The ferry silently connected to a port sticking out the river. This one was illusionary, much like the half of the bridge when first entering the Ruined Realm.
Gray mist cleared around the port, and the structure was deserted. Rune departed with haste, happy to be away from the ferryman. If the rotting stench before was faint, now it was overwhelming. Standing firmly at the port’s edge, the fairy boat shoved off, heaving back to the first dock.
[The Mark Of Rot has desecrated the Spectral Courtyard]
[The decaying essence regenerates you and your companion]
Lilith veered into the cloudy sky. Bats and screamers tried to swarm her. She released a screech, and Rune hurriedly applied Essence Bond and Siphon to one in the center. The ability worked like a charm, and both abilities spread like a virus. The bats paled, and the screamers flickered close to leaving the corporeal realm. Lilith zoomed across and sank the flying monsters back down to earth. They crashed into the water and onto the port, decaying into particles.
Marsh plants poked out of the edges of the water, brushing against the dock’s edge. Lilith was too agile for these rather ordinary creatures to be a true threat. Quicksilver feather’s ability to pierce through negative energy simplified the encounter. The dock swayed as Rune began traveling down it closer to the land. He gazed up to the sky every so often, allowing Lilith her measure of independence. She’d ask for help if she needed or wanted it.
Since she had not, Rune left well enough alone. Moisture caressed against Rune’s equipment. Xera complained, “This stuff will rust me, blah. Give me some ice, master.”
He casually funneled some Frost Essence, and the humidity fed into the ice naturally. The water vapor thickened it over time. The regeneration effect from the ambient environment and the Ice Blessed Trousers replaced the lost Frost Essence faster than he could spend it.
Rune took the opportunity to enchant his eyes with Frost Essence, and spirits all around appeared in his vision. He was taken aback from the surprise, but none came out as aggressive. No, they stared, sighed, and muttered. Many walked right through him, as he observed further, they acted on a schedule.
A reenactment, maybe? Rune pondered.
Lilith cleared out the sky terrors. The effort had earned a few white and bronze flashes of light entering Rune’s Inventory. Once on solid ground, Rune noticed an out of place ghost. The others were all your typical incorporeal grey, green, or blue, but this one was gold.
“Wayfinder, Xera, Lilith, any of you see this?’
“Nope, this place is a ghost town or zone? Nothing is here in this graveyard. Can you take me out this sheath? The air is getting stuffy.”
“Not quite that tact, the skellies are waiting in the back. What’s got your tongue wagging? Seen me soul mate of a compass?”
Lilith circled up above Rune’s head, not answering the question, but that in itself was an answer.
“When I apply frost essence to my eyes, a second vision becomes visible. With the Doppelganger, it was a shadow that was always a step ahead, and here, it’s ghosts, but they act as if I’m not here. Except for one, it’s gold and staring right at me. Now it’s gesturing me to follow.”
“I want to see. Is the ghost pretty?” Xera said, not all that helpful.
“Lad, do you remember the goblet in the bloody hall all that time ago?”
Scanning the graveyard around him, Rune replied, “I do, that’s the first hidden quest I ever found. You’re hinting this could be something similar?”
“Just an old artifact’s hunch. Keep your wits alert, but taking a gander is worth a tuft of your time.”
Rune asked Lilith, “Anything else around in the skies waiting for us?”
Preferring not to wail, Lilith used Reaver Link to communicate, through her feeling, the place was a dead zone.
“Either another party cleared this place out earlier, or our ‘aerial guests’ were meant to be our warm welcome from monsters.”
Skeletons endlessly wandered in the back of the graveyard, but noticeably to the far left, a sizable pile of bones scattered on the ground. For an ephemeral gap, a red moon glared at Rune through the faint gray mist as if urging him to move.
“The same moon as in the Night Moon Forest. Wondered where it had gone. What makes it show up?”
Rune cycled Infusion as he moved, applying it first to Xera and Lilith and secondly to himself and Whispering Edge. His second blade had its uses, but if he didn’t enhance it with elementalization, it would have issues piercing through the more beefy type monsters he often faced now. Why wouldn’t it? The weapon was great for level ten, not level thirty-one. A general theme appeared to be that a melee-type fighter kept their weapon up to date every five to seven levels.
A sentimental side refused to abandon the weapon, even if its usefulness had all but run its course.
Would it be possible to enchant it to keep it around longer?
Pacing slowly, Rune veered toward the golden ghost, which had stayed in its original location since it fixated on him. It floated to the middle right of the graveyard, a fair distance from the remaining skeletons. As Rune approached, the golden ghost became less blurred and formed into an aristocratic human woman. She walked away with poise, treading into the unknown thicker mist away from the graveyard.
“Not sure about this, the map for the Spectral Wing has no information about the surrounding mists, only for the path out of this graveyard and the courtyard after it.”
Bouncing up on Luke’s chest, Wayfinder spoke through the gray orb illusion, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But also nothing lost. See if you’ve got a notice of any sort, and decide if you want to test the waters further after that.”
“Whatever comes our way, I can slash for you just fine. We blitzed those ghosts before, remember? You won’t need Mr. Silent at all. Not that he’s a bad weapon to have!”
Rune sought his companion’s council, “What do you think— ah, no one’s here anyway, what do you think, Sooty?”
The eldritch tendril amalgamation swirled around Luke, she droned on in provocation. Afterward, she bobbed up and down in the air.
“You’re saying to stop being a scared bird and that I’ve got you to clean up my mess if it’s too much?” Rune chuckled, seeing her intentions. Lilith wanted more action after the short spat in the sky.
“You’ve got a point, but if my senses tell me we’re in hot water, I’m backtracking or using the return scroll, whichever suits the situation best.”
Heeding their viewpoints, Rune sped read the Interface log. A singular notice attracted additional investigation.
[Special conditions met, event initiated]
“About as inviting but cryptic as it goes. The last time I went into a mist wall, I came out with a new heart; this can’t be any worse.”
Ceasing the hesitation, Rune ventured into the thicker mist while funneling Frost Essence and utilizing the vision stat from Wayfinder. He maintained a ten-foot vision radius. The golden ghost was like a beacon guiding the way. In the impenetrable parts, moving figures lurked, and Rune’s sixth sense screamed intense danger. But not impossible odds should things go off balance.
The risk-reward ratio is at the tipping point. I’m in the deep end, let’s keep digging.
Tracing his steps to the golden ghost, he followed a twisting path. The ground underneath became muddy and marsh-like. Tormenting wails called like a tempting siren, tugging at Rune’s brain stem. He flushed out frost essence, cooling down the weaker piece of his mind. Lilith floated off, partially bewitched. Alerted through Reaver’s Link, Rune grasped his companion and hugged her to his chest.
She weakly struggled against him, but he remained firm. A sweet scent entered his nostrils, and illusionary shapes crept at the edge of the ten-foot radius.
Follow the golden ghost. Rune repeated as a mantra, his eyes reddened.
In the corner of his eye, he noted a log line.
[Your mental resistance is fighting the bewitching mist]
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Wayfinder, would Polar South help with mind issues, this mist is slowly eroding my will. May not make it to wherever this golden ghost is taking me.”
“Aye, it’ll help you ‘see’ the reality and way of things. Me abilities will take the clouds from your mind and pop them like a lake poppy dandelion.”
Unsure of how far this golden ghost would wander, Rune kept back polar south. The whispers became more real. The shapes turned into women and treasures. Unorthodox thoughts of lust invaded Rune’s mind.
What I wouldn’t do to feel that…stop, this isn’t how I think. Lust has always gotten in the way, why can’t I— can’t I resist?
Xera cut into the side of Rune’s leg. The sting made him rapidly blink his eyes. He said, “What was that for?”
“Your eyes were turning all red master, maybe we should use that scroll you talked about?”
Rune faintly saw the golden ghost in the distance. Without realizing it, he’d pathed away from her slightly.
“Thanks, Xera.”
“Anytime!”
He righted his course and used Polar South at the same time. The ‘ladies’ at the edge of the vision turned into spectral hags. They closed in yet could not come closer. Stopping about three feet away from Rune.
Rune inspected the ground, and a faint golden glimmer marked the path.
Whatever’s in this mist can’t get past the golden ghost’s trail. No wonder they switched to temptation; I’m invincible otherwise.
Shaking his head, Rune sped up the pace; the muck grew deeper, and the sense of danger increased. Yet the prize was near but far. The glimmer of gold brightened, and Rune flooded frost essence to his feet. Slowly, the sludge glaciated in consistency.
Like stepping on stairs, Rune rose out of the consuming swamp and broke into a jog. As much as he preferred to sprint, he couldn’t risk bounding out of the golden ghost’s trail. The more visible horrors at the edge of the golden trail screamed powerful.
For shits and giggles and likely a dash of stupidity, Rune inspected one.
[Swamp Cursed Guardian] (Special Elite)
Tier: 2
Level: 50
HP: 9500/9500
“No fighting. Got it. Happy thoughts gold trails lead to golden tales for my non-existent grandchildren. Do I even want kids?”
If Rune brought out all the stops, he might sink one of those creatures. The issue was that there were dozens plastered against the golden marks. However, when Rune created a frost platform, the real danger became minimal.
Polar South ended, and the whispers returned. The shapes reformed into more inviting figures. An intoxicating aroma promised food, pleasure, sex, acceptance, and importance all at once.
Rune controlled frost essence to his head, pushing his eyes and trying to block the other senses. Without a doubt, a person attempting this event without mental resistance would be toast.
Slackening the pace, Rune commanded the ice instead and began to glide on it. Stepping harshly, he’d accelerate for short bursts. The gray mist began to thin. The golden glow became overpowering.
A black mist wall swirled between the trail and Rune. He slashed out Xera, and an ice arc extended out, parting the wall thinly. Rune catapulted by exploding the ice underneath, blitzing into the golden light.
[Hidden Quest Discovered: The Untouched Grave]
Requirements: Follow the golden trail and face the corrupters while on the golden grounds.
Rewards: A golden mark to the event initiator, 3 levels to each party member, three skill points, and five mental resistance to the initiator and their companion, if applicable.
[Accept? Y/N]
“Did any of you three get a hidden quest notice?”
Lilith pressed off Rune’s chest, floating serenely once more. The trail’s tempting effect now nullified on her. She gave a quasi-thumbs up with a tendril, adapting to a more mailable extremity with her tendrils.
“Sure as the magnetic fields, but only you can decide to accept, lad. The asking portion is glared out in red for us mere bystanders.”
“You don’t want to come all this way out here for nothing, do you, Master? Those rewards look juicy. Do you think whatever these ‘corrupters’ are going to play nice?”
While stepping near the golden grave, the radiant ghostly woman pleaded with her hands put together. Her knees touched the solid ground. On the way, the terrain became a marsh-like composition, but in the ‘golden grounds,’ it was stone solid.
The headstone to the grave was etched in runes. Luckily, a certain Reaver had been learning his ‘rune alphabet’ and had a mystical book full of the knowledge crammed into his brain. Half literally, half figuratively. Using that acquired expertise, the headstone became legible to Rune.
“Here lies Authoria Midas, owner of the Umaric Estate. One of the original settlers for Sylen. Died before the madness could take her, as it did the rest of her family. The last radiant soul.”
Rune met eyes with the unique spirit, “You owned this castle? Is castle the right word? What castle has a lake, river, and marsh inside of it? And that’s one half of it.”
The woman smiled as she nodded but went back to asking for his help through her gestures. She wore scared eyes at the black figures straining against the radiance.
What did it mean by one of the original settlers to Sylen? And the zone the Fasa house is in is called the Midas Square. Do the three dungeons have a faint connection to Sylen?
Having inspected a similar figure not so long ago, Rune remained cautious. If this quest asked him to take on an unknown number of tier-two beasts, he’d abandon it without a second thought. Rewards were good, breathing and living were better. He tried to inspect the beasts straining against the golden land. To his chagrin, the beasts were the same as before. The tier two Swamp Cursed Guardian. Except, with a quick count, Rune found over a dozen surrounding the land.
He lectured Authoria’s spirit, “You can’t expect me to take on all these guys alone. Spirits tend to sense the power of others well, right? Facing off against more than twelve of those is suicide. Have some shame, please.”
Authoria circled around her grave, tapping a finger against her chin while skipping her feet. She abruptly came to a stop. She cyclically pointed to the ground and imitated falling to the ground while breathing heavily. On a side note, Rune learned spirits could copy breathing, soundless breathing, at least. What a wonder.
“Hey Wayfinder, any idea what this strange spirit is doing? Wait, damn, none of you can see it, except maybe Sooty. Can you see her?”
Lilith flew precisely to where Authoria was. Using the transfer of information through Reaver’s Link, Rune got the general gist of what she was conveying.
“You can sense it with the Quicksilver Feather but cannot physically see where she is. Sooty, you’re on top of her right now, it doesn’t make much of a difference. You can see the shades trying to break into the golden nest. Sounds about how you talk, alright.”
His three usual confidants were blind to the gleaming spirit. Rune tried to hone his judgment in that case. Authoria had elevated her acting, rolling around like she was on fire, and disfigured her face, scratching at it. The dramatic impact was dulled, as any distortion reverted to normal half a second later.
“Acting like you’re on fire, a golden land, a radiant spirit…” Rune paced and swiveled back to Authoria after it hit him, “If you allow them in, they become dramatically weakened, the gold and radiance will set the cursed ablaze. Would it be enough to kill them?”
Stopping her acting, Authoria rose and returned to her prim and proper stature; she clapped excitedly and shook her head side to side at Rune after a short pause.
“Yes to the first, and no to the second. Do you know how effective the weakening will be?”
The ghost closed up her body language and stared at her feet. Rune tried not to laugh at a suddenly guilty-looking noble woman coming off nearly as a small child caught red-handed.
“One last thing, have people come to do this for you in the past? And if so, has it been a while?”
Authoria gave a thumbs up and smiled at him.
“If I help you here, does it solve the problem?”
The golden ghost put her hands behind her back and suddenly played with the soil underneath her feet.
“It won’t, I’m guessing. One thing at the time. Alright, enough trying to talk lopsidedly with a specter dead for generations. I’ll do this for you, can’t promise any more than that.”
Upon hearing Rune’s acceptance, Authoria rushed over to him and gave a hug, which swiped right through him. She backed up and sat on top of the tall headstone, her feet dangling toward her grave plot.
The prompt from the Interface sprung up, asking Rune for his verdict.
[Accept Y/N?]
“Sooty, Xera, Wayfinder, get ready, we’re going to tackle those things.”
“Aye.”
“Roger!”
“Uruoo.”
Wish I could turn off this whole mask thing for Sooty. When the thought struck, Rune slapped himself upside the head.
“Damn, I’m too dumb sometimes. Out here, no one is going to find us. What do I need the mask on for? Hold on, Sooty.”
Rune pried the mask off his face, and Luke returned to normal. He put up the ordinarily invisible hood over his head. Authoria blinked rapidly for a moment in wonderment at the rapid transformation.
Sooty, of course, proudly rattled, happy to have her feathered glory back. With the mask off, Luke’s thinking expanded, and the ‘box’ he was in lost a wall. Xera was formed into a wand to maximize the use of Ruinous Echo when the time came. He cycled Infusion, maximizing it on both swords, himself and Sooty.
“If I’m taking the gloves off, may as well boost up Infusion unless one of you three thinks another ability should be pushed more?”
Sooty was too busy flying around in a circle to reply. Xera said she didn’t think about that sort of thing, just to point her where to cast and smash. Wayfinder asked something else.
“How many of them fancy points do you have, lad?”
“Fourteen, why?”
“Infusion was your first trick of the trade, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
“You best know that makes it cost a notch less compared to the other ones under your belt. It’s either the pointy stick you form and fling around or that glow you apply to the wand lass and the clatter trap like it’s going out of style. Either track will help here.”
Luke plodded back and forth; eventually, his head rose to a level position, “Enough with the overthinking, time I face facts and stop squandering untapped potential.”
He pressed the small plus next to Infusion, four points drained from his stack of fourteen. He repeated that action and four vanished again.
The break-in pattern flooded Luke with insight in combination with Wayfinder’s words. This is what Wayfinder meant. Infusion will only cost four points from now on, never more. The other ones will likely cap at five points per upgrade.
He enhanced Infusion a third time, bringing it up to Tier 1, Rank IV. Convinced he’d prepared to a reasonable extent, Luke pulled up the souped-up Infusion.
It’s been since the gauntlet fight, where I met Veronica for the first time, that I upgraded Infusion. Feels like a lifetime ago.
[Infusion Tier 1, Rank IV]
Infuse Reaver essence on up to two targets—yourself, an ally, or an owned weapon. Increases damage and speed by 60% for the next 6 strikes, reducing in effectiveness by 10% per strike. Grants 13% resistance based on nearby enemies. Each hit carries a 13% chance of permanently stealing one stat point from an enemy. Lasts until all charges are used. Cost: 15 Essence per target. Cooldown: 10 seconds
“An even greater passive speed and damage boost is always welcome. An extra strike, too, nice. Hopefully, it’ll make a difference. I’m going to be upset if all this preparation proves unnecessary.” Luke glanced at the ‘audience’ of shades waiting for him. “I’ll backtrack on that. Would you all allow me to steamroll you guys without breaking a sweat?”
The cursed shades of the swamp beat and pressed upon the radiance, keeping them at bay.
Guess that’s a no. Drat. Nothing worth it in life comes easy, as Dad used to say.
Luke affixed his body toward the shades pounding on the gleaming barrier around the golden land.
“And now we wait,” Luke decided.
Authoria tilted her head when she heard those words from her unorthodox new helper.