"This troll must be here for a reason," Togien said. "I suggest we bring him back to life and smoke him."
I opened the group chat. "Arwan, I'd like you to take a good look at the hole in the ceiling. What can you tell me about it?"
"It's been made using magic, that's for sure," the Elf replied. "The edges are smooth as if molten by fire."
"And what can you say about the hoists and other machinery?"
"They look pretty new. The chains are rusty though."
"Very well. Keep your eyes peeled," I turned to the group. "Did you hear that?"
"Does that mean that our 'lucky player' is a wizard?"
"Most likely. A quite advanced one, too. He needed some powerful spells to cut a hole in the rock and expose the troll to the sunlight."
"He didn't do it straight away," Archibald said. "Did you see there were three holes?"
"My point entirely," Togien grumbled. "We need to bring the troll back to life and smoke him. He must be the location boss. He's sure to drop some unique item or other. Wonder if that might be the key to the portal?"
Enea laughed. The cold hadn't dampened her optimism. "Guys, you're so predictable. You just don't miss a chance to rattle your sabers, do you?"
Togien frowned. "What do you suggest?"
"I suggest we speak to him."
"Trolls are too dumb."
"Well, a troll who lives in a Founders temple just might happen to be special," Enea insisted.
Archibald looked interested. "How do you want to talk to him?"
She flashed him an enigmatic smile. "I have an idea. Should we go and see if it works?"
I nodded. We weren't in a hurry to study the lightning ball or try and break the slab of stone supposedly concealing the treasure. Based on my previous gaming experience, I could safely say that not every mob should be slaughtered on sight. Some unique locations harbored quest NPCs which might make you regret attacking them before having spoken to them.
* * *
THE PETRIFIED TROLL looked menacing. The club he was clutching in his hands must have weighed a good 250 pounds.
If he attacked us, smoking him would be a problem. I told everyone to take up their combat positions just in case.
In the meantime, Enea was busy discussing something with Davre and Arwan. Both nodded and reached for the hoist handles.
"On your guard!" I commanded. "If he aggroes us, we kill him!"
The rusty machinery creaked, pulling the chains taut. The plank platform shifted slightly toward the hole in the ceiling, casting a shadow over the troll's face and his weapon arm.
"Enough!" Enea commanded.
Archibald and I were flanking her, ready to cover her with our shields and take a blow should things go wrong.
The troll's face erupted in a web of fine cracks. Stone dust showered to the floor. His eyelids quivered.
Mossy Yorm opened his eyes. He tried to straighten his back — and failed: the rest of his body was still entrapped by the sunlight.
The ancient walls shuddered with his angry roar.
Enea stepped fearlessly toward him, "Hello, Mossy Yorm!"
"Who is it?" the troll growled, struggling to move. His gaze searched for Enea. Raising clouds of dust, he forced his hand to move — but before he could raise his club, his stare softened. "Hello to you too, Forest Nymph!"
"I'd like to talk to you, that's all. We won't hurt you."
The troll attempted to move his head to look around him as far as his stiff neck allowed. A cloud of mist escaped his jaws. His eyebrows were dusted with frost. "Yorm is cold... He's freezing."
"We'll start a fire in a minute. But look," Enea pointed at an old fire site surrounded by a circle of rocks, "there's no wood around here. How did you manage to keep the fire going? Also, isn't firelight harmful to you the way the sunlight is?"
"The wood?" he frowned, trying to remember. "Yorm used to go to the forest. The old, dead forest. Yorm took big trees. He broke them and put them on the fire. The fire is warm. It's good and kind. Are you frozen too? Forest Nymphs don't like cold."
"How did you get to that dead forest?"
"Yorm used this," he tried to turn around but couldn't. "I can't remember. Yorm took this thing... It's hot and round."
"Do you mean this?" Enea signaled to Iskandar who promptly cast Levitation, lifting the lightning ball and moving it within the troll's line of vision.
"Yes!" he roared, relieved. "Yorm used this! Yorm took this in his hands and thought about the forest!"
"Is it so easy? You think I could do it?"
"It's hot," the troll warned her. "You need the glove. A bad wizard found Yorm in the dead forest. He followed Yorm and stole the glove from him."
"Do you know where he hides it?"
"The bad wizard is hiding in the treasury. Set me free, O Forest Nymph, so I can break his head!"
"Do you promise not to hurt my friends?"
"Oh, you beautiful, delicate Nymph! Yorm isn't angry with you! Yorm is angry with the wizard! Yorm was having an afternoon nap when the bad wizard sneaked in here. He let the sunlight into Yorm's cozy dark cave!"
"And if we get rid of the light, will you help us defeat the bad wizard?"
"Oh, yes!" the troll rolled his eyes in his sockets. "Yorm doesn't want to be a rock anymore! Yorm's blood is cold!"
"How did you get here?" Enea asked.
I could see that she was taking the chance to find out more about the location. Admittedly, she was good at it. Then again, Lethmiel's Forest Nymph buff must have played its part in it too.
"Yorm has always been here!" the troll growled. "The God gave him the glove and told him to guard his treasure! The God told Yorm how to find food and firewood. He wanted Yorm to be warm and happy!"
"The God? Founder God? Will he be back, do you know?"
"Yorm doesn't know. The God has been away a while. Set me free, O Nymph! Your friends will be Yorm's friends!"
"Very well. Just please don't forget what you've just promised me."
"Yorm doesn't hurt beautiful nymphs! Yorm's word is stronger than rock! Yorm is hungry! But first Yorm will break the bad wizard's head!"
Enea cast me a questioning look. I nodded.
"Arwan, Davre! Shut off the light!"
Sciatant who'd been hanging about filming all the while hurried to scamper out of reach and switched to a long shot, running a non-stop commentary,
"This is truly incredible! Enea's charms proved irresistible for the soft-hearted troll! Now we're about to see the revival of this legendary creature that used to know our Founder Gods!"
The sunlight faded.
With a thunderous sigh, Mossy Yorm straightened his back.
Now I could see his stats: his level 100 and the icon of the Skin of Stone buff next to it.
The realization stunned me. What kind of wizard was that, capable of defeating this monster? And what were our chances against him?
"Break my head, you said? Be my guest," a calm, sarcastic voice came from the back of the temple.
* * *
THE WIZARD.
My Twilight Vision ability allowed me to see his stats. Level 102. Name: Scorp.
He didn't look too impressive. He wore some tattered robes with cargonite roundels stitched on them every which way. The Founder's Glove enveloped his right hand in its iridescent aura. In his other hand he held the Staff of Oblivion, very ancient and very intricate.
Yorm growled, indignant. I wanted to shout "Regroup!" and couldn't. The words froze in my throat. Still, my Neuro abilities had already registered an almost-instant casting of a spell,
You've intercepted a spell: Muteness
I couldn't move my lips at all. They felt duct-taped. The troll's growling had stopped, too. None of our wizards had been fast enough to prevent the attack.
The spell seemed to have affected Scorp too. Apparently, there was no resistance against it. His mouth had completely disappeared from his face.
The next moment, his staff cast a Curse of Stone
over us.
I became blind and deaf. Now I knew what Mossy Yorm must have felt. My body had turned to stone.
It hurt a lot. It was scary.
The thin stone crust covering my eyes began to crack and crumble. I could see our enemy now. He was walking through our petrified ranks, his lips curved in a disdainful sneer. Yes, I could see his mouth as the 10-sec Muteness had already expired.
He stopped and knocked the tip of his staff on Sciatant's head, removing the fragile stone crust. "Are you filming? Good. You'll be the last to die."
With this promise, he turned to the troll. "What's that now?" he asked him, shaking his head. "What's with all the head-breaking nonsense? You've been standing here nice and quiet, and now what? You think I've been wasting my time in here? I don't need to bash any more holes in the ceiling. I can just pulverize you, you idiot. This glove — it's not just for portal control."
Slowly he ran his gloved hand over Yorm's stone skin, leaving a trail of deep fiery scars.
You've just witnessed the effect of a lost ancient spell.
Name of spell: Disintegration.
Type: Advanced Founders' magic
My interface was still working. This so-called wizard had a problem. Quite a few problems, even. And he was blissfully unaware of them.
Firstly, blanket spells are exactly what they're called: they're flat. Which meant that Arwan and Davre on their plank platform overhead were perfectly safe from the effects of this remarkably strong and long-lasting Curse of Stone.
Secondly, I'd already added Mossy Yorm to our raid. With allied NPCs, you don't need to ask their permission to do so. Which meant that he too was now affected by the aura of my Charm of the Sovereign which improved his resistance while decreasing the duration of the debuff.
Thirdly, we were considerably more numerous.
Unfortunately for him, Scorp knew the exact duration of his spell. He decided to use this time to rub more salt in our wounds.
He stopped by Enea, studying her unmoving features, then raised his gloved hand. "The lady's so beautiful. Would be a shame to kill you. So I won't. I'll just add a few final touches to your pretty face."
His fiery fingers reached out for her.
My blood boiled. The debuff icon disappeared from my interface.
Congratulations! Overcome by emotional pressure, you've successfully deactivated the effects of the Curse of Stone!
You've received +10% to Resistance to all types of magic!
"Leave her alone."
The wizard swung round. He raised his staff and swept me off my feet in a lazy, negligent motion. That's the power of a level gap for you.
Immediately a fiery arrow sank into the back of his head, compliments of Arwan. Admittedly it dealt the wizard no more damage than a mosquito bite.
Growling, Davre jumped off the platform onto the floor.
I struggled back to my feet.
The wizard watched us sarcastically, playing with his staff as he waited for more desperate moves. He seemed to find it highly amusing.
With another sweep of his staff, he enveloped us in a cloud of silvery haze.
You've been struck by the Staff of Oblivion!
-90% to Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intellect and Spirit.
I'd known that sooner or later I might have to tackle a much stronger enemy. Which is why I'd come prepared.
Weak as a kitten, I struggled to break the seal on the Exorcism scroll I'd made for exactly such an occasion.
The wizard stopped in surprise, duly impressed by the effect. An uncategorized spell that had canceled all his debuffs in one fell sweep! He wasn't happy.
His lips curved in a smirk. "We're strong, aren't we? But you shouldn't think a couple of scrolls can change anything."
"Don't you touch the Nymph!" the unpetrified Yorm swung his club, bringing it down on the wizard's skull. "Don't you dare go near her!"
The troll invested all his fury into his next blow. A stun and a crit! The wizard's hp dropped to zero.
He collapsed to the floor. However, the next moment he sprang back to his feet. His Life bar was already 100% full!
"Everybody, target him!" I shouted. "Raoul, wake up! Keep healing us!"
Yorm took another swing with his club. It hit an empty space as the wizard had already ported out of his reach, targeting Rodrigo and Iskandar as his most dangerous opponents. Now that he knew what the troll was capable of, he wasn't going to repeat his mistake.
His Staff of Oblivion glowed, enveloped in flames. The wizard was definitely good with two-handed weapons. Judging by his pose, he was about to deal a circular blow. Both Rodrigo and Iskandar were doomed.
"Watch out!"
Combat spells might not hurt him. But passive ones — those that dealt no damage — were bound to work.
I cast Levitation. The wizard lost footing in full swing, shooting up to the ceiling, his fiery staff hitting the rocks overhead and showering us with red-hot stone fragments.
Excellent. "Keep him dangling!"
The wizard wriggled in mid-air, trying to reach for a vial and gulp its contents. He finally dropped to the floor, losing about 10% life.
He had become immune to Levitation.
Shouting something, he lunged at me. The two Guards of Gloom swung their naginatas, aiming for his legs, but their shiny weapons disintegrated, shattered by the magic shield which absorbed the damage.
I managed to dodge the blow. The staff left a glowing scar on a column next to me. Scorp's gloved hand brushed against Yorm's chest, forcing him to recoil. He ported out of Yorm's reach just in time.
Enea loosed a bolt of lightning at him. Another -2% life, excellent. Iskandar and Rodrigo joined her. Between the three of them, they shrank his hp 30%.
The wizard ported again. Archibald's shield exploded in a cascade of fragments like a pane of glass. Raoul promptly cast a heal on him. Archibald rolled over the floor, dodging the touch of the fiery glove.
Three bolts of lightning sank into the wizard simultaneously.
"Alpha, don't!" Enea screamed.
The little black mantis sprang off her shoulder and lunged at the enemy.
No! He'd get himself killed! He was only level 11!
"Yes!" Scorp jeered. "Send them all! Let's have some fun!"
Ignoring the mantis, he ported again and hit Yorm twice real hard.
The troll roared in furious agony. He may have been strong but agility wasn't his forte.
"Come on, let's rock and roll!" the wizard guffawed. He seemed to be enjoying the fight, cock sure of his own invincibility. His life was already back at 100%. He seemed to syphon mana non-stop from some source unknown to me. He had nothing to fear.
By now, Yorm was pretty much useless. The blow from the Founder's Glove had lodged his life firmly in the red. Raoul was trying to heal him but it took too much time. He wasn't strong enough to restore Yorm's health.
I could see where this was all going. Scorp would exhaust us, making us waste all of our mana, then knock us off one by one.
An Ice Spear sank into Yorm's chest. The troll staggered. He was dying!
I had no choice. I gulped a mana vial and began casting a new spell.
The words escaped my lips in clouds of ashen breath. My chest was frozen inside. As I focused on the wizard, I glimpsed Yorm's bulk sinking slowly to the floor.
Target selected.
Spell selected: Dark Regeneration
The wizard choked on his own sarcastic jeer. He screamed. His eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.
Because I hadn't attacked him, none of his defenses had worked. This time the ancient uncategorized spell spared me all the gory effects. The wizard's life bar emptied. A bolt of pitch-black lightning escaped his body, hitting the troll.
The wizard's empty robes dropped to the floor. His glove and his staff stopped glowing.
Mossy Yorm's body arched on the floor, convulsing. His life bar filled 50%.
* * *
I COULDN'T STOP shakin
g. My chest was empty and cold. I faked nonchalance, trying not to betray what the dark spell had just cost me.
"Oh wow," Archibald looked suitably impressed. "You're something, man, I tell you! Why didn't you do that straight away?"
I didn't reply. Enea and Raoul were busy healing me. The use of uncategorized magic depletes your physical, mental and vital energy. No idea whether I'd ever be strong enough to use it without any detrimental damage to myself.
Enea laced her arms around me. "Alex," she looked me in the eye, "Are you all right?"
Her gaze melted the block of ice wedged in my chest. "I'm fine."
Togien walked over to us, casting wary glances at the troll. "Alexatis, that was Dark Regeneration, right? You sure Yorm won't go amok? Did he receive just the wizard's life or also his identity?"
Good question. I just hoped that Scorp's identity had disintegrated. Not because he was so tough that he'd very nearly killed us, oh no. I had no problems with that. He'd put up a good fight. But his business ethic... there I wasn't so sure. The guy definitely had some sociopathic tendencies.
Yorm seemed to be coming round. His health was restoring. There was no malice in his stare. Nothing seemed to have changed in him.
"Do you mind?" I asked him, picking up the staff and the glove. Those were dangerous items that required some serious studying.
"Help yourself," the troll grumbled.
"How are you going to fetch the wood, then?"
"Yorm is ashamed. Yorm let the Gods down. He failed to save the Temple. Yorm will leave."
"You can't leave your post, surely!"
"You saved the Temple," he told me in earnest. "This is your job now!"
Enea laughed. "I don't think so. I'm afraid it's still your job. But," she gave him an enigmatic smile, "if you give us the glove you can come to our castle. Do you like the moors?"
Yorm looked interested. "Food?"
"Are you a cannibal?"
"Sometimes," he admitted. "When there's nothing else to eat."
"Have you ever tried hydra meat?"
"No. Is it good?"
"Let's do it this way," I offered. "You can come and catch a few hydras so you can decide whether you like them or not. If you do, you can come at night to get some food and firewood. On one condition. You can't touch human beings! Agreed?"
The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 23