I pushed the last symbol and the hidden door slid down revealing the long staircase down to the dungeon. I waved to Jasmine and her friend. “Ladies first.” I said as I stepped back to let them pass. The orc snorted and headed down the stairs with the Animal-girl following after. I looked at MoProblems and shrugged as we headed down after them.
They had stopped before the door at the bottom of the stairs and were waiting on MoProblems and I. Surprisingly, it was the animal-girl who spoke up.
“Now that we’ve arrived I think it will be advantageous if we took a moment to discuss our individual capabilities as well as our roles within the group.” I blinked at her a few times. The girl looked like a ditz but was obviously no MMO novice. I hadn’t really noticed before but her blue eyes were dagger sharp.
“I shall begin. I am Meridith as you already know. I am a Risui Druid. I am primarily a healer but my nature magic does give me some limited offensive capabilities.” The girl announced before looking to her dour companion. The orc scowled at her but spoke up next.
“I’m Jasmine…. uhhh…... and an orc, obviously. Bardbarian Secret Class.... Don’t ask. I’m mostly a fighter, but I do have bard magic. I havn’t used it too much but it’s mostly useful for giving buffs.”
“MoProblems…. Gnome wizard, mostly control but my damage is still decent.” My gnome apprentice said beside me. He wouldn’t be my apprentice much longer. He’d level pretty quickly in the dungeon with mobs at level 20+.
“Hi, I’m Noob Slayer and it’s been about 30 hours since I’ve slain a noob.” I said. I waited for the ‘Hi Noob Slayer’ but it never came.
“Tough crowd…..” I mutted before continuing.
“My class is a Geomancer. That gives me elemental magic. I’ve also got points in two-hand weapons , witchcraft, camping, mining, ….. and a bunch of other stuff. I’ve been focusing mostly on training up my basic attributes so I hit hard and have buckets of HP. Since we already have a healer, ranged deeps, and an dual-wield fighter, I guess that means I get to be main-tank for this shindig. “
It was actually a pretty good group make-up. The game's skill system was very open so class roles were fluid unlike a lot of games. My new armor along with stone-skin gave me solid defense. I wasn’t on the level of a heavy armor user but I should be good enough.
“I was only down here once and got chased out by a patrol so I don’t know much about what’s inside. I fought a group of six skeletons. They are fast and hit fairly hard but don’t have much HP.” I added.
“Excellent, It seems our group is fairly well balanced then. Shall we continue?” Meredith asked.
I just shrugged and pulled the lever on the door. The stone rumbled upwards and revealed the tunnel I’d been in before. Tunnel was probably the wrong word. It was street, at least least used to be. The buildings were mostly rubble and the few that still stood ended abruptly at the stone ceiling fifteen feet above. The warrens of twisting streets and alleys combined with the tightly packed buildings made it appear to be a tunnel system. However, you could tell it was a city if you looked closely.
“This is fascinating, a truly remarkable discovery.” Meredith said from beside me. I just pulled my hammer from my back and began to scan the surroundings for enemies. This was a dungeon and the whole place should be crawling with monsters.
A faint clicking sound from the left had me snapping me head in that direction. A troop of skeletons approached from an alley in front of us and to the left. “Patrol 10’o clock” I shouted before charging to intercept them. I activated stoneskin as I rushed forward and the familiar sensation of my flesh hardening washed over me as the skeletons noticed my approach. The two started to run and we came together in a crash. I didn’t even try to attack. Instead I just held my hammer across my chest and did my best to run them over.
Strengthened by dark magic they may be but even in a fantasy world physics are still king. One two-fourty pound human carrying a hundred fifty pounds of crap on his back is ALOT of mass. Compare that to piles of bones that might weigh thirty pounds with their armor on and the futility of their resistance becomes obvious.
Most of them got out of the way but I hit two of them square. The force of the impact sent them crashing to the ground and I simply ran over top of them and spun to meet the attacks of the ones who’d avoided me. That left me surrounded but put the skeletons backs to my party which was my goal. .
“Wah, Et, Cry!” I heard MoProblems shout before a chunk of ice shot across the space between us and blew one of the skeletons legs off. One of the other skeletons turned and charged away from me but Jasmine met it before it could close with our wizard. I saw her parry a strike with one axe before smashing one of it’s arms to splinters with the other. Two strikes on my left side brought me back to me own fight.
I swept out with my hammer in a long arc trying to dive the monsters back from me as I retreated. The job of the main tank is a thankless but important one. You mostly just have to be annoying and stay alive. If I was solo I’d gladly trade HP for killing blows but with a group it’s not necessary and would only burn through the healer's mana. So instead I just backed away slowly, parrying attacks where I could and only attacking when it looked like an enemy would try and fight someone else.
My groupmates on the other hand got to do the fun stuff. Jasmine fought like a demon her axes a blur as she cut and spun through the enemies, all the while bolts of fire and ice shot from my apprentices mage-orb and into unprotected flanks. The battle was a short-one and I only took about fifty damange which Meredith healed as the last skeleton fell.
“Not bad for amateurs” I said as the fight ended and everyone was catching their breath. Jasmine had actually lost her scowl and a small grin tugged at the edge of her lips. Meanwhile Meredith had hurried over toward me with MoProblems.
“That worked quite adequately. Although, I wish you’d refrain from running off like that without warning next time.” The druid said. The girl was more talkative than I’d imagined. She must be the one who did the planning for her and Jasmine. It was obvious the girl was an MMO-veteran. And although Jasmine was ferocious it was also pretty clear she was new to all this.
“I did warn you.” I said with a smile. “Besides, it’s my job to get surrounded and it left the lines of fire open for MoProblems.” The skeletons vanished to mist a moment later and some coins spilled out on the ground. There wasn’t a lot but more than I’d seen any other mobs drop so far.
“Not bad... “ I said as I divided the coins into four piles and handed them out. “Lets keep moving.”
The first few pulls were fairly uneventful. I used my shoulder-rush to pull with varying degrees of success while Jasmine and MoProblems chewed through the skeletons and I got beat on. That’s when we got our first real fight.
We’d rounded an alley and a crushed building sat across a wide street with the wall closest to us collapsed. Inside the building were a half-dozen skeletons, another half-dozen zombies and a skeleton in a dark black cloak holding a staff. I didn’t get the group stopped before the skeleton with the staff turned its bony head towards me. It’s eyes blazed a bright red and a ball of noxious green light gathered on the end of it’s staff before it pointed it at us. The ball launched across the intervening space but I was already moving.
This far below ground I could touch the earth even through the street stones. I heaved with my power and a wall of earth rose in time to catch the attack. The ball hit the wall and I could hear it hissing and bubbling as it ate at the earth and stone.
I resolved not to get hit by any of those acid balls as I looked at the rest of the group. This was bad. If we waited here we’d be swamped by undead once my wall went down. On the other-hand trying to sprint across an open street with a skeleton mage slinging acid balls at us wasn’t going to be fun.
I saw MoProblems look at Meredith for a moment before he set his jaw. The expression would have looked stoic and impressive on most people but on a four-foot tall teenage-gnome he just looked ridiculous. He raised his orb over-head and it started to shine with a ice-blue light.
Oh god……..
The air around him started to bend and warp before he opened his mouth and shouted. “Na, Et, Cry , Ta, Na, Reke!” The already cold air suddenly plummeted another forty degrees turning what had been uncomfortably cool into bitter cold. A wind rose from the stagnant air and a cloud of fog and stinging sleet covered the street.
I supposed that was as good of an idea as any. This time we were assaulting a fixed position and the fog would let us close with the caster. However, as MoProblems slumped to the ground unconscious I wondered how the hell we were going to be able to chop through all those zombies.
Nothing for it then……
I charged around my earth wall and into the freezing fog. I couldn’t see anything and just hoped I didn’t get turned around. I met the wave of undead somewhere in the middle but the fog seemed to be working and I was already past them before they could react.
I tripped on a piece of the collapsed wall as I entered the bar. That sent me smashing into a table and I lay there for a moment stunned. The sound must have given me away because a green glow in the fog appeared immediately afterwards. I rolled to the left and the table I’d hit disintegrated as another ball of acid hit it. I stumbled to my feet and charged in the direction it had come from. I ran head-long into the skeleton. In the dark and fog I couldn’t see a damn thing when he wasn’t casting but from this close the fight was already over.
I just plowed into it and sent us both sprawling over the ruins of what had probably once been the bar-top. Once we were on the floor I dropped my hammer and switched to grappling with him. It’s surprisingly hard to wrestle a skeleton. There’s just not much to grab onto and they are very quick, but such a monstrous weight disadvantage could only end one way for it. I finally managed to get the things back after some desperate struggling and taking numerous bites and scratches.
I eventually won out though and got my legs around it’s pelvic bone. I used it as leverage and simply wrenched the things head off. It seemed to be held together more than the others and took much more effort than I was expecting. By the time I finished the job I was red-faced and panting with exertion. I picked my hammer back up and rushed back over to the girls.It was hard to home in on them but I could see the torch Meredith was holding through the fog.
The two were holding on but only barely. They were slowly retreating down the alley while Jasmine hacked and cut with her axes and Meredith healed her numerous wounds. I hit the back of the mass of undead and took them completely off-guard. I smashed the first skeleton I met to splinters then hurled a gout of fire into the back of the group. I didn’t have much magic left but it was enough to draw some of their attention onto me. The rest of the fight was a chaotic mess of flailing limbs, undead moans, and brutal close-fighting.
I finished off the last of my foes and stumbled over to the girls completely spent. Then Jasmine appeared out of the mist like a wraith with her eyes glowing a demon red and a look of such raw fury on her face I was honestly terrified.
“Stop!” Meredith yelled from behind her and she paused with her axes raised above me. I honestly didn’t have enough energy left to try and stop her. I just slumped to the ground and leaned back against the alley wall.
Then the experience from the fight much have calculated then because the alley was filled with three flashes of blue light and a billion popups obscured my vision.
Bleep-de-deep-Bleep
Bleep-de-deep-Bleep
Blip
Blip
Blip
You Have Reached Level 15!New Class Skill Unlocked!
Strength Of StoneInfuses the Geomancers Muscles with the power of the earth. This skill enhances the users strength based on their magical power.
Rank: Novice I
Activation: Toggle
Cost: Reserves 40 Mana
Effect: Increases users Str scores by 15% of Res Score
Your Apprentice has Reached Level 10!Apprentice: MoProblems
Class: Wizard
Score: 92/100
Rating: Excellent
You Have Received An Excellent Rating!This is your first apprentice. Higher reward tier unlockedSelect one of the following rewardsAmulet of Endless Knowledge
(Mighty)
An amulet worn by sages of the White Tower. It increases one’s ability to learn.
Only through teaching can one truly learn
Armor: N/A
Class: Accessory
Slot: Neck
Durability: Indestructible
Effect: +15% skill gain
Special: This Item can not be traded or dropped. If stolen it will re-appear in the users inventory instantly.
One Secondary Skill Point
I was distracted from my impending death by the info dump I’d just received. I quickly scanned the popups for the relevant info. I didn’t die, so apparently Meredith had managed to stop Jasmine from butchering me but I was too caught up to care.
I whistled as I read through the info. That was one tough choice.
On one hand the amount of skill points you could receive in this game was finite. I’d managed to get some extras because of dumb luck and the occasional good idea but the amount of skills I was going to come across was only going to grow larger. On the other hand 15% to skill gain was huge. It would let me keep the buff from having an apprentice forever and combined with my human racial my title I was at a massive advantage. I’d gotten three skill ups that fight alone. At his rate I’d be able to hit apprentice ranks in the next couple of weeks which would put me WAY out in front.
Of course once I hit apprentice and all the skill caps kicked in I’d want that skill point more.
Screw it….. Go human power….
“Select Amulet of Endless Knowledge” I said aloud. I mean it had flavor text, that meant it had to be good. There was a flash of blue light and a gold amulet shaped like a burning torch appeared in my hand. I put in on immediately and let it hang down inside my armor.
I looked up and saw Meredith and Jasmine looking at me curiously. Jasmine’s eyes had lost their red glow and were brown again but the sclera were blood red instead of their normal pink color. I just shrugged at their stares.
“What?” I asked innocently.
Meredith looked at me askance then said. “I somehow feel like I was just cheated but I’m unsure why.”
“You should have let me kill him when I was still raging.” Jasmine said sullenly.
“I think it’s time we set-up camp. “ I said in an obvious attempt to change the topic. We’d been down here a couple hours already and I was getting hungry. Besides I wanted to show off my witchcraft a bit. Veteran gamer I may be but I was a man first and we had an instinctive calling to show off in front of woman.
“What level is your camping skill at Mr. Slayer?” Meredith asked as she sat down next to me.
“Beginner two I think. I’d have to look. Neither of you has camping?” I responded. Leveling had topped my HP, mana, and stamina back off, but I’d gotten a few wounds during the fight and didn’t want to do much until they healed.
“Mine’s at Novice III however, because I can heal it’s mostly unnecessary. .” Meredith said.
“I could see that. MoProblems and I didn’t have a healer so I had to put a point in it so we could regen. I think it’ll give some pretty cool buffs when it levels. It can already heal severe wounds.” I said as I dug logs out of my pack.
I heard a groan and MoProblems rolled over and sat up where he was passed out on the ground.
“I fainted again didn’t I?” He asked groggily.
“Well you did cast your ridiculous six rune sleet storm spell again.” I said. “Although, this time it was much more useful. Why didn’t you just blast him with something though?”
“I don’t have anything to ‘just blast him’ with.” he said defensively. “Most of my offensive spells are only three runes which I didn’t think would do much against him. The only other spells I’ve come up with are a four-rune chill spell that slows, and a six-rune bind spell which is cool but not very useful against a caster. I’m only level nine cut me some slack.”
Jasmine spoke up this time. “Your level ten actually. You leveled while you were out.”
“What!, Open character menu.” He shouted then laughed aloud. He dissolved into mutters and giggles as he poured over his options and spent his skill points. I took the time to make camp.
I summoned a small flame and lit the logs as I dug a piece of limestone out of my bag. It wasn’t a great drawing tool but it would do. Since I’d leveled my barrier skill I didn’t have to actually draw the outer circle anymore. Instead I just scratched six symbols around us as a rough guide then sat down and drew my casting circle. Three elements with five sigils. It was powerful enough that it should hold for a bit against the skeletons but small enough I wouldn’t kill myself casting it. After a few minutes of concentration it sprang to life around us in a swirl of neon lights.
I opened my eyes and saw Meredith and Jasmine looking at me with interest.
Mission Success…..
“I”ll teach you later if you want to learn. Although, we should probably go pick-up the loot.” I said standing.
The take was a good one. The mage had dropped about eight silver along with the black-stone on top of his staff. While the other undead had dropped copper and silver. Most interesting however, was the chest we found in the building. It was under the bar near where the mage had been standing. I popped it open to reveal a dark-blue mana potion along with more silver coins and a old scroll.
Meredith looked like her eyes were going to bug out when she saw the scroll so I took pity on her and handed it over. Her blue-eyes flashed over it quickly and she smiled so brightly even I wanted hug her. I looked over at MoProblems and saw he was staring at her glassy-eyed with a dopey grin on his face.
“Anything good?” I asked curiously.
“Yes, It’s a scroll of novice ranked raise dead.” She said smugly.
“As in a scroll scroll? Like, I read what’s written on that and ‘Poof’ out comes zombie and the scroll goes away.” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know that was a thing in this game.”
“I believe your hypothesis is accurate.” She replied.
“That is nice. Should fetch us a pretty penny….. Anyway,” I said as I headed back to the camp-fire. “I’m gonna log for a bit after I drain my mana and grab some food in the RL. Be back in an hour or so.”
Then I sat down near the fire and threw another log on. Then I packed my mana as dense as I could then hurled a bolt of flame down the empty alley. I held it until my head swam and my mana was nearly empty. I might as well use my awesome title and try to get all the skill training in iI could. Speaking of which…… I’d never checked my stats after I’d leveled up.
Open Character…..
Name:Noob SlayerLevel: 15Race:HumanClass:GeomancerAttributesStatusUBStr: 52 (+4) 56LBStr: 47 (+3) 50HP: 267/267Mana: 136/136End: 44 (+2) 46Con: 51(+4) 55Stam: 163/163Panic: 2/10Agi: 30Cord: 36 (+3) 39Hunger: 110/110Thirst: 82/110Int:35Wis: 42WoundsRes: 36Faith: 9SocialGuild: N/ATitles: 3Fame: 801Friend List: 2/2LinksInventorySkillsSpell BookLog
Nice…..
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
My title was definitely paying off. I’d gotten four or five points to almost every stat and all my magic training had given me six to resonance. That was the most I’d ever gotten in any stat. This was going to be a very productive run.
**********************************************************************
I logged back in after I’d puttered around the apartment for an hour. My characters shoulder was still wounded. I’d hurt it when I fell during the last fight and it would likely be another couple hours before I was fighting fit. Jasmine’s body was laying on the far side of the circle from me obviously logged out while Meredith was reading the scroll we’d gotten. MoProblems was looking over her shoulder but the girl seemed oblivious to him.
With nothing else to do I started to meditate. My mana was about a quarter replenished with the camp aura but if I meditated it should only take another twenty minutes to top it off and I wanted to get as much magic skill grinding in as I could. So I filled my mana and started with my element orbiting training. Without the torc I could only use two fireballs and a single water ball but with my skill bonuses I’d get quite a bit out of it. My human racial give me 110% of a normal character’s skill gain. Add that to the 15% I was getting from my amulet and the other 15% I was getting from my title that should be at least 140% depending on how the bonuses stacked.
Meredith had finally pried her eyes off her scroll and was watching me as the small orbs spun around me.
“Just doing some training.” I said to answer her unspoken question. The lapse in concentration caused one of my fire orbs to flicker out and I had to relight it. Talking while trying to keep all three going was unexpectedly difficult.
“Might as well do something useful while I wait for my shoulder to heal.” I said then stood up. I had something else I wanted to test out. I hadn’t got to try out my new skill yet. Not knowing what would happen I rolled my shoulders and said. “Strength of Stone”
A feeling of power surged up through my feet and permeated my muscles. It seemed to collect in my hands and feet and I watched with interest and grey stone seemed to grow my skin. It grew upwards from my toes and fingertips and soon I was wearing a pair of stone gauntlets and sabatons. I flexed my fingers and the stone armor moved like it was flesh. I touched the gauntlet to my face and was surprised I could feel through them.
Interesting….
It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. I’d been hoping for something a little more interesting for my next class skill. I really wasn’t in need of a strength boost. Although, there was no such thing as a bad buff. I glanced at my sheet and saw my strength had risen to sixty-one. Which was honestly a pretty massive number.
I still had a bum shoulder so I tried a few-one arm push-ups. Without my pack on they were stupidly easy.
“MoProblems get over here and sit on my back.” I said as I continued doing push-ups.
“Why?” He asked confused.
“Because I’m testing out my new skill and I have no idea how strong sixy-one strength is.” I said as I continued to do pushups while fire and water balls swirled around me.
“You have sixty-one strength?” Meredith asked with disbelief.
“Is that alot?” I mean I always figured my stats were pretty high but I had nothing to compare it to. I didn’t read the forums too much and people usually weren’t too forthcoming with their characters specifics. I was only level 15 At some point my stats would be eight or ten times as high.
“Honestly, I’m not certain. It’s a bit difficult to extrapolate actual power from a static number like that but since the last time I checked forty-five was the highest confirmed score on the forums I’d say it’s quite high.” She explained in her usual cool tones.
“Well, maybe you should come too then.” I said.
With both of them on my back I could still do push-ups although it require some actual effort. Not enough to slow me down but I was feeling the burn after a hundred or so. FInally my mana emptied and I had them get off while I meditated my mana back up. Jasmine had apparently logged back in at some point during the process because she immediately wanted to get going, but I made her wait another hour until my wound shoulder healed.
Our early success didn’t last. The next skeleton patrol we found was on a totally different level than the first ones we had fought. They were faster, tougher, and worst of all actually skilled with their weapons. MoProblems three rune ice spells just seemed to irritate them and I couldn’t compete with their speed. Only Jasmine could land decent blows on them and Meredith had to use all of her mana just to keep us alive for one fight. Even going all out both Jasmine and I nearly died.
Our levels were finally catching up with us. It was one thing for a level 15 with the stats of a level 20 to try and take on a level 20+ dungeon but with a level 10 wizard and an even lower leveled healer we were just too far out of our depth.
“I’m not certain it’s possible for us to complete this.” Meredith said as we all sat around our fire brooding. “The differences in our numerical strength are simply too high.”
“I agree with her. Let’s just get out of here. This is pointless” Jasmine said sullenly as she leaned against the alley wall.
“It’s not pointless yet. We haven't even started to get serious.” I said looking around at them. They all looked at me with various negative expressions so I continued. “You” I said pointing to Jasmine “Your a bard right? Where our are bard buffs?”
She scowled. “They drain mana constantly when I use them. It makes me tired much faster..”
“Well, I hate to state the obvious here but your magic is never going to get better unless you use them….. alot. This is an opportunity to use them in battle situations which should help them level up much faster as well as boosting your stats. If we want to keep this up we are going to have to rest after most fights anyway so you're not really out anything. Do you at least know meditation?”
Jasmine looked Meredith who shrugged and I face palmed. “Arn’t you a caster? How is that even possible?” I asked the druid. She seemed smart but how the hell could you not know meditation as a caster.
“Druid is a faith based class not a mana based class. We use faith points to heal. It’s an entirely different system.” The girl replied looking annoyed. “I’ve found it quite difficult to find anything of value regarding bards online. Jasmine is new to MMO’s and bard is both a hidden class and an unpopular one..”
I rubbed my forehead with my hands before running them through my hair. I was just about to speak up again with Jasmine cut me off.
“Look, we’re not all as nerdy as you alright. This game isn’t our life so lay off.” She said snidely, looking both superior and hot which pissed me off even more. I rounded on her angrily.
“Today is Friday. Shouldn’t you have gone to work?” I asked meeting her eyes. She looked down and I could swear actually blushed a little.
“So you cut work to play video games. Then when I ask a legitimate question you play the nerd card on me.”
“Look asshole….” She started but I rushed over-top of her.
“No you look….. I don’t care if you act all sullen and angry all the time. I don’t care if you seem to be pissed off at me for no reason but there’s nothing I hate more than a damned hypocrite. You played hooky from work to game and here it is five o-clock on a Friday night and you're not getting ready to go out with your friends, or prettying yourself up for a date. Your down here in a dungeon with the rest of us.”
She cocked her head to the side and looked at me with an expression that was extremely uncomfortable. “You cocky arrogant dick-bag.” She snarled before her fist collided with my face. The blow caught me completely off guard and I spun to the ground, tasting blood.
I laid there for a moment with my anger surging up inside me. I reached for power and the ground started to tremble as my rage mixed with the magic. I was trying to decide whether to crush her between earth walls or just use heavy blow when Mo Problems called out.
“Uhhhh, boss? I know you're mad but please don’t do anything crazy.”
I sighed and the magic drained away from me. I wanted to complete this dungeon more than I wanted to beat up a girl. Besides, my temper had gotten me into enough trouble lately. I slowly pushed myself to my feet and met Jasmine’s glare.
“Alright…. it’s possible I could have been a bit of a condescending asshole there. However, I really am trying to help.I know our levels are way too low to try and run this normally, but we have a lot of abnormal classes and abilities and we haven’t even begun to play all our cards yet. ” I said to the group before singling out Jasmine.
“I know we haven't exactly been on friendly terms and you seem to dislike me for some reason . However, I really am trying to help here. I can teach you meditation in about five minutes which will let you regen mana much more quickly. Then you can start using your buffs.” I turned to MoProblems. “And she’s not the only one. Your a control wizard…. control something.”
“I’ve only got two control spells, one is an Aoe and the other is six runes. If you keep running in like a crazy person It doesn’t do any good.” He said a little defensive.
I nodded. “That would be good to know. Speak up man. I know damn well you're not shy, if you’ve got an idea or I’m doing something that’s screwing up your attacks say something. I’ll let you pull from now on. Slowing part of the group will let us separate them.” MoProblms spoke up again.
“Don’t you have some buffs you could use as well. ” I winced, I was really hoping he wouldn’t bring that up.
“That……. Is true.” I said reluctantly. He just looked at me and made a ‘get on with it’ motion.
“Look, Didn’t you ever wonder why after all that time we spent in a party I never used a buff on us?” I asked.
“Honestly, we never really needed it.” He said shrugging.
“Well they are definitely potent but they have some unfortunate side effects and my skill isn’t high enough to suppress them.” I said.
Meredith looked at me curiously. “What sort of side-effects?” She asked innocently.
I rubbed my forehead again. “Feelings of invincibility and over-confidence, wild emotional swings, nothing dangerous but having your mood forcefully altered is damned weird. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” I said leaving out the most awkward and unfortunate symptom I’d run into.
Jasmine snorted. “After that whole speech about using all our abilities you're gonna be like that. And you called me a hypocrite…..?” She laughed rudely.
I threw up my hands up in resignation. “Look if you want me to I will, I could use the skill xp, but when you get pissed off at me afterwards….. Which you will. I just want you to know that I told you it was a bad idea.” I said exasperated. The thought of throwing jasmine into a lust crazed frenzy gave me some vindictive satisfaction. Although, I knew I’d pay for it afterwards.
MoProblems looked at me for a moment before backing away. “I think i’m good.” He said shaking his head. I looked to Meredith and she stepped forward without hesitation. I raised an eyebrow at the girl.
“I am the lowest level here even a small boost will help me a great deal. Can you do anything that gives faith or wisdom? “ She asked. Hopefully a metal buff would have different side effects other wise I was feeding MoProblems to the wolves.
“Alright you first then. I need a hair or blood your choice.” I said.
The girl looked at me askance then pulled out a hair from her russet coat. I took it then dug through my pack and took out my book. I skimmed through pages until I round a sigil I thought would boost faith. Then I opened my menu and equipped my witchcraft title.
My spell was a simple one. My skills with witchcraft had improved but my skill with blessings had not. I wasn’t sure where that left me in terms of actual ability but it was better to be safe than sorry. I scratched out a quick circle then added the sigil for piety. It required a odd little white flower that I’d picked a couple of near Varlor’s crossing. Setup complete I fired up the spell and broke the circle.
A bolt of pure-white light shot from the circle and and slammed into Meredith's chest. She collapsed and started to shudder which, with that girl’s body, made me distinctly uncomfortable. I averted my eyes until she calmed and sat up.
“Are you alright?” MoProblems asked worriedly.
“I feel….. Peace.” The girl said cocking her head. “As if I am one with everything around me….. It’s both comforting and quite odd. It’s….. difficult to describe.” She sat there for a moment and I saw her hands move as if she was navigating her menu. “Four points to faith and wisdom that’s a significant upgrade.”
I looked to Jasmine who set her jaw and plucked a short blue hair from her head. “Alright” I said shrugging as I bit a finger to draw blood. I opened my pack and dug around until I came out with a familiar small grey mushroom. Then as I was about to start my circle I laughed.
Screw it…. Might as well do it properly
I grinned evilly then reopened my pack and withdrew a light-blue flower and a knife made of white bone. I scratched another much larger circle and drew a square inside making the corners touched the circle at even points.. I quickly drew the sigils for Vigor and Potency before adding in a few extra reinforcements.
“Wait…. What are you doing.” Jasmine asked with confusion.
I ignored her as I sat her hair in the middle of the circle and added a drop of my blood. I stood and raised my athame in front of me with two hands taking a dramatic stance. I hadn’t used much magic on Meredith so my reserves were still in good shape. My will poured forth and both my knife and the circle glowed as the colors swirled. My voice rang from the stone and the stagnant air in this place began to swirl as I chanted my spell.
“Strength of back and Strength of bone
To break the earth, to shatter stone
Might to face a thousand men
and will to shake the world again
Flame to burn and Wave to bind
Earth to shield both her and mine.”
The colors swirled wildly and formed into a large rotating cloud of green and orange power. I let it twist for a moment then broke the circle with my boot. The cloud split into two and shot towards Jasmine and I in two bolts. The power struck both of us simultaneously and I fell as my body started to spasm.
You Have Created A New Spell. Would You Like To Name It?
You Have Been Afflicted with Unnamed Blessing!Effects: +6 UbStr, +6 LbStr, +6 Con, +4 Res
Duration: 3h
Inarticulate sounds came out of my mouth as my muscles and mind were filled with alien power. It felt like someone had dipped my bones in magma but the sensation ended in a few seconds leaving me gasping and twitching .
I finally stood up and looked over at Jasmine who was also getting to her feet. She met my eyes for a moment and she shuddered. Her dark eyes turned smokey and a bolt of raw lust shot through me.
It was the feeling I’d gotten when I crashed my first car. A buzzing sensation of having faced danger and lived. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I felt so incredibly alive. I just wanted to grab Jasmine and revel in the sheer joy of the overwhelming feeling of life. This was what had happened with Hanna in Rat King’s dungeon but stronger. I’d poured more magic into the spell and it had been amplified significantly.
My eyes raked over her. She was all power and grace. Not beautiful but striking. Like a female hunting cat. All lithe body and sharp claws. I took a step closer to her, knowing better but unable to resist. I knew was was happening but l was unable to stop myself.
Jasmine also took a step forward and shuttered as she snarled through clenched teeth.
“What did you do?” She ground out looking away from me and obviously battling her own desire.
“What…. you told me to.” I replied breathing deeply and trying to get a hold of myself. The wild feelings of power and passion were settling to an equilibrium I should be able to deal with. I made a mental note to keep to a single sigil for blessings until I got to beginner rank. If I’d cast cast anything more powerful I’d have completely lost my reason.
“You bastard…. “ She snarled before her hands shot out at me. I was too busy with my internal struggle to notice until it was too late. Her fist collided with my jaw a second time and my head lolled, but before I could react her other hand grabbed my armor and pulled me roughly towards her. Then her mouth slammed down over mine and the walls of mental control I’d been carefully building died a gleeful death.
The kiss was odd experience for a number a reasons. Firstly the tusks. I could feel them digging into my cheeks. However, to my lust addled brain things like species didn’t seem to matter a great deal.
The second new experience was being kissed by someone who actively disliked me. I was fairly certain Jasmine saw me as something marginally superior to pond scum and I could feel her rage through the kiss. It was a brutal savage kiss devoid of anything but anger and hunger. Our tongues tangled and I could taste the blood from my split lip combined with the flavor of her.
I wasn’t sure how long it thing lasted. All sense of the outside world floated away and I wouldn’t have noticed being hacked to death until I re-spawned. Then the temperature around us plummeted to way below freezing and we stopped trying to devour each other long enough to take stock of our situation.
MoProblems stood a few feet away with his mage-orb still glowing looking exasperated and amused. Meredith was next to him with an imperious eyebrow raised in question. Her face was cool as usual but a faint blush seemed to color her cheeks.
I was on my back with Jasmine on top of me. She straddled one of my thighs and had both hands under my armor gripping my back. I was in a similar state with one hand clenched in her short spiky hair while the other had a firm grip on her butt. We both sat there for a few seconds unsure how to proceed before Jasmine hit me again and leapt away.
I just laid there for a while. A masculine smile creeping over my face. Three punches was a very small price to pay for that sort of enjoyment. Although, I had to admit the girl could punch. She’d have broken most people’s jaw but my constitution was ridiculously high and it took a great to really injure me.
My ex-apprentice finally decided to break the awkward silence. “I’m not sure why I need to be the adult here.” He said shaking his head. “I had to cast a freeze spell to hose you down like a couple of stray dogs.”
“You couldn’t have waited until we got to the good part?” I asked, angry and embarrassed. I had pretty thick skin but this was a little much even for me. The worst part was after that little episode I sure as hell wasn’t likely to get another shot with her.
Oh well....
Things between us had pretty much been doomed from the beginning. She seemed to dislike me on some fundamental level from the first second she saw me. My feelings were still tumultuous but I seemed to have a better handle on them. I glanced as Jasmine who was staring at me with a expression of cold fury. I sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry but I did warn you.” I said apologetically. “That was the most powerful blessing I’ve ever cast. The first time I did it was bad but more controllable. This time to was obviously too much. I won't be able to suppress the side-effects until I level up more.” I did feel a little guilty. Granted, nothing too bad had happened but even if she had started it was my mostly my fault.
I didn’t think there was any element of coercion in it. This was the magical equivalent of a couple of beers and a bungee jumping rush multiplied a couple of times.
“There’s no way I was going to stand here and watch you two make it in the dirt. Besides this place is disgusting.” He said offended. “Now are we going to get going? Or should I log for a bit so you two can find a collapsed building.”Jasmine and I both scowled which made Meredith snort.
I took a step forward. “Alright, mage your pulling with your slow spell. Then you rush into the nearest Alley and we all follow. I’ll pick up the aggro. I looked to Jasmine who met my eyes defiantly.
“Jasmine” I said catching her eye. “Make with the bard buffs and we’ll get started. If you want to boost your mana and learn meditation just close your eyes and try to clear your mind a bit.”
She ignored my suggestion and just pulled out her lute. An upbeat tempo started to play and I could feel my movements and reacts improve as the music washed over me.
“There happy now?” She muttered darkly.
“Actually this is the best I’ve felt in awhile.” I said grinning at her.
MoProblems walked out into the street and started on the next group of Skeletons.
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AN: Sorry for missing last weeks update. My Test reader told me he thought it was pretty rushed and not up to quality, so I gave it another week in the cooker and a couple re-writes. I think it came out pretty decent this time.
This will be the first of the dungeon chapters. The end of the second book is rapidly approaching and there will be a few more interesting plot reveals soon!