I set the fortress down within spitting distance of the dungeon. I had no time or patience to be stealthy. Every hour it felt like an invisible noose was starting to tighten around my neck. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or some part of that damn ability that Randy was using. Considering it lessened as I got closer to Chicago, my money was on an ability.
Well, let him use his abilities, I had surprises of my own to bring to our next encounter.
The four of us rushed through the dungeon, killing off the lower-level kobolds with ease. I used it as a testbed to try out some of the new skills. Maddening Laugh turned out to be highly effective against the barely cognizant kobolds. After only one use they devolved into nothing more than aggressive animals their more animalistic tendencies taking over. They didn’t last long enough for me to cast it again, and I chose not to waste Multicast on it.
Underhanded Blow was also effective. My ability to instantly enhance my speed by two points by striking ears, eyes, or genitalia, threw off my target's defenses. I learned that Double Strike did not carry over critical damage into the second strike, making it less desirable than I had originally thought. Still the ability to add my elemental damage to the attack more than made up for it. Two bolts of electricity were usually enough to render my target immobile.
Arcane Bolt was a weak spell but my level and Intelligence stat were high enough to make it a powerful ability. It was also fast, much faster than my Stunning Gust or Shockwave. Stunning gust got close if I enhanced my weapon with wind, but if you were quick enough you could dodge the attack. Reflect worked as advertised, but I had to actually get hit to reflect the damage. Against a foe like these weak kobolds, it was useless, but against someone like Randy Cotton, it could change the course of the fight.
Wall of thorns worked to bottle attackers or block off areas, damage-wise it was pretty unremarkable. I was still going to hold onto it for now though. Last but not least was Orb of Darkness. I managed to cast it six times before we reached the boss area, due to the nature of the spell. This allowed me to see four different curses; Strength, Agility, Perception, and Luck.
The strength and agility curses had obvious signs. The affected target could either barely hold their spear or their attacks were slow and clumsy. Perception didn’t seem that effective against the creatures and I realized it was because they used their sense of smell more than sight. It did make them easier to fight so it had some effect. Luck was always a weird one but when a kobold affected by it rushed at me and tripped, impaling himself on his spear, I think it may have been my favorite.
The four of us entered the boss area. Kragor was sitting on his throne with the three females standing around him. He looked bored until his eyes landed on the four of us. When his eyes met mine he growled menacingly and stepped off his throne.
“You three can handle the others, leave Kragor to me.”
“Don’t take too much time,” Fiona said, “we need to get moving.”
I nodded, running forward as Kragor got his buffs. The last time I fought the Champion, I had to use my Aura to keep up. That was five levels on my main class ago and a whole slew of attribute points.
Kragor burst toward me with a bestial roar and a sword that looked like a chipped and rusted slab of steel. It was different than his old sword but no less intimidating for it. I answered his roar with one of my own, activating Blink Step and Area of Denial.
We slammed into each other with a thunderous boom and to my surprise, I was sent flying across the area, my shield still intact.
I crashed into one of the fake buildings with a resounding boom, Kragor hot on my heel. I cast Wall of Thorns to slow him down but he barreled right through without slowing. I hit him with an Arcane Bolt as I jumped out of the way. His arm whipped out like lightning, smashing into my shield and sending me on a ride once more.
Somehow I don’t recall him having this ability before unless it was used up when he slammed into one of the buildings. My shield was holding but it was cracked, which told me Kragor’s strength was well into the second tier. I wasn’t done yet though. I hit him with Orb of Darkness and followed it up with Maddening Laugh.
The juggernaut of a Kobold stumbled from the collective loss of attribute points. Four from Wisdom and one from Intelligence. He shook his head and growled at me, using the ability I had come to collect. With a flicker of motion, the ground underneath him exploded as he flew straight at me. I activated Sunder Skill and stood my ground.
As I had figured, his first skill had run its course and he slammed into my shield, bouncing off and shattering it. Before he was able to recover his footing, I slammed my staff into his groin and activated Double Strike along with Flurry of Blows.
The fight was quickly ended after that, his body a ruined mess. Double Strike couldn’t double the damage from Flurry but that didn’t matter. I looked up to see the other three still fighting off the female kobolds. They didn’t last much longer, not up to the task of solo combat. With the fight ended, I looked at the skill I acquired.
Unstoppable force: For 15 seconds you become an unstoppable force of nature, immune to physical damage as well as any effect that can slow or hinder movement. Cost 50 mana 75 Stamina. Cooldown 5 min
I had actually been hoping for the other spell that he used to launch himself at me but now I think I may have gotten the better skill. Its true utility hadn’t been displayed during our first fight. The cost was prohibitive for most fighters, but I had plenty of mana to spare. I would run out of stamina before I ran out of mana.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I let Martin and Ska split the loot, it was my thanks for their help in this endeavor. I had finally hit level ten in my second class and I distributed my new stat points.
Paul Fuller | Mantra Enchanter/Maw of the Void | Level 20/10
Strength: 20(+2) modifier x21
Endurance: 20 modifier x39
Agility: 20(+2) modifier x21
Perception: 18 modifier x21
Intelligence: 25 modifier x39
Wisdom: 15 modifier x21
Charisma: 11 modifier x21
Luck: 16 modifier x21
HP: 780(858)
Stamina: 400(440)
Stamina Regen(M): 819
Mana: 975
Mana Regen(M): 315
I decided to max out Strength and Agility this time, I figured if nothing else, the fight with Randy Cotton and the remaining Black Dragon might help me unlock the second tier of at least one of the attributes. It was no wonder dual classers were so much stronger than solo class people. Sure there was a downside that you had to level both classes, but I think the bonuses made up for that, as long as you had the proper environment to level. I decided to keep the experience train going on my second class. At least until it hit fifteen. That seemed like a good spot to switch it back over.
We made our way back to the fortress and got ready for the long journey north.
***
Since I knew the journey north was going to be across unexplored terrain, I discussed it with the others.
“So into the unknown,” Martin quipped.
“Yeah, that’s why I think we should have two of the cannons manned at all times.”
“What about the automated defenses, I thought you were going to incorporate the cannons into them?”
“That was on the agenda, but I kind of got sidetracked,” I replied tiredly.
“Fair enough,” Martin replied, “I assume you want me and Ska on the forward cannons?”
Ska growled in discontent. He never liked operating the turrets, he was more a hands-on fighter.
“Yeah, we can switch off every few hours to get some rest and move around. If it seems relatively safe, we can drop it down to one person at a time. At least until we get closer to Illinois.”
“Fair enough. Come on Ska, you can regale me with stories of your adventures to help pass the time,” Martin said, wrapping his arm around Ska’s shoulder and leading him down the hall to the forward cannons.
“Did you want me to scout ahead?” Fiona asked.
“No, while it may help, I don’t want you too far away if we get into trouble. There is no telling if the Black Dragon has laid a trap along the way for us or not.”
“Wouldn’t that be more of a reason for me to spot it first?”
I shook my head. “Any traps they would have laid would have you in mind as well. You are the most difficult target to deal with. If you get away, they know they will be constantly looking over their shoulder.”
“Fair enough. So what do you want me to do?”
“Up to you, although, I wouldn’t say no to an extra set of eyes on the roof. But we won’t need that right away, how bout you hang out with Ska and Martin.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it's not like I haven’t been through hell before, losing a hand hardly even makes it on the top five most fucked up things to happen to me.”
She looked at me worriedly before replying. “Alright, but remember, you're not in this alone. You have your friends to help you through, and that means for everything.”
“I know,” I said, smiling at her.
She floated there, looking at me for another few seconds before she finally followed the others.
I sagged a little after she left. The stress was getting to me again. I knew she wanted to help, wanted me to reach out and express my emotions but I just couldn’t do it. Admitting to myself that I wasn’t up to this task was bad enough, admitting it to my friends was something entirely different. I believed I could take down Randy and his cronies but I wasn’t sure I would be coming back. But that was my burden to bear, not theirs. For now, I would present the most confident exterior I could.
I reached over to the control panel and began the startup sequence for the fortress. We would be flying low and fast, with the cloak engaged. The fortress gave a light shake as it rose off the ground and I heard the clink as the landing struts folded back into the lower hull. I used the remote viewer to make sure everything was secured, then I activated the cloak as we rose into the sky.
It was time to go deal with a threat that had been looming over our group for far too long.
***
A glint of light passed over a curved piece of glass as it was lowered from a distant watcher’s eye.
The man took note of what he had witnessed, marking down his findings in a notebook. Minutes later a portal appeared behind him and a woman stepped out.
“Well?” Stone asked.
“He’s heading north, as was predicted. Was it necessary to expose Jacob though?”
The shrouded woman let out a low laugh. “Jacob was becoming arrogant, he needed to be knocked down a peg or two. It matters not that he was exposed and that one Gargon lived, not in the grand scheme of things.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Stone let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, yes, it was necessary, according to the seer. It also helped place Mr. Fuller on a collision course with the Black Dragon and hopefully, deal with two problems at once.”
“Let’s hope you and the seer are correct. Our spies report that he has hit level twenty and gotten a second class, but they were unable to get close enough to determine what it was.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. If he survives we will eventually get that information, then he will have no tricks to pull.”
“And what about the reports from West Exit? They say he cleared out a horde dungeon.”
“A few extra stat points won’t make that much of a difference. His Aura of Rage was more of a problem but we have accurate intel that he can no longer utilize it without his body breaking down.”
The man mulled this news over for a minute before he asked his next question.
“The enchanting?”
“We are starting to make progress on that front, albeit slowly. It's not enchanting per se, it's runic enhancement.”
“Anything to show of our efforts?”
Stone produced a dagger from her ring, that seemed to ooze darkness, and handed it to the unnamed man.
He inspected the dagger.
The Hidden Killer: Dagger does not reflect light, allows the user to more easily blend in with shadows.
There was no enhancement to damage but the effect was unique, he hadn’t seen an enchanted dagger with this ability before. He looked at the crude runes carved into the steel of the blade. It was where the darkness seemed to seep from. He gave the dagger a spin and flipped it into the air, easily catching the blade. He handed it back to Stone.
“No luck with that other rune?”
“No, It appears it was damaged when we broke the enchantment it was powering. Our crafters have narrowed it down to a handful of possibilities and they should have that stealth rune figured out in time.”
“Good, what about the other members of the council?”
“Off doing whatever tasks they have deemed necessary. But as far as I can tell, they are still alive.”
“Alright. Douglas, I’m ready to move on to my next objective, if you would be so kind.”
A portal opened and the man stepped through. Stone waited a few minutes, looking toward the north before another portal opened and she stepped through as well.