No one was perfect. I sure as heck wasn’t.
And that was what started to worm into my mind. Dominance and Guilt were practically in my face now as I tried to close them out and focus on that thread of thought, that despite all the dreams I might have had growing up, perfection wasn’t even what I wanted out of a woman.
The smell of the sludge beast that was Dominance was noticeable even through the reduced input I was getting. “It would seem to me that Kayla is both stubborn and disloyal no matter if it is her real responsibilities or these petty virtual ones.” Dominance let out a dozen gurgling sighs. “If she would simply be smart enough to follow the course I have laid out for her, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.”
Guilt shook her head. “While I don’t care at all about what you want to impose on her, I can’t help but agree. The reason she is even allowed in our sisterhood is her status in the Crucible, something she shirks when she feels like it. Add that to the other recent slights and I don’t even know why I put up with it.”
This close to her, I could make out more (or maybe because this was an avatar the Filter let me see more). I guessed she was a Battler of some type, probably a Berserker based on the massive two-handed sword on her back. I was pretty sure I’d have recognized her if I’d actually met her in game but my growing suspicion was that this was a representation of the Sisters’ guild mistress. It would make sense with everything she was saying.
The immense beast in the mists prowled closer but refused to show itself. “Nothing to say, Shale?" it growled. "That doesn’t surprise me. What could you say to defend such horrid conduct, such disdain for the bonds and relationships your Kayla already has?” The growling voice turned almost soothing, that sickly sweet voice that liars like to use when they sweet talk you. “You don’t have to go through with this, you know. You can show your throat, let the Sorceress die, and return to your own form. Leave this foolish quest behind and be happier for the wisdom this experience has given you.”
Even as the Shades kept berating the woman who wasn’t actually here, I managed to focus on what I was actually thinking and feeling. Kayla’s avatar settled into a basic idle pose as the Ice Shield dissipated and I looked at everything being thrown my way. I had to decide one way or the other and it had to be the right way. It wasn’t about quests or experience or loot (though those were all great things). This was about, well, love.
And that meant while I had to tune the three devils on my shoulder out, I couldn’t ignore what they said. Was I ready to start a relationship where I’d have more than my fair share of work to do on top of all the troubles I already had in my life? To deal with a judgmental, manipulative father and a guild mistress that had her own hooks into Kayla plus any number of flaws that the wolf ghost thing hadn’t thrown in my face yet?
In the end, the actual decision was easier than I thought. My brain and my heart got together and realized one simple, inescapable truth.
“Would the three of you shut down the gossip circle for the moment?” I commanded. It still sounded strange to hear Kayla say my words for me.
The Shades gave off an almost palpable smugness as they silenced themselves, backing up a step. The wolf shadow grew a bit more, and I was sure it was lingering at the very edge of the mist now.
“Of course, Shale,” the wolf practically purred. “I can tell you’ve come to a decision on the matter, hopefully, a smart one.”
Boon ‘Confidence’ granted! Bane ‘Confusion’ and ‘Doubt’ negated! All damage and healing you cause is increased by 10%.
“I have.” I was grinning in my chair but Kayla still swayed in her idle stance. “I’ve realized that there’s one thing that’s important about love, heck, any relationship.”
“What’s that, boy?”
“Everybody has to pitch in to make them work. So, Kayla has flaws. Big deal.” I knew I was making the right choice as the words crystallized my thoughts and feelings. “I have plenty of them myself and she knows that. Maybe she doesn’t know the extent of them and maybe she’ll reject me when she does, but that sure as kumquats doesn’t give me the right to reject her.”
Neutral NPCs can be attacked and I sure as heck was done listening to both of these horrible monsters' insults and jibes. Kayla swept into casting Ice Spears at my mental command, matching the technique I’d seen her do in person. Dominance looked horribly surprised, the blank black eyes widening even as Guilt drew her sword.
“It takes work to make love work, so here’s Shale, reporting for duty!”
Boon ‘Sympathy’ granted! Bane ‘Frustration’ negated! You heal 42 Health Points every two seconds.
Even though my mental commands were slower than normal, they were still fast and I had the drop on all three of my tormentors. Guilt’s sword was barely free of its back sheath as Kayla pointed her staff. A barrage of foot-long shards of ice hurtled into the shifting blob’s chest.
Your Ice Spears hit (critical) the Shade of Dominance! He takes 366 (+183 critical) Physical Damage and 1,440 (+720 critical) Water Damage. He dies!
The wolf in the mists raised its head, silhouetted by some unknown light, and howled as Dominance was impaled by the spears. Shadow stuff was torn away and gushed out the neat holes in the bastard’s chest as the thing exploded into blackened strands of sticky gunk a half-second later.
As I turned toward the Shade of Guilt, I saw she was outlined in bright, brilliant red.
Behind her stood the massive wolf, now labeled plainly as the Eater of Hearts. Like before, there were no levels or threat ratings, just a nice, helpful ‘??’ to guide me.
To my brief surprise, Guilt didn’t immediately rush in with that massive blade to cut Kayla down. Instead, she dropped into a ready stance and glared at me, the blade’s edge bisecting my view of her face. Her red eyes glared malevolently as she snarled. “You know I can beat you in battle, Kayla. We’ve danced this dance before. Save yourself the pain and surrender to reason.” The Shade’s eyes narrowed. “Unlike the fool you destroyed earlier, I am no mere shadow.”
If this was really the guild mistress of the Sisters of Artemis, the same deadly badass that could beat Kayla in a PvP match, she would’ve already attacked. The fact that she hadn’t made me think I had a chance, that this thing was as much of a figment or illusion as the walking blob of darkness had been.
“Then why haven’t you killed me already?” I said as I started casting another volley of Ice Spears.
I knew enough about her spells to know this was her core standby, strong enough but also efficient in terms of Elemental Power. While these shades might only be delusions caused by the Filter AI wrangling in our brains, the big wolf had to be the actual boss here. I wanted to conserve enough of Kayla’s juice to blow him away in short order.
The moment the cast animation began, Guilt charged forward, desperation blazing in those red eyes. She crossed the short distance between us in a heartbeat, swinging the massive shadow sword right for Kayla’s neck. If this were a real Berserker, this would be the Vorpal Strike Skill, one of the most powerful raw melee Attack Gems you could get.
I held my ground, well, Kayla's ground. I was guessing that the Shade wasn’t a real Berserker. She wasn’t a real anything other than a psychological weapon to try to hurt me and even if this attack was half-real, I was confident I'd win this game of chicken.
The blade struck Kayla’s neck and passed through, black energy trailing from the shadow blade. It cut a bloody trail, Kayla's watery blue blood, and even through the diminished sensations of the low feedback mode, I felt the twinge of pain … but her head stayed right where it was, somehow not throwing off her casting time.
The Shade of Guilt’s Dark Vorpal Strike hits you! You take 1,056 (-264 resisted) Darkness Damage. HP 1244/2300
And then the Spears shotgunned out of Kayla’s staff, piercing clean through the Shade’s center of mass a dozen times over. Without so much as a whimper, Guilt slumped to her knees before bursting into another messy clo
ud of black, sticky strings. Yes, I won that head-on collision but was it worth it?
“Come on out of the fog, bad dog,” I cried, shaking Kayla's staff. It was partly bluster, hoping to buy a bit of time for the Sympathy Boon to heal the worst of the damage even as the blood continued to stain Kayla's robes. Starting the big boss off at near half Health was not conducive to victory. “I’d thank you for setting me straight but I’m afraid you’ve made a mess on the carpet. We just can’t have that.”
With plenty of EP still in the tank, I concluded my taunting by starting to cast another Ice Shield, expecting retaliation for my verbal assault, figuring I didn't have time for a full Soothing Cascade before the Eater decided it was lunchtime.
I wasn’t wrong, that was for sure. With a furious howl, the mists exploded as the Eater of Hearts, a huge, black-furred dire wolf the size of an Angelwing transport barreled toward me. Shadows rolled off it like ebony flames and black ichor dripped from its jaws. The Eater moved with terrible speed and even at my full speed, I would have been hard pressed to react to its initial attack.
The Eater of Heart’s Black Bite hits you! You take 74 (-430 shielded) Physical Damage and 180 (-21 resisted) Darkness Damage. HP 1,072/2300
Kayla’s Ice Thorns hit the Eater of Hearts! It takes 87 (-8 resisted) Water Damage. HP 2913/3000
I wasn't going to give the Eater the satisfaction of a cry of pain (something I felt despite the NSAF gear's best efforts) as the beast’s jaws sunk into her torso, the crust of protective ice obliterated in one chomp, its teeth tearing through robes and dented armor plates. The wolf-beast wasn’t done, either. Instead, I growled in frustration as I found myself unable to queue up any commands. Kayla was under some kind of crowd control as the Eater refused to release its grip on the Sorceress.
It was a boss combo mechanic, something I deduced the moment the huge wolf picked Kayla up and shook her like a chew toy. If I had been in full immersion, I’d probably be suffering a nasty case of psychosomatic whiplash as my field of view jerked around like crazy before the Eater sent me flying over its shoulder to hit the ground on the opposite end of the stage with a sick thud.
The Eater of Hearts savages you in its jaws! You take 710 Physical Damage, 162 (-19 resisted) Darkness Damage, and are Knocked Down! HP 300/2300
As I hit the ground, I was imminently thankful for having everything blunted by the low feedback levels. The disorientation of the tumble and pain of being near-death would have made the difficult tactical decision I had to make all the harder. Kayla was getting chewed up by this thing and it was barely hurt. Still, I sure as heck wasn’t going to give up now.
The Eater let loose a blood-curdling howl, black drool staining the stone floor. That premature victory cry gave me the moment I needed for my brain to come up with a plan based on what I knew about the spell icons dancing before me. As I scrambled to my feet, back pressed against the stands on one side of the stage a plan in my mind. Defense, delay, recover.
“You should have given in, boy,” the Eater growled as it maneuvered its bulk back around. “The irony of it all is that while you barely feel the pain of this battle, your chosen will feel every wound when she rejoins her physical body.”
I didn’t give the beast the time of day. The Sympathy Boon was still going, knitting away the worst of the wounds leaking watery blue blood onto Kayla's robes. To give it time to keep working, I mentally fired off the Ice Wall Spell. The Eater was powerful and that seemed to make it cocky. It had missed a prime chance to go for the kill and I’d make it pay for that.
As it sauntered slowly in my direction, I wove the spell. With one last pass of her orb and a flare of blue-white power, the translucent glacial barrier solidified out of thin air. It curved around then grew up and over into a totally enclosed igloo of protectiveness. The muffled bark of frustration from the wolf’s muzzle went unanswered as I queued up a Healing Cascade. I knew my barrier would last only a few moments but that was all I needed.
The entire structure shook as the massive wolf slammed into it. Cracks ran down the sides and the black poison that gushed from the thing’s jaws splattered over the dome, turning it almost pitch black inside. As I raised my orb, soothing, healing waters flowed down over my body.
You cast Healing Cascade on yourself! You heal 732 Health Points. HP 1200/2300
Hopefully, it would be enough to work with. Now I needed precision and luck. Straining my ears, I tried to catch the audible cues of the Eater’s movements, its inevitable attack to shatter the Ice Wall and get at the soft and chewy center. The sound of claws gouging stone filled my ears as the giant wolf pushed off the forum floor into a flat-out charge.
Now, here’s the thing about Dimension Door: it moves you that precise distance in the direction you want, disregarding any physical barriers. It is a freaking teleport spell, after all! The moment the Eater committed to its charge on the dome, I triggered D-Door off to one side. Kayla raised her staff and with a brief pulse of light, we were gone, out from the wall just as the Eater smashed into it.
As I rematerialized clear across the stage, the monster rammed clean through the Ice Wall, and instead of finding tasty Nix to eat, it found solid stone. As it shook itself, clearly disoriented from the blow, I made my move.
“The thing about spiteful forces of evil is that they assume everyone else is just as petty … and as stupid,” I shouted as I fired up Grasping Earth, pleased to see that it was indeed an Area of Effect spell as I thought. A glowing green reticle appeared on the ground to indicate the affected area. The Eater replied with a throaty growl as it shook its head, turning to attack once more.
It didn’t manage to clear its head before Kayla finished the spell. Slamming her staff butt-first into the stone, a good ten paces of the stage around the Eater erupted with stony hands, made from the same stone as the forum, all grasping and tearing at the legs and paws of the Eater.
The Eater of Hearts gains the Bane ‘Grasping Hands’! It takes 108 (-12 resisted) Physical Damage, 108 (-12) Earth Damage, and is Slowed by 75%. This damage and slow will trigger every second it remains in the area of effect. HP 2697/3000
Black blood gushed from the tears the hands gouged into the wolf’s flesh, and it howled in defiance as it began to bull through the deadly earth. “You can’t keep this game up forever! Her strength will fade with only one or two more bites, no matter what boons your feelings give her body!”
As if to put threat to action, the Eater bunched up its body for one massive leap, one that would take it clear of the flailing hands and right on top of us.
But I was done with the speeches and taunts myself. They had served their purpose and while it had been threatening, we had been casting. I had immediately queued the Crystal Tomb spell as soon as Kayla had finished the animation for Grasping Earth, hoping it was what I thought it was.
The Eater of Hearts began to pounce just as Kayla flung her glowing orb at its head. It exploded into a cyclone of snowflakes and frozen rain that swirled around the entire wolf’s body.
Kayla casts Crystal Tomb on the Eater of Hearts! It takes 321 (-81 resisted) Water Damage and is Stunned for 3 seconds, Interrupting its Deadly Pounce. HP 2160/3000
That cyclone solidified into a clear, perfectly faceted ice crystal, encasing the beast in an inescapable prison, even as the Grasping Hands kept beating and tearing at the thing. I also immediately saw why Kayla didn’t use it often as Crystal Tomb had a five minute cooldown. Letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding and with a triumphant beat in my heart, I moved onto phase three of my brilliant plan.
“Looks like love conquers all, eh?” I couldn’t resist one last jab as I mentally clicked the Holy Rain Spell and immediately queued up a Celestial Comet to follow it.
Kayla raised her staff up high and the pure light of the sun above cut through the ghostly fog. It prismed off the Light Gem at the tip of her staff before channeling into the Crushing Wave Gem it was linked to before blasting the Eater with a Primal Light-
charged fire hose of water. As I expected from the Darkness damage it had been doing, the Eater was something corrupted by the Primal Darkness and the Holy Rain blasted through it, searing its flesh and washing away its dark poisons even as the Crystal Tomb started to fade.
Kayla’s Holy Rain hits the Eater of Hearts! It takes 320 (-80 resisted) Water Damage and 908 (+454 vulnerability) Light Damage. HP 932/3000
The crystal that held the monster prisoner cracked and fell away by the time Kayla was halfway through casting Celestial Comet. While I was confident it would get off in time and it would finish the job, one last niggle of worry crept into my mind. This was literally the last of her Elemental Power being put into this spell. If it didn’t work or missed or something …
No. This would work. I wasn’t going to let Kayla down, not at this point.
The horribly mutilated Eater of Hearts broke into one last defiant run as she finished casting, raising her reconstituted orb to the heavens. Even deprived of smell or taste from the low-level immersion, I still imagined the fetid, burning stench of the ichor pouring from its jaws and wounds as it was about to snap Kayla’s head off.
That’s when the Comet hit and blew the horrible corruption of a thing into bloody, flash-frozen chunks.
NSAF therapy analysis mode complete. FILTER.AI thanks you for your patience and cooperation. We hope your session has been both meaningful and helpful to your ongoing emotional state! Thank you for your participation!
"Best therapy session of my life, sure," I muttered as my perceptions went dark and everything around me faded out into nothingness.
Quote 12
The Primal Darkness is a force of total entropy. Does this make it evil? In the sense that its goal would be considered antithetical to life on Elementalis, it is. Whether you consider it good or evil, the one thing that is easy to agree on is that the Primal Darkness is invasive, voracious, and endlessly opposed to anything that stands for order and harmony.
The Vale of Three Wolves: A LitRPG Adventure (Elements of Wrath Online Book 2) Page 13