Chapter 65
Take a skinless, boneless, chicken breast half and set it aside for the moment. Heat the oven to 400F. Take eggs and water and beat with a fork. Imagine seasoning the chicken separately with thyme and black pepper. Picture a skillet covered in a tablespoon of butter and set on a medium high heat.
The chicken is laid on the buttery skillet for ten minutes. The chicken is now brown and crispy on the outside. Take that chicken out and set it aside in a covered container in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
More butter in the skillet now and its sizzling a little. Mushrooms and onions splash the butter as they hit the pan. They're tender and you wait for the liquid to evaporate, stirring once in a while. Parsley gives it a splash of green as it joins the mushrooms and onions in the buttery pan.
A small bowl off to the side. You add a serving of cream cheese and mustard and stir.
The counter you're working on isn't quite right – throw some flour on it. Take out some pastry dough and unfold it on to your now floured surface. You need a seven inch square of pastry dough. You spread it out on to the counter, the flour keeping it from sticking.
You spoon a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture from the buttery pan on to the pastry square and top it with the chicken you take out of the refrigerator. Spread a tablespoon of the cream cheese & mustard mix on to the chicken. Go back to the egg mix and pour some of that over the edges of your pastry and fold its corners up and over the chicken to form a sealed pouch.
Now place corners-down on to a baking sheet and in to the oven it goes. First give it a brushing over with the egg mix though to make it bake up nice and golden brown.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Take out, allow to cool briefly, and serve.
That was what Jay and his friends were presented with at lunch and it looked amazing.
“What even are these things?” Jay asked semi-politely.
The chef at the counter across from Jay smiled and replied, “Chicken Wellington sir.”
Jay smiled and nodded in thanks. The next station served a variety of sides and Jay picked out a small bowl of pitted black olives and a dish of white rice.
For his drink Jay picked out a glass of cranberry juice with green ice cubes that glowed faintly. Jay wasn't sure if having glowing iced cubes was an Eden thing or just a Guild dining room thing but he thought it looked nice.
The group moved along and Jay picked out a table where they could all sit together. “So, Norri, tell us about being a druid.” he said with a welcoming smile as they all sat and began eating.
Norri shrugged. “Well I'm a Mage type but with a focus on animals. At least I hope I'll focus on animals. I have only one ability so far, Control Creature. It's how I managed to stop that monster when we were running Dungeon Room. It takes a lot out of me and doesn't always work if the monster is stronger than I am.”
“Can you talk to animals?” Aiden asked with wide eyes.
Norri giggled. “Not yet. I'm hoping I can do that someday though. Who knows what abilities I'll get as I grow!” she finished with a wide grin. “It's more like giving them suggestions right now – which they can't say no to unless they're strong enough.”
“Well I'm glad you're on our side. I don't know if there will be any creatures for you to control in the Church dungeon but we're happy to have you along for your staff skills alone.” M'redith said warmly, trying to make her feel welcome.
“Oh hey! I know what we can do! I practice mornings but I could put that off if you guys wanted to go over your notes on traps and dungeon running together before Friday comes.” Norri offered generously.
Jay laughed but smiled warmly to take the edge off of it. “That's sweet of you to offer but we're already getting up as early as we can to do weapons practice on our own before actual weapons practice. I don't know if you noticed but my staff work could use some... work.” Jay said sheepishly.
Norri nodded at that. “Well, if you want I'd be happy to join you guys. It'd be more fun having others to practice with anyway. I already practice in the mornings so it isn't as if I'd have to wake up earlier or anything.”
Jay shared a look with M'redith. It was a perfect opportunity for Jay to get some pointers from someone that seemed to already know how to fight with her staff.
“Welcome to the morning workout group.” Jay said with a grin.
M'redith explained to Norri the spot they had picked out for practice so that she would be able to find them in the morning.
They finished their meals slowly – it really was tasty and no one wanted to rush through it. Eventually it was time to go whether they were done or not though so Aiden finally stood up and collected everyone's trays.
Norri was confused at first but finally handed over her tray with a smile, “Thanks!”
Aiden walked off to turn in the trays as Jay explained, “We take turns every meal.”
M'redith nodded and leaned against Jay propping her head up on his shoulder. She yawned and put her hand up to cover her mouth. “Sorry. I'm tired from getting up so early I think. Is it bed time yet?”
Jay laughed as Aiden returned, “Come on guys, let's head out.”
Everyone got up and the group walked together outside.
The staff was gone.
Jay had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The group continued to walk before they hit a crossroads and Aiden peered up at the sky. “We're earlier than I thought.” he said.
“Let's walk through the flowers!” Norri said excitedly.
No one objected so they turned to their right and headed to the gardens section on their way to class.
The gardens section path was lined with gardens of various types of flowers. In places there was a riot of color, in others the plants appeared more subdued. The plants were not just for show with the exception of the annuals flowers which had been planted for the specific purpose of looking pretty.
The other plants were for the healers and alchemists and mages, not to mention some of the other classes, to use in their various professions.
Norri leaned over a beautiful yellow flower with pink inner petals. “These are so pretty!” she said as she breathed the flower's scent in.
“ACHOOO!” M'redith sneezed a moment later as she inhaled the scent of the flower Norri had just moved away from.
Jay had gotten in to the habit of saying Goddess instead of God while on Eden mainly because everyone on Eden appeared far more familiar with a Goddess than a God. So he was only half-thinking when he replied with the semi-common phrase that everyone replied with on Earth when someone sneezed. Jay just changed it slightly to fit the culture he was in.
“Goddess Bless you.” he said without thinking.
M'redith was suddenly surrounded by a swirl of bright light. It swirled around her feet before quickly spinning further and further up her body before it disappeared completely. M'redith saw a sudden display window pop up in the middle of her vision glowing a vibrant teal.
Gaia sends Her greetings! You have been granted a Prophet's Blessing of Gaia! Health restored 100%. Mana restored 100%. All injuries are healed. You are given advantage on all system rolls. Any damage sustained during that time will be applied at 50% its normal value. This Blessing will last for one hour.
“What was that?” Norri said wide eyed as she saw the light show whirl about M'redith's body.
Jay saw a timer pop up in to the corner of his vision and focused on it.
Prophet's Blessing: 168 Hours
The display appeared to be counting down the hours before he could use the blessing again. Jay did some quick math in his head. One week. It would be one week before he could use that Blessing again. It was quite powerful, overly so, but would be seriously limited by it's lengthy recast timer along with the fact that Jay didn't want anyone to know he was a prophet.
The Blessing, if used, would make his prophet status quite obvious.
M'redith stopped everyone and told Jay to turn on his Aura. “Go stand near Jay, he can clean everything you're wearing!” she said trying to distract Norri.
Norri looked momentarily confused but stood near Jay and her eyes narrowed. “That is.. uncomfortable.” she said.
“It only takes 30 seconds.” Jay said kindly.
Norri looked like 30 seconds might be too much to ask but she stuck it out and finally stepped away only to be replaced by Aiden, who wanted a turn, and then M'redith, who couldn't believe she had forgotten to ask for one already.
Norri sighed when she stepped out of Jay's aura smelling of a tropical beach, her body feeling as if she had just stepped out of the world's greatest shower, her clothes soft as if they had been freshly laundered and then dried in the warm sun.
M'redith glared at Jay and leaned over to whisper to him while Norri was busy enjoying her newfound cleanliness.
She leaned in and spoke quietly, for him alone. “What the heck was that! Sweet Gaia Jay you can't go around handing out Blessings! How can you even.. right. I forgot. Prophet. We'll talk about this later!” she finished all in a whisper.
Jay whispered back, “I had no idea it would do that!” as she pulled away. M'redith looked incredulous at his response and couldn't help it and leaned back in, “What on Eden did you THINK was going to happen when you blessed someone!? Do people on Earth just walk around randomly blessing strangers?”
Jay looked like she wasn't going to like his answer, “Er..you might not believe this, but yes. We do!” M'redith peered at him as if she couldn't decide if he was being honest with her or not but set it aside for later as Norri turned around to face Jay and M'redith.
“Thanks Jay!” Norri said brightly as the group continued on, Norri already forgot about the prior lightshow.
Aiden hadn't seen M'redith's notification but he could tell that she had at least gotten one. He could also tell that they weren't discussing it in front of Norri but holding a whispered conversation so he kept his mouth shut for now.
The garden route, which they had taken, was not the shortest path to their classroom for the afternoon. It was a quiet trail and there were no others walking along it – most students were already at class. This would not have been a problem usually but the morning wasn't going to be usual.
The group all stopped as bells began ringing throughout the Guild grounds. Jay had no idea there even were bells and was surprised to hear bells ringing from the farthest of the Guild's properties.
“What the heck?” Jay remarked as the group looked about.
“What's with the bells?” Aiden asked.
M'redith looked extremely worried. “We need to find cover, fast.” she said as she cast about, finding nothing nearby but plants.
“Why?” asked Norri as they began to run along the path trying to keep up with a now running M'redith.
“Because either the Guild is being invaded by an enemy force or a monster got loose somehow. Bells are never good unless there's a wedding. Even then it could go either way.” she quipped as she came to a row of buildings. All the doors were locked and no one was opening up when the group knocked.
“Crap.” said M'redith as she looked about.
“Let's try down here!” Aiden said as he pointed further away at a crossroad. “Maybe down a side street?”
The group gathered together and prepared to walk over to the side street to search for cover when a human shape was thrown in to the intersection from the direction of the side street.
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“So no on the side street.” Aiden suddenly remarked.
The person crumpled to the ground and did not move. The group of friends could hear a thump and then another as if a large body was taking plodding steps forward. Moments later a creature sauntered in to the intersection and locked eyes with M'redith, who was at the front of the group.
The creature was as large as a school bus – the big, long, yellow ones. It had six legs, all with sharp claws on the ends. A thick wiry tail dragged behind it like a long rope, its length occasionally twitching. The head was a fat wedge and on its nose grew a single long tusk.
The body was covered in interlocking plates, the scales a bright red that transitioned to orange as it moved about. A large eye the size of a dinner plate moved to focus on Jay. The eye disappeared behind a nictitating membrane as the beast blinked, its eyes disappearing for a moment.
“Form up!” Jay shouted and M'redith instinctively drew her sharpened sword and prepared to fight the beast the best she could.
It was huge. How do you parry or block a school bus sized creature? M'redith was about to try and figure that out.
“Anyone able to signal for help?” M'redith asked as she focused on the beast.
Everyone looked at everyone else and shook their heads.
“I can try something, no idea if it works.” Jay said and took out his Mighty Book and shouted “GLOW!” The book burst in to brilliance and formed a brilliant blue orb hundreds of feet wide and tall with Jay at its center. Jay left it going.
“Maybe someone will notice that.” Aiden said dryly. “In time to rescue us I mean.”
Norri looked scared but moved up to stand near M'redith. The beast was massive, far too strong for Norri. The beast lowered its wedge shaped head and all of its scales shifted from red to yellow and back again in a mesmerizing show of color.
The group was not about to be distracted by its showy performance and the creature began to step forward towards them slowly. It suddenly whipped out its tail and Norri peered intently at the creature – its tail suddenly moved awkwardly, unable to land any blows on its prey.
Norri wasn't strong enough to control the creature, but she could interfere with its own control over its body. The group backed away as the creature ran at M'redith.
M'redith had a great Class Ability that allowed her to fight as if her body was the size of an Ogre. Even an Ogre would have had significant problems fighting this monster due to its massive size and M'redith smartly did not attempt to meet the monster's charge.
As the monster shot forward towards M'redith its tail rose in to the air for a moment.
Jay saw a bright red glowing arrow appear on the ground to M'redith's right and the monster's tail began to move.
“Step left!” Jay shouted and M'redith threw her body to the left just before the tail crashed down to her right and the monster charged through the space she had just been standing in.
Had M'redith stepped to the right instead as her instincts had told her to do she would have been seriously injured or worse. The creature was just too strong to fight and her only chance was avoidance. Without Jay's help she would not have stood a chance.
The creature slowly turned around, the crossroads providing more than enough space for it to move around and fight in. It again lowered its head and began to run at them but this time Norri focused on the creatures eyelids.
She closed them.
The group didn't even have to move as the creature took a path too far to the left to even reach Jay and his friends.
The creature became frustrated and thrashed about knocking down a building entirely before it spun and faced Jay's group once again.
Jay's group could hear shouting and running in the distance. Maybe help was on the way. Or maybe there was more than one monster. Or.. two things could be true. Regardless Jay's group had to focus on survival in the hopes that someone stronger than them would come to the rescue.
The creature suddenly ran at Jay's group with a surprising burst of speed. As it passed Jay's group it thrashed again, jackknifing as it did so and sending its tail whipping towards Jay's group. The tail's height was just above ground level in an attempt to sweep the group off their feet.
M'redith easily avoided the tail and scored a direct strike on it with her sword. Jay was surprised to see a massive chunk fall away as the monster screamed with a high pitched wail.
Aiden jumped over the tail and almost dropped his staff as he landed. Jay jumped it easily.
Norri had trouble though. The tail caught her shoe just as it passed and sent her tumbling. She took a rough gash to her head as she landed and began bleeding profusely.
Aiden immediately ran to her as Jay and M'redith took up positions between the creature and Norri's collapsed body. He lay hands on her head, careful as he did so to ensure any patch formed wouldn't interfere with her vision. Finally she stood groggily as Aiden tugged her to the side.
M'redith had used that time to slowly circle the monster, turning it so that it faced away from her group.
In a normal group made up of full members their healer would have had the ability to heal from a distance instead of having to put hands on the person. A full-member group would have their tank do exactly what M'redith was doing now.
It was the safest thing for the group but the most dangerous for the tank, M'redith. Her healer was not a full member and could only heal what he touched. Her healer was behind the monster and nowhere near enough to her to give her heals.
M'redith had sacrificed her safety for the safety of her group. Exactly what a good tank should do in a hopeless situation.
And it was hopeless. Jay had no secret ability or item to use that would save them – his Book's glow alone was their only hope for rescue. As of yet it hadn't helped them. Jay had never felt the bite of being under-leveled more than he did at that moment. He needed to level. More. Faster. That was for later though.
For right now the group was just trying to survive. The monster was now focused on M'redith and the only reason she was still alive was thanks to Norri who as soon as she was healed began a mental battle for control over the monster's body.
Norri went for the eyes first. She tried shutting the lids, rolling the eyes repeatedly, blinking excessively but the creature became better at resisting her the longer she tried the same thing. It stumbled about blindly for a time. She switched up her approach and moved one of its ankles the wrong way as the creature stepped down on to that foot. Then she did it to a different foot, then another. Soon the creature was having trouble standing as it repeatedly rolled its ankles while trying to move.
The creature didn't know exactly what was happening to its body but was smart enough to guess that Jay's group was involved. The creature turned and breathed out a long huff of air in a loud grumble.
Norri leaned forward and focused, her arms extended. The creature reflexively tried to take a breath after it finished its huff but found itself unable to breath. Its body quickly entered panic mode and the group as a whole took a step away from it no matter which side of it they were on. It thrashed violently trying to take a breath which Norri was not allowing it to do.
The effect wore off and the creature looked towards Norri not in anger but in terror. It had decided that she was the cause of its distress but the way she fought terrified the massive creature.
“Step forward!” Jay yelled over to her as they weren't side by side anymore.
“What?!” Norri yelled back in a scared voice.
“Just try it! I saw it on a nature show once!” Jay yelled back.
Norri took a step forward and the creature lowered its head and shied away, taking a step back. The step took it straight towards M'redith. The creature was backing away from Norri in an attempt not to flee but to find some easier prey to fight. Norri took another step and the monster whipped around and faced the other direction.
M'redith was the other direction. One step would have been fine but Norri's additional step brought it too close to M'redith. The monster struck her with its tusk as it ran at her and she was thrown to the side and lay still. Her notification went unread as she lost consciousness.
You have been gored by a Glimmerhide's tusk: 180 points damage
Your health is now -80/100
You have a negative health balance.
Overkill: 80 points
You have lost consciousness.
Death is imminent.
Jay yelled and screamed to get the beast's attention but it was no good. It was intensely focused on M'redith's crumpled form and appeared to be preparing to make another go at her as her notifications continued to scroll by rapidly without her attention.
Jay had nothing left. He'd done everything he could. He drew his staff back and hurled it at the monster. It bounced off the monster's plated hind quarters and lay impotently on the ground. The monster didn't even notice.
Amelioration Detected: Prophet's Blessing of Gaia
All damage * 50%
Footsteps and yelling could now be heard as the group could sense other people approaching. The creature heard them as well and trumpeted a shockingly loud challenge as it threw its head back and stood up on its back legs, its giant form towering above the humans.
Calculating new values...
You have been gored by a Glimmerhide's tusk: 90 points damage, adjusted
Your health is now 10/100
As the monster returned to the ground Norri focused on the monster and locked up its leg muscles briefly, causing it to crash to the ground with its legs splayed to the sides. The monster trumpeted a low gravely tone and stood back up and raised its tail, focused entirely on M'redith.
You have regained consciousness.
You are seriously injured.
M'redith opened her eyes to the view of a closeup of the Glimmerhide's tusk approaching as the beast ran towards her to gore her again. M'redith rolled to the side and gave a low groan as she was wracked with pain from the movement.
Seek medical attention.
One tusk caught her on the side and threw her across the street in to a store front. The monster lost sight of her for a moment and paused to search. M'redith stayed still not wanting to set off another charge by the beast. Also, she didn't want to injure herself any further, she couldn't take much more.
Your health is now 2/100
Seek immediate medical attention!
As the six legged monstrosity pawed at the earth it appeared to have given up searching for M'redith and instead planned on just destroying everything on that side of the street where she had landed. It sped across the open crossroads and tore up the ground as it did so leaving deep furrows in the earth.
People suddenly began flooding in to the courtyard in a riot of colors and sounds as the creature was stopped cold by a man dressed all in browns and reds. He floated through the air without any identifiable means of doing so and raised his hands as a wall of black stone rose in front of the beast.
The shock from the collision was cataclysmic as pieces of stone and flesh shot off in various directions. The floating man raised additional walls to the sides and rear of the creature, over and over again as the creature attempted to destroy them one by one. The walls pressed inwards, crushing the creature.
A woman wearing blue robes with a gold sash ran in to the courtyard and did what Jay could only assume was some type of martial dance. As it concluded a ball of fire grew between her hands and shot off and struck the beast.
The ball of fire burrowed through the monster's armored plates and disappeared. Moments later a muffled explosion was heard and parts of the monster was blown out through the hole the fire had made entering the beast.
The beast's hide rippled in pain as it screamed in impotent rage.
Additional people arrived, each dressed in rich robes or armor. Those in armor took up positions in front of Aiden and Norri. Jay ran past everyone including the monster and began pulling pieces of a building off of M'redith, carefully removing the mess.
She was seriously injured and Jay decided she was too injured to safely move. “Healer!” Jay yelled. A woman in yellow turned and ran over to them. Jay gave the healer a worried helpless look and motioned towards M'redith.
The healer smiled and began working on her. “Don't worry. She'll be just fine. We got to her in time.”
Additional mages showed up and took turns blasting the monster. Even trapped and unable to fight back it took the motley group of Guild members almost 10 minutes before the creature stopped moving.
M'redith smiled tiredly. She was exhausted. Between the fighting, almost dying, and the healing, her body had been through a lot and was in desperate need of rest.
You have been awarded a Diamond level Record.
Requirements:
Fought a monster over 20 levels higher.
Died while protecting her group with over 50 points of overkill.
Survived.
M'redith sighed. She didn't know what any of that meant and was too tired to care. She felt Jay give her a kiss on the head before others approached and loaded her on to a stretcher to be taken to the Infirmary for additional treatment.
Jay went with her and anyone who argued was politely told that he had just finished fighting a Glimmerhide and would they care to be next? No one interfered after that.
Aiden went with Norri who also was brought to the Infirmary for her head wound. Aiden could heal a little but it paled in comparison to what a higher leveled healer could manage.
It was the talk of the Guild for that night. A Glimmerhide was a massive monster but they weren't usually seen above ground. They loved living in nice dark dungeons and would only have left the dungeons due to overcrowding. Somewhere someone had failed to properly cull a dungeon inside the K'tharkle city limits.
Someone was going to be in deep trouble for their mistake and Jay was just glad it wouldn't be him.
With only a little bit of prodding Norri was put in to the same room as M'redith and the group was finally together again. Jay hadn't let go of M'redith's hand since the last healer had left and told them to rest and take it easy.
“Good thing you had the Blessing, huh?” Jay asked with a smile.
M'redith laughed and leaned against Jay's arm, closing her eyes. She was a bit loopy thanks to some of the medications the healer had given her to help her rest. Soon enough her breathing had slowed and she was napping. Jay sighed.
“We made it.” Aiden said with a grin as he sat next to Norri's bedside. She was fast asleep already as well. Eating and sleeping were the two best things you could do post healing. The body needed to replenish and rebuild.
Jay wondered if T'lly would be upset they missed class.