by K. T. Hanna
Mana Tide (Upgrade)
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff
Duration: 60 minutes
Effect: This will cause you to regenerate mana faster in combat. Mana will increase by an additional 7 per 5 seconds. This buff levels with the caster.
Her Root duration was maximized and strengthened. She frowned at it, still wondering why it appeared so weak to her.
Root (Upgrade)
Cast: Others (or self if you really want to)
Type: Immobilization, with thorns
Duration: 12 seconds
Effect: This will root the target in place. Probably not the best idea to cast it on yourself when fleeing in panic. Now with improved thorns which will make your squirming opponent decidedly uncomfortable.
Fervor, Berserker, and Haste all received duration upgrades and she frowned. Just sending her new spells for a duration upgrade seemed a bit counterintuitive. And made her a bit sad because she’d been expecting more new spells, and this was decidedly anti-climactic. At least Haste gave her a ten percent increase.
Fervor (Upgrade)
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff
Duration: 60 minutes
Effect: This is an attack speed buff, but it also increases agility by the caster’s level plus ten. Cannot be cast on the same target as Berserker.
Berserker (Upgrade)
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff
Duration: 60 minutes
Effect: This buff adds strength of the amount equal to the level of the caster plus ten, however it also reduces agility by half the caster’s level. Best used for classes or pets who will not need agility stacked. Cannot be cast on the same target as Fervor.
Haste (Upgrade)
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Melee Buff
Duration: 45 minutes
Effect: When cast on an ally, this buff will allow their melee speed to increase by 35%.
Once she noticed the very subtle difference in the spells, she rolled her eyes at the omnipotent system and just moved onto her first new spell of the bunch: a new area of effect stun. She almost squealed. It was amazing, with this she could technically keep a group of opponents stunned at all times. Of course, it was going to be very dependent on whether or not it was resisted a bunch, but still, it was amazing.
Concussive Blast
Cast: Area of Effect
Type: Stun
Duration: 12 seconds
Effect: This is a stun that radiates 15 feet out from the caster. It will stun anyone who means the caster harm within that radius. Does not produce sparkles, rainbows, or ponies.
She eyed the rest of her spells warily. Sinuous was going to be in there, but she was hesitant to see what the last scroll of her usual enchanter line was going to give to her. She took a deep breath, aware the others were waiting on her, and opened it. Her eyes grew wide with surprise and undisguisable delight.
Cast: Mana Block
Type: Specific Mana-Aimed Stun
Duration: 6 seconds, recast 45 seconds
Effect: This is, effectively, a stun that blocks an opponent’s use of mana. It will also interrupt any current ability being cast when it hits. For its duration the target will be unable to utilize any of their mana-based skills for 6 seconds. Be cautious with timing this spell as it has a 45 second recast, and if you cast it at the wrong time, you might just kill everyone.
Well, that was comforting. She absorbed it and quickly opened her Sinuous line before she could second guess herself. She blinked at them, not entirely sure it wasn’t trying to pull her leg. Surely not...
Mana Theft
Cast: Instant—5-minute recast
Type: Offensive
Duration: Not Applicable
Effect: This ability allows the enchanter to steal mana from their opponent. It will not only steal a large chunk of mana from the opponent, but will also inflict in damage the same amount stolen during the Mana Theft. When used in conjunction with Mana-Drain, this can debilitate the target and keep the group in mana when juggled well.
Mana-Drain
Cast: Instant—5-minute recast
Type: Offensive
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: This ability allows the enchanter to apply a DoT to the target where it will drain the mana and share it out toward the group. The DoT is one of both physical damage and mana loss. While it ticks slowly, the damage can backlash if it is prematurely cleansed off your target, even if it’s by the target themselves. Be aware that nothing that drains mana in a violent way is a good thing, but sometimes there are necessary evils.
Murmur gulped at the last sentence, hesitating briefly before absorbing the skill. If her friends needed her to use these abilities, that’s what she’d do. There wasn’t even a question about it. Three new spells were better than none, but that disappointment still lingered.
She decided to take a peek at her stats. Maybe that would cheer her up.
CON 22 (45)
STR 10 (33)
AGI 20 (78)
WIS 12 (69)
INT 68 (171)
CHA 89 (222)
HP 647 (922)
MANA 1038 (1208)
MA 175 (300)
At least her stats reflected her level, even if her spell acquisition didn’t. Dusting herself off, she stood and petted Snowy when he ran into her leg, bumping her what appeared to be deliberately so she’d look down at him.
“It’s okay boy, I got this. We’ve got this, okay?”
He didn’t seem as convinced as she’d wanted to make him feel, but she’d wasted a few minutes of their awesome Mellow buff and they needed to get into that room and kill whatever waited for them in there.
“Are we ready?” she asked, grinning at everyone.
“Of course, it’s not like we’ve been waiting for you or anything.” Merlin grinned and winked at her, to try and take the sting out.
“No one said you had to wait. You’re all very welcome to go in there without me and my upgraded Mana Tide.” She eyed them mischievously.
“What now?” Veranol’s smile grew. “Hi there, new best friend.”
“Back off, Defiler. She’s all mine.” Sinister elbowed him away and moved closer to Mur, who laughed. Even if she wasn’t entirely certain about how Sin meant what she’d just said, she knew that she was happy she’d said it at all.
“Let’s buff up, go in there, and show this castle we mean business. Sound like a plan?” But the enthusiastic replies died down quickly, and Murmur stole a look behind her when the creaking reached her ears, only to see the double doors opening inwardly by themselves.
Somnia Online
Richnai Fortress - Firtulai Continent
Day Sixteen
Seventeen wipes so far. Masha dragged the back of his hand across his mouth to stem the blood flow from the gash on his lip. Ironically, he didn’t even have enough mana left to heal himself. Not that it would matter since he was the last one standing, and the Juggernaut was taking aim.
The collision rocked Masha off his feet, flying him through the air and for just a split second, leant him an amazing sensation of bliss before it dashed him against the wall in a bone crunching smash. Pain ricocheted around his body, and a scream tore from his throat as he died.
Blackness brought relief, with dots of loading skittering across the bottom of his vision. The pain still echoed in his head, but now the analytical side kicked in. When he respawned, he was the last to do so.
“Took you long enough.” Jirald looked over at him, a feral gleam to the rogue’s eyes. Masha couldn’t blame him. With each pull of the Juggernaut, Jirald grew in strength, his DPS increasing every single time. It was like he was dancing a tango with the beast to see just how much he could pus
h it before it crushed him like a bug.
“Fine. I’ll make sure to die first next time so no one survives long enough to see more of his mechanics.” Masha raised an eyebrow, not meaning his words in the least, and moved over to Ishwa as he tried to work the cricks out of his joints.
“Spoilsport,” Jirald mumbled, but even though the rogue attempted to sound grumpy, Masha could tell he wasn’t. Something about the encounter with Spiral and then going through to fight the beast had made the kid grow. It had given them all a kick in the butt and made them completely and utterly determined to defeat this dungeon before anyone else. They needed that win on their side.
Spiral could have been total dicks, but at least their leader was logical as well. It was a small mercy. Sure, they were on their way to down their second dungeon, but at least they’d bowed out of this one for now.
“Stop thinking.” Ishwa chided him. “Let’s get in there and take that damned thing down.”
Masha nodded, his thoughts still straying to the dynamics of this game. To the way the mobs moved and reacted, and the way the experience loss worked. It was a fantastic deterrent to dying, and made everyone play to the best of their ability so they didn’t keep losing levels.
It was only fortuitous that there seemed to be a check in place for when a group was learning a new encounter. While the Juggernaut was engaged, any death suffered at his hand—or at the hand of something in his encounter—reduced the experience lost. Instead of a whopping fifteen to twenty percent like out in the game world, it seemed each death only took around three to four percent. Still not ideal of course, but it could have been much worse. They’d only had two people delevel in the entire time they’d been fighting him. He’d better give an entire chunk of experience when they defeated him. Because otherwise that game design was utter shit.
He had no idea how Fable had come so far. With all the wipes Exodus was experiencing, even with the diminished experience loss because of the boss fights, he didn’t understand how the other guild had pulled ahead so far in levels. They’d downed two dungeons already, and were well on their way to their third.
He’d have to worry about that when they got closer to catching them.
“I believe I told you to stop thinking.” Ishwa still didn’t sound as strict as usual, but there was a hint of irritation underlying his words as he tapped his foot and glared at the cleric.
“I know. Just trying some calculations in order to justify losses.” Masha glanced around at the raid, watching everyone as they readied themselves for the next onslaught. They were close, all of them, to getting him down. To notching up their first dungeon victory.
He cleared his throat. “Come on, guys! We’ve got it this time. Just remember the tell for his noxious breath and we should be good. We got him to almost ten percent this last time. We can get him all the way now.”
A few cheers went up from the group, and Masha shook his head. They were concentrating on maximizing buffs, and on making sure they had all of their tricks in their arsenals, he couldn’t blame them. He’d lost more than half a level himself, and his own frustration was difficult to hold at bay.
“Come on, slackers!” Jirald called out, standing tall, his hands on his hips. His locus eyes flashed, full of eagerness and something else, something Masha was surprised to see. Perhaps giving him a new target, a new area to aim for in the game other than Fable was working wonders.
Because if he wasn’t mistaken, Jirald was determined—and not to down the enchanter that kept foiling his every plan. Not to focus solely on one thing and gain tunnel vision. No, that determination was to be the best, and Karn had come so close to proving him otherwise that it lit a fire Masha wasn’t sure Jirald had anymore.
He only hoped it kept burning.
The roar that emitted from the room once the doors were opened shook the ground around them. Murmur wasn’t the only one in the raid to stagger back under the onslaught. Her head rung, and the acrid taste of the roar made her eyes water.
Silence followed, until massive scratching noises, like claws dragging along tiled floors reached their ears.
“I’m not sure how long that hall is, but we probably don’t want to get wedged in this corridor,” Merlin practically whispered.
“Point.” Devlish took in a deep breath, and his black aura intensified, lending him an outer red hue. Murmur watched it, wondering if he’d enhanced that ability, but didn’t have time to ask. Another thing in her pile of later thoughts.
They inched in slowly, torches igniting as they made their way inside. The doors had been large, but not near big enough to indicate that a hall of this magnitude was waiting on the other side.
Sconces of blackened iron hung on the wall, and the flame inside them glowed red, illuminating the stone walls with streaks of brown splattered all over it like some sort of abstract painting.
It took Murmur a moment to register that the color synced beautifully with dried blood. Just what took place here, in the belly of the beast?
Snowy growled low in his throat, and she felt his hackles rising as he bumped against her leg, like a warning for her to stay back, to stay low and not be stupid.
Of course, even her wolf would remind her of it.
As they headed deeper into the hall, they fanned out in an arrow-like formation, with Devilish at the front. The room was wide enough that they could easily stand next to each other with only their fingertips touching one another. The lights didn’t reach into the back corners of the hall, and right there, in the back left, is where the scratching sound originated. Slowly, like whatever it was was walking in circles, pacing, waiting, ready to come out when they least expected it.
Devlish stopped about halfway up to the distant back wall they could barely see through the hazy lighting. He held his weapon and shield rigidly, waiting for whatever was hiding to jump out at him.
“Who seeks entrance here?” The voice rumbled like unsettled lava down in the earth’s core.
Shivers ran down Murmur’s back. Fear tried to leak into her brain, and she clamped not only her own shields down, but the one she held over her friends as well. A hiss came from the back of the room where the voice lived, unsettling and focused directly on the enchanter.
“What manner of trickery is this?” it asked, but didn’t wait for an answer as it began answering itself.
“An enchanter has come to visit me? This is a fine surprise, a meeting of minds, a clash of wills.” The words flowed out like bubbles of laughter and as it pushed forward into the light, it was all Murmur could do not to take a step back and hide her face from it.
As its first paw exited the shadows, the claws looked like they could belong to a tiger, but the more that became visible, the less it was true. Sure, it had huge feet with massive claws that were more like talons, but once its face shoved into the light, all similarities with cats flew out of Murmur’s head.
The face that looked at them was furry like a tiger, with stripes running down longways instead of to the side, but it had a snub nose like a boa constrictor and a forked tongue that flickered in and out while it studied them with unblinking snake eyes. Its body was definitively more bear like than tiger, and yet she could tell from the way that it walked that it was likely very agile.
“Tell me, little enchanter,” it half-hissed in an unexpected question. “Can I devour your soul?”
Taken aback by the request, Murmur didn’t immediately know what to say even though her mind screamed of course bloody well not over and over again. She was fascinated by the amalgamation of animals presented to them as one.
“I’d say that’s a pretty resounding no there.” Beastial hefted his axe, glanced back at Mur, and dropped into a ready-to-fight stance.
Devlish raised his shield and braced himself for impact while Veranol warded him and Sinister began to gather a Blood Grenade in her hands.
The creature
roared again, and this time the proximity caused most of them to stumble—both Murmur and Mellow took a knee. A warning flashed briefly in her vision.
You have been affected by Urohne’s Roar. This lowers your agility and reflexes for the next eight seconds. It’s better to interrupt this ability than to suffer its consequences.
Murmur resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was good to know; interrupts had been sorely lacking in their use since they’d begun Somnia. “Interrupt Urohne’s Roar when you see it being cast.”
While she spoke softly, it was loud enough to reach her raid, and apparently the beast too. “You’ll taste excellent, little morsel.”
It licked its lips as if to provide emphasis and chose that moment to jump forward and engage Devlish. Murmur’s heart stuck in her throat as the rest of the creature was revealed to them in the light. Its legs were tiger-like, but thicker, more like a bear’s, but its tail, which was covered in thick and dense fur, appeared more like a snake’s in the way it twitched and slithered.
The teeth in its mouth belonged to the largest of tigers, but the lateral incisors were extended like a snake’s fangs, just waiting to sink into its victim and inject whatever poison she had no doubt was in there. Even as she thought about calling out the warning, she was fully aware Devlish saw them too.
He shifted his stance to accommodate for better protection against the bites. Veranol threw another buff toward him, specifically a resist against poison. She hoped that and Mellow’s remaining buff from their cauldron was going to be enough to see them through.
Debuffing with Weakness, Languidity, and Feeble Body, she applied her DoT and watched for any untoward signs of attack they’d not anticipated.
The melee and rangers fell into a rotation for stuns. Jinna would go first, followed by Beastial, Dansyn, while the rangers jumped in if one of the melee called out that they’d missed theirs.