Beastborne- Mark of the Founder

by James T Callum

  Something caught his eye just as he was about to turn away.

  Your Perception has risen to Level 10.

  +2% Perception highlight chance (+20%).

  +5% Awareness of magical items (+50%).

  +10% Danger sense (+20%).

  You have 1 Perception Perk awaiting assignment.

  Premonition 0/1

  Gain the ability to see outlines and indicators where powerful attacks are about to land moments before they hit.

  Keen Eyes 0/3

  Increase your range of perceiving things through visual and audio cues.

  Lv1: Vision & Hearing Range +35%.

  Lv2: Vision & Hearing Range +60%.

  Lv3: Vision & Hearing Range +120%.

  Awareness 0/3

  Increase your situational awareness, making Critical Hits and ambushes less likely.

  Lv1: -10% Critical Hit & Ambush chance | -5% Critical Hit damage.

  Lv2: -20% Critical Hit & Ambush chance | -10% Critical Hit damage.

  Lv3: -35% Critical Hit & Ambush chance | -20% Critical Hit damage.

  Hal paused. Wait, I get perks?

  While each of the perks sounded great on their own, Premonition was the clear winner. If he could avoid damage entirely by seeing where an attack was going to land, Awareness was useless.

  Placing the perk in Premonition, Hal felt a tingling current of electricity run through his body. And then he felt completely normal again.

  With a shrug, Hal turned to the shelf that caught his eye.

  There was a faint discoloration on the stone wall behind the shelf. He was about to ask Giel for help moving the shelf, when he thought better of it. He wasn’t a weakling anymore.

  Grabbing the edge of the freestanding shelf, Hal tugged experimentally. The heavy shelf moved, slowly and with a great squealing noise. Hal pulled on it until he had enough room to slip behind.

  Ignoring the curious looks of his party members, Hal examined the painted symbol. It looked like dried blood. Before Hal could ask if anybody understood the series of overlapping geometric shapes, Ashera and Elora were breathing down his neck, peering around him to get a better look.

  “I’ve seen this once before,” Ashera whispered. “I recognize it from the Founder’s library.”

  “Why would somebody draw it?” Elora asked. “And in blood at that?”

  “It seems to be keeping whatever is out there from getting in here,” Giel put in casually. He didn’t need to get close to see over all their heads. “Whatever it is, it’s probably the reason we’re not swarmed.”

  “But it doesn’t help us get out of here,” Mira added. “They’re still out there, waiting. We can’t hope to battle that many of them, even if we take them one at a time we have no idea how many there are.”

  “Not to mention our supplies will run low long before they tire,” Giel said, crossing his thickly cabled arms. “If they’ve been here ever since the district was closed… we’d need an army to fight them.”

  A shiver of revulsion passed through Hal. He staggered back from the group and bumped into a shelf in the middle of the aisle, toppling it and its contents to the floor with a loud crash. “That’s not the worst of it,” he realized aloud. “Without the Founder’s barrier, are they able to get out into Murkmire proper? Did we just let them out?”

  The thought made him sick. With the way these creatures could practically appear at will, they would wreak havoc on the town. The body count would be astronomical. And it was all his fault.

  “No, no,” said Ashera, putting a comforting hand on Hal’s shoulder. “That’s not possible, Hal. The Manatree prevents most monsters from coming inside its area of influence. The air becomes toxic to them, if they got out they’d disintegrate.”

  “Then why are they in here?” he countered.

  Ashera had no answers for that. But it Giel did. “From what my ma told me, it was the Founder’s own doing. He did something to the Manatree, brought down the protection for this place. But Ashera’s right, if they left they would be zapped like mosquitos to a Manazapper. That ain’t changed.”

  More evidence that the Founder was a horrible person. All the more reason to set up his own Sanctum. If they could get out alive.

  “Regardless,” Elora said, stalking up and down the aisles, “None of that helps us get out of here. We need a plan.”

  “We could try and retreat,” Giel offered.

  “Not a chance,” Mira said. “First of all, there’s no way I’m giving up this contract. And even if that wasn’t on the line, do you remember how wide open the district was right out of the entrance? We’d be swarmed.”

  “The buildings,” Hal suggested. “We run from building to building carving our way through whatever we find along the way.”

  “And where exactly do we run?” Mira asked.

  “There was an area toward the back wall, it was dark.”

  “Everything is dark,” she replied with a roll of her eyes.

  “Not everything.” Hal realized they hadn’t seen what he had. “Up above on the roof, there’s constant twilight, except for that one area near the wall. Some enchantment or magic etched into the very ceiling that contains the district. You can’t see it from the street, there’s a barrier of murk. We couldn’t even talk to you through it.”

  Guild Contract Updated: The Coffin Contract.

  Against all odds, you have gained entry into the Coffin District. But what you found isn’t what anybody could have guessed. The monsters are not simple brutes or opportunistic predators. Something more is at work here. Find out the cause of the strange shadowy creatures.

  Objectives

  Gain entry to the Coffin District (Complete).

  Clear all monsters from within the district itself.

  Additional objectives available.

  Discover the cause for the shadow creatures.

  Rewards

  Guild Rank Increase (Variable).

  District Ownership Rights.

  20,000 Sparks (Per party member).

  Additional rewards available.

  Experience Points (Variable).

  It was already obvious to Hal that something was wrong. Something more than they were led to believe, even with Giel’s tale. But it was good to have confirmation.

  Elora nodded. “It’s true, I saw it too. I tried to shoot an arrow at one of the Shadow Crawlers and it went wide. It was like shooting into a moving stream.”

  “First thing’s first,” said Giel, turning to Hal. “I hate to put you on the spot, friend, but you need these more than I do.”

  Before Hal could react, Giel thrust his large hand out. In his upturned palm was a sizeable amount of sparks. “You got any Class affinity yet?” he asked, dumping them into both of Hal’s palms.

  They vanished into Hal’s inventory with a thought as he peeked at his Class Affinities and noticed, to his surprise, that he was at 97% Chimera Knight. “Actually, I’m very close to unlocking Chimera Knight,” he said with more pride than he’d felt since coming to Aldim.

  Mira snorted. “Sounds like a fake Class to me.”

  Giel ignored her. “We’re liable to run into more, so for now, how about you spruce up your swordsmanship?”

  “I did agree to help out,” Mira said, coming up and dumping her share of the sparks to Hal, followed by Elora then Ashera. Hal decided to let Mira’s earlier accusation slide.

  It wasn’t like he could prove it without being that Class.

  All told, Hal now had a whopping 2,640 sparks.

  Examining his Sword Skill further showed how much EXP he still needed to hit the next Level. Since he only recently hit Level 5, he still had a ways to go.

  But after a few moments of careful examination, he found that Beast Magic was close to Level 6 as well.

  Considering those were two of his most effective means of dealing damage, Hal split the sparks between them appropriately. It was a surprisingly easy thing to do.

  Hal couldn’t help but wonder if somew
here in Aldim, a wealthy merchant accidentally raised some random skill by 40 Levels while drunk one night.

  Your Sword Skill has risen to Level 6.

  +1% Sword damage (+6%).

  -0.25% Sword durability loss (-1.5%).

  Your Beast Magic has risen to Level 6.

  +3% Beast Magic potency (+18%).

  The rush that accompanied raising a skill was just as euphoric as ever. He couldn’t believe that an item was capable of giving him that. He looked at the others around him, “Thank you,” he said with as much heartfelt appreciation as he could manage.

  It was a kind gesture, even if it was because they wanted him to be less of a burden.

  Elora called everybody over to a spot behind the counter near the front of the shop. Where the whispering voices of the creatures became discernible to Hal once again.

  Cannot hide forever. Submit, Failure. Escaped us once. Will not permit again. Release us. Return to Void.

  Their voices washed over him like cold water. He couldn’t get over the feeling that they knew him. What he thought were threats and insults seemed much more… personal. More and more of their strange sibilant speech was focused directly at him.

  Hal shook the voices from his head and looked at what everybody else was staring at. Elora had found a trap door to a cellar filled with boxes and crates.

  “I’ve taken a quick look already,” Elora said. “I found a door among all the junk. It leads into a hallway. I think there are tunnels below that we can use to get away from those things.”

  It was a stretch, Hal knew. Tunnels below the shops weren’t such an unlikely thing but he doubted it was protected like the shop up above. But, there were no other good choices.

  Going out was tantamount to suicide no matter how strong his companions were, they would be swarmed in a heartbeat.

  This was the only option Hal could see working. For a moment, he allowed himself to think that they might be okay. The Shadow Crawlers weren’t clairvoyant.

  He had to believe that they were roused from their slumber by the stunning pellet he dropped. If they could slip out without the creatures aware, they might stand a chance.

  It was worth a shot.

  35

  Hal batted aside the questing arm of the Animated Doll and whipped out with his chain. It looped around the doll’s torso with a metallic report. With the chain taut, Hal used it to pull the doll forward. At the same time, he slipped behind it.

  Giel stepped into the space provided with a heavy overhand chop of his massive greatsword. The Animated Doll broke apart into a shower of stuffing and wooden limbs, no longer moving.

  Giel defeats the [Animated Doll].

  You gain 250 Experience Points.

  You earn 25 Sparks.

  You absorb 15 Doll Essence.

  You obtain:

  1 [Doll Limb]

  1 [Mana Core]

  Your Improvised Weaponry has risen to Level 3.

  +2% Improvised Weapon damage (6%).

  +2% Improvised Weapon attack speed (6%).

  “How many of those things are there?” Hal wondered aloud. The last two hours had been a collection of brief skirmishes with either the animated defenders ahead or the shadowy creatures from behind.

  Hal was running on fumes.

  They had quickly found that, for the most part, the Shadow Crawlers left them alone as long as they kept moving. It took them time to reach them, either because they lost sight of them or they had to burrow through several feet of stone.

  In the end, they proved little more than a nuisance.

  It was the security measures that had been left behind that were the true threat. Animated creatures, some made of wood and stuffing-filled cloth, others made out of metal and clay. The ones made of metal and clay were, by far, the more dangerous.

  The shadowy creatures came after them, slowly but surely, while the dolls ambushed them from the front and through secret passages hidden from view.

  “Keep moving,” Elora said. “Once we find a way back up, we’ll take a rest then. Until then we need to move.”

  On they ran with Elora in the lead, their brilliant Guild badges illuminating the way. The tunnels were bland and roughly square with adjoining circular rooms every so often that branched into further tunnels. Some had ladders or stairs that led to the street above or the cellar of a building.

  As they ran on Hal took out the curious [Mana Core], but before he could examine it further, Mira gasped. “You got a Mana Core? That’s awesome! Give it a squeeze, you’ll see.”

  Deciding it was best to humor the Dragoon, Hal complied. The rough stone had a surprising give as he squeezed it. The whole thing flared to life, filling the narrow tunnel with blue light.

  Soothing mana flowed into his veins as the [Mana Core] crumbled to dust in his hand.

  You use a [Mana Core].

  You recover 100 MP.

  “That’s awesome!” Hal looked at his MP, it was practically full again.

  “Yeah,” Mira said with a smirk. “Most monster cores can be used to recover one or more resources like that. Of course, they’re also expensive crafting items. Oh, don’t give me that look Hal! Better to have a lighter coin purse and be alive than to be a corpse laden with loot. You know the old saying.”

  “What saying is that?” Hal asked.

  “Packs laden with loot, are often low on supplies!” Mira cackled happily.

  “I don’t think that’s a saying,” Hal said, something about the phrase tickled his memory but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “You don’t know,” Mira said, narrowing her violet eyes at him.

  Rolling his eyes at her, Hal looked over the recent update to his Chimera Knight Quest. There were rarely ever two animated guardians in a row.

  Quest Updated: Chimeric Attunement.

  Your dedication to becoming a Chimera Knight is clear. Having achieved 100% affinity in 2 monster families, you are ready to join the brotherhood of Chimera Knights. All that stands in your way is to gain 100% affinity in Chimera Knight.

  Objectives

  Achieve 100% monster affinity in at least 2 monster families (Complete).

  Gain 100% Chimera Knight affinity.

  Additional objectives available.

  Attain over 200% monster affinity with 1 monster family (Complete).

  Attain 100% monster affinity in 3 separate monster families.

  Rewards

  Access to Chimera Knight

  Additional rewards available.

  Chimera Knight Level +1.

  Fabled evolution available.

  Those last few percents of affinity with Chimera Knight were hard to get. It didn’t help that Hal was using Enchainment instead of Beast Magic.

  But the tunnels were too narrow for Bomb Toss and he couldn’t get close enough reliably to use Goblin Rush.

  Not to mention, Enchainment was the cheapest spell he had access to.

  It was a spell that Hal was using with increasing frequency to hold enemies in place while Giel and Mira lined up their powerful attacks. Neither had the ability to maneuver much in the confined space of the tunnel. Having the enemy chained down in one spot made it easy for the pair to dispatch their adversaries with extreme prejudice.

  It was usually up to Ashera and Elora to mop up any stragglers. While Hal dispatched the rare few that slipped past the two efficient killers.

  Using Enchainment like that had brought his Enfeebling up to Level 4.

  He had nearly three monster affinities at 100%. A few more ambushes by the shadow creatures and he would hit 100%.

  Despite the obvious dangers, Hal found himself itching for another fight where he could use his Beast Magic so he could finally become a Chimera Knight. After seeing the Classes of his companions, he had high hopes.

  The familiar whispering picked up again. The telltale whispering that presaged a Shadow Crawler’s appearance. He would get his wish soon enough.

  No escape.

  <“Wait!”> H
al hissed.

  Just ahead of him, Elora slowed to a trot and looked curiously at him. Giel halted just behind him. All eyes turned on Hal.

  <“What is it?”> Elora asked.

  <“I can hear them.”>

  Elora nodded, and tapped her Guild badge. The light winked out and dropped her into shadow. She crept ahead down the tunnel, as it curved sharply to the right. She disappeared around the bend and they all held their breath, awaiting her return.

  This wasn’t the first time Elora had gone off ahead on her own. She often scouted the tunnels but each time Hal felt nervous and worried about her.

  He reminded himself that she was a Ranger. And a good one at that. He had to trust her.

  <“I can’t fight effectively down here.”> Mira grumbled for the tenth time. <“The tunnels are too cramped for my spear and half of my maneuvers require leaping and thrusting!”>

  <“That’s why you’re at the rear.”> Hal reminded her.

  <“Rearguard.”> She snorted audibly over the party communication. <“Best position there could be.”>

  <“At least with you back there, I don’t have to worry about you stabbing me in the thigh. Again.”>

  <“I don’t know how many times you want me to say I’m sorry about that. You’re like an old lady, constantly harping about the same thing.”>

  <“Just once would be nice.”>

  <“I apologized!”>

  <“No. Just saying you apologized does not make it so.”>

  <“It’s like listening to a bunch of children.”> Elora said, returning. <“There are three crawlers ahead in a small room. I see a ladder that leads up and two tunnels that branch off north and west.”

  Giel flashed a toothy grin at both Hal and Mira’s scowling faces.

  Ashera came up from the back and gently placed a hand on Hal’s shoulder, lending her support. She had always been quiet but ever since they entered the tunnels she had been practically silent.