He counted more than twenty different Rocks, though he had no idea how he was able to distinguish one from another. He just knew. As he watched, he began to notice other things as well. Each Rock had a wraith on its back that seemed to manipulate it like a puppet master. The wraiths covered their victims like clothing, wrapping the wisps of black smoke that passed for limbs around arms and legs.
As he observed, one thing became abundantly clear: he would not win this with a direct fight. Even with six Rocks by his side, fighting twenty wraiths was impossible. He had no idea how the wraiths would react. Even if they stayed in possession of the Dillos, he had to assume that they retained wraith abilities. The last time Kalmond fought a single wraith, he almost died, and it took three of his friends to save him.
But as he observed the patterns of movement, he noticed that there was one archway that none of the possessed dillo went through. That had to be it. Something beyond that archway was crucial to that quest.
Kalmond swapped out his plate mail for his iron boar armor to maximize stealth. He left the helm on for its mana bonus. “Wait here,” he said to Rock, all of them. “If things go bad, run. There is no way we can defeat the wraiths if they attack.”
“No. We stay. We wait,” Rock said. “We never leave friend.”
Kalmond took a deep breath and activated his sneak spell. Hugging the wall, he made his way slowly down the spiral ramp that ran around the circumference of the pit. The ramp was wide enough to keep him from the sightline of any of the possessed Rocks. Until he reached the last few feet. At the base of the ramp, he hid behind a large boulder until his mana regenerated.
The wait gave him time to observe and think. The nearest passage was just a few feet away to his left. He didn’t detect a pattern in when the dillo appeared, but the carts they dragged behind them gave him an idea. They all went to the same place: the forge. Kalmond waited for three Dillo to appear from the nearest passage, then he activated his invisibility spell for the first time and followed the last dillo at a crouch. Kalmond held his breath and gritted his teeth as he hitched a ride on the cart full of ore.
He was not detected. Remembering his mana potion, he slugged one down to give him more time. He was still invisible when the dillo reached the pile of ore, and Kalmond jumped off just before the dillo upended the cart. Kalmond drank another mana potion just to be sure, then made his way across the other half of the cavern.
As he neared his destination, the invisibility effect began to fade, so he drank his penultimate mana potion and headed into the dark opening. The archway lead to a short, narrow passage that opened into a small dome-shaped chamber. Flickering purple light filled the space, coming from the perfect circle of some sort of portal.
A medium-sized chest sat on on the wall to the right of the portal beside an enchantment altar. An alchemist’s workshop was its counterpart on the chamber wall across from the altar.
A figure knelt down before the portal in the center of a circle defined by candles. The figure mumbled arcane words and lifted a bowl above his head. Then, he lowered the bowl and picked up a knife, also raising it above his head. The figure then lowered the knife-holding hand. It hunched forward, and Kalmond couldn’t be sure, but it looked as if the figure cut something with the knife. It repeated the same set of motions over and again while silvery forms flowed back and forth on the other side of the portal.
Kalmond had no idea what to do. His invisibility spell wore off, so he activated sneak and crouched at the edge of the small chamber. Double-checking the map showed that he was right on top of the quest marker.
Suddenly, the figure stopped. It turned its head slowly in Kalmond’s direction. When the dwarf made out the face staring back at him, he lost all control.
“Gideon!” he bellowed and shot to his feet, forgetting about the small army of wraiths in the main chamber.
The figure clad in black mage robes was Gideon Thistlethwhaite, founder, and CEO of Plexcorp and the mad genius locked inside the game. The hawk-like face did something that its Lesser Realm counterpart never did. It smiled, but this Gideon’s face revealed two rows of long, sharp pointy teeth.
The Gideon figure hissed and raised both hands, palms out. Kalmond brought out his mirrored shield just in time. A silvery stream of magical energy hammered the shield, and Kalmond used both hands to hold the shield in place. Frost formed around the outside shield edge, and the dwarf’s arm grew numb, then his health bar began to sink rapidly.
The dwarf pushed forward under the heavy pressure of the ice torrent which stopped when he reached arm’s length. Kalmond moved the shield aside and landed a right hook on Gideon’s cheek.
Gideon countered with a lightning sword that bounced off the shield but took 1800 hitpoints. Kalmond pushed the enemy back with a solid front kick, then backed up to buy time for a weapon trade.
The dwarf put away his shield and brought out the axe of warding in his right hand and his new war hammer in his left. He traded defense for offense, leveraging the damage of two-handed weapons in each hand.
The move nearly cost him his life. The dwarf didn’t have time to swap out armor. Gideon thrust forward with his lightning sword and stabbed Kalmond in the gut just as the dwarf activated his power attack. Kalmond’s world became tinged with the red hue of rage as his health bar dropped to a sliver.
Ding! A bell rang, and text flashed before his eyes. Achievement Unlocked: Berserker Rage. Ignore damage when near death. All hits score criticals for 10 seconds.
Kalmond screamed and spittle sprayed from his mouth as axe and hammer blurred through the air. The lighting sword hit the axe of warding and bounced back to hit its wielder in the shoulder.
Kalmond followed through with the war hammer on Gideon’s wounded shoulder, then brought the axe back around to bury its blade in the side of Gideon’s head. The body dropped to the ground and stared up at Kalmond with haunted eyes that blinked rapidly.
The berserker rage faded and Kalmond found himself standing over a nearly-dead enemy whose lips moved to form the words “help me” as blood from a shattered skull streamed over them. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to administer a finishing stroke, so he picked up the body and threw it into the portal. The doorway snapped closed as if it was never there.
Ding! Quest complete: free the blacksmith. 978 XP
Raucous cheering echoed down the short passage and filled the chamber. Kalmond bent down and picked up the bowl, making him regret not making a corpse out of Gideon, or whatever it was that attacked him. Now he had nothing to loot. At least there was the chest and the opportunity for enchanting and crafting potions.
He began to have his doubts that the thing may have been something else. Something about the Gideon apparition didn’t feel right. Given the celebration taking place outside, he was certain that pushing him through the portal freed the blacksmith.
The dwarf knelt down by the chest and picked its lock for 30 XP. Inside were two mana potions, an elixir of health, three blank enchantment scrolls, and two arcane tomes. The first tome was a level 2 warding enchantment, and the second tome provided the transcribe skill. With that skill, he could find or buy blank tomes and at the proper altar, transcribe the knowledge of any previously-used enchantment. The skill took high mana to accomplish, but it essentially gave him the ability to enchant multiple items limited only by the number of blank arcane tomes he could acquire. Now that he was building up commerce in the towns, the likelihood of finding a tome on sale increased. He read the transcribe book immediately, gaining both the skill and 30 more XP.
Kalmond headed back outside to check out his handiwork. Rock ran up to him immediately, shaking the ground beneath its footsteps.
“Dwarf friend!” Rock exclaimed, as another Rock ran up behind him. “You freed my people! I now have my husband back.”
“Your husband…” Kalmond said, moving his eyes between the identical-looking creatures. “You’re both males?”
“The dwarf is not smart,” Rock said
. “Can you not see I’m female?”
“Ah… Sure?” Kalmond stammered.
“And this is my young son and my two daughters,” Rock’s husband declared as two more identical dillo ambled over.
“Thank you, dwarf,” one of the children Rocks said.
Kalmond shook his head. “Sure. All in a day’s work,” he said. “I need to talk to the blacksmith,” and he headed over to the human with the whole Rock family tagging along behind with their identical iron scimitars over their identical shoulders.
The blacksmith, a large human with broad shoulders and a black beard, stood by his forge, hammer hin hand. He pulled at his sweat-stained sackcloth tunic and stared into the flames.
“Blacksmith,” Kalmond said. “The town elders sent me to rescue you.”
The blacksmith hung his hammer on his broad leather belt and put fists to hips. “I am called Veith,” he said. “I owe you my life.”
“As do we,” the Rock family said in unison, making Kalmond jump back a pace.
“That was weird,” Kalmond said. Then, he had an idea. “I have also freed the town of Darkwell. Veith, you can show your gratitude by making weapons for me. There will be circs in it for you, of course.”
“There had better be,” Veith said, narrowing his eyes. “Because the gratitude of the finest blacksmith in the Third Circle is not boundless.”
“I think we’ll get along just fine,” Kalmond said. “The Village of Darkwell needs weapons to defend itself. The thing that enslaved you is building an army.”
“I am aware of this,” Veith said. “I remember everything from my enslavement. The weapons I made supplied that army.”
“Do you remember how many weapons you made?” Kalmond asked.
“Thousands,” Veith said. “But they were ordinary weapons. The wraiths might have enslaved me, but they could not control me completely. I regret that I made any weapons at all, but at least I did not make powerful arms.”
“Oh?” Kalmond asked. “If you make a weapon for me, that will satisfy your debt, then you can get rich making weapons for sale.”
“I accept,” Veith replied. “If you clear the dungeons below and bring me ten ingots of spiven steel, I will make you the finest axe in the land.”
“Where do I find the entrance to these dungeons?” Kalmond asked.
Veith scowled and said, “You are an adventurer. Quest for it.” Then, he turned to the pile of ore and shoveled it into the forge.
“I know where you can find the entrance,” Leader Rock said. “An ancient city of the Spiven Elves lay beneath my home .”
“So Rock will lead the way?” Kalmond asked.
“Yes, Rock said. I will come with you,” the original Rock, wife of Rock and mother to Rock and Rock said.
“Let’s get going, then,” Kalmond replied.
Ding! Bring ten ingots of spiven ore to Veith. A quest notice read, scrolling before Kalmond’s eyes.
Chapter 17
“There’s a few things I have to do first,” Kalmond said.
Rock blinked beady black eyes, cocked her head and said, “Do you mean to go above ground?”
“Well, yes,” Kalmond replied. Near the forge, a rope hung down from the ceiling and high above, a circle of white light pierced the blackness. After rescuing Veith, that rope dropped, followed by an open-sided box of a platform suspended by four stout ropes. Kalmond stepped onto the platform and craned his neck to look up at what he assumed was Darkwell. “Do you still want to follow?”
“I have never been above ground,” Rock said, following Kalmond’s gaze as he shifted her stubby, clawed feet.
“Nothing to it,” Kalmond said. “I will look after you.” He motioned Rock over, and Rock joined him on the wooden planks.
Kalmond pulled on the rope, and the platform rose with a lurch. They sailed up and away, and the forge shrank rapidly while the light above grew big and blinding. In a few seconds, they found themselves standing at the level of the wellhead where a demon once ruled the town. A giant spool of rope loomed above them, and a group of adventurers stood beside the well gawking among the large footings of the elevator platform framework.
“What the hell,” an elf warrior adventurer named Urtoast said over open voice chat. “That was totally cool. Was beginning to think that thing didn’t work.”
“Yeah,” Kalmond said. “It’s new.”
“I know. I was here when it popped up. Virgil says this is a beta area,” Urtoast replied. “Chose me special.”
“You and about a hundred others,” his companion Zombo replied. He and four others wandered off towards what appeared to be two new shops in town.
Urtoast’s gear looked high-quality and consisted of plate mail enameled forest green. The pommel of his two-handed sword featured a large ruby set in silver. If Kalmond had to guess, he’d say the warrior was at least level twenty-five. He didn’t feel like fighting him to find out. There was no Mylos tag above his name, so a fights seemed unlikely.
“And what is that?” Urtoast asked, pointing at Rock.
“I am Rock, of the dillo. We live underground,” Rock said, in that deep, gravelly voice of hers.
“Oh, cool,” Urtoast exclaimed. “This new AI is amazing.”
“Uh huh,” Kalmond said, trying to think of a way to extract himself from the conversation. He decided to go short and sweet. “Well, I have to go.”
“Wait,” Urtoast said, stepping in Kalmond’s path. “You’re one of the Noble four from the Game World War, right?” Kalmond said nothing. “Are you?” Urtoast persisted.
“Hang on,” Kalmond said, stepping back a few paces. Rock picked up on Kalmond’s apprehension and stood at his left side while the dwarf opened up a chat channel to Driskroll.
“Drisk, You in world?”
Driskroll replied in seconds. “Yeah. I’m in my shop. Some guys were asking about you.”
“What did you tell him?” Kalmond asked.
“Nothing,” Driskroll replied. “Who do you think I am?”
“Stay there. I’m coming to you,” Kalmond replied. He turned away from Urtoast without another word and crossed the town of Darkwell, where the villagers had begun to plant crops in gardens outside their humble huts. Some structures were definitely new. He wondered if the villagers had built them on their own, or if Driskroll was hard at work. The Orc merchant may have discovered his new permissions on his own.
When he got to Driskroll’s shop, he got a quick answer. “Nope. Not me. I can’t build here,” Driskroll said.
“Yes, you can. I gave you rights. Didn’t you see?” Kalmond asked.
“No. Must’ve missed the notice. I’ve been busy,” Driskroll replied.
“It’s about to get busier,” Kalmond said. “There’s a blacksmith in the well who’s going to make weapons for you to sell.”
“In the well?” Driskroll said, his tone of voice discordant with the wooden expression on his avatar’s face. “What are you talking about?”
“A quest,” Kalmond replied. “Nevermind that. There’s a whole area down there to explore. Just don’t mess with the dillo. They’re cool, and they’ll probably kill you anyway. They are tough. They can sell you lots of ore.”
“The what?” Driskroll replied. Kalmond imagined him shaking his head because the gesture was implied by the tone of voice.
Kalmond realized that Rock hadn’t followed him inside the shop. “Come on outside and see,” Driskroll said, and followed Kalmond into the village.
“What the hell is that thing?” Driskroll exclaimed. “A walking turtle with an armadillo head?”
Rock pulled the iron scimitar from her back and held it ready. “The orc insults Rock.”
“I can see its name now,” Driskroll said, puzzled. “But not its level or stats. Is it a new AI?”
“Something like that,” Kalmond replied.
“Is that the only answer you have?” Driskroll replied. “You say that every damn time.”
“I’m not allowed to say
too much,” Kalmond replied, thinking on his feet. “The developers don’t want me to influence your natural reactions too much while you’re in the test area.”
“Yeah,” Driskroll said. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. If that were true, you wouldn’t be here at all. Something ain’t right. Lots of conspiracy theories around. Virgil is acting wacky again, too.”
“You’ll just have to take my word for it,” Kalmond replied.
“If that’s how you want to play it,” Driskroll said. “But better answers might help you get back into the Nameless.”
“About that,” Kalmond replied. “I’m the alder of two towns now. I’m busy collecting allies, so maybe I don’t need the Nameless anymore.”
“Nice try,” Driskroll said. “You have my vote for that angle alone, but what have you stolen lately?”
“I got this,” Kalmond said, removing the basilisk portal sphere from his inventory, “from a basilisk queen, by myself.”
“That’s a good start,” Driskroll replied. “We can count that as one of your trials.”
“I’m about to make you rich,” Kalmond said. “All you have to do is sell a bunch of weapons to this town and to the villages art Dundree.”
“I can do that,” Driskroll supplied. “Also, I should get some good stuff in trade with all these questers coming around here. I’ll be able to set up a trade route soon. A lot of people ask about you.”
“You mentioned that. What do they ask, exactly?” Kalmond inquired nervously.
“They ask where you are, whether I’ve seen you,” Driskroll replied.
“And what do you tell them?” Kalmond asked.
“Mostly bullshit,” Driskroll replied. “I make them buy something from me, and then I lie to them. I put a tracker spell on a couple, but a lot of them are level twenty or higher. They all leave here, then go right to Dundree. A couple said they got a quest from this guy with pointy teeth that looks a lot like the CEO of Plexcorp. It’s all over the R9C forums. The theory is that one of the developers did it as a joke to piss off the most serious man on the planet, the man that never smiles.”
Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel Page 21