World Tree Online: The Duchess of Hammers: 2nd Dive Begins

by M. A. Carlson

  Kill me now, it would be so much more merciful.

  Olaf and Micaela both catcalling didn’t help either.

  The opening and closing of the front door brought me much needed salvation.

  “Sounds like the Duchess is back,” I said, extricating myself from the situation.

  The Duchess came to the sitting room where we were waiting, still dressed in her formal attire for her meeting with the human king, Leopold.

  “Good, you’re all here. Give me a few minutes to change out of this travesty they call high fashion and I’ll be ready to go,” Mardi said shortly, turning right back around.

  A few minutes turned out to be almost 30-minutes, but when she returned she looked nothing like a Duchess. She wore simple pants with chainmail boots and a green blouse with chainmail gauntlets. Once again, strapped to her belt were six hammers of varying sizes, three at each hip. Her hair was put into a pair of pigtails and the makeup that was caked on before had been almost completely removed, leaving only a little blush on her cheeks and some lip-gloss.

  I hadn’t given much thought to makeup or hairstyles since I first entered the game. As a player, my appearance was mostly fixed. I glanced at Rose, she wore no makeup that I could see yet her lips were ruby-red, and her hair was just as perfect as the first time I saw her. Her ash grey skin was perfectly smooth and unblemished to the point of perfection. I wondered if that wasn’t something they would patch in later to add more realism.

  “Alright, let us hit the road,” said Mardi. “Bye-bye and Rose, I do believe you will be my guards this afternoon.”

  “Before you go,” started Olaf. “Do you know why anyone would be after you?”

  “I’m the Duchess of Hammerton, are you really surprised someone would be after me?” she asked.

  “Okay, more specifically, do you know why the Ardentia Guild would be targeting you?” Olaf asked.

  She shrugged. “I have a lot of admirers, when you are as young, sexy and wealthy as I am, it brings out all sorts of lunatics who think they are in love with you.”

  It was true, I’m not sure how I knew it was a true statement. And yet, I felt like she was leaving something out. Something important.

  “Anything else or can we get going?” Mardi asked.

  “Okay, Rose, you ready?” I asked.

  “Yeah, let’s get going,” said Rose, leading the way.

  Walking toward the trunk of the World Tree, Rose lead in front with me trailing. I knew Heath was around somewhere, but I had no idea where he was. Mardi was silent and seemed to be walking with a determined pace.

  “Ivaldi’s temple is about two miles around to the west,” volunteered Mardi, once we reached the temple ring.

  The Dwarven God’s temple was grand, by far the largest temple I had ever seen, standing at least three stories tall with a large smokestack chimney standing three stories taller than that. The entire thing was wrapped in gold filigree and at the entrance stood a statue of gold as tall as the temple.

  Walking to between the legs and through the door I refused to look up, he was wearing a kilt and I just wasn’t sure how anatomically correct the statue was. I did glance at Rose, who had looked up, to see she was blushing a deep red.

  Inside of the temple were a dozen small forges, each glowing with a different color of fire. There were priests and craftsmen alike working the forges and anvils, no doubt forging some mythical blades and armors . . . and chamber pots? Why was that dwarf forging a chamber pot on a forge of the God Ivaldi? I shook my head to clear that from my mind . . . wait, if there was no need for toilets in the World Tree, why would you need a chamber pot?

  “Jack, you still with us?” Rose asked, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

  “Huh?” I said, snapping out of my thoughts. “Sorry, I was just . . . distracted,” I answered lamely, pointing that the chamber pot forging.

  “It’s a chamber pot, so what?” Rose asked.

  “When was the last time you used the bathroom?” I asked.

  Rose blushed red but understood my question.

  “It’s not a chamber pot, whatever that is,” said Mardi, interrupting us both. “It’s a spittoon.”

  “Oh, that makes more sense,” I said. One mystery solved, I looked away.

  Looking around again, I noticed there was one unlit forge at the center of the room, it was massive as was the anvil in front of it. The anvil was covered in hammers, and metal ingots, if I guessed correctly, this was the altar of the God Ivaldi.

  “It is enough to make a grown dwarf cry, the beauty of this place,” said Mardi, sniffling once.

  “It’s very impressive,” said Rose, clearly not as impressed.

  I took a nervous breath before stepping up to the massive altar, it was taller than I was, thankfully there was a small stairway leading up, something definitely needed for dwarves given their smaller stature.

  I took the ‘Spear of Gungnir I: Blueprint’ from my bag and set it upon the altar first. As soon as the book touched, I felt a wave of heat wash over me. I looked at the previously dead forge, there was an orange glow emanating from within.

  I removed the massive ‘Fang of Fenrir’ from my bag next and set it on top of the blueprint. A massive gout of fire from the forge had me diving away from the altar. Despite escaping the majority of the flames, I still took a little damage.

  The booming chuckle drew my attention back to the altar where a massive giant now stood, a dwarf shaped giant but still a giant. “Well, well, what do we have here?”

  “Father,” shouted Mardi, rushing forward, interrupting my quest and causing me no end of confusion.

  Did that mean Mardi was a fallen Goddess?

  The God Ivaldi looked away from the altar, focusing instead on Mardi. “Well, I was not expecting to see the Hammered Duchess today. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Do not call me that,” snapped Mardi. “I want to come home, father.”

  “Home? What home would that be?” the God Ivaldi asked, staring at the Duchess. “Certainly not Svartalfheim, last I checked, you cast aside that home to live alongside the mortals, drinking and being merry, a life without responsibility.”

  “I was wrong, I want to come home,” Mardi insisted. “Please, father, please restore my divinity and let me come home.”

  “I cannot. You are not a fallen Goddess, so you cannot repent. You surrendered your divinity, cast off your people . . . your mother . . . me. No, I cannot restore your divinity and even if I could, I would not,” boomed the God Ivaldi angrily, his forge flared hotter for a moment.

  Mardi dropped to her knees sobbing. “Please, I am sorry. You do not know what is happening . . . what I am up against.”

  The God Ivaldi’s expression softened slightly. “As I said, I cannot restore your divinity . . . but that does not mean you cannot earn it back.”

  Mardi perked up at that, her tear stained face staring at the giant God, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

  “But such a thing will be no easy task,” continued the God. “Do you remember the story of how I became a god?”

  Mardi sniffled then nodded. “You forged a weapon so powerful only a God could wield it.”

  “No, I forged a weapon powerful enough to kill a God. When I completed the weapon, Odin thanked me by making my wife and I Gods of craft and hearth. You want to restore your divinity, recreate that weapon,” offered the God Ivaldi, smirking.

  “But how, the blueprints to Gungnir have been lost to the ages,” protested Mardi.

  ”And yet, here set the blueprints and the first component,” said the God Ivaldi, motioning to the fang and book.

  “How is this possible?” Mardi asked, staring in disbelief.

  “Yeah, Jack does this kind of thing,” said Rose, making me jump a little.

  I had forgotten she was here. “I uncovered it in the Hidden Norse Temple in Hurlig Ridge,” I explained.

  “I would need a divine forge,” said Mardi, sounding slightly eager.

&nbs
p; “Mine is at your disposal,” offered the dwarf God Ivaldi, motioning to the forge behind him.

  “Still, I do not have that much time. The forces are moving against me . . . I may not survive that long,” protested Mardi.

  “What of your protectors? Can they not keep you safe?” the God Ivaldi asked.

  “For how long?” asked Mardi. “Do you know who is in this city right now? Do you know what waits for me in Hammerton?”

  “I am aware. I ask again, can your protectors not handle it?” the God Ivaldi asked.

  Quest Alert: Extended Guard Duty: Protect the Daughter of Ivaldi (Recommended Level 8-10)

  The Dwarven God Ivaldi has asked you to protect his daughter and help her through her strife in the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley Province.

  Reward: Experience, Mystic Variable Piece of Gear

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  “We’ll do it,” said Rose eagerly, accepting the quest for both of us.

  I wanted badly to warn her away, the quest was significantly over leveled for us.

  “Now that our business is complete, the forge is yours, daughter, earn your place as the Goddess of Hammers,” boomed the God Ivaldi, bursting into flame and vanishing.

  “That did not go the way I wanted,” said Mardi, wiping away the tear streaks. “But I have hope, I cannot thank you enough for that,” she added, brandishing two of her hammers and walking into the God Ivaldi’s sacred forge, the anvil and forge shrinking to her size.

  It was fascinating to watch her work with confidence. I could see she clearly knew what she was doing.

  Mardi stoked the furnace, building up a heat that was quickly becoming suffocating. Once the fire was up to the heat she wanted, she took the fang from the anvil and pushed it into the fire, closing the doors to let the fang heat properly.

  However, I could hardly breath in the heat that was continuing to fill the temple.

  “Stand guard outside, I have work to do,” Mardi ordered.

  Rose and I were both happy to step outside but before we could get to the door, Mardi called to us. “Do not go far, I will call you back in when I am ready to bind the weapon to you.”

  Outside the temple was considerably more comfortable than the heat inside.

  “Jack, this is going to be amazing, Mystic gear,” said Rose excitedly.

  “Did you even look at the level requirement?” I asked, feeling a little heat creep into my voice.

  Rose paused, her eyes focusing on something else for a moment, most likely her quest log. “Oh,” she finally said after a moment.

  “Yeah, oh,” I reiterated her sentiment.

  “But the earlier quest was level 6-8, right? We should be fine for this part, right?” she asked, a bit of worry creeping into her voice.

  “I hope so,” I said, my own worry in my voice.

  “I mean, it must be for the Hammerton portion of the quest chain, we were wondering where to go next and now we know,” said Rose.

  I wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure me or herself. We, as a group, had yet to fail a quest and I was sincerely worried this might be the first. Worse, I could lose my legendary spear quest line if we do fail.

  I took a calming breath, letting go of the worry . . . trying to let go of the worry. “We’ll figure it out. It does say in the Hammer and Anvil Valley province so let’s hope for the best.”

  Guard duty was quiet aside from the grumblings of a few priests and craftsmen that had to evacuate the forge due to the extreme heat of the God’s forge.

  “Should it be this boring?” Rose asked, slightly on edge from the adrenaline rush of this morning’s events.

  “Maybe they are regrouping or something?” I suggested.

  “Still boring,” she complained.

  “Bye-bye!” called Mardi from inside the temple.

  Rose and I barely shared a look before rushing back inside the temple, it was even hotter than before.

  “Bye-bye,” started Mardi, her twin hammers working in concert to shape the spear and it was definitely a spear now. The shaft and tip of a single, long, glowing weapon was at least 9-feet from end to end and still red hot. “I know it is hot in here and you will take damage from the heat, but you need to come and start pushing your mana into the weapon. All the mana you can muster and more.”

  Mardi was right about the heat, it felt like my skin was melting off as I slogged through the room toward the elongated anvil the spear laid on. A quick glance at my health bar showed I was losing -2-HP every second I remained in the room, it gave me just about 15-minutes before the room actually managed to kill me.

  “Rose, keep watch outside, no sense in us both taking this kind of damage,” I called to my partner.

  When I got to the anvil the heat had intensified such that I was now taking -3-HP damage per second, cutting my time in half again.

  “Hurry with the mana, I am just about done,” ordered Mardi as she continued to shape the legendary spear.

  I reached my hand out to the spear only to jerk it back as I took a sudden shot of -43-HP damage. “How?” I asked.

  “Your mana will protect you from the heat, but you must hurry,” Mardi ordered, her hammering continuing to pick up speed.

  I cringed but reached forward again, mentally commanding my mana to flow out of my hand and into the weapon. My mana plummeted quickly, zeroing out in just under a minute.

  “More mana,” ordered Mardi.

  I reached into my inventory, removing my ‘Full High-Capacity Canteen (20/20)’ filled with Improved Manaberry Juice and started chugging it down, restoring +125-MP per swallow.

  “Drink and channel at the same time if you must,” ordered Mardi. “You need to feed it more mana.”

  Drink in one hand, mana flowing out of the other, I continued channeling until my mana was empty again and so was the canteen. I emptied out three more lesser canteen with only 5 drinks apiece and still it demanded more mana. Finally, I pulled out my ‘Mana Crystal (1000/1000) and drained it as well.

  “Just a little more,” ordered Mardi.

  I swallowed down my last mana potion providing me a boost of +200-MP which was again drained.

  “We need more,” ordered Mardi.

  “I’m out,” I replied.

  “Jack, use this,” called Rose loudly from next to me, holding out her ‘Mana Crystal’.

  Another 1000-MP in and right back out into the weapon.

  “Give it back, I’ll dump what mana I’ve got into it for you to use,” said Rose.

  I quickly gave her back the empty stone.

  “Here, mate, use mine too,” said Heath, appearing next to me, also holding out a full ‘Mana Crystal.

  I had forgotten Heath had one too, but I was glad he did as that was another 1,000 mana I could dump into the spear.

  “Give it back when you’re done, and I’ll fill it up again,” said Heath, clearly trying to resist the effects of the heat as much as Rose and I were.

  After returning Heath’s empty stone, I checked on Rose. She had a look of concentration on her face as the crystal glowed brightly. When the glow faded, she handed it back to me. It was only another 600-MP, I had to hope it would be enough.

  I dumped all the mana from the crystal and the little bit that had recovered into the spear causing it to take on a bright white glow.

  “Here mate, one more,” said Heath, handing me back his crystal, this one completely full.

  I pushed that last 1,000 mana into the spear, causing it to glow even brighter still.

  “That’s it,” shouted Mardi, lifting the spear from the anvil and clenching it in a vat of oil causing a massive gout of flames to explode all around it, filling the temple with smoke and fire for an instant before completely stilling, the fire of the forge going completely silent.

  I tried to see through the smoke-filled room, but it was to no avail. Everything was blacked-out and the smoke made it hard to breath, but thankfully the heat seemed to
be vacating the temple rapidly.

  “Did it work?” Rose asked, breaking the silence then coughing for her trouble.

  “Wait a minute,” said Mardi, from only a few feet away yet still obscured by the smoke.

  I felt the spear emerging from the clenching oil before I saw it. It was like it was calling to me. I moved forward to where I knew the spear to be, like some kind of compulsion.

  My hand reached thoughtlessly into the clenching oil, burning me for a few points of damage as my fingers wrapped around the shaft of the spear and pulled it free. As the spear emerged from the oil, the viscous liquid fell away without resistance, leaving the gleaming white shaft in pristine condition. As the spear tip, a rectangular blade of white, came free, I felt a silence wash over me . . . no, not me . . . the world. Then slowly I heard and felt a rush of noise fill the void until it was deafening. I held the spear high, sending a prayer to the Gods and Goddess I had encountered, Issara, Ivaldi, Fenrir, even Skoll and Hati, and finally to Odin, the original wielder of this weapon. Lightning struck the spear, not once, but six times, each one filling it with holy energy.

  Legendary Quest: Spear of Gungnir I - Completed

  Bring the Fang of Fenrir and the blueprints for the ‘Spear of Gungnir I’ to the temple of Ivaldi and place them upon his altar.

  Reward: +5,000-Experience, Spear of Gungnir I

  I grinned for the completed quest.

  Legendary Quest: Spear of Gungnir II

  Find the blueprints for the next level of the Spear of Gungnir and the necessary materials and bring them to Mardi, the Duchess of Hammers.

  Reward: Experience

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  Of course I accepted.

  You have completed the first step to the creation of a legendary weapon, ‘Spear of Gungnir’.

  Spear of Gungnir I

  The Spear of Gungnir is a legendary weapon of Odin, the All-Father of the Norse Pantheon. While this is but a pale imitation, it is still most formidable. One-Handed Base Attack Speed 2.00 – One-Handed Weapon Damage 14-18 (Scalable to Lvl 10 - +2-Damage per level) – Two-Handed Base Attack Speed 1.80 – Two Handed Weapon Damage 18-24 (Scalable to Lvl 10 - +3-Damage per level) – +10-Dexterity, _+10-Stamina, +21-Holy Spell Damage and Healing (Scalable to Lvl 10 - +3-Holy Spell Damage and Healing per level) – Unbreakable – Soulbound