A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 0 damage (blocked).
Frostbite has inflicted 42 water damage to a stone gargoyle. Remaining 253 / 400 HP.
The gargoyle pulled back its hand, the limb stinging from the contact with the frozen blade. Before Kyran could take advantage of the creature’s momentary distraction, the second gargoyle crashed into him.
A stone gargoyle’s dual strikes have hit Kyran for 0 damage (140 blocked by fire shield). Remaining shield: 294 / 434 HP.
Kyran flew back with the impact and rolled to his feet. He winced as he saw the damage to his shield. I can’t take too many more hits like that. Holding his sword at guard, he backed away and pulled in essence again.
The two gargoyles, wary now, split apart and simultaneously advanced from both his right and left. Kyran’s eyes darted between the two. Targeting the second gargoyle, Kyran released his spell and burned a line of ice across the rocky slope.
Kyran has cast ice wall (length: 51m, wall HP: 510), 0 gargoyles frozen.
Seeming to sense the spell before it struck, the intended victim bounced backwards and eluded the jagged walls of ice that sprang up from the ground.
But though the ice wall had failed to trap the second gargoyle, it still blocked the creature’s line of attack and bought Kyran the time he desperately needed. Teleporting behind the first creature, he attacked furiously with the mageblade.
Kyran has hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 203 / 400 HP.
Kyran has hit a stone gargoyle for 47 damage. Remaining: 156 / 400 HP.
The surprised gargoyle spun around and struck out with his talons. He ignored the blows. Trusting to his fire shield to protect him, he cut into the gargoyle again.
Kyran has hit a stone gargoyle for 55 damage. Remaining: 101 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 0 damage (67 blocked by fire shield). Remaining shield: 227 / 434 HP.
Kyran has hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 51 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 0 damage (66 blocked by fire shield). Remaining shield: 161 / 434 HP.
Kyran has hit a stone gargoyle for 53 damage. Remaining: 0 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has been killed.
Its torso riddled with gaping wounds of frost, the gargoyle crumpled to the ground. Kyran stumbled forward before he regained his balance. Pulling in a steadying breath, he whipped his head around. Where was the second gargoyle? The mountainside was empty. His brows drew down. Did it flee—?
The whistle of rushing air was his only warning. But it came too late.
A stone gargoyle’s sky dive has critically hit Kyran for 0 damage (140 blocked by fire shield). Remaining shield: 21 / 434 HP.
Dropping out of the sky, the gargoyle crashed down on his back and bowled him over. Kyran flew forward, pushed away by the momentum of the blow. He rolled to his feet and spun around to face his attacker.
The gargoyle was surging towards him. Reacting instinctively, Kyran threw together weaves of psi and teleported out of reach.
Kyran has teleported 26m.
A stone gargoyle has missed Kyran.
Kyran whipped around to stare at the creature. Unerringly, its eyeless face swung his way again. It was tracking him by sound alone, he realised.
The gargoyle lumbered forward. He tightened his grip on his sword. Flee or fight?
Kyran’s eyes flicked inwards in assessment. His shield was in tatters and close to collapsing. But despite the near ruin of his shield, he was still in good condition. Fight, he thought grimly. He fixed his gaze on the onrushing creature and waited.
As it reached him, the gargoyle reared up and buffeted its wings. Kyran didn’t attempt to dodge.
Dropping his sword, he dived forward with both hands outstretched and bore the surprised monster to the ground. Before the gargoyle could react, he wrapped his arms around the creature’s torso and held on tightly with frost-rimmed hands.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 350 / 400 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 40 damage. Remaining: 310 / 400 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 260 / 400 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 45 damage. Remaining: 215 / 400 HP.
It took a moment for the gargoyle to realise what Kyran was doing. By then it was too late. He had already inflicted too much damage. Shrieking in pain, the gargoyle beat on Kyran’s back with a taloned fist. His fire shield cracked and fluttered away.
Then blow after blow landed on him unopposed. But with his protective spells active, the gargoyle’s talons did far less damage than they should have, and for every second he held on, the monster’s life drained away a bit further.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 45 damage. Remaining: 170 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 35 damage (25 resisted by armour). Remaining: 205 / 240 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 40 damage. Remaining: 130 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 40 damage (30 resisted by armour). Remaining: 165 / 240 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 80 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 45 damage (25 resisted by armour). Remaining: 125 / 240 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 30 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has hit Kyran for 30 damage (20 resisted by armour). Remaining: 95 / 240 HP.
Kyran’s freezing hands have hit a stone gargoyle for 50 damage. Remaining: 0 / 400 HP.
A stone gargoyle has died.
Kyran rolled onto his back. He stared up at the sky and gulped in deep lungsful of air. That was far closer than I expected.
Chuckling at his own foolishness, he heaved himself upright and headed back to their camp at the south gate.
Chapter 8
09 Octu 2603 AB
The gods may enter the physical plane as either coalesced spirit or as corporeal beings. As coalesced spirit they are subject to the same limitations as other spirits and must constantly expend divine essence to remain anchored in the world. —Lillian Aimes, sorceress.
Kyran returned to the camp to find the others not back yet and Adra thankfully undisturbed. After checking up on her, he sat down and pondered the results of his foray into the pass.
The whiesper was right, he admitted. His experience with the gargoyles had convinced him of that. Fighting the stone creatures would be beyond foolish, and given that the creatures had sensed his presence from such a distance, there was no way the party was going to sneak through the pass undetected.
He sighed. So that only leaves the option of heading east and up the Ruiven escarpment. Kyran gazed down the southern slopes. Or we could always head south, he thought bleakly, and see what sort of welcome Xetil has waiting. He laughed humourlessly. No thank you.
The bright morning sun cast stark shadows across the mountain slope. The others wouldn’t be back until much later, leaving him more than a few hours to kill. Nothing for it then, he thought, but to train. Closing his eyes, he began scrying, and with practiced patience, systematically uncovered the surrounding slopes.
The mountain’s barrenness contrasted sharply with the teeming life of the Elder Forest. And while its emptiness would make foraging more difficult, the very same emptiness meant they would face fewer challenges while traversing it, or so he hoped.
The southern Skarral range seemed to be made up of three distinct sections: the lower southern slopes leading to the Wazrak plains, the northern slopes expanding into the Crotana highlands, and lastly, the inner mountain, separated from the northern slopes by the Ruiven escarpment.
Of the three sections, the inner mountain was the most inhospitable, nearly devoid of life, and what life it did contain seemed uniformly hostile and dangerous.
The rout
e through the inner mountain and up the Ruiven escarpment would be circuitous, with the difficult terrain adding days to their journey. The escarpment itself ran eastwards for many days, beyond even the range of Kyran’s scrying. Scaling the escarpment, he realised would be their biggest hurdle to reaching Crotana’s highlands.
By late afternoon, after hours of endless scrying, the hard work paid off and he reached the milestone he had been aiming for.
Congratulations! You are now civilian level 20 and have advanced to the rank of apprentice in the civilian path. New spells and abilities available.
Remaining: 4 SP and 6 AP.
He smiled in satisfaction and flicked his eyes inwards. Opening the Game interface, he advanced his civilian skills.
Base skill in commander has increased to 20. Effective skill: 14.
Base skill in scrying has increased to 20. Effective skill: 14.
Base skill in travelling has increased to 20. Effective skill: 14.
Base skill in nature lore has increased to 20. Effective skill: 24.
Remaining: 0 Civilian SP.
You do not have a class. Increasing a non-class skill beyond skill level 20 requires twice the normal SP. To increase commander, scrying, travelling, or nature lore to 21 will require an investment of 2 SP.
His lips thinned as he considered the Game message. It seemed the out-of-class investment penalty would apply to his civilian skills as well.
Nature lore was the only civilian skill included in the wild druid class. The rest would be relegated to out-of-class skills. Frowning, he considered his options.
Before increasing any of his civilian skills beyond twenty and incurring the penalty, it would be better to raise his neglected skills first.
I will do that, he decided, resolving to advance governor, mage lord, and feudal lord to level twenty after future civilian training sessions. Next, he turned his attention to the newly available apprentice civilian abilities.
Available apprentice-ranked civilian abilities
Commander: commander’s gift, invigorating aura, drain stamina.
Feudal lord: (none).
Scrying: improved scrying, scrying barrier, scry ether, surveil.
Nature lore: reveal beasts, woodsman, nature’s blessing.
Travelling: etherwalk, teleport rings, detect teleport.
Mage lord: (locked, skill of 20 required) apprentice channel, improved ley lines, magister’s gift.
Governor: (locked, skill of 20 required) empower structure, governor’s gift.
Disappointingly, none of the apprentice-ranked travelling spells allowed him to transport the party. He had half-hoped he could bypass the use of the climbing cable altogether by teleporting the party up the escarpment.
We will just have to tackle the crossings as best we can. He perused the civilian abilities a while longer and, after careful study, made his choice.
New ability learned: improved scrying (an improved version of the basic scrying spell).
Remaining: 4 civilian AP.
While a few of the others looked interesting, none were immediately essential, especially given their doubled ability point cost. Scrying barrier in particular attracted his interest, but considering it was a low-ranked spell, he knew it would not prevent the gods from scrying him out. Best to save the ability points for now, he thought.
And as for his new scrying spell, he was more than pleased with it and immediately set to uncovering the more distant areas of the mountain range.
✽✽✽
The others, weary and exhausted, arrived just before sunset. After supper, they filled him in on their day’s efforts. Kyran was surprised at how far they had ranged. After they were done, he related his own misadventures with the gargoyles.
“What were you thinking!” exclaimed Gaesin. “You should have waited for us to return!”
“I was in no danger,” he said, skirting the truth. He hadn’t filled them in on all the details of the fight—it would only needlessly upset Gaesin. “The creatures caught me off-guard, that’s all. I didn’t expect them to be as perceptive as they were.”
“How did you kill them?” asked the whiesper. “The gargoyles have to be level thirty at least.”
“Level thirty-two,” he corrected. “I was forced to use my sword and frost magic.”
Mirien’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a water mage, too?”
Kyran shrugged. “I dabble in it,” he replied vaguely.
“That’s—” The whiesper’s mouth worked soundlessly before closing with an irate snap.
Kyran scratched his head in bemusement as he studied his companions. Gaesin was clearly distraught and it seemed his tale had made even the whiesper uneasy. Their reaction was worse than he had expected. Given that, he doubted they were going to be happy with what he had to share next. “I’ve been thinking about our plans for tomorrow,” he said abruptly.
Both half-elf and elf stared at him, not following the change in the conversation’s direction. “What did you have in mind?” asked Mirien cautiously.
“Adra will wake up sometime tomorrow. You three will stay here, both to guard her and to make sure there are friendly faces around when she regains consciousness.”
“What about you?” asked Gaesin.
“I’m going to return to the pass.”
“What?! Why?” asked Gaesin, jerking upright.
“Training,” replied Kyran grimly. Seeing that Gaesin was still staring at him in confusion, he added, “We don’t know what dangers the mountain will hold, and we need to be as prepared as possible. I’ve scryed out the pass in the afternoon. The concentration of gargoyles further south is much lower. I’m confident I can face them in manageable numbers there.”
“That will be dangerous and risky,” said Mirien, her expression serious. “If you are determined to do this, at least let one of us accompany you.”
She was volunteering herself, Kyran knew, and while he appreciated the gesture, he wasn’t certain enough of the whiesper to accept her aid in battle. “No, I will level faster if I am alone.”
“Let me come with you,” said Gaesin.
Kyran shook his head. “No, you need to be here when Adra awakes.”
“Then take Aiken.”
“I won’t need Aiken,” Kyran assured the half-elf. What he didn’t say was that he didn’t want to leave Gaesin alone with the whiesper either. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
✽✽✽
Yiralla dozed on her feet.
She had entered the throne room late last night to find Xetil gone. There had been nothing for it but to wait for her god to return. That had been hours ago. It was now nightfall again, and finally it seemed Xetil was back.
“What is he doing there?” demanded Xetil.
“My lord?” asked Yiralla, uncertain who Xetil had addressed.
Xetil waved her to silence, and his eyes took on the faraway look of one engaged in scrying. Yiralla grumbled—quietly—to herself. She hoped he was not going to keep her waiting all night again.
But it was only a short time before Xetil focused on Yiralla, his attention fully returned to the throne room. “Out!” he shouted to the slaves that scurried about. Once the room had cleared, he turned to Yiralla. “I have found the free agent,” said Xetil without preamble.
Yiralla stood up straighter and cleared her mind of the cobwebs clouding her thoughts. “That’s wonderful news, sire. Where is he?”
“Outside the dwarven city,” replied Xetil, his voice strangely subdued.
Yiralla was taken aback—not so much by Xetil’s words, but by his demeanour. She studied her god carefully. He did not sound himself. He appeared almost…uncertain? Worried? She shifted from foot to foot. “My lord?” she asked, her face carefully blank. She was not such a fool as to ask Xetil what worried him. Best to approach the matter obliquely.
Xetil did not scowl at her as was his wont. Even more worriedly, he sighed before swinging his gaze towards her. “The free agent is camped outside the
south gate. He is not alone. Accompanying him is a half-elf, a wolven, an elf, and a great bear.”
A strange mix of companions, thought Yiralla. Where had he met them? But she did not ask about them. Their numbers were too few to be of any concern. Instead, she asked what likely concerned her god the most. “Why the south gate, my lord?”
Xetil shook his head. “I don’t know. The gate remains shut.” He did scowl then, fiercely. “The agent could not have escaped from the gate. That would mean…”
The armrest of Xetil’s bone throne crumbled to dust in his crushing grip. Yiralla winced. The chair would have to be replaced again.
Heedless of the damage, Xetil continued, “No…the blasted agent must have escaped through a nearby tunnel, another secret exit perhaps.”
Yiralla understood why the free agent opening the gate would be a subject of concern. What puzzled her was why Xetil was even worried that he had. It was clearly an impossible feat. Why then was Xetil so concerned?
She scratched irritably at the scars on her face, but nodded agreeably at Xetil’s words. This subject, she sensed, was not one to probe further into, not unless she wanted to provoke her volatile god into another of his infamous rages.
“Do I still leave as planned on the morrow?” she asked, steering the conversation to safer ground.
“Yes,” said Xetil absently. “Your troops are prepared?”
“Yes, sire. Ready and awaiting your command. I presume I still have permission to use the portal masters to shorten our journey?” The portal masters would not be able to transport her troops all the way to the south gate, but they would halve the distance she needed to travel.
“Yes, yes,” replied Xetil testily. “But you will leave today, and march with all haste. If the agent stays encamped on the mountain for much longer, you should not have much trouble catching him.”
“Your will, sire.” Yiralla bowed and turned to go.
“I have not dismissed you, Yiralla.”
Xetil’s words stopped her. She swung around to face her god.
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