by Rick Scott
What the? But I was way past that stupid hamm—
Blam!
I respawn.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Gilly shouts to me. “It’s just one free hit not immunity. Use it to figure your way through.”
I sigh. “I can see why no one does these stupid things already.”
I try again but this time I really try to follow the pattern. I manage to snake through the ten hammers with only getting hit once. “Woo hoo!”
Gilly jumps and claps for me. “Okay on to the next one!”
Great…
The next obstacle is a set of five huge rings that’s set one after another. They slowly rotate and inside each ring is a bit of platform that you can stand on. I look below the rings and see a pit full of spikes and groan. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“You have to kind of run through this one, Reece!”
“Easy for you to say.”
I jump on the first platform but I must have timed it wrong because as it starts to curve upward with the rotation of the ring, I don’t see another one to leap on to. I cry out as I slip and fall off the plunging to the spikes below.
My Shadow absorbs the landing but then I die a millisecond later anyway.
I spawn in front of the hammers again.
What! “I got to go through all that again?”
“Come on you got through once already. You can do it!”
“Fine.”
I go through the hammer and get hit.
Dead!
Level Down!
“What?”
“You forgot Shadow Copy!”
I grumble as I recast. “How many of these stupid things are there? I can’t be losing all my levels on this.”
“Um… five!”
“Five?” You’ve got to be kidding me! “No way this thing is worth 1 million. It should be worth ten times that!”
“Stop griping.”
It takes me another death to get through the hammers and back to the rings again. This time I wait until the platforms all kind of line and then run through. My feet slip and slide on the rotating platform as I jump from foot to foot. I get through the first, second, third, barely the fourth and then suddenly the fifth platform is too far away!
Splat!
I’m back to the hammer again, but I was so close. I recast Shadow Copy and make it through the hammers without losing it this time. I wait at the rings, looking for the same pattern I saw earlier, but this time I start my run much sooner. I jump across the platforms, clearing one with each stride. My heart is pumping with adrenaline when I make the last leap to the fifth ring and make it! Then quickly hop off to reach solid ground on the opposite side.
“Woo hoo!” Gilly shouts from the observation deck above me. “You did it!”
I pump both fists in the air and can’t help but feel the massive sense of accomplishment that brought on. But also the pressure to not screw up again on the next one and be sent back the beginning.
I round a corner and a flight of steps to the next obstacle. It’s a line of stone columns rising from the same spiked pit far below, but in between them are swinging guillotine blades. I recast Shadow Copy and hop easily onto the first one. I time the second jump and get through, but the next jump has two guillotines sweeping back and forth between the gap. I try to time it but screw up.
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
I land safely on the next column.
“Whew!”
“Yay! Way to go you hax, you!”
I laugh at Gilly and recast Shadow Copy. “Even with Shadow Copy this thing is a nightmare. Never ask me to do this again. Ever!”
I time the next jumps successful and make it to the other side.
Gilly claps for me. “So, what did you think of my parents?”
The question takes me by surprise, but this seems a good a time as any to have a short break. “They were really cool.” I say honestly. “What did they think of me?”
“They said you were pretty weird, but considering you’re dating me, that it was probably an asset.”
I laugh.
“Seriously though, I think they really liked you. My dad said he’d like to get to know you some more.”
After what my mom just revealed to me, I kind of want to get to know him better as well. But with me still being the “kid” who overheard that meeting, I’m wary of any further contact.
“My mom wants to meet you as well,” I say changing the topic.
“Aw. That’d be awesome.”
I nod and know it would probably mean a lot more to my Mom than Gilly thinks. She knows that she’s dying and knowing that I had found someone I could possibly have a future with, would ease her mind. “Hey Gilly, you ever think about the future?”
She cocks her head to the side cutely. “What do you mean?”
“Like… will we still be living down here, even when we get to our parents’ age?” I remember that statement I overheard, about a builder attacking the city 300 years ago. That doesn’t even make sense. If the war happened only 200 years ago how could that be possible?
“I guess so,” Gilly says. “What choice do we have right?”
“Yeah…”
“Hey,” she says spreading her arms wide. “But at least we have all this! Could you imagine if we didn’t have Crystal Shards? We’d probably kill each other out of sheer boredom!”
I laugh but I’m also aware of how well Gilly’s words mirrored what that guy Dennis had said to my brother. Where would we be without Crystal Shards? I almost don’t want to think about the possibility. Being stuck in the habs all day? Stir-crazy wouldn’t begin to describe it!
“You ready for more?” Gilly says.
As annoying as this jumping quest is, it’s like heaven compared to an existence without the shards. The thought makes me appreciate it a whole lot more. “Okay let’s do it!”
Gilly and I chat about other things as I slowly make my way through the jumping quest; more in game stuff mostly, like how she’s going to map out a way for me to maximize on high value drops.
After the guillotines, I come to a narrow corridor that has huge pistons shooting out from one wall and slamming into the other. The sound is deafening and I die a bunch of times in there even with Shadow Copy on. It’s agonizing to start over each time and after ten deaths in a row I’m throwing my hands up and ready to quit.
It must be over two hours we’ve been at this, but Gilly is still sticking in there with me, so I dare not quit. On my eleventh try, I really slow myself down to analyze what’s going on. Something clicks in my head and I realize this is really no different than tanking Sheeba. It’s all about predicting the patterns and in this case memorizing them. I get through the piston corridor after two more tries and then face the final obstacle.
This one has three vertical shafts that are spinning rather quickly and they have small landing platform attached to each one. But swinging in between them are guillotines. I look at the grizzly contraption and feel like quitting already.
“You can do it, Reece,” Gilly says from above me. “You’re almost there!”
The thought of having to start again and go back through everything I just did is totally unacceptable. I study the rotating shafts and puzzle it out in my head. I superimpose myself standing on each platform and work my way backwards. I’m not sure how long I stand there staring at it, but the entire thing starts to almost hypnotize me after a while.
I go to cast Shadow Copy but stop.
I don’t want that crutch.
Just like with Sheeba, I can’t have an easy way out. It’ll make me too complacent.
I need to go into this with no chance of error. It’s zero hit time!
I dash forward and land on the first platform and immediately duck as I’m spun right into the path of a guillotine. I leap again and just barely land on the next and nearly fall from being spun in the opposite direction. My heart leaps into my throat as I cling for dear life, pressing myself against the shaft. I go a f
ull rotation and know I need to jump again soon, but I’m in a bad position to do so now. I didn’t consider I’d be facing away from the next platform.
I picture in my mind when I need to jump and leap backwards blindly. My stomach goes into freefall for a moment and then my back slams into the last shaft. My feet find the platform and I bend my knees just in time to miss another guillotine before leaping again and landing on safety on the other side of the obstacle.
“Yay!” Gilly cheers with delight. “One million baby. You did it!”
My heart is still racing and my head spinning when I stand. I look back at the blender like contraption and wonder how the heck I ever made it through.
I laugh and give her a thumb’s up. “How long was that?”
“Three hours.”
Eesh! “You stayed there watching me for three hours?”
“Yeah it’s been one heck of a date.”
I approach the small pedestal at the center of the obstacle course and touch the glowing yellow crystal that’s hovering above it.
Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Gauntlet of Gears
You have gained 100,000 xp
You have gained 100,000 credits.
You receive a Gem of Trials
Congratulations ! You have gained a level!
Congratulations ! You have gained a level!
Congratulations ! You have gained a level!
You are now level 50.
You have learned a new ability “Advanced Retreat”
Your retreat now frees you from holds, stuns and paralyze effects.
Dang, that sounds pretty helpful. And I got the level I lost plus two more!
I respawn at the starting point and Gilly does so as well. She gives me a great big hug and a kiss. “Okay, hand it over, babe.”
I trade the gem to her along with the 100k to pay for auction fees. “Go make us rich!”
She laughs. “Okay, I’m headed to bed. Exhausted! But this has been the best double date ever.”
“You sure you had fun?”
“What? Watching you die all night? That was priceless!”
I laugh.
A message appears from her. “Okay, that’s a shopping list I made up for you to hit up tomorrow. I won’t be on till maybe around noon. The install guys are coming with the new nano processor and they have to disconnect us from the system to install it.”
“Oh ok.”
“But don’t you slack off! I’ll be expecting result when I get here.” Gilly gives me a final kiss. “See you tomorrow, babe.”
I wave goodbye to Gilly as she logs out and then I log out as well. I’m exhausted but happy as heck. What a great date night! I can’t help but feel things are finally starting to look up for me. Gilly just netted me one million credits in only three hours. Three painful hours, but three nonetheless. Now 3.5 million seems more than possible. With Gilly’s help I’m going to be able to save my brother and my mom.
The thought has me so wired I’m tempted to log back in and farm some more.
But I’m dog tired and I need my rest.
I’ve got Gilly’s shopping list to work through tomorrow.
Chapter 30 The Burning Sands
The next morning, after getting mom set up for the day, I log in to see I have over 1000 subscribers to my channel. There are a ton of messages as well and I can hardly go through them all. Part of me wishes I had recorded my jump quest last night. Then I could have edited it and posted it to my page. That would have been bound to have gotten a few more sign ups. But I’m quite happy with the growth of my channel thus far.
I jump into Crystal Shards and start my day with a bit of admin. I fast travel to from the jumping quest where I logged and head to Swifttide to hit up the auction boards. I use some of my Sheeba cash to upgrade my weapons and armor to level 50 gear. The new katanas and full Ninja Gi attire sets me back some 50k. But with what I made last night it’s seems like a modest investment. I could probably spend three times that amount gearing up to the fullest with +1 and +2 rank items, but I don’t plan on being level 50 for very long.
I then check to see what Shadow Magic scrolls I’m missing. As I pull up the list, I see that there is a new spell available every ten levels, and perhaps more in between that are not listed on the board for sale. Perhaps untradeable ones like Shadow Copy.
Level 5 Shadow Cloak 5000 Cr
Level 15 Decoy Shadow 15000 Cr
Level 25 Shadow Mist 30,000 Cr
Level 35 Elemental Shadow Wheel 15,000 Cr
Level 45 Shadow Bind 5,000 Cr
Level 55 Shadow Wall 2,000 Cr
Level 65 Shadow Tendrils 75,000 Cr
Level 75 Shadow Haste 1,250,000 Cr
Level 85 Shadow Step 1,750,000 Cr
I purchase the scrolls up to level 55. I can figure out what most of them do just by the name. Shadow Cloak is obviously some kind of invisibility spell and I already know what Decoy Shadow and Shadow Mist do. Elemental Shadow wheel allows you to do a ranged elemental attack that seems pretty low powered, but it can be switched to any element. Shadow Bind is a root and Shadow wall is a mass invisibility spell. For the last three I have to check the actual descriptions.
Shadow Tendrils
While under the effect of Shadow Tendrils all your attacks have an ethereal component that increases enmity.
Shadow Haste
Use the power of shadows to quicken your attack rate, movement speed and lower your spell recast and ability cooldown time.
Shadow Step
Travel briefly through the shadow realm to surprise your opponent and regain your strength. While under the effect of Shadow Step, Retreat and Charge Strike gain the effect of teleport and restores10% of your max HP/TP/STAM with each use.
Holy cow these spells are awesome! Especially the Shadow Haste and Shadow Step. I can understand why they’re both over a million credits. If Aiko has spells like these, she’s pretty darn invincible. The thought makes me imagine what having such powers would be like. I’m almost giddy with the idea of one day being able to use them. But for now, I got something way more important to be spending three million credits on.
I use all the scrolls I purchase, learning the spells, and then check to see what Gilly has for me on her list.
From: Gilly
Hi Babe! <3
Ok here’s the plan. I checked out your awesome Sheeba take down vid. It’s like all over the shard now! Needless to say, I’m super proud of you! ^_^ I’m going to brag to everyone that you’re my BF! xD
But I digress.
I went through all the monsters and found one that has a similar attack pattern to Sheeba. That basically means you already know how to dodge tank it. Remember, just don’t get hit! ; D
Head to the eastern part of the Moa desert and look for the Flame Manticores. You should be able to get to level 60 on them. After that, find the Fire Manticores further to the south. They’re basically the same kind of monster. But the best part is they both drop Platinum beastcoins. And they sell for 10k a pop! Fire Manticores drop them more often so level up and hit those as fast as you can!
Good luck! ^_^ XOXO
I chuckled at her message. Gilly is such a sweetie. But checking my other guide from Val Helena, the Moa Desert is level 60 to 85! I hope Gilly knows what she’s talking about. I fast travel back to the Goatoa Plains, but instead of heading east toward the Yughatha Jungle like I did before, I start heading south.
It takes a good twenty minutes real time to traverse the terrain, but slowly the grass gets lower until eventually I’m standing on the edge of a vast ocean of sand. The sun is brilliantly hot and a mirage of heat casts a ripple effect atop the endless dunes. I have another moment of absolute tranquility as I stare at it. It’s hard to believe it’s not real and that I’m actually stuck down in some bunker miles below the surface.
Thank goodness for Crystal Shards indeed.
I get to work searching for my prey. It takes me another couple minutes of travel, but I
head east according to Gilly’s instruction and eventually spot one. It’s a pretty large creature, about the size of an elephant and looks like a lion, but with huge wings on its back. The one I’m looking at is currently fighting a party of four players who are in their mid-50s.
A female elf is tanking as paladin and a male Dwarf with a big red beard is doing damage as thief. The other two are male humans, both mages. One of them, wearing a Pope’s hat, is healing with celestial magic. The other guy is dressed like a witch doctor with tribal tattoos and is blasting the manticore with big elemental spells.
It’s a pretty standard party set up, I suppose. I watch the fight and the manticore does indeed seem to attack with the same pattern as Sheeba; which makes sense, since it’s basically another big cat. I wait until I can see a full attack pattern cycle through. It’s got the tail swipe like Sheeba but instead of her Savage, the manticore has a flame breath attack, and instead of Thunder Roar it has an AOE move called Whirlwind where it beats its wings at you and surrounds you with mini-tornadoes.
Although it’s got the same attacks, I’m hoping these won’t be as tough as Sheeba was. These are just normal mobs after all, even if they are higher level than me.
Flame Manticore
Level: 60
These mystical creatures roam the Moa in search of prey and lost souls. The fire goddess Ifris is said to have created them as play things, but dissatisfied with her creation, tossed them to the burning wastes of the desert, where they remain to this day.
Affinity: Wind/Fire
Only ten levels higher. Not too bad. I pull up my stats next to take a look at how I’m doing.
Class: Ninja
Level: 50
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 60
Agility: 70
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 6
Vitality: 8
HP: 321/321
Stamina: 177/177
TP: 105/105