A lava tendril snaked up from the pool and snatched the weapon out of the air. The molten rock enveloped it and drew it down into the roiling, red magma. A knife came tumbling out of the darkness slightly behind Halifarn and found purchase between the stones jutting out of his lower back. The creature snarled, more in annoyance than pain, and hurled apple-sized stones like a fistful of gravel in Nyx’s direction.
Jandar could not see the shadow mistress, but the cry of pain indicated that at least one of the rocks found their target. Two more knives and a shuriken flew from the shadows, one after another in rapid succession. One knife bounced off a chunk of obsidian, but the other two projectiles bit into the grey flesh.
Halifarn cast a contemptuous sneer in Nyx’s direction as more stones broke free from the cavern floor and floated upward. Instead of sending then flying as he had before, they began to orbit him, picking up speed until they looked like debris in a tornado with Halifarn standing within its eye.
Jandar unlimbered his maul and ran at the abomination. He threw his hammer as he charged and took up a two-handed grip on the maul. Saefa appeared and tried to find an opening in the rocky vortex, but the orbiting stones rebuffed his great scimitar and Jandar’s hammer with resounding clangs.
One tiny moon broke from orbit and struck Saefa in the chest, lifting him from his feet, and sending him sprawling with a windless groan. Jandar skirted the magma pool and reached the terrifying creature. He brought his maul down onto the ground before Halifarn with all his might, triggering Bullard’s set ability. The ground shook with a fiery explosion but did not radiate outward as it should have.
You use Bullard’s Blast and hit Halifarn for 0 physical plus 23 fire damage (adjusted for being shielded and vulnerable to fire.) Fire Touch secondary effect triggered. Halifarn takes 14 fire damage per second for 6.6 seconds.
Jandar’s fire touch managed to earn him more than a contemptuous sneer, but he had no time to glory in his partial success. Halifarn hissed and waved his arms. Stones battered him so fiercely they staved in his breastplate and struck the buckler he raised to protect his face with such intensity that his arm began to numb under the barrage.
“Wretched fools!” Halifarn screamed in outrage. “I have lived nearly two centuries, and I will continue for eons. I am one with the stone. I am eternal. Witness the power I command!”
The entire mountain trembled, and the magma pool roiled and sloshed, sending molten stone spattering all around. Cracks began spreading across the floor and sharp, putrid gasses and heat emanated from the fissures.
Jandar knew in that moment that Halifarn was going to cause another eruption, dooming them all. He needed to figure out how to stop this monster. He peeked over the top of his buckler and analyzed the creature.
Name: Halifarn
Threat: Deadly
Classification: Undead. Subclass: Revenant. Revenants are a type of undead creature similar to a zombie but more powerful and retain most of the intelligence and abilities they possessed in life. Revenants are created when a person of strong will refuses to accept their death and clings to a mockery of life, often times until they achieve a goal or are destroyed.
Class: Geomancer. A geomancer is an arcane channeler specialized in the awesome power of the earth.
Disposition: Hatred
Health: High
Resistance: Substantial physical and magical resistance.
Vulnerabilities: Fire. Spirit.
Advanced Combat Skills: Earth magic specialization.
Jandar thought quickly and recalled the scroll he had found on the Shahmaran. He summoned it from his inventory and read the words. The parchment glowed with white light before disintegrating in his hands. Halifarn shrieked in pain and fell to his knees. The shaking stopped, and the stones orbiting him clattered to the ground.
You use scroll of banishment on Halifarn. Halifarn takes 400 spirit damage. Halifarn resists banishment due to exceeding the maximum level of the scroll’s ability.
Halifarn was getting back to his feet, and Jandar did not hesitate. He clutched his maul in his left hand and recalled his war hammer. The arcane smith charged it with spiritual magic and hurled it at the revenant, striking him in the chest. Halifarn cried out again and staggered back several paces.
You hit Halifarn with steel war hammer for 26 physical and 23 spirit damage. Halifarn resists banishment.
Jandar reached the revenant before he could fully recover and struck him with a powerful uppercut between the legs with his maul, hitting him square in the stalactite.
You hit Halifarn with a power attack from your maul for 70 physical (vulnerable state bonus applied) and 24 spirit damage.
Halifarn flew upward and back several feet in both directions and crashed to the floor. Jandar chased after him, lifted his maul, and brought it smashing down upon the revenant until nothing remained of his head beyond a gravel-filled, putrid mass. He opened the notifications that began blinking to make sure the task was complete.
Due to your recent battle, the following skills and attributes have increased:
Your Strength, Body, Mind, and Luck has increased by 1.
Your Bludgeoning, Two-Handed skill has increased to Level 7 Grade 9.
Your Throw Hammer skill has increased to Level 4 Grade 6.
Your Shield skill has increased to Level 7 Grade 3.
Your Medium Armor skill has increased to Level 7 Grade 9.
Your Heavy Armor skill has increased to Level 5 Grade 5.
Your Arcane Channeling skill has increased to Level 12 Grade 1.
Your Dual Wield skill has increased to Level 6 Grade 1.
You have killed Halifarn. You gain 10,400 XP.
Your Fame has increased to 1630.
You earn 5,000 XP for successfully completing the quest: Laid to Rest.
Congratulations, you have reached level 13!
You gain +1 Strength, +1 Mind and two additional attribute points to use where you like.
You gain 2 skill points.
Jandar held onto the skill points and dropped the two free attribute points into Luck almost without thinking. He still was not sure if that was the right move, but the potential gain was far greater than the loss of not raising one of his other attributes, as long as Charisma did not come into play very often.
“Ha, level 13!” Nyx crowed as she emerged from the shadows. “Suck it, noob.”
Jandar turned and faced her. “I also reached level 13 and will suck nothing.”
Nyx’s jaw sagged a moment before her face scrunched together as if her head were trying to implode. “How in the effing flying farts did you catch up to me? I have my freaking pain level at seventy-five percent!” Her eyes went wide. “Freaking hell in a handcart, do you have your pain level maxed out?”
“I don’t know what that is,” Jandar replied.
Nyx gave him another incredulous look. “You have to be kidding me. You can set your pain levels and gain or lose experience depending on how high you put it. At one hundred percent, you get a seventy-five percent bonus to XP during battle. Christ on a cracker, I can barely tolerate mine at seventy-five, and that only because I try very hard not to get hit. I can’t imagine what you’ve been suffering this whole time. Open your character sheet, go to settings, and adjust your pain level, unless you’re some sort of masochist who enjoys being tortured.”
Jandar shook his head as he followed her instructions. “No, it is definitely unpleasant, but it does pass somewhat quickly.”
“Yeah, the game developers were kind enough not to make most pain continuous. I guess that would have been a bit too real for any player.”
Jandar frowned. “I cannot change the setting.”
“What the hell do you mean? You can’t find the option?”
“No, I found it, but it’s greyed out.”
Nyx’s face fell. “Damn, that’s…evil. It must have something to do with you having been an NPC.”
Jandar flicked his eyes toward Saefa and whispered, “We
should probably not discuss such things openly.”
“Don’t worry, the system filters out any kind of game references from the NPCs.”
“Lexon understands it.”
“That’s because he’s infected with the Mortalitatis amplecti debuff.”
“Which Saefa is as well.”
Nyx bit her lower lip. “Shit, I forgot. I’m so used to having the system filter such things. I don’t think he heard us, but I’ll be careful from now on.” She ducked her chin toward what was left of Halifarn. “So, any good loot? He’s not even wearing clothes, so I doubt he has much.”
“I haven’t checked yet.”
Jandar returned to the revenant’s corpse and opened the loot window.
You have found copper ore x39, iron ore x7, Vanadite ore x2, silver ore x10, ruby x4, pyrite x8, golden beryl x6, peridot x11, quartz x2, Tiger’s eye x2, diamond x4, sapphire x4, and lapis lazuli x8.
The gems and stones were embedded in Halifarn’s sickly flesh and disappeared when Jandar claimed them. He was about to stand and announce his findings when something began glowing inside the revenant’s chest. Jandar leapt back as Halifarn’s ribcage began heaving. Ribs cracked and bulged beneath his skin. With a final push, a green, grey, and brown orb with a slight glow burst from Halifarn’s chest and hovered over the corpse.
Congratulations, you found an eternity stone of earth! Looks like your luck is paying off.
You earn 500 fame for acquiring your second eternity stone.
Eternity Stone of Earth: Eternity stones are items of great power and have a variety of uses. Its primary purpose is the ability for any player to resurrect themselves or another regardless of class, level, or abilities without penalty. The eternity stone is consumed upon using this ability.
Eternity stones are also used to establish and strengthen settlements, guild houses, or strongholds using their inherent power. The type of spells and enhancements it can provide is dependent upon the stone’s elemental affinity. Some abilities have prerequisites that must be met before they can be accessed. The eternity stone’s full abilities are limitless, and many of them require research and experimentation to unlock.
Eternity Stone of Earth current unlocked abilities:
Summon Minor Stone Barrier: Surround yourself with whirling rocks that may deflect an attack or cause harm to anything coming in contact with the barrier. Effectiveness is increased with your knowledge of earth magic. Cost: 2 energy per second.
Stone Barrage: Send stones hurling at a target with a thought. Number of stones and velocity is dependent upon your knowledge of earth magic. Cost: 20 energy per launched stone.
Minor Wall of Stone: Raise a wall of solid rock. Maximum size of wall is 500 cubic feet. Wall is permanent unless destroyed. You may shape the wall depending on your knowledge of earth magic. You cannot summon more than 500 cubic feet of stone with this spell. Attempting to do so will destroy previous summonings in the order in which they were cast. Cost: 100 energy.
Summon Minor Earth Elemental: You may summon a minor earth elemental to do your bidding. While too ponderous to be an effective combatant, minor earth elementals are strong, tireless, and follow simple instructions to complete minor tasks. Minor earth elementals can shape stone at a rate of 1 cubic foot every twenty seconds. Cost: 25 energy per minute.
Establish Settlement: Binds the stone to a particular location. Binding the stone unlocks its full potential and allows it to recharge itself by absorbing the latent magical energy of its surroundings. Cost: 500 energy.
Resurrection: Bring yourself or another back to life. You may choose to revive at your current location or your settlement. Cost: The eternity stone. Stone is consumed upon using this ability.
Eternity Stone of Earth’s current energy pool: 1000. Only a person with the ability to channel arcane energy can recharge the stone until it is used to create a settlement.
Would you like to use your eternity stone to establish a new settlement or stronghold at your current location, YES or NO? If you choose yes, you cannot move the eternity stone to establish another settlement or stronghold for seven days.
Current location’s suitability: Excellent.
“You have to be shitting me!” Nyx shouted, her voice echoing off the chamber walls.
Lexon strolled up, looking pleased with himself. “Looks like me luck has paid off again. That’s called the proximity effect. You’re welcome.”
“I don’t suppose you want to let me have that one?” Nyx asked. She waved him off when his jaw fell slack and he gave her a stupefied look. “I know our deal. You remember it too, right?”
Jandar nodded. “I remember.”
Saefa walked up, holding his hand against what was probably several broken ribs. “A truly miraculous find, but we cannot congratulate ourselves just yet. My people are still out there, and we don’t know if the army has found their trail again or not.”
“Well, this is where we were supposed to lead them,” Nyx said. “Should we use the stones to establish a settlement?”
Saefa said, “My people need a refuge. The king will not stop sending soldiers as long as he sees their presence as a threat.”
Jandar thought about what to do. “The description does say the stones have far more power after being used to establish a base of some sort, and it said this was an excellent location for a settlement. OK, I’ll do it.”
Taking a deep breath, Jandar mentally pressed YES.
Chapter 19: Shibo
THE ETERNITY STONE OF earth glowed brighter before a soundless concussion passed through them all and continued to radiate outward.
Congratulations, you have used an eternity stone to create your first settlement! By using the eternity stone in this manner, you have unlocked the stone’s full potential but not all of its abilities. Only time, practice, and research will reveal its untold secrets.
New eternity stone of earth’s powers unlocked:
The eternity stone will now regain spent power over time, the amount depending upon the level of your settlement and its daily production score. Current production score: 0. Assign citizens to specific tasks to increase production score. Every production point your settlement generates will increase the eternity stone’s recharge rate by one point. The type of energy created is dependent on the type of work being performed. Assign citizens to work the ground to produce earth energy. Current eternity stone recharge rate: 25 energy per hour.
Summon Minor Earth Elemental: You can now summon 1 large, 2 medium, or 4 small minor earth elementals per settlement level to perform simple tasks. A basic earth elemental can carry or lift its own body weight. Minor earth elementals can shape stone at a rate of 1 cubic foot times its size category every twenty seconds. Each elemental produces 1 earth energy per hour times its size category while working the earth. Current settlement level: 1. Energy Cost: 200 earth energy every 24 hours.
Shape Earth: You can shape earth and stone to your desire. Your ability to shape the earth and stone depends on your knowledge of earth magic. Cost: 1 earth energy per cubic feet of stone or earth.
Harden Stone or Earthen Structure: Infuse your buildings with earth elements to make them stronger. Cost: Variable depending on size and type of infusion or strengthening.
Raise Building: Every structure you build requires a certain amount of work units. You can convert the eternity stone of earth’s energy points to work units. It is possible to create entire buildings in seconds this way once you choose a blueprint from the construction menu and spend the required energy. Cost: 2 energy per work unit. This spell does not create the materials needed for construction. Finished materials must be present and within 100 yards of the building being constructed. Base structure quality is average and will increase with the caster’s knowledge of earth magic and engineering skill.
You can use any of the eternity stone’s abilities within the boundaries of your settlement.
Research or experiment to discover new abilities.
Before yo
u can utilize your eternity stone’s new power, you must establish the boundary, or border, of your new settlement or stronghold. The maximum border size is 5 horizontal miles with an elevation of 5,000 feet and a depth of 1000 feet from the eternity stone used to create your settlement.
Please set the boundaries of your new settlement. Be aware that claiming territory belonging to another person, government, or creature could be considered a hostile act.
Jandar pictured the surrounding lands in his mind. A five-mile radius from where he stood would encompass about a mile beyond the volcano and nearby mountains, providing him with a large yet defensible region with a good amount of natural resources. He selected the maximum value of a five-mile radius from the stone’s epicenter.
Congratulations, you have established the first settlement or stronghold in the game. You gain 1,000 fame points.
You may rename your settlement and its lands if you wish. Current settlement name: None. Current territory name: Lahar. Would you like to rename your settlement or territory, YES or NO?
“I need to name the settlement,” Jandar said. “Any ideas?”
“Shibo,” Nyx said after a moment of thought. “It not only plays on the…world’s name, it’s also a reminder that nothing is eternal. Everything has a beginning and an end, and we must make the most of the time we have.”
When no one said anything against it, Jandar selected the settlement name option and entered Shibo. He decided to leave Lahar as it was.
Congratulations, you are now the leader of Shibo, a settlement within the region of Lahar, until you choose to cede it to another or someone removes you from power. As Shibo’s leader, you are ultimately responsible for the welfare of your citizens as well as their actions. You have the authority to establish and enforce laws, levy taxes, declare holidays, enter into contracts, and negotiate all deals between you and other leaders to include treaties, truces, and wars. Do not take this responsibility lightly or your reign may be a short one.
Chaos Unchained- The Mad Smith Page 34