“So, let me get this straight. You think you’re the good guy here? Seems like you’re the one who thinks he’s the unlikely, misunderstood hero.”
“I never wanted to be a hero, but I am forced to be.”
“You’re not a real hero, Ellie is – because she’d rather you take her and mess with her code than see another person get hurt.”
“And think of the countless millions that might be saved in the future with her help; well, her programming’s help. Frostbyte will happily flick the reboot switch on her as though nothing happened and I’ll be quietly preparing to fix the world.”
My breath started coming in short, animalistic bursts through my nose. I wanted him to admit he was a crook and a scumbag and generally act like a normal person might rather than a psychopath.
“I won’t let you,” I seethed.
Azrael looked more confused than annoyed. “This machine lied to you and tricked you into risking your own life needlessly.”
“You want to call someone out for lying. Take a look at that twisted mug in the mirror.”
“It appears that, like everyone else, you cannot be reasoned with. I thought you might be different, Zoran. I’m sorry to find you’re just another kid cursed with dangerous naivety and the need to seek approval from others.”
Indignant, I jumped to my feet and thrust a finger towards him uncaring whether moving might give away my position.
“Go screw yourself or, better yet, that colossus of yours. You talk big, but you wouldn’t be letting me go if you weren’t afraid I might actually stop you. And her name is Ellie. If you pick her apart and rebuild her, you’re basically killing a person. Let that sink in.”
I knew as soon the words left my mouth that it was no good. This man was a killer, no matter what justification he brought to his defense.
Azrael sighed and looked down at the floor for a moment before meeting my eyes again in a determined stare.
“I’m a man of my word, as you’ve seen by now. The option to leave will still be open to you for ten seconds after this call. I hope you make the smart decision, for the world as well as yourself, oh Zoran, the Mighty Hero.”
“That’s not my name,” I said, puffing out my chest and letting my anger dispel all my anxieties. “My name is Jack. Jack Kross. And I’m coming for you, asshole.”
31
Azrael cut the video feed.
I checked my menu and, sure enough, the logout button was no longer grayed out. If I wanted to, I could get out of Hundred Kingdoms. Azrael had kept his word, after all.
But I was going to keep my word too. My blood was up and I was ready to fight – not to save my own skin, not for gold, but for the one person who had cared enough to help me. It was time I repaid the favor.
I entered the Spire through the servant’s entrance and tore through the back passageways toward the dungeons, consulting my map at intervals. Caution aside, I grappled from beam to beam and gargoyle to column, zooming across whole hallways fast as a bullet.
I’d made it this far. I could do this. I just needed a plan.
The first thing was to pick up the poison from Kreeptic and I wouldn’t be wasting a second. The quest timer neared zero as I made my way back to his chambers, pinging completion just as I entered the dungeons as a whole.
Quest – A Short Wait For A Quick Death
It’s ready! Return to Chief Interrogator Kreeptic
My night vision was good enough now that I didn’t need to keep a guiding hand on the hall, and I even got a final bump on that skill as I ran through the gloom.
Night Vision Increased!
Level 5
Soon you’ll be partying with the owls!
The prisoners and their cells now stood out to me as though they were lit by candlelight; not brightly, but it was close enough to full vision. I supposed my effective Night Vision was actually at level six due to my cowl of midnight. At least, it would help me to navigate the Spire quickly and reach Azrael.
I practically shoulder barged my way into Kreeptic’s chambers, catching the malignant jerk pouring a red substance onto a rat with harrowing effects. The creature’s eyes engorged then popped, spewing a gelatinous mess across his workbench.
Kreeptic tutted in frustration and spun to face me. “You!”
“Me,” I said, meeting his stare with one of my own. Even though his level and elite status meant I’d be pulped in an instant should he choose it, I somehow didn’t find the torturer as intimidating anymore. “Got my poison ready?”
Kreeptic’s gaze narrowed. “I do. Come here before I have second thoughts.”
I hastened to his side, hands outstretched. This had better be damned worth it or else I’d given up a chance of escape for nothing. Ellie believed in it and, unlike before, I fully trusted her now – she’d said it would work so I was certain it would.
When Kreeptic dropped the tiny vial into my hands, I thought something had, in fact, gone terribly wrong. It was so small. Then I checked its description.
Blood of the Old Ones
Poison
Quality: legendary
Millennia ago, ancient horrors were banished deep beneath the world, and for generations, master alchemists have passed down the closest approximation of their festering essence. Once a drop of this poison enters the body of another, it will consume them from the inside out, turning flesh to rot. Death is certain.
Deals 2000 poison damage every second until the target dies. This cannot be cured or dispelled.
Applications: 1
“I must stress again how difficult this substance is to create,” Kreeptic intoned. “It required the last of my Arch-solution and the entirety of the rare materials that you acquired to prepare even this small drop. I suggest you make it count.”
Quest Completed – A Short Wait For A Quick Death
After long trials, you have secured a sample of the Blood of the Old Ones. Whoever your enemy is, they must really deserve it.
Rewards
+4,000 EXP
“As discussed, without transmuting its power, the poison will be no use against Azrael. Have you located Grand Crusader Reginald?”
I pulled out my map to double-check. The golden stars of the players were completely removed now, as was the highlighted area indicating where the Emperor and his elite guards were being detained. Thankful that I’d committed the spot to memory, I nodded, although a sense of unease came over me.
How was I supposed to distract the inevitable players guarding the NPCs?
Ellie had said there wasn’t a secret way into that room specifically and that we’d ‘figure it out’ when the time came. Well, the time had come and, frankly, I had nothing. Worse still, time was not on my side.
“I know where Reginald and the others are being held,” I said. “Just need to figure out how to reach them.”
“Perhaps doing some of your crafting work will expand your mind and grant you the answer. I often find it helps me.” Kreeptic returned to his workbench to prod at the rat’s corpse without offering anything more useful.
Scowling, I stepped away for a bit of space, not even sure if there was anything I could craft at this stage.
Then, it hit me.
Opening my inventory, I brought out the arcane crystal and felt it vibrate slightly in my hands. I’d wanted to sell this bad boy, but it could be used for another purpose, a far nobler one.
Kreeptic sniffed loudly at the air, turning like a bloodhound. His eyes bugged when he saw the crystal.
“Where in blazes did you get that?”
“Oh, you know, just lying around.”
The torturer let loose a choked breath. “I am rapidly revaluating my opinion of you scavengers. Do you have any idea how valuable that is?”
“Yep. And I’m going to mash it into a new pair of gloves.”
“What?” Kreeptic barked. He knocked over a few of his instruments in his bid to reach my side. “I knew you were mad, boy.”
I swatted away hi
s grasping hand. “Oi! It’s mine. And I’ll be using it how I want. You do want me to stand a chance against Azrael, don’t you?”
“But on such lowly items,” Kreeptic growled. “With even a shaving from that gem, I could brew such a poison as to—”
“Would it be as powerful as the one you just gave me?”
“Well… no. But—”
“Then forget it. I’m not giving it to you.”
Kreeptic towered over me, looming bat-like and I honestly thought he’d gut me right there. But I held my ground and that seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He deflated and I began to understand the truth of this man – NPC – whatever. He talked a big game but that was all.
“I don’t have time for your empty threats or posturing,” I told him. “We’re on a schedule if we are to defeat Azrael. In less than one hour he’s going to kill Elli— the Emperor. So, stop bugging me.”
Kreeptic blinked, pursed his lips, raised a finger as though to say something important, then sloped back to his workbench. I’d opened my Crafting window before he even made it back there, double-checking that I had everything I needed to upgrade the gloves.
Five pieces of manafused satin. Check.
A full round of runes. Worth it, and check.
And the ludicrous component of an arcane crystal. No level 13 ought to have one, and if they did, they’d be mad to waste it on upgrading such low-level gear.
But as Kreeptic kept saying, I was pretty mad. Yet, I wasn’t so crazy as to have lost all tactical sense. This was the endgame and I ought to throw everything I had at it. The more powerful these legendary gloves would be, the better, and if I could make it to rank 5 in tailoring before I crafted them, I’d gain a power boost on them. With 35 pieces of dream silk still left in my bags, I should be able to reach that.
I checked my profession sheet and saw that I was about halfway to ranking up.
Tailoring – Rank 4 - 300/630 EXP
Any gear that I might make with dream silk would have an item level restriction beyond me, so I wouldn’t be able to use it. However, I just had to gain experience in the profession and quick. Time was of the essence. So I found a belt recipe that looked like it would fulfil my needs.
Recipe – Sash of the Quick Mind
Required Intelligence: 50
Associated Profession: Tailoring
Dream silk x 7
Tools Required: Knitting Needles, Scissors
I crafted one, producing a belt that looked like an oversized martial artist’s waistband in stark white.
Success! Sash of the Quick Mind level 25 created
+26 Crafted EXP
+85 Tailoring EXP
Sash of the Quick Mind
Quality: uncommon
Item level 25
Requires level 25 to equip
Durability: 20/20
+25 Armor
+2 Constitution
+3 Intelligence
+1 Regen p/s
Those stats would have been so nice to have on my character but it was the experience in tailoring that I needed. I made three more sashes, accumulating an extra 255 EXP in tailoring, and gained the rank up.
Tailoring Increased!
Rank 5
Materials required to craft items below your Intelligence level reduced by 25%
+5% power to Tailoring items you create
It was a tiny victory, a minuscule boost and yet I felt emboldened by it.
I looked to my evoker’s gauntlets again and activated Tinkering. Eagerly, I watched on as my avatar brought out the materials and tools, feeling the rush of anticipation build as I wondered how good a legendary item might be. I hammered the crystal into pieces and used the blowtorch to melt them together into some molten magical thread, which I then wove through my gloves. The satin came next and I was surprised to find the cloth was an obsidian black. Finally, the runes were infused. And it was done.
Success! Evoker’s Gauntlets have been upgraded to Conduits of the Elemental Lord level 28
+28 Crafting EXP
+94 Tailoring EXP
Conduits of the Elemental Lord
Quality: legendary
Item level 28
Requires level 13 to equip
+38 Armor
+10 Intelligence
+2.2 Regen p/s
+8.8% effectiveness to frost spells
+8.8% effectiveness to fire spells
+8.8% effectiveness to air spells
+8.8% effectiveness to earth spells
Special Passive: Infused with runic power, these gloves allow the user to summon the power of the elements through hand gestures without the need to hold onto rune stones. The required runes must still be present in your inventory to draw on them.
This item is Soul Bound to you.
Simply incredible. The jump in power from uncommon items to epic was significant, but the jump to legendary was that again and then some. Truly, these items in Hundred Kingdoms were worthy of the label. I also couldn’t fail to notice the 8.8% increase in a school of magic’s power, which must have been the combined benefit of my rank 5 perk in tailoring and my ‘Inventor’ specialization. A 5% boost in power from each trait granted a 10% total power increase. At the higher profession ranks, things must get crazy good.
I hurried to equip the gloves, and they fit so well they might have been a second skin; so incredibly soft yet I could feel the latent power within them. Sparks of energy crackled at my fingertips and the black cloth appeared to have a permeant shine as though it had been dipped in a lacquer coating. Strands of red and silver rippled along the material as I moved my hands and I noticed four symbols embedded into the cloth without any visible signs of stitching.
On the back of my right hand was a red flame, while three gray triangles appeared on the back of my left. A blue icicle sat on my right palm and a white tornado on the left.
I reasoned these had something to do with the specialty of the gloves – the ability to summon the elemental powers stored within each rune without needing to hold them. Then, a realization struck me; I’d become a pseudo-mage through crafting gear! Only there was no obvious indication as to how I might go about activating the runes remotely.
Frustrated, I squeezed my right hand into a fist.
Fireball or Inferno?
Ah, that was it. At least, that was how I activated fire at any rate.
I caught Kreeptic eyeing me, unable to hide that he was impressed. “And you have access to mage arts too? You’re quite something. My estimation of your odds of success has gone up another notch. Especially with fire.”
“Why especially fire?”
“Holy powers are best when used against the undead, but fire is second best.”
I noted this information, wishing Ellie was here to break it down into mechanical gaming terms. I imagined it worked something along the lines of holy spells doing twice the bonus damage that fire would. Then again, I could be well off. Holy would still my best bet for transmuting the Blood of the Old Ones. It had been Ellie’s idea and I doubted I’d find a powerful fire mage NPC knocking about who could perform the transmutation at short notice.
With these legendary gloves, I also judged my odds of success had risen sharply. Not only was the boost to my runic spells now quite substantial for a single piece of gear, but the speed and ease I could now draw on the runes without awkwardly fumbling with my inventory in combat would be worth the upgrade alone.
Quick experimentation revealed that facing my palm straight out as though to high-five someone would activate the runes upon my palm. Thankfully, each gesture was simple and wouldn’t be hard to master.
My character’s stats had also gained a boost from the gloves.
Character
Zoran Human Scavenger Level 13
Attributes
Constitution 19 (+2) – Intelligence 55 (+10) – Reflexes 18 (+5) – Might 18 (+4) – Willpower 26
Combat
Health 760 – Mana 1200 – Attack Power 59
– Spell Power 124 – Regen 3.3 (+2.2) p/s
Panicked that I’d now lost track of time, I checked the clock. There were forty minutes left to save Ellie, and despite Kreeptic’s advice, I had not had an epiphany on how I might distract or otherwise disable the guards. Attacking directly wasn’t wise; I had only got away with it on the walls because they’d been distracted by a whole army coming at them.
Thinking that I’d just have to figure it out along the way, I turned to leave and pulled on the door.
“Try not to die,” Kreeptic said by way of encouragement.
“Thanks,” I said dryly. “No risk for you down here, I suppose,” I added in an undertone. Then it came to me. Why was the torturer content to remain behind? Wouldn’t it be in his interest to come and help me directly?
“Why don’t you join me?”
“Come again,” Kreeptic said. “I’m sure I just misheard you.”
I pulled the door wide open, standing between the frame and beckoned him.
“You heard fine. I said come join me. It will be a good way for you to earn Highcross’ job and I could use the help.”
Kreeptic’s nose crinkled. “I’m not one for direct action. Hence, the tools and poisons.” He swept a hand around his chambers.
“It’s okay if you’re afraid.”
“Afraid?” Kreeptic said, attempting a laugh although his pitch gave him away. “People fear me, boy. Not the other way around.”
“Come prove it then.”
He growled, trapped by his own bravado.
“Look,” I said, more encouragingly, “I think I get where you’re coming from. Most of my life I’ve sat back, hoping what I want will just come my way without making any real effort to improve things by myself. All I did was get angry and resentful when I really should have stepped up. You want them to respect you, then stop skulking down here in the dark muttering about how everyone else has wronged you. Get up there and prove to the Emperor why he should make you his Chief Intelligence Officer!”
Battle Spire Page 32