“Two things, mainly,” answered Helblake. “Some who touch it, die. Those are the ones who have blackness in them, and the stone rejects it and sucks it out of them, taking their life-force along with it. And then there are others. You saw my hooded friends in the arches. They have all touched the stone, and the rock accepted what was within them.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“There’s something lurking within you, Janus. Something that usually only a Greye could have. You’ve seen our powers, have you not?”
I thought back to when the hooded figures had made our weapons fly from our hands. The Greyes obviously wielded a magic that few in Re:Fuze could harness.
“I don’t understand what you are,” I said.
Helblake looked solemnly at the ground. “We have a power that you can’t pick from a skill tree. It's something you’d never stumble on, and it has to be within you to begin with.”
“You all seem like overblown magicians,” I said.
“We draw force from the things around us. A Greye can harness the resources of the world and use them for their own ends. See this stone flag?” he said.
He pointed at the floor. The stone was cut into square blocks that were black in colour, and they were spread across the room. Helblake put his hands above one square and closed his eyes. A mist began to gather above the stone, and a light seeped up from it and mingled with Helblake’s hands. Then, a thin sheet of rock seemed to form around him.
“Try to hit me,” he said.
I looked at him, confused.
“Just try to punch me. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but-”
Helblake sighed. “Janus, you need to abandon that sense of reason you carry so carefully with you. It’s a weight heavier than all the stones around us. For one second, just forget it, and do what I say. Try to hit me.”
I guessed that if someone asked you to punch them, then it was only fair that you agreed. I made a fist and then threw a punch at Helblake. My hand got within an inch of his face when I hit something solid. I pulled my hand away, grunting in pain.
“The stone has made a shield around me, one which I drew from it. Now look at it.”
I looked down at the stone square in front of Helblake. Where a minute ago it had seemed unbreakable, now it had cracks running through it.
“This is the power, and the curse, of the Greyes. We draw strength from the things around us, and in return, we leave weakness. I could draw the flame from a fire and wield it in my palm, but the fire I drew from would extinguish.”
“So you can take the properties from things you see, and you drain them?”
“In layman’s terms, I guess that’s how you’d describe it.”
“Again, what does this have to do with me?” I asked.
“You have our power in you, tinker. You aren’t here just to make bombs filled with screws, and airships that crash.”
“Hey, there was nothing wrong with the airship. It’s was those bloody creatures.”
Helblake held a hand in the air. “I want you to touch the stone,” he said, nodding at the giant blue gem. “See if you can take our powers.”
I looked at it. Voices still whispered from the rock, and the cold that seeped from it grew stronger. I didn’t want to touch it.
“I thought you said people can die when they touch it?”
“Those with black hearts don’t fare well when they touch it. Which is why I wanted to know your motivation. You said it was revenge, but that is only the surface. Beneath the depths, I don’t think you desire revenge.”
I couldn’t agree with him on that. I wanted to kill Herelius Rouge more than anything. Every time I thought of him, I felt hate bubble inside me.
“You have to take a chance, Janus. You’re here for a reason.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “To get you to destroy the dagger.”
He shook his head. “Nothing will happen until you touch the stone.”
I looked at the stone again. I knew there was a chance that I could die by touching it, but all the same, I knew Helblake was right. I had shaped the path that led me here, but hands had pushed me along the way. There was a reason I’d been sent back into Re:Fuze, and there must have been a reason the dagger was given to me. If not, it could have been given to any other player in the game. Someone had chosen me.
I had to touch the stone. The power the Greyes held was too tremendous, and too tempting. Without it, how would I ever be strong enough to face Herelius? I could build the biggest bomb and fill it with thousands of screws, but the Serpent leader would still be too powerful.
It was now or never. The stone glowed brighter. It begged me to place my hands on it. I knew I had to cast all my fears aside and just do it.
I stepped forward. Voices whispered in my ear, hundreds of them all at once, but my brain couldn’t process the words. As I lifted my hand toward the stone, cold wrapped around my fingers. It slithered over my skin and then wound deep inside me, chilling my bones and slowing the blood in my veins.
I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the stone. A shard of ice stabbed through me and knocked my breath out of me. Voices screamed in my head. I realised they were repeating the same words over and over again, but in different voices and at different speeds.
“Wrought by the men whom the shadows obey, in their home high up in the peaks.”
“They take the strength from the world around, and what they leave behind is weak.”
A flash of light blinded me. It poured through my eye sockets, into my mouth and into my ears, until it filled me. I couldn’t breathe and I was frozen in place, and I felt like my whole body was filling it light until I would burst. And then it flashed again, knocking me away from the stone and sending me flying across the room.
I was dead. I had to be. Everything around me was pitch black, and I couldn’t feel my arms or legs. I was going to wake up back in my pod, and the game would be over.
And then I heard the sound of clapping. It was joined by the echo of footsteps that grew louder. My vision began to come back, and I saw Helblake walking across the room toward me.
“It seems the stone accepted you,” he said.
Ability Gained: Power of the Greyes.
You have gained a rare 4th ability, and you can now use the force of the Greyes. Their power lies in balance, and everything you draw strength from, you will leave weaker. Use it sparingly.
Note: This ability is not optional.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Helblake led us into his chamber. Although he was the guild leader his own quarters were modest, and he had only a bed and a bookshelf. Three torches were on the wall, but only one burned. Helblake focussed on the burning one and drew some of the fire from it, and with a flick of his wrist, he lit the others.
“The Greye power isn’t about parlour tricks and lighting torches,” said Helblake, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “But it will take you a while to master even the most basic of drains. Drawing the energy from something doesn’t just weaken the object; it tires you too. You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you, Janus.”
“Don’t I need a blue stone, like the one in your entrance?”
Helblake shook his head. “We use the stone because it amplifies our powers, but it isn’t necessary.”
While the rest of our group took seats on the floor of the room, Smoglar stood by the door. After they had been healed, Helblake summoned them to join us.
Smoglar eyed me warily. “You look different,” he said.
I nodded. “I’ve had a haircut.”
I walked to the centre of the room and set my inventory bag down. I looked at each of my friend’s faces, before settling my gaze on Helblake.
“Shall we get down to business?” I said.
I began to loosen the strings on my bag. I had just opened it when Helblake held a hand in the air.
“I can’t help you with this,” he said.
Smoglar took two steps forward. “We didn’t come here for your hospitality, you know,” he said. “And it wasn’t easy going through Smogashe.”
Helblake nodded. “I know why you came; you want me to destroy the dagger.”
“We can’t let the Serpents get it. We have to end this here and now,” I said.
Helblake shook his head. “The dagger is far beyond my powers,” he said.
Ozreal stroked his chin with his fingers. “The Serpent’s Sting was forged here.”
“It was,” said Helblake. “But not by me. It was forged when the Greyes were much more powerful. I may have a handle on the Greye Power, but I’m a mere novice compared to the Greyes who came before me.”
“Can’t you try?” I asked. I hadn’t come all this way to be turned down.
“If I tried to drain the power from the dagger, I might get some of it, but I’m not strong enough to get it all. And the little I did take from it, would corrupt me.”
“So you can’t help us, then?” I asked.
Helblake stared at me. “You’ll leave here with far more than you came with, Janus.”
It was true; by touching the stone and surviving, I had been given a fourth ability. The potential of it seemed endless, but I knew it would take years to master it. Regardless, I knew that we couldn’t leave here with the dagger still intact. It was becoming a burden to me, weighing me down with each step.
Feidan stood in the corner of the room near the book shelf. He traced his fingers over the spines of the books, then turned to face us.
“So what, then? We’ve failed? We can’t destroy it?”
Helblake stood up. For a moment, he seemed angry. “Have you learned nothing?”
“I haven’t even spoken with you until now,” said Feidan, with irritation in his voice.
“I mean the tinker,” said Helblake, looking at me. “You won’t always get the answers where you expect to find them. Your quest doesn’t just end at the top of a mountain.”
“I need to level up my Greye ability, don’t I?” I said.
Helblake nodded. “Yes. But that won’t be enough. There is someone else who can help you. A man capable of creating something that, combined with what you will learn, will be powerful enough to destroy the dagger.”
I knew who he meant straight away. It was a name that I had heard a few times in my travels, and I even had it written in my quest log. The force required to destroy the dagger would be tremendous. Only one man had the knowledge of how to create something like that.
“Lastor Bombraid,” I said.
“Lastor who?” said Derek, confused.
“The epic tinker hasn’t been seen for years,” said Helblake, “Yet it’s no secret where he is. The Serpents hold him in a dungeon in Dreadmount, deep in the bowels of the mountain.”
“We need to get him, don’t we?” said Smoglar. “We need to go to the bloody Serpent’s house and knock on their door.”
“It’ll take more than a knock,” said Helblake.
With that, he walked to the door.
“Wait,” I said. “I have questions.”
Helblake shook his head. “I’ve told you all that I can, and we have given you all we have to give. You’ll have to find the answers yourself now, Janus. Practice your ability. Forge your way.”
“So that’s it?” said Smoglar, looking around. “We come all this way for a few wise words that I could find in a cracker?”
“More than that,” I answered him. “I’ll explain later.”
“You have to go now,” said Helblake. “Time isn’t on your side. The Serpents won’t keep Lastor Bombraid as a prisoner for long; they have much bigger designs for him.”
“How are we supposed to get back to Iskarg?” said Feidan.
Helblake closed his eyes. The torches on the walls seemed to flicker as he concentrated, and a gust of wind blew through the room. Gradually, a sphere of light took form in the centre, and then it grew to the size of a man.
“I have portals that lead to the points in the map I tend to visit. You can use this one,” said Helblake. “Here's a warning to you, though. As you walk through it, don’t touch the sides. I’m told it burns.”
I suddenly felt warmth for this man. As cryptic as he was, I felt he had good in him.
“Thank you, Helblake,” I said.
He nodded. “Good luck, Janus. Our paths might cross sooner than you think.”
As we all collected our things and prepared to walk through the portal, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry I was leaving the Greye guild. Something told me that I would never get the chance to come back. As I prepared to step through, Helblake grabbed my arm.
“A battle is coming, Janus. Your story is still beginning, but you are reaching the critical part of it, and I fear that sorrows await you. Become strong, and face them head on. Now get back to your guild.”
Quest Updated: Destroy the Dagger
Lastor Bombraid is being held prison in Dreadmount, and you will need him to help destroy the Old Serpent’s Sting.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It seemed that no sooner had we stepped through the portal, we found ourselves on the streets of Iskarg. The portal opened in an alleyway next to the inn. A beggar sat against the wall, and when he saw a tinker, a dwarf, a healer, a mage and a tailor appear from nowhere, he jerked back in surprise. I looked at him half expecting him to be Helblake Crowley in disguise, but he wasn’t. I took CR5 out of my bag and handed it to him. He took it from me, got up and then stumbled in the direction of the inn doors.
Beside me, Smoglar grunted and rubbed his arm. “Bloody hell that burns,” he said.
Ozreal shook his head. “Well, he did warn you not to touch the sides.”
“What now?” asked Feidan.
Dereck tapped me on the shoulder. “What about Yennifer?” he said. “The airship’s busted, so what now? You made me a promise, Janus.”
I nodded at him. “We’ll find her,” I said. “You heard Helblake as well as I did. Our path leads to Dreadmount.”
“I’m ready,” said Smoglar. “Let’s go and bust down their doors.”
I laughed. “Let’s go and see Brian first and see how he’s getting on. This is a trip we should probably pack for.”
Truth be told, I didn’t relish the prospect of going to the Serpent guild home. Dreadmount wasn’t the warmest of names, and I knew that many in the Serpent guild would be levels higher than us. I had earned a 4th ability from the Greyes, but I still had no idea how to use it, and Helblake had been annoyingly vague about it.
As we left Iskarg and walked across the plains to our guild house, I saw that there were people in the yard. When we got closer, I realised that four mannequins stood in the garden near the barn. Two were left alone, but a man and a woman swung broadswords at the others. I looked at them, but I didn’t recognise their names.
Yelpen – Warrior Level 5
SycophantZ – Warrior Level 6
When they saw us, the man held his sword by his side and nodded.
“It’s an honour to meet you,” he said, glancing at our faces. His voice sounded young.
“An honour? I’ve never heard that before,” said Smoglar.
SycophantZ, the woman, spoke to her friend. “Stand up straighter when the officers are around.”
The man straightened up and put his hand next to his forehead.
“You don’t have to salute us,” I said. “This isn’t the army.”
“No,” called out a familiar voice nearby. “But we’ll need one soon.”
Brian stood in the doorway of the farmhouse, slouching slightly so that he didn’t hit his head on the frame. He took two long strides across the grass. He reached out and pulled Smoglar into a hug.
“Good to see you, old friend.”
“You act like we’ve been gone years,” said the dwarf. “You’re getting sentimental in your old age. We’ve only been gone a few days, at most.”
Brian looked at him s
trangely. “A few days? It’s been a week. I wondered what the hell had happened. I thought about sending an eagle with a message, but I knew it wouldn’t get there.”
A week? What was the giant talking about? The airship journey had taken just over two days, and we’d only spent a night in the Greye guild. Then I realised what had happened; using the portal must have played with time.
Tinker, Tailor, Giant, Dwarf ( LitRPG Series): Difficulty:Legendary Book 2 Page 21