CHAPTER 315 – WIDER STRESSORS
Tom linked his mind to the lesser air elemental he had summoned to drag the trolls to where their team waited safely out of charge range on the roof of the tunnel. They had tested it, and the air version was the best. While the fire ones could enrage a troll effortlessly, the science of drawing them the fifty metres to the ambush point was complicated. The monsters would only follow while its target was capable of being hit. Basically, the elemental needed to be able to survive multiple charges in order to pull a troll the distance they needed. Fire elementals were not good at this and could only survive two strikes before its mana core became depleted which would force it to return to its own plane.
Air elementals, on the other hand could survive up to ten hits. Other ones like earth might be better, but he hadn’t checked yet. These would do the job and he figured he would experiment on other options once they got the ‘draw a troll and destroy it,’ process under way.
The summons flew swiftly away. He monitored it the whole way even if the perspective and feedback he got was scattered and difficult to follow. His experience in True Dreams at least let him sort the jumbled information into useful intelligence. It reached the large room. Launched a weak conjured air blade into an eye of a troll which was at the edge of the cavern next the entrance.
Tom recoiled as over two hundred eyes turned to look at him. Even though he was not there, the killing intent of so many monsters able to use such a devastating skill as their version of charge made him flinch.
The elemental sensed the emotion and fled toward him.
It ran away not looking back at the creatures that wanted to kill it. There was a jolt that propelled it forward in chaotic flight. The summons got its balance back and flew hastily away, knowing that there were enemies after it. The world rocked again and Tom got impressions of spinning rock walls and then a closeup view of a crack in the stone. Luckily, it was not stunned. Without pausing, it zipped away from the stone it had crashed into and kept fleeing toward them.
From the way they had stared at the summons near the cavern, he was expecting over a hundred trolls to be following, but it was only one.
Tom blinked in surprise. The air elemental reached him with the monster in tow. Below, the troll froze as the elemental flew up high out of its reach and then a rain of magic and one of Everlyn’s arrows rained down upon it.
Its flesh was shredded and the four fire elementals descended to ensure there would be no unwanted resurrections.
“Easy,” Everlyn said in satisfaction as it died. “That worked well. Let’s do this.”
For the next three and a half hours, they repeated the process. Dozens of lesser elementals were cycled through as they drew the monsters to the killing field, making multiple trips until their energy was depleted. Bodies built up and every twenty minutes they needed to pause to clear them away and leave a flat surface so the latest monster they pulled into their traps couldn’t create a ramp to launch themselves upward.
It was brain dead work which was sped up slightly by the mana regeneration ritual that Harry had repeatedly carved on the roof.
Finally, the last one was killed.
“I hope someone in Vidja’s group has a cheat. Otherwise clearing these objectives is going to take days.” Thor said grumpily.
“They won’t,” Everlyn promised. “Maybe if we had someone like Legen, then this wouldn’t be such a grind.”
“Usko,” the big man suggested hopefully.
“He’s a good tank,” she agreed neutrally. “But I doubt he has anything that can deal with this. Selena’s group was a carefully constructed squad where each person was chosen to complement the skills of everyone else and we’re a team of heroes who have adjusted our individual builds to form some synergy between us.. Vidja’s party however was hastily assembled from the best adventures her community had access to. Usko is great at what he does, but he’s not the stereotypical tank. I suspect most of his contribution points would have been invested into damage potential rather bunkering up behind a shield. He has the wrong mentality. In my opinion there is no way he will have the niche skills necessary to negate the advanced charge ability that we’re facing.”
“You’re probably right…” Thor agreed. “But by… chocolate pudding… this is a slog. It would be great if someone could help.”
They all heard the substitution for the word GOD. There was no way the big man was stupid enough to accidentally commit blasphemy. Without running into a single opponent, they reached the cavern. It was like Everlyn had described, a large space, but oppressive because of how shallow the roof was. Tom had to watch himself so that he didn’t inadvertently bang his head.
Like previously, Thor did the honours, breaking the strange-looking altar. This one had a nature theme.
Everlyn frowned. “By my count it’s going to take us eight hours to reach the next objective.”
“That long?”
“Yes Thor. I’m sure you’ve noticed how slowly we’re killing them. There’s no rushing this. No options to get there faster or to eliminate them quicker. Let’s stick to what we can control. Another two hours and then we’ll find somewhere to rest for the night.”
They continued on, then when it was time they established the camp site as usual, choosing one of the conveniently placed raised tunnels that the trolls could not enter. They were not a frequent occurrence, but there seemed to be one every couple of hours and Everlyn could identify them from the maps.
A card game was set up and Tom wanted to participate just to chat and feel normal for once, but he couldn’t bring himself to commit. His head throbbed, and he needed sleep to be fresh for tomorrow.
“Come on Tom. Play with us just for a bit..” Harry offered. “You know you’ll love it.”
He waved off the offer and went and laid his bedroll down in the corner. Through Earth Sense he felt someone approach him, the steps were light and completely silent. It surprised him. Deliberately he didn’t turn around. “What do you want?”
“Who me?” Everlyn asked, trying to sound innocent. “Nothing directly.” She grabbed his shoulder to force him to face her and handed him a flask.
“What’s this?”
“Something I saw in the auction house and thought of you. You look exhausted, and I hoped it might help.”
“Evie.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That didn’t answer the question.”
“I won’t say its not special. It’s an elixir that kind of acts like enhanced coffee but with a shorter half life. It only stays in the system for an hour and has no drawbacks after that time. A couple of sips should perk you up.”
“You want me to take what? Some stimulants? Some drugs?” Tom thought about the skills he had purchased to help manage his sleep issues. To be honest, it felt like they served a similar purpose to what Everlyn was offering him. He couldn’t see the benefit of taking it. He was sure it would be able to keep him awake, but that was all. She wasn’t offering anything that would help deal with the underlying problem. “I could take it or I could be mature and sleep to recover.”
“Tom, your life needs to be more than fighting and sleeping. Have a couple of sips. Play some cards with us… if you won’t do it for you, then do it for me. We’re worried about you. I’m worried.”
Stolen story; please report.
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Tom please. Just try it. Two sips… you can relax for a bit and then sleep after. It’s not coffee. In an hour’s time, it will be like you never had it. Do I need to order you as team leader?”
“You don’t have that power.” With an uncertain frown, he unscrewed the flask and took a sip. The liquid was cold and had a sweet minty flavour. It was not unpleasant. It didn’t taste like a medicine that he wanted to spit out, but more like one of the fancy cocktails a woman might have ordered at a bar back on earth. Cautiously, he swallowed and then a coolness spread through his body. It caused the tension in his muscles to fade away and he felt some of the headache dissipate but not all of it.
He met Everlyn’s eyes.
She smiled. “Recommendation is one to reduce the intensity and two sips to function at full capacity.”
The first sip had done what she had promised. The edge of his headache had been lifted. Curiously, he had another sip and the same feeling spread through him and this time the throbbing in his skull faded to nothing. He raised an eyebrow in appreciation. “It works.”
She grinned in excitement. “The flask is yours. According to the information sheet that came with it, it’s not a panacea because its effectiveness reduces the more you have. It varies by person, but basically the formula is that every day you get four sips at full strength and then another twelve or so at reduced potency. Mathematically, I think it’s supposed to be able to keep you going for an extra four to six hours.”
“And no down sides?”
“Not as such but I guess you need to remember it’s not a replacement for sleep but the diminishing returns means you can’t really abuse it in that fashion, anyway.”
“I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t assume chemicals could replace the need for sleep.”
“I know,” she patted his hand.
It caused his heart rate to increase more than it should of.
“I’ve just learned when it comes to medicine to make sure the user knows their limits. Come on let’s join the game. We’ve missed your company.”
She pulled him up and led him over to the card table that Keikain had created. It was large enough to sit all of them and had been built into the floor. It was like a hollowed out waterless moat that they could put their feet and legs into with the table surface being at ground level.
“Tom,” Thor cheered in excitement. “Welcome to the casino.” He shoved across a variety of chips and then explained the rules. They were playing Texas hold em. A typical pot was about five thousand auction credits, but some hands could have the pot reach a hundred thousand if multiple people went all in. “Your credit’s good, so feel free to lose as much as you want.”
“How sure are you that it’s good.”
The big man chuckled. “Very much so as I’m holding it all.”
“What? You’re holding my credits. That’s the first time I’ve heard of this. Give them over.”
“No can do. If you’ve got a problem with the arrangement, then talk to Michael. Oh, he’s not here. What a pity?”
With a laugh, Tom joined the game. They were only joking around. Of course, he had known about the credits that Thor was holding. After all, the spoils of each completed zone had been auctioned off by Thor and that he was keeping a strategic reserve to meet any unexpected large costs that might appear.
Two hours later, having consumed his four full strength sips and with a warm, happy glow he fell asleep.
He dreamt of fighting trolls and of his upgraded ability that let him teleport effortlessly to avoid their charges. Dozens of the monsters were trying to flatten him and his brilliant manoeuvres made them crash into each other.
Abruptly, the nature of the dream changed and he was caught up in a True version.
He was in a body that, as usual was alien to his human sensibilities. Multiple limbs, different sensory inputs that were weird to him, a landscape of vision that was not light related. Despite all those differences the mind’s architecture, how its thoughts were structured was strangely familiar to him.
As he had been expecting it, despite the alien components he recognised the species almost immediately. It was one of the wador and while it was hard to tell it was probably the same competitor that he had shared the mind of previously. Tom quickly did a stock take to confirm his suspicions. There were six limbs and the chest area for fine motor control, which he could feel because the wador was doing the equivalent of twisting its fingers together as a sort of subconscious tic.
It had just emerged from the tunnel into the safe room and was staring at the zone’s quest notification.
Quest: Banish the Lava.
Plug all lava vents to gain access to all adjacent zones.
Progress 2 of 25.
It sniffed, and Tom was aware of the scent of snow and the frigid temperature of the cave. “Are you reading the quest Toowold.”
“I am. Finally, we get to face a real opponent. It’s time to go hunting.”
“My thoughts exactly.” The mind he was in agreed completely with Toowold’s summary of the situation. Emotions were roiling in the mind. A savage desire to kill the sapients that were not part of its pack. They would hunt them down, set an ambush and then kill them. Acquire ranking points and test their superiority. At the same time, it was going to be glorious.
The dream broke, and Tom woke with a start. He sat straight up with his heart thumping. When he glanced around the room, it was to see multiple pairs of eyes turned to face him. There were looks of surprise on all their faces, which shifted instantly to concern and fear.
Everlyn reacted first. “What’s happening? Are we in danger?”
“No, not us.”
“Selena then.” She threw an imploring look at Thor.
The big man immediately produced pen and paper. “What’s going on?”
“The wador just entered their zone. They have no intention of playing fair. Their first thoughts were about hunting.”
Thor started scribbling. “And by hunting?”
“Yes. By hunting, I mean permanently eliminating the competition. They know about Selena’s team because of the quest’s progress. They’re not going to talk before attacking.”
“Anything else I need to include.”
Tom shook his head. “No, only that Selena won’t be able to fight them. They’re too powerful… after all at best they only have a third of humans’ power there while the wador has all theirs.”
Thor snorted. “Plus even if all of us were gathered I doubt we could fight off any of the races.” He glanced significantly at the chosen and Tom had to agree. If all the humans combined forces to fight them, and assuming that they would fight back to the best of their abilities, then the humans would be destroyed. A couple of them could crush them, let alone all of them working in concert… It might only be a short-term advantage but it was there, and it still existed. It was possible with their growth once they reached the centre it would be a different outcome, but for now they were outclassed.
Thor stopped scribbling, his eyes closed briefly an animation left his face and then the note in his hands was consumed by portal flame. “I’ve sent it. What now?”
Tom shrugged. “That’s it. We’ve sent the warning. There is nothing else we can do.”
“Michael’s not here so I’ll ask it,” Keikain said finally. “I’m not sure that’s right. Don’t you think you should be napping to provide them with extra protection?”
Tom hesitated. It was an excellent question. His gut yelled no. For the insects, there had been a chase and his input was useful, however this was a simpler solution. There were no multiple vectors for the different opponents to move on. There was a single valid play, and it was Selena preparing the peace offering to start a dialogue. He had already given her all the information she needed to do that. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Unless they want to run.” Keikain muttered, mirroring his own thoughts. “Then it’ll be worthwhile.”
“Even then, it’s not beneficial.” Tom told him. “There’s no running. All the exits from the zone are closed. There are only two possible outcomes. They do the peace ritual or they fight. My dreams won’t help further with either approach.”
The earth mage turned to Everlyn. “My gut tells me that he should sleep. It won’t slow us down too much. We can load him on the golem and go slowly until he awakes.”
“It’s not necessary.” he protested.
Everlyn frowned clearly torn on the issue. Then her brow wrinkled and her scowl grew deeper. “Are you sure Tom? I can envisage a situation where Selena sets up the ritual wrong or gives incorrect instructions to the others. A True Dream could save them if that happens. It can act as quality control.”
“That’s exactly what I was trying to explain.”
“It was not Keikain,” she snapped at him. “Tom? What do you think?”
He wanted to say no, but… facts were facts, and her analysis of the situation was accurate. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
“It’ll work,” Everlyn promised. “The method we’ve been using to defeat the trolls hasn’t given golem the opportunity to be particularly useful so there’s no reason we can’t dedicate it to transporting you. With the upgrades you’ve given it, with its mana capacity, even while carrying you it should be able to crawl along the roof. Which means the trolls won’t be able to reach you. You’ll be in no danger while sleeping.”
“Unless I fall out of bed.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you’ll think of a solution. You know by tying yourself in place or something like that.”
They fashioned a sling. Tom was positioned under the main body of the golem with its legs out to either side of him. Caging him in so to speak. It was the most bizarre mode of transport he had ever experienced and the ‘bed’ they had constructed was awkward to get into as he had to do so when it was already on the ceiling. Then it started to walk with its feet digging into the stone, or more precisely the stone deforming to grab each foot and hold the golem in place as it walked upside down.
It was slow going and for the first couple minutes the uniqueness of the situation caused his heart rate to increase and he couldn’t even consider sleeping, but in short order he got used to it. Then he used his skills to send himself to sleep. He deliberately didn’t direct a dream, but he wondered if this was going to evolve into another situation like with the insects. A mad rush to exchange information and notes to guide them to safety.