Omnibus Volume 1

by C. M. Carney

  Pain scoured both ankles again as the smaller tentacles gripped his legs, puncturing the leather of his boots and dumping more poison into him. He kicked his legs frantically but could not earn his freedom. Another tentacle grabbed onto his spear arm dumping more poison into him.

  The arboleth brought him close to its mouth, and Gryph knew the end was nigh.

  I’m sorry, Brynn. I’ve failed you, Gryph thought. He told himself he wouldn't close his eyes. That he’d face his death head on. But as the beast dragged him towards its mouth, all his bravado leaked from him, and with a whimper, he slammed his eyelids closed.

  Nothing happened. The pain of the poison still burned in his legs, but he was still remarkably alive. He eased one of his eyes open to find the arboleth staring at him from its unblinking eye.

  “WHAT ARE YOU?”

  Gryph did not hear the creature speak but heard it in his mind. He blinked stupidly. “What?”

  “WHAT ARE YOU? YOU ARE…DIFFERENT!”

  The voice was getting louder, and his mind fogged. Whether it was from this psychic invasion or the poison spreading through his veins, or both, he did not know. He knew he had to do something. The arboleth was the most difficult opponent he’d yet faced in the Realms by several factors. He was only alive by the whim of the abomination’s curiosity.

  “ANSWER!”

  The creature raged and wrenched Gryph’s legs apart, threatening to tear him in two like a wishbone. He swung with his free hand and the golden glint of his bracers drew his eye. He remembered his new gear and a desperate plan formed in his mind. It would need timing and luck and still might end with him become arboleth shit. Assuming this thing shit. But he had no other choice.

  He closed his eyes and focused on his core of mana. He pulsed it down three different paths at the same time. The concentration was near impossible with the poison clouding his brain and the fear boring into his soul, but then a warm calm settled over him. A blanket of hope enveloped him. Gryph wondered if it was his spec ops training.

  Gryph squinted his eyes shut and three things happened in quick succession.

  First, Gryph activated the Moon Flare ability of his breastplate. A flash of light erupted from his chest scalding the arboleth's eye. In the near blackness of the underground lake the pulse was brighter than a flash of lightning. The life energy burned at the arboleth's body for a massive 280 points of damage. A horrid mental scream raged from the arboleth as a surge of healing warmth flowed over Gryph. His pain eased and his health neared 70%.

  Next, Gryph activated the speed doubling power of his boots just as the arboleth's tentacles released their grip on him. They flailed wildly, striking Gryph with glancing blows. The newfound speed flashed through his nerves, and he avoided most of the beast’s blind attacks.

  Finally, he pumped more mana into his bracers activating their magnetic control and assigned the field to his spear. With a mental flick he launched the spear forward with much more force than he could ever manage with muscle power alone. The spear torpedoed thought the water and found its mark, embedding itself in the arboleth's still blind eye.

  You have scored a Critical Hit. 5X Damage.

  The arboleth's health fell by another 182 points. A mental scream unlike anything Gryph had ever felt erupted from the mind of the tortured beast, and he could feel the fear tear at its mind. Gryph had no sympathy and quickly chugged a mana potion. Power pulsed through his body, and he activated the bracers again, this time flicking his wrist, ensuring an extra eighty points of damage as his spear ripped from the beast's eye and flew back to his hand.

  Despite the incredible damage Gryph had dealt the arboleth, the abomination still had nearly 50% of its health, and he suspected with 900 mana, the creature could heal itself. He needed to keep it off balance. He pumped more mana into the bracers and shot the spear forwards again.

  Another Critical Hit and another 182 points of damage as the spear punished the arboleth's eye again. More viscous fluid poured from the wound. The beast flailed. At first, Gryph thought it was trying to locate its tormentor, but then he noticed a pattern to the gyrations.

  The damn thing is casting, Gryph thought in alarm.

  Gryph tried to pour more mana into his bracers, but both the bracer’s five-second cooldown and his dangerously low mana bar flared at him. The spear remained lodged in the beast's eye far out of reach. Gryph had just enough mana for one spell.

  He cast Animate Rope and tossed his new spider silk rope towards the arboleth. It snapped forward like an eel and zipped around the beast’s tentacles. On Gryph’s command, they tightened, disrupting the beast’s casting.

  Gryph grasped the other end of the rope in his left hand and commanded the rope to pull him forward. He sped towards the beast hoping that his aim was on mark. If he was too low, he would end up inside the creature’s thousand-toothed mouth.

  But his aim was true, and he landed on the arboleth's head, right above the eye. He grabbed the shaft of his spear with his right hand and twisted. With its tentacles entangled the arboleth could do nothing but try to buck Gryph off. But every jerk pushed the spear deeper and caused more damage.

  “WHAT ARE YOU?”

  The creature’s terrified voice sounded small in Gryph’s mind. Its immortal existence was ending, and it was desperate to understand how it had come to this end.

  I am your death, Gryph thought back at it. Gryph yanked the spear from the arboleth's eye and thrust down with all his strength. The spear pierced the back of the eye, puncturing the thin layer of bone behind it. His arms sunk up to the elbows into the ichor of the abomination’s eye. Gryph pushed harder.

  The spear impaled the arboleth's brain and the creature's foul thoughts blinked out like a blown light bulb. The beast's body sank into the murk. Gryph opened his mouth to scream in triumph, but instead of yelps of joy a cacophony of air bubbles surged from his mouth. In the final moments of the battle, mind clouded by adrenaline and rage, he hadn’t noticed the Halo of Air spell had expired.

  His health bar plummeted. Had he survived the arboleth only to drown?

  Gryph’s chest burned as his health bar sank. He attempted to cast Halo of Air, but his blue mana bar blinked at him with the rhythm of laughter. Perhaps it was the last vengeance of the arboleth.

  He dug for a potion. With no time to be selective he had to hope it was a health or mana potion. Either would suit his purposes, but if he selected a stamina potion it would mean his death. He popped the cork and crammed the vial to his mouth and sucked.

  Drinking underwater was difficult in the best of circumstances, but when you are nearly drowning, it is orders of magnitudes more complicated. He tasted brackish water and wondered if the potion would be effective.

  Stars popped behind his eyes as the pain in his lungs faded. He was dying. Then he felt a rush of energy through his body. A mana potion. As he passed out Gryph's fingers moved through the gestures of casting.

  27

  Gryph’s mind was adrift, floating in a world of dim light and weightlessness.

  I am dead, Gryph thought. There was no sound in this strange afterlife. No pearly gates. No endless hunting grounds. No field of honorable battle. Nothing.

  Gryph drifted for an unknowable time before his back bumped against something large and spongy. He turned and forced his eyes to focus. A massive eye stared back at him. Gryph screamed, and a cough wracked his body. He vomited a massive volume of water and watched as it siphoned away from him.

  In an instant, his mind was lucid. Halo of Air shimmered around him like its angelic namesake. He was alive. His last second casting had worked though his health bar still pulsed crimson fury at him. He was alive, but only just.

  He was about to reach for a health potion when he remembered the last spell stone. He grabbed the Minor Healing spell stone and held it in his palm, concentrating. A pulse of wellbeing surged from his hand up through his arm and settled in his mind.

  You have learned the spell Minor Healing

&
nbsp; Sphere: Life Magic - Tier: Base.

  You can now heal minor wounds on yourself or others.

  Mana Cost: 20 - Casting Time: 2 seconds - Effectiveness: Heals 5 points of damage per level of Life Magic. - Cooldown: 30 seconds.

  He cast the spell and warmth flowed through him. He still felt awful but considering the beast he had just slain was staring at him, the spear still protruding from its dead eye, he counted himself lucky. He waited for the cooldown period to end and cast Minor Heal again. His mana regeneration kept pace with the spell’s cooldown period. So, given time he’d likely always be able to heal himself. After a few more minutes, his health was back to 100%.

  He rubbed his eyes and regretted it. His hands were covered in a thick slime that smelled like the insides of a dumpster that had been baking in the hot sun for a week. With a look of disgust, he realized that the clear slop covered most of his body.

  He grumbled in disgust and his Harvest skill brought up a prompt.

  You have found Arboleth Eye Ichor.

  This incredibly rare and valuable ingredient has many uses in both alchemy and Crafting. You feel as if it could make a Potion of Quick Thought and other unidentified effects. You also get the sense it could craft an item that blocks Scrying spells and Divination and other unidentified effects.

  Gryph’s eyes went wide. This disgusting stuff was amazing. Though he dreaded the idea of drinking something made from this foul ichor, he knew he needed to harvest as much of it as he could.

  You have been offered the Quest: Harvest the Arboleth.

  You have slain a Legendary Beast. Now take your reward. Harvest five vials of arboleth eye ichor, one arboleth toxin gland and at least one arboleth egg from the arboleth corpse.

  Difficulty: Moderate - Reward: Extremely rare Crafting and Alchemy supplies - XP: 5,000.

  The experience boost alone was well worth it, but he also felt a stirring of greed. What wonders could he craft with these ingredients? Then the naysayer in him brought attention to the word egg. The danger was obvious. The egg could birth another abomination? It had to have other uses, right?

  He hesitated a mere moment before accepting the quest. Then he got to work.

  He dug into his inventory and found his alchemy kit containing a variety of empty vessels for collecting ingredients and a siphon pump to collect liquids. He readied them all and replaced the kit.

  He attached the siphon pump to one of the empty vials and watched in irritation as it promptly filled with water. He scowled at his own stupidity. Of course, that would happen. Perhaps that’s why the quest was of moderate difficulty. He thought on the dilemma for a few moments, and then grinned.

  Once again, he cast Halo of Air, but this time he imagined the sphere around the hand containing the vial. Eureka. Another bubble of air formed around his hand, and he turned the vial upside down pouring the brackish water out letting the bubble of air siphon it away

  He plunged the needle tip of the siphon pump into the arboleth's eye and pumped. Soon he had the five vials of ichor. Realizing he had many more empty vials, he kept siphoning If this stuff was half as valuable as it seemed he’d be a fool to leave any. When he'd filled the tenth vial the pump stopped sucking ichor.

  Gryph stashed his equipment and looked down on the dead beast’s now desiccated eye. It looked like a balloon punctured by a massive pin. The pin being his spear, which he pulled free and stashed in his inventory. The beast was far less intimidating now, and Gryph wagged his middle finger, a posthumous up yours.

  Now to harvest a toxin gland and an egg, but where the hell would he find either? It wasn’t like he was an expert in horrid abomination anatomy. He swam back to get a better view hoping to get some clue. A dull blue light, like the glow he’s seen on the chest on the island above pulsed near the base of the arboleth's smaller tentacles.

  Gryph swam down, taking a moment to refresh Halo of Air and realized that the glow was dull because it was coming from the underside of the massive corpse. Gryph frowned and attempted to shove the beast to gain access to its underside. His efforts were as effective as pushing a twenty-ton garbage bag filled with lard. His only reward for all his effort was a lower stamina bar.

  He swam back a few paces and thought. Gazing around he saw a few large stalagmites jutting from the lake bottom. A plan formed in his mind. He cast Animate Rope and commanded it to wrap around the base of the two smaller tentacles, careful not to tear the thin filament on the poison spines on the appendages’ underside.

  Satisfied he then ordered the rope to circle around the stalagmite and return to him. He braced himself and pulled with all his might. The beast’s corpse shifted a tad as Gryph tugged, but a minute of straight effort did not get him access to his prize.

  His Stamina spent, Gryph took a break. He cast Halo of Air again and considered his options. I need to be stronger, or smarter. As he thought on the dilemma, his eyes drifted to the glowing prompt icon in the corner of his vision. He sent a mental tap at the icon and prompts exploded into his mind.

  You earned 70,000 XP for slaying the Legendary Beast: Arboleth.

  You have Reached Level (s) 8, 9, and 10.

  You have 18 (15 Base and 3 Godhead) unused Attribute Points.

  You have 3 unused Perk Points.

  “Holy Shit,” Gryph sputtered. The arboleth alone had given him more experience than everything else he’d done since arriving in the Realms. “I should be dead,” he said. Then a lesson he had learned long ago surged into his mind, and he heard the colonels’ voice. It is not power, but the intelligent application of power that wins the day.

  Evidently, that mantra was as true in the Realms as it was in the real world. He returned to his prompts.

  You have reached level 12 in Air Magic.

  You have reached level 4 in Earth Magic.

  You have reached level 9 in Staves/Spears.

  You have reached level 7 in Thrown Weapons.

  You have reached level 9 in Light Armor.

  You have reached level 8 in Dodge.

  You have reached level 7 in Stealth.

  You have reached level 5 in Harvest.

  You have reached level 9 in Analyze.

  You have reached level 9 in Perception.

  Magic Skills: Level (Affinity) (Tier)

  Fire: 0 (25%) (Base)

  Air: 12 (75%) (Base)

  Water: 0 (50%)

  (Base)

  Earth: 4 (25%) (Base)

  Chthonic: 0 (0%) (Base)

  Empyrean: 0 (100%) (Base)

  Chaos: 0 (50%) (Base)

  Order: 0 (25%) (Base)

  Life: 1 (50%) (Base)

  Death: 0 (25%) (Base)

  Thought: 0 (75%) (Base)

  Aether: 0 (25%) (Base)

  Soul: 0 (50%) (Base)

  Martial Skills: Level (Tier)

  Unarmed: 5 (Base)

  Small Blades: 5 (Base)

  Staves/Spears: 9 (Base)

  Thrown Weapons: 7 (Base)

  Stealth: 7 (Base)

  Light Armor: 9 (Base)

  Dodge: 8 (Base)

  Knowledge Skills (Tier)

  Alchemy: 5 (Base)

  Harvest: 5 (Base)

  Analyze: 9 (Base)

  Perception: 9 (Base)

  Lock-picking: 5 (Base)

  Traps: 5 (Base)

  Perk Points: 3

  Divine Perk Points: 0

  Gryph’s jaw gaped in amazement. His skills had surged during the battle with the arboleth. Now it was time to make use of his rewards. He had a dilemma. He could dump a bunch of his Attribute Points into Strength and muscle the corpse. But that seemed short sighted and even though Gryph was not a gamer, he understood how valuable Attribute Points were.

  He took a moment to think. Strategy had always been one of his strong suits. It has served him well in the real world. It would serve him well in this one.

  He dumped five points into Intelligence and his Mana increased significantly. He added five points to Constitution and his Health and Stam
ina rose. He placed another three into Dexterity. If he was to master the Staves/Spear skill, then being agile would prove much more important than overall Strength.

  Gryph - Level 10

  High Elf (El’Edryn)

  Deity: None

  Experience: 106,310

  Next Level: 48,490

  Stats

  Health: 184

  Stamina: 183

  Mana: 168

  Spirit: 136

  Attributes

  Strength: 23

  Constitution: 32

  Dexterity: 32

  Intelligence: 25

  Wisdom: 10

  Attribute Points: 5

  Gifts

  Health Regeneration: +25%

  Mana Regeneration: +25%

  Night Vision: 120 Ft.

  Master of Tongues

  Identify

  He kept the last five points in reserve. Either to make better use down the road or as insurance. The game hack he'd discovered had saved his life once and his lack of foresight had nearly killed him. He’d learned his lesson and would do his best to never repeat that mistake.

  Next, he decided it was time to spend some Perk Points. They were even more valuable than Attribute Points so he knew he had to be strategic. His examined his skill trees and focused on his most used skills.

  So far Air Magic had been his saving grace. Not only was it his highest leveled skill it was the one he used the most. However as useful as Air Magic had been, he had no offensive spells in the sphere. Halo of Air had been a lifesaver, but he knew its use would be limited topside. He didn't plan to spend so much time drowning from here on out.