“Chloe, this way,” Tag said, smashing the skull of a skeleton and nodding into the gloom ahead to where the mage floated in the darkness, the wisp now circling him like a candlelit target.
“Good job, Decaru!” she called. “Stay on him!”
“Decaru?” Tag asked.
Chloe gave Tag a look as if to say, ‘You expect me to explain this to you now?’
They made their way closer to the mage, the location now lit by the wisp. Chloe and Tag whirled around each other, Ben and Gideon thinning out the crowd around them as their defense turned to offense and purple fireballs found their way into the crowd of skeletons.
Purple flames lit up the great cavern, and Chloe was shocked to see just how many skeletons there were. She peered over their heads to see where they were coming from and saw the mage staring at them darkly, its hands aglow as the bones of their defeated enemies were brought back together. The dead rose once again to become the...living dead?
“We have to take him out. He’s the source of it all. They’re going to keep coming back unless we can take him down!” Chloe shouted, her voice hard to hear over the ruckus.
“Nice plan, girly,” Tag growled between attacks. He took the shaft of his hammer in both hands and swung in a circle. After several revolutions, he summoned his rally cry again, that familiar mystical blue haze returning to the battlefield. Tag laughed as he was suddenly shrouded in bright light, his body floating off the floor as he leveled up in front of them all.
“Ha! At last!” Tag shouted out. “Level 7! Woo!”
Chloe felt the power of the Call of the Valiant, her body swelling with the temporary buffs Tag had bestowed upon them. Allowing Tag to charge ahead, Chloe followed in his wake, taking out any skellies that had somehow survived the wrath of his hammer.
“A little farther.” Tag was panting, determination on his face.
They made quick progress across the floor, now only a short distance from the mage. When they were within striking distance, Chloe shouted for Tag to crouch. She sprinted toward him, used his back as a springboard, and leaped into the air, her sword leaving a blazing trail of indigo behind.
“Take this, you mother—” beep!
As the beep rang around the cavern, Chloe smiled triumphantly, preparing for her sword to meet the flesh of the mage. She laughed, then her face fell as the mage disappeared in a flash of blinding light. Chloe fell straight through where the body should have been and stumbled clumsily as she found herself on the floor.
Skeletons swarmed her and her mouth opened in panic. Somewhere far off, past the stink of decay and death, she could hear Tag’s shouts as he smashed his way toward her. Gideon and Ben roared somewhere beyond the noise.
Chloe couldn’t believe it. She had been so close. She had almost had him. One inch closer and he’d be dead on the floor, Chloe using his body as a landing pad rather than flailing helplessly as her sword extinguished and she felt the skellies clutching and clawing at her body.
Not now, Chloe thought, panic rising within her. Please, not now.
KieraFreya sighed. I’ve got you, bitch. Chloe’s arms began to move of their own accord, blocking many of the attacks—but not all.
Chloe watched as her health began to decrease, feeling the pain like daggers in her side. She closed her eyes, thinking back to her previous death. How she had been all alone in a cave. The lengths she had gone to to reunite with her group. She couldn’t go through that all again. She couldn’t lose, not now. Not this time.
Block after block, scratch after scratch. Chloe’s anger rose. There was a fury deep inside her, a determination she had never felt before. She had a purpose here. These men needed her. Without Chloe, they would surely all fall to the mage’s wrath.
A sound began to gurgle from the back of Chloe’s mouth—a roar from the belly of a beast, growing louder as she cried out. The anger bubbled from within and found its way out of her body as a triumphant roar that gave the skeletons pause in their attacks. At that moment, she was no longer Chloe but someone different. Someone greater. Chloe flexed her arms, closed her eyes, and screamed until her lungs burned.
That was when everything changed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
For a moment, all Chloe knew was white. Every inch of her vision was as blank as a fresh canvas, and her body moved without her thought.
She became aware of an almighty scream, worried now that her throat might grow hoarse from the effort. She finally realized that it wasn’t her scream at all. The sound was coming from in front of her.
Chloe strained to see, her vision a drunken blur. The dazzling light was emanating from her hands as KieraFreya’s pushed the magic out in a column of white in front of her, wiping out skeletons as she cleared the path ahead.
What...what are you doing? Chloe asked.
KieraFreya struggled to talk. Getting...us...out of...here.
Chloe straightened, her strength returning to her as control of the magic began to slowly transition from KieraFreya to her. Where before Chloe had fought against KieraFreya for power, this time it felt as though KieraFreya was handing over something with precious potential and any wrong move would hurt them both. There was compassion and care in the transition and Chloe took the power in her stride, rising to her feet and aiming the swath of light in a sweeping arc.
“Duck!” she shouted to Tag, who wasted no time in obeying.
The skeletons fell the instant they were touched, the light strong enough to reach the whole room. The mage floated somewhere in the distance, the faintest trace of fear on his face.
Chloe started running toward him, clearing a path for herself and the others.
“Gid, now!” she shouted, not waiting as Gideon started with surprise and began to sprint across the room.
“Don’t leave me!” Ben called, giving chase until all four were once more united in the center of the room.
Chloe stumbled as she stopped, feeling the MP drain as the light extinguished and the mage leered at them, lit now only by the wisp once more.
“Tag, keep the skellies at bay,” Chloe commanded. “Ben, help Tag. Gid…” she gave him a wink, “you know what to do.”
They all obeyed, Ben, Tag, and Chloe keeping their enemies away as Gideon sank to his knees and began to chant, his concentration entirely on the job at hand. Chloe whirled her sword around her, keeping her eyes on the mage as much as possible, watching as he studied them with great interest, marveling at the woman and the powers she had produced.
As Chloe fought, she watched her MP regenerate. Not fast enough, she complained. Not fast enough. She got assistance from KieraFreya and found that battling was easier than it had ever been before.
The mage resurrected the crowd once more, Chloe’s shoulders slumping as she felt the weight of what was about to happen in the pit of her stomach. The skeletons outnumbered them almost 100 to 1. If they didn’t pull this off, they’d be screwed. All this fighting would have been for nothing. They’d all find their way back to Oakston with nothing more than the memory of a battle lost.
Unless the others have set their respawn points to the entrance to the dungeon, Chloe thought sadly. She hadn’t confirmed her set point, not knowing if she was going to find the others there or not. The last thing she had wanted to do was keep respawning miles from familiarity and hope.
Chloe’s MP hit a modest 25% regen. She glanced at Gideon, power now seeping through his hands.
“Whenever you’re ready, Gids,” she called.
Gideon nodded, then stood and manipulated the magic flowing through his hands. “I’m not sure I’ve got enough, Chloe.”
“Just try!” Chloe said desperately. “Just try!”
Gideon attempted to fire his spell, but the magic dissipated the instant it left his hands.
“Come on, Gid!” Chloe shouted, her magic vibrating in her hands, KieraFreya once more grunting with exertion.
The thin mage tried once more, his eyes screwed shut in concentration. The spell
was taking every last ounce of magic within him to summon. He shaped his hands while Ben and Tag fought off the tide, focusing on giving the two magic-users enough space to finish the job.
“Gid, NOW!”
With a sudden movement, Gideon threw his magic at the mage, now caught unawares as Chloe cast her own spell and threw a column of light directly at his chest.
The mage’s mouth opened wide, then froze. The light hit the mage at exactly the same moment the mage’s time clock slowed down. The mage hovered in mid-air, his robe flowing with the minutest of movements as he were in a vat of treacle.
And now came Chloe’s moment. As Ben and Tag beat the rhythm toward her final victory, Chloe once more grasped her sword, launched herself, and slashed at the mage. Her sword glistened in the wisp’s light, and there was a glint of fear in the mage’s eyes. Chloe came at him again, and again, wondering how long the time freeze would hold the mage still.
She landed gracefully on both feet, feeling her stamina and MP drain. Behind her, Gideon folded over on the floor, his breath coming in short bursts as the skeletons closed in.
Yet still, the mage remained frozen. Skeletons launched at her as she made her way back to the others, her sword singing as it cracked skulls and cleared a path for her return.
“How long is that magic going to hold?” Chloe asked Gideon.
Gideon did not reply, his hood cloaking his face as he panted to try to recover.
“If it holds much longer, we’ll be overrun,” Ben shouted. “We can’t keep fighting. Our stats won’t allow it.”
Chloe’s eyes flicked back to the mage, where thin slices were beginning to appear across his robes, slowly threading deeper toward his skin as time tried to catch up with what Chloe had done.
Another skeleton down. Another. Chloe remained by Gideon’s side, protecting and keeping him sheltered as the skellies came to grab him. “Gid? Now would be a great time to get up and help us.”
Gideon’s eyes were unfocused, his face dark. “Need…mana…” he struggled to say.
Chloe turned once more to the mage, the cuts now beginning to bleed in slow globules running down his body, his eyes widening so slowly it looked like a trick of the light.
A skeletal hand caught Chloe’s ankle and pulled, dragging her off-balance and bringing her to the floor. She kicked at the skeleton, her sword doing its best to take down the others crowding her.
Beep “—off!” Chloe shouted, kicking and thrashing, her mind thrown back to her last death as skeletons piled on top of her, ripping her to shreds before she had found her way back to the white room with the doc.
Chloe felt a hot, searing pain in her leg as a skeleton’s fingers gripped her skin…
And then it was all over.
Chloe watched with gruesome fascination as the skeletons suddenly crumbled around her, dropping to the ground as if they’d just given up any semblance of life they once might have had.
Above them, the mage was spared the briefest of cries of anguish before time caught up, the impact from the column of light making his body into a blinding display of white fireworks. The cuts and slashes from Chloe’s sword divided him into a thousand tiny pieces.
A great pulse of power erupted from the mage in concentric shockwaves. Chloe and the others were thrown to the floor to join the skeletons. Tag’s laughter filled the air as he fell.
Quiet washed over the room, the only sound coming from the purple fires that crackled in various locations across the room.
“We did it.” Chloe smiled, staring up at the ceiling and letting herself rest. “We goddamn well did it.”
A blast of golden light showered over them all as they were suddenly lifted into the air. Chloe, slowly getting used to this feeling of gloriousness, beamed as her hair whirled about her and she felt the power increase that came from leveling up. Behind her, she heard Tag and Ben laughing. Beside her, Gideon came alive again as his stats restored to their full capacity, his laughter joining the ringing sound of their leveling.
After they had returned to the ground and the light disappeared, Tag pumped his fist, letting out a weak “Woo!” that set them all laughing again. The wisp hovered above them, a strange warmth that gave them strength being emitted from its light.
“Woah,” Tag exclaimed. “Guess who’s gone up one more level?”
They all checked their updates, Ben exclaiming that he had gone up two more levels, while Gideon had achieved another as well.
By Chloe’s memory, that would make Tag, Ben, and Gideon even on level 9.
Chloe brought up her own character sheet, beaming as she saw the number 10 next to her level.
Bio
Character name: Chloe (click to select a new character name)
Level: 10
Class: Click for more information on selecting a character class.
Race: Human
Stats
HP: 275/275
MP: 200/200
Stamina: 345/345
Active effects: Null
Attributes
Strength: 22 (+19)
Intelligence: 6 (+13)
Dexterity: 20 (+16)
Endurance: 25 (+18)
Etheric Potential: 9 (+21)
Skills
Languages: Human
Acrobatics: Lv 3
Armed Combat: Lv 1
Cooking: Lv 1
Crafting: Lv 1
Creature Identification: Lv 4
Dark Vision: Lv 4
Dual Wielding: Lv 2
Experimental: Lv 1
Fishing: Lv 1
Hand of the Gods: Lv 1
Herb Identification: Lv 1
Sneak: Lv 4
Swimming: Lv 1
Reckless: Lv 4
Available Points: 4
“Aw, yeah! Level 10!” Chloe celebrated. “Woah, I’ve unlocked classes?”
Gideon, Tag, and Ben looked up at Chloe with envy.
“You’re kidding?” Tag asked.
“Told you!” Ben elbowed Tag, a smile on his face. “It’s level-based, like with Arcane Hunter IV. I knew it had to be something like that.”
Chloe cast a quizzical look their way.
Ben answered for her. “In every MMORPG, a person gets to select a class for their character, like warrior, mage, cleric, or thief, for example.”
“Some games unlock these from the start,” Tag interrupted, “meaning that you shape your gameplay around what you want your character to be before you’ve even dived into the world.”
“Whereas most modern MMORPGs,” Ben said, taking back control, “let you discover what you like doing most in the game before presenting you with options. I thought I had what it took to be a tank in Relic Hunter, but once I picked up my bow and arrow, I fell in love with long-range combat.”
“I was going to be a bard,” Tag said, “until I learned to love steamrolling into battle and smashing things. I don’t get to do a lot of that at home.”
“None of us do,” Ben added, bopping Tag affectionately on the head.
Chloe’s attention turned to Gideon. “So that means you could just pick up a sword and go warrior, right? Screw what your brother thinks. Just change your style of play and pick up the warrior class.”
Gideon looked forlornly at his toes. “Afraid not. My brother watches what I’m doing whenever I’m home. He’s still threatening to pull the plug on my account if I don’t do as I’m told.”
Ben and Tag sniggered. “Sucks to be you!”
“Hey!” Chloe snapped. “That’s no way to talk to your teammate. We’re all in this together now. If one of us suffers, we all suffer, got it?”
The pair nodded.
“Now,” Chloe continued, her attention returning to her activity log. “How the crap did we gain so many levels?”
Chloe opened up her Activity Log.
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Mo
nster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Okay, let’s skip ahead a little bit here, Chloe thought as dozens more notifications of skeletal defeats sailed past her. Ah! Here we go.
You’ve unlocked a new (unique) skill: Hand of the Gods (Lv 1)
Well, dear mortal, you have earned the favor of the gods. Guiding your hands, the gods can do terrible and wonderful things. Summon the use of this skill when you are in a dire situation and the gods will lend you aid. The results of this skill may vary.
Bonuses: +7 etheric potential
New spell acquired: Deic Light (Lv 1)
Thanks to the gods, you have been bestowed with Deic Light. Cast this spell to summon a powerful column of light to dispel enemies who associate themselves with the darkness.
Requirements: n x 100MP (where n is equal to the number of seconds taken to cast the spell)
More and more notifications of skeletal defeats, and then:
Monster defeated: Mage (Lv 16)
+1,300 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Monster defeated: Skeleton (Lv 2)
+20 exp
Oh, for goodness sake, Chloe said, zipping through more notifications. She stopped when she found what she was looking for.
Level increased! You are now level 10
Congratulations! You have proven yourself a true adventurer of Obsidian. By making your way to level 10, you’ve unlocked a selection of new classes for your character. Click the info icon to find out more.
+4 attribute points
(Attribute points must be assigned within 24 hours of gameplay. If unassigned after 24 hours, any remaining points will be randomly assigned.)
Chloe clicked the icon, her eyes turning greedy as she scanned the information.
Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1) Page 23