by Adam Drake
Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 15
Charisma: 20
Main Skills: (Level 3 or greater)
Archery: Level 8, 82%
Acrobatics: Level 3, 56%
Climbing: Level 7, 20%
Dodge: Level 7, 12%
Parry: Level 6, 58%
Sneak: Level 7, 42%
Swords: Level 9, 73%
Minor Skills: (Under level 3 - Select to view)
Satisfied, I swiped the stats sheet away and returned to basking in the glory of returning the banner.
I was happy beyond words. In my hands I had the quest. Not any old quest, but the quest. Its final reward was the single most sought after item for players of my class.
And I was determined to be the very first to complete it.
As I moved along the path to take my leave of this dead realm, my mind was no longer on banners or Battle Fields or even Amara.
I became consumed with the quest contained in the scroll, which would lead me to the next item in my Shadow Master's Legendary armor set:
The Shadow Blade.
Vivian's adventure continues in
Shadow Blade
Shadow Blade
A hallowed weapon hidden in a jungle hell.
Forced to prove my worthiness to an elite group of players, I must earn the right to enter one of the most notorious locations in the game.
The Emerald Caldera has a fearsome reputation for chewing up would-be adventurers and quickly sending them back to the newbie zone. Filled with dungeon temples, monstrous beasts and dark-magic cults, the jungles of this mysterious island are deserving of respect.
And I must plunge headlong into them because it is here where I can find the next elusive item in my Legendary Armor Set:
The Shadow Blade
CHAPTER ONE
I logged into the game to find myself on the edge of Hell.
Before me was a vast ocean of molten lava which steamed and hissed. Its surface writhed like a living thing. The air above wavered from the intense heat and the smell of sulfur was strong enough for me to readjust the olfactory preferences on my simulation suit.
I crouched on solid ground of cracked, weathered stone. The lava lapped at its edge, only a few paces from me. At my back was a large angular boulder, and to both sides the stone shore curved behind out of sight.
Taking in these bleak surroundings, I sighed with relief. My avatar was in the exact spot I'd left her when I logged off to sleep six hours earlier.
Since I wasn't in a safezone, logging out here meant my avatar remained in the game for five full minutes, helpless and at the mercy of any passing threat. Fortunately, I'd chosen a good hiding spot, although I barely slept, wondering if I'd made a mistake.
Wanting to make a quick assessment of my situation, I activated my Shadow ability, and slowly stood to peer around the boulder.
I was on one side of a large stone platform in the middle of the lava, near featureless save for several boulders studding its perimeter. Opposite to me towered a pair of large wide iron doors set into an outcropping of rock. The outcropping extended away from the platform like a handle on a frying pan, its upper reaches vanishing into the dark sulfuric clouds which hung low above.
Being completely surrounded by the molten lake there was no other way off the platform except through those doors. They were closed and securely locked. And I didn't possess the means to open them.
I was trapped.
Laughing with delight I nearly clapped my hands together which would've broken my Shadow. Nothing had changed in the last six hours since I logged out. The doors hadn't been opened which meant my quarry was still on their way. My timing couldn't have been better.
My mind at ease I crouched again, resting my back against the boulder. I was in the Dungeon of Xorrox, a ridiculously massive network of caves and tunnels meant to test the most hardy of adventurers. It was filled with demons, rock golems and even the occasional fire drake.
At the very bottom of the dungeon was this platform, its end point, and the gateway to the final dungeon boss encounter who waited behind those doors. Xorrox.
My being here was suicidal, I knew that. At level 46 I fell way short of the recommended minimum of 55 for entering. It was also a group setting because of its difficulty. As many as thirty or so players were needed to fight its many dangers with the hope that enough would survive to get to this very platform.
And yet here I was, a low level Shadow standing at the end of a truly nasty group dungeon. It hadn't been easy, not at all. Any one of the creatures in here could one-shot me and I'd find myself back at the newbie zone, right quick.
I managed it by staying in Shadow form and inching my way through its complex of caves, from the entrance all the way to this desolate stone platform. The entire endeavor took three full days.
There were many times I almost got caught and died on the spot. Fire drakes have a nasty habit of randomly scorching nearby walls just for the fun of it. Walls and shadows are my main security and stumbling upon a fire drake with a penchant for burping up death at the walls of its lair was terrifying.
Yet, I made it. There'd been several hundred creatures I snuck by. As a result, my Sneak skill spiked, being around so many higher level threats. When I started it sat at Level 7, with 42% progression. Now it was Level 8, with 12% progression. An amazing rise considering how difficult it is to increase a skill at such high a level.
But why risk it at all? What could be the point of wilfully risking permadeath delving into a place that was way out of my league?
I'd like to say I was on a job, hired to get here which I was. But the real reason is more telling than that.
A small flashing indicator dinged loudly at the corner of my vision, making me jump. Someone was requesting an audio chat. I'd originally muted my entire communications within the game so not to get distracting dancing around death. But there was only one person who was allowed to do so. My client.
“Hello, Shwenn,” I said, opening the channel. “Can't sleep?”
“Are they there yet?” A woman's voice asked by way of greeting. She sounded agitated and high strung.
“No, not yet. But I wouldn't worry. They'll come,” I said.
“How can you be sure?” Shwenn said. “Maybe they wiped on the way down. That place is dangerous, you know.”
I wanted to point out the obvious that I knew first hand the dungeon was dangerous, but didn't feel like getting into it with her. “I'm sure they haven't wiped because I just checked their guild tracker. Most of them are still alive, amazingly, and should arrive soon.” I hoped they did, or I was out in a big way.
“Right, I didn't think of that,” Shwenn said. “It's just that I really need this to work, you know? The guys are counting on it.”
“Counting on me, you mean?”
“Yeah, counting on you. You've got to pull this off, there might never be another opportunity, again.”
“I'm aware, Shwenn. I'll do my best.”
“But how can I be sure?”
“Because I'm talking to you, aren't I? Look, when these clowns show up we're good to go. No problem. I've got this handled.” Besides, it wasn't like there was anyone else down in this hellhole to do the job.
“Right, sorry,” she said, laughing nervously. “I'm glad you're there. We're all glad you're there.” Then, as if she realized the danger I'd put myself in she asked, “So, how did it go?”
“The relic?”
“Yeah.”
“It went fine. No one saw me come in.” The entrance to the Dungeon was guarded by a large group of high level players whose sole purpose was to extort groups trying to get in. Their demands were high to the point of being unrealistic. But the rewards for finishing the dungeon canceled that out, and many groups paid.
For me, I spent four hours tiptoeing past the guards and then through the magical barricade which they'd cast over the entrance. I had Shwenn to thank for that. She'd given my a relic of Bend Magi
c before I'd started, an expensive item. Pressing the relic against the barrier formed a small hole to appear which I crawled through. When the relic crumbled after its use, I knew there would be no turning back.
“That's good. That's great,” Shwenn said. “So you're on the platform now?”
“Of course.”
“How in the heck did you get there?” her tone was one of awe, as it should be.
The platform was located in the center of a vast chamber, its walls so far apart I couldn't even see them from where I crouched. There's only one known way to reach it, and that can only be activated by a group with at least twenty four members present, the minimum needed to gain entry to Xorrox's den.
There was no way I could do that, being a solo Shadow, and all. But through my research of the dungeon I discovered several natural stone bridges, or beams, that crisscrossed its upper reaches.
To get to them, I climbed up from one of several small tunnel openings that dotted the chamber's colossal walls. Using a pair of daggers and my Sure Foot ability, I pulled myself up, grumbling and cursing the whole way. This bumped my Climbing skill to Level 7, with 22% progression. Once at the right stone beam I eased across until I was directly above the platform.
Then I jumped. Crazy, sure. But using my Freefall ability to slow my descent, and a well timed Health Boost which doubled my hit points, I landed safely. Kind of. More like a splat. The impact shattered my avatar's legs and broke her spine along with other bones and internal organs. I'd gone from 1,250 hit points to 22. Close. Another few feet of height and I'd be rerolling my character.
Using a large stash of healing potions I'd brought just for the occasion, I nursed my avatar back to health over several hours. But I'd made it. I was on the platform.
Instead of explaining all of this to Shwenn, who I knew was only asking out of politeness, I said, “I almost died. But I figured our deal was worth the risk.”
“Yes!” Shwenn said. “Our deal is solid, don't you worry.”
The fact she said I shouldn't worry made me worry. The deal was why I went through this entire escapade to begin with. The deal was everything. “I trust you, Shwenn. You've got one of the highest Honor ratings I've seen. And the end result is to both our benefit.”
Suddenly, I noticed a large sloping object appear above the surface of the lava ahead, then vanish. Alarm bells rang off in my head. Was there something actually in that stuff?
“I'm glad you feel that way,” she said. “Deal breaking is not my thing, as my record shows. But, really, how did you-.” She suddenly went quiet, then said, “They're there! It just popped up on their tracker! They're coming to you now!”
Keeping one eye on the spot the thing had appeared at, I stood slowly to check the platform. At first I didn't see anything. Then, off in the sulfuric haze, I saw movement. A large slab of rock bobbed out of the lava. Then another. The two slabs merged together, followed by third. A land bridge was forming across the molten lake from some distant point, and it was slowly coming this way.
The group crossing.
“You're right,” I said, feeling excited. “I gotta go now, Shwenn. We'll meet at Crow's Fall as we discussed.”
“Oh, okay! Just remember, you have to pull this off or-.”
I cut the channel. Hearing how I couldn't screw things up would just make me overthink the situation.
From the unseen end of the rock bridge, people emerged, following it along. The first sign of their presence was the light cast from spells, probably mass heals and protective auras to keep the group from succumbing to the incredible heat.
Then I saw them in more detail as they cautiously made their way toward the platform.
They made it. Admittedly I had a niggling doubt these chuckleheads might die along the way, but I felt a sense of elation seeing them approach. Now I could move on to the next phase of my plan.
Movement at the corner of my eye made me tear my focus from the group to look.
A long orange hump appeared in the lava a dozen or so paces from me. Transfixed, I watched in horror as two black eyes opened on it. They were looking at me.
I gasped in surprise. What the hell was that thing? I checked myself over and confirmed my Shadow form was still very much on. The little eye-icon at the side of my vision was faded, indicating my Shadow was fully active. Technically, I was invisible, and provided I didn't move around much, it would stay that way.
But the strange thing in the lava seemed to be staring right at me.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled within my simulation suit. This wasn't good.
The growing land-bridge finally reached the platform and merged to its edge. A cavalcade of players marched over it and onto shore. They looked beat up, for the most part, but happy. The odds had been against them even getting to this place.
Players, mounts and pets spread out onto the platform, all looking for a spot to rest. Potions were quaffed and more healing spells cast.
With the inane name of 'Try And Catch Us', this guild had been on my radar for several days. They'd been making a scene on the forums and news-feeds that an attempt on the Dungeon of Xorrox would be made, and that the big boss was going down. Doing some digging I was happy to find the majority of their players were quite competent when it came to clearing big dungeons. The fact they were on the platform was proof.
One of the treasures Xorrox drops is a small statue of a coiled snake, a coveted object. It's part of a set of two which is required to unlock a very special instance in the game. The Emerald Caldera.
Access to the Emerald Caldera is highly sought after, since it's rumored to be not just challenging, but very rewarding in loot. Yet, it can only be entered once per year by a group of no more than six players. Getting into such a group with access to the Caldera is nearly impossible.
Shwenn already owned the first statue and needed the second one. Most guilds like Try And Catch Us would never sell or trade such an object if they had it. They'd use it themselves.
So when I saw Shwenn's posting on the Trade forums desperate to obtain the second statue I told here I'd get it for her. But what I wanted in trade was a spot in her group to the Caldera.
She agreed, and I immediately looked for a guild who were raiding the Dungeon of Xorrox and found Try And Catch Us. I knew that if I could somehow get into position when they opened Xorrox's doors, I'd have a shot at sneaking in.
Which led to my suicidal dungeon crawl to get to the platform. So far so good.
But all of that was in the immediate past. What concerned me know was the immediate future. Particularly the strange creature eyeing me from the lava. It hadn't moved or even blinked. To be honest, I couldn't tell if it could actually see me and just happened to be looking in my exact direction.
But I don't believe in coincidences.
Behind me I heard the Try And Catch Us leader shout for everyone to get ready. They were going in.
But I was too focused on the beast in the lava which suddenly started to swim straight at me. I looked around for a place to run, but there was only the open space around the boulder. The other players were of a higher level than me. Which meant they had a better chance of seeing me moving about, even in full Shadow form.
But I couldn't stay in that spot any longer.
As the creature reached the shore, I ran off to the right, cursing under my breath. The thing surged out of the lava, bringing a wave of the molten liquid with it. It looked like a giant gecko, but made of heated stone.
I sprinted around the rear of the assembled group who's entire focus was on the door and their leader. As the monster crashed onto the platform they all turned to look in surprise.
I prayed none of them looked directly at me and that I'd made enough distance to go unnoticed, but I couldn't be sure.
“Trash mob!” somebody shouted.
“Let's clean house!” Shouted another.
The large group immediately engaged with the creature as I fled toward another boulder. As I scur
ried around it, my apprehension was through the roof. Had I been seen?
I heard the noise of fighting and the roar of the gecko beast. In less than a minute, there was a tremendous crash, and the ground shook, followed by cheers.
Carefully, I peeked around the boulder to find players looting the creature's corpse.
“Sucks!” Someone said. “Not worth the effort.”
The group then returned to their positions on the platform and my wary eyes scanned over them. No one had seen me!
Their leader, a Holy Knight who paradoxically was geared in a full ebony suit of armor took out a bright red gem and set it into a small nook in one of the doors.