Seeing Jahrod at the mercy of the Death Knight and knowing there would be no mercy for the mighty dwarf struck Max in the heart like a hammer blow. He shouted out in anger and grief, his vision blurring as he yelled out, and the edges of his vision turned dark and then black. He started running towards Jahrod, not knowing how he could help the dwarf, how he could prevent the Death Knight from delivering the killing blow, or if he could even cover the distance to the Death Knight before the sword fell on Jahrod. With no plan, only a determination to act, he ran.
His shortsword was in his hand almost without thinking. The forest all around was lost in utter blackness as he ran. Time seemed to stand still. The Death Knight’s Health was low, but only a very lucky strike from Max with his shortsword could defeat him. As he ran towards the pair, he spotted the Death Knight’s fallen shield. He lifted it off the ground as he ran. He held it over his head. He reached the pair, the Death Knight frozen with his sword raised, Jahrod frozen and staring up. Max glanced back at Elderon, a spell forming in his fingers, but Elderon too appeared frozen in time, the strands of his magic forming out of the air like strands of white fire.
Max crouched next to Jahrod and held the shield over the pair of them. He braced for the impact.
The Death Knight’s sword fell. The shield shattered, absorbing most of the damage, but Max felt the residual damage in his shield arm.
>
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> Max takes major damage.
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The Death Knight hesitated, staring down at Max and Jahrod with dark eyes barely visible through the dark helm. Jahrod, his dagger held forward, his head turned to Max, stared in disbelief.
Then Elderon’s spell struck. An icicle, three feet long and tapering to a glistening point, slammed into the Death Knight. The Death Knight took heavy damage and stumbled. Falteringly, it raised its sword. Its Health reduced to virtually zero but still staggering on. Max lunged forward, driving the tip of his shortsword at a weak point of the Death Knight’s armor.
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> Max attacks Death Knight.
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> Death Knight takes minor damage.
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> Bonus Cold damage.
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> Death Knight has been defeated.
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> Max gains experience points.
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The Death Knight crumpled, loot spilling out of its armor. Max stood up and helped a bemused and confused Jahrod to his feet. The dwarf stared up at Max.
“How did you do that?” Jahrod slipped the dagger back into his boot and recovered his axe, all the while his eyes fixed on Max in total disbelief.
“I didn’t cast that spell,” Max said. “It was Elderon.” Max looked back to Elderon, who was over a hundred yards away and running towards Max and Jahrod.
“Not the Ice spell,” Jahrod said. “You moved so fast. I’ve never seen anything like it. You were over there one moment and then right next to me.”
Max looked back at the distance he had covered. It was a long way. He wasn’t sure he could cover so much distance so quickly even if he fell while climbing. And the ground, the leaf litter had been plowed into a furrow as if someone had passed by with a leaf blower.
“I guess I did move fast.” Max couldn’t quite believe it himself, but he had been motivated by seeing his friend in terrible danger. He had heard stories of people being able to perform miraculous feats of skill and power when danger threatened. He guessed something like that must have happened.
“Check these Death Knights for any useful items,” Elderon said.
Max looked down at the Death Knight at his feet. The dark armor was white with cold as the Icicle spell faded. The armor was empty, as if the Death Knights were simply animated suits of armor. The armor was also too heavy for Max to wear, and he knew it would take away his ability to cast spells. He nudged it with his toe.
“Is this dark armor any good for you, Jahrod?” Max said.
The dwarf shook his head. “It’s too big for me, but my armor is very high level, and it fits just right.”
Max scooped up a handful of gold coins and tossed half over to Jahrod. The dark sword and shield were also no good to any of the party.
The Death Knight lying closer to Elderon, the one that Max had defeated together with his Mage mentor, was also just an empty suit of armor. Whatever animated spirit had once occupied it had been defeated and had now fled. Max wondered if, like the dark whirlwind, the animated spirit had returned to the dark portal and was even now stepping out once again to track Max down. Max shook dark thoughts from his head. He scooped up the gold coins again, tossed half of them to Jahrod, and pocketed the rest.
>
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> Max gains ten gold.
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Something else amongst the armor stood out, a dark set of bracers. They were dark leather coverings for the forearm that had cord fastenings. But there was a dark-blue glow about them that Max recognized marking them as some kind of magic item. He looked at them with suspicion. Then he looked at Elderon.
“What are they?” Max said. “Should I use my scroll of Know Item on them?”
Elderon picked up the bracers and held them at arm’s length. He studied them in the sun and the shade. He rubbed his beard and scratched his head.
Stolen story; please report.
“I’m not sure what these are.” Elderon started casting a spell.
Max watched Elderon’s gesture. He recognized the subtle movements from the symbols on his Know Item scroll, although he’d only glanced at the scroll as he tucked it into his Satchel. He planned to learn the spell and add it to his Mage Book so he could prepare it and have it standing by. He realized he would be sacrificing a Magic Missile spell, and so far, he had needed all the Magic Missiles he could possibly hold. Max realized Elderon must have an awful lot of Level 1 spells available. He always seemed to have spells of Known Item handy. He also had several Magic Missiles. Max had not known Elderon to run out of low-level spells. And what’s more, when Elderon did cast a Magic Missile, he conjured up six glowing orbs of magical energy, whereas Max could now only summon two. The Magic Missile was a basic spell, but it was more powerful if a higher-level Mage was casting it.
“That’s interesting,” Elderon said. “They are Bracers of Stamina.” Elderon handed them to Max.
“So if I wear these, I will have extra Stamina?” Max said.
“Yes,” Elderon said. “And the effects will be permanent. It may take a magic spell of some kind to remove the effect once you put them on.”
“Why would I want to remove a permanent boost to my Stamina?” Max turned the bracers over in his hands.
“It is extremely unlikely,” Elderon conceded. “A permanent boost to Stamina can only ever be beneficial. But there may be other items in the world that will confer some sort of permanent change that you may not be too content with. For example, I read of an ancient item named the Ring of the Wolf that permanently transformed an adventurer into a wolf whenever the sun set. The adventurer gave firsthand accounts of the experience to the Mage council of Essillt, saying at first it was exciting, and he was able to roam the wilderness by night, unafraid of any beast or man. Powerful enough to fight, fast enough to flee. But after several days of no sleep, he became fatigued. He slept all day so he could run as a wolf by night. But when he needed to take care of his human daytime activities, he would have to sleep as a wolf by night, and he found that wolves do not sleep easy. Powerful creatures though they may be, they are always alert to the danger from hunters or the possibility of prey.”
Max turned the bracers over in his hands. They were darker than dark, almost too light to feel in his hands. They looked like they would fit him perfectly.
“The Wolf Man of the Kranic Empire had to travel across Scarfel, across the Kraken Sea, and to the mountains of Essillt to beg the Mage council to reverse the permanent change the ring had inflicted upon him. He begged at the door of the great tower to be let in for many days.”
“Did he huff and puff and blow the door in?” Max said with a grin.
“No,” Elderon said. “The great tower is protected by powerful magic, and no one could blow it in.” He regarded Max with a suspicious stare, as if he were concerned that Max had suddenly been turned into a simpleton.
Max let out a little cough of embarrassment. Sometimes he forgot how different these people were from him. “Did they save him?” Max said, looking up at Elderon.
“They removed the Ring of the Wolf and stored it in the great tower’s artifact chamber. But they say he was never quite the same again. Once you run with the wolves, normal life can seem rather dull, and he could never forget what it was like to be a wolf. Although he no longer transformed during the night, some part of him was forever wolf.”
“From a werewolf to an aware wolf.” Max grinned and looked at his friends. They looked back at him blankly. Max felt his grin slipping.
Elderon wore a confused expression.
“Aware of what?” Jahrod said.
“Aware of being a wolf. Aware wolf.” Max knew they didn’t understand him. Maybe Janet was the only person in the whole of Eveirea who could ever truly understand him.
Max looked back to the bracers, aware that Elderon and Jahrod were exchanging confused and worried looks, thinking perhaps that the battle with the Death Knight had caused Max some kind of head injury. The bracers were simple enough to slip on. He turned his arm over to fasten the cords on the inside of his arm when the treads pulled tight, and the bracers gripped his arm. The movement was so sudden that Max felt his heart skip a beat. The bracers pulled so tight on both arms that he was afraid they would crush his arms. But just as the tightness threatened to become painful, the bracers evaporated like a magic scroll he had just copied to his Mage Book. The dark bracers crumbled to dust and floated away on the cool breeze.
Max rubbed his arms. The bracers were completely gone. He turned his arms over, looking down at both of them. Nothing had happened. He looked at Elderon, bemused.
“Check your stats,” Elderon said with a smile.
Max looked at the leaf litter on the ground. The brown leaves twisted and turned and formed a table of stats for him to check.
>
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> Name: Max Lightfoot
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> Class: Mage
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> Level: 4
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> Health: Badly injured
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> Strength: 10
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> Stamina: 17
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> Agility: 18
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> Intelligence: 17
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> Wisdom: 12
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> Charisma: 16
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>
It was true. His Stamina had been increased by one point. He guessed he could go that extra mile now before running out of Stamina. Maybe more than a mile.
“Stamina is a crucial ability for Warriors so they can stay the course in battle.” Jahrod said.
“But every class can benefit from a high Stamina rating. You will not fatigue so easily. You will be able to concentrate on spell casting and spell learning even after a long night’s march.” Elderon said.
Max was pleased to see an improvement in both his Strength and his Stamina stats. He really was developing, and not just his spell casting.
“I just need to find a way to improve my Wisdom,” Max said. “I have made some stupid choices in my past. The real problem is I’ve always been smart enough to know it.”
“Yes,” Elderon said. “Wisdom and Intelligence are closely related but are different abilities. I think you will learn Wisdom as you progress and develop as a Mage.”
“I don’t know if it is wise or intelligent to continue without rest,” Max said, “Because I am injured and low on spells. I could certainly use a rest, but we must find Anita. She is in danger, and we must help her as she helped me.”
Jahrod and Elderon suddenly looked into the forest, weapons in hand.
“Yes,” Max said, “I hear it too.”
The approaching sound was one of branches snapping, trees groaning, and the forest floor scraping and squelching as if a giant sponge was being pressed repeatedly into the dry leaves. The sound came closer very slowly. Max walked towards the sound a pace or two to get sight of whatever it was that approached with such an odd noise.
A large dark figure appeared in the trees, as big as a city bus but moving dead slow. It came forward a few feet in a single surge and then stopped before advancing with another squelching surge. Max walked towards it, intrigued by it.
The dark shape surged forwards again into a shaft of light striking down through the trees. Max was looking up into the face of a huge slug. He stepped back and gazed up at the beast.
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> Name: Dark Slug
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> Status: Hunting
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> Attack: Rasping Maw
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> Threat level: Relentless
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Max looked in awe and disgust as the sticky, slimy creature surged forward again. Its slime-covered head had two dark eyes on either side. They stood up on short fat stalks that flickered around lazily. Then they shot forward and pointed at Max. The slug reared up and exposed a round mouth, little more than a hole in the slimy skin. Then a set of rasping teeth like two sets of cheese graters. They were dark and dripped with black slime. The grating surfaces rubbed against each other and made a heavy crunching sound.
The slug surged forward again and let out a low harsh breath. Slime flickered over the mouth. The stench that hit Max made his stomach churn. Like rotten fish and wolf dung.
Max stepped back a few paces. He moved to the side to let the beast slide past. But the slug turned on the spot, the leaves behind it coated in a thick slime. The slug rasped another harsh outward breath and surged forward another few feet, heading directly for Max.