Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2

by J. Arthur Klein

  As a bonus, my critical had caused a bleeding wound as well, and when I yanked out my spear with a twist it was joined by a rush of liquid that looked like a mixture of oatmeal and dirty motor oil.

  The sphinx’s health dipped again as Kjara dashed in and sliced off a large portion of its right forelimb with her blades, which were now glowing brightly with her divine gifts.

  The sphinx hissed and recoiled, lifting her injured limb as she backed away. “Pesssky gods’ touched. Your meat will taste even sssssweeter,” she spat, and then opened her maw and vomited a torrent of locusts that descended upon Kjara in a cloud.

  The sphinx began laughing at her screams of pain and I was filled with rage. “Ya done fucked up now, you wrinkly ass bitch!” I yelled and reached down deep into myself and activated my Aspect of Light boon.

  The rank two Awakened racial skill let me call upon my divine bloodline to enhance my attacks with additional holy fire damage once per day, and it was definitely time to bring the fire.

  It was my first time using the skill, so I was just as surprised as everyone else when my entire body burst into a white/gold fire that coated both me and my weapons.

  I slashed at the sphinx with my flaming spear and she shied away from the holy flames, giving me a clear path to where Kjara lay batting at the swarm of dried out locusts assaulting her. I reached her side and activated my Beacon of Life spell, hoping the obviously dead bugs would be susceptible to the spell’s anti-undead effects.

  The glyphs formed easily in my mind and formed the aura of undead-be-gone around me as I channeled my mana into the spell. But something unexpected happened with it. When the aura flowed outward from me, it brought with it the flames from my Aspect of Light skill, burning the cloud of insects but also searing Kjara.

  I dropped the spell as soon as the locusts were gone and helped Kjara to her feet. Her exposed skin was as red as my own fleshy self would be if I spend a day at the beach without sunscreen.

  I grimaced and tried not to touch the lobster bits. “Sorry about the burn, another bug to add to the list.”

  She shook her head. “Better than being eaten alive by insects, but if you’re still feeling guilty later, we can figure out some way for you to make it up to me. Now let’s end this thing!” she cried and charged the sphinx.

  Smiling, I charged after her and chugged another potion, sighing as I felt some of my power return to me.

  The sphinx turned towards us as we barreled in, rearing up to free up both claws to attack. She swiped at Kjara who leapt over the attack, somehow managing to land a counterattack in midair and lopping off half of the beast’s left claw.

  I caught the sphinx’s other attack on my shield and grinned as her paw began to burn from even the brief contact with my flaming aura. I lunged forward with my spear, sinking it into the creature’s belly and eliciting another hiss as the fire coating the spear spread from the wound, destroying more of her dried flesh before flickering out.

  Mika appeared from stealth next to the sphinx’s back right leg and his blades flashed out, cutting through the shriveled muscles there. His mouth split into a very mouse-like grin for a second as the disabled icon appeared next to her health bar. But that joy turned almost instantly to panic as the sphinx’s leg collapsed and her massive torso began to fall on top of him.

  He rolled out of the way, barely getting clear as her body crashed down onto the floor.

  The sphinx’s health bar was at twenty-four percent and both the bleeding and crippled status icons floating next to her bar as she hissed in anger at her predicament.

  “Quick!” Mika yelled. “Get her while she’s down!”

  We rushed her prone form, ready to capitalize on her helpless state, but the sphinx had other ideas. A powerful beat of her ruined wings knocked us backwards and launched her into the air and out of our reach.

  Her eyes glowed as she gazed at us with unbridled hatred and hunger as she hissed, “Let the hunt begin.”

  *** Desiccated Sphinx uses Fury of the Storm ***

  Kjara yelled, “Everyone, gather on Amenhotep,” and sprinted his way as the sandstorm took form.

  Mika and I rushed to the guardian as well, reaching him just before the storm made it too difficult to navigate.

  We arranged ourselves in a circle, anticipating a repeat of our airborne foe’s dive-bomb attacks while we squinted against the stinging sand. A flash in at the edge of my vision was the only hint I had of the impending attack.

  The sphinx shot by, her claw ripping my shoulder to pieces as she passed. My legs gave out for a second as the shock of the wound shot through me, my health dropping to under fifty percent from the one strafing hit.

  Blood continued to pour from the wound and a bleeding icon popped up next to my health bar. I channeled enough mana into Soothing Touch to stop the bleeding and ease some of the pain as I regained my feet, but almost lost my head when the sphinx dived out of the storm towards me once again.

  Amenhotep stepped between me and the slashing talon and his shield bore the brunt of the attack. His intervention gave Kjara a chance to strike, and she leapt into the air and cut a long gash along the creature’s belly as it passed.

  The sphinx screeched and disappeared into the storm with her health at twenty-two percent and dropping as her wounds leaked her vital fluids into the sand.

  We moved back into formation, our eyes to the sky, waiting and watching for hints of the creature’s movements as the storm played out.

  A rush of air from above heralded her arrival, but instead of her normal strafing attack she dove in, snatched Amenhotep in her claws, and leapt back into the storm. His health began to drop chunk by chunk as she ravaged him up above.

  *** Fury of the Storm expires. ***

  The blinding storm lost its fury, and the sands settled to the ground, and with them came Amenhotep’s mangled form.

  He had barely a sliver of health left when his body crashed onto the ground before us. I used some of my remaining mana to send a Cure Wounds his way and was shocked when the burning flames of my Aspect of Light skill clung to that as well.

  Luckily, the healing part of the spell took effect first, and the damaging portion was only a small fraction of the healing power of the spell, resulting in a positive, yet diminished result.

  The sphinx wasn’t the only one who had gotten some shots in during their time together. A large gash that was the perfect match for Amenhotep’s khopesh marred her face, and one of her fangs had been snapped off at the root.

  A stray locust flew by my face, reminding me of my earlier ire as I charged towards the sphinx, my spear blazing with holy fire and my companions at my side.

  I rushed forward and thrust my spear at the creature’s face, gaining her attention while Kjara moved to her flank. The sphinx leaned away from my attack putting weight on her injured leg. She recovered quickly, but that slight delay was enough for Kjara.

  She dashed in and took advantage of the creature’s stumble, scoring a series of hits that all seemed to build on each other. The culminating blow was a savage double slash that neatly severed the sphinx’s right forelimb when it tried to counterattack.

  The clawed limb tumbled through the air and landed with a solid thunk nearby, changing almost instantly from desiccated cat flesh to a whole, stone limb.

  Using Precision Strike again, I sank my glowing spear into the sphinx’s left side while catching a blow from her other paw on my shield.

  The tips of her claws hooked my shield and tugged, leaving me open to her follow up bite.

  As her fangs pierced through my armor and into my flesh, I felt my blood start to flow and saw my health bar shrinking. After a second of pain, the sound of sizzling flesh and the smell of burning… something… filled my senses, and the sphinx recoiled with a scream.

  Her face was a mess of dried, burnt blood and charred flesh where the holy fire still coating my flesh had burned her.

  She reared up, pawing at her ruined visage with her remaini
ng paw to smother the flames. A second disabled icon appeared next to her health bar as her back legs gave way, revealing Mika standing next to her newly hamstrung rear leg.

  The once majestic and then disgusting creature’s leonine body collapsed into a pitiful pile of dehydrated lion flesh.

  Her health dropped down to five percent as Amenhotep rejoined the fray, slamming her directly in the ruined face with his Shockwave ability, and at that point it was piñata time.

  Unfortunately, instead of candy, the sphinx was full of all sorts of nasty goo, and when she finally succumbed to her wounds, it was with a wave of dust and ash that knocked us all to the ground and almost sent Mika to respawn.

  From my back I winced and threw out a Cure Wounds, apologizing for the added flare from the bugged ability.

  The crumbled remains of a sphinx statue lay scattered all over, its features once again resembling the beautiful creature who had first greeted us on this beach. And beyond that, lounging back above the doorway was that same sphinx, this time transparent and glowing with a golden light.

  She yawned. “Well, that was certainly more of a fight than I expected,” she said lazily. “I would have much rather dined on your flesh, but I guess the few nibbles I was able to take shall hold me over until the someone else arrives. Oh, the things one will do for immortality.”

  With a flash of light, the shattered remains of the statue disappeared from the ground and reformed above the door, taking the place of the glowing sprit.

  In the center of the room, in front of the now open door, appeared a large, ornate chest.

  *** Aspect of the Light I is no longer active. ***

  *** Your party has defeated the Desiccated Sphinx (Boss)! Your party gains 5600xp. ***

  *** You have gained 10 Divine Favor! ***

  *** Mika has reached level 10! ***

  I groaned and pulled myself to my feet. My wounds were starting to close as my enhanced regeneration took hold, but damn it was painful… and itchy too.

  Mika’s wounds were luckily healed from his level up.

  “Congrats!” I said and we shared a high five.

  Kjara was still a bit battered and bloody, but that didn’t stop a giant smile from forming on her face as she looked over at the chest.

  The look was completely at odds with her current status so I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “What?” she said. “Dungeon loot is what it’s all about,” and headed towards the chest, rubbing her hands together like a cartoon super villain.

  My mana had reached a reasonable level, so I rapidly healed us back to full as I walked towards the chest.

  “That was pretty harsh,” Mika said with a grimace and gave me an annoyed look. “I still think a boss fight’s the wrong time for a phone call, but I guess you’ve got your reasons. What was your dad talking about, anyway? Couldn’t help but overhear your hallmark moment.”

  Kjara saved me from my own awkward explanation. “Did you hear about the incident at the convention? Why it got shut down early?”

  He nodded. “Vaguely, something about some psycho going crazy and shooting someone or something. I was busy in here that day, trying to get off Njor while all the PKers were watching the con. Unfortunately, a lot of them had the same idea, so it was a bit of a wash. Why?”

  “Yeah well, it wasn’t just some psycho that went crazy,” she started.

  “He was a psycho though,” I added.

  Kjara smiled and rested her hand on my shoulder. “Definitely a psycho, but as I was saying. The psycho was my ex and was hell bent on turning me into his own private domestic slave wife. Kheph here told him to get lost and he pulled a gun.”

  “Oh shit,” the dýrafólk said, looking at us. “Then what?”

  Kjara smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. “My noble hero here came to the rescue and jumped on him and wrestled the gun away so security could take him into custody.”

  Mika raised his hand for a high five and said, “My man.”

  I winced at the memory of the whole thing, my stomach twitching in remembered pain. “What she forgot to mention was that I took two shots to my gut and almost died in the process.” I grinned weakly. “But at least she was okay, and the asshole was in custody.”

  Kjara looked up at me and smiled. “Well, I am very happy that you’re still here,” she said as we locked eyes.

  I gazed at her with what I can only imagine was an expression right out of the pages of a tween romance novel and was just about to lean in for a kiss when Mika cleared his throat, quite thoroughly killing the moment.

  He gave us a sheepish grin. “So, lovebirds. Sorry to be a killjoy but I need to log out soon. So if we could loot this puppy before it de-spawns or something...”

  I leaned over and kissed Kjara on the side of the head and then gestured towards the chest. “Be my guest. Knowing our luck so far it’s probably trapped.”

  The dýrafólk rushed over to the chest and started examining the entire thing closely with his tools. Kjara leaned in and whispered, “Boss chests don’t have traps, James.”

  I looked over and smiled back. “Oh, I know, but this’ll teach him to ruin a moment,” I replied, trying to keep a straight face.

  Kjara buried her face in my shoulder and started laughing as well, peeking up now and then to watch the dýrafólk continue his pointless examination.

  “I don’t get it,” Mika said after a minute or two. “I don’t think the skill is working right. I’m getting nothing off this thing.”

  Kjara looked up at me, amusement still twinkling in her eyes. “Think he’s had enough?” she said.

  I sighed. “I guess so,” I said and turned to the dýrafólk. “Don’t worry about traps. Boss chests are never trapped, I was just having a bit of revenge.”

  The little man glared back at me and then snorted. “Guess I deserved that. Fine. Let’s get our loot on.”

  He opened the chest and looked inside with a wide grin. “Oh yeah, come to papa,” he said, almost drooling as he pulled out a pitch black shirt made of some sort of scaled leather or hide and a small pouch that clinked with coins and vials.

  Kjara was bouncing in place, waiting for her turn so with a laugh I gestured towards the chest. “Ladies first.”

  Her own pick was a piece of body armor as well. Instead of the soft leather Mika had received, Kjara’s was a thicker hide, with shiny looking plates sewn on over the vital areas. Those plates looked very familiar and as I looked closely, I was able to glean a bit of information.

  *** Discerning Eye check successful. ***

  *** Chitin Reinforced Hard Leather Jerkin ***

  “Nice digs!” I said to my companions as Kjara pulled the rest of her loot from the box and gestured for me to take my turn.

  I held my breath in anticipation as I reached in and felt something solidify in my grip. I looked down and whistled in awe and pulled out my prize. Sorry ringmail, I thought. You’re fired.

  My prize was a beautiful piece of body armor composed of a hardened leather breastplate with a wide bronze usekh to protect my shoulders and chest. And it was part of a set, the first I had seen so far.

  *** Enhanced Hard Leather Breastplate of Devotion—This armor provides protection to the wearer from both physical and arcane sources. While crafted of bronze and leather, the materials have been magically reinforced to be more resilient and protective than the materials themselves would indicate. In addition, this armor provides a small bonus to Wisdom and Fortune. [Devotion Set 1/3]. Current Set Bonus: None. ***

  I stripped out of torn body armor and slipped the new breastplate on. It fit perfectly. I moved around a bit to get a feel for it, making sure the usekh didn’t impact my range of motion at all as I squared off against an imaginary opponent. Surprisingly the new armor was even less restrictive than the ringmail had been.

  I grabbed my secondary loot sack from the chest and stepped back as it disintegrated, leaving behind three triangular shaped coins resting on the ground where the chest ha
d been.

  When I picked one up, the knowledge of its function flowed into my mind.

  *** Token of the Sphinx—Granted to those who both answer the riddle of the Sphinx and defeat her in combat, this token can be invoked to gain the answer to any one riddle or logic puzzle. ***

  Kjara and Mika each picked up their own tokens and we moved towards the door.

  I looked over at Mika and asked, “How much time you have left today?”

  His eyes lost focus for a few seconds and he sighed. “About ten minutes now. If you guys wanna keep going without me I understand. I can catch up when I get back tomorrow.”

  Kjara looked at me. “What do you want to do? I’ve got a few more hours before I have to go too. I wish I could stay in here full time but alas…”

  I grinned. “Well, we seem to have found ourselves a nice beach. Sure, its underground, and probably full of monsters, but how would you feel about a picnic? I’ll cook you up some tasty kabobs, maybe some stew, and we can relax until you have to log. Then tomorrow we can all tackle the rest together.”

  Kjara smiled and I think I may have seen a hint of a blush.

  Mika grinned and said, “I appreciate it man. I should be back in around six hours or so. Thanks for waiting for me.”

  I chuckled. “Don’t get too excited, I just don’t want to get skewered by a ballista trap or something worse,” I said with a wink, and then wrapped my arm around Kjara’s shoulder and held her close.

  Amenhotep approached, his armor and equipment somehow fully repaired along with his bandaged form. “I will return to the underworld and await your summons. I have no interest in a picnic.” he said into my mind.

  “Yes, I will be sure to call on you again before we go any deeper,” I said with a nod, and watched as the legionnaire disappeared in a whirlwind of crimson sand.

  Kjara looked up at me with a sweet smile. “So, you said something about cooking for me?”