Chapter 13: Scilu’An
“Sev!” Carrie screamed as the portal snapped closed, the sound of shattering glass echoing out over the lake's frozen surface, whose shore we now stood upon.
No, no no no I muttered, glancing around at where we had been transported. Carrie had described the Anathi Frostlake while we traveled, and our current location matched that description to a T. A large frozen lake, shores filled with exotic plants. What I had not envisioned was the massive ruin that dominated the center of the lake, built upon what I had to assume was an island. It vaguely resembled a castle, and I could see what looked like a fortress through gaps in the crumbling walls.
After a few more minutes of observing our new surroundings, I trudged over to Carrie, offering her a hand up from where she sat, slumped over. She looked up, and after a moment, took my hand.
“Let's grieve later, we should make sure Sev didn’t die in vain.” I said.
Her face hardened, and I could see her resolve strengthen. She just nodded.
“This is the Anathi Frostlake, and it appears we are currently on the southern side. We are in the middle of the route that Varo took when he came here.”
I nodded, and she began to plod parallel to the lake.
After a few minutes of somewhat comfortable silence, I spoke up.
“Why do you think Sev didn’t just teleport us from Terris to the frostlake?”
She adopted a thoughtful expression, and didn’t answer for a few seconds.
“It’s likely the teleport he used has a relatively short range. We were actually quite close to this location when the ambush occured. Additionally, abilities that have teleport-like qualities are generally extremely expensive mana wise, and the cost only increases based on the distance traveled.
“I see.” I said.
After a short silence, I broke it once more.
“Did you know about his capabilities…?”
“I did not. I’ve known the man for a decade and counting, though it’s not like we were that close. I’ve even been on a few hunts with him, and he never diverged from using that mundane spear. I don’t know why he would hide such magical talent. And the way other captains of the guard spoke about him, I don’t think they knew either.”
A soft thrumming caught my attention as I thought about Carrie’s words, and I paused.
Noticing, Carrie paused too.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
It seemed to be coming from my.. Inventory? I didn’t really understand how I knew that, but I did. I pulled up my inventory, noticing immediately that the lesser essence anchor was vibrating. I took it out of my inventory, and it thrummed in my hand.
“Ah, did Siegfried lend you that?”
“Yea, he said it could store essence, but he never mentioned that it would do.. this.” I replied
“The vibrating signals when essence is nearby.” she said.
“It could be a flower, ore, even a creature. Although it can’t sense essence from more than several feet away.” she said
“How.. do you know that?”
She smiled weakly, and held up her bow. Along its limbs, several engravings shone a dull electric blue.
“You’re a runesmith?” I asked, a little surprised.
“No,” she sighed “but I regularly help Siegfried out when it comes to collecting essence from creatures, as well as plants.”
After a few seconds of digging in her pack, she displayed a softly humming container similar to mine.
“So. Where’s the essence?” I asked, glancing around where we had paused.
“Besides hunting Sereni, herbalism is the other reason Varo liked-” she paused, her lips forming a thin line. “likes to run this route.”
“Alongside the shore, and on the lakebed a number of plants that grow water, ice, and nature essence can be found.” she said, brushing aside some of the waist high reeds that lined the lake. Exclaiming, she waved me over.
Nested between several stocky reeds rested a single flower, shimmering in the moonlight. Its stem was seemingly made out of ice, lined with thorns the color of fresh blood. The pedals were colored similarly to the thorns, and sparkled as if lit from within, resembling oval rubies.
{Glacial Blood Thorn}
Type: Plant
Essence harvesting requirement: Novice 8
Lore: An extremely uncommon, this rarity can be found along the wintry coasts of rivers and lakes around Cairos. This plant is not only a potent source of ice essence, but is also prized among alchemists for its blood aspect as well.
“I doubt you have an essence harvesting skill advanced enough to collect this, or I'd let you have it.” Carrie said.
Twin stream of ethereal red and blue flowed into her essence anchor. As the stream of essence slackened, the plant seemed to wither and die.
“A very nice find, I'm sure Siegfried will be pleased to get his hands on such an uncommon essence.” she said
“Don’t give me that look!” she said, grinning, “I’ll split the earnings with you.”
I laughed, and it felt deep, resonating more than any laugh I'd experienced. Surprised, I stopped, wondering if Carrie had noticed. She wore a frown, and was studying the ground. Directing my own attention to the snowy earth, I noticed faint tremors shaking the earth. Not so powerful as to be dangerous, but enough that I began to grow concerned.
“How common are earthquakes in Cairos?” I asked.
“They aren’t, I've only experienced one here.” Carrie replied, a tremor entering her voice.
In the few seconds our exchange of words took, the shaking had intensified.
Had my thoughts flowed slightly slower, I might have found myself respawning, and Carrie dead for good. Coming to an abrupt realization, I lunged at Carrie, knocking her back in the knick of time.
A geiser of snow, chips of ice, and frozen dirt shot dozens of feet into the sky from where we had stood only seconds ago. Using my sword as a cane, I pushed myself to my feet. The sight that greeted me froze the blood in my veins. A colossal creature the size of a telephone pole swayed in the chill night air. Calling it a worm did not do the monster justice. Plates of platinum interlocking scales covered much of the creature's body, and only its underbelly was a fleshy red. Its head was nothing more than a massive set of jaws, not dissimilar to the icy stalagmites and stalactites I had come across in the cave. Small bumps lined the creatures underbelly. Fearing what I would find, I inspected the monstrous creature. My first warning should have been its golden, jewel encrusted nameplate.
{Scilu’An, Thousand eyes}{Raid boss}{Iceblood Curse: 83%}
HP: 4700/4700
MP: 2900/2900
Type: Aberrant
Level: 9
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Lore: Unique from its brethren, this Frost worm has intermingled with the curse to such a degree that it is no longer of this world.
Reading its inspect screen erased any delusions I had about fighting. The silence was deafening as Carrie and I just stared at our immense foe, unmoving. Time seemed to stop as the creature stilled. All at once, countless eyes opened from the bumps on the worm's underbelly. Every color I'd ever seen was displayed among the swarm of eyes. A slow, grotesque voice sounded inside my mind.
What…Delectable… Delicacies
Snapped out of my stupor, I came to a decision. It was ok if I died, but I had to save Carrie. It was my fault for letting an NPC accompany me on a mission when I was unsure of the dangers. Despite Carrie being just an advanced AI, she was more lifelike and human than many of the people I had met back on earth.
Mana poured out of me, and flooded the confines of my weapon. When the flow began to slacken, I forced more of my mana into the blade, until I had none left to give. I held a shining bonfire of light in both hands. Keeping the raging torrent of mana from tearing the blade apart was significantly harder than I had envisioned.
Your skill in Mana Manipulation has increased to Novice: 2.
The worm creature shifted, focusing on me.
Such.. Futile.. Resistance
Its words were accompanied by what sounded like gravel in a blender.
Is it laughing at me?!
“Run away when I swing, and don’t look back until you’re in Terris. I’ll distract it.” I whispered to Carrie, who was still frozen beside me.
I thought I could make out her nod, almost imperceptibly.
Just as my control began to slip, I swung. Not at the beast, but at the ground in front of it. An arc at least twice as wide as the normal tore out from my blade, causing an explosion of snow rivaling the worm's eruption to spray out in all directions.
Like an insane person, I sprinted straight at the beast. As long as Carrie made it out, I’d have succeeded. Upon reaching the worm, I lashed out at its rust colored flesh. Too late, I realized my sword had warped, and I barely marked the creature's vulnerable underbelly.
Running past the beast, I shouted curses at it as a plan began to form in my mind. The sound of the beast's plate-like scales grinding together was my only warning. I dove to the side, barely avoiding the worm's plunging head as it buried its teeth into the snow. Turning my dive into a roll, I came up on my feet and continued my mad dash towards the island in the center of the lake.
After a particularly loud grinding noise, I risked a look back. The worm had disappeared from sight, a cloud of snow already beginning to settle. My hopes were dashed as I heard the sound of shattering ice from beneath me, and then the creature erupted once more from the ice, this time a dozen yards away.
At least it seemed like the creature had trouble determining my exact location in the water, even if the lake didn’t stop it. Roaring, the beast created the illusion of rain as icy water showered down from where it had split the ice.
Words suddenly entered my mind.
Scilu’An takes a deep breath..
The worm reared back, its maw filling with an icy mist.
Already regretting my decision to bait it into the lake, I prepared myself to evade whatever it was readying. The worm arched its spine, and exhaled a cloud of icicle like projectiles in my general direction.
Resuming my sprint towards the ruins, a hail of icy daggers bombarded the ice around me. The smallest projectiles only shattered against the lake's frozen face, but the sound of cracks forming in the lake's surface echoed out as a frozen projectile larger than a person crashed straight through the surface several yards away.
I nearly blacked out as a spike of agony blossomed in my side where a spear of ice had grazed me. The rain of projectiles slowed, as the serpentlike monstrosity finished its attack. I hopped from one miniature glacier to the next, not quite brave enough to look back and see what the worm would do next.
A woosh of air exploded out from behind me, and I feared what would happen next. I stopped my haphazard game of hopscotch and flattened myself against the floating platform of ice I was currently on. The worm crashed into the water behind me, and the force launched my platform forward. I skidded across the surface of the water, occasionally crashing into other glaciers.
Miraculously, I had not received more than a few scratches from my short sledding session. Only twenty yards from land, I leaped from one glacier to the next, praying the worm would not erupt from beneath me. Perhaps if I could dodge one more eruption, I could lose the beast among the ruins.
Surprisingly I made it to land with little trouble.
I was making steady progress to the ruins, but the shaking continued to intensify. I gasped as the packed snow beneath my feet gave out. Around me for dozens of feet, the earth seemed to collapse inwards. Panicking, I jabbed my sword out in front of me, managing to halt my fall into the sinkhole.
Glancing behind me as I pulled myself over the edge with my free hand, I gulped as I saw just how close I had been to death. The worm had hallowed out the earth beneath where I was running to. The creature waited at the bottom with only its head exposed, maw agape.
Pulling myself over the ledge, the creature shrieked in protest from its makeshift trap. Sprinting up to the wall, I squeezed through a crack a few feet wide as jagged ancient stone tore at my clothing.
A maze of crumbling stone buildings lay before me, with a castle several hundred feet past them. After debating the sanity of hiding in one of the small ruins, I resumed my dash to the castle.
The moonlight barely illuminated the uneven cobblestones of the street, and I nearly tripped several times. As I ran, two things surprised me. One, the layout of the streets seemed oddly similar to Terris, as if Terris was built with this place's blueprint. Second, the wormlike had gone silent once again. Though this time I would not be fooled into thinking I was safe.
As houses passed by on either side, and the minutes drifted on, Scilu’An had still made no appearance, I had not even felt the tell-tale tremors that heralded its eruption.
Perhaps the city was built on a foundation of difficult to tunnel through material?
As I neared the inner fortress, I slowed down to take in its majesty. Even through what must have been decades of wear, the structure still looked regal. A gatehouse and portcullis stood in front of me.
The gate of the portcullis was rusted, and several human sized holes allowed me to make my way past the gate. Past the Portcullis lay another layer of walls, this time with no obstacle to block my path to the inner ward. The open courtyard was vast, with a keep at its far end. As I walked the overgrown field, a stony arch caught my attention near the center of the field.
Walking closer, I noticed the arch was heavily engraved with intricate glowing patterns, similar to what I had seen Siegfrieds produce. I grew concerned as I realized the magical patterns had not escaped the fate the rest of the castle had faced. At many points in the arch the patterns were broken, and multicolor sparks flew out. At the bottom of the arch, stairs descended into the ground. I made my way over to the arch. The passage led deep into the earth, and I hesitated on the top step.
Deciding I would check out the keep before making my way down into the strange underground portion of the inner ward, I walked past the arch and started towards the keeps massive stone double doors.
In a heartbeat, the ground began shuddering violently. I knew I only had seconds before the eruption. Diving to the side, a column of scale and red flesh erupted scant feet from me.
The worm roared as blue sparks danced along its body, but the roar sounded more agonized than before. Before I could make any more observations about the aberration’s mood, the icy ground collapsed beneath me.
Air wooshed out of my lungs as I collided with the ground, and I counted myself lucky that I had yet to land on something pointy.
My fear partially melted away into confusion as I realized the worm had not set up another sinkhole trap for me, at least not on purpose. I was in a black stone room, blue runes lining every surface. Near me was an entrance that led further into whatever labyrinth I had fallen into. At the room's far end snow blocked off any other potential exit.
Quickly coming to a decision, I sprinted down the hallway near me, the light emanating from every surface guiding my steps.
As I cautiously made my way through the hall, my thoughts drifted to Carrie. I mentally slapped myself, realizing that I could check if she was ok. To my shock, not only was Carrie full health and mana, Sev was as well.
Could NPC’s resurrect in Daedalus Online? There was no way he had survived the pack of wolves that cornered us in the ruins.
I pushed the question from my mind as just ahead the hallway opened up into a large room. Like the hallway, every surface of the room was covered in the glowing blue engravings. Unlike the room I had been dumped into, several unrecognizable skeletons of varying size littered the floor of this room. Some were the size of an adult human, while a few looked like they belonged to a small child. Many were clearly not human, possessing horns, wings, and other oddities.
Feeling more than a little unsettled, I carefully walked through the room, doing my best not to step on any of the remains.
Planted in the ribcage of a skeleton that was twice as large as myself was a straight sword with a slightly curved hilt.
Glancing at the extremely warped blade I held in one hand, I wondered if I could loot the relatively undamaged weapon. To my surprise, upon touching the weapon and willing it to my inventory, it vanished. I looked over the weapons inspect window.
{Worn Anathi Straight sword}
Physical Damage: 7-9
Spellpower: 13%
Rarity: Uncommon
Weight Category: Fast
Type: One handed sword
Damage type: Slashing, Piercing
Traits: +3 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence, Anathi Prowess: 12% increased ice spellpower
Requirements: Level 5, One handed Swords Novice: 5
I Immediately equipped the weapon, seeing how it was significantly better than my disfigured beginners weapon. The name of the weapon was also strange.
Was the frostlake named after the people that had occupied this castle?
Upon reaching the far end of the room the floor began to shake once again, the intensity building slowly. As I contemplated how to evade the worm's attack in such an enclosed space, a loud crunch rang out as the worm collided with the floor, the blue engravings flaring brightly. A hideous screeching noise emanated from somewhere beneath the floor, and the vibrations slowly faded as the creature fled.
Upon closer inspection, the floor seemed to be completely unharmed.
Daring to hope that I didn’t have to deal with the vile creature, I continued into the hallway, smiling.