Soulstone_Oblivion

by J. A. Cipriano

  I touched Nova’s arm, and she flinched and looked at me. “What happened?” I said with a slight frown.

  She swallowed. “I … wait, you’re hurt. I can heal your leg if you want.”

  “Sure, go for it,” I said. My mana was down by half, and I could use the time to recharge.

  She cast Heal, and I breathed a sigh of relief as my throbbing leg returned to normal. “I’m sorry,” she half-whispered. “I just couldn’t … I mean …”

  Just then, Crash and George came over, strangely not sniping at each other for once. “Okay. I hate to admit this, but I’m with the priest on this one,” George said. “What was all that about, sweetheart? I mean, not that I couldn’t have taken these little things out myself, but still …”

  “I’m sorry,” Nova said, staring at the ground again. “I just really suck at this game.”

  “Yeah, obviously, except it’s not a game!” Crash said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Not here, it isn’t. And how can you suck this bad? You’re level 20!”

  “My sister carried me, all right?” Nova cried, looking up for just a second before she dropped her gaze. “She’s the hotshot champion, the one they wanted to come here. I just—”

  “Hey, hold on a second,” I said, holding up my hands for her to slow down. “Who’s they?”

  “Them. The Guild. You know what, never mind,” Nova sighed as she scuffed a foot along the ground. “I’m just support, and I’m not even that good at it. I never even played Titan Gate!”

  Crash’s mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah. I played WoW and Skyrim sometimes, but Terra’s the real gamer. She’s awesome, and I suck. At everything.” Nova finally raised her head to look directly at me. “I’m scared, okay?” she cried. “Terra never even told me about the dying-for-real thing until we got here and it was already too late. Now I’m stuck here, and she’s gone, and I … I just can’t.”

  “Oh, this is just fucking great,” Crash said as he threw his hands up again. “That’s it. We’re done. We are leaving this party before we get killed.”

  “No, we’re not,” I said as I looked at him. “Did you forget how we got here, man? Exactly the same way. Under false pretenses.”

  “So what?” he said as he turned to Nova. “Look, I feel bad for you, but we’re never getting out of this dungeon if we have to defeat all the enemies ourselves and protect you.”

  “We’re never getting out anyway, even if we leave the party. We’re already in here,” I pointed out. “Besides, we won’t have to do it all ourselves. Right, Nova? You don’t suck as much as you think.”

  “Thanks a lot,” she said, almost smiling. “So you’re saying I suck, but not that bad?”

  I shrugged. “We would’ve lost a lot more health without those buffs you cast, and that Weaken Horde debuff is pretty sick. You knocked a bunch of them down from two hits to one hit. All you really have to do is just not stop casting, you know?”

  “I guess,” she sighed. “It’s just I keep thinking about how any of the monsters here can actually kill me, for real, and I just … freeze.”

  “Well, you’ll have to find a way around that,” I said. Honestly, I was probably just as ticked off as Crash that she wasn’t participating — and that she’d never even played Titan Gate before — but someone had to encourage her. We had no choice about beating the dungeon now. I definitely planned to find out what she was going to say about the Guild, though. I’d just wait until we didn’t have to worry about dying for a few minutes.

  Nova didn’t say anything, but she looked a bit less terrified. It was a start.

  “So, we’re going to keep going, and everyone’s going to do their part,” I said as I caught Crash’s attention. “We can all agree on that?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Crash said, shooting a brief glare at Nova.

  George shook his ears, whiskers twitching. “If you say so, boss.”

  I wasn’t sure yet, but I suspected I wouldn’t like her hotshot sister when we finally met her. Still, we were going to find her and get out of here if I had to carry the whole party myself.

  10

  The remaining carved imps stayed frozen into the columns as we walked the rest of the area and came within sight of a door at the end. We’d gone through a full regen cycle, and it was time to face whatever was on the other side of the exit. Personally, I was hoping for a boss so we could check out the next elemental area, but I wasn’t holding my breath. It’d probably be rock monsters or something.

  Crash slowed his pace as he checked his HUD, his eyes glazing slightly. “Huh. I don’t really have a lot of skills to swap out,” he said, almost to himself. “Maybe I’ll cycle out Chains of Frost and leave a slot open. I could use a good curse, like Malediction or something.”

  “Look at you, learning new skills,” I said as I nudged him and grinned. “Are you finally off the min-max train?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Malediction is a good fit for an optimum priest build,” he said. “You should probably cycle out all that necromancer crap. You can’t use it on anything in here.”

  “Why not?” I said as I pulled up my skills inventory. “I mean, yeah, those imps didn’t drop any bodies, but that doesn’t mean nothing else will.”

  “Even if these monsters don’t disintegrate, you can’t reanimate something that was never alive. They don’t have bodies.” Crash blinked back into focus and stowed his staff across his back. “They’re elemental constructs. That means no Raise Undead.”

  Okay, he kind of had a point, even if he was being a rulesmonger. Technically I should’ve needed at least six necromancer skills because of the Skeleton King’s armor, but what the hell. I might risk having five. “I’m keeping Chaotic River. Raise Golem and Reflecting Fog should still work just fine, too,” I said. “But I am gonna cycle Blade Rush and Revering Vendetta back in. I don’t want my rogue skills decaying too much.”

  Crash sighed. “I’m telling you, you’re better off sticking to one class. At this rate, you’re never going to level any of your skills.”

  “Don’t listen to him, boss,” George said as he hopped along beside me. “You can totally be a necrogue if you want to.”

  “Necrogue? Really?” I said. “That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”

  “Rolls off my tongue just fine,” George said, sticking his out to prove it.

  Just as we reached the door, Nova gasped, sticking her arm in front of me before I could try to open it. “Hold on. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before,” she said as she stared at nothing, focused on her HUD. “Just give me one second … okay, there.” She blinked a few times. “I cycled out a bunch of stuff before we came here, including some decent elemental buffs. Let’s get this one going.”

  She extended a hand toward me, infusing me briefly with a bronze glow. As it faded, Elizabeth informed me that I’d received the buff Earth Resist, which reduced damage from earth-based attacks by 15 percent. And when I checked my display, I saw that it stacked with the Stone Shield buff she’d cast earlier for an overall 40 percent increase in earth defense.

  “Damn. You really do have good buffs,” I said, watching as she cast the same spell on everyone else. “See, you don’t suck.”

  “At least not as much as I think, right?” she said with a half-smile. “Believe me, if you knew how much I thought I sucked … let’s just say being slightly less sucky than awful isn’t a real improvement.”

  George approached her with a few quick hops and a flash of bunny teeth. “Don’t worry. I forgive you for sucking,” he said. “Wanna rub the bunny for luck?”

  “Of course I do.” She beamed and crouched down to pet him and scratch his ears. “You are just the most adorable thing in this place.”

  Crash cleared his throat loudly. “Tell you what. I’ll think about forgiving you if you’re not completely useless when we hit whatever’s behind that door,” he said. “Are we going, or what?”

  “Yeah. We’re going.” I u
sed Detect Traps on the door, just in case. When I didn’t get any warning glow, I grabbed the brass knob and turned it. The door opened easily, and torches started flaring behind it right away.

  This exit led to a natural cavern, spacious but not massive, with glittering rock formations and sparkling moss growing on the walls and hanging in ropes from the ceiling. There was a big open area directly ahead of us, and on the far side of the space was a bowling pin formation of bronze clockwork knights — one in front, with rows of two, three, and four behind the leader. They were maybe six or seven feet tall and fully armored, outfitted with gears at the joints and upright swords held with both metal-gauntleted hands in front of them. They were also completely motionless.

  There was another door behind the last row of knights.

  “Huh. Maybe this is the same deal as the columns,” I said as I started across the cavern. “Nobody touch them. We might be able to just walk right around them and get to the next area.”

  Just as I heard the door shut behind me, signaling that everyone was through, there was a whirring sound as the gears on the lead knight started to spin. A pair of glowing yellow eyes sparked to life inside the slot of its helmet, and it raised the sword above its head and charged across the cavern, every step clanking and rattling in the air.

  Okay, maybe not.

  “Fire Wall!” I shouted, throwing the spell at the charging knight. Without knowing whether the rest of them were going to attack, I wanted to save Chaotic River in case we needed to slow down another advancing horde. A wall of flames sprang up from the ground, a few feet from the running monster.

  Within seconds, it burst through the fire and kept coming. Its bronze armor glowed red briefly before it cooled, but whatever damage it took didn’t seem to slow its advance.

  George suddenly leaped into view and screamed “Cone of Ice!” The frost blue of his attack pelted the knight, encasing it from the chest down in a thick sheath of ice that stopped its forward motion. But it simply tilted its helmet to look at the ice, and then brought the sword down on itself, shattering the frozen crust in one swing. After a few long strides as ice crackled and slid down the armor, the monster broke into a run again.

  “Star Scream!” Crash shouted as he stepped up and pointed his staff. The multicolored beam hit the knight dead center, staggering him. He fell to one knee, shook his helmet a few times, and then used the sword to push up on its feet.

  “Oh, come on,” Crash said. “How many times do we have to hit this thing? Mind Break,” he said as he cast the spell that revealed a monster’s HP and mana. “Man, it’s still got almost a hundred hit points left.”

  “No problem. I’ve got this.” I brought the Skeleton King’s sword up high and started a charge of my own. When I got close, I leapt in the air and called, “Revering Vendetta!”

  Bright emerald light rippled from the blade of the sword as I came down, narrowly avoiding the knight’s blade that flashed toward me. My sword plunged into the clockwork shoulder joint and finally the sword’s fire burst effect proc’d. Fire burst down the blade and exploded out of the joint. There was a burst of springs and several loud clanks, and the metal monster wavered and fell forward, landing on its knees. But the eyes still glowed, and it was still trying to get up with jerking, whirring motions.

  I wrenched the blade free, spun around behind the knight, and slashed high, separating the helmeted head from the body.

  Well, the helmet, anyway. The glowing eyes winked out as the helmet rolled a few feet and came to a stop. It was empty — just like the rest of the armor. A few wisps of yellow smoke rose from the hole where its neck should have been, and it tipped slowly forward to clank onto the ground.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to savor my victory. As I walked back around the fallen knight, Nova raised an arm and pointed behind me. “These things definitely aren’t like the imps,” she said as she grabbed her staff with her free hand.

  I turned and saw two sets of yellow, glowing eyes burning across the cavern as the next row of knights came to life and charged.

  11

  Looked like it was a good thing I kept Chaotic River in reserve. If these things were going to aggro one row at a time, it’d be better to use it when we had three or four to deal with at once. Right now, we only had two up and running. We could take them.

  Especially if I used my big necromancer combo.

  I turned to the first fallen knight. “Raise Golem,” I said, gesturing at the decapitated armor. A green glow infused the motionless suit, and it clanked and whirred to its feet as words flashed across my HUD.

  System message: You have raised a metal golem. Health: 800 Mana 0.

  The golem wavered for a minute, disoriented, before turning with sword upraised to clatter toward the oncoming enemies.

  “Uh, you sure that’s gonna work, boss?” George said. “It doesn’t have a head.”

  I shrugged. “Looks like it’s working. At least it’s heading in the right direction,” I said as I stepped forward and extended a hand to initiate the rest of the combo. “Reflecting Fog.” Red clouds of magic burst from my fingertips and billowed across the cavern, obscuring the knights in a dense fog just as my golem reached them.

  Crash looked on with excitement and relief. “Oh, hell yes. I remember this combo,” he said, “from when we fought the Zombie King. This shit works crazy good.”

  “Exactly,” I said. Reflecting Fog turned all damage back on the attacker, and since golems took double damage in combat, the knights would take a serious beating. Though I couldn’t see much through the thick red mist, the sounds of battle rose clearly from the obscuring clouds.

  “So, one golem against two full-health enemies,” Crash said as he squinted at the faint movement in the fog. “How long do you think he’ll last?”

  “I got an idea. Let’s bet on it,” George said. “I’ll give our guy twenty seconds.”

  Crash tilted his head and stared down at him. “What could you possibly have to bet with, fur-face? A couple of carrots?”

  “Ha-ha. You’re hilarious,” George said, lifting onto his hind legs. “How about I bet my foot in your face, and if you win, I’ll let you touch this magnificent fur.”

  “Yeah, no thanks,” Crash said with a smirk, “but I might consider a lucky rabbit’s foot.”

  Before George could snap a comeback at him, a headless suit of armor flew out of the fog and crashed down a good ten feet away. The two clockwork knights strode from the unraveling mists, heavily damaged but still on their feet.

  “Did anybody get the time on that?” George shouted as he dashed to the right. “If you weren’t counting, priest, I’m totally calling a technical win!”

  “You better keep your foot real far away from my face, Buster,” Crash said as he took a step toward the knights and shouted, “Spectral Blades!” The blue energy blades materialized and struck the knight on the left.

  George went for the one on the right, leaping into the air to blast the clockwork armor with a shimmering hail of ice as my golem struck the first one Crash had attacked. As I moved to tag-team George’s attack on the now-frozen knight, it promptly shattered the shell of ice and started coming again.

  “What the hell?” George cried, a blue glow surrounding his bristling fur as he prepared to attack again. “That should’ve held him for a lot longer!”

  “They’re earth-based monsters.” Nova stepped up next to me, looking pale but determined. “Water is the weakest element to use against them. You’ll want to use air or fire attacks.”

  George slowed mid-leap and twisted to look at her, his attack glow fading. “What? I’m a frost rabbit, sister. Ice is my jam,” he said as he landed. “You are not gonna see any fire coming out of this body, I’m not singeing my fur.”

  “Fire Wall,” I called out, casting the attack at the knight. As the flames rose around it, I grinned at George. “Better stay back from the heat, bunny. Wouldn’t want you to singe your fur.”

  “It doesn�
�t have to be fire. Air is actually a little stronger against earth,” Nova said. “Plus, air and water are usually good combos.”

  “Yeah, how about you do something besides lecture us about elements, buff-bot?” Crash shouted as his Spectral Blades flashed out, hitting the knight again. But it still didn’t go down. “Right now would be a good time to be useful!” Crash added as he shuffled back slightly.

  “Fine!” She took a few steps toward him and held a hand out. “Weaken Armor.” I apparently wasn’t the only one who dipped into necromancer, as the dark green beam of the curse lanced out at the knight.

  The knight staggered in place, and Crash extended an arm, casting Spectral Blades again.

  “Why do you keep using that weak attack?” I said as I prepared to throw another Fire Wall at the second knight. “You learned Stun Shock, remember?”

  Crash shot me a quick glare as he focused on his attack. “You don’t get it. I’ve almost got them to — yes!” he shouted as the knight’s glowing eyes went out and it toppled over. “Finally got level five on Spectral Blades.”

  “Yeah, congrats,” I said, a little confused about why that was such a big deal. “We’ve still got a live one here, and—”

  “I’ve got this!” George shouted as he took a big bound toward the second knight. “Wind Blast!”

  Are you crazy? I started to say, but just then George’s fur ruffled and a white blast shot from his tiny body, blasting the knight back two or three feet to land on the stone ground with a loud, echoing clatter.

  “Um. Holy shit,” I said as I moved toward the rabbit. “Since when do you have air attacks?”

  “I didn’t. I just saw that asshole in the white robe do that to me back in the canyon, so I copied his move.” George somehow managed to shrug, despite being a bunny. “What? Isn’t that how you guys roll around here?”

  “Yeah. That’s how we roll,” I said. “But you’re an NPC. I thought only players could copy skills to pick them up.”