“What’s wrong, Leo?” Allurie asked.
“The ring I was wearing is gone. It must have fallen off when I went back home.”
“This ring?” the pretty elf girl asked as she pointed to the ring finger of her left hand.
“Yes, that looks like it. Did you pick it up from the ground by my clothes?”
“Yep! Then I put it on my marriage finger.” She fluttered her silver eyelashes at me and smiled.
“Can I have it back?”
“Awww,” she pouted as she pulled it off of her hand. “Can I put it on your finger?”
“No.” I took it from her and slipped it on.
“Leo, why did you disappear? Where did you go?” Artus asked. “You were lying down for a handful of seconds and then you just vanished. Your belt, clothes, and ring were just lying on the ground. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I debated what to tell Artus. From my earlier conversations with Zarra, I knew that the AI hadn’t really integrated the whole “players need to log out” logic into the NPCs. The game was persistent and time would continue on without any players logged into the game. I could understand why Zarra didn’t want to make various instances of the game, but it was going to be hard to explain to these NPCs why I needed to leave every few hours.
“Leo is of the Old Race,” Allurie explained to Artus.
“Old Race?” Artus asked with a raised furry brow.
“Yes, we elves have legends of the Old Race. They were around before the Time of Heliotrope. They spent time here on Ohlavar, and time in the heavens. They were all really nice, and they really liked mating.” The silver haired elf turned to me with a smile when she finished speaking.
“Is that true, Leo? You do talk strange, and you never told me where you came from. You seem to not understand our ways.” Artus’ cat eyes seemed to study me intently.
“I don’t know if I’m one of the Old Race, Artus, but that sounds close.” I nodded at Allurie, and wondered if that was something that Zarra’s team had added to the AI in the last few weeks so that players could just tell all the NPCs that they needed to go home without too much confusion.
“I might have to return there every few hours or so. I will try to get us to Jerjay’s place before I log--leave again.” Both of them nodded after I spoke, and I pointed to the other wall with the pair of doors.
“Let’s check that left door first,” I said as I walked past them to the other side of the room.
The door knob was broken, and it seemed as if the thing had been beaten open. I pushed on the wood slab and then saw another door ten feet deeper in the hallway. I went to this door and pushed it open as quietly as I could.
It was another square room, with archways on opposite sides of the left wall, a door on the wall I faced, and another door on the right. I moved to the left most archway and stepped into a narrow hallway that led right. My emberbrand lit up enough of the place to show me that there was another set of stairs leading downward, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to descend until we checked to see if there was another set of stairs leading upward.
“It is quiet,” Allurie said with a yawn. “I’m bored. Can we--”
“No,” I interrupted her sentence. “Keep your eyes and ears alert. You have sharp senses, so your job is to tell me if you see, hear, or smell anything. Got it?”
“Yes! I love that job!” Her turquoise eyes seemed to glitter in the emberbrand light, and she smiled at me with enthusiasm.
I led them into the next room. It was smaller in size than the previous two, and had a small desk in the corner. The wood looked petrified with age, but it did have a wide drawer beneath the writing surface that I was able to yank open with my strength. It made a loud whine when I yanked the door open, and I saw a small book was inside.
“Huh, it says Legends of the Ember,” I said as I read the orange text that appeared under the archaic writing on the cover of the leather-bound book.
“More old tongue. I can’t read it,” Artus said.
“Goradon was a master smith known throughout Ohlavar for his beautiful armors and metal furniture. The warlord Umiptar heard of Goradon’s skills and sought the smith out. He asked Goradon to craft him a sword that would rip the souls of his opponents from their bodies before the blade even touched their skin. Goradon refused because he never cared to craft weapons, only armor to protect, or furniture for bodies to rest. The warlord Umiptar was angry with the smith’s refusal, so he chopped off both of Goradon’s hands at the wrist,” I read from the book.
“What a meanie!” Allurie commented.
“Gordaon lived through the injury, but could never smith again. Instead, the once peaceful man plotted his revenge while he stared into the flames of his forge. Soon he came to understand them well enough to call them when he needed light. His discovery was passed to his son, who taught others.” I finished reading, and then stared at the strange symbols at the end of the small book. The lines and shapes didn’t make sense at first, but as I flipped the pages, they turned into a kineograph, and I saw the lines form a burning fire that became black and white embers.
My UI flashed brightly when I finished turning through the book, so I reached my free hand up to touch on the status icon. The abilities tab was glowing, and I motioned over the word to open that window.
“What are you doing Leo?” Artus asked with concern.
“Wait one second. I need to look at something,” I said as I glanced at the new ability I had learned:
Ember- Light 1, Mind 1, the user causes item held in hand to glow gently. If maintained for eight hours, the item will glow permanently.
The ability was a dot just a tiny bit above and to the right of the Impart ability. There weren't any more instructions on how to use the spell, and I didn’t quite know exactly what I needed to do to make it work.
“I think I can make something glow like the emberbrands. Have you heard of such a thing?” I asked my two friends.
“Many Light users have that ability. Grrr,” Artus said.
“Have you ever seen them use it? I don’t really know how to activate the-- Whoa!” The book in my hand started to glow as soon as I thought about triggering the spell.
It was about as bright as the magic torch in my hand. And it kind of looked like the book was burning. It wasn’t hot, though, and it continued to glow with an orange light as I spun it in my free hand.
“I wonder if it will work with a sword,” I said as I set the book down on the desk. The glow instantly faded from the leather surface, and I pulled out one of my short swords. I thought about making the steel glow as the book had, and the weapon lit up as if it burned with an internal coal light.
“Looks like I don’t need to carry around this emberbrand anymore. I can just keep a weapon out. That is a useful ability.” I handed the magic torch to Artus.
“Do you have to think about maintaining the magic?” he asked.
“No. I’m not really even thinking about it,” I said as I spun the blade in my hand. It made our shadows dance across the floors and wall, so it probably wouldn’t be optimal to use in combat, but there were three other sources of light in the group now, and plunging the glowing blade into a monster wouldn’t turn the room dark.
“Grrr. I don’t know much about magic, but when I use my Body stuff to feel stronger, I have to keep thinking about it. Maybe you are good at magic?”
“Who knows? This is my first spell. Totally cool.” I waved the sword in the air again. Then I pulled out another blade and made it glow also. As far as first level spells, this was pretty useful. Sure, it would have been bad ass to get some sort of combat ability, but now that I was deep in an unknown dungeon with two other party members that probably couldn’t pull their weight, I was happy enough to have something that meant I could use both of my weapons and still have light.
Maybe I could find a Summon Clothes spell? That would be the most useful ability right now.
“Let’s keep searching. There
might be more books to read,” I said to my two friends, and they nodded as they followed me into the next room.
This space contained more desks, but all of their drawers had already been looted. I even found a chest in the corner, but it had been smashed in and the contents were taken. We moved to the next room, then the next, and we didn’t really find anything else besides the remnants of unidentifiable wooden furniture.
“Looks like we need to head down the stairs,” Artus commented after we had looked in what we thought was the last room on this level.
“Yeah. Damn. I was hoping for a quick way out of here.”
“We’ve already made it further than I ever thought we would.” He shrugged his tabby cat shoulders.
“We’ll get out of here. Let’s go to the stairs,”
“Leo, you didn’t look in that room,” Allurie said as she pointed with her emberbrand at a wall.
“Which room?” I asked.
“The room with the door. You are silly.” She gestured again with her magic torch, and I stepped toward the wall.
“I don’t see anything,” I said as I leaned toward the stone bricks there. The pieces looked uniform in shape, and I saw no seal between their edges that might have hinted at something hidden.
“Me neither,” Artus confirmed.
“It is here. I think you should just press here.” She tapped lightly on one of the bricks with the tip of her emberbrand.
I moved my hand to where she gestured and pushed on the brick. Nothing moved on the wall, but as I was just about to stop I felt something give in the stone. I changed the angle of my push a bit, as if I was pushing on the handle of a revolving door instead of doing a bench press. Something released in the wall, and a door sized portal of brick swung inward easily.
“Yay! You did it, Leo!” Allurie cheered.
“Dang. I would have never found this. Good job, Allurie,” I said to the elf girl.
“Yay! I made Leo happy. Can I make you happy with some ma--”
“No. Not now.” I shook my head. “But thanks for telling me about this door.”
The hidden space was only about ten feet deep, but there were two shelves at the end of the area. On each shelf sat a small chest and I stepped toward them cautiously. This looked like the kind of area that would be ripe for traps, and I gently tested each step with a bare foot before I put my full weight on it.
The top chest was locked, but the latch had a large keyhole on it. It looked like the wrong size for the key we had been using to open the gates to the dungeon, but it was large enough for me to fit the point of one of my daggers into. I did so and then hit the back of the handle of the blade until I heard all the pins of the lock break.
“Please be clothes, please be clothes,” I said as I opened the lid of the chest.
Inside I found a pile of glittery stones. There was also a small bag of coins and a vial of red liquid. The vial was about the size of my middle finger, and when I picked it up, the orange description window informed me that it was a minor healing potion. There wasn’t really a spot for me to hold it on my belt, so I handed it to Allurie. I also inspected each of the gems for their gold piece worth and saw that they were a combination of bloodstones (30 GP x 3), citrines (70 GP x 2), Freshwater Pearls (8 GP x 2) and a large peridot (53 GP x 1).
“Hey, Artus. How much does a nice meal cost in Arnicoal?”
“Grrr. I believe the most expensive restaurant would be a gold or so, but that is the most expensive. You can get a nice dinner for three silvers in most areas of the city.”
“And it is ten silver per gold?” I guessed.
“Grrr. Yes, and ten copper per silver and ten gold is a platinum piece.”
“Perfect. So this is a good haul,” I said as I started to hand Allurie the gems. “Just shy of three hundred gold worth of gems. How much will we need to buy a new wagon and enough supplies to get back to Arnicoal?”
“That should be more than enough. I don’t know the market for gems in this city, though. We might not get that much gold for these. I am rather good at negotiating though.”
“Okay. Next chest,” I said as I turned to the lower one.
It was unlocked, and inside I found a small axe another potion, and a wand. I grabbed the axe first, and the inspection window told me it was a Hand axe of Minor Damage. The lettering was in green, and it gave a +1 to damage with no other bonuses. It was better than the swords I was using, and I attached the blade sheath onto my belt.
The potion was Cat’s Grace, and it added a +4 to my Quickness score for 2-4 hours once I drank it.
The rod was a Wand of Wine and the description window read: Pours up to five gallons of medium grade wine per day. The user can specify white, red, or rosé when poured.
“Holy shit. This is the best magical item I’ve ever seen.” I laughed as I examined the wand closer. It looked like there was a hole on the tip, and I could see that it had grape designs lightly etched on the wood of the shaft.
“What does it do?” Artus asked with interest.
“Pours a bunch of wine every day. Too bad we don’t have glasses to test it out.” I turned the wand a bit on its side as if it was a bottle. “Red,” I instructed, and a dark red liquid began to pour from the device and onto the ground. I only let a small pour escape before I raised the wand and the flow of wine instantly turned off.
“Going to be popular at parties if the wine tastes good,” Artus said. “I bet you could sell that for a bunch of coins.”
“Yeah. Ha! Looks like seven hundred,” I said as I read the value on the orange window.
“Wow. I have never heard of such a device. I bet you could get more in Arnicoal.”
“Maybe, but this is a good find. Thanks again, Allurie,” I said as I handed her the wand to hold.
“Oh, Leo. I love it when you thank me, but you could really--”
“Not going to happen, Allurie. Sorry,” I interrupted as I walked past her.
“Wait. Not ever? I thought that--”
“We need to get back to Cutno and hide at Jerjay’s house. Then we need to get out of the city. I don’t have time for--”
“That is fine! I’ll wait. It doesn’t have to be right now.”
“Ugh. Elves.” Artus shook his head.
“Let’s get down the stairs. Allurie, if you see any other secret doors or anything let us know. That is your new job.”
“Yay! I will let you know. I love working. Almost as much as I love--”
“I thought you said you’ve never had sex?” I interrupted her.
“Oh, I haven’t, but I know I would love it. Especially with you. Can we do it now?”
“Did you just forget what I told you? Not now, damn it,” I said. “Just stop talking about it. That is another job for you.”
“Ohhh. Another job? I’m so lucky. Okay. I won’t talk about it.” The silver haired elf woman looked extremely happy, and I wondered if I’d just stumbled into a way to keep her from harassing me about sex.
We walked to the other side of the dungeon, to where the downward-leading stairs were. There was yet another gate here, somewhat hidden a few feet from where the steps began, and I used the key to unlock it, before locking it behind us. We’d only been on this level for less than five minutes, and I still worried that the guards were going to catch up to us.
Hopefully, the gates would slow them down, or maybe they wouldn’t want to risk descending into this place. In some of these games, NPCs would refuse to go into dungeons because they didn’t want to fight monsters. Either way, I was still worried about them, and I probably wouldn’t feel completely safe until Artus, and I were in Arnicoal.
“I hear something,” the fenia said as we reached the bottom of the stairs and set foot on the lower level.
“What?” I asked as I used the keys to unlock yet another gate.
“It sounds like drumming. Elf, do you hear?”
“Yes! I think there is dancing below us,” she said with a gleeful smile.
&nb
sp; “That probably isn’t good,” I sighed as I locked the gate behind us. I was pretty confident that the guards weren’t going to be able to catch us now. Even if they had a locksmith, they probably couldn’t pick locks as quickly as the key would open them, and we had passed through a bunch of gates now.
We were in a twenty-foot hallway, and I saw an archway at the end on the right side. The glow from our emberbrands reflected off of something hanging from the ceiling there, and as I moved closer, I saw that it was a thin layer of spider webbing. The next room was covered in the stuff, and I realized I was going to have to hack my way through it, or we might get tangled in the mess. It would feel really creepy having all the webbing brush against my naked skin. No one liked walking into a spider web.
“Ugh,” I said as I cut through the first strands of web with the magical axe. There were some thumb-sized spiders running along the webbing, and they scattered as I cut through the first parts. The whole room seemed to shake with my cuts, and I shook my head again at the graphical display of the game. The webs were acting like a real life series of spider strands would, and the whole labyrinth of cords seemed to twitch with each chop I made.
A large spider, about half the size of my hand landed on my bare shoulder, and I knocked it off with a flick of the short sword in my left hand. Ugh. I doubted that the small critters would do any damage to me if they bit my game avatar, but if this had been real life I would have given this situation a big old “hell no.” It wasn’t as if I was scared of spiders. I just didn’t really feel like I wanted to walk through a giant web filled with them and have them crawl all over me. Kind of like I wouldn’t want to walk into a bear's cave or free climb hoodoos in the desert.
I couldn’t tell how big the room was because of all the spider webs, but it seemed like five minutes had passed since I started cutting the webbing away. The side where our archway was looked pretty clear, but I still couldn’t see the other side of the room or any walls. I couldn’t really see anything past the jungle of silky strands.
Then I saw something large move past the webbing.
Lion's Quest: Undefeated: A LitRPG Saga Page 28