The Mountain Valley War
Page 51
“Maybe this Shaman is better than Hand,” Shaker said.
“Maybe, we shall see,” Mover said, agreeing to the transfer.
“Mover in the legs, you should be able to give her a nice movement boost, Shaker in the gloves, give her hits a little more impact,” Palm said, moving back to the grave. “Oh, Micaela, the totems are under my body. You will need to collect them if you want to transfer the spirits over.”
Micaela cringed, willing away the disgust. A dirty job later, she had moved the two spirits. This time the bickering started immediately. “Let’s hurry, they are already fighting with each other,” Micaela stated nervously.
“Alright,” said Palm with a heavy sigh. “I cannot believe I am doing this.” The Dwarf took a deep breath, puffing up his chest. He stepped closer to Micaela. “Not groping, need to touch the gemstone.”
Micaela narrowed her eyes but nodded her approval, ready to bash him at a moment’s notice.
“I, Palm du Anvil, do hereby swear to serve the Shaman Micaela Crushhammer until death do us part,” he stated loudly and clearly, his form sucking into the gem in seconds.
Class Quest Alert: Spirit of the Shaman 2 – Completed!
You have found a wandering Shaman spirit. Convince him to join you.
Reward: +20,000-Experience, +90-Spirit
“Awe, bloody hell,” Micaela complained. He had tricked her. She thought she was going to be able to ditch him as soon as they got free of the island. Too late now, she grimaced. And what was this +90-Spirit, that was not double the quest promised.
Class Quest Alert: Spirit of the Shaman 3
Congratulations! You have increased your spirit and gained two additional spirits to fight by your side. Hopefully you will live long enough to put them to use. Escape the island or die trying.
Reward: Experience (bonus experience if you escape without dying)
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
Micaela accepted the quest. She wasn’t sure it was possible to escape without dying, but she was going to try her hardest.
Sighing, she started the next part of the plan. “Alright, Gourdies, you get Vision to the other side.”
Palm slipped free of the gem and materialized, when she looked at Palm this time, she understood why she didn’t get double the spirit, he was only a level 9 spirit. She assumed that once he got to the same level as her, he would gain the additional spirit. “Remember, fly high, high as you can. If that ugly bastard tries to go for you, we’ll distract it, at least for a minute . . . I hope.”
“Be safe my friends,” Micaela said, worried for her spirits. This was stupid risky, she knew it well enough, but she wanted to be able to help her other friends end the war. Plus, Palm would be a great source of information to help end things that much faster. She watched the ravens fly, higher and higher in a tight circle, staying within the bounds of the island, gaining altitude quickly. When they seemed to have reached their peak, they started flying east. When they did, Micaela looked to the water, which was now churning angrily.
Micaela jumped out of the spirit realm. Butch was already swinging when something invisible in the mortal realm burst from the water. Micaela assumed it was shooting toward where Vision and Gourdies would be. Then two things happened. Micaela’s ax hit the tree and a screech of pain filled both realms, causing the nightmare beast to appear in the mortal realm for a moment, its ascent halted as it started to fall.
“Hit it harder!” Palm shouted as if Micaela needed to be told.
Sundance’s fiery blade joined in the assault on the tree, the tree that was now bleeding. Each hack that followed caused the beast to shriek in pain. Unfortunately, Micaela’s axes weren’t made for chopping down trees, the blades were too thin. But in the current situation, they were enough, as every hit made the beast appear in the mortal realm for an instant and each strike drew it closer, not that Micaela had time to look.
One final chop and the tree fell. Just behind Micaela, she heard the ‘whump’ of a body hitting the ground along with the foul stench of decay.
“Did we just kill it?” Micaela asked with eyes closed. She risked peaking behind her, cracking open one eye slightly. The shadowy worm creature lay behind her, unmoving. And more importantly, it was evaporating, leaving nothing behind aside from a patch of dead grass.
“Huh, wish I would have done that sooner,” Palm said.
“Really wish I had a boat,” Micaela said, looking at the lake water ahead of her as the first rays of the day started reflecting off the water.
“I am going to miss our little island getaway, those special moments. At least now I will always be close to your heart,” said Palm.
Micaela sighed, thinking to herself, ‘I can just toss the gem into the lake once I get to the other side.’
“I heard that,” Palm replied.
“I know,” Micaela said aloud. There was no easy way to cross, not with her armor as heavy as it was. There wasn’t really anything on the island either except for the recently chopped down tree of evil.
“Think it’s safe to use the tree?” Micaela asked.
“Spirit is gone, should just be a stick of wood now,” Palm replied.
Micaela spent an hour chopping the tree into smaller pieces then using the branches to lash the pieces together. It wasn’t a raft by any stretch, but it was more than enough to keep her afloat as she kicked her way back to shore. And as she came upon land and greeted the over excited Vision, she received the quest completion.
Class Quest Alert: Spirit of the Shaman 3 – Completed!
Congratulations! You have increased your spirit and gained two additional spirits to fight by your side. Hopefully you will live long enough to put them to use. Escape the island or die trying.
Reward: +25,000-Experience (+10,000-Experience Bonus)
Micaela gave a little cheer before laying back on the bank to rest for a little.
Chapter 29
I admit, it felt weird to live the life of an Assassin. Stalking through windows in the night, slitting throats, applying poisons, and killing people in a way that makes it look like an accident. It was disturbing just how little care for life an Assassin had, I didn’t like feeling okay with collateral damage. A lot of it made me feel sick to my stomach.
But I learned from it. I learned to study the body, to look for veins and arteries and target them, not just the chinks and gaps in armor but the vital spots. I learned how to hit them and do the most damage possible. I learned how to pull my weapon free and cause additional damage. And finally, I learned how to cut tendons and ligaments to cripple my opponents’ limbs. Some of it I already knew, but it still felt fresh the first time I did it as an Assassin. I learned how to use the shadows and the environment to my advantage, to stay hidden and strike with such suddenness that there was no defense to be raised and then disappear as if I had never been there in the first place.
And when it all came together and I assassinated my final target, the meditation ended.
You’ve learned ‘Stealth’ subskill ‘Hide’.
You’ve learned ‘Stealth’ subskill ‘Camouflage’.
You’ve learned ‘Stealth’ subskill ‘Shadowed’.
You’ve learned ‘Stealth’ subskill ‘Assassinate’
Stealth
Level: 36
Experience: 71.41%
Non-Combat Movement: Speed reduced by 71.00%
Chance of Being Revealed: 56.40%
Skill Stamina Cost: 2 per second
Subskill: Hide
Chance to Hide After Successfully Attacking: 3.60%
Skill Stamina Cost: 50 Skill Requirement: Hiding place
Subskill: Camouflage
Chance of Being Revealed: -20.00%
Skill Cost: Environment Materials
Subskill: Shadowed
Chance of Being Revealed: -40.00%
Skill Stamina Cost: 2 per second Skill Requirement: Shadows
Subskill: Assassinate
Damage: +100.00 x Character Level Cooldown: 24-hours
Skill Stamina Cost: 100 x Level
You’ve learned ‘Perception’ subskill ‘Find Weakness’.
Perception
Level: 52
Experience: 3.22%
Skill Range: 15.20 yards
Chance to See: 23.00%
Chance to Identify/Track: 36.00%
Subskill: Find Weakness
Skill Effect (Passive): Enables you to see the weak spot of a target.
I was blasted with those messages as I opened my eyes, back again at the precipice of the mind temple. I was once again seated comfortably on the provided cushion. The memories of the experience were already fading away, something I’m pretty sure I was grateful for. More importantly, the skills remained.
Living a lifetime of crime has opened your eyes. You earn +1-Wisdom
“That was intense,” I said aloud, knowing no one could hear me. I had read the ‘Assassination Handbook’ before entering the mind temple, not really studying the book or trying to glean any skills like I usually did, just gathering the knowledge. I wanted to put ‘Meditation’ to the test. I hoped to get one or two skills, I didn’t expect five, especially after Libre, the Hammerton Archivist, said there were only four skills that she knew of in the book. One of which I already picked up from another book, ‘Bodyguard: Client Protection Tactics’ called ‘Justice Unveiled’, a skill I believed to be specific to me as a Warrior Priest. The other I picked up from fighting, a skill called ‘Hit Them Where It Hurts’.
I now had a better understanding of the ‘Wisdom’ meditation. I could use it to glean skills . . . a lot of skills or if I used a ‘Lore’ book, I could gain a sort of mastery over the subject and depending on the subject, I could gain an advantage or enhancement associated with that subject.
That left me with Intelligence and Charisma to test. And I had a feeling they would do something different from the Wisdom focus.
Only one way to find out.
Welcome to the Meditation Mind Temple
Select Meditation focus
Intellect
Wisdom
Charisma
Exit
I thought ‘Intellect’.
Intellect Meditation Selected
Select that which you wish to develop.
One-Handed Polearms
Two-Handed Polearms II
Phalanx Shield
Net
Justice Strike
Shift
Acrobatics
Body Control
Stealth
Resist II
Mental Armor
Lore II
Heat Resistance
Cartography
Runology II
Dancing
Influence
Maintenance
Barter
Trap
Campsite Management
Lockpicking
Scavenging III
Speed Reading
Valkyrie Strike
Perception
Detection
Justice Unveiled
Team Defense
Boar Charge
Holy Smite
Beginner Holy Fire
Lesser Holy Shock
Beginner Heal
Holy Cleanse
Beginner Holy Imbuement
Beginner Holy Barrier
Beginner Mental Fortification
Beginner Combat Blessing
Holy Shackles
Edda of Light and Dark
Order: Taunt
Order: Surrender
Order: Negotiate
Order: Military Command
Final Judgment
Holy Meteor
Back
Now that was something. It just listed every skill and spell I knew . . . well, almost. I couldn’t help but notice the distinct lack of ‘Justice Bringer’ in this list. I also noticed the number of greyed out skills. Skills I knew were already up to level 100 or just didn’t have a level. Still, if my guess was right, this was a mental exercise of a skill of my choice that could actually increase the level of that skill. Whether the increase was fixed or based on how successful you were when whatever happened once, I began the meditation, I would find out soon enough. I narrowed my choices down to a few skill and spell choices. ‘One-Handed Polearms’, ‘Justice Strike’, or ‘Lesser Holy Shock’. Polearms I could train easily enough, it was only on my list because it was way behind my other skills. That left ‘Justice Strike’ and ‘Lesser Holy Shock’, both of which were gifted to me by the Goddess Issara.
One was a skill that weakened whoever I hit to be more susceptible to spell damage.
Justice Strike
Level: 65
Experience: 16.14%
Current Damage Modifier
Damage: +35.50 Cooldown: 30 seconds
Skill Stamina Cost: 115
Skill Effect: A righteous strike in the name of Justice. Increases damage or healing of next spell cast by 75.
The other was a spell that increased the physical damage received by the one I hit with it for 5 seconds.
Lesser Holy Shock
Level: 79
Experience: 13.29%
Spell Damage: 89-94
Spell Cast Speed: Instant Cooldown: 30 seconds
Spell Mana Cost: 258
Spell Effect (Active): A shock of holy energy attacks the nervous system of your target stunning it and increasing physical damage received by 89 for 5 seconds.
They were both very complimentary skills. If I could, I would do both. That said, I could do both . . . eventually. For now, I had been dedicating this month to improving my spells. I had ranked most of my ‘Lesser’ rank spells up to ‘Beginner’ rank with the exception of ‘Lesser Holy Shock’. And I really wanted to complete the set. With a thought, I made my choice and the Mind Temple faded away.
The world faded in again and I was in an open field. My UI showed I had one person grouped with me, a
Objective: You have one chance to cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ against the
Okay, that was interesting. It wasn’t just using the spell over and over again. There was more skill to it.
The Aggressive Simulacrum was swinging at the Defensive Simulacrum with a large two-handed sword while the other used a sword in one hand to parry the blows and a shield in the other hand to block when it could.
I needed to watch carefully for the right opening, I needed to pick the best moment to use the skill. I just hoped I would know it when I saw it.
The pair continued to exchange blows but neither appeared to have a health pool, so the damage was either insignificant or just didn’t matter. Then the Defensive Simulacrum took a step back and slipped, falling to a knee. The Aggressive Simulacrum took advantage, kneeing the other in the head, knocking it to its back then kicking the shield away. The Aggressive Simulacrum raised the sword high overhead and that is when I struck. Wordlessly, I cast my ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ stunning the Aggressive Simulacrum with its arms raised high, leaving its chest completely exposed. The Defensive Simulacrum saw the opening and struck, stabbing through its opponent’s chest, right where the heart should have been. And both Simulacrum faded from view.
Lesser Holy Shock has gained a level. Damage +1, Increase Physical Damage to Target +1
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” I cheered.
Objective: You have one chance to cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ against the
I looked up, there was a
t my spell, but the ball of fire was already moving. I tried to jump out of the way, but my feet were firmly stuck to the ground. I looked back at my impending doom. I felt the heat then there was a flash of light.
The room faded back into being. There was the same Simulacrum standing across from me, already starting to form the fireball that killed me.
Objective: You have one chance to cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ against the
This time I cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ immediately, the spell sputtered and burst, singeing the Simulacrum but not killing it. Then it started casting again. Understanding dawned on me as I watched the new fireball start to form. I needed to choose a better moment to interrupt. This time I waited until the spell was just about to its peak and I cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ again . . . but nothing happened. I took the hit again and another flash of light and I was back facing the same Simulacrum.
Objective: You have one chance to cast ‘Lesser Holy Shock’ against the
“Yes, I know, I know,” I said. I should have paid more attention to the statement it made that I had one chance. I waited patiently for the orb to hit perfect size and then I hit the Mage with my spell. The fireball exploded this time, removing the Mage Simulacrum’s arms and badly burning its face and torso. The Mage faded from view.