Chapter 71 – As if you were speaking to a child

That’s when Trey heard his name being called out from below. He’d been so enveloped in his activities on the hill that he’d not seen Ashe approaching with Napoleon and the drow siblings from the ruins, and they were only about fifty yards away. Trey gave them a wave and Gorthomal gave the group behind the two summoners the signal to start packing.

They were going to move out.

The only thing of note Ashe was able to report about was a large carnivorous slug creature about the size of a bus that moved about secreting acid along its path. It had been devouring some half-eaten corpse about a third of its size when they’d spotted it earlier, and its level was high enough that Ashe and the others couldn’t pick up on what its exact species or level was. Only question marks appeared when trying to identify it. So they decided to go around the monstrosity just to be safe.

It was late in the afternoon when they’d finally traversed the gap between their original spot on the ledge and the city. They’d stuck to the clumps of trees where they could, but they often found themselves in the open with only small shrubs, grass or even rubble. Sometimes a patch of snow would come along but they avoided these as best they could to avoid making tracks.

Approaching one of the ancient holes blasted into the far western end of the wall, Gorthomal held up a hand to stop them. He dismounted his taurun and called up his duska wyrm. The enormous creature caused the ground to shudder just slightly as it broke to the surface and coiled itself up to stare without eyes, its plated hide glistening in the sunlight. Motioning for his three harpies to go up, the demons took off in a blur of brown feathers. The entire group waited in silence, giving each other nervous looks until eventually all three of the harpies came back unscathed. Gorthomal took a minute to possess one of them, entering its mind for a short time and then opening his eyes again.

“From here on out, we can’t fly anymore unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Gorthomal gave Atharost a meaningful stare. “It would draw attention. Right now I know that at least three major dungeon complexes control various parts of this city… along with a couple ghoul factions and some ragtag monsters or demons.”

Juila interrupted the old summoner with a brisk cough and a question. “Why would they all stay here in close proximity to one another? Won’t they fight?”

Gorthomal gave the amazonian woman an incredulous look. “For the benefit of the others, I will answer your question… slave. I realize you think you can speak your mind because your masters are lenient, but I am not. They need to keep your leash tighter, in my opinion. Do not interrupt me again.”

Juila’s cheeks flushed, and she looked down to the ground while tightening her grip on the pack she carried.

Meanwhile Gorthomal irritatedly pulled out a map drawn onto old yellowed parchment, rolled it out and set it down along the ground so more people could see. It was a diagram of the city in pretty good detail. The map itself was rather large after it had been rolled out and many places along the parchment were marked with notes. “The short answer is that there are high grade mana wells here that once supplied the city with energy used for various day to day functions thousands of years ago… Now that the city has fallen into ruin, the wells are used as a means of keeping these creatures alive. They are not only a food source but also a means of becoming stronger… that is why these different groups vie for power here in Labasta. It is similar in many of the other ruins across Ornthas.”

He pointed to some of the words he’d written across the map. “I’ve been collecting notes for years on Labasta in hopes of finding Lord Rathamak’s Amulet. I’ve cross referenced numerous sources and come to the conclusion that although the city is in a tight power struggle between three dungeon cores that have moved in along with their minions.” The old man tapped on a spot along the wall. “We are here. If we take this route along the edge of the city, we will run into the territory of Dungeon Crazus. It has a strong army of minions at its command, but most of them won’t come out as we pass through unless we pass through its entrance into the underground canals it controls. It is the least aggressive of the three dungeons according to reports from other groups, but we’ll still likely run into some resistance passing through. It’ll try to stop us and kill us for materials, food, or whatever it is those damnable things do with the bodies after they drag them into the depths. However, passing through this area means that other creatures likely won’t interfere as they try to stay away or are killed and eaten. Who knows… if we’re lucky we may even be able to slip past them entirely without a single fight on our hands.”

Trey was confused and it showed. His head twisted at the sound of a parrot who’d flown by and perched on the wall far overhead, but shook it off after calming his nerves. “I don’t understand, Gorthomal. Why are these dungeon creatures a better option than the others? Where are we headed? Is Dungeon Crazus the one we’ve come to explore?”

The old man scoffed, shook his head, got up and pointed directly through the hole and far across the city - straight towards the citadel. “We’re going past the territory of Dungeon Crazus and into Dungeon Vertasha. Dungeon Vertasha is the target. My informants think it holds the citadel entirely under its command, but they can’t be sure because it has never been explored. The other two dungeons keep people occupied and stop people from reaching the one further back… Another ranger who got separated from his group last year ended up stumbling on it. He didn’t say encouraging things about what he saw there, and barely managed to get out alive after the notification he got informed him he was entering the dungeon’s lair. As for why the dungeon creatures are a better option to deal with… it isn’t necessarily a better choice. It’s just the route we’re taking because it’s fastest, and it isn’t bordering another territory where we may run into multiple packs instead of just one set of enemies.”

“How far into a dungeon do you have to be to receive a notification letting you know you’re there?” Trey’d never entered a dungeon before, well at least not the kind that would create monsters and try to kill you. He knew the basics though - these cores created monsters or enslaved monsters to do their bidding while growing from the mana that they acquired from killing. Dungeon cores had a mind of their own and often fought even each other to stay on top. Trey wasn’t sure how they were created or how fast they grew, but they often changed the landscape around them to fit their needs.

“Just within the area of the dungeon core’s influence, the limit of which it can perform magic and sense you’re there without its minions.” Gorthomal replied briskly, rolling up the map into a scroll and depositing it into a pocket. “That said, we’ll see the creatures that are owned by the dungeon long before that. Dungeon cores can also see through the eyes of their creatures and the cores often send them out to hunt or acquire whatever materials they need.”

Well that didn’t sound promising.

But the old summoner didn’t wait much longer to venture in. His minions quickly followed behind him after a brief pep talk, and off they went. Palming Talsh’Noc’Un’s handle, Trey quietly followed Gorthomal’s forward group into the city through the blast hole… hoping that it wasn’t going to be as bad as he expected it to be.

***

The city structures were even bigger close up, and an hour into their slow trek - Trey found himself looking over his shoulder regularly to make sure they weren’t being followed. Piles of rubble intermixed with occasional vegetation and a multitude of structures that had withstood the test of time. There were hundreds of alleyways interlinking with one another between the main roads and many of them were blocked off due to wreckage. No one said a word and the only sound they heard was their own footsteps or the heavy breathing of Gorthomal’s larger minions in front. The old man had dismounted and took a cautious position behind his two taurun, with his gigantic wyrm slithering alongside him. The rest of the imps, daema, harpies and Trey’s group all were intermixed behind that on constant lookout for potential threats.

Trey thought he saw a quick motion to his left in the dark of an old three story wreckage with half of the building having collapsed, but even with his night vision focusing in on the dark recesses it held: Trey couldn’t see anything alive in there. He even took the time to make sure it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks.

Three ravens flew overhead in rapid succession while they traversed one of the long small corridors leading inwards on the western side, passing shadows over their path in stark contrast to the usual birds of paradise like an omen of things to come.

Trey glanced back again out of paranoia and noted the concerned frightened looks many of his team had. This was the deepest they’d ever been into Ornthas before, they’d only ever skirted the edges of the closer and well known ruins in the past. This trip had a lot of variables that could go awry, and it was putting them all on edge. In particular, Julia looked terrified... with Astala - Er, Piggy - looking the same as they carried their packs in the middle of the group. Ashe was doing a good job keeping Izumi and Eeme preoccupied by playing the game ‘I spy.’

Wanting to keep his mind off of how much danger they were likely in at any given moment, Trey shadowstepped forward to walk next to Gorthomal.

“Your skill Shadowstep has increased by 1 level.”

Trey ignored the notification and tapped the old summoner on his left shoulder. “Hey man, mind if I ask you a couple of questions?”

The old man shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Trey’s head swiveled at the sound of a falling rock to his right. The entire group froze as it bounced down from a stone building far off, but after five entire minutes of watching and waiting: they let it pass and continued on their way. “Do you mind giving me a brief rundown on being a summoner?”

Gorthomal chuckled at the question and clasped his hands behind his back while still keeping his eyes peeled for any potential enemies. Shadows of the alley passed them by with the sun peeping in and out between gaps in the ruins of their narrow path. “A brief rundown? You want advice?”

Trey nodded.

Gorthomal sighed slightly but stroked his chin and nodded. “That’s a very broad topic to speak on. Is there something more specific you’re looking for?”

Trey’s lips pursed but he shook his head after a brief pause. “No. I don’t know enough to ask more specific questions. Anything will do. Tell me as if you were speaking to a child who knew nothing about the class.”

“Oh.” Gorthomal folded his arms in understanding. “Now that I can do. Very well. If you were a child… I would first tell you that summoners aren’t liked in most social circles. Many countries have bounties out on warlocks and summoners alike, as they are two different sides to the same coin. Travel to the wrong place, and you’ll be killed just for being a summoner.”

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Trey’s eyebrows narrowed in concern. “Yeah I’ve heard about that. Why is it that way?”

The old man chuckled and pat Trey on the back with a shake of the head. “Ah, to be young. Why do you think they’d put out bounties on our kind? Did you not see the rituals we performed when the cult converged to meet? We take what we want to achieve greater power, often at the expense of others. A lot of our rituals are fine tuned towards sacrifice… we kill the weak so we may grow strong. If I’m not mistaken, your culn priestess has a similar ritual does she not?”

Trey frowned, but he nodded in turn. “My targets deserved it though-”

“Oh stop with the moral high ground bullshittery!” Gorthomal flung out his hands forward in disgust as if to drive off some foul stench. “You bonded with the infernal magics because of your matching desires. Somewhere inside you, you realize that’s true. Your recurrent anger and wish to inflict pain on those who do you wrong is why the chaos attribute bound itself to you, while the dark attribute gives face to your selfish and malicious desires despite what you may tell yourself. Even if you can’t see it for yourself, I can. Your attributes cling to you like a blanket of malice unlike what most practitioners of the black magics hope to achieve over an entire lifetime of dedication. No matter what you may say to me about whether or not your victims deserved their deaths, you cannot deny that you enjoyed their deaths. You cannot deny your sense of satisfaction upon destroying their souls for your own gain - can you? Did you lose sleep over the idea of taking away one’s chance at eternal life to further yourself? Did you?”

Trey’s mouth pursed, but he remained silent. He did think the people Rivia had sacrificed thus far deserved it… but he certainly did enjoy the idea of reaping their souls to gain stat points to improve his own stats. Not only that, but he reveled in the times he got to kill those who stood in his way when his slim sense of morals didn’t hold him back. It brought him an odd sense of satisfaction… and although he hadn’t ever come out and said it, he reveled in the power.

Gorthomal watched Trey’s expression change and he grinned in satisfaction at being right. “As I thought. You are just like me in many ways… don’t fight it. Accept yourself for who you are and you will grow even faster as your attributes guide your hand. Summoners and warlocks are self-serving bastards from the beginning, there is no point in denying the very things that made you what you are. We must take solace in one another’s company, for even when our very existence is not outlawed by the lands you travel in - there will always be those who try to kill you simply for being one of us. Demons are natural predators for most mortals, they look upon humans, elves, dwarves, greenskins and the other races as food, slaves or playthings. Beneath them, at best. Many holy orders dedicated to tracking down our kind and killing us have large bounties on our heads, to move about in the open is a dangerous game to play. Here in Ornthas and the Lawless Lands it is less noticeable… but if you travel outside these parts you’ll quickly realize you are to be hated and shunned. Not only will people try to hunt you down to kill you for money or by their laws, but many merchants will outright refuse you service. It is important to have good connections because of this.”

Gorthomal paused for a moment to look around a corner of a connecting dark alley, passing the wreckage by without a second glance when it revealed a dead end. “The next thing I’d tell the children of my people is that summoners aren’t all purely magic casters. You’re a perfect example of this… though it was premature to get so involved in close combat without any sacred arts. Dangerous even, when you face down capable opponents in close combat classes. You should really work towards getting your summoner subclass before you try to resolve your fights up close.”

Trey gave him a curious glance and was about to reply but Gorthomal cut his question off with a wave of his hand.

“Quiet boy, I’m getting to it. There are three subclasses for Infernal Summoners. For summoners the first of these upgrades is the ability to choose a fighting style specialization: Dark Apostle, Horror Crusader, and Silent Nightmare. Dark Apostle will give you a bonus to magic and faith abilities, intelligence stats and further attune your spells, and is the one most infernal summoners take. Silent Nightmare is for summoners who also have a dexterity build and is meant for those who wish to become pseudo-assassins. Horror Crusader is a strength based skill tree that focuses on melee fighting, tanking and is the least picked out of the three specializations; it is said to be the weakest… Personally I picked the Dark Apostle specialization, so I don’t know much about the other two.”

This information particularly piqued Trey’s interest. He’d been gearing towards a build split between intelligence and wisdom for his magics, willpower for controlling minions, and strength so he’d be able to eventually wield Talsh’Noc’Un to its full potential. He’d heard about subclasses, but had known nothing about them other than they existed up until now. One of which was a perfect match for the type of fighting style he had. If Trey was able to pick a subclass: he’d probably be picking the Horror Crusader strength-based option. He just wished he knew what exactly that would do for him in terms of improvements… a question whose answer would have to wait for the day he finally acquired it.

“Other things you may want to know as a fledgling Earthborn summoner are a variety of topics I’d usually take for granted that you already know. Just to be safe I’ll list them off… You’ve probably seen me possess my minions, yes? Eventually you’ll be able to do the same. You’ll be able to have out of body experiences where you can control their very movement, they are extensions of yourself after all. They are pieces of your larger consciousness, like additional legs and arms to use and your ability to live through their bodies is another testament to that. This ability to possess them will come with time after you learn how to communicate mentally. First is the mental commands, a point at which you’re undertaking now, then after commands will come mental conversations, and after conversations will come possessions. Another thing to know is that necromancers, though they are also often outcasts of society just like us, are not often associated with by our kind.”

Gorthomal didn’t offer an explanation for this last part about necromancers, but Trey’s curiosity wasn’t going to be satisfied until he knew why. So he asked.

"What’s the deal with that?”

“Tilukt, Bringer of Plagues, is not fond of demonkind. Jer’akak, the other god most undead worship, is even less fond of demons.”

“But isn’t Tilukt one of the infernal crowns too?”

“Yes. Tilukt is an old god belonging to the pantheon of the Infernal Crowns… though it is only an alliance brought together by common enemies. Their shared hatred of the celestials is what keeps them working together, but Tilukt often encourages his followers to wage wars against demonkind to grow the nations of the undead. Undead cannot be created directly from bodies of demons, their souls cannot be used, but the body parts may be recycled in various ways to expand an undead empire. The Infernal Crowns occasionally work together to oppose the celestials and their gods, but otherwise most of the Infernal Crowns are bitter enemies. Almost all undead civilizations worship one of the two, Tilukt or Jer’akak, and their discontent with demonkind is apparent. Demons also tend to dislike undead. It is very common for different civilizations of the differing races to war one another.”

An enraged guttural scream interrupted their conversation and all heads twisted left. There, in an old abandoned courtyard staring straight at them, was a huge mutant ghoul the size of a taurun. It wore a long cloak, carried a staff in one of its two absurdly large arms, and spit bile at them from afar. The band of over 200 undead following behind it all came out from their own alley and stared, locking eyes with the dungeon divers in a hungry, primal anger.

Name: Mutant Ghoul

Race: Ghoul, Undead

Class: Necromancer

Level: 109

HP: ???

MP: 881/900

SP: ???

DP: ???

Name: Ghoul Archer

Race: Ghoul, Undead

Class: Ranger

Level: 16

HP: 130/130

MP: ???

SP: ???

DP: 1/1

Name: Ghoul Scavenger

Race: Ghoul, Undead

Class: Thief

Level: 10

HP: 100/100

MP: 100/100

SP: 148/148

DP: 1/1

In those next few moments it was as if time had completely stopped. Everyone held their breath, not moving a muscle until the ghoul screamed out again and waved its staff in the air to summon a bolt of dark mana that began to pulse.

“INSIDE THE BUILDING BEHIND US, NOW!” Gorthomal screeched as the dark orb blossomed and rocketed toward one of the heavily armored daema. It made impact, shuddering the demon’s skeleton and then vaporizing it within a matter of two seconds. Nothing was left behind, and even the armor was vaporized.

In the next instant, everything roared into action.

Arrows were traded off in rapid succession between ghoul archers and their own while Trey fired off chaos balls at condensed areas in line with the blasts of fire from Atharost. To Trey’s surprise, the ifrit’s little elemental dragon was rocketing off firebolts of its own that were almost half its size and back to back - getting off five of them within three seconds. When those fireballs hit, Trey was even more surprised to see how much of a punch they packed. Apparently that little elemental was a lot more powerful than it looked! They were just as about as powerful as Napoleon’s, who was casting his own from Rivia’s shoulder.

Despite this, Trey’s surprise at the elemental’s power relative to size was dwarfed by anger when an arrow clipped his forehead. His eyes immediately flared to life with glowing crimson streaks pulsing throughout the vasculature of his face. Scowling and blasting another of the oncoming horde he turned and shadowstepped back in line with the rest of his group. Gorthomal’s wyrm was burrowing into the ground rapidly while he, the small swarm of his imps, and his two caster daema were returning fire with magics of their own.

Screams erupted from both sides as two imps went down, their HP bars settling to zero with arrows protruding from one’s chest and another’s skull. Their party was continuing to retreat into the dark recess of a one-story building that was half-caved in and had a narrow doorway along with two small square windows before leading into a dead end room.

They couldn’t run, so Gorthomal’s obvious plan was to use the narrow entrance and window as a choke point so they wouldn’t be swarmed and surrounded. The ghouls outnumbered their party 6 to 1, and if the undead were able to encircle them they’d be gonners for sure.

Just ahead of him and right before the entrance: Izumi was running into the building when an arrow flew past the back of his hand and sunk deep into the pack she was wearing. With a yelp she tripped and fell to the ground, the potions inside her pack spilling out in a crash of differently colored juices.

Jason fired a shot from the window and pointed urgently. “GET HER UP!”

Trey rushed over to help Izumi stand, checking her back and sighing in relief when he realized she wasn’t harmed. He shoved her inside and turned around to see he’d already cast a flurry of shadow blades that were riddling out from his own body at random to strike at the incoming ghouls.

Sithis hummed in delight, his symbiote relishing the flashing notifications in their mind as one after another the shadow blades tore through exposed limbs and necks of the undead swarm. Just like when he regarded Atharost’s elemental, Trey’s surprise at Sithis’ ability to cast blindly but accurately was also short-lived due to the escalating nature of their situation.

A boom sounded as curse magic flared to life from the older summoner’s extended hand and sent a dozen undead writhing in green flames. Gorthomal had entered the small building now as well along with the rest of his minions that could fit. The two taurun however were much too big, and they were pumping themselves up for the coming battle by roaring and beating their chests as the ghouls rushed them with arrows occasionally imbedding into the bodies of the huge gorilla-minotaur hybrids.

“BRACE YOURSELVES!” Jason screamed over the sounds of the incoming creatures who wanted to eat them alive. “HERE THEY COME!”

They did indeed come… and there was mayhem.