"Good," he said. "It's okay. We can do it. Think you could spare some quest loot?"
"Unfortunately not. The quest bonuses unlock the castle's abilities, that's all. I'm not getting anything, only the XP."
"Hey, come over here!" Platinus called.
What a cheek! While our two wizards had been busy casting a tethering web of spells over the totem, this self-proclaimed alchemist had finished farming whatever ingredients he'd been farming and had sneaked up on the warlock's body, fully intending to check it for any loot. Luckily, he'd stopped just in time: there were several no-drop items in the lot.
We walked over to him.
"I only had a look! I didn't take anything! I just can't close the loot distribution window."
"Of course you can't. You'll make a fine master looter one day," Zander chuckled. "If there is such a thing as a master looter. Calm down now. I want you to read the items' stats to me. You're the only person who has access to them at the moment. Whatever you do, don't put them on!"
Platinus broke into a nervous sweat. "There's a bracelet, a ring and two runic tablets."
"I want you to focus on each of the items."
"Yes, of course," Platinus licked his dry lips. "Listen. The Replication Ring. A Founders' artifact. Binds on pickup. -30% to the Mental Energy required to build items or living creatures using the Object Replication spell."
"Object Replication?" Iskandar asked in surprise. "Never heard of it!"
"It's probably some Founders' magic," Rodrigo suggested. "The logs don't say what spells the warlock used. There're no names, only question marks. They're listed as 'uncategorized'."
"I'm taking the ring."
"Alex, why would you need it, of all people?"
"We'll see. Next item?"
"Bracelet of a Metamorph. A Founders' artifact. Effect 1: +5 to Agility. Effect 2: Allows the wearer to switch to a different character class with no decrease in levels. Duration: 10 minutes. The new class stats are assigned at random. Allows the characters with close links to the powers of nature to draw 10% of the mental energy of all surrounding creatures. Range: 100 ft."
"Yeah right. One of those useless wonderwaffles," Zander said, turning to the two wizards. "What do you think?"
Iskandar chuckled. "To do what, turn into a warrior? Might be useful... occasionally. But if that means lagging an extra set of gear around — I don't think so. Not worth it. Besides, what would I do with it? I don't have the necessary skills. Okay, so this thing might turn me into a warrior for ten minutes — then what? I don't know any blows. Or combos. Nah, I think I'd rather stick to my own class."
Rodrigo nodded. "Likewise. Trying to adapt to it is too much trouble."
"Still, that warlock fought well against me," Zander pointed out.
"Nobody argues with that. Still, you made quick work of him. The bracelet didn't really help him, did it?"
Zander grinned. "Yeah, right. Had there been two of them, they'd have made quick work of me. So what did you decide? Who takes the bracelet? Togien, fancy turning into a wizard in your spare time?"
The dwarf cringed and shook his head.
"Alexatis?"
"I'll take it. Platinus, what's next?"
"A runic tablet. A Founders' artifact. +5% to a random characteristic."
"Shit. Is it a no-drop again?"
"No, it's not."
"Good," Zander cheered up. "That means we can pass it around and experiment. Or even auction it off if necessary. Alexatis?"
"Sounds good," I agreed. "The other tablet will remain in the clan's treasury."
"Deal," Zander seemed pleased. No wonder: we'd only just entered the dungeon and already we had four unique items.
"There're also seven hundred gold coins, some rare alchemic ingredients and two scrolls... with hidden stats."
"Give the scrolls to me," I said. "You can keep the ingredients. Zander will have all the gold and other precious metals in his safekeeping. Once the raid is over, we'll sit down and share it out properly."
No one objected.
Although I wasn't yet going to use the two spells I'd learned from the warlock — Dark Regeneration and Object Replication, — the ring which added 30% Mental Energy to cast the latter was a great acquisition for the future.
The Bracelet of a Metamorph was still an unknown entity. Still, it was a perfect match for my class.
"Now, everyone," Zander commanded. "We need to check the area. There must be some treasure stashes here. Don't go too far! Whatever you do, keep within the view of the others. Have you insulated the totem?"
"We have," Rodrigo replied. "I'd love to take it back with us to study it. Still, it's too powerful, the bastard. It keeps syphoning magic from somewhere."
"We'll sort it out on our way back," Zander decided. "You have five minutes to collect the loot. Alexatis and I will back you up."
The others wandered off in search of any treasure chests and stashes.
Chapter Three
IT DIDN'T TAKE them long to collect the loot. Togien with his Dwarven instinct for hidden treasures had indeed excelled. Platinus was busy studying the cave's meager vegetation, collecting herbs and taking samples of the bubbling pools of toxic slime.
"Alexatis? There's someone to see you," Rodrigo's voice resounded in the voice chat.
"Who's that?"
"Some prisoners."
"Send them here."
A small group of NPCs appeared out of the dark. An orc, a kobold, an Elf, two humans (both peasants, judging by their humble attire) and three dwarves.
Their name tags were in full view. The two peasants were neutral to us; all the others, friendly.
"Master!" the kobold approached me ignoring Zander entirely and clumsily dropped to one knee. "Allow us to follow you!"
The Elf followed suit. The dwarves chose to keep a safe distance. The orc, however, stepped forward, joining the ranks of our newfound volunteers.
"I want to fight!" he growled.
All three were a sorry sight: emaciated, their gear long broken. Their tattered clothes offered no clue of what they might have been in the past.
Their name tags, however, proved more helpful:
Highr. Kobold. Level 30. A Warrior
Arwan. Light Elf. Level 32. A Hunter
Dahvr. Orc. Level 35. A Warrior.
Their hp bars were frozen at 25%. The prolonged captivity, hard work and meager food had resulted in permanent debuffs.
They wouldn't be much good in battle, would they? Zander too looked skeptical.
"I understand you want to show your appreciation but you aren't strong enough to fight!"
"Our desire is enough!" the orc growled.
"We'd rather you tell us something about the dungeon," Zander said.
The kneeling prisoners ignored his comment entirely. "We're warriors," the kobold said. "Our ancestors served Rion's original owners. Heal us, Master, and let us fight for you!"
What, to remove permanent debuffs? They didn't want much, did they?
The Elf looked up sharply at me. "I can keep three arrows in flight! Give me my strength back, and you won't regret it!"
Their trust in my powers was probably based on all the legends about what the Order of Disciples could do. But I wasn't one of them, unfortunately.
"Would you like to stay in the castle?" I asked.
"Yes, Master!"
I had the first inkling of an idea. I needed to check it. My reputation was at stake though: if I failed, it could give rise to all sorts of unpleasant rumors.
I took the Charm of the Sovereign from around my neck and clenched it in my hand, feeling its microscopic spikes dig into my skin.
My closed fist glowed with a warm weak light. My life bar quivered and began to shrink.
"Do you swear your allegiance to me, the rightful owner and defender of Rion Castle?"
"We do!" three voices replied as one.
The charm's light grew stronger, enveloping the three kneeling figures in its glimmer
ing golden haze.
The world stood still.
"The Aura of the Sovereign!" Arwan gasped.
The orc, the kobold and the Elf scooped the golden shimmer and poured it over their gaunt faces. Their life bars began to grow. The debuff icons disappeared from their tags!
The peasants and the dwarves had apparently regretted their indecision. Too late: the golden shimmer had already expired, triggering a new chain of system messages in my interface:
You've received a new level!
You've received a new level!
You have new ability and main characteristic points available!
By using the Legacy ability, you've unlocked a new effect of the Charm of the Sovereign: Aura of the Sovereign. Allows one-off removal of any debuffs cast on your loyal supporters.
Cooldown: 24 hours
Cost: varies, depending on the required effort.
Warning! You've lost 25% hp. Required restoration time: 10 min. For the next 60 minutes, your Life will take 15% longer to restore.
Apparently, everything had its price. Quite a hefty price in my case. The drop in my health had brought it dangerously close to the pain threshold.
Never mind. I could take it. But the effect it had produced! The mercs stood motionless, casting wary glances at me. The orc, the kobold and the Elf, however, looked more hopeful.
I reached into my inventory for the chitin bow I'd procured while farming the insects and handed it to Arwan. "Take it. We count on you."
I had nothing to offer to the warriors. Zander came to my rescue. He rummaged through his own inventory and produced a couple of items he obviously could part with for the raid's sake.
The kobold got a halberd. Zander seemed to have a decent knowledge of other classes and races' needs. The orc received a heavy scimitar.
All three perked up, beaming.
When Rodrigo and Iskandar recovered from the shock, they cast two buffs on them to compensate for the absence of proper armor: Stamina and Skin of Stone. Platinus fished out a few of his healing potions and shared the vials between the volunteers.
Nice miracle work! Zander PM'd me.
Get away with you, I replied. That's nothing compared to what you paladins can do, I added, trying to do him justice. Your abilities aren't as costly, either. I just decided to give the artifact a quick check.
Your health is really down. Is it normal?
It's okay. It'll come back up.
Togien walked over to me. "Alex, these guys," he pointed at the dwarves, "would like to join too."
I checked their tags for any debuffs. None. Their levels were good. Sturdy guys.
"Very well," I replied. "Find them some weapons and bring them under your command."
Three more, I PM'd Zander.
That I can see, he replied without enthusiasm, apparently not too thrilled to see his well-choreographed team growing barnacles. "Togien, tell the dwarves to keep close to you."
The peasants maintained a wary distance.
"And you — who are you? Where are you from?"
"We're from around here," one of them replied. "We're not warriors, we're farmers. We fish and work the land for a living."
"You should wait for us here."
"Oh no! The demons will catch us again."
"Can't you hide somewhere?"
"Can we follow you instead? There're plenty of our folk still left over there," the farmer pointed to the gaping depths of the cave. "The demons captured at least a hundred. We can't wait to pay them in kind."
"Very well. You can follow us if you want," I said, ignoring Zander's unhappy stare. Farmers from around here... that was interesting. I hadn't seen any villages or farms around. They'd probably been long destroyed, in which case a hundred hard-working NPCs might come in handy. We could find a safe little island nearby and allow them to settle in and build their lives back up. The Crystal Sphere's economy was one of its cornerstones. It would be downright stupid not to take advantage of this opportunity. Besides, the Renaissance of Rion quest required the restoration of the villages around it.
In the meantime, Togien had come up with some weapons for the dwarves: a poleaxe and two battle hammers. Had he lugged them around all this time? Why? I might actually ask him when the moment was right.
"Fall in," Zander commanded, casting watchful glances around. The warlock's death could have had the most unpredictable consequences; but at the moment, the area looked safe.
He gave us a brief run-down of our responsibilities. Rodrigo and Iskandar rebuffed us using a new scheme: they cast passive shields on the entire group, increasing our resistance to the element of Fire as well as mental and physical damage.
Zander wasn't using any of his abilities quite yet. "We need information about this dungeon," he gave the prisoners an inquisitive look.
The dwarves shrugged. They'd only got here recently. The farmers hurried to tell us what they knew about the dark obelisks. But it was the orc who offered the most valuable intel.
"There's a road nearby. We use it to take the ore to a large crack in the ground. We load the ore into cages and lower it down."
"We?"
"Yeah. The slaves, I mean. We can't escape from here, can we? There's no exit to the surface here. I know," he touched the scar on his face as if still smarting from the memory. "There's a bridge across it, guarded by demons. They're not very strong but there're quite a few of them. Twenty or so, I think. They won't let anyone cross to the other side. Even the imps aren't allowed there."
"And this warlock, have you seen him often?" Zander asked.
"Oh yes. He's well-known here. Constantly sneaking around. He checked every mine at least twice a day."
"Why?"
"He needed the artifacts. Sometimes the ore veins take us to small caves. That's where we used to find them. Old scrolls, weird objects... Usually cargonite tablets covered in ancient writings.
Zander and I exchanged glances. He motioned me aside.
"What do you say?" he laid a heavy gauntleted hand on my shoulder. "I should make a quick dash to the bridge. We can use the surprise factor, smoke the guards and cross to the other side before they know what's hit them. I have a funny feeling that's where all the cool stuff begins!"
I could understand him. Mercenaries are interested in loot and unique items — definitely not the kind of spoils a handful of emaciated slaves can offer. Our fight with the warlock had made it pretty clear that the demons weren't interested in farming ore. This was only a by-product of whatever they searched these caves for.
The imps had been hacking at these rocks for centuries in the hope of finding a meager ore vein or even a Founders' artifact — which happened much less frequently. The demons must have realized their value and would do anything to lay their hands on them. Even if the odds of finding a crumbling scroll containing an ancient spell were probably once in a century, apparently it was worth the risks, the costs and the trouble.
Zander's eyes glinted with impatience. Our paths might actually begin to part over this. The single runic tablet he'd received from the warlock had magnified both the range and effect of his auras. The only other way he could do it was by getting at least ten more levels.
I too realized the artifacts' value. Still, I couldn't approve of his plan. "We keep on farming," I said firmly. "We purge the dungeon and free the prisoners. That'll allow us to level up a bit by the time we reach the bridge."
"Whatever," he chose not to argue, suppressing his disappointment. At his level, he didn't get any XP for farming imps. Still, our agreement still held, forcing him to keep his ambitions in check.
* * *
THE CAVE was enveloped in darkness. Some of the crude columns supporting the ceiling were speckled with tiny luminescent stones whose weak glow tried to disperse the gloom.
I focused on one of the stones, habitually expecting the mind expander to offer a prompt. By now, I took its immediate reactions for granted. As part of the neuroimplant, the mind expander could read some
of the stronger mental images, then conduct its own search in all available databases.
Snow Obsidian. A rare variety of volcanic glass. Magic properties: none
How strange. What was causing it to glow, then?
"Togien, take a look," I pointed at the faint blue aura. "Seen this before?"
He peered at the stones and nodded. "Volcanic glass."
"Why is it glowing?"
"No idea! Normally it shouldn't," he sounded interested. "Look closely. See that tiny spot at the center? It's like a little flame," Togien expertly picked out a few stones the size and shape of a pigeon egg. "This is weird. They keep glowing! Wonder if this is some kind of transformed matter?"
"You think they're affected by the dark obelisk?"
"They must be. What else do you suggest?"
I tried to take one of the stones from him. An unbearable heat burned my fingers. Instinctively I jerked my hand away, dropping the stone on the rocks. With a flash, the volcanic glass broke.
Rodrigo and Iskandar swung round. "Which one of you broke a mana vial?"
They didn't even notice the stone's shattered fragments which had already turned gray and lifeless. The air around them, however, felt electrified.
Platinus who'd been watching me all this time gave me a wink. "I did," he told the wizards. "Sorry about that."
They seemed happy with the explanation.
Platinus inched closer to me. "Is that transformed matter?" he mouthed. "Can I have some for my experiments?"
"Maybe."
"Thanks. I won't say a word!" he assured me in a whisper. "Why is it a secret?"
"The mercs don't need to know about Spectral Dust."
"Got it."
Togien, however, tensed up. "Alexatis? What the hell is going on here?"
I really wasn't in the mood. I'd been up and running for almost forty-eight hours. The credibility of my experience was beginning to get to me. Bouts of pain surged through me regularly — the price I was now paying for my recent use of the Charm of the Sovereign — but I had to grin and bear it. I couldn't explain it to anyone. They were here for an adrenaline rush, impatient to push themselves to the limit and milk this dungeon for every drop of gold, loot and XP it had to offer.
The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 8