by Wolfe Locke
“But I don’t know about the rest of it,” she admitted.
“I do. I know what some of it means. The dust of fallen stars, that’s us,” said Seraph as he was reminded of long-ago words from someone close to him. “My mother used to say that stars died so we could live. It was her way of trying to figure out the way of the world.”
Sadie looked at him. “I didn’t take you for the nostalgic type, Seraph.”
“I’m not, but she was my mother. Family matters, Sadie. I’m not sure if you can understand,” replied Seraph.
In irritation, she shot him an angry look. “I had a family too, Seraph! And friends! They were taken from me by the monsters the dungeon makes.”
Seraph had no response. He didn’t want to respond; it wouldn’t help anything. The edge to her voice said it all. Seraph had killed people she cared about, or he had ordered his people to do it. That she hadn’t tried to kill him outright was something that still perplexed him to no end—no matter how much she claimed to care more about the welfare of her people.
“Alright, so the first line is easy enough. It either means the living—us—or it means we use the dust of the dead on something that will likely appear after we gather these three kings. That’s easy enough if we stay on our toes and don’t get distracted,” Seraph reasoned as he thought of where to look for the tokens or statues that bore the images of the three kings.
Without warning, Sadie tackled him, the force striking him on the side as an Arabian scimitar just barely missed disemboweling him. Seraph turned to face his attacker to see a dark-skinned man in leather armor and a tan cloak advancing on him, even as Sadie tumbled away. He moved out of the way as a ball of blue fire landed where his feet had just been, another ball of fire already forming in the hands of the man in a silk tunic near the door. The fire spread quickly and attacked the Arabian Knight, only for the fire to vanish and the damage to the knight disappear as a third man appeared, praying from the pews, his words seeming to enrage and boost the other two. In a room without doors or other entry, enemies had joined them—what looked like men, wooden golems bearing the image of a Persian Shah, an Arabian Knight, and an Indian Guru.
Notification: Quest Unlocked - The Three Kings
Conditions: Defeat the Avatars of the Three Kings in combat to revert the avatar back to their statute state.
Reward: Upon the end of battle, collect 1 Balthazar Figurine, 1 Gasper Figurine, and 1 Melchior Figurine.
* * *
Sadie and Seraph were at a disadvantage. With just the two of them, it would be difficult to find an opening against the trio. Worse still, was that to beat a team, it was necessary to prioritize targets. Being down a man and on uneven footing for the fight didn’t change that. Both of them knew this was not a fight they wanted to draw out—the numerical difference would eventually catch up with them when they tired and ran out of mana.
However, this was not their first time fighting against the grain. It made no sense to attack or defend against the strength of the other side. To win this fight they would need to break up the trio and put some distance between them to maneuver.
Judging by the abilities the trio had shown so far, Seraph reasoned—and he knew Sadie would come to the same conclusion—that the function of the trio’s mage was to be a damage dealer, nuker, someone to either set-up or finish the kill with at least fire-based skills, though no scorch marks or fires could be seen after the earlier Blue Fire. If they were not wary of the mage’s attacks, a single spell would end the battle, and their lives with it.
The healer’s function was more obvious, but that in itself could be a trap as healers often had a secondary skill set that was hidden or went unnoticed… spells and abilities to buff allies and debuff enemies. A heal or a curse at the right moment could easily shift the turn of a battle, and neither Sadie or Seraph wanted to commit to a killing blow that could be stopped by a well-timed shield or healed instantaneously.
Against the balanced trio, the only real option was to take on the swordsman by splitting his attention. With the Arabian Swordsman on both the attack and the defensive, likely working to peel damage from both the mage and the healer, he would act as a type of off-tank support to keep the other two protected from head-on attacks. They needed to go after different enemies.
In unison they picked their targets—the same battle mindedness evidence of their mutual experience as warriors.
“Healer!” yelled Sadie as she tensed, ready to sprint.
“Mage!” responded Seraph in reply.
Seraph quickly cast Starfall to try and build some momentum for him and Sadie. It was only a short charge, but it was enough to blind the trio of enemies. He would have liked to charge it longer, but between the swordsman and the mage, he didn’t have the time to try and charge the ability, and he needed to keep defending himself and moving to avoid their attacks. As he mentally activated the ability, Seraph and Sadie both turned away to cover their eyes to avoid being temporarily blinded. A move that almost cost both of them their lives as the trio appeared to be unaffected and moved to press the advantage.
Just barely, Seraph saw the Blue Flame heading towards him. Unable to dodge it, he attempted to split the spell the Cat’s Claw, hoping if nothing else to avoid severe damage to his core parts. The Blue Flame lit up the Cat’s Claw as the metal blades began to heat and glow. The smell of burning flesh alerted him to the damage to his body as the pain never registered. His skin blackened, and the nerves burned. As he activated his Cold Hands to leach the energy from the flames, he saw the fire diminish, though his hand was badly damaged. With his Abyssal Body the damage would repair itself, but not soon enough, as the healer appeared to be targeting him with a debuff for further healing reduction.
As the mage went after Seraph, the swordsman went after Sadie, aiming for her side in an attempt to skewer her—an attempt she easily parried while dodging subsequent attacks he threw at her in pursuit. Doing a running jump, she leaped off the stage and began running over the pews, launching herself in an attack against the seated Healer. The blue blade in her arm glowed brightly as she powered up the attack that was critical to spirits and the undead.
Sadie’s aim was true as the glowing blue blade dug into the healer’s neck, but it went no further as it became lodged. The blade struck with a hollow thud as colored pieces of wood chips flew. In only a span of milliseconds, she realized she could not force the sword free, and so she abandoned it and continued to run from the pursuing swordsmen behind her.
“It’s a wooden golem!” she yelled, her voice slightly out of breath.
Seraph nodded in acknowledgment, unable to attack to make headway against his opponent. An idea came to Seraph. If they were made of wood, he had a solution for that. “Sadie, can you still fight? Try to keep them occupied for a minute.”
Reaching into her own spacial pocket, within the Armory she kept on her person, she grabbed a plain warhammer, fully believing that what couldn’t be cut could still be crushed. “I can give you a few seconds; I’m not defenseless.”
The mage’s hands crackled with energy, and Seraph made ready to dodge, preparing himself for another brutal hit. Too late did he realize that he wasn’t the target as the mage shifted targets away from him and onto Sadie. An arc-bolt of mana hit her in the back, a spell that would have killed most humans—and some elites. The impact site smoldered as she fell limply to the ground, injured, but alive. A testament to her own power. Her warhammer landed on the stone floor with a heavy crash. The swordsman seeing the vulnerability, seized the opportunity and was on her in an instant, thrusting down with the scimitar.
Seraph saw it too, and with the new physique his Abyssal Body had granted him, along with the points of stamina and agility he had invested in, multiplied by a factor of three for the Cover Ally ability, allowed him to cover the distance between them and save her. The still-hot Cat’s Claw caught the swordsman’s scimitar between its blades.
A dark arcane shape appeared beneath t
he two as the healer’s magic worked to drain the life from both Sadie and Seraph. Seraph knew he needed to end this. With a grunt, he turned the Cat’s Claw, pulling the scimitar from the swordsman’s hands. The metal softened—the torque from pulling the scimitar bending the blades, ruining the weapon.
Part of the healing debuff lifted with the healer’s new spell. The minor healing boost he received from Cover Ally restored him enough that his Abyssal Body didn’t need to pull from his mana reserves to keep him alive. Even with the loss of the Cat’s Claw, the disarming of the swordsman was a turning point. Seraph lunged forward, furious at the loss of his weapon. The rage fueled him, and he activated his Aspect of Wraith passive ability, and his physical stats doubled. With an arm outstretched, Seraph grabbed the swordsman’s head and slammed into it the ground with enough force to crack the stone floor. “Burning Fist,” Seraph muttered under his breath as the swordsman’s head was set alight.
At the limits of what his speed would allow, Seraph grabbed the fallen warhammer and brought it down on the healer’s head, splitting the wooden golem in half as the grains split against their strength. But one still remained. The mage prepared another spell, its entire body glowing red, the sign of self-detonation. The intensity of the glow showing the entire room would be destroyed—a failsafe to prevent victory. Seraph glanced towards Sadie, still unconscious on the ground from the wound she had taken when Seraph had failed to watch her back, unable to move away. Viciously, and with no regards towards his own safety, Seraph did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed her limp body and tossed it into a pile of rubble, hoping to keep her at least from death.
Sprinting towards the mage, Seraph summoned all eighteen of his ethereal arms using the Thousand Handed ability. Channeling his “Cold Hands” ability through every limb, physical and otherwise, he collapsed in on the mage as he embraced the detonating enemy and attempted to recreate the icy shield had made once before, hoping that, if nothing else, Sadie may live on to continue the mission. Seraph had no way to save himself, but he could save her, and so long as she lived, so would his mission.
With a sign of reservation, Seraph closed his eyes and prepared for the end.
Notification: Quest Completed - The Three Kings
True Condition Met - Willing Martyr: Trigger the Self-Detonation of the final remaining member of the Three Kings and attempt an action to shield allies or party members from the effects.
Reward: 1500 Experience, 700 Sol
Reward: 1 Balthazar Figurine, 1 Gasper Figurine, 1 Melchior Figurine
Chapter 30: - Into the Dark
* * *
“Carved wood actually,” replied Seraph as he turned one of the figurines in his hand, examining it closely. No sign of battle marred the surface.
Putting the figurine away, Seraph turned toward Sadie, a question on his mind. “I made a mistake, and you got hurt because of it, but I’m curious, if memory serves me correctly, you were what? A level 50 something Spellsword? This should have been an easy battle for you.”
The way she stopped and tensed up let Seraph know it was not something she wanted to talk about, and when she started to explain, Seraph was surprised. “I told you before, Seraph. I renounced the immortality of the dungeon to join you on this ‘crusade’ or whatever you might term it, but there were stipulations.”
Seraph prompted her to continue. “What stipulations? If you’re going to be traveling with me, I need to know you’re not a liability, that I can trust you when our backs are to the wall. I need to know that you’re willing and able to get your hands dirty. I’m trying to save the world; there’s no place on my team for moral grandstanding.”
With a hard, resentful look Sadie responded, “I know how you operate, Seraph. I’m painfully experienced with your work.” Her voice hardened with anger before continuing. “There are things I can’t tell you, things beyond my control, even things taken directly from my memory that I’ll never be able to recall.
“But” she said as Seraph noticed her body posture relaxed, “I’m not level 50 anymore, or even the level 25 I was a few days ago. This is a full restart for me.”
Inwardly Seraph groaned. He never would have agreed to take her on if he had known she had been reduced down to level 1.
Apparently, Seraph had not been as inward as he thought because he saw a brief expression of uncertainty on her face. “It’s fine really. This one battle put me up to level 11, and as a Fel Elf I get 3 points per level.”
That news made him much more comfortable with continuing. “OK, that’s great. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
Sadie looked at him with a wide smile—the smile of someone that had been on the brink of defeat and come out victorious. “I can keep up with your pace, Seraph, and I know I can trust you with my life. That’s the second time in a short span of time that you’ve saved me. But I do know you. Conventional reasoning would question if cause equals casualty here. In short, Seraph, traveling with you is dangerous.”
Looking her over, Seraph was glad to see that she wasn’t hurt. The magic of the dungeon had rapidly healed her, even as his own flesh struggled to mend itself. Even with the magic of the dungeon and his abyssal body, his charred hand would still take a moment to fix. As for her, she was already healed, and he was OK with that.
Seraph smiled, glad that she was alive, and laughed. “Yeah, it is. But you and I both know things are going to be dangerous regardless, and it’ll only get more dangerous from here. I got a level-up though. Give me a second to adjust my points."
With a thought, Seraph summoned his stat screen. This wasn't a place to let earned stat points go unused.
Name
Luca Fernandez
Race
Aliases
Seraph
Abyssal Elf
Passives
Abyssal Body
(+50 Melee Damage)
(-50% Healing Received)
(Dark Vision)
Abilities
Thousand Handed (89-1000)
Cold Hands (132-1000)
Burning Fist (73-1000)
Starfall (9-1000)
Preservation (N/A)
Level
Current Unassigned Stat Points
3
14 of 999
Current Experience
515 of 1100
STR
8
INT
3
AGI
3
WIS
3
LCK
3
PHY
1*Charsma
END
5
PER
3
SOL
*2930
Looking at his stat sheet, Seraph was surprised to see 3 unused stat points. This was his 1st level-up since becoming an Abyssal Elf. Logically it made sense to him, and he hoped the extra point gain would be consistent.
He decided to add two points to agility and one point to perception. Being able to outmaneuver an enemy was important, and mobility was king, but more so, the Cover ability was fairly useful. With a high enough agility, tempered by a body strong enough to manage the speed, and a mind capable of perceiving it, he reasoned he could keep most of his allies alive. That was one thing he wanted most to do differently this time around—keep the people who mattered to him alive.
“So, Seraph,” Sadie asked with a bit of a smirk, the scar on her cheek all but disappeared since her transformation into a Fel Elf, “what kind of build are you going for anyways? The man you used to be would never have covered for anyone.”
With a shrug, he responded. “I’m not really that man anymore. Things are a bit different now. I don’t feel the same kind of… I’m not sure how to describe it… like a compulsion. Some inherent need that needs to be scratched. I feel… different. I’m not sure if whole is the right word, but it’s something.”
She nodded. The smile was gone from her face, but an expression that bordered on kindne
ss remained. “Maybe it’s because the body you inhabit hasn’t seen the things you have? Exposure to dark things leave scars on more than just the soul. Maybe you’ve matured and changed, or it’s the changes you’ve made. This time around you’ve decided to abandon your humanity. Perhaps that’s given you some manner of resistance.”
He walked away, heading towards the podium, this line of thinking and conversation wasn’t one Seraph was interested in exploring right now. His interest lay in curiosity, wondering what came next once he put the figurines on the podium.