by R. A. Mejia
I move forward through the crowd to get a better look at the obstacles. I count seventeen obstacles of varying size and shape. They include a rock wall, several balance beams, nets, mud pits, balance poles, and ropes. Looking at the obstacles, I can’t help but laugh out loud. Compared to what dungeon master Koorb put me through, this should be a piece of cake. The students around me give me funny looks and mutter under their breaths at my laughter. I ignore them as I stifle my last chuckle and start to stretch. We’re sent along the course alphabetically by our last name, and each of us is timed. Points are taken off for every obstacle failed, and students fail the test entirely if they can’t complete the course. I finish the course with the second best time and watch as the students behind me fall off balance beams into mud pits and struggle up ropes. I even see several bookish students waive their hands in surrender and walk off the course. I consider myself quite lucky to have had training from Rex in this kind of stuff and even thank Koorb silently for his challenging Dungeon Warrior course.
That night around our campfire, I tell my friends about the second test, and they all laugh at how easy it was, compared to the other challenges we’ve faced. Mary again thinks she could have done a better job than me and that if she were only level 5, she’d be a better candidate for the Adventurers’ Guild. Since she’s still level 3, I can give her the ego boost and tell her that she’s absolutely correct.
The next day is the final test. I arrive early to the college courtyard and for once am the first one there. I watch as student after student arrives, geared up for the combat test. Some still wear their school robes and carry staffs or wands. Others, wear armor made from leather and metal and carry swords and axes. Only one individual wears a full suit of heavy armor, and he barely seems to be able to move around in the stuff.
I’m surprised to see Professor Albus Dufendoor himself show up to give the exam. He’s wearing a set of heavy armor that must have taken some clever work to size it down for a gnome. However, unlike the students, he moves as comfortably and quickly in his armor as he does wearing normal clothing. Professor Dufendoor gets everyone’s attention with a single clap of his hands, which produces an ear ringing sound. I’m not sure if it’s some magical effect of just the way the metal gauntlets he wears are made. Regardless, once he has everyone’s attention, he tells us that his assistant will be leading us to the test site one at a time. The professor utters a magical phrase and the stone pavers that line the courtyard begin to shift, revealing a set of stairs that leads into the earth. The professor calls out one student's name and the two of them walk down the stone steps and disappear into the darkness.
A younger gnome in black robes pushes his way through the crowd and stands in front of the stairway. He crosses his arms in front of his chest and watches the students until a gem embedded in a strap on his wrist begins to glow. He then calls out a student’s name, and I realize that he must be the assistant the professor mentioned. Once the student makes his way through the crowd of students, he’s lead down the stairs by the assistant gnome. A few minutes later the gnome walks back up the stairs and takes his place in front of them, arms crossed.
The scene repeats itself a dozen times before my name is finally called. Thankfully, I’m already near the front of the group, and only a few students have to move before I’m standing in front of the diminutive assistant. He looks up at me with chestnut brown eyes and a head full of curly hair and confirms that I’m Armon Ellington before he leads me down the stairs into a dark stone tunnel. Once below ground level, the darkness is replaced by the glow of several torches that are ensconced in the walls, and it’s easier to follow the quick gnome. The tunnel leads to more stairs that go down farther and finally after what seems like forever, the tunnel ends at a door made of solid bronze. Confirming that I’ve arrived, the gnome assistant doesn’t say anything else but points once at me and then the door. Then he leaves the way he came.
I watch the gnome disappear down the tunnel, and once he’s out of sight, I turn to face the bronze door. This is it. The final test to see if I can join the Adventurers’ Guild. I take a deep breath and turn the handle of the bronze door and push it open.
Chapter 6.5
It takes a little effort to push the heavy bronze door open, but it opens into another dark stone tunnel. Ahead I can already see the light from a larger room and can barely hear the sound of voices. I close my eyes and listen intently. While I can’t make out the individual words, there are at least a half-dozen people speaking somewhere ahead. Well, at least I know the test is up ahead. I take a moment to create my knuckle busters on my hands. It takes a quarter of my mana, but I feel a little better knowing I have backup weapons I don’t have to open my [Inventory] to get.
I walk ahead, one hand on the stone wall for about twenty feet until I emerge into another room. The room is large. It’s about twenty feet wide and forty feet long. It has a dirt and sand floor. The walls are made of mortared stone. The ceiling is twenty feet high and along the walls are two balconies with three people on each. The people, or more likely teachers, since they’re wearing the black robes of the college, are from a variety of non-human races. Movement across the room on the ground floor catches my eye, and I see Professor Albus Dufendoor casually sitting on a small wooden stool. I wave, and he smiles and nods back.
One of the people in the balcony starts to explain the combat test. There will be a series of opponents summoned. Once defeated, the next set of opponents are summoned. The cycle is repeated until either the test taker has reached 1% of their health or they are unable to continue fighting. The orc speaking asks if I’m ready to begin. I check my equipment quickly. Pointy shield of Pain in my left hand, check. Spear in my right hand, check. Knuckle busters, check. I look up at the orc and nod that I’m ready.
Two of the other people watching from the balcony begin making gestures and shouting magical phrases. Light gathers around their hands and two circles of magical energy form on the floor in the middle of the room. The circles have a diameter of about six feet, and within them, the sandy ground starts to shift. At first, it just looks like a sand storm is being gathered in the circles. Then slowly the sandstorm gets bigger and bigger until it’s pushing at the boundaries of the cylindrical barrier created by the magical circle. The sand then suddenly stops shifting like a storm and instead condenses to form two humanoid shapes. The sand creatures are roughly six foot tall but don’t possess any defined features besides having two arms, two legs, a body and a head. There are no hands at the end of the arms, only tightly packed sand nubs. The head is really just a condensed egg-shaped structure without a nose, mouth, or any other feature that would make it a face.
I only have a moment to focus intently above one of the sand creatures head and see that it is a level five Sand Golem before I hear the shout, “Begin.”
The circles, around the sand golems, disappear, and the creatures move towards me. They each take slow, lumbering, awkward steps. It’s as if they’re just learning to walk. At the rate their moving, it’ll be several minutes till they reach me. Instead of waiting for them both, I run forward, past the one on the left. It takes a slow swing at me as I pass by, but I easily dodge it. Now at the first golems back, I stab out with my spear, testing the golems defenses.
Damage dealt: 3
I know that I should deal between six and ten damage with the spear, so the fact that I’m only dealing three, tells me that the golem has some resistance to piercing weapons. While the sand golem slowly turns around, I quickly use the side of the spearhead to slash at the golem and then bash the creature in the back with the blunt spear butt.
Damage dealt: 2
Damage dealt: 0
Each attack seems only to harm the slow moving golem slightly and from all appearances only removes a bit of sand from the creature. However, the damage notifications tell me that even of the three types of damage I’ve dealt it that the piercing type is the most effective, even if only by a single point. In the few
moments, it takes for this information to process in my mind the sand golem I’m attacking finally turns around. It pulls back its left arm for a wide swing, and the large movement catches my attention. Thankfully, I’m able to raise my shield up in time to intercept the blow.
Damage received: 8
I’m thrown back onto my back from the power of the punch, and even after bracing myself behind my shield I note that I’ve taken damage. I seriously don’t want to get hit by those guys again. Realizing that it’s better to avoid getting hit than trying to absorb the damage on my pointy shield of pain, I drop my shield and take my spear in a two handed grip.
Because of their slow movement speed and the reach my spear gives, the fight with the two sand golems is relatively easy. I stab them with my spear while trying to stay out of their reach. Only once was I almost knocked out. While finishing off one of the sand golems, the other one approaches from behind without me noticing. I wouldn’t have seen it at all, except the glow from its two handed attack catches my attention from the corner of my eye. I’m barely able to roll out of the way of the powerful attack. The special attack is so powerful it breaks through the layer of sand and dirt covering the floor and damages the stone beneath it, sending shards of rock everywhere. I take another ten points of damage just from the rocks flying through the air. I can’t imagine what the attack would have done to me if I’d taken it full force.
Between their massive health pool and the small amount of damage my spear does, It takes twenty minutes of attacking and dodging to take down one of the sand golems. The second sand golem only takes fifteen minutes since I don’t have two opponents to worry about but it’s still a game of stab and weave until it finally dies and collapses into a pile of sand. Just like the first golem, I get a notification that it’s finally done for.
You’ve killed a Sand Golem lvl 5. You receive 0 XP.
I sigh inwardly. Zero XP again? Darn summoned creatures.
With the last of the sand golems defeated, I spellwrite the symbols for ‘life’ and ‘self’ to restore my health. I do a quick check of my status to see how I’m doing.
Health 64/65
Stamina 62/87
Mana 55/91
I wonder if I’m going to get a break to restore my stamina and mana when I see three people in the balconies start to gesture and chant. I guess that answers that question. This summoning is a lot faster than the last one. Before I can do more than ready my shield, five summoning rings appear in the air and a cloud of smoke forms within them. When the smoke clears and the circles disappear, there are five winged creatures that look like hook-nosed demons. The main body of the creatures are thin and spindly and about the size of a porcelain doll. They have wiry arms, and each of their long thin fingers has a sharp black claw. They flap their white wings to stay in the air, and I focus above the closest one’s head to see what it is.
Ice Mephit, lvl. 5
I only have a moment to wonder what kind of attack something called a mephit will use when three of the flying creatures flap their wings furiously to gain some altitude then nose dive at me. I crouch behind my shield and feel one of the mephit’s claws scrape the pointed top of my shield.
Damage dealt: 2
I laugh out loud when I see the notification. The stupid mephit hurt itself when it tried to claw at the top of my Pointy Shield of Pain. That’s right buddy, those sword tips at the top aren’t just for show.
Another mephit dive bombs me but doesn’t claw at the shield. Instead, it shrieks loudly and flies away. Still crouched behind my shield, I wonder what that attack was meant to do when I feel something land on my back. I’m startled at first, but looking over my shoulder, I see the sharp toothed smile of one the mephits as it digs its claws into my back.
Damage received: 5
Damage received: 3
As its claws pierce my skin, I feel an icy cold sensation. It almost feels like being stabbed with an icicle. I drop both the spear and shield in my hands and reach backward and grab hold of one of the mephit’s large white wings. Using a maneuver Rex taught me when he was training me in unarmed combat, I lean forward and pull down hard on the wing in my hand. As the sudden shift in my center of mass flings the mephit off my back, I yell, “Kung Fu Throw!”
The mephit isn’t hurt by my throw but does lie on its back on the ground, dazed. I take the opportunity to get my first hits in by leaping on top of it and punching it repeatedly.
Damage dealt: 5
Damage dealt: 6
Damage dealt: 5
Damage dealt: 6
After the fourth punch hits, the creature stops moving, and I can see that its health bar is empty. That’s it? That was only like twenty points of damage. These guys are wimps. I look up from my opponent to see the other four mephits flying near the top of the ceiling, watching me with hate filled glares. Before I can even get to my feet, I see all four creatures put their hands together in front of their bony white and blue chests. A light blue glow forms around their hands and air in the room seems to get much colder as a single ice shard forms before each mephit.
I don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but I certainly don’t like the look of it, and I roll forward, over the disappearing body of their fallen comrade. I hear something crash and break behind me where I was kneeling but don’t take the time to look to see what it was. Instead, I frantically search for the shield I dropped and spot it to my right. A cold pain slams into my back as I get to my feet and move towards my dropped shield.
Damage received: 6 (Ice Shard)
Damage received: 7 (Ice Shard)
I’ve barely registered the first attack when I feel another piercing pain in my lower leg and stumble to the ground. Another ice shard flies through the air and misses me as I hit the ground. I glance down and see a piece of ice sticking out of my calf. I have to ignore the pain and crawl forward towards my shield. I make it to the shield and huddle behind it just as two more ice shards slam into it. I can feel their impact and the cold that spreads through the metal, but I don’t take any more damage. I try to pull the ice shard out of my calf, but it’s too slick to hold. Instead, I quickly draw the arcane symbol for ‘fire’ over the shard and stream mana to it until the shard is just a puddle of water. I then heal the gash in my flesh with the symbols for ‘life’ and ‘self’ spellwriting the directional symbols to the wound, so the healing magic knits only my flesh back together. A quick check of my mana shows I only have thirty-two points left, though I’m back up to sixty health.
I continue to feel Ice shards pelt the front of the shield and land around me in bursts of four. In a slight panic, I grab the spear on the floor next to me and throw it at one of the nearest flying mephits. It neatly dodges the projectile, and I see the rest of the creatures laughing at me as they charge up their ice shard attacks. I groan when I realize that I just threw away my only weapon. Sure, I could try to run across the room and get it back, but that would let the mephits attack me from directly above. Besides the spear just isn’t long enough for me to stab the mephits from the ground.
As another round of ice shards hits my shield, I look through my [Inventory] to see what else I have that might help me. I have some warped shortbows and arrows. I guess I could try to shoot the mephits with those. No, I’d have to drop my shield to use the shortbow, and I don’t even have an archery skill so I’d likely miss the creatures while they made an ice pincushion out of me. I return to the search through my [Inventory]. I have plenty of tools I could throw, but I doubt any of them would hit. I don’t think the practice crystals are going to help right now either. As I search through my stuff, my eyes keep returning to those arrows. I have over three hundred of them. If only I had some way of shooting them without having to use the bow. Once the question is asked, I recall one of the experiments from Koorb’s dungeon. I used a large spellwriting of ‘force’ to create a shield that pushed back the skeletons. What if I shrunk that down and used the directional symbols to apply that force to the very back
of the arrow shaft. I mean isn’t that what the bow really does? It gathers mechanical energy from the person pulling the string, stores that energy in the wood as it’s being pulled back, then releases that energy in the small area at the end of the arrow with enough force to send it flying through the air. Why can’t I do the same with the ‘force’ symbol?
I’m so excited about the experiment I relax my posture and feel the cold bite of an ice shard as it passes over my head and immediately duck back down under the shield. I slam my shield into the sand under my feet so that I can use both my hands. I grab a dozen arrows from my [Inventory] and drop them on the ground below me. I take one and slip the arrow head and half the shaft between the pointed sword points that stick up on the top of the shield. I still have to hold the back half of the shaft with my left hand, or it will fall off, but the sword points on the top of the shield make a great base to aim the arrow from. With my right hand, I draw the arcane symbol for ‘force’ and a directional symbol that will direct all the energy I put into the spell to an area no larger than a dime. I place the feathered end of the arrow onto this space and pour my mana into the force symbol. Excitedly, I watch as the arrow moves forward a few inches, then falls in front of the shield.