The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  “Okay, get the zombie on the right next,” I shouted the warning.

  Rose slammed her shield into then jabbed her sword into it knocking off another 6% of its health.

  Since we were trying to kite if we pulled aggro, we all stayed at range. Micaela threw a fireball from Sundance, except the fireball had a white aura that exploded when it hit the zombie, stripping away 19% of its health. My ‘Holy Smite’ landed next for another 24% and Olaf finished it off, each of his shots popping for around 20% each. And, we never pulled aggro.

  “That was great,” said Rose. “Now, do it again.”

  So, we did, and the last zombie fell.

  “Not a bad bit of work,” said Heath, leaning against the wall.

  Heath had to stay out of the way for this fight since we were trying to fight at range and to my knowledge he didn’t have much in the way of range damage abilities . . . unless he was hiding something.

  “Okay, we have a working strategy if we run into any more of those,” said Rose, sounding more confident then she had after our first couple of pulls.

  “Lead on,” said Olaf, motioning to the path straight ahead of us.

  The path on left was the one we assumed led to Graves, but as he said earlier. We want to see everything this dungeon has to offer.

  We followed the hallway. It mirrored the one just opposite of it, except instead of an armory we found a large room with a few workbenches. Unlike the armory, these workbenches were occupied with an assortment of the undead. Walking among them, occasionally stopping to check their work ,was an ethereal woman, garbed similarly to Trinico’s high priestess outfit. This made sense when I saw her name, . The fact she was a priestess of Hati confused me, really confused me. Why would a priestess of Hati be in a temple of Skoll? Or was this even a temple of Skoll? The dungeon was simply called the ‘Hidden Norse Temple’.

  “Okay, we need to time our pulls,” said Rose, interrupting my thoughts about the temple. Then, she started laying out a strategy, “I don’t think we want to pull the High Priestess until we’ve cleared the rest of the room.”

  I looked again though. Something about this felt wrong to me. I looked at one of the workers. and , they were forced to be here.

  “Wait,” I said before Rose started attacking.

  “What is it?” Rose asked, a little impatiently.

  “Look at the names on the mobs. They are all forced to be here,” I said. “Even the High Priestess,” I motioned to the shackles around her ankles. They all had shackles. “I don’t think we’re supposed to kill them, I think we have to set them free.”

  Rose looked to be contemplating what I said for a moment before nodding. “I trust you.”

  “So, how do we do this?” asked Heath.

  I turned and looked at Heath and grinned. “You, my friend, are just the man we need.”

  “Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna enjoy this?” asked Heath.

  “It won’t be so bad, now let me see your lockpicks,” I said, “I have a plan.”

  Heath vanished a minute later, off to work on his part of the plan. All we could do was wait to see if it worked. Suddenly, there was a clicking sound and the shackles on one of the chained ghosts clicked open and evaporated. The name of the unshackled prisoner changed from to and a notification of +100-Experience appeared. A moment later there was another being, a woman in shining silver armor with golden wings, . She took the arm of the freed ghost and together they flew upwards through the ceiling.

  “That was awesome,” commented Micaela, grinning wildly.

  “So pretty too,” added Baby.

  The Valkyrie was indeed beautiful, with long blond hair, pouty lips and an athletic figure most men would find attractive, I certainly did.

  “One down, a dozen more to go,” said Rose, drawing our attention away from the space previously occupied by the Valkyrie. It was hardly a moment later, the next shackle fell away granting, another +100-Experience. And another Valkyrie arrived to take the soul into the afterlife.

  “Eleven to go,” counted Rose, watching closely. Ready at a moment’s notice to charge in.

  It took a while and I had to reapply ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ on the lockpicks twice, but Heath was able to free every one of the undead ghosts.

  Then came the High Priestess. Unfortunately, she never stopped moving, even though there was no one left for her to oversee she never stopped moving.

  “Oh,” I said, figuring it out. “We need to stop the High Priestess from moving . . . or slow her down.” I shared a look with the group and understanding passed.

  “So, you need to make three more scrolls, even for you Sis, we need all of us putting those slowing stacks on her so Heath can undo her shackles,” ordered Rose.

  “I’ll get started,” I said, walking back into the hall and sitting down. That was another hour gone making three more scrolls, one for each Olaf, Micaela and Baby. Then time for everyone use the spell, renew all the other buffs then regenerated mana back to full.

  “Okay, charging in,” said Rose, once everyone was ready.

  “You fools, run while you still can,” pleaded the High Priestess as she cast a protective barrier around herself.

  The High Priestess looked so sad, I could see she didn’t want to fight us, but she had no choice it seemed.

  “Can’t do that sister,” quipped Rose. “Minimal heals, Sis, focus on getting those stacks.”

  I rushed in to attack as did Micaela, while Olaf found a good angle to shoot from.

  “Heath, stay hidden until High Priestess has fifty stacks of slowing, it should show as five different debuffs with ten stacks apiece.”

  Heath didn’t say anything, so I had to hope he got the message.

  As far as building up stacks of the debuff went, it revealed a whole other issue. We were taking out huge chunks of her health due to the ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ on everyone’s weapons.

  “Damn woman, heal yourself,” I shouted at the High Priestess, worried we’d kill her before we slowed her down enough to actually set her free.

  The High Priestess blinked at me in surprise. “Foolish mortal, why? Why would you wish me to heal myself? Am I not your enemy?”

  “Not as far as I can see. You are just trapped here, we cannot free you if you die,” I argued back. I didn’t know if it would do any good, most boss or sub-boss fights were kind of scripted. I didn’t expect much of an AI to be present in this one, but I had to hope.

  And she did, she healed herself once, bringing her health up a big chunk then resumed dealing damage to Rose.

  I don’t know why she healed herself, but that little bit of healing seemed to be just enough. “Heath, now!” I shouted. It turned out it wasn’t necessary because the words barely left my mouth and the chains unlocked and disappeared. The High Priestess didn’t change names, but she did stop fighting and the sadness previously marring her ethereal face vanished, replace by a grateful smile and tears of joy.

  “Thank you,” The High Priestess said, taking the hand of the Valkyrie that appeared to take her to the afterlife. She then flew upwards, guided by the Valkyrie and vanished. However, unlike the others, when she vanished, she let loose a rain of loot. We were all pelted with coins and equipment. I almost lost a toe when a dagger landed right next to my foot, another inch and left pinky would be gone forever . . . or until it grew back . . . was healed back? Whatever, point is, raining loot is not a fun as it should be.

  “That was different,” said Heath with a laugh.

  “That was crazy fun is what that was,” said Micaela, giggling happily.

  “Alright, let’s see what all this loot is,” I said, looking around at all the shiny money and shinier equipment.

  “Gather everything into one place first, then we can sort who gets what,” ordered Rose, picking up a handful of coins and setting them on one of the work tables th
at had something cloth piled on top of it already.

  I reached down and picked up the dagger and handful of coins before adding them to the pile. The coins were the hardest thing to collect, they seemed to be scattered everywhere. It was in reaching for one such coin, I found another illusionary wall with a chest inside.

  “Olaf, need your muscles again. Found another chest,” I called to him.

  That set everyone grinning a little more, loot and a chest. I hoped this one would be in better shape than the last one but alas, it was not to be. It almost looked worse.

  “I’ll get to work on this while you all sort that out,” said Heath, looking at the chest eagerly. He took the oil Olaf held out and went to work.

  “Okay, a dagger with a golden blade, a glowing yellow wolf-shaped charm and a dress. Coins too but Baby is still counting them,” said Rose, listing off the spoils of our success.

  “That dress looks tiny,” commented Micaela, lifting up the dress. “I’m pretty sure this is a fairy dress unless you planned on using it as a nightie, Rose. What do you think Bye-bye, would Rose look good in this?”

  Rose and I both blushed. “Right, that will go to Baby then,” ordered Rose quickly.

  Baby looked up and looked at the dress. Unlike the poufy white dress, she wore now, this one was much slimmer and considerably more elegant, it also had a golden sheen to it that drew the eye. She was happy to accept the dress then quickly flew out of sight only to return a minute later in her new dress.

  “Ah, I feel so much better,” Baby sighed in relief. “And this one even has stats, bonus to all healing, not just nature or holy healing.”

  “Congrats Sis, it looks good on you too,” said Rose, nodding in approval.

  “Ooh la la,” said Micaela. “Very sheik, my darling.”

  “Thank you,” said Baby, looking rather puffed up about it. The cuteness of her childlike features defeated the effort, but the meaning was understood.

  “Next up, Dagger of the Sun,” said Rose, reading the description. “Heath, as the only dagger user, do you want this?”

  “I’ll take it. Even when I finally make my ax it will be good to have a backup,” he spoke, not looking away from the lock he was still trying to pick.

  Rose shrugged and stabbed it into the work table. “And last, we have a Sunlight Wolf Charm. Grants a spell or skill called ‘Call of the Sun Pack’, adds Dexterity and Spirit. What the heck is Spirit?”

  “It’s a shaman only stat,” I answered, looking at Micaela who appeared to be ready to explode with glee.

  Rose tossed the charm to her and Micaela quickly equipped it, the charm dangling from Sundance appeared a moment later.

  “So, what’s the gold count?” I asked, looking at Baby who was having fun fluttering around in her new dress.

  “Huh?” Baby asked, seeing both Rose and I staring at her. “Oh, I . . . uh . . . kind of forgot.”

  Rose and I ended up counting the gold. We counted a grand total of 13-Gold, 9-Silver and 68-Copper which resulted in each of us getting 2-Gold, 3-Silver and 28-Copper. Most of what dropped were copper coins so while it looked like it should have been a small fortune, it actually wasn’t that much all together. The game needed to find a better way of dealing with money drops or at least a better way of dividing it up automatically. Still, at about a dollar per 10-Copper, ten dollars per Silver and a hundred dollars per Gold we just made a nice little profit from just this one boss.

  “Got it,” said Heath, finally popping the top on the trunk.

  Once again, filled with dust from disintegrated tomes. He pulled out a book and two gems. Rose and I each took one of the gems this time. The book was handed directly to me.

  Norse Skill – Valkyrie Strike – Teaches the Norse Skill – Valkyrie Strike

  Would you like to learn ‘Valkyrie Strike’?

  Yes

  No

  “It’s called Valkyrie Strike,” I answered before they could ask what it was.

  “Ooh, another Norse skill,” said Rose excitedly. “Hurry up and learn it, so if it’s any good you can teach it to me.”

  “Okay,” I replied, trying to placate her. “Just give me a second.”

  You’ve learned the Norse Skill ‘Valkyrie Strike’

  Valkyrie Strike

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0.00%

  Current Damage Modifier

  Damage: +1.00

  Skill Stamina Cost: 50

  Skill Effect (Active): A combat skill of the Valkyrie of Valhalla, used to keep their charges in line on their trip to the afterlife. Physical Damage is converted to Holy Damage. (May only be used by Female Characters)

  “Hax!” I exclaimed, not wanting to believe what I just read or what just occurred.

  “What happened?” asked Micaela, “Did it not work?”

  “No, it worked,” I answered, not sure how to explain the next part. “I am just not permitted to use it.”

  “Why not?” asked Rose.

  “It can only be used by a Female Character.” I answered quietly, hearing peals of laughter right after. I didn’t think it was that funny. I only learned it, so I could make skill scrolls for Rose and Micaela. Both of whom, were being rude and greedy.

  “Something you want to share with the rest of us?” asked Olaf.

  “No, nothing to share. It just says I can’t use it,” I replied, trying not to step into his trap. “Anyway, do you want it now or later?”

  “What does it do?” asked Rose as she finally stopped giggling at me.

  “Converts physical damage to holy damage,” I answered.

  “That would be extremely useful to me right now,” said Rose, her laughter forgotten.

  I could only sigh. “I’ll start writing, again. Hopefully, it won’t take too long.”

  Forty-seven minutes. That’s how long it took to make just one copy for Rose. Micaela’s kicked puppy act almost cost us another 47-minutes, thank Olaf for preventing that time waste, but I had to promise to make her one later.

  At least we were moving again. The intersection had a new group of undead for us, one ghost and two zombies. We still had our strategy, so we made short work of them. The last hallway was straightforward for about twenty-yards, then it slopped downwards for about two-stories. At the bottom of the first ramp was a pack of six undead, split into two groups of three. The same strategy worked, we just had to pull the first group back before managing the second in the normal manner. The landing was actually a switchback for another ramp going down again.

  We found another pack of undead and managed them with ease by this point. One more switch back and we were standing before a large door bearing the same symbols found on the entrance to the dungeon, except this door was cracked open, half of it lying in pieces scattered around the entry.

  As we got closer to the damaged door, the sound of rushing water came from the other side of the opening and the new moisture in the air wet our skin.

  “Everyone ready?” I asked before we went in. One more check of buffs and we were set.

  Rose went in first with Baby and me just behind her.

  The room was less a room than it was a giant underground reservoir.

  “This explains why they didn’t build closer to the river,” commented Olaf.

  “Why build near a river when the mountains provide so much better protection,” growled an all too familiar voice.

  “Graves,” I hissed, turning to see him sitting on a throne. The throne made me uncomfortable to even look at it, it was made with animal bones, wolf bones if I had to guess.

  “Meat sacks,” Graves nodded, not moving or even reacting much to our presence.

  “Isn’t this the part where we fight?” whispered Micaela very loudly. It occurred to me, she definitely intended for Graves to hear her.

  “He doesn’t look ready to fight yet,” Olaf whispered back just as loudly.

  “You will all die soon enough,” said Graves unconcerned. “I am curious though. You are the first in m
illennia to have come this far, you have earned a modicum of my respect. Tell me, how did you find your way in?”

  “Your boots left a pretty clear trail from all of your comings and goings,” I answered.

  “I see. That was a mistake on my part, one I shall not make again. Any final words before you die?” Graves asked.

  “Who are you? Really?” I asked.

  “Have you not figured it out? I am Skoll,” Graves howled proudly.

  “No, I didn’t ask which god you brought into your body. I asked who you are,” I clarified.

  Graves narrowed his eyes, glaring at me before smirking and snorting in amusement. “Now I see. You have become quite the thorn in my side, I will be glad to pluck you, but I suppose . . . I could entertain your . . . query.”

  “I am Hellgrid, son of Brun, son of Leif, High Priest of Skoll the sun chaser and yes, I have trapped Skoll within my body and become a true immortal,” Graves boasted.

  “Are you the Betrayer?” I asked.

  Graves laughed maliciously. “Yes! Now you see it. I am the Betrayer. I set brother against brother with honied words and plots within plots. And when Skoll was weakened by the other gods, I offered him refuge within, a place to hide and recover. I fooled him so easily, after all, this body is not strong, I am no great warrior, none would suspect a lowly priest. But he did not know how meticulously I plotted his downfall. How carefully I crafted his cage. I have lived for millennia because of his ignorance, stupid mutt knew no better until it was too late for him.”

  “So, Hati and Skoll, becoming fallen ones were your doing?” I asked, eager to know more.

  “Never in my wildest dreams did I think, I could make not one, but two gods fall at once . . . my master was more than pleased,” bragged the would be god.

  “Your master?” I asked.

  Now Graves, no Hellgrid, looked startled as if he’d let something slip he was not meant to. “Enough of this talk, it is time for you to die.”

  “Wait, one more question,” I requested.

  Graves narrowed his eyes and relented with a nod.