The Shield of Shadows was counting down the last seconds. 14…13…12…
I didn’t have time to pick up Pinprick’s loot. I opened the menu of Aelmaris and selected Blazing Warrior, the most powerful weapon at my disposal: the avatar of True Fire capable of destroying any target. The Magister had expressly told me to use my abilities as one of the Seven. I wasn’t going to pull any punches!
It was the third time bringing into play the abilities of the Seven after Daine, the Mistress of the Succubate, and the dome of Pandorum’s juggernaut. Neither of them, however, was as enormous. Honestly, I wasn’t quite convinced that even the phenomenal True Fire could kill this monstrosity.
True Fire was said to be the developers’ way of destroying worlds. Aelmaris used it as an element dealing fixed damage, and transforming into Blazing Warrior made this damage uncapped. Basically, the fiery avatar annihilated everything it touched. However, many items in Sphere were complex, composed of many small parts, like building blocks. A juggernaut was a good example. I remembered how Ragnarok’s deck burned under my feet, but I hadn’t incinerated the entire vessel. I was afraid that something similar might happen with the squid—a humongous beast like the Guardian might easily be above my paygrade.
…3…2…1…
Unwilling to risk being killed by the acid DOT, I activated Blazing Warrior. Waves of heat ran down my body, transforming it into blue flames, and my aura emanated fire. I felt the Guardian’s flesh come apart beneath my feet, melting, and charged forward—my plans didn’t include falling out of the monster through a small hole. I had to destroy it completely!
Something dark descended on me from above, and everything around me shook as the Guardian started furiously contracting its stomach, trying to belch out the burning splinter. That, however, only served to harm it all the more. I walked, swam, tore through its flesh, immolating everything I touched. Incredible numbers—billions of damage—popped up in the combat log. The squid’s stomach, liver, craw, gullet, heart... The Guardian really did consist of multiple parts, and losing one organ probably didn’t matter to it—it could easily regenerate! All of it continued for an agonizingly long time, and I started thinking that the whole enterprise was pointless...until I found myself outside the creature in the black depths of the Sea of Terror.
The last line in the long list of destroyed organs was the squid’s brain. Disemboweled, opened like an oyster, the Guardian slowly sunk to the bottom, its guts blacker than the water around us. I couldn’t help but dismay at the result of my actions. The tentacles were still alive, writhing and lashing in all directions, but it was clearly the death throes. As it died in a cloud of spurting blood, the monster hit the bottom next to the edge of the chasm and stopped dead, limply spreading its tendrils like a torn starfish.
You destroyed the Deep Guardian! Unique achievement unlocked: Deep Slayer! You are the first player in Sphere to receive this achievement! Unique achievement unlocked: Dauntless! You receive 5 free attribute points! You receive 5,000,000 XP!
You destroyed the Deep Guardian single-handedly! Unique achievement unlocked: Beyond the Impossible! Unique ability unlocked: Monster Menace! You receive 5 free attribute points! You receive 1,000,000 XP!
Congratulations, you have earned 500,000/500,000 XP! You receive 1 free attribute point!
Congratulations, you have earned 1,000,000/1,000,000 XP! You receive 1 free attribute point! Achievement unlocked: Milestone! You receive 3 free attribute points! Attention: From now on, you will receive 1 free attribute point for each million of earned XP!
Congratulations, you have earned 2,000,000/2,000,000 XP! You receive...
Holy crap, six million XP! I was so immersed in reading the long list of rewards raining down on me, most of them unique, that I almost died, forgetting to turn on Air Bubble. That would have been one stupid death. In total, I got six achievements and twenty-two free attribute points. It made sense; without the cheat-like Blazing Warrior, only a raid of hundreds, if not thousands, of players could kill the Guardian. Two of my new abilities stood out: Dauntless and Monster Menace.
The latter, proudly flashing a whole outline, took the place of honor next to “Smart” and “Ancient Gene” traits. It granted a weird effect: all creatures tagged as “monsters” were supposed to get 5 points of Dread in my presence. It didn’t work on anybody else and generally seemed useless. It’s not like I met mega monsters that often. Five points of Dread meant weakening the opponent by 50%. Any carebear clan that farmed dungeons would probably jump at a chance to recruit me.
Dauntless, however, was something else. It was a secret passive ability similar to Ascetic. The description said, After killing the Deep Guardian, you cannot feel fear. You are no longer affected by Dread.
Unbelieving, I read it once again and glanced at my Dread bar—it was empty. Four stars of Estel shone instead—even in the Hole, where Dread was always at three to five points. That was a mind-blowing gift of incredible power. It meant that I would get a huge advantage in any place ruled by Dread where players had to wear Estel gear simply to retain their stats.
However, the most interesting stuff was still hidden inside the Guardian’s colossal corpse. For example, an essence crystal is usually dropped by smaller monsters. True Fire might have burned all loot—or not. I shouldn’t linger; I was already expecting to have to spend the entire night in-game.
HotCat: Thrainul! I hope you aren’t too far yet!
* * *
Just as expected, gathering loot took up far longer than the battle itself. We only finished at dawn.
There was nothing to be afraid of anymore—the Guardian was dead, and the rest of the local fauna were too scared to enter its domain. Thrainul’s crew pulled on deepwater suits and flayed the monster’s carcass, using harpoon guns to load everything onboard the Abyssal, which was staying on the bottom. Contrary to my predictions, there was so much loot that even the submarine’s bulky hold couldn’t contain everything. Barrels of “mushroom flesh” and other cargo flew overboard as Thrainul frantically freed up space. The Guardian’s slimy entrails filled up the deck and the hold, looking as disgusting as ever. However, I seemed to be the only one struggling with my gag reflex, as the others were too riled up. Of course, they were—nobody else in Sphere had ever killed a creature like that!
“There’s enough loot here to sell for six figures, dammit!” the zwerg cursed when the cargo hold ran out of space. “And we’re leaving just as much!”
“Six figures? I think you’re underestimating, Captain,” Fayana said thoughtfully. “All ingredients and reagents are of legendary quality, and they’re one of a kind. I can’t even imagine how much it could cost.”
“Who needs it, anyway? Crafters?” I asked, curious.
“Oh, there are lots of applications! Alchemy, cooking, enchantment, artifact making, leatherworking, even astrology and divination. Dread-affected bones—what do you think could be crafted from them? Legendary-level materials should produce legendary items, the best in Sphere. Too bad so much burned away. Still, you’ve become a very rich man, HotCat. Congratulations.”
“Only if I get all of that out!” I retorted. “As far I know, transporting stuff out of the Hole is very hard.”
“We’ll do it, for a small fee!” Thrainul puffed. “It’s on me. Don’t worry!”
“I have a different proposal,” I said. “A fee’s a fee, but the Guardian’s dead, and the path to the Isle of Madness is free. If you—”
“You’re at it again!” Thrainul grumbled, interrupting me. “I’ve already said—”
“If you get me there and back,” I continued, stubborn, “then I’m willing to give you some of the loot in return. Say, this one...”
I pointed at a large yellow orb covered by sackcloth. Even through the fabric, I could see it pulsating. That was the Guardian’s essence crystal, and it possessed a lot of curious features. For me, they were completely useless, but any of the captains in the Hole would have sold their soul to the de
vil for anything like that. I had seen Thrainul’s eyes light up when we raised that thing aboard.
First of all, it was a powerful source of light both above water and below the surface. Second, it had a mile-wide Guardian aura that scared away sea monsters. Third, it removed two points of Dread for everyone onboard the ship. The essence crystal could be made into an artifact-level searchlight and installed on the Abyssal, making Thrainul the only captain in the Hole capable of sailing the far reaches of the underground ocean.
“I’m not sure...” Thrainul said, hesitating and glancing at Fayana and Bonus. “We were sailing to Scale...and I have arrangements with my passengers.”
“Really, with cargo like that?” I clapped the zwerg on the shoulder. “There’s no harm in changing plans.”
“The passengers don’t mind,” Fayana said with a wry smile. “Captain, don’t forget that we’re the Pioneers! We’re always up for discovering new locations! Please agree to HotCat’s proposal—actually, I’m begging you to do it!”
“If anyone told me the story about the Deep Guardian, I would have never believed it,” Bonus spoke up. “But now, I want to see how this ends and be the first to map out this island of yours!”
“You silver-tongued devils,” the captain grumbled, grinning. “Honestly, this is a royal gift, Cat. I can’t really refuse, considering your luck... So the Isle of Madness, you say?”
Chapter 16
“THERE IT IS. I won’t sail any closer, sorry.” Thrainul passed me the spyglass.
The black crags of the Isle of Madness loomed before us. The Abyssal’s new searchlights illuminated the coast, revealing the sharp spines of stalagmites above the surface of the water, lustrous obsidian cliffs, and stiff rockslides. The island wasn’t big. Most of it was taken up by a huge cone-shaped mountain shrouded in darkness.
Locating it hadn’t been too hard, at least with our newfound immunity to sea monster attacks granted by the Guardian’s crystal. After a day spent searching the blank spot on the map, our seekers detected only one landmass.
Pressing my eye to the lens, I carefully studied the coastline. Unfortunately, coming closer to the island was impossible—it was surrounded by a broad ring of stalagmite reefs. However, a boat should be able to navigate it, and I didn’t need anything more. The rocky beaches between the glistening heaps of cliffs were strewn with bones of all shapes and sizes: many-eyed skulls, giant ribcages, long vertebrae. All skeletons belonged to the strange creatures of the Sea of Terror, and formless ghosts that looked like ribbons of mists wandered around them.
“Dread level is off the chart,” Bonus said. “Eight points! If not for Guardian’s crystal, we would have never gotten close.”
“Yes, mapmaking’s canceled,” Fayana said with a sigh. “HotCat, are you sure you want to go ashore? I don’t think it’s a good idea. Max Dread! How much Estel do you have?”
“Four,” I told her the truth. I couldn’t exactly mention my unique Dread immunity to essentially random acquaintances. What two know, the whole world knows, my father used to say. If this information found its way online, everyone would whine about imbalance, and I would become a subject of intense focus. They’d never let me hear the end of it.
“Four isn’t enough to break through max Dread,” Fayana said, perplexed. “I have a one-point amulet. I can give it to you. Too bad we don’t have a bard...”
I nodded earnestly—yes, ballads gave a nice boost to Estel—and said, “No need. I can handle it.”
“The island looks like a dormant volcano,” Bonus said slowly. “See these smooth streaks? It’s frozen lava. Places like that might have fire and stone elementals.”
“All I can see are ghosts.”
“Those aren’t ghosts. According to our Almanac, those are undead, spectral nightmares. Third-class threat. Life drain, psionic stab, spectral touch. Do you know how to fight them?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll go past them via Shadow Plane,” I replied and laughed at the Pioneer’s long faces.
“Don’t worry about me so much! I’ll try to be quick.”
“You promised to film a video,” Fayana reminded me.
The island was full of shadows, big and small. I shamelessly used their eyes to look around the bone-strewn coast and the foot of the mountain. Shadow Eyes couldn’t reach beyond that, but I still found something interesting. A rough semblance of a road ran to the top, coiling around the dormant volcano. If anything at all was hidden in that dreary spot of land, it was hidden there.
Time to get it over with.
* * *
After landing, I almost immediately activated Shadow Run and quickly traversed the small area full of mumbling ghosts. I didn’t want to fight them, and Fayana was adamant that the only signals on the island originated from the coast, while the interior was clear. A narrow footpath led upward. It looked like nobody had walked it for quite some time. As I traveled through the Shadow Plane, I scanned more and more shadows through the grey curtain, using their eyes to look for anything unusual. At last, I got lucky, seeing a dark crevice, the mouth of a tunnel, almost at the very top, right under the obsidian perch. Had I finally found it?
The cave was dimly lit by the green light of luminous mildew growing on the low ceiling. The tunnel was round and clearly small, even if its corners were concealed in darkness. Shadows told me that it was completely empty, and I could safely enter.
Inside, in the center, I found a round-shaped fireplace built from charred stones. It was well-used, judging by the cinders, burnt coals, and a pile of old ash. Several kitchen utensils were scattered nearby—a kettle, a tripod, a mug, fragments of broken jugs. Traces of ever-present dampness indicated that it had been some time since their owner was there last.
One of the corners of the cave hid a pile of fuel—driftwood, shriveled mushrooms, and dried algae—while another had an ancient stone bed on a small elevation, still displaying the contours of the human body. An empty chest with an open lid stood next to it. With an effort, I discovered a few more traces of human presence: a broken knife, an axe handle, an empty potion vial.
It was obvious that someone, most likely Svechkin, had been there—and that he was long gone with all of his belongings, including the Compass. The island was too small to hide, and seekers couldn’t detect any signals except for the ghosts. The conclusion was clear: Svechkin wasn’t there anymore. As for where he went, it was a big question. So what was I to do? Contact the Magister?
I sensed movement and immediately turned around. A familiar figure came inside the cave, bending slightly. He was dressed in leather armor and a hat, his face bandaged. Rocky? How had he gotten through the Dread surrounding the island?
“How did you get here? What happened? Where are the others?”
“Don’t worry; they’re safe on the ship.” Going by the Gravekeeper’s tone, he was smirking. Rocky seemed at ease and relaxed, and suddenly, I got an inkling that Dread didn’t affect him at all. But...it couldn’t be!
“You were looking for someone here, weren’t you, Cat?” Rocky said as he stepped closer. “Consider it done.”
“What do you mean? This place is empty, don’t you see that?”
“Wise up. I know that you were sent by the Magister. You wouldn’t have learned about the Isle of Madness yourself. What does he want?”
I was taken aback. Rocky knew about the Magister? The puzzle slowly came together: the Gravekeeper’s unusual behavior and knowledge, the bandages on his face, the way he kept glancing at my sword, the constant questions about me...
So Rocky was Svechkin? If felt impossible—no, absurd. Why would he join Thrainul’s team and sail the Abyssal across the underground ocean? That seemed odd.
“I see. You can’t make sense of everything.” I heard Rocky’s voice. “Let me show you something.”
The Gravekeeper approached one of the cave walls, abruptly wiped off the mold on top of it, cleared the area, and stepped back, allowing me to look. The wall was covered with symbols
carved deep into the stone: stylized pictures of a sword, axe, hammer... There were seven of them circling a seven-pointed star, each opposite a specific beam.
Rocky’s fingers danced across the symbols that lit up blue. I couldn’t follow the pattern. Finally, the Gravekeeper touched the central star, the entire image flashed, and the wall of the cave moved up with a booming sound.
Behind it was a narrow passage that ended with a small room. A grey cube lit by a ray of light coming seemingly out of nowhere stood in the center. I recalled seeing it before—I had found Aelmaris on a similar pedestal in a cave just like this one. There, however, seven throwing stars forged from blue metal with silvery sparks lay in a circle. There could be no mistake—it was a flaming weapon from the Seven Brothers’ set.
Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series Page 20