and train others, passing his or her skills on to them.”
“Now that would be fantastic!”
“You should listen to him,” said White who’d been following our exchange all along. “Before, if you wanted to change class or acquire certain unique abilities, you could only do it through a limited number of quest NPCs, by paying them. But if you think about it, if the Neuro development branch exists, it means it makes an integral part of this world. In which case you should be able to pass your abilities on to other players. How you do it is a different question entirely.”
“A ‘limited number of NPCs’, yeah right!” Iskandar laughed. “Where do you want us to look for them? I bet they’ve joined Dietrich a long time ago! I went to Agrion’s Wizard Guild the other day. The place was absolutely dead.”
Still, you couldn’t put White off so easily.
“Exactly,” he said. “Quest NPCs are becoming scarce but that doesn’t mean life is about to stop. Their functions have to be transferred automatically to someone else. Iskandar, I thought you were training new wizards?”
“I am.”
“And who entitled you to do that?”
Iskandar shrugged. “It just happened. As soon as the Wizards’ Tower was restored, I discovered several new options in my interface. Spell Training, Promote a Wizard, Bestow an Ability...”
“So that’s the answer to your question, then. The game’s engine detects all the failures, then tries to restore the original balance. Quest NPCs are vital to gameplay. And as they defect to Dietrich, their privileges are passed on to eligible players.”
“Do you mean to say that Alexatis could pass his Neuro abilities on to the rest of us?”
“I think so. We need to try and see. But not now, of course.”
Christa glided down from the top of the cliff.
“There used to be a big city just here,” she said once she’d returned to her human form. “It’s not even that damaged. No idea what happened to its inhabitants. It looks sort of fishy.”
I contacted Lethmiel back in the castle and forwarded him the images.
He paused, then shook his head. “It’s probably better you turn back now,” he heaved a sigh.
“Why?”
“You’ve reached the outskirts of Oechis, the city which became the undoing of the Empire of a Thousand Isles.”
“Which means-?” White asked.
“Oechis is the ancient capital of jewelry and gold work,” Lethmiel replied. “When King Ferrigan decided to conquer the world, he gathered the most powerful wizards and jewelers and ordered them to create some incredibly powerful artifacts. Not many of them agreed but among those who did were a few Unrivaled Masters who couldn’t level up their craft normally anymore. They made amazing new armor and jewelry for the king, using materials such as life and death or light and darkness. Gradually, they fell victim to false pride. Each of them strove to create something truly unique without giving much thought to the consequences.”
“So what happened?” Christa asked.
“The city was plunged into madness.”
“What, as punishment from the gods of both Light and Dark?” Iskandar asked.
“Oh no,” Lethmiel replied. “The divine pantheons didn’t even have to interfere. The arrogant wearers of the new artifacts brought about their own undoing. The items were so powerful that they took over their owners’ minds. So if you still want to proceed, do be careful, I beg you. If I were you, I should turn back now.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if we have a choice. I might contact you later if we need more info.”
White chuckled and gave me an encouraging slap on the shoulder.
* * *
As soon as we delved deeper along the jungle trail, the ancient digital legend bared its teeth at us.
These NPCs weren’t the descendants of Ferrigan’s Guards but their ancient forefathers themselves. Victims of the long-forgotten curse, the undead warriors of crystal stepped out of the jungle.
Their movements were devoid of any system. Neither my map-making app nor even my Observation Skills ability could help me predict their next move. Christa had been perfectly right: they ambled vacantly around.
As for Ferrigan’s wizards, they didn’t use staffs or any other spell amplifiers. This in itself held a serious warning for an observant player and possible death for a reckless one.
The warriors’ armor glistened darkly in the shady gloom.
Archie watched one of the undead closely. Weak, listless and stooping, the creature didn’t look like much of a fighter. His weapon – a lo
ng sword made of quartz – trailed behind him on the grass.
“I’m gonna smoke him,” Archie said.
White chuckled. “You can try.”
I noticed him cast Stamina on himself in preparation for combat.
Despite his enthusiasm, Archie did everything by the book. He kept out of the guard’s field of sight, apparently planning to first crit him, then promptly perform a coup de grace combo.
White looked expectantly at me. I nodded. He followed Archie softly like a cat, inconspicuously covering him.
The guard hadn’t noticed anything. He walked around a large fallen tree and stopped.
The incessant chirruping of exotic birds drowned out the sound of Archie’s footsteps. He was just about to perform the crit when the guard, seemingly so listless, swung round.
The long curved blade of his scimitar drew a blurred arc in the air. Archie recoiled just in time, barely escaping with his life.
White reacted promptly. Good job he’d followed him! Just as the guard shifted his body off balance, White sank the whole length of his sword into him, producing a glittering cascade of burst crystal armor.
The guard staggered. His life bar shrank – but only halfway.
In the meantime, Archie focused and attacked the guard in a complex well-practiced combo.
I waved to Arwan.
Three arrows pierced the guard’s helmet. Enea and Christa joined in, too. Prickly vines shot up from under the ground, entwining the mob’s legs; then a bolt of dark lightning put an end to this brief but desperate combat.
A golden shimmer enveloped all of us (with the exception of Christa). The guard smoked by our joint efforts had offered plenty of XP to go around.
“Now this is interesting,” White crouched and parted the tall grass with his hands. I saw a set of familiar-looking armor glistening with burn marks.
The Reapers (The Neuro 3) Page 19