Gregory missed the desert. He missed the sand. He missed the vegetation that would stab you as soon as feed you. He missed being dry.
As it turned out, hunting something called a Fog Behemoth was a guarantee that you would be wet, wouldn't be able to see anything, and would be wandering around for hours trying to find the blasted thing.
The fog was pervasive. The behemoth hid inside it, hunting small animals and anything else that wandered into it. This type of monster was rare, and apparently not usually a big deal. They were relatively immobile. Wherever they spawned, they tended to stay put. Setting up their fog cloud and waiting for food. It made them easy to avoid.
When they blocked a well-used road and were set up on the corner of someone's sheep farm, they became a problem.
Now Gregory and Cooper were on the case. Cooper couldn't use his advanced search because the fog disrupted skill or magic based tracking. Someone like Olivander would be able to overwhelm it, but they were stuck using Cooper's mundane tracking skills.
"I think I have the trail now."
"You better not lead us to another sheep."
"I had never smelled a sheep before. How was I supposed to know that's not what a Fog Behemoth smelled like?"
"That's fair."
A rumble from the fog to their right caused them both to pause.
"Is that what you're on the trail of?" Gregory whispered.
"Nope."
"Wonderful."
A large wolf emerged from the fog. They could only see about ten feet in any direction, so it was practically on top of them. Apparently other creatures used the fog as cover for hunting.
The wolf was a magical monster, one of the common ones in the basin, though not as common as the small elementals. They fought a pair of them on their way into the city and knew what to expect.
They leapt aside, splitting in either direction and a massive magical bolt of water shot out of the wolf's mouth.
Cooper retaliated with a bolt of lightning, and Gregory shouted, shooting a Mana Bolt at the creature.
The wolf bounded backward, deeper into the fog, and Gregory lost sight of it. He was also now too far away from Cooper to see him.
"Cooper? Are you ok? Where's the wolf?"
"I can't tell, I can only track it, but that's probably what it wants us to do."
"Head towards me, your telepathy doesn't give me a direction."
A moment later, the sound of paws padded up next to him.
"Where do you think—"
He stopped when he realized he was not talking to Cooper. The wolf latched onto his leg, biting it hard.
He yelled and a moment later, Cooper sprang out of the fog, biting the wolf in turn. It yelped and released Gregory. He drew his sword and began attacking as the wolf tried to disengage with Cooper.
A few solid strikes later, and the wolf was slowing. It tired to disengage, but they wouldn't let a wild monster free to harm anyone else.
"Gregory!"
Cooper's sudden shout in his mind startled him, and he pulled back.
He heard the sound of a lumbering beast behind him too late. A massive tree trunk like fist slammed against him, and launched him through the air, past Cooper and the beleaguered wolf. He crashed to the ground rolling to a stop and groaning in pain.
"Heal—Ahhg!" The pain in his chest made it hard to speak, but he needed to get a spell out to heal himself. He gathered up his will and forced down the screaming pain.
"Healing Touch!"
He pressed a hand to a rib that he was reasonably sure had just cracked. The waves of agony subsided and he climbed back to his feet. He had managed to hold onto his sword.
"Hold on Coop!" he yelled, charging back towards the melee.
More lightning blasted out from his companion, and he passed the now fallen wolf.
He found Cooper darting in and out, barely managing to dodge lumbering fists. Every moment another one of the massive clubs that were the behemoth's hands threatened to flatten Cooper into paste.
"Fall back! I'm coming in!" Gregory charged in, sword drawn.
White power flowed through his blade has he charged it with a Mana Bolt spell and then it shifted to a green hue as he activated his strike skill. The synergistic sword attack slammed into a fist that was descending towards him.
He saw the sword bite into flesh, and he could tell that pain lanced through the creature, but the fist was like an unstoppable force. He just barely activated his Endure skill. and he felt his stamina drain as the fist forced his sword away and plowed into him. Thanks to his skill, it didn't hurt as bad or break anything, but he was tossed through the air once more.
Gregory caught himself quickly. He wiped a little blood from his cheek. He was injured, but another heal took care of that problem.
The Fog Behemoth turned fully towards him. He had its attention now. It was like a massive old tree. It had bark-like skin, and although it had a hunched posture that Gregory associated with large Ape, it still stood around fifteen feet tall. Its eyes glowed a dull yellow, and fog streamed from the back of its head continuously.
"Are you okay? Should we keep our distance?"
"I'll be alright! You flank it. Save mana for blasts when we do need some distance!"
They jumped back into the fight.
This time Gregory didn't try to meet any of the beast's blows. Instead he slipped aside and dodged. He struck at joints as the behemoth was slow to pull its limbs back after missing with strikes.
Cooper used skill after skill. His Relentless Striker skill reduced the cost of his skills enough that he could keep up the chain for an extended contest.
They were fighting at the peak of their abilities. They worked as a team, almost not needing to call out for support. When Cooper took a glancing blow. They drew back, peppering the behemoth with spells as they drew back, preventing it from pursuing, and Gregory healed Cooper before charging back in.
It went on like this for five, ten minutes. The behemoth seemed to have endurance beyond anything they had experienced before.
Like a choreographed dance of attacks and dodges, they dismantled the behemoth. When it finally went down, they stood above it, both of them panting and exhausted. Spent to the limits of their endurance.
They could feel the strain as they pushed their boundaries in a new and satisfying way.
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Quest: Fog Behemoth Contract
* Defeat the Fog Behemoth 1/1
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Quest completed.
* Bonus experience gained.
* Rare item Granted
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You have received item - Behemoth's Bulwark.
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Magic flowed around Gregory, and his ability quest ability took control. The magic pulled off a section of bark from the behemoth. The magic settled into it, and it floated into Gregory's hands.
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Behemoth's Bulwark
* Armor: Shield
* Rarity: Rare
* A shield created from the hardened hide of a Fog Behemoth.
* Provides high damage resistance when used to intercept attacks.
* The shield can call forth a dense wall of fog around you and your allies, hiding you from magical senses and mundane sight. You and your allies can see through the fog.
* 1/Day
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"Oh wow, this would have come in handy during that fight! I'm not sure I wanted a shield, but I can't deny that it could be helpful to stand up to the big blows."
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"I like it!"
As they admired the shield, the fog all around them began to lift. They saw a few unfortunate victims of either the wolf or the fog behemoth scattered around the area — they were all sheep.
"I think the contract says we need to bring back proof. Do you remember the looting ritual Olivander taught us?"
"You didn't study again?"
"I've been busy!"
"Doing what? We're together all the time."
"Stuff. It doesn't matter, do you remember or not? I think I have it written down, but I'll have to dig through my bag."
"I know it. Maybe you should pay attention."
"Okay, Olivander."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You just like him because he's always praising you and making fun of me."
"He's a smart man."
Gregory rolled his eyes, but he did pay attention when Cooper traced out the ritual. This one was unique in that it had to encompass its target, so it could be made larger or smaller based on what was looted.
Cooper had to rest to recover slightly before activating the large ritual. He gained a decent amount of mana after his last level up and class unlock, but he was still a long way from Gregory's maximum mana.
The ritual flashed, and the monster was converted directly into loot.
"We got a bunch of Fog Behemoth Hide, will that work?"
"It should. Let's do a loop and see if there's anything else odd around before we head back. We should make sure there aren't any more wolves in here too."
"Good idea."
* * *
After ensuring that there wasn't going to be any more trouble near the sheep farm. They headed back to the city to turn in their contract.
They found Jeremy manning a counter at the guild hall.
"Is it ok if we turn this in to you, Jeremy? You're traveling with us, so I don't know if this is some kind of conflict of interest."
"Thank you for your concern, Gregory. It's not an issue, as long as all the verifications are in order, and I'm not claiming any portion of the reward myself. I assume you brought some proof?"
"Does this work?" Gregory handed over his shield.
"Oh wow, that's very nice Gregory. Did you loot that off the monster directly? It has a powerful enchantment."
"Kind of. Olivander can give me quests, and I have a chance of getting a rare item out of it. I honestly have no idea how it works. It made this though."
"That's fascinating. We should record that ability in our records. I don't recall ever seeing that in the guild archives. I'll have to double check. But, yes, I can record the shield as proof of contract completion."
They collected the contract reward, a sizable stack of silver, and a few feathers. Gregory thought it was a little odd that the guild offered some random feathers from a bird he had never heard of as a contract reward, but he didn't bother asking about it. He let Cooper take the feathers in his pouch, and Gregory put the silver into his coin pouch.
"Has Olivander registered for the dungeon yet?" Gregory asked, finishing stuffing the feathers into Cooper's dimensional bag.
Jeremy held up a finger and walked over to a set of ledgers that a couple other clerks had been writing in. There was still a long line for dungeon sign-ups at the guild, as there had been yesterday. There were much shorter lines for contract sign-ups and turn-ins.
Some of the people waiting in line gave Gregory hostile looks when they saw Jeremy check the book for them, probably assuming they were trying to cut in line.
He smiled at them.
That backfired completely, and he saw some of the adventurers reach for weapons. He turned around and tried to ignore them.
"What was that?"
"Me failing at non-verbal communication."
Jeremy returned holding a slip of paper.
"He did sign up! He has a variable slot, which basically means he's special and gets to skip the line and go in whenever he wants. He left a note that says if you two show up asking for him, we should reach out to him."
"How are you going to do that?"
"He left a signaling construct." Jeremy held out a rod made of some material that Gregory couldn't identify.
Jeremy cracked the rod, and it dissolved into essence.
"What did that do?"
"I don't really know."
A portal opened next to them a moment later.
"Aha! My students have returned, victorious no doubt?"
"We beat it! It was pretty tough, but we didn't have too much trouble. If another wolf had come, it might have been harder."
Gregory nodded.
"Splendid. Now, I wanted to show you two what you'll be up against when you tackle the dungeon tomorrow. I've arranged a special showing of my run."
"Wait, we can see you attempt the dungeon?"
"Ordinarily, no, but I assisted with some modifications this morning. We can now project runs to a special viewing room. It's still a work in progress, so it won't be activated for testing until I run the dungeon. What do you say? Are you ready to watch?"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Very well then! You can come along if you'd like Jeremy. You don't seem to be doing much down here anyway."
Jeremy gave Olivander a flat look, but he still let someone know he'd be gone for a little while. The contracts desk was slow today, it seemed, so his absence wouldn't be missed.
"You three head on up, and I'll meet you there! I need to gather up the rest of our group."
Olivander vanished back through his portal.
* * *
A half an hour later, they were in a large room on an upper floor with a large remote viewing construct. These were very rare, and Gregory had only seen them used by his father a handful of times. This one was the size of the room's wall, covering the entire thing. It was black and inactive while it waited for the setup to be complete.
Jeremy was chatting with the Guild Master of this branch. Guild Master was the highest ranking official at any given branch, and had a vote on the international guild council. In a city with a permanent dungeon, it was an important position. This Guild Master wore robes of dark blue that were just as fine as Olivander's own robes. He was a portly man with a bald head and a bushy white beard.
"Your friend came to me this morning to suggest the idea, and I thought it was a splendid plan. The younger generation will be able to learn a lot by watching more experienced members complete runs. Besides, it should be very entertaining!"
A portal opened at the end of the room, and Olivander came out, followed by a bevy of people. First was Gloria and Fezzic, then Gregory's parents with Rebecca, and his older brother, Timothy. Next came Helga, Zeke and their daughter, Annebell. Rebecca spotted Gregory and rushed to him, Wrapping him and Cooper together in a big hug.
She told them all about all the fun stuff she was doing at the ranch. Once she calmed slightly, Gregory was able to greet the rest of his family.
"Gregory, my boy! You're looking good! Is that a shield? Let me see it," Burtrum examined Gregory's gear and took him in carefully before wrapping him in a big hug.
"You're doing great, son. Olivander has been telling us about your adventures, and we couldn't be more proud. Saving a man from the brink of death, and then helping contain a deadly disease and deal with the aftermath? I wasn't doing half as much when I was Silver rank!"
"Thanks dad. We really didn't do that much. It was mostly Olivander," he said, embarrassed about the praise he didn't quite feel was earned.
"I heard it from the man himself. I know what he can do, but I also know he's not one to exaggerate the accomplishments of others. It's okay to be proud."
Gregory nodded and his dad gave him another squeeze, letting the rest of the family get their comments and greetings in.
"Alright everyone, settle down!" Olivander was standing in front of the viewing construct wall, the Guild Master next to him. "We're here to test out the newest, and perhaps greatest, innovation in dungeon runs! If all goes according to plan, you should be able to view an image of me completing the dungeon through the viewing construct behind me."
The Guild Master picked up the talk.
"This would ordinarily be impossible. Dungeons cut off most magic transmission with the outside world, but we have close ties with our resident Dungeon Spirit, and she agreed to provide Olivander with some spells that will allow him to link up the action inside the dungeon space with this external view. It will be like a window into the trial!"
"The Guild Master is correct. We may need to do some fine tuning, but you should get quite a show! I encourage those of you who will be attempting the trial to pay attention. Now, I'll wrap up this construct link and head into the dungeon!"
Olivander drew out an extremely complicated ritual. Gregory couldn't make heads or tails of it. Then he created four more, each wildly different and incredibly intricate. Gregory couldn't create one of them if he had all day and a detailed diagram to work from.
Then Olivander did something even more ridiculous, and combined them into one ritual, forging connections and fine tuning adjustments as he worked.
The Guild Master seemed to be an advanced magician of some sort himself. He was taking notes as Olivander worked and asked him the occasional question.
When the ritual was complete, both Olivander and the Guild Master supplied mana to power it.
It flashed, and then sank into the viewing construct.
Gregory thought it hadn't worked when nothing happened to the construct, and Olivander departed without a word.
"Don't worry, It won't activate until Olivander enters the dungeon. He's heading up now, so let's sit back and enjoy the show!"
The room was filled with moderately comfortable furniture, and they all settled in.
After a few minutes, power flooded the room from the viewing construct. It slowly began to glow. Then a scene resolved in its depths.