Losing Ignominia would be rough on us until they respawned; losing Ignominia and another company would be a disaster. Better to consolidate my troops while leaving a reasonable force behind to defend the transition point.
“We’ll not need any babysitters, Top. Me and the boys will do just fine if the defensive garrison doesn’t take too long in getting here. Just make sure when you come back that you bring us a weekend pass or two for me to hand out to the boys once we get back home,” Wrend replied, waving away the thought of needing more troops.
“Very well. I can at least leave two of the runesmiths behind to assist you. Their magic could prove invaluable in defending this place,” I added.
“Sir, I would suggest we leave the catapults and their crews here as well. They’ll do us no good packed in the wagons while we march about, and their high firing arc will enable them to fire over the walls while staying protected. They’ll give the garrison a powerful long-range punch,” Corporal Tavers offered. He was right; we would be marching fast and far for the next few days and the catapults would do no good unless we stopped to besiege some place or had advance warning of where a battle might occur. In addition, the catapults could sit safely behind the walls and lob rocks over a greater distance than any other weapon our foes possessed so far.
“Agreed, Tavers. Make it happen. Wrend, you’ll once again have free range to poach who you want from the other units to bring Ignominia up to strength,” I said, not wanting to leave Wrend with gaps in his roster. The fact that his soldiers were a special detachment of prisoners didn’t seem to prohibit me from bringing it up to strength with regular forces, though the assigned soldiers were sent back to their regular companies once Ignominia replacements spawned.
“First Sergeant, what were our losses in the battle?” I inquired, expecting the worst and not being disappointed.
“Sir, it was a large bill to pay. The elves fought hard and the caster with them was a real nightmare to deal with. We lost 133 men in the assault, along with several wounded that will make a full recovery in the next few days,” Brooks advised. The losses were bad and added to the time we needed before our numbers were back to full strength. It couldn’t be helped, as this place had to be taken. I only hoped that the items and the troop upgrades from leveling would help compensate for our losses.
Wrend hustled about making his selections from the rest of the legion to replace his losses. I was surprised to see he selected mostly from the wounded. It made logical sense due to the rapid healing in-game; still, if the enemy attacked before they were on their feet again, he would be in trouble. I was thankful for his choice, as we would now move a bit faster on the march without having to haul wounded around.
The legion began its march into the new transition point as darkness fell onto Hayden’s Knoll. The actual swirling gateway was set directly against the mountainside and directly opposite from the now-repaired gates. I was the last soldier into the gateway, giving a wave to Wrend and his men as I left. The murderous former prisoner had turned back into an excellent soldier.
You have unlocked the Hayden’s Knoll eastern transition point. Select your destination:
Hayden’s Knoll southern transition point.
Hayden’s Knoll northern transition point (currently inoperable).
Amerville northern transition point.
Primus zone transition point.
I selected the southern transition point and our short journey began. It was curious that the northern point showed as inoperable and could not be selected; I figured it had to do with the bridge being down. I would have to get about repairing it at some point, but it was a challenge that would have to wait for another day.
We emerged from the transition point into southern Hayden’s Knoll, the garrison forces stopping what they were doing to salute as the legion passed through. Not wasting any time, we moved at the same fast pace we had used on our march earlier. The men looked worn down, but these were tough veterans used to hardship and deprivations in the field. We passed one of the defensive garrison squads on patrol after an hour on the road; it was nice to meet friendly forces for once while we marched.
Camp was finally set around midnight, later than normal, as we had pushed to make the crossroads before we stopped. The garrison forces there helped us set up the fortified camp, giving the men a little extra rest. We had made good time and I would let the men wake at their normal time in the morning. We would return to Hayden’s Knoll around noon the next day; pushing to make it home quicker at this point would serve no purpose other than to wear the men out.
During the night, the AI pulled me from the game to refill my medications once more.
Chapter 17
“Okay, so here we go, people. Our objective is to get to the final boss and take her out so that Yendys can get her quest item. Some of us have stuff to do after the dungeon so we’re not going to do a full clear. We’ll just clear a path through the trash and straight to the boss. Everyone good with that?” Jacoby asked the group. They all nodded.
“I wish I could go with you guys, but the stupid dungeon’s locking me out because of my level,” Quimby complained.
“If you would have just done your homework you wouldn’t have to muck around trying to level up,” Yendys admonished. She was still peeved at her friend for getting himself banned from playing by his parents. They had just started to allow him very limited time to play each day again.
The way things stood, Quimby would likely not ever catch up to the others. Yendys was a bit sad that she wouldn’t play as much with her friend. Her other friend, Drake, was also playing his own game as a pitmaster class, helping to manage the very dungeon they were trying to clear for her class upgrade today.
“Sorry you can’t join, Quimby, but we’d love to meet up at the tavern later if you’re still online and we’re always willing to help you out if you run into a hard quest,” Jacoby offered.
“Sure, I’ll meet up with you guys later. Hopefully I’ll hit level 7 by then. I’ve got a quest with a couple other people I met to clear out some bears that have been bothering the loggers nearby. Have a good run and I hope you get your new class, Yendys,” Quimby said before jogging back down the mine tunnel that led out.
Despite not getting to play as much with her school friends, Yendys really liked everyone in her party. Jacoby was a good leader and Kathala—who she suspected was now his real-life girlfriend—was a skilled healer. Smashem was great at what he did: smashing things. She and Nitor provided support and the ability to fill out any random role the party might need.
“Ohhh, I almost forgot! Before we go in, eat the snack my grandma gave us,” Yendys told the group as she opened up the carefully wrapped cookie her grandma had baked for them while they visited her earlier. Her grandma was getting good at cooking here, just like she had been in real life. Once she brought the cookies from grandma’s instanced house back into the game, they gained some awesome game stats, too.
Grandma’s Hearty Chocolate Chunk Cookie: These delicious and filling cookies help bolster the player’s stamina for 1 hour after eating. Excessive consumption in a 48-hour period may result in penalties to strength. *Note, may contain nuts.
They walked past the soldiers guarding the entrance to the dungeon, waving to them and finishing up the last crumbs of the delicious cookies as they entered. A blue haze covered the party for a moment before they found themselves deposited at the entrance to the first level of the dungeon, the one containing that stupid ogre guy who killed them on their first run.
The dungeon had developed a system—one she suspected Drake had a hand in—where a party that had cleared the entire dungeon more than five times received a special key. The key unlocked a secret door on the first level that revealed portals to each floor. They could use the portal to port directly to the second or third and final floor of the dungeon without having to clear the whole thing.
Most groups still cleared the whole dungeon as the rewards and experience for doi
ng the entire thing were much better than the drops given by just killing the bosses. Yendys had a sneaking suspicion that was Drake’s doing; he always hated just doing boss runs in dungeons and wanted to clear the whole dungeon every time they did one in a game. They were on a mission today to help her unlock the Swarm Lord class, so they were heading straight to Tessel.
The group wound its way down the tunnel leading to the first open mining room. Groups of goblins slaved away at the few mining nodes in the room, the lash of their masters forcing them to work as fast as possible. Jacoby maneuvered them past a wandering group of goblins and to the secret door. When he held the key up, a section of wall slid open to reveal a small room. Three archways stood around the room, the first two holding smaller versions of the portal they used to enter the dungeon. The third arch was a new addition they hadn’t seen before.
“Ahh, a mystery perhaps? Just my thing, but no time to figure it out today, I suppose,” Nitor said. The skald loved mysteries and his class was built around getting to the bottom of them.
“Looks like the dungeon is getting ready to expand. It makes sense, as this place has been the same three floors since it was discovered. Now that the average challenge level is increasing, I bet it will add another floor,” Jacoby added.
“Don’t expect Drake to spill the beans. You think he would at least give his friends a heads-up on changes to the place,” Yendys whined. She knew her friend couldn’t give away any info on the dungeon since that was a class restriction of the pitmaster, but at least for Crunchy’s sake, he should have given her a teeny-weeny hint or two.
“Let’s get moving. Once through, follow close. I’m going to try and avoid any patrols and head straight to Tessel. Same plan as before. Me and Smashem will keep her occupied. Our interrupts can stop some of her spells but not all. Yendys, I need you to make a crowd of summons to distract the adds that the dryad always brings. The rest of us will unload everything. Use all your daily abilities and burn her down as quick as we can. Ready?” Jacoby asked as the party entered the smaller portal.
After a moment’s disorientation, Yendys found herself on the third floor. The place was lit with a sickly green light that emanated from glowing patches of fungus on the ceiling. The stunted trees of the forest leaked corruption, and their black leaves always looked so wrong to Yendys. Jacoby waved them forward, the party right on his heels, Yendys and Crunchy bringing up the rear. She had splurged and had dyed his main shell green, and his legs, mandibles, and horns were purple today. The color scheme was sure to intimidate their foes.
SCREEEE!!
The sound of Crunchy in pain caused the party to turn. The unicorn beetle had entered the aggro range of a pack of Foul Spore Wolves that were moving faster than normal. Tendrils from one wolf penetrated the shell of poor Crunchy and were pumping acid into him; thankfully, the other wolves’ tendrils hadn’t been able to penetrate Crunchy’s hard shell.
Yendys snapped off a Nature’s Mending spell, helping to offset the ongoing damage the wolf was causing while Kathala prepared a bigger heal spell. The healing she had just performed caused the two wolves not attached to Crunchy to turn toward her and attack. Yendys activated Nature’s Protection, causing roots to shoot from the ground and form a protective wall in front of her.
The small, four-foot-high and three-foot-wide wall only lasted five seconds, but that was all the time that Smashem and Jacoby needed to respond to the threat. Jacoby slashed one of the wolves, his sword’s magical sharpness tearing through the hide and vines that made up the wolf’s body. Jacoby blocked a counterattack from the wolf with his shield and went about taking apart the corrupted creature with practiced efficiency.
Smashem was less subtle in his approach. With a roar, he brought his huge hammer down onto the wolf with all his prodigious strength. The blow landed on the wolf’s back, cracking something important and spraying the green sap that was the creature’s blood all over him.
“Yes! Crit! Take that, bad doggie!” Smashem said with glee, swinging his hammer about and quickly overcoming his foe.
“Thanks for the assist, Nitor,” Jacoby said as the wolf in front of him burst into flames. Nitor didn’t have a lot of offensive abilities; his class focused on buffing and protecting the others in the group. To compensate, Nitor had bought several bundles of enchanted bolts for his crossbow. The flame bolts were expensive but proved very effective against the corrupted creatures of this level.
Turning back to Crunchy, Yendys could see he had the situation well in hand. The beetle gored the wolf attacking him with his sharp horn and was slicing limbs off with his mandibles. A few slashes from Jacoby finished the creature. Crunchy whined a bit as he rooted around the corpses of their foes. The beetle was annoyed that the corrupted creatures had proven inedible; to date, corrupted creatures and gross sandwiches from Bharga had proved to be his stomach’s only weaknesses.
“Come on, we’re almost there and I don’t want to fight patrols all day,” Jacoby said, waving the group forward. They managed to avoid the rest of the patrols, despite the patrol patterns varying more than they usually did. Most players took a longer approach to the boss, stopping to pick the black leaves which were a valuable alchemy ingredient. This was, of course, a trap. Stopping to harvest ingredients ensured that players encountered several wandering patrols. Some of the trees themselves were even sentient and would attack when they detected someone messing with their leaves.
They approached the clearing that held Tessel and her bubbling cauldron. The corrupted dryad looked at them with her glowing, empty eye sockets.
“You’ve come again. Thank you for providing today’s entertainment for my newest friend,” Tessel said. Though her face was expressionless, Yendys could feel the condescending smile that should have been plastered there.
“Get her!” Jacoby yelled as he activated two abilities. First his shield flew from his grasp and slammed into Tessel, knocking her back and drawing her attention. Then he charged at their foe, his movements blurring. Jacoby slammed into Tessel with his shield. The magical item had appeared back in his hand as soon as it hit his target.
Yendys got busy casting her summons. Her spell had improved since her last level and now created one to three creatures instead of always one. The summoned creatures had also been given a modest increase in power and resembled a smaller version of her pet . . . minus the beautiful dyes on their shells. Two beetles appeared and began to attack the closest target before Yendys ordered them to halt, even as she began another summon. It was her job to handle the adds. She needed all her little friends to help if they were suddenly swarmed by corrupted creatures.
Kathala finished casting her most powerful defensive ability. A shield appeared around each party member, including the summons, which would absorb considerable damage before failing. Once the shield failed it would activate a heal-over-time effect for half the damage absorbed by the party member. The ability was powerful but Kathala could only cast it once per day, and after the cast, she had to recover for thirty seconds before performing any other action.
Smashem glowed red and grew slightly. His rage ability gave him additional health and damage. The half orc roared, growing still taller as he burned his daily Greater Rage, generating even more strength and health for a short time. His blows staggered Tessel and she desperately tried to recover from the assault.
Everyone began to move faster as the rhythmic speech of Nitor’s skald ability added a dodge bonus to armor and increased attack speed. He also shot bolts of fire from his crossbow as rapidly as he could.
Tessel was already down to sixty-percent health when the ground started rumbling. The party expected Tessel’s corrupted companions to make an appearance, but what approached was nothing like the corrupted bears and wolves they had always faced before in this fight.
Corrupted Mukok, Level 12 Elite. Mukok are the huge beasts of burdens usually found pulling wagons laden with goods. Normally good-natured, this poor creature has fallen under the corru
pting influence of the Foul Spore Dryad, Tessel.
“Where did she even get one of those down here to corrupt?” Yendys shouted as she ordered Crunchy and the five beetles she had summoned so far to attack the rampaging beast.
The mukok’s once-thick leathery hide was ripped open in places, revealing the mass of vines and bulbous plants that made up one of Tessel’s corrupted creatures. Green acidic sap dripped from various places on the monster, leaving little hissing spots on the ground it walked across. The ground itself shook from the weight of the once-gentle giant. She had no idea what a corrupted creature this big was capable of, but it couldn’t be anything good.
“Keep it off us. We’ve got her on the ropes,” Jacoby yelled. Yendys nodded; it was her job to handle the adds. She cast a spell that bolstered the defense and attack of her summoned creatures just as they reached the charging monster. The beetle brigade was scattered as the massive, corrupted mukok bowled them aside. Frantically, Yendys cast another spell as the creature made a beeline toward the group’s tank, Jacoby.
Roots and vines ripped from the ground and snagged the creature’s legs, slowing it if not stopping it completely. The roots dug into the beast, causing some damage but more importantly allowing the summoned beetles and Crunchy to catch up to it.
Crunchy ran underneath the mukok; the Piercing Vines spell Yendys had cast didn’t affect friendly targets. His horn glowed as the beetle thrust up, ripping a hole in the mukok and anchoring Crunchy beneath his foe. Razor-sharp mandibles shredded the inside of the mukok, and Yendys could see its health begin to drop as Crunchy and his crew got to work on their foe. Her last cast of Summon Nature’s Ally generated three more beetles who skittered forth to join the fight.
The corrupted mukok was having none of this. The beast roared as vines began to thrust from its body, spearing its attackers. The shields on the beetles held for a few blows before shattering and bathing the beetles in a soft white glow as the absorbed damage began to trickle into them as a healing effect.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 17