A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  “There’s a cave further on. There’s something like lichen growing on the walls, and that’s the source of the glow. There are also skeletons there. And they are pretty weird.”

  “Weird in what way?” asked Tangh.

  “They’re taller than the previous ones, and all of them have black shields and helmets with pointy tops. I’ve never seen their like before.”

  “We must be headed in the right direction.”

  “That seems to be the case.”

  “Shall we fight?” asked Danger Babe.

  Ros shook his head.

  “Let’s deal with them tomorrow. It’s late already. When we start a ruckus, they might get reinforcements, and I’d rather not have it spin out for too long. And it’s time for you to log off.”

  “Damn, aren’t you lucky—you don’t ever have to log off…”

  “I wouldn’t call it luck,” Tangh shook his head.

  “I never heard you complain about it.”

  “I sometimes feel like pampering my grandchildren. It gets lonely without them.”

  “Why don’t they play, too?”

  “Don’t joke like that. The only ones interested in me are the youngest, and they don’t let children their age play.”

  “I’d prefer not to leave you right next to these skeletons. Why don’t we head back toward the galleries? There’s water dripping from above in a few places, and it’s less scary, too.”

  “All right,” Ros agreed. “We head back, turn into the very first gallery, and you leave your body there.”

  “What if there are skeletons there?”

  “There are few of those in galleries—or none at all. The pet should be able to take care of them. Also, Tangh tanks them pretty well, and my healing should be enough to keep him up.”

  “I’ll refresh your buffs before I go, then.”

  “Right on.”

  * * *

  Danger Babe’s suggestion to return gave Ros an opportunity to resume something he’d already gotten quite bored with. Nevertheless, he spent half the night mining the resources in the gallery. The ores found here were extremely valuable, and his Mining & Quarrying stat grew at an unprecedented rate. The same was true of Perception. It would be unwise to waste such an opportunity.

  It was a pity, though, that only the left tunnel of the mine had any gemstones. They were lightweight and didn’t require much space. They also cost a lot more than metal when measured by weight.

  Another drawback was that when using high-level resources, he ended up with high-level items. There were ways of lowering the level of the item, but the chances were low. In order to increase them, one had to raise a large number of secondary and auxiliary stats. Even the great hero with lots of rare stats found himself lacking.

  In between mining, Ros crafted scrolls with a single ability: Chaos Arrow. For Tangh. If their conjectures about the nature of the boss were correct, the norder would have to try to deal maximum damage to the undead mage with Ros doing the tanking. It was likely that the scrolls would come in handy, given that virtually no one in Second World had any resistance to Chaos magic.

  After all, they were entitled to score something good for all the ore they’d given Agythric.

  Chapter 29

  “You kill the Undead Thaën. XP received: 7622. Points left until the next level: 48,5241. Attention! You have found a creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! You receive a reward: +1 to Strength. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic. Achievement completed: Monster Research Champion. Achievement bonus: +1 to Disguise, +1 to Speed, +1 to Carrying Capacity, +1 to Essence of Things. Random auxiliary stat unlocked: Rock Climbing. You lose 3% less experience upon death. Achievement unlocked: Legendary Monster Researcher. Discover ten monsters that have not yet been added to the world bestiary by yourself to complete the achievement. Achievement bonus: random.”

  Ros looked surprised.

  “This is weird. They gave me an achievement for discovering mobs, but I am supposed to discover them alone and not as part of a team.”

  “Don’t believe the descriptions,” said Tangh. “There are always errors there. I have stopped paying attention already. They could have meant something along the lines of ‘alone or with a small party.’ What about the achievement, anyway?”

  “I have discovered twenty-five non-named mobs. There were some yummy perks.”

  “Sure thing, they wouldn’t skimp on a reward for twenty-five… Are you tired, Danger Babe?”

  “Not really.”

  “Why did you sit down, then?”

  “Mana regenerates quicker this way.”

  “You haven’t spent that much.”

  “Sure. But those mobs are tough as nails. I was worried about you. And what if we meet even worse ones further on?”

  “Don’t you fret, they hardly took off half my HP. Although I do admit those critters are tough. Ros, why have you suddenly gone stiff like a gopher about to retreat into his hole?”

  “Someone’s coming. A huge creature, judging by the footfall.”

  “Do you think it’s the boss?”

  “What, just as we entered the cave?”

  “Well, you’ve seen what kind of cave it is.”

  Indeed, the cave looked like nothing they ever saw. Ros thought it resembled soap bubbles on the water, all stuck together. Their surface color varied between grey and black, and they were covered with bright orange patches of lichen. At the center of each there were strange formations nine to twelve feet high. They looked like deformed cactuses without spines. Their entire surface was bedizened with bones and skull fragments.

  What a festive sight…

  An enormous mob, about twelve feet tall, appeared from the adjacent bubble. It was undead, like everybody else here, with patches of dry skin peeling off the skull, the scalp shifted sideways, and shoulders abnormally wide with four arms sticking out. The fingers were disproportionately long and ended with twisted and blackened nails. The body was wrapped in a grey shroud covered in cobwebs.

  The most amazing thing was that the mob had no legs. The shroud ended some four inches above the floor, and there was nothing underneath. The undead creature floated above the ground—Ros never saw anything like it before.

  “Unknown creature. Aggression: unknown. Sociality: unknown. Level: unknown. Abilities: unknown. Stats: unknown.”

  The eye sockets of the enormous skull flashed red, the mob raised all four of its bony arms, and semitransparent ropes shot out, reaching for Tangh. As they touched his body, they started to vibrate and oscillate, as if something thick was running through them, and the norder’s HP bar started to shrink.

  “Heal him! Don’t dispel!” Ros shouted. Judging by his estimates, Tangh wouldn’t die quickly.

  So, it would be better for the mob to concentrate on those “ropes” without any distractions.

  The rest was routine—he commanded the pet to approach the creature from behind and to attack. That was the position for maximum damage, and it also gave a higher chance to hit critically. The undead creature had plenty of HP, and tried to attack the pet a few times, but never managed to kill it.

  “You kill the Locked Lands Lich. XP received: 11,105. Points left until the next level: 47,4136.” Your Mental Power grows by 1. Attention! You have found a creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! You receive a reward: +2% to critical hit chance. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic.”

  “Shadowcrawlers are tougher,” Ros noted.

  “I wouldn’t agree,” Tangh shook his head. “They don’t hit near as hard.”

  “You’re a tank with excellent physical defense. Me and Danger Babe find it much harder to hold out when they attack us. Hey, this thing dropped a good ring. I mean, its quality is good. Take a look, Danger Babe. It might suit you.”

  “Nope, the ones I have are better. I’m trying to focus on accessories with bonuses to Stamina
and HP.”

  “Makes perfect sense. You’d be ill-advised to die.”

  “It’s cool, though. We’ve discovered two new mobs already, even though we’ve just entered the cave. Ros, are you all right?”

  Ros approached the wall, and started to jump from joy.

  “We’re rich!”

  “What have you found?!”

  “Moonstone! It sells like hot cakes! It’s virtually indispensable for creating high-level magic weapons!”

  “Is it valuable?” Danger Babe stuck to her usual routine.

  “Take a guess. I wish I could rent all these mines and send a bunch of miners here… You could earn billions in a place like this.”

  “Why don’t you grab your pickaxe and start earning them?” Tangh suggested.

  “No one can produce that much on their own, and we haven’t got much time, either. I think this streak of luck is bound to end soon—once we’re done with the quest, we’ll be asked to leave.”

  “I’m of the same opinion. Things have been going on much too smoothly of late. Something nasty is bound to happen. If there’s still time, we’ll mine as much as we can. Right now, our priority is the boss.”

  * * *

  They kept moving through the “bubble labyrinth” until the evening, slaughtering the tall skeletons known as thaëns and the four-armed levitating liches. By next morning, they reached something that looked different. The spherical dome of another hall, much larger than any they’d seen before, had a polished black pyramid at the center instead of a “cactus.” It was as all as a five-story building, with a width to match. There was an arch in the center of one of its triangular surfaces with a steep staircase leading to it—the entrance, apparently.

  Four thaëns stood at the bottom, with two liches hovering next to the entrance.

  Ros studied the situation, then returned to his companions to report. He added:

  “There is only one entrance to the hall. We’re near it now. We won’t able to lure them out of there, so we’ll have to take on the whole gang, and that might hurt. Even in my case, the liches take off a lot of HP, regardless of my high magical resistance. And the thaëns can slaughter Danger Babe in about five seconds. Any suggestions?”

  Tangh replied:

  “We shall pray to the good Lord. If he hears our prayers, our crowd control will be more likely to work. If we manage to hold back at least two of them at the very beginning, it won’t be a problem. Just make sure you refresh my shields as soon as your abilities cool down.”

  “And that’s all there is to your plan?!”

  Danger Babe butted in.

  “Hey, these liches are slow fliers. I mean, the thaëns run faster than they float. Ros can command his pet to enter the hall. They’ll see it and give chase. Then Ros will call his pet back. The liches will lag far behind in the meantime. We’ll be able to kill a thaën or two—maybe more. Then we can try to cast Sleep on one of the liches, and the other one won’t deal much damage. Tangh will deal with it, and then we’ll finish off the other. I’m not being very coherent, perhaps, but it should be better this way.”

  “If Sleep fails, I’ll have the pet deal with the second lich,” said Ros. “The pet has a high attack speed, and it often interrupts their spellcasting. It shouldn’t die, even if I don’t heal it very often. Has everybody got their Fury scales filled up to the max? Dump it all in battle. We need to do maximum damage in minimum time. As long as the thaëns buy it before the liches arrive, we should have no problems whatsoever.”

  “I have no objections,” said Tangh. “I believe it will be fine. Let’s hope there are no surprises.”

  However, there was a surprise. Just as they were finishing off the last thaën, the liches appeared. But there were four of them instead of two.

  Ros didn’t think long.

  “I’ll take the one on the left! Danger Babe, cast Sleep on the first one!”

  The girl missed, but Ros’ skill worked, and the mob stopped dead in its tracks. Ros hit the one on the left with Chaos Aura, also getting the one next to him. He had two of them attacking him now, and had to sic his pet on one. Tangh dealt with the last one.

  The riskiest moment came was when the mob woke up and attacked Ros, who was already in a tight spot. He’d lost more than half his HP, and it was only Tangh’s timely intervention that saved him.

  They heard a bloodcurdling howl coming from the pyramid. Ros barely managed to heal himself and his pet, and yelled:

  “Someone else is raising Cain over there—I haven’t heard anything like it before. Get ready.”

  “I hope it isn’t the boss,” said Tangh hoarsely as he crushed one of the attacker’s arms with his mace, leaving only three of the “ropes” siphoning his health.

  “Bone Sovereign of the Forgotten Tomb. Level: hidden. Abilities: hidden. Stats: hidden.”

  “Attention! You have found a named creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! This is your seventh named creature. You receive a reward: +35 mana. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic.”

  “It’s the boss!” Ros bellowed. “Cast a shield on me!”

  “Casting!” Danger Babe yelled.

  “I’ll intercept him! Give me a regen! Tangh, dispatch them with scrolls! Hurry up! We’re not making it!”

  As Ros’ body became engulfed in the shimmering cocoon of the shield, he saw the boss. The undead mage looked like a lich, but he was half again as tall, and had eight arms instead of four. His shroud was as dusty and with as many cobwebs on it, but its color was black, not grey (although it wasn’t all that easy to discern the color—the fabric looked like it needed a good wash). The enormous eye sockets blazed like rubies, and there was a tiny staff in one of the Bone Sovereign’s hands. Tiny for him, that is—Danger Babe could have used it as a walking stick.

  The boss emitted the same deafening howl.

  “Debuff received: all your primary base stats have been reduced by 25.”

  There was no time to dispel himself. Ros raised his staff and hit the boss with Chaos Aura, followed by a Chaos Arrow. The boss stopped, raising all its eight arms in the air, and the top of his staff flashed red.

  “Debuff received: resistance to Death magic has been reduced by 40%.”

  Now was the time to get dispelled before the boss’ attack, as these debuffs guaranteed high damage. If the creature used Death magic, that is.

  Of course, the boss’ bony snout left serious doubts about him being able to use magic of a more cheerful nature.

  He had to get dispelled several times—the first attempt didn’t take, and the second only took occasionally. In the meantime, the boss kept casting more and more debuffs, slowly transforming Ros into a cripple that any noob could kill in a single poorly-executed hit.

  “Danger Babe! Dispel me!” he yelled, realizing he wouldn’t manage on his own.

  There was an elixir that could remove all negative effects in one of his belt slots, but he didn’t know for sure that it would work. At any rate, he should save it. The elixir’s cooldown was five minutes, and he wouldn’t be able to use any other potions or elixirs in the meantime.

  The boss hit when there were just two debuffs left on Ros. He howled again, spun around, and hurled a black thunderbolt with a Stun effect. Ros became paralyzed for about four seconds, and lost half his HP. If it wasn’t for Danger Babe’s shield and regens, the boss would have killed Ros with his second spell.

  Tangh started to cast Chaos Arrows from a distance, hastily grabbing one scroll after another from his bag. The pet joined the fray, too, attacking from behind, as it was wont to do. Ros snapped out of his paralysis and started to heal himself. He yelled:

  “Tangh! Don’t overdo it! If you deal more damage than me, he might switch to you!”

  “Let him! We need to distract him! He deals too much damage!”

  The boss’ attacks were indeed strong, but with all the debuffs dispelled, it was tolerable—up to a quarter of one�
��s HP bar in the worst-case scenario. Ros cursed and quickly replaced his accessories, remembering that he had collected a special set with magic resistance bonuses. The pressure abated, but only for a short while. Once the Bone Sovereign realized his debuffs were being dispelled as quickly as he was casting them, he changed his tactics and started to deal damage without the old-fashioned way, loosing one black lightning after another, without bothering with any negative effects.

  Ros’ HP bar kept shrinking in spite of the healing. He kept saving elixirs for an emergency as he soaked up the damage, retaliating with Chaos Arrows and the occasional Fireball.