The story the corpse told was pretty clear. The now dead corpse had been involved in a duel with a fire breathing dragon, and had lost, obviously. It was a fool’s proposition any day, for Winter, facing a dragon alone. The wizard got the worse end of the deal, but hit back with something that froze the dragon.
Freezing was too mild of a word. Fuenos was untouchable. It reminded Winter of an insect trapped inside an amber. The world seemed to stop for Fuenos within a set space. Anything in front of the wizard was frozen, uncrossable. Winter had no idea what sort of magic could possibly do this. He was most definitely interested to know.
He tried anything he could within his knowledge. Firing spells at it did nothing. Fireballs and Mana bolts were stopped cold at the barrier. Earth Spike showed as ‘Unable to Cast’ inside the field. Mind boggling. He tried attacking it with his sword. It immediately lost five durability in a single hit.
He could see a glimmer of dragon’s hoard a little further behind the dragon. But there was no way to reach the back end. For all he knew, it was also frozen like Fuenos, a moot proposition to reach them. Winter quit puzzling it out after exhausting all possibilities he could come up with. He promised himself to revisit this puzzle. There was not enough information to figure anything out. If it was about magic, a face immediately popped into Winter’s mind. Minalan’s daughter’s loving smile.
'Yes. Minalan. Have to ask him first.'
Equipping his pretty powerful but damaged new weapon, Winter believed he was ready to confront the named Cave Troll and its posse. The system might have landed him a winning card, for once.
Asric’s Cursed Bracer
Created by the Fallen Mage, Asric. Contains a strong curse. Whatever purpose left for the item by Asric, no one bothered to recall. It has intricate carvings around its whole body, topped with a black round gem at its center. A beautiful piece for its alluded reputation to bring misfortune to its wearer. No one has any idea as to what will happen when the curse is fully powered.
(50102/100000)
-50% Mana regeneration
400% Mana cost for any spell cast.
Mana quantity reduced to 25% while worn
Additional Effect: Spell Multiplication
Perfectly copies every spell you cast up to Tier 06. Random amount between 1 to 8 will be picked every 24 hours.
Multiplier of the day is 8
No further identification possible at the moment
The curse finally provided Winter with some perks. He surmised that the benefit kicked in at 50000/100000. Coincidentally, it was moments before he cast Reflex, which was how he had augmented speed and ran himself up the wall.
Winter had no idea how the effect augmentation was calculated or arranged. He only could assume it worked for some and did not work for others. Experimentation was the word he both liked and dread with Royal Road, recently.
“Mana Bolt!”
“Whoa!”
He was unprepared for the effect. One appeared,followed by eight, a hair’s breadth later. His spell went a little wide since he lost focus. This was his first true attempt at attempting to slay decently difficult mobs with magic. So far, he had had a hard enough time using the sword, and most of his magic had been used to kill a mob in a single cast. With the new staff to boost his damage, Winter believed he could do it. He practiced a few maneuvers he had in mind, before moving to the last room he had to clear.
xXx
You leveled up!
“Well, that was surprisingly easy,” said Winter to nobody in particular.
His plan worked perfectly. The plan was to kill as many monsters as possible from a distance, before running away and redoing it. It worked even better, since his first burst of focused rain of Fireball killed the Cave Troll he targeted instantly. He killed a few more, before barricading the path with Earth Spike and accelerating away with Reflex. With the multiplied cast, it either tripped them, or impaled their feet. Slowed them down, either way. When Winter came back, the improvised caltrops would be gone without a trace. The mobs would return to their approximate spots, minus the few mobs he'd wasted.
After spending God knows how long, Winter managed to clear the nest. The battle with Urbo, the named mob,was exhilarating, to put it mildly. He managed to land twenty blows give or take, before the juiced up Reflex wore out. He tested and proved a theory that an attack that landed on the same spot resulted in greater damage for the subsequent hit, the second time he used Reflex with augmented effect. It felt as if Urbo slowed so much, that he could land the four accurate stabs to its right eye and dodge the flailing claws after. Only two managed to hit cleanly upon the same spot.
This was the first decently armed Troll that Winter faced. It wore armor, and a face helmet.It also had a sword and shield that would give him a run for his money, if he was not juiced up real good like today.
“Two gold, six silvers. Silver Threaded Armor, Hardened Steel Sword, Battered Kite Shield. Oh. A ring with +300 HP! Great!” Plus three level ups in total after clearing the room.
Winter checked the loot he got from Urbo. It was a decept drop. He immediately equipped the ring, enjoying the boost. He was not injured at all for the day, since he had used a hit and run tactic. He hoped he could get rid of the curse soon, and fully enjoy the life of a mage.
Of course, such a trip would not be complete without a treasure chest. And as expected, it was there, but smaller than the trunk he was expecting. It was a small strongbox. Probably the size of a decent loaf of bread. The content of the box was decent, despite his disappointment at its size. Sixty gold was added to his wallet, and twenty assortments of raw jewels of differing shapes, sizes and colors. Winter was glad he talked himself into finishing up this exploration.
xXx
“Phew. It is so bright out here!”
He was back to using his sword. He depleted Sun’areth’s durability by ten points during his gleeful rampage, exploiting the bonus fully. It was a good thing he did, since the current multiplier was set to 1. He hoped that the day after, it would change to a more favorable number though he has no further plan to kill any mobs. Winter wanted to test a few more things about the bonus.
Winter had spent maybe 14 to 15 days days inside a dark cave, with only his own spells as illumination. He was surprised that he was not blinded when he stepped out into the sun. He could see a gathering in the distance. They were not the lizardmen, but players. Probably a thousand or two.
“Hey, What is going on here?” Winter hailed a player lounging at the edge of the gathering.
“Where have you been, old man? In a cave?” The rude youngster had no idea how right he was.
“I was a little lost. My sense of direction is bad. Does it have something to do with the lizardmen up there?”
The youngster, obviously a warrior judging from his gear, replied offhandedly,
“Yes. Yes. We are about to attack them. Now. Stay there!”
’This guy....!’
Winter was terribly offended. He could take not being given respect. But disrespected and then impoliteness was a bad recipe for him. Winter was running through scenarios on what he would usually do to such youngsters in real life, when the youngster was called away.
“Leader! We are ready!” One voice shouted at a distance.
“Okay! Let us go!” The youngster replied in an even louder voice. He donned his helmet and jogged away from Winter.
Winter was not a good judge of weapons or armor levels, that was usually used as a benchmark to guess a player’s level. He was still a little too fresh. But the rude youngster had a reason to be rude and cocky. His level was in mid 150s and he was pretty skilled. Everyone in the melee was lining up with the gray, steel-armored cockerel. The all range players were behind the packed mass of frontline fighters.
Winter had no idea how many were gathering atop the hill. He could only see, probably a couple hundreds. The lizardmen were going to lose. Eventually. Winter only cared at that moment whether the monsters could last long enough until he could get a little payback. His head had hatched a plan.
xXx
It took him five days days of waiting. Winter spent the first day scouting the terrain from the higher position of another hill. He could see that the lizardmen outnumbered the players considerably, but were disorganized. He also spied a large cart with offerings of Rainbow Fish. How did he know? The cart itself had a rainbow visible from where he was.
While he was spelunking, apparently the players around Cosare and the lizardmen horde had been busy. He gathered from his short stop back in town to dump his loot (selling junk and leaving the rest in Minalan’s care) that the players that died from ambushes had banded together to form the force that were now going to besiege the lizardmen. Apparently, the same event happened last year too, (in-game) that obviously, Winter would not know since he had not spent the whole year yet within Royal Road. The punitive force quest would be formed after the gathering lizards were sighted. And the dead, clueless newbie was the impetus of the news that the time was right.
It took him a full day to run back to town. It was his first experience with long distance travel, where he had to run until his stamina bar dropped to nearly zero. He chose to rent a horse for the trip back to the lake, at the cost of five gold, with twenty five gold for deposit. It probably took him four hours to get there. Mainly, it was due to him not being an experienced horseman. Still, the stable owner was as good as his word. It was the most docile horse the man had and the smoothest horse ride for Winter.
The whole time, he prayed for the lizardmen to hold on long enough. They had been badly depleted, but managed to hold on, and on. Until the fifth day, when Winter’s multiplier bonus reached the maximum of 8 again. Winter spent the extra two days nervously, sleeping for a short time, and swinging his wooden sword in real life, and the occasional sewing, that was badly done, but improved his expertise nonetheless. The timing was a near thing. The horde that was probably double the players’ size, had been chipped to a few straggling hundreds that would die in the morning.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
xXx
*Shak* *Shak* *Shak*
Winter moved among the low grasses as silently as he could manage. He had been moving at a slow crawl for a couple hours now. He was close enough to be able to hear the lizardmen huddling together, hissing at each other. The players down the hill were cautious, refusing to engage the monsters at night, with good, high ground advantage. It worked in Winter’s favor.
From the small bits of rags the Goblins wore, he had constructed a badly patched hood (Def+1). Nobody would see how bad Winter’s needlework was if all went right. It was the sort of ill conceived plan that Daniel would immediately shoot down if he was around. The word ‘harebrained scheme’, stupid plan’ or ‘disaster in the making’ was what Daniel would use to pressure Ronald to quit such a bad plan. But Ronald became uncaring about consequences when he got riled up like this. Best Daniel could do in such a situation, was to cooperate with his best friend, to cause minimal damage and mayhem.
Winter laid down in wait. The seconds ticked to minutes. The minutes that ticked forward finally reached dawn. He could hear whatever was left of the lizardmen horde, hissing together aggressively. He could also feel the mild tremor of numerous feet drumming upon his body. The players had moved. The situation was ideal. Every single monster was turned away from him. He crept closer and closer. He would probably be visible, very clearly, if even one of the reptiles chose to turn around. Winter still had a considerable distance to go, going around the lake and reaching the offering cart.
Another piece of information he had gathered while in town. It was rare for players to manage to fish any Rainbow Fish before the lizardmen gathered. After the punitive force was done? There would be none left, since the members of the force would pretty much fish the lake dry. From what rumors he got, aside from what the punitive force seized last year, the players did not even get ten Rainbow Fish, despite spending two days angling. Therefore, the best way to get the fish was to join the punitive force. Or steal it.
xXx
“CHHAARRRGEEE!!!”
Winter heard the order loud and clear. He recognized the overly loud voice belonging to the rude, cocky youngster. The last battle was soon engaged in earnest.
Abandoning caution to the wind, Winter stood up and jogged to the cart.
You obtained Rainbow Fish x 2160
100% load reached
Stamina consumption 200%
Movement speed -75%
Winter clicked his tongue. He was expecting to cart the whole thing away. Seemed like he had to do it in stages. Or not. He already could hear the overly loud voice nearing the rise.
Jackal was a decent veteran of Royal Road. He rose to his current status and skill through his ability and hard work, and a lot of intimidation. He was also terribly blind to his failings. Particularly brashness, arrogance, and rudeness. He once held the position of an army drill sergeant, and was good at his job, until he was dishonorably discharged due to insubordination.Jackal’s prior training allowed him to be a really good warrior. Not the best, at the moment, but he thought he should be. He looked youthful, since he had altered his age radically.
Jackal was delighting in carving the lizardmen. At level 60 to 70 in average, lizardmen could never kill him in a single combat. Excessively outnumbered, Jackal was trying to kill as much as he could to gain as much EXP and public service points from the quest. That made him the first to crest the rise, and saw a figure blowing up the cart. It was uncanny vision. He and several witnesses would tell everyone else that ever asked him about the event later.
"What else could the person be but a Master Wizard? He carried a staff! As black as the night! I recognize AOE skill. That was not it. There was no magic circle over the air. A wave of fireball blew up the cart! Ask the rest. They will tell you the same." Jackal would also swear that the hooded figure looked straight at him, before speeding away, whatever the reason was.
The image of a black-hooded figure raining fire, and speeding away so fast that he could barely track the figure, stayed in his mind, and the mind of everyone else that witnessed it. Whether it was a fortune or misfortune, nobody could answer. When asked what a Master Wizard would want by destroying a cart of Rainbow Fish, none was able to answer.
Jackal was never able to reconcile the figure of a swordsman with snow white hair, blue, piercing eyes, dressed in black, with the dark-hooded person of approximately the same height and build. The event gave way to the eventual birth of the Black Wizard, a figure that was rumored to be strong, but was an unknown element within Royal Road.
xXx
“Phew. That was close. Too bad I had to blow up the rest of the cart.”
Winter unequipped his hood and began mounting his rented house. He gave the horse a tap with his heels and clicked his tongue.It slowly moved away from the far distance he tethered it.
He did not expect to end up using <
Fire Strike (Tier 03)
Mana Consumption: 10
A stronger, basic level fire magic. You summon a pillar of fire that splits into four fireballs. Allows multiple targeting. This skill is a stepping stone to greater magic that will require players to be able to split their focus. No scorch effect.
Additional effect: Knockback 50% Stun 5%
5.0s Cooldown
“Break apart! Fire Strike!”
He managed to get away with 1040 Rainbow Fish. The limit before he was slowed down due to weight restriction. It somehow remained fresh, despite being clearly dead and remained exposed to open air for the five days of the siege, and probably some. It was a judgement call for Winter, between attempting to loot as much as he could, and not getting away, or dumping the fish, then blowing it up. He thought he had made the right choice. He could, of course, get himself killed and still win. Probably lose some fishes plus a level. But he wanted to leave the scene without anyone recognizing him. It already differed from his plan, when the punitive force members reached the rise sooner than he thought, and actually spotted him. He used reflex to escape double time. He could not resist smirking at the rude youngster before speeding away with his loot, and getting away with his crime.
Winter had absolutely no idea that his patched cloak and hood gave him a very sinister look, combined with his half-charred Sun’areth staff. The truth to the Black Mage legend could not be further than the truth. It was a man who was unhappy with a rude youngster and had decided to teach him a lesson in humility. Who cares if the rest of the force was collateral damage, right? It is a harsh life on earth.
xXx
“No fish! Dammit!” A priest threw his fishing rod into the lake.
He had spent the rest of the day fishing to finish up his quest, which required a Rainbow Fish. It was the main reason he joined the punitive force. The rest of the players lined up, surrounding the lake with their fishing rods, had the same luck with the priest.
The priest had only heard the stories, since he had been far back healing. The black-hooded figure of a Master Wizard that blew up a cart full of Rainbow Fish. He had no idea what to make of it. There was no rhyme or sense why someone with skills so advanced would do such a thing. The Rainbow Fish quest was a side reward from the punitive force quest this year. It gave no great reward for someone with an expected level of 250 at least, a figure only less than ten wizards achieved, at the moment. Last year, the fish was not even part of any quest!
“I caught one!” A Rogue beside the priest yelled.
“Sell it to me!”
“No. Sell it to me! I will give you a good price!”
xXx
“Uncle Winter! You are back!”
*Hugs*
“Hi, Adria. I am back. Have you been good?” Winter picked her up gently.
“I am, Uncle Winter. The best!”
Minalan concurred when Winter glanced at him.
“Good. Uncle Winter only gives presents to good children. You are good, are you not?” Winter raised his eyebrows in question. He used such a move on Celine and a few more children, when they were younger. It made them squirm, as if Ronald knew that they had done something bad.
“I....”
Adria was squirming under the gaze. She was clearly about to crack. Winter brought their eyes closer together, just a hand length apart.
“Hm... I think she has been good. Yes,” Minalan could barely could hold back his laughter at Winter’s theatrics.
“Then tonight, we are having a feast!” Winter declared grandly. Minalan and Adria clapped.
“What will be having tonight, Uncle Winter?” Adria, who was finally put down on the ground, asked in curiosity.
“Tonight, we eat the best dish of fish this town can make! A lot of it!”
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Author's Note:
1. Credit to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR
2. I credit myself this time for thinking this one up.
4. Do let me know of mistakes you find. Try as me and my PR to spot them, we might miss some.
4.This will make it the last release for the week and the last release of Indiana Jones title. A tad early, but better than late, right?
5. A little experiment with putting a separator. Do let me know whether you think it helps the reading experience.
6. Enjoy folks. Next chapter is just Winter resting a little. Might be boring. But can't always go on adventuring right?