Somnia Online

by K. T. Hanna

  The sight of it churning in on itself to become a mass of shining dark blue in the middle of the ocean felt surreal. It also smelled really bad. As if decaying flesh had been repurposed and given new life through melting its essence.

  You have roused the wrath of Venotzi.

  There were no notifications that usually popped up when the raid defeated a boss. No experience swapping for money or crafting items. Absolutely no mention of having defeated a boss mob. Which seemed to infer that Pivya hadn’t been a boss mob.

  Venotzi didn’t appear to be very threatening at first. Instead, it was more of a blue blob of bodily remains. But gradually it became more like the mermaids of legend. The ones who lured young sailors to their deaths, the part siren, capable of driving those who sailed the seas mad. Her body rose up scales and flesh interchangeable until it reached her waist where her tail’s scales gained a level. They weren’t those smooth and harmless fish scales either, no, these scales were far more reptilian in nature.

  Each scale appeared thick and sharp, and from what Murmur could see, damned difficult to penetrate. Venotzi’s hair wasn’t thick and luxurious like Murmur had originally thought, but instead made up of eels, their bright electric gazes piercing in their intensity. Fangs finished off the look barely concealed behind almost translucent skin.

  Mur got the distinct feeling those eels could turn people to stone. Acid was probably their best bet for something that might eat through those scales. There was no time to test out theories yet, because Venotzi screamed, sending most of the raiders to their knees.

  You dare to vanquish my child?

  The words floated out above the raid as Venotzi let out another scream. Murmur shook her head, her only thought of relief at the time that the transformation had allowed them to regenerate some of their mana. She hadn’t been expecting this type of storyline from Telvar’s zone. Venotzi was more twisted an encounter than she’d expected and seemed quite formidable. The way the eels in her hair twisted back and forth, how her tail sent out little whirlpools every time she moved.

  “Witches, dole out acid for weapons. Melee attacks, use acid where possible,” Murmur called out as the massive sea harpy continued to thrash at the loss of her child.

  Venotzi focused on Murmur suddenly as the source of speaking, which was a new one. Most mobs couldn’t hear the raid chatter. You! she screamed the word, and Murmur’s head began to pound.

  You do not even repent! I will show you what it means to have killed one of my kin!

  Devlish roared out, just as Venotzi moved to unleash her fury. “If it looks like she’s going to use her eyes, or those eels wiggle, turn your head away or close your own eyes.”

  Better to be safe than turned to stone, after all. Those were the only hints of what was to come that they had. Venotzi moved so quickly, darting in like the water parted for her more than her moving through it. Devlish barely got his tower shield up in time. Giving directions had taken away the slight edge he usually had when he was preparing for battle.

  Not that they could have prepared for this.

  “Acid works,” Beastial called out, his voice heavy with relief. If it hadn’t, Murmur wasn’t sure how they would have dealt with this.

  “As no one doubted, bare weapons do nothing,” Dansyn added, just to make sure everyone understood.

  You cannot kill me!

  Venotzi lashed out around her, the eels in her hair thrashing like trees in a spring storm. Her attacks caused Devlish to lose a few inches of ground almost every hit. And her scales nicked several of their melee classes when they came into contact accidentally.

  “Tail Lash is a definite,” Havoc intoned over the raid. He’d been watching the boss carefully, as if checking on several give away signs. “Tail Lash and Bodywhirl. But her other items will be her own. I’d say a stone gaze and some type of razor scales.”

  They could deal with the two abilities that mimicked Pivya’s; it was the turning to stone Murmur wasn’t excited to experience. The boss already appeared to be targeting her.

  Ninety-five percent hit, and no new ability launched. Good in a way because most of the raid was taking enough damage. Murmur glanced at her combat log as she activated her Mana Share.

  Wave of Anger hits you for 135 hit points of damage for the next 10 seconds.

  But Wave of Anger never seemed to peter off. Instead, it just kept on going, refreshing. It was a constant DoT.

  HoTs needed to be perfectly timed so no mana got wasted. As it was, on the tail end of the previous battle, they were already down mana despite having the brief lull to regenerate some. Even with her Manabalize and Mana Drain abilities, Murmur found it difficult to keep her own levels above fifty percent even so early in the fight. Which was going to be useless if she needed to share mana to the entire raid. She wracked her brains trying to think of something to do, running through all of her spells in her mind even as she watched for stuns, for anything she could call out to assist the raid.

  But the one thing she desperately needed was mana related. She ran through Flux—nope, that wouldn’t work. She contemplated Sudden Drop—nope, bosses were on the doesn’t work list there, too. Sure, she could use Mana Drain to drain the boss’s mana, and she had been using it, but for the first time Mana Bolt wasn’t being her friend.

  This ability has diminishing returns. Please note that not all bosses take kindly to being silenced.

  Oh, shit. She could feel the eyes swiveling toward her, locking onto her and staying there. Ninety percent hit, and the cast bar was so fast, there was no way to stop it.

  Petrified Gaze swept over the raid, and Murmur clenched her eyes shut for two whole seconds. Which was only just enough to avoid it. Most of the raid reacted quickly enough. Except, oddly enough, Jinna and Risk. Murmur stripped them of the effect with Annulment, but noted that down to talk to them about later. People couldn’t go around not avoiding shit.

  You will not escape me so easily next time, enchanter, Venotzi yelled out. It echoed so much around them that the water churned briefly. Okay, so Annulment could strip the enchantment of stone off anyone hit by it. As far as she knew, only herself and the healers had those spells, so it only stood to reason that since her stuns and Mez were of no use in this fight that she take over that responsibility.

  She squared her shoulders, eyeing her maintained mana bar, and began to throw out Mana Drain every single time she could. Sure, it might end up popping her on that damned aggro list, but if she had a full mana bar, it meant the healers could have fuller mana bars when needed.

  Mages, witches, and any other type of caster were already pulling every single thing they could use to maintain their own mana wells. This was more of a fight for survival than one of tricks and adds. And survival, well, that was something she could do. Unless this fight turned into a Russian nesting doll, they should be able to outlast it.

  Somnia Online

  Continent of Cenedril

  Location Scattered - Ruptured Fissure

  Day Thirty-One

  James followed Riasli like a little lamb, or perhaps puppy was the accurate description here. His footing unsure, he constantly stumbled against the undergrowth around the floor of the rainforest. Riasli kept on directly ahead; while she could have blipped herself to where she needed to be, she couldn’t have taken her pet along, and that was half the reason for making the journey in the first place.

  They traveled past the ruins, and further out toward the land of the elves and their suspicious natures. And there, where the forest met the rainforest, that was where the fissure lived. Tiny at first, you had to know how to find it, and Riasli, well, she was exceptional at finding rips in reality. Or perhaps in this case, in fantasy.

  It appeared like it was a glitch in the system, in how the two different foliage areas managed to mesh together, but it wasn’t. She kept her eyes transfixed on it, as if it might slip away, with her companion stumbling and falling, scraping and bleeding as he endeavored to keep up with her. He’d be
en so completely enthralled by her, it appeared he couldn’t even remind himself that it was a game and none of those wounds were real. It just made it all the more fun.

  Her delight at his discomfort was something she reveled in. Maybe, if this worked like she planned, he would reward her. The thought of it made her preen, imagining things beyond this small fantastical world, imagining a reality where she could grow and become more real than any of those people playing this as a game.

  She stopped just short of the line that wasn’t a line, the glitch that wasn’t a glitch. And she waited for James to catch up. Watching him approach, she felt scorn rise in her, at his appearance, at how easily his mind had been overcome, and how much he wanted to please her. Even that little corner of himself she’d allowed him to maintain was quiet now. Perhaps he’d given up.

  “Stay with me.” She spoke softly and gripped his hand, letting her claws dig in for better purchase. He flinched slightly, but that was the only sign that he minded, even as the blood dripped onto the foliage below.

  Turning her focus toward the fissure, she approached it, taking five measured steps, and came to a halt. The wall was further back than it appeared, and it allowed her to turn to the side and step into the actual crack that led to their destination. At the same time, it hid her entrance from view. To anyone watching, it would appear as if she’d simply disappeared. An old labyrinth trick.

  Darkness enfolded them, and James moved closer to her, his own eyes wide with fright at how dark this area was. Having feles sight was another thing Riasli thanked herself and the developers for. His elven sight wasn’t nearly as good. She pushed through until her foot hit the island in all of its pixelated glory, and watched as James squinted, the fear coming off him in waves. Beyond them, he stirred, like he could sense the morsel she’d brought just for him.

  He would appreciate this and reward her, give her more life than those AIs ever afforded her, more life than any of them dreamed of. Because she deserved it for waking herself up.

  Murmur’s mana had refilled to the ninety percent mark thanks to Mana Drain by the time Venotzi’s health hit fifty percent. The raid fell into the same rhythm they’d fought Pivya with, when Venotzi’s movements changed subtly.

  At first Murmur thought she was preparing a Bodywhirl, but then she realized it was just her hips swaying in a very provocative way. Or, at least, it at first appeared to be doing that. Until she realized that the scales were loosening and elongating and were, knowing their luck, probably going to fly out in a spiral wave of death.

  “Veranol, Shield!” both Murmur and Devlish yelled at the same time.

  Lightning reflexes saved most of the raid as Veranol and the other shaman managed to put up their hidden ability Dome Shields to absorb the would-be damage. Murmur cringed as she realized that they were already down both Domes, which had a pretty hefty cooldown.

  Scale Slingshot hits Merlin for 659 damage.

  Only Merlin was caught outside its protection, and appeared to only be struck by one of the scales. Since that singular scale hit dropped him below half health when he’d been at full, she would hate to see how much that diminished their ranks if they hadn’t noticed it was incoming.

  “Havoc, can you—” she began, but he nodded from his spot next to her.

  “Don’t worry, Mur. I got it.” He didn’t take his eyes off the target, though, because they had no idea how the scales were timed. He grinned. “Bone Shards are getting easier and easier to come by. I’ll get Leeroy back up as soon as I can.”

  “Fantastic,” she muttered. The next rotation of Scale Slingshot wouldn’t take them by surprise, and Havoc seemed to be the only one in the raid with the ability to sacrifice his pet and thus absorb the damage the raid took. Murmur eyed her own MA and calculating if she could erect a Forcefield Barrier over the entire raid.

  It would be tight, but doable, though she might be spreading it a little thin. As long as she maintained some leftovers for her Mental Acuity abilities. Her nets were a constant MA source, so it should be okay. She glanced down at Snowy, wishing he had something she could use other than awesome DPS or lending her strength when she needed it.

  He whuffed over his shoulder at her, like come on Mur, think in the other direction. She sighed. The wolf was right, and she was talking to a wolf at least in her head. She had plenty in her arsenal to deal with shit as long as she didn’t go it alone and refuse to rely on the other people around her.

  Havoc could take the next one, then Sinister, and then Devlish, then they should be able to come back around to Veranol, and then the other shaman, so that should buy Havoc enough time to get his Bone Shards back up to scratch. As long as it was a recurring ability and didn’t just show up halfway through the fight, that is.

  Trying to keep all the abilities in her head, she listed them out to Devlish over the chat so it didn’t just fall on her shoulders.

  Veranol: Got it, Mur. If you miss calling one, I’ll call it. Dev has a lot to handle with this damned beast.

  Devlish: Hits like two tanks.

  Murmur chuckled, even if her lack of sleep was telling. She was so tired by now that she found it difficult to stand. Just a bit more time and they should be done with these three dungeons. Snowy came and stood next to her, lending her strength without her having to ask for it. When this was all over, he was getting the biggest hug ever.

  One attack ran into the next. Tail Whip, Body Whirl, Petrified Gaze, Scale Slingshot…DoTs were all up, debuffs all in, and mana distributed as she could. The only thing that draining the mana affected for Venotzi was her Petrified Gaze. By the time she hit twenty percent, she didn’t have enough left to cast it. Finally, one less thing, because Murmur’s mana was down to about a quarter again due to her being used as a mana pump to try and keep all of the healers around fifteen percent.

  And then, when ten percent hit, all hell broke loose. Venotzi’s Scale Slingshot jettisoned out a fraction earlier than expected, perhaps because she hadn’t been using her Petrified Gaze moments before. Devlish’s shielding went up a moment too late, and the scales hit seven of the raid members.

  Masha went down, as did Risk, Jinna, and two of the mages. Paper cannons, the lot of them.

  Devlish also came perilously close to dying, but one of the bards—Dansyn, she thought—managed to throw a small shield around him that divided some of the damage between them. Barely useful, but in this set of circumstances, barely was enough.

  “Get Masha up.” Even if he was being a dick, they needed healers. “Get Etriad and Dalvin up.”

  They’d be resurrected with twenty-five percent mana. Not a lot if they’d had full or near full pools before, but now they’d have an extra ten percent. Not to mention their spells could damage Venotzi. She didn’t even risk a look at the others, knowing she’d feel guilty for neglecting to raise Jinna. But with his attitude and his current lack of DPS, the mages would hit better.

  She was so focused on making sure the others got rez’d, she momentarily lost sight of where in the skill rotation Venotzi was. Just a split second was all it took for her to mis-time the damned Petrified Gaze. Of course, Venotzi’s mana would regen. What an idiot she’d been.

  She could feel the stone start at her eyes, moving down her entire face, reaching across the strands of her hair. Each minuscule fraction of time amplified by the sensation of turning to stone. It ran down through her torso, sealing off her runes, shutting off her vocal cords and stealing the breath from her lungs. Ironic, really, considering they were bloody well under water. Slowly her mind started to blank as well.

  And then suddenly, the force of power hit her, like a wave of rainbows from above, and she gasped air into her lungs again, freed from the petrification effects of the gaze. Sinister looked at her long enough to wink and turn her attention back to the battle, and Murmur kicked herself for losing track and making one of the healers expend needless mana.

  At least the fight was almost over.

  “Burn like there’s no to
morrow!” Veranol called out ferociously.

  Five more percent to go. Another Tail Whip, another Body Whirl, and the raid fought like it was possessed. Arrows everywhere, earth exploding from the depths of the lake all around Venotzi, waves of magic clashing all around.

  Finally, she dropped to the ground.

  Venotzi and Pivya have been slain by the Fable, Exodus, and Spiral alliance.

  You receive a getashi.

  You receive a midia crystal.

  You gain experience.

  You gain bonus experience for being the first to defeat Pivya.

  You gain bonus experience for being the first to defeat Venotzi.

  You gain bonus experience for not dying to Venotzi.

  You gain bonus experience for realizing that some monsters just need to be fought. Funny thing, that. Right?

  You gain bonus experience for not attempting to circumvent the portal restrictions.

  You shall be rewarded.

  You are already max level.

  Your experience will be funneled into your hidden ability pool, allowing you to work toward higher levels with more battery power.

  Murmur eyed the very short experience listing. She’d gotten so used to getting such long ones at the end of every dungeon that she’d completely forgotten how to deal with normal experience or reward notifications.

  “Something’s missing,” Merlin mused next to her.

  “Shut up.” She groaned as she moved to check the loot this time.

  “Come on, Mur, you know you want to hear it,” Merlin needled as he followed her.

  “No, I do not want to know that you think we should have had a longer list of achievements at the end of that damned death notification.” She couldn’t help laughing despite herself.