The Flayer approached the corpse of the downed dungeon boss, then looked hopefully at Garath.
"What, you're hungry again?" he asked it.
The little devil didn't respond verbally. Instead, it climbed onto the chest of S'thys Zor and pointed at the lifeless heart beneath the blue skin. Garath understood exactly what the little demon wanted, and decided to oblige it. He removed a regular sized trident from his inventory and split the Naga champion’s chest open for the Flayer to get at the heart. The demon screamed savagely and ripped away the severed ribs and blue puss to wrap his boney fingers around his meal.
After repeating the gag inducing process of using both hands to literally stuff the heart down its throat, the demon's skin took on a blue-ish tint and it grew in size again. The difference in its size was even more dramatic than after it had eaten a Pikeman's heart in the cave. Now the Flayer was almost the size of the Fel Hound and its wings grew to match - not that the little devil was using them. Gorged on the heart of the dungeon boss, the Flayer lie curled up in S'thys Zor's chest cavity, blanketed cozily with a thick layer of shiny blue puss.
Before long Warrion reported that the entrance cave looked much the same as it had when they arrived and, still in crow form, flew over Garath on the central platform to meet Athios and Sharon on the track of Statues beyond. Garath could hear them discussing the puzzle over the Party communication channel, but his mind was elsewhere.
He willed his Community panel into existence and was searching for any mention of a murdering Necrologist or the Plague debuff, but came up empty. He decided to post a thread of his own to warn other survivors in the area, and hopefully provoke a response from whoever was responsible.
Thread Title:
Danger in Everett - Plague?
Thread Body:
Our group of survivors at the red brick building near the high school has been taking damage for the last several hours from a debuff called Plague. We know the source and are attempting to destroy it but, at least for now, avoid coming within 100 meters of the high school for your own safety.
If you have any information about the Plague, please respond to this thread or send me a private message.
Thanks,
Garath
Post Thread? Yes or No
He chose yes and the thread was live. Within seconds, he received a private message.
Private Message from Leviathan to Garath - 00/00/06 @ 12:13:
Ha! "attempting to destroy it" That's cute. Thanks for all your forum posts, Garath. I was looking for larger groups to farm closer to Seattle, but when I saw your post calling people to safety I knew exactly where my next stop would be. Almost two hundred people taking damage from my Plague just feels SO good and I owe it all to you. I haven't seen you around though, where ya hiding?
Garath read the message, stunned. His emotions were all over the place. This mother fucker had just thanked him. Butterflies filled his stomach and chest with the fear and excitement of an upcoming confrontation, then gave way to anger, which then gave way to reason. His first instinct was to respond with a threat like, "you and me, flag pole, three o'clock," but he managed to control himself. His response was simple and to the point.
Private Message from Garath to Leviathan - 00/00/06 @ 12:13:
I'll see you soon.
When he finally closed his MENU panels and looked around the cove, Athios, Sharon, and Warrion were back in human form and were moving the statues down the track toward the waterfalls. He walked to the edge of the water surrounding the platform and Athios cast Ally Transport to aid him in crossing the water to their position.
"No, that one goes to the far left," Sharon told Warrion, who had reached the split in the track with the first of the five statues. The crashing of falling water drowned out her voice and Warrion lifted his arms in question.
"WHAT?" he asked.
Sharon pointed to her left, where one of five square slots was located at the base of the falling water. Warrion nodded and began pushing the statue beneath the cold, blue cascade along the track to the far left.
"What about this one?" Garath shouted, one hand wrapped around a handle protruding from the second statue on the track. The five statues were ten-foot-tall, stone replicas of various Naga holding a crystal bowl. They each held their bowl in a different position. The statue Garath placed his hand on held her crystal bowl out and to its right.
"Far right," she shouted back, pointing with an outstretched arm.
"How do you know?" Garath asked.
"They have the same characters as the murals in the cave. I think we just have to place them in the right order on those slots under the waterfall," she explained at the top of her lungs with both hands cupped around her mouth like a makeshift megaphone.
Garath nodded and started dragging the statue down the track. It wasn't nearly as easy as Link had made it look in the Zelda series. Even with twice his original Strength Attribute, and the lubricating assistance of the water along the track, he was only able to move the heavy statue in short jerks. Drenched from head to toe, Garath paused to catch his breath before turning the corner.
Warrion had made his way, pushing and pulling to move the hefty stone statue to the far-left side of the track and it clicked into place on the square slot with a final heave. Once in place, the water crashed down from the falls onto the bowl held out by the stone Naga and a low, rumbling note resonated throughout the cove.
Garath continued to force his statue to the right along the track. With a final push, it clicked into place on the square slot below the falls. As the water reached the bowl held out by the Naga statue, another note rang out to join the first in beautiful harmony.
One by one, each of the five statues added a note to an eerie, five-part harmony. As the last statue clicked into place, a blazing cobalt beam of energy shot down from the sky onto the gazebo atop the center platform. When the beam of light faded, the gazebo was gone with it. In its place were four wooden chests and a circular, glimmering portal.
Garath led the excited group of adventurers (with the aid of another Ally Transport to avoid having to swim) back to the center platform to check out their unexpected loot. The chests were made of wood, lined with gold, and about three feet tall. Each wooden crate had a glowing circle on top instead of a handle or keyhole.
Garath had a pretty good idea about what to do next. He approached the closest chest and placed his hand on the glowing circle. The chest clicked as it was unlocked and the contents were revealed. Floating out of the magically imbued crate were three items, Garath Inspected each eagerly.
Refilling Pouch of Concentrated Crystillium
Type: Potion
Quality: Unusual
Item Score: 16
Volume: 16 oz
Rarity: Uncommon
*** Crystillium comes from the Naga home planet, S'thysterest. You get the feeling that drinking this sweet liquid will invigorate your mind. This pouch will refill on its own over time.
Pretty Pretty Pendant of the Pure
Raiment Slot: Neck
Defense Rating: 0
Armor: 0
Quality: Impressive
Item Score: 36
Type: Jewelry
Magic Resistance: 0
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 100/100
While wearing this pendant, your resistance to control impairing effects is increased by 100%.
***Note: This amulet makes you feel PRETTY!
Item Requirements:
Level: 19
Sturdy Leather Cuirass of Wisdom
Raiment Slot: Chest
Defense Rating: 12
Armor: +12
Quality: Average
Item Score: 17
Type:Leather Armor
Magic Resistance: 0
Rarity: Common
Durability: 30/30
+10 Wisdom
+10 Vitality
Item Requirements:
Level: 15
The
loot from his chest was AWESOME. The endless Crystillium was easily the most exciting piece of booty in Garath's not-so-humble opinion. The fact that it was basically magical Adderall aside, he had read enough survival books to know that an endless supply of hydrating fluid was priceless. The amulet definitely caught his attention as well, even the way it looked would catch anyone’s attention. The fact that wearing the pink, heart-shaped pendant would decrease his susceptibility to things like, say, hypnosis for example, definitely made up for the odd flavor text note about feeling pretty - whatever that meant. Even more awesome though, was how well the heart-shaped pendant would pair with his tiara. . . The cuirass was an obvious upgrade from his dirty, torn t-shirt that offered no Armor or Attributes. The flat-black leather vest was a sleek design, it wouldn't reflect light as a shined leather would.
Garath equipped his new gear immediately. He pulled the solid leather chest piece over his t-shirt. The armor seemed to adjust to his body, hugging his pectorals and abdomen. As soon as it was equipped, a prompt appeared.
You have equipped Sturdy Leather Cuirass of Wisdom. Because the Raiment Slot for Chest Armor was occupied, your Dirty T-shirt has been placed in your Items panel.
He placed the amulet around his neck, the heart pendant hanging over his chest, and he tucked it into his chest armor before Warrion could catch a glimpse of it.
Between the Diadem, the sleeveless black vest, the Pretty Pretty Pendant, and his slim-fit jeans - the Necrologist thought that he should feel a little exposed. But he didn’t. He felt like he looked great, even pretty. As soon as that thought occurred to him the Necrologist glared down at his new neck piece. True, his body had undergone some dramatic changes since The Culling shook the Earth. His arms and shoulders had become more muscular and his waist trimmed from a far more limited diet, constant physical activity, and increased Strength Attribute. In all, he felt the look was a little gay-bar for him - but he loved it. He was suspicious that the ‘bonus effect’ of the pendant tucked under the black leather of his new chest piece was making him feel more confident in his appearance, but it didn’t really make any difference. What he didn’t know was that, because of the wild wild black curls, glowing eyes, and slightly demonic facial features, he didn’t look very pretty at all.
The rest of the Party was enjoying the spoils of victory as well. They had each received the Crystillium pouch and two additional items - the additional items were definitely awarded based on the chosen Class of the adventurer who placed their hand on the chest. Warrion's two items were a set of identical daggers with a blue strip along the blade and ornate, pearl handles. Sharon equipped a long, forest green cloak and slid matching gloves over her hands. Athios was looking, puzzled and speculative, at what appeared to be a set of silver wrist bracers.
When Garath asked about her loot she showed him the bracers and he triggered Inspect by placing one hand on the wrist armor.
Vambraces of Quickcasting
Raiment Slot: Wrist
Defense Rating: 90
Armor: +6
Quality: Above Average
Item Score: 24
Type: Leather Armor
Magic Resistance: +15%
Rarity: Common
Durability: 45/45
+5 Regeneration
Reduces GCD (global cooldown) by .125 seconds
Item Requirements:
Level: 16
Wisdom: 39
"I didn't know we even had a GCD," said Garath. "But then, my instant cast spells all have a cooldown so I can't use them back-to-back. And my other spells have a cast time that must be longer than the GCD."
Athios nodded thoughtfully. "It makes sense that you wouldn't have noticed, then. My little disks are instant cast with no cooldown so it was obvious to me immediately. The GCD is pretty average, a quarter of a second between spells. These boots reduce GCD by .125 seconds too," she explained, sitting on her now closed treasure chest and equipping a pair of matching silver boots.
"Wait, so..." Garath started, putting .125 and .125 together.
"Yeah! I don't have a GCD anymore! That's why I was just staring at them... Like, no way. Right?"
"Right," he agreed. "That's fucking awesome."
Locked and loaded with new gear and a positive disposition, the Party finally left the dungeon. One by one they stepped through the circular portal and left the cerulean cove, emerging back where they had entered at the fountain.
The sun was setting in the west and the sky was a deep crimson as they once again stood in the ruins of what had once been the Alderwood Mall.
"You guys head back to HQ," Garath told the group after checking to see how much longer until he was able to shape shift again (still just under four hours). "I'm going to look around in some of these restaurants and see if I can't find anything a little more appetizing than rations until I can fly back."
"What, by yourself?" Sharon wanted to know.
"Yeah?" Garath responded dumbly.
"No," said Athios.
"Yeah, we don't know that it's safe for anyone to be alone right now," Warrion agreed. “And this is marked as an un-safe zone. I.D.K. what the shit that means, other than the obvious. Which means it's not fucking safe to be here. We’re not just going to leave you here and hope for the best, dude.”
"Especially since you can't just go crow and take off if you're in trouble," Athios agreed.
Garath considered arguing that he could handle himself, but could see that he wouldn't be able to convince them. So, together, the Party explored what was left of the mall.
There was very little left in terms of the indoor mall itself, the decimated building was burned to cinders during The Culling. Fortunately, the outdoor food court yielded better results. Many of the industrial freezers had survived the apocalypse, but because they had no access to power for several days, the various stored meats and cheeses had already started going rancid. They were able to salvage a massive stockpile (each) of canned goods of every kind though. The Items panel never ceased to impress the Necrologist and he placed hundreds of pounds of canned food into the bottomless grid space.
They continued searching the wreckage for anything useful for nearly three hours, then finally decided the food court had been picked clean. Garath made one more stop to the restrooms in the food court. Toilet paper was already running low at BOTH HQ and, apocalypse or not, Garath liked to keep his bum clean. Even the thought of squeezing one out without TP made him cringe. Luckily, the bathrooms were fully stocked and the Necrologist loaded up his Items panel with a typically taken-for-granted luxury.
Sitting near the fountain and entrance to Aquawood Depths, Garath checked his inbox for new messages. He wasn't surprised to see he had a handful of unread letters.
Private Message from Gary to Garath - 00/00/06 @ 15:46:
You guys still alive? You've been gone all day. Just checking in.
We still have the plague. Another two people dead. One elderly guy that wouldn’t pick a Class, and that blind fella that couldn't see the prompts. Everyone strongly considering leaving HQ. We'll let you know if we do.
Garath had told Gary before that it was another Necrologist causing the Plague and that the range of the spell was one-hundred-meters. Garath himself had wondered if the best course of action for the two-hundred-person group would be to leave, but it wouldn't be difficult for this Leviathan to just follow them and keep his distance, it just didn't seem that likely to help.
Another two dead. 'Elderly' Gary had said, Garath wondered who it was that had kicked the bucket - when they had left HQ that morning The Band had six people that would qualify as elderly, including Gran and Nigel. The next message he read made him grind his teeth.
Private Message from Leviathan to Garath - 00/00/06 @ 14:23:
////
A counter of how many members of Garath's Raid he had killed. The Necrologist didn't share the conversation with the Party. Between that obvious taunt and the previous thank-you jab, Leviathan had just made this
personal.
Finally, as the last light of day faded beyond the horizon, Garath's cooldown period elapsed and he was able to change forms once again. The Party of four shifted into crow form and flew north toward HQ and Leviathan. With the brisk evening air chilling the skin beneath his feathers, Garath pumped his wings faster. Even after a very full day, he had more than enough energy for what came next.
Chapter 34
The Search for Leviathan
Soaring through the darkening sky, Garath's thoughts drifted back to the loot rewards. Everyone had received synergistic items except for him. Warrion's daggers even got a set bonus of +10 Dexterity when he had them both equipped! His pendant was pretty neat, and the chest piece was okay, but the Goddamn global cooldown no longer applied to Athios with her new gear. Sharon didn't get a set bonus, but her new forest green cloak and gloves matched and looked freaking awesome. ‘And I look like I could be a backup dancer for N'Sync,’ Garath thought sourly.
He didn't let the thoughts remain in his mind for very long and quickly shifted to thinking about how to deal with this Leviathan when they made it back to HQ.
*Remember, the other Necrologist has to be within 100 meters of HQ,* said Garath as they neared the red brick building. *Keep an eye out for anywhere hidden as we fly over. We’ll group up and make a plan when we land.*
Garath had another nine shape shifts at his disposal and welcomed the upcoming confrontation. He would kill this Leviathan and revel in the Experience Points. With that thought, the Necrologist reminded himself to drink the Crystillium as soon as they landed, as it seemed to help counter the effects of tainted soul. He already felt himself losing control at just the thought of ending Leviathan's life. It sounded absolutely exhilarating. An equal opponent, another Necrologist - and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) Page 31