by L. R. Wolf
While Aya was reading the message, Elohwa taught Aya at least one offensive spell from each elemental school. The spells were all low level, and Aya wouldn’t be nearly as powerful with them as her armor and weapons were specialized for the fire element, but she was sure that Aya would come up with some interesting combinations. Elohwa had received a similar message to the one Aya had received. Her mouth opening slightly in surprise as she examined the new spells held in her spell book. Neither woman had known that they would learn one another’s created spells.
Aya quickly checked her own spell book. She had noticed she had quite a few notifications blinking at her. She opened them all and archived them so that she could read them later. By opening them now she would activate any bonuses she might have gotten. She focused on the notifications that had a link icon as that denoted spells that Elohwa had taught her.
Congratulations Dreamer! You have learned the following spells: Storm (Minor)-Air School, Glacial Spike (Minor)-Water School, Rock Spike (Minor)-Earth School, Bolt (Minor)-Air School, Light Beam (Minor)-Light School, Dark Beam (Minor)-Dark School, Far Gaze
Another notification appeared in her vision briefly.
Congratulations Dreamer! You have earned the Accolade Nemesis: Undead Slayer 2- You have killed 122/250 for Level 3. Damage against Undead increased by 1.5% for every level of Undead Slayer up to a maximum of 15%. Damage received from undead is lessened by 1% for every level of undead Slayer up to a maximum of 15%. Quality and amount of loot from undead increased by 5% per level of Undead Slayer up to a maximum of 25% . Current Bonus 3.0% dmg vs undead, 2% less dmg received vs undead, 10% increased quality and loot on undead.
Aya mentally dismissed the notifications, as the first wave of ghouls slammed into the outer Fire Dome. A few of the higher level ones were able to punch through the first Fire Dome, but their momentum was brought to a halt. As they tried to claw their way into the inner wall, they were thrown back into the outer wall, then again into the inner wall over and over. Aya caught a glimpse of one of the higher level ghouls, her heart seeming to skip a beat.
Feral Ghoul-Though it does not share the same kind of intelligence of some of its bigger cousins, Feral Ghouls are still incredibly dangerous due to their nature of hunting in packs
Skill Level 75
Elohwa had already warned her that the ghouls skill level didn’t properly reflect what they could actually do, they were actually two to three times stronger than the level displayed. With a wave of her hand, Aya refreshed the two domes and set them spinning before adding a third dome. Aya had stopped refreshing the Fire Shield around herself and Elohwa since it was currently a waste of mana, the undead couldn’t get close enough to be affected by the shields. She had also stopped casting on the archers as their arrows couldn’t penetrate the Fire Dome without disintegrating.
Elohwa had switched from her Short Bow to a Long Bow so she could start peppering the Skeletal Archers with arrows imbued with blue fire from passing through the Fire Dome. Once she saw quite a few stones piling up, she loaded her belt with more stacks of mana potions and cast the Seeking Vine spell that she had created. As an Elf, Elohwa had a natural affinity for nature spells such as this so the vines moved faster and didn’t cost as much mana as it had when she had first created it. The vines that Elohwa summoned snaked away from the inner Fire Dome. When the vines passed through the second and third Fire Domes they caught fire, and while the vines themselves didn’t burn, they were now coated in blue flame. While the vines were searching for loot, any undead who wandered too close were set aflame.
Aya, seeing another large wave of ghouls approaching, put her new spells to use. With a mental image forming in her mind of what she wanted the spells to do, she created an Ice Storm beyond the reaches of the outer Fire Dome. If one had been looking down on the scene from above, it would look very much like a hurricane with an eye made from three rings of blue fire. Adding ice to the regular Storm spell not only caused the ground to freeze, but caused the undead’s movement to slow as their bodies began to freeze. The speed with which the Ghouls had been approaching was immediately arrested as the cold set in. Ice that fell too close to the outer Fire Dome melted, giving Aya another way to use that spell by casting Bolt at the water, electrifying it. Any undead caught in the vicinity was both damaged and stunned by the electricity. As the Ice Storm surrounded the outer wall completely, it took just one Bolt spell to electrify the entire area around the wall. Aya was going through her mana potions quickly as she came up with new spell combinations. The initial casting of a new spell usually cost at least three times the mana cost since it had to be created from scratch, but once it was created the mana cost would drop dramatically as it no longer had to pull from the mind of the caster.
“More mana pots please!” A growing pile of empty vials and cork tops littered the area around the women as they drank the potions and tossed the vials down. Elohwa reached into her satchel grabbing two more stacks of mana pots before placing them in Aya’s quick release slots. Aya’s hands were constantly gesturing as she cast spell after spell leaving her no time to place them on the belt herself. With the waves of ghouls coming in and the occasional attack by wayward skeletons and zombies she couldn’t let her spells drop or she might not be able to get them back up in time to prevent the larger scale attacks.
Elohwa decided to try and modify the Seeking Vine spell that she had created. She pulled her satchel over her head and placed it on the ground leaving it wide open. She cast the Seeking Vine spell, but with the modification of only a small cluster of five small vines, and rather than seeking out loot, these particular vines were meant to keep the area clean. The vines started to wrap around the empty vials and corks and then sliding their way over to Elohwa’s open satchel where they were then dropped in and auto sorted. Once the area was clear of corks and bottles, the little vines began to seek out the stone markers that the bigger Seeker Vines had brought back to be looted. The new Tidy Vines, as Elohwa had named the spell, wrapped themselves around the stones, pulling them back towards Elohwa’s bag before raising themselves up high enough to deposit the loot in her bag. Elohwa turned her head towards Aya as she heard the Dreamer laugh.
“Creating a spell to do all of the looting for you? A woman after my own heart!” Aya laughed and shook her head as she grabbed another mana vial from her belt, bit the cork off and then chugged the contents down before tossing the vial on the ground. As quickly as it had hit the ground a vine wrapped around the items and deposited them into Elohwa’s bag.
Now that the area around them was clean again and the vines were looting anything within the vicinity of the the three Fire Domes and occasionally travelling further for loot dropped by the archers or anything else unlucky enough to get too close to the outer domes, Elohwa focused her attention on the few Skeletal Archers that remained. Elohwa noticed a third wave of ghouls rushing towards them, their eyes glowing eerily in the dark of the night. The Lich was drifting closer, black shadowy creatures billowed around it with a life of their own. Elohwa’s heart once again skipped a beat as she realized what they were.
“The lich is surrounded by Spectres. We are going to need to kill them to get at the Lich.” She gazed back towards the Lich, still trying to get some clue as to what the Lich might be able to cast. Elohwa turned her face up towards the sky, tracking the position of the moon. It would be a few more hours still until dawn, more than enough time for the lich and his retinue to reach the women.
The third wave of ghouls were immediately slowed down by the Ice Storm that Aya was keeping up, the ice coating their bodies giving their leathery skin a crystal like sheen.
“Think you could get your new viney friends to resupply us from your bag since they’re able to drop stuff in?” Aya was going through the mana potions faster and faster.
At this rate, Elohwa was going to have to either start supplying her with the higher level mana potions she had available, which would be a waste since they were the equivalent of th
ree of the potions that Aya was currently drinking, or she would have to pause for a few minutes and craft more right on the spot. “I am going to need to craft some more so we do not waste any of the higher level potions.” She knelt by the bag she had placed on the ground so the vines could reach in and pulled out the last two stacks of regular mana potions. She set them beside the bag before reaching back in and pulling out her crafting kit and the herbs required for the mana potions. Before she opened the crafting kit, she quickly formed a new spell in her mind, this one would allow the vines to grab items set aside for resupply purposes before depositing them on the belt of the intended target. She watched as a new clump of vines broke the ground beside the Tidy Vines. The vines stretched out and wrapped around the two stacks of mana potions that Elohwa had set aside. She watched as they slithered toward Aya before starting to twine itself around Aya’s leg and moving up towards her belt to deposit the potions.
“Oh my god, Woman, couldn’t you come up with something that doesn’t act like a snake is slithering around me?!” Aya shuddered at the sensation. She knew it wasn’t a snake, but it was still so unnerving.
Elohwa smacked her palm to her forehead, “Apologies! I did not think of that.” She had an idea for something, but before she focused on it she quickly cast the Seeking Vines spell to go off in search of loot while she turned her attention to creating a new spell. She quickly caught sight of Aya mumbling something and shuddering again. Elohwa watched as the vine deposited its contents into Aya’s belt before she dismissed it. This time she mentally pictured the vines coming together to form something akin to a golem. She visualized it with agile hands and fingers so it could grasp items and deposit them in someone’s bag or in their belt. She watched as her fingers and hands made the required gestures. The ground at her feet began to rumble and shake a bit as new, bigger vines erupted from the earth. They wove themselves together, first forming two legs then merging together to form the main body before they split into three bunches of vines to form the head and arms. Smaller vines moved along the arms of the vine creature forming the hands and fingers. Two motes of light appeared where the eyes should be. The creature looked around at the two women and then looked down at its body. It appeared to nod to itself before lifting its hands to its face and flexing them.
“Much better!” Aya nodded both to Elohwa and the creature. It stood a foot shorter than Aya who was only five feet tall. The creature began to move between the three different Fire Domes to collect the loot that had begun to accumulate outside and around the domes. It would then deposit the loot markers into Elohwa’s satchel. Every time it went through a dome, the fires of the dome would set his vines ablaze. Any undead who got too close to the creature would suffer damage from it being too close.
Elohwa watched her creation for a moment before she lowered herself to the ground and crossed her legs in front of her while she pulled a new grandmaster alchemical set out of the satchel. The Grandmaster crafters box had been yet another gift that had been within the satchel CTO Jason had given the women.
Grandmaster Alchemical set of the Architect-This set was gifted by an being of incredible power! Making potions and tinctures with this set will sometimes generate multiple charges of the potion or tincture for the same cost as one. Can make between 1 and 20 charges. The chance to make multiple charges depends on the skill of the Alchemist.
Elohwa’s eyes widened. Her skills were already as high as they could currently go. With this, she could make more potions with less ingredients. It would be a huge boon when it came to making potions that required rare or ultra rare herbs that were difficult to obtain. She silently sent a thank you to Jason while at the same time feeling guilty as it came at Aya’s expense, then she got to work. She dropped the requisite herbs into the bowl and ground them in the mortar and pestle before adding a bit of water from a specialized water skin from the crafting set. The paste and the water mixed together and turned the typical blue color designating mana potions. She raised one of the medium vials up and gently poured the contents of the bowl into the vial. A message popped up in her view.
You have created a Medium Mana Potion x20
She proceeded to make more potions. Because this was well below her skill level, she was consistently churning out potions with twenty charges and only using the ingredients for one potion. She mentally called her creation over and handed it five fully charged potions. “Put these on Aya’s belt, please.” The creature gently took the bottles but rather than move over to Aya the arm grew longer, its fingers gently placing the potions on Aya’s belt before the arm retracted to its normal size. Elohwa ended up with twenty stacks of twenty charges before she put the remaining herbs back into her satchel and replacing the alchemical tools back into the specialized crafting box. As she had worked, the vine creature had been picking up the empty vials and cork tops while also looting the markers that kept dropping around the Fire Domes vicinity. Any undead caught within the range of even just one wall usually didn’t last long, especially if it actually touched the wall and gained the Burn effect. The ghouls had lasted the longest, but still they were unable to get through the walls and once they had lost their momentum in the Ice Storm no other wave had been able to penetrate the outer wall.
Aya didn’t notice when one of the Fire Domes dropped. It was already difficult keeping up so many due to the incredibly high mana cost. The ghouls had also increased in power as the moon continued its nightly journey. One particular ghoul had avoided the flames and had remained in the back biding his time. This one was vastly different from his kin, he was much larger than the other ghouls and the glow in his eyes was deeper. Once the moon reached its pinnacle his strength and power were tripled. He charged at the two remaining domes, running through a section not covered by the Ice Storm spell. His charge allowed him to break through the first dome, the fire setting his body ablaze, but rather than feeling pain, he felt rage. He triggered an ability which turned that pain into strength which allowed him to break through the second wall, placing him inside with the two women. He grinned at the women when they both turned in surprise, his rotting teeth making the grin that much more horrific.
Aya quickly cast the third dome, but it was already too late.
Ghoul-This ghoul is smarter and more patient than its more feral kin. Beware, their power increases exponentially with the moon’s travel.
Skill Level ??
Aya placed herself between the Ghoul and Elohwa and at the same time flung her arm out creating a Fire Wall in between them. Elohwa unsheathed her Twin Blades. The only way they were going to make it through this was to destroy the Ghoul as fast as they could, or it would only continue to grow in power. Elohwa triggered her Shadow Dance ability, her body blurring as she appeared behind the Ghoul. Her Twin Blades lashed out, but only connected twice before the Ghoul stepped outside of her range while at the same time whirling around, his claws tearing the air where her body was moving faster than the eye could see. She cried out in pain as the attack landed. Four bloody rips appeared in her leather jerkin where the claws had torn down across her chest. She placed a hand on her chest, pain and shock clouding her features as she saw that her health was down almost fifty percent.
“NO!!” Aya yelled, she flung her right arm out towards Elohwa, green light flooded over the Companion as her wounds began to mend. The Ghoul snarled and leapt towards Elohwa, still weak from her wounds. A shockwave out of nowhere threw him back and through the dome. The fires once again igniting across his skin. Aya turned her eyes towards the Ghoul, her eyes once again ablaze with dangerous light. She raised both hands in front of her, palms out towards the Ghoul. A massive ball of fire began to take shape as she poured more and more power into it. The Ghoul howled in rage at having been denied his victory over Elohwa, his fists slammed on the wall of the dome over and over again. Sparks flew from every impact, the pain must have been incredible, but the Ghoul completely ignored it, his focus was on the two women who were eluding him.
&nbs
p; Aya finally pushed the massive ball towards the Ghoul who tried to dodge the slow moving projectile, but it changed direction and followed him. The further this new Engulfing Orb travelled, the faster it became until the monstrous undead was no longer able to avoid it. The orb slammed into the Ghoul and seemed to disappear briefly before the creature began to burn from the inside out, his body turning to ash in seconds.
Behind her, Elohwa had recovered enough to be able to drink another health potion to refill her hit points. Had that monstrosity been able to hit her a second time, she would not have survived.
“Are you alright?!” Aya turned back towards Elohwa once the threat had been dealt with, the fire in her eyes fading once more. She flinched a bit, though the woman’s wounds had healed, the tears in her armor remained; a heavy reminder of what could happen in this world in the blink of an eye.
Elohwa shook herself. The pain had been bad, but she had felt much worse. “I should be fine. Thank you for the heal, it allowed me time to drink a health potion.”
Aya nodded, her emotions were beginning to rise to the surface, her throat was beginning to ache, as she choked them back. They were still in the midst of danger, if she were to break down here, they were as good as dead. Elohwa’s creation, which until now had been off gathering the loot stones littering the ground, had returned. It tilted its head to the side in curiosity as it examined the women’s interactions. Its eyes shifting back and forth in color, almost as if it were experiencing its own emotions.
Aya’s eyes kept scanning the area past the flames. As the Fire Domes were her own creation, Aya didn’t see the actual flames after the initial cast. She could see a slight shimmer in the air where the walls were, but her vision was completely clear. The Lich approached the invisible line that separated the area between being in range and out of range, the undead surrounding the outer Fire Dome, stopped their attacks and backed away before they started to wander away. The Lich finally halted a few feet shy of Aya’s maximum range, the Spectres surrounding the Lich began to drift away, their black shrouds billowing around them. Had they been within the shadows they would have been impossible to see. As it was, they were barely visible in the dark of the night, the only indication that something was there was the lack of ambient light from the moon showing through them. Aya’s eyes narrowed as she inspected both the spectres and the Lich.