CHAPTER 8 – LOOT, LEVELS AND DUNGEONS
The Training Center – Umbra Mortem – Erebus
***
They all dropped where they were, exhausted. Everyone had shown off their new Abilities followed by Gideon running everyone through their paces hard. The new Abilities would be useful and amped the lethality of the team as a whole. Ari’s was called [The Ferocity of the Dark Moon] and was eerily similar to Shira’s except directed at herself. It turned her into a terror, from a small little Dragonling who can fit on your chest to something ten times her usual size and mass with heavy heavy boosts to her Strength and Body. She jumped up to coming up to just below his chest, though still on the leaner muscle side but mean muscle if that was a concept, and her body literally grew spiked armor over herself, literal armor. It also made her a lot less agile, a hell of a lot slower and her wings disappeared while her claws and fangs became menacing. Still she finally had an ability that would allow her to be in the midst of combat if needed and somewhat protected. To be honest it had never stopped her before but had also led her to getting hurt quite a few times.
L’Sana’s new Ability [Ancient Graves] was an aoe root. She now had quite a few AOE attacks which made sense with her Class Choices. A [Spectral Reaver] brought images of Vikings raiding villages and would need to be able to take on multiple enemies. Her new Sub-Class [Ancestor’s Wrath] at least by the first Ability showed a theme of using the dead and he was curious whether being a Sub-Class was influenced by the main? [Ancient Graves] brought skeletal hands out of the ground grabbing any person in the radius though the difficulty was like many abilities in Copper it had no deference to enemy or ally but like most hopefully once she pulled it into Iron it would gain it. So she would have to be careful in it’s use but since they often fought multiple enemies the ability to lock them down would be a go-to.
The other two yanked two Abilities as they weren’t sharing out the loot boxes but he gave them no grief, anything that made them more powerful made them all better. His Uncle now only had one slot left open for his Sub-Class. He got a Utility Slot Ability called [Embrace of the Night] which made him practically invisible in darkness or moonlight so would only really work underground or at night, very situational but hopefully it would get more utility when it hit Iron. It also was a resource hog, eating through his Stamina like a great white shark on tuna. It did lend a lot to the fact of the Main Class influencing the Sub-Class. His other ability was offensive and called [Dark Dreams] which surrounded him with an image of the thing his enemies feared the most. It was a strange thing as it used his Stamina and didn’t magically radiate fear at all but still made people react to that which they already feared so it was situational to who he was fighting.
In large groups it would create chaos but in a one on one it depended heavily on how people reacted to fear and with someone like Gideon, it did nothing. Hopefully it would get something when it hit Iron to make it more useful. He felt bad for his Uncle, both his new tricks very limited in use but it did fit his overall build, tricky, keeping people off-balance and it was a big reason him and Danny worked so well together. They went about it in different ways but were similar in the result and together they would be murder on large groups which was why they were so effective in the Throne Room of Sanguine Necropolis.
He gazed around and clocked everyone huffing and puffing, recovering Stamina. He’d really pushed through not only using their new Abilities but also making them finish with a run around the perimeter of the hundred foot diameter space for fifty laps which was the main reason they were all heaving lungs. His eyes caught Danny with her head between her legs. She’d had two new Abilities that were both resource hogs so she was a bit more exhausted then the others.
Her new gets were far more universally usable. Basically she hit the jackpot though Gideon wouldn’t discount his Uncle’s Abilities off the bat. In later ranks they could definitely find their feet. The first one of Danny’s new Abilities was a Defensive Slot titled [Epiphany of Harmonic Shifts]. It surrounded her with shifting solid sonic waves that seemed to deflect almost anything physical and some magical. His [The Edge of the Deep Umbral] blades had bounced off so obviously her shield was considered magical and it also partially reflected Ari’s [Breath of the Dark Moon] some of the cold breaking through but the lethargic confusing aspects blocked.
Her other Ability was marked as Movement but was also defensive. [Displacing Haunts] had her vibrating her entire body quickly giving her a boost of speed but also had the side effect of almost like a Displacer Beast from Dungeons and Dragons, making her appear slightly off from where she actually was. Her Sub-Class [Banshee Marauder] was another Martial/Intellectual Class so the first Ability used Mana while the second pulled off her Stamina.
He took a breath. It was about time to wrap this up and get through his Levels then go craft. His own Ability he was happy with and added versatility to his arsenal. [Echoes of the Shadow Moon] filled one of his two new Utility Slots and the synergy with his new Skills would benefit them in a lot of avenues even if it wasn’t splashy. It could recreate within his mind anything that happened with five hundred feet of his location in the last 24 hours including in real time. The images in his head it created were all colored in silver and black but with a ton of detail. It used Spirit and could be a hog if he kept it up too long but he’d already tested it. He could fast forward it, slow it down heavily and manipulate it in all sorts of ways. He could even change the point of view within the images.
His mind was already buckling under the vast swathe of strategic uses with which it could be used especially combined with [Investigation] and [Intuition]. Hand and glove. It wasn’t quite as flashy or as impressive or directly capable in combat but it was an omniversal tool he knew he would put miles upon miles in.
His reverie was broken up by a very muscular and dense form that was his lover landing hard on him causing a woosh of breath from his lungs. She snort laughed and had learned enough to at least aim it away from him. Ari was in a corner conversing with Freddie who she was once again using as her pillow, laying on his back, while pontificating about some film or other, his Personal AI Assistant looking as if he was in his own piece of heaven, retorting back, both of them laughing between words.
His Uncle and Danny bid good bye wanting to go hit the new restaurant then go catch a showing of ‘Shoot’em Up’ with Clive Owens. Gideon had actually seen it and it was pretty good and underrated though he wouldn’t even dare mention it to Freddie and Ari. He had no desire to get them going. He felt sharp teeth into the scales of his neck, fangs that even with his natural armor he could definitely feel and she was very aware it usually got him going.
He gently pushed her away with his voice soft.
“L’Sana, I love you but I got to get Levels situated and get to crafting then go play with that Soul-Stone and meet with Unra.”
She grabbed his chin forcing his eyes towards her with an affronted look.
“Is my man dismissing me?”
Gideon sighed and grabbed her arm swinging her around so she was straddling him and grabbing her ass with both hands hard before kissing her just as hard to shut her up. He felt her breathing quicken and his Perception picked up the heavy burst of pheromones explode from her body. He leaned his head off her lips.
“Yes, I’m dismissing you, now get woman!!!”
Her eyes were dilated and her breath was coming heavy. [Investigation] and [Intuition] filled his head and before he knew what he was doing he was squeezing just above her hip in the gap of her armor, putting the exact pressure his skills were telling him to then trailing his fingers underneath the top of her leather underpants, a hint, a promise then a slow pull as the skills dictated. It was cheating, these skills, but the heady burst of increased pheromones and sharp intake of her breath was worth the cheat. Eventually she would catch on as to why his talent as a lover took a huge leap but he would take what he could get. Gideon grinned as he stood up and pushed off a still euphoric L’Sana whose eyes went big, then realizing how aroused he’d gotten her then shoved her off she, growled but with a twinkle in her eye.
Both Ari and Freddie were laughing heavily, Ari on Freddie’s metal doggie back with her snout propped on her claw fist with a big wink for Gideon. He knew he wouldn’t get anything done here so he headed for the exit. Her voice followed him, her normal husky heavy on the husky.
“You better start getting your giddy-up giddying Giddy. I’m already at Level 33, kicking names and taking booty...I mean..”
He closed the door smiling and heard her cussing.
***
He sat in his new private crafting area it was pretty cool. It was just a private little studio apartment in the middle of the massive collection of crafting shacks. Only he or Unra or Orin could access it unless he designated someone. He didn’t actually use crafting tools so it was literally just a small apartment, a huge couch, a small bathroom and shower, and a double-sized bed in the corner. Everything was very nice but simple. It also allowed Orin to drop off resources for him without worrying about anyone stealing it.
He’d like to think that wouldn’t happen but wasn’t a dumb ass or that detached from reality. They had thousands upon thousands of people, far over twenty thousand last time he’d looked and growing more on a daily basis according to Unra. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d hit thirty thousand. The constant expansion implemented by Unra kinda shouted they were growing in all ways. L’Sana had mentioned she’d seen a lot more housing and that they were in the middle of putting in three more restaurants while also making sure everyone had a job and two more massive schools were being built based on the Playpen though outside of the Fortress.
Unra had put in a more stringent lock down on who could or could not go into the Fortress or at least the upper levels. She would be mobbed with the theater in the fortress keeping people out altogether but had mentioned there was another theater for the public being built as well so she could close down all access. He kept his nose out of it. They’d also added far more cameras, auto-crossbows and once again expanded the Gun-Chair room.
It was a great job for the weaker among them that still wanted to be a part of the defense of their home, same with the communication center which was also about to get it’s own massive building right next to their ever-growing portal room. All of it was too much for Gideon to want to dig into and at least he and L’Sana had gotten Unra to agree to take on some assistants, a few that had shown out from the Communication Dept.
Alright time to get to work. He’d just been relaxing on the black leather couch that could sit four of him and curved around in a u shape. It had been the first time he’d been in the place and only knew about it earlier in the day when he’d messaged Orin for resources. He saw the storage ring sitting on a long black table against the wall near the entrance. First things first. Levels.
He was now 29 and had gotten four entire levels from the run in with the Graveborn, more then likely a lot of it from his explosive gift he’d given to the Vamps and Revenants before leaping out of the window. With all his Titles and now Sub-Class his Attributes were sky-rocketing quickly. It was his Titles though that was going to be the real separation from most people, well that and his Epic Classes with the Titles boosting. It was all multiplicative. One thing he wanted to do and had made that decision earlier. He pulled off his Infernal Steel Ring of Ascension with the intent to see if he could break the soul-bind and give it to Shira. He put it to the side to break when crafting began. He had 28 Free Attribute points to throw around.
A gut feeling told him to pump his Intelligence once more as both his new Skills relied on it, not quite as much as Insight which was the main Attribute listed in the Skills but both said Intelligence and Perception were the secondaries. His Perception and Insight were already high but not being an Intellectual Class or needing Mana besides the few he’d thrown in it last time Intelligence was woefully low and if he wanted to use [Investigation] and [Intuition] as much as had been and envisioned and they were keys to unraveling his rune manipulating. He needed to shore it up at least a bit. He threw 20 into it then the other 8 into Insight and hit confirm.
He barely felt it much anymore. His body tensed and the Intelligence threw a headache from being so low but was quickly put down by his [Pain Resistance] but nowhere near the beginning days. He stood to stretch but eyes opened wide as he literally had found his legs like a miniature superhero speedster. A blink and he was on his feet. He swiped his arm and hand with intent and it moved so quickly it was almost a blur. He pulled up his [System Template].
Name – Gideon Sho
Title – Fate-Breaker, Apex Predator, Forerunner, City Lord, Archon of Erebus, Champion of the Shadowborn, Scion of Fate
Age – 29
Race/Bloodline – Nocturne – A+
Rank – Iron
Level – 29
Fate – S+
Foundational Pillars – Profane, Sidhe
Soul Pillars – Umbral (100% Affinity)
Moon – (100% Affinity)
Main Class – Umbral Savage (Epic) (Martial/Spiritual)
Sub-Class – Lunar Hound (Epic) (Martial/Spiritual)
Path – The Primordial Bane S+
Multi-Versal Coins – (Copper) – 0
Attributes
Martial
Strength – 80 (112) * * ** ****
Agility – 156 (219) * * ** ****
Body – 102 (142) * * ** ****
Intellectual
Intelligence – 47 (67) * * ** ****
Perception – 106 (150) * * ** ****
Potency – 20 (28) * * ** ****
Spiritual
Will – 106 (150) * * ** ****
Insight – 115 (163) * * ** ****
Faith – 80 (112) * * ** ****
Base Abilities
Universal Language – N/A
Identify – Common III (Ability Base – Primitive)
Night Vision – Uncommon V (Maxed)(Ability Base – Common)
Racial Ability Slots
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Inherent – Rune-Mastery – Umbral/Moon (Legendary) – Concept – Level 10 (Copper) (Locked)
Inherent – Mortal/Divine Shroud – Umbral/Moon (Legendary) – Concept – Level 1 (Copper) (Locked)
Class Ability Slots
Offense – The Edge of the Deep Umbral (Epic) – Concept – Level 25 (Iron)
Offense/Control – The Pitch of the Umbral Moon (Ancient) – Concept – Level 26 (Iron)
Movement – Nocturnal Embrace of the Shade (Epic) – Concept – Level 26 (Iron)
Utility – Birthed of the Eternal Eve (Epic) – Concept – Level 27 (Iron)
Aura – Night of the Ecliptic Horror (Epic) – Concept – Level 26 (Iron)
Sub-Class Ability Slots
Utility – Echos of the Shadow Moon(Epic) – Concept – Level 3 (Copper)
Utility – (Empty Slot)
Def – (Empty Slot)
Class Skills
Small Blades – Epic II (Skill Base – Uncommon)
Light Armor – Epic 1 (Skill Base – Common)
Combat Awareness – Epic IV (Skill Base – Uncommon)
Combat Acrobatics – Rare V (Skill Base – Common)
Tracking – Common IV (Skill Base -- Primitive)
Dual Wielding – Rare V (Skill Base – Common)
Pain Resistance – Epic IV (Skill Base – Uncommon)
Spear Wielding – Uncommon V (Skill Base – Common)
Stealth – Rare I (Skill Base – Common)
Intuition – Rare II (Skill Base – Uncommon)
Investigation – Rare I (Skill base – Uncommon)
General Skills
Thrown Weapons – Blades – Uncommon V (Maxed) (Skill Base – Common)
** Title – Apex Predator
*** Bloodline – Nocturne
**** Champion of the Shadowborn
***** The Primordial Bane
Over 200 now with his Agility? He felt better about giving up the advantages of the ring especially as it hit Iron and went up to 8% to Martial Attributes. But making sure Shira had the boost would be a lot better as everything she had seemed to be boosting her pups. He flexed some Will to deal with the boost in speed until he could get used to it.
Only a few of his Skills went up but he hadn’t really used a lot of them except [Stealth] and Skald and a bunch of them had gotten so high it had become difficult to get them to raise as soon as they hit Epic. His Abilities however had all gained except for the [The Edge of the Deep Umbral] which he hadn’t touched. It’s new Iron Rank add was nice though, being able to add a sheath of Umbral Runes to a weapon and if he hit it into flesh it would slow their movements for a short period but it also tripled the Stamina cost and took that cost every few seconds even with his [Champion of the Shadowborn] Title and his Bloodline knocking cost of Umbral Abilities down. Speaking of the Champion Title in the description it said Upgradable but it hadn’t gained anything. Possibly every other Rank. It might gain something in Bronze. It was already OP so he couldn’t bitch that much. He threw up it’s description.
Champion of the Shadowborn (Ancient) (Upgradable) -- +10% to All Attributes -- +10% Efficiency and Power to all Umbral and Bloodline Slotted Abilities.
He followed with his Bloodline.
Nocturne – A+ -- Inherent Racial Benefits - + 10% to all Attributes +2 Body, Perception, Insight, Will, and Faith every other Level in Main Class. Hardened Scales -- -10% to all Physical and Magical Damage. Immune to Fear. Highly Resistant vs all Mental Manipulation. +20% Efficiency to all Abilities, including Racial, within the Umbral Soul Pillar. +20% Increased Effectiveness of all Abilities within the Umbral Soul Pillar.
The combined 30% efficiency was insanely good and he still ran down his resources on the regular especially when he did anything with his Soul-Space. Something he’d shoveled through his head before was becoming a factual. The high rarity of the Abilities made them more powerful and more cost but in reality he knew it was his extra curricular talents that usually did him in. Since whatever he was doing hadn’t been done since the days the Nocturne existed if one didn’t count the Gods from that time period who still existed he could imagine it would be heavy on the cost side. There wasn’t much he could do to alleviate besides putting more points in Faith and Body but that was difficult as he already had so many places that needed them. It was a tight rope to tread. Let it go Gideon, one day at a time.
He stepped towards the storage ring Orin had left at the same time as a flick of his mentals brought Danny’s mask to hand. It was time to get to work.
***
He exited his private space almost falling over. He’d pushed himself past a hit of [Apex Predator] and driven it to fumes again. He was not going to mention passing out again to L’Sana, nope, not one word. He almost stumbled when a human brown skinned arm grabbed him to help regain his balance. A young voice hit his ears.
“Dang Lord Gideon, you heavy as shit.”
Gideon snapped back into it. His small debuffs on his diminished resources from gassing himself finally fell off and his Stamina and Spirit began to rise. He took a look to the side and something clicked in his mind. This was the same kid back during the Monster Waves, the one he’d sent to warn people or something. He was a young boy, maybe 14 or 15, of Indian, Middle Eastern descent. The boy had a big smarmy grin on his face. He reminded him of both the Gunslinger and the New Yorker. He was also different now. He was wearing the Shades surcoat and had a bow on his back and a quiver of arrows at his hip along with what looked like stilettos, one on each hip. Gideon was curious. Had the kid been introduced into the System?
“I remember you from the Monster Waves but I don’t remember your name.”
The young man stood straighter and ran his hands down his wrinkled, food stained surcoat the smile never leaving his lips.
“I’m Nev Lord Gideon and I can’t believe you remember me. That was a big big fight. I was scared shitless if I’m being honest. I had no Class, no super hero attributes, nada. I ain’t ashamed to say I hid for most of it but then I turned fifteen a month ago and got my Class. Only Uncommon but still 64% Affinity and I think I’ll get a Rare when I hit Silver. I’m Auric Foundation and Infusion Soul-Pillar and an Archer/Mage build. I’m already level 12, boo-yah. As soon as I got my Class I submitted an Application to the Shades with Gritzdek. He signed me right up, well, not really. He made me a messenger for a week running all over the damn place but then he finally let me get at it. I even got to go through a Copper Dungeon with Dori yesterday, got three levels boo-ya!!!. By the way, that armor is dope!!! If I had armor...”
Before the kid could literally talk his entire ear off he put up a hand to put a stop to the endless blathering. Nev quieted immediately as if it wasn’t anywhere near the first time someone had told him to quit talking. Gideon smiled at that. He looked down at the armor he’d been able to create. It had taken a lot of energy but it had been worth it. He’d been able to shove it forcefully into Iron. It held the same ratings as his original armor just now a Rank higher. He threw an [Identify] for about the eighth time since he’d made it.
Umbral Steel Rune Breastplate and Greaves – Rare – Physical Defense – B+ Magical Defense – C (Iron)(Light Armor)
The ratings were deceptive as an iron ranked beast or weapon would have sliced through his old armor like it was nothing, not so in Iron. Then it came down to what was the true difference between light, medium and heavy. Freddie explained it as about a 20% more effectiveness per category. A ‘B’ Def vs Physical light armor would be 20% less effective then medium and 40% less effective then heavy not to mention needing the actual skill. He remembered L’Sana going against the troglodytes in light armor. Most people would go from that to then what was the glitch? Reaction time in light wasn’t affected, in Medium Armor even with the Skill Agility was debuffed by 10%, heavy armor, 20%.
Freddie shared with him that at a really high ranked armor Skill like Ancient and above it would start decreasing while light armor at Ancient would start buffing Agility. Still it was all moot to skilled combatants as ever style armor had weak spots, gaps. He realized he was drifting off mentally as usual and the Kid was getting ancy standing there though that grin stayed. Gideon took a gander at Nev’s bow. It was nicely made. They actually had some Forgeborn Engineers now, only Uncommon last time he’d looked but they were responsible for most of the armor being made while some were being bought for the Elite teams from Oklahoma and Nuri and her team.
The Kid’s choice of Archery was interesting as Gideon had seen very few people with that kind of build, if any really. There was the Shador Woman who’d died that wielded two hand crossbows but that had been about it. Infusion he had zero experience with and Freddie had stayed with Ari and L’Sana and whatever they were doing so he couldn’t ask and he still had a lot of work to do before the day was done.
He threw eyes at the sky and there was a light rain coming down and storm clouds forming. Storms were a constant for Umbra Mortem and what everyone living here had gotten used to or they did really quick once they settled in. It felt like late afternoon, early evening but he realized the boy was fidgeting on both feet waiting for Gideon to say something after telling him to shut it and his subsequent mindscape travesing. Like most 15 yr old boys, far too much energy and too little patience. He needed to get to Unra who was safekeeping the Soul-Stone.
“Alright buddy, thanks for the help and keep up the good work. I’ll put in a word with Gritzdek to help get ya into Iron. We could use more ranged fighters, who knows, keep working hard and you might find yourself in one of the elite squads.”
The Kid’s head started bobbing up and down like he’d just won the lottery. Gideon had no more time to waste and waved as he took off towards the Fortress heading directly for Unra’s private Office which was now right next to the entrance to the new theater on the main floor. He entered without knocking as he’d sent a message telling her he was coming. It was the first time he’d been in the new place as it had been created for less than a week and in reality she spent most of her time in the War Room. As soon as he entered Unra who’d now finally been dragged kicking and screaming into Iron mostly by her Granddaughter Dori but others who had a hand in pushing her along the way, was looking a couple decades younger in not only her appearance but her movement, everything. Her hair wasn’t entirely gray now and had dark streaks that matched her skin which looked much smoother, far less wrinkles. Quite a bit of her plump body had turned into a more solid build along the lines of Dori.
The office wasn’t very large and was mostly taken up by her huge dark wood desk and comfy looking recliner behind it. On top of the desk in a plush velvety looking container was the Soul-Stone. Gideon had left her with it to have Orin take a gander before he’d taken a whack at it. He’d received the older man’s thoughts earlier while he’d been crafting. Orin couldn’t read much more than it was a Lesser Soul-Stone utterly bridged to the Grave Soul-Pillar Bloodlines and wouldn’t give anything better than a C+ Bloodline unless the recipient had some really High Affinity or Good Titles or Fate effecting it. It was a bit dejecting to Gideon. If he couldn’t do something with it it would be a paperweight as he wasn’t about to sell it and make possible enemies stronger nor was he going to allow people to pick up Bloodlines that went against their path or turned them into some cannibalistic Revenant. Unra stepped closer, her large black eyes expressive, worried, a look he was used to with her.
“What’s spinning around in that mind of yours Unra?”
She smiled, this game between them old hat now. He truly believed she was one of the most skilled manipulators he’d ever seen.
“A few things Gideon. First related to the message you sent earlier in regards to little Shira.”
Here she paused stepping back to sit on the end of her desk next to the Soul-Stone though was very careful to not touch it. If it was similar to the one in the Tutorial it was activated by touch. Her voice brought his eyes from the Stone to hers.
“I am at a closed door as far as getting her to quit abusing herself with the knife. Her fears are great and deeply rooted. Though she was very very young, only a year old when her Father was cut down in front of her I still think that image lingers somewhere in there then in the Tutorial, seeing her Mother also cut down before her eyes even though I tried to shield her from it and we were in the midst of running, she saw it, and screamed and screamed to the point I turned back while I held her. I myself saw the blade coming out the front of her Mother’s chest and the cruel Sanctum Man holding her up, leering at us, as if finding joy in the fear he was causing as if a little Girl’s screams was nectar to his soul. With everything since, all we’ve been through here, losing most of our people in defending our new home, it is crushing on even the adults of our people much less the young ones.”
The sadness in the tone of her words crushed Gideon. He knew there were very few Shador left of the over hundred that had come with him, maybe thirty or less, most of which were children. He’d already hammered his brain to come up with anything he could have done differently to change it. Unra knew him well enough to know his mind.
“We’ve had this conversation Gideon. They died happy, protecting the first real home they’ve ever known, and free, not slaves. The ones that remain not only don’t blame you but adore you, look up to you as their champion, their hero. As far as Shira, it is something she will have to work through on her own and the only thing we can do is to keep healing her hand and be there for her. You have given the child a family, love, and support beyond anything she could have ever imagined. She loves you all with everything she is capable of. The Leap of Umbra Mortem showed that more than anything else. It also showed the inner-strength within the girl. She will get past this of that I have faith.”
He did his best to soak it in and even though he wanted to argue against the advice she gave him on Shira the analytical and reality part of him knew some things you just had to work through on your own, no one else but yourself could conquer inner-demons. He knew that truth intimately. At least he’d been able to break the Soul-Bind on the ring and would be giving it to his Little one later if he could get done before she went to sleep.
He’d gotten a message not long ago that Tolk and her were picked up by Freddie, L’Sana and Ari to do another film at the theater. The kids supposedly couldn’t get enough and Tolk and Shira had been running around making lightsaber sounds non-stop. Ari and Freddie were going to grow their insane preoccupation with film and TV. He imagined them with a flock of thousands behind them all blathering about film. Unra’s hand landed on his arm snapping him back into the now. Her smile was infectious. It radiated empathy and a ridiculous level of belief in him. All cause her little Secret Keeping Goddess said to follow him and he’d be the Shador’s salvation. Unra’s voice was soft but serious.
“Gideon you need to add a fifth to your party. All word I’ve received says these Iron Ranked Dungeons are no joke. Some have gotten completed but losses have been heavy. All our allied Factions are worried about actually finishing the Challenge before the Deadline and we have a Bronze Dungeon in our own backyard. If it spilled out we would be in deep trouble.”
Her words rang truth even without [Investigation] and [Intuition] lighting up and pointing out the details of extreme fear and worry radiating out oh her small facial and body expressions hidden behind the forced warmth and smiles. He pulled up the Challenge Quest.
WORLD ALERT -- Now it is time to prepare for the Second Challenge of Erebus. In two week your World will be populated with ‘Dungeons’. You will have two months to complete the following goals. These goals are for the entire World. Faction and Individual awards are based on participation. All Dungeons can only be entered with parties no more than five in number. Succeed and you will have made it to the Final challenge and gain access to the Dungeons in perpetuity as training tools for your population. The strength of the Dungeons will remain static in this case. Fail, and all Dungeons will be given the ability to release their denizens into the surrounding area while continuously growing in strength and Rank up to two above their starting points. Not many planets have ever survived failure of this Challenge.
OBJECTIVE – 250 Copper Dungeons Cleared 101/250
100 Iron Dungeons Cleared 11/100
20 Bronze Dungeons Cleared 0/20
REWARDS – Based on Participation by Individual and Faction as a whole.
She wasn’t kidding. The Copper Dungeons looked like they wouldn’t be an issue at all. Less than a week and already half were done and having run through one himself, Iron Ranked people would have zero issues and even Peak Tier Coppers in a full group of five if they were at least Uncommon with a few Rares in there should be able to get through though with possible losses. What showed a harsh reality were the completed numbers on the Iron Ranked Dungeons. With the amount of people still alive between the three races and almost twenty Factions that they were aware of, seeing such a dismal number next to the Iron Dungeons was foreshadowing.
And Bronze he stopped his mind form even contemplating. Her ask was logical and he had to take it as such but off the top of his head he couldn’t imagine anyone that would fit into the synergy of the team that they could trust. He was unwilling to take people out of their other elite team of Dori, Iona, Virasa, Orin and he believed they had added that healer he’d briefly met, who was a Rare Class. They had synergy with each other and he wouldn’t weaken Umbra Mortem overall by pulling one of their number. They needed everyone getting stronger and that group would be following Gideon’s own into the Iron Dungeon they would hit in the morning as soon as Gideon and his had completed it.
“I’ll think about it Unra. We will do the dungeon tomorrow and access afterwards though I refuse to pull any out of our other elite group as we will need both if we want Umbra Mortem to be able to stay competitive on the Faction Leader board. And to be honest there is no one else within our Settlement that is strong enough or that we could trust to add that I know of unless there is some hidden Scion I’m not aware of?”
Unra looked as if she wanted to argue but I’d already shut down most likely her main suggestion which would have been Dori or Iona and her mind had drawn a blank to any other suggestion. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.
“Gideon, do what you feel is right, I, all of us, trust you. Tomorrow however I will be putting out a call throughout Umbra Mortem. We now have close to thirty thousand people and going up every day. I do not personally go over every person that enters but my announcement will be for a fifth party member, someone combat capable whose willing to join you in the most dangerous dungeons so they know what they will be facing, at least Iron Ranked, and nothing less than Uncommon. I know an Uncommon Ranked would be less than ideal but who knows.”
She had a twinkle in her eye that always made Gideon nervous with the wily Old Woman.
“Some of us Uncommons might surprise you.”
She threw an over-exaggerated wink as she said it than she pulled herself off her desk and waved towards the Soul-Stone.
“I will leave you to playing with that thing and if you can actually make it useful it would be a big boon to our people and the strength of the Settlement.”
He returned her smile than realizing he would be possibly here for hours he stopped her as she slid by him and focused his Will. A few breaths and the ring was in his hand followed by an ornate mask with silver threading to the edges and a yin/yang design covering it’s front. Gritzdek had sent one small ingot of Copper Rodium, the only amount they’d found so far though there had been large deposits of iron ore which would help as far as creating more mundane weapons for the growing population of people on the lower end of levels and Class Rankings as well as mundane buildings to save Unra some BP and magically creating everything.
“I’m gonna be here for a while can you make sure Shira gets that ring and that she bonds it. Also, hand the mask to Danny, she’s probably going crazy without it.”
Unra saw the ring and recognized it since she was wearing one followed by her eyes scanning the empty spot on his finger. She grabbed both and put them into her own storage ring then leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“You are good boy Gideon with a big heart.”
She walked away whispering prayers to Cybil knowing with his high Perception he would hear every word. Damn Old Woman. His grin was large. It was time to see if he could break into one of the rarest artifacts in the Multi-Verse and twist it to something useful for his people.
He grabbed the velvet cloth under the Soul-Stone, wrapping it up then moving it. He pulled it off the stand and sat his ass on the floor laying it down in front of him. His checked his resources and saw they were at full. He sent a pulse to his cloak as he had a feeling he would need her somehow. He sent along his intent but then a whisper hit his mind. ‘Yisara.’ Gideon was confused. He mentally sent a query asking what it meant?
He felt excitement and passion and more sentience then he’d ever felt. ‘It’s my name. My name is Yisara.’
She remembered her name. Something opened up in the bond between them, a surge of power and memory. His mind buckled under a rush of images, flashes of ancient battles, massive dragons of all varieties and colors and smaller dragon like beasts going at each other amongst the stars, battles so fierce entire planets crumbled in the level of power being thrown around. Gideon collapsed everything going dark as his mind was overwhelmed.