by Aleron Kong
They all raced back to room with a chest.
Richter started giving orders, “Futen, disable the wards in this order, Life, Fire, Water, Death, Dark, Air, Light, Earth.”
The white light at Futen’s center started pulsing, and the lines of symbols surrounding the golden rune began spinning like a tumblers on a safe. All three layers of symbols stopped moving, and then the golden lines comprising the ward thinned until it disappeared completely. Richter waited a moment, but when nothing happened, he gave a cheer.
“Thank god that worked!”
“What?!” That question came from all of the sprites at once. They hadn’t known that he was only mostly sure his reasoning was right.
“Relaaxxx,” Richter said. “Everything worked out.”
Yoshi opened his mouth with an angry expression on his face, but Richter interjected, “Shhhh. Don’t distract Futen. If he loses focus, we could all blow-up.”
Futen spoke in his emotionless voice, “I will not be distrac-”
“Shhhh,” Richter interjected again, “just get back to work.”
In less than ten minutes, all of the wards had been disabled. Richter gave a flourishing bow. The sprites had apparently not forgot that he had just gambled their lives on a hunch, though. Yoshi just brushed past him and started examining the chest, muttering under his breath. Sion and Daniella walked away saying they were going to gather the bedrolls they had left in the central chamber. Richter sat down with a satisfied sigh, reflecting on something he had heard long ago. The saying was true, there was only one thing more satisfying than solving a puzzle, and with the puzzle you didn’t have to buy dinner first.
CHAPTER 19
Richter woke to a hand shaking him. He looked up into Yoshi’s face, and the sword adept was actually smiling. The scar on his face made the expression more than a little creepy. Not exactly the visage Richter would have chosen to wake up to.
“What’s up,” he asked.
“I need your help,” Yoshi said, extending a hand to help Richter up.
Richter stood and walked across the room to the chest. Only one area of the chest was still glowed red when he looked at it. A one foot by three-inch rectangle.
“The release points are at each corner of this last trap. Do you see them?” After a moment, Richter nodded. “All of the points need to be pressed simultaneously. I could do it myself, but it’s easier with help.”
Richter placed his picks, and Yoshi did the same. At Yoshi’s direction, he sunk both lock picks into the tiny holes of the mechanism. There was an audible click and the red rectangle of the trap faded away. Richter shared an excited grin with the half-human swordsman and gestured magnanimously to the chest. Yoshi surely deserved the reward of opening it after having spent all night disarming the traps.
Sion and Daniella had awoken at hearing their conversation and now stood behind the kneeling members of their party. Yoshi put his hand on the chest lid, and they all held their breath with the anticipation of children on Christmas morning. They were not disappointed.
You have found: Enhanced Health Potion x 4. Will restore 120 health points over 6 seconds.
You have found: Basic Life Oil. Apply to weapons for increased damage against Death creatures.
You have found: Bag of Coins.
You have found: Book of Flame. Shoot a weak gout of flame from your hand.
You have found: Bone Key.
You have found: Hatch Wheel.
You have found: Iron chain. Damage 7-9. Durability 20/20. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight 2.4 kg.
You have found: Wooden Shield. Defense +6. Durability 40/40. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight: 3.4 kg. Type: Light armor.
You have found: Recipe: Potion of Stagnation. Halts health regeneration.
You have found: Recipe: Basic Health Potion. Restores 80 health points over 6 seconds.
You have found: Gold figurine
Richter was happy that Futen had followed his direction to start identifying unknown objects without prompting. It was kinda irritating always having to ask. The haul from the chest was amazing! Of course, after two solid days of work! The amount of effort that had been required to navigate the traps was maddening. Richter could very well see why this dungeon had been locked to him until he reached a level 10. Even at his current level, he couldn’t have soloed it. The enemies, puzzles and traps would have stopped him before he even got to this point.
He handed the recipes to Sion, who immediately started pouring over the stagnation recipe. Richter didn’t really have a use for them yet. His Alchemy skill was still at level one. The sprite already knew the recipe for weak health potions, but the basic potion would be a step up. Richter handed the health potions out equally. The weapon and shield didn’t seem like anything special, but he had never seen a chain weapon before. It had a baseball sized weight at the end. Actually, it looked like the weapon Gogo used to fight Black Mamba, but a lot less graceful, Richter thought. It should have a good reach, he reflected.
The Book of Flame he put reverently to the side. He had been dying for a flame spell, but first there was a mystery to figure out. The hatch wheel could be expected to open the round door in the central chamber, that was obvious. They had also just found the key for this branch of the dungeon. Now unless there were two keys to find in this section of the dungeon, (which was usually not the way these things worked, at least when The Land had just been a game) it seemed like there was absolutely no reason go into the room with the draugh. He thought about it for a few seconds then shrugged and just loaded the rest of the loot into his Bag. He reached up to close the lid, but when he touched it again, the bottom of the chest blazed with light.
Oh crap, he thought. He shut his eyes against both the glare and the expected pain from whatever trap he had just triggered. Nothing happened, though. Richter opened his eyes and saw words inscribed in flickering purple flame on the floor of the chest. As he read, a prompt appeared.
You have been offered a Quest: When Good Men Do Nothing. All souls deserve rest. In the far chamber, noble warriors are trapped by the desires of an evil creature. Will you free them from their servitude? Yes or No? Reward: Unknown.
‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ That was the quote Richter remembered from English class. The quest was a paraphrase of the old quote, bascially acknowledging that he had everything he needed to keep moving forward in the dungeon. He didn’t need to fight those draugh in the other room. He could forget about those ‘noble warriors.’
Richter stared at the bottom of the chest, and then looked at his Companions. They had seen the same words that he had, but they just looked at him, waiting to follow wherever he led. There wasn’t a clear decision. They had already been in this dungeon so long. It was extremely tempting to just keep it moving. Who would he be if he did that, though? Was he just living this new life for himself, or would he actually stand for something? Richter selected ‘Yes.’
The words at the bottom of the chest winked out. He took both keys and the hatch wheel out of his Bag and extended them to Yoshi. “I know you don’t want to wait to keep moving forward. I accepted the quest, not you. What I’m trying to say is this is on me. You don’t need to help. You can keep working on getting out of here. I’ll catch up if… when I can.” Richter lifted both hands farther towards Yoshi in an attempt to hand the items over.
Sion immediately stepped forward and started arguing, but Yoshi held up his hand sharply quieting the sprite. He looked Richter in the eye. They held each other’s gaze for a full minute. Then Yoshi raised his hands, but he didn’t take the key or the wheel. He pushed Richter’s arms back down to his sides. “It is true that the eaters need to be dealt with. It is also true that sometimes hard choices need to be made, and certain sacrifices must be allowed. That should be the exception, however, not the rule. I am proud to fight alongside a man who would help those who cannot help themse
lves.”
Your relationship with Sword adept Yoshi had improved from Neutral to Friendly.
They did not go to black archway immediately. Yoshi had not slept for a long while, and everyone understood they would need to be at their best for the upcoming fight. The men lay back down while Daniella stood guard over them. Richter closed his eyes, his last sight was of her smiling down at Sion.
CHAPTER 20
After Yoshi awoke, they discussed their plan of attack. Richter also took the time to learn the Fire spell. Once they had agreed on the roles they would play, they wasted no more time walking to the large black doorway. Richter restocked his ally’s quivers from Bag of Holding. They all applied the Basic Life Oil to their weapons, including the arrow heads. Then they cast whatever buffs they could. Even Alma cast Haste and zipped through the air above their heads. Last, they all drank a Potion of Clarity. It was time.
Sion, Daniella, and Richter situated themselves ten yards back from the doorway, the maximum distance the configuration of the rooms allowed for them to still have clear shots. They drew their arrow and began to Imbue. Sion and Daniella’s arrows took on a blue aura that grew brighter and more intense as they poured in more mana. The glow around Richter’s arrow began as a warm golden glow. It didn’t stay that way for long, however. For some reason that Sion couldn’t explain, as he invested more mana into the arrow, black streaks began to play over the gold aura. The streaks moved faster, and a barely perceptible hum filled the air. They were still within the boundaries of the village, so he used the village’s mana pool to power the arrow, leaving his personal mana stores relatively intact. The streaks of black were moving so fast that they gave the appearance of having stabilized into a solid whirls over the golden surface. Framed on either side by the bright blue glows of the sprites arrows, Richter poured mana into the arrow until it felt like it was vibrating off the string. He released. The sprites’ arrows fired right after his.
Daniella’s arrow struck the warrior on the left closest to the doorway. Richter shot the next one, and Sion’s arrow impacted the one after that. As soon as the arrows crossed the threshold, the draugh warriors came awake. The guards moved quickly, but not fast enough for the three warriors that had been targeted. All of the arrows struck their targets in the head, causing critical shots. All three collapsed to the ground. Richter stole half a second to check his combat log.
Richter shot Draugh Elite Guard for {[(Base damage from Recurve bow of the Wood Sprite (16) + damage from Sprite Arrows of Nature (1)) * Archery bonus (1.18) * Dexterity modifier (1.24) * basic life oil damage multiplier against Death creature (3)] + damage from imbued mana (228 * (0.12)} * critical strike multiplier from Recurve bow of the Wood Sprite (2.2) = 224.36 damage.
Not a bad opening salvo, he thought with a little smile. His target wasn’t dead yet, but it was well on its way. Then there was no more time for gloating. The four warriors on the right, and the remaining unscathed warrior on the left had stepped down from their alcoves and had already crossed half the distance to the black doorway at a run. This brought the draugh on the right closer together, which was exactly what Richter had been hoping would happen.
His arm shot forward as cast Grease, and they all collapsed into one another, unable to maintain their footing on the now slick surface. He had aimed his spell so that the tail edge of the 10x10 foot oily surface would appear in front of the guards, causing them to collapse into the center of the spells AoE. Richter wasn’t done, though. He extended his other hand and cast Flame. For as long as there had been day there had been night, for as long as there had been internet there had been porn, and as long as there had been grease spells, there had been fire spells to burn sumbitches up!
A jet of flame shot from Richter’s hand and the slippery circle became a round inferno. It would continue to burn for until the thirty-second duration of Richter’s Grease spell elapsed. The draugh had been silent up unto that point, but if there was one thing all undead agreed upon, it was that they hated fire. Inhuman screams filled the air when the dried flesh of the draugh became like so much tinder. Despite the damage they were suffering, they weren’t out of the fight. They weren’t called elite guards for nothing.
All four got back to their feet and continued running forward weapons raised. One fell again, but the rest successfully kept their balance. Sion shot another with Stun shot, causing it to collapse back into the circle of flames. The other three kept coming though. Meanwhile, Daniella had been staggering her fire among the four on the left, but the one closest to the center had almost made its way out of the room. She wasn’t able to put much mana into each shot because her rate of fire. As soon as it crossed the threshold, though, Yoshi was there to meet it.
This was no polite dance or formal duel. The draugh elite guard and the half-sprite warrior met blade to blade. Only one would survive the encounter. The draugh warrior had a hand and a half sword which it jabbed forward towards Yoshi’s chest. Yoshi caught the blade on one of his swords to parry. That looked like it had been the plan anyway, but he hadn’t taken the draugh’s immense strength into account. The blade continued forward, and it was only a quick move that allowed Yoshi to avoid being skewered.
When it became clear that he couldn’t parry the blade, in the split second he had left, the adept slapped his second blade against the draugh’s sword as well. He contorted his body and braced against both swords to push himself to the side. Though he avoided being maimed by the draugh’s opening salvo, the undead’s sword still sliced into the outside of Yoshi’s right bicep. The adept hissed in pain as blood started to flow down his arm. He ducked quickly to avoid the draugh’s followup stroke and took a step back to reset a proper stance. Then his two quicksilver swords flowed towards the draugh again.
Sion used Stun Shot a second time, trying to catch another draugh leaving the circle of fire. Unfortunately, the guard caught the arrow on its buckler. The attack wasn’t without cost. It consumed 35 stamina every time he used it. In a fight, depleting your stamina was as good as a death sentence. Sion switched back to firing imbued shots.
The three draugh that had escaped the Grease AoE, were no longer on fire except in thumb nail sized spots here and there. The three enraged undead ran towards Richter. They were too close! He cast Troubled Sleep, but the draugh guard shook off the effects of the spell. He immediately cast Charm on another. Gahhh, no effect! In desperation, Richter used a spell that he had never cast before, Cloying Darkness. A cone of thick billowing blackness shot from his hand. The good news was that all three were caught in the spell. Their movement and attack speed were reduced by 20% and they were momentarily blinded by the cone. The bad news was the spell only had a range of ten feet, which meant they were right on top of him!
As Sion and Daniella kept up a withering fire on the four draugh still in the room attempting to finish them off quickly, Yoshi’s battle with the lone draugh continued. The sword adept had not made the same mistake of trying to match strength with his undead foe. He realized that the draugh could easily best him in that kind of contest. Thankfully, Yoshi’s prowess as a Warrior did not rely on brute force. At the start of the second exchange, he proceeded to systematically take the elite guard apart. He moved into form The Lady’s Fan Opens, which brought him to the monster’s right. Now on the outside of the draugh’s attack radius, he committed to the aggressive form Reaping Wheat, followed by the Crane’s Neck, which brought him up to full extension. The draugh threw an elbow towards his face, but Yoshi had already moved into Setting Sun, which flowed naturally into Scorpion’s Kiss. Each form morphed gracefully into the next, and each movement either scored a hit against the draugh or perfectly positioned him for another strike. The draugh may have beaten the half-human in raw power, but Yoshi more than made up for it in skill, speed, and grace.
The draugh roared in anger as it took another swing at Yoshi. Yoshi having seen the shift in the undead’s hips was in motion before the sword had even moved. By the time the b
lade was in flight, Yoshi had executed the form The Orc’s Hammer. The draugh’s sword arm fell to the ground. Yoshi finished the battle with The Drunken Barber. One blade struck the draugh’s neck biting deeply and sliding free. His second sword finished the decapitation, and his foe’s body collapsed.
The second phase of Yoshi’s fight took 18.4 seconds.
Richter’s situation was not nearly as rosy. The three draughs’ disorientation was short lived. Even though the slowing effects of Cloying Darkness lasted ten minutes, the actual physical manifestation of the darkness began to dissipate after only one second and was completely gone after three. Richter had used the time to pull out his Life dagger and move far to the right. When the monsters brought their weapons down to strike, they found his former space empty. Their decreased speed coupled with the fact that Richter was hastened gave him an edge. He attacked the draugh closest to him. He struck low and his Life dagger cut deeply into the back of the draugh’s heel. Even though the draugh was undead, it couldn’t ignore anatomy. With it Achilles tendon severed, it was not able to support itself, and toppled to the ground. The other two turned to face him. One swung a buckler at his face while the other swung its axe horizontally. Richter hopped back and cast Ice Dagger. The spike of ice struck the left draugh in the shoulder. The damage caused was negligible, but the point of casting the spell wasn’t to cause harm. The purpose was to keep its attention on him, and not on Yoshi moving quickly up behind it. Alma helped by striking both draugh with a psi blast, staggering them.
Two swords erupted from the draugh’s chest. One was completely in line with its heart, but blood had long since stopped pumping through its body, and so the hit didn’t register as critical. The draugh turned quickly to reach Yoshi, but he jumped with his swords still inside of its chest. His body moved with the twist of his enemy’s waist. As he moved, Yoshi kicked the other draugh that was in the process of swinging its axe at Richter again. It overbalanced and fell on top of the draugh that Richter had initially crippled.