Ring of Promise: A LitRPG novel (Elements of Wrath Online Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  I saluted the Sorceress gratefully while the kid let out a puff of flame through his teeth. “Fine, fine. I may be pretty new at this but even I’ve heard of the Sisters. Too bad I'll never get to join as a dude. I mean, you ladies are in the top ten raiding guilds, that's leet there.” Talk about some real One-and-Twenty slang there! “Sorry about that, Shale, didn’t mean to sound like a jerk.”

  “It’s fine,” I nodded. “I’ve gotten used to it.” As Kayla joined in on the nod, I smiled. “We can take Scorchtusk, I’m sure of it.”

  “You said you had the spawn point and the time he was last taken down,” she noted as she flashed me a return smile. “We’re at the spot but when is the big ugly going to show up?”

  Unlike Kayla or I, the Ember touched at buttons invisible to anyone but him. Yep, definitely a newbie. “Oh, we’ve got, like, ten minutes or so to prep up. Scorchie got whacked a little over six hours ago and he’s got a seven hour respawn, right?”

  Her eyes widened as her orb began to glow and a staff materialized in her other hand. “When exactly did he die?”

  I had the same sinking feeling. “Yeah, Burndall, Scorchtusk doesn’t have a seven hour respawn. It’s actually six hours and forty minutes.”

  The kid frowned, obviously upset at having bad information. “Banana,” he Filter-cursed. “Uh, he died … six hours and thirty-nine minutes ago.”

  A blistering hot flame erupted from behind me, followed immediately by a rush of scalding breath. That sinking feeling hit rock bottom as I spun, coming face-to-tusks to the biggest Ash Boar I had ever encountered in the Earthfire Forest.

  “Make that six hours and forty minutes,” I blurted out as I raised my massive shield to ward off the initial rush of the monstrous Elemental beast.

  For a giant slab of pre-cooked pork covered in patchy, wiry hair, Scorchie moved fast. As he charged across the clearing, he left an immense wall of flame in his wake, cutting our battlefield in half. Even at the speed of thought, I barely had time to activate Elemental Bastion before it hit. My stone shield burst with soothing blue light that washed over the three of us just as three sets of smoking tusks crashed into it.

  Boon 'Elemental Bastion: Fire' granted! +50% Fire Resistance, Total Resistance 40%!

  Scorchtusk's Ashen Charge hits (blocked)! 262 (-262 blocked) Physical and 127 (-85 resisted) Fire Damage taken! Health Points: 2821/3210

  I grit my teeth from the initial hit. That could have been worse but all Ash Boars got angrier and burned hotter over the fight. Still, it could be manageable if the fight ended quickly but that was in the others' hands. My job was to soak up the punishment and keep this beast's attention purely on me while everyone else blew him to pieces.

  That was definitely something I could do!

  As Scorchtusk reared back for some kind of stomp attack, an AoE (Area of Effect) Earth effect if I remembered right, Kayla was already in motion while Burndall was gesturing madly at his virtual controls.

  She cut wide to my right and flourished her orb. Soothing waters rained down on me and healed the worst of my wounds as I slammed my banner into the ground, planting it with a clap of thunder. The Defiant Display shoved the monster back a few feet and infuriated the heck out of the boar's AI, but didn't strike hard enough to throw Scorchie completely out of position. The kid, well, he had barely gotten his first few Spells up, and as he casted a self-buff that caused Fire Runes to slither up and down his sword, Scorchie's hooves shattered the cursed ground into a tornado of stone, glass, and smoldering embers.

  Scorchtusk is granted Boon 'Smoldering Rage'! +10% to all Damage and +10% Action Speed per stack!

  And there was Scorchie's big trick. If we didn't put him down quickly, he'd eat us alive. Thankfully, my heavy armor and rocky body kept me planted even as the boar’s shockwave made my teeth rattle.

  Unfortunately, the robed Ember was blown off his feet. As he crashed to the ground a few feet away, I was immediately thankful he hadn’t landed on any razor-sharp grass.

  Kayla was on her game, though, muttering something about slowcasts (EO slang for people using motion commands) under her breath as she pointed her staff at the big pig. I don't know if she was surprised or not when I managed to act again before her cast; most players were shocked by how many actions per tick I pulled off, but then again, most players didn’t have nearly the experience with a NSAF helmet I did.

  The infuriated boar was puffing up, lungs inflating with intent to blow out something painful and horrible, when I raised the slab of stone attached to my arm and activated my Walking Wall Gem.

  You activate Walking Wall! Boon 'Braced for Impact' granted! +75% Block Rate and resistance to Crowd Control Effects while channeling!

  Burndall got to his feet at near the same moment as Scorchie blew out and Kayla's second spell launched, unleashing a rushing wall of water that crashed down over the beast even as he puked up a gout of molten rock.

  While Kayla was well out of the way, Burndall was way less lucky. Though Embers were resistant to Earth and Fire attacks, he was still awfully fragile despite his twink gear.

  Scorchtusk's Molten Belch hits (blocked)! 63 (-189 blocked/resisted) Earth Damage and 25 (-227 blocked/resisted) Fire Damage taken! Burndall is Behind the Wall and takes 0 Damage! Health: 2714/3210

  Fortunately, I took the whole thing for him. The Wall Skill created a cone of protection behind my shield, saving me from the worst of the damage and keeping the kid entirely safe. Better still, Kayla’s wave of ice-cold water extinguished what lava remained on the thing's snout and fur, causing Scorchtusk to howl in piggy agony. The water snuffed the worst of the boar's flames and left bluish rakes of frostbite in his flesh and shivering in his movements.

  Chalk up a point for the complexity of the enemy AI and the time the art team put in to showcase every nuance of that AI. Scorchtusk looked horribly angry now with steam and fresh rivulets of lava blowing out of his nose and mouth. He turned to prepare for a fresh charge, ignoring the Nix biting at his side for the moment. The frost still clung to him, though, partly counteracting the speed boost from his growing anger.

  "Come on, Burndall," I cried, keeping my shield high and braced. "I've got you covered!" This would drain my EP quickly, the cost for the Skill compounding every second, but it would buy the rest time to get this fight back on track.

  Most tanks wouldn't even bother with this Skill because it would reduce their DPS (Damage Per Second), but I was never much for damage output with my build anyway. That was other people’s job. Mine was simple. Don’t die, and make sure the boss hit me.

  As the cone expanded, Kayla switched position back to behind the Wall while firing off another spell. Clever girl. Most players wouldn’t know enough about my Class to get behind me without me telling them.

  Her spell went off right before Scorchie charged me. As I braced myself for the coming attack, a chill that was more comfort than shivers rushed over me and flowed over my shield arm causing the big slab of obsidian to ice over. I had half a second to be impressed by the sudden increase in defense when long, deadly-looking spikes of ice erupted from the surface of my shield. Clever Gem combination, linking a Shield Spell with a Thorns effect and the Water element!

  The beast had no time to arrest his rush, even if his AI would allow it, and Scorchie impaled himself on the freezing thorns. The impact didn't do me any favors either, but I bit back the wince and held firm, my boots digging into the ashen earth. The clash was long enough to give the Burndall the opening he needed.

  He swung his Basalt Blade down, the Runes glowing along its length. It was a basic attack and the sword should have bounced off Scorchie’s hide since Sorcerers innately sucked at melee combat, but Burndall must have slotted some kind of Passive Gem to let him use his Power instead of his Strength for the swing. The blade carved into Scorchtusk's skin like a hot knife through butter, and the clean hit activated his Explosive Runes Boon. Flames surged up the blade and across Scorchtusk's hide. A blink of a virtual eye later, t
he runes exploded, sending chunks of meat and boiling blood across the clearing.

  Scorchie was a Fire beast with plenty of resistance but apparently, you could fight Fire with Fire, as long as you used enough of it. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to put the big pig down, though. Bleeding, shards of ice piercing his snout and face, Scorchtusk staggered back and let out a roar of defiance.

  Scorchtusk is granted Boon 'Rage Ignition'! Smoldering Rage gains 5 stacks!

  "Well, you successfully made it angry, Burndall," Kayla noted as she planted her staff. A foot-thick slab of ice sprang into existence, stretching across the clearing. "That will buy us a moment! I won't be able to heal through that many stacks though so we need a plan."

  True enough, the wall shuddered from hoofs slamming into it. "Just give me another swing and I'll blow that duckling into bacon," Burndall boasted as he gestured up a few more virtual commands.

  As for me, I dropped the Walking Wall as I ran the numbers through my head. I could trust Kayla to pull her weight, you don't earn your spot in a top-end raiding guild by slacking, and Burndall had shown that he was something of an out-of-bounds thinker. If they could kill Scorchie fast enough …

  "If you can hold him, we can kill it," Kayla said, seeming to read my mind.

  "That won't work," the Ember shot back as the ice barrier split down the middle. "We'll peel aggro quick as oranges!" His sword hummed with a new set of Explosive Runes and a new sheen of icy thorns cascaded over my shield with a gesture from Kayla.

  "I've got this, Burndall, you just worry about blowing it up," I shot back. There was no more time to argue and I hoped he would just go through with the plan. I didn't want to waste days finding another group and another shot at Scorchie.

  I raised my banner up high and shouted out a battle cry, "For Granholm," activating my ace-in-the-hole. Most players weren't a big fan of the Orders line of Mod Gems. Sure, they could extend personal buffs and effects over a group ('giving Orders' like a military commander), even a raid at the highest levels, but the buffs weakened considerably as the size of the group grew. For small groups like this, though (the source of most of my jobs), Order Mods could do some amazing things, especially backed by the Warlord's naturally high Affinity with Support abilities.

  You give the Order to activate Final Assault! All group members gain +30% (reduced from +50%) Skill Speed, Skill Damage, Spell Damage, Dodge Rate, and Block Rate for six seconds! Maximum and current Health Points reduced by 75% for six seconds!

  Burndall was surprised by the surge of power judging by the flail of his command hand but Kayla didn't blink, even as Scorchtusk blasted through the barrier and beelined right at me. He had gone beyond trailing steam and ash as his hide was engulfed in white-hot flames. Most novice tanks would have panicked with their Health in the red zone like mine was after the Final Assault adjustment. Heck, most experienced ones would have! They would be firing off every defensive measure left off cooldown.

  Me, well, call it experience or living on the edge or whatever, but I simply held firm. Final Assault had maxed out my Block and amped my Dodge so much that the best thing for me to do would be to just take the hit. Besides, my max Health reduction couldn't be counteracted. No, instead of a last ditch Defensive Skill, I waited until that last-split-second before Scorchie hit, right after Burndall had started a massive swing with his blade and Kayla unleashed a barrage of icy spears, to plant my banner against my back foot and drop it to set for the charge.

  Meet the Charge was widely considered one of the most niche Defensive S-Gems in the game. It inflicted damage only against targets that attack you, similar to a Thorns effect, but the damage scales almost entirely based on the movement speed of the attacker and provides no other defensive buff. On top of that, you could only slot it into pole weapons, a very specific restriction that few Gems of any kind share. Now, most of those were actual, well, weapons: spears, polearms, staves, that sort of thing.

  Banners and standards, though, can't normally be used to attack, but they are classified as pole weapons in the database. Yeah, some people thought it was a bug, but it was one I gladly exploited.

  On top of that, it was one of the few Skill Gems that did appreciable damage (if only under the right circumstances) classified as a Defensive Gem, hence taking advantage of both my Racial and Class Gem Affinities. Most fights, I never even had a chance to use it, but when I did, it could be devastating.

  Like right at that moment. Scorchtusk hit me at literally full steam, his Ashen Charge backed up by a pile of Smoldering Rage stacks. Our counterattack was just as powerful, backed by my Final Assault Order. Burndall's blade bit deep before another barrage of Explosive Runes went off across the beast's body, the ice spikes off of my shield pierced through an eye even as Kayla's Ice Spears drove completely through Scorchie's body, and even as two of his tusks plunged through my shield and my breastplate to embed themselves in my rocky skin, my banner thrust impossibly deep in boiling pig flesh.

  Scorchtusk's Ashen Charge hits (blocked)! 501 (-501 blocked, -300 absorbed) Physical and 254 (-170 resisted) Fire Damage taken! Health Points: 48/803

  Your Meet the Charge hits! Scorchtusk takes 266 Physical Damage!

  Scorchtusk has been slain!

  That moment wasn't the first time I was thankful for the NSAF's sensation modulation software. Instead of being in shock and passing out from having a steroid-filled fiery pig impale me, I only dropped to my virtual knees in gasping pain. The immense beast staggered back, my banner sliding out of the fatal wound, the flag slick with gore, before falling over on its side and exploding in a burst of fiery motes.

  At least my employer was happy. The kid whooped for joy and, as I glanced over my shoulder, the air around him burst with multicolored radiance, the four prime elemental colors mixing and swirling up as a beacon to all around that Burndall had gained a level. He'd likely get another one or two clean when he turned in the bounty too. It'd be a solid payday for me, not to mention a level myself once I turned in the quest drop.

  Kayla was focused on me, though. A quick incantation and a touch from her orb sent soothing chills through my body, closing bleeding wounds and soothing bruised flesh. "Now that was a gutsy call, Shale," she acknowledged. "I had a feeling I could trust you."

  I straightened up and nodded. While the praise did feel good I was honestly more interested in checking the pile of glowing orbs that hovered where Scorchie fell. Good old loot, the best thing to find in any game. Still, I would be a liar if the praise from a raider didn't feel good. "Thanks, Kayla. I just try to do a good job."

  "Good? You were dynamite, bro!" Burndall bounced past me, showing his age for sure. "You were worth every gold!"

  Kayla laughed as we collected around the loot. Burndall reached out for one of the orbs and they rose up as one, spinning in the air. The Loot UI flashed into life, a holographic panel hanging in the air of the four globes.

  Scorchtusk's Remains contain:

  87 Gold (lootable by all)

  Scorchtusk's Broken Tusk (Quest Item, lootable by all)

  Grade S Boar Meat (4 units)

  Grade S Raid Orders (Modifier Gem)

  Like any sensible pick-up group, we were already set for Need Before Greed loot, not that it would help much. Nothing here was Role or Class locked. The gold and the quest items were easy enough, though, each popping into our virtual inventories. As for the rest, well, I was no cook but the Raid Orders Gem could be interesting. Not that I would ever be lucky enough to get into a raid guild.

  "Man, I was hoping for something cooler," the kid muttered. With a shrug, he grinned. "I can't complain, though. You two got me two or three levels for, like, zero work. You guys want any of this stuff?"

  Kayla leaned forward on her knees elegantly, examining the list closely. It was an in-game representation of what happened when people examined tool-tips. "Eh, the meat could be useful, we always need more supplies for the guild craftswomen. The Gem … that's a funny one but Orders just don't work
out at the raid level too often."

  "You're welcome to the meat, Kayla," I chimed in. "If no one else wants the Gem, I wouldn't mind holding on to it. You never know when things will change and maybe one day I'll be back in the meta, right?"

  There were no objections and Kayla actually gave me a pat on one of my armored shoulders. "Hey, for what it's worth, I think you did a great job here. I'm sure you could get into a raid guild as it is, what with most tanks being DPS goons in plate." She folded her arms and murmured thoughtfully, "There's more to a tank than the stats, you know."

  I laughed as I snatched the Gem out of the air and added it to my inventory. "Yeah, well, I'd say to tell your guild leader that, but I'm not exactly equipped to join the Sisters, am I?"

  We all shared a laugh at that little poke. The Sisters of Artemis was a full eighty-member strong raid guild full of women. Real women, too … again, the NSAF gear limited full-immersion avatars to similar physical structures. Every woman in EO was a real one.

  "I guess not," Kayla smiled after a moment, "but you don't mind if I add you to my friends list? You can never know too many good tanks."

  I nodded appreciatively. "Not at all, as long as I get to add you back. The same goes for good Supports, even if they are in a DPS class."

  "I only play a doctor in pick-up groups," she smirked before glancing over at Burndall, who was gesturing madly, likely sorting his inventory. "Can I friend you too? I like your style but you could use some pointers."

  He nodded distractedly. "Sure, I guess, and maybe you can start by trying to explain how you two can use the UI so kumquat fast!"

  In response to the wave of brain-hackings and identity theft through the Neural Sensing And Functioning network over the past four months, a collaboration of world governments and research institutes have released a series of security updates to shore up the neural interface technology. More importantly, a series of new laws and regulations have been enacted worldwide (The Safe and Private Policy) to ensure that all personal data is kept safe and properly filtered on the deep-dive network.