A small geyser of ooze drew my attention towards the pool.
Little Fat was having a field day smashing through the pods while my skeletal legion and I kept the Gardener’s attention, and I hoped it wasn’t a waste of time.
Myconid Gardener is no longer affected by Cripple
I grimaced as the boss began moving faster, and both Rusty and Fred paid the price as it lashed out with his staff, dropping them both down to almost nothing. I ordered them back as I reapplied Cripple and cringed as my mana dropped even further.
My human skeleton struck the boss a few times with the pickaxe, taking off another chunk of damage and scoring a critical hit that broke off one of the boss’s hands.
That blow combined with my hail of bolts managed to drop the boss’s health to the fifty percent mark, which if my luck so far was any indication, would result in another phase trigger.
As expected, the Gardener planted his staff and another progress bar appeared. A series of green lines snaked out from the butt of the staff, leading back towards the pool and connecting with the remaining pods… All three that Little Fat hadn’t gotten to yet.
I ordered Fred and Rusty back in to assist the skeletal miner in a free-for-all attack fest while the boss was distracted.
The boss looked confused as his casting bar climbed past fifty percent and green energy pulsed along the lines to the pods. Little Fat popped another as it began to shudder like an egg about to hatch, spilling a half formed myconid into the water where it dissolved into slime.
The boss physically wilted as its hit points dropped a full ten percent.
The two remaining pods deflated as pulses of green energy flowed toward the boss healing it back up to fifty percent.
The pods returned to their previous state and the boss lashed out, finishing off Rusty and knocking the hit points of my pickaxe wielding skeleton below half as well.
Little Fat continued her pod destroying efforts, and I blasted away at the boss with Necromantic Bolts, using the mana I had gotten back when Rusty died to avenge him.
The last pod burst beneath Little Fat’s claws and the boss went insane, tossing his staff to the side. A glowing red skeletal face icon appeared over the boss, and it completely ignored my other skeletons and stomped towards Little Fat with single-minded determination.
I ordered her to flee, and the poor little gal tried, but she had no chance.
It stomped down on Little Fat and the entire cavern shook with the force of the blow. I collapsed to the scaffolding and heard an even more horrible sound.
With a sharp crack, the rickety structure collapsed around me, burying me in a pile of rubble.
A sharp piece of broken railing popped my Dark Shield and impaled me through the abdomen, effectively nailing me to a barrel.
Through gaps in the rubble, I saw the boss heading my way, its hit points slowly falling as Rot and the continued efforts of my remaining human and goblin minions chopped away at it, which it ignored.
I tried to move but was well and truly stuck. I reached down to try and see if I could find the bottom of the shard holding me in place, but came back with a handful of grit instead.
Confused, I scanned the area and smiled as I got a good look at the barrels forming part of my current prison.
I started to laugh. Well, a bit late for learning mechanics, I thought as I read the label once again.
I glanced back towards the boss. It was getting close. Its health was nearing thirty percent as the continued free-for-all attacks from my remaining skeletons did their work.
I figured I was dead regardless of how things played out, and I didn’t want to lose all my bones, so I sent my minions back to the entrance of the cave, abandoning their attack.
I had a crazy idea, which could work but I didn’t want to have to have to go farming bones before taking this boss on again.
The detritus around me started to shift as the boss began to rip away my wooden prison, and protection.
I took the Firestarter Kit out of my bag and tried to strike a spark into the open barrel.
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
“Argh!” I screamed and tried again.
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
Again and again I tried as the boards above me shifted painfully and the boss’ reaching claws got closer.
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
Completely uncovered, I looked up into the rotting face of the Myconid Gardener and growled. Its inhuman features looked down at me with the promise of an extremely painful death as it raised its hands high overhead.
I closed my eyes and continued my frenzied attempts.
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
Skill check – Failed – You lack the appropriate skill
General Skill: Survival – Unlocked!
Skill check – Success!
A shower of sparks flew from the kit and into the exposed powder just as the Myconid’s fists began to descend.
With a flash, the powder caught, and I was consumed in fire, and then everything went dark except for the scrolling notifications.
You have killed Myconid Gardener! You have gained 500xp!
You have killed 20x Myconid Sporepod! You have gained 100xp!
Quest Update – Mine Shaft 8 Cleared – 98%
CONGRATULATIONS! You have reached Level 7!
You have gained 2 Intelligence!
You have gained 3 Attribute points and 9 Skill points!
Your Hit Points, Mana, And Endurance pools have increased!
You have died!
Human Skeleton minion has been dispelled.
Goblin Skeleton (Fred) has been dispelled.
Respawn in 35 minutes.
NOTE: Additional death penalties will apply once you have reached level 10.
The irony of the “Survival” skill name would have had me cracking up if I possessed a mouth, or body for that matter. The “afterlife” was just a dark, gray void with nothing but a large timer counting down to when I could respawn and a small menu with three options.
Log Out
Access External Applications
Watch Death Scene Recording
Watch death scene? Really? Curious, I clicked it and watched as the darkness turned into a giant video screen showing the boss room from a third-person, top-down view. The scene focused on my avatar, following as I snuck through the room, my body slightly blurred showing Stealth was active.
The battle played out, and I winced when I got to see just how thoroughly Little Fat had been smashed, and again as my kobold was impaled in the scaffolding crash.
I held my nonexistent breath when the boss stomped its way over to my impromptu fort and started digging… and then BOOM!
The video went white, and then slowly faded back into view centered on the crater that now occupied the side of the room where I’d detonated the blasting powder.
There was no trace of my avatar left. Not even a red smear. My remaining minions clattered to the ground where I’d sent them to wait, and the video faded to black.
I glanced through the log and confirmed that I’d gotten credit for killing the boss and the quest was updated. I figured killing the boss would have finished the quest, but I guessed there were still a few random myconids somewhere in the mine shaft I hadn’t found yet.
I’d delayed my lunch for the battle, and with thirty minutes or so until I could continue my adventure, it was an ideal time to log out.
***
16
I logged back in after lunch and winced as the sun assailed my newly reformed eyes. I pulled the hood of my now ragged cloak up and took a look around at my surroundings.
Headstones of various shapes and sizes, statues and mausoleu
ms filled the graveyard, and a well-maintained pathway led back to the east.
I opened up my map to see where I was in comparison to the mine and was relieved to see that the graveyard was only a short distance to the north.
I took stock of my equipment and saw that everything was in its place, except for my robes, which had been shredded by the fall and the explosion. I’d have to find a tailor to repair them or see if they had something better in stock.
I’d leveled up with the death of the Gardener and still had points to spend, so I added them as I made my way back to the mine. I put one stat point each into Intelligence, Wisdom, and Fortune. Then I increased Necromancy, Dissection, Scavenger, Minor Create Undead, and Necromantic Bolt, leaving four points for other skills.
I put two into Bind Minion and kept two in reserve for any new skills that might be available once I got back to the guild. It had been two levels since I last checked in so there was bound to be something.
The mine came into view and I increased my pace, moving as quickly as I could with my current stamina pool. I skipped past the mine building and went straight into the mine, following my previous path back to the site of my death.
When I arrived at the entrance to the boss room, I found the collapsed bones of Fred and my human minion. I scooped the human bones into my bag, repaired the goblin bones, and reanimated Fred.
The boss room was empty of any additional monsters, so I headed in and reclaimed the Rusty Shortsword and the broken remains of Rusty before moving to the blast site.
The Gardener had been reduced to a scorch mark and several fist size chunks of fungal salsa, splattered across the room. I’d almost given up hope of finding anything useful when eureka! A chest was sitting in the middle of the pods Little Fat had chewed through.
I rushed over and popped it open, anxious to see what kind of loot my first dungeon boss would drop. The chest interface was similar to my inventory. A grid of boxes with icon representations of the items in each square.
In this instance there were four spots with colored question marks. Two were white, one was yellow, and one was orange.
I touched the white icon and it turned into a swirling cloud, resolving into a round shield banded in bronze. I pulled it out of the chest examined it. It seemed pretty sturdy, so I handed it to Fred who slipped it onto his left arm.
The next white icon turned into a bronze battleaxe. It would be a two-handed weapon for my goblins, but the humans could probably wield it with one. I slipped it into my bag and reached back into the chest.
I touched the yellow icon which transformed into a small bag containing a whopping three gold, ten silver, and twenty-four copper which went right into my main inventory.
And now for the orange, I thought and crossed my fingers. I reached in and tapped the icon, watching as the mist swirled and resolved into a small red book. I pulled it out and examined it, wondering what the RNG had spit out for me.
From what I could remember from my research, Runecraft was one of the crafting skills in the game. It was the equivalent of enchanting in the old school MMOs and allowed you to enchant items and even apply runic tattoos to people at later levels. And it was rare. I flipped open the book and started reading.
Would you like to learn the Crafting Skill: Runecraft? (Yes/No)
I could probably sell the book for a nice chunk of gold, but a single payment wasn’t worth the skill’s long-term potential, so I selected yes and smiled as the messages rolled in.
You have learned the “Runecraft” skill.
Runecraft – This crafting skill allows for the inscription of runes to add additional status effects to both characters and items. Each rune is composed of several components, each of which can be combined to produce various effects. Runes can be learned via examination of existing runes or from a crafting trainer.
Runecraft XP: 0/500
Starting runes: Lesser Rune of Protection, Lesser Rune of Strength
Lesser Rune of Protection: +1% damage reduction.
Items needed: Bronze Chisel, Iron Dust.
Lesser Rune of Strength: +1 Strength Attribute.
Items needed: Bronze Chisel, Ogre’s Blood
NOTE: Each Craft or Gathering skill is associated with its own, independent experience pool. Perform the associated crafting or gathering actions to obtain experience for these pools. Crafting and Gathering skills may not be increased through the use of skill points.
Since there was nothing I could use right now, I brushed away the notifications and headed over to examine the hole I’d made in the mine.
The explosion had blown a decent sized hole in the cavern, exposing a wall streaked with something shiny. I lacked the skill to tell exactly what it was, but I was pretty sure it was ore.
I turned to leave and almost tripped on something. Looking down, I found the fire-starting kit I’d used to blow myself up. Apparently, it had survived the conflagration. With a grin, I tucked it back into my bag as a good luck charm.
I checked my current quest progress: ninety-eight percent clear. It was time to get back on the hunt. I took out my remaining two goblin skeletons and the human skeleton and started raising my new undead force.
I raised two goblin skeletons and the damaged human skeleton, repairing any damage and then binding all three. One became the latest incarnation of Rusty and got his namesake sword. The second goblin received a pickaxe and the name Tiny, and the human had the honor of wielding my shiny new battle axe. I named him Yuri.
Three minions bound, locking away thirty percent of my mana pool for maintenance. Ouch. I’d have to strongly consider adding any more permanent pets to my force if each was going to drop my mana pool by that much.
My minion pool was at eight out of ten, so if needed I could raise one more medium, or two more small minions to help out in a pinch… if I had the bones. But the only skeleton I had available was one I didn’t want to mess with in case it was needed for the quest. Four should be enough to deal with the two percent left in the mine.
I gathered my things and headed back out of the boss room. At the first intersection I headed right, sloping back up towards the surface, minions trailing behind.
It was an unexplored tunnel, so I moved with caution. After a short distance I reached a widening in the tunnel. As I entered the room, two Sporestalkers appeared out of the shadows and attacked.
The mushroom men were vastly outnumbered, and without the advantage of their poison spit attack they went down pretty quickly under the onslaught of my skeletons and spells.
You have killed 2x Myconid Sporestalker! You have gained 100xp!
Quest Update – Mine Shaft 8 Cleared – 100%
Seek Out Darr for your reward!
“Finally,” I sighed, resting for a moment before looting and dissecting the corpses. I found another three of the mysterious rocks and a handful of copper, but none of my Dissection efforts bore fruit.
With the last of the myconids slain, the air lost some of the musky smell I hadn’t even noticed was there until it was gone. It felt… cleaner.
The tunnel continued ahead, rising back towards the surface. Looking at my map I was pretty certain it would reconnect with the first branching of the shaft near the exit, so I led the way forward.
As I exited the mine itself, I decided to dismiss my minions until later.
Would you like to temporarily deactivate your bound minions? (Yes/No)
I clicked yes and watched as they dissolved into mist and flowed into their skulls, weapons and all. I picked up all three and dropped them into my bag for later and then dismissed Fred and collected his gear into my bag.
I walked into the stone building and found Darr seated behind the counter, making updates to a ledger of some sort. He looked over as I entered, his face again displaying his ire at having to deal with me.
“What do ye want lizard? Can’t ye see I’ve got work ta do here!?” he growled, his face beginning to flush with anger.<
br />
“The myconids are no more, Master Miner,” I said, watching his color return to normal.
QUEST COMPLETE: Tit for Tat
You have gained 200xp!
Reputation with Master Miner Darr has increased from Despised to Tolerated
The miner frowned and grumbled under his breath before beckoning me forward. “Well, a deal is a deal, and we dwarves always keep our promises,” he said, pulling a large sack from under his desk and tossing it to me. “Ye can work any o’ the mines, but I recommend ye start in shaft one. It’ll let ye get the hang of things without collapsin’ the mountain onto yer head. Now get out of here and don’t come back ‘til yer at least rank five or ye need to buy more equipment. And watch out for rats!”
I took the sack outside and examined it.
< Mining Kit (Basic) >
This kit contains the basic tools and equipment needed to begin your mining career:
-Mining Primer
-Beginners Mining Pick
-Beginners Prospecting Pan
-Beginners Crucible
-Beginners Ingot Mold
Capacity: 100 (Mining goods and tools)
I reached into the kit and pulled out the primer, flipping it open and reading the first page.
Would you like to learn the Gathering Skill: Mining? (Yes/No)
Affirmative!
You have learned the “Mining” skill.
Mining – This gathering skill is the art of extracting ore and other natural materials from the earth. This gathering skill includes three sub-skills: Mineralogy, Prospecting, and Smelting.
-Mineralogy allows for the identification of minerals, ores, gemstones, and other such items.
-Prospecting allows the Miner to test samples taken from an area to determine the location of nearby ore deposits. This skill interacts with your map, indicating likely locations for optimal extraction. (Needed Item: Prospecting Pan)
Extra Credit Page 13