by Kieron Uchee
I nodded and said, “These laws were brought in slowly and not all were bad as I said, but then the ruling classes started using fear and misdirection to influence the people.”
“Why would they do that?” Komhether asked.
I thought for a bit before speaking, “No one knows why but they used fear and misdirection to change the way my realm was governed and how the citizens were treated. Advancing yourself and improving your lot in life were once the staples of how things worked in my realm, but with the changes those goals faded and people began to expect to receive a good life. But they refused to work towards accomplishing that good life goal.”
“Well, how crazy is that?” Sebastian asked with scorn in his voice. “Were these people the royalty, that they deserved this?” “No,” I replied, “They were not, but they were told over and over from birth that you deserve this or that, and eventually more and more people began to believe it.”
Komhether asked. “What happened in your realm next Torn, it sounds like the fabric of your society was being rendered apart?”
“I think it was,” I replied. “The state then engaged in spending large sums of gold on wars that bankrupted the realm, eventually only the rich prospered. They would move to other realms or to private enclaves to live. The poor just grew and grew. With all these changes that occurred, the basic rules that caused society to function deteriorated. In short, life sucks in my realm. Not many follow the rules anymore and that is that.”
I continued, “Now there is a whole industry that developed, that promises to fix things for a price. I think what they are really selling is the dream of happiness. I just do not think it will work, because to achieve any dream you must do a lot of work and most people are now too lazy to work.”
Shaking my head, I said, “Well that is enough from me, I basically come from a pretty bad place, where most people simply do not care for anyone else, a very dog eat dog realm.”
Sebastian looking up asked, “What is a dog?”
“It is an animal that co-habitats with some people of my realm. I have never seen one but I have heard they can be aggressive, thus, the dog eats dog term.” Seeing Sebastian nodding his head I turned to Komhether and asked, “Could you tell us about what you know of the heavenly realms Komhether?”
I waited, looking at the little messenger for his response. Komhether looking a little embarrassed spoke, “I wish I could tell you some great stories, but I can’t. I was always waiting around for the Gods but never privy to where they would go. Remember when you saw me sitting on top of the temple. That is where I would be found sitting at a shrine or a temple. Shrugging he continued, “I was never a player with the other Gods, just a person who had to do what they said.”
I could see he looked uncomfortable so I said, “Hey, no problem I know what it is like to be waiting around for stuff to happen. I spent years in the orphanage waiting around to leave it. When I finally did I had to wait a year to get back here. Life is waiting around for long periods of time followed by periods of nonstop action.”
Sebastian nodded and said, “I know what you mean. The years I spent waiting around the Trial of Temptations, just hoping someone would show up. I was really a prisoner; we all were until you arrived at the Castle Torn.” Looking at me he said, “I want to thank you again for again for freeing me, for freeing all of us.”
I could see that this was something that meant a lot to him, it meant a lot to me also. To have friends and people who actually cared for you, well it was important. I stood up and said, “We should go to bed as morning well come early and we are going to have a lot to do. I really want to run that dungeon and finish it in the week I have.”
I said goodnight to the guys and left to go to the park to sleep. They wanted me to stay but a wise man knows when two is company and three is a crowd. As I walked the streets I observed the people going about their daily activities, it was all winding down. There is something comforting about having a family to go home to, having somewhere to belong.
Once at the park, I sat down by the creek and meditated for a while until I felt a peace come upon me. During my year in the real world, I had started to study the philosophy of the Stoics. It really appealed to me and while I did not know a lot about how to practice it but I found meditating was a good way to end the day. Finally, with a clear mind, I went to sleep untroubled by vagrant thoughts and feelings.
Chapter 9 Hammerhead
Morning came early; I awoke to Sebastian gently shaking my shoulder. “Good morning,” I said, as I sat up. I could smell some breakfast sitting on a blanket as Komhether began to serve it out. Getting up I made my way down to the creek and washed up. As I rinsed out my mouth with the clear cold water I was glad that I had a towel to dry off with. It was cool and fog had rolled into the city as I slept.
Sebastian also was looking around at the fog and said, “Winter is coming when the fog starts to roll in at night. We don’t get a lot of snow here but it will be wet and cool. You are going to need a place to stay soon. It just will not be comfortable for you sleeping in the park.”
I nodded, he was right but that would be a concern for later, perhaps after the dungeon run. We ate the warm food and packed up. Making our way through the mist-shrouded streets we finally arrived at the terminal. Sebastian and Komhether split the gear between them and then Sebastian turned into his demonic form.
I gave them a nod and said, “I will meet you at the other terminal, don’t drop anything.” I then took my shirt off and metamorphed my wings out. It was becoming easier and faster each time I changed, and the hunger was not as bad. With a running leap and a flap of my wings, I landed on the wire. The stat increase I had received was evident with my balance and strength.
I began to jog down the wire using my wings to help keep balance. Glancing down I could only see mist, the ocean was covered by it. The time passed quickly and I soon arrived at the terminal. The guys were waiting for me, and I jumped the last twenty meters and glided down to meet them. Komhether spoke up, “Soon you will be able to fly as your strength and power increases. You looked like an avenging angel gliding through the mist.”
I laughed and said, “I am pretty far from being an angel, my alliance is with the other side.” We all chuckled at my humor and then I led the guys through the bush towards the building. Once we arrived Sebastian said, “It sure does not look like much up top here, I am curious what it looks like once we enter it properly.”
I went to work with the lock picks and had the door open in less than a minute. Entering the building I led the guys down the spiral stairs. Eventually, we arrived at the door and stood there for a minute to catch our breath. “Are you guys ready?” I asked. I had decided to see if they could do the run with me, after all, they were not normal NPC. Seeing them both nod I said, “There is a chance that the magic of this dungeon will not allow you to join me if that happens you can wait for me up top.”
Komhether spoke up, “I think it will be all right, as the angelic messenger I have access to almost all areas, and Sebastian is not from this realm so I don’t think that the rules of dungeon magic will apply to him. Let’s enter together and see what occurs. At the worst, we will be waiting for you on the surface.”
I nodded and then went to add them to my party. I was glad to see that they both appeared in the party and I hoped it would make this dungeon run work. Walking up to the door I pushed it open and entered through a green mist that appeared, both of my friends had no trouble following me.
The light was dim and the smell of the sea was everywhere, not unpleasant but strong. As we walked into the cavern it became apparent that this was a wet place. Pools of sea water lay scattered around and rocky outcroppings were visible scattered across the diameter.
The light was dim with several flickering torches spaced here and there among the rocks. The ceiling was about twenty meters above our heads. On the far wall, a waterfall of sorts was descending down the wall behind the largest outcropping of rock
.
I whispered to the guys, “Let's go slow and freeze when we see anyone, we will see if whoever is here is following a patrol.” As we made our way through the cavern along a trail of sorts it became apparent that some of the pools of water were deep. We had just passed one when suddenly two mermen swam up to the surface and immediately began to attack.
I was far enough past them that the trident that the merman tossed at me was avoidable. Komhether was not so lucky; the second merman’s trident caught him in the shoulder. He fell with a muffled cry. I glance at Sebastian in time to see a horrified look on his face. “I will heal him,” I called out, “Take care of those assholes.”
With a demonic glare on his face, he moved so fast that it was a blur. I could hear bones cracking and a hissing voice pleading when suddenly the sound stopped. Two bodies dropped beside me with a heavy thud. I ignored them as I slowly pulled the trident from Komhether shoulder. It was barbed and the pain must have been terrible as his flesh was ripped open.
The weapon was finally free from his flesh and I could see the blood rapidly pooling under his shoulder. I began to cast my one healing spell that all new players had. Slowly the wound closed as I cast heal over and over. Eventually, my mana pool ran dry and I could do no more. Once I stopped healing Komhether, Sebastian grabbed his hand and began to comfort him.
I asked how he was doing and Komhether replied that “It hurts but is well on the way to being healed.” My thoughts were racing, son of a bitch; one of my friends could have died here. I was not pleased; turning to the guys I apologized and suggested that we rethink this. The instance was not going to be a wash rinse and repeat dungeon.
With all the tidal bores the merman could jump out of any hole that we would pass and I counted at least twenty-five more holes to get by before we arrived at the waterfall. We did not have a tank to be a meat shield and my healing was limited. I think that we needed to concentrate on DPS and see if we could ping pong aggro from one to another as we burned the enemy down.
Explaining what I was thinking I asked what the guys thought and what they had offensively to offer. Sebastian spoke first, “I have speed and strength with a demonic fury buff I can activate for myself.”
I turned to look at Komhether who looked sheepish and said, “I don’t have any overt DPS however I can summon angelic light which is a super bright light, in this dim cavern it will blind the mermen for a few minutes.”
Nodding I spoke up, “I have an electrical attack I want to try out, Komhether why don’t you and Sebastian each take one of the tridents and use it to the best of your abilities. It is better than nothing, and Komhether feel free to use the light spell but let us know first so we can cover our eyes. I will do the same when I attack that is when I want you both to take to the air. I do not want to fry you guys.”
Turning to the dead mermen I held my hand over the bodies and looted them. They had two silver each and one had a ring, a green item that added ten plus points to health. I put it in my bag. It was better than a kick in the crotch but nothing to write home about. I had hoped for some blue items.
As we approached the next pool I beckoned for the guys to stay back and grabbed a rock from the floor and tossed it in. Within moments, the surface was broken as three mermen lifted themselves above the water. They glanced around trying to get a look at what had disturbed them. As they focused on us I targeted them and cast lightning from both my hands.
As the lightning hit them they froze with all the muscles of their body locked up. I held the power on for about two seconds and then stopped it. As soon as I stopped Sebastian began moving, he grabbed all three and with a triple crack they were dead. Putting the bodies at my feet he said, “Holy smoke, Torn, I broke the necks because I believe in the double tap but these three were fried before I got to them.”
I nodded when I had cast the lightning a power grid had appeared on my interface and I could see the power usage. I had used about five percent of available power to cast two seconds’ worth of lightning. I could live with those numbers, it was an OP attack for my level, but I was not playing by the games rules.
I looted the bodies for 6 silver and one green item. It was all vendor trash, not worth keeping. We began to advance to the next pool. After about three hours we were in front of the waterfall. I had made about 76 silver and a handful of green items. Nothing great but I was hoping to get something from the Boss of this level.
He was swimming in the pool at the base of the falls, a huge hammerhead shark. I knew he had seen us but he was content to swim in his pool. The water was clear and at the bottom of the pool was a chest. The only way to get to the chest was to get past the shark. No wonder the bastard was grinning at me, swimming in there, to defeat him I would have to go into the pool with him.
Sebastian asked what the plan is, I had no clue so I said to the guys, “Let's eat.” I always feel better after a meal and hopefully, I could think of something as we ate. As Komhether began to lay out the food we had brought I could see the shark circling upwards trying to get a better look at what we were doing.
As I stared at him he stared at the food that had begun to appear. Suddenly his head broke the water and he looked at us. Opening his mouth he spoke, “By the squid, is that human food you have there? I declare Pax Oceana.” Suddenly this large hammerhead shark changed into a man and climbed out of the water.
He was huge and had perhaps too many teeth but he looked humanoid. As he walked over he began to sniff the air and then said, “The smell of the food is driving me crazy, may I join you for lunch?” I was startled and not sure what to say when Sebastian answered him and said, “The peace of the ocean upon you, please join us for lunch.”
As we sat down I kept an eye on our unexpected guest. It was amazing watching him eat, he devoured all that was put before him with one or two bites before swallowing it half chewed. Once we were finished eating I lit up a smoke and relaxed, then asked the shark man how long he had been here.
“I have been here for a long long time. Once I roamed the oceans free to hunt and swim, but now I wait for someone to come and do battle. I listened as he spoke of the deep ocean where even he would not swim and of the villages of the merfolk. Of the underwater trade routes that followed the currents and all the other denizens of the deep.
He finally came to a stop and then looking at us he spoke once again. “You have no hope of defeating me in the water, but still you have been honorable and courteous. I will allow you to do battle with me on the land. If you defeat me then what is down there is yours. Do you accept my challenge to you?”
I nodded, this was the only way I could see that we would have a chance at winning. “Let's clean up and then we can begin,” I said. looking around I could see that we were all in agreement. It only took a few moments to clean up the food and put everything away. Once we were done the hammerhead turned and bowed.
Suddenly he attacked, moving faster than I had thought he could he leaped over to Sebastian and grabbed him. I could see that they were equally strong, but with a twist, the hammerhead threw the Demon over his shoulder towards the waterfall. Komhether had not been standing still while this struggle was happening , he had grabbed both tridents and as the hammerhead turned towards him he thrust both of them into the front of the shark man.
With a grunt, the shark man backhanded Komhether several feet into the air and then glancing down at the tridents he grinned. Looking at me he said, “It hurts but they barely penetrated and have done no real damage. As he began to move towards me I ran at him waving my arms around in an attempt at distraction.
It did not work and I felt his arms grab me and begin to squeeze, my hands were trapped at my sides banging against the tridents. As I began to feel my ribs bend I suddenly grabbed each trident and released the lightning. Each trident acted as a lightning rod and I pushed out all the current I could. Strangely, I should have been shocked as well but the current did not damage me at all.
I could feel his arms begin
to loosen up as they held me and start to reapply the pressure again. I glanced up at him and watched as a small smile slowly appeared. Damn it my electrical attack had stunned him but had not done enough damage to finish the fight. Suddenly Sebastian and Komhether both appeared and each grabbed one of his arms. I am not sure how they did it but they managed to lift him off of me and up to the ceiling and then maneuver him over to a sharp rock outcropping.
Then they suddenly dropped him just as his arms began to twitch. I watched as he landed back first onto the jagged stones which punctured his back. I heard the crack as his spine broke from the impact and as I looked at him I saw a smile appear.
I walked over to the outcropping and heard him say, “Thanks, young adventurer, a good meal, and a good battle. That is how we live and die in the ocean.” He reached up and pulled out a tooth and handed it to me. “Keep this, it is a gift,” and with a cough he died.
I looked at the shark tooth he had given me and watched in amazement as it grew into a blade about nine centimeters long. Both Komhether and Sebastian looked at in and nodded, Sebastian then said, “That is a sign of great honor to receive that, treasure it.”
I put the tooth away and looted the body for five gold coins and then we made our way back to the pool. I asked the guys if they were alright and once they told me they were I said, “I am going to dive down and loot the chest, why don’t you guys look for the exit to go to the next area.” I began to strip down to the tight white underwear and then took several deep breaths.
Jumping in I realized that the water was not that cold which was a relief. I swam my way down to the chest, it was about ten meters deep I would guess. Once I touched it a buff appeared on my interface, it read, Underwater breathing for ten minutes is enabled. All of a sudden I could breathe, it felt normal, like breathing on land. I love magic, I thought as I opened the chest.