Crystalfire Keep

by J. A. Cipriano

  It seemed like there were every mix and permutation cross-sectioning roles, classes, and item classification. I even noticed that there was a raid-level Dancer gear set that mimicked the Support set bonuses that Merina used for her build, not to mention other oddities, like a cloth armor set obviously meant for Sorcerers and the like to use for tanking. This vast armory was the ultimate construction kit for any build you could imagine, as long as you slotted the Gems to back up your intended purpose.

  Kayla must have been browsing alongside me because she let out a low whistle. This is amazing. I know it must sound odd coming from an Arena fighter who already had specialized gear sets handed to her for that purpose, but I never thought the devs would really go out of their way to break the meta down like this.

  Did they, though? I glanced over at her. There’s the gear here to keep doing things the old way. It’s just that there is now the full gear you need to support different approaches. Now I wonder if they’ll add a Gem page and Ancient Crystallized Gem drops after the contest.

  That’d be crazy cool, she agreed. And I guess you’re right. Either way, I’m happy to see it. So, if you’re done ogling the gear, maybe you can pick up a new shield, so I can get that coffee?

  I chuckled and started adding search parameters. Shields, intended role Tank, intended class Warlord, and then for kicks, I added the ‘intended role Support’ parameter. Fighting alongside Vanni, I was coming to see the different but equally effective tactics we used. Her method was one of dynamic motion and an edge of offense while still having the core tanking fundamentals covered, while mine was all-out protection but with a backline of support buffs. To emphasize that tanking style would be smart, strengthen what support I might be able to bring to the group. Maybe I could find a place for my old Final Assault Gem.

  It took a moment for the search to sort through the hundreds of gear items, but it did find a perfect match. It was an ornate tower shield, probably as tall and wide as I was, consisting of slabs of polished stone held together by bands of pure Elementium. Glowing quarts shards studded the outer banding, and carved in the stone was the coat of arms of the Border Knights, a depiction of an impenetrable wall with stylized wings flaring over it. Scarily, it had six total sockets, something I had never seen before, consisting of two linked pairs and two solo sockets.

  Knight-Commander’s Crystal Bastion

  Grade S Shield (scaling, stats shown at viewer’s level)

  Base Block Rate 45%

  Physical Resistance +15%

  All Elements Resistance +15%

  +12 Strength

  +48 Vitality

  +48 Infusion

  Passive: Defensive Skill Boost +24%

  Passive: Support Skill Boost +24%

  Active: Commander’s Acumen: Doubles the numerical effects your next Support or Defensive Gem has on allies other than yourself. This Boon must be used within 6 seconds of activation. 10 minute cooldown

  Kayla let out another whistle, not able to contain her comments to our private channel. “I’m kind of regretting not taking that token off your hands. That’s an amazing piece there!”

  I nodded slowly. “It’s not as specialized to fight specifically Darkness-based MOBs as the Shell, but that base block boost and the huge Support boost more than make up for that. Let’s not even talk about that Active!”

  “Well, commander,” she said, “I approve of your choice.”

  I laughed as I confirmed the transaction. “I’m glad you do, angel.” I’d rearrange the Gems once I’d seen Mina off; I had a fair bit of time left.

  “Angel?” Kayla quirked a smirk at that. “What brought that on?”

  I hadn’t realized I had said it, it had just slipped out, and I knew I was starting to blush. “Uh, well, I guess it’s just that you’ve sort of been a lifesaver through all this and not just because of the elite heals.” Rubbing the back of my head, I laughed nervously. “I’ve always had a reason to do this, you know, but being with you, knowing that you’ve got my back, that’s given me the courage to put myself out there, to be the leader that’s gotten us this far. So, yeah, you’re my angel.”

  That little part of me that still doubted myself expected to get a savage verbal cut, something about how that was childish or some nonsense. Of course, that was not what happened.

  Instead, that smirk of Kayla’s melted into a soft smile. “That’s sweet, Max.” She stepped in for a kiss, and I met her halfway. Warm, passionate, it lasted for a long moment before we parted. “I only hope I live up to that in the end,” she whispered breathlessly.

  I smiled. “As I’ve been telling a lot of people lately, I trust you. I know you will, and I’m pretty confident I can live up to the man you want me to be too.” With a chuckle, I shook my head. “Wow, I never thought I’d say I was ever confident, at least outside the game.”

  “You’ve come a long way.” Kayla slipped a step backward, her eyes thoughtful. “We all have, I think.” As if she was popping out of a daydream, her head tilted up and her gaze focused. “Anyway, I’m going to get a hot mug and gather myself. The big finale, we’re almost there.”

  I nodded. “We are. Let’s just keep the faith that we’re fast enough.” I sketched a bow. “Until tonight!”

  With a last giggle, Kayla curtsied back. “Until tonight!” And then she was gone.

  23

  The time between that and our last session of the day was a blur. I went through the motions, grabbing a cup of soycafe and a bath in the hours between, but I honestly couldn’t tell you anything more specific than that, despite the fact I talked with both Chrissy, returned from wherever she went with her friends, and Roxanne. Every bit of my focus was looking towards the third and final wing of the raid as if I could divine its every component if I thought hard enough about it.

  Though I imagined a dozen scenarios, I realized it was wasted effort born of the anxiety of what was ahead. As I had already learned, Crystalfire Keep was something beyond my expectations. We’d just have to get our feet into the water and find out how deep it went.

  That didn’t worry me as much as it would have in the past. No, if I knew anything now, it was that my friends were adaptable, smart, and capable. We could take a punch and keep going, you might say. Whatever was ahead, we’d get through it.

  What was starting to nibble at the edge of my mind was how well the other big raid groups were doing. Was Elementalis Reclaimed tearing through this like we seemed to be? Did Amethyst’s disciplined command guide the Sisters of Artemis along faster than we were progressing? Was some group I didn’t even pay attention going to beat us all? Even if we finished today, there were two days or so of waiting before the results were revealed. Could I deal with the wait?

  Those questions formed their own mind game of sorts, working its way into my nerves. I was giving myself the jitters simply because of the unknowns, the fact we didn’t know how well anyone was doing. Taking a deep breath, I let out a sigh as the NSAF helmet whirred into position.

  “Are you okay, Max?” Roxanne frowned at me, her monitoring tablet at the ready. “With the rules that you told me, you could always postpone until the morning. You know, tackle this when you’re fresh.”

  I let those words linger for a moment, mix with the nervousness as well as my thoughts about my friends, about Mina. In that volatile combination, it was Crysta’s giggle, Burndall’s cocky grin, Kayla’s eyes that acted like a base on the frothing acid on my brain. A smile grew on my lips as everything settled into an easy calm.

  “Yeah, Roxanne.” I glanced up at her through the visor. “I’m better than okay.”

  The nurse regarded me for a long moment before her frown upturned into a smile of her own. “Well, don’t let me hold you up. Good luck.”

  I nodded and gave the mental command to enter the dive. Moments later, I was Shale once more, eyes opening onto the royal pavilion, and the Knights of the Four were all together again. The place was in a frenzy, champions running around and chatting wildly.
Some of them were pointing at us surreptitiously and what I could overhear seemed a rather unprofessional discussion of the upper levels of the Keep. Considering the nature of the contest, I was surprised anyone was talking publicly about any aspect of it. At least nothing about it sounded too, well, spoilery, if that was even the right word.

  Shrugging that off, I looked around at our guild and smiled. “Are you ready to finish this?”

  “We were just waiting for you, boss,” Burndall said. “Let’s do it!”

  Dunya only cracked her knuckles, her new Knight-Exorcist’s Gauntlets grinding stone into stone oversized stone gauntlets, while Vindril saluted. “Ready, sarge.”

  “You lead, we follow, Mr. Shale,” Nahma enthused, a sentiment backed by Merina’s confident nod. Crysta smiled brightly as she tested the pull of her bow, confident enough now to not be in constant contact with Vanni who was finishing making a last-minute adjustment to her Gems.

  “Oh, don’t wait on my account,” she murmured. “I’ll be ready by the time the quest is doled out. Just slotting some Fire and Water Mods.”

  “Not the worst idea with what we’ve seen.” I grinned as I glanced at Wazif, the other one of us looking to be prepping. “You ready?”

  The portly craftsman was stuffing tools and alchemical items into the loops of his new Royal Demolitionist’s Greatcoat. It was a thing of thick, red leather and reinforced plates over the shoulders, the elbows, and over the heart. It reminded me of what a medieval bomb squad member might wear if there was ever such a thing. That Wazif had managed to find a new piece of chest armor that actually gave bonuses to using alchemical and crafting consumables spoke volumes about the depth of the Crystalfire Keep gear selection.

  “Fully loaded, Shale,” he laughed. “I had to spend the last of my free time last session in the laboratory to fill my new capacity, but I was more than happy to.”

  “Excellent.” I glanced at Kayla beside me, and she simply put a hand on my shoulder that told me everything I needed to know. “Right, here we go.”

  As the gossip and pointing faded away, King Crystain V loomed over us, the glowcrystals at the apex of the tent giving him an appropriately dramatic backlighting. “Champions, your arrival could not have been at a more fortuitous time.” From the grim look in his eyes, I wondered just how fortunate our timing really was. “A runner from Sir Copperholt’s forward guard arrived with dire portents not an hour ago. It would seem our time is running out faster than we expected.”

  He leaned forward, massive hands spread on the table before him. “The report states that a great heat is radiating from the hatch leading down to the wardstone room, something that has only now started, accompanied by the glow of an inferno around the lip of the door. Whatever is going on down in that chamber has accelerated. If I were a betting man, I would wager that your successes have pressed the Flames of Wrath, forcing it to forge ahead with its plans now as opposed to taking a more careful route.”

  Well, that both worried me and made me smile a little. We were obviously tackling this thing correctly and maybe it was possible there was a dynamic quality to the quests here. Maybe this would be different if we were still struggling with the first or second wing by this point.

  Princess Kallisandre stepped beside the king. In her arms was not one but two silver cases, one still spilling light from the crack of the lid and the other seeming dull, as if no light was reflecting off the polished metal. “Fortunately, we have achieved some breakthroughs thanks to the histories and artifacts you recovered. If you hadn’t saved them from the fire, I fear that we would be utterly lost at this point. Though I would wish for more time as our scholars have yet to decipher all the passages and reference them with our other tomes, what we have learned may be enough for you champions to use these weapons.”

  Even as raid chat came to life with suggestions about what to ask as the narrative direction switched to me, I already knew what had to be asked. “Weapons, Your Highness? I thought we only had the one Elohjin artifact.”

  The princess nodded. “This is true, but as these new documents tell us, the Elohjin were not alone in their final confrontation with the corruption that threatens our world. In fact, the most startling truth that has been revealed to us is that the Primal Darkness is not entirely the cause of our woes or the Elements of Conflict.”

  I could tell that we all wanted to blurt out something, the shock and confusion rampant on our faces including my own, but Kallisandre was still in charge of the conversation. “These Zoajin, the ancients spoke of in these fragmentary histories, were elementkin, much like our four races and the Elohjin, linked to the element of Darkness. Though they warred with the Elohjin in ancient times, the emergence of a corrupting force, something vile that fed on the negative emotions and sorrow caused by these wars, eventually brought the two Primal races together.”

  She set the two caskets down, opening them both. One contained the blazing Light we had secured from the Iron Needle, while the other contained the perfectly smooth mote of blackness, pure in its absolute nothingness, that Lucar had left behind in the wake of his defeat.

  “Some philosophers,” she continued,” especially those in my mother’s court, have long argued as to the nature of the Light and Dark. If the Light is creation and life, the Darkness was entropy and death. While at first blush this seems to be the dichotomy of good and evil, is that truly the case?”

  “Daughter of the ocean,” the Mountain King interjected, “while I appreciate the nuances of philosophy as much as any, we face a dire, real threat at this moment. Focus, my child.”

  “Of course, father of the mountain.” The princess cleared her throat delicately. “What I drive it is that this corrupting influence is what turned the Darkness into what it is today. Purified Darkness, the weapon of the Zoajin, can still be used to fight the Elements of Conflict, including the Flames of Wrath that you no doubt face today. In truth, the ancient texts you brought me allude to the fact that one Primal element is insufficient to drive back the corruption.”

  She frowned as she looked down at the two stones. “Unfortunately, that is all we know. We do not know precisely how to use their power, only that it will take both powers in harmony to cleanse the elements.”

  The focus snapped over to Burndall who was still processing this whole thing. As he managed to get his wits about him, he arched an eyebrow thoughtfully. “So, princess, have you guys tried socketing them like the other Gems we use? Maybe in linked sockets?”

  “We have, Sorcerer,” she nodded. “Though both the Light and Dark allow themselves to be held in such receptacles, they do not seem to interact with our enchanted weapons and armor in the same way as our more common stones. Linking them seems to do nothing further. It is almost as if they are dormant, waiting for something to trigger their awakening.”

  Crystain crossed his arms, the grinding stone of his armor getting our full attention. “Perhaps what we now ask will seem to be too great a thing for you, yet we must ask all the same. There is no more time for research, experimentation, or even prayer. Before the wardstone is corrupted and the Earth Kingdom falls, I, King Crystain V, scion of the Element of Earth and ruler of Cragholm, bid you brave champions to take these ancient weapons, venture down into the depths of Crystalfire Keep, and master their power to save my people.”

  Wazif was the one chosen to give our answer, and it was simple. “We won’t fail the people, good king!”

  Crystain nodded his head in a slow incline as the quest appeared before me.

  Raid quest ‘The Flames of Wrath’ accepted!

  Objective: Delve into the depths of Crystalfire Keep and cleanse the Flames of Wrath before the wardstone is corrupted!

  Reward: 50% Experience

  As leader of the raid group, 1 Elohjin Lightstone and 1 Zoajin Darkstone have been added to your inventory. These Quest Items can be traded to other raid members but cannot be traded to anyone not in your designated Crystalfire Keep raid group. If you leave the raid, th
ese items will be transferred to the next assigned raid leader, and if the raid is disbanded, these items will be removed from all raid members’ inventories.

  Your timer for the Wardstone Chamber of Crystalfire Keep has started! Good luck!

  Everyone’s eyes popped as time was now decidedly not on our side. Crysta expressed the mood most accurately with an open-jawed, “Like, no way!” The next thing she said wasn't as universally descriptive, though Burndall was nodding his head fervently in agreement. "The implications for the lore are staggering!"

  I suppressed my shock and confusion. This was just another surprise situation, I told myself, like any other tanking situation. Dropping into raid chat, I tried to get everyone back on task. Buffers, start doing your thing. Kayla, get a portal to the upper levels going. I’m guessing the quest info told you that I have the two stones, so start tossing ideas. I have no illusions we won’t be thrown immediately into the deep end once we go down those stairs, so we need a plan or something before then.

  As Gems started to glow as spells, dances, and calls started to layer over us, Vanni was the first to voice her thoughts. It didn’t surprise me, she was a tank as good as I was, maybe better, and had the same swift thoughts and situational awareness. I don’t think we can plan too much until we see the battleground and the enemy, but from the princess’s response to Wazif’s question, I’m going to guess that the stones need to be socketed like Gems, even if they don’t do anything yet.

  Makes sense to me, Burndall added. Tricky devs, throw us into an encounter where we have to ditch two Gems in the party before the hardest fight. The big problem is who should have the stones and if they need to be linked. Bongo, what if they are secretly Mod Gems and they need to each get linked to active Gems and then used together somehow and … lobster claws!

  More gawkers were starting to gather around us and our flurry of activity (most raids had, like us before, had been buffing in the Keep proper, I guessed) but I ignored them. I feel you, Burnie. Just … I wonder if they would have made it so crazily complicated. Considering we can trade and swap Gems in battle, maybe we should play it safe and keep them unsocketed until we get some idea of what to do?