Daniel told Ronald that the castle they were going to besiege was named Ranbell. It was located north of Harine, and Ronald had better be there in 26 days in-game time, or he would be left behind. Daniel knew nothing would make Ronald stick to the deadline than just to show him up. So he could expect Ronald to be there on time, probably even earlier. As for the minimum level required, Daniel expected no problems. Somehow, Ronald would make it.
“Chief! Look out!” a voice cried out.
Summer snapped back to attention. While he was considering how to integrate his party into the siege group, and Winter’s role to be as minimal as possible yet with most benefit, a Minotaur was closing in on his position.
The monster occasionally made a charging attack when it had enough space.
’Seem like the warriors at the front could use a little more scolding.’
Summer’s body had already moved in a diving roll to the side while the thought flashed in his head. It was gracefully executed, like a professional gymnast. Of course it would, since it was an evasion skill for the Archer class. Summer cleared six meters easily, got a knee up, and shot the moving target on its right buttcheek. He could not resist, since it was red and round, like a bullseye on each side. While the Minotaur was bellowing in rage, the other arrow had already streaked and punctured the other cheek.
Everyone was laughing at the Minotaur that danced around holding its buttcheeks. Summer grinned at his handiwork. He had the knack of making something funny out of any activity, naturally.
“Burn to ashes! Funeral Pyre!”
A pillar of flame engulfed the Minotaur, burning it to a crisp instantly. The clear voice belonged to Tolan. He was done with his share of laughing and acted first.
“Okay folks! The show is over! And you lot! Don’t kill me off so fast!”
Summer was pointing to the general direction of warriors that were a little shamefaced for letting the Minotaur have running space for a charge.
“That was my bad, Boss. I got a little bit occupied.”
’Well, gotta hand it to him. Rock has a gift for understatement.’
Rock was more than occupied. Both the left and right side of his body was struck with six arrows each. The feathered shafts were still protruding out, not disappearing yet. He waved both arms around like a chicken, even squawking around, drawing laughs from his teammates.
Summer had been diving in this Labyrinth for a while now. Three weeks to be precise. He was almost near the end of it too. It would not have taken a proper raiding party this long. But each of them had work too, and real life to deal with. And yes, Daniel lied to Ronald, but Ronald probably knew anyway.
His research company pretty much worked on automatic. He had an exclusive contract with Royal Road, to be allowed to connect his data server to their non-essential system. It allowed his company to specifically monitor price changes of items, from which it would allow his company to collate a research data to show trends across the continent. It was released biweekly, and was a hot item with merchant characters, since it was as good as their holy bible on what to buy, stock and sell quickly.
It might be a little silly if everyone knew that Daniel had never read a single page of the release. He knew it would be accurate after being triple checked by his marketing department.
“Okay. So we have traps now. Be careful! It is not listed anywhere on the map.”
This caught everyone’s attention. Summer had purchased a map of the dungeon from an NPC. It was supposed to be a fully explored dungeon too. But occasionally, there were this sort of little stuff that was somehow left out.
Stepping carefully, they proceeded to the end of the dungeon, expecting to fight the boss - no - looking forward to it. Summer directed them carefully, while half of his head formulated contingencies.
xXx
“Alright! Is everyone here?”
Odette’s figure towered over everyone. Fifteen girls from her school replied in variations of ‘Yes’,’Here’, etc. Their races were rather mixed too. Elven race made up the majority of it. Girls had a thing for the beautiful elven race apparently. Only two of them were humans, with Odette being the only Barbarian.
“Odette, Penny isn’t here yet,” a timid-sounding voice spoke out.
The owner of that voice was an elven maiden wearing a forest green cloak. A short rod made from dark brown wood, complete with swirling patterns like a snail at the top, was held on her hand.
‘Where is that annoying girl. I told her to be here an hour ago just to be safe! Agh!
Odette tousled her hair in annoyance, almost wanting to speak out her inner thoughts. Instead, she stomped her foot just once. For her large avatar, it was equal to a minor earthquake. The ground trembled with every annoyed slam. The bartender scowled at Odette,who did not notice the gaze that was thrown at her. The tremor caused the beer he was filling up to be spilled. Right at that moment, the door to their meeting spot opened.
“Great. Everyone is here.”
The elven maiden had a crown of gold hair on her head that flowed down behind her back. The ears were each pierced with dangling earrings made of glittering blue stone. An extra piercing of thin gold loop was added near the top flap of the sharp, long elven ear. Overall, combined with the golden-colored eyes, and pale yellow skin tone, it made her look very fashionable and elegantly beautiful. The clothing was more revealing than the rest of the elven casters assembled there, with the navel exposed and the long skirt indecently cut very high to reveal her thigh up to near the hip. The boots, with its high heels, were made of white leather, like the rest of the gear, and rode high up to the middle of her thigh. It gave the impression she was wearing knee socks that served as a shoe.
“And my name is Aloine. Not Penny.”
The elven maiden that called her by that name did not deign to apologize. Everyone disliked this girl in real life, and in-game, they disliked her even more. Penelope Water was almost as beautiful as her avatar in real life. But her personality,as could be seen, was quite rotten. She was haughty, arrogant. But she had the ability to back up her attitude. She was smart, rich and fashionable. But she came second on the school ranking for her year. The first spot belonged to Julianne.
Julianne had put up a notice on common board to seek out interested members for the party. She and her housemates were supposed to join up with her father, but they were unable to keep up to their promise back then, due to unexpected load of schoolwork dropped on their lap, but promised to be there next time. Since her father mentioned them going to a castle siege as part of an alliance he had worked out, she spread the word to gather party members. Majority of girls playing Royal Road were not interested, since they already had a prior engagement in-game. Penelope here joined up unexpectedly.
Julianne had no idea how to treat this haughty girl. She was not used to being subtle with her insults, like the numerous times she saw Penny - what everyone called her - did, or appear intimidating. She believed those were skill sets she would never want, but right about now, she could use a crash course to put this girl in her place. Penny was trying Julianne’s patience.
“You are late, Aloine. What is your excuse?”
“Some pesky guys accosted me on the way here. I had to deal with them,” Aloine spoke nonchalantly.
Julianne had no inkling whether what she said was true, and could only take it at face value. She nodded and briefed the party again.
“We are going to join up with my father, Summer, three weeks from now. We have quite a ways to travel, but I think the siege itself will be exciting.” Aloine snorted. Odette ignored her and continued.
“Everyone here should know this adventure is risky. You may die and lose levels, you may end up wasting time, you may not get any loot. So, those that do not agree with these terms can quit now before we depart,” Odette’s gaze was directed to Aloine, that looked around the place disinterestedly. She eventually caught Odette’s gaze, but said nothing.
“Gather back here after we sleep. We depart in the morning. Do your last minute shopping now, because we will be constantly on the road. Also, if anyone is late, I am telling you, I will leave you behind. I hate waiting for my date to show up.” A number of girls giggled at the comparison and understood the particular dislike to wait for the man to show up on their dates.
Aloine twisted her lips in displeasure, thinking it was Odette’s attempt to subtly chide her. It was not. Some logged out, and others proceeded to exit the bar for their last minute shopping. Odette predicted two weeks to reach Harine, if all was well. They were currently gathered in Meaadhol, a human city at the convergence point of human, barbarian and elven territories.
While she was asleep, Julianne dreamed of seeing Uncle Ronald and her father again. The figure of her mother was decidedly absent from the dream.
xXx
*Creak* *Ring*
Winter opened the door to <
He went back to the Forest of Lasem with the same horse he rented, cutting the journey short. He barely spared any time to sleep, but kept his energy up by drinking tonics and stuffing himself with good nutritious food from his favorite pizzeria. If anyone visited his home, they would think he was a slob, which he was not.
The monsters there were not particularly dangerous, once he figured out the trick to attack them from very high ground, like from atop trees. It took him a frantic climbing when he was surrounded to find that part out. He would tell Summer about it when they met later. The towering Tree Ent however, cost him a health potion. He was careless with his attacks. It looked slower when Odette and Rock were tanking it. But up close, he nearly died when he took the full brunt of its swing. He used up another health potion when unexpectedly, the slow Bogmen could climb up the tree! He should have seen that coming. He was forced to defend against a group of twenty, while dangling from a tree.
His favorite spot was the blocked valley where they had previously encountered the Golem. He needed at least a mutiplier of 4 to climb up the high ground quickly by summoning flat hands of earth. Winter probably could have leveled up more, if not for some nosy idiots getting themselves killed after trying to chip off his kited mobs of hundreds. They even fired some spells and arrows at him when he refused to share! The gall! Winter left it to the mobs that got attracted by their attempts.
Though he purchased <
Vermillion (Tier 05)
Advanced magical spell for Magician class. This spell is designed to be easy to use, yet has formidable destructive power within its set area. Rains 20 balls of fire every second continuously on area in the spell’s circle. Be careful not to put yourself under it!
Mana Consumption: 50 upon activation, 25 every 10 seconds.
30s Cooldown
“Crimson Lord of Destruction, I beseech rain of fire. Vermillion!”
Increasing proficiency of this spell reduces Mana consumption per second and greater quantity of fireballs raining down
Gust (Tier 03)
Medium-level strength Wind element spell. This spells blows a strong gust wind at your direction . It has little destructive power but has wide application. It is up to you to the find best use for this spell. Standard is set to a cone. Do check spell details to modify.
Mana Consumption: 15
5s Cooldown
“Heavenly wind! Gust!”
Increasing proficiency of this spell reduces Mana consumption,and improves its strength and size
Mental Fortitude (Tier 02)
A basic spell to help mages concentrate and manage their mana. This spell improves your rate of mana generation by 25% hourly. Lasts for six hours. Not stackable. Casting this spell on top of the current one will refresh it. Overridden if higher level of this spell is cast on the character.
Mana Consumption: 30
10s Cooldown
“Clear Mind! Mental fortitude!”
Increasing proficiency of this spell reduces Mana consumption and increases your hourly mana regeneration
This little inconvenience truly made Winter yearn for the time when the curse would be lifted. But he was reluctant, too, to part with the multiplier bonus. He already tried to stall for the time it would take for the bracer to come off by deliberately not equipping the +100 Mana Blessed Silver Ring he had obtained after handing in the quest from the fat bishop.
He could only hold <
Under the influence of <
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It was unexpected for a game to have such flaws. But Winter guessed it made it much more fun, since you needed to use your brain sometimes to win and improve, not only your brawn all the time.
This was how his Status Window looked like now.
Status WindowNameWinterAlignmentNeutralLevel100ProfessionMagicianTitleNoneFame220Health1250Mana479Strength125Agility200Vitality110Wisdom220 (200+20)Intellect145 (125+20)Stamina80Fighting Spirit22Luck5Leadership1Charisma9Attack35-40Magic Attack35-36Defense27Magic Defense70Magic ResistanceFire10%Water10%Earth10%Wind10%Holy10%Dark10%
+20 points to INT and WIS
+50% Magic Attack
-50% Stamina
+10% All Magic Resistance
Unable to use Medium or Heavy Armor
Unable to use Heavy Weapon
Unable to use weapons with Iron contents
He allocated his bonus stat points to VIT, WIS and INT evenly. He chose to invest in Vitality as he seemed to be close to near death quite a lot, when the enemies got too close. He would not be worrying about this if he was in a party. Also, upon reaching lvl 100, he noticed there were bonuses. Most noticeable would probably be Fame increasing by 100, as he had done nothing to increase it since his time with Summer.
A girl about sixteen was manning the usual seat where Minalan usually sat when he tended the store. The man himself was decidedly absent.
’Since when did that guy hire an assistant. And a real pretty one to boot!’
She wore a simple dress of bright yellow. Instead of diminishing her beauty, it accentuated it. When she looked up, Winter saw a pair of bright green eyes that somehow looked familiar. Her smile lit up when she saw Winter walk through the door. It was the kind of unrestrained joy that Winter would always want to come back to, and marry such a woman that could give him that sort of smile everyday.
“Welcome back, Uncle Winter,” the girl said.
“I am... back?”
Winter answered automatically. It was the reply he always said to a particular little girl whenever he dropped by for a visit. But this attractive young lady, who greeted him in the exact same manner as the little girl, Winter had never met before.
He was pondering it when Minalan walked in on them from the family side of the door.
“Hey. You are back early. I can tell you are stronger than before. By a good margin too!”
Minalan nodded to himself.
“Come on in. We are about ready for lunch!”
“If you are cooking, I am eating at Sella’s,” Winter replied without giving it much thought.
Minalan’s food has been notoriously bad, that his low level cooking skill was regarded as godsend by the father and daughter, at least until Sella came into the picture. Minalan laughed.
“No, no. You know how terrible my cooking is,” so said he, voicing Winter’s thought, agreeing.
“Adria will be the one doing the cooking,” he turned his back and re-entered the family domain.
“Wait! Isn’t she a little young to cook! Let us just eat out!”
Winter was completely off balance. Somehow, Minalan seemed different than the last time he was there. More carefree. He expected the daughter-loving freak to not even let the little girl near a wood stove.
“Uncle Winter... I am a little hurt you think I cannot cook.”
A voice to his left spoke to him. He was about to cross the threshold of the shop, chasing after that now irresponsible father and give him a piece of his mind, or at least ask him what changed during his trip.
Upon hearing the statement, Winter whipped his head aside and stared at the young lady with as much scrutiny as he could muster.
Jet black hair, green eyes. The lips had the same cupid bow’s shape, but were slightly wider and plumper. The face still retained the naturally sharp, narrow chin and narrow but long nose. The hair was longer, but.... the demeanor was the same. Winter came to the conclusion quickly and spoke the name that he would call the young lady by, if a particular rude, obnoxious little girl, had somehow grown up to be sixteen.
“Adria?”
xXx
“Explain it to me again one more time like I am a dumb cow, please.”
We were seated on the usual dining table, that was pristinely clean. It was cleaner than how Winter remembered it. Winter would know, since he cleaned the table quite a lot if they chose to dine in with food purchased from Sella’s or one that he personally cooked.
Smiling at his confusion, Minalan explained again in his lecturing tone that Winter was already familiar with. Adria, that somehow sprouted at least half a decade worth of growth while he was away, smiled too,with charming dimples on her cheek. She was serving both of us pieces of food she cooked.
“It was Freya’s Blessing, you see. She was not sick at all. I only figured it after she woke up all grown up.”
Thoughts of how illogical it all was swirled in Winter’s head.
“But, that is impossible!”
“With Freya’s will, all is possible,” quoted Minalan in what appeared to be unshakable faith.
Winter could find no chink on the logic, since the proof was standing in front of him. The game was 99% realistic. The 1% seem to include a restaurant refurbishment overnight, extreme change in appearance and a girl that grew up after she slept.
“I prayed to Freya, Uncle Winter,” so said the grown up Adria.
“But why? Why do you want to grow up suddenly?”
Winter received no reply except for the silent smile of happiness.
“Who cares about that, Winter. Can you not be happy that Adria is all grown up now? Or you prefer the little girl before?”
“Father!”
Minalan caught a bread thrown to him deftly, kissed it and bit into it. Adria,who looked slightly annoyed, was about to throw another one when Winter spoke out,
“Well, yes. I am most definitely happy. I do not need to look behind my shoulder again for a hand about to abuse my behind.”
Adria instantly blushed.
“It was not that bad! I was just playing around, Uncle Winter!”
The bread was now thrown straight to Winter. The whole basket of it.
“Reflex,” I spoke quietly.
Winter caught the flying basket with left hand and scooped up the rest of the jostled bread with the other hand back into the basket in a blur of movements while remaining seated. Today was a good day since the multiplier was maximized. Winter did not intend to show off or anything. But he responded to anything flying at him now with the spell and proceeded accordingly.
“Ooh!” Both Adria and Minalan clapped.
“Well, at least it is bread now instead of a hand made of rock.”
Winter took out a bread from the basket that was still on his hand, and bit into it. The bread was soft with good texture. Good aroma too! Superior work no matter how he would rate it. Adria laughed, with the blush getting deeper. Minalan chuckled at the exchange, while he continued to munch on his bread. Winter did not notice the sad glance Minalan had. If Winter ever saw it, he would notice that it was a glance of bittersweet sorrow that he saw on Minalan very rarely. A beautiful smile that only someone that truly loved another wholeheartedly could give.
“Since when were you that fast, Winter? I know <
“Remember the cursed bracer?”
Winter shook his right wrist out, exposing the cursed bracer made from dark colored materials. Both Adria and Minalan nodded. Adria’s face showed her apprehension as she was the guilty party.
“Turned out it is not all that bad.”
Winter told them what fortune the curse brought him. Minalan was completely perplexed, as he has absolutely no idea that the bracer has an additional effect. Adria was extremely relieved that Winter called up her past mistake not to admonish or remind her, but to bring good news for once. He still could not take off the bracer, anyway.
Dinner proceeded smoothly after. Winter was telling Minalan all the abuse he endured. It was a moot point for Adria to defend herself. For once, she was at the receiving end of a little (mental) pain, courtesy of Winter. Minalan himself took it good-naturedly, where the events Winter talked about seemed like ages ago, when his grown up daughter was still young and precocious.
xXx
“Take care of yourself, Winter. And if she gets hurt, I am going to kill you!”
Minalan delivered the first part in a warm squeeze that spoke of brotherhood, and the next part in soul-crushing weight, with a grip that made Winter lose a couple points of HP. Winter dumbly nodded. Anything to get away from that accusing gaze.
’How did it come to this,’ Winter wondered to himself.
The story began after they had their dinner reunion. Winter thought it was a good time to make good on his promise to show Minalan Fuenos’s frozen form. Adria joined them without any protest from her father, somehow.
She was, however, clothed in what was probably the whole arsenal Minalan could muster on short notice. The blue robe had a glitter of some aura to it. A circlet of gold, with a white gem cut in a square shape, could be seen on the center of it. There was more to the equipment, like bangles that might have some purpose, the magical kind, and sturdy-looking boots, and a cape that would definitely survive the antartic trip, going and back. Minalan himself was decked in his usual daily wear, with the exception of a stone staff topped with some sort of muddy swirling orb.
The trip did not take long too, since Winter rented them a horse each. He, of course, used the same horse. He had grown rather fond of the docile chestnut-colored horse named cutely Snugglebunny. Winter had no idea how the name came to be, but decided one day he would find out if he could.
It took longer than the travel time to blast through the mobs that had spawned back, and now fully encroached the underground section. He left Minalan and Adria with the loot, since they were doing most of work anyway. He did not even get the chance to lift a finger,before Minalan jumped forward and blasted the group of troll to smithereens, every single time. Adria was not idle either. She raised earthen walls that blocked the escape route and secured their safety behind the barrier while Minalan went on rampage. Somehow, he had the feeling that the two were a lot stronger than him. He chose not to whine over the EXP points he was not receiving.
Minalan was still pondering upon the mystery when Winter mentioned that he had an engagement in the near future, and could only spend a limited amount of time there with him. Minalan told him to go and not to worry about him. He could handle himself, and Winter never doubted it for a second, after seeing the display of strength.
This was when Adria chose to come in, asking if Winter would allow her to go with him. Of course, he found reason to refuse, which Minalan himself provided aplenty. But Winter’s excuses were weak, while Minalan’s were illogical. With an anguished cry and a little display of flaring magic that shattered a bit of rocks, Minalan agreed, but extracted a promise from Adria to follow Winter’s word to the letter.
Winter was suddenly very scared . The stray beam from Minalan disintegrated the hairpin turn they walked in, turning it into a wide path. He swore to Minalan not to let Adria anywhere near danger, and he meant every word of it.
Minalan would return their horses to the stable. This time, the stable owner required no deposit, as Minalan was a local. Winter, however,suspected it might have something to do with Adria, as the man was drooling all over her.
Three days of quick travel, and they arrived in Harine. Nine days early from the promised meeting date.
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Author's Note:
1. Credit to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR
2. Special Credit to Veresliosi and Vim1inc for bouncing stuff around. Not to forget Ramzicmain that joined us.
3. Do let me know of mistakes you find. Try as me and my PR to spot them, we might miss some.
4. Chapter 19 will be the finale of the Castle Siege part.
5. This is my last release this week. Look forward for 17 and 18 next week. I am reducing the release as I am writing longer and longer chapters now.
6. Do let me know what you think, everyone.
7. Enjoy!