“But I promised to lead you to the shrine,” protested Tessa.
“We’re not here for Cap Alone, we are here to rescue the duchess,” said Olaf. “Believe me, we’ll be back for him but getting the Duchess to safety is our top priority.”
Tessa still looked reluctant but accepted in the end.
“What about the adventurers? The ones outside,” asked another of the girls.
“They are gone right now, you will never have a better chance to escape than right now,” said Heath.
“Lead the way, Rose, let’s go rescue our friend,” said Olaf.
Rose grinned a little and started marching down the hall followed by Heath, Baby, Micaela and Olaf and behind them, a train of abused and battered women that never deserved the fate that befell them.
If only everything had gone according to plan.
“What is the meaning of this?” a woman coming down the stairs demanded, just behind her the Duchess and a man.
“That’s Connie and Hyde,” said Tessa, a quaver of fear in her voice.
“Mardi, get ready,” shouted Rose, clapping her shields together and charging.
Mardi only smiled slightly and drooled, “Ro . . . hahaha.” A closer look showed the debuff ‘Drugged to Comply’.
Rose expected to flatten the woman only for Hyde to meet her halfway, his own shield absorbing the impact of Rose’s shoulder.
“Take her to the boss, sound the alarm while you are at it, sweetie,” said the man in a strange accent.
“Be safe, lover,” said Connie, roughly grabbing the Duchess and rushing down the steps.
“We have to get through this fast,” said Olaf, trying to find an angle to shoot from but finding none despite his height. The damned dwarf
Rose slammed her shield into the dwarf, doing a little damage but meeting shield for shield.
“Stand him up Rose, I need a target,” shouted Olaf.
Thankfully, Heath managed to slip in behind Hyde, appearing and stabbing the man, a 5% drop in his HP. “Yeah, he’s a boss,” said Heath, vanishing but getting smacked by the flat of the dwarf’s shield breaking the ‘Stealth’ effect.
It gave Rose the opening she needed, stabbing the edge of her shield into Hyde’s foot, stood him tall and hopping. She then ducked low rather than attacking again. She shouted, “Fire!”
Olaf didn’t need to be told twice, he unleashed a ‘Targeted Shot’ hitting Hyde in the face for -872-HP and chopping around 7% of the guy’s health. Unfortunately, Hyde retaliated, aiming a blunderbuss shotgun over his shield and pulling the trigger.
Lucky for Olaf, Rose saw what Hyde was up and stood tall, locking both shields and taking the hit at point blank, sending her sliding backwards as well as taking a hefty chunk of HP despite the shield absorbing a lot of the damage.
Hyde used the space to reload his shotgun, pouring powder and pellets down the barrel quickly. It was a fast reload but couldn’t have packed the shot in very well, not that he needed it as it was a wide-angle shot spread like his weapon would give. It was actually lucky they were fighting in the hallway or this could have been a much worse situation.
Heath appeared, stabbing the dwarf in the elbow, barely doing any damage but causing him to drop his gun. The thief quickly leapt back away from the swing of the shield and vanished.
Rose made the dwarf pay for turning his back on her again, smashing one shield into his exposed side doubling him over, she followed up with an uppercut with the other shield, standing him tall again and adding a dazed effect. Rose ducked low one more time, calling out, “Fire!”
Olaf fired with his other ‘Targeted Shot’ then moved into one of the open closet sized rooms. Micaela stepped out of the one opposite him and threw a fireball from Sundance. He took the moment to crack both barrels open and remove the spent shells then reload.
Micaela ducked back into her room just as bird shot pelted the wall next to where she ducked for cover. “I don’t like this guy, at all,” she complained.
“I’m sure the feeling is mutual,” said Olaf, stepping back into the hall to wait for his next opening to shoot, while the quest timer continued to tick. The duchess getting further and further away with each passing second.
It took the group over 5-minutes to kill Hyde, the man had no intention of surrendering, even though Rose tried to convince him to do just that.
“Drink, eat whatever, do it fast,” said Rose, breaking out a square of food and shoving it in her mouth.
“I will guide you,” said Tessa, scaring the daylights out of the group. “The path to the shrine is not a direct one. I owe you that much for all of us.”
Rose frowned, “Fine, but you keep your head down and stay out of the fighting.”
“I will, I promise,” said Tessa.
“Times wasting, let’s go,” said Olaf, seeing his stamina was recovered enough to move on.
Rose led them down the stairs first. There was a door and a hallway.
“The door leads to Connie and Hyde’s room, they have a door that leads outside,” said Tessa.
After making a quick check of their room, all the girls, save Tessa, were ushered outside to safety.
The hallway was short and after a left turn ended in a doorway.
“This is where it will probably become dangerous, if Connie has sounded the alarm, then you can expect heavy resistance,” said Tessa.
“Okay, everyone stand back around the bend. I’m going to open the door, we’ll funnel them to that corner, it will limit our exposure,” ordered Rose.
Thankful the hallway prior to the turn was wide enough for Olaf and Micaela to stand side by side, if only just, unlike the hall upstairs where Olaf barely fit.
“Incoming,” said Rose, swinging the door wide and instantly getting driven backwards by a wave of dwarven mafia warriors. Just as planned, Rose, backed up to the turn then stunned the first dwarf, a
“That took a lot of time,” said Rose, panting, and chugging down some water.
Olaf grimaced as he checked his ammo stores, only 50 rounds left, he would need to use them sparingly from here out. Looking around at the unfortunate dwarves, he bent down and collected an oversized maul and gave it a few test swings.
You’ve learned the skill ‘Two-Handed Maul’
Two-Handed Maul
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Current Damage Modifiers
Damage: +1.00
Crushing Strike Chance: +1.00%
Wondering what ‘Crushing Strike Chance’ was, he took a second to pull it up in the ‘Tome of Otherworldly Knowledge’
Crushing Strike – A strike with a heavy weapon capable of crushing armor which has a chance inflict crippling wounds. For example, if you were to get a Crushing Strike on a gauntlet, the hand inside would be crushed and rendered useless until it could be healed. Can also damage armor, making it unusable until repaired.
Olaf snapped the book shut, having gotten what he was after. He might only be level 1 with it, but if it saved him on ammo then it was worth it for now.
“What’s with the hammer?” Heath asked, pointing to the maul.
“Running low on ammo, figure I better save it for the boss,” Olaf answered. He, like the rest of the group, didn’t have a chance to restock on anything after the Ardentia Guild quest prior to being capture.
“Your damage will suffer,” Heath warned him.
“I don’t have a choice,” Olaf replied, trying not to get snippy. He was frustrated enough with the entire situation.
“Time to go,” said Rose, moving through the door first after carefully stepping over bodies.
Olaf checked the few they managed to take prisoner first before following the group, he was the last through the door.
“Do
you know how many more guards there will be?” Rose asked, looking quickly at Tessa.
“I do not know,” Tessa replied, shaking her head.
Rose proceeded ahead with Tessa directions. The way was moving progressively deeper and into the mountain.
“The shrine is deep in the mountain. Any shrine to the God Ivaldi should be built within an Iron, silver or gold vein to show proper respect to the great God of crafting,” explained Tessa as they went.
“Not mithril?” Olaf asked, curious.
“Oh no, mithril is just too rare and valuable. The God Ivaldi would be more likely to smite any dwarf stupid enough to waste such a precious crafting material. He would probably rather you offer some upon his altar than let it sit in stone unused,” Tessa explained.
“I think I like this Ivaldi guy,” said Heath. “First, he’s puts Bye-bye in his place, now I find out he respects the value of precious metals.”
“You have met the God Ivaldi?” Tessa asked, staring wide-eyed at Heath.
“Just the once,” said Heath.
“I’ve met him twice myself,” said Rose. “He’s . . . interesting.”
“My, the wonders you adventures must see. I should like to think I would enjoy such a life. Alas, I am but a humble maid,” said Tessa.
“Nonsense, you could be an adventurer if you wanted,” said Micaela. “Just pick up a fighting class and you’ll be good to go.”
Tessa sighed wistfully. “I have a class, though it is not much good for fighting anyone. I am a Dancer, or I was until . . . anyway, I shall never be more than a maid.”
Micaela frowned but could see arguing would only upset the young woman, so she let it go . . . for now.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen a guard,” commented Rose.
“We are getting close to the shrine. I am sure he will have a large number of soldiers guarding the door, maybe even Connie. Or worse, Vini the Plague or the Barber of Fitti could be guarding the door,” warned Tessa.
“Or both,” said Rose as they emerged into an open cavern. In the center of the cavern was a strange jagged and pock-marked dome with a silvery-green luster to it.
“Oh, Great God Ivaldi,” said Tessa gasping and falling to her knees. “That fool Alone actually made a shrine of mithril.”
“Not surprised,” said Heath. “In fact, I totally saw this coming. I mean, did you hear the foreshadowing?”
“Heath, not helping,” said Rose, her gaze focused on the large group of dwarves quickly approaching their current position.
“Back into the stairwell, we need to stem the tide,” said Olaf, falling back first, followed quickly by the others.
“How many dwarves does it take to change a light bulb?” Heath asked, running alongside Olaf.
“Not the time,” Olaf chided him.
“Three. One to hold the light bulb and two to drink until the room starts to spin,” Heath finished joke.
“What’s a light bulb?” Tessa asked fleeing past Olaf and Heath, as the most vulnerable of the group.
Heath and Olaf shared a brief look before laughing, Olaf more of a chuckle and Heath a cackle.
“This should be good enough,” said Rose, turning and bracing as the first few dwarves hit her shields and bounced off, one of them losing his footing and tumbling backwards down the stairs, taking three others with him.
Another messy fight and a lot of dead dwarves with very few captured. It was very disappointing to take so many lives.
“Drink up, we need to keep moving, there are only thirty minutes left,” said Rose, taking a deep pull from her canteen.
“It feels like we’ve been at this for hours,” complained Baby, her wings sagging slightly.
“I know, I’m tired too, but we need to finish this sis. Just think, if we save the Duchess, there will be nice hot baths waiting for us,” Rose prodded her sister with one of her favorite things, a hot bath.
“Ooh . . . bath,” cooed Baby, lost in a momentary daydream.
“Let’s go,” said Rose, nudging her sister.
Back in the cavern, there were no more dwarves left to fight, at least not the low-level fodder they just wiped out. Standing completely relaxed and leaning back against the door another dwarf, this one hooded and wrapped in dark leather armor. Two daggers hung loosely in his hands, occasionally twirling one around in boredom.
“Took you long enough, did you get lost on the way here?” the dwarf asked, stretching and yawning as he stepped away from the door.
“I’m thinking Rogue,” said Heath, studying the dwarf that was walking toward them nonchalantly.
“Names Vini, Vini the Plague,” he said with a grand flourish and a bow. “I have been told to ensure you die here and do not bother the boss on his wedding day. It is nothing personal, just business.”
“Mind me asking where you got those leather pants?” Heath asked.
“These, oh, I know this great lass in the Sixth Ring, Amelia’s Wicked Leather goods, she does primo work. If you tell her I sent you, she will give you quite the discount,” said Vini, forgetting about the impending fight. “Mind me asking where you got that jacket, it has a good look to it.”
“Hurlig Ridge,” Heath answered.
“Ah, not one of those little low-level messes, bah, cannot use that. I would become a laughing stock. Vini the Plague, level 11 assassin wearing a level 1 jacket,” said Vini.
“I’ll have you know, this is a level 4 jacket,” said Heath, looking affronted.
“Still weak, lad,” said Vini.
“Right, well, I suppose we had better do this thing then,” said Heath.
“Yeah, I suppose we should,” said Vini, suddenly freezing in place.
The image of Heath that was standing with the group suddenly faded away and a different Heath appeared behind Vini.
“Sorry, mate, don’t have time to play with you today,” said Heath, collapsing onto his back, breathing heavily.
Vini’s skin began to turn grey then started cracking and flaking until he collapsed entirely into a pile of dust, leaving a small pile of clothes.
“What the hell was that?” Rose asked, stomping up to Heath.
Heath was busy gasping for air and sweating profusely.
“And why do you look like you just ran a marathon?” Rose demanded.
“Or two,” added Olaf.
“Remember, when I told you I used to be level 53? Did you never wonder why I don’t use poison on my dagger?” Heath asked, still gasping for breath.
“What about it?” Olaf asked.
“I don’t use poison because my poisoner skill is Rank VI. The act of applying one of my high rank poisons is 1,900-SP. But against a low-level boss like that who is more of a damage dealer than tank, it was more than enough to kill him . . . and almost kill me from Mana and Stamina exhaustion,” Heath explained, his breath finally normalizing a little.
“Right, well, good job, Heath,” said Rose, looking like she had just swallowed something bitter.
“Ouch, that must have hurt her to say,” said Olaf.
“I’m inclined to agree!”
Chapter 26
“Right, well, good job, Heath,” said Rose, looking like she had just swallowed something bitter.
“Ouch, that must have hurt her to say,” said Olaf, chuckling.
“I’m inclined to agree!”
The group turned swiftly to the source of the voice.
“Glad to see you made it, mate,” said Heath from a sitting position.
“What took you so long?” Rose complained.
“Vision!” Micaela cried, barreling forward and batting me aside. “I was so worried about you,” she sobbed, her arms wrapped tightly around the spectral wolf. “What happened to you? How did you get away?”
“I am fine boss. When you died I entered the spirit realm where they could not find me. I found Vari hurt and took her to get help. Then I led them all here,” Vision explained as he squirmed to get loose from Micaela’s vicelike grip on the
pup.
“I’m just so glad you’re alright,” Micaela sobbed, part of it coming out like a bleat, a side-effect of becoming a minotaur.
“Nice to see you too, Micaela,” I groused, shaking my head and trying not to smile. “I’m glad I made it in time,” I said to the rest of the group.
“How did you find us?” Olaf asked, studying me, as if expecting me to not be who I was.
“Vision followed your trail. To be honest, it wasn’t very hard to follow the destruction you left in your wake,” I answered.
“Good to see you, Jack,” said Rose, blushing slightly and looking anywhere but at me. “But times wasting, we need to get in there sooner rather than later.”
A glance at my quest log told me we only had about 15-minutes left to rescue the Duchess.
Quest Alert: Jail Break and Rescue (Recommended Level 8-10)
Escape your prison and fight your way through the Stonebreaker Stronghold to rescue the Duchess. If you can, capture or kill ‘The Barber of Fitti’ and ‘Cap Alone’. Stop that wedding at all cost or it just might cost you everything. (00:00:14.51)
Reward: Experience, Mark of Hammerton, Restored Reputation
“Then what are we waiting for?” Heath asked from his seated position on the floor, taking a long pull from a canteen. Noticing everyone was staring at him, he chuckled, “Right, waiting on me.”
“Did you win?” Olaf asked, looking to me.
“Not sure, took out the heaviest hitters I could, then Vari and Vision found me and now we’re here,” I answered, giving possibly the briefest recap in the history of recaps.
“Hope for the best then,” said Olaf, laying a maul across his shoulder.
“What’s with the maul?” I asked.
“Running low on ammo, I picked this up as we were making our way here. It’s not as fun as my hand-cannons but I could get used to it,” said Olaf, grinning a little.
I finally noticed a nervous looking dwarven girl hiding behind Rose and gave her a friendly wave.
World Tree Online: The Duchess of Hammers: 2nd Dive Begins Page 44