by Jamey Sultan
A vine evaded his guard and stretched out toward Nidra. Then another. And another. The first one to pass brushed against her skin for an instant before it was blown to bits by James’ Arcane Missile. More missiles followed, destroying all of the vines that Arik missed. James was so focused on keeping Nidra safe that he forgot to monitor his Mage Armor. His armor shattered as yet another vine struck him. With his armor gone, the thorns were suddenly able to dig into his skin. They pulsed, injecting him with a numb warmth that seeped under his skin.
You have been poisoned with [Weak Necrotic Venom].
- Duration 00:10:00
- 1% Current Health per minute
Someone should have paid more attention…
Instead of spreading, the numbness almost felt like it slid out of his skin. As if the venom couldn’t find purchase within him. Clear fluid leaked from his wound and trickled down his arm.
What the hell? James knew he could take damage from poisons that targeted Health. He’d accidentally poisoned himself a few times in Desi’s house. So he couldn’t understand why this particular venom wasn’t doing anything to him. Maybe it had something to do with the way this specific poison worked?
Shrugging it off as good fortune, he spun around and pulled the Orichalcum Sword of Embers from his pouch. Although he was trying to move away from swordsmanship, it would be stupid not to use the fire sword against the plant monster.
James recast Mage Armor as he hacked through the vines holding him, then turned his attention to Nidra. While he’d been distracted, the vines had redoubled their efforts to attack her. Arik was holding off as many as he could, but the tide seemed never-ending. A vine had gotten past him and grabbed Nidra by the arm. Where it touched, her skin blackened and cracked. James had to squint to see Nidra, who’d become so blindingly bright that he couldn’t stare directly at her.
As James watched, another vine grabbed her waist, and yet another reached for her throat. With a thought, James teleported next to her and hacked at the vines with his flaming sword. The sword bit into the vines, and flames roared to life around it, but its enchantment wasn’t strong enough to overcome whatever magic protected them. As soon as he withdrew his sword for another strike, the flames on the vines sputtered out.
James cursed and threw his sword to the side, blasting the vines with Arcane Missiles. Each vine needed about two missiles before it shriveled up.
The vines kept coming, overwhelming James and Arik working in tandem. Soon, Nidra was buried under a writhing mass of vines. Only the light of her magic was visible through the cracks between the plants.
James redoubled his efforts, sending missile after missile into the pile of writhing vines, but two more took its place for each one he destroyed.
Then, with a flare of energy, Nidra erupted.
Chapter 34
A nova of fire burst from beneath the vines, incinerating them instantly. James and Arik threw themselves to the ground as the attack passed over their heads in a wave of magical energy. Wherever the wave touched, a fire roared to life. The onslaught of vines stopped as they were all incinerated.
Nidra fell to the ground, her entire body black and cracking. She landed in a pile of ash that had been the vines wrapped around her.
Above them, the tree burned. Its branches blazed, bathing the clearing in orange light. With a crack, the central trunk split down the middle and crashed to the ground.
James rushed over to Nidra and put his hand to her neck. There was a pulse there, beating faintly. He scrabbled through his bag and pulled out his last two Weak Health Potions. Ignoring years of training that told him not to put things in an unresponsive person’s mouth, he dumped the first potion down her throat.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, Nidra sputtered and coughed, color returning to her face.
James handed her the other potion and helped her sit up.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice coming out quiet and weak.
“You almost died,” James said. “But then you cast some crazy spell and absolutely destroyed the tree.” He gestured toward the cracked and broken monster.
They decided to rest in the clearing for a few hours. They all needed to go over their notifications, and Nidra needed time to recover.
When James tapped the notifications blinking in the corner of his vision, he was pleasantly surprised to see that he’d gained experience. Apparently, each of the vines was an individual creature.
You have killed Thorny Vine(x16).
+ 412 experience points
Not only had he gained experience, but his notifications also revealed the mystery behind why the plant venom hadn’t worked on him.
You have discovered a secret benefit to your Shakti Race: Lysed
Lysed: All of your cells are dead, converted to energy. Health Effects that damage cells directly will not affect you.
That was… interesting. James wasn’t sure how he felt, knowing that he wasn’t made from living cells anymore. It was a weird feeling. Instead of dwelling on it, he distracted himself by examining the broken-down tree. He was able to see inside of it fairly easily because it was split in half, but there wasn’t much in the way of anatomy.
Not one to give up that easily, James pried the tree apart by using his Orichalcum sword as a lever. It was easy enough to do, and with a sharp crack, half of the tree crashed to the ground.
There was a faint reddish glow from deep within the tree, and James reached for it, but as he did, there was a faint rumbling, and the light disappeared. James quirked an eyebrow at that—he’d never had an item try to run away from him before. He pushed himself deeper into the bowels of the tree and used his dagger to snap small sections of wood out of the way. This time when he saw the dim red light, he snatched at it before it could retreat. He felt his hands close around a small cold object.
You have gained 1 Skill Rank in Harvest.
You are now Skill Rank 6.
Tamarael Seed Core:
Rank: Epic
Plant this seed to grow a Tamarael tree.
The seed core was a diamond-shaped hunk of blackened wood with veins of glowing crimson running across its surface. The entire thing felt smooth as marble and cold as ice. It gave James a strange, uncomfortable feeling while he touched it, so he dropped it into his pouch.
He then checked in with Nidra, whose skin looked much better, less deathly, and closer to its original brown color. She had lost a lot of health, but both potions together had brought her up to almost full. They were lucky that the vines had been low level and barely dealt any damage. Their Necrosis Poison was dangerous, but it only drained a percentage of remaining health, so it could never kill anyone. Arik was fine. He gained a level from the ridiculous number of vines he’d killed. Their thorns weren’t long enough to pierce his flesh.
Although both of his companions seemed to have mostly recovered, James wanted a bit more time to digest the cheese wheel he’d eaten. They were entirely out of potions, and he’d exhausted almost 1200 Essence trying to keep the vines away from Nidra. Without the Tamarael tree blocking out the sunlight, his Essence was recovering naturally but slowly, so he’d decided to eat a bit to try and speed things up.
While he waited for his stomach to loosen up a bit, James wandered around the edge of the clearing. There, he found a cluster of flowers capped with red and white petals shaped like teardrops.
White Jade:
Rank: Rare
Delectable tea or deadly poison?
Something about the flower’s description sounded familiar to James, but he couldn’t quite place it. He plucked the flowers and placed them in his pouch to research when he had time, then he returned to his companions, ready to continue through the dungeon.
***
“Stop,” James called out, throwing his arm to the side. His outstretched arm stopped Arik from stepping onto a discolored patch of dirt. Arik took a step backward while James examined the trap. A series of small holes the size of a penny were visi
ble along the length of the hallway. Since their fight with the Tamarael, sapling traps had been more common. They were generally mechanical traps and not magical ones, making them easier to spot and disarm with James’ limited knowledge of magic.
Even though there were a lot of traps, the dungeon felt like it lacked something. Most notably, other than the Tamarael Sapling, they hadn’t encountered any monsters. It was as if whoever had set up the dungeon hadn’t had a chance to fill it with creatures yet.
Carefully, James felt underneath the edges of the discolored dirt, letting his Essence guide his hands, and sure enough, there was a wood panel underneath. He pried it up and examined the mechanism of the trap. A pressure sensor would tell if someone stepped on the panel, setting off multiple spears coming up through the holes to stab at whoever set off the trap. The three of them carefully hopped over the trap, passing another two traps before they reached the final clearing.
***
The dungeon ended in a massive circular clearing lined on all sides by thorned vines. Just like with the other clearing, when they stepped over the threshold, the vines slithered closed behind them. Tevar stood in the center of the clearing, hunched over a workbench with his back to them.
Name: Tevar Strider
Race: Elf
Level: 33
Class: Druid
Next to the druid was a garden glowing with a spectral light. Lines of ghostly energy stretched from a cluster of plants at the center of the patch of earth out to the Druid and up his skin, disappearing under his clothes.
Dark Prowler (Level 31)
Two Panthers paced around the perimeter of the garden.
The Druid turned when they stepped into his clearing. His movements were jerky, and strands of spectral energy ran out of his robes, up both sides of his neck, and to his eyes, which glowed unnaturally.
“Hey there, Tevar,” James said, raising his hands to show he didn’t want to fight. “Katherine sent us to see if you were okay.”
Tevar tried to speak, but all that came out were guttural noises. Next to him, the Panthers had stopped their pacing, and stared at James’ party with their tails swishing silently through the air. One of the Panther’s eyes dilated, and James knew what was about to happen. He cast Arcane Missile at the Dark Prowler at the same time that the beast launched itself toward him.
As the missiles closed in on the Dark Prowler, it vanished. The two Arcane Missiles spun around as if confused before rocketing back towards James. He had a brief moment of fear, wondering if the Druid had somehow redirected his missiles, and threw himself to the side.
That action saved his life.
The Panther burst from James’ shadow, its jaws snapping shut where he’d been a moment before. All three missiles slammed dead center into its head, sending the beast sprawling.
At the same time, Arik had already charged toward the Druid and swung a warhammer at his head. Tevar snapped his fingers, and a mass of vines reached from the ground and grabbed the Dwarf around the waist.
Before they could hold on for too long, Nidra sent a volley of flaming arrows toward the Druid. The vines let go of Arik to swat the arrows out of the air. Meanwhile, the second Panther launched itself at James to avenge its friend, but he’d already cast another Arcane Missile. This one hit the Panther before it could teleport to his shadow and sent it to the ground.
With both Dark Prowlers incapacitated, James sent six missiles at the Druid, who was distracted fighting both Arik and Nidra at the same time. He wasn’t taking any chances.
The first Panther lunged toward James. It was too close for him to use Arcane Missile before it got to him, so he raised his dagger to defend himself, but it wasn’t targeting him. It was targeting his shadow. The Dark Prowler dove through James’ shadow and out of the Druid’s shadow just in time to throw itself in front of James’ attack. All six arcane missiles slammed into the beast’s side at once. It exploded in a flash of crackling blue energy as the Arcane Missiles detonated.
Before James had time to celebrate, he felt a sharp pain across his back. He’d forgotten about the second Panther, which had used his distraction to ambush him.
Spinning around, James let out a pained bellow as he punched the beast directly in the face. Although he hadn’t trained in unarmed combat much, his Strength stat was abnormally high for his level because of the bonuses from such a rare class. So, when James’ fist connected with the Dark Prowler’s face, the beast felt it.
You have gained 1 Skill Rank in Unarmed Combat.
You are now Skill Rank 22.
Bone crunched under James’ knuckles, and the cat went flying into the thorny wall surrounding the clearing. Black blood dripped from its body, but James hadn’t gotten any experience from the beast.
A burst of heat drew James’ attention back to the fight with the Druid. Tevar was at the center of a mass of writhing vines blocking all of Nidra’s attacks. Arik was in front of Nidra, protecting her from the vine attacks. The Panther who’d leapt in front of James’ last Arcane Missile attack was on the ground, immobile.
Seeing an opportunity, James sent another three missiles at the Druid, but just before they hit, vines sprung up in front of the missiles, blocking them. The Druid glanced at James and saw the second Panther bleeding out. He raised his hands into the air and started to chant. Golden light surrounded him.
James knew he couldn’t allow the Druid the opportunity to cast anything else, so he ran toward the Elf, drawing his dagger. He was running low on Essence, and Arcane Teleport ate away a massive chunk each time he cast it, but it was the only way to end the fight.
When James got close, he cast Arcane Teleport. He wove through the immobile vines until he reached the Druid. When time unfroze, he slammed his knife straight into the Druid’s neck.
Green energy exploded out of the Druid’s body, spell feedback from whatever he’d been attempting to do. The energy blew James into the wall of thorns at the edge of the clearing.
Before James could recover, the vines around the Druid wove together into a protective dome. Through his haze, James watched Nidra try to burn the dome with no luck. He groaned and pushed himself off the wall. The thorns ripped at his skin; in the corner of his vision James could see his Essence flash dangerously.
He had less than 300 left.
Before James could get to his feet, the spectral lines connecting the garden to the Druid pulsed, and the vines all around the clearing withered and died.
The dome in the center of the clearing collapsed, revealing the Druid’s corpse. James breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure how much fight he had left in him. But something was wrong.
Before James could celebrate, the Eldritch threads around the garden pulsed, sending a burst of blue-green energy toward the Druid. When the energy reached him, he twitched and twisted, his limbs cracking as they bent unnaturally. He was carried to his feet rather than standing up on his own power.
Then his eyes snapped back open.
Chapter 35
The Druid raised his arms, and a thread of darkness shot from each hand to the immobile Dark Prowlers. Both cats twitched and steamed as their essence was absorbed by the tendrils of Mana connecting them to the Druid. The Druid’s face started to change, elongating as his teeth lengthened and sharpened while thick black fur bristled out from under his skin. Bones cracked as his back hunched and he grew outward, his body shredding the cloth rags he’d been wearing.
Arik charged forward, raising his warhammer. Meanwhile, Nidra had retreated close to James and was focusing on casting. That was another advantage of James’ magic that he didn’t consider very often. His spells were instantaneous, while most of her powerful spells took a while to cast.
The transformation was completed just as Arik swung. Gone was the graceful form of the Elf. In its place was a snarling monster reminiscent of a werewolf. Black smoke seeped from its fur, and a blue-green fire burned where its eyes should have been.
The text above the Druid�
�s head fuzzed and reformed.
Eldritch Puppet (Level 37)
The Eldritch Puppet snatched Arik’s warhammer out of the air and snapped the metal with its bare hands. The head of the warhammer dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, but Arik wasn’t beat. The broken shaft of his weapon was pointed straight toward the monster’s heart, and without a thought, Arik transformed the metal, sending a spike directly through the center of its chest. Or at least that’s what he’d intended.
Instead, the thin spike snapped against the beast’s thick coat of fur. It let out a wild howl and slashed Arik with its claws.
The Dwarf went spinning to the ground with a spurt of red blood.
Nidra shouted, and a column of fire descended from the sky. It was the same spell she’d used against the Minotaur. For a second, an inferno engulfed the beast. But as powerful as the flames were, they were stationary. Flames licked and burned at the Eldritch Puppet’s skin as it stepped out of the attack. Half of its face and portions of its left arm and leg had burned away, revealing blackened bone, but still it advanced.