Magic School
Page 10
“So it would seem,” Lonnell said slowly.
“If that’s the case, then why wouldn’t your amulet work on it?” Azure’s gaze fell to the amulet around Janine’s neck.
She shrugged. “You’ve got me.”
“Maybe that was the name of the door spirit,” Lonnell suggested. “Perhaps if we had skipped getting the amulet, this was another way to defeat it.” Lonnell rolled up the scroll and placed it in his Bag of Holding.
“Yeah, but it’s not a key or the piece for the door. Not what we need at the moment.” The thought that they’d traipsed all the way through the dungeon for an item that may or may not be important didn’t sit well with Azure. He hated backtracking.
“Maybe the answer is in the library,” Janine proposed, equally frustrating.
“I doubt it,” Lonnell said.
“Then what do you suggest?” she snapped at him.
“Calm down.” Azure pressed his palms to the air. “I think we should go back to the armor room and look for anything we might have missed.”
“We already tore that level apart.” Janine waved her hand.
Azure glanced up at the ceiling and thought. “I looked all around the chest room, but I didn’t actually look at the chest. Maybe the piece needed to open the door was on it, and I just didn’t see it. It would be a bit interesting if what we needed was on the chest, not inside of it.”
“Interesting but improbable.” Even as he said it, Lonnell had already moved to start thoroughly examining the chest in the room they were in.
“Or perhaps there’s a key beneath one of the pedestals that the suits of armor are standing on. Did you check beneath those?” Azure eyed Janine.
Her shoulder slumped, and she shook her head. “Inside and all around the armor but not under the pedestals.”
“There has to be another key on that floor,” determination showed through in Azure’s voice.
“Or it could be on another floor like the key to this chest was.” Lonnell quickly snatched his hope away.
“Well, it’s either that or we go through every book in the library.” He searched the faces of his comrades for their preference.
“Back downstairs it is then.” Janine sighed as she turned to exit the room and head toward the stairs.
Thankfully, they didn't have to solve the puzzles again as they descended into the depths of the dungeon.
Once more, the library skeleton respawned, and once more, Janine took it down. “This is getting tedious,” she grumbled as the bones fell in a heap at her feet.
Finally, they reached the floor with the suits of armor, which were now all erect and back in place. Collectively, the Adventurers groaned from having to go through the work of defeating their previous foes a second time.
“Tedious!” Janine's voice rose in frustration.
“Yes, indeed.” Lonnell nodded in agreement.
“Well, we best get to it. Daylight is burning.” Azure approached the armor blocking the door with the chest.
“Same as before?” Janine asked as she took her position on the statue's left side.
“We're going to burn through healing potions if we keep getting hit when they swing their spears,” Lonnell pointed out, not yet ready to enact their plan.
“What do you suggest?” Azure looked at him.
“Want to try shooting it in the head with one of your arrows from afar as soon as I try to move it?”
“I'm not sure that will work.” He shifted his weight.
“It's worth a shot. How many arrows do you have?”
“Enough.”
“Let's give it a go then.” Lonnell gestured for Janine to move back. “Unless you want to help me push. I would appreciate the help.”
“I can do that.” Janine stepped up beside him, and they bent over while Azure drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
Surprisingly, the plan went off without a hitch. As soon as Janine and Lonnell moved the suit of armor away from the door and the armor began to animate, Azure loosed a steel arrow at it, piercing straight through its helmet. The armor straightened for a moment and then crumpled to the floor in a heap.
Critical Hit! Defeated Level 10 Ghostly Armor. 70XP rewarded.
TRING!
Congratulations! You are now Level 11! Your base stats have been boosted. You have earned 3 points to assign to your characteristics. Please note that adding points to some characteristics(Vitality, Intelligence, and Strength) will further boost your base stats. You may also advance any 1 skill of your choosing by 1 level.
“Well, that was unexpectedly easy.” Azure rolled his shoulders, then walked over to loot his kill.
You have received the following items:
Crude Spear
Attack: +2-7
Type: Two-Handed Weapon
Durability: 13/28
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 7.0 kg
The second suit of armor didn't go down so smoothly. Azure's first arrow ricocheted off the side of the armor's helmet, diverting to the right and nearly hitting Lonnell. That gave their enemy enough time to swing his spear to the side and smack Janine in the shoulder before Azure was able to loose a second arrow into its head.
Defeated Level 10 Ghostly Armor. 70XP rewarded.
“Maybe we should change tactics back to what they were.” Janine glared at him.
“No. This works better,” Lonnell insisted. “As long as he doesn’t miss and hit one of us.” He scowled at Azure.
“Geez! Sorry I can’t be perfect every time. If one of you would rather do this.” He held the bow out to them, but they both turned away, knowing they couldn’t do a better job. “Anyway, guys, I leveled up, so give me a minute to allocate my stuff, please.”
“Congratulations!” Janine’s face brightened. “Maybe I should be the one shooting the bow after all.”
“Have you ever shot a bow before?” Lonnell raised an eyebrow at her.
“Well, no...” her voice trailed off.
“I didn’t think so.”
“Hey! You don’t have to be such an asshole about it.”
“I’m not being an asshole. I’m just stating a fact. Dwarves don’t have the fingers for archery.” He walked a few feet away, putting his back to them.
“What?” Janine looked down at her fingers. “I doubt that’s true. I’ve just never tried before.”
Azure ignored their bickering to focus on his character sheet.
Name: Azure
Race: Human
Level: 11, 7% of the way to next level
Health: 230 / 280
Mana: 217 / 250 (270)
Stamina: 185 / 280 (300)
Vitality: 17
Intelligence: 14 (2)
Strength: 17 (2)
Agility: 14 (-1)
Dexterity: 12
Charisma: 11
Luck: 12
Skills: Archery Lvl 4; 53% of the way to next level
Stealth Lvl 3; 93% of the way to next level
Analyze Lvl 10; 41% of the way to next level
Cooking Lvl 5; 52% of the way to next level
Alchemy Lvl 4; 38% of the way to next level
Foraging Lvl 9; 53% of the way to next level
One-Handed Weapons Lvl 9; 8% of the way to next level
Tracking Lvl 2; 40% of the way to next level
Two-Handed Weapons Lvl 6; 25% of the way to next level
Fishing Lvl 3; 0% of the way to next level
Drinking Lvl 2; 5% of the way to next level
Land Magic Lvl 2; 45% of the way to next level
Languages: Common Tongue, Sprite, Goblin-Tongue, Elvish
Adventurer Rank: E
At first, he was confused about why he didn’t have the stat boosts from the whip, but then he remembered that he didn’t have it equipped.
Looking over his skills, Azure decided to wait to level any of them. While he was t
empted to increase his One-Handed Weapons skill, now that he’d switched to mostly using his Bergen’s Glaive, it just made more sense for him to focus on his Two-Handed Weapons skill instead. Still, he wanted to wait until it had leveled one more time before immediately increasing it again.
Due to missing that last headshot on the first try, Azure placed a point into Dexterity. The other two points were a bit more difficult to allocate. Stamina was always needed, but with 300 points after his armor bonuses, it felt a bit overkill to throw another one there. Not wanting to waste too much time on it, Azure decided to place his last two points into Vitality and Intelligence. After this bounty quest, he planned to complete his magic school quest and earn his next spell, and it never hurt to raise his Health.
“Done.” He closed his character sheet and bent over to loot the downed suit of armor.
You have received the following items:
Crude Spear
Attack: +2-7
Type: Two-Handed Weapon
Durability: 16/28
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 7.0 kg
“You guys ready to go again?” Azure turned his attention to the suit of armor blocking the last of the doors.
“Yeah, just don’t miss,” Janine reminded him with a frown even though she wasn’t the one he’d almost hit.
Azure didn’t miss, and the third suit of armor went down as smoothly as the first.
Defeated Level 10 Ghostly Armor. 70XP rewarded.
Knowing that the only loot the armor dropped was a crude spear tempted Azure to want to try his pendant. According to the description, he should be able to get a different item if it worked correctly. Then again, he wasn’t sure what other kinds of loot that type of monster was supposed to drop.
“Thinking about giving it a try?” Janine noticed him fingering the small gold disc.
He looked at her as if waking from a dream. “Yeah. I don’t really want to waste it on something easy to loot, though.”
“How many charges does it have?”
“Nine before I have to get it fixed.”
“I’d wait,” Lonnell suggested. “Spears are worth decent coin. You could end up getting something less valuable.”
“Yeah. I suppose you’re right.” Azure bent over to take the suit or armor’s weapon.
You have received the following items:
Crude Spear
Attack: +2-7
Type: Two-Handed Weapon
Durability: 26/28
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 7.0 kg
“I would have used it on those rats.” Janine shivered, causing Azure to smirk. Again, she had left her kill intact. Azure had benefited, ending up with an extra rat tail.
They rechecked the rooms, but nothing had changed. The door to the next level wouldn’t open, the chest was still impregnable, and the skeleton’s hand was sans one key. After inspecting the rooms, they worked to turn over the pedestals that the suits of armor had been standing on, but they were nothing but solid wood.
“I don’t get it.” Lonnell shook his head. “I don’t get what we’re missing.”
“It’s got to be in here.” Azure threw his hands up at the room.
“Let’s check the rest of the armor. Maybe we’re supposed to fight it all,” Janine suggested, though she sounded no surer than the rest of them.
“I'm willing to try anything at this point.” Lonnell straightened himself and walked over to the first suit of armor on the right.
They took their positions and followed the same pattern of attack. Placing that characteristic point into Dexterity seemed to have paid off because Azure scored another direct hit.
Critical hit! Defeated Level 10 Ghostly Armor. 70XP rewarded.
At this rate, Azure would be halfway to level 12 by the time they were done. Part of him felt bad that Janine didn't have the skill with a bow to be taking all the experience.
You have received the following items:
Crude Spear
Attack: +2-7
Type: Two-Handed Weapon
Durability: 13/28
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 7.0 kg
Examining the downed suit of armor produced no results. The body was empty, and there was nothing special about the pedestal it was on.
When they moved to the next suit of armor though, their attention was drawn to a nook in the wall that had been hidden behind it. The brief distraction and excitement from having actually found something was enough to make Azure miss his shot, the arrow ricocheting across the room. Thankfully, it went in the opposite direction of his party members.
Taking advantage of the opening, the armor predictably swung its spear to the side, catching Lonnell this time. The blow sent his body slamming against Janine, and they both fell into the wall.
Azure put an arrow through its helmet before it had the chance to attack again, but the damage was already done.
Critical hit! Defeated Level 10 Ghostly Armor. 70XP rewarded.
“Do you have no strength?” Janine glared at Lonnell as she pushed him off of her.
“Ow!” He rubbed his shoulder, ignoring the small woman chastising him.
“Both he and I were able to stand our ground when we got hit.” She gestured to Azure.
“You were only able to do it because you’re stocky.” Lonnell cast a glance down at her as he reached into his Bag of Holding for Potions of Minor Healing.
Janine’s mouth fell agape. “Are you calling me fat?!”
“Look, you guys, a key!” Azure jogged over to the notch in the wall and pulled out the small key that was glistening inside.
“William!” She turned her attention to Azure but pointed at Lonnell. “He just called me fat! Do I look fat to you?”
Oh God, that's a loaded question. All dwarves looked somewhat portly to Azure, even the leaner ones.
“No, you don’t look fat.” He quickly tried to curb her anger by placing the key in her hand. “Why don’t you open the chest. You’ve given up plenty of rat tails, and he took the last scroll, which I think counts as loot.” Azure cocked an eyebrow in thought.
“It’s a quest item. Not loot,” Lonnell was quick to correct him. “But she can have whatever is in the chest.” He waved his hand toward the door where the chest was, perhaps wanting to placate the dwarf.
With a huff, she sauntered away from them to go open the chest. “I just hope there’s something good in there.”
“I just hope the piece needed to open the door is in there,” Lonnell muttered under his breath. Azure gave him a warning look. “Hey, fair is fair.”
Not really caring what was inside of the chest since he had no claim to it, Azure bent to loot the ghostly armor.
You have received the following items:
Crude Spear
Attack: +2-7
Type: Two-Handed Weapon
Durability: 3/28
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 7.0 kg
“I could build my own armory,” he joked dryly.
“Just think of the stack of coins you’ll get for all those,” Lonnell reminded him, waiting outside as well.
Janine returned shortly, a smile on her face.
“So, what did you get?” Lonnell rested his back against the wall for a second. Both he and Azure secretly hoped it was the piece needed to open the door.
“Well, it wasn’t the key piece for the door,” she confirmed, to their disappointment.
To Janine’s disappointment, neither of the men were in the mood to play the guessing game.
“If there was something behind that statue, then maybe the key piece is behind another,” Lonnell suggested.
“Possibly,” Azure agreed.
“Whenever you guys are ready.” He p
ushed himself away from the wall.
They made the rounds, working strategically to take down the suits of armor one at a time. It wasn’t until they defeated the second to last that they found another notch in the wall. Luckily, this one did contain the piece needed to open the door to the next level.
Janine marveled over it, her mouth set in an O. A hand-sized octagon of gold, there were eight different colored jewels set at each corner and a large cameo of a woman in the center. Janine gazed upon it with all the greed of a dwarf in a mine.
“Well, we got it finally.” Lonnell snatched the key piece from her. “Shall we move on?”
“Hey!” She said in objection, but she didn’t reach to take the key piece back.
“I think we should defeat the last of the suits of armor...just in case.” Azure didn’t want to miss anything else.
“Probably a good idea,” Lonnell concurred, shoving the key piece into his Bag of Holding.
“Can I kill the next one?” Janine asked, clearly tired of Azure getting all of the experience.
“No. Just let Azure handle it. I want to get this done and over with so that we can rest for the night.” He waved her request away.
“Who died and made you the boss?” She placed her hands on her hips, gazing up at him.
“If she wants to kill it, let her kill it.” Azure sided with Janine.
“None of us need to take any more damage,” Lonnell pointed out. “You’ll kill it quickly. It will likely strike one of us before she can finish it off.”
He couldn’t argue. A level lower than the suit or armor, defeating it in one hit was unlikely for the dwarf.
Azure gave Janine an apologetic look. “Let me take this one. You got all the experience early on,” he reminded her.
She blew out an exasperated breath. “This hardly seems fair.”