Private chatroom, Broken Dawn. Restricted to former members of the guild Breaking Dawn.
Current members: Apollo’sApprentice, CardboardBoxCamo, MadTinkerer.
Grimlet has joined the chat.
Apollo’sApprentice: Hey Grim. How’s life under the mountain?
Grimlet: Hey Apollo. It’s fun, but I’ve had a string of frustrations. How’re the elves doing?
Apollo’sApprentice: They still doubt everything I try and tell ‘em. I’m about to turn Tinkerer loose so they can see the power of some of the stuff that she comes up with.
MadTinkerer: Hehehehe! I’ll set ‘em straight. Longbows are so outdated.
CardboardBoxCamo: What have you managed to make this time?
MadTinkerer: Not finished yet. I need some of their incredibly strong wood, shaped to certain specifications. The mithril wires for the compound bow let it get too strong of a draw. I don’t have anything that can take the stress.
Grimlet: Does it really need to be wood?
MadTinkerer: Are you doubting me? Because I can drop that potion slinger you wanted straight to the bottom of R&D.
Grimlet: Please don’t! I was just asking for curiosity. Surely metal can take the stress better?
MadTinkerer: Very well. And yes, it can. But metal doesn’t spring back to original as fast as wood does, so the bow would lose power.
MadTinkerer: But since you are here and asking about things, perhaps you can tell me you’ve gotten your hands on some divine tier crafting mats?
Grimlet: That’s part of the frustrations. Turns out, you can’t improve something to divine tier with alchemy transmutations.
CardboardBoxCamo: That sux.
Grimlet: Tell me about it. I even tried fusing 100 perfect materials instead of the usual 10. Same error message. Transmutations beyond this rank are not possible with this equipment.
MadTinkerer: So it is possible
Grimlet: Huh? No, it isn’t. I keep getting an error message.
Apollo’sApprentice: I see what you’re getting at Mad. We just need the right transmutation circle.
MadTinkerer: Exactly. Knowing the devs, it probably has one time use and requires divine tier ingredients.
MadTinkerer: Why do they torment me so?
CardboardBoxCamo: Because they can. They don’t appreciate your genius. Small minded fools, you should rule the world!
MadTinkerer: . . . not funny.
Grimlet: It was a little funny.
Grimlet: Putting Tinkerer’s aspirations for world domination aside for a moment, what’s the news with the old guild?
CardboardBoxCamo: Word’s getting around about what happened. A lot of the middle to upper tier people left after what they pulled with you.
Apollo’sApprentice: Only to be replaced by zealous idiots.
CardboardBoxCamo: True. The human kingdoms are content to look the other way.
Grimlet: Serious? How are they rationalizing that?
CardboardBoxCamo: I guess Goliath spun it that monster races are monsters, and therefore don’t have any hospitality laws. It helps that the guild is about 75% human now.
Grimlet: And the elves?
Apollo’sApprentice: Trying to be Sweden. They’ll tie things up in committees for decades at least. Hoping that by then everything will have blown over or that all parties involved have died off.
CardboardBoxCamo: Idiots.
Grimlet: At least the dwarves took action.
CardboardBoxCamo: Yeah, speaking of the dwarves.
CardboardBoxCamo: You might want to stay there for a week or so. Goliath was royally pissed at what you did.
Apollo’sApprentice: So? You don’t mess with a guildmate’s quests like that.
CardboardBoxCamo: And Goliath is a narcissist that can do no wrong. He’s blaming Grimlet for everything, and even put out a ten platinum bounty on your head.
Grimlet: Great. At least I can get plenty of quests in the city now.
Apollo’sApprentice: Did you ever decide on a profession?
Grimlet: Yeah, I’m going with alchemy. Who knows, there might be a title for obtaining the potionmaster class.
CardboardBoxCamo: Never heard of it.
Grimlet: Dwarf only most likely. They fling potions in battle as their weapons, acting as linebreakers.
CardboardBoxCamo: Magic grenadiers. Gotcha.
MadTinkerer: Grenades?
Apollo’sApprentice: No Tinkerer. You aren’t allowed around explosives. Not after last time.
MadTinkerer: but it wasn’t my fault.
Apollo’sApprentice: Don’t care. Not allowed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Marty’s POV
“You ready buddy? Drink all the potion now.” I said, setting a small bowl filled with phantom steps potion in front of Inkler. We had practically sped through the desert so far, as everything shied away from us. Whether they could sense that I had slain two of the kings or just saw that I was wearing Einlorkis’ armor set didn’t matter. We had just arrived at the area where the djinni roamed along with the sand sharks. We had stopped by the skinning areas earlier, but I had absolutely no luck with learning the cleanse spell. The only positive about it was that I had gotten skinning up to intermediate 1, thanks to the extra shadow hands I was able to conjure.
Packing up the bowl, we headed into the sands. It was shaping up to be a long day of travel, so we were planning to avoid combat as much as possible. A fairly simple plan, it was easy to avoid the wandering djinni. The dust trails they kicked up made them visible for miles. It was fifteen minutes in that we came across the first sand shark, and damn was I glad the potion made our footsteps appear five feet away from us.
The only warning we received was a swooshing sound. Out of the sands behind us a creature that looked like a manta ray with a shark tail erupted from the sands behind us. As the mouth opened, the body contracted forming an O shape with small wings on the side, before it plunged back into the sand. Had we been where the steps were, that mouth would have sheared off my body from the waist up. It was over so fast, I didn’t have time to identify the creature.
“Alright bud.” I whispered to Inkler. “Get on the other side of me, so I’m closer to the phantom steps. I’m going to draw it out and try and flip it with a strike. I want you to see if you can cut off the tail with reality slash.” Cringing, Inkler got on the other side of me, though he was still plastered to my side. I guess the guy didn’t like being on the receiving end of an ambush. I started stomping, slowly walking sideways to keep an eye on the steps being formed. There had to be something to indicate an attack.
There! Just for a second, I saw the tip of a tail crest through the sands. It gave a few swipes before diving down below. Using the hammer end of my weapon, I got ready. As soon as the sand erupted, I darted forward and swung. My uppercut caught it just below the wing, causing mayhem. The shark’s momentum was disrupted, going from mostly forward to mostly vertical. It also put just enough spin on it that it landed and flopped onto its back, thrashing around. I buried the bladed end of my weapon into the belly, watching as Inkler leapt on top of the creature. Chomping down on the creature’s shoulder, he started savaging the underbelly with his hind claws.
“Easy buddy, easy. You’ve done killed it.” I said, patting him on the shoulders. He gave a small shake of his head to verify, before climbing off and using the sand to help clean his paws. While he was at work doing that, I identified the body and got to work skinning and butchering it.
Sand Shark (corpse)
Level 80
Ambush predators of the deep desert, these creatures are feared by any who travel the sands. They give very little warning before their strikes, and after a meal will retreat deep within the sands to digest. Young adults are able to kill a humanoid with one bite, while the legends tell of elder sharks capable of eating a camel with one bite.
“Wow, this one isn’t even full grown. Hopefully we will avoid the elders, eh buddy?” I chuckled at Inkler. He gave me a glare and returned to cleaning blood from his paws. Guess he didn’t appreciate my humor. Going back to my work, I started skinning the creature as best I could. The underbelly skin was ruined, but the topside looked like it could be used for crafting. Leathery to resist moving through the sands, it really did resemble a shark’s skin. The hide was rough, and any gloves made from them would have incredible grip. The organs were shredded, and beyond salvage. Inkler had managed to get into one of the intestines, so I wouldn’t even be saving the meat from my butchery.
That didn’t stop me from examining what I could. The skeletal system was simply a skull and backbone. Discs of cartilage in the tail let it have anchor points for the muscles, giving it more flexibility than I thought it should have. The bones near the base of the tail were small, and could probably be easily severed. The tail looked like it came straight off a reef shark, a sharp V shape with end above the shark body being much larger than the other side. It also had some sort of sharp crystal along the edge. Getting hit by that would be a Bad Thing. Mystic vision let me find a small earth mana core in the brain stem area, but that was the most valuable thing I found. I managed to collect four teeth roughly the size of my palm, along with the pelt. Looting the body gave me a bit of tail meat, but that was all.
“Well, they are fairly easy to kill. Think we should keep it up?” Inkler chuffed in agreement. Maybe we’ll have fish for dinner soon. We continued on our journey, glad that most things in the deep desert seemed to be solo hunters. The sharks also had large areas, as it was at least ten minutes of walking between finding a shark. We took the time to hone our abilities on the younger, smaller sharks. Inkler got really adept at severing the tail, after which we would back off. The sharks couldn’t enter the sands at will, they would always flip themselves over and sort of wiggle back and forth until they could bury themselves again. After that, it was slow going until they built up momentum.
Their lack of offensive weaponry outside of ambush made them easy pickings for us. I didn’t even bother using most of my skills. Once Inkler had severed the tail, I could use my scythe to cut deep into the brain. The base of the jaw was the perfect place to strike, as there was only a thin layer of bone separating what it ate from the brain. One blow there, and the shark was toast. After our third kill and examination, I started to see the fruits of having skill synergies. Each shark gave an underpelt and an overpelt, as the textures of the underside was so different from the top. About one in every six or seven of the underpelts were high quality as well. Tail meat and wing meat were among the high frequency drops, both cursed and uncursed. Teeth seemed to be a somewhat rare drop, and I wondered what they would be used for in crafting. Too large for arrows, too wide for daggers. Much too small for a sword. Hmm, maybe as additions to give a club some bite?
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Once routine set in, life became a grind. Kill a shark, loot and move on. Repeat every ten minutes or so. Take a water break every three sharks. Several hours later we came upon what I had been waiting for. A one-hundred-foot wide strip of golden sand. According to Salmahim, this was the barrier for the djinni kingdom. We rushed across, being warned not to linger. I was cursing myself for not asking why we couldn’t linger on it, probably a guardian of some sort. Thankfully the phantom steps potion gave us great traction on the sands, and we covered the distance in a matter of seconds. No unknown guardians this time!
After crossing the barrier sands, we kept on moving. Just barely visible on the horizon were three peaks, all that was left of the castle of the former nation. We did see less sharks along the way, but the amount of djinni we were forced to fight was increasing rapidly. We both grew three levels with the battles, but I was getting annoyed with the slower pace. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any cover to hide from them in such a barren landscape. Even the scrub trees lacked any leaves.
Finally! We had just crested the last of the sand dunes, and at the bottom were the three spires we had been chasing for hours. We still had to be cautious making our way down the slope, but there were no djinni near us. In fact, I was rather surprised that they didn’t have any guards nearby. At the bottom, we paused for a water break and some food. “Alright, this is probably going to be a tough fight.” I spoke to Inkler as he was finishing his cassowack legs. “We won’t be able to help each other much. We have to keep them separated, and you’ll have to take the blue one. She’s weak to physical attacks, so you’ll have to rely on fangs and claws.” He gave me a look that conveyed his annoyance, but I wanted to be sure.
“Relax, I know you know. I just want to go over it again. After their first switch, we are going to have to use that bolt I got from Abdaul. Just remember to get away from him as fast as you can when they swap. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Mrow.”
“Ok, fine. We both know the plan. Let’s get to it then.” Finished, we turned to where there were two creatures seated on thrones. They looked like normal djinni, except one was blue.
Solomon, the Djinni King
Level 85
Once a wise king in touch with his land’s needs, he has fallen to an evil curse. Now a warped existence, he lives in torment watching what his beloved land has become.
Embodiment of the land: Highly attuned to this world, Solomon has gained high physical resistances in exchange for a magical vulnerability.
Soul linked: The bond with his wife, Lillith, runs so deep that they may switch places in times of danger.
Lillith, the Marid Queen
Level 85
Wife of Solomon, she chose to remain by her husband’s side despite the curse. She uses her healing arts to protect him in battle, as well as call all magic attacks to herself.
Gentle Spirit: Lillith has forsaken her physical body in order to strengthen her spirit. Her magic resistances rival that of dragons, though her frail physique leaves her vulnerable.
Soul linked: The bond with her husband, Solomon, runs so deep that they may switch places in times of danger.
Taking our time, we started using potions for the upcoming battle. We both got water, fire and air resistance potions. Hopefully the battle would be over before the ten-minute buff wore off. I also poured an electrifying potion on Inkler’s paws, hoping that it would give him a bit of an electric attack against Lillith. My weapon got coated in an ice potion for dealing with Solomon. Inkler also got the most expensive of the potions, a temporary boost to his agility. “Alright, you ready to kill the king?” I said with a grin, and got a growl out of Inkler. “Stay behind me, and when I draw their attack do what you do best. Take out that queen as fast as possible, right?” Standing up, I gave him one last pat on the head before turning and walking towards the two rulers. Can’t forget to activate the recording for Abdaul.
“Oh? You come before the ruler of these lands bearing the armor of Einlorkis?” Solomon asked as I got closer. “You’ll pay for this insult, peasant!” Standing the king drew four scimitars that glowed with an inner flame.
“You’ll meet the same end as your two counterparts, Solomon. Your reign is over. Take this!” Rearing back, I launched a pair of charged fulgurite crystals at the queen.
“YOU DARE!!!!!” Charging to intercept, the sabers slashed through the crystals, releasing their charges in a blast of lightning. Unfortunately for Solomon, it traveled straight down the scimitars and through his body.
“My king! [Healing waters]!” Lillith cried, healing the bit of damage that the crystals did. “Come my love, I will AAAAAAHHHH”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Inkler’s POV
As Angus threw the crystals to start the fight, I circled around to get to my prey. Foolish prey, to keep all eyes on the first attack. The red prey roared, attacking. Idiot, get zapped for your trouble. Before I could strike the blue prey, she cried out. A blue orb shot from her to the red prey. Tsk. Prey that undoes damage. Annoying.
Leaping silently, I buried my fangs in prey’s arm. Savage slashes with my hind claws tore strips from her back, as she cried out in agony. Warm blood splashed into my mouth. Breathing in deep, I scented it. Terror. Prey was weak and scared. Her flesh parted easily, her bones crushing beneath my bite.
Prey started spinning, trying to dislodge me. Fool. PAIN! Leap back, check my side. Ah, prey has hidden claws too. Small claw, pierced my side. Prey is watchful now, glowing her injury blue. Tsk. How many can she undo? Smile, show fangs. Let’s see. Yessss, prey is trembling now. Three circles on hands, one hand grows a tail?
*Crack*
Tail shoots out and snaps at my face, I snarl in reply. Lunge back and forth. Unpredictable, avoid the snapping tail. It ends with a fang. Snarling, I am thrown back. Circles are like turtle shells, cannot pierce. Tsk. Turtle that snaps at cat? Fool. Prey cannot be hunter. Only hunter is hunter. I am hunter, Angus is hunter. Prey will understand soon.
Charge in. Dart. Left. Left. Duck. NOW! Fling sand towards eyes, prey hides behind shells. Foolish. Cannot see through shells, dart under. Clamp on leg, savage back and forth and retreat. Prey tried hidden claw again, but Inkler too fast. Prey crippled. Undo bite. Hiss. Smile with fang again. Prey shaking. Prey knows fear now. Backing up, prey wants to run. Typical prey. Play with prey? Yessssss.
Dart in, side, side, snap jaws and back away. Prey stumbles backward. Dart in and bite hand, shake head. Can’t sever, pushed back by shells. Partial retreat, dart back in as prey regains feet. Foolish prey, let guard down. DANGER!
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Marty’s POV
After the king was healed, I saw Inkler make his move. Ruthless, he almost managed to sever the queen’s arm with the opening salvo. Just before he could, she stabbed him with a dagger and healed herself.
“LILLITH! YOU DARE HURT MY BELOVED!” Solomon bellowed in rage, as his inner fires started glowing. Seems he is entering some berserk stage. Time to distract him.
“Don’t forget about me! [Rocket slash]!” I gave a massive blow from 2 to 7 across the king’s back, using the rocket power to boost the strike. Arching his back in pain, retaliation was swift. Spinning, he tried two horizontal slashes. Ducking under his counter, I continued my spin. “[Keen edge]!” This time the slash was from 4 to 10. Staggering under the pain of the blow, I continued the assault. “[Reality slash].” A horizontal blade of black energy cut through the abdomen of the king. As he bent over, I charged up my hammer, preparing to smash him in the face.
“[Soul switch].” Suddenly, the queen was standing in front of my oncoming hammer. Too late to pull back, not that I would, she took the hit right in her face.
“Inkler, back off!” I yelled a warning as the queen staggered under my blow. Stunned, I knew this was our chance. “[Binding shadow chains]!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Inkler’s POV
DANGER! Leap back, avoid the swirling fangs of the red prey. Tricky prey, switched places. Angus warned, didn’t believe.
“Inkler, back off!” Tsk. Think I would let prey hit me like that? Foolish. Send reality slash, get prey’s attention. Show fangs, this prey die soon. Angus claw up prey, send to Inkler for more clawing. Circle, distract. Prey pay attention to near threat, forget Angus already. Turn back to Angus. Angus coming to ambush, smart hunter.
“[Cold grasp of death].” Angus use strange skill. Prey freezes, accepting death. Why freeze? This prey have claws, fight back. Should not freeze! Prey fearful. Cold aura blow, but in hot sand place? Ah, yes! Prey frozen from fear of icy claw. Angus fire icy death from behind, pierce chest of red prey.
Confusion? Red prey glowing blue inside? No matter, find blue prey. Blue prey bound in black ropes. Charge, savage blue prey’s neck. Angus fight red turned blue prey.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Marty’s POV
As they swapped places, I cried a warning to Inkler. Smart cat that he is, he was already dodging the attack. I charged in, binding Lillith behind me. Oh, Inkler was getting extra treats when we get back to civilization. He slashed at the king, distracting him and getting him to turn his back to me. I couldn’t let this go.
“[Cold grasp of death].” As it technically wasn’t a magic skill, it wasn’t forced onto Lillith and bound Solomon. Swapping to my arbalest, I loaded Winter’s Advent from my inventory and saw the muscles in Solomon’s back clench in fear. Aiming, I shot him right between the shoulder blades. His health plummeted into the red, as his inner flame froze with the secondary ability of the bolt.
The king turned to face me, rage on his face. “You’ll pay for your insolence.” Dropping his swords, his arms started moving in a strange pattern. “Persistent foe, your time has come. Spells and skills will avail you not. My flames shall drag you to eternal suffering. NOW PERISH, IN A PILLAR OF FLAME! [HELL’S MAW]!” With a flourish, he flung all four arms in my direction. The hands of each arm formed a picture frame around my charging body. His face fell open in shock as nothing happened.
“My turn. [Reaper’s edge]!” Leaping toward him, I brought my weapon down in an overhand strike that split his head, killing him.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!” An agonized wail came from behind me, as Lillith sensed Solomon’s death. Spinning and knocking Inkler away from her, I saw her eyes blazing with cold fury. “You killed my Solomon. Now you shall pay.” She said, in a voice all the more terrifying for its lack of emotion. “[Winter’s wrath].” A barrage of icicles fired from her hands, and I did the best I could to deflect and dodge them. Anything to minimize the damage they were doing, but I could feel myself slowing down with each hit. Before she could launch another spell, Inkler was in front of me, using his ability to absorb the spell.
“Thanks bud.” I said, seeing that his health bar was still above 75%. With him on guard, I downed a few health potions.
“Bird of prey, freeze your heart. Strike down my foes. Show no care nor mercy. [Frigid Falcon].” A blue bird of ice shot forward, getting absorbed again by Inkler’s ability. Two down, I just hope she chose one more ice attack. I had a bad feeling though.
“Inkler, get ready to run. I can take a few hits, but she isn’t going to use ice right away. Wait for your opening, okay?”
“Uncaring currents, tear these fools from their embrace of land. Let the waters of the deep become their tomb. [Riptide].” Inkler darted off as she started her incantation, and I took a torrent of water to the chest. Tumbling backward with the force, I got up and charged back in so that she would keep attacking me.
“You still refuse to die? Then suffer.” Clapping her sets of hands together, they pulled apart to form a diamond shape. Swirling in the middle, was a massive ball of magic. “Freeze your blood. Freeze your bones. Freeze your very soul. Spend eternity lamenting taking my love from me. [Cocytus blast]!” As she fired the last spell, Inkler charged in and took the hit. Glowing blue swirled with black energy, before firing back at Lillith. As the spear of magic came closer, she spread her arms and closed her eyes.
“Soon, my love.” She whispered, as Inkler’s magic tore through her chest. She had to have removed her resistances, as that blow ended her.
“Perfect timing.” I said, walking up to Inkler and patting him on the side. I plopped onto the ground, pulling out a bowl for him. He first got a health potion, followed by two bowls of water. “Don’t know why I was worried about that fight. You’re the perfect partner.” I said, listening to him purr. “Just relax there for a bit, I’ve got some things to take care of.” Looting both of the bodies, I took a look at all the notifications that had come up after the battle.
Level up x5!
Hidden Quest complete!
Little did you know, but the lich Zandkazaar had turned the three kings into phylacteries for his soul. By defeating all of them, you have greatly weakened the lich.
Djinni King’s Bracers
Set item (1 of 3)
Golden bracers worn by the king of the Djinni, they have been enchanted to boost your magical might.
Defense: 40
Durability: 7,000/7,000
All spells cost 50% less mana
40% chance to ignore cooldown for spells
Djinni King’s Gilded Torque
Set item (1 of 3)
A golden necklace worn by Solomon, it was said to boost his wisdom.
+15% wisdom, +15% intelligence
All cooldowns reduced by 10%
From the corpse of Lillith, I got the following.
Djinni King’s Golden Belt
Set item (1 of 3)
This magical belt was gifted to Solomon by the elementals of his lands. Their strength has been imbued within.
Defense: 30
Durability: 5,000/5,000
Out of combat regeneration doubled
+50% damage for elemental spells
Djinni King’s set complete!
For equipping the entire set of the Djinni King, you receive the following bonuses:
2 of 3 set items:
+30% magic resist
3 of 3 set items:
Resistance cap increased by 5%
Once per day, may select one element to boost damage by 500% for 1 minute
Searching through the bases of the spires and the thrones yielded nothing valuable, much to my dismay. Oh well, at least I got the complete set in one go. “You okay with camping out here Inkler?” I asked, turning to find him already napping in the shadow of one of the spires. “I guess so.” Pulling a tent and a camp stone from my inventory, I secured our site for the night.