by Seth Ring
Flying through the air, the massive boulder spun before crushing the rushing kobolds, sending them flying. With a sonic boom, it slammed into the ground, skidding a bit before stopping, raising a huge cloud of dust. Mina, Ouroboros, Velin, and Jorge all stared in shock at the huge stone that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. They didn't snap out of it until they heard a satisfied voice behind them.
"I found the entrance, but it is a bit small, so I'm widening it."
Behind the group, Thorn had been searching through the rocks when he tripped over a log sticking out of the piled stones. When he stood back up, he noticed that the shifted log revealed a small space behind it. Digging out the surrounding rocks, Thorn realized that the entrance to the cave had been covered over with a pile of boulders, with an especially large one plugging up the opening.
Especially large to anyone but Thorn, of course. Seeing that the pressure from the kobolds at the mouth of the canyon was growing, Thorn flexed his fingers and grabbed the boulder, pulling it out of its hole. Raising it over his head, Thorn tossed it over Ouroboros, smashing into the kobolds and narrowing the canyon entrance even further.
The kobolds, terrified that it was now raining massive rocks, fled back out of the canyon, screaming, allowing some breathing room for the tired Holy Guardian and the two ladies. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Mina ran over to examine the cave entrance.
"Do you think this is the one?" she asked, peering inside.
"Only one way to find out, eh?" replied Jorge, slipping past her into the cave. "I'll check it out, boss."
"Ha, don’t you dare," retorted Mina, dashing after him.
Giving Thorn an appraising look, Velin walked after them. Embarrassed by Velin's attention, Thorn rubbed the back of his head and then followed Ouroboros into the cave. The ceilings of the tunnel were pretty high, so Thorn didn't have to duck. Much.
The tunnel wove around for a bit before opening up into the rest of the canyon. From what Thorn could tell, the tunnel had been bored out by hand, over a long period of time, by the kobolds. This brightened up the party's spirits, as it meant that it was less likely that the dragons had discovered this ancient inheritance during the Second Era.
Of course, the dragons had enslaved many of the lesser races, so it was possible that the tunnel had been dug on their orders, but, according to Velin, the dragons were strong enough to rip through the blockage in the canyon, so it was unnecessary for them to have their minions dig.
Before they reached the entrance into the hidden canyon, Jorge made his way back to the group, carrying a body. Despite his short stature, his thick frame possessed significant strength, surprising Thorn. Careful to make as little noise as possible, Jorge put the body down on the ground and gestured to it.
"Hey, boss, check this out. This is one of the two guards that were hanging out ahead. After I took them down, I peeked around the corner and saw a big metal door. There were fifteen or so more of these wolf guys hanging out in front of it. There were two casters working on opening it up."
"Kobolds?"
"Nah, they are not kobolds, or at least, they aren’t any of the kobolds I've seen. Their armor and weapons are all high quality, and they stand a lot straighter than kobolds. Their faces are also different."
"Could they be a different type of kobold?" asked Mina.
"Hmm, interesting. Look. Their fingers are clawed, but they have hands like humans, rather than paws, like kobolds." Poking the dead creature's hands with his sword, Ouroboros pointed them out.
"Wolfkin!" blurted out Thorn.
"Wolfkin?" the other four asked together.
"Yeah, I ran into another person like this," said Thorn, his brow furrowing as he remembered Gargish, the Blood Hunter. Like this body, Gargish was a mix between a wolf and human, having a generally human form with the head of a wolf.
"Hmm, tell us about it. Were they a mob?" asked Ouroboros.
"Mob?" asked Thorn, unfamiliar with the term.
"What a noob," Jorge muttered under his breath, as Mina rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Ah, mobs are NPCs that don't have the same intelligence as the NPCs you interact with in town," explained Ouroboros with a wry smile.
In Nova Terra, NPCs were categorized into two different classifications. Some NPCs, the monsters, were there to act as fodder for the players and friendly NPC factions. These NPCs had very basic AI and generally only existed in the game to be farmed for quests and loot. The kobolds were a good example of this. While a few of the kobolds with classes (like the Chieftains, Shaman, and Greater Shamans) were more advanced, the average kobold had very limited AI. The players referred to them as ‘mobs’ since they were mindless, and it was generally understood that interacting with them was pointless unless it was with a sharp object.
On the other side of the coin were the natives, NPCs that had advanced AI and could reason, think, and scheme like the players. Natives were often no different than players, and it was generally very difficult to tell them apart. For the most part, players interacted with natives to get quests, advance their skills and progress in the game. While there was no proof of it, rumors had it that Eve, the AI that controlled Nova Terra, had the ability to transition mobs to natives, whenever it was convenient, in order to achieve the game's ends.
"No, he was definitely a native. A hostile native. Like, super hostile," said Thorn, remembering the mad struggle he had had with Gargish. "He was a human who turned into a half wolf, half man, like these guys. Sort of a werewolf type of thing."
"Okay, so that means they are a new faction. Almost all native races can be played as characters, though some require unlocking, so this information is pretty valuable. Jorge, how tough were they?"
"They were strong. I had to use both my clone and a mass silence to keep them from hitting the gong."
"I could have killed them faster," muttered Mina under her breath.
"Definitely a native faction, then. We'll have to hope there are not too many of them in here." Ouroboros ignored Mina and stood up, dusting off his hands. "Let's keep going."
Advancing farther down the tunnel, Jorge stayed ahead of the group while the rest moved in their normal formation. Ouroboros led the way, his shield held in front of him, with Mina a step behind, to his right. Spaced to the other side, Velin was a step behind Mina while Thorn brought up the rear, three steps back.
Despite his assurances that he was okay fighting, the other four still treated him like he was a new player and positioned him at the back. At least, they didn't protest when he pulled out his arbalest and loaded in one of the massive bolts. In fact, Mina had doubled over in laughter at the sight of the massive weapon, and Jorge had made a couple sly comments.
At least, Ouroboros hadn't laughed and had assigned Thorn to protect Velin. Excited by the thought of getting to participate, Thorn mentally vowed to fulfill his role well, despite the fact that Velin had the most survivable class out of the whole group.
Turning a corner, they caught sight of Jorge, who was stopped up ahead. Slipping back to where the group was waiting, Jorge held up two fingers.
"Two casters, three heavy armor, the rest look like rangers of some sort. Long daggers and bows. At least ten. Heavies are carrying axes and shields. Casters are spouting some nonsense at a bronze door. Looks like a rune lock that they are trying to open," he whispered, drawing out the enemy's position on the ground.
"Let's go with formation six," Ouroboros ordered after a moment of thought. "Jorge, you are on the casters. I'll hold down the heavies while the girls clear chaff."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"What about the big guy?" asked Mina, glancing up at Thorn's excited face.
"Yeah, what can I do?"
"Protect the girls, of course," said Ouroboros.
"Alright, sounds good."
After affirming that everyone understood their role, Jorge moved behind Ouroboros while Mina and Velin pulled Thorn to stand between them, a few steps behind Jorge, who had taken out
a purple salve to spread on his daggers. As quietly as they could, the group moved up the tunnel. Thorn tried to be quiet, but they had not even gotten halfway up when they heard voices, and a group consisting of an armored Wolfkin and four of the rangers walked around the corner to see what was going on.
As the groups caught sight of each other, the Wolfkin yelled out in surprise, and Thorn pulled the trigger on his massive crossbow! With a piercing whistle, the bolt flew down the tunnel, stabbing into the armored Wolfkin. A loud screech rang out as the metal tip of the bolt buried itself into his chest, punching straight through his metal breastplate and sending him tumbling head over heels.
With incredible force, the armored Wolfkin bowled the rangers over, knocking them all to the ground! For a moment everyone froze in utter shock. It was only when they heard the groan of the arbalest, as Thorn pulled back the string to load another bolt, that they snapped back to reality.
"Go!" roared Ouroboros charging forward, his shield up. Like a shadow, Jorge dashed right after him, tucked behind his back. Mina continued to stare at Thorn, her mouth open, until Velin poked her in the shoulder with her staff. Shaking her head as they ran forward behind the charging Holy Guardian, Mina waved her wand, sending ice spikes into the heads of the rangers, who were still struggling to rise.
Charging right past the struggling Wolfkin, Ouroboros caught sight of the rest of the Wolfkin, who were getting into formation. The two armored Wolfkin stood out front, while the rest of the rangers stood in a rough half-circle behind them, their bows out. At the very back, the two casters had stopped working on opening the door and were readying spells.
With another roar, Ouroboros accelerated, crossing the remaining distance in a flash. His shield up, he smashed into the two armored Wolfkin, causing them to stumble back. As he impacted them, a shadow shot over his head, using his back and his shoulder to launch itself forward. Jorge, who had stuck close to Ouroboros, flew over the heads of the rangers toward the Wolfkin mages in the back!
The mage on the left abandoned his chant as he saw the dwarven rogue flying through the air toward him. Pulling a wand from inside his thick robe, he took aim at Jorge, muttering the triggering incantation. Bloody red lights formed at the tip before shooting toward Jorge. With a smirk, the dwarf pulled his cloak around him, disappearing from the air in a silent explosion of shadow, only to appear behind the other mage, who was still chanting.
Two daggers thrust out at the mage who was still oblivious to the danger. As Jorge attacked, a thin barrier sprang up around the mage, blocking the oncoming daggers. Rather than panicking, Jorge smoothly slid his left-handed dagger forward. Shorter than his right-hand dagger, his left-hand dagger had a thicker blade with a jagged edge. Impacting the magical shield, it flashed a deep red, sending cracks shooting through the shield!
His other dagger followed right behind, slipping through one of the many cracks that had appeared in the shield before cutting through the mage's heavy robe and into his ribs! The mage had barely registered the attack when his throat spasmed, cutting off his chant as the Throat Sealing poison that Jorge had spread on his daggers took effect.
Occupied with the two armored Wolfkin, Ouroboros had no time to worry about Jorge. While his initial charge was enough to knock both of them back, they recovered their footing and attacked. Lifting his shield, Ouroboros shifted to the left with a twist that allowed him to catch both attacks. Rather than going for the kill, he settled into a defensive stance and prepared to weather the storm.
Before the rangers could choose which target to attack, a wave of magical energy washed over them. Ice spikes and golden feathers began to bombard them, sending them scrambling for cover. A few of the braver ones pulled out their daggers and dashed forward, trying to get close to the two girls who were casting spells, only to be driven back by Thorn's heavy swings.
It took less than a moment for the battlefield to devolve into chaos, but, even to Thorn's untrained eye, it was obvious that the chaos was being skillfully controlled. Jorge's blitz had taken down one of the mages, and he was occupying the other with a relentless barrage of attacks while Ouroboros held the middle of the field, where the two armored Wolfkin were stuck to him. Despite trying to retreat to help the mages, the armored Wolfkin could not seem to break away from the Holy Guardian.
Every time they would try to step back, he would shift his position and strike with his sword, forcing them to defend. Even when they attacked, trying to drive him back, he shifted his position. Soon they found themselves with their backs to Thorn and the girls, with Ouroboros in between them and the casters.
The rangers milling about found themselves in an impossible situation. Every ranger that tried to approach Jorge had ice spikes shooting toward their heads. Those that tried to get involved with the melee in the middle were assaulted by golden blades shaped like feathers! Their only option seemed to be to try and attack the girls casting the spells, but that proved to be even more futile because of the giant swatting them away.
It only took a few moments for Mina and Velin to wipe out the rangers. Once the last one fell, skewered by both an icicle and a golden feather, Velin cast a buff on Ouroboros while Mina threw a blizzard at Jorge and the struggling mage. With a soft hiss, the whole area around the dwarf surged with a deep chill. Jorge teleported away as the remaining mage froze solid, appearing behind one of the armored Wolfkin and thrusting both of his daggers through gaps in its armor. With a gasp, the armored Wolfkin stiffened and collapsed.
Throwing a glare at Mina, Jorge was about to attack the other Wolfkin, when Thorn stepped forward and grabbed the armored NPC from behind, lifting him completely off the ground and tossing him aside. The armored Wolfkin hit the wall with a loud crack, his neck breaking. Once again silence descended, as Thorn stared at the now dead NPC. He had been excited to contribute but had not actually intended to kill the Wolfkin.
"Holy…" staring at Thorn's massive figure, Jorge backed up a couple steps as his words trailed off.
Ouroboros, startled to see his opponent disappear, took a long look at Thorn, his mind working. After a moment of quiet, he stepped back and sheathed his sword.
"Alright, let's get all this cleaned up."
After picking up the loot that had dropped, the five of them gathered around the door that the two mages had been working on opening. The door was a massive bronze affair covered in reliefs of battle scenes. Most of the door showed armies of Wolfkin battling against fierce monsters and enemy armies. At the top of the door, however, a series of images showed a massive Wolfkin, at least three times the size of all the others.
Tracing the images from the edge of the door, different scenes showed the large Wolfkin struggling through many trials before arriving at an altar. The image at the top of the door was of the bloodthirsty Wolfkin accepting some sort of blessing from a powerful figure floating above the altar.
"Could that be Davyos?" Thorn asked, looking at Velin, who was studying the carvings.
"Hmm. Possibly," Velin replied, tracing her fingers over the figure of the large Wolfkin. "We have no record of his race, so it has always been assumed that he was human. But it could be that he was one of these Wolfkin. Many of these images do line up with the myths we have about him.
"See here? We have the young hero who leaves his village to go out into the world. Next, he joins an army and learns the cruelty of the world. Here we see him breaking out of a desperate situation and turning it around. This matches the story that he once led an army of a couple hundred to defeat an army of 10,000. Hmm. Ah, here he rises up in the ranks but is betrayed by his own people and is forced to flee with his supporters.
"That brings us to the center image, up at the top, where he is granted power. If this is Davyos in the images, then that is when he gets his triple category class and becomes a Devil Blood Berserker. Then, using that strength, he raises an army and returns to conquer those who betrayed him and drove him out of his home."
"Does that mean that there is a c
hance we will find that altar here?" asked Jorge, his eyes lighting up as he gazed at the door. "I mean, the one that Davyos used to gain his power."
"Unlikely," frowned Velin, dumping cold water on the group's excitement. "If we look farther down the door, it looks like Davyos was forced to retreat again after he ruled for a while. See, this is him having to flee and dying while trying to escape."
"Are these a picture of the doors?" Mina furrowed her brow as she pointed to one of the pictures on the bottom of the door.
"That is what it looks like. Who knows if this is a tomb or something like that. Regardless, we won't know what is behind the doors until we open them up," answered Ouroboros.
Thorn sat down about ten feet from the door and began tossing apples in his mouth while Mina helped Velin examine the magical restrictions on the door. Inventory in Nova Terra was based on a player's strength, which meant that every player's inventory was different. However, strength was limited, and the more a player added to their inventory, the slower they moved. All of this culminated in Thorn having deep pockets, which allowed him to stock an enormous amount of food.