While rowing wasn’t something Owin would start doing for fun, he figured it out quickly. The only problem was, with his low dexterity, the row sometimes caught the flat side of the oar, and other times he cut right through it with the edge. Artivan was incredibly patient and changed his rows to accommodate when Owin messed it up, which was more often than the goblin would ever willingly admit.
They cleared more of the map quickly as they floated between islands along the eastern border. Owin hadn’t realized how far they had traveled until the shimmering wall of the border rose to the sky beside them. Artivan reached out and pushed off the wall, sending the raft in the opposite direction.
Owin rowed while watching the shimmering wall fade in the distance. As soon as they were too far away, it vanished altogether. “What’s beyond the wall?”
“Nothing.” Artivan looked over his shoulder where the wall had been. “I assume it’s the trunk of the Great Forest tree. We don’t really have a way to confirm that. The floors get wider as they go, and I don’t believe the tree gets wider as it goes up. It would be an odd looking tree.” Artivan rowed, still looking back at the boundary. “I suppose saying I don’t know would have been easier.”
Controlling the raft turned out to be easier than Owin had initially expected. Occasionally, they bumped against the edge of a mound or scraped over a high bar of sand. None of it damaged the raft in any way. Artivan directed him where to angle it and where they were trying to go. After almost an hour, they had passed the labyrinth and were floating between bigger islands that were significantly farther apart.
“Land it here,” Artivan said.
Owin didn’t know how to land a raft, so he simply pulled the oar from the water and laid it across his lap. They crashed into the sandy mound and slid up until the whole raft was crooked.
Artivan tossed the oar into the middle and climbed right off. “We’ll need the raft again to get to the exit. It should be fine here.”
Owin gently set his oar next to Artivan’s and jumped off. He immediately enjoyed not being on the water anymore. Steady, solid ground was much better.
“What’s over here?” Owin asked. Apart from the islands being about twice the size as the small ones they were on before, everything looked basically the same. There were a number of streams of smoke visible from scaltari fires.
“Lizards.” Artivan lowered his visor and drew his sword. “And hopefully some buff potions for you.”
Owin let the Thunderstrike Maul rest on his shoulder as he hopped off the raft and hurried up the mound. A fire burned nearby with three scaltari calmly sitting in a semi circle.
“Spin a few times with the hammer. See if that charges it,” Artivan said.
The lizards were only a few dozen feet away. If they looked up, they would easily see Owin and Artivan.
“Shouldn’t we do it when they can’t see us?”
“You have to get close to get their attention. It’s specifically the scaltari around fires. It’s as if they are too focused on the flames to notice heroes.” Artivan wobbled the tip of his sword in a circle.
Owin shrugged the hammer off his shoulder and spun in a full circle. As soon as he started moving, the head of the hammer lit up. He had to fight for his balance, and as he spun faster, the hammer glowed brighter. After three rotations, his foot slipped on the sand and the Thunderstrike Maul slipped right from Owin’s hands.
“Oh, frick,” Artivan said.
Owin fell onto the ground and jumped right back to his feet. The glowing hammer sailed through the air and struck one of the scaltari right on the tip of the nose. Red mist exploded, covering the entire fire and the other two lizards. The hammer lodged itself in the dirt a few feet behind what little was left of the scaltari corpse. The Thunderstrike Maul had taken the entire top half of the lizard and turned it into nothing more than bloody mist that hung in the air.
“I feel as though a few questions have been answered,” Artivan said.
Owin grabbed Naxile’s knife from his belt. “Like what?”
“Well, the hammer still works even if you aren’t holding it. And, well, we know what a fully charged strike does.”
The other scaltari were on their feet. One held a spear and the other held a staff. The bloody mist obscured them too much for Examine to work, so Owin just waited beside Artivan. The lizards were a bit bigger than other ones, both in height and muscles. They were both green with blue accents, only distinguished by their weapons.
He still couldn’t believe what had just happened. If he had accidentally let go of the hammer any earlier, he would have thrown it right into the water or potentially destroyed the raft. Last floor, it felt as if fighting a resurrected demon alongside a satyr and a lizard with goat legs was going to be as odd as things got. Owin might not have understood everything since his awakening, but he absolutely understood that things were only going to get more insane as he climbed the tower.
“Is that one a magus?” Owin asked, pointing to the scaltari with a staff.
“Can’t say until it's out of the mist. Anyone can use a staff, but you’re right, a magus or wizard is most likely to be using one.”
As the scaltari sprinted forward, Owin immediately used Examine on both.
Great Forest Mob
Scaltari Mender
Level 17
Great Forest Mob
Scaltari Berserker
Level 16
“A mender has the staff,” Owin said.
“Focus the mender, then. A berserker with a spear is odd, but dangerous.” Artivan stomped his foot and flashed bright, blinding yellow. “Mender first. If I can’t stop the berserker, you will need to kill it.”
Both scaltari turned to Artivan and focused on him without blinking. The mender pointed to the berserker, shooting a white beam.
“What did you do?” Owin asked.
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“Vigilant Guardian,” Artivan said. “They have to attack me. You’re free to get the mender. It just increased the agility and dexterity of the berserker who—”
The berserker surged forward with its spear outstretched. It closed a dozen feet of distance in a blink. The spear smashed against Artivan’s shield, throwing sparks into the air. Meanwhile, the mender moved as if it was walking through deep mud. The staff was a gnarled piece of wood with a flared top.
Wands were more convenient for Owin to carry, but he would absolutely take a staff if it was worth using. He sprinted and leapt at the mender, who didn’t even bother turning to face the incoming goblin. Owin crashed into the side of the mender, jamming the knife into its ribs. They both collapsed and whatever spell Artivan had cast was washed away.
The butt of the staff smashed into Owin’s temple, throwing him off the scaltari. He left Naxile’s knife embedded in its ribs, but the lizard hardly seemed to care. It stood and placed a hand beneath the injury, which quickly closed, sealing the knife into its torso.
Artivan went head to head with the berserker as it attacked at rapid speeds. The knight used his shield to block nearly every stab from the spear, though a few slipped past and scraped against his armor.
The mender still moved as if caught in mud. Whatever it had cast on the berserker was slowing it down, making it an easy target for Owin. He reached into his bag and grabbed the jagged stone knife, his original weapon.
Owin charged the mender as it smashed the butt of the staff into the ground. A visible gust of wind swept over the ground, catching Owin in the chest. It tossed him back a few feet where he landed hard on his back. It hardly did any damage. The strike from the staff to his head had taken a chunk of health away. Whatever spell the staff had wasn’t for dealing damage.
Owin hopped back to his feet, but landed on the side of his foot. Before he managed to fall, the mender hit him with another gust, sending his head snapping back. Owin landed roughly again.
“Gale Burst won’t kill you, but it will keep you back! Find another way,” Artivan shouted.
The berserker flashed red. Its next strike slipped past the shield, smashing the tip of the spear right into the center of Artivan’s breastplate. While the weapon harmlessly slid off the armor, the ability still punctured through. A spray of blood shot through Artivan’s visor.
“Are you okay?”
Artivan bashed his shield into the next stab, pushing the berserker off balance. He swung low, chopping at the lizard’s abdomen. The scaltari caught the blade with its hand. Blood ran down the blade, but the lizard held it tightly.
Owin needed to figure out how to take out the mender. Not only was Artivan struggling against the berserker, Owin expected to see Nikoletta again at some point. What weaknesses did menders have? This one was slowed while buffing the berserker. Even a knife in its chest wasn’t enough to stop the spell.
Owin wanted to throw the stone knife, but with low dexterity, he could launch his only weapon out of reach. It would have been worth a try if he hadn’t lost his other two weapons already.
Owin reached into his bag, and fumbled around until he found the shield potion he had stolen from Nikoletta. He downed it and placed the bottle back into the bag. A faint blue bubble appeared around him. He needed a quick attack to the face or throat. Losing another knife in the lizard’s chest wouldn’t help.
Owin ran as fast as he could, dashing across the sandy mound. The mender smashed the staff into the ground, sending another wave of harsh wind. It crashed into the shield, causing the bubble to ripple, but didn’t slow down Owin. He leapt as he neared and drove the stone knife right into the bottom of the lizard’s head. The scaltari let go of the staff and fell onto the ground. Owin ripped the curved knife across its chest and yanked the stone knife out of its head, spraying blue blood over his shield.
0 Experience
The berserker was still holding Artivan’s sword, trying to stab him. They were far too close for a spear, so Artivan easily bashed his shield repeatedly into the berserker.
The air around the berserker rippled as the mender’s spell faded. Its next attack was painfully slow compared to the barrage from when it was buffed. Artivan smashed his shield right into the tip of its nose and pulled his sword from its grip, cutting off all the scaltari’s fingers. He drove the sword into its chest, then kicked the body off the sword.
“Took you a bit there,” Artivan said. He sheathed his sword and lifted his visor. Blood covered his mustache and beard.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded. “The berserker’s Bleed ability can penetrate armor. They have a few of those abilities.” Artivan pulled his gauntlet off and wiped the blood away with his hand. “It looks much worse than it is. Minimal damage unless you’re wearing cheap armor.”
“I saw that ability almost kill a knight on the first floor when a goblin berserker used it.”
Artivan chuckled. “Like I said, cheap armor.” He put his gauntlet back on and rolled his shoulders. “Berserkers are tough opponents in any situation.”
Owin placed both knives back in his belt, then wandered over and grabbed the Thunderstrike Maul, which was partially buried in the dirt. He yanked it out and met Artivan back at the mender’s corpse.
“A Gale Burst staff is odd, but we could sell it for a decent amount. It’s only apprentice level.” Artivan held the staff up. It was over four feet tall. “I’ll hold onto it until we are out of the dungeon, if that’s okay.” He held it up beside Owin. “Might be a little tall for you.”
“I don’t want that spell.”
Artivan stared at the staff for a moment. “I suppose a gust of wind doesn’t make people explode into blood like your hammer.”
“That’s not why.”
Artivan shrugged. “Alright. I'm not certain this would even be worth more than a few coins. We can leave it here. Check the bodies for loot.” He tossed the staff back to the ground.
Owin checked the half of a scaltari that remained after his hammer attack. All he had to do was move the legs and a few dungeon gold coins fell out. He picked them up and tossed them into his bag.
“Perfect,” Artivan said, holding up a purple potion. “This is definitely needed.” He tossed it over the fire.
Owin immediately fumbled the potion, bouncing it a few times before it landed on the dirt, unharmed.
Journeyman Constitution Buff
+20 Constitution
Duration: 3 Hours
The duration fizzled away, leaving question marks. Owin didn’t wait and drank the entire fruity potion.
Constitution +20
Constitution: 110
“Look at that,” Artivan said. “You almost have half as much health as I do now.”
The constitution score was the exact same as his total health. The missing sections of Owin’s bar didn’t refill with the buff, but the bar grew bigger, making the missing health seem significantly smaller.
“What was on the berserker?”
Artivan flipped a coin into the air and caught it. “Not a lot.”
Owin looked over the small battlefield. The little island had become wrecked in such a short time. Everything around the fire was coated in blood, the grass, dirt, and sand around the mender had been torn up from the spells, and Artivan’s blood had mixed with the berserker’s in a small pool on the dirt where they had been fighting.
“The last fight we had was easier,” Owin said.
“The last one was against classes we are better against, and they were lower levels. The north half of the floor is going to include only scaltari levels sixteen and up. It’s meant to be more difficult. The boss on this floor is level twenty, which is only a taste of the mobs on the fourth floor. Things escalate quickly in dungeons.”
“I can’t fight a level twenty,” Owin said. He was painfully aware of how weak he was, especially compared to Artivan. Strength wasn’t the only attribute that mattered. Even with the most recent constitution buff, Owin could only take a handful of hits before he would die. He was stronger than he was a floor ago, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
“There are three or four more scaltari fires nearby we can raid before heading to the boss. Keep it simple. Although, we do need to work on charging that hammer a little more efficiently. I prefer you don’t chuck it in the future.”
“It slipped.”
Artivan sighed. “What we really need are some dexterity buffs. I saw you fall over during that fight.”
“What’s dexterity have to do with it?”
“Dexterity influences balance, aim, speed. Do I need to continue?”
Owin tried to balance on one foot and almost immediately fell over. “I can jump far.”
“That’s your strength.”
“Oh. I need better dexterity.”
Artivan set off to the northwest. “That’s what I’m saying, little goblin. Finding a dexterity buff will probably require some hunters or assassins. We can handle those.”